Disclaimer: The universe of The Sentinel, including the characters of Jim Ellison, Blair Sandburg, Megan Connor, and Simon Banks, belongs to Pet Fly Productions and the copyright holders. No money is being made from this piece; I wrote it for fun, only.

Notes:

1. This piece is composed of a series of individual snippets. If I followed the MPAA's rating system for each one, about 3% of them might get an R rating for frank discussions of sexual acts in conversation; about 10% might get a PG-13 rating for language and 'mature themes'; and the rest would probably get a PG rating.

2. Because of the experimental nature of this piece, I've included an author's preface in Part 1. In the preface I've explained the context in which this story grew, as well as given my acknowledgements to the many people who collaborated with me in the writing. The story itself begins in Part 2.

3. This piece has been edited and spell-checked. But because of the fact that I've tried to retain some of the feel of e-mail and on-line chat, I've left in occasional spelling, usage, and grammar errors.

Warnings: m/m, some language

Summary: Two fans of the TV show The Watchman join an adult discussion list, discovering love in the process.

oooOOooo

Love in Unexpected Places, Part 1 - The Author's Preface

How It All Began...

Back in early November of 1998, I suggested that the members of SENAD introduce themselves to the group, possibly revealing their ages, genders, occupations, locations, as well as how they came into the fandom and slash. About 60 people out of the maybe 600 members of the list participated in the flurry of introductions.

But soon the sheer number of 'off-topic' posts began to annoy some 'old-timers.' "Haven't we gone through this before?" someone said. "Every one of these people owes an ObSenAD!" someone else proclaimed. I followed up that comment by asking whether the writer*really* wanted to read 60 ObSenADs. She said she would delight in such a thing. This request was followed by the wail: "But if we write ObSenads about ourselves, they would all have to be Mary-Sues!"

Not necessarily, I thought to myself...

Suppose Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg were fans of a TV show called The Watchman. And suppose they independently discovered an e-mail list called WatchAD. And suppose they joined the list - neither telling the other. And suppose that in order to retain anonymity, they each logged on from an ISP which allowed pseudonyms and resisted finger searches.

So with that idea in mind, I posted two introductory posts to SENAD from Wolf and Panther with this heading:

To: WatchAD@channel1.list1.com
Cc:
Subject: Who Are We?

I originally did this as a one-shot joke, one which got giggles from a few listsibs.

But as time went on, and other off-topic threads emerged, I found myself asking what Panther or Wolf would say about them. So they would join in the discussion.

Then, a strange thing happened. People started writing back to Panther and Wolf, commenting on their posts, giving advice.

Some of those people were aware that they were writing to fictional beings, but some people thought they were real members of the list. I informed all who responded [off-list] that they had participated in a fictional conversation and then I asked whether they wanted their contribution to be included in the final concatenation of all of the snippets. Most said "sure!" A few said, "Oh my god! My kids interrupted me so I didn't notice the header - NO! Don't include me!!"

Well, what happened was really odd. For me, anyway.

What began as a random series of occasional posts began to develop a story line.

People wrote to me weekly wanting to know whether Panther and Wolf would ever discover that they were really Jim and Blair; whether Jim and Blair would ever get together, and so on.

I began to expand the story to include not only posts to WatchAD, but also private e-mails between Panther and Wolf, as well as conversations between Jim and Blair.

And then magically word came of a rally for The Sentinel to be held in LA on January 8, 1999. So of course, The Watchman fans, including Jim and Blair and Panther and Wolf soon looked forward to their own rally.

oooOOooo

The Experiment -

This piece was very much an experiment in many ways. I used the formats of e-mail, on-line chat, a website, and dialogue - attempting to preserve many of the conventions of each.

Also, this story grew on a daily basis. I responded to whatever topic was current on SENAD, so this was for the most part a spontaneously created piece.

This was also, in part, a collaborative work of art. Several people participated in its creation, by responding to the guys on-list and in "private e-mails."

Of this group, I would like to thank:

Allison [who should practically be given co-author status], Grace, Rhianain, Ann, Tracy, Mindy, Trekkin, Karen, Shan, Michelle, Gina, Kelly, Anja, Angelika, Deb, Deka, Salleye, Jfarries, and Merry Lynne, who let me quote her about cultural trends at Thanksgiving.

At one point, I developed a writer's block and announced that fact on- list, asking for advice about the direction of the piece. Several people responded, and I was able to use most people's advice.

Of this group, I would like to thank:

Carls, Casey, JC, Allison, Rikwen, AnnaBleigh, Deka, Karen, JenienceJ, Ingrid, Chaomath, Cynthia, Cheyene, Rayden68, _Charly_, Kelly, Melanie, Jane, Tracy, Nadine, Susan, LMDarling, Noon, Tealin, Larrkin, Spship, Mick, Grey, Pessime, and Lmmorse.

And occasionally, I felt extremely depressed, thinking that really no one would want to read another one of these snippets, that they must be getting tired of them. And just about the time I felt like hanging it all up, I would receive wonderful letters of encouragement or appreciation. So ... I continued, until I found a reasonable point of closure.

Of this group, I would like to thank:

Abink, allison, angelika, ann, AnnaBleigh, Bablit, Barbra, Bronwyn, Carla, Casey, Cynthia L, Cynthia O, DJW3432, Dolimir, Emily, Fhianain, Grey, Gumprichs, Iffer, Ingrid, JC, Jean, Jenn, Jessalyn, Jfarries, JKL, Jody, Larrkin, Lite0991, LMDarling, Lmmorse, Louisa, lyrade, maharet1, Merri-Todd, Michelle, Mispriss, Moz, n.b. Cressy, Noon, Pamila, Pessime, Rayden68, Samantha, Shannon, Stacy, Susan, T. L. Webster, Tealin, Teavish, Tracy, Trekkinn, Ursula, Virginia, ggoose, Patty, Jenny, K'Kathy, Diane, and RG.

So what follows in Part 2 are time/date stamped snippets, which I've edited and then concatenated in pretty much the order they appeared between November 16, 1998 until January 17, 1999.

I hope you enjoy them.

--Marmoset