My problem with that relationship was that it came out of the blue. They had started the set-up of the relationship a few episodes earlier, in the episode (“Human Error”) where Seven was experimenting with her humanity on the holodeck. And so she sort of fell in love with Chakotay there. They said something like her could never have these sorts of relationships because she would die, or whatever. The next episode that we shot after that (“Natural Law”), Seven and Chakotay were stranded on some planet together. We specifically asked the producers – Robert and I – “Now, are we going to play this? Is this going to go somewhere? Because, obviously, we’d need to carry something over from…” And they said, “No, no, no, no! Absolutely not. Don’t play any of that. Nothing’s going to happen.”

So, after that one episode we never played any sort of attraction or anything between the two characters. And then, out of the blue, all of a sudden, they’re dating (in “Endgame”). That was a little annoying, especially when you’ve specifically asked about it and they said, “No, absolutely not.” Then, suddenly they’re in love. That was a little… It’s one of the frustrations of network television. And it’s how you learn, also. You have to try to be the babysitter and the protector of your character.

—Jeri Ryan, as per this interview (via tinsnip)

literally no one ships Chakotay/Seven

(via icheb-of-nine)