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crack_van2004-10-17 12:04 am
meris-mfu.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-10-17 12:04 am
Entry tags:
The Man From Yesterday by Darklady (NC-17)
Fandom: MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: unknown - her stories are archived on Ravenslair, http://www.ravenslair.net/vault/darklady/index.html, on File 40, http://file40.net/file40s.html, and on the old WWOMB page, http://www.squidge.org/~peja/manfromuncle/slash.htm
Why this must be read:
"Weirdness warning: This is not your usual Man from U.N.C.L.E. story. It will be a long time before you get to the first car chase. This evolved from the statement ( I forget who by ) that Solo and Kuryakin are `men of the sixties', combined with a bit of time-travel fic read elsewhere, combined with some personal knowledge of the `changing times' which "I do not chose to discuss at this time". Lets just say that life is weirder than art."
This is the teaser from Man From Yesterday. It is a long read, and, unusually for something of this length, told in the present tense. It tells a long story in a well-thought out plot of future consequences, and it plays up many of the fanon traits for Napoleon and Illya.
Illya and food:
"I scan the choices. Eggs, porridge, ham, sausage, German pancakes, Belgian waffles.. Belgian waffles? With bananas and raspberries?
"Napoleon?"
He turns. "I have reconsidered. This is not a T.H.R.U.S.H. plot. And this is not the future. We are dead. I am in heaven."
Spending:
We are both on edge, and in no need of an argument over my parsimony or his profligate habits.
Strength and weakness:
Not that he will say anything. Napoleon does not discuss his weaknesses - not even with me. Sometimes, I think, even less with me. No matter. I know. I alone know.
Oh, he complains often enough, but that is for show. Chatter about his suits and his cars and his ruined dates. Never a word about his pain. How many times have I pulled him out of cells and chains, then listened while he insists to the clean-up crew that his captors were `perfect gentlemen'? How many times has he chatted brightly at Waverly or some medic, assuring them that `they just used truth serum' and that all he needs was an evening's rest? How many times afterwards has he collapsed in our room, leaving me to patch and bandage and salve? To work out cramped limbs and stressed tendons so that he can stroll back into headquarters and insist he is again ready for duty.
And I do, because I know his gloss is his first defense and part of his strength. Not all of it. Not even the greatest part. Under the slick shell of mystery there is warrior even I would not wish to face in darkness. And that, as much as love or friendship, is why I help his game. Likewise why he helps my fiction of Ice Price and soulless scientist. So that neither of us has to acknowledge all that we might be.
Although I found it somewhat brittle in style, this well-written story ultimately is very satisfying in answering the question, "Will U.N.C.L.E. exist in the future?", involving plot as well as escapes, spy talents, and sex-and-caring. And of course, it's a very long read, something that's always a bonus!
P.S. If you read it on Ravenslair, this is obvious, but in the long version, I didn't notice until the 5th chapter or so that all the chapter titles are song titles that are epigrams of the chapter's contents!
The Man From Yesterday
as one long document
broken up into 19 documents which cover all the chapters, 1-57
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: unknown - her stories are archived on Ravenslair, http://www.ravenslair.net/vault/darklady/index.html, on File 40, http://file40.net/file40s.html, and on the old WWOMB page, http://www.squidge.org/~peja/manfromuncle/slash.htm
Why this must be read:
"Weirdness warning: This is not your usual Man from U.N.C.L.E. story. It will be a long time before you get to the first car chase. This evolved from the statement ( I forget who by ) that Solo and Kuryakin are `men of the sixties', combined with a bit of time-travel fic read elsewhere, combined with some personal knowledge of the `changing times' which "I do not chose to discuss at this time". Lets just say that life is weirder than art."
This is the teaser from Man From Yesterday. It is a long read, and, unusually for something of this length, told in the present tense. It tells a long story in a well-thought out plot of future consequences, and it plays up many of the fanon traits for Napoleon and Illya.
Illya and food:
"I scan the choices. Eggs, porridge, ham, sausage, German pancakes, Belgian waffles.. Belgian waffles? With bananas and raspberries?
"Napoleon?"
He turns. "I have reconsidered. This is not a T.H.R.U.S.H. plot. And this is not the future. We are dead. I am in heaven."
Spending:
We are both on edge, and in no need of an argument over my parsimony or his profligate habits.
Strength and weakness:
Not that he will say anything. Napoleon does not discuss his weaknesses - not even with me. Sometimes, I think, even less with me. No matter. I know. I alone know.
Oh, he complains often enough, but that is for show. Chatter about his suits and his cars and his ruined dates. Never a word about his pain. How many times have I pulled him out of cells and chains, then listened while he insists to the clean-up crew that his captors were `perfect gentlemen'? How many times has he chatted brightly at Waverly or some medic, assuring them that `they just used truth serum' and that all he needs was an evening's rest? How many times afterwards has he collapsed in our room, leaving me to patch and bandage and salve? To work out cramped limbs and stressed tendons so that he can stroll back into headquarters and insist he is again ready for duty.
And I do, because I know his gloss is his first defense and part of his strength. Not all of it. Not even the greatest part. Under the slick shell of mystery there is warrior even I would not wish to face in darkness. And that, as much as love or friendship, is why I help his game. Likewise why he helps my fiction of Ice Price and soulless scientist. So that neither of us has to acknowledge all that we might be.
Although I found it somewhat brittle in style, this well-written story ultimately is very satisfying in answering the question, "Will U.N.C.L.E. exist in the future?", involving plot as well as escapes, spy talents, and sex-and-caring. And of course, it's a very long read, something that's always a bonus!
P.S. If you read it on Ravenslair, this is obvious, but in the long version, I didn't notice until the 5th chapter or so that all the chapter titles are song titles that are epigrams of the chapter's contents!
The Man From Yesterday
as one long document
broken up into 19 documents which cover all the chapters, 1-57