Alternate Reality: A New Day Dawns - D.L. Witherspoon (R for Adult Themes)

[medie]

Fandom: The Sentinel
Title: Alternate Reality: A New Day Dawns
Pairing: None
Author On LJ: Not as far as I know
Author Website: TVlit101
Why This Must Be Read:

Yup, another DL Witherspoon story. Last time I was up to rec Sentinel I recced one of hers and I'm doing it again. This repeat offense is due entirely to the fact that, in the Sentinel fandom, one is hard pressed to find a writer that produces such quality of fic on such a consistent basis. DL writes mainstream Sentinel stories but she also has a habit of playing with alternate realities and crossovers. In fact, her alternate realities are among my favorite Sentinel stories. This particular AU, DL takes Jim and Blair out of their traditional TV roles and drops them down into a world that's quite different. Jim is a convict. Blair a lawyer. (Yes, Blair *G*) Yet, despite the drastic changes to their lives, they are still unmistakably Jim and Blair. There's no mistaking that.

The Sentinel, like say the Magnificent Seven, is a show that lends it self well to alternate realities. The core concept of the show is highly adaptive but that doesn't always mean these alternate realities succeed. A good alternate reality is one wherein the characters are unmistakably themselves and, as I said, with DL they definitely are.

Even years later, I still go back to read these stories. The Alternate Reality series is a solid series to read and the first story which I am reccing here is the perfect example why.

Comments

[rhyo.livejournal.com]

re: TS and AU/AR -- I think the reason that AUs and ARs are so popular in TS is that the essential things that make Jim and Blair who they ARE work across a bunch of different settings, which is often not true for other shows. Jim doesn't have to be a cop, necessarily, as long as he holds on to certain character traits: ditto for Blair. In other fandoms the characters seem more rooted to who and where they are and lose something important when they are taken out of place or time.

And an AR like this one, where Jim is somewhat Jim-like but also "damaged" by the set-up circumstances of the story also work, on a what-if basis -- though my favorite example of that is probably Delilah's "Coming Up For Air" series. Even though some of the characters fill the same roles in that story, the set-up is so completely different and yet the characters are still the ones I love and recognize.