Beggar's Ride

Fanfiction
Title:	Beggar's Ride
Author(s):	Inkling
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	gen
Fandom(s):	The Sentinel
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online here
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Beggar's Ride is a Sentinel story by Inkling.

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

When this story first came out, I read it and enjoyed it and decided it was well-written. Now, after almost a year of voraciously reading Sentinel fanfic, I've come to realize what an utter gem Beggar's Ride really is.

This is a good long read, first of all: no it-just-started-getting-good-and-now-it's-over-blues here. The author writes a highly original case story with huge doses of suspense and mystery and a whopping surprise ending. She gives us one of the most memorable original female characters I've encountered: more than victim, yet no Mary Sue, almost an anti-heroine. She tells the story mainly from Jim's point of view giving us rare insights into his character and motivations. In her hands, both Jim and Blair are well-characterized with all of their strengths and weaknesses intact it takes both of them and all of their resources to solve the case.

And the writing itself! Nothing short of magnificent, with extensive vocabulary, imagery that will make you cry and laugh (imagine Jim dreaming about Hortas, for starters. Hard to explain) and a painstaking attention to the detail of every scene. To me, this doesn't read like fanfic; it's what I would expect of a professionally written novel if Pet Fly were to commission one to be written.

Now if she'd only write a few more stories...

1999

Okay, those of you that haven't had a chance to get over to Inkling's site and read this here story, be warned! I may be telling too much about it and that might spoil it for you—but it is such an utterly fantastic story that my muses have been beating the heck out of me to write this little review. So, here it goes....{Spoiler Space *hopefully* provided to protect the innocent and those that don't want to walk into the story knowing anything.

[spoiler space]

Okay, that should, hopefully be enough.

First off, this latest story by Inkling has got to be the best one to date. She pulls you in with such a light touch that you don't realize that you're about to be sucker punched—until it smacks you. Hard. I'm a really fast reader, but this story is *long* and took me three days to finish it. But, and you'll find this to be true, once you start—you *have* to finish it. It won't leave you alone. You'll be sleeping peacefully, all snug in your bed, after reading the first part and WHAM! It'll hit you like a avalanche. Scenes from the story will plague you, running around in your head, making you wonder "What's going to happen next?" Next thing you know, you'll be loggin on to read the next part (or print it out) at zero-dark-thirty in the morning, while your family sleeps undisturbed. Never knowing that you've become a victim of totally out-of-control curiosity.

You'll smile as you discover that Jim has another "Sentinel" talent that you, and Blair, never suspected. No, I refuse to tell. That wouldn't be right. You'll sigh as Blair takes on the role of Blessed Protector, with Jim's total approval. And it's a wonderful mystery on top of all of that. Inkling draws you into a dark, and not so dark, world and makes something very clear to all who read it. And for those of you that just *crave* angst....you get plenty in this story. The writer has a talent, to draw you in, bringing you into her world {and that of the characters} to the point to where you actually feel the pain. The heartache. The joy!

Did I say "joy?" Yes, I did. And once you read this story, you'll understand why. Now, if your curiosity is piqued, go read this story. You won't be disappointed, and may even understand why I'm so enthusiastic about it. I'm sure that even O.D. will agree: THIS IS A *MUST* READ STORY for all TS fans.

Gee, that wasn't too hard. Hope I didn't screw things up. Inkling, in case you're reading this, let me know how I did. Please? I'm thinking of offering my services to the group as a reviewer. That is, if you all liked this and would want a Reviewer in the group. If not, I'll just go back to my regular postings and leave it alone.

2001

I first saw this recommended on the "Best Sentinel Fan fiction" recommendation page (now part of Cascade Library), and put it on my list of stories to read. It kept on being put off for more urgent things, but I'm glad now that I've read it at last. It was very good, very long, and very absorbing. Alas, I who like surprises, unfortunately happened to glance at the last page (trying to make sure I'd gotten the whole thing from the printout pile) and my eye caught one phrase in the author's notes, which spoiled a major plot point; having read about that phenomenon before, I recognized it immediately when it turned up in the story, long before Jim and Blair were able to. So it wasn't a surprise to me at all. But it was still good to see it all unfold. And there was still the other aspect of the mystery left for me to puzzle over, not to mention wondering how long it would take Jim and Blair to twig, and the emotional tension that was boiling off the main guest-character, Morag. The characterization of Morag was excellent, and half of that was the way that Jim observed her so astutely. Not beating us over the head, just dropping little images, like the way her eyes changed, the way she was shuttered away from the world.

The only jarring thing was making Blair a Trekkie. Yeah, I'd buy that he might be somewhat interested, particularly in the anthropological phenomenon of Trekdom, but I really couldn't see him as an obsessed fan who got upset at missing an episode. That just seemed a little too extreme, when in the show, Blair showed absolutely no interest in Trek or SF at all. Mind you, the dream at the start was fun, but I just couldn't buy it after a while. Certainly not a major thing.

Other worthwhile things in this: lots of good Jim PoV (I like Jim!) and all those appropriate quotes at the start of sections. Some people don't like quotes, but in a long story, they add spice, and help you get in the mood.

Another thing to note: take the rating seriously (R in the USA, the equivalent in Australia is M) because there are things mentioned here that are very nasty.

Sid & Nancy scale: chocolate layer cake with nuts sprinkled on top.

2007

This is a toughie for me. This story is one of the two stories I read repeatedly when I was going through my own rape-related psychological crisis in college. The other one is 'Masks', by Susan (I always forget her last name, but it isn't Foster). This story deals with child abuse, and how a victim might react to it, and how the abuse affects the victim even in their adult life. The abuse itself is off-screen, which is something of a relief, because the emotional intensity of this story is pretty extreme.

The fortunate thing is that this is off-set by Blair being characterized as a Star Trek fan - whether you believe it or not, it provides some light-hearted relief and humor that the story needs at just the right moments.

I like the way this story gradually increases the intensity. The reader is right there with Blair as he gets deeper and deeper in the mystery of old cases and midnight callers. The reader is right there as his urgency and frustration ramps up at their continued inability to solve the case. And the reader is completely caught up by the end, when the truth comes out.

Tangentially, child abuse trauma in adults is often described as festering wounds - boils of infection you have to lance and drain before you can hope to heal from them. It's a painful process. It's often bewildering. And very often at the start, you wonder why you even thought you should do it. But you do it anyway because not doing it hurts worse. And what I've discovered is that part of this healing process for me is to metaphorically cover myself in the blood of my rage and pain at being victimized and feeling like I had to repress it for the functionality of the family.

In that sense, this story was an important step for me: I had (ok, I still have) a habit of minimizing the stuff that happened to me. I read this story, and despite the vastly different situation between this victim's and my own, it helped give me the courage to own my rape. I have the most interesting blank spot, and this story gave me the courage to own what did and what might have happened during that period. It gave me the courage to say 'yes, it was really that bad, and no, my pain, my rage are not unjustified.' For me, this story was a my wallow in blood.

I also liked the way this story portrayed both the abuse victim, whom I obviously related to, and Blair, as the 'normal person' reacting to the abuse. The ending scene of comfort was very important to me - it's hard to say just how much. But while I was flailing around, unable to ask for and receive comfort, I could identify strongly enough with the story's victim that I could get vicarious comfort through her from Blair. That may seem an odd thing to say, but it does dovetail really well with how I react emotionally to really hot slash: it's a vicarious orgasm, vicarious pleasure and after-sex glow and cuddling. The difference is, slash sex for me is something i often look for in lieu of having a RL sex life available. This story, on the other hand, and the comfort factor, was something I needed because there was no alternative available at the time. At the time, I was completely incapable of being comforted by RL friends or family, not just due to physical circumstance, but also emotional and psychological ones.

This dovetails into how Susan's 'Masks' affected me: I reread that many times during this period also. 'Masks' taught me that I could receive comfort from friends, if I let myself, and that I was worthwhile of receiving such. It taught me that I, too, could become clean.

I intend to review 'Masks' farther on down the road, but for now, I'll say that despite the ugly topic, despite the vast difference in tone, I find both of these stories ultimately uplifting, in two completely different ways. Beggar's Ride ends with finally escaping the immediate problem. It's not pretty, and it doesn't sugar-coat things. But it does say that there is life after this, and you can make it your own. And that's very comforting.

One more thing here, and that is to say that neither Susan nor Inkling set out to write rape stories to help real life rape victims. That's often one of the themes punted about when the subject of rape in fanfic comes up: some authors write stories that are supposed to 'help' real life rape victims work things out, and that always felt patronizing and false to me. Susan and Inkling's stories concentrate on realism of reaction and emotion, and that's what really helped me here.