I find Julie Fortune to be a brilliant story teller. Somehow, she manages to convey so much, so clearly, and with very few words. I have a lot of difficulty transferring words into images. My reading comprehension in that area is terrible. So I read a lot of fics where I know what's going on in the characters' heads and hearts, but I have no idea how what's happening actually looks. But Julie describes things in a way that is very easy to visualize. Each scene is clear and deliberate. I don't have to try to see it, it just comes to mind. It actually makes me sad that her fics weren't episodes, sometimes.
The fact that she also conveys the character's inner landscapes with equal efficiency and vividness is just - guh - I really love her, basically, is what I'm saying. she seems to know exactly how to mix descriptions of thoughts and feelings with descriptions of the scene, so that none of the details get muddled or block each other out. everything synthesizes into one striking impression.
Plus it doesn't hurt that her Mulder and Scully are really, really awesome. I think of them as being flinty. They get things done, they fight their battles expertly, they're very competent. And yet, at the end of the day, Julie doesn't neglect to write their vulnerability either. If I have one favorite thing about her fics it's that she always ends them with something that makes me feel like I've gone ten rounds with the characters and only just received the punch that decides the match. She lets Mulder and Scully throw themselves into the work and take a beating as if they hardly feel it. It's like as long as they can put themselves into the work they can stand anything - which I think is true of what we see in canon, but canon tends not to emphasize that it's what they do. Whereas Julie emphasizes it by giving us a glimpse of them after the action is over, when they have to step back into their lives and behave like normal human beings. And find they almost can't.
Reading Falling Stars, I was struck by the thought that if it were an actual episode it would've ended at the cemetary with Deep Throat (?) driving away in the black sedan. We wouldn't have gotten to see Scully return the drawing to Jesse, when we realize - as she does - how shaken she really is.
Because Julie gives us that, she is - IMO - one of the few fanfic writers in the fandom who manages to write fics that have a strong element of horror in them. They're not just spooky, exciting stories, they're psychologically brutal. I always end up being disturbed and frightened for Mulder and Scully by the time the fic is over (and Falling Stars basically goes easy on them, in comparison to some of Fortune's fics - The Voice of Experience in particular). Sure, they save each other, but at the cost of a certain amount of personal trauma which can't be undone.
I should probably be backing all of this up with examples, but really, the entire fic is one big example. It speaks for itself.
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winterfish
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Date: 2010-10-29 02:00 am (UTC)The fact that she also conveys the character's inner landscapes with equal efficiency and vividness is just - guh - I really love her, basically, is what I'm saying. she seems to know exactly how to mix descriptions of thoughts and feelings with descriptions of the scene, so that none of the details get muddled or block each other out. everything synthesizes into one striking impression.
Plus it doesn't hurt that her Mulder and Scully are really, really awesome. I think of them as being flinty. They get things done, they fight their battles expertly, they're very competent. And yet, at the end of the day, Julie doesn't neglect to write their vulnerability either. If I have one favorite thing about her fics it's that she always ends them with something that makes me feel like I've gone ten rounds with the characters and only just received the punch that decides the match. She lets Mulder and Scully throw themselves into the work and take a beating as if they hardly feel it. It's like as long as they can put themselves into the work they can stand anything - which I think is true of what we see in canon, but canon tends not to emphasize that it's what they do. Whereas Julie emphasizes it by giving us a glimpse of them after the action is over, when they have to step back into their lives and behave like normal human beings. And find they almost can't.
Reading Falling Stars, I was struck by the thought that if it were an actual episode it would've ended at the cemetary with Deep Throat (?) driving away in the black sedan. We wouldn't have gotten to see Scully return the drawing to Jesse, when we realize - as she does - how shaken she really is.
Because Julie gives us that, she is - IMO - one of the few fanfic writers in the fandom who manages to write fics that have a strong element of horror in them. They're not just spooky, exciting stories, they're psychologically brutal. I always end up being disturbed and frightened for Mulder and Scully by the time the fic is over (and Falling Stars basically goes easy on them, in comparison to some of Fortune's fics - The Voice of Experience in particular). Sure, they save each other, but at the cost of a certain amount of personal trauma which can't be undone.
I should probably be backing all of this up with examples, but really, the entire fic is one big example. It speaks for itself.