Beyond the Rim
Been using the Way Back machine lately because there are no good slash shows right now. Not in the shows I watch, anyway, which is why I've been dicking around in the 1D fandom so much.
Actually, this is pretty much all Star Trek Beyond's fault. Seeing the movie made me want to read some rebootie, the slash featuring Chris Pine and Zach Quinto as Kirk and Spock. Unfortunately, my lazy ass brain would often read dialog in, and picture the original show's Kirk and Spock. As an excuse, I have been slashing TOS K&S since I was 12, and have seen them a great deal more than the Rebooters. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Rebooters, I just can't always picture them in a fic. Plus, some random station on TV is playing all TOS shows, uncut!
As an aside, watching the uncut versions makes you realize how many, many more commercials we are subjected to now. This station has enough time to air one of theirs and one regular commercial before having to return to the show. It is wonderful to not have to sit through five or more minutes of advertisement assault. The pace of the show is completely different, and most likely would be considered too slow for modern audiences. Now shows must cram info, dialog and action into smaller and smaller amounts of time, with added story breaks. Writers and directors are forced to create stories almost in shorthand in order to fit the tight schedule. Such crap.
Anyways, after poking around in the Trek fic, I started wandering into Babylon 5...specifically Londo and G'Kar.
Okay, STOP. I hear you all going "Eeeeeew!"
I get it, this pairing is not for everyone. There is the fact that these characters are not young, gorgeous guys. Frankly, since I've been slashing since I was a young pup, age has never been a factor to keep me from slashing. When you are 12, pretty much all the guys are older. There is the fact that they are aliens. Since I mostly enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, slashing creatures that look different was never a squick factor for me either. Then there is the fact that Londo, and to some degree G'Kar, were not always portrayed in the best light. G'Kar started as a rather bitter, menacing creature. You learn how he got that way, and that there is more to his character. Londo is at times grating, tiresome, petty, quarrelsome, and downright annoying. But like G'Kar, there are layers to him, you see past his façade, and you can even have sympathy for him. Whether it is the writing or Peter Jurasik's portrayal, Londo nearly always steals the scene. Add G'Kar and Londo together, and you can't look away. They are that entertaining.
Spicing up the slash even more is the fact that these ARE aliens to us, and while being bi-pedal, their sexual make-up is inherently different from humans. And...being Babylon 5, this topic is explored probably more than most shows. So you have this relationship which is full of layers and dynamics, two flawed characters who don't even share the same genitalia, and who are both quick witted and sharp of tongue, and it makes from some terrific stories. Not as many as I'd like to see, considering the richness of it all, but hey.
tbc