Like frey_at_last, I usually read stories that are all about the Mulder and Scully character development. However, this is one of my very favorite supernatural-casefile stories. While it's set in season eight, and the character interaction bears that out, the plotline bears comforting similarities to a lot of season one episodes. You know, the government base, the hazy conspiracy, the way that all of the evidence is snatched away again at the end. The nostalgically predictable nature of the plot frees the reader up to pay attention to the things that are different.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about the story was the vividness of the original characters. From the very first sentences you know that they aren't ciphers... with a few choice details, the author builds them up into real, breathing people, with their relationships to one another detailed as well as their interactions with Mulder and Scully. (Another story that does this well is Neurotic Need for Validation (http://keyofx.cheesejoose.com/fiction_kel_neuroticneedforvalidation.txt) by Kel.) Little things like the way everyone calls the Colonel "the Birdman".
I love the subtle reveal of the narrator, who she is and what role she plays in the story. It was artfully done and offered us something that couldn't have been done in the series. (Well, on reflection I guess they did it in "Desperate Housewives," but maybe not this well.) Like wendelah1 says, having our narrator along for the ride really brings home the human toll of all these shadowy experiments that we are always hearing about. It is also a refreshing change from the fact that we usually know that anyone we see in the teaser is doomed to be out of the picture by the first act. It gives more agency to the victim, and particularly to this victim, given that in real life it seems that she was controlled and belittled by both father and husband.
The writing style is generally fairly simple--the narration suited to the character who is providing it. Having said that, there are some nice poetic touches that explore the nature of being a ghost and show that being dead might not be such a terrible fate after all.
I amuse myself by thinking my way to the roof of the car. When I was alive, I had dreams of flying. Speeding through the twilight with only the violet sky around me is almost like that. There's no wind, or fear of falling. I'm beginning to understand that I don't need things like cars, and I don't have to pay attention to solid barriers, like closed doors.
It's hard to get over the habit of being limited.
It's frightening to imagine an existence without limits. I could expand to fill the sky--the universe. And nothing of me would remain.
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winterfish
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Date: 2007-12-05 08:41 pm (UTC)One of the things that I really enjoyed about the story was the vividness of the original characters. From the very first sentences you know that they aren't ciphers... with a few choice details, the author builds them up into real, breathing people, with their relationships to one another detailed as well as their interactions with Mulder and Scully. (Another story that does this well is Neurotic Need for Validation (http://keyofx.cheesejoose.com/fiction_kel_neuroticneedforvalidation.txt) by Kel.) Little things like the way everyone calls the Colonel "the Birdman".
I love the subtle reveal of the narrator, who she is and what role she plays in the story. It was artfully done and offered us something that couldn't have been done in the series. (Well, on reflection I guess they did it in "Desperate Housewives," but maybe not this well.) Like
The writing style is generally fairly simple--the narration suited to the character who is providing it. Having said that, there are some nice poetic touches that explore the nature of being a ghost and show that being dead might not be such a terrible fate after all.
I amuse myself by thinking my way to the roof of the car.
When I was alive, I had dreams of flying. Speeding through
the twilight with only the violet sky around me is almost
like that. There's no wind, or fear of falling. I'm
beginning to understand that I don't need things like cars,
and I don't have to pay attention to solid barriers, like
closed doors.
It's hard to get over the habit of being limited.
It's frightening to imagine an existence without limits. I
could expand to fill the sky--the universe. And nothing of
me would remain.