I haven't read Cloud Mountain for a while, so I can't remember exactly the scene you're talking about. But my interpretation of Blair is that he would be quite skittish in saying it. I doubt he's ever said it to anyone in his life. The closest he would have come, that we know of, is Maya. But I think he just wanted to be in love with her, as opposed to actually being in love with her. When his warehouse blew up in The Debt, I doubt he had anywhere else to go - I actually think he was living there illegally and was lying about the rent. So, fairly nomadic, no ties, probably no real friends either until Jim came along. Lots of short romances, lots of acquaintances, he was probably friends with everyone, but not really close to anyone in particular. So given this background, I can see how saying it would make him uncomfortable - that sort of stability and level of commitment to one person is really out of his field of experience. Even saying it to a friend, I think would make him uncomfortable. He seems fairly open on the outside, but he hardly ever actually reveals much about himself to anyone. I don't think he trusts other people all that deeply. Maybe he wants to, but he doesn't really know how. OTOH, I can also see him wanting it so bad he'd just jump in blindly, but I think that'd be disastrous for him on a personal level. I think that he has quite low self-esteem, despite his outward boisterousness. I think we get a glimpse of this is how accepting he often is when it come to how badly Jim sometimes treats him.
There's nothing like analysis from a devoted fan. I enjoyed that - thanks. I'd been coming more from the hippie, free-love upbringing side, which made me think he wouldn't have any problem saying it, but I can definitely see your point and it makes that story work better for me. I certainly see that the relationship with Jim is reallyreally important to Blair - in fact I'm a bit confused at why he didn't recognise that more clearly himself pre-Flight.
how accepting he often is when it come to how badly Jim sometimes treats him
I don't like those scenes at all! The worst one I've come across so far was the one in "Hear No Evil" where Blair gives Jim the earplug white noise generators, gets hardly any acknowledgement and then has to say (sincerely) "Umm, a thank you would be nice." It makes me cringe for him.
The main reason I didn't think I'd like TS much is that I imagined it would always be like that (I came to this conclusion from their height difference - yes, that's stupid). What's sold me on it are the scenes where Blair is forceful and doesn't let Jim push him around.
I finished the Nature Series just now. Arcs 1 & 2 just kind of rolled along, interesting enough, but the third one (with the FBI agent Ziegler) really sucked me in and had me tense & worried. I was going to do other things tonight, but had to finish it. Now I'm in that post-catharsis stage I occasionally get to after reading something really satisfying. Any minor hassles in real life just seem to recede (of course, they'd also be receding if I'd attended to them tonight instead of reading slash!)
Every now and then I go in and re-read a bit of Nature and it's always a HUGE mistake, because I think "well, I'll just read the one that comes after this..." Usually I end up re-reading the entire thing.
I got into the fandom via fan fic, and decided to read the episode transcripts so I could tell my fanon from canon. It was really interesting to finally see all of the episodes, having read all the lines and formed ideas/opnions based on them. The actors *make* the characters in this show.
Couldn't agree with you more about the actors. I am enjoying the episodes *so* much and have resolved never to go into a fandom from fic only again. My fic-and-transcript based impression of the characters was just a bit wrong, and nowhere near as good as the real thing!
I really enjoyed that 3rd story in the crack_van rec too. I wrote some feedback to Bone saying how much I liked her Blair (3 stories about Jim & Duncan and I mostly wanted to talk about Blair!).
I haven't read Cloud Mountain for a while, so I can't remember exactly the scene you're talking about. But my interpretation of Blair is that he would be quite skittish in saying it. I doubt he's ever said it to anyone in his life. The closest he would have come, that we know of, is Maya. But I think he just wanted to be in love with her, as opposed to actually being in love with her. When his warehouse blew up in The Debt, I doubt he had anywhere else to go - I actually think he was living there illegally and was lying about the rent. So, fairly nomadic, no ties, probably no real friends either until Jim came along. Lots of short romances, lots of acquaintances, he was probably friends with everyone, but not really close to anyone in particular. So given this background, I can see how saying it would make him uncomfortable - that sort of stability and level of commitment to one person is really out of his field of experience. Even saying it to a friend, I think would make him uncomfortable. He seems fairly open on the outside, but he hardly ever actually reveals much about himself to anyone. I don't think he trusts other people all that deeply. Maybe he wants to, but he doesn't really know how. OTOH, I can also see him wanting it so bad he'd just jump in blindly, but I think that'd be disastrous for him on a personal level. I think that he has quite low self-esteem, despite his outward boisterousness. I think we get a glimpse of this is how accepting he often is when it come to how badly Jim sometimes treats him.
Reply
Reply
how accepting he often is when it come to how badly Jim sometimes treats him
I don't like those scenes at all! The worst one I've come across so far was the one in "Hear No Evil" where Blair gives Jim the earplug white noise generators, gets hardly any acknowledgement and then has to say (sincerely) "Umm, a thank you would be nice." It makes me cringe for him.
The main reason I didn't think I'd like TS much is that I imagined it would always be like that (I came to this conclusion from their height difference - yes, that's stupid). What's sold me on it are the scenes where Blair is forceful and doesn't let Jim push him around.
I finished the Nature Series just now. Arcs 1 & 2 just kind of rolled along, interesting enough, but the third one (with the FBI agent Ziegler) really sucked me in and had me tense & worried. I was going to do other things tonight, but had to finish it. Now I'm in that post-catharsis stage I occasionally get to after reading something really satisfying. Any minor hassles in real life just seem to recede (of course, they'd also be receding if I'd attended to them tonight instead of reading slash!)
Happy studying - hope this isn't distracting you!
Reply
I got into the fandom via fan fic, and decided to read the episode transcripts so I could tell my fanon from canon. It was really interesting to finally see all of the episodes, having read all the lines and formed ideas/opnions based on them. The actors *make* the characters in this show.
(oh, and, Hi! I got here from a crack_van link.)
Reply
Couldn't agree with you more about the actors. I am enjoying the episodes *so* much and have resolved never to go into a fandom from fic only again. My fic-and-transcript based impression of the characters was just a bit wrong, and nowhere near as good as the real thing!
I really enjoyed that 3rd story in the crack_van rec too. I wrote some feedback to Bone saying how much I liked her Blair (3 stories about Jim & Duncan and I mostly wanted to talk about Blair!).
Reply
Leave a comment