Lookback Fic Bingo: 1984

[tinturtle]

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It's 1984. Michael Jackson is on the radio. Here in the USA, the year's top film is Beverly Hills Cop. New terms coined include: bi-curious, death metal, desktop publishing, genetically modified organism, glass ceiling, moonwalk, plug and play, power walk, spin doctor, and wack.

For 1984, I read two Professionals fics and one Professionals x Starsky and Hutch crossover.

First was the Pros fic Black Sheep by HG. This fic is set after the episode It's Only a Beautiful Picture, beginning just after Bodie has been taken away in handcuffs. It's an odd fic, with a structure not really typical of either an episode tag or a stand-alone story. It grew on me, though, and ended up being enjoyable and rather sweet. It was my favorite fic for the year. 11,397 words. Bodie/Doyle slash.

Next I read Crying for the Moon by Fanny Adams (writing as Dargelos). This is a crossover in which Bodie and Doyle travel to America in pursuit of a British criminal and work with a post-canon Starsky and Hutch. This fic was okay. Its basic concept of comparing the two relationships was interesting. The fic itself was very talky, though, consisting mostly of conversations between various pairings of the characters, interspersed with internal monologues. I thought the result dragged a bit. 8,227 words. Bodie/Doyle and Starsky/Hutch slash.

Finally, I read Call It What You Like by Meg Lewtan, a Professionals fic that can be found in Proslib. This is a Bodie/Doyle and Bodie/Murphy fic in which Bodie tries to make Doyle appreciate him by spending time with Murphy. This goes about as well as you might expect. A number of people quoted on Fanlore enjoyed this story, but I did not like it at all. I felt that every one of the characters was behaving badly, but in a way that was more irritating than interesting. I also thought some of the dialog was highly questionable. (Murphy, totally unironically, calls Bodie a "poor little sod." Um...) There was a long and talky sex scene. And, finally, I was annoyed by the ending. 6,318 words. Bodie/Doyle and Bodie/Murphy slash.
Comments with spoilers:

The ending has Bodie choosing between his relationship with Doyle and his relationship with Murphy, but leaves which he chooses to the reader's imagination. I have very limited patience with ambiguous endings. I can't say I never like them, but I dislike them more often than not, and I disliked this one.

Also, I think Murphy is meant to be sympathetic in this story, but I found him off-puttingly underhanded. The way he got Bodie to spend time with him and then have sex with him by misrepresenting both his feelings toward Bodie and his sexual history was difficult to see past.

Fics so far:

1985
*Dead Bluff by Linda S. Maclaren (Mackie) and Gina Martin (The Professionals; 22,900 words; gen)
Hyperion to a Satyr by Sebastian (The Professionals; 14,716 words; slash)
Dark Side of Eden by Sharon F (The Professionals; 705 words; slash)

1984
Black Sheep by HG (The Professionals; 11,397 words; slash)
Crying for the Moon by Fanny Adams (writing as Dargelos) (The Professionals x Starsky and Hutch; 8,227 words; slash)
Call It What You Like by Meg Lewtan (in Proslib) (The Professionals; 6,318 words; slash)

* = Particularly recommended
[ ] = read but not counted toward the year's story total