Pixie Ships: Kathryn Janeway and Tom Paris

[pixiedane]

Janeway/Paris was my introduction to Voyager fandom!! They were my OTP and I frequented ‘Jupiter’s Station’ the web archive dedicated to J/P for which I wrote incredibly earnest terrible fic:




And made hilariously bad photoedits such as:


GET IT???? (In my defense, this was 20 years ago and I was a small.)

But the reasons I shipped them then remain true today, and no one will ever be able to convince me that they don’t have a special and specific connection.


First of all, they have a past. Maybe they didn’t know each other prior to Voyager (though I’ve written more than one scene where they met and forgot, as well as AUs where they did), but they led parallel lives. Both have reasons to be envious of the other because of their relationships to Owen. And both have reasons to care about each other because of it.

Second, they have complimentary personalities. They both push boundaries, and flirt wildly, and care way too much about appearances, and want to live up to the idea of who they should be, and think they can’t. They read each other easily. Almost like siblings, definitely like family. Because of their shared background they have their own vocabulary, both verbal and nonverbal. And there is a clear and present mutual attraction evident from their first meeting.

Finally, she saved him and he is going to spend his whole life trying to save her back. “I guess I’m yours,” he says, in that first scene, in that first episode, and it’s true from then on. And she gets it. She accepts him.

Now, a series rundown:

Ima start with my steadfast headcanon that Academy Kate had a crush on Owen Paris. She has Daddy Issues™ and she considers him a good father. She definitely knows who Tom is, she definitely believes she owes something to Owen, and she definitely has sympathy for Tom because she, too, grew up with the Expectations™ of a Starfleet Legacy. All of that is before they even meet. And then he becomes her ‘personal reclamation project’. He is important to her, that’s a given. But I’m sorry, there is also an attraction. On both sides. Even just reading canon for canon, there has to be a REASON he kidnaps her to be his lizard mate.

Some episode-related highlights:
“Caretaker” – she gets him out of prison and into a Starfleet uniform, he’s the first to answer her on the bridge after the initial crash into the DQ, she protects him from Chakotay, he volunteers for the away team, she promotes him into her motley crew

“Time and Again” – I hate this episode because they are in love and it doesn’t count :sob:

“The Cloud” – he’s afraid to invite her to his holo party but when she shows up it becomes clear she is his equal in the ability to party – which I LOVE. Picard would never, the end of “All Good Things” is about that. Even Kirk maintains a line when it comes to fun with the crew but Janeway? I’m gonna challenge my conscripted helmsman to a pool game in his speakeasy holosim and also I’m gonna WIN.

“Ex Post Facto” – this episode is the worst but she is so concerned about her Tom

“The 37s” – they land the ship for the first time together and it is a metaphor/code for sex I don’t make the rules

“Resistance” – he reaches out in comfort when she’s weeping over the dead UGH MY HEART

(also Neelix and Tuvok and Torres are all also there but it’s Tom who does this)

“Threshold” – we all know this episode is epic, but there is so much more than lizard babies! Janeway goes back and forth on allowing Tom to do it, showing she cares more about HIM than the mission (which is getting home!), but then that means she has to let him go because it’s what he wants. Then there’s how upset she is when he is mutating. Then he snatches her away to mate on a swamp planet. And finally, that scene in sickbay kills me because he’s embarrassed and she is delighted. She teases him, to show him that she still cares more about HIM than any of this nonsense. And they smile at each other and I can’t. I just can’t AT ALL.

“Investigations” – so they’ve been meeting in secret for months. This is ALSO code for sex I don’t make the rules.

“Basics” – hi I saved the ship for you

“Worst Case Scenario” – proves that Tuvok also knows there is something special and specific about Janeway’s relationship to Tom

Then we enter into the Paris/Torres years. Janeway is relieved. And happy for them (honestly, she loves them both). But “Scientific Method” has her extra annoyed by their shenanigans and “Night”’s depression can be read in many ways.

“Thirty Days” – every time I watch this scene I expect them to kiss

And the whole episode is about how disappointed they are in each other (and Owen again plays a huge part in that) and how betrayed they both feel and my heart breaks and also I love it so much

“Bride of Chaotica!” – Remember, you’re the queen!

“Pathfinder” – I have written the missing scene at the end of this where he comes to her quarters to talk about the hurricane of emotions felt on the bridge hearing his father’s voice

And all that means:
I say they had a secret relationship in the early years. There is an attraction and he is devoted to her. It starts up circa “The Cloud” as a flirtation. By “The 37s” it’s a casually sexual relationship. “Threshold” outs it as a problem. Affecting their judgement. They start having “we should stop” conversations. Their last night together is just before he leaves the ship in “Investigations”. When he returns he shows up on her doorstep but she says no. He spends some time trying to convince her it’s okay, but it doesn’t work. He moves on and falls in love with B’Elanna. But he will always, always be devoted to Janeway and there is a mutual sexual attraction that never really goes away.