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ci5hqIt's Friday night and I've finished work on time! *g* And it's Pros Novel Read-Along night! *g*
Waiting to Fall by Rob
Also available on the ProsLib dvd
Before anything else, thank you so much to FMP for providing the missing line towards the end - it should read "Will you listen to me for a minute." Doyle wanted to tell him how wrong he was" - yeay! (And I'm going to post about the other two missing lines when we're ready to move onto the next chapter)
So - Chapter One starts with Bodie entering a prison to collect someone for transfer - and it's Doyle! Bodie knows nothing about him except that he has to take him Cowley, and so he does, like a good agent. To Bodie's surprise - and Doyle's as well, as he's not been told what's going on - Cowley invites Doyle to join CI5, and then - and then - tells Bodie that they're going to be partnered, and that Doyle will be sharing a flat with him until accommodation has somewhere ready. Oh my - what's Bodie going to do with a bent copper? (Shush, we're not there yet... and if you know this story's nickname, you know it's gonna be a while. *g*)
In fact Bodie has a date, so he gives Doyle his spare key and heads off, leaving Doyle standing there with £5 in his pocket. Luckily that went alot further way back in 1977, but still - Doyle gets the tube, and is able to stop off at his brother's house on the way to Knightsbridge to collect the cases he left in storage. His brother John is not pleased to see the man who brought shame on the family and killed their mother (although she really died of cancer while Doyle was in prison), and our Doyle is given short shrift, but at least he has his things back. It's all he does have - he was living with his girlfriend, Ann Holly, when he was arrested and brought to trial, and she left him too. He heads back to Bodie's place, has his first private bath in a long time and goes to bed - leaving the door ajar, because finally he's no longer going to be shut in.
Bodie's date doesn't go well - he's been off active duty with an injured back, and it turns out that's not particularly conducive to sex either... Seeing the light left on, and assuming Doyle's waiting up for him, he looks forward to taking his frustrations out there - only to find Doyle in possession of additional cases, and fast asleep. He doesn't look at all like he'll survive CI5 training, and Bodie decides he doesn't have to worry about ending up with a partner after all - Doyle won't last.
So this story could almost be pre-canon, except for the mention of Ann Holly. Doyle could almost have got tangled up in the corruption case and arrested, and recruited from there by Cowley. I like how it's all such a hair's-breadth away from what might have been. Sliding doors and turning left instead of right one day, and where would any of us be now?
I'm believing in this world as I read it. CI5 hq out in Hounslow? It seems pretty un-central, but not impossible, especially since we know Cowley moves it around. I can absolutely see Cowley's machinations - the look on his face as he's talking to Doyle, as if it was an ep. *g* And Bodie thinking life's going his way, and then Cowley landing him with a partner - Cowley'd do it, just to keep him on his toes! *g*
I'm believing in Doyle too. There's maybe a little bit much emphasis on his "frailty" for my liking - I just can't see Doyle as frail, no matter what - he might be skinny-hipped compared to Bodie, but he's not insubstantial by any means. But then again, I can well imagine how being an ex-cop in prison might make someone seem frail when they're finally released, especially when nothing's explained to them, and Cowley's purposefully trying to keep him off balance so that he'll either sink - but far more likely, swim strongly.
I found it pretty hard not to keep reading after this one chapter - how did you all get on? What did you think? *g*
- did you believe in the characters?
- did you believe in the set up?
- do you think Bodie's right? Doyle won't last a week... *g*
Also available on the ProsLib dvd
Before anything else, thank you so much to FMP for providing the missing line towards the end - it should read "Will you listen to me for a minute." Doyle wanted to tell him how wrong he was" - yeay! (And I'm going to post about the other two missing lines when we're ready to move onto the next chapter)
So - Chapter One starts with Bodie entering a prison to collect someone for transfer - and it's Doyle! Bodie knows nothing about him except that he has to take him Cowley, and so he does, like a good agent. To Bodie's surprise - and Doyle's as well, as he's not been told what's going on - Cowley invites Doyle to join CI5, and then - and then - tells Bodie that they're going to be partnered, and that Doyle will be sharing a flat with him until accommodation has somewhere ready. Oh my - what's Bodie going to do with a bent copper? (Shush, we're not there yet... and if you know this story's nickname, you know it's gonna be a while. *g*)
In fact Bodie has a date, so he gives Doyle his spare key and heads off, leaving Doyle standing there with £5 in his pocket. Luckily that went alot further way back in 1977, but still - Doyle gets the tube, and is able to stop off at his brother's house on the way to Knightsbridge to collect the cases he left in storage. His brother John is not pleased to see the man who brought shame on the family and killed their mother (although she really died of cancer while Doyle was in prison), and our Doyle is given short shrift, but at least he has his things back. It's all he does have - he was living with his girlfriend, Ann Holly, when he was arrested and brought to trial, and she left him too. He heads back to Bodie's place, has his first private bath in a long time and goes to bed - leaving the door ajar, because finally he's no longer going to be shut in.
Bodie's date doesn't go well - he's been off active duty with an injured back, and it turns out that's not particularly conducive to sex either... Seeing the light left on, and assuming Doyle's waiting up for him, he looks forward to taking his frustrations out there - only to find Doyle in possession of additional cases, and fast asleep. He doesn't look at all like he'll survive CI5 training, and Bodie decides he doesn't have to worry about ending up with a partner after all - Doyle won't last.
So this story could almost be pre-canon, except for the mention of Ann Holly. Doyle could almost have got tangled up in the corruption case and arrested, and recruited from there by Cowley. I like how it's all such a hair's-breadth away from what might have been. Sliding doors and turning left instead of right one day, and where would any of us be now?
I'm believing in this world as I read it. CI5 hq out in Hounslow? It seems pretty un-central, but not impossible, especially since we know Cowley moves it around. I can absolutely see Cowley's machinations - the look on his face as he's talking to Doyle, as if it was an ep. *g* And Bodie thinking life's going his way, and then Cowley landing him with a partner - Cowley'd do it, just to keep him on his toes! *g*
I'm believing in Doyle too. There's maybe a little bit much emphasis on his "frailty" for my liking - I just can't see Doyle as frail, no matter what - he might be skinny-hipped compared to Bodie, but he's not insubstantial by any means. But then again, I can well imagine how being an ex-cop in prison might make someone seem frail when they're finally released, especially when nothing's explained to them, and Cowley's purposefully trying to keep him off balance so that he'll either sink - but far more likely, swim strongly.
I found it pretty hard not to keep reading after this one chapter - how did you all get on? What did you think? *g*
- did you believe in the characters?
- did you believe in the set up?
- do you think Bodie's right? Doyle won't last a week... *g*
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no subject
Date: 2021-02-20 12:17 am (UTC)2. I don't really get the attraction of the trope that either of them, maybe especially Doyle, is unjustly imprisoned. But OK, there we are.
3. Neither is as damaged as the last novel we read, and though there was plenty of violence in the backstory, nothing much on the page.
4. More tropes: "the smaller man" and Bodie's hostility to the whole idea of partnership.
I'd better stop before I forget where Chapter 1 ended.
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Date: 2021-02-20 09:21 am (UTC)I agree!
But here it is 'over', so strangely enough, I enjoy the 'background story'! Isn't it weird? :-)
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Date: 2021-02-20 10:40 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2021-02-20 10:38 am (UTC)I seem to remember this issue last time! *g*
I don't really get the attraction of the trope that either of them, maybe especially Doyle, is unjustly imprisoned.
Well, back in 1989 this would have been less of a "trope", to be fair - it's had 32 years to build up! (It doesn't take long for ideas to catch on, either - I don't remember ever reading a Pros fic where the lads' post-CI5 job was owning a pub when I wrote Two on a Treasure Island (https://archiveofourown.org/works/1353337), but at least two were written not long after that.)
I must admit to having written a Doyle-unjustly-imprisoned story too (One Summer (https://archiveofourown.org/works/3679920)), although I wasn't thinking "I have to write Doyle in jail", it just evolved that way (to be fair it was for the 2009 Comic Relief appeal (https://the-safehouse.livejournal.com/605924.html), and I was working off ideas that other people gave me, which had to be incorporated into the story - though no one specifically asked for Doyle in jail). I don't mind it as a trope though anyway - I think for me it's an added danger of their job, because obviously they'd be in prison with people they'd been instrumental in imprisoning, and so it's a situation of tension right from the start. I'd guess it might also come to people's minds as a setting where m/m sex is allegedly rife, and so might lend itself to that kind of tension too...
Neither is as damaged as the last novel we read, and though there was plenty of violence in the backstory, nothing much on the page.
The last Novel Read-Along was by Angelfish Archivist, who makes the lads very damaged in all her Pros stories - to the point where I can't believe them as CI5 agents any more, to be honest. It seemed to get progressively worse through the course of her Pros writing too! But Rob's lads so far are definitely different from that! And I can see where she's coming from with damaged-Doyle so far, it's believable.
More tropes: "the smaller man" and Bodie's hostility to the whole idea of partnership.
I never get "the smaller man" - yes, they're different builds entirely, and Bodie's much chunkier, but Doyle has never ever struck me as "small" or even "smaller" when I'm watching eps. There's been lots of argument in the past about this, but they're not even that different in height (Bodie is not six foot, as claimed in various fics, and I'm not convinced he's 5'11 either... I've seen him claim 5'10 himself in interviews, and I believe that, though I've also seen interviews claiming 5'11!) Anyway, yeah... I wonder what fic was the first to describe him that way often enough that it caught on!
There's definitely canon for both of them being hostile to the idea of partnering someone from their professions. We see Bodie being very negative about the police in a few eps (e.g. ItPI), and Doyle being negative about mercenaries (e.g. Heroes is the one I'm thinking of right now, but there's a more specific example if I could just remember which ep it was!) Is something a trope if it's based on canon...?
no subject
Date: 2021-02-20 02:12 pm (UTC)While I see that a setup in which a character is damaged provides an expectation of changing for the better, I agree with you that excessive damage doesn't make sense in such a dangerous job. It's more likely that CI5 work might DO the damage, and many of us have worked that into stories, too.
I liked the Ann part of the backstory. It's useful to start with Doyle so isolated. It's ironic that a character who, in canon, was angry that Doyle didn't trust HER enough (though I've never really understood her complaint) is the one who cannot believe his innocence. Yet it's believable too. While I have enjoyed Evil!Ann fics, it's good to read her as an ordinary woman who just does not suit Doyle.
Ideas do spread easily in fanfic, especially from popular stories! The whole enterprise being based on taking characters and situations and running with them, and all.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2021-02-20 06:59 am (UTC)I'm a simple reader and enjoy the setup in this chapter because I can buy into the idea that Doyle was always 1 step away from prison (his juvenile delinquency, good cop amongst bent cops in the Met, Coogan). I feel like there is enough canon for me to support the idea that he *could* have landed in jail at some prison. Another thing I love about Ch. 1 is his stubborn-headed trek across the city in his prison garb to retrieve his cases. This was good character building for me.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-20 10:44 am (UTC)And to think I thought I'd announced it late enough that people would probably only want to do a chapter! *g*
because I can buy into the idea that Doyle was ...
Yes, that makes total sense to me too. I think it's a good use of what we know from the eps turned into a new somewhat-AU but quite plausible background for Doyle.
his stubborn-headed trek across the city in his prison garb to retrieve his cases. This was good character building for me.
I didn't even think of it like that, but it totally was! And very Doyle not just to go tamely back to Bodie's and hang around, but to find something that needed doing and do it...
We'll have to see how fast we can catch up with you now. *g*
no subject
Date: 2021-02-21 05:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 03:09 am (UTC)I now need to re read chapter one as I can’t remember what happened
Oh Bodie...
Date: 2021-02-20 09:48 am (UTC)Driving away without any thought, that Doyle was still wearing his prison clothing, carrying his belongings in a case, not knowing if he has money, and ignoring that he could be 'lost and lonely'? :-O
Yes the first chapter could catch my interest and my sympathies for both(!) characters, and I remember now, why I loved the story nearly 13 years ago! :-)
Now I wonder, if I think that Bodie is mean, just because the other man is Doyle? Wouldn't it be a normal behaviour with 'anybody'?
Hmmmmmm......
...no! I think he IS mean! ;-)
"I found it pretty hard not to keep reading after this one chapter..."
Me too! :-)
40 chapters... Maybe we should read 2 at once? ;-)
"- did you believe in the characters?"
Yes! I can happily live with them!
"- did you believe in the set up?"
Yes! I don't like prison stories. But this way it's a very good start for a story. For a more 'vulnerable' Doyle.
"- do you think Bodie's right? Doyle won't last a week... "
*g* I know the story! ;-)
Thank you for hosting this!
RE: Oh Bodie...
Date: 2021-02-20 10:51 am (UTC)Lol - yes, I agree, it is mean! But actually I like the way the author (and Bodie) acknowledged that, because for me that echoes the Bodie I see in canon. He doesn't really like to think too hard about things, and he's happy to assume that Cowley (and Doyle) will do the high-up moral thinking for him, but when he does make the effort, or is forced to think more deeply, we see his compassionate side, like with Frances Cottingham, or the girl in Wild Justice.
40 chapters... Maybe we should read 2 at once? ;-)
I'm wondering if we could even manage a few more than that... maybe we could go up to the start of Chapter 5 for next time (but I'm aware not everyone's reading in their native language, so I'm gonna ask and see what people think!)
So far 3/4 people on this thread have implied that they don't like/are puzzled by stories where one of the lads is imprisoned (I'm the exception!). I wonder why - for me it seems quite a natural story set up, because it has has lots of in-built tension...
RE: Oh Bodie...
Date: 2021-02-20 11:58 am (UTC)Same here!
I enjoyed reading WtF last year and I do enjoy it now again.
The character Doyle fits perfectly Real bundle of trouble, he is. *g*
Bodie, so mean, forgetting he's wearing prison clothing etc, it's a bit hard to believe. But hey, he isn't used to be teamed up with a partner, so he might be a bit "confused", but he also has his soft moments concerning Doyle. That makes me smile :-)
RE: Oh Bodie...
From:RE: Oh Bodie...
From:RE: Oh Bodie...
From:RE: Oh Bodie...
Date: 2021-02-21 05:12 am (UTC)Hmmmmmm......
My thought when I first read it was that Bodie should have at least driven him to the flat. As in, Bodie knows Doyle doesn't have his own wheels because he just picked Doyle up from prison earlier that day. As far as Bodie staying in with him on Doyle's first night (making sure Doyle got settled, showered, fed, etc.) I could almost excuse Bodie for failing that. Bodie got saddled with a partner and roommate, he already had a date scheduled... childish yes, but I could understand why Bodie left Doyle on his own.
So, I guess I come down on the side of Bodie being selfish, and throwing a bit of a temper tantrum by directing his anger at Doyle.
RE: Oh Bodie...
From:Re: Oh Bodie...
Date: 2021-02-22 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-20 04:35 pm (UTC)Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ (https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=303).
no subject
Date: 2021-02-21 08:44 am (UTC)What did you think?
Did you believe in the characters?
Well, clearly I found it absorbing enough to read more of it than required.
As for Bodie's behavior, I found it believable, and not as unkind as some other commenters on this thread apparently did. He did offer both to set Doyle up with a girl and to give him a ride somewhere. Doyle declined in both cases. Failing fully to think through Doyle's situation when he resented being lumbered with Doyle at all is not out of character, in my opinion.
It was actually Cowley's actions that I had the most trouble crediting. Forcing Doyle to make such an abrupt decision about his future didn't seem reasonable to me. Cowley demands complete commitment from his agents, and hustling someone into joining CI5 when his life has just been turned upside down doesn't seem like the way to ensure that. It felt like a contrivance to maintain the pace of the plot more than anything else.
Did you believe in the set up?
I found it plausible, yes. The idea that Doyle's willfulness and desire to root out corruption might get him into such a fix worked for me. I also like the connection
How I feel about wrongful conviction stories depends on my state of mind, I think. It's an interesting dramatic situation, but sometimes I find the notion of having years of one's life turned into blank spaces too upsetting.
Do you think Bodie's right? Doyle won't last a week...
Nah.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-21 03:49 pm (UTC)Indeed, to prevent Doyle from ending up all dependent and pitiful may be part of the reason Rob had Bodie clear out so precipitously.
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Date: 2021-02-27 02:22 pm (UTC)Somehow I braved myself into starting this story despite my aversion for extralong fics, but I must confess not having much spare time at the moment has meant even reading just the first chapter has been a bit of a struggle. So I don't think I'll be able to follow your discussion here "in real time" later on.
The story is certainly well written and character psychology seems pretty solid.
I agree with you that despite not particularly liking the idea of one of the lads having been in prison, this premise helps in creating conflict and highlighting certain aspects of Doyle's character. Though I do not particularly like it if in a story there is an extended period when the lads are not perceived/shown as equal, in terms of power balance etc.
One thing that I do not nornally feel comfortable while reading fic is when the author jumps from one character's POV to another's, even in the same chapter or section. I can get over it but it's not something that I particularly enjoy in fiction.
About the Hounslow thing: I read it as CI5 HQ being still in central London, perhaps around Westminster (Doyle can hear Big Ben chiming five, I think?), and so I gather that from there he reached the nearest tube station to get to Hounslow to see his brother, and from there back to central London on the Piccadilly Line to get to Knightsbridge to go to Bodie's place...
:)
no subject
Date: 2021-02-27 06:41 pm (UTC)It always surprises me when people say they don't like long stories, because I've always thought the longer the better when it comes to Pros (not necessary quality-wise, of course, but if it's them to me in a story, then I always want more... *g*
I do not particularly like it if in a story there is an extended period when the lads are not perceived/shown as equal, in terms of power balance etc.
Yes, same for me. I didn't feel the lads were unequal in this chapter though, despite Doyle's experience - I liked how he was bolshy with the guards, and with Bodie when he got there. And I didn't feel he was Bodie's unequal even when Bodie drove off and left him - Doyle had refused a lift, and refused to go with him on the date - it was his choice all the way. And he was facing up to things, which seems very Doyle to me - Thinking about it, that's worse than doing it...
the Hounslow thing
I think this might be a case of slightly ambiguous writing again - "Bodie's address was Knightsbridge, practically a direct line from Hounslow, he could go and collect his things from John's house." To me that reads as if Doyle's in Hounslow thinking he could get to Bodie's. But you're right - Doyle does hear Big Ben, so he must be in central London, which would make more sense for CI5 hq... *g*
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