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theladyrose.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2007-09-23 02:38 pm
theladyrose.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2007-09-23 02:38 pm
Entry tags:
Wargame by Jean Graham (G)
Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Author: Jean Graham
Pairing: none
Author's Website: Jean Graham's UNCLE stories
Why this must be read:
I'm really surprised that Jean Graham hasn't been recc'd here already because she has a range of tautly written gen stories that cover the range of engaging "unfilmed episode" sorts of adventures to plausibly filling in the gaps for Napoleon and Illya pre-series and pre-Return movie. Not a word is wasted in her lean plots, clever and believable OCs and sharp dialogue, and she captures the series' tone of somewhat self-serious humor to a T - think late season 1 and early season 2.
We have more angsty!Illya backstories than downed Thrush goons in this fandom, but this is one of the most eerily believable to me. I'm a sucker for emotional turmoil as much as the next reader, but subtlety always gets to me the most. We can safely assume that Illya had a pretty awful childhood, but the actual familial dynamics of the Kuryakins is pretty much up for debate. Most fans believe that Illya's family died in the war, but rarely do we imagine what a reunion would be like. Jean cleverly subverts our expectations of the circumstances that shaped Illya into the man and agent he would become; her young Illya is reminiscent of Patricia Foley's characterization in the latter author's Wonderland series, but I don't mean to imply that Jean is a lesser author merely copying Patricia's work. To tell you any more would be criminal, but this story broke my heart in an unexpected way.
Here's Wargame.
Author: Jean Graham
Pairing: none
Author's Website: Jean Graham's UNCLE stories
Why this must be read:
I'm really surprised that Jean Graham hasn't been recc'd here already because she has a range of tautly written gen stories that cover the range of engaging "unfilmed episode" sorts of adventures to plausibly filling in the gaps for Napoleon and Illya pre-series and pre-Return movie. Not a word is wasted in her lean plots, clever and believable OCs and sharp dialogue, and she captures the series' tone of somewhat self-serious humor to a T - think late season 1 and early season 2.
We have more angsty!Illya backstories than downed Thrush goons in this fandom, but this is one of the most eerily believable to me. I'm a sucker for emotional turmoil as much as the next reader, but subtlety always gets to me the most. We can safely assume that Illya had a pretty awful childhood, but the actual familial dynamics of the Kuryakins is pretty much up for debate. Most fans believe that Illya's family died in the war, but rarely do we imagine what a reunion would be like. Jean cleverly subverts our expectations of the circumstances that shaped Illya into the man and agent he would become; her young Illya is reminiscent of Patricia Foley's characterization in the latter author's Wonderland series, but I don't mean to imply that Jean is a lesser author merely copying Patricia's work. To tell you any more would be criminal, but this story broke my heart in an unexpected way.
Here's Wargame.
no subject
It made me sad, but i could see how the man Illya was shaped.
no subject