Story 59: "Doctor, Copper, Sailor, Corpse" by Scarlet Baldy

[wendelah1]

Nominated by yendrie, "Doctor, Copper, Sailor, Corpse" is an "R" rated series of three vignettes that takes place after Mulder's funeral. The season eight funeral.

SUMMARY: This little piggy rots in his coffin, this little piggy is showing, this little piggy is a good partner, this little piggy is hovering, and all the little Hoover piggies are snickering all the way home.

Doctor, Copper, Sailor, Corpse

As always, let us know what you think, let the author know what you think and give us your suggestions for next time. Otherwise, you are going to be reading mine. . .

Comments

[leucocrystal]

Ah, an old favorite of mine. I'm probably due for a reread.

[scarletbaldy.livejournal.com]

Awwwww....*blushes* Thanks Leuco!

[yendrie.livejournal.com]

This story will never get old. Is deliciously good *nods*

[scarletbaldy.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for taking the time to analyse this story of mine guys. Yendrie, you get a chocolate Mulder with whipped cream.

[yendrie.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, a chocolate Mulder! Yummy :D Thank you, darling.

Aw, you must know this story is one of the awesomenest I've ever read. *nods*

[dictatorcari]

I'm going to write this comment as I read so I don't forget 90% of what I wanted to say (like I usually do).

- I like the paragraph in the beginning where the author uses dog metaphors for Doggett. I know, that's like s8/s9 fanfic symbolism 101, but it was really subtle here.

- The Scully/Skinner scene is excellent. I have a bad habit of reading only MSR, so I don't see a lot of these, but I think it captures the friendship (and possible sexual tension?) between them without going too far. It feels really natural. I can actually see Gillian and Mitch doing this scene in my head, which is rare for me.

- Doggett's line "Anyway, I make a point of not struggling with pregnant women" reminds me of Skinner's "I don't like pointing guns at pregnant women." That's all. Ok, maybe I don't need to write down everything I'm thinking...

- I like how the Scully/Doggett scene with the coffee cups mirrors their first scene together (when she threw the contents of her cup at his head). They've come so far!

- Mulder's reaction to Scully's pregnancy is so unexpected, but so true to character. Scully says "Did I ever think it was gonna be easy from now on?" and I think that's key. So much fanfic is about easy answers, and this one has none.

- This line: "And I realize that although I can now see him and touch him, I haven't really found him yet" makes sense of season eight, post-DeadAlive for me.

- Maybe it's the mood I'm in, but I'm really receptive to this characterization of Mulder. She loves him, and he's imperfect. Not in a glamorized "oh, he's so brilliant but scatter-brained" way, in a real kind-of-a-bad-person way. But I still like him (I think).

- I'm choosing to translate this through my Princess Bride filter: "Doggett rolls his eyes then shrugs. 'As you wish.'"

- I smiled at the reference to the Mulder Panic Face.

Um, I stopped commenting when I got to the end because it was so engaging I couldn't break away. So I guess that's my comment about the end.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

This is a strong, coherent, well-conceived story. I thought the Skinner outburst was overstated but I thought the ending was effective and poignant.

I'd probably have enjoyed it more if I could swallow Mulder's fear of commitment, but that's painfully hard to do. On the other hand, I honor the author for taking on the mess of season eight/nine and trying to give it emotional logic. It's certainly more than 1013 ever did.

[wendelah1]

I have an aversion to baby fic, which is why I probably never tried this story before. It is very good. It is just hard for me to get over my hatred of eighth/ninth seasons in order to look at it objectively. I printed it out and I am going to read it again this weekend.

[scarletbaldy.livejournal.com]

Wendelah, I have a confession to make: I hate baby fic too! And the reason I wrote this story is that I was so sick and tired of the Pregnant!Scully cuteness and all the baby fics sprouting like acne on a teenager on Ephemeral at the time, that I had to write something that was defenitely *not* cute. I wanted to show that Scully had gotten herself knocked up at the worse possible time and that Mulder's return did not mean that angels were gonna sing and that Happily ever after was just around the corner. I also wanted to address this distance Mulder had towards her, which threw me on the show.

[wendelah1]

I wasn't in the fandom back in the day. I didn't even know how to turn the computer on back in the day. I watched the series in bits and pieces at first, then in order, once the slimsets began to be released. In any case, I have the feeling I would have bailed on the show had I been watching it in real time. I have a issue with how the writers handled her pregnancy, and I don't think the fan fiction in many cases makes emotional sense either, given who Scully is in my eyes. I think your story does make emotional sense of the wreck that is season eight. Most importantly to me, it gives the reader a Scully who is still functional and competent, who will vigorously defend her ability to care for herself, even to the over-anxious, having-trouble-setting-personal-boundaries Assistant Director Skinner. I also like that you don't make Doggett into either the villain or the hero of the piece. He's just himself. I always assumed that Mulder's emotional distance was just PTSD, plus their usual non-communication about anything to do with their emotions unless someone is, you know, like dying or something.

[scarletbaldy.livejournal.com]

I chose to play on Mulder's fear of commitment as a by-product of months and months of torture; that would render a man off kilter IMO.

And I get why you would think that Skinner's outburst was OTT. I guess I could have written that differently. I probably would now.

But I'm glad you thought I gave some emotional logic to the whole sorry mess.

[yendrie.livejournal.com]

You managed to point out all the reasons why this fic is one of my favorites :)

[scarletbaldy.livejournal.com]

You know I never saw the link between the coffee cup/first scene before you pointed it out, Dictaorcari. That was so not intentional! *laughs*

Thanks for all the comments, it is really great for me to have that much detail.

[payne-deas.livejournal.com]

I'm going to sound like a cold, cold hearted bitch... This fic did not ring any bells for me. I tried but I was hearing the author and not Scully's voice.

[wendelah1]

I don't know that you sound cold, though apparently this fic didn't work for you. I do hear Scully's voice, in the first part, for example, in her exchange with Doggett.

I take a chair and sit down in front of him, rubbing my hands over my stomach with a faint smile which probably comes out more like a wince. I lost the hang of it the day they closed Mulder's casket. His corpse wasn't the only thing to get buried that day.

"I think I just launched a new office pool," I tell Doggett.

He shrugs. "Let them talk."

"Like I have any choice in the matter," I sigh.

He taps his pen on his pad and leans back on his chair, watching me without blinking - the eyes of a cop assessing a suspect. I don't like it one bit.

"It isn't like you to worry about what people think."

"And you know me so well, Agent Doggett."

The sarcasm isn't lost on him. "I know enough."

My eyes settle on the filing cabinet behind him. Yes, I believe he does. Agent Doggett does his homework, you have to grant him that.

"And I know you don't give a shit about your reputation, or you wouldn't have stayed with the X-Files."

Or with Mulder, my mind supplies for him.

I hear all of the warring parts of her mind and her heart: her grief, her intelligence, her conflicted feelings about Mulder and Doggett both. I hear Doggett's voice, too.

And so on.

We have a lot more stories to read here. Go explore, and welcome to xf_book_club.

[scarletbaldy.livejournal.com]

Being a bitch and being honest are very different things. I'm very grateful that you would speak your mind so openly. My story didn't work for you, it's fine with me. We all have different things rocking our boats.

But you know, I would be very interested in knowing what didn't work for you. Could you give me some example of what didn't sound like Scully? And why you thought it didn't work?

Thanks.

Boo! Bad link

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

Dang the link doesn't work. I've read this before off AO3 but thought I'd let you know!