Story 257: "Samsara" by secondsflat

[wendelah1]

We're continuing with the theme of gapfillers, although "Samsara" may be addressing more of an emotional void left by the writers in season eight than a plot-hole. See what you think. For some reason, I thought I'd already posted this fic. Maybe I meant to and got distracted? I love the way it alternates the point-of-view between Mulder and Scully

Comments

[wendelah1]

Thanks for reading and commenting, too. This place is too quiet but I fear that may be irreversible.

I love how this fits into canon without trying to fix it. Season 8 was hard to watch, Mulder and Scully in this fic are hard to see but glossing over the trauma they've suffered and minimizing the horror of their situation doesn't feel right to me. They're both hurting. I can't look at fic from this period that doesn't address that somehow.

s8 m&s

[anonymous]

Thanks for recommending this fic and (more generally) keeping the reading group alive. Like others, I suspect, I don't have a livejournal account, but I do enjoy coming here to read the backlog of stories and commentary. I think this is easily the best curated list of XF fic on the web, fwiw.

Since I'm here, I'll offer quick thoughts on Samsara's story. To say that I find it difficult to relate to the S8 narrative arcs would be an understatement; for the most part, I just don't want to go there. But I enjoyed the characterization here. Mulder's dream and accompanying panic attack rang true, and dealt with the consequences of his abduction in a believable way. Our intrepid duo's mental health was rarely touched on in the show, so it's nice to see this built into quality fic.

Re: s8 m&s

[wendelah1]

Thank you--for reading, commenting, and letting me know that there are still a few people out there who are following the community.

I think this is easily the best curated list of XF fic on the web, fwiw.Thank you. I think that happened accidentally. It started out as something else entirely--a much more member-driven group devoted to discussion. Over the years, I've gotten less comfortable with indirectly criticizing other people's taste by negatively commenting on the fanfic they've suggested. As a result I post very little that I don't like. Notice I didn't mention the authors and I know they have opinions about this place, too. But you can't discuss fiction, or literature of any kind, without critiquing it

[anonymous]

I love this forum wendelah. Such a wonderful tool for x files fanfic. When I was new to the fandom, this was where I first came. I think with the revival we'll see a whole swathe of new writings (I hope so anyway!) and hopefully a few returnees. I check this page regularly - thank you for updating it!
Thank you also for recommending secondsflat. I especially loved 'all this around us' which is a newer fic she recently posted. I agree I can't ever quite get on board with season 8 fic but this was wonderfully in character and perfectly captured mulder especially. The focus on his mental health was particularly welcome.

[wendelah1]

I'm happy to hear that there are still people checking for updates, even as the LJ membership has dwindled. Thanks for reading and commenting.

I am quite taken with secondsflat's work. I like her new story, too.

[whithersoever]

This is secondsflat, and I just want to thank everyone so, so much for all of the lovely words. The last time I wrote fanfic was pre-IWTB, so it's been awhile. It's wonderful to be accepted (again) so readily into the fandom, especially when I'm humbled daily by the immense amount of talent in it (I've been super into Sab's stuff lately, even though I want to delete everything I've ever written after reading it!).

wendelah, this archive is a treasure and I constantly reference it, even though I may not comment.

I hope this doesn't come off as vain (I'm not, I promise! I'm shocked and incredibly flattered that Samsara was chosen for discussion), but if anyone has any specific questions about anything I've written, I can try to answer. And please don't let my presence stop you from commenting with your honest opinions on Samsara-- positive or negative, I can (probably) take it. :)

[wendelah1]

You're welcome. I'm so happy that you're writing again, and that you're writing for The X-Files.

[rainatlas]

I had read this before, but it was nice to revisit. Gap-fillers are almost always my favorite. I love the tone in this piece.

I'm still here, and I'm eager to check out secondsflat's other work.

[wendelah1]

Good to see you're still here. I hope you enjoy the rest of her work.