201 Days of The X-Files

Broken links are an ongoing issue in any old fandom. The links for the fanfic recs for “Requiem” are fixed for the time being. My computer time is limited now due to severe osteoarthritis in my hands. If you find a broken link, message me and I’ll do my best to find a working one. If you’ve found a working link yourself, even better. You can include it in your message and save my hands the work.

Cheers, 

Wendelah

As you might imagine, there was a lot of fic written in response to "Requiem." These are a few of my favorites, in alphabetical order by title.

Alunakanula (4174 words) by dashakay Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The X-Files Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully Summary:

The moon has vanished.

Blue Patches by Maybe Amanda Rated: PG | 12K | Category VR | Archived 01-01-20 Spoilers: Requiem Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance. Post-episode. Summary: Mulder, after.

The Crouching Thing by Sarah Ellen Parsons Spoilers: Very mild spoilers for: Everything including Requiem Rating: PG-13 Keywords: Scully, Scully-angst, Skinner Summary: Sometimes we see things we don't want to see.

Cunegund's Restoration by Livia Balaban Summary: "Herein: Romance, baby, recovered family, vindicated conspiracy theorists, turncoats gone good, re-grown limbs, loads of international publicity, and no more icky aliens. I can do it. Just breathe, Livia. Just breathe."

Life As We Live It by Jaime Lyn Category: MSR, Post-Requiem, fluff/angst of sorts Rated: Mature Summary: "This is my "during-Requiem" fic, not "post-Requiem" fic. Takes place immediately following the "bedroom scene." So it's not post-episode. It's more....during episode? missing scene? I don't know. It makes more sense after you read it."

Parabiosis by Penumbra S/MSR/Rated R/315K Timeline: Sixth Extinction through Requiem Summary: Science and Mysticism conjoin Tagline: Exceptions Prove The Rule

Strangers and the Strange Dead (7982 words) by Kipler Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: The X-Files Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully Characters: Mulder Scully Summary:

In which dead bodies and shivering people disturb the hilltown of Bradenton, and our young, orphaned narrator serves hot beverages to the investigating agents even as she ponders the peculiar, elusive nature of their relationship.

Tactile Memory by Livia Balaban Rating: NC-17 Warnings: none Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully Summary: Details are fading; she wants to remember. Requiem post-ep.

Tidings by Ambress Relationship: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully Rating: the author says R, I'd give it a PG at most. Spoilers: Requiem Summary: lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub

Would That I Could Travel Both (2206 words) by Maidenjedi Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The X-Files Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Cigarette Smoking Man Summary:

It's been six months or more since I last updated this blog. The original purpose for it—rewatching The X-Files before the miniseries aired—has come and gone. Why did I quit? The truth is I got derailed by the miniseries itself. I'd fully intended to come back to this but I just couldn't do it. I was too depressed. I'd prepared myself for the revival to be bad, just not that bad. But I don't like leaving projects unfinished. At the very least, I wanted to complete season seven. After that, I make no promises. I'll have to see how it goes. There are fans who swear season eight is better than seven, which was the worst, so far.

This time through I watched the final episode of season seven in light of everything that 1013 has foisted on the fans since it aired. "Requiem" was written to end the season, and possibly the series itself. If the series had transitioned into a movie franchise as all of the principle players had hoped it would, presumably the first feature would have been about rescuing Mulder. If the series didn't get renewed, I guess Carter wanted to tie up as many loose ends as possible.

Even with those goals in mind, the plot makes little or no sense. The FBI audit scene feels more like Chris Carter talking back to the Fox Studio Executives about his budget than an actual plot point. Next, without official sanction, Mulder and Scully head to Bellefleur, Oregon to investigate multiple abductions. That's a nice touch, since that's where they investigated their first case in the pilot episode. But then, for no good reason, they turn around and head back to Washington D.C., having solved nothing. At the urging of Alex Krycek, who is league again with Cigarette Smoking Man, Mulder and Skinner return to Oregon to look for a downed spacecraft in the woods. Do they bring any backup along on this risky wild goose chase? They do not. (Backup? We don't need no stinking backup!) He leaves Scully behind because she's an abductee. They're taking abductees and he "doesn't want to risk losing" her. Fair enough. Except--right out from underneath Skinner's nose, Mulder himself gets abducted! The final blow is finding out that Scully is pregnant. Good grief! How is that even possible? As usual, Carter didn't resolve anything—he just ended with the worst cliffhanger ever—at least until we get to "My Struggle II."

Despite its many shortcomings, "Requiem" is the best, most memorable episode of season seven by a long shot, and certainly the most moving. Reluctantly I have come around to the position that it might have been the best ending for the series. It's far more emotionally resonant than "The Truth," which was a pointless, static clip show. It's light-years ahead of "My Struggle II" in every respect: the writing is serviceable, the acting is stellar, the cinematography, breathtaking.

Mulder getting the proof he wanted of alien abduction by being abducted himself carries a certain poetic justice. Watching him step into the circle of light shining down from the heavens is surely one of the most beautiful images ever filmed for The X-Files. But it is also one of the saddest because this is the moment where the series that I loved ended forever. Dana Scully is my favorite character of all time but it was their partnership that made the series so compelling to watch. As a drama, The X-Files without Fox Mulder simply doesn't work. It can't work, at least not for me.

Day27 30Day Challenge by MissMonk