xf_book_club | Entries tagged with cancer arc

"Queequeg was a native of Rokovoko, an island far away to the West and South. It is not down in any map; true places never are."
— Moby-Dick; or The Whale, by Herman Melville

Fanfiction, both reading it and writing it, has been off my radar entirely these past few months. You can easily guess why. I even forgot the

xf_book_club's anniversary date. Sorry about that.

But since I've been in bed with a cold this week and in need of amusement, I decided to see if there was anything new to read. You haven't checked the fic forum at Haven in months, my brain chimed in helpfully. That's true. Okay. I'll do that.

Since I struck gold, I decided to bypass the nomination queue. Lo and behold: prufrock's love has posted a new story! Like so much of her best work, it's an AU, but this is not a historical. This X-Files universe stays fairly close to canon, though with a more realistic take on the cancer arc.

"Finding Rokovoko" is a spooky horror story set in the fourth season, beginning right after "Never Again." The casefile/X-file feels just like an episode of the series, complete with classic Mulder/Scully banter and a myth-arc related plot. Also, perfect title is perfect. You'll see what I mean.

Read Finding Rokovoko.

If you're in the mood for holiday-themed fic, you might check out

maybe_amanda's daily posts at Haven.

Please come back and let us know what you think. Remember, the nomination post is always open for suggestions.

wendelah1

This week, we're doing a rerun, while I'm waiting on a friend to finish editing her podfic of "Ingenue" or for so-kiss-me-goodbye to complete "The Lambs," whichever comes first.

Back in the day, I had a theory that "Fugue" was written as a response to complaints that the show is a deeply sexist text, with Mulder being the one who drives the plot, and Scully as his sidekick. That's not how I see the series, and it is just a theory. But there does seem to be a subtext to this fable, one that hinges on female identity and how easily women still can submerge themselves in deference to their mates' ambition and passions.

We discussed this for the first time back in 2008. Eight years seems long enough to justify a rerun of one of my personal favs. Reading this deeply affected me; in fact, the first fic I wrote was in response to "Fugue," rather than the series, and that was long before I'd heard of Remix. It remains one of my favorite stories, in this or any fandom.

Fugue (26052 words) by rivkat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dana Scully/Fox Mulder
Characters: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder
Additional Tags: Amnesia, Juvenilia
Series: Part 1 of Fugue
Summary:

The DSM-IV defines fugue as travel in foreign places, often under an assumed identity.

Since our first discussion, "Fugue" has become a series, providing two more reasons to revisit the fic.

Devoutly to be wished (496 words) by rivkat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder, C.G.B. Spender
Additional Tags: Eight crazy nights
Series: Part 2 of Fugue
Summary:

The prompt: The ending of Fugue: The image of Scully shivering on that cold floor, in shock after the visit from the Smoking Man? It haunts me. Please get her up off that floor and, if possible, into a happier ending.

Variations on a Fugue (1224 words) by rivkat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder
Additional Tags: Amnesia, Remix
Series: Part 3 of Fugue
Summary:

Alternate vision of Fugue, for hulamoth. Fox was the one who couldn't remember, and Dana got her memories back.

After you read the series, consider leaving feedback and/or kudos for the author. Please come back and let us know what you think. As always, the nomination post is open for your suggestions.

wendelah1

I reread this last month when I noticed

aloysiavirgata had been archiving her fanfic at AO3. I liked it a lot. "This Her Fever" is a connected series of fill-ins set during Gethesemane/Redux, which I enjoyed best for the sympathetic portrayals of the secondary characters: Bill Scully Jr., Maggie Scully and Father McCue.

I think this fic is both noromo and shipper friendly. Members who prefer their fanfic minus the sexy bits can read it as long as they skip past chapter 17 and not lose anything essential since the plot remains faithful to canon. Other readers can now skip right to chapter 17...

Rated R | 26,126 words | Archived 09-07-06
Spoilers: Detour (and Gethsemane and Redux, adds Wendelah)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance.
Summary: It is, she thinks, a fitting coda to her life that Mulder and Father McCue should cross paths in this room, both trying to offer her salvation.

Read This Her Fever at AO3 or as a text file at Gossamer.

It seems appropriate to post this Scully-centric fanfic rec on Dana Scully's 51st birthday.

badforthefish.livejournal.com

I CAN POST ENTRIES ON THE BOOK CLUB! MWWWWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

*coughs*

Anywayyyy...

Wendy said I was welcome to post that here, so here we go.

~~~~~~~~~~

(First posted on Haven)

Moose and Squirrel - before being declawed and tamed by scores of fic writers intent on giving them the white picket fence happiness they were never designed for in the first place - were pretty dark and tortured characters to begin with. A given, considering how much crap they went through in the show.

Back in the days many fic writers explored that dark path and gave us many incredible stories, the quintessential one being, of course, the infamous Iolokus. Stories where the characters' traumas weren't swept under the carpet of True Love (TM) Hot Sex, Domestic Life and Fat Babies. Stories where bad things happened to good people.

They were stories such as:

Arizona Highway by Fialka
Secret World by Bonetree
Grace Realized by Michaela
Injuries to The Spirit by Mystphile
The Mill by Cofax

...to name just a few off the top of my head.

In these stories Mulder and Scully were flawed and damaged. Years of turmoil and horrors weren't cured with a kiss and a soft bed. They had issues with one another, they argued and fought. They could be unfair, cruel, monstrous even - their claustrophobic co-dependency toxic, yet unavoidable. They suffered, battled illnesses both mental and physical, and sometimes they even died. Some stories made a point of reminding us how dangerous their job really was - that the human monsters could be worse than the alien ones. But their spirit shone nevertheless through it all, pure and bright, that elusive spark of magnificence that made them - well, you know, THEM.

As a reader I always found those tales much more emotionally rewarding than those of the bunnies and rainbow - Mulder and Scully in love forever in their pretty house with their pretty children - aw, look he has his mother's eyes and his father's nose - variety.

No pain no gain, uh?

I guess my question is: have you read such stories? Do you enjoy them? Can you rec the ones that stayed with you?

~Fish~

amyhit.livejournal.com

This week we have a short fic with a long title. The aurthor calls it penance for some "MSR atrocities" she wrote (under an undivulged pen name) when the show was in its early years. The fic itself is MSR, but what drew me to it was that it feels different from what I'd come to expect of MSR. It's set in season 4, sometime after 'Memento Mori,' and is essentially a spare but introspective study of Scully and her relationship with Mulder as they both attempt to come to terms with the reality and the potential outcome of her illness.

Relativistic Gravitation and Celestial Mechanics by LM

Side note:

wendelah1 and I were unable to find this fic archived anywhere and we could not get in touch with the author, but I had a copy of the fic saved so we decided to archive it on Fugues in the Key of X. If anyone knows the author or knows how to contact her, please let us know so that we can properly ask her permission to archive her fic. If asked to remove it from the archive, of course we will comply with the author's wishes.

amyhit.livejournal.com

For Thanksgiving three years ago

wendelah1 posted JET's widely loved holiday fic, "Small Lives Awake." It happens to be the first fic I ever commented on, here at the book club, which makes me feel rather delighted to have the privilege of posting my own choice of Thanksgiving fics this year, this one also by JET.

"Relic of Tough Weather" was written and is set in November, 1999, shortly after the events of TSE:AF. Though it doesn't have the length or popularity of "Small Lives Awake," it is a distinctive blend of JET's signature style: evocative prose and compassionate characterizations.

Relic of Tough Weather

JET's still around, to some extent; I'm sure she would appreciate the feedback. And, as ever, our nomination post is open for recommendations.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating the occasion.

wendelah1

Fall is here, though you'd never know it by the temperatures in SoCal. I read "Up the Ladder" in 2007, when I was new to the fandom. It's novella length, at 30,000+ words, but wow, it is a fast read. I would have pegged the word count at half that or less. It was originally posted in 1997. Yep. This is old-school fanfiction at its best.

Summary: Marita comes through for Mulder, giving him what he wants most. But twenty-five years haven't brought as many changes as he might have thought, and her gift might be more dangerous than anything he's faced to date. And what's up with those bees? A potpourri of Conspiracy elements with many old favorites present. Note: Almost everything here about bees is actually true, except for the parts that are just paranoia.

"Up the Ladder"

The link is to AO3, where you can easily leave feedback for our author, but you can read this at her website or at Gossamer if you prefer. Leave your suggestions at the nomination post. And don't forget to let us know what you think.

amyhit.livejournal.com

Kipler did most of her fic writing between 1995 and 1997, placing her solidly among the early era X-Files fanfic writers, though she didn't write Strangers and the Strange Dead - arguably her most widely recced story - until 2000.

Waiting was written, and is set, in the summer of 1997, after Gethsemane. Following the cryptic and devastating event of Mulder's evident demise, Scully inadvertently happens upon a casefile, and finds herself drawn into its eerie mystery while she bides time in and out of hospital rooms, waiting for her own imminent death to claim her. For such a small fic, there's a lot to this one. Kipler's writing is spare, intelligent, and deeply but subtly poetic - very in tune with the nuances of tension and emotion underlying surface reality.

I first read this fic about a year ago, and it left me feeling a curious combination of awestruck, dazed, a little bit sick with grief, and a little bit giddy with pleasure. But we've covered three of Kipler's fics already so I was hesitant to post Waiting for my own gratification alone. When I saw that

coldthermistor had recced it, I could've hugged her.

Waiting by Kipler

I'm not sure if this Waybacked link will work. If not then you'll have to head over to where it's posted on Gossamer to read it. You know the drill, just c/p the url into a new window.

amyhit.livejournal.com

Next up is post Redux II, a foray into the thick of Scully's recuperation.

title: this is what happens after the pain.
rating: r.
word count: 906.
summary: No matter how hard he tries, he can’t stop seeing the illness in her eyes.

wendelah1

Ever wonder what happened between the silence of Never Again and the flowers from Memento Mori? Ever wonder if Scully's night with Ed Jerse affected her relationship with Mulder in any way? Ever wonder what pushed Scully to go to the hospital and find out about her cancer in the first place? Ever wonder how her illness might have affected her work or if she ever thought about Leonard Betts' words?

Well, we did...

So did I. I love it when fanfic writers try to fill in some of the blanks the writers of our beloved yet flawed series left behind. Nominated by

idella, this fast-moving case file addresses those very questions.

"The Common fate of All Things Rare"

If you haven't already, please send the authors your feedback, then come back to discuss the story. You can leave suggestions for next time in the nomination post.

wendelah1

For sometime now, I've been meaning to post something by OneMillionAndNine. She's brilliant and infuriating, funny and heart-breaking, angst-ridden and erotic, often all in the same story. The problem was, I just couldn't seem to decide on which one. Should I go with my personal favorite, her comic novel "El Quinto Sol," for its wildly original take on Mulder's sudden belief in "miracles" in "Per Manum"? Or, maybe "Premature Ejaculation," her quirky version of a post-ep for "All Things"?

Luckily for me, a choice has been made. Thank you,

amyhit for choosing for me. Told from Mulder's point of view, "The French Inhaler" is a tragicomic examination of the effect of Scully's cancer on Mulder, on Scully and on their relationship. It is NC-17, underage readers, yada, yada.

Send feedback to the author, then come back and tell us what you think. As always, suggestions for next time can be made at the nomination post.

"The French Inhaler"

XF Fanfic by OneMillionAndNine

wendelah1

This week's story, nominated by

leyosura, is Primal Sympathy by Lydia Bower. Here is what the author has to say about the story:

SPOILERS: You bet! Everything up to and including Gethsemane.
RATING: R for language and content.
CLASSIFICATION: XRA, MSR
SUMMARY: In order to find a cure for Scully's cancer, Mulder
fakes his own death without her knowledge. Once reunited, they
embark on a journey of discovery that may end up costing them
their lives.

Let us know what you think; let the author know what you think; and please, let us know your suggestions for next time.

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X-Files Book Club

The reading group for X-Files fanfiction

Entries tagged with cancer arc

Story 270: "Finding Rokovoko" by prufrock's love

Rerun: "Fugue" (the series) by rivkat

Story 254: "This Her Fever" by Aloysia Virgata

The Darkness Within

Story 205: “Relativistic Gravitation and Celestial Mechanics” by LM

Story 187: "Relic of Tough Weather" by Jesemie's Evil Twin

Story 182: "Up the Ladder" by rivkat

Story 167: "Waiting" by Kipler

Story 141: "this is what happens after the pain" by Veils

Story 83: "The Common Fate of All Things Rare" by Scarlet Baldy and Aloysia Virgata

Story 77: "The French Inhaler" by OneMillionAndNine

Story 13: "Primal Sympathy" by Lydia Bower

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