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

Re: Unifying Theory Part 2

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

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.

You know what, wendelah1? your most recent comments have given me more respect for this fic. which surprises me, considering i was the one being the most enthusiastic about it. but while i was being enthusiastic, i was also belittling the fic in certain ways, overlooking some of the lengths it went to to construct a complete casefile. what you said about the dialogue being spot-on was so true, and i think you're right about the casefile being better than i previously gave it credit for. i still maintain the raison d'etre for the casefile was UST, but that doesn't mean i should dismiss the writing as having no other merit. it is very well developed, intriguing, and unique.

You are right, taken sentence by sentence, I can totally see where you are coming from. I just think the overheated language kind of works in this story by creating an overheated atmosphere.

YES! this exactly. in a pervious comment when i said, for every argument against the cliches i can think of an argument for why they make sense within this one specific context, this was primarily what i meant. the language using in this story is relentless. it's overpowering, it's a barrage. and while i usually go in for intensely poetic language, i find the style of Gutless to be intense yet prosaic, which i almost never enjoy. but in the case of Gutless the constant impact of bold descriptions of both the outer and inner landscapes actually drew me in.

Magdeleine used specific adverbs and adjectives to make animals seem sentient and objects seem alive. the way the weather was used and described made it seem like a presence in and of itself, the thunder seemed like a malevolent trickster character, there was constant energy in this fic.

and while i completely agree with you about the theme of this story being doors (very well spotted and explained!), the more blatant theme seems to be the animal vs. the civil -- which one is more innately 'human'?

i think it's brilliant that Magdeleine finds a way to bring that animalistic energy into the story by using the parrot as the host. basically, she found a way to have her cake and eat it to. she got to drive home the point - that UST brings people's "animal natures" closer to the surface (the implied question: "is that to their benefit of their detriment?") - and she could be as dramatic about making that point as she wanted, because on the other hand, it wasn't really scully feeling these things. it was scully, a demon, and a parrot. the parrot, even more than the demon, was the stories 'plausible deniability'.

Wasn't this fic originally a wip?

i don't think so. i do agree that it has that sense of urgency and tension about it. but Magdeleine's notes at the end of Bonemeal are: For those of you who are wondering, yes, I'm almost done with the parrotfic, hereafter to be known as Gutless. I'm shooting for posting it starting July 4.

in case any future lurkers come along, read this thread, and have a sudden desire to broadcast their parrotfic love, parrotfic icons are here >> they will spoil you for the fic (http://amyhit.livejournal.com/49573.html#cutid1).