The Chameleon's Dish

The Professionals Fanfiction
Title:	The Chameleon's Dish
Author(s):	Kitty Fisher
Date(s):	May 1993
Length:	158k, 28,900 words
Genre:	partner betrayal, noncon
Fandom:	The Professionals
External Links:	The Chameleon's Dish at the Circuit Archive The Chameleon's Dish at Kitty's House of Pleasure... and Pain
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The Chameleon's Dish is a Professionals slash story written by Kitty Fisher. It was originally published in No Holds Barred 4 in 1993 and posted to the Circuit Archive in 2003.

Reactions/Reviews

1998

And there are stories that recognize [the existence of BDSM safewords], obliquely at least. "I trust you, and for God's sake, don't ask my permission first or you'll take half the fun out of it." That's from "The Chameleon's Dish," by Kitty Fisher, and one of the reasons I like the story is that things go bad, partly because they don't talk enough.

I think Kitty Fisher does conflict and resolution well. The Chameleon's Dish is grittier, but it does a wonderful job of conveying the seemingly unbridgeable distance between them that they then manage to repair against the odds.

2004

This is quite an interesting story but a lot of fans might find Bodie's actions unacceptable. It's a tough story to read, in a lot of ways, but I find it worth while and thoroughly believable.

2005

This story has just the right amount of dark for me. Grim but not hopeless, it's a look at what the lads could be driven to without turning them into caricatures. Bodie's pain is almost palpable as he goes about seeking his revenge. And while I certainly understood Bodie's motivation, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Doyle whose guilt and sorrow are slowly eating him alive. I do have a small quibble...and it is small, indeed. Eight years is a long time. I think I could have more easily bought into it if their time apart had been three or four years at the most. But that one item certainly doesn't detract from my enjoyment. And the image presented of the older Bodie and Doyle more than make up for it.

Thanks so much for recommending this story, one of my favourites. From the very first paragraph the author draws me in and keeps me there. I love it.

Thanks so much for recommending this story, one of my favourites. From the very first paragraph the author draws me in and keeps me there. I love it.

her description of Doyle, and Bodie's reaction to him, is certainly compelling. Hooks you right in and never lets you go.

2007

This story goes against nearly everything I say I like in fic. It features older lads, partner betrayal and an entire ocean full of angst. God, I love it. Years before, Bodie admitted to Doyle how he felt about him. Doyle didn't take it well. Bodie left and Doyle married Ann. Years have passed and Bodie has nursed a grudge that has become like a cancer inside him. He comes back with a mission and finds Doyle a very changed man. Ray has divorced Ann and is at a point where he's not sure who he is or why he has made the decisions he has. He is vulnerable—and ripe for the picking where Bodie is concerned. Not very nice things happen in the story, but the ending is satisfying in the extreme. To say more would ruin the plot. Read it for yourself... With the exception of The Pillory, I like basically all of Kitty's Fisher's stuff--even the BDSM stories. But The Chameleon's Dish scratches some weird little itch with me. I love Bodie's reactions--first to just seeing Ray again, then to seeing him passed out in the car, and finally after Bodie realizes what he has done... Terrific.

2010

Well, I must say I liked the fic a lot :) In the beginning, the suspense was so intense that I couldn't stop reading. I knew there was smt up with Bodie, but I'd never guess correctly. It was just... wow. However, the change of heart seemed a bit cheesy to me at first, after the rape and all, but the h/c was so well written that the author did convince me that they could find a way back together :) Same goes for the unexpected visit of the 'good' terrorists. Even though in the latter case I wasn't really persuaded, but hey, it's fiction :) And the ending of course was really sweet :) So all in all, I enjoyed the story :)

I do really like the first part of this -- the cat and mouse game Bodie plays with Doyle -- and even though partner rape is not one of my kinks, weirdly enough I don't mind it in this context. Where it starts to fall apart for me is after Bodie's change of heart (a great scene) and Doyle's rescue. I find the last third really unsatisfying. They behave so...implausibly and illogically. Doyle forgives too fast and, the make-up sex is addressed in a relatively frivolous fashion. Worst of all, in my opinion, is that they never really talk. Let me correct that, because they actually do talk quite a bit (and I'm not one for long, emotional discussions between blokes). For me, the problem is they never really SAY anything in their lengthy discussions. It's that kind of...glancing discourse where the author hasn't quite nailed down what needs to be addressed and resolved. So the conversation never quite gets to the emotional core of the story. At least for me. It gets way too mushy for me at the end, and yet it doesn't satisfy. This probably sounds like I don't like the fic, but it's one I do re-read because I like the first half -- two-thirds? -- so much. Very dark and angsty -- I like partner betrayal if the betrayal isn't absolutely unforgivable (and I guess unforgivable is subjective).

I hated this. I hate rape!fic, especially when the rapist then gets together with his victim. Hate, hate, hate. (And, btw, do not really believe). That apart: there was far too much telling and not showing in the early part with all the flashbacks or rather the characters thinking about the backstory. There were too many p.o.v. switches within paragraphs - and yes, that does put a lot of readers off, and yes, I’m one of them. There were plotholes and gaps in the story/explanations, such as the initial idea that Doyle had his car in London but didn’t need to be there often then later he was there all the time and had a flat there. There were roller-coaster switches in thinking by both men which I suppose was intentional but the one where Bodie thought Ray would be sensible enough to give up the info and the next paragraph thought he’d be too stubborn really threw me. I got quite confused by the plot. I worked with Libyan students during the period in question (and was even involved with Special Branch investigations). Despite speaking Arabic they do not think of or refer to themselves as Arabs. Brits don’t call them Arabs, either, as a rule. I also got confused in the final sex scene - I found it difficult to follow...For me the story ended in the ashes of the rape and betrayal. There was none of the phoenix effect that other people have mentioned. The story after that was just so much wishful thinking along extremely fanciful lines by an author trying to make something appalling better. It didn't work.

I read this a while ago. From memory, I thought it was well written but I didn't like it mainly for two reasons. I could never ever see Bodie setting Doyle up to be handed over to unfriendly forces, no matter what Doyle had done (and Bodie's not idiotic enough to believe Doyle wouldn't come to harm - that goes against his whole character) (sic). And Doyle wouldn't forgive that quickly or that easily. Doyle has much more spine than that.

First time I read it I couldn't see how they could possibly move on after the betrayal and rape, and the way it was written made me feel so sorry for both of them.

The fic has a certain reputation.

Call me a coward, I've read the end first. So... – all will be well? Let's see!

After that it was a surprisingly exciting story.

I don’t much like rape fics either, I mean there’s never that much *to* like about rape really, but I thought the beauty of the first part carried (and dominated over) the slightly inferior second half of the story (as I think others have mentioned). In fact I loved the first part so much that like inlovewithboth, The Chameleon Dish has become a much read story. A favourite story? Possibly, not sure, but definitely one I associate with pleasure and fondness. So why is that? I think it has one of the best introductions there is, one of the most enigmatic and inviting of introductions and one which made me want to read on..... and, as always with favourite stories, I could really see them together in that pub, one watching the other. I loved the mystery and enigma that was Bodie; the mystery of the courtship - like Doyle, asking myself what was Bodie up to? When was he going to touch or kiss him and that first brush of the lips had me on the edge of my seat. And then you get the second part.......I thought the scene where Bodie comes to his senses, returns and joins forces with Doyle was done quite well and was exciting reading, but when I look back on the story, the things which first come to mind are their initial meeting up and (kind of) courtship and I tend not to dwell on what happened next.

Just trying to find reasons why I could read on this story whereas I stopped Consequences immediately.

Okay, good question, why do I love it? Hmmm. Because Bodie's bitterness at the beginning is so real and intense, and Doyle goes to him like a lamb to the slaughter, wary but hopeful of reconciliation after all those years apart, only to be betrayed.

I love the way Bodie rescues him, the way he tries to look after him, the way he sits hidden on the stairs during Doyle's nightmares. I’m a great H/C fan and this story has plenty of it, but this is so much more than a simply H/C story. The conversation they have when they first arrive at the cottage is brilliant. They share some real honesty which they desperately need, if they are going to move on from what has happened.

And on a lighter night I love that Doyle has a shave in that scene near the end, so cute!

I read this a long while ago, so I thought I'd try again, thinking maybe I was too harsh with my opinion before. A second read brings up one question: Who are these two unlikeable, cruel, disrespectful men?...No. These are not my lads. I just don't see Bodie as a sexual predator and Doyle as a vapid creature who begs forgiveness from that sort of abuse. Murder/suicide comes to mind, but Doyle didn't even have the courage for that. There is no basis for any relationship that is built on hatred and abuse.

I don't think Bodie is (capable of being) this machiavellian, to be honest - strong passions, certainly, up to and including murderous rage in certain circumstances - but this carefully planned seduction orchestrated purely in order to betray? I don't see it. And I don't see the Bodie of the eps as being capable of deliberately delivering Doyle into the hands of people who might possibly torture and murder him under any circumstances, no matter what (he thought) Doyle had done. So hurt as never to want to see or speak to Doyle again, perhaps - but so hurt as to do this, no. Again, I don't see it. And I certainly don't see Doyle as forgiving/blaming himself so quickly! And apart from anything else, I really don't see - or like, for that matter, but mainly I really don't see! - victim-and-rapist-having-makeup-sex-and-getting-together. I can just about go for one of them being involved in the other's recovery from rape by a third party - maybe! - but not this; rad it once, won't be reading it again.

I get in a cold sweat just looking at Kitty Fisher's website, so I've only just now finished reading the fic for the first time.

The lady doesn't mince her words!...

I love her mysterious 'saturnine' Bodie (but the tan is a bit difficult to imagine) and sensuous Doyle (even if he is a bit on the small and frail side). And I love too Doyle using his taste for jeans and casual clothes as part of his public image (a bit of a Richard Branson?).

Since we get both pov's (and I agree, it is a bit dizzying at times), it seems unbalanced that we know all about Doyle's life after CI5, but almost nothing about Bodie's. Probably helps with the suspense thing.

Luckily I'm not squicky about rape in fic when there's a good reason for it, and here it was crucial, literally it was the turning point - the catharsis for Bodie, the beginning of him starting to regret his scheme to betray Doyle.

Maybe this is so obvious that no one else has bothered to mention it, but to me the plot is based on balancing two Big Things. First, Doyle's rejection of Bodie who (known to him?) had loved him for years. Doyle was so consumed with guilt and self-hatred that even if Bodie had returned with an olive branch, their relationship would have been fatally unbalanced. Second, Bodie's betrayal of Doyle, which perversely evens the score.

At the climax (ahem) of the final sex scene, we have an image of a phoenix (not a chameleon)- the past has been burnt away and they can start again anew. It is fic, after all.

I like this story. The beginning is stronger than the end, which feels a little rushed to me. But despite that, I still like it. I like the ambiguity; not all questions are answered; nothing is quite black and white. And while rape is inexcusable, we have a Bodie who gave his heart to Doyle - offered him everything he had and was - only to have it thrown back at him, spurned and then ridiculed. Bodie is in immense pain, and he reacts accordingly. It's cold-blooded, but there is a coldness to Bodie, a callousness. I can see him planning such a cold-hearted revenge, and then coming to his senses.

For me the story ended in the ashes of the rape and betrayal. There was none of the phoenix effect that other people have mentioned. The story after that was just so much wishful thinking along extremely fanciful lines by an author trying to make something appalling better. It didn't work.

Eight years after Doyle refused Bodie's love to marry Ann Holly, Bodie returns for vengeance--only to discover, inevitably, that he's made a terrible mistake and try to put it right. Doyle over those same years had acknowledged he's gay and moved on from Ann, having realised too late--he thought--his own mistake.

I like rape stories. I especially like partner-rape stories because the degree of betrayal in the act is so profound that it makes the "fix" that usually follows--at least, it does in the ones I like--all the sweeter. To mend what has happened between them in a partner-rape story, Bodie and Doyle have to fight for what they want. They have to want it enough to be willing to work at winning the reward of each other. I love that dynamic, that amount of commitment.

The Chameleon's Dish is probably my favourite rape story in the fandom; it's the first one I think of when I feel like reading one. It serves up lots of angst drenched with Kitty Fisher's brand of emotionalism. It also offers a reason for Bodie's betrayal of Doyle: Bodie sees it as payback for Doyle's betrayal that hurt him so much he hasn't got over it. Bodie's response to Doyle's rejection of him years ago is over the top--but, hey, angst-fest! OTT angst-fest! Yum!

This story just hits bunches of my personal kinks and satisfies me in that way.