Brian/Justin
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Brian Kinney/Justin Taylor |
| Alternative name(s): | BJ |
| Gender category: | slash |
| Fandom: | QaF |
| Canonical?: | yes |
| Prevalence: | major/very popular |
| Archives: | many (see below) |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The pairing of Brian/Justin is a major canonical ship in US Queer as Folk fandom.
It is one of the earliest examples of canon slash pairings whose fans did not have to rely on subtext.
The show aired between 2000 and 2005 in the USA, so Brian/Justin fans congregated mostly on mailing lists, archives and LiveJournals.
Despite the show being over for more than 15 years, Brian/Justin fans are still producing fanworks to this day.
In 2016, Brian/Justin was part of the "greatest couples on television in the past 30 years" competition at Vulture.
Canon
Brian and Justin's relationship begins as a one night stand between young closeted Justin and jaded playboy Brian.
Through Justin's sheer determination, this progresses into something resembling a relationship, and by the end of Season 1, Brian is ready to publicly admit he loves Justin -- just in time for Justin to be a victim of gay bashing.
The Brian/Justin relationship continues one and off throughout later seasons, through Justin's recovery, infidelity, breakups, the creation of a hit comic book based on Brian, a near-wedding, Brian surviving cancer and both of them surviving the bombing of a gay club.
Although Brian and Justin don't get a full-on HEA, their storyline definitely ends on an optimistic note.
Fandom
Brian/Justin was a super popular pairing in QAF fandom, all other pairings paling in comparison. It is also a pairing that had a huge impact on other fandoms at the time, and fandoms that came after it.
Although the fandom happened mostly on archives and personal websites, ~7600 works had still been posted to AO3 by Oct 2021 -- and ~6600 of those were tagged Brian/Justin.
Influence in Vidding
The gay sex scenes from Queer as Folk (Brian and Justin's especially) were exceptionally explicit for their time. They became very popular with fanvidders making slash fanvids who were looking for material when their own source material lacked intimate and/or romantic footage. The blue-colored sex scene was particularily popular, to the point that some QaF fans recognized it on sight when they saw it in other music videos.
Common Tropes in Fanworks
- Domestic fic, wedding fic, kidfic, fluff
- post-canon (future fic)
- Episode Tag
- angst (whump, break up, hurt/comfort...)
- Alternate Universe
Example Fanworks
Meta
- It's Only Time - Brian Kinney/Justin Taylor (Queer as Folk): a Brian/Justin ship manifesto by toxic_chase (Dec 2005)
Fanfic
- The Magic of the Mattress by lighgetsin (2002): A lot of memories in this bed.
- Family Festivities by Etharei (2007): "Speaking of whom, does your family know he's coming?" She hesitated, but Tucker knew that this was one of the biggest things plaguing her all day. "They do. At least, they know that Justin is bringing his partner."'
- Closure by Severina (2008): "Nobody stole anything, Mikey," Brian said calmly. "Justin's not a Ming vase. He makes his own decisions." Written for LJ's 25fluffyfics community.
- Glowing Rooms by ohmyjetsabel (2012): An AU/What-If fic. Brian got the job in New York and left at the end of Season 1, but Justin was still attacked that night at prom.
- The King's Will by Sorchandromeda (2021): In order to save his father accused of high treason against his king, Justin of the Taylors decides to sacrifice his own future to help him. Little does he know that sometimes we are not the masters of our destiny.
Fanart
- Brian and Justin by vongue (2005)
- Possess All Of Me (Art) by ashadowonthewall (2013), art for a Big Bang story
- Brian and Justin in Babylon by sambrannan (2020)
Fanvids
Podfic
- Blissed (podfic) by paraka (2008)
- (podfic) No More Ugly Naked Guy by lunchee (2011)
- (podfic of) Forever Changes Everything by Podcath (2011, locked to archive users)
- The Evil Ex by cold_poet
Archives and Communities
- Midnight Whispers[1]
- Queer Eyes
- Brian Justin Love[2]
- The Holy Church of Brian and Justin[3]
- The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Community on LJ
- Brian Justin community on FFN
- b-j-recaps LJ community
- raging-sunshine LJ community
- takemetoheaven LJ community
- qaf-retread LJ recs community
- bj-icontest, an icon challenge LJ community
- Across the Pond, a QAF UK and US archive
Other Fannish Resources
- Fandom: Queer as Folk at the newbieguide LJ community (2005)
- Brian Kinney/Justin Taylor works on AO3
- Brian/Justin works on FFN
- brian justin tag on Tumblr
External Resources
- Meredith and Derek vs. Brian and Justin: Who Is the Better Couple? at Vulture.com, Oct 5, 2016