The Man from UNCLE - an extended introduction to the 60’s series from a newbie slash fan

[rallamajoop]

(Cross-posted from tumblr, but probably rather more readable here)
Sometime around September of last year, I happened upon a trailer for the recent The Man from UNCLE movie on youtube, and on a whim, decided to give the original 60's TV series a go. I knew very little about the show going in beyond the general notion it was one of those classic old

Comments

[spikesgirl58]

Very good points to be made all the way through and it's refreshing to see someone look at the show with fresh eyes. I'm sure you are going to have fun with the series and I hope to read some of your work. Where will you be posting it?

Might I also offer you an invitation? There is http://mfu-canteen.livejournal.com/ which is our daily chatting place. There is also http://mfu-scrapbook.livejournal.com/ for all the image needs. There are also tons of links. Both sites are slash friendly.

Finally, looking for a new friend or two?

[rallamajoop]

I've actually got one fic up already at AO3. Would probably have been writing more if I hadn't derailed myself into meta-land - hopefully should have time to get back to that soon-ish (though lord knows I'm not the fastest writer out there at the best of times).

I'd hardly say no to a new friend or two or more community recs, though I'm actually in the weirdest place right now where my own f-list has so completely dried up on LJ over the last few years that I've all but given up and moved over to tumblr, much as I miss proper threaded conversation. Discovering a fandom community still active over here has been the best kind of shock to the system, but I honestly have no idea whether it's going to get me back into the habit of posting regularly again. So, um, hi! Nice to meet you! I may or may not be around much. ^^;

[spikesgirl58]

Most excellent. We are actually a pretty active fandom, all in all. I hope that we will see you around.

[laurose8]

Welcome to the fandom! We're glad to have new members, especially a good writer.

Thank you for a terrific overview. I am most looking forward to seeing those fic ideas. It might be cheek from someone who can't write a word, but if you can fic half as well as you meta, they'll be very fine.

All the meta is admirable, but I'd like to especially yay what you write about S4, which says what I feel (as overview) better than I could. I'd like to add that nonhumans seemed very unfortunate, unlike S1 Fox and Hounds.

Most fans would probably advise against sitting through GfU, but if you ever care to give a small appendix about that; or indeed on any subject, this one would be interested.

[rallamajoop]

Well, as I mentioned in the comment above I do have one fic posted already! I did actually link it to muncle and was there looking for a beta a little while before too, though I guess not everyone saw it/made the username connection.

Gosh S4 is an awkward subject for me. >_< I know a lot of fans loved it and I'd be the last person to tell them they shouldn't, especially when it sure has inspired some excellent fic. But I personally found it such a slog it all but killed my love of the series dead for a while in the middle. :/ Such a painful exercise in producers confusing grimdark nihilism for maturity.

I'd like to add that nonhumans seemed very unfortunate, unlike S1 Fox and Hounds.

Do you mean in the sense of episodes like My Friend the Gorilla, The Abominable Snowman, The Tigers are Coming, The Birds and the Bees, The Bridge of Lions, etc? Not the best record, though I did enjoy Bow-Wow and Bat-cave despite their sillier elements, and even Tigers has its (ahem) redeeming factors

[laurose8]

Actually, I did follow the link. But I don't have a taste for PWP, and I'm afraid I backbuttoned as soon as I saw the warning for gunkink (Thank you for putting it.) Nonetheless, I'm sure plenty will like it.

Thanks for replying, and looking forward to any future contributions, fic or meta.

[fiorenza_a]

Hiya, I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I've loved U.N.C.L.E. since God was a boy - and I actually like cheese - so the gorilla is fine by me. Although there are better examples of the faux gorilla http://mfu-canteen.livejournal.com/2119557.html... )

[rallamajoop]

Hi yourself! I kind of love that we've got folks in this fandom old enough to remember the show when it was originally on air - both for history's sake and just for getting more different perspectives in the mix. (Like meeting Doctor Who fans at cons old enough to have actually seen the missing episodes, to the envy of everyone else in the room.) Fandom over on tumblr makes me feel old and crotchety sometimes, it skews so young. (Apropos of nothing, gosh that gorilla can play the drums! Costuming too has come a long way in the last half-century.)

Although it was still undeniably sexist by modern standards.

Yeah - I mean, it comes and goes, but there's definitely moments even in UNCLE that really make me cringe, and plenty of others I know I give it more leeway on because it's a show from the 60's and I know how much worse it could be. And yet, I'd still say it's overall less sexist than some big budget modern productions I could name, le sigh. How far we've come, how far we still have to go...

ahem - slash is also a euphemism for

[lindafishes8]

I see you've jumped into the deep end with gusto. Welcome to LJ. Allow me to recommend posting any gen stories you'd like to share in Section VII http://section7mfu.livejournal.com/

We host many different challenges. Watch for the weekly calendar each Monday, to keep it all straight.

I'm a first cousin (watched the original when it first aired) but there are many second cousins in LJ and all are welcome to join in the fun. You're also welcome to peruse our UNCLE bible. It was written for the 50th Anniversary. http://www.mfuarchive.net/archive/6/MFU_Bible.pdf

[rallamajoop]

I see you've jumped into the deep end with gusto.

Considering the one other thing fannish thing I've done so far involved writing PWP gunkink fic, I think that one's pretty much a given. I'm a first cousin (watched the original when it first aired) but there are many second cousins

I had not run into that terminology before - is it riffing on the idea of being an UNCLE? So 'first cousin' is whoever watched the original run, and 'second cousin' covers everyone else?

[lindafishes8]

Yes! Exactly right. We call each other cousins. Recently, I've found and joined an MFU fansite in Russia! Illya being Russian and all, they are all "second cousins" but are very enthusiastic about the fandom. They write stories and do a lot of translating for fans there not as well versed in English. They talk about the original show and the 2015 movie. They even post other movies and TV shows in which actors David McCallum and Robert Vaughn starred in that aren't available in the US. Very nice and exceptionally polite group of cousins.

Here's a vid made by Anna Impu, from the Russian site.

Enjoy!

[rallamajoop]

Nice vid! I'd heard there was a fairly active Russian portion to the fandom. I do remember wondering on my first watch through the show how Illya (being written by Americans and played by an Englishman) might come across to an actual Russian audience - it's nice to know the answer seems to be 'not badly'.

Is there a specific Russian site you were thinking of? I know there's a pretty significant Russian population on LJ, but it sounds like you mean elsewhere?

[sparky955]

Ah. getting your PhD in The Pretty and The Brunet !!!!!

As one who came back to the family in 2007, all I can say is, THANK GHU FOR LJ and online fanfic.

[rallamajoop]

And I am sure I will find that PhD just as useful as Illya's is on the show! If I disappear abruptly, just assume THRUSH has mistaken me for someone whose PhD is in theoretical physics, and are about to be very disappointed with my contributions to the construction of their latest superweapon.