It all started when I was barely halfway through season 1 of TNG and I was getting ROYALLY PISSED about how Yar was written. And, naturally, I went to complain about it on the internet. But because of who I am, it wasn't about to just complain, I needed to give my 2 cents about how she SHOULD have been written. The themes that would have made a compelling character. Since then, I've finished most of the show and gotten much more Yar lore. And you know what? I'm doubling down.I wrote post about gender in TNG, but I skipped over Yar because her character is so egregious, it's not enough to just talk about it: I need to fix it.
Why *should* Yar be an incredible character?
She is perfectly poised, narratively, to be a character that tackles tough themes about how trauma and grief can make people into less noble versions of themselves. Picard believes that everyone can be kind: he also grew up in a beautiful vineyad in solarpunk France. Must be nice, Picard. Imagine a *foil*, a character with a completely opposing background, who challenges Picards noble notions with her cut-throat survival instincts. DO YOU SEE THE VISION?
She's already set up to be an incredible character. Within the fiction:
- Yar has *sever* childhoood trauma, including witnessing her parents deaths.
- It's heavily implied that Yar was sexually assaulted as a child or teen, or at least lived in constant fear of sexual assault.
- Yar has no guardians after the age of 5.
- Yar's little sister, who she protected when Yar was only 5 years old, joined the cadre Yar blames for her parents' deaths.
- Despite being from a failed colony that is not part of the federation--
- Yar became a young, accomplished Starfleet officer (on the friggin FLAGSHIP). Normally, people from outside the Federation can't join Starfleet.
- Yar is a tactical officer, meaning she knows weapons and combat.
- Yar has been noted for multiple acts of extreme bravery and valour, more than is expected of Starfleet officers.
I want to write a story about how violence changes a person. About how cruelty can make you cruel. About how sometimes, the hardest part is *surviving the Peace*. I want to write a story about violence, not a noble Klingon act of bravery or a solution of last resort, but as something that gets woven into your DNA, intertwined with survival instincts that didn't leave time for moral quandries or deliberation. The kind of underhanded, rogue-like violence that will happily take the coward's way out because honour is a luxury for other people, the kind who've grown up in French vinyards. Not for those who've had to claw their way out from the gutter, those who've had to beg, borrow, steal, kill, and who know full well it's important they *never* consider the morality of these actions because surely, if they did, it would all fall apart.
There is a doctor who will die to save a patient. There is a tactical officer who will kill anyone to save herself. And she has.
There is a Klingon warrior who dreams of dyign in battle. There is a tactical officer who knows what death looks like, the stink of it. She knows there is no glory amongst the maggots and rot.
There is a captain who believes humans are, in their hearts, good. There is a tactical officer who knows just how evil humans can be. The kind of cruelty they will exert for survival, sure, but even for amusement. She doesn't get to his optimism. In her world, optimism gets you killed.
There is a ship full of people eager to explore the unknown, reaching out ever further. But there is a tactical officer who isn't exploring, she's running away. She knows that stationary prey is always more vulnerable: you're better off moving. There's safety in that.
I will post the fanfic to Ao3 as I publish chapters, but I will post my notes here, including my thoughts on the underlying themes, and notes about Yar. There may be some spoilers in my notes, but that's the risk you run.