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A Jericho Fan Fiction Archive
"Better them than us." You know, when I first watched the show I so could have smacked Gray for saying that! Little did I know how it would turn out in the end, what bad would happen because Jericho was able to get rid of Ravenwood... :(
That sentence still makes me shiver...
The whole "more than one" president thing made my hairs stand again... *goosebumps* - like it did, when I saw the ep... it is just horrible that above all of that Sh** they have to realize that a Civil War is looming - just because there are more than one who demand the power... :(
Jake is just cute, I loved all the little stories of stealing at Gracie's and how he tried to be grumpy with Eric and April.... *laughs*
Must have been a great show! And wow… there are so many meanings for the colours of roses… *snickers*
Black Jack is evil… I personally still think they just touched the top of all the rotting things going on there…:(
This was a great chapter. The thing that stands out the most for me is how you used little bits of humor to alleviate the seriousness of the goings on at Black Jack. You really built on the Black Jack scenes in such a way that made it seem more real . . . more ominous to me. I especially liked the little reminders of how Black Jack used to be a family place by telling us that Russell's contact for specialty items operated at the place where they brought lost children and by describing the marquee advertising corn dogs, cotton candy and funnel cakes.
I like how Mindy provides a link between Jericho and New Bern and am curious to see if (or what) part she'll play in upcoming chapters. I enjoyed getting to know Mindy through your little snippets about the Macarena (and the other dances) at Jake's wedding and Dale and the super soaker. I like the interactions between Jake and Mindy and how he seems to be a big brother to her.
Great foreshadowing here:
"Through there," Ted said pointing them onto a wider path. "Now, I would've figured Jericho's set for food," he challenged, "All that good farmland around town."
There was a resentful note in Ted's voice that made the hair on the back of Jake's neck stand on end and put him immediately on guard. "It's not easy anywhere these days," he answered brusquely. "And that includes Jericho."
Probably the most poignant scene at Black Jack was when Dale was looking in the back room with the metal bunks, recalling a happy memory about the time he spent at a church camp and his subsequent realization of what was room was really being used for.
I have to say that my favorite part of this chapter was the five years before scene. I thought you captured the ambience of a school holiday performance perfectly. The things that stood out for me in this scene were:
The scene between Heather and Gail I think showed how much their relationship had grown over the last five years. Gail, I think, is right Heather is trying to do too much and does need to have her priorities. On the other hand, I understand Heather's need to do whatever she can and her annoyance with Gail. I think it's just like her to have the children she once taught on her mind. I glad that in the end Gail understood where Heather was coming in and softened her approach to get her point across. I also liked how Heather got her point across about Emily to Gail.
Thanks, Skyrose!
I'm glad that you find Mindy interesting and (I hope) a good addition to the Jericho universe. So far she's appeared in Parts 4, 8 and 12 of the Different Circumstances universe. To keep the pattern going, I guess I can't bring her back until Part 16! But I don't know that I'm going to wait that long. ;-) Suffice to say, she will be back and she has her share of story to add.
As for Constantino, well you will just haveto stay tuned. He's basially the same guy we know from the TV series but I think he has an additional layer or two that we'll be hearing about. He had to have done something that looked good to get everyone following him until they were too scared not to.
I'm also gratified to know that the contrast between Dale's memory of camp and the true purpose of the backroom at Black Jack was so poignant. Sometimes I just think we see something bad and it takes us a moment to realize the horror we're looking at. I usually end up thinking (or saying) "Is that what I think it is?!?" It was that sort of moment I was going with for Dale. He knew what those mattresses were supposed to be used for, and it took just a few seconds to comprehend what was really going on.
Finally, I'm glad you enjoyed the school play. It was fun to write, and I need those fun, kind of "innocent" scenes of the past to write so that it balances out some of the bad stuff happening in the present.
Ah, but I do love this story, Marzee! I always have so many thoughts that run through my head when I read one of your chapters.
"But since then, Constantino's managed to take control of things," Russell explained, continuing the tag-team effort. "Crime really isn't a problem for us anymore."
This is, I think, a very striking sentence. On the outset, it makes it seem as though New Bern has overcome enormous obstacles. Further examination, though, should make a person want to run for the hills where this place is concerned. Exactly how does one get rid of crime in the aftermath of what they've endured? Brute force.
Not bothering to acknowledge the other man, Jake moved toward his brother-in-law, slipping off his backpack as he went. Digging around inside the bag, he found the spiral notebook and extracted it, presenting it to Michael. "You think you can get this all down?"
"Guess so," Michael agreed, "You can't? Your hand broken all of a sudden?"
This made me laugh. Isn't it strange how characters will ask another character to do what they (supposedly) could easily do themselves? I loved Michael's response to Jake, and the explanation of the pain-staking handwriting requirements in Catholic school did go a long way to explain why Jake would push that job on his brother-in-law.
Speaking of this scene, I enjoyed getting more of a background into what was happening in the outside world. I didn't remember some of this from the show, so it definitely filled in the blank for me more.
Going to the five years ago scenes, I want Jake and Heather to have some together time so badly! I'm glad Jake was able to finesse his way back stage to see her. The cookie bribe Jake used with Bonnie had me laughing because I noticed that he didn't offer the peanut butter cookie as collateral. LOL. Jake and his peanut butter fettish!
I also liked the running gag with Eric, April, and the flowers. Reading those scenes with them in the past is so bittersweet, largely because they're happy. Yet at the same time, the slightest chinks in their armor are discernible. Or are those chinks discernible because I'm looking for them? I'm not sure, but what I do know is that those scenes make me feel very sad for what they've become.
Thank you so much for posting this chapter!
I'll just respond to a few things... :-)
Not bothering to acknowledge the other man, Jake moved toward his brother-in-law, slipping off his backpack as he went. Digging around inside the bag, he found the spiral notebook and extracted it, presenting it to Michael. "You think you can get this all down?"
"Guess so," Michael agreed, "You can't? Your hand broken all of a sudden?"
This made me laugh. Isn't it strange how characters will ask another character to do what they (supposedly) could easily do themselves? I loved Michael's response to Jake, and the explanation of the pain-staking handwriting requirements in Catholic school did go a long way to explain why Jake would push that job on his brother-in-law.
LOL. I could understand Jake getting Heather to take the notes at Black Jack -- she is the type to carry a notebook -- but I didn't think Mikey would do it without comment. I would have asked if Jake's hand was broken, too!
Speaking of this scene, I enjoyed getting more of a background into what was happening in the outside world. I didn't remember some of this from the show, so it definitely filled in the blank for me more.
Glad to be of assistance! Looking over all the news that was available, I know I didn't really "see" it all when I watched the show, and then when I thought about seeing news again for the first time in weeks and figured I'd be overwhelmed.
I also liked the running gag with Eric, April, and the flowers. Reading those scenes with them in the past is so bittersweet, largely because they're happy. Yet at the same time, the slightest chinks in their armor are discernible. Or are those chinks discernible because I'm looking for them? I'm not sure, but what I do know is that those scenes make me feel very sad for what they've become.
The flowers will be back, and there's more happy Eric and April coming. If I'm writing those chinks into the story here it's not completely intentional. I know it's coming, but I have to believe that they really were happy once, so that's how I write them. I actually still have hope for April and Eric, believe it or not, so only time will tell.
Love all of the details and banter! April and the roses, Gail & Heather and the What to Expect When You're Expecting, the grim reality of Blackjack. Great job all round!
Looking forward to more! Thanks for writing, Marzee!!
Thanks, merryann!
This was fun to write, the banter especially. As for the roses, I don't think we've heard the last of them. More soon. :-)
Great chapter, Marzee! It entertained and amused me, with all the sprinklings of humour and sweet moments between the characters, but it also reminded me of those scenes in the original Black Jack, which I watched with bated breath. You really captured that scene where the party from Jericho are surrounded at Black Jack.
Not only have you described the scenes I loved, but you've built onto them as well. I liked the picture you drew us of the fair grounds- details such as the fact that the 'off the books' dealer operates out of a place where they once brought lost children, or the fact that you can still see carnival treats advertised amidst the post-apocalyptic trading going on. I liked following Jake's train of thought as he took in the news for the first time. I guess these details were always there, but you've highlighted and drawn attention to them in an interesting way.
I liked the way the characters from the New Bern party are relating to the characters from Jericho in this part, setting up the relationships between them. It was really interesting seeing Mindy, a character known to all of our windmill-chasers, being reunited with them. I like the details we got- that she and Mikey got to know each other over the Macarena, and the story about Dale and his supersoaker made me laugh. It's interesting to see Ted in this context too- much more wary of these outsiders and not very friendly.
I liked the 'after the bombs' scenes, but I think, for this chapter, my favourite part had to be the 'before the bombs' Christmas Carol play scenes. You captured the atmosphere at a gradeschool holiday performance just perfectly. There were so many things I liked- here are a few:
-Eric and April as good natured audience members. I liked that they had gotten themselves into the spirit of the thing. Especially April. You write her with such a cheery, good sense of humour. I laughed at many of her lines, and at her envy of Heather's roses and near-blackmail (with the threat of calling Gail) she uses to convince Eric to get some for her. It was kind of bittersweet of course, knowing what I know about how that relationship will progress. I also liked the reminiscing back to Eric's theatre days. I always thought that was a funny little part of his character. (And laughed out loud picturing him in Once Upon a Mattress!)
-Bonnie as the mostly diligent assistant director. I could just picture her holding her clipboard, and I could imagine it would be hard for her to say no to Jake, especially when he brings cookies into the picture.
-Jake's attitude- going to every performance, showing Heather his support and encouragement, getting the all important closing-night boquet of roses, and resorting to bribery to see her during the intermission. I laughed through the entire scene of his backstage rule-breaking. He's such a rebel, bringing food backstage too! Of course, this is exactly how I imagine Jake would do the 'boyfriend of the director' thing.
-I liked meeting the Davis family here. More interesting additions to your town full of citizens. Already, I found myself wondering when we would see Clyde, Shannon, or Lindsay show up in the post-bombs scenes. I want to know what happens to them.
-I really, really liked the glimpse we got of the Stevens family here, seeing as we've always heard them mentioned, and yet, we've heard so little about them, really. Here, you give them each an interesting personality. I really enjoyed the moment between awkward little Dale and indulged little Skylar, almost being forced to spend time together. I liked that Miranda Stevens took a bit of an interest in Dale's well-being, showing a different side of her than we've seen (or really, heard about) other times, as well as her enthusiastic reaction to the overall success of the play, and Skylar's part. I also liked the information we got here about Mr. Stevens, and the mention of his friendship with Gray.
The scene between Heather and Gail was sweet, and showed just how far their relationship has come in the intevening five years. Though, of course, I knew Gail was right and that Heather should take a break, I was glad to hear she hadn't forgotten about those children she'd once spent all her time teaching. She definitely shouldn't have to spearhead every project, but it's good that someone's remembered them, and hopefully Heather will be able to convince someone to take on the job.
As I mentioned earlier, I really liked the way you wrote the final scenes of this chapter. They had all the suspense of the ones I've come to know so well, but with your own additional layers you've added. The most interesting, I thought, was the part where Dale imagined his old summer camp, taking us right through a happy memory into the moment he realizes the true nature of that shady back room he stumbled across.
I look forward, as always, to the next part!
Thanks for your review, Penny! Much appreciated. :-)
I'm glad I did the Black Jack scenes justice, as it is a favorite episode of many, including me, and I'm also glad that Mindy is still interesting.
The school play was a lot of fun to write! I hadn't even thought about Jake the rebel/rule-breaker taking food backstage (okay, duh!) but you're absolutely right, he's doing the supportive boyfriend thing with his own little twist. I'm happy you enjoyed the near miss with Dale and Skylar, and am happy to report there's a present day Dale/Skylar scene coming up. Plus, the Davises will also be reappearing at some point, never fear.