Of Priests and Power

Bodie/Doyle Fanfiction
Title:	Of Priests and Power
Author(s):	P. Willow
Date(s):
Length:
Genre:
Fandom:	The Professionals
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Of Priests and Power is a 22-page Bodie/Doyle circuit story by P. Willow.

In the 1990s the story became a topic of discussion Virgule-L. One fan called it the "kinkiest story in fandom" and another said it depicted "a strange sect that punishes their members with strange machines" and it being one of the "infamous guilty pleasures."

It may have been withdrawn from the circuit sometime after 1993. However, in 1999 one fan acquired a copy from the paper circuit library in the US, so it remained in circulation.

It may have had a sequel called "Of Temples and Trials" or perhaps "Dragon and Phoenix."

Fan Comments

1993

I like S/M stories, and I'm very much interested in the concept of S/M, of what it means in terms of trust, love and different ways of enjoying one's sexuality. I wanted very much to read a story which was presented as including S/M elements, OF PRIESTS AND POWER. It was a fantasy story, set in an indeterminate universe. The priests of the title were sex maniacs, indulging in orgies as they worshipped their god (why not? Some civilisations had this type of religious prostitution…)

But the story really left me somewhat behind when it described in details the way the unnamed young priest who is a Bodie-lookalike gets sexually tortured and abused in punishment for his love for a Doyle-like young slave.

My main objections are that it is never indicated in the story that the young priest takes the slightest pleasure in the treatment he receives -- indeed, his discomfort is quite underlined. Therefor, there is never the faintest hint that the Great Priest's obvious sadism is paralleled by the young priest's masochism. It seems to me that this is a great misconception of sado-machochistic behavior, as the pleasure of one derives in part from the pleasure the other takes in what he does or what is done to him/her. If someone likes torturing and abusing unwilling people, it's no longer a S/M relationship; it's plain craziness, the kind of things which make the headlines of newspapers for raping and killing underage children, for example, and that is something that I definitely do not find erotic!

In the same register, I didn't not enjoy DANCE WITH THE DEVIL, but for different reasons quite different from the one [K F] explained in a previous ish. I was not shocked, nor repulsed by what Bodie did to Doyle; it had been consensual.

1999

This is rather scary -- a couple of days ago I read a paper circuit story called Of Priests and Powers by a P. Willow. Now you talk about altars and erotic worship. Uh! BTW, anyone cares to comment on that story? I found it fascinating but somehow confusing. What is all that stuff about former ages and restoring the true cult (of priapus?) at the end? and it really maddened me that it took two pages before I could understand who was B and who was D (it

is AU big time).