Perfect Day (Professionals story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Perfect Day
Author(s):	Sebastian
Date(s):	1992, 2006 sept 8
Length:	19,700 words
Genre(s):	slash, Bodie/Doyle
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):	Bodie/Doyle
External Links:	*Story Link on The Hatstand *Sebastian on The Hatstand *Sebastian on The Circuit Archive *Story Link on The Circuit Archive
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

"Perfect Day" is a The Professionals story by Sebastian. It is a slash story with the pairing of Bodie/Doyle.

It was originally published in the zine Unprofessional Conduct 1 from Gryphon Press in 1992. It was posted to The Circuit Archive on September 8, 2006. It was also posted to The Hatstand.

In 2008, shootingtokill created photo-manip tributes to the story which can be read here, ^{Archived version}.

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

Perfect Day by Sebastian is a tale of need and passion, initially Bodie's for Doyle then a mutual dance of desire. Only when it looks as if Bodie is going to end it does Doyle really understand quite what Bodie wants, what he wants and, finally, what he needs to give Bodie for them to make their relationship honest and lasting. An interesting story from a great writer.

1992

The Doyle in this story is very selfish. He wants to have his cake and to eat it as well. As he himself puts it: "Current girl on Sundays, Fridays; rest on Tuesdays and Thursdays; Wednesday for new conquests; Bodie on Saturday." Doyle gives no thought to Bodie's feelings on"the matter, even though he knows the man loves him, manipulating Bodie without any regret or regard for his friend. At last Bodie can't stand the situation any longer and tries to break up the sexual side of their relationship. Then the sparks really begin to fly!

1995

I want to suggest that more recent slash writers, for example M. Fae Glasgow and Sebastian, in a way distinct from their predecessors H.G. and O. Yardley, wrestle with the idea of penetration as significant to the relationship in a way which was not done in the earlier Pros writing. That is, in a reversal of more traditional understandings of homosexual sex, with the penetrator having all the power in a given sexual relationship, M. Fae Glasgow's story Wrong End of the Stick and Sebastian's story "Perfect Day" portray the penetrated as having the greater power within the relationship. I do realize that both Sebastian and M. Fae have written stories which would support a different argument, but I am not making a universal statement about slash so much as an observation about this aspect of women's writing.

[comments on "The Wrong End of the Stick"]

In Sebastian's story, a main point is Doyle's reluctance to be fucked by Bodie. This plays a major role in the conflict of the story. Bodie is in the process of distancing himself from Doyle and becoming involved with Sally-Ann, a beat cop he met and seduced once it became clear to him that Doyle was not going let their sex together be more than a kinky experiment. Doyle's reasons are not made explicit: whether he is concerned for his manhood or afraid of the intimacy implied in such an act is unclear. Once most of the drama is over and the two of them are headed to bed together, Sebastian's Bodie remembers: "that one night: the night which they had never forgotten. He wondered if Doyle wanted him to do it again: he would, and more than willingly, it had been one hell of a turn-on to see Doyle that way, opening him up, to cause not pain but the bitterest, most exquisite delight." (Unprofessional Conduct I, p 31.)

In the end, Doyle rolls over and allows Bodie to fuck him, remembering the feeling of power he had in that experience in the past, when he was in Bodie's position. He thinks of it as giving himself to Bodie, trusting himself to Bodie's "sexual power." (UP, p. 32). While Doyle's response in this situation is more traditional (as is Bodie's in M. Fae's story) the other partner's vision of being penetrated is nearly opposite.

In both stories, the vision of being fucked changes for the character from a more traditional reading - that the penetrated is somehow emasculated - to a vision of the penetrated as having something to give and taking something which is distinctive to being penetrated. This reversal indicates a vision of sexuality which is subversive to the usual portrayal of male/male penetration. 1 think that this new vision creates new opportunities for emotional dilemmas and situations which will be as treacherous as situations which have been explored by other authors.

I don't want to suggest that this vision of male sexuality is superior to previous visions, nor am I suggesting that all stories be written with this kind of approach. I think rather that it shows an evolution which in part is an answer to [the] concern that slash will meet its demise at the hands of producers and writers writing male-female partner teams as opposed to male-male partner shows. The form of writing we are all currently engaged in either as consumers or producers has many possibilities for further exploration. I didn't realize that I was interested in a way of conceiving penetration differently until I read "Perfect Day" and it didn't really occur to me that it was different until I read Wrong End of the Stick.

1993

33 pp. Great angst, as usual. This one tugged at a wide range of emotions, and did the gut-wrench thing quite a few times while still ending on a wonderful note. While the initial set-up of the story (Bodie won't do a very unpleasant favor for Doyle until Doyle promises to have sex with him) was less than credible, the remainder of the plot was well-handled. A story that made me say, "Ooh, that was GOOD." Grade: A

One GOOD trick that was played on this reader was a real stunner... in "A Perfect Day," (a story which made me jump up and down shrieking in agony while I read it, it was so marvelously taut) the goddess Sebastian mentions idly that Doyle dreamed about Bodie sticking his cock with jewelled pins. I thought "ah, that's a neat image," and then gradually the truth comes out... very subtle, only hinted at, very beautiful. That's a mind fuck I can approve.

2008

Now please don't think I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but I wanted to celebrate the fact that one of my favourite Sebastian stories has finally gone online, and how best to celebrate that fact than by choosing a couple of quotes from it, just to demonstrate, if anyone needed it being demonstrated, the skill and beauty of her writing.

As with so many of Sebastian's stories it's almost impossible to choose individual quotes from Perfect Day because I love all of it. I did finally manage to choose the following quote partly because it always makes me want to cry and partly for the following reasons: it demonstrates many of Sebastian's skills in one short piece e.g. it's very visual and succeeds in dropping me right bang into the scene with Bodie and Doyle so that I too can feel the sun on my back and hear the 'innocent' noise of happy people on a sunny day; and then the innocence and the ordinary are suddenly juxtaposed with the erotic, with the shock and the wonder at the amazing emotional and physical closeness of these two men: one minute eating ice-cream and egg sandwiches but, but, but, the night was still to come. Sebastian is a great observer of people and can blend the most extraordinary with the mundane, with the ordinary, with allowing Bodie and Doyle to do everyday things and yet still fascinate us.

And the sadness attached to these happy memories, Doyle's yearning nostalgia - regret for what he had and for not realising that he had it at the time - they had been so happy - that phrase in particular and the sheer beauty of the whole scene cuts and hurts me every time I read it. [long excerpt snipped]

I don't think I'd considered the ending much before, but yes, you're right. And Sebastian always uses the right words, sparingly, doesn't she?

Romantic as hell, but not a trace of mush.

Definitely, I think that's one of her strengths, that she always manages to keep them as 'blokes' - two macho men, who happen to fall for each other. And it's such a fine line managing to write a romantic (or erotic) story without resorting to slush or mush.

A favourite story from one of my favourite writers. Perfect Day manages to achieve just the right emotional balance between being not too dark or angsty and not at all light or fluffy - ‘romantic but not mushy’ as someone once described it - so it should suit all tastes. And every time I reread the story two scenes in particular stay in my mind for days afterwards: Doyle’s painfully poignant and wistful recollections of a wonderful summer day he and Bodie had once spent together; and the ‘bleeding nose’ scene (you’ll know it when you see it). A lovely read which I thoroughly recommend.

Believable, meaningful conflict. Fluid, vivid writing -- enhanced by a distinct authorial voice. Terrific dialog. Superb characterization -- plot, pacing. This one has it all. Great choice.

And yes, the nosebleed scene. One of the best I've read.

SQUEEEE!!! Sebastian has a website! I always wanted to know more about her. I imagined her as a little whitehaired lady (sorry, no offense intended), because she's one of the 'classic' Pros writers and because her fics have been written about 15-20 years ago, I believe, and even then she must have been a mature grown-up person, not in her teens or tweens, I think. Of course she may be even younger than I am (I'm in my fifties), but I can't help it, she's like Homer or Vergil - or perhaps Tolkien...? - anyway one of those people you absolutely cannot meet, because when you finally read their classical works they've been dead for a couple of years/centuries. I'm probably babbling... :isashamed:

Perfect Day and Wonderful Tonight are my favourite Sebastians, I think - her writing is always extremely skillful, but in these two in particular - for me at least - she gets the balance just right between B&D, and between genuine, credible anguish and joy; love without sentimentality. There is one patch in WT that throws me a bit (but this isn't about WT, duh) but in both stories the joy is so well-earned as to feel very real indeed. The "remnants of the day" - the happiness folded in on it and crammed into a drawer - beautiful, clever, vivid image; I'm glad this one sticks with me!

Sebastian's one of those writers you gorge yourself on in the early days of fandom. Her name comes up, you go look, you fall in and you read EVERYTHING. Then you go off and read a whole lot more by a lot of other writers and maybe you find yourself disagreeing with the way she writes Doyle sometimes.. So you don't read her stories as much as you used to. And then one day you go reread Perfect Day and it all comes back in one blinding sugar-rush and you remember why she earned all that love and repsect in the first place.

Some litany to set the locks on Bodie's heart. Hey, it's what the story is; a litany to set the locks on a fan's heart.

2010

This story's an angst-fest and possibly my single favourite Pros story. A manipulative Doyle, set on having his own way, agrees to sleep with Bodie in exchange for a difficult favour Bodie simply doesn't want to do. The sex turns out to be so unexpectedly good that Doyle rearranges his life:

Current girl on Sundays, Fridays; at rest on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thereby leaving Wednesdays free for new conquests; Bodie on Saturdays. This seemed to Ray Doyle an ideal schedule.

Only problem being that Doyle miscalculates both Bodie's and his own feelings.

Sebastian is one of the best writers in the fandom, marked not least by the way her style matured in psychological complexity and depth of vision over the years she wrote Pros. This later story is perfectly paced, with nothing skimped in the set-up or development. The climactic scene is one of the best of its kind, and the denouement is simply charming, with none of the darkness that edges the endings of some of Sebastian's other mature texts.

The (brief) kink sex scene famously in this story is, oddly, one element I never actually recall about it until reminded! My love for this story lies entirely with the heavy relationship focus and the emotion-drenched atmosphere. And while it's technically a first-time story, all the real action occurs after the relationship's underway.

Note: while the song isn't referenced directly except in the story's title, Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" provides a wonderful complement to this story it partially inspired.