In Your Dreams (Sentinel story)

Fanfiction
Title:	In Your Dreams
Author(s):	Livia Penn
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Sentinel
Relationship(s):
External Links:	In Your Dreams on AO3
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In Your Dreams is a Jim/Blair story by Livia Penn.

Reactions and Reviews

Livia says that this story is a tribute to the way Jim and Blair use humor around each other, and she is right. In "In Your Dreams", they tease, they joke with each other - and this brings them close enough that they can admit to being in love with each other without long deliberations or a major angsty production. The setup might not work post the Alex Barnes fiasco when superficial banter couldn't fill up the wounds left behind, but set as it is before "Sentinel Too", this story is a light, enjoyable read.

Okay, yes, I admit it, it's a short PWP. And, yes, I did promise that you wouldn't see fic like that in this community. The thing is, however, that Livia does something in this story that you almost never see in fanfic: she makes sex fun. Most of the time in fanfic, sex is this huge, passionate, deeply intense experience, and while there is always that aspect of sex, many fanfic authors carry it to the point that the scene seems painful, rather than pleasurable. Not true in this story. Here, Jim and Blair laugh and love and laugh some more, and passion and intensity is all well and good, but it's even better if it's with someone you can laugh with. Sweet and well written, "In Your Dreams" is an utterly charming fic.

The thing about TS fic is that it’s kind of easy to get bogged down in the deep, angsty stories: the episode fixes, the heavy, relationship-repairing conversations that really need to occur in the light of TSbBS and S2. That’s why it’s such a treat to read a story that’s good, that’s well characterized, and that doesn’t drag you through three miles of angst. Uphill. In the mud.

Thankfully, that’s not the case with “In Your Dreams.” The author herself categorizes it as “goofball romantic first times,” and I can’t honestly think of a more apt description. As the story opens, our boys are cleaning up the kitchen of the loft after a MC poker game, and discussing why they get along as well as they do...

It’s light and witty and sharp and tender and romantic and guy-like all at the same time; she gets these guys. Her Jim is a little more accessible, a little less reticent than most Jim-characterizations you’ll read, but I don’t find that a bad thing. The guy’s not a mute caveman, after all.

It’s written from Blair’s POV and Livia does a hell of a job capturing his speech patterns and his upbeat outlook on life. She keeps it up, too, when they finally do get together – the story doesn’t disintegrate into soppy, longing gazes and hushed reverence. They have fun in bed, just like they have fun almost everywhere else. I mean, c'mon - can't you just hear Blair saying this: “Foreplay had never been so much fun -- I could hardly stop grinning to lick Jim's nipples.”

I don’t know about my fellow crack_van reccers, but I usually have to write two or three drafts of these recs before I post them. I mention this because if I’d let this particular entry go in first draft form you wouldn’t have needed to read this story - I’d have quoted the whole darn piece. Matter of fact, that’s another one of the things I adore about this one; I could sit and quote from it all day. Livia has a way with the snappy sentiments, and her style makes both the characters and the situations quite real in a wonderful way.

“In Your Dreams” also has the distinction of having one of my absolute favorite “I love you” professions in all of TS fandom – goofiness aside, it’s so goddamn sweet and tender and perfect, it chokes me up every time.

Also, for those of you who are interested in such matters? The sex is just incredible. In. Cred. I. Ble.