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crack_van2011-02-21 09:09 pm
bachlava.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2011-02-21 09:09 pm
Entry tags:
The Early Years-Baltimore by Lywendre and Unruhe (R)
Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: John Fitzgerald Byers/Suzanne Modeski
Length: 61k
Author on LJ: There's a never-used account for the name![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lywendre. Beyond that, I'm not aware of any.
Author Website: Gossamer page
Why this must be read: "Unusual Suspects," the early-S5 episode that provided the Lone Gunmen's origin story, is a terrific self-contained episode, albeit one that ties in to the mythology as well. Those characters were first introduced in S1 as single-appearance comic relief, but they quickly took on a (collective) life of their own. Over the years, they provided an essential mix of comedy, drama, tragedy, and plain old friendship along with all the practical assistance they gave Our Heroes; The X-Files would have been diminished without them. That was especially noteworthy because only one of the actors, only Bruce Harwood (Byers), actually was a professional actor - Tom Braidwood (Frohike) was atech guy (edit:) director and producer, and Dean Haglund (Langley) was a stand-up comedian. Given that, it's not surprising that Byers tended to carry the most dramatic weight in canon, and that the Gunmen's formation owed to a crisis in his life - although, reality being what it is, the fact that he was conventionally the prettiest of the group couldn't have hurt.
"The Early Years" starts where "Unusual Suspects" left off, with our three coming together as a group with a mission. The premise of the fic - narrated from Frohike's POV with a perfect mixture of his geeky wit, avuncular depths, and affable lechery - is that a few months after being disappeared, Suzanne turns up on the Gunman's doorstep with wrongs to avenge, a price on her head, and a firm place in Byers' heart. The fic is compliant with The X-Files' "real-time" canon through S5, but the story is not unremittingly grim. Further props for brilliant characterization and an appropriately spare, economically realized plot.
It was kind of comical, really. He was so new to the whole idea of not accepting absolutely everything the almighty US government said, that he had absolutely no idea how to go against his 26 years of conforming to Big Brother's rules. But now that Susanne had opened up that first tiny hole in the dike holding back the flood, all the little Dutch boys in the world wouldn't be able to prevent the chaos coming to wash away the safe, comfortable life he'd always known.
Thank God he was smart enough to know his own limitations and start small, or he'd have probably never survived the process. Or that final, bloody blow that severed him completely from his sheltered life. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
You can read the whole thing at the Gossamer archive.
Pairing: John Fitzgerald Byers/Suzanne Modeski
Length: 61k
Author on LJ: There's a never-used account for the name
lywendre. Beyond that, I'm not aware of any.Author Website: Gossamer page
Why this must be read: "Unusual Suspects," the early-S5 episode that provided the Lone Gunmen's origin story, is a terrific self-contained episode, albeit one that ties in to the mythology as well. Those characters were first introduced in S1 as single-appearance comic relief, but they quickly took on a (collective) life of their own. Over the years, they provided an essential mix of comedy, drama, tragedy, and plain old friendship along with all the practical assistance they gave Our Heroes; The X-Files would have been diminished without them. That was especially noteworthy because only one of the actors, only Bruce Harwood (Byers), actually was a professional actor - Tom Braidwood (Frohike) was a
"The Early Years" starts where "Unusual Suspects" left off, with our three coming together as a group with a mission. The premise of the fic - narrated from Frohike's POV with a perfect mixture of his geeky wit, avuncular depths, and affable lechery - is that a few months after being disappeared, Suzanne turns up on the Gunman's doorstep with wrongs to avenge, a price on her head, and a firm place in Byers' heart. The fic is compliant with The X-Files' "real-time" canon through S5, but the story is not unremittingly grim. Further props for brilliant characterization and an appropriately spare, economically realized plot.
It was kind of comical, really. He was so new to the whole idea of not accepting absolutely everything the almighty US government said, that he had absolutely no idea how to go against his 26 years of conforming to Big Brother's rules. But now that Susanne had opened up that first tiny hole in the dike holding back the flood, all the little Dutch boys in the world wouldn't be able to prevent the chaos coming to wash away the safe, comfortable life he'd always known.
Thank God he was smart enough to know his own limitations and start small, or he'd have probably never survived the process. Or that final, bloody blow that severed him completely from his sheltered life. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
You can read the whole thing at the Gossamer archive.
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