A woman in a world of art. 🎨🎭🎵🎥 🖊

Every crew member on Voyager had a daily ritual of some kind. Tuvok meditated, Seven enjoyed making detailed schedules for her day, Tom shared breakfast with B'Elanna, and so on. Even Naomi Wildman had a nighttime ritual of getting Flotter and her other dolls ready for bed. There was one daily ritual, though, that the entire senior staff participated in.

Captain Janeway had to start her day with a cup of coffee. It was one of her non-negotiable rules for her life. So, her morning ritual became replicating a mug of her favorite blend and letting it cool as she carried it with her to the bridge.

At some point every morning, someone would hand her a PADD. The report or other information it contained would inevitably distract her. Eventually, she'd set her cup of coffee down absentmindedly.

Tuvok made it part of his morning duties to move the coffee from the console on which it was left. Whole Tuvok completed his morning security rounds, Seven would take it from him as they passed in a corridor on deck 5 a short while later, as she headed to sickbay for any needed maintenance on her Borg implants. She would leave the mug with The Doctor as she left. During Tom Paris' shift in sickbay, The Doctor would instruct Tom to take the mug with him for his bridge shift. Tom would pass the mug to Harry as he entered the bridge from the turbolift. Harry would place the mug back on the console on which Captain Janeway had left it. Finally, Chakotay would take the mug from the console back to Captain Janeway in her ready room.

Captain Janeway would thank him for bringing it to her from where she'd left it on the bridge, and enjoy her coffee that was now cooled to the perfect temperature while talking with Chakotay about the day ahead.

The senior staff continued this daily ritual for seven years, never telling Captain Janeway about the trek her coffee took around the ship each day of their journey home.

From The Cloud:

We learn her Spirit Guide is a lizard, and Chakotay has a cha-moozee stone in his pack.

In Tattoo: we learn, along with a young Chakotay that a lizard leads him to these very symbols.

And that the symbol means “a blessing on the land” and that it’s a healing symbol. It’s clearly deeply personal to Chakotay because he keeps it etched on a stone in his meditation pack. They discuss his finding together. Using the stone in his pack that only she (and B’Elanna) has seen.

Forward to Star Trek Prodigy, Chakotay is going back to the Delta Quadrant, and he leaves Kathryn his precious stone, telling her it will guide him home. Home has always been a very important part of Voyager, of their relationship. He gave her this stone that means a blessing to the land to her. She’s his home.

This symbol is incredibly important to them both at this point. It’s to this stone that she goes when she’s afraid she’s losing him.

All because her lizard guide led him to this symbol . That has become their beacon to each other.

Their home.

Them being soulmates is certainly there from the beginning.

And as I type this, my music has randomly shuffled to Storybook Love by Mark Knopfler and I’m a puddle of much right now.

If not soulmates, why soulmate coded?

So imagine my unholy squeal of victory when, on Prodigy, Chakotay takes his cha-moozee stone -- the thing that has canonically been used to guide HIS LITERAL SOUL back home -- and gives it to Kathryn.

me, an elder fandom veteran, suddenly having anne rice flashbacks:

no.

NO.

starting to rock back and fourth.

you do not understand.

you were born into an age of peace. i was there Gandalf. i was there three thousand years ago. i remember the cease and desists. i remember authors hunting fanfic writers for sport. i remember when every fic opened with a disclaimer because we genuinely thought it might protect us.

we do not charge money for the copyrighted gay wizard stories.

do not tempt fate youngling.

step away from the paywall.

that is how you summon the ancient evils.

No "buy me a kofi"

No links to patreon or other money-making sites or apps

Challenge accepted ☺️

reblog if you believe anon is wrong and writers are writers, no matter what they write about. no matter how they portray these taboo topics.

reblog if you believe art can be about topics that are controversial, taboo or outright disturbing, and artists who create controversial, taboo or outright disturbing art are as valid as artists who create art of conservative values.