Story 78: "The Flexible Concept of Tomorrow" by finisterre
This week I am posting a wonderful The X-Files/Dr.Who cross-over story by finisterre,"The Flexible Concept of Tomorrow." finisterre is the fic journal of the artist formerly known as Marasmus. She left our fandom, and came to LJ, I suppose, with the big fandom migration from the usenet groups. From what I can tell, she had virtually stopped posting her fic writing.
I didn't want to admit even to myself at the time how much of a high-wire act writing felt like to me and when my friends came in with all kinds of corrections and opinions -- even though they were solicited and almost always correct in what they said, particularly about structure and inauthenticity -- it started to interfere with my enjoyment of the process.
Then last year, she fell in love with the character of Donna Noble from the new Dr. Who series.
On Valentine's Day, she gave us a gift of a story so tender and moving that I can barely type, because I keep having to stop to wipe tears from my eyes. The origin of the story is, quite ironically, a prompt someone posted last year, at the first xf_pornbattle, for Mulder/Donna: redheads.
Despite this quirky beginning, it is absolutely not a Mulder/Other story, nor is there any porn. The story is definitely MSR, but it would help, if you are not a Dr. Who fan, to acquaint yourself with the character of Donna, most especially with her fate at the end of the 2008 season. Knowing this will give additional meaning to the story, although I read and enjoyed it for the first time knowing nothing more about Donna Noble than that she was the tenth doctor's companion for the past season.
"The Flexible Concept of Tomorrow, or Five Times Donna Noble Remembers Meeting That Bloke With The Stupid Name (And One Time She Doesn't)."
He hadn’t thought of the strange woman with the red hair in years. Yet since he had the heart attack and moved into The Willows, all he has is time to remember: cases and places; the strange things he’s seen; people lost and loved. Scully.
So one day - after dinner but before Amelia comes to check he’s okay for the night - he draws it all out on sheets from a legal pad. There are red, blue and green pens, footnotes, and a timeline held together with tape, for Christ’s sake. But even when it’s done he feels as though there’s something missing.
It’s a good job Amelia won’t be here for another ten minutes. She would lose her mind if she saw him sitting on the floor like a child with a coloring book. Assisted living, they call it, but it’s more like having a strict babysitter. He’s lucky, because he needs only minimal help, he still has all his marbles and he’s pretty spry for an old guy. He keeps himself to himself, the occasional visit from Will aside. There’s not much to nag him about. And he likes Amelia, with her strawberry blonde hair, shy flirting and ridiculous giggle.
He hauls his aching bones off the rug. He wishes Scully were here to see this. First, she’d mock him and then she’d help him figure out all the parts he’d left out. All his life, redheads laughing at him. How he misses it now.
He pushes his glasses back on his nose, leans on the mantlepiece next to the photograph of Scully that smirks at his idiocies every day, and surveys his work from six feet up. He hasn’t seen her for more than thirty years but his strange brand of intuition is insistent that he’s going to see her again.
It turns out he is right. The last time Fox Mulder meets Donna Noble is the day before he dies.
Go read, fall in love, and give praise to the author. This story is officially my favorite cross-over ever. Now I have to start watching that show.
I didn't want to admit even to myself at the time how much of a high-wire act writing felt like to me and when my friends came in with all kinds of corrections and opinions -- even though they were solicited and almost always correct in what they said, particularly about structure and inauthenticity -- it started to interfere with my enjoyment of the process.
Then last year, she fell in love with the character of Donna Noble from the new Dr. Who series.
On Valentine's Day, she gave us a gift of a story so tender and moving that I can barely type, because I keep having to stop to wipe tears from my eyes. The origin of the story is, quite ironically, a prompt someone posted last year, at the first xf_pornbattle, for Mulder/Donna: redheads.
Despite this quirky beginning, it is absolutely not a Mulder/Other story, nor is there any porn. The story is definitely MSR, but it would help, if you are not a Dr. Who fan, to acquaint yourself with the character of Donna, most especially with her fate at the end of the 2008 season. Knowing this will give additional meaning to the story, although I read and enjoyed it for the first time knowing nothing more about Donna Noble than that she was the tenth doctor's companion for the past season.
"The Flexible Concept of Tomorrow, or Five Times Donna Noble Remembers Meeting That Bloke With The Stupid Name (And One Time She Doesn't)."
He hadn’t thought of the strange woman with the red hair in years. Yet since he had the heart attack and moved into The Willows, all he has is time to remember: cases and places; the strange things he’s seen; people lost and loved. Scully.
So one day - after dinner but before Amelia comes to check he’s okay for the night - he draws it all out on sheets from a legal pad. There are red, blue and green pens, footnotes, and a timeline held together with tape, for Christ’s sake. But even when it’s done he feels as though there’s something missing.
It’s a good job Amelia won’t be here for another ten minutes. She would lose her mind if she saw him sitting on the floor like a child with a coloring book. Assisted living, they call it, but it’s more like having a strict babysitter. He’s lucky, because he needs only minimal help, he still has all his marbles and he’s pretty spry for an old guy. He keeps himself to himself, the occasional visit from Will aside. There’s not much to nag him about. And he likes Amelia, with her strawberry blonde hair, shy flirting and ridiculous giggle.
He hauls his aching bones off the rug. He wishes Scully were here to see this. First, she’d mock him and then she’d help him figure out all the parts he’d left out. All his life, redheads laughing at him. How he misses it now.
He pushes his glasses back on his nose, leans on the mantlepiece next to the photograph of Scully that smirks at his idiocies every day, and surveys his work from six feet up. He hasn’t seen her for more than thirty years but his strange brand of intuition is insistent that he’s going to see her again.
It turns out he is right. The last time Fox Mulder meets Donna Noble is the day before he dies.
Go read, fall in love, and give praise to the author. This story is officially my favorite cross-over ever. Now I have to start watching that show.