Story 112: "This House is Burning" by Tesla

[wendelah1]

"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 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 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.

Comments

[wendelah1]

I'm glad you enjoyed this the second time around. I have it printed out and sitting at my bedside for fanfic emergencies so I have read it many times with pleasure.

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. estella_c was a book reviewer and is the second pickiest beta I've ever had (tree is number one) and she wasn't complaining about grammar issues, and she wouldn't hesitate, believe me. counterphobe is more polite but she used to edit books for a living and she had no complaints either.

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.

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

To be clear, I have no issue with Mulder being portrayed as very competent as he clearly is in canon. I think during my first read I had a harder time swallowing Scully's sudden utter swoon for him. My second reading I realized it was early seasons (more when I could imagine her swooning for him) and it all came together for me. Yes, of course Scully can't ski! The navy doesn't exactly pay a lot for a man with a family of 4 kids, and they weren't likely to be living far from the coast in a mountainous ski area. That part I bought perfectly.

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