A Different Game
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| Bodie/Doyle Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Different Game |
| Author(s): | DVS |
| Date(s): | 1992 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | slash, Bodie/Doyle |
| Fandom: | The Professionals |
| External Links: | online here |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
"A Different Game" is a The Professionals story written by DVS. It is a slash story with the pairing of Bodie/Doyle.
It was originally published in Lovers #2 from Chained-to-the-Typewriter Press in 1993 and is now online.
The story sometimes appears on fans' Desert Island lists.[1]
"The Other Game: A Post-Game Wrap-up" is a short sort-of sequel to this story and is also in Lovers #2.
Summary
"When both Bodie and Doyle are hurt in the Brixton Riots (1981) the future looks bleak. Bodie's secrets hold the key to their future. Coming to terms with a disability is just as hard as coming to terms with love
Reactions and Reviews
I had hopes of this. I much enjoyed The Flat by the same author and have gone back to reread it a couple of times. But this one? Not so much. Why? (Beware story spoilers) To start with, the writing seems jerky in places. There's a lot of 'He did this' and 'He did that'. A lack of natural flow, perhaps. A feeling not aided by the lack of contractions. It's all, 'can not' and 'did not', an affectation which I find jarring in the extreme. But my major issue is with the end. It stops. The metaphorical mantlepiece is fair bristling with shotguns - Cowley coming to convalesce, the employment situation, the much unresolved physical relationship between Bodie and Doyle - and yet none of these story lines are played out. It's almost like the author got bored and simply stopped writing it. Most disappointing. On the upside, if you like domestic fic, this is great. I have to admit to a fondness for it. It's almost furniture porn in places. Or maybe house porn. :-D I get much pleasure in watching the lads make a home together. I'm sad that way. Their personal relationship is also handled well. As is, IMO, their characterisation. Cowley's is a little weak. I couldn't really hear his voice as I was reading his dialogue, whereas the lads came through pretty clearly. In summary. Cute hurt/comfort fic with a good dose of domesticity, let down by technical problems and a poorly thought out ending. I'd be interested to see what others think.[2]
*Snap*! Great minds, etc. I wondered if this was a much earlier piece, before she really hit her stride, because I love so many of her other stories, especially 'The Flat'. Although it wasn't bad, and for once I didn't mind the domesticity angle, I wanted the situation if not resolved, at least progressed to a point of choice. And they weren't anywhere near that. They were both still horribly injured, Doyle more than Bodie. The physical relationship was still very tentative on Doyle's part, but getting closer (agonisingly slowly)! [2]
Yeah, maybe it is an early work. And I wondered about a sequel. Maybe there is one? That would be cool. :-) There's certainly potential there. The set-up was fun and interesting, and I have a real kink for domestic fic like this, so long as both the lads are still laddish and they were.[2]
I don't remember reading this..which says a lot ;) I know I've read The Flat and found it okay-ish. But there's a story by DVS which is in my top five favourites, which is "Suitable Gravity"...though I have no idea if it is archived anywhere, I have it on a zine, and it's a re-read, everytime the same or even more pleasure than the first time :)[2]
I really enjoyed this story despite the lack of resolution. It hits a lot of my hot buttons like h/c (though there isn't enough c) and Bodie in protective mode. A second reading was fun as I looked for all the clues at the beginning for B's ulterior motive in playing the game. But there is a niggling worry in the back of my mind that R will decide he can't give B all he wants, and one of them will eventually walk because of that. Of course, I would much rather see R come to his senses! [2]