Story 120: "A Bitter Taste on the Tongue" by Jane Mortimer

[wendelah1]

I thought it might be fun to read more "first-time" stories. During last week's discussion of "On a Star-Spangled Night," the subject of Mulder's behavior towards Scully came up. One person even called his actions "predatory." Another member commented that she'd rather read depressing sex stories than fluff. I think "A Bitter Taste on the Tongue" fits the bill nicely. This is not my favorite first-time story, but it comes close. It is very hot and very dark, and since Mortimer is such a great writer, for me at least, it was surprisingly convincing.

Warnings: if you think you might need one, pm me, please.

You can read "A Bitter Taste on the Tongue" at Fugues Fiction Archive.

You can also read it via the Wayback Machine here.

Please us know what you think, and leave your suggestions at the nomination post.

Comments

[sixpences.livejournal.com]

I can't really make a better comment on this fic than what amyhit has already said, so yeah, that^. It is both gorgeously written and thoroughly disturbing.

I did find, however, that my suspension of disbelief wavered a bit around Mulder being so thoroughly convinced that Scully was actually his enemy. It was a very wise decision on the author's part to leave this part mostly up to our imaginations, but I do struggle to think of anything that would make him completely lose his trust in her the way he has here- something that would make him doubt her, okay, but this scenario is just so extreme that it was a little hard to swallow.

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

this is a great point, and i absolutely agree. i swallowed the premise, but only because i wanted to see where this fic was taking me. and yeah, the fact that i wanted to follow this fic to The Dark Place is a testament to how good the writing is, but umtimately there was still a big part of my brain hanging back, going, "wait now, hold on a minute? Mulder, what proof do you actually have? and wouldn't you be thinking you were being played by the guys who are making you think scully's playing you, rather than played by scully herself?" Mortimer does try to power through that train of thought with this fairly blunt statement:

If he hadn’t seen the evidence for himself, if he hadn’t heard it, he never would have believed it.

and it does help me to suspend my disbelief quite a bit, but i didn't feel like it was nearly enough. then again, i think part of what makes Jane's fic so well written is that she seems to have recognized that if her readers are were going to buy this premise it was going to be because they had too little information and she was making them feel like they had too much - not the other way around (we're much like Mulder himself, in that way - and in a lot of ways - during the reading of this fic).

also, i keep having to remind myself that this fic was written before S3 had even began - at least i think that's what the A/N imply. the level of untouchability and, well, virtue that was later built up aroud mulder and scully and their relationship had only begun to be established at that point, so suggesting something like this about them was probably a much different undertaking.

[wendelah1]

I did find, however, that my suspension of disbelief wavered a bit around Mulder being so thoroughly convinced that Scully was actually his enemy. It was a very wise decision on the author's part to leave this part mostly up to our imaginations, but I do struggle to think of anything that would make him completely lose his trust in her the way he has here- something that would make him doubt her, okay, but this scenario is just so extreme that it was a little hard to swallow.

I think if you can't accept the basic premise of the story then, well, it isn't going to work for you.

I don't think we are supposed to try to imagine what the evidence was--obviously it was fabricated--we are only supposed to believe that Mulder believed.

What is disturbing to me is that even if he did believe Scully was his enemy, would he then be able to justify his abusive treatment of her, his stated intent to ignore her reservations.

At least for the purpose of this story, Mortimer convinces me he would, just as she convinces me in The Sin Eater that Mulder would sell himself out for the chance of saving Scully's life--in another universe.

In that story, the spiritual redemption is real. In this one, it's an illusion.

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

obviously it was fabricated

i'm actually a little confused about this. i would have thought it was fabricated too. except that Mortimer says in her A/N: This fragment also inspired a more coherent view of the same issue -- the story "Betrayal," by Laura Anne Gilman. that's got me wondering. i read Betrayal (didn't care for it, myself) and in Betrayal, Scully actually is working for/with the other side, though to protect Mulder rather than to bring him down. Mortimer's words: "a more coherent view of the same issue" are what have been confusing me a bit. that makes it sound as if maybe Scully really was - in Mortimer's fic - working with the other side in some way, and for whatever reason.

it also sounds, in the A/N, as if this fic was originally a fragment of something that may have been intended for a larger whole. which would explain quite a lot, i think.