Heuvelmans' On the Track

Fanfiction
Title:	Heuvelmans' On the Track
Author(s):	The_Mythopoeic (Penumbra)
Date(s):	began earlier, finished in 2020
Length:
Genre:
Fandom:	The X-Files
External Links:	Heuvelmans' On the Track; archive link at Archive of Our Own
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Heuvelmans' On the Track is an X-Files story by The_Mythopoeic (Penumbra).

Summary

Author's summary: "Mulder muddles through the aftermath of 'Orison'."

Author's Comments

In 2020, the author wrote about this story and its context:

The first fic I wrote was HORRIBLE. I put a link to it on my site, so that people can get a little hit of schadenfreude. Those early stories were on shaky footing. I had no confidence in myself. I felt intimidated writing about sophisticated, highly-educated career people when I was none of those things. Heck, I was cleaning motel rooms. I’m still none of those things, but, through Mulder and Scully, I’ve lived that life a little bit, and it was fun.

The third story, ‘Contact High’, was all sex and drugs. I’d done acid and shrooms, so finally, a subject I could assert some authority over! I decided to just go for it. That abandon was a breakthrough, and Penumbra came into being. But there was so much going on inside me, it was hardly harnessable; as stories like ‘Vespers’ and ‘Black Hole Season’ show, it was like getting on a horse that you can’t control and just clinging to its neck as it gallops.

This time around, in my latest incarnation, I feel that I have a better perspective on Mulder and Scully, more of an even footing. I’ve been through a lot, and in ’Hotel-Zero’ I wanted to demonstrate not just how to survive, but how to survive as yourself. I wanted to maybe create a sort of handbook for how to keep your head above water. Life is hard for all of us, people are hard on us. You need to keep a singular perspective on yourself, and allow no one modify it.

[...]

I’ve had two separate experiences, with a seven-year hiatus, and I wouldn’t have missed either of them for the world. Belonging to an obscure hive mind has been one of the most interesting and rewarding (not to mention super-secret) facets of my life, and that will always be my overall takeaway as an X-Phile.

However, as the fandom imploded there was understandable backlash against the whole Penumbra thing. The panegyric was just too much, the style definitely overblown. I posted ’Fathoms Five’ as things were melting down, and there was real outrage. People were boycotting it as a political statement. Oh, we were all so raw — the X-Files was ending and IWTB was a heartbreaker. At that point I’d been working on 'Heuvelmans’ for a couple of years and was forced to admit I couldn’t finish it, nor would it be well-accepted if I did. So you can sort of see the baggage I was carrying when I left the fandom, not to mention the creative angst.

Reactions and Reviews

Archive of Our Own

There are many, many comments, including those by the author, at Archive of Our Own.

Other

FTF canon-divergent, novel length masterpiece. The artist formerly known as Penumbra delivers blow after blow of insight and densely poetic prose. The Hotel Zero chapter changed me. This whole fic improved the way I write. Anytime anyone compliments my writing I just want to say thanks go read Heuvelmans’. My favourite Scully. I still think about some scenes and passages all the time, I can’t get them out of my head. Going to cheat here and also recommend Upsidasium under the Penumbra umbrella (Parabiosis adjacent fic but during the cancer arc) and this little perfect gem of a scene dug up from the archives recently.