#Sacred Ground

[desert-love]

[webdiggerxxx]

꧁★꧂

[baylardian-1]

bunch of threshold au pen doodles im scrapping :)

[rosalie-starfall]

Captain Kathryn Janeway

Star Trek: Voyager - Sacred Ground

[giffingthingsss]

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Neelix

By Ames

At some point, the Star Trek fan base decided the worst main character of the franchise is Neelix – he’s obnoxious, his jokes don’t land, he’s dating a two-year-old, he looks like that. But if you actually, I dunno, watch the show, your hosts here at A Star to Steer Her By found that Neelix might be one of the most complex, consistent, and realistic characters on the show. Even Caitlin, who started our Voyager watchthrough disliking him, ended it bathed in the Talaxian love.

So get off the hate train and give the guy the open mind he deserves. He’s only trying to help the friends he met in the Delta Quadrant while battling some of the harshest mental demons the show has given to a character. Not to mention that Ethan Phillips gets to show his dramatic range show by show, comic relief one day, and emotionally destroyed the next. Check out both sides of the Neelix character below – the good and the bad – listen to our debate on this week’s podcast episode (stroll over to 51:16), and make your own decision! We’ll see you in the mess hall!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Now I am become death, destroyer of Talaxians The first season of Voyager is already digging deep into Neelix’s tragic backstory when “Jetrel” reveals that his whole family was taken out by the titular character’s metreon cascade. The whole episode is Neelix facing the man who killed so many Talaxians, and also facing his own deep guilt. When he forgives the dying Jetrel, he’s really forgiving himself and finally moving on.

There’s nothing like a family reunion We’ll have more to say about “Parturition” in our next section, but we start to see Neelix the caregiver in his interactions with the newly hatched dino puppet. Not only do we see an end to the entirely stupid love triangle between Neelix, Kes, and Tom, but we glimpse how much Neelix puts other people before himself when he pushes to save the baby monster thing.

I’m going to have plenty of material for tomorrow’s Briefing With Neelix Neelix’s nosiness, while frequently one of his more annoying traits, ends up paying off in “Investigations” when he uncovers the mole who’s been making contact with Seska and those wily Kazons. Not only does Neelix put himself at risk by going undercover, but he also ends up murdering that saboteur Jonas by throwing him into a plasma fire like a badass!

The 299th Rule of Acquisition: Whenever you exploit someone, it never hurts to thank them Ethan Phillips sure knows how to play a Ferengi, having portrayed Farek in “Ménage à Troi.” But Neelix himself also plays a damn good Ferengi, totally pulling off the Grand Proxy / Holy Pilgrim in “False Profits.” He initially fools Arridor and Kol with his quick thinking and improv, and when the game is rumbled, succeeds in protecting the Takarians from their Ferengi ploy.

What’s this week’s legend, Olmec? While overall we found “Sacred Ground” to be an unfocused and confounding mess, Neelix is still strong in it nonetheless! He does everything in his power to support the effort to get Kes out of her supernatural coma. Most importantly, he figures out the loophole via an old anecdote about an ancient king requesting an audience with the spirits, which Janeway pounces on.

I’m tired of being the target of all your hostility Sure, most of the time, you can view Neelix’s interactions with Tuvok as insufferable and tone deaf (much like I frequently find Archer’s constant needling of T’Pol in Enterprise), but it comes from a place of love and respect. It takes Tuvok several seasons to reciprocate this and it all starts in “Rise” when Neelix finally stands up for himself to the tactless Vulcan.

Intergalactic House of Pancakes As the Voyager’s morale officer, Neelix commonly goes out of his way to support his fellow crew members. It’s something a ship’s counselor should be doing, but we don’t have one of those. So Neelix takes it upon himself to offer comfort food (like blood pie in “Day of Honor” and banana pancakes in “Extreme Risk”), a shoulder to cry on, or his body in the form of a punching bag.

Flotter and the Crashed Shuttlepod We get more of caregiver Neelix in his relationship with Naomi Wildman throughout the show. As the girl’s godfather, he’s the only one who can get her to bed at night, with stories of the Great Forest in “Mortal Coil.” But he truly shines in “Once Upon a Time” when his impulse is to protect her from the possibility her mother could die, but it ends with both he and Naomi growing when he learns that being honest with her will help them better survive trauma together.

When is a Vulcan no longer a Vulcan? We loved the vulnerable, un-Vulcan Tuvok in “Riddles” and we love Neelix in this episode even more. Once again, he shows what a great caregiver he is by selflessly caring for others. It’s even more personal because the Tuvok-Neelix relationship has built over the show, so Neelix’s support of his friend really pulls at your heartstrings, especially with the heart-wrenching ending.

See anyone you know? Neelix gets two different farewell scenes with Kes in Voyager. The first is a touching goodbye in “The Gift” when they know Kes is transcending to a new type of Ocampan. The second might be the only good moment from the deeply problematic “Fury” in which a tormented Kes is rampaging around the ship but Neelix treats her with the affection and empathy he always has.

She’s a fine specimen of Klingon womanhood I ran out of room in the EMH post to include how uncomfortable I felt when he insists Harry Kim bang Officer Ch’Rega in “Prophecy” even though it’s clear Kim doesn’t consent. But you know who’s down to clown with a Klingon mistress? Neelix! He successfully gets the tall drink of bloodwine off of Harry’s ass and onto his own. Everyone wins! Qapla’!

Coming full circle Neelix’s character gets the perfect ending in “Homestead.” See above how we started the series with Neelix feeling guilty that he wasn’t there during the Talaxian-Haakonian war and accepting that he’ll never go home again. And here we see him off after he’s saved a lost Talaxian colony and gets to rejoin his people. It’s the most complete character arc of the show.

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Worst moments

Always let your scavenger be your guide This isn’t all to say Neelix is a perfect angel. We first meet him when he’s scavenging around in “Caretaker,” and the very first thing he does is trick the Voyager into helping him free Kes from the Kazons who have captured her. Which is admirable, mind you, but he goes about it through deception and cunning. Not the best impression to make for the first time we encounter him.

Your ceiling is hideous This is one of those moments that isn’t entirely Neelix’s fault, but is definitely bad for him. What’s a better way to respond to having your lungs stolen from you as his were in “Phage”? I’m not sure, but it’s probably not constantly whining, wallowing in self pity, and accusing Kes of having an affair with Tom. Not a good look, though I certainly can’t say I’d handle it much better.

You don’t know where I was the night Rinax was destroyed As we said above, Neelix’s backstory that comes out in “Jetrel” really deepens his character. It’s also where we learn that he dodged the draft during the Talaxian-Haakonian war. I can’t judge him for hiding from a war he doesn’t believe in, but I sure can judge him for lying for many years that he was actually in the defense forces because he was ashamed for being a coward.

Get the cheese to sickbay This one’s just silly. What a strange development that it turns out the reason the ship is malfunctioning all over the place in “Learning Curve” is because the brill cheese Neelix whipped up to attempt to make macaroni and cheese. The schplict that Neelix brings on board infects the bio-neural circuitry of the ship, and it feels like a joke more than anything else.

Order the diapers. We’re about to become parents. Let’s put aside the “Kes is only two years old!” argument that we’ve had on the podcast myriad times, and instead have the “Neelix is a possessive and selfish partner” argument that’s actually warranted. In “Elogium,” when Kes is going through a traumatic life stage that forces her to decide if she’s ready to have children, Neelix somehow makes it all about him, which is gross.

How do you know where everyone’s quarters are? Speaking of Neelix being a bad boyfriend, he continues to be a controlling, jealous piece of shit in “Twisted.” Not only does he whine when Tom gives Kes a birthday present, but he also accuses her of being the town pump because her eidetic memory makes her remember where everyone’s quarters are. And then he vanishes randomly and we never get an apology!

Food fight! Most of these bad Neelix moments are clumped in the first couple of seasons, and that’s because it’s here at “Parturition” that the writers realized they needed to stop leaning on the jealous boyfriend trope and fix the Neelix-Paris relationship. It really was that bad. They were such children, starting a food fight over Kes and acting like animals during mating season.

No bone about it Remember how we gave Chakotay credit for not going out of his way not to desecrate a gravesite in “Emanations”? Apparently Neelix has no such qualms. He’s really gung ho to make some tools out of some humanoid bones he and Hogan find in “Basics.” And sadly for us, it ends up with Hogan getting killed by whatever monster or other left those bones there!

None of us knows what’s coming This episode would have made way more sense if it happened a season earlier. By “Fair Trade,” midway through season three, Neelix should know better that he doesn’t have to prove himself around his found family on the Voyager. But instead, he throws Tom and Chakotay under the bus and threatens his own life so he can get a map and continue to be the quadrant expert.

You sound as though you’re saying goodbye It’s not often that you’ll find one of our moments be a scene that didn’t happen. When Neelix resorts to a certainly suicidal plan to trick the black market dealers in “Fair Trade,” he thinks he’s going to die, but he never has a scene with Kes. I can’t forgive the writers for cutting a scene of him saying goodbye to Kes, who has ONE inconsequential line in the whole episode.

I want to hear about the Great Forest again If we can give Torres shit for how poorly she deals with trauma in “Extreme Risk,” then we can also share the disapproval for Neelix with how abysmally he deals with his mortality in “Mortal Coil,” as he nearly spaces himself. This is another reason why it’s clear the Voyager needs a counselor because even if the crew knew how to ask for help (they don’t), there’s no one to ask.

All we need now is a mark Being such a people person, Neelix also gets himself into trouble by being way too trusting. He easily falls for Dala’s nun story in “Live Fast and Prosper” like an absolute rube. And then when he and Tom are trying to prove they’re not rubes, Neelix picks the EMH to play a shell game against, who is absolutely the wrong mark. What a couple of rubes.

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We’ve already had two helpings of Leola root and it’s time for dessert. Join us for more character spotlights as we continue through the Voyager manifest next week, and also keep following as we near the end of our Enterprise watch over on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also join us in the mess hall over on Facebook and Twitter, and give Neelix the credit he deserves!

[agent-troi]

watching sacred ground and now i want to write a fic where mulder shows scully this star trek episode about a woman of science who has to undergo a journey of faith and in the end she doesn’t know which one to trust more because the faith worked but then it turned out to have a scientific explanation but she’s disappointed by that because she really did believe wholeheartedly even if for only a moment

[hitchell-mope]

Awwww. He’s worried about her.

[raurquiz]

#otd #startrek #voyager #sacredground #janeway #chakotay #tuvok #kim #paris #belannatorres #kes #emh #neelix #RitualGuide #TheMagistrate #startrek58 @TrekMovie @TrekCore @StarTrek @StarTrekOnPPlus @TheKateMulgrew

[agentfascinateur]

Fanatic settlers transgress Al Aqsa Mosque

Eyewitnesses reported heavy deployment of Israeli troops in Al Aqsa's courtyards to facilitate the settlers.

Another violation of the Geneva Convention.

[desert-love]

[ivory--raven]

"real is such a relative term" is so true

[voyager-jc-addict-aka-muizeke83]

Sacred Ground…

Suddenly, science isn’t all anymore… and it shakes her foundation.

A little add-on to the episode:

I don’t know what happened, I can’t explain it, but I feel like the rug has been pulled from underneath my feet. Everything I believed in, that science was the answer… my answer to everything.

The science told me I was being crazy. Walking into that shrine was going to kill us, but it didn’t. I’m still here, Kes is back, and we are both as healthy as before.

Physically I feel fine. A little tired maybe; these past few days have taken a toll on my body. Nothing a good night’s rest and a hearty meal won’t fix.

Mentally tough, I feel… unstable. For the first time, I had to let go of everything I knew. I needed to trust the process. I needed to have faith, especially in myself. I sliver of doubt and –

Chakotay was ready to relieve me of duty. He had every right. This was so out of character for me, I wouldn’t have blamed him if he had. But he believed in me. He believed in the process.

That’s the difference between us, I guess. Although he has always fought the ways of his people, he has grown to respect spiritualism. His vision quests have brought him clarity and answers in his own trying times.

Chakotay understood I had to do this. And he let me. Despite the evidence, despite the odds.

I’m grateful, but very, very confused.

The hiss of the door startles me, and I find myself standing inside my quarters. I can’t remember how I got here; I was just in sickbay.

It’s quiet. I look out the view port at the unfamiliar stars rushing by, the hum of Voyager’s engines the only sound; A constant, a focal point.

And then my vision blurs. I can feel a tear leave the corner of my eye, trail its way down my cheek to the corner of my mouth; I can taste the saltiness. I try to draw in a breath, and a sob escapes me, the sound too harsh and foreign.

My chime rings and I quickly wipe away the wetness from my cheek. “Come in.”

I don’t turn around, I know it’s Chakotay.

“Kathryn, how are you feeling?”

I still don’t know how to answer that, so I settle for, “I’m fine.”

When his hand comes to rest on my shoulder, my body tenses and I hold my breath. I can’t with this man, I just can’t hide from him, not anymore. As if he knows by heart what I need, knows even before I do, he comes to stand close behind me, an open invitation.

I could have easily stayed where I was, the small gesture being enough, but in that moment, I needed more; I needed his stability and strength. Leaning into him, I reach up to cover his hand with mine, his thumb drawing little circles.

All the tension seems to flow away, my body relaxing against his strong chest. His other arm wraps around my waste, pulling me even closer and I realize he didn’t just come here to check up on me. I suddenly understand that what I did, what he let me do, had been a leap of faith for him too. The science had been that convincing.

“What if it hadn’t worked?”

“It did. There’s no point in questioning your actions now.”

“You… believed in me.”

“I was so scared, but yes, I believed in you.” I hear his voice break, his forehead coming to rest on our joint hands, his face turned into the crook of my neck.

His breath is hot on my skin yet gives me goosebumps. Standing there, wrapped up in his arms feels so good, and a sense of peace and belonging settles over me. My rock, my compass, my best friend. What would I do without him.

[fruitytea454]

ONG THIS IS SO COOL

[giffingthingsss]

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Kes

By Ames

Star Trek: Voyager may have only had Kes on the show for three seasons, but that’s actually a pretty large percentage of her Ocampan life! And in that time, she definitely made her mark. It was just a mark that struggled to hold a candle against the character who swoops in and takes her place (more on that next week!). But we here at A Star to Steer Her By came to really appreciate the short show life of the short-lived character, even if the show rarely gave her much to do.

Kes is one of those nuanced characters (boy, Voyager sure is full of those), who you may not notice unless you’re looking for her. She’s compassionate, curious, and clever, and her eidetic memory really makes sense for someone who needs to grow up licketty split. Was the quick lifespan a good idea or a terrible one? You decide as we compile our Best and Worst Moments for Kes below and listen to our chatter on this week’s podcast episode (jump to timestamp 1:32:15). YOLO!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

I’ve learned very well. I saw the sunlight. The very first thing we learn about Kes (other than the fact that she’s dating Neelix) is that she’s left the safety of the Ocampan homeworld, a stagnant culture subsisting almost entirely under the eye of the titular “Caretaker.” This young prodigy has greater ambitions though, and she seeks to encounter more of the universe while she’s got the chance, and we give her credit for it!

What crop has sprung from the seed you planted today Immediately after joining the Voyager crew, Kes shows some initiative and starts up an airponic garden to supplement the ship’s rations. It’s only her second episode in “Parallax” and already we start to see her not only as a nurturer and someone who shows compassion to her fellow shipmates, but as someone who can take charge of a task and handle herself.

One lung to give While overall our opinion on the Kes-Neelix relationship is that it’s cringey, the two of them clearly care for each other. So Kes’s offer to donate her lung to Neelix in “Phage” is quite touching. She doesn’t even hesitate in the moment of crisis when the EMH is floundering, and then gets to carry it through when the Vidiians are able to perform the procedure.

He’s your Medical Officer. He’s alive. The EMH may complain and complain that no one gives him the credit he deserves, but Kes has always had his holographic back. We get to benefit from her outside perspective in “Eye of the Needle” when she requests that the crew treat him more nicely. And she also advocates for his existence in “The Swarm” before they risk losing him by restarting his program.

Someone was walking your grave When the show remembers that Kes has telepathic powers, she is frequently at her best. The way she learns whatever the hell was going on in “Persistence of Vision” depicts how she’s learning to master her mental capabilities while also keeping firmly in reality. Everyone else has succumbed to their delusions, and Kes is able to save the day by keeping a cool head.

Get down with the sickness Like how Torres insists the Doctor not take shortcuts in creating his holo-family in “Real Life,” Kes makes sure his Levodian flu is just as unpredictable as normal illnesses in “Tattoo.” How is the Doctor supposed to feel vulnerable if he always has control over his virus? Kes sneakily adds two hours to the ailment to show him how uncomfortable and stressful working while ill can be.

Use the Force, Kes! It was obviously too good to be true when Kes met a batch of hyper-powered, slightly longer-lived Ocampans like Tanis in “Cold Fire” offering to teach her their ways. When their caretaker, Suspiria, is trying to destroy the ship, Kes uses her new abilities back against Tanis in a display of defiance against their corrupted ways because she’d never hurt others willingly.

I don’t know how to say goodbye to Neelix and Tuvok No matter which side of the “Tuvix” debate you fall on, you’ve got to admit Jennifer Lien nails the scene with Janeway in which she breaks down over being caught in the middle of things. Even if you’re pulling for Tuvix to keep existing, you feel for Kes. She’s put into such a devastating position, admitting that while she doesn't want Tuvix to die, she wants Neelix back.

I can’t wait to see if Blaine’s twin brother is the father of Jessica’s baby She may barely be in any of the two-parter “Future’s End,” but Kes might be in the funniest moment. She and Neelix are scrutinizing the televised feeds from Earth in the past, and they immediately get addicted to soap operas. It’s quite a cute little moment. As Kes says, “There's something to be said for non-interactive stories like this, being swept away in the narrative.”

I walk through mindfields Jennifer Lien doesn’t get a ton of episodes to stretch her legs and show her range, especially since Kes herself is typically such a reserved character. So it is a delightful surprise to see what she can do when Kes is possessed by Tieran in “Warlord.” And it’s an even better surprise to see Kes fighting back in her own mind with a ferocity we’ve never seen from her before.

Kes has become unstuck in time Every so often, you get glimpses of just how intelligent Kes is, as Ocampans need to have eidetic memories and amazing deductive reasoning to develop mentally as quickly as they develop physically. So when she’s traveling backwards in time in “Before and After,” Kes is able to put together the out-of-order puzzle and keep from getting winked out of existence.

Something to remember me by Kes’s final episode with us (or really, what should have been her final episode with us, as you’ll see in our next section) sends her character off in a very satisfying way. “The Gift” does a great job completing her arc, as Kes’s mental powers improve off the scales until she uses them to send the ship ten years closer to home. It’s yet another selfless act from the ship’s sweeting.

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Worst moments

Chekov is finally redeemed Firstly, is the wig we see Kes in for early episodes like “Parallax” worse than the one they put on Walter Koenig when he first joined TOS? We’re willing to give Walter the benefit of the doubt since it was the 60s and wig technology wasn’t where it was in the 90s. So what’s Voyager’s excuse then? Why does Kes look like she’s wearing a lhasa apso on her head?

I saw them burn. Their bodies ashes where they stood. The main complaint I can muster against the Kes character is how criminally underused she is throughout Voyager. The couple of times we lauded her mental powers above are just that: a couple of times. Most of the time, like in “Time and Again” when she senses Janeway’s presence in the other timeline, exactly nothing comes of it and it’s a huge wasted opportunity!

I felt like there was someone in the room with me Another episode where Kes’s telepathic powers could have benefited the story is in “Cathexis” when Tuvok is being possessed by the Komar. The entity sees that she could pose a threat and knocks her unconscious for the whole episode. It feels like such a tease! Remember how Kes has superpowers? Well, we’re not going to actually use them for literally the whole first season.

Then I guess our marriage is over Look, I’m grasping at straws because Kes doesn’t get to do much, let alone bad stuff. So it’s not technically Kes as the Doc’s wife in that weird fakeout scene toward the end of “Projections” – it’s another layer of holodeck malfunction. But I still don’t like it because it’s an unnecessary twist. And when the EMH is back to reality, it’s just as weird that Kes acts like maybe he’s not?

Kes, you’re baby crazy Can we just say all of “Elogium” here and be done with it? No? Ugh. While we can’t blame Kes for experiencing Ocampan heat, we sure can blame her for how she acts during it, hormones or no. And we also can blame the writers for making this forced pregnancy plot a thing in the first place because it turns a huge personal decision into a cringey couple’s squabble.

That green-eyed pus hog called jealousy It’s been said on the podcast so frequently that you’re probably over it that Kes and Neelix would have made better friends than romantic partners. But you love who you love, so who are we to judge? What we can judge is how Kes stayed with Neelix during his jealous, clingy phase, and barely even spoke up in “Twisted” when he basically accused her of being the town pump.

A watched Tuvok never boils As one of a couple episodes that remembers Ocampans have mental powers, “Cold Fire” really gives Kes a lot to do when Tanis and the other space-venturing Ocampans try to teach her their ways. And in the typical Kes fashion of someone who barely has any experience in the world, our girl immediately goes and boils Tuvok’s blood. Slow down, girl!

Help people, hurt them, give life, kill, it’s all the same Even when she’s gotten a [slightly] better handle on her powers later in “Cold Fire,” Kes still plays the innocent as she trusts these rogue Ocampans. Anyone watching the show could tell you right away they are trouble. But this young emancipated woman becomes so obsessed with her newfound powers that she nearly leaves with Tanis and crew, whom she’s only just met!

Caution: No Kes Allowed What on earth, or whatever stupid planet this is, makes Kes think she can wander off from her tour group and go trespass in these people’s sacred temple in “Sacred Ground”? Even though she didn’t know it would knock her into a coma, you’ve got to think someone as respectful as Kes usually is of other people wouldn’t think to go anywhere without asking permission first.

I think we should be possessed by other people Like last week when I included the omission of a scene that we desperately needed for Neelix to not seem like an asshole, we’ve got another scene that never happened for Kes. Kes never actually breaks up with Neelix! Tieran does it while possessing her in “Warlord,” and that guy’s an asshole! So why do we never actually get acknowledgment from the real Kes of what their status is?

Suffering from severe FOMO Kes is indeed back on the market after that nebulous breakup, and she’s already found herself a new boy in “Darkling.” Zahir seems perfectly nice as far as Mikhal Travelers go, but Kes is ready to pack her bags and get whisked away right after meeting this guy! I guess when you live as short as she does, you’ve got to follow your heart. But Kes is too quick to trust cute strangers.

You blame Captain Janeway, but the choice was yours But possibly the worst moment for Kes is whatever the hell happened in “Fury.” The episode feels like a “fuck you” to Jennifer Lien for leaving the show. Instead of the character we loved, the Kes who returns has been rewritten as a bitter, jaded, apathetic husk. And worse, there’s no good reason for it except that she forgot how good she had it on the show- I mean the ship.

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And we’ve reached the end of our very short Ocampan life, so let’s hope we transcend into energy beings or whatever. Next week, we’re replacing our Ocampan sweeting with the show’s sex symbol, and I don’t mean Sandrine! So keep tuned here for more character spotlights, finish off our watchthrough of Enterprise with us over on SoundCloud or your favorite podcast app, reach out to us with your minds over on Facebook and Twitter, and thank you for changing out that wig!