Cards, and Cards on the Table

Fanfiction
Title:	Cards and Cards on the Table
Author(s):	Georgina Kirrin
Date(s):	1999
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):	Bodie/Doyle
External Links:	Cards Cards on the Table, Part 1 Cards on the Table, Part 2
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Cards and Cards on the Table are two Bodie/Doyle stories written by Georgina Kirrin.

It was published in Motet #3.

Reactions and Reviews

2000

I had no problems with the stories, but I was shocked at the layout errors. Most especially the errors in G. Kirrin's second story. In several places, a line would break after only three to four words. Everytime this happened I was yanked out of the story, and into "whatthehell happened" mode. I'm sure that this zine was published under a tight deadline, but the amount of errors I discovered give me an uneasy feeling about the future of Keynote Press. Here's hoping that the master is corrected, and others don't have to put up with the errors. UPDATE - JUNE 2000 I was was recently contacted by the editor of the Motets, and informed me that the master for Motet 3 has been corrected. That everyone, is class. I can think of a couple presses that wouldn't even bother to fix their masters, or even honestly address fan concerns about it.

2007

These two are just so perfect. First part is in Bodie's POV. He's been living in America, making a living out there and living with a boyfriend. Doyle still keeps in contact with him but Bodie cant make himself reply. Oh and Doyle is married with a young daughter. He's also a very high up Police Officer (Superintendant??). The second part finds Bodie coming back to England to find Doyle and help him through a very rough time (wont tell you what cos you'll just have to read it *grins*), and the way they become close again until Bodie's life in America catches up with him unexpectedly and things take a turn for the...well, I wont spoil it for you. But suffice to say it's brilliant.

The whole premise of it worried me to start with, I had that kind of sinking feeling I get when they seem to have been irredeemably separated, but the writing's so good that I even got past that, and then of course the story just... well, it works out beautifully, doesn't it?! I really do like everything of Georgina Kirrin's that I've read so far too.

2012

For me, this is the story series that works in spite of itself. Yes, I see all those problems. In fact, I wrote all those questions because those are the places where other stories stop working for me.

And yet...this author makes me want to keep reading. I've never been quite sure why. She's good. I mean, her prose is great, but it also has the hard feel of reality at places. The time in story 3 when Bodie gets sick with food poisoning and keeps throwing up and apologizing to Ray--and Ray says, at least he'll never "puke in his ear." Which suggests, but does not state bluntly (nice touch), that that is something the little girl did at one point to Doyle. I love that little detail. The business about when hope dies and Doyle stops wearing his wedding ring, and Bodie wants to cheer (for himself) even though he knows it means Ray is going through seven kinds of hell as a result. Or at the start of the second story, when Bodie goes through Heathrow for the first time in years, and he has a sort of funky nostalgia for its cheap tatty welcome.

And I've never been able to work out why the internal monologue in the first story works for me either. Normally, stories that have internal-Bodie talking to himself fail for me in 10 seconds. Most people simply cannot make me believe that Bodie is that chatty to himself. This Bodie may be deluded too long, but he's smart enough to know he can't stay in England if it would mean seeing Doyle, even once. So he leaves.

I guess unrequited love does hit a kink for me. The first story I ever read that made me cry was "Bodie's Letter" by Ellis Ward--which, as you know, is a massive story of betrayal, partner separation, and them being reunited after a separation of 8 years. There's no woman in the middle though.

Unanticipated erection? I think, in fact, that this one may work for me. Self-control, yes. But to see Ray after not seeing him for years--I think this is possible. After all, Ray Doyle is 100% aphrodisiac.

I wasn't sure if I was remembering the right story or not but as soon as I saw the London Marathon mentioned I knew I was. I don't recall the story in great detail but I do remember liking it a lot (especially the Marathon scene) and, as you say, there's something in the writing which makes you want to read on. And I liked the use she made of London, almost as a character in itself.

Interesting, because I read these stories years ago, when they were first published, didn't like them and haven't looked at them since. I've just reread them because of your bringing them up here! Always intriguing going back to see how a reread compares to original reaction.

The first thing I noticed was that they weren't as well written as I'd thought. She is a good writer, and I adore some of her stories, especially The Acorn Syndrome. But reading these ones today, I noticed numerous comma splits, missing punctuation, carelessly punctuated dialogue, typos, run-on sentences. Doyle seems to have two nicknames for his kid, "Ammy" and "Lammie", which is fine, but why the different endings on them? This tiny detail bugged me a fair bit; it's an unimportant detail in itself except in indicating how badly my mind was wandering even while reading--what was happening wasn't keeping my interest.

None of those textual problems had lingered in my memory at all, which is undoubtedly good! *g*

The problem with this trilogy for me is that neither the stories nor the characters as presented here engage me at all. I've just had the same reaction now as I did originally. There's a curious distance between the text and the reader despite the tight third pov. Bodie talks a lot about what he's feeling the entire journey, but I don't feel any of it. I remain a step removed, watching Bodie think about how he's feeling, rather than feeling what he's feeling.

The third story increases the sense of distance with the split between flashbacks and the marathon. I've personally zilch interest in how Bodie or Doyle interacts with 1) a child, who is, moreover, 2) an OC. The third story is...bitty, for want of a better word. The narrative keeps splitting us off from the present moment, the "today" of the story, to take us back on a concise, cool trip of the past months. There's no emotional continuity or build-up. It's the emotional flatness that distances me; we're still being told how they feel rather than feeling it, seeing it, being immersed in it. When we finally get to the climactic scene where they declare their love, it's talk and more talk and talk and talk.

I'll just note I'm not particularly interested in sex in stories; I generally skip sex scenes these days, unless they're integrated into the narrative or especially well written, so it's not sex I wanted at this trilogy's climax. I wanted tangible emotion that made me tingle and, most crucially, made me feel the characters were tingling! I wanted to feel an actual connection between them, and to feel connected to them myself, fully invested in what happens to them. As this pair plod their way through negotiating their burgeoning relationship via talking, I simply couldn't care less.

The general subject matter is appealing to me because I like future!fic. I like projections of how matters might be for them both post-CI5 and how their characters might develop as they age. But these particular futures, no. I'm not remotely interested in Doyle as a father, especially a father and husband still in love with his wife despite the divorce (in the second story). I'm not interested in a Doyle who's been married for years and living a happy heterosexual life who only gets together with Bodie after the het happy life is over--and not even by Doyle's choice.

Bodie as second helpings? Hell, no. It's all realistic, on one level, and all that, but not a storyline that's ever going to shine for me. I've read a few stories in other fandoms with this same type of scenario: one of the pair marries, adores his wife, lives a happy life for years until something happens--she dies or she wants a divorce--and he's bereft and miserable and wants wants wants her. There's his old partner faithfully waiting in the wings, so they finally get together. It's not a scenario that's ever going to do anything but irritate the socks off me. It might be realistic, but I don't read slash for realistic tales of love unrequited for years until the other half of the duo loses his first love and makes do with his mate. "Real" love eventually, yes, and many people love more than once in life, obviously. But this particular scenario neither holds any appeal for me nor remotely satisfies my OTP cravings.

I like stories where they're separated for years and eventually get together: but not ones that follow this particular path. This specific trope is the ultimate in anti-romance to me, and the bottom line for why these stories didn't work for me on first read years ago and didn't work for me any better today on reread (along with the now-noticed writing problems).

I always recommend people read Georgina Kirrin because she is a fine writer and my own dissatisfaction with these stories (and some of her others, for similar reasons) are entirely down to my specific desires as a OTP reader. Well, except the careless writing errors. *g* But I think recommending her fic is a good thing, and it's great to read about how satisfying other readers find this particular trilogy.

While I like Georgina Kirrin's writing, I don't particularly like the Cards series. I read these stories a while ago and found them quite enjoyable, but I don't feel like re-reading. I don't remember having any complaints about the writing itself, but I don't particularly like plots with Doyle getting married, and Bodie running away and (or) suffering. Anyway, thanks for the rec/reminder! Also, I really liked your discussion questions, they helped me pay attention to certain parts of the story that were bothering me, but I couldn't quite pinpoint why.

2013

This the story, via three stories, of our lads getting together when they're older, when they're finally free to do so - or as free as they can perhaps be. There's a melancholy to their separation, but Kirrin runs such a lush thread of hope throughout that it's one of those stories that you have to keep reading to get to the end. Bodie and Doyle are older, but they're just as I imagine they'd be - passionate and in love (without being soppy or sentimental with it). The writing is solid, purposeful, and London is almost a character in her own right. It's a fab read - you have to... *g*

I liked this story - not slushy, and totally in character with Bodie, who realised he had a chance and missed it. Not that netting Ray Doyle would have been easy. In my view, the relationship always has to be one of heartache: they care, but one cares more than the other; or one or the other makes wrong decisions and both suffer from that. They are locked into mutual self-destruct, as Sebastian knows.