Rerun: "How to Fake an Orgasm" by V. Salmone

[wendelah1]

Being in the mood for something light and fluffy, I thought it might be fun to reread "How to Fake an Orgasm" by V.Salmone aka Punk and Sab. We last visited this fic in 2008.

How to Fake an Orgasm (23755 words) by Punk, Sab
Chapters: 11/11
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully, Fox Mulder/Original Female Character
Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Original Female Character
Additional Tags: First Time, V. Salmone, Co-Written, punkensab, POV Alternating, Thanksgiving, Case Fic
Summary:

Mulder, Scully, and the other woman.

Written as V. Salmone.

I'm linking to the post at Archive of Our Own, but the story is at Gossamer under Salmone, V. if you prefer text files. It's easy to hit that kudos button, but you can leave a comment, too.

This is kind of a crazy week for me, but I'll get back to the nomination queue for next time, I promise.

Read How to Fake an Orgasm.

Comments

[wendelah1]

You are welcome! I'm so happy you enjoyed it as much as I did. I'm really curious to see what this story's reception will be this time around.

I'm not usually too keen on Mulder with any other girl, but this was light and funny and enjoyable, with just the right ending. Sue was likable! So much so that I felt a little annoyed and embarrassed for Scully there for a bit during her flirtatious displays of jealousy. And of course, sad for Sue knowing she never had a chance in the end. I could go on and on analyzing the relationshippy bits of this and all of Mulder's complexities but this piece left me feeling light and not really in the mood for all that.

This Mulder/Other story was unique in that it didn't portray Sue as a victim or as clueless. I didn't feel bad for her at all. She got to have fun with him. She got to have a lot of great sex. She asked him for more. He said, no I can't do that, and she dumped him flat on his ass, which was rather satisfying. See, I always thought Mulder would make a terrible boyfriend (I've even written unposted meta about it) and I think this story demonstrates why. He's too obsessed with his work, for one thing. And then there's Scully, who is there all of the time and essential to his work and willing to put up with shit that no normal woman should have to because she understands who he is and loves him anyway.

There was another Mulder/other story, Blair Provence's "Banging Your Head Against a Red-Haired Brick Wall," where the POV character spends a lot of time planning her wedding to Mulder and pining after him and wondering why he isn't like a normal boyfriend. She really doesn't get him, and she suffers for her unwillingness to see what's truly going on. I think that's not an uncommon way for someone who is more in love than their romantic partner to act, but it's also kind of icky to watch and just not a nice thing to inflict on your own character. I like how Punk and Sab handled their Other Woman characterization much better. Sue had spunk. I like spunk.

Weirdly, I think Scully was probably the most OOC in this fic. Because I don't think her reaction to Mulder dating another woman would be to get flirty-jealous. Jealous, yes. Scully is just as territorial toward Mulder as he is toward her. But I think she'd be more likely to brood about it in private than to do something as openly emotional as flirting. She'd brood and write another journal article and just keep showing up, doing her job. But I ENJOYED THIS MORE. I think it made for a better story in terms of balance. If this Scully behaved like Canon!Scully, they'd still be platonic partners because Mulder wouldn't have had any reason to come back and confront Scully with her flirty behavior. Because Mulder flirts with Scully. A lot. But when has Scully ever flirted with him, before the seventh season. Rumor has it there was flirting in the seventh season. I didn't see it, but that's why I'm a noromo. I never really see it...

[rainatlas.livejournal.com]

Yes, I absolutely agree that Scully was the most out of character in this fic, for all the reasons you brought up. It's also why it felt so awkward throughout her displays of flirty-jealousy. I do think at this point in their partnership she would be a little incredulous as to Mulder's dating behavior and subsequent happiness in his relationship with Sue, and that would certainly change her behavior towards him, though not her personality in the way we've seen in this fic. Like you said, Jealous, yes, flirty, no. But I think regardless of Scully's behavior, Mulder would have figured out that Sue wasn't for him, and Scully is the one who is, as you so perfectly described, "there all of the time and essential to his work and willing to put up with shit that no normal woman should have to because she understands who he is and loves him anyway." He already knows this. Going through the dating motions would have put this in perspective for him.

And yeah, Mulder probably would make the worst boyfriend in history. As for the flirting? It may not be the traditional version of flirting (though I can think of a few instances... "Maybe if it starts raining sleeping bags, you'll get lucky.") Scully's style is subtle, understated. Indirect, emotional. But it's been there from the beginning, because even when she's teasing him, mothering him, challenging his beliefs, she's proving her dedication and affection for him. She's flirting in the only way that makes sense for her personality. By season seven she's allowing herself to be more playful and open and we, like Mulder, can recognize that more readily because it's more of the sexual type of flirtation (on top of the emotional stuff).

I generally prefer fic that is believable as potential canon, or at least in the realm of possibility. A season six Mulder's dating frenzy and a Scully in jealous flirtation mode doesn't quite fit that profile, though I still felt this was an enjoyable and recommended read.

[wendelah1]

I generally prefer fic that is believable as potential canon, or at least in the realm of possibility. A season six Mulder's dating frenzy and a Scully in jealous flirtation mode doesn't quite fit that profile, though I still felt this was an enjoyable and recommended read.

I understand. I love canon-compliant fic myself, like gen post-eps, gen casefiles and gen AUs that change one element and go on from there. But I'm always up for a well-told story. And I guess the realm of possibility for enjoyable fanfiction expands exponentially with great writing. The quality of the writing trumps everything for me, and allows me to suspend disbelief for the duration of the tale. I think that's true for the series, too, maybe for all of the television I watch. It's not until afterward, when I start to analyze that I begin to question.

But what I want to analyze next is how they did it. Why specifically did this story work for me when others didn't. The structure of the story helps. I'm particularly charmed by the way the glass-blowing is handled. It seems at first like a trifle of a detail, then quickly it's a symbol of everything about Sue that jolts Mulder out of his serial dating and into a real relationship, and finally it's a symbol of their failed relationship when she hands him the glass ashtray she's made for him and dumps him, in one fell swoop. But I think that what's most convincing is Susan herself. Her attractiveness and charm and emotional openness pull the reader into the story. She's a fully realized original character, not just a third wheel, and not merely a plot device to make Scully jealous and flirt, and think about what she has with Mulder, and what she could have with him, although Sue serves that function, too. We don't see many original characters that are this well-developed in fanfiction. It's not that fanfic writers don't have the talent, although that is true in many cases, but most often they don't have the interest and they don't perceive the need.

And sometimes they simply miscalculate and create a character that doesn't work. I think the character of Jack Wickham in Scarlet Baldy and Aloysia Virgata's The Common Fate of All Things Rare is a good example of that. He's an aggressive, abrasive police detective who gets turned in too short an order into someone M&S can work with. With even less transition, he gets cast as a romantic partner for Scully. It throws the balance of the story off and it never rights itself again.

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

Um hello? Did you see Scully being wine and cheese into Mulder's hotel room in the episode in Florida, and he goes running off? Yeah, she flirts on occasion too, he's just obvious about it. I'm not a noromo but I do generally prefer UST to anything else!