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ci5hq“Time Out: Past Tense” by Pamela Rose
http://thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/7/timeout.html
A few days ago, byslantedlight asked at the_safehouse about ‘post-apocalypse’ Pros fic. This was on the list and I thought it would be ideal for The Reading Room. “Time Out” is not post-apocalypse, more eve-of-apocalypse. It moves from canon to science fiction, with a large dose of the historical AU thrown in – something for everyone, in fact, and no doubt something intensely annoying for everyone as well.
After deciding to recc this, I realised we’ve already had a fic by Pamela Rose (“Fevers”), but the criticisms of pace and characterisation from “Fevers” just don’t apply here, imho – this fic is beautifully written and the characters and description are spot-on.
So,
“Mankind's only chance of going on, people like Bodie. Doyle smiled to himself, hoping Bodie found a very nice Eve somewhere in
Doyle is just as adamant in wanting to stay. First he frames it as wanting to go down with his country, perhaps with the people they’ve risked their lives for so often. More convincing though is the principle that it’s not fair to use the knowledge they have to run out on those who won’t have the same chance.
Trouble is, Bodie just can’t bring himself to go without Doyle.
"Christ." Doyle drew his hands through his snarled curls. "Okay, so why the change of heart, eh? What happened to that country called Bodie?"
Bodie smiled sweetly. "I've made you an honorary citizen, mate."
Doyle took in a breath, lost for words.
Bodie shrugged again, "Besides, why so shocked? You're hanging about, why shouldn't I?"
Doyle was confused and irritated and hopelessly flattered. "You're doin' it for the wrong reasons, that's why!"
"Oh, I see!" Bodie said smoothly. "You're doing it to be a bloody martyr, and I'm just doing it to watch you be a bloody martyr. My hearts not in it, y'see."
"You're twisting it all around. That's not-- Damn you!" Doyle took another deep breath. "This doesn't make sense. You still haven't said why. Why you won't go without me."
Bodie hesitated; truthfully, he hadn't quite worked out the answer to that one himself. Seeing the uncertainty, Doyle jumped in with gleeful sarcasm, "Don't tell me -- you've fallen madly in love with me, right?"
Bodie felt a sense of shock at the words, knowing that was little more than the truth but unable to admit it, to himself even less than to Doyle. He covered quickly. "Listen, mate, it's like the ol' man's bum leg. It's a right pain to him sometimes, but he'd sooner hang on to it, just the same."
Doyle stared at him, wondering if Bodie realized what he'd just said and what it implied.
Lovely, lovely introspection and dialogue and character stuff, with the lads angry, scared, snarky, vulnerable, tender by turns. Then Bodie decides to grant himself one last wish, to seduce Doyle, and it’s just like Ultravox’s video for “Dancing with Tears in my Eyes” – love in anticipation of being vapourised.
In a bit of a weak plot point, they decide to pay one last visit to Cowley, who now reveals his audacious plan that might just work…
Without wishing to spoil, the ending is ambiguous, but offers the possibility of Bodie and Doyle being the only people left alive. I’m sure they’d thrive together, but, for the future of humanity, let’s hope there’s one or two females left out there somewhere.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-09 10:28 pm (UTC)I love this fic. Yeah, there are parts that I skip sometimes, mainly Cowley's, because they just don't hold my interest as much as how beautifully drawn Bodie and Doyle and the Bodie/Doyle dynamic are. "Honorary citizen" nearly makes me well up every time. Oh, Bodie. Number one has just got a number two entwined with it. One is not one without a two to make it. Now I'll move on before I break out with "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do. One is the loneliest number, worse than two" because we don't need me singing that. *hums*
You'd need a lot more than one or two women for a continued humanity. Well, a thriving humanity. You could continue, but they'd be awfully inbred.
It works, on an eery level, as a stand-alone, but it begs for a sequel and reads like there was going to be one. If there is one that somehow has escaped my scouring for it, pleeeeease let me know? Because I'd love to see them as possibly the last couple on earth. Don't make me write it for myself, it's not nearly the same.
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Date: 2009-07-09 10:39 pm (UTC)I really don't want to dwell on the post-apocalypse aspect. In fact, for me it's good that there isn't a sequel and the ending is ambiguous - maybe things did work out and the apocalypse didn't happen after all.
But you *should* write the sequel, just give me some sort of warning. *g*
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Date: 2009-07-09 11:01 pm (UTC)It is sad and lonely. Nothing we have made is permanent, no matter how much we believe they are. Without us our most timeless structures will fall within a few hundred years and even the pyramids will be lost in the sands again. My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair! We are a blip.
Heh heh. Maybe I will. So many possibilities...
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Date: 2009-07-09 11:14 pm (UTC)'Nothing we have made is permanent, no matter how much we believe they are.'
How true, and that is one thing I find scary - our whole world of electronic communications and modern conveniences has such fragile foundations it could easily collapse and leave us totally unprepared.
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Date: 2009-07-09 11:28 pm (UTC)That's part of what I love about post-apocalyptic fiction; you can strip away the pretenses of modern civilization and explore the core of humanity in a trying situation.
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Date: 2009-07-09 11:58 pm (UTC)I like this author in general and this one was well worth the read.
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Date: 2009-07-10 11:04 am (UTC)'They both left with their humanity intact.' Well said. From the outset, Bodie was really bothered about having to kill a man who had done nothing to harm anyone (yet) in cold blood. So it left me with the feeling that it was all meant to be and they couldn't change history in spite of trying to.
Thinking back to 'Fevers', I didn't find that a great recommendation for PR, but I love the writing in this. It is very encouraging to think that a writer could improve so much over time (I gather this was written some years alter than 'Fevers').
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Date: 2009-07-10 06:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 01:38 am (UTC)And now I desperately want to know about what happens to them in the future, if there's anyone else left, and how they get along in their brave new world. Also, post-apocalyptic sex, please? ;)
I had a random thought while I was reading the fic: Was the very young soldier on the roof Cowley himself? He got his leg busted in an awkward spot, and he hears everything that the lads are saying about the future, about what they were supposed to do. It would especially explain why it had to be Bodie, because Cowley would know that Doyle wouldn't be/hadn't been able to do it.
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Date: 2009-07-10 01:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 04:58 am (UTC)At the other hand - why should Cowley send them ...
Oh forget it! Someone in Star Trek once said that you never should try to find some sense in time travels and their influence of time...
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Date: 2009-07-10 11:09 am (UTC)'Also, post-apocalyptic sex, please? ;)' Yay that Pamela Rose even manages to work in a 'first time' along with WWIII, time travel, etc. - what a time to discover your true feelings! Still, moments of crisis can have that effect, especially in movies.
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Date: 2009-07-10 04:34 am (UTC)An ‘end of world’ scenario plus a time travel is surely no easy challenge for a writer, but PR did a very good job IMO. The way our three heroes handle the news is just great. Cowley desperate and alone, killing one bottle of Whisky after another – and he is still manipulating and triple thinking... Bodie and Doyle in shock, not believing – who would? Bodie decides very quickly what to do: leave together with Doyle! And I think if Doyle would have time to think, he would come to the same decision – but now he is stubborn... And the seduction afterwards is another highlight of the story!
Time travel.... Yes! It works for me! And I’m happy that the author didn’t lose herself in stupid details! Just a: “He rambled on for a couple of minutes, none of them understanding more than one word in five.”
There are good talks, good 'together moments', the scene at the roof, the young soldier – so many favourite moments!
And then the end... Wow...
Everybody is dead... (And Doyle is to blame... )
Wow!
I have to rearrange my top 5 list!
Thank you so much for this rec! :-)
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Date: 2009-07-10 04:41 am (UTC)Sorry for the bad English - it's just for me and maybe for one or another who needs it as much as I do...
***
Epilogue – 900 years later / part I
The little girl who was snuggling comfortably in the older woman’s lap was all exited.
“Retell me, ancestor. Please!”
Tanita didn’t object the old phrase “ancestor”. At moments like this, when the old generation passes down the sayings of the beginning of their nation, there always was a deep connexion to that long ago past, and Tanita was enjoying the ‘lesson’ as much as Anikatess, the daughter of her daughter. She teased the girl a bit.
“Oh come on, Anikatess! Those old stories are boring – and you already know them by heart.”
“Boring?” The little girl was aghast. That was part of the game. She gave her grandma a severe look, together with the usual answer: “Knowing our history gives us the strength to build our future.”
“Oh, then... It seems I have no choice.” Tanita smiled. Making a big deal of it, she took some mouthful of water.
“Well, where were we?”
“Bodie and Doyle thought themselves all alone in the world...”
“Yes. Can you imagine how desperate and sad they must have been? And remember that Doyle knew that he was to blame for the end of world...! There was even a time of depression and separation. But our ancestors were strong men. They faced their fate and made the best of things. And they had each other! Don’t you ever forget that, Aniky! That’s the most important thing of all! To take care and responsibility of the one you’re with!”
That earns the older woman a sincere nod. And knowing what has to come, the girl continued the tale: “But...”
“Yes, ‘but’. You jackanapes. – ‘But’ they weren’t alone!”
She sighed. “Thanks to Bodie and Doyle we know so much of the time ‘before the end of world’, and everything of the time ‘after’ Bodie and Doyle emerged, because they taught us to write it down. But there is nothing about the ‘time in between’, it’s all lost. So we can only guess what has happened.
They say that after the ‘end of world’ there were only a handful of survivors. And those who survived were..., well Bodie and Doyle always described them as ‘Madmaxs’. Caught in their past of wars and fights they knew nothing better than to fight against each other for the remaining resources on earth.”
Tanita shook her head. “That must have been a terrible time! And sometimes, when Bodie and Doyle were in the mood, they told the others some details, how it would probably had been. Terrible, terrible, terrible! I can tell you.” She tightened the grip around the girl. “But that’s something you can read in the books after your initiation. Not yet!”
She went on: “The time of fights lasted about three hundred years. After that, it seems, all power, all strength, all inventive talent – everything that once made it to be ‘human’ - was lost.
People ‘knew’ that there must be ‘others’, behind the next hill, or at the end of the river – but nobody ever tried to contact the other tribes – knowing it all just would lead to trouble. So there were small groups, maybe 100, sometimes 200 people. - and they were living like the men from the Stone Age. Seed, harvest, hunting – no technical equipment, because they had forgotten how to supply energy. Worst of all – no books, no theatre, - no thinking.
And people were content with it, because the only other thing they knew was war and fight.”
If possible, Anikatess snuggled deeper into Tanita’s lap. Now it was the time for the best part of the tale.
“Tell me about the women.”
- end of part I
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Date: 2009-07-10 04:44 am (UTC)“Tell me about the women.”
“Yes, the women. And the ‘circles’...”
She smiled. “You see, Aniky, our society is built up on imagination! Never forget that!
There had always been women who were ‘different’, who wanted ‘more’. But the only way they could express themselves was writing.
Those stories were raw, - what did they know? But anyway, those women, who were living at the edge of their communities, tried to make contact to their kind. And so those stories slowly found their way all over Britain.
Then there was a time when there emerged two men in those stories – Bodie and Doyle.”
And those statures were so vivid, so strong – and sexy and ‘so different’...” ,
She couldn’t help to sigh happily.
“...that finally the strongest among those women left home. They had only a vague idea of ‘where to go’, but some of them actually found the place where Bodie and Doyle had built their first ‘town’.”
Tanita was lost in her memories. There were so many pictures of ‘Hope’, It was common knowledge for her nation to be aware of every single stone, of each house and every street, - the first energy generators.
“Grandma...!”
She cleared her throat. And laughed... “You know, although Bodie and Doyle were always only committed to each other – they were men... They slept with women, children were born.”
Anikatess knew her part:
“And a dream was born too. Of a new world!”
“Yes! And our ancestors were very – well – pragmatic!” She smiled. “At that time each woman had the right to claim ‘her child’ from one of them.”
Anikatess hold her breath. “Lucky women!”
Tanita burst out laughing. “What do you know, you little plague.” She went on.
“And at that time the rule was made that a woman has to decide for only one man. Bodie or Doyle!”
She gathered her sleeve. A tattoo appeared that looks like four above open semicircles, always two with a bar as kind of cover.
Anikatess knew that it were two lying ‘Bs’ for Bodie. And she knew that other women had chosen the two lying ‘Ds’ for Doyle. Each woman of their nation was marked that way.
“Well, the rest is history. Bodie and Doyle knew their duty...! – and they were full of knowledge and ideas of the Old World – so the community grew and became prosperous.
- When Bodie and Doyle disappeared seven years later, it was a shock for all. But the people gathered their thoughts and went on building up the new society, and more and more people came to join the new community.
The people didn’t knew at that time that Bodie and Doyle had found the time stick. It was probably Cowley, who had buried it beneath the tombstone. Bodie and Doyle never reached their target to change the future, because they weren’t able to control their journeys, but those time travels provided us with books, medicine and technology – with knowledge!
And most of all, they were the reason why so many generations knew Bodie and Doyle personally, because they couldn’t influence the point in time of their return. They vanished for days, sometimes for years and more than once for centuries.”
After that there was a long silence.
“Do you...” Anikatess nearly didn’t dare to ask.
“Grandma, - do you think they’re still alive?”
She hesitated.
“Will they come back some day...?”
yyy
no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 11:25 am (UTC)When you first mentioned they had disappeared, I assumed they had returned to their own time, but reading on, it was as though they had a sense of responsibility because Doyle had 'failed', as well as being unable to control the time travel.
Really, I would love to read more of your writing if you can produce this quite spontaneously.
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Date: 2009-07-10 05:04 pm (UTC)I don't write much, and mostly in German - but at the end of the story I couldn't help...
(my first thought was quite 'morbid' for their future - Bodie dies after 2 weeks, after that Doyle is only looking for other humans and he travels around the world till he dies at the age of 93... - always alone... sigh!)
But I think "Time Out: Past Tense" is perfect the way it is - it leaves a lot for our imagination! :-)
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Date: 2009-07-10 08:48 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you didn't post a fic with that plot. Your sequel was wonderfully positive and optimistic, and Bodie and Doyle get to travel around through time together for ever (crumbs, this is beginning to sound like Dr Who!)
I often wish I could read German, and this is one of them.
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Date: 2009-07-10 09:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-11 11:52 am (UTC)(better than playing with a model railroad, collecting beer mats or than knitting or macramé!!!)
:-)
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Date: 2009-07-10 01:06 pm (UTC)I kinda like this text... I remember reading it a long time ago... but I don't think I ever really liked this text...
But I love the bits in the beginning with Bodie trying to convince Doyle to leave and all that... :D
When it gets to be sci-fi my interest goes away... not that I don't like sci-fi... it's just that all that about assassinating and meeting Cowley at a young age... *shakes head*
It just got to be too much for me... But I love the end and how they ended up in a new world... all alone as far as they can see... It would have been nice with an sequel, but I don't think this text really needs one...
This is my favourite part:
"Ray, it's crazy to stay here!"
"I know." His gaze dropped and he twisted his glass in the palms of his hands. "I'm not blaming you for going. I understand."
Too angry and frustrated to answer, Bodie moved to the door and opened it. He paused. "You're a fool, Ray."
"Probably." Doyle smiled gently, temper unruffled. He looked Bodie over from head to foot, as if taking a mental picture. "Good luck, mate. I hope it works for you."
Bodie opened his mouth to speak, but found he couldn't. Instead, he slammed the door behind him with a crash that nearly cracked the door frame, punctuating his fury and irritation.
"So go then!" Doyle snarled, reacting instinctively. As he would have before.... And then he remembered.
Doyle dropped his face in his hands, a wave of depression taking him so strongly he felt sick. It should have been there earlier, when he first knew what was destined to happen, but somehow the presence of his strong, rock-steady partner had held it off. It was hard to be depressed around Bodie -- he rarely permitted it. Considering the circumstances, anyone in their right mind had the right to be depressed. But he had felt angry, confused, a dozen other emotions, but no depression. Perhaps it was only delayed reaction, but as long as Bodie was with him he felt like fighting someone, struggling against the facts, positive there was something he could do. Now he felt empty, lost. And so sad he thought he could die of just the sadness.
He wandered over to the window and stared down at the dirty pavement. Watched the people crossing the street, wondering what it would be like when it was nothing but fire and panic and pain. A week. Probably less.
He missed Bodie already, admired him. Envied his sense of survival. Mankind's only chance of going on, people like Bodie. Doyle smiled to himself, hoping Bodie found a very nice Eve somewhere in Australia or New Zealand. It was an amusing thought: Bodie as Adam. If he could place a wager, Doyle would take a piece of that one. A true survivor. God knew Bodie'd always had a good dash of neanderthal about him. Primeval man at his best...but with a dash of poetry.
Doyle jumped, startled, as the door crashed open -- pushed by a size eight foot backed by a powerful leg.
"That's it, Doyle!" Bodie announced, moving toward him.
"What are you doing back?" Doyle asked, feeling absurdly pleased.
"Come to get you. Fuck your bloody guilt complex, Doyle. You're coming away with me. Right now. Shut up and pack."
Doyle bristled immediately. "And who the hell do you think you are?"
Face to face with his partner, Bodie stopped. "Don't be daft. We're leavin' here, an' that's that."
Doyle took a deep breath, steadying both his temper and his racing heart. "I told you once, I'm not goin'. I've made up me mind, Bodie. Don't push."
"Oh, I'm not pushin'." A huge fist came up and leveled Doyle neatly. Gasping, Doyle lay on the floor looking up the tall form. "What'd you do that for?" he said plaintively.
"Talk some sense--"
Bodie was cut off abruptly as a well-placed kick dislocated his knees from a standing position. Before he could get his breath back, Doyle had him in an armlock.
"--into you," he finished breathlessly. "Not very grateful, are you?"
"Not when you go breaking me bloody jaw, I'm not!"
no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 01:41 pm (UTC)I'm with you on not really needing a sequel, although most people who've commented seem to want a sequel very much.
I like the ambiguity of the ending. One possibility is that they've travelled backwards in time, because the time machine can't be controlled properly, maybe 200-300 years, hence there is no cottage. Or that they have returned to the present but because they changed the course of history slightly there are some differences, like no cottage.
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Date: 2009-07-10 02:18 pm (UTC)Sorry, but this story is really nothing for me. I like "Twist of Fate" By Dee more... :)
I like filling in gaps and stuff for my self sometimes... and this ending is good enough for me to do that. *happy sigh*
There's a lot of possibilities... *nods*
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Date: 2009-07-10 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-11 07:03 am (UTC)To be true - I love this story in spite of the apocalypse scenario - not because!
"and then all that in the 30's and the gay stuff because of the hair... *shaked head*"
But think of the Beatles. Their haircut was in fact very accurate (in the beginning...), but nonetheless 'Beatles' became a synonym for a new lifestyle, for a special attitude (ethos?) - and I think that their haircut would have provoked the same reactions in that pub.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-11 10:43 am (UTC)Considering I was around in the "hippy" days, the way one looked definitely sparked many unhappy things: assaults, beatings, job firings, etc. Remember the song Signs by Five Man Electrical Band? Imagine the Thirties being much more conservative world over. Heck, even in today's world, it happens. That part of the story didn't even register as being anything but factual to me.
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Date: 2009-07-11 11:47 am (UTC)But, sorry - I think I don't know 'Signs' (and I'm at work and can't check Youtube for it)
"That part of the story didn't even register as being anything but factual to me."
I agree!
The only thing that is really bad for me in this story, is when the soldier asks Bodie: "Why?". And then: "Dunno," Bodie said bleakly. "Because he felt he had to try. Because the Cow asked it of us. I dunno. Don't believe in it meself. It's all too strange for me."
That's a bad copy of Bodie's bad, bad answer in Close Quarters. I think it was there as much OOC as it is here in this story. Because Bodie knows exactly what he is 'doing', he has considered it long enough, he isn't only the 'hand of Cowley'.
But obviously PR liked this part of Close Quarters.
Anyway! The rest of the soldier scene is very good! (I've calculated... :-) - if we assume that Cowley is in his fifties(?) around 1980, he must be born about 10 years later than the blond soldier.)
I love it how Bodie takes care of his soldier-mate! :-)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-11 11:06 pm (UTC)In terms of chronology and Cowley's age, it is canon that Cowley fought in the Spanish civil war which lasted from 1936 to 1939 - maybe he was very young, say 18 or 19, but still old enough to fight there and survive, so he would have been the right age to be the young soldier in this scene.
That is a good spot of the Close Quarters reference - that would be my least favourite part of an episode that otherwise fascinates me.
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Date: 2009-07-11 11:14 pm (UTC)But eep, I just have to say this, what about the advertising (of tea) on the BBC? PR was trying so hard to conjure up a 1930s radio broadcast that she forgot it was the BBC. The first time I read that, it grated terribly, then there was the improbably efficient trip to London. Frankly, it surprised me, revisiting this fic, just how well-written it is, because I had got a rather bad impression from that lapse.
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Date: 2009-07-11 04:49 pm (UTC)I don't quite know how to explain the text... but you really should read it. :)
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Date: 2009-07-10 06:53 pm (UTC)I have no problem with the end either. I didn't have a burning desire to know more, and was content with the ending as presented. I would read a sequel, but I don't HAVE to have one.
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Date: 2009-07-10 08:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-10 11:41 pm (UTC)Meanwhile, I'm waiting for someone to spot at least one cultural inaccuracy, apart from how quickly they manage to travel from the depths of Cornwall to London in the 1930s, given that Cornwall used to be notorious for inaccessibility.