Story 198: "five things that never happened to dana scully" by threeguesses

[amyhit]

The next fic was nominated by lightlack and enthusiastically seconded by myself. It’s written by threeguesses, who is one of my favorite writers to come out of the pre/post IWTB era. Her writing in this fandom was not prolific, but her stories have always stood out (at least for me) for their powerful concepts, enthralling emotional currents, and the deceptive

Comments

[amyhit]

Aaaaaand I have no idea how to tag this fic. I feel like the tags alone constitute spoilers (I don't know, do they?), but then what's the point in having tags if you don't use them where applicable, right?

I suppose I could use this, my confusion over the tags, as some kind of a jumping off point for talking about the nature of "five things" fics. The way revelation is such a huge part of them. What's changed? What's different? When and how will you be shown? Will it be a fast reveal, shockingly abrupt, or a slow reveal, the creeping sense of understanding, of an idea taking shape? The "five things" fic is inherently imbued with it's own kind of tension; one is entering into a story in which anything could happen, from which closure cannot be expected, in which there is always, for the reader, a sense of loss, and the real question is what the nature of that loss will be - how much bitter will it contain, and how much sweet?

Okay, well, that's a start.

[estella_c]

I don't think you should worry too much about the tags. I never look at them unless I'm searching for a fic, and I suspect that is true for most.

[infinitlight]

not sure if I buy the idea of Samantha basically being a female version of her brother.

I didn't read it so much as being a female version of him. I assume he's the one who's been taken in this scenario, and so she's become the one working the X-Files because of the impact the abduction had on her. I always thought "spending lots of time trying to learn about UFOs" was a pretty reasonable life choice for someone who believed they'd seen a family member abducted by aliens.

It's logical that they'd have other things in common (channel surfing, smirking :); they're siblings.

[wendelah1]

It's logical that they'd have other things in common (channel surfing, smirking :); they're siblings.

Maybe, maybe not. I have very little in common with my siblings, and channel surfing is surely learned behavior, and probably smirking, too. (I'm not sure why but I have developed an intense dislike for "smirking." It's so over-used and misused in fic. I want to erase it from every story, including my own.) The problem is she doesn't seem like a real person to me, and I'm not sure she's even meant to.

[estella_c]

You agree with my "smirk" allergy. I am honored.

[edisto0304]

Oh, this is a fantastic fic. Can't believe I never thought to recommend it before.

"5 things/times/ways" are one of my two favourite types of fanfics (along with 100 word drabbles) and this one is by far my favourite of them all!

I love how understated and, as the OP said, simplistic it seems at first, but then you realize it's really not. And there's the last one, the shortest of all, but also the one that stands out the most and makes for the perfect conclusion.

The first time I read the last one, I gasped out loud, felt like someone had punched me in the stomach and had tears in my eyes, because it reminded me of how different my own life would have been, if this show had never been made, been made in a different way or if somehow I had never started watching it or if anything else along the way had been different and it wouldn't have had the impact it has had on me.

Those three, down to the point, lines evoked a lot of thoughts in me and that's the beauty and shows the true brilliance of threeguesses' writing for me.

[infinitlight]

I don't think I had the same reaction here but I get what you mean about the last one. I had a similar feeling after I Want to Believe, thinking back on the show and my life. Weird feeling.

[edisto0304]

Weird, but good. At least for me. I'm glad to get these occasional reminders.

[wendelah1]

The first time I read the last one, I gasped out loud, felt like someone had punched me in the stomach and had tears in my eyes, because it reminded me of how different my own life would have been, if this show had never been made, been made in a different way or if somehow I had never started watching it or if anything else along the way had been different and it wouldn't have had the impact it has had on me.

Yeah, I had the same reaction the first time. It must only work once, though. It's still a great ending.

[zinnia_rose]

JADFKLAJDLDSKLKJ I love threeguesses' fic for The Good Wife and now that I know she wrote for XF too, I might have to ask her to marry me. :p

I loved all of these, but #3 broke my heart (in the best possible way) and #5...wow. It said so little but so much.

[wendelah1]

I agree. Number five is a stunner.

[estella_c]

I liked this very much. I kind of like "five things" stories because they expose so many life and character-changing possibilities and encapsulate for me the appeal of the ever-expanding landscape of fanfiction. If I don't like one fic event I can go to another. It's the ultimate freedom of the reader to play with action figures in the brain. It must be an excellent training regimen for writers

[wendelah1]

But I wonder--how to say?--if we get how close to meta they are. They are really like improv, practice, hinting at events that can't seem mortally serious because they "never happened." They make us think of the ephemeral quality of fic, but more regretfully of the let's-try-this hodgepodge of the last years of show canon. The X-Files was a cunning experiment in series tv and an enduring influence. I'm thinking if CC had treated it less like a "five things" hobby, it would have been a proud epic for whatever of the tech entertainment age we have left.

I agree, whether it was intentional or not, this fic feels more like a commentary on the canon itself than a real story.

Naturally, I thought the "happy ending pillow talk" seemed pretty unlikely, but not the least unlikely of the five. The one that really didn't work for me this time around was number four. "I always wanted you to marry me" is such a poignant truth, so cut-to-the-chase. It is certainly cut to the chase, but it doesn't sound like something Mulder would say to her

[estella_c]

Every marriage is unique. You could make a case that M and S have been in a form of marriage blanc since at least season 2.

I think what charms me is how *unlike* the Mulder we know it is. I really like different takes on the same characters. As I once said to you, we are stuck with the same two except for occasional forays into Diana or Krycek or CSM country.

There is no way to preview this, so I apologize for screwed-up ital.

[wendelah1]

The new and improved comment system is a disaster. I can preview because I have custom comments in my journal style but I would have to buy a premium account for people here to do it. I'm not giving LJ any more of my money.

I think what charms me is how *unlike* the Mulder we know it is.

Yeah, these really are characterization AUs rather than the usual setting or plot point AUs, which is why they feel more like commentary than fic to me. They're so far off from our show that they obliterate it. It's pretty damn clever of her.