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crack_van2004-10-22 11:43 pm
meris-mfu.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-10-22 11:43 pm
Entry tags:
The Last Time by Lee the T (Slash, NC-17)
Fandom: MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
leethet
Author Website: not known. Her online stories can be found at File40, http://file40.net, in both the Gen and Slash sections, and on The Chrome and Gunmetal Madhouse, http://www.chromeandgunmetal.com/chrome.
Why this must be read:
In spite of the title, this is NOT a deathfic. Instead, it plays with one of the enduring pieces of MfU fanon: that Napoleon is fabulously wealthy. Why would anyone fabulously wealthy become a spy in the first place? Well, if he didn't start out that way...
This story also interweaves hurt, hurt/comfort, angsty yearning and first-time in an absorbing and satisfying piece of work. Lee's characterizations are always solid and balanced, never wispy. Her Illya is not effeminate, her Napoleon is not domineering, they are both strongly competent and decisive. And although the story culminates in some wonderful loving, I was drawn back to it, searching the archives for it, because of a single paragraph that mingled several MfU themes: food, both Illya's bottomless pit and Napoleon's gourmet palate; Illya's vulnerability when recovering from wounds; and Napoleon's caring for his partner.
The image of the spoon of berries being lowered for some reason brands this story for me in a peculiarly vulnerable and poignant way.
And there's a butler, even though he didn't do it! (And nobody has sex with him.)
The Last Time
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Author on LJ:
leethetAuthor Website: not known. Her online stories can be found at File40, http://file40.net, in both the Gen and Slash sections, and on The Chrome and Gunmetal Madhouse, http://www.chromeandgunmetal.com/chrome.
Why this must be read:
In spite of the title, this is NOT a deathfic. Instead, it plays with one of the enduring pieces of MfU fanon: that Napoleon is fabulously wealthy. Why would anyone fabulously wealthy become a spy in the first place? Well, if he didn't start out that way...
This story also interweaves hurt, hurt/comfort, angsty yearning and first-time in an absorbing and satisfying piece of work. Lee's characterizations are always solid and balanced, never wispy. Her Illya is not effeminate, her Napoleon is not domineering, they are both strongly competent and decisive. And although the story culminates in some wonderful loving, I was drawn back to it, searching the archives for it, because of a single paragraph that mingled several MfU themes: food, both Illya's bottomless pit and Napoleon's gourmet palate; Illya's vulnerability when recovering from wounds; and Napoleon's caring for his partner.
Over dinner – mushrooms, coulis and oven roasted tomatoes; filet mignon with sesame seeds and truffle sauce, potato vegetable strudel and green beans, followed by lemon panne cotta with meringue and mixed berries, petits fours and chocolates – Napoleon watched his partner gradually droop, though he tried not to show it. When he raised a spoon of berries – shaking – and then lowered it back to the dish, Napoleon put his own spoon down.
“That’s enough. You need to sleep.”
The image of the spoon of berries being lowered for some reason brands this story for me in a peculiarly vulnerable and poignant way.
And there's a butler, even though he didn't do it! (And nobody has sex with him.)
The Last Time
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