Story 259: "The Ghost of You" by Julie Fortune

[wendelah1]

Julie Fortune's "The Ghost of You" is a casefic that is also an X-File, and a very creepy one, too. At only a little over 10,000 words, it's less daunting than some of the other fics sitting in the nomination post. In structure, it reminds me very much of the much earlier fic by Jane Mortimer, "The Sin Eater." Mortimer's fic might even have

Comments

[ledez_dreams]

I'm a bit late to the commenting, but just wanted to add that I really love this story. As someone else commented earlier, it's so rare for someone to write a really good x-file. I love case file type stories, and a lot of them feature nothing of the paranormal, probably because it's difficult to write well, but Julie Fortune nails it. She does this in all her stories (in my opinion) and she's probably one of my favourite writers, maybe even my favourite in the fandom

[wendelah1]

Thanks for commenting. I agree with everything you wrote here, so that's always nice to see. LOL.

The last line carries a double meaning, I think. The safe-sex comment refers to the AIDs epidemic, which was still in full force when the show was airing. Sex using barrier methods is the norm now. But it also refers obliquely to the sex that saved them both from harm, returning them to the safety of the timeline where ironically, they hadn't had sex.

I think she's making a little meta-comment about fanfiction versus canon, don't you? They're sexing like mad in fic, yet every week, they're returned to the series timeline where they're celibate.

[ledez_dreams]

Haha thanks, it's nice to debate but also nice to agree

[wendelah1]

She's got a great imagination, which is why she can spin out these X-File scenarios so beautifully (and why she's published so many fantasy novels). "Fata Morgana" is my favorite of her XF fics. It's devastating emotionally, and has that erotic scene where she touches Mulder's hand.

[ext_3277448]

"I think she's making a little meta-comment about fanfiction versus canon, don't you? They're sexing like mad in fic, yet every week, they're returned to the series timeline where they're celibate."

That's very astute, and is something that I've always known but wasn't able to articulate. It is frustrating how, episode after episode, there's so much sexual tension. How much of it was real chemistry and storyline, and how much was imagined by fans, I wonder?

And, Estella, you wrote about the previews being a hook. That's one of my biggest annoyances with television. I remember watching House and was almost as excited for the "Next Week, on House" preview as I was the actual episode. The powers that be would always twist clips from the next episode, often completely out of context. And even though I knew better, I fell for it every time. It kept me in anticipation for the next week's episode.