Story 84: "Half A World Away" by Jane St. Clair

[wendelah1]

"Half A World Away," Jane St.Clair's first posted fic for The X-Files, has been nominated by estella_c. I've been trying to figure out a way to post this without giving away that while Mulder/Scully/Krycek is a major kink of mine, Scully/Krycek is a major squick.

I gave up. Here is the authors' header for the fic. Have fun. This is probably the best Scully/Krycek story in the fandom. Given the heated discussion in Live Journal Fandom lately about warnings, I feel I should warn that it is fairly easy to see the sex in this as dub-con. I disagree, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Fandom: X-Files
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Sleepless, Ascension, Piper Maru/Apocrypha, Terma
Keywords: Krycek/Scully, Mulder/Scully UST
Summary: After Scully is kidnapped and rescued, she finds herself under Krycek's dubious protection.

This story is rated NC-17 for nasty words and not-entirely-vanilla sex. If you're under whatever age you're supposed to be in whatever place you are, you don't know about sex, so go away. Oh, and the people in this story don't use condoms. In the real world, this is very stupid. Practice safe sex, especially when making it with one-armed Russian thugs. You don't know where they've been.

I think I like this woman.

"Half a World Away"

As always, let the author know what you think and then come back for discussion. I am more than interested in what people will think of this fic. Suggestions for next time can be made here.

Comments

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

Yes, thanks for posting, counterphobe. I disagree with you on most counts, but that's the chance you take.

I don't think of this fic as smut, though it's very explicit. I think of it as a study in forced communication, sex being the least important. There is something touching to me about Krycek's suffering and Scully's comprehension of it. Can't we all get along? Obviously not. It would involve experiencing each others' worst fears and then fucking. And even then...

People talk about the "loose canon" of The X-Files, all the confusing nooks and crannies that fanfic was invented to fill. I think that Krycek is the character who cries out loudest for creative explanation. Employed in a number of ways by a number of writers, he was sympathetic, evil, desperate, enigmatic, evil again, etc. Lea did his best, and was fortunately a real cute guy, so we stayed interested. A lot of people have decided to hate Krycek. I don't. Well, he's so cute.

"Eighteen stories up, North Dakota settled in for winter." That's good. I mean *really*.

[wendelah1]

I agree with you, EC, I don't think of it as smut, either, even though it is NC-17. It is a carefully developed character piece. You are right, Krycek is one of the big pieces of "loose canon." This story creates empathy for him, through Scully's sharing his dreams. Weirdly, I think Mulder has to do with this, too but I haven't got that part figured out.This is a complex psychological journey for her and Krycek (and for the reader). Clearly not all of us are going the distance, but I think the story works.

[counterphobe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, smut was the wrong word. All I meant to say was explicit sex. After years in the fandom one forgets that smut is a loaded term.

[wendelah1]

I think of smut as stories for which the plot is secondary to the sex scenes. These sex scenes seem plot-driven, unusually so, for fannish writing. "The Airport" is my classic example of a smut fic. The plot is contrived solely to create the sex scenes. Not that this is a bad thing, it just isn't your thing. Or my thing, either, lately. Don't tell anyone, but the truth is, I'm a little burned out on porn.