Pros Alpha-fic Bingo - Island Innocents by Glen Fiddich
It's not that I haven't been reading Pros fic, it's that I've not been posting about it... Ooops. There are others I have to add, but here's a couple to start with... 
The Alphafic Stories
A - At the Admiral Nelson by is in the zine Second Variation on the Theme of Band D from Keynote Press, and is on the ProsLib dvd too. It's by Georgina Kirrin, who I like as a Pros writer, but as I started reading this I realised that I've had this zine for years, but must never have picked it up to read properly! ETA - And also, of course here on the author's own website!This is listed in the zine contents page as an AU story, and it's about two young men who frequent a particular pub in London. At first I thought it was a historical AU, but actually I'm not sure it's an AU at all really. It's the lads before they've joined CI5, before they've met, before they've become the men we know and lovingly slash. *g* And they're young, so it's presumably set in the very early 1960s which in some ways is an alternative universe to life now, so... yeah, I guess it is historical! Whatever it is, it's solid writing and I enjoyed trying to work out how it all fit together, and seeing how the lads were each set in their own directions. Definitely worth the read! *g*
B
C - My next fic in Second Variation on the Theme of B and D was Command Performance by Maiden Wyoming, and it turned out to be a sort of AU crossover featuring Bodie and then Alan Cade. I wasn't totally convinced by it - partly because I don't think I ever saw a Happy Eater where thirty people could have lain down on the floor all at once! - and I'm not mad on the overall theme. Bodie wasn't a Bodie I wanted to know, and there was something of the so-wise-and-worldly-Bodie vs naive-wee-Doyle-Cade, but... I was able to read to the end, which I can't always, so... That said, I can't find a source for Maiden Wyoming anywhere online. (There's a surprising number of fics entitled Command Performance, mind you!)
D
E - The Eyes of a Child - This was my second Prosfic read this year, again by Song, the same author as Just a Neighbour below (so also to be found in the Prosfanfic IO group files). It's a Doyle-centric case fic, and again gen of course, but the author seemed pretty trustworthy in TEoaC as far as that went, so I gave this one a go too. And if anything, there's almost a bit too much Bodie-looking-after-Doyle! I know, I know - can you have too much of that?! *g* Like Just a Neighbour it involves a child, which had me looking at it sideways slightly, but it settled into a decent story rather than an I-wish-the-lads-had-kids-because-I-want-them, and in fact it doesn't pull any punches in that respect - bad things happen to children, and children do bad things, if they're not looked after properly. I felt like the author was riffing off MMoMH to some extent, in the way that we see Doyle thinking and caring about what happens to people. My only slight gripe would be that there's a bit of the cockney-sparrow or something about the way both lads speak sometimes, that we really don't hear from them in the eps. But it wasn't so bad that I couldn't just roll my eyes a bit and carry on reading, because everything else fit well. So I enjoyed this one too! *g*
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I is for Island Innocents by Glenfiddich, and this is one of my favourite Pros stories ever. It's a novel-length case-fic set on the Isles of Scilly when the lads are in the early stages of their relationship, and it's pure sunshine and bliss. Not in the least bit soppy, but you can feel the lads' adoration on every page, which means that it feels just like an episode for me. *g* It's sadly not currently available online anywhere, and the author is no longer with us - but her other stories are archived on ProsLib, and I suspect this was only not included because it was continually in print from Gryphon Press. Now that Gryphon Press is sadly defunct, I wonder if hagsrus would be able to archive it for us? I must ask her... *vbg* *waves to hagsrus.
J - Just a Neighbour by Song - My first Prosfic read this year was an unusual one for me, because it was officially a gen story. What kept me reading though was that it felt very true to the eps, and since I see the eps as entirely and eternally slashing our Bodie and Doyle, I could read the story that way as well. *g* It's over in the ProsFanFic IO group files (so you'll have to go over there to find it if you're a member, although she may well post her fic elsewhere too), but a currently-active writer, and I enjoyed it. Doyle goes home after a difficult operation, only to find more chaos and people needing his help when he gets there, rather than the rest he really needs. Bodie's in the story too, but it's Doyle-centric, which feels like something of a change these days, and it's also just slightly different in its focus - entering the realms of what the lads do when they're off-duty, and what's important to them. This comes nicely from the background we see for Doyle in the eps I think, so that I found it entirely convincing. And Song seems to have a knack for final lines, too! *g*
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P - Paying Their Respects by Felicity M. Parkinson
Just up on AO3 today. This is a lovely little fic - nicely the lads as I always expect from f_m_parkinson, and oh, so poignant... *sighs*
Q
R - Rule Britannia
Another story from Second Variation on the Theme of B and D - this one by Elizabeth Holden, aka fajrdrako, including over at AO3. Rule Britannia is an AU (really this time!) story set in the dystopian future, and it's got what I think of as Elizabeth Holden's trademark rhythm to the words, which makes it a pleasure to read. Well written and interesting - definitely worth the time! *g*
R - Redemption - I also re-read Redemption by Kate Maclean, even though I already had an "R". I like Kate Maclean's Pros very much, and Redemption is a meat-y angsty gorgeously long Pros novel, and definitely comes under like very much. It's another of the zines printed by Gryphon Press, and I don't think it's online anywhere...
S
T is for Table Conversation by PFL. The next story in the zine [Second Variation on the Theme of Band D from Keynote Press] was Table Conversation by PFL, which is of course also online in various places. It's basically philosophical dialogue over the cleaning of guns, and to be honest I'm not sure that I buy into this one, but it's interesting enough... That said, I did remember reading it before, so I was expecting the... well, you know. The unexpected. *g*
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The Alphafic Stories
A - At the Admiral Nelson by is in the zine Second Variation on the Theme of Band D from Keynote Press, and is on the ProsLib dvd too. It's by Georgina Kirrin, who I like as a Pros writer, but as I started reading this I realised that I've had this zine for years, but must never have picked it up to read properly! ETA - And also, of course here on the author's own website!This is listed in the zine contents page as an AU story, and it's about two young men who frequent a particular pub in London. At first I thought it was a historical AU, but actually I'm not sure it's an AU at all really. It's the lads before they've joined CI5, before they've met, before they've become the men we know and lovingly slash. *g* And they're young, so it's presumably set in the very early 1960s which in some ways is an alternative universe to life now, so... yeah, I guess it is historical! Whatever it is, it's solid writing and I enjoyed trying to work out how it all fit together, and seeing how the lads were each set in their own directions. Definitely worth the read! *g*
B
C - My next fic in Second Variation on the Theme of B and D was Command Performance by Maiden Wyoming, and it turned out to be a sort of AU crossover featuring Bodie and then Alan Cade. I wasn't totally convinced by it - partly because I don't think I ever saw a Happy Eater where thirty people could have lain down on the floor all at once! - and I'm not mad on the overall theme. Bodie wasn't a Bodie I wanted to know, and there was something of the so-wise-and-worldly-Bodie vs naive-wee-Doyle-Cade, but... I was able to read to the end, which I can't always, so... That said, I can't find a source for Maiden Wyoming anywhere online. (There's a surprising number of fics entitled Command Performance, mind you!)
D
E - The Eyes of a Child - This was my second Prosfic read this year, again by Song, the same author as Just a Neighbour below (so also to be found in the Prosfanfic IO group files). It's a Doyle-centric case fic, and again gen of course, but the author seemed pretty trustworthy in TEoaC as far as that went, so I gave this one a go too. And if anything, there's almost a bit too much Bodie-looking-after-Doyle! I know, I know - can you have too much of that?! *g* Like Just a Neighbour it involves a child, which had me looking at it sideways slightly, but it settled into a decent story rather than an I-wish-the-lads-had-kids-because-I-want-them, and in fact it doesn't pull any punches in that respect - bad things happen to children, and children do bad things, if they're not looked after properly. I felt like the author was riffing off MMoMH to some extent, in the way that we see Doyle thinking and caring about what happens to people. My only slight gripe would be that there's a bit of the cockney-sparrow or something about the way both lads speak sometimes, that we really don't hear from them in the eps. But it wasn't so bad that I couldn't just roll my eyes a bit and carry on reading, because everything else fit well. So I enjoyed this one too! *g*
F
G
H
I is for Island Innocents by Glenfiddich, and this is one of my favourite Pros stories ever. It's a novel-length case-fic set on the Isles of Scilly when the lads are in the early stages of their relationship, and it's pure sunshine and bliss. Not in the least bit soppy, but you can feel the lads' adoration on every page, which means that it feels just like an episode for me. *g* It's sadly not currently available online anywhere, and the author is no longer with us - but her other stories are archived on ProsLib, and I suspect this was only not included because it was continually in print from Gryphon Press. Now that Gryphon Press is sadly defunct, I wonder if hagsrus would be able to archive it for us? I must ask her... *vbg* *waves to hagsrus.
J - Just a Neighbour by Song - My first Prosfic read this year was an unusual one for me, because it was officially a gen story. What kept me reading though was that it felt very true to the eps, and since I see the eps as entirely and eternally slashing our Bodie and Doyle, I could read the story that way as well. *g* It's over in the ProsFanFic IO group files (so you'll have to go over there to find it if you're a member, although she may well post her fic elsewhere too), but a currently-active writer, and I enjoyed it. Doyle goes home after a difficult operation, only to find more chaos and people needing his help when he gets there, rather than the rest he really needs. Bodie's in the story too, but it's Doyle-centric, which feels like something of a change these days, and it's also just slightly different in its focus - entering the realms of what the lads do when they're off-duty, and what's important to them. This comes nicely from the background we see for Doyle in the eps I think, so that I found it entirely convincing. And Song seems to have a knack for final lines, too! *g*
K
L
M
N
O
P - Paying Their Respects by Felicity M. Parkinson
Just up on AO3 today. This is a lovely little fic - nicely the lads as I always expect from f_m_parkinson, and oh, so poignant... *sighs*
Q
R - Rule Britannia
Another story from Second Variation on the Theme of B and D - this one by Elizabeth Holden, aka fajrdrako, including over at AO3. Rule Britannia is an AU (really this time!) story set in the dystopian future, and it's got what I think of as Elizabeth Holden's trademark rhythm to the words, which makes it a pleasure to read. Well written and interesting - definitely worth the time! *g*
R - Redemption - I also re-read Redemption by Kate Maclean, even though I already had an "R". I like Kate Maclean's Pros very much, and Redemption is a meat-y angsty gorgeously long Pros novel, and definitely comes under like very much. It's another of the zines printed by Gryphon Press, and I don't think it's online anywhere...
S
T is for Table Conversation by PFL. The next story in the zine [Second Variation on the Theme of Band D from Keynote Press] was Table Conversation by PFL, which is of course also online in various places. It's basically philosophical dialogue over the cleaning of guns, and to be honest I'm not sure that I buy into this one, but it's interesting enough... That said, I did remember reading it before, so I was expecting the... well, you know. The unexpected. *g*
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