Story 263: "Parabiosis" by Penumbra

Feb 28, 2016 21:43

The official global rewatch of The X-Files is long over, as is the six episode miniseries that followed (and inspired it), yet here I am, still slogging through season seven. I must have blocked out how bad the seventh season is. Since "Parabiosis" is the quintessential season seven fanfic, I thought it would be fun to revisit it. It's not my ( Read more... )

season 7, msr

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Comments 26

anonymous March 19 2016, 20:19:28 UTC
Oh, here it is! I read this years ago and then lost it. So pleased to have found this story again, it's fantastic.

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josiejames March 22 2016, 11:14:20 UTC
Delurking. OK, so I absolutely love this one. Penumbra is a favourite author of mine; her prose is just so gorgeous. I can certainly see what others have said about her being a bit *too* in love with the idea of Mulder and Scully, but I am willing to forgive her that because of the beautiful moments that she creates. I first read "Parabiosis" a few years ago and fell absolutely in love with it. Last year I tried to find it again but could only remember the line about Scully's morning sickness. Google wasn't very helpful, so I was thrilled to find this one here. Season 7 was so weird emotionally, and I think that's part of why I love "Parabiosis": it fleshes the arc out, gives us those moments that we all knew had to be happening between Mulder and Scully...

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alleynyc March 24 2016, 17:45:53 UTC
I'm new to XF generally - started watching the series in Oct 2015 but started fic around S4 viewing. So I first read this in probably Dec 2015 b/c it is a friend's all time fic. - high recommendation. There's so much I like about it - the characterization is a biggie - but the poetic language left me actually lost (the opening going back in time took me probably 10 pages to figure out). I think for people who are more linear like me, she's tough to read. That said, the descriptions are often super evocative and I do love that.

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anonymous March 25 2016, 15:49:22 UTC
Another lurker here. :) I hadn't checked the group for a while and when I saw (belatedly) that you were reading Parabiosis, my heart skipped a beat. Needless to say, I LOVE this story ( ... )

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wendelah1 March 26 2016, 03:31:00 UTC
I think that quite a lot of how one feels about a story has to do with the frame of mind you're in when you read it. Your life circumstances, your mood, even your surroundings. I remember reading it for the first time and just smiling stupidly for much of the story because it was just so perfect. I read some of it in public and I'm sure that a lot of people thought I was a little crazy.

But crazy in a good way... The time I enjoyed "Parabiosis" most was when I rewatched relevant episodes of season seven while I was reading it. "Requiem" in particular worked better for me.

I think Penumbra has a lot of tenderness for the characters, and it shows. It's such a slow simmer----long stretches where not a lot happens. This feels like a story that was written with a lot of love. (Like "Fathoms Five," also a gorgeous and tender story.)She does love the characters, and that more than anything else is what readers respond to in "Parabiosis." It's almost as though the language and emotion are cradling them ( ... )

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write_out March 26 2016, 23:14:27 UTC
Thanks for the gentle reminder that I said I would come back and comment, wendelah1. For some reason, I had a hard time plowing through this one this time, so it took me a lot longer to read the whole story.

As I mentioned up above, "Contact High" is my favorite Peunumbra story. It's also about 1/3 the length, which I think helps make that story a bit easier to read. That all said, I still enjoyed this one.

Fox Mulder had quixotic theories, dark eyes, and he
was six feet of long warm bones in the bed. She had been making a fool of herself over him for years, staying in a ridiculous job because Mulder was tall and mumbly and had once tried to make her drink sardine juice.I love that. I see others commenting on her lyrical prose and falling on either side of that fence. I like it more in "Contact High" (maybe because it's a shorter, less complicated story?), but it felt very familiar here ( ... )

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