Pros Novel Read-Along - Waiting to Fall by Rob - Chapters 21-25

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

This weekend's chapters were 21-25, and I have to say that my review is probably going to be shorter this week...

We left Doyle heading off to the Beeches, which he's been told is a convalescent home for injured agents, but is in actual fact rather more of a secure home for psychologically traumatised agents... Doyle doesn't realise this for a long time, and Bodie hopes to keep it that way, but it eventually comes out. Doyle is unimpressed with the way people keep asking how he is, even before he cottons on to where he really is. He's moody and generally pissed off about being there, and eventually Bodie decides he'd better stop being understanding about this, because maybe that's what will shock Doyle out of his non-acceptance of what's happened to Ann.

Eventually Doyle decides he has to escape from the place, ends up stealing a car and trying to drive out - only of course there are armed guards at the gate. He finally holes up in a corner with a gun he's got hold of, and the only person he'll allow to approach him is Bodie. Bodie, of course, realises that Doyle means it when he says he can't stay at the Beeches any longer, and is firm with everyone that he's taking Doyle back to London. Doyle will only go with Bodie, and holds onto him all the way.

Back in Bodie's apartment, Doyle automatically goes to sleep in Bodie's bed instead of his own, and that brings up another problem. Bodie's new-found lust for Doyle (in the last set of chapters) means that he starts having wet dreams about him. Luckily Doyle is taking sleeping tablets, and so doesn't realise at first - until one disastrous-for-Bodie night when he doesn't, and wakes up.

Meanwhile, Doyle has also started to have more-than-friends thoughts about Bodie, and, feeling guilty about it, moves back into his own room - which Bodie assumes is Doyle rejecting him.

Doyle also agrees to attend Repton on a day patient basis, where he meets a man called Quinn, who turns out not to be as normal as Doyle had thought...

Okay, that was longer than I thought I'd be able to manage, because I must admit to having skimmed the rest of this chapter after the first half-dozen pages or so. Doyle is not the Doyle I know and love for his confidence and competence - he's afraid of Bodie when Bodie treats him aggressively (instead of standing up to him, as "my" Doyle would do). He reacts to things by being tearful and either physically holding onto Bodie, or collapsing in his arms to be cuddled and held. And he somehow doesn't even realise that the Beeches isn't an ordinary convalescent home, or that Quinn has mental issues, until things force realisation on him (so not the observant Doyle we see in the eps).

There seem to be a few illogical-but-used-for-plot-purposes issues too. The Beeches is so high security that the guards at the various gates are all armed - but they don't bother checking Bob Craig's ID at the gate, misidentify him as Bodie, and let him in without any problems... Doyle has a camera watching him in his room all the time, but doesn't realise it's not an ordinary convalescent home for ages?

And Bodie is still too perfect for me. He's the only person who understand's Doyle's psychology well enough to know what he needs and how to deal with him (not an uncommon device, and I can accept it to a certain degree because our lads are soulmates (*g*), but this has gone on for a long time now!); he's just all-round best at everything in CI5, including the game of poker he plays against two visiting Americans, bluffing them easily; and he's just too understanding of everyone else's pyschology and what's behind everything that happens! Argh! I like competent-lads very much (and hurt-lads-needing-comfort), but I want them to be real people too.

So - what did you make of this week's chapters? *g*

Comments

[boothros.livejournal.com]

'Doyle is not the Doyle I know and love for his confidence and competence', yes I'd agree with that though I find that about Rob's Doyle throughout the whole novel. It seems to me that their relationship throughout is unbalanced with Doyle falling back on Bodie who always takes the natural lead, unlike the cannon pair we know as equals.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's how I'm still seeing it. Apart from the very first chapter, where Doyle showed some spark and stood up to Bodie and CI5, he seems very passive and reliant on Bodie. I don't like it!

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

I liked the awkward sex. Much as both I and other slash writers tend to write perfect, best-they've-ever-had sex, I love a sex scene that is a little clumsy.

Anyway *that's* not perfect! I love a love story with both people equal and imperfect. Learning from and balancing each other. Right now I can't even imagine how these lads get there.

[tinturtle]

Hey! How come I didn't get awkward sex in my reading assignment?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Awkward sex? Have you been reading ahead again?! There was dream-sex, and wet-dreams, but I definitely don't remember akward-sex!

But yeah — it's definitely difficult so far to imagine how they might get to equal sex right now...

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

Perhaps my diction is faulty. I can't help thinking that ejaculating over the backside of a person who hasn't consented is sex...and a bit awkward.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, lol!! Yes, that's not at all what I understood by "awkward sex"!! *g* To me awkward sex is that sex between two people where things don't go smoothly — there's bumping of noses when they kiss, and accidental elbows where they shouldn't be, and more things to laugh about than to describe in that we've-just-had-perfect-sex-look-at-the-fireworks kind of way. *g*

What happened to Bodie I'd describe as a wet dream rather than sex. It was sexual, but he wasn't awake for it, it wasn't a conscious act. For me, sex is a conscious act. So Bodie coming on Doyle's backside following a wet dream — awkward yes, sexual yes, "awkward sex", no. *g*

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

Well, now I have read ahead and I see what you mean. Until next Saturday then.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hey! Spoilers! Why would you spoil me for the story?!

[tinturtle]

Well then.

I skipped almost all of chapter 21 and most of chapter 22, but I read the rest of this week's selection. Like others, I am frustrated that Doyle has slipped back into a more dependent state. That is definitely a persistent theme in this fic, just as one of the reviews I read at the outset warned it would be.

On LiveJournal's Man from U.N.C.L.E. comms, there have been a few threads recently about the appeal of slash fiction. In more than one of those, posters have mentioned that one of the things that draws them to slash is the equality between the partners. Two halves of a slash pairing can be equals in a way that a man and a woman rarely are in romantic narratives (and that they may struggle to be in real life, given the cultural forces that beset opposite-sex relationships). In light of that, I think it's interesting that there is also such a strong tradition of slash in which the two leads are deliberately made less equal than they are in canon. Clearly not everyone is seeking the same thing in slash stories.

It is looking as though Waiting to Fall is part of the unequal tradition. Probably. In chapter 25, Rob seems to suggest that the caretaker dynamic we have so far seen between Bodie and Doyle has been a way for them to cloak their desire for one another:

~~~

Speechless, Bodie watched him go, his feelings ambivalent; part of him was pleased to see Doyle so cheerfully independent, but only a small part: underneath the pleasure he was already missing the air of vulnerability that had been firmly wrapped around his partner. Doyle didn't need him anymore.

Yes, he does, Bodie thought fiercely as he watched his friend leave the canteen with the attractive programmer. Or, maybe I need him? He knew he should be pleased at Doyle's re-established confidence, knew it was wrong--even a little sick--to want Doyle that dependent on him.

~~~

How could he have fooled himself into thinking he needed to depend on Bodie? He didn't need Bodie, not in that way: he only pretended so as to hide behind his real reason for wanting Bodie to stay close. No, he finally acknowledged, he didn't need Bodie--he wanted him!

~~~

That seems like it could be an interesting idea to explore, but I didn't feel as if it was supported by the story so far, at least the parts I read. Perhaps it will be woven in better later, but right now it feels out of place. It's also undermined by Bodie's continued super-ness, which byslantedlight has described.

---

I've been thinking about why Doyle's hurt character doesn't seem to be working in this story, in contrast to the hurt characters in other fics with some similarities. I think part of the problem might be that, when encountering an AU fic, readers wait to be shown who the characters are in the story's universe. Yet Rob never establishes Doyle as competent and independent, because she begins the story with him already traumatized by his time in prison. Compare Bodie Lost and Bodie Found by hutchynstarsk (which, okay, I couldn't finish, but which I read a good chunk of). Bodie starts that fic damaged, dependent, and passive, and he remains that way for quite a while, but something about that story works much better. I wonder if the difference is (at least in part) that the Lost and Found stories are not AU fics. We already know who Bodie is in the universe in which they take place, because he is the same Bodie we know from canon. As a result, we see him as a strong person made helpless by terrible circumstances, rather than simply a helpless person, and therefore we are not disappointed by the portrayal. I'm not sure how much of a role this plays, but it is something that has occurred to me.

(The difference could also be a simple matter of framing. In the Lost and Found stories, the way Bodie is at the time of the story is contrasted frequently with his usual competence and independence, whereas there isn't much of that in Waiting to Fall.)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

it's interesting that there is also such a strong tradition of slash in which the two leads are deliberately made less equal than they are in canon
There've been lots of discussions about that in Pros too, at first regarding the "feminising" of usually Doyle, and then when someone pointed out that wasn't a terribly fair term, the "infantalising" — usually of Doyle. I don't think that they came to any conclusions about why some writers did it, probably because it wasn't those writers who were discussing it!

When I've thought about why I like slash, one reason has definitely been that as a woman reading it I don't have to worry about coming across unequal treatment between the two romantic leads, and it's just relaxing, somehow, not to have to think about that! Which is probably a reason I don't like fic that does infantalise one of the lads — because women tend to be infantalised in society/stories generally, and that's what I read slashfic to take a break from (although that's not why I first read slash fic — that was purely because oh yes, now I know what I was seeing on screen! more please! *g*

I suppose what we have to remember though is that the people writing the older Pros stories were writing when mindsets were still more deeply mired in the m/f inequality thing, so perhaps some people just defaulted to that for one of the romantic leads... I always think that fandoms like Pros probably helped us as women in general to work through our thoughts about things like that, so that we could get a bit further along when we're writing now (which we've talked about before *g*) Although even now I know people — including women — who still just accept the old status quo of men-with-freedom vs women-conforming-to-expectations. If you asked them consciously they'd say no, but you can see them doing it in their own lives...

Rob seems to suggest that the caretaker dynamic we have so far seen between Bodie and Doyle has been a way for them to cloak their desire for one another
Yes, that does seem to have slid in, and I must say I'm not overly comfortable with the idea — that Doyle has to play vulnerable in order to attract Bodie, and Bodie has to find Doyle vulnerable in order to be attracted to him. Now where have we come across that idea before...? *headdesk*

Rob never establishes Doyle as competent and independent, because she begins the story with him already traumatized by his time in prison
I still think we see him as pretty tough at the start of the story, even when he's in prison. He answers back to the prison guards and to Bodie, and he doesn't just do what Bodie tells him, he demands answers... Right up to the point where Cowley gets him to sign his freedom away again to CI5 (not being allowed to regain his reputation as a strong decent human being who was framed by someone else) he's fairly strong in fact — it seems to be when he's released back in Bodie's care and dragged all around CI5 to wear him out that we start seeing him exhausted and eventually lost and dependent again.

I must admit I couldn't get very far with most of hutchynstarsk's stories, but I had another look at the one you linked to. (That storyline's actually been done before a few times too, interestingly...) I dunno though — I like the start of WtF better actually (but then that's because I'm seeing bolshy Doyle in it), whereas I don't like the idea of virtually-comatose-Bodie-who-can-still-survive-with-his-SAS-skills-because-he's-so-good... But I think your point about them starting off from a place of equality is a good one. In WtF, no matter how bolshy Doyle starts off as, we're shown Bodie and the other agents/authority figures looking down on him (c.f. we're told how dangerous Bodie is, despite his fugue state, in Bodie Lost, and how everyone has to be careful of him). Bodie's damaged but he's not made inferior...

[tinturtle]

Bodie Lost and part of Bodie Found are the only fics of hutchynstarsk’s that I have read, I think, but I thought they were quite good. It was because I found some parts of the latter too true to life that I couldn’t finish it.

I agree that the bit about the SAS appears self-contradictory as written. My interpretation of it is that Bodie has been successfully hiding, but not applying any other skills he would need to survive, which is why he is dehydrated.

[tinturtle]

Not so, I find. I've also read No Dreams. It didn't do a lot for me, but it was interesting as a fic with a classic slash premise that is not, in fact, a slash fic.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I seem to remember that Hutchynstarsk was adamant that she didn't slash the lads, but glancing at the link she seems to be writing a slash fic which I assume just doesn't end in sex, and she's labelled it "bromance". She's also using a fairly common slash plot line in Pros fic for the story (though to be fair I haven't read it all — I'm supposed to be starting work for the day!) and we've got the tropes of Bodie not wanting Doyle to go undercover as a stripper, and wanting to be there to protect him... I'll try and read it later perhaps, and let you know!

[tinturtle]

The ultimate upshot of the story is actually pretty odd. The experience allows Doyle to overcome the loss of confidence that caused him to quit art school.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hey, spoilers! Which I know you've added a spoiler cut here, but the whole comment came in my email notification, in all its glory. Nothing hidden there. That seems to be something of an lj-spoiler-cut glitch... *headdesk*

So, since I now know the ending anyway — sounds like a pretty stereptypical "feminising"-Doyle story with that ending. Not that blokes can't lack confidence (although I'd argue that ep-based-Doyle doesn't!), but again that's the sort of plot that Doyle was often given around the time of WtF fics (from completely non-statistical memory-based analysis), where he was the one who needed confidence for something, and Bodie was there to protect him somehow until he got it... I'm remember why I didn't read many of Hutchynstarsk's fics, I think...

[tinturtle]

Oh dear. Sorry about the spoilers. The fic probably wouldn't have been to your taste, anyway, though.

[tinturtle]

Rob seems to suggest that the caretaker dynamic we have so far seen between Bodie and Doyle has been a way for them to cloak their desire for one another
Yes, that does seem to have slid in, and I must say I'm not overly comfortable with the idea — that Doyle has to play vulnerable in order to attract Bodie, and Bodie has to find Doyle vulnerable in order to be attracted to him. Now where have we come across that idea before...? *headdesk*

It is rather creepy, and one would hope that once they realized what was happening they would try to change their dynamic. If the idea is carried forward, perhaps it will lead to a more equal relationship.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I suppose it's connected to the Mills and Boon m/f romance type trope though — the big hunky man protecting the (usually) petite and sensitive woman... *sighs*

Cross fingers that we're still working through Doyle's trauma in WtF, and he'll be back to his ep-normal self eventually! *g*

[tinturtle]

I don't fancy Ray as Bella Swan, though the idea of sparkly Bodie might have potential. :D

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ah, now Twilight is something else again, and not something the WtF authors and contemporary readers had to think about! I read a few of the books, but couldn't stick with the films very far, so I don't remember the "sparkly" bit myself... And the various Pros vampire stories don't go there... at least none of the ones I've read! It makes me think of the Buffy ep where the entrepreneurial vamps rounded up the oh-vampires-are-ever-so-sentitive-you-know-hiding-in-the-dark-poor-things crowd in a basement, all ready for tasty snacks... *g*

[tinturtle]

The Twilight vampires' skin sparkles in direct sunlight. I know this from having read about the books. I've never read the books themselves.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

This Doyle is really getting annoying. He's whiny, selfish, inconsiderate, weepy, and keeps changing his mind about what he wants. But the big "god, I don't believe this" is his getting into bed, naked, and then wanting to cuddle. I mean, really. At this point in the game he still thinks of himself as straight. No straight guy would do that. Plus, his reaction to Bodie coming all over his butt is just not realistic. And, of course, Bodie sleeping the sleep of the dead doesn't work for me, either. I don't care how tired he is, how convenient that he doesn't finally wake up until he comes. And both their realizations of wanting to be with a guy is awfully blasé. "Oh, it seems I'm gay," doesn't cut it. Especially Bodie. It's as if he's more concerned about how Doyle will take it then how it will affect his own life.

And Doyle is way too damaged for me to think that any responsible leader of a law enforcement organization would ever dream of allowing him to be a member.

[tinturtle]

Yes, I found the naked cuddling wholly ridiculous, too. As far as I recall, it was not explained why they suddenly started foregoing pajamas. The entire cuddling arc has been so improbable, though, that I didn’t think to bring it up.

As far as sexual identity crises go, I think I assumed Bodie already knew himself to be bisexual. Is there anything that contradicts that? I agree, though, that based on Doyle’s backstory and his speech in front of the mirror earlier in the fic, Doyle should probably have had a harder time with it.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I think I assumed Bodie already knew himself to be bisexual. Is there anything that contradicts that?
Yes I had that impression too, and I can't think of anything that contradicts it off-hand.

I'd forgotten about Doyle's mirror scene, and where he asks Bodie what men see in him that makes them think he might be attracted to them... (and as a woman, I'd just like to point out to Doyle that it's not the person they're looking at who's supposed to think anything, in the eyes of that type of man!) Maybe we're supposed to assume that Doyle's already been dealing with men being attracted to him, and so he's part-way along that process, so that thinking of himself as attracted to Bodie is less of a jump...

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I don't recall an actual passage of Bodie not knowing that he could be with a man. But I don't recall there being a passage that would imply that he was bisexual. Of course, that doesn't mean there isn't one. *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the changing-his-mind thing is supposed to show us that he's still moody from all the trauma — or if it's even just an artefact of Rob having written the story in installments (a very long story to write in installments too!) Either way, I agree... and the cuddling doesn't work for me either, and the way that started, with Bodie using it to subdue Doyle's nightmares made me kind of uncomfortable...

On the other hand I can see Bodie not waking up until he's completed his wet dream — that's fairly realistic, I thought. Not what happens after that though!

And yeah, we do seem to have come to the bit where "now-they-both-realise-they're-attracted-to-each-other"... *g*7

It's as if he's more concerned about how Doyle will take it then how it will affect his own life.
I think I'm with tinturtle on this actually — my impression was that Bodie was comfortable with realising he wanted Doyle because he's wanted men before. So the problem there is that it's Doyle, not that Bodie's bi-sexual. But it does all seem to be a bit over-wrought...

I suppose some of all this is that we're now used to the lads having these realisations etc., and as women in the 2020s we're thinking differently about it all than Rob would have been thinking when she wrote this in 1989... so I guess perhaps that means this reads as a bit dated, in fanfic terms — our brains have moved on a bit...

[tinturtle]

I’m starting to get the feeling that we don’t like this fic.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol — you could be right! I find it a bit frustrating, because it's well written, it's just not the lads I want to see...

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

Yes. It's like reading ... oh, I dunno, a murder mystery when I wanted Pros slash.