Story 242: "Skin" by Annie Sewell-Jennings

[discordantwords.livejournal.com]

I'm not much of an AU person. A lot of what drew me into the X Files was the dynamic between Mulder and Scully in their particular set of circumstances. That said, I've been hankering to revisit an AU that I remember reading and enjoying back when it was originally published. It may actually have been the first AU I ever read. I thought of it again recently and wondered how it would hold up to a reread all these years later.

"Skin" has a pretty standard set up. What if Scully caved to familial pressure and never joined the FBI? What if Mulder never reopened the X Files?

This story occasionally makes its way onto "classics" lists, although I don't see it recced as often as some other AUs. Possibly because it's very long, possibly because it's somewhat harder to find (it is not archived at Gossamer), or possibly because I've viewed it too fondly through the lens of nostalgia. The author is probably best known for "Erosion," which I have never read, but which has a reputation as one of the saddest MSR fics ever written.

This is a long one. Novel length, MSR.

SUMMARY: In a world where Mulder and Scully have never met, fate intervenes and brings two worlds colliding in the city of Charleston, as a vicious murderer reigns and a storm approaches.

Read Skin.

Comments

[femmenerd.livejournal.com]

I tried reading this a few weeks ago and didn't get more than a few chapters in, due to well, the contents of this comment! I was surprised too, since I recall liking this author's work in Buffy fandom.

The Scully name thing is a pet peeve of mine. Not directly relevant to this story, but I feel like I encounter a lot of Scully POV in which even she thinks of herself as "Scully" in her internal dialogue, which rings wrong to me. I mean, canonically everyone close to her (except for Mulder) refers to her as Dana.

And the thing with the last names is interesting on the show because it is a professional thing and a kind of distancing thing that gets re-signified in M & S's relationship as their working partnership (and their work in general) dissolves into the personal. This is less meaningful out of context!

There's also gendered stuff specific to Scully with regard to the Dana/Scully divide. Because while Mulder's preference for eschewing his first name can be read as a desire to detach himself from aspects of his past, childhood, yadayada, for Scully there is the significance of needing to assert herself as "Dr. Scully" while being petite, young, female yet QUALIFIED.

Oh dear, I'm not really talking about the fic at hand am I!

[wendelah1]

I was surprised too, since I recall liking this author's work in Buffy fandom.

She had talent. Maybe she found a beta and cleaned up her prose. Or she became better with more writing experience? My husband's comment was, "I wrote like that when I was about nineteen. I thought it was good at the time--literary even."

The Scully name thing is a pet peeve of mine. Not directly relevant to this story, but I feel like I encounter a lot of Scully POV in which even she thinks of herself as "Scully" in her internal dialogue, which rings wrong to me. I mean, canonically everyone close to her (except for Mulder) refers to her as Dana.

Exactly. It's a pet peeve of mine, too. And there are so many readers who insist on her as Scully, regardless of context, who will backclick if they so much as glimpse the name Dana. Of course she uses her first name in her own head.

And the thing with the last names is interesting on the show because it is a professional thing and a kind of distancing thing that gets re-signified in M & S's relationship as their working partnership (and their work in general) dissolves into the personal. This is less meaningful out of context!

I think Mulder does insist on the last name thing at the beginning to create professional distance with her. Because everyone from his personal life except for the Gunmen calls him by his given name. "I even made my parents call me Mulder." But we know that's not true. His parents, his sister, all of his old girlfriends--even Bambi the entomologist--all call him Fox. It's a white lie but still a lie. And he still calls her Dana whenever it suits him.

They do continue with the Mulder-Scully thing even when their relationship turns personal, from habit I assume.

There's also gendered stuff specific to Scully with regard to the Dana/Scully divide. Because while Mulder's preference for eschewing his first name can be read as a desire to detach himself from aspects of his past, childhood, yadayada, for Scully there is the significance of needing to assert herself as "Dr. Scully" while being petite, young, female yet QUALIFIED.


This, too.

[infinitlight.livejournal.com]

Calling herself "Scully" to herself always kicks me right out of the story. I've also seen fanfic writers have Mulder refer to her as Scully when addressing members of her family, which is just weird.

[wendelah1]

I've also seen fanfic writers have Mulder refer to her as Scully when addressing members of her family, which is just weird.

I know! I can't figure what they're thinking. Mulder doesn't do that in canon, for pete's sake.