Pros Novel Read-Along - Painted Angels by Angelfish - Chapter Ten

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hello! *g*

Painted Angels by Angelfish.
Cover art by firlefanzine

Chapter Ten
Doyle is back in Derby, with Gabe, and as the chapter opens he's staring down his old street asking Gabe "uncertainly" which house was his. A boy on a bike shouts casual homophobia at them, and Doyle stops him sharply and tells him to watch his lip "you little shit". Gabe has already been called "the usual" racist names.

Doyle remembers his house then, but when Gabe tells him his mum still lives there, decides that he doesn't want to see her again. He's visited Gabe's mum, and his father's grave (he came across the Desiderata on someone else's grave, and decided he liked it and would have it on his wall one day), and he and Gabe have gone hiking as they did when they were much younger friends. Doyle talked endlessly about Bodie The way you talk when you're falling in love, he realised.

Doyle goes back to his B&B, and to bed - only to be woken by a knocking on the door. It's Gabe - Cowley has called his mum's house, trying to get hold of Doyle. Bodie has been involved in "an incident" and he's missing, presumed dead. Doyle doesn't believe it, says he'd know "in here", as sure as Gabe knows God. Gabe helps him hire a car and gives him money so that he can get back to London fast, and just before Doyle leaves, he kisses him "mouth, open wide in silent passion" on his lips.

So... what d'you think? *g*

Comments

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I haven't entirely been seeing Gabe as a saint, but he does seem a bit too good to be true - maybe he's a contrast to the "painted angels" that are Bodie and Doyle. He's a full-blooded one... I agree that his promotion to the Vatican is a bit much to accept too - it just doesn't seem realistic, although it's fair enough that he might have done things that deserve it (we do hear about his charity work). He's not been built up in quite that way thought either.

Hee - whispering Bodie's name as he wakes is a bit Mills and Boon! *g* And hmmn - do we hear Bodie whisper Doyle's name...?!

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

Bodie whispering Doyle's name is one of the many things Doyle's point of view doesn't allow.

I think if we had Bodie's point of view more often, the impression of Super!Bodie wouldn't happen either. Didn't you say some chapters ago that Angelfish liked Doyle better? What I remember of Bodie's POV is him looking at Doyle. I hope my own preferences in other fandoms (what luck, I like both of them in this one) are not so obvious.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes but we do have Bodie's pov quite alot at the start, and even in the last chapter, when he woke from sleep, so it's not impossible!

I think we have Bodie's pov quite a lot early on - I remember thinking we heard him much more than Doyle at one point, though I don't think we did really, it just felt like that for a while. In theory the story seems as if it's meant to be more about Doyle than Bodie, because it starts of with Doyle's backstory and its his past that we're dealing with for alot of the story - except that Bodie's past is also there, just introduced differently, and actually feeling a bit uneven for me because of if. We do get Bodie thinking complimentary things about Doyle too, but because Bodie seems to have been set up as tougher/more confident etc., they stand out less in contrast...

I always thought Angelfish was more focused on Doyle and so probably liked him better, but someone else said they thought she liked Bodie better, so who knows! And yes, I hope the same thing for my writing! (And I always wonder how I'd measure up to my own comments about stories, too! *g*)

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

I have an entire Theory of Bodie's Damage in This Novel, which I have even written out, but it will be spoilery until next Wednesday, so I am heroically not going to type it in now.

It's killing me.

You're right that starting with Doyle's backstory makes me understand him better and therefore have the feeling that I'm supposed to like him better. I don't know that I actually do. As we've said in so many comments, he seems unduly fragile and inexperienced.