I love this little psuedo-drabble. It serves like a semicolon, creating a break between part 10 and 12, but using that break in order to make the transition feel more natural. The shift in gears comes at what would otherwise seem like an odd time. As a reader I've gotten used to them being on the go by this point, so the idea of them getting somewhere creates a dynamic shift that I think could have been problematic if Breakdown hadn't served to prepare me in advance.
Plus, not that this is all that obscure or anything, but I love the double meaning of the title. It's the vehicle that's broken down, but the last sentence makes it chillingly clear that Mulder and Scully are a hair's breadth from utter breakdown themselves. The title and the last line turn the fic into something more than just a fragment of plot that otherwise wouldn't have the weight to stand as its own segment. They make Breakdown ominous and poignant in its own right.
#11 Breakdown
Date: 2011-04-16 04:28 am (UTC)Plus, not that this is all that obscure or anything, but I love the double meaning of the title. It's the vehicle that's broken down, but the last sentence makes it chillingly clear that Mulder and Scully are a hair's breadth from utter breakdown themselves. The title and the last line turn the fic into something more than just a fragment of plot that otherwise wouldn't have the weight to stand as its own segment. They make Breakdown ominous and poignant in its own right.