Alfresco
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Alfresco |
| Author(s): | Cherilyn |
| Date(s): | 1997 |
| Length: | |
| Genre(s): | slash |
| Fandom(s): | The Professionals |
| Relationship(s): | Bodie/Doyle |
| External Links: | |
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Nothing Left to Lose is a Bodie/Doyle story by Cherilyn.
It was published in Unprofessional Conduct #8.
Reactions and Reviews
When I first thought about getting involved in the Reading Room and introducing a story, I think I was expecting that for the first fiction I introduced in the Reading Room, I would go either for something I adored to excess and had a great deal to say about (endlessly...), or for something I really didn't like and could ask people what it was that they liked about it. But of the stories suggested in the initial discussion, funnily enough, Alfresco doesn't actually fall into either of those categories. Which may make it a better choice, because sometimes the stories that engender entirely split points of view get all the attention, and others miss out, especially short zine-only stories. So let's redress the balance...Things I like about this story: the dialogue. The sample above is a bit atypical, because of all the double entendres. But even that dialogue sounds natural enough to me, and the rest of it is entirely plausible and in character. I am not quite so convinced by the narrative descriptions: 'a brief ocular duel' (p.49) doesn't work for me, for example, and I'm not really sure what 'soulful accents' (p.47) are. They do come across as very matey, though, which I like.
The other stories by Cherilyn I have read are two or three pages long (Brief Encounter, Early Days) and 150 pages (Fruit of the Spirit), so she is certainly happy to vary the length! This one is six pages. The pacing is right. One thing I only noticed at the last minute - ie, while writing this - is the way it turns from almost totally dialogue in the first three pages to almost entirely silent (well, no - perhaps not silent - 'wordless' might be a better description) in the final three.
I'm not going to spoil it by going through the 'how' and the detail of the resolution, which often can be the most fun aspect of a story. But I will highlight one aspect: this is a Bodie-as-plotter story. He has totally engineered the situation. It's not just immobilising the car. He absents himself as Doyle flings his luggage into the car, so he can pretend he thought Doyle had brought a tent. He puts Doyle off radioing for help with the single comment that they'd be the laughing stock of CI5. There's a suggestion that at least some of the 'fishing' (ha) trips were planned in order to work up to this one.
I found this refreshing. While I can see Bodie keeping secrets, I tend to imagine Doyle as the sneaky one. But this is a Bodie who is not only sneaky but very thorough about it, right down to knowing how to stop Doyle just getting on the radio. I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it straightaway and laughing at how apt Bodie's inducements actually are ('got me rod waiting, got me bait' and legal 'between consenting adults') and realising why Bodie claims to need the loo as he picks up Doyle. But I can't remember many others where Bodie does this kind of long set-up...[1]
Whether or not I can believe the lads in a specific holiday destination depends mostly on the author's ability to convince me, I think - that it's them there, not the author, and that they've chosen that place for a reason they really would... In In Hot Water, for instance, I love the way their exhaustion and tension has been built up, so that Cowley sends them away. I also suspect the author just wanted to put them somewhere she loved, but in this case it works for me - because her love of the lads shines out too... Erm... trying to think of one that I believe less... There's a few set clubbing in Spain etc, which I don't quite believe, though they're enjoyable enough stories - I just can't quite see our lads, at the age they are, hitting the dance floors there like that... but perhaps I just have a too-'90s view of those dance floors! I suspect they could afford more expensive holidays, so there's no huge reason why they wouldn't take one, now and then, but... they seem so happy where they are! *g*[2]
It was OK, nothing to write home about, really, but to be fair to the story my reading of it was quite cursory, perhaps too cursory to form a proper judgement. Probably because I’m not that keen on holiday stories or stories where they're meant to be having fun etc. or too much humour. I think I prefer B and D hard as nails, dangerous and trying *not* to fall in love but failing. So I do tend to avoid curtain fics, older lads, holidays etc. Having said all that, Et in Italia is a favourite so that just shows you how near-imposibble it is to come up with a satisfying or conclusive answer when trying to analyse/categorise stories.[3]
I know what you mean about 'nice enough'. It made more of an impression on me the first time. Thinking about it, I don't think that's entirely because of the fact it involves a bit of a twist. I think it's because I first encountered it in context: that is, sandwiched between a cheerful O Yardley Christmas story (which also has a one-liner in the final line, funnily enough) and Eleanor Hamilton's Blaze of Glory, which is not at all a light read. Looking at my introduction, I realise I entirely forgot all about that context and was looking at it just on its own. There is probably an entirely separate discussion to be had about how you put stories together in zines and how reading them in different orders affects your perception of them. Might be worth a separate post on a quiet day.[4]
Some witty moments, but it doesn't really touch me deep inside. Now knowing what Bodie was up to with his loo tactic for example, is not really mind-blowing. ;-) [5]
I think it's a nice little fic with a twist that wasn't hard to work out beforehand. But that being said, I enjoyed it. It's not supposed to be a great epic, but merely a bit of prose to enjoy.[6]
I am now wondering whether I enjoyed it more the first time of reading and re-reading not because it was new to me, but because it was in a zine. It really stands up excellently when it's paired with the story which follows it, which I liked very much, but which is much angstier.[7]
... it is one I remembered the plot of, but not the author or title, when we were looking for camping stories a while back.So, the twist was no surprise for me this time around. It was what I remembered most of the plot, though.
I enjoyed the story, and also noticed how the feel of it changed from very vocal to much less so, and for some reason I enjoyed the first part more. Not sure why.
Bodie has it all planned out, but he just assumes Doyle has packed for camping, even if they never actually did during all their previous fishing trips? Or was it part of his plan to get close to Doyle (one tent, one sleeping bag).[8]