Comments | xf_book_club: Story 262: "Visitor" by leiascully

wendelah1 in xf_book_club

Story 262: "Visitor" by leiascully

Jan 10, 2016 21:23

With the miniseries a mere two weeks away, I thought it might be the right time to discuss "Visitor," leiascully's new revival speculation fic. The premise is the one Chris Carter so blithely bestowed on the fandom: Mulder and Scully are no longer a couple. How could that have happened? "Visitor" is her attempt to understand and portray this new reality. The ( Read more... )

season 10, msr

Comments 28

Thanks for the group alleynyc January 14 2016, 19:17:32 UTC

I am one of those new shippers you mentioned. The X-Files was out back when I was in college and working nights so I saw probably S1 but nothing else. I gave it a try on Netflix this past fall due to several friends who loved it and got very hooked around S4 especially in the Mulder/Scully relationship.

I'm mid S8 - trying to get through the series before the new eps - and am really annoyed by Carter's perpetual vagueness on will they/won't they. It feels particularly jerk-aroundy. And needless. So I turn to fic and am grateful when a story like this turns up - something that feels very honest and true to who these characters are and how their situations would/could develop. I really loved this story, especially for my heart's sake: I can take some angst but a happier ending will save me. This writer did a great job keeping things honest while exploring his past in a very honest and real way.

In any event, I'm grateful to have round this group as a source of things to read now that I'm checking out fic. Thanks for that.

Re: Thanks for the group wendelah1 January 14 2016, 19:50:11 UTC

Welcome to xf_book_club. If you like, I will add you to the list of members so that you can comment unscreened. If you click on "track" at the top of the post, all of the comments will be sent to your inbox or email, however you have set up your account. That will allow you to follow the discussion.

I'm mid S8 - trying to get through the series before the new eps - and am really annoyed by Carter's perpetual vagueness on will they/won't they. It feels particularly jerk-aroundy. And needless.Good luck on completing the series. 201 episodes is a lot of television to get through in such a short time. I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated. Surely your friends warned you about the series ( ... )

Re: Thanks for the group alleynyc January 14 2016, 20:03:43 UTC

Yes please add me. Thanks!

Interesting explanation of platonic - thanks for that. I think perhaps the actors are less clear on this as their motive LOL - at least from DD's side, he seems very into Scully at times, more than a friend.

I will def check out the MSR tag - thank you! All the best.

Re: Thanks for the group wendelah1 January 14 2016, 20:57:02 UTC

Unquestionably, Duchovny was a Mulder/Scully shipper. Those beginning and ending scenes from the episode he wrote, "The Unnatural," can't be seen any other way. I'm not so sure about Anderson. I've listened to the DVD commentary and the scenes from "All Things" that suggested a romantic liaison between Mulder and Scully were added at the request of the writers' room. They weren't in her original script. But by season eight at the latest, regardless of whether or not they'd become a couple, it's clear to me that Anderson is playing Scully as being deeply in love with Mulder ( ... )

Thread 6

Loved every chapter... anonymous January 19 2016, 06:32:05 UTC

... And read it twice in a row. The first chapters left a really heavy weight on my chest, but I loved it all the way through ( ... )

Loved it! anonymous January 19 2016, 06:33:51 UTC

... And read it twice in a row. The first chapters left a really heavy weight on my chest, but I loved it all the way through ( ... )

Re: Loved it! wendelah1 January 19 2016, 06:54:16 UTC

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the story. It's rare to find a writer whose vision matches one's own so closely. What a joy for you. She's written other stories about Mulder and Scully. You might check them out as well.

I have a tough time seeing Mulder and Scully as a happily ever after kind of couple, too. This fic was dark but also hopeful, a good balance.

Re: Loved it! alleynyc January 19 2016, 19:42:25 UTC

It's funny - I really want them together but much fic is unrealistic in how they are together. This story feels incredibly realistic way. Also as one who is about their age (in RL) in this fic, I think it's very realistic to how a long term relationship can implode and evolve. She did a great job.

Beautiful! thevarietyshow January 24 2016, 01:09:49 UTC

This was a beautiful piece, and I really felt their co-dependence through the writing. For me, it brought up the question of whether or not people ever change. There was some television show I was watching recently that made a point of saying that "people change only 15%", and I think that's true. I don't think Mulder can overcome the obsession and the co-dependence that so defines his persona. He can take Scully to the Bahamas on a vacation to stave off her departure, sure, but he will never leave the monsters behind permanently. I don't think that Scully can ever stop being in a place of wanting to leave, but not being able to because of loyalty, love, dedication, curiosity, etc. I think we like to see them in that place, and if we fix their issues, where does that leave them? Or us at the reader/watcher? Just food for thought.

Re: Beautiful! infinitlight January 24 2016, 11:27:43 UTC

This is a really good point. Mulder can change parts of his life (and in this fic he changes some unhealthy behavior for the better), but he's always going to come back to being, well, Mulder. And there are differences between M/S as people that are always going cause difficulties - they are very different people in a lot of ways.

Re: Beautiful! wendelah1 January 26 2016, 15:38:02 UTC

I don't think Mulder can overcome the obsession and the co-dependence that so defines his persona. He can take Scully to the Bahamas on a vacation to stave off her departure, sure, but he will never leave the monsters behind permanently. I don't think that Scully can ever stop being in a place of wanting to leave, but not being able to because of loyalty, love, dedication, curiosity, etc. I think we like to see them in that place, and if we fix their issues, where does that leave them? Or us at the reader/watcher? Just food for thought.You may be right. Changing one's core personality may not be possible, or even desirable. That wasn't what the story was about, to me. For Mulder, the issues he was addressing in therapy were twofold and were what had led to their separation. He had to deal with the unresolved pts related to his abduction, torture, death, and resurrection, I guess, for lack of a better word. And he had to begin to grieve the loss of their son, and address his guilt about it and his anger toward himself and Scully, too ( ... )

voiddelia January 26 2016, 06:51:51 UTC

I read this one when it was a WIP. I remember crying and being frustrated reading it. It was a very emotional ride. As some of you mentioned above, it felt very realistic. Something I can picture in my mind. I can't remember specific things that made me feel this way. I should read it again.

Welcome to XF Book Club wendelah1 January 26 2016, 13:22:33 UTC

I read it the first time around as a WIP, too, which I rarely do, having been burned a few times when stories didn't get a conclusion. It's a tribute to how good leiascully is, and how much I trust her as a writer, that I did read it as she posted each chapter.

It's a story that rewards rereading. Or wait until she finishes the companion piece, "Resident," and read them together.

"Visitor" is a much better story about Mulder and Scully returning to the FBI than the one Chris Carter came up with, albeit less telegenic. I prefer her quiet, introspective Mulder, a guy who knows he has issues, but is working on himself and getting better, to the guy Carter put up on screen and handed a gun and a badge. Sorry. this isn't supposed to be a review of "My Struggle."