X-Files Book Club

Julie Fortune's "The Ghost of You" is a casefic that is also an X-File, and a very creepy one, too. At only a little over 10,000 words, it's less daunting than some of the other fics sitting in the nomination post. In structure, it reminds me very much of the much earlier fic by Jane Mortimer, "The Sin Eater." Mortimer's fic might even have influenced it, who knows?

In any case, the prose is high caliber because the writer is a pro, who has published novels under several pseuds. She even published a tie-in for Stargate SG-1 under her fandom penname, "Sacrifice Moon." It's very good.

Here's a short excerpt from near the beginning of the fic. Mulder and Scully are at the crime scene in Restonville, West Virginia.

Strobe flashes from a wandering photographer lit up the interior. It was nothing more than more grass and mud, and in the middle –

Mulder blinked. "What the hell – "

Scully stepped forward, went to one knee next to the nude body. It was dug into the ground to a depth of nearly three feet, mud squashed up around it. It had been embedded in the mud, face down.

"Mulder." Scully gloved up and reached out to take hold of the woman’s hand, lifting it by the thumb.

Hands did not move that way. Not like – empty sacks, the fingers bending like rubber, no stiffness to it at all.

Boneless. Scully lifted higher. The arm followed the hand, a piece of dead spaghetti.

"Christ," one of the deputies said softly. Detective Harmon didn’t say anything at all, but his face paled. Scully carefully, almost reverently, let the woman’s hand fall back in place.

"Can we turn her over?" she asked.

"Yeah," Harmon said faintly. "We got all the pictures. Better you than me."

She looked at Mulder. Drafted. Nobody wanted to help – twelve deputies and forensic specialists crowded in the room, and every shoulder was pressed firmly against canvas. Mulder tried for a cool expression and took hold of the dead woman’s shoulder.

It felt like a cut of meat at the supermarket. Boneless. He swallowed hard as the body folded down the middle, like a paper doll. Scully helped him get her all the way over and in something like a normal position.

She had no face. Whatever bone structure had been present was obliterated, the face a mass of soft tissue, ruptured like something pulled up from the ocean too fast. No eyes. No teeth, either; the mouth, or what had been the mouth, shifted like jelly, and there were audible gulps from the others in the room.

"Scully?" Mulder cleared his throat. "I take it she’s real."

Scully has a theory, Mulder has a different one. There's thunder and lightening, reports of lights in the sky. They'll identify the body and...I don't want to give it away. It's a ghost story, but with a couple of twists.

You can the read the fic two different places. I like the link at the internet archive that's from her old website because I can copy, paste and print it for reading. I hate reading on computer screens.

At Fanfic for the Fearless via the Wayback Machine: "The Ghost of You" by Julie Fortune. You can find her other fic there, too, if you're interested.

And at the Enigmatic Doctor's site in one long narrow column: The Ghost of You.

She's deleted her non-fandom livejournal, and let her fandom website go down, but juliefortune is still there, and she left her gmail address on her last post.

The nomination post is always open for your suggestions. Thanks to everyone who helps keep this site running and (relatively) active, with your comments here, and your links on other social media sites.

She's back. "Original Sin" is syntax6's long unfinished WIP, abandoned in 2008 after six gripping chapters. To my surprise and delight, she has returned to fandom, and over the past few weeks, posted the remainder of the story. She updated her website, too, adding a half dozen or more stories in a new fandom. It looks good.

It's post Fight the Future, and Scully has moved to Utah. Unfortunately for her, the X-Files followed her there. She must not have noticed that the state emblem is a big old beehive. Poor Scully. When will she learn? Tags: NC-17, mytharc, casefile, M/O, S/O, MSR, chipfic, Samantha, horribly absent & hugely apologetic author.

If you haven't already, email her some feedback, then please come back and let us know what you think.

Remember, the nomination post is always open for your suggestions.

Read Original Sin

Happy Canada Day and Happy Fourth of July.

Sokol was suggested in March of 2011 by estella_c, which tells you that we're a little backlogged. It's a good summer read: a novella length, fast-paced thriller, a myth-arc story that gives us an alternative ending to the series. I consider it essential reading for this fandom. In the MSR category, I'd put it up there with Iolokus, Arizona Highways and Life During Wartime for its ambition, scope and quality of writing.

Rated NC-17 | 176K | Category XRA | Archived 06-04-09
Spoilers: The Red and the Black
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance.
Summary: A boy, a girl, a girl, a spaceship, and how things end.

Though Sokol is a sequel to the much earlier "Reach," all you need to know is that (1.) it takes place in an alternative universe set after "The Red and the Black" and (2.) that Mulder and Scully have now moved their relationship to the next level.

The link is to Fugues Fiction Archive, where there is a text version and also a PDF file. Additionally, you can read the story at Gossamer as well as at his old site on the Internet Archive.

Read "Sokol."

Please let us know what you think, and leave your suggestions for next time in the nomination post.

Hi! I had spotty internet access the later part of March so amyhit kindly filled in for my last turn. I'm bypassing the queue this time around to suggest a story I've been meaning to reread for at least six months. "Laws of Motion" is a sequel to "Universal Invariants," which we discussed back in November, 2010. If you haven't read her first story, you won't get as much out of the sequel. (But you totally should read UI! It's my favorite of syntax6's stories!)

However, if you don't want to read "Universal Invariants" before tackling "Laws of Motion," here's a brief summary: "Universal Invariants" is an au in which Scully is living with her boyfriend Ethan (who was deleted from the pilot) when she is assigned to the X-Files. The novel spans all of season one and the beginning of season two through "One Breath," and has scenes from many of the episodes artfully woven through it. There is also an original casefile, which is the B plot, with the A plot being their developing partnership, and the effect it has on her personal life, especially her relationship with Ethan. HUGE SPOILER here: Scully gets engaged to Ethan after the X-Files are closed down, then has sex (amazing sex!) with Mulder while they are in Arecibo, Puerto Rico during "Little Green Men." Major awkwardness ensues, Mulder and Scully never discuss it, and she is too ashamed to tell Ethan. Then Scully is kidnapped by Duane Barry. Months later, when she is returned, not only is she missing time from the abduction, she can't remember earlier events, including what happened at Arecibo. Mulder can't bring himself to tell her. She never regains the lost memories, but breaks up with Ethan anyway. The End.

So. "Laws of Motion" picks up at the beginning of season five, just after "Redux 2." Scully is cured of cancer and Mulder has just brought her home from the hospital, when there is a phone call from her ex-boyfriend, Ethan. He's in jail, accused of murdering a colleague, and wants their help. Like "Universal Invariants," "Laws of Motion" is structured around a casefile, the murder Ethan has been accused of committing, but the story's focus is squarely on the secret (from the previous story) Mulder has been keeping from Scully and the consequences of that deception. It's a fun read and I remember loving it almost as much as "Universal Invariants."

"Universal Invariants"

"Laws of Motion"

Send feedback, tell Syntax6 we miss her, and please come back to let us know what you thought.

Like "Sparks Fly Upward," Khyber's story-turned-alternative-universe "Reach" also takes off from "The Red and the Black." Needless to say, it takes off in a very different direction. If you haven't read any of his work, Khyber is known for being a Mulder/Scully shipper, for humor, for angst and for really hot sex. Thanks to finisterre for the nomination.

Here is what Khyber has to say about his story:

CLASSIFICATION: TRA (Non-X adventure, Mulder/Scully)

RATING: R for mature content, non-explicit sex, language, and brief extreme violence.

SYNOPSIS: Mulder and Scully are called off an X-file to an emergency assignment where they have some time alone together. Their reflections and thoughts about the events of the past year lead them both to make certain decisions...

KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully UST, Mulder/Scully romance

Time/Spoilers: This story essentially starts an alternate universe after "The Red and the Black." There's loads of spoilers for everything, and conversely if you haven't seen US5 plenty of this won't make sense.

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

Reach(and all the days to come)