Entry tags:
The Smallest Room by Sebastian (NC-17)
Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Sebastian's Professionals fiction can be found at the Circuit Archive
Why this must be read: This is the first of several stories by Sebastian that I'm going to rec this week. She's one of the Pros authors who seems to be either loved or hated; I happen to love her fiction. (See Note, below.)
In The Smallest Room, she shows us Bodie and Doyle near the beginning of their partnership, a time when each is still trying to figure the other out. In a job that requires a high degree of trust between partners, they've struck a balance that lets them work effectively together - though neither is precisely satisfied with the situation as it stands - until a tense op and one impulsive act threaten to throw off their carefully constructed equilibrium.
The Smallest Room
Note: There is a divide - not necessarily a hostile one, but a definite stylistic schism - in Pros fandom. Throughout December I'm going to rec a variety of stories from both sides that divide, in the hopes that everyone will find something they enjoy. Not everything is going to be a personal and/or stylistic favorite of mine, but all stories I rec will be well-written and representative of the body of work of a Pros author widely considered to be exceptionally skillful or otherwise noteworthy. I'll make a point of stating whether or not the author is a favorite of mine, so that readers can evaluate for themselves the level of bias in my comments.
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Sebastian's Professionals fiction can be found at the Circuit Archive
Why this must be read: This is the first of several stories by Sebastian that I'm going to rec this week. She's one of the Pros authors who seems to be either loved or hated; I happen to love her fiction. (See Note, below.)
In The Smallest Room, she shows us Bodie and Doyle near the beginning of their partnership, a time when each is still trying to figure the other out. In a job that requires a high degree of trust between partners, they've struck a balance that lets them work effectively together - though neither is precisely satisfied with the situation as it stands - until a tense op and one impulsive act threaten to throw off their carefully constructed equilibrium.
The Smallest Room
Note: There is a divide - not necessarily a hostile one, but a definite stylistic schism - in Pros fandom. Throughout December I'm going to rec a variety of stories from both sides that divide, in the hopes that everyone will find something they enjoy. Not everything is going to be a personal and/or stylistic favorite of mine, but all stories I rec will be well-written and representative of the body of work of a Pros author widely considered to be exceptionally skillful or otherwise noteworthy. I'll make a point of stating whether or not the author is a favorite of mine, so that readers can evaluate for themselves the level of bias in my comments.

no subject
I *so* love Sebastian, and this story is one of my favourites :)
Is there a divide about Sebastian? I wasn't aware of it, but you were in fandom before I was. Nowadays Sebastian's stories seem to be quite widely liked, or at least that was my impression.
And thanks for reccing the other story, I loved it (and haven't read it before) :)
no subject
There's a divide in general, and Sebastian-fans seem to be on one side of it. It's all a matter of taste. [g]
The Smallest Room by Sebastian (NC-17)
Re: The Smallest Room by Sebastian (NC-17)
I hesitate to answer this, because I think I've probably opened a can of worms with my original comment and I don't want to come off sounding like I think I'm the arbiter of Pros politics; this is all based on personal observation and my subjective take on the situation.
I see Pros fandom as divided along what I think of as "genre" lines: happy/warm fuzzy vs. unhappy/bittersweet. That's a blatant generalization, admittedly, but it seems the easiest way to describe the situation. I think of one side as the "Jane of Australia" side and the other as the "M. Fae" side. [g]
I don't want people thinking it's like any of the really hostile fannish situations (e.g., the Ray wars in DS), because it's more a matter of personal preference. People who like Jane's writing tend to hate M. Fae's and vice versa, but I haven't seen a really vitrolic skirmish in my seven-ish years in Pros fandom.