REVIEW: Fan Fic, Summer '97 (1/4)
lore
INTRODUCTION:
Welcome back from wherever you've been! Summer seemed to speed by,
and I bet many returning X-Files fan fic readers would be wondering
if they should try to catch up on all the stories that came out while
they were away.
This is a roundup of what I consider to be the major works of the Summer.
It is long; I will probably babble. Please remember, this is one gal's
opinion, and I had to not talk about a lot of stories to come up with a
reasonable number and cross section of stories. I can't expect everyone
to read as much as I do. Yeek.
I did a lot of research to come up with an initial story list. It was
huge. So, at the end of this is a list of the stories I wanted to talk
about, but didn't for lack of arm strength. All stories listed here
appeared from Mid-May to September 1. I mainly read Gossamer, ATXC,
XFF, XFC, and EP. Spoilers abound for Fan Fic and Season 4. Many things
were looked up (I can spell Gethsemane!), still, mistakes will follow.
For that, I am sorry.
SUMMER SUMMARY:
Man, it was an angst-ridden Summer! Wrought with cancer stories,
post-Gethsemane stories, cancer AND post-Gethsemane stories. Most
authors seemed to write either as if Mulder was really dead or he
went underground to find a cure for Scully's cancer. Scully was
alternately cured, killed or angsting. "Character dies" ruled
from mid-May to July. Then, some writers got over it. And some
are still getting their last licks in.
The MulderTorture archive flourished and expanded. Slash on the
regular channels seemed down. Humor took a hit and sometimes came
off as forced; it seemed people prefered to write romance to beat
the blues. Also, did I miss something, or did straight x-files go
right out the window?
In series news, "The Five" became available again on Gossamer. The
"Sarah" series exploded with lots of new authors playing in the
original universe. "The Pact" did, indeed, end (wonderfully). :)
Dawson expanded Umbra. And, sadly, Bonnie Drew put out her final
installment of the Immortal Series.
Long-time authors challenged themselves this Summer; check out their
sites and listings on Gossamer for something new from old friends.
There was a split in the automated fan fic mailing list and now we
have another fic list to subscribe to. The best XF-related page to appear
on the web this summer is X-Press (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8165/).
It covers the world of fan fiction with interviews, featured stories,
beta stories and recommendations. A sort of monthly newspaper for us
FX fic fans - what a great idea.
THE MUST-READS:
I always find myself searching out the best story of its kind; does
anyone else do this? With the slew of post-Gethsemane fic, I struggled
to find a story that completely satisfied my need to for a solid plot
with unique hooks - the "defining" story that all others of its kind
should be compared to.
The best post-Geth fic, and, really, the best fic to come out all
Summer is "Missing Voices" by Joyce McKibben, Meredith and M.C. Akimoto.
This is a triumph of plotting and writing by the three authors. The
story is told through Scully, Mulder and Skinner's journals. Joyce
takes Mulder, Meredith writes Scully, and M.C., Skinner.
If you are unfamiliar with the authors' works, let me point out that
each one is writing her/his (?) strongest X-Files voice. It makes for a
strong story with interesting details and all-around great writing. They
come up with a plot that would work perfectly as the season 5 opener.
It answers the pertinent questions, but still leaves plenty unanswered
to explore for the rest of the "season." Completely satisfying.
I'm not giving many details about the plot because I don't want to
give readers any excuses for passing up this story based on
misconceptions from this review. It is both Shipper- and NoRoMo-safe.
It is not full of extreme angst. This story will get all my votes in
the upcoming award season.
"Rags," by Jill Selby, is a masterpiece in the realm of pure x-file.
As I said, there weren't many written this Summer, and perhaps writers
were daunted by this very work. In "Rags," Mulder and Scully are
investigating some mysterious goings-on in Salzburg, Vermont, that seem
linked to a local woman who makes rag dolls for the area's children.
Never fear, this is not a "precocious child" story, but a story that
stretches Mulder's "believer" and Scully's "skeptic" stances to the limit.
Selby does an excellent job of writing believable "X-Files" lines and
scenes. It was easy for me to picture the events as they happened. Easy
to imagine watching TV with scenes and cuts. Easy to picture the words
coming from DD and GA's mouths. I heard that many of us encouraged Selby
to write her story up in script format and submit it to the show. That
is not something I would suggest lightly, but Selby has captured a
typically good "X-Files" episode and put it to words. If you're missing
the show during this looooong break (and who isn't?), this is the story
to turn to. Another award nominee in my book.
To label "Lure of the Fox" an MSR would be doing this story by Caroline
O'Callaghan a great injustice because it would chase off NoRoMos, and
that would be a shame. The story holds a compelling x-file, fully
explored, a few interesting side-plots that are (as our Spotnitz puts
it) delicious, and full-bodied, original characters. O'Callaghan's
writing is intelligent and accessible. She makes it easy for readers to
get caught up in her stories. If she were in print, I'd call her a
"page-turner."
"Lure" is about Mulder and Scully heading back to the woods (their
favorite place) to track down a man killing young girls. They learn that
not everything is what it appears to be. There's action and adventure
here, and the romance isn't mushy, really.
Time to pass romance and go straight to the smut. ;) Seriously, Karen
Rasch has said she is heading toward the end of her "Words" universe.
Her installment for the summer, "Words to the Wise," transcended NC-17
and became a sometimes uncomfortable exploration of the true level of
trust between Mulder and Scully.
By "uncomfortable," I mean the deep psychological exploration Rasch
writes in this installment. I think she really hits home on her
assumptions that Mulder and Scully will not join and automatically
become blissful soulmates. There is a long journey of trust and
distrust, control and submission and control again ahead for Mulder
and Scully.
It is not a comfortable read for those who want M&S to end up together,
but it does have an under-lying honesty (and, let's face it, some *hot*
sex scenes) that is hard to resist. Karen explores some difficult themes
in "Wise," but she handles them as deftly as her near-famous "handling"
of our two fave agents. Intelligent NC-17. Ahhhhh.
CONTINUED IN PART 2
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You love too obsessively and you live too fiercely and you
always demand the impossible. Don't ever change babe -
that's the glory and the terror of being you. 10/31