Story 258: "SN 1572" by prufrock's love

[wendelah1]

I'd been thinking about posting this so when it was nominated by an anonymous lurker, I decided to go ahead. It's a major new work by a talented writer. Dear Anon, thanks for the suggestion. I hope you will join the discussion.

Title: SN 1572
Author: prufrock's love
Email: prufrockslove@yahoo.com
Rating: NC-17
Classification: Novel, Post-colonization, Angst, Dark MSR, Other
Summary: After colonization and Earth's devastation, Scully remains in one of the few safe, walled colonies, remembering the past and praying for some future with Mulder. Whatever the hell Mulder has become.
Author's Note: A reworking of Negative Utopia

This fic follows the general outline of "Negative Utopia," which we read many years ago. If you want to see that discussion, here it is, along with a working link to the story: Story 76: "Negative Utopia" by prufrock's love. The changes to her earlier fic are more than substantial enough to warrant the re-titling. I loved "Negative Utopia," and, to be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this fic. I am happy to report "SN 1572" is also an excellent story, though not without its flaws.

Read SN 1572.

After you've read the story, please come back and let us know what you think. The nomination post is always open for your suggestions.

Comments

Part 1

[wendelah1]

I had to divide this comment into two sections.

That being said though, I think it was Scully's lack of control in a post colonization world and her seeming acceptance of this. I suppose this is somewhat in contradiction to what I just said in the previous paragraph, but it does bother me. She relies on Skinner to protect her, and having to be labelled as "his" as a result, and she also requires Mulder's protection to an extent once she is reunited with him.

It's meant to disturb the reader. You've read enough dystopian novels, so you know the drill. It's realistic for the weaker to need protection in a world gone mad. If anything, Scully wants the few remaining women and their children to be more protected, not less. She wants civilization back.

I know she exerted some authority as a physician back at the camp, but it almost seemed like an indulgence afforded to her, and this was proven when it became apparent that Skinner was actually preventing people like Byers from reaching her and he faked an injury just to come talk to her.

Now here I think you're misreading the fic. It's not an indulgence on Skinner's part for her to practice medicine. Her power lies in her knowledge. She's of tremendous value to Alpha Colony, even to the rest of the survivors outside its boundaries because she can deliver babies and heal the sick. He uses access to her to barter with those outside. Scully knew Skinner was limiting access to her clinic and she approved of it--until he didn't tell her about Mulder's message.

I suppose you could argue that this story picks up a long time after this new society has been going on, and that Scully would have had a long time to acclimatize herself, but I still think she could have had more agency. The best dystopian stories (in my opinion) feature strong characters that are trying to subvert the society in which they live. It seems to me there was an opportunity to give her more of an empowered role that the author didn't seem to want to take. I'm really glad the other reviewers are touching on this also, I agreed with most of what I've read here.

As you said below, you wanted to read a different fanfic. "Life During Wartime," for example, which is also my favorite post-colonization fic, has four authors and tells 14 different, loosely connected stories. During the part that concerns Scully and Mulder, they spend 90% of it estranged. The first 13 of those 14 fics are mostly about death, grief, loss of control, loss of faith, and attempting to survive under the most extreme conditions. Only in the final story do we see them attempt to fight back against the machine.

In "SN 1572," it's all over. We lost. The colonists got what they wanted, and they've left the planet. The only thing left fighting for is life itself. This isn't just a dystopian novel, however, it's a romance, or at least it's trying to be one. I think prufrock's love was trying to see if she could take the world she created in "Negative Utopia" and make it less bleak, more hopeful, and more romantic. I also think she gave Scully much more agency in this story.

Compare her situation in "SN 1572" to "Negative Utopia," where she's handed over to Mulder by the leader of a rival colony in exchange for Skinner's head. In "SN 1572," Scully chooses to go with Mulder, even after witnessing him murder Skinner. We may not agree with her choice, but it's still hers to make.

In "Negative Utopia," the opening line is "I am his now." This line is repeated over and over again, throughout the fic. Talk about resignation and defeat. In "SN 1572," the opening line is "We are survivors, not monsters." Scully doesn't describe herself as anyone's property. "I am Dana Scully, the doctor and one-woman science and mathematics department of Alpha Colony," she tells us. "Five years ago, before the sky fell and the world cooled, Mulder and I brought monsters to justice."