Wow, I'm so glad you enjoyed this fic so much! Particularly if humorous fic isn't really your thing (which is understandable; it's rarely done right or in a truly in-character or enjoyable way).
Sometimes it's more important that they know and can define who their Mulder and Scully are than that their Mulder and Scully are close to mine. Exactly! I think this is why it's only the great writers who can convince me of something that might be supremely AU, supremely whack (such as, say, bodyswap), or something decidedly different from my own interpretation of canon. Granted, there are thousands, if not millions, of interpretations out there, but it takes a good writer to really sell one, and like you, the first step to pulling me into someone else's world is by making the characters real, 3-dimensional and recognizable (even if they may not exactly match my personal view on them). It's a tricky thing, but PunkM is, I believe, one of the best.
That is, everyone is hip to the ups and downs of the universe they exist in. They don’t just flounder, the joke’s not on them – the whole universe created in the story is one cohesive joke. That's a wonderful way of putting it! I think that's especially why the flea market scenes work so well and feel so real in this story; Mulder and Scully are the ones floundering around (because they're at a loss as to what to do), but everyone around them is just out there, doing their thing, selling their (possibly mystical) junk. I love it.
I'd say, in terms of canon, it strikes me as fitting into S6, undoubtedly before TF/OS, but I only say that because (a) there are references to the infamous wheedwhack haircut on Mulder, and (b) it's got a tone quite similar (yet much cleverer) than the lighthearted episodes that were going on about that time.
I can buy the physical issues that you point out, mainly because of how PunkM paints the characters; Mulder is mildly fascinated by Scully's body (in a genuinely male way, which is so hard for the female-dominated fandom to get right, I think), but he's caught between his rather adolescent desires to take advantage of the situation or at least make cracks about it (which his usual innuendos illustrate), frustration at how uncomfortable the entire predicament is (very realistic, I'm sure), and quiet guilt at trying or thinking about any of these things in the first place (again, a very Muldery characteristic). As to Scully, first she's stuck in understandable and characteristic denial, then a bit of fear and resignation, and then seems too driven to try and fix the situation (which she still is conflicted about even deeming as "real") to think too much about the space she's currently inhabiting. It's a very delicate balance for both characters, and I can see why it might stick out negatively for you, but I think there'd be much less fascination and curiosity going on in both their heads were they already involved at this point.
(Whee for newcomers to the story and good discussion!)
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winterfish
Re: A cold fish in tropical waters...
Date: 2009-01-24 05:39 am (UTC)Sometimes it's more important that they know and can define who their Mulder and Scully are than that their Mulder and Scully are close to mine.
Exactly! I think this is why it's only the great writers who can convince me of something that might be supremely AU, supremely whack (such as, say, bodyswap), or something decidedly different from my own interpretation of canon. Granted, there are thousands, if not millions, of interpretations out there, but it takes a good writer to really sell one, and like you, the first step to pulling me into someone else's world is by making the characters real, 3-dimensional and recognizable (even if they may not exactly match my personal view on them). It's a tricky thing, but PunkM is, I believe, one of the best.
That is, everyone is hip to the ups and downs of the universe they exist in. They don’t just flounder, the joke’s not on them – the whole universe created in the story is one cohesive joke.
That's a wonderful way of putting it! I think that's especially why the flea market scenes work so well and feel so real in this story; Mulder and Scully are the ones floundering around (because they're at a loss as to what to do), but everyone around them is just out there, doing their thing, selling their (possibly mystical) junk. I love it.
I'd say, in terms of canon, it strikes me as fitting into S6, undoubtedly before TF/OS, but I only say that because (a) there are references to the infamous wheedwhack haircut on Mulder, and (b) it's got a tone quite similar (yet much cleverer) than the lighthearted episodes that were going on about that time.
I can buy the physical issues that you point out, mainly because of how PunkM paints the characters; Mulder is mildly fascinated by Scully's body (in a genuinely male way, which is so hard for the female-dominated fandom to get right, I think), but he's caught between his rather adolescent desires to take advantage of the situation or at least make cracks about it (which his usual innuendos illustrate), frustration at how uncomfortable the entire predicament is (very realistic, I'm sure), and quiet guilt at trying or thinking about any of these things in the first place (again, a very Muldery characteristic). As to Scully, first she's stuck in understandable and characteristic denial, then a bit of fear and resignation, and then seems too driven to try and fix the situation (which she still is conflicted about even deeming as "real") to think too much about the space she's currently inhabiting. It's a very delicate balance for both characters, and I can see why it might stick out negatively for you, but I think there'd be much less fascination and curiosity going on in both their heads were they already involved at this point.
(Whee for newcomers to the story and good discussion!)