Story 115: "In Dreams" Trilogy by JiM

[wendelah1]

There is still plenty of time to go read and comment on MaybeAmanda's "Blue Patches," since it is both short and awesome.

I've been hoping for a couple of years now that the members would rec some great slash stories to discuss here, so when bachlava suggested the "In Dreams" trilogy, I was intrigued.

If you want a summary of my own reasons for loving

Comments

[wendelah1]

The "In Dreams" trilogy is a very well-crafted "first time" story. It's vividly written with plenty of insightful details about the exterior and interior lives of the characters. This is a true season eight story, ending as it does before the disillusionment of season nine and the finale can hold sway. The emotional trajectory is subtle, beginning after Via Negativa, and gives a clear picture of John Doggett's disorienting journey since his assignment to the X-Files, and touches a little on Skinner's, too. The characterizations of both characters feel right, and in JiM's deft hands, so does their developing relationship

[bachlava]

It really is h/c, isn't it? I will admit to being a huge, HUGE sucker for really well-done h/c. I will also admit to thinking that at least 95% of h/c fic is... well, I won't say anything at all. Let's leave it at that. But I think The X-Files can lend itself to good scenarios, in part because there's just so much pain to go around. (I mean, Krycek was awake to get his arm sawed off!)* The line between h/c and post-ep gets very, very, very thin.

I definitely see hints of a Mulder/Skinner history in here. That's a pairing I've never been able to buy, but in this universe, I can juuuust persuade myself that they may have had some involvement while Scully was sick or missing. Hurt, but no comfort.

Funnily enough, I can't really see Doggett as ever having been willowy, but I can very much imagine him as having seen himself as willowy, in a way he didn't like, in his teens.

*Disclaimer: While Krycek probably deserved this, he is very, very pretty.

[wendelah1]

I will also admit to thinking that at least 95% of h/c fic is... well, I won't say anything at all. Let's leave it at that.

This is xf_book_club, where we are allowed, even encouraged, to say what we think as long as we don't make it personal. Hurt/comfort is my least favorite genre, in case you hadn't picked that up already. Heh. Truth be told I resent it when characters are tortured for what seems to me to be the sole purpose of getting them in bed together. That, plus the utter predictability of the plots, make it unappealing to me, although for the readers who love h/c, I'm sure just the opposite is the case. But there are always exceptions. This story was a pleasant surprise.

I definitely see hints of a Mulder/Skinner history in here. That's a pairing I've never been able to buy, but in this universe, I can juuuust persuade myself that they may have had some involvement while Scully was sick or missing. Hurt, but no comfort.

I'm a gen person so no need to dissuade me. But yes, for the purposes of this story, no problem.

While Krycek

[bachlava]

Have you ever read Amalnahurriyeh's "The Love of Evil"?I have now, and it is brilliant

[wendelah1]

I have now, and it is brilliant.

I love her writing. For my money, she is the best new writer to come along in this fandom in the past couple of years, anyway. She's prolific, too, and if you blink you'll miss something she's posted somewhere. I love her Mulder, meaning not only do I love the way she writes him, I love him as I'm reading her stories. Since I'm generally a Scullyist, that's a huge compliment to her.

You should read the follow-ups she wrote to "Evil," they're fun, too. Very NC-17. The second story was written for the XF porn battle in response to my prompt (blush).

Narrative Thrust

Nonverbal

I also have a hard time buying most post-"Ascension" M/K. If my inner slash monster is really hungry, I suppose I might be able to feed it some snakebite-on-penis-in-Siberia fic, or a mystery-thingy-Mulder-woke-up-gay scenario, but that's about it. i.e., nothing even remotely serious.

Those both sound hilarious.

(Well, that and maybe Skinner's apartment in "Tunguska." I remain convinced that that part of the script was

[bachlava]

Now I kind of want to see that vid.
Somebody should definitely make it, if they haven't already. ;)

Ah, Hurt/Comfort

[bachlava]

Random thought: for anyone who has lost patience with bad h/c or contrived slash, I absolutely recommend
this little gem by Halrloprillalar.

Re: Ah, Hurt/Comfort

[wendelah1]

I finally got around to reading this. I nearly fell over, I was laughing so hard. We should read one of these here.

Re: Ah, Hurt/Comfort

[bachlava]

Isn't it brilliant? She can always me laugh hard enough that I need medical attention. Her site is a treasure trove - I especially love her first-time fic, "The Love of a Good Woman," and the ever-wonderful "Violence and the Subtext of Homoerotic Desire." She's also got a few really good, non-funny, ("Drunkard by Choice" and "Turn Me On, Dead Man," which are both Skinner/Doggett, and "Sleep with the Fishes," MSR).