Story 13: "Primal Sympathy" by Lydia Bower

[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

Comments

[all_shine_on]

Thanks for the recs. You guys have found a couple gems I hadn't encountered before!

Just a quick note-It's actually Lydia BOWER, not Boyer.

[wendelah1]

I still can't spell, apparently. Fixed it, and thank you for noticing so quickly. Thank leyosura for this one. I haven't read it either.

Faith That Looks Through Death

[wendelah1]

Agent Mulder undertook this treatment hoping to lay claim to his past--that by retrieving memories lost to him, he might finally understand the path he's on, but if that knowledge remains elusive, and if it's only by knowing where he's been that he can hope to understand where he's going, then I fear agent Mulder may lose his course, and the truths he's seeking, from his childhood, will continue to evade him...driving him more dangerously forward in impossible pursuit.As I always do, when I am having trouble with a work of fan fiction, I re-watched the episodes that it referenced, "Gethsemane" and "Demons." There were so many disturbing elements in this story that I decided I needed to try to put myself back in time to when these episodes first aired, to try to have a better sense of the atmosphere from whence they were created

Re: Faith That Looks Through Death

[emily_shore]

This one didn't really work for me, either. I am disappointed, because I was ridiculously excited by the idea of Alpha male posturing over Scully. (What can I say, it's a guilty pleasure

Re: Faith That Looks Through Death

[wendelah1]

So, even the thought of the alpha male posturing to come didn't spurn you on until the end? Drat!

I thought the style was, as finistere described "Five Years and One Night," typical of the fan fiction of its day. This was written even earlier, back in 1997, I believe, during the hiatus between Gethsemane and Redux. It's vintage. In any case, the style didn't bother me, and I nearly always feel the need to read to the end of a story. I love it when I find a work of fan fiction with style I can admire and even learn from, but it isn't my highest priority. My reading is very plot-driven, and this had an interesting, if imperfect, plot line. I can easily imagine myself back in the day, becoming obsessed with reading the next chapter, as I have on occasion, with Syntax6's serial novels for example, or, more recently, Anjou's latest. That doesn't mean I won't be disappointed by the end, as I certainly was with this story. As I think I mentioned back in my journal, this story was enormously popular, and I think there was even a group of fans who

Re: Faith That Looks Through Death

[emily_shore]

We are definitely plot vs. style readers, aren't we? However, we agree on the importance of character, which is probably why we like many of the same stories even so.

I'll give this one another try. I started it last night after having spent all day traversing Europe by plane and bus, so I was probably just too tired to persevere. I'll look to see what I think about your points.

[wendelah1]

I have a deep and abiding hatred of the Healing Sex. Not that sex can't be healing, but come on. I agree with every point you made. This story really aggravated me, too.

Middle of the night? It is 10:00 PM here. Go to sleep! I am going to bed, too. I'll look this over more carefully in the am.

The other unanswered question here is why was/is this story so popular? What need was/is it meeting in the fan fiction reading fandom?

I have been looking through Goss for other Post-Gethsemane stories. There are two others that were written around the same time, that are also kind of famous: "Point of Origin" by Rachel Howard and "Blood and Breath" by RivkaT. Maybe we should read one of those next, try to figure this time period out? There are 3 columns of post-eps for this episode. People were freaked. Maybe they really thought Mulder was dead?

Or we could just cut our losses, and leave 1997 behind. And now for something completely different...

[emily_shore]

The other unanswered question here is why was/is this story so popular? What need was/is it meeting in the fan fiction reading fandom? A good question. Having been available during the hiatus is a very, very important factor. Thinking back on things, I realize that some of the things I was objecting to in the story were the places where it contradicted "Redux," and obviously that's not fair. It does quite a decent job of offering a plausible second half for the events of "Gethsemane," if not explaining them in great detail. In short, it would have made quite a decent episode, as it gets the fans talking with lots of juicy tidbits but doesn't really go into motivation in any great detail

[wendelah1]

"Blood and Breath" it is then! I love rivkat. too. Yes. The next week is yours. I think I will post the story later today, unless discussion picks up here. I have to go back to work tomorrow.

[emily_shore]

Sounds like a plan. :)