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xf_book_club"This House is Burning" is flat-out the best Profiler!Mulder series I've ever read. Tesla's writing style flows effortlessly, and is, by turns, unobtrusive and lyrical. Her Mulder is both much more competent at his job and much less crazy than he's often written. Frankly, that's a pleasant change. But the trilogy is more than a series of meticulously constructed police procedurals, it's also a believable, emotionally involving, Mulder/Scully romance. So let's see: great writing? Check. Exciting plot? Check. Scorching hot sex scenes? Check, check, check. This story was nominated by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
estella_c, and seconded by yours truly.
tesla321 is still on Live Journal, but unless I've missed something through my inconsistent lurking, she's not actively writing. Could I be more wrong? She's still writing and has even posted a challenge at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fandom_charity.
As far as I know, her email address is still current, so go send her some feedback. Or leave it at her Live Journal. Then go donate some money to the Haitian relief effort and get her to write us some fic.
If you don't like my choices, you can always go suggest some of your own.
This House is Burning
Part 1: Blood on the Snow
Part 2: A Thief's Diet
Part 3: The Quiet Glades of Eden
Here in multiple parts on her LJ:
Blood on the Snow 1/2
Blood on the Snow 2/2
A Thief's Diet 1/3
A Thief's Diet 2/3
A Thief's Diet 3/3
The Quiet Glades of Eden 1/2
The Quiet Glades of Eden 2/2
Tesla's Author Page at Gossamer.
Upcoming attractions: "Fathoms Five," by Penumbra, "Blue Patches" by Maybe Amanda, and maybe--Your Nomination.
estella_c, and seconded by yours truly.tesla321 is still on Live Journal, fandom_charity. As far as I know, her email address is still current, so go send her some feedback. Or leave it at her Live Journal. Then go donate some money to the Haitian relief effort and get her to write us some fic.
If you don't like my choices, you can always go suggest some of your own.
This House is Burning
Part 1: Blood on the Snow
Part 2: A Thief's Diet
Part 3: The Quiet Glades of Eden
Here in multiple parts on her LJ:
Blood on the Snow 1/2
Blood on the Snow 2/2
A Thief's Diet 1/3
A Thief's Diet 2/3
A Thief's Diet 3/3
The Quiet Glades of Eden 1/2
The Quiet Glades of Eden 2/2
Tesla's Author Page at Gossamer.
Upcoming attractions: "Fathoms Five," by Penumbra, "Blue Patches" by Maybe Amanda, and maybe--Your Nomination.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-24 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 04:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 05:00 am (UTC)I wish I had the time now to go on and on about all the hows and whys, but I have to work at the ass-crack of dawn in the morning, ugh. Anyway, I'll just say that I don't typically enjoy many casefiles, and almost never enjoy profiler!Mulder fics (because of mainly the issues with his character, which you touched on above), but this one got past my prejudices on both counts and punched me in the face with awesome. This is one of those special fics that I can reread over and over and never tire of it. Guh.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 05:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-24 03:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-24 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-25 01:58 pm (UTC)I'm not usually a big casefile fan; I like them fine on the show, but that's not, generally, what I want out of fic. But the cases in these are interesting enough that I don't mind looking at them, but also not supremely complex, such that they take up too much of my intellectual time. They do what I think a fic-ish casefile should do; they put Mulder and Scully in an interesting emotional place, which then moves them forward through their emotional arcs.
I like the way this fic lets Scully process her abduction emotionally, both that she finds some peace in working through it, in doing her job well and letting that be cathartic, and also that she finds little sneaky ways of relying on Mulder emotionally without having to say so. It's important to her that she not be twigged as needy, but it's important to her emotional recovery that have support from people who care about her and validate her choices (and it seems her family was maybe not so good at the latter). So, Mulder it is.
And the eternal irony of the Mulder/Scully relationship is that this means that he's all about needing emotional confirmation of how people feel about him, repeatedly. He can't just know; he needs to be sure. So Scully's reticence here is terrifying. There's a way in which they're an O. Henry story of a relationship, full of misreadings and misinterpretations and awkward accidents. (That said, I think the second part does drag a little; Mulder's rather mopey and it doesn't move the story along. I also think I'm frustrated with him for his issues, which is rich coming from me, but is true none the less.)
The final scene of the third part is flat-out amazing. I love how Scully puts things together; I love that she's angry with him; I love the line "I though I was supposed to be the one with all the angst, or whatever"; I love the dialogue that closes it. I just--it's perfect. It's both the perfect culmination of the story, and also a very 'them' ending.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-30 01:49 am (UTC)In the first part, Scully is suffering from PTSD, which gets resolved for the most part by the ending, really through reconnecting emotionally with Mulder. The sex is both a catalyst and (let's be honest here) a huge distraction for both of them.
Mulder's big issue gets reactivated by the events of "A Thief's Diet." As Scully notices, by part three, Mulder's PTSD is worse than hers. He's not really over the guilt about losing Scully and he's apparently never going to get over losing Samantha. Then Janey dies and he just loses it. I think Tesla gets their second season dynamic down well. What is important is how the playing field gets leveled by the beginning of "The Quiet Glades of Eden." Scully is strong enough to be vulnerable. Mulder is vulnerable enough that she doesn't feel diminished by needing him. Plus the structure would be broken without the middle section.
I love the final scene, too. So emotionally resonant and really hot, too. It's perfect that Scully is the one who goes to him; that she can be that open and trusting just says so much about how she's grown, how much she's healed. Loving him and being able to acknowledge it makes it possible for him to feel whole, too. It's a win-win!
You know the writing is great when the noromo is rooting for the romance. I think it's interesting to note that all of the sex scenes are Scully POV. Has Tesla ever written a het sex scene from Mulder's POV? I must take a look at her fic. I do not know what it means but it must mean something.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-26 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-26 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-26 06:16 am (UTC)Scully falling paroxysmally in love with Mulder is okay with me. Scully convincing herself that sleeping in Mulder's bed can somehow fall within acceptable noromo practice is a problem. Oh, I'll give her the one time, but not night after night.
I loved the dialogue and I loved the sex. Mulder thinks Scully can't be in love with him because she won't acknowledge the sex. Isn't that why Scully thinks Mulder can't be in love with her? I think this kind of thing was easier to accept when the show was still going on, because you'd read about them having hot sex, and then you'd see them on the show, acting like two professionals who mostly loved and respected each other, but not romantically. That made it easier for your brain to accommodate the situation.
Why, Yes. I am being argumentative
Date: 2010-04-30 03:34 pm (UTC)Huh?
To me, this Mulder seems identical to her Mulder in Miracle, only a little younger, and a lot more vulnerable, because of the proximity to Scully's abductions. We've only seen Mulder testify twice, neither time was in a courtroom per se. The only time that seems relevant to this story is the scene in Tooms. I remember it gets brought up at the murder trial. Mulder even thinks he wasn't at his best there, although as it turns out, he was right.
I like Scully in this story much better, probably because she hasn't been literally stripped of her agency as she was in Miracle. I love that story as well, but I don't see it as exactly a courtship of equals. Scully is wearing that head to toe black sack dress and keeping her eyes cast down. I think that was a one bed scenario, with an ailing Mulder, too. Heh. Well, as you know, it is damn hard to get these two in bed together for the first time in any realistic way.
I think this story comes close. It makes no sense to me for you to say that one Scully appearance at Mulder's door is okay but three is two too many. The root cause hasn't gone away. She's still having nightmares. She still has Marti sharing her room. Plus, okay, she's in the clutches of a heated crush. She wants to be near him, she want to put her hands on him, she's fantasizing about him day and night. This is what it's like when you've fallen hard for someone. It makes sense that it only gets worse once she's had him, too, because thanks to the wonders of fanfiction, the reality is even better than she'd imagined. (Go, Tesla!)
I loved the dialogue and I loved the sex.
Her dialog sounds great. She gets the rhythms of everyday speech just right. The sex is perfect. Short, imaginative but not inconceivable. And really hot. Most sex scenes bore me, but not these.
I think this kind of thing was easier to accept when the show was still going on, because you'd read about them having hot sex, and then you'd see them on the show, acting like two professionals who mostly loved and respected each other, but not romantically. That made it easier for your brain to accommodate the situation.
I have to take your word for this since the series was long over by the time I began watching. Anyway, I only buy the romance on a case by case, fic by fic basis. In this story, I'm buying what Tesla's selling.
Re: Why, Yes. I am being argumentative
Date: 2010-04-30 07:38 pm (UTC)I was thinking of the flashback to his outburst in the trial of John Barnett (Salamander-Hand Eternal Youthman), from "Young at Heart." Granted, this outburst was said to be effective.
It makes no sense to me for you to say that one Scully appearance at Mulder's door is okay but three is two too many.
What I was trying to say was that three appearances at his door are enough that she should be aware of the appearance of the thing.
Why, Yes. I am being argumentative.
Not really, although I do tend to back off from heavy thinking.
Re: Why, Yes. I am being argumentative
Date: 2010-04-30 08:17 pm (UTC)Oh, I think she was aware of the appearance of it, I just think she was too far gone to care. Plus, denial is a girl's best friend. It's amazing the bullshit people will tell themselves when they are in love and lust.
I don't think of discussions of Mulder/Scully romance as serious but maybe I am sucking the fun out of it. Sorry. I'll try to lighten up.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 12:12 am (UTC)even with the sex, i never could completely connect it with mulder and scully - my mulder and scully. i thought it was extremely hot and well written - in fact this entire fic had a slightly sexier, sharper than usual edge to it - and i really enjoyed that edge. but for me the fic stays very compartmentalised in my mind. tesla's mulder and scully are tesla's mulder and scully. at the end of the fic, i'm going to thank her profusely and emphatically for letting me play with her wonderful toys, but i'm not going to ask to trade.
except for There Is Only Me In My Bedroom, which i love intensely, and which has really stuck with me and become absorbed into my own reading of the story/characters.
all my "ifs" and "buts" aside, i still thought this was a really good fic. probably one of the best casefile fics i've read. i also loved the untraditional structure of the story/stories beyond measure. i love that they're a triptych of fics, not really complete without each other, but not glaringly incomplete either. each third has a distinctive balance to it, as a whole, and yet all three parts fit so clearly into one big story that feels almost epic. this is yet another fic i would love to see as a movie.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-26 02:29 pm (UTC)The good thing about THIB is that it is a detailed, law-enforcement-savvy casefile which is *actually* about the Mulder and Scully relationship. Brisk business as usual with a sexy subplot. The perfect fic for me!
I suppose there are some theoretical problems. The middle part, excellent in itself, doesn't seem to advance the main plot or enlarge Mulder's comprehension of his emotional situation. One wonders why Mulder is so impervious to the notion that his partner might be in love with him. A friend pointed out that one could say the same of Scully. Why didn't *that* occur to me? Maybe because, like Tesla, I think of Mulder as a sex god. How embarrassing.
I call these problems theoretical, because they didn't bother me. I am not normally in favor of same-bed scenarios--so unrealistically contrived to one purpose--but Tesla makes hers work. I can't see Mulder as a moony, needy, self-denegrating lover or Scully with a schoolgirlish hot crush. Yet Tesla pulls both characterizations off. I think it has to do with the cool, no-nonsense presentation, the refusal to indulge in excessive interior whine. Scully gets into Mulder's bed because she's scared, they do it because he's stoned, they keep doing it because people do keep doing it, sometimes very foolishly. I bought it all.
Oddly, I thought the final scene was not all that. Of course we want the declaration of love, but the ultimate sex seemed gratuitous. Also, I don't like Scully calling Mulder "you maniac." Fussy, fussy, fussy.
Still absolutely in the top tier.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-30 05:13 am (UTC)We shall not speak of it, please.
I love this story for all of the the reasons you list. As I said upstream, you know the writing is great when the noromo is rooting for the romance.
I call these problems theoretical, because they didn't bother me. I am not normally in favor of same-bed scenarios--so unrealistically contrived to one purpose--but Tesla makes hers work. I can't see Mulder as a moony, needy, self-denegrating lover or Scully with a schoolgirlish hot crush. Yet Tesla pulls both characterizations off. I think it has to do with the cool, no-nonsense presentation, the refusal to indulge in excessive interior whine. Scully gets into Mulder's bed because she's scared, they do it because he's stoned, they keep doing it because people do keep doing it, sometimes very foolishly. I bought it all.
Me, too. Although, I was trying to figure out what those cold pills were with the codeine in them. Plus, if the murderer wants middle-class redheads with moisturized skin, why is he hanging out in strip joints and kidnapping pole dancers? I see a little problem with the profile myself, so it's a good thing they held the press conference and smoked him out. (I'm a little dubious that he'd risk Scully in that parking lot scenario. Scully thought he was full of shit, which is so like her.)
Oddly, I thought the final scene was not all that. Of course we want the declaration of love, but the ultimate sex seemed gratuitous. Also, I don't like Scully calling Mulder "you maniac." Fussy, fussy, fussy.
Humph! I loved the last scene. It would have been totally anticlimactic if they hadn't made mad, passionate love. I have no problem with Scully's use of "maniac," probably because I use the word myself. Besides, he is a maniac, an adorable, brilliant, infuriating, and sexy maniac.
Okay. I have so much more to say and I haven't even started disagreeing C's post yet. Or hlbr's.
Tomorrow.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-27 02:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-27 08:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 03:59 pm (UTC)The thing I loved best about the fic was still the writing style. It wasn't as heavy as some of the big fic writers, and it manages to be straightforward without being artificial.
I think the story fails as a casefic though. I don't remember anything about the case at all, and I didn't really like the resolution. You never find out how Mulder figures out who the killer is, or even who the killer is.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 05:38 pm (UTC)That's a good point. She could have thrown in a line or two about that at the end, when they are discussing the case. If it was a real detective story, I'm sure she would have.
Mulder doesn't figure out who the killer is; he deduces what his next move would be by the fact that the killer dumped a body for them after the press conference, where he paraded his red-haired partner in front of the multitudes. He figured out the murderer was probably watching Scully from that point on. "Mulder,you think you can stop me, you stupid cop, I'll show you. I'll take your partner next." I wasn't that convinced Mulder would risk Scully that way, and Scully wasn't either.Clearly, Tesla was.
I felt the case file worked fine for Tesla's purposes. I think the romance was the A plot and the case file the B plot.
I can take Mulder's ego in this fic because I find it very believable, and I'm not particularly bothered by Scully because it didn't seem like it was Tesla's objective to give us an insight into Scully. I think she thought it was, but this fic ended up being about Mulder and it's well written enough that I can overlook Scully.
"Mulder's ego" keeps getting mentioned. I keep going back and looking for places in the text where he seems egotistical and not finding any. He just seems like he's doing his job to me. He was put in charge of the undercover operation by Skinner, and then gets to do the profiling besides.
I think this story is about their developing relationship. Except in the middle section, we're mostly seeing Mulder through Scully's eyes, which indirectly tells you quite a bit about Scully, too. Mulder seems very depressed and preoccupied about his feelings for her all during that second section, with him convinced she can't love him. Not the way he loves her.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-30 03:52 am (UTC)Would you like to add ELS to the nomination queue?
She makes Scully weak and needy in a way that doesn't jive with me. Her contributions to the case's resolution are minimal and if these were episodes I'd have skipped them in a season rewatch. When Scully stands with the other two agents on the ski slope, listening to the wonders of Mulder's profiling skills, I nearly stopped reading. From the Pilot forward, even though Scully's marveled at his ability for mental leaps, she always manages to puncture his ballooning ego. Scully as a whimpering fangirl detracts from the story. After everything that's happened to her (even at this early canon stage), not being able to sleep with Mulder or the lights on is a bit much. I admire Scully as a strong woman and I think Mulder does too. Having her as his 'little woman' doesn't seem right.
I went back and looked for the scene you referenced. This is the only one I found, but maybe you can help me out if I'm wrong.
"He thinks of himself as a marathon runner, rather than a
sprinter; he's priding himself on his discipline and his ability
not to give into his urges. He probably has a camera and takes
pictures, or a camcorder. So he can relive it and think of ways
to perfect it. The reality is never quite what he wants, and it's
probably a lot messier, but there's nothing like the real thing.
Nothing like the look in the woman's eyes when she realizes that
you are going to kill her, and no one is going to save her." He
blinked, for a moment, and hunched his shoulders.
Scully looked at the other two. They looked stunned. Mulder
looked at their faces, and he stood up, straightening his
shoulders. He smiled faintly. "Then, again, he may not be here at
all."
I think when they are working alone, Scully is more than frank with Mulder when she doesn't agree with him. But that isn't the dynamic here, for two reasons. One, they aren't working alone, and when they are in the company of other agents, Scully is very protective of Mulder. The other reason is that she doesn't disagree with his profile or his methods here.
I also don't see any signs of excessive Mulder ego here. I mean, this is what he's really good at, right? Profiling. He didn't even want to come on the case. He did it to make Scully happy and now he's just trying to do his job.
You may be right about your just not liking the season two Mulder/Scullydynamic. I think Scully is pretty traumatized right after her abduction and Mulder is, too. I like this story acknowledging the reality of those feelings. Just because someone is strong, does it mean they aren't allowed to be vulnerable? This takes place after "Irresistible," too. More trauma.
The Mulder-moping after Janey's death does seem excessive until you think about his PTSD. It was reactivated by Scully's abduction, then the vampire chick kills herself, and whoever else dies during cases in the interim. The grad student during the volcano case. I'd have to look up all of the episodes. Mulder blames himself for everything. It's illogical but this kind of thing is hard-wired by the traumatic loss of Samantha. It's easy for me to see why Janey's death hit him so hard.
I'm glad you are going to try some of Tesla's other fics. She is a great writer. If you ship Mulder/Scully, I would warn you away from "Flight."
no subject
Date: 2010-04-30 10:36 am (UTC)I actually never realized that THIB takes place during season two. It must be stated somewhere, as everyone *else* knows it.
As I've implied before, I get all het up over splintered branches. You, on the other hand, are good at noticing the forest.
I do think that pole dancers would use lots of moisturizer. Not that I know any. (Maybe that's why they clean the pole with Windex between acts.)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-30 02:29 pm (UTC)Actually, in this story Scully mentions Mulder's PSTD as a result of her abduction. I think she says his is worse than hers, or words to that effect, so not really my idea.
This fic would make my top ten. I just think Tesla is a terrific writer. She makes it look so easy, which it really isn't. She said in her LJ that she wrote this over about 18 months, in 2002, I believe.
You, on the other hand, are good at noticing the forest.
Thank you.
Better late than never, right?
Date: 2010-04-28 11:56 am (UTC)First, I think the second part is totally unnecessary as part of this fic, and that is the best written of the three. To me it's like Tesla was trying out doing away with (some) transitions, and in the second part is were this just works. The other parts (uhm, at least the third, as I can't remember now any on the first) have some moments where the story jumps around and I suddenly don't know where I am.
Also, this time I noted the hero worship. The only thing that makes it endurable is that it's not there when it's Mulder's pov. Also, the characterizations were a bit... on the service of the (a bit contrived) plot, I guess. I don't think I'm convinced by their fights most of the time.
That said, it still works--it's very well-written.
Re: Better late than never, right?
Date: 2010-04-30 04:39 pm (UTC)First, I think the second part is totally unnecessary as part of this fic, and that is the best written of the three. To me it's like Tesla was trying out doing away with (some) transitions, and in the second part is were this just works.
In Part Two, Tesla uses a very effective framing device by telling the story partly in the courtroom, as Mulder gives his testimony, partly in real time as the events he describes are actually unfolding.
I noticed a couple of choppy passages this time through in Part Three, but partly that is because it is told from both Mulder's and Scully's points of view, which brings me to your assertion that Part Two isn't necessary. It is. Let me try to convince you. Structurally, the story comes apart without it. Part One is all from Scully's pov, A Thief's Diet is all from Mulder's, Part Three alternates between them. Without Mulder's pov on the failed, (aborted?) romance, you don't have the whole picture. Plus, sadly, I believe Mulder's depression and PTSD is what finally allows Scully to feel strong enough to show vulnerability and acknowledge her feelings to him. She comes to him out of need, and feels ashamed. But Mulder loves her and needs her, too, she just can't see it.
Besides the need for Mulder pov, worsened Mulder PTSD due to having Janey die in his arms, and showing him obsessing about loving Scully, I think Tesla also wants time to have elapsed between Parts One and Three. She puts them together, breaks them apart and then puts them back together again. I think she shows us three partnerships, in the three sections: Marti and Donald, who Scully sees as a parody of her and Mulder, Janey and Hal, who is in love with his partner, but never gets to tell her before she's murdered, and our very own Moose and Squirrel.
I think the story would feel incomplete without Part Two. I think its structure minimizes the Mulder introspective whining, while also providing further reason for him to be losing it.
As I said in the thread above this to
Like
Re: Better late than never, right?
Date: 2010-04-30 08:59 pm (UTC)I think the feeling of hero worship (and really, I didn't feel Mulder's ego was big--that made it bearable) was due to Scully doing really little on the way of investigation. She is focussed on him, as he's later focussed on her in his pov, but she does very very little (indeed, when she finds out stuff, she's being guided by him throughout the conversation). I totally get that the star profiler is him, but... it does create a story in which 1)she's focussed on how awesome he is, 2)he's acting awesome because he does his job perfectly well, 3)she can't even ski, so he helps her there too. I don't mean that it has to bother everyone, but this read, it bothered me.
It's perhaps something in the way Tesla sees/writes Scully, because this is not the only fic of hers in which it bothered me. Even though I really like how she writes in general (i.e. prose, &c).
Re: Better late than never, right?
Date: 2010-04-30 09:35 pm (UTC)Remember, in this first part, we are seeing Mulder solely through Scully's eyes. She's fallen head over heels in love with her partner, and I don't think she was planning this as part of her working vacation. Scully is nuts about him; given close enough proximity, she literally can't keep her hands off him.
Scully not even being able to ski? Well, Tesla is using the time-honored motif of portraying Scully as a fish out of water; both on the slopes and in love, she's losing her balance. I think Tesla believes that without both of them coming unglued a bit, our dynamic duo would never do the deed. Despite the feelings they share, plenty of sexual chemistry, and everything they've been through, their basic natures keep them apart. It's not just Scully who has control issues, imho.
Re: Better late than never, right?
Date: 2010-04-30 09:58 pm (UTC)Just sayin'.
I do believe that This House Is Burning is a fic masterpiece. The power balance is a little shaky, a little vulnerable, but it has been achieved.
Re: Better late than never, right?
Date: 2010-05-01 08:24 am (UTC)Yeah, you are right. Tesla loves Mulder and what? Puts up with Scully, or doesn't, I guess, depending on the fic, which breaks my heart since I love her writing. But I think there is enough push-back here to satisfy my Scullyist tendencies. Yep. This House is Burning is a fanfiction masterpiece.
I do think Scully is a harder character to write well.
sunflowerseed in the night ;)
Date: 2015-07-18 02:33 pm (UTC)I am an original baby-phile in the sense that I was 9 when I started watching the series in season 1 during its original run. I read fanfiction back in the day but never ventured away too far from casual recs and I never had a scholarly approach to this, what with life interfering and a lot of growing up I had to do and all. With the revival coming up I find myself emotionally compromised by my conspiracy and MSR obsessions and I am very thirsty for fic, so I wound up here. Thank you for this resource -it's very engaging, fun and classy, all at the same time! I love your different approaches to the discussions!
Anyway, I was seduced out of lurking because I found myself continuously questioning Tesla's background - she has done a lot of research into the investigative aspects of the work but her psychological portrayal of Mulder especially is effortless, exquisite and very professional. I agree that Scully's somewhat professionally passive attitude is bordering on OOC but Mulder is very believable from a psychological POV, which is something that does not come around often in fic and personally mesmerized me. My appraisal of the situation is that he is in his typical stress-induced tunnel thinking patterns. Mulder is someone, who has taken a path in life that is not typical for his personality. If it wasn't for trauma and personal motivation, he would have been a brilliant psychologist or literary critic or anthropologist but through a combination of life determinism and free will he has chosen a field in which he is constantly operating in stress-induced extremes. Thankfully, he is actually a lot less neurotic than most people perceive him as - he is resilient - a highly functioning member of society despite the constant challenges and traumatic events he encounters. The X Files have provided him with a way to channel his high curiosity, open nature and integrity and further develop his analytic skills. But profiling is even more intense in the way that it puts him under the strain of more time-dependent responsibility - he is the best at what he does, no one to rely on and very little time to produce a solution before another one bites the dust.
sunflowerseed in the night 2
Date: 2015-07-18 02:35 pm (UTC)As for the casefic, from a professional point of view, this profile is all over the place and inconclusive at best, contradictory at worst but I have my problems with the art of profiling anyway. It is a very controversial method and this may be coloring my judgement.
Anyway, as you said, this is a MSR story first and foremost and it was a relief to have such a skillful and sex-savvy Mulder to lust for in addition to having him psychologically believable.
Thank you for the amazing classic fics I found through this journal - keep up the good work!
Re: sunflowerseed in the night 2
Date: 2015-07-18 04:42 pm (UTC)This is thoughtful, and I do plan to respond, but I'm swamped right now with life and 201daysofxfiles and the discussion currently in progress.
If I don't get back to you, feel free to post again and remind me.
no subject
Date: 2016-11-11 01:50 am (UTC)This time my biggest frustrations were typos, wording errors, and unreliable use of tenses, which were throughout all three parts but weren't enough to seriously detract from enjoying it.
Also, hot sex in parts 1 and 3 aside, I too liked the second part best. That was great having the action unfolding both in the courtroom and in memory, and I really enjoyed the way the courtroom action went. Lots of slow tedious lawyerly interruptions 😊
no subject
Date: 2016-11-11 05:54 am (UTC)The first time I got stuck and frustrated a bit with the things others have mentioned already (Mulder is sooooo good at everything and Scully is just swooning).
Mulder is extremely competent in this fic but that doesn't bother me. He's "a great agent," and I'm quoting Scully here so it's not just my opinion. It bothers me far more to see his abilities demeaned in fanfic.
The joke is that Scully, who was dying for this free ski vacation, can't actually ski. Mulder can ski (he grew up in New England in a well-to-do family--of course, he can ski), Marti can ski, and Donald can ski. Both males feel just fine about giving Scully advice on skiing. They're...guys.
She is not swooning at the beginning. But by the time they've arrived at the resort, she's fallen in love with Mulder--fallen really hard. He's in love with her, too, although she doesn't know that. Mulder mopes and feels sorry for himself. She is the one who has to make the first move, which I love. I love these lovers who misunderstand one another type stories, particularly with these characters because they are so reticent about expressing their feelings on the series.
This time my biggest frustrations were typos, wording errors, and unreliable use of tenses, which were throughout all three parts but weren't enough to seriously detract from enjoying it.
I'm sure you're correct but I'm wondering which version you read.
I love "A Thief's Diet" so much. The way it reinforces and comments on all of the themes from the first and third sections just slays me. I believe Tesla is a lawyer. She certainly knows her way around a courtroom.
no subject
Date: 2016-11-11 06:09 pm (UTC)Also, I too like the stories where Scully makes the first move and where there are communication errors. So good! 😊
The version I read was not the journal, but her website I think