T'Pol's Father

[Enerdhil]

(There was a problem with the previous quote, that is not really mine, but an amendment to mine)

Coming back to the original question of WG, I would prefer to have T'Pol's father being a normal Vulcan. Maybe with a not so rigid emotion suppression as T'Les, in order to cope with the daughter behavior (that is, he took the emotion suppression in a lighter manner and her daughter followed the example). This also turns easy to have T'Pol as a daddy girl, she would appreciate more her father not so strict rules.

I don't know why the question of having her emotions more close to surface should have any link to a genetic cause. For what is written (or showed in the movies) the Romulan / Vulcan separation is quite recent, (some thousands of years). Awakening is set at 1800 years before Enterprise. Such time periods are too short for any significant genetic evolution - that is, more or less discipline in mental control of emotions by the Vulcan lineage should be taught during infancy, it couldn't be transmitted genetically from parents to offspring. Probably, for humanoids, the genetic time to have transmitted characteristics is some hundreds thousands years, maybe some million years.

[WarpGirl]

That is a good point. Although it was never stated that Vulcans and Romulans were ever genetically identical. Spock referrs to them often as "cousins" I don't believe this was strictly a figure of speech. But in fact it is still correct that Vulcans are not born with their control, they do in fact have to be taughtcontrol. Therefore their will be differences in every Vulcan. Whether or not humans or other spieces can percieve these differences is debateable.

[Rigil Kent]

Well done, Brandyjane. I like it. Such a plot twist could also lead to a sort of existential crisis on T'Pol's part - sort of a nature versus nurture thing.

[Brandyjane]

The biggest issue I have with my own crazy theory is that, like so many others on this board, I don't want to "blame" T'Pol's slightly more emotional nature on genetics. It would be pretty difficult, in my opinion, to write a story where T'Pol is either half or full Romulan without it turning in to that.

Oh, how I wish we had been given a fifth season! I've wondered about T'Pol's father for some time. I didn't like T'Les, but for some reason I think her father would have been a character we like, even if they made him an evil Rommie.

During the first season, I toyed with the idea that her dad might even be Soval. Wouldn't that have been weird?

[Rigil Kent]

The biggest issue I have with my own crazy theory is that, like so many others on this board, I don't want to "blame" T'Pol's slightly more emotional nature on genetics.

Well, if T'Les is also a Rommie as in your idea, then she could be just as much to blame as genetics. In "Home," T'Les seemed pretty emotional at times, albeit more capable of concealing it than T'Pol, so one could argue that it was basically learned behavior on T'Pol's part - she simply didn't have the experience of several decades of learning to hide it like T'Les and T'PolDaddy had. Hence, nature versus nurture.

During the first season, I toyed with the idea that her dad might even be Soval. Wouldn't that have been weird?

Well, in my ideal world, he would have been T'Pol's father-in-law (as in the dad of her late husband), which would explain why he kept an eye on her...

[WarpGirl]

Hmm I don't think Soval being T'Pol's dad would be weird. Plenty of fic writers have done it. Some very, very well. However I think it's a little too close to Spock territory. I actually have Soval as her paternal grandfather. As to dad being a Rommie, I love Rommies, good bad and otherwise, but we never had a fully Vulcan female main character either.

[Brandyjane]

Hmm I don't think Soval being T'Pol's dad would be weird. Plenty of fic writers have done it. Some very, very well. However I think it's a little too close to Spock territory.

Do you mean that since Spock was also the child of a Vulcan ambassador, it would be a little too cutesy to have T'Pol be Soval's daughter? I can see that. This is a bit off-topic, but I never wanted T'Pol to be related to Spock. If she was related to anyone from a later series, wouldn't it be interesting if it was T'Pring?

[WarpGirl]

I think T'Pol being the Daughter of Earth's Ambassador like Spock is very cutesy but its not a turn-off for me or anything. I don't mind if T'Pol is related to Spock so long as it's a bit distant. But I can totally see how it can turn into the "everyone is a Skywalker syndrome." As for her being related to T'Pring, its cool. But Koss would be cooler.

[Brandyjane]

I never thought about that before, WarpGirl. Koss would be cooler!

[WarpGirl]

I'm just insane.

[Alelou]

Hmm I don't think Soval being T'Pol's dad would be weird. Plenty of fic writers have done it. Some very, very well. However I think it's a little too close to Spock territory.

Do you mean that since Spock was also the child of a Vulcan ambassador, it would be a little too cutesy to have T'Pol be Soval's daughter? I can see that. This is a bit off-topic, but I never wanted T'Pol to be related to Spock. If she was related to anyone from a later series, wouldn't it be interesting if it was T'Pring?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I could swear ShouldKnowBetter did that in "Golden Lads and Girls".

[aadarshinah]

Eh, I wouldn't mind if T'Pol was related to Spock, so long as it's distant. Like half-second cousins twice removed or something.

This theory would - I think - make T'Pol the first full Romulan main cast member. Wouldn't that shake things up?

Love this idea - though it did cause me to have another wild one of my own. If we're entertaining ideas about Romulan expats, why couldn't T'Pol's father be a Vulcan who jumped ship - a Romulan convert? That would not only keep T'Pol a full-blooded Vulcan, but it would still make her dad a "Romulan," albeit, again, a Vulcan-who-chose-to-be-a-Romulan.

[WarpGirl]

But the thing is its either heavily implied or visually obvious that T'Les and her husband had a good relationship with each other in Home. And the idea that he just abandoned them both, adds another layer of "what else bad could happen to T'Pol." It's like she was meant to be the O'Brian of ENT!

[aadarshinah]

But the thing is its either heavily implied or visually obvious that T'Les and her husband had a good relationship with each other in Home. And the idea that he just abandoned them both, adds another layer of "what else bad could happen to T'Pol." It's like she was meant to be the O'Brian of ENT!

Maybe he was a Romulan-sympathizer, got too far in over his head, and was forced to leave T'Les and T'Pol? Or was disappeared by the Vulcan goverment for his sympathies? Or maybe he never abandoned them at all, and has been secretly visiting T'Les yearly or decade-ly or something, and T'Pol was only told her father was dead so that she wouldn't spill the beans to anyone and was never told the truth because her mom feared T'Pol wouldn't believe her/tell the High Command/try and find him?



All pretty stupid, I know, but ideas.

[WarpGirl]

No such thing as a stupid idea if you work at it. That's what the catagory of AU is for anyway.