Daryl Banks

Chapter Two A Daryl Banks     "You know," Blair said thoughtfully as Jim returned with his beer, "this would make a wonderful Ethnography."     "An Entho- what?" Henry asked.     "An Ethnography. It's a research paper of sorts," Blair began, "It's like this; an Anthropologist goes into a tribe, or whatever culture he is studying and they observe what is going on in that cultural structure, or tribe. They do interviews, and then give their own opinions as to what they think. When I first started to help Jim with his senses I came to the department as an observer, with story that I was doing my dissertation on Closed Societies, more specifically on the blue line. That was an Ethnography. I was to observe you guys at work, and then draw my own conclusions from my observations. Now sitting here listening to you guys discussing fan fiction, I could make a really great paper out of this."     "This sounds fascinating, Sandy. How would you go about doing it?"     "Well, if you were doing this for credit, it would be like any report. You would have your cover sheet, then your index. Then you would have to explain the premise of the show, as well as explain the difference between your gen and slash stories..."     "Oh, I know the difference, but explaining it to someone who has no idea of what is going on, how would you explain it to them?" Megan asked, her curiosity piqued.     "Well, for the premise of the show, you would explain that Detective Jim Ellison is a Sentnel in he fight for justice. All five of his senses are heightened beyond that of a normal man. For example, he can read a newspaper across the long end of a football field. He can hear a heartbeat clearly from the opposite side of that same football field. If you were in a supermarket, and you got one of those free samples that they hand out on toothpics, you could give him the toothpick and he could tell you what was on it. You could hand him a notepad and he could tell you what had been written many pages before. An last but not least, he can walk into a crime scene and tell you what kind of aftershave or perfume the killer was wearing.     "Then, your gen stories could be considered ... Like the "It's about friendship" aspect of the show. The guys are friends who live and work together. They both date women and are very close personally, but they are just friends." "Next you have the slash stories, and they deal with the characters..."     "Us," Jim said as he threw both his arms around his partner, smiling.     "...As lovers." Blair said as he detangled himself from the arms, "Basically a male/male relationship verses a male/female relationship," Blair finished trying not to be embarrassed by Jim.     "Just ignore him Sandy. After that description, what do you do next?" Megan asked.     Clearing his throat and giving Jim this look that begged 'just give me a reason', he continued, "Next, we would do interviews, and then I would include my personal observations, and finally give it a good closing."   "What kind of an interview would you do?" Serina asked.     "Hey, if you all are interested, why don't we just conduct a verbal Ethnography of the people here in this room?" Blair asked.     Everybody was in agreement.     "Cool," Blair said as he rose from the sofa,     "Let me get some paper and a pen just so I can write down the questions that I'm gonna ask. That way I can be sure not to miss from one person to the next."     Blair returned moments later with his ever present notebook and a pen. Even though he still published on occasion, he only kept the notebook handy for when Jim showed some new aspect of his senses. He no longer followed the Sentinel around like a shadow with notebook and pen ready to take down every minute detail that he saw or heard. Much to Jim's delight.     The main reason that he published anymore, was for the citizens of Cascade who wanted to keep tabs on their resident Guardian. Otherwise, his publishing was on his Closed Societies subject that still warranted attention when he wasn't teaching.     "Ok, Daryl, let's start with you, shall we?" Blair said as he resumed his seat and got ready to write.     "Sure no problem man. What do you want to know?"     "Ok, #1.) What is your name?"     "Uh... Okay. Daryl Banks"     "#2 How old are you?"     "I'm…let's say 22-24 age bracket."     "#3.) Where else have you lived?"     "I've spent time in the DC Area, Daryl answered"     "#4.) What have you done for a living?"     "Computer Help Desk Analyst."     "#5.) How did you started watching The Sentinel. I mean you said that you were surprised that we were into it even though we had the real thing?"     "Actually, it came on. I was flipping channels, and I thought, 'Let's give it a try and see if it compares to the real thing'?" Daryl said smiling.     #6.) What do you like best about the series?" "The fan fiction. Before then I wasn't really excited about it."     #7.) How did you get into the fan fiction?"     "I was doing a search of fiction on the web and ran accross Kristy Williams' site. Love at first site!"     #8.) What do you like best about the fan fiction?"     The creativity. People have so many ways of expressing the same characters.     #9.) Do you write Gen/slash/both?"     "Gen"     "#10.) If you write one, but like to read the other, tell me why?"     "Don't really. Slash is a little to intense for me and I prefer the guys straight anyway." Blair smiled at this, then continued on.     "#11.) What mailing lists are you on and why?"     "Senfic and Sentries. Senfic because I post fic and Sentries because they have all sorts of info on what's going on in the fandom."     "#12.) Anything else that you believe is important (that I haven't thought of as yet)?"     "I don't know."     "Ok," Blair said, "next set of questions."     #A.) Why doest thou write?    "Well, it all started when I was a kid. I started reading. I used to go to the library and pick up twenty books and have them all read by the next week. It got the point where there were few books that surprised me or that I enjoyed. I wrote the beginning of a lot of stories, but I never finished one until I started writing for the Sentinel. Finally I had someone to write for, so I finished the story. Now I write to get a reaction out of people. To shock them and make them think. Pretty sneaky, huh?"     "You could say that," Blair returned smiling.    "#B.) What compells you to write?"    "Well, it's not really a compulsions. It's the glee that I feel when I think about how the reader is going to react when they find out that reality as they know it is no longer real." "Oooh, now I like that idea," Blair said wiggling his eyebrows, and smiling that 'Cat that ate the canary' smile. Everyone in the room started laughing. Finally, ater everyone quieted down Blair continued.     "#C.) How do you write. Do you work from an outline, or off the top of your head, what?     "I find it hard to work from an outline. I have a story like that, but it isn't writing that well. Most stories I come up with a general concept. Then I feel the emotin that I want to evoke (mostly humor) and go from there. Someone once wrote me that my stories read like the characters were dictating to me. They pretty much do. I never know what they'll come up with next.    "#D.) Do you prefer angst, h/c,,what?    Humor. Punny humor. I can do angst and H/C, but I prefer just to take the reader outside of themselves and get them to laugh at life. It really is quite funny.    "#E.) Dost thou like Jim, or Blair owies, and if so, why?    "Well, if they happen, they happen, but I don't really do them unless I want the reader to wince in sympathy.    "And now for the last set of questions," Blair said.     "#1.) What is your opinion of the internet?"     "Great place to visit, wouldn't want to live there."     "#2.) How has it helped/hindered todays society?"     "It offers a lot of opportunity for learning and shopping. It brings people together and holds them apart. It's now easier to communicate to a stranger than someone you know in RL. It's like any new invention that revolutionizes life, it has it's good points and it's bad points. I don't think we've seen the best and the worst it can be, yet."     "#3.) How much time do you spend on the net, fan fiction and mailing lists in a given week?"     "Hmmmmm, well considering I'm hooked up on the web 40 hours a week, I'd say 5 hrs."     "#4.) What do you like/hate about mailing lists?"     "No comment." "Anything else that you would like to add at this time?" Blair asked in closing. "Not that I can think of," "Wonderful, Daryl, Thank you" "You're welcome." He returned.

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