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

[ledez_dreams]

Hmmm. Although I love post-col stories, this didn't work for me, same as Negative Utopia never has. I do however have a hard time figuring out why exactly this is the case. I like the detail, and this story definitely fleshes out Negative Utopia in a way that complements them both. The world is described well and I find it quite believable. I have probably read and watched too many dystopian movies and books that I have a dim view of what would happen to the position and rights of women in such scenarios. So I did find Scully's position believable as well

Part 1

[wendelah1]

I had to divide this comment into two sections.

That being said though, I think it was Scully's lack of control in a post colonization world and her seeming acceptance of this. I suppose this is somewhat in contradiction to what I just said in the previous paragraph, but it does bother me. She relies on Skinner to protect her, and having to be labelled as "his" as a result, and she also requires Mulder's protection to an extent once she is reunited with him.

It's meant to disturb the reader. You've read enough dystopian novels, so you know the drill. It's realistic for the weaker to need protection in a world gone mad. If anything, Scully wants the few remaining women and their children to be more protected, not less. She wants civilization back.

I know she exerted some authority as a physician back at the camp, but it almost seemed like an indulgence afforded to her, and this was proven when it became apparent that Skinner was actually preventing people like Byers from reaching her and he faked an injury just to come talk to her.

Part 2

[wendelah1]

The story sort of gives Mulder all the power and reduces Scully to a bit of a sidekick to him, the equality in their relationship seems to disappear in this world, which even if it's plausible given the circumstances, I don't like it.

But that's not what happened. At the beginning of the story, Mulder sacrifices himself to save Scully, and arguably the other people in the bunker, from the colonists. He's tortured and experimented on and used by them. He's been driven completely crazy. He kills Skinner because he sees a threat to Scully that isn't there. I would argue that apart from his decision to leave and give himself up to the colonists, he's the one who has no agency whatsoever. The line that keeps getting repeated in this story is Mulder's question to Scully. "Are you real? Are you really Dana Scully?" He's that disconnected from reality.

I also didn't really like that despite all the detail and building of this world, there really wasn't more to the plot than Scully wanting to be with Mulder, and Mulder wanting to be with

[infinitlight]

I liked Negative Utopia when I read it back in the day, and the differences in this story (as far as I can remember NU - I'm a slow reader and I'm pretty sure if I try to reread I will still be here commenting in a month's time) were interesting in the expanded details - but overall I preferred that Negative Utopia felt like an end of everything, whereas SN 1572 is more hopeful.

I usually like hopeful! But I suspect I want a different story, too. Which is not to say this is not a well-written story, just that I wasn't really feeling it, either.

[ledez_dreams]

I doubt I would have realized it before reading these comments, but I realize now that I prefer Negative Utopia on it's own. I actually did like that it was so bleak, and that it left a lot of detail and backstory out, as well as an uncertain ending. In a way it made that story more satisfying in how unsettling it was