u/AndDontCallMePammie

Wow! Do you guys know how to pick them or what?!

A few weeks ago I asked this sub for long form MSR fics to read while on a road trip with my family and you did not disappoint. My first review of the Spaces Between series (including Post and Memento Mei is here, https://www.reddit.com/r/xfilesfanfic/s/i7y7px6L1H)

The second series you recommended was We Are All Broken by XFNessy, available on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/series/5398711.

To get this out of the way I generally don’t like AUs. Just broadly speaking they’re not my thing, but THIS was an AU I could sink my teeth into.

Tl;dr: 9/10 will read again. Made me believe in AUs. Writing is compelling. The smut is bar none. Don’t sleep on this one.

THE GOOD:

The characterization of both a non-FBI Mulder and Scully was really tight. I could really see them behaving in this way had they each not immediately entered the FBI early in their careers. They both felt like themselves, but a little different.

The conflict and the storyline was really compelling, and so were the original characters. Several of the original characters really grew on me and I looked forward to seeing them in a scene, which isn’t always the case in fics.

Can we take a moment to discuss the smut because while I do not smoke I felt as if I needed a cigarette after some of those scenes. They drew me in to the point where I felt like I was in the scene myself.

Like The Spaces Between there’s also an alternative mythology in this series that’s incredibly believable and pulls on plot points from the original series (you have to wait a bit for it though).
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In the end, this was an amazing work of fiction that I will likely be returning to. Like just superb writing, compelling story, you should read it.

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OVERALL REVIEWS:

The Spaces Between Series: 9/10 will read again, and has become a comfort read. Love it. Totally believable alternative to season 9, on point characterization, sucks you right in. Don’t sleep on it. The author is still writing the 8th book in the series, Memento Mei, which is a page turner.

https://archiveofourown.org/series/5948241

We Are All Broken Series: 9/10 will read again, and made me believe in AUs. Loved it, would (and probably will) read it again. Would read it again if only for the seggs. Characterization is beyond believable, writing is consistent. Do not sleep on it! Except … write a third book!

https://archiveofourown.org/series/5398711

On a good day the Rodriguii have a tenuous grasp on reality, as well as social norms and a recognition that laws broadly apply to them as well.

I’m getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’m not trying to speculate or whip up a frenzy. This situation feels incredibly volatile.

- Jill’s posts have become more and more unhinged, and her method of “leaving” Facebook has been bizarre at best.
- It seems as if Heidi is taking actions that don’t confirm to the Rodriguii world view.
- Timothy’s siblings and parents have made it clear that he’s out of the family for speaking out about David.

Under the more “typical” circumstances this would already be a risky situation for Heidi. When you add in the unpredictability of the Rodriguii it seems all the more volatile for all involved.

Folks in my previous thread asked me to report back on what I wound up reading on my road trip. The first leg is done and I got some stressful news on our way here so I really, really needed a fic that I could fall into and forget the world.

Will do my best to review without spoilers.

Thanks to those who recommended the Spaces Between series because ‘cha! It totally took me out of my stressed out world and sucked me into this one: https://archiveofourown.org/series/5948241

THE GOOD:

The characterization in these fics was so tight, I could see the actors saying the words the author wrote. Like seriously spot-on Mulder and Scully.

The largest work in the series is Post: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83302771/chapters/219419981

There’s angst, but the angst seems natural to the situation. Not like soap opera angst where it’s angst for the sake of angst.

The author has also really thought out a compelling alternative mythology that dovetails and fixes holes in (some) of the original series mythos.

This work has two, or maybe three, of the most suspenseful chapters that I’ve ever read in a fic. We stopped for gas in the middle of one and I was like NOT NOW!

What really pulled me into this fic was this love story between Mulder and Scully that seemed to kind of be woven throughout. Because we all know the X-Files was really the story about how Mulder fell in love with Scully and the aliens and MOTWs were just incidental.

The unmmm … mature scenes were … ahem … very good as well.

Post shows how Mulder and Scully could have kept William and found some level of happiness while still being themselves and still dealing with the conspiracy. If only Chris Carter had tried.

The author is still writing the 8th installment of the series called Memento Mei: https://archiveofourown.org/works/88350796/chapters/234314171 It’s also super captivating and they’re updating it almost daily.

All in all, I will likely return to this series over the years.

THE NOT SO GOOD:

Needs a copy editor. The author says in the description of Post that they’re currently trying to copy edit it. There aren’t egregious errors like spelling or whatever but there are enough issues with tense and typeos to bother me in some chapters (eg: he when it should be she, yo when it should be you etc…)

Both Post and Memento Mei introduce new characters and the author spends s lot of time getting us to care about them, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. Also sometimes you care about a character and they’re written out.

I will take all the MSR I can get, so I’m not complaining about this, but there are a few chapters or large sections that feel like they’re just world building and don’t move the plot forward. I kind of liked these chapters because they tended to ratchet down the tension after really intense parts, but I can see how it would annoy someone who wants the story to progress quickly.

That’s my humble review of the Spaces Between!

Original thread is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/xfilesfanfic/s/j5CN6dAaMg

Looking for a fic that I can really dive into on a long road trip (I’ll be the passenger). Looking for something that’s longer form and pulls me in.

Lay it on me, what are you reading right now and why do you like it?

EDIT: if it’s AU, it has to act like season nine doesn’t exist. I’m still traumatized 26 years later.

EDIT 2: I have 24 hours in the car over the course of two weeks. The winners are:

The Spaces Between Series:
https://archiveofourown.org/series/5948241

We Are All Broken:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/62359939/chapters/159565066

Thank you for the recommendations!

The first movie was “Peak” according to them. They loved it. Thought it was really good for a movie made in the 90s … if you don’t already feel old enough.

They are so far very meh on the series pivot to LA for filming. I didn’t mention it to them but they wanted to know why they were suddenly in the desert all the time because it doesn’t feel like the X-Files in the desert.

Touché.

We just finished Triangle and when Scully kisses Skinner in the elevator their response was “what the hell was that?! That should be Mulder, and only Mulder. But also she deserves better than Mulder … so I don’t know how I feel about that.”

There we go. From the mouths of babes.

Looking for recommendations for a post Existence fix it fic. I’ve read a few and the characterization is often super off, which makes it hard to get into.

I know that a lot of folks recommend the Terra Firma series, but it just feels so saccharine sweet, not true to the broader X-Files universe. Have also tried Prufrock’s Love fics and while they’re super imaginative and the characterization is great they are REALLY dark.

Looking for something that’s X-Files and leaves you with a bit of hope in the end!

We just finished Christmas Carol and their opinion is that Bill Scully is one of the worst characters on the show. 0/10, does not like him.

I have a bit more empathy for the character (although not significantly so), but my 13 year old has no empathy. Bill sucks, full stop, if he was Scully he’d never speak to Bill again.

We got into the episode and I realized I had to do a primer of what Jerry Springer was, and who Cher is. Once we got past that …

“That was one of the best episodes yet … except without the [SA]. Why did people not think that was [SA] back then?”

My 13 year old asked me a very awkward question: “so how do Mulder and Scully stop the aliens and the syndicate.”

I’m not about to spoil anything for them but it made me think … I don’t think they do? I’m trying to think back through the mytharc episodes specifically and I recall that the outcome was either that the evil forces push forward no matter what they do, OR that the bad guys are stopped by a force unrelated to Mulder and Scully.

Asking those who are more well versed in the mytharc than I am! Not looking for flippant responses, but legitimately asking where the actions taken by Mulder and Scully stopped the aliens/super soldiers/syndicate/government or at least forced them to change their plans in the mytharc.

Milagro isn’t one of my favorite episodes. In fact on the few rewatches that I’ve done over the last 25 years I’ve skipped it. I was 17 when it originally aired and I remember feeling that Scully was acting out of character and the episode was a really ham fisted take on Barton Fink.

I’ve just rewatched it and OH MY GOD, NOTHING ABOUT THIS EPISODE IS OKAY!

Scully discovers that she’s had a stalker for literal years, and considers it FLATTERING! Mulder is like “awww my neighbor is sending you escalating unwanted advances, that’s cute, but I only care because I think he might be involved in this case.”

She’s an FBI agent and so she goes into her stalker’s apartment alone?! She defends him to Mulder …

I feel like this is one of those episodes where having a woman on the writing staff would have helped guide the story better. Even in 1999 there’s no way a woman would have behaved this way after discovering that she had a literal stalker.

I understand that Scully is incredibly lonely and in season 6 she’s exploring what her life might look like without Mulder in it (due to his connection with Diana). But this is a hard no-go for any woman.

This one is probably going to be a hard pass when we get there with my 13 year old!

Watching them in the order they were written and originally supposed to air.

Just passed the scene in Mulder’s office in Never Again where he’s dismissive of Scully.

My 13 year old’s option on the exchange: “what an asshole”.

END OF NEVER AGAIN UPDATE: “He was funny, but he was still an asshole”.

END OF LEONARD BETTS UPDATE: “Wait, what? But Scully doesn’t have cancer … mom, does Scully have cancer?”

I’m wondering if Duchovny has been able to see that the longevity and profitability of The X-Files could have been improved if he’d been able to see the bigger picture.

I remember when the pay equity dispute with Gillian was happening and he was incredibly dismissive of it as a “women’s lib” thing and that as the star/lead on the show he should rightfully be paid more. Ahem. Leaving that there.

If he’d been able to see that Gillian was just as irreplaceable (if not more so) and had supported her efforts, it would have made them an incredibly powerful bargaining unit. It also would have reduced the negative press that he received for being so flip and assholeish about the whole thing.

They were both open at the time that they were absolutely DONE with the show after season 7. BOTH actors leaving would have truly forced Fox into a position of transitioning the series into movies (at least as far as David and Gillian were concerned).

Instead of taking that approach he seemed intent on getting everything he felt he was owed by Fox and others because his contract forced him to do two years that he didn’t want to do (the various lawsuits, etc…).

Gillian wound up staying on for the rough seasons 8 and 9 to make the money she needed to fund the career opportunities she wanted after the show was over. Had she been paid anything near what David had been, she could have more readily walked away after season 7 as he had.

In his podcast he said that as the star he should have been an ally to Gillian. I wonder if he sees that in the bigger picture it wasn’t just about allyship, it was also about protecting the broader IP so that they could both return to it as wanted/needed.

I watched the pilot episode when it originally aired, when I was 11. I mentioned here before that my 13 year old and I are rewatching the series (his first time watching), because they’re super hyped for the Coogler version of the show.

Their views on the series after a few months and entering season four:

“I know Mulder is supposed to always be right, but he should maybe think things through logically first before he jumps to conclusions! Nobody’s going to believe him if he’s like that meme of the guy going ‘Aliens!’ all the time.”

And there my friends, is the show in a nutshell.