There's a lot to like about this fic. The style is accomplished, particularly considering the youth of the writer, and the emotions are conveyed both economically and intensely. I remember loving the "double reality" quality of it when I first read it.
Now, I'm thinking, there may be another way of looking at it. Is it possible that the writer went adventurously au, creating a timeline in which Mulder is indeed dead and Scully is in an agony of mourning that drives her to dreams of being comforted by hugs and kisses? I thought of this because, frankly, it's hard to believe in these season-two hugs and kisses. Despite the ending of Squeeze, this fear/comfort fest does not match up with the partnership at that time. There certainly was loyalty and protectiveness on both sides, and ust, but I'm thinking the overt affection is far more likely as a fantasy used by a shattered Scully to dream herself past despair. The fact that she may have entered that reality permanently is then a signal of insanity.
Not a happy ending.
I imagine there are bits that throw the dream/reality reversal into doubt, but--as in MaybeAmanda's "Blue Patches"--the possibility is quite a forceful one. If this is not what the writer intended (it's not supposed to make a difference, I know), that huggy-kissy stuff should have been edited out.
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Now, I'm thinking, there may be another way of looking at it. Is it possible that the writer went adventurously au, creating a timeline in which Mulder is indeed dead and Scully is in an agony of mourning that drives her to dreams of being comforted by hugs and kisses? I thought of this because, frankly, it's hard to believe in these season-two hugs and kisses. Despite the ending of Squeeze, this fear/comfort fest does not match up with the partnership at that time. There certainly was loyalty and protectiveness on both sides, and ust, but I'm thinking the overt affection is far more likely as a fantasy used by a shattered Scully to dream herself past despair. The fact that she may have entered that reality permanently is then a signal of insanity.
Not a happy ending.
I imagine there are bits that throw the dream/reality reversal into doubt, but--as in MaybeAmanda's "Blue Patches"--the possibility is quite a forceful one. If this is not what the writer intended (it's not supposed to make a difference, I know), that huggy-kissy stuff should have been edited out.
IMO, natch.