Reading Room XIV - Pros and the Supernatural - Legacy of Temptation by Ellis Ward

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Ellis Ward has been one of my favorite Pros writers from the beginning and this story goes a long way to explaining way. Although an AU, I can still see enough of the Bodie and Doyle of the series, which is pretty much a prerequisite for me. I hope it works as well for everyone else.

Title: Legacy of Temptation
Author: Ellis Ward
Pairing: B/D
Link to Story: Legacy of Temptation



The story is presented in a sequence of days and day one begins with an introduction to Bodie. Here, he's the owner, and worker in, a computer repair company, but it's not his skills at computer repairing that has brought Doyle to him.

Recommended by a friend in the clergy, Doyle has come to Bodie for help. He doesn't get the opportunity to state his problem, because as soon as Bodie hears who sent him, he flatly refuses to help and sends Doyle on his way.

But Doyle manages to get Bodie to his home, anyway, even if it's not intentionally. It turns out he has a computer service contract with Bodie's firm. Doyle's a writer and his computer has mysteriously taken a hit. More mysterious is that it's the only thing that has, even the outlets in the same room are perfectly fine. Unable to complete the repair there, Bodie leaves, taking the computer with him.

He returns the next day, having repaired the computer, though troubled by the mysterious word, "Gressil," that appeared on the screen. He returns the computer, but is attacked by Doyle when he mentions the word. After he calms him down, Bodie takes him to dinner. The problem isn't touched on, but there's already an attraction growing between the two men. When Bodie realizes that Doyle doesn't want to go back home, Bodie ends up spending most of the night driving, Doyle resting against his shoulder sleeping.

The next day (day four,) Bodie decides to find out more about Doyle. He first buys some of his books (whose titles are taken from many "famous" Pros fanfiction stories,) and then goes to see the priest who had originally sent Doyle to him. He discovers that Doyle had asked about demons.

Over dinner that night (this time it's Doyle's idea,) they finally discuss Doyle's problem.

They paused while the table was cleared and coffee served. Warming his long fingers around the small cup, Doyle said quietly, "I think it started about five weeks ago."

"You think?"

Doyle shrugged, his shoulders peaking under the heavy sweater. "I'd wake up feeling tired, out of sorts; like you do when you've had a nightmare. Didn't think much of it at first. Until it began to get worse."

Bodie listened without interruption as Doyle described the fragmented nightmares he had experienced. They had bothered him only two or three times a week at first; always intense, disturbing and lingering. At some point after the second week, odd episodes began to occur: items dropping suddenly--and loudly--to the floor from a previously safe perch; odors, strong and overwhelming, filling a room; noises generated by no physical agent; and worst of all, a sense of another's presence--not necessarily human.

"It got to the stage where I thought I would go mad; that I already was mad," Doyle said, his voice so low Bodie could hardly hear him. "I tried to deal with it rationally; after all, nothing like that had ever happened to me before. And, looking at it that way, I could discern a pattern."

"What sort of pattern?" Bodie asked, unwittingly dropping the register of his voice to match Doyle's.

"Except for the dreams, all the strange bits take place between nine and one. The dreams, unfortunately, seem to happen whenever I sleep."

"Do they vary?" Bodie asked. "Or is there a pattern to them, too?"

Doyle took a deep breath, his eyes distant. "They've never--been coherent." He gave a tiny laugh. "Not that most dreams are. But there's usually a certain logic to normal dreams--or normal nightmares, for that matter--no matter how bizarre they may be. These-- They're like a kaleidoscope of images and senses and words."

"What sorts of images? Senses? Words?" Bodie asked encouragingly.

"Unspeakable faces, ugly colors, hideous odors, emotions that have despicable form-- I can't explain, Bodie; they don't make sense. The words are crude for the most part, sexual in nature but mostly perverted and sickening." He stole a glance at Bodie from under dark, thick lashes. "And there's the name Gressil; in my dreams. It must refer to someone--or some thing."

Over the next several day, Bodie is drawn more and more into the nightmare that Doyle's existence has become. That there is someone, or something, after him, becomes readily apparent, and that that someone, or something, wants him dead. As the clues pile up, it becomes apparent that Doyle's problems somehow involve his dead mother and long-missing father. It would take too long to describe how their adventure proceeds, so I won't. *g* Suffice to say that by its end they're in love and that finally, after many twists and turns, the culprit is revealed and eventually destroyed.



And now on to the questions:
Were you able to see "our" Bodie and Doyle in the story?
Did you feel that the supernatural element was adequately presented?
Were you surprised by the ending or did you see it coming?
Did you enjoy her use of fandom stories as props in the story?

Comments

[murphybabe]

Aha! An AU I really enjoy! Thanks for the review. This is one of my favourite stories, and your questions address why I enjoy it, I think.

I am able to see our B&D in the story. They have a lot of the characteristics that I see in the episodes, and so I am comfortable with them. Unlike previous Reading Room stories where I haven't recognised B&D, which throws me out of the writing, here they share some of the same (at times irritating) habits and speech patterns. Okay, so I still find this Doyle a teensy bit needy, but he's a reasonably strong character. It's all a little bit idealistic, in that Bodie is comfortably gay, can manage his work around looking after Doyle, Doyle has a sympathetic publisher, owns what sounds like a valuable piece of property etc etc but it's fic so I am willing to suspend disbelief and go with the flow. Also, I like the author and her writing style, which helps a lot.

I was okay with the supernatural element in this fic, given that I have to grit my teeth to read about the supernatural anyway. I didn't like the way everything went back to normal after the incidents, so the door is burst down one moment and after the witching hour is over it's back in its normal place - no. But on the whole, this held together for me and I was okay reading it.

I can't remember how I felt about the ending when I first read this fic, because that is such a long time ago and I have re-read many times since. Sorry *g*

Yes, I enjoyed the use of fandom story titles! Why not, when we all know them and what they're about? They made me chuckle.

Other comments - I was surprised when I thought about it that the whole thing takes place over a relatively short period. This in turn leads me to question the 'falling in love forever' aspect - after all, we have been here before with Ann Holly *g*. However, the writing whisks me through this speedy aspect so I don't really notice it.

I liked the supporting characters as well. I also chuckled at the IT aspects - I remember those days!

Thanks for the review - let's hear from someone who didn't like it!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Doyle could be a bit less needy, but I think his situation can easily account for that. I don't know how I'd react if I was being stalked by a demon. *g* And maybe because he's not in CI5, I'm less inclined to except him to be quite so self-assured when in danger. It's Doyle, just not the Doyle who faces death every day.

I hadn't noticed how short the time frame was at first, either. It was only while writing the review that I really became aware of the "day 1," "day 2," etc. count. Or if I did notice I've since forgot because, like you, it's been awhile since I first read the story and it is one I've read several times. But it does bring into question the whole falling in love practically overnight scenario. It's not a scenario I usually appreciate, and it's one of the big pluses of them working together in "reel" life. But maybe because the story is so well written, I could go with it and not let it bother me.

Oh, and I love the horror genre, so for me it's a plus!

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

It's ages since I read this, but I really enjoyed it. Liked the characters very much, and they were definitely Bodie and Doyle enough.
I also liked the setting of a comfortable suburban 1930s house, not a haunted gothic mansion.
Although generally I have no time for the supernatural for some reason I like it in Pros, like 'All the Queen's Men'. Maybe it's because the lads are so pragmatic and down-to-earth,and so effective - no (human) baddy gets the better of them - that I like to see them pitted against a force that is unnatural, illogical, unpredictable, intangible - that extra challenge.
In this one I found the ending rather overwrought, but I suppose that sort of denouement is part of the genre..

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

In some ways the setting adds to the mood, because it's not a place where one would suspect such goings on. You think you're safe. *g*

And I like the idea that it would take something supernatural to pose any real danger to them, their being so competent and effective.

I didn't notice the overwroughtness (?) but that could be because I read quite a bit of horror and so am pretty used to it.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite Pros stories... *g*

Were you able to see "our" Bodie and Doyle in the story?
I totally was. It feels strange to me that I did, because they're both in such peaceful, relatively passive jobs - Bodie a computer technician? Where did that come from? Okay, fiddling with guns in the show, perhaps, dexterous fingers... *g* He still has an exotic, violent background, though. And Doyle as a writer? Again, I'm never sure where that comes from - in the show Bodie's the one with words, whereas Doyle gets them wrong... He reads of course, so...? But Ellis Ward has kept the spirit of the lads, I think, which to me is more the magic of keeping them in character than having them do ep-based jobs. They're both strong-willed, with a sense of humour, and they have an immediate rapport and are obviously in love... *g*

And I do believe in their rush to love - the author hints to us straight away that there's an immediate attraction (and whilst we may or may not believe in love-at-first-sight, I think attraction-at-first-sight is pretty common!), the lads go through some intense experiences together, and the two things play into each other, so that in a relatively short space of time they both believe they're in love. Are they really? Well - are any of us, when we think we are, in that first heady rush? But some people go for the immediately declarations, and Doyle was like that in Involvement, so... My next door neighbour has declared something similar about his new girlfriend, and is talking about marrying her after only a few weeks of knowing her even, so it does happen that way sometimes. Whether it's ultimately long-term and true is a different matter, but whether people who fancy themselves in love believe it is at the time is different - and that's what we see in this story, what the lads believe at the time, and I love that we're right there with them as they think and feel it.

Did you feel that the supernatural element was adequately presented?
Very nicely! I liked this - it fit well with "traditional" hauntings, but had its own twists and turns. I liked the "schedule" of the haunting, and its build up to Doyle's birthday. It was comfortably uncomfortable - it wasn't trying to be "new" or to shock me, it was just the story.

Were you surprised by the ending or did you see it coming?
Erm... you mean that it was Doyle's dad and mum? I'm another person who's read it so many times since the first time that I'm not sure I can remember my original reaction! I think it felt right to me - it fit with the rest of the story, and with the build up, so I was neither surprised nor prescient, I was too busy being engrossed in the story itself! *g*

Did you enjoy her use of fandom stories as props in the story?
Absolutely - brilliantly done, especially in an AU. And Legacy of Temptation is one of the reasons I looked up Gay's the Word - though sadly they no longer stock Doyle's books... *vbg* I wouldn't want to see it done too often (see below for another example of that!) but it was fun to be drawn even more cosily into the story - the author making a link with her readers, a wee inside joke so that we could feel happy and part of the story. She wasn't being clever-clever, or making fun of what we all love, it was absolutely about author and reader and story all being... together. Part of the same community.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

What I am rather fascinated by is that you pulled out The story is presented in a sequence of days as being noteworthy, presumably somehow unusual (in fanfic?)? To me it was written in a natural, straightforward way, telling a story from beginning to end, with none of what I find the usually annoying going-backwards-to-show-us-what-happened-before-the-place-where-I-started-telling-you-the-story, which always just screams "plot device!" at me... *g* Playing with time can be really effective - as Jojo's Tomorrow's Life (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/18/tomorrowslife.html), for instance - but authors seem to be going through a phase where they think "I have to start the story at some exciting place, to keep my reader's attention" (fair enough) but then find that the only way they can actually let the reader know what's happened before then is via a flashback (or two or three or even more...) to what began the situation. I find it frustrating and boring to be dragged out of the story like that, as what seems a matter of course in new fanfic these days... which might, come to think of it, be why I might seem to prefer reading older fic, as someone suggested about me a while ago... *g* Flashbacks etc can be pulled off beautifully by a few writers, but more often they come over as obvious plot devices and I wonder why the author couldn't give us the information more naturally - and then I've started thinking about the quality of the writing rather than the story, and I've been dragged out and it's as good as all over... So I think they should be used reluctantly by a writer, and very carefully... and I'm so glad that Ellis Ward didn't go for that here!

Anyway - so it was surprising to me that you actually note that Ward tells the story chronologically, starting with a day one and then just carrying on to the end of the story. For me that's how the vast majority of stories should be - it's the natural, most readable way of telling a story. I'm very curious about why you did describe the story that way, pointing that out?

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

It was the fact that each day is noted as "Day 1,", "Day 2," and so on that first caught my eye. I started writing the review using that to a certain degree, but then had to draw back or the review would have been as long as the story! *g* But I agree that that way of writing a story is usually best. It takes a deft hand to pull off going back and forth.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

And I do believe in their rush to love - the author hints to us straight away that there's an immediate attraction (and whilst we may or may not believe in love-at-first-sight, I think attraction-at-first-sight is pretty common!),

Ah, yes, been there, done that. *g*

the lads go through some intense experiences together, and the two things play into each other, so that in a relatively short space of time they both believe they're in love. Are they really? Well - are any of us, when we think we are, in that first heady rush?

Well, that's it, isn't it? But things can, and do, go either way. Something that starts intensely can last just as long as a relationship that builds slowly. So of course I'm inclined to believe it does. :-)

Erm... you mean that it was Doyle's dad and mum? I'm another person who's read it so many times since the first time that I'm not sure I can remember my original reaction! I think it felt right to me - it fit with the rest of the story, and with the build up, so I was neither surprised nor prescient, I was too busy being engrossed in the story itself! *g*

I should have made that clearer. I meant that because you're led to believe that all's well, problem solved, only for it to rear its ugly head again.

I wouldn't want to see it done too often (see below for another example of that!) but it was fun to be drawn even more cosily into the story - the author making a link with her readers, a wee inside joke so that we could feel happy and part of the story. She wasn't being clever-clever, or making fun of what we all love, it was absolutely about author and reader and story all being... together. Part of the same community.

Yes, done in such a way, it does create a huge link (of course, you have to know about the other stories.) In another fandom, one writer wrote a story where the two characters muse over all the different ways they might have met and fallen in love (It's called, logically enough, "And We Fall in Love.") All their scenarios are plots taken from other well-known fanfic from that fandom. It does make you want to immediately read all the other stories.

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

Hello!

Okay, I am so behind. How is it that I managed to read Fire last week but not to post, and yet I am posting here after skimming what is really, a very very long story? I always forget quite how long it is. I find it over-long, myself, but it's not my favourite genre, so that's probably why.

Were you able to see "our" Bodie and Doyle in the story? Did you feel that the supernatural element was adequately presented? Were you surprised by the ending or did you see it coming? Did you enjoy her use of fandom stories as props in the story?
I'm going to bunch these together and deal with them out of order. The second question: yes, undoubtedly. This seemed to be an absolutely classic horror story to me, complete with slamming doors separating two people who until then are coping effectively. It's very clearly supernatural. There's no question of "is it in their minds" or anything. Well, okay, there's the pair of them wondering if they have jointly imagined in, but the reader doesn't. The reader is convinced before they are, I think.

Which element of the ending do you mean, I wonder? I remember reading this for the first time, and the thing that surprised me was that the business with the book wasn't over and that in fact this apparently sinister reappearing book was an effect of a benign spirit, not a malevolent one. Is that what you're referring to? And I didn't see the construction in the cellar and the full-blown confrontation coming, no, not at all.

Our Bodie and Doyle... hmm. Sorry: not entirely. Not so much as I would have liked. It's a while since I read it carefully - I had to skim to catch up with the Reading Room schedule - so I may have missed things. Bodie's quite chatty with people, but Doyle is very solitary in this, and I think really Doyle is a little more gregarious. And they're both in such sedentary jobs: computers and writing. Surely they'd be bundles of nervous energy by 11am? On the other hand, they are combative and up-front, which is very them. I suspect the discussions about a gay lifestyle - Bodie's resistance to gay pubs and to settling into one little group that can be isolated from society at large, versus Doyle's enjoyment of the same things - probably fit into this question too, but I'm not quite sure how to relate them to it.

Fandom story titles: when I read it first, I didn't recognise the story titles, so it was only when I reached the end that I realised. I wondered why, I think. And presumed it was by way of a tribute, perhaps. I do still wonder why those titles in particular, I suppose, but only vaguely. (And they are lovely titles - Harmonious Tongues, great!) I suppose generally I associate this sort of thing with less serious stories. There's a Gena Fisher story where the names of half a dozen Pros zines are woven into the narrative, and once I realised what was going on, and that no, I was not going mad and it was far from a coincidence, they gave me a grin.

I'm still not keen on Pros and the supernatural, but I think this was far closer to classic horror than the others we've looked at, and as a horror, I think it worked well.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Which element of the ending do you mean, I wonder? I remember reading this for the first time, and the thing that surprised me was that the business with the book wasn't over and that in fact this apparently sinister reappearing book was an effect of a benign spirit, not a malevolent one. Is that what you're referring to?

Yes, that's the one. It's an often used horror trope, so I was wondering how well people thought it worked here.

Fandom story titles: when I read it first, I didn't recognise the story titles, so it was only when I reached the end that I realised. I wondered why, I think. And presumed it was by way of a tribute, perhaps. I do still wonder why those titles in particular, I suppose, but only vaguely. (And they are lovely titles - Harmonious Tongues, great!) I suppose generally I associate this sort of thing with less serious stories.

I think it is done as a tribute of sorts, though the titles do also seemed to have been picked for their suggestibility. And while it does tend to lighten the situation, at least for a time, I think it keeps the story from getting too heavy. And a light touch of humor is something the author does often include—and is very good at.

[carbonel]

One of the titles, "A Man of Integrity," is an ST:TOS Spock/McCoy story by Jane Carnall, mostly set in the Mirror Mirror universe.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remembered that one of them wasn't Pros. I eventually read all the rest, but I'm pretty sure I'll never read this one. *g*

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, way behind I just got a few words:
Thank you for reccing this, I do love this story so much, it's filled with love and understanding and friendship!

Rereading it for the third time I still found a few new beautiful things I learned.
And I think the end is too long.
Just by a tiny bit....and just imho.

Anyway, it'll still stay on my personal "Best of" list, because the lads are in there in all their glory, with Doyles snarkiness, his love and loyalty, his doubts and his thoightfulness. And Bodie with his disbelieve in anything but his partner, his love and his boyishness.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

In what way do you find the ending too long? Because there seems to be a resolution but then we find it's not? Or is it something else?

Still, as you say, the lads are their in all their glory. It's them, even it's not. :-)

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

Maybe because I thought there was another scene with the demon, and I waited and waited....maybe I was distracted by reading it.....
I don't think I had that feeling when I first read it.

Anyways, it's a wonderful story!!!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Aw, okay. And, yes, it is a wonderful story.

And I love your icon. *g*

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

LoT is a feelgood story I read quite often.

I think we see "our" Bodie and Doyle in the story! I can't remember one moment when I thought that they were 'wrong'.
And I enjoy reading about their 'normal' jobs and the way they behave in every day life.
Bodie is very believable as a computer expert, and why shouldn't Ray write good books?

I feel that the supernatural element was adequately presented, yes.
I don't need the bloody horror thrill! The way Ellis Ward has done it is just my cup of tea. :-)

About the ending... Well, I have to confess that I've forgotten the ending.
So it must be 'ok'. Not impressing and not bad either. I try to pay more attention this time(I'm not yet through...)!


Thank you for this review! :-)

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I, too, found them very believable in their roles. I can easily see Bodie tinkering with his computers and Doyle busily typing at his desk.

I'm hearing that a lot, that this isn't anywhere near the first time this story has been read. It certainly wasn't for me. But for some reason the "trick" at the end (I don't want to give it away if you haven't gotten that far,) has always stuck in my mind.