Rerun Request: "Oyster" by Jordan

[wendelah1]

This is a rerun, posted at the request of estella_c, who loves it and wasn't a member when we discussed it back in 2008. I love it too, and think it's well-worth revisiting.

Like all great western religious stories, "Oyster" takes place in the desert, in the modern day stand-in for Sodom and Gomorrah, Los Vegas, a land of waking dreams, endless heat and unquenchable thirsts. In her author's notes, Jordan states emphatically that "THIS FIC IS REQUIEM FREE." This is rather misleading; in actuality, "Oyster" is a re-envisioning of the end of season seven, and to a limited extent, season eight. The parallels are multiple and striking. In both stories, there are deaths and multiple abductions. There is an investigation in which Skinner, Scully and, of course, Mulder are all major players. To say any more would spoil the story for new readers. While "Requiem" inspired a lot of fanfic, "Oyster" is one the best stories ever written for The X-Files fandom. I recommend it without reservation.

Read "Oyster". You can also find this story on her author's page at Gossamer. Please come back and let us know what you think.

Comments

[mementox.livejournal.com]

Ummm.. I have to second memento1's comment in the original post (and the similarities in our usernames made me laugh). I really felt like this fic was kind of over-my-head. I mean, I GET it, especially after reading the comments in the first posting, but... it's just not my cup of tea. I was really confused and had to read sections several times. It reminded me of Penumbra's work, very poetic but almost kind of... excessive? I don't know what the right word is. I'm not very skilled at analyzing writing. I felt like I needed a master's degree to read this. :-/

[mogster495.livejournal.com]

Oyster reminded me of JET more than Penumbra. Penumbra writing is very poetic, but I dont get lost in the imagery (of Penumbra's work) like to do with JET or Jordan.

[mementox.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I've never read either of those authors. Penumbra's the only one I've read that was kind of poetic. I haven't read fic in yeaaaars though.

[mementox.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I thought about this a bit more. I think another thing that bothered me in this story was Scully's character and all of Skinner's internal dialogue about her. Scully seemed to be just there, not doing too much, and I got tired of all the sections of Skinner pondering her looks or her unbuttoned shirt or whatever. The ending, with the whole "woman is a vessel" thing, bothered me as well. I just hate the whole trope of a woman getting pregnant with a miracle baby or savior or whatever. IDK, I just like Super Strong Ass-Kicking!Scully better than Standing There While Men Gaze at My Body!Scully.

[wendelah1]

There is a lot of super-strong etc, Scully on the show so what we tend to get in fanfic is a more introspective version of her than perhaps you are comfortable seeing. Scully is doing all of the things she normally does on a case: we just get to hear her internal monologue as she goes about doing them. I like seeing Scully as a whole person, with strengths and weaknesses. It makes her seem even more real.

IDK, I just like Super Strong Ass-Kicking!Scully better than Standing There While Men Gaze at My Body!Scully.

I have no problem with you disliking this fic, or any fanfic for that matter, or deciding this type of story isn't for you, but if you think "Oyster" is primarily about Skinner and/or Mulder turning Scully into a sex object, you're misreading it.