I like Certitude best between pages 1 and 20. Up until that point there's nothing I don't like. I enjoy figuring out what's going on, I enjoy the POV shifts and the spooky clinical observations of Captain Neill, I like all the fun that comes with quarantine fics, but that underlying it there's the deep foreboding of knowing Mulder and Scully are not in good hands. I like the straight-forward, vivid writing. I like that Mulder waits at Scully's bedside for her to wake up because he's afraid she'll disappear again. I love their dialogue:
"Thank you," she said, her voice slicing through my reverie.
"For what?"
"For coming after me."
I looked at her, stunned. For coming after her? What else would I have done?
"All part of the job," I said, watching her fingers between mine. "You'd have done the same for me."
"I *have* done the same for you."
I grinned. Ducked my head to her hand.
"I missed you," I said into the bedclothes.
"I know," she said. "So what do you do for fun around here?"
There's so much weight and importance in what they're saying here, but they expertly avoid saying anything too revealing. And Certitude has more than a couple really excellent one liners:
"How long have you been awake?"
She shrugged. "I come and go."
"Talking of Michelangelo?" he asked, leaning in close.
and:
"L."
"Nope." Scully drew a small neck on the circle.
"Neck before face, Scully. That's cruel."
and:
"I know you're worried, Mulder. Trust me."
Finally he looked away, rolling his eyes. "If I had a nickel for every time you said that, Scully--"
"You'd retire and support me in the manner to which I am accustomed." Scully reached out and took his hand. "I'm okay."
I like the description of them doing callisthenics together - the intimacy and awkwardness of it. It's even a little bit erotic, really:
He'd held her feet, hands over her toes, palms pressing warmly as she did her sit ups
And perhaps my favorite thing of all, I love that Certitude addresses the effects of Scully having been infected with the alien virus. I love the idea that there are after effects, and that the Consortium has been studying those effects and their possibilities for some time now. The chilling moment where she's told it's an injection of her blood that has caused Mulder such agony is one of my favorites, and I would love to have seen Glasser explore that further, either in this fic, or in another one. And I find it perfectly appropriate that Scully's altered blood cells are labelled 'X-cells' - a shiver went through me when that was revealed. But what I appreciate maybe even more than all of this, is that Certitude addresses the effects the virus has had on Scully psychologically.
There was no pain, only a fullness, a feeling like one she had never felt, a feeling of something living inside her. In a way that horrified her now, she had almost enjoyed it, the slow bleeding of herself into something else, something that would bear her mark even after it had consumed her. She had felt it, even then, even when there was nothing but fluid coursing through the umbilical cord in her throat.
That's horrific in a way FTF never even touched on, and in a way I find very intriguing and shocking and yet also realistic: the alien virus insinuating itself, asserting it's influence over Scully as it fused with her. Which is brought home again, later on in the fic, when Scully tells Mulder she didn't have to see the spaceship because she felt it. *shudders* I LOVE that, and may adopt it into my own personal psuedo-canon.
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winterfish
Things I liked:
Date: 2011-08-14 10:16 pm (UTC)"Thank you," she said, her voice slicing through my
reverie.
"For what?"
"For coming after me."
I looked at her, stunned. For coming after her? What
else would I have done?
"All part of the job," I said, watching her fingers
between mine. "You'd have done the same for me."
"I *have* done the same for you."
I grinned. Ducked my head to her hand.
"I missed you," I said into the bedclothes.
"I know," she said. "So what do you do for fun
around here?"
There's so much weight and importance in what they're saying here, but they expertly avoid saying anything too revealing. And Certitude has more than a couple really excellent one liners:
"How long have you been awake?"
She shrugged. "I come and go."
"Talking of Michelangelo?" he asked, leaning in close.
and:
"L."
"Nope." Scully drew a small neck on the circle.
"Neck before face, Scully. That's cruel."
and:
"I know you're worried, Mulder. Trust me."
Finally he looked away, rolling his eyes. "If I had a
nickel for every time you said that, Scully--"
"You'd retire and support me in the manner to which
I am accustomed." Scully reached out and took his
hand. "I'm okay."
I like the description of them doing callisthenics together - the intimacy and awkwardness of it. It's even a little bit erotic, really:
He'd held her feet, hands over her toes, palms
pressing warmly as she did her sit ups
And perhaps my favorite thing of all, I love that Certitude addresses the effects of Scully having been infected with the alien virus. I love the idea that there are after effects, and that the Consortium has been studying those effects and their possibilities for some time now. The chilling moment where she's told it's an injection of her blood that has caused Mulder such agony is one of my favorites, and I would love to have seen Glasser explore that further, either in this fic, or in another one. And I find it perfectly appropriate that Scully's altered blood cells are labelled 'X-cells' - a shiver went through me when that was revealed. But what I appreciate maybe even more than all of this, is that Certitude addresses the effects the virus has had on Scully psychologically.
There was no pain, only a fullness, a feeling like one
she had never felt, a feeling of something living inside
her. In a way that horrified her now, she had almost
enjoyed it, the slow bleeding of herself into something
else, something that would bear her mark even after
it had consumed her. She had felt it, even then, even
when there was nothing but fluid coursing through
the umbilical cord in her throat.
That's horrific in a way FTF never even touched on, and in a way I find very intriguing and shocking and yet also realistic: the alien virus insinuating itself, asserting it's influence over Scully as it fused with her. Which is brought home again, later on in the fic, when Scully tells Mulder she didn't have to see the spaceship because she felt it. *shudders* I LOVE that, and may adopt it into my own personal psuedo-canon.