In bed, most nights, she slaps at his hands and it hurts. And so he keeps his hands to himself, and in his sexual fantasies she looks like she used to look in DC, short hair and smart suits and all.
People have picked this line out as being creepy, and I can see what you guys are saying and why, but I disagree with how you’re reading it. I don’t think the implication is that Mulder is doing anything inappropriate. I think the implication is that when he shows interest in physical affection, she blatantly refuses. I don’t think she’s slapping him away because he’s pushing her. They’re in a long-term sexual relationship; in such a relationship it’s not unusual for one person to turn to the other in bed and make the moves to start something, or even just cozy up. Mulder does that and Scully refuses him one night; he accepts her refusal, but tries again the next night, at which point she refuses him again. He keeps trying, and she keeps refusing. Maybe the writing could have been a little clearer about that, but personally I didn’t have to strain to presume that’s what was meant. She’s slapping him away because she can’t bear for him to touch her, and she can’t bear to talk about it, and he can’t bear to confront her about it. And, in fact, there’s really nothing for them to say. There’s nothing Mulder can say to make the people stop turning to corpses under Scully’s hands, or to erase the thousands(?) who’ve already done so, and there’s nothing Scully can say to Mulder to make the changes in her disappear.
It’s painful and it’s not how I like to imagine Mulder and Scully’s relationship, but actually the sad state of their relationship is another one of the things I find distinctive and remarkable about this fic. Nobody wants to think of Mulder and Scully this way, but I think Teanna does an admirable job of writing them in a state of disintegration and doing it believably. They’re not bright and sharp and full of cruel edges like in Iolokus (a much more entertaining example of deliberate character disintegration); in ITB they’re simply depleted beyond their capacity to bear it. Neither of them have much generosity of spirit left, yet they’re still trying – even without hope they’re trying – to do their best and to give what they can.
And then there’s Doggett. Wendy pointed out that he is quite different from canon Doggett. I agree that he comes across as being much changed from how he appears in canon, but I think it’s a fascinating decision to write him that way, and I approve very much. The way I see it, Doggett’s character very effectively demonstrates the way the circumstances of the fic has warped everyone. How much do we know about Doggett in canon? His son disappeared and his life fell apart, we know that. Doggett is every inch the law-enforcement professional when he’s certain of his role. But if the world ended and he no longer had a role to speak of – just a gun and a sense of meaningless loss – who knows how he would respond? Who knows how anyone would behave in an apocalypse, without no way to escape from pervasive disorder, grief, and fear of death?
he thinks that maybe Doggett raped and murdered Marla Hemmings and Laura Burchhardt. Maybe Lance Aldrin was innocent.
Maybe even those kids down in Talla, maybe even them. And Mulder gave them Doggett.
I don’t think the implication in ITB was that Doggett actually did all of those things. I think he’s telling the truth when he says he didn’t. (I’ve always thought that Doggett was probably searching the packs of wolflings because it was the only way left to him to search for his son.) What I honestly think Teanna was doing with Doggett’s character is giving us a way to see the effect the apocalypse has had on civilization, on people and relationships. Because Doggett – who is a bit unhinged, but essentially still the character who in other circumstances would have made a loyal partner to Scully – could have done those things, and in the world they all live in, they have to be on guard against every bleak and gruesome possibility. In the absence of civilization, nobody gets the benefit of the doubt. Everyone is dangerous, especially the people who manage to be in charge of anything.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2012-08-23 11:08 pm (UTC)In bed, most nights, she slaps at his hands and it hurts. And so
he keeps his hands to himself, and in his sexual fantasies she
looks like she used to look in DC, short hair and smart suits and
all.
People have picked this line out as being creepy, and I can see what you guys are saying and why, but I disagree with how you’re reading it. I don’t think the implication is that Mulder is doing anything inappropriate. I think the implication is that when he shows interest in physical affection, she blatantly refuses. I don’t think she’s slapping him away because he’s pushing her. They’re in a long-term sexual relationship; in such a relationship it’s not unusual for one person to turn to the other in bed and make the moves to start something, or even just cozy up. Mulder does that and Scully refuses him one night; he accepts her refusal, but tries again the next night, at which point she refuses him again. He keeps trying, and she keeps refusing. Maybe the writing could have been a little clearer about that, but personally I didn’t have to strain to presume that’s what was meant. She’s slapping him away because she can’t bear for him to touch her, and she can’t bear to talk about it, and he can’t bear to confront her about it. And, in fact, there’s really nothing for them to say. There’s nothing Mulder can say to make the people stop turning to corpses under Scully’s hands, or to erase the thousands(?) who’ve already done so, and there’s nothing Scully can say to Mulder to make the changes in her disappear.
It’s painful and it’s not how I like to imagine Mulder and Scully’s relationship, but actually the sad state of their relationship is another one of the things I find distinctive and remarkable about this fic. Nobody wants to think of Mulder and Scully this way, but I think Teanna does an admirable job of writing them in a state of disintegration and doing it believably. They’re not bright and sharp and full of cruel edges like in Iolokus (a much more entertaining example of deliberate character disintegration); in ITB they’re simply depleted beyond their capacity to bear it. Neither of them have much generosity of spirit left, yet they’re still trying – even without hope they’re trying – to do their best and to give what they can.
And then there’s Doggett. Wendy pointed out that he is quite different from canon Doggett. I agree that he comes across as being much changed from how he appears in canon, but I think it’s a fascinating decision to write him that way, and I approve very much. The way I see it, Doggett’s character very effectively demonstrates the way the circumstances of the fic has warped everyone. How much do we know about Doggett in canon? His son disappeared and his life fell apart, we know that. Doggett is every inch the law-enforcement professional when he’s certain of his role. But if the world ended and he no longer had a role to speak of – just a gun and a sense of meaningless loss – who knows how he would respond? Who knows how anyone would behave in an apocalypse, without no way to escape from pervasive disorder, grief, and fear of death?
he thinks that maybe Doggett raped and murdered Marla Hemmings and
Laura Burchhardt. Maybe Lance Aldrin was innocent.
Maybe even those kids down in Talla, maybe even them. And Mulder
gave them Doggett.
I don’t think the implication in ITB was that Doggett actually did all of those things. I think he’s telling the truth when he says he didn’t. (I’ve always thought that Doggett was probably searching the packs of wolflings because it was the only way left to him to search for his son.) What I honestly think Teanna was doing with Doggett’s character is giving us a way to see the effect the apocalypse has had on civilization, on people and relationships. Because Doggett – who is a bit unhinged, but essentially still the character who in other circumstances would have made a loyal partner to Scully – could have done those things, and in the world they all live in, they have to be on guard against every bleak and gruesome possibility. In the absence of civilization, nobody gets the benefit of the doubt. Everyone is dangerous, especially the people who manage to be in charge of anything.