Taking Chances, by E. L. Van Hine and L.H. Nicoll

[louisev]

I may not know till I reread it either, Jo.  I usually enter a period of intense rereading and revision after I finish a book, but instead, I moved on to the 2nd and the 3rd and the... etc.... and now instead of rereading "Taking Chances" myself, I am writing another story with different and newer characters, so I am STILL not rereading.

Maybe you can beta Ellery's extrovertedness for me... hehehe Hint hint.

[synne]

Hi All:  Also into the rereading, and certainly agree with the previous posters. What I always enjoy is the way Louise can throw away a perfect description with apparant carelessness and deadpan casualness. Like this one:

"This here's a gay bar, friend," Bill said, the word rolling out of his mouth as easy as a prayer on Sunday.

There are so many one-liners like this throughout the Saga - they increase so much our enjoyment of the story.

Can I now be critical? Please don't start throwing things at me, or worse, banning me from the bar, but I do want to make this observation, which has niggled at me ever since I first read the story:

I really cannot picture Jack, up there on Brokeback Mountain, sitting down and recording his thoughts about Ennis in a Journal. It seems so out of character for the Jack we read about in the original story - about the last thing he would do there. 

hi Richard
Good you are questioning Jack's "romantic self". That is what romantic people do- writing diary, isn’t it?  In my humble opinion Jack was romantic enough - dreamer, and on topf of it first time in love, for possibility to put few lines in his diary, hide it and never tell anybody.
Exactly what he did with shirts.
I haven’t reread 1-5 parts yet but I think there was even little poem attached … And do you remember crazy, fond boy performing rodeo riding for his Ennis, almost falling into a camp fire ?  I can imagine the same boy writing romantic love poem, well , as romantic as it could be.

[ifyoucantfixit]

Hello everyone!  I found my way here through one of Louise's messages at LiveJournal.  I can't believe what I've been missing!  I hope you have room for one more!  I would love to participate in a re-read of the Laramie Saga.  I must admit that I've probably "re-read" many chapters countless times already!  I just love that first day that E&E spend together - so may great moments. 

I can see that I have a lot of catching up to do!  I'm going to go take a look at the "Gallery" now.  Do I need to try and read all 500-plus pages that have been posted so far?  LOL!  I look forward to talking with all of you and, of course, re-reading this wonderful, beautifully written saga.  I'm also anxiously awaiting "Dupree's Choice" - I love Jeremy and Nick! - and the other continuing stories!

Marie

                      s'alright s'alright marie, welcome aboard and read along with us again..most of us have read parts of the saga many times, and it never
                      enough, never enough...       you are fashionably late,,,not too late.  enjoy                                                     janice

[ifyoucantfixit]

I would like to share my thoughts about the evolution of Ellery's character. I don't know about the rest of you but my image of Ellery changed from my initial impression in these early chapters from a physical and a personality perspective.

When he first arrived on the scene, based on the description given, I pictured him as a big, broad shouldered guy with large hands and a deep voice ("a voice as deep as Ennis'"). This changed as the story proceeded as he emerged as someone rail thin, with thin fingers and fairly narrow shoulders. I developed a more feminised view of him based on this (counteracted of course by the pix of Hugh who is definitely less than delicate!) So my mental picture is still a bit confused here!

Secondly my view of Ellery's personality in terms of his attitude to women has changed. In these early chapters Ellery actually flirts with women and even smacks the backside of a waitress. I gained the impression that he liked women because the women he came across (waitresses and Carol at the police  station) seemed to succumb to his charm. I feel these women would only respond that way if they felt Ellery genuinely at some level liked them and surely he would only put out the charm if he did like them. But as the story progressed Ellery seemed to like women less and less and no longer went out of his way to act charming with them. Has anyone else noticed this change and have an explanation for this?

                      i kind of agree, the mental image was built on the front page model we originally had to me...the only difference being he seemed to age a bit, as if that guy had just matured, because he idid look like a younger virsion of hugh...but the feeling that you had about the way he interacted with women was quite a change.  he did appear to flirt with women more at first.  i think however he did see the way it affected ennis who is a jealous man and even said so...so therefor he probably changed accordingly.. he liked his 200 proof man, and didnt want to change any direction their relationship was heading....

[MaineWriter]

For the Taking Chances re-readers, Chapter 6 is here:

http://louisev.livejournal.com/3929.html

Some excitement, Ellery appears on the scene for the first time in Chapter 9!

L

[louisev]

Thank you all for the insightful comments and *critical feedback! oh my* on the first few chapters.

I received a comment on LJ today from a new reader, and wanted to share it with you in light of recent discussion:

I will be honest, I was at first wary of this fic. I read so much bad stuff about it, that it took away from the love that Jack and Ennis had, that Ennis was way out of character...that it ruined Brokeback Mountain. But then I thought...why not give it a chance?

I have to say I now realize that people are simply being immature. I think you've done a wonderful job with building Ennis's life after losing Jack. You've taken us through the beginnings of the healing process with him, he's realizing it's okay to be happy, to remember Jack, and try to make a life with Ellery. I see no signs of "raping Jack's memory."

I, like many people, I'm sure, was devastated after seeing BBM (have not yet gotten to read the short story), seeing the pain that Ennis was in, and the obvious guilt he may feel. Though I do love AU stories, they and other, shorter or just generally less upbeat canon stories do not help me get rid of this feeling. This has. Not only has it captivated me enough to read it non-stop for several days, not even stopping to comment, but it pretty much just makes my soul feel better.

I'm not sure how much one little comment means to you, compared with the whole communities of people simply wanting to bash, but I am so anxious to continue reading, I just hope you aren't discouraged (I suppose you're not, you've written so much) and realize (I'm sure you do) that these people are simply being petty and a bit vicious.

I am still getting Friend requests from new users, and urging them to join us here at Bettermost for the "Rereader" discussion, including this reader.

To see the entire comment, it is at the end of "Looking for Answers":   http://louisev.livejournal.com/49732.html

[MaineWriter]

Because I love this scene so much, something for the gallery, and a quote:

Ellery Cantrell was an imposing figure, well over six feet tall as he bowed his head coming up the stairs, and stretched to his full height, clapping Bill hard on the shoulder and thrusting out a large, square hand to Ennis, who rose and accepted it. He had long, almost jet black hair, offset by pale, light grey eyes and a pale complexion, like pictures Ennis had seen of Doc Holliday, the infamous outlaw. And lean, almost as beanpole thin as Ennis himself, his figure made sharper by the trim black shirt, jet black leather vest and coal-black denims. When he spoke his voice was as deep as Ennis's own.


and a vest for the wardrobe department:



Leslie

[belbbmfan]

it pretty much just makes my soul feel better.

yep, that's why i'm here!

louise, so pleased that people are still discovering this wonderful story. soul food indeed. 

[souxi]

yep, that's why i'm here!

louise, so pleased that people are still discovering this wonderful story. soul food indeed. 

Yup I,ll second that. What a lovely comment Louise from that reader. I,d add, under petty and vicious, jealous. I,ve always said that I think thats the main reason behind all these vicious attacks etc..plain old jealousy. It,s very childish tbh. They want to grow up. Ellery doesnt wear that black vest any more does he? Ennis doesnt seem to like him in clothes like that, with his earring and his boots. I think Hugh would look gorgeous like that..mind you, I think he,d look gorgeous with a sack over his head lol. *SIGH* 

[MaineWriter]

I don't know that Ellery quit wearing the leather vest--doesn't it come up again on a Saturday night when they are going to the Red Stallion? It seemed that it was the earring he objected to, and that was more from Ellery's "queer disguise" that he wore on the trip to Austin.

L