Story 110: "Gutless" by Magdeleine

[wendelah1]

Yep, this is the one with the talking parrot, a pretty good casefile, and Scully having "Mulder Awareness Days." The author refers to the latter as Uber-UST in her summary. I think the term "parrotfic," not to be confused with parrotfic, might have originated here. "I mean why read babyfic when you can read parrotfic, right?" Truer words were never spoken, er, written, Autumn. There is a talking parrot in a Syntax6 story that I bet is a little shout-out to "Gutless." At least, I think it is a parrot.

If you don't find this to your taste, try "Bonemeal," which is a very different kind of story. You can find it on her author's page at Gossamer, along with "Gutless" broken into smaller bites. "Bonemeal" deserves its own discussion, but it's so short, I doubt we'll ever do it formally. If anyone knows if this writer changed fandoms, has a different email address, and is perchance still around somewhere, please let us know. Thanks to an anonymouse, you can go leave Magdeleine comments on her story at Archive of Our Own. You can read her fic for The Office there, too.

This story was suggested by amyhit as being one that would generate discussion. I guess it's time to read it and find out.

"Gutless"

Upcoming attractions: "Fathoms Five" by Penumbra, "Melancholia" by Jeylan, and "This House is Burning" by Tesla. If you don't like those, you can always go post your own suggestions at the nominations post.

Comments

Great plot, great timing

[counterphobe.livejournal.com]

Gutless is a casefile that is also an X-File, and I'd appreciate it for that alone. Clues are revealed at appropriate intervals to let the plot unfold, and there are valid plot rationales when knowledge is delayed. (Think how many times on the TV show the informant tells Mulder just enough to get him through the next scene. Deep Throat, for example, doles out his tips only so that the show can last an hour.)

I didn't see the ending coming, even though it made perfect sense. Thank you, Magdeleine.

I like UST, and I think you can see it in the program itself, but then again, I am an unrepentant fangirl. (I think you can see many things in the actors' portrayals, and I suspect that was the result of the last-minute writing, the [sometimes] bad writing, and the fact that special effects were added later. Those actors learned to be ambiguous and noncommittal. Enigmatic, if you prefer.)

To my taste, the UST was overdone. I'm on board with the Mulder Awareness Days and I like that the tension built, but I would have liked it more if it had been toned down. I was surprised when Mulder identified flu rather than menses, but I think I'm grateful. I'm glad that Mulder had his own UST problem, and I liked the ending.

There was a redundancy in the language and in some descriptions. Like Wendelah, I would love to see it filmed. I think some of the actions would have been fine on screen, even though the phrases themselves became tiresome. Some of the metaphors were wonderful, but some were not, and there were too many.

I feel a little hesitant to offer these criticisms because I really liked the story. I'm glad I got to read it, flawed or not. Again, thanks to Magdeleine for writing and posting.

I HAVE A QUESTION

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

I'm on board with the Mulder Awareness Days and I like that the tension built, but I would have liked it more if it had been toned down.

you know, this fic was one of the first XF fics i ever read, and at that time i remember feeling exactly this. my tolerance for UST, which was always high, has become significantly more so. but i definitely remember feeling (and thinking) that there was a point fairly early on in this fic where the UST just blitzed out upon first read.

I was surprised when Mulder identified flu rather than menses, but I think I'm grateful.

me too. i mean, i guess it's kind of unrealistic, considering that her 'symptoms' fit menses much more than they fit flu, but still, i was relieved. it always feels kind of cheap to me when a writer brings a character's biorhythms into it. and a little bit chauvenistic of the character, too.

I'm glad that Mulder had his own UST problem, and I liked the ending.

yes, yes, yes - i heartily agree. in fact, had mulder not had his own UST problems i doubt i would've been able to enjoy this fic in the long run. because while the UST makes it easy to forget, ultimately scully is being victimized here, and she spends the entire fic literally suffering. it's hot suffering (for the reader), but it's no less suffering. if magdeleine hadn't done something to acknowledge the 'horror' aspect of the plot, and to put scully and mulder back on more even footing with each other i think i would have felt like her fic was too brazen and lacked regard for scully.

additionally, I'VE BEEN WONDERING: what are people's thoughts about the climactic scene (the fight/fuck scene)? did it squick them out? was it hot? or both? i have my own opinions and impressions, naturally, but ever since i read this fic i've really wanted to hear what other people think.

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[counterphobe.livejournal.com]

additionally, I'VE BEEN WONDERING: what are people's thoughts about the climactic scene (the fight/fuck scene)? did it squick them out? was it hot? or both? i have my own opinions and impressions, naturally, but ever since i read this fic i've really wanted to hear what other people think.

I didn't go all the way to squicking me, but I didn't like it. I would have preferred something that didn't draw blood.

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[wendelah1]

It didn't squick me at all. It's so clearly a dream, and given the level of both anger and sexual tension leading up to it, I didn't find it out of context or even gratuitous. I also thought it worked as a piece of erotica. Did it personally turn me on? I'd have to say yes to the sex, no to the knife play. Not my kink, I guess. I'm pretty vanilla.

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

knife play? what did i miss while reading??

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[wendelah1]

I guess you missed Chapter 15b. See Part 4 at Gossamer. I guess I'd better fix this link, too. It looks like Doc's site is down. Are you reading the fic at Gossamer or at AO3?

I just looked over Chapter 15 at AO3. The entire climax of the story, most of chapter 15 and 15b, is missing! I'll try emailing her but my guess is she's gone from fandom.

This is beyond frustrating. The same thing is true of Bonetree's fic. There's a chapter missing. People import their stories but don't proof them.

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

I think I read it at AO3, so that would explain that for sure. Thanks for responding :)

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[wendelah1]

I'm sorry for the confusion. I changed the link to Gossamer and PM'd the author. Now I'm trying to think if I've steered people to the AO3 copy anywhere but here.

It's obvious that I'm going to have to read through anything that has been reposted from Gossamer before linking to it. I'll recheck but the last time I looked, Bonetree's fic hasn't been fixed.

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

read it. well then, THAT was very very different. interesting but bizarre and metaphorical i suppose, but certainly different, and helped the story conclude for sure.

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[wendelah1]

Well, yeah. The entire climax of the story is missing at AO3. The resolution of the X-File, the reason that Scully shot the parrot, the Tolchuk-induced dream that both Mulder and Scully were having--it's all missing! That's nearly all of chapter 15, in fact.

Thank you for asking the question. I'd have never known otherwise.

It's a much stronger story now that you've read the entirety, don't you think?

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

DEFINITELY stronger. And oddly, I kind of like the whole strange knife fight thing. Metaphorically anyways, and very true to the bizarre way that dreams often seem to work. Wasn't totally sold on all aspects of this fic, but I did like the casefile and the story overall. Glad I asked too!

Re: I HAVE A QUESTION

[wendelah1]

I thought the dream worked well, especially given that they were under the influence of the Tolchok at the time. Everything that happens before Chapter 15 makes better sense once you know that Scully and Mulder were being influenced by supernatural forces.

I found I liked this story even better the third time through and I certainly can't say that about most fanfic.

Re: Great plot, great timing

[wendelah1]

I think it is one of the best constructed casefiles I've read, and certainly one of the best x-files, complete with scientific and supernatural explanations. The dialogue between Mulder and Scully as they solve the case really helps sell it, too.