What I like about this fic is the premise. I’ve always liked FTF Antarctica gap-filler fics, and this is certainly one of the better ones, at least plot-wise.
From the edge of the crater in the ice, to an international weather station (Where? That’s what I want to know), to a cargo vessel, to an airplane bound for Caracas, to another airplane bound for D.C. The details tesla fills in do a pretty good job of grounding the radical situation Mulder and Scully have found themselves in, at least considering how short the fic is. Scully coughing up goo, Mulder being violently seasick, Mulder telling Scully he was shot in the head, them having to wait in Caracas for Scully’s passport to arrive, those are all parts I like. (Not wild about being told Scully is shitting goo, though. Some things I genuinely believe are better kept ‘off camera’.) I also find it interesting the way they keep knocking against each other emotionally, instinctively hanging onto each other while everything around them is transient and foreign.
The problem is, I really don’t care for this Mulder characterization. The whole fic feels like Scully fussing over him, and him being fussy and difficult, when he’s not being suddenly stricken by moments of frat-boy lust.
This was clearly a point where a nice guy would let go of his partner's firm little ass, and wake her up. But Mulder had already warned her he wasn't nice, right?
Ew. It’s not that his hand is on her ass, or that he wishes to keep it there. Those things are understandable. It’s the way it’s phrased: “firm little ass” and the way he justifies copping a feel. “You’re fault, Scully, I warned you I’m a prick.”
He does have some nice moments (like when he is worried about her respiration and Scully catches him with his ear to her chest, that’s a sweet moment and I thought the fic could have made a lot more of it). But for the most part, when he’s not being a prick or showing his concern, I find him rather boring. He doesn’t have the kind of rich inner life that I look for in a Mulder characterization.
Also, he calls Scully “honey,” at which I think my brain actually made a needle-scratch sound.
I don’t know what I think of Scully’s characterization. I like that she seems fairly on the ball in this fic, but her persistence in doctoring Mulder gets kind of boring, especially when for the most part he just does his best to wave her off. And I don’t recall there being a single description of her fixing anyone with an incisive look, or studying them with an intent gaze, or any such thing. She doesn’t do anything "stoic" or "stern" or "determined" or "deliberate" or "careful" or "cautious"; there are certain descriptors commonly used in reference to Scully (far more of them than I’ve listed, of course), and this fic seems to have almost none of them. Minute to minute I’m mostly fine with her characterization, but by the end, as a whole, it just feels wrong.
One other thing that confuses me is this:
Mulder felt frightened, really frightened, by how close everything had been. And yet, Scully had not seen the ship. She saw a crevasse of snow and dirty ice, she saw Mulder passed out beside her, but she didn't see the ship.
And it had only been seconds. Seconds. One late connection, one wrong turn, if he had even sat down once to think about he was doing, one or both of them would be dead.
I like that it's a moment of serious reflection on the epic danger they just faced. But this seems to be implying that if Mulder had stopped or been held up for a moment at any point in his journey to Antarctica, he would have been too late, which is (probably) not the case.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2012-02-23 04:56 am (UTC)What I like about this fic is the premise. I’ve always liked FTF Antarctica gap-filler fics, and this is certainly one of the better ones, at least plot-wise.
From the edge of the crater in the ice, to an international weather station (Where? That’s what I want to know), to a cargo vessel, to an airplane bound for Caracas, to another airplane bound for D.C. The details tesla fills in do a pretty good job of grounding the radical situation Mulder and Scully have found themselves in, at least considering how short the fic is. Scully coughing up goo, Mulder being violently seasick, Mulder telling Scully he was shot in the head, them having to wait in Caracas for Scully’s passport to arrive, those are all parts I like. (Not wild about being told Scully is shitting goo, though. Some things I genuinely believe are better kept ‘off camera’.) I also find it interesting the way they keep knocking against each other emotionally, instinctively hanging onto each other while everything around them is transient and foreign.
The problem is, I really don’t care for this Mulder characterization. The whole fic feels like Scully fussing over him, and him being fussy and difficult, when he’s not being suddenly stricken by moments of frat-boy lust.
This was clearly a point where a nice guy would
let go of his partner's firm little ass, and wake
her up. But Mulder had already warned her he
wasn't nice, right?
Ew. It’s not that his hand is on her ass, or that he wishes to keep it there. Those things are understandable. It’s the way it’s phrased: “firm little ass” and the way he justifies copping a feel. “You’re fault, Scully, I warned you I’m a prick.”
He does have some nice moments (like when he is worried about her respiration and Scully catches him with his ear to her chest, that’s a sweet moment and I thought the fic could have made a lot more of it). But for the most part, when he’s not being a prick or showing his concern, I find him rather boring. He doesn’t have the kind of rich inner life that I look for in a Mulder characterization.
Also, he calls Scully “honey,” at which I think my brain actually made a needle-scratch sound.
I don’t know what I think of Scully’s characterization. I like that she seems fairly on the ball in this fic, but her persistence in doctoring Mulder gets kind of boring, especially when for the most part he just does his best to wave her off. And I don’t recall there being a single description of her fixing anyone with an incisive look, or studying them with an intent gaze, or any such thing. She doesn’t do anything "stoic" or "stern" or "determined" or "deliberate" or "careful" or "cautious"; there are certain descriptors commonly used in reference to Scully (far more of them than I’ve listed, of course), and this fic seems to have almost none of them. Minute to minute I’m mostly fine with her characterization, but by the end, as a whole, it just feels wrong.
One other thing that confuses me is this:
Mulder felt frightened, really frightened, by how
close everything had been. And yet, Scully had
not seen the ship. She saw a crevasse of snow and
dirty ice, she saw Mulder passed out beside her,
but she didn't see the ship.
And it had only been seconds. Seconds. One late
connection, one wrong turn, if he had even sat
down once to think about he was doing, one or
both of them would be dead.
I like that it's a moment of serious reflection on the epic danger they just faced. But this seems to be implying that if Mulder had stopped or been held up for a moment at any point in his journey to Antarctica, he would have been too late, which is (probably) not the case.