Story 14: "Blood and Breath" by RivkaT

[wendelah1]

This week's choice is mine. I decided to look through the spoiler category in Gossamer for Gethsemane. I felt there had to be another, more satisfying take on the episode. Look what I found! "Blood and Breath" is by one of my favorite writers, rivkat . I love the way she sees Scully and this is a very Scully-centric piece. Like "Primal Sympathy," it was posted in 1997 during the hiatus, but it is a very different approach to the cliff-hanger at the end of Gethsemane.

Here is what the author had to say about the work:
Classification: XAR
Rating: R for violence and sexual situations
Summary: Post-Gethsemane, and major changes are afoot. If there's a genre you don't like (and I think you know what I mean), stay away.

There are spoilers in the comment thread.

Let us know what you think; let the author know what you think; and please, let us know your suggestions for next time. I promise we will get back to the queue in a couple of weeks.
"Blood and Breath"

Comments

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

First of all, I want to say that picking a story for comparative purposes was a really good idea on your part. I love compare and contrast. So, let me begin. I'm in the mood to start with a line-by-line commentary, so that's what you'll get...

She dropped them to the floor and left them where they fell, leaning against each other like tired soldiers.

From this point, second paragraph, you know it's going to be a good story. Closely observed, with the sort of detail that tells us something about the character in question. Scully herself is a tired soldier.

Worthless, faithless, betraying bitch. Feckless, weak, hostile and strange. Nasty, brutish and short.

And from here, fourth paragraph, you know that it's a rivkat story. Dark, troubled, self-hating characters. I know this sort of characterization is not to everyone's taste, but it works for me.

I also love the dark humor in the piece. Passages like: The funeral had been the most tasteful event Fox Mulder had ever been at the center of. And: So, basically, Phoebe thought that Mulder was dead because she hadn't been willing to fuck him. Classic stuff.

His arms went around her, slowly, gingerly. His hands were so large; he could break her neck with two fingers. Perhaps he should.

This is rivkat's way of putting us, the readers, into a romantic mood. I sense sex just around the corner. And yes, I have a sneaking fondness for the whole Skinner-and-Scully-get-together-when-Mulder-is-gone genre. It's about the only way that I can see it happening, really.

Skinner wanted her. Or wanted to protect her and his body had confused that with a different kind of wanting. Wanted to save her, because, maybe, he hadn't saved someone else, a long time ago.

This is a really good throwaway observation about Skinner's past. Astute, and it does make me wonder.

And then Mulder turns up at Scully's apartment whilst Skinner and Scully are still in their post-coital state. Figures.

"Well enough for consensual sex, apparently. Or is this just part of the FBI counseling package? Grief therapy, sexual surrogacy, it's pretty much the same thing, right? I should count myself lucky that Scully's not--" he broke off, horrified at his own words. Skinner, who'd moved toward him with the apparent intent of inflicting violence on him, stopped and let Mulder's guilt do the work.

Alpha-male posturing, check.

"Dammit, Mulder, why do we always have to lie to each other? We lie all the time. How can we do that when we're supposed to be searching for the truth?"

Very good point. I love writing like this because it always gives me new insights into the show.

"She just doesn't have it in her. Not now, maybe not ever. She--she can only let you far enough in that you know what you're missing."

An interesting characterization. In a way it reminds me of a milder version of Tesla's "Flying Under the Radar" or of "Misogyny" by Pares. That idea of Scully as essentially empty in some way. I won't say that I think it's correct, but it definitely is an interesting effect in fic.

She was not the kind of person who could change just because she was dying. The cancer hadn't returned her faith, and it couldn't alter what was fundamental about her. She was rigid, she knew. Uncompromising, judgmental, and often hostile. The only way she knew how to show strength was to fortify her walls against the world, against Mulder.

And this elaborates on that idea a little bit. But not in an unsympathetic way. It just strikes me as realistic.

Now we come to the plotty bit. I am summoning up all the strength I can in order to care about the plotty bit. The not caring is my fault, though, and not Rivka's.

[continued]

[wendelah1]

"She just doesn't have it in her. Not now, maybe not ever. She--she can only let you far enough in that you know what you're missing."

An interesting characterization. In a way it reminds me of a milder version of Tesla's "Flying Under the Radar" or of "Misogyny" by Pares. That idea of Scully as essentially empty in some way. I won't say that I think it's correct, but it definitely is an interesting effect in fic.

Well, you already know how much I hated "Flying Under the Radar." I thought that was a nasty, mean-spirited story with a obvious MarySue standing in for the author (sorry, tesla321 I love you but that story really ticked me off).

Remember, this is Mulder's version of Scully, not necessarily rivkat's version. I read this as saying that at the beginning of the story, Scully is very guarded with her emotions, which indeed she is in the series. She is even more guarded perhaps because of her struggle with her disease and with the loss of control that her abduction and its aftermath have cost her. I don't get where you see this as implying she is empty or lacking in some way. She is who she is. Perhaps Mulder is just being a little pissy about finding her in bed with Skinner. He thinks she can't let him in. But Scully has made a conscious decision to keep him at arm's length, hasn't she? Maybe Mulder (who would be a classic unreliable narrator if ever there was one) just doesn't want to face that.

I can give you bits of the story to back that up, but I probably should go read it first.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

It was indeed a mean-spirited story. I'm not saying that I agree with the portrayal, or that Mulder agrees with it. Just that I saw some similarities in that comment to the idea that Scully has been so broken by events that she just can't reach out or connect with people emotionally. That there is some spark missing.

Needless to say, this story proves that Mulder's statement is not correct. And that's as it should be.