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het_reccers2009-10-13 07:49 pm
azarsuerte.livejournal.com) wrote in het_reccers2009-10-13 07:49 pm
The X-Files, 5 recs, various pairings
On the off chance that there are other people on this comm who enjoy pairings *other* than Mulder/Scully on The X-Files, I thought I'd throw out a few of my favorite unconventional pairing fics. :-) For the die-hard MSR fans, though? I'd *still* say give these a try. Some of them don't even involve Mulder or Scully at all, and those that do are *very* respectful of the MSR 'ship.
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Krycek/Marita, a little implied past Mulder/Krycek
Fic Title: Not My Lover
Author: Deslea
Link: Part 1/7 (links to the next chapter at the bottom of each page)
Rating/Warning(s): NC-17: sexuality, language, violence
Genre: romance, angst, mytharc
WIP?: not by a long shot *g*
Why This Must Be Read: If it's okay, I'll just copy and paste my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
crack_van rec of the story here, because it still applies:
You can't wander far off the beaten path (MSR) in X-Files fandom without stumbling over Deslea. She first made her mark in the Skinner/Scully genre, but made it indellible when she ventured into mytharc-centric fic in which Mulder and Scully are peripheral characters at best. She almost single-handedly invented the Krycek/Marita pairing as a serious subgenre of XF fic, and she has a grasp of the mytharc with its myriad complexities that Chris Carter could only *wish* he had. ;-)
Not My Lover is one of the best examples of Deslea's work. It tells the story of the mytharc from Alex and Marita's POV from the end of the second season up through the end of the seventh. It's hard to explain why Deslea's Krycek-as-hero works when so many others' don't, but I think it's because she doesn't ignore or downplay the dark side of the character, but also doesn't play it up to a point where you can't sympathize with him at all. Her Krycek--and Marita too--are both pragmatic and Machiavellian: they have a goal, to prevent colonization, and they'll do whatever has to be done, sacrifice whatever has to be sacrificed, to achieve that greater good. But you sympathize with the very human way they are each other's buffer against that necessity. Basically it's a story of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption for two people caught not between light and dark but between varying shades of gray.
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Doggett/Scully, implied Mulder/Scully
Fic Title: The Last Worthless Evening
Author: Anne Hedonia
Link: The Last Worthless Evening
Rating/Warning(s): NC-17 for sexuality
Genre: romance, angst
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: This is not the best DSR story ever, or even the best DSR story by Anne Hedonia, but what it *is*? Is the story that gave this 'ship street cred and set the bar for everything that came after it. There were other DSR stories before it, but IMO this was the first to really deal head on with the inherent complexities of putting Scully in a relationship with someone other than Mulder, and Doggett in particular. Which is why to this it day remains one of my favorites. It's about the moment when grieving gives way to something else, and to say much more than that would spoil it. So I'll just conclude with if you have *any* Doggett/Scully leanings at all, or even if you don't but are okay with Scully moving on *if* Mulder is gone, then this is definitely a must-read.
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Doggett/Marita
Fic Title: Shadow Wife
Author: Rachel Anton
Link: Shadow Wife (There's also a sequel, Trouble Me With You)
Rating/Warning(s): NC-17 for sex
Genre: romance, mytharc, dash of angst
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: Because Rachel took a pairing that, as far as I know of, no one else ever even thought of, and made it work. Shouldn't that be answer enough? *g*
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Mulder/Reyes, implied Mulder/Scully
Fic Title: Left Standing
Author: Maidenjedi
Link: Left Standing
Rating/Warning(s): R for violence, sexuality. Implied character deaths.
Genre: apocafic, angst, romance (sort of)
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: I'm probably the only person on Earth who had this reaction, but when Mulder and Reyes met for the first time in "Empedocles" (I think I remembered the ep title right? been a while...), I went, "Dang, why didn't they meet each other first?" Meaning before Scully and Doggett respectively. *g* I thought the characters instantly clicked, but nonetheless it was very difficult to find fanfic that made the pairing believable. Until this story came along. The circumstances under which Mulder and Monica come together are not pleasant, and I wouldn't even call their relationship a romance in any real sense of the word, but it's a scenario that is utterly, grimly believable in the XF universe, executed by one of the best unconventional 'ship writers in the fandom.
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Skinner/Reyes UST
Fic Title: To Absent Friends
Author: Lara Means
Link: To Absent Friends
Rating/Warning(s): PG; no warnings necessary, I don't think
Genre: angst, UST
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: Okay, so yes, I 'ship Monica Reyes with just about everybody *but* Doggett. ;-) In my defense, the D/R 'ship always felt like a cheap copy of the MSR to me and I thought the characters deserved better. So I've always loved this USTy little bonding piece between Monica and Skinner. It's set after "This is Not Happening," with Skinner grieving for a lost friend and Reyes providing what comfort she can. Short, but sweet.
This doesn't cover all the non-MSR pairings out there by a long shot, or even all the fanfic out there for these (well, except possibly in one or two cases... *g*) but they are my favorite stories for some of my favorite pairings. :-) Hope those of you who decide to give them a chance enjoy them as much as I do.
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Krycek/Marita, a little implied past Mulder/Krycek
Fic Title: Not My Lover
Author: Deslea
Link: Part 1/7 (links to the next chapter at the bottom of each page)
Rating/Warning(s): NC-17: sexuality, language, violence
Genre: romance, angst, mytharc
WIP?: not by a long shot *g*
Why This Must Be Read: If it's okay, I'll just copy and paste my
crack_van rec of the story here, because it still applies:You can't wander far off the beaten path (MSR) in X-Files fandom without stumbling over Deslea. She first made her mark in the Skinner/Scully genre, but made it indellible when she ventured into mytharc-centric fic in which Mulder and Scully are peripheral characters at best. She almost single-handedly invented the Krycek/Marita pairing as a serious subgenre of XF fic, and she has a grasp of the mytharc with its myriad complexities that Chris Carter could only *wish* he had. ;-)
Not My Lover is one of the best examples of Deslea's work. It tells the story of the mytharc from Alex and Marita's POV from the end of the second season up through the end of the seventh. It's hard to explain why Deslea's Krycek-as-hero works when so many others' don't, but I think it's because she doesn't ignore or downplay the dark side of the character, but also doesn't play it up to a point where you can't sympathize with him at all. Her Krycek--and Marita too--are both pragmatic and Machiavellian: they have a goal, to prevent colonization, and they'll do whatever has to be done, sacrifice whatever has to be sacrificed, to achieve that greater good. But you sympathize with the very human way they are each other's buffer against that necessity. Basically it's a story of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption for two people caught not between light and dark but between varying shades of gray.
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Doggett/Scully, implied Mulder/Scully
Fic Title: The Last Worthless Evening
Author: Anne Hedonia
Link: The Last Worthless Evening
Rating/Warning(s): NC-17 for sexuality
Genre: romance, angst
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: This is not the best DSR story ever, or even the best DSR story by Anne Hedonia, but what it *is*? Is the story that gave this 'ship street cred and set the bar for everything that came after it. There were other DSR stories before it, but IMO this was the first to really deal head on with the inherent complexities of putting Scully in a relationship with someone other than Mulder, and Doggett in particular. Which is why to this it day remains one of my favorites. It's about the moment when grieving gives way to something else, and to say much more than that would spoil it. So I'll just conclude with if you have *any* Doggett/Scully leanings at all, or even if you don't but are okay with Scully moving on *if* Mulder is gone, then this is definitely a must-read.
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Doggett/Marita
Fic Title: Shadow Wife
Author: Rachel Anton
Link: Shadow Wife (There's also a sequel, Trouble Me With You)
Rating/Warning(s): NC-17 for sex
Genre: romance, mytharc, dash of angst
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: Because Rachel took a pairing that, as far as I know of, no one else ever even thought of, and made it work. Shouldn't that be answer enough? *g*
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Mulder/Reyes, implied Mulder/Scully
Fic Title: Left Standing
Author: Maidenjedi
Link: Left Standing
Rating/Warning(s): R for violence, sexuality. Implied character deaths.
Genre: apocafic, angst, romance (sort of)
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: I'm probably the only person on Earth who had this reaction, but when Mulder and Reyes met for the first time in "Empedocles" (I think I remembered the ep title right? been a while...), I went, "Dang, why didn't they meet each other first?" Meaning before Scully and Doggett respectively. *g* I thought the characters instantly clicked, but nonetheless it was very difficult to find fanfic that made the pairing believable. Until this story came along. The circumstances under which Mulder and Monica come together are not pleasant, and I wouldn't even call their relationship a romance in any real sense of the word, but it's a scenario that is utterly, grimly believable in the XF universe, executed by one of the best unconventional 'ship writers in the fandom.
Fandom Category: The X-Files
Pairing: Skinner/Reyes UST
Fic Title: To Absent Friends
Author: Lara Means
Link: To Absent Friends
Rating/Warning(s): PG; no warnings necessary, I don't think
Genre: angst, UST
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: Okay, so yes, I 'ship Monica Reyes with just about everybody *but* Doggett. ;-) In my defense, the D/R 'ship always felt like a cheap copy of the MSR to me and I thought the characters deserved better. So I've always loved this USTy little bonding piece between Monica and Skinner. It's set after "This is Not Happening," with Skinner grieving for a lost friend and Reyes providing what comfort she can. Short, but sweet.
This doesn't cover all the non-MSR pairings out there by a long shot, or even all the fanfic out there for these (well, except possibly in one or two cases... *g*) but they are my favorite stories for some of my favorite pairings. :-) Hope those of you who decide to give them a chance enjoy them as much as I do.