carabele: (Animated Napoleon)
I am a writer of Man from U.N.C.L.E. fanfiction and that's what brought me to LJ.

I write gen (and maybe a little het). Sorry, no slash. But if you have an interest, links to the my stories are behind the cut.
Read more... )
carabele: (Animated Napoleon)
I've added to my website my HODOWE: Int'l Left-handers' Day Chellenge story.

NAME: THE CINDERFELLA AFFAIR
GENRE: GEN
WORD COUNT: approx 33,600
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: Adult situations
SUMMARY: Not every fairytale begins as you'd expect... or ends as you'd hope
TIMELINE: Winter into Summer 1955
carabele: (Default)
I've added to my website my HODOWE: Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Carnivale story (see HODOWE: Challenge Event Calendar Revised on [livejournal.com profile] section7mfu for more info).

NAME: DEPRIVATION OF THE HEART
GENRE: GEN
WORD COUNT: approx 1,325 words
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: Adult Situations (including an implied but non-sexually explicit het romance)
SUMMARY: She was his Clara... until she wasn't any longer.
TIMELINE: Late Winter 1958
carabele: (Default)
NAME: VIBRATIONS THROUGH THE WALL
GENRE: GEN
WORD COUNT: approx 12,100
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: Violence/Torture; Mild Sexual Innuendo
SUMMARY: Thrush has developed yet another dangerous drug. But this time their production/distribution operation is centered in apartheid-governed South Africa, where U.N.C.L.E. has no chartered jurisdiction.
TIMELINE: Early Winter 1967/1968
carabele: (Default)
Over the past few months I've had a chance to work with the talented [livejournal.com profile] wendiez on an MFU fanfic aftertake on THE GURNIUS AFFAIR. That collaborative work is now posted to my website. (Part 1 is all Wendie's work; I came into the writing for Part 2 and Part 3.)

Here's the info and link:

Name:       WE ARE WHAT WE LIVE
Type:         Gen / Mild Het
Length:      approx 87,100 words
Rating:       R
Warnings:  Language, Torture, Adult Situations
Timeline:    Late Summer into Late Autumn 1967
Summary:  Psychological pain can haunt us, preventing the ultimate healing of both minds and hearts while stretching taut the ties of friendship. An aftertake on THE GURNIUS AFFAIR.

Hope some folks find it enjoyable
carabele: (Default)
Clicking on one of the story links in MFU ARCHIVE, I was surprised and rather tickled to come across a multi-writer MFU fanfiction site devoted solely to stories on Napoleon Solo.

One of the guidelines is: We prefer to keep this site "Solo-Centric" but stories with both agents are allowed.(please no Illya centric stories as he has plenty of sites of his own!)

That had me giggling. I thought it was neat. Yes, there are and have been for a good while sites by individual authors that are Solo-centric (my own included), but this is a multi-writer site.

So far of course there are only a few stories there, one I had read before elsewhere and one that is a WIP, so I won't read it till it is complete (thuogh I scanned the first chapter out of curiosity and did find it quite well written). Still, it's like balm to my soul to see others more interested in Solo's adventures than Illya's.

No idea if the site will take off or if it will wind up being worth beans, and me I prefer to stick to posting to my own personal site along with MFU Archive and ff.net. Still, it was just something that, as a dyed-in-the-wool Solo-phile, made me break out in silly grin.
carabele: (Default)
I've added the two vignettes I composed for THE VALENTINE'S CHALLENGE on [livejournal.com profile] mfu_yumdaily to my site in PDF format. Both are gen. Here are the info blurbs and links:

ALL GOOD PEOPLE -- Vignette (approx 825 words); Complete 2/14/11; PG Rated
The Cuban Missile Crisis: What thoughts went through the heads of our men from U.N.C.L.E.?
TIMELINE: Autumn 1962


FORCED FOCUS -- Vignette (approx 1,500 words); Complete 2/14/11; PG-13 Rated for violence/torture
What does Illya know that the others at U.N.C.L.E. don't? What exactly happened to Waverly on his trip to Washington, D.C.?
TIMELINE: Spring 1968




In January I had also added to my site in PDF format the short story I wrote for THE DOWN THE CHIMNEY CHALLENGE on [livejournal.com profile] muncle, but forgot to put an update post here in my journal at that time. Story is gen. Below is the info blurb and link:

THE IN LIEU OF GOLD AFFAIR -- Short Story (approx 17,400 words); Complete 1/1/11; PG-13 Rated for violence and adult situations
A Thrush plot in the offing with regard to athlete drug testing during the Summer Olympics of 1968 brings Napoleon and Illya to Mexico City.
TIMELINE: Late Summer into Autumn 1968

carabele: (Default)
...and go back to fanfic writing.

I have a DTC story to get done and I kinda/sorta promised [livejournal.com profile] glennagirl as well that I would write a story about Napoleon in Survival School.

Both projects are underway but far from finished. (Damn, I am such a slow writer! But then again I have so little time to really write.)

So screw the silly movie! I need to get back to what I can control and let Hollywood roast in its own fires.
carabele: (Default)

It took me longer than I anticipated to finish, but finally here is my story on what happened between Napoleon and Mara after she took that dose of Capsule B in THE NOWHERE AFFAIR.  I hope some of you will find it enjoyable.

Title:  Coming Back from Somewhere
Author:  LAH (Carabele)
Category: Gen
Word Count:  Approx 17,250
Warnings:  Adult Situations implied


carabele: (Default)
Some days ago on MFU Canteen there was a question about what constitutes a "perfect story" in your eyes. I answered there that I had never found the perfect story, but I had found many good ones. And that answer is honest truth for me in the realm of MFU fanfiction.

"Perfect" remains elusive in my eyes for a ton of reasons. First and foremost is that I am a Solo-phile who prefers gen works of fanfiction. Many stories in MFU fandom shout "Illya!" and that's fine and I've enjoyed reading many of these, but they will never be my preference. Slash doesn't work for me so, though I've read it here and there, such stories will also never be my preference.

An even more subjective reason is that, as a writer of MFU fanfiction myself, I have my own mind-vision of Napoleon Solo's past pre-series and his future post-series. So, though I will enjoy something written to someone else's mind-vision of these things, those stories can never seem "perfect" in my eyes.

However, as I also noted, I have found good stories, and some of these do stand out above the rest for me. I am not a story re-reader as a rule, so generally a story either leaves a mental impression on me right away or it does not. And there are some where that impression stays in my mind weeks, months, years after I've read them. So I thought I would list here stories that have done that as recommendations to others.

First on this list has to be [livejournal.com profile] nangi_akki's PEPPERMINT TWIST.  This is the first story I ever saved to my Memories here on LJ.  Her view of Solo's childhood isn't mine, but the story still compels me.  It's hurt/comfort, but in a quiet and understated way.  I adore it.

Next I'm going to have to list a story I've rec'd here before, that is [livejournal.com profile] akane42me's ACHING.  Episode-related, it provides a moving afterword to THE TERBUF AFFAIR through an outsider's view, the outsider in this case the pharmacist at U.N.C.L.E. HQ.  It speaks volumes in just a short vignette.

Next is the wonderful [livejournal.com profile] st_crispins' CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT AFFAIR, a piece that she co-authored with L. White.  I believe it's friends-locked on LJ, but it is well worth messaging the author about including you in her friends' list so you can read this entry.  She and I differ widely in our ideas of Napoleon's pre-series past and post-series future and I'm generally not into stories that mix MFU with vampire lore, but this one has a unique twist.  The vampire is actually the innocent and a totally believable and enticing character.

This next one puts a lump in my throat every time I think about it: it's [livejournal.com profile] dangelos_song's THE PUT ASUNDER AFFAIR.  This one just breaks my heart.  It's not emotionally sloppy, just emotionally moving.  And though the author's vision of Napoleon as five years' Illya's senior -- and thus up for retirement years before his partner -- isn't mine, this vignette of the pair's parting at that retirement of Solo's is beautifully inspired and beautifully written.

Next GM's THE ICARUS BLUFF AFFAIR.  Short and intense, this story just epitomizes Solo to me.  This writer is fond of hurt/comfort scenarios that often go too far for me, but this story isn't one of those.  And the uplifting and somewhat "what-the..." ending reminds much of the series' deft comedic touch.

This next one is archived on ff.net, so I'm issuing a warning for those who prefer to venture to that site with caution.  The story is Xenon's THE GETTING TO KNOW YOU AFFAIR.  As can be guessed by the title, it's a story that details Napoleon and Illya's first mission together.  I've read many stories in this vein but this one is definitely the best in my opinion.  It's truly a shame that this is the only MFU piece of fanfiction this author ever wrote.  It's definitely a mission story: quick-paced action with introspective bits as the guys' form opinions of one another.

The last one is an odd one for me because, as I noted at the beginning of this post, slash really is not my thing.  I don't see the guys as having a sexual relationship or either as being gay/bi.  This story, [livejournal.com profile] viviana7's CHAINS -- another afterword to THE TERBUF AFFAIR, is listed by the author as pre-slash and it definitely is, with Illya's longing for Napoleon overlaying its entirety.  But it also speaks volumes about friendship.

So that's the list for now.  I'll likely post more as I read ones that "stay with me".  I hope folks will check these out and enjoy them as much as I did.

carabele: (Default)

After noting in my email spam folder god knows how many emails in the past couple of months with a subject of "Hello, my name is John Tery" or "Hello, my name is Jane Mumbo", etc., an idea came into my head for an MFU story using that as the focus.  Here is the result.

I am really pleased with the way it turned out and I hope some of you find it enjoyable.

Title:  Hello, my name is...
Author:  LAH (Carabele)
Category: Gen -- Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship
Word Count:  Approx 14,100
Warnings:  None

carabele.com/uncle/Hello.pdf
 


carabele: (Default)

I've finally finished the second (and final) part of my epic-sized MFU fanfiction THE WAVES OF CHANGE AFFAIR.

This was a monster undertaking for me which wound up taking a full year to write between the two parts.  But it was the second part that was really the killer, taking eight long months to complete!

Needless to say I'm absolutely ecstatic to have this done and available now on my fanfiction web page.  It was definitely a lesson in discipline to get this finished, but what a feeling of accomplishment!

For those who might have already read the first part of the story and want to now read the second half, you get get directly to that part via this link: carabele.com/uncle/WavesOfChange2.pdf

For those who may have been waiting for the entire story to be complete before delving in to such a long tale, you can get to the story from the beginning via this link: carabele.com/uncle/WavesOfChange.htm

I hope some of you will find this an enjoyable work of fiction!
carabele: (Default)
Okay, may seem like an odd subject, but it's just something that strikes me sometimes when reading various MFU stories.

Another LJ'r mentioned in one of the LJ discussion communities recently that she didn't like fanfiction where the guys became "domesticated".  That remark hit a corresponding chord with me immediately.

I like the guys to be idealistic men performing a difficult job.  I like them moral but dangerous.  I like them residing on the edge of society in many ways.

I don't like them finding hearth and home suddenly more important to their internal psyches than U.N.C.L.E.  That, to me, pulls their teeth and declaws them.  They lose a lot of what make them interesting when this happens.  They lose that intriguing edge.

So how do others respond to our two favorites agents turning from full-fledged tigers into little more than domesticated cats?
carabele: (Default)

I just finished reading a piece of Napoleon-centric fanfic here on LJ that I have to recommend to others.  It's simply extraordinarily written.

Here's the link: http://community.livejournal.com/mfuwss/141821.html
carabele: (Default)

I doubt I'll post many journal entries, but I did want to put forth for those with similar interests that I am a MAN FROM UNCLE fanfiction writer.  Only started on this particular hobby in 2009, though I have written in other genres for longer than I care to admit.  Fantasy fiction for the most part, though I have also written modern plays, a couple of which have been produced in workshop in the Manhattan off-Broadway circuit.

I'm a East Coast U.S. gal with a real love of New York City (I work in Manhattan and live in the NY metro area).  I tried living in the Midwest once-upon-a-time.  Really not for me.  I love the Big Apple vibe.

I did want to post a link to my website, where my MFU fanfic can be found (it's also on fanfiction.net), as well as content from when I was active in the GEMSTONE IV fantasy online game community (gave that up last year after a dozen years as part of the community).

Here's the site link: http://carabele.com/

Hope some here will visit my website for a look-see!

By the by: My interest in MFU fanfic is gen/het.  Slash just doesn't cut it for me, but gen/het fiction in MFU-dom is often hard to find.  I've read a lot online, but I'm always looking for fresh gen/het MFU fanfic to read, so recommendations in that mode are always appreciated.  Also, Napoleon is my fave by far, yet so much of the fiction I have found is Illya-centric.  So Napoleon-centric recs would be especially appreciated.