Date: 07 Dec 2013 06:56 Title: Chapter 1
I could swear I already reviewed this. o.O Or maybe I said it aloud. Anyway. I absolutely adore the back-and-forth between Seven and Tom here. The way he brings up the number of times they've had a conversation, and when she has a ready answer, the swift quantifier of 'over ten minutes'. I like how he keeps on her about how it wasn't actually her fault. And I like how the conversation goes from light to pretty damned serious, leaving both her and the reader plenty of food for thought.
Really, they're an inspired couple. Good work with that hookup!
Date: 12 Sep 2013 16:15 Title: Chapter 1
I love how well this works (and her crack about him being unable to listen was priceless).
He is right, of course, that getting hurt is a part of the package. But we go into it anyway, not even necessarily blindly, knowing that bad things could happen. But most people see these as acceptable risks or at least bearable ones.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Seven.
Well done.
Author's Response:
Thanks, jes. I loved writing Seven and Tom, as the two of them don't get a lot of screen time together in the series. Their interactions are few and far between. But Tom has always been one to tell it like it is and be able to speak truths others don't want to hear, and so he did that here. He was great in this piece and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Date: 12 Sep 2013 00:18 Title: Chapter 1
This is an excellent expansion of the missing time period from your earlier story of Seven and Paul date. I again think you’ve got both characters right. Tom is Tom from his first line, to his mocking of the EMH opening line, also to his need to say the right thing and the right thing by Seven and tell her the truths that she didn’t want to hear about love. You’ve got Seven reactions and her unnecessary self blame, for the cause of injuries to feel right, it almost as if you were enjoying the ability to torture seven with her in demons and how she tries to rationalize her irrational decision to take Paul home rather than to the nearest medical facility.
Seven seems to show some signs of growth but it clear she still got a long way to go to acknowledge her human side and her emotions impact.
Still this works as a stand-alone story and I do think it benefits from been separated from the original story.
Author's Response:
Thanks Bill. This was intended, from the get-go, to be a separate story but it really had some legs (more than I anticipated) and using Tom Paris as the guy to bail Seven out felt like the right call. I had considered using the Doctor, but as Seven herself alluded to, it would have been uneasy (otherwise known as awkward). I thought about maybe Janeway herself, but Tom Paris has always been a favorite of mine to write for and he wanted to play, so I let him.
The fact that Tom and Seven had few talks like this (and interaction in general) in VOY really cemented the idea for me. Seven needed help but she didn't want to involve the Doctor or Janeway (her two closest allies/friends) and so she called up Tom, who was kinda at fault anyway for dragging her to the party.
Tom has always been good at telling it like it is and I figured, with the VOY crew back on Earth, you have some time there to evolve the relationship. I didn't see Seven and Tom being more than really fringe friends before this but from this point on Tom will play a larger role.
Seven is very much guilt-ridden about getting other people hurt, as was demonstrated multiple times in VOY, and I don't see that changing even back on Earth. It's irrational, but it's a flaw of hers. She will have a ways to go as far as growth is concerned but she'll get there. Hopefully with Paul but we'll see. Thanks for the review.