Read on Twitter
There is a trend in fan fiction to make characters and events stick close to established characters and events. Like canonical barnacles. https://twitter.com/quest2046/status/1332320978756661252
When a story takes place is significantly less important than when the story is told. Telling these stories now is about weaving into Star Trek's conception a modern identity and ethos that is more in keeping with the enlightened spirit of the show than the actuality.
I think the true reason for all of these connections is not to draw narrative power from the genesis of the franchise in the past, but to retrofit the genesis of the franchise with the narrative power of connection to now.
Every Trek show is about a group of people saving the world/galaxy/universe from something/ someone, and Discovery is making it clear that their goal is to save Star Trek's best qualities from Star Trek's worst tendencies.
Maybe I'm over thinking it, but I think there's also something very cool about watching these characters get right up close to the furnace of the creation of their reality, and treat it like an everyday gig. Now that they're in the "after", they're going for something deeper.
Oh man, I have so much more but this thread just keeps going. Maybe we should do a podcast episode on this. Maybe a few episodes. @mumbles3k, what do you think?
