Auditory System by Keelywolfe (R)

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya
Author on LJ: keelywolfe
Author Website: Keelywolfe's Fanfiction
Why this must be read:

Keelywolfe is an amazingly prolific, and amazingly good, writer who, after a period spent writing for other fandoms (shocking, I know) recently returned to the fold with "Auditory System", an oddly disturbing story that haunts your brain long after you've finished reading it. All of the other stories I've recced so far have been about UNCLE as a kind of "heile Welt" with Napoleon and Illya, for all their crises and angst and sexual frustrations, as fundamentally happy, functional human beings. This one is different. I wouldn't call it darkfic - it's much too subtle for that - but it's set in a rather ugly, seedy world, where Napoleon is carrying out a very sordid assignment, knowing full well that Illya is listening in via surveillance equipment. The story is more about what doesn't happen than what does, about failure to communicate and failure to connect, and it packs a far more powerful emotional punch than you'd expect from this attempt to describe it. It's also beautifully written and the characterisation, though rather bleak, is utterly convincing. I, for one, would be thrilled if she decided to write more in this vein.


Auditory System