X-Files 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 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.

This is almost a guest recommendation since I rediscovered the story while I was hunting down an old recs page. "Unintended Consequences" is a realistic and insightful post-ep for the seventh season episode "Orison." It's a story I liked even better the second time around.

Title: Unintended Consequences
Author: Sarah Segretti
Summary: Just when you think you know how you'd react to a horrific event, life steps up to surprise you. Scully and Mulder deal with the aftermath of the Pfaster shooting.
Category: S, A, UST

The link is courtesy of the Wayback Machine, since the author's own site went down. The story can also be found at Gossamer and the Fugues Fiction Archive. In an old fandom, it's good to know your options.

You can also read her author interview from Chronicle X at fialka's luscious old school website, Fialka's Candybox. The link is at the bottom, "Spotlight On." Kudos to Fialka for preserving that bit of precious fandom history.

Read Unintended Consequences.

Please let us know what you think, and remember the nominations post is always open for your suggestions.

My apologies for the long delay between posts. I will say only that there were reasons.

I remember being very taken with this story when I first read it several years ago. It's an X-File story; in fact, "Fish for Fallen Light" would have made a good episode. Mulder has received reports of mysterious sightings off the coastline of California and wants to go mermaid-hunting. Scully is less than enthusiastic. There are some good original characters, some suspense and of course, there is a mystery for Mulder and Scully to solve. Rating is PG.

Read Fish for Fallen Light

This story is not archived at Gossamer so if you like it, you might want to save it in case her website goes down.

What a nice response we got to "Oak Leaves in October." It's good to remember that there is more to this fandom than just the canon ship.

"Every Sparrow Falling" is a case file that is also an x-file. This is Mulder and Scully doing what they do best, investigating the paranormal. It's been some time since I last read this, but I remember being scared out of my wits. There is no summary from the author so here's the one from Raiders of the Lost Fanfic, Maybe Amanda's old rec site: "Casefile, paranormal, religion, madness. And hot dogs, peanuts, and Cracker Jack."

( Read an excerpt )

Read "Every Sparrow Falling", then come tell us what you think.

The link is to IOHO's archive, but if their bandwidth runs out, you can also read it on her old site via the Wayback Machine or at Gossamer.

Recently, I was asked to post another very fine IWTB prequel story here, but I'm posting this instead because in a very few days I expect you will not be able to read it anywhere on the internet, not unless I go ahead and create THE OUTLAW FANFICTION ARCHIVE, Where Unwanted Stories Go to Hide from Their Authors.

If you read my fandom journal, here or at Dreamwidth, then you already know that CazQ has deleted cazfic, taken down her website, and requested that all of her stories be removed from fanfiction archives, including Gossamer. Since then, she has also blocked her site from The Wayback Machine with robots.txt. Her Author's Page at Gossamer is still up, but will most likely be gone by the next update, which I expect will be in July, since the last one was April 8th. This is a grievous loss.

Just as she is one of the finest writers to have ever graced our fandom, "Hard Times Come Again No More" is one of the best, if not the best story to have come out of the ashes of the second TXF movie. It's so good that I can almost forgive 1013 for inflicting that travesty on the fandom.

She feels, out of nowhere, deeply and unassuageably homesick for another Mulder, one she knows is a long time dead now: a lean and hungry-eyed white knight in a horrible tie, with much of the wide-open wonder of the boy still clinging to him, who would stick his fingers straight into any unidentified substance but could never just come right out and say what he meant. That Mulder who stood too close to her in morgues; always assumed he was going to drive; raised his hackles every time another man leant in too close to talk to her; stood like a gunslinger with his hands on his hips whenever he wanted to argue a point; made her sit through innumerable basement slideshows, and played travel Scrabble with her in hospital rooms for hours on end.

This is exactly how I feel about both of them. I miss them terribly; sadly, I missed them even more after seeing I Want To Believe. CazQ wrote the story I had been wanting to read ever since I left the theater back in July 2008.

Go read it. Go read all of her stories and save them to your hard drive. Comment about any of them; I'd love to know what you think. Just do it soon.

The link is to her page at Gossamer, scroll down until you find the title. Her Gossamer Page has now been deleted. If there is something of hers you want to read, I have everything saved.

"Hard Times Come Again No More"

Nominated by yours truly, this charming, sexy, short story by Maria Nicole is perfect reading for a hot summer day. Pour yourself some ice cold lemonade, put your feet up, get comfortable and enjoy! A big hug for estella_c for helping to remember the author of this cute fic.

When the link goes dead after geocities closes this October, you can find the story at Gossamer. Sending the author some feedback might help encourage her to move her fan fiction site or to at least archive her fic elsewhere.

Edit: Thank you, reocities.

Unless there is a massive display of commenting enthusiasm, I am going to assume you've all gone to the south of France for the month of August and am putting the community on hiatus. If you are worried about running out of things to read, we posted a STORY A DAY last year from July 11 to August 4 and I know you haven't read them all. You can always read more of Maria Nicole's stories, too.

Suggestions for when we resume can be made here. I'll see you in September!

"The Opposite of Impulse"

There just are not enough funny stories written for The X-Files fandom, so when I need a humor fix, I keep coming back to the same authors (and the same reccers). estella_c and counterphobe, what would I do without you?

Even Jess's summary for Bombardier Boy makes me smile:

SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully (who else? As if I've ever written Krycek fic)investigate the mysterious deaths of members of the Russian Mafia and the appearance of a new "breed" of crime fighter.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am not an entomologist. I hate doing research. Draw your own conclusions. This idea was my husband's, so this is dedicated to him. He is a beetle fanatic.

Thank you, Jess Mabe, this was just what the doctor ordered.

If you have a funny suggestion (or even a serious one, okay) for next time, leave a note in the nomination post. If anyone knows how to contact Jess Mabe, please tell me, so I can send her flowers and chocolate-covered Mulderclones.

Bombardier Boy: Or, The Metamorphosis of a Superhero

Jess M's fanfic (Thank God for the wayback machine)