#and also I NEED to talk more about janeway and kes

[catgirljaneway]

For the character ask game: Kes + 1, 12, 20

Thank you so much for the ask!! (Ask game in question)

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Ok! So I'm a huge Kes fan, and I was initially drawn to her because she's got this little aura of joy, and you can't help but love her, which you can see in other character's interactions with her on the show. Any room she walks into instantly gets a little brighter and she's just so fundamentally kind and gentle and full of love.

So that's what initially drew me to her, but what hooked me, was that fact that the longer you watch, the more we learn about her, the more deeply strange she gets. We've got that fantastic scene in elogium where she eats all those fucking bugs with that deranged expression, and of course, my all time favorite, this one scene where the doctor tells Kes he has some autopsy reports for her to read because he knows she loves autopsies. This by the way, is NEVER brought up again which I think is a terrible loss, because what thing to say about a character and then never mention! What a fact!

So you've got this little elfish looking girl, who's still fundamentally kind and gentle, but now we also know "oh she's a bit of a freak!" and she's wicked smart, and then she learn, oh, she's got these terrifying powers at her core and actually she might not be as fundamentally gentle as we (the audience) or kes herself thought. And now Kes has to grapple with this, and she's still a deeply good and loving person at heart, but now she has to try a little harder to suppress these urges and that makes her fundamentally more interesting.

Also her relationships with Janeway and Tuvok and The Doctor all bring me so much joy. Janeway's love for her, and the way she smiles when Kes is around, the way she hugs her when she leaves just!! Rip me to pieces. And Tuvok's mentorship and quiet protection of her?? And that scene when the Doctor holds her in Twisted. Kes has 3 parents, and honestly all three of them think they're taking care of her, but they need her more than she needs them.

And what's kept me loving her, is in a way her missed potential. So much about Kes wasn't explored, so much was left unanswered, and getting to rotate her around in my head and think about all the things she could have been is so fun. I deeply wish she had been used more, because on paper she's such a fascinating, deeply weird character. And she was just starting to come into her own when we leave her. She's broken up with Neelix, she's making her own choices, and I want to imagine where that would have gone. (I have further thoughts on this, but this is already ridiculously long, so I will continue this in a different post)

Long story short, she's a lovable little weird girl, and I like weird little girls. She'd crawl around on all fours and make up weird stories at recess in fourth grade and I like that about her.

Also she reminds me of the "a little guy!" > "oh they're actually fucked up" meme.

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

Well I LOVE the art where people make her look a little more bug like. With weird pupils and antennae and such. I love that, I definitely headcanon her looking a bit creepier like that.

I also headcanon her as a lesbian. Her whole relationship with Neelix baffles me. I honestly LOVE them as friends, they're so great when they're just silly best friends, but I cannot stand them as a couple. She's a gay girlie.

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

SEVEN!! Seven!!! GAH! The missed potential! Pretty much a weirdgirls club with Seven, B'elanna, and Kes. Kes would have been the perfect person to help Seven reintegrate into society, because she's patient and kind, and she'd get a huge kick out of Seven's deadpan humor. I mean, the EMH is her best friend, she's very good at dealing with people who others consider hard to get along with.

Kes wouldn't make Seven feel bad about the way she is, or try to pressure her to conform to what she wants from Seven. She'd take her how she was and love her for her whole being, not for what she could be. Also Seven would be Kes's scary dog ❤️ Because people meet Kes and think she's an easy target or a pushover (even though she could probably obliterate anyone if she so felt like it) but then Seven is standing behind her looking menacing and they hurry away as quick as they can, completely unaware they were scared of the wrong blonde.

[bumblingbabooshka]

One of the best Voyager scenes to indicate Tuvok & Neelix's dynamic and how I think Tuvok is just as if not more 'annoying'(positive) than Neelix is when Neelix pours Tuvok a fresh squeezed glass of a fruit juice blend and Tuvok's like (paraphrased) "I don't want to drink this." and Neelix is like "Can you please try it?" and Tuvok's like "I don't want to, you're really bad at this sort of thing. It's going to taste bad." and Neelix says that Ensign XYZ said she LOVED it, she even had a second glass! And Tuvok says Ensign XYZ could drink poison without a second thought and Neelix is like "Tuvok could you please just TRY it? Just try a little SIP of it PLEASE??" and Tuvok sighs and rolls his eyes and sniffs it before taking a sip and it turns out he loves it. Turns out it tasted good actually. And then after all that Neelix tries to talk to him over eggs (which he's again cooking fresh for him) and Tuvok tells him he doesn't wanna hear "the life history of his breakfast." Absolutely insufferable this man I would have burned his eggs on PURPOSE!!!!

[trx34ksh]

I was listening to an episode of “women at warp” (a Star Trek podcast which I really love) where they talk about some unpopular opinions within the fandom. I’m pretty sure in that episode, the Tuvix ep of Voyager got brought up and how someone said that Janeway’s decision was wrong (yk like in unaliving/splitting up Tuvix back into Neelix and Tuvok) and personally [hot take] I think she was right in doing so.

Like imagine your best friend got mushed together with your other friend’s bf. It’s WILD! So ofc your stressed out and worried for both of them, even though the joined two seem to be content and healthy.

I do agree there could have been better writing within the episode to give more motivation for Janeway to make that decision without being criticized as much by the fandom; like if Tuvix had some cell degeneration due to the accident or some instability even though they are happily combined.

Truthfully, Janeway was right. Her team is in the middle of an uncharted quadrant of the universe, no one is certain of what will come next. You need all hands on deck! She needs Tuvok back not only because they are best friends and a big emotional support for her but he’s also a part of the bridge crew. Kes missed Neelix and wanted him back (though I personally really don’t enjoy their relationship and I think Neelix never deserved to be with Kes and was ultimately really controlling over her).

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s1 ep12: Cathexis

Another one I didn't remember at all, this one was quite exciting to watch. Voyager's first 'crew getting possesed by aliens' story, it's another one of those episodes that's pretty much a copy of an earlier Next Generation episode, but it was well done, and very creepy and suspenseful. I like the way they played up the crew's paranoia to add to the tension. And it was the first time we get to see Captain Janeway's Victorian governess holonovel, which is one of my favorite things, and not just because I'm tickled that Captain Janeway shares my taste in literature, but because she looks absolutely gorgeous in period costume. Like, let me fangirl for a moment here, because look at this perfect vision of beauty, oh my god:

I want her whole outfit, it's perfect. Major kudos to the costume designer for giving her an historically accurate dress and hairstyle. As someone who used to do a lot of historical costuming, I'm very nitpicky about those things, but this is a good costume on every level- beautiful design, well fitted to the actress, fits the character's personality, absolutely nothing anachronistic about it anywhere. 10/10, no notes! I need to cosplay this so bad!!

Okay, I'm done being a costume nerd, back to the episode itself: I appeciated that they mentioned the EMH being programmed with knowledge of various cultures traditional healing practices instead of just having him dismiss Chakotay's medicine wheel as superstition. While I have issues with the wheel prop itself not looking very realistic, I do like that they made a point to say that Earth's medical establishment will become more open minded and inclusive in the future. (But the artwork on the wheel looked central or south american, and I'd always thought Chakotay was supposed to be from the north american southwest- it says a lot about how much the writers didn't care about him that after 7 years of episodes, I still have no idea what continent he's even from. sigh.)

Also lol at Tom Paris talking about how when he was a kid he had a doctor that made housecalls- who the heck has that even now, let alone in the 24th century?? I think this was probably where I started to get the headcanon that the Paris family is super rich- like I know that Earth is supposed to be a utopia with no poverty, but I feel like rich people with inherited wealth would keep on living in their fancy houses in their gated communities, and Tom Paris strikes me as being a privileged kid who grew up in a big house with a swimming pool and a tennis court, who spent his youth riding around in his expensive car (or would it be a shuttlecraft?? do rich people have their own shuttles on earth??) and being a slacker/prankster king at his fancy prep school like a 24th century Zack Morris. (I know I read Pathways back when I was a teenager, and it may have mentioned something about his childhood, but I don't remember any of it, and novels aren't technically canon in Star Trek universe, so I'm sticking with my rich kid Tom Paris headcanon.)

More of Neellx being possessive of Kes in this episode, ughhhh.

I didn't remember that they gave background crewmember Lieutenant Durst a pretty prominent supporting role in this episode. Obviously it was meant to make his subsequent death more impactful, but it was anyway, since I still remember him for getting killed off. (I probably don't have to give spoiler warnings for a decades old show, but spoiler: he dies in the very next episode.)

Anyway, tl;dr: a solid alien possession episode.

[thegeminisage]

sigh it's time for a star trek update. i'm behind because i've been busy thinking about lucanis dragon age. all of these are voyager episodes!! i don't have to separate them anymore :(

i don't remember which days we did what but the lineup is "equinox part i," "equinox part ii," "survival instinct," "barge of the dead," "tinker, tenor, doctor, spy," "alice," "riddles," "dragon's teeth," "one small step," "the voyager conspiracy," and "pathfinder." tragically, these will be short because there's too many and i want to go back to thinking about lucanis dragon age.

equinox parts i & ii:

TEAR THE BITCH APART!!!!!! i have never been so thrilled to see janeway ready to rip into somebody. that other captain was vile and reprehensible

delicious when janeway and chakotay fight. kind of distressing but also very fun and sexy

seven is always so good but she was GREAT in this episode

the doc's ethical program being taken away :( im glad he and seven had that little moment together...ik theyre not canon or anything and it wouldn't be my first pick for seven ships but i wouldn't have been mad about it at all. their relationship is very sweet

survival instinct:

SEVEN OF NINE MY BELOVED

damn she really did drag 3 other people back into hell so she wouldn't be there alone. i love that

the philosophical debate was kind of weak though...like literally nobody is sitting here thinking being alive as a borg is better than being dead. what even was that

also, that isn't how this works. that isn't how any of this works. the borg don't get cut off and develop feelings on the fly. they don't remember who they are when they're magically removed from the amnesia collective. picard remembered who he was and knew what was happening to him the WHOLE TIME. the horror was in not being able to do anything about it! i really and genuinely hate to say it, but tng did it better

barge of the dead:

I LOVE WHEN B'ELANNA GETS COOL STUFF TO DO

she looked hot as fuck in that armor

i do like that in this episode you can hardly blame tom paris for being alarmed. 90% of the time i am like tom paris nobody asked you but if i a hardcore atheist woke up from a coma one day and started talking about how you guys needed to kill me so i could go rescue my mom from hell i would hope someone would have the compassion to hit me on the head again until i went back to normal

i like the idea of jadzia on this little boat until her friends got her into stovokor :')

tinker, tenor, doctor, spy:

this episode was bad when they showed seven's tits but everything else was really good

i wasn't sure about it at first because of all the adoration fromt he ladies but like it's ridiculous on purpose, you know? it was funny.

i liked it! i liked that the doctor got more rights and that he got something scary and dangerous to do

bonus of the borg transformations. hot.

also those little aliens were horrible to look at but i did like that one guy stanning the emh and then realizing he had his shit all wrong and he was cooked. really funny

alice:

this one sucked so bad. like idk there's nothing else to it. it sucked bad. b'elanna, dump him. i could be your man

riddles:

AAAAUGHGHGGH TUVOK

i really like neelix when he isn't with kes. i always forget until there's a good neelix episode and then i'm like oh yeah neelix! he and tuvok make such a good duo sometimes

tuvok in this episode...damn did we know tim russ can act? like he can fucking act

it's v much like the tos episode where spock gets jizzed on by that flower and learns to feel happy...but at the expense of his logic and his duty

the ending KILLED me. tuvok gave him so little except that one pun but thats like all you need

as fun as this was, it would have been even better if seven was the one walking tuvok through it all

dragon's teeth:

i liked the myth this one drew the title from. very fun

but also, What Prime Directive

we DID get good seven of nine content out of it though. i love when she and janeway are gay

one small step:

i started out feeling skeptical about this one because of the 23andme episode. i was worried they were going to be Too excited about history

nonetheless i did absolute shed tears during the funeral section at the end. i get it .gif

are they laying some chakotay/seven groundwork here? i kind of enjoyed it. did not like him telling her to knock off the attitude but it was otherwise very fun. i won't be mad about it

the voyager conspiracy:

i'd heard a lot about people either loving or hating this one before we watched it but i LOVED it

at first i was bewildered but even though the plot is a little weak there were so many good character moments i just can't get mad about it

the j/c candlelit dinner...mwah. they just do this on the reg??

also their mutual suspicion of each other. i would have been annoyed or perhaps distressed if it had gone on too long but it was the perfect amount of time to be just a little angsty and establish how well they know one another and how much they trust each other

AND bonus janeway/seven at the end that had me welling up. OOOUGH i love gay people

pathfinder:

THIS SUCKED SO BAD I HATE BARCLAY WHY WOULD THEY BRING DEANNA BACK JUST TO PROP HIS LAME ASS UP I HATE THE HOLODECK I HATE TNG GET IT OUT OF HERE

TONIGHT: "fair haven" and "blink of an eye."

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

Star Trek Voyager or Gallifrey series

from this ask game!

Voyager:

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

hm it's a toss up between Janeway & Seven but i'll say Janeway because i'm more invested in Picard era Seven than Voyager era.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

who else would it be other than Naomi Wildman?

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Kes! she's underappreciated by both the fandom and narrative itself. she's not my favorite character but she deserves more attention!

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Tal Celes!! she's only in two episodes but is a much needed presence on Voyager and Star Trek in general and i wish we saw more of her.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

hmm. i think by the description Tom Paris fits the brief but i'm not particularly attached to him.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Seven :) she gets tormented enough in the narrative but you can always torment your blorbos more :)

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

just the Kazon as a whole i think.

Gallifrey:

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

undoubtedly Romana. i've been rotating her in my head for like 10 years at this point. she's horrible and i'm fascinated by her.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

i think Wynter by process of elimination if nothing else. maybe Eris but by the later stories with him, he's really outgrown the "baby" parts of his character.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Livia!! while she's not the most dynamic character of the show (and she's only in the Time War audios), something about her and her politics & relationship to Romana is fascinating to me and i feel like no one ever talks about her. (she also deserved so much of a better ending than what she got.)

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Guard Commander Lukas!!! i think we've spent about 5 minutes with his actual not alternate universe self, but something about him entices me. i like a lot of the Guard characters (Hallan, Annos, Henzil, etc) but i think they all have a larger fandom presence than Lukas.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

i don't think i can describe Irving Braxiatel as anything other than my poor little meow meow.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

pretty much any of them but especially Romana & Narvin :)

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Rassilon. there is literally no other fictional character who's more deserving of superhell than him.

[delta-queerdrant]

Cut the crap, Hamlet! My biological clock is ticking, and I want babies NOW! (Elogium, s2e4)

I get the sense that "Elogium" is an episode that viewers find embarrassing. Maybe I am just projecting my adolescent feelings onto the internet consensus. It is certainly somewhat hamfisted, but it also belongs to a genre that we might call "reproductive health body horror" and, like... I'm kind of into it?

The premise of the episode is, of course, that space alien radiation causes Kes to enter estrus. (Unaccountably the Ocampan word for this is "elogium," which is a real Latin word for something else. Okay guys!)

Let's get the "bad science fiction watch" out of the way: Ocampan reproduction makes no sense from a population biology point of view. If an Ocampan couple can only reproduce once, they need to have a multiple pregnancy to maintain population levels, not the single child Neelix seems to be contemplating. (Also, having kiddos at age five means that grandparents would often not be around to participate in elogium rituals, as the Ocampan lifespan is 9.)

Additionally, it's hard to know what to make of the revelation that Kes hasn't reached "puberty" yet. The show seems to be decoupling intellectual/emotional maturity from reproductive capacity, but we are left with some very awkward questions about Kes's relationship with Neelix. Like, sex aside, what does romance mean for a young Ocampa? This show doesn't dare ask the question, such is its fragile allo/amatonormativity.

Still, I thought Jennifer Lien's performance was strong - emotional and a little weird while still respecting her character's personhood. In an important scene (one that frames her relationship with the Doctor as a parent/child one, thank god), she questions whether she wants a kid and makes a self-affirming decision that I loved to see, though I wish it had been dramatized more fully.

And, like, occasionally, having a uterus does make you feel like you're in a dirt-eating fever dream. I don't know if the alien physiology metaphor will work for everyone but I sorta dug it.

Neelix is, of course, trash in this episode, with the return of his jealousy subplot, his dreadful gender essentialism, and the extremely cliched portrayal of him as a reluctant father. His "should I be a dad" dilemma is fundamentally relatable, but instead of showing a real dialogue between a couple that's been avoiding the question, he and Kes start the episode with gender normative beliefs (she wants a baby, he wants adventure) and switch positions after some extremely light self-reflection. They're never on the same page, and they don't make the decision together.

On a happier note, this one's shippy! The episode starts with Janeway and Chakotay having one of their ridiculous whisper-conversations on the bridge. People are (shock!) hooking up and they need to decide what to do about it. This is very weird and silly because both Starfleet and the Maquis seem cool with fraternization, and they're 70,000 light years from home. Surely there is not even a conversation to be had, other than a need for some policies and mental health supports around breakups? But we do get Chakotay asking his extremely impertinent question about Janeway's personal dating plans, and the introduction of the Janeway chastity vow.

It makes sense for Janeway not to date crewmembers, especially in light of her commitment to Mark (this episode was originally slated for season one). But what about Chakotay? He is also everyone's boss?? I think that even in the 23rd century people should still not date their bosses, but this show does not seem to know this and it bums me out, particularly because of the gendered double-standard here.

(Mollie watch: Janeway is looking at a Mark/Mollie photo in the final scene. The show wants us to believe she's pining for her man, but honestly I think the baby talk is just making her miss her doggo. In my head canon Janeway is the type of person who responds to all child-rearing anecdotes with stories about her dog.)

Ensign Wildman, and her pregnancy, are also introduced, and we get another J & C scene where Janeway affirms the crew's right to have kids (hashtag reproductive justice) and contemplates the possibility of becoming a generation ship (whoa, slow down, lady! Like, of all the ethical questions about having kids while space marooned, assuming they'll continue your mission for you is quite a leap!)

Tuvok's line "It appears we have lost our sex appeal, Captain," sums this one up: despite all the innuendo, this is a very unsexy episode, and I think that's by design. Family planning is often unsexy! I just wish it had gotten a little closer to contemplating the real issues that emerge from our dual natures as people with bodies and people with agency over those bodies, and the push and pull of figuring out what that means for us, individually and in relationship.

3/5 bowls of mashed potatoes with butter (a Terran delicacy!)

[myenterpriseisparked]

Little things from Star Trek Voyager that make me soft:

- Harry inviting Captain Janeway to Tom’s holobar for games and the way Janeway seems so touched at being included

- When Tom makes a cheesy joke at the helm and Janeway rolls with it while smirking at him knowingly (ex. “What if we set up a bicycle in the mess hall and pedal our way home?” “Now why didn’t I think of that.”)

 - When the ship is traveling through the Void and Harry writes a concerto on his clarinet and Tuvok stops to listen to it because he knows Harry worked hard on it

- When Chakotay makes little jokes with Harry and chuckles to himself when Harry jokes back like a proud dad

- Tuvok and Seven bonding over how dumb they think humans are

- The way Janeway looks at Sam Wildman when Sam tells her she’s pregnant. Janeway is clearly sympathizing with her nervousness about having a baby in the Delta Quadrant but she congratulates her anyway because she knows Sam needs to feel supported in her decision.

- When Tuvok tells Neelix he isn’t completely inept during security training and Neelix treats that like the massive Vulcan compliment it is

- The achingly gentle way Janeway looks at all of her crew members when they’re going through a tough time

- How defensive Chakotay gets when any member of the crew questions the captain’s judgement

- At Janeway’s funeral in “Coda,” she manages to keep her emotions in check until Harry starts talking and then she cries

- The fact that Janeway cries like a real person. Like, her face scrunches up, her lip quivers. She’s not out here crying those fake-ass stoic tears that other fictional characters do. She’s crying for real. 

- When Tom covers for Harry’s indiscretion because he knows how important Harry’s clean Starfleet record is to him

- The way Janeway hugs Kes during Elogium and sits to talk to her about puberty while gently stroking her hair and listening to her patiently

- The fact that there’s a pot of coffee ready in Janeway’s ready room all the time and you just know that Chakotay is using his own replicator rations for her

- In the wedding between duplicate Tom and B’Elanna when Chakotay walks B’Elanna down the isle and Janeway walks Tom down the aisle and they both look like the proudest parents to ever exist

- Chakotay and Neelix’s background friendship. You have to squint for it, but they have some funny little moments together that indicate an offscreen friendship that I wish we could have seen more of

- The fact that Janeway goes to visit almost everyone who gets admitted to sickbay

- Tom telling Harry that he will never forget Harry defending him in “The Chute” simply because he is Harry’s friend. Not because he had something Harry needed, or because Harry couldn’t survive without him, just because “this man is my friend.”

- When Janeway flat-out tells Harry that she thinks of him like a son and she’s proud of how he’s grown since coming on Voyager

- The way Tuvok just really, really loves his wife

- The fact that Janeway makes baby blankets for babies born on Voyager 

- How absolutely into Captain Proton Harry and Tom get (and how into character Janeway gets when she plays Arachnia)

- Chakotay and Janeway exchanging looks when someone says something dumb, especially when it’s one of their officers and they just look amused/exasperated

- “Chakotay? Are you there?” “No, I left an hour ago!”

- Tom inviting Seven to play ping pong because he thought she might enjoy the math behind it

- The way that Janeway never writes Neelix off, even though he can be a pest sometimes. If he says he knows how to do something, she lets him take a whack at it. If he’s got a story to tell and there’s no immediate danger, she listens. When he’s clearly baiting her into a conversation where he can show off his knowledge of Earth history, she bites and encourages him to tell her more because she knows it’s important to him to know about the history of the cultures represented on the ship.

- The fact that Neelix tries to get to know the cultures represented on the ship, even when he gets it wrong sometimes. He has good intentions.

- The entirety of Neelix and Tuvok’s interactions during “Riddles.” I was a hot mess that entire episode.

- Janeway finding out Tuvok’s birthday, making him a cake, baiting him into thinking she was mad at him so she could do a dramatic reveal, and Tuvok blowing out the candle even though he thought the candle was dumb just because she’s his best friend and he loves her

- The way Chakotay turns into Hearteyes McGee every time Janeway puts her hands on her hips, cocks her brow, and tells off an enemy

- How excited the whole crew gets when they find a cool space anomaly that isn’t immediately threatening them

- The fact that Janeway does her best to allow her officers to pursue their interests. Like when Tom asks to build the Delta Flyer, she lets him because cool spaceships are his Thing. When they find that lost ship from the early Mars missions, she lets Chakotay lead the away mission because that’s his Thing. She lets B’Elanna and Harry make a ton of adjustments to the engines because it might help them get home faster, but also because that’s their Thing. She understands how frustrating it can be to be locked in a spaceship for years without a way to pursue your interests and hobbies outside of the holodeck so she does her best to let them do their Things when opportunities do arise. 

- When Tom and Harry start a street brawl because they tried to play drunk tennis with some aliens and Janeway dresses them down for unbecoming conduct but then is like “.... so did you win?”

- The fact that both Harry and B’Elanna have fever dreams where they very clearly reveal that they see Janeway as a mother figure

- Seven of Nine and Naomi’s friendship and how pure it is and also how Seven always calls Naomi by her full name

- Also Neelix and Naomi’s friendship

- And the fact that Naomi is the Captain’s Assistant and Chakotay and Janeway send her back and forth between the two of them with messages because it makes her feel important

- I guess just Naomi Wildman in general

- Seven and The Doctor connecting over music

[getoutofmyjaneway]

Since Star Trek Voyager is Leaving Netflix, Here are 10 Episodes that you Should Watch Before the End of September

1. The Cloud

The Cloud is a great example of the early dynamic between the main cast. This bottle episode shows a very Star Trek episode dealing with some space creature they accidently harm, and being oh so very Starfleet, they assist. That, of course, is not why you watch this episode. It has some pretty great comedic moments, the iconic “There’s coffee in that nebula,” moment, and (if you can over look the cringy and incorrect portrayal of Native American culture) great moments that will let you better get to know the character we love.

2. Tuvix

Tuvix is was created when there was a transporter accident fused Neelix, Tuvok, and some plants together to create a new single sentient being. Tuvix loves being himself but ultimately it was decided by Captain Janeway that they would be separated back into there original beings. This episode is not only thought provoking, but has been the basis for many discussions of morality on a broader level. It is an interesting thought experiment that is so very Star Trek in nature - it is a don’t miss in my book.

3. Before and After

You remember Kes yes? She was definitely not given the most to do throughout the run of Voyager, but this is her best story by far. This story sees Kes aging backwards through death to birth, giving us a full picture of her life. This also brings us some of the very seldomly seen foreshadowing in the series, eluding to the Year of Hell (we’ll talk about that soon) and Tom and B’Elanna’s relationship. This is how I choose to remember Kes (we don’t talk about Furry).

4. Year of Hell Part 1 and 2

Yeah you knew this was going to be on here. There is a reason this is on most peoples lists of top Voyager episodes. And yes, I know I am cheating by putting both episodes on the same spot on my list, but like Janeway, I make my own rules. This is the most action packed two-parter in the series, serving as a kind of what-if scenario if the Voyager crew went down a more dangerous path. It ultimately ends with the ever present “Voyager-Rest-Button” but this is the best use of it. This is the most bad-ass episode by a long shot, also giving great character interactions, as well as commentary of grief and family.

5. Living Witness

This one is for all of my TNG lovers out there, you will love this one. Living Witness sees the Doctor’s program ending up in an alien museum in the distant future where an exhibit shows the species interactions with the crew of the Voyager. It is up to the Doctor to clear the name of his crew, and himself. This is amazing commentary of how history can be warped by those that recount it. Of course I also enjoy the absolutely savage portrayal of the Voyager crew - you can tell they had a good time with this one. Overall, this is a story you could only see on Voyager and is excellently done.

6. Timeless

This episode is iconic. If you have seen media referencing Voyager, you have most likely seen the image of the Voyager crashing into an ice planet in some amazing for its time CGI (that holds put pretty dang well even today). This is a strong episode for both Chakotay and Kim, two of Voyagers other most under used characters, seeing them try and create a slipstream with the Delta Flyer to get home. While the Delta Flyer is ultimately successful in this, the Voyager and the rest of the crew ends up dead. Chakotay and Kim take it upon themselves to change the events of the accident.

7. Counterpoint

There is a reason that this is Kate Mulgrew’s favorite episode (other then the fact that she gets to kiss an alien). This is Janeway at her absolute best - intelligent, cunning, and a master of her craft. This sees Janeway help a group of telepaths cross a region of space where a xenophobic ruling body does not allow them. After frequent inspections, Janeway takes in a defector from the xenophobic race, who tries to get her to divulge her secrets. She, however, was always one step ahead of him in a brilliant power play that I can only describe as spicy.

8. Someone to Watch Over Me

Someone to Watch Over Me is a story about what it means to be human, a theme often discussed in Star Trek. This sees the Doctor, a hologram, show Seven, a woman rebuilding her sense of self after spending most of her life in the borg collective, teach her what he has learned about relationships. It’s like the blind leading the blind, or in a more Star Trek example, the blind teaching an Andriod how to paint. Throughout their time together, they both seem to teach each other a lot - Seven gains many incites into how to be more human and the Doctor learns what it is like to be in love. A heartwarming episode.

9. Collective

Members of Voyager’s senior staff are abducted by the borg... children. Five who have been separated and awoken from there maturation chamber struggle between being borg and being individuals. This is, however, not a borg story, it is a story about being human. As Seven was saved from the collected, she went through a transformation under the guidance of her friends family and now it is time for her to help these children in the same way.

10. The Void

After becoming trapped in a Void with no way of escape, they soon find that ever ship is out for their own in this region, everyone stealing what they need to survive. It becomes a battle of morals - do you take back from those who have stolen from you and then some? Do you use what has been stolen from others for your personal gain? Where do you draw the line for the sake of survive. The Voyager spearheads a mini federation type alliance of sorts, finding strength in unity and numbers, and, in the end, it is the understanding of others that allows for the Voyager and the members of the alliance to escape

These are not necessarily the best episodes of Voyager, but I think these are episodes that you can watch on their own with no other knowledge of Voyager to really get a feel for the series and the characters. Of course, I would love to know what other episodes you would include. Personally, I would have loved to include episodes like Course: Oblivion, Author Author, and Dark Frontier, but out of context, these episodes will give that Voyager flavor we all know an love.

[lilolilyr]

for the TV show ask game, 7, 8, 19 for Star Trek TNG please! Or any Star Trek show if you'd rather!

TV ask

I've watched... Not that much of TNG, tbh. I mean, I've caught a few episodes on TV, and I've watched others friends have recommended, and I've tried to watch it from the beginning a while back but honestly I don't like the first ep and I've not managed to finish it xD I know I could just skip it, but eh... Haven't finished DS9 and TOS yet either, and I'd rather continue those, and I just don't watch much TV on my own anyway, so it's maybe an episode a week unless I'm in a binging mood and have the time for it

So I'll do this for all of star trek combined instead!

• A character who feels like home

Janeway <3 My first and favorite Captain, I just need to see her or hear the Voy theme and I go <3<3<3

• The character with the greatest wasted/unexplored potential

Hmm that's a mixed bag for a bunch of characters where I feel like they messed up in the end, or never delved as deep into their backstory as they could have... But on the other hand, they're already quite complex characters and I wouldn't call it too big a wasted and unexplored potential... Maybe Kes? She got an interesting storyline for a bit, and then they fucked it up again imo! Also Number One, I've heard she's in one of the new treks too now, but from what I've heard I don't rly like the direction they're going with her, making her more 'normal' instead of exploring the differences in depth

OMG HOW COULD I FORGET PHILIPPA

Probably Because there's so much wasted potential aka She's Barely In It adsfghjkl

Philippa Georgiou Prime DSC definitely greatest wasted and unexplored potential ever, Why didn't we at least get a few more eps of her as Captain, or at least some flashbacks?? Anything??? Not even talking about how I'd just want her around Instead of (or in addition to) Mirrorgiou for all of DSC

• Crossovers/AUs that pique my interest

Adsfg there's a bunch of great J/7 meets Mirandy AUs on Ao3 and ffnet that I've been reading, some in the star trek 'verse and some modern ones and even a historical one or two, I think most by redheadgrrl? I could look for the links if you like, they're great femslash fics with interesting plot!

Thanks so much for the questions! <3

[baylardo]

ok like the fast travel version of my thoughts on how they got to the name Philippa because i guess subconsciously it’s always nagged me that her name didn’t have a reason like the rest of them lol (THIS DOESNT HAVE TO BE IMPLEMENTED HAHAHA PORTRAY/ADAPT IT HOW U WANT!!!!!!!!):::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

but LIKE, kathryn has HUMORED the idea of having children. i think she ironically even mentioned it in Threshold of all convenient places haha. in the autobio it also has her reflect on occasion on how she wanted children (even cringe book canon: going so far as to freeze her ova for laters xddddd i wipe away this canon I DONT NEED IT I HAVE MY OWN AMELIA JANEWAY!!!!!!!!) but i seem to recall her specifically also having talked about it with mark and also getting MARRIED obviously,,,,,,,,,,,,

and at first i was like oh,,,, maybe “Philippa” is a name kathryn liked and wanted to name a future daughter of hers,,,,, which is VERY projective headcanon territory that i dont tend to vibe very much..........

AND THEN I WAS LIKE,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, well what if its a name that MARK’S fond of and suggests,,,,,,, in this hypothetical future children conversation they have,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and even more delicious to me would be if kathryn HATED it and laughed at him and teased him about how she’d be nicknamed “Phil” or something silly and poopoo’d the name, but deep down she always remembers that THAT’S the name he’d wanted to name their daughter

and then like,,,,,,, wrapping it into the au around the time that likely Chakotay and Neelix are naming the kiddies,,,,,,,,, i figure theyd had to have asked around or scavenged databases looking for ideas on what to name them. and quite honestly i bet theyd have wanted to have settled on naming Edward “OWEN” but i think running it by Tom would steer them off doing that ‘cause the boy’s got DADDY ISSUES at that point in the series. :) so inevitably they land on the other grandfather haha. and then i think Tom would offhandedly suggest Amelia or neelix and chakotay would think amelia because she’s a pilot and both kathryn and tom took a fancy to her haha. 

and then when i was trying to think of how they’d unearth kathryn’s weird repressed fondness for “philippa” and its association with mark and everything i was likeeeee thinking she might have VERY discreetly in her Janeway Lambda One holonovel maybe have made a little girl named “philippa” that looks weirdly like a next gen or either her and MARK or her and Lord Burleigh hahaha, that i dont think shed have ever actually IMPLEMENTED into the program, but she humored the idea, made it, scrapped it, didnt think about it again. and neelix and/or chakotay stumbling upon this weird buried character she’s made for herself that’s effectively programmed to be her DAUGHTER they figure it’s a name she likes and BLAH BLAH BLAH.

i imagine she’d be taken aback and maybe get a little UPSET at them digging and finding that name and shes like VERY opposed to the idea of them using it to name one of the triplets at first because she’s associated it so closely to Mark and their ideas of a family and everything, but she wont admit that at first, wont confess to herself that these are the children she’s been dealt and everything and its not what she wanted or planned for etc etc. and i bet neelix would be the one to convince her to use it because similarly to his recent experience with kes (YOU KNOW THE SUPER CRINGE EPISODE) you dont know if there will be any second chances or opportunities past this point for having children at the ideal time and everything. :)

[mylittleredgirl]

Favorite and least favorite ST ships?

star trek ship award winners limited to the ones that popped into my head right now:

most likely to be my last thought when i die: janeway/chakotay. he made her a bathtub ONE TIME and i will never know peace

actual best canon relationship: benjamin sisko/kasidy yates. like. it’s so good i can’t even talk about it i���ve been trying to write this sentence for half an hour it’s so good.

longest lasting ship: riker/troi, both because it was my first star trek ship and because it took them like 20 years to get married bUT THEY FINALLY DID which is more than i can say for most of these fuckers

nothing like a classic: kirk/spock. it would be remiss for there to be ANY list without these two. on the one hand, i haven’t read a lot of fic. on the other hand, i don’t need to, because it’s infused into the very essence of the universe

the Bisexual Test ship: tom/b’elanna. like riker/troi is this too but i was a child in the tng years and a teenager in the voyager years and when “blood fever” aired i walked around like 😳 for six weeks and then came out

i know i just said i was ok that they didn’t get together but: picard/crusher. it’s about *cones meme* the longing sublimated under deep abiding friendship and breakfast.

i am not AT ALL ok that they didn’t end up together: trip/t’pol like??? what the FUCK was that casually dropped into the finale that they didn’t??????? we’ve all agreed right that after “terra firma” they absolutely got back together right. we all agreed

i would cry if one (1) person wrote this pairing: b’elanna/kes

[edit] OH MY GOD HOW COULD I FORGET: the best ot3???? miles/keiko/kira oh my god how did i forget to add this i am REMISS

.

star trek ship award losers:

most problematic canon ship: whatever the fuck narek and narissa have going on? 

most problematic ship i was gonna write about before i remembered that star trek picard exists: neelix/kes but more for the controlling/jealousy piece than the age difference because i feel like i don’t have the xenoanthropological breadth of understsanding necessary to cast judgment on species that have vastly different life spans, so i gotta take kes’s word for it on her age of majority with this one

most problematic ship that was thankfully never canon: kira/dukat can you believe there are real people who ship this like i know “can you believe people ship-” is a question no one should ever ask but can you fucking BELIEVE real people ship this and some of them worked on the SHOW

we all agreed this didn’t happen right: rios/agnes? like that was just a “it happened one night and was never spoken of again” thing right. also congrats to them for replacing scotty/uhura who held this category for decades since star trek v but honestly i feel like fandom was unfair to them because yes she’s mostly gay but otherwise that’s legit actually

if people could stop pairing the spare this way that’d be GREAT: the doctor/seven of nine. i was into it when i first saw the show but at a certain point “he really wants her and yeah she’s not interested in him romantically but she could use a nice man” stopped being a satisfactory basis for a ship for me idk probably right around the time that stopped being a satisfactory basis for a relationship for me. ✨personal growth✨

this ship is legit i’m just not that into it: garashir but i’m gonna try to get into it the next time i watch through ds9 because i think i’ve just been influenced by my childhood julian/jadzia fixation and how i think having sex with cardassians would be either scratchy or slimy but definitely uncomfortable

this ship is legit and i will climb out a window to avoid it: janeway/paris sorry fam like they are definitely boning in the mirror universe, we were all robbed of that, but in the prime universe i can only see it if literally everyone else is dead

[bumblingbabooshka]

You want Tuvok asks?? Okay, I'll send some from time to time now lol

Can I have some uhhh Tuvok & Kes mentoring relationship analysis and maybe hcs?

Personally, I think... we all know Kes sees parts of her father in Tuvok etc right but hc that Tuvok also sees parts of Asil in Kes? Anyway, your turn. Don't worry about writing "too much", no such thing when it comes to you!!

YEAAAH TUVOK ASK!!! I hide it well so few people know this but I actually like Tuvok quite a bit so this ask was very much welcome, thank you!! <3

KES!!!! Tuvok's one true daughter (other than Asil, his actual one true daughter) in my mind!!!! I wish more of the show actually showed their mentorship. Like him and Kes on an away mission or there being a 'student becomes the teacher' moment as her powers grow. I imagine a scene where Kes teaches a patient who's in pain a breathing technique to calm him down as she bandages him up and revealing that Tuvok taught her that technique! I also like the thought of aliens mistaking them for being the same species due to their pointed ears and telepathic abilities. The Kes-Tuvok dynamic also provides more opportunities to learn about their families and upbringings and values since they both seem like fairly introspective people. I can imagine Kes earnestly wanting to learn about and engage with Vulcan culture. That's a similarity between her and Neelix, a fascination with others, but Kes is calmer and Tuvok would be more open to talking with her about it because he knows she's not gonna make a big fuss, hehehe~ I would put a scene in the Elogium episode where she talked to Tuvok about it and he mentioned (obliquely) the pon farr and tried to comfort her. (She promises to keep this a secret - it's not to be spoken about!) There'd also be some little tidbits about his kids...hate that the only thing we really know about them is that there are four, Sek studies music and they were "well behaved" as children. And that last bit might be an exaggeration on Tuvok's part. I wish Kes was just in general more part of the crew. She's really only ever seen in sickbay even though she was introduced as very adventurous and curious and wanting to "peer into every crack in the universe". I can imagine a scene where Kes is doing something dangerous and Tuvok's watching her and Janeway's like "haha it's nervewracking, sitting back and doing nothing isn't it?" and Tuvok's like "I have no nerves to 'wrack', captain but this experience is....familiar." <- Sometimes you have to watch your kids fuck around so they can find out Episode where Kes & Tuvok are able to telepathically communicate despite being in completely different areas of the ship and so are able to coordinate and fight back against some invading aliens. I'd add a continuing subplot between Harry & Kes where they are like the unofficial/official proteges of Janeway and Tuvok respectively and playfully tease each other or argue about it. Secretly competitive A+ students though they're motivated by different things. Kes by her curiosity and Harry by a desire to prove himself.

I can imagine them having a moment where they talk about the weirdness of aging differently from everyone else. <- Episode where Kes is frustrated with everyone treating her like a kid. Tuvok doesn't experience this of course but I do wonder about a Vulcan's view on aging while surrounded by people who are both significantly younger than you but also your peers? This conversation veers quickly into death and loss. Kes who will die naturally long before anyone else and Tuvok who will die naturally long after everyone else. Scene where Kes tries to get the doctor to meditate (comedy) Scene where Kes learns how to telepathically shift the air so that she can hover above the ground. (comedy, it's not very useful except if they need to scout something she can slowly 'fly' high enough to see it but it takes SO much energy.) I can imagine Tuvok seeing a lot of his own children in Kes. I imagine having to teach your children how to use their telepathic powers is a near lifelong process for a Vulcan which he relives in his formal mentorship with Kes. Kes tells Janeway that Tuvok is "devoted to" T'Pel which makes me imagine him talking to Kes about her...showing how close they are, that he trusts her with that information and feels comfortable talking about his family to her...or that Kes is observant enough to pick up on the devotion he feels even though he doesn't divulge much. Waaa. Headcanon that Tuvok keeps a candle burning for Kes even several years after her departure and thinks about her often, the same way he thinks of his family. Headcanon that very occasionally Tuvok will be able to 'feel' Kes' presence. (Usually when he's alone) He attempts at times to communicate with her if she is 'around' long enough but whatever he gets in return he is not able to parse. He wonders if he ever will be. He's grateful that she tries regardless. One time he feels it when with Neelix is able to perform a sort of double telepathic telephone where Neelix can receive the message as well: He is similarly unable to parse it but he cries tears of joy anyway. Tuvok doesn't understand why but Neelix says it's ok so fine. Tuvok is the only person besides the doctor who Kes can talk about her weird medical dead people surgery stuff with!! (He isn't particularly eager but he's not gonna turn her away). There's awkwardness between them after the Tuvix situation (Because Tuvix was attracted to her) but they clear it up (Tuvok is not attracted to her) and everything's fine again. Kes teaches Tuvok how to sew. Tuvok later uses this to mend Naomi's flotter doll and also create a parachute during some sort of death defying stunt he has to pull along with the rest of the crew. Kes has medical papers published in Voyager's database which are widely circulated upon reaching the alpha quadrant and are used frequently by Tom when he has to do a medical thing because Kes created 'Tom Notes' which are just simplifying a bunch of the medical jargon in many of Voyager's papers. She called them 'Tom Notes' bc he's the only nurse and definitely not to poke fun <3 <- She's mischievous as she is helpful! Tuvok has seen her snacking on bugs multiple times as they tend to the plants in the airponics bay and he does think it's weird but he doesn't comment on it so she thinks he hasn't seen v_v

[kncrowder88]

Voyager and Romance

So, the thing about Voyager and romance that sticks with me is they seem to do one couple really, or more accurately two characters, any real justice overall. And that is B’Elanna and Tom. While moments for that relationship may not be perfect that is rather realistic for relationships, as no relationship is perfect all the time so that is tolerable. This post though isn’t going to be about looking at that particular relationship though but primarily at other relationships. Largely because a discord server I am in was talking about Counterpoint and I realized why I both love the episode but also have weird feelings with it. Which, I’ll touch more on that specifically after I discuss the relationship stuff (as that plays a part).

So, I will preface this with it has been a bit since I’ve done a binge of Voyager and really a full binge of Star Trek in general. As such, I may forget a few relationships on the show and overall, throughout Trek in general. From what I can really toss together … I honestly am beginning to believe that when it comes to Voyager and the other shows (the older ones not the new ones – I am not including any NEW Trek in this) that for some reason the relationship writing with Voyager was rather different. Like, they gave 3 characters active relationships prior to being stranded. That being Harry Kim, Kathryn Janeway, and Tuvok. Out of these three we get Janeway and Tuvok holding onto those relationships in their own way while … it seemed mildly convenient for Harry to mention it when it suited him, I guess (like that time Tom wanted to set them up for a double date or you know when he ended up in that alternate timeline but still wanted back with Voyager even more like). Like, the reason I don’t list Tuvok-T’Pel above is because we don’t actually get to SEE that in full, we just get to see Tuvok’s side of it and his dedication – we don’t see the relationship, we don’t see the couple.

Harry and Tom, prior to his relationship with B’Elanna, seem to frequently do this sort of two bros dating around thing which is fine but like … same time the show used them for that. And once they settled Tom with B’Elanna they used Harry in those plot lines when it worked. Thus the alien STD episode and the “how dare you not get the standard permission from your CO and CMO” line (like they really put that into a Trek ep and I’m still unable to not picture Riker, Kirk, Picard, and everyone other Trek character constantly getting permission for their latest romance – just remember Jadzia and Worf likely had to get permission from Sisko and Bashir if the Trill and Klingon weren’t already approved of in the system just saying, that’s a thing that happened). Anyways … my point is they went out of their way on this. Like, when Kes was with Neelix they wrote Neelix to be that jealous judgmental boyfriend who literally got upset she knew where other people’s quarters where, she was nice to Tom, she was … just yeah. They wrote Tom to come off as a player pulling Harry into it, when Tom settled down Harry seems to pick that up (I mean you got his “omg Seven” phase and the alien STD stuff and lord knows what else I’m forgetting with him).

And to top this off I haven’t even touched on the “Janeway can’t have a romance” stuff yet. Which is where my real problem is. Like, its bad enough they brought in Jeri for the sex appeal (which lets be honest stems from the fact they couldn’t use Janeway for that – which I get, Kate was right in the whole concept of the audience target having to keep respect for a female lead and sex appeal couldn’t be a focal point but they could have balanced it right and regrettably because they couldn’t that meant Jeri got all of the other side of the coin). Many of Seven’s eps center on romance or social stuff and honestly that is a whole other WTF post in its own right because it all leads up to the sudden get with the one person on the ship who didn’t want you here in the first place and who also would have served better as the male adult guidance figure/father figure than as a ROMANTIC partner but hey BS happened behind scenes to cause that chaotic romantic on screen set up. But yeah … this is just another example of the poor Voyager romantic plot lines.

Chakotay’s romantic plot lines are usually – and by that, I mean pretty much always – with these strong independent women. But usually, at least from what I recall, they are also typically the “needs help” (damsel in distress/can’t do it alone/etc.) plot. Like, Riley was strong independent but also set up to need help in regard to getting her little collective put back together on the planet. You got Kellin, again another strong lady who yet again also needed help. At least in the ep she’s in and if I recall much of the info on how they fell in love during that time as well – primarily with getting away from danger at the start and then during the initial romance finding her target. Valerie is the only one who doesn’t fall into the needs help plot and that’s largely because she was being manipulated by Chakotay for information – which honestly just goes to show how well Chakotay was at the whole undercover stuff (which tells us a lot about what he could have been doing as a Maquis). Seska was the plot point of “you once dated her, now she is going to badger you to get with her again and when that fails, she’s going to assault you” …. like all of Chakotay’s romances are literally him either 1) being manipulated (as that’s what Seska and Riley did) or 2) being the kind guy or 3) not an actual relationship (either because its undercover work or because the writers were too cowardly to make him and Janeway canon).

Then you got Janeway. Then you got KATHRYN JANEWAY. You know, the one where Kate Mulgrew said no romance, no sexualizing, no doing that sort of stuff because the audience had to maintain respect for the character. I’m sure someone has the exact various quotes out there. Like … this is why we don’t have JC as canon. But what we do got instead is …. Janeway in Prime Factors being flirted with by the administrator as if that’s going to get him what he wants because “female leader means flirt with her”. We got Janeway and a period drama holodeck adventure in the early years which was clearly meant to be her romantic tête-à-tête early on that never got followed up with. We got “delete the wife” with the Fair Haven plot point (because its totally respectable to see the FEMALE LEAD, the STARFLEET CAPTAIN, just straight up DELETE THE WIFE of another individual - yeah, I get its meant to be humor factor because hologram but come on). You have her whole thing with Mark which we get tidbits off but again similar to Tuvok we literally only get to see her side of it – the only couple moment of theirs we get is the comm call in Caretaker.

But Jaffen? You are correct. We got that lovely and touching and wonderful romance with Jaffen …. Oh wait … they had to remove her from the ship, strip her of her memory, and her autonomy in order for her to have a relationship with another individual. And yes, by losing her memories, by losing what made her who she was as a person, she did lose a sense of autonomy. She entered into a relationship without a full sense of independent choice. The point in which she made a choice in that episode, the point in which she – Kathryn Janeway – made a choice with all of the person, the individual she is, was at the end when she had her memories back and could decide based on the values and beliefs and all that she is. What I’m getting at is the people on that planet deliberately took away who she was, they took her memories and her ability to make the decisions they knew she would make --- they did that deliberately (that’s even established in the episode) --- and as such her decisions while in that state are not truly her full independent decisions but the ones impacted by the state she was forced into.

And while I love Resolutions, while I love all the JC goodies, we get in that ep … Yet again the only time we get to see Janeway in any sort of romantic situation is when they remove her from the ship. When they remove her from command. When they strip her of that setting. This time, though – well the first time – she keeps awareness and has to go through lose of it all in order to even start to let it all happen. I love the episode, I do, but I just find it rather amusing they went “’Hey we gotta strand them what should their tasks be on the planet?” and they immediately went “Well Janeway is scientist how about that” “Okay and he can build, Chakotay can start building. Man builds house, right?” and then like went “oh and then she can start a garden” …. Like really? Really? That’s what you got for me. Oh, and then there is the monkey. That’s the romance this ep. Boat, science, monkey.

Then we got Kashyk. We have dealt with Kathryn throughout this series dealing with various leaders of various styles. As mentioned, Prime Factors guy attempted flirting. Other leaders pulled similar or worse or even dismissed her …. Like the list goes on. Counterpoint is a great episode because it deals with prejudice and is rather dark. The thing is, had Janeway been able to have a healthy romantic relationship on screen to counter this episode this episode probably would have come off better. Episodes like Prime Factor could have been done different (that leader didn’t need to be as flirty for example). One or two eps through the series having creepy dudes she had to deal with, fine, whatever … that be a nice impact for the audience. But when you have to many prior to Counterpoint – even if its minor, small stuff – it makes this episode so much harder for fans. Especially the female fans who deal with this constantly.

See, here’s the thing with this ep…. Some of the fans who watch … we know Kashyk well. We know that character. He is that male leader, that male power figure, who uses the power he has to manipulate those in his control to get what he wants. And Kathryn … Kathryn was in his control. Kashyk is listed as a relationship on memory-alpha. But much like how I view Seska with Chakotay … I do not view Kashyk as a proper relationship. In Devore space, Kathryn did not have proper power. She had people in her command, on her ship, that she had to protect. That she knew she had to protect. Her own best friend … lives in her hand … and Kashyk right there willing to kill them. Willing to snatch them up and destroy them. And he used that power to manipulate her and play her. Yes, she played him right back but … did she truly have a choice? Did she have any other choice but to play his game? What would have happened if she said no? And that … that is why this episode is so unsettling for some people. And why this relationship being considered on is so off putting … that the writers, that memory-alpha, that the fact I’m putting it on this list as one of the ones on here for Voyager says so much … they wrote this as one of her relationships while out there … she had to do what so many women had to do to stay safe, to keep people she loves safe, and that’s not a relationship.

Voyager could have done romance/relationships such better justice.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s3 ep18: Darkling

Oh no, it's this one. I'm just gonna say it, this one is straight up bad. Whoever thought: gee, let's do Jekyll and Hyde meets Lolita, starring the Doctor and Kes! What the actual hell???

We could have had a nice episode about Kes gaining more independence and having a nice little romance, that wasn't about the Doctor, or any male character, having a creepy Humbert Humbert-like obsession with her, but no. We just can't have nice things, I guess, because the entire Voyager writers room apparently had a creepy obsession with Kes. Just leave her alone, jfc!!!

It starts out normal enough- they're on another planet with a pretty matte painting, and a cool rustic bar set, and Kes is actually part of the away mission, working on transporting medical supplies with a hot young alien guy, and they clearly like each other. Kes and Neelix apparently broke up offscreen at some point before this, which is a majorly big plot point to have happen off screen! What the hell?! During the break up on the holodeck in 'Warlord', Kes was possessed, so that wasn't really her breaking up with him- the actual break up had to have happened later, when she was herself again. Ending that relationship is a huge deal for both them, and it's total cheat to not even show it, since how they handled that would be a big defining moment for both their characters. It's just plain lazy writing! Show us the breakup, you cowards!!!

But anyway, Kes is no longer wearing her little girlish jumper dresses- she's in a velour catsuit, to show us she's grown up now. It is at least cuter than said jumper dresses, and at least it doesn't include a corset and boob padding, but still, I kind of wish they'd have given her something more like the longer, looser dress she wore for a scene when she was possessed by the warlord. It felt a little much to have her clothes go from infantilized to sexualized in one go. The alien pilot Kes has been working with, Zahir, seems to like it though, and he and Kes get very close, to the point that they're staying out till 3am kissing, and that he asks her to come with him on his ship when he leaves. Kes considers it seriously, and talks it over with the Captain, who's supportive of whatever she decides. She gets nothing but crap about it from the Doctor though.

The Doctor's attitude toward Kes's relationship with her new alien boyfriend is so jealous and judgemental, even before he puts in his new personality subroutines. He basically slut shames her for liking Zahir, and tells her she needs to take a cold shower. He also guilts her for spending time with Zahir instead of him, implying that she should have been helping the Doctor with his little side project of trying to add new personality subroutines to his program, even though that's not in any way part of her job. He patronizes her with the 'I'm just looking out for you' tack, but he's clearly being very selfish and manipulative in how he's treating her. Thankfully, Kes stands up for herself, and tells him that she's a grown up, and that her relationships aren't anyone's business but hers (you go girl!!) and that she's still capable of doing her job.

Even though the Doctor is supposed to be the Dr. Jekyll version in this story, his behavior toward Kes is already messed up and icky before his Mr. Hyde counterpart even shows up. Especially comparing it to Janeway and Tuvok, who also have a protective, parental relationship with Kes, the difference is clear- they're interested in Kes's wellbeing, but that includes respecting her choices and realizing they have to let go and let her make her own decisions, even if it means leaving them. The Doctor does not, and I feel like the whole plot of accidentally adding evil subroutines to his program is just a cover to make the regular Doctor's behavior seem not so bad by comparison. (It' s still bad, though.)

The Doctor's new subroutines make him act truly heinous to B'Elanna when she comes in with a food allergy, and she's rightfully pissed that he's been messing with his program without even consulting her. She's incredibly lenient with him, and says she'll come back to fix his program when she gets done in engineering later. (Tbh I think B'Elanna should and would have given him a lecture and fixed it right then and there- having the only Doctor on board sexually harassing patients is a 100% unacceptable situation, for any length of time, and no woman would be like 'that's fine for a few hours!' Like, honestly, what the hell?!)

So, of course, in that time, the evil subroutines take hold, and the Doctor literally transforms into Mr. Hyde- his eyes suddenly have dark contacts (of evil), messed up hair (of evil), he holds his jaw in an underbite (of evil), and speaks low and hoarsely (in the voice of evil). There's a lot of teeth nashing and growling and handwringing, and it's very, very over the top. Maybe the director told him to act it that way, but it's just plain bad. He goes on a rampage (of evil) and pushes Kes's boyfriend over a cliff (he's okay though!), and attacks B'Elanna. He knocks her out and paralyzes her with hyposprays, and threatens to torture her if she doesn't help him get rid of the Doctor's original personality, which she tells him is impossible, and refuses to help, even if she could. (The Doctor's terrible overacting is the only thing that keeps the scene from being even more disturbing than it already is, why is it even here?? Why did we need that?? A scene like that with an actual villainous character is one thing, since it reveals some kind of character info, but with a character who's one of our heroes?!? It's just gross, and very much undermines the trust and affection the audience has built up for him, regardless of the excuse. It just feels weird and violence fetishy, honestly.)

When B'Elanna won't help him, the Doctor decides to go to the holodeck to ask his little holo characters he based his new subroutines on for help, because that makes sense! (It does not.) We get a scene of him stalking through the halls looking hunched over and underbite-y, and clearly evil, with none of the passing crewmembers noticing anything amiss. (Really??) We get yet another needlessly creepy scene of him following an unsuspecting ensign into a turbolift, eyeing her with evil intent, and I found myself wondering why all the crewmembers he's turned on so far have to be women. Then Tom enters the turbolift, and the Doctor backs off from whatever evil plan he had, and turns away from Tom, deflecting as Tom chats to him, and we get the picture that yes, indeed, the Doctor's evil plans seem to be reserved for women, and only include men who come between him and a woman he desires. Holy misogyny Batman!!! Major yikes!!! Why would they write that?! Why would they do that to his character?! Idek.

So Kes comes to see the Doctor, and the computer tells her he's on the holodeck. When she gets there, she finds all of his historical figure characters glitching, having been tampered with by the Doctor, which, for some reason, she finds super scary- she looks like she's going to puke, but it's not even that scary?? They're just holo characters, and he didn't program them to look like they've been killed like real people, they're just like, reapeating motions over and over- why is that so disturbing?? It's not even half as bad as what he did to B'Elanna, idk why this is supposed to horrify us after that.

The Doctor kidnaps Kes, and takes her to the planet, where he's trying to get a ship to take her away. He spouts a lot of edgelord crap about how evil is the most essential thing in the universe, but Kes tries to reason with him, and explain that nothing could work without kindness and cooperation. Evil!Doctor is pretty easily confused by Kes's argument, but he gets angry again when the guy he was gonna get the shuttle from tells him that Voyager realized what he'd done, and is blocking ships from leaving the planet. He takes Kes out to the cliffside, where the Voyager crew track them down. Kes makes an impassioned appeal to the Doctor, telling him all his craziness has really been an attempt to protect her (still yikes!!!) and so he really must still be good at heart. Evil!Doctor realizes he has no way out, with everyone on his tail, so he jumps off the cliff with Kes, in classic 'if I can't have you, no one will!' fashion. Luckily, Voyager manages to beam them up mid-fall, and the Doctor's evil subroutines somehow magically disappear when he rematerializes on Voyager! (WHAT?!?!?)

In the last scene, B'Elanna says she's erased all traces of his evil version, and once again, she lets him off way too easily. She should and would have ordered him to ask her before messing with his program in the future, and he should have apologized to her, and assured her he would never do it again, since doing so literally just caused him to try to kill several people, including her! But all we get is a cutesy little scene where B'Elanna and Kes both just let him off the hook with barely more than a finger wag- in fact, he ends up being rewarded for his bad behavior with the outcome he wanted: Kes staying with him. He recites the Hippocratic Oath, as if to reassure us he's really good, but it feels like a weird tacked on ending for an episode that wanted to play with being dark and edgy, without actually taking responsibility for it. Either the bad Doctor was entirely a separate entity from the real Doctor, so there was no character revealing element to this useless episode, or the evil was coming from his real personality, which is even more disturbing, because it's saying that he actually is a terrible person underneath.

There was absolutely no good outcome for this storyline, and it totally streamrolled Kes's story to boot. All the build up of her romance, and her questioning if she should go with him, was waved away at the end, where she just says, yeah, I'm gonna stay here with my friends where it's safe! Despite the fact that one of her so-called friends just treated her like crap, and then tried to kill her! What?! I actually think the idea they had earlier, of her going on a short mission with him and then coming back to Voyager again before they got too far away, was actually a good idea, and it would have been more interesting if she'd done that, since they seemed to have a connection, and Kes loves to explore, and she's already lived a third of her life on Voyager by now. But no, she doesn't even get a scene to say goodbye to this guy, because clearly, her growing and maturing and forming new relationships is so much less important than a story about a middle aged white man being a possessive jerk. Arg!!!

Tl;dr: A poorly thought out story that ignored Kes's development in favor of making the Doctor a creepy asshole, for no reason. Probably the episode that finally made me really dislike the Doctor. Not a successful effort.

[thegeminisage]

it's star trek update time. SIGH. monday we did voy's "death wish" and ds9's "accession" and last night we did voy's "lifesigns" and "investigations."

death wish (voy):

this episode made me so angry it's UNREAL. star trek has pissed me off before but the only other episode in the entire series that has made me this mad that i can think of is tng's "violations." i am "violations" mad about it

firstly, to get it out of the way, i went back and skimmed the transcript of the episode. JUST SKIMMING, which means this list could be non-exhaustive, i counted six instances of q being sexist towards janeway, four instances of him sexually harassing her, and one instance of him being racist towards chakotay. like, his "dumb brute" remarks to worf in tng were so horrible but at least he kept those to one or two an episode, JESUS. janeway only corrected him one time, which i guess is because she's "above" all that? because that's how being a Tough Woman works?

like, until now, i have had some problems with voyager, but i can't think of a time, outside of kes and neelix's whole deal, that it felt sexist. whereas it was more surprising when tng DIDN'T feel sexist. and all of the sudden, tng's most annoying character shows up, and the sexism is back in full force. i HATE that

secondly, i know the trek guys missed tng, i know everybody else missed tng, but we HAVE to cool it with the tng cameos in voyager. barclay was fine, actually (weirdly enough?), but q and riker is over the top. q being here invalidates the ENTIRE premise of the show, which is already not being fully utilized. they don't treat it like a voyage - talking about time left until they get home in light years/ real time, a number that should be getting smaller, sacrificing speed for larger concerns, weighing the costs of stopping at this planet to get [needed supply] or rescue [hapless alien] against the cost of how many more years on this ship they will have to endure, worrying about what will happen when they run out of torpedoes or food. we get neelix cooking and a few grocery runs and that's it. but they are still AWAY FROM HOME. the journey back is a real and tangible thing that stands in their way. but now q is looking at them, and q could take them right back to earth before i finish typing my next word, and that's not supposed to push our suspension of disbelief? suddenly that 75000 journey, the first last and only great adversary of this premise, doesn't seem real anymore

as far as q politics go: i don't care because they're pretty boring. that being said, even if i DID care, janeway deciding for the q whether or not another q should be allowed to die ABSOLUTELY violates the prime directive. could sisko preside over a court case involving a huge change to bajoran society? no. so why is janeway allowed to do this? once they made bets on the outcome of this trial she should have opted out. if we can let a planet go extinct to uphold the directive we can let one q rot in jail for eternity.

FURTHERMORE, her ruling on the side of quinn in this trial is bullshit. janeway made a decision to trap all her crew in the delta quadrant in the pilot but it was to SAVE LIVES. her morals, which are a little lofty/at odds with her situation sometimes, were very justified here, because people would have died if she had taken the selfish way out. NOBODY'S life was at risk here - except, arguably, the lives of her crew, some of whom have already died during the long trip back home they're making. there's no justification whatsoever for janeway turning down the temptation of a quick trip home, but especially not so easily. WHICH IS, AGAIN, WHY Q EVEN BEING HERE RUINS THE ENTIRE THING. doing this makes janeway either look out of touch or like an asshole. that on top of the constant sexism made me want to commit murder

also, the q lipstick looked awful.

i did like janeway's like...she took the debate very seriously. and at the end even though she ruled for that guy's right to die she was like i like my mortal life and if you tried it you might like it too think hard before you throw it away. i liked that part. unfortunately, the rest was garbage

accession (ds9)

ohhh this one was SO good

firstly, i have wanted to go back to the wormhole since the pilot and NOT for dumb ferengi reasons. mwah

secondly, sisko my best friend sisko my beloved i'm gonna get into it but i love him so much he's the best guy ever

first i gotta talk about kira......im always so shocked when i remember she's religious because she's SO smart and headstrong and her religion often makes her stupid. this episode had some really really good scenes for her, and i really loved the like. stuff that happens between her and sisko when she loves him as a friend and as a commanding officer but also as jesus. religion adds complexity to that relationship, which is fun. but i do kind of wish she had had to grapple just a LITTLE, like ANY at all, with being misled - she really thought this bajoran guy was the emissary which would have made her wrong about sisko, but then she realized he was fake which made her wrong about him. and she was like well it's ""faith"" it doesn't matter if i was """wrong""" and if it doesn't make sense to you sorry atheists. like, okay, sure, but do you not have a religious crisis when you realized that feeling of total faith was fake and that you were successfully lied to? could we get into that, which would have been more interesting than a "checkmate atheists" moment?

speaking of atheism, sisko. he's not a believer of the bajoran religion, and he was sooo happy to step aside when someone else showed up (until that guy started doing awful shit), and then when he goes into the wormhole to ask WHY the wormhole aliens would spit this asshole out hundreds of years later if he's NOT the emissary they're like "oh because of you :)"

they KNEW that he would become disillusioned about the job hundreds of years before he was born so they concocted a perfect reason to give him a vested interest in keeping it - to protect the bajoran people, right? it gave him a chance to get hard evidence with his own eyes how much they really love him and would do for him, making that devotion feel more like an honor than a burden. but more than that, it's a magic trick for a skeptic. a "do you still think it's sleight of hand NOW?" moment. FUN.

anyway, i'm really interested to learn more lore about those guys. you exist here. they made such an impression on me

lifesigns (voy):

CAN WE PLEASE STOP. HAVING STAR TREK EPISODES ABOUT ASSISTED SUICIDE.

this lady like yeah i'd rather die than go back to my own body, my life in that body was intolerable, vs worf's brother being like my life as a dishonored klingon is intolerable, vs the other q being like yeah boredom for eternity is intolerable, kill me. what was IN the fucking water hold on i have to look something up. one second i think okay yeah terri schiavo was in the 90s. that was what was in the water. alright. that was a really fucking depressing wikipedia article i just skimmed through

ANYWAY, my favorite part of this episode was finally getting to see trek's version of mars, which i have wanted to see for a long time now. it was extra cool that it was set against this 50s convertible and the 50s music. i thought that was bomb as hell. absolutely fucking obsessed. the rest of the episode was just okay

firstly, unintentional aroace doctor vibes. like under one hand we can't be doing that to nonhuman characters anymore because of The Stereotypes (i'm not aro but i'm ace so i'm allowed to complain about this) under the other That Dialogue. "romance is not part of my program and i don't want it to adapt right now because i don't like what's happening to me" and all the talk about how utterly indifferent he was to her appearance whether she was holographic or in her real body

also, hi, sorry, she's gonna name him SHMULLUS after her UNCLE? i thought we were trying to be romantic here!

tom paris chakotay confrontation...you know what, i'll get into it next episode. i will say though i was like damn why didn't they offer us any closure on that at all?? i do kind of like that we have arcs in voyager, unlike tng - this, the spy, seska's baby, etc.

the real problem with this episode though is don't vidiians steal organs from people? usually only people who are living? without their consent? did that guy not WEAR that one starfleet officer's face? b'elanna's trauma response in the beginning was sort of played down but she was the ONLY objection i heard. no, it's not this lady's fault she is sick, and she may not have PERSONALLY done any organ stealing, but she knows where they come from. she's complicit. i was shocked that we didn't even get into it

you could have done one of those really good trek ethical debates on this, i think. this isn't what happened, but let's just say when she was a child she got those organs without her consent either. and when she gets older she just gets used to it - or maybe she doesn't, and advocates for willing donors only. if she said she only received organs from willing donors, would the crew believe her? would you? if this is a new stance, and b'elanna has something she needs but refuses to give it up, would this lady be tempted to take it? NOW you've got some meat to this episode - it's particularly good if she does dodgy stuff and the doc still loves her. um unfortunately that's not what we did though

investigations (voy):

FINALLY some good fucking food

firstly, can i just say, poor fucking chakotay. this is like the THIRD time he's been tricked by a spy. we HAVE to stop doing this to him, he's going to get a complex. i do like that it was tuvok who advocated for tricking him though because theyre worsties <3 tuvoks mad he didn't get first officer no matter what he says

secondly, this entire episode should have been from neelix's camera's pov. that would have been soooo fun

neelix and tom paris really are friends now..........incredible that raising a puppet lizard baby can bring men together in this way

the most exciting part of this episode was cathy figuring out about .5 seconds into it that tom was a double agent rooting out the spy and then both of us gaslighting ourselves into going "no way he genuinely left" and then back to "omg he's definitely a spy" like by the time we got to the reveal we were in fits. even tuvok was gaslighting neelix. neelix was like mr vulcan we have a spy and tuvok was like nah. i love when he calls him mr vulcan btw i wish they had more scenes like the bath thing tuvok makes such a good straight man next to neelix

this also makes me feel a huge amount of relief over tom paris in general, and his tentative redemption. i liked when he said he wasn't gonna be annoying anymore and was so disappointed when he went back to doing that. but it was a trick! he tricked me. they literally got me like i'm chakotay

neelix was RUDE to keep putting the doctor off for his news show btw like maybe EYE wanted to learn about the klingon glottis. honestly!! that said, i also didn't think he had it in him to straight up murder a guy either that also really shocked me

also, hi again to seska, who is still pregnant with somebody's baby. still REALLY hoping it's chakotay's!!!

NEXT TIME: just voy's "deadlock," since we are also watching star wars :/