Mini-Moon Day 6: Sickness and Health

[sidleypkhermit]

Day 6 already! I'm feeling a little winded, I don't know about anybody else. Good day to go get patched up, vaccinated, sequenced, analyzed, poked and prodded. Today's theme: Sickness and Health.

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Day 1: "War and Peace" | Day 2: "Politics" | Day 3: "Time and Space" | Day 4: "Arts and Letters" | Day 5: "Borders"

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Fic Recs What Else

[wendelah1]

I have just three recs for the theme "Sickness and Health," all for The X-Files, all set during or just after the cancer arc. (I know hurt/comfort is a hugely popular genre, but I rarely read it.)

I need to be upfront about this: I don't like most hurt/comfort stories. Unless the illness/injury is canon, it feels contrived, created to further the romance between the chosen pairing. Cancer fic has a different strike against it. I'm an RN who spent most of my career taking care of cancer patients, and frankly, most writers get it wrong—including the scriptwriters.

However, there is one story which I can recommend without reservation: "Isometry" by syntax6. She gets the details of Scully's illness right, she gets the characterizations right, she even creates a credible romance for Mulder and Scully. The story slots perfectly into canon, apart from the romance, of course. *g* After you've finished it, I recommend reading everything else by her. Most of her work is not archived at Gossamer so I've linked to her website.

Isometry by syntax6
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: none
Spoilers: Through Redux II
Characters/Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Summary: The story of a man, a woman and their lucky pickle. Season 4 cancer era. Rated NC-17.

I found two other stories I enjoyed. The first is a sweet vignette by denynothing1, set between season five episodes "Redux II" and "Detour." She's a fine writer, and all of her fic is at Gossamer, although it might be under a different name. Try searching by title rather than author.

Still Life with Implant (1773 words) by denynothing1
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully
Additional Tags: Developing Relationship
Summary: Adjusting to life in remission.

My last rec is a series of missing scenes for "Redux II." The link is to Fialka's website but they are also at Gossamer if you prefer plain text. Everything she's written is excellent.

The Trade by Fialka
Rated: PG | 9K | Category VA | Archived 00-06-19
Spoilers: Redux II
Summary: So how did they figure out Scully was in remission?

As an aside, this set of recs, plus one about Samantha Mulder that doesn't fit the theme, was originally posted at Tumblr for 201daysofxfiles.

Mini-Moon Day 6 - Recs

[maidenjedi]

Mini-Moon Day 6's theme is "Sickness and Health," so I dove back into my bookmarks for my favorite historical hospital show, Mercy Street.  These stories feature more about hospital life, nursing, injury, and inevitably, romance, and so would probably fit more than one theme for Mini-Moon.

Wild Rover No More by BroadwayBaggins - This story is a short look at a supporting female character, Matron Bridget Brannan, as she nurses a wounded drummer boy.

Sight by middlemarch - Quite a bit of discussion between doctor and nurse about a patient's condition, with romantic tension interwoven.  Jed Foster/Mary Phinney.

Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee by middlemarch - Role reversal, in which Jed has typhoid fever. Mary Phinney and Anne Hastings discuss the illness, and a little more.