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

[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.