My, my...! Ok, that was intense! I think I've been working on this little thing for 2 days now BUT here it is! Finally finished! The next page update is coming up on March 1st, and Wally wants to let you know! Let's hope that this video reaches many more people far from the project and catches their attention. It is such a loving and interesting story, brought to us by @partycoffin . It certainly deserves more attention!
On a side note: layered animation (at least that's what I call it) is really hard!
ok concept: Steve is intrigued by Eddie in the Upside Down deal, and after he saves him he sticks around for his recovery, Eddie becomes part of the group, you know the drill.
But from the start, from that very first terrifying weeks where Wayne does not leave his nephew's bed side, Eddie is NEVER alone. Which is a good thing, mostly. People flock to him, he's a natural born leader and he fits right in with that role.
It's partly why Steve is now enamored with him, after seeing him wrangle the kids without them even knowing what's happening. After seeing him charm all their parents in a town where everyone who doesn't know him, hates him. After seeing him comfort Max, cheer up Lucas, relate to Mike, encourage Dustin, endear himself to Will and El.
And if that wasn't enough he bolsters Robin just by being so unapologetically himself around all of them. Steve is more than just impressed, and he tries to make it known. He frequently thanks Eddie, he makes sure to always hear his opinion, he asks him about his interests, he's there if Eddie will be.
But they're NEVER alone. Not after movie nights, not at their workplaces, not at Hellfire, not at hospital appointments, not even at Eddie's place, there's always someone else around, it's never just the two of them. No matter how hard Steve tries.
No matter how many soft smiles, or meaningful looks, or even shoulder touches, hip checks, loud laughs, hair mussing, you name it, they're always interrupted. Or maybe it's just never enough for Steve.
And he's so frustrated that he doesn't even realize that Eddie notices, notices how Steve huffs or blushes or just generally switches tracks when someone interrupts their little moments. And he interprets this as Steve struggling with liking Eddie, so he doesn't push.
And of course it all goes on for longer than it should UNTIL! Steve tries calling Eddie, just on a random weeknight, since the night prior he had tried his best to ask Eddie out after he loaded the kids in his van to drive them home after movie night, but, you guessed it, they got interrupted again. So he's determined to fix it, he wants Eddie to know he's interested.
And Steve feels so silly, this shouldn't be this hard, he shouldn't be pouting because Eddie doesn't pick up his phone. But he just stares at his ceiling until it gets dark, until he can't stare anymore. And finally he grabs his keys and heads out.
It's late, early, whatever. He just wants to drive somewhere, nowhere. Until he sees a familiar van parked under the stars outside of town. He pulls over and sees Eddie inside.
"Steve? it's three am!" Eddie says, a little scandalized,
"Yeah!" Steve answers in the same tone, "Are you okay? What happened?"
Eddie huffs, "Just an insomniac now"
"Sorry, man"
"Yeah, me too. Looks like we're on the same boat"
Steve half nods.
"Want a cig?" Eddie offers,
So, Steve parks his car a bit ahead, walks back, gets in. He tells Eddie he wishes he could tell him it'll get better, but he's awake at three am too isn't he? They share a few cigarettes.
And they talk, finally, no one interrupts them. Finally, Steve can ask about all that intrigues him, finally, he can be sure he's the one making Eddie laugh, finally, he can hold Eddie's gaze long enough that it's crystal clear that Steve wants more, and finally, Steve asks Eddie out as the sun rises.
Because the whole Tuvix wank is rearing its head every week on Trek forums, I finally decided to rewatch this episode. I mostly avoided it because I am So Tired of the wank and how it's been relitigated for YEARS.
I was over it when it first popped up and I was even more over it with the way it's used as a bludgeon to promote 'psycho Janeway'.
But what's left out in the discussions is Kes's part in all of this, from the jump, Kes was troubled with the merging of Neelix and Tuvok, and anytime Tuvix tried to make advances, she just kept getting more uncomfortable.
(When Tuvix unconsciously touched Kes's shoulder, it looked like she had to consciously not flinch.)
To Tuvix's credit, he did give Kes space and respected her wishes but she was not happy with the whole merge because her relationship with Neelix and Tuvok is different.
We don't see the other people grieve but we see Kes's grief and confusion, which was shared by Janeway. But also, the moment the EMH had a solution to separate the two people in Tuvix, Harry jumped at the chance.
And he's already spent weeks with Tuvix.
The irony is that Janeway was coming around to thinking of Tuvix as an individual but the cure presented itself, but also as the Ship's Captain she has an obligation to care for her crew and absent or not that meant advocating for the two voices who couldn't speak up: Tuvok and Neelix.
Kes was the deciding factor. Kes made her plea to separate Neelix and Tuvok.
Kes was the biggest reason why Janeway decided to separate Tuvok from Neelix.
It was such a cop-out from the Doctor that he refused to do the procedure he made and pioneered. And forced Janeway to execute it instead.
Janeway is clearly not happy about the decision and she's caught between a rock and a hard place.
In Nothing Human Janeway verbalizes it.
"Any consequences of this decision will be my responsibility. Dismissed."
Janeway's constantly put into a wheelhouse of trolley problems, as the only high-ranking Starfleet officer, she is the final authority. In Nothing Human everyone is locked in an endless debate about the morality of using the Cardassians' methods to save B'Elanna's life. Meanwhile, the clock was running down to zero and B'Elanna could have died more.
(Honestly, the story should have been more B'Elanna, Doctor, and Janeway-centric than it was. Nothing Human is a weird episode. Especially since Seven was barely in it and seems to be the Acting Chief Engineer -- amusingly enough because the writers thought they killed Joe Carey between s2 and 3. Alas, poor Vorik, he's not getting any promotions either).
TLDR: Janeway is constantly living through what the Doctor of Doctor Who is living through. Or as the 12th Doctor once said: "Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones, but you still have to choose."