crack_van | A Trick of the Light by Viviana (R)

Fandom: MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Length: 27,691 words
Author on LJ:

viviana7
Author Website: Chrome & Gunmetal Madhouse has an almost comprehensive selection.
Why this must be read:

If this wonderful, emotionally complex story were easier to find (it's not archived anywhere) it would be an MFU classic. Napoleon Solo is a fortunate man. His talent, his charm, his luck, have brought him everything he wants: the job he was born for--he's the still young head of UNCLE Northwest; and the devotion of Illya, who stands by his side both professionally and personally. But perhaps it's all come a little too easily. When UNCLE is called on to protect a controversial politician, Napoleon is unexpectedly faced with his past, and with a glimpse of the road not taken. And that glimpse throws his life into turmoil.

A Trick of the Light has everything: strong emotion, action, an appallingly funny dinner party from hell, and a kick-ass rescue scene that plays like a wide-screen movie. Most of all, it has two strong all too human men; Napoleon, searching within himself to find what he really needs, and Illya who refuses to accept anything but Napoleon's best.

Illya pocketed his glasses and sat down at the desk, looking at him as though trying to decide whether to speak his mind.

'The Director is a very cautious man, Napoleon,' he ventured. 'If anything happens, he wants it to be on your watch, not his.'

'I know that. But nothing will happen. Because I've turned the whole thing over to you.' He grinned.

Illya scowled. 'You learn some things quickly enough, don't you?'

'I adapt,' said Napoleon, simply.

Illya glanced down again at the briefing notes on Senator Bryce, scanning dates and places. Napoleon could guess what was coming next.

'Did you know this lady in college?' Illya asked casually.

'Yes.' Best to get it over with now, thought Napoleon. 'Very well, in fact. We were sweethearts.'

Illya treated him to his best freezing stare. 'I would say it's a small world, Napoleon, but your proclivities do tend to shorten the odds somewhat.'

A Trick of the Light--Parts 1 & 2
A Trick of the Light--Parts 3 & 4

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Another great rec! Thank you. I so wish

viviana7 would archive this. It's a while since I've read it and the emotional punch still leaves me breathless. Mercifully all her work (*wrinkles brow* I think) has a satisfying resolution.

It's a powerful story, I stumbled across it by luck.
I looked at her lj--I thought I'd let her know it's been recced and maybe ask about archiving--but it hasn't been updated since 2006 so I didn't do anything.
When

reera_the_red's new MFUarchive is up and running at least we can add a link to it.

When reera_the_red's new MFUarchive is up and running at least we can add a link to it.

Good plan. And for info (for anyone coming across this later), that site can be found here (http://www.mfuarchive.net/) and should be active within the next few days.

Great rec. Such a shame it's not archived anywhere - it's an amazing story.

I noticed you found it before me :) You have to sign up to do recs!

I think I'm too disorganized. Take this story, for example. I loved it, but if you hadn't recced it I might never have found it again (so thanks muchly for that!)
I'm also somewhat intimidated about having to come up with insightful things to say about the stories I rec.
This story was, like, really good. You should, like, read it... O_o

This story was, like, really good. You should, like, read it..

Umm. I've seen worse ;)

(Outsider offering opinion). The first time I signed up to do recs I was really nervous and didn't know how to do the simplest coding. I wasn't sure I'd have enough stories that hadn't been recced before to do the CV dance card. But I really didn't want to see my fandom reduced to small fandom status so took the chance. Before the end of the turn I was hooked -- doing this a total blast. I immediately signed up for another turn and have done four since.

I would encourage you to do it, even if you don't think you'd be good. Most people don't and, after their turn, end up loving it. It's a great way to honor the writers (I send them a note with a copy of the link) and an excellent way to rekindle enthusiasm, either yours or someone else's.

Older fandoms are always vulnerable to being "demoted" to small fandom status and, if you look at the admin announcements it will happen with no warning. That means your fandom gets one month a year. I was afraid it would happen to Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 2008 after it had one dismal month and then the next reccer didn't do anything the next month. And I notice in the past couple of years it's rotating between a lot of the same people, and you only have drivers through March. So, this very rich fandom is vulnerable.

The same thing happened in our fandom (The Sentinel) last year -- the reccing got a little stagnant. I signed up three times last year to insure all the months got filled. I did an appeal and this year we have at least 4 or 5 newbies signed up and I'm glad. Not that I don't love reccing, but I think it energizes the fandom when people come forward to do this kind of stuff.

You may wonder why I'm stepping into your world. I've been basically a one-fandom gal and I still love mine to death. But since coming to Crack Van I've discovered wonderful fic from a show I loved and still love on seeing this show on DVD. I use CV to lead me to the best stories, since I don't know where to find them on my own. I broke my heart when that person didn't do even one rec for that month -- I was in my devouring stage and really needed a fix! So, please consider taking a turn driving. I guarantee you will have so much fun.

Thanks for listening -- PSA is done! ^_^

I wanted to say thank you for this. I agree with everything you say, and it is fun to be able to promote stories you've enjoyed. This is my first time around, and it took me awhile to get up the nerve too. I may have to start nagging others :)

Yes, I was so intimidated. Especially when you are reccing in an older fandom and it seems like all the best stories have already been recced. And that coding put me off even trying it for a couple of months, until I had the basics. But, as you've found, one month is all it takes to get hooked. I immediately signed up again because I loved it but then did it three times simply because I couldn't get anyone to fill in those months.

One thing shaggirl has said is that what keeps a fandom going full time in Crack Van is just a few good naggers pushing and prodding people to take a chance. I did a plea on one of our news LJ comms and scooped up three right away. There've been a couple of more since then. I'm sad that I won't be reccing for a while but I think it's healthy for the fandom to have new blood reccing. It adds to their feeling of community and ownership. And, quite selfishly, it gets me stories I've usually not heard of.

So thank you for not telling me to MYOB. You've done a great job this month -- I now have a nice stack of MUNCLE on my reading list to go along with my TS ones (which were also done by a newbie this month). Cheers and take a well-deserved rest for your good work.

A Trick of the Light by Viviana (R)

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Yay! a sister-in-arms!