Beyond The Stars
Oct. 24th, 2010 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieWelcome to the Create Your Own Fake TV Show Meme from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mylittleredgirl, who gave me this most excellent list of actors with which to cast my pretend series:
Claudia Christian
Jerry Doyle
Chi McBride
Terry Farrell
Grace Park
Paul Gross
Jessica Steen
I decided I needed more than seven characters (why, yes, I do like huge ensemble shows, why do you ask?), so I added Susan Coyne, Lee Pace, and Mary McDonnell in small/reoccurring roles.
Not very far into this, I realized that I was getting most of my ideas from other TV shows. Specifically, this pretty much mashes up Babylon 5 and Atlantis, with maybe a bit of due South for spice, and a scoop of BSG's paranoia, because this is 2010 and paranoia is in style. I decided to just run with the derivations, not to mention the typecasting I put some of the actors through, so you will likely recognize certain elements. But we are well into the postmodern era now, and one of the hallmarks of postmodern storytelling is pastiche, so in fact I am just being all highbrow and literary. I have a master's degree in this stuff, so I should know. ;)
(But seriously. When you need a security-conscious, humanity-first president who is nevertheless probably not actively evil, who ELSE are you going to choose besides Mary McDonnell? I ask you.)
I, er, also realized that I know nothing about diplomacy, so making five of my characters diplomats may not have been the smartest move...but I'm forging on anyway. It's probably a good thing that the closest I would ever get to writing this is, like, fluffy shipfic for some of the characters or possibly fic where the three aides have a weekly standing date to bitch about their bosses down at the bar.
For the most part, the actors here are supposed to be playing pretty close to their actual ages as of 2010. However, two of them just stepped out of a time-warp from 1994 'cause, well, that show is the only thing I've ever seen them in, and I like to have decent mental pictures of my characters, okay?
Beyond the Stars
It is the year 2231, eighteen years since humans made the first slidespace jump into interstellar space, and nearly nine since they stumbled, almost by accident, upon the homeworld of the Kirani, our first contact with sentient alien life. In the interests of improved trade and cultural relations, these ancient and mysterious aliens invite the humans to join the several other alien races who have set up embassies on Kirana. It is the perfect opportunity for Earth's best and brightest to integrate humanity into the business and political fabric of the galaxy. The friendly natures of their hosts, the Art Deco beauty of the city where the diplomatic mission resides, and the fauna that can kill a person rather too easily for comfort promise to make things interesting for those who move there.
But President Karen Ellyson and her government are interested in much more than inter-cultural exchange. Subtle signs point to the fact that the Kirani are not as peaceful as they look, and Ellyson wants to know exactly how much a threat they represent. The members of the newly-formed galactic foreign service sent to Kirana are charged with learning all about their hosts—including how to take them down...
The Humans
Fifteen people, handpicked by the president and her Committee on Extra-Terrestrial Relations, make up the diplomatic delegation to Kirana. In addition to providing support (translation services, legal consultation, etc.) as needed to companies wishing to do business on Kirana or to those with enough money to visit as tourists, a long-term goal for the first year is to work out a trade agreement that will give humans access to the Kirani's superior starship technology.
Caroline Fournier [Jessica Steen]
Caroline Fournier has worked in the European Union's foreign service for nearly twenty years, keeping the relationships as congenial as possible between continental government organizations on Earth and Earth's colonies on Luna and Mars. She's one of the absolute best at what she does—though the Earth-Mars War of 2224 was largely seen as inevitable, she came the closest to negotiating a deal that would have prevented it. Even after decades as a diplomat, she's too idealistic to be entirely happy about spying on the Kirani, but she figures that it's better she do it than the president appoint someone who won't sympathize at all with this strange civilization. Besides, she's always had a taste for adventure. But when she starts getting closer than she expected to some of the alien ambassadors, she's going to have to chose between her mission and the people she's befriended...
Joanna Tulliver [Claudia Christian]
Since she was a little girl growing up on a space station orbiting the Moon, Joanna Tulliver has wanted nothing more than to immerse herself in an alien culture. As Caroline Fournier's aide and self-appointed xenoanthropologist of this small delegation, she gets to do just that on Kirana. When not assisting Caroline with business and political negotiations or keeping the embassy running with frightening efficiency, Joanna dives headfirst into the languages, food, and customs of their alien hosts. She's equally willing to share her own—or, for that matter, those of everyone else at the embassy. She finds an unlikely partner in Sam Murphy, whose enthusiasm she sees right through—but doesn't mind. Like Caroline, she is deeply unsure about their secret mission, but there's no way she's going to let that keep her from this job. Like most other orbital station natives, her sympathies lay with Mars during the recent war, and even though it all ended seven years ago, it creates a certain amount of tension between her and Leo Ryder.
Captain Leo Ryder [Chi MacBride]
A veteran of the Earth-Mars War, Leo Ryder takes no shit from anybody, and he's completely loyal to the united government of Earth. Though his official job description is Special Diplomatic Attache, he in fact heads up the three-member security team sent to protect the diplomatic delegation—and figure out the weak points in the Kirani's planetary defense systems. Though he isn't thrilled to be working with someone who was on the other side in the war, he and Joanna both have a tendency toward sarcastic barbs, which earns each of them the other's grudging admiration. Leo never forgets that his primary responsibility is to protect these wordy diplomats who take far too many risks, and he takes it upon himself to watch out for his second in command, the son of a recently-deceased lifelong friend. And when the diplomats start questioning the intelligence-gathering they've been sent to do, he's going to make sure they remember just whose side they're on...
Lieutenant Commander Sam Murphy [Jerry Doyle]
Leo's second in command and the embassy's resident technical wizard, Sam Murphy doesn't speak much, but when he does, you should probably listen, because he likely has a crazy idea that will solve your problem. He has a dry sense of humor, but it hasn't seen the light of day much since the recent deaths of his parents and younger brother in an air glider crash. He wants to put the tragedy behind him, and Kirana is the furthest he can go from Earth that still has breathable atmosphere, which is why when Leo called with the job offer, he didn't think twice. Although recent events have made him wary of getting close to anyone, he finds himself drawn to Joanna's enthusiasm for their new home. He wasn't especially interested in Kirani culture before this trip, but because it's so fascinating to Joanna, he quickly finds himself trying alien foods and attempting to explain human sexual practices...
Dr. Nora Green [Susan Coyne]
Fascinated by alien life but awkward around her fellow humans, the Kirani mission is a dream come true for Nora. The only human doctor within light-years, she's charged with keeping her teammates and the growing trickle of human traders healthy as well as with studying the biology of their hosts and biota of their world. Her excitement over each new discovery bleeds over into many of her interactions with her team. She strikes up a close friendship with the Kirani xenobiologist Zem Nekarra, who is just as eager to learn about humans as she is to understand the Kirani.
President Karen Ellyson [Mary McDonnell]
Karen Ellyson was Vice-President of the Earth Union for eight years before being elected President in 2230, and she had a front-row seat for the brief but searing violence of the Earth-Mars War. She knows exactly how fragile the union still is after that year, and she's not about to let it fall apart on her watch. Nor is she going to let an outside threat tear it to shreds—but how much of her insistence on intelligence-gathering is prompted by security concerns, and how much by the hope that a significant outside threat could pull Earth's nascent empire together?
The Kirani
The Kirani traveled among the stars before humanity had even gotten around to indoor plumbing. Six hundred years ago, they still warred among themselves, but when one of their first space expeditions discovered a planet where the only sentient life had wiped itself out in a nuclear holocaust, they realized that they were in danger of the same fate, and took steps to avoid it. Chief among these was a return to the ancient tradition of fosterage, where parents would allow one of their children to be raised nearly full-time with another family in order to cement political ties and encourage fellow-feeling between the two clans—only this time, children were sent to other continents. The end result was a united planet, and the colonies in other solar systems have equally peaceful relationships with the home world. Their allies concur that the Kirani value peace above all, and even interpersonal conflict is muted; they hash out disagreements through a variety of alternate means, from professional mediators to ritualized physical combat.
So they say. But for the humans, especially President Ellyson and Captain Ryder, something doesn't add up. If the Kirani are so peaceful, why do surface scans of their planet reveal what appear to be stockpiles of weapons more powerful than anything humans have ever come up with, and why do they deny their existence? Why do eight nearby planets show signs that the civilizations which once lived there were violently destroyed within the past six hundred years? What aren't our new friends telling us?
Notes:Because this would probably have no budget, Kirani resemble humans externally, with the exception of a design of colorful freckles unique to each individual on their faces and torsos. Think Trills.
The most widespread religion on the planet is a polytheistic one with more than five hundred gods. People from different parts of the planet worship the same gods with different names, but there are also gods specific to each culture. A follower can pray to any of the gods, but two are particularly important in each individual's life: the god whose day one is born on (this varies according to where one is born), and one he/she chooses in a ceremony that takes place around age fifteen.
Kylis Allaterra [Terry Farrell]
Though fosterage is not nearly as common as it was half a millennium ago, Kylis grew up half a world away from her parents, and was considered a natural for the intra-planetary diplomatic service. But with a keener sense of curiosity than most Kirani, she instead went into interstellar relations, traveling to the home worlds of several other races before returning to Kirana to become head of the committee dealing with human relations. She has a way of getting people to talk about themselves—or about whatever she wants them to, really—while saying very little in return. She seems particularly interested in getting to know Caroline, but whether it's purely professional interest or for some other reason, her human counterpart isn't quite sure. She's also, Caroline and Leo are quite sure, keeping a secret. And they're pretty sure it has to do with the eight desolate planets that ring Kirana's solar system...
Andrako Borralla [Paul Gross]
In his youth, Andrako planned to be a monk. Just short of taking his vows, Ormala, the goddess he devoted himself to in his Fenla ceremony, sent him a sign. He interpreted it to mean that he was meant to work with outsiders who had come to Kirana, and joined the diplomatic corps. The thing is, he doesn't strike anyone as a natural diplomat: hotheaded and aggressive (for a Kirani), he seems more intent on preventing aliens from moving to or trading with Kirana, and certainly on protecting native Kirani cultures from being influenced by outsiders.
Fala Essettra [Grace Park]
Younger and less reserved than her bosses, Fala keeps the Committee on Human Relations running as efficiently as Joanna does the human diplomatic mission. Quickly befriending Joanna and Sam, she aids Joanna's quest to learn all about Kirani culture by getting them all into the best parties. After all, it's no good to just learn about the religious ceremonies and watch a few old dramas; someone has to show them how the Kirani have fun.
Zem Nekarra [Lee Pace]
Like Nora, Zem is fascinated by xenobiology, and eager to learn more about humans. Quite shy and self-effacing normally, he comes alive when talking about his specialty or about his favorite hobby, training his pet geslac for the Kirani equivalent to dog agility competitions. Although she is human, since she is similarly awkward around normal people, he finds himself looking to Nora as kind of a mentor.
Extra Credit Plot Arcs!
Uh, well, actually, extra credit plot...possibilities. I can see three ways the mystery I've set up could ultimately go down:
1. The Kirani are in fact evil, and have been picking off less advanced races who pose any kind of threat, even an imagined one, and covering it up for hundreds of years. (All that pent-up aggression has to have an outlet, right?) Humanity is next on their list to eliminate. Two possible endings:
a. They succeed in wiping out humanity. Ouch.
b. There is a horrible war between humans and Kirani, which probably ends in a stalemate that leaves them in approximately the same position as the Federation and the Romulans in TNG. The human members of the cast escape back to Earth, where they are all very sad about losing people they thought were friends/angry at being deceived, especially Caroline.
2. The Kirani are not entirely evil, and something bigger and badder destroyed those other planets. They were keeping this information from the humans either because they thought they could protect these galactic n00bs, or because they weren't sure if they could trust them enough to bring them into the Sekrit Alliance Against The Big Bad. Of course, our human characters eventually figure this out, and the Kirani have no choice but to tell them everything, which leads to humans joining the battle against the Big Bad, and oh, hello, Shadow War from B5, fancy seeing you here...
3. The Kirani are not evil, but President Ellyson really, really wants that outside threat to keep the Earth Union together, so she trumps up some iffy evidence and they start a war. The humans on Kirana call bullshit, and start a resistance movement among the two Earth colonies in particular. The righteous ones eventually win, Ellyson is imprisoned for life, and oh, look, the Earth Civil War from B5 has come to join us as well...
Completely Random Notes I Kept Coming Up With When I Was Supposed To Be Fleshing Out The Concept
- Okay, so if you didn't figure I was going to put Claudia Christian's and Jerry Doyle's characters together from the moment you saw the cast list, you obviously haven't been paying attention. ;) If I were actually writing this as a TV series, they'd totally be together no later than the end of the first year. (I have this amusing idea for a scene in my head: it's Christmas by the Earth calendar, and in the course of talking about something else, Leo asks Sam when he's going to freaking ask Joanna out already. Sam is all, "Is that really a good idea?" and Leo says that when he's with Joanna is the first time since his family died that he's seen a smile on Sam's face, so he's ordering him to find the nearest equivalent to mistletoe and kiss her under it, dammit.)
- Caroline would be my little black dress of the fandom and have UST with pretty much every single character. In canon, she would have extra-serious UST with both Kylis and Andrako, but because I am all about the femslash lately, things would go much further with Kylis. There would be several cute/sweet/touching scenes involving Kylis introducing Caroline to strange alien rituals and customs. If Plot Arc Possibilities 2 or 3 happened, they would end up together by the end of the show.
- ...Come to think of it, Kylis would probably also be my little black dress of the fandom.
- There is some evidence that the Kirani gods manage to affect corporeal affairs, but it's never conclusive. Several characters, both Kirani and human, have visions; there are people who say something important, and disappear the second their interlocutor looks away; someone who's lost might pray for guidance and get a sign, etc.
- Joanna, Sam, and Fala quickly make a standing appointment at the local bar to complain (good-naturedly, usually) about their bosses over drinks. They also hatch entertaining plots to get the reluctant Leo more involved in the life of the city they're living in.
- Sam gets utterly addicted to the Kirani version of The X-Files. The other members of the team view it as kind of embarrassing.
- There would be at least three scenes per season of Nora and Zem chatting in rapid-fire medical technobabble as they get all excited about something biological that has no relevance to the rest of the team, because I feel like Susan Coyne and Lee Pace doing that would be adorable. Also, he eventually talks her into helping him train his geslac for agility competitions.
- I'm pretty sure you could get an entire episode out of having Chi McBride and Claudia Christian snark at each other, with bonus Jerry Doyle dropping a few comments in.
- The theme song would have some kind of melodic reference to "Beyond the Sea" for reasons which are probably obvious.
MEME RULES
So here's The Deal:
You post a comment on this entry requesting to play.
In return, I will give you a list of seven actors. (I may look at your profile for a refresher on your fandoms, so consider this a perfect time to update your Interests section!)
Then YOU will go back to your LJ and do a quickie show bible. The show bible includes:
A one-paragraph blurb on what the show is about (like you get in TV Guide). *cough or you get really wordy like I did cough cough*
What character each actor is playing (you don't need character names, but you do need a description).
For extra credit, a sketch of a plot arc or two OR a couple of two-sentence teasers for first-season episodes.
If you choose to cast a few more "roles" in your write-up, all the more awesome!
Then you post The Deal at the end of your entry, and for anyone who comments on your post and wants to play, give them a list of seven actors.
mylittleredgirl, who gave me this most excellent list of actors with which to cast my pretend series:Claudia Christian
Jerry Doyle
Chi McBride
Terry Farrell
Grace Park
Paul Gross
Jessica Steen
I decided I needed more than seven characters (why, yes, I do like huge ensemble shows, why do you ask?), so I added Susan Coyne, Lee Pace, and Mary McDonnell in small/reoccurring roles.
Not very far into this, I realized that I was getting most of my ideas from other TV shows. Specifically, this pretty much mashes up Babylon 5 and Atlantis, with maybe a bit of due South for spice, and a scoop of BSG's paranoia, because this is 2010 and paranoia is in style. I decided to just run with the derivations, not to mention the typecasting I put some of the actors through, so you will likely recognize certain elements. But we are well into the postmodern era now, and one of the hallmarks of postmodern storytelling is pastiche, so in fact I am just being all highbrow and literary. I have a master's degree in this stuff, so I should know. ;)
(But seriously. When you need a security-conscious, humanity-first president who is nevertheless probably not actively evil, who ELSE are you going to choose besides Mary McDonnell? I ask you.)
I, er, also realized that I know nothing about diplomacy, so making five of my characters diplomats may not have been the smartest move...but I'm forging on anyway. It's probably a good thing that the closest I would ever get to writing this is, like, fluffy shipfic for some of the characters or possibly fic where the three aides have a weekly standing date to bitch about their bosses down at the bar.
For the most part, the actors here are supposed to be playing pretty close to their actual ages as of 2010. However, two of them just stepped out of a time-warp from 1994 'cause, well, that show is the only thing I've ever seen them in, and I like to have decent mental pictures of my characters, okay?
It is the year 2231, eighteen years since humans made the first slidespace jump into interstellar space, and nearly nine since they stumbled, almost by accident, upon the homeworld of the Kirani, our first contact with sentient alien life. In the interests of improved trade and cultural relations, these ancient and mysterious aliens invite the humans to join the several other alien races who have set up embassies on Kirana. It is the perfect opportunity for Earth's best and brightest to integrate humanity into the business and political fabric of the galaxy. The friendly natures of their hosts, the Art Deco beauty of the city where the diplomatic mission resides, and the fauna that can kill a person rather too easily for comfort promise to make things interesting for those who move there.
But President Karen Ellyson and her government are interested in much more than inter-cultural exchange. Subtle signs point to the fact that the Kirani are not as peaceful as they look, and Ellyson wants to know exactly how much a threat they represent. The members of the newly-formed galactic foreign service sent to Kirana are charged with learning all about their hosts—including how to take them down...
Fifteen people, handpicked by the president and her Committee on Extra-Terrestrial Relations, make up the diplomatic delegation to Kirana. In addition to providing support (translation services, legal consultation, etc.) as needed to companies wishing to do business on Kirana or to those with enough money to visit as tourists, a long-term goal for the first year is to work out a trade agreement that will give humans access to the Kirani's superior starship technology.
Caroline Fournier has worked in the European Union's foreign service for nearly twenty years, keeping the relationships as congenial as possible between continental government organizations on Earth and Earth's colonies on Luna and Mars. She's one of the absolute best at what she does—though the Earth-Mars War of 2224 was largely seen as inevitable, she came the closest to negotiating a deal that would have prevented it. Even after decades as a diplomat, she's too idealistic to be entirely happy about spying on the Kirani, but she figures that it's better she do it than the president appoint someone who won't sympathize at all with this strange civilization. Besides, she's always had a taste for adventure. But when she starts getting closer than she expected to some of the alien ambassadors, she's going to have to chose between her mission and the people she's befriended...
Since she was a little girl growing up on a space station orbiting the Moon, Joanna Tulliver has wanted nothing more than to immerse herself in an alien culture. As Caroline Fournier's aide and self-appointed xenoanthropologist of this small delegation, she gets to do just that on Kirana. When not assisting Caroline with business and political negotiations or keeping the embassy running with frightening efficiency, Joanna dives headfirst into the languages, food, and customs of their alien hosts. She's equally willing to share her own—or, for that matter, those of everyone else at the embassy. She finds an unlikely partner in Sam Murphy, whose enthusiasm she sees right through—but doesn't mind. Like Caroline, she is deeply unsure about their secret mission, but there's no way she's going to let that keep her from this job. Like most other orbital station natives, her sympathies lay with Mars during the recent war, and even though it all ended seven years ago, it creates a certain amount of tension between her and Leo Ryder.
A veteran of the Earth-Mars War, Leo Ryder takes no shit from anybody, and he's completely loyal to the united government of Earth. Though his official job description is Special Diplomatic Attache, he in fact heads up the three-member security team sent to protect the diplomatic delegation—and figure out the weak points in the Kirani's planetary defense systems. Though he isn't thrilled to be working with someone who was on the other side in the war, he and Joanna both have a tendency toward sarcastic barbs, which earns each of them the other's grudging admiration. Leo never forgets that his primary responsibility is to protect these wordy diplomats who take far too many risks, and he takes it upon himself to watch out for his second in command, the son of a recently-deceased lifelong friend. And when the diplomats start questioning the intelligence-gathering they've been sent to do, he's going to make sure they remember just whose side they're on...
Leo's second in command and the embassy's resident technical wizard, Sam Murphy doesn't speak much, but when he does, you should probably listen, because he likely has a crazy idea that will solve your problem. He has a dry sense of humor, but it hasn't seen the light of day much since the recent deaths of his parents and younger brother in an air glider crash. He wants to put the tragedy behind him, and Kirana is the furthest he can go from Earth that still has breathable atmosphere, which is why when Leo called with the job offer, he didn't think twice. Although recent events have made him wary of getting close to anyone, he finds himself drawn to Joanna's enthusiasm for their new home. He wasn't especially interested in Kirani culture before this trip, but because it's so fascinating to Joanna, he quickly finds himself trying alien foods and attempting to explain human sexual practices...
Fascinated by alien life but awkward around her fellow humans, the Kirani mission is a dream come true for Nora. The only human doctor within light-years, she's charged with keeping her teammates and the growing trickle of human traders healthy as well as with studying the biology of their hosts and biota of their world. Her excitement over each new discovery bleeds over into many of her interactions with her team. She strikes up a close friendship with the Kirani xenobiologist Zem Nekarra, who is just as eager to learn about humans as she is to understand the Kirani.
Karen Ellyson was Vice-President of the Earth Union for eight years before being elected President in 2230, and she had a front-row seat for the brief but searing violence of the Earth-Mars War. She knows exactly how fragile the union still is after that year, and she's not about to let it fall apart on her watch. Nor is she going to let an outside threat tear it to shreds—but how much of her insistence on intelligence-gathering is prompted by security concerns, and how much by the hope that a significant outside threat could pull Earth's nascent empire together?
The Kirani traveled among the stars before humanity had even gotten around to indoor plumbing. Six hundred years ago, they still warred among themselves, but when one of their first space expeditions discovered a planet where the only sentient life had wiped itself out in a nuclear holocaust, they realized that they were in danger of the same fate, and took steps to avoid it. Chief among these was a return to the ancient tradition of fosterage, where parents would allow one of their children to be raised nearly full-time with another family in order to cement political ties and encourage fellow-feeling between the two clans—only this time, children were sent to other continents. The end result was a united planet, and the colonies in other solar systems have equally peaceful relationships with the home world. Their allies concur that the Kirani value peace above all, and even interpersonal conflict is muted; they hash out disagreements through a variety of alternate means, from professional mediators to ritualized physical combat.
So they say. But for the humans, especially President Ellyson and Captain Ryder, something doesn't add up. If the Kirani are so peaceful, why do surface scans of their planet reveal what appear to be stockpiles of weapons more powerful than anything humans have ever come up with, and why do they deny their existence? Why do eight nearby planets show signs that the civilizations which once lived there were violently destroyed within the past six hundred years? What aren't our new friends telling us?
Notes:
The most widespread religion on the planet is a polytheistic one with more than five hundred gods. People from different parts of the planet worship the same gods with different names, but there are also gods specific to each culture. A follower can pray to any of the gods, but two are particularly important in each individual's life: the god whose day one is born on (this varies according to where one is born), and one he/she chooses in a ceremony that takes place around age fifteen.
Though fosterage is not nearly as common as it was half a millennium ago, Kylis grew up half a world away from her parents, and was considered a natural for the intra-planetary diplomatic service. But with a keener sense of curiosity than most Kirani, she instead went into interstellar relations, traveling to the home worlds of several other races before returning to Kirana to become head of the committee dealing with human relations. She has a way of getting people to talk about themselves—or about whatever she wants them to, really—while saying very little in return. She seems particularly interested in getting to know Caroline, but whether it's purely professional interest or for some other reason, her human counterpart isn't quite sure. She's also, Caroline and Leo are quite sure, keeping a secret. And they're pretty sure it has to do with the eight desolate planets that ring Kirana's solar system...
In his youth, Andrako planned to be a monk. Just short of taking his vows, Ormala, the goddess he devoted himself to in his Fenla ceremony, sent him a sign. He interpreted it to mean that he was meant to work with outsiders who had come to Kirana, and joined the diplomatic corps. The thing is, he doesn't strike anyone as a natural diplomat: hotheaded and aggressive (for a Kirani), he seems more intent on preventing aliens from moving to or trading with Kirana, and certainly on protecting native Kirani cultures from being influenced by outsiders.
Younger and less reserved than her bosses, Fala keeps the Committee on Human Relations running as efficiently as Joanna does the human diplomatic mission. Quickly befriending Joanna and Sam, she aids Joanna's quest to learn all about Kirani culture by getting them all into the best parties. After all, it's no good to just learn about the religious ceremonies and watch a few old dramas; someone has to show them how the Kirani have fun.
Like Nora, Zem is fascinated by xenobiology, and eager to learn more about humans. Quite shy and self-effacing normally, he comes alive when talking about his specialty or about his favorite hobby, training his pet geslac for the Kirani equivalent to dog agility competitions. Although she is human, since she is similarly awkward around normal people, he finds himself looking to Nora as kind of a mentor.
Uh, well, actually, extra credit plot...possibilities. I can see three ways the mystery I've set up could ultimately go down:
1. The Kirani are in fact evil, and have been picking off less advanced races who pose any kind of threat, even an imagined one, and covering it up for hundreds of years. (All that pent-up aggression has to have an outlet, right?) Humanity is next on their list to eliminate. Two possible endings:
a. They succeed in wiping out humanity. Ouch.
b. There is a horrible war between humans and Kirani, which probably ends in a stalemate that leaves them in approximately the same position as the Federation and the Romulans in TNG. The human members of the cast escape back to Earth, where they are all very sad about losing people they thought were friends/angry at being deceived, especially Caroline.
2. The Kirani are not entirely evil, and something bigger and badder destroyed those other planets. They were keeping this information from the humans either because they thought they could protect these galactic n00bs, or because they weren't sure if they could trust them enough to bring them into the Sekrit Alliance Against The Big Bad. Of course, our human characters eventually figure this out, and the Kirani have no choice but to tell them everything, which leads to humans joining the battle against the Big Bad, and oh, hello, Shadow War from B5, fancy seeing you here...
3. The Kirani are not evil, but President Ellyson really, really wants that outside threat to keep the Earth Union together, so she trumps up some iffy evidence and they start a war. The humans on Kirana call bullshit, and start a resistance movement among the two Earth colonies in particular. The righteous ones eventually win, Ellyson is imprisoned for life, and oh, look, the Earth Civil War from B5 has come to join us as well...
- Okay, so if you didn't figure I was going to put Claudia Christian's and Jerry Doyle's characters together from the moment you saw the cast list, you obviously haven't been paying attention. ;) If I were actually writing this as a TV series, they'd totally be together no later than the end of the first year. (I have this amusing idea for a scene in my head: it's Christmas by the Earth calendar, and in the course of talking about something else, Leo asks Sam when he's going to freaking ask Joanna out already. Sam is all, "Is that really a good idea?" and Leo says that when he's with Joanna is the first time since his family died that he's seen a smile on Sam's face, so he's ordering him to find the nearest equivalent to mistletoe and kiss her under it, dammit.)
- Caroline would be my little black dress of the fandom and have UST with pretty much every single character. In canon, she would have extra-serious UST with both Kylis and Andrako, but because I am all about the femslash lately, things would go much further with Kylis. There would be several cute/sweet/touching scenes involving Kylis introducing Caroline to strange alien rituals and customs. If Plot Arc Possibilities 2 or 3 happened, they would end up together by the end of the show.
- ...Come to think of it, Kylis would probably also be my little black dress of the fandom.
- There is some evidence that the Kirani gods manage to affect corporeal affairs, but it's never conclusive. Several characters, both Kirani and human, have visions; there are people who say something important, and disappear the second their interlocutor looks away; someone who's lost might pray for guidance and get a sign, etc.
- Joanna, Sam, and Fala quickly make a standing appointment at the local bar to complain (good-naturedly, usually) about their bosses over drinks. They also hatch entertaining plots to get the reluctant Leo more involved in the life of the city they're living in.
- Sam gets utterly addicted to the Kirani version of The X-Files. The other members of the team view it as kind of embarrassing.
- There would be at least three scenes per season of Nora and Zem chatting in rapid-fire medical technobabble as they get all excited about something biological that has no relevance to the rest of the team, because I feel like Susan Coyne and Lee Pace doing that would be adorable. Also, he eventually talks her into helping him train his geslac for agility competitions.
- I'm pretty sure you could get an entire episode out of having Chi McBride and Claudia Christian snark at each other, with bonus Jerry Doyle dropping a few comments in.
- The theme song would have some kind of melodic reference to "Beyond the Sea" for reasons which are probably obvious.
So here's The Deal:
You post a comment on this entry requesting to play.
In return, I will give you a list of seven actors. (I may look at your profile for a refresher on your fandoms, so consider this a perfect time to update your Interests section!)
Then YOU will go back to your LJ and do a quickie show bible. The show bible includes:
A one-paragraph blurb on what the show is about (like you get in TV Guide). *cough or you get really wordy like I did cough cough*
What character each actor is playing (you don't need character names, but you do need a description).
For extra credit, a sketch of a plot arc or two OR a couple of two-sentence teasers for first-season episodes.
If you choose to cast a few more "roles" in your write-up, all the more awesome!
Then you post The Deal at the end of your entry, and for anyone who comments on your post and wants to play, give them a list of seven actors.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 05:25 am (UTC)Still, it's definitely an interesting setup.
Oh...
...and just because I'm a glutton for punishment, go ahead and hit me with a casting pool. This could be highly amusing.
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Date: 2010-10-25 06:27 am (UTC)I was thinking all of those things, and also thinking Skiffy was the most likely possibility. (Though there would need to be more young/hot actors involved. Every single person in my cast is over thirty.) Actually, the most likely possibility would be that this would turn into a novel/novel series, because I am a control freak and could not handle letting other people produce parts of my baby. Plus I don't know anything about making TV.
Your cast:
Nathan Fillion
Jewel Staite
Wil Wheaton
Amanda Tapping
Pauley Perrette
Avery Brooks
Claudia Black
no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 12:38 pm (UTC)Also, I would like to play, please!
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Date: 2010-10-25 05:40 pm (UTC)Yay! One day, if I'm feeling really ambitious, I may turn it into a novel/series...
Your cast:
Anna Torv
Shemar Moore
Paget Brewster
Michael Shanks
Katie Finneran
Eric Millegan
Claudia Christian (I was vaguely trying to go for people who played characters you've written fic about, but if you don't want to use one of the same people I did, swap her for Patricia Tallman)
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Date: 2010-10-25 05:10 am (UTC)And eeeeeee, your idea sounds very fun. Sort of a lighter-hearted B5, with other fun ensemble elements added in, and, best of all, two of my favorite actors from BSG and one of my favorites from DS9! I see no way this could fail to be awesome!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 06:16 am (UTC)Your cast:
Tamoh Penikett
Mira Furlan
Gina Torres
Jason Carter
Nana Visitor
Anthony Stewart Head
Freema Agyeman
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Date: 2010-10-26 12:45 am (UTC)And oh, this is going to be interesting. Must... restrain... urge to make whole show somehow about singing. Knowing for certain that slightly less than half your cast has fantastic singing voices is not a good reason to torment the other half... at least not until I've checked IMDB to see if there's any indication for the rest...
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Date: 2010-10-26 03:12 am (UTC)I dunno, I think they did a decent amount...much more and I probably would've been screaming at the screen about how there was a war on, dammit, and they should be doing Serious Things to stop it instead of making jokes.
Bwahaha, singing series! Yes! I say go for even if the rest of the cast doesn't mention singing at IMDB...they could have hidden talents!
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Date: 2010-10-25 02:37 pm (UTC)And you can give me a list of characters if you want (I mostly just commented to exclaim how awesome this series would be; I personally would vote for Plot Arc 2 or 3 because the Kirani sound too awesome to be totally evil), but I don't promise I'll actually *do* anything with them. Might get the creative juices flowing, though.
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Date: 2010-10-25 06:26 pm (UTC)Your cast, should you chose to accept it:
Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Callum Keith Rennie
Jon Huertas
Shannon Kenny
Chris Judge
Amanda Tapping
no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-25 11:19 pm (UTC)Kinda disappointing, though, that all the 'good' ideas for major plot arcs have been taken. Not sure how anyone could ever avoid writing something that hasn't already been written :(
Well, a good chunk of TV out there comes from other stories anyway, so it's not like I'm doing anything much different. The creator of the series I got most of my ideas from stole half the plot points in it from Tolkien. The execution probably matters more than the underlying plot structure.
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Date: 2010-10-25 11:39 pm (UTC)*giggles in general*
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Date: 2010-10-26 03:07 am (UTC)*does not have an Emerson icon, but uses the closest thing!*