We get the first inkling that she's going to rebuild it with bitterness mortaring every brick.
This is totally the best possible way of describing what happens with Susan. I feel the same way you do about Talia (only being interesting when her bad personality takes over, etc, and she makes me want to rip my hair out otherwise), but it's so clear that Susan falls for her so hardcore. (Oedipal issues? Just a bit...) And after a total betrayal like that, yeah, it makes sense that she just kind of snaps. Between this and the thing with Marcus... dear god, Susan just can't catch a break, the poor thing. She's so freaking cursed. It's just awful.
We also get Delenn being sort of aggressively cute with the "But what?" scene. Gotta admit, I think she was faking confusion in order to make Sheridan smile
She so totally was. To be perfectly frank, there is no way Delenn could be as competent at speaking English as she appears to be without knowing one of our most common conjunctions. She just loves to watch the way Sheridan's brain melts out his ears when she pretends to be adorably helpless. And really, who can blame her?
Obviously he would need to have some authority over them, but I don't see why she couldn't have retained ultimate authority.
I agree with you that it would've made a hell of a lot more sense for Delenn to make Sheridan her 2nd, and I have two theories as to why. One is the cynical out-of-show answer, and the other is the "and here's my version of the in-character reason" answer.
Cynical: JMS was worried that no one would take Sheridan seriously if a giiiiiirl made him her 2nd in command on a military thing. OMG, that'd just be wrong. (Excuse me while I wander off to wash that bitterness out of my mouth, because Delenn and Ivanova both totally pwn Sheridan when it comes to both tactics and leadership, but I just can't quite convince myself that there isn't some of this lurking under the surface, even if it was purely subconscious on JMS's part.)
In-character (and, IMHO, more amusing) answer: It's all part of Delenn's ongoing campaign to maneuver Sheridan into his DESTINED POSITION as her life-partner-other-side-of-prophecy-fulfillment-thing. Seriously, I'm wondering if there's any action on Delenn's part that cannot be explained by her constant pursuit of her DESTINY. And of course Sheridan is part of that DESTINY, so she has to keep him close, keep him involved, keep him interested... and keep him thinking that oh yes, of course it's him being a hero. Of course it is. Totally.
...Besides, basically I figure it's a nominal kind of thing, he can give orders and so on if he wants, but she's still obviously the one in charge of them. She just wants him to feel involved.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-07-17 05:33 am (UTC)This is totally the best possible way of describing what happens with Susan. I feel the same way you do about Talia (only being interesting when her bad personality takes over, etc, and she makes me want to rip my hair out otherwise), but it's so clear that Susan falls for her so hardcore. (Oedipal issues? Just a bit...) And after a total betrayal like that, yeah, it makes sense that she just kind of snaps. Between this and the thing with Marcus... dear god, Susan just can't catch a break, the poor thing. She's so freaking cursed. It's just awful.
We also get Delenn being sort of aggressively cute with the "But what?" scene. Gotta admit, I think she was faking confusion in order to make Sheridan smile
She so totally was. To be perfectly frank, there is no way Delenn could be as competent at speaking English as she appears to be without knowing one of our most common conjunctions. She just loves to watch the way Sheridan's brain melts out his ears when she pretends to be adorably helpless. And really, who can blame her?
Obviously he would need to have some authority over them, but I don't see why she couldn't have retained ultimate authority.
I agree with you that it would've made a hell of a lot more sense for Delenn to make Sheridan her 2nd, and I have two theories as to why. One is the cynical out-of-show answer, and the other is the "and here's my version of the in-character reason" answer.
Cynical: JMS was worried that no one would take Sheridan seriously if a giiiiiirl made him her 2nd in command on a military thing. OMG, that'd just be wrong. (Excuse me while I wander off to wash that bitterness out of my mouth, because Delenn and Ivanova both totally pwn Sheridan when it comes to both tactics and leadership, but I just can't quite convince myself that there isn't some of this lurking under the surface, even if it was purely subconscious on JMS's part.)
In-character (and, IMHO, more amusing) answer: It's all part of Delenn's ongoing campaign to maneuver Sheridan into his DESTINED POSITION as her life-partner-other-side-of-prophecy-fulfillment-thing. Seriously, I'm wondering if there's any action on Delenn's part that cannot be explained by her constant pursuit of her DESTINY. And of course Sheridan is part of that DESTINY, so she has to keep him close, keep him involved, keep him interested... and keep him thinking that oh yes, of course it's him being a hero. Of course it is. Totally.
...Besides, basically I figure it's a nominal kind of thing, he can give orders and so on if he wants, but she's still obviously the one in charge of them. She just wants him to feel involved.