What I Read Saturday (5/24) TS, DS, B/A, crossovers (misc)
This was The Day The Crossovers Took Over. It wasn't intentional, it just kinda happened that way. Though crossovers aren't quite a bullet-proof kink of mine, they are something I'm quite fond of. I do tend to give a bit more leeway to crossovers as far as things I'll put up with that might normally make me stop reading early in the story.
Mostly, I like the new perspectives we gain on our favorites characters when we see them through the eyes of others, even if they're other favorite characters. I *don't* like crossovers used as an excuse for threesomes, orgies and mate-swapping, though occasionally I'll enjoy a PWP featuring crossover pairings. I am not always consistent.
Crossover: The Sentinel + Houston Knights/centaur-verse
Single White Fillies
By James Walkswithwind (zortified) and Wolfling (wolfling)
A Houston Knights/The Sentinel Alternate Universe ... Archivist note: This story is part of the Houston Knights - Horses of Different Colours series. You can find the rest at the author's webpage.
Houston Knights was a short-lived buddy cop show a few years ago starring Michael Beck as native Houston cop Levon Lundy and Michael Pare as transplanted Chicago cop Joey La Fiamma. Being a fan of both stars, I'm not quite sure how I managed to miss this series when it came out, but obviously it was quick heartbreak for the fans as it lasted only one year. Anyway, somebody (James? Wolfling? somebody else?) came up with the shape-changing centaurs subculture idea and put it together with Houston Knights. I've tried several times to get into the series (I mean, c'mon, *centaurs*) but it was never quite the right time. So when I stumbled across this crossover with The Sentinel over at 852 Prospect, I thought I'd try again. And this time, it clicked. I think the problem I had previously was a particular characteristic of fanfic, lack of description. I mean, I wanted to "see" the centaurs and really get an idea of what things *looked like*, but it just wasn't clicking. But when Jim Ellison gets confronted by creatures out of mythology, he gets all *sensory* about it and the kind of physical descriptions that fanfic generally passes over get dealt with in loving detail. Yes! The story is combines a cross-jurisdictional police case, anthropological details of centaur society, and the relationships of Jim/Blair and Joe/Levon. There's some surprises, some funny stuff about the centaur herd mentality and dominant personalities, and Levon is absolutely adorable. I can see much more centaur-fic in my future.... *rec-rec-recommended*
Due South: Fraser/RayK
About a Dog
by Speranza (cesperanza)
*squeal* New Speranza DS story. *bouncebouncebounce* I'm gonna go and not be coherent for a little bit now... Okay, I'm back. As usual, wonderful story. Not a death story. It's a comedy, folks. If I said any more it would ruin the surprise. *highly recommended*
Crossover: Angel + (I think it's a surprise. *snicker*)
Mazes and Monsters
by ilwyden (author web site)
From the author's notes: Written for the Inappropriate Crossover Challenge -- put two sources together that should never, ever meet. Inspired and helped along by James Walkswithwind, because she's Evil. Angel makes a wish, and Wes finds himself ... elsewhere.
Wonderful short-short piece that proves what a veryvery *smart* man Our Wesley really is and also makes me *yearn* for more fanfic set in ... well, the surprise fandom. I'd also be interested in finding the rest of the Inappropriate Crossover Challenge. I wonder if it's been collected in one place, will have to ask James... Found the link over at gerebegilarecs. *very recommended*
Crossover: War of the Worlds + X-Files + Beauty & the Beast + The Sentinel + Stargate SG-1 + The Pretender + more
The Sentinel Project *WIP*
by Lianne Burwell
Sequel to A New War.
This big sprawling suspenseful epic, which manages to (mostly) convincingly tie together the conspiracies and secrets of a bunch of different shows, is the sequel to another sprawling epic that did the same. Yeah, there's moments of melodrama, but nothing that exceeds the melodrama of the original canons. And there's moments where the characters feel out-of-character -- but, again, nothing that exceeds the out-of-character moments of the original canons (*especially* X-Files). My biggest complaint about the whole series is in regards to the inclusion of Fraser/RayK from Due South, which originally filled me with joy. But -- he *hates* being called "Stan", dammit! Everybody calls him Ray. Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray!!! Except his mom and that's a whole different thing. Anyway, the hideous vile wrongness of having Ray Kowalski referred to as "Stan" was (almost) enough to suck all the joy out of finding they were part of the series. I consoled myself by putting the entire 12 parts (so far) into my word processing program and auto-replacing "Stan" with "Ray" to make it readable -- which then meant I had to do a spellcheck, because I'd fogotten about words like ... inSTANt and underSTANd, etc. 37,000+ words means a *lot* of etc's, too! And then I found that Ray and Fraser were only featured in a couple chapters. *sigh*
The Sentinel: Jim/Blair
Between Two Worlds
by Dangermouse (dmouse)
Blah blah blah Sentinel-cakes. It's time now for some *Shaman* action! I *like* stories that emphasize Blair's Shaman and Guide stuff, even if most of it is fanon. (Heck, I have nothing against fanon in general. Gods know, there's plenty of *canon* on most shows that should be forgotten!) Some interesting speculations and extrapolations here, too. I had fun, anyway.
The Sentinel: Jim/Blair
The Wedding March
by Alyjude
Author's note: This is the first in a new series, but stands alone and is complete with no hanging ending. Takes place after TSbyBS.
Blair returns from attending the police academy to find Jim and Megan planning their wedding, no explanation of when that started. What follows is almost as rough for the Jim/Blair OTP fan as it is for Blair, as Jim also announces his decision to accept the captaincy of the Homicide division after having passed the captain's exam. Which means that Blair loses romantic hopes and dreams, roommate, and partner simultaneously. But never fear, everything gets explained and straightened out by the end. And here's one for the record books -- Megan is NOT made the villain. She's still friends with Blair, she's still recognizably herself. And ... the explanation, though a bit soap-opera-y, works. I'm curious to see the future installments of this new series, to see how things progress. *recommended*
Mostly, I like the new perspectives we gain on our favorites characters when we see them through the eyes of others, even if they're other favorite characters. I *don't* like crossovers used as an excuse for threesomes, orgies and mate-swapping, though occasionally I'll enjoy a PWP featuring crossover pairings. I am not always consistent.
Crossover: The Sentinel + Houston Knights/centaur-verse
Single White Fillies
By James Walkswithwind (zortified) and Wolfling (wolfling)
A Houston Knights/The Sentinel Alternate Universe ... Archivist note: This story is part of the Houston Knights - Horses of Different Colours series. You can find the rest at the author's webpage.
Houston Knights was a short-lived buddy cop show a few years ago starring Michael Beck as native Houston cop Levon Lundy and Michael Pare as transplanted Chicago cop Joey La Fiamma. Being a fan of both stars, I'm not quite sure how I managed to miss this series when it came out, but obviously it was quick heartbreak for the fans as it lasted only one year. Anyway, somebody (James? Wolfling? somebody else?) came up with the shape-changing centaurs subculture idea and put it together with Houston Knights. I've tried several times to get into the series (I mean, c'mon, *centaurs*) but it was never quite the right time. So when I stumbled across this crossover with The Sentinel over at 852 Prospect, I thought I'd try again. And this time, it clicked. I think the problem I had previously was a particular characteristic of fanfic, lack of description. I mean, I wanted to "see" the centaurs and really get an idea of what things *looked like*, but it just wasn't clicking. But when Jim Ellison gets confronted by creatures out of mythology, he gets all *sensory* about it and the kind of physical descriptions that fanfic generally passes over get dealt with in loving detail. Yes! The story is combines a cross-jurisdictional police case, anthropological details of centaur society, and the relationships of Jim/Blair and Joe/Levon. There's some surprises, some funny stuff about the centaur herd mentality and dominant personalities, and Levon is absolutely adorable. I can see much more centaur-fic in my future.... *rec-rec-recommended*
Due South: Fraser/RayK
About a Dog
by Speranza (cesperanza)
*squeal* New Speranza DS story. *bouncebouncebounce* I'm gonna go and not be coherent for a little bit now... Okay, I'm back. As usual, wonderful story. Not a death story. It's a comedy, folks. If I said any more it would ruin the surprise. *highly recommended*
Crossover: Angel + (I think it's a surprise. *snicker*)
Mazes and Monsters
by ilwyden (author web site)
From the author's notes: Written for the Inappropriate Crossover Challenge -- put two sources together that should never, ever meet. Inspired and helped along by James Walkswithwind, because she's Evil. Angel makes a wish, and Wes finds himself ... elsewhere.
Wonderful short-short piece that proves what a veryvery *smart* man Our Wesley really is and also makes me *yearn* for more fanfic set in ... well, the surprise fandom. I'd also be interested in finding the rest of the Inappropriate Crossover Challenge. I wonder if it's been collected in one place, will have to ask James... Found the link over at gerebegilarecs. *very recommended*
Crossover: War of the Worlds + X-Files + Beauty & the Beast + The Sentinel + Stargate SG-1 + The Pretender + more
The Sentinel Project *WIP*
by Lianne Burwell
Sequel to A New War.
This big sprawling suspenseful epic, which manages to (mostly) convincingly tie together the conspiracies and secrets of a bunch of different shows, is the sequel to another sprawling epic that did the same. Yeah, there's moments of melodrama, but nothing that exceeds the melodrama of the original canons. And there's moments where the characters feel out-of-character -- but, again, nothing that exceeds the out-of-character moments of the original canons (*especially* X-Files). My biggest complaint about the whole series is in regards to the inclusion of Fraser/RayK from Due South, which originally filled me with joy. But -- he *hates* being called "Stan", dammit! Everybody calls him Ray. Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray!!! Except his mom and that's a whole different thing. Anyway, the hideous vile wrongness of having Ray Kowalski referred to as "Stan" was (almost) enough to suck all the joy out of finding they were part of the series. I consoled myself by putting the entire 12 parts (so far) into my word processing program and auto-replacing "Stan" with "Ray" to make it readable -- which then meant I had to do a spellcheck, because I'd fogotten about words like ... inSTANt and underSTANd, etc. 37,000+ words means a *lot* of etc's, too! And then I found that Ray and Fraser were only featured in a couple chapters. *sigh*
The Sentinel: Jim/Blair
Between Two Worlds
by Dangermouse (dmouse)
Blah blah blah Sentinel-cakes. It's time now for some *Shaman* action! I *like* stories that emphasize Blair's Shaman and Guide stuff, even if most of it is fanon. (Heck, I have nothing against fanon in general. Gods know, there's plenty of *canon* on most shows that should be forgotten!) Some interesting speculations and extrapolations here, too. I had fun, anyway.
The Sentinel: Jim/Blair
The Wedding March
by Alyjude
Author's note: This is the first in a new series, but stands alone and is complete with no hanging ending. Takes place after TSbyBS.
Blair returns from attending the police academy to find Jim and Megan planning their wedding, no explanation of when that started. What follows is almost as rough for the Jim/Blair OTP fan as it is for Blair, as Jim also announces his decision to accept the captaincy of the Homicide division after having passed the captain's exam. Which means that Blair loses romantic hopes and dreams, roommate, and partner simultaneously. But never fear, everything gets explained and straightened out by the end. And here's one for the record books -- Megan is NOT made the villain. She's still friends with Blair, she's still recognizably herself. And ... the explanation, though a bit soap-opera-y, works. I'm curious to see the future installments of this new series, to see how things progress. *recommended*