odd mornings and spiced almonds
I stayed up way too late last night reading some out-of-character but incredibly dirty Babylon 5 fic that I just couldn't turn away from, and consequently ignored my alarm and lay in bed this morning thinking about writing my own in-character but still incredibly dirty Babylon 5 fic. Then, I spent the better part of this past hour trying to pill an uncooperative cat (though who can blame him?)
I'm eating an apple with peanut butter, downloading episodes of Doctor Who, and looking up recipes for spiced almonds because the ones I bought at the store the other day are actually raw and not roasted almonds, and therefore, kind of gross to eat by the handful. I just watched Shadow Dancing from Babylon 5 season three (and did you know how often I accidentally conflate the season number with the 5, so that I'm watching Babylon 2 and Babylon 3 and Babylon 4?) for the second time and I continue to be amazed by the shots in the tactical center of the White Star, and how beautiful and how grave it is to watch the battle over John and Delenn's shoulders. It's especially striking at the end, when the Shadows have retreated and John is on one side of the screen and Delenn on the other looking out at the destruction the fleet has suffered, and then they turn to each other and meet in the middle.
This episode has so much happen under the guise of things that are waiting to happen. Marcus takes a step toward Ivanova, and Delenn makes a promise to Sheridan of the thing they will do once they make it through the battle - and even Delenn watching Sheridan sleep is a promise of things that are still to come. And most portentous of all, everyone is wondering what the Shadows will do next and how long it will be before they strike Babylon 5. What they don't realize is that the strike is already in motion, the ball in play, the loved one returning from the dead with a message, an invitation, the temptation of an explanation.
The scene with Anna walking through the door gives me shivers because she doesn't knock. She walks in, as though she belongs there, even though she's never been to Babylon 5. She walks in, and tells Delenn in that one devastating sentence that Delenn has no place here, because Anna is John's wife. That word cuts, even more than the forced politeness of the "Hello" and it's then that Delenn drops the snow globe, when the words reach her and her hope falls right out of her hands.
It's the same reason I loved the opening scenes of Z'Ha'Dum, because of the timing, the set-up of Delenn watching John sleep is so skillful, getting the implication across that John is with another woman when his wife returns without actually pushing John and Delenn into that part of their relationship yet. For Delenn to be sitting awake by John's bed is already incredibly intimate, and when John tells Stephen later, "She was in my quarters" when Anna arrived, the intimation of their connection and the significance of Delenn's presence at that moment is clear. They were not just having a late night chat; they were spending the night together, much in the same way Talia was spending the night with Ivanova in Divided Loyalties. It's the double idea of the euphemism that's also literally true, like Doctor Who, where, in The Doctor Dances, the Doctor and Rose dance at the end of the episode, and Jack watches and then turns away, because he's seen something that would otherwise be quite private.
I'm eating an apple with peanut butter, downloading episodes of Doctor Who, and looking up recipes for spiced almonds because the ones I bought at the store the other day are actually raw and not roasted almonds, and therefore, kind of gross to eat by the handful. I just watched Shadow Dancing from Babylon 5 season three (and did you know how often I accidentally conflate the season number with the 5, so that I'm watching Babylon 2 and Babylon 3 and Babylon 4?) for the second time and I continue to be amazed by the shots in the tactical center of the White Star, and how beautiful and how grave it is to watch the battle over John and Delenn's shoulders. It's especially striking at the end, when the Shadows have retreated and John is on one side of the screen and Delenn on the other looking out at the destruction the fleet has suffered, and then they turn to each other and meet in the middle.
This episode has so much happen under the guise of things that are waiting to happen. Marcus takes a step toward Ivanova, and Delenn makes a promise to Sheridan of the thing they will do once they make it through the battle - and even Delenn watching Sheridan sleep is a promise of things that are still to come. And most portentous of all, everyone is wondering what the Shadows will do next and how long it will be before they strike Babylon 5. What they don't realize is that the strike is already in motion, the ball in play, the loved one returning from the dead with a message, an invitation, the temptation of an explanation.
The scene with Anna walking through the door gives me shivers because she doesn't knock. She walks in, as though she belongs there, even though she's never been to Babylon 5. She walks in, and tells Delenn in that one devastating sentence that Delenn has no place here, because Anna is John's wife. That word cuts, even more than the forced politeness of the "Hello" and it's then that Delenn drops the snow globe, when the words reach her and her hope falls right out of her hands.
It's the same reason I loved the opening scenes of Z'Ha'Dum, because of the timing, the set-up of Delenn watching John sleep is so skillful, getting the implication across that John is with another woman when his wife returns without actually pushing John and Delenn into that part of their relationship yet. For Delenn to be sitting awake by John's bed is already incredibly intimate, and when John tells Stephen later, "She was in my quarters" when Anna arrived, the intimation of their connection and the significance of Delenn's presence at that moment is clear. They were not just having a late night chat; they were spending the night together, much in the same way Talia was spending the night with Ivanova in Divided Loyalties. It's the double idea of the euphemism that's also literally true, like Doctor Who, where, in The Doctor Dances, the Doctor and Rose dance at the end of the episode, and Jack watches and then turns away, because he's seen something that would otherwise be quite private.