My original point in starting the count was to demonstrate that as much as fanfic focuses on Bodie saving Doyle (and I do it myself, it's such a lovely thing!) it's not actually canon that Doyle is the only one, or even most of the time, to need saving!
Well, we've seen that's debatable. Our final counts were vastly different. ;-)
As you say, they really are equal in matters like that, so when a story gets too carried away with the pathetic-ness of Doyle in needing to be saved, and the strength of Bodie in always being able to do so, then I start to have doubts about the characterisation
Truthfully, what makes them interesting to me is where their differences lie -- yes, I think they're equally tough, but not in the same ways. By my count Bodie rescues Doyle 12-13 times versus 5 Doyle rescues. That obviously shapes how I see their characters and their dynamic, which then affects any fic I were to write.
Yet my Bodie would never rescue my Doyle because my Doyle was weak or helpless, it would always have to do with outside circumstances, as it does in the show. And of course my perception that Doyle is less lucky in circumstances offers me lots of room for writing. As do the contrasts between them -- and even the contrasts in their own personalities: I love, for example, that despite how graceful Doyle is, he drops his gun/ bullets something like three times, doesn't he? Rogue, Operation Susie and Oujka. That's intriguing to me, something that could be explored.
You, on the other hand, see the rescues as too equal to count, and that just as surely affects how you draw them and their relationship. And I'm guessing that even in an AU, you would weave that careful equality into any story.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-09-08 03:35 pm (UTC)Well, we've seen that's debatable. Our final counts were vastly different. ;-)
As you say, they really are equal in matters like that, so when a story gets too carried away with the pathetic-ness of Doyle in needing to be saved, and the strength of Bodie in always being able to do so, then I start to have doubts about the characterisation
Truthfully, what makes them interesting to me is where their differences lie -- yes, I think they're equally tough, but not in the same ways. By my count Bodie rescues Doyle 12-13 times versus 5 Doyle rescues. That obviously shapes how I see their characters and their dynamic, which then affects any fic I were to write.
Yet my Bodie would never rescue my Doyle because my Doyle was weak or helpless, it would always have to do with outside circumstances, as it does in the show. And of course my perception that Doyle is less lucky in circumstances offers me lots of room for writing. As do the contrasts between them -- and even the contrasts in their own personalities: I love, for example, that despite how graceful Doyle is, he drops his gun/ bullets something like three times, doesn't he? Rogue, Operation Susie and Oujka. That's intriguing to me, something that could be explored.
You, on the other hand, see the rescues as too equal to count, and that just as surely affects how you draw them and their relationship. And I'm guessing that even in an AU, you would weave that careful equality into any story.