True Colours (Man from U.N.C.L.E. zine)

Zine
Title:	True Colours
Publisher:	Kathy Resch published and edited this zine
Editor:
Author(s):	Kitty Fisher
Cover Artist(s):	Chris
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	March 1993 (completed), May 1993 (print zine)
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Language:	English
External Links:	wayback link online
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cover by Chris

True Colours is a 110-page slash novel by Kitty Fisher. Art is by Chris.

Summary

When Illya is captured, kidnapped, tortured and raped by an old THRUSH enemy, Napoleon, during and after the rescue, is forced to come to terms with the importance of his feelings for Illya. It's no longer possible to take refuge in his old ways... But is it possible to build a new relationship with Illya, to move past the pain, not only of Illya's ordeal, but Napoleon's callous behaviour in the past - and deal with Alexander Waverly's reaction and what happens with agents who are no longer of value?

Prologue

It had only ever happened once. One moment when they had let the boundaries of society slip and trusted to their feelings rather than their carefully constructed individuality. If Napoleon had been less ruthless, then possibly the sex wouldn't have mattered quite so much. Or then again, maybe that one nights excess was always destined to be a catalyst for unease.

It had for both men been a matter of need. Though the American thought his was greater than it really was, and the Russian, underestimating nothing as was his wont, and knowing the exact measure of his own need being able to gauge it with nuclear precision still gave himself unequivocally to the moment. Of course it had been Napoleon who had...asked was too polite a word...demanded, was closer to the mark. Illya, cool selfpossession disguising volcanic intensity with practised care, had nodded and laid himself naked upon Napoleons iceblue sheets, tasting there for the first and last time, perfection.

It had been over too soon. Leaving an aching void that hinted at more than loss and physical distress.

Illya tried not to dwell on it. But sometimes the absence of previously unvalued intimacy reminded him. And sometimes Napoleons mere presence was all it took for a lifetimes training in independence to be worn away just that little bit more. A fact which worried him. For when the erosion was complete, what would be left, if anything at all.

Sample Interior

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Reactions and Reviews

1994

My friend [B B] loaned my her copy and I enjoyed the story so much I had to have my own copy.

Going by [D's] *review suggestions* on why I liked the zine: the author has great writing style and her characterization is dead on. If I just told you the plot and left it at that, most fans would probably say it sounds like same 'ol, same 'ol. Illya is kidnapped, tortured, and rescued by Napoleon. But the author adds some nice twists and turns along the way.

Somehow, the author keeps the flow of the story going despite switching from Illya's POV to Napoleon's. But it really works in this story. I felt closer to Illya as he experienced severe doubts over a one night stand with Napoleon. And I cringed as Napoleon willfully and knowingly flaunts a woman in front of Illya just to make Illya *sweat.* After Illya is kidnapped, Napoleon wrestles with his conflicting emotions: is Illya just important as a partner or is there something deeper involved?

I don't want to give too much away, but the story does have some very nice moments in it: a taunt, realistic revenge scene and a bittersweet ending to mention two. Illya is portrayed as a strong, competent agent and the author does a fantastic job of presenting Napoleon as a man, though selfish at times, who is willing to risk everything in order to make Illya *secure.* Their boss, Mr. Waverly, is also a major player and the villain, while a carbon copy of most THRUSH agents who just so happen to want to have sex with Illya, is one sadistic SOB who seems to understand how powerful Illya and Napaleon's relationship is before they do.

As you can probably tell, I really loved this zine. If anyone knows if Kitty Fisher has written any additional stories, I'd love to hear about them.

I maintain that angst is a perfectly appropriate element of the UNCLE universe if developed well by the writer, although I'm still looking for a novel that really achieves this goal by my standards. The closest I've come so far--and this is only mild relationship angst-- is "A Matter of Trust" by Clotilda Willard. Kitty Fisher's "True Colors" was a decent intro to the "Illya gets raped" subgenre, though it was also a premonition of the annoying distortions that seem to permeate most other stories in this subgenre--to wit, "Illya feels worthless," "Illya tries to commit suicide," "Illya is feminized to a degree that makes Vila Restal look more butch than Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Blechhh.

1995

True Colors is not bad, for a second-rate slash novel. I call it second-rate for its somewhat clunky characterization, apparently missing spots of plot, and the author's (or editor's?) fairly lousy command of punctuation. But it's not bad in that there are instances of some insight, moments when the story actually catches fire and surprises the reader.

The plot of TC we've seen before (hell, the plot of TC I've written before): Hero A gets captured by the Bad Guys, who, for no particularly good reason, beat him up and rape him. (Repeatedly, of course.) Meanwhile, Hero B is tormented and in anguish over his friend's abduction, all the more so when the Bad Guys start mailing him photos of their dreadful deeds. Fate breaks in his favor, and he manages to rescue Hero A scant hours before it's Too Late.

Then comes the recovery half of the novel, in which A and B must together recuperate from the traumatic experience, so they mosey off to a remote location and a tiny, spare, twelve-room cottage with more mod. cons, than you can shake a stick at. It is there in that romantic fastness that their friendship grows, and deepens (and lengthens), and...well, you know. Okay, so it's standard. That's no sin. We fen are like four-year-olds, after all; we want to hear the story of The Three Bears (or, in our case, The Two Bears) over and over and over again. But just restating, however unconsciously, the same old plot is no especial accomplishment, either. When a writer goes spelunking in the Cave of Wonders for a story, she owes it to herself, if no one else, to bring back some uniqueness, to incorporate some of her own life's insight into the piece she returns with. Why else bother with all that work?

At the very least, why bother with all that work, and then let the piece go out compromised by poor craftsmanship? Fisher and her publisher, [Kathy Resch], obviously went to certain pains to lay out their zine nicely: typeset on computer, very well checked over for misspellings, a couple of mediocre but earnest illos. Why then allow a larger glitch like plot holes to get through? At the beginning of the recovery section, lllya is in the hospital for about half a page, and there is a bare mention of how hurt he is (uncharacteristically, I feel; isn't he a professional spy?) that Napoleon didn't visit-didn't even send a greeting card, the cad. There is no indication at this point that Napoleon has been doing anything but talking to a girlfriend and to Waverly. Only twenty-five pages later, when Iiya's sense of rejection is all too thoroughly gone into again, do we find out that, surprise, Napoleon was actually busy with a bit of vengeance. In another place, a Thrush high-up reveals that he knows all about Napoleon's and Illya's relationship (bow?) and offers them a position in the Bad Guy camp. Absolutely nothing comes of this. N & I don't seem to care that they are obviously being spied upon, nor do they pass on to UNCLE the interesting fact that they are being propositioned by the enemy. These are not instances of, as Berke Breathed put it, "Foreshadowing. Your guarantee of great literature."

As for characterization, there are a few, forgivable Briticisms-the two keep asking "d'ye fancy this," "d'ye fancy that." (Sure, Ilya could well make use of the phrase; canonically, he has a British background. But it sounds goofy in Napoleon's mouth.) The real problem, in my eyes, is the perennial one of all slash fiction: these men don't even sound like men, let alone the specific men they're supposed to be. Well, here these two aren't as bad as they get in some zines, but they still say things like, "The colours I saw when I came, your colours and very pretty they were too," and, "If I tell you I love you, will that be the tenth time today?" That is, of course, the trap of romanticism. How else are we gonna know that the Two Bears really like each other, if they don't say so? No matter how unlike themselves they sound in so doing.

There were a couple of places where Fisher did serve up a bit of meat. As part of the recovery, Illya confronts and disposes of a torment. That was actually somewhat surprising, and rather skillfully executed. There was also some business about /Vwoner-like tidying up of retired agents that started off quite interesting. Unfortunately, that then became not so much a glimpse of the dark side of political realities as a mere convenient straw man for Solo and Kuryakin to kick over.

Finally, and probably most pickily, the punctuation of True Colors is not only non-standard, it is non-consistent. In a way, it is reassuring that the British school system unleashes people as inept at commas and colons as the American system-maybe it's Zeitgeist and not just national stupidity. "'How can you say that; if the past few weeks didn't exist then you would be well; untouched by that bastard?'" "Hopefully it meant that their relationship was getting back-at least in Napoleon's eyes, to normal." "Illya curled his legs underneath him, he'd slipped his shoes off." And, "'Right then, back to the cabin." The problem with sentences like these (or non-sentences like, "Its rhythmic, impersonal stroking of his arm a binding to reality.") is not that they halt the flow of the story, but that they are like pebbles in the flow. They cause turbulence and uncertainty about exactly what the writer is getting at. Sometimes they cause a misreading, and the reader goes gamely on with a false notion of what was meant, only to become confused later. Then she has to backtrack and untangle what was said from what was meant, and in the process gets terribly cranky.

Writing is the candle that carries the flame of story from one mind to another. Clumsy punctuation, missing plot, lost paragraphs, confusing adjectives, misspellings, unbelievable characters, and so on force the reader to focus on the mechanics of the story, in order to correct the defects and decode the writer's intent. Thus she is not focusing on the story, and the flame can go out. It is the writer's duty to leave as few obstacles in the way of this heart-to-heart communion as possible. Therefore, the great charge to the writer is this: write not just so that you can be understood, but so that you can't help but be understood.

2005

If I remember correctly, this was the first U.N.C.L.E. fic I ever read - and I'm still a fan to this day. :)

Why this story must be read: Up until now I’ve been recommending fairly short stories. This story is long! 504K. And every time I’ve read it, I’ve read it from beginning to end without stopping because I get so engrossed in it. Fortunately, Kitty has it posted in segments so you can read the story in parts and not stay up all night the way I do.

This is a story about Napoleon slowly realizing exactly what his feelings are for Illya. It’s not a humorous story like my prior recommendations – it’s angsty and an intriguing story of hurt and comfort. But I would still classify it as a love story. I find it absolutely mesmerizing.

Be aware! This story contains rape scenes.

There are elements in the story that don’t totally fit my personal image of U.N.C.L.E.: an intolerant Waverly and a Solo who at the beginning of the tale is somewhat cruel and heedless of Illya’s feelings. Nevertheless, the writing is so good, the background of the characters well-developed, and the psychology of everyone’s actions is so intriguing, that everything works in the story.