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[ailtara]

[ailtara]

THIS is the content I’m here for.

au where in tng the uniforms have a boob window. like this

[ailtara]

There is a story about that idea exactly in the Star Trek: Myriad Universes book Infinity’s Prism, entitled ‘Places of Exile’. Janeway does think deeply about Chakotay’s points and tries to find a compromise, with dialogue from the episode woven in or bittersweetly tweaked.

Janeway smiled and clasped his shoulder. “We agreed we’d make this decision together. I’m always grateful for your input. It’s good to know . . . I’m not alone.”

It’s a very well-rounded story that includes action/adventure, politics, and lots of good ol’ space battles, and also has a surprisingly large amount of heart. At its core, it’s about finding family, community, and yourself, even when you feel lost. It’s also got a bit of heartwarmingly beautiful J/C. I bought my copy used on Amazon for $6, and it’s one of the most oft-read in my library.

Star Trek Voyager: Scorpion

Episode 3.26 “Scorpion”   Stardate 50984.3  

In a holoprogram of DaVinci’s workshop, Kathryn seeks inspiration from an outside source, someone who can challenge her mind, and a place to do her own work, painting and sculpting.  She finally convinces DaVinci to accept her as a pupil when she tells him she will help him design a flying machine. She  obviously needs inspiration and an escape from being captain.  When Chakotay calls her to engineering, she is reluctant.  Even before she knows that they are entering Borg space, she is tired.  

Voyager has been sending out probes, which is how they know that they are entering Borg territory.  They find a corridor that they call the Northwest Passage, where there is no Borg activity.  KJ to senior staff: “I have faith in each and every one of you.”

The Doc and Kes work on an “assimilation antibody” to slow the assimilation process.  As Kes looks at the Borg body they have been examining, she sees a vision of dead Borg.  She continues to see visions of dead Borg and the destruction of Voyager.

Subspace turbulence prevents Voyager from creating a stable warp field.  They see 15 Borg cubes.  Chakotay: “My god.”  But the Borg pass them by, scanning them with a polaron beam and then moving on.

This is when Janeway starts to go crazy with work, I think.  She retreats to her ready room to try to find an answer.  Chakotay asks her to join him for dinner - “According to my calculations, neither of us has eaten since last night.”  She declines and is cold to him, but then opens up to him a little when he gets terse and is about to go.  Chakotay smiles when KJ reads Amasov and Picard’s logs. He tells her she sounds just like Amasov and Picard.  Then she starts to relax, talking to Chakotay like a friend.  He tells her Ensign Hickman does a passable impression of her.  She gets a little more lighthearted and opens up a bit.  KJ: “At what point is the risk too great?  At what point do we come about and retreat to friendly territory?  Would the crew accept living out the rest of their lives in the Delta Quadrant?  I keep looking to all these captains, my comrades in arms, but the truth is, I’m alone.”  C: “If that moment comes, we’ll face it together, and we’ll make the right decision.  You’re not alone, Kathryn.” KJ: “Three years ago I didn’t even know your name. Today I can’t imagine a day without you.” She touches his chest and then they are called to the bridge to witness the destroyed Borg vessels.

As they try to figure out what happened to the Borg, KJ & C are still very much on the same page, finishing each others’ thoughts.  Janeway pulls Chakotay aside and speaks to him quietly, only in Tuvok’s hearing range, asks him to take an away team to the cube to investigate the ship which is “impervious” to their technology.  She assures Chakotay that they’ll pull them out at the first sign of trouble.  She looks at C as he leaves, obviously concerned for his safety. Bioelectric interference from Species 8472 prevents the transporter from working.

B’Elanna invents the “skeletal lock”, a new type of transporter lock that works better in interference.  Harry is attacked by 8472 just as they are beamed out. Kes tells Janeway she could hear the thoughts of the species and tells her that it’s not the Borg they should be worried about, it’s them.  Their motto is: “The weak will perish.”

KJ goes to sickbay to see Kim, who is being consumed by the alien cells.  KJ is having a hard time with this.  The Doc experiments with modified nanoprobes to eradicate the infection.

Species 8472 is the species’ Borg designation.  The 8472 bioships come from a quantum singularity in the “Northwest Passage.”  Kes is able to hear the 8472 and feels their hatred.  She says it’s an invasion and they intend on destroying everything.  KJ calls Chakotay into her ready room.  KJ: “That moment we spoke about, it’s here.”  They agree that they can’t use the Northwest Passage, and discuss whether they should face the Borg in their space or turn around a find a nice planet in the DQ.  C argues that they’d be turning around but not giving up.  He says, “We may find another way home.”  She gives him a look of disbelief and says she’s not ready to walk onto that bridge and tell the crew they’re quitting… “I can’t do it, not yet.  There must be another alternative.”  He approaches her, “Kathryn…” and tells her to get some rest, that they can tell the crew in the morning if they have to.  

KJ goes to DaVinci’s workshop.  JANEWAY: “There’s a path before me. The only way home. And on either side, mortal enemies bent on destroying each other. If I attempt to pass through them I’ll be destroyed as well. But if I turn around, that would end all hope of ever getting home. And no matter how much I try to focus my mind, I can’t see an alternative.”  DA VINCI: “When one’s imagination cannot provide an answer, one must seek a greater imagination. There are times when even I find myself kneeling in prayer. I must deliver a bronzetto to the Monks at Santa Croce. Come with me, Catarina, hey? We will awake the Abbot, visit the chapel, and appeal to God.”  JANEWAY: “Somehow I don’t think that’s going to work for me. But there is an alternative I haven’t considered. What if I made an appeal to the Devil?”

Janeway suggests an alliance with the Borg on the basis that they can give the Borg the Doc’s modified nanoprobes in exchange for safe passage.  Janeway says that all the information about the nanoprobes will be locked in the Doc’s holomatrix, and if necessary they will delete his program.  She has completely talked herself into this plan, even to the point of how much it is in the Borg’s “self interest.”  I think this is the first time we see her come up with something like this, without consulting anyone, and be completely unwilling to listen to any dissenting opinion.  No one dares voice one, except Chakotay, who waits until everyone else has left.  He tells her that it’s “too great a risk,” and tells her the parable of the scorpion and the fox.  KJ assures C that she understands the risk.  She says the Borg are vulnerable and they can take advantage of that.  C doesn’t trust that the Borg will keep up their end of the bargain.  She says they won’t give the Borg the technology until they’re safe, and they need the courage to see this through to the end.  CHAKOTAY: “There are other kinds of courage. Like the courage to accept that there are some situations beyond your control. Not every problem has an immediate solution.”  JANEWAY: “You’re suggesting we turn around.“ CHAKOTAY: “Yes. We should get out of harm’s way. Let them fight it out. In the meantime, there’s still plenty of Delta Quadrant left to explore. We may find another way home.”  JANEWAY: “Or we may find something else. Six months, a year down the road, after Species 8472 gets through with the Borg, we could find ourselves back in the line of fire, and we’ll have missed the window of opportunity that exists right here, right now.” CHAKOTAY: “How much is our safety worth?”  JANEWAY: “What do you mean?”  CHAKOTAY: “We’d be giving an advantage to a race guilty of murdering billions. We’d be helping the Borg assimilate yet another species just to get ourselves back home. It’s wrong!”  JANEWAY: “Tell that to Harry Kim. He’s barely alive thanks to that species. Maybe helping to assimilate them isn’t such a bad idea. We could be doing the Delta Quadrant a favor.”  CHAKOTAY: “I don’t think you really believe that. I think you’re struggling to justify your plan, because your desire to get this crew home is blinding you to other options. I know you, Kathryn. Sometimes you don’t know when to step back.” JANEWAY: “Do you trust me, Chakotay?”  CHAKOTAY: “That isn’t the issue.” JANEWAY: “Oh, but it is. Only yesterday you were saying that we’d face this together, that you’d be at my side.”  CHAKOTAY: “I still have to tell you what I believe. I’m no good to you if I don’t do that.”  JANEWAY: “I appreciate your insights, but the time for debate is over. I’ve made my decision. Now, do I have your support?”  CHAKOTAY: “You’re the Captain. I’m the First Officer. I’ll follow your orders. That doesn’t change my belief that we’re making a fatal mistake.” JANEWAY: “Then I guess I’m alone, after all. Dismissed.”

KJ is transported over to the Borg ship and asked to state her demands.  The Borg want the technology now, but she says safe passage first or no deal.  She suggests that they work together to create a weapon and asks them to escort Voyager through their space.  8472 destroy a nearby planet and attack the cube while KJ is still on it.  Chakotay orders Voyager to get a lock on her.

Chakotay must feel so frustrated, because Janeway made up her mind about the alliance without consulting him or anyone.  She’s not even willing to hear what he has to say, and then she says that because he doesn’t agree with her, she’s “alone,” which must really hurt him because he has sacrificed so much to be by her side.  What if she had gone to Chakotay with this idea the night before and talked to him about it before presenting it to the senior staff, before she had really made a decision?  Instead, she talks to a hologram who knows nothing about her or her situation, and uses that as a justification in her own mind. This is where she starts to close herself off to the people and ideas around her. It’s also the first time we see her be truly blinded to what is right (the point C brings up about helping the Borg) by the suffering of someone she cares about (Harry Kim)/her sense of responsibility to her crew.  What if they had decided to turn around?

Original Airdate: May 21, 1997

Production Number: 168

Episode Tags: J/C

Notable First Appearances: Leonardo DaVinci hologram, Species 8472

[ailtara]

First of all, if you haven’t read The Bitter End (or even if you have) and are in an emotional state that allows you to deal with the bleak, brutal, emotionally-shredding un-altered Endgame timeline, you should go read that. Now. Do what I did and get into your dinosaur onesie, make some tea, and then just cry as you read the entire thing. Then read Crumbling Castles and cry some more. Actually, just read *all* of Mia’s Unaltered Endgame Timeline fics, because they are all wonderful and so sad.

Second of all, @mia-cooper​ has killed me. I have literally no words, even two days later. Just heartbreak.

Third of all, @jhelenoftrek is the best kind of double agent and also wrote a gift fic in July called The Future Recedes that you should also go read right now because you’re ALREADY crying, why not just have your heart ripped out some more??!?

Fourthly, it’s funny how often stomping in puddles of my favorite character’s tears results in me drowning in oceans of my own... Thank you. <3

‘tis the season: story #7

what am I talking about?

On my birthday this year I received the most amazing gift from @ailtara - a lengthy, thoughtful and utterly flattering analysis of my fic The Bitter End. I still go back and read it monthly, or whenever I’m having trouble writing, because it’s the greatest compliment and encouragement there is to have a reader tell you in detail what they liked (or didn’t like) about your work.

I didn’t manage to give back in time for @ailtara‘s birthday, so here’s a holiday season gift instead to say thank you. It’s a sequel of sorts to The Bitter End, and it fulfills a prompt @jhelenoftrek sneakily got out of you awhile ago, with Admiral Janeway telling Chakotay what happened in the unaltered Endgame timeline.

So here it is, for the one who loves to stomp in the puddles of their dreams:

Crumbling Castles (rated M) on AO3 | ffnet

Other gift fics are posted on AO3 at the Christmas Baubles 2017 collection.

[ailtara]

This is my contribution to the holiday season this year.

i have greensleeves stuck in my head but, like, the horrible otamatone version

[ailtara]

I was thinking about this last night, that conceptually C/7 could make sense. Seven is growing into her own humanity. She is brilliant, straightforward, and an asset to any team. She can be cold, aloof, self-righteous, and unaware of other’s feelings, but she’s learning to accept others and be accepted in return. Despite her strong and assured nature, she is vulnerable in a way that most of the Voyager crew don’t seem to understand. Chakotay is a warm, wise, open, and understanding person; he is sure of himself and knows what he stands for. He’s experienced many difficulties and setbacks in his life and has been the underdog, so he knows how important it is to value and appreciate every person’s contribution. He can be sullen, dark, indecisive, broody, and straight-up boring, but he has an unyielding strength that acts as a rock to the people he loves and serves with. Chakotay puts others first, and part of his strength comes from helping others in the way they need it most, be in unwavering support or a health dose of tough love. So Chakotay being Seven’s choice makes sense, for all the reasons @captacorn said and more. Aside from the logical reasons Seven listed onscreen, Chakotay is an excellent balance for Seven personally; everything she lacks, he has in spades. He is kind, accepting, and places no expectations on her or their potential relationship. She would feel no pressure from Chakotay to conform to any specific romantic standards, and moreover he would allow her to move the relationship forward (in every level) at her own speed. She knows also that, while he is compassionate and accepting, he is willing to point out her flaws, shortcomings, and inconsistencies in a way that allows her to grow and learn. Seven needs tenderness to grow emotionally, but absolutely requires someone who sees the world from a different viewpoint and can explain how and why things aren’t exactly as Seven sees them. Neither of them has anything to lose with this slowly-progressing relationship; neither is expecting a passionate love affair or purple prose, but both seek companionship and a chance to be themselves, to grow as individuals and possibly create something more together. Somewhere along the way, what started as a casual arrangement becomes more comfortable, becomes real affection, becomes part of their everyday lives in a way they didn’t expect. As the months pass, they learn that sharing themselves with each other has brought them far closer together than they could have known. Seven realizes that Chakotay’s subtle and twisted sense of humor, which he never demonstrates on duty, is surprisingly funny and easy for her to understand, and it helps her bridge the gap between her and her peers; she also realizes that Chakotay’s quiet strength and objectivity empowers her to express her thoughts and emotions in a way that liberates her, that she otherwise wouldn’t have considered expressing herself. Chakotay learns that under all of Seven’s logic, she is a highly sensitive and attentive partner, surprising him on more than one occasion with her insight into his habits, his daydreams, the bond that’s grown between them; he also discovers that, once she allows herself to move beyond Borg efficiency, they can alternatively enjoy companionable silence and talk for hours, fulfilling a deep longing inside him that hadn’t been acknowledged in years. Over the years, their bond solidifies into something nigh unbreakable. Their relationship is built on a solid foundation of respect, trust, acceptance, and a warm affection neither of them expected but none the less enjoy. Their love would not be described as overly passionate or all-consuming, but why would it need to be? Their love is companionship, shared experiences, quiet nights on the couch, personal growth and introspection, mutual respect, exploration of creativity and imagination, home; two devoted people who take strength from their individuality and use it together to form a better understanding of the universe and their place in it. It could have been brilliant.

HOWEVER

That is NOT AT ALL what we saw onscreen. Instead of slowly developing Seven and Chakotay’s interest in one another even beyond basic friendship (which, honestly, friendship is a stretch), we get our first glimpse of C/7 when Seven uses a hologram of Chakotay without his consent in a bizarre attempt to learn about romantic relationships via computer instead of an actual living person. This choice makes sense to Seven at the time because she clearly doesn’t understand that a romantic relationship is more than simple function and protocol, which is a huge freaking red flag that she’s not ready for an actual romantic relationship. Even in the universe where C/7 is conceptually plausible, there’s no way in hell Chakotay would willingly entertain the idea of dating a woman who believes that love is essentially an algorithm.

After that...event, instead of Seven making a romantic move outside the holodeck or even trying to initiate a bond beyond basic friendship, we go through SIX EPISODES, including one that features Seven and Chakotay almost exclusively, with zero non-platonic interactions, red herrings, or even the tiniest of bread crumbs between them that could indicate a budding romantic relationship. Zero. No flirting, no witty banter, no undercurrent of emotional or sexual tension; absolutely nothing. The first time we see any inklings of consensual romance, Seven and Chakotay are somehow already on their third date. After being surprised that Seven went though “this much trouble” by creating a simple picnic lunch on their third date, their fourth date consists of a romantic dinner where they kiss for the first time.  Then plot happens and Seven tells Chakotay she wants to end their relationship, because we’re supposed to believe that this brilliant woman never considered that a relationship in the Delta Quadrant might be dangerous. Instead of respecting her wishes or trying to discuss her emotions candidly, Chakotay steamrolls over her protests by stating that his emotions can’t be turned off and that he will not let her end this. Sorry, we’re supposed to believe that calm, understanding, dull-as-a-rock Chakotay has become such a misogynistic jerk that he won’t listen to a woman who’s proven repeatedly that she needs space and time to understand complex emotions? And that’s it!! That’s C/7!! That’s literally everything that is canon regarding their relationship and its development. Not that any of us are strangers to disappointment when it comes to the writing for Voyager, but for the love of all that is holy, how is it possible to take an idea that has actual potential and rip it apart so thoroughly that even C/7 supports can only weakly offer, “...Well, it’s canon..?” All it takes, apparently, is one petty male writer with a bruised ego who’s more interested in embarrassing the actors than caring about the show’s integrity.

Stuff Said By C7 Shippers

“Chakotay x Seven is canon, plus it makes more sense…”

“…you can see it building throughout season seven…”

“…what doomed the show was when they got rid of Kes.”

Special thanks to tumblr user carlithiel for the gifs.

[ailtara]

The Lion King (2019)

[ailtara]

And with these two simple gifs, my Damerey/JediStormPilot soul awakens from its 1.5-year dormancy and reemerges, dazzling and brilliant, more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac in behind the scenes of Star Wars The Last Jedi

[ailtara]

Me, after seeing the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, ready to lay down my life for Michael Burnham.

[ailtara]

[ailtara]

I am the very model of a shrewd Ferengi businessman I’ve been on Deep Space Nine since it was run by the Cardassians My bar provides each alien that passes through its double doors With gambling and alcohol, and holographic paramours

But that is not to say that I’m impervious to harder times I’ve often been accused of larceny and graft and other crimes My righteous indignation is becoming quite demonstrable Especially with my old friend, the law-enforcing Constable.

I’m singing this while sitting in a holding cell familiar So Odo comes and lets me out before he goes peculiar That good-cop, bad-cop subroutine he just took to employing Could use some work (or one more cop) - it’s really quite annoying.

[ailtara]

This is not a photograph; @crisisenvy DREW THIS.

I repeat: THIS IS NOT A PHOTOGRAPH.

Captain Janeway

I’ve always admired photo realistic art. I practiced and practiced until I got near enough there. Now I’ve hit close I’m not even sure how much I like it, it’s really hard to get back though. The process kind of embeds itself and my focus is hard to move off into a different direction. Does anyone else get that? Ironic really, I want so badly to be able to do concept characters and dynamic poses. Guess I’ll go practice that.

This I painted digitally in Sketchbook Pro. I love how dynamic and fluid it is. I also love the real media brushes in Painter so I dallied around there in the final stages.

Process photos are on my ArtStation, just search for ‘crisisenvy.’

[ailtara]

*sobbing into a pile of barrettes and the show’s last vestiges of cohesive plot and characterization* Janeway’s hair and season 3

name a more iconic duo than janeway’s hair and season 5 of Star Trek: Voyager. i’ll wait

[ailtara]

YES, PLEASE.

How not to look at your Captain #197

[ailtara]

#can we get Janeway in on this? #like she fucked with the temporal prime directive AGAIN #and got herself stuck in *insert correct year here because I don't know and I'm too lazy to check* #and either crashes on themyscira too #OR she meets AE before she flies out and they become friends and she takes Janeway along #(who is fucking dying inside from all the fangirling) #and then they both end up on themyscira #romance ensues #and they both live a happy gay life #and now I need this AU #DAMN IT

Tags courtesy of @supernovacoffee​, who I believe is now contractually obligated to write this AU? :)

Okay but what if Amelia Earhart disappeared because her plane crashed on Themyscira just like Steve Trevor’s and she decided to stay there to live a happy lesbian life

[ailtara]

If you ever wanted to read the fanfiction equivalent of your favorite pet slowly dying in front of you, this is it.

Challenge Fic #2 as requested by @mia-cooper.  Angst.  I warned you.

[ailtara]

DAVE!

Dave, your nipple is showing!