Red (X-Files story)
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Red |
| Author(s): | Xanthe |
| Date(s): | |
| Length: | |
| Genre(s): | Mulder/Scully |
| Fandom(s): | The X-Files |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | first chapter here |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Red is an X-Files story by Xanthe.
Reactions and Reviews
Spoilers for Red...I have tried to read this story before, and it squicked me out the first time, and the same thing happened this time. Xanthe writes Mulder/Skinner slash and I guess the knowledge of that made me see unwanted subtext in the Mulder/childSkinner interactions. I couldn't deal with it, and stopped reading, both times. It is probably all in my head, but there it is. I can't help it.[1]
The plot is okay. The writing is second-rate, almost juvenile.I don't remember reading anything of Xanthe's, but the name is familiar. I'm surprised the writing isn't more sophisticated.
- Spoiler
- Space
- For
- Plot
- Summary
Mulder and Scully find a little boy in an abandoned laboratory. Mulder takes care of him over the weekend while Scully tries to find the answers.
They take him to work on Monday, and he runs over to Skinner's office. OMG! Skinner is missing!
Of course it turns out that the little boy is Skinner, understandably confused and traumatized from having been overpowered and regressed to childhood.
The heart of the story is Mulder's attachment to the child and his feelings about losing him if he returns to his adult form.
The biggest problem in this not-good story is Mulder. Scully too, I suppose. Their reactions to their situation are unrealistic and unconvincing.
I think the stories that are most fun to discuss are the hits and the near-misses. This is neither.
Rec: Certainly not, but don't worry about the squick factor. If you're not tuned in to Xanthe's slash connection, you won't be squicked.[2]
I didn't really read this, could only skim it. The dialogue didn't ring true to me, a bit too clipped and too many non-American style slang expressions to my ears. Characterization? Not a Mulder and Scully I recognize, and not Skinner either. Sort of an interesting premise, but not enough for me to devote a full reading to it, I'm sorry to say.[3]
I don't think Red is representative of Xanthe's best work. It's clunky and a bit sentimental and the Mulder/Skinner kinks show through a bit much for something that's meant to be more gen.I think Xanthe probably won because she wrote pretty decently (with some sentimentality, which always goes down well) while catering to those with a spanking and/or Mulder/Skinner kink, and she wrote plot at a time when the fandom was lurching into a period of domestic stories. I don't know about the rest of you, but a domestic bliss story has to be pretty damned good before I will regard it with anything but dislike.
Spanking and such are not my beautiful kinks but I do like a bit of plot. (My personal reading kink is threesomes. Shhhhh! Don't tell. Unless you have some recs for me) [5]
References
- ^ Wendy at Fic Talk's Message Board, September 12, 2007
- ^ Conundrum at Fic Talk's Message Board, September 12, 2007
- ^ BluPhan at Fic Talk's Message Board, September 12, 2007
- ^ Delilah at Fic Talk's Message Board, September 12, 2007
- ^ lurkishly at Fic Talk's Message Board, September 12, 2007