Story 83: "The Common Fate of All Things Rare" by Scarlet Baldy and Aloysia Virgata

[wendelah1]

Ever wonder what happened between the silence of Never Again and the flowers from Memento Mori? Ever wonder if Scully's night with Ed Jerse affected her relationship with Mulder in any way? Ever wonder what pushed Scully to go to the hospital and find out about her cancer in the first place? Ever wonder how her illness might have affected her work

Comments

[anonymous]

I love this story, and partly for the same reasons that I so much enjoyed the first part of "Human Credentials"...and Tesla's "Neither here nor there". Its the premise, relatively rare actually in fanfic, of sexual tension unrecognized (but realistically so) because there are so many other complicated layers to the Mulder/Scully relationship. I really am not keen on the "Oh I think I am jealous, oh gosh, I now realize that I have loved you desperately and fancied you rotten from the first moment I saw you" sort of thing. I've never bought into the Mulder as celibate(he's far too sensual), and although Scully has to suffer with God and her Dad muttering eternal retribution in her ear from their perch on her frontal lobe,I always completely understood her Jersey fling. I am not so sure that they were ready in S4 for this sort of event in their relationship, but it is believable, it is funny, it is unbearably sweet and totally sexy. I love lots of different incarnations of the Mulder/Scully characters and relationship but this one is definitely one of my favourites. I would love to know what people make of it in "Neither here nor there" and "Human Credentials", although admittedly the last one...well, enough said, it's crushing as well as all those other things.
By the way I'm Tiger, have been following this for a few months now, God knows what the protocols are (I'm not a LJ user) but love the site.

[anonymous]

Right, and I've just realized that the word "love" can be horribly over-used...but you get the gist.

[wendelah1]

Hello! I am always thrilled to have new people show up and play. If you would like us to discuss "Neither Here Nor There" and/or "Human Credentials," it would be helpful to me if you would put them into the nomination post, otherwise I am likely to forget about them.

Do you have a journal elsewhere, because if you do, you can comment here using your open id? Also, if you want, I can walk you through the process of creating a journal. It is easier to participate in discussion if you get notification of comments and posts in your email. Of course, you are also welcome to keep commenting anonymously. Signing your posts is a nice thing to do, thank you.

It's the premise, relatively rare actually in fanfic, of sexual tension unrecognized (but realistically so) because there are so many other complicated layers to the Mulder/Scully relationship.

Yes, this is true. Of course, I believe the reason it is so hard to write a realistic romance for our duo is because their relationship wasn't romantic. It was a work partnership that very slowly, through the course of everything that happened to them, rather than because of some one triggering event, like jealousy or illness or injury, developed into something far more powerful and more precious to them than a conventional love affair could be. This is why most romantic fic is unsatisfying to me. It doesn't begin to capture the complexity and nuance I saw on the screen. I actually think they were more likely to have had a romance earlier on, before they were so damaged, which is why for a Tesla fic I prefer "This House is Burning." Even as a noromo, I can somehow buy the slow progression in that series, beginning from a rather impetuous, poorly thought-out sexual encounter (in the middle of a case!) to a romance in full bloom. It's a stretch but Tesla's Scully In Love is kind of charming if not entirely (in my opinion) in character. Tesla makes me believe the romance. The case file is interesting, realistically portrayed and well-developed, too.

I also think this is why so many people love "Parabiosis" even though it is in places in my humble opinion rather, uh, baroque in style. The plot, what there is of it, is a mess, too, but Penumbra more than does the relationship justice, which makes it a compelling and memorable read, especially if you are a romantically inclined Mulder/Scully shipper or a grumpy noromo. The ending is a killer, too. (;

Sorry for being so long-winded. Now I need to go finish this week's fic.

[scarletbaldy]

This House is burning is another fic I intend to read.

And yes, as a former noromo, conventional romantic fic usually sends me running. Because as you said theirs is essentialy based on a work partnership. Part of me sometimes wonder if Scully and Mulder didn't fell in love by default, because they had nobody else as to connect with but each other. And I never thought theirs was ever gonna be an easy realtionship, because as you said Wen, they are both damaged in some way.

[wendelah1]

Part of me sometimes wonder if Scully and Mulder didn't fell in love by default, because they had nobody else as to connect with but each other.

Yeah, I have to agree. There were not a lot of options available to them. It is hard for me to see how they feel about one another resembles "being in love" in the conventionally held meaning of the term except superficially.

[scarletbaldy]

Wow, thanks a lot for taking the time to explain all this. I also never bought the "Love at first sight" thing. I alwaus thought that their relationship evolved from mutual professional respect to something more emotional when the shit started hitting the fan.

Scully has to suffer with God and her Dad muttering eternal retribution in her ear from their perch on her frontal lobe.

This is really nicely put.

I haven't read Neither here nor there but it's going on my list.

Tiger, you really should be a LJ user. Do you belong to any community?