Pros in multimedia zines: Liaisons 2
Liaisons II is a multi-media slash zine published by Up The Rebels Press in 1993. I presume it is out of print. It has 210 pages. There are four Pros stories, totalling 32 of those pages. Three of them are online: the remaining one is only six pages.
The cover art is Pros: a fantasy (and fantastic) colour picture by Suzan Lovett which inspired one of the stories. There are half a dozen black and white pictures in the text, one of which is a Pros picture. The zine is comb-bound and has two columns. The proof-reading is far from perfect: apostrophes leak into the wrong words at times, and there is quite a scattering of typos: "I want to say here forever", "randy old told", "it gauled him" - a beautiful "site" and so on. But I have seen lots worse.
Stories other than Pros involve Man from UNCLE (three - although one is a crossover with Quantum Leap and one a crossover with Starsky and Hutch), Blakes 7 (four stories and at least five poems); and one each for James Bond, Wizards and Warriors, Zorro, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, LA Law, Alias Smith and Jones, and Lovejoy. Most of which I know nothing about. Still. Despite meeting some of them the first time I ventured into multi-media zines. I like to think I know Blakes 7 okay. I know the James Bond books fairly well. And I know what Lovejoy looks like, but that's about it.
The zine is divided into three sections: the first mixes Pros with Man from UNCLE, the second is the Blakes 7 content, and the third is the one-offs. I could only find one of these online, so you'll have to trust my summaries on the rest. Uh-oh.
Pros content:
Night of the Cat, by Caroline Dare, 10 pages. Post Private Madness, Public Danger. Doyle, pining after Bodie, masturbates on his bed, unaware that Bodie, pining after Doyle, is watching through the skylight. Bodie drops through it, to Doyle's delight, and begins to make love to him, but too fast, and then there is sobbing on both parts before recovery. Copious cat imagery and allusions in this. All faintly hallucinogenic in atmosphere: note which episode it follows. Some people may consider the first part as noncon. I don't think I do, but I read noncon anyway. What I didn't like was the weeping. I was fairly critical of the dialogue and the long talking scene in a different Caroline Dare story in a previous review. This story has neither of those, and I like it a lot more. The very fantasy cover picture helps. If you read it as genuinely following on from the episode, you expect a bit more reality, I think; but if you have that picture in mind, well... Make up your own mind: it is on the CD, and also online: Night of the Cat.
High Stakes, by Bettina Sheets, 6 pages. Not on the CD. PWP (this is not at all a criticism, btw...) precipitated by a bet in a game of cards. Well, PWP until the last page, anyway, at which stage plot arrives and a nice twist. Enjoyed this.
A Teddybare Tale, by Caroline Dare, 4 pages. Demonstrating my open-minded approach to Pros fic, when I was reading everything I could find at break-neck speed, I think I must have seen the word "teddy" in the title and skipped it, because I don't remember this at all. With it in front of me, I actually read it. It's Bodie and Doyle, all bare and curled up in front of an open fire. Doyle offers Bodie an improvised and wildly pornographic variation on the story of Goldilocks and three "bares" and Bodie provides the actions. Bodie and Doyle don't talk as I imagine them (they are American, basically), and it's all a bit tender and sweet, but I like the idea, and I like the constant interruptions ("Who's telling this story anyway?") Again, on the CD.
A Statement of Affairs, by Gloria Lancaster, 13 pages. I wasn't keen on this when I read it originally, reading off a computer screen. Reading paper, I read more carefully. (Perhaps it's just that I think "You paid for this. Pay attention to it," when it's a zine!) And I like it more this time round. It's told in the first person. Doyle ponders his relationship with Bodie, moving between present day and episodes in their past, and how they feel about each other. Gets the feel of the time, with carry-out from the pub (I can't remember when I last bought carry-out drinks, but you could buy drinks to take home from the pub), and Shabbytat (I had forgotten this, we all called Habitat that then!) I like the idea that when the two of them have to protect a witness, the person in CI5 who falls for the witness is neither of them, and I very much like the portrayal of a relationship that works, but one of them wants more, and wonders whether he can see that more happening or whether he's fooling himself. And the sex is good too (back to the shallow end, yes). On the CD, and at the Circuit Archive: A Statement of Affairs, by Gloria Lancaster.
Non-Pros content:
Leap of Faith, by Elizabeth Urich, Man from UNCLE/Quantum Leap crossover 13 pages. Sam has leapt into Napoleon Solo, and must persuade Illya to acknowledge his feelings for Napoleon. Which will be tricky, because Illya spots that Napoleon isn't Napoleon almost immediately. I think this was probably quite a good story (!) but I had to take heaps on trust - there's all sorts of reference to people and events which I presume are part of Man From UNCLE or Quantum Leap canon and which I know nothing about. It all hung together for me, just about, regardless.
Baker's Man, by DVS. Man from UNCLE/Starsky and Hutch, 22 pages. I haven't read a lot of MfU fiction, and what I have read has tended to portray Illya as smaller, weaker, and prone to insecurity and tears. This is utterly different, and I enjoyed it much more because of that. If Illya is angsting at the start, it is not his unrequited feelings for Napoleon - he's coping with that - but his homesickness for Russia and things Russian. Otherwise, this is an extremely competent Illya who can cope with everything from seducing someone to dealing with his partner thinking he is a pervert. This reassures me a bit about this fandom! Starsky and Hutch aren't a focus until the last of the three sections of the story, that set in the eighties. However, at least one of them is there earlier in the story too, and I presume S&H fans will guess who the young hustler is from the very start.
Waiting for the Light by Lola. Man from UNCLE, 11 pages. Napoleon is dead, and wondering what he is supposed to do now. He encounters Waverly, who explains that Napoleon's task is to rescue Illya from excessive grief. Napoleon hovers unseen as Illya mourns and attempts a dangerous mission to investigate the explosives that killed Napoleon. I have a personal dislike of ghost and supernatural stories and so wasn't keen on this, but that is pure prejudice on my part.
Blakes 7:
Hindsight by Jane Mailander. pages, A/V. Sequel to Benchmark, but stands alone. Allegedly. (I do think it probably helps to have read Benchmark.) Avon and Vila take turns dictating how the night will go. Avon likes to play slave to Vila's master, which is what we get in the opening scene; Vila wants something gentler and Avon doesn't want that. So Vila has to work out how to achieve this without wrecking things. I like the plot in the form that I have outlined it, but I personally really don't like the form of talking dirty they use, so I couldn't get into this myself.
Rumours of Life by Matilda Willard, 14 pages and a black and white illo. After the events of Rumours of Death, a desolate Avon makes a very drunken pass at Vila, who tells him to come back when sober. Weeks later, Avon does, for very gentle sex.
Eye of the Beholder, by Matilda Willard, 8 pages plus illustration. Avon, masturbating in front of a mirror. At some length. If this illo was of Bodie or Doyle, I would be in heaven, but in the circumstances, Avon will do fine :)
Your Fondest Wish by Lynne Franklin, 6 pages A/V. Declarations of love, a cry of inexpressible happiness, and then sex. And then tenderness and tear-bright eyes. Rather too fluffy for me.
The others:
Plomo o Plata, by E Lapidae (James Bond), 10 pages, Bond/Sanchez. Missing scene from Licence to Kill. Bond, newly working for bad guy Sanchez, wakes to find that the hand stroking him isn't a woman's. Bond is not remotely interested in the idea but needs to stay alive, so yields with great reluctance. If it's not noncon, it's certainly dubcon. We get his mental reasoning for why he's doing it (or why he's telling himself he's doing it), and Sanchez's thoughts. Don't remember the film, but there was enough background to follow it.
Royal Academy I by Jacquie Baham (Wizards and Warriors) 7 pages. This is a show that was completely new to me when I read this. To be honest, when I saw the title I thought it must be a role-playing game. I know, I will never make a proper fan, no. *Lots* of exposition: the first three pages are of Dirk Blackpool explaining to Vector about his past history with Eric Greystone. Blackpool and Vector are waiting for Eric to arrive, in order to rescue a princess. When he does, there is conversation. I'm not altogether sure I followed it properly. Either that, or I didn't get the punchline.
Outfoxed by Lysette (Zorro) 13 pages. If you know this series, I suspect all you need to know is: Zorro/Felipe. If - like me - you don't: Zorro has brought up a youth called Felipe as his own son. As Felipe reaches 21, Zorro finds he fancies him. He tries to give "time to think about marrying" advice but Felipe is not interested: he has fallen in love with Zorro instead. I'd like this a lot more if the foster-father element wasn't in it (and if the author decided: is Felipe actually 21, or is he "the boy", "the youth" and/or "the man-child" he is referred to as?) I get a strong sense of the characters here, even though don't know whether they're right.
Sea of Love by Leda Mer (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) 23 pages. Told in the first person by the admiral. The backstory involves a supernatural (argh!) element (ghostly submarine captain possesses the admiral and then Captain Crane) which has resulted in Crane having shared Nelson's thoughts and now being aware that Nelson fancies him. Crane makes a determined and successful play for him and there is a lot of sex, but then there are second thoughts and second-guessing and a row before a resolution. I have never seen this show. (Another one, yeah.) The details about the episode referred to confused me so I ignored them. It didn't seem to matter. The central events made sense.
Soft Asylum by Natasha Barry (L.A. Law) 14 pages. Specifically noted as fifth season at the start. Very very much about office relationships affecting each other. Heaps and heaps of references to the series. Which - guess what? - I don't watch and know nothing about! I mean, really nothing. (But I have heard of it! Progress!) I was lost. And I have no interest in the law or legal offices. So I skipped ahead, looking for sex something I understood. Alas for me - but possibly good for LA Law fans - this is in fact about the inter-relationships rather than the sex. The ones who end up having the deep and meaningful discussion are Victor and Michael Kuzak; Arnie also figures earlier. Don't know who any of them are. I suspect that if you know LA Law well, this works better.
Point of No Return by Tenaya (Alias Smith & Jones) 15 pages. This is a "how they met" story presumably set before the series. Jed Curry approaches Hannibal Hayes, wanting to join the gang, and is accepted. When Hannibal is attacked by mutinous gang members, Jed rescues him and they go on the run. With Hannibal injured, they need to hole up and Jed must tend him. Don't know this show either, but I had read one ASJ story before this one: also in a multi-media zine, and also by Tenaya. I enjoyed that, and I certainly liked this one. Available online: Point of No Return, by Tenaya.
The Other Side of the Coin by C. Montclair (Lovejoy) 7 pages. Lovejoy sees Eric being held down and beaten preparatory to rape in an alley, and rescues him, only to find that it was a consensual encounter. In the resulting heart-to-heart, Lovejoy decides that Eric needs to experience a gentler kind of loving. Mm. It didn't sound terribly likely in a Lovejoy sort of world (says the woman who thinks that undercover-as-gay is a perfectly reasonable Pros plotline, ahem) but perhaps it is..?
And that's it.
Phew. So overall impressions: I really was only interested in the Pros content (surprise) and the Blakes 7 content. I enjoyed the Pros, was less gone on the B7, and unexpectedly found a Man From UNCLE story (well, crossover) that I liked, as well as the Bond one.
If all you want is Pros and you already have the CD, the only new content for you here is the six-page story and the very distinctive and pretty cover art, and if you have limited funds, six pages and a picture is probably not what you want to buy first. If you like other fandoms, obviously there's more for you. Although I suppose Man From UNCLE fans may feel a bit cheated that of the three stories, two of them are crossovers. I liked the Man From UNCLE story by DVS enough that I went out and found her compilation zine of Man From UNCLE stories, The Evergreen Affair and other UNCLE stories and thoroughly enjoyed that despite knowing nothing about the show. I must confess that I was fairly "meh" about - or actively disliked - a couple of the non-Pros stories in the zine, and would have quietly stopped reading them if I hadn't decided to review the whole thing. But I didn't expect to like - or even understand - everything in the zine, so that was absolutely fine by me.
The cover art is Pros: a fantasy (and fantastic) colour picture by Suzan Lovett which inspired one of the stories. There are half a dozen black and white pictures in the text, one of which is a Pros picture. The zine is comb-bound and has two columns. The proof-reading is far from perfect: apostrophes leak into the wrong words at times, and there is quite a scattering of typos: "I want to say here forever", "randy old told", "it gauled him" - a beautiful "site" and so on. But I have seen lots worse.
Stories other than Pros involve Man from UNCLE (three - although one is a crossover with Quantum Leap and one a crossover with Starsky and Hutch), Blakes 7 (four stories and at least five poems); and one each for James Bond, Wizards and Warriors, Zorro, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, LA Law, Alias Smith and Jones, and Lovejoy. Most of which I know nothing about. Still. Despite meeting some of them the first time I ventured into multi-media zines. I like to think I know Blakes 7 okay. I know the James Bond books fairly well. And I know what Lovejoy looks like, but that's about it.
The zine is divided into three sections: the first mixes Pros with Man from UNCLE, the second is the Blakes 7 content, and the third is the one-offs. I could only find one of these online, so you'll have to trust my summaries on the rest. Uh-oh.
Pros content:
Night of the Cat, by Caroline Dare, 10 pages. Post Private Madness, Public Danger. Doyle, pining after Bodie, masturbates on his bed, unaware that Bodie, pining after Doyle, is watching through the skylight. Bodie drops through it, to Doyle's delight, and begins to make love to him, but too fast, and then there is sobbing on both parts before recovery. Copious cat imagery and allusions in this. All faintly hallucinogenic in atmosphere: note which episode it follows. Some people may consider the first part as noncon. I don't think I do, but I read noncon anyway. What I didn't like was the weeping. I was fairly critical of the dialogue and the long talking scene in a different Caroline Dare story in a previous review. This story has neither of those, and I like it a lot more. The very fantasy cover picture helps. If you read it as genuinely following on from the episode, you expect a bit more reality, I think; but if you have that picture in mind, well... Make up your own mind: it is on the CD, and also online: Night of the Cat.
High Stakes, by Bettina Sheets, 6 pages. Not on the CD. PWP (this is not at all a criticism, btw...) precipitated by a bet in a game of cards. Well, PWP until the last page, anyway, at which stage plot arrives and a nice twist. Enjoyed this.
A Teddybare Tale, by Caroline Dare, 4 pages. Demonstrating my open-minded approach to Pros fic, when I was reading everything I could find at break-neck speed, I think I must have seen the word "teddy" in the title and skipped it, because I don't remember this at all. With it in front of me, I actually read it. It's Bodie and Doyle, all bare and curled up in front of an open fire. Doyle offers Bodie an improvised and wildly pornographic variation on the story of Goldilocks and three "bares" and Bodie provides the actions. Bodie and Doyle don't talk as I imagine them (they are American, basically), and it's all a bit tender and sweet, but I like the idea, and I like the constant interruptions ("Who's telling this story anyway?") Again, on the CD.
A Statement of Affairs, by Gloria Lancaster, 13 pages. I wasn't keen on this when I read it originally, reading off a computer screen. Reading paper, I read more carefully. (Perhaps it's just that I think "You paid for this. Pay attention to it," when it's a zine!) And I like it more this time round. It's told in the first person. Doyle ponders his relationship with Bodie, moving between present day and episodes in their past, and how they feel about each other. Gets the feel of the time, with carry-out from the pub (I can't remember when I last bought carry-out drinks, but you could buy drinks to take home from the pub), and Shabbytat (I had forgotten this, we all called Habitat that then!) I like the idea that when the two of them have to protect a witness, the person in CI5 who falls for the witness is neither of them, and I very much like the portrayal of a relationship that works, but one of them wants more, and wonders whether he can see that more happening or whether he's fooling himself. And the sex is good too (back to the shallow end, yes). On the CD, and at the Circuit Archive: A Statement of Affairs, by Gloria Lancaster.
Non-Pros content:
Leap of Faith, by Elizabeth Urich, Man from UNCLE/Quantum Leap crossover 13 pages. Sam has leapt into Napoleon Solo, and must persuade Illya to acknowledge his feelings for Napoleon. Which will be tricky, because Illya spots that Napoleon isn't Napoleon almost immediately. I think this was probably quite a good story (!) but I had to take heaps on trust - there's all sorts of reference to people and events which I presume are part of Man From UNCLE or Quantum Leap canon and which I know nothing about. It all hung together for me, just about, regardless.
Baker's Man, by DVS. Man from UNCLE/Starsky and Hutch, 22 pages. I haven't read a lot of MfU fiction, and what I have read has tended to portray Illya as smaller, weaker, and prone to insecurity and tears. This is utterly different, and I enjoyed it much more because of that. If Illya is angsting at the start, it is not his unrequited feelings for Napoleon - he's coping with that - but his homesickness for Russia and things Russian. Otherwise, this is an extremely competent Illya who can cope with everything from seducing someone to dealing with his partner thinking he is a pervert. This reassures me a bit about this fandom! Starsky and Hutch aren't a focus until the last of the three sections of the story, that set in the eighties. However, at least one of them is there earlier in the story too, and I presume S&H fans will guess who the young hustler is from the very start.
Waiting for the Light by Lola. Man from UNCLE, 11 pages. Napoleon is dead, and wondering what he is supposed to do now. He encounters Waverly, who explains that Napoleon's task is to rescue Illya from excessive grief. Napoleon hovers unseen as Illya mourns and attempts a dangerous mission to investigate the explosives that killed Napoleon. I have a personal dislike of ghost and supernatural stories and so wasn't keen on this, but that is pure prejudice on my part.
Blakes 7:
Hindsight by Jane Mailander. pages, A/V. Sequel to Benchmark, but stands alone. Allegedly. (I do think it probably helps to have read Benchmark.) Avon and Vila take turns dictating how the night will go. Avon likes to play slave to Vila's master, which is what we get in the opening scene; Vila wants something gentler and Avon doesn't want that. So Vila has to work out how to achieve this without wrecking things. I like the plot in the form that I have outlined it, but I personally really don't like the form of talking dirty they use, so I couldn't get into this myself.
Rumours of Life by Matilda Willard, 14 pages and a black and white illo. After the events of Rumours of Death, a desolate Avon makes a very drunken pass at Vila, who tells him to come back when sober. Weeks later, Avon does, for very gentle sex.
Eye of the Beholder, by Matilda Willard, 8 pages plus illustration. Avon, masturbating in front of a mirror. At some length. If this illo was of Bodie or Doyle, I would be in heaven, but in the circumstances, Avon will do fine :)
Your Fondest Wish by Lynne Franklin, 6 pages A/V. Declarations of love, a cry of inexpressible happiness, and then sex. And then tenderness and tear-bright eyes. Rather too fluffy for me.
The others:
Plomo o Plata, by E Lapidae (James Bond), 10 pages, Bond/Sanchez. Missing scene from Licence to Kill. Bond, newly working for bad guy Sanchez, wakes to find that the hand stroking him isn't a woman's. Bond is not remotely interested in the idea but needs to stay alive, so yields with great reluctance. If it's not noncon, it's certainly dubcon. We get his mental reasoning for why he's doing it (or why he's telling himself he's doing it), and Sanchez's thoughts. Don't remember the film, but there was enough background to follow it.
Royal Academy I by Jacquie Baham (Wizards and Warriors) 7 pages. This is a show that was completely new to me when I read this. To be honest, when I saw the title I thought it must be a role-playing game. I know, I will never make a proper fan, no. *Lots* of exposition: the first three pages are of Dirk Blackpool explaining to Vector about his past history with Eric Greystone. Blackpool and Vector are waiting for Eric to arrive, in order to rescue a princess. When he does, there is conversation. I'm not altogether sure I followed it properly. Either that, or I didn't get the punchline.
Outfoxed by Lysette (Zorro) 13 pages. If you know this series, I suspect all you need to know is: Zorro/Felipe. If - like me - you don't: Zorro has brought up a youth called Felipe as his own son. As Felipe reaches 21, Zorro finds he fancies him. He tries to give "time to think about marrying" advice but Felipe is not interested: he has fallen in love with Zorro instead. I'd like this a lot more if the foster-father element wasn't in it (and if the author decided: is Felipe actually 21, or is he "the boy", "the youth" and/or "the man-child" he is referred to as?) I get a strong sense of the characters here, even though don't know whether they're right.
Sea of Love by Leda Mer (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) 23 pages. Told in the first person by the admiral. The backstory involves a supernatural (argh!) element (ghostly submarine captain possesses the admiral and then Captain Crane) which has resulted in Crane having shared Nelson's thoughts and now being aware that Nelson fancies him. Crane makes a determined and successful play for him and there is a lot of sex, but then there are second thoughts and second-guessing and a row before a resolution. I have never seen this show. (Another one, yeah.) The details about the episode referred to confused me so I ignored them. It didn't seem to matter. The central events made sense.
Soft Asylum by Natasha Barry (L.A. Law) 14 pages. Specifically noted as fifth season at the start. Very very much about office relationships affecting each other. Heaps and heaps of references to the series. Which - guess what? - I don't watch and know nothing about! I mean, really nothing. (But I have heard of it! Progress!) I was lost. And I have no interest in the law or legal offices. So I skipped ahead, looking for sex something I understood. Alas for me - but possibly good for LA Law fans - this is in fact about the inter-relationships rather than the sex. The ones who end up having the deep and meaningful discussion are Victor and Michael Kuzak; Arnie also figures earlier. Don't know who any of them are. I suspect that if you know LA Law well, this works better.
Point of No Return by Tenaya (Alias Smith & Jones) 15 pages. This is a "how they met" story presumably set before the series. Jed Curry approaches Hannibal Hayes, wanting to join the gang, and is accepted. When Hannibal is attacked by mutinous gang members, Jed rescues him and they go on the run. With Hannibal injured, they need to hole up and Jed must tend him. Don't know this show either, but I had read one ASJ story before this one: also in a multi-media zine, and also by Tenaya. I enjoyed that, and I certainly liked this one. Available online: Point of No Return, by Tenaya.
The Other Side of the Coin by C. Montclair (Lovejoy) 7 pages. Lovejoy sees Eric being held down and beaten preparatory to rape in an alley, and rescues him, only to find that it was a consensual encounter. In the resulting heart-to-heart, Lovejoy decides that Eric needs to experience a gentler kind of loving. Mm. It didn't sound terribly likely in a Lovejoy sort of world (says the woman who thinks that undercover-as-gay is a perfectly reasonable Pros plotline, ahem) but perhaps it is..?
And that's it.
Phew. So overall impressions: I really was only interested in the Pros content (surprise) and the Blakes 7 content. I enjoyed the Pros, was less gone on the B7, and unexpectedly found a Man From UNCLE story (well, crossover) that I liked, as well as the Bond one.
If all you want is Pros and you already have the CD, the only new content for you here is the six-page story and the very distinctive and pretty cover art, and if you have limited funds, six pages and a picture is probably not what you want to buy first. If you like other fandoms, obviously there's more for you. Although I suppose Man From UNCLE fans may feel a bit cheated that of the three stories, two of them are crossovers. I liked the Man From UNCLE story by DVS enough that I went out and found her compilation zine of Man From UNCLE stories, The Evergreen Affair and other UNCLE stories and thoroughly enjoyed that despite knowing nothing about the show. I must confess that I was fairly "meh" about - or actively disliked - a couple of the non-Pros stories in the zine, and would have quietly stopped reading them if I hadn't decided to review the whole thing. But I didn't expect to like - or even understand - everything in the zine, so that was absolutely fine by me.