Why I love Babylon 5

First let me state what I do not love:

 

1. The sets. They are cheap and unimaginative. However, they blew most of their budget on costumes and effects, and cheesy sets are a staple of sci-fi, so....

 

2. The effects. The special effects are TERRIBLE. Seriously. But they were one of the first tv shows to use massive cgi every week, so maybe it's excusable. *thinks* No, no, not entirely. It's just bad.

 

What I LOVE:

 

1. The storyarc. 5 seasons of one continuous storyline. Ok, granted, season 5 is a little out of sync, because they didn't know they were going to get that one. I think it still works well, however. This storyline does not make for good episodic viewing--if you miss 1 episode, you miss crucial information; but this makes for superb DVD viewing. It's more like a miniseries than a tv show.

 

2. The characters. The characters move through very believable arcs, and not every good guy ends up happy oy dead (the two usual options). Some end up broken, some end up isolated. Many of them do survive to lead happy lives, but not always the ones you'd expect. Some characters that began as loveable rogues become despicable power-grubbers and then degenerate into pitiable men who cannot tell right from wrong even when they want to. Some begin as violent rebels, and become wise, strong, leaders. And then you have Mr. Morden, a man so evil that his smile can send you running for cover (I am not exaggerating, his smile is incredibly creepy).

 

3. The costumes. They are lovely, imaginative, and very distinct between the 10 major people groups of the B5 universe.

 

Incidentally, I still don't own seasons 1 and 5, and my birthday is on Monday...not to hint, or anything... :)

 

Wheeeeheheheheheheheheeee!!!!!!!

I love the NaNo forums.

 

I just posted there about a story that's been floating in my head for years, but I could never write down, because I could never figure out the conflict that gets resolved. So I posted on the Plot Doctoring forum, and another NaNoer found me a conflict!

 

Let me back up a bit: I had a dream, years ago, in which I watched a girl reincarnate(note: I do not believe in reincarnation, but it made for a cool dream/story) through various lives and times, always with the same teacher. The final two scenes were impressed into my memory, and I can still watch them replay in my head even now. In the first scene, the girl is in a burning house, watching her teacher die at the hands of a mob. In the second, an 8-year-old incarnation of the girl walks into a modern library, sees an old man librarian, and smiles, knowing it to be her teacher. That was it. I had a resolution, but no conflict, no idea where it was going.

 

But now.....I have an outline for the plot!

 

Girl constantly reincarnates, being pursued by an enemy who can choose where he reincarnates, and follows her. He wants to harvest her memories; he is from the far distant future--their historians enter siumlations of events to study them. They generate the simulations by plugging in the mind of someone who remembers them. He wants to plug her into these simulators, since she has reincarnated repeatedly. She keeps meeting up with a mentor/teacher in each incarnation, trying to piece together what is happening. At one point, she finds a book that she remembers writing, but it was published hundreds of years before. This sets her on the path towards a confrontation with her enemy. Since the enemy can reincarnate where he chooses, she has to keep him from dying. How? Situation in which he is granted eternal life if she sacrifices herself. She dies. Once this is completed, she reincarnates in modern day library, with teacher.

 

Yay!!!! I'm not waiting til NaNo to write this one. Besides, I already have this year's NaNo idea: a guy with paranormal powers has to decide whether to serve the public with them, or go become a monk.

 

Yes, I like weird stories. Deal with it.

Harry Potter

I pre-ordered my copy from amazon, and they garuntee that I'll have it on the 21st! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

*cries, doesn't want the story to be over*

 

*happy dance that next book is FINALLY coming out*