crack_van | The Passing Shade by Charlotte Frost (PG)

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none (gen)
Length: 32K
Author on LJ: none
Author Website: http://home.comcast.net/~regmoore2005/index.html

Why this must be read: Charlotte wrote for about four years in TS and another two under the byline of Southy. However she wrote in other fandoms for twenty years before, and it shows. Her stories are complex, and “Shade” is no exception. I don’t often recommend gen relationship stories, because so often the “buddy” approach is heavy-handed.. She explores the evolving friendship between Jim and Blair, interwoven with two canon characters, Carolyn and Naomi.

The story begins with Blair being seriously hurt in a car accident. Jim decides to take time off to help him recover and, during that down time, analyzes the depth of their friendship. He also has contact with Carolyn and Naomi, which sets the story down a complex path of relationships past and present, with some skeletons revealed.

One of the things I love about fanfic writers is their ability to take some small thing touched on in canon and explore it through clever writing. It seems sometimes that the fanfic author cares more for the characters than even the original creator. Perhaps, because it’s TV, there’s just not time to make all characters fully dimensional. But that’s the beauty of fanfic, to fill in the pieces. I hope you will give this a try.

The Passing Shade

Cup Runneth Over is the slash sequel.

even authors no longer in the fandom enjoy feedback!