xf_book_club | Story 217: "Hollow Day" by Kel

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Story 217: "Hollow Day" by Kel

I've been wanting to rec this fic for years; however, I must warn you: this is not the usual, cheery, feel-good holiday story, nor is it the sort of story we've come to expect from Kel. There are not many fic writers who can create believable, compelling original characters the way Kel can. Her narrator, now an adult with children of her own, recalls a traumatic day she spent at the Mulders, specifically the Thanksgiving immediately following Samantha's abduction.

Most of the gentry on the Vineyard were summer people, but there was one rich family that lived there year-round. The Mulders. They weren't exactly Kennedys or anything, but you could tell they were loaded. I'm sure they were the only people on Martha's Vineyard with a summer house someplace else. Mrs. Mulder was always redecorating. My dad was a house painter, which meant he was always over there painting.

I didn't mind that my dad painted the house, or even that he fixed the drips and put up the storm windows. But I burned with resentment because every year my mom would spend Thanksgiving over at the Mulders', cleaning and serving and doing all kinds of things that she should have been doing for us, and that the Mulders should have been doing for themselves.

My freshman year at UMass, when my mom picked me up at the ferry the day before Thanksgiving, that was the first thing I said to her.

"I *hope* you're not planning to spend my visit working for the Mulders."

"Oh, my God, Linda, you haven't heard!" my mother said. "Something terrible happened last night. Samantha was kidnapped."

The link is to Fugues Fiction Archive but this can also be read at Gossamer.

Read "Hollow Day"

Don't forget to send feedback to the author, I know she'd appreciate it. The nomination post is always open for your suggestions. I'm especially interested in holiday stories right now.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to those who'll be celebrating next week.

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Yay! Pre-series fic! Looking forward to this.

I've only just started reading, but already want to comment. I love the way the first few lines convey how well-off the Mulders were, especially this one: "I'm sure they were the only people on Martha's Vineyard with a summer house someplace else." Ha ha. :) Mulder really does strike me as someone who grew up rich but doesn't really realize that he did -- you can see it in the way he has such an unselfconscious sense of entitlement (though that might just be his personality). The first few lines also really underline how separate the Mulders were; I definitely see them as people who kept themselves apart, which probably had a lot to do with Bill and Teena Mulder's personalities as well as the secrets they were burdened with keeping.

Anyway, back to reading...

I love pre-x-files fic, too but only the kind that's reasonably realistic. I don't like high school aus or stories where Fox meets Dana before the X-Files and they marry and have children.

Have you read Kel's other pre-xfiles fic? She's written several others and they're all good. "Things Without Remedy" is wonderful. "Seminal Events" is quite funny, although also kind of...off color? Snicker. "Moongate" is really good, too.

I agree, Mulder is very arrogant, but not so unconscious of it as I read him, at least not at the beginning. He comes from money and has powerful people backing him and feeding him information.

I love pre-x-files fic, too but only the kind that's reasonably realistic. I don't like high school aus or stories where Fox meets Dana before the X-Files and they marry and have children.

Uuuuughhhh, I can't stand those. Right there with ya, honey.

I don't like high school aus or stories where Fox meets Dana before the X-Files and they marry and have children.

Oh god, those stories. :/ The worst is when they meet pre-X-Files and have a relationship, but then forget all about each other (and not because they had their minds wiped or anything, but because they just... forgot...) and meet up later in the Pilot as if they'd never known each other before!

Have you read Kel's other pre-xfiles fic?

I don't think so (but those titles look familiar). I shall check them out.

I agree, Mulder is very arrogant, but not so unconscious of it as I read him

I actually said "unselfconscious," not "unconscious" -- I guess what I meant by that was that Mulder seems to lack a sense of shame about his expectations that he's entitled to get his own way. I'm not too sure whether or not Mulder's conscious or unconscious about his own arrogance -- though I guess I'd like to think that he's a nice enough person underneath all those flaws that if he were aware of how arrogant he's often being, he'd try to (at the very least) tone it down. But maybe I'm too charitable to Mulder because he's my favourite character. *shrugs*

I think Mulder is a wonderful character. I love Fox Mulder. I think he's a good person underneath everything, and capable of kindness toward others. But nice? Mulder is too self-absorbed (and too dangerous) to be nice. Being nice would show that he has an interest in the opinions of others. We know Mulder doesn't give a shit what other people think, not really. Except Scully, a little bit. He knows how he comes off to other people. What Mulder cares about is the truth.

Yeah, no, I think you're right -- and I'm not even quite sure what I was thinking, because now that I think about it, he is often arrogant on purpose -- maybe I was thinking more of those times when he's being arrogantly dismissive of Scully's theories, for instance. I don't think he wants to be rude to Scully, because he actually likes Scully and he respects her and cares about her, but he's got a tendency towards arrogance, so maybe sometimes he acts arrogantly without really thinking about it. But, you know, that's still pretty jerky. :/

Oh, Mulder, I have so many conflicting feelings about you as a character...

(Ugh, I'm getting off-topic from the fic discussion -- sorry!)

I think you can love a character while still embracing his flaws. I can, anyway. I think Mulder sometimes behaves badly. This creates conflict. Conflict is good for writers!

Sounds like Sherlock, you way you say it. ;-) Of course, all investigators for the last century have had a similarity to SH.

You mean the Cumberbatch version of Sherlock Holmes? He is much more obnoxious than Mulder (and quite unlike the canon version) to the point that after a mere six episodes I didn't care if I ever met him again. He's much ruder to people than Mulder and unlike Mulder, that Sherlock doesn't care about the victims. Crimes are just puzzles for him to solve. Scully would have kicked Sherlock's ass to the curb. I have no idea what John Watson sees in him.

This is what happens sometimes when you start watching a show after you've read some fanfiction. I watched season one after (and only because) I'd read MA and OMaN's Sherlock fic and I liked their version of the characters much better. They're better writers, too.

Plus, Mulder had wit and charm when he cared to use it, and a wacky sense of humor.

Oddly, I think the crime-fighting duo that Elementary's Holmes and Watson most resemble is Mulder and Scully. They aren't there yet but I think the writers want to create that weird co-dependency and intense friendship that Mulder and Scully developed over the years, minus the sex, thankfully. I still maintain that the sex thing ruined The X-Files. And, yes, I am still bitter.

No, I don't mean the Cumberbatch version, at least no more than many others. Though I find it an interesting and original take on the original.

It's just that Mulder is very like Holmes in his obsession with the truth and his genius. But he's much more a normal guy. And flirtatious. Mr. Holmes might have seemed normal enough back in the Nineteenth Century, but we can certainly psychologically deconstruct him today and have fun doing it.

Cumberbatch Holmes is certainly not likeable, but he is magnetic. If you insist I'll give Elementary a try.

We don't like many of the same television series so I would not insist you try or even recommend Elementary to you. Cumberbatch's Sherlock is magnetic to many viewers and his fandom seems to adore him but he and his ilk hold no charm for me at all. I also hated House, as you recall, the character and the series. I don't like that guy in the Mentalist either. For that matter, I didn't much care for Mulder on first acquaintance. He grew on me, though. (;

I would not describe Sherlock Holmes as normal, no. The whole point of the character is how different and extraordinary his mind is, and how that allows him to solve the unsolvable. But unlike the Cumberbatch version, in canon, he isn't a total asshole. And he does care about the victims.

Well, sure, he cared about the victims in the sense that he was a Victorian gentleman and would never deliberately offend. But I'm not sure how deep that went. And I don't think his readers cared much. To be painfully honest, I'm an indifferent Sherlockian.

I do insist that the Cumberbatch series is seriously well-made. And whereas House simply wore out its raison d'etre, whatever it was, and became boring, the Sherlock show has a ways to go.

And I insist it's not. I liked the first season overall (A for the pilot, D for episode 2, B+ for the third) but the writing for the second season was beyond awful. I finally watched it last spring on PBS with my son and we agreed it was so bad that there was no reason to bother to save it on the dvr for Kyle. The plots made no sense at all so that was dead loss. What they did with Irene Adler's character was a travesty. By the time it was clear that Sherlock did care about Watson, it was too late for me. Sherlock was irredeemable.

So there we are! I think Moffat is a sloppy writer and the longer he's with a show, the worse it gets so I'm not going to bother with the third season, assuming one ever appears. Don't get me started on what he's done to Doctor Who... I'll start watching DW again if someone better takes over as showrunner, otherwise, I'm done.

I vaguely remember a story in which Mulder appears pre-Files in Scully's dreams, and I think he warns her off. It wasn't romantic at all and I hardly remember it. When she first enters the basement office at the end you realize what was going on and it packs a bit of a punch.

This sounds familiar to me but I can't place it. L&F?

I smiled at this description of what Mulder was like as a child:

"I don't know if he was diagnosably hyperactive, but he was a loud, energetic, smart-mouthed boy."

I don't know if he was diagnosably hyperactive... I love that. I can just picture Mulder as a little kid, bouncing off walls and babbling non-stop and running all over the place and doing whatever he's not supposed to be doing. So, basically, exactly the same as he is as an adult. ;)

Now on to the sad stuff: I think it took me a while to realize that this story takes place almost immediately after Samantha disappeared (even though I now realize that this is what it says in the description of the story above, heh). At first I thought it was strange that the Mulders hadn't called off celebrating Thanksgiving that year, but actually I guess it sort of makes sense. They are masters of denial, of putting on masks. They haven't even informed their children's aunt Alice that Samantha is missing and are trying to make up a pneumonia cover story.

I love this description of the CSM: "avuncular but full of menace" (well, she's talking about Bill Mulder, but comparing him to the CSM).

I kind of like and don't like that it ended on a note of uncertainty, with Linda's memories and Mulder's memories of when Samantha disappeared not matching up. On the one hand, it kind of puts the entire fic I just read to doubt, but on the other hand, it suggests that there's a lot Mulder really doesn't know. Which is just so X-Files-y.

I'm sure there's more I could say, but nothing's really coming to me, so I guess I'll wait until everyone else comments and try to get involved in those discussions. Anyway, I liked the story. I don't normally read stories narrated by original characters, but I enjoyed this one.

I was iffy on the ending as well. I am not sure why the timeline of Samantha's abductions needed to be messed with. I suppose it was done to make the story happen on Thanksgiving. It's kinda creepy though, if Mulder was wrong about the details for so long.

I wonder what might have changed in the series if Mulder knew there was more to Samantha's abduction. He might start his quest for her all over again.

Supposedly Samantha was taken later than the others because Bill Mulder was slow to get on board with the plan. The date from Closure is November 27, 1973. But I'm thinking Kel didn't believe that any of the documentation about Samantha's abduction was reliable, and that Mulder's own memories of the event weren't either, since they were retrieved under hypnosis. The memories of the narrator, Linda, are also suspect, for the same reason. There is nothing we know about Samantha for certain.

Is Samantha even really dead? Mulder believes it based on what I believe is nothing more than a hallucination. Scully believes it based on the say so of the CSM. The show is so confusing about the fate of this very important character. If she really grew up with the Spenders from age nine to fourteen, why is it that Jeffrey doesn't seem to have any memories of her, and why does Cassandra Spender tell Mulder that she's with the aliens?

With canon like this, fic writers have a lot of leeway...

And the ending to "Hollow Day" provides no more closure than did Closure. Which is very x-filey indeed.

Is Samantha even really dead? Mulder believes it based on what I believe is nothing more than a hallucination. Scully believes it based on the say so of the CSM. The show is so confusing about the fate of this very important character.

That's why I hated the "walk-in" story, because there was no body found to confirm anything. Well, that, and I thought "walk-ins" were supposed to take over people's bodies (as described in "Red Museum") and not make them completely disappear into nothingness. I have a feeling that the X-Files writers have decided that the story in "Closure" is what happened -- as ridiculous as it is -- but I think I like the idea that it was a hallucination. Maybe Mulder was so tired of constantly trying to find his sister that his mind conjured that up.

If she really grew up with the Spenders from age nine to fourteen, why is it that Jeffrey doesn't seem to have any memories of her, and why does Cassandra Spender tell Mulder that she's with the aliens?

Because "continuity" and "The X-Files" are like oil and water? ;) Nah... Well, Jeffrey could have had his memories erased, but then he'd have all these long, blank periods in his past that would have troubled him and perhaps inspired him to find out exactly what he'd forgotten. Maybe Cassandra saw a clone. But I'm kind of tired of "it was a clone of Samantha, not the real Samantha!" being an explanation for everything. :/

Then there's also that plot bit from Blessing Way where Mulder sees his father on the bridge between life and death, and he asks whether Samantha is there, too. And Bill Mulder answers immediately that no, she's not.

I assume the just forgot about that later, or alternatively, hoped the audience would.

Either or both. The literate thugs.

Because "continuity" and "The X-Files" are like oil and water? ;)

I'm totally stealing this line.

Jeffrey must have had something done to his brain, although the show never gets specific. He doesn't recognize his own father when he meets him 20 years or so later. His father leaves his mother when he's 12 (but she keeps disappearing?) and he doesn't see him again until what, season six?

But I'm kind of tired of "it was a clone of Samantha, not the real Samantha!" being an explanation for everything. :/

You and me both.

Hmmm... a hallucination you say.

I have always thought that enlightened ghost spirits would have better things to do than play children's games in an empty field.

why is it that Jeffrey doesn't seem to have any memories of her

There are a bunch of issues like that in the show. There's a running theme of memories being unreliable and easily manipulated. We could selective-memory-brain-surgery him a la Mulder, or psychologically create some kind of memory block as happens to both Mulder and Scully, as well as several other characters, on lots of occasions.

We could. The unreliability of memory is a recurring motif. If I ever get around to writing it, maybe I will include that in the sequel to "Sleepover." The problem is the series' writers don't fix anything--the viewers have to do all of the heavy lifting of getting this thing to make sense. But I should stop complaining. That lack of continuity is probably why there is so much great fic for this show, as opposed to the mostly formulaic offerings for other television series.

Oooh, this sounds interesting, and as I just wrote a piece about the same time period and events, I'm especially curious to read Kel's take on it.

*sigh* I need my 24h day extended by 12 hours plz. Thx.

The cost of gas was outrageous is a great line. In 1973, there was a gas hike due to the conflict in the middle east. That line was a top notch detail that really makes it believable.

I was really moved by Spender's performance in this story. The author connects the two families in a way I never thought of, and little boy Spender really brought it home for me. The reader can sympathize with a small little boy who lost the only parent who loved him. However his loss is muted by the Mulder's, and he is overlooked by everyone. So sad :(

The cost of gas was outrageous is a great line. In 1973, there was a gas hike due to the conflict in the middle east.

I liked the Nixon joke as well. I think the story had a good period feel without overdoing the novelty of it.

I love this style of story, and I love the narrator. It reminds me a little of Strangers and the Strange Dead in the way that an outside narrator can notice more about what's happening than the main characters can. We find out more about Linda as we find out more about Mulder and his family and the abduction. A clever way of writing that leaves me wanting more at the end.

That could be because of the ending, though :). I did like it. There's always been such a sense of uncertainty around the events (and as people were discussing above, the veracity of Mulder's and in this story, Linda's, memories under hypnosis). I always thought if the show had gone on longer they could easily have extended the Samantha arc if they'd wanted (I don't know if I would have wanted, but they could have done it). So much about what happened to her was never sure.

I love the narrator, too. The story shows us how set apart the Mulders were from their neighbors, by virtual of their money but also because of their connection to the Consortium. Linda's sense of unease at the appearance of the CSM is well-founded. There isn't anything false or forced about the story. The characters all feel simultaneously ordinary and like real people and yes, they are all cleverly designed to contrast with the Mulders. The father who paints houses and makes his special waffles, the mother who juggles two Thanksgiving dinners every year.

The comparison to Strangers and the Strange Dead is a good one.

I like the ending, too. It does pull the rug out from underneath the reader, especially when you find out how much has been subtly changed or perhaps manipulated in Linda's life by that encounter. The lost time. The envelope with the $500 (which would be worth over $2,500 in today's dollars), the change in her major from psychology to finance. Finance? That's quite a leap. She even starts smoking. You can't tell me that wasn't the influence of the CSM. She's the daughter of a house painter and she ends up living in Greenwich, Connecticut, which at that time was one of the wealthiest suburbs in America.

I think they could have extended the Samantha arc, too. Heck, they brought her up in IWTB, implying that on some level, it's not as resolved in Mulder's mind as it once was.

I posted late to the last story. Thought you might be interested. Not?

The first time I read "Hollow Day" I was disappointed, because I expected Kel to clown for me as usual. After several rereadings and exchanges of opinion, I think it's a masterpiece, all the more impressive because Kel didn't often go dark.

The third person pov works well, in itself an accomplishment, and there is so much psychological subtlety. Poor Jeff, so traumatized by repeated desertion and neglect (Fox just learning how that feels), and Fox manipulating him for information as if training himself to be an FBI agent. The cold, conflicted behavior of parents who can't accept reality and mask it with denial. And the way Linda determines to regain the lost day (cigarettes!) and then discovers it was lost by Fox Mulder as well. (She should have stuck with psychology. She never does understand the implications of the experience of course, who could?, but something prompts her to train herself and her daughters in self-defense.)

I think the brilliance of this story is caught in the title: a perfect double pun. Not only is this Thanksgiving not in any way a celebration, but it is a Thanksgiving that has been wiped from all relevant memories. I wonder whether Teena Mulder could recall it?

But the real brilliance is how it tugs at your heart. Poor little kids, brutalized by hard, rational men. The show itself could have done so much more resolving these emotional issues, but I'm finally thinking that The X-Files was greater for opening the possibilities of television than in maintaining the shape of its tale. Other producers have learned from it.

Excellent analysis.

I had a longer comment that got deleted accidentally. It's late here so I'll have to start over tomorrow.

I hate when that happens.

God, me too. And thanks. And sorry for your holiday complications.

All of that. Yes. Also I actually liked that the end cast doubt on the date of Samantha's abduction. It's so fitting. And somehow I believe the narrators timeline more than Mulder's.

Yes. Also I actually liked that the end cast doubt on the date of Samantha's abduction. It's so fitting. And somehow I believe the narrators timeline more than Mulder's.

I like that, too. It gives a very "X-File" style twist to the story, playing with everyone's memories, casting doubt on everyone's versions of the events. As Mulder says to Scully in "The Red and the Black" in season five, "I don't trust those memories now."

I don't know that we're supposed to think her version of those recovered memories is any more or less reliable than his. But in this story, he remembers even less than she does. You would like to think adult Mulder would remember Spender's name, for example, or the connection to Jeffrey but he doesn't.

Everyone is having trouble with memory in the story, even the people who weren't drugged. Mr. Mulder calls the narrator by her mother's name. Little Jeffrey can't recall where he lives or the name of his school--either that, or he won't tell.

You know I just saw this and was reminded. WTF is with Jeffrey not remembering that CSM is his father? How is that even possible seeing as he remembers his father with resentment? Jeffrey Spender is emblematic of the memory issues (or continuity issues) throughout the xf

Yeah, I always thought that was odd. The memory loss could be due to massively effective repression on his part, which, given his awful childhood, would be entirely understandable. Or his memories were tampered with by the Consortium, which is what is suggested in this story.

Hmmm that is a good point. How did I not gather that on my own?

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Story 217: "Hollow Day" by Kel

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