wendelah1: (all the leaves are brown and the sky is)
[personal profile] wendelah1 posting in [community profile] xf_book_club
I love angst and fix-it fics (and the writing of prufrock's love) but I'm ready to take a break from the post-series, post-IWTB setting, and read something set earlier in the series. This rec comes from last year's The Ten Greatest XF Fics You've Ever Read. Read what [livejournal.com profile] zinnia03 had to say about "America's Games":

America’s Games by Sarah Segretti. Author’s synopsis: “Assigned to the bioterrorism squad at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Scully tries to make sense of confusing evidence, her baffling partner and her uncertain place in a world where the X-Files don't matter.” Set just post-Talitha Cumi and Herrenvolk. Sort of a fish-out-of-water story with Scully temporarily assigned away from Mulder and the X-Files, though of course Mulder can’t stay away long. Scully tries to puzzle out the information from files they found at Strughold Mining, and Mulder wants to investigate ginseng farms in Canada. Both are frustrated by their lack of progress, plus there's an undercurrent that is making them snipe at each other. High tension story that fits the mid-series tone.


Read America's Games.

I'd love to know what you thought of the story. The nomination post is always open for your suggestions and I will get back to posting them soon. You can also read this fic at Sarah Segretti's Author Page at Gossamer.

I like

Date: 2016-08-07 01:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bmerb.livejournal.com
This was a fun one. I enjoyed going back to the season 3/4 era, although I can't remember enough about the episodes it references to entirely slot it in. Mulder and his behavior through Scully's lens was aggravating and frustrating, which was a pleasure since Scully rarely voiced such frustrations on screen (well, minus one famous episode of course) yet it remained in character. I particularly like the UST to which Scully gives a resounding "no", followed by the fountain scene.

I still haven't puzzled out the actual vs perceived allegiances of the introduced characters, which feels right in line with the uncertainties in the show. I also like the wrap up of the smallpox tagging data, which I don't remember being addressed at all in the show but certainly needed some follow through. Oh! And that moment of recognition for the woman who came in with a scraped knee! That was perfectly creepy/anxiety producing and then frustrating as we lose her.

Yep, all in all I like this one. I'm sure time to ruminate might bring on actual critical thought at some point but I can stand by that for now.

RE: "That's where the hope is" part 1

Date: 2016-09-01 02:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bmerb.livejournal.com
They don't follow through because Chris Carter never cared about the credibility of his characters or the continuity of his fictional universe. He still doesn't! Witness season ten!

Oh yeah, PREACH!! Ugh...

Date: 2016-08-10 02:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zinnia03.livejournal.com
Yes, I like this story . I think it would have made a decent wrap-up episode for Talitha Cumi/Herrenvolk. Scully is particularly paranoid here, and after what she's been through recently it's not surprising, I think.

I like the level of suspicion that Scully experiences with her colleagues here. It's indicative of what's been done to her, and how much Mulder has rubbed off on her.

I like the UST. It was the undercurrent almost from the beginning of the series, hardly ever addressed in an overt way. It was depicted well in this story.

After reading this I had to go read "99 and 44 Hundredth's Per Cent Done" by the same author. It's probably been covered here, but I think I'll go add it to the nomination post anyway.

Date: 2016-08-12 07:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bmerb.livejournal.com
I'll have to check that one out too!

Date: 2016-08-14 05:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] infinitlight.livejournal.com
Ahhh I'm always going to love Scully being righteously cranky, and I guess I've rewatched enough that I can pretty much remember where this fits (I think you just need to remember her being ditched by Mulder).

The date of writing (early 2001) was interesting to me, at first I'd assumed it was written later because of the interesting focus on terrorism at events (not that 9/11 was the first time people thought about terrorism).

Like [livejournal.com profile] bmerb, I liked the fountain scene. I thought (feared? lol) it was going to turn into a romantic scene, but in my opinion it was much better and more resonant than that. I loved her seeing her brothers in the two boys playing and her recognition/realization of what it is she's fighting for.

Date: 2016-08-17 06:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bmerb.livejournal.com
Righteously cranky Scully... Ahhh yes!

Date: 2016-09-01 07:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] infinitlight.livejournal.com
I didn't even think of the Munich Olympics, but of course you're right. I do remember reading about the challenges holding the games in Atlanta due to the heat of summer, so that was pretty accurately reflected in the story.

The Lone Gunmen: yes, the pilot episode has government-funded terrorists flying planes into the World Trade Center. I actually remember reviews discussing how outlandish the plot was :/

Date: 2016-09-04 02:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bmerb.livejournal.com
Wow never watched TLG, maybe I should have...

Can you guys help me?

Date: 2016-09-01 09:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] camicab04.livejournal.com
I need help finding an xfiles fanfiction. This is a post never again fanfiction where Mulder is obvioulsy dealing with jealousy and anger. In it Scully goes undercover and is being watched by mulder and other fbi agents as well as the suspect. She's living in a missing woman house I think? its for some guy that likes a girl or something like that. I know its post never again. It has a scene where in order to speed up the guy acting on Scully Mulder acts like the boyfriend of the girl Scully is acting undercover as because he figures out there's a camera in the bedroom. They end up having sex in the morgue. It's pretty well written and one of my favorites. But the name is strange and the author never wrote anything else, at least I don't think they did. So I can't remember it. I had it saved on my computer but I lost all my files. Can you help out? I really want to re read it. I feel like I found it through here but i looked back and couldn't see it. I don't know if I missed it, but I also noticed a lot stories are missing?

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