Reading Room 2019 II - A Widening Gyre by Rebelcat

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

Hi everybody!

Today I'd like to present one of my favourite stories.
It's A Widening Gyre by Rebelcat.
You can find it here: CA / Original Post


A few days ago dawnebeth has written: "I laughed all through this wonderful story."
And I think this sums the story up nicely! You sit there reading, and you're smiling all  the time.
It's a feelgood story. It's funny without needing the mark to be 'a funny story'! (Are there really good 'funny stories' in Pros?)
It's Bodie h/c. It's unusual, even unique, but it's so them. It's never boring.

...could please someone stop my infatuation???   *g*

Impossible!  :-P

Forgotten: It has some LSD fantasies I've never read before. And there is surely one of the most unusual sex scenes with the two of them.
Or precisely they don't have sex - together. Or do they...?


I think Bodie is in love. Isn't he?
...........................................................................

Something evil took possession of Doyle. "Did you ever make it with a bloke?"

"Yeah," said Bodie. Then his mouth clamped shut, and he regarded Doyle with open horror.

Oh, this is rich, thought Doyle, gleefully. He knew he shouldn't take advantage of Bodie in this condition, but the temptation was too much to resist. "When? Was it in the merchant marines? In Africa? I always thought those paras were a bit on the swishy side."

Bodie's hands came up, his palms pressing into his temples. "Bugger off, Doyle."

"Hah," said Doyle. "It's not 'Ray' now, is it? How do you like your men, anyway? Big and butch?"

"Skinny and mean," said Bodie. "With a face like a train wreck."

Doyle started to laugh, and then stopped abruptly. Bodie's tone had been light, but his expression was desolate. All of the amusement value abruptly went out of the game.

...........................................................................

"Skinny and mean"

*g*

I love it!
But when I think of this story this phone call comes first to my mind:

.........................................................................

"H'lo?"

Bodie almost dropped the phone. He'd been expecting to hear the mechanical click and whirr of HQ's switchboard.

"If you're another sad bastard who gets his jollies breathing heavily into phones..."

"Ray?" asked Bodie. He wondered what Doyle was doing answering phones for CI5.

"Bodie?"

Bodie nodded. Wasn't Angela supposed to be on duty tonight, he wondered. That was why she couldn't go out. Or so she'd said. Maybe she was dating Doyle.

"Bodie!"

Why did Doyle keep saying his name? Bodie could hear sirens in the distance. Real ones this time.

"Where are you? Are you hurt?"

Now Ray was shouting. Hair-trigger temper, that one had. Always getting shirty over nothing. "M'right here."

"Bodie, where are you?"

"Come pick me up?" There were lights now. Flashing blue and red down at the end of the road. Bodie let his forehead rest against the Plexiglas, and watched the shadows dance. "I think I killed someone."

"Bodie," said Ray, now using that immensely appealing 'talking to morons' voice. "Where. Are. You?"

"Phone box," said Bodie, annoyed. "Bateman Street. West End. London."

"England, Earth, and Milky Way," snapped Doyle. "Where on Bateman Street, Bodie?"

"Jus' look for flashing lights."

..............................


LOL! Bodie nodded on the phone. And isn't that the snarky Doyle we love? :-)


Ok. I Stop now.  :-P
Sorry that there is no story summary, but I think everybody has read it by now.



...and please be gentle with my English! I'm really out of practice!  *bows*



P.S.:  The Reading Room ist back!!!!!!!   :-)   :-)   :-)

Comments

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

I like this story really much, it always makes me laugh.

First when the phone jumps into Bodie's way. The phone box almost smacked him in the nose. One moment it had been all the way down at the other end of the street, and the next it had dashed forward and planted itself right under his feet.

Bloody thing. I really could see him, looking confused. *g*

Or the thing with the colours of Doyle's voice or the words he use, for example the word "hospital" that Something about getting an ID on the body and a hospital…
That last word stood out from the others in black and red spikes. It hurt his skin. So "hospital" is a bad word for Bodie (what I totaly can understand)

And the idea with the tangling and curling voice when Doyle talkes to H! Doyle got back on the radio again. Bodie let his eyes open a crack and watched. He liked Doyle’s voice. It tangled and curled, coiling in on itself. He thought about reaching out to touch Doyle’s words, wondering if they’d feel as springy and soft as his hair. and later the change, when Doyle reads to Bodie A warm russet colour tinged the edges of Doyle’s words, and they were curling more loosely than they had in the car, like ivy in the autumn. Lovely!

And for me they have sex, at least in a very special, private way. You can feel the love between them, even if they don't know it by now.

But I always wondered how the author knew what it feels to have used LSD. Or is it really all her phantasie?

Thank you for recomending this story, it was a long time ago that i've read it.

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

"But I always wondered how the author knew what it feels to have used LSD. Or is it really all her phantasie?"

Yeah! That's what I thought too!
Maybe a good book about it?
And the right music in the background. Maybe Gimme Shelter, or Stairway to Heaven, or a late Beatles song? :-)

And maybe, maybe personal experience?

...back to bed.
Thanks for your comment!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hurrah, the Reading Room! *g*

I thought this was a fun rec - myrebelcat wrote some beautifully funny stories, and A Widening Gyre is one of them, though I also like the deeper meaning she infused into it with the title and the book Doyle was reading.

It's a feelgood story. It's funny without needing the mark to be 'a funny story'! (Are there really good 'funny stories' in Pros?)
Interesting question - and surely the answer must be Yes! But what's the difference between a funny story and 'a funny story'? I'm assuming that the latter is a story that's trying to be funny - but is that a bad thing? Okay, maybe if your sense of humour doesn't match then it is! And there are a few stories in Pros where that's true for me (and even now and then something in one of Rebel's stories), but there are so many different senses of humour, that I don't let it bother me too much.

And how much does it depend on whether someone's naturally funny? (And would you say that was the same as making people smile in a feel-good story by being witty? But then what one person might think is a feel-good story might not be that for someone else, just like comedy... And now I'm talking myself around in circles! *g*)

It's Bodie h/c. It's unusual, even unique,
Hmmn - much as I love this one, is it unusual and unique? There are other stories where one or both of the lads is either drugged up (in a good way) or drunk and silly, and they end up affectionate and all - which makes me wonder what in particular is the unique bit for you?

...could please someone stop my infatuation??? *g*
Er, no... definitely not! *vbg*

It has some LSD fantasies I've never read before.
That's one of my favourite things about this story - the beauty of Bodie's hallucinations, and the way they're described! Mind you, even some of the horrid things are beautifully described - ",the air was sloshing and eddying around him. You can feel it (and then try not to, cos you don't want to be as sick as Bodie... *g*) But Bodie's fingers as he watches them move - ripples of rainbow colour bleeding into the cream walls! And best of all, the colours of Doyle's voice... of course Bodie wants Doyle to read to him! Who wouldn't! *g*

Or precisely they don't have sex - together. Or do they...?
I'd say... not quite yet, but it's definitely there to look forward to!

And isn't that the snarky Doyle we love? :-)
D'you know, I do wonder about this a bit - how much of snarky-lads is actually canon, and how much is really fanon... Maybe we need to put together a list of canon snarky moments and check! I think Rebel gets it right, actually - that's one reason I like her stories - but there are definitely stories that tip too much into snark for me, and I end up thinking nah, you're mixing our lads up with LoM lads or the like...

I must admit that I probably giggled most at this idea of Bodie's... Good thing evolution hadn't given cocks opposable thumbs, or they'd be ruling the earth (though I'll refrain from making the currently obvious comment... *g*

Nice rec this week, and just what I needed, actually. Thank you!

(And your English was excellent by the way! *g*)

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
Later more, it's the middle of the night, but this preys on my mind... :-)

" But what's the difference between a funny story and 'a funny story'?"

Hmmmmmmmm. How do I explain it...?

Let's say that for me a 'funny story' is, when an author sits down with the intention to write a 'funny story', let's say that Bodie slips on a banana peel, and then Doyle falls into a river laughing about it (isn't there a 'funny story' at a river?), and so on and on...

Here in our story the situation isn't funny at all!
Just look at my favourite scene("England, Earth, and Milky Way," snapped Doyle).
Bodie is drugged and feels very bad, and he has killed someone, and then he calls Doyle for help.
Writing such a scene the way it is here in this story, needs probably a wicked (mischievous) mood - and maybe one or two glasses of red wine. ;-)
I could imagine that the author had a lot of euphoria during the writing process! :-)

The result is, that the reader (most of them?) laughs out loud, and if the style of the writing goes on that way - just keeps on smiling and giggling during the whole reading process.

So I really prefer this kind of funny story to the 'banana type', if you know what I mean?

Maybe it's very difficult to write 'comedy'?

And yes, maybe we all have a different sense of humour? (though I'm grown up with Monty Python! ;-))

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

So... again in the middle of the night...
Seems to be my best Pros time. :-)

"...which makes me wonder what in particular is the unique bit for you?
...It has some LSD fantasies I've never read before.
That's one of my favourite things about this story - the beauty of Bodie's hallucinations..."

You answer your own questions! *g*

And I love the 'cocks ruling the earth' quote as well! :-)

..back to bed - or another answer? Hmmmmm.....

[dawnebeth.livejournal.com]

I've always loved Rebelcat's writing and this one made me all kinds of happy. So funny--loved Bodie's incoherent thoughts and reactions. Poor guy--particularly: The phone box almost smacked him in the nose. One moment it had been all the way down at the other end of the street, and the next it had dashed forward and planted itself right under his feet.

And then the implication that sex might help his condition, and the different ways they both dealt with this revelation.

That skinny and mean line was probably my favourite!

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your new comment here!

I think we have a common love with this story! :-)

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

I love her stuff too! She balances the deeper feelings and apprehensions with absurdity in a way I enjoy and that feels real to me.

[paris7am.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reccing this one - it is so delightful, a real pleasure to read!

I think Rebelcat has that gift of writing B and D so deftly, with just the right touch. It *is* funny, in a way that makes you grin and groan at the same time, but it's so much more than that with the violent incident, the incredibly descriptive drug trip, the connections between D and B, and even the amazing literary gems on falconry sparkling away, providing such a beautiful metaphor to hold it all together.

I was thinking about funny stories in Pros - there are quite a few! I love Camping, and Fly on the Wall. For some reason, when I think of more haha jokey stories, the one that pops up is Cally Donia's "DIY: A Slow Swedish Screw" which I recall had me howling with laughter. This one is a different kind of humor, though.

Also, thinking about the characterization discussion... I dont think anyone could find fault with Bodie in this one... He is written (at least for me) spot on lovely. His excellence-skills-competence (a huge kink for me) is on display despite being drugged and tripping...

Bodie smiled. This was something he understood. Not just in his mind, which didn’t seem to be functioning well at the moment, but in his body, down in the very fibres of his muscles and tendons. He didn’t need to think. He watched with detachment as his arm automatically knocked the gun to one side.

He is brave, controlling himself against all odds, vulnerable - he's beautiful. The way Rebelcat ties him in with the falcon is masterful! That description she puts in Doyles voice at the end is incredible...

White had described the goshawk as the perfect assassin, one moment a remorseless killer, the next a clown. Tonight Bodie was rumpled and bedraggled, his face lined with exhaustion. Doyle imagined a dusty bird asleep in the mews, broken tail feathers drooping. Come morning, he’d comb his feathers back into place, and he’d look as sleek and deadly as ever.

On the other hand, I can see that Doyle's characterization is a bit riskier...as BSL noted. Perhaps exagerated for comedic effect, or something? A bit more tetchy, or perfectionist, than I generally think he is. For example, would Doyle really be like that about Bodie peeing in someone's begonias? Naah. But built up with the throwing up and bad place bathroom, it does fit into that recognizable type of Doyle. Where I get less happy is his thinking about B's version of being gay - although, again, in those exact set of circumstances, I think it might be completely understandable that he'd be thinking that way! And B does do the skinny and mean bit... I am probably over over thinking.

I was thinking what my favorite part of the story is, and I think it's the section with Bodie coming, the color of D's words when aroused, to the bathroom conversation. It is so good. Like driving a manual car, shifting up gears, gaining power and speed perfectly.

Big happy sigh from me. I love this one! Was thinking about the center holding, the center that must be the relationship between B and D, the trust. Rock solid. Lost your mind tripping? Look up and Ray's there, no surprise, hello. B needs help somewhere in the galaxy? Ray will find him, no question.

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

"It *is* funny, in a way that makes you grin and groan at the same time..."

Exactly! Though for me definitely more 'grin'!
...Fans are a heartless bunch! ;-)

Later more, family at my doorstep...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I can see that Doyle's characterization is a bit riskier...as BSL noted.
Oh, I didn't mean to imply that! Actually I think Rebel got him pretty much to a T! *g* He is ratty about things sometimes, and impatient in the eps, and I find that such an interesting contrast with the way he's also so thoughtful about things, and concerned about Mickey Hamilton, for instance, and sometimes worried about Bodie and sometimes just impatient with him (like in Man Without a Past compared to Wild Justice for instance - and I wonder if it's because he knows what Bodie's blocking him out of in the former, so he understands it, whereas in WJ Bodie doesn't even let Doyle know that there is something wrong... but that's another post, really *g*)

And really my other comment is for another post too, cos it's not strictly about this story. It was more about the idea of "snark" being something that's applicable to the lads. They've both been described as "snarky", and "our snarky lads" over the years (maybe a particular set of years?) but when I think about it, I just don't think they are snarky. Not on a regular this-describes-our-characters-and-how-we-see-the-world basis. They both have moments when they're snarky, but then I'd put that down more to impatience with a situation rather than a character trait. Or maybe it's my definition of "snark" that's off? It's fun to read "banter fics", and they definitely do banter between them in the eps, but I'm not sure about the "snark"... and sometimes even the banter they're given to say seems a bit further than they'd go in canon... but what I really need is examples, isn't it! So I'll shush now, and think about it a bit more... (oh, the things we have to do... *g*)

the center that must be the relationship between B and D, the trust. Rock solid. Lost your mind tripping? Look up and Ray's there, no surprise, hello. B needs help somewhere in the galaxy? Ray will find him, no question.
Yes! The very heart of the matter! *g*

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

"I was thinking about funny stories in Pros - there are quite a few! I love Camping, and Fly on the Wall. "

I've forgotten abaout 'Camping', I just know that I didn't enjoy it.
And I always thought that 'Fly on the Wall' is too repetitive. The 'joke' is just funny the first two or three times.
Sorry!

"...is Cally Donia's "DIY: A Slow Swedish Screw" which I recall had me howling with laughter."

I don't know it. But it's on my kindle now! :-)

"...that description she puts in Doyles voice at the end is incredible...
White had described the goshawk as the perfect assassin, one moment a remorseless killer, the next a clown. Tonight Bodie was rumpled and bedraggled, his face lined with exhaustion. Doyle imagined a dusty bird asleep in the mews, broken tail feathers drooping. Come morning, he’d comb his feathers back into place, and he’d look as sleek and deadly as ever."

I totally agree! I love it
"...and he’d look as sleek and deadly as ever..."

*purrs*

"Look up and Ray's there, no surprise, hello. B needs help somewhere in the galaxy? Ray will find him, no question."

Wow! That is a wonderful final sentence! :-)

Thank you!

[cim3745.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you. Rebelcat's style is unique, as far as I know.
This storyline isn't funny at all, but you have to laugh again and again  :-) even so in a special way. Her description of Bodie's world is hilarious, but you shouldn't laugh, should you ?
Honestly, I don't care wether she used LSD correctly or not. I can imagine it and that's enough, at least for me.
This story is about friendship, trust and definitively something more beyond being best mates.

    

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

"I don't care wether she used LSD correctly or not. I can imagine it and that's enough, at least for me."

The same here.
The description of the hallucinations are so vivid that I really could imagine them, and I think the idea of seeing the colours of the words is fantastic! I would have never thought of something like that!

And then the Picasso scene:
....................................
His eyebrows seemed to be travelling all over the place, independently of each other, like a couple of hairy caterpillars. One moment the right one would be way up his forehead, almost to his receding hairline, and in the next moment it'd be down over his eye and the left one would be hiking its way up.

Bizarre.
.....................................

LOL! If that's not something to laugh about, I don't know ;-)


Nice to have you here despite your London trip! :-)

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!
Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ (https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=303).

[akin16sk.livejournal.com]

Thank you for hosting and recommending this story. I have never read it before and admittedly and I enjoyed the quality of writing, but I feel like I missed the memo, as I didn't find it funny. Intense. Yes. Kind of creepy. Yes. (I will explain later), but not really funny. Half of the story, I was thinking how miserable Bodie must feel. I found the loss of control, he was experiencing, quite scary and uncomfortable. I think that he was suffering through it and that while he thought that he could trust Ray, it still felt like he was very unhappy as he was slipping deeper into a less controlled state.

I really loved how the falconry was woven into it and what a sensual and wild image it was painting, one that I found fit them both very very well. I found it well written, but it left me uncomfortable and thinking (not a bad thing!). So I was surprised to find that most people found it funny. I found the imagery very vivid and provoking, but more provoking than funny.

I have to admit that I also thought that Doyle's characterization was a bit off to me, but maybe because I thought that he should have reacted in a more caring way, but that is probably something that has been instilled into me from other fandoms, after all, Bodie is no damsel in distress, and neither is Doyle a caring maid.

All in all, obviously, I have to re-read, which is certainly not a hardship, with the awesome writing :) Thank you for hosting!

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

"...but not really funny. Half of the story, I was thinking how miserable Bodie must feel. I found the loss of control, he was experiencing, quite scary and uncomfortable."

I understand you! I would feel the same if Bodie would have been tortured, or really badly injured. In that case a funny aspect of the writing wouldn't work for me either!
And I think, everybody has a different borderline.
Maybe you're more sensible, but being drugged is for me no threat to Bodie's life!

...and it's a fact that h/c IS a concept fans love in fandom! :-)

"I have to admit that I also thought that Doyle's characterization was a bit off to me, but maybe because I thought that he should have reacted in a more caring way"

For me he is perfectly characterised in this story!
He cares deeply! There are many, many signs for it!
But both are hard men, English men even. Fussing around Bodie and being nice and polite all the time wouldn't fit at all, I think. ;-)

Thank you for your thoughts! :-)
And I'm happy that you like the story anyway.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

but I feel like I missed the memo, as I didn't find it funny. Intense. Yes. ... but not really funny. Half of the story, I was thinking how miserable Bodie must feel.
I kind of know what you mean by this - Bodie killed someone while he was out of control, for goodness sake! Luckily it was the person who'd been threatening him, and "luckily" CI5 worked it out really quickly (though I don't think they knew that Bodie had killed him - I'd have to check again!), but there's really no such "luckily" when someone ends up dead, and when someone's automatic reaction is to kill anyone they see as a threat... It's pretty dark stuff, actually.

After that though... Bodie's rescued by Doyle, and we can see he's unharmed, and just tripping on something, and he doesn't like it - he sits down quite deliberately and that scene where he's waiting for Doyle is a bit heart-breaking for him, I think - but once I knew that he was safe, and that the previous bad stuff had been (a bit magically) made right, I could enjoy the other part of the story, the weird but somehow beautiful world of the drug, and the way it brought out Bodie's secret passion for Doyle, and then made Doyle think about that too...

And I like that contrast, actually - the lads' lives aren't fluffy and carefree and one big joke, they're deadly (emphasis on dead) serious, but they also have the capacity to live all parts of their lives together... for me that's what makes them so interesting, how they manage to reconcile it all, and still leave us feeling that they're on the side of the angels... And of course they're so beautifully suited too - they deserve each other, and so through it all I want them to have each other... *vbg*

[paris7am.livejournal.com]

You wrote: Half of the story, I was thinking how miserable Bodie must feel. I found the loss of control, he was experiencing, quite scary and uncomfortable. I think that he was suffering through it and that while he thought that he could trust Ray, it still felt like he was very unhappy as he was slipping deeper into a less controlled state.

You are right! That sinking feeling of dread in your stomach, worrying what might happen, will Bodie be punished, what will happen.

I really loved how the falconry was woven into it and what a sensual and wild image it was painting, one that I found fit them both very very well.

Yes - "sensual and wild image" is so true.

I have to admit that I also thought that Doyle's characterization was a bit off to me, but maybe because I thought that he should have reacted in a more caring way, but that is probably something that has been instilled into me from other fandoms, after all, Bodie is no damsel in distress, and neither is Doyle a caring maid.

Maybe that's what I was responding to in Doyle's characterization... Like, he must not have experienced a bad trip himself, then?! But he's still shown as being caring, too. I don't know. Except that I love reading Pros stories!

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this post!

I've just lost most of my original post but I wanted to make a short point before anyone made it and I wondered is it just me who thought the last sentence was a bit odd? About the connection between Doyle and Bodie? Surely at this stage he would know that there was a connection, a very definite connection, irrespective of sexual attraction? I wondered what the siginificance was of the remark, if any.

I'll try and reclaim what I lost from a Word document, for what it's worth!

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

You mean this:

"Still, Doyle rather liked the idea that there was a connection between them. Not sex, something better than that.
Trust."

I understood it the way, that of course this connection was there before, but the event has put it into Doyle's focus. Some kind of 'awareness'.

...and the sentence is probably more to the benefit of the reader than Doyle.

I hope you find the rest of your post! I'm waiting! :-)
Thanks so far!

[paris7am.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh, very interesting! It does make you wonder where they are in their partnership - which stage, how much time has passed...
I hope you will be able to reclaim your document and post it! Really looking forward to hearing your perspective.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I wondered is it just me who thought the last sentence was a bit odd?
Yes! And what it made me remember, very suddenly, was that Rebel defined herself to me once as writing/being gen, usually, though she definitely went slash in some of her Pros stories. *g* But when I look at her fic list on her own lj, she's defined alot more of her Pros stories as gen or pre-slash than she has slash, too. So... maybe there was some concious decision about that last line, because she had those thoughts about defining it all...? (Or, of course, maybe I'm making it up as I go along, but I do remember the gen thing *g*)

[ali15son.livejournal.com]

Hi, i'm not sure if i'm welcome on here but :-

I really enjoyed this story, i'm sorry i haven't got tihe confidence to discuss any points from it but it was just to let you know that i enjoyed the read so thankyou.

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

Hi!
Of course you're welcome here!!!
You're a valuable and loved member of the Pros fandom - no question at all!

I'm happy that you like the story!

And thank you for your comment, no matter how brief it is. :-)

[sagittas.livejournal.com]

Thank you for hosting this week and most of all for picking up one of Rebelcat stories. She's one of my favourite authors in both my main fandoms. Given my almost unconditional love for her writing you surely won't hear me complaining about your "infatuation".

I love her writing style, strong, straight to the point, easy to read but not less descriptive and I love her work because I'm not allowed to be a passive reader, I love to question what and how she write even when I'm enjoying it. Most of all I love her witty and dark humour, that help me going through the embarassing or more painful moments in some of her stories. I don't usually mistake her particular brand of humour for a "funny" story. I share this kind of dark sense of humour in real life, too, so it doesn't bother me, but I understand that's not for everyone when it comes to topics such as death, illness or rape. It's a matter of sensibility I suppose.

I like how she writes the characters and not just here, they feel very real persons, not abstract figures. Bodie's altered mental state's depiction is disorienting even for me that I'm only reading, I can really feel his embarassement whenever he lets slip his secrets to Doyle and is unable to stop talking, still he feels safe with his partner even in this situation. Doyle's characterization is nice, too, a little snarky and cranky because of his lack of sleep and annoiance, but not without being genuinely concerned about his partner safety. He may have fun for a little while Bodie is under the influence but doesn't really abuse the trust between them, no more than I seem to recall in the show.
I can't help to smile at Bodies misadventures with the drug but I don't sense the will to humiliate him.

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

Rebelcat's ears must ring with delight at the moment! :-)

"Are you still writing?". :-)


Later more!