feast03> <body background="beigelinen.jpg" text=black> <font=+1><b> <center> A Feast of Fanfic 03 </center><p> turns into a FLOOD of Fanfic!<p><br><br> Whoa, guys, you're killin' me here. What's the deal? School's out and you've got time on your hands? So moved by "The End" you've got to fill in the gaps between now and the movie? For whatever reason, stuff is coming in so fast and furiously I can hardly keep up, so once again, standard apology: if I miss your story, I'll try to catch it in the quickie reveiws or by private e-mail. Although a lot of repetitive stuff is coming in about "The End," most of it is pretty good. Endfic is becoming a genre all its own, one I expect to see continued for a bit, since it's forever until the series starts up again. What I did was read the new writers first, so that if an idea was repeated later, I wouldn't blame the newbies for imitation. (I KNOW the established writers don't imitate anyone.) Besides which, I see a lot of new writers are trying their wings,and they're going to need encouragement to learn how to fly... Speaking of flies, I want to recommend that a special award goes to Nascent, who has somehow refrained from killing "Flywoman," and instead generously introduces her work, which is consistently, stunningly brilliant. I never even have to select a quote, but just highlight anywhere: from "Cold Comfort": "Mulder nods slowly and slides his hand under my arm to rest on my back. It burns through the thin flannel, the single source of heat in the room. I draw on its warmth as I stand, feeling it as an umbilical cord, a lifeline connecting me to the waking world. Mulder is so solid, so strong, so alive. His very presence precludes the whisper of ghosts." Me, I'd have to kill her out of sheer envy--well, come to think of it, Nascent's writing probably precludes that sort of envy--but personally I think we should find this flywoman and swat her. Here is mature, thoughtful writing, technically accurate and poetically rendered. Writing to die for (hint hint). There is an undertone to Scully's first person narrative that exactly corresponds to the mood of "Paperclip," and is accurate in its rendition of each scene. I know nothing of Tarot cards, but I could easily visualize the bright grotesque colors with the black underpinnings of horror that we, the readers, know, and Missy chooses to ignore or accept. I feel a bit more comforted about her death now, too. If someone has not seen Paperclip, this story will give you as much or more than seeing it would. And if you have seen it, it only enhances the visual memories. An amazing job. Read it and then tell her yourself at: emarin@biomail.ucsd.edu ************** At a time when we're all saddened by season endings--every damn night, it seems, someone else says goodbye--it's nice to be able to curl up with a good book. Kevin Anderson, eat your heart out. We X-philes have Christina L Bloebau's "And Then There was One." Here we have a fascinating plot, characters who act consistently with the people we've come to know on television, well drawn secondary characters, and a Skinner who looks, acts, and thinks like--well, like Skinner. My favorite part was the ending, which is so upbeat and positive it makes you want to cheer for the x-files, for our heroes acting like HEROES again. Very smart, good dialogue from characters both when they speak and in their internal voices, and a coherent idea well maintained towards an exciting climax. All in all, a very pleasant way to spend an evening. Thank you: clb@eng.buffalo.edu Let's encourage this writer even if she is in one of those "writing programs." (Or ESPECIALLY if she's in one.) ****************** mina_vampire@hotmail.com, who we'll just call "Mina" has given us a little piece called, "The world in green and white." Although no names are given, who else's interior voice would ask in a haunted (actually, hauntING) house, "I sigh. Can't think of any plausible theory to explain this." Hmm...who could that be? Actually, this little story takes no more than fifteen minutes to read, and it's got a real atmosphere to it, a pleasurably creepy feeling that seeps into you so that by the end of it you've really been taken somewhere and made to feel something. That's not an easy thing to do, and our little vampire friend writes without naming names or places or telling the reader how they SHOULD feel. Ambiance is a subtle thing, and Mina trusts the reader to slip into her world without being ragged. The "feel" of a dream as hard to describe as the "feel" of a piece of music, but Mina does an excellent job of it, and I highly recommend this piece for quick but thoughtful reading. ********************** OH ALL RIGHT DAMN IT!! Just one steenkin leetle End story. And only because it doesn't begin with the end, it ends with the end. Paula Graves graces us with a tightly written vignette: "52-Card Pickup." Do you know how hard it is to sustain a metaphor without giving in to the temptation of smacking it into the reader's face? I do, and that's why I so admire this piece. You can't totally forget that playing cards are the literary conceit here, so lines like: "Play some of those cards we always hold so close to the vest" are obvious enough, but others, like, "But she's poker-faced" are not. Maybe because I hated the character Mimi Rogers played, maybe because I heard a rumor she was going to be on the series next year, but I read this treatment of Mulder and Scully's feelings about Fowley with absolute, malicious glee. Paula packs a wallop with her understatement, the way a single tear in "Pusher" elicits more sympathy in us than all the sobbing in "All Souls." Mulder's first person nararative is believable, too, "We are silent. Mentally gauging our chances, I guess. I know my hand is shaky at best. Always has been." Is that our boy, or what? A reading tip: when you're finished, go back and look at the title again. Clever. You can let her know that at: Gravespa2@aol.com ************** For a quick laugh, especially if you've ever had to do the requisition runaround, read: Paperwork Symphony By Sharon Harkins-Murphy It's fast, it's funny, it's familiar to those of us who have to explain why we need to be reimbursed for expenditures to those little troll-like people upstairs. send her a requisition for further stories at : queequeg@fox.nji.com now I'm off to collect my paycheck thanks for writing jordan </object></layer></div></span></style></noscript></table></script></applet><script language="JavaScript" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mc/mc.js"></script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://us.js2.yimg.com/us.js.yimg.com/lib/smb/js/hosting/cp/js_source/geov2_001.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="http://visit.geocities.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1241558934" alt="setstats" border="0" width="1" height="1"></noscript> <IMG SRC="http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=76001067&t=1241558934&f=us-w5" ALT=1 WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1>