Story 198: "five things that never happened to dana scully" by threeguesses

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

The next fic was nominated by lightlack and enthusiastically seconded by myself. It’s written by threeguesses, who is one of my favorite writers to come out of the pre/post IWTB era. Her writing in this fandom was not prolific, but her stories have always stood out (at least for me) for their powerful concepts, enthralling emotional currents, and the deceptive simplicity of threeguesses’ writing. Undoubtedly you know how "five things" fics work, in which case you also know the title of this week’s fic tells you just about everything that can be revealed about it without spoiling the sense of discovery that comes with each new segment.


five things that never happened to dana scully

The author is still around and writing up a storm (though sadly not in this fandom), and I’m sure she would appreciate feedback. There’s lots to say about this fic, so please do let us know what you think. And, as always, the nomination post is open for new suggestions.

Comments

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

Every marriage is unique. You could make a case that M and S have been in a form of marriage blanc since at least season 2.

I think what charms me is how *unlike* the Mulder we know it is. I really like different takes on the same characters. As I once said to you, we are stuck with the same two except for occasional forays into Diana or Krycek or CSM country.

There is no way to preview this, so I apologize for screwed-up ital.

[wendelah1]

The new and improved comment system is a disaster. I can preview because I have custom comments in my journal style but I would have to buy a premium account for people here to do it. I'm not giving LJ any more of my money.

I think what charms me is how *unlike* the Mulder we know it is.

Yeah, these really are characterization AUs rather than the usual setting or plot point AUs, which is why they feel more like commentary than fic to me. They're so far off from our show that they obliterate it. It's pretty damn clever of her.

[amyhit.livejournal.com]

these really are characterization AUs rather than the usual setting or plot point AUs

I don't think so. I think the characters are different because their lives are different. In the context of these circumstances, I find the characterizations very believable.

Although I do seem to have been misunderstanding part 4 all this time. I always thought Mulder was crying and Scully was choked up at the end because they both knew they were never going to stop, and Mulder suggesting it in a moment of impulsivity, like it was really going to happen, was painful. Clearly I was wrong.

So maybe I do find that section a bit OOC. But I find the dynamic between them so believable and lovely that I can almost ignore the whole "let's quit and get married!" thing. Though if ever there was a Mulder marriage proposal I didn't hate, it'd be this one. The way Mulder says it just works for me. It's one of the most vulnerable things he's ever said, and he tosses it out like a casual suggestion, using the same basic words he used to suggest they go into teaching. Yup, that's exactly how Mulder would do it, I think.