So elizabethannfic thinks the Uber-UST could have been toned down to good effect. amyhit thinks the UST is the raison d'etre of the story. estella_c thinks the prose keeps turning purple and that the UST turns into Scully-torture by the ending. counterphobe concurs that the prose could be cleaned up and the UST muted a bit but thinks the well-constructed x-file(!)/casefile more than makes up for the story's comparatively minor short-comings.
This is going to surprise you: I agree with everyone.
Yes, the UST was out-of-control by the end, but it was supposed to be. The reason we were so uncomfortable was that Scully was being tormented and manipulated by the Tolchok, which was robbing her of sleep, and undermining her normally high ability to tune out her attraction for Mulder, even when she was awake. The first time I read "Gutless," I remember being so afraid for her: fearful she might give in and sleep with Mulder and ruin everything, or that she might not give in and would instead succumb to the Tolchok, as yet another victim of repressed sexuality. (I came from a fandom that pretty routinely killed off major characters in fic, so I was always expecting somebody to die by the end.)
For better or worse, the plot really does hinge on the UST. Without the "A" plot, the "B" plot doesn't work. Without ratcheting up the sexual tension to unbearable levels, the dream sequences are unworkable, so is the fight that proceeds them, and there is no climax!
At first, I really did think the story's metaphor was the parrot, especially since it keeps saying what they can't say--"Fuck me'til I faint!"--plus they keep passing it back and forth. "You take the parrot." "No, YOU take the parrot." Then Scully shoots the parrot, which killed that idea (and the parrot) dead. While we are on the topic of the parrot, I might as well mention the two three plot holes I found my third time through (it did take three times, though, to find all three). Why did the Tolchok suddenly start preying on the good people of Tehtonka, Kansas? Why then? Why there? Maybe I missed the obvious answer, that the parrot was a recent acquisition and came into town with its host? Or maybe it was the relatively high concentration of sexually frustrated townspeople that called it into existence? All I know is that Mulder should have had a theory, otherwise we are left with Scully's explanation: a mutant allergic reaction to the parrot.
Speaking of the parrot, doesn't everyone know that parrots need at least eight hours of sleep at night? You have to put them in a quiet dark room, cover their cage and leave them alone. What does it matter whose room he's in? Guido seems determined to keep people awake no matter what, no matter where, day or night. Leaving him alone in the motel only made matters worse, especially since he was used to being around people all day long.
My theory is that this was an excuse for Mulder and Scully to open up their connecting door. Which brings me to my Unifying Theory of Parrotfic: it's all about the doors. Think about it: every victim is preyed on in the dark, behind closed doors, Mulder and Scully keep opening their door to play pass the parrot. Scully opens the door to his room twice in the middle of the night when she is feeling well, horny. Unlike the door to the outside, their connecting door is kept closed but not locked. It opens easily enough until the night she has The Dream. You know the one.
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winterfish
My Unifying Theory of Parrotfic
Date: 2010-04-14 03:35 am (UTC)This is going to surprise you: I agree with everyone.
Yes, the UST was out-of-control by the end, but it was supposed to be. The reason we were so uncomfortable was that Scully was being tormented and manipulated by the Tolchok, which was robbing her of sleep, and undermining her normally high ability to tune out her attraction for Mulder, even when she was awake. The first time I read "Gutless," I remember being so afraid for her: fearful she might give in and sleep with Mulder and ruin everything, or that she might not give in and would instead succumb to the Tolchok, as yet another victim of repressed sexuality. (I came from a fandom that pretty routinely killed off major characters in fic, so I was always expecting somebody to die by the end.)
For better or worse, the plot really does hinge on the UST. Without the "A" plot, the "B" plot doesn't work. Without ratcheting up the sexual tension to unbearable levels, the dream sequences are unworkable, so is the fight that proceeds them, and there is no climax!
At first, I really did think the story's metaphor was the parrot, especially since it keeps saying what they can't say--"Fuck me'til I faint!"--plus they keep passing it back and forth. "You take the parrot." "No, YOU take the parrot." Then Scully shoots the parrot, which killed that idea (and the parrot) dead. While we are on the topic of the parrot, I might as well mention the
twothree plot holes I found my third time through (it did take three times, though, to find all three). Why did the Tolchok suddenly start preying on the good people of Tehtonka, Kansas? Why then? Why there? Maybe I missed the obvious answer, that the parrot was a recent acquisition and came into town with its host? Or maybe it was the relatively high concentration of sexually frustrated townspeople that called it into existence? All I know is that Mulder should have had a theory, otherwise we are left with Scully's explanation: a mutant allergic reaction to the parrot.Speaking of the parrot, doesn't everyone know that parrots need at least eight hours of sleep at night? You have to put them in a quiet dark room, cover their cage and leave them alone. What does it matter whose room he's in? Guido seems determined to keep people awake no matter what, no matter where, day or night. Leaving him alone in the motel only made matters worse, especially since he was used to being around people all day long.
My theory is that this was an excuse for Mulder and Scully to open up their connecting door. Which brings me to my Unifying Theory of Parrotfic: it's all about the doors. Think about it: every victim is preyed on in the dark, behind closed doors, Mulder and Scully keep opening their door to play pass the parrot. Scully opens the door to his room twice in the middle of the night when she is feeling well, horny. Unlike the door to the outside, their connecting door is kept closed but not locked. It opens easily enough until the night she has The Dream. You know the one.