The Evergreen Affair

Zine
Title:	The Evergreen Affair, and Other U.N.C.L.E. Stories
Publisher:	Kathy Resch
Editor(s):
Date(s):	February 2002
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Language:	English
External Links:
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front cover, 1992

front cover, the 2002 reissue

Contents

The Evergreen Affair (subtitled "And Other U.N.C.L.E. Stories") is a 188-page slash anthology by DVS. It contains fiction published in other multi-fandom zines.

• The Muddy Waters Affair (Illya finds refuge in his off hours at an out-of-the-way coffeehouse, where he has collected an eclectic group of friends. They decide on a fun game: matchmaking Illya with the best and worst early 60s New York has to offer...) (reprinted from Dyad #2) (1)
• Forbidden Fruit (A fun, double-entendre-filled flirtation...) (16)
• The Operation Showtime Affair (Napoleon can't resist investigating the need-to-know "Operation Showtime" assignments that only Illya is assigned to...) (26)
• Sex and Poetry (Illya's deliberate revelation of his homosexuality gives Napoleon a lot to think about.) (reprinted from Exposures #4) (35)
• The American Dream (Illya, weary of watching Napoleon's endless womanizing, decides to give up on what will never be his.) (reprinted from Dyad #4) (50)
• Revelations (In an isolated mountain cabin, Napoleon and Illya await a defecting THRUSH agent - a man who, years ago in a military training camp in Russia, brutalized and raped Illya.) (67)
• Baker's Man (Napoleon is shocked, furious - and unaccountably jealous - when he catches Illya with a male lover.) (Starsky and Hutch crossover) (reprinted from Liaisons #2) (103)
• The Hot Springs Affair and Hot Springs Decision (At the end of their time with U.N.C.L.E., Illya and Napoleon move on to new lives...) (123)
• The Evergreen Affair (Agent Ross disappeared over a year ago but Waverly, disliking loose ends, and finding a rare break in fighting THRUSH, assigns Napoleon and Illya on this long-cold case. Several days spent following Ross' trail in New England gives Napoleon plenty of time to view Illya in an entirely new way.) (141) (also in Lovers #1)

sample text page

From the Editorial in Lovers #1

[About the story, [The Evergreen Affair"]: Once upon a time I wrote everything out longhand at the laundromat. Now, I have word cruncher machines and find I seldom write them out as I once did. THE EVERGREEN AFFAIR was the last story I wrote the first draft of entirely by hand. I found I had thought of some changes in the three years it sat in the drawer. For example, the first draft had about ten extra pages on the end. Mostly two sex scenes. After deciding that I had our heroes getting into the heavy stuff too fast, I also realized I didn't want the story to go so far as New York and a new mission, so I ended it where the story began. Of course, now I have ten pages of sex scene[s] I don't know what to do with.... Anyway, I'd like to dedicate this story, and the one after it, to O. Yardley, who, every year, puts out a Christmas tale, each one better than the last, and whose work I have always admired, and who has been very patient with my annual dumb questions letter!

Reactions and Reviews

I recently bought a lovely used MFU slash zine called The Evergreen Affair. The fics are all by DVS and it was put together by [Kathy Resch] and released in February 2002. Does anyone know this wonderful writer, DVS? The first story, The Muddy Waters Affair, is one of the best first time fics I have ever read. The second, Forbidden Fruit, was less angsty, but funny and delightful. She has their voices so perfect, and does such a great job with double entendre banter in Forbidden Fruit. I'm just curious to know more about her and if she is writing in any fandoms today.

I greatly enjoyed the "Evergreen" zine, except...the stories' ends; in all of them, after a honorourable struggle, Illya "gives up his virtue" to his conqueror (Napoleon, of course) against a promise of undying love and commitment. Not very much in character; I'd have prefered more subtlety, it somehow reminded me of Barbara Cartland novels.

The Evergreen Affair and Other U.N.C.L.E. Stories by DVS is one seriously fun zine from start to finish. This zine offers ten stories written and published by DVS in the late 1980's and early 1990's, gathered into a convenient collection. Published in 2002, the zine is 188 pages, double-columned with a large size serif font that's easy on the eyes. 8.5 x 11 size, comb-bound, no interior art. The cover is a nice black-and-white still photograph of Napoleon and Illya, guns in hand, from "The Virtue Affair".

I bought the zine from Kathy Resch, and think it is still available for sale as of January 2008. To my knowledge, none of the stories in this zine are available online.

This is a slash zine, and not only that, it is an all "first time" zine. Since first time stories are generally a fan favorite, this is probably a plus for most readers, but I got a little frustrated with the single note theme. I'm a big fan of established relationship stories, so some variety would've been nice.

DVS' writing style is very distinctive. Her prose is as direct, economical, and powerful as her characterizations. While the matter-of-fact style suits the confident, strong characterizations, there is an abruptness to the stories that this reader found both surprising and intriguing. There is no angst to be found here - zip, zero, nada. These guys are extremely decisive. Events lead the guys to recognize a mutual attraction, and then they act. Nor is there any hearts-and-flowers romance, although their feelings and commitment toward each another are never in doubt. I find this approach extremely appealing, although severely underwritten. The story endings tend to be truncated a bit, but there's no doubting the emotional depth to these stories. And doggone it, they are just plain fun to read!

The focus in every story is on the relationship, and on how they are moving toward a sexual relationship. Action plot fans - these aren't the stories you're looking for. There be much explicit sex here. The words are as stripped-down as Napoleon and Illya's bodies are, but it's wonderful stuff.

A beatnik coffeehouse is the perfectly natural setting for "The Muddy Waters Affair". Illya's friends decide to find a suitable companion for their quiet, mysterious friend. 15 pages.

"Forbidden Fruit" features a lot of fast-paced banter and double-entendres when Napoleon intuits what Illya is brooding over - and it ain't really apples. 10 pages.

Napoleon rises to an unexpected challenge when he shows his competitive side in "Operation Showtime". Illya is assigned to a case and Napoleon decides he does indeed "need to know" what his partner is up to. 9 pages.

My favorite story is "Sex and Poetry". Illya confides a long-held secret to his partner, and Napoleon is rather quick to figure out why he's suddenly receiving confessions from Illya. 15 pages.

A dangerous assignment leaves Illya with a head injury and an unpleasant dream, prompting him to re-evaluate the status quo of his life. Napoleon isn't very happy to learn that Illya has decided to pursue his own version of "The American Dream". 17 pages.

"Revelations", at 36 pages (and with a plot), is one of the longest stories in the zine. Napoleon and Illya are stuck in an isolated cabin with a THRUSH defector who happens to have a grim history with Illya. But all is not as it seems.

Illya rescues and befriends a very young man one evening in "Baker's Man". The encounter has consequences that reverberate down the years and change the lives of four people. A cross-over story with "Starsky & Hutch". 21 pages.

UNCLE has finally eradicated THRUSH and in "The Hot Springs Affair", Illya thinks it may be time to retire. I'm still blinking over Waverly's role in this story. 8 pages.

Time passes and things change, even when you're retired. Reunions can be especially sweet. And a "Hot Springs Decision" can be very enjoyable in the middle of a cold autumn night. 9 pages.

In "The Evergreen Affair", Napoleon and Illya spend a leisurely week in December retracing the steps of an agent who mysteriously disappeared, trying to discover what happened to him. Nothing much happens except for a lot of talking and thinking - but the talking and thinking changes their lives forever. 48 pages.