Scenes from the Edge

Fanfiction
Title:	Scenes from the Edge
Author(s):	Kate Maclean
Date(s):	1995
Length:	22,516
Genre(s):	slash, angst
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):
External Links:	formerly archived at The Automated Hatstand, Wayback link here
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Scenes from the Edge is a story set in the The Professionals universe and written by Kate Maclean. The story was published in Unprofessional Conduct #5 and was reviewed at the ci5hq in December 2009.

This story is discussed in Pros musing: thoughts on Kate MacLean.....

Parts/Summaries

Summary: Bitter after being dumped by Ann Holly, Doyle vows never to "slide over that edge again."

Author's notes: This was my second ever story and written purely for myself, without an eye to publication. It was really a retake on the theme of the first (Building on Rainbows) kind of idly seeing if I could do any better. Reading back now, CI5 Doyle would never be able to be as comfortable with his 'interesting' mates or pubs, as this Doyle is, but I cant say that bothered me at the time! And I've always, sadly, written the kind of story I wanted to read - then inflicted it on everyone else.

Reactions and Reviews

....the resolution to Scenes from the Edge which, while satisfying from a POV perspective... happens so quickly, in just a few paragraphs, after so very much angst, that it leaves me feeling a bit cheated. Not that I'm seriously complaining - I absolutely adore the story (I hope it's clear that I adore all her stories; it's easy enough to nit-pick the ending of Scenes - when I'm comparing it to Choosing, which for me is perfection! KM sets a high standard!). Unlike Choosing, I do sometimes feel a bit ... let down when I finish Scenes; I long for a few more pages, it needs a few more pages - it doesn't achieve the virtually perfect balance that Choosing does, and therefore doesn't give me the same degree of satisfaction. It's not that it needs a different ending, just that, to me at least, structurally, the conclusion/climax happens too quickly, like a car coming to an abrupt stop; the "rhythm" of the story seems to me to demand that that portion of the story carry more weight than it does.

I always enjoy Kate MacLean’s stories for the gorgeous writing and her ability to make me feel the emotions of the characters. This is one of KM’s usual angst-fests but is probably my least favorite because of Doyle’s incredible callousness and downright nastiness to Bodie, who acts reasonably throughout and for whom I just feel sorry. The depth of Doyle’s passion when he finally realizes that he’s “slid right over the edge” and fallen in love is a wonder to behold. I also enjoy seeing how Bodie, justifiably apprehensive of being hurt once again, is simply unable to help himself and succumbs to Ray’s onslaught. The ending, as usual for KM, comes just as things are starting to look up; I’d like to see a bit more of a payoff for having gone through all the angst.

I'm with you, firmly esconced in the Kate-Maclean-walks-on-water brigade..*g* I love all her novellas, with Redemption as one of my favourite rereads of anything ever. You're right, it's not comfort fic per se - these are not easy men she's describing. Their sexuality - their achilles heel - is not something a kiss or two is ever going to have them accepting right away. But therein lies the drama and her storytelling skill, right? I love, love, love her Bodie in Edge, and in Redemption. How he quite literally claws back his dignity, puts up his walls, and everything is thrown onto Doyle being able to make himself vulnerable enough to get through again. It is exquisite to watch that unfold.

I can't think of anyone who better captures that tension and conflict. It's really emotional and gripping. Her Bodie and Doyle are tough -- even brutal when they need to be -- which makes those rare glimpses of tenderness shine. You can feel the desperation of their...well, passion really is the right word here...The key for me in enjoying Redemption (because it is a hard read in that we only have access to Bodie's thoughts and feelings) is that no one is seeing how vulnerable and humiliated he feels. His front is intact. And I love watching Doyle's mounting frustration and desperation (that word again) through Bodie's skewed gaze.... I'm squarely in the camp that believes it's not really much of a story if we don't have conflict...some journey. I mean, there are exceptions, but if we're talking a novella length work, generally I want a real story. That said, I would love, love, love Kate to have given us just a few sentences more at the end of...well, just about everything. *g*

My main problem with KM's Bodie and Doyle is that I don't see Doyle as an arrogant bastard who treats Bodie badly (for whatever reason) and Km's Bodie is usually someone I don't recognize easily from how I perceive him. I just can't see him sticking it out with a Doyle like that. He seems much stronger and more self-assured to me in canon than he appears in KM's stories. Their relationship seems to be much more about power than love, and her endings really don't work for me at all.

It never feels like both of them are getting back together for love, and I don't feel reassured that their relationship will have a chance at being successful.

It feels very much like an emotional seesaw to me, with the scales usually starting out up for Doyle, who holds all the power and Bodie feeling mistreated and/or betrayed, and then things swing the other way, but it never feels like they are equals and happy together.

It's not that I detest conflict between the two, or want puppies and rose-colored glasses, but I miss the camaraderie and genuine fondness and love I see between then in canon.

Even assuming Doyle has problems with intimacy, and Bodie is much more insecure than he lets on, I find what they do to each other too damaging to come out believing they are good for and with each other in the end.

And I wish I could, because her writing is brilliant!

Scenes from the Edge is probably my favorite of the novellas -- although it’s hard to choose.

In the prologue Doyle, burned and bitter after being dumped by Ann Holly, has resolved that from now on everyone else is going to the running. He’s never going to be this vulnerable again. He’s never going to allow himself to go over the “edge” again. When the story next picks up, Bodie is brooding over the inequity of his relationship with Doyle...

Bodie and Doyle have been lovers since May Li shot Doyle. They altered their partnership against Bodie’s better instinct, but once he let go and fell…he fell hard. His feelings for Ray, or perhaps the instinct that he’s fighting a losing battle, have made him jealous, insecure, dependent, obsessive…he hates who he’s become. Worse, he can sense that Doyle despises him too -- and that Doyle is probably going to leave him.

And this is pretty much Doyle’s mindset. Doyle does not consider himself gay and he has no intention of “marrying” Bodie. He tells himself what they have is just sex…although he acknowledges that he probably feels more for Bodie than anyone on the planet, and that sex with Bodie is better than with anyone else. He finds himself missing Bodie when Bodie’s away on an op which makes him all the more impatient and frustrated and determined to prove his independence to himself. He winds up having a one night stand with a handsome artist’s model. The sex is great but…there’s just something missing.

When he arrives home, Bodie has returned early and Doyle is panicked that Bodie not discover he’s strayed. He’s uneasily aware that there are some things Bodie might not forgive. But Bodie trusts him and things go back to normal. Actually, things are better than normal. Doyle is calmer and contented now that he’s proved to himself he’s still a free agent. And Bodie -- having made a resolution of his own -- has pulled back a bit, which ironically seems to draw Doyle forward. It seems as though they might have at last found their perfect balance.

There’s just one shiny little thing Doyle forgot…

I've just read "Scenes from the Edge" and liked it a lot.

I particularly liked the rhythm and pace of the story, and how Doyle reached a low point near the middle, so that the last part was more optimistic.

In any fic where Bodie packs his bags, I'm usually reaching for the hankies or stopping reading, but this time I was rooting for him - thanks to KM's writing, it seemed perfectly the right thing to do, and Bodie was so dignified, putting his life back together and resisting temptation when Ray offered it.

I liked too that KM could keep Bodie and Doyle working together convincingly, professionally. Much more attractive to me than angsty fics where one has to leave CI5/London/the country before they come back together. Perhaps it makes the story more convincing - in parallel with their anguished relationship, they are still working together, bantering together, in the showers together. *vbg*. so there is a firm foundation for their relationship to continue in some form...I take your point about the ending. I don't know how I would have ended it either, but hmmm, unexpectedly, it left me feeling quite uneasy about the plausibility of the final scene, but given that it happened, uneasy about their future.

I know not everyone is reassured by authorial intent, but she does believe firmly in a happy ending for them. She absolutely sees them together for as long as they manage to survive.

...I too love all of KM's stories to the extent that I'm still receiving therapy for Redemption withdrawal symptoms - it got to me that much. I've really nothing much more to add - certainly nothing profound to add - but I just wanted to mention one thing which struck me as I read Scenes and that was how acute her observations of people and their relationships are (she reminds me of Sebastian in this respect) and how good she is at writing of the inequities - or imbalance - of being in love i.e. the rarity of findng two people who love equally. And if Bodie and Doyle did actually exist in real life - given the kind of men they are - then this is how I would imagine they'd fall in love - *this* is how love would be for them: hard, rocky and completely overwhelming. Fantastic.

I absolutely love this story, read it twice through straight away. I felt so bad for Bodie when Ray was shagging around, and almost thought he wasn't going to take him back at the end. But how can anyone resist...

... there's nothing more satisfying than seeing an arrogant bastard (even one we adore) brought to his knees. *g* And I think it happens very satisfyingly in SftE.

I admire what Kate does -- she convinces me utterly -- but even when I've tried to write similar scenarios, I just can't manage it. She's got such a clear vision of them -- like it or not, it's consistent and focused.

Her interpretation of the characters work for many people, but I just can't help not liking her Bodie and Doyle all that much, especially her Doyle.

It's her Doyle I love the best. *g* Although he can be a bastard for sure. But I'm one of those who wants a story with some believable conflict. It doesn't have to be an angst-fest...well...lemme think...

I don't mind an angst fest if it's done right.

I do want conflict -- enough to make a real story. I can enjoy simple sweet stories if they're well-written, but generally I want something more in the way of plot.

A personal preference, definitely.

I love stories with conflict, too, and longer, plotty ones. They are my favorite, especially with a little h/c thrown in (though a sweet story now and then to balance things out, is terrific).

But I do need to be convinced Bodie and Doyle love and care for each other throughout the conflict, even if they'd never admit it (for example like in the recently discussed "Black Sheep")!

With KM, there is a little too much outright disdain and genuine dislike between the characters and their psychological make-up (in her stories) just puts them over the line into me not caring all that much for them.

Maybe if her POV weren't so tight and usually solely from Bodie, it might work better for me.

I can't enjoy a story where I dislike both main characters. It's a personal failing of mine because respect is one thing I must insist on in any relationship in order to survive. There is no respect (not much love either) in these characters. I don't see any Bodie or Doyle from canon.

For an original fic writer, KM excels. She just rarely writes Pros for me. I understand a good writer can convince people of their universe, which is cool. Ultimately when I want Pros, I want Pros. I do read original fic and have no problem reading a story in that light. Larton, for example, is not Pros in the slightest to me, yet enjoyable in its own right. However, if I hate both men, I could care less if they live, survive and thrive. I'm so ambivalent it's not funny.

I need an emotional attachment to at least one character, and here I'm left with nothing. Well written just doesn't work in this instance for me.

I think we read fan fiction with somewhat different requirements than we do regular fiction. I do anyway. Good writing just isn't enough for me -- even the wrong scenario (B/C for example) is enough to prevent me from exploring further. So I understand what you're saying. Good writing just isn't enough. You need the emotional connection. For me, KM provides all that in spades, but I agree that her work can be challenging. What is exciting to me as a writer is when my work evokes passion -- and KM's work does that most definitely.

I don't derive any satisfaction from people being metaphorically brought to their knees and I have a tendency to throw away a fic after reading if that's where the author goes. Maybe I might someday be able to step back and enjoy the craft of the writing but as KM hits both of my dislikes of "I neither like nor respect either of these people" and "relationship problems are always X character's fault" at once, plus the aforementioned lack of satisfaction, not any time soon. Why would I want to continue reading stuff that makes me need to take a shower?

Put me firmly in the camp of KM fans. Her characterizations of the lads are definitely not consistent with canon lads, but if I only read stories where they were I would have slim pickings indeed. There are certain places I won't go with a writer (death fic, for instance), but KM never takes me too far. When I'm in the mood for a real emotional rollercoaster she fits the bill almost better than anyone else. What I admire most about her writing is her ability to convey the need the lads have for each other, the way they simply cannot live without each other. I always sympathize with her characters, even Doyle at his most unkind, because she convinces me of his motivations, his vulnerability, his fear, his self-protectiveness. She makes me feel right along with the characters. I greatly admire KM for her ability to do that; it's a rare talent.

...it's fascinating from a fandom perspective (although I know not everyone is into the history of literary development within the fandom) to take a look at a writer who was rated so highly by her then-peers. I suppose to some extent MacLean may be a writer's writer.

Kate's work is not an easy read, but some of the best Pros discussions have been about her body of work. Her writing stirs great passion and yea or nea, it begs, no demands to be discussed. Kate has an amazing talent to be able to elicit such passion from readers.

Why this must be read: Because sometimes it's good to be sad, and there's something ever so delicious about the darkest, bitterest chocolate ever... Kate Maclean is a consummate writer - words perfectly chosen, world beautifully built, and the lads... well, the lads are who they might just be sometimes, on those nights when the world is going wrong for them, and they're trying desperately to cope. Which ultimately makes Kate Maclean's Bodie/Doyle one of the best things you'll ever put in your mouth read. You just need to appreciate that dark bitter-chocolate tang as it melts your heart away...