Million-Word Challenge: A is for ...And Its Busines Is Joy, P is for Paper Chase

[tinturtle]

I've completed my Million Word Fanfic Challenge. Woohoo! In this last leg, I read six fics, but I will only be writing up two.

...And Its Business Is Joy by Elise_Madrid (gilda_elise) is a crossover between Star Trek TOS and The Professionals. I liked this fic a lot. It had both emotion and humor and the interactions between the two sets of characters were interesting. 24,654 words. Kirk/Spock slash and Bodie/Doyle slash. Particularly recommended.
Comments with spoilers:

I really wanted Bodie and Doyle to figure out that the Enterprise was from Earth's future, though. Allowing them to see that same-sex relationships eventually become accepted by society would have been an interesting development after the conflict early in the story over their efforts to conceal their own relationship.

Also, I'm not very familiar with Star Trek TOS, but I think this fic may be AU relative to that canon, since Spock decides not to return to Vulcan as he is shown to have done in the beginning of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Author, if you are reading this, was that the intention?

Paper Chase by ML Mead (moonlightmead), a Professionals fic, was very good, as well. It's a casefic with a lively plot and some quite suspenseful scenes. There was one point I'm not sure about, as discussed below, but it's a matter of interpretation. 25,129 words. Bodie/Doyle slash. Particularly recommended.
Comments with spoilers:

The plot stopped short of them actually doing so, but ML Mead made it clear that Bodie and Doyle were prepared to murder the Russian agent Leon in order to keep their relationship secret. (Killing someone who is no physical threat and has offered to surrender to your side is murder. To say nothing of doing it in order to preserve your job.) I'm willing to roll with a wide range of character interpretations, but I find this one difficult. It seems out of character for Doyle, particularly, as someone disturbed by unnecessary killing and willing to take risks to avoid it (as in The Madness of Mickey Hamilton). In light of the fact that he owed Leon his life, I'm not sure I believe it of Bodie, either, though it would be easier to convince me. I need to do more thinking on the matter, but I'm eager to get this write-up posted, so that's all I have to say for now.

The four fics I'm not writing up were worth three points for I, six points for E, another three points for I, and eight points for R.

Letters I've Satisfied: #, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Total Points: 1000
#: 5 points
1991 by SkyborneVeggies (1 point; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
4 Vignettes With No Kissing & 1 Ex-Yacht by captain_starcat (2 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
1918 by rabidsamfan (1 point; Sherlock Holmes x Lord Peter Wimsey)
4 People Who Saw and 1 Who Observed by nottoolateforthegame (1 point; Sherlock Holmes)
A: 109 points
*All the Kasha They Could Eat by Jest (7 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
*After the World Went Awry by teaspoonnebula (22 points; Sherlock Holmes)
*The Afterlife of Doctor John H. Watson by flawedamythyst (31 points; Sherlock Holmes)
Adagio by Sebastian (25 points; The Professionals)
*...And Its Business Is Joy by Elise_Madrid (24 points; Star Trek TOS x The Professionals)
B: 23 points
*The Bronze Metal Lover by stew (15 points; The Professionals x The Silver Metal Lover)
Brave Little Rabbit by jj_minerva (2 points; Raffles)
Blind Man's Bluff ? by fiorenza_a (2 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Broken by AconitumNapellus (4 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
C: 24 points
*Cold War, part of the Dirty Computer series by jat_sapphire (1 point; The Professionals)
A Christian Perspective on Slash Fiction by Marnie (2 points; meta)
The Cost of the Erection: Slash and Gayness by Executrix (2 points; meta)
The Curly-Toed Boots of Justice by McSwain! (1 point; meta)
Coming Home by shadowycat (17 points; Sherlock Holmes)
Can't Answer that Question, Sir by castalia (1 point; The Professionals)
D: 15 points
*Dreamed That Man Was I by Taliesin (14 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Dream a Highway by marginalia (1 point; Pancho and Lefty)
E: 29 points
*The End Where We Begin by Ingu (21 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (movie))
Every Time You Bleed by SummerKnight717 (2 points; Marvel)
An unnamed fic starting with E (6 points)
F: 33 points
*The 'Fine and Private Place' Affair by Taliesin (32 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
foray by dangerousinlove (1 point; Sharpe series)
G: 45 points
The Gyptian Caravan Affair by Taylor Dancinghands (20 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E. x His Dark Materials)
*The Gemini Factor by Russ (25 points; The Professionals x Who Dares Wins)
H: 94 points
*The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz (94 points; Sherlock Holmes)
I: 74 points
Island Innocents by Glen Fiddich (54 points; The Professionals)
*If I Should Die Before I Wake... by Tessa54 (1 point; The A-Team)
*Into the Light of a Dark Black Night by lomelinde (5 points; The Professionals)
*If There Be Vampires and Werewolves by Slantedlight (8 points; The Professionals)
An unnamed fic starting with I (3 points)
Another unnamed fic starting with I (3 points)
J: 16 Points
Jungle Book by Sebastian (2 points; The Professionals x Tarzan)
Just a Kiss by Sebastian (5 points; The Professionals)
A Just Sense of Proportion by plumedy (5 points; Sherlock Holmes)
Just Slipping Away by Rozel (4 points; The Professionals)
K: 22 points
The King Must Die by murphybabe (22 points; The Professionals)
L: 30 points
*Lefty Sings the Blues by MirrorMasque (3 points; Pancho and Lefty)
An unnamed fic starting with L (27 points)
M: 26 points
*More Deaths Than One by Taliesin (24 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Monkey Suits With Satin and Lace by Joana Dey (2 points; The Professionals)
N: 19 points
The Not Exactly Affair by dancingpony (2 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
No wonder, no wonder by regshoe (1 point; Willy o Winsbury)
*No Lothario by Francesca (5 points; The Sentinel)
Never Say No Strings by Barbara Thomas (9 points; The Professionals)
New Age Woo by Mab_Browne (2 points; The Sentinel)
O: 18 points
Once and Future by oliviacirce (2 points; Winter Solstice, Camelot Station)
On Track by ML Mead (3 points; The Professionals)
*Ours But to Do by Bardicvoice (7 points; The Professionals)
The Other Tenant by tweedisgood (6 points; Sherlock Holmes)
P: 83 points
*Portman Square by afterism (5 points; Raffles)
Purgatory by PR Zed (1 point; The Professionals)
*Professional Dreamer by Pamela Rose (52 points; The Professionals, inspired by American Dreamer)
*Paper Chase by ML Mead (25 points; The Professionals)
Q: 12 points
Quaint by kathkin (2 points; Doctor Who)
Quenching the Candle? by LaH (10 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
R: 27 points
Rift by MonkeyBard (1 point; The A-Team)
*Run, Rabbit, Run by PR Zed (1 point; The Professionals x Blade Runner)
The Rest of the Affair by Daylyn (17 points; Sherlock Holmes)
An unnamed fic starting with R (8 points)
S: 65 points
*Spiderweb by Cord Smithee (12 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
*The Singing of Many Wires by teaspoonnebula (18 points; Sherlock Holmes)
The Steppes of Central Asia Affair by Taylor Dancinghands (13 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E. x His Dark Materials)
Survived By by Linda Cornett (4 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
The Snowman With the Dark Coat by castalia (17 points; The Professionals)
*Serving the Public Trust by Brumeier (1 point; The Sentinel)
T: 18 points
*Time-Crossed Lovers by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson (2 points; The Professionals)
*These Layers of Charnel Air by Slantedlight (16 points; The Professionasl)
U: 17 points
*Unit I, Series LYA: Press to Activate by Orockthro (3 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Untitled by Russ (2 points; meta)
Under the Jewelled Sky by regshoe (12 points; Raffles)
V: 32 points
Voyages of the CI5 by hutchynstarsk (32 points; The Professionals)
W: 124 points
*Wicked by Cord Smithee (4 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Walking Wounded by Linda S. Maclaren (2 points; The Professionals)
Winter Solstice, Camelot Station by John M. Ford (1 point; Arthurian legend)
*Written in the Blood by methylviolet10b (2 points; Sherlock Holmes)
*Written in the Mind by methylviolet10b (17 points; Sherlock Holmes)
Written in the Bone by methylviolet10b (16 points; Sherlock Holmes)
*The Waters and the Wild by Slantedlight (44 points; The Professionals)
What Happened to the Thunder and Lightning Brigade by Slantedlight (1 point; The Professionals x Back to the Future)
Why So Silent? by mundanecactus (20 points; The Phantom of the Opera (Lloyd Webber musical movie))
*Witness and Testimony by Violsva (17 points; Sherlock Holmes)
X: 6 points
Xander Harris, Greek God by Vacillating (1 point; Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
An unnamed fic starting with X (1 point)
Another unnamed fic starting with X (1 point)
An unnamed fic starting with X (3 points)
Y: 22 points
An unnamed fic starting with Y (21 points)
You came back... by anotherdiana (1 point; The Phantom of the Opera (Lloyd Webber musical))
Z: 13 points
The Z-7 Affair by pfrye2 (13 points; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)

* = Particularly recommended.