Author's Notes for "Ships that Pass"
Sep. 27th, 2009 01:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starwatcher_fic.
First posted January 3, 2006. This story is based on a plot-bunny that came directly from my obsession with The Sentinel. In May of 2004 (as best I can pinpoint it), I made the following post to the Senad mailing list --
I'm still finding this "fan" thing freaky. No other fandom, for me, has been a tenth as strong as this one. It seems strange to me that I find so many ordinary bits of daily life leading to thoughts of The Sentinel. This just boggles my mind -- even sappy love songs (or angst songs) on the radio make me think of TS; it seems to pop up in my brain regardless of the circumstances. If I'm fixing fence -- "This would be a lot easier with Jim around." If I'm picking up trash along the road edges of my property -- "Blair could sure give a scathing diatribe about people's propensity to litter." And so on, and so on.
But this morning really blew my mind. I listen to the "oldies" radio station on my 20-minute drive to and from work each day. They started playing ABBA's "Dancing Queen." As I listened to
"She is the dancing queen,
Young and sweet, only seventeen..."
I flashed on a vision of Blair Sandburg -- younger than we know him now, hair loose and curly around his shoulders, dressed in tight-fitting jeans and a loose, gauzy white shirt with billowing sleeves and a deep V-neck that shows off his chest hair. He's in a -- night club, or something similar. Anyway, he's having a high old time, enjoying the music and atmosphere and movement, dancing with anyone who asks -- man or woman, he doesn't care, he just wants to dance.
I mean, it has to be obsession, right? How else could I listen to ABBA's song "Dancing Queen" and have an image of a young, dancing Blair (male, very male) spring to mind?
Anyway, the plot-bunny bided its time for about eight months, but then became very insistent, demanding to be written. I hope you enjoyed the result.
I'm very grateful to my advisors who offered suggestions that improved this story considerably -- Arianna, Jess, Caro Dee, and Alyjude. Thank you ladies; your ideas really helped.
.
First posted January 3, 2006. This story is based on a plot-bunny that came directly from my obsession with The Sentinel. In May of 2004 (as best I can pinpoint it), I made the following post to the Senad mailing list --
I'm still finding this "fan" thing freaky. No other fandom, for me, has been a tenth as strong as this one. It seems strange to me that I find so many ordinary bits of daily life leading to thoughts of The Sentinel. This just boggles my mind -- even sappy love songs (or angst songs) on the radio make me think of TS; it seems to pop up in my brain regardless of the circumstances. If I'm fixing fence -- "This would be a lot easier with Jim around." If I'm picking up trash along the road edges of my property -- "Blair could sure give a scathing diatribe about people's propensity to litter." And so on, and so on.
But this morning really blew my mind. I listen to the "oldies" radio station on my 20-minute drive to and from work each day. They started playing ABBA's "Dancing Queen." As I listened to
"She is the dancing queen,
Young and sweet, only seventeen..."
I flashed on a vision of Blair Sandburg -- younger than we know him now, hair loose and curly around his shoulders, dressed in tight-fitting jeans and a loose, gauzy white shirt with billowing sleeves and a deep V-neck that shows off his chest hair. He's in a -- night club, or something similar. Anyway, he's having a high old time, enjoying the music and atmosphere and movement, dancing with anyone who asks -- man or woman, he doesn't care, he just wants to dance.
I mean, it has to be obsession, right? How else could I listen to ABBA's song "Dancing Queen" and have an image of a young, dancing Blair (male, very male) spring to mind?
Anyway, the plot-bunny bided its time for about eight months, but then became very insistent, demanding to be written. I hope you enjoyed the result.
I'm very grateful to my advisors who offered suggestions that improved this story considerably -- Arianna, Jess, Caro Dee, and Alyjude. Thank you ladies; your ideas really helped.
.