GRADUATION DAY (Gen version)

[avery11.livejournal.com]

Author: Avery11
Genre: Gen

(Author's Note: A friend suggested that I write a Gen version of the Slash story I did for a Challenge gift awhile back. Here's the result.)

Graduation Day

(Gen version)

     Illya passed through the ancient stone portal of Trinity College, his black doctoral robes flapping rather comically in the stiff breeze. Under his arm, he carried his mortarboard, gratefully redundant now, and the folder holding his PhD in Quantum Mechanics, primi ordinis -- the youngest candidate in the history of the College to achieve the distinction. He strode on, past the statue of Henry VIII with its missing, pilfered leg, and the rooms of Isaac Newton, preserved from the days when he had been a student there.

***Author's Note: The rest of this story has been deleted for a year, so that it can be published in Lisa Madden's zine, "The Kuryakin Files." It's a Gen-awesome zine, nearly 200 pages of stories and art about our favorite guys. You can contact Lisa at North Coast Press if you want to order a copy: lemadden52@gmail.com

Comments

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

It doesn't help that I read the previous version as Gen, so it took me a while to remember the difference. I'm one of those odd people who think Gen = Not explicit, same as on TV.

[avery11.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see. Yeah, I went with the definitions that most people are likely to understand. In the previous version, Jack and Illya are clearly a couple, so even though there was no overt sex, people referred to it as slash. In this one, it's Lisbeth and Illya who are a couple. Again, no overt sex, so I really couldn't justify calling it Het--but clearly M/F. Sorry for any confusion. I hope you enjoyed the story anyway.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed the previous version.

I sometimes wonder if the Gen/Slash, Gen/Explicit difference has anything to do with the difference between American and European attitudes. Here in the UK we're more casual about sex and nudity in films than we are about violence. You know they had to remove blood to get a 12A certificate for "The Hunger Games" over here.

[avery11.livejournal.com]

Huh. Interesting. "Hunger Games" certainly has a violent theme, but I thought the movie handled what is essentially "Lord of the Flies" with remarkable restraint. Great movie. That said, personally, I'd rather see lovemaking than violence any day.

As to the rest, I agree that Gen/Slash/Het values need to be clarified, but there is currently no consensus on how to do that. As one of the Cousins with the least seniority, I'm comfortable with whatever the community decides, but for now I'll use the labels that the majority of readers understand.

Some readers really don't want anything to do with M/F, and I'd hate for them to be broadsided because I didn't label the story clearly. The same courtesy applies for those readers who don't want M/M.

Glad you were able to enjoy the story.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

personally, I'd rather see lovemaking than violence any day.

Here, here. (or is it actually, Hear, Hear, I don't know?)


the labels that the majority of readers understand.

I know I'm in a minority, and I find some rating systems totally incomprehensible (FFnet, for one) All I want is the equivalent of what I would find on the dustjacket of a novel.

Mostly I ignore any warnings and bail out if I don't like the story for any reason. And that will include not spellchecking and bad layout (I want paragraphs, damn you.)

[avery11.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think alot of us feel the same way about the lack of clarity in the rating system. (We won't even discuss FFnet!)

The problem is that there is no consensus on how to update the values, and the changes will be difficult to initiate, given how many cousins cross into other fandoms where the old rating system would still apply.

That said, I can give you paragraphs, a reasonable amount of spellchecking, and hopefully, a damned good story. :)

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

there is no consensus

That is so true. I came across a discussion somewhere in LJ that had a lot of people trying to insist that Gen mean no relationships could exist in the story at all. Even a canonical married couple had to be apart for a story to be Gen. I just didn't get it.

MfU, like B7 and DV, has grown up fans who understand the value of presenting a story in a readable form.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, the picture made my heart skip a beat as the story flashed through my brain. I could read it every day and never tire of it. I could also look at that picture with the same enthusiasm ;)

[avery11.livejournal.com]

Lord, I do love that photo! I have to admit, I love the story, with Illya's reactions to his unexpected journey from Cambridge to UNCLE. Beginnings are so much fun to write.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Story was excellent and loved the picture! Great job!

[avery11.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Didn't you just want to smack Lisbeth upside the head? I did.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Absolutely, giving up the like so the blond? I loved this line :" an addiction of sorts, like picking at the scab on a wound until it bled -- and yet he couldn't seem to stop himself..."

How many times have we each found ourselves in that sort of position...so true.