Story 268: "Angular Momentum" by Kel

[wendelah1]

Whenever I need cheering up, there are certain authors and fics I always revisit. Kel is one of those writers and this is one of those fics.

"Angular Momentum" is a gen-ish casefile/x-file which fits into canon, has the Mulder/Scully partnership at its center, and is written by an author who likes both characters! It’s mostly vintage Kel: snappy dialogue, intricate plotting, with a side order of political/social satire. The Lone Gunmen all play pivotal roles in this story, too. Oh! I nearly left out the best part: in a memorable and luminous sequence, Mulder and Scully journey to the "lower world," where they meet their spirit guides. This would have made a great episode, with its perfect mixture of humor, murder, and mysticism.

True confession. I love this story so much I commissioned fanart for it and gave it to the writer. Obviously, I love the writer, too. And the artist, Ravenari, is amazing. Click on the link after you’ve read the fic.

Collared Peccary and Gopher Snake by Ravenari

"Angular Momentum" by Kel
FEEDBACK: ckelll@hotmail.com
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: The Blessing Way, One Breath, Teso Dos Bichos, The Calusari
KEYWORDS: Casefile, MS Friendship.
SETTING: Season 3
SUMMARY: “I have been on the bridge that spans two worlds, the link between all souls by which we cross into our own true nature.”
– Fox Mulder, “The Blessing Way”

Comments

So much fun!!

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

Only have a minute but that was so much fun! I loved all of Mulder's punning. And that final line of Scully's was perfect. I always enjoy Kel, but haven't explored a whole lot of Kel's writing. There is a lot I could dig into here but I've got kids to wrangle at the moment. Delightful though!

Re: So much fun!!

[wendelah1]

Delightful sums it up well.

I always liked that last line, too.

How did you like the artwork? (Best viewed on a real screen, by the way.)

RE: Re: So much fun!!

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

The artwork was great too 😊 I know a peccary isn't exactly a pig but hee hee, Mulder the pig!

Things I wish had been a bit more fleshed out include the HOW of things. I'd have liked to know just how the bad guy was killing folks, and what made M&S immune to his actions. But the rest of the story was fun enough that I'll overlook it!

[mosinging1986.livejournal.com]

Oh, early season XF! How I love it. I've only just started reading, but I already loved this bit:

Mulder responded with a shrug that was the perfect blend of apology and indifference.

That's our boy, right there!

Thanks for this. I'm going to try to put it on my ereader. It's too hard to read on a computer screen. Yegads, the endless HOURS I spent doing that, back in the day...

[wendelah1]

Enjoy!

[zinnia03.livejournal.com]

The Lone Gunmen and Chuck Burks too!

This was such a fun read. I had a sleepless night last night so I just powered through the story. I love the idea that both Scully and Mulder are shamanistic. There were elements that reminded me of the excellent "Four Corners Cycle" by Spookey247, but in a much less fraught atmosphere.

The banter is spot-on. I felt like the motives of the bad guy were a little vague (is it power? revenge? just because he can?) but it might be my addled brain not making sense of it.

There is a lot of sort of sly humor in this and that made it very enjoyable too. And I liked the illustration you commissioned.

[wendelah1]

Yeah, I knew you'd get a kick out of this since the Gunmen play such a prominent role. Kel did a lot of research for this and it shows.

The bad guy, aka the Thorn, is the CEO for "Big Ed," the multinational under investigation. Deutsch, the man who was murdered by him, was a whistle-blower. The man who was in charge of the division investigating "Big Ed" also died at his hand. So yes, revenge is definitely the motive for the Thorn to learn shamanic ritual.

Kel's sense of humor matches up with mine. Her dialogue is unsurpassed. The best thing is that her Mulder and Scully are just as smart as they are on the series; in fact, her Scully is smarter because her knowledge of medicine reflects her training. Most writers can't manage that. I back-buttoned out of a casefile that was recced on Tumblr just the other day because the writer had Mulder make a factual error about the paranormal on the first damn page. She had Scully doing something dumb, too.

The artist is a professional, a fan of The X-Files and loved the story. She's very talented but I think what made the artwork so special is that she uses a loosely related shamanic ritual in the practice of her religion.

[(Anonymous)]

Slowly making my way through the story. Mulder and Scully are great. I loved Mulder's punning conversation with Langley. I also really like how robust the dialogue between the gun men is. I guess I have it in my head that lots of portrayals of the gunmen make them seem cute. Here they seem sharper, in wit and with each other.

[wendelah1]

I guess I have it in my head that lots of portrayals of the gunmen make them seem cute. Here they seem sharper, in wit and with each other.

It's not just in your head. The Gunmen are comic relief in most fic.

Kel always creates excellent original characters and here, she applies her talent to making the Gunmen three-dimensional. They seem real because she makes them real through the quality of her writing.

It's much harder than she makes it look. There are a few other writers who bring them to life. OneMillionandNine, Martha, and ML are three writers who come quickly to mind. M Sebasky, I think has written a good short story featuring Frohike, but I am blanking on the title. The post-col series, Life During Wartime, has great portrayals of individual Gunmen. M. Luder: King of "Seti Troopers" Fanfic by Livia Balaban has great Gunmen character voices. (Link is to our discussion but the fic link is working.)

If you decide to make a journal, go ahead and request membership, comment here and I'll gladly admit you. Anon comments and non-members continue to be screened due to a recurring bot problem at LJ.