Hombathlay

Fanfiction
Title:	Hombathlay
Author(s):	Jane Mailander
Date(s):	1999
Length:	8650 words
Genre:	slash, Bodie/Doyle
Fandom:	The Professionals/Watership Down
External Links:	online here
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Hombathlay is a Bodie/Doyle Watership Down fusion by Jane Mailander.

It was published in Variations on the Theme of B and D #2 and is online.

From the Flyer

HOMBATHLAY by Jane Mailander. "...my name is Burdock." "And I am Hombathlay. Which means I am always a homba," Hombathlay's voice was cold. "You came here at Frithli. When you are not Hombathlay, maybe you are Frithli." Hombathlay's ears flattened at the pun. But there was humour in his eyes at being called "sunshine"; it was the first sign of life the stranger had shown since arriving in Watership.

Reactions and Reviews

I have an odd fondness for this story that puts Bodie and Doyle into Richard Adams' Watership Down world--as rabbits. Yes, rabbits! Jane Mailander has a talent for thinking up quirky, unusual scenarios, and this is her most successful story for me. Translating Bodie and Doyle into animals (or women or kids or whatever) isn't something that usually rocks my socks; I obsess over the two adult men they are. But the alt-versions of them in this story are fun and beguiling. They're just such Bodie-ish and Doyle-ish rabbits. They're rough, tough, randy, vicious rabbits: you know, all that good stuff. The little in-joke with "sunshine" is amusing, too.

Eh. Yes, this story has rabbits as main characters. But the rabbits are Bodie and Doyle, at the same time. Talk about knowing your characters inside out and writing them as utterly believable even when they are rabbits. The story is inspired by Richard Adams' book Watership Down, but don't worry if you haven't read it. There are Author's Notes and sufficient background in the story to make it an easy read. Go on, give it a try :) Jane Mailander is a skilled writer that knows where the story is going and will get you there. Her work is an excellent example of the variety of fiction in Pros, ranging from rabbits to fairy tales rewrites.