Reading Room - Adagio by Sebastian

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Last Saturday there was a ProsWatch of Foxhole on the Roof, the fourth season episode that comes between Discovered in a Graveyard and Operation Susie. There's no sign, of course, that Doyle had almost died in the previous episode, but the Pros episodes were all stand-alone - I don't think there's a single one that refers back to what happened in a previous episode.

Coincidentally, I had reason to be over at Sebastian's website, looking at her Adagio story - she has also included brief commentaries on her stories, and I was amazed to re-discover that Foxhole on a Roof was the episode that inspired her to start writing B/D slash. She writes that "I got lost in the episode... "Those guys have something... they could have something together....I could write about this!"

Of all the episodes, I tend to think of Foxhole as one of the least slashy, because the lads are barely together, and on top of that Murphy is shoehorned in on a job with Bodie! The only gorgeous bit I can think of is right at the end, where they come together on the roof, and stand so entirely close together.

So I wondered - is there anything in Adagio that hints at its Foxhole beginnings...?

And what I found was - nothing that I could see! Adagio is a good solid Pros story, with the lads discovering a relationship between them, coming to terms with it, and ultimately winning through. It was written in 1982, and I'm now wondering if it might have been the earliest "We have to tell Cowley" story, although there was already alot of fic written by then, so it may not have been at all. "We must tell Cowley" really seemed to take off from somewhere though, because at least half the start-of-relationship fic in Pros seems to mention it (I notice because I'm never quite convinced they'd go there... *g*)

There's also three further sequels, which I didn't read for the purpose of this post (well, haven't finished reading *g*), because it was Adagio that was particularly inspired by Foxhole.

So - did anyone else read Adagio? Did you see anything in the episode that would inspire it? Or is there anything in the fic you want to chat about in general? What did you think? *vbg*

Comments

[tinturtle]

I read it, but it is very late now, and I will have to come back tomorrow to write my thoughts.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

No worries - I'm surprised you were still up! I confess to completely forgetting to post yesterday until it was too late for me to do it... *headdesk*

[tinturtle]

I kept the connection to Foxhole on the Roof in Mind while I was reading. I didn't see any evidence of it in the story, though, except the very general fact that both take place after Doyle is shot.

I liked this fic overall. I did have some trouble following parts of it because of the rapidly shifting emotions of the characters. As I've written elsewhere, though, I think that's a Turtle thing and not the fault of the author.

One thing I thought was interesting is that, in this story, Bodie is willing to tell Doyle that he loves him, but Doyle is not willing to reciprocate. The only other place I can remember seeing that configuration is in Sebastian's Siren series, in which both characters believe that Doyle, in fact, doesn't love Bodie. I'm not sure if that is meant to be the implication here, but I don't really think so. Their realization near the beginning of how close they've become seems to be mutual, and Doyle takes a lot of initiative in their relationship later in the fic.

Possibly more thoughts later.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

in this story, Bodie is willing to tell Doyle that he loves him, but Doyle is not willing to reciprocate
That caught my attention a bit too - I think it's explained in the next story in the series, but I also think that Sebastian does see Doyle as slightly more harsh than I usually do. Not so far that I can't see where it's coming from and go along with it though. Et in Italio Ego is another of hers where Doyle seems to have the upper hand in their relationship. I wonder if it's from Bodie's more obvious affection for Doyle in the series - I think we see Doyle being affectionate to Bodie too, but it's more subtle...

Such a shame we're on such different time zones — I have to go to bed now that I've found a minute to reply!

[tinturtle]

Such a shame we're on such different time zones — I have to go to bed now that I've found a minute to reply!

Yeah. Not to mention the fact that, at the moment, I'm also effectively in a different timezone than the other people who live in my timezone. :-/

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I admit I don't see how Foxhole could inspire anything! LOL! Spank me now.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

For some strange reason, LJ won't let me edit. *sigh* I was going to add, since we aren't having any more eps, I'm keeping them all.

Sorry about the Christmas icon. I tried to change it.

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Editing isn't possible if you use Firefox as a browser, but it works in Edge or Chrome browser.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

When did they start that? I've used firefox for many years and never had a problem. Weird.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Ha. It just let me edit. The gremlins are out!

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

I first noticed it around Christmas time last year when I wanted to edit my icons and it didn't work. I looked at the FAQs and found out that using one of the other browsers should help.

Normally I use Firefox too because I like it the most.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - no, I don't feel terribly inspired by it either, but Sebastian obviously saw something... I'd love to work out what it was! Maybe it was as simple as the end moment, when the lads come together on the roof, as if they belonged together... although I guess their interaction when they're running up the stairs to the roof is quite belonging-together too... Maybe it was just the little moments that did it!

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was just seeing those handsome blokes. *bg* After all, when they are on screen together the magic does happen.