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crack_van2006-02-18 08:54 pm
franciskerst.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2006-02-18 08:54 pm
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Lest These Dark Days by Jane Carnall and Ann johnson (NC 17)
Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Cowley
Author on LJ: Not any more, alas!
Author Website: Jane Carnall's site
Why this must be read
Now, after some cautious preparation, we are entering the weird and perilous fields of the infamous B/C pairing! This is at last the fateful story who, in less than two hours and, to her own stark astonishment, turned upside down the fannish affections of an innocent reader who, until then, had been perfectly happy and satisfied with the regular and quite obvious one, the OTP Bodie/Doyle pairing (I simply wasn't very convinced by the physical charms of the green eyed golly but, as long as it came to fanfiction reading, it didn't matter much).
I think now I was hooked first by the style: clear and transparent like these calm, sky blue waters, through which the gaze gets at the bottom so easily you could believe the rocks and sands are almost at hand, and yet you know how this delusion is deceptive. The bottom is much much farther, beyond your reach.
So many examples come to mind. This is one:
Bodie was attractive. Very attractive. Very dangerous. Attractive because dangerous, and, for Cowley, dangerous because attractive.
It's difficult to say something so right with so few words. Another one:
It was a wonderful morning -- for Bodie, it could have been raining and it would still have been a wonderful morning. He felt good all over, keenly aware through his whole skin of the morning breeze and the summer's sky and the tactile memory of holding Cowley.
Is it just plain, as it may appear, or more significant than the simple meaning of the words?
And another passage I deem as one of the most moving I ever read:
Cowley remembered, afterwards, the dark hair crisp as feathers against his fingers; remembered tracing the line of one scar that curled around Bodie's ribs like a whiplash; remembered the sleepy, still-confident, smile on Bodie's face as he hooked an arm around the other man's waist and fell into a satisfied sleep. These things he could bear to remember, though they seared him; for the rest, it would have been better if he could have forgotten what must never happen again.
Wistful, bittersweet, heartbreaking. I am not very receptive to the pathetic, romantic stuff that I personally feel as counterproductive in regards to emotion but such matter of fact statements remain in my memory where they resound again and again with full gravity. And did I say how I loved the verses which are used to introduce the chapters? And how perfectly the whole poem fits the development of the characters' moves and feelings?
Perhaps I make a mistake by quoting some of the finest bits of the text, it could spoil the pleasure of discovery; but, on the other hand, as most people in this fandom are likely to be repelled by the basic idea of the pairing itself, I must entice them by something else...I'd like to know if other readers are as sensitive as I am to the suggestive power of understatement.
Before reading the story, you ought to cast a look on these complementary informations:
Everything is canon here, except the relationship between Cowley and Bodie; outside this, all the events are taken from an episode. First “Wild Justice” where Cowley threatens to shoot at Bodie, in order to prevent him from killing a suspect who is a personal enemy, then “Involvement” where Doyle is dumped by the girl he wanted to marry and eventually “Need to Know”, where Cowley sets up a man trap for the success of which he has to cheat his own agents.
If you want to understand something to the outcome of “Lest these Dark Days”, it’s necessary you had watched the episode “Need to know” or read the script because the author doesn’t explain the background at all.
http://hatstand.slashcity.net/epinfo/need.html
There is a very significant and striking scene where Cowley, using an oxygen mask, undertakes to help his men who are suffocating because of a stun grenade: he runs first to Bodie, gave him oxygen a rather long time while gently stroking his brow; then he gets toward Doyle, puts the mask on his nose an instant, quickly and perfunctorily and, as soon as possible, comes back to Bodie who is still lying on the ground, kneels near him, gave him more oxygen while stroking again his face, with a worried look before helping him to stand up by holding him with an arm around the waist and leading him to his car.
That was basically the germ of the story. Lest These Dark Days
Pairing: Bodie/Cowley
Author on LJ: Not any more, alas!
Author Website: Jane Carnall's site
Why this must be read
Now, after some cautious preparation, we are entering the weird and perilous fields of the infamous B/C pairing! This is at last the fateful story who, in less than two hours and, to her own stark astonishment, turned upside down the fannish affections of an innocent reader who, until then, had been perfectly happy and satisfied with the regular and quite obvious one, the OTP Bodie/Doyle pairing (I simply wasn't very convinced by the physical charms of the green eyed golly but, as long as it came to fanfiction reading, it didn't matter much).
I think now I was hooked first by the style: clear and transparent like these calm, sky blue waters, through which the gaze gets at the bottom so easily you could believe the rocks and sands are almost at hand, and yet you know how this delusion is deceptive. The bottom is much much farther, beyond your reach.
So many examples come to mind. This is one:
Bodie was attractive. Very attractive. Very dangerous. Attractive because dangerous, and, for Cowley, dangerous because attractive.
It's difficult to say something so right with so few words. Another one:
It was a wonderful morning -- for Bodie, it could have been raining and it would still have been a wonderful morning. He felt good all over, keenly aware through his whole skin of the morning breeze and the summer's sky and the tactile memory of holding Cowley.
Is it just plain, as it may appear, or more significant than the simple meaning of the words?
And another passage I deem as one of the most moving I ever read:
Cowley remembered, afterwards, the dark hair crisp as feathers against his fingers; remembered tracing the line of one scar that curled around Bodie's ribs like a whiplash; remembered the sleepy, still-confident, smile on Bodie's face as he hooked an arm around the other man's waist and fell into a satisfied sleep. These things he could bear to remember, though they seared him; for the rest, it would have been better if he could have forgotten what must never happen again.
Wistful, bittersweet, heartbreaking. I am not very receptive to the pathetic, romantic stuff that I personally feel as counterproductive in regards to emotion but such matter of fact statements remain in my memory where they resound again and again with full gravity. And did I say how I loved the verses which are used to introduce the chapters? And how perfectly the whole poem fits the development of the characters' moves and feelings?
Perhaps I make a mistake by quoting some of the finest bits of the text, it could spoil the pleasure of discovery; but, on the other hand, as most people in this fandom are likely to be repelled by the basic idea of the pairing itself, I must entice them by something else...I'd like to know if other readers are as sensitive as I am to the suggestive power of understatement.
Before reading the story, you ought to cast a look on these complementary informations:
Everything is canon here, except the relationship between Cowley and Bodie; outside this, all the events are taken from an episode. First “Wild Justice” where Cowley threatens to shoot at Bodie, in order to prevent him from killing a suspect who is a personal enemy, then “Involvement” where Doyle is dumped by the girl he wanted to marry and eventually “Need to Know”, where Cowley sets up a man trap for the success of which he has to cheat his own agents.
If you want to understand something to the outcome of “Lest these Dark Days”, it’s necessary you had watched the episode “Need to know” or read the script because the author doesn’t explain the background at all.
http://hatstand.slashcity.net/epinfo/need.html
There is a very significant and striking scene where Cowley, using an oxygen mask, undertakes to help his men who are suffocating because of a stun grenade: he runs first to Bodie, gave him oxygen a rather long time while gently stroking his brow; then he gets toward Doyle, puts the mask on his nose an instant, quickly and perfunctorily and, as soon as possible, comes back to Bodie who is still lying on the ground, kneels near him, gave him more oxygen while stroking again his face, with a worried look before helping him to stand up by holding him with an arm around the waist and leading him to his car.
That was basically the germ of the story. Lest These Dark Days
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Although I think that enjoyment was more possible because there was a veil over the more intimate aspects of their encounters. You haven't converted me *g*.
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I am attached to their partnership myself. I see love and absolute loyalty between them too (and it's canon, anyway). But I can also see the bond between Bodie and Cowley, something like a father/son relationship turned incestuous? I say it without any moral judgement, they are not father and son and we know human feelings are very complex; I am touched by this relationship because it is weird, unnatural and maybe pathetic, seen from outside, but each one fulfills a need that is vital for the other: a fatherlike figure for Bodie and the revival of his youth for Cowley.
that enjoyment was more possible because there was a veil over the more intimate aspects of their encounters.
Not for me. Quite the contrary. I was easily convinced because I don't see Doyle as attractive. Not at all my type. On the opposite I find Cowley rather handsome in spite of his age; he has a perfectly classic profile, lovely expressive wrinkles and as charming a smile as Bodie's. And his lean body has better proportions than Doyle's. Moreover, power and intelligence are two very strong aphrodisiacs!
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A belated message I address to a few readers of my "Pros" recs, OT regarding the thread but not our common interest in "Pros":
As you must have noticed, "Pros" has been written off the list of the regular fandoms; I have done two months and proposed to keep on reccing for a third , to fill the gap before another volunteer would sign up but it was refused, to give place to more active fandoms. That's a pity, really; how do you think we could awaken the lists members and motivate them to take part in the game? pesonally, I am too young in the fandom; I know almost nobody and I suspect my calls would fall in a pit of indifference.
Could you ring the alert bell? Thanks.