Story 69: "Roman a Clef" and "A Midnight Clear" by Syntax6

[wendelah1]

These two short stories by Syntax6 were written last year as a gift for MaybeAmanda, and were supposed to be the beginning of a series. I am still hoping they will be.

These are not holiday fluff, so if you would rather read that instead, go to The Xmas Files and try Blue Christmas by Plausible Deniability, or Black Cherry Velvet by Michelle

Comments

[leucocrystal]

Aww, I'm glad you recc'd Bardsmaid's story! I loved getting to beta that, it was such a lovely story. Her stuff is very underrated.

[wendelah1]

It is a lovely story. And I agree, she is very underrated.

[bmerb]

Agreeing again, that was a great one

[yendrie]

Awesome recs! I love everyone of Syntax6' stories, and these two are really especial. Oh, and the other 3 fics... I need to read them too ;)

[wendelah1]

I tried to find something for everyone to read for Christmas.(:

[amyhit]

I should know by now that not only will Syntax's stories remind me that/why I love these characters, they'll also make me jealous of her ability with prose. She has such a way with it. Personally, I tend to go for a very poetic style in what I read and get bored when the narrative is too…narrative-y. Yet syntax manages to write some of the 'straightest' prose I can think of, and rarely loses the immediacy and the complication of emotion underlying the words. *shakes head dismayed* Yes, er- jealous

[wendelah1]

Thank you, I am glad you are enjoying them. I agree that Plausible Deniability is very talented. Besides, I have decided that when it comes to reading fic of any sort, guilt is an unnecessary emotion.

Yet syntax manages to write some of the 'straightest' prose I can think of, and rarely loses the immediacy and the complication of emotion underlying the words.

Her words aren't a distraction; instead, they are nearly all carefully chosen to create an effect, evoke an emotion, or advance the story. I wanted to rec these because while this type of fic is not what she is known for, she does it so very well. I admire her enormously.

As you say, I think she writes Scully well from Mulder's point of view. Scully is a tough character to write, much harder than Mulder IMHO, and gets it gets harder in the later seasons. It is hard to capture her peculiar mixture of toughness and vulnerability.

I think I just figured out something important in the stories.

"Your mother had this filed but I intercepted it. It

[estella_c]

Thanks for the suggestions, Wendy, and I am impressed by your Yuletide work ethic. These are stories I'd read before, but you helped me to see new value in them.

Syntax6 is an extremely unusual fic-writer. We have other great ones and certainly ones that are flashier, more eccentric. Nobody, so far as I know, has ever said anything bad about Syn. Not even in private, I'm guessing. Her work is so solid and careful, so pefectly balanced between the angst and the wit, so kind and insightful in its characterization. I almost wish that, in some alternate universe, the PTB at 1013 could review and appreciate the richness she brings to that crazy-quilt of a television series.

I have one bad thing to say about Syntax6. She hasn't been heard from in months. Bad, bad Syntax6.

If no one minds a side-rec, there's a really nice story at MaybeAmanda's Christmas site in which Skinner has an excellent time picking a Christmas tree: CathGerm's "Away in a Tree Lot." Many of us do not mind the bald thing.

[wendelah1]

I am impressed by your Yuletide work ethic. I baked coffee glazed chocolate chip scones and two kinds of pie, too.

Syntax6 is so good, and yes, I can't imagine anyone saying anything bad of any consequence about her work. Perfect balance is a very good description of why I love her writing. The best fan fiction writers make me see the characters and the episodes in a new light. This is true of her too, but more than that, I love and appreciate the characters and the series even more after finishing one of her stories.

She hasn't been heard from in months.

I miss her, too. She did assure me in November that she was planning to finish "Original Sin," and I do believe she intends to do that. However, I have long ago stopped checking her website daily, or even weekly, for an update. If it happens, I will be a very happy fangirl. In the meantime, I am going to find my Elvis Christmas CD and reread "Blue Christmas."

[hlbr]

I had read them already, but they were wonderful fics to re-read.

They took me back the first seasons effortlessly. I love when Mulder and Scully are IC.

I think my favourite scene above all others was Mulder's with his father in Roman a Clef. Part of it it's that it felt true to the characters, and part of it, that the relationship felt so damn real (and, I confess, similar to mine with my father, somewhat).

And three other recs! (the part that just wants to have fun jumps with glee, the part that knows I have things to do, dammit, just whimpers at this going in top of the yuletide fics--there's such a thing as having _too much_ good fic to read, it seems)

[estella_c]

Just read "The Night Before." It's a graceful, well-structured, thoughtful piece--a little too thoughtful for my personal taste, maybe, as character introversion is not high on my list of favorites.

I do like, and have always liked, Bardmaid's attention to Krycek. There's a character whose promise was appallingly squandered in canon.

God has given us ficcers to correct 1013's mistakes.

[wendelah1]

She takes him very seriously, and makes him into a whole person. She is really good at creating believable backstory, too, for all of the characters. Nick is a fine actor, and did the best he could with the material he was given. But, as people have commented elsewhere, especially as the series was ending, they wrote Krycek poorly. More like a cartoon villain. The stupid scene in the garage. No excuses.

[estella_c]

Right. There was such potential in this character, whether we prefer him as a well-meaning, tormented victim or a nasty bit of goods. I'm rereading Deny Nothing, the better to get "Tell It Slant," and the interior dialogue RivkaT gives him is so fabulous he hardly needs to open his mouth. I mean, "He was grateful that there was still honor left in the world, though he was also grateful that it was not his."

Hey, what's a hero without a villain? An *attractive* villain? Visually speaking, they deserve each other.