#Voyages of the Heart

[thatpunnyperson]

According to NBC here in the US, the missing titanic sub has been found. As debris. Off the bow of the Titanic wreckage.

And it looks like the sub suffered what we all suspected, and what was undoubtedly the more merciful of the two options: a catastrophic implosion from the pressure.

Also, more info has come to light about the fishing trawler with the hundreds of migrants that sank cataclysmically off the coast of Greece, indicating that the greek coast guard knew about the vessel AND how much trouble the vessel was in, and were towing it at a speed that made it capsize, at which point they unhooked the tow line and watched the trawler sink without helping the passengers to safety. Despite a bunch of other ships trying to help as well throughout the whole ordeal.

So a lot of people are dead, all because of regulations (and the lack thereof) regarding sea-faring vessels and rescue protocols. People shouldnt be allowed to make a business charging a ton of money for a ride on an uncertified, unsafe, un-seaworthy ship going deep into the ocean with no distress beacon or tether to the mothership. People also shouldnt be allowed to enact laws that criminalize the ferrying of refugees, which then force the refugees to hitch rides on fishing trawlers, and which also prevent people from helping those fishing trawlers full of refugees due to fear of legal consequences.

Hopefully BOTH of these events spark changes on an international scale in terms of what is legally allowed to be sailed, who is legally allowed to be the passengers, and what the rescue protocols are in the event of disaster for any seafaring vessel, illegal or not. It shouldnt be just the global 1% who get 24/7 search parties and remote-operated submersibles helping rescue them.

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep - Commands - Balloon Letter

[harrykim]

in the way only you could. | ID in ALT

[midnightlovestories]

I, for one, love the fact the the writers in Prodigy made Janeway retire from Starfleet. Not only it makes sense but also shows her character growth.

Janeway loves Starfleet, Janeway IS Starfleet but I really appreciate that Prodigy showed that you can experience burnout even in doing something you love, in something that you considered part of who you were.

I love that Janeway allowed herself to recognize that it was becoming too much for her and took active steps to focus on herself (retirement). She's been through a lot even before Delta Quadrant and the PTSD from the Delta Quadrant alone was enough for her to spend the next decade in therapy. Also, if we consider Mosaic as canon for her backstory, she never really dealt with the loss of her father and fiancé, or her depression. She never grieved properly, she never processed her loss, she forced herself (and was pushed by her sister) to move on, she returned to Starfleet and kept herself busy, she buried her grief.

All that is a lot to carry and I mean A LOT. It all boils over in 'Night' in season 5 and she succumbs to her depression and then AGAIN, in the end she just claws her way back because the crew loves her and won't allow her to sacrifice herself and also her sense of responsibility to her crew wins. She claws her way back. She had a job to do, she has to get them home. Self-sacrifice is imbedded deeply in her character.

But there's no respite at home. Home is not the same.

Janeway is a scientist and an explorer first anf foremost, she’s also excellent diplomat. Politics is part of diplomacy but politics is not why she joined Starfleet for. Her job as an Admiral is now mainly politics, it's a chronically stressful occupation with insane responsibility and Janeway hadn't had a break for years at this point. And even Chakotay’s disappearance aside, she's clearly disillusioned with what Starfleet is at this point.

It is becoming too much and Janeway acknowledging that is huge step for this character, it must be nothing but devastating to acknowledge that the one thing you gave your life in service of, is no longer serving you, it's actually bad for you and your mental health. I don't believe Janeway took the decision to retire lightly, I imagine it broke her heart to retire but she needed it.

I know kiddies watching PRO won't know any of this, because you need to know Janeway’s backstory from Voy, but just the fact that the show for kids did not shy away from trauma and mental health issues is, in my opinion, phenomenal. I love and applaud the writers decision to make Janeway retire, however briefly. It checks out.

[catgirljaneway]

Tuvok and Kathryn and the time Kathryn destroyed the timeline get Tuvok back.

/I Swear Somewhere This Works - Trista Mateer/

[your-own-scifi-nerd]

Sobbing screaming crying I want to be her so badly

BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS STUNNING AMAZING AWESOME RAVISHING ELEGANT GRACEFUL HEAVENLY MAGNIFICENT EXQUISITE SMASHING BEDDABLE ALLURING FOXY SPUNKY DIVINE TASTY HOT ARRESTING ENGAGING EVERYTHING TO ME

[scruffyspaceelf]

This felt like something that needed to go on Tumblr. I met Kate Mulgrew yesterday and she was the absolute sweetest, most patient, all in all lovely person <3

[bumblingbabooshka]

From Patreon: B'ElaDonna - Kes & B'Elanna In which Kes becomes interested in photography and has B'Elanna teach her about old school equipment. They go around taking pictures of pretty much everything and everyone with B'Elanna being reserved about it at first before getting into it and the two of them start having fun. Finally, Kes reveals that a large part of why she's so interested in photography is because she's worried about not leaving anything behind or being forgotten by the rest of them. In Kes' mind, their lifespans are like...centuries upon centuries. She'll be ancient history by the time they die. B'Elanna thinks photographs can be painful and initially doesn't really want to take photos of anything meaningful to her. She doesn't want the reminder for when it's all inevitably lost. She shows Kes a photo of her and her dad that she saved when her mother destroyed all the rest. She doesn't know why she even kept it, it's stupid. Kes observes it then looks at B'Elanna seriously. She doesn't think it's stupid. She thinks B'Elanna must have cared a lot about it, to keep it safe for so many years. Episode ends with a shot of the photo of B'Elanna and her father. It's slowly covered up by all the other photographs of her and her friends on Voyager. The final photo is, of course, Kes. B'Elanna smiles briefly then shuts the drawer. [Patreon | Commissions]

[ensign-smith]

The boys are talking about the fuselage 🥰

My belated contribution for Threshold Day! My favorite moment was definitely this scene... Harry and Tom, they're boyfriends, your Honor...

[baylardian-1]

everyone had to restart their "Days Since Janeway Put Her Hand(s) On Chakotay's Chest" counters 😔🤙

[curator-on-ao3]

Thinking about her.*

*The USS Voyager, the ship that flew farther than any other, sent to the Fleet Museum to rest. But can she? Can the ship that never knew the safety of harbor find peace as an exhibit, a display, a starship that can no longer explore the stars? Is she okay? Is she depressed? Are her gelpacks that healthy blue or have they turned sickly green and no one can figure out why, languid processing and connectivity, organic circuitry behaving erratically and sometimes failing to perform even basic tasks? Do her darkened corridors echo with the memories of a crew that celebrated and mourned and fought and made up and cared about the journey, cared about her, their home? Do the other ships know what that was like — to be a home, not a posting? The other ships don’t have bio-neural circuitry, so they don’t seem to register where they are or what’s happening. But Voyager does. Voyager knows where she is and why. Is she okay, though? Is she?

[kykyonthemoon]

A Commission

Behind Kinich's weird smile that scares almost everyone in Natlan, is his story with Mualani.

── .✦ Kinich x Mualani

── .✦ Tags: soft, sweet, fluff, short, hurt/comfort

── .✦ Word count: 1k4

── .✦ Ky Ky's note: I've returned to Genshin lately and the new Natlan is absolutely captivating! I was in tears while reading Kinich's story, and I do love his interactions with Mualani a lot. Thanks to both of them, I had a chance to write for GI again <3

── .✦ My Genshin Masterlist - which I'm updating it again very soon.

Lately, Kachina had noticed something peculiar about Kinich. 

Every time she saw him, instead of his typical apathetic expression, he would show all his teeth and his mouth would stretch all the way to his ears. At first, she didn’t understand what that face was, but then she let out an “oh” in surprise when he said it was a smile. 

Not just Kachina, but nearly everyone who knew Kinich, noticed the unusual expression on his face. Even those who commissioned him. They would suddenly see him peering at them from a distance with that smile, with Ajaw yelling alongside him: "Shut that ugly mouth of yours right now!"

The cause for Kinich's frequent smiles was always a mystery, until Kachina visited Mualani and expressed her concerns.

"Huh? Did Kinich scare you?" Mualani questioned as she brushed Kachina's hair.

“Don’t you think his smile is scary? I mean… He’s already very unapproachable, and now he even has that expression…”

Mualani remained silent for a little moment, then she held her stomach and rolled on the ground laughing.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Mualani? Even you are acting strange!”

Seeing her perplexed expression, Mualani sat up and responded, “Ah. I'm okay. It’s just that I know why Kinich is acting like that. Actually, this was sort of my responsibility.”

“Huh?”

Then, Mualani braided Kachina's hair and told her the story of many days before.

Kinich presented Mualani a basket full of dazzling stones he obtained in the Teticpac Peak area. A few days ago, he had received a commission from her to collect those exquisite stones as gifts for Kachina. 

“Thank you. Here is your payment.” 

Mualani gave him a hefty bag. Kinich always enjoyed dealing with her since, as a merchant, she understood the price of everything and did not haggle. Kinich’s business had slowed down a bit recently. There were not as many new commissions as before, but Mualani continued to meet him on a regular basis.

“What's the problem? Is it not enough?” Mualani had been observing Kinich's expression for quite some time. She inquired because he appeared different than usual (yet his face remained stiff).

"No. This is adequate. I simply wanted to ask you a question concerning business."

To cut a long tale short, Kinich became curious in Mualani's business, which was always flourishing. He wanted to ask her about acquiring more clients. Of course, when there were challenging commissions, people would always think of Kinich first. Life had recently been lot more steady,  which was a good thing, except for Kinich’s wallet.

After listening, Mualani simply grinned. She told him:

“Most people come to entrust you with difficult commissions that few others dare to take on. But if you want to expand your business and attract more clients, you probably need to be more, erm, approachable.”

Kinich scratched his head. For the next half hour, Mualani taught him how to be more friendly to others, including a lesson on how to smile.

As the sun slowly set and Mualani had to go home, she said:

“Remember. Next time you see a familiar face, try smiling at them first! They may find you more friendly, and be more comfortable sharing their problems. That's when you can offer to help them."

Kinich nodded. “Understood.”

“Let's try it one more time.”

Mualani suddenly moved closer to him. Her index fingers reached out, touched Kinich’s face, and softly pulled the corners of his lips in opposing directions. The last rays of sunlight caught her hair, making her seem to radiate a more gorgeous aura than the pile of rocks in the basket he had brought back. Her face was so close to his, and she was grinning.

“Yup. That’s right. Keep smiling like that!”

Mualani looked at Kinich. For a long time. So long that she forgot what she was focusing on; his eyes the color of grass or the smile she had never seen from him before? Perhaps both. Kinich was staring at her. And smiling. That had never happened before. For a moment she was stunned. Even when her fingertips were no longer brushing Kinich’s face, he was still smiling.

It was his own smile, not the one she had just forced on him.

“S-So beautiful…” Her lips moved quietly. “Kinich is… so beautiful!…”

Mualani's breath tickled Kinich's face, and his cheeks showed signs of burning. Most people commended him for his skills, but it was extremely rare for someone to say he was beautiful. Suddenly, his mind wandered back to when he was a baby and his mother was still by his side. 

"I hope that in the future, you will encounter many happy things on your journey, so that others can see how beautiful my Kinich's smile is!" 

Perhaps his smile, his real smile, had long since disappeared with his mother. 

Kinich coughed. Only then did Mualani realize that she was standing a little too close to him. Too close. She quickly took a step back and bent down to pick up the basket of gems.

“Oh… I have to go… G-Goodbye…” Mualani awkwardly hugged the basket of stones and dashed home, leaving Kinich in a perplexed state on the hill, staring at the region belonging to People of the Springs, where the girl’s pale hair bobbed with each step.

That was the beginning of Kinich's unexpected smile. But he had no idea, and neither did Mualani, that the smile he offered her that day was unique from any other of his. How strange!

So one night, when the Natlan sky was bathed in a pool of stars, Kinich came to see Mualani and gave her a bag of mora.

“I want to commission you.”

Mualani’s eyes widened. Before she could ask anything, Kinich added:

“I want to learn how to smile again… The real smile. Not the kind of smile that makes people even more afraid of me…”

Mualani pursed her lips, attempting to hold back her laughter as she recalled the story which Kachina had told her the day before. 

"I apologize if I'm intruding into something that is not my concern. But you didn't just suggest that because you wanted more clients. Is that true?" 

Kinich gazed at her. His nod validated what she had stated. But what he failed to want to convey was, in the very moment when he unintentionally smiled at her that day, he seemed to have found a bit of warmth from someone else. It was something he could only vaguely sense in his dreams since his mother had departed.

“Okay,” Mualani replied. "I'm not sure why you're making this peculiar offer, but I accept. And I will not take Mora."

Kinich frowned. “What can I offer you to make it worth your time?”

Mualani leaned toward him. Her eyes locked with his as she smiled brightly.

“Something more valuable than mora, of course!”

[harrykim]

It's strange, thinking there's a piece of your life you don't know anything about.

7.11 Shattered | ID in ALT

[clementine-kesh]

they should’ve done something with the borg queen’s “we’ll see you soon, harry” line it would’ve been so fun if it was setup for an eye for an eye “you stole one of my children so now i’m stealing yours” type plot. imagine the material it could’ve given us on janeway’s relationships with both harry and seven