Masquerade (Professionals story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Masquerade
Author(s):	Tarot
Date(s):	Paper Circuit c. 1980-81, Online (2006)
Length:	265K
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	The Professionals
External Links:	online here
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Masquerade is a Professionals slash Bodie/Doyle story by Tarot. It is part of a series of response fic stories written by Pros fans.

"Painting the Clouds" by Calliope in Uncharted Waters #11 is part of the Masquerade series. It is, in fact an alternate ending to Masquerade by Tarot. The other stories, in order are: The Decision by Fanny Adams; Who Will Buy? by Pegasus in the circuit library; The Ghost of a Shadow by Anne Carr; The Shadow of a Ghost by Anne Carr; and Ghostly Shadowy Ghost Shadow by O Yardley - in the circuit library.

More About Its Relationship to "Painting the Clouds"

"[J] asked how some of the early stories came about, so I'm grabbing the opportunity to say something about 'Masquerade' by [Tarot] and Painting the Clouds by PD. I remember when the latter was published, some fans thought it was simply a pale imitation of Masquerade, which had already been in circulation for some two years. In fact, the original idea came from PD. Having seen Martin in "Cream in My Coffee", she listened to a lot of 1930s and 1940s dance band songs by the likes of Al Bowlly, Ambrose and his Orchestra, Roy Fox, Lew Scone and so on, and had she idea of Doyle going undercover in a dance band, singing their songs. [Tarot] also wanted to write a story along the same lines and so, with agreement on both sides, they went ahead. The problem lay in the fact that PD takes a long time to finish stories. By the time 'Painting the Clouds' came out, fandom had grown and many people had no idea that the two stories had started out from the same plot, at the same time, and with both authors' knowledge and consent."

Summaries

In 2000, two fans Cassie Ingaben and Dagger compiled an index of many of the circuit stories. They also wrote brief summaries:

• Dagger: Bodie and Doyle set themselves up as the gay son of a dying, disapproving scientist and his lover in order to catch a blackmailer. By the end of the case, tension is running high and they've fallen rather deeply into their roles.
• Cassie: Bodie and Doyle are sent undercover as a gay couple of musicians, very butch and femme, who has to be blackmailed for industrial espionage purposes. They manage their cliched roles with strain, esp. Doyle-as-femme; then the tension becomes sexual and towards the end of the case they end up together. They wrap up the case, help the real gay couple they were impersonating to be accepted by their family, and decide they are carrying on with the relationship."

Reactions and Reviews

• "Who, doing a list of B/D hatstands (or any slash stories, for that matter) could leave this big funny excellent story off the list."
• "Masquerade [is] a sight more believable than Painting the Clouds.
• "A reworking of Painting The Clouds, very well done, with plot and humor...I didn't always agree with the characterizations, but as long as they stayed consistent...
• "Another nice, long, complex story, with good plot, dialogue, characterizations (of primary and secondary characters), descriptions, narrative, etc One of the best "first kiss" scenes.
• "The story that got me hooked on The Professionals was "Masquerade" and I still think it's one of the best stories around. It's probably difficult for a lot of people now to imagine a time when there were virtually no B/D stories around -they just didn't exist. No Sebastian, no HG, no O. Yardley, no Rhiannon, no Americans or Australians. Just "Consequences" and two fairly bleak sequels. I had been lent them to read and my reaction was that I didn't know who the characters were, and that it was all so nasty I didn't want to know. Fortunately for me, friends were lent "Masquerade" and insisted I read it, and it was like opening a door on a different world. I eventually watched the programme on television, watched the following week, and the rest, as they say, is history. I still think I was lucky in reading that story almost at the beginning, because not only is it a lovely story but it's very well written. If I had read something that wasn't that good, I don't think I would have bothered to continue with Hatstands, and would either have avoided Professionals fandom altogether or got into it at a much later date, having missed all sorts of fun. And just to continue the story - the next story I read, some months later (yes, there were these horrendous gaps) was "Cause For Concern", which confirmed that here was a fandom worth investigating, because by that time I was fascinated by Bodie and Doyle."
• "I started off as a Star Trek fan and read my way through K/S from 'Green Plague' onward. Then I was introduced to Bodie and Doyle by friends who gave me "Masquerade]" to read and I was lost. I'm first and foremost a Professionals fan."
• "A wonderful undercover story; I didn't think it could be pulled off, but it worked. My favorite scenes are the Doyle makeover and the kiss and tussle backstage during the fake reconciliation scene, and the very male way the sex rises out of rivalry and competition."