The Reading Room

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

 

Welcome to the all-new Pros fic club, The Reading Room. 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions, but in a completely undemocratic manner I’ve opted for The Reading Room, but was sorely tempted by this inspired contribution, courtesy of earthdogue: 

 

'The New Tricks & Mixed Involvement after the Heat & Private Madness Cools Off from Backtracking Killers, Guns, & Spy Probes and being Hunted, Hijacked, and Discovered in a Graveyard Room.’

The idea, anyway, is that each week we’ll all read a Pros fic and discuss it here. 

 

I’ve recced one of my favourites below, to kick off. Hopefully each week someone different will suggest the fic, and post a rec about it, to start off the discussion.

 

The only condition is that the fic should be online, so everyone can get access to it. Slash (or gen) goes without saying, I hope, in this company. To suggest a rec for next week, please comment to this post, by 8 pm GMT on Tuesday. The first rec received will be the next Pros Fic club choice, which I will post next Thursday. 

 

To start off, then, I am delighted to recommend for your reading pleasure:

Title: Dance While You Can

Author: Alexandra

Links to story:
http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/0/dancewhile.html

 also in print at: 'Close Quarters', Deathless Pros Press (1996)

Pairing: B/D

Black ankle boots, black pants hugging thighs and crotch with little left to the imagination, black silk poloneck, and black leather jacket. Definitely Bodie's best color.  Doyle watched him make his way to the bar, admiring his elegance, his subtle grace.

 

Does any fic need more to recommend it?

 

Dance While You Can, by Alexandra

 

 

‘Black ankle boots, black pants hugging thighs and crotch with little left to the imagination, black silk poloneck, and black leather jacket. Definitely Bodie's best color.  Doyle watched him make his way to the bar, admiring his elegance, his subtle grace.’

 

Does any fic need more to recommend it than this ravishing image? And through Doyle’s admiring eyes, too, with the promise of slash to come. 

 

This is one of the first fics I read, not that long ago I have to admit, and it has yet to be displaced from top spot in my favourites. I love the joy and warmth and humour in Alexandra’s writing. The quality of the writing, the narrative, and the characterisation of Bodie, Doyle and Cowley, all goes without saying as the essentials of a memorable story. But ‘Dance While You Can’ ticks all the boxes for me in all sorts of ways.

 

The title is a bit of worry. It sounds rather ominous, as though something terrible is going to happen, but in fact there is nothing here to disturb even the most faint-hearted (that’s me).  There is a bit of a plot, narrated with a close eye on canon.  The plot is enough to place the lads convincingly in the situation they find themselves in, without diverting attention from their relationship.  An ironic misunderstanding in that area is enough to give the plot more substance.

 

Alexandra recreates the atmosphere of the eps perfectly.  Particularly vivid is Bodie and Doyle’s visit to Cowley’s office; first the mutual anxiety, then, in the blink of an eye, the lads bouncing back and treating Cowley to their two-man comedy routine, except only they are in on the joke, and there is just a hint that Cowley is not entirely convinced. It could be played out on the screen in front of you.

 

There is more than knock-about humour, and well-written porn, though. The quality of Alexandra’s writing is in imagery like this:

 

‘The room stood still, swathed in a bath of moonlight from the small, high window, such an ordinary room in an ordinary flat, with nothing of their own in it, a temporary place. Yet he felt so at home, sheltered in Bodie's arms.’

 

At the heart of it, really, is that I like my lads happy and in love, but still credibly masculine, strong and independent, and Alexandra does this so well.

 

Read to the end of this fic and your day will be brighter.

.

Also at jaycat92.livejournal.com/9922.html ...

Comments

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Oh, well done! All we need is a cyber bottle of champagne to launch the new endeavour. And I'm so pleased you've chosen a story by Alexandra as I like her work a lot. And I'm also very pleased you've opted for online stories because that's fair and it would be frustrating to discuss something if only half the group had access to it.

Cheers!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh yeay - and I've actually got that story in a zine, so I don't even need to print it out! In case you want to add it to your post, it's in Close Quarters (http://www.palelyloitering.com/zines/closequarters.html) from Deathless Pros Press (1996) and ohhhh - look at the cover of the zine! I've just scanned it for palelyloitering, so if you go to that link you'll see it... Just... ohhh.... *g* Actually the whole zine is full of stories that I adore, include Irene's fabulous Groundhog Doyle (http://www.palelyloitering.com/Fic/groundhogdoyle.html)... but she's not online, and I'm getting off-track. Yeay the first ever Pros Reading Room! I shall, indeed, rush off to read... *g*

Although I'm not sure I can see Bodie in ankle boots... but I like Alexandra, so maybe she'll convince me!

[moorspede.livejournal.com]

It's wonderful that recommendatins will be for online stories. I joined for recs but most seem to have originated from zines. It was annoying the hell out of me.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this! I like the idea of fic of the week. I plan on reading this week's rec tonight, and if someone recs a fic by next Tuesday, I'll have a couple of days before comments open to get my thoughts in order. Thanks!

[probodie.livejournal.com]

Nice one. I shall look forward to reading this one.

May I make a suggestion? If you are going to have gen as well as slash, can the genra be shown somewhere in either the subject or before the cut. I dont want to stray into territory gen if I can at all avoid it. Cheers!

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Is there a procedure for starting the discussion on the recommended story?

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

Aha I was just about to ask something similar to sc_fossil. I was also wondering if you want review/dicussion in this introductory(and next recs) post or do you want a new discussion post?

Also can I just say thank you for this idea, I am looking forward to reading the fic, probably tomorrow, and seeing what others think. In addition thank you for making sure these are all online stories as these are accessible to everyone.

[krisserci5.livejournal.com]

I'm with you there!!!

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I think I'll start anyway *g*:

I have a great deal of fondness for 'Dance While You Can'. It was one of the first Pros stories I read, as well as the first "undercover in a gay bar" story. I still think it's utterly charming.

The story is without many narrative tricks and quirks; it reads like an earlier circuit story in that there is nothing strange about Doyle's awakening interest in Bodie in the complete absence of any hint of previous experiences or urges. Alexandra doesn't go for long explanations or back-story, she just gets on with what's happening *now*. There's no real conflict, just a gently increasing tension that lasts until they discover their mutual attraction and act on it. It appeals to the romantic, rather than the realist in me.

The part I'd most like to watch as a fly on the wall? Everything from "Bodie kissed him, long and deep and very effectively." to "Yeah. Let's go home." From a girl who likes the down & dirty, that's quite a confession *g*.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

*squees happily*

So glad you've chosen the online default!! I've never had many zines and I'm always disappointed when stories that are recced aren't online. We're busy moving, slowly, and I'm not supposed to add to our pile of books etc. till that's over so I can't even change my habits!

Downloaded and will read over the weekend.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Same here, even though I was aware as I read it that the whole subject of whether either had been with another man was missing. But somehow she makes it work, probably because she writes it more as a romance, as when Doyle realizes that he more loves Bodie than lusts for him...not that he doesn't lust for him, too.

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

I thought I’d sort of play devil’s advocate a bit, as we are chewing freely over tales we variously like and love here :) …..

By which I mean, I thoroughly enjoy this story but there are a handful of details that niggle me – as well as some that I particularly love.

One miniscule brit-nit-pick – Bodie’s black pants, of course! – but that’s nothing really; I was a bit concerned, though, about the lads drinking that much on duty. I know they’ve got to have a drink for verisimilitude since they’re undercover in a bar/club, but I can’t see them genuinely getting drunk on an op even if they’re mainly acting as bait. So they get – apparently – pretty drunk, but then they are all-of-a-suddenly sober enough for action when they get home from the bar.

On an emotional level, I had one gripe – something of an imbalance between them, when Bodie is apparently quite manipulative in a way that borders on unpleasant when he “tests” Ray on the dance floor before admitting to his own feelings. Ray seems a bit too accepting of that “test”, imo, and makes no attempt to get his own back.

But the things I like, ah, well now! There are any number of things I like. There are lines that make me smile:

Doyle sighed, closed his eyes, and thought hard about sour gherkins.

Bodie kissed him, long and deep and very effectively.

Doyle stopped thinking anything coherent at all.

There are the lads instantly in tune with each other as they attempt to finagle extra time off out of Cowley.

And most of all there is the harmony between them when they decide to go for breakfast and a run before going home for more action – a very concise and effective way of showing-without-telling us that they are both in this for the whole bond/relationship in all it’s glory, including sex but not confined only to sex.

Looking forward to reading everyone's opinions!
And yay for the Reading Room Initiative!!!!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes! Be good to specify so that we don't have to go all gen-ish if we can help it... But then we should probably explain exactly what we mean by gen too, right? Cos some fandoms seem to have an odd idea of what it means, and... *g*

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

I'll drink to that, thanks!

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the zine reference. Have added that to the main post.

Mood: nervous.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

We could just not mention gen at all in future. But I'll try to remember to give a gen warning if necessary.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Wow, this really interested me, because I would have sworn it was the other way around. I pulled up the CI5hq tag summary, and this is what it says:

rec - online stories - 72 uses
rec - proslib cd stories - 36 uses
rec - zine stories - 61 uses

One online story was mis-tagged, and so looked as if it was on its own, but there were still 71 other ones with the proper tag... And actually alot of the online and zine stories will be tagged with both, because alot of the zine stories have since come online... I'm trying to think how else you might have got that impression - you didn't bump into a Zine Rec Challenge, did you?!

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I didn't want to be bossy, but may have erred on the side of vagueness.

Have now posted on this. In short, I see people either posting their own thoughts on the fic, or commenting on other people's posts (or both, of course).

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

No reason why you shouldn't do gen stories, there are people who like them. Not as many, perhaps... *g*

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I didn't want to be bossy, but may have erred on the side of vagueness.

Have now posted on this. In short, I see people either posting their own thoughts on the fic here at CI5hq, or commenting on other people's posts (or both, of course).

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

Don't they end up in gay bars a lot, in fic?! How very convenient...

'complete absence of any hint of previous experiences or urges' - well, she has Doyle becoming attracted to Bodie some time (weeks?) before this op., hence he finds the op. particularly uncomfortable.

'The part I'd most like to watch as a fly on the wall.' Do you always do this with fics? It's a nice idea.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

Go on, play devil's advocate. It would be too boring if everyone just thought it was a pretty story, even if it is.

'Bodie is apparently quite manipulative in a way that borders on unpleasant when he “tests” Ray on the dance floor' - I agree with you there. That is all a bit too brisk and domineering.

Re the alcohol, I'm sure this isn't the only fic that has the lads consuming prodigious quantities of scotch/beer/wine, often as the only way to lose their inhibitions, with no impairment of performance, so to speak.

In this particular plot (if one could call it that), I'm sure if Doyle was being dutiful he would drink the minimum necessary to be credible, but he is so stressed about the Bodie situation he seems to feel justified in breaking the rules.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I was aware as I read it that the whole subject of whether either had been with another man was missing
But does that have to be mentioned overtly, or even covertly, in a fic? Does it have to be something that's addressed? I didn't even think about it in DWYC because that didn't seem to me what the story was about - not their backgrounds or anything that needed explanation, but what was happening now...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Don't they end up in gay bars a lot, in fic?!
Hee - depends what you call alot, presumably. And out of how many thousands of Prosfics out there... *g*

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I do see Bodie's behaviour on the dance floor as 'manipulative' (or maybe it wasn't consciously manipulative) - I thought he was going through a similar process as Doyle - trying to conceal his feelings to an extent, didn't want to push his luck and ending up not quite believing in his luck, hence Doyle seeing him in this light:

Of the many reactions Doyle had envisioned, the one he hadn't imagined was this bewildered wonder.

So, arguably, Bodie is in as much wonder as Doyle about the whole thing.

Generally, I think it was kiwisue who mentions that it reminds her of the early circuit stories? I'm not always sure which stories are the early ones but I think I know what she means in that the whole episode between them seems to evolve in a fairly uncomplicated and innocent manner, and I'm wondering - a virtually unanswerable question but I'll ask it anyway - does this tend to be a hallmark or characteristic of earlier stories? That the falling in love of Bodie and Doyle is less dark, angsty and less realistic (almost like a fairy tale) than later stories? I've no idea but I'm just wondering.....