Lifetime Fic Bingo: 1989
Jul. 6th, 2023 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tinturtleIt's 1989. Madonna is on the radio. Here in the USA, the year's top film is Batman. New terms coined include: air quotes, cybersecurity, eco-friendly, helicopter parent, hypertext markup language, retcon, right-click, scrunchie, and showrunner.
I read three Man from U.N.C.L.E. fics and two Professionals fics released in 1989, as well as some additional material.
The first of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. fics was In From the Cold by
cybel. I'm afraid this fic didn't work for me. The writing was fine, but I found the plot both underdeveloped and a bit predictable. 9,454 words. Napoleon/Illya slash.Comments with spoilers:
It was easy to guess long before the reveal that Illya's suicide attempt stemmed from his being in love with Napoleon. I don't think I would have minded that too much, though, if Napoleon's emotional arc had been better constructed. The thing that most put me off the story was the abruptness with which Napoleon realized he was in love with Illya. Some build-up to that would have been a big improvement. A bit more reaction on Napoleon's part to this new situation would have strengthened the story, too. He seemed strangely blase.
I also read Nothing in Common, another Man from U.N.C.L.E. fic by cybel. This one started well, but the plot seemed underdeveloped in similar ways to In From the Cold. It felt as if the author knew the conclusion she was aiming for, and skipped steps getting there in ways that didn't benefit the story. 3,033 words. Napoleon/Illya slash.
Comments with spoilers:
In fact, one of the issues was almost exactly the same: that is, the abruptness and lack of reaction with which Napoleon realized he was in love with his male partner.
The last of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. fics that I read is The Zippity Do-Dah Affair by Alys. This fic was brief and very weird. If you want more than that, you'll have to read it. 934 words. Napoleon/Illya slash.
The first Professionals fic I read during this round was not from 1989, but was the 1982 circuit story Looking Glass World by Felicity M. Parkinson (
f_m_parkinson). I read it as background for ...And Memories Die, Part I, a sequel by Ellis Ward released in 1989.In Looking Glass World, Bodie and Doyle find themselves in a parallel universe in which counterparts of themselves and CI5 exist, but nothing is quite the same. I enjoyed this story a lot, and most of what I see as its drawbacks involve there not being more of it. 22,758 words. Bodie/Doyle slash. Particularly recommended.
Comments with spoilers:
In particular, I'd have liked to know more about the parallel world and how it differs from our own. I think that could have mitigated what seems to me the fic's greatest flaw: the way the sci-fi element of a criminal gang being able to brainwash Ray into believing he is a completely different person comes more or less out of nowhere. Travel to a parallel universe is already a sci-fi premise, of course, but prior to Ray's reappearance, the reader doesn't have any indication that the technology of the looking glass world is different from that of our own.
Something the story did reveal about the looking glass world, that I really loved, is that all the major canon characters' counterparts are gay. Based on f_m_parkinson's comments on my recent post, in which she mentioned how little other fanfic was available at the time she wrote the story, she may not have intended that as a joke about fanfic in which improbable numbers of characters are suddenly gay or bisexual. It really reads that way, though, and is very funny.
Something the story did reveal about the looking glass world, that I really loved, is that all the major canon characters' counterparts are gay. Based on f_m_parkinson's comments on my recent post, in which she mentioned how little other fanfic was available at the time she wrote the story, she may not have intended that as a joke about fanfic in which improbable numbers of characters are suddenly gay or bisexual. It really reads that way, though, and is very funny.
I liked Ellis Ward's sequel ...And Memories Die, Part I, as well. It takes place after Bodie and Doyle have returned to their own universe and covers both some of the consequences of their journey and some unrelated episodes in their lives. Among the latter, I especially liked the one that developed a little of Bodie's backstory. My only real source of frustration with the fic was its inclusion of the trope where the heroes' sexual union will not be complete until they have anal intercourse, but there is some dramatic barrier that they must first overcome. That trope annoys me, as it feels very much based on a straight person's idea of what counts as real sex. It wasn't as central to this story as it is to some others, though, and some of my annoyance was more a carry-over from those than anything else. As
byslantedlight pointed out in response to a recent post of mine, such tropes were not necessarily tropes at the point these older stories were written, so it isn't really fair to vent pent-up annoyance on them. This was my favorite of the fics I read that were actually released in 1989. 26,340 words. Bodie/Doyle slash.Next, I read The Price of a Soul, a Professionals fic by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson. This story is the sequel to Hell Hath No Fury by the same authors, which I couldn't resist reading during my research for this game. I read a bit of The Price of a Soul at that point, too—that's why I was asking about it in a post last month—but I saved most of it so that I could include it among the 1989 readings. (For Lifetime Fic Bingo, I am trying to read only fics I have not read before.)
It's hard to say much about either of these fics without spoilers. I thought Hell Hath No Fury was excellent. The Price of a Soul was good, as well, though I agree with some of the commenters quoted on Fanlore, that its premise has a lot of interesting possibilities that were not explored. 2,194 words. Slash. (Hell Hath No Fury: 2,958 words. Gen. Particularly recommended.)
Comments with spoilers:
The Fanlore commenters regretted this fic's lost possibilities as a B/C story. I think that could have been an interesting direction in which to take it, but it seems to me there are a lot of other stories that could arise from the premise of Bodie being absolutely compelled to follow Cowley's orders. What about a case story in which instead of acting creatively, Bodie must follow orders not tailored to a changing situation? How would the Lads deal with that? What about a B/D story in which Cowley orders Bodie to terminate the relationship? What would the outcome be? What about a story in which Cowley tries to improve Bodie's behavior, then regrets it? What about, what about...
I also read both The Professionals fic Two Up by Jane of Australia and the response fic Two Up Truly Queered by Jane Carnall. Yet since Two Up was released in 1986 and Two Up Truly Queered is not a complete story, I didn't count them toward the fic total for this year (conveniently enough). The pair were still an interesting read, though. As a queer person, I can see where Jane Carnall was coming from in her response to Two Up. I found the part she objected to jarring, as well, especially because it had no appreciable effect on the story. 8,013 words and 2,360 words. Both Bodie/Doyle slash.
Check out the vid We Didn't Start the Fire by fiercynn and scribe, a celebration of fandom that uses a song from 1989.
Fics so far:
1986
Double Vision by Pamela Rose (The Professionals; 47,962 words; slash)
Begin Again by Lois Welling (Ann Barrister) (The Professionals; 1,318 words; gen)
*Night Before the World Ends by Lezlie Conch (Lezlie Shell) (The Professionals; 4,355 words; slash)
The Crab Apple Cove Affair by Charlie Kirby (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 2,301 words; gen)
*In the Belly of Leviathan by Pythia (original series Battlestar Galactica; 13,062 words; gen)
1987
The Never Too Late Affair by Debra Hicks (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 1,441 words; slash)
*The Traitor Within the Gates Affair by D. H. Bryn (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; ~34,000 words; het)
Whisper of a Kill by Lois Welling (Ann Barrister) (The Professionals; 53,978 words; slash)
The Adventure of the Traitorous Lieutenant by Eileen Roy (Sherlock Holmes; 1,827 words; gen)
*Brothers in Arms by Anais (original series Battlestar Galactica; 4,099 words; gen)
1988
Night Moves by Courtney Gray (The Professionals; 35,344 words; slash)
Rainbow Chasers by HG (The Professionals; 134,373 words; slash)
Patterns in Walls by Debra Hicks (The Professionals x Sable; 6,003 words; gen)
a href="http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/17/familytraits.html" target="_blank">Family Traits by Jatona Walker (The Professionals; 1,443 words; slash)
Slippery Situation by Debra Hicks (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 1,634 words; slash)
1989
In From the Cold by cybel (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 9,454 words; slash)
Nothing in Common by cybel (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 3,033 words; slash)
The Zippity Do-Dah Affair by Alys (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 934 words; slash)
*[From 1982: Looking Glass World by Felicity M. Parkinson (The Professionals; 22,758 words; slash)]
...And Memories Die, Part I by Ellis Ward (The Professionals; 26,340 words; slash)
*[Hell Hath No Fury by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson (The Professionals; 2,958 words; gen)]
The Price of a Soul a Professionals fic by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson (The Professionals; 2,194 words; slash)
[From 1986: Two Up by Jane of Australia (The Professionals; 8,013 words; slash)]
[Two Up Truly Queered by Jane Carnall (The Professionals; 2,360 words; slash)]
* = Particularly recommended
[] = read but not counted toward the year's story total
