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

[magicmountain]

You're right... about the hope thing...  I saw Annie's novel ending in hope... as the 'open space' between what Ennis knew, in the real world - that Jack was dead, and what he tried to believe... that Jack was present with him somehow in dreams.. was the same dilemma that he had been in before with 'open space' between where he was and where he sensed he needed to be.  ...I think with the closing of the book.. (not the movie)... Annie gave us hope that in the larger picture.. the spiritual dimension.. a lot gets resolved for all of us... that those who have passed on... are still present in our lives and are still lovin us and trying to give us good and clear guidance... 

In the saga you wrote... there were threads of that... and it would be entirely reasonable for me to assume that Jack had a large hand in the add being placed for the Red Stallion and Ennis' leaving the ranch and then bottoming out in loneliness and boredom... before getting moving and starting to seek things out... 

I see this as the story of a man's journey to discover his authentic self and to find the courage to walk in that self... 
I was captivated by your Laramie Saga because I heard that the challenge of life had been accepted... and that Ennis, who was started in life a couple of quarts down to say the least... accepted his limitations, acknowledged them... and then began to move.

 I suspect that Ennis, in your saga... began the quest to find Jack.... and his own way to honour Jack for all that he, Jack, gave him...  In doing so, I suspect that Jack was able to stear him to life and love... 

   

Thanks TH for your in-depth appreciation (which I have taken the liberty of condensing down) of the significance of the Laramie Saga. I have always suspected that on one level Jack symbolised the suppressed  part of Ennis - not only in terms of sexuality but in terms of the ability to show love, courage, faith and the joy of living. I believe that Ennis did set out on a journey to discover Jack -  and he found him within himself.

[yb]

A lovely post #4750 by Leslie, truly, a heartfelt thankyou to Louise.

I didn't expect The Long Way Home to end on chapter 84, I thought we'd have a few more chapters.  But it is a beautiful chapter, I'm so glad Ennis and Ellery talked things out, I got emotional when Ellery talked about his fears of Ennis might not come back whenever he went to Brokeback and Ennis's declaration.  There's a tranquility at the end of the chapter that is fitting to end this turmoil vacation.  I'm curious what is the token that Ellery has in mind. I'm thinking of a pendant, it's something you wear it close to heart and you don't have to take it down when working to protect it from scratches.

I am anxiously waiting for 'The Red Stallion'.  But take your time, Louise, you deserve a rest if you needed, really, you have spoiled us with at least 2 chapters everyday so we can wait a bit, but if you start it rightaway, I'm all for it.

[pastorfred]

   I think the tag line for the movie was that love is a force of nature...  I don't believe that.. only in that it grossly understates the matter...  Love is the driving dynamic of the eternal now... and it reaches into our lives in so many ways calling us to our destiny...

Oh, oh, oh!

In so many beautiful ways you have captured my own thoughts and feelings about Brokeback Mountain and the Laramie Saga.

You have also expressed as well as I've ever seen it a picture of what I believe about this world and the world to come. Love is the heart of the matter and the ultimate power in all the worlds.

Ours is a planet of crosses and graves... So beautifully said, and so beautifully symbolized in the incomparable work of art known as Brokeback Mountain.

What you said about sex and love between Ennis and Ellery also beautifully captures my feelings in words. They rarely just have sex; they frequently make love.

I could go on and on, just let me say:

Thank you for your thoughts and for the words with which you shared them with us.

[souxi]

Do you mean that some chapters will be just about say, Lauren and Simon and Sally and Ben, and not about Ennis and Ellery at all?  I love all the supporting characters of your story Louise, but its Ennis and Ellery I love above all else.  I hope I dont sound like I'm not looking forward to "The Red Stallion" - I am most definitely - I just want lots of Ennis and Ellery loving.  

Morning all, mornin fellow Brits, mornin June.
Christie lets not forget one very important thing to look forward too in book 6....

QUOTE:
And for those of you wondering if the Saga is going to end... I am presently seriously considering a Book VI, which I am going to title "The Red Stallion", which will take place after the boys' vacation and revolve around life at the Red Stallion, its denizens and social life as Ennis and Ellery solemnize their relationship with a personal commitment ceremony to one another.QUOTE:


I cant WAIT for that to happen. I bet there will be a few tears then. I,m looking forward to finding out a bit more about Mr mysterious Dupree and his "love interest", that should be fun. Wayne and Pete with no spleen lol, Sally and Ben, but you know what? After book 6 finishes, you know what that means?? NO more updates!! OMG what on earth will we do then? Read it all again of course lol. Louise have you ever considered having LS published as a fanzine? I,ve recently bough SN by Jenna and it would be so lovely if you did the same. Leslie that picture is breathtaking. What beautifull scenery. Right off for some RL, c ya later peeps. xx

[Kazza]

Hi there, jut logged on after busy weekend to read the final chapters of The Way Home. Feel all warm and fuzzy now. It been quite a ride (no pun intended). I like the jouney the boys have taken. Even though the trip to Brokeback was very painful, I think that they needed it in order to clear up certain issues.

Like other readers I'm excited about the impending sequel - but - also sad that it will be the last in the saga. Will have to read it again from he beginning after that.

Thank you Louise for creating something so wonderful for us to enjoy.

Following on from Souxi's mention of a Fanzine I have a perhaps naive question about them. I've seen the disclaimer that writers put at the beginning of their work stating that the characters are Annie Proux's and that no profit is being made from the use of her characters. However, if a fanzine is published, and money is paid for them (even if only to cover production costs) does this not contravene some sort of copyright law?

I'm relatively new to the world of fan fiction, so please excuse me if my question is stupid.

Right, of to re-read those last few chapters *sigh* 

Karen

[MaineWriter]

Kazza,

I don't think your question is stupid at all.

Back in the early days of slash and fanfic, people published fanzines because that is how the stories were distributed. Then the Internet came along and the distribution scheme changed. Suddenly, many more people had access and the whole genre, as a result, has become much more well known.

Copyright law in the US is confusing, to say the least (disclaimer: I do not pretend to be an expert on this!). Probably what Jenna did with SN, or me, for that matter (I had copies of my story (A Love Born From Steel) photocopied and bound to give to friends at the New England gathering last weekend) is a violation of copyright. However, for anything to happen, someone would need to bring a complaint. I sort of doubt that with my 20 little copies of ALBFS floating around out there, any of the friends I gave them to are going to call the copyright police. Still, there is that possibility.

In my experience, the situation I am more familiar with is when a person is giving a presentation at a conference. In the powerpoint, they have a copyrighted cartoon. Someone in the audience of 1000 sees the cartoon, doubts that permission has been obtained, and contacts the copyright holder, who in turn, contacts the violator (in this case, the speaker). Even then, it is relatively minor: usually a royalty is paid, and perhaps a fine, and a promise is made not to do it again.

There are a number of authors (Anne Rice, eg) who have asked that their stories not be used as a basis for fanfiction or slash. Do these people have staff members monitoring fanfiction.net, LiveJournal, and other sites for possible copyright violations? I have no idea.

The other thing that is happening is that where people used to pounce on things, they are becoming less accusatory, realizing that some of these ventures may actually be good publicity. There was a piece on the news recently about NBC and Youtube. Their policy used to be to immediately identify instances of copyright violation (using film that was the property of NBC) and demand that it be removed. They have tempered that stance, somewhat, realizing that many thousands (millions?) of people may see the Youtube video, which is not necessarily a bad thing for NBC.

Leslie

[Kazza]

Leslie

Thank you so much for clearing that up for me.

Karen

[louisev]

oh wow... I got online just now after returning from Darmstadt about 5 hours ago and find all of these goodies waiting for me!

Here is a goodie for you!


The Red Stallion begins:

http://louisev.livejournal.com/125667.html  "A Homecoming"

[Lumière]

Hello!

I just finished reading Chapter 1 of Book VI and I was inspired to do a pic of the boys.  So here it is!
I am sorry that Wayne is not in here .. I couldn't connect to Bettermost to get a pic of his saucy behind to add to the pic ..lol, so I'll be sure to add him to the next group photo .. 

Just in case you dont know who is who..from L->R: 
Simon, Lauren, The Lads (duh!..lol), Lance and Dupree!   

[louisev]

whoa!  niiiiiiice Lucise!