Comments | xf_book_club: Story 196: "The Lure of the Fox" by Caroline O'Callaghan

wendelah1 in xf_book_club

Story 196: "The Lure of the Fox" by Caroline O'Callaghan

Feb 17, 2012 19:24

This week's story was nominated by badforthefish. Go Fish!

The Lure of the Fox
By Caroline O'Callaghan
Rating: NC-17 I suppose, but it's nothing too bad (not sure what she means by that...I guess we'll have to wait and see.)
Classification: Mulder/Scully Romance. Mulder and Scully pursue a serial killer who calls himself 'The Fox ( Read more... )

season 4, casefile, msr

Comments 24

badforthefish February 18 2012, 11:27:52 UTC

The Annex has the whole story in one big text file, it may even be a revised version. I notice a "but" had been removed from the first paragraph ( ... )

estella_c February 18 2012, 13:45:09 UTC

Don't feel bad, Fish. I think we've all had the experience of reccing something we wish we hadn't.

Anyhow, I've been saying for a while that examining a failed fic *can* be as interesting as analyzing a good one. Why was it popular? (You sort of answered that.) What does it provide for a fan that a fic like ESF or FF does not. Sometimes literature is not quite what we're after. Particularly in fanfic, riddled as it is with shipping.

You get to talk about fictional quality and also about fan psychology.

Of course a good copy-edit does prevent frustration.

badforthefish February 18 2012, 16:32:53 UTC

Eh, thanks. I'll be more careful next time. It wouldn't matter so much if it was short, as it is, I feel kinda bad you lot are going to have to suffer through pages after pages of the damn thing.

Fanfic is like food. Sometimes you enjoy a delicate well balanced meal but sometimes you can go for junk food. And again, it's not like we had a lot of choice back in the days.

wendelah1 February 18 2012, 14:06:13 UTC

Thanks for telling me that the link wasn't to a complete version.

Yeah, I agree that sometimes dissecting a flawed story can be more interesting than discussing a really good one. I have to work this weekend; in fact, I have to go get dressed for work now, so I won't have much to say until next week.

"Life During Wartime" is an exceptional story, one we aren't likely to see the likes of again in this fandom and probably not the best point of comparison. Maybe "Arcadia"? Is that the one that has camping in it? Or maybe "Camping"? Which is a parody, right?

Thread 10

write_out February 18 2012, 18:49:36 UTC

I have the same issues everyone else does with this story. M/S are too OOC for me here and the writing kept pulling me out of the story.

Still, don't be too hard on yourself for reccing this one! I know we all have stories like this that we once loved and would cringe at now. It's like how I LOVED LOVED LOVED Keving Costner's "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" movie back in the day but I can't get past the first 15 minutes now, it is so bad.

estella_c February 18 2012, 21:14:11 UTC

Well, I think there are very nice thing in that Robin Hood. Unfortunately, Costner isn't one of them.

Remember Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of N cancelling Christmas? Made his career.

write_out February 18 2012, 22:04:43 UTC

Ha! I stand corrected. Alan Rickman was hilarious in that. There are some other bright spots, but Kevin Costner sure wasn't one of them. I won't admit how many times I saw this in the theater.

estella_c February 18 2012, 22:42:42 UTC

Ah,common. You tell me and I'll tell you how many times I saw Last of the Mohicans. So, okay, that was a good one. I also saw Pump Up the Volume. A lot of times. Even after the guy went druggie.

What was the subject again?

Thread 5

estella_c February 18 2012, 21:14:29 UTC

Things, things.

badforthefish February 19 2012, 21:18:01 UTC

Okay, I saw "Legally Blonde" more than once. That makes me weird, right? Erm...fic wise, Can we just agree this story was a poor rec'ing choice on my part and move on to something worthier?

Anybody read "Stakeout Through the Heart" by Barbara D?

I can top that! wendelah1 February 20 2012, 05:47:12 UTC

I saw IWTB four times when it was still in the theaters and I didn't even like it!

Yes, I will post something else tomorrow. I think we have reached consensus on this story.

I have never read "Stakeout Through the Heart."

amyhit February 20 2012, 06:10:21 UTC

I guess I'll end up taking a pass on this one. Sorry I didn't get over here to comment. To be honest, I haven't even read it yet. I was planning on doing that tomorrow.

Still, I agree that we'd be best to move on quickly. I'll give this fic a try anyway, and maybe add a comment or two for good measure, if I have any thoughts on the fic that haven't already been expressed.

(The comment has been removed)

Thread 7

anonymous March 11 2012, 00:28:53 UTC

I didn't enjoy this one, for all the reasons already mentioned, but in spite of this, I'm reading its sequel, Armistice (M/S seem a bit more in character, although I haven't made it that far in yet). Overall, I realize I'm having a hard time rereading fanfic written before the first movie. I have great memories of so many fics written in '97, especially Lydia Bower's Primal Sympathy, which was my grand introduction into XF fanfic and essentially kept me alive in that too-long span between seasons four and five, that I almost don't want to reread them in case they spoil the memory.

wendelah1 March 11 2012, 02:22:05 UTC

Well, there is some good fic, even some great fic from that period. Let us know if you want to discuss "Primal Sympathy." It's a classic Gethsemane post-ep/AU and we've never done anything by Lydia Bower to my knowledge.

anonymous April 3 2012, 02:05:52 UTC

This feels like a dare! But I'm game to reread Primal Sympathy and see what happens. It would be fun if others also wanted to.

wendelah1 April 3 2012, 02:12:37 UTC

I'll put it in the queue for you if you want. I promise we'll post it-- if you promise to show up to discuss it. Heh. The power of the mod reigns surpreme.