lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms98-12-usenet

JMS Usenet messages for December 1998.


Date: 1 Dec 1998 16:03:05 -0700
Subject: Re: Sleeping in Light ( *Spoilers* )

>"...if you're going to criticize me for not finishing the whole thing
>and tying it up in a bow for you, why, do us both a favor and write your
>own damn book, only have the decency to call it a romance instead of a
>history, because history's got no bows on it, only frayed ends of
>ribbons and knots that can't be untied. It ain't a pretty package but
>then it's not your birthday that I know of, so I'm under no obligation
>to give you a gift."

I knew there was a reason I liked his books....

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 1 Dec 1998 16:19:50 -0700
Subject: Re: Sleeping in Light *Spoilers*


























On a more serious reply (though no reply is actually needed, I think...no story
this big can wrap up the stories of EVERYONE...and the point is that life goes
on, we dip in and we dip out of the story at various points, but it goes on of
its own volition...I posted this over on CIS earlier regarding the various
threads:

The Drak and Centari Prime?

      Vir is Emperor now.  Londo asked Sheridan to free his people; we can
assume he did this...but we will also be showing this in the Centauri Prime
trilogy of books in more detail.

Londo?

      We saw Londo's fate in War Without End Part 2.

Lyta?

      The telepath crisis and events surrounding it will provide a lot of the
background to Crusade.

Bester and the Psi Corps?

      Ditto.

G'Kar?

      We saw his fate in WWE2 also.

Garibaldi and Bester?

      This will be covered in the Psi Corps trilogy, of which volume 1 is out 
now, and volume 2 is in my hands for editing.

B5's seemingly needless and useless destruction?

      Neither needless nor useless.  It was built cheapest of all the stations,
and it takes a lot of money to maintain it.  With trade routes now going around
it, there isn't enough income to support it.  So do you leave it  intact, for
others to occupy or raid for weapons systems and other systems too difficult to
yank out?  Or take it out, the same way we implode buildings 
now?

Sheridan's son - we guess he survived the Drak and their intended keeper?

      This will also be covered in the Centauri Prime trilogy...but if you sit
back you can do some of the work to figure out a large part of this.  As Londo
states, his situation in WWE2 (Sheridan and Delenn captured on Centauri Prime)
takes place 18 years after the events in 2260, which would put it at 2278.  The
urn, given to Sheridan in 2262, is supposed to be given to the heir at the
occasion of his/her 16th birthday, by Centauri tradition.

      That would put the urn presentation at...ding!...2278.

      In 2278, Sheridan and Delenn have been drawn to Centauri Prime.  We know
their son is involved, because Delenn says "David is safe."  So they  were
somehow able to save him, because we know that in 2281, David is alive 
and well and serving in the Rangers (SiL).

      You can see the shape of the events there...once again the clues are more
or less in plain sight...but again, this will be drawn out in the books in more
detail.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 2 Dec 1998 19:25:57 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Setting for A Call to Arms

Five years after the events of Season 5.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 2 Dec 1998 19:29:24 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn Joe:  A Piece of Lurker's History

That's quite lovely...thank you.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 3 Dec 1998 22:43:43 -0700
Subject: Re: New B5 novel by JMS?

It's the first 3 issues of the B5 comic from DC gathered in a graphic novel.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 4 Dec 1998 12:29:05 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: The Future of B5 (tm)


>Could you PLEASE say a word or two about the direction of B5, and what
>your attitude towards B5-the-series and B5-the-brand-name are? I.e.
>could you take a shot at killing off some of this "franchise" bitching 
>and moaning?

>Specifically: many, many quotes in the Lurker's Guide, esp. on the SiL
>page, talk about how you didn't want to turn B5 into a franchise. Some
>people are now pointing at the books, comics, and WB's efforts to shut
>down fan sites and shouting "the sky is... er, *ahem*, I mean, 
>FRANCHISE!!! run!!". 

Bear in mind that nearly all of those people are the same ones who said B5
wasn't as good as Trek because it didn't have the same power in the
marketplace...so now they try the other avenue to criticize.

It's kinda hard to say there's a B5 franchise since the series is now OFF THE
AIR, and I've already said to Doug that I don't want to even think about a
feature for a while.

They're also distorting the record.  What I have said at conventions since the
dawn of time, or at least the dawn of B5, was that I didn't want to rush into
merchandise, that I'd seen the tail wag the dog too often.  "If the show is a
success, there's plenty of time down the road for merchandising...let's make
the show first and worry about the rest later."

Well, we did that.  We made the show.  So what is the problem exactly?  Are
they saying that having sweated blood to make the show for 5 years, I shouldn't
be entitled to earn a living from it?  That fans who want to see parts of the
story shouldn't be allowed to?

You shouldn't fall for these guys...these are primarily  people have no
interest in a reasoned argument, they're just looking to make trouble.  At the
beginning, they pointed to the dearth of B5 merchandise and said the show had
to be crap...now they're pointing to a few things that have gone on the market
and saying it's a franchise and now therefore it's crap.

Same song, different tune.  Trolls, nothing more.

In a few cases, you run into the folks who are well-intentioned, but come from
the "SF is in the gutter and needs to stay there and never be successful or
it'll lose its artistic integrity" school of thought.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com






Date: 14 Dec 1998 10:21:32 -0700
Subject: quickie from jms

Sorry I've been a bit quiet lately...I've answered a number of notes publicly
here ad there, on rastm and elsewhere, but we've been putting the final touches
to the first finished Crusade ep, "Racing the Night," shot 103...all the EFX,
music, sound, all that stuff is in and it's done, so we know what we're dealing
with, and it looks terrific.  WB called to say it's the best we've ever done,
and possibly the best thing they've seen.  But it's taken a lot of long nights
to do the final mix, and get caught up on scripts before the Christmas break,
so I've been a bit absent.  

I was also kind of overwhelmed by the responses to SiL..and to all those who
said such kind things, thank you.  It's something I'm very proud of, and I'm
pleased by the response.

On the issue of unanswered questions, raised by some...the first question a
writer has to answer is, "Who, ultimately, is my story about?"  In any novel or
short story or movie or TV series, who are the essential protagonists?  B5 was
always about the station, first and foremost, and the other main characters in
this future history were Sheridan, Sinclair, Garibaldi, Delenn, Londo, G'Kar,
Franklin and to an extent, Ivanova.  Everyone else comes under the heading of
minor or secondary characters...on the long-arc series level, the same as a
guest star in a single episode of a regular series.

It would be impossible...let me say this again, impossible...to track the whole
history of all of the other characters in this show; it would take another
whole series just to do the Lyta/G'Kar adventures.  We showed the resolution of
all the main characters in the story.  That was my primary obligation.  We can
take some secondary measures to fill in information on some of the secondary
characters, but in a TV show there's only so much you can do.  Hell, I've had
people send me email demanding to know what happened to the people rescued from
Babylon 4....c'mon, some common sense, please.

And on another level, I think it's better to let people make up their own ideas
about what happened with folks like G'Kar and Lyta...

That said...that topic is closed, as far as I'm concerned.  I told the stories
of the main characters of the show, which is what was promised.

Mainly, this is intended as thanks to everyone for the kind words.  It seems
fitting that having spent the last 5+ years sending out words, to now receive
words in return.  The circle is closed by that, and it's been terrific.

Thank you to everyone here...warts, weirdnesses and all, it's been fun.  As I
said, I'll be pulling back a bit now, because I kind of need to get a life
again, and I need to concentrate on Crusade...but this experiece will always
count as one of the most astonishing and gratifying of my career.

Thank you again.


 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 26 Dec 1998 20:04:53 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS RISING STARS preview & #0 info?

>If you're still out there Joe, I'm hoping you can give further info
>on your upcoming comic series.  There's a RISING STARS Preview issue, 16 
>b&w pages for $5 (probably $7.50 Canadian, *ouch*!) solicited in the new 
>Previews catalog from Diamond distributors.  Also, a #0 is to
>be included in the March issue of Wizard magazine.
>
>

I'm still here, just sorta coasting, mainly replying by email to stuff I see
that needs replying to, and wondering why on earth people are still responding
to Cronan as if a) he had anything of value to say, b) were actually a carbon
based life form, instead of a juvenile troll in need of attention....

>The info given is unclear whether the preview or #0 are actually comics 
>style stories or text and art samples from #1-on?  And the preview only 
>lists the artist as "various" and nothing for #0.  Who is/are the 
>artist(s)?

The preview is 70% story, 30% art samples and other supporting stuff for the
book; the issue 0 is a full story.  Top Cow hasn't released info on the artist
yet.

So far, everybody there is massively jazzed about the new book; the scripts
(I've turned in the preview, 0 and 1 so far) keep getting passed from person to
person as they come in, and read and reread.  Apparently they're knocked out by
it.


 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com