#NEELIX'S CRUSH ON TUVOK IS SO REAL

[bumblingbabooshka]

 🗣🚨 YAOI ALERT 🚨🗣 [TEXT: Neelix took a seat next to Tuvok. He hoped the Vulcan would make some comment about his story, but a long silence ensued. Neelix found himself feeling unaccountably nervous, reading into Tuvok's silence a general disapproval - and yet, what could he expect? From the moment they first met, Tuvok had been aloof and judgmental. Nonetheless, his opinion mattered to Neelix, and so, inwardly chastising himself for doing so, he turned to the somber man. "So, Mr. Vulcan...what did you think of my story?" Another silence. Neelix felt himself begin to perspire. Why wasn't Tuvok answering him? Had he embarrassed himself that fully? He felt his heart beating in his chest. "I know I've done some awful things in my life," he stammered, "but I've tried to make up for them. I hope you won't hold what I've told you against me..." He trailed off lamely, his words sounding hollow. Tuvok turned slowly to look at him, his dark visage glistening in the heat of the setting sun. His eyes seemed to pierce Neelix's brain. He stared like that for a full moment before he spoke. "I found it an exceptional story. You have complexities, and courage, I would never have imagined." Neelix couldn't believe what he was hearing - Tuvok was actually complimenting him! He felt a little shiver of pleasure, but he couldn't for the life of him think of anything to say in return...] Source: Pathfinders by Jeri Taylor

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s3 ep16: Blood Fever

Oh my god it's this one!! Somehow I didn't expect it to be this early, either- I remembered it was in season 3 somewhere, but up till now, there's only been the smallest hint of set up for Tom and B'Elanna as a pairing, and then boom! A fuck-or-die episode! Voyager writers really love hitting us with the insane shippy episodes out of nowhere!

I gotta say, my otp having a fuck or die episode is something I will never be able to be normal about. Is it stupid? Yes. Pon farr being contagious is so stupid, but they do their best to make it reasonably plausible- we've got a Vulcan on board who has a crush on B'Elanna- what if he accidentally initiated a telepathic bond with her while he's going through pon farr, and then she got pon farr too? Sure! Let's do that! A fuck or die situation is a perfectly normal way to introduce a pairing for the first time! (It's not, it's crazy, how is this episode even real??)

But actually, it's a smart story device for their characters, considering they both grew up with emotionally unavailable parents, which usually makes people extremely resistant to sharing their true feelings, and more likely to push away the people and things they want most. Putting them into a fuck or die situation was an efficient way to get them to admit they have genuine interest in eachother without dragging it out forever. Up till now, Tom/B'Elanna had barely been a thing, storywise- they're friends, mostly because they're both friends with Harry, so they hang out together sometimes and do occasional projects together. We've had a few instances of Tom casually flirting with B'Elanna, and her just as casually shooting him down, but that's about it. Certainly nothing yet to indicate that either of them had serious feelings toward the other.

So they go on their away mission to gather a mineral they need from some abandoned mines on a jungle planet, wearing even more form fitting uniforms for rock climbing (because of course they have to have tighter clothes for the horny episode). B'Elanna seems to be acting a bit strangely, but she's in charge of the mission, so Tom and Neelix just go with it. Then Neelix's rope breaks as they climb down, and he gets injured, and B'Elanna uncharacteristically yells at him. Tom tells her to chill, but that pisses her off more, she bites Tom on the face, and storms off. (And for those of us who remember our Klingon lore from Next Gen, we know that biting someone on the face is a mating ritual. Imagine your crush admitting they like you, like that. This episode is insane!!)

Somehow, when Tom contacts Voyager to get help for Neelix and tell them what happened, Tuvok figures out that B'Elanna caught Vorik's pon farr. When Tuvok and Chakotay go down to rescue Neelix, Tuvok explains to Tom that B'Elanna now has fuck-or-die syndrome, and they have to find her and get her back to Voyager before she dies. They catch up with her in the cave, but there's a rockslide, and of course, Tom and B'Elanna are trapped alone together. And then we get some of the most insanely hot scenes in all of Star Trek.

I'm the first person to admit that Star Trek is usually terrible at romance, and even worse at sexytimes- I can't think of a single Next Gen ep where a scene that was supposed to be sexy didn't land somewhere between 'meh' and 'I just threw up in my mouth a little bit'. And I love Next Gen! They just didn't know how to be sexy, at all. Somewhere between Next Gen and Voyager, though, they figured it out. We've already had some hints of it with all the Janeway/Chakotay they've been throwing at us, but they really went for it here with B'Elanna and Tom, and it worked.

Robbie McNeill and Roxann Dawson having off-the-charts onscreen chemistry certainly helped, but the writing here actually gave them a lot of layers to work with. There's a very erotically charged scene of a messy haired, tank top clad B'Elanna making overtures to Tom, but because Tom actually is a good person, he refuses to take advantage of B'Elanna having fuck-or-die syndrome, even though he's been trying to hit that for months. So then, to diffuse things, Tom asks B'Elanna if she's telling him he's impossible to resist, and he gives her the smuggest, goofiest grin, which, of course, she can't give him the satisfaction of admitting to. She backs off, and they continue on their trek through the caves, and it's honestly the most adorable thing he could have done, and somehow kind of makes me more insane for them??

Meanwhile, by their next scene, the pon farr is getting worse, so B'Elanna tries again with Tom, and this scene has lived in my head rent free ever since. It manages to be sensuous, and tender, and incredibly sexy, all at the same time. It's beautifully shot- the lighting is gorgeous and atmospheric, with the flashlights on their wrists providing beams of light that dance around their faces, and catch the dust swirling in the air around them. The camera is very close to them, they're sweaty and breathing heavily, they're looking into each other's eyes, finally admitting how attracted they are to each other, touching each other so softly, as they flit between holding back and giving in- the music swells when they kiss, and it's just... hot, hot stuff. A+, 10/10, no notes.

And then the kicker, that makes all of it not only unbearable sexy, but unbearably angsty- when B'Elanna tells him she wants him, he looks sad, and says he hopes she'll say that to him and mean it one day- and we realize that a) he doesn't believe that she actually likes him back and b) this sad motherfucker is in love with her, and doesn't want their first time to be a fuck or die, he wants it to be special and meaningful. Oh my goddd. These writers are sadists, and they wanted us not only to ship it, but to suffer for it. And it worked!!! I did!!! Almost three goddamn decades later and these idiots are still my Star Trek otp!!! How?! In one episode?! One scene?! Diabolical!!! Thank god they were endgame, because this was torture!!!

So anyway, that was obviously not what B'Elanna wanted to hear in that moment, and she pushes him away angrily- the mood is ruined, which was what he wanted, but it also makes them both miserable. Thanks I hate it!!! I'm totally invested, after only one episode, yet again!!!

So then Chakotay and Tuvok find them and bring them back to the jungle, but they can't make contact with Voyager, so Tuvok basically orders Tom to go have sex with B'Elanna so she doesn't die before they can get her to sickbay. Tom agrees, but he's the literal worst about it - B'Elanna is all over him, and he says he doesn't know what to do. Are you kidding?? Thomas Eugene 'I lost my virginity at 17 and I have to tell everyone about it' Paris, that is a lie. Shut up. Kiss her back, you spineless weasel. He does finally get over the morality police in his head, and realize it's probably okay to have sex with someone you like who likes you, especially if doing so will literally save their life. But by the time he figures this out, it's too late- Vorik beams down, and challenges him to ritual combat over B'Elanna, which challenge Tom accepts, but B'Elanna chooses herself as her own champion (iconic tbh) and she beats the crap out of Vorik (he's okay though), which resolves both their pon farr symptoms.

We then cut back to the ship, where a few days have passed, and Tom and B'Elanna awkwardly find themselves in a turbolift together. After a minute of not being able to make eye contact, Tom comes out and says they have to talk about it, but B'Elanna sidesteps the whole thing by telling him she didn't mean anything she said while they were on the planet, so it's all fine. Tom is disappointed, and he tells her that if she was worried about her scary Klingon side showing, he didn't think it was scary, and he wouldn't mind seeing it again. She surprises him by telling him to be careful what he wishes for as she walks away, and it's an unmistakably flirty overture. Ship officially established! I'm gonna be insane about it forever!!!

Oh, and then the very last scene is Janeway and Chakotay finding a goddamn dead Borg on the planet, because of course we can't just have nice things like no recurring villains for any stretch of damn time, can we?! (I hate literally all of Voyager's recurring villains, especially the Borg, and feel that the show's best episodes are always with one-off villains, but here we are. Sigh.)

But the Borg aren't the point of this episode, my otp is. Even when I was too young to appreciate how sexy this whole thing was, the chemistry Tom and B'Elanna have together was still obvious, and I've shipped it ever since. And they actually developed it!!! This episode is historic just by virtue of being the start of an actual, canon romance between two lead characters that actually got developed and paid off, which was a Star Trek first back then. Sometimes I'm not sure what's hotter- this episode, or all the character development they gave them later, lol. But the bottom line is that I'm 100% here for it. Sorry not sorry for the annoying shipper I'm going to become as the series progresses. Two of my faves actually got together in canon, no one can be expected to be normal about that!

Tl;dr: Another insanely shippy episode dropped on us from out of nowhere, that unexpectedly delivers some well thought out character scenes that make it work. A sizzling start to Tom and B'Elanna's romantic arc, which develops through the rest of the series. A tropey, but well crafted, work of horny, horny art.

[isagrimorie]

Seven of Nine (I haven’t actually seen Voyager but I have read some of the novelisations and your meta posts are so good!)

for this ask game

Headcanon A:  realistic

Seven of Nine still prefer standing to sitting, especially when she's alone. But she spends a lot of time with other people she's trained her body to be comfortable with it.

But sometimes, especially in the days when she still had La Sirena and more space than she had in her tiny Ranger ship -- Emmet would find her just standing, especially the days when she needs to regenerate.

Seven finds it... comforting.

Seven can stand as still as a statute for long periods and even regulate her breathing to a standstill. On occasion, this has helped Seven in many occasions and caught various quarry this way.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

Seven of Nine is still the bane of Chief Engineers everywhere and it's worse now that she's the Captain of her very own shiny Federation Starship.

Because if she's not at the conn, ready room, or mysteriously at the First Officer's quarters.

She is climbing into Jeffries tubes scaring the hell out of the Engineering staff. Or in Engineering, she's not not micro-managing, Commodore B'Elenna Torres stops by and the Chief Engineer subtly asks how to handle Captain Seven when she's Always Around.

B'Elenna only smirks at this information and says she'll talk to Seven.

B'Elenna does talk to Seven and threatens she'll stop helping with the tanswarp/slipstream drives if Seven doesn't stop trying to out-engineer the engineers. And it works, for a while. Before they leave Space Dock, the Chief Engineer receives 2 casks of Blood Wine. The real stuff.

It's gonna be a long shakedown.

B'Elenna is just smirking. Someone else will now know how it was like working with Seven— equal measure infuriating and rewarding.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

There are things and people Seven misses after she leaves Earth and joins the Fenris Rangers fully --

Her Voyager family, the smell of coffee constantly permeating the Bridge and Janeway's Ready Room. (This is why Seven starts drinking coffee— not because she enjoyed it at first, it’s because she missed the sense memory of Coffee and by its presence, Janeway).

Her ability to call Neelix whenever it was needed. The Doctor and his many long-winded lessons, that she found out, he only just learned.

Naomi Wildman. Tuvok. Janeway.

She kept in regular contact helped by Icheb.

But the moment Icheb died all those connections she kept up slipped away.

She missed all of them but Seven committed to her life as a Fenris Ranger, even more, she committed to finding Icheb's killer and everyone responsible for Icheb being stripped for parts.

Seven knew Janeway and Tuvok would not approve and they would be obligated to stop her. So, Seven took herself out of the equation.

But, in the grand scheme of things, the thing she missed most and took for granted was the regular maintenance checks with the Doctor.

Seven doesn't let it show but she's had residual pain in her shoulder and joints and low-grade headache. Sometimes Regeneration helps but it doesn't solve all the things that ail. Seven tries to do regular maintenance on her cybernetic parts but the internal ones she can't reach are harder to do.

This was resolved when she was finally allowed access to Starfleet resources -- and among them, the EMH. I'm sure the Doctor tried to, over the years, contact Seven but via the virtue of Seven's revenge crusade and guilt, I don't think Seven allowed herself to be contacted.

So for over 20 years, before she was in regular contact with Starfleet she's felt residual, chronic pain.

And even with the Doctor's help some things are hard to reverse, so Seven still has some phantom pain, especially when she hasn't regenerated in days.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

Her eyes can glow. Just like a predatory animal could, in the dark. Seven just chooses not to, even her natural eye, which also had enhancements -- since we see from Voyager that Seven's view of the world is very much like a heads-up display with a green filter.

It's also why she has trouble identifying when something is glowing green because Seven's default view of the world is filtered in Borg green.

Seven calibrated her eyes when, the one time Neelix entered her Cargo Bay, in the early days, she opened her eyes and observed him puttering about but didn't say anything.

Until Neelix turned around and screamed so loud it brought on the security team.

But she could. If she wanted to, make her eyes glow, she could see much better in the dark too.

Seven learned a long time ago that people need her to act as flawed and as Human.

Many in the Alpha Quadrant forget that ex-Borg can be terrifying, and Seven helps them try to forget the Borg can be terrifying.

But sometimes... it can be useful.

/edited

[smilesobrien]

what about tuvok/neelix as a starting one? or maybe b7? for the ship meme <:}

ohoho hell YES... u get both. as a special treat <3 as you read these, do bear in mind the caveat that im one of those bitches who's really fast and loose with canon. with that in mind, tuvok/neelix first:

as far as 'they're exes' goes, i must clarify that i take the messy view of the voy dating scene... neelix has dated half the ship if u ask me. he's on-again-off-again with tuvok and he's always having rebound flings and relationships that last until tuvok starts paying attention to him again. in my head LMAO

my toxic trait is that i almost ticked 'they're fucking the same guy' and that guy? is JANEWAY. i only didn't because neither of them is fucking her. STUPID THING TO SAY LOL but she's like. chronically unfuckable. neelix definitely has a lil crush & tuvok has a COMPLEX psychological thing with her but actual sex is not happening,

(also she's too busy with the marriage ->divorce loop she has going with chakotay)

fated enemies is mostly ticked as a joke but i do enjoy it in a like, tsundere kind of way? 😂 it's so anime.

as to the kind of relationship i don't think there's a word for it. dearest @bumblingbabooshka once said 'hatedate' and i think that's a legit translation for the concept as it stands in vulcan and talaxian culture.

also, this isn't specifically about any one entry on tha board, but i have to add a caveat: this is NEVER a 'tuvok leaves his wife' thing. he's a wife guy to the core... and also i don't think either of them would be happy if they were each other's only date. what im saying is the REAL endgame is t'pel/tuvok/neelix triad

ahem ahem. moving on i say... b7 time

you will note i don't have as many things ticked as for the previous but that's at least 50% bcuz i'm still sorting out my feelings abrat them. rotating them in my mind...

(side note, the homestar runner wiki has relationship pages where they list every single interaction between characters, categorized by friendship/conflict/working together... the point of this aside is that i REALLY WISH we had that for trek as well. i just know the b7 page would be complicated as hell).

i think they have potential to be extremely goofy & dorky but also to be grim & gritty but also to be fleetwood mac levels of divorced. they contain multitudes....

to conclude.

[clementine-kesh]

#SNRKEHEHEHE SO REAL #& Neelix would be SO cheerfully smug about it ... <3 #Neelix would be like 'oh!!! I'm sorry I didn't know you felt for Tuvok - it must be painful... like genuinely concerned #But then Tom would respond defensively all snappy like 'I just don't see what he sees in you. No offense. #and Neelix would be like annoyance mode engaged] 'NONE taken!!!' * it has been taken. And it will be doled out accordingly. #Tom vs Neelix x Tuvok is that 'Hello??? HR???' meme #when Neelix annoys him Tuvok is drawn in...this is the right kind of infuriating. He's gonna think about it. It's gonna stew. #When Tom annoys him there's no spark. #Tom changes his holoprograms in an attempt to get Tuvok's attention and he gets it but Tuvok's just like 'stop that. -_-' then leaves #Tom's weird one sided psychosexual crush on Tuvok is also so real to me...Tuvok is a good dad and a good husband and for some reason #this makes Tom so interested in him. This is also why he keeps trying to get Tuvok to cheat on his wife. It's the Harry Kim thing. #Tom loves sex via proxy and infidelity - they go hand in hand to him and they are both his hands #Tuvok also (SORT OF is another version of umm some ideal? Like how Harry is the Ideal Starfleet Officer #Tuvok was a rebel with fatherly strife much like Tom as a teenager - was forced into Starfleet bc of his parents' wishes and disappointed #them by not doing well within it. However unlike Tom - Tuvok was able to come back to the system and thrive. Was able to become a good #father and a loyal husband and I do think part of Tom would kind of hate that. He'd probably think somewhere in the back of his mind: 'That #can't be real. He can't really be this loyal - this good. It's not possible.' # This would bother Tom even more if Tuvok were human #oh my god I left way too many tags & I don't think I even made sense #If Tom learned that Tuvok has a fine relationship with his father after the whole banishing thing he'd he SO mad and he wouldn't even be #able to articulate why

perfect tags as always via @bumblingbabooshka

one-sided tom/tuvok is so real to me i think tom has some insane psychosexual daddy issues he’s projecting on canon good dad who loves his kids tuvok but at the same time tuvok would literally rather die than fuck tom. this also means that when tom catches neelix and tuvok making out he gets so salty about it because he thinks he’s way hotter than neelix and doesn’t understand why tuvok would go for that goofy little hamster over him

[ieattaperecorders]

I’m seeing a lot of TMA Star Trek AU on my dash, and it seems largely TOS-based. I love TOS, but allow me to propose: Star Trek Voyager AU.

The crew in Voyager aren’t on a scientific mission, they’re survivors lost 70,000 light years from Earth. It’s campy fun Star Trek stuff, but instead of having the resources and support of the Federation, the crew is alone - trying to get back to known space, forced to depend on one another. Found Family ensues harder than you can possibly imagine. 

Captain Sasha James!! Janeway is capable, cool-headed and good at managing the crew on a personal level, but it’s hard to really know her. The pressures of her role mean she wears masks even with people she cares for, which fits Sasha perfectly. 

I’m inclined to put Tim as her First Officer – it’s a good role for him, and the Captain and First Officer must be a dynamic duo. Science Officer works for Jon, though with the reduced crew and vulnerable situation, he might end up with multiple roles. I like the idea of Martin as medic (and I’ll get more into that later, because oh boy.) Georgie can take Neelix’s role, (though she refuses to stop saying that the Admiral is the official Morale Officer and she just interprets for him.)

Half Klingon Melanie King!! Half Klingon Melanie King struggling with anger issues and frustrated with people who define her by them!! Who had to push and fight to keep from being dismissed because of her heritage!! Half Klingon Head of Engineering Melanie King!! 

THE BORG. THE BORG, GUYS. Think of the possibilities that threat could present to these characters.

Danny Stoker was assimilated by the Borg. It was Tim’s motivation to join Starfleet. He refuses to talk about it until the day the crew is cornered in Borg-occupied space and makes contact with a drone that bears a disturbing resemblance to him. 

(Danny Stoker as Seven of Nine and, like, twelve paragraphs of JonMartin under the cut.)

Tense standoffs ensue and the crew escapes with the Danny-drone still on their ship. Sasha (the only one Tim told about his brother) makes the risky call to subdue him and sever his link to the Collective rather than killing him.

Now Tim has the brother that he thought was gone forever, but he’s profoundly changed. He doesn’t seem like the Danny he remembers, he might even be a threat. Meanwhile Danny is lost without the Collective, struggling with the idea of individuality as well as his memories/emotions regarding Tim. 

They have to negotiate around both their traumas if they want to heal and recover, but at least they have a chance to know each other again. (And the rest of the crew helps.)

Now, the chief medical officer on Voyager is a hologram - intended to be turned on only in emergencies, but left running nearly all the time due to the lack of medical staff. Over time his personality expands beyond his original programming, the others start treating him less like a computer program and more like a member of the crew, and friendships eventually develop. (It’s one of those “am I a person? What does it mean to be a person?” stories. Voyager has a lot of that.)

There’s two directions I could see that going. One is Helen/Michael slots into the role. (Either or both, who says the Emergency Medical Hologram doesn’t have two interfaces?) Personality-wise they’ve got the campy smugness, and the whole “am I a who or a what?” thing works super well. I mentioned Martin as a medic and the idea of him having to put up with Helen’s bullshit/getting to irritably banter with Helen is very good.

BUT ALTERNATELY, Martin is the medical hologram. Instead of leaning into the “inhumanity” angle, we lean into the angle of being initially overlooked/not seen as one of the crew, then slowly making meaningful connections. (Can squeeze in a “self-worth outside of what you do for others” character arc too.) 

Jon is for sure the first one to treat Martin like a person. It’s a reversal of S1 Jon being an ass to him, but it feels appropriate for Jon - who can sympathize with creatures that aren’t human, even when others don’t. There’s another fun parallel - in canon, Martin continues to treat Jon like a person even as he becomes less and less human. Here, Jon treats Martin like a person from the beginning and he becomes more and more of one.

Plus, come on, think of all the “Jon gets injured and Martin has to overclock himself/push past his intended limits to save his life” scenarios. Think of Martin getting a crush on Jon early because he’s Nice To Him, panicking and trying to hide it. Think of Emergency Medical Hologram Martin taking an interest in poetry instead of opera.

The Lonely may not exist in this AU but I bet being turned off feels a lot like it : (

I like Vulcan/half Vulcan Jon, so we can slot him there. (He’s not a parallel for Tuvok, that wouldn’t fit - he’s just Jon and he’s Spock and he’s on Voyager and you’re all going to have to deal with it. Besides, “half Vulcan/caught between two worlds/struggling with the concept of Emotions” is so good for Jon.)

Now mix half Vulcan Jon in with Hologram Martin and imagine the pining. IMAGINE IT.

Jon refuses to accept he has feelings at all, let alone romantic feelings for someone else. And Martin? He isn’t even sure he’s capable of love, if what he’s feeling is real or some flaw in his programming.  Jon’s nice enough to him – sometimes Martin thinks he even sees him as a friend, but surely there are limits? The absurdity of a holomatter projection thinking that it’s in love with him must be too much for even Jon to indulge.

They’ll get there after four or five seasons of mutual longing, of course. Probably in some intensely dramatic circumstance. 

In fact, that’s a thought - something something backup drive holding Martin’s personality is stuck on a planet that’s incredibly toxic. (Maybe filled with poisonous fog because, of course, gotta keep the aesthetic.) Something something Vulcan physiology, Jon is the only one who can survive on the surface long enough to get it. 

He has Martin’s mobile emitter with him while he goes after the drive, and the whole time Martin is trying to convince him to stop. It’s too dangerous, the planet is killing him, Martin’s given up on himself but he doesn’t want Jon to die too.

“You don’t have to do this, the default program for me is still on the ship, it can be reset.” 

“That is not you. Your personality, your experiences, everything you’ve gained over these years would be lost.” 

“But it has all my medical knowledge. It can do my job just as well, you’ll still have a doctor - -” 

*losing all pretense of a Calm Vulcan Exterior* “I did not come here to retrieve our doctor, I came to get you back, and I am not leaving without you!!”

(Of course they get back safely and Jon immediately collapses upon returning to the ship, then it’s Martin’s turn to make sure he doesn’t die.)

Also it’s Star Trek so holograms can be solid, they’ll get those fabric rustles in don’t worry.

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, Ch. 23

While the computer was running its diagnostic on the alien device, B'Elanna Torres had snuck away to the mess hall to grab a ration pack for lunch. Well maybe she hadn't really snuck away; Captain Janeway had after all given her permission to take a small break. But it sure felt like sneaking away, with Michael breathing down her neck wanting to know every little thing that came up about the device. Snatching a ration pack up she went to join a Bajoran, by the name of Seska, who was sitting at a table in the middle of the room.

"I didn't think Janeway was ever going to let you leave the bridge," Seska drawled with that sly grin of hers as B'Elanna took a seat.

B'Elanna shrugged her shoulders. "I think she felt bad that her kid was watching over everything I did. Anyways I don't have a lot of time. I need to get back up there to finish working on that device that Chakotay brought back from the planetoid."

"If you ask me this is a waste of time," Seska replied, pushing her empty ration pack to the side. "We shouldn't be chasing after any aliens that like to harvest organs. It could end up getting us all killed."

"Neelix could die if we don't track them down," B'Elanna said, slightly shocked by her friend's cold tone.

It was Seska's turn to shrug her tiny shoulders. "The Doctor has kept him alive this long; that's better than most people can say if they had just had their lungs stolen."

"And what if it was Chakotay that had been attacked? Or Harry? Would you feel the same way?"

"Of course. Neelix should be counting his blessings while the rest of us get to the real work of finding dilithium to help the power shortage," Seska answered, her dark eyes studying B'Elanna's face. "You don't actually agree with Janeway's decision to go chasing after these aliens do you?"

B'Elanna averted her eyes. "To tell you the truth, I think it's rather noble."

Seska scoffed. "One noble deed doesn't make up for her selfish decision to strand us here."

The hatred for Janeway that was laced in Seska's voice was not lost on B'Elanna and the young Klingon woman suddenly found that she was not hungry anymore. Pushing the tray away from her, she looked her friend, or someone she had once regarded as a friend, in the eye. "Seska, I know it hasn't been easy the past month, adjusting to life on a Starfleet ship, but believe me when I say that Captain Janeway has the best intentions of this entire crew at heart."

"You didn't think that way a month ago," Seska pointed out.

B'Elanna shook her head. "No, I didn't. But the past few weeks I've worked closely with her and my opinion has changed. If we had used the array to get home, there would have been people back in the Alpha Quadrant who thought her decision to sacrifice the Ocampa selfish. Either way, she couldn't win."

Seska got up from the table angrily. "You're starting to sound like all those delusional Starfleet idiots."

The Chief Engineer watched as the Bajoran left the table and stalked out of the mess hall. B'Elanna wasn't sure why Seska was having the hardest adjustment out of them all. Perhaps she felt like she had been slighted by Janeway when she wasn't given a higher rank, after all, she was Chakotay's former lover. And then there was B'Elanna's promotion to chief engineer. It was never spoken between the two, but B'Elanna knew that Seska was jealous of her friend's promotion and the trust that Janeway put in her. She also knew that Seska wasn't too keen on all time the B'Elanna had taken to hanging out with Harry Kim in the mess hall or for a stroll on the holodeck. But Harry had been the only one nice to her, on the Starfleet side that is, for their first few days, and she was grateful for that.

It wasn't her fault that she was sliding into fit with the crew and Seska was struggling. She just needs to make friends outside of the Maquis, that's all. 

B'Elanna decided that the next time Harry joined her for dinner she was going to ask Seska to join them. She was sure that Harry would be friendly and make an attempt to befriend Seska no matter how unreceptive Seska seemed.

Speaking of Harry, B'Elanna was sure that Janeway had given him a fifteen minute break to eat something as well. Maybe she had missed him when she had first come in the room. Glancing around she soon found that it had been easy to miss him. He was seated at a corner table with Sarah Barrett. B'Elanna instantly felt…jealousy.

She was shocked by this, at first. There was nothing romantically going on between her and Harry so she shouldn't be bothered if there was something between him and the counselor. But then she remembered Elle Platt, back from her Academy days. Elle had the same dark, coffee brown hair as Sarah, same enticing sapphire eyes. B'Elanna had thought Elle had been her friend and had told her about her crush on one of their classmates. They never spoke of it again, until B'Elanna had seen Elle with her crush, cuddling on the lawn one warm afternoon. Elle later told her some story about wanting to keep B'Elanna safe because she only would have been hurt, that her crush never would have dated a half Klingon.

B'Elanna, who had always resented human girls, with their silky locks of hair, and smooth foreheads, had shortly left the Academy after that. So was it this fact that Sarah looked so much like Elle that she was jealous of the time she spent with Harry? And if she ever did want to be more than Harry's friend, how could she compete with the perfection that Sarah was?

She was shocked at this realization. Being more than Harry's friend? He was Starfleet, a nice guy, but still Starfleet. Well what's so wrong with that? They had been through so much together on the Ocampa home world, she had connected with him in a way that she had yet to connect to anyone else on the ship, with maybe the exception of Chakotay. And that's when her emotions switched to jealousy to downright anger.

Sarah could have any man she wanted on this ship, with the bat of her pretty little eyelashes, why was she with Harry? Good, even Tom Paris was eating out of the palm of her hand and she had taken the one guy that B'Elanna actually felt…feelings towards. It figures the one nice guy on this ship— 

"Seat taken?"

B'Elanna glanced up to see Tom Paris. She shook her head. "No."

He sat down and dropped his ration pack tray in front of him. His grayish eyes looked up to see what she was looking at and he frowned.

This peaked her curiosity even more. Was Tom's feelings about Sarah more than just wanting a date? B'Elanna suddenly didn't feel so bad that she was not the only one who was jealous on this ship. "Something wrong with the view?" she teased.

Tom only frowned more as Harry and Sarah got up and left the mess hall together, laughing about something. "No, nothing's wrong with the view."

"If I didn't know you any better Paris, I'd say you were jealous," she continued teasing getting up from the table and going to recycle her tray. It was time to get back to working on the alien device and the diagnostic. She would have to push thoughts of Harry aside until further notice.

However, the thoughts of Harry and Sarah eating lunch together, sharing a laugh, just would not escape her no matter how hard she tried to get her work done. Michael Janeway was still standing over her shoulder, soaking in every last bit of information that the computer was coming up with. If that kept up he could his mother the report and B'Elanna could return to engineering where her real work was.

Mindlessly drumming her fingers on the console she noticed Tuvok raise an eyebrow. "Does that form of activity make the computer scan faster?" the Vulcan questioned her.

"No, but it keeps me occupied while we wait." The doors of the bridge swishing open brought her attention about and Paris strode back onto the bridge, no trace of the frown he had worn in the mess hall. How can he let it go so easily? Oh, that's right, he's a pig. He probably has another love interest lined up behind Sarah and the Delaney sisters.

The computer beeping brought her attention about. "Captain," she called out, getting Janeway's attention. "We've completed our diagnostic on the alien device."

Janeway strode over to join the group, which was an odd mix when you really thought about it; a Vulcan, a five year old human boy, and a half Klingon. "What have you got?"

"It appears to be more than a weapon," B'Elanna reported. "It's also a very sophisticated medical scanner and surgical instrument."

"From what we can tell," Tuvok said, handing the device to Janeway, "it uses a neural resonator to stun the victim while a quantum imaging scanner begins a microcellular analysis of the entire body.

"The amount of information this thing can gather puts a tricorder to shame," B'Elanna continued. "You fire this at someone you learn everything about their anatomy, right down to their DNA sequencing."

Janeway turned the device over in her hands. "So we're dealing with aliens who've developed a technology specifically designed for extracting organs from other beings. The question is…why?" Chakotay demanded her attention and she mindlessly put the device down onto the science console.

"The alien ship has dropped out of warp," the first officer reported. "It's approaching a large asteroid."

The captain went to stand on the command station next to Lieutenant Barrett while Tuvok took his own station. "On screen."

"It's entered the asteroid captain," Paris reported.

"Hold position."

There were very little options that Janeway had at this moment. She could either take the ship into the asteroid if it was wide enough or she could try to flush the aliens out some how. But that could take hours, and Neelix didn't have hours. Even though the Doctor had come up with a solution for the time being, no one really knew how long he could survive using holographic lungs, not to mention that if ship's system ever went down and the emitters went off line, Neelix would die.

"MICHAEL!"

The shear volume of Lieutenant Barrett's voice startled everyone on that bridge and all eyes snapped about looking for the child.

The boy was standing at the door to the ready room and immediately Janeway could see that he had the alien device clutched in his little hands. The captain had moved the baby into the ready room so she could comfortably nap and she had no doubt that her son was about to test the device out on his baby sister. How could I be so careless with something that dangerous around? She hadn't even seen Michael move from his spot near the science station, for that matter, neither had B'Elanna. Michael was terribly clever, a trait that Janeway knew had been inherited from her; he could easily slip away from baby sitters, his mother, etc.

So how had Sarah seen it?

Michael looked sheepishly up at his mother. "I just wanted to see Ava's DNA."

His mother gestured that he give her the device back and he complied.

"Sit there," Janeway instructed, pointing to her chair.

Chakotay cleared his throat while the boy did as he was told. "Uh, Captain, we've determined the asteroid is man made."

Fascinating. What's even more fascinating that Sarah knew Michael had that device; another question for another time, perhaps. 

"I think I've located where the alien ship entered the asteroid, Captain," Paris was saying bringing their attention about to the situation at hand. "There's an open crater on the limb of the asteroid."

"Let's see it," Chakotay ordered and the viewscreen changed from the image of the asteroid to the opening that Paris had found.

Janeway crossed her arms over her chest. "How large is that crater, Mister Paris?"

"Two hundred meters in diameter."

"Captain," Tuvok cautioned. "May I suggest that you consider carefully what you're about to do?"

"How do you know what I'm about to do?" Janeway asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Tuvok.

"I could describe you in detail the psychological observations I have made of you over the past four years," Tuvok answered, calmly. "Which lead me to conclude that you are about to take this ship into the asteroid, but suffice it to say, I know you quite well."

"One of these days, I'm going to surprise you Tuvok," she replied, with a wry grin. "But not today."

Janeway moved back into the command station and briefly looked at her counselor. "I've already consider other options. If Neelix has any chance of surviving, we have to act fast. Red Alert. Mister Paris lay in a course. Mister Tuvok maximum shields, phasers at the ready."

The Captain turned about in the command station and looked hotly at Michael, "And you stay right there and don't touch anything."

"Yes ma'am."

Voyager glided into the asteroid while Janeway made her way down the command steps to stand next to Chakotay and behind Paris. Her eyes watched the screen intently as the cavern's walls began to narrow.

"Captain," Paris said. "I'm reducing power to the aft-thrusters only. This passageway is getting a little too narrow for my taste."

"Use your discretion Mister Paris," Janeway replied, turning towards Tuvok. "Any sign of the alien ship, Commander?"

"We're still following the ion trail," Tuvok answered, "but electromagnetic interference is limiting our sensor range. I'm only able to scan five hundred meters a head of us."

Chakotay asked the next question. "Are there any indications we're being scanned or probed Mister Kim."

"Not yet."

"Sick bay to Bridge. May I enlist the services of Counselor Barrett please?"

Janeway glanced up at the lieutenant. Was it her imagination or did the Doctor sound anxious? "Certainly Doctor, she's on her way, Janeway out." For a moment the women made eye contact. "You heard the Doctor, he needs your help, we're just going to have to handle first contact without you."

[blue-mint-winter]

ST Voy s2e4 The Swarm

Paris and B’Elanna talk about her lack of love life and he kind of calls her a monk and stereotypes Klingons as promiscuous? Doesn’t he know for Klingons sex and love is a serious business? Or was it only for Worf? I’m a little confused here. Anyway, B’Elanna isn’t interested, probably because she still has a weird crush on Chakotay?

Half of the episode is the ship trespassing through an alien race’s territory against Starfleet regulations. The universal translator can’t tranlate the aliens language, but the warnings they gave were pretty clear and even Neelix says they shouldn’t go there because anyone who ever returned was braindead. I don’t understand why Janeway who normally upholds Federation rules, this time decides to trespass just because it will shorten their journey back. I could understand it if she was expecting to find something in that sector that would help them get back quicker, but that wasn’t the case. Really weird choice for her character.

The other half of the ep is about Doctor losing his memory because he was running for 2 years and needs a reboot. Kes argues for saving him, so he will remember them. The diagnostic holoprogram of dr Zimmerman is used to fix Doctor’s memory problem.

The whole part with Kes fighting for Doctor and how he forgot her eventually seems similar to the struggle of people who have Alzheimer’s disease and their families. It’s just really sad. Of course, in scifi this can have a happy end, in real life it can’t. :(

s2e5 False Profits

Voyager finds an unstable wormhole that can take them back to the Alpha Quadrant. It’s the same wormhole from that TNG episode!

They also find 2 Ferengi from that ep exploiting people on a local planet and pretending to be their Sages from a song.

Janeway makes up a clever reasoning that allows them to intervene on th planet. Even Tuvok agrees with her logic!

Neelix was great pretending to be the Grand Proxy of Grand Nagus lol.

These two Ferengi turned out to be good with swords and gutsy! Quark, take notes!

Love how the locals literally jumped on the chance to get rid of their Sages, lol.

I can’t believe Ferengi were smart enough to cause so much trouble and headache to the crew and then they even got sent home, but Voyager is still stuck in Delta Quadrant and can’t use that wormhole again!

I guess Voyager crew did their civic duty, but they were losers in the end. The show must go on.

[thewriting-dragon]

That is exactly what I would choose. Here's a non-librarians one Janeway, Tuvok, and B'Elanna.

Coolio and sorry I finally got to this cause I got off from work and things:

get randomly assigned as your lab partner for a whole semester

B’Elanna. Again hella best partner for science things. We’d be the bomb students and all our projects would hopefully not explode.

get trapped with on a broken elevator for ten hours

Janeway. Okay let's be real here. I wanna be trapped in a place with Janeway for ten hours so I can try to win her over. Because To be completely honest with everyone Kate Mulgrew is like my ultimate celebrity Crush and will always be. But Janeway is my fictional character crush and luckily was played by Kate Mulgrew so it's an all around win and also hell for Erin when it involves those women.

get as my employee trainer for my new job at McDonalds

Tuvok. This one was tough because both him and Janeway would be good trainers but Tuvok one purely because he was said to have been a Starfleet Academy teacher once before so I think he’d be the best option in a trainer roll. Also it would be like him having a new version of Nelix to deal with because lets be real here, if I am any one ST character it is Neelix off ST Voy

[bumblingbabooshka]

read ur tuvok x neelix fic. how does it feel to Fully Understand romance

HEHEHE this ask made me laugh. Uhhhhm it feels great. I'm gonna try to fully understand math next.

[smilesobrien]

as promised- further chatter abrat hypothetical neelix dating sim

-b'elanna route would be the 'bad girl with a heart of gold' type thing and YES that is a completely different thing to tsundere route

-if you'll excuse the salt about voy's writing it would dig into how she's not actually that aggressive, she's just PERCEIVED as such automatically ftom being half klingon... and then ofc when ppl are liek ugh why are u so aggro 🙄 it's really hard to NOT respond angrily... so it's a self fulfilling prophecy... haha!!

-and err to relate it back to neelix since this IS his hypothetical dating sim after all... i think him being delta quadrant might mean he doesn't have those preconceived notions so he's able to see the mismatch between that and reality and thereby romance her...

-tbh i would probably make seven unromanceable since she's too swaggy for him. every dating sim needs a character who's just too swagful to date. she's doing beautiful lesbianisms as a side plot...

-kes route is mainly so hard since she liek. ascends to a higher form sksksk. and neelix didn't do that... i think her ending might get a bit esoteric, like perhaps you ascend too (SOMEHOW. do not arsk me) and become a sort of kesneelix being? lol

-emh route has a total slap slap kiss dynamic. not my fav thing ever but i kno ppl like it so that's for those folks i guess

-'but you literally like tuvok/neelix??' it's DIFFERENT i tells you it's DIFFERENT!!!! tuvok is tsundere the emh is just a bitch. i luv him for it but there is a DIFFERENCE,

-anywayz, tuvok route has the potential to get REAL WEIRD. remember the whole tuvix thing. well what if when u get closer to tuvok in tha game it unlocks a psychic bond and he shows u memories. what then!!

-janeway route. well i like it when neelix is talking to janeway in that trying to impress my crush way hehe. so i think the dynamic would be that he's like her little purse dog lol. i ran outta steam here but i hope u all enjoyed...

[bumblingbabooshka]

What if right after Tuvok woke up from his lil coma in “Riddles” he saw all the flowers and what to him must seem like gifts? adornments? around him and heard from the doctor how Neelix had been by his side every day he was unconscious and immediately assumed Neelix was his husband? What then?

Picturing that Tuvok’s wife guy instincts never go away so he remembers vaguely that he loves someone very much and this man is kind and cares for him and has given him all these beautiful things which Tuvok likes .... this must be the person he loves! Good v_v Also if you wanna really get into it - what if Tuvix factors into this in that Tuvok can remember (after touching Neelix in some way which he seems eager to do in ‘Riddles’, touching things in general I mean) Neelix’s crush on him which he definitely has and just assumes he must feel the same way since he does love someone quite fiercely and it doesn’t seem like anyone else is paying quite so much attention to him. I imagine that after ‘Tuvix’ Tuvok knows Neelix had/has a crush on him (it’s on and off but also constant) but they never talk about it because Tuvok would never want to talk about it and if Neelix coyly asked if he knew he’d avoid the question and if Neelix asked outright he’d straight up lie. So I’m picturing in ‘Riddles’ Tuvok talks about Neelix a lot while being treated and the doctor is amused, saying he never used to speak so highly of him and Tuvok’s horrified...he’s like !? What kind of husband was I??? And the doctor would spit out a drink if he had one.  Then he helps Tuvok access his personnel file bc he won’t believe he and Neelix aren’t married. He has a /wife/?? Where is she?? Why isn’t she on the ship?? Huh?? (the horrors, the unending horrors. He has to be sedated because of the horrors, sorrow, etc.) Neelix chuckles when Tuvok tells him the anecdote (minus the horrors) and is like why did you think we were married?? And Tuvok points out the flowers, how kind he is, how he was his only visitor, how he played his favorite music and gave him gifts and stayed/stays by his side always and knows so much about him and - ( “O K ay that’s enough~!” ) - and the fact that Neelix harbors romantic feelings towards him. Neelix stares in absolute shock. “I’m sorry. Was that secret?” “H ow....why do you think that?” Tuvok explains that he can sometimes...feel things when he touches people. And sometimes even...see, things? And when he touched Neelix he remembered seeing...himself! For the first time and thinking he was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen. (Which is my personal Neelix-has-a-Tuvok-crush headcanon. He saw him and IMMEDIATELY got a crush on him. Handsome alien who gives him water!) Neelix kind of wants to throw himself into a hole but he’s like “o ohh...haha. yes w ell. Me and you aren’t even...friends...so.” Tuvok frowns and gently pats Neelix’s hands and says it...hurts, when you cannot be with the one you love. He says he cannot even remember who T’Pel was, and yet he yearns for her. He doesn’t know which is worse - a love agonizingly close or a love unfathomably far away - both, for all intents and purposes, unrequited. Neelix says that T’Pel still loves him! And Neelix’s little crush isn’t even half as important as the love between Tuvok and T’pel. Tuvok blinks at him sadly and says there are many different types of love. Then he kisses Neelix’s forehead (not the Vulcan way) and thanks him for being so attentive and kind despite how it isn’t returned by the other Tuvok. The favor or his feelings. Also to be so real with you someone left a comment to the effect of ‘What if Tuvok thought Neelix was his husband in riddles’ but what REALLY spurned this on???? If we can be SO painfully real for a second??? Was hearing the song “Once Upon a Dream” which I’d NEVER heard before and my dumb ass’s first thought was wooow just like Tuvok @ Neelix in that riddles episode. SO THERE. “But if I know you, I know what you’ll do...you’ll love me at once! The way you did once upon a dream...” <- Tuvok remembering Neelix’s big stupid crush on him that he found out about when they were Tuvix and subsequently buried