#farscapecaps

[tinkertayler]

Farscape in blue

[toshikosatos]

some shots i am obsessed with

[baylardo]

i was REALLY hoping farscapecaps would have have a cap of rygel’s [REDACTED] from john quixote

[tinkertayler]

Someone involved in the making of Farscape 2x01 said "we need to cover Claudia Black in dewy mist and bathe her in soft light in literally every scene" and they were right.

[tinkertayler]

Farscape color theory: red and yellow

Passion. Danger. Betrayal. Insanity.

[tinkertayler]

Farscape (1999-2004): Love, Death, and Wormholes

[tinkertayler]

The erotic antagonism, grudging affection, and excessive personal space invasion of John and Aeryn in early season one... magnifique.

[tinkertayler]

This is SEASON 1, EPISODE 3. The way they look at each other. The way they stand next to each other. That final shot - the two of them together, side-by-side, gazing into space, examining the universe in all its wonder and horror and absurdity, re-evaluating their existences and everything they thought they knew, everything they thought they wanted.

These two meet and the magnetic force they exert on each other is immediate and intense and life-altering. I wouldn't call it "love at first sight", but John and Aeryn certainly do share an instant connection, an ineffable fascination, an intrinsic attraction - "attraction" in the sense of two planetary bodies drawn together by gravitational forces. They cannot help but enter each other's orbits. They can't pull away. They are drawn together by primal, innate, quantum forces.

-You know what scares the hell out of me? From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I could never see the end. -What scares me is I always could.

They only just met and don't fully understand it yet, but already their fates are sealed. They are intertwined. Inextricably linked.

[tinkertayler]

Farscape: A Human Reaction

[tinkertayler]

Farscape 2x16 "The Locket" fucked me up. Fucked me UP.

Like.

THIS?

We all saw it coming, BUT STILL.

I know I'm being emotionally manipulated. I don't care. I consent. HURT ME.

MY HEART IS IN A VITAMIX.

And then THEY FIND IT...and they are PRYING IT OPEN. OH, NO. DON'T YOU DARE. I CAN'T TAKE IT.

...oh. I don't know what I expected. Of course there's only dust inside.

Just casually examining the physical remains of our love, a love so powerful and transcendent it spans MULTIPLE UNIVERSES. No big deal!

THIS? This moment of unconscious recognition? This intuitve connection? This shared awareness of something more that defies explanation? PURE, UNADULTERATED MAGIC. I am so mad that this story worked on me but DAMN. It got me. It got me GOOD.

[tinkertayler]

Farscape's “Look at the Princess" Trilogy is...

...weird. It's a fairy tale and a spy thriller wrapped up in a love story and sealed with a kiss (literally). It foregrounds John and Aeryn's romance more than ever before. While plenty of other things happen - Scorpius shows up; there's political drama; a secret agent babe bones John in a lake (because, why not?); and Chiana and D'Argo have a lot of sex (because... why not?) - at its core, the "Princess" arc is a deconstruction of John and Aeryn's romantic relationship. Specifically, it examines Aeryn's fear of commitment, John's desire for it, and the conflict this creates between them. It's an arc that - like Farscape as a series overall - has many components, but they all revolve around the blazing sun of John and Aeryn's True Love.

Am I speaking out of turn? I DON'T THINK SO.

I must concede that I am an unabashed romantic with a proclivity for viewing every story through a romantic lens. I am a predictable, lovesick bitch on main - you can count on me to hyper-fixate on romance, always. However, while I definitely approach everything from that bias, I am also just, like... watching this show unfold, and I swear: it's not just me. Farscape knows what kind of story it's telling. Farscape knows it's a love story in space. Farscape lives at the intersection of genre fiction and romantic drama, which just so happens to be my FAVORITE PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE. John and Aeryn are central to the story and essential to its success, and Farscape is self-aware enough to recognize this and embrace it.

Each part of the "Princess" trilogy contains a critical romantic moment: their first kiss in part 1, their dramatic goodbye in part 2, and their final kiss in part 3. I wanna talk about each of these moments, because, again, I'm a lovesick bitch on main. So, let's talk.

PART 1

The episode opens with Aeryn and John in John's module. She's trying to teach him a new flight maneuver, but it's a hopeless endeavor because they are sitting too close and flirting too much. John quickly gets distracted by the scent of perfume in Aeryn's hair, and it gets STEAMY. The sexual tension is HOT, it's molten, it's BURNING A HOLE IN THE HULL. Get a room, you two. (Sidenote: I am kind of furious we weren't allowed to see the conversation between Aeryn and Zhaan that led to Zhaan giving her that perfume. I bet it was adorable.)

Sadly, their intimate moment is swiftly derailed by Aeryn's fear of just how close they are becoming. She's in love, and it's making her vulnerable and messing with her head. She wears perfume to attract him, but when he finds it attractive, she insists "IT'S NOT FOR YOU TO LIKE" and "PERSONAL INDULGENCES CAN FRACTURE A SMALL CREW" and "I WILL NOT BE A SLAVE TO YOUR HORMONES". She wants him to get close, but when he does, the feelings become too intense and scary for her and she runs away, leaving him stranded. Oh, Aeryn. You're a MESS.

Unlike Aeryn, John has no fear of vulnerability or commitment. He wants both, all the time. He's a romantic, and has been waiting for her to figure out her feelings and meet him where he is since mid-s1. And while he's been very patient and understanding for a long time, at this point he has been through some major psychological trauma and is frequently struggling to maintain his sanity, let alone his patience.

This arc forces Aeryn to confront the possible consequences of her emotional distance and unwillingness to commit to a relationship. She stands on the sidelines and watches as John kisses other ladies, holds his future children, and gets married to another woman. She wrestles with big questions: if she keeps pushing him away, will he give up and move on? Will she be alone, and is that what she really wants? Is she willing - able - to be totally vulnerable with him?

PART 2

After his failed escape attempt and near-death experience in space, John feels battered and broken. He asks Aeryn what to do when there's no fight left. She tells him to “run away”. Searching her eyes, gently touching her hair, he asks "...with you?" (the hair touch is such a quiet callback to the first scene and I am DEVASTATED, DON'T). Her eyes scream "YES, WITH ME" but she is terrified of her feelings and of expressing them, so she stays guarded and says "with all of us, together". It is at this point that John pulls away from her and, after she insists he can't just quit, he tells her "I'm not quitting, I just can't go on".

On the surface, they're talking about the situation John is physically trapped in on the planet. Beneath that, they're talking about the situation he is emotionally trapped in - their relationship. L A Y E R S. In both cases, he's ready to accept defeat because he feels he's out of options and hope. On the planet, he can either resign himself to Scorpius' brain dissection (and subsequent insanity), or settle for a forced marriage to the Princess (and spend 80 years as a statue). With Aeryn, he can either continue playing what feels like an eternal game of cat-and-mouse, or stop pursuing her altogether. Undesirable choices abound. Ultimately, he's tired. Tired of the chase and the evasion. He wants to settle down. If he's to run away, he at least needs someone to run away with him, rather than run away from him.

It deserves to be noted that while they're talking, they are approximately 3 inches from each other's faces, staring straight into each other's souls. They are obviously in love and obviously both aware of it. But they are also, as previously noted, both in emotionally fragile states.

John is kind of a mess: he's still dealing with psychological fallout from s1, he keeps getting used as a pawn by aliens in their galactic games, and on top of it all, the girl he loves won't commit to a relationship. He is arguably less patient and understanding post-brain damage than he was before it, and is frustrated by Aeryn's inability to be open with him. He's losing his grip and desperately searching for stability, but is not finding it anywhere.

As for Aeryn, she's also kind of a mess: she's still trying to overcome her Just Say No to Feelings Peacekeeper upbringing and come to terms with the fact that she's falling in love. She is compelled to resist and avoid the emotions that consume her; she doesn't know how to process them.

Their apparent willingness to give up on each other - something they have never done before - is only a consideration in either of their minds because they are each overwhelmed, for their own reasons, and are not thinking or acting rationally as a result.

PART 3

Fast forward to the end. John narrowly escapes 80 years of life as a bronze statue AND a brain dissection courtesy of Scorpius. Aeryn, having had time to mull everything over, finally musters the courage to admit her feelings... sort of. In her own way.

When Aeryn presents John with the vial, he knows, she knows, we ALL know what it means - she's considering her, and their, future. She wants to know if their DNA is Compatible with a capital C the way his and Princess Katralla's DNA was Compatible. Bringing the vial to John is Aeryn’s way of admitting, against her better judgement and despite her fears, that she loves him. She wants to be with him. She wants his attention. The perfume in her hair was for him to like, after all.

Aeryn's newfound vulnerability is what makes their final kiss so different from their first (and from any they’ve shared up to this point, really). She told him back in part 1 she wants to talk less, and she meant it. It’s still hard for her to vocalize her feelings; not a single word is exchanged here. She doesn't make a grand romantic declaration, but she does reveal her true feelings. She commits. Silently.

In the end, they both start to move past their personal hang-ups. If they are to have a future together, Aeryn recognizes she needs to be more emotionally vulnerable, and John recognizes he needs to give Aeryn space and time. The kiss confirms their genetic compatibility, but almost more importantly it confirms that Aeryn is just as invested in their relationship as John is, even if she's not yet able to verbalize how she feels. If there was any doubt after their angst-filled goodbye, the kiss makes it clear: Aeryn isn't quitting, and she hopes John won't quit, either. She doesn't want to run away from him, but she's willing to run away with him.

[tinkertayler]

After enduring the non-stop drama, anguish, and tragedy of s2-4, I kind of forgot just how delightfully CUTE John and Aeryn were in s1. THE LAST SCENE IN "THE FLAX"!! Oh no no no. Heaven help me, it is EVERYTHING.

hEat of tHE MomEnt

Right right we weren't thinking clearly, too much pure oxygen (p.s. get out of my school)

It’ll Never Happen Again :(

N-never? :( I mean *clears throat* NEVER

YOU ARE THE FEMALE OF YOUR SPECIES, RIGHT?? Oh, John thinks he's being SO cute and charming... and he IS!! and it's AWFUL!! Look at those chipmunk cheeks and baby blues! Aeryn wants to punch him in the throat and also have his babies. Valid.

HIS LIL STRUT lmao. AWW YEA, SHE LIKES OL' JOHNNY BOY. EXCUSE ME, EVERYONE - JOHN CRICHTON, UNIVERSE'S SEXIEST MAN ALIVE, COMING THROUGH.

The over-the-shoulder glance... CHILDREN!! You just know he's thinking "She hates to see me go, but loves to watch me leave." (She does. We all do.)

Aeryn’s face when she turns back around and is alone with her feelings - ugh! Hearts everywhere. Sweet and sublime. Aeryn, how I wish I could trap you in amber and let you live in this moment of pure, blissfully uncomplicated infatuation forever.

[tinkertayler]

john crichton: (exists)

aeryn: ✨✨😘😁🥰☺️✨✨

[tinkertayler]

Rain, Sensuality, and Fraught Romance in Farscape: “A Human Reaction”

Farscape is a deeply tactile, sensual show (and while I don't mean that in a strictly sexual way, yes, I do mean it in that way, too). It's interested in exploring biology and the full spectrum of sensory experiences - pleasurable and painful, appealing and disgusting, soothing and unnerving. Farscape’s biological, emotional heart is one of its best and most distinct qualities. Science fiction is often cold and distant, but Farscape’s world is warm and alive in every way possible, from the characters to the ship they inhabit. It breathes. It feels. It procreates. It secretes weird substances sometimes.

Regarding sensuality, extra special shout-out to the sequence in "A Human Reaction" where John and Aeryn run through the rain and enter the safe house. It is sensual, beautiful, complicated, haunting, and infuriatingly PERFECT. Farscape can be weird and wacky, but it knows how to be poignant and revelatory, too. It knows how to deliver a subtle, significant moment.

"Rain. Is that what you call this? I like it."

The beauty of being an alien on earth is feeling electrified by the mundane. Aeryn sees rain through childlike eyes.

In childhood (an alien state in itself), we view everything we encounter as miraculous. We treat rain with awe. The sound of it, the feel of it, the scent, the taste. We jump in its puddles. We stop in our tracks to catch raindrops on our tongues. We spin and we dance until our clothes are soaked through.

But that wonderment eventually fades. In adulthood, jaded by time and experience, we feel the rain and sigh, zip up our coats, curse the inevitable damp feet and traffic delays, and quickly usher ourselves through the downpour. We view rain as inconvenience or burden rather than miracle, much like John.

"I want to get out of this rain."

John and Aeryn reverse roles during this sequence. Usually John is the one who feels awestruck by the world’s sensory experiences, but not here. Not now. Maybe for the first time since we've met them, it is Aeryn alone who is gripped by amazement and childlike wonder. Aeryn is enraptured, while John is ready to rush through the moment. She's changing - softening, becoming more open and emotional. He's changing, too - hardening, becoming more cynical and world-weary. They're moving in opposite directions, but they aren’t growing apart. They’re moving toward each other.

"That's it. Earth...minus the sunshine."

"You were right. It's actually very beautiful."

They arrive at the safe house and find a brief respite from the tragedy of their circumstances. Time slows down. Thunder echoes in the distance. The air is charged. Again, this moment is steeped in sensuality - the hoppy taste of beer, the soothing sound of thunder, the heated feel of skin against skin. Aeryn warms and John cools, and they meet in the middle. It's an intimate, intriguing, and fraught moment. It speaks to who John and Aeryn are as individuals, and who they are together.

They are out of the rain, but still surrounded by the storm. They're in the eye of it, where all is seemingly calm, but threats loom just outside their door. Truthfully, they like this. The chaos, tragedy, and mortal danger energizes them. It makes them feel alive. Aeryn was a peacekeeper soldier, John an astronaut. They are both adrenaline junkies, thrill-seekers excited by risk, danger, and the unknown. They are most in tune with their senses and selves - and each other - in moments of heightened emotion and increased epinephrine.

John and Aeryn are wholesome in many ways, but there's a dark undercurrent to them and their relationship that this scene delicately, quietly, brilliantly captures. They are drawn to chaotic energy. They seek trouble and readily find it. Keyed up and focused, with their senses on high alert, they feel everything with intensity, and their feelings muddle together in messy, confusing, complicated ways. Beauty is even more beautiful amid tragedy. Pleasure is more pleasurable amid pain. They feel love most passionately when they fear losing each other. Sensual pleasure is felt most vividly in bleak, stormy weather and falling rain.

[tinkertayler]

Farscape loves to torture its characters any way it can - physically, emotionally, psychologically - and this scene from "Die Me, Dichotomy" is Exhibit A. It's pure emotional manipulation and betrayal. It's intimate and sweet and twisted and sadistic. It juxtaposes tender romance with heartless brutality. It is RUTHLESS and I kind of love it, kind of hate it, and kind of can't stop thinking about it.

Aeryn resting her forehead on John's shoulder harks back to "A Human Reaction" when he did the same to her in the safe house. It sets up a beautiful, romantic, poetic moment between them - one that is swiftly upended by the reveal of Scorpius!John. We hear his slightly off-kilter intonation and ominous music in the background and know he can't be trusted. Aeryn should recognize this, too, but she's in love and too emotionally disarmed to notice something's not quite right.

He plays her, and his emotional seduction works like a charm. She melts into his words and his hands and the soft way he brushes his nose against hers. The moment is intoxicating. "I'd be lost without you" / "Then you'll never be lost". "You've worked your way into my heart" / "You've shown me I have one". "I love you" / "I love you, too". Her delayed confession is breathless and euphoric.

We know John is not himself and something sinister lurks beneath the surface, but poor Aeryn doesn't have a clue and her words and feelings are sincere. We experience this moment through her eyes until we can't anymore; while John is mostly obscured in shadows, the camera lens and light is focused on Aeryn's face. We identify with her emotionally and want the moment to be real - as real and meaningful as it feels to her - which makes the eventual, abrupt shift from heady romance to harsh violence that much harder to stomach. It's jarring and disturbing, even when it's expected.

"What's the worst that could happen if I tell him I love him?" is a question a fearful Aeryn has almost certainly asked herself, but I doubt even her most catastrophic thoughts predicted "he will instantly knock me unconscious, then murder me".

Because, you know. Why would she ever predict that?

That's brutal.

That's cruel beyond measure.

That's Farscape. <3

[tinkertayler]

Farscape is so horny and unhinged it just says FUCK IT, cuts out the middle man, and writes and produces its own weird, kinky fanfiction. ✨