H'Ermey: Not happy in my work, I guess...... Supervisor: What? H'Ermey: I don't like to make bat'leths. Supervisor: Oh well if that's all... WHAT? You don't like to make bat'leths? H'Ermey: I want to be.... a dentist!
I just watched that! Santa was really a douche in that show! And the elves. I mean, they MADE the toys wrong, wtf was up with that? And Hermy was portrayed pretty fey. What was up with that? You have to be straight to be a REAL elf? (who seemingly intentionally make defective toys--that are sentient and actually feel unloved)
I'm so glad Tom wasn't Nick. I felt Nick was a wuss who would rather sully the memory of a Father for his Son, than "man up" and take responsibility for his bad choices. Like Teacake said... He's no James T. Kirk!"
Nick was smooth and smarmy, like a used-car salesman. Tom was smooth, but NOT smarmy. And if he ever sold a used car, he'd at least make sure it worked right.
Exactly. Tom was boring. (I know you were probably posting in favor of Tom over Nick, so I just want to clarify that I got it. )
It took me a while to wrap my head around the idea that Paris was supposed to be the bad boy character. He was just a fella with a bit more liveliness than Starfleet usually encouraged (see: Harry).
I despised the character of Nick. I also despise real-world used-car salesmen. Plus I despise funeral home directors who behave like used-car salesmen. For a more interesting take on Tom Paris, I recommend Alpha Flyer's post-Endgame Tom Paris stories on fanfiction.net. There's adventure, humor, character development, an ongoing storyline that got me hooked and waiting for the next installment...
I wasn't particularly fond of Nick, either. But I think there was far more depth and potential in him than there was in Tom. Tom was just a softer, cuddlier version of Nick. He was supposed to be the "bad boy" character but he had no "bad boy" qualities to him. Nick, IMO, would have been more interesting because we'd start off not liking this guy, but there was the potential there for him to grow much more than Tom ever did. His time on Voyager could have taught him maturity and how to accept responsibility for his actions instead of blaming other people all the time. He could have had a real character arc, whereas Tom remained mostly the same from start to finish.
DS9 did a similar thing with early Bashir, with Siddig El Fadil experimenting with making the character an annoying personality. When fan mail came in complaining about Bashir, he was gradually softened to become more likeable.
Rom was another one. Early DS9 he's a complete bastard tool. Then they softened him into annoying tool. But I have helluva respect for the actor
But he was acting to hide his genetic enhancements... Retroactively Julian totally did the first 4 seasons lefthanded.
And pretended to have loads of fun at darts with Miles even though he was faking his skill. He's like a girl! Letting the boy best him so the boy feels good about himself and likes the girl! :: adds this to the miles/julian list of precious things ::