Story 198: "five things that never happened to dana scully" by threeguesses

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

The next fic was nominated by lightlack and enthusiastically seconded by myself. It’s written by threeguesses, who is one of my favorite writers to come out of the pre/post IWTB era. Her writing in this fandom was not prolific, but her stories have always stood out (at least for me) for their powerful concepts, enthralling emotional currents, and the deceptive simplicity of threeguesses’ writing. Undoubtedly you know how "five things" fics work, in which case you also know the title of this week’s fic tells you just about everything that can be revealed about it without spoiling the sense of discovery that comes with each new segment.


five things that never happened to dana scully

The author is still around and writing up a storm (though sadly not in this fandom), and I’m sure she would appreciate feedback. There’s lots to say about this fic, so please do let us know what you think. And, as always, the nomination post is open for new suggestions.

Comments

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

I liked this very much. I kind of like "five things" stories because they expose so many life and character-changing possibilities and encapsulate for me the appeal of the ever-expanding landscape of fanfiction. If I don't like one fic event I can go to another. It's the ultimate freedom of the reader to play with action figures in the brain. It must be an excellent training regimen for writers.

I liked the happy stories best, natch, but the unhappy ones didn't hurt too much because... moving on. The Samantha Mulder one was not to my taste. She is not her brother. Still, why not? As long as you keep moving.

I of course loved the "happy ending" pillow talk, and I do think it carefully thought and shapely. Mulder, in rambling about ghost lights, is actually implying that he may have been lured astray and would rather come back to the human mundane. "I always wanted you to marry me" is such a poignant truth, so cut-to-the-chase. ( It seems to me that someone--Alelou--had Mulder saying something like that before the two had even kissed. Played for laughs, that one.)

Great head-butt ending. The possibility of no possibilities. Like edisto0304, it made me wonder how not just Scully's but my life would have changed as well.

These are beautifully done; threeguesses is a good writer. But I wonder--how to say?--if we get how close to meta they are. They are really like improv, practice, hinting at events that can't seem mortally serious because they "never happened." They make us think of the ephemeral quality of fic, but more regretfully of the let's-try-this hodgepodge of the last years of show canon. The X-Files was a cunning experiment in series tv and an enduring influence. I'm thinking if CC had treated it less like a "five things" hobby, it would have been a proud epic for whatever of the tech entertainment age we have left.

[wendelah1]

But I wonder--how to say?--if we get how close to meta they are. They are really like improv, practice, hinting at events that can't seem mortally serious because they "never happened." They make us think of the ephemeral quality of fic, but more regretfully of the let's-try-this hodgepodge of the last years of show canon. The X-Files was a cunning experiment in series tv and an enduring influence. I'm thinking if CC had treated it less like a "five things" hobby, it would have been a proud epic for whatever of the tech entertainment age we have left.

I agree, whether it was intentional or not, this fic feels more like a commentary on the canon itself than a real story.

Naturally, I thought the "happy ending pillow talk" seemed pretty unlikely, but not the least unlikely of the five. The one that really didn't work for me this time around was number four. "I always wanted you to marry me" is such a poignant truth, so cut-to-the-chase. It is certainly cut to the chase, but it doesn't sound like something Mulder would say to her ever, which is what makes it metafic, at least to me. I don't think marriage was ever what he wanted with her, and I sure don't see her ever wanting to marry him. That's so—conventional—so not them. (The only way I could make that work was to transport them to an AU in an alternate universe on an entirely different show, where they cease to be the Mulder and Scully of our "The X-Files." I still love them, wherever they are.)

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

Every marriage is unique. You could make a case that M and S have been in a form of marriage blanc since at least season 2.

I think what charms me is how *unlike* the Mulder we know it is. I really like different takes on the same characters. As I once said to you, we are stuck with the same two except for occasional forays into Diana or Krycek or CSM country.

There is no way to preview this, so I apologize for screwed-up ital.

[wendelah1]

The new and improved comment system is a disaster. I can preview because I have custom comments in my journal style but I would have to buy a premium account for people here to do it. I'm not giving LJ any more of my money.

I think what charms me is how *unlike* the Mulder we know it is.

Yeah, these really are characterization AUs rather than the usual setting or plot point AUs, which is why they feel more like commentary than fic to me. They're so far off from our show that they obliterate it. It's pretty damn clever of her.

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

these really are characterization AUs rather than the usual setting or plot point AUs

I don't think so. I think the characters are different because their lives are different. In the context of these circumstances, I find the characterizations very believable.

Although I do seem to have been misunderstanding part 4 all this time. I always thought Mulder was crying and Scully was choked up at the end because they both knew they were never going to stop, and Mulder suggesting it in a moment of impulsivity, like it was really going to happen, was painful. Clearly I was wrong.

So maybe I do find that section a bit OOC. But I find the dynamic between them so believable and lovely that I can almost ignore the whole "let's quit and get married!" thing. Though if ever there was a Mulder marriage proposal I didn't hate, it'd be this one. The way Mulder says it just works for me. It's one of the most vulnerable things he's ever said, and he tosses it out like a casual suggestion, using the same basic words he used to suggest they go into teaching. Yup, that's exactly how Mulder would do it, I think.

[badforthefish.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree with Wendy on the marriage issue. Too conventional - so not them. Very few authors managed to sell me "M&S getting married."