Fear of Flying

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Sentinel Fanfiction
Title: Fear of Flying
Author(s): Lanning Cook
Date(s): 13 January 2002
Length: 2428 words / 17K
Genre: slash
Fandom: The Sentinel
External Links: Fear of Flying on AO3

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Fear of Flying is a Jim/Blair story by Lanning Cook. It was archived at 852 Prospect.

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

This story is one of the funniest, most wonderful things I've ever read in TS fandom. Drunken!Blair, Exasperated!Jim and an impersonation of a mighty harpy eagle of Amazonia...oh, lord, every time I start to think about it, I get the giggles. Coincidentally, this story has the same name as one of my favorite TPM stories, and also coincidentally, the beta on this story wrote that TPM story. Could be serendipity, could be an omen. But who cares when a story is this good? *g* [1]

Blair's in a tree. He's not afraid of flying. Jim will catch him. He's also completely wasted and a frantic sentinel tries to get him down. ;) It's funny, extremely funny.

"Come up." Blair leaned a precarious distance from his limb to waggle his eyebrows at Jim. "You can be a mighty harpy eagle with me. The harpy eagle is the jaguar of the upper canopy. RAWK! RAWK!"

Will you keep it down?" Jim snapped, with a nervous glance at the mayoral residence several yards away. "The house is still full of brass and old money. And press, too. So unless you and your eagle want to be on the front page of the Cascadian-

"Don't you want to be a mighty harpy eagle, Jim?" Blair sent his cummerbund earthward with a serene expression.

"No, I don't fucking want to be a fucking harpy eagle! I want to go the fuck home and sleep in my fucking bed."

Blair nodded gravely as he unbuttoned his vest. "That's an awful lot of fucking for one sentence, man.

See? And yet, it's so Jim and Blair. Because they are partners, and will always catch each other.[2]

Squee! I'd forgotten all about this little gem of a story. Lanning paints the guys in gloriously broad washes of color, using humor and perfectly on-target banter to get to the meaty goodness inside...See people, I *love* it when writers use the smut to lay the characters bare. To me, that's what it's for.

Sigh. Lovely story.

All the surprises here are good ones, which is a little like ice cream for breakfast.[3]

2003

I hang on every single word this author

writes. She's in that List I mentioned earlier. I almost hate to single out just one story. Every single one is a gem. But Fear of Flying is one of a handful of stories that made me laugh out loud and grin my way through my day:

"Don't you want to be a mighty harpy eagle, Jim?" Blair sent his cummerbund earthward with a serene expression.

"No, I don't fucking want to be a fucking harpy eagle! I want to go the fuck home and sleep in my fucking bed."

Blair nodded gravely as he unbuttoned his vest. "That's an awful lot of fucking for one sentence, man."

"Sandburg-" Jim dodged the vest. "Blair, for crying out loud-"

"It's code, isn't it?" Blair leaned over, yanked off his socks and tossed them into the air like confetti. "Subliminal communication. Ellison-speak."

LOL! I can't tell you how many times I've read it. [4]

2008

At yet another Cop of the Year banquet, Blair gets really, *really* drunk and decides that he's a bird. What bird? The mighty harpy eagle of Amazonia, of course! Unfortunately, he makes this decision while in a tree, and guess what else he's decided? Birds don't wear clothes. Yeah, Jim's pretty stunned by that revelation, too, especially since it's up to him to get the eagle out of the tree. A little silly, a little sexy, and a lot sweet, Fear of Flying is guaranteed to brighten even your worst day.[5]

I got to this story, and I just had the biggest grin on my face. I love this story so much and I have for ages. Finding in your list of recs made me really happy. This fic contains my all-time favorite line from any Sentinel fic: "We're being harpy eagles," Blair said helpfully. How can one not love that line? How can one not love this particular Blair and Jim? [6]

2014

The guys are all spiffed up and attending an affair at the Mayor's mansion. A drunk Blair decides to climb a tree and it's up to Jim to go after his partner. Reccer's Notes: Truly, it's not a very good summary, but revealing too much would spoil it. It was recced at Crack Van five years ago and continues to make the short list when you are looking for a laugh--RAWK! Enjoy.[7]

References

  1. ^ Destina's Recs
  2. ^ Sentinel Recs, Kristina's Corner
  3. ^ Sometimes a girl just needs a man with excellent taste.
  4. ^ comments at Prospect-L, quoted anonymously (May 24, 2003)
  5. ^ 2008 comments at Epic Recs
  6. ^ 2008 comments at Epic Recs
  7. ^ a 2014 recommendation at Fancake