Descent (Real Ghostbusters zine)
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Descent |
| Publisher: | |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Emilie Renée Karr (XmagicalX,Xparrot) |
| Cover Artist(s): | Marie Torres |
| Illustrator(s): | Marie Torres |
| Date(s): | 2000 |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Real Ghostbusters |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | online at author's fic page & Archive of Our Own |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Descent is a gen Real Ghostbusters 136-page (81343) novel by Emilie Renée Karr. It has illustrations and a cover by Marie Torres.
It has a 2002 sequel called Flashback.
Summaries
Author's summary: "There's a lot of beings out there with a grudge against the Ghostbusters. But the most dangerous threat isn't supernatural. Dr. Kenneth Ulster has been waiting since Columbia to get his revenge. Now there's an opportunity, and he will not miss this chance... This is Peter Venkman. This is Peter Venkman on drugs. This is Peter Venkman pushed to the ragged edge of sanity, and can he or the guys survive it?" [1]
From Agent With Style: "Peter and Egon are kidnaped by an old aquaintance gone mad. To further his illegal experiments, the man injects Peter with deadly, psychotropic drugs that turn the Ghostbuster into a paranoid wreck. As a final test, he locks Peter and Egon in an abandoned warehouse, after giving Peter a loaded gun. All of the other test subjects had killed their friends--would Peter? Where can Egon run that Peter cannot find him? Will Ray and Winston find the pair before the voices in Peter's mind force him to do something he'll forever regret?"
Author's Notes on the Online Version
Descent was originally published as a novella-length zine, and is still available for purchase at Agent With Style [2] for those who would like a hard copy with lovely illustrations. I'm putting it online now at the request of a couple friends, for those who (like me) are mostly unfamiliar with print zines and accustomed to obtaining their fic on the Internet.
I finished this story in the summer of '99, before my senior year at college. Being as old as it is, I find much of the writing unsatisfying; my prose has developed in the intervening years, but there are some moments I remain proud of, and I find myself unwilling to rewrite and thus erase my past self's efforts. So the only changes from the original zine are HTML formatting and possibly a few fixed typos. As for the story itself, it was always intended to be an exercise in pure hurt/comfort, and as that I hope it still to be successfully entertaining!
~XmagicalX
December, 2006 [3]
Fan Comments
Boy do you know how to whump someone :) I stayed up way too late reading this and it was hard to tear myself away. I really loved the ghost helping Peter and then taking her revenge. You've got such a beautiful way of showing the relationships between the guys. [4]
... in late 2000 I returned to the world of fandom after a nearly-four-year absence, and in Real Ghostbusters, immediately found something immensely soul-fulfilling. The deep bonds of friendship so frequently portrayed in the fan fiction served to counterbalance the themes of pain and angst, creating an emotional whole.
"Descent" was the first zine (yes, Virginia, there was/is fan fiction in print, for sale!) I purchased when I returned to fandom; and, honestly, I bought it because from its description it sounded like a walloping hurt/comfort romp. But when I read it, I saw that there was so much more.
In all her fandoms, XmagicalX (also known as xparrot) has the gift for telling a truly emotionally-resonant story in which plot and characterization are always well-balanced; and this story is no exception.[5]
References
- ^ reference link
- ^ This is no longer true. Do not send money to Agent With Style.
- ^ Descent at Archive of Our Own
- ^ comment by ferryboatGeorge February 19, 2014
- ^ from Crack Van (December 31, 2006)