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crack_van2004-11-19 05:45 pm
justacat.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-11-19 05:45 pm
Entry tags:
Guilt Trip, by Russ (NC-17)
Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: No
Author Website: http://galileo.apo.nmsu.edu/~mcmillan/stories.html
Why this must be read:
This is your basic first-time slash story, but with an interesting twist, one that I haven't encountered before in any fandom. It's a rape story, and of course rape stories aren't all that uncommon in slash - but I can't recall offhand another in which one of the guys is not the victim but the perpetrator of a rape - and not of his partner, or of a bad guy, but of an innocent woman (and it's really not a spoiler to tell you that - this is the whole premise of the story, and it becomes apparent within the first few lines). Guilt Trip is about Ray's attempt to deal with his own guilt and remorse over his actions, to come to terms with his mistake, and how the situation affects his relationship with Bodie and eventually brings them together.
Given the type of guys Bodie and Doyle would have to be to be effective CI5 agents, this actually doesn't strike me as that far-fetched a scenario, but it's fairly original as a premise for fanfic. Russ, whose writing I like very much, handles this somewhat difficult issue effectively and interestingly. While she never glosses over or makes light of it, the story never feels bogged down or maudlin or takes itself too seriously or (what could have been a fatal flaw) turns into a tract about rape either - she strikes a nice balance, and the story is well-paced and engrossing from start to finish . So while it might sound like this could be heavy going and pretty unappealing, it really isn't.
Because after all is said and done, this is a story about Ray, and about Ray and Bodie. The characterization is solid - Ray's feelings and thought processes struck me as fairly authentic, and the author manages to keep the blame where it belongs while preserving our sense of Ray's basic decency and humanity and permitting us to feel some sympathy for him. And while this is mostly Ray's story, and it's told entirely from Ray's (first-person) point of view, she gives us a pretty fascinating glimpse into Bodie - there's a little twist there as well. Their relationship develops in a reasonably believable way, and the intimacy between them is very sweet but in an understated, guy-like way, with a little bit of a hurt/comfort feel, but not over the top.
This is a story that could have been run-of-the-mill, but isn't - it's a great illustration how fanfic can feel fresh and interesting and original while still following familiar patterns and adhering to well-loved fanfic conventions. It's well-written and engrossing, with a nice bit of smut thrown in for good measure. All in all, I found this an enjoyable and satisfying read with enough depth that I've returned to it multiple times.
Guilt Trip
(Written in 1997)
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: No
Author Website: http://galileo.apo.nmsu.edu/~mcmillan/stories.html
Why this must be read:
This is your basic first-time slash story, but with an interesting twist, one that I haven't encountered before in any fandom. It's a rape story, and of course rape stories aren't all that uncommon in slash - but I can't recall offhand another in which one of the guys is not the victim but the perpetrator of a rape - and not of his partner, or of a bad guy, but of an innocent woman (and it's really not a spoiler to tell you that - this is the whole premise of the story, and it becomes apparent within the first few lines). Guilt Trip is about Ray's attempt to deal with his own guilt and remorse over his actions, to come to terms with his mistake, and how the situation affects his relationship with Bodie and eventually brings them together.
Given the type of guys Bodie and Doyle would have to be to be effective CI5 agents, this actually doesn't strike me as that far-fetched a scenario, but it's fairly original as a premise for fanfic. Russ, whose writing I like very much, handles this somewhat difficult issue effectively and interestingly. While she never glosses over or makes light of it, the story never feels bogged down or maudlin or takes itself too seriously or (what could have been a fatal flaw) turns into a tract about rape either - she strikes a nice balance, and the story is well-paced and engrossing from start to finish . So while it might sound like this could be heavy going and pretty unappealing, it really isn't.
Because after all is said and done, this is a story about Ray, and about Ray and Bodie. The characterization is solid - Ray's feelings and thought processes struck me as fairly authentic, and the author manages to keep the blame where it belongs while preserving our sense of Ray's basic decency and humanity and permitting us to feel some sympathy for him. And while this is mostly Ray's story, and it's told entirely from Ray's (first-person) point of view, she gives us a pretty fascinating glimpse into Bodie - there's a little twist there as well. Their relationship develops in a reasonably believable way, and the intimacy between them is very sweet but in an understated, guy-like way, with a little bit of a hurt/comfort feel, but not over the top.
This is a story that could have been run-of-the-mill, but isn't - it's a great illustration how fanfic can feel fresh and interesting and original while still following familiar patterns and adhering to well-loved fanfic conventions. It's well-written and engrossing, with a nice bit of smut thrown in for good measure. All in all, I found this an enjoyable and satisfying read with enough depth that I've returned to it multiple times.
Guilt Trip
(Written in 1997)
no subject
You're probably right about this (though I'm not sure I want you to be right!).
It's so interesting that you say this ... for you that view threatens cherished childhood illusions, whereas for me it's part of the fundamental appeal of the show. I love hearing about what makes a show, and a pairing, "work" for different people - I love getting new insights, other ways of viewing it (I'm going to post on safehouse soon asking just that question, in preparation for drafting
However, I think he's deeply committed to staying on the right side of the line. I find this combination - the ability to do vast damage, but the choice not to - extremely attractive. It's what draws me to most of my favourite fandom characters.
Oh, most definitely. But I also like the sense that it's sometimes a struggle - he's committed to staying on the right side, but given the nature of his life/job, the kind of life he leads, it's not always easy, and he sometimes has to actively resist the "dark side" - and that's where Bodie comes in; I love the idea that they help keep each other on the right side of that line, precisely because they both live so close to it and have, perhaps, come dangerously close to slipping over at times, been tempted to take the "easy" way ....
I find "Technique" extremely disturbing - it's M.Fae at her most extreme (I can't think of any that are more extreme, though I haven't read all of them; it's close at least). I think she was loving the characters less by that point, and it shows. But the thing is, even though that's not my preferred view of the characters, I can see how she got there - in her Doyle I can see just enough of the Doyle I saw on screen to make it a - scarily - plausible, if not likely, characterization (that's what I think M.Fae is so good at, and it's why, I think, her stories are so powerful and disturbing - she certainly knew her canon). I do think there's ample justification in canon for saying they wouldn't go there - but I also think you could come up with an opposing argument.
Someone just wrote this in an email to me:
"'Canon' is not a high art - and what *is* canon anyway? It's stuff like 'Bodie is an ex-merc', sure. But whether Bodie has bouts of schizophrenia or whether Doyle weeps a lot we *don't know*. It can seem doubtful when you've seen several eps, yes.... What if Doyle's tears in Klansmen are the start of a battle with depression that he keeps at bay for a while? I doubt that CI5 would hire weepy depressives, but what if he *did* have such tendencies? "
All these canon discussions have made me think carefully before saying something is OOC - sometimes stories really are, but a good writer can take elements from the show and end up with all sorts of potentially valid characterizations. But even if it's not OOC, the thing is, as you say, that I don't want the characters to go there (where they do in Technique, I mean).
It's interesting to me that I have a higher tolerance than you (it seems) for stories that explore the darker sides of the characters - but only so long as the ending is "happy"; I have a much lower tolerance for ambiguity or darkness in the ending, or in their relationship ....
I thought your last paragraph was very interesting ... when I read those books the idea of "slash" in a sexual sense had honestly never occurred to me - I wouldn't have been shocked by it, but I never would have gone there on my own. It was just an intense, way-more-than-platonic relationship between men. Now I couldn't read it without thinking "slash!" Finding fandom/slash has definitely altered my world-view and the preconceptions I take to the source ... it's difficult even to remember how I felt before.