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

[kate-11111.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the warm welcome wendelah! I have created an account, as per your suggestion.

"Someone at Tumblr posted that Mulder and Scully had already been through so much, that for the mini-series, they just wanted to watch them brush their teeth."

Ha! Someone after my own heart. Of course you’re right about character and plot balance, particularly in a singular, self-contained work. But fanfiction will always have a parent source, it can’t be separated from the established series and plot, therefore any fanfiction work will automatically have a built in back-plot and much more leeway to focus on any element the author wants, even at the exclusion of others. It’s a small story within an established larger story. In my case, I look at the thing in the context of the whole... and we’ve already had so much plot shoved down our throats (much of it completely unwatchable towards the end of the series) that I tend to gravitate toward the stories that focus solely on the elements I like to see fleshed out.

Given everything that’s happened to them (each personal tragedy would probably ruin a normal person for a lifetime) I just want to say, far out, let them be happy together. I dislike the ‘mythology’ stories, I dislike the alien stories, simply because Chris Carter’s philosophy was ‘put something weird and scary on screen, make everything up as you go along, logic, planning and continuity be damned’ and what you end up with is a ludicrous, laughable mess. You can make any topic interesting if you do it well, but often the series did it very poorly. By the end, between Mulder coming back from the dead, babies, super soldiers, alien replacements, magnetite, killing off the Lone Gunmen, Krycek, mock trials, death sentences, ‘Dearest Dana’.. and on and on and on… them simply brushing their teeth would be a welcome reprieve.

But you’re right, the mini series is not fanfiction, and will need to be complete stories with all the proper elements in balance. And for me, the best of the series (Home, Clyde Bruckman, The Field Where I Died, Beyond the Sea, Elegy, Unruhe, Leonard Betts, Detour, Bad Blood, Tithonus, Jose Chung, Humbug, Quagmire, Pusher, Irresistible) was just that – complete, interesting stories with balance, that weren’t tied to the mythology. Just two FBI agents investigating weird happenings – mutants, cults and serial killers - whose bond is forged through respect for one another and the work. I hope that’s what we’ll see for the bulk of the new series.

[wendelah1]

Wonderful. I will add you to the list of members. You will still have to accept the invitation when it arrives in your inbox. After that, your comments will post unscreened.

I guess I will always prefer plot-driven fanfic over character studies etc, simply because I feel I already know the characters very well and I don't enjoy the predictability of romance. I loved the crazy-ass myth-arc episodes. Without the myth-arc, Mulder and Scully are just two pretty FBI agents investigating weird shit. I'd never kept watching for that! I'd have forgotten what night it was on and that would have been the end of it.

Seriously, I started watching in 2005 or so, long after the series ended. I think it was on TNT at night and the SciFi Channel? I might have seen some of the early episodes back in the day but my husband (still) hates the show and we (still) only have one TV. I didn't watch the entire series in order until the slimsets were released in 2007. It was the fanfiction that sucked me in--specifically "Life During Wartime" which is a huge multi-author post-colonization fic.

I enjoy the MoW episodes now but initially, not so much. I liked trying to make sense of the ever-more complicated mythology. It's like trying to fit together the pieces of a puzzle. I like puzzles and mysteries.

Many readers enjoy lighter genres of fanfic but there isn't as much of it in this fandom as some, and very little of it is worth reading, imho. Humor is harder to write than almost any other genre. But I'll keep an eye out for that. And if you run into anything you want to discuss, make sure to add it to the nomination post.

[kate-11111.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Happy to join up and interested to see what discussions unfold.

It's interesting that the things that bore you about x-files are the things I love, and vice-versa! Character studies are my bread and butter. Romance may be predictable in that it has to, by nature, be consummated, but it's the journey to that end place which can be interesting and unpredictable and keeps me emotionally invested. I'm also interested in 'weird shit' as it pertains to the dark side of human nature, and I find things truly scary, bizarre or confronting when they come from our internal, not external experience (serial killers vs aliens). Add 'two pretty FBI agents' who also happen to be brilliant, multifaceted, compassionate and damaged, whose relationship holds up, for me, the ideals of true friendship and love - and you've definitely got me tuning in 9pm Sundays on Fox!

The mythology stuff isn't interesting to me because I don't find it remotely credible, even internally. I don't think of it as a puzzle, because a puzzle will always have a finished picture or solution you're aiming to construct. The myth-arc episodes certainly have mystery, but the worst mysteries are those that go unsolved or lose all semblance of integrity, purpose or direction. But, if I can suspend my disbelief, they are fun to watch.

I got hooked on this show during the summer of 1997 as a teenager, and had watched every episode (either late-night reruns or Blockbuster video rentals) in time to be on the edge of my seat for Redux. I spent all summer wondering if Mulder had really committed suicide in Gethsemane - talk about torture! It's really fun to revisit the show now, and read some good fanfiction, and I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for the new series.

Also looking forward to the next story recommendation. Thanks for including me in the discussion and for keeping this reading group up and running!