I liked this story. I enjoyed reading all the details of Bodie's escape plan and was impressed by how thoroughly Elessar had thought it through. There were a couple of places where I would have liked more information, but I think the level of detail was about right overall. I also liked the dynamic between the Lads. There was a good balance of care and snark, I think. And of course, there was the big act of devotion of Bodie giving up his whole life to rescue Doyle. (Happy sigh
( ... )
I read the story last weekend and really enjoyed it. Elessar is a great writer.
The different moments in Bodie's life, told in that way with neon signs emphasised, took me deeper in the story, I think.
...plan and was impressed by how thoroughly Elessar had thought it through Me too.
I'm really not sure whether Doyle would break Bodie out of jail if their positions were reversed. I am pretty sure Doyle would do the same to get his partner safe. Bodie would have done nothing illegal, so Doyle would.
I think Bodie and Doyle might find life in the RCMP in a small Canadian city a bit dull after being in CI5. I am not happy with this ending. It feels like the end of Pros.
And they lived happily until the end of their last day......
Thank you for this reading room. I wouldn't have read a second time. Got problems when I've read it the first time.
Do you think Doyle would rescue Bodie from jail if Bodie actually had done something illegal (without orders from Cowley)? Would Bodie rescue Doyle in that case?
I'd say yes to the latter. As long as Bodie thought whatever Doyle had done was justified, I don't think it would matter to him whether it was legal or not. I am not sure about the other. It could be an interesting subject for a fic.
I like the story. Flashbacks don't bother me when a writer clearly defines them, and this story did for me. I'm glad Bodie got Doyle out. I don't like the idea of Doyle going to prison even if he feels he's doing the right thing. I'm so glad he went with Bodie, and I liked that Bodie loved him enough to do this. His plan was a good one and it worked. I'm a bit surprised they picked Canada, which isn't far enough for me. They should have run to New Zealand or Australia! LOL! But we know Cowley isn't looking for them so it's fine. I like Elessar's writing over all anyway and I was happy with the story.
Would more distance have made them harder to find? I don't feel like it would now, when the world is so interconnected, but perhaps it would have in the 80s.
Bodie says he did consider a sheep ranch in New Zealand, but thought Doyle would prefer to stay in law enforcement. I admit I'd rather read the sequel where they join the RCMP than the one where they become sheep ranchers.
This story has everything I love in a Pro’s fic - action, a believable case-like plot, hurt comfort, partner worry and great banter. The characters were true to what we see in the episodes
( ... )
I don't think that whether a version of Doyle would rescue Bodie is a matter of softness, really. There's a fic in which, in revenge for someone hurting Bodie, Doyle intentionally paralyzes them by breaking their spine with his bare hands. (I know the title of that fic. I'm just omitting it here to avoid spoilers.) That Doyle is not soft, but would definitely try to rescue Bodie from jail.
I think the most important variable is how committed a version of Doyle is to following the law. (Obviously spine-breaker Doyle is not.) How much Doyle cares about Bodie in any particular fic would also play a role, I suppose. There are some stories where Bodie loves Doyle, but Doyle does not love Bodie.
You make a good point about Bodie not wanting to be a cop, when that is what he would be as a Mountie. I wonder what he and Doyle would do next if they decided that life was not for them.
I love the idea of Doyle rescuing Bodie! I think he might be slower off the start because Doyle might try to exhaust all of the "legal" means first. He'd try to work within the system. I do think, that while he's holding out for Cowley to do the honorable thing, Doyle might start planning in small ways. I think about the episode, Fugitive. Doyle played within the system up until he had a clear opportunity to save Bodie. He didn't go off half-cocked on his own rescue plan. (Bodie goes off on rescue plans much more often in the show).
Still, at some point, Cowley would prove false and Ray would know it was time to act; he'd start calling in favors.
Rocky and Bullwinkle form the bulk of my Mounties knowledge too. Yes, I've seen a few eps of DueSouth. No, I still don't know how the Mounties work, lol! I wish I knew more about Mounties. What kind of policing work does that force do? For me, that part of the story really morphed into - they're going to Canada to live in a snowy cabin in the woods and ride horses - and I was okay with
( ... )
Thanks for hosting this! Neon Lights is a new read for me. I just went back to check and see that it is only tagged Bodie/Doyle, so there's I good chance I'd never have found this save a rec list or reading assignment!
I enjoyed the read. I'll use the prompt questions to guide my writeup and see where it goes from there.
How did you like this story? I liked it. As a fan of Lads burning the world for each other, Cowley triple-think, and the procedural aspects of CI5, this hit lots of my buttons.
Did the structure, with its multiple flashbacks, work for you? The flashbacks were clear enough and added to Bodie's backstory and motivation. I found the first flashback - Bodie's instincts telling him that Amsterdam was the end of his merc career - that scene was gorgeously realized and my favorite of the story. Walking away from the brothel/breaking Doyle out of gaol, Bodie's instincts have saved his life many times
Would you have liked more details of Bodie's plan? Fewer? The detail became overwhelming at some point and I started to skim.
( ... )
I also liked the flashback to Bodie abandoning his merc life that night in Amsterdam. I enjoy reading different authors' versions of why Bodie came back to England. That's an advantage of a show that leaves a lot of blanks.
I can see how the exposition of Bodie's plan during the plane ride could feel explain-y. I'm not sure what I'd have done about that, if I were the author. How about you?
I agree with you that, if Doyle did decide to spring Bodie from jail, he would probably take longer to decide. It could be fun to write a mirror of this story in which Doyle rescues Bodie. I can remember reading three stories (including this one) in which Bodie rescues Doyle from jail, but none where the reverse happens.
This is a weekend-long party, and if *my* LJ reading habits are any indication, a reading room party that will go on for as long as this comm and post are visible for reading!
Thanks to those blanks, Pros is a dream source canon for writers and readers alike! The breakout-to-Canada plan is audacious, but believable in this world. Bodie's network of connections all read as credible - he would know these people (even if they never appeared in an episode of the show).
The story needed all of the detail, even if it overwhelmed my reading at some points. I think every writer has their own solution for doling out the necessary info. I've been picking away at a Pros / Callen shared universe fic for the past year now so it's very likely that I'm just more attuned to the detail-weaving at the moment.
I would absolutely read that mirror story! merentha13's comment planted the idea and it is intriguing.
I think i recall reading this once before, i can't say i was gripped by the story but i did enjoy the re-read. I can only mirror what other's have said.
I think Bodie would have broke Doyle out of jail because he had already made his mind up and this is where you see the difference in characters. Bodie was able to lean on his past, no questions asked, his background with his contacts is so believable that the reader can imagine this to be true but the other way around, if it was Doyle breaking Bodie out of jail, this would have taken another route though i do believe Doyle would do it for his partner but his guilt would be at the forefront of his mind.
I'm not so sure of Cowley though i would hope he would leave the lads to enjoy the rest of their lives togethet but i can't imagine both as mounties.
Thankyou for this and like i said, i did enjoy the re- read.
Bodie was able to lean on his past, no questions asked, his background with his contacts is so believable that the reader can imagine this to be true The author shows his past in a more possitive way, I likes that.
Comments 25
Reply
I read the story last weekend and really enjoyed it. Elessar is a great writer.
The different moments in Bodie's life, told in that way with neon signs emphasised, took me deeper in the story, I think.
...plan and was impressed by how thoroughly Elessar had thought it through
Me too.
I'm really not sure whether Doyle would break Bodie out of jail if their positions were reversed.
I am pretty sure Doyle would do the same to get his partner safe. Bodie would have done nothing illegal, so Doyle would.
I think Bodie and Doyle might find life in the RCMP in a small Canadian city a bit dull after being in CI5.
I am not happy with this ending. It feels like the end of Pros.
And they lived happily until the end of their last day......
Thank you for this reading room. I wouldn't have read a second time. Got problems when I've read it the first time.
Reply
Do you think Doyle would rescue Bodie from jail if Bodie actually had done something illegal (without orders from Cowley)? Would Bodie rescue Doyle in that case?
I'd say yes to the latter. As long as Bodie thought whatever Doyle had done was justified, I don't think it would matter to him whether it was legal or not. I am not sure about the other. It could be an interesting subject for a fic.
Reply
Thanks for doing this!
Reply
Would more distance have made them harder to find? I don't feel like it would now, when the world is so interconnected, but perhaps it would have in the 80s.
Bodie says he did consider a sheep ranch in New Zealand, but thought Doyle would prefer to stay in law enforcement. I admit I'd rather read the sequel where they join the RCMP than the one where they become sheep ranchers.
Reply
Reply
I don't think that whether a version of Doyle would rescue Bodie is a matter of softness, really. There's a fic in which, in revenge for someone hurting Bodie, Doyle intentionally paralyzes them by breaking their spine with his bare hands. (I know the title of that fic. I'm just omitting it here to avoid spoilers.) That Doyle is not soft, but would definitely try to rescue Bodie from jail.
I think the most important variable is how committed a version of Doyle is to following the law. (Obviously spine-breaker Doyle is not.) How much Doyle cares about Bodie in any particular fic would also play a role, I suppose. There are some stories where Bodie loves Doyle, but Doyle does not love Bodie.
You make a good point about Bodie not wanting to be a cop, when that is what he would be as a Mountie. I wonder what he and Doyle would do next if they decided that life was not for them.
Reply
Errr - could you drop that title via email/DM. I'd very much read that Doyle!
Reply
I love the idea of Doyle rescuing Bodie! I think he might be slower off the start because Doyle might try to exhaust all of the "legal" means first. He'd try to work within the system. I do think, that while he's holding out for Cowley to do the honorable thing, Doyle might start planning in small ways. I think about the episode, Fugitive. Doyle played within the system up until he had a clear opportunity to save Bodie. He didn't go off half-cocked on his own rescue plan. (Bodie goes off on rescue plans much more often in the show).
Still, at some point, Cowley would prove false and Ray would know it was time to act; he'd start calling in favors.
Rocky and Bullwinkle form the bulk of my Mounties knowledge too. Yes, I've seen a few eps of DueSouth. No, I still don't know how the Mounties work, lol! I wish I knew more about Mounties. What kind of policing work does that force do? For me, that part of the story really morphed into - they're going to Canada to live in a snowy cabin in the woods and ride horses - and I was okay with ( ... )
Reply
Thanks for hosting this! Neon Lights is a new read for me. I just went back to check and see that it is only tagged Bodie/Doyle, so there's I good chance I'd never have found this save a rec list or reading assignment!
I enjoyed the read. I'll use the prompt questions to guide my writeup and see where it goes from there.
How did you like this story? I liked it. As a fan of Lads burning the world for each other, Cowley triple-think, and the procedural aspects of CI5, this hit lots of my buttons.
Did the structure, with its multiple flashbacks, work for you? The flashbacks were clear enough and added to Bodie's backstory and motivation. I found the first flashback - Bodie's instincts telling him that Amsterdam was the end of his merc career - that scene was gorgeously realized and my favorite of the story. Walking away from the brothel/breaking Doyle out of gaol, Bodie's instincts have saved his life many times
Would you have liked more details of Bodie's plan? Fewer? The detail became overwhelming at some point and I started to skim. ( ... )
Reply
Hello. Sorry I took a while to reply to this.
I also liked the flashback to Bodie abandoning his merc life that night in Amsterdam. I enjoy reading different authors' versions of why Bodie came back to England. That's an advantage of a show that leaves a lot of blanks.
I can see how the exposition of Bodie's plan during the plane ride could feel explain-y. I'm not sure what I'd have done about that, if I were the author. How about you?
I agree with you that, if Doyle did decide to spring Bodie from jail, he would probably take longer to decide. It could be fun to write a mirror of this story in which Doyle rescues Bodie. I can remember reading three stories (including this one) in which Bodie rescues Doyle from jail, but none where the reverse happens.
Reply
This is a weekend-long party, and if *my* LJ reading habits are any indication, a reading room party that will go on for as long as this comm and post are visible for reading!
Thanks to those blanks, Pros is a dream source canon for writers and readers alike! The breakout-to-Canada plan is audacious, but believable in this world. Bodie's network of connections all read as credible - he would know these people (even if they never appeared in an episode of the show).
The story needed all of the detail, even if it overwhelmed my reading at some points. I think every writer has their own solution for doling out the necessary info. I've been picking away at a Pros / Callen shared universe fic for the past year now so it's very likely that I'm just more attuned to the detail-weaving at the moment.
I would absolutely read that mirror story! merentha13's comment planted the idea and it is intriguing.
Reply
Ooh. I will be interested to read your Pros x Callen fic. I've never seen the latter show, but I would watch some in preparation.
Reply
I think Bodie would have broke Doyle out of jail because he had already made his mind up and this is where you see the difference in characters. Bodie was able to lean on his past, no questions asked, his background with his contacts is so believable that the reader can imagine this to be true but the other way around, if it was Doyle breaking Bodie out of jail, this would have taken another route though i do believe Doyle would do it for his partner but his guilt would be at the forefront of his mind.
I'm not so sure of Cowley though i would hope he would leave the lads to enjoy the rest of their lives togethet but i can't imagine both as mounties.
Thankyou for this and like i said, i did enjoy the re- read.
Reply
Bodie was able to lean on his past, no questions asked, his background with his contacts is so believable that the reader can imagine this to be true
The author shows his past in a more possitive way, I likes that.
Reply
Reply
Several people have said they can't see the Lads as Mounties. What about that sheep ranch in New Zealand?
Reply
Leave a comment