Background Info
For FHers:
These are not the Michael and Ben you knew at FH. They are younger (closer to the RL timeline) by a good half-dozen years, which means they have not been in their relationship as long, Hunter is younger, Mara is (as far as they are aware) non-existent. However, you are so very welcome to freak the boys out as much as possible by acting like you know them, mentioning Hunter (see background information below), etc.
Queer As Folk (also known as QAF):
Queer as Folk ran on Showtime for 5 seasons, from 2000-2005. It is something of a soap-opera-ish drama, the big difference being that it focused on a group of gay and lesbian friends. It was pretty much not the PC version of anything (their show-in-show, Gay As Blazes, was supposedly very PC, which characters complained did not reflect their life -- a complaint often enough thrown at QAF in RL). It would be difficult to summarize what happened in the show in just a few lines, but its focus was the trials and tribulations of this group of friends (who were mostly in their early 30's during the seasons, if that matters).
Michael Novotny and Ben Bruckner:
Here's where I can start getting specific. Ben first appeared in Season 2, Episode 6. Michael had just quit his workplace (the Big Q) and bought a comic book store. Ben Bruckner, the hunky professor from Carnegie Mellon, came in looking for materials for his class. He asked Michael to come speak to his class, which made Michael (who had little more than a high school education) uneasy. Michael ditched the first speaking opportunity, but finally made the second one after a pep-talk from Professor Ben. Afterward, at Ben's apartment, Ben gives Michael a copy of the book he wrote, and the two begin to make out -- only to be interrupted as Ben tells Michael that he's HIV positive. This sets up a debate among Michael's friends regarding dating an HIV+ person. Michael is at first okay with it, but when he sees the s**tload of meds in Ben's medicine cabinet, he breaks off the relationship. Michael can't stop thinking about Ben, though, and works to get him back.
And so it begins...through a medical emergency brought on by changes to Ben's meds (S2), to the possibility of Ben leaving for Tibet (end of S2), Ben's bout of steroid use (S3), taking in an HIV+ teen hustler (Hunter) (s3), Michael taking off with Hunter to keep the boy away from his abusive mother (S3/4), Michael's success at his comic-book-turned-movie (and coinciding non-success of Ben's next book) (S4), the unsuccessful seduction of Ben by a "bug chaser" who wants Ben to infect him with HIV (S4), Hunter discovering he's straight -- and having to explain to someone he cares about that he's HIV+ and how he got it (S4), Michael and Ben's Canadian wedding while on a charity bike ride (end of S4), the birth of Michael's biological daughter to their lesbian friends (end of S4), Hunter running away from home because the entire school finds out he's HIV+ (S5), and a bomb blast at a benefit concert that nearly kills Michael (and provokes Hunter to return) (S5). (And probably other stuff I glazed over or forgot, like the homophobe that was running for office in S3, or the anti-gay-rights bill that was being pushed and fought in S5.)
Like I said, the show leans a bit soap-opera. However, it has mostly well-written storylines, and I still enjoy rewatching the show. If a subject comes up where Ben or Michael might regale you with more in-depth telling of these stories, they probably will. (Except maybe some of S5 where my memory is spotty and it hasn't come out on DVD yet. *flails*)
Where I depart from canon:
I am setting the guys about a year after the end of S5, so anything that was there (that I can remember...*coaxes Showtime to release S5 DVDs*) happened to this Ben and Michael. On the other hand, nothing that happened at FH happened to this Ben and Michael. (As I stated earlier, have fun with that at your leisure. That should be a blast.)
What I've added (because OMG!angst)...Hunter has run away again -- too much stress with school and people pointing fingers and he just can't handle it. (This emo-ed Ben big time in S5, so that's why I'm doing it.) There's a rift in the GLBT department at Carnegie Mellon and Ben is tired of being caught in the middle, so he seeks a job elsewhere and ends up at FandomTropolis. The neighborhood where Michael's comic book shop is located is declining, and he's been robbed at gunpoint, so he's more than willing to follow his husband, even though he doesn't have a job lined up (yet).
About Michael:
Michael Novotny-Bruckner is 34 (with a birthday of March 27th, derived from things mentioned in the show), 5'8", black hair, brown eyes, cherubic smile.
Generally a nice guy with a heart of gold, Michael trusts perhaps a bit too easily and is easily crushed by his own (good and high) expectations of people. As is true of most really nice people, though, you really don't want to piss him off. Michael had only a couple of semesters of community college in terms of formal education, but he's smart in his own way, and passionate about the things he loves -- like comic books, and his husband Ben, who he's been with four years. Michael and Ben have an adopted teenage son, Hunter (who just prior to them coming to FandomTropolis ran away from home -- again). Michael also has a biological toddler daughter who lives with her moms in Canada.