Story 189 & 190: "Epiphany" by MaybeAmanda, and "How to Fly" by Oracle

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

It's a good thing we just got finished with an apocafic, because this year we're going to have two fics for Christmas and they're both sweet and generally happy little stories. Everyone is welcome to comment on both, or only one, in either order, at any time.

The first one is an AU season 9-ish fic in which Mulder and Scully spend Christmas together with their infant son. It's also probably the most homey, domestic fic I'm ever going to rec. *g* But don't let my Scrooge impression scare you off. It's nice, and there's an interesting little twist to Mulder and Scully's world, amidst all the domestic bliss.

Epiphany by Maybe Amanda

In the second fic, Mulder and Scully spend Christmas Eve stranded while on the road. It's set in any one of the early/mid seasons, and it's nothing complicated, just a sweetly romantic little vignette.

How to Fly by Oracle

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and seasonal well wishes to all who don't.

Comments

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

Wow, this new commenting format is terrible. Merry freaking Christmas to you too, LJ.

Anyway, what the title of this post WOULD say, if titles were still an OPTION, is:

How to Fly

Honestly, this is the kind of fic I'd usually find a bit too romantic and sappy for my liking. But as a Christmas fic I'm rather fond of it.

First and foremost, I like the way the fic feels like a little adventure, even though it's so short and harmless. It has that feeling like...like the world around Mulder and Scully is, for the time being, theirs to share, without any intrusions. Does anybody know what I mean? The snow makes the setting of the car feel intimate, and the fact that they have to go out in the snow together makes their shared motel room feel even more intimate.

Rather than put Mulder and Scully in a more "normal" setting in order to give them a merry Christmas, Oracle puts Mulder and Scully in their usual, workaholic setting - on a case, in the middle of nowhere, suspended between two points. It's both a mundane and quirky way to spend Christmas Eve. The familiarity of them being on a case, and the strangeness of it being Christmas, are elements I find quite charming in combination.

I like their banter about Santa Claus:

"What about you?"

"Who says I've stopped believing?"

"Mulder, seriously."

"Seriously? I think there are more than two possible
explanations for flying reindeer."

I like the mild but tangible currents of angst and longing, which juxtapose the ultimate sweetness of the fic, and keep it somewhat grounded.

I like Mulder quite seriously offering to go back for Scully's pie. It may be a little OTT in the chivalry department, but whatever, it's so very adorable.

I like Mulder's evasive yet telling answer when Scully asks him why he wanted to join her for mince pie:

"Because I wanted to," he replies. He avoids her gaze.
"Why do I need a reason?"

I like the second repetition of "And kisses him."

I like this sentiment, which I guess could be called the central concept of the fic:

Sometimes I wonder how we get out of bed every
morning. How we keep holding onto life, even when it looks
like we aren't going to make it. And how we keep fighting.
How we never give up."

"It's because we believe, Scully. We believe we can do it."

Yes, it's a little cheesy, but again I'm going to plead the "It's ChristmasFic" defence. Besides, I can actually imagine Scully and Mulder having this exchange. It's simple and it's true - not that positive thinking gets them through the many dangerous challenges of their lives, but that their conviction does.

For the most part, HTF is a fic I don't feel particularly inclined to be critical of. It's short, a trifle, and maybe a bit too sentimental, but that's fine with me.

My biggest criticism is that I find the last two paragraphs schmaltzy. And Mulder and Scully's sudden laughing fit felt a bit forced to me. I want to buy it, but I don't quite.

Also, what's up with the Bronte references?

Mulder remains silent. He's sunk into one of his Heathcliff
moods and she thinks it's best not to disturb him.

He could be bald, tattooed, disfigured like Mr. Rochester,
moustached, plastic-surgeried or pierced, and she would still
find him beautiful.

Two Bronte references from two different novels in one short fic? It seemed a bit much. Besides, the first reference isn't particularly appropriate. Perhaps in literary speak a "Heathcliff mood" is just supposed to mean "somber and unhappy." But as I see it, Heathcliff is basically a cruel, hard, somewhat sociopathic tyrant. I don't think his moods and Mulder's compare very well. I like the second reference though.

Side note: I'm disregarding the author's note about this being an early seasons fic, because this feels like an AU S5 fic to me. God, imagine if Christmas that year had gone like this, rather than how it went.

Does anybody else have a specific season they feel like placing it in?

See, I still have comment lines in my style

[wendelah1]

But can anyone read the comment lines I write?

This comment mess is most irritating.

Oh yeah, we're discussing a story.

It's been so long that barely remember reading the Brontés--any of them--but maybe the youthful enthusiams of our writer accounts for the references? It's hard for me to see any of those novels as holding any interest for Scully.

I'll have to go back and reread this story. I'm still in writing mode.

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

I can read your title, but it just looks like a line of bolded text at the top of your comment. It doesn't have a separate place above the comment, like titles used to have.

Yeah, and the Comment lines don't carry over like they used to do.

[wendelah1]

This beyond annoying, really. It's broken the comment pages for this entire community then. I'm beside myself.

[infinitlight.livejournal.com]

In my head I was setting HTF in a later season (1)(I didn't read the author's note until after I finished the story). I thought the amount of emotion in Mulder and Scully's dialogue in the fic was too high for early seasons, when they were still relatively reserved around one another.

(1) After season 7, at least.