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Recently, a lot of people told me I was evil for some reason. *looks innocently*
( Proof of the opposite! )
And now for my B5 author of choice for this week. Come on, you knew this was coming. Once upon a time, there was a girl named Selena, who read a rather intriguing X-Men story by a girl named Andraste. This led to lurking via reading her lj about X-Men, Farscape, LotR and other interesting stuff, and eventually a musical collaboration in the Jossverse. (I kid you not. We're very proud of it, too.) However, it also led to the pursuit of a sinister agenda, namely, thebullying seducing of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
andrastewhite into watching Babylon 5, for the expressed purpose of getting her to write intriguing fanfic in that fandom, too.
(Note to imitators: this doesn't work on just everyone. For example, I tried it for eons withhonorh, in vain. Also, if you want to have fanfic from Andraste in your fandom of choice, you stand a higher chance of succeeding if your fandom of choice doesn't just have young pretty things but also middle-aged issue-ridden guys and gals. As she and I share a fondness for these types.)
Anyway, I succeeded. And hence am in the lucky position of declaring my undying admiration and gratitude forandrastewhite's Babylon 5 stories. Most (but not all) of them deal with the Centauri and the Narn, which, see above, makes me happy. Andraste has the ability to convey incredibly much with dialogue and just a few descriptions. You always "hear" the actors' voices; her lines never ring false. Just check out this early effort, "Neutral Ground", a vignette set after the season 1 episode "Born to the Purple", describing an encounter between Londo and G'Kar. Londo is nursing his Adira-related woes, and G'Kar isn't helping. This captures their season 1 relationship superbly, and the importance of Londo's love for Adira for his character. Other authors in other fandoms who are interested in one particular relationship might be tempted to neglect all the other important relationships their characters have; Andraste never falls in this trap.
She also has a wonderful sense of humor, and spots possibilities that never occured to anyone before reading her stories, though afterwards once says "duh, of course!". One such gem uses the fact that the Narn during season 1 and sporadically in other seasons are very interested in aquiring telepaths (being the only one of the major races who doesn't have their own), and the fact Psi Cop Al Bester is on the station in early season 1, and comes up with an ecounter which absolutely should have, must have happened, just this way: "Proposition". In which G'Kar meets Bester. I won't tell you what ensues. Read it yourself.
Compared with the relationship between Londo and Vir, which is highlighed through the show, we know relatively little about the relationship between G'Kar and his aide Na'Toth. Andraste aimed to rectify this via several stories, one of which, "Things Heard", shows how Na'Toth's loyalty towards G'Kar began.
The central relationship of Babylon 5 is of course the one between Londo and G'Kar. (Whaddaya mean, Sheridan and Delenn?) So I feel justified to single another of Andraste's stories dealing with it out for praise, "Camera Obscura", which is set during the third episode of season 4, The Summoning. (Where G'Kar gets whipped and nearly electroluced, for those of you who don't have their episode summary at hand.) The first six episodes of season 4 mark a highlight of the show for many reasons, but what they do with the Londo/G'Kar relationship is breathtaking. Or, more flippantly put, a great assembly of every hurt/comfort cliché written in fanfic. It's amazing that Andraste was the first author who actually did write an early season four h/c Londo and G'Kar story. Hers brings out the intensity of the relationship, G'Kar trying to deal with what he sacrificed to help his people, Londo trying to deal with the strong empathy he feels for his old enemy, and the delicate power balance between them.
Of course, no praise of Andraste's B5 stories would be complete without mentioning that she is the undisputed Queen of Tentacle Porn. All the previous examples I gave are gen, but the next one isn't. JMS, bless him, went to some effort to make his alien sexuality really alien, and gave the Centauri six... attributes, as Londo puts it. This might have frightened lesser souls away from describing Centauri sex, but not Andraste. Who manages to make it sexy, and expressive of who the characters are at the same time.) Here's one of her earliest efforts in this regard, "Certamen", describing one long ago afternoon Londo and his old friend Urza shared in their youth. Bittersweet foreshadowing comes with the funny, tender, and surprisingly erotic package.
Andraste's Babylon 5 fanfiction - all of it that is completed, anyway, as she torments us cruelly with excerpts of a long Londo/G'Kar WIP or two - can be found here, with links to her fanfic in other fandoms.
( Proof of the opposite! )
And now for my B5 author of choice for this week. Come on, you knew this was coming. Once upon a time, there was a girl named Selena, who read a rather intriguing X-Men story by a girl named Andraste. This led to lurking via reading her lj about X-Men, Farscape, LotR and other interesting stuff, and eventually a musical collaboration in the Jossverse. (I kid you not. We're very proud of it, too.) However, it also led to the pursuit of a sinister agenda, namely, the
andrastewhite into watching Babylon 5, for the expressed purpose of getting her to write intriguing fanfic in that fandom, too. (Note to imitators: this doesn't work on just everyone. For example, I tried it for eons with
honorh, in vain. Also, if you want to have fanfic from Andraste in your fandom of choice, you stand a higher chance of succeeding if your fandom of choice doesn't just have young pretty things but also middle-aged issue-ridden guys and gals. As she and I share a fondness for these types.) Anyway, I succeeded. And hence am in the lucky position of declaring my undying admiration and gratitude for
andrastewhite's Babylon 5 stories. Most (but not all) of them deal with the Centauri and the Narn, which, see above, makes me happy. Andraste has the ability to convey incredibly much with dialogue and just a few descriptions. You always "hear" the actors' voices; her lines never ring false. Just check out this early effort, "Neutral Ground", a vignette set after the season 1 episode "Born to the Purple", describing an encounter between Londo and G'Kar. Londo is nursing his Adira-related woes, and G'Kar isn't helping. This captures their season 1 relationship superbly, and the importance of Londo's love for Adira for his character. Other authors in other fandoms who are interested in one particular relationship might be tempted to neglect all the other important relationships their characters have; Andraste never falls in this trap. She also has a wonderful sense of humor, and spots possibilities that never occured to anyone before reading her stories, though afterwards once says "duh, of course!". One such gem uses the fact that the Narn during season 1 and sporadically in other seasons are very interested in aquiring telepaths (being the only one of the major races who doesn't have their own), and the fact Psi Cop Al Bester is on the station in early season 1, and comes up with an ecounter which absolutely should have, must have happened, just this way: "Proposition". In which G'Kar meets Bester. I won't tell you what ensues. Read it yourself.
Compared with the relationship between Londo and Vir, which is highlighed through the show, we know relatively little about the relationship between G'Kar and his aide Na'Toth. Andraste aimed to rectify this via several stories, one of which, "Things Heard", shows how Na'Toth's loyalty towards G'Kar began.
The central relationship of Babylon 5 is of course the one between Londo and G'Kar. (Whaddaya mean, Sheridan and Delenn?) So I feel justified to single another of Andraste's stories dealing with it out for praise, "Camera Obscura", which is set during the third episode of season 4, The Summoning. (Where G'Kar gets whipped and nearly electroluced, for those of you who don't have their episode summary at hand.) The first six episodes of season 4 mark a highlight of the show for many reasons, but what they do with the Londo/G'Kar relationship is breathtaking. Or, more flippantly put, a great assembly of every hurt/comfort cliché written in fanfic. It's amazing that Andraste was the first author who actually did write an early season four h/c Londo and G'Kar story. Hers brings out the intensity of the relationship, G'Kar trying to deal with what he sacrificed to help his people, Londo trying to deal with the strong empathy he feels for his old enemy, and the delicate power balance between them.
Of course, no praise of Andraste's B5 stories would be complete without mentioning that she is the undisputed Queen of Tentacle Porn. All the previous examples I gave are gen, but the next one isn't. JMS, bless him, went to some effort to make his alien sexuality really alien, and gave the Centauri six... attributes, as Londo puts it. This might have frightened lesser souls away from describing Centauri sex, but not Andraste. Who manages to make it sexy, and expressive of who the characters are at the same time.) Here's one of her earliest efforts in this regard, "Certamen", describing one long ago afternoon Londo and his old friend Urza shared in their youth. Bittersweet foreshadowing comes with the funny, tender, and surprisingly erotic package.
Andraste's Babylon 5 fanfiction - all of it that is completed, anyway, as she torments us cruelly with excerpts of a long Londo/G'Kar WIP or two - can be found here, with links to her fanfic in other fandoms.
