#on Tom Paris

[pilots-and-protons]

Thoughts re: Tom Paris’s age vs Bobby Davis’s age

Ok let me preface this with one thing: I usually don’t give two shits what other people in fandoms have for their headcanons. Half the point of fandom is to have fun and enjoy what you enjoy regardless of what others think - I stand behind this 100%! I love hearing about and sharing new and varied headcanons!

HAVING SAID THAT

I saw someone once using the age of the Bobby Davis holo-character in “The Killing Game” as proof for Tom Paris’s age (this is even mentioned off-hand as possible in the Memory Alpha page for his character) - and it makes me want to YELL FROM A VERY TALL BUILDING.

And if you’ve made it this far already, please let me explain to you why.

I understand why some folks would use this - so many characters don’t have listed ages or birth dates in Star Trek, but we get an exact timeline for how old the holo-character of Bobby Davis is. He says he was in France for a summer as an eighteen-year-old in 1936, and then we know he came back during the war in 1944. So that gives his age as 26.

But here’s the thing? THIS IS SEASON 4 OF VOYAGER. I know that Voyager is a little behind in the one-season-equals-one-year thing, but it’s still pretty close. Either way in Season 4, the holo-character/fake personality of Bobby Davis is canonically 26 years old.

By that metric, if Tom Paris was 26 in Season 4, that would make him 24 in Season 2. And this is where I can’t deal with this as “proof” for Tom’s age. I haven’t read any of the beta-canon books (even though I know many have), but as far as I’m concerned, if it’s not SEEN ON SCREEN or SAID ON SCREEN within the 7 seasons of the show, it’s not canon.

that’s probably my training in theatre script analysis kicking in, but sue me

Anyways, if you’re with me so far, now is the time to bring up everyone’s favorite abomination: “Threshold”. Yes, I’m back on my bullshit again with “Threshold”, but it’s for a good reason and mostly because it gives us a ton of backstory and character information for Tom. He gives a very impassioned speech to Janeway in the episode when she’s telling him he shouldn’t risk his life for the Warp 10 flight. And you know what he ACTUALLY says?

“Captain, this is the first time in ten years I feel I have a life to risk”.

Ten years. TEN YEARS since he felt like he had a life to risk. Are you telling me that this man has felt like that since he was FOURTEEN? 

Because that’s what this would get you, if you assumed that Tom Paris and the holo-character of Bobby Davis were the same age. I get that we know Tom’s childhood was rocky because of his father - but he also fondly recalls memories of playing in his room and losing his virginity at 17. It seems a bit drastic to think Tom would see his life as meaningless before he was more than a young teenager.

Now if you want to go deeper, I personally believe that Tom’s line from “Threshold” refers to how he felt after Caldik Prime. We know for a fact that he was drinking and being hired as a mercenary after getting kicked out of Starfleet; he says this himself to Janeway in “Caretaker”. Clearly after being thrown out, he was not in a good place. It’s also implied in “Non Sequitur” that he’d have ended up right back as a drunk if the events of the first episode had gone different. In fact, though it is an alternate reality, the Tom Paris in “Non Sequitur” also says something similar to his later lines from “Threshold”:

“Let’s just say It’s been a long time since anybody gave a damn about my future, including me.”

I highly doubt that Admiral Paris “didn’t give a damn” about Tom’s future when he was only fourteen. In fact, Tom’s quote from “30 Days” shows his father had very specific opinions on his young son’s future:

“I had it all planned out. Finish high school, join the Federation Naval Patrol. But my father had other ideas.”

So if you were to agree that the incident at Caldik Prime is the basis for the “Threshold” and “Non Sequitur” lines, that would mean it had been ten years since the accident by Season 2. If that were the case, then there’s no reasonable way that Tom could be the same age as his Bobby Davis character, because that would be way too young.

Personally, I am of the opinion that Tom is the same age as Robert Duncan McNeill was when making the show  - so about 30-31 during “Caretaker”, which would put him around 22 at Caldik Prime (if the accident was indeed 10 years before “Threshold”). Since Starfleet Academy takes 4 years (and Harry Kim is supposed to be 22 and fresh from the academy too when he joins Voyager as his first assignment), Tom easily could have joined the academy at 18 years old and finished when he was around 21 or 22 - followed shortly by being stationed on the Exeter and ending with the accident at Caldik Prime. That would line up perfectly with the quote from “Threshold”.

I find that to be a very reasonable timeline.

So anyway thanks for coming to my TedTalk

[amartianonmars]

Watching Voyager

[tinglingpeter]

TOM DALEY – Paris 2024 Olympics

[bigfatbreak]

For the Viceroy AU, how does Tom figure out Gabriel was the one responsible?

[iamthecutestofborg]

I know the holidays can be stressful, so this Threshold Day try to keep in mind what really matters. It's not about the gifts or the shopping, it's about breaking the warp barrier. Threshold Day is meant to be a time of transformation (into a lizard), love (for your captain/lizard wife), and spending time with your family (of lizard babies) before you abandon them on a planet forever and never think about them again.

Happy Threshold Day everyone, and don't forget to leave milk and cookies out for Tom Paris as he travels at warp 10 and exists simultaneously at every point in the universe!

[toastandcheesea]

mass-posting old art today

[alexbkrieger13]

[evviejo]

STAR TREK: VOYAGER - S7E5 Critical Care

[avoicefromthestars]

Star Trek: Voyager Repression

[olympain]

CLOSING CEREMONY Tom initiates the handoff to L.A. for the 2028 Olympics

[galacticleechart]

This was way too much fun too draw... Enjoy Tom Paris holding up one of the warp 10 salamander babies

[fly-casual-bro]

Designed a t-shirt to commemorate this emmy-award-winning Star Trek episode. It's sparkly. All hail the salamanders ✨

[itberice]

[trevsplace]

This week's Saturday night Photoshop shenanigans are brought to you by the letter "B".

[trek-tracks]

Please say the Enterprise is attending the LA 2028 Olympics

[aspiringnexu]

Love that Star Trek accurately portrays humans in the future as being DTF practically anything. Works wonders for diplomacy.

"Sure I don't find you attractive, but give me ten minutes, your Excellency, and I'll find someone on this ship who's into tentacles and slime."

We may not be super intelligent or super strong, but give humans a chance. We're annoyingly likeable, tenacious, stubborn, and attracted to the weirdest things.