Story 116: "Ceremony" by Darwin

[wendelah1]

There is still plenty of time to read and comment on the "In Dreams" trilogy.

I first heard of "Ceremony" at the late lamented fictalk, where it was posted for discussion as a one-hit wonder, which it isn't really, since the writer wrote two other fine stories. You can find them at her author's page at Gossamer. As a post-ep for Orison, this story deals with its emotional fall-out in a realistic and moving way. However, what is most memorable to me about "Ceremony" is its depiction of adult sexuality as both carnal and transcendent.

As always, please send feedback to the writer, then let us know what you think. Suggestions for next time can be left at the nomination post.

"Ceremony"

Comments

[snoopdawg.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this fic, and tried to send a feedback email to the author, but the email was returned to me. :(

However, what is most memorable to me about "Ceremony" is its depiction of adult sexuality as both carnal and transcendent.
This is EXACTLY it. The sexy parts were both primal and loving, and I found it touching in a way I can't quite describe.

all is pure with a bright sense of relief / i can trust you love, if you can trust me

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

A relevant bit of personal exposition: I'm an extremely compartmentalized person. For me, lust and love just...don't mix. They are kept in different spheres of my brain, and overlap very little, if at all. They discourage each other - oil and water. Or, more accurately, fire and and an air-tight encasement.

Which is why, for me, Ceremony is not only beautifully written in an objective sense, but also a favorite fic of mine on a very personal level. Because I can honestly say this is the only fic -- out of almost a thousand -- in which love and lust are unified, and one does not prevent the other from seeming genuine, or detract from the full effect. In this fic, love and lust are unified. They encompass each other, and they actually serve to stabilize each other.

Even in fics like (let's be gratuitous here) Parabiosis (which I literally could not love more), I wind up feeling the lust shift, either becoming or making way for Love - a kind of intimacy so elemental that things like prurience or even the separateness of two identities becomes a valid but often extraneous factor. Or in something like Iolokus (more gratuitous fic referencing), where the level of lust is very high, I feel that the love the characters have for each other (if they do indeed love each other, which is entirely debatable in a fic like Iolokus) is supplanted, converted, prevented. The instability of the characters feeds their lust, and their lust perpetuates their instability - preventing them from being able to truly love each other.

Whether this either/or dilemma -- either lust or love -- is a personal dilemma, or one shared by many other readers, the fact remains that somehow, Ceremony gets around it. As wendelah1 says in her description of the fic: Ceremony depicts sexuality as both carnal and transcendent. In and of itself, the sexuality is depicted as no less volatile and consuming than it has ever been; yet it is not detrimental to the intimacy between the characters.

I think much of what this unique dynamic comes down to is that sex, like many other things, is a kind of conflict. Eighth-grade English teaches us that there are several different sorts of conflict. The most basic types being man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, and man.vs himself. Typically, sex as it is written, contains elements of all these forms of conflict. But in the case of Ceremony, the "man vs. man" conflict is distinctly absent. Mulder and Scully are unified by their sexual desire for each other, and by the way they relate sexually to each other. Where fictional sex typically relies on the uncertainty and vulnerability of the characters towards each other in order to stoke the fires of passion, Ceremony does not. Yet neither does Ceremony act as if the resolution of that man vs. man conflict was the single crowning victory on the road to the characters' resolution of themselves. All of the other forms of conflict are still strongly present - focal, even. Darwin actually uses Mulder and Scully's lack of conflict with each other to emphasize the inherent conflict between them and...pretty much everything else in their world. Therefore, "the fires of passion" are not abated by Mulder and Scully's intimacy, but rather stoked - simply in a much more natural, intimate, and much less melodramatic way than one is accustomed to if one is accustomed to smut stories.

[sangria-lila.livejournal.com]

I love Ceremony for all the reasons mentioned. Aside from the writing being loose in some places, it's possibly my favorite smut piece of all time.

[enj412.livejournal.com]

I agree with the majority of comments so far. "Ceremony" is an intense, yet very enjoyable read. I think the best part of it for me is how it depicts the realness (is that a word?) of the MSR. These are complicated people that fell in love despite themselves and, in doing so, have found their equal and "soul mate." The sex between them is raw and true to life. These are two individuals that trust each other implicitly, so that certainly translates to their sex life. "Ceremony" does a great job of exploring these issues and showcasing the beauty that is their relationship. I definitely recommend it.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

I've always thought that "Ceremony" is one of the great pieces of raw erotica in our ficdom. And it deals touchingly and truthfully with a subject that, in an era of bdsm and three-ways, is one of the last unmentionables.

I do think, after the reread, that it's overwritten in places and could maybe have used a slow, cool beta. Call me petty, but a line like "the crisp, dry wine, the tang of garlic" signals the kind of easy romantic hustle that I personally dislike.

But the good *far* outweighs the second-rate. And there's so much to enjoy that it may be a mistake even to try to read critically. Sort of like doing a commentary on the sex act itself.

[bachlava.livejournal.com]

In general I quite like "Ceremony," despite some of the problems noted above (i.e., some points are a bit flowery or overly romantic). For me, these are relatively small issues in a terrific fic. It really rings true to me that Scully would have to find new ways to be comfortable in her own skin, as it were, after the cancer and barrenness and virus exposure. Darwin, I think, does a fairly skillful job of building this up subtly and avoiding making Scully seem like she's having a second adolescence. I also give her credit for having Scully wish in an almost abstract way that she and Mulder had gotten together earlier while realizing that there were good reasons that the reality was different. It may just be that angsting over lost time/"Oh, what fools we've been" tends to annoy me, but I like this method handling the issue.

There are lots of little high points that also work well for me. Mulder being a bit of an exhibitionist? 100%. His way of coaxing Scully around to his point of view? 100%. Scully's use of "pocket shape-shifter"? Best slang term ever. And, of course, Mulder would try to pretend he has plenty of sheets.

One thing does nag at me, though: am I reading wrong, or do they drive all the way into Amish country and then back to Mulder's apartment? That seems time-consuming and unnecessary, especially given how much time those two spend in the car anyway. Okay, another thing nags at me: in the sex-bent-over-the-desk reminiscence, Mulder has his hands on Scully's shoulders. Given their absolute and relative heights and the height of the desk (why yes, I have spent too much time watching this show)... it's anatomically possible, yes, but the mental image I'm getting is of an awkward and rather uncomfortable position. Or maybe I'm just nitpicking...


Edited because clarity is our friend.

[maybe-amanda.livejournal.com]

I don't have a lot to add. I like this story. I like what the author is trying to do with it. I like the way Mulder and Scully both seem like actual real adults actually really in love.

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

All the lovely things about trust and sex and love and lust encompassed in this fic have already been mentioned. I love the title, the concept of sexuality and intimacy as ceremony/sacred.

Another thing I really loved in this fic was Scully reflecting on getting her period, and experiencing the sadness of loss despite knowing she is barren. That longing and hope and feeling of ripe possibility (and of course the explicitly mentioned semen deposited on her cervix so many times in her last cycle) are so real and make so much sense. The realization that this would be the worst time to conceive children, on the eve of an apocalypse, coupled with her intense longing despite her rational thought on the subject (and the readers knowledge that canon does indeed have her become miraculously pregnant)... Gah, it just gets me. Or maybe I just get it?

Great fic!