Postcards from Oz - AU Edition

Ages ago, there was this meme where you had to come up with one sentence mini ficlets. One fandom, various genres. I started writing, but never got around to posting, because I misplaced the sheet of paper containing the handwritten drafts.

Guess, what I've just found while clearing up my desk. So, here we go, better late than never. The fandom is Babylon Five.

Angst: Sometimes, when Thalia looks into a mirror, she is haunted by the dead girl that used to inhabit this very flesh.

AU: "Welcome to Babylon Five, Mr. Morden," Laurel Takashima said, "We've already been expecting your arrival."

Humor: Delenn looked at the state her husband had left the kitchen in, puzzled.

Crossover: Julian Bashir extended his hand, wondering whether this strange, unexpected colleague of his would be interested in exchanging notes on Alien diseases.

Death: Once he had spotted the Vorlon next to his bedside, his final moments were almost too much.




 

Now playing Babylon 5 ! And even if you, of course, know the full story by now, all the little bits and pieces that lead up to the larger puzzle, the show is every bit as addictive and fascinating to watch as it used to be almost twenty years ago.

On a side note:

Incredible to see how far CGI effects have come since the days when B5 was one of technique's major pioneers.
Incredible how even the first few episodes (including the ones not written by JMS) contain so many little things and details that will become crucial during the run of the show.

Sad to think how many of the original cast members have already passed away.

Today's definition of the term "luck": Spilling the entire content of your XL-sized coffee mug over your writing desk without one single drop of liquid hitting your keyboard (it's the fourth, btw.; keyboards fear me, I'm their doom *g*)

But back to the bundle of disconnected notes that I came here for...


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cavendish's entry about Re-Unification Day, incorrigible teenage idealism and the importance of hopeful Utopias not only re-awakened my love for the groundbreaking qualities of Star Trek: Classic , it also caused me to wonder about the representation of humanist values in current Sci-Fi/Genre TV.

The most obvious finding: We clearly live in a "Post X-Files" age now. Where Roddenberry's Federation of Planets postulated the benefits of scientific advance, peaceful exploration and tolerance, the Federation officers of Joss Whedon's Firefly have turned human future into a paranoiac's nightmare. And while faith in political bodies or larger collectives as such appears to have been irreversably shattered, the remaining fragments have been rearrangend to form something else. Something that in the end might easily prove to be the more powerful optimist vision: humanism displayed not under ideal circumstances but in the face of terror and, also, the firm belief in the individual's capability to change.

So, here is my reply to anybody accusing shows like Farscape, Babylon 5, DS9 or the later seasons of Buffy of too much bleakness: don't look at the amount of despair and gloom. Look into the hearts of the characters. And you will find hope for mankind. More than enough.

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I finally saw the season premiere of Angel. After last years' fantasy-heavy and apocalypse-loaden story arcs, the episode itself felt rather refreshing and ironically also much closer to the earlier, more reality-based plolines of seasons 1 and 2 than anything that has happened to Angel and crew after Pylea. Go A-Team. Go!

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Some TV shows are like your favourite sweater. Though worn-out, baggy and bleached, you will unconditionally love them till the very end. I missed you, ER. Great to have you back!