Erosion

Fanfiction
Title:	Erosion
Author(s):	Annie Sewell-Jennings
Date(s):	1998
Length:	225K
Genre(s):	het
Fandom(s):	The X-Files
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online here
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Erosion is a Mulder/Scully X-Files story by Annie Sewell-Jennings.

Author's Summary, Notes, and Warnings

After being terribly defeated by the enemy, Mulder and Scully struggle to beat the game. (I maintain my right to be vague when summarizing my story, and if anyone wants to debate this with me, send all mail to [address redacted] I just *love* a good controversy. I'm a self-proclaimed soapbox queen. <g>).

Archive: If you wanna archive, go ahead and do it! Just let me know where this story's being sent. It'll be posted by me to ATXC and XAPEN. Other than that, just ask for my permission. I'll grant it. :)

Author's Note: This is not the happiest of pieces, and is inspired by the classic movie, "Same Time Next Year". Only that movie was a little happier than this. Well, it was actually a lot happier than this. Just thought that I'd warn you.

Also, this story garners a hanky warning. I know that a lot of people want to be warned if there's a sad story up ahead, and well, this is it. :) This story has taken a lot of effort from me, and I hope that you decide to read it. However, if you don't want to be angsted out then what's wrong with you?!? No, just kidding. Seriously, you can try a couple of my lighter pieces. On second thought, just go re-read "Smoking" and "The Patch" by Michaela and Alanna Baker. It makes me smile. :)

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

Yes, I'm going to be reccing a lot of Annie in this post, because she's an amazing writer. She is the ONLY writer who has been able to bring me to tears on several occasions. This is one of those fics - it takes place during Redux II (cancer-arc fic - you KNOW that guarantees tears). Its so sad and angsty, and I cried most of the way through it...but don't let that stop you from reading it! The end is a great turnaround, and is actually happy. This is probably my favorite fic that I've read over the past week.

This has been, to date, the ONLY fic that I cannot reread. Not because it sucks, but because its so sad that it not only brought me to tears, but to outright sobs. Don't let that stop you from reading, though. Its absolutely AMAZING. It starts off with THEM giving Mulder and Scully an ultimatum - never see each other again, or we're going to kill your families. So every two or three years (I can't remember the time span) they're able to sneak away to a beach house in North Carolina to see each other. This fic spans many, many years. All I can say to this one is - WOW. You have to read it at least once.

This IS a conversation... somewhat of a stream of consciousness one, so to help you keep track of who's speaking when, Kristina is in blue, and I, Shari, am in purple. [see original page for the colors, which are denoted by initials here on Fanlore]

[S]: I have to admit that it took me a while to read this novel. Not long after it came out, after reading all the recs and the raves about it, I downloaded the entire thing and was going to read it... but being the little spoiler hussy I am, the sort who can't watch or read anything without knowing how it's going to turn out, I skipped right to the end of the novel. See, all those raves and recs had one thing in common -- seems they all talked about how sad and angsty "Erosion" was, and well... I don't always do sad.

[K]: You do "sad" better than I do. So I, too, approached "Erosion" with much trepidation. Sad isn't a place I like to often go, because I find real life depressing enough. But there is something about the poetic ebb and flow of love and desire and utter desperation in "Erosion" that doesn't quite equal "sad". It's something far deeper, far more complicated, and very beautiful to read.

[S]: At least not without knowing it's coming! So I read the last couple of pages and my reaction was "Waaahhhh!" ::::delete:::: Sorry, Annie -- first impressions are a bitch. <g>

[K]: And so am I! Er...wait....

[S]: She said, I didn't...

[S]: That's not to say what I read wasn't well-written and as beautiful as anything else she's written, but apparently I'd reached my angst threshold for the time being. But then late one night (when I usually experience my most daring-do) I was trolling around looking for something long to read and decided to buck up and be a man. That didn't work, so I just read the novel. <g>

[S]: Yes, it's angsty! Yes, it's sad -- mostly at the end. But my goodness, what a beautiful trip to that finish. A running characteristic in all of Annie's work is a poetic and evocative style. That's especially true with "Erosion" -- I'm sure the setting for most of the story (the beach) aids in that, but even at the beginning, reading the novel is at times like looking at a lush painting. Or even like being right there.... having all your senses engaged.

[K]: The very first first thing I noticed about "Erosion" was the complicated weaving of story and metaphor. Annie doesn't just "tell" us how Mulder and Scully are feeling, how they view each other, how they are feeling, she lets us *feel* it and *see* it. I absolutely adore her metaphorical style.

Like children, they had wandered toward the torch of truth with blind eyes, tantalized by the glowing duplicity of it, and when they reached out to touch it, they were burned and charred by its brutal, ugly reality. They were naive to want to touch it, to want to hold it, to believe that it was beautiful and not dangerous.

[snipped]

[K]: There's that flicker again! Of Mulder, of hope...and at this point, I let myself dream up an ending ala "Somewhere in Time," where all is happy in a very sad way. <g> (Side note: The "Somewhere in Time" soundtrack is an excellent compliment to this piece of work)

[S]: Yes, I found myself thinking of "Somewhere in Time" as "Erosion" came to a close -- a bittersweet ending, it was... at least a hanky or two ending.

[K]: My advice to the readers out there, even if you're a big ole wuss like me, is to stop by and experience "Erosion", at least once. The universe and possible outcome Annie has created isn't as far-fetched as we'd all like to believe. It's very possible and it's nice to be able to take comfort in the fact that Scully and Mulder's love is stronger than anything.

[S]: Yup, that's the one thing that comes through stronger than anything else -- that their love can stand time, separation, and even death. "Erosion" really is a beautiful novel. I'm one of those people who can appreciate several different styles of writing, and the poetic, lyrical style of this novel makes me think of Chubby Hubby ice cream -- full of swirls of luciousness and chunks of divinity. It's a welcome extravagance in a diet of chocolate fudge, something that's yummy but straightforward.

[K]: Sooo...read it. And then tell Annie how much you appreciate her. (And tell her ChronX sent you. We get kickbacks that way. <g>)

[S]: Grab your spoon and a box of kleenex and dig into this much-loved novel. Then head on over to Annie's site, listed in the Personals here on ChronX and check out all the rest of her work. It's all as lovely and sexy as "Erosion" -- romance should be Annie's middle name.  : )