New

Sentinel Fanfiction
Title:	New
Author(s):	T. Verano
Date(s):	13 November 2006
Length:	~12,000 words
Genre:	gen, angst and humor
Fandom:	The Sentinel
External Links:	Author's Website (Wayback Machine) AO3
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New is a Sentinel story by T. Verano. laurie_ky podficced the story in 2008.

Summary:

Eight days after the warehouse exploded. Life goes on, in its own unlikely way.

Awards and Nominations

• Nominee - Mirror, Mirror Award (Best Characterization) at the Re-run Awards
• Whole Truth Award - Episode Related (Gen) at the 2008 Light My Fire Awards

Reactions and Reviews

What would happen if Jim really had insisted Blair move out after that “one week” agreement in The Debt? This sometimes funny and other times poignant story follows Blair as he tries to make do. Seen through Blair’s eyes, we witness his insecurity that he won’t measure up in Jim’s eyes and, at the same time, we see his inventiveness and fierce independence.

AKA Misadventures in Apartment Hunting. What if Jim *wasn't* so understanding about Blair staying after that first week. I love T. Verano's writing, but I often find that her hurt/comfort ratios aren't in my favor (i.e., there's more hurt than comfort). This fic is a bit borderline in that regard, but it's just too good to not rec. On the one hand you have Blair, who has the worst luck of any human being in the entire world (and that goes double for when he's looking for apartments) and on the other hand you have Jim, who doesn't particularly want a roommate, but whose blessed protector instincts are kicking in big time. Couple that with great writing and some truly inventive roommate issues and you have a solid fic that looks at the Jim/Blair friendship from an unusual perspective.

Ah, the travails of Blair... After the warehouse blows up, he tries to be low-maintenance as he looks for a new place to live.

Blair, Blair, Blair.

Jim, Jim, Jim.

And Larry, Goom, Phil, Raj, Blu, Annette...

"Shut up, Jim. And if you really want to know, I didn't wash my hair because I didn't take a shower because last night there were strange people in the living room I didn't particularly care to get naked anywhere near and there were a pair of fucking electric eels swimming around in the bathtub this morning. Satisfied?"

I was enthralled the first time I read this story and it remains one of my favorite ones to come back to and read again. Blair trying to make ends meet so he can meet his sentinel's needs... Having lived in my share of crummy, cheap housing a student could afford, cockroaches and all, and stopping by the plasma center to sell blood for groceries... I empathized so much with Blair's struggle to stretch his resources so he can be with Jim instead of working a paying job. And Jim, figuring out what Blair was doing and finally, just having enough and doing a Jim-napping of a tired, exhausted partner, who's sure he can figure out what's going on with his sentinel's irrational demands, as soon as he's awake again. I love this story.

This is the second TS story from this new gen writer (although I have no doubt this person is an experienced writer, despite apparently being new to this fandom). Extremely well written, this story pushes all my angst buttons in a huge way, featuring Insecure!Independent!Blair, and Gruffly!Protective!Jim! as it does. I highly recommend it, and am really hoping that we'll see a lot more from this particular writer.

Well if it's not the hole poor Blair thing that just makes you want to grab and cuddle him, it definitely should be the writing. I have never, ever seen an author write Blair so well, complete with the "i'm gonna blow my brains out if he doesn't stop rambling soon, actually starts thinking about what he thinks/says and maybe also occasionally takes a breath" thing. Seriously, this is superb! Professional quality, certainly.