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icepixieNow that I'm into the really exciting parts, I'm torn between wanting to slow down and space out the crack, or just mainline through the end of the Shadow War.
Ceremonies of Light and Dark
I like the pacing of Severed Dreams-->Ceremonies-->Sic Transit Vir. SD is an adrenaline rush, this episode sits back and takes stock of what just happened, and STV puts people on new paths via something fairly comedic.
And part of that taking stock is this ceremony that no one wants to come to. I do find it hilarious how Delenn and Lennier keep wandering around, asking people if they want to come, and getting turned down. They remind me of, say, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls.
There ceremony itself is very nice; the command staff must hold Delenn in high esteem to a.) go through with it, and b.) have her be the one they tell their secrets too. The secrets are largely things we already figured out, but it's nice to have confirmation. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but we never get Marcus's secret, do we? Or Lennier's thing he gives up, come to think of it.) Given that I slash Susan/Delenn like burning, especially after SiL, Susan telling Delenn that she thinks she loved Talia has some implications I like. Though I still don't know what Susan saw in Talia...
(I wonder if Delenn was completely flummoxed by Franklin's "problem." We have the background, but I'm not sure where she would've picked it up. I guess it was more for the teller than the listener, though.)
And ohhhhhh, Lennier. Poor baby. Yeah, you can kid yourself all you want about your pure love and accepting that she's "fated for another," but we all know better. Hell, even Marcus knows better. Marcus also tells himhe's doomed not to make foolish promises involving his entire life. You know, teacher/student of any kind is one of my big, big, big squicks (it became even more so after I started teaching), but somehow it doesn't seem to bother me here, despite them being mentor/mentee. They're just so...I dunno. I like them a lot. Too bad it doesn't work out.
(Speaking of this, I just looked them up in IMDB, and I'm somewhat shocked to find that Bill Mumy is a year and a half older than Mira Furlan. Maybe it's his attache role, but he looks several years younger than her. If Delenn is, say, roughly equivalent to forty, he looks perhaps in his late twenties, maybe early thirties.)
The mad computer added some much-needed levity, as did Michael's password and Susan's reaction to it. (Hmmm, maybe the missing scene I'm jonesing to write should be the events of the apparent hour or so they spent together trying to fix the computer. The AI could remember security footage of them going into each others' quarters late at night and leaving early in the morning, and make suggestive comments.)
Londo's two-part poison (if indeed he wasn't bluffing) is still devious as hell. (And oh, it's going to end in Adira's death. :() Fighting a war on twelve fronts is still OMGWTF.
Sic Transit Vir
I think some of my fondness for this episode stems from the fact that it's the only one I actually remember from my first try at watching the show when I was twelve. But it's quite, quite charming on its own. Londo killing the space roach! Vir not knowing what to do with sex! Ivanova not knowing what to do with Vir telling her about Centauri sex!
Of course, Lyndisty's clear approval of her family's eugenics projects does bring down the mood. I think I see the point JMS was making by having her be, on the surface, funny (to us, since she talked like someone straight out of a Shakespearean comedy, minus the iambic pentameter) and charming (well, apparently; Vir thought so, anyway), yet have all these horrible ideas about Narns on the inside. But on the whole, it doesn't entirely work for me; it feels like the two parts of her character, and indeed the two parts of the story in this episode, are a bit too unconnected. Charming, funny, charming, sweet, funny, charming, charming,NAZI CENTAURI EUGENICS. Weird.
Still, the space roach and the "high numerical value" conversation are golden. :D
As, for that matter, is Delenn being playful and adorable with Sheridan. I love that moment when she plays dumb, a la Benton Fraser, about Sheridan asking her on a date. (One day, I'm going to write that crossover ship. It would be awesome like an awesome thing.) Her distracting him with the picture so she could put salt on her flarn was hilarious.
One note about the title: It translates to "so passes Vir," yes? Doesn't that sound ominous to you? He's one of the few who make it to SiL alive, so I'm not sure what the purpose of the title was. Hmmm.
Ceremonies of Light and Dark
I like the pacing of Severed Dreams-->Ceremonies-->Sic Transit Vir. SD is an adrenaline rush, this episode sits back and takes stock of what just happened, and STV puts people on new paths via something fairly comedic.
And part of that taking stock is this ceremony that no one wants to come to. I do find it hilarious how Delenn and Lennier keep wandering around, asking people if they want to come, and getting turned down. They remind me of, say, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls.
There ceremony itself is very nice; the command staff must hold Delenn in high esteem to a.) go through with it, and b.) have her be the one they tell their secrets too. The secrets are largely things we already figured out, but it's nice to have confirmation. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but we never get Marcus's secret, do we? Or Lennier's thing he gives up, come to think of it.) Given that I slash Susan/Delenn like burning, especially after SiL, Susan telling Delenn that she thinks she loved Talia has some implications I like. Though I still don't know what Susan saw in Talia...
(I wonder if Delenn was completely flummoxed by Franklin's "problem." We have the background, but I'm not sure where she would've picked it up. I guess it was more for the teller than the listener, though.)
And ohhhhhh, Lennier. Poor baby. Yeah, you can kid yourself all you want about your pure love and accepting that she's "fated for another," but we all know better. Hell, even Marcus knows better. Marcus also tells him
(Speaking of this, I just looked them up in IMDB, and I'm somewhat shocked to find that Bill Mumy is a year and a half older than Mira Furlan. Maybe it's his attache role, but he looks several years younger than her. If Delenn is, say, roughly equivalent to forty, he looks perhaps in his late twenties, maybe early thirties.)
The mad computer added some much-needed levity, as did Michael's password and Susan's reaction to it. (Hmmm, maybe the missing scene I'm jonesing to write should be the events of the apparent hour or so they spent together trying to fix the computer. The AI could remember security footage of them going into each others' quarters late at night and leaving early in the morning, and make suggestive comments.)
Londo's two-part poison (if indeed he wasn't bluffing) is still devious as hell. (And oh, it's going to end in Adira's death. :() Fighting a war on twelve fronts is still OMGWTF.
Sic Transit Vir
I think some of my fondness for this episode stems from the fact that it's the only one I actually remember from my first try at watching the show when I was twelve. But it's quite, quite charming on its own. Londo killing the space roach! Vir not knowing what to do with sex! Ivanova not knowing what to do with Vir telling her about Centauri sex!
Of course, Lyndisty's clear approval of her family's eugenics projects does bring down the mood. I think I see the point JMS was making by having her be, on the surface, funny (to us, since she talked like someone straight out of a Shakespearean comedy, minus the iambic pentameter) and charming (well, apparently; Vir thought so, anyway), yet have all these horrible ideas about Narns on the inside. But on the whole, it doesn't entirely work for me; it feels like the two parts of her character, and indeed the two parts of the story in this episode, are a bit too unconnected. Charming, funny, charming, sweet, funny, charming, charming,
Still, the space roach and the "high numerical value" conversation are golden. :D
As, for that matter, is Delenn being playful and adorable with Sheridan. I love that moment when she plays dumb, a la Benton Fraser, about Sheridan asking her on a date. (One day, I'm going to write that crossover ship. It would be awesome like an awesome thing.) Her distracting him with the picture so she could put salt on her flarn was hilarious.
One note about the title: It translates to "so passes Vir," yes? Doesn't that sound ominous to you? He's one of the few who make it to SiL alive, so I'm not sure what the purpose of the title was. Hmmm.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-09 07:11 pm (UTC)That is pretty much the exact mental image I had in my head when I posted, only I couldn't remember the name of the song, so I feel no remorse. ;)
I wonder if kids who look really cute and... kiddish, for lack of a better word, when they're tiny, somehow just end up with peculiar features as adults?
You're probably right. Although apparently some of the Cosby kids turned out not peculiar at all.
Because, bless him, Bill's a bit of a funny looking fellow.
He is, isn't he? His features work better on his daughter, but possibly that's because she's fourteen or so in the picture rather than because she's female.
*Flail* Seriously, you can write them any time you want. Absolutely. I'll beta for you, if you like, or make cookies for you or something. ♥ I ship them so much, but I can never seem to quite make it work in my own writing.
I have that same problem! Argh, I want to write them so much, and yet NOTHING. It is so freaking irritating.
(Hmmm. Minbari ceremony of some kind? Actually, I think I read that fic. Argh...)
Besides, my subconscious is too busy trying to convince me that really it's okay to write Lennier/Delenn/Sheridan even though 2/3 of the participating characters really sort of wish I wouldn't. I can't seem to focus on much of anything else until I get that one out of my system.
DOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEET. I'll beta!
She... had nice hair?
Heh. And pretty eyes?
I think Susan has a little bit of a telepathy-kink. I also think she should get over it. Telepaths are not good for her.
I think you're right on all counts. Oh, Susan.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-09 09:17 pm (UTC)Minbari ceremony of some kind? Actually, I think I read that fic. Argh...
...I don't think I've read that fic, so maybe it's okay for me to try it? If only because it'd be hilarious for Sheridan to be all "whine, moan, rituals, I think I'm never going to be able to actually sleep with my fiancee!" while Susan's thinking "....yeah, rituals, those are bad and boring and I have not at all helped your fiancee out with a few that were decidedly x-rated."
no subject
Date: 2010-08-09 09:48 pm (UTC)Bwah! Okay, I've read that fic, too. I know there are two out there where rituals lead to femslash--one is set post-SiL and involves, I believe, some kind of ceremony for the anniversary of John's death; the other is, as you say, Susan helping Delenn with some x-rated ones in preparation for her marriage. The second was mostly PWP, I think, while the first may very possibly have elided the actual sex, although it was definitely heavily implied. Unfortunately, I don't have links to either of them, nor do I remember titles and authors. :(
Make you a deal: you write the during-canon version, and I'll write the post-canon version. Or at least we can both try really hard. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-08-09 09:57 pm (UTC)During canon sounds fine by me! I might stretch back as early as late S1, if that's kosher for the deal, but at the moment my inclination's going to early S2. There's a lot of fun potential for all sorts of things there.
...And somehow I forgot in my last reply to respond to your "doo eeet" re: the Lennier/Delenn/Sheridan. *Flails* I've been toying with this for a few weeks, based on a Crazy Idea that came of my tendency to look waaaaay too hard at the Minbari, but the boys are sabotaging me by being really cranky and refusing to cooperate, and then making me feel guilty. But if you're serious, I'm hoping to need a beta for it sometime before the 20th of this month...
no subject
Date: 2010-08-10 01:50 am (UTC)I don't think either of them were on FFN...pretty sure they were LJ stuff. Maybe someone has them bookmarked on Delicious?
But that can wait until I see if I can do my own version.
Indeed! You have me very intrigued/excited now.
During canon sounds fine by me! I might stretch back as early as late S1, if that's kosher for the deal, but at the moment my inclination's going to early S2. There's a lot of fun potential for all sorts of things there.
I basically meant the divide to be "any time during the show" and "after SiL," so, hey, whatever works for you. :) (Now I just need to figure out what the hell I'm going to do...hmmm...)
But if you're serious, I'm hoping to need a beta for it sometime before the 20th of this month...
I am totally serious! I'm going to be out of town the 20th through the 23rd, but I can do it any other time.