No Islands Any More

Fanfiction
Title:	No Islands Any More
Author(s):	Betsy Tacy Ray-Kelly
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Sentinel
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online here
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No Islands Any More is a Jim/Blair story by Betsy Tacy Ray-Kelly.

Reactions and Reviews

Here I go recommending another rape story, although to be accurate, I should probably call this a survival story. When a bust goes bad, the guys are captured, and Jim is forced to watch helplessly as the criminals gang rape Blair. This long and involved story deals primarily with Blair's recovery and the development of the guys' relationship. It very sensitively depicts the after-effects of sexual assault.

While investigating a case, Jim and Blair are captured and Blair is brutally gang-raped (fortunately all pre-story, with a few not-too-graphic flashbacks giving us clues as to what happened). It takes Jim and Blair a long time to find their way back to normal.

This has been sitting in my possible recs folder almost from the moment I started Epic Recs and each time I cleaned the folder out, I'd skip this one, not sure what to do with it. Since I managed to *not* delete it several times now, I figured I should go ahead and rec it.

The dilemma I have isn't due to the writing, which is very good (far better than you would expect from someone who only wrote one story ever, which leads myself and others to believe that BTRK is a alias for one or more better known author(s)). Nor is it the characterization, which is spot-on, taking into consideration the constraints of the plot. The issue is with, well, the premise. Namely that after Blair's assault, he has a breakdown that results in a major personality disorder. It seems far-fetched, especially considering how resiliant Blair is in canon and fanon. On the other hand, it's not like the premise is any more outrageous than mystical bonding and meddling ghosts, so maybe I should just get over it already.

Now that I spent all that time on the issues, how about the positives? This story is *very* well written, and the plot (once you get past the premise) is fascinating, chock full of trust issues and lovely, lovely hurt/comfort. Blair's recovery is fascinating, as are Jim's attempts to be supporting. More interesting are the times Jim's control slips -- most h/c stories feature a Jim with endless patience, which is neither canon compliant nor particularly realistic, and this iteration is both more human and more likeable for his flaws. Mix in a bit of mystery regarding the eventual fates of Blair's assailants and a wonderful OC in the form of Blair's therapist and you have one of the best stories in Sentinel fandom.

You seem to be a completest, so I wanted to let you know that on another list someone said BTRK was a collaboration of Debra Tabor and Myrna. You can still find Myrna at 852 prospect, but Debra Tabor has apparently been gone from the fandom for a decade.

I read No Islands a couple of years ago and it's just too much hurt for me. But then, I feel that way about a lot of Myrna's stuff, so if the info above is true, then it wouldn't be surprising.

I can't say whether it's one of the best stories in fandom because if I can't read it more than once (and I couldn't) it's quite hard for me to judge. I'm not sure whether I was just in a different space or whether I just tolerated it better, but I preferred "Letters from Hades" by Demeter, which has Blair suffering from multiple personality disorder, yet coping pretty well until the person responsible comes back into his life. Quite horrifying, yet also fascinating to see the medical information laid out so well (IM uneducated O).

It's slash. It's rape-fic.

It's a wild, wild ride.

Well-written, occasionally overwrought, but never trite.

Whoever these author/authors are, this is the only fic by them I've ever found under this name, and AFIK, none of the big names have ever owned up to this one.

But somebody who knows how to write wrote this. It's memorable, and even after all these years, has a special place in my heart.

After Blair is gang-raped and Jim is forced to watch, the boyz must each come to terms with their reactions to the tragedy. I love this fic for its deep and accurate portrayal of the recovery process, and its in-depth examination of the psychological effects that such an incident might have on the lives of people like Jim and Blair.

Rapefic is something best taken in small doses, but this is a fantastic and dark piece of hurt/comfort. Blair recovers slowly from a rape, and Jim does what it takes to help Blair put it behind him. Everything it takes. As the story unfolds and the extent of the damage to both partners comes into sharper focus, I always find myself being sucked deeper into the storytelling and characters. But just to warn you, while it has a happy ending, this one's not for the faint of heart.

Man, that fic is all kind of special to me. That was, like, one of the very first, if not the first TS fic I've read when I discovered a) the fandom and b) 852 Prospect. It's also, I think, the first fic I recc'ed to Terri, and we never looked back... ah, sweet memories of that first foray into a new fandom *is nostalgic*

I have to say, this one has continued to be a guilty pleasure of mine; I love Blair hurting and slightly mad, and Jim's broken confession at the end gets me every time.

Wow, I hadn't thought of that story in ages! It's a guilty pleasure of mine, as well; it's the end of the story that just does it to me -- the fight, Blair's breakthrough, Jim's confession...gives me chills every single time because you just know that's the length Jim would go to in order to protect Blair.