If Tom Paris did not end up with B’Elanna, with whom he would end up with (or no one)?

[BohandiAnsoid]

If Tom Paris did not end up with B’Elanna, with whom he would end up with (or no one)?

While Tom Paris/B’Elanna Torres relationship is pretty good, very good even when measured by canon Star Trek relationships, I would like to ask you, what other stable relationship (maybe with marriage, but not nessesarily) could he have?

I personally like Tom/Kes. I think it's a good pairing if one can get over the age difference (I do). We saw it can work in canon. And, as for age difference, it can happen after Kes returns to Voyager, and she time travelled during her absence, got her lifespan extended and now has the age of a human adult. Lifetime extension is necessary for me anyway.

Otherwise, Tom/Seven is a possibility. They seemed to get along pretty well, easily. Tom was also pretty confident around her, unlike Harry Kim.

If we are to go this route, Tom/Harry… maybe. I am pretty cautious here, especially on Tom’s side. Although we are already speculating.

From secondary characters, I don't know. Maybe one of the twins, I don't remember the name.

 

[Oddish]

When I created my own "generational Voyager" AU, both Kes and B'Elanna were out of the picture... and Tom was still by himself, after several years.

I think that either B'Elanna or Kes would have been able to break Tom out of his prior normal pattern of playing the proverbial field. I don't know of any other character. However, given that Voyager's crew are basically ten mains, a handful of recurring characters, and 100+ nameless nobodies, no real surprise. I think the only recurring female characters were Naomi and her mom, and we didn't see the latter that much.

Regarding Harry, while I certainly think their friendship is one of Trek's best, I acknowledge that both are straight men. And since they grew up in a society where undoubtedly all forms of love were equally respected, I think that the odds of them both being bisexual and not knowing it are a bit slim. Just as Stamets on DIS responds to female flirtation by stating that women just aren't his thing, there's nothing wrong with Harry and Tom going the other way.

So in short... well, Ok, not really... I basically agree with you. Excluding B'Elanna, Kes was probably the best option. Though I think a lot of that is how well Macneil sold it in "Before and After". The love he described was very real, and with an element of tragedy to it because he and Kes couldn't grow old together.

I might still decide to establish a partner for Tom. I have a story going set in the AU in question, in Year 9 of Voyager's journey, and might decide that he deserves a happier ending than just watching all the others get married and being favorite uncle to their kids. But if I do that, I'll probably just create a character from scratch.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

There's a whole ship full of women we haven't seen yet for Paris! He'll end up with one of them. And yeah much as I am the Slash Queen it seems unlikely Tom and Harry would end up together outside of a permanent Chute setting.

 

[Gaith]

Besides Seska, you mean? Why, Ensign Jetal, of course!

Who knows, maybe if they'd been dating, that fateful mission roster might have been different, and she and him might both have survived...


(Yes, this answer is a shameless recylcle. But "More Ensign Jetal" is almost never not a good answer. )

 

[Captrek]

The Delaney sisters. Both of them.

 

[Timeless]

The Delaney sisters. Both of them.

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[Oddish]

Who knows, maybe if they'd been dating, that fateful mission roster might have been different, and she and him might both have survived...

In an AU where Tom/B'Elanna didn't happen, maybe Jetal didn't perish. Maybe she swapped with Crewman Fuggedaboudit so she and Tom could have some fun in the holodeck together.

 

[Alex1066]

Um, maybe the person he had kids with before B’Elanna. The person with whom he had a whirlwind romance with in a tropical getaway. I’m talking about Janeway, of course. They had a beautiful litter of unholy monsters together and spent several days having some good ol amphibian fun with each other. I like to think that Voyager should have ended with Janeway and Paris wishing everyone well but going back to that planet at warp 10. The final shot of the series is them slithering back into the bog together and making their family whole again.

 

[Oddish]

The final shot of the series is them slithering back into the bog together and making their family whole again.

Maybe by the time they return, they have a whole bunch of salamander grandbabies and great grandbabies wriggling around...

 

[Akiraprise]

...with abandonment issues preparing to unleash their wrath upon Earth with a doomsday weapon thereby destroying the Federation because the other 100+ member worlds are irrelevant.

 

[Guinan]

If we are to go this route, Tom/Harry… maybe. I am pretty cautious here, especially on Tom’s side. Although we are already speculating.

It's been a while since I watched Voyager, but this is actually the only good chemistry coupling I can imagine working out naturally with Tom.

 

[Oddish]

If the showrunners and the actors had decided that they were all ready to charge that particular glass ceiling, Tom and Harry could have certainly been Star Trek's first main-cast LGBTQ couple.

 

[Guy1993]

Long term I would say Kes is the probably the only other person that works for him.

 

[BohandiAnsoid]

Long term I would say Kes is the probably the only other person that works for him.

Can you explain why you think so? More exactly, why no one else would work and Kes (and B'Elanna would)?

 

[Oddish]

I can't speak for @Guy1993 , but few female characters on the ship saw development. Had they done a DS9 and had a bunch of Voyager characters see development, it would have been easy to create another worthwhile partner for Tom.

 

[korblborp]

the delta flyer.

 

[Oddish]

Or Alice.

 

[$3DollarBillYall]

I've always wondered, and still do, about Torres/Kim.

 

[Oddish]

I've always wondered, and still do, about Torres/Kim.

I think they had potential, but Chakotay would have been a better match for her, and Tom better still.
More of my thoughts on the subject: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/my-thoughts-on-voyagers-prospective-romances.319295/

 

[$3DollarBillYall]

I think they had potential, but Chakotay would have been a better match for her, and Tom better still.
More of my thoughts on the subject: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/my-thoughts-on-voyagers-prospective-romances.319295/

Caretaker, along with certain scenes in Season 1, definitely made inrodes to establishing a foundation of sorts for their relationship. At minimum, an episode like The Chute or Blood Fever (or even potentially combining the two into one episode) would have been interesting.