The Darkness Within

[badforthefish.livejournal.com]

I CAN POST ENTRIES ON THE BOOK CLUB! MWWWWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

*coughs*

Anywayyyy...

Wendy said I was welcome to post that here, so here we go.

~~~~~~~~~~

(First posted on Haven)

Moose and Squirrel - before being declawed and tamed by scores of fic writers intent on giving them the white picket fence happiness they were never designed for in the first place - were pretty dark and tortured characters to begin with. A given, considering how much crap they went through in the show.

Back in the days many fic writers explored that dark path and gave us many incredible stories, the quintessential one being, of course, the infamous Iolokus. Stories where the characters' traumas weren't swept under the carpet of True Love (TM) Hot Sex, Domestic Life and Fat Babies. Stories where bad things happened to good people.

They were stories such as:

Arizona Highway by Fialka
Secret World by Bonetree
Grace Realized by Michaela
Injuries to The Spirit by Mystphile
The Mill by Cofax

...to name just a few off the top of my head.

In these stories Mulder and Scully were flawed and damaged. Years of turmoil and horrors weren't cured with a kiss and a soft bed. They had issues with one another, they argued and fought. They could be unfair, cruel, monstrous even - their claustrophobic co-dependency toxic, yet unavoidable. They suffered, battled illnesses both mental and physical, and sometimes they even died. Some stories made a point of reminding us how dangerous their job really was - that the human monsters could be worse than the alien ones. But their spirit shone nevertheless through it all, pure and bright, that elusive spark of magnificence that made them - well, you know, THEM.

As a reader I always found those tales much more emotionally rewarding than those of the bunnies and rainbow - Mulder and Scully in love forever in their pretty house with their pretty children - aw, look he has his mother's eyes and his father's nose - variety.

No pain no gain, uh?

I guess my question is: have you read such stories? Do you enjoy them? Can you rec the ones that stayed with you?

~Fish~

Comments

[wendelah1]

I have read many of the stories mentioned here. I think "The Other Man" by Jess Mabe is the one that hits me hardest in the gut. Ouch, that fic. So, so good, but utterly devastating.

I think for me it was "Fugue" but "The Other Man" comes in a close second.

Despite being a shipper through and through, I was never a fan of the white picket fence stories. Domesticity has its place, but I was never drawn to the stories that focused almost solely on it. This isn't necessarily true of fic I read in other fandoms, such as BBC Sherlock, but I could never buy M/S settled down in suburbia raising a passel of kids.

So it's not the genre you object to, it's the characterization?

That said, I also don't like to drown in angst. My favorite stories tend to be more balanced and have a little bit of everything thrown in. And happy endings.

I like happy endings, too, as long as they're right for the story and don't seem forced or rushed. My favorite writer is still Kel. In her best work, she's able to weave elements of dark and light, humor and sadness, together with style and grace. She's a marvelous storyteller.

[write-out.livejournal.com]

So it's not the genre you object to, it's the characterization?

I think so. I mean, I loved many of the one-shots or longer stories that aren't case fic or serious angst, whether it's M/S making dinner or cleaning house, etc., but as far as M/S married and with a bunch of kids? That never really worked for me. Married and with William? Yes, but not where they're going to PTA meetings. I say that, but I bet there is at least one story like that that I probably read and loved.

I agree with you about happy endings needing to fit the story. "Contact High" by Penumbra is one of my favorites; it has a little bit of everything and yet that ending...it hurts.

I haven't read Kel in a long time, must go back for some rereads.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

Three cheers for "Contact High." It makes wonderful, erotic music out of the fact that, OMG, Scully and Mulder are IN each other's brains. "Parabiosis" has great stuff in it, but it's rather scattered.

Kel is God. Like maybe Athena. That kind.