Story 94: "The 13th Sign" by prufrock's love

[wendelah1]

I meant to post this next story a week ago. Where has the time gone?

I debated whether or not to even post this here as it's long and kind of angsty. Okay, it's very angsty. On the Prufrock Reader Torture Scale, with zero being angst-free (there is no angst-free prufrock story as far as I know, at least none that I would recommend) and ten being "Negative Utopia" or maybe "The Wasteland," this rates at least a seven. It is neither season eight fic nor is it season nine, but William is there and so is Mulder so I am classifying it as season nine, AU, PG-13.

I have no idea why I like this story as much as I do, given that I hate babyfic and season nine, but prufrock writes a lovely, believable Mulder, negotiating his way through fatherhood under the worst possible circumstances, plus there's some mytharc thrown in for good measure.

You can't send the author feedback because she disabled her email address even before she quit writing fic. But you can let us know! Love it? Hate it? Even a one line review would gladden my heart. Leave suggestions for next time here as always. I promise we will get to them eventually.

On the eve of the demise of geocities, something amazing happened. Someone decided to try to save it all and move it to their own servers. Seriously. They are calling it "reocities." To see if a geocities site has been put back up by this wonderful, wacky person, just type in the old url, substituting an "r" for the "g" and voila, there it will be, maybe.

Courtesy of Reocities, here is "The 13th Sign".

I love the internet.

Comments

[riddledfate.livejournal.com]

prufrock writes a lovely, believable Mulder, negotiating his way through fatherhood under the worst possible circumstances, plus there's some mytharc thrown in for good measure.

I've loved all the stories by prufrock's love that I've read, but this one is my favorite because, just like you said up there, her Mulder is just so damn REAL. She shows us the kind of reactions that I'd expected from him after his 'resurrection', his doubts about his role in William's life, and also explores a lot of issues that were never explained in canon. I absolutely adore the scenes in the Mystic Pizza Hut too, and the banter, and the Mulder/William relationship, and the Scully angst, and... well, I didn't want to spoil people too much with this comment, but this story is just too good! I've read the whole thing 4 times already, and I always end up loving it a bit more ♥ Now let me go start my 5th ;)

[leucocrystal]

Heh, I've only read the story once, but I'll agree with you here. (Though I should add I think I've only read a couple of prufrock's other stories, and I'm a bit leery about reading more, though I'm not entirely sure why... I hear mixed things, I guess. I need to really want to read something if it's long, given how little fic-reading time I have these days.)

That said, I remember Mulder in this story as being heartbreaking, extremely relatable, recognizable (albeit, if this makes sense, clearly written by prufrock; some authors have a particular voice through a character), and the story itself made me take a pretty harsh look at S8. Not so much in terms of overall writing quality, but in terms of Mulder's character, his actions (and inaction), in ways that I'd never considered them before. Tough to read, but very interesting. Ultimately, it does something that will almost always win a fic over for me: it reminds me why I love Mulder so damn much. In this case, I think it does so most clearly by highlighting his balance of extreme cynicism and extreme hope, in spite of all circumstances and ridiculous odds.

AU seasons can either be entirely delightful and refreshing to read, or incredibly frustrating and alienating. It's going to sound like I don't like this story to say so (and I do, very much), but I somehow feel like this one kind of falls smack in the middle of those two tones.

[wendelah1]

In this case, I think it does so most clearly by highlighting his balance of extreme cynicism and extreme hope, in spite of all circumstances and ridiculous odds.

In this story, she captures Mulder's voice as well as anyone who has ever written in this fandom. I don't see this story as an AU in the same way that her historicals are, just because the characters are so clearly (to me) our Mulder and Scully.

[leucocrystal]

Yes, I know what you mean. It's funny how there are these varying degrees of AU; the extreme stuff, like actual other timelines going on (none of which I don't think I've ever taken the time to read, that's too dissociated from canon for my taste), and then things like this, that veer off but are still so recognizable.

[riddledfate.livejournal.com]

the story itself made me take a pretty harsh look at S8.
Same here! I had never considered some of the things that the author explored in this story, or imagine some of the plot lines that she added to canon, but it was quite an interesting way of looking at things. I totally get what you mean about being leery, too. I love reading long fics, but I've heard that one of her stories (I can't remember the name right now) is a bit difficult to read--not because it isn't good, but because of the theme of the story, and I still haven't been brave enough to take a look at it, lol.

Ultimately, it does something that will almost always win a fic over for me: it reminds me why I love Mulder so damn much. In this case, I think it does so most clearly by highlighting his balance of extreme cynicism and extreme hope, in spite of all circumstances and ridiculous odds.
You said it better than me, bb :)

[wendelah1]

This is my favorite of her stories without a doubt. I love "The Golden Year" and "Inventing the Mulders" and I've come around to "A Moment in the Sun," thanks to amalnahurriyeh's review of it. But this is the one that I can read again and again and adore without reservation. Her Mulder is my Mulder, and her Scully is my Scully and this is my show, this is The X-Files. Whenever I read this story, I remember why I love this fandom.

[riddledfate.livejournal.com]

I haven't read "A Moment In The Sun" yet, but I did love "Paracelsus" more than I had expected (I'm not a big fan of historical AUs, but wow. It was really good). I also loved "Negative Utopia" and "Agunah", which are also a bit AU, but amazing stories nonetheless.

Her Mulder is my Mulder, and her Scully is my Scully and this is my show, this is The X-Files. Whenever I read this story, I remember why I love this fandom.
WORD.

[infinitlight.livejournal.com]

I've only read Negative Utopia by prufrock's love in the past (although that has the (dubious?) honor of being the first fanfiction story I ever read evar, and is partially responsible for the fact that I'm still keeping going with this weird little hobby, close to ten years later. But I digress).

I'd avoided p_l's stories mostly because I have a fanfic-reading friend who is hugely into MSR and praised the MSR aspects so highly she kind of put me off. I don't dislike MSR per se but I'm not really much of a romantic, so I think stories that deal solely (or mostly) with the relationship have to be something pretty special in order to suck me in.

All that said, I just read the first part of The 13th Sign and really enjoyed it. I like the way p_l emphasizes their communication problems--I think too often fanfic writers make M & S too "close" and understanding of each other (if that makes any sense).

I really liked this exchange:

"The Church of the 13th Sign is led by a man named Michael Lee Milton. He
calls himself Ophiuchus," Agent Reyes explained, opening the file and
spreading its contents over the conference table.

"Ophiuchus. Oh-fee-U-kus," Mulder pronounced for her, "Is the 13th Sign. The
Sun actually passes through thirteen zodiac signs, though modern astrologers
only recognize twelve. The Earth has wobbled a little since 5th century
Babylon, so when we track the elliptic now, it touches Virgo twice, though we
only count it once, and never touches Aries at all. From November 30th to
December 17th, the Sun is in the house of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer."

"Oh," she responded.


A really nice Mulder voice. I will definitely be going back to read the rest.

[wendelah1]

I think this is an MSR story for noromos. I am not fond of Romance at all, yet I adore this story. I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic as much as Part 1.

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

i'm certainly going to read at least the first part, because i loved Negative Utopia, and found Paracelsus interesting, and because you've all been saying such good things about this fic. but has anyone else read the teaser line and thought it sounded like the epitome of shipper fic?

He saw no reason for life, death, sex, Armageddon, or emotional dysfunction
to stand in the way of true love.

hee! i'm hoping it's misleading. a teaser line that uses the words 'true love' is usually a way to get me to never read that fic ever.

[wendelah1]

It does not read like conventional shipper fic to me and I think the tag line is in Mulder's voice, ie heavily laced with irony. Give it a go, see what you think.

[leucocrystal]

That's exactly how I read it as well.

[infinitlight.livejournal.com]

I thought the same thing. But I liked Part 1 and am going back to try to read Part 2 now (yay for quiet nights at work!).

[sangria-lila.livejournal.com]

I would love this story more if it weren't so sad.

[wendelah1]

If it wasn't so sad, would it be our characters, our show? The truth is this is a very sad show in most respects. The ending at least feels hopeful, more hopeful than the series ending, more hopeful than the ending to IWTB.

But you will not be alone in wanting a happier story. It's a natural thing when you love the characters the way we do. I have more to say but I have to leave for work.

[sangria-lila.livejournal.com]

Well, I have very good selective memory and I block out s8 and 9 and IWTB. I wouldn't mind sad if I thought that somehow it mattered in developing the characters, but too often I feel that the writers do angst for the sake of it.

When it comes to Scully having a baby, I just think anything less than a happy, healthy child with Mulder is just adding insult to injury. I want Scully to enjoy her life for once. God knows she deserves it.

[wendelah1]

When it comes to Scully having a baby, I just think anything less than a happy, healthy child with Mulder is just adding insult to injury. I want Scully to enjoy her life for once. God knows she deserves it.

I certainly felt that way about season nine and IWTB. I was especially appalled at what TPTB did to Scully in regards to William. This story does nothing to mitigate any of the things that happened to Scully during the course of the series, I'm afraid. It's hard to write about happiness, because of the lack of conflict. Laurie Colwin could do it, but even she resorted to killing off her characters and having them commit adultery upon occasion to stir things up.

This will not be your favorite story. I'd love for you to suggest something for us to read.

[sangria-lila.livejournal.com]

Oh no, I love 13th Sign, but it just makes me so sad. Have you read Pru's Moment in the Sun yet?

[wendelah1]

Reading The 13th Sign actually makes me happy in a weird way because the writing is so good. I get this little frizz of excitement whenever I read something so well-crafted. It is sad but it feels real and congruent with the series and the characters in a way that most fic isn't. Plus the structure is beautiful! That makes me very happy. RE: A Moment in the Sun, I have started it and then stopped reading part way so many times. It's really long. But I've saved it and Freeze-paged it, too. I'll get to it eventually.

[sangria-lila.livejournal.com]

We should read Iolokus, simply because it's a fandom classic and lots of people have things to say about it.

Yeah, I love the 13th Sign's writing, which is why I still read it.

[wendelah1]

It is an interesting case since while everyone agrees it is a fandom classic, not everyone agrees it's good. I'm surprised no one has suggested it before. If you add it to the nomination post, I won't forget about it.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

I guess I'll reread this giant--my mantra is read twice, talk once--but I will go on record as saying that I have a big Prufrock's Love problem. It's the angst thing, I suppose. Yet every damn time I read her I remember how extremely good she is, and that prejudice is an ugly thing.

Certain of her works I will never read again, or rec. The Wasteland: my GOD. But I recall that I thought highly of The Thirteenth Sign, and so far I'm agreeing with myself. Also Negative Utopia; one of the great ones.

More at a later time, I hope. I must go and check something else Wendelah is making me read.

[wendelah1]

I think I got more upset by "The Golden Year" than any of her other stories. She really goes in for the Mulder-angst coupled with Scully-torture in that one, which, for me, is the most problematic aspect of her stories. Unlike some writers who try to make up for what was done to Scully by empowering her, prufrock always takes as much away as she gives, every single damn time. This fits in with the series canon pretty well but does give me pause. It bothers me that I respond to her stories as I do, and it bothers me that others do as well. I'm glad the angst level in her fic troubles you and sangria_lila. Anyway, there is plenty to love in this story and plenty to be disturbed by, as well. I'm going to print out the first section and start on it.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

Yes, well, I finally finished The 13th Sign and I consider it a fine piece of work, one of my favorites of PL's, and really possessing as happy an ending as we're ever going to get from her. (It's obviously a valedictory story.)

I do think it's excessively long, and the Mulder voice--though as Wendy says extremely well-done--palls through its de facto egocentrism. There's a tendency in fanfic (also in other genre fiction but *particularly* in fanfic) to indulge the repeated expression of the inner life. Our canon is visual in nature; we hear the dialogue but we have to imagine the feelings, and our ficcers are more than eager to imagine them for us. It bothers me a bit, as I'm sure I've tediously said before. Prufrock's Love imagines Mulder with wit as well as pathos, and for that I'm grateful.

One thing surprised me. We assume that Scully's amnesia, with no actual hope of recovery, is tragic. I guess it is. But with my season one comfort-habit I actually reacted to it with pleasure. What a miracle for Mulder to start over with an innocent, unsuspicious, undamaged Scully. I exaggerate, of course; she's been robbed of a hunk of life and has to relive some tough losses. But she's presented with a baby to love and a fascinating man who's already in love with her. How bad can it be? Call me shallow. And it's a gift for Mulder; he no longer has to cope with a woman who is so afraid of "manipulating" him that she won't tell him what to do. (That bothered me. She should have told him to help her take care of his kid. Call me reactionary.)

Pascal's Wager is also excellent, as I recall.

[wendelah1]

I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Or, maybe "enjoy" is not the right word? I don't agree with your assessment of the length or the characterizations but then I have a higher tolerance for angst, like long novels and think Mulder is egocentric to the extreme in canon. I do think Prufrock loves Mulder a bit more than I do. In any case, Scully always seems to get the worst of it in Prufrock's stories, just as she does on the show. I think Prufrock agrees with you, that for Mulder, having Scully returned having been essentially purged of the memories of what was done to her is a gift. Maybe she thinks Scully is better off, too. It is disturbing to me that she would think that, or think that this ending is a happy one. Despite how queasy this outcome makes me, I love this fic and love Mulder more in this story, despite his flaws, than in any other story that I can remember. Given what a Scullyist I am, I consider that a real achievement.

New kid on the block

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!
I just stumbled across this community and may be in love. I'm always searching for intelligent, well crafted, true to character/canon stories, and am becoming more and more familiar with the highly regarded authors in this fandom, but I'm sure I'm still ignorant to many great authors and stories. I'll be searching through all your past recommendations, and eagerly awaiting your new ones!

So really, I wanted to say thank you for existing. I've read many stories that moved me or spoke to me in some way over the years, but I've lost track of their titles and authors, and am hoping to find some old favorites here. I'm also hoping that this will turn into something of a 'best of' archive for me.

I'm wondering, does anyone have any 'must read' suggestions right off the bat?
My favorite author so far has been Penumbra, and her "Parabiosis" (although I'm partial to all her stories). So completely wonderful. I've gathered that work is a classic.

I know there are many stories I've yet to come across, because I didn't know where to look. All your suggestions will be a fabulous start!

Thanks, and happy reading,
-Kate

Re: New kid on the block

[wendelah1]

Welcome to Live Journal and to the xf_book_club.

"Parabiosis" is certainly very highly thought of in this fandom and in this community. While it certainly has many lovely moments, I vastly prefer Penumbra's most recent story, "Fathoms Five."

This is a story discussion community, rather than a recs community per se, but naturally, you are welcome to use us as a resource.

Are you just a new fan of The X-Files or new to fandom in general?

One place to look for recs is the multifandom recs community crack_van. Check the memories and the tag for xfiles. There are several hundred story recommendations there, including some of mine. I also have made many rec posts in my personal journal. Try the fan fiction recs tag. Or try here and here.

There are some other recs communities mentioned in one those posts, too. Happy reading.

Way late to the game

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

I love this. I kind of hate this. I hate that I love it? No not really. I love PFs Mulder, obviously she loves him and thus so do I. Her mulder is less self absorbed and arrogant (a bit anyway) than the one I see on screen, but inarguably fantastic. Why oh why does everyone have to crap on Scully though? Seriously? And having read and listen bed Fugue I just can't quite buy that Scully minus all the years with Mulder would still BE Scully, or be sufficiently Scully to just go with it.
And I still love it.

Re: Way late to the game

[wendelah1]

Prufrock's love's Mulder is canon Mulder as far as I'm concerned: no more or less self-absorbed and arrogant, and yes, just as heroic as he is on screen.

And having read and listen bed Fugue I just can't quite buy that Scully minus all the years with Mulder would still BE Scully, or be sufficiently Scully to just go with it.

That's an interesting comparison to make. The Dana Scully in "Fugue" has her memories of the X-Files returned but not her memories of her life before Mulder. The way I see it, they fall apart in the end because while Dana can remember being in love with "Bill," Scully wasn't "in love" with Mulder, nor was he with her. Without her core memories/personality to draw strength from, Mulder is more than she can handle on a personal level. Rivkat's Mulder is so self-involved that he can't deal with her loss without making it all about himself. It's frustrating to watch but kind of inevitable, when you think about it.

I see "The 13th Sign" a little differently having read the sequel but it's more or less the same version of Mulder in all three fanfics, the only difference being that prufrock's love's Mulder gets to change slowly over the course of the two stories, which I believe to be a consequence of becoming a parent. After Scully is taken, he is forced into putting another human being's feelings and needs before his own. And he does love and desire pre-abduction Scully to the extent that he is capable, and he wants to love Dana, too. He isn't able to put aside his grief and see her as a person apart from the woman he still wants her to be. The joy he feels at the end of "7 Days in May" is because he's in possession of something he thinks can save humanity (yay!) but also because he believes that Dana was healed by Jeremiah Smith and that "his Scully" will return. Mulder is still Mulder, in other words.

Fugue-Mulder doesn't even try to make things right between himself and his Dana Scully. He just jumps right back into his old life. He's not even self-aware enough to remember to ask if her memories have returned.

RE: Re: Way late to the game

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

Hmm... well that is food for thought. Maybe I'm just mad at PL for erasing the Scully I know and love. I also don't quite buy that Mulder was immediately attracted to Scully at the beginning so maybe that colors my perception.
You know I've read so much fanfic now that I think I forget Mulder's heroic nature in canon somewhat. Being quite the Scullyist leaves me at times at odds with Ditch!Mulder and Secrets!Mulder so perhaps I read in more arrogance than is strictly there, or find those fics that relate that a bit more appealing.
I'll give this one a reread with your comments in mind and maybe with the sequel included sometime and see what I think. And I'll go back and read more Nascent fanfic. Because it's my fave!

Re: Way late to the game

[wendelah1]

Hmm... well that is food for thought. Maybe I'm just mad at PL for erasing the Scully I know and love. I also don't quite buy that Mulder was immediately attracted to Scully at the beginning so maybe that colors my perception.

I don't believe that Mulder was immediately attracted to Scully either. But I can easily believe in a Mulder who could, in a haze of nostalgia/grief/despair over losing her again, look back on their first trip to Bellefleur and believe he had loved her--a little--even then. Because that's how people's minds work, isn't it? Memories are notoriously unreliable. We rewrite how we feel about our personal histories depending on our current circumstances.

This is an AU, written after the series ended in 2002. I can't speak for prufrock's love but when writing an AU, I feel particularly free to experiment with characterization because I am literally creating another universe whose characters are from the get-go acknowledged to be different from canon.

Your anger about Scully's memories being erased in this fic is understandable. I consider myself a Scullyist, too, and it definitely gave me pause, as did estella-c's comment above that returning Scully minus the memories of her time on the X-Files was a gift to Mulder. That's a creepy observation, frankly, and unfair to both the characters and the writer. YMMV.

Nevertheless, this fic resonates with me like few others do. I think the tragedy of her abduction and the resulting memory loss makes the romance palatable to me. Without it, it's just another happily-ever-after MSR fic, and in all honesty, I cannot abide most of them. To feel true to the series, the characters need to earn their almost-a-happy-ending, even in fanfic.

I kinda hated IWTB at the time (my feelings have softened after rewatching it on a small screen) but this scene felt right even back then.

MULDER: If you have any doubts, any doubts at all, just call off that surgery this morning. And then we'll get out of here. Just me and you.

[Scully pulls away and looks closely at him, smiling slightly.]

SCULLY: As far away from the darkness as we can get?

[Mulder smiles.]

MULDER: I'm not sure it works that way. I think maybe the darkness finds you and me.

SCULLY: I know it does.

MULDER: But let it try.

I think CC nails it here: the darkness inevitably does find Mulder and Scully. I think prufrock's love gets that in a way that many fic writers do not. And I don't think she's angry about it in the way that, for example, Rivkat and Mustang Sally are. I think she just sees it as part of the package. Her AUs are always at least as tragic as the series itself.

RE: Re: Way late to the game

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

Hmmm thanks for that. I still haven't seen IWTB so I'm probably missing a few key characterizations but eventually I'll get there. Right after I force myself to finally watch all of season 7 and (gak) the final two seasons. Maybe. Maybe I should just skip them though? Anything worth watching in seasons 8 & 9 (or the end of season 7 for that matter)?

RE: Re: Way late to the game

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

Also, ugh! Geez autocorrect, so frustrating!

RE: Re: Way late to the game

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

And... where is the best place to find PLs fanfic?

Re: Re: Way late to the game

[wendelah1]

For the stories which she's put on Gossamer, Gossamer without question. They are the most recent versions. (This is also true of Nascent.)

prufrock's love on reocities (a good samaritan saved geocities and put it on his server): http://www.reocities.com/prufrocks_love/