Well, my dear anon. I am not quite sure to which angst you are referring. The real life fact that it was not catered to with the show writing or the ample amount of angst being penned by our talented fic authors. So, here is my outlook:
I too enjoy being swept up in the magic and wonder of fluff. Trust me. I’ve written my fair share. But, we must face the hard facts. The straight poop.
Kathryn Janeway is angst. Science, anguish, and coffee are all the woman runs on.
That being said, take her strained sense of duty, the length of their ‘mission’, the tragic loss of crew, resources, and the innocence of exploration, then throw in Chakotay’s need/want for her to be his, all the while, doing what is best for the ship and it’s crew. BAM. A giant angst nugget is produced.
And, that, is where the root of their ‘attraction’ began. The strife of losing a ship and a way home. Thrown together in despiration to cross the galaxy finding their way through every trial and tribulation.
Anyway, I guess what I’m saying is, because of the circumstances and their personalities…angst is a majority of what you’re going to get. Their careers and lifestyle open them up for tragedy and heartbreak. And that brings people closer. Making that sweet tension we love. And that sells.
You’re also talking to one of the angsy-est mothers out there. BUT. (I also experience this in my X-Files writing as well) We hardly ever see them ‘dealing’ with anything in a way that we would.
We’ve never seen Kathryn outright weep. I know she had to have had a breakdown or five. We never see Chakotay have a huge fit and throw down some shit on the holodeck. And you know he beat the absolute piss out of some boxing simulations.
I think it’s in our nature to stretch and pull the characters in ways to experiment with their limits or what we perceive their limits to be.
Hang in there! I’ll be posting some holiday fluff for you soon; tune in for that! 😊😊😊😊
Definitely some super accurate ideas about characterization. You’re right, these characters are all angst.
I agree. I think all Janeway x Chakotay fanfic should be about them getting married and having seven babies, all with her blue eyes and his dimples, called Edward Janeway, Kolopak Janeway, Shannon Janeway, Katie-Gretchen-Sekaya Janeway, Chakoletta Janeway, and the twins, B’Elanna-Thomasina Janeway and Kestuvokia Janeway.
Kathryn should be a high-powered Starfleet Admiral with a constant maternal glow and wear nothing but pink satin nightgowns when she’s at home. Chakotay should quit Starfleet to become an anthropolarcheology professor.
They’ll live on her ancestral farm in Indiana and grow fields and fields of corn they tried to grow fucks, but the crops were blighted and Talaxian tomatoes. They will call each other “Love” and Kathryn will learn how to cook after several hilariously ill-fated attempts that usually end in pregnancy and Chakotay will carve wood. Lots and lots of wood. There will be wood everywhere, especially in the morning.
They will have adventures that involve such exciting dilemmas as “Alynna Nechayev is mean to Kathryn because there’s no possible way two powerful women could be supportive of each other and Kathryn starts to buy into it but Chakotay reminds her of what’s really important in life and that’s family of course” and “Miral Paris is mean to Edward but nonetheless he wants to marry her when he comes of age so the Janeway-Paris dynasty can live on even though it isn’t actually a thing but who cares because Miral and Edward will have eleventy children who will all become captains and pilots and engineers and anthropologists”.
And naturally Kathryn and B’Elanna will be BFFs and call each other ‘Kathryn’ and ‘B’E’ and swap child-rearing tips, and Tom will call Chakotay ‘Chak’ (when he’s not calling him ‘Big Guy’ or ‘Old Man’) and they will have a Bromance no homo.
And when there is no more cotton candy that can be spun about this perfect post-DQ life there will be coffee shop meet-cutes and highschool AUs and holy shit, you know what this fandom needs? a fucking Twilight AU, man, can someone please make that happen or is that too angsty? What even is angst because I don’t know anymore? Is it okay to have people die in these stories? How about if they’re 97 years old and surrounded by family? Or dogs – can dogs die? I mean I get sadder about that than I do about people dying? What about vegetables? Can the corn die or is that going to make all the country girls sad? Am I getting too existentialist here? I can’t help it.
I have a tooth ache now. I need to go write some Major Character Death seasoned with extreme depression and loneliness to restore my chi.
But thanks for your comment, anon. I value it, and you.
bekjaneway 