Story 235: "Unintended Consequences" by Sarah Segretti

[wendelah1]

This is almost a guest recommendation since I rediscovered the story while I was hunting down an old recs page. "Unintended Consequences" is a realistic and insightful post-ep for the seventh season episode "Orison." It's a story I liked even better the second time around

Comments

[badforthefish]

This was very good. Excellent characterization, great dialogue. This aftermath made a whole lot of sense. I like how messy their emotional landscape is, and how neither of them can quite pinpoint at first why they're experiencing the emotions they are, the impatience, the anger, the frustration over petty things

[wendelah1]

The shadows under her eyes could have hidden a dozen informants

You're a more careful line by line reader than I am. That slid right by me. Even when I went back to look for it, I couldn't see it.

I love all of the details showing us how difficult it is to live with someone, even temporarily, when you're used to having your own space. Even when you aren't used to having your own space...

They're both so on edge that everything is bothering them.

I could go on and on about how working on the X-Files has changed Scully on a deeper emotional level. I think Pfaster was the blow that broke the camel's back - that night she decided she would never be a victim again, no matter the cost. That she would be capable of going to such extremes must have unsettled Mulder deeply and this story does a good job of showing this. My interpretation is different. I don't think Scully decided anything of the sort when she shot Pfaster. I think she just went on autopilot, triggered by her fear and her rage. That loss of control was out of character

[badforthefish]

Hey Wen, it looks like I can't edit my post? I just saw that somehow the words "Anyone with a gun" slipped next to my touchstone line and replaced the "..." that was there and I wanted to delete it.

[wendelah1]

You can't edit comments once they've been replied to. That's not my setting; that's LJ's ancient code. Sorry.

[tri_sbr]

Thanks for the link to the author interviews. I am not even close to being a writer, so I really admire those who can do it well, and it's interesting to hear how they talk about writing. And also to get some more fic recs

[badforthefish]

I need to go and read "Sedimentation" and "The Current Temperature in Downton Washington".

See, I never thought Scully could have *not* known Mulder was here. This is an interesting twist indeed. But it gives to much credit to the "Scully didn't know what she was doing, she was in a second state" theory. Ergo it is easier to cut her some slack for shooting an unarmed man.

I guess I like the darker option. Scully knew what she was doing when she shot: she made sure Pfaster would never go after her again. And she now has to live with the consequences of her actions. The way it was shot, the dreamlike quality of the scene, of course gives the "not quite there, loss of control" theory a lot of credit. But looking at her face, there also seems to be a fierce determination, that doesn't quite match the "she didn't know what she was doing." theory. I think she knew *exactly* what she was doing: taking down a predator.

[tri_sbr]

Yeah, I always watched that scene thinking Scully knew Mulder was there too, and that she knew what she was doing. It's the harder option, though. I liked that this fic opened the door for some ambiguity (in my mind at least). Either way, they did not deal with the fallout *at all* on the show which was incredibly frustrating. I mean, both M & S must have had some kind of reaction that lasted beyond the episode. Of course, it leaves a great opportunity for fic writers to explore the different possibilities, but annoying in terms of the show.

Oh, do read "The Current Temperature..." It is lovely.

[badforthefish]

If we're gonna make a list of all the times the show didn't deal with the fall out of various major events, we're going to be up all night. *laugh*

I am convinced the X-Files has got such a tremendous amount of fanfiction because of the repeated frustrations experienced by fans while watching it.

Fanfic fixes characters, narration, story lines, continuity. It adds layers of complexity to a show's universe (unless you're talking PWP of course). There is less need for it when the series isn't flawed.

I guess we should thank the boys at 1013 for having made such a giant mess of it!

[tri_sbr]

Ah, Maria Nicole has another post-ep for Orison, "The Devil's Instant." This is the one I pick for my personal canon!! This one, this one!

[wendelah1]

I think "Sedimentation" and "The Devil's Instant," if read together make a fine story.

I do love Marie Nicole's work, but I personally think "Unintended Consequences" is a better read than either of them, with more interesting characterizations and a better handle on the emotional fallout of the episode itself.

I could post them next if you want to discuss them more in depth.

[tri_sbr]

Yes, you are right, "Sedimentation" could come after "The Devil's Instant." I'm a bit slow on the uptake :)

Regarding posting them, up to you. I hope I'm not blurring the lines too much by mixing in the other stories here.

[badforthefish]

I read The Devil's Instant yesterday and I absolutely agree with you. I aslo pick it for my new personal canon because it is a such perfect wrap of the Orison story line. Unintended Consequences maybe more emotionally complex but I really loved the M&S interaction in Maria Nicole's story.

I really enjoyed Sedimentation too, lovely introspective atmosphere. This writer is so good I think I'm going to have to go read all her other stuff!!!

[estella_c]

Well, I think everyone here is absolutely correct. Must I say more? Okay. This is such a horrible moment in a possibly romantic relationship for one member to shoot someone to death in a way that goes against her training and moral structure. What should we do with Scully now? Send her home to Mommy? Make her remain in her wrecked apartment curled like a fetus? Of course she has to go home with Mulder, who would have loved to love her except now she's amazingly a killer who is stealing his razorblades. I think the variations of self-contempt are very impressively displayed. And the pain. And I loved the final conversation. They always should have talked more--they would have had sex sooner--but that would have ruined some good, clouded, complicated fics. Of which this is one.

[badforthefish]

Very nicely put.

she's amazingly a killer who is stealing his razorblades

This line sums it all up for me. The outlandishness of it all.