The Best Lies (X-Files zine by Cody Nelson)

Zine
Title:	The Best Lies
Publisher:	Straight Up Press
Editor:
Author(s):	Cody Nelson
Cover Artist(s):	Cody Nelson
Illustrator(s):	Cody Nelson
Date(s):	1995
Medium:	print, online
Size:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	The X-Files
Language:	English
External Links:	The Best Lies (flyer) The Best Lies at squidge.org
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The Best Lies is a 95-page Mulder/Krycek slash novel that was originally published as a zine and later released to the net (55,000 words). Poetry, cover art and illustrations by the author. STiFfie Award winner, 1995.

Summary from Agent With Style: "A DNA test sends Mulder on a quest to discover the truth about his sister, leading to a mysterious database and an old enemy."'

Contents

• Book One: The Best Lies (2)
  • poem, Stratego (3)
  • Part One: Leap of Faith (4)
  • poem... Or Something (19)
  • Part Two: Picture in a Wallet (20)
  • poem, Through Your Eyes (30)
  • Part Three: Shifting Sands (48)
  • poem: Report on the Duane Barry Incident (50)
• Book Two: A Perfect Life (61)

Variations on the Cover

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  front cover, Cody

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  alternate cover

Sample Pages

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Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

[ScarletFBL]
Alex has other emotions besides anger and sarcasm (Is that an emotion? Meh....). R: He's real in here. A real guy whose made some bad choices and wants to make them right, who has a real love for Mulder and not just an obsession. Hallelujah! Mulder/Krycek *****

[Slash Slut's Recs]
This one takes place Probably after the Anasazi/Blessing Way/Paper Clip arc, goes AU from there. I don't remember many more events in canon taken into account after that. This one is a good long story. Over on RatB, where I linked to it from they broke it up into several parts for easier downloading. I usually read the text copy of it over at Cody's site that is all in one file. In this one The Gunmen find out something disturbing from a test they did on a sample of Scully's blood that sends Mulder and Scully on a journey to discover what the hell is going on. Cody's Alex tends to be of the 'innocent who stumbled into some shit he didn't realize was going to fuck up his life until it was too late' variety. After helping Mulder, Krycek manages to come in out of the cold and try to get his life back on track while at the same time working on a personal relationship with Mulder. I like the idea that got the story going. The idea at the beginning that begins this trek is pretty amazing. I won't tell you what it is, that would ruin the beginning, but I haven't seen anyone else work this idea successfully. It's a pretty cool story that was fitting for this update. Sometimes you just need a softer, fluffier Krycek to make you feel better. I personally think Alex may have been somewhat unaware of the Consortium's true motives at first, but I think he caught on real quick and became ruthless to ensure his own survival. I don't think he was a complete innocent coming in though, I think they just underestimated him. CSM thought he'd work out well as a thug, except Alex had a brain and being stuck in the thug role was demeaning to him. Intelligent, scared, and pissed are not a good combo in him. I think that is what turned him into the hot stud in black leather.<g>

1996

[Michelle Christian]
The only X-FILES slash that has even vaguely convinced me and that even hits, if you'll pardon the expression, a certain kink of mine: THE BEST LIES

[from Strange Bedfellows (APA)]
Have recently been lent a copy of The Best Lies, by Cody Nelson, which prominently bills itself as a slash X-Files novel, presumably to warn off those who want to retain the illusion that FBI agents are too pure for such things. The story has a working plot and enough character development to make the Mulder/Krycek relationship credible. It's also a relief to see that the author managed not to leave Scully out of the story, and overall it's definitely worth it.

After taking a deep breath or two and stepping back from the reading experience, I am regaining my former perspective that anything that insists on finding a m/m pairing in XF just because slash in the past has been like that, is quaintly ignoring the really juicy partnership directly in front of our noses. On the other hand, this isn't hearts-and-flowers, only-death-do-us-part romance; this is Mulder having an impulsive affair with one of the few people who'd put up with him. I've been wanting more of that in slash since about the fourth (well, okay, the tenth) K/S story I read with a telepathic Mindbond substituting for characterization. The indication/ that Mulder and Scully are an unbreakable team is a relief — Krycek is in the role of the standard slash character's wife/girlfriend/au pair who takes second place to the professional partner when the emergency hits the fan.

I appreciate the writing effort that went into making Krycek a believable character, but how far can M/K go without spinning out of XF altogether?

Or would it? This is a show with an infinite capacity for spinning paranoia, and anything can be assumed to be hidden behind the next layer of shadows. That is, anything could be; but I'd prefer a story that makes clear what it is and why it's there, other than it being a favored fannish motif.

[from Strange Bedfellows (APA)]
Mulder's self-perceived lack of sexual prowess. Well, yeah. The one thing that bothered me in The Best Lies was sex scene#3, where Mulder suddenly turns into an accomplished and confident top after being properly dweebish through the first two. Great scene, but it wasn't anybody I recognized.

1999

[Ishi72]
A first time story taking place after Paper Clip that gives Mulder and Krycek a reason to work together and the chance to find love. Published by Straight Up Press.

2000

[Sandy Herrold]
Another zine novel on the net! Cody Nelson's The Best Lies was written many seasons ago, back when X-Files almost made sense. Reading it now, when Krycek has done so much more, makes it seem a bit more Skippy-ish than it did when it was first written, but it still holds up.