Story 204: "El Quinto Sol" by Onemillionandnine

[wendelah1]

I'm feeling a wee bit obsessed with season seven at the moment. I already know what most people's favorite season seven story is (and don't get me wrong, I like "Parabiosis," too), but this one is mine.

Summary: An explanation of Mulder's sudden belief in "miracles." Arthur C. Clarke's second law in action. A bit of Mytharc in the guise of a case file. But in the end it's all about sex. Then again, what isn't?

I can't think of anything to add at the moment. The link is to her old site, now at reocities, but if you want to read an old-skool text file, the entire fic can be read or downloaded at onemillionnine's Author Page at Gossamer.

If anyone has suggestions, especially for season seven stories, feel free to leave them in the comments or the suggestion post. And good, bad, or indifferent, please let us know what you think.

Read "El Quinto Sol".

Comments

[dryadinthegrove]

Hmm. I really liked parts of this, and others not so much - I think I wanted it to be smoother, somehow? And yet, I did love most of their interaction? I think? I dunno, I feel conflicted.

[littlegreen42.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I really liked parts of this, and others not so much - I think I wanted it to be smoother, somehow?

From what I vaguely remember of reading this story several years ago, I think I felt the same way. It was sort of... all over the place.

[wendelah1]

Okay, so you had a problem with...the plot, maybe?

The plot seemed pretty straightforward to me in a cracked-out sort of way, so I'm at a loss.

[littlegreen42.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't remember. I'd need to read it again. Maybe it was just the weirdness of the story.

[wendelah1]

I think I would describe the story as original rather than weird, but okay.

It is MSR which isn't your favorite genre. We'll try to do something with more gen soon, I promise.

[littlegreen42.livejournal.com]

I'm not really using "weird" in a bad way. I may not even be remembering the right story (I feel stupid for commenting without rereading it). Is this the one where Mulder has a clone, but it's a female version of him? Or something vaguely like that?

[wendelah1]

Nope. That's not it. Not even close. I don't think that story was written by OneMillionandNine. Sorry.

On the bright side, I'm almost done with your remix. I'm just looking for an icon for it.

Whoops. Wrong icon. Reposting...

[littlegreen42.livejournal.com]

Well, I feel really stupid, now! ;)

I can't wait to read your remix! :)

[wendelah1]

Ah, don't worry about it. You got the conversation rolling. Now go read the story!

Hee! It's up now!

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

that one is the other epic length fic by Rivkat and Mustang Sally, Tikkun Olam.

[wendelah1]

YES. Thank you. We discussed that back in the day...Now that was a wild ride.

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

WHEEE! Wish I'd been around when that got discussed! Lots of folks don't care for it so much, but I found it utterly bizarrely fascinating. Disturbing but fascinating. Why did I find this reading group so many years after the fact? Grrr!

[wendelah1]

Can you be more specific? Is it the plot that didn't seem coherent enough? Or something else?

[dryadinthegrove]

No, the plot was both too concise and too loose. This is the type of story that because of the style of narration needs a very very firm hand where plot is concerned. In fact, now that I'm thinking more about (with wine in hand), I believe that the plot is actually the problem. Equal attention is paid to both plot and story (if we go by 'plot is what happens, story is how it happens') when imo, 90% of this should have been story with plot providing only the slightest of bones.

But, because both elements have equal weight, neither can come to the forefront as was needed. The plot is not fleshed out enough to be the main reason to read, but it's also too involved to make smut the main reason to read, if that even makes any sense (I did mention I'm drinking wine, right?).

Which isn't to take anything away from 100000009's writing - it's really good, it just needed some tweaks to make her effort flawless. I guess I'm trying to say that I can see the work when I don't want to see the work, ie, more work was needed!

[wendelah1]

I guess then I just disagree with your assessment. I think the plot and the story are interwoven quite adeptly in "El Quinto Sol," in a way that very few fanfic or pro writers ever manage. Character is driving the plot, and the plot is revealing character.

I think if people just want the smut they can find their own way and skip to the ending but it won't have the same emotional impact as if they'd read the whole thing. The power of the sex scene is fueled at least in part by the conflict that precedes it.

I hope you're enjoying that wine.

[dryadinthegrove]

No, I agree that the smut would be...I don't want to say boring ;), but it certainly wouldn't have the same emotional impact without the story.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while reading this is that if felt jumbled and incomplete - maybe it's just a matter of the lack of connect-y bits? Or maybe I just needed those connect-y bits to mark places, ie, this happens and then we are here in this place in the tale because of x - nothing major, just a throwaway sentence or phrase. To me it's as if the story was written, printed out, the paragraphs cut up and mixed together again, but some meaningful sentences were lost when the useless bits were tossed aside.

Does that make more sense?

And I don't want to suggest that the writing is poor - my apologies if that's how my comments have come across! Because, honestly, OMaN's 'poor' efforts are miles ahead.

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

No, the plot was both too concise and too loose. […] because both elements have equal weight, neither can come to the forefront as was needed. The plot is not fleshed out enough to be the main reason to read, but it's also too involved to make smut the main reason to read, if that even makes any sense

I very much agree with dryad on this one. And with littlegreen42 - whether she was thinking of another story when she made her comment or not.

This story really does feel “all over the place” to me. The way Mulder and Scully think and feel about each other has a heavy, messy, ill at ease quality that gives me a slightly sick feeling of disillusionment, yet the narrative swerves radically from that kind of darkness to “souls mating, minds blown” sex. Tao (as I understand it) is very much about peace and natural benevolence and being “at one” (well, as much as Tao can be narrowed down to being "about" anything), but the actual tone of the fic doesn’t seem to “match” with that concept at all. The OC’s are interesting in an exuberantly inventive way, but they lack the steady grounded quality that would make me A) care about them, and B) believe in them as more than a source for amusement and exposition.

And then there’s what dryad has already articulated so well about the strange split in the focus, which leaves the fic feeling unsettled on both levels. It’s a case of too much viscera and not enough skin or bones. Too much potentially interesting material without enough form to lend the material a cohesive and compelling shape.

And I don't want to suggest that the writing is poor

Neither do I. I do think this is one of OMAN’s crackiest and messiest fics, but even so it has quite a bit of good material in it. (And I must admit that I rather enjoy the first scene of the fic. Something about the blatant, almost coarse lust of Scully’s thoughts is quite titillating.)

And of course OMAN has several other fics that I admire much less conditionally. The strength of her writing did once get me to read (and enjoy) several hundred K of a TLG fic that had barely any Mulder and Scully in it at all; not the kind of fic I would usually be interested in.

[dryadinthegrove]

The way Mulder and Scully think and feel about each other has a heavy, messy, ill at ease quality that gives me a slightly sick feeling of disillusionment, yet the narrative swerves radically from that kind of darkness to “souls mating, minds blown” sex

Yes, exactly, precisely.

The OC’s are interesting in an exuberantly inventive way, but they lack the steady grounded quality that would make me A) care about them, and B) believe in them as more than a source for amusement and exposition.

Yup, yup. I really disliked the Melissa bit intensely - and that may be because of my own issues, but it didn't ring true to her character. That might sound ridiculous given how little we see of her on the show - or maybe just the failure of my imagination.