A Pugnacious Angel

Fanfiction
Title:	A Pugnacious Angel
Author(s):	Gil Hale
Date(s):	15 January 2003
Length:	87 K
Genre(s):	gen
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):
External Links:	A Pugnacious Angel at the author's website
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"A Pugnacious Angel" by Roven. Illustration of a photograph described in the story of a young Bodie dressed as an angel. (2010)

A Pugnacious Angel is a gen Professionals story by Gil Hale.

Author's summary: "Written for the PROSFanFic List Lyric Wheel #3, devoted to friendship and partnership, and based on the Billy Joel’s I Like You Just the Way You Are."

Fanart for the story was illustrated by Roven in 2010 and included with the story on the author's website. Roven credits the story with "[making her] pick up a pencil after a decade of neglecting the hobby."

Reactions and Reviews

2011

[byslantedlight]
...here's another rather fab fic by Gil Hale, that I've only just read (though I thought I'd read it before cos I recognised the picture, and it's by Roven even though the story was apparently written in 2003, so I suspect I'm forgetting some recent history there... *g* Anyway - A Pugnacious Angel takes the lads (and Murphy - always bloody Murphy...) away to the seaside on a case, except that it's Christmas time, so it's a cold, wet and blustery seaside, and they're squeezed into the last bed and breakfast on the block, far away from the bright lights of The Splendid and other such establishments. They're helping out MI5, but this isn't really the focus of the story - the focus is our Doyle, and things that have happened recently, and how Bodie is noticing... It's gorgeous - there's some h/c, lots of partner-worry, and a wee bit of Bodie's-past-come-back-to-haunt-him at the end, and I really really enjoyed it. And again - she just doesn't know that it's slash... *vbg*

[heliophile oxon]
Another really great rec - I could almost find myself having to re-think my attitude to gen (well, almost. a tiny bit) because this shows the bond between them so well. It's really pre pre-slash, kind of, because the relationship is strong in all the right ways - they're really a couple, in every way that matters - they've just neither of them realised it yet!

[byslantedlight]
Hee - I think there are only a few "gen" writers who manage this sort of quality - or maybe I should say manage this sort of depth of feeling, to their writing. I like Laura... oh, Laura Black? too... But I think I'm making that surname up! I'll have to go and look for it again! Oh, and Dinah I've liked... and Karen Miller's technically gen, I think, and L.R.H. Balthazar...

I always think the term "pre-slash" is a bit off though, cos it's suggesting that slash = sex, and I always think slash is more than that, cos sex is more than that too... even a one night stand is some sort of relationship...

[siskiou]
Oh, yeah! Gil Hale! I really like the feel of her stories! And why *is* it always Murphy? He seems to be the generic for just about any role that needs to be filled: supportive friend, lover, Cowley's successor, mediator...

[byslantedlight]
There is a nice feel to her stories, isn't there - a "slashier" feel, I think, than alot of "slash stories"! I read Cowley's Irregulars last night, and even though that was less so I still enjoyed it... I like her balance of h/c, too... *g*

As for Murphy... to me he's just a bland string of nothing-much, but I've seen a fair few people call him "handsome", so I guess to some he is! The other argument for him I've seen is that he's in more other eps than any of the other CI5 agents, and so people are more familiar with him. I dunno though - he doesn't seem to do anything extraordinary that I can see, I much prefer Benny or Jax or Stuart, who've all got a bit of life to them, somehow...

2014

[jessebee]
I think the first [Pros story] I read was "A Pugnacious Angel" by Gil Hale, which is a bit funny in hindsight because I was looking for slash and Hale didn't write that! But I was hooked by the sheer quality of the writing and the characterization. I'd not seen the show much at that point, a friend had sent me tapes but they were so "green" they were about unwatchable, sadly. But now these years later, having seen most of the eps and read the entire CD, I still love that story - I think the boys are just about dead-bang on.

2016

[fiorenza_a]
Some while ago, as a result of a discussion/rec, I read A Pugnacious Angel by Gil Hale, which I understand a lot of people like. And I can see why.

But, for me, there were some things in it I found difficult to get past. In its favour are the setting, a decently thought out case plot, some nice humour at Bodie's expense, a touching degree of Doyle back story and a nice dose of Murphy.

There is also a neat repudiation of the use of humiliation as an acceptable method of childhood punishment.

But for me there is also the question of disablist language and ideas, plus a rather bizarre take on Motherhood as misfortune.

However, the OC's on the 'bad guys' list were where I ran into problems. The 'villain' of the piece is a rather sympathetic character, having been driven to commit his crimes by being 'crippled'. It's the use and associations of the word 'crippled' which bothered me. Now I accept that language changes with time and geography and at the time and place of writing this may not have been as troublingly offensive as I now find it.

The premise of the story is that, having been the victim of a crime, the 'bad guy' is seeking to avenge the injuries he suffered. We're not given the exact degree of injury, but the 'bad guy' is now a wheelchair user. Suddenly acquired disability is life changing, but it is not life ending. The poor man appears to lose everything because of this injury, his peace of mind, his employment, his wife and ultimately his life. But I don't understand why. The injury is clearly catastrophic. I imagine it would have required extensive sick leave, but I can see no reason why it would have ended his employment, as the story seems to imply. Or precluded further employment if it had. Perhaps the man did become depressed over his injury, or became incurably obsessed or suffered some other mental or mood disorder as a result of it. This might explain why he couldn't cope in employment and his wife eventually left him. But I couldn't shake the impression that the story was built on the assumption that life ends where disability begins.

There was also a throwaway line at the end of the story which pokes fun at a little girl who, having been the victim of an infant Bodie's nascent career in sexual harassment, grows up to become a size twenty-two Mother of seven. A fate, it seems, which is worse than death.

Bodie grew up to be a gun runner.

So, does it matter if a story crosses a line? Where are the lines drawn and who draws them? And if it does, should we allow an engaging story, such as 'A Pugnacious Angel', more latitude than something unreadable?

[murphybabe]
I love this fic. I love me a poorly Doyle and Bodie taking care of him :) I like Murphy's presence, and I like the Barnbys and Miss Hethrington. I think it's well-written and I can happily go along with the plot.

In terms of your questions and the comments made and issues raised below, these are things that MoonlightMead and I (and others) have discussed elsewhere, at length and with glee, before.

If I try and summarise my feelings, they are that a) times have moved on, b) I don't like the attitudes of the times, c) we shouldn't try and replicate those attitudes in current writing but equally we should not sanitise our writing now and d) it's up to the individual whether or not they choose to read something (out)dated, but they shouldn't criticise it for being of its time.