#back to the maquis!

[walkingstackofbooks]

TNG 6x20 The Chase and 7x15 Lower Decks thoughts (rewatching, so possible future spoilers for DS9 too)

I’ve temporarily paused my DS9 re-watch after 2x20 Maquis Part 1 to go through all the Cardassian episodes in TNG to get a better picture of the build up: 4x12, 5x03, 6x10, 6x11, 6x20 and 7x15.

6x20 The Chase

Admittedly, I skipped the first half of this because as I skimmed through the plot on Memory Alpha, there was no mention of Cardassians until later on XD

Lady Captain Cardassian! I feel like they're pretty rare, it's sas I'm so excited by this

Tfw there's a looong pause... and you're watching it on 1.5x speed. Just how long was that pause in normal time?!

Living for the Klingon-Cardassian banter

Data just THRASHING that Klingon. I love him so much

The Klingon is so INTO Data - this is flirting, right?

"You are attempting to bribe me." "Not at all." "You suggested a plan that would work to your advantage, one that I would be capable of executing. You then implied a reward. Clearly you were."

I think Nu'Daq might be my new favourite one-off character

Cardassian treachery! Gotta love it

Federation smarts! Gotta love it XD

"I will go with you" but imma be salty about it

Just wondering why I hadn't seen Miles about since season 4, then realised that, of course, he's on DS9 XD Doh!

Romulans from nowhere :o

I do like the plan to answer the long-standing why-is-everyone-humanoid question

>> Thinking about the word humanoid the other day, do you think the other species hear their own word through the UT? Kingonoid and Romuloid or so forth.

Haha they disagree, so much for coming together in fellowship and companionship

Romulan ending <3 "Perhaps, one day." "One day."

7x15 Lower Decks

Deanna and Riker are just nice

Love the Vulcan

Bajor mention!

Very professional, waiter, to spill the beans lilke that!

I do love this episode, and seeing the command from the outside

I hope their friendship isn't ruined by promotion. They seem very sweet

Having said that, I suddenly have a horrible feeling Sita dies in this episode

Beverly is so lovely

Lost. Puppy. What?

Awwwwwkward. "They both get a lot of snow." Love how Riker just seems amused.

Yeah, this episode is great, only getting to see what one of the lower decks see

Did he also think Wesley should have been expelled?

I love this Vulcan. And I love Geordie, but his frustration with Taurik is pretty amusing

I'm a fan of this poker juxtaposition scene - interesting that they've broken away from just the lower decks characters.

Hah, okay, Lavelle does annoy Riker

Lol "You and Lavelle are a lot alike." "What? We're not at all alike." "You're bluffing."

I really love this Ben guy. Inclusion of a civilian just being friends with whoever is super cute

Okay, Worf is actually being pretty good here? I find myself liking him in this episode.

Ohhhh "I wanted to make sure that you got a fair chance to redeem yourself", that makes far more sense - no wonder I felt he was a little out of character in the first scene with her, he was acting.

"I didn't realise she would be so young."

The feels. She's so excited and proud and knowing what happens... it hurts.

Oh, the promotion. I'm tearing up. This episode is making me FEEL

Ben, you are great. Nice job moving Worf.

Amazing how this episode is so moving when you barely know the characters. I loved the premise, and I love the execution of it. (Though damn you for killing off Sito.)

Again, we see a helpful Cardassian, but get the overall impression Cardassia is still a threat.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tuvok & Seven co-parenting the borg children should've been real and canon like it is in my heart. It makes sense that Seven suggests Neelix as a good possible caregiver but with how ready Tuvok was to take responsibility for Tressa in 'Innocence' it seems to me like such a wasted opportunity that he doesn't really seem involved at all with the Borg children. With my ha-ha glasses on, there's comedic potential in their dynamic and I think certain people on the ship would hint that it might be the catalyst for a romance but there is 0 romance between them. They're both such proud, I'm-better-than-you type people and I know they'd have strong opinions on how to raise the Borg children that sometimes conflict. 'My Ex-Borg Drone is an Honor Student' type PTA parents. The potential for Tuvok being the (comparatively) more easygoing one is also quite funny. Also, with my sincerity goggles on, I can easily imagine Seven becoming overwhelmed with the sudden responsibility of caring for four children. I understand that everyone on Voyager sort of cares for all the children but Seven is placed as their primary guardian/mother-figure which is a lot to put on someone who's only been fully sentient for a few years herself. Just learned how to eat solid foods semi-recently and now she's a single mom? I think there could be an episode where Seven is clearly struggling with managing four children, her own work duties, her desire to be alone/pursue her own interests, and everyone's expectations for her (womanhood, humanity etc). No one's behind malicious but it's a lot of critiques coming from all sides. Then one evening she's working in astrometrics before someone...B'Elanna? Comes in for some work thing and is like "So, how did the bedtime story go?" because the kids were excited for Seven to read them to sleep and Seven's like I Have To Go Right Now so she rushes to the cargo bay expecting to see a lot of disappointed faces but instead Tuvok's in there, reading aloud. Tuvok gestures for her to stay quiet and finishes the last line. Mezoti, the last clinger-on, finally lets herself regenerate. Seven and Tuvok talk in his quarters about how difficult Seven's been finding the task of essentially raising four kids because I think she'd put a lot pressure on herself because of her personality + Janeway's expectations since she was the one who said Seven should be their guardian. I also think she'd be bewildered by not being able to do this 'task' efficiently. Tuvok talks about how he also found the experience of being a father difficult and bewildering, and he only had one child at the start. He encourages Seven to rely even more on others, that it won't make anyone think less of her for "not being able to handle it" and gives examples from his own life. He makes a point to tell her about how Janeway also helped from time to time - covering his shift or picking up one of his kids etc, to show Seven that he doesn't believe Janeway wants her to try to do everything alone. Seven thinks about this for the night. The next day, in the mess hall, she suggests in front of everyone "We should raise the children together. As a unit." Tuvok's confused. Seven says she noticed a lot of responsibility was shared between Tuvok and his wife. A parental unit. It also leaves the children with another primary caregiver in case one of them dies. ("Dies?" Mezoti asks so Tuvok pulls Seven away). Tuvok tries to explain that he meant more 'it takes a village' (in his Vulcan way) but Seven is like "You like the children. You've raised children. You are reliable. You are more knowledgeable in certain aspects of this general process while I possess superior knowledge of their unique ex-Borg needs. You told me to rely on others. The children can't stop talking about story time. Are you in?" and Tuvok, somewhat dazed, agrees. Seven says Good. Then she leaves. Tom claps Tuvok on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Dad!"

[lonely-night]

oh this ep slaps so hard with this monologue:

"Open your eyes, Captain. Why is the Federation so obsessed about the Maquis? We've never harmed you, and yet we're constantly arrested and charged with terrorism. Starships chase us through the Badlands and our supporters are harassed and ridiculed. Why? Because we've left the Federation, and that's the one thing you can't accept. Nobody leaves paradise. Everyone should want to be in the Federation. Hell, you even want the Cardassians to join. You're only sending them replicators because one day they can take their rightful place on the Federation Council. You know, in some ways you're worse than the Borg. At least they tell you about their plans for assimilation. You're more insidious. You assimilate people and they don't even know it."

it's just so good?????? oh my god????

[joshuaalbert]

another thing I do wish had at least come up in ds9 while talking about the bajoran faith is the idea of just like. secular bajorans. I think the way they’re written that’s kind of ‘everyone just believes in the religion and that’s it’ is honestly a little flat? but I think there would be people who have a very complicated relationship with the prophets, who maybe didn’t believe in them before the events of the show and now maybe they have to but they think of them more as the wormhole aliens rather than gods, or just don’t believe (anymore, if they once did) that they should be worshipped because they allowed the events of the occupation to happen. but that wouldn’t mean entirely disengaging from the practices of religion as a community thing, or as comfort in times of need bc sometimes that sense of ritual can be a good one, who still wear the earring not so much as a sign of faith but just as a sign of being bajoran and being connected to their people.

idk not to sound like I’m overexplaining secular approaches to an ethnoreligion when that’s a lot of people’s lived experience but I’m just kind of thinking about what it would look like in this context, and I don’t know that it ever would have been a whole plotline but I think a mention could have been interesting. maybe something as small as rearranging duty schedules and it’s something that would interfere with religious services, but a couple specific bajorans are willing to take that because they’re not religious, and it’s a one line mention (which is the kind of thing ds9 often did well so it would feel natural), but it makes them a little less homogenous as a species.

[meggettes]

ok voyager rewatch continued etc etc

s2e14 and they are FINALLY discussing that Starfleet protocols may not be serving them well in the Delta quadrant.

Like, fucking finally! The previous episode was the first time, probably this whole season, that they mentioned the prime directive, and that even came as a surprise because of how Janeway has been going about this journey home.

And like, yeah, the Kazon have been troublesome, but they certainly should’ve been really reevaluating strict adherence to Starfleet protocol when they are in the Wild West/opposite side of the known world/completely abandoned to desperately fight for survival. Starfleet protocol is strict! Starfleet protocol is precise! Starfleet protocol is flexible, but it is vigorously adhered to.

So, it feels like it’s taken forever for them to finally arrive at this philosophical/tactical point. 

OK, I’ll keep watching the episode… 

[ebonysolcum]

I hate the fact that people use this scene:

… to try and claim that the writers are being inconsistent, or worse, that Chakotay’s just playing around, trying to impress Janeway/make her feel special/I don’t know the best way to word it but I think you get what I mean.

Sure the writers tend to be inconsistent, but this really isn’t an instance of that. Chakotay never says he’s never shown anyone how to contact their animal guide. He says he’s never shown anyone his medicine bundle.

He would have shown B’Elanna how to contact her animal guide back in the Alpha Quadrant where, even if resources were tight because of being in the Maquis, they still had access to replicators and others things, so Chakotay most likely had B’Elanna assemble her own before teaching her.

He even tells Janeway:

But they’re currently lost in the Delta Quadrant with minimal rations. Obviously, he knows she can’t waste rations on something like this. I firmly believe he’s telling the truth, and she is the first person he’s shown because she’s the first person he’s ever felt comfortable showing. Chakotay’s really not the type to tell lies to win a woman’s favour, and anyone who thinks otherwise is really misunderstanding his character.

[lady-sci-fi]

There are some ridiculous Garashir things that happen in the Deep Space Nine books.

Here's links to all my posts with screenshots of the book parts for ones I've found.

Proud Helios- Several pages straight of Julian getting flustered at Garak clearly admiring him, and Julian admires back and thinks about Garak's "beautiful hands" and they're touching and more... Then Julian has to go talk to Sisko and is absolutely not hiding his desire for Garak.

The Maquis Soldier of Peace comic- The plot is Dukat kidnapping Julian to get revenge on Garak, a shameless use of the "kidnap the target's love interest to get to them" trope.

Heart of the Warrior- Garak wanting Julian to wear an extremely revealing outfit, and Julian seems to do so after Garak helps them with the mission.

Fool's Gold comic- Garak no-showing a lunch date to go get some gemstones, complete with soft pink romantic lighting and lens flare. Also, he only gets involved with the plot because the shenanigans are ruining their lunch dates.

Vengeance- SO MUCH DAMN FLIRTING! Secret messges via Human/Cardassian sex chemicals?! Stuck in a small locker together and Garak whisper-flirting in Julian's ear. Julian swooning at Garak easily picking up Miles. Sisko hoping Julian and Garak are having a nice time together while he's out on a mission...

Dominion War Book Two- extended "A Time to Stand" Infirmary scene, with Garak offering to be Julian's nurse. Also Julian being paranoid about a Cardassian hitman coming after Garak while they're on the Defiant.

[clementine-kesh]

obviously i don’t trust that the voyager writers would’ve done anywhere near a nuanced, respectable job with the idea but i have been thinking about the fact that they were apparently considering having scenes where harry sought out chakotay for help connecting to his culture a lot recently. which could’ve been a great way to push back against trek’s historically very, uh, american liberal view of a post-racial human society where everyone is culturally white american by default and would’ve fit perfectly in a much more overtly decolonial, maquis-centered version of the show

[leashybebes]

@trombonechurchill, @firefighterkinard and @powersuitup, beloved star trek enablers, here are my ex-borg tommy thoughts.

fair warning, i have done very little actual thinking about this beyond vibes, so this is very much off the top of my head but here we go

the 118 are something maquis-adjacent (not necessarily the actual maquis, but ykwim) like first responders in space, providing care and occasional firepower to the resistance

buck finds tommy on a moon where they're hiding out, his link to the collective has been severed and he's desperate to get it back

eddie stumbles across their standoff and it goes south, tommy tries to take their ship, the energy weapon activity attracts the attention of the bad guys

medic marvels hen and chim have no choice but to knock tommy out inside the ship while they make their escape

tommy in injured in the escape, his borg implants are failing, they make the decision that he either 100% dies as a borg or they can operate to remove some of the implants and there's a very slim chance of survival as an ex-borg (possibly with no idea what that entails at this point, depending on time period)

so, they have a borg now, but he's an individual for the first time in years and he gets to (has to) make choices and think about morality and it hurts, it's awful

(something something tommy as a man who has Done Things that he regrets and Seen Things that he can never stop seeing. something about the dread of agency, how awful to have to made decisions)

they find out who he was - decorated starfleet pilot who was presumed dead after the battle of wolf 359, this probably introduces some kind of conflict, maybe starfleet will want him back for debriefing or something

buck, obviously, is fascinated by and enamoured with and weirdly protective over tommy, who is so visibly learning to be a person

(if i'm feeling goofy his borg name is 2 of 17)

and that is the grand total of thoughts i have had about this beyond my usual first step in writing a fic - scribbling down some dialogue

[theborgqueen2]

thinking about the christening of the protostar, when kathryn and chakotay last saw each other. how it makes clear that kathryn does not want to go back into deep space, that she has had enough of that for a lifetime. "dont let them promote you to admrial, they'll take your ship and put you behind a desk" Kathryn probably went "oh thank god" and took that promotion with hugs and kisses. she says "the only way starfleet is going to get me back out there is as a hologram"

i imagine her hardcore nesting as well, really settling, making room in her life and just waiting for a simple sign chakotay has packed his things and is ready to move in.

only for the notification to pop up on her desk that captain chakotay is assigned the protostar, set on a course back to the delta quadrant.

but thats fine if thats what he wants, its not like they ever actually made plans, that he made her any promises, she just thought he'd go for that antropology position not another deep space assignment, putting him back into harms way...? but it doesnt matter, if thats what makes him happy, then Kathryn will be there and she will be supporting him through it.

meanwhile chakotay gets promoted to captain, something that once upon a lifetime was everything he wanted, what he worked for, before everything happened - his resignation, the maquis, the delta quadrant, kathryn.... but now... the pips at his collar mean nothing. he looks at the course they've plotted, getting them awefully close to dangerous anomalies and borg space and all the threats he thought he left behind. he thought he would settle down once they reached earth, get that teaching position he's dreamed of back when they fought mind-controlling space worms, but kathryn didn't call. she seems so happy with her new life, the new position. He's watched her from a distance, making a home for herself, without him and he'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt but it's fine. It's okay. It's only ever been about her happiness and if that includes everything but him, he'll give her space. he's learned how to do that. He's good at that. in a way she'll be watching over him now, from afar, as admiral. and her captain.

He'll go back to the delta quadrant, where he was with his family, where he was with the woman he loves, where he was truly happy for the first time in his life, had a purpose, a goal. Peace. maybe he'll find it once again.

So when they Kathryn asks "you're really going back out there." she means "why are you leaving again? why won't you stay?" and when chakotay answers "if i run into any trouble, you're the first one I'll call" he means "i don't want to leave you. but i cant stay here"

and when he goes missing, her previous promise of "never going back out there except as a hologram" gets eradicated because if its him, stranded yet again? there is no barrier she won't cross to get him back.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s7 ep10: Shattered

I love this one!! After the past few eps, this one is like water after a drought. It has all of the things I love: character driven dialogue, a time travel plot, actual continuity from previous episodes, literary references- heck, even Seska showing up is kind of refreshing again after all this time. And it's actually fun! I had so much fun watching this!

It's also a feast for the J/C shippers, it's literally an entire episode of Janeway and Chakotay flirting. Yes, there is a plot- Voyager runs into an anomaly that splits the ship into different time frames, and only Chakotay is able to pass through them to bring them back into synch- but the flirty banter is front and center the entire time.

Naturally, when Chakotay gets sent back to Voyager's past, he enlists the help of Captain Janeway, who doesn't know him yet, but is nonetheless strangely drawn to this mysterious Maquis captain who claims he knows her. (How is this not a romance novel plot?? This is so a romance novel plot!) They're forced to work together to save the ship, and Chakotay has to fill her in on what's happened to the ship in each of the timeframes without breaking the temporal Prime Directive by giving away too much. Janeway is understandably horrified by all the crazy stuff Voyager goes through in the Delta Quadrant, and wants to change history to avoid it, but Chakotay convinces her how great Voyager's journey through the Delta Quadrant actually is, because the crew becomes like a family. Janeway doesn't seem entirely convinced, but she's clearly got it bad for mysterious future Chakotay, despite still being very engaged to Mark at that point.

I'd like to say she's convinced that history shouldn't be changed because of all the good Voyager does in the future, but really, I think it's because she's just hoping she and Chakotay will get to bang in the future, lmao. I mean, she literally asks him if they did! That's what she's interested in?? Not even if like, the ship got home okay?? Just how far their relationship went?? Captain!! Ma'am!!! You are illegal levels of horny for your first officer!! But to be fair, he's encouraging her- they do nothing but flirt, and make eyes at each other, and share little smiles the whole time, and it's like ohmygod, how can they not be canon?? J/C shippers, you are gods strongest warriors, because I didn't even really get invested in them until Prodigy, but y'all have been sailing this ship for almost thirty years- how do you survive?? I'm not even that into them, and yet I'm sitting here like, "Dammit, just let them kiss!!!" This episode is insane!!

But anyway, apart from the shippyness, there's a lot of other good stuff here- it's like a nostalgic trip back through past Voyager eps.

We get an alternate timeline Tuvok death scene, with Janeway at his side. Even though I know it'll be retconned by the end of the ep, I still get a little misty over it. Their friendship is everything!! There's also a nice moment where Chakotay asks past Maquis B'Elanna to trust him when he shows up with Janeway, which she does. It's a nice little nod to the strength of their friendship, which had pretty much been entirely forgotten by the writers by this point in the show.

We also get a bit of Dr. Chaotica silliness when they have to go through the holodeck to get to an access panel (though why there's an access panel in the holodeck, idk! Just gonna go with it cause the vibes are fun!)

There's some cute stuff with Naomi and Icheb playing a board game in the beginning of the ep, which gets a nice callback later when we meet grown up versions of them in one of the future time frames.

Then they have to defeat Seska again in one of the timelines- I think she might be the dead character who makes the most appearances after their death, lol. She's a considerably better villain on her own than being second fiddle to an idiot like Cullah, so her appearance here works well. We get a delightful scene of all the crewmembers from various timeframes teaming up to retake engineering from her, plus an inspiring speech from Janeway.

And though Chakotay declares in this ep that he and Janeway always stay just friends, the ep still ends with them having yet another one of their romantic dinners in her quarters, complete with him bringing a bottle of alcohol, so it seems like maybe they won't be 'just friends' forever. While I would've preferred if they'd have actually talked more directly about their feelings, or discussed how they arrived at their weird situationship arrangement, there's no way anyone could deny they have romantic feelings going on after this one. (Even though the writers sure tried to sweep that under the rug later. But I'm trying to block out the insane writing choices that happen later in the season for the sake of my peace and sanity. I'll cross that godforsaken bridge when I come to it, and just focus on the good stuff while I'm here.) It ends with the two of them being all cute and flirty, and I don't think anyone could fail to like this ep. Everything about it is just *chef's kiss*

Tl;dr: A smart and fun time travel story, which takes time to explore Janeway and Chakotay's characters and relationship in between saving the ship from a cool time anomaly. The kind of episode that has me happily twirling my hair and kicking my feet the entire time I watch it. Good stuff!

[joshuaalbert]

thinkin again about the secret more interesting version of the seska arc where they find out she’s a cardassian and have to actually deal with that for a while. and like ideally this happens further in so she’s actually like…a valued crew member who maybe has made a significant contribution to trying to get them back to the alpha quadrant faster, even if it’s potentially just for her own selfish ends. like she was planning to betray half the crew and for all they know she could betray all of them if it would serve her interests BUT she hasn’t actually technically done that, just infiltrated the maquis, which tuvok also did, so what do you do with her? and maybe she’s formed real bonds with the crew after being in forced proximity for so long so maybe she wouldn’t betray them, but she also hid being a cardassian for years so how can they trust her? like idk it just seems like there are more interesting things they could’ve done than “she was shady as hell from the start and immediately betrayed them”

[straightbaittournament]

may the best bait win! propaganda under the cut

brienne and jaime:

[major spoilers for the show] homoerotic as hell. for some reason. from what i've heard this seems like a rare case of buried straights. jaime i believe dies right after they get together. the first time they have sex jaime says he's never done it "with a knight" before. literally most of my knowledge about this ship comes from bait: a queerbaiting podcast (one of their "straightbait specials"), which i'm officially suggesting as propaganda i'm only up to s4 but i feel like they should be hereThey def have already been submitted but I'm getting in early on the #BraimeSweep They're soulmates 4real :( <33 "Brienne caught him before he could fall. Her arm was all gooseflesh, clammy and chilled, but she was strong, and gentler than he would have thought. Gentler than Cersei." "The swords kissed and sprang apart and kissed again. Jaime's blood was singing" "Jaime's golden hand cracked him across the mouth so hard the other knight went stumbling down the steps. His lantern fell and smashed, and the oil spread out, burning." "You are speaking of a highborn lady, ser. Call her by her name. Call her Brienne." "In this light she could almost be a beauty, he thought. In this light she could almost be a knight." Come on. This het couple has no right to drive me (a lesbian) crazy. If they don't get together I'll explode.

kathryn and chakotay:

Janeway is the Captain of a Starfleet ship lost so far from home it will take decades to reach. Chakotay is the Captain of a Maquis (rebel) ship also lost there. They decide to work together to get home and combine their crews when the Maquis ship is destroyed, and Chakotay becomes her second-in-command. Because of the seriousness of the situation, Janeway feels that she cannot afford the distraction of a romance and so they never get together. They have NO personal space and look longingly at each other quite often and one episode has them forced to abandon ship potentially forever and they live together in a little house and he builds her a bathtub because she complains about not having one and they share a romantically charged massage where he tells her a made up story about a warrior and the woman who inspired him which he openly admits is made up and actually about them. Also he holds her while she cries about their chance of going back to the ship being destroyed. In a different episode she “dies” and he cradled her body while weeping about it. They also have candlelit dinners regularly and she lent him a copy of the book her ex-fiancé gave her, and every time the show conspires to make one temporarily unaware of the other, they flirt hardcore. An episode designed to show how they wouldn’t work as a couple only makes more people ship them. Also a young version of Janeway meets older Chakotay via time travel and asks him if they’re together in the future despite her being engaged at that point. He declined to answer directly.they have a lot of Tension thruout the series & a very deep relationship, but Janeway has someone waiting for her back home & Chakotay ends up in a romance plot with another person in the last season (that I personally felt came from out of nowhere but whatever) I rooted for them! I rooted for a str8 couple! I did not care that Janeway had someone waiting for her back home even tho I usually do! but I did not care! they deserved to fuck!

[insanewaykathy]

It's funny how Janeway and Chakotay think they can solve anything with a dinner 😂

And I can prove it:

A chance to go home appears in Timeless: It ends in dinner!

They almost end their friendship because of Seven's crazy thing in the Voyager conspiracy: It ends in dinner!

Harry wants to have sex and Janeway doesn't want to allow that., but Chakotay wants to convince her to let him have sex because they can't (I don't remember the name of the episode): It ends in dinner!

Janeway almost kills a man and Chakotay gets pissed at her (and gets incredibly hot while screaming her name, very pissed): It ends in dinner, not just for two, but with the crew, but it ends in dinner and she apologizes with croutons.

Chakotay went through hell to fix Voyager's fractures in Shattered: When he comes back, he just wants to have dinner with her…

Janeway has to deal with a response to the Federation about the Maquis and asks Chakotay for help (I also don't remember which episode): But guess what? It doesn't end with dinner. But they do have lunch together.

Janeway's doppelganger wants to go home, but Chakotay tries to convince her to go back to the demon planet, but she refuses (another episode whose name I don't remember): This one doesn't end with dinner because they are literally dying.

[a-most-beloved-fool]

btw i DID manage to actually start watching voyager in preparation for threshold day and i have some thoughts on the first episode i'd like to share

-the first two minutes were very star wars. i was amused. scrolling synopsis leading STRAIGHT into space warfare?? which massive sci-fi franchise am i in again??

-i enjoyed getting introduced to crew members i knew were going to instantly die. hello first officer and doctor who i will never see again!

-noooo janeway won't get to see her puppies!!!!

-humongous fan of what appears to be an instant ride-or-die friendship between Harry Kim and Tom Paris

-i think it's fun that neelix (and the the kazon?) don't seem to have beaming technology and are very impressed by it. i hope that's a running theme.

-DON'T like how we're getting b'elanna blaming her "klingon half" for things RIGHT off the bat. GIRL YOU'RE MIXED. YOU'RE ONE UNIQUE THING. DON'T DEMONIZE HALF YOUR HERITAGE. also like frankly she's trapped in a strange place with a stranger (who was very recently and may still be an enemy) while suddenly dying of a mysterious illness so i think her reaction is perfectly understandable

-poor tuvok, it's only episode one and already you're going thru it (having to go fetch neelix out of a bath and hold up a towel for him as he emerges naked)

-i've seen clips from voy before but apparently never heard kes's voice and for some reason it wasn't what i expected. i don't quite know what i was expecting though it just didn't feel quite right.

-neelix did you like. need to shoot those water containers, or was that just an extra "fuck you" to those guys? i mean i understand if it was. they did apparently beat kes up. but.

-tom you seem a little too invested in chakotay's life being "yours" what's with that

-but also oof augh more racism TOM. TOM YOU CAN'T BE SAYING THAT. TOM.

-enjoying the vibe of everyone being like "finally! a doctor i'm ALLOWED to ignore!" with regards to the emh. just turn him off! walk out on him! what can he do? complain? not til u turn him back on!

-fascinated by how quickly chakotay went from being like "i am an enemy to starfleet" to being like "she's the captain🥰😍🥰" like man aren't you supposed to have fundamental ideological differences or some shit. are you just janeway's bestie now or are we ever gonna address that. remains to be seen!

-i would be VERY surprised if all the maquis are just Fine with suddenly being starfleet though. you just unilaterally made everyone starfleet?? you've been FIGHTING THEM! i hope someone gets angry about that, at least. i'm assuming this will come up in future episodes?

-i liked janeway's ending speech <3 hell yeah

anyways i had fun <3

i've been meaning to start voyager for Ages but in spite of having a blog dedicated to a tv show i am comically bad at actually Watching Things (so i definitely don't promise a voyager liveblog lmao. you'd be risking like. three months between episodes at times.) but i finally started it!! exciting.

[rin-sith]

Following especially the latest season of Prodigy, I would just like to give a shoutout to Chakotay.

I actually liked him even back in Voyager, although he could definitely have been written better in that show. But then Prodigy came, and despite his limited screen time, that show did him SO well I can still barely believe it. And no, I'm not talking about how unexpectedly hot he looks in a cowboy hat ... That's the bonus cherry on top if anything.

If Prodigy proved anything (besides that it is now one of my favorite Star Treks of all time) is that Chakotay's earned that captain's chair, and so, so much respect.

I love how we get to see him be the selfless, dedicated, strong leader that he is and has always been, entirely disconnected from Janeway or any other legacy character. Now more than ever Chakotay and Janeway are just equally hardcore, badass captains who would give their lives for the greater good in an instant, and that's part of what makes them so great. Their equality, despite the different ranks, really came across in Prodigy more than ever before, which I loved to see.

Honestly, whenever I see Chakotay dismissed as a doormat or "best off as second in command" I just kind of rage a little. Even back in Voyager, it was pretty clear to me that he wasn't (for example, some people seem to forget that he was a captain originally and only became a first officer for the good of the Maquis crew.)

And now that we have Prodigy ... Even though we don't really see much of it on screen (which is a shame), I like reminding myself how, since the launch of the Protostar, he went through 12 (!) more years of (self-)sacrifice and (leadership) hell and managed to come out of that seemingly stronger and more certain of his place and himself than ever.

Even the events of "The Last Flight of the Protostar" aside ... Just think about how many life-altering, defining, difficult choices and sacrifices he had to make in those 12 years.

In the timeline that was averted, he sacrificed his only shot to get back home through the wormhole (the Protostar) to save the Federation from the weapon on board.

In the new timeline, he sacrificed himself by choosing to stay on that planet where he and Adreek landed, also for the sake of protecting the Federation from the weapon on the Protostar.

Chakotay was technically stranded in the Delta Quadrant twice (once with Voyager, once with the Protostar), and despite how abysmally things went on his first command, he never sacrificed his integrity or his dedication to Starfleet's values. He becomes a little grumpy over 10 years in solitude, but honestly, who wouldn't? And then the first thing he does after being rescued is take over Voyager-A and continue his service ... That's some dedication if I've ever seen it. I think he may have wanted to prove something there ... and honestly, he couldn't have succeeded more.

And no, he did not "teach" Dal that his place was "the second in command" ... On the contrary, he very likely showed Dal through his own competence and perseverance that Dal himself was simply not ready yet for such a responsibility.

He's just an extraordinary captain who has gone through things and made choices that very few others could have made. Choices like sending the Protostar back in time, that had the fate of the entire Federation depending on it.

I adore Prodigy in general, but one of the things I adore the most is that it finally shows us more of why Chakotay is not second to Janeway or to anyone. He's his own leader, his own character, and his own captain who deserves so much more acknowledgment.

Although, I still feel that we were robbed of some of Chakotay's best moments by not showing us the arrival of the Protostar on Solum and later the events preceding its (presumably) emergency landing on that planet where it stayed for ten years (honestly, I'd love for future Prodigy seasons to have maybe a flashback episode or two about the Protostar's maiden voyage and Chakotay's arrival on Solum and maybe later on that planet where he was stranded.)

Anyway, long rant over ... All I wanted to say was that Chakotay has more than earned the command of Voyager-A; seeing him in that chair made me very happy, I won't lie.

And I really hope if/when Prodigy gets more seasons, he'll be a more major character because he deserves a more central role.