Xenon's Seventh Circle

Title: None
Fandom: Babylon 5
Rating: G
Characters: Ivanova and Marcus


prompt: #047 - shadow


Half shadow, half spider, it hung before them, all sharp spikes and razor edges. Blacker than space; a darkness well beyond anything in human experience. Light seemed to slide off it; to cower from it; to skitter away, and hide itself in places unseen. Ivanova could only sympathise. And they were to fight these things? These shadows that light itself seemed to fear? Beside her, Marcus whispered something in Minbari – a prayer, she thought – then flashed her a wholly incongruous grin. She smiled back. And why not? When light itself was afraid, what else was there to do but smile?

So, heartonsnow said that I had to post something. That was more than a week ago actually, but I still haven't thought of anything worth posting. Still, let's see where this goes. I'll start with books, as that's easy.

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1998 was one of those years that we should just have skipped, and pretended never happened. Sorry if it was a good year for you. If you got married then, or born then or something. But we should just quietly forget about it, and scurry on by to 1999. Or possibly 2015.

1998 began with my sister being diagnosed with acute leukaemia. And not just acute leukaemia; that would have been far too simple. She had to contract a fabulously rare combination of syndromes that had doctors all over the world conferring on her treatment. Which was actually good, in one sense. If you're going to get really sick, you might as well go for something special, and get all the best minds in medicine thinking about you. She was down and out for the whole of the year though, and is still dealing with the consequences now - and whilst it could have been a lot worse (especially for her), it was still pretty rubbish. It was a really weird time though. When a member of your family is ill, people start asking after them in hushed tones. They don't just ask how she is, they sidle up to you, and ask like they're delivering a top secret message from the head of MI6.

The younger of my two grandfathers died this year too. I didn't know him very well, so it wasn't a personal loss, but it was a strange sort of time nonetheless. Mind you, the funeral turned out to be unexpectedly entertaining. Are funerals generally hilarious? I've not been to many, but it does seem that they wind up being a whole lot funnier than they probably ought to be. For this one I somehow got sandwiched between my two more irreverent sisters, with the one inclined to get emotional just up ahead. Every so often she'd sob, and they'd giggle. I didn't dare look at anybody!

Honestly didn't pay much attention to the wider world this year. Government being rubbish, Blair being a smarmy git, etc and so forth. I do remember that General Pinochet visited the UK, and was put under arrest on an international arrest warrant. He was supposed to stand trial for crimes against humanity, but the government twiddled its thumbs for ages, and then Margaret Thatcher said that he was a personal friend, and could they please let him go. So they did. So we very nearly did a good thing, and then didn't. Not that anybody really dared hope that he'd stand trial anyway, but it was a nice idea for a little while.

Babylon 5 ended this year. I was sorry to see it go, although obviously it couldn't have gone on any longer. It was my first proper experience of fandom, with all the obsessive discussions that used to take place on the Channel 4 internet forum. I'd never had fellow fans before! And it was such an amazing series. Cold Feet started. I did quite like that, although it was hardly a suitable replacement. Oh, and The Mask Of Zorro hit cinemas! Now there's a good film. The sword work is excellent, and it's such good fun. Dark City too, although I didn't see that until some time later. Again, though, a terrific film.

Music is a different story. I just looked up the Top #100 for the year, and that's a nightmare! Billie Piper, Aqua, Boyzone, Steps, B*Witched, Cleopatra... blimey. Must have been the International Year Of The Power Ballad too, as the top fifteen includes My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion, I Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith, and Angels by Robbie Williams. Bloody hell! What happened between 1997 and 1998?! Did somebody outlaw rock music?

And, of course, 1998 was the year when Frank Sinatra went off to join Dino and Sammy. Robert Young and Roddy McDowall also died this year, and Cozy Powell, British rock drummer extraordinaire. Admittedly that was rather his own fault, but it was still a shame. Scuppered Brian May's touring plans for the year ahead, too!

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Interesting one here. A short film (twenty minutes), posted on the net by its creator. Legal films on the internet?! Whatever next! It's about a boy whose father yearns to be an astronaut, and it stars Siobhan Redmond (Between The Lines, The High Life, Bulman) and Emun Elliott (Paradox, The Paradise, Los Malvados (cough)). It's odd, but in a good way.

Mission from Phase VI on Vimeo.

In other news, I watched the pilot of Starsky & Hutch, possibly for the first time. It's strange watching it, as it's basically all the bits from the opening credits, strung together with a bit of plot. And the wrong music. And the wrong Captain Dobie. And Starsky's hair is much too short. Pilots are weird that way. Nothing could be quite so weird as the Bonanza pilot, but it's always odd watching a familiar series testing itself out. Like The A-Team, when Face has the wrong head, or Kojak, which doesn't have Crocker in it, or Babylon 5, where everything looks like it's made out of cardboard, and G'Kar is a completely different shape.

In other other news, it's wet. And cold. Make it stop being wet and cold please. Thank you.

Day thirty, the saddest character death. Well there's a cheerful one to end on. I had a long think about this, but there's no real contest in the end. Wes's death in Angel still makes me more angry than sad, and although Captain Sheridan's death (or going beyond the rim, if you prefer, which could mean almost anything) is beautifully done, I don't know that I would class it as sad. It's the natural conclusion for his character. So what can it be but that of Leo from The West Wing? If you were a fan of that show, you'll know what I mean. It wasn't just that Leo died, it was that John Spencer died too, which made it all the more real. Leo was a wonderful character. He was beautifully played and beautifully written, and he was a guy that it was impossible to dislike. And then John Spencer died, and Leo had to go too. I knew that it was coming, but I had no idea when, and then suddenly at the end of one episode, when everything had been so happy, he's discovered in his hotel room, and it's just so unbearably sad. I suppose it's worse because it was a long running series, and the characters were like old friends by the end of it. And I was so very fond of Leo. It's a sign of a good show when you care so much, but that doesn't lessen the sting. Poor Leo. I really did feel that loss.

Day twenty-two, your favourite series finale. Awkward, given that television tends to axe most of the shows that I watch, without giving them a finale. Sometimes that's a good thing - there are some shows where it's better to leave them going on to fight another day, rather than brought to an ultimate stop - but even if it's for the best, it doesn't make for a memorable finish. There are a few could-have-beens. The intended Between The Lines finale, at the close of series two, was one of the best ever, and although I liked series three more than most people did, the eventual final episode was a bit of a mess. Had Buffy The Vampire Slayer ended with season five, I might have gone for that one. Blake's 7 nearly wins it. I love the final episode (although I love the originally intended one, closing series three, rather more). "Blake" is just too downbeat to win, though. Ditto the Sapphire & Steel closer; and since neither was supposed to be a final episode, I'm not sure that they should count anyway. We're forever left wondering what would have happened next, if it had been allowed to. So, just like with the favourite TV show cast, I'm left having to choose between Babylon 5 and The West Wing. Both brought their respective stories and casts to a good conclusion, and both were handled exceptionally well. The final season of Babylon 5, however, didn't throw an unfathomable curveball at Toby, and have him act against character and lose his job. So I'm choosing it. Sorry, The West Wing. I love you, and almost everything about you. I love your characters, and I loved spending seven great years in their company, but you screwed up at the end there. So did Babylon 5, admittedly, but at least the showrunner apologised. He even said that he regretted getting rid of Marcus, which doesn't actually make up for getting rid of Marcus, damn it!, but it's a start. And at least Marcus isn't actually dead. Toby, however, is still technically a traitor, which prevented the finale from being everything that it could have been.

And besides, it's "Sleeping In Light". You really do have to go some to beat that.

Day nineteen, the best TV show cast. Oh, yikes. Have you any idea how much TV I have watched in my life, meme? How much television I remain ridiculously attached to? Or television to which I remain ridiculously attached, if you want it in proper grammar. And yet you keep asking me to not only remember it all, but also to choose between it, and I'm not sure that that was a proper sentence. Choices, choices. The first cast of M*A*S*H? Or how about Robin Of Sherwood? Or original Torchwood, or season three Blake's 7? (I like Glynis Barber a lot, but the poor woman is so easily overlooked in season four, that I can't really rate Soolin above Cally). And then there's Between The Lines (and indeed Drop The Dead Donkey, just to stay on a Neil Pearson theme). Cardiac Arrest? Quantum Leap? How about every TV show in my tags list, with the obvious exception of Invasion: Earth?

If I behave and narrow it down - or if I just stop thinking, which is probably easier - I can get it down to two. Babylon 5, (from season two onward, as Sheridan trumps Sinclair), and The West Wing. And it's a difficult choice, so I'm not going to make it. Instead I'm going to avoid the issue entirely and, in a vain attempt to prove that I do watch modern stuff occasionally, I'm going instead with True Blood. The show is a pale shadow of its former self, but the cast has never put a foot wrong. It's a big, varied, interesting cast, and it currently includes Rutger Hauer, which says it all. Or it included him until this week. I'm hoping they're bringing him back, because Rutger Hauer. And four episodes is emphatically Not Enough. Because Rutger Hauer!

Anyway, that was day nineteen.

And this is Rutger Hauer being king of the fairies. Why doesn't more television have Rutger Hauer in it? I might watch more of it then.

Day nine, the best scene ever. Oh good grief... Meme, you are trying to drive me insane. I couldn't even choose one programme, let alone one scene. I did think maybe something from Babylon 5 or The West Wing, but you try narrowing it down to one bit of either of them. And then there's Buffy and Angel, both of which I love dearly. They both manage to combine comedy and drama in a way that I can't help but admire. But greatest? And then I thought about that fantastic scene between the two Jacks in the Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness". The whole episode builds to it, and it's beautifully judged. But there again, the best scene ever? This is an insane question. So I'll fudge it, and go with one that made me ridiculously happy.

Back in 2005, I hadn't really been enjoying the new Doctor Who. I hadn't bonded with the new Doctor, and I'd found most of the writing to be too childish. But for months (probably nearly a year), Doctor Who Magazine had been muttering about a new guy. Nobody knew how many episodes he was going to be in; not at first. All we really had to begin with was one line: "A time-travelling Han Solo". And then, later, "a bisexual conman". Later on still, "bisexual" became "omnisexual", and several large chunks of the internet exploded, as angry conservatives flew into an endless rage about gay things being allowed in their programme. It was pretty crazy - and for a lot of reasons, I became very attached to Captain Jack long before he ever appeared. And then, scant weeks later, a bloody Dalek went and shot him. Time, pretty much literally, stopped. It actually can - that's a real thing. And yes, okay, he got an awesome, heroic death, and he went down fighting, but still. The bloody Daleks shot Jack! And then Rose did a weird thing, and there was shiny lighting and annoying music, and if I'd known how often we were going to be given that as a plot device in the years to come, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly so much. But it brought Jack back. And, yes, the Doctor was a bastard and ran off and left him, and poor old Jack, for all his immortality making him even more awesome, has never been written anything like so well since. But still. He came back! I have rarely been happier watching TV.

So there you go. It's not the best scene ever, but it's one that I very much appreciated. And it was either that or Richard Hammond playing conkers with cars on Top Gear. Yes, I know. But that's the good thing about having a very small brain. It's easily happied.

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favourite interview, a book) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This was incredibly difficult. My first thought was to choose a really good episode of something; but then the full extent of the prompt got me thinking, because there's movies and books to choose from as well. Also, the mention of "a favourite piece of canon" suggests that the choice shouldn't be a favourite episode, but a favourite thing that happens in a particular episode. Which complicated things even further. Eventually I narrowed it down to a shortlist of about twenty episodes, films and books; but since I had no over all favourite, I decided in the end to go for the one that's arguably the least well known. There's too much good stuff out there to try deciding whether one thing is better than all the rest; and small fandoms need support. Shortlist included at the end, just because.

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