Wayback Exchange 2019

[allele_apocalypse]

Welcome fellow Waybacker! Sorry for being late with the letters yet, again; by now I shouldn't try to make promises that I cannot keep. On the plus side, I am gentle and non-picky, and love many types of fic and, so don't stress this assignment. We matched on one of my fond fandoms, and if there's something you love about a particular character or pairing within one of these shows, I'll love it too. All prompts and ramblings are strictly optional.

Do Not Want: Graphic violence, underage sex below 14, pure domestic fluff, bodily fluids

Likes:

– Plotty fic

– Resolution of conflicting/hanging plot threads

– Canon divergence AU, particularly the fix-it kind and “what if Y happened instead of X?”

– Worldbuilding

– Science fiction

– Gen and smutty fic equally welcomed. Smut preferences pretty well covered in last year's Smut Swap letter, here.

– Humor and banter

– Angst between characters that is resolved

– Bad guys getting their comeuppance

– Good guys getting pursued by a powerful bad organization and having to escape or connive their way out of it

– Good guys keeping secrets, eventually bringing in other good guys on their secrets. Intimacy created by those secrets.

– Culture, biology and thought processes of aliens and the not-quite standard human

– Intelligence and competence bordering on superpowers. See also: Mental superpowers

– Mental scars from bad childhoods

– Perseverance over adversity

– Pining and repressed attraction acted upon/resolved

– Hurt (especially my faves getting hurt)/comfort

 

I'm indiscriminate on the shipping front, and am not bothered by background ships.

Babylon 5 – Jeffrey Sinclair & None, Susan Ivanova/Talia Winters, Lyta Alexander/Kosh

These three requests hit upon the three aspects of the B5 universe I always found intriguing: the Minbari, telepaths, and the Vorlons. Sinclair, the human who first becomes a Minbari teacher and later transforms into their messiah, is an excellent thoughtful observer of Minbari culture. In a sense he is there for two great Minbari cultural transformations – from powerful united xenophobes to leaders in the multispecies resistance in the future, and from fractured warrior factions to a rigid but stable peace in the past. What does Sinclair see, and how does his perspective change over time? Anything with the Rangers or with Valen would be be fantastic to explore. Including “To Dream in the City of Sorrows” is fine – or not. I've also always been intrigued by Sinclair's relationship with Delenn, both before the show's timeline and during.

Susan/Talia – I adore this pairing, and mourn how little we got of it. Fix-it opportunity – what happens if Talia wasn't suddenly personality-killed, and the two of them had time to face their demons with Psi Corps? Would Talia give up Susan's secret, or finally reject her Corps indoctrination? Or, on a lighter note, some telepathic smut would be great.

Lyta Alexander/Kosh – If this was ever a romantic pairing thing in the fandom, I'm not aware of it. But maybe it should be, given the weirdness involved. The Vorlons are bioengineers across millennium, and perhaps on some level they are telepathic as well as their creations. Perhaps they are making their “weapons” in their own image. What happened to Lyta when she journeyed to Vorlon space, and was accepted? How did they change her, and how does she feel about it? Lyta/Kosh's ship would be an interesting relationship to explore as well.

Dark Angel – Max Guevara | X5-452/Alec McDowell | X5-494, Max Guevara | X5-452 & Joshua & Alec McDowell | X5-494

I'm fascinated with the transgenics storyline, and although they hit monster-of-the-week too hard in the second season, it still works better for me than Max's missing “family” in season one, largely due to the continued presence of Alec and Joshua, instead of Max brooding alone. Anything past of present with these two or three – What if Max didn't escape so quickly from Manticore? What if her group didn't escape at all the first time, how would that have affected how Manticore raised all the transgenics (including the 'nomalies in the basement)? What if the transgenics had continued to organize themselves in Seattle, but without the public reveal? This show was an inconsistent mess plot-wise, but that just leaves more plot holes for fic writers to play with.

The Pretender – Jarod (the Pretender) & Miss Parker (the Pretender), Jarod (the Pretender)/Miss Parker (the Pretender), Jarod (the Pretender) & Sydney (the Pretender)

Jarod is a weird contradiction, a child-like curiosity and goodwill towards the world … unless you've done evil, in which case Jarod will flick like a switch to give you the justice you deserve. I tend to have less of an interest in Pretend-of-the-week with its revenge-porn tendencies, and more of an interest in Jarod working out his relationship with the Centre and the people who populate it, Miss Parker and Sydney at the forefront. Because both of them seem to have some ambiguity in hunting Jarod down, but neither Parker nor Sydney ever give it up, either. And for Jarod's part, he doesn't let go of the Centre, either, even when doing so would probably be the healthier choice. Why do the characters continue on, even when their oral positions are untenable? Is Miss Parker a villain? Is Sydney? What does Sydney aim to accomplish in aiding Parker in the hunt, but stopping short

I'm also pretty fascinated with the history of Jarod at the Centre before his escape, as either a child or an adult. Why didn't he get out earlier? What psychological bonds held him there, and did Sydney really believe Jarod was better off as a prisoner? What sort of relationship did Miss Parker and Jarod have after their childhood friendship, while she was in Centre security or management?

A bigger what-if that would also be fun to explore: What if Miss Parker was reared with Jarod as one of the red file Pretenders instead of the neglected child of the boss? How would things turn out?

 

Roswell (1999) – Max Evans/Liz Parker

The new Roswell has brought back memories the old Roswell, particularly the luscious first season with its pitch-perfect pining between Max and Liz. The glorious, glorious piiiiiiiining, sigh. Plus bonus alien secret identity and a government conspiracy to stick a group of teenagers on a dissecting slab, so that creates some tension. This is a fandom where the tropes come to play: Alien biology causing soul bonding, sex pollen, unexpected side effects, unplanned pregnancy. Secrets shared leading to angst and intimacy. Tension between the attachment between members of the pod squad, and your new love. Hurt/comfort where one side can literally expend energy to heal. Or, what happens after the ending of the show, when everyone runs off and gets married? Government is still trying to chase you all down, no? Then what?

I wasn't super keen on the royal four storyline, but if you want to get the Tess relationship in there as background or discuss the implications, I'm fine with it. The baby too. (They gave an alien kid up for adoption? To random unsuspecting humans? The stupid plot points, they burn.) In truth a lot of season two seems to have been wiped from the ol' creaky memory banks, but evil doppelgangers are always fun as well.

The Young Riders – The Kid/Louise "Lou" McCloud, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok/Louise "Lou" McCloud, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok/The Kid/Louise "Lou" McCloud

Honestly, I'd almost forgotten about this show until I saw it in the tag set. But back when it was originally running I had the BIGGEST crush on Lou ever. Some combination of pretty girl running away and dressing as a boy in order to get money to save her little siblings… a catnip combination of secrets and hidden identities and competence. Plus there was the serendipitous bonus of getting into history – this was the first fandom that sparkled an obsession with the real history that made up the background of a show, Any use of that background would be welcome. Having said that, romance would also be great, including the less “safe: choice by her to go with Hickok or both the boys instead Mr. Future Husband The Kid. Hickok's a self-destructive type haunted by his own reputation and depressive tendencies, so what would draw them together? Or all three of them together?