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]

Hmm, that's a tough one, and has a lot to do with what I feel is specific to Mulder in canon, so little details such as syntax of the writing matches the way Mulder speaks on screen, how it also helps to recreate the mood of the X-files. In Fractured Landscape, the almost stream of consciousness writing fits the mood of the ep and more importantly, mimics the way Mulder speaks.

Mulder wants to grab that hand out of the air. He'll send the messages that need sending and he hates this man for the presumption of a hand signal to his partner. Only he suddenly realizes that this stranger also claims her as a partner. They've sat in the basement office, exchanged jokes, shared meals across a table, driven side by side in rental cars, trudged through distant airports late at night, learned to read each other's gestures and faces. This stranger with his static electricity hair and down-home accent and Aqua Velva sweat knew about her baby before Mulder did. And now he arrogates the right to send her away. Mulder rises again because he's going to keep with his plan and escape this man who is not above reproach after all.

This rang really true because the imagery is so specific, which is the way Mulder thinks, and anchors the piece to the show.

It's easy to write about what things trigger Mulder's angst, but equally important is how he would go about thinking about them. Most fics I know haven't been as successful in that regard.