Blair's Choice

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Fanfiction
Title: Blair's Choice
Author(s): Fidus Amicus
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s): gen
Fandom(s): The Sentinel
Relationship(s):
External Links: online here

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Blair's Choice is a Sentinel story by Fidus Amicus.

Reactions and Reviews

Now this was my ideal type of angst/plot and I wish I'd thought of it! Blair is poisoned and the enemy has the antidote and in order for Jim to get it for Blair, he has to assassinate someone. Wowee. I held my breath through this whole story.[1]

This story is a total angst fest. We have angst coming out of our ears. Mind you, it isn't over-the-top angst, and it is built up nicely with present-time vigil and past-time flashbacks which show how we got there. The opening is very dramatic:

"Damn him to hell," I swear softly, but with enough vehemence that it resounds within the confines of the ICU room. I cringe at the outburst, but the fear and anger remain.

Jim and Blair are good here. I liked the bit at the start where Blair argues with Jim about his hovering, which then causes Jim to later ignore something he shouldn't have... I also particularly liked the bits from the point of view of Simon, Joel and Megan.

However, I am getting a bit tired of the "Bracket is released in order to be recruited by some black-ops outfit" scenario; nobody with any sense at all would trust him, he's a tool that will turn in the hand, and they know that. He's already murdered an agent -- why would any agency be loony enough to recruit such a betrayer? That aside, the way Brackett was used here was very skillful, playing games and manipulating the situation for his own benefit.

There's a few bits of non-canon fanon here, like the "Jim was a right bastard until he was reformed by Blair" one, and the "Jim can't function as a Sentinel safely without Blair nearby" one. I also noticed they seem to call Blair the kid quite alot, and while this is arguably canon, I'm not comfortable with it.

The theme here is, of course, Blair's choice. Or, I should say, Blair's choices, and letting him have them, even when everyone else wishes he would take the easier, more comfortable way. Absolutely brave, plucky unbending Blair.

Blair made a face. "You can be so dense sometimes, big guy. I'm not going to lie in bed for three days just for an extra couple of hours of lying in bed."

This story won the SentinelAngst Creative Endeavour contest.

Addendum: nominated for favourite angst story in the 2001 Cascade Times Awards.[2]

Blair's Choice is very involving and all her stories will have you on the edge of your seat long into the night. Don't start them until you have a day off, because you won't be able to stop with just one.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Claudia's Recommendations". Archived from the original on 2018-08-19.
  2. ^ 2001 comments at Katspace
  3. ^ "Cascade Library". Archived from the original on 2021-01-25.