#Tuvok is also doing a mind thing in this book it's the first thing that happens he's run away to do a mind thing

[bumblingbabooshka]

From 'String Theory' by Kirsten Beyer 1] Seven of Nine, Hater of the Century /pos 2] Extremely high praise from Seven in a Mister Darcy sort of way 3] Interesting that Seven refers to B'Elanna as 'Human' whereas everyone else throughout the series really only ever refers to her as Klingon

[thegeminisage]

IT IS. star trek update time. last night we did ds9's "the muse" and voy's "the thaw."

the muse (ds9):

the a-plot of this was so fucking stupid. WHY is it always jake and older women...can we please cut him a fucking break...

also, the mysticism around writing. "i can show you exercises and techniques" "you have so many ideas it all seems too big to you right now" come on. the only exercise and technique she needed to show him was how to fucking outline. it's not MAGIC you don't get divinely graced with the ability to write a book you just sit down and do one little bit at a time. i cannot believe writers wrote this. insufferable. they sound like george rr martin i hope he is having a bad day wherever he is

jake and sisko at the end were so cute though...sisko my beloved...

the b plot.............................................

here's the thing. while i have reversed my stance on lwaxana troi, who got much better in her final few episodes (was this the last one or do we have one more...?), i don't want odo/lwaxana to be better than odo/kira and the odo/lwaxana was REALLY GOOD. and ik some people really didn't like the way odo/kira wound up happening in canon so even though idk what happens yet NOBODY TELL ME i am bracing for it to be bad and to love it unconditionally anyway. so that was a huge struggle for me

odo in his little shapeshifter playground feeding off of lwaxana's giddiness...i wish deanna had been able to do the reverse-empath thing on tng, it would have been so much fun

ALSO i cant believe he finally got his first little smooch!!!! GOOD FOR HIM

the thaw (voy)

sigh. so apparently a lot of people really like this episode but i...hated it. one of the worst voy episodes to date actually

whatever this episode THINKS it's saying about fear is lost under the set dressing. and the set dressing IS really cool - i like the wacky practical effects and bright colors. it reminds me a lot of tos. in fact, this whole episode could have been a tos episode, but it would have been one of those tos episodes that makes the top 10 worst ranking or whatever

the problem is the Randumb XD Humor...it's like q, like the squire of gothos. it just doesn't hit for me and never will. like, the actors were good at what they did, the costumes looked great, the set was funky, even the background music really fucked, but things being Randumb XD is just too dated for me. i don't mind star trek being dated most of the time but this is where i draw the line. maybe i'd like it better if i gave it another shot, but i probably will not be doing that

i think janeway called it in, with her acting. like everyone's like damn she ACTED no girl she did a lot of dramatic whispering. and who can blame her. the script was all over the place

i just think if you're trying to terrify people you could do better than the circus theme. yeah, clowns bad, but even tng had that spooky morgue thing happening

also, lost opportunity: if this clown guy can kill people by scaring them to death ie making them live the experience of getting their heads chopped off virtually which gives them a heart attack in real life then why not write tuvok, local expert at conquering fear, into this episode? you could have cut off tuvok's head and he wouldn't have died of fright. it would have been perfect for the metaphor

the ending to this episode would have fucked a lot more if the rest of it hadn't sucked so bad. janeway's murder walk was REALLY good. it's also something kirk would have done, if they'd had the holodeck in tos, and thank GOD they didn't

but yeah, the solution of fear needing conquering and wanting to be conquered just doesn't hit when most of the script...didn't really talk about fear, it was just wilding out

TONIGHT: ds9's "for the cause" and voy's "tuvix"...okay, wait, i'm just now looking at these episode titles. everyone on reddit is always so mad about janeway killing a guy named tuvix but i thought i got it mixed up with tuvOK. like i literally thought she killed tuvok and everybody was like dw about it she doesn't kill tuvok so who tf is tuvix...is this a clone thing or something? like black shirt green shirt tuvok?? please let it be a clone thing

[clementine-kesh]

Idk how you see this but in my mind, Chakotay and Harry would first seem to Janeway as some sort of mentorship/father-son thing, she'd be a little butthurt over Harry "picking" Chakotay etc but she'd support it since she'd still be mentoring Harry anyway... until it hits her like a fucking train.

Tom would simply be weird about it from the start because "what do you mean my crush is not hanging out me all the time in his free time" and he would show it too, he'd be so fucking annoying and bitter.

How do you think they'd deal with it once they know for sure and it's not just "are they...?", I would LOVE to read it as a fic tbh.

janeway being in denial about it is sooo good, so funny. i think once she fully accepted what was going on she’d definitely try throwing the book at them to make it stop, which wouldn’t work either because they’d just start sneaking around or because tuvok would go to bat for chakotay (is he trying to drive a wedge between chakotay and janeway? who can say). i don’t even think tom would pretend to be happy for harry he’d just write up an itemized list of why this is a terrible idea that harry would just ignore because he’s used to that behaviour from tom by now. also in my mind this takes place post-timeless and harry is a hopeless romantic so of course he’d think that means they’re fated to be and nothing can tear them apart

[isagrimorie]

For the “Send me a Trek character and I’ll reply with a question I would ask them — and, if you want, my hoped-for answer” ask game, any or all of:

Seven of Nine

Kathryn Janeway

Tuvok

I’m so happy you’ve joined the game! ❤️

For the Trek question ask game

Seven of Nine

I think I would ask Seven how she felt being fully Human for that brief moment of time. Did it live up to her expectations, and honestly, if there were things about her original Borg enhancements she missed.

I would imagine the sensory experience would be such an interesting change from her vision going from Borg filtered green to the world in technicolor. And, if there was a difference in how sensations like touch or even climate feel with her skin without that bit of remove of Borg implants underneath her skin.

I would hope Seven’s answer would give me insight to her feelings for being fully Human for the first time since she was 7 years old, but also, give a complicated answer that as much as she loved being fully organic, privately thought there were some aspects of being Borg she missed. The strength, the memory. But it’s not something she would ever share to someone else unless prompted.

Kathryn Janeway

I want to ask Janeway, honestly, since the Federation and Starfleet she returned tried to lived up to and carried in her head and realized how much Starfleet was hurting from an existential war, how she managed to hold on to Starfleet and Federation when it wasn’t being its best self.

Picard found a way to walk away, but Janeway seemed to hold on to it, and as hinted in and Prodigy and Firewall (a book I have some issues with re: Seven, but did right by Janeway), she’s almost always ready to pull a Nick Fury at Starfleet Command.

How did she stay on? Why did stay on?

I hope Janeway’s answer is a combination of her bloody minded inability to quit anything she’s started but also the belief that ‘She Can Fix Him (Starfleet)’.

And maybe, she’ll share, off the record because she knows the condition of the worlds Starfleet left behind to help the Romulan crisis that in some ways she tried to help Fenris Rangers as much as she could, and maybe even enlisted some Voyager crew to help. But all done in secret.

Tuvok

In the ready room interview for Picard s3 Tim Russ marveled at how much emotion Seven was able to convey and I wonder if it saddened him a little when he realized Seven was slowly changing herself to imitate Humans more out of survival. And, if maybe Tuvok helped Seven along, somehow.

And if he somehow finds himself still reflexively worrying about Kathryn Janeway despite being assigned to somewhere else.

I hope his answer would be his typical Tuvok Vulcan answer but also hinting that yes, he was saddened about no longer having Seven as an introvert buddy. And that he will always worry about Vice-Admiral Janeway, because he is and always will be Janeway’s friend.

But he is sure that both Janeway and Seven will do well.

Send me a Trek character and I’ll reply with a question I would ask them — and, if you want, my hoped-for answer.

[trillscienceofficer]

Hi :) do you know some Star Trek books you could recommend? I've heard some of them aren't great so I was a little hesitant to go through all of them

I DO have Trek book recs! I imagine you're asking for novels &co. and not, for example, titles like “The Fifty-Year Mission” or “The DS9 Companion” which are non-fiction books concerned with the production of the shows (but in any case the two I've cited are my favorites and I think especially the first one is a clear recommendation for any Trekkie). Also caveat that... I've not read that many novels either because, like you, I'm kinda skittish about wading through them all, especially after I've encountered a few really terrible ones.

Anyway here goes, divided in in 'Novels', 'Things that aren't novels but I recommend anyway' and a few titles on my TBR list that sound good and I feel confident suggesting even if I haven't gotten around to reading them yet.

Novels

The Lives of Dax (short story anthology, 1999) This is unquestionably still my favorite fiction tie-in for the Trek universe. Not all stories are good (Emony's and Curzon's are especially bad) but the ones I like are truly outstanding to me and inform my understanding of the Dax hosts to this day. I love the fact that it's framed as Ezri remembering various events of her previous lives. It's an easy read, given the format, and if you're willing to be patient with some stories the other ones will totally deliver, imho!

Catalyst of Sorrows by Margaret Wander Bonanno (2004) This book is part of 'The Lost Era' series, which tried to fill in the gap between the TOS movies and TNG. This one in particular is wild; main cast includes Uhura, Crusher, Sisko and Tuvok (the latter two going on a road trip!) and it's also a fairly deep dive into Romulan society written by someone who was obviously a DS9 fan. This was recommended to me many years ago by @senyorspock and if you like Senator Cretak from S7 of DS9 this is definitely a book you want to read.

Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume Two (anthology, 2005) I have mixed feelings about some of the directions taken by the two novels in this book but I think they're ultimately both enjoyable and contain some fun and poignant elements (the scene where Ezri visits Jadzia's grave on Trill is permanently engraved in my brain). If you like Trills and the Sisko family I definitely recommend this book.

Hollow Men by Una McCormack (2005) This novel is a fun follow-up to "In The Pale Moonlight" and while it is a little too concerned with sympathizing with poor little meow meow Garak for my taste (I realize here my opinion differs from most other DS9 fans) I still liked for its explorations of Benjamin Sisko's state of mind at the height of the Dominion War. Also I ugly laughed at every scene Sisko and Garak have together, I do enjoy when they butt heads but still need each other... it is a well-written book!

String Theory - Cohesion by Jeffrey Lang (2005) Unlike the others this is strictly a Voyager novel, set in the Delta Quadrant. This book gets... a little bogged down by its own cleverness sometimes but the author was clearly concerned with science and world-building making sense, which I can't argue against. But you're not here for this: the best part of the book is B'Elanna and Seven getting stranded on the surface of a planet and being forced to form a 'collective of two' in order to survive. It goes as well as you can expect (yes they absolutely still manage to fight even when telepathically linked), and it is amazing. I don't always agree with their characterization here but this novel is, to me, the episode with a B'Elanna&Seven B-plot that we never got on the show. (This book is also the first of a trilogy but I found the second one unreadable and I hear the third completely ditches the themes established by the first two, so.)

Spock's World by Diane Duane (1988) This novel is a classic for a reason. I wholeheartedly recommend it even if a lot of the Vulcan world-building & characterization in it isn't strictly canon anymore. I love the way it alternates between the present and the past of Vulcan, and the Enterprise. The history of the planet is told through episodes but they are so effective in explaining why Vulcans are the way they are. If you've never read a Trek novel before and you love TOS, definitely start here.

I have a soft spot for the novelizations of Star Trek II, III, and IV by Vonda McIntyre, which contain some amazing backstory for Saavik and how she came to be Spock's protégée, as well as generally offering interesting characterization for side characters that the movies had no time to explore. Not all of it is still canon, given that they were written in the early eighties, but it's not a deal-breaker to me.

Things that aren't novels but I recommend anyway

Star Trek: Waypoint (Issues 1-6, which you can find in a single volume), Waypoint special and Waypoint special (2019). These are the BEST Trek comics, period. It's all short stories about the cast of the shows up to Enterprise, and the quality is amazingly high, consistently so. I'm not a big comic person and yet these get to me every time.

Hidden Universe Travel Guide: Vulcan (2016) and The Klingon Empire (2017), both by Dayton Ward. Okay I just... love the concept of these lol. They're travel guides! For Vulcan and the Klingon Empire! Neither takes itself too seriously (there are chapters such as 'So You Want To Purge All Of Your Emotions') but it's a nice riff on the Trek universe, and they're beautifully illustrated. Characters from all shows will occasionally chime in suggest their favorite places to visit, too, which was a pleasant surprise. For someone like me who has trouble coming up with world-building stuff on my own, both books have been giving me plenty of inspiration (of course I don't always agree with the way things are framed but hey, I didn't expect them to be perfect!)

In my TBR list

Dark Passions Vol 1 and 2 by Susan Wright. Wright wrote one of my fave stories from “The Lives of Dax” and these two novels sound absolutely wild, I can't wait to read about all the mirror versions of the Voyager characters

Time's Enemy by L. A. Graf. This collective of writers wrote arguably the best story in “The Lives of Dax” and they seem to share many of my sensibilities when it comes to writing these characters so I've been meaning to read this DS9 novel for a while!

The Rihannsu novels by Diane Duane, which are THE Romulan novels par excellence, I believe, but I still haven't gotten around to reading them somehow

Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume Three simply because I just found a paperback of it recently, and it sounds interesting

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

character ask game: seven of nine and b'elenna torres

from this ask game

thanks for asking! since i'm procrastinating anyways i'm just gonna go through all the questions and put a cut because uh. this will be long :)

Seven of Nine:

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I'm always obsessed with characters struggling with humanity/personhood and Seven is the character to me that best exemplifies that struggle in addition to having so many complex narratives about trauma and guilt that are surprisingly well explored despite Voyager's tendency to avoid any serialized elements. plus Jeri Ryan's acting really sells it.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

her autistic swag. no but actually her bluntness and willingness to challenge others (particularly Janeway) is really refreshing and adds some great conflict to Voyager.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

going to cop out and say the costuming lmao. it bothers me so fucking much and in my head Seven's been wearing science blues on Voyager since s4.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

i think Seven in any Doctor Who media would be really fascinating maybe specifically paired with the Eighth or Ninth Doctor? i think a lot of her problems around guilt and inhumanity are thoroughly explored in Doctor Who but she would also challenge the Doctor well when it comes to violence and whether the ends justify the means.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Machine by Regina Spektor

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

a fear of intimacy and insecurity about letting people around you know the real me... oh dear. on a more uplifting side, all of Seven's interactions with Tuvok really remind me of me and my dad. autism for the win.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

idk how widespread it is but i love thinking of Seven as a physically disabled character and her post-Voyager having to navigate medical systems that are openly hostile (if not downright dangerous) and her eventually finding that it's easier to be in pain and patch injuries together by herself than trusting others.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

hmmm i don't think this is true on tumblr rn but i've read some older fic and posts that just comes off as weirdly infantilizing just because she isn't great with social interactions. (it's also just a larger problem of infantilizing neurodivergent coded characters).

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

tbh yeah? i think Seven might get annoyed at my tendency to leave clutter around and i might get annoyed at her tendency to mess around with things without telling people but i think we could pretty easily agree on boundaries and stick to them.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

i would love to try but realistically i think both of us are too wary of social situations to actually be close friends.

11. Would you date this character?

if Seven asked me on a date then i would say yes but also i'm arospec and Seven has way too many relationship issues going on so that would not last.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Seven cut off all contact with Voyager's crew after Icheb died because of her guilt over his death except for Naomi who she sent a message to on every birthday.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

gonna be honest the last thing i associate with Seven are emojis so... none?

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

maybe a bit predictable but i would love a steampunk redesign of Seven.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

Seven/Raffi!! they have a great combination of being actually cute and having tons of unresolved conflict and some parallels (i.e. Seven accidentally causing her sort-of-son's death because she tried to be in an intimate relationship vs Raffi pushing her son away because she was too focused on her career and Doing the Right Thing). i really wish their relationship was a bigger part of Picard (particularly s3) and we didn't keep having them break-up offscreen and then ambiguously get back together like their relationship felt like such an afterthought and i realllllly hope we get some show or movie or even a book where Seven and Raffi get to be lead characters together.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

Seven/Shaw is one of my few hated ships. if you like it then sure whatever i don't really care but i'm incredibly uninterested in shipping characters where one repeatedly deadnames the other and is just generally rude and dismissive. i actually really like their canon dynamic, i think Shaw is a great semi-antagonist for Seven with good narrative purpose and i dig the begrudging respect he eventually has for her but I Do Not ship it.

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

Seven/B'Elanna. it's not something i really picked up on watching voyager and i'm not super interested in it but i definitely see how it could work and be a good dynamic! i'm not a b7 shipper but i support their beliefs.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

admire is a strong word (and tbh i don't think i admire any of Seven's relationships, she's an absolute mess on that front) but i'm fascinated by Janeway and Seven's relationship. it was obviously written to be a mentor & student dynamic but so much of it is fucked up in a really compelling way (with some strong sapphic vibes going on) with Janeway essentially forcing Seven to be human and presuming to know who Seven should be and then acting surprised when Seven isn't her perfect protege (even echoing the control the Borg Queen has over the Collective. sorry i just watched Dark Frontier the other day so that's fresh in my mind). i would die to see them have a scene in Picard era because there's just so much to get into.

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

Seven & the EMH. in the Voyager of version that exists in my head, they have a good dynamic and friendship and i generally politely ignore some of the later canon stuff but yeah... not a fan of the Doctor's crush on her that just ends up falling into a very objectifying "older man is in love with his young female student" dynamic in seasons 6 and 7.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

i'm forever bitter than Seven and Hugh didn't have A SINGLE SCENE together. especially because the actors are actual friends! injustice! Seven and Hugh would be so cool together as they've shared so many of the same experiences but came out of them as very different people – Hugh choosing to be kind in the face of hatred and help the xBs vs Seven running away from the problem so she doesn't have to face her past. but yeah. Hugh is ideal best friend material.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

hm. i've mostly written (incomplete) stuff for Picard-era Seven and i really like to hone in on smaller movements and specify that they're very purposeful and planned because Seven has spent so long practicing "looking" and behaving human enough as a survival tactic (same thing with the way she speaks) and i love having her movements and speech pattern fall back to her earlier self when she's stressed or focused on something else.

something i don't like is that i have a hard time capturing her internal monologue and the way she views the world, particularly with Voyager-era Seven) as it always ends up coming out either too robotic or too human.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to the character? Something you don't like?

hmmm i really like fics that explore some of the darker body horror type nature of the xBs (and particularly Seven) and i tend to get annoyed with stories (including canon ones) that erase the fact that part of her is still Borg.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

i do love the screencap that's my current icon (from The Haunting of Deck 12) but s1 Picard Seven is my favorite look of hers and particularly this shot is just. very good.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

oh this is an incredibly obscure pull but Compassion from the Eighth Doctor Adventure books who is a clone that's been recycled so many times that she's lost any resemblance to the person she was based on and has to struggle with not being a real person in a way that reminds me a lot of Seven.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

awhile before i started watching Voyager i had a friend who kept telling me how much i would like Seven (they guessed correctly) and from them i knew a) she was queer b) she was a badass c) she struggled with the idea of humanity which... again. is exactly my type of character and my impression hasn't majorly changed other than realizing that she is a much more nuanced and complex character than i originally thought.

B'Elanna Torres:

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

i love B'Elanna! she's just a good character who has so much internal strife but tries to be strong and not let anyone know that she's in pain which is tragic but i am a tragedy enjoyer first and foremost.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

i think the sadness she has, especially when she's alone and there's no one to argue with, is so compelling and Roxann Dawson plays her really well. i also love that she's shown as very competent and and intelligent but didn't graduate from the Academy and doesn't have a particular love of Starfleet unlike 95% of other Star Trek characters.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

because of the all (or at least mostly) white writers i think her character often leans into some unfortunate "fiery/angry Latina" stereotypes that's not recognized enough because it's always under the guise of "oh well it's because she's Klingon" but like. assigning undesirable personality traits to races, even if fictional, is. still racist.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

I'm not huge into Star Wars but I think B'Elanna would thrive joining the rebels in the original trilogy.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

it might be the fact that i'm currently listening to this song but Mama by My Chemical Romance.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

i think we both have a tendency to doubt our ability to do things that we're good at when faced with people who might be more qualified but less talented but i love how quickly B'Elanna does gain confidence in her abilities in s1 and 2 and i hope to follow in her footsteps.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

i have a lot of respect for the closeted lesbian B'Elanna headcanons i must say.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

idk if this is a widespread fandom take or not but i always dislike the idea that B'Elanna would remain in Starfleet post-Voyager. like the show itself kind of forgets that the Maquis crew on Voyager still has some pretty big beef with the Federation (for good reason) and i don't think she would ever want to join Starfleet unless they have some systemic changes.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

i think we would definitely have certain habits that would annoy each other but like with Seven, i feel like if we came up with some boundaries both of us would stick to them and it would work out.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

we have very different personalities that would clash a bit too much to be best friends but i think we would get along.

11. Would you date this character?

again, probably not more just because i'm aro and not super interested in dating and B'Elanna deserves someone better than me.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

after returning from the Delta Quadrant, B'Elanna opens an engineering shop where she rehabs old ships (with or without Tom).

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

i think B'Elanna would respond to a lot of messages with just the middle finger🖕

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

B'Elanna would rock 90s grunge fashion so hard.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

hmmm i thought about this for awhile and honestly i just can't really think of a ship that makes sense for her because she deserves much better than the canon characters she interacts with.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

i've seen B'Elanna/Chakotay around a few times and... no. not for me please.

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

B'Elanna/Seven (as I said in Seven's section)

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

i generally like B'Elanna & Chakotay's canon relationship (with a few notable exceptions where things get weird) and i think Chakotay is such a good mentor figure for her as someone who shares the same political ideology but is older and wiser and knows better than to act only out of anger.

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

B'Elanna/Tom and it's not that i don't think the characters could work together, there are a few moments from the show and people's fanons or whatnot that have a lot of potential. and there's so much potential inherent in two characters with a lot of issues that they tend to hide with humor or aggression or whatever who are now forced to indefinitely be part of this crew/family. however i hate that all of their interactions are plagued with 90s sexism and always shown from Tom's perspective of how much he struggles being in a relationship and remembering to pay attention to B'Elanna as if that's just. an expected part of being in a relationship rather than a problem that needs to be resolved. and so many episodes focus on their relationship problems and we rarely get to see them being happy so it comes off feeling like they're trapped in an unhappy marriage.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

B'Elanna and Harry! they have such a good dynamic in s1 with Harry being the embodiment of Starfleet idealism and B'Elanna being so jaded towards Federation idealism and Harry over time developing his own Problems and B'Elanna beginning to resolve her issues. i wish we got more of them together!

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

i haven't written any fic for B'Elanna yet so i'll just skip this one

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to the character? Something you don't like?

tbh i haven't read much B'Elanna fic. i'll get around to it! i've only been a Voyager fan for like 6 months.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

i love her curly hair from the beginning of s6 sooooo much

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Clara from Doctor Who (specifically in s9). they both have some deep insecurities that they try to cover up with quips and deflection. they're also both very clever but don't necessarily think through their actions and have a tendency to throw themselves into danger.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

tbh i didn't really have a strong opinion about any of the Voyager characters when i first started the show and kind of expected B'Elanna to fall into the mixed (alien) race stereotype of torn between two worlds and some of the accompanying racist tropes but tbh B'Elanna became a much deeper character than i ever expected both with exploring the tension of her heritage and internalized racism (Barge of the Dead & Lineage come to mind) but also exploring her mental health (Extreme Risk) and how her character reveals some of the issues inherent in the Federation's existence. i just wish that Voyager did more and was willing to create a more complete arc for her that doesn't leave some stuff like her self harming behaviors and grief over the Maquis alone after one episode. i also didn't expect her to be probably the most competent engineer in all of Star Trek but i maintain that she is.

[giffingthingsss]

J/C, C/7, and Me

Disclaimer: I am not necessarily a J/C shipper. I just have eyeballs and enjoy the show. Long ass post. 

In the Beginning

Was a Janeway/Chakotay romantic plot baked in? I tend to think not. At least not at the very start. But this is pure speculation on my part.

If romance is your goal, then it’s much more interesting to have Chakotay not immediately being 100% supportive. (An AU where they never get lost and it’s just Janeway pursuing this Maquis leader and maybe eventually being persuaded and helping him, please.) 

I think initially they were flirting with the idea of Janeway/Paris. The character of Tom was described as being a potential love interest for Janeway. That idea doesn’t seem to have made it past the character sketches, but you can see a trace element of it in the very beginning. 

The writers played with a number of character combinations. A pretty natural chemistry was cropping up between Captain and First Officer. Little things were dropped into scripts. Performances certainly came across as interested, whether intended or not, who knows. 

Ramping Up

Where before there were hints and moments, Resolutions kicks off a series of flashing red sirens.

From this episode on there would be declarations of... ‘you bring me true peace’, and ‘I’m frickin jealous, okay?’ and bawling declarations of ‘you can’t die!’ These developments are not in the shipper’s imagination. They’re building toward something. Clearly. Obviously. Said all the people with eyes. 

For the first couple seasons, Janeway being engaged kind of kept this at bay. But now they’re fully playing with it. 

Road Block

However, Kate Mulgrew (and maybe others, I dunno) was like, ‘sure. develop the relationship. but no sex. the first female captain isn’t going to be having booty calls in the ready room. not gonna happen. people are going to take this captain seriously.’

So they played with it here and there, but it could only go so far. Kate seemed to want the best of both worlds. A deep, complicated, growing relationship, that never tipped over into the sexual. Her focus was on getting the crew home. 

Beltran flat out says (in one of the books I own that I don’t feel like digging out) that Chakotay was in love with her. But Beltran was getting frustrated. When Year of Hell came around, he apparently called up the writers and said, ‘how long is this guy gonna keep throwing himself at a woman who never reciprocates? it’s getting pathetic. either do something with these two or don’t.’ 

Loner Janeway

Along the way, I think Kate became enamored with the idea of the loneliness of command, the sacrifices it entails. Fell in love with the poignancy of it all.

This is not something that’s out of character for Janeway. Beyond the fact that in the beginning she was engaged, pairing off was a luxury she didn’t think the captain had. So any kind of romantic relationship she might pursue would have to start with her being broken out of that mindset. 

That’s basically what Resolutions did. Once they finally pried Voyager out of her fingers, you could see a burgeoning love very clearly. But then Voyager came back. And with it her... resolutions. 

Coulda Woulda Shoulda

If they had wanted to snip it and move on, they should have had that conflict between Janeway and Chakotay at some point. Perhaps after Beltran called them up and said, ‘hey. Make up your minds.’ 

Have the characters actually talk about it and reach a conclusion and there ya go. But maybe the writers just didn’t know wtf they wanted to do with it and wanted to leave their options open. And then did nothing at all. 

Me, a Non-Shipper

Personally, I tend to agree with the Mulgrew side of things (and can also see why Beltran would be bored with the eternal holding pattern and not mind when they said ‘hey, you can kiss Jeri Ryan.’)

They developed the Tom/B’Elanna romance, which was great. We didn’t need non-stop romantic plots. I think the shippers could understand Kate’s reasoning and were willing to go with the slow burn...if the writers had actually sat down and decided that’s what they were doing. If only they hadn’t dropped the ball at the very end.

Here’s the thing: if you build up a relationship like that, you can’t be upset when people notice. And you can’t give up on it behind the scenes without telling the audience on screen. ‘There are some lines we never cross’ might have been an attempt, but was too late. And was certainly not closure. The audience deserved better. 

C/7? WTF!?

Well, if you thought there was no build up for it, it’s because there wasn’t. If you felt like it was whirlwind and came out of nowhere, it’s because it was, and it did. Apparently even in the writer’s room. 

Brannon Braga wanted Seven to die in the finale. He was writing her episodes to gear up for that. Human Error, the episode where Seven experiments with romantic ideas with a holographic Chakotay (with a kiss that was apparently the result of a dare Beltran made to Jeri), was written with Seven’s death in mind. It wasn’t supposed to be the opening salvo of an actual relationship. 

I think Seven of Nine should have bit the dust. I think there had to be a real sacrifice for this crew getting home, a real blood sacrifice. Seven of Nine was, for me, designed to be a character that was gonna die tragically. I planned that.... There’s an episode called Human Error that I wrote...she's trying to feel emotions. She actually succeeds and then almost dies. She learns there’s a Borg implant, that if she becomes too human, it will kill her. And it was that moment in my mind that would set up the finale, where she realized she can’t live here, she can’t live there. And she dies getting her family home. - Brannon Braga

I’m glad they didn’t go that way for various reasons. I love Endgame as it is. But it’s interesting to know the thought process. They weren’t gearing up for romance, they were aiming for tragedy. At least Braga was. 

Human Error was only about six episodes from the end. At the time of that writing, that's what was in at least his head. 

Human Error was not written with an eye toward a C/7 future. Without that episode I doubt highly C/7 would have been a thing. And it wasn’t even written to make it a thing.

Endgame obviously didn't go that way. Janeway-palooza instead. So. What do we do now? What to do with Seven? And from here on, all I have is speculation.

Retooling

'Well, we've got this holodeck scenario from the episode we wrote when we were planning to kill her off that hints that she might like Chakotay. So. I guess we'll go with that.' 

It appears to me that they retooled recently written story elements to fit their ending, to provide more motivation for that ending.

They picked the three people it would kill Janeway most to lose. Tuvok, obviously. An ongoing torment, visiting him every week. Seven dies (a remnant of plan A) and in a sense takes Chakotay with her. 

This is all fuel for Admiral Janeway without making it about saving her lover (unless you’re a J/7 shipper, in which case, hog heaven).

When you think of it only in terms of ‘what can we do to make the finale work’, it’s not terrible. When you think of it in terms of seven preceding years, it doesn’t work at all. They got myopic. 

In hindsight I think the writers could probably admit it was a mistake in terms of the show, and they should have resisted the urge to do something that was thrown together and jarring rather than nothing at all with Seven.

Gossip

Apparently neither Mulgrew or Beltran were opposed to C7 in the end. Maybe because they had at points been a bit frustrated with each other behind the scenes. Whether those frustrations were forefront in anyone’s mind at the time, idk. 

I tend to think Kate really was over the idea of Janeway’s destiny having much to do with romance at all.

It is interesting that when Seven first arrived on the show, Kate specifically mentioned not wanting the writers to throw her with Chakotay. At that point perhaps feeling a tad possessive. Perhaps didn’t want him ‘sullied’ by the busty blonde.

But this was seasons in the past by the time the finale rolled around, and I doubt highly it had anything to do with anything. Who knows. 

Me on Endgame

Personally, I'm glad Endgame was a Janeway palooza. I love 99% of Endgame. I’m glad it was about Janeway vs.Janeway vs. Borg Queen. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be about J/C either.

But if you’re not willing to go there, leave it then to the imagination. It's cruel to basically tell your audience that these two would be together if not for their delta quadrant circumstances, and then rip the rug from under them the second they get to the quadrant where this romance is supposed to be possible. Not cool, man. Not cool. 

When I first saw Endgame (as a non-shipper with eyes) C/7 was jarring and weird. But I thought the scene where Seven was distancing herself was well acted and stirred up an emotion or two (even if it was a little histrionic, considering they'd just started dating). So I wasn’t throwing things at my television. Just confused.

I also basically dismissed their future relationship. They got home after like one date, not ten years of marriage. And now their lives will completely change. So I just kind of hand-waved it away. "It did its job for the episode, but the future's changed and they won't last. So whatever."

Headanons on Janeway’s romantic reasoning and original timeline reaction to C/7

Captain Janeway had no idea how long it would take to get back home. Obviously you hope for tomorrow, but it could be twenty years from now. She resigned herself to not pursue romance. Her sole purpose in life was to get the crew safely home.

So I speculate her reaction to C/7 would be quite stoic. She would recognize it’s not fair for him to just pine away, possibly forever. That she has made this choice and he shouldn't have to be alone because of it. Her being alone is just part of the price she must pay, the burden she must bear. Her own wants and needs must take a backseat. She has greater responsibilities.

In fact, I can see her encouraging C/7. She would see it as a form of selfless love. ‘It doesn’t matter that he’s with me; it matters that he’s happy.’ Of course feelings would rear their heads from time to time, but she would quickly corral them into that channel.

Lots of lovely internal martyrdom. She would make it her mission to make sure they were both okay and happy. A bit of a masochistic streak that she buries under a sense of nobility and sacrifice.

This is the kind of angle I think Mulgrew came to prefer. That lovely little tragic pang. She loves drama, if nothing else.

“It’s a lonely thing, but I’m gonna get this crew home.” - Kate Mulgrew

“You always made it hard for yourself. If there was a rocky path and a smooth one, you chose the rocky one every time.” - Coda

This is a woman with a lot of love to give. But finds herself, or perhaps unnecessarily forces herself, depending on your view, in a place where that’s not a possible life choice. So those instincts expand outward, enveloping them all. She finds fulfillment in the well-being of the crew and the ship as a whole. 

Post Endgame

Their trip was shortened by a lot because of Endgame. The future is no longer written in stone. So the possibilities are endless, the sky’s the limit. And apparently Seven’s a lesbian (I haven’t seen it, but I hear tell). So. There ya go. 

(She is crying here, btw. I never noticed before I did that episode and feel the need to point it out once again. Lest anyone else still not have noticed.) 

If you actually read this whole thing, congratulations. Hopefully it made sense. I now continue with my rewatch and probably won’t talk much about this in the future. Unless something new comes up, I’ll just continue to be a non-shipper with eyeballs, enjoying whatever’s around. 

[vortahoney]

Do All of the stay at home asks I want to know all these things about you >:)

Andy you want to kill me I think

1. your favorite playlist

This playlist by @girlboss-keevan either that or this playlist by me

2. how many houseplants in your room, and what kinds are they?

all my plants are outside plants, actually! I’ve got 15 tomato plants, 12 pepper plants, 10 types of herb, squash, green beans, cucumber, and corn plants :)

3. your favourite “grounding” activity

gardening, unsurprisingly. making collages, also!

4. an account on social media whose posts make you smile

galactivist on instagram. absolutely hilarious parody of those instagram infographics that treat big issues like an aesthetic

5. 5 tv shows that cheer you up

Five?? Yikes. Okay, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Gilmore Girls, Gravity Falls, On My Block, and Kim’s Convenience

6. how you get relaxed when you’re struggling to sleep

I do yoga! I’ve got one routine that’s supposed to help with getting better sleep and it’s also really good for calming down. When I can’t sleep I get really jumpy and I turn into a bigger hypochondriac than I already am, so it’s good to have something that chills me the fuck out.

7. your favourite board game

Scrabble <3

8. if you were going to write a non-fiction book on any topic, what would it be?

Probably worldbuilding in sci fi! I’m sure I could offer a lot of advice on that subject.

9. a quote you would consider getting tattooed or put in a frame.

the ‘blasphemy? before what god?’ rant from re-animator

10. something you’ve created in the last year that you’re proud of (a playlist, a piece of art, some writing, a craft hobby, a social media account, etc)

I wrote a story about body image that won a national award, i’m pretty damn proud of that

11. a tip or hack you’ve learned that makes cleaning or tidying easier

you don’t have to do it all at once

12. if you could make a candle that smelt like anything, what would you pick?

closing all the tabs on your computer after finishing a big project

13. the last so-bad-it’s-good joke you heard

what do vegan zombies eat? graaaiiiinnnnsss

14. an artist (of any kind) whose work you look forward to seeing

I recently read The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez and WOW was that book good. I can’t wait to read more of his stuff.

15. the last tv episode that made you laugh out loud

The Future’s End part 2 from Voyager. ‘Tuvok, what a freakosaurus!’ got to me.

16. how you wake your body up when it’s feeling tired, achy or needs a stretch

stick my face in a bowl of ice water

17. a bath, shower, beauty or toiletry product that makes you feel revived, or that you always re-order when it’s running out

cerave hydrating face cleanser. It’s really good for feeling clean :)

18. a book series you can always escape in

Scythe by Neil Schusterman. It’s an odd one but I like it a lot.

19. the sport or exercise you enjoy the most, and what’s helped you get better at it

weightlifting! And, I don’t really know what’s helped me get better at it. Just… doing it I suppose.

20. a skill you’ve picked up in the past few years

I’m not sure how much this counts but making herbal mixes for different situations. Right now I’m drying some pineapple sage, mint, and lavender for my mom’s birthday. They make really good gifts.

21. a YouTube video you find useful, entertaining, or relaxing

The first episode of Fantasy High by Dimension 20. Absolutely LOVE watching people play dnd (just not the action parts, that can get boring)

22. if you were going to dye your hair any colour of the rainbow, what would you choose?

teal! I like that color

23. the book you just finished and what you thought

I just finished The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez and I don’t think I’ve cried that much because of a book in a long time. (No spoilers but WHY Vaila, why did you do that 😭)

24. describe the most wacky, weird and wonderful at-home outfit you’ve put together

Army pants, combat boots, neon pink and blue flannel, and one of my dad’s band shirts from the eighties

25. a game you’re playing that takes your mind off things

It’s called Two Spies and it’s really fun but I’m VERY bad at it

26. the film you watched most recently that you could watch again and again

Saving Face my beloved 🥺

27. your favourite flavour and brand of tea

I don’t really have a favorite brand but I like irish breakfast tea

28. a good-will story you’ve heard on the news that’s made you feel hopeful

Norway shut down its last arctic coal mine! It’s turning the land into a national park. Obviously not going to save the world but it’s nice to know that people ARE trying to help the environment.

29. a favourite easy recipe: 5 ingredients or less, or takes less than 30 min to make

Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato slices <3

30. a song that makes you want to have a boogie round your bedroom

Transparent Soul by Willow

[ariella884]

Voyager Book Club - February Favorite Fics

So I put forth a challenge of sorts to our Voyager Book Club. I asked everyone to pick ONE Voyager fic that they consider to be their favorite. Now, you can imagine, this is pretty freaking hard! There are so many incredible fics out there. I didn’t say it had to be the best written, or the most in character. I gave examples such as: the one you read over and over or your go-to fic, however you want to phrase it. It was pointed out that a favorite fic can change every hour based on your frame of mind and what you are in the mood to read at any one moment. I get it. Even so....I challenged everyone to only pick ONE. And they did it! Or most of them! I got around 20 different favorites picked! So here is the list of our Favorite Voyager Fics, why they were chosen and by whom. Happy Reading!!

Note: Click on the name of the fic for a link to it! Also, this list is in no particular order.

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@curator-on-ao3: ‘Fragile Things’ by @mia-cooper

“Fanfic is about exploring possibilities. That’s what put this fic over the top to be my favorite. In Fragile Things, MiaCooper examines multiple versions of one relationship, pulling different threads to see how things unravel or knit together. It’s thoughtful, it’s meta, it’s realistic as hell, it’s damn good writing — it’s MiaCooper and it’s excellent.”

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@ariella884(yep, that’s me!): ‘2013′ by PCBW (@pcbw)

“I had a hard time choosing my favorite (like most people here), mostly because as i was gathering them all from everyone else I kept seeing ones and going, ‘Oh! I love that one!’.  I also didn’t want to have any duplicates so I had to change mine a couple times, that being said, 2013 is easily one of my top three (which of themselves is almost impossible to pick just one. I’m lucky that my other two were chosen already and I didn’t have to!). I love 2013 because it is a modern AU, without being a completely modern AU. No, that doesn’t make sense. But you get our Janeway and Chakotay, Starfleet officers and all, and you get them in the modern world. It’s incredible! We see the challenges they go through of being taken from everything they know and put into a world that is pretty much unknown to them. Add to that the personal differences they have to work out together. Splash in the normal challenges that we all go through when trying to live a life in this day and age (jobs, house, money, love, family, etc). This is just an incredibly beautiful story that I have read many times and will continue to read over and over. It’s also a long fic and those are my favorite because I like to get completely involved in stories!”

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@mia-cooper: ‘Deceiving’ by QuantumSilver

“Because it starts with a canon event that is absolutely devastating and shows just how devastated Janeway and Chakotay are by it (and Tuvok and Ayala as well, though they only make a brief appearance). It shows Janeway at her absolute best - every last inch the captain, going above and beyond for her crew not just physically but emotionally in spite of the absolutely gut-wrenching cost to her - and it really kicks off with one of my absolute favourite tropes: mutual pining to the Nth Fucking Degree.

It has Chakotay being every bit the commander, backing her up even though he's dying inside, and REFUSING to let her shut herself away even though he KNOWS she's going to want to murder him for pushing and pushing and pushing at her.

And then OH MY GOD, he's deliberately getting on her every last nerve just so he can wrench honesty from her because he knows if she doesn't tell him how badly he's hurt her, how she's absolutely bottomed out because of him, she will never open up to him or anyone else again.

AND THEY DRINK WHISKEY OMG GIVE ME KJ AND C UTTERLY MISERABLE AND DRINKING WHISKEY LIKE IT'S WATER AND PINING LIKE FUCK AND NOT SAYING A WORD BUT BLEEDING TO DEATH FROM THE HEART AND I WILL DIE HAPPY FOREVERRRRRRR

I'm sorry for yelling but this fic makes me want to rip off my clothes and run up and down the street screeching how everybody should read it and they are just BRUTAL with each other and they STILL do not understand, refuse to, CANNOT understand, that the other would not just die for them but MURDER WHOLE FUCKING ARMIES FOR THEM and it's tragic and devastating but then oH MY GOoOoOODDDDD

So that is my favourite fic and the one i read approximately every two months or more if i really hate my writing that day and want to torture myself with How It Should Be Done.”

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@bizships: ‘Fealty’ by MsDisdain

“My favorite story. I honestly don’t have to think about it. It’s one I always go back to.

I love the way the crew pledges their loyalty to her and the way subtle way they tell her that it’s okay that she’s happy too in that they effectively give her Chakotay for her birthday, by way of him “fighting” Tuvok(Starfleet)  for her hand.”

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@arcadia1995: ‘The Space Between’ by lauawill ( @joyful-voyager)

“The Space Between is a story I return to time and time again when I'm feeling down.  I like that it realistically portrays what might have happened between Janeway and Chakotay right after the returned home in Endgame.  I like that no one in the J/C/7 triangle ends up being a bad guy.  I like the hopeful ending and imaging what might have happened after the fade to black (lots of sex!!!)“

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@wishful-thinker-87 : ‘if you came this way’ by tree

“It’s always a go to for me, even though I don’t usually like AUs. The sex is intense and emotional. The characterization is pot on. And we get Phoebe being an awesome sister and some Chakotay/Molly bonding too. What’s not to love?!”

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BlackVelvet: ‘Bluffing the Crowd’ by @ralkana

“Even after years since i read this, just thinking about this story brings a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart and a huge silly grin to my face. I simply love it.”

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@purpledog47: ‘The Future is Ours’ by Dawn

“My favorite is most definitely Dawn’s ‘The Future is Ours. This is my one fic. It’s super long and it tells us what happened after Endgame and it has a little bit of everything in it: angst, romance, hurt/comfort, Q, babyfic, romance.” 

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@amoderngirl: ‘Time and Distance’ by northernexposure

“If I am ever loosing the thread with J/C, I can always read this and I am immediately in love again.”

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@coffeeblack75: ‘Soft Light’ by northernexposure

“There are so many reasons why I love it that I can't even, haha. I'll start with: it was the first piece of fanfic smut I read, so I love it for that reason - my first time haha. More importantly, it is just beautifully, beautifully written - it's plotted beautifully, it flows beautifully and the pacing is spot on. The author has complete control over all of that & over the language, which is just used masterfully. There's so much subtley going on in this story too - the author doesn't spell everything out for us and instead draws us to the details that reveal what is important - the beginnings of these two getting to know each other. Gosh, it's so hard to articulate haha! But lines like this just make me shiver in delight for their beauty and what they reveal: "he was kissing her, with a lot more sweetness than was wise. Ah god, I could go on and on but perhaps I'll finish with my favourite bit, which is when C feels that first stab of lust & realises she might too & tests his theory by blowing softly on the back of her neck. This moment, omg, the moment is just so beautiful, so quiet, so pointed and private and intimate. You really feel that moment as if you are there. Ahhhhh :)

Also….there are two sequels to it that are equally as wonderful ;)  

Oh and one more thing I adore about this story is the way that the C thinks he is lusting after KJ but it is quite obvious he loves her - even before they come together - but he hasn’t realized it yet. The way the author does this is just incredible - so deft! Everything for C is about taking care of KJ … it’s just beautiful.”

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@caladeniablue: ‘Lifeline’ by helenagray ( @picking-daisies-in-the-outfield)

“Why do I like that fic? An unfinished WIP at that (Started in 2013; last update in Jan 2019. No indication how many chapters to go.) The perfect serial story and that's part of the attraction for me.

The first chapter sets the scene: raw Janeway, alone, without the backup of her ship, her crew or Chakotay. Bare of essentials and with only her courage and intelligence and sheer determination to help her survive, and even she wonders how long those will last her.

And while we learn about Chakotay and how he seeks her while the crew has to move on, I am drawn to Janeway most of all.

The fic jumps back and forth across locations and in time from that first chapter to catch up with it again some 20 chapters later, but there is no jarring. The reader knows immediately what KJ is experiencing , but the past events that led to that situation are as important, and that's one of the many attractions of this story. No overlong flashbacks, no tedious info dump. It's all layered, making one wait for the next chapter and the next one, while knowing all the time where KJ has ended up.

The writing is gorgeous, which is a bonus. And it is pure J/C, distilled to its purest by separation.  Perfect.”

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@keiraniels: ‘Bad Ensign’ (Series) by @curator-on-ao3

“Ok so I chose Curator’s ‘Bad Ensign’ because I come back to it often - - it’s such a freaking brilliant idea that I can 100% imagine being canon, and it inspired so many Voyager Bookclubbers to write Bad Ensign stories”

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@cnrothtrek: ‘War Torn’ by @curator-on-ao3

“Why? I had the pleasure of beta reading this story, and I am so glad that I did. It has a great plot, is well-written and perfectly paced, and is hard to put down. The way it pulls together two pieces of canon backstories for Miles O’Brien and Kathryn Janeway is genius. The characters feel so real and their voices can be clearly heard in the text. And the supporting characters of Captain Benjamin Maxwell, Will “Stompie” Kayden, and Molly Walsh are incredible. The story is intense, absorbing, and emotional. I just can’t say enough good things about it.”

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@theshortywrites: ‘The Dragonfly Oath’ by Koneia

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@emmikamikatze: ‘All the Good Things We Never Did’ by northernexposure

“This story brings me to tears, makes me smile and shiver and fear and worry. It's given me phrases that won't leave me, that keep repeating itself in my head even months (years) after first reading it. There's just the right amount of show trivia to make it a fanfiction, but little enough to make it a unique and original story. ne makes me fall in love with these characters all over again as if I didn't know them beforehand.

This story is special and precious and it speaks to me on so many levels I can hardly comprehend how genius it is. It's a literary masterpiece of fanfic if there ever was one.”

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@missmil: ‘Here I Stand’ by lauawill

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@manalyzer13: ‘Gravitation’ by northernexposure

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@grace-among-the-stars: ‘Filling the Void’ by Spiletta42

“Filling the Void is the one fic I always return to. It has my fave ships, JC, PT and D7. Minor characters play major parts and it is just funny. It makes me laugh every time. 

JC’s relationship is really explored from all angles, this is not just your average, ‘the crew get them together fics’, it is so much more. It has sexual tension, smut, humour, sadness and is pure JC BLISS. It always cheers me up and I was so happy when Spiletta42 added it to Ao3 because this meant so many more people would find it.”

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Anonymous: ‘Bent, Not Broken’ by @killermanatee

“This is an incredible hurt/comfort Janeway/Chakotay fic. The story is painfully written from both characters' perspectives, showing how each is suffering in a different way from the traumatic event that has occurred. In the end, their love for each other will help them come together and they will both be able to heal with time, comfort, and support from one another. This is a beautifully told, emotionally heavy story of one couple's love overcoming tragedy. It is my favorite Janeway/Chakotay fic, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a heartbreaking yet fulfilling story.”

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@minakotenjou: ‘Mysterious and Curious’ by @h4t08 

“It was so hard to choose - there are a lot of incredible fanfics out there. This was one of the first...shall we say spicier J/C fics I read and for some reason I still think of it often. It's great smut for sure, but I think it stuck with me because of how it all gets tied together at the end.”

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@leisylaura: ‘The Bitter End’ by @mia-cooper

“We have post endgame books but not one about the original timeline, I remember reading “The bitter end” and thinking “this is it, this is what happened”.  I cried from beginning to end.”

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@killermanatee: ‘The Dying of the Light’ by @cnrothtrek

"This fic is such a gorgeous piece of art. I hadn't seen the TNG episode before reading it and when I did watch it I was very disappointed because this fic is just on such a completely different level. The storytelling is so delicate and intriguing, that combined with the poignant and elegant writing style, so that it was impossible to put my phone down. I can't recommend this fic highly enough."

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@cheile: ‘Marooned’ by Soliquilii9 (aka Running Horse)

“I love how she makes the story unfold in slow steady measures.  Also, she filled in the gaps left by the writers in regards to his heritage by using information from her own Cherokee background and it is done naturally (not in an info dump type manner). “

__________

What do you think of our list of Voyager favorites? Do you have a favorite that isn’t on this list? Reply to this post with your favorite!! And if you haven’t read ALL of these fics yet, I strongly suggest you get started!! Have fun and enjoy!!

[kncrowder88]

for whatever pairings of your choice, for the ship asks: what’s your favorite headcanon of [whatever]? what’s your favorite canon moment of [whatever]? favorite AU ideas for [whatever]? rant about [whatever]

So, I’m going to pick different ships for each of these.

What is my favorite headcanon?

I’m going with my newest ship Pomona Sprout and Irma Pince for this one. Why? Because I love them and they are so rare no one else seems to. I love to headcanon them just tending to they other. Like, they bring each other warm beverages when they are so pulled into tending to their areas, they’ve not realized the night has passed. Pomona gets the rarest of books on herbology as gifts from Irma, while Irma gets the rarest of tools for the library from Pomona (including the best possible ingredients from plants to tend to books – even potions from Snape, yes Pomona will get him to brew potions for Irma – ). Just …. The two of them are precious okay.

 My favorite canon moment ….

Jack and Sam from SG1 is who I am picking for this one and largely because I want to share the GIF of Jack just like in the time loop kissing her. Dudes like “I can do whatever? Okay I quit *kisses Sam*” …. Like it’s definitely one of my fav moments for these two.

Favorite AU idea for ….

Trying to narrow down a ship for this when I’m literally working on like multiple AU ideas for both Snily and JC is difficult okay. So … guess I’ll just give a favorite for both of those I guess. Currently my main project for JC (Janeway/Chakotay) is the Maquis Janeway AU, and for Snily (snevans, Snape/Lily for those who don’t know)  is Anything Lily. To explain, basically the first one is a “what if Janeway was the Maquis Captain and Chakotay the Starfleet Captain?” and the second one is “What if Voldemort took up the offer on Lily’s anything comment?” … so I’m exploring those AUs. Keep in mind I tend to write dark so both AUs have the potential to be not just angsty but dark and long so taking a bit to get out and not yet published.

Rant about ….

Janeway and Tuvok …. Look I can rant about any of my ships but this one I just get frustrated with at times because I have to sit on so many different fandom areas and watch as people go on and on about the ships they have within Star Trek. And how obvious the ships are. The various behaviors the two characters have to each other. Yet these two are brushed off WHEN THEY DO THE SAME THINGS. And I know its all because Tuvok is said to be married. But they are also said to be on a 70 year long journey. Dude gonna go through pon farr. Dude gonna need something. And I’m sorry we only see his wife via hologram and hallucination. It just gets frustrating to see people go on about how obv Kirk and Spock are but Tuvok and Janeway are clearly just besties. Dude breaks the law for her, she crosses the galaxy for him. I just …. ugh like even the way Endgame gets talked about bugs me. Like, everyone focuses on the Admirals stuff for Chakotay and Seven as the key but she lists Tuvok last. That’s the trump card that pushed Janeway to act. Like, she goes “and then of course there is Tuvok” and Janeway says fuck the temporal prime directive tell me right now. Like prior to that she was all “I can change stuff you told me, its whatever” but moment Tuvok was mention it was “Tell me right this moment”. The Admiral deliberately played that card last and played the “oh but what about the temporal” card as well because she knows herself. I love Janeway and her relationship with others but JTu was played off as not just strong besties but could have been lovers as well but its ignored by so many just because of the whole dude was married thing like they were stuck in space for the next seventy years with no contact with anyone. …. I should stop ranting now before I get annoyed (not advocating cheating or anything just like … he would have died in pon farr with no mate, and without all the luck they had she’d have been dead or close to it by the time they returned so)

[annakie]

Am I once again posting about the Voyager Relaunch Novels?  Yes.  Yes I am.

I am re-reading the Post-Endgame Voyager Relaunch novels and marathoned reading The Eternal Tide over the last two nights and all I have to say is Janeway and Chakotay love each other so much, I was literally sobbing through about six sections of the second half of that book.  

The Kirsten Beyer books are SO GOOD.  And as I’m re-reading them I love how she handles every single one of the Voyager characters but especially Chakotay.  I feel like she understands Chakotay and gives him everything the writers of Voyager never quite grasped about his character in seven seasons.  Full Circle is such a powerful story of his love and his grief, and the rest of the crew’s love for him (especially Tom, B’lanna, Harry and Sev-- wow his friendship with Seven is so awesome throughout the Beyer books, everything it should have been in the show and not what we got in Endgame.  The support they have for each other without forcing a cringey relationship back onto them adds so much to BOTH of their characters.  Hey this paragraph went way off the rails but I don’t care.)

Anyway I really love the plots of each of these books, I love how they handle EVERY character (well, I miss Tuvok -- at some point I’m gonna get to the Titan novels) and the new characters are pretty great (oh man Cambridge is a fave, and so much better than the new consular that was introduced in the Spirit Walk books.  Loved Eden, love Farkas.)

I made a post a few days ago about how Chakotay is the whole “upstanding, solid, good guy” archetype that some people dare to call “boring” I’ve previously talked at length in a post about Mass Effect about how that’s just... my favorite kind of character.  And Chakotay is just... so that.  It also made me realize that the Janeway / Chakotay dynamic is also very similar to a Shepard / Kaidan dynamic (powerful commanding officer of her own ship woman character, solid, good, honorable mature right-hand man first officer (or close to it) male character and maybe that’s why they’re both two of my favorite ships.

Anwyay here’s some spoilery thoughts about The Eternal Tide.

Chakotay telling Seven about his relationship with Janeway evolving before she died, and how he doesn’t think he’ll ever love any other woman!

Confirmation that Chakotay was thinking about proposing when they were supposed to met in Venice!??!  What!?

Janeway thinking about Chakotay right after her resurrection and how deeply she feels for him and wondering about how her death affected him!  Also I kind of love that Chakotay DIDN’T come to her mind when deciding whether to return to life or not?  This was her decision and making it about A Man I think would have made it feel less about her and how she knew she would be taking responsibility for The Multiverse, which is what it absolutely should have been about.  Realizing what her death would have done to him basically the second she was alive again... that part was so well written.  I loved it.  Her relationship shouldn’t become the basis of who she is -- but it adds to her.

Their... reunion... scene... almost being ruined by Q... Chakotay’s utter shock and disbelief and the description of him slowly beginning to have his heart open up to the possibility, him inching closer to her as she’s thinking that maybe she’s made a mistake and understands just how deeply her death hurt him... that.... entire... SCENE.  (Actually about once a year I dig that book and Full Circle out just to read their getting together / reunion scenes.)

Getting Seven’s reaction to Janeway was also very, very good.  I wish they hadn’t cut past the scene where the rest of the Voyager staff sees her for the first time but we did get a little taste of it.

Um okay and then Janeway tells Chakotay she loves him for the first time and he says it back, naturally but like, this is as Chakotay was preparing to go on a suicide mission?  SOBBING.  They didn’t even get a day together, but at least they got to say goodbye this time.

Janeway forcing herself not to think about Chakotay’s death because things just got so much more dire.

Yes they won, but Janeway all alone on the battle bridge and she can’t even bring herself to contact Voyager yet because she just needs time to mourn Chakotay for a few seconds and takes a few seconds, a few breaths, a few moments... and then... OMG.... Chakotay is returned by Godson Q just before his death and they’re so happy... I CANNOT.

THE EPILOGUE where they’re in bed and had spent every possible moment together and so casual and free and happy together... it’s everything we ever wanted for seven seasons and seven more books.

--

Oh I started this post now almost a week ago and now I’m a few books forward and hey am I now going to talk about Protectors?  Yes, yes I am.

J/C don’t get to spend a lot of time together in this book.  Janeway gets sent back to the Alpha Quadrant to undergo counseling and evaluation which, tbh, is totally valid considering she DIED A VIOLENT HORRIBLE DEATH and then WAS DEAD FOR FOURTEEN MONTHS and then you know RESURRECTED AND IMMEDIATELY HAD TO SAVE THE MULTIVERSE oh yeah not to mention WAS REUNITED WITH THEN HAD TO TELL CHAKOTAY GOODBYE FOREVER A FEW HOURS LATER then oh wait THE MAN SHE LOVES WAS ALSO BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD (or the brink of death, whatever.)

There’s a short and sweet goodbye scene then for the bulk of the book Janeway is back on Earth going to counseling (which, that second counseling scene was so great, and seeing her slow down and enjoy life with her mother was so great, and um also that scene with her and Picard?  Wow.  Just Wow.  Also I can’t wait to go back and read some TNG books because I need to see JL/B actually get together.)  And the entire time she’s just like... not even doubting her relationship with Chakotay even a little.  She thinks of him and is excited to be reunited but every time it’s like “the man I love” “The person I plan on spending the rest of my life with” and even “the love of my life.”  WOW.  Just Wow.  Chakotay worries a bit but never doubts.

Oh and then she basically tells her commanding officer “yeah um, thanks but I absolutely have no plans on curbing my relationship with Chakotay to make you feel more comfortable.  Also JL/B and Riker/Troi are all married so fuck you?”  She does agree to keep separate quarters on another ship which is like.. fine... whatever.  But also her going “Yes he’s my subordinate but we’re not going to let that affect our working relationship, we’re adults.” Fuck. Yeah.  Montgomery asks if they’re gonna get married and Janeway is all “IDK, probably? We’ll let you know.”

And B’Elanna asks Chakotay the same thing and his answer is also basically “Yeah at some point, we haven’t talked about it yet but yeah we’re spending the rest of our lives together now stop prodding me.”

Their reunion when she returns doesn’t go as planned and it’s a teensy bit worrisome at the end but with notes of positivity.

--

OK I’m only about 1/3rd into Acts of Contrition but I got to a part last night that made me put the book down for a minute and thank Kirsten Beyer out loud.

J/C finally get to spend some time alone several days after she makes it back to the fleet in the Delta Quadrant.  They have a brief discussion about The Plot, then Chakotay is like “Know what?  We’ll talk about The Plot Stuff tomorrow in the briefing.  Let’s instead talk about us.”  And then he stands up for what he wants!  And Janeway listens, and they talk, and agree!  And then Chakotay is like “Okay, now I really want to hear about what happened to you back on Earth for all those weeks!”  So... literally they just... sit and talk for several hours like, I don’t know, real people would?  There’s no drama!  And they both affirm their commitment to each other and their relationship!

It’s just... it’s... so good?  Their relationship is so solid!  They LOVE EACH OTHER and it’s based on their solid friendship (something else they actually say out loud!) and they talk to each other and there’s no like drama for drama’s sake about their relationship so far and it’s like, better than even any fanfic I’ve ever read (and there’s some great fic out there for these two) because nearly every other character is also getting their screentime and character development (minus Tuvok -- who’s off with Riker and Troi on the Titan and Neelix isn’t around much -- though he’s spoken of and we see him a bit when they visit New Talax).  Also it’s... beta canon.  No matter what, this is real and accepted beta canon.

I have been going back and listening to all the episodes of the Literary Trek podcast episodes about these books, and for Eternal Tide and Protectors Beyer herself was on the podcast and listening to her talk about Chakotay and Janeway both individually and as a couple her love for them both is clear, she loves the show and knows what she’s doing and is allowed to do it, and her writing is so damn good.  One of the hosts of the podcast has said in several episodes that he used to really dislike Chakotay as he was in the show and now book Chakotay is one of his favorite characters.  And honestly? I do love show Chakotay but book Chakotay is... everything show Chakotay should have been.  But he’s also been through hell and back and I love how Beyer used that experience -- and now Janeway’s resurrection experience -- to advance them BOTH individually and how that’s affected them as a couple now that they actually get to be that.

There’s so much other good in these books.  Tom and B’Elanna’s storyline and the way she writes them and their marriage... I could write so much about it.  Harry gets better characterization!  A plotline!  A promotion!  A love interest that may actually work out?!!? We’ll see.  And SEVEN. Wow. So much happens with Seven and it’s so great, I love her so much and Book Seven is again, even better.

Two more books have come out since the last time I read the series and the final book comes out next month, I can’t wait to see all the great moments Beyer has coming up for them.  It also makes me twice as happy that Beyer is so involved with Picard. It’s so clear the love she has for these two and I can’t imagine J/C not still being Alpha canon with her involved.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Picture This: Tuvok gets asked out on a date exactly one(1) times in his academy years and it’s by a girl he hasn’t really spent too much time with interpersonally. 

They work the same shifts and have one class together (I’m imagining the academy has a sort of work-study thing or an internship so you have hands-on experience by the time you graduate on to Starfleet proper) where they work side by side, mostly in silence.

And Tuvok’s surprised that she asks him out. He didn’t realize that people could see him in that way, especially non-vulcans who mostly just seem to view him as a bore or a spoilsport. Everytime they say something along those lines he feels a little proud. (He tells himself he feels nothing besides that, an appropriately dull pride). He thinks of his father and the cave.

Tuvok is also, at this point, very much crushing on some guy he sometimes works closely with because they both don’t like to talk too much. Tuvok once saw him half-reading a little book of poetry and reciting it monotonously to himself as if memorizing it. This struck him. And that frightened him to some degree, because of past experiences. (He thinks of his father and the cave and the fervid half-love before it)

[Un]fortunately this guy just got a girlfriend and Tuvok, even though he knows it was never going to work (hence his not making any sort of move but contrary to him learning makeup because this guy said once that he liked people with ‘bold looks.’) it’s still quietly devastated him. His devastation shames him and grows by the day, unattended to. 

And because Tuvok is young and lonely and devastated and that guy has a girlfriend and this girl in front of him asking him out is perfectly pleasant and he’s still got a little bit of teenaged rebellion left in him - he says yes.

They arrange to meet at a cafe on the promenade or wherever and Tuvok prepares for the date extensively. He does, like, date research in order to be prepared for what happens on a date (he’s never been on one and doesn’t know what’s expected and he’s been told he’s not a good conversationalist in general, let alone by human standards).

The day of the date he’s heading there when a fellow ensign calls out to him like “Tuvok! You look fancy!” and he says yes. “Going somewhere?” Yes. “....Care to share?” -sigh- a date. “With Rhoda?” Tuvok realizes he doesn’t know the first name of the girl he’s supposed to be going on a date with - he only knows her as Teral, her last name. He says he’d rather not talk about it then leaves.

He goes to the place of their date and waits. and waits. and waits. Until eventually the woman behind the counter sympathetically says she doesn’t think anyone’s coming. 

“That would seem to be the case, yes.”

“I’m sorry, hon.”

“Why?”

“I feel bad. Do you want a piece of pie?”

Tuvok leaves the cafe feeling lonelier than ever. He wonders why the ensign from before spoke to him - was there some hidden meaning to their conversation? He wishes he understood human mannerisms more so he’d know. He wishes he knew Teral’s first name. He stops himself from wishing more.

The girl doesn’t come to class the next day but he sees her as he’s heading up to his dorm. She’s sitting on the stairs with a friend and she looks stricken when she sees him. “Tuvok!” Hello. There’s a silence which Tuvok cannot decipher. He begins to move again.

The girl stops him, she says sorry about not showing up. She had something she forgot she had to do and she couldn’t contact him. Her friend is leaning on her leg and looking up at him with an expression that is again, to Tuvok, unreadable.

He tells Teral not to let it worry her and her friend sighs. “See? I told you he wouldn’t mind.” Teral shushes him but Tuvok is already walking past them. He ignores Teral’s attempts to speak further and shuts himself in his dorm.

The other bed in his room is thankfully empty. His roommate is polite enough but sometimes when Tuvok speaks he repeats whatever he said back to him, mimicking his inflection with a smile before continuing on. Tuvok doesn’t know if this is friendly or not. He tells himself he doesn’t ask about it because it doesn’t matter but he worries that’s a lie. He worries, late at night, that he actually just doesn’t want confirmation that it isn’t.

On his desk Tuvok has a barely begun letter that only contains the words ‘Earth is lonely.’ The word ‘lonely’ is made especially dark to cover up the fact that he had written ‘frightening’ earlier before remembering himself. Both are unacceptable.

He misses Vulcan. At least he understood when people disliked him. He knew what the rules were and when he broke them. 

He wonders, as he pulls a thermos of replicated plomeek soup (or what passes as that here) from his bag, why he’s so incredibly disappointed. He didn’t even know her first name.

In his bag is also a small box, inside of which is a pressed flower. He ignores it. He will later place it in one of the many common rooms and it will be gone to whomever wants it.

He wants desperately to quit, to return home a failure once again. Surely it would be better than this, being an alien amongst aliens. 

He quiets himself. He sips the soup. He pulls out a PADD and begins a letter in earnest.

Mother,

All is well…

[ezrisdax-archive]

Thoughts on a fun way to make a Star Trek/Mass Effect crossover? Or characters interactions cross-series?

like a full crossover? hmmm, certainly it’d be a parallel worlds type situation where I feel in Trek world the Leviathans didn’t evolve and create the Reapers and thus life wasn’t constantly wiped out and that’s why there’s more of an alien populace in the galaxy to explain the stark differences. And then time travel would get involved too since ME takes place before Trek.

So depending on which Trek you’re gonna go with (which for me I can pick any) there’s some wormhole shenanigans going on only what they call wormholes are the dark energy spots that Reapers use in ME time. The crew is investigating them when they go through it and end up in ME time (or if you want the ship accidentally goes through a la Voyager crossing over quadrants).

At first the crew is clearly trying to not get involved but can’t resist the chance to explore and learn the differences and when they realize this isn’t their actual past and can interact with the place more, which brings them into contact with the Normandy which has been sent to investigate the strange readings so we get to crew interactions of (which I’ll put under a cut cause it got long):

Spock and/or Tuvok, and Liara discussing the Vulcan Mind Meld versus the Asari meld and coming to the conclusion that they might have a genetic link back

Tali and B’Elanna having a field day comparing notes (and complaining) on what it’s like keeping a ship together when you don’t have all the parts you really need since Tali used to do that with the Quarian ships and B’Elanna does that now

Kirk and Shepard discussing choices made that shape worlds for better or worse despite the best of intentions and geeking out over model ships. You can’t tell me that doesn’t happen.

Bashir and Mordin are the only people able to understand each other in their speed talking and excitedly sharing notes about different aliens.

Worf and Wrex and Grunt immediately start a fight (bonus points for Wrex insulting Worf for sounding like Uvenk whom Dorn voices)

Seven and Legion (in a world where he lives, what do you mean he dies) discussing what it’s like going from a hive mind to being individuals and coming to find yourself and who you are as a person, like Legion clearly was more involved in finding this aspect for his people as opposed to Seven who had it forced on her but they share the desire now to learn and become an individual and protect those they care about

Janeway and Shepard blow something up by accident while trying to investigate something because of course they do

Samara and Deanna sitting down and just discussing life because I feel like these two would be friends and smirking at their friends antics and secretly betting on who’s gonna get into what danger

I actually have a lot of thoughts about paragon!Shepard and Michael being similar characters in the sense of having this burden of the galaxy placed on them and speaking out against things that people refuse to see except for the crew they’re apart of and trying to warn people of a war and do their best to prevent it and bring people together

Tilly and Tali and Gabby together would be a delight I feel, just talking excitedly about everything under the sun. including the sun.

Sulu and Joker arguing who's a better pilot and Sulu being fascinated how Mass Effect fields work when it comes to piloting and Joker proudly explaining it

Sisko tries to adopt Grunt from Shepard (no I’m mostly kidding, I think that Sisko and Shep have a great deal of respect for each other in caring for the crew and having in placed in an almost god like reverence in certain situations and the struggles with that. and then also Sisko brings back baseball to the Mass Effect world. Shepard absolutely hates that)

I figure the EMH would actually be most interested in biotics and the science of that and writing down to make a paper to publish as the first hologram to do so.

Likewise EDI is fascinated with hologram technology that Trek’s have and if the ships have ever developed sentience in any way and if she can incorporate some of that technology into the Normandy to further her own development

I think Kira gets along with Wrex and is angry at Salarians on his behalf once she hears what was done to the Krogan because the genocide of a species hits hard with her

Tilly and Samantha are even worse than Bashir and Mordin at talking so fast no one gets it but them and they very much do enjoy talking to each other

Tom and Steve have shuttle races until they’re ordered back by their bosses because really guys

Geordi has a lot of talks with EDI, some about his friendship with Data and the human side of interacting with a being that’s trying to learn about humanity themselves but most about the ship and the benefits of integration with it that allow you to be aware of everything that’s happening on it

also Data and EDI tell the worst jokes and everyone regrets this

Picard and Thane drink tea together and discuss philosophies and Thane talks about his species old artifacts and how they were lost to his culture and Picard just listens with interest and some ideas on how you could maybe get those back

Jadzia and Jack get along surprisingly well, they have a holodeck fight at one point and Jadzia takes tricorder readings of biotics and then they go out drinking together

on the flip side Ezri and Miranda get along in terms of being forced to live up to unreasonable family expectations (all though far less harsh in Ezri’s case) and having to carve out your own identity and also like...weirdly everyone hating you for no other reason than your character exists

Bev gets into playing poker with Kaidan and Steve and now they’re all trying to beat each other constantly at it

Saru and Liara get along the easiest at first and discuss the wild things their crews get up to and how they eventually just started to go along with the madness

Kasumi keeps trying to steal from Tuvok but can’t manage it and thinks it’s the best challenge she’s had in years. Tuvok just wants to talk to Thane and get back to the Delta Quadrant already captain.

Harry and Jacob get to talking about having to prove themselves and always being looked over and the troubles of trying to get your own command

Bones hates all of this, Kirk what the hell have you done now. That said he and Zaeed get to drinking and talking about the bullshit that comes from space travel. All though Zaeed’s is more about how annoying it is to try to kill someone in it. Bones thinks he’s just over exaggerating and not a mercenary at first.

James keeps showing off for literally everyone and turning things into a competition with whoever he can when it comes to physical activities, he’s still sulking that Data beat him until he finds out that Data is an android and then calls foul on it.

Odo and Zaeed grumble about everything together

B’Elanna and Ashley have a book club that they don’t tell anyone about and share romance novels and poetry while complaining about how everyone doesn’t expect it from them and that’s part of why they don’t tell people those parts of themselves

Uhura gets the translators turned off on the Normandy to listen to everyone’s dialect and language and is quick to pick up on it, she’s especially good with Drell and enjoys conversing with Thane in it

Liara is absolutely freaked out that Deanna sounds like her mother and Deanna is absolutely using this to troll her whenever she can because it amuses her

Grunt and Chekov get into arguments about history of all things despite that people keep pointing out that they’re from alternate worlds and therefore it’s different anyway

Chakwas and Chakotay sit down to talk about what it’s like sorta taking care of the crew and just ridiculous stories of things they’ve put with

Riker at one point talks to Miranda about clones and dealing with someone who is the same genetically as you but isn’t you and do you have a relationship with them or leave them be (they don’t come up with an answer really)

Mordin gets banned from taking samples of other aliens

Nog and Gabby talk one point about being sorta new to the experiences of war and frontline suddenly and the horrors that come with it and share their experiences of being trapped by the Reapers vs being in a Jem’Hadar fight and coming back from that

Guinan doesn’t care much for Javik but they do have one good discussion about what it’s like being one of the last of your species and seeing so many of them die due to a machine race (and worse, converted to serve that race) that you just can’t fight back against no matter how much you try (or that’s what they thought at the time)

Samantha and Spock and Kirk and/or Airiam have strategy game nights and really get into it and Spock will typically leave while Sam and Kirk are still geeking out over it until the morning

Quark is banned from the Normandy point blank

Worf tries to get everyone to appreciate Klingon opera, the only one he manages to get into it are Grunt and Legion

Scotty is especially fascinated with the drive core of the Normandy and talks to Adams about it constantly

Chakotay and James having a boxing match at one point

Jake interviews like everyone and is thinking about turning this experience into a novel and enjoys listening to everyone’s stories

O’Brien and Garrus get caught up in calibrations, can you come back later

okay this literally is getting too long already but I could keep going. I think then there’s a group discussion about the Borgs vs the Reapers and the troubles everyone faces in those fights and a lot of back and forth about things that have worked for one crew that may help someone else out (like the Changeling cure to maybe help the Genophage cure or vice versa)

[firstofficerchakotay-flute]

Personal Log

Kathryn is still missing and I can’t think of anything beyond that.

Oh, of course I can. I have to think of so many things since I’m in command right now. Ensign Bristow is dead and his death was so violent... a bloody mess, as the Doctor said. Kathryn’s DNA was detected in a few of his wounds and we know she was alive at the time. Should it comfort me? Probably, but many hours have passed since then and we haven’t a clue yet. And what about Celes? We have no idea what’s her status. Also, our resources are still limited and we’ll have a serious problem if we need to go into a battle in order to get our people back.

I ordered Tuvok and Ayala to investigate the planet and they haven’t reported yet. They should soon.

I have been in my quarters for 3 hours and I can’t even move. I can’t sleep, can’t eat... I just took a shower and then I sat on the couch looking at the stars through the viewport and thinking of her. I wanted to ask the Doctor for a mild sedative - anything to calm me but I just didn’t have the strength. Dalby sent me a personal message but I just can’t...

I know. I have to stay collected and I will. I promised her. I promised Kathryn that I wouldn’t collapse and if something bad happened to her, I’d do everything in order to be a good Captain for Voyager; in order to lead her crew home.

I can’t even cry for her. I’m feeling shocked...cold...devastated. I wish I could cry. Probably, it would calm me. I’m feeling like I’m going to explode soon.

Kathryn is not dead. She cannot be dead. I don’t really believe she’s dead. We are so close and our bonding is so strong that I would feel it. I would know if she was dead! Although, I’m afraid that these ‘’radical oligarchicals’’ are torturing them. I’m afraid that Kathryn is suffering now. It’s maybe a thought, or maybe a presentiment  - I can’t define. I  only know that she’s still alive and her mind is still working. I’m sure she’s trying to make a plan with Celes in order to escape from the planet. I just know it.

God, I’m feeling rage. I hate these Aliens. I could kill them right now without a second thought. The thought of Kathryn being in pain...When I heard that they had a body....I wanted to vomit. I wanted to run away. What would I do if it was Kathryn’s body? How would I react? When I saw Bristow’s body...I felt... grief and panic and anger and relief and fear....all at once. We have to find them as soon as possible.

Where are you, Kathryn? I didn’t move anything of your stuff. Everything is waiting for you. Your book is still on my bedside table. Your nightie is still on my bed and it has your scent. Even your favorite mug is in my quarters. There’s only you missing here.

When I close my eyes, I can see her. I can hear her. I can see her pacing her ready room making plans with her jaw clenched and her eyes shining. I can see her to the conference room rolling her eyes because she heard something silly. I can see her gambling on our enemies with a lopsided smile on her face. I can hear her sighing after her first sip of coffee. I can hear her husky laugh after I told her one of my awful jokes. I can see her making faces because she has to eat leola root again.

I can feel her falling asleep stretched out on top of me, her head tucked into the curve of my neck and her hair agaist my mouth tickling me. I can feel her waking me up with kisses and snuggling against my chest. I can hear her whispering to me that she loves me - more than her life, more than her coffee. I can hear her telling me with a broken voice that she can’t sleep and asking me to hold her and caress her. I can see us making love for hours and then can’t even making our way up to the bridge because we’re too exhausted.

I wish...well, I wish many things.

I wish she was here.

I have to get ready for the bridge. We have a long day ahead of us.

[joyful-voyager]

DVD Commentary

@devoverest wrote:

"Grief," sections 5 ("They hauled me in for a physical today") through 8 ("But it's so hard to accept without proof.")

I've chosen that passage to stay within the stated 500-word limit, but if you want to commentate the whole story I surely would not object. Or, please feel free to pick a different passage from "Grief" if you want to. I just didn't want to pick the ending because spoilers, but it gives me chills every time I read it.

And here is my overwritten response!

Whoa. I need a time machine for this one! We're going back 21 years to the heady days of Voyager's second season, when the fandom was new and the fanfic newer, and Seven of Nine wasn't even a nasty little gleam in Brannon Braga's shifty little eye. Weirdly enough, though, there are about three stories that I can remember the exact circumstances that surrounded their creation. This happens to be one of them, and you'll find out why in a minute.

So. “Grief." This was part of a bigger project that was inspired by Sue Love's story “Period of Mourning." That one story spawned a ton of other fanfic, from straight-up knock offs to gut-wrenching counterpoints (see Michele Masterson's “Contrition“ if you can find it), to a multi-author project in which several people told this same story from a single character's point of view. Sue's style was first person by Tom Paris as a series of personal logs. Over the course of a few days, a bunch of other authors jumped in and “claimed“ a character and got to work in the same style.

Probably because I was young and arrogant and really naïve, I immediately claimed the one character whose point of view I had no business examining: Chakotay's. I was only 26 years old, after all, and I'd never experienced the kind of grief I imagined he would go through. Not even close. But like the idiot that I was, I thought I was good enough to write it anyway.

Sure. Right. At 26 years old, having never been in a long-term relationship, much less having lost a lover to death. Boy, was this a bad move. I knew it right away, too. Whenever I sat down to write, there was so much nothing in my brain it was horrifying. I was in way, way over my head.

Fortunately, at the time I was working in a small, independent bookshop. The weekend that I wrote “Grief,“ I had to work a Friday night shift that kept me in the shop until almost midnight. I am decidedly not a night owl, and the shop was rarely busy on Friday nights. Even worse, I was in charge of the Special Orders desk that night, which was way back in the hinterlands of the shop, between Foreign Language Dictionaries and Psychology. By about 7:00 I was bored and desperate to stay awake. I was rearranging Psychology just for something to do when I realized: “Hey, dumbass, you've got a whole shelf full of books on grieving right here. What kind of ex-librarian/ex-M.F.A. student/bookseller are you anyway? Research." So that's what I did. I grabbed a couple short little books on grief and went back to the desk and started reading. By the time the shop closed, I had a pocketful of handwritten notes on grief and the grieving process. When I got back to my apartment, I opened my notebook and wrote one line: “I am in someone's nightmare." And then I went to bed.

The entire story, virtually every single word of it, was in my head when I woke up. No lie. I think what happened was that all the research I'd done about grief and the grieving process matched itself up in my sleeping brain to things I'd heard family members say over the seven years prior to writing the story. See, when I was 19, a beloved cousin of mine was murdered by a drunk driver. She was 22. My family took it extremely hard. We are a large but close-knit bunch, and over the next months and years I spent a lot of time with that wing of the family – the deceased's parents and in particular her two brothers, who were 19 and 20 at the time. I remember my uncle chain-smoking and saying, “This feels like it's happening to someone else." I remember one of my cousins saying that he couldn't get warm even though it happened in the middle of an extra-sultry Indiana summer. I remember my sisters driving my aunt to the spot where it happened because she wanted to visualize what her daughter had seen at that moment. Most of all, I remember my 20-year-old cousin having to take charge of the situation because his parents were so leveled by grief that they couldn't function. He was the one who identified what was left of his sister's body, made all the phone calls, arranged the Mass and the interment, etc. I asked him how he managed all that. He said, “I didn't have a choice. I put my best suit on and I just did it. I did it for her. But it was the hardest thing I've ever done." And I also remember how, a couple years later, that same cousin started to get into all kinds of trouble for rage-related incidents that he later, with therapy, traced back to not grieving properly for his sister. Somehow, all of these memories just…hooked up in my head with the facts of grief – you know, denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance, etc. – and turned themselves into this story. All I had to do was transcribe it.

As for the techniques and tools part of it: The first person POV was a given, since that's how the project was working. I purposefully kept the early sections short and the language sort of staccato to show how Chakotay was still in the thick of his emotions even though he wasn't dealing with them. He was keeping a very tight rein on himself and even sort of fooling himself, and I wanted to show that in the beginning. The turning point, of course, is his collapse in front of B'Elanna. I imagine the walls really closing in on him at that moment. Weeks have passed, maybe months, and he has done what he thought he had to do: Perform for the crew, do what Kathryn would have done, and not show anyone how her loss was affecting him. When he shouts at B'Elanna, it's a moment of stepping outside of his self-protective shell just long enough to express an honest emotion. And even though it's anger he's expressing, the floodgates are then open. The rest of his suppressed feelings aren't far behind, and they soon come pouring out in his screams, and later his plaintive cries, for Kathryn. The language gets more lyrical then, more self aware and self reflective. He's gone as far down into his grief as he can go and he's slowly coming back to himself. When Kathryn does eventually return, I imagine that he's overjoyed, yes, but also very cognizant of his newfound strength. He can lose someone he loves deeply and still survive it and carry on. (This is part of the reason the reunion scene in The Eternal Tide drives me up a freaking tree, but that's a whole different and equally long-winded post for another time.)

One other technical note: Having the other characters move in and out of his peripheral vision was my way of hopefully making the reader aware that Chakotay's attempts to keep his grief hidden weren't working at all. Tom and B'Elanna and Harry and Kes and Tuvok? They know. They all know, which somehow makes Chakotay's self-delusion more painful. Or at least it was supposed to. Upon rereading the story just now, I'm not sure I fully succeeded at that, but overall I think the story still works.

Thanks for the ask! And sorry the answer is so long. I have nothing to do at work today, it's freezing in my office, and I'm bored out of my mind!

[miniwolfsbane]

Copied from @andalite-angel post. Edited slightly.

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, etc. are allowed.

Biospecialist, Marco/Rachel, Sam/Rahne, all cannon Disney Princess pairings, the two young kids Pacific Rim Uprising,  Lancitty, Evo Kurt/ Amanda,  Jott in Evo. Skyward??

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or ***** that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

Fanfic writers and Evo romy, adult Jubilee x Gambit, others.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Never gonna be big on Evo Romy ever again, will forever hate Rahne x Roberto, Sam and Rahne with anyone but each other!!

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

Evo Romy...somtimes. Because it does sorta make sense IN FANNON, but not in cannon. And Jean x Scott, because it’s so iconic, but I only like them in Evo, so...yah.

E - Have you added anything cracky crazy/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what? 

See my fan fiction.

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

The Little Mermaid and Star Trek have been there for 95% of my life.

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, Sam/Rahne, Ariel and Eric (first when I was 5, even though I wanted to be Ariel), Rachel Tobias (first when I was actually gettin into fandom), Jake/Cassie (Animorphs), Clark/Lana, Clark/Lois (I think??) and Chloe/Ollie, Romy (even in Evo at a point!), and now Eliza and Goliath in Gargoyles. I keep saying I’m not a shipper, but I think I’m just a subtle one that pines and doesn’t read a lot of fanfic, but my heart swells over seeing my OTP on screen

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

TV Shows and Western (superhero) Animation mostly, but also a few animes.

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

I was annoyed by the Agents Of Shield fandoms behavior for a while, but I’ve never stopped liking any fandoms because of Tumblr. 

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

SuperWhoLock, Riverdale...some other popular teen shows.

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Tie between Sailor Moon and Gambit I guess, but I’m sure there are lots of others. Sailor Jupiter has a good arc as well, even though she doesn’t have a lot of character development TBH.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

Roberto Dacosta’s super strength power is pretty cool and he’s a chill guy. And rich. (I just realized that a lot of X-Men characters are rich, actually. Gambit, Xavier, Warren and him. Holy crap.)

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon. TAS Rogue too, because she seems fun to hang with, and who wouldn’t like to be called “Sugah” all the time?

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

MORE GAMBIT (and comic Nightcrawler) IMAGINES!! And just more love and less fan wars across all fandoms, really.

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

Hero by Chad Kroger. Ship: Romy or Mollyx Remy. Character: Gambit or Angel.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

For any fandom? A mad scientist and a famous baker get together after the scientist contacts aliens, resulting in a warring invasion on earth.

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

To be perfectly honest, The Smurfs because we’re a Christain household and we found it had stuff in it we didn’t agree with. I was three.  Other than that, I’ve only given up one other fandom permenantly that wasn’t what I thought it was and chosen at a bad time. 

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

Kurt and Kitty in Evo, and Logan and Kurt is cool, but I don’t actually pay much attention to it.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

Hmmm. One that isn’t too boring? Remy isn’t (wasn’t? He is married now) particular about a woman’s height and is comfortable enough with himself to date a woman much taller or shorter than he is. (Remember, Frenzy was freaking 6′7 before she got rebooted to a normal height and it was implied they had history.) For a while it was a wish of mine they’d pair him with a short gal, because all X-women are physically clones of each other, minus Rahne, Kitty and Jubilee. Blargh. Oooh, just had an idea for a new art project to make the girls look individual! ^_^

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

Besides the above? Uh...headcannon that Remy smells good and his hair is silky to the touch and yes I’m a sick, weird little person, I know. Haha, not really. I’m not much of a headcannon person. 

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

* Gambit: Hot, suave, lit, accent, good cook, romantic, my fictional ideal man (told you, I’m sick and weird). * Sailor Jupiter: Sweet, loyal, living on her own at bloody 14 years old, strong physically and emotionally, had trouble believing/finding her feminity like me, tall (not like me!), brunette character, thunder powers. * Tuvok (Star Trek): My second crush ever, calm, reflective, hot grandpa, sarcasm galore, strong, suffers emotionally and physically, POC and like the only black vulcan that I know of, cute little boy chest, that butt (XD), frakin’ hot.

V - Which character do you relate to most?

Surprisingly, one I haven’t talked about yet and that I’m not really fandom-y about. Rapunzel from Tangled. When I saw the movie, I was attached to her immediately. I’d grown up homeschooled and at that point I’d been caregiving for one of my parents for six years at that point, unable to move out and get married and have much of a life, so I was always metaphorically in a tower too. I have childish interests, am artistic and creative, have done LOTS of self-insert art like her, and am a generally happy person (even if I don’t always show it and don’t smile enough). So, out of every character in my many fandoms, I relate to Rapunzel the most. Also, I have only 2 things of Tangled merch-the movie, the soundtrack, and a gorgeous bedspread that’s actually based on the show, but doesn’t look like it. (I don’t like it’s animation/character designs, so it’s been hard to get into it.)

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

OMG, do we have to go here? Anything over-sexualized or kinky or just plain gross/weird. (v***, gore, ect.) There’s this one X-Men:Evo artist on DA that would be brilliant, but I can’t stomach their gallery because they feel the need to do a few  v*** and bondage pics amongst otherwise G-rated pictures. *throws up* IT’S A SHOW FOR 7-YEAR OLDS!! 

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

Huge guy, Tiny girl! (but it looks...weird...in live action. *Good Luck Charlie flashbacks*.) Also age differences. Some people are put off by Usagi and Mamo’s age difference in Classic, but I think it’s cute and they were really chaste about it. Specifically, I liked the part where he told her to do well in school for some reason. 

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)? Holy crap, Pride and Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables. No one on my dash is into them though, it’s a real life thing. Long story.

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

I have written more self-inserts than is probably healthy, but at least I’ve mostly gotten past my teenage phase of thinking anime guys are hot and it’s extended to Gambit as well. I’d much rather see him be portrayed by a living, breathing actor semi-bringing my fantasies to life than as a drawn character. Well, not that I’m not happy seeing him animated and his voice in Evo is still super hot, but that’s another thing. Anyway, on that note, I wish XM:E weren’t a dead fandom and I could get more reviews instead of just faves/follows. I get so frustrated, because I’m not writing my fics for myself, I’m writing them to finish the story and for the fans. I know OCs/SI aren’t everyones bread and butter, but when you work hard on something, you want people to enjoy and appreciate it on it’s own merits. My regulars dropped off the planet and the fandom is just not that active online. (It’s still kind of active though, otherwise the Gambit and other prints on Steven Gordon’s online store wouldn’t have sold out so fast.) I wish it had been as creative as the MLP fandom, but even that wouldn’t have saved it. Thankfully, there are a few people “keeping the faith”, like Coldfusion180 and some others. They haven’t abandoned it and people have made AMVs for it in recent years, long after the shows cancellation. I know we’ve all moved on in one way or another, but it’s still nice to see the love for the show and it’s characters going strong, even if we’re now a niche fandom, tiny, but there. And even if I don’t get another single review up until the last in the series, at least I can say I finished it, if nothing else. Even if your fandom is dead, keep supporting it. If we don’t keep the characters alive, they die and are forgotten. They need us.

https://fanfiction.net/~miniwolfsbane