Just wondering ...

[arianna]

In the spirit of actual using a journal to record thoughts and seek the input of others, I've been musing about a few things and would like to hear your thoughts. Why? Well, mostly just 'cause I'm interested in your views, but also because some of your reflections may help me come up with plot ideas, lol. And because your perspectives can help enrich my view and appreciation of these characters, which hopefully will translate into better stories. Finally, I'm hoping your responses may lead me to some great fic I've not yet read. Feel free to respond to any or all of the questions below:

What first 'hooked' you to The Sentinel?

What do you most like about the series scenario?

What bugs you most about the characters?

What do you like best about them? Individually? Together?

Are there plots/situations/missing scenes that you'd really like to see explored in fan fic?

Are there storylines you hope to never see again? (Note: this is not to suggest that I'd never write such storylines again, lol -- but I might put on a warning so you wouldn't waste your time reading it)

Who are your favorite authors? Why?

Do you have any 'most favorite stories'?

Thanks!

Comments

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

Are there plots/situations/missing scenes that you'd really like to see explored in fan fic?

If I were clever enough to think of these, I might actually be a Writer, too! You folks continually amaze me with all the different twists and turns you can make from the basic story line. I love that fanfic is like this huge, complex tree, with canon as the main trunk, and all the AUs taking off at different points, and all the little holes in canon being filled in.

Are there storylines you hope to never see again? (Note: this is not to suggest that I'd never write such storylines again, lol -- but I might put on a warning so you wouldn't waste your time reading it)

Not so far. I’ve read multiple versions of post-TSbBS, but (so long as they are well-written) I never get tired of them. But I must admit that I’m always particularly intrigued when someone comes up with a whole new take on a little-noticed episode.

Who are your favorite authors? Why?

Oooh. Tough question, unless you are ready for a long list . . . which will undoubtedly leave out many, many fine writers I just haven’t discovered yet, because each week I encounter new ones. (For example, I found you through starwatcher’s rec of your most recent piece, which hooked me enough to read twice through right off, and I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks immersed in your wonderful writing . . . with lots more to go, thank goodness!) See my friend’s list, for starters. All of the folks below, plus these: Lemon Drop (for fine “Blair as cop,” among others), starwatcher (like great comfort food—the guys living their day-to-day lives, sans explosions), Dasha (fascinating view of an aging couple), Resonant and Julad (few but very, very fine stories), polly b (especially the “R” series), Lex Gunn, Flutterbev (especially “Conforming to Requirements”), LKY (the “Dry Falls Chronicles” and more—gen with a strong bond and interesting glimpses of a younger Blair) . . . and too many more to list!

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

Do you have any 'most favorite stories'?

Okay, I’m going for the multiple re-reads here. There are many, many others which I really loved; the fact that I keep coming back to these in particular is probably some sort of embarassing Rorshack test that I’ll someday be sorry I displayed in public, since it lays out all my buttons and quirks. In no particular order, then:

eliade’s “The Woods” trilogy: exquisitely written, sensual, tragic, painful. (Her great, detailed TS rec list also got me started in the fandom!)

Bone’s “Out of Whack”: Yes, it’s hot—but I reread it because it’s a story with, yes, lots of really well-written sex that cleverly spins Blair’s rep as a “table leg humper” and is actually a wonderfully sweet story about loving and caring and falling in love.

gardendoor’s “Missing You” and “Kaleidoscope”: Beautifully balanced depictions of characters’ weaknesses and strengths, and “Kaleidoscope” is a brilliantly plotted story whose plot you don’t focus on because of the rich emotional development about Blair (multiple versions, actually) coping with brain damage and Jim rising to the occasion, too.

lit_gal’s “Survival” and her “Guidelines” series: She’s a fine storyteller, and her Blair is nicely fiesty as well as thoughtful and sensitive. And her Jim is big and warm and strong and sometimes troubled but always Authentic Hero in a very appealing way.

alyjude’s “30” and “Future Tense” and oodles more—and the entire Jakeverse: She can write funny and angsty and all over the emotional map, and she doesn’t repeat herself, which is amazing with that much productivity. I don’t lean to kid-fic or baby-talking characters, and yet I adore the Jakeverse. Go figure.

Martha’s “Kneeling” and “The Portable Jack Kerouac” and others: she’s a beautiful stylist, so her work is just a rich, sensual pleasure to read. And the guy’s relationship is strong and good and loving.

Betty Plotnik’s “Lexicon”: A brilliantly written piece in all ways: the perfection of the characterization, the emotional logic and depth of the plot, the clarity of the writing.

Francesca’s “Nature” series (because of the heart-wrenching opening chapter and the great emotional bonding and equality of gifts of Blair and Jim in the rest) and any of her short pieces, which offer a multitude of different “first times” with slightly different but always believable Jims and Blairs.

mab browne’s “Cloudbusting” trilogy: very real, very warm, honestly painful depiction of a strong relationship between two fully human beings.
. . . and, again, many more . . . I’m finding this an amazingly rich fandom, and the wonderfully talented folks out there are so generous with their gifts. I can’t thank them all enough!


Thanks!

Thank you! I just hope you don’t end up sorry you asked!

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

( . . . um . . . that would be "friendShip" in the first line! I'm pretty much a vanilla slasher . . . )

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

( . . . and I forgot to credit Bone's co-author Aristide!)

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

( . . . and that would be "fluterbev" with one T!)

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[caarianna.livejournal.com]

What a terrific list of stories! Again, many I haven't read and will look for -- I'm assuming they can be found either through CL or the Prospect site? I've spent so much time writing in the fandom that I've not read nearly enough and want to correct that.

I'm sure not sorry I asked. I'm finding the responses really interesting and the referrals to the work of others are wonderful! Thanks for taking so much time to respond. Very much appreciated.

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

The authors who aren't on LJ or at CL or 852 can be googled using author name and title pretty easily; that's what I've done to hunt some of them down. Eliade is on LJ by that name, and her userinfo page links to her website. Ditto gardendoor and lit_gal (who's also been posting on the LJ sentinel sites; I've got them all friended on my userinfo page if you want to see check them out. (And I've gone completely blank regarding who wrote the TGND story . . . but once I stop trying so hard to remember who, aside from you and LKY, I've been reading this past week or so, it will come back to me . . . and I'll pass it on to you.) You are clever to ask for recs; after I'd gone through eliade's list, I got some names from ts_ficathons, then I got bold and emailed starwatcher, and she gave me an absolutely wonderful list. You were on it, too, but I was going through randomly and hadn't hit you yet (it's a long and wonderful list!) till she made the special rec of your new story, which hit all my buttons (one of which is beautiful writing). I'm saving the longest ones for my big reward in a couple of weeks when I'm done with the end-of-quarter grades (and when my birthday also comes). Then I'm going to dive in and just read straight through, day and night, all weekend long!

And I now have an icon! But not because I figured out how to do it! I had opened an account at www.photobucket.com, then I copied some photos I had on a CD onto that account, then I linked to my LJ . . . and one of my lovely friends made me an icon. But then all I had to do was right click it, save it to my computer, and from there it was easy to do. (See the comments in my LJ attached to my plea for help in making icons.) There are tons and tons of wonderful TS icons out there, so you can get one and start using it (or, in fact, up to three for a free account) ASAP . . . and I suspect you have talented folks among your friends and fans who would be happy to make some for you, as well! So be shameless like me and ask for help--LJ folks are really great about responding.

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[caarianna.livejournal.com]

Hey, great icon -- and thanks for the tips on how to get/make one ... especially the tip about asking friends to help. I'm going to have to get a paid LJ so I can start collecting some of the great icons that are out there.

StarWatcher has a great list of rec's, huh? Hey, buddy, (waving madly at my so excellent beta who never gets enough credit or recognition for what she contributes to my stories), if it's a saved doc, you want to send it along to me?

And thanks for your kind words about Without You. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

I'll let her do the honors of sending the list of recs on to you, if she'd like. If she didn't save it, I most certainly did, and I'd be happy to pass it on to you if that's easier for her and for you. (I can trim out all the extra material where we shared stories about our horses . . . )

Yes, she's incredible. She was the first person to welcome me to TS fandom, and she's been amazingly kind and supportive and informative ever since. (Which is not telling you anything you don't obviously already know about her! But maybe it's nice to know she's got another big fan out here . . . )

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[kaleecat]

hi - i'm reading your discussion (and everyone else's)on arianna's LJ. I wanted to ask - did you ever recall who wrote or the title of the story you mentioned that relates to TGND ep?? I'd love to read a good story that addresses the debacle of a hostage being booked.

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

Sad to say, I am still blanking out on it. I sort of hoped the author (or any author of anything along those lines) might comment here and save me from my Swiss-cheese brain. But if/when I do recall it, I'll post it as a reply to your note to me, and then you and everyone else in this thread will get it. Sorry!

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[mab-browne.livejournal.com]

Goodness. I hope our hostess won't mind if I offer a little blushing thanks to see my name mentioned on your list *g*.

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[caarianna.livejournal.com]

Don't mind at all. In fact, I'm hoping several people will see their names mentioned in these comments. You all very much deserve to hear often and very clearly just how wonderful your stories are.

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

I'm sure she won't! I'm trying to get better at saying thank-you directly as well as indirectly like this; it's precious little to give one's favorite writers in return for hours and hours of pleasure, which extends far beyond the actual time spent reading (because there's the musing over and the remembering and the anticipation of reading again). And since I've been fortunate enough to find such fine writing through other people's recs, it's a joy to feel that I'm passing that treasure on to someone else!

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

. . . and of course the only downside of sending you that praise earlier for the trilogy as a private e-mail is that I didn't get to broadcast it more publicly! But I sorta assumed anyone who reads these stories has already had the same powerfully positive reaction and is less in need of seeing mine . . . whereas these rec lists point potential new readers to fine works and thus do need to be out there and visible!

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[caarianna.livejournal.com]

Ooooo! Great list of writers and several I've never read! Thank you!!!

And thanks so much for your kind words about my stories. I'm so glad to know you're enjoying them!!

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[polly-b.livejournal.com]

polly b (especially the “R” series),

Thanks for that warm fuzzy feeling! I needed it today!

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[cindershadow.livejournal.com]

My very great pleasure! I really didn't know which place to put you (favorite authors in general vs. favorite story in particular); since it was clear she already knew you, I figured I wouldn't give a rec for a specific story to her, but I did want to point any wandering strangers to your work, and while I love it all (and have it safely tucked onto a UDISK for re-reading), this particular series is so distinctive that it seemed like something which would be especially appreciated by a new reader. (Then they can go on to the others . . . )