noblesentiments: Night Moves by Courtney Gray (with vague spoilers)

noblesentiments (

noblesentiments) wrote,
@ 2007-07-24 21:32:00

Night Moves by Courtney Gray (with vague spoilers)
I’ve never been much attracted to stories which feature Doyle or Bodie as ‘prostitute’ – they seem to stretch my imagination just a bit too far - but Courtney Gray’s own particular treatment of this theme makes Night Moves an exception to the rule and it‘s a story I love and can return to again and again. In her capable hands the scenario of Bodie as a kind of hard-bitten ‘high paid whore’ coerced into tutoring Doyle on the technicalities of male sex for a Ci5 operation is completely plausible; while Doyle’s (initial) reluctance but willingness to act as the necessary ‘hook' for the task, borders on the heroic:

Doyle fanned the pages in his hands, not really reading. "What do you want me...." His voice faltered as he met Cowley's gaze.
"I want to set you up with a hustler, one that Coogan knows...............Cowley drew off his glasses and tapped them against the blotter. "That way we'll have the information we need to topple his organisation from the inside out."
Doyle sagged a little in his chair and brushed long fingers through his curls. He seemed to be considering everything that Cowley had left unspoken. "I've never done a cover like that, even with the Special Unit at the Yard," he said softly.

Did I say reluctance?

"I like the taste of you," Doyle told him much later, the first words spoken between them that morning. "I didn't think I would, but I do."
Bodie just blinked at him, his body light as air.
"I want us to spend the day in bed. I want to feel what it's like to put my cock inside you. I want you to fuck me again. No poppers, no drugs this time. I want to do it every way there is."
Bodie was too stunned to speak. When he found his voice, he said the first thing he could think of. "I--I've appointments today."
"Cancel them." Big green eyes held him, still shining with sexual heat.

And then there are the lines where you almost forget to breathe:

To feel that someone has become an essential part of you was an exquisite kind of addiction. Bodie was hooked.
"Could you live without me?" he asked Doyle, no flippancy in the question.
The answer came immediately, hushed and sincere. "I could exist."

NB: There is an alternate ending to this story which is called Kink and both are available at all good high street booksellers, failing that, The Circuit Archive:

http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/1/nightmoves.html
http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/1/kink.html

(33 comments) - (Post a new comment)

	jgraeme2007 2007-07-25 03:43 pm UTC (link)
	I agree that this was one of the better efforts at this scenario, but I just couldn't buy into it -- although you present some convincing arguments. The characters just didn't ring true for me, and I find the whole prostitution thing inevitably overwrought. (Reply to this) (Thread)

(Deleted post)

jgraeme2007
2007-07-25 07:39 pm UTC (link)

Loved the rain. It was the best holiday I can remember. Actually, it's the ONLY holiday I can remember. I need to get out more.

But back to NIGHT MOVES.

I thought this comment of yours was interesting:

for me it’s not completely impossible imagining Bodie as a hard-bitten, cynical hooker, a scenario which isn’t a million miles away from his former life in canon, being a mercenary, and again, prepared to sell his body to the highest bidder.So, if we can accept that part of the story...

And that's the crux of it. I can't.

It seems to me that you're looking at this philosophically or logically, whereas I think this particular psychological dynamic actually ties into notions of masculinity and male self-perception. If we accept that Bodie is a certain type of alpha male -- I think of him as the classic rogue hero (and he appears to be written this way in canon) then his SAS and mercenary background is going to fit with both stereotypical expectations of extreme macho behavior and canon-Bodie's own self image.

That kind of guy is never -- well, at least, hugely unlikely -- to view selling his body in the same light as selling his fighting skills. Whoring is simply too...unmasculine.

Now if he didn't have a choice (I don't remember the story well) and the scenario is sex slave or something equally farfetched, I guess it's a little more believable, although it won't work for narrow-minded readers like myself who are thrown by anything AU.

My take is that canon-Bodie (given historical gender roles and expectations) would always need to see himself as seducer and controller, which is why the romantic dynamic between himself and Doyle (equally alpha and equally macho despite the occasional glimmerings of sensitivity) is so damned amusing. The conflict -- romantic tension, if you will -- is always there merely because of who they are.

That said, part of the fun of this AU stuff is that it stands all the canon expectations on ear.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

shooting2kill
2007-07-25 09:25 pm UTC (link)

It seems to me that you're looking at this philosophically or logically, whereas I think this particular psychological dynamic actually ties into notions of masculinity and male self-perception. If we accept that Bodie is a certain type of alpha male -- I think of him as the classic rogue hero (and he appears to be written this way in canon) then his SAS and mercenary background is going to fit with both stereotypical expectations of extreme macho behavior and canon-Bodie's own self image.

That kind of guy is never -- well, at least, hugely unlikely -- to view selling his body in the same light as selling his fighting skills. Whoring is simply too...unmasculine.

Ah, some interesting points here and I note the distinction you make when you use the term 'whoring'. On paper I'd have to agree with you.....except that I'm thinking of quite a few cases where poorly paid and supposedly heterosexual soldiers in the British Army did hire themselves out to well-off civilians, particularly in the days before the Wolfendon Report and the legalisation of homosexuality. In particular, The Scots Guards were quite (in)famous for doing this......so I don't think a marriage between being an alpha male and whoring for a living is such a far-fetched concept. The fact that we can accept the basic premise of Bodie falling in love with his equally-macho partner requires a stretch of the imagination (for some) to begin with, so maybe the rest is just plain sailing........

My take is that canon-Bodie (given historical gender roles and expectations) would always need to see himself as seducer and controller, which is why the romantic dynamic between himself and Doyle (equally alpha and equally macho despite the occasional glimmerings of sensitivity) is so damned amusing. The conflict -- romantic tension, if you will -- is always there merely because of who they are.

I'm not completely clear what you're saying here....I don't think you're saying that you can never take the idea that they could fall for each other seriously, are you? But anyway, I've never really seen what they have as 'romantic tension' - more like erotic tension. And yes, I see Bodie as seducer and controller as well, and I suppose that's why he was so pissed off being coerced by Cowley.

On a different tangent....have you read Fish's Far Shore? There's a discussion going on at Ci5 about it.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

jgraeme2007
2007-07-25 11:37 pm UTC (link)

On paper I'd have to agree with you.....except that I'm thinking of quite a few cases where poorly paid and supposedly heterosexual soldiers in the British Army did hire themselves out to well-off civilians, particularly in the days before the Wolfendon Report and the legalisation of homosexuality. In particular, The Scots Guards were quite (in)famous for doing this......

That's true. I'm looking at it from the 1970s macho man perspective, but if we want to take a broad historical view, yes, it's possible -- but again we get into personalities and psychologies. Is canon-Bodie the right personality type? But the story isn't about canon-Bodie, and this is where I'm always disappointed with AU. I'm too locked into the episodes, I admit.

I don't think you're saying that you can never take the idea that they could fall for each other seriously, are you? But anyway, I've never really seen what they have as 'romantic tension' - more like erotic tension

Well, no, I'm not saying THAT. Although making it work would take some doing. But then that's the fun of these stories.

We may mean different things by 'romantic tension.' I think many of these fics describe their relationship in what I think of as Harlequin Romance terms -- certainly there's a focus on emotions that takes it beyond simple eroticism. And a romanticizing of sex. (Which is maybe the difference between erotica and porn.)

On a different tangent....have you read Fish's Far Shore? There's a discussion going on at Ci5 about it.

Now there's a coincidence. I finished it last night. Fascinating. Um, is CI5 the LJ community or is there a discussion list by the same name? I get totally lost here.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

shooting2kill
2007-07-26 01:34 pm UTC (link)

That's true. I'm looking at it from the 1970s macho man perspective, but if we want to take a broad historical view, yes, it's possible -- but again we get into personalities and psychologies.

Good point......but I think it was misleading of me to specify that particular time in history as I’m fairly certain the same thing went on in the sixties with lower-ranking soldiers still being poor enough to hire themselves out but this time keeping themselves well within the law and so, I'd think it would probably have taken place in the seventies as well - at least I can't think of any social/economic/legal reasons why that decade would be so different to the sixties.

And this raises another question for me: why wouldn’t an alpha male soldier hire himself out to a woman rather than a man, if the thought of male whoring was so distasteful to him?

We may mean different things by 'romantic tension.' I think many of these fics describe their relationship in what I think of as Harlequin Romance terms

Your notion of Harlequin Romance sounds about equal to my idea of Pros and Mills and Boon stories i.e. where you could replace the names of Bodie and Doyle with a straight couple, keep the same words and nothing would seem out of place.

certainly there's a focus on emotions that takes it beyond simple eroticism. And a romanticizing of sex. (Which is maybe the difference between erotica and porn.)

Oh, I like that definition, even though I’ve been struggling to find a definition of the term eroticism itself for ages as I’m not satisfied with the standard Wikipiki ‘tending to arouse sexual desire’ – there’s got to be something more to it than that, surely?

On a different tangent....have you read Fish's Far Shore? There's a discussion going on at Ci5 about it.

Now there's a coincidence. I finished it last night. Fascinating. Um, is CI5 the LJ community or is there a discussion list by the same name? I get totally lost here.

It's here, at the splendid Ci5 community:
http://community.livejournal.com/ci5hq/

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

jgraeme2007
2007-07-26 03:01 pm UTC (link)

And this raises another question for me: why wouldn’t an alpha male soldier hire himself out to a woman rather than a man, if the thought of male whoring was so distasteful to him?

I'm thinking whoring in general. Consider how gigolos are traditionally viewed (and I could see a historical jaded and emotionally scarred Bodie-clone in that particular role--and loathing himself for it -- a kind of Sunset Blvd dynamic) even though the canon-Bodie seems like a traditional and rather conservative male. That's how I read him anyway. An update on the Kipling Soldiers Three mold. Of course there are all kinds of different angles on that character type.

I guess it comes down to the blank slate quality of these characters. There's enough established to make them interesting, the actors build on that, and then we all fill in the blanks with what we want them to be -- or play with the possibilities of what they could be in different circumstances.

I think one of my problems with AU is that the only way I can enjoy it is if I judge it as non-Pros story or novel, and the minute I do that I begin to critique it as I would a standard novel or short story.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

shooting2kill
2007-07-26 08:34 pm UTC (link)

I'm thinking whoring in general.

I thought we started with the likelihood of an alpha one male hiring himself out to another man, anyway...

I think one of my problems with AU is that the only way I can enjoy it is if I judge it as non-Pros story or novel

I think an awful lot of people start out hating the idea of AU pros (I know I did) but then they often come round to liking them..... as long as the characterisation is plausible and let's face it, slash itself is about the what if - and AUs are just another extension of the TV characters and their situations, arguably....

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	jgraeme2007 2007-07-26 08:49 pm UTC (link)
	I think an awful lot of people start out hating the idea of AU pros (I know I did) but then they often come round to liking them..... I hope you're right because I'm quickly running out of stuff to read... (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	shooting2kill 2007-07-26 09:38 pm UTC (link)
	Jesus, do you read that quickly?!! Have you got the Pros CD? Very good value for money. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

jgraeme2007
2007-07-26 09:55 pm UTC (link)

Jesus, do you read that quickly?!! Have you got the Pros CD? Very good value for money.

I'm pretty fast. I'm also pretty damn ruthless about clumsy writing, and a lot of stories were instantly rejected that I'll have to go back now and give another chance. Especially since they've since turned up on people's recs.

I definitely plan to get the CD next.

And I do keep stumbling across little pockets of things that aren't at the circuit or the hatstander, which is always fun.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

shooting2kill
2007-07-26 10:17 pm UTC (link)

Do you know these rec sites:

http://www.users.on.net/~forrestling/RecsProfessionals.html

and the Oblique site? With loads of good writers like M Fae Glasgow, Sebastian etc.
http://www.oblique-publications.net/

Nell Howell's site: her fics and recs?

The writer, Derry:
http://derry.anejo.nu/pros/index.shtml

I think 'Veronica' writes well and can be found at the CA. And Shoshanna? She's good too.

Just some people you might not have come across.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	shooting2kill 2007-07-26 10:19 pm UTC (link)
	Oh and Lacey Macbain and Josey. Two good writers I came across in the zine NFA who have written other stuff. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	jgraeme2007 2007-07-26 11:42 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, I've liked stuff by both MacBain and Josey. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	jgraeme2007 2007-07-26 11:38 pm UTC (link)
	The only ones I'm familiar with are Nell Howell and the Oblique, so thanks! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	shooting2kill 2007-07-27 11:06 am UTC (link)
	You're welcome. And I'm so pleased to see that you enjoyed Yellow Brick Road! I thought you would. And have you tried Jack Reuben Darcey at the Circuit Archive? She's written a couple of very long, fairly intricate stories which I loved when I read them a few years ago. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

jgraeme2007
2007-08-04 10:31 pm UTC (link)

And I'm so pleased to see that you enjoyed Yellow Brick Road! I thought you would.

Oh yeah, very much so. Redemption as well. I enjoy the way she handles subtext and that limited POV. It's very effective.

And have you tried Jack Reuben Darcey at the Circuit Archive? She's written a couple of very long, fairly intricate stories which I loved when I read them a few years ago.

Two stories, yes. One crossover (sigh). I really don't get the appeal of a crossover. That's even more disruptive to the suspension of disbelief than an AU.

The other story is enjoyable, you're right. Saints and Miracles is nicely complex, if a little overwritten. I'm really getting to like the longer stories.

I did read one AU that amused me. The much touted PROFESSIONAL DREAMER. So, see, there's hope for me yet.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

noblesentiments
2007-07-25 07:03 pm UTC (link)

You're back! Yeah, sorry about the rain......

I agree that this was one of the better efforts at this scenario, but I just couldn't buy into it -- although you present some convincing arguments. The characters just didn't ring true for me, and I find the whole prostitution thing inevitably overwrought.

Did I? Thanks, I hadn’t realized! Actually, your comments have made me think a bit more.......and it’s funny, I can dislike a story *because* of poor characterization and yet I can love a story in spite of way-off characterizations, like Arabian Nights, so what does that tell you? Not much apart from the fact that it’s very hard trying to decide which kind of stories you like and why, i.e. it’s hard trying to categorise your favourite story. But getting back to Night Moves..... for me it’s not completely impossible imagining Bodie as a hard-bitten, cynical hooker, a scenario which isn’t a million miles away from his former life in canon, being a mercenary, and again, prepared to sell his body to the highest bidder. So, if we can accept that part of the story then the writer‘s passed the first test and once that is done and we can accept *that* bit, then I think her depiction of Bodie as the prostitute is quite convincing.

I think Doyle’s characterization was interesting and believable too: the idealist who is prepared to martyr himself for the cause of Ci5.

Thanks for this and I hope you did have a good break!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

faramir_boromir
2007-07-25 05:51 pm UTC (link)

I love the third part you quote, precisely for that reason. Doyle admits he could survive, go on breathing without Bodie, but he'd never call it living.

And that Bodie does exactly what Doyle wants--cancelling all his appointments--that's when you know something special is going on.

I have to say, I find both endings have their appeal. Never seeing Coogan in the original version does have the feel of bait-and-switch-the-reader, set up a partiuclar scenario and then never make Doyle do it. However, Kink is a bit abusive (exactly as Bodie said it would be) and pushes the extremes of the abuse really hard. I've wondered if there might not be another alternative.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

noblesentiments
2007-07-25 07:13 pm UTC (link)

Do you know I can't remember if I've read the Kink ending or not? I think I must have done in the past, but I didn't read it this time because I just don't *get* those sort of situations.....they don't offend me or anything like that, but they just strike me as being slightly ridiculous and boring - collars, whips and things. I've never understood what that kind of setup has to do with attaining sexual highs etc. But anyway, yes, I agree with you, the first ending was disappointingly abrupt and a third ending would be fascinating - maybe one which stresses the emotional battles Bodie has to go through, watching the man he's fallen head-over-heels in love with being humiliated by a thug.

Thanks for your thoughts!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	faramir_boromir 2007-07-28 09:53 am UTC (link)
	On Kink, think, nipple rings and bells. If that doesn't bring it back, you haven't read it. Maybe a new ending is needed. Calling all authors! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	shooting2kill 2007-07-28 01:30 pm UTC (link)
	I don't think I'll bother then.....nipple rings I can just about understand but I draw the line at bells. (Reply to this) (Parent)

byslantedlight
2007-07-25 08:45 pm UTC (link)

Oh, you've picked another of my favourites! I know what you mean about the-lads-as-whores being difficult in many many ways - actually one of the hardest such scenarios I found was in The Rainbow Chasers by HG, for all I love it in so many other ways - Doyle as hooker just doesn't ring true for me there, and Bodie hardly ever would, but it does in Night Moves somehow... I wonder what the difference is...

I think that if you don't like AUs then you're bound not to be able to get on with something like this, it's AU, pure and simple - it's that thing of stretching the canon characters to what if, and I know I had to get to a certain place in reading other fic before I was ready to wonder what other ifs might be interesting... (You remember! But eventually I loved The Same River...)!

We talked about things being edgy a while ago, the idea of slash itself, to start with, and I think that a fic like this follows on from there. If we accept that the lads braved all else (basically, the culture of the time) to have a relationship, then something like Night Moves, and bdsm fic in general seems to push the edges a bit further out, for me. If I can see a way to believe that something might happen - Bodie didn't sell his "expertise" as Geraldine Mather put it, he actually sold his body, so he never joined CI5 - then it raises the question of how would the lads meet, how would they each find their "soul mate" (which, no matter how much you like to cool-it-up is what most of us think of when we think of B/D) - and how would they then reconcile each other's past...

Same with the bdsm (which I'm a fan of in B/D fic, when it's well done) - if the lads did take that route of working out their tension/conflict etc (and it's not unknown - think about people who self-harm in order to keep control over their emotional life, there's a difference of focus, but the theory is pretty similar, I'd say - using physical pain to overcome mental pain), then how might it go, how would they deal with it, and what would be the outcome of making a choice that "extreme" (in many people's eyes)? It's all rather interesting, I think, but you have to be able to push out the if to make it work...

Well, that's what I reckon, anyway. *g*

Oh, and yes - the fact that they're both doing something so distasteful, something that is rather shocking, and would be absolutely disgusting to many people just as an idea, but that they both not only accept it in each other, but find that spark of understanding and love despite that... Well - now that's romantic... *g*

(Reply to this) (Thread)

shooting2kill
2007-07-25 09:40 pm UTC (link)

Ah, The Same River.....I didn't know you'd finally ready it! You've been holding out on me. I always feel my insides get tearful when I think of that story. And I think I'd forgotten that you loved Night Moves but I'm glad you do.

Bodie didn't sell his "expertise" as Geraldine Mather put it, he actually sold his body, so he never joined CI5

I *like* the way you put that - almost a mind over body experience, as if he can separate the self completely from what the body does. Pure pragmatish. Or, on a good day, pragmatism.

I'd say - using physical pain to overcome mental pain)

Right, if pain is an important part of BDSM then I can understand that. I suppose I just imagined people parading around with leather dogcollars, whips and highheeled boots and thought: why? What's the point? Do they win a prize? But pain I can understand as that is what Bodie, in particular, can probably deal with more easily than love. Hmmmm. Veeeerrryyyy interesting.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

byslantedlight
2007-07-25 10:00 pm UTC (link)

Sorry - didn't mean to not tell you I'd read The Same River! I adored it, in a completely melting-to-tears kind of way... like all HR's stuff... gorgeous melancholy... Now maybe that would be a good story to start that other project with.... *g*

I think the pain is just one part of bdsm - I gather it's to do with controlling yourself, and the fact that you can control yourself enough to submit to someone else's domination has an eroticism about it in thought, which then leads to the physical manifestation of that... so that dogcollars and highheeled boots are symbols of the pain, and the willingness and the control... at least that's what I'm thinking... *g* As Kitty Fisher has Doyle thinking in Feasting With Panthers:

Pressed against the sheets Doyle's own nipples ached to be touched, but he ignored them; this was for Bodie.

And himself.

Restraint as eroticism.

It was almost as good as restriction.

Seems as though the one leads to the other, a mental as much as physical thing... 'course I could be completely wrong. *g*

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

shooting2kill
2007-07-25 10:26 pm UTC (link)

Sorry - didn't mean to not tell you I'd read The Same River! I adored it, in a completely melting-to-tears kind of way... like all HR's stuff... gorgeous melancholy... Now maybe that would be a good story to start that other project with.... *g*

Yes, I agree, but it's almost too much for discussion, I might get upset and angry.......it's a story which is very hard to discuss objectively.

I think the pain is just one part of bdsm - I gather it's to do with controlling yourself, and the fact that you can control yourself enough to submit to someone else's domination has an eroticism about it in thought

But where's the fun in controlling yourself? I think I'd rather control someone else. This is all a bit grownup for me, you know......don't forget you're talking to a girl who gets her highs from 2 codeine, a dog and a table leg. I'm joking...... I don't have a dog.... but I do have the ..........codeine

Right restraint as eroticism that's like the scene in Wonderful Tonight I think, where they find the MP who has sort of died by self-strangulation? Well, he doesn't sort of die, he *has* died and I think it's self-inflicted which actually borrowed from a real newspaper report. Right, I do feel enlightened but I still don't quite *get* it, but thanks for helping!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

byslantedlight
2007-07-25 10:52 pm UTC (link)

Hmmn - I think possibly the best stories are ones which it's hard to be completely objective about, the ones that arouse passion... but you're right, there's the risk of upsetting people, especially when it's a favourite to some!

I'm joking...... I don't have a dog...
Heeeee!

And while I'm here: and both are available at all good high street booksellers, failing that, The Circuit Archive
Heeeeeeeeee!

I do remember that MP, and his death and the scandal of it all. I think there were a few Tory-MP-is-gay-but-his-wife-is-standing-by-him scandals around the same time, weren't there... And it made me think of MS in For The Greater Good, which I've just watched, too...

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

shooting2kill
2007-07-25 11:03 pm UTC (link)

I do remember that MP, and his death and the scandal of it all. I think there were a few Tory-MP-is-gay-but-his-wife-is-standing-by-him scandals around the same time, weren't there... And it made me think of MS in For The Greater Good, which I've just watched, too...

Oh, I'm so pleased you've seen For The Greater Good! I've seen a fairly poor VHS copy but I'm so grateful to have done so as I think his performance was really subtle - weak, shifty even - but very good. And I'm glad he played a role which was very different to other stuff he's done.

Gay MPs? Yeah, I've had always had a fascination for that area in politics, god knows why.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

paris7am
2007-07-26 04:11 am UTC (link)

What an excellent review! Thank you!
Whenever I think of this story I am washed by a particular emotion - a melancholy but lush feeling of something very sad but very beautiful. The way she sets up the two of them is very powerful, and to me at least, it felt convincing.
Reading the previous comments and the debate about Bodie - would he or wouldn't he? - in the context of this story I personally think it works, and he would, because he's in control. It's his choice, it's his way, he's in control of the occupation and he appreciates the lifestyle in many ways. I agree that it has to do with his pragmatism, but also with his pride - his pride in his self control, in his physical discipline. Also, in his ability to separate himself, hold himself apart from his situation - that ascetic/sensual dialectic that seems to exist so perfectly in him. I'm not sure that I'm making sense and it has been a while since I read the story, but this is what comes to mind.
Once again, thank you for a beautiful review. Excellent excellent quotes!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

shooting2kill
2007-07-26 12:50 pm UTC (link)

Some excellent points, here, P and you are making sense! I think you're right about the control aspect to his character and how it works in this story, I see it that way though I'm not always sure *why* I do because in canon he has little control with Cowley and usually obeys him pretty quick. But yes, he does come across as controlling and so it's odd that so many stories write him as being a victim of Doyle's whim and controlling methods.

Also, in his ability to separate himself, hold himself apart from his situation his pride in his self control, in his physical discipline

Wish I'd thought of this point! Yes, I think discipline is central to Bodie's character and that's why he seems to fall apart in so many stories when he loses control of himself and his ability to discipline himself, vis a vis Doyle.

a melancholy but lush feeling of something very sad but very beautiful

I don't think I found it melancholy, which surprises me because we often view stories in the same way. I'll have to have a rethink.......

Thanks for this, P.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

callistosh65
2007-07-26 10:21 am UTC (link)

Thanks for this rec. It's a set up I wouldn't necessarily choose to read, but I'm glad I did, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I know what you mean about almost forgetting to breathe sometimes. Love the way she depicts the emotions growing between them, with neither having a clue quite how to identify or cope with them.

Their laughter faded away as Doyle stared into smoky, blue eyes.

There were no jolts, no sparks, no flashing lights, but something happened. A moment of complete empathy, soft as a lightbridge, thick with feeling, linking one man to the other.

So complex, it was elusive.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	shooting2kill 2007-07-26 12:53 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, that is a lovely quote and I'm ashamed to say that I completely missed it! And I'm so glad you were motivated to read the story. And you're absolutely right: they didn't have a clue how to deal with what was developing between them - Bodie in particular - but they just knew they couldn't ignore it. Thanks for your thoughts, C. (Reply to this) (Parent)

magenta_blue
2007-07-31 07:56 pm UTC (link)

Hello - cheers for this fic rec! Nightmoves was probably the first AU I read and I didn't think I would like it, but I did, a lot. I agree with the comment paris7am made, it is Bodie's choice and he controls how much of himself he gives away, so it all teeters for him when Doyle comes on the scene - in fact everything paris7am says above is why this fic is believable to me. The only thing is imagining Coogan to be that sort of villain, I guess the lads being younger and him older (and if I squint) it works...

As faramir_borimer says, both endings have their appeal, but the fact the same story has a choice of ending sort of jolts me out of it, as my mind doesn't know which to focus on as the 'proper' ending. I would like it to be definitely one or the other and whichever one to be ended in a satisfactory way – I need equal measures of hurt / comfort I suppose!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

noblesentiments
2007-07-31 08:30 pm UTC (link)

Nice to see you here, magenta. I think I *can* see Coogan in that role: he seemed weird enough, menacing, cruel, just a bit strange enough to be who the writer wanted him to be.

And the endings....well I didn't fancy the idea of Kink and I thought the other ending was far too abrupt and left me, the reader, feeling almost deprived of a scene I'd long been expecting, which was a shame, but overall it was worth it.

Thanks for this!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(33 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login or password? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…

About

Help

Get Involved

Legal

Store

LJ Labs