Proserpina, Returning (Babylon 5, PG 13)

[selenak]

Title: Proserpina, Returning

Disclaimer: Characters and situations owned by JMS and Babylonian Productions.

Summary: Six glimpses at Elizabeth Lochley.

Characters: Elizabeth Lochley, Zoe, Vir Cotto, John Sheridan, Michael Garibaldi, Matthew Gideon, Zack Allen.

Rating: PG 13

Spoilers: for all of Babylon 5 and the Lochley episodes of Crusade;

Comments

[idella]

I really, really like this look at Lochley.

[selenak]

Thank you!

[watervole]

Thank you for writing this.

[selenak]

You're very welcome!

[amatara]

Oh, I loved this. You did a great job of molding all those tiny glimpses of Lochley that the series provided into a believable (and sympathetic) portrait of her. I've always wondered why she sided with Clark, other than the obvious "following orders", and this makes perfect sense, in way that makes my heart bleed for her. Also enjoyed the little and not-so-little tributes to other characters and situations, including Lochley's more-than-liking Garibaldi, the reference to Delenn and Rebo and Zooty, and of course the link to Centauri Prime through sweet and no-longer-so-innocent Vir,

(Incidentally, there's a typo in the first paragraph of V: "towads" needs an extra r. ;) )

[selenak]

You know me: I had to include one of my beloved Centauris, and Vir was perfect for the purpose. (Also, Lochley mentions in a voice over to one of the telepath eps that she speeks a little Centauri and wishes she were with Londo and G'Kar on Centauri Prime right now instead of stuck with the telepath situation, so tea with Vir was clearly ic.*g*)

Re: siding with Clark, that was one of the first things I knew I wanted to explore, because Lochley is the one sympathetic character on the show we know to have done so.

Garibaldi: I confess I saw plenty of UST in s5. But precisely given the things they shared it was really better that she didn't do anything about it, even if there had been no Lise.

[amatara]

Oh, I hadn't realized Lochley's father's paintings were actually canon. I just assumed that storyline was something you came up with - but then again, I've never seen Crusade. I keep wanting to watch it, only I postpone it every time because I'm afraid it'll diminish my impression of the show (just like "Lost Tales" did - I didn't even make it halfway through the first movie)...

Also, Lochley mentions in a voice over to one of the telepath eps that she speeks a little Centauri and wishes she were with Londo and G'Kar on Centauri Prime right now instead of stuck with the telepath situation.

Now you mention it, that does ring a bell somewhere. Though I'm not sure how Lochley would have liked tagging along after Londo and G'Kar - the words 'fifth wheel' might definitely have applied there. ;) At least I hope she'd have been given a separate bedroom. *veg*

[selenak]

Oh, the paintings are from a B5 episode, not a Crusade one, The Wheel of Fire. (Aka the one where Garibaldi's drunkeness and Lyta leading attack against Psi Corps on Earth comes to light.) It's from the scene where she talks to Garibaldi and actually gets through to him by telling her about her father and her own addictions.

As for Crusade, I think it's worth watching, but if you do, do not watch the order on the DVDS, which makes no emotional or logical sense; andrastewhite has a post on this and the right order to watch the episodes I can link you to. It's deliberately different from B5 and aside from the hastily written new pilot JMS had to do on the networks insistence (they wanted an action-heavy opening episode instead of his original pilot - same problem Firefly later had...), which is pretty bad, there is no episode in it which I didn't enjoy watching. If of the 13 in existence none is a "Signs and Portents", none sinks to the lows of TKO or Grail, either; strictly comparing the first 13 episodes of B5, not the rest of the show, it has a

[nomadicwriter]

Oh, fabulous. I always liked Lochley too. My memory of s5 and Crusade canon is hazy enough that I can't quite see the joins, so this all feels like it's perfectly canonical to me. Great job!

[selenak]

Thank you! My memories of s5 and Crusade were okay-ish, I thought, but I rewatched to be on the safe side, and a good thing, too, because as it turned out I had forgotten some background important stuff (such as Lochley finding her father's paintings, which is from her conversation with Garibaldi in Wheel of Fire). It was very inspiring.

[mymatedave]

Oh this is very nice, and very true as well. I especially liked the two bits with Vir, which considering it's you writing is no surprise. Glad to see you writing again, not that to dismiss your commentary.

[selenak]

It's the lure of ficathons this year for me, I suppose. And I just had to smuggle in a Centauri in a B5 story. :)