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archetI can reliably trace my first ever significant tv boy-crush to Lt. Myron Goldman via the late 80's, early 90's series, Tour of Duty. However, and just like the Emperor said to Vader in his creepy-whisper voice, “There is, ah-nuh-ther.” The same year, the same night, TOD aired, another show also debuted which was actually the lead-in show for TOD, and here we have a tie for my (significant) first ever tv boy-crush/s. He was always there, just sorta got lost in memory for a bit.
Enter: Matt Hawkes, High Mountain Rangers, circa 1988. High Mountain Rangers was a family adventure series revolving around Jesse Hawkes (Robert Conrad), a former ranger and mountain man, and his sons Matt and Cody Hawkes (played by Conrad’s actual sons, Christian and Shane Conrad). Matt, the eldest, leads a team of ‘rangers’ - wilderness search and rescue law enforcement officers and often clashes with his father, mostly over the care and feeding of his 15 year old little bro, Cody. Cody lives with Jesse on the mountain as basically a shut-in due to dad’s dim view on modern society. Adventures ensure involving escaped convicts, bears, a defecting Russian skier, earthquakes, stupid, reckless hunters, a crazy ex-ranger, and that’s just what I remember off the top of my head.
HMR endured only a single season, thirteen episodes, before being canceled, and to my 11 year old self, was a cool, action packed adventure. Matt Hawkes was blond, tall, handsome, had a cool last name, often wore tight leggings, tall black boots and a bomber jacket (yeah this was often their ‘ranger’ uniform, but hey, it looked good) and did cool things on skis. Living in a pre-VCR era (at least in my house) I was able to view each HMR episode exactly once. As far as I remember, it never aired again and can only be found in the form of bad, bad resolution VCR recordings which several kind souls have posted on YouTube, which is where I rediscovered it quite randomly.
I won’t get into the series itself too much. It exists fondly in my 80’s childhood memory, though on a bit of re-watching...boy, is this some classic, 80’s cheese and cringe. Still, memory now jogged, I was enamored anew with the idea of Matt Hawkes. He’d remained buried in my pre-teen memory, and for whatever reason, decided to step forth. Next logical step? Seek out fic. There are fic out there, but oddly no m/m , which boggles the mind! Mainly, I was low-key petulant about that. I wanted to write, but I put it off. I’m incredibly rusty at any real attempts at writing, but Matt wouldn’t leave me alone. I started envisioning scenes in my head while driving to work, while at work, scenes told mainly from the viewpoint of Matt’s boyfriend. Of course, Matt didn’t have a boyfriend on the tv series, heh! So, I had to create him one...or rather, he created himself. I couldn’t envision Matt with any other character on the show, so ex-Marine Jody McKinnon manifested. I started writing with just a vague notion, and just wanting to have fun. Now, and per Word Doc, fifty pages in, I’m fairly astonished as fifty pages for me is MASSIVE. For me it’s on the scale of Egon’s Twinkie comparison in Ghostbusters, and like Zeddemore said, “That’s a big Twinkie.”
Unlike a trend that I’ve noticed in many HMR fics to set events in modern day (not a criticism just an observation) I’ve kept mine in the late 80’s...well, 1989. I wanted to keep some of the 80’s cheese. I want my guys to have that typical, magical ‘zing!’. I want there to be action, and a slow burn and some flirting amid hurt/comfort and a healthy dose of suspension of belief. I want all the pretty things, basically. I already know how this story ends, and am already envisioning a continuation for a sequel. These boys have taken full ownership of my muse machine and are captaining the ship.
I have zero expectation of readership, and am slightly curious as to what reception a m/m HMR fic might get, if it gets any, if any actual HMR fans should give it a whirl, since after scouring the internet I can’t find a single one. Anyway, for whatever reason, I’ve had more fun with this than I’ve had in years fandom-wise. And as a sidebar: I really want to create some cover art too, though, man, Christian Conrad has like, zero presence on the internet. Most of the pics from HMR aren’t great quality. He did continue to act somewhat, funnily enough guest starring on Star Trek Voyager, which was once my main jam, not that I recognized him back then.
But mainly I’m just excited to be creating, to be goofily having fun. I was positively giddy writing the moment where Matt and Jody meet. Maybe it’s the low expectation, no pressure. Maybe it’s because this world feels so ‘open’, since the series only last one season, there’s not a lot you have to adhere to. I’m pretty rusty at writing, but it almost doesn’t matter...(not that I want it to suck, mind) but it’s so cool to feel this way about writing again. So, I’m throwing this out into the world because it’s fun for me to think and ramble about. The current fic is about 75 % done and I’m looking forward to wrapping it up. Here’s hoping the muse keeps on giving!
Enter: Matt Hawkes, High Mountain Rangers, circa 1988. High Mountain Rangers was a family adventure series revolving around Jesse Hawkes (Robert Conrad), a former ranger and mountain man, and his sons Matt and Cody Hawkes (played by Conrad’s actual sons, Christian and Shane Conrad). Matt, the eldest, leads a team of ‘rangers’ - wilderness search and rescue law enforcement officers and often clashes with his father, mostly over the care and feeding of his 15 year old little bro, Cody. Cody lives with Jesse on the mountain as basically a shut-in due to dad’s dim view on modern society. Adventures ensure involving escaped convicts, bears, a defecting Russian skier, earthquakes, stupid, reckless hunters, a crazy ex-ranger, and that’s just what I remember off the top of my head.
HMR endured only a single season, thirteen episodes, before being canceled, and to my 11 year old self, was a cool, action packed adventure. Matt Hawkes was blond, tall, handsome, had a cool last name, often wore tight leggings, tall black boots and a bomber jacket (yeah this was often their ‘ranger’ uniform, but hey, it looked good) and did cool things on skis. Living in a pre-VCR era (at least in my house) I was able to view each HMR episode exactly once. As far as I remember, it never aired again and can only be found in the form of bad, bad resolution VCR recordings which several kind souls have posted on YouTube, which is where I rediscovered it quite randomly.
I won’t get into the series itself too much. It exists fondly in my 80’s childhood memory, though on a bit of re-watching...boy, is this some classic, 80’s cheese and cringe. Still, memory now jogged, I was enamored anew with the idea of Matt Hawkes. He’d remained buried in my pre-teen memory, and for whatever reason, decided to step forth. Next logical step? Seek out fic. There are fic out there, but oddly no m/m , which boggles the mind! Mainly, I was low-key petulant about that. I wanted to write, but I put it off. I’m incredibly rusty at any real attempts at writing, but Matt wouldn’t leave me alone. I started envisioning scenes in my head while driving to work, while at work, scenes told mainly from the viewpoint of Matt’s boyfriend. Of course, Matt didn’t have a boyfriend on the tv series, heh! So, I had to create him one...or rather, he created himself. I couldn’t envision Matt with any other character on the show, so ex-Marine Jody McKinnon manifested. I started writing with just a vague notion, and just wanting to have fun. Now, and per Word Doc, fifty pages in, I’m fairly astonished as fifty pages for me is MASSIVE. For me it’s on the scale of Egon’s Twinkie comparison in Ghostbusters, and like Zeddemore said, “That’s a big Twinkie.”
Unlike a trend that I’ve noticed in many HMR fics to set events in modern day (not a criticism just an observation) I’ve kept mine in the late 80’s...well, 1989. I wanted to keep some of the 80’s cheese. I want my guys to have that typical, magical ‘zing!’. I want there to be action, and a slow burn and some flirting amid hurt/comfort and a healthy dose of suspension of belief. I want all the pretty things, basically. I already know how this story ends, and am already envisioning a continuation for a sequel. These boys have taken full ownership of my muse machine and are captaining the ship.
I have zero expectation of readership, and am slightly curious as to what reception a m/m HMR fic might get, if it gets any, if any actual HMR fans should give it a whirl, since after scouring the internet I can’t find a single one. Anyway, for whatever reason, I’ve had more fun with this than I’ve had in years fandom-wise. And as a sidebar: I really want to create some cover art too, though, man, Christian Conrad has like, zero presence on the internet. Most of the pics from HMR aren’t great quality. He did continue to act somewhat, funnily enough guest starring on Star Trek Voyager, which was once my main jam, not that I recognized him back then.
But mainly I’m just excited to be creating, to be goofily having fun. I was positively giddy writing the moment where Matt and Jody meet. Maybe it’s the low expectation, no pressure. Maybe it’s because this world feels so ‘open’, since the series only last one season, there’s not a lot you have to adhere to. I’m pretty rusty at writing, but it almost doesn’t matter...(not that I want it to suck, mind) but it’s so cool to feel this way about writing again. So, I’m throwing this out into the world because it’s fun for me to think and ramble about. The current fic is about 75 % done and I’m looking forward to wrapping it up. Here’s hoping the muse keeps on giving!
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Date: 2022-08-30 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-30 08:40 pm (UTC)