The prologue is terrible. If "Skin" hadn't been posted here, I'd never get past the first paragraph.
Above the churning, steaming Atlantic, a single bolt of violent lightning flickered between two dark, malevolent clouds. Nothing more than a single bolt, one bright current of electricity and heat, simmering and sizzling against the dark cobalt sky.
I don't think she meant "steaming," unless it's the end time and God has set the ocean on fire. Is lightening ever anything but violent? An experiment: here's the same sentence minus the adjectives.
Above the Atlantic, a bolt of lightning flickered between two clouds. Nothing more than a single bolt, one current of electricity and heat, simmering and sizzling against the sky.
Isn't that more effective? She doesn't list a beta, which doesn't surprise me. I suspect there were plenty of readers who were just there for the romance. But that's not why we're here. Well. That's not why I'm here. Onward.
X-Files MSR Trope List: Because there is a list somewhere, right?
1. Mulder hates profiling. It's destroying him, just like it destroys everyone who does it. 2. Mulder has violent nightmares. 3. Mulder dreams about Scully, even though they've never met. Scully dreams about him, ditto. Weirdly, these dreams are scenes from actual episodes and also the movie, Fight the Future. 4. Scully didn't join the FBI. She's regretted it ever since. Her life is a wasteland, even though she has a beautiful house, a cat and a successful career. 5. Co-workers call her "Scully" rather than Dana. (This is always a WTF in an AU for me). 6. Scully is single. Mulder is single. Duh, Wendy. How can you have a romance if one of the parties is married or involved? 7. Scully is an Ice Queen. She also has no friends. (WTF) 8. She has red hair and blue eyes, which will be described over and over again in florid language. She has a temper. "Women like this always did." 9. Their attraction is instantaneous. 10. Mulder's eyes are intense. Also hazel. Will be described ad infinitum. See no. 8. 11. Even her "tight, professional smile" is enchanting. 12. Only Mulder can see through her persona to the real Scully. 13. Mulder wears bad ties. 14. Even with a gruesome body right in front of them, the sexual electricity is unrelenting. (This always grosses me out. It makes me certain the writer has never seen a dead body, too.) 15. Mulder is a maverick who never follows the rules. 16. Fanfic coffee is always disgusting. EDIT: Unless it's from Starbucks. 17. She calls herself "Scully." THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS PEOPLE. 18. Mulder is "a tortured FBI agent." He has panic attacks and headaches and pops pills for same.
There was nothing as comforting to Scully as the cold sterility of the medical scrubs. Their bland mint green and their uncomfortable polyester was only tolerable to the numbed and uncaring body, not to mention the fact that it put her in her place. As soon as she donned the uniform, she felt her identity and her emotions leave her body, replacing them with the cool intuition and control of a medical examiner. The uncertainty and intrigue that the FBI's earlier arrival had inspired were now banished from her body and thoughts, and all that was left was the calculating mind of the skilled pathologist.
I like this. It's over-written but I like the insight into Scully. Of course, she goes on in the same vein for two more paragraphs. Sigh.
But she interrupted the moment by turning away from him and picking up a bone saw. The whirring sound of the saw's motor effectively ruined the earlier sensuality between them, and Mulder chuckled to himself as Scully continued her autopsy.
Nothing ruined sexual tension better than the reminder of death.
AND THANK GOD FOR THAT. See above-trope 14.
"If you find anything, let me know," he said before turning his back on her and walking out of the autopsy bay.
Wait. I thought it was his job to stay during the autopsy.
"The truth is that I am required to stay for the autopsy," Mulder answered. "It's part of my job."
Oh, never mind. Of course! Mulder is a maverick who never follows the rules. Duly added to trope list.
Part 1 Chapters 1-9
The prologue is terrible. If "Skin" hadn't been posted here, I'd never get past the first paragraph.
Above the churning, steaming Atlantic, a single bolt of violent lightning flickered between two dark, malevolent clouds. Nothing more than a single bolt, one bright current of electricity and heat, simmering and sizzling against the dark cobalt sky.
I don't think she meant "steaming," unless it's the end time and God has set the ocean on fire. Is lightening ever anything but violent? An experiment: here's the same sentence minus the adjectives.
Above the Atlantic, a bolt of lightning flickered between two clouds. Nothing more than a single bolt, one current of electricity and heat, simmering and sizzling against the sky.
Isn't that more effective? She doesn't list a beta, which doesn't surprise me. I suspect there were plenty of readers who were just there for the romance. But that's not why we're here. Well. That's not why I'm here. Onward.
X-Files MSR Trope List: Because there is a list somewhere, right?
1. Mulder hates profiling. It's destroying him, just like it destroys everyone who does it.
2. Mulder has violent nightmares.
3. Mulder dreams about Scully, even though they've never met. Scully dreams about him, ditto. Weirdly, these dreams are scenes from actual episodes and also the movie, Fight the Future.
4. Scully didn't join the FBI. She's regretted it ever since. Her life is a wasteland, even though she has a beautiful house, a cat and a successful career.
5. Co-workers call her "Scully" rather than Dana. (This is always a WTF in an AU for me).
6. Scully is single. Mulder is single. Duh, Wendy. How can you have a romance if one of the parties is married or involved?
7. Scully is an Ice Queen. She also has no friends. (WTF)
8. She has red hair and blue eyes, which will be described over and over again in florid language. She has a temper. "Women like this always did."
9. Their attraction is instantaneous.
10. Mulder's eyes are intense. Also hazel. Will be described ad infinitum. See no. 8.
11. Even her "tight, professional smile" is enchanting.
12. Only Mulder can see through her persona to the real Scully.
13. Mulder wears bad ties.
14. Even with a gruesome body right in front of them, the sexual electricity is unrelenting. (This always grosses me out. It makes me certain the writer has never seen a dead body, too.)
15. Mulder is a maverick who never follows the rules.
16. Fanfic coffee is always disgusting. EDIT: Unless it's from Starbucks.
17. She calls herself "Scully." THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS PEOPLE.
18. Mulder is "a tortured FBI agent." He has panic attacks and headaches and pops pills for same.
There was nothing as comforting to Scully as the cold sterility of the medical scrubs. Their bland mint green and their uncomfortable polyester was only tolerable to the numbed and uncaring body, not to mention the fact that it put her in her place. As soon as she donned the uniform, she felt her identity and her emotions leave her body, replacing them with the cool intuition and control of a medical examiner. The uncertainty and intrigue that the FBI's earlier arrival had inspired were now banished from her body and thoughts, and all that was left was the calculating mind of the skilled pathologist.
I like this. It's over-written but I like the insight into Scully. Of course, she goes on in the same vein for two more paragraphs. Sigh.
But she interrupted the moment by turning away from him and picking up a bone saw. The whirring sound of the saw's motor effectively ruined the earlier sensuality between them, and Mulder chuckled to himself as Scully continued her autopsy.
Nothing ruined sexual tension better than the reminder of death.
AND THANK GOD FOR THAT. See above-trope 14.
"If you find anything, let me know," he said before turning his back on her and walking out of the autopsy bay.
Wait. I thought it was his job to stay during the autopsy.
"The truth is that I am required to stay for the autopsy," Mulder answered. "It's part of my job."
Oh, never mind. Of course! Mulder is a maverick who never follows the rules. Duly added to trope list.