Almost Pros...

[byslantedlight]

I am currently re-reading this...
...(This art by Minori, of course)...

... Master of the Revels by HG. I am lucky enough to have inherited an actual zine from a friend, but the writing is teeny teeny tiny... It does have some rather gorgeous artwork by Suzanne Lovett which is easier to look at - you can see some of it here.

Comments

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

LOL - yes that print defeated me, plus there were pages out of order!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh no! Hope they're not out of order in my copy - I don't remember it, but it's been a while since I read it!

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I had to use a magnification sheet since I read this before it was online. Man, it was a chore but I made it! LOL! Now it's on AO3 and so easy to read! Love Suzan's art and Minori's. I have the one on the left as my screen shot on my Kindle so I see it almost every day.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol for being easier to read on A03 - I guess it is if you like reading on your computer or e-book or whatever, but I still prefer paper reading, so I'd have to print it all out... Although I must read that version sometime, because it's different...

You reminded me that I inherited a magnifying wand thingie that's just the right length for the columns in the zine! That helps! *g*

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Never read this story but great drawings!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I've really liked it before, so I hope I do again... *g* They are great drawings, aren't they - Minori's and Suzan Lovett's!

[merentha13.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that great idea - we're having a long snowy weekend and reading HG's story is a perfect way to spend it!
I have a copy of the zine as well - and the print is minuscule to these old eyes! Very glad its posted on AO3.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

You make that sound so blissful! *g* sc_fossil's comment reminded me that I inherited a magnifying wand from my mum when she headed back to Australia - turns out it's the perfect length for the columns in the zine. *g* I still prefer reading on paper though - I'll have to print out the A03 version to read it happily, and I'm trying to conserve ink right now so I don't have to go and buy more for a while... but I will one day, because it's obviously a different version too!

[tinturtle]

This fic is really long, dude. It's almost twice as long as Fruit of the Spirit. You have lured me into starting it, though, and I think I'm going to have to finish it.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - that's true, it is really long! *g* I have a feeling the zine version might be longer than the A03 version though, so think of me... *g*

Have you seen Facelift, which the story's based on? It's fairly bad, but interesting in that 1980s way... *g* I went to see if it was on YouTube or somewhere, and found a vid by Greenheart which gives you a bit of an idea if not...

[tinturtle]

I have not seen it. I managed to scare up a general summary posted as a comment on the IMDB page, so I haven't been totally disoriented. One of the things the commenter said is that, on balance, it is "a movie for only the most dedicated fans of the actors who star in it." That amused me.

Thank you for the vid. It does seem to convey some of the flavor of the movie.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

it is "a movie for only the most dedicated fans of the actors who star in it."
I'd go along with that! *vbg*

[tinturtle]

I think the AO3 version might be missing some material. The leap between chapters 24 and 25 is very abrupt and quite confusing.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I think you could be right - I've not read the A03 version, and I'm not up to that part in the zine yet, but a rough check against the zine between those chapters shows that the zine has an extra 20 columns of small print between what happens at the end of A03's Ch. 24 and 25...

[tinturtle]

That seems like a lot for HG to have decided to cut out. The more I look at it, the more sure I am that it was an error. AO3 chapter 25 refers to a lot of events that the readers didn't get to see as if they should already know about them, and that isn't the style of the rest of the fic (events from the movie excepted).

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm sure it was a mistake since it was that much. It'd be worth commenting on the A03 story to ask, I expect. *g*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

If it's at all possible to get the missing pages somehow...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Try commenting to ask on the A03 fic!

If that really doesn't work I could try scanning from the zine, but it wouldn't be easy. I think HG's around though, so... *g*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

I'll try. Though she hasn't answered the most recent comments.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hmmn - no, I see she hasn't there. But I think some of her stories have been posted more recently? Okay rats, no - 2018 is the most recent. Shows how behind the times I am! And now I see that Tinturtle asked the question, so perhaps we'll see. *g* I used to have an email address for her, but... hmmn... If I can get my work finished for today, I can check!

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

It would be great if you can somehow contact her!
I hope she is doing ok!
Good luck getting your work done at a reasonable time! :)

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

I'm not generally a fan of B/D clone stories and started this, just to distract myself from the political drama here.
Thought I'd read a few pages and would be unimpressed...

Well, it was the best read in a long time! I loved it! Couldn't stop, even though I went in knowing nothing of the movie and only having seen a few pictures of MS as Zax.
The story is long, and only reading in the evening, it took me several nights to finish it, but now I'm at that point where you are asking yourself when this world will continue and if you can ever read anything else!
I'm sure I'll get over it, but thanks to HG for writing it and to you for posting the link!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I guess technically this isn't a B/D-clone story, because Zax was a character in his own right, and HG added Galen, but I guess I make them a bit into B/D in my head (although you can't really...), so... *vbg*

But heee - and yeay for catching you! It's good, isn't it! Well, I say that, I have a feeling we're reading different versions... *g* (Did you see the Greenheart vid from Facelift that I posted in a comment up above?)

So maybe now you'll find some other "B/D-clone" stories that aren't bad... *vbg*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

I guess you are right about the term clone not quite be correct.
And yes, I watched the vid! Thanks for posting it.
I wonder, if most of the Facelift characters in HGs story were original characters or really appeared in the film. Have you watched it?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I have watched it! And yes, I think all of them until they get to China were in the original film. I'd have to double check, and I'm not sure that all the troupe was named, but I'm pretty sure. *g*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It was hard to tell from the vid!

[tinturtle]

My experience was similar to yours. I haven't seen Facelift, and I followed byslantedlight's link just to see if I could get the flavor of the story from the first couple of pages. Well, like you, I ended up hooked and read the whole thing. In my case, it is also by far the longest fic I have ever read.

Having finished the fic, I'd say that this isn't really a Pros fanfic. It's a Facelift fic whose intended audience is Pros fans. Prosfan fic, rather than Pros fanfic, perhaps.

As far as clones are concerned: the Hatstand includes this story in the list of stories with non-B/D pairings as a Bodie-clone/Zax story. That sounds about right to me, depending on what "clone" means. I read Galen as an original character intended to be played by Lewis Collins, more than a parallel Bodie. Likewise, an actual clone would be an individual with the same genetic make-up (and therefore almost the same appearance) but different experiences and a different personality.

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

Yes, I read it the way you did (Zax and Galen an OC played by LC). I'm not sure why this story worked for me. Normally, I don't care for stories with other characters the actors played. Using the term "clone" was not quite right.
I used to not like AUs either, but have since found a number of them, that I have really enjoyed.

I wish I had the zine, as it sounds like it has parts that are missing in the online version.