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xf_book_club2010-08-28 02:34 pm
wendelah1) wrote in xf_book_club2010-08-28 02:34 pm
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Story 126: "Wing and Prayer" by Revely
The party's over. Yes, this week we are taking a break from our first-time Mulder/Scully madness, changing course to read a PG-13 casefile. "Wing and Prayer" was nominated by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hyperladder, seconded by lightlack and thirded by amyhit, who is right, by the way, this isn't exactly genfic. This is seventh season MSR, with revely portraying their relationship in a way that feels very close to canon even to me.
The nomination post is always open for business. Send feedback, then come back for discussion.
Read "Wing and Prayer".
hyperladder, seconded by lightlack and thirded by amyhit, who is right, by the way, this isn't exactly genfic. This is seventh season MSR, with revely portraying their relationship in a way that feels very close to canon even to me.The nomination post is always open for business. Send feedback, then come back for discussion.
Read "Wing and Prayer".
Part 1
watchread.O.o
I'm ok. Really.
"My partner and I have been investigating 'miracles' like this for a long time," Scully had tried to explain to her when they met for the first time in the Sister's camp office.
I can can picture the look on her face as she says this. A bit apologetic, a bit defensive. Conflicted, as usual, when these sorts of things come along.
Ugh, the birds against the window thing is so awful. I hope I never see anything like that.
It was the classic Mulder trait - the ability to make women melt with only a look and a smile. Heaven knew he still had that affect on her, and she should have been immune to it by now.
Aw, me too.
Love this description of the chapel:
Even the light sorrowed through the glass on its knees, not daring to raise its eyes to the pointed ceiling or the small wood-cloaked saints that gathered dust on the wall. It smelled abandoned, mossy and sour with something like the memory of dashed dreams and the fierce cries of mothers as they watched their daughters ripped from life.
The thing that drew me to XF was not aliens or monsters. It certainly wasn't romance, since there was none of that until late in the series when it became canon. It was the discussion of big themes.
But one thing I didn't care for was that it seemed to go upon the assumption that faith and science are opposite of each other. (Though I don't blame them. This is the default point of view that most people have.) If you mean faith as in "believing something crazy, against all evidence" then, sure. But Christianity does not ask its followers to believe it against evidence. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Christianity tells us to examine what the Scriptures say and come to a reasoned decision about whether what it says is true or false. There is evidence from history, from archeology, from the prophecies made about Jesus and from the way the bible itself came together. Sure, there are some thing that are wild and defy explanation. But when you establish the things that can be established, those other things become easier to accept. The trouble is that most people go to the extreme things first.
Also, from the show POV, it used to irritate me greatly that Mulder was willing to believe in ANYTHING except religion, and Christianity in particular. But I got used to it after a while, and it lent great realism to the character. Many real-life people are exactly the same way - they are open to aliens and the paranormal and horoscopes and all sorts of things, but when it comes to religion and Christianity in particular, they not only don't believe, they refuse to even look at the evidence.
On Scully's side, however, it would've made it more believable to me if she had ever examined her faith using the same investigative skills she had as an FBI agent as well as a doctor. In fact, it seems bizarre to me that she never did that. But then, this may have been beyond the scope of the show. It's only TV, after all. Still, I wish it had somehow been touched upon.
(Cont.)
Part 2
"If you're done with your vacation slide-show, Scully, the rest
of us would like to leave."
No, he didn't!
I love that this conversation/fight was in here. It needed to be in the episode and it wasn't. I remember how nuts that made me at the time. Thank goodness for fic filling in the gaps!
Mulder was able to speak about his trust for her,
but occasionally had a hard time backing it up with action. She,
on the other hand, was all deeds and very few words.
Oh, I loved this. How perfectly descriptive of them!
She chuckled beside him, wondering if he knew how easy he was to
read. Who needed subtitles when you read Mulderface?
I know, right? I really love him sometimes. Infuriating though he may be.
I love him taking the girls for ice cream.
Mulder sneaking her out of the cabin and making marshmallows. I want a Mulder of my own.
The ending was a bit sad. I would have loved for everyone to have been healed. But this way works better. Even happy endings are not always perfect.
***
I haven't read this in a long time. It was perfect for summer, especially since I've never been to camp and have no possibility of going anytime soon. I know. I'm more deprived than even Scully!
It was also perfect that this story came along now. I just finished watching Memento Mori a few days ago.
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(Anonymous) 2010-08-29 02:28 am (UTC)(link)This is my all time favorite fic, so I'm pretty excited to see it come up. The lake 'baptism' scene literally made me catch my breath upon first reading. For me, this story remains the most emotionally rewarding fic I've come across. By far.
I'll comment more after I sober up, and properly review. . .
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what i found possibly the most fascinating about Wing and Prayer was that it wasn't exactly my version of Mulder and Scully in late season 7, but i think it's one of the very closest to canon versions i've read. my way of imagining their relationship at this point is more like, say, Ceremony by Darwin - it's a very whole-souled, 'all in' kind of conjoining. But in Wing and Prayer revely managed to convey the absolute strength of their bond, while also conveying the tenuousness of their sexual relationship. the way Mulder and Scully have remained internally compartmentalized in Wing and Prayer is great. exhausting to read about, but great.
and it was definitely one of the most engaging fics i've read, but not just engaging - emotionally engaging specifically. it was mainly the way it was written and the way scully was characterized that kept me emotionally engaged, more than any desire i had to see the plot unfold. i didn't find it a particularly gripping fic, so for it to be so emotionally rich was very interesting.
also, this is one of those fics that makes for really excellent 'soundbites'. there are so many chunks of writing where i found myself thinking, "this paragraph communicates the mulder/scully dynamic perfectly," which is always a joy.
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The baptism and resurrection scenes in WAAP are all the more powerful for being part of a scientifically grounded casefile. Religion is so often flaunted and exploited today--and CC's approach was pretty ham-handed--but the images retain their power when respectfully invoked. Birds destroying themselves out of sheer ignorance; then some of them--*some* of them, since we are still in the fallen world--having health restored. That's quite a good parable. We should congratulate the author, especially when we consider her competition.
(Scully once said that something on one ep was a parable when it absolutely *was not*. That Chris Carter. Wouldn't maintain a show bible, and apparently didn't think it necessary to research the original.)
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