The Devil You Know (Sentinel story)

Sentinel Fanfiction
Title:	The Devil You Know
Author(s):	Susan L. Williams
Date(s):	September 1996
Length:
Genre:
Fandom:	The Sentinel
External Links:	"online". Archived from the original on 2007-12-19.
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The Devil You Know is a gen Sentinel novel that was published online in 1996 by Susan L. Williams.

It was a popular story dealing with the sexual assault of the main character, Blair Sandburg. From the author: "It has the dubious distinction of being the first The Sentinel fan fiction to deal with the subject of rape.

The adult rating is due to violence. From the author: "I reiterate: this story is intense, graphic, violent, and it contains bad language. If you are under 18 or likely to be upset by this, please go back now."

It was later reprinted in Masks, which was net published and then released in 2000 in print format.

Later Jossed

The story was written before the end of the show, and therefore some characters were jossed. The author stated:

This is an AU, mostly because I wrote this before the "Spare Parts" episode. Since no family had been established for Blair at that time, I gave him one. They're not Naomi, but they're all mine.

See more at Masks.

Author Comments

My first fanfic story was The Devil You Know. I wrote it in September of 1996, in about three weeks, which is extremely fast for me. I don't remember exactly when it was posted, but it was the first Sentinel story to deal with rape, and it caused quite a ruckus. I was accused by one individual on a list of being anti-gay and anti-slash, which made no sense at all, since it's a gen story and there are no gay characters in it. Aside from that, I was thrilled by its reception. I've kept every single LOC I've ever received on it. Pro stories don't tend to get feedback, which is a shame. Feedback is a wonderful thing. <g>

Reactions and Reviews

1998

Susan William's "Masks" is a sequel to "The Devil You Know." Both are really good, but "The Devil You Know" is a bit dark, though there is a twist at the end that sealed its place fandom's finest for me.

2000

This is a story I've know about ever sine it was first posted in the early days of TS fandom, and I still haven't read it. I've been told several things about it, and while I'm sure it's a very well written story, I doubt I'll ever read it.

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The idea that Blair is raped by a Jim-look-alike is difficult for me to deal with in the context of a gen story. < or a slash story for that matter > And it's the very first thing that happens in the story. I know this because I tried to read it when it was first posted and couldn't get past the image of 'Jim' attacking Blair. I get majorly squicked at partner betrayal as it is. Even knowing it's not *really* Jim doing it, you still couldn't pay me to read it. <shrug> Just not my cup of tea.

My $.02.