Story 10: "Oyster" by Jordan

[wendelah1]

I read this story last week after it was recced over at halfamoon by rivkat, as having a strong Scully characterization. I liked it. I did. But I don't think I really understood it. Maybe someone can give me a hand with that.

Here is what the author has to say:
Title: Oyster
Author: Jordan
Category:That's a good question. Skinner, Scully and Mulder. All rolled into one delicious shell.
Rating: no none under eighteen, I hope.
Spoilers: THIS FIC IS REQUIEM FREE.
Summary: Scully gets laid but it is actually integral to the plot.

Oyster

Let us know what you think; let the author know what you think; and please, let us know your suggestions for next time.

Comments

rarer than radium, crueller than truth...

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful review! Working together, the two of us have summed this one up, I think.

Like all great western religious stories, Oyster takes place in the desert, in the modern day stand-in of Sodom and Gomorrah: Los Vegas. It is a land of waking dreams, endless heat and unquenchable thirsts.

Great point here. That's something I had missed.

And am I seeing things, or do you actually have an "Oyster" themed icon? Where did that come from, if I may ask?

Re: rarer than radium, crueller than truth...

[wendelah1]

Yes, it does seem appropriate doesn't it? I remembered seeing it back when I was going through the backlogs in the XF icon communities. Or maybe I was just snooping around her journal. It was made by frey_at_last. I was hoping she might jump into the fray here (sorry) but I guess she is busy with school. She made a whole set that has "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock," line by line on XF icons. This was mixed into that set, which I had book-marked. There is a lot of religious symbolism in this, much of which we already talked about. There are also other parallel scenes from Requiem, which I had to re-watch, by the way, in order to understand this story. It made me cry. Again. This discussion seemed like one to which she could have added an extra dimension, as a religious studies major.

Well, I guess we could wait a day or so, to see if anyone else has anything to add. I put a little nag, I mean, a little reminder in my journal about the reading. I am tempted to go friend everyone in the community so that I can nag them on a weekly basis. Can you tell I am the daughter of two school teachers? Also, If we could get everyone here to pin this community, then we might get more discussions going. I don't think everyone on LJ knows about that.

Oh, and thank you. I wouldn't have tried as hard if you hadn't written something so astoundingly, blindingly brilliant to start us out. I am surprised you didn't consider literature as a field. But maybe you were more drawn to the sciences initially? Now, I think I am going to go post that Dylan Thomas poem in sacred_muse. Maybe in my journal, too.

Edited for typos. As usual.

Re: rarer than radium, crueller than truth...

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

There is a lot of religious symbolism in this, much of which we already talked about. There are also other parallel scenes from Requiem, which I had to re-watch, by the way, in order to understand this story. It made me cry. Again. This discussion seemed like one to which she could have added an extra dimension, as a religious studies major.

You've worked harder at this than I did. I haven't seen Requiem in a while and so I think I missed most of the parallel scenes. As for the religious themes, I'm thinking that I should try to get hadjie to read this and see if she can spot the themes that we missed. She's been talking about maybe trying some fanfic but hasn't done so yet. This might be a good starter story for her, even though it's a far from easy read! She's good at analysis.

I wouldn't have tried as hard if you hadn't written something so astoundingly, blindingly brilliant to start us out. I am surprised you didn't consider literature as a field. But maybe you were more drawn to the sciences initially?

Well, I don't know about brilliant. Analyzing something like this successfully seems to me to be a matter of just grabbing hold of it really firmly and then worrying it in your mind until you come up with something. Less intuition and more hard slog. Or possibly it's just that the intuition becomes automated the longer you practice it. I'm not all that used to analyzing literature but in some senses the basic idea is the same.

I did ponder literature briefly. I was interested in science during my early teen years and then went over to history. I thought of applying to Oxford to do Modern History and English, but finally settled on Modern History and Politics. My theory was that I could always enjoy reading novels and poetry, but that analyzing them to death might get old after a while as a primary occupation. I think I was right, at least as far as my own inclinations go.

Re: rarer than radium, crueller than truth...

[wendelah1]

I am not good at the hard slog, I guess. I have to wait for a flash of insight to hit. If it does, well, then I can write something, if it doesn't, then I am at a loss. (this is why I had no future as an academic) Your analysis just jump-started my brain, I guess. I watched "Requiem" because it worked before, when I was slogging my way through my third or fourth attempt at "Parabiosis." I had to watch all of season seven, that time. It did help.

I love the idea of hadjie reading "Oyster." I am sure she would see more of the religious symbolism. I don't think you have to have seen "Requiem" to understand this story, although I do think it helps.