We're always interested to see what stories other authors recommend. On the outlook for some undiscovered gems or overlooked classic, we cruise the rec pages. Let's assume that's why you're here. That or morbid curiosity.

New recommendations will be on this page,under...New.

Past recommendations will be arranged alphabetically, see the links on the bottom of the page.

We've also added a page just for post-Requiem fics, ours and others.

For various reasons, some stories aren't directly linked or archived. They can be found at Gossamer, which doesn't allow linking to separate stories, so look under the title or author.

I've been reading XF fic since sometime in 1996. I don't know that I can pinpoint one story that got me really excited about the form, but rather, there were a few. Anne Haynes' '12 Degrees' series, Saraid's 'Walls' (the story that is THE reason that I avoid WIP's now), Debbie Goldstein's 'Death Will Be Our Darling', Parrotfish's 'Caught In The Act', Gerry Hill's 'Kicking The Habit'.

Those stories made me think much more closely about Mulder (which really wasn't too much of a hardship :) ), made me appreciate very different kinds of well-done Muldertorture, and convinced me that if treated properly, a Mulder/Scully romance was not only feasible, but inevitable, which was actually something I remember saying to my husband after watching the Pilot when it originally aired. What all of the stories really did for me though, was filled me with this tremendous joy to know that there were other people out there who were so strongly affected by the show that they too thought about during their 'real lives' and were overcome by the need to write about them. I cannot begin to express the overwhelming sense of relief and kinship that I felt when I discovered this.

My fic reading goes in cycles. Right now, I probably average one long story and 5 short ones a week, a few more if any of my favorite authors have released something. The nature of my work means that I spend 6 to 8 months each year working 14 hours a day every day, and for the other months, my time is mainly free. During those free times, I may read 50 or more stories a week. That pattern hasn't changed much during the last 4 years. Two summers ago I challenged myself to read every single story that was archived at Gossamer at that time.

I did it. [Note from A,B,b: Wow!]

I read my fic in one of two places. When I'm working, I use trashed paper and print out long stories on the backs of the pages. I will only print out stories with 8 parts or more. Then, I read them on the train and bus back and forth on my way to work. Short stories I read on my computer in my home office. And when I'm not working, I read the long stories on my computer.
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When I want to cry, I whip out Sue Esty's 'The Gift', a classic that still gets to me every time. Rachael Anton's "World Without End" is heartwrenching and gritty and when at long last Mulder and Scully do sleep together, it's like you've been kicked in the stomach because, oh god it wasn't supposed to be like that! For more tearjerkers, two that their recent sequels brought back to mind: Alicia K's 'Looking for America'--the imagery of that necklace falling out of Mulder's hand and into the chasm that was once California is absolutely breathtaking. And CazQ's 'The Furious Winter.' The ending is a shock, and the repetition that deal with how crying is defined--Oh. My. God.

If I want a laugh, 'Excuse Me, or Montezuma's Revenge' by Swenglish & Karoshi is so juvenile, such raw bathroom humor, that it's irresistible. And Anna Otto's 'Smokeout' (though to truly appreciate the richness of this one, it helps if you've ever gone through the agony of quitting smoking). Another more recent humor tale that had me reeling was David Hearne's 'They Can Mess You Up'--multilayered, side-splitting laughs!

When I want a case file that takes me back to the early days of the partnership, almost anything by Cindy ET will do, but I have a particular liking for 'Annelid' just because I like the snow worm concept.

Also, there is a genre I would feel awful if I left out, and that's stories that don't center around Mulder and Scully. I'm a huge Lone Gunmen fan, and no one writes them better than Martha. I highly recommend the story she co-wrote with Sally Helmerich, 'The Joy of Cooking and Other Paranoid Tales'. (note: Martha wants it known Sally wrote 95% of that story. <g> )She also does a great Skinner.

Sarah Ellen Parsons has a unique appreciation of Krycek, though honestly, my
very favorite story of hers remains unfinished (beta-bias alert :) ) After that though, I'd have to recommend 'alt.sex.doggiestyle.fuck.fuck.fuck' By far the most original (and one of the few) post/pre-Alpha stories out there and hot, hot, hot in an oh-so-naughty way!

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I don't know that I'd have any advice for a newbie except, to get betas whose work you really, really like and then, convince them to be brutally honest with you. Nothing, absolutely nothing can help like good betas. And multiple betas are good--it doesn't matter if they don't always agree with one another, or with you, I think the multiple viewpoints and interpretations of your words only helps you as a writer and a storyteller. Not to mention that it just means there are more sets of eyes looking out for errors.

A good summary usually grabs my attention. It doesn't have to explicitly spell out the contents of a story, although I tend to prefer the ones that do. I like summaries that hint at plot twists and serious emotional content.

Once I'm in a story, it needs to be solidly written and error free in the early parts, or I'll just hit delete. Honestly, I'm not one for 'flowery writing', although I love good wordplay. Unusual metaphors and similes, descriptions that hit you like a ton of bricks, and a good grasp of the
characters, how they act, and especially the rhythms and patterns of their speech--those are the things that hook my attention and keep it.
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Post-Requiem has become own category now, much like "Scully Cancer". I tend to like the harsher tales...cofax's 'Bitter Algebra', Livia Balaban's 'Deep Red on Yellow Fleece', M.Sebasky's first post-Requiem fic, 'A Dream of Thaw'.

I think part of the reason these stories have become their own sub-genres is because we as readers and writers, know that these are serious issues and we want to see them resolved--we want the high emotion and eventual sense of closure, and we know that in order to get it, we have to provide it for ourselves. Although, with 'Requiem', I think more authors have a better grasp of XF's style and that's being reflected in the stories.

Cancer fic tended towards stories that centered around the cancer, the decisions the characters made in light of the cancer, whereas on the actual series, whole episodes happened in which there was no acknowledgement of it at all, not even a nosebleed. By Requiem, I think we all knew that we were going to have to suffer through episodes in which pregnancy and a missing Mulder simply don't come up, and I think the fic being written, at least to some small degree, reflects that. With Cancer fic, I think we expected it to seriously impact the characters' lives, to change who they were and how they related to one another, whereas with Requiem fic, I think we've accepted that Scully will still be Scully, even with the extra hormones.

Personally, I'm very interested in seeing some differing scenarios for Mulder after his return. His eventual return presents opportunities to do some unexpected things with his character, but I think that on the whole, most of us, myself included, are both too attached to the wounded persona that he is now, and too frightened of the longer-term ramifications of affecting any extensive change to him.

I have only one caveat--I'd like it to be mentioned that those are by no means all of the stories I'd recommend. There are others by authors both classic and new, still active and not, in all the genres, that I didn't mention either because I felt like I'd already blathered on far too long, or because they momentarily slipped my mind. Thanks, Nikki!

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