Story 92: "Yellow Balloon" by Zyllah

[wendelah1]

I first read this story while I was participating at a fanfic board called Fic Talk. It was the first time I had ever encountered readers actually talking about fan fiction. I wish I could tell you that it inspired this community but really, this place was emily_shore's idea. I just inherited it when she moved on (I hope temporarily) to new fandom pastures.

Zyllah takes Doggett's tragic back story, the death of his son, and interweaves it with the canon of season eight, using vivid, emotional imagery. The link from Fic Talk was broken but luckily my google-fu is the best so I have located another link. It's at Gossamer, too, if this one ever goes dark.

"Yellow Balloon"

Give feedback to the author, then come back and tell us what you think about the story. You can leave your suggestions for next time here. Keep those season eight recs coming, everyone, or suggest something else for us to read.

Comments

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

oh. my. god.

this might be the best thing i've read that follows S8 canon. might just be.

Fiercely poetic but not verbose. Intelligent analogies and resonances, but nothing pedantic - nothing that 'takes the long way around' just to be more complex. it's not obscure because it's hip to be obscure - only because these things are obscure. how much do i love this fic (even with the tooth gritting mention of the MulderBrainDisease which i refuse to acknowledge as canon)? I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

wendelah1, how is it you know where the good fics live? can you draw me a map of the area?

yeah, i'll try to come back and be more constructive later. *wanders of to feel sadness-drugged and sobbish*

[wendelah1]

I didn't find this story. Dee (where have you gone, Dee?) aka payne_deas posted it to discuss at Fic Talk back in 2007. I don't know what made me think of it. It is nearly perfect, isn't it? I don't think I realized just how good it really is back then, although I did say some nice things about it. Sadly, this woman has written only one other story for our fandom.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

This really is a fine story, closely observed and sensitive, reporting on a character and a situation that deserves attention and demands close observation respectively.

I'm speaking for myself here, though probably not *just* for myself, when I deny much interest in either the character or the situation. It's just--season eight is dead to me. I can't help it. I want to climb into my time machine and return to season one.

Coincidentally, my movie-obsessed husband and I have decided that a time machine is actually available to us. It's commonly known as film. We use it all the time.

[wendelah1]

Clearly, given the silence following this post, I don't think you are speaking just for yourself. I admit I was surprised that this story was so unremarked on this time around--I wonder how it was received back in the day? I imagine if it had been loved and cherished as it deserved for the quality of the writing, the author might have given us some more fic. Oh, well, nothing to do about it now.

Surely, no one could hate season 8 anymore than I do, yet I still love this story. Like all great fic, it made me go back to the source, enabling me to see it with a fresh perspective.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely the way it should work.

[leucocrystal]

I actually found myself quite intrigued by the main post here, but unfortunately I haven't had the (pain-free) time, nor the energy, to read anything lately. Hopefully soon, it sounds interesting.

[wendelah1]

I hope you feel better soon, dear.

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

Wow so I'm thinking I should just never ever watch seasons eight and nine and just read the good fic that cam out of them. Cause really, this and the previous one archived are great! Thanks!