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

[tri-sbr.livejournal.com]

I would add Shalimar's "Five Years and One Night" to the angst list.

I also don't like to drown in angst, so usually after reading something that goes too far in that direction, I will go for a re-read of something on the other end of the spectrum to give myself mental balance :) But that would usually be something fun and/or hot like "Above Rubies" (Rachel Howard) or something sweet like "The Dreaming Sea" (Revely) - not generally picket fences / babyfic. Not to say I haven't read my share of the babyfic, but it almost always feels out of character and therefore does not succeed in my mental rebalancing efforts :)

PS I did not care for Iolokus either, fwiw.

[wendelah1]

I would add Shalimar's "Five Years and One Night" to the angst list.

That's fascinating. I loved "Five Years and One Night" and have recced it everywhere I can think of, but I'd never have picked it for my angst list. It's on my Mulder and Scully have hot sex and adventures list, just below "Above Rubies."

I just went back to the 2008 book club "FYaON" entry. Shalimar commented at the end that she'd googled her user name and the title and found our post. Does every XF author from back in the day do that, I wonder? (cackles)

XF Dryad said she doesn't like "Iolokus" because its just angst for the sake of angst (she's wrong-wrong-wrong, because it's a reaction to the bizarro aspects of the myth arc just like "Arizona Highways," which she loves.). I love "Iolokus" for the over-the-top humor, style and plot, and just because it's such a crazy-ass wild-ride of a fic.

[tri-sbr.livejournal.com]

a few days out of the loop...

I have a low threshold for tears, I realize, but I sobbed through FYaON the first time I read it. I avoided it for a while, and still cried the second time. It's one of those that makes me sad but I still like it. Probably because of the semi-happy ending. Give me a ray of hope and I will hang on to it! For me, it's definitely in an entirely different category from Above Rubies.

For Iolokus, I'm finding it hard to articulate exactly why, but it just pretty much revolted me from beginning to end. I read it because I heard how big a deal it was and how polarizing it was; otherwise, I may not have finished it. I found it over the top in a lot of different ways and not at all funny. I recognize the statement the authors were making, that it was good that they made it, and that it was done through good writing. But that's pretty much it for me. Oh well.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

I didn't think you would have liked "Above Rubies." You know why.

[wendelah1]

In the end for me, it's all about the writing. A great writer can convince me of anything, at least for the duration of the fic. And Krycek shows his true colors in "Above Rubies." Just because he has a sister doesn't mean he's a nice guy.

[badforthefish.livejournal.com]

Wow, "Five Years and One Night" that's an old one! Is that the one where M&S are stuck naked in a prison or am I mixing up with something else?
I know I've read "Above Rubies" but I can't remember a thing about it. Must check it out again.

I don't think I've read "The dreaming sea".

Is there *any* good baby fic out there? Cause, besides the Mooselet in Iolokus....I'm coming up empty.

[tri-sbr.livejournal.com]

FYaON - Scully splits after Kitsunegari, moves to California and has no contact with Mulder for like a year-ish. He shows up one night and sleeps with her, disappears again, and then shows back up to jet off with her to Singapore because ... spoilers. As Wen implies, hot, angry sex plus adventures ensue.

babyfic - someone else mentioned it, but I like Anjou's Ghosts trilogy. I don't know if it counts because it's William, but to me, it gets pretty close to a realistic babyfic scenario. It's not picket fences and happily ever after, but it has some hope. Which I like.

[badforthefish.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It is definitely not the one I was thinking about. Will add it to my list.

Anjou's ghosts is one of those stories I keep hearing about but have never read.

Hope is always good. :)