Story 82: "The Sin Eater" by Jane Mortimer

[wendelah1]

Last month, when I was going through the past recs for The X-Files at crack_van in preparation for my turn "driving the van," I was startled to realize that "The Sin Eater" was not on the list. As good as it is, and often as it has been recced elsewhere, I would have thought that everyone would have read it by now, but then a friend, who has been in the

Comments

[wendelah1]

You don't miss much, do you, she says, mentally striking "deepening kisses" and "turning white from fear" from her cliché repertoire. I didn't even notice Scully turning white and wasn't personally bothered by the romance novel language for french kissing. (Ick?) Like you, I was quite happy to have the sex happen off stage. I don't need or even want explicit descriptions of sex acts in a story like this. (This is why I vastly prefer to read gen to PG-13 fic in all fandoms. It is also helps explain why I am not a shipper or a slasher, in any fandom.)

"The Other Man" is a great example of just what this fic has achieved. It reminds me a little bit of (and may have influenced) Julie Fortune's (much later) "The Ghost of You" in the way time gets folded back to save Scully. In that fic, Romance is more overtly the point, though, not sacrifice. This story does fall into a pretty narrow category, doesn't it? I will have to think more about this. You know, I think we get a hint of this Mulder in Kel's "The Beginner's Guide to Tightrope Walking." He's not quite there yet but there is that same level of desperation, of determination and certainly of danger, arising out of his need to save Scully from the chip. (Of course, we know she never read this fic.)But it's filtered completely differently because of being told from Jerry Luskin's POV. God, I love that character.

I love Jess M., too, and forgive her spelling lapse. Krycek must be really hard to spell.

[estella_c]

Not to turn the dead horse into glue, but it's not the "turning white" that jars, but the fact that *Scully is thinking it about herself.* Other people notice us turning pale. We feel dizzy.

This reminds me of a really bad fic in which Scully referred to her own "titian hair." Like maybe she messed around with beautician school before choosing a medical specialty. And then wasted it by going into the FBI. (No wonder she was so convincing in--what?--that undercover thing where Mulder is working construction.)

But really, considering the high finish of this story, the lapses are extremely minor. Just an example of why geniuses still need editors. So bitches like yours truly will keep their mouths shut.

[estella_c]

Oh--Lakers' victory. The Pgh Pens just won the Stanley Cup!! Fireworks woke me out of a sound sleep, and you know how I feel about sleep. (Bitch.)

[wendelah1]

I knew I was saving this icon for a reason. Go Penguins!

[amyhit]

(No wonder she was so convincing in--what?--that undercover thing where Mulder is working construction.)

AHAHAHAHA! estella_c, i'd like to make you my hero of the day for your use of fandom specific humor. it is a marvelous thing. *g*

and i'm very down with both you and Wen in relating this fic to both The Other Man and Ghost of You. They'd make a really terrific 'Triple Feature' style listing. Khyber's "Home from the War/WIEaYB" plays on similar themes in terms of the psychology of how we experience reality and what makes perception real or false - but his fic is massively different in tone, somehow. I really wouldn't use the word 'economical' to describe his writing style, that's for sure - too convoluted for that (in a good way, though).