#go where youre needed chakotay :’(

[baylardo]

my real strugglers moment with threshold au in prodigy timeline rn is that like,,,,, im uniquely struggling with the idea of what to do with chakotay post-season two with where they left him,,,,,,,,, it feels weird to me that kathryn’s the one thatd be around more WHICH IS FINE but its just funny how Stay At Home Mom it makes her feel to me haha

like i have to canon compliantly explain why hed choose to go back out into the field rather than be home with his AU kids after having been seemingly lost for 10 years lol. inevitably both parents end up working again which is fine. maybe everyone thinks kathryn retiring early is out of character and it is because she finds out she’s COUGH and discreetly retires, only to get recalled lol.

what makes it even weirder is that the kids would probably be a bit less upset about him just continuing to work bc for them he was only missing for like a year or so(?) maybe chakotay just feels out of place and hes trying to find himself again,,,,,, something something kathryns baby she hasnt told him about yet SHRUG i never like the idea of playing the angle that hes any less of a father to the three kids hes not biologically related to tho :/

[bumblingbabooshka]

Me reading fics where Tuvok encourages other peoples’ romantic pursuits:

[catgirljaneway]

Janeway and Tuvok are my Roman Empire!!! Nothing in Star Trek can ever compare to Them for me ❤️

Her face??? I wanna die!!!

[stargatesimp]

Can I just talk about how much I love Star Trek friendships?

Shipping is fun and all, ship whoever you like! (Starship? I don’t know if that’s a term used in this fandom but if not it should be)

But I don’t think platonic friendships and platonic love are talked about enough. God I love adorable friendships in shows. Give me two best friends who would die for each other. Found family is where it’s AT.

Like,

VOYAGER: So. many. Good ones.

Janeway and Tuvok. Tom and Harry. Chakotay and B’lanna. The Doctor and Kes. The list goes on!

I just love them all dearly. Voyager has such a great found family dynamic. I grew up watching this show with my family every day after school and it holds such a special place in my heart. I could spend a million hours talking about it.

Not to mention DS9.

Sisko and Dax, Miles and Julian, Kira and Dax, Jake and Nog, Odo and Quark (best frenemies. Sheriff and outlaw)

DS9 is my absolute favorite of all Star Treks. The writing and development is insane. If you told me what these characters would go through after watching season one, I don’t think I’d believe you. Another one I could talk hours about but this post is long enough just listing the dang names.

Those two are the majority of what I rewatch, but man, the others have amazing ones too.

Enterprise was just Archer being a father to literally everyone on the ship. And him and Trip being another of my favorite friendship duos.

TNG is a classic, a lot of people’s favorites. I always loved Geordi and Data. Guinan and literally everyone. I think I need to go back and rewatch it soon to fully appreciate everyone in the crew.

And as controversial as it may be, I never really got into the original series. But obviously some great friendships there too.

But man, I love Star Trek. The feeling of hope it gives you, the despair, the moral quandary, the wonder and magic. The wonderful mix of witty and fun humor balanced with severe stakes and serious narratives. A balance I feel a lot of modern sci-fi lacks. And I just love the characters that go through it all together. The journey they take.

Tell me some of your favorite Star Trek friendship moments! Let’s talk about em.

[the-uss-wossname]

The thing about Star Trek Voyager is that even though it’s a bad show, you can very clearly see the bones of a good show. All the ingredients that are needed to make the show good are there except for good and consistent writing. Which is why it’s so infuriating and also so compelling.

The voyager cast incudes some of my favorite characters in all of trek. Captain Janeway? Tuvok? Chakotay? B’elanna? The Doctor? Seven of Nine? Harry Kim? They are all such compelling characters!!! The actors all put their heart and souls into the performances! It is so easy to make up good stories about these characters!

And then a lot of the plots are actually good and compelling they just tend to lose the thread halfway through the episodes! The premise of the show is FASCINATING and they underutilize it immensely! A lot of the things that Do get written end up serving as incredible commentary on the time and NONE of it is self aware at all!!! It drives me nuts!

Like. It is so easy to keep watching voyager to feed the good version of voyager that lives in your brain. It is an excellent exercise in critical thinking and seeing what works about storytelling. The sets, the make up, the sound design, is all Incredible and it’s so visually fun to immerse yourself in.

And like. It’s fun! It’s a fun show! They boldly go! They get into situations! They have really compelling character arcs! They pose interesting questions! Do they think any of this through or resolve anything? Hell no! But part of Star Trek is making you think anyway! And it is SO fun to think about voyager. It is so fun to be like ok this is what I would have done to make this episode work, or, what do you think they were actually going for here, or, this was accidentally a really good commentary on what it’s like to be biracial or traumatized entirely by accident how wild, right?

And like that’s why every voyager fan is so deranged yes (I include myself in this god bless) because it takes a certain kind of person to see this show and care about it and think about it. And it also just hits that perfect spot in the curve where there is so much potential and also so much content that was not delivered on to make it absolutely Perfect for fan interpretation and fan content.

Anyway reblog if you too look at voyager and go “I can fix him” lmao

[insanewaykathy]

I'm doing some art and I needed the transcription of the ancient legend that Chakotay told Janeway in Resolutions, so I asked gpt chat to get it for me… Well, I don't know where the hell gpt chat got it, but I'm scared now 🤣 See if this doesn't match Prodigy perfectly 😳

Chakotay: "There’s a legend among my people. It’s about a man who had a great love. He lost her and went into the forest to seek her. He wandered for many days, feeling lost and alone. Finally, he met a spirit who told him that his love was still alive, but she was far away, and he would have to cross the river of time to reach her.

He didn’t hesitate. He plunged into the river and began to swim. It was hard, but he kept going. As he swam, he realized that he was not just crossing a river; he was crossing the pain of his loss, his loneliness, and his doubts. And when he reached the other side, he found her waiting for him.

But the spirit warned him: 'You cannot stay here. You must return to your own life.' And the man asked, 'Why?' The spirit said, 'Because your love is waiting for you in the future. You must live to reach her.'

So he returned to his own time, and he carried the memory of her with him. He was never alone again, for he knew that she was waiting for him. And he realized that love is not just about possession; it’s about trust, faith, and patience."

[xchronicles]

My question is, what was the audience supposed to take away from the random little J/C moments in the grand scheme of the story?

This is where my J/C narrative whiplash stems from pt 2.

This mess (hall) here. What are these looks after she grabs his hand?? This isn't a normal 'how was your day' conversation. This is some serious silence™ cause it's not like she grabbed his hand playfully in a middle of a convo. They were silent, hand grab, continue to be silent with looks™. What are we supposed to think after seeing this???

Then this weird af camera position/movomenet and blocking:

What are we supposed to think with a shot that starts like this? That she's merely straightening his uniform? But why would she need to do that in the first place? Did he get dressed in her ready room or something (also where the heck is this scene at cause it doesn't look like the ready room)? Then, to have the rest of this scene be a smidge awkward, as if the scene didn't start with this shot is a weird choice.

And then... AND THEN you have this literal blink and you miss it moment where Janeway's being called to the bridge, but it's Chakotay's combadge that chirps.

She looks away from his face to look at his combadge CUT TO

Chakotay with no combadge CUT TO

Chakotay with a combadge, meaning they must have swapped their combadges on the run; otherwise, it makes no sense, it's a mistake or a leftover from an earlier draft that wasn't fixed. But what the heck does this imply? We all know what it implies, but it's weird and can be read as a mistake. There have been mistakes like this in S2 with objects shifting positions from one shot to another.

But you tell me, what are we supposed to think when we see all these little moments, only to go back to the status quo in every other scene (not to meniton interviews)? The Indiana farm scene is the biggest one that doesn't match what we saw here, giving me the biggest narrative whiplash of them all. The J/C scenes often contradict themselves because, as I said and as was confirmed by the Hagemans when they said they could never give a clear answer, the romantic relationship is both trying to be and not be at the same time. It was purposefully written as such to make all parties happy, but this, in my opinion, doesn't work in favour of the story (in this department) cause it reads as inconsistent. It makes Janeway's behaviour inconsistent.

Sometimes I feel there was someone in Prodigy who went out of their way to insert moments like these, either to spite the decision not to give a clear answer or to make things even more confusing.

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

Prodigy s2 thoughts/review (spoilers under cut)

my spoilerfree tdlr: this was almost certainly the best season of Star Trek and i love it so dearly. while i have a couple of nitpicks, there really was not a single bad episode in the whole season and i think this is the only bit of new Trek that's managed to be serialized while still pacing the series well, keeping up with pretty much all the character arcs (and there are a lot), and including lighthearted and heartwarming moments without sacrificing plot. it's a solid 9/10 for me.

i'll start with nitpicks/critique first since it's a much shorter list:

i think Solum was still a bit underdeveloped as a setting and it might have done better to explore a bit more of Ascensia's motivations for going to war but this could also be the result of me having not seen s1 of Prodigy in a few months and forgetting some things.

i'm someone who really really likes time travel stories and has written complex time travel stories before and even i thought some of the time travel logic was a bit convoluted and confusing. they brush it off in the beginning but i still don't really get how preventing the Solum Civil War (and thus preventing the Diviner from being at Tars Lamora and creating Gwyn) wouldn't make Gwyn and all of the Protostar kids paradoxes? if anyone has an answer here, i'd genuinely love an explanation because i want to like it but i can't work it out.

related a bit to this point ^ i really like including Ilthuran/the Diviner as a sympathetic character this season but i feel like we needed to see a bit more of him to really understand him and why he was so corrupted in s2 and see the Protostar kids (not just Gwyn) deal with how a guy who formerly enslaved them is now a good guy.

i think the set up to a potential season 3 hit the emotions perfectly with the Protostar kids serving as a bright beacon of hope and outreach in a time when the Federation is becoming withdrawn and insular (and that Janeway would facilitate that dream of exploration) but on a plot level.... i just don't buy that Starfleet would let seven kids and a single hologram have one of the fastest & most powerful ships in Starfleet just to train on when Starfleet had just lost so much of their Fleet in the Mars attack.

i think most of the characters had really good clear arcs this season except for Jankom Pog who was just kind of... there. this is a pretty minor critique because i'm probably attached to Pog the least out of all the Protostar kids and again it could also be because i wasn't paying attention to him that much but i wish we could have a bit of a more serious storyline with his character.

but all in all – those are pretty minor critiques because i don't mind if the plot gets a bit wishy washy as long as the emotional and character beats hit.

now things i really liked:

Dal's arc this season was so so good. i heard others talking about how he's great ADHD representation (especially for BIPOC kids) as someone who's intelligent and extremely skilled but really struggles in traditional education and despite seeming cocky/confident is often acting out of insecurity that he isn't really good enough or that the adults around him don't really care about him.

and i love how both Janeway and Chakotay serve as such great mentors!! Janeway for actually looking for ways to support him and show that she trusts Dal (and the rest of the Protostar kids) instead of punishing them for misbehaving. and Chakotay for that wonderful scene where he explains how there can feel like a push to always be at the top and be the best but the best thing in life is to find a place where you belong and can grow in healthy ways even if it means waiting to fulfill your ambitions (and what a good representation of healthy masculinity that is!)

and on that front. pretty much all of the scenes with Janeway and Chakotay were so lovingly crafted with how they both existed as mentors for the main characters but also had their own arcs and their mentorship reflected back on their own characters. i'm also not a huge j/c shipper (i like it theoretically, i'm just not that committed) but the loving glances they shared were Noticed.

i also like to think that the reason Janeway and Chakotay were so could at dealing with the Protostar kids was their command of Voyager's mixed Starfleet-Maquis crew and how they both know that despite Starfleet's ideals they often let down people who aren't Perfect enough (whether because of mental health, species, neurodiversity, etc). i'm specifically thinking about Tom and B'Elanna but i'm sure it also goes for Voyager's other crew that we don't see onscreen.

i love Gwyn. so much. i love how this season turned around expectations a little with Gwyn getting to have her Captain-y moments more so than Dal (through the series too, not just at the end) and her confronting her fear over her responsibility for an entire planet of her people who she's never even met before and insecurity that she's not really One Of Them.

i was also a little wary of Zero's arc this season at first because of how Star Trek tends to have "this autistic coded character is missing a fundamental part of existence and that's sad" narratives but i honestly think it was a pretty fresh portrayal of disability in that Zero in their normal metal body is missing senses that other people have and they enjoyed experiencing them in an organic body but going back to their metal containment suit wasn't sad, it was just a part of their life. and they even added a disability aid to their suit so they can still experience touch without all the "they're getting closer to being human" ableist shit that scifi tends to do. also their organic body using a mobility aid for a few episodes was Very Important to me. i might make a bigger analysis post of this portrayal later but i have to think on it.

i don't have much to say about her right now but i love Rok-Tahk so dearly and was overjoyed that she just got to be happy this season. every scene of her getting excited over science or another character commenting on how she's a genius was just so good.

Ma'Jel was also a fun addition and much needed to add a bit of common sense to the extremely chaotic dynamics going on. her and Zero Vulcan kissing at the end was extremely cute.

also every time either the Voyager-A crew would start saying "it's okay. we'll mutiny with you." to Janeway or Janeway got an order from Jellico (hey nice to see him btw! he's played by the same actor too!) that she immediately ignored, i was so happy. now that's my Captain!

i also have mixed opinions on the EMH in Voyager (mostly due to the last two seasons) but i thought he was great in here with a good balance of comedic scenes and some more serious moments. i did chuckle every time he started talking about his awful holonovels.

WESLEY CRUSHER!!!!! i'll be honest, i had a few ideas of characters that might make cameo appearances (i was banking on Harry Kim tbh) but for some reason Wesley never crossed my mind even though it makes SO MUCH SENSE given how his story in tng paralleled/was an inverse of the Protostar kids. instead of being a kid far away from the Federation who dreamt of of belonging somewhere safe, he was a genius kid on track to be a great captain and fulfill the Starfleet Dream TM but became lost and burnt out when he started to question if that was ever what he really wanted. both Wes and the Protostar kids dealt with self doubt and were dismissed at various points as Just Kids but they went in opposite directions.

i also just really love chaotic Time Lord Wes who's kind of forgotten how to be a person but is just doing this emoji 🤠 in every scene. the vibes were so impeccable.

also BEVERLY!!!!! as soon as Wes showed up i immediately made a post about how funny Janeway explaining All Of This to Beverly would be and then i was SHOCKED when it actually happened??? this show quite literally predicts my every want.

just everything about The Devourer of All Things was written specifically for me. the Loom were such good monsters (it's been forever since Star Trek did a straight up Scary Monster story). the explanation of all the different universes and timelines set my nerd brain on fire. the return of Janeway in a tank top. the snappy writing that also had some great character moments. the Doctor Who-ness of it all. i need to rewatch it asap.

the other episode highlight for me was Cracked Mirror for fun parallel universe exploits and getting to see Mirrorverse versions of Janeway and Chakotay. (there was even a Disco reference with the Agonizer!) it was predictable but the throwaway line to "Captain Tuvix" in whatever reality Rok and Zero ended up in almost made me do a spit take.

as someone who does genuinely love Picard (the show) despite its flaws, i am really happy how much was integrated into this season of Prodigy both with showing Beverly with a young Jack Crusher and with the attack on Mars being shown at the very end.

all in all – VERY GOOD SEASON. it gave me everything i wanted and more with only some minor nitpicks. and most importantly, i had fun in pretty much every single episode. i cleared my schedule on Monday because i thought i would be able to binge it all in one day but i simply had too much fun and only got through half of it. if season 1 of Prodigy was the best ever first season of a Star Trek show then this is maybe the best ever season of any Star Trek show.

[tilda-rothery]

My watch of Star Trek: Prodigy and the dynamic between Janeway and Chakotay has got me thinking about Sam and Jack from SG-1. Two completely different franchises that have a set of characters that would absolutely go to the ends of the galaxy to save the other.

I haven't watched all that much Star Trek, I will admit. But I'm getting there, I promise.

I have, however, watched Stargate more times than I can count (though it did end at season 8 for me) and there is an episode where Sam spends months trying to figure out a way to save Jack after he's stranded on an alien planet and Good ol' Dr Frasier (I love her, by far my favourite recurring character, hence why I use the name Rothery) asks Sam if her feelings are a problem because, hello, regulations and you can't have feelings for your CO Sam.

And then there's the time Sam gets stuck in an interstellar cloud, alone on the Prometheus and Jack can't do a whole lot to help her, so he ends up feeling entirely useless and Teal'c talks to him about how there was a time Sam felt very much the same when he was M.I.A once again on a different alien planet than the one mentioned above.

The need to do all that they can to save the other while probably feeling completely and utterly helpless, because where do you start?

And Upgrades people, let's not forget about Upgrades!

There are just so many instances but these are the ones I was reminded of when I watched Prodigy, because for me, the scenes with Janeway desperate to save Chakotay just vibed in a similar way. And yes, I need to watch more Voyager because I don't know the half of it yet.

The only difference in Stargate is that the feelings are acknowledged on screen by Sam and Jack, but we can just leave them in the room, sir if you want and pretend we don't have them, when we totally do. That's cool Carter, let's do that. Alrighty then...

And I forgot where I was going with this, it's late and I'm tired and now I am just rambling and not making any sense...

But I guess my point was who doesn't want someone that would travel through time and space to save your ass because the world is a better place with you in it, all because they love you so goddamn much?

And sure it can be platonic if you want, but with these two pairings it doesn't feel that way to me. But that's just how I feel about...

As a S/J shipper, thank God for Moebius and Threads.

...And I know in these shows there are instances where other crew/team members get equally stuck in stupidly dangerous/life threatening situations that require them to be saved (::cough cough:: Daniel), but it's not quite the same now is it, when there is no yearning present?

[miminmimikyu]

Prodigy episode 17-18: something something about Janeway knowing since her academy days that she’s wearing a device next to her heart that (with minimal modification) is a bomb. What even was the context for learning that trick : ‘D

Scariest thing in these two episodes might be Janeway saying she might retire to a farm in Indiana now. That's such a death flag even though I know she survives!! Then again, the back of my mind says : "we don't know what she looks like in Picard, so grievous bodily harm isn't off the table.."

Wesley noo, showing up in a room full of angry Vau N’Akat and tell them “stop!” ,that's the plan?

Oh I love it when they put the date on-screen and I can add to my mental timeline. So it's been months since the wormhole was destroyed then?

I knew we could count on young Ascencia to help everyone out!

Oh, my apologies to Wesley.. subjecting yourself to months of torture to trick the enemy into building all the technology you need!!! That was an incredible plan! Not to be a Whovian again but: Doctor coded <3

Zero and Jankom have a right to be angry though, idk if any random crew members on Voyager-A died in that attack but it seems more likely than not. Then again, Wesley did say this path was “without endless suffering” and not “no casualties”. Anyway this plan is definitely going too well…

Ah.

For how much Wesley keeps talking about how “thought” is an incredibly important variable, he couldn’t predict that Gwyn would not leave her father behind. Well, I suppose that even with all those powers Wesley is still human.

(I forget how old Wesley was when his dad died. Maybe he’s so used to not having a dad that that legitimately didn’t occur to him. Because that would be a nice character thing that explains fallibility: he's been away from people too long, now there are some paths that he can't see because it gets harder to factor in other people's thoughts (feelings))

Janeway forgetting her birthday in Year of Hell and getting a present from Chakotay 🤝 Janeway forgetting the anniversary of Voyager’s departure and Chakotay giving her a present <3

How long has it been for Janeway that Chakotay’s was missing? How long has she been searching that she's considering retiring now that she's found him?

“With what you and I’ve been through, it does take patience” does it?? DOES IT??

EMH and Holo Janeway interacting!!!!! That was so sweet! (also so sad, since Holo Janeway is fated to blow herself up before she ever leaves the Protostar ;_;). But if we’re naming differences between Janeway and Holo Janeway liking all his holo novels is probably a big one. Oh, and now the role reversal has made it weird.

Doctor, you say you’re not a covert operative but I’ve seen Renaissance Man.. Notably that also was a story where Captain Janeway was so done with the doc and was veery not on board with socialising with him, so that makes Holo Janeway's admiration even funnier. At least Vice Admiral Janeway is getting along with him better now.

(btw I still don't believe he's on a first-name basis with her, like he implied to the Protostar kids in episode 1. iirc I haven't heard him do that in front of her? but it's so like the doc to play their relationship up to impress some newbies lmao)

(i know it's the fatigue but the novel in progress probably isn't helping)

Is this why there was a callback to Endgame two episodes ago??? Janeway you can’t use the Endgame strategy on her and offer up your brain as bait ,Ascencia probably read your file!!!!

The EMH is doing a Renaissance Man isn’t he? Fuck yeahhh he’s doing a Renaissance Man!!

I love this show, even the Loom get to be portrayed as living, feeling beings by introducing that scared and mistreated one in captivity!!!!!

Well, Ascencia didn't meet Chakotay so unless they have a final showdown I think she really is laser focusing all her Federation hate on Janeway and not giving him a second thought except when taunting Janeway

Oh my heart just grew 3 sizes:

I can’t believe there’s only two episodes left ;_; manifesting Gwyn finally catching a break after 2 series of shouldering all that guilt. Carefree smile time carefree smile time carefree smile time

[leohtttbriar]

Voyager “Deadlock” coda fic: Harry and B’Elanna talk

Time was not fixed or stable, warped as it was by its intimate relationship with everything else. Or maybe: it was fixed and stable, just fixed into an intimate relationship with things that shifted under time’s skin. Its information radiated out of all things that changed it beyond recognition and—Harry was its fool? Or its waste? Or however the quote went. He liked Shakespeare—but he also didn’t. 

Tom had left Harry to his strange mood at breakfast, running off to his shift so he would arrive at a perfectly timed 15-minutes early. To annoy Chakotay, he had said with a grin. To prove my point. 

I’m not sure there is anything else you need to prove, Tom, Harry had felt the need to press. 

Yes, well, and then he had darted off. 

Yes, well, Harry had said to himself, picking at his breakfast, now in a mostly empty room.

Something he understood about Tom—something he felt in Tom he had no desire yet to admit to having within himself—was that unbearable certainty that no one was telling the truth. Not to him. Ironic, for Tom, when he’d been having a lot of fun misleading the whole ship weeks ago. For Harry, this was not disproven. 

The table at which he sat was facing the observation windows—Voyager was back at top-speed heading home. Or it was standing still. Matter of perspective? He shook his head. 

“You going to finish that?” B’Elanna asked, dropping in front of the stars and grabbing his mug of coffee. 

“Please,” he said, gesturing for her to take it, but she had already started drinking. 

He watched her face—the way she wasn’t watching him as she chugged the coffee and set it down and put her chin her hand and looked down at the table-top.

“So,” she said, not looking at him. “How are you holding up?”

“Good,” he replied. “How are you, B’Elanna?”

She just nodded. 

Harry turned away from the troubled line on her left cheek, her nose scrunching up in a way he’s certain she didn’t want it to, and looked back out the window, beyond her shoulder. He didn’t want to be lied to. 

“I’m not sure I am where I am, B’Elanna,” he heard himself say. Then he gripped the table edge, hard, and added with a cringe, “Sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—“

“Like you feel as if you’re having delusions or you’re having trouble rationalizing the very real spacetime paradox we all lived through?” B’Elanna asked, leaning back in her chair, crossing her arms, still not looking at him but responding honestly. 

Harry took in a quick breath and said, “The second one I think.”

B’Elanna nodded again. “Yeah,” she said, moving her jaw silently. “Only you didn’t live through it—must be especially strange for you.”

Harry tried to trace her logic and failed. “That wasn’t me. I don’t remember it.” 

B’Elanna nodded. Again. 

“Everyone I know died.” 

“Well, I don’t remember that,” she said.

Harry frowned at her. “You’re mad I’m not him.”

She looked at him. She rolled her eyes. “That’s not how this works, Starfleet. You are him. This isn’t some philosophical riddle. You aren’t a ship being rebuilt. What things qualify Harry Kim, hmm? Particles? Memories?”

“Clearly I don’t have all his memories because I don’t remember dying.”

“So you think if you forget something about your life now you’ve fundamentally changed? What did you have for breakfast a week ago?”

“Breakfast and dying aren’t equivalent.”

She dropped forward, hands on the table. “Aren’t they, though?”

“No, they’re not, B’Elanna.” He folded his arms. “The things you feel you have to know aren’t always true, you know?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just mean you’re so…” he watched her mouth twitch. “It’s okay to be affected. By terrible things. You don’t have to minimize this.”

“Well you don’t have to fix it,” she snapped. 

“No, that’s your job.” 

“I know what you’re trying to do, Harry, and it’s ridiculous. You’re real. That’s it. Why are you letting yourself being unsettled? What do you want this to confirm for you?”

Harry bit at the inside of his cheek. He glanced meekly at the replicated breakfast on his plate—he used one of his replicator credits for it, thinking it might help him to feel less unnerved. 

“I’m not sure I was built for strange,” he said. 

“Cryptic.”

“Captain Janeway said that’s what being in Starfleet is: strange experiences.”

“She’s right.”

“Well, maybe I’m not fit for it.”

“And yet here you are.” 

He pushed back his food and stood up rapidly from his seat, hands dragging down his face in frustration. 

“It feels like she replicated me,” he confessed. “She replicated me and that baby. She just willed it. Punched in the code. Got us here—existing.” 

B’Elanna stood as well and then sat on top of the table, legs swinging innocently, face turned to the ground. 

“Harry,” she said, sounding grim. “Can you live with it?”

“What?” he sounded shrill. 

“There’s another Harry, drifting in space, possibly frozen and possibly going to remain that way until the heat death of the universe. I let you go. Yet here you are. Can you live with it?”

Harry put his hands on his hips, glanced at the stars, thought about how long one can survive in the vacuum, how short. “Obviously.”

“Then what do you need?” 

“I’m just trying to make sense—“

“No,” she said. And Harry saw tears in her eyes. “You’re not. The logic is already there, Harry. You can’t rationalize this any more than what’s there. It’s real and true. You weren’t replicated. You are exactly as you were. You feel strange about it because it’s strange. Because you walked through a rift in the continuum. Yet here you are. What do you need?”

“What I always need,” he said, pathetically, throat hardening like a salt on the shore, chest filling with short and inadequate breaths. “Someone to say it’s okay.”

B’Elanna, pink-faced and teary-eyed, smiled like a thorny rose and said, “It’s okay.” 

Harry couldn’t help it. He stepped forward and pulled her into his chest, wrapping an arm around her shaking shoulders, and pressing his own stinging shut eyes into her hair. Her hands lifted to lay across his back and he held. 

“I’m sorry for dying on you,” he said. 

“It’s okay,” she mumbled into his shirt. “You’re still here.”

“It’s strange.”

“It’s okay,” she said again.

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

ask #1 do you think Janeway would ever confess her feelings to chakotay

I actually think there's sooo so much of what they understand about their feelings for eachother that we never see on screen. Theres some really lovely moments in the novels in that vein (Read Isabo's Shirt. no really. youll enjoy it 😘)

But setting Beta canon *aside* and working under the assumption that they do not ever talk about feelings during the shows run

I can believe that piece easily. Until Hunters she considers herself engaged to Mark. thats an easy way to justify getting emotionally close to her first officer (for the support and companionship they both need) but never going further with it or discussing it.

And after Hunters is there ever a good moment? for the rest of the series, Chakotay is coping with the trauma of knowing all the maquis in the alpha quadrant were massacred. Something that we see BElanna struggle with but we never see Chakotay's side. We never even see Janeway learn about it.

Theres a metric fuck ton of other trauma these two go through during the show run - the Hirogen enslave and torture the crew for a whole month. Janeway grapples with depression or ptsd or whatever you interpret Night as being. Being assimilated. Memorial. That encounter with the Dauntless. oh and then of course Timeless...

Timeless seems to acknowledge their feelings but subtextually. there still is a lot left unsaid. even if I headcanon that they did have "dessert" in that episode, I think it would have been just a sexual release of the tension between them. Theres being aware that you have mutual feelings. theres acting on them... and then there is actually talking about it. And I suspect that they are both extremely aware of them and think it is only going to make it harder if they talk about it (however right or wrong they are about it).

Regardless, Timeless ending the way it does is another opportunity to spook them both back to opposite corners: not only do they not make it home but Janeway becomes painfully aware of what could have happened in that alternate future. so lets load that onto her heaping high pile of things she feels massive guilt about. Thats not a person who is going to feel free to open up about their feelings. whether it be viewed by her as something she doesnt deserve (for stranding the crew) or something that will be an added burden on Chakotay (to be her partner and her subordinate? perpetually? thats HARD) or on her (potentially needing to be responsible for his death if it happened due to her order? Thats also hard!).

My own timeless theory is that she comes to see these feeling she holds for him as toxic to their goal. she wanted to be back home and able to embrace a chance with him badly enough to overlook the clear risks of the slipstream flight. thats got to weigh heavy on her. This crews lives are in her hands and hers alone. she has to put them first. (And he KNOWS that deeply. establishing a longstanding situation where they both know about theyre feelings. theyre free to act on them and possibly have in the past. but neither feels able to begin talking about them)

The long and short of it is i can easily see them never discussing their feelings during the shows run. acting on and acknowledging them sure, but talking about them, nope. no talking here. (that also would explain his dating Seven in the final season. being in limbo with someone emotionally for that long is unsustainable)

But your question was whether they ever talk about it ever.

I think they definitely do. but it would be a huge thing to approach. theyve hurt eachother. theyve been wounded by the long mission. they are gonna have massive things to adjust to when they get home. (Ex fiance has a preschooler and wants to be friends. all the maquis are dead. family and friends have grown and changed. A whole devastating war happened without them there. Basically I think theres ALOT of more important things theyre gonna need to figure out after Voyager. And they'd do what theyve done for 7 years and lean on eachother. I think they might just wind up in a situation where they only talk about their feelings after theyve all but moved in together.

(God if two characters ever needed couples therapy without technically being a couple it would be these two. Starfleets counselors probably have a field day with everything the Voyager folks are dealing with)

[fate-motif]

i’ve found it that sometimes getting the hater shit out the way so you can fully enjoy something is the best way to be whole in your emotions so without further ado, here is my prodigy s2 hater shit i’m so sorry for this i still think it was one of the best seasons of star trek since ds9

i would have appreciated maj’el’s heel-face turn to have been a little more coherent than “we survived together so they can’t be that bad” + “zero is cute”. i don’t know how they would have found the time, but i just think her change of heart came a little too sudden.

petty nitpick: i understand her name is a reference to majel barrett but i believe it would have felt a little more natural if her name had just been majel since vulcans can have one element names okay, and maj’el really stands out in a series of names like t’pol, t’pau, t’pel, etc. like, it feels more like funky scifi-cation.

i can’t believe i’m saying this but so much of this season would have been improved if there had been more voyager characters. the emh was a decent choice for guest role (he was certainly very convenient), but it really wasn’t the best thematically. the ideal choice would have been b’elanna, to me, as chakotay’s best friend. also, i appreciate wesley, but the ideal guardian angel would have been kes guys. okay? the voyager that was left behind? one who would care about the desperate in the delta quadrant and would really care about chakotay’s survival?

(sidenote: there was a moment i was convinced that adreek’s death was going to be undone when the time paradoxes became resolved and i just thought harry would have been the ideal pick for chakotay’s fellow castaway, given their history in timeless, but apparently i was wrong and i’m glad harry is not dead and crystallized at the bottom of a cavern)

once again they skimped development for poor jankom pog. like, disappointed as i am that they didn’t develop rok, she got their development last season. jankom doesn’t have development in either season! season 3, you better deliver! not just for jankom (he’s becoming besties with the guy who told him his last name is a slur??) but because tellarites are so underdeveloped? why did he want to be polite at first? that plot thread was dropped so unceremoniously. it really is a shame.

the alternate universes episode would have been more appropriate in a show where the episodes reach 50 minutes. we barely have time to feel much about being in a timeline where janeway’s dead before we’re catapulted to another, and the mirror universe detour not only contradicted the ds9 mirror universe state of events, but just felt like a corny excuse for us to get the closest thing to physical intimacy in jc when the real thing would have been completely fine. that said i forgive them for the stupid evil whale gag. that was hilarious

i concur with what other people are saying. i doubt the versions of ascencia and ilthuran after the events of s2 would grow up to become the vindicator and diviner we know, and their decision to follow the wormhole and commit atrocities is just as paramount to the creation of gwyn and rediscovery of the protostar as the fact that the protostar needs to be on tars lamora. for that matter, solum needs to be in a state of devastating civil war 52 years in the future for them to capture the protostar and outfit it with the living construct. so is solum still doomed to destruction? are we supposed to accept that, even in the face of the destruction of reality? wouldn’t gwyn be more devastated by that knowledge?

i think i prefer s1 better than s2 in terms of serialization. maybe i wouldn’t feel this way if we’d gotten weekly releases and a midseason hiatus, but s2 felt incredibly dense, to the point of being exhausting to get through at the very end of the season. 

listen i understand picard put prodigy in the worst possible bind, where the status quo for the next twenty so years is going to consist in an apartheid state for synths and the leadership of starfleet will be responsible for the death of so many romulans. but i feel that janeway miraculously pulling an insane amount of strings to give an entire starship to kids who barely got a chance to stay at the academy is stretching my suspension of disbelief. maybe say that she’s made an argument for stashing the prodigy away because it’s so unstable, and promise it to the kids once they’re through the academy, and so we can have a very understandable timeskip until they are actually crewmen? 

while i think it’s very consistent with voyager that janeway and chakotay’s affection is very physically restrained in public, i feel like it was bordering in comical how much they were holding back in a show where they no longer have the limitations they did on voyager. actually, scratch that. i didn’t need them to kiss. i needed them to explicitly say that they were in love. that was what was needed to actually commit. and they didn’t do it?? dal and gwyn got to kiss last season twice but we can’t have janeway and chakotay profess their love?? come on.

damn it i was promised chameleon dal and we did not get him!!!

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s3 ep16: Blood Fever

Oh my god it's this one!! Somehow I didn't expect it to be this early, either- I remembered it was in season 3 somewhere, but up till now, there's only been the smallest hint of set up for Tom and B'Elanna as a pairing, and then boom! A fuck-or-die episode! Voyager writers really love hitting us with the insane shippy episodes out of nowhere!

I gotta say, my otp having a fuck or die episode is something I will never be able to be normal about. Is it stupid? Yes. Pon farr being contagious is so stupid, but they do their best to make it reasonably plausible- we've got a Vulcan on board who has a crush on B'Elanna- what if he accidentally initiated a telepathic bond with her while he's going through pon farr, and then she got pon farr too? Sure! Let's do that! A fuck or die situation is a perfectly normal way to introduce a pairing for the first time! (It's not, it's crazy, how is this episode even real??)

But actually, it's a smart story device for their characters, considering they both grew up with emotionally unavailable parents, which usually makes people extremely resistant to sharing their true feelings, and more likely to push away the people and things they want most. Putting them into a fuck or die situation was an efficient way to get them to admit they have genuine interest in eachother without dragging it out forever. Up till now, Tom/B'Elanna had barely been a thing, storywise- they're friends, mostly because they're both friends with Harry, so they hang out together sometimes and do occasional projects together. We've had a few instances of Tom casually flirting with B'Elanna, and her just as casually shooting him down, but that's about it. Certainly nothing yet to indicate that either of them had serious feelings toward the other.

So they go on their away mission to gather a mineral they need from some abandoned mines on a jungle planet, wearing even more form fitting uniforms for rock climbing (because of course they have to have tighter clothes for the horny episode). B'Elanna seems to be acting a bit strangely, but she's in charge of the mission, so Tom and Neelix just go with it. Then Neelix's rope breaks as they climb down, and he gets injured, and B'Elanna uncharacteristically yells at him. Tom tells her to chill, but that pisses her off more, she bites Tom on the face, and storms off. (And for those of us who remember our Klingon lore from Next Gen, we know that biting someone on the face is a mating ritual. Imagine your crush admitting they like you, like that. This episode is insane!!)

Somehow, when Tom contacts Voyager to get help for Neelix and tell them what happened, Tuvok figures out that B'Elanna caught Vorik's pon farr. When Tuvok and Chakotay go down to rescue Neelix, Tuvok explains to Tom that B'Elanna now has fuck-or-die syndrome, and they have to find her and get her back to Voyager before she dies. They catch up with her in the cave, but there's a rockslide, and of course, Tom and B'Elanna are trapped alone together. And then we get some of the most insanely hot scenes in all of Star Trek.

I'm the first person to admit that Star Trek is usually terrible at romance, and even worse at sexytimes- I can't think of a single Next Gen ep where a scene that was supposed to be sexy didn't land somewhere between 'meh' and 'I just threw up in my mouth a little bit'. And I love Next Gen! They just didn't know how to be sexy, at all. Somewhere between Next Gen and Voyager, though, they figured it out. We've already had some hints of it with all the Janeway/Chakotay they've been throwing at us, but they really went for it here with B'Elanna and Tom, and it worked.

Robbie McNeill and Roxann Dawson having off-the-charts onscreen chemistry certainly helped, but the writing here actually gave them a lot of layers to work with. There's a very erotically charged scene of a messy haired, tank top clad B'Elanna making overtures to Tom, but because Tom actually is a good person, he refuses to take advantage of B'Elanna having fuck-or-die syndrome, even though he's been trying to hit that for months. So then, to diffuse things, Tom asks B'Elanna if she's telling him he's impossible to resist, and he gives her the smuggest, goofiest grin, which, of course, she can't give him the satisfaction of admitting to. She backs off, and they continue on their trek through the caves, and it's honestly the most adorable thing he could have done, and somehow kind of makes me more insane for them??

Meanwhile, by their next scene, the pon farr is getting worse, so B'Elanna tries again with Tom, and this scene has lived in my head rent free ever since. It manages to be sensuous, and tender, and incredibly sexy, all at the same time. It's beautifully shot- the lighting is gorgeous and atmospheric, with the flashlights on their wrists providing beams of light that dance around their faces, and catch the dust swirling in the air around them. The camera is very close to them, they're sweaty and breathing heavily, they're looking into each other's eyes, finally admitting how attracted they are to each other, touching each other so softly, as they flit between holding back and giving in- the music swells when they kiss, and it's just... hot, hot stuff. A+, 10/10, no notes.

And then the kicker, that makes all of it not only unbearable sexy, but unbearably angsty- when B'Elanna tells him she wants him, he looks sad, and says he hopes she'll say that to him and mean it one day- and we realize that a) he doesn't believe that she actually likes him back and b) this sad motherfucker is in love with her, and doesn't want their first time to be a fuck or die, he wants it to be special and meaningful. Oh my goddd. These writers are sadists, and they wanted us not only to ship it, but to suffer for it. And it worked!!! I did!!! Almost three goddamn decades later and these idiots are still my Star Trek otp!!! How?! In one episode?! One scene?! Diabolical!!! Thank god they were endgame, because this was torture!!!

So anyway, that was obviously not what B'Elanna wanted to hear in that moment, and she pushes him away angrily- the mood is ruined, which was what he wanted, but it also makes them both miserable. Thanks I hate it!!! I'm totally invested, after only one episode, yet again!!!

So then Chakotay and Tuvok find them and bring them back to the jungle, but they can't make contact with Voyager, so Tuvok basically orders Tom to go have sex with B'Elanna so she doesn't die before they can get her to sickbay. Tom agrees, but he's the literal worst about it - B'Elanna is all over him, and he says he doesn't know what to do. Are you kidding?? Thomas Eugene 'I lost my virginity at 17 and I have to tell everyone about it' Paris, that is a lie. Shut up. Kiss her back, you spineless weasel. He does finally get over the morality police in his head, and realize it's probably okay to have sex with someone you like who likes you, especially if doing so will literally save their life. But by the time he figures this out, it's too late- Vorik beams down, and challenges him to ritual combat over B'Elanna, which challenge Tom accepts, but B'Elanna chooses herself as her own champion (iconic tbh) and she beats the crap out of Vorik (he's okay though), which resolves both their pon farr symptoms.

We then cut back to the ship, where a few days have passed, and Tom and B'Elanna awkwardly find themselves in a turbolift together. After a minute of not being able to make eye contact, Tom comes out and says they have to talk about it, but B'Elanna sidesteps the whole thing by telling him she didn't mean anything she said while they were on the planet, so it's all fine. Tom is disappointed, and he tells her that if she was worried about her scary Klingon side showing, he didn't think it was scary, and he wouldn't mind seeing it again. She surprises him by telling him to be careful what he wishes for as she walks away, and it's an unmistakably flirty overture. Ship officially established! I'm gonna be insane about it forever!!!

Oh, and then the very last scene is Janeway and Chakotay finding a goddamn dead Borg on the planet, because of course we can't just have nice things like no recurring villains for any stretch of damn time, can we?! (I hate literally all of Voyager's recurring villains, especially the Borg, and feel that the show's best episodes are always with one-off villains, but here we are. Sigh.)

But the Borg aren't the point of this episode, my otp is. Even when I was too young to appreciate how sexy this whole thing was, the chemistry Tom and B'Elanna have together was still obvious, and I've shipped it ever since. And they actually developed it!!! This episode is historic just by virtue of being the start of an actual, canon romance between two lead characters that actually got developed and paid off, which was a Star Trek first back then. Sometimes I'm not sure what's hotter- this episode, or all the character development they gave them later, lol. But the bottom line is that I'm 100% here for it. Sorry not sorry for the annoying shipper I'm going to become as the series progresses. Two of my faves actually got together in canon, no one can be expected to be normal about that!

Tl;dr: Another insanely shippy episode dropped on us from out of nowhere, that unexpectedly delivers some well thought out character scenes that make it work. A sizzling start to Tom and B'Elanna's romantic arc, which develops through the rest of the series. A tropey, but well crafted, work of horny, horny art.

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME. last night we watched ds9's "empok nor" and voy's "scorpion part i."

empok nor (ds9):

THIS ONE WAS SO GOOD.

firstly, i love when we bring up o'briens war history. SECONDLY, i love when garak has problems

i also really really love nog, but cathy was right when she said it should have been bashir with them - he would have made the perfect hostage tied to the pole while the two of them fought over him. we've never really got a taste of the o'brien bashir garak dynamic and it would have been delicious

GARAK STALKING THEM THROUGH THE SHADOWS. very scary. mwah

also, it's really funny that this station IS ds9, they just turned the lights off. i love budget genre television

and, of course, who can forget the failed government experiments frozen in a tube? this episode had EVERYTHING

i also thought o'brien and garak at the end were very chill considering. o'brien like yeah dude i really was attempting with my whole pussy to kill you and garak like yeah i wouldn't have it any other way can you tell the guy's wife that i murdered that i'm sorry and o'brien is like yeah dude no prob feel better soon see you around. like what is it about garak that encourages this kind of dynamic...he tortured odo and then they become breakfast buddies, he tries to kill o'brien and they brush it off, he did that whole thing (gestures to "the wire") with julian and julian still gives him hugs and a blankie when he has claustrophobia. you can say anything to this guy. he tells nothing but lies but won't accept hearing anything less than the absolute no-frills-attached truth

anyway, 10/10

scorpion part i (voy):

SPEAKING OF EPISODES THAT HAD EVERYTHING.

gimli as leonardo da vinci. janeway and chakotay being sweet to each other. janeway and chakotay fighting. borg. disembodied heads. tentacles oozing into orifices. cgi aliens. janeway appealing to the devil. action. drama. INCREDIBLE

three years ago i didn't even know your name today i can't imagine a day without you i'm going to HURL!!!!!!

chakotay like. hey we havent slept. we havent eaten. you need to do that. and shes like sorry can't! and then he's like we cant go through this space we will die. like i've been semi-borged i know how bad it gets i don't want anything to happen to you and she's like sorry we gotta! and he;s like i'll follow you but i can't support this path and she's like well damn i guess i am alone. AGGHGHGHG

like along with a huge dose of actually suspenseful and scary action (it is always is with the borg) AND the cool body horror (rip harry kim and his mommy issues) we also get this wonderful interpersonal drama...and like i absolutely get why she's not willing to wait in the delta quadrant for a safer way to do this to come along. because you could do that forever. i also get where HE'S coming from because with the risk of death so high maybe it's better to accept the facts...that's what he did in (draws hearts) 2.25 resolutions, and just like in that episode, she does not give up, CANNOT give up, because it means facing not only despair but failure - and in this case, failing more than just herself

shoutout also to the scorpion and the fox parable, which i'd never heard as fox but frog, because it is of course in that one show about the teenage canines

i cannot believe people had to wait months for this to have a follow-up in 1997. EVILLLL

next episode........we finally meet seven. i am Dying to see her

TONIGHT: ds9 s5's last two episodes, "in the cards" and "call to arms."

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Tom Paris

By Ames

Strap in and get ready to go fast! A Star to Steer Her By has Tom Paris in the driver’s seat for this week’s character spotlight. Tom is a solid character throughout all of Voyager, with many faults that leave him room to develop over the seasons. He starts off as kind of a badboy with a heart of gold and grows into a good friend, loving husband, proud father, and designer of the Delta Flyer… who occasionally still dabbles into badboy with a heart of gold for fun.

Lt. Paris has a ton of hobbies (perhaps too many hobbies) for the show to mine for plots, but deep down, he’s just a guy with a ton of pressure on his shoulders, looking to redeem himself from past mistakes, and I give Voyager some credit for the Best Moments we’ll explore below, and even for some of the Worst Moments too. So pick a character from The Adventures of Captain Proton and hop in the holodeck with us as we highlight all things Paris below and on this week’s podcast episode (speed over to 55:35). Invaders! Invaders!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Am I discerning a personal problem here, gentlemen? We can’t be the only ones who hated the childish love triangle between Neelix, Kes, and Paris, and clearly the writers were sick of it too because they knew enough to fix it. Watching Paris and Neelix putting aside their differences in “Parturition,” while predictable and a little obvious, was exactly what their characters needed to get rid of that jealous rivalry no one asked for.

To infinity! And beyond! I will always defend “Threshold” … up until the last five or so minutes of the episode, which go off the rails. But up until then, we get so much great character work from Tom. His speech alone about how much pressure his father put on him to make something of himself and that’s why he needs to be the one to break the warp 10 barrier makes up for all the lizard babies out there.

Always make a pilot your wingman Paris is also just a good guy to all his friends on the ship, even the Doctor, with whom he’s constantly butting heads. So when the EMH is seeking advice for how to progress his relationship with Danara Pel in “Lifesigns,” Tom is there to suggest a trip to makeout point in the back of a Chevy convertible, which definitely does the trick!

There has been a spy aboard Voyager, but it isn’t Tom Paris While I was quick to give Tuvok some sass for how convoluted, dangerous, and bad his plan in “Investigations” was, Tom is what made it work in the end. He plays his part so well that he is able to foil Seska’s plan, expose the true traitor on the Voyager, and save the ship from attack by Kazons. And it is nice of him to apologize for all the insubordination part of the plan.

The cavalry’s here! Speaking of foiling Seska’s plans, Tom gets to save the day from her and the Kazons yet again in “Basics”! Where Chakotay was always too trusting of that secret Cardassian, Tom knows exactly where to tell Seska to shove it. His efforts allow him to escape the commandeered ship to bring back Talaxian reinforcements, sneak a message to the EMH, and thwart the Kazons for good!

I’m telling you again, he’s mine The friendship between Tom and Harry starts all the way back in the premier and comes a long way throughout Voyager, but it is on special display in “The Chute.” Tom protects Harry when he first arrives at the Akritirian prison, even getting stabbed to try to get them a chance at escaping, all while resisting the clamp that was agitating all the inmates’ minds.

Sexy, in a Howdy Doody sort of way You either enjoy or get fed up with the antics of an episode like “Future’s End,” but you’ve got to admit that Tom had chemistry like whoa with Rain Robinson. Watching two B movie fans geek out in the SETI lab was just endearing, and it makes me kinda wish we could have kept Rain around a little longer if only so she and Tom could play something silly on the holodeck.

If you let these instincts take over now, you’ll hate yourself We’ve scolded both Tuvok and Torres for their rapey actions in “Blood Fever” (and here’s an extra scold for Vorik, that dick), but the crew member who treats the situation correctly is Paris. He rightly declares that he will not take advantage of a person who has no ability to consent due to the pon farr, which should be a bar low enough for most people to easily clear.

You’ll miss the whole point of what it means to have a family Again we see Paris being a supportive friend in “Real Life” when the Doctor declares he’s shut down his holo-family program. Tom provides the human perspective that the Doc has needed and convinces him to let the rest of the story play out in a really lovely little peptalk. EMH really seems to get something out of experiencing both the good and the bad sides of real life.

Does the name Captain Bligh mean anything to you? While we were torn in our assessment of Chakotay’s handling of Annorax in “Year of Hell,” we know exactly where we stand on Tom’s approach: a standing ovation. Tom sticks to his guns in refusing to help the Krenim mess with the timeline, getting more blood on their hands. Instead, it’s his provoking Obrist to mutiny that ends up allowing Janeway to take them out in style!

Heavy is the chest that wears the puppet Though we’ll see in a moment that Tom does a lot of dumb things in his relationship with B’Elanna, they’re also a great match and truly love each other. We see this in “Nothing Human” when Torres is stuck under a puppet the entire episode, and Paris is at her bedside pretty much the whole time, being with her and keeping her spirits up.

I hereby reduce you to the rank of Ensign We, and many many fans apparently, have a jaded view of the Prime Directive sometimes. Tom is fully for breaking it in order to save the Moneans’ water planet in “Thirty Days,” standing up supportively for the little guy. So we frankly applaud his efforts, even if certain captains ensured they’d fail, when he tries to do what was morally right even if it breaks a frequently stupid rule.

—

Worst moments

At least he’s a step above Nick Locarno When we first meet Tom Paris in “Caretaker,” he’s in a Federation penal settlement in New Zealand, serving time for covering up a pilot error that caused the deaths of three other officers, which is a coward’s move even if he eventually fessed up to it. This sets him up for a character redemption arc, which I’ll at least say other Robbie McNeil–played characters don’t deserve.

Isn’t there some Indian trick where you can turn yourself into a bird and fly us out of here? What’s less forgivable is this line from “Caretaker” in which Tom makes some racist comment about Chakotay’s indigenous heritage that just comes off as crude. This line insinuating that Chakotay can turn into a bird comes absolutely out of nowhere and probably only serves to remind the audience that his character is Native American, and also that Tom is a tactless pig.

Birds of a feather, stick together On the subject of birds: whatever relationship Tom had with Lidell in “Ex Post Facto” was a terrible idea. Janeway talks so much smack to Harry when he has a consensual adult relationship with Tal in “The Disease,” when really she should have gotten on Tom’s case for having an affair with this molting bird woman who acts like a femme fatale out of a noir.

A whole crew full of women and I have to fall for the one I can’t have Another woman whom Paris really shouldn’t have gone for was Kes. We really don’t know what the writers were thinking with this love triangle, as it makes Tom look like a sleaze and Neelix look like a brute. Tom buys Kes a necklace in “Twisted,” when it was inappropriate as hell. And then “Parturition” starts with him moaning about his crush and being a big baby about it.

The house always wins Tom continues to look like a sleaze when he starts a sort of gambling ring for replicator rations in “Meld.” Tom’s sure got a lot of room to grow in this show because he does start off as this ne’er-do-well character, who is clearly taking advantage of his crewmates and pocketing all the replicator rations for himself because there’s never a winner of their little lottery pools.

Go, grease monkey, you’re burning up the quarter mile At some point, the show just decides Tom is going through a perpetual midlife crisis: adopting more hobbies than any other crewman; neglecting his duties, friends, and girlfriend; and generally seeming like a douche. And the episode that exemplifies this is “Vis à Vis,” in which he gets so fixated on fixing up a ‘69 Chevy Camaro that he becomes insufferable to everyone.

Building a new vessel from scratch, that’s an engineer's dream come true As I said last time, I mostly like Tom and B’Elanna as a couple, but every so often you wanna smack him for how oblivious he is. So while he does create the Delta Flyer in “Extreme Risk,” Paris ends up so distracted it makes him look like a buffoon because he hasn’t noticed that his partner has been having a crisis ever since learning months ago that her Maquis friends died.

The rain in Spain falls mainly in my brain This one’s mostly on the Doctor, but in case we don’t bring it up in a couple weeks when we spotlight his character, let’s blame Tom a little bit for this one too. The two of them make that inconsiderate bet about Pygmalion’ing Seven into a lady in “Someone to Watch Over Me,” and ya know what: she’s already great! Why these two men feel they need to fix her is frankly brutish.

Go ask Alice when she’s ten feet tall... and also a ship We remember from earlier in the show (and in this list!) how fixated Tom tends to get on his hobbies, bordering on obsessive behavior especially when it comes to cars and ships. So even though the eponymous ship in “AIice” is messing with his noodle a little, it’s still a bad look for Paris to get so fully infatuated with yet another piece of technology vying for his attention.

Party until the cows come home This is just a little moment, but I feel like including it. It’s just kinda mean for Tom to trick Harry into kissing a cow in “Spirit Folk.” Not only is it disrespectful to eavesdrop on his date, even if it is with a hologram (especially if it is with a hologram!), but Harry is making himself vulnerable for Maggie the Irish lass only for Tom to point and laugh at him. Be a better friend, Tom.

I didn’t think you liked the mushy stuff One more example of Tom being a dick to his girlfriend (I swear, I do like them together!) is how he constantly neglects her in “Drive.” They’re having a visceral fight about their future as a couple and B’Elanna has been earnestly planning to break up with him. So when Tom proposes, it really does feel like it’s just to get out of the argument and not because he really wants it.

The silent treatment The whole show, Tom’s character arc has focused on his desire to make his father proud of him. So you’d think when they’re finally onscreen together in “Pathfinder,” this’d come up. But no. The two characters have exactly no lines together. Even in the series finale “Endgame” when Voyager gets home and Tom has a daughter to introduce to her grandfather: still nothing! WHY?

—

We’re coming in for a landing in shuttle bay. Thanks for joining us on that little joyride around the Delta Quadrant. We’re back next week with more character spotlights here on the blog, and more Enterprise watchalong episodes over on the podcast (which you’re surely following on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast). You can also hail us on Facebook and Twitter, and remember: two Delaney sisters are better than one.