xf_book_club | Story 134: "Universal Invariants" by Syntax6

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Story 134: "Universal Invariants" by Syntax6

First, thank you to

amyhit for posting a story and moderating discussion in my absence. She noticed that nothing had been posted for...quite some time, pm'd me and came to my rescue. If there is anyone else out there who wishes to post their own recs, rather than have me do it, please let me know. I am the moderator, but this is our community. As always, the nomination post is awaiting your suggestions.

No discussion of fanfiction set during the early seasons is complete without "Universal Invariants." Yes, you've all heard of the story and most of you have probably read it, too. If you are like me, you've read it more than once, especially Chapter 12. *cough*. In "Universal Invariants,"

syntax6 takes the canon from season one and early season two, adds an au twist, throws in a tasty casefile, mixes in plenty of UST, Mulder/Scully banter and some angsty relationship stuff, and presents us with a fanfiction classic.

In this story, the twist is this: what if Ethan's scene hadn't been cut out of the pilot and Scully had been allowed to have a life of her own, apart from Mulder and the X-files? How would the storyline have been changed? How would it have stayed the same? This story is long and engrossing, so give yourself plenty of time. If you haven't already done so, don't forget to send the writer feedback!

Read "Universal Invariants".

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Chapter 12 might be my favorite first time sex scene in this fandom, maybe in any fandom. It hits a lot of emotional buttons for me, even the aftermath hits my buttons.

Scully getting drunk and calling Mulder (rather than Ethan who has been at home worrying about her) seems contrived in order to break-up the Mulder/Melinda steamy moment.

I thought it a bit odd that Scully called Mulder, too, but then I thought, he is her partner. Mulder knows why she's plastered. She won't have to explain it to him in the car going home. I also think it's supposed to signal her growing attachment to Mulder and and be an early sign of trouble on the home front. It works for me as character development. Realistically, law enforcement partners are as close, if not closer than spouses, or so I've heard.

They can't tell you how they feel about each other because they know as much as you do - probably less, in fact - and it is, consequently, a convincing explanation of how their relationship dynamic will develop in the future. Perhaps Scully's 'memory loss' is slightly contrived as a handy plot tool but, on the other hand, it is believable in a sense because what Scully forgets is what most threatens to overturn her world - the dilemma of her feelings. This is typical Scully and is a physical manifestation of her psychological trait: her denial of chaos and her need to rein in and control emotional tumult. The fact that she makes her decision to end her relationship with Ethan regardless of the memory loss is so understandably her in that she needs to draw tidy lines around messy emotional situations even when she does not understand the true nature of her feelings.

Yes, I agree. Very well-stated.

It's not so much that I think it unlikely that Scully would call Mulder, I agree with what you say about partners and the nature of their partnership at that time in particular. I just felt the timing was too contrived - a let out clause, if you will - as if Syntax6 hadn't quite decided what she wanted to do with Mulder/Melinda and needed an escape route, or alternatively, wanted a red herring that wasn't going to spoil the Mulder/Scully development. Perhaps it's just a little disappointment on my part because, at that point, I would have found a fling between them quite believable and was a little sad to see Melinda's role fizzle out. I thought as a character she deserved to be more than just a plot device...

Ironically, I think she gets to be more of a character in the sequel even though she's dead. I went back to read the chapter. In a pro novel, I think your criticism would be entirely valid, not that it isn't anyway, but I think in fanfiction introducing original characters is risky anyway. I think she weighed the delightful prospect of getting Mulder laid against the possibility of breaking up the Mulder-Scully-Ethan triangle that's she's developing. For my money, I think Syntax6 could have pulled it off, if anyone could. She's better than a lot of pro writers in my opinion.

Perhaps it's just a little disappointment on my part because, at that point, I would have found a fling between them quite believable.

In this universe, I'm not sure Mulder is a quick fling kind of guy, though, is he? Assuming she was interested, and from the perspective of this reader, why wouldn't she be, I think he would have ended up dating Melinda for the remainder of the fic, which would have complicated the ending of this story and the emotional terrain of the next one, too. No, the more I think about it, as a writer I can see better and better reasons to keep them out of bed. So a sexy plot device she remains...

Do you think you'd feel the same way if he'd slept with her first, then got out of her bed to go rescue Scully?

Yes, Wen, you said it: if anyone could pull it off Syntax6 could. So I thought she could pull off (with her eyes closed probably) a relationship between Mulder and Melinda that was less shallow than a fling/one-night-stand but not as much as dating or seriously affecting the outcome of his relationship with Scully. I just felt that the tension was headed in that direction and then petered out. Maybe that was exactly the author's intention but I am not convinced...maybe the lady herself is lurking and can answer the question for us!

As to whether Mulder is a quick fling kind of guy or not, I think maybe most people agree with you that he wasn't. But I sort of feel that he could have been in the early seasons of the show. He just looks as if he would be up for it, not serially perhaps, but certainly not averse to the occasional outing. In any case, though, Syntax6 could have written him with two heads and a fetish for llamas and I would probably still accept it...

Do you think you'd feel the same way if he'd slept with her first, then got out of her bed to go rescue Scully?

I didn't see this when I first replied but... I think I would be more convinced by the author's intentions and that it would resolve the issue between M&M in some purposeful way...but it's hypothetical because it would all depend on how it was written, I guess. Other possibilities abound: M&M not getting to the stage they were in the first place, or one of them changing their minds, or Scully calling on a different night altogether. In either way, the 2 situations not happening coincidentally at the same time...

As regards the above discussion: I always see M/O as an interesting complication on the way to the inevitable MSR. And--perhaps projecting my own prejudice--I think Mulder contemplating a hookup with Melinda is a way of him evading or escaping the unadmitted yearning for Scully. A bit unfair to the OC, but that's how I roll.

And then she gets killed. Overkilled, when you look at it that way. Geez.

yes, I can go with this....I do believe that M&S are inevitably going to get it together in the end, I just don't think this means that either is blind to anyone else that comes along in between - and prepared to do something about it. However much it might mean denial of their core feelings they were clearly attractive to and attracted to other people...even in canon, (and even if they were vampires called Bambi, or could have been )

Wait, the vampire was Kristin, right? Bambi was the etymologist.

yes, I know, I was being silly because it's a rainy, windy Wednesday afternoon and when I think about the Mulder and Scully 'Others' it makes me smile: vampires, Bambis, shape-shifters, resurrected policemen, psychotic murderers, alpha-bitches, and err...Diana. Oh and there's Daniel - it says something that he is the most normal of the lot...

Yes, but also the most boring.

Of course they are attractive to others (thousands!), and of course they might act on it.

Your pov and mine are not mutually exclusive. Actually, I consider /O a very important factor in the thrilling journey toward True Love. It's up to writers to use the O's creatively, and Syn is the best.

A bit of a drop in seriousness, but "How To Fake an Orgasm" has excellent Other action. We discussed that, right?

Yes, we did. Very early on, I think, back in 2008.

I think so too...

Loved HTFAO, made me actually sob with laughter at times and was so very, very clever at drawing out Scully's jealousy. I also love Tesla's Neither Here nor There but I think I am a bit alone in that. It was rec'd last year on here and sadly I was not on board at the time so didn't partake in the discussion but I don't think it seemed to curry much favour. I guess because of Scully's vulnerability in relation to Mulder - but still I loved it, and the Mike Henderson character. There really aren't that many good Other stories though, I guess Wen's point about introducing new characters into fic believably is painfully hard. That's why I like Melinda so much, Syntax6 can do it!

Yeah, I wish you'd been around for the discussion of "Neither Here nor There." I can't remember what I said about it, but it concludes rather badly, don't you think (though not as badly as "Flight," thank heavens)? She has Mike Henderson leave Scully, leave for California, without even saying good-bye or officially breaking-up, which didn't even seem in character for him. She went to alot of trouble to create him and make him into a good match for Scully and then Wham! It was like Tesla just wanted to dump on Scully. I hated that ending.

yes, it does...I was incredibly frustrated at the time and thought she MUST have written more, searching frankly on the net. The ending is too abrupt and unresolved. If I recall it wasn't so much Henderson's sudden departure, although that struck oddly too, but Scully saying to Mulder about A WEEK later, "Errrr, have you seen Henderson lately?" or something like that - like she had been so smitten with him (as a Mulder substitute but a gorgeous one at that) and then Pfff, out of sight, out of mind. Nor did I ever truly get the whole "out to get Henderson plot" thing in the last third, but aside from these little (!) quibbles, I found the dynamic so exciting and I was so HAPPY for Scully to have some lovely sex with a lovely guy who wasn't completely screwed up and although it couldn't last (what with MULDER around and everything) I thought it could have been resolved a little less - I don't know - it just sort of vanished as if Tesla had suddenly got bored with the whole thing.

Still, not being a writer myself, I understand that endings are absolutely the most difficult thing to do well and some good stories are still worth it for everything that comes before. So yes, I hated that ending too but the rest of it was worth it even so.

You are way too subtle for me, dear.

Yes, TPTB never gave the Others much of a shot, did they?

TPTB?

TPTB=The Powers That Be.

duh!

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Story 134: "Universal Invariants" by Syntax6

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