#and doesn't even really KNOW who Tom Paris is

[pilots-and-protons]

Niche Hot Take

If you’ve watched Voyager and are making a poll about Tom Paris in any way relating to him being:

1: A good or bad Person/Character

2: A good or bad Father/Husband

I think you shouldn’t be using photos of him from “Caretaker”. The man we see in the pilot episode is at the very beginning of a long character growth. He’s at his lowest, and certainly not the Tom Paris who learned and grew enough to become a loyal friend, loving husband, and someone looking forward to being a father. 

I just feel like using Season 1 photos of Tom seems like it’s going to intentionally bias people towards remembering/thinking of him badly.

I mean come on, this:

And this:

Have completely different vibes. At least play the middle ground and go for a photo from Season 3 or 4. It would be like if someone only ever used Season 1 baby-faced photos of Riker. It just feels like looking at something half-baked.

and if you’re gonna put Tom in the DILF bracket, should’ve at least picked a photo from “Threshold” or Season 7 since that’s when he's actually a father.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Having Nonbinary Sapphic Tuvok Brainrot Lately…

You're the realest motherfucker on planet Earth and I hope you know that.

Here's a bunch of bullshit I doodled on the topic of Nonbinary Sapphic Tuvok !!!! And I HOPE you will share YOUR personal brainrot with the class (my ask box, the masses, a text post....whatever gets the word out.) If you've been paying attention you KNOW I love a 'Tuvok discovers he's trans while in the delta quadrant' story Guy who likes girls and has always liked girls...but....not in the same way OTHER guys seem to like girls... Tuvok who never quite fit in with 'other' men even Vulcan men...always preferred spending time with women and girls but never felt precisely LIKE a woman or OVERLY uncomfortable with being identified as a man and Vulcan society doesn't seem like it would be heavily gendered so he never really questioned it seriously. Tuvok who found comfort in titles like Husband and Father...those fit, those are good. Then in the delta quadrant he isn't able to be a husband or a father any more and is just some guy surrounded by humans...hmmmmmm....

Still doesn't really seriously think it's worth questioning or exploring his gender identity (partially out of a desire to return home as he left...what will his wife and children think? He's experienced a LOT of sudden change in regards to his personal identity and life, he doesn't really want to undergo more.) until Seven of Nine comes along and also begins to go through a "Questioning Her Gender" arc. Tuvok thinks about it on his own time for a long time and then finally goes to Janeway for support and assistance and together they spend like SEVERAL months just the two of them seeing what this whole gender thing's about. Tuvok slowly exploring expressing himself in a more feminine manner because he's spent his whole life adhering rigidly to one sort of Look. Unexpectedly struggles with anxiety about this. Neelix: Don't be nervous Ms. Vulcan! Tuvok: [nervous] I am not nervous. Tuvok and Seven BOTH exploring masculinity/femininity and their own nonbinary gender identities...late night slumber par- experimentation. Painting each others nails is...very scientific. It's important. Talking with Janeway was good because she's his friend but talking with Seven, another person actively questioning their gender is....well, it's something else.

[adricthemindnimon]

I hate that the Voyager writers were so inconsistent with Tom Paris, cuz at his best he really is wonderful. I'm rewatching Course: Oblivion, AKA the one where Tom and B'elanna get married then it turns out they're clones and they all die, and he is the sweetest man in the universe. Moments before the wedding Janeway says to him "Your bachelor days are over" and he replies "Not a moment too soon". She asks him "any second thoughts?" and he gives B'elanna the biggest heart eyes in the universe and responds "second, third fourth" and it's clear that all those thoughts are for her. Later, Harry teases him that he's only been married a day and he's "already domesticated (side note: yuk, Harry), and without pause Tom goes "jealous?" And his vows... "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'll try to keep doing it".

Tom is so utterly devoted to B'elanna. He's an idiot sometimes, and he fucks up majorly on occasion, and he doesn't always understand, but he loves this woman whole heartedly. He tried to play at being the big lothario, but even in the first episodes it was clear he wasn't actually much good at it. Some of the writers insist on trying to drag out the "secretly a shitty person" angle on Tom, and it's just boring - and it doesn't fit with this much more compelling version of him. He's a big softie who loves deeply and is whole heartedly loyal where he loves. That's true of his relationship with his mentor and Captain Janeway (he'd 10000% fist fight anyone who said a word against her), it's true of his relationship with his best friend Harry (remember The Chute where he held off hordes of pissed off prisoners?), and it's true of his relationship with his wife, B'elanna.

[imthepunchlord]

Do you not think it was bad for Adrien that the Season 5 finale has him not learn that his father was Hawkmoth?

Yes I think it was bad. What was the point of having him be the son of Hawk Moth, the main villain of the show, if he's to never find out? Or gets involved in his own plot?

Usually, when the story has characters be the children of the villain, there are two set ups that happen.

That child works with the villain. Be it openly or subtly.

2. Child doesn't know, is friends with the hero or is the hero, they find out, and then there's a crossroad that may or may not be easy to decide: join their parent or go against them.

Adrien should've fallen into the 2nd choice, though you could pull off 1 with him playing a long game and having some acting skills, this is why he wants to push for a reveal, trying to get Ladybug to fall for him, and why HM doesn't care about going after Chat over LB.

But yeah, you expect him to be HM's son, something would be done with him. But it's not. And at this point, him being HM's son is really pointless. I know I've seen some suspect that Adrien may learn the truth and s6 and it'll put a strain on his relationship with LB, but I'm not so sure that'll happen. This show doesn't really hold a record of doing much of anything to really shake things up.

I also felt that the whole situation with Adrien being HM's son, it felt like one of the things where they made changes but not entirely, as originally, Felix was not HM's son. So in canon, we have this weird situation where they are aware he is, but they also act like he's not and just not doing anything with it.

And at this point, it's kinda pointless he was HM's son as nothing was done with it. No him finding out, no being at that crossroad and where his stance is; why, I even saw a big missed opportunity for the Paris Special, which I initially thought was going to be set after s5 finale, Adrien finding out that Betterfly is Gabriel and is a nicer version of his father, and him just talking with him and getting something of closure as he's left hanging on the whole deal.

But nope.

We can't have this father and son interact.

Which, man, between the little I've seen of the s5 finale and the Paris Special where Marinette is the focus character working off Gabriel, it just reminded me of my life swap au, where Gabriel married Sabine instead and Emilie married Tom, so Marinette was Gabriel's daughter and the child of HM, and it was so interesting to think about. And worked better narrative wise as she's the lead who engages and initiates and involves herself in the main plot which Gabriel is apart of.

Adrien struggles as a lead character because he does not engage or initiate and this route of him not finding out or working off Gabriel in any miraculous form, yeah what was the point of him being HM's son?

[lightofraye]

No way! GLEN POWELL?!?!?!? You're a fan too????!!!!

Oh boy.

All caps. Tons of exclamation marks and question marks.

I'm in trouble, aren't I?

Because... yes! I'm a huge fan of Glen's! And it's not because he has a hot bod either!

(Thank you, Top Gun: Maverick, for that volleyball scene. Ahem.)

But no, in all seriousness, the first role I distinctly remember him in was playing that stock market guy in The Dark Knight Rises--the one who promptly got his head beat in by Bane.

Why did it make an impression on me? Because I believed it when he stood up to Bane. It was a stand out scene.

Later, Hidden Figures, I remembered liking John Glenn--and hilariously didn't make the connection of the actor! Not until much later. He made other small roles that I remembered... and then forgot the actor. (Hey, life is busy.)

Then Top Gun: Maverick came out and I remembered sitting back in my seat and going, "Who the fuck was that?!"

Because wow. Arrogant, snarky, could back up his claims. It was another Tom Cruise in so many ways. Hangman, Glen's character, was just like Maverick, Tom Cruise's character. He popped on the screen and I just had to know more about him.

Cue a deep dive in his history, his Instagram, and his roles. And discovering he was in other roles that I liked!

Then learning about his history as an actor. He said it was Denzel Washington who inspired him to make a try for it in Hollywood--a real try.

By 2007, Glen had made a few roles, small ones, but he credits Denzel for putting faith in himself. Trying out for The Great Debaters, Denzel asked Glen to come back and try for a bigger role... and to drop his noticeable Texas accent. Glen was determined to impress the movie's producers--and succeeded.

He was just 17 years old.

Glen recounted Denzel's advice to him:

"This race, Hollywood, it's a marathon, not a sprint," Powell relayed from the Oscar-winner's advice. "You're running your own race. Don't look in the other lanes. It doesn't matter how fast somebody else is going, where they're going, or if they look better doing it. It doesn't matter."

When he tried out for The Expendables 3, he wrote to Sly Stallone and explained why he was the best choice for the role. Later, Stallone told him it was the reason he got the job.

He then got into Ryan Murphy's Scream Queens on Fox. (And making friends with John Stamos!) It helped him show off his comedic skills and helped make his name in Hollywood.

He actually admitted when he got into Hidden Figures, he was worried he ruined it. It was such a powerful movie and he feared he wrecked it. (Needless to say, no, he didn't. That movie shone!)

He made a rom-com with Zoey Deutch on Netflix that also cinched his skills as an actor who could do romance, comedy, and Top Gun (along with The Expendables) showed he could also do action. He's very well-rounded as an actor.

But what really catapulted him was Anyone But You with Sydney Sweeney. For the last few years, Hollywood had struggled to make really big rom-coms (in my humble opinion). Most just don't really break the box office.

Then Sydney Sweeney came along with her clever mind and manipulated the hell out of the chemistry between her and Glen. It worked too well--he had been in a three year relationship with Gigi Paris.

During the filming of Anyone But You, there were so many candids, behind the scenes photographs, that left quite a few convinced Sydney and Glen were having an affair. (Sydney is very much engaged with her longtime boyfriend of, what, 6 years now?) But some speculated it was too much for Gigi and she broke it off.

It's never been confirmed as to why they broke up, but it was interesting....

Then Glen went and adopted a freakin' adorable dog, a mutt, and named it Brisket. That dog has been with him everywhere now! Even during promos!

What I like about Glen? He includes his parents in a lot of his movies as extras! He's frequently seen with his niece and nephew, photographs with them all the time... and a couple of years ago, reenacted, I kid you not, some scenes from ELF in New York with his family. (Seriously. Watch it. I couldn't stop laughing.)

He's made a hit for Netflix with Hit Man. Twisters is doing pretty well in theaters. He's so busy I'm staring at his schedule and thinking to myself, "When does he have time to breathe?!"

What I'm also impressed with is how, upon talking to Matthew McConaughey and realizing how soul-sucking Los Angeles could be, Glen sold his home in Los Angeles and relocated back to Texas!

My last tidbit of amusement? He has green eyes. He's Texan.

Seriously, what is it with me and green-eyed men from Texas? Yeesh.

(I turned into a gossip columnist. Haha!)

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s6 ep10: Pathfinder

One of the few episodes that doesn't feature the main characters that I actually enjoy, but that's because it features main characters we already know and love from The Next Generation. Next Gen had been off the air for a few years by the time this aired, and Voyager was the only Trek series on the air at the time. Nobody was bringing back old characters back then, so seeing anybody from Next Gen again was a big deal. Since Next Gen was my first Star Trek, I was thrilled to get to spend more time with Troi and Barclay. I'm guessing this ep was probably less interesting for anyone who'd never watched Next Gen, but I don't care, because I love it!

The ep starts with Counsellor Troi visiting Lieutenant Barclay at his new posting on Earth, where he's been working on finding a way to communicate with Voyager. In typical Barclay fashion, he recreates his version of the Voyager crew on the holodeck, and becomes a bit obsessed with them. He relates to Troi his attempts to get his bosses, including Admiral Paris, to let him try out his slightly far-fetched ideas to establish two way communication with Voyager, which they're skeptical about. (This is the second actor who's played Admiral Paris- they had a different guy in an alien-induced hallucination scene in an earlier episode. I'm guessing they chose this actor for this ep because he seems a lot less stern and more likable, but considering what Tom's said about his dad, I feel like this nicer version is maybe a little too nice. But I guess thinking that Tom was dead for a few years could've made him rethink his attitude- maybe he went to therapy and got his shit together and feels bad for being such a terrible parent. He's even got a photo of Tom on his desk now- but it's actually from when Robbie played Nick Locarno in the Next Gen ep 'The First Duty' lol)

But anyway, Barclay, though unorthodox in his methods, perseveres, despite everyone's doubts, and despite his own holo-addiction, to establish a comm link with Voyager in the end. The Voyager crew only appear at the very end for this scene, but what a good one it is. Direct communication with Starfleet, a chance to send them their logs, to know Starfleet is trying to reach them and bring them home. And Tom finally gets to hear his dad say he's proud of him, which always gets to me. (From Tom's shocked reaction, you wonder if he's ever said that to him before. I guess being declared dead by Starfleet for a few years works wonders on the attitudes of judgemental estranged parents!)

But it's really heartwarming to see all these characters finally get the validation that they'd been desperate for: the Voyager crew learns Starfleet hasn't forgotten them, Tom learns his dad actually does care about him, and Barclay finally achieves his goal of talking to Voyager, and earns the respect of his superior officers. And in a way, he even gets his wish to be part of the Voyager crew when the they all gather to toast the officer who reached out to them.

It's just a sweet, lovely episode all around.

Tl:dr; A well done story that's much more than just fan service for Next Gen fans. Connecting Barclay with Voyager in this specific way totally made sense for his character. Plus it has a feel good ending that only the stoniest heart wouldn't be moved by. Good stuff.

[destinyc1020]

confession sunday (I promise this isn’t hate I’ve just been thinking this for a long while): definitely wish tom and z were in agreement on how private they’d like to keep their relationship. with these last few months, tom was basically a zendaya fan page promoting her for dune and challengers (even though she didn’t need it). I think that allowed people to hope for a bday post from her for Tom’s birthday but she’s on a completely different wavelength: unfollowed everyone, not posting for Tom’s bday, not mentioning anything about R&J, etc. it’s no wonder the running joke is tom is in love while z just loves him 🥴 unfortunately it also opens up a discussion about z not showing her true feelings which I definitely feel people bring up in an anti black sort of way to insinuate black women as cold and not as emotionally available. all in all, they present themselves on different levels of how private their relationship actually is.

Thank you for your confession Anon. I will admit, I really don't quite understand your logic about this. Tom and Z are both private in their relationship, and they're also two different people. They may have different social media habits, different likes/dislikes, and just different ways of operating in the world. It doesn't mean that they're not in harmony with how to live their relationship privately. Obviously, as two people who have been in a relationship with each other for years, they talk about EVERYTHING.

Z unfollowed everyone on social media for reasons that had NOTHING to do with Tom. Why would it have anything to do with him?🥴 We don't know everything that's going on in her life.

Also, I kind of noticed that not too many people wished Tom HBD this year. Maybe it was his choice? Maybe he asked people not to post much for his birthday? Maybe he didn't want people making a big deal? If I recall, I don't think Nikki even posted anything for him this year. Does that mean he and his mom have beef? C'mon! LOL 😅

I really think you should watch what Paris Jackson says below about wishing her father Happy Birthday on social media. Turns out, Michael Jackson never really wanted people to be celebrating his birthday or wishing him HBD anyway in the first place! Which was his RIGHT!

I think fans really need to let go of this idea of thinking that they know more about a celebrity and their relationships with other people based on social media posts/likes/etc. It's so stupid. Imagine STRANGERS thinking that they know about your depth of feelings for someone more than you yourself. Smh.

Also, Z mentioned Tom UNPROMPTED MIND YOU during the DUne 2 Press tour, and the Challengers press tour. To me, I think she's perfectly fine? Just because she's a private person, it doesn't mean she doesn't love the man. IF Tom wants to like posts from her Fan accounts, so what?? Let him! He can like his gf's pics online if he wants. We only see a snippet of what Z does for Tom. So, for fans to assume that she doesn't love him that much just because of what they only physically see with their own eyes is just total rubbish to me. Tom has been with her for almost 8 years. He went BACK to her even after dating 2 other women. There is NO way he would have done that if he felt that Z didn't love him back...

Also want to add: I'm kind of sick and tired of this narrative that Z (or other woc) have to somehow "PROVE" their love for their bf, when white women are never ever expected to do the same. 😒🙄

TL;DR Version: Social media isn't everything.

Btw.... Paris so so GORGEOUS. She should seriously model lol.

[miminmimikyu]

Prodigy episodes 15-16: If at first you do not succeed (your first officer says "no, we should be sensible" re: your plan steal a ship AGAIN), try again (just immediately ask your former first officer, hoping for a different answer). King Janeway <3

Tell me this (top) doesn't remind you of this (bottom)

“I’m not your number one anymore…” “things can’t stay the same forever” god why are those two like this.

Iiiiiiinteresting that they’re discussing Endgame here. And I can't believe Janeway’s clothes are a bootstrap paradox now

I 100% wonder what the gang is assuming about Janeway and Chakotay’s relationship!! Is their takeaway message “ah. married?” or “huh. i suppose captain-first officer dynamics are like that”

Kinda obsessed with how often Janeway and Chakotay being loving towards each other is paired with Dal and Gwyn, either in the same frame or in a shot directly preceding/after it.

Ahh I’m reminded again about how Chakotay’s a former terrorist but was probably the most rule-abiding person on Voyager. There’s probably a higher chance of Tuvok agreeing to a plan involving ship stealing than Chakotay.

Ascencia has the worst (best) timing. Doesn’t realise that by attacking she’s given Janeway an ironclad legally bulletproof reason to ignore Starfleet orders and to continue with the mission (HER mission). Don’t get in the way of a Janeway who’s just been told they’re going to split up her crew. Ascencia may think she has a near-omniscient time traveler as a trump card but he didn’t tell her to wait x days until Janeway was locked up in her office before declaring war with the Federation!

Just the idea of Janeway sitting behind a desk is making me itch.

Obviously Ascencia couldn’t know about Jellico’s orders, but she really hasn’t studied Janeway enough (both during the time she infiltrated the crew of the Dauntless + any reading she did while in Starfleet). It’s interesting that just by the coincidence that Janeway was the highest in command on the ship Ascencia infiltrated, Janeway morphs into a representation of all of Starfleet in Ascencia's eyes and thus has turned almost Ascencia's entire focus of revenge towards Janeway. Notably, the other revenge target is Gwyn (Ilthuran's betrayal) and though that's definitely 95% personal/5% mission, she acts no different with Janeway. She's taking pleasure in seeing Janeway suffer, so similar to how she takes personal joy in Gwyn's suffering. Even more interesting is that Chakotay, the guy who foiled the future!Vau Na'kat plans with the Protostar, was right there in view when she videocalled Janeway. She must know of him, but she didn’t react to him at al-- just to Janeway & Gwyn (Or maybe that confrontation is for a later episode).

I’m loving Dal gaining some respect from the other Nova cadets. NOT loving that they’ve been sent off to battle

So many Tom Paris mentions (yay) but what i really want is a Harry mention....... please

Right, that's what I forgot about in episode 13: Jankom helping Zero through their body deteriorating is everything to me………"I just want to feel like... me." aaaaaaaaaaa

Dal has grown so much! I can’t believe he’s the one to put the gang at ease and reassure them that the Federation might better equipped to fix everything. No doubt that all the competent, trustworthy adults Dal has met since boarding the Protostar have had their hand in this change. Again, I really love that the Prodigy writers chose to have the S2 adults treat the children with respect, so we get moments like these.

God that space battle was so exciting! After so many Voyager-A crewmembers were killed by the Loom, it was so nerve-wracking seeing them sit there dead in the water! I for sure thought Tysess was a goner!

Zerooooooooooooo!! A harrowing experience and sacrifice worthy of any of the "adult" Star Trek shows!!! π_π Zero’s new suit is so nice! It's even crafted "from" the Protostar by Jankom, couldn't be nicer! Also I really like how this episode resolved the whole corporeal-noncorporeal binary with Zero settling on not one or the other, but something new and unique in between. Good for them!

(Too bad they can’t eat anymore, but if original Voyager’s crew is anything to go by, Tuvix’s food was the best anyone has ever eaten so after experiencing that, there’s nothing to beat that I suppose)

Maj'el is pretty bold doing that in front of everyone! Teenage "who cares" mentality or is that hypothesis about "unhinged" Vulcans ending up in Starfleet true?

[bonaesperanza]

So I mentioned on another post that this Lymond reread I was paying explicit attention to who Francis touches and how often because of Jerott's Checkmate claim that he's surprised by Francis's hug because he usually never touches people.

I am now at the end of DK and that's just not true.

A somewhat tangential thing I'd like to mention is how generally more open to people Francis is at the beginning of the series - especially QP and DK when everything is more or less right in his personal life - compared to the later books. He's often friendly or teasing or flirty and perhaps even gets into people's personal space more than many of the other characters. And I mean earnestly friendly, like openly happy to see people or plainly talking about what he thinks or feels with them, not in a sarcastic, guarded, half-ironic way.

SPOILERS UNDER CUT

The people he casually touches, like puts his hand on their arm or takes their hand or puts his hands on their shoulder(s) are Sybilla, Richard, Tom Erskine, Will Scott, Christian Stewart, Phelim O'Liamroe, Thompson the pirate and most importantly Jerott himself, REPEATEDLY, during his time on Malta. In fact, there's a scene where he takes Jerott to show him something by looping his arm through Jerott's own for absolutely no reason except that he feels like it. (I also very distinctly remember that he touches Philippa casually several times in PiF but I'm not at that part yet)

Similarly to this, my mostly PiF-based statements about Lymond not flirting with Jerott don't hold true for this part of the series: he actually flirts with Jerott as much if not more than he does with Will Scott in the early parts of DK, I'd just forgotten about it because PiF overwrote that part of my brain.

It appears that at some point he gets the message that Jerott isn't engaging in Lymond's favourite game of "you mouth off at me and then I give you a tongue lashing and then I give you the fuck of a lifetime and in this way convince you to agree with me and become sweeter and more obedient" but that he genuinely disapproves of Lymond and is genuinely religious, so he stops with the flirty statements.

However, then this happens:

Which is where I think Jerott gets the idea from - he expects a farewell hug from Lymond alongside the warm words but doesn't get it.

But he DOES get something much rarer, though I'm not sure he realizes!

A blush. Which is really fucking something, because Francis almost never blushes.

This is an unrelated thing I've been paying attention to for several reasons (I have an eye on drawing the characters and also I wanted to better sort out my Kuzum/Khaireddin parentage thoughts), and Francis a) doesn't have skin that's prone to a lot of flushing or blushing or reddening (actually he tans easily while Gabriel, for example, burns under the same conditions, and also rarely flushes under exertion, unlike, again, Gabriel who does so easily) b) he literally only flushes once again before he falls for Philippa: it's in a post-coital scene with Güzel and his face is actually red from laughter (at his own joke lol) and not emotion. And then he blushes with surprising frequency and all of it is Philippa-related: he blushes when Philippa lowkey hurts his ego with her banter or points out his womanizing, he blushes when he finds her in his bedroom to give him a piece of her mind after the party he throws in Paris, he blushes when John Dee reads his mind and implies that he now knows that he wants Philippa, he blushes at the end of Checkmate when Sybilla gives him a once-over while he's standing in front of her half-naked after clearly having spent two days fucking Philippa.

So I think he's into Jerott quite a lot, actually? He's just backed off because Jerott is such a cunt to him. So probably he stops touching him because he feels disgustingly lecherous about it, as he does with Philippa later. And when does he start touching him again, to Jerott's marked surprise? Once he falls for Philippa and presumably doesn't care for Jerott that way anymore.

Actually, except for Philippa, this is actually the most evidence we get of Lymond being into someone, I think. Like we get WAY less for Oonagh, for example.

I've always headcanoned him as probably having had a crush on Jerott as a teen, just based on how he reminisces about him, but I think he actually likes him a lot as an adult too? And it's really been clicking into place for me during this DK reread where perhaps earlier I found DK!Jerott too obnoxious to notice hah.

[glimblshanks]

Some thoughts on why I like Mariner x Tendi as a pairing:

I feel like baseline what makes Mariner and Tendi a good couple is that they're both intensely loyal people.

Like being a good and loyal friend is literally Tendi's primary personality trait. Mariner doesn't wear her heart quite so on her sleeve but I think it's pretty clear that she's the sort of person who has a couple choice people that she's fiercely loyal and protective of, and often feels betrayed when that loyalty isn't reciprocated.

And I think what's cool about the two of them as a pairing is that they can match each other's expectations in that regard in a way that no one else in the main 5 does.

Boimlers main characters arc the first two seasons is literally learning to prioritize his friendship with Mariner in the same way she does. T'Lyn, similarly, spends season 4 essentially learning how to be a good friend to Tendi and Mariner. Rutherford is certainly loyal to Tendi, but he doesn't really express that sentiment more broadly, and even shows some confusion over Mariner coming after him to help in A Few Badgeys More, like it's not something he would expect from their relationship.

So really, in terms of tit for tat reciprocity they're the only two members of the group who actually manage to match each other's expectations when it comes to being loyal friends.

I think this even helps to contextualize some of the miscommunication between them in We'll Always Have Tom Paris. Why would Tendi and Mariner think they're good friends when they've never been on a mission together and Mariner doesn't even know Tendi's first name?

Because they've both simply *decided* they have friendship loyalties to each other. Doesn't matter if they know anything about each other, Mariner is more than happy to put herself on the line to protect Tendi (as evidenced by the fake shuttle crash) and Tendi has already decide she should prioritize spending one on one time with Mariner. See? friends!

I also think (and I'm sure I've already said this on here somewhere) that they foil each other nicely.

Mariner grew up in cheerful, peppy, everyone be friends and get along Starfleet before fighting in a war and becoming disillusioned and closed off. Tendi grew up as an Orion Pirate who was supposed to scheme and lie and keep things close to her chest and she rejected that upbringing to go be a happy, peppy Starfleet officer.

They are both influenced by their backgrounds in ways that they find inescapable. They both have to find a balance between rejecting the beliefs they grew up and accepting the benefits their backgrounds have given them. And when they're together they can use those similarity in experience to help each other grow.

Idk, they're just so interesting together and I wanted to write an explanation because I think their pairing is under appreciated.

[imthepunchlord]

Awww I just realized after the last few anons and rereading what you’ve previously said about Lucee helping to give Gina wings and inspiring her to travel freely (minus the time she had Tom) that Lucee and Marianne would’ve been the first and second line of defense as Gina’s support group while she was going through what is most likely the worst patch of her entire life. Given the time period, she probably wouldn’t have been ABLE to leave Roland and get full custody of Tom while he was still a minor, so I totally get why she stayed with him both in the Bugettes AU and in canon, but that doesn’t make it suck any less to live through. I bet Lucee stayed with Gina for a long time afterwards when she first began her travels to make sure she properly healed before going separate ways and wishing each other well. I didn’t know that Gina went by her maiden name in-show before that anon brought it up; it was revealed in Miraculous Paris in Sabine’s contact list to be Bianchi (a plural of bianco which is "white" in Italian), neat! In this AU, I can totally see her wearing her prism design t-shirt (with the white light entering on side of a sphere and a ray of colors coming out of another side) as homage to the Miraculous fairies and how Lucee especially helped her out. Speaking of Lucee, I can also totally see her having Cursed Roland without his knowledge right after both Tom and Gina had left him like “Oh no, you don’t get to make MY chosen’s and HER son’s lives miserable for two decades, not even have the base decency to feel guilty or remorseful, and get off with no further comeuppance. May You Forever Live in the Shadow Cast by Tom Dupain’s Light.” And by the start of the Bugettes AU’s main plot, this has of course manifested as Roland’s bakery fading into obscurity once Tom and Sabine opened theirs and became vastly popular, them being happily married for 20 years while Gina hasn’t once reached out to him since their divorce, them having a beautiful, sweet and talented daughter who he never got to meet much less have a relationship with, etc.

I've actually come to a different speculation on the Dupain family dynamic, with it being more complicated than Rolland's the outright villain.

I'm under the belief that Gina and Rolland had a one night stand, she wound up pregnant, and traditionalist Rolland wanted them married to raise the kid together, and Gina agreed cause this is a kid she's about to bring into their world.

Only it's not exactly a great union between them given Gina's a free spirit while Rolland is a strict traditionalist. It's a major conflict of just who they are.

And based on what's given in canon, Tom probably was much closer with his father than his mother, given he doesn't seem happy to see Gina when she comes to visits. And based on what we see, she means well and does love her family, but there's also a disconnect and she has a hard time keeping up with them and what's going on. So my guess is that Gina was a more absent parent while Rolland was actually there for Tom. It could also add to Tom becoming a baker, created through that closeness with his father.

Only Tom married Sabine (and changed how he made bread) and there was a very bad fall out between the two with Rolland disapproving (and the messy set up of Rolland either implied to be racist or he stopped talking to his son over bread).

And then there's Sabine, who lost her parents, would want to see family together as she knows that ache of losing family. So she connects well with Gina, and this whole dynamic is probably why Sabine became an angel and Tom became coal in Befana.

And Sabine knows how close Tom and Rolland were, which is why she wishes they could reconnect.

Instead of Rolland being the villain of it all, I think it's just messy people being messy. Rolland does look the worst out of all Dupains (as he either was a racist or he just straight up stopped talking to his son over a bread recipe), but from what I hear, he also really steps up to change and improve. I have some ML buddiese who have watched more of the show and do like him.

I also will say I haven't thought about Gina's history all that much. Most I have is potentially the possibility that her family fled from Italy to France but got caught up in the invasion of Paris. And Gina met Lucee with a goal to reignite Gina's inner flame, and inspire others, to be a guiding light, to inspire hope.

Though at this time, I can't say how long Lucee would've stayed with Gina, same goes for Pollen and Marianne.

[thegeminisage]

ranking voyager characters from favorite to least favorite

i meant to do this at the end of season 1 and again after the finale but we'll just have to go with at the end of season 2 instead

seven of nine - i haven't met her yet but i just know.

janeway & tuvok - cop out to do a tie? possibly. they remind me so much of kirk and spock respectively. every time i go "oh no it's gotta be tuvok" it switches to janeway. every time i go "oh no it's gotta be janeway" there's another good tuvok episode. tuvok is such a wonderful look into vulcan culture through the eyes of someone who was not alienated from it and abused by it, and you never doubt his ability to get ANYTHING done, even if it's sketchy as hell. i think about his wife of 68 (almost 69! nice) years and his 4 babies and his orchids and his lute all the time. man can SING. on the other hand, janeway is such a breath of fresh air after deanna troi - who i love, but who was constantly victimized for being a woman. janeway just gets to be janeway - she's excited about exploration, she's deeply compassionate, and none of these things make her weak anymore than they made kirk weak. sometimes her adherence to her Ideals is a little picardian, but i forgive her, because she reminds me way more of kirk

chakotay - sometimes a man builds a bathtub and your opinion of him rises by. a lot. i've always liked the difficult position he was in of trying to balance maquis and starfleet interests and protect both sides from themselves and each other, but the ADDED LAYER that for much of the journey he has CANONICALLY been in love w janeway is simply too much to bear. also, i think his trust issues w betrayal are very gripping and they compel me. he has been through so much SHIT and i do love a little traumatized guy. ALSO also, they don't do enough w this in canon, but in my mind palace he and tuvok HATE each other (chakotay hates tuvok for being a spy, tuvok hates chakotay for nabbing first officer job), which i think is extremely funny

the doc - my best friend the emergency medical hologram...i like that he's a brand new kind of person, even if it brings up infuriating questions about the status of all these endless holodeck characters we create and then carelessly abuse or delete. he doesn't have a name! people treated him like he didn't exist! watching him come into his own and bond w kes has been one of voyager's great delights. also, gay king.

b'elanna - she doesn't always get a lot to do but when she does it's almost always good, racism episode notwithstanding. what i like most about her is how ride or die she is. she was willing to get her ass beat to give tuvok a tiny chance of escaping torture, she was willing to die to take down her own superweapon, she defended chakotay when his actions were entirely indefensible (AND she's secretly in love w him?? girl.), she will not hesitate to do any number of crazy things for Her People, and since she's estranged from her family or whatever they are all aboard this ship. you couldn't ask for a better friend than b'elanna and good for her. also, she gets to be gay with janeway about once a season so far which i've really enjoyed. she could do so much better than tom paris

harry - harry also rarely gets anything to do, but that makes his episodes all the more distressing. he's just a little guy! the so-called baby of the ship, until he was replaced by an actual baby with tiny adorable mother-killing spines on its head. i'm still mad that the really big important harry kim episode we got turned out to be such fucking garbage when the concept was SO good, and i'm not super hopeful for his future, but who knows. btw, he could also do better than tom paris. he and b'elanna could ride off into the sunset w/o him

kes - i don't dislike kes, and her scenes with the doctor are especially nice, but i feel like she, like deanna, gets victimized a lot, and her whole thing with neelix was so difficult it's hard to get the taste of it out even though it's over now. that said, i do love how compassionate and mischievous she is, and i love when janeway gets to give her mom hugs :( <3

neelix & tom paris - another tie. this is so difficult for me because i started out HATING tom paris and really liking neelix, and a few plotlines/episodes made me reverse my opinion. tom paris got a lot better when he was like yeah i decided i'm not gonna be a shitheel anymore! especially that he went on a multi-ep arc tricking us into thinking he was backsliding when really he was doing secret agent shit. props! but he's still not terribly interesting. neelix was AMAZING in the atom bomb episode but my interpretation of him as a guy who was gentle not in spite of but BECAUSE of past suffering didn't last long when he decided to be so fucking horrible to kes for no reason. i really want to get over it with neelix the way i got over it with tom paris, but for now they're both at the rock bottom of this list

for fun, i think my season 1 list would have looked like: janeway, tuvok, doctor, b'elanna, chakotay, harry, neelix, kes, tom paris. probably? it's hard to know now. we'll see how all this shakes out by the end of the series.

[anjelicawrites]

https://www.tumblr.com/anjelicawrites/716367490567028736/why-do-i-have-this-idea-of-tom-bennett-trying-to

Yeah this!!!!!!!!!!! This is needed hundred percent no doubt about it

NSFW under the cut. I am still watching World on Fire, but this idea would not leave me alone. Specific warnings under the cut.

Warnings: ass fingering (male receiving) and ruined orgasm. Dom!reader and sub!Tom. Reader is AFAB but the pronouns used are they/them.

You hate this war. You are probably not alone in this feeling, the faces of your colleagues around you tell you how close to your collective tether you all are. Walking through your ward you see faces of the wounded soldiers in your care and you are sad to say that they all look the same: young boys sent to die, left to your and your colleagues' care until they are healthy enough to go back on the battlefield. Some of them hold nothing behind their eyes, they will come home shells of their former selves, a part of them never away from where they were fighting. Others try to flirt with you nurses, desperate to find a sliver of peace between your legs. As the band 7, you are supposed to put a stop to this unethical fraternization, as a human being, you can only tell you band 6s and 5s, to use protection and to be discreet. The vast majority of these boys pretend to be more courageous than what they really were and are, feigning a boldness they never had, not even in their civilian life. And then there's Tom Bennett. Ban of your life Tom Bennett, who seems to be hellbent in making all the nurses blush and the men angry at him, always ready to fight and run his mouth, blustering how he's escaped Paris pretending to be dead and how he's seduced a pretty French resistance member. They've sent him back to the front, as soon as he went back home, not properly a win in your eyes and now he's in your hospital, healing from a nasty wound on his legs.

You ignore him most of the times and tell your subordinates to let him be, when you see the stars in their eyes shine too much with the hope of changing him. There's no changing men like Tom Bennett, who hide their true self under a façade; you have a pretty coherent idea of what he's desperately trying to cover up.

It's always a fight with him, undermining your authority because you are young for your post and got it because it's war time. He seems to have the uncanny ability to find you when you are the most busy and just hang around to annoy you. You find yourself wondering why he's doing this, why he keeps acting like an annoying kindergarten child who thrives on chaos. You've seen his bare chest and the scar there, you have treated his legs many times, why doesn't he want some peace? Aren't these wounds enough? Doesn't he realize that you are going to push back one day and it might not be what he expects?

Almost as on cue, Tom strolls in your office while you are trying to sort out the drug orders for the month and you are so not in the mood for his brand of bullshittery tonight, you need to concentrate! The more you ignore him, the more he enters your office, egging you on, until he is sitting on your desk, one leg bent over the other, a blatant display of disrespect. If you weren't this angry, you would have laughed in his face: you have been working with surgeons and physicians for years, managed unruly patients and now band 7s and 8s who look at you with dismay because of your age, and he truly thinks this will make you fold?

With a swift move you push against the least serious wound he has on his thigh, forcing him to stand up hastily with a curse on his lips. You stand up yourself; you know enough about him to be certain he will fight back, and you need to be on your feet; you've never been one to refuse a fight.

You find yourself caged against the wall, Tom 's lithe body almost pressed against yours. He is pretty, that you have noticed when he fist arrived covered in blood, tall and decently muscled; too bad for his ghastly behavior, which you will chastise right now.

Before he can say anything smart to taunt you, you curl a hand around his throat and use his still healing legs to force him back to your desk and lie there, squirming, trying to dislodge your hand, to no avail, still weak as he is from his injuries. Gradually he calms down, the storm in his eyes dwindling, his body slowly slackening under the weight you are using to keep him in place. When he finally calms down, you slot yourself between his splayed legs, and bend your back forward to be at level with his ear, to ask him if he's going to be a good boy. This wins you a new outburst, the trashing not as violent as before, as if he's putting on a show more than truly wanting to overpower you. In this position you can feel his hard cock through the flimsy cotton of his trousers and you laugh at his face, telling him that he's a lousy liar. His third bout of trashing is even more laughable than the ones before, whatever fight dimming in his eyes, until he stares at you from under his lashes, red splotches of shame marring the skin of his cheeks and chest. Your hand around his throat loosens to a pretty necklace for his long neck to wear and you ask him if you should help him with the issue in his pants. He doesn't answer, ears red and you add that you will not do anything without his explicit consent. This wins you strangled sound in his throat and him asking for your help, face red and eyes not meeting yours; he's so cute, but they usually are when you make them spell out what they want.

You roughly push down his trousers to curl a hand at the base of his impressive cock, his hips kicking against you, your fingers keeping their hold. Such a pretty dick, decent length and impressive in girth, a dusting of dark blonde hair at the base and a mushroom, dark pink head, too bad he's been such an asshole he doesn't deserve your mouth, let alone your cunt.

You tell him all of this, you add that you'll help him but it's not going to be fun, he needs to pay for the absolute menace he's been since he's set foot in your ward. He doesn't trash around, doesn't try to overpower you again, he lets out a pitiful sound from the back of his throat, pupils blown wide. You switch hand around his neck, your thumb caressing the soft skin there, soothing sounds escaping your mouth while you try to open the lube you are supposed to order for the ward. When you finally manage the feat, you plunge your fingers in the sticky substance to scoop up as much as you can; this is punishment but you don't want to damage Tom. Slowly, your hand travels from his neck to his length, his breathing getting quicker as you reach your destination, his abs contracting wildly when you grab the shirt of his pajamas and bunch it up until it twists around his arms, freeing his long torso for you to admire. He's thin, but the muscles are there, long and wiry, his nipples dark pink and pebbled, blotches of red marking his skin everywhere. If this wasn't punishment, you would have lavished the skin with kisses, left your mark everywhere, kissed the scar on his shoulder; unfortunately, he needs to have his behavior corrected, you are done with his disrespect.

Gently your lubed fingers reach for his ass, Tom visibly stiffens, his eyes escape yours and you understand. You ask him anyway if this is his first time, he nods and you have him say it out loud, needing to be sure. You don't breach him, softly you ask if he still wants this, you can dish out his punishment in a different way, but he purses his lips and says no adamantly. With gentle touches you slowly enter him, one knuckle after the other, stopping when he stiffens up and starting again when he manages to relax. You let the reactions of his body guide you, how his breath catches when you are pushing in, the moans when you add a finger and then another, the soft please and whimpers when you start moving, looking for his prostate, the arch of his back when you finally find it and start playing with it. He's so beautiful, tears of pleasure escape his eyes, his mouth twistes as he whimpers without control, his torso arching, hips following your movements. He's debauched in the way he seeks pleasure from you, beads of precome adorning the head of his cock; on a whim you lick his head, his salty taste assaults your senses and you wish you could suck him until he comes into your mouth.

You see that his orgasm is impending, his breaths coming out in small puffs, abs contracting and you feel sorry for him, for what you are about to do. It's a matter of seconds, you withdraw your fingers from his ass and smack his frenulum, ruining his orgasm. He stares at you with accusing eyes, wide and incredulous, you caress his cheek, reminding him that he was being punished for being such an heinous bitch and that he needs to go back to his bed, you are busy now. With angry movements he adjusts his pjs and storms out of your office.

You don't hear or see him for a couple of days, it feels like he's dodging you and you are not surprised, he has lots to unpack after your enconter.

It's late, almost midnight and you are pouring over some paperwork you have been ignoring for days, when he knocks on your door and enters, uncharacteristically quiet, eyes searching yours and you know he needs you again.

Everything taglist: @ilikeitbetterangsty 

[autisticandroids]

various tos/tng/ds9/voy/ent "spock" type characters and whether they could hang out with cas.

tos:

spock: could not hang out with cas. they would have nothing to talk about and also, despite being gay, spock is homophobic.

tng:

i'm gonna save tng for last because these are the most interesting answers.

ds9:

odo: they would get along fine, but i think odo would get bored talking to cas. also, cas is a serial killer, and not fun or mysterious about it.

there are a number of other characters on ds9 you could claim as a spock in various ways, but imo the only one who merits inclusion here is julian bashir, who imo isn't really a spock, his closest srchetypal compatriot is like, tom paris, but i think he bears mention anyway.

julian bashir: he would get bored with cas. julian likes people he can solve, or chase, or win approval from. failing that, he likes people who will unreservedly adore him and think he's the coolest guy ever when he shows off how clever he is. cas is not the guy.

voy:

tuvok: i think tuvok would be glad to hang out with someone who isn't bullying him for once, and also i doubt tuvok is homophobic because it's like a hundred and fifty years after tos, but they don't have much in common, and also imo tuvok is a genuine loner, not just awkward, so he wouldn't really wanna hang out too much, especially since he doesn't already know cas. cas is a lot more social and would feel kind of rejected by tuvok's lack of interest.

seven: they don't have much in common on the surface, but more importantly the things they do have in common are so overarchingly horrible and miserable that if they actually had a serious talk they would both have breakdowns.

the emh: they would get along like a house on fire at first because cas has a lot of patience and the emh will hang out with anyone as long as they'll pay attention to him, but even cas has limits.

voy has other arguable spocks but i'm going to stick with these three.

ent:

i don't remember super well because i watched it all when i was like ten years old and i've only seen sporadic episodes since then.

t'pol: if cas could get her to open up to him he would enjoy hearing about her many issues. on the other hand, she is homophobic. you win some you lose some.

phlox: they would have a fun little time together! cas could learn the names of all of phlox's pets!

if there's other spocks on ent i don't remember them.

tng, for real this time:

data: i think data would murder cas. i think cas would drive data absolutely up the wall batshit crazy. because the think about cas is he's like data, but he's stupid. he's bad at it. data pours all of his energy into being 110% palatable and charming and entertaining at all times. he's a living party trick desperate for human approval, and he's also always carefully and machiavellianly calculating everything he does socially to both perform palatability and accomplish his goals. and then along comes cas who is like, also autistic, but dumb, and bad at compensating, and making data look bad by comparison. i think data would Kill.

worf: i think they could genuinely be like, friends. like the thing about worf is that he is very lonely and wants to spend time with people but the social activities he likes engaging in are sitting in the same room silently reading books together, sitting in the same room silently listening to opera together, silently exercising in the same room together, sparring, and excitedly explaining/participating in his special interests. cas would enjoy all of these things, and worf would respect him and value him in return. cas also, by being kind to worf and treating him like a person (rare), would unlock secret perks like occasional extremely awkward but sincere affection. also cas can definitely beat worf in single combat which is a perk for worf generally speaking and would start them off on a positive note.

[consultingjedi]

man sometimes star trek: voyager is the pits and sometimes it's really, really good

season 6 episode 8 ("one small step") is a new contender for absolutely favorite episode. this is how you do a time travel episode. it works because it's not time travel. they find a fragment of the past in a place they never would have expected. that past comes to life so, so well, not via some scifi resurrection but plain old voice logs.

and it touches not just the history nerds, not just the person who didn't see the meaning of it at first, but the viewer. and it does that through both the characters' reactions and phil moriss's superb acting as lt. kelly. you know the entire time he's dead, and yet it hurts when his last ditch effort doesn't make it. when he dedicates himself to exploration and science without regret, even as he's breathing his last. when seven honors his last request, taking the same kind of risk she chewed chakotay out for earlier, because she knows what it is to be larger–to want to be larger–than your single self.

more shit that makes this episode fantastic:

tom paris and chakotay nerding out together

janeway's borderline flirtatious manner with seven, per usual

seven yelling at chakotay for risking all their lives

chakotay using the same joke seven did earlier in the episode

the way kelly's logs slowly draw seven in despite her earlier dismissal of history as useless, leading to her snap decision not only to follow his last wishes re: the data he'd gathered but to take his body back too

the casting – not just that kelly is black, a choice that i love, but that one of the astronauts on mars sounds russian. this episode aired in 1999. the berlin wall fell ten years before. the kelly parts are set in the year 2032, not some far future century. sure, the original series had a diverse set of main officers, but voyager really said "thirty years from now, not centuries but decades, we will be better than we are now."

seven telling kelly the results of the world series at the end. entirely sentimental and yet seven does it. (bonus: tom paris's smile. he knows exactly what she's done. history nerd.)

the reminder that the federation is, even in the delta quadrant, full of nerds

[divinemissem13]

The Heat Is On In LA

2024 Eight Character No True Pair Challenge Fandom: Star Trek Voyager, The Closer Pair: Kathryn Janeway & Brenda Leigh Johnson Word Count: 1,173 Prompt: beating the heat

Kathryn looks down over the boardwalk at the throngs of people walking, skating, biking, and dancing in the hot sun. They don't appear to be bothered by the heat, but then they are all dressed for it. She could kill Tom Paris for picking out this white polyester pant suit. Not only does it seem a bit out of date, but the synthetic fabric is sticking to her in all the wrong places, plastered to her skin by sweat. This is decidedly not the right outfit for a day at the beach in 20th century LA.

No wonder this entire city got swallowed up by the ocean, Kathryn thinks bitterly as she peels the damp strands of her ponytail off of her neck, hoping to at least catch a breeze on what little bare skin she has. No such luck though because in addition to the heat, the air is oppressively stagnant and as an extra bonus, smells faintly of exhaust and burnt rubber.

Kathryn sighs and attempts to sneak another look at her tricorder. It's hard to go unnoticed when she already sticks out like a sore thumb in this stupid suit. Briefly, she wonders if maybe Tom was wrong about this too — if maybe it wouldn't be so odd for her to be looking at a hand held device out in the open — but decides it's better not to chance it as she ducks her head to peek inside her jacket, hoping that she doesn't look too terribly suspicious.

If she has to hear Tau explain the forensic evidence on this case one more time, Brenda is going to scream. They have been sitting in this van for four hours (only four?!?) and they still have another two before Buzz and Gabriel show up to take over. There has been absolutely zero criminal activity, she ran out of candy an hour ago, and she is pretty sure that the air conditioning is malfunctioning.

Brenda doesn't often admit to being wrong, but she really should have listened to Fritz this morning when he said that the team could handle this one without her. It's just that she hadn't really wanted to spend the day with Fritz either, shopping for new sheets or towels or something, so off to the stakeout she went. And now, she's paying for it.

Brenda adjusts her glasses and squints at the screen. She is looking for any excuse to get out of this oven and she finds one. "What's that woman doin' over there?" she asks, pointing to a woman who keeps looking at something inside of her blazer and then looking over her shoulder as if she's being watched (well, she is being watched but that's beside the point).

"I don't know, Chief. But you know, DNA indicated that we are looking for a male latino, so-"

"I'm gonna check it out anyway," Brenda interrupts with a tone that leaves no room for argument. "Looks like she's got a camera. Maybe she got something useful without even realizin' it."

Before Tau can protest again, Brenda is out of the van and squinting into the bright California sun. She probably should have grabbed her sunglasses, but she's not going back now so instead she marches herself over to the woman in the white pants suit (Sharon would be proud because even Brenda can tell that it's out of fashion. Although the suspect does wear it well).

"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson of the LAPD and I was hopin' I might get a look at whatever you've got on that camera." Brenda tries to act casual, despite the fact that she began this conversation by giving her full name and title, but she's never really been good at casual.

It doesn't seem like this woman is too good at casual either because she appears to grow about a foot taller as her face morphs into a no nonsense expression of authority. Her hands go behind her back in what Brenda recognizes as a military stance and she is all at once intimidated and intrigued. Who is this woman?

"Captain Kathryn Janeway of the… of the Bloomington Police Department," Kathryn declares, deflating just a little as she stumbles over the name of her department. She drops her arms to her side and smiles crookedly. "Sorry, reflex. I'm just here for a visit. And I'm afraid I haven't taken any pictures today."

If Kathryn wasn't sweating before, she certainly is now. She's trying to fly under the radar and instead practically gives her full name and serial number to a police officer? And a deputy chief too, which, if she had to guess from the look of pride on the other woman's face definitely outranks a captain in this hierarchy.

She curses Tom again for coming up with this ridiculous outfit, and for leaving her all alone out here. Where the hell is he anyway? They were supposed to be doing a quick perimeter search but it's definitely been more than the agreed upon five minutes.

Kathryn looks back at Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson who was not deterred by Kathryn's lack of photographs and in fact is now squinting at her, as if trying to figure Kathryn out. That really won't do. She needs a distraction.

Kathryn gathers her ponytail again and pulls it over her shoulder, hoping to create at least a small breeze with the motion. When that doesn't work, she begins to fan herself desperately with her hand. "Sure is hot out here!" Kathryn mentally kicks herself. Why is it so easy for her to open diplomatic negotiations with a hostile alien species and yet so difficult for her to make small talk with one single human woman?

Brenda still doesn't know quite what to make of this woman, but she is pretty sure that she doesn't have any sort of involvement in her case. She is definitely intriguing though — far more intriguing than listening to Tau drone on for another two hours. She glances back at the windowless van where she knows Tau is watching, waiting for her to return, and she comes to a decision.

"Well, Captain, from one police officer to another, how 'bout I show you where to get the best ice cream on the boardwalk?"

Kathryn almost says no. She should stay put and wait for the rest of the away team to return. But it is so hot she can barely think straight. And on a day like this, refusing ice cream would certainly be more suspicious than accepting, right? Right.

"Do they have coffee ice cream?" she asks with a grin.

The deputy chief shrugs, "Probably. I always go for the double chocolate chip myself."

"Lead the way!" she declares magnanimously and then she follows without even a glance over her shoulder. She's the captain, after all. If the rest of the team gets back before she does, they can damn well wait for her in the scorching heat.