Goodness, okay. Reading Tales of Greenlea County has been an initially befuddling but always wonderful experience. I only began checking out BBM fanfiction after joining a livejournal community of Heath mourners, which soon led to my discovery of the brokebackslash and wrangler communities, which eventually led to Madlori's Human Interest stories, which then led to madlori's livejournal and a old post raving about something called the Laramie Saga, a series in which Ennis finds a new man and a happy life after Jack's death. Heh, I love the internet - it's so easy to stop and look back on the random progression of clicks that have brought you to where you are.
What happened next was about a day of utter confusion - Madlori and other discussion threads specifically talked about
Ennis, and the thing was supposedly called the
Laramie Saga, but when I started in on Taking Chances at louisev's livejournal, I found neither Ennis nor a Laramie setting! I knew I had the right story, because everything else Madlori had described was there - a snarky, sexy policeman named Ellery Cantrell, a gay bar called the Red Stallion where it all starts, a whole host of amazing original characters with a relatively minor presence of "Ennis'" daughters and ex-wife back home, and a quality plot. I kept reading, thinking maybe there was some unspoken agreement between writer and readers that Colson was Ennis and Adam was Jack and so on. Then Taking Chances sort of ended, and the links I found to the rest were duds, and in a state of semi desperation I finally found a link to tcreader via wrangler. I've been devouring the series since then, and when I ran out of chapters towards the end of Shelter from the Storm I almost cried!
By now, I've sorta got a handle on the convoluted history of the series, especially after jumping ahead to read through the side stories and a few enlightening posts on louisev. While reading, I kind of saw the story as a weird parallel universe of BBM, and I think Colson's grief and pain affected me so strongly because I applied to his character the powerful feelings I had about Ennis' tragic backstory. I do wonder if I would have reacted the same way to Colson if I had approached the series as an original story from the start, not to say that you don't convey Colson's loss vividly and effectively - and I think his random flashbacks to his times with Adam definitely help. My notions of parallel universes were bolstered by intermittent slips with the characters' names - I've seen Ennis written where it should be Colson, or Jack instead Adam, Curt instead of Bud, Junior instead of Katie Ann. I'm inclined to think these are typos, but they served as sort of stealthy reminders of some secret history just the same.
This is getting to be a teal deer - sorry - but I've been wanting to comment on this story for over a hundred chapters and I finally have the chance! I adore Ellery Cantrell - he reminds me more than a bit of Sirius Black and last night I had a dream about the two of them having coffee, so I've spent the day fantasizing about a Greenlea/HP crossover. Speaking of HP, I'm in the midst of attempting a post-series fic of my own, which makes me appreciate the world you've created even more, considering BBM's end was your jumping-off point.
I am in love with your police department, especially Wes, Joe Tooey and Dupree; Colson and Ellery's interactions with them range from hilarious to really touching. The dynamic between Colson and Ellery is fascinating and believable, and so very, very hot, and a few of their more intimate conversations about moved me to tears. Love em. In the Red Stallion world, I've developed a definite soft spot for Lauren and Simon - I cling to their unwavering sanity and decency in a community where everyone else seems to be slutty or dangerously psychotic.
One thing though - Colson's eyes seem to switch from blue to brown with puzzling frequency. What color are they really? Sorry, sorry this is so long, just think of it as many chapters worth of comments.
