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eponymous_roseI've been a bit out of commission lately due to endless deadlines and uncooperative code (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ds9_rewatch, I won't miss watching this week's episode with you folks for anything!), but somewhere along my B5 rewatch, something clicked fannishly, all at once. Now I am at that stage where I just want to flail happily at random passersby. Since actual random passersby tend to look at me funny when I start talking space stations, you're it.
So! Babylon 5. Season three. How awesome is season three? It is like an awesome sundae with lots of whipped awesome and a maraschino awesome on top. Of awesome. That is pretty much all I have to say, but I will be repeating that statement in the form of a picspam of the mid-season arc ("Severed Dreams" is still my favourite thing ever) and other assorted gleefulness. This show is considerably better the second time around, especially knowing that all five seasons were plotted out from the beginning. I don't know, it's a different mindset, right? When you know plots aren't going to be dropped, and little throwaway lines are going to come back to haunt you, it's kind of addictive watching how it all comes together. I still haven't quite managed to wrap my head around the whole "War Without End" episode, because whoa, most ridiculously amazing continuity. So shiny.
Also, be forewarned: I got unexpectedly shippy this time around and kept wanting to draw little hearts around Sheridan and Delenn every time they were on screen together.
How so cute?
I am going to start at "Messages from Earth" because it contains a lot of awesome.
Mess hall banter! I love mess hall banter.
Garibaldi: You know, I've been stuck in this tin can for three years. I haven't taken a vacation- *Sheridan and Ivanova glare* Okay, okay, it's my fault - I had the leave coming, I just didn't take it. And the pay sucks - I knew that when I signed on. And nobody said I'd survive the job. Now, I give you all that. But where in my contract does it say I have to eat the same food every day for three years?
Sheridan: Paragraph 47, subsection 19, clause 9A. You can find it in the index under S.U.A.E.I.
Garibaldi: S.U.A.E.I.?
Ivanova and Sheridan: *in unison* Shut up and eat it.
No mid-season arc is complete without lots of striding dramatically through corridors.
White Star! Pretty ship is pretty. Although it kinda looks like the whole crew's facing the other way and ignoring Sheridan. "Guys? Are we there yet? No? I'll just... sit here looking dramatic, then." Either that, or he tried telling them knock-knock jokes.
This is only here because I just noticed Lennier's little death-glare in the background. Delenn and Sheridan practice their dramatic and mournful staring.
THIS SCENE. ♥ "Don't worry. I will watch, and catch you if you should fall." "Right now, more than anything else in the world, I wish it would rain, just for a little while."
I'll just leave this one here without context, because it's Marcus:
Marcus: Did I mention that my nose is on fire and that I have fifteen live badgers living in my trousers?
I love that Delenn is the one who has the awesomely crazy idea that saves them all. ♥
Ahaha, I love this bit. Marcus makes a flowchart.
Marcus: As I recall, you were somewhat concerned about where I fit in the great organizational scheme of things, so I went to the effort of preparing this chart. Now then, here's you, right here, at the heart of everything - and why not? And here's me! This is the captain, here's Franklin, here's my Mum and Dad - they don't actually have anything to do with it, but it's a very good picture of them, don't you think?
Oh, and Earth is now under martial law. On to "Point of No Return"!
I love how this constitutes a top-secret meeting at this point. Guys, at least pretend you're, I dunno, playing poker or something. I can't help thinking a lot of the trouble here could've been avoided if the command staff hadn't constantly been going "Hey, I'll just be in a meeting with my co-conspirators as we try to oust the president from office. Hold my calls, 'kay?"
It's like they said, "This is a pretty amazing arc, but you know what would make it even more amazing? MAJEL BARRETT." And it was indeed even more amazing.
This scene was so well done: the riot going on in the foreground while Sheridan reads the martial law announcement over the monitors in the background.
G'Kar has an idea. I realized too late that this picspam is awfully light on both Londo and G'Kar, so I will impose upon you to imagine that, in the gaps between pictures, the two of them are busy being really, really awesome. Because they are.
Whoa, hold the phone! We now have slow-motion dramatic striding through corridors. Shit just got real.
At some point, I will have to do an Epic Picspam of Awkward Elevator Scenes. There are so, so many on this show.
Sheridan: They'll be coming for us next, you know.
Ivanova: I know. I never thought it would end like this.
Sheridan: Me either.
And now on to "Severed Dreams"! Wow. 228 votes on IMDB, and it's a 9.8/10. Apparently other people like this one as much as I do. I also can't believe it's not a two-parter - so much happens in this one, but it's all perfectly paced. Well done indeed.
Hey, it's Bruce McGill! I don't care that he was apparently cast by accident - this just backs up my theory that Jack Dalton figured out a way to time-travel and wound up flying spaceships instead of airplanes. /obscure reference
Sheridan gives the standard "If you're not with us, leave the room now" speech. I kind of love that someone actually does leave - the strength of this whole arc is that there really are a lot of people on the station who are still loyal to Earth.
Lennier: Delenn, please, be careful. The Gray Council is not what it was. They may not receive you well, if they will see you at all.
Delenn: They will see me, whether they like it or not. It's time someone made them face reality.
This scene was genuinely freaky - the newscaster's all business as usual, and then another newscaster jumps in and starts saying all the stuff they've been prohibited by the president from saying. The broadcast ends with the building being stormed by armed troops. Yikes.
Yeah, I'm pretty much just gonna be quoting everything Delenn says. I mean, she starts a revolution through sheer force of personality, here. Nobody else gets a word in edgewise.
Dude whose name I've forgotten: I told you, Delenn, they will not speak to you.
Delenn: Then they will listen to me. I served the Council for sixteen cycles. I was the chosen of Dukhat to replace him. I held him when he died. His blood is on my hands, his spirit in my eyes, his word on my lips. You will step aside, in his name and mine, or in Valen's name, I will tear this ship apart with my bare hands until I find them. Move aside.
Dude: ... *wisely moves aside*
Delenn: Three years. Three years I warned you this day was coming. And you would not listen. Pride, you said. Presumption. And now the Shadows are on the move, the Centauri and the younger worlds are at war, the Narn have fallen - even the humans are fighting one another. The pride was yours. The presumption was yours. For a thousand years, we have been awaiting the fulfillment of prophecy, and when it finally happens, you scorn it, you reject it, because you no longer believe it yourselves.
Delenn: "We stand between the candle and the star, between the darkness and the light." You say the words, but your hearts are empty, your ears closed to the truth. You stand for nothing but your own petty interests. "The problems of others are not our concern." I do not blame you for standing silent in your shame. You, who knew what was coming, but refused to take up the burden of this war. If the warrior caste will not fight, then the rest of us will. The Council has lost its way. If it will not lead, if we have abandoned our covenant with Valen-
Delenn: -then the Council should be broken, as was prophesied. We must stand with the others. Now. Before it's too late. Between the worker caste and the religious caste, we control two-thirds of our forces. To you, I say: listen to the voice of your conscience. Break the Council, and come with me. Our time of isolation is over. We move now. Together, or not at all.
And she storms out, and two-thirds of the Council follows her. ♥
Things at the station are heating up, so Sheridan calls his dad. Awww.
Ivanova argues with Sheridan, and eventually convinces him to let her take the risk and go out with the Starfuries. I love this whole scene - he realizes she's right and snaps at her to just go, and she starts to storm out, and then they both turn around and do a wordless goodbye thing.
That's the one. So many good character moments in this one.
And Earthforce shows up, guns blazing. Have I mentioned that those big ships (same class as the Agamemnon - whatsit class, you know) scare the heck out of me? Something about the way their middle is slowly rotating. They look like some horrible lumbering and inexorable beast. Or something. Either way, cool design.
Anyway, a truly awesome space battle ensues, and we get to see it from the traditional perspective (Sheridan in C&C yelling "fire!" and trying to coordinate the whole thing),
from the totally chaotic perspective of Ivanova out with the Starfuries,
and from the more immediate perspective of Garibaldi's group repelling boarders. Very, very cool.
One of the good guys' Giant Creepy Ships is being even more giant and creepy - the stabilizers are gone, so the middle is spinning, but the whole thing is slooowly slanting to one side. Really awesome CGI, and appropriately chilling.
And then this happens.
Our heroes manage to destroy the whole group of Earthforce invaders, but at a huge cost - everything's badly damaged. Someone actually makes the mistake of saying something along the lines of "Thank goodness it ended when it did!" Cue a whole new fleet of reinforcements for the bad guys.
New jump-points also start forming right on top of them, and Sheridan realizes he's going to have to surrender. (And, um, possibly get a band-aid? That looks painful.)
But one of those jump-points? Is carrying the White Star, with Delenn in command. Cue epic awesome. And cue me quoting her verbatim again.
Delenn: This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw, or be destroyed.
Earthforce Captain: Negative. We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship.
Delenn: Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else.
Earthforce Ships: ...*wisely go somewhere else*
That'll work.
And then we get a scene between them once Delenn is back on the station.
Handshake! I love how it's just kind of adorably awkward for a bit, and then Sheridan actually kisses the back of her hand. Awww.
Delenn: Hello, John.
Sheridan: Delenn. Listen, I've been trying to think of some way to tell you how much what you did means to me, and, well, "thank you" seems poor and inadequate. I don't know how much this cost you personally, and I suspect I never will. But I want you to know that seeing your face at that moment was probably the single finest moment of my life.
Delenn: It seems that this is the only home we have left. How could I abandon... as you say, my partner. *extends hand*
Cue giant, cheering crowd. ♥ And confirmation that "Papyrus" font will still be around in the 23rd century.
Aww. That was fun.
Also! Fanvids. I love fanvids. Have some fanvid recs.
People Help the People by RuthIsHiding - I would have completely missed this one because I don't usually go through YouTube looking for fanvids, but I happened across it by accident and am very glad I did. It's desperate and angry, much like the show at its darkest. Very, very sleek in terms of editing, which is always a treat in older fandoms. You might want a more cheerful chaser afterwards.
Apocalypse Lullaby byicepixie - this is just an awesome fanvid that came out comparatively recently and sparked a lot of B5 nostalgia among people who hadn't seen the show in ages. It's lovely and has a lot going on beneath the surface. It's also indirectly responsible for my finally watching the show, so I love it for that alone.
Dancing in the Light by Barkley - because it's hard not to sound incredibly depressing while summing up this show (I mean, "There's a war, and another war, and then so-and-so has a tragic fate, and oh, look, another war"), but it still has knock-knock jokes and teddy bears in space and Londo action figures and singing and lots of hugs and a wonderful undercurrent of hope. ♥ This is an awesomely upbeat vid, and it's a lot of fun.
By Your Side by Barkley - because I started shipping Delenn/Sheridan a ridiculous amount this time around, and this is an excellent Vienna Teng fanvid devoted to them that doubles as a bit of a Delenn character study. Bam, done. This does an awesome job of conveying the epicness of the whole show - I mean, all things considered, we see a substantial portion of a 35-year period (flashbacks ten years, flashforwards twenty years, five years in between), and that's a lot of history to cover. This conveys that epic feeling so, so well.
Once again, totally new to the fandom, so any and all fic/vid/whatever recs would be amazing. In case it wasn't obvious from the above, I am a Delenn fangirl, and also adore Ivanova, but I will read any characters or pairings, and also no longer fear spoilers. ♥
ds9_rewatch, I won't miss watching this week's episode with you folks for anything!), but somewhere along my B5 rewatch, something clicked fannishly, all at once. Now I am at that stage where I just want to flail happily at random passersby. Since actual random passersby tend to look at me funny when I start talking space stations, you're it.So! Babylon 5. Season three. How awesome is season three? It is like an awesome sundae with lots of whipped awesome and a maraschino awesome on top. Of awesome. That is pretty much all I have to say, but I will be repeating that statement in the form of a picspam of the mid-season arc ("Severed Dreams" is still my favourite thing ever) and other assorted gleefulness. This show is considerably better the second time around, especially knowing that all five seasons were plotted out from the beginning. I don't know, it's a different mindset, right? When you know plots aren't going to be dropped, and little throwaway lines are going to come back to haunt you, it's kind of addictive watching how it all comes together. I still haven't quite managed to wrap my head around the whole "War Without End" episode, because whoa, most ridiculously amazing continuity. So shiny.
Also, be forewarned: I got unexpectedly shippy this time around and kept wanting to draw little hearts around Sheridan and Delenn every time they were on screen together.
How so cute?
I am going to start at "Messages from Earth" because it contains a lot of awesome.
Mess hall banter! I love mess hall banter.
Garibaldi: You know, I've been stuck in this tin can for three years. I haven't taken a vacation- *Sheridan and Ivanova glare* Okay, okay, it's my fault - I had the leave coming, I just didn't take it. And the pay sucks - I knew that when I signed on. And nobody said I'd survive the job. Now, I give you all that. But where in my contract does it say I have to eat the same food every day for three years?
Sheridan: Paragraph 47, subsection 19, clause 9A. You can find it in the index under S.U.A.E.I.
Garibaldi: S.U.A.E.I.?
Ivanova and Sheridan: *in unison* Shut up and eat it.
No mid-season arc is complete without lots of striding dramatically through corridors.
White Star! Pretty ship is pretty. Although it kinda looks like the whole crew's facing the other way and ignoring Sheridan. "Guys? Are we there yet? No? I'll just... sit here looking dramatic, then." Either that, or he tried telling them knock-knock jokes.
This is only here because I just noticed Lennier's little death-glare in the background. Delenn and Sheridan practice their dramatic and mournful staring.
THIS SCENE. ♥ "Don't worry. I will watch, and catch you if you should fall." "Right now, more than anything else in the world, I wish it would rain, just for a little while."
I'll just leave this one here without context, because it's Marcus:
Marcus: Did I mention that my nose is on fire and that I have fifteen live badgers living in my trousers?
I love that Delenn is the one who has the awesomely crazy idea that saves them all. ♥
Ahaha, I love this bit. Marcus makes a flowchart.
Marcus: As I recall, you were somewhat concerned about where I fit in the great organizational scheme of things, so I went to the effort of preparing this chart. Now then, here's you, right here, at the heart of everything - and why not? And here's me! This is the captain, here's Franklin, here's my Mum and Dad - they don't actually have anything to do with it, but it's a very good picture of them, don't you think?
Oh, and Earth is now under martial law. On to "Point of No Return"!
I love how this constitutes a top-secret meeting at this point. Guys, at least pretend you're, I dunno, playing poker or something. I can't help thinking a lot of the trouble here could've been avoided if the command staff hadn't constantly been going "Hey, I'll just be in a meeting with my co-conspirators as we try to oust the president from office. Hold my calls, 'kay?"
It's like they said, "This is a pretty amazing arc, but you know what would make it even more amazing? MAJEL BARRETT." And it was indeed even more amazing.
This scene was so well done: the riot going on in the foreground while Sheridan reads the martial law announcement over the monitors in the background.
G'Kar has an idea. I realized too late that this picspam is awfully light on both Londo and G'Kar, so I will impose upon you to imagine that, in the gaps between pictures, the two of them are busy being really, really awesome. Because they are.
Whoa, hold the phone! We now have slow-motion dramatic striding through corridors. Shit just got real.
At some point, I will have to do an Epic Picspam of Awkward Elevator Scenes. There are so, so many on this show.
Sheridan: They'll be coming for us next, you know.
Ivanova: I know. I never thought it would end like this.
Sheridan: Me either.
And now on to "Severed Dreams"! Wow. 228 votes on IMDB, and it's a 9.8/10. Apparently other people like this one as much as I do. I also can't believe it's not a two-parter - so much happens in this one, but it's all perfectly paced. Well done indeed.
Hey, it's Bruce McGill! I don't care that he was apparently cast by accident - this just backs up my theory that Jack Dalton figured out a way to time-travel and wound up flying spaceships instead of airplanes. /obscure reference
Sheridan gives the standard "If you're not with us, leave the room now" speech. I kind of love that someone actually does leave - the strength of this whole arc is that there really are a lot of people on the station who are still loyal to Earth.
Lennier: Delenn, please, be careful. The Gray Council is not what it was. They may not receive you well, if they will see you at all.
Delenn: They will see me, whether they like it or not. It's time someone made them face reality.
This scene was genuinely freaky - the newscaster's all business as usual, and then another newscaster jumps in and starts saying all the stuff they've been prohibited by the president from saying. The broadcast ends with the building being stormed by armed troops. Yikes.
Yeah, I'm pretty much just gonna be quoting everything Delenn says. I mean, she starts a revolution through sheer force of personality, here. Nobody else gets a word in edgewise.
Dude whose name I've forgotten: I told you, Delenn, they will not speak to you.
Delenn: Then they will listen to me. I served the Council for sixteen cycles. I was the chosen of Dukhat to replace him. I held him when he died. His blood is on my hands, his spirit in my eyes, his word on my lips. You will step aside, in his name and mine, or in Valen's name, I will tear this ship apart with my bare hands until I find them. Move aside.
Dude: ... *wisely moves aside*
Delenn: Three years. Three years I warned you this day was coming. And you would not listen. Pride, you said. Presumption. And now the Shadows are on the move, the Centauri and the younger worlds are at war, the Narn have fallen - even the humans are fighting one another. The pride was yours. The presumption was yours. For a thousand years, we have been awaiting the fulfillment of prophecy, and when it finally happens, you scorn it, you reject it, because you no longer believe it yourselves.
Delenn: "We stand between the candle and the star, between the darkness and the light." You say the words, but your hearts are empty, your ears closed to the truth. You stand for nothing but your own petty interests. "The problems of others are not our concern." I do not blame you for standing silent in your shame. You, who knew what was coming, but refused to take up the burden of this war. If the warrior caste will not fight, then the rest of us will. The Council has lost its way. If it will not lead, if we have abandoned our covenant with Valen-
Delenn: -then the Council should be broken, as was prophesied. We must stand with the others. Now. Before it's too late. Between the worker caste and the religious caste, we control two-thirds of our forces. To you, I say: listen to the voice of your conscience. Break the Council, and come with me. Our time of isolation is over. We move now. Together, or not at all.
And she storms out, and two-thirds of the Council follows her. ♥
Things at the station are heating up, so Sheridan calls his dad. Awww.
Ivanova argues with Sheridan, and eventually convinces him to let her take the risk and go out with the Starfuries. I love this whole scene - he realizes she's right and snaps at her to just go, and she starts to storm out, and then they both turn around and do a wordless goodbye thing.
That's the one. So many good character moments in this one.
And Earthforce shows up, guns blazing. Have I mentioned that those big ships (same class as the Agamemnon - whatsit class, you know) scare the heck out of me? Something about the way their middle is slowly rotating. They look like some horrible lumbering and inexorable beast. Or something. Either way, cool design.
Anyway, a truly awesome space battle ensues, and we get to see it from the traditional perspective (Sheridan in C&C yelling "fire!" and trying to coordinate the whole thing),
from the totally chaotic perspective of Ivanova out with the Starfuries,
and from the more immediate perspective of Garibaldi's group repelling boarders. Very, very cool.
One of the good guys' Giant Creepy Ships is being even more giant and creepy - the stabilizers are gone, so the middle is spinning, but the whole thing is slooowly slanting to one side. Really awesome CGI, and appropriately chilling.
And then this happens.
Our heroes manage to destroy the whole group of Earthforce invaders, but at a huge cost - everything's badly damaged. Someone actually makes the mistake of saying something along the lines of "Thank goodness it ended when it did!" Cue a whole new fleet of reinforcements for the bad guys.
New jump-points also start forming right on top of them, and Sheridan realizes he's going to have to surrender. (And, um, possibly get a band-aid? That looks painful.)
But one of those jump-points? Is carrying the White Star, with Delenn in command. Cue epic awesome. And cue me quoting her verbatim again.
Delenn: This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw, or be destroyed.
Earthforce Captain: Negative. We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship.
Delenn: Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else.
Earthforce Ships: ...*wisely go somewhere else*
That'll work.
And then we get a scene between them once Delenn is back on the station.
Handshake! I love how it's just kind of adorably awkward for a bit, and then Sheridan actually kisses the back of her hand. Awww.
Delenn: Hello, John.
Sheridan: Delenn. Listen, I've been trying to think of some way to tell you how much what you did means to me, and, well, "thank you" seems poor and inadequate. I don't know how much this cost you personally, and I suspect I never will. But I want you to know that seeing your face at that moment was probably the single finest moment of my life.
Delenn: It seems that this is the only home we have left. How could I abandon... as you say, my partner. *extends hand*
Cue giant, cheering crowd. ♥ And confirmation that "Papyrus" font will still be around in the 23rd century.
Aww. That was fun.
Also! Fanvids. I love fanvids. Have some fanvid recs.
People Help the People by RuthIsHiding - I would have completely missed this one because I don't usually go through YouTube looking for fanvids, but I happened across it by accident and am very glad I did. It's desperate and angry, much like the show at its darkest. Very, very sleek in terms of editing, which is always a treat in older fandoms. You might want a more cheerful chaser afterwards.
Apocalypse Lullaby by
icepixie - this is just an awesome fanvid that came out comparatively recently and sparked a lot of B5 nostalgia among people who hadn't seen the show in ages. It's lovely and has a lot going on beneath the surface. It's also indirectly responsible for my finally watching the show, so I love it for that alone.Dancing in the Light by Barkley - because it's hard not to sound incredibly depressing while summing up this show (I mean, "There's a war, and another war, and then so-and-so has a tragic fate, and oh, look, another war"), but it still has knock-knock jokes and teddy bears in space and Londo action figures and singing and lots of hugs and a wonderful undercurrent of hope. ♥ This is an awesomely upbeat vid, and it's a lot of fun.
By Your Side by Barkley - because I started shipping Delenn/Sheridan a ridiculous amount this time around, and this is an excellent Vienna Teng fanvid devoted to them that doubles as a bit of a Delenn character study. Bam, done. This does an awesome job of conveying the epicness of the whole show - I mean, all things considered, we see a substantial portion of a 35-year period (flashbacks ten years, flashforwards twenty years, five years in between), and that's a lot of history to cover. This conveys that epic feeling so, so well.
Once again, totally new to the fandom, so any and all fic/vid/whatever recs would be amazing. In case it wasn't obvious from the above, I am a Delenn fangirl, and also adore Ivanova, but I will read any characters or pairings, and also no longer fear spoilers. ♥
Ah, Babylon 5!
Date: 2011-03-16 05:29 am (UTC)Re: Ah, Babylon 5!
Date: 2011-03-16 12:15 pm (UTC)Yes! Granted, this is my default stance on nearly all fannish arguments, but I felt it pretty strongly even before I'd seen B5 - I was pretty sure I'd wind up enjoying both.
"The epic love story of two ambassadors, Londo and G'Kar, co-starring angel in Centauri form Vir Cotto, with guest star magnificent bastard Bester. Some earth personel may also appear, if rarely"
I can definitely get behind this version of B5. I didn't do a good job of expressing my overwhelming adoration of both Londo and G'Kar up there, and I honestly meant to do a little Bester mini-picspam, because I am always a fan of magnificent bastards. Also a huge fan of both Vir and Na'Toth (shame she disappeared so early on).
Her relationship with him is so not what I find interesting about Delenn.
Oh, definitely agreed. Their relationship is, however, far and away what I find most interesting about Sheridan - I am pretty strongly blah about him unless Delenn's also in the room.
is again a canon romance where I appreciate that it makes sense for the characters and doesn't take more than its due from a storytelling pov screentime
This! This is exactly how I feel about the vast majority of canon pairings in other fandoms, and it's why I pretty much always wind up writing gen and shipping non-canon pairings - which is why it was a bit of a surprise to be suddenly shipping Delenn/Sheridan this time around.
I'm definitely looking forward to checking out your fic - season five basically turns into the Londo and G'Kar show for me, so I will most certainly be in the market for some fic. ♥
Re: Ah, Babylon 5!
Date: 2011-03-16 12:48 pm (UTC)My Babylon 5 stories, complete with one sentence indications what they're about. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 11:04 am (UTC)...I really need to get back to my B5 rewatch.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 12:16 pm (UTC)