Story 216: "How a Resurrection Really Feels" by Idella

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

Our next fic, "How a Resurrection Really Feels" by idella, was written for the 2008 xf_santa gift exchange, and recced by newo_fic.

Idella did not write prolifically for the XF fandom, but the fics she wrote are written with an intriguing intensity that makes them a heady and memorable reading experience - especially "How a Resurrection Really Feels," which vividly and unflinchingly addresses the issue of Scully’s immortality. The warning containted in the headers is spoilery, but it’s a dark fic and it packs a real punch, so be sure not to skip the warning if you’re the sort to find such things as one warns for devastating.


Read "How a Resurrection Really Feels".

Also available on AO3.


On another note, I suppose it’s time for me to officially acknowledge my absence from the book club over the past several weeks: my participation has dwindled and I must announce that I’m no longer operating as a co-moderator for this wonderful and enduring community. However, I will not be disappearing irretrievably into the ether. In fact, wendelah1 - who has diligently and proficiently moderated the community for several years, and continues to do so - has kindly agreed to allow me to continue posting recs, simply on a less regular basis. It’s been an honor, and a lot of fun, to co-mod for this community. I only wish that I’d gotten involved sooner and stayed longer.

To the many fanfic writers and fanfic commenters who have contributed to xf_book_club, and to the innumerable fanfic writers and fanfic commenters in our truly epic fandom: You guys are the best.


Signing off,

Amyhit

Comments

[memories-child.livejournal.com]

I love this fic! I'll be back to comment properly once I've reread it.

Also, I'm sorry to hear you've stepped down as co-mod but I'm glad you'll be sticking around.

[infinitlight.livejournal.com]

I don't think I can be doing with darkfic right now, so I think I'll skip this one. Sorry to see you stepping down as co-mod, amyhit, although I'm glad to hear you'll still be around :).

[firefish.livejournal.com]

I really liked this. It was dark without being grim. And dealt well with the immortality storyline, which I haven't read much of but can be very hit or miss.

[mogster495.livejournal.com]

Why do you have to make me cry so early in the morning?

Scully coming to terms with her immortality stories are always so sad because you know she is going to lose him.

She could become a theoretical physicist; she's always liked chalkboards, and she could stand on a stool to reach the top. She could solve the mysteries of the universe, not the mysteries of Middle-of-Nowheresville, U.S.A. She'll tell him when she leaves, when it doesn't matter as much, she says to herself, but somehow she never gets around to leaving.
That line is so Scully, she would think to study another field of science with her new found gift.

[newo-fic.livejournal.com]

One of the biggest reasons that this story works so well for me is that it is one of the few fics that contains the incident (don't want to be too spoilery) near the end that actually works extraordinarily well. Many fics I read that deal with that issue tend to be pretty sappy and just don't feel in character... but idella makes it work and work well.

I really like how Scully deals with this new knowledge. She is far enough along in the series at this point to be able to accept that this is possible, it has happened to her, and yet she approaches it with some sort of scientific method, focusing on the positive benefits that come with this ability, only to be sucker-punched by the events at the end.

I just love the way idella wrote this; capturing the characters' voices, her pacing and flow, etc... Definitely one of my favorites.

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

When I first read this fic I was blown away. But oddly, whatever it was that was so enthralling on the first read didn’t draw me in when I reread it earlier today. However, I still think it’s a very good fic. Scully’s immortality is an ambitious possibility to explore, and I like the way Idella doesn’t take Scully out of the normal progression of events in order to reveal her new nature. I like the way she discovers it gradually, in bits and pieces, while going about her normal life (such as it is).

I also like that the writing of the fic has a contemplative quality, as though the emotions of the piece have been muted, but are still coming through as a resonance under the surface of the narrative. Which contributes to the sense that Scully’s outward life has become disconnect from her inner life – which of course it has.

Mulder and Scully’s dialogue has a good rapport to it, and I find the scenes before and after she shoots herself to be particularly vivid and memorable. I think they’re what I’ve always most like and most remembered about the fic. In fact, my favorite lines of the fic are the last line of the first scene: “Her last thought is of Mulder, blinking at her steadily, waiting to hear what she has to say next,” and the first line of the follow-up scene: “Scully wakes up late the next afternoon in a pool of blood.”


However, there’s one big factor that prevents me from connecting with HaRRF. It was something that nagged at me when I read the fic the first time, but I didn’t realize what it was for a while: I simply don’t think Scully would react to her immortality the way she does in HaRRF.

It makes her feel like she's floating on air at first, this surfeit of life. It's all the excitement of selecting college courses without the heartbreak of being able to choose only so many. She's going to be able to do everything she's ever wanted to do, know everything she's ever wanted to know. She's relieved, though, when her high-strung excitement tapers off after a week, leaving her with a more low-key feeling of satisfaction.

This sounds like how I would react to discovering I was immortal. This sounds like how Mulder might react to immortality. But, IMO, this is not at all how Scully would feel about it. I genuinely believe she’d be horrified, that she’d think it was an aberration, and that her existence was against the laws of both science and God. So the ease, and even pleasure, with which she accepts her immortality, and the way she soon begins to change her life (or plan on changing her life) around her immortality makes her feel like someone else to me.

Obviously this is all entirely subjective - but then so is almost everything we discuss here.

HaRRF offers a distinctive and well-written depiction of Scully discovering her immortality, but it’s not something I can reconcile with my perception of her character.

[badforthefish.livejournal.com]

1)Amy, we'll miss you as co-mod, but I'm glad you'll still be around. Don't go too far, darling. ♥

2) Double buggeration, I LOVE that fic but I have a horrendously busy week coming (job application) so will probably be necroposting.