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icepixieSo I go hunting for X-Files fics, and where do I end up but on YouTube, watching Voyager clips. Don't ask. Anyway, apparently there's a rabid Paris/Torres vid clip-uploader out there, because practically every scene they were in together is on YT.
I always thought B'Elanna was the most interesting character on that show. (Not that this is, you know, hard when your competition is the likes of Harry Kim and Neelix, but still.) She got to be the token half-breed, but they actually did some pretty cool things with it. And I think her and Tom were basically the only Trek characters who ever who got to have something resembling a normal romantic relationship that didn't end in tears. (Well, there was Miles and Keiko...oh, and Riker and Troi! Even if it did take them ten years and four movies, but whatever.)
But yes, they were the only thing that made Voyager watchable after Janeway went crazy and half the cast stopped caring and I discovered that there was better science fiction on TV.* They actually did right by them, mostly; from their first meeting through what I saw of the end was funny and sweet, with just enough complication to make it interesting.
Which of course means I need to read fic. Argh, here I thought I'd left this fandom behind me years ago. But I think Trek is like the peanut butter and jelly of fandom--soft and palatable, kind of boring, a little too sweet, but nice to have once in a while nonetheless.** There aren't the storytelling possibilities (or, let's face it, skill) of a BSG or a Farscape, but the Federation is a utopia I'd kind of like to live in. (Need something? Replicate it! Need to get off a planet in a hurry? Transport out! Need to solve a problem quickly? Technobabble to the rescue! See why it's bland? But it's nice to imagine living there.) Plus, the franchise as a whole was my very first fandom. You can't fully escape your roots.
* Well, that and my soft spot for Seven and the Doctor together. (How adorable is "Someone to Watch Over Me"? Awwwwwww. I've totally had "You Are My Sunshine" stuck in my head for days now.)
** Although DS9 didn't do too badly as far as interesting plots and moral quandries, not to mention fun Bajoran religion and lots and lots of politics, yay!
I always thought B'Elanna was the most interesting character on that show. (Not that this is, you know, hard when your competition is the likes of Harry Kim and Neelix, but still.) She got to be the token half-breed, but they actually did some pretty cool things with it. And I think her and Tom were basically the only Trek characters who ever who got to have something resembling a normal romantic relationship that didn't end in tears. (Well, there was Miles and Keiko...oh, and Riker and Troi! Even if it did take them ten years and four movies, but whatever.)
But yes, they were the only thing that made Voyager watchable after Janeway went crazy and half the cast stopped caring and I discovered that there was better science fiction on TV.* They actually did right by them, mostly; from their first meeting through what I saw of the end was funny and sweet, with just enough complication to make it interesting.
Which of course means I need to read fic. Argh, here I thought I'd left this fandom behind me years ago. But I think Trek is like the peanut butter and jelly of fandom--soft and palatable, kind of boring, a little too sweet, but nice to have once in a while nonetheless.** There aren't the storytelling possibilities (or, let's face it, skill) of a BSG or a Farscape, but the Federation is a utopia I'd kind of like to live in. (Need something? Replicate it! Need to get off a planet in a hurry? Transport out! Need to solve a problem quickly? Technobabble to the rescue! See why it's bland? But it's nice to imagine living there.) Plus, the franchise as a whole was my very first fandom. You can't fully escape your roots.
* Well, that and my soft spot for Seven and the Doctor together. (How adorable is "Someone to Watch Over Me"? Awwwwwww. I've totally had "You Are My Sunshine" stuck in my head for days now.)
** Although DS9 didn't do too badly as far as interesting plots and moral quandries, not to mention fun Bajoran religion and lots and lots of politics, yay!
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 12:12 am (UTC)I think B'Elanna is what Ro Laren would've been if she'd gotten proper character development. Doesn't beat The Doctor, though. (Then again, all I remember about The Doctor is the episode where he started singing opera, and he got a fan letter asking him what his favorite quadratic equation was.)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 12:37 am (UTC)I don't really remember Ro all that well, but I can kind of see that. (BTW, Michelle Forbes showed up fairly recently on Battlestar Galactica, playing an evil, evil admiral. She was great. You should watch it.)
Doesn't beat The Doctor, though.
Wellll...you may have a point. The Doctor is high on my list as well. (But for some reason, I tend to always like female characters more than male. I don't know why.)
(Then again, all I remember about The Doctor is the episode where he started singing opera, and he got a fan letter asking him what his favorite quadratic equation was.)
I remember that! Bwahahaha. I liked the one where he made himself a holofamily right out of 1955, and B'Elanna reprogrammed it for him so it was "truer to life." Heh.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-15 02:47 am (UTC)Weird -- I always like male characters more than female. Most of the women in Star Trek drove me up the wall, except for Ro, Guinan, and the occasional B'Elanna.
I liked the one where he made himself a holofamily right out of 1955, and B'Elanna reprogrammed it for him so it was "truer to life." Heh.
...I don't think I've seen that. It sounds amazing.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-15 03:06 am (UTC)Well, I meant that as more of a general observation...it holds less true for Star Trek. The only ones I particularly like in that universe are B'Elanna and Jadzia Dax. And Kira. Kira was pretty cool.
...I don't think I've seen that. It sounds amazing.
OMG. It was hilarious. The holofamily goes from the Cleavers to the Osbornes. You should netflix the DVD it's on just for that episode. (It was in the last half of season three, as I recall. Maybe five or six episodes from the end?)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-15 04:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 12:44 am (UTC)hee! That's a really apt description, actually. I grew up on the original Trek (and still have (a) a huge soft spot for it and (b) all the VHS-taped episodes on my shelves at home :D), so I feel that doubly.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 02:29 am (UTC)But yeah, the Roddenberry future seems like such a nice place to live. Friendly aliens and computers and holodecks and all that. Sounds good. Kind of nice to retreat to after the relentless beatdown of BSG, say. *g*
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 01:25 am (UTC)And yes, I still wave the Paris/Torres flag high. *sniff* My first online fandom!
Although in the interest of full disclosure, the Tuvok & Neelix friendship always gave me the warm fuzzies as well.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 02:33 am (UTC)for the sheer ridiculousness factor and how they managed to be really sweet in the midst of it.
I was, like, twelve when I first saw it, so I don't know that I got all the nuances (I think I was kind of befuddled by a lot of the sex/power/violence stuff), but I was always impressed with Tom in particular in that episode. He and B'Elanna were both very sweet throughout the whole thing.
Although in the interest of full disclosure, the Tuvok & Neelix friendship always gave me the warm fuzzies as well.
I hated everything and anything to do with Neelix, but Tuvok's obvious distaste-turned-grudging-like for him did amuse me. (But oh, god, Tuvix. Gaaah.)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 06:05 am (UTC)Either I need to refresh my Voyager viewage or watch more music videos on You Tube.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 11:27 pm (UTC)There are clips from the episode up on YouTube. Watch them; they're adorable. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 03:34 am (UTC)And Doc did mention the crush once to Seven when he thought he was dying (or his program was slowly degrading, whatever). I think his exact words were something like "Seven, I think you're beautiful and I have always loved you!" It was a "last words" kind of situation, and of course, Chakote (only spelled right) saves him at last minute.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-15 05:11 am (UTC)Well, Janeway's Irish holoboytoy certainly seemed "functional" enough. *cough*
And Doc did mention the crush once to Seven when he thought he was dying (or his program was slowly degrading, whatever). I think his exact words were something like "Seven, I think you're beautiful and I have always loved you!" It was a "last words" kind of situation, and of course,
Really? Wow. I have no memory of this. Must have been after I stopped watching. Hmmm...more and more things are making me wish I'd stuck it out for that year and a half...although equally as many make me glad I ran far, far away...
no subject
Date: 2007-12-15 03:21 pm (UTC)Very true...
Really? Wow. I have no memory of this. Must have been after I stopped watching. Hmmm...more and more things are making me wish I'd stuck it out for that year and a half...although equally as many make me glad I ran far, far away...
I think it was the last season, or at least pretty darned close. I did stick to it for the whole shebang, but happily I don't remember many of the horrid episodes. The one where the Doctor resigned from Starfleet so he could stay on a planet where he could be a famous opera star still makes me cringe a bit.