Great story and a perfect missing scene!

Like it! Always loved Arachnia, such a great dress ;-)

I never considered that there was more backstory behind the "Remeber, you're the Queen!" line, but this adds a great context to it as well as gives readers another glance into the relationship between Janeway and Paris (I do love that line about both of them being the children of Admirals).

And Janeway going up against Tom and Harry whilst trying to defeat intergalactic evil? Oh my, I don't know if Harry would survive XD

Thanks for the fun fic!

CP7

This was great! I always thought that "Remember, your the Queen" line felt off in that episode and you wrote a perfect story to fit why it felt off. The tension of "30 Days" and Tom's and Kathryn's personal and professional relationship without the sexual undertones that some try to imply came across well. This story has sequel written all over it.

Very interesting, however, I for one don't think that Tom's punishment for disobeying in such a manner as he did her direct orders was too severe- it WAS appropriate overall (regardless of the moral dimension pertaining to saving the Monean world). If he behaved like that in the Alpha Quadrant he might even have faced court martial. (btw. this coming from a stalwart anti-military
Now, having said all of that- I DO think that his punishment might seem too severe in proportion to Janeway's leniency in regard to Chakotay who was insubordinate on many occasions and seemingly never disciplined- which I always found VERY vexing), Seven who only obeyed orders when she felt like it), the Doctor who endangered the whole ship on many occasions) and the list goes on...Had she punished others accordingly to their infractions, one could simply explain it all away with her running a tight ship... but she gave in too much to some of them although truth be told some of them weren't strictly speaking members of Starfleet, but still members of HER crew probably because they were in the Delta Quadrant where the whole Starfleet discipline degenerated and the crew was becoming decadent...
So yes, while considering how Janeway let other people off the hook for defying her, and not Tom (this one time because she did let other smaller things go) it does indeed seem UNFAIR.
However, had Tom demonstrated this kind of behaviour to
Picard, or any other Captain he would probably have received a similar punishment, or worse, because Starfleet at the end of the day is a military organisation and it cannot stand for soldiers/officers following orders willy-nilly...
Sorry for a lengthy reflection... it just came out
But I did enjoy your story because it is in so many ways thought-provoking and conducing to reflection... so THANK YOU for that)

A very interesting, insightful, and mature interpretation of why Tom chose Janeway. I enjoyed seeing them be honest with each other, especially to see Janeway drop her guard with someone other than Chakotay. Hope you write more stories about the nuances you've found in Voyager than others of us have overlooked.

I've commented to a number of people that the forced cheer with which Robbie McNeill had Tom speak that "remember, you're the Queen!" line was full of so much more than the writers gave us, given the almost obscene inconsistency between the events of "Thirty Days" and "Counterpoint". You plumbed that depth beautifully.

But almost more than that, I loved the concept of Tom as the Jester. We all know the Jester's role - to remind the sovereign that s/he is human ...

Very well written character study, I love the story!

This is an interesting interpretation of Tom's motives for choosing the Captain to play Arachnia and for his creation of such an extreme costume for her to wear. I liked it very much.

You allow your characters to be complex and even imperfect. Your dialogue for Tom and Kathryn is in character and believable. They honestly face the issues between them, which is finally what allows their friendship to endure. i like the fact that the Captain is keeping the costume and that Arachnia might one day return to Captain Proton's world.

Well done!

loved this! i just love the depth you add to the characters with these missing scene stories :)