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xf_book_club2014-09-14 06:34 pm
badforthefish.livejournal.com) wrote in xf_book_club2014-09-14 06:34 pm
Entry tags:
The Darkness Within
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~
*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~
no subject
The graphic violence at the beginning was too disturbing for me to contemplate a reread so I will make no further comment except to say that Penumbra herself might have found it comforting. Something in her original author's notes and the absence of a warning is what makes me think that.
I went into a fugue state the first time I read it and I am not joking. That's how disturbing I found it.
no subject
That's fair. I may have felt similarly the first time I read, too. I definitely felt that way about cucumberspy's "Telephones."
I can't force you into a re-read but I definitely recommend it if you can manage. I saw the story very differently in subsequent reads when I was already over the shock of the beginning. (I might have even skimmed through the morgue scene.) I would be interested to know if others felt the same. I wish I'd been around for the book club discussion. It's such a beautiful and poignant story.
no subject
It is a beautiful and poignant story. I did force myself to reread it for the discussion. I gave it the glowing praise it deserves, but I can't imagine rereading it ever again. I feel the same way about many of the stories on my angst list.
You can still comment on the old posts. Not everyone who participated in the discussion is still around but some of us are, and we will most likely comment back.
no subject