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crack_van2004-11-01 10:51 pm
st-crispins.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-11-01 10:51 pm
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The Cayo Hueso Affair By Nan Mack (PG-13)
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st_crispins here to rec Man from U.N.C.L.E. stories for the month of November. MFU is arguably the oldest media fandom, pre-dating even ST: TOS. Two months ago, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the series premiere.
That said, a lot of MFU fanfic has appeared in print zines and still does. Some of my own favorite stories are not online. I will be reccing both slash and gen, but I do tend to prefer stories that present Solo and Kuryakin realistically, and I enjoy seeing them function within the context of the U.N.C.L.E. organization.
Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: No.
Author website: None, but this story can be found on www.File40.net.
Why this must be read:
Most folks in MFU fandom know Nan Mack as my collaborator for the Escape from New York/MFU crossover universe, but she’s written some pretty memorable stories on her own.
Like this one, for example. Set sometime after the Return movie, we find a melancholy Solo and a resigned Kuryakin traveling to Key West on what appears to be a “milk run.” There, they bump into Chris Larson, the little boy from “The Finny Foot Affair” now grown, and an embittered Gervaise Ravel from “The Quadripartite Affair” and “The Giuoco Piano Affair” who has a few scores to settle. As we soon discover, a lot can happen in twenty years.
This is a tough, absorbing, complicated affair with a great plot and a lot of heart (read: Solo angst). The details and background atmosphere are superb (Key West is Nan’s favorite place), the voices are spot on, and there are some very enjoyable characters, most notably a scary young sociopath named Joey who has an interesting relationship with Gervaise.
Here’s Solo discussing Chris with Kuryakin and confronting some sad truths about being a field agent:
Kuryakin joined his friend, taking a seat in a white wicker rocker. "Refresh my memory," he began. "Tell me about you and Larson."
Napoleon sighed, and leaned forward, resting his arms on the balcony rail. Illya heard the quiet clink of ice in a glass.
"He was looking for a father," Napoleon said absently, almost to himself. Then, to Illya: "The only person I can tell you about is thirteen years old, light years away from the man I found in that alley tonight." He sounded tired. Illya knew the weariness was more than physical.
"You don't know that for sure." the Russian said.
"Don't I? You didn't see his police record, but you saw that bar, the kind of people there. He's hanging around a place like that with someone like Gillotti. It's fairly obvious he isn't a boy scout."
"The doctor didn't seem to think he was entirely unpleasant." Illya reminded.
Napoleon laughed shortly. "Well, I don't think she was entirely objective."
Illya agreed, but he kept his feelings to himself. Instead he asked, "You haven't seen him since he was a boy?"
Napoleon finally turned to look at his friend. "Seen him? I doubt if I've even thought of him more than once or twice in all these years. I barely remembered him." He sipped at the drink in his hand.
"You can't be expected to remember everyone."
"Maybe we should. Maybe we should have been seeing to the needs of people instead of the needs of the world."
"I thought they were one and the same."
"So did I."
The Cayo Hueso Affair
st_crispins here to rec Man from U.N.C.L.E. stories for the month of November. MFU is arguably the oldest media fandom, pre-dating even ST: TOS. Two months ago, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the series premiere.That said, a lot of MFU fanfic has appeared in print zines and still does. Some of my own favorite stories are not online. I will be reccing both slash and gen, but I do tend to prefer stories that present Solo and Kuryakin realistically, and I enjoy seeing them function within the context of the U.N.C.L.E. organization.
Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: No.
Author website: None, but this story can be found on www.File40.net.
Why this must be read:
Most folks in MFU fandom know Nan Mack as my collaborator for the Escape from New York/MFU crossover universe, but she’s written some pretty memorable stories on her own.
Like this one, for example. Set sometime after the Return movie, we find a melancholy Solo and a resigned Kuryakin traveling to Key West on what appears to be a “milk run.” There, they bump into Chris Larson, the little boy from “The Finny Foot Affair” now grown, and an embittered Gervaise Ravel from “The Quadripartite Affair” and “The Giuoco Piano Affair” who has a few scores to settle. As we soon discover, a lot can happen in twenty years.
This is a tough, absorbing, complicated affair with a great plot and a lot of heart (read: Solo angst). The details and background atmosphere are superb (Key West is Nan’s favorite place), the voices are spot on, and there are some very enjoyable characters, most notably a scary young sociopath named Joey who has an interesting relationship with Gervaise.
Here’s Solo discussing Chris with Kuryakin and confronting some sad truths about being a field agent:
Kuryakin joined his friend, taking a seat in a white wicker rocker. "Refresh my memory," he began. "Tell me about you and Larson."
Napoleon sighed, and leaned forward, resting his arms on the balcony rail. Illya heard the quiet clink of ice in a glass.
"He was looking for a father," Napoleon said absently, almost to himself. Then, to Illya: "The only person I can tell you about is thirteen years old, light years away from the man I found in that alley tonight." He sounded tired. Illya knew the weariness was more than physical.
"You don't know that for sure." the Russian said.
"Don't I? You didn't see his police record, but you saw that bar, the kind of people there. He's hanging around a place like that with someone like Gillotti. It's fairly obvious he isn't a boy scout."
"The doctor didn't seem to think he was entirely unpleasant." Illya reminded.
Napoleon laughed shortly. "Well, I don't think she was entirely objective."
Illya agreed, but he kept his feelings to himself. Instead he asked, "You haven't seen him since he was a boy?"
Napoleon finally turned to look at his friend. "Seen him? I doubt if I've even thought of him more than once or twice in all these years. I barely remembered him." He sipped at the drink in his hand.
"You can't be expected to remember everyone."
"Maybe we should. Maybe we should have been seeing to the needs of people instead of the needs of the world."
"I thought they were one and the same."
"So did I."
The Cayo Hueso Affair