Shiny!

[selenak]

andrastewhite has announced the Multiverse 2006 Ficathon enlisting - go forth and sign up here! It was terrific fun the last two years, and the avarage of excellent stories it results in is amazing. To newbies to this ramblings: this is a ficathon where you can request and write crossovers between space shows (and movies). Ever wondered how Mal Reynolds and Aeryn Sun would get along? That story is already written (by leadensky, for Multiverse 2004), so check it out and start wondering about other combinations while making your request.

In that spirit, a meme taken from pjferret:

List Your Top Six Favorite Shows (not actually in order)

Like her, I have too many, so this is just a random sample.

1. Buffy/Angel (combining to make room for another show, like my esteemed predecessor did)
2. Babylon 5
3. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
4. Alias
5. American Gothic
6. Farscape



1. Who is your favourite character from #2? [Babylon 5] Londo Mollari. I bet everyone is shocked.

2. Who is your least favourite character from #4? [Alias] Vaughn, over all, though I kind of warmed up to him in season 4. Still, that makes three entire seasons in which he either bored me or where I couldn't stand him, so Vaughn it is.

3. What would a crossover between #1 and #5 include? [Buffy/Angel and American Gothic] Can't beat londonkds`s recent suggestion of Connor and Caleb Temple becoming roommates at college (the ages would fit, given when AG was originally broadcast). If you ignore that and position AG (err, its one and only season) taking place at the same time as BTVS, I want a Ben and Xander chat on self-esteem and dating, as well as Buffy squaring off against Lucas and ending up not being seduced by him but by sharing experiences on child raising (well, teen-raising, in her case with Dawn) and being the law. *veg*

4. Who is your favourite ship from #6? [Farscape] John/Rygel all the way! It has it all - snark, kisses (MoyaJohn arguably kissed Rygel more often than Aeryn pre-Mental as Anything in season 4) , SM dreams and hey, Rygel even did the canon mpreg thing for John for a while. (Okay, so I also have this soft spot for John and Scorpius, or, as searose put it, the most bizarre courtship seen on tv. Well, from Scorpy's perspective....)

5. If you were to set one person from #3 and one person from #6 on a blind date, who would they be? [DS9 and Farscape] I already wrote that crossover, with Quark and Chiana. It was fun for both of them. *g* (Alternate candidates: Garak, meet Scorpius. You can discuss interrogation methods and patriotism in cultured, polite voices. Oh, and implants in brains.)

6. If you could meet one person from #4 and spend the day with them, who would it be, and what would you do? [Alias] Brace yourself: it wouldn't be Arvin Sloane. Nor the SpyParents. I prefer to love them at a save distance. I think I'd pick Marshall, and I'd totally geek out with him and watch and discuss sci-fi movies and/or shows. Moreover, I'd let him adjust my computer so I could watch the CDs wychwood sent me a long time ago.

7. If you could change one thing about #2's plot line, what would you change? [Babylon 5] Hmm... Lorien vs Byron, a death match made in hell. While Byron annoys me more, he did bring Bester to the station a couple of times; otoh, Lorien's very existence and the way he's used as a deus ex machina while simultanously not trusting your parents gods is a major plot point is more damaging to the overall narrative, so... yes, Lorien it is. I'd either let Sheridan actually remain dead on Z'ha'dum, with Ivanova and Delenn managing to keep the other races united (and Ivanova later leading the war against Clark), or I'd use andrastewhite's suggestion and let Sheridan survive via the fragment of Kosh inside of him.

8. Explain a relationship between two people (not necessarily romantic) from show #5, and why you like the relationship between them. [American Gothic] Lucas and Caleb. American shows tend to go a bit over the top with daddy issues, but this one does the father-son thing with some fabulous twists. Special highlights include the first time they bond over Lucas letting Caleb drive, Caleb shooting Lucas in his dream and going away whistling in a perfect Lucas imitation (and if I tell you that this is actually progress from Lucas' pov, you get an idea about the kind of show it is), a fishing trip that includes Lucas teaching Caleb how to use his powers and how to manipulate the hell out of someone foolish enough to think they can threaten you, and of course the grand finale. On one level, it's something like the devil slowly winning his son the possible antichrist around, and on another, it's just, well, fabulously twisted. Because you start out wanting Caleb to remain far from his father and end up wishing them together in as many scenes as possible....

9. If the lead title characters (first name in the credits) from #1 and #3 were both drowning, and you could only save one, who would it be? [Buffy/Angel and DS9] Well, I cheated with 1, but that's academic, because sorry, Benji, it would be Buffy. Or Angel, except that as a vampire, drowning is immaterial (albeit with certain unpleasant reminders), so in that case, Sisko might make it out alive.

10. If you could change the title characters' order in the credits for #4, what order would you choose? [Alias] I'm actually fine with the order, as my guy Ron Rifkin comes right after Jennifer Garner, and did so all the way through the show. And Victor Garber has the special "and X as Y" spot at the end, so that works out, too.

11. If you were able to add a new character, any kind of character you wanted, to the storyline for #6, what would the character be like and what would their role be? [Farscape] Hmmmmm. I guess resurrecting already existing characters is out, so... it would be a Nebari politician, to bring back the intriguing Nebari plotline briefly started and then forgotten in season 2, and he or she would (pre-Peacekeeper Wars, obviously) create a terrible dilemma by making a case for being able to end the Scarran-Sebacean conflict and create universal peace (pretty much as the Eidolons will eventually)... via universal brainwashing. Yes, this is my inner season 4 of Angel fangirl talking, why do you ask?

12. What happens in your favourite episode of show #2? [Babylon 5] I don't have a single... arggh. Hm. It's a toss between Coming of Shadows (s2) and The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari(s5), I guess. I really can't decide for just one of them - CoS is objectively the better and also more representative for the show as a whole, but TVLNOLM is basically JMS love letter to Londo and his arc. Coming of Shadows: The Centauri Emperor comes to the station, intending to for the first time publically express an apology for the Centauri occupation of Narn which ended several decades ago. This kicks off several major plot points - Narn Ambassador G'Kar at first intends to assassinate the Emperor (with the full approval of his government) and is prevented only by the Emperor having a heart attack. Then he finds out why the Emperor actually came, is stunned, invites his arch enemy, the Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari, for a drink, and later finds out that a Narn colony has just been wiped out by Centauri ships (he thinks) while they were drinking. G'Kar does not take this well. Meanwhile, Londo reacted to the impending arrival of the Emperor and the nudgings of Centauri politician Refa by for the first time deliberately asking the Shadows (bad guys of the show, super-powerful creatures) for help ("help" meaning firepower against that Narn colony), in the full knowledge that this will start a war with the Narn. Just after doing this, he gets invited by G'Kar to a drink and gets a toast for peace. He also has one of his recurring dreams about his own death at G'Kar's hands and gets told by the dying Emperor he's dammed. Being Londo, he both believes it and doesn't let it stop him from his continuing bad choices. Oh, and this episode also for the first time introduces the Rangers, brings back first season lead Sinclair via a recorded message to Garibaldi, and sets the way for the alliance between G'Kar and Sheridan. It is B5 at its best, pure and simple. The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari, three years later, also features a heart attack, this time Londo's, which is just a plot device to let us take a look inside his head and confront him with the past and bits of the future. That's basically all that happens in this episode, except for a subplot about Minbari aide Lennier taking his leave from Delenn (whom he loves hopelessly, as she's now married to Sheridan) and leaving to join the Rangers. Which is well-played, but it's those dream sequences in Londo's head that make the episode for me, complete with, naturally, the scenes after Londo wakes up again (and says a certain sentence to G'Kar). Great Vir both in "real" life and inside Londo's head, too. Londo basically deciding to live because of Vir sums up how strong their bond is at this point. "I would miss you." "And I suppose I would miss you." makes me misty-eyed each time, and each time I chuckle at Londo's meta snark about his dream imagery - "the bottles are all empty? The metaphor is getting a bit thick, wouldn't you say?", too.

13. If you could kill off one of the characters of #1, who would it be and how would you do it? [Buffy/Angel] See, on these shows, we had the show creator doing this for us. *g* No, seriously, I had varying sympathies for the characters but I can't say I wished even those I was sometimes indifferent or hostile towards away - I could see what each contributed to the stories.

14. If you got the chance to visit the set for either show #3 or show #5, which would you choose? [DS9 and American Gothic] I actually did visit the Paramount Studios back when DS9 was still in production. No idea where they shot AG - I don't think they went to location there, but if they did, I wouldn't mind a trip to South Carolina. (I could visit karabair while I was at it.)

15. So, I saved the best question for last. If you could date anyone from any of these shows, which show and which person?
As we're talking about dating as opposed to "hot one night stand with a guarantee I wouldn't see this person again" - either Will Tippin from Alias or Jake Sisko from DS9. Both are nice, with a great sense of humour, loyal, and curious about the world. They wouldn't mind travelling a lot. Plus Jake grows up to be Tony Todd which would satisfy my fetish for great voices.

Comments

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Clearly, you and me and smashsc we need to meet up in South Carolina. We'll watch DVDs and eat soul food. You can bring Marshall. Or I'll fight you for Will.

(I printed this meme out and wrote the answers but I don't know what I *did* with them. Once I find them, I'll answer it!)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

In the interest of harmony (no pun intended), I'll bring Marshall along then.*g*

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

my answers (http://karabair.livejournal.com/454614.html). Note the shoutout in 15. *g*

[watervole.livejournal.com]

That is such a fantastic icon!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

C.Elisa made it for me after I came up with the concept.*g*

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed reading about your favourite shows. What a fun meme! I may have to do it on my LJ. The drowning question is funny when vampires are involved!

I had varying sympathies for the characters but I can't say I wished even those I was sometimes indifferent or hostile towards away - I could see what each contributed to the stories.
I agree! The only characters I ever wanted to die were some of the villians (eg. Caleb), which makes sense, and they basically all did (*recalls with glee how Buffy kills Caleb*).

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to your choices, and yes, the drowning question is somewhat species-limited.*g*

(This reminds me of the

Spike: "Letting him swim all the way to the coast. You're still a dick."

Angel *pointed look*: "Yes, I still am."

Spike: *gets it, resigns himself to a long swim*

in Why We Fight, too...)

[wychwood]

Moreover, I'd let him adjust my computer so I could watch the CDs wychwood sent me a long time ago.

Heh. That *was* a long time ago. I still don't know why they didn't work. All very strange. It's a shame.