Lifetime Fic Bingo: 1995
Click to viewIt's 1995. TLC is on the radio. (Among the songs I've featured in these posts, their "Waterfalls" is the first one that I remember being aware of at the time of its release.) Here in the USA, the year's top film is Toy Story. New terms coined include: anti-globalization, cap-and-trade, eurozone, genderqueer, jack in, lawyer up, meatspace, mom jeans, noob, and subprime.
I'm still helping my mother move and it is still exhausting. I've found energy for reading fic here and there, so that I've now finished my five fics for 1995. I have very little energy for writing them up, though. I'm just going to start and see how it goes.
For this year, I read one Man from U.N.C.L.E. fic and four Professionals fics. I hoped to read another Man from U.N.C.L.E. fic to make up for having none in the past two posts. I just couldn't get into the other one I had queued, though, and I ended up abandoning it. I also abandoned The Cat Came Back by Taz, a crossover between The Professionals and a 1993 movie called Hard Target. The fic seemed promising, but it spent a lot of time on characters from the movie, and I decided that, without seeing that, I didn't have the background to really appreciate the story.
The MFU fic I did read was Sex, Lies and UNCLE by Anne Higgins (Part I, Part II), in which Napoleon and Illya must pretend to be a couple to draw out a blackmailer. This story is lightly AU in that it takes place in the 1990s, but with all of the familiar characters at the ages they were in the series. (The original version of the fic takes place in the 1990s, at least. When posting it on AO3 in 2010, the author made some minor changes to update the setting to the then-present. I'm not sure why she considered that desirable. I think some key aspects of the story work better in a 90s setting.)
There was plenty to like about this fic. It had a meaty, well constructed plot, especially in the second half. It had believable characterizations and distinct OCs. It also had a focus on how Illya and Napoleon's relationship was received by their coworkers that I found novel and interesting. (This is where the 90s setting added most to the story.)
I had trouble connecting with it, though, for reasons I'm not sure of. Possibly, it was what I felt was gratuitous sexual violence early in the story. The author did acknowledge that as a possible flaw in her note at the beginning of the AO3 version of the fic. She said that at the time of writing it she had "a fascination for rape fic." Based on how much rape has cropped up, one way and another, in the older stories I've been reading, I think that fandom in general had such a fascination at the time. There is still a lot of rape in fanfic, of course, but there doesn't seem to be as much in the fandoms I favor as there was in the late 80s and early 90s. I recently made a post about this in the Professionals comm ci5hq.
Anyway, Sex, Lies and UNCLE is a good story in a lot of ways, but my boat was not quite floated. It may have been the sexual violence, or it may have been something else. Perhaps it was the fact that the author had apparently decided that Illya doesn't use contractions. 51,540 words. Napoleon/Illya slash.
I also read Knife-Edge, a short Professionals fic by HG. This fic begins with Ray getting into a knife fight. That scene was exciting, and the fic had a novel development later on that I will find memorable. I didn't feel strongly either way about the story as a whole, though. It was okay. 6,141 words. Bodie/Doyle slash.
After reading Knife-Edge, I found myself stalled. I had collected quite a few intriguing Professionals fics for 1995, and had been looking forward to reading some. Yet, as tired as I was, all of them suddenly looked too emotionally demanding. Eventually, I decided I'd just have to go hunt down some gentler fics, which is how I came up with the three Professionals stories below.
You Dancing? You Asking? by Gloria Lancaster is a first-time fic in which Bodie discovers that Doyle doesn't know how to dance and decides to teach him. It was enjoyable, with a fun premise and good dialog. I did see a development coming that I think might have been meant as a surprise, but it didn't matter much. 6,323 words. Bodie/Doyle slash.
The long Professionals fic Summer's End by Alexandra sees Bodie and Doyle travel to Cornwall to investigate a murder. I liked this one a lot and it was my favorite for the year. It is a mixed case fic and relationship fic, with a skillful balance between the two elements. Both are well executed, too: the interplay between the Lads different personalities is engaging and the mystery they are solving keeps you guessing. The story also has vivid OCs and descriptions of its picturesque setting that made it easy to picture the action. There were more sex scenes than I would have preferred, but I did think they were well written. 71,090 words. Bodie/Doyle slash. Particularly recommended.
Having enjoyed Summer's End, I tried another fic by Alexandra: Memoirs of a Merc. This is a comic AU in which Doyle is in CI5 while Bodie is the author of a book called Memoirs of a Merc. I enjoyed this, too. Its silly but charming, and I think most of the comedy succeeds. I did have a little trouble rooting for the alternate Bodie Alexandra depicted to end up with Ray, though. 13,457 words. Bodie/Doyle slash.
(This post took me several days to finish. Looking back over it, I see that it has ended up a mixture of cursory and rambling. Ah well.)
This may be my last bingo post for a while. I'm considering taking October off from reading historical fics to enjoy the newly released entries in the Professionals Big Bang and catch up on other recent fics.
If you liked this post, please push the heart button!
Fics so far:
1986
Double Vision by Pamela Rose (The Professionals x Who Dares Wins; 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. x M*A*S*H; 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)
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)]
1990
*The Long St. Crispin's Day by C. W. Walker (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 19,765 words; gen)
*One Small Step by Lori Beatty (The A-Team; 5,713 words; gen)
Nor the Leopard His Spots by M. Fae Glasgow (The Professionals x EastEnders; ~15,000 words; slash)
*...And Memories Die, Part II by Ellis Ward (The Professionals; 46,161 words; slash)
*Absent Friends by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson (The Professionals; 692 words; slash)
1991
*The Seventeen Days in October Affair by Terry L Neill and J. M. D’Agostino-Toney (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 14,854 words; gen)
*The Devil's Attic Affair by C. W. Walker (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 28,968 words; gen)
The Lion of Ngambo Affair by C. W. Walker (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 23,087 words; het)
Free Trader by Debra Hicks (The Professionals x Star Trek TNG; 26,454 words; slash)
Legacy of Temptation by Ellis Ward (The Professionals; 100,794 words; slash)
1992
What Price Honor? by Debra Hicks (The A-Team; 4,105 words; gen)
*The Surfin' and Spyin' Affair by Jennifer Adams Kelley (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 11,650 words; gen)
Bonding by Stew (The Professionals; 22,241 words; slash)
Some Say the World Will End in Fire by Jane Mailander (from Proslib) (The Professionals; 5,410 words; slash)
*Floral Arrangement by M. Fae Glasgow (The Professionals; ~13,000 words; slash)
1993
*Nothing Left to Lose by Jane (of Australia) and Madelaine Ingram (The Professionals; 33,529 words; slash)
*The Blue Figurine by Courtney Grey (The Professionals; 29,960 words; slash)
Step We Gaily by M. Fae Glasgow (The Professionals; ~13,500 words; slash)
Guardian Angels by Baravan (The Professionals; 13,408 words; slash)
The Adventure of the Strange Visitor by Quordle (Sherlock Holmes x Blake's 7; 7,903 words; slash)
1994
Bounty by Jane (of Australia) (from Proslib) (The Professionals; ~31,000 words; slash)
*Baiting the Trap by DVS (The Professionals; 2,758 words; slash)
Love is Wealth by Gloria Lancaster (The Professionals; 13,387 words; slash)
Survival by Melanie Athene (The Professionals; 10,916 words; slash)
*Brighton Memoirs by gardenerhill (Sherlock Holmes; 5,530 words; slash)
1995
Sex, Lies and UNCLE by Anne Higgins (Part I, Part II) (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 51,540 words; slash)
Knife-Edge by HG (The Professionals; 6,141 words; slash)
You Dancing? You Asking? by Gloria Lancaster (The Professionals; 6,323 words; slash)
*Summer's End by Alexandra (The Professionals; 71,090 words; slash)
Memoirs of a Merc by Alexandra (The Professionals; 13,457 words; slash)
* = Particularly recommended
[ ] = read but not counted toward the year's story total