Steven released this Spotlight on April 13, 2000
Tonight's bi-weekly "Spotlight" is on 'shipper Ben Yee.
Canadibrit wrote it best when she said Yee's ..."Something of a dark 'Shipper..." His 'shipper stories are "classic" Daria/Trent 'shipper stories, albeit when *attempted suicide*, *dreams*, and *personal cameos* are thrown into his continuum, it makes for an interesting brew of stories. Let's look at his fics:
"Another Average Night", is supposed to be just that: an average night in Daria's life--but Yee shrewdly begins to sow the seeds of the relationship early here, and Jane is up to her classic yenta tricks again--which leads to...
"The Slow Knife"--A classic case of "Daria-gets-tired-of-living-her-stale-life-because-no-one-seems-to-care-so-she-decides-to-end-it" story. Yee inserts Trent and Jane to stop her, and the continuum really takes off here with Trent's declaration of the "L" word for Daria.
In the aftermath, "Perchance to Dream", Daria's had enough of dealing with her family, and runs to Trent and Jane for support, and Yee actually has something of a tiny *cameo* appearance here!
In "Crucible", OH is settling into staying at the Lanes, who seem the only people in the universe to care about her, and Trent gets serious about his future, thanks to Daria, and, oh yeah--Yee adds a backrubbing scene, (thanks to Bob Marley) as well as himself *again* in the story for a tiny bit! It's interesting to me--Yee seems to be a bit of a *contradictory* writer here--things are going in a serious way, then suddenly something extraordinary funny happens, and the reader is thrown off (or surprised) a bit, then the scene returns to seriousness. Not a bad thing, just an interesting take from the writer's point of view, as if he's saying, "Remember folks, this is just a fanfic".
"Eye Spy" actually is a little out of the Yee continuum, though I believe it's still *part* of it--OH seemed to develop some feelings for the new student (outside of Trent), actually an undercover spy sent to look over the inner workings of Lawndale High, which explodes in...
"Showdown At The Lawndale Corral", where a lot of unheard-of things are brought to a head with Quinn and the F.C., Helen and Daria, and the rest. After the smoke clears, some things have changed permanently, which leads to...
"Reevaluation", which to me is an extension of "Showdown", because unthinkable things continue to happen--Jane's admission that she didn't expect Daria and Trent to get together, Quinn's begging Daria to come back home, and more dreams.
"Truthfire" is about an almost tragic misunderstanding. Trent hears Daria's fears about the relationship, and tries to get himself killed in a barroom brawl because he doesn't think he's worthy of Daria--he has his own fears, too. The two reaffirm their feelings for each other, and the relationship is strengthened.
"Vision" has got more dreams in it, and this one is Daria's--her fears of losing Trent and Jane beforehand, and her wish to er, *die* at the same time as her friends. This also, according to Yee, "happens around 'Perchance To Dream'", so it's a little out of the order. (But he didn't want to give away the plot.)
"Disaster", considered to be outside of Yee's continuum--kind of, I think, because it *does* involve Trent, is an excellent twist of a fic, and just for *meaness*, I'm *not* going to tell you what happens if you haven't read it, and you'll have to read it for yourself to believe it!
In closing, Ben Yee is what I consider to be something of an "off-key" 'shipper--he gives us the depths of the Daria/Trent relationship (with Jane as the yenta) in a classic way, but with a little of a playful *flair* in his writings--he's the type of writer that keeps you on your toes a little, and lets you expect the unexpected *along* with the basic elements. What do YOU (and the author himself) think? Thanks.