Permanent Record

Sentinel Fanfiction
Title:	Permanent Record
Author(s):	Speranza
Date(s):	2000
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	The Sentinel
External Links:	AO3
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Permanent Record is a Jim/Blair story by Speranza.

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

Though I've rec'd her entire body of work in the past, I wanted to specifically direct people to Francesca's latest. It's a hilarious and wildly sweet end-run around the should-I-or-shouldn't-I dilemma. Nobody but Francesca could write a romance like this one.

2000

I keep coming back to Sentinel fiction. I remember that last year Justine posted an essay to Cereta's fanfic symposium called Come back to my show, and all I can say is, it must have worked. Old writers are resurfacing, new writers are moving in, and some, of course, never left the fandom in the first place. Francesca has been writing Sentinel stories for quite a while now, and her recent work has been lengthier, weightier, more dense and complex, even <gasp> darker. Permanent record isn't dark, though; it's a romance of a different kind, with many interesting things happening under the surface, full of puzzles and clues to let the reader ponder, as Jim is pondering, who this Sandburg guy really is, anyway.

I can't think of anything much more thrilling then finding a new story up on Francesca's page. The woman cannot write a bad story, that's all there is to it. Her Jim and Blair are guys, and Pet Fly only wishes their writer's could come up with dialogue this good. And Permanent Record is one of her best yet. It shows us a relationship starting early in the series, and it works. Lots of writers try to write top!Blair, but Francesca actually did it, and believe me, it's panty melting hot. Not only that, but we get some very interesting insight on Blair's days before he met Jim. I can read this story over and over again. So go read it, and everything else on her page.

Francesca forcibly reminds us of how good she is, with Permanent Record. Here, she puts a lot of sex into a deceptively mild story, and blows a dozen m/m cliches the fuck out of the water. The first time I read this, I thought it couldn't be for real. The second time, I was totally moved and absolutely fucking ecstatic. Third time, paying real attention to what she did in this story, I came out feeling like I'd been run over by a demolition derby. I'd be only slightly overstating the case to say that all TS stories after this should be called either post-Permanent Record, or crap. <g>

2001

"Permanent Record" by Francesca has guys just being guys. How blasé they are about it all comes as a bit of a surprise, but it works. My favorite section has to be when Jim is checking up on Sandburg's past by looking through his student records and reads some of the poetry a precocious Sandburg working on his bachelor degree wrote to get through a particularly dull course. Love the haiku cycle. You know that a too-smart student so much younger than the others and disinclined to toe the line would get into trouble, and it's right here. The "oh, yeah" moment at the end of the story brings a smile to my face. And the sex is hot.

2006

It was so hard to pick just one story of Francesca's. Her men are realistic, her sex scenes are blazing hot, and each of her stories has a unique perspective on Jim and Blair that makes it stand out from the crowd. But Permanent Record holds a special place in my heart for the slow building of humor. Jim, tired of knowing nothing about the man who studies him so intently, abuses his cop privileges to access Blair's permanent record at Rainer and finds more than he bargains for in the disciplinary files of 16-year-old Blair, including insights on what it took for young Blair to handle college without Naomi's presence or support. The sonnets and haiku cycles mocking Blair's teachers are particularly memorable:

Soul-killing boredom

Flows over me like a wave

Here in Room Three-Ten.

The longest lecture

Time has come to a standstill

And me yet so young.

Oh, oh, this was wonderful! The Haiku-cycle was hilarious - and the sonnet! I laughed so hard I cried. Francesca is The Best! And I'm always so grateful when a writer just lets them be *guys*, you know, and spares them (and me) all that lovey-dovey stuff...

2010

For many TS readers who found the fandom five or more years ago, Francesca is like a gateway drug. You read her stuff, which is written so well and varied, and you say "Who *are* these guys? I want to know everything about them." It's hard to believe she did most of her TS stories in about three years and that this particular story is now a decade old. Thank you, Francesca, for your legacy. Permanent Record takes place shortly after Blair has moved in with Jim. Through a series of circumstances they click and quickly become fuck-buddies. But Jim wonders about the man who seems to be able to get him to spill his darkest secrets and decides to do a little less-than-ethical investigating. What he finds is eye-opening and at times hilarious bits of Blair's early college years. It gives him insight into the man who is fast becoming the most important person in his life. It gives us what we loved most about the show: snappy banter and guys acting like guys.

2014

Summary: The story takes place from Jim's POV and starts when Blair is moving into the loft. After the scene from "Cypher" when Jim interrupts Blair and Christine on the couch, Jim and Blair become fuck buddies. Jim starts to wonder how things happened so fast and why he agreed so readily to having Blair stay in the loft. He realizes that he knows nothing about Blair. Remembering that Blair had seen Jim's confidential medical files, he justifies snooping in Blair's university records to find out more about him. Reccer's Notes: Francesca does a great job of assembling a realistic file that would cover Blair's years at Rainier. Jim reads letters to Naomi from Blair's advisor, official notes from his professors, even sarcastic poetry written by Blair complaining of boring classes. This unusual way of revealing Blair's back story really adds to the story's enjoyment.