Story 181: "The Waterskiers" by Khyber

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

Well everyone (I'm not sure how numerous you are at the moment, but I'm going to be bold and say 'everyone'), we've reached the end of the road - the point where the narrative pavement turns to gravel turns to a beaten dirt path trailing off narrowly into the uncharted wilds of the great and sometimes terrible WIP territory.

By waybacking Khyber's website we get what seem to be conflicting accounts of what the future of KvsS7 was to be. In early 2008 there were five fics meant to follow "The Waterskiers," three of which were to be "full episodes" and two were to be vignettes (as seen here). This outline complies with Khyber's notes for "Amnesia" which he judged to be the "late beginning/early middle" of the story. Yet by late 2009 the titles of four of these five fics had vanished, and only the one titled "Parabola" remained. It was initially indicated to be planned as a vignette, but later seemed intended to have been a full episode.

In summary, the fate of the KvsS7 universe remains largely a mystery, and anyone participating in the comments thread should feel free to speculate on the future of the story, as well as share their thoughts about the fic itself.


TITLE: The Waterskiers (Mod note: You may have to c/p the URL, or find the fic on Gossamer.)
AUTHOR: Khyber
E-MAIL: khyber@khyberfic.net
DISTRIBUTION: Ephemeral, Gossamer, please ask for anywhere else.
RATING: R for mature content.
CATEGORIES: XR KEYWORDS: Withheld.
SPOILERS: Pbbblffft.
SUMMARY: Missing scenes... okay, a LOT of missing scenes... from "Hollywood AD."

Author's Notes: This story is part of "Khyber Versus Season Seven" and takes place during "Hollywood AD," specifically, following the end of the famous bathtub scene. The rest of the episode takes place a week or more after the end of this story.
Remember that the premiere of "The Lazarus Bowl," according to the episode, is "eighteen months later," sometime in late 2001.


Sadly the summer is over. That does, however, mean a return to something resembling a normal posting schedule at some point in the near future. Remember the old days (July) when a new week meant changing up the plot, style, and characterizations with an all new fic? Well those days are returning along with coats and scarves, so if you have any suggestions for fics you'd like to read this fall the recommendations page is always open.

Comments

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

I really don't know how I feel about this fic. I think there are many strong and even beautiful moments, some really excellent exploration of the nature of the x-filean cause, and nowhere can I go, "No, this doesn't work." All the same, there is something - something pervasive I can't put my finger on - that I find off-putting about The Waterskiers. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the character of the writing. It's cynical in a way that I sometimes don't like. There's always a distinct and high level of realism in Khyber's writing - particularly but not only in how he characterizes people - and in my perception, there is a kind of cynicism that goes along with that realism. "This is how it really is, and this is how people really are," the writing seems to say. Sometimes I love that, and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I feel that these characters are better, more noble (to steal a word CSM scoffs at in the fic), and more generous in spirit than the fic makes them out to be.

One major difficulty is that so much of The Waterskiers is about image, which works thematically with Hollywood AD, but is a bit of an imposition on Mulder and Scully, who I've always seen as being too purpose driven to be truly image conscious. Scully worries what TLG will think of she and Mulder going on vacation together, what Skinner will think, what her family will say, what Mulder's friends will think. And when she's not worried about that, she's worried about making kittenish noises during sex, about being too casual with Mulder, and - it would seem - about being to girly. To an extent I think this is true of her character, but I feel like Waterskiers focuses on that aspect of her too much. I see Scully as being less concerned about what people think than about what actually is. Which is why I think this passage is so important:

How do I honor this memory, how do I honor the trail of beloved and anonymous dead behind us? If everything happens for a reason, this can't all have happened so I can sip Chardonnay with Mulder's arm around me.

It's an issue that is only addressed directly in this one instance, but it's clearly something Scully has been struggling with through the KvsS7 stories, to one degree or another. Only now can she afford to truly confront this issue, though, because it's the first time in a long time she has gained equilibrium of her own. What she had no room for in TFOOS ("I have
no room left for Vicky or Patrick Crump or anything else") is a problem she is working on now.

I know what you would say. You'd tell me not to question, tell me that love is precious, tell me that you don't honor the dead by refusing to live.

This is all true, but personally I think that continuing to fight is the right course of action for she and Mulder to take, even if that means they must sacrifice the happy lives they would otherwise live. They're not fighting for vengeance or even justice - if they were, if that were all, then I would feel differently. But they're fighting so that humanity can have a future, just as CSM tells Skinner he is fighting for humanity's future. And, if that is true, there is a sad but lovely symmetry this fic brings clear: they truly are fighting for the same thing, the same end, but with very different ethical principles at heart.