Story 258: "SN 1572" by prufrock's love

[wendelah1]

I'd been thinking about posting this so when it was nominated by an anonymous lurker, I decided to go ahead. It's a major new work by a talented writer. Dear Anon, thanks for the suggestion. I hope you will join the discussion.

Title: SN 1572

Comments

[whithersoever]

I'm about halfway through, but I thought I'd comment on what I've read so far just to get the ball rolling. I took notes as I read, so sorry if my thoughts seem disjointed!

Disclaimer: I haven't read Negative Utopia, and I couldn't get into Hiraeth/A Moment in the Sun/Paracelsus enough to finish, though I did try. Also, in my real life I'm just a band director/musician with no creative writing training so my opinion is basically worthless!

I know pru has a large following, and I can certainly agree with and appreciate her talent for very fleshed-out worlds and unique, interesting plots. The majority of her writing in this story is smart (I will expound upon this point later); however, there has always been something about her characterizations that fall a little flat for me. There's definitely enough recognizable about her characters to tell an entertaining story, but there is rarely a time when I can 100% reconcile her Mulder and Scully with the Mulder and Scully we see on the show (jeez, I'm going to get crucified for this, but I also feel the same way about some of the works by other much-beloved authors, like syntax and penumbra). Of course that doesn't mean that I don't still enjoy reading these fics or find them well-written in other ways. I do! It's just that the X-Files is so much about these characters and their interactions that everything else is almost secondary for me, and it's difficult to feel invested in a fic if I don't recognize M&S. Having said that, I feel like this works in prufrock's favor in this story: of course Scully/Mulder/Skinner would be a bit out of character and/or unfamiliar to the reader in this new world they're living in after colonization. That makes perfect sense. I guess what I'm saying is I can appreciate these kinds of characterizations better when I know they're important or relevant to the story (as a side note, I would love to read some of prufrock's original fiction; I think she'd be excellent).

Love that Skinner is in charge of the colony. It feels believable and I like seeing his military background surface. Don't love the Skinner/Scully aspect, but that's just personal preference; I understand and appreciate its larger function in the story, even though the whole "Scully is a commodity" thing makes me uncomfortable (which, again, is probably the point: pru shows humanity/society pared down in some ways to its most basic, animalistic form post-colonization). It's an interesting concept for Mulder to "use" Skinner's body in order to be intimate with Scully. I don't know that everyone in that scenario would just be as immediately comfortable with it as they're presented in the story (and would Mulder really be selfish enough to influence their thoughts and feelings to get what he wants, even if it's at the expense of other important work being done in the colony? I don't know, but then again he may not be Mulder anymore, which would explain it), so that kind of put me off a little.

Pru has a tendency to get caught up in details, I think. Sometimes it works great and adds something to the story (like Byers never wearing his holster, loved that little bit of info), but other times it can make some of her passages seem too dense and slow the pace down. Right now, about halfway in, the pace is and has been too slow for me. I'm also not crazy about the writing style in the flashbacks to the beginning of Mulder and Scully's relationship in and out of the bunker. The romantic language/similes feel a bit cliche ("You're my girl" pleassssseee no, that really took me out of the story every time someone said some iteration of it), but I think this is because I know prufrock is absolutely capable of some beautiful prose (or possibly because I read way too much MSR).

(continued)

[whithersoever]

(continued)

I love everything about Byers so far, and I can totally see him creating a census and trying to contact others with a ham radio. His whole character/character description is completely believable and just really great, interesting writing. I would love to read more about his journey to the colony as a companion piece to this. I'll be honest, I'm probably more interested in his backstory and efforts to contact others than the main plot up to this point.

I'm kind of disappointed that Scully seems to be a bit two dimensional in the beginning in that most events are just happening TO her, instead of being influenced by her. Even when she wants to go meet Mulder, she has Skinner drive her (doesn't really force him as he is willing and tells her as much). She literally wakes him up to tell him she has a gun pointed at him. For what purpose? If she already knew Mulder would be at the west gate (or could tell him to be there by thinking it, since he was listening) and Skinner (who she knew was untrustworthy re: Mulder) was asleep, why didn't she try to sneak out of the compound on her own somehow? This isn't the Scully we know, but again, I can understand that she may have changed post-col. Or maybe this is to emphasize her general lack of power within the colony, like when she states (a few times, I think) that she's not a prisoner? I imagine she will probably take more of an active role in the second half.

I hope this didn't come across as too critical! I'm enjoying this one for the most part, although I don't tend to read post-col fic. I'll be back with more thoughts after I've finished the whole thing (I'm dealing with some personal things right now so I'm not exactly sure when that will be, but just know that I am trying to be more involved!).

[wendelah1]

I haven't read the historicals from start to finish either. As I said in the post, I did read "Negative Utopia," and loved it.

I'm an RN by training. I have no training, formal or otherwise in anything else. My knowledge about writing comes from having read widely, mostly novels, science fiction, mysteries and classics, but a fair amount of fanfic. I write fanfic too. There were a couple of people here in the past who'd worked in editing, or some other field related to writing, and a lot of fanfic writers have participated, but they've mostly moved on to other fandoms or out of fandom altogether.

Your analysis so far seems well-reasoned and supported by the text. Even if it wasn't--shit, it's a fanfic discussion group. I'm interested in hearing everyone's opinions, even those I disagree with. Especially those I disagree with. It's hard to have a lively discussion without some dissent.

There's definitely enough recognizable about her characters to tell an entertaining story, but there is rarely a time when I can 100% reconcile her Mulder and Scully with the Mulder and Scully we see on the show (jeez, I'm going to get crucified for this, but I also feel the same way about some of the works by other much-beloved authors, like syntax and penumbra). Of course that doesn't mean that I don't still enjoy reading these fics or find them well-written in other ways. I do! It's just that the X-Files is so much about these characters and their interactions that everything else is almost secondary for me, and it's difficult to feel invested in a fic if I don't recognize M&S.

I think we all carry different versions of Scully and Mulder around in our heads. They're influenced by what we consciously or unconsciously bring to watching the series as a result of our own experiences, feelings, and judgments. Each individual life is unique. It's not so surprising then, that your version of Mulder and Scully doesn't match up 100% with other fans. Plus everyone isn't looking for the same thing in reading fic, or writing it, which is fine. It's all fine. No one gets crucified here for their opinions about fanfic. God, I hope no one thinks that.

There are genres I don't enjoy, and others that make me uncomfortable. There are characterizations that seem out there to me that many people love.

Since the characterizations of Penumbra, Syntax6, and prufrock's love don't match up with your head canon, if it doesn't put you on the spot, I'm curious to know why. You would not be alone in those opinions, I'm certain. I'd also love to know which writers do work for you, and why. I'd have opinions, too, naturally. As a fic writer, I'm probably more interested in craft than strict adherence to canon characterization, especially since the series itself was pretty shaky in that regard. I make my own choices about how to portray the characters so I tend to give other writers a lot of leeway, especially if the story they want to tell is compelling enough.

More to come.