Story 91: "The Fractured Landscape" by Zuffy and Littljoe

[wendelah1]

Welcome back! I hope you had a great August holiday.

In light of some recent discussions I've had about character POV, and whether or not writing a character unsympathetically accurately represents how an author feels about the character, especially in season 8 fic, I decided to read some season 8 fic. Just to get my biases out of the way, I haven't read much of it because I kind of hate season 8. Okay, I really hate season 8. But we aren't here to discuss that, we're here to talk about fan fiction!

Synopsis: How does the tense and chilly Mulder of 3Words turn into the relaxed and confident man joking about "the pizza man"?

The authors rate this story PG-13 for language.

If anyone has season 8 fic they would like to recommend we discuss, you may make those suggestions here. If you think reading season 8 fic is a terrible idea and want to read something else, you can make that suggestion at the same place. I know I've skipped over some of your suggestions, but I promise we'll get to them eventually.

Give feedback to the authors and then tell us what you think about the story. Heck, you can even tell us what you think about season 8 and/or author POV versus character POV in season 8 fic. Come prepared with supporting examples of your thesis. Joke. Just read the fic. Although, I would love to read meta about that topic if there is any, she said wistfully.

"The Fractured Landscape"

Comments

[sangria-lila.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any of the fics you mentioned, so I really can't comment. But generally, because I read a very narrow range of fics, most of them have dealt with M&S quite well. Everyone in fandom (especially XF) is writing because they like the characters, not really because they want to make some statement about the American soul. But anyway, that also means I can't comment on Mulder torture fics because I've never read them, and um, don't really plan to.

And I certainly agree that having distance to your character is a good thing, but on a personal note, I'm not interested in writers who only do that. In my mind, loving your characters (and indeed people in general) isn't giving them a free-for-all.

[wendelah1]

I don't read and wouldn't recommend Mulder Torture fic in general, but it is common enough to have had its own Archive back in the day. I only read enough of the story I referenced to ascertain what it was and make a mental note not to read it again. The author did warn so it isn't her fault I got burned.

I do read, or at least try, a pretty broad range of stories, but from what I can tell your fandom experience is much more common. Most people have very specific requirements for what they will read and what they won't, which is one of the reasons why the warning debate got as heated as it did.

I think being a gen person is one of the reasons I read (and write) more pairings than most people in XF. People in XF seem to ship one pairing pretty hard and don't enjoy any of the others. Mulder/Scully people don't read Mulder/Krycek and so on. This was true in Stargate SG-1 fandom, too, maybe even more so. And it looks like the same thing is happening in Star Trek Reboot. Don't mind me, I'm just thinking aloud. This all seems very obvious, I'm sure, but it has taken me some time to figure out.