Round Table - Gurnius

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I'm running a little late.  Some of you may have seen my post about the water heater leak, so my game is a little off.
Anyway, after posting the link for the story on Friday I got to thinking about Gurnius, and all that has been left unsaid in the episode, and all that writers have tried to rectify and explain in lots of stories.
Does anyone have another favorite post Gurnius story that comes close to matching what you think might have happened?  I'm feeling slightly inclined to actually write one myself, and wondered if it might be a suitable challenge for Section VII.
Thoughts, stories, suggestions... ?

Comments

[lindafishes8.livejournal.com]

My favorite story after Gurnius has to be 'We Are What We Live' by Carabele and WendieZ. They take up the story where Gurnius leaves off and then takes it into a whole new, wonderful story of love (or at least lust) and angst.
Rated R for Language, Torture, Adult Situations. Approx 87,100 words.

http://carabele.com/uncle/We_Are_What_We_Live_Part1.pdf (http://carabele.com/uncle/We_Are_What_We_Live_Part1.pdf)

"Psychological pain can haunt us, preventing the ultimate healing of both minds and hearts while stretching taut the ties of friendship."
(After take on series episode The Gurnius Affair)

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Oh I remember that story, it is a long read but worth it.

[carabele.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kind words regarding this opus of a story!

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

The Gurnius Affair can practically generate a fandom all its own, so maybe it could be a challenge of some sort.

I wrote two Picfic Tuesday stories that address Napoleon's subconscious reaction to being tortured by his partner. They are stand alones, but make more sense if read together. The first one is "Nightmare and Reflection" and the second is "Talking It Out." Both stories are just over 1100 words long. The links below take you to AO3.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1180097

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1206661

[lindafishes8.livejournal.com]

These are both great after-Gurnius stories. Thanks for sharing them here.

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kind words!

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I agree, Gurnius is almost its own world and the lack of resolution within the episode leaves the door wide open. I think I wrote something way back that referenced it, but I can't remember for sure. I'm intrigued now by how many versions we could all come up with if there were a challenge to write specifically about this episode.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

My post-Gurnius story is here:

A is for Andy [Gurnius from Solo's POV; torture]

http://file40.net/file40g/crispins/andy.html or

http://community.livejournal.com/muncle/177103.html

Nancy Hayes, who is a neurophysiologist gave me info for the science part on what would be happening to Solo during the session.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I know I've read it but will probably go back and read all of these stories that are being reviewed.
So, just how important is Gurnius in the arc of the relationship between Solo and Kuryakin. I know the series didn't address it, but in our more developed world of MFU, is it a turning point?

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

It definitely opened up the door to many directions in which their partnership and they themselves could have been affected by it all.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

I'm probably in the minority, but I never saw Gurnius as a gamechanger. Illya did what he had to do and he saved Napoleon's life. He just had to figure out how to leverage his position without killing his partner. I guess that's what my story was about: not that they were in opposition but that they actually could coordinate enough to save both Solo and the mission.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I agree that as professionals they are each just doing their job, and in Illya's case doing it under the guise of someone whose appetite for cruelty must be observed and yet controlled for the sake of his partner.
Having said that, the one line that opens the door comes from Napoleon when he remarks that the friendship is strained… The question then can be asked: just how strained is it?
In any event, it's nice to discuss an episode and hear from everyone.

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

I believe I took Napoleon's line to be sarcastic and not something he really, fully meant. But I can definitely see how it could open the door for other possibilities in stories.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

That's how I took it too... I really don't think it strained their relationship since Illya had maneuvered rather artfully and bottom line, had just saved his life. If anything, it would have confirmed that Napoleon *could* trust his partner with his life.

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

I believe I rather agree with you. It's kind of interesting to explore other possibilities (although I think I personally find some of said possibilities quite heartbreaking and depressing), but in actual canon, I don't really think much changed between them, if anything. Napoleon (and Illya) may have each had some nightmares about it, but I don't think it would have been much worse than that. They're both professionals and they knew what had to be done.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Wow these are all great fics following up the Gurnius Affair. I agree with Alynwa it could be a fandom all unto itself as they're so man possibilities.

I haven't dabbled with too many episodic stories, though I have one vaguely related to Gurnius in my Snapshots collection that references Nexor...it deals with cloning, and of course poor Illya is affected.

The chapter is called "Seeing Double or perhaps Triple."

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9751057/1/Seeing-Double-or-perhaps-Triple

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks, adding it to the list ;)

[duckys-lady.livejournal.com]

Cord Smithee's The Boys from Berlin Affair is another type of follow up to Gurnius.

I found this list. I'm not sure who the author is, but it is titled, "every fic that deals with the Gurnius affair".

re "every fic that deals with the Gurnius affair"

[lindafishes8.livejournal.com]

I found the link to that list.

http://ourmenfromuncle.tumblr.com/post/90428720169/every-fic-that-deals-with-the-gurnius-affair (http://ourmenfromuncle.tumblr.com/post/90428720169/every-fic-that-deals-with-the-gurnius-affair)

Re: re "every fic that deals with the Gurnius affair"

[carabele.livejournal.com]

But it isn't every such fic by a long-shot. Nice reference, but honestly very incomplete.

And of course too slash-heavy for my personal taste. :-|

Re: re "every fic that deals with the Gurnius affair"

[lindafishes8.livejournal.com]

Incomplete to be sure.

There's a short one (can't recall the title or author) about Illya making an apology to his mother for pretending to be a NAZI. She made him promise not to when he was small and playing at being a German soldier.

Re: re "every fic that deals with the Gurnius affair"

[carabele.livejournal.com]

Truth is no one would ever be able to keep such a list current since THE GURNIUS AFFAIR is such a popular one for writers' to riff off of. Every time one would think the list "complete", a new story would be popping up somewhere. [laugh]