crack_van | Ingénue by Punk (R)

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully
Length: 23307
Author on LJ:

runpunkrun
Author Website: AO3 | Gossamer

Why this must be read:

Way back in the beginning of season two, to deal with Gillian Anderson's pregnancy, her character was written out of the series for an episode. We know about Scully's resulting physical issues, but I've only read a handful of stories that deal effectively with her memory loss and PTSD. This myth-arc, Scully POV story is refreshing, really, especially when I compare it to the "they're soulmates forever and want to get married and have lots of babies" stuff so many fans write (and want to read) now.

In a recent post on Dreamwidth, Punk wrote this about "Ingénue."

In 1999, I decided to try some heavy angst, and thanks to TXF canon, I didn't have to look very hard to find an appropriate source. I wanted this story to be as cold and unrelentingly grim as possible, so I set it during season three's infamous "rift" between Mulder and Scully, threw in some unmarked train cars, a vulnerable teenage girl, and a creepy dude named Millicent. I really struggled with writing this, but I pushed through because I loved the title I picked and wanted to post before someone else used it. This, of course, was back in the days where part of choosing a title was searching Gossamer to see if it'd already been used.

This terrific story is well-written, emotionally affecting and truly memorable.

Read Ingénue.