Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: gen, Michael Garibaldi, Jeff Sinclair, Stephen Franklin
Length: 1250 words
Author on LJ: jenavira
Author Website: more fic at journal The Wicked King of Parody

Why this must be read:

Bookending this month’s serious fics with things that make me giggle—to wit, Garibaldi’s Very Serious treatment of the possibility of a zombie outbreak on Babylon 5. (You never know, it could happen! One must be prepared.) Jeff and Stephen—I’m sorry, the commander and chief medical officer—leave notes in the margin tendering their opinion of various sections.

Also, this comes from last year’s babylon5_love month of squee. They’re taking applications for this year’s Babylon 5 Love Month (August) here.


( Babylon 5 Emergency Policy: Zombie Apocalypse )


Michael Garibaldi's Zombie Apocalypse Plan

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Susan Ivanova/Marcus Cole
Length: 41,000 words, 21 chapters
Author on LJ: melusine6619
Author Website: Melusine6619 at An Archive Of Our Own

Why this must be read:

"A training flight leads to a downed craft. Can Marcus Cole and Susan Ivanova survive without killing each other? "

The classic "stranded on a planet, just me and Spock" scenario: Susan and Marcus are trapped together and must face various dangers, man-made and natural, on the way to facing their feelings. The story doesn’t cheat by having Susan already secretly in love with Marcus—in fact, he annoys the crap out of her at the beginning—but it builds a friendship and mutual respect and, eventually, sexytiems. I think my favourite parts were the scenes in the water (bathing together, ooh, and Marcus fishing).

Excerpt:

( I *don't* leave a wingman alone in potentially hostile territory. Not even one as annoying, stubborn, delusional, and narcissistic as you! )

A Question of Trust

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: John Sheridan/Delenn, canon relationships, ensemble
Length: 3:50 min
Author on LJ: _happyme_
Author Website: Happyme Productions

Why this must be watched:

Set to Carbon Leaf’s "What About Everything," this is the perfect bittersweet Babylon 5 fanvid. It’s Sheridan-centric, but stars the whole cast, with perfect choice of clips to fit the lyrics, especially on lines like "What about soldier battle scars and all the anger that they eat?" or "I think about being done, with no resume, with no one left to blame" or "What about your love to obtain?" It’s one of those vids that makes me feel vaguely like the song must have been written for the show, rather than clips from the show being fit into the song.

What About Everything
What About Everything vid subtitles by the estimable muccamukk

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Jeffrey Sinclair
Length: 1200 words
Author on LJ: deborah_judge
Author Website: Deborah’s Stories | fic masterpost at LJ

Why this must be read:

"Forgiveness means giving up all hope of a better past," someone once said. I’ve always been fascinated by Sinclair’s journey from war veteran and torture survivor to Valen, the greatest spiritual and military leader of the very people who nearly wiped out humanity. What happened? How did he do that?

Here, Jeff has a moment of truth, as he contemplates in the chrysalis just what he could do, or not do, to change the past. He doesn’t go to his destiny merely because it has been fated, but as an active participant. This is a Jeff who has "no hesitation, no doubts" not because he never wrestled with those things, but because he found a way through.

Excerpt:

( You could make them all go away )

Transformation

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Delenn/John Sheridan
Length: 750 words
Author on LJ: openended
Author Website: openended at An Archive Of Our Own

Why this must be read:

Delenn adjusts to one more strange facet of being part-human. Really quite adorable. I offer this as a unicorn chaser to the dark!AU also posted today.

Excerpt:

( half-Human/half-Minbari, currently making slight odd noise on occasion )

from the opposite side of the glass

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Delenn/John Sheridan (non-con/dub-con)
Length: 18,000 words
Author on LJ: kungfuwaynewho
Author Website: more fic at journal: this machine will not communicate

Why this must be read:

The most obvious AU for Babylon 5 is, of course, the universe where the Minbari won the Earth/Minbari War. The author here portrays a dark, bleak world where the question before the Grey Council is whether to complete the genocide of humans or whether to leave a few alive for study. Delenn has a personal stake in this, because she has a very specific human she’s studying, very closely and intimately.

"Really fucked up, but good," sums this up pretty well. The original one-shot depicts a Sheridan with a bit of Stockholm syndrome, and a Delenn who knows on some level that what she’s doing is deeply disturbing, yet on another level has a strange affection for the human she keeps in captivity. The later story (collected with the first part in one document at AO3) goes back and shows how they got there.

Disturbing as hell (unicorn chaser here), but a convincing portrait of the way things could have been.

Excerpt:

( She remembered the day the Humans had sent out a line of ships, a last sad defense of their planet )

Conquest on Fanfiction.net (the original one-shot)
Cells on Fanfiction.net (two prequel chapters; WIP)
Conquest at An Archive of Our Own (contains FF.net Conquest + Cells)

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Na'Toth/Neeoma Connally
Length: 3420 words
Author on LJ: aris_tgd | aris_tgd
Author Website: Aris Merquoni at An Archive Of Our Own

Why this must be read:

"Na'Toth doesn't know what to make of the fiery leader of the Babylon 5 Dockworker's Guild. Neeoma just wants to get through negotiations with Zento and the command staff alive. A couple acts of charity, a couple drinks, and suddenly all sorts of possibilities seem to appear. "

I have a huge weakness for secondary characters, and stories that expand the world beyond the small sphere of the main cast of a given show. Here, two women with a lot of responsibility but limited power (the sort of people who make B5 go ‘round behind the scenes) meet unexpectedly in the course of their duties. Na'Toth, for all her badassery, turns out to be remarkably kind, and intrigued by the human who quotes Marx at her. The sex, when it comes, is charming, clever, and quite hot.

Excerpt:

( I'm not interested in a decoration. No matter how flexible they are. )


Ways and Means on Livejournal | Ways and Means at An Archive of Our Own

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: John Sheridan/Delenn/Lennier
Length: 500 words (series: various, about 1000-5000 words each)
Author on LJ: hearts_blood
Author Website: hearts_blood at An Archive Of Our Own

Why this must be read:

Wee baby David Sheridan. Doting parents. Discussion of Minbari crests vs soft fluffy baby hair. Delenn and her husbands and newborn, cuddling. Utter adorableness.

I say husbands in the plural, because this is part of an ongoing AU in which Minbari have three sexes, not two, and at least sometimes bond in triads. Lennier is one of the third gender, and ends up in a relationship with Delenn and John, co-parenting David Sheridan. The whole concept of three explicit sexes (as opposed to humans, who have more than two genders, but only two commonly-recognized sexes) fascinates me, and seems like lovely fanon for the Minbari. ("Three is sacred"--which was said in the context of Delenn/Lennier vs Delenn/John in canon--is too great a line not to play with, and this is a neat way to go about it.)

AU from at least "Objects At Rest" (that scene you're thinking of never happened, here), and digs into the issues between John and Lennier and their respective relationships with Delenn. All the jealousy issues are there, at least at the start, and the three of them work slowly over time to come to some kind of happiness.

Series co-written by hearts_blood and rivendellrose.

Trichotomy


( Further reading in the same AU )

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Londo Mollari/G'Kar
Length: 2100 words
Author on LJ: thingswithwings
Author Website: thingswithwings at An Archive Of Our Own

Why this must be read:

Londo. G'Kar.

Porn.

And it’s actually really good. The sex is snarky, rough, and ridiculously hot, even if (like me) you never thought you’d say that about either party. This is a fine piece of xenoerotica (alien sex, y’all--this is the fandom with canon tentacle sex, which the author makes good use of) but it's also a delightfully well-done character study of Londo and G'Kar, issues and cultural baggage and odd moments of tenderness included.

And hawt marsupial/tentacle sex!

Excerpt:

( What to do with G'Kar in bed is an even more terrifying question )

In Medias Res

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Delenn/Susan Ivanova
Length: 2275 words
Author on LJ: rivendellrose
Author Website: fanfic master post at Geek Chic

Why this must be read:

"Susan absolutely never intended to end up curled up on her couch with the Minbari ambassador."

I said earlier in the month that I ship post-series Susan/Delenn, which is something I pretty much discovered through fanfic. I'm convinced that the two of them would make a great couple later in life. I wasn't quite sure how Susan/Delenn femslash would work during the run of the show, though, because of John and Talia. And then I found this fic.

Oh, this fic, you guys. You guys. This is possibly the most luscious, sensual fic I've read in my life. Mid-season 2 (before/on the cusp of/instead of John/Delenn), Susan gets a little tipsy on an evening out and invites Delenn back to her quarters for a drink. Where she proceeds to regale the reader with slightly hilarious overblown metaphors for her attraction to Delenn, interspersed with very Russian commentary, and finally decides to do something about it...to an incredibly sexy (and frustrating!) response from Delenn. This fic is packed full of sensory details and really fantastic turns of phrase. In other words, it's hot. You may end up rereading it three times in a row and bookmarking it to reread when you need to put a smile on your face.

Excerpt:

( Be careful, Susan, this isn’t just any girl... )

Flowers, Fruit, and Vodka on Livejournal | Flowers, Fruit, and Vodka at An Archive of Our Own

Crossover Day, woohoo!

Fandom: BABYLON 5 / DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Delenn/Sarah Jane Smith
Length: 2045 words
Author on LJ: leyenn
Author Website: Leyenn at An Archive Of Our Own

Why this must be read:

Dashing girl reporter interviews galactic president! Delenn canonically has had bad luck with the media, but Sarah Jane Smith isn’t just any reporter. And it turns out that Delenn isn’t your average alien leader, either. Two of my favourite characters ever sit down and talk over tea, and Delenn is wise and Sarah Jane is clever, and they learn from each other. My only regret with this fic is that the porn would have been exceedingly photogenic. But despite that this is a beautiful short story that leaves me feeling safe, warm, and happy--and, like Sarah Jane, ready to tackle the next adventure.

Excerpt:

( Twenty-two sixty-one is only a few hundred years out of time… )

Because Sooner Or Later

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: gen, Susan Ivanova
Length: 2500 words
Author on LJ: bessemerprocess
Author Website: bessemerprocess at An Archive Of Our Own | turingtest

Why this must be read:

The life and death of Susan Ivanova, Anla-shok Na. This meditative post-canon fic gives us a Susan who is at peace with herself and the ghosts of her past, and who approaches her life on Minbar with the Rangers with the same steady strength and competence she’s given every other endeavour in her life, though with perhaps less yelling than in her youth. A small but well-chosen cast of OCs brings the future Rangers to life with a few strokes of the pen.

There can never be enough post-season 4 Ivanova fic, in my view, and I love this one because Susan deserves happiness and friendship and the chance to shine on her own (not just in Jeff or John’s shadow). She gets to discuss faith and destiny with Delenn, too, which is always a plus.

(Note: I beta-read this fic, long before I was in the fandom. I enjoyed it at the time, but it makes ever so much more sense if you actually know who Susan Ivanova is!)

Excerpt:

( Minbar is supposed to be a fresh start, but it's almost like going back in time. )

Matters of Faith (The Ouroboros Bridge)

ETA: Matters of Faith (The Ouroboros Bridge) Podfic by tinypinkmouse

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Lyta Alexander/John Sheridan
Length: 16500 words (two parts)
Author on LJ: eisenkreis
Author Website: (unknown)

Why this must be read:

"In an attempt to show some empathy towards a mourning ally, Sheridan finds himself in a highly uncomfortable -- and highly provocative -- situation."

This fic just tore my heart out. It's all about Lyta's fight for her humanity, to be recognized as something more than just a tool in the hands of the Corps/the Vorlons/the Alliance after she's played the part they want in their wars. It's also about Lyta and John Sheridan's mutual connection to Kosh, and how Lyta clings to that--and John's simple kindnesses--as a way to find that human connection again. There's a long, slow buildup of sexual tension, but it isn't just porn for the sake of porn. Read this for a fantastic character study of Lyta Alexander, or for the hotness amidst the angst, or for both!


Answer With Fever part 1 | Answer With Fever part 2

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Delenn/John Sheridan, Dukhat, reference to Delenn/Lennier
Length: 3000 words
Author on LJ: rivendellrose
Author Website: fanfic master post at Geek Chic
Why this must be read:

"Post-Sleeping in Light, Sheridan meets up with the other most important man in Delenn's life."

Dukhat fic! Delenn’s mentor here is acerbic, thought-provoking, and very Minbari. Passing from this life into the next, John Sheridan meets Satai Dukhat, who presents him with some questions about life, rebirth, chance, and loyalty—and a choice. The question of Delenn/Lennier comes up, along with the the uncertainties involved in reincarnation. Dukhat lectures and Sheridan talks back, and they both obviously love Delenn a whole lot. In the end Sheridan finds peace, and I just want more Dukhat fic. :D

Excerpt:

( No Minbari soul is ever parted forever from those he or she loves... )

Where No Shadows Fall

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Susan Ivanova/Talia Winters
Length: 31,000 words
Author on LJ: sammysam
Author Website: atsammy at An Archive Of Our Own | fatedtales
Why this must be read:

"The Vorlons return something that Susan thought she'd lost forever."

One of my few disappointments with Babylon 5 was how short the much-lauded, well-beloved canon F/F relationship turned out to be. And that despite the canon cultural acceptance of same-sex relationships, we still ended up with the "dead or crazy lesbians" trope.

This fic is for all of those who wanted Talia to come back, or not be brainwashed, and get to be happy with Susan. Remember that one time where Kosh took a copy of Talia's brain back in Season 1? The author picks up that abandoned plot point, and goes on from there with a lovely plotty fic full of angst and healing and a long slow romance. The yenta!Vorlons fic you've been waiting for.

The Vorlon Gift

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Stephen Franklin/Michael Garibaldi, Michael Garibaldi/Lise Hampton (open relationship), Vir Cotto/Lennier, Delenn/Susan Ivanova
Length: 3665 words
Author on LJ: thingswithwings
Author Website: thingswithwings at An Archive Of Our Own

Why this must be read:

"Three relationships. Allegro, Largo, Rondo alla Polacca."

Love: from an easygoing, yet still passionate, relationship of decades (Stephen/Michael), to a friendship (and perhaps more) forged in trying times (Vir/Lennier), to love after loss (Susan/Delenn), this fic explores the B5 universe from perspectives we perhaps don’t see much. My favourite section is probably the last—it convinced me of the Susan/Delenn ship (which I now hold as canon post-Sleeping In Light), for one thing—but the whole thing is simply gorgeous. Canon-compliant, yet adding to what we think we know about the characters, which I love.

It’s well worth it as well to check out other works by thingswithwings, who writes for a staggering number of fandoms with consistent brilliance.

Excerpt:

( In the hours before dawn, they lie together in the dark... )

Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C Major

Hello all! I'm nenya_kanadka and I'll be driving the crack van in the Babylon 5 fandom for the month of July. We've got gen, het, slash, femslash, porn, AUs, silly fic...all for your pleasure right here on the Zocalo!

Thought I'd start out with something light (as the other drivers here are bringing the porn right away):


Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: gen, ensemble
Length: 7300 words
Author on LJ: kungfuwaynewho
Author Website: more fic at journal: this machine will not communicate

Why this must be read:

Shannon writes a lot of John/Delenn (everything from Season 2 "first time" fic to dark AUs where the Minbari won the war), but this is something completely different: the adventures of Michael Garibaldi's hat! It's a silly, fun piece with Garibaldi pretending to be a noir detective while various members of the command staff (and ambassadors) lead him on a merry chase around the station. I can almost see this as the B-plot in an episode--it's just faintly more serious than the teddy bears. But not much!

Excerpt:

( Night was falling... )

The Case of the Missing Fedora

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Delenn/Sheridan-implied
Length: Drabble
Author on LJ: dolimir_k
Why this must be read:

"So Christmas is when children go door to door and collect candy while threatening to create mischief if their demands aren't met?" Lennier looked very confused.

"No, I..." Delenn didn’t look too sure herself. "I believe candy is given to children in red stockings."

"To children only in red stockings?"

"No. I believe children hang the stocking up."

"What exactly are stockings?"

"I asked the computer and it told me they were close fitting coverings for the feet and legs."

"That doesn't sound very sanitary."

"I must admit that it doesn't."

Christmas Traditions

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: None
Length: Short
Author on LJ: selenak
Author Website: Fanfiction.net
Why this must be read:

The problem with insane characters is that the very thing that makes them so compelling makes them almost impossible to write. Selena succeeds wonderfully here, with a mad, capricious Cartagia summoning Londo in the middle of the night.

But even here, at the Royal Court where scruples were a thing to be abandoned and ruthlessness was the only way to survival, there had to be some things he would not do. There had to be a line he would not cross. Playing the whore for Cartagia was beyond that line.

For a second, he imagined his wife Timov, who would undoubtedly tell him that he had done far worse things already, and that it would serve him right to get a taste of what was expected of many, if not most, Centauri women in their marriages. He could almost hear her sharp voice. Well, Timov was far from Centauri Prime now. He had ordered her to leave soon after his arrival, together with Urza’s family. There would be no hostages given to fortune this time - no one who would pay the price for him.

But Vir was still here. And that confounded Narn who had chosen the most breathtakingly inconvenient time for a sojourn to Centauri Prime. If Londo took a wrong step now, both of them would burn in the fire the Vorlons had unleashed, together with the rest of the population and the entire planet.

In the Pale Moonlight

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Delenn/Lennier
Length: Medium
Author on LJ: eye_of_a_cat
Why this must be read:

I'm not usually a fan of this pairing, but for this story, I make an exception. Delenn needs reassurance after Comes an Inquisitor. Lennier provides it.

"Are you in pain?" he asked.

She looked down at her hands, now folded in her lap, and at the burns that circled her wrists. "A little," she said. "Do you think he would have been less able to hurt me if I had still been entirely Minbari?"

"I..." He rested a hand over hers, covering the marks on her wrists. "I do not think that matters," he said. "I will bring you something to help the pain, and you should sleep."

"It does matter, Lennier." She did not look at him, and she did not seem to have heard the rest of his words. "The man Kosh sent, he kept asking me the same question. He said, Who are you? But how can I know who I am, when I do not even know what I am?"

Elements of Consolation

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Lyta/Kosh
Length: Short
Author on LJ: andrastewhite
Author Website: Blue Shades
Why this must be read:

Lyta isn't sure how long they'll be content with her denials. If they thought they could cut the secret out of her brain, they'd have started by now. The Corp know nothing about Vorlons, and she's their only potential source of information – in a sense, she can understand their desperation. Telepaths hate not having full access to information almost as much as they hate having information constantly forced on them. She tries not to think about what they'll do with her when they get bored.

Mermaids Singing

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: None
Length: Short
Author on LJ: selenak
Author Website: Fanfiction.net
Why this must be read:

Selena is one of the shining stars of this fandom, and I'm going to be reccing her heavily this month, because she doesn't just stake out one territory or one pairing and do it well, she tackles a new character or a new idea in every story, and every story is uniquely breathtaking and brilliant. Here, she looks at what happened to Emperor Turhan's telepaths after he dies, something that the episode leaves unexplored.

As the four telepaths destined to serve the Emperor had to be linked across time and space, their entire childhood was driven by the need to create such a bond. Like all their predecessors, they had been selected from those rare children who were telepathic from birth. They never knew their parents; faithful to tradition, the records of their origin had been erased as soon as it had become apparent that the four of them were compatible with each other and had started to form what the Centauri referred to as "lidara", a flower with only four leaves. No family should be able to claim their loyalties, after all, and they should be loyal to none but the Emperor himself.

It had not been difficult for them. Turhan was a kind man, who had treated them as his children, not as tools, and his tender concern soothed them during the horrors of adolescence, when their bodies suddenly started to remind them they were not, in fact, the same person. When the first of their predecessors died, they had watched Turhan visit the other three on their sickbeds. The Emperor had tried to persuade the Lidara of his youth to remain alive, even without their fourth, but was not surprised when he failed. He had remained with them till their deaths. If the Lidara formed of Merit, Liriel, Alaris and Sidonia had not been loyal to Turhan out of tradition, training and childhood affection, they would have learned to love him then.

White Lies

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Delenn/Ivanova, implied Delenn/Sheridan
Length: Medium
Author Website: CyberPoMo
Why this must be read:

The short version of this story is that there's just one more ceremony that needs to be completed before the wedding... But what keeps me coming back to this story is the raw heat I didn't think was possible between these two and the plot twists that are utterly in character and yet shock the hell out of me every time. To say any more would spoil it. Go read.

"The verification?" Susan said, questioning eyebrow raised.

Delenn nodded. "Yes," she said. "I think that is the best translation. It is the part of the ceremony where you and I undress, and you make a thorough investigation of my body, to prove to the groom and his family that there are no hidden..."

"Woah!" Susan interrupted. "Where you and I what?"

"Undress," Delenn said. "I undress so you can see me properly, and you undress so that I will not have to be the only one without clothes."

"No," Susan said. "Absolutely not. There is no chance on Earth that I do a striptease at the Captain's wedding. None."

Wedding Ceremonies

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Vir/Lennier
Length: Short
Author Website: Blue Shades
Why this must be read:

I have a confession to make: my favorite pairing in this fandom, hands down, is Vir/Lennier, and there is so damned little of it. So the joy of finding V/L, especially V/L written with this kind of careful grace and insight into character, is a rare treat.

"You should not be sorry," Lennier said.

There was a pause as Vir released a shuddering sigh and slowly lifted his head. "I can't help it," he said, slurring his words. "I am. You shouldn't... have to see me like this. This..." Vir waved his hand vaguely, "... is my problem..."

"Do you truly believe that friends should only see each other at their best?" Lennier asked. "I suspect that you do not, or you would not have stayed by Ambassador Mollari's side. As your friend, I will help you carry your burden, as you help him carry his."

Gratitude and shame warred for dominance in Vir's eyes. "Lennier, I..." Vir swayed again and Lennier caught him. His face was inches from Vir's and his breath caught in his throat, his old discomfort with closeness returning.

Vigil

Title: Presences, by Selena
Pairing: None beyond mentions of canon pairings
Author on LJ: selenak
Author Website: Selena's stories on Fanfiction.net
Why this must be read:

This is one of those ideas that begs to be written: Londo Mollari meets each of the Endless at different moments in his life.

Suddenly, he wondered whether a Keeper would have been waiting for Cartagia if the mad Emperor had not been... removed first. Whether he could wish that thing even on Cartagia, whom he had hated.

"He was one of mine," said a young female voice, "but I didn't like him very much."

Londo looked up in disbelief. Nobody should have been able to get past the guards, and certainly not the person he saw. It was a young girl, so young, in fact, that she had not yet shaved her head. Her wild, red hair was unbraided and uncovered. She wore a tattered dress that could have been beautiful once upon a time, but now looked as if it had been stitched together out of a thousand silken rags. She sat on the desk where the heads had rested, revealing legs covered by stockings that were full of holes and stitches as well. Her eyes wandered vaguely around the room before settling on him again, and he noticed they were of two different colours, one green and one blue.

She clapped her hands together and beamed at him. "I knew I'd get to play with you, too. All the others did. Have you seen my doggie?"

Presences

I apologize profusely for posting this after crossover day, but I simply didn't have computer access on the 15th.

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: None
Length: Short
Author on LJ: andrastewhite
Author Website: Blue Shades
Why this must be read:

The Episode War Prayer gave us our first real look into what daily life is like for Centauri, what is expected of them, what they are and are nor allowed to want. Here, Londo has a quiet, illuminating talk with Vir in the aftermath of the episode.

"No doubt they will have plenty of time to contemplate their decision," Londo said, shaking his head. "I suppose it is too much to hope that Kiron will have obtained some common sense and changed his mind by the time his Ascension Day arrives." The boy, at least, might still salvage his reputation, although there was little hope that a noble girl who had tried to elope with her beloved could do the same.

"He has already gone against the wishes of his family and run away from home," Vir replied as the transport tube doors slid shut at their ride back to Green Sector began. "Why would he abandon Aria after he's already risked so much?"

Why indeed. Londo Mollari knew all too well that decisions made in the haste of youth could soon be repented. "As he grows older, he may come to see that it is a mistake to blend love with marriage - one might as well mix the finest brivari with lamp oil. But I take it you also believe such nonsense?"

Vir hesitated, but only for a moment. He had been growing bolder about expressing his opinions of late - Londo did not yet know how he felt about that. "I do. When I marry, I want it to be for love. Career and reputation aren't everything."

"I see," said Londo. "Then perhaps you would care to explain to me just why it is that your young friends arrived on the station asking after someone by the name of Ambassador Cotto?"

Moral

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: None
Length: Medium
Author Website: Enemies and Allies Archive
Why this must be read:

On the Brakiri Day of the Dead, most of the ambassadorial wing fell within the bounds of "Brakiri" space. We know what Lennier and Londo experienced that night, and that G'Kar fled his quarters for the safety of C&C. But what happened to Vir? Who paid him a visit that night?

Cartagia set the glass down on the counter, straightening up and folding his arms, his smooth face set in a petulant scowl. "You simply don't *understand*, Cotto. And believe me, I am *trying* to be patient with your stupidity. It isn't easy."

These last words sounded so much like something his uncle would say that he began to relax, just a fraction. Only for a second, before Cartagia was in his face, leaning over him, so close Vir could smell the liquor on his breath. "Do you know the penalty for your crimes? Do you know what I would have done to you, if my guards had not been such incompetent fools? You and that drunken imbecile Mollari, you would have *envied* that thrice-damned Narn his fate, before I was done with you!" His voice had risen to a shout, spit flying from his mouth.Vir stood frozen, trying not to hyperventilate. "Every inch of skin flayed from your bodies! Your fingers cut off, one by one, then your arms ... your ears ... your eyes! I would have taken *great* pleasure in seeing how long it took you to die, prolonged your suffering for weeks, months even. And then I would have had you castrated, and strangled with your own organs!" He brought one hand down on the edge of the table with a bang, and Vir jumped as he spun away, walking toward the counter.

The pounding of Vir's hearts seemed loud in the sudden silence, as Cartagia poured himself another glass of brivari and downed half of it in one gulp. Then he turned, and held the bottle out toward his stunned host. "Another drink?"

Strange Meeting

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: canon pairings, mostly Londo/Timov
Length: Short to medium
Author on LJ: selenak
Author Website: Selena's stories at Fanfiction.net
Why this must be read:

Timov is one of the most fascinating and underutilized guest characters ever to grace Babylon 5. Bright, sharp-tongued and direct, she may not be the love of Londo Mollari's life, but of his three wives, she is the one he chooses to keep, because, as he says, "With you, I always know where I stand." Selena does an amazing job here of showing Timov's life beyond the scope of the episode: her wedding, her marriage, and her perspective on her husband, who is destined for great and terrible things.

Naturally, Londo couldn't do her the favour of being engaged in any disreputable activities, which would have helped her righteous indignation to no end. No, instead she found him barefoot, in one of the fountains, letting the sun shine on his face in one of the lesser courtyards.

"Timov," he said, noticing her, and not sounding hostile, only amused. "And here I was just thinking the day needed some excitement. What can I do for you, my dove?"

She opened her mouth to shout at him, still buoyed up by the momentum of her quarrel with Daggair, but no word came out. Instead, she found herself looking at him. His haircrest was in disorder, as it was quite often these days. His waistcoat was a bit too tight; absently, she noticed he had started to gain weight. And he was standing there in the middle of a fountain, which should have made him look ridiculous. Instead, it made him look absurdly young.

What a waste, Timov suddenly thought, and didn't quite know what she meant. What a waste.

Not in Words

Getting a very late start, for which I apologize! I just moved across the country to start grad school, and my computer didn't follow me to Colorado, so things have been a little nuts.

Vidder: Barkley
Musical artist: Entrain
Pairing: none/ensemble
Vidder on LJ: barkley
Vidder's website: http://www.bonuspoints.net/vidstuff/index.html
Why this vid kicks ass: This vid is just damn FUN. Catchy tune, great syncing of the video to the lyrics, and it showcases the sheer vitality of Babylon 5. Sure, the show was about universe-shattering stuff and all, but there was also a lot of humor and love. Anyway, this vid just makes me smile, so check it out.

Vid is password protected, details on the vidder's website.

Title: Pretty in Pink by Selena
Pairing: Inara/Vir
Author on LJ: selenak
Author Website: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/6273/
Why this must be read: Vir is such an overlooked character in Babylon 5, but his evolution throughout the series is truly well thought out and very well played. This story gives us excellent characterization of this character as seen through the eyes of an outsider to the entire universe -- and it also gives us an inside view of Inara. She ends up on Babylon 5 in a universe that has never heard of Companions, cut off from everything and finds some meaning in Vir. This story is not explicit, it's not about love, but it IS about comfort and compassion.

Pretty in Pink by Selena