#fake star trek voyager episode my beloved

[bumblingbabooshka]

Inspired by this post: What if B'Elanna reveals to Harry that she feels insecure about not knowing much about her Human (Puerto Rican) heritage after two interactions at the beginning of the episode - one with Chakotay and one with Tuvok where they both display a deep connection to their heritages and cultural practices. Harry then reveals that he's also mixed - his mother being Chinese while his father's Korean. Like Chakotay, he wasn't very interested in cultural practices as a kid (he seems like he'd find them boring at a young age) and his parents didn't push him to participate or learn which was fine when he was a kid but as he got older he began to feel a sense of displacement, guilt, and frustration. It's easier to just be 'Human' rather than taking ownership of anything more specific, especially since to most people he's not visibly mixed, but with being away from his family he feels now more than ever that he wishes he'd connected to that heritage. He expresses the same yearning that B'Elanna brings to him - he's also noticed that Tuvok and Chakotay can connect to their parents, their people, their faith even so far away...that connection gives them a strength and assurance that both Harry and B'Elanna envy. He tells her about the Alter Ego coaching incident and B'Elanna tells him about the Meditation Fail. They both tease each other good naturedly. B'Elanna tells Harry about how Chakotay instructed her in some of his cultural practices (we see in 'Cathexis' that she has knowledge of these practices) and how she started being jealous then, specifically of how he can connect to and sort of amend his relationship with his father (which was rocky in life) THROUGH these practices and the faith he carries in them. She sometimes tried to do the same privately but it felt like acting, uncomfortable. B'Elanna's different from Harry, having been bullied for her Klingon side heavily, she wanted very much to claim her Human (Puerto Rican) heritage. She never saw it as something boring and often tried to connect with her cousins etc over it but they always pushed her away, asserting she was 'Klingon' and as 'Other.' After her father left, she seems to have been entirely cut off from her Human side of the family. When she grew enough to do her own research into her heritage, she felt overwhelmingly that it was already too late for her to connect to this side of herself. People already only call her "Klingon" though she's half Human. If she were to attempt to claim anything more specific, she'd surely just be laughed at. Harry smiles and bumps her shoulder with his own. "I'm not laughing," he says. "You're smiling." "I usually am." Then B'Elanna smiles too. Throughout the series (from that point on) we can see B'Elanna and Harry practicing Mandarin, Korean, and Puerto Rican Spanish. Though they start off just helping the other, they start to learn all three languages between them and sometimes have conversations as they're working together which become less and less stilted as time goes on. Harry even learns a bit of Klingon! This leads to B'Elanna's Human grandmother or something being the one to contact her instead of her no-good-space-racist-daughter-abandoning-terrible-scum-father and B'Elanna opening the conversation by speaking to her in Spanish, to the woman's unabashed delight. B'Elanna quickly wipes away a tear at hearing how proud the woman is of her, how she grew up so beautifully, how she was afraid she forgot all about them or hated them for what her father did to her family but she's so pleased that obviously isn't the case, not if she took the time to learn their language. Afterward, we see B'Elanna restless in her quarters. She gets up and begins a letter. It's to her mother, whom she still doesn't know the status of (her grandmother hasn't been in contact with her or B'Elanna's father). She starts in Standard then pauses and has the computer erase that entry, beginning again in Klingon. End.

[numbersareimaginary]

Recently started rewatching Voyager. Some thoughts

the gods that be at youtube started recommending me Star Trek clips again recently, so I'm rewatching Voyager for the first time in maybe 6 years, and noticing so many things i didn't when I was a kid. here are some of them:

the Maquis officers have different rank pips than everyone else! I saw this on Lower Decks with Provisional Ensign T'lyn, so I guess that means the Chakotay, B'elanna, etc are all provisional officers, since they're technically wanted terrorists? cool! love attention to detail!

the first season at least has much more of an overarching story than I thought back then. I think i skipped through too many episodes to see what they were doing. I've seen people complain about the starfleet/maquis tensions not being addressed enough but so far they've appeared pretty often, and you can see the two crews growing together overtime. I like it, tbh. Not so much pressure to watch every episode but you can still see things are changing.

also overtime as the energy crisis is resolved the crew are seen using the replicators more and more!

Neelix is actually less annoying than i remember. maybe he gets Flanderized in later seasons, but so far so good. Still not my favorite alien crewmember in Trek, tho (Dr. Phlox my beloved <3)

I think when I was a kid i had a crush on Janeway, but now I just want to be her :(

Voyager remains the sexiest starship ever, tiny nacelles and all. Sleeker and meaner than any ship on screen before or since, imo. I know some people are attached to the Defiant, but honestly the ship design there is weird. It looks like a flying credit card scanner. What carried Defiant was the crew, and the story, certainly not the looks.

Speaking of skipping things, I forgot how bad all the """""Native American""""" stuff they put into this one is. Man, how could the showrunners not tell this stuff was fake as shit when it was being given to them??!

WHEN DO WE GET SEVEN I WANT SEVEN NOWWWWWWWWWW

I cried the first time I heard the opening theme. Absolutely undeniably the best theme of any of the 90s shows. No thoughts, head BWAH BWAH BWAH BWEH BWAAAAW BWAAAW BWEH BWAH BWAH BWAH

Ok I'm out of things to say now I think. God, I love this show.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Lila Rossi: I’d Say She’s a Good Villain, but Then I’d Be Lying (300 Follower Special)

Deception and cunning are easily two of the most important traits an antagonist could have. It shows that even if they don't have the strength to overcome obstacles, their wit is more than enough. This kind of trait is why characters like Lex Luthor, David Xanatos, and Princess Azula are so beloved, simply because of how intelligent they can be as villains and pose a real threat to the heroes.

It's clear that the Miraculous Ladybug writers want Lila to be seen as this, but the writing seriously fails to back that claim up.

Easily one of the most controversial characters in Miraculous Ladybug is Lila, mainly for the writing surrounding her. But there was a time where she was actually more of an ambiguous character, mainly for the lack of screentime she had until Season 3. But unfortunately, the more appearances she's had have painted a very poor portrait of an antagonist.

Lila's Tragic and Sympathetic Motivation for Hating Ladybug

Lila's first appearance was at the tail end of Season 1, “Volpina”. She was a new transfer student from Italy, and quickly made friends with a lot of her classmates for the lies she told, including being friends with Ladybug (which Alya blindly believed without doing any research like any excellent journalist). But because of how close she was getting to Adrien, Marinette, in a rare act of selfishness, transforms into Ladybug just to chew out Lila for lying about knowing her, humiliating her in front of Adrien. And this is the only motivation we get for what Lila does afterwards.

I'm not saying that it's wrong for Lila to get upset at Ladybug for doing this, and I like the moment of weakness Marinette has, but this is literally the only explanation we get for Lila deciding to side with Hawkmoth, a literal terrorist. As much as I hated the way the arc turned out, I could still understand Chloe siding with Hawkmoth, as it was clear that Hawkmoth was manipulating her and taking advantage of her ego. Lila? Ladybug's mean to her one time, and that inspires her to conspire with a complete stranger who brainwashes people to attack the city, which endangers innocent people and causes God knows how much in collateral damage if not for Miraculous Ladybug fixing everything.

I just don't get how a single negative interaction with someone is enough to conspire with a literal supervillain. Even in Season 3, when Marinette and Lila truly became enemies, it was because she risked exposing all the lies she told, which could damage her reputation. Sure, it's petty, but it makes sense for Lila to want to keep up the illusion. If she was simply an antagonist to Marinette in her civilian life like Chloe was before “Miracle Queen” , I'd be fine with that, but the writers clearly want her to be seen as on the same level of evil as Hawkmoth. I'll get into why that doesn't work later on.

Why Lila is an Excellent Liar

In my Master Fu analysis, I had pointed out that despite all the flaws he had, the narrative insisted on portraying him as an incredibly wise mentor. The same problem applies for Lila as well. We're supposed to see Lila as an expert manipulator and liar, but her lies are insultingly obvious. She always claims to be friends with celebrities and does all these awesome things, and in an age where we can have almost any question answered thanks to the internet, nobody ever stops to question her.

It's even more frustrating when you hear Lila talk about saving Jagged Stone's cat, when Jagged Stone is established to be very fond of Marinette (evidentially more than his own daughter), and nobody ever points that out. I think if Lila's lies were more stories about her travels around the world than outright lies about real people, it could have worked. It'd still be hard to believe, but it's something.

But this is a problem with writing shows aimed at children. As much as we hate writers who need to spell out things to kids, sometimes, they just don't understand some of the media they consume. Seriously, I never got this joke in SpongeBob as a kid, and I can't believe Nickelodeon actually approved this.

So the dilemma when writing a show with children in mind is finding that sweet spot between assuming your audience can figure it out, but not being too vague in your details. It's even harder when you need to find a way to convey the fact that someone is lying without being too obvious. Unfortunately, the show clearly fails to do that

Okay, this is going to sound like an incredibly weird thing to cite, and I only know about it because I used to know someone who was a huge fan of the franchise, but the movie Monster High: Friday Night Frights does a better job of subtly explaining to the audience that a character is lying. Please, just hear me out.

The movie follows the main characters competing in their high school's roller derby for the season after everyone on the usual team gets injured, and the championship match is against another school whose team tends to cheat to win matches. How they manage to do this without getting caught is anyone's guess. While the main characters are practicing, their coach, Clawd, notices a spy for the enemy team taking video of them to study their moves. In response, he calls over one of the athletes, Operetta, to chew her out for her showboating attitude. In reality, he's alerting her to the spy. Only using facial expressions, he clues her, and by extension, the audience, in on the fact that they know what the opposing team is trying to do.

This soon leads to Operetta pretending to tell the enemy team about their secret plan for the championship match, which was really an attempt to outsmart them to gain the advantage in the final stretch. The brilliance of this is how the audience is informed of this with no dialogue, and there's no scene afterwards spelling it out for those who don't get it. It manages to convey deception without being too obvious that Clawd and Operetta are being deceitful.

I think if there were more subtle hints to show the audience Lila was lying, she would be seen in a better light. As it is, Lila's lies are just pathetic, and it's ridiculous that everyone believes her. Which leads me to...

Lila, the Master Manipulator

I once read a Star Trek: Voyager fanfic that poked fun at the series by claiming that the reason a lot of the dumber episodes like “Threshold” and “Twisted” happened was because one of the crew members was an alien who unintentionally produced mood altering pheromones, with Captain Janeway actually realizing they were all high because of said pheromones, while two of the unaffected crew members were wondering what the hell they were doing before they found out the cause. Why do I bring this up? Sometimes, it feels like Lila is an unintentional parallel to the alien in that story.

Like so many characters, it's clear the show desperately wants the audience to view Lila in a certain way, but her actions do very little to actually back up that claim. When she's not using lies to tell stories about so many famous people she knows like her uncle who works for Nintendo, Lila is using strategies to manipulate everyone that are so obviously deceptive, the Thermians could pick up on them. Everyone and their mother knows how ridiculous a lot of what Lila does in episodes like “Chameleon” and “Ladybug” are, and I've talked about them before, so I'll try to be quick.

First off, as someone who had access to accommodations through high school and has had assistance in college so far, there is no way in hell that Ms. Bustier should take Lila's tinnitus at face value in “Chameleon”. If a student has a disability that could interfere with the education process, physical or developmental, not only does the school have to evaluate their performance, and determine if they're eligible for an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, but her teachers would have to be notified in the first place. As her primary educator, Ms. Bustier would be part of the team to oversee Lila's IEP and determine what accommodations she needs to help her learn better with her tinnitus and arthritis. But because the writers don't know what Google is, they just ignore it,  assume that Lila can just say she has a disability, and have everyone believe it. Even when Eric Cartman pretended to be disabled to compete in the Special Olympics, he put in more effort to look the part, even if he looked like a caricature.

Then there's the fact that that in “Chameleon”, everyone just believes Lila when she says Marinette stole her grandmother's necklace when not only is said necklace from the Agreste line of jewelry, but Alya, who is Rena Rouge, can't pick up on the fact that it's a fake. All she does to justify these lies is come up with a sob story about how nobody believes her, yet nobody ever tries to defend Marinette except Alya one time, and it was after she got expelled.

Or what about in “Oni-Chan”, where Lila thinks having Kagami kill Ladybug while claiming she'll back away from Adrien is a good idea? Let's say Oni-Chan does kill Ladybug or at least take away her Miraculous, what then? We know Lila wouldn't go through with this promise, and as soon as Kagami sees her harassing Adrien, she'll be ripe for akumatization again. Overall, not a great plan.

And yet somehow, this last example is what made her worthy enough to become one of Hawkmoth's most trusted agents. I'm just going to say it: Lila is not a good fit for the power of illusion. Whenever she's Volpina or Chameleon, she always goes out of her way to make a big show instead of being subtle with her deceptions. “Chameleon” is the worst offender, as even though Lila gets the power to shapeshift into someone else, instead of being discreet and cornering people into kissing them and gaining their appearance, she just runs around to get Ladybug's attention instead of being subtle. Even Felix had the bright idea to pretend to be Adrien to catch Ladybug off guard. How do you lose to something that happened in “Felix”?

Despite all of these screw-ups, we're still supposed to see her as this master of deception worthy of allying with Hawkmoth in both his supervillain and civilian form, when really, she's a terrible liar on the schoolyard and on the battlefield.

Why Lila is an Important Character

In the grand scheme of things, Lila just isn't as important of a character that the show loves to parade her around as. She's nothing more than a plot device used to raise the stakes in an episode, given how much reality seems to bend over just to accommodate for her lies. Even when the show alludes to her being part of bigger things, like her deal with Adrien, or her rivalry with Marinette, they don't even go anywhere.

She just feels pointless when you remember Astruc's brilliant idea to force Chloe into being the final Akuma for the season while Lila isn't even mentioned once. She only really makes appearances whenever the writers feel like it, which is why it’s hard to take her seriously. Why should I take this character seriously as a threat if the writers refuse to take her seriously as a threat? Why build Lila up as a big threat and not give her a major role in the finale? Why even include her in the show in the first place when you could show Chloe being more manipulative to fill in the plots Lila plays a big part in?

As of the time I am writing this analysis, four episodes of Season 4 have aired, three of them have been about lies or deception, and Lila hasn't been mentioned at all. It honestly seems like she won't appear unless the writers need a easy way to drive up the conflict, so they can justify it by saying that Lila's “superpower” of lying is more powerful than the common sense of everyone else.

I'm sorry this post was shorter than the last one, but compared to Master Fu, there's not that much to say about Lila that I haven't already said. Even the show barely gives her any attention, so it's hard for me to really find a lot to talk about.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Voyager should have done a whole episode that was just a series of horror vignettes of the entire crew in increasingly malicious/difficult/terrifying situations that start off seeming like normal Voyager antics (Every main character gets their turn to 'star' in one scenario somehow tailored to them sans Harry who's conspicuously absent and the Doctor) and end with like, Janeway once again heroically sacrificing herself for the crew after finally figuring out what's wrong only for the episode to end exactly how it began. Only the first scenario plays out until the very end, every subsequent scenario ends faster and more brutally than the last and as the episode progresses we see the crew retaining scars or pains from previous deaths we witnessed though to them these wounds are mysterious or they give a narratively coherent reason for having them. Though there are some clues as to what's happening this largely remains unexplained and unresolved until the NEXT episode which is 'The Killing Game'. Everyone would have loved this! They would have cheered and clapped!

[bumblingbabooshka]

I think it'd be funny if the Voyager crew made the Doctor learn how to cut hair and that's who's doing everyone's hair. He doesn't want to at first but once he's convinced he takes it SO seriously - like, he starts refusing to give certain haircuts because he KNOOWS it wouldn't look good with your bone structure, ensign. And then Chakotay has to go give him a talking to.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Star Trek Voyager Episode where the crew interacts with a species wherein only married couples can be respected captain-first officer duos and so Janeway has to be pretend to be married to Chakotay in order to cut a deal. Neelix suggests this, saying that's actually how most people do it - even amongst that species themselves. A lot of marriages of convenience even as they all pretend to be deeply in love. However, the day they're supposed to be beamed down Janeway wakes up in Tuvok's body and vice versa. It's decided that Tuvok will go down instead. On the planet, Tuvok quickly shows that he's able to act exactly like Janeway to an almost uncanny degree (funny bc it's just Janeway's actor acting normally). Tuvok explains it's because he's extremely well acquainted with her, it isn't difficult to imagine what she'd think, how she'd act, in most situations. (This is related to Tuvok keeping 'detailed notes' on Janeway but not mentioned in episode). He and Chakotay have a lot of tension between them because Tuvok keeps verbally poking at him whenever he's not acting as Janeway and they have a bad history with undercover work between them. This eventually culminates in a large argument RIGHT before they have to do a dinner wherein everyone in attendance looks into their partner's eyes and talks about why they love them. Uh oh! Chakotay goes first after Tuvok pauses for a suspiciously long time when he's called upon to do it (mix of not knowing how Janeway would do this particular thing & the recent argument). Though he's ostensibly talking about his feelings for Janeway it's obvious to the audience and Tuvok that he's actually talking to Tuvok about how his actions hurt Chakotay but he wants to move forward and try to get along because that's his responsibility. He knows Tuvok is extraordinarily competent at his job but can't help thinking about how much better they'd be able to work as a team if he didn't fight against him so much. Chakotay's in a new and difficult situation too. He wishes Tuvok wouldn't make it harder. In the past [the Maquis] they worked together so well - he's willing to try with him to get back to that. Is Tuvok? When it's finally Tuvok's turn he does the same, apologizing for how he's been acting toward Chakotay and is even able to (through speaking as Janeway) bring up slightly more emotional things he's going through such as jealousy and loneliness. Then he reaffirms (as Janeway) and affirms for the first time (as Tuvok) that there's no one on board better suited to the role of first officer than Chakotay and they're fortunate to have him. He hopes that he might earn Chakotay's forgiveness and believes that with effort they can repair what's happened between them. It is a stark contrast to the extremely flowery, grandiose, and yet somehow generic declarations of love everyone else has given throughout the dinner and for a moment all is quiet. Then the head of the table stands and gestures for the two of them to brought a rose - signaling that they've been recognized as allies. "That," the head says gravely, nodding. "Is love." On the way back to Voyager they receive news that after several twists and turns wherein like everybody got body swapped for a while they've got a surefire way to swap back! Chakotay and Tuvok bicker briefly about something mundane and Chakotay brings up what they said to each other on the planet. Tuvok insists he was speaking as Janeway. Chakotay disengages, sighing. He thought they might actually be able to move past this. After a brief silence Chakotay brings up that it's sort of a shame he never got to swap with anyone. Feels like he missed out. Tuvok is quiet before saying he believes Chakotay is perfectly fine as-is. Chakotay looks at him. Tuvok doesn't meet his gaze. Chakotay smiles softly, turning away. Zoom out as the shuttle enters Voyager, roll credits. [Patreon | Commissions]

[bumblingbabooshka]

Voyager gag where Seven & Tuvok get absolutely sloshed at a party bc Seven has ZERO tolerance for alcohol and Tuvok's Vulcan 'alcohol doesn't affect me' biology wasn't built with Talaxian Ale in mind

[bumblingbabooshka]

Kes but for her birthday she forces Tuvok to light her candles with his mind and it takes like an hour for him to do it and he's obviously struggling and starts hissing for people to be quiet if they try to suggest he just gives up and Kes is smiling the whole time. He eventually lights them but it does take like an hour and he has to immediately go lie down.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Honestly the Equinox survivors being a running Thing in Voyager instead of never being mentioned again after they're assimilated into Voyager's crew is something I never thought of before but that has SO much potential. Both in showing how far the Maquis and Starfleet crews have grown (they are now a united front!) and also having new blood in the water when it comes to 'crew vs crew' storylines. (Voyager barely did anything with the Maquis v Starfleet thing in the first place but y'know) Ex: Are the Equinox crew held in contempt by the rest of the crew? Unlike the Maquis, their motives are far less sympathetic, and yet there's a core of dark relatability to them. They all want to survive. They were all thrown into this quadrant without wanting to be. If they were in the same position as Equinox's crew, not a captain or commander - but an ensign etc. Would they have stood up and said something? Does the introduction of this new blood stir up old grievances with the existing crew? (They are a Starfleet crew turned Criminal, there are parallels to both sides of the crew) Does it unite them into a larger 'us' to vs 'them' - and is that unity coming at the expense of these new crew members? Are there people that are sympathetic to the Equinox crew under these circumstances and do they too start being treated with contempt? Is the Equinox crew is being treated poorly, does it stir up resentment amongst them? Does it lead to them isolating themselves further, giving the crew even less chance to get to know them? Do people feel less inclined to protect and stand up for these crewmembers? How culpable are the members of the Equinox crew? Should they be forgiven, can they be forgiven? Do the Equinox crew feel like actual members of Voyager? Do they suffer from any trauma from what they went through and what they ended up resorting to to survive? What can be done to help them, should we help them? Do they deserve to suffer? Are some of the Equinox crew resentful? On all sides: Do they mean us harm? Can we trust them? Can we trust them? Can we trust them? Picture an episode where an Equinox crewmember is sent out and gets injured. That Equinox member then claims that they were sent out intentionally by a member of Starfleet with intent to harm them. We then see an investigation carried out - multiple people with varying complicated allegiances all within the crew talk about what they saw, what they think happened, etc and as we slowly shift focus to the crew itself (shifting focus from our main characters - this is Voyager's 'Lower Decks' episode) we see that crew relations are not as blandly positive as the senior staff think. In the end, it's determined that what happened was a normal accident with no ulterior motives. But we the audience aren't sure, and we're left with that uncertainty.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tom asks Neelix to make a Thanksgiving dinner and Neelix agrees then does research on the history of Thanksgiving which spirals into American colonialism as a whole and the episode ends with the crew coming into the mess hall like normal only to find that Neelix is nowhere to be seen and they're all like "??" cut to Neelix in Chakotay's quarters (who is also like "??") unveiling a lavish meal while sputtering in anger about something Chakotay can't make out because it's a bunch of half sentences. Everyone is slightly confused about why Tom was walking around all day talking about a big surprise at dinner and why Neelix isn't there, but they all shrug and just use some rations or eat whatever basic food Neelix set out while Tom is standing there utterly perplexed like "What happened...?" They assume it was some sort of prank. Later on Chakotay puts together what happened and laughs so hard he almost falls over.

[bumblingbabooshka]

I think B'Elanna and Tuvok probably work together a lot in a distant, professional capacity and it's mostly through notes about what will and will not blow the ship up. Constant updates about how not to blow the ship up or otherwise kill everyone aboard which are increasingly and endlessly complicated and if Tuvok weren't Vulcan and B'Elanna weren't built with a mind like a diamond they would both just collapse under the weight of it all and give up but instead they're lowkey kind of enjoying the challenge sometimes. When they aren't collapsing under the weight of it all. They started their messages with B'Elanna being so careful about sounding professional but by year 4 they're not even using honorifics or greetings. They might be employing shorthand. When they get back to the alpha quadrant the admirals are pouring over their notes, maneuvers, quick fixes, and long-term solutions in both horror and fascination. In year two they had to trap an alien slime in the turbolift which is nonsentient and unkillable and it helps the turbolift (which was previously broken beyond repair) run but WILL eat anyone inside that lift if the power coursing through its body reaches a certain level so that particular turbolift has to stay lower-powered and slow. No power can be diverted through that turbolift or anyone who uses it will be eaten. Engineering Win: If we incorporate this alien technology which uses star power instead of solar power which B'Elanna found detailed in an old book during a shore leave thrift sale we can increase the ship's systems' efficiency by over 50%! Security Fail: The star power technology makes people inexplicably think they are a star, their longing for the twinkling void causing them to throw themselves out into space. That's the sort of thing that B'Elanna and Tuvok are dealing with. There's so much that Tuvok brings to B'Elanna like 'this is horrifically dangerous' and B'Elanna replies like 'this is the only way the ship can keep functioning.'

[bumblingbabooshka]

Idk how to explain this but in my heart I know that Tuvok listens to the Vulcan version of a podcast that's like...This American Life where people come on and tell a story about something that happened to them and there's a billion episodes and it's the only thing he'll play other than spiritual music during trips. If you don't want to listen to either of those things he's going to enforce silence. Tuvok and T'Pel definitely listened to Var t' Vuhlkansu (Stories of Vulcan) together every evening they could even when he was on a ship somewhere - they called and just listened to an episode in silence. In the Delta Quadrant he still listens to it (old episodes as he has no access to new ones) alone in his quarters but I think Kes came in while he was listening once and stayed to listen to the rest which surprised Tuvok. Then she and Neelix and she and Tuvok (separately) started listening to some episodes together - she and Tuvok far more consistently than she and Neelix. Kes really liked the program and though Neelix initially found it boring he started listening again after Kes left and started finding it comforting. Sometimes talks to Tuvok about an episode that really captured his attention! At a certain point there's an episode where Neelix pesters Tuvok to tell a little story for a new segment on A Briefing with Neelix titled 'Tales from Voyager' where each member of the crew (over the course of several months) tells a story about some impactful moment in their life whether it's funny, sad, strange, etc. Tuvok does NOT want to even though it's good for morale and it helps you get to know people and it's absolutely harmless and you have nothing to lose by saying yes and everyone's doing it and also I asked the Captain and she said you have to. ("Fine.") Episode ends on a gag where The Doctor spends the whole episode writing and re-writing and agonizing over what story he's to tell...adding sound effects and having others voice act the other characters...writing his opus...a tale almost Shakespearean in its drama, wit, and intrigue...and then Tuvok's story which is incredibly mundane and told in a dry, matter of fact way, is an absolute HIT and everybody loves it. Tuvok is not pleased with this outcome. The Doctor even less so.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Voyager should have had an episode where the command trio beat the absolute hell out of each other while blaming each other for being stuck in the delta quadrant as the fever pitch of a rising tension that was building throughout the episode. Like, they're absolutely being pushed to do it by some outside force. Maybe it's a telepathic being - maybe it's that they're stuck in some arena or an alien court or a time loop only the three of them are aware of - no matter the specifics, the sentiment behind their words has to be true and it has to be something they've been keeping back for months, maybe years. That fear and hatred and blame that doesn't really have an actual target because it's not actually rational but 'who's to blame' doesn't have to be capital T true to feel true. If Chakotay hadn't been in the badlands, If Janeway hadn't made that choice, If Tuvok hadn't supported it... "You trapped us here. It's your fault. If you hadn't-! If you hadn't-! If you hadn't-!" are just echoes of "I trapped us here. It's my fault. If I hadn't-! If I hadn't-! If I hadn't-!" Because at the end of the day more than being angry or hateful they're despairing in their own ways. Episode probably has a somber end - they beat whatever it was and it's a victory! They won by working together even after they beat each other half to death! But after the celebration we see them alone in their quarters...silent. Gazing out at the stars, into a candle's flame, at that same family picture before turning away. Because even though they won they're still there in the delta quadrant. Is that really victory?

[bumblingbabooshka]

Context: Transporter Accident Species Swap Kathryn. C'mon. Patreon | Ko-fi

Episode where Janeway and Tuvok have their species swapped by an accident or entity and while everyone's figuring out how to undo it they expect Tuvok to be the one acting different but he's generally the same* meanwhile Janeway's newly Vulcan brain is terrorizing her with nightmares and violence 24/7. *He has trouble with his human body more than any emotions. Like, he keeps burning himself on things he'd normally touch without thinking. He can't stay up and stay focused as long as he normally would (two days straight) and he isn't as strong as he was before. Anyway, Janeway's sort of suffering with both. She has telepathic abilities that would be normal for a Vulcan of her age and this along with the intrusive thoughts and overwhelming emotion are...a lot. Tuvok: Have you tried meditating? Janeway: I'll rip your throat out. Sorry. Sorry. I've tried. Tuvok: Allow me to assist you. Janeway and Tuvok have a conversation about how she's not a bad person and Tuvok has to struggle with and control these sorts of intrusive, violent thoughts all the time. What makes someone a bad person? To what extent are someone's thoughts 'them'? What does a 'true self' mean? Basically Tuvok's like "These Human emotions have literally nothing on me" meanwhile Janeway's getting the shit kicked out of her - DAMN! These Vulcan emotions have hands! They also retain their personalities because they're still the same people. Janeway doesn't suddenly become stoic & logical and Tuvok doesn't suddenly become more outgoing. Tuvok also does not immediately turn into 100-year-old dust because it's a star trek episode and certain things are handwaved. In the end Janeway's like "Well that was absolute hell but in some ways it was interesting to get an up close and personal look into the Vulcan mind and I feel closer to my good friend Tuvok!" whereas Tuvok learned that he actually likes rum raisin ice cream. The B plot of this episode is that there's a certain light that keeps flickering in sickbay and everyone keeps passing off the task of fixing it so eventually the doc tries to fix it himself but he ends up causing a black out (which effects the A plot) and at the very end of the episode Harry's like "THERE. It's fixed."

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tuvok describes something as 'awe-some' (evoking awe) in one of his reports and Chakotay thinks about it constantly for a week.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Society if Seska was obsessed with B'Elanna as well as Chakotay and they tied her betrayal of the Maquis into Tuvok's betrayal of the Maquis and we got to see what B'Elanna & Chakotay's differing feelings on each of those betrayals was. I'm picturing Seska has them captured somewhere and they're trying to get out without resorting to some violence Seska wants them to. (Psychological torture* is a great way to get people on your side, so say the Cardassians). Absolutely no input from the others during their scenes, it's all them. I want to see more of B'Elanna & Chakotay's friendship/backstory as well as their relationships with Seska. What do they think of violence (systematically, in general, as a means to an end)? What counts as violence? What do they think of the Maquis? What are their morals and how do they differ? What do they think of each other? Also in this au Seska 100% offers B'Elanna, in honeyed tones, the chance to reconstruct her face so she looks entirely Human. Wasn't that what you've wanted all your life~? *I imagine that this is a torment, it's unclear whether what they're doing is having any impact on the outside world at all. Is this real? A simulation? Are their sacrifices actually sacrifices? [Tying, perhaps, into the feeling that maybe their time in the Maquis was useless as they were fighting against two different governments and ended up here, essentially forced to be Starfleet. How do they feel about Starfleet? The crew? Why did they choose to be in the Maquis?] <- Ending does not definitively answer these questions but says that if there is hope there's an obligation to fight for it and if there is injustice, violence from a so-called 'higher power', there is an obligation to fight against it. (Star Trek would NEVER allow this 'higher power' to be Starfleet but OH WELL)