X-Files Book Club

This novel was nominated back in September 2015 by rainatlas. It was a WIP at the time and I've been burned enough times that I'm wary of WIPs. I'm allergic to fanfic about William. Despite my reservations, I trust rainatlas's judgement. I read the two sections that had been posted and agreed it was a fic worth our time. On September 24, 2016, Lamia (so kiss me goodbye) at long last completed the epic. And here we go...

"The Lambs"
Author: so kiss me goodbye
Summary: Mulder and Scully kidnap William.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Adventure/Family - [F. Mulder, D. Scully] William - Chapters: 44 - Words: 189,372

Author's Note: "This is a colonization adventure told from a child's perspective (excluding the prologue), and includes strong language, violence and gore, and themes that may upset."

Please leave feedback for the author. Love it, hate it, or "it's complicated," we'd love to hear your thoughts about "The Lambs." Remember, the nomination post is always open for your suggestions.

EDIT: I found a comment in the spam folder for this post that wasn't spam. It provided a link to this story at AO3. The Lambs.

This week, we're doing a rerun, while I'm waiting on a friend to finish editing her podfic of "Ingenue" or for so-kiss-me-goodbye to complete "The Lambs," whichever comes first.

Back in the day, I had a theory that "Fugue" was written as a response to complaints that the show is a deeply sexist text, with Mulder being the one who drives the plot, and Scully as his sidekick. That's not how I see the series, and it is just a theory. But there does seem to be a subtext to this fable, one that hinges on female identity and how easily women still can submerge themselves in deference to their mates' ambition and passions.

We discussed this for the first time back in 2008. Eight years seems long enough to justify a rerun of one of my personal favs. Reading this deeply affected me; in fact, the first fic I wrote was in response to "Fugue," rather than the series, and that was long before I'd heard of Remix. It remains one of my favorite stories, in this or any fandom.

Fugue (26052 words) by rivkat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dana Scully/Fox Mulder
Characters: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder
Additional Tags: Amnesia, Juvenilia
Series: Part 1 of Fugue
Summary:

The DSM-IV defines fugue as travel in foreign places, often under an assumed identity.

Since our first discussion, "Fugue" has become a series, providing two more reasons to revisit the fic.

Devoutly to be wished (496 words) by rivkat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder, C.G.B. Spender
Additional Tags: Eight crazy nights
Series: Part 2 of Fugue
Summary:

The prompt: The ending of Fugue: The image of Scully shivering on that cold floor, in shock after the visit from the Smoking Man? It haunts me. Please get her up off that floor and, if possible, into a happier ending.

Variations on a Fugue (1224 words) by rivkat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder
Additional Tags: Amnesia, Remix
Series: Part 3 of Fugue
Summary:

Alternate vision of Fugue, for hulamoth. Fox was the one who couldn't remember, and Dana got her memories back.

After you read the series, consider leaving feedback and/or kudos for the author. Please come back and let us know what you think. As always, the nomination post is open for your suggestions.

A couple of months back on the "Silver Cornet" post, I asked members if anyone was still reading here. Would you believe I'm still getting comments on that post? Well, I am, most recently just a couple of days ago. A kind anon replied: "Yes! I'm new, and I'm HERE! Love this place! Don't ever quit. 😄" It was sweet, it cheered me up, and it reminded me that I hadn't posted a new story for awhile. It also made me realize how lucky I am to have a community like this, especially now, with the fandom being so dispersed and so comparatively small. Thank you, everyone. You guys are the best. ♥

Perusing the nomination post, I spotted the request from BonesLenka for fill-in fic for the period between IWTB and season 10. "Dr. Scully's School for Exceptional Boys" is the fic I recommended to her back in February. It's an AU, but then thanks to the genius of Chris Carter, all nine previous seasons of the series are now AU. Like leiascully's "Visitor," this fic explores the relationship fallout resulting from Scully giving William up for adoption. As always, prufrock's love writes an exceptionally appealing Fox Mulder, complete with all of his charms and all of his character flaws. I enjoyed reading it very much. I hope you do, too.

Title: Dr. Scully's School for Exceptional Boys
Author: prufrock's love
Email: prufrockslove@yahoo.com
Rating: R
Classification: Novel, MSR, Other
Summary: More than a decade had passed. Mulder had no reason to hole up in his apartment alone, wearing a Three Dog Night T-shirt with dried mustard on the hem and blue jeans that had seen better days. He wasn't "saving himself" for anyone. Especially not Her. Though she remained epically, beautifully, brilliantly kick-A-S-S.
Spoilers: We veer AU after season 7, with a few bits from 8 & 9.

Send feedback to the author, then come back and tell us what you think of "Dr. Scully's School for Exceptional Boys." Don't forget, the nomination post is always open to your suggestions.

Is anyone in The X-Files fandom still reading this journal? If not, it's my own fault. I can't believe I let three months go by without posting a new story. (This is why having a co-mod would be helpful. Any volunteers?)

True confession: I never thought I would be saying this but my enthusiasm for the series has flagged following the huge letdown of season ten. I finished my season seven re-watch back in February (around the time I posted "Parabiosis," in fact) and I still haven't cracked open the brand new Blu-ray case for season eight. Well, I'm done wallowing in misery. Yes, season ten was even worse than I'd anticipated, but that doesn't negate what I loved about the original series. And, it certainly doesn't cancel out the great fanfiction. If anything, we need fic more than ever. (Is anyone working on an AU for season ten? Because we need one and we need it TODAY.)

Since most of what's sitting in the nomination queue is novel length, I decided to pick something from the Ten Greatest Fanfictions post. I chose "Silver Cornet" for two reasons: (1.) We haven't discussed much of anything by Bonetree, which is a huge oversight, and (2.) I've never read "Silver Cornet."

Silver Cornet (22641 words) by Bonetree
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully

SUMMARY: Set just after "Je Souhaite," Mulder and Scully take a ride on a mysterious train that's carrying more secrets than either can imagine.

The link is to AO3 so if you like the fic, you can hit the kudos button, even if you don't come back and leave a comment here. However, I'd love to know what you think of "Silver Cornet." Heck, now that there's a little bit of distance, I'd love to hear your thoughts on season ten. Don't forget to leave your suggestions for next time.

EDIT: The versions at AO3 and Gossamer are missing chapter four. Thanks to the sharp eyes and fic-finding skills of drodrey, we have a complete version via the Internet Archive.

Read the complete Silver Cornet via the Wayback Machine.

With the miniseries a mere two weeks away, I thought it might be the right time to discuss "Visitor," leiascully's new revival speculation fic. The premise is the one Chris Carter so blithely bestowed on the fandom: Mulder and Scully are no longer a couple. How could that have happened? "Visitor" is her attempt to understand and portray this new reality. The story is told from Fox Mulder's POV. Thank you to kate_11111 for seconding my nomination.

Visitor (29241 words) by leiascully
Chapters: 13/13
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully
Summary:

At least he's guaranteed to see her once a year.

She's also working on a companion piece, "Resident," which holds loosely to the same time frame, except told from Scully's POV.

Send feedback to the author, and let us know what you think. The nomination post is always open for your suggestions.

Julie Fortune's "The Ghost of You" is a casefic that is also an X-File, and a very creepy one, too. At only a little over 10,000 words, it's less daunting than some of the other fics sitting in the nomination post. In structure, it reminds me very much of the much earlier fic by Jane Mortimer, "The Sin Eater." Mortimer's fic might even have influenced it, who knows?

In any case, the prose is high caliber because the writer is a pro, who has published novels under several pseuds. She even published a tie-in for Stargate SG-1 under her fandom penname, "Sacrifice Moon." It's very good.

Here's a short excerpt from near the beginning of the fic. Mulder and Scully are at the crime scene in Restonville, West Virginia.

Strobe flashes from a wandering photographer lit up the interior. It was nothing more than more grass and mud, and in the middle –

Mulder blinked. "What the hell – "

Scully stepped forward, went to one knee next to the nude body. It was dug into the ground to a depth of nearly three feet, mud squashed up around it. It had been embedded in the mud, face down.

"Mulder." Scully gloved up and reached out to take hold of the woman’s hand, lifting it by the thumb.

Hands did not move that way. Not like – empty sacks, the fingers bending like rubber, no stiffness to it at all.

Boneless. Scully lifted higher. The arm followed the hand, a piece of dead spaghetti.

"Christ," one of the deputies said softly. Detective Harmon didn’t say anything at all, but his face paled. Scully carefully, almost reverently, let the woman’s hand fall back in place.

"Can we turn her over?" she asked.

"Yeah," Harmon said faintly. "We got all the pictures. Better you than me."

She looked at Mulder. Drafted. Nobody wanted to help – twelve deputies and forensic specialists crowded in the room, and every shoulder was pressed firmly against canvas. Mulder tried for a cool expression and took hold of the dead woman’s shoulder.

It felt like a cut of meat at the supermarket. Boneless. He swallowed hard as the body folded down the middle, like a paper doll. Scully helped him get her all the way over and in something like a normal position.

She had no face. Whatever bone structure had been present was obliterated, the face a mass of soft tissue, ruptured like something pulled up from the ocean too fast. No eyes. No teeth, either; the mouth, or what had been the mouth, shifted like jelly, and there were audible gulps from the others in the room.

"Scully?" Mulder cleared his throat. "I take it she’s real."

Scully has a theory, Mulder has a different one. There's thunder and lightening, reports of lights in the sky. They'll identify the body and...I don't want to give it away. It's a ghost story, but with a couple of twists.

You can the read the fic two different places. I like the link at the internet archive that's from her old website because I can copy, paste and print it for reading. I hate reading on computer screens.

At Fanfic for the Fearless via the Wayback Machine: "The Ghost of You" by Julie Fortune. You can find her other fic there, too, if you're interested.

And at the Enigmatic Doctor's site in one long narrow column: The Ghost of You.

She's deleted her non-fandom livejournal, and let her fandom website go down, but juliefortune is still there, and she left her gmail address on her last post.

The nomination post is always open for your suggestions. Thanks to everyone who helps keep this site running and (relatively) active, with your comments here, and your links on other social media sites.

We're continuing with the theme of gapfillers, although "Samsara" may be addressing more of an emotional void left by the writers in season eight than a plot-hole. See what you think. For some reason, I thought I'd already posted this fic. Maybe I meant to and got distracted? I love the way it alternates the point-of-view between Mulder and Scully, and how it deals with the emotional train-wreck of season eight.

Samsara (2507 words) by secondsflat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully
Additional Tags: MSR, Three Words, Angst
Summary:

This is how she prefers to remember Mulder's abduction: he was a bird, once, and he flew back home to her.

Read "Samsara" at fanfiction.net | at AO3

I'd love to know what you think. Remember, the nomination post is always open for suggestions.

Commenting is fixed, thanks to LJ support.

Since my last post, Fox made the announcement that The X-Files is coming back for six episodes, date as yet to be determined. I hope Chris Carter has some idea of how to bridge the distance between IWTB and whenever he decides to set these six episodes. From past experience, my guess is he won't. It will be up to our fanfic writers to fill in the gap.

As it happens, our next story is gap-fic for the period between "The Truth" and the second movie, by a fine, new-to-the-fandom writer. It's episodic, character-driven, and written in third person omniscient, which almost never works for me in fic. It works here--the transitions feel seamless and naturalistic. Sohmer understands these characters, and writes them with unusual empathy and intelligence. I loved this fic and I hope you do, too.

Rating: Teen
Warnings: Author chose not to use archive warnings.
Characters: Dana Scully/Fox Mulder
Word Count: 3697
Summary: "This is how they live: shadow people on an edge of reality, here but not, shapes phasing into the periphery, deeper into some ghosted liminality."

Read atlas.