Meme from monanotlisa

You know, between b5_revisited and the two B5 stories I wrote for ficathons I'm reminded how nice it is to revisit old fandoms. Like wearing a very comfortable, old pair of slippers. Being recced for Londo/G'Kar fic is just an added bonus.

Meanwhile, meme time!

Pick five of your favourite shows, in no particular order, before you read the below questions, then answer them!

1. The Sarah Connor Chronicles
2. Babylon 5
3. Doctor Who
4. Dexter
5. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine


( The questions: )

fannish5: Unlikely Friendships

Name the five unlikeliest (but successful) canon friendships.

Aha! Now let's define criteria first. "Unlikeliest" means, for example, that Vir and Londo are out of the running, because while the fact they got so close surprised both them at different points, it wasn't something we, the audience, would have declared to be totally out of the question the first time we saw them. Meanwhile, Londo/G'Kar, who would fid the "unlikeliest" criteria, are also not fitting the criteria because "friendship" isn't exactly what I'd term their relationship at the end. Similarly, I can't use Calamity Jane and Joanie Stubbs from Deadwood, much as I want to, because they do become lovers, and lovers weren't asked for. So, here's what I ended up with:

1) Ashes to Ashes: Alex Drake and Ray Carling. One of the best things in s2, with some tiny seeds planted in s1. Definitely unlikely, given that he initially resents her for being yet another person stealing Gene's attention, like Sam did, and she thinks he's a Neanderthal construct. (And one, as opposed to Gene, she's not attracted to.) By the time the second season ends, she's sort of apprenticing him and he's the one defending her to Gene. It's something nobody would have predicted from the pilot, and it works beautifully.

2) Farscape: John Crichton and Rygel. Well, you might argue "Rygel and anyone at all" to be unlikely if you watch the FS pilot, and he has touching scenes with Aeryn and Zhaan, too, but I insist the Crichton-Rygel bond is special. Not least because Crichton kisses Rygel more often than anyone else safe Aeryn. It involves a maximum at geek references for Crichton, acceptance of Rygel's occasional sell-out attempts, sugar highs, canon mpreg, and Rygel giving him exasparated but supremely sane advice, like in one of my favourite scenes between them from s4's opening episode, Crichton Kicks:

( Hidden under a cut for the benefit of Farscape newbies )

3) Lost: Hurley aka Hugo Reyes and Sawyer aka James Ford. As opposed to a great many Lost fans, I didn't like Sawyer initially. What won me around certainly wasn't the annoying triangle but Sawyer coming to respect and like Hurley a great deal. Once Charlie, err, is no longer a show regular, I'd go so far as to say Sawyer is probably the best friend Hurley has. They're at different times immensely entertaining and awwww-worthy together.

4) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir. I may not ship them in a slash fashion, but I think their friendship, born out of Julian's tendency to be the clingiest puppy who ever clung, never mind the Chief's disdain for obnoxious young newbies, is adorable. Also, it stuck with me so much that when I read the various accounts of the Lebanon hostages from the 80s, especially Brian Keenan's and John McCarthy's, I thought: OMG, growly working class Irishman and determinedly optimistic diffident Englishman - THEY ARE O'BRIEN AND BASHIR, OF COURSE THEY END UP AS BFFS!!!

5) The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Savannah Weaver and John Henry. ( Spoiler cut for SCC watchers who haven't seen season 2 yet. )