SUSPICIONS IN SCARLET REPOSE
Book 4 The Color of Love Series
Reality Check
January 10, 2003 finds me optimistic but still somewhat wary about OLTL and the "new" direction of the show. A new executive producer, Jack Valentini, head writer, Josh Griffin, and "creative consultant," Michael Malone, are all in place. Things can only get better right? Please-e-e-e-e. The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach started back in November and has not completely abated. Everything I've read about them and what I've gleaned from their interviews indicate that with Malone and Griffin OLTL will be in better hands than it has been in a very long time. But Griffin seems way too interested in Sam (a character I want to just die already) and Malone was quoted as saying that T&B have great chemistry so it probably makes sense to tear them apart and then put them back together. Ahem. Reminds me of Jill Farren Phelps famous statement about Bo and Nora being her favorite couple when she took over as EP. She then proceeded to rip Bo and Nora to shreds and insert her favorite boy toy in the middle of them and then gave said boy-toy a son by Nora so he'd have a "foothold in Llanview." To this day Bo and Nora have not reunited or recovered from the destruction. And to add insult to injury, we are STILL saddled with the presence of JFP's smarmy, self-righteous Sam Rappaport, albeit in another but now equally irritating guise. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Still I have my fingers crossed that JG and MM will work wonders with OLTL and Llanview. They created or wrote the definitive form of many of the characters I care the most about: Blair, Todd, Nora, and RJ. I hope they restore Todd and Blair both to their former glory days and bowl me over with great stories. I'm an Unrepentant T&Ber and I fly my colors proudly so I also HOPE JG/MM will do right by my couple. And I hope and pray that JG/MM will get me to eventually walk back into the room instead of standing by the door with my hand on the knob, curl up in the recliner and watch OLTL with a bowl of popcorn in my lap and the remote control on the other side of the room like I used to do in the "good old days."
JG & MM's vision is slated to hit the screens in the mist of a fierce snowstorm in about three weeks. Time will tell the tale. So why worry about the reality of OLTL, when I can indulge my fantasies in fan fiction? So here it is, the fourth installment in The Color of Love Series and it has NOTHING to do with what is happening on the show these days. Instead it is a sequel to Dreams In Amber Refrains and you remember how that one ended--with much kissing and hugging. In my small micro-inch of the fictional universe, Todd and Blair love the hell out of each other and always will.
I guess at this point, it goes without saying that my version of T&B's world meandered away from OLTL's version of Llanview some time ago and it's a different place. However, because of her prominence in the story, it is still probably a good idea to remind everyone that my Liz Reynolds is a gorgeous photographer with sass who looks like a slightly older version of Keri and is nothing like the sleazy, creepy, self-centered version of the character TPTB brought onto the canvas of Llanview a few months ago played by the wonderful Barbara Nevin. It is also probably worth noting that Jason exists only in my fictional universe.
This is a work in progress so the chapters may not be posted as quickly as you would like but they will come.
On a personal note, this is an anniversary of sorts for me. I started posting my first fan fiction, Consequences In Blue Notes, at the Blair Firsters Board on January 5, 2002 and posted the last chapter on January 10, 2002, exactly one year ago today! (And yes I did wait to start posting this new story on this day; couldn't resist the symmetry). A number of people were so encouraging and supportive a year ago that I kept right on writing. Two sequels and a Stand Alone later for good or ill I'm still writing. So I'm sending out a BIG hug and mucho THANKS to everyone who read my work in the beginning and offered so much encouragement. And THANKS to everyone else as well who has read or who is currently reading my work.
As always, I hope you enjoy the story. Let me know what you think.-- Tessarae 1.10.03
Addendum 1--April 18, 2003: The Josh Griffith and Michael Malone Storm of Change did blow into Llanview in February 2003 with what I will have to judge as decided mixed results and an unexpected development or two. Over the last two and a half months there have definitely been changes I have liked but at a price. The pacing of the show is substantially faster but that seems to have come at the cost of enormous holes in the storylines and demands that the fans suspend disbelief nearly to the breaking point and major assaults on continuity and logic (Victor Lord has been alive for the last thirty years cooling his heels on a farm in upstate Pennsylvania!; Mitch manages to strip Vicki and her family of all of their assets and physical property!), some dead wood has been cut (Goodbye, Sam, please don't even write) and there are reports of some favorites returning (Dorian is already back!), one or two egregious storyline travesties have been or are on the way to being corrected (e.g., Bo is Matthew's father)! There are definitely things I don't like however. JG/MM's new character, Flash, for example, is a major bust and their obvious devotion to her is inexplicable. She has been front and center for the last two months or so sucking up hours and hours of screen time and I haven't found one single reason to care about her. The lack of appeal of this character seems so obvious to me it makes me question their reasoning. Yet I am enjoying the hell out of the a couple of new couples, Marcie and Al, and Roxy and Nigel, while some other things remain the same.
On an additional positive note, Liz Reynolds and Sam have been killed off. I detested the character of Sam but from the stand point of my fan fiction he was a nonentity. I was also not a fan of the Liz Reynolds as she was ultimately conceptualized on the show, even though as I've said before Barbara Nevin was wonderful. On one hand, from the point of view of my fan fiction, Liz's death on OLTL has no impact whatsoever since my conceptualization of Liz is so radically different in terms of race, personality and motivation. On the other hand, it is slightly disconcerting to know that RJ's great love is now dead on OLTL. Hey, but that's on the show and not in my fan fiction world. Even so, I have been thinking about actually changing the name of my character in The Color of Love Series to separate her further from the character on the show.
But some things are not so easily overlooked. Most notably for me, JG/MM have done nothing to enrich and offer a payoff for the T&B fans. T&B were once again tore apart and in a way that made no sense to me. Blair finally forgave him for the DBL and planned to remarry him when the Mob Hit scheme surfaced and Todd was busted once again and another wedding was aborted. (Even weeks and weeks after this occurred I still can't see why JG/MM did not let the Mob threat be genuine and the T&B reunion a real payoff for the fans.) As it was, when Blair was kidnapped, she realized how much she still loved him and counted on him coming through for her. When he did, but by putting Natalie at risk, Blair ended it once and for all. Why? The DBL was forgivable but not that?
Now it turns out that backstage drama has put the "melo" back into the equation and a period at the end of the sentence. Roger Howarth chose not to renew his contract AND left the show to join a competing soap opera. So much for T&B. It is over. They will always live in my heart and in my fan fiction the way I wanted them to be. Even if they recast the role of Todd, the T&B I invested so much in will no longer exist. I will always grieve for what might have been but there is nothing to do but let go. And as long as my muse is willing, I plan to continue writing fan fiction but my muse has been known to get cranky. I will at least try to keep her locked in the room long enough to finish Suspicions In Scarlet Repose but I can't make any promises.
I also continue to watch OLTL. Once I gave up expecting a deeper, richer, more logical and layered show from JG/MM and just strapped in for the ride (logic be damned) there have been moments of flat-out fun and pure satisfaction (Dorian and Blair are magical together; I truly heart Marcie and Al). It's the way I imagine surfing a wave might feel: the exhilaration is in skimming across the surface, staying upright and not looking down. So as far as OLTL is concerned right now I'm just riding the wave. 4.18.03 ~~ Tessarae
Addendum 2--July 11, 2003: Given the fact that Liz Reynolds has been killed off on OLTL, the differences between my version of Liz Reynolds and the OLTL's version has reached a point of critical mass. I finally decided to go through with the name change I hinted at above and clearly identify her as a fan fiction character that has no real counterpart on the show. So in my fan fiction the character is now called "Toni" instead of Liz and surprisingly enough looks somewhat like Evangeline Williamson. Go figure. LOL Nothing else about the story has been changed. Toni is still Keri's mother and did keep Keri away from RJ but beyond those characteristics the similarities end. I've tried to edit all of the chapters in this story to reflect the name change. I apologize if any some Liz references slip through. I am double checking but it may take a third or fourth pass to produce a complete "Liz" purge.
And on a positive note, OLTL has gotten substantially better in the last couple of months. I have fallen totally head over heels in LOVE with Marcie & Al (MARCAL). They are the most romantic couple ever on OLTL! MARCAL makes me VERY happy. AND Walker Laurence, Mitch's supposed younger brother, is a true hottie. Hubba! Hubba! Rumors are everywhere that he may turn out to actually be Todd in disguise. Who knows? If he is Todd then I want the show to let the viewers in on it now and for Blair to find out immediately. Not in the mood for another "Todd scams Blair" storyline. But whew that Trevor St. John is TRULY nice to look at AND he can act! Plus he and KDP have major chemistry! So Walker? Todd? As this point I can live with either. Just need the show to commit one way or another. --Tessarae87(7.11.03)
Addendum 3--January 10, 2004: I cannot believe it has been a year and I still have not finished this story! And the sad thing is that it's not that I haven't been trying to finish it. But the truth is that as hard as I tried Roger Howarth's leaving the role of Todd really knocked the wind out of my sails and my T&B muse never really recovered. Please don't misunderstand me. I've grown to absolutely adore Trevor St. John's version of Todd and to quote my fave fan fiction writer Dandesun see him as the "Toddiest Todd that ever Toddied." No, it wasn't really about Howarth's leaving per se but instead that his move seemed to be a sign to me that T&B had stepped onto the slippery slope yet again and for the last time. So the reaction of my muse was not about the role being recast but about an overwhelming sense that T&B would NEVER be written in a way that offered any real payoff. And unfortunately I seemed to be right. Once again Todd has been written as lying and deceiving Blair. Once again Starr is his willing accomplice. Once again in order for the storyline to work Blair had to take her IQ Deflation pills every damn morning. Once again Blair is leaning on the shoulders of a man, Kevin this time, who is Todd's nemesis and in the final analysis only sees Blair as a useful post on which to cock his leg and take a leak in order to play top dog with Todd. Yet another phony wedding with a lie in the middle of it. Yet another lie to explode in Todd's face and then the inevitable tussle for the children. Ahem. But JG & MM have actually taken the story to an uglier and more damaging place than I ever could have imagined. They are now doing a "He said, She said, Rape Storyline." I always said I was an Unrepentant T&Ber but in the final analysis I found even I have my limits. So I after Ireland, Patrick, Tea, Max, Sam, The Dead Baby Lie, Faux Mobster hits..., in other words, after TEN freakin' years I finally pulled my flag down, folded it carefully, wrapped it in tissue paper and put it in the drawer and stepped off the T&B Train. Had to.
Oddly enough though this latest development seemed to get my muse out of "park" and I started working on Suspicions again! I guess the onscreen version of T&B is so bad that even I need a bit of comfort in fan fiction! Weird. But I am going to try to finish Suspicions partly because I hate having it unfinished. After all, one of the things that drove me to fan fiction was a need for closure as well as the need for a satisfying payoff. So I am once again trying finish this story. I've extended the existing ten chapters to fourteen chapters and rearranged some of the scenes. I added an additional scene to what is now Chapter 14 and I posted a new chapter (Chapter 15) today to mark my second anniversary as a fan fiction writer. Happy Freakin' Second Anniversary to me! Hopefully, 2004 will find me & my T&B muse in a better mood! --Tessarae87 1/10/04
Addendum 4-April 10, 2005. After reading Addendum 3, I would laugh at myself if it wouldn't sound so hollow. It's been almost sixteen months since I last posted an update to this story and the weird thing is that I really have been trying to put a cattle prod to my T&B muse and get her fired up. She is stubborn as hell though and OLTL has done everything it can to make it more difficult. Although MM & JG have left the show and there is a new head writer, believe it or not, the first thing she did was to write another rape storyline for Todd and Blair. Luckily since I've stepped off the T&B train and my flag is still safely folded in tissue paper and at the bottom of the bottom file drawer, I've just looked on for the last few months with a measure of detached disbelief and horror at the prolonged, senseless MISERY wrought on T&B. But I'm not even surprised anymore about anything. Can't care enough to be surprised anymore. The good news is that my muse made the mistake of waltzing back into the room and I managed to tie her to the bed and shoot her a couple of times in the legs, so I've started writing Suspicions again with a determination usually reserved for zealots. I will finish this story and get to write The End in the near future. And it won't be another year from now. That I can promise. LOL --Tessarae87 4/10/05
Final Addendum-August 18, 2007. Suspicions In Scarlet Repose is finally finished. I could not rest until I finished that story but I had no idea that it would take me four years! But I did it. I hated leaving the story hanging and the sad thing was that I had the whole thing mapped out. All I had to do was write those final five chapters, but my T&B muse went on strike. When she finally walked back into the room the other day this last time, I finished the chapters in a couple of days. It's hard to explain why it took so long for me to finish this story but one truth is that, in my opinion, it was painful to try to watch what the OLTL writers did to T&B over the last four years or so and I just lost interest. A new head writer, Dena Higley, came in 2005 and it's hard to believe this but she wrote storylines for them that were at least a hundred times worse than anything that had gone before. What she did to Todd and Blair and the Manning family was criminal. I didn't think anyone could kill my T&B love since I never claimed it was logical or rational, but she managed to do that. Plus the actor who is currently portraying Todd, Trevor St. John, added a particularly nasty twist to things when he started campaigning in the press for a pairing between Evangeline and Todd. On the show, Evangeline is now in a coma because the actor who portrayed her did not renew her contract, so it looks as if that potential pairing is a no-go unless they recast the role. As a result, Trevor St. John has now moved on to agitating for a pairing between Todd and his rape victim, Marty Saybrooke. IMO, the idea is just sick but he doesn't seem to understand that at all. Weird. The show has now hired a new head writer, Ron Carlivati, and his storylines should start airing next month. Carlivati has been with the show for eleven years and knows its history. For the last six months or so he was co-head-writer with Higley. I am more than willing to give Carlivati a chance, but I'm not hiring a brass band or shredding paper for confetti. I am pulling for him to turn the show around and once again to make it a show I will look forward to spending an hour with each day, but I've been burned too many times to assume that will even be remotely possible. Instead, I will expect the worst and hope for the best. In any case, regardless of what happens I can't see myself writing any more T&B fan fiction, so this is the period at the end of my writing sentence. It has been some ride for me and I've enjoyed it immensely. Thanks to all of you who have read my stories and especially to those of you who have written to me to share your impressions. It has been a privilege.--Tessarae87 8/18/07