#janeways favorite boys

[aquamonstra]

Janeway every time she talks to Tom and Harry:

(shout out to @muiromem for the inspo 😂)

[love-and-hisses]

Former foster update! It's Elly May (formerly Janeway) and Jethro (formerly Spock), who we were fostering this time last year as part of the Trekklings litter!

Tammy says: "Well, The Hillbillies turned 1 on July 22 and we celebrated. They got a couple of new toys. An all-in-one laser pointer, feather teaser and ball chase (pictured) and a toy gun that shoots pom poms. I think their favorite part was each getting a Churu - no sharing!! LOL

Jethro is quite the momma's boy and Elly May still marches to her own drummer. They have grown into beautiful fur-kids and I love them dearly."

(Thank you Tammy!)

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

Star Trek Prodigy Pre-Season 2 Rewatch

Lost and Found Part 1 and 2

I know there was a lot of crap about the opening episodes being too Star Wars-y, and I really don't know what they're complaining about. Is it just too jarring that we don't start on a starfleet ship? Because I can think of at least three other Trek shows that don't. And it's predecessor, Voyager, also starts with a group of non-starfleet officers running away from a larger enemy. What have you got against scrappy purple boi, internet critics!

I love seeing Dal here. Knowing how much he grows in one season. I also forgot just how dangerous Tars Lamora was. The surface is deadly. the deep mines are deadly. Even the main area Dal starts in, which seems well trafficked, he is nearly crushed in a random rock fall in the first escape attempt. It does a lot to emphasize just how high the stakes were!

As always I lost track of time the minute the ship's escape sequence started. There are so many details and so much beauty animated into every shot. The sequence makes the ship feel like a tangible real thing, a character in and of itself.

Some of my favorites:

Then this shot of the shields protecting the Dal from Drednok makes me gasp every time!

And, even after so many rewatchs too, hearing Hologram Janeway speak for the first time right before she appears at the end still makes me squeal. It was the first new time I'd heard Janeway's voice in like 20 years and it continues to be as exciting as the first time!

[isagrimorie]

Kathryn Janeway, 2+3+20 for the character ask meme?

for this ask game

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Janeway is a scientist. She was a Science Officer who ranked up to Captain.

Also, I love how when Janeway is furious the looser she gets, the way she struts, and swagger. And drapes on her Captain's chair, and each passing year, the more 'IDGAF' she gets.

First-year in the Delta Quadrant was all about diplomacy and trying to talk to people by season 7, when Chakotay claimed that he was following Janeway's example using diplomacy first I snorted.

Because at that point, Janeway's firmly in the IDGAF zone. She's gonna use diplomacy as a starting point but she's also carrying a big stick behind her back.

Lokirrim Captain: You're still required to submit to inspection.

Janeway: our sensors should also confirm that our weapons are ready to fire. We're both reasonable people. I suggest a compromise. Your vessel will escort us through Lokirrim territory. That way, you can keep an eye on us, make sure we don't reactivate our holodecks. The other alternative is... we destroy your ship.

Janeway Diplomacy is to Speak Softly and Carry a Big Saber so You can Rattle it, and then if they betray you or are actively hostile, stab them.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

I don't know if I can think of any -- possibly it's her overconfidence in Unimatrix Zero but that's just not great writing and honestly, if they massaged it a little more, I could buy it. It was just clumsily done to get to that point.

Maybe it's her tendency to prioritize Humans over other species? I can't really blame her for wanting a Hologram boy toy, after several years she's allowed. Although, over the safety of her crew? No, I don't believe it.

But mostly even her flaws and prejudices are interesting.

Maybe the least favorite canon thing where Janeway chose not to pursue anything romantic in the show? Romancing and having different love interests are okay for male captains but not women captains. Kate Mulgrew was very protective of that, and I get it because it was the 90s, and people would perceive it differently.

Oh, another thing I dislike: The new beta canon thing-- how Janeway kept a hold of her ex-fiancee years after he broke up with her. And also, I'm not sure I like the whole Amelia Janeway of it all they added in the books.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

I do think it's still Tuvok. Especially whenever Tuvok passive-aggressively plays the 'I'm her Best Friend' game against Chakotay. And he's the only one keeping score.

Not an ideal best friend but I love the headcanon that Sisko and Janeway were either in the same class in the Academy or were in similar circles in the Academy.

[clementine-kesh]

thinking again about the differences in disciplinary action from voyager’s command trio towards tom and harry (and narrative justification for their actions) because it’s one of those things that’s there in the background but i don’t think the writers were even aware they were doing. obviously there’s the mutiny in resolutions that harry never experienced consequences for despite how big a deal it should be, but another good example is in favourite son when he co-opts control of voyager’s weapons to fire at a seemingly friendly ship based on a hunch. of course janeway’s mad at him for it and briefly suspends him from duty but she also states that she trusts his intentions and is willing to spend resources on proving his intuition correct. see this conversation:

there’s a trust placed in harry by the characters around him and further validated by the narrative that even his transgressions have a greater justification for them. which makes sense when you consider that his role in the story is to be the bright-eyed upstanding young starfleet officer and this is a star trek show, so of course his actions are always ultimately in the right no matter how questionable they actually are. see also: timeless vs. year of hell.

janeway doesn’t extend of the grace she extends to harry in favorite son to tom in thirty days. there’s no question that his actions were those of a rogue agent and he needs to be punished. because he’s still got the stink of starfleet dropout ex-con on him, which gives him an element of unpredictability in the eyes of both his commanding officers and the narrative that can’t be trusted. despite his character development and the fact that his reasons for becoming a fuckup are tens of thousands of light years away he still needs to be kept on a shorter leash than harry.

so like, i get why people think tom is the “bad boy” (for lack of a better term) out of him and harry, because that’s how the narrative their transgressions. tom’s are punished, harry’s are either swept under the rug or narratively justified*. which i think is demonstrative of how the writers conceptualize these characters and, perhaps unsurprisingly, falls in line with how people like them would be treated in an organization like starfleet in real life. you can get away with a lot more if the people around you think of you as inherently “good”.

*with the exception of the disease, but i have other thoughts about why that is, ex. our perfect starfleet ensign is allowed to break rules for The Good Of The Crew but not for sex

[warpfive]

MOMENTS THAT MAKE THEM SOFT FOR YOU

times when the voy crew got hearteyes for the reader

CW: gn! reader

CREW: kathryn janeway, chakotay, the doctor, b'elanna torres, tom paris, harry kim, seven of nine

KATHRYN - it was very, very late at night (early in the morning?) and kathryn clearly decided that work was more important than sleep. it wasn’t a surprise to find her still up with an almost-empty cup of coffee in arm’s reach - it would’ve been more surprising if she’d gone to bed, in all honesty. you were groggy, half-asleep, dragging yourself out of bed wrapped in a sheet and stumbling in the direction of the soft noises of the computer. kathryn didn’t register your presence until you spoke up, voice hoarse when you ask if she knows what time it is. she answers, you correct her - to kathryn’s credit, she did look shocked upon learning the time. but instead of scolding her or proving yourself right with the pounding ache behind her eyes, you walk up beside her. softly pulling a PADD from her grasp and mumbling that you want her to come to bed. kathryn’s been a captain for some time now, but she knows an order when she hears one, and follows it with a sloppy smile.

CHAKOTAY - ever since he was a boy, chakotay’s found it hard to really let down his walls around the people he loves. he’s naturally introverted - a strong and commanding presence but intensely private and thoughtful. and though he prefers to keep much of himself to himself, chakotay does enjoy a bit of people-watching, especially when it comes to you. one time, you dragged him into the holodeck for some program that’s been making rounds on the ship. chakotay had no interest in it, but you seemed excited and he couldn’t bear to kill that smile. away from the gray bulkheads and threat of delta quadrant mysteries, you had this light about you, brighter and warmer than the holographic sun and chakotay really couldn’t take his eyes off you. a moment when you were so purely, genuinely you had become one of his favorite memories.

THE DOCTOR - his first time having a “meal” in the mess hall had been with you. it wasn’t a particularly special night - the doctor had been getting used to wearing his emitter more domestically. walks around the ship, visiting the bridge, watching kes work in the hydroponics bay. he never had much reason to go to the mess hall before, but the doctor ran into you on the way and you asked him to join you in the most natural way ever. as if you were talking to a flesh and blood man. the doctor didn’t eat, and you picked at neelix’s dinner while talking about a problem you and harry have been working on and it really struck the doctor how easy it was for you to treat him like any other member of the crew. eventually, you asked him why he was smiling. he said it was the best meal he’s ever had.

B’ELANNA - it did take quite a while for b’elanna to get used to the idea of somebody simply knowing her. she knows she isn’t exactly enigmatic - if she’s angry, you’ll hear about it. still, she prefers to keep people at arm’s length. the less they know, the less they can hurt her. but b’elanna didn’t even realize you’d been observing and learning her until a long, stressful day in the jefferies tube had made her snippy and frustrated. you gave her space, allowed her to vent, silently offered her tea to relax. feeling that hot ball in her belly begin to cool down, she was a surprised - when was the last time somebody stuck around during one of her fits without telling her to relax or leaving? she couldn’t recall. and when you kissed her cheek and told her to get some rest, b’elanna almost asked you to stay. it wouldn’t be logical - you both needed to be up early in the morning. but that night, her quarters felt much less restrictive than usual. and b’elanna went to bed that night wondering if she truly was that easy to read.

TOM - he had no ulterior motives for offering flying lessons - plenty of people on the ship may say otherwise, but in all honesty, tom didn’t care all that much. in his eyes, there was nothing wrong with two people who enjoyed each other’s company to practice something that could come in handy in a crunch. he taught you the basics first (though, tom kinda breezed past them - he knew you were smart enough to catch on). asteroid fields, ion storms, enemy ships, he threw everything at you to teach you the best ways to overcome each obstacle and you did with flying colors. though, you were never very good at landing the shuttle. crash after crash discouraged you up until the one lucky landing but you were so happy, you threw your arms around him with laughter and he didn’t want to burst your bubble by telling you the holographic planet had a lower gravity than even earth. nah, he wanted you to enjoy your little victory, and selfishly, wanted to enjoy your smile.

HARRY - honestly, it’s not hard to make harry super soft - a nice smile and a gleam in your eye is enough to make him fall head-over-heels again. but if there’s one moment to choose from, it’s gotta be when you two were jammed together in the jefferies tubes trying to repair a broken relay. you were talking, throwing jokes around, laughing despite how much it echoes through the tubes. harry, admittedly, lost his focus and accidentally grazed his hand against a live current. with a flash of sparks and the faint smell of burnt circuits, harry let out a little yelp and yanked his hand back. instantly, you were on him, inspecting the damage and asking if he needed to go to sick bay. harry refused, you kept pushing it, but honestly? with the way you cradled his hand in yours and looked so concerned, he barely even felt the pain. he had a stern talking to from the doctor for waiting so long, but harry really didn’t want to leave that tube unless he was dying.

SEVEN - it was during the birthday party of a lower deck engineer when seven realized…she really didn’t know how to socialize at parties. the doctor had given her his own articles he read years ago, and the captain even gave her a bit of advice. but try as she might, seven couldn’t carry a conversation that wasn’t about ship’s functions or laugh at the jokes that tom told and made the whole room bust a gut. she thought about leaving until you came up to her, offering a drink, and asking how she’s enjoying the party. seven figured you would continue circling the room after a small conversation, but no, you stayed right with seven. sometimes bringing her into the fray of a larger discussion, but most times just hanging back and being casual. your motivations? she was unsure. maybe pity for someone unable to be social if her life depended on it. or maybe (and this was harder to grasp) you wanted to spend time with her at a birthday party… seven is going to have to research more on this.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s4 ep5: Revulsion

This one is quite the hodge-podge of totally disjointed stories. There's a horror story about a murdery hologram, an awkward comedy about Harry getting a crush on Seven, and little subplots about the Doctor wanting to go on more away missions, Tom having to fill in in sickbay, and Tom and B'Elanna deciding to get serious with their relationship. It's a lot, and tonally, none of them really fit together well.

From the first shot of the teaser, which is of a dead body being dragged across a ship by a hologram who's clearly just murdered the guy, it doesn't set a good tone. While it takes our crew the rest of the episode to figure out that the hologram who supposedly lost his crew to disease and requests their help is actually a psycho who murdered them all, the audience knows it from the beginning, which makes the whole episode feel slow, and makes the characters look kinda stupid for not being able to see it right away too. Especially since the actor who plays the hologram is so creepy and unpleasant to watch, and all the scenes on his ship are shot like a horror movie, with him looming ominously behind people in the shadows, while ominous music plays, it just feels way too obvious and heavy handed. (And I never like to see my girl B'Elanna getting put through crap- everyone needs to leave her alone, she puts up with so much!!) Knowing the whole episode that this creepy hologram is going to try to kill her at some point just feels so schlocky exploitation film-ish, it's not fun or interesting to watch in any capacity. I also don't buy that a hologram that's meant to do menial ship maintenance would have a sophistocated enough program that it could pass through some matter, and not others, at the same time, at will. That was just too convenient to be realistic given what we've already established about holographic technology. But luckily B'Elanna is such a badass that even with her injuries, she still managed to destruct his program like a boss. Queen shit, as always. I love her so much!!

And then there's poor Harry, who gets basically a teenage crush storyline over Seven of Nine. It's supposed to be funny, but mostly it's just a heap of secondhand embarrassment. Idk why they have Harry acting like a dumb kid whenever they try to give him a romantic subplot now- he's in his mid-twenties, he's not a kid, and he used to have a hot girlfriend back home, who he used to go to concerts with in his slutty mesh top, which nobody who was shy and awkward would ever wear. He couldn't be that clueless and inept about dating. (Also, I guess he finally gave up on Libby for good at this point! Sorry girl, you're no match for the hottest lady of all- the USS Voyager!) The worst part is that Harry and Seven are actually kind of cute together, and it would have been nice to see them form a normal friendship, but that possibilty was stifled by giving him the stupid crush plot. Tom at least tries to talk him out of going for a romance with someone who's only been human for basically a few weeks, but Harry doesn't listen, and it just gets more awkward. Ugh. why.

Why on earth they expect us to believe that Tom is the most qualified person to fill in as a medic, I have no idea- there's gotta be some science officer who has more medical training than a pilot, but at least they were giving one of the regular characters more screentime, I guess. And I do love to see Tom taking care of people, it's a nice counter to the weird mean version of him from Day of Honor that I still need brain bleach to recover from. (Why would they do that to my sunshine boy??)

One of my favorite scenes in the episode is Tuvok's absolutely lovely and sweet banquet celebrating his promotion. I love when the crew have sit down meals together, it's always the most heartwarming, adorable stuff. Tom and Harry telling a story about a time they pranked him, Janeway presenting him with his pip, and Tuvok's thank you speech are just so perfectly lovely. Everyone is so happy and having so much fun, including Tuvok, and I love to see it. Whenever I see gifs or screenshots of this scene, it's always of Tuvok saying 'in three years I've grown to respect many of you, others, I've learned to tolerate' like he's being bitchy or throwing shade, but in context, he's actually being affectionate- there's a lightness in his voice and a twinkle in his eye, and Tom and Harry smile at him when he says it. This is Tuvok being happy, and expressing his love for his crewmates with his dry Vulcan humor. It's so good!!! Tim Russ does so much with so little- he always manages to convey the full range of Tuvok's thoughts and feelings in the extremely narrow confines of acceptable Vulcan behavior. With the subtlest of intonations and expressions, he shows us his whole personality and his whole heart, it's really exceptional acting. Tuvok has been and will always be my favorite Vulcan character in Star Trek.

Tom and B'Elanna get a small scene at the end of the banquet, where we finally get to see them talk about what happened in Day of Honor. Once again, Tom is the one to break the silence after three days and say they have to talk about it- they give each other a chance to wriggle out of the whole 'I love you' thing, but B'Elanna admits that she really did mean what she said. Tom responds by kissing her, which is adorable, but still missing the crucial words- all they had to do was tack an 'I love you too' on the end of that 'shut up and kiss me'- would that have been so hard??? Tom is always the one who wants to actually talk about stuff, he would not be reluctant to say it! Certainly not more than she was! What gives??? Idk, but they agree to meet up in her quarters at the end of the episode, so I guess we just get to infer that they talked about it later. (But judging from their earlier kiss, they probably just made out the whole time and never came up for air lol)

Tl;dr: The main plots in this one were both pretty poorly executed, but the little character moments sprinkled in were wonderful and made it worth watching.

[purlturtle]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

Another one! Thank you Anon! ♥️♥️♥️

Let's see, I already put a first round of five out there, now let's maybe go with five that don't see a lot of engagement but that I still like a lot and think they're very worthwhile!

Flying was prompted to me by @sralinchen, and boy did I have a blast with it! It's an AU with no artifacts or anything, in which Myka flies to where Claudia lives, in order to surprise her - but Claudia has flown to where Myka lives, for the same reason, and so now they're very much not in the same place - and then Claudia asks a friend who lives in the same building to help Myka out. And that friend turns out to be a certain dark-haired British person, in this case with a very sassy non-binary kid. So. Much. Fun!!

Roppongi Tokyo Butler Café was a gift for my wife - we both love Japan, and have traveled there twice, and I hope that a bit of the feeling for that country comes across. It's another "no artifacts" AU, and told in 2nd person POV, which I know is not everyone's cuppa. It has a vibe to it that I find hard to describe - ephemeral perhaps? Eclectic? Let me know which word you'd use!

(adding a readmore because this is getting long too! Some fics that aren't Bering and Wells under the cut!)

Through tensed stillness is a little fic in which [spoilers spoilers spoilers] - a continuation of two stories, one by Ericine and one by @ussjellyfish! It's a concoction containing Philippa Georgiou, Ezri Dax, and in the margins Kathryn Janeway and Beverly Crusher too!

Coffee and Chocolate Cake is a little one-shot in which Kathryn Janeway, fresh from the Delta Quadrant, sees Deanna Troi for a psych eval. It's hard to open up - but a little coffee and chocolate cake helps pave the way.

And last but not least, I'll list 1899 (The Prequel? Sequel? Another Reboot?) here as a stand-in for several story premises/set-ups/beginnings that I will probably never finish but wish I could (So Many Wips, So Little Time). There have been several fics and Tumblr essays about how it would go if Myka found herself in 1899, a fish out of water on Helena's turf, and this is my take on it. I still like what my brain came up with, a lot, but the story doesn't have the "keeps me in its grip until I've written all of it" power, unfortunately! I did make a Tumblr post with ideas for how it could go on, and linked it in the AO3 fic, but yeah, that's all there is.

[sshbpodcast]

Won’t someone think of the children?! A Dal R'El Appreciation Post

By Ames

Okay, I meant to only do a Rok-Tahk appreciation post because a) she’s the best and b) who has the time to write all these blogposts? But I just can’t help myself. The community’s efforts to #SaveStarTrekProdigy have motivated me to keep the posts going, so here’s some more love for Star Trek: Prodigy. These installments probably won’t be as intense as the Rok post, but check out what makes Dal R'El such a great character.

[images © CBS/Paramount… I guess? For now? Yikes.]

Dal starts off as a terrible captain

The great thing about starting off a character with a lot of messed up personality flaws is that there’s that much room for them to grow. Like I said in Rok’s post: Perfect characters are boring. We saw a similar guided development in Julian Bashir in Deep Space Nine; he was downright unlikable early on until his relationships with other characters on the station gave him some foundation and his experience throughout the seasons provided the building blocks to becoming an ethical, respectable, and likable person. We’re seeing the same thing with Dal, whom we first see as a jerk for a lot of the show. He’s selfish. He’s clueless. He sees his crew members as things that do his bidding while he only does what’s best for him. You’re meant to hate his character. And that’s a good thing, because he’s not done cooking.

Dal comes clean to Janeway

One of the first really redeeming moments we see from Dal is when he first comes clean to Janeway about being Starfleet at the top of “Time Amok.” Damn, I just can’t say enough good things about that episode apparently. It provides so many learning moments for the characters, as you can see in spades in Rok’s plot in that episode as well. Dal could have continued the lie that they are cadets, but he’s growing. And out of some combination of frustration, guilt, and finally doing the right thing, he starts thinking of people other than himself. “Time Amok” is the perfect place for that first step in the right direction since it’s when the kids start acting like a crew themselves, way near the midseason break! Baby steps, Dal. He’s getting there.

Dal has inner demons

The longer character arc for Dal over the course of the season is his quest to find out who his people are. Being the only one of his kind is a huge weight for him to bear, and his loneliness guides his character for better or for worse (very frequently for worse, as mentioned above). He feels alone and so it’s fitting for his character to look out for only himself. It’s a long road to discovering his origins in “Masquerade,” an episode which expounds on his character isolation right when he was feeling like he might belong, and turning that character trait on its head by shifting it to his being an abomination. Dal is incredibly fragile, and it’s only through love from his friends that he starts to accept that he doesn’t need a family because he already has one in them. Sure, that’s a cutesy message, but it’s a kid’s show. Duh.

Dal goes fast

Okay, this one’s silly, but considering the whole Star Trek franchise has decided for some reason that all captains need a catchphrase and also a comical little metascene about them creating their catchphrase, Dal’s quote “Go fast” is probably my favorite. Okay, Captain Pike’s “Hit it” is pretty good too and always delivered excellently (that man can say anything and it’ll sound great), but there’s something innocent and sweet about “Go fast.” Dal is almost always out of his element when captaining the Protostar, and shows his naïveté by calling things childish names like the “pew pew button” and the “beamy part,” and it’s all a nice little giggle because he’s a kid. “Go fast” is the sort of silly that’s appropriate for his character, who is faking it until he makes it. And boy does he make it! Go Dal! 

We love you, Dal! We love the other crew members of the Protostar too! We love Star Trek: Prodigy! Check out the other character appreciation posts for Rok-Tahk, Gwyndala, Jankom Pog, and Zero while you’re here. I know I can speak for not only the other hosts here at A Star to Steer Hey By but for myriad other fans when I seriously hope someone picks up this wonder of a show. We’re really looking forward to seeing more from these amazing child characters, and we’re seriously wishing we get that opportunity. #SaveStarTrekProdigy

[fiadorable]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks for the tag, @curator-on-ao3 🫶

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 46 works, but if you parse the three drabble collections and a ficlet collection it jumps up to 96.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count? 142,888

3. What fandoms do you write for? Star Trek Strange New Worlds, The Librarians, Once Upon a Tme, Star Trek Voyager, The X-Files (none on ao3), Harry Potter, and King & Maxwell

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? Where Flowers Bloom: The F*ck You Bouquet Once Upon a Time, SwanQueen, Rated T, 2.8k words Prom season is keeping Regina Mills, proprietor of Fairytale Flowers, busy, but when Emma Swan storms into her store one day with a unique request and a hidden connection, her day shifts from busy to odd to (dare she say it) hopeful.

revelation in the light of gray Star Trek Strange New Worlds, PikeUna, Rated G, 2.8k words Ensign Uhura stumbles into sickbay late one night and discovers something new about Captain Pike and Number One.

love is a ghost you can't control Star Trek Strange New Worlds, PikeUna, Rated T, 4.3k words One or two times Christopher Pike, uh, asked Una Chin-Riley about romance while they were both serving on the Antares. (This fic was inspired by and based on a scenario referenced in @curator-on-ao3's fic The Haze!)

Of Paperwork, Knots, and Warm Glowy Things, or, Roland Registers for Kindergarten Once Upon a Time, OutlawQueen, Rated G, 10.5k words Sometimes, Henry lets him sit on his bed with his old textbooks splayed open on his lap, the large tomes covering his legs as he runs his hands across the shiny paper, drinking in the bright pictures breaking up the dark columns of text. The older boy warned him he might not have hardbacked books like that until first grade, but Roland doesn't care. He's going to carry his own backpack and learn how to write and memorize all the names of all the bugs in this realm.

Trekalicious Drabbles Star Trek Strange New Worlds, PikeUna + La'an & Chapel + La'an & Una + Sir Adya/Z'ymria, Rated T, 2.1k words A collection of 100 word drabbles for the #Wednesday100 challenge

5. Do you respond to comments? I'm trying to! I'm very bad about doing it in a timely manner 🙈

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Oh, definitely the scorch. That piece is pure, distilled angst.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Of Paperwork, Knots, and Warm Glowy Things is pretty saccharine

8. Do you get hate on fics? Yeah, I attracted a few trolls with So Are We Alright Then?. Luckily they were no match for the almighty "delete comment" function. Most people are nice.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Eh? Kind of? Most of my stuff stays M or below.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've done one: an ending unforseen, which is a crossover between Strange New Worlds and Voyager. I threw Christopher Pike into the Delta Quadrant on Voyager so he could have a chat with Kathryn Janeway.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yep!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I can't pick a favorite, but I will say that Mulder/Scully, fanon Janeway/Chakotay, OutlawQueen, and Pike/Una have all been formative ships that I've enjoyed watching/reading/writing for over the years.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? First Day (Once Upon a Time OQ). 1 chapter published as a one shot that was received so well I turned it into a novel-length fic that was never published (19 chapters, 8 alternate universes visited, 40k words written with barely the surface scratched). I love it. It's my white whale. I open it up and marvel at the audacity and ambition of my younger self every now and then.

16. What are your writing strengths? Characterization, dialogue. Sometimes I concentrate hard and pull off some nifty minimalist prose.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Details and self doubt.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I'm not bilingual, so if I did, I would 100% run it by a native speaker if someone was available to spot check.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Either Voyager or X-Files, I can't remember which

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I love writing the drabbles, they're little puzzleboxes of happy.

tagging: @enterprise-come-in and @meddow with apologies if y'all've been there done that

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I have been tagged by @timetravelbypen, yayyyy!! :D

1. How many works do you have on AO3?:

53

2. What's your total AO3 word count?:

1,521,662

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Sailor Moon, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Prodigy, And one Harry Potter story, the xover.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Parent Trap (301)

Sailor Moon H: Order of the Phoenix (283)

Sailor Moon H: Half-Blood Prince (217)

Out of Reach (currently taken down) (150)

Eden's Deception (149)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to respond to comments. I especially love when people have questions or want hints about what comes next.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

HAHAHAHAHA oh boy. Um... you... you want me to choose just one? hmmm... Alright so honestly I think while Afterimage and What Even is Three Minutes did numbers on the J/C crowd, nothing tops the cliffhangers at the end of Sailor Moon H: Half-Blood Prince in terms of how much angst they induced in readers. The double whammy: (1) the youngest senshi getting turned into a horcrux and taken hostage by Bellatrix Lestrange and (2) Morgana Avery, the OC whom I had carefully crafted to be a character you loved burning up her boyfriend's shop with dark magic and then casting the Dark Mark in order to infiltrate the death eaters as an undercover spy... My betas and I were taking bets on whether I'd get readers coming after me with pitch forks for that one.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

There's a few contenders but I don't think any happiness quite compares to Captain Kathryn Janeway in The Captain's Secret Santa, getting a puppy for Christmas.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

A smattering of memorable flames which I try to save to reflect back on when I need a good laugh.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

*opens trench coat* Smut you say? Well gosh golly gee. What in the blazes could that be? SMUT. Funny word. Hmmm. I'm not sure I know anything about that.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have written exactly two. Sailor Delta is on hold for the moment because the other one Sailor Moon H has one story to go. And i think if there were an award for craziest crossover I would submit that one and have a good chance to be in the running. It would win on craziest word count and probably on shenanigans too. And then it had the nerve to give itself a real plot. I started that as a crack fic and it got a mind of its own. And I am still writing it 8 years later XD.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I had all of my unlocked works on AO3 gobbled up by the initial crawl that Open AI used to build Chat GPT and that SUCKED. Not because it's been reproduced wholesale but because they'll use my hard work to make millions of dollars and all of the writers who were included in that dataset are both uncredited and uncompensated. I don't think I've ever had a fic stolen by another human. But if you do see what looks like my fic anywhere fishy, kindly let me know!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No one has but I would be open to it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I've co-written a few!

One for a challenge with @magdalenejaneway,

one with Dawn47 when I was there as a Shakespeare assist.

memorable live-writing adventures with @trekflower. (one of my favorite people to write sexy fic with.)

And the longest one, which I am still so impressed we finished (and still one of my favorite things to reread) was the big Threshold AU Season 7 with @jellybeansarecool

I've talked about cowriting with @theredheadedcaptain but we both agreed that given our penchant for massively long fics that combining both of those tendencies was a very dangerously large project to contemplate XD

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

J/C is very near and dear to my heart but so is the Outer Senshi OT3 and I could never choose between them.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I am determined to finish all of my WIPs. Yes even SMH. Yes I know its been going on for 8 years. I am SLOW, okay. SLOW. Not lost. I know precisely how I want that thing to go.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I don't like tooting my own horn but okay... I feel confident in my ability to plot a long fic and see it through. In my ability to write something that brings you to your knees with emotion. And I do a damn good villain speech.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Time management. Word Count management. Oneshots.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Depends if it's there to be understood in context or there to stand out as not understood. I'd write dialogue in another language if it was there to be understood. I'd gloss over it if the intention was that the character and reader shouldnt understand it. I also wouldnt do it for whole lines of dialogue unless it was for a very good reason. Would prefer to throw in only the untranslateable words or to use greetings/honorifics and other smaller phrasal cues to indicate which language is being spoken.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

W.I.T.C.H. in 2009-2010

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Two:

I fell in love with writing The Universe to Mend this year and I've already re-read it once since finishing it in October. It brought me so much joy. It was such a fun challenge. and I think it was some of the best character work I've ever done.

While I wince when I re-read some of the typos, Pax Lunae was still the first ever story that I felt proud of and that remains true today. It was a challenge to dive into the lore of Sailor Moon and create something that could be canon. It was also the first fic I could hold up and say "Hey! I wrote something the length of a novel. I could write a novel" And I like to reread it to remember that feeling. Someday I'll have a chance to clean up some of the spelling too..

Alrighty let's see. I want to tag @theredheadedcaptain @divinemissem13 @jellybeansarecool and @curator-on-ao3 if they'd like to take a crack at it. and anyone else who follows me and wants to - go for it!.

[los-ninos-tortugas]

Hey! Hi! OMG!! I CANNOT BELIEVE I STUMBLED UPON YOU!! I have to tell you how much I LOVE Set a Course for Home!! When I first saw it on ao3 I about went insane!! Star Trek and rottmnt are two of my favorite things and I- AHHHHH!!! YDOYSUFFUSUSKDJFTZJC I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!! Voyager is special to me because it’s my mom’s favorite and genuinely so good and throwing Donnie into the mix is so interesting!! The way you wrote he and Janeway in the first couple chapters was so cute and I can see them just having the cutest mentor mentee relationship (cause let’s be real, Janeway has a habit of picking up strays and Donnie is a particularally cute one). Having Samatha be his “official” guardian was such an interesting and great choice as well and Donnie and Naomi having a sibling relationship is so adorable. Donnie is the best big brother! One relationship I think would be interesting would be Tuvok and Donnie. Something about “Mr Vulcan” and “unemotional bad boy” hanging out and having long interesting conversations is so captivating to me. Plus I can just see Donnie learning how to play kal-toh and loving it. He can respect a fellow lover of logic. Honestly just all around love the concept and cannot wait for a fic update!

Good luck in the niche au comp! I hope to see you there and maybe compete against you! 💜🖖

HELLO?? DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MADE MY NIGHT??? qkkwondixjeo 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

I also got introduced to Voyager through my mom! (Honestly if it weren’t for her showing me Voyager I might have abandoned Star Trek altogether, but that’s a story for another time) after getting into rise I was just like, “YES PUT THEM TOGETHER”

The character dynamics are so fun to play around with!!!

Good luck to you too!! I’m really excited it looks like it’s gonna be a lot of fun!! 🤩 🖖

[arkon-z]

we brain rottin' and we ain' stoppin'. Time for some Voyager headcanons. Like, for example, when they were in orbit around Earth during the 20th century that one time, they probably got exposed to a lot of music. And maybe Tom Paris asked them to pick a favorite genre.

Tom: Mid Century rock. Beach Boys, The Beatles, Elvis, The Monkees; you know, 50's jukebox tunes.

Harry Kim: Jazz, duh. Every band nerd I've ever met thinks is the shit and I don't get it. But that's canon, so we'll be nice and say he's into Latin jazz.

B'Elanna: A contrarian at heart, B'Elanna likes metal and nu-metal from the turn of the millennium, claiming, "The start of the new millennium wasn't until 2001, so anything from 2000 is still 20th century." So she's into stuff like Mona Lisa Overdrive and Linkin Park and Green Day.

Chakotay: Likes more experimental stuff from the 70s, like Genesis, The Who, Cold Chisel; the kind of records with the really crazy album art. He enjoys that it's different enough to be interesting while not so far out as to be unfamiliar.

The Doctor: Opera, and big band swing. This stuff. Also, surprisingly, Queen. He's a sucker for Freddy Mercury.

Seven: folk music, with little instrumentation and clear vocals. And on the complete other end of the spectrum, techno and eurobeat. The more complicated the melody, the better. She likes parsing the complexities of the sounds.

Tuvok: likes the new age meditative music that is mostly single notes played slowly in the background at a spa or a crystal and tarot card store.

Janeway: we know she's into classical, but she's got a soft spot for 90's alternative rock, especially anything that tells a distinct story or is trying to convey a clear message. Stuff like Counting Crows or Sum 41, and one or two Saboton albums.

[joshuaalbert]

harry kim… ive missed your voyager posting but i want to hear your thoughts on dear harry boy…

favorite thing about them

he's my most favoritest guy. i love him. if like .03% of the things that had happened to him happened to me i'd be out there murdering bitches or something and he's still just out here being a nice friendly guy who tries his best for the ship and for other people. like sometimes they do a rly good job of making it clear that there's this very deep well of resolve to him and he is an incredibly hard person to break despite experiencing the horrors so so so often. BUT i also love it when he's unhinged like he absolutely deserves to get to go off the rails sometimes. and i like it when he's making little petty comments he deserves that too.

least favorite thing about them

i mean we all know this but he's SO fucked over by the writers/showrunners. there's literally no reason for the no promotion/left out of major storylines/frequently sidelined in favor of other characters deal except some like. racist bullshit. writers will be like "well we just don't think he's an interesting character" bitch then make him interesting lol that's your job.

brOTP

harry and b'elanna literally the single most important dynamic in the show to me. every episode that they don't have a scene together i think about committing unfathomable acts of violence. i really enjoy that they genuinely feel like friends who care tremendously about each other (although i wish we saw them hanging out more off duty or in the mess hall or whatever).

also like idk if it's a brotp because they're not like Bros but the harry and janeway dynamic makes me feel uhh vaguely insane. now that you're here someone can understand what i mean when i say it's kind of the inverse of picard and wesley in a lot of ways lmao.

OTP

honestly i cannot deny the weird gay thing he and tom have going on. with tom and b'elanna i can be like yeah she deserves better but a) he's usually better to harry than b'elanna because the writers don't seem to know how to write romantic storylines without some bullshit and b) it lowkey doesn't matter if harry deserves better because regardless of my opinions they just Do Have a weird and compelling fucked up gay thing. the chute literally exists.

also my beloved friend @aberfaeth who was my source of voy knowledge before i started watching voy is a ptk enthusiast and i like. very much see that in some arrangement i like whatever they've all got going on

nOTP

uhhh. hm. i dont know that i have one in terms of things that people actually ship? i am very not fond of the show's trend of giving him like tall blonde traditionally (western) beautiful women as like short term love interests that we're clearly supposed to assume he has absolutely no chance with because he's a lame nerd. in a vacuum him always going for like women that fit a specific mold of Hot Girl that he basically never actually has chemistry with would give comphet but i do think in this case it's far more representative of, again, the racist bullshit and it being very clear that they don't see him as being a viable romantic option.

random headcanon

i have not been rotating him in my mind long enough to have a ton of these but i do very much stand by my harry and b'elanna undefeatable battle bots build team headcanon

unpopular opinion

im not immersed enough in the voy ecosystem enough to know what opinions are popular tbh but i do think any headcanon that has harry like pining after tom is simply not a correct interpretation of events imo

favorite picture of them

like I said. I like it when he’s unhinged and when he’s petty.

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s3 ep3: The Chute

I hadn't watched this one since it originally aired. It's not one I disliked, per se, it's just one I didn't enjoy, since it's not any fun to watch your favorite space bros get put through horrors. Looking at it through a more critical lens as an adult, though, I can at least appreciate it more than I could as a 9 year old kid, who was experiencing it more viscerally as something bad happening to characters I liked.

This was a pretty big episode for Harry, since most of the focus was on him for the first time since season 1. Less so for Tom, because he was basically dying from a stab wound for most of it, but their friendship was the main theme of the episode.

I didn't like the cold open starting right in the prison setting, since it felt like playing catch up to figure out the context of what was happening. I'm sure they were going for shock value for the audience, presumably because they thought it would mirror the characters disorientation, but the characters would have had some context for where they were from the events that preceded being sent there. I would have liked to have had a scene on the planet, so we get the sense of surprise and dread as one minute everything is fine, then the next minute they're hauled away. (And it really should have been an actual away mission- are they kidding us that it was shore leave?! Seriously?! The Captain just let the crew beam down to some unknown planet without knowing anything of their society or their laws?? Did everyone simply forget that time on the Enterprise when they did that, and a bunch of half-naked blonde people tried to kill Wesley Crusher for stepping on a plant?? Really?!)

But we just get exposition dialog instead, and find out about the implants in ther heads that make everyone more violent, and we find out that Tom apparently just carries a knife around when he goes on shore leave?? What?? Maybe he's meant to have stolen it from another inmate, idk, but that probably should have been explained, since that's very much not a Starfleet thing. (I mean, sure, he's been in prison before, but Federation prison seems more like a nice vacation than a gritty dog eat dog hellscape like this one lol.)

We finally get a little respite from gritty prison hell with some scenes on the ship with Captain Janeway and crew trying to find Tom and Harry (with bonus concerned B'Elanna- I love that she's become bffs with Harry and Tom now, aww).

Anyway, Tom saves Harry from becoming some other prisoner's bitch, I guess?? It's never actually clear what exactly the other guy wants Harry for, but in the context of actual prisons, one can imagine what they'd want the young pretty boy for, ew. But Tom makes it very clear that Harry is his bitch belongs to him (nope, still sounds pretty gay, lol die mad about it Berman!) and they plot an escape. Harry tries to rewire the chute they came in through, but Tom gets stabbed defending him, and 100s of whump fics on Ao3 were born now Harry is the one who has to take care of Tom.

They make an alliance with the resident crazy manifesto guy so he'll let them share his shelter (though why any of them need a shelter when they're indoors is a bit of mystery- y'all are all under one roof dudes, just pick any corner, you don't need a tent over you, it's not gonna rain inside a room!! The ceiling doesn't have weather patterns!! Lol wtf??) and he tries to convince Harry to give up on Tom and let him die to save himself, which Tom, who loves risking his life to save other people every other episode, does too. But of course, even starving and beaten and with an agression chip in his head, Harry would never do that to his bff. One of the things I feel worked in this episode was seeing Harry get put in this truly awful situation, and never break. For all he's the inexperienced baby marshmallow of the Voyager crew, we see him really grit his teeth and fight through it all with his Starfleet ideals held firm. There's a rather nice shot that follows him walking around the prison, and stays on his face as he goes through all the emotions of anger and frustration and doubt as he struggles to ignore manifesto guy's defeatism and stick to his course of saving himself and Tom. It's a really nice moment where we get to see that sweet little Harry actually has an iron will underneath it all.

And of course, the scene where he takes care of Tom while he's sitting there dying is just heartbreakingly tender. When Tom gets so sick that he stops being self-sacrificing and tells Harry not to leave him, it's hurts, for Harry and for us. Of course it spurs Harry on to take on an entire prison to protect him, but luckily, their mom comes to pick them up in the nick of time- Captain Janeway has been working to track them down, and when diplomacy fails, she opts for a prison break. She jumps right in there with a rifle to get her boys home- and it's honestly glorious. Prudently, she did bring back up, but tbh, you believe this one tiny woman could terrify a horde of violent men singlehandedly. All hail our badass space mom!

In the last scene back home on Voyager, Harry is visibly still shaken, as anyone would be. Tom is chatting away normally, as if he hadn't just been on death's door, because he knew he had Harry to get him through it. Which is very sweet, but honestly it felt a little too shallow, given the circumstances. Tom was mind controlled, starved, stabbed, and almost died, that's some pretty traumatic stuff he should be processing, it shouldn't be cutesy time at that point yet. If they wanted the cute ending, why do this story? Why did they have to go through hell just to say 'hey, I appreciate you being my friend and looking out for me'?? And if they really wanted to do this story- at least have the characters process the trauma, and like, give each other a hug, for crying out loud!

I couldn't get away from the feeling that this whole story was kind of predicated on an underlying toxic masculine sensibility that men can only express love and devotion to another man if one or both of them are dying. It reminded me of that art piece I've seen around, the one that says something to the effect of 'you construct elaborate rituals to touch the skin of other men'. Which also reminds me thematically of another Voyager ep that's coming up later, where Captain Janeway goes through this elaborate ritual and puts herself through trials she didn't really need to because she thinks you're supposed to suffer to gain the prize or knowledge you need. This episode felt like that, on a meta level- while I appreciated highlighting the unshakeable bond between Harry and Tom, why did we have to put them through hell, and mind control, starve, beat and almost kill them, to do it? It's not pleasant to watch, and I never have rewatched in all these years till now, because whatever good there was here- and there was some good- it didn't feel justified, in a way. I knew Tom and Harry loved each other and would do anything for each other already, without having to torture them to get them to show it. And I have to believe that by the 24th century, we'll have a better society, where men can tell other men how much they love them without having to suffer to justify it.

[spacefinch]

MSB character headcanons: Dorothy Ann

Huge Star Trek fan. Her favorite series are TOS and Voyager, and her favorite character is Captain Janeway.

Has a pet Maine Coon cat named Teddy. She named him that because he’s big and fluffy, like a teddy bear.

Is always torn between just enjoying a sci-fi film and getting annoyed with the scientific inaccuracies. She is usually able to let it slide, since she’s been on some wild adventures as a student in Ms. Frizzle’s class.

Cannot for the life of herself remember any good jokes. Carlos keeps trying to teach her some jokes, but D.A. has trouble memorizing them. Facts and figures are much easier.

The one time D.A. does crack a joke on screen (“We’re on the ‘erode’ to ruin” in Rocks and Rolls), it’s the first time she’s ever done so without having to consult a book. And of course, Carlos is very proud of her.

By day: serious science student. By night: writes fanfiction on AO3. She goes by the username “stellar-falcon.”

Doesn’t want anybody to know she writes fanfiction. Unfortunately, it’s becoming harder and harder. The whole class loves stellar-falcon’s Star Trek fics and they keep up with their stories almost religiously.

Also has a pet parrot named Dinah. Dinah is older than D.A. herself!

She’s from a fairly well-off family.

100% autistic. Loves infodumping to anyone who will listen. Never goes anywhere without her book bag, which I’m pretty sure is her comfort item.

On her friendship with Carlos: (I ship the 2 of them btw)

Right off the bat, the two of them were rivals. Sure, they were also friends, but boy, were they competitive.

For the longest time, only Phoebe knows D.A. has a crush on Carlos.

Said crush developed very gradually. D.A. and Carlos tend to bicker a lot, but after a while, they find they actually enjoy each other’s company.

One thing they have in common is that they both like birds. Unfortunately, Phoebe knows this, and keeps trying to set them up for bird-watching dates.

Example:

Phoebe: Hey, D.A., are you free this weekend? I’m going birding at Walkerville Swamp.

D.A.: Sure, I’d love to go! I’ll get some great observations for my bird journal.

Phoebe: Great! See you on Saturday!

Phoebe, a few minutes later: Hey! Carlos! Do you want to go bird-watching with me on Saturday?

Carlos: That sounds fun, but I’m kind of busy. (Lying)

Phoebe: ….

Carlos: Fine, I’ll come. But both my siblings are coming.

Phoebe, thinking: hmmm. That complicates things.

The next Saturday:

Everyone: Arrives at the swamp, but separately.

Phoebe: D.A.! You made it just in time! There’s a whole bunch of cool birds here!

D.A. : Whoa, cool!

The two of them: *nerding out about birds and other swamp wildlife*

Meanwhile: *Carlos and his two siblings (Mikey and Maria) are looking for birds as well*

Phoebe, seeing them: Hey, glad you could make it! We found a big flock of black-necked stilts here!

Carlos: This, I have to see! … Oh, wow!

Carlos, D.A., and Phoebe: *nerding out about birds*

Phoebe: *sneaks away, leading Mikey and Maria with her*

D.A., not noticing at first: *talking about swamp birds* Isn’t that cool, Phoebe? Phoebe? Where are you?

Carlos: Huh. I don’t see her, either. She must have wandered off. *notices that his siblings are also gone* WAIT A MINUTE!

D.A.: Did Phoebe just—

Carlos: *sigh* Yep.

D.A.: I’ll get her for this!

They still laugh about the “black-necked stilt incident” long after it occurs.

More notes:

Runs a science-themed blog on Tumblr. Completely separate from her fanfiction account. She didn’t make a sideblog for her fanfiction. She made an entirely different account.

Enjoys having “girls night” with Phoebe, Keesha, and Wanda. What this means is watching movies, playing card games, trying on clothes, etc…

There’s also a fair amount of scary storytelling that goes on during the girls’ sleepovers.

Usually D.A. hosts the sleepovers, since her house is the biggest and has the comfiest guest spaces.

Everyone is still trying to solve the mystery of who stellar-falcon really is. Mikey has a pretty good guess, but surely it can’t be D.A.? Surely it’s someone else who’s writing these really good Star Trek stories….