Nomination post

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Is there a story that you would like to discuss? Do you want to talk about some of the classics of the genre, like "Iolokus" or "Parabiosis"? Do you want to pick shorter stories, so that we can fit in more variety? Do you like casefiles? Character studies? The possibilities are endless.

Nominate your choices here, and support the nominations for other stories that interest you. Once we have a few suggestions, I'll try to draw up a schedule that suits everyone.

Comments

[wendelah1]

How about a story by a wonderful writer who is on LJ, although not actively writing. I would love to reread "Things That Lie Outside" by JET. Here is an ugly link to part one: http://jetfic.livejournal.com/11685.html#cutid1
And part two: http://jetfic.livejournal.com/11358.html#cutid1

It is an AU to Paper Hearts. Scully decides to solve the case on her own. Mulder eventually goes to find her. I love this story. I love everything she has ever written, really, even the MSR, which was a surprise to me, too.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

That looks like a good choice. If there is not a rush of alternative suggestions--who am I kidding?--I think we should go for it.

[andrea-deer.livejournal.com]

I wanted to propose a fic that would be slash, but not too heavy and not too long (I'm aware of the fact that many people can't stand slash), but still at least a bit interesting.
I propose fic: "Hard as Hell" by Torch.
Which - in my opinion - is pretty fun to read and above of that it's quite short and not NC17 ^^
Here's the link:

http://strangeplaces.net/torch/hardashell.html

I also would like to notice that this fic is different from most of others, 'cause we do not meat slutty-evil-seducing Krycek. Quite the contrarery, actually.

Impatiently waiting for the response,
Andy ^^

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Sure! I was hoping that someone would suggest a slash story, because I want the comm to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Neither wendelah1 nor I are slashers, so I'm glad that you have stepped up to the plate. I'll put it next in the rotation! :)

[aurorarem.livejournal.com]

My nomination is A. Kelly Nolan's "Have A Nice Trip." Amusing as all hell and MSR. And short at 25k. http://fluky.gossamer.org/cgi-bin/read.cgi?HaveANiceTrip.Nolan

[wendelah1]

You can't link to goss-fluky. Let's see if this works: http://krycek.gossamer.org/display.php?HaveANiceTrip.Nolan

[wendelah1]

You know how I am obsessed with tesla321? How about "Snow in Alabama?" It is short, funny and MSR. http://www.geocities.com/tesla_321/snow_in_alabama.html
Or, how about God's Breath by Jintian? It is a casefile and a really good one, I think. I am in the mood for a casefile. How about you? Do you think you could put a link to the nomination post in the user info? Or is that even possible?
Here is another suggestion: "Fata Morgana" by Julie Fortune. Or anything by Julie Fortune. She is great and not very well known anymore. Here is her website:
http://artistsinresidence.com/juliefortune/XFILES.HTM

[wendelah1]

I just thought of another great story to discuss. It is by Livia Balaban. If you haven't read it, you must. It is Metafic, so it's right up your meta-loving alley. M.F.Luder, King of SETI Troopers Fanfic. It is so funny and so brilliant.

[finisterre.livejournal.com]

Hello. I just found this community and think it's marvellous. I wondered whether you'd considered reading "Five Years And One Night" by Shalimar, which hits many of my favourite story buttons and also has one of the most carefully controlled, skilful narrative POVs I've ever read. If you just look at the contrast between what Scully is actually thinking and how much she *says*, it squares the character in canon with the character in the story.

You might also consider "Reach" by Khyber, which had lots of tremendous character insights. It also shifts POV in a way which reminds me of the later Black Hole Season.

[wendelah1]

I think that we, meaning emily_shore and I will read and discuss anything. I can't speak to the rest of the com. Some will and some-will not-that is the plain truth. I have read both of these stories and loved them both. Which would you rather be up first? I would probably rather do "Reach" just because I still hold out hope that he might finish "Khyber versus Season Seven." In the meantime, welcome! And feel free to pimp us anywhere you please. There is still time to comment on any and every story we have posted. Comment on the comments, if you prefer. Jump on in! I have the entire thing pinned, so I get every comment made, and so does emily_shore. We have, as you have probably noticed by now, been discussing the controversial "Tikkun Olam."

[memento1.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! In the last month I've started a project of my own to read through Chronicle X (http://web.archive.org/web/20001205150800/chroniclex.simplenet.com/story.htm), and I was tired of having no one to discuss the fics with. I'm so happy to find this community!

Okay, well, I've read 2 novel length fics lately which blew me away - Arizona Highways (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shuttle/8642/fiction/azway/azind.htm) by Fialka, and Alluring Indiscretion (http://www.annex-files.com/annex/annex/stories/analluringindiscretion.txt) by beduini. But they're both very long (Arizona Highways especially), so that may be too hard for most people.

For perhaps some more manageable reads, I recently loved Syncopation (http://nandamai.net/fic/?p=66) by Lilla Vaughan AKA nandamai. Also 99 and 44/100ths Percent Done (http://krycek.gossamer.org/display.php?99PercentDone.Segretti) by Sarah Segretti (though I see you've already done one by her), and Adagio (http://krycek.gossamer.org/display.php?Adagio.Terma99) by Terma99. I've got others, but I don't want to spam with everything I've enjoyed lately. *L*

Also, I'm head-over-heels MSR and that's pretty much exclusively what I read, so sorry that these are all in that genre. Regardless, yay for fic and fic-discussing communities!

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the club! We're always thrilled to have new members. And I love the icon :)

I can only speak for myself, but personally I'm happy to read and discuss long stories. Both wendelah1 and I have nominated a lot of stories already, so I think it's your choice. Anything that you mentioned would be fine... just let me know and I'll post the new selection.

Also, if you want to add any comments on anything that we've discussed already, do go ahead. Wendy and I have most of the entries pinned, so we'll see new comments if they're posted.

[lsugaralmond.livejournal.com]

Hello! I just joined. I don't know why it took me so long... Looking forward to participating.
If you're still looking for story nominations I would like to suggest What Happens to the Dreamers (http://krycek.gossamer.org/display.php?WhatHappensToTheDeamers.Buckingham) by Buckingham - a beautifully written fic examining the fall out in Mulder and Scully's relationship when the IVF failed (something which the show totally failed to address). I think it's incredibly well done and very in-character. It is MSR-y, but not to the extent that it would put non-shippers off, I don't think. But, maybe I'm wrong. That's one of the reasons I'd like to discuss it!

[wendelah1]

That sounds like a fine selection. We are always looking for nominations. We are reading Book One: Monster Slayer of Arizona Highways, so go start that now. It is amazing. And very long. I printed the whole thing out and it was a good thing I had just bought paper. Welcome to xf_book_club. Feel free to comment on any previous post, emily_shore and I have them all pinned so we will respond. If you pin each selection's post you will get notified of every comment on the entry, so you can follow the discussion as it unfolds. I would highly recommend our last selection, "Oyster," but avoid the comments if you plan to read it as they are very spoilery.

[leyosura.livejournal.com]

I thought I'd recommend Primal Sympathy by Lydia Bower. It's a great little AU fic which takes place just after the events of Gethsemane, there's enough angst to keep *even me* happy, and it's a decent length to get your teeth into.

The original site link is broken, but I managed to find it in three parts on Gossamer
http://fluky.gossamer.org/cgi-bin/read.cgi?or/PrimalSympathy1.Bower
http://fluky.gossamer.org/cgi-bin/read.cgi?or/PrimalSympathy2.Bower
http://fluky.gossamer.org/cgi-bin/read.cgi?or/PrimalSympathy3.Bower

There's some interesting characterisation, which I'm sure not everyone will agree with, but that should be good for discussion!

[wendelah1]

Great, I'll put it in the queue. I approved your membership as well. Welcome!

[threeguesses.livejournal.com]

I'd like to rec How to Fake an Orgasm (http://home.early.com/~salmone/howtofake.txt) by V. Salmone (Punk and Sab).

It's a lovely, happy fic set in some alternate season six where Mulder goes on a string of serial dates, only to unexpectedly settle down with one of them. It eventually does end up as Mulder/Scully, but when I first read it I genuinely thought it wasn’t going to. Partly because neither Mulder nor Scully’s feelings are overt, partly because Sue (Mulder’s girlfriend) isn’t treated like a stand-in for Scully.

M & S seem happier? more well-adjusted? than they do in most fics, which I enjoy, because I don’t want to believe that they were “all angst, all the time.” I’m curious about others' opinions on this subject though - is the fic too happy?

[wendelah1]

I think there is one story ahead of you in the queue, but I have to check. I am going to post the next story Friday after the strike ends my time, or Saturday, depending on how I feel.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

My next nomination, if my co-mod can stand to read it, is Split the Lark (http://www.omniscribe.com/SplittheLark.html) by Syntax6. It is a Scully rapefic, and attempts to treat the subject in a well-researched and character-consistent way. It was apparently very controversial when it was first posted, which should make for good discussion. It also has a "DVD commentary" version by the author which I found very interesting reading.

[lsugaralmond.livejournal.com]

I like the way we are comparing and contrasting two fics from the S4/5 hiatus at the moment, and I would like to suggest a similar approach with two fics that try to explain the missing time in All Things. Two I'm thinking of are Confirmation (http://s88210564.onlinehome.us/bonetree/confirmation.txt) by Bonetree, which is quite angsty, and Night Song (http://krycek.gossamer.org/display.php?NightSong.Zuffy) by Zuffy, which is more light-hearted. They're both pretty short, in fact Confirmation is a vignette, so we could probably do them both in one week.

I love both these fics because they're beautifully written, and even though they represent events in very different ways, I think they're both still true to character.

What do you think?

Sorry for the multiple edits - I fail at coding.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

I definitely like the idea of doing some shorter stories. Since we give a week for reading and discussion, we tend to choose stories that take a whole week to do justice to. I've been thinking of maybe having a "Short Story Week" where we discuss a new short story every day, and these two would fit very well into that model.

Also, yes, compare and contrast is really cool.

[frey-at-last.livejournal.com]

Copying my request over here - let's do Fugue (http://www.rivkat.com/xfiles/fugue.html) at some point! :)

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Got it! Thanks. :)

[dis_inclined]

I'd like to nominate Blinded by White Light by Dasha K. for discussion. I'm pretty new here, and haven't really been very active so far. Sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed by the detailed responses to fics on here. But it turns out that I actually have something to say about this one, and I'd like to see if other people have the same reaction. I really enjoyed reading this (and I should really thank wendelah1 for posting the link to this author's website, otherwise I wouldn't have found it). :)

[wendelah1]

Welcome! emily_shore is currently in charge of the line-up, and I am just mouthing off as usual about whatever she is posting. Maybe the short-story-a-day format might be less intimidating? Even I am trying hard to cut back on my usual essay length commentary for the next two weeks.

"Blinded by White Light" is a classic. I am sure we will enjoy reading it and hearing your thoughts.

You are welcome. I was thrilled to find out she had put her site back up.

[wendelah1]

I have a new gen rec. Task Force Vignettes by Lee Burwasser.

[lightlack.livejournal.com]

I have to recommend Untitled: Scenes for Quiescence (http://jetfic.livejournal.com/14321.html), by jetfic. This fic has stuck in my head more than almost any other I've read; I keep going back to it over and over. It's MSR, post-series, and it's babyfic, but hopefully that won't deter anybody! :)

[wendelah1]

And into the queue it goes. I love all things Jet.

I have started that list of post-The Truth fics

[wendelah1]

What The Thunder Said by Firecracker. I will be adding more to this list.

[lightlack.livejournal.com]

Another recommendation -- yet another very favourite of mine, and yet another babyfic, but not post-series this time. :) Unfinished Universe (http://keyofx.cheesejoose.com/fiction_Revely-Unfinished%20Universe.txt) by Revely.

[wendelah1]

Dear lightjack,

Can you rec anything other than babyfic, dear? It is my least favorite genre and there has been so much of it written lately that it has just made me go a little nuts. Maybe we could postpone this rec for awhile, if you don't mind. As a parent, the entire William plot arc made me pretty sick at heart and I like to pretend the entire series just ended prior to Requiem. I am a whimp, I know.

[wendelah1]

Sparks Fly Upward by Vehemently.

[kukkaseksi.livejournal.com]

Some recs that I've had stored in my bookmarks forever. And I do mean forever. Old Skool, baby! Old Skool!

I remember Jill Selby's Aspirations of Closure (http://s88210564.onlinehome.us/jill/Aspirati.txt) as being laugh out loud funny and you know what? It still is. Short little piece, but high-LAR-ious.

Karen Rasch was always one of my favorites in terms of writing wonderful canon characters, and her No Greater Love series (http://fluky.gossamer.org/author/10046-1.html) is something that's stuck in my head all these years later. (I wasn't able to find all 4 parts on one page, however. Sorry about that. All of my old links are mostly dead.) Great case file, great characterizations, fine writing. A story I have always loved, and I got to thinking about M & S's spiritual lives after reading the recent discussion about it over on xfiles and this story came to mind.

Madeleine Partous's The Pact series (http://fluky.gossamer.org/author/10879-1.html). (Again, I wasn't able to find a single page for these.) This does have MSR (and some hot NC-17 sex) but is also a very well-written case file. I love it when an author can pull this off. And Madeleine sure can. Also, Juan? One of my favorite author's own characters.

[wendelah1]

Thanks! I'll add them to our to-do list. I was getting worried that no one was out there.

[dictatorcari]

OK! Here I am, finally making a recommendation.

I want to read The Games We Play by Wintersong. It's shippy, but IT'S NOT PORN, OK? I have other interests. Haha.

It's about Mulder and Scully tackling an obstacle course-type thing that gets kind of out of control. It's not a casefile, not really mytharc, but it's interesting. It's worth a read, I think.

There's another story I love that I don't have bookmarked anywhere and I can't remember the name. It's long and post-col and Mulder is this sort of tortured rogue agent guy who has to save Scully from some prison camp, essentially. Wow, great description, Cari. OK, I'll go look for it and I'll come back.

[wendelah1]

The Games We Play is a really good story. I am happy to read it. We can do it next week, in fact. I have read the other story, but I can't remember the name either. You could try xfstoryfinders. Or The X-Files Lost and Found.

[yendrie.livejournal.com]

I'd like to recommend "Doctor, Copper, Sailor, Corpse", by Scarlet Baldy (http://fluky.gossamer.org/author/13064-1.html). I can't get enough of this fic and I haven't seen it recommended in other sites: it's set in season 8, and it's a brilliant take on the events before, during and after Mulder's 'death'. Just check out the summary:

This little piggy rots in his coffin, this little piggy is showing, this little piggy is a good partner, this little piggy is hovering, and all the little Hoover piggies are snickering all the way home.

[wendelah1]

I will put it in the queue, which is rather lengthy as you see, at the moment. In the meantime, enjoy the fic-a-day marathon.

[hlbr.livejournal.com]

Hi!

Just joined... and I would like to recomend, 'Begginer's Guide to Tightrope Walking,' (http://xfiles.crossroadfic.com/recs/au_pre/beginners_guide_to_tightrope_walking.txt) by Kel, if you haven't read it here before, because it just clicks with me in very different levels (outsider POV, very funny, later seasons fic, etc).

[wendelah1]

We have not read it here before, though I recced it at crack_van. Welcome to xf_book_club, hlbr. I love it, too. I will put it in our queue, which is short right now.

[hlbr.livejournal.com]

I would like to recommend a couple more. No problem if for any reason you don't want to do any or all of those, they're just ideas to help you out if you can't find any others.

'Four Minutes,' Deslea R. Judd (http://krycek.gossamer.org/display.php?FourMinutes.Judd) ("SAC Darius Michaud has four minutes to live. Funny how that changes your point of view. Written for the Purity "What's Your POV?" challenge.") It's FTF fic. It's angst, and it's weird, but I like the whole thing until the end, which doesn't really convince me too much (the how it's written part, not the actual stuff happening).

'Waiting for Agent Right,' by Kel. (http://krycek.gossamer.org/display.php?WaitingForAgentRight.Kel) ("Killing time in an anonymous airport. Mulder wants a toaster.") First season. This one is humorous. And sort of weird as well, but there are bits I just love.

'Synapse,' by Pusher (http://krycek.gossamer.org/display.php?Synapse.Pusher). ("XF/Hellraiser crossover. Mulder & Scully investigate several bizarre murders relating to a mysterious puzzle box. Mulder is offered his ultimate heart's desire, but the price expected from him is too much.") I found it very very disturbing on several levels, and it's still one of my favourites. I don't really know why. And... don't know anything about Hellraiser, so that may change things.

'Arcades,' by Sarah Ellen Parsons (http://fluky.gossamer.org/cgi-bin/read.cgi?ArcadesI.Parsons). As you can probably guess, this one is Arcadia fic. I have a weakness for those, and his one, as damn sad as it is, pushes all the right buttons for me. My other favourite Arcadia fic is 'Honeymoon Video,' by Penumbra (http://slightlyfoxed.net/honeymoonvideo.html) which goes to show I have eclectic tastes (meaning, I don't only like prOn ;)).

Uff, those are a lot of fics. Though mostly just short ones, sorry.

[wendelah1]

Actually, short is good. I will post them as we get closer to the holidays, and people get even busier. I think I know what I am going to post Thanksgiving week, too. This is good, this is very helpful, thanks so very much.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

Hi. Thinking about your request for travel fics, and immediately remembered *two* by Tesla: "Miracle" and "Get Up, Mulder." I'm sure you've read them both. "Miracle" is not overly long and, although not holiday-related, quite suitable as hinted by its title. I love it so (and also its sequel, "Mystery.") Neither of these suggestions is vignette-short, but God knows they read like greased lightning.

[wendelah1]

Those are great suggestions. I will put them in the queue.