Comments | xf_book_club: Happy Birthday to Us!

wendelah1 in xf_book_club

Happy Birthday to Us!

Dec 03, 2011 13:18

Since today is the fourth anniversary of the creation of xf_book_club by our illustrious founder, emily_shore, I thought a brief post in its honor was in order. Yes, we will be returning you to our regularly scheduled programming shortly.

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Comments 51

ktds December 4 2011, 00:49:35 UTC

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wendelah1 December 4 2011, 01:52:56 UTC

Hope this community continues as long as it can.

Thanks, me too.

write_out December 4 2011, 03:36:36 UTC

Happy Anniversary, xf-book-club! I can't remember how I stumbled across this place, but I'm so glad I did. It's been a wonderful little corner of fandom for me. I know I've been quiet here lately, but hopefully that will change soon.

I love making lists, so I'll follow wendelah1's example and list my top five Desert Island fics without overthinking it too much (the problem with a list like this is that as soon as I click Submit, I'll think of five different ones). Like she says, these are all stories I go back to again and again because for various reasons they hit my pleasure center dead on. YES. Exactly.

1. "Contact High" by penumbra23 (and how did I miss her story posted last month??). I have a hard time putting into words just how much I love it. The writing, the characterization, the smut...all give me goosebumps when I read this, probably my most favorite story in all fandom.

2. "In the Ruins" by Lydia Bower. This is my favorite of hers, an angsty, smutty, lovely little post-ep for "The End."

3. "Small Lives Awake" by Jesemie's Evil Twin (jetfic). I love ( ... )

wendelah1 December 4 2011, 04:03:34 UTC

1. Until she wrote "Fathoms Five," "Contact High" was my favorite Penumbra fic. So much love for this fic.

"What if..." says Mulder unsteadily, "I just might be the lunatic you're looking for?"

Tru Fax: my husband actually said this line to me once.

2. A smutty post-ep for The End. Must check this out next.

3. I love this story, too.

4. I remember liking this. She's very talented.

5. I must have read this at some point. Well, maybe not. I can't remember it though and I can definitely remember her other smut fest, "The Airport." NC-1 billion or something, right. Anyway, I'll check this one out, too.

Thank you!

Now I apparently can't live without it.

Hee. Apparently.

write_out December 4 2011, 19:12:10 UTC

I love that your husband said that to you.

Oh yes, Jess and her smut fests. Her stories are fantastic though, very well-written with lots of humor, anger, love, angst. "Spoken" and "Tempo" are others I especially love and neither one is smutty. "Tempo" is UST, actually. She is definitely one of my favorite writers.

Some of my other favorite stories are written by Jenna Tooms, ArtemisX5, Oracle, Tree (esp the one you listed), Lysandra, Innisfree...I can go on and on.

wendelah1 December 4 2011, 20:12:07 UTC

Yeah, Jess Mabe's one of my favorite writers, too. She's someone I genuinely wish I'd gotten a chance to know, if only in cyberspace. From her writing, she seems to be so friendly and funny and life-affirming. Alas, she was long-gone by the time I found the fandom.

I love "Spoken" because of the way she attempts to give M&S a life and friends outside of the X-files (what a concept!). Now that I'm less of a canon whore, I can appreciate the fic writers who tried to give the characters a bit of happiness. After all, canon made them miserable enough for several lifetimes.

I don't think I've ever read "Tempo." She has her fic at Gossamer under three different names!

I can go on and on.

I wish you would, but I know you can't.

Just guessing, but looking over your list, I think you've been reading more on the, how shall we say this, romantic end of the fanfic spectrum than I have. Hee.

Thread 19

missmonkeh December 4 2011, 12:40:17 UTC

Scatter, by Vehemently: http://keyofx.org/fiction_vehemently_scatter.txt something of a hidden gem, I think. Just the right amount of M/S sexual tension, a healthy dash of Krycek being a sneaky git and a genuinely compelling casefile. It's well written and well paced and I highly, highly recommend it.

Partay! wendelah1 December 4 2011, 18:49:18 UTC

Great rec! Thank you, I keep thinking I should do another of her stories here. "Scatter" is excellent.

In keeping with the Five Things theme, Five Things About Vehemently:

1. She's at Dreamwidth, as (surprise!)

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estella_c December 4 2011, 23:58:11 UTC

As everybody knows--assuming that everybody pays attention to everything I say--I don't approve of best-of listings. BUT: this is a things-I-read-for-pleasure listing, an entirely different thing. PLUS: I get to talk! And talk! PLUS AGAIN: Let's face it, I am drawn to all listings as a moth to my winter wardrobe ( ... )

estella_c December 5 2011, 00:00:37 UTC

Oh my, I forgot to say that six is Tesla's This House Is Burning. Sorry. But not about including it.

write_out December 5 2011, 01:09:28 UTC

That almost went on my list too! LOVELOVELOVE that one.

wendelah1 December 5 2011, 01:02:17 UTC

1. I love Blackhole Season, too. This link is to IOHO's latest incarnation and has a pretty graphic.

2. Iolokus is a great, memorable epic fic. No argument there. Link is to AO3, where kudos are easy to leave and always appreciated. I did reread it on the plane ride home in October. I thought it was better the second time around. That story does hold up over time.

3. I love this story but again, I've never reread it; however, it, like, "The Other Man" and "Iolokus," would be on a "best of" list for certain. This link is to the discussion post.

4. Kel's Controlled Substances. Good choice. One of the few we haven't discussed here already, too. Kel needs her own tag...

5. Untitled Random Case File #4664 is a very smart story.

6. You broke the rules! That's okay. I was tempted to add This House is Burning at the end; luckily for me, you already did. Definitely one of the best of the casefile-that-evolves-into-a-romance genre out there. Syntax6 has written a few, too, and one of hers nearly went on my list but really, I'd have had ( ... )

Thread 9

badforthefish December 5 2011, 12:26:59 UTC

Happy Birthday!!! I love this community, even more now that I can read fic again. It might very well be the only X-F fic related place where freedom of speech truly prevails ( ... )

wendelah1 December 6 2011, 04:25:19 UTC

Thanks, Fish.

I remember thinking "Secret World" was well-done. I wish she could have sustained the dramatic and emotional tension through the entire series. That might be an interesting story to discuss, too, although it is rather long.

badforthefish December 6 2011, 07:56:32 UTC

Yes, the sequels weren't nearly as good. As it's often the case.

Yes, it's rather long, so maybe it would be a summer read, like Sokol.

Secret World addisonzella October 4 2015, 15:07:32 UTC

I stayed up until 3am last night reading Secret World. I'm still processing it, but it immediately moved up to my mental list of Best. Fanfics. Ever.

Am I allowed to post spoilers for the story? Because I'm going to. This fic has everything. Mulder and Scully in character, brilliant plot with both sci-if elements and political agendas, hot sex, angst, great supporting characters, amazing description of Scully allowing herself to be vulnerable in front of Mulder (calling him from a payphone in the middle of the night?!). I think this story could be turned into a movie. Where the hell is Chris Carter? He needs to read this.

The only part I didn't like was the ending. I think once the characters went "on the run" the story lost something. It's just as @Wendelah1 states, that the dramatic and emotional tension is not sustained. That part can be changed for the X Files Movie #3, though :)