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Balan is the slash ship between Alan Grant and Billy Brennan from the Jurassic Park fandom.
Canon[]
Alan and Billy are colleagues, working at the same dig site in Montana. Alan functions as a mentor for Billy, who is only an associate professor in paleontology. They are shown to be particularly close, with Billy wanting to show off his latest findings to Alan with excitement. Billy later convinces Alan to go out for dinner with the Kirbys after they approach Alan at the dig site. When Paul Kirby requests that Alan accompany them on a flight over Isla Sorna, Billy is the one who pushes Alan to accept. In turn, Alan asks Billy to accompany him on the trip as he knows that his protégée has longed to see the dinosaurs created by In-Gen. On the plane, Alan falls asleep and asks Billy to wake him when they are over the island. He then has a dream that the plane is deserted save for Billy, who has now become a velociraptor.
When they land on Isla Sorna, Billy sticks close to Alan. They help protect each other when the Spinosaurus attacks the plane, and later Alan teases Billy about his ability to fly a hang glider. Alan, Billy, and the other survivors of the plane crash stumble upon a velociraptor nest. Everyone passes by the nest except for Billy. He decides to take some eggs to help fund Alan's floundering dig site, keeping this a secret from the rest of the survivors.
The group head to an In-Gen facility, where they are chased velociraptors who are after their stolen eggs. In the process of escaping, Billy drops his camera bag that holds the eggs. Alan doubles back to grab the bag, knowing that the bag itself is special to Billy. This causes Billy and Alan to become separated. They reunite the next morning, and are very thankful to see each other. Billy asks for his camera bag back, but Alan tells him he's fine carrying it. This causes Billy to reveal the truth about the bag and its contents. Alan is disgusted with Billy, and shown to lose all respect for him. He tells Billy that, no matter his intentions, stealing the eggs makes him just as bad as John Hammond and the others who built Jurassic Park.
The group head into a pteranodon aviary in an attempt to find the island's coast. The young Eric Kirby is picked up by one of the dinosaurs, who is attempting to feed its young. Billy, seeing a way to redeem himself, jumps into action with the hang glider. He flies out to save Eric and safely drops him into the water below. However, in the process he draws the ire of the pteranodons. Alan and Paul Kirby try to rescue him, but Billy yells at the them to get back and get themselves to safety. Alan watches helplessly as Billy floats down the river, being nipped by pteranodons.
Alan is shown to be very upset by Billy's apparent death, feeling deep regret for the last thing he said to Billy; that he was no better than In-Gen. However, when the group finally arrive at the coast and are rescued by the Navy, it is revealed that Billy survived his ordeal. He apologizes to Alan, and Alan in turn apologizes to him, mending their friendship as they fly away from Isla Sorna.
Fanon[]
Balan is a relatively popular ship in the Jurassic Park franchise. Due to Ellie being married off to another character in Jurassic Park III, many fans wanted to see Alan get his own happy ending. A relationship with Billy was a logical conclusion, as the only other single character in the film. Fans enjoy the relationship between the two characters, especially the deep regret that Alan feels over Billy's "death". Some fanworks depict them as already being together during the events of the film, but most show Alan falling for Billy after the film's events.
In recent years the popularity of this ship has declined with Grantler once again becoming canon in 2022. However, works are still being created about this ship, and it is one of the most popular slash ships for the franchise, outside of the Camp Cretaceous characters.
There are currently just under 200 works for this ship on AO3. It is Billy's most popular ship, and Alan's second most popular. There are also 11 works tagged with Balan on FFN. Its biggest rival is, of course, Grantler.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Alan/Billy tag on AO3
- Alan & Billy tag on AO3
- Balan works on Fanfiction.net
- TUMBLR
- Alan x Billy tag on Tumblr
- AlanBilly tag on Tumblr
