Raisins and Almonds

Fanfiction
Title:	Raisins and Almonds
Author(s):	Peg Robinson
Date(s):	1996
Length:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: VOY
External Links:	at Archive of Our Own
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Raisins and Almonds is a Star Trek: Voyager story by Peg Robinson.

It is the sixth story in the Talking Stick Series.

The Series

• Talking Stick by Macedon
• Circle by Peg Robinson
• A Cherished Alienation by Macedon
• The Red Queen's Repose by Peg Robinson
• Walking Across Egypt by Macedon
• Raisins and Almonds by Peg Robinson
• Otterskin by Macedon and Peg Robinson
• The Rose and the Yew Tree by Peg Robinson and Macedon

See fan comments about the entire series.

Synopsis

From Robinson:

While attempting to negotiate a strange culture to get medical assistance for Kes, Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay try to work out the intricacies of their command relationship. No sex, lots of innuendo, a bit of bad language. I'd rate it a G or a PG, but then I'm a sturdy sort. Can't see any reason to rate it an R though unless you're very timid in your assesments [sic].

Author Comments

When this story was posted to alt.startrek.creative, Robinson had a lot to say. Most of her comments below are about the entire series, but also specific to "Raisins and Almonds":

WARNING: MINOR RANT CONTAINED HEREIN. REPEAT WARNING. IF THIS WERE A *SERIOUS* MEGA-RANT YOU WOULD BE INSTRUCTED TO DON YOUR RADIATION-PROOF GARB. AS IT IS YOU NEED MERELY DUCK UNDER YOUR SCHOOL DESK, AND HIDE YOUR HEAD IN YOUR ARMS. YOU SHOULD BE SAFE IF YOU DO THAT. I THINK. PROBABLY. IT'S WORTH A TRY....

Hi, all. Sorry it took so long again. Hope that you enjoy it enough that the wait was justified. All I can say is I didn't *know* I was going to write a Novella when I started.

Macedon and I are officially activating our "Alternate Universe" status on this one. In "our" universe "Resolutions" never happened.. or if it did, it never got as far as the episode we all saw aired. There are a lot of reasons for this -- like not wanting to have to re-write five stories and a Novella to reflect an event that, at the time we started writing this chain, the Paramount PTB were swearing would never, never happen... that Kathryn Janeway would *never* so help them, look twice at one of her crew. <G> She'd sooner die, have bamboo shoved under her nails, and so on and so forth. Macedon and I felt pretty safe at that point postulating that at the two-year mark there wouldn't be much progress in that direction. Oooops.

As we neither of us liked the idea of trying to retro-fit, or kludge, it seemed best to fly with our "Alternate" status. And as I had some discomforts of my own about the episode, I was only too glad to see that go into effect.

(REMEMBER THAT RANT I TOLD YOU ABOUT? WELL.....)

Please understand. I'm writing for myself here, not for Macedon. Furthermore, though the following will sound a bit like "sour grapes", I actually liked a lot about "Resolutions". In some ways it's my favorite episode (that I've seen) this season. <G> I'm a romantic. Bet you didn't guess. But there was one element in particular that bugged me, and that I'm just as glad to be free to ignore. In the spring of 1972, if I read the copyright notice correctly in my copy of "The First Ms. Reader", an essay called "I Want a Wife" by Judy Syfers was published. It turned out to be one of those classic essays that freshmen lit students are forced to read at gunpoint. The gist of it is that *anyone* would want a wife... a perfect, subservient, loving, worshipful being who placed your wants and needs above their own, did everything in their power to smooth your way, set their own needs and pains aside, and achieved absolute fulfilment through their association with you-glorious-you. It's a tempting fantasy. What made the essay brilliant was its humor... and the clear, and gently demonstrated truth that such a role was dehumanizing. More than any person could fulfill without destroying their own ego. More than any human could really live up to. Anyone would love to have a wife... until they stopped to realize that all that selfless giving means just that... "selfless". You'd have to hollow yourself out like a Russian Easter egg to live up to the expectations of perfect "wifeness". I'm afraid that in spite of all the things I *did* love about "Resolutions" I think that, unless a lot of work is done on Chakotay's character next season, the PTB have just made Chakotay into that perfect, mythical, bloodless, fictional "wife". And before you grumble that maybe it's high time a *woman* got a "wife" for a change, I'd like to point out that it's no less destructive when the role is reversed than when it's served up in the standard arrangement. Please stop and think. For the character of Chakotay the year he has just lived through has brought the loss of his command, the loss of his ship, the loss of his cause, the loss of his "home culture" (both Alphan/Federation normal, and "Indian"), the betrayal by Tuvok, the betrayal by Seska, the loss of his best friend, the public announcement of his "rape", his public humiliation by Tom, his failure to beat Seska in "Maneuvers". Tuvok has been outstandingly bitchy. And through it all it's been clear that his "boss" doesn't quite trust him, doesn't quite understand him, isn't doing much to remedy that, and is willing to sacrifice his position in front of the whole crew.. in spite of the fact that his position is actually politically more complex and difficult than her own. Basically, by any reasonable standard, Chakotay has had a monumentally crappy year. One for the record books. I'm afraid I don't believe that a "real" adult human being, one dealing with a totally tenuous relationship, could chase all the bad stuff away with "I love you, and I found true peace serving under you." Sorry. Makes a nice Valentine's Day card, but unless the PTB later allow that that was just Chak's "entry line", something he could say in the Wonderland of a deserted planet, where reality fell away for a time, it reduces him to the kind of stupid, bloodless, brain-damaged "function character" that so many female leads were in the bad old days of the 1950's. Not a true character at all... just a flattering support to cast a rosy glow on the dominant lead. Realism not required. So I hope you'll understand that I prefer to write a more complex, though to my mind no less lovable Chakotay. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. I normally try *not* to get up on one in the first place, in connection with my writing. But even after two weeks I'm still stinging for the character, and for all the characters who have been perverted into "romantic" stereotypes, to the detriment of our entire culture. I don't like fiction that tells us it's

• right* to want to see another person reduced to that kind

of pretty, convenient, flattering submission and dependance. It's true that anyone in their right minds would love to have a "wife". But no one with any ethics would choose to let a loved one make that kind of sacrifice of self to become that ego-less dream.

(OK, YOU CAN COME OUT NOW.. . THE STRAFING RUN IS OVER. PLEASE KNOW THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO AGREE WITH ME. I'M OPINIONATED... BUT NEVER VERY SURPRISED WHEN IT TURNS OUT OTHER PEOPLE ARE TOO. BAFFLED, ANGRY, AND SHAKEN SOMETIMES. NOT SURPRISED....)

On to cheerier things. The song "May the Circle be Unbroken" shows up again. If *anyone* out there has run into this version, or one close to it, I'd very much like to know. When I wrote "Circle" this was the version (more or less) that I had in mind... and it was so "known" to me that it really never occurred to me that the version I knew would turn out to be obscure. Well, it is. I've only found one other person in the world so far who learned a similar version. The version everyone else knows is far more depressing. There's a hearse, and an undertaker, and a dead mother, and basically it just isn't the song I'd have chosen if I'd done my homeowrk, instead of cheerfully assuming I knew the "standard version". Ooops. I hope, reading the lyrics I included here, you'll see why I originally wanted to use it in "Circle". A very "Voyager" song, in the version I know.

I haven't seen the season cliffhanger yet, so I don't know if any of that will turn out to be "canon" in our "Alternate Reality" or not. I was honestly afraid to look. This thing has gotten complex beyond the dreams of Chaos Theorists. Infinite twistiness.

The technobabble herein is just that... technobabble. You've got your basic physics technobabble, your biological technobable, and your military technobabble. I've done the best I can to make it Prime Grade Technobabble, but I'm under no illusions that it isn't the pure item, in spite of it all. Hope it's still a good read.

I hope you all enjoy the story. I hope you forgive me my minor outbreak of radical philosophy and such. Take care.

Fan Comments

A May 1996 Discussion

A fan named Michelle had extensive comments about this chapter/story and many fans, including the authors, responded.

Topics included:

• "Raisins and Almonds"
• fan fiction
• portrayals of Native Americans
• gender expectations
• criticism and differing opinions

See MUCH more at "Raisins and Almonds" VOY J/C 3/28 (May 27, 1996).

1996

Aw, gee! Here I was, all ready to complain about corny J/C stories,

and you had to write this! It's realistic, it's touching, and most of all, it's true to character! I've never been able to visualise how those two would get along to the extent some stories show, but this...

this is *right*. Thanx Peg.

2014

I am enjoying this series SO MUCH. The voices are spot-on, the relationship development entirely plausible, and each episode-like adventure is fully believable. I only wish the show had been this good!

2018

What a beautiful chapter [chapter 3] — the date that perhaps was a date, the lake and the intimacy not only of sharing an activity like swimming, but the meaning that place had to Janeway. I love seeing the tension and the missed connections between Janeway and Chakotay slowly ease into something else. I also liked having Janeway be the one who is concerned about Chakotay, rather than the more typical depiction of Chakotay looking after the captain. And there was some great stuff between Janeway and Torres, too — I can never get enough of those two women “doing science” together.

This series continues to be at such a high quality, it puts the original show to shame for depth and subtlety and exploration of power differentials, culture, and the impact of distance and isolation on the crew. What an accomplishment.

Having one's tail twisted sounds like a shout-out to Uhura's Song to me - that's the other place I've read this expression. As a non-native speaker, I'm not familiar with all of English's expressions... Lol.

Love this story! Normally not a J/C shipper (not even a het shipper, to be honest), but this STORY is just so good!

I am really enjoying the slow build between Janeway and Chakotay, all the little touches and words more meaningful in the context of their continued efforts to get along as colleagues, than any simple PWP could be. Now I’m hoping for a romantic payoff to happen soon — these two are so beautiful together, and the way they are growing as characters and as a couple is so satisfying to read about.

2020

Wow, wow, wow. What a gorgeous and generous end to this story! I'm looking forward to the next one.