The Story of My Life

Fanfiction
Title:	The Story of My Life
Author(s):	PJ (not Paulie Gilmore)
Date(s):	July 1994, published in 1996 (see story online for the notes at the bottom)
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online here
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The Story of My Life is a Professionals story by PJ. It was eventually published in print in Chalk and Cheese #14.

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

warning! this is practically the mushiest, sappiest story i have *ever* read. sap-sensitives will reel away from it, seeing stars, and wind up vomiting on the floor. that said, if you can handle mfeo-end-of-life type sap complete with apparent reliance on the existence of heaven, proceed. it's well-done, and the train-wreck of sap kept me caught between being moved and horrified and thus, i didn't cry, though the author doubtless intended me to.

....a very interesting look at a much older Bodie and Doyle from an outsiders pov. Interesting and inevitably sad.

2010

I completely understand that not everyone is going to like this fic or even be willing to read it. Believe it or not, I normally don't read this type of story either, but I followed a link that had no warning to the story which had no header...you get the idea. Anyway, the reason I chose to rec this story is because it contains two of my biggest fan fiction squicks of all time (original female character as first person narrator and major character death), but the author handled them both in such a way that this actually became one of my favorite fics in this fandom.

I generally don't read fics with an original female character as first person narrator because my fic reading experience has been that the odds of her being a Mary Sue approach near certainty. In this case, I think PJ neatly dodged that bullet because even though Angie, Doyle's home health nurse, is telling the story and it's naturally from her point of view, the story she's telling is clearly about Doyle. Even when she's crossing off one of the items on my Mary Sue checklist (does the original female character appear in any scenes that do not also contain a canon character?), she spends her time thinking, and talking to friends and co-workers, about Doyle.

I also don't usually read death fics because I find them very upsetting. This is one of the rare instances that I could accept it because (a) the death doesn't come as a surprise shock at the end, (b) the character dies at the end of a long and happy life, and (c) in death, the character is reunited with his soul mate. That's about the closest you can come to a happy ending in a death fic. The story still made me cry, but I didn't feel traumatized by it like I usually do with death fics.

If you're thinking 'OMG, how could she spoil the ending for us like that?,' the slow decline in health and eventual character death is really the main plot of the story and is telegraphed from the very first scene where Angie is listening to Doyle's heart and thinking there was nothing else she could do for him. The real ending, which I won't spoil, comes from a second storyline involving an intriguing psychological mystery regarding what happened to Bodie. The hints doled out throughout the story kept me hooked right up to the ultimate reveal, which was a completely realistic reason for Doyle to have reacted the way he did and neatly showed the repercussions of events that had happened decades before in canon.

Leaving aside the heavy push-button issues, I have a fondness for stories about the lads much later in life, decades (sometimes four or five of them) after the series ended. I really liked the peek into Doyle's life in his later years, watching him cook dinner for Murphy and knowing they've stayed friends all this time. I also loved Angie's reaction to finding out what this charming elderly gentleman she'd just met used to do for a living.

The only jarring note for me was Angie's being struck speechless by the attractiveness of someone even she admits is old enough to be her grandfather. I love Doyle, but I'm not sure how hot I'd think he was in his eighties. Then I think of Sean Connery and how he seems to get better looking as he ages and tell myself to get over it.

If you've managed to read all this and still can't bring yourself to try this fic, I totally understand. And if you see me at MediaWest next week, please don't hurt me.

[If you don't read it]: I think you are missing out on a very good fic, Firle. It's sensitively done and as she says above, it is probably one of the few happy ending death fics I've read.

I also don't usually read death fics because I find them very upsetting... This paragraph perfectly sums up how I feel. I wept buckets, but just because it was so moving, not because it was tragic.

The point I'd emphasise about death fic is the difference between Bodie or Doyle dying while they're in their prime and leaving the other to go on, and them both dying at the end of a long, happy and loving life together. The latter is just natural and right. The former I have very seldom encountered, but even that can be more redeeming than depressing.

The thing I found saddest in this was the idea that Doyle was resuscitated after Bodie's death - it's a shame he couldn't go at the same time. BUT (1) his mind protected him from the reality of the situation, and (2) we wouldn't have had this story.

This is where I think PJ is clever in working the song into the plot, because finally the story of Bodie and Doyle's life and their love is passed on to Angie (with the photo, and the stories Doyle and Murphy told her) - otherwise they would have died with B &D.

RE Angie, I like an outsider's point of view, and this was a good one. With her rather dull and perhaps lonely life, she was like a blank page for the story of Doyle (and Bodie etc) to be written on. Which is the negative of your positive view the story she's telling is clearly about Doyle. ... she spends her time thinking, and talking to friends and co-workers, about Doyle.

By the end, I even hoped she'd have a future with Murphy, which I realised was silly on reflection, because we don't know anything about his life 'in London' - he could be married. But I'm a big Murphy fan, so points to PJ for his role in this.

I like an outsider POV for the opportunity to see the main characters through new eyes, but I don't like it when the author becomes so enamored or her new creation that the original character takes over the story. In this case, I think PJ managed to avoid that and keep the focus on Doyle (and Bodie).

I enjoyed the mildly science fiction aspect of this fic, which must be set in the 2030s. It is very pleasing to reflect that "same-sex marriages" in fact came in long before 2023.

the author had to tell me because I wasn't feeling the "futureness." Agreed. Even the song on the car radio sounded a bit old-fashioned, although there were small, deliberate mentions of newer technologies. But it was more important to focus on the characters.

Unavoidable problem with projecting so far into the future (from 1994!), to get the lads into their 80s, which you have to do to give them long, fulfilled lives and die of old age....

This fic makes me think of "Zoetrope" by O. Yardley - a similar scenario with elderly Bodie and Doyle, but the setting is quite timeless, to the point I'm not sure if it's a historical AU, but it doesn't actually matter to the story.

I wouldn't normally knowingly read a death fic but your rec convinced me to give it a go. Did I enjoy it? Yes. But would I read it again? Not sure... it's still pretty raw, but the fic itself was riveting as you gradually get the backstory revealed. I think this is the sort of fic you really need to be in the right mood for. Glad I read it, though, so thanks for the rec.

I cannot recommend this story highly enough. I really really enjoy it, it always makes me melt or cry, depending on how emotional I am feeling.

The ending too always makes me smile - not going to spoil it in case anyone reading this is thinking they may do - because it's just so perfect.

I'd agree that it doesnt seem that much in the future, but that is not important to the fic itself. And I actually like the OFC, for a change.

I read this a while ago, not knowing what to expect.

Terribly sad to find out Bodie is actually dead, especially since it was Doyle's fault, having kept going despite being almost crippled with pain. That was one part that I didn't find very believable: the fact that he was in such pain that he was almost incapable of moving, but still kept going with the job. I don't think pride would make him go quite this far, nor do I believe Bodie would let him get away with it. They are macho, but not stupid.

And I had a bit of a hard time with the nurse being so overcome by Doyle's charm, and Bodie's, from the picture. Sorry, they are good looking, but that seemed a little overboard and more the author's voice. Also, would they really send in a nurse without giving her enough of the background, so she wouldn't inadvertently shock her new patient into another heart attack?

Though the whole premise wouldn't have worked without it, I guess! *g* The slow unraveling of the mystery, which is very engaging and charmingly written.

Too sad for me for many re-reads, though.

I read it and found it very moving - I was in tears before the end. I liked the slow development and reveal, how we find out along with Angie how Doyle is refusing to accept reality.

The death was sad, but it felt right and fitting, and we have to accept that Doyle is happy to be reunited with Bodie in death.

I can't really see Angie finding a man in his eighties sexually attractive, but on the other hand I can completely see her falling for the Doyle smile and being utterly charmed by him!

One I wouldn't want to read very often, as emotionally demanding as it is, but I'm glad I've read it.