On the other hand, the doggett characterization seems like the strongest thing in the fic. His voice is marvelously in character, I think, right down to the wording:
“That what you want for her, Mulder?"
“Your life worth living?"
“When were planning to drop it on her? After your head turned to mush?"
he’s blunt, and he drops words that would make his speech more technically correct. He’s a guy who probably spent his twenties thinking ‘street smart’ was what it was all about - he’s not worried about sounding like some dandy who graduated from oxford.
And this exchange between doggett and mulder was, I felt, miles better and more loaded with meaning than anything the show mustered up:
"Look, Knowle and I go way back." Doggett shakes his head. "He's given me too much good stuff."
"Then he's been setting you up for a long time."
"Do you ever listen to yourself? You really think that all these years, my source has been stringing me along on the off-chance that he can get at you? That it? God, Mulder, paranoid doesn't begin to describe you. I thought coming back might have mellowed you out."
"How exactly would being dead make me less paranoid?"
that’s the mulder I want to see - the mulder who just knows how this stuff works - he’s graduated top in his class in conspiracy 101. And doggett questioning him doesn’t make him any less certain. Yes, yes, yes.
And you know what, as negative as I can be about this fic, the above passage, and the following three lines, which address mulder’s mindset expressly, made me feel the whole piece was well worth reading:
He can't remember whether it is spring or fall. – I sleep really strange hours, and sometimes when I wake up I don’t know whether it’s morning or night; anyone who’s ever felt this on a recurring basis knows how freaky and dislocated it feels. I can’t imagine how mulder feels, not even knowing what season it is.
"Hey watch it. That's my good socket wrench."
Mulder continues to turn it in his hand, flexing his wrist and testing it as a weapon. Doggett takes his eyes off the street for a second and grabs it from him. "I changed the plugs," he says, stuffing it under his seat. "That's all it's good for."
Mulder wipes the oiliness against his jeans. "Yeah, I know." His voice is dazed. Daily life is a minefield of things other people know that he doesn't.
that is just the perfect tone for mulder. It’s like on one level he’s this little kid who isn’t even consciously thinking as far as what exactly he could do with the wrench, but really he’s dangerous because he’s so ready to fight off anything, and you think, ‘no, mulder knows exactly what to do with it if need be.’ and the narrative doesn’t sell doggett short, because you can tell that he gets it - that mulder could easily end up in a situation where he was dangerous, just from being so screwed up internally.
And finally, When she was taken so many holes opened in his soul that some days the only thing left standing was his death wish.
It’s so dark, but it almost provoked a nervous laugh from me. I love the irony of it.
The Good - part 1
“That what you want for her, Mulder?"
“Your life worth living?"
“When were planning to drop it on her? After your head turned to mush?"
he’s blunt, and he drops words that would make his speech more technically correct. He’s a guy who probably spent his twenties thinking ‘street smart’ was what it was all about - he’s not worried about sounding like some dandy who graduated from oxford.
And this exchange between doggett and mulder was, I felt, miles better and more loaded with meaning than anything the show mustered up:
"Look, Knowle and I go way back." Doggett shakes his head. "He's given me too much good stuff."
"Then he's been setting you up for a long time."
"Do you ever listen to yourself? You really think that all these years, my source has been stringing me along on the off-chance that he can get at you? That it? God, Mulder, paranoid doesn't begin to describe you. I thought coming back might have mellowed you out."
"How exactly would being dead make me less paranoid?"
that’s the mulder I want to see - the mulder who just knows how this stuff works - he’s graduated top in his class in conspiracy 101. And doggett questioning him doesn’t make him any less certain. Yes, yes, yes.
And you know what, as negative as I can be about this fic, the above passage, and the following three lines, which address mulder’s mindset expressly, made me feel the whole piece was well worth reading:
He can't remember whether it is spring or fall. – I sleep really strange hours, and sometimes when I wake up I don’t know whether it’s morning or night; anyone who’s ever felt this on a recurring basis knows how freaky and dislocated it feels. I can’t imagine how mulder feels, not even knowing what season it is.
"Hey watch it. That's my good socket wrench."
Mulder continues to turn it in his hand, flexing his wrist and testing it as a weapon. Doggett takes his eyes off the street for a second and grabs it from him. "I changed the plugs," he says, stuffing it under his seat. "That's all it's good for."
Mulder wipes the oiliness against his jeans. "Yeah, I know." His voice is dazed. Daily life is a minefield of things other people know that he doesn't.
that is just the perfect tone for mulder. It’s like on one level he’s this little kid who isn’t even consciously thinking as far as what exactly he could do with the wrench, but really he’s dangerous because he’s so ready to fight off anything, and you think, ‘no, mulder knows exactly what to do with it if need be.’ and the narrative doesn’t sell doggett short, because you can tell that he gets it - that mulder could easily end up in a situation where he was dangerous, just from being so screwed up internally.
And finally, When she was taken so many holes opened in his soul that some days the only thing left standing was his death wish.
It’s so dark, but it almost provoked a nervous laugh from me. I love the irony of it.
i've apparently forgotten html