Why rewatching videos to check stuff for fics is a Bad Idea

[eye_of_a_cat]

1. I can't believe Delenn went from 'Kill them all!' to 'We should not hurt these poor people' overnight. Her story as we see it in Atonement (which is, presumably, how she remembers things) seems like an attempt to lessen what she did. It's giving her responsibility for that one order only, and then blaming everybody else (literally - it's too late to stop things because everyone on Minbar has now gone mad with grief and rage, etc) for everything that happened afterwards.

I think she did a lot more than give that one order. (If not, then what exactly was she doing for the next two years? Standing quietly in the background while the rest of the Grey Council, including the ones who actually voted against the war, ran things?) Only in In the Beginning, it really does seem like she regrets her decision, and then the message the Vorlons give her from Dukhat would strengthen that. I don't want to outright contradict canon in my fic, but if this is the official canon version of events, it just seems confusing anyway, and... oh, I don't know.

2. I had a vague idea for Lennier's past, and why he was raised in a temple when he did have family (well, at least until the war), which would involve his family giving him to the temple as a child. There's still parts of it I can't get to make sense (how much would he have known his family? why would he have been trained as a diplomat if he was intended to stay in that temple for the rest of his life?), but I'm getting there. So I watched that scene from The Quality of Mercy again.

What he actually says is, "From birth, I was raised in the temple and studied the ways of the religious caste." From birth? It would work fine if he'd said 'from childhood' or something, but it seems strange that his family would have just handed over a newborn. Sigh. Back to the drawing board, maybe.

Comments

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

Well, you know I agree with you about Delenn. Passivity is also action, and also carries responsibility. Since she's quite capable of taking action, her decision not to - after her first call for war - was also a decision. And all the reasons why she couldn't act were just rationalization. I think even she knows that.

About Lennier - that line is why I think he was an Oblate - the medieval term for a child given to a monestary. It happened a lot to youngest children. Althoug usually they weren't given quite at birth, there's no reason why one couldn't be.

The other reason why a child would be in a medieval monestary since birth is if he was an illegitimate child of a nun, or an unwanted child left on a doorstep. I suppose, depending on how you imagine Minbari sexual practices, either of these is more or less a possible histopry for Lennier as well.

Alright, now I will go comment on your story.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

And all the reasons why she couldn't act were just rationalization. I think even she knows that.

She should, especially after everything she's done since then - breaking the Grey Council, and accepting her own role in what happened to G'Kar's people when she chose not to act, especially. In Atonement, it's like she gets close to admitting what she did (and refusing to let Lennier give her an excuse) and really facing up to what that means - and then she forgets about it in favour of "Ha, here's a reason for why they can't stop me getting married to Sheridan!"

About Lennier - that line is why I think he was an Oblate - the medieval term for a child given to a monestary. It happened a lot to youngest children. Althoug usually they weren't given quite at birth, there's no reason why one couldn't be.

Yeah, I suppose it could still work - and those children were given very young, weren't they? (I'm mostly going from half-forgotten history lessons plus the annoying small amount of information Google gave me, though...) So there isn't that big a leap between, say, a five-year-old and a baby in terms of how useful they'll be to the community until they're older, and if the one system could work, then probably the other could too. Plus, aliens, so manouvering space.

I'm trying to work out what this would mean for Lennier in terms of his family, and how much he would have known them, and what it would have meant to him to lose some of them in the war, and why he never talks about his past. It's proving tougher than I thought it would, though. Don't suppose you have any ideas? *looks pitiful*

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

I don't think Lennier knew his family. He never mentions them. That would fit with being basically a baby on the doorstep of a Temple - and wouldn't contradict with extensive clan loyalty.

In medieval terms, a monastery was basically a group marriage. If you want to make an alliance between two chiefs, marry off their children. If you want to make an alliance between ten chiefs, take ten of their youngest sons and stick them in monestary. The monks would be tied both to their family and to each other, which would bind the families closer together. If Lennier was given by his family to the Temple, he would probably be expected to represent his family, and to speak for them, but his close emotional relationships would be with his peers (and mentors) from the Temple.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That system would work wonderfully with what I had in mind for him, and how he'd feel obliged to his family in many ways without ever really knowing them. Plus why he won't say anything about his life before Babylon 5. It's strange that nobody in the fandom's written about it, or at least not that I've ever seen, when it's a big blank space on the canvas and you'd expect someone to want to fill it in.

Speaking of fic - I read 'Redemption', finally. Perfect dynamic and Lennier not dying and an actual happy ending, and... yep, I loved it :)

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

'Redemption' is one of the best antidepressants I have yet to encounter. I wish I could find the author to fangirl her, but the e-mail address she posted on doesn't work. If you ever find her, let me know.