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atths--twice · 3 months

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Chapter Three

Sailing 101: A Study in Dynamics

It's time for a second date. And what could be better than an afternoon spent out on the water?

Monday afternoon

Mulder stood waiting for Scully beside the sailboat he had reserved. He kept running through his checklist of what he needed to do once on the boat and also what he had brought with him to ensure everything was perfect.

They had spoken after she came home from church and lunch on Sunday, her calling him nearly the instant she had arrived. He had smiled, listening to her discuss who she had seen and what she’d had to eat.

“I make it a point to eat really well on Sunday, especially since my parents are paying for it,” she had said and he had laughed. “I mean they always say to get whatever I want, so I do. I used to hold back though, not wanting to seem rude, but now… well… I don’t.”

“Makes sense,” he had said, picturing her ordering plate after plate, her napkin tucked into her dress to keep it clean.

“I’m glad you agree,” she had said and he smiled again.

“How do you feel about sailing?” he had blurted out as she had begun to speak but had then fallen silent.

“In general or…?” she had asked and he had chuckled.

“How do you feel about going sailing tomorrow?”

“You… you own a sailboat?” she had asked incredulously.

“No. I don’t personally. My parents have a boat, though it’s not what I had in mind as it’s far too large for an afternoon excursion.”

“I…”

“The yacht club has sailing classes of which I’ve taken my fair share over the years. I can borrow a smaller sailboat from there and we could sail around for a bit. Then maybe lunch at the clubhouse?” he had asked with a shrug, mentally reviewing his sailing lessons in his head.

“The yacht club?” she had asked in a small voice. “And the country club too? Who are you, Fox Mulder?”

He had frozen in place, suddenly worried she would think him snobby or pretentious.

“We could do something else. It doesn’t have to be… I just thought that… Your dad being in the Navy, I thought maybe you might have a love the water too, but we don’t-”

“No. I do love it,” she had assured him softly. “I just… You usually picture someone different when you hear they belong to yacht clubs or country clubs. Someone…”

“Older and snobby?” he had suggested and she had laughed nervously. “Well, I would tend to agree with you about that, though, that’s not how I would describe everyone.”

“I’m sorry if that sounded rude or if you took offense. That wasn’t my intention,” she had said, almost in a whisper.

“Not one bit,” he had said quickly, shaking his head.

“You know how to sail? You won’t sink us?” she had asked and he had heard the smile in her voice.

“I do. And I won’t. Yachtsman’s honor,” he had said and she had laughed before agreeing to sail with him.

She had insisted she would get a ride to the yacht club, not wanting to put him out, and now he was pacing, feeling nervous as he waited for her to arrive.

A car pulled up and he halted in his pacing. Music was playing loudly as the door opened and Scully stepped out, looking around and shaking her head.

“You’ll get a ride back or do you want me to pick you up later?” a man called above the music.

“I’ll get a ride. See you next week, Charlie. Thanks for dropping me off.”

“No problem, Dane. Have fun.”

She grabbed her backpack and closed the door, waving at him as he drove away.

“Hey,” Mulder called out and she jumped slightly. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Didn’t scare me. I just didn’t see you there.” She smiled and walked over to him, slipping her backpack on as she did.

“Hi,” he said, smiling at her as she stopped in front of him.

“Hi,” she replied, her smile growing, her hands holding onto the straps of her backpack. “I missed you.”

“Since last night when we spoke?” he teased and she shook her head.

“Since you drove away on Saturday night,” she whispered and he hummed as he leaned forward, a hand reaching to hold her hip.

He kissed her softly, her hands moving from her backpack to his chest and then wrapping around his neck. He pulled her closer and she moaned into his mouth.

Breaking apart, they drew in deep breaths, their foreheads pressed together.

“I think,” she whispered. “I think we should head to the boat. I don’t want to get in trouble at the yacht club. Find myself thrown out before I’ve even stepped a foot inside.”

He chuckled and leaned back, looking into her eyes. She smiled and he nodded, stepping back as he reached for her hand to lead her toward the sailboat. She squeezed his hand and he grinned as he opened the door to the boat ramp.

“It’s the perfect day for sailing,” she said and he nodded as they walked toward the boat. “I hope I’m dressed warm enough though, I know that it can get cooler on the water.”

“I have extra clothes and blankets, if you do. No need to worry.”

“Just thought of everything, have you?” she teased, squeezing his hand again as they stopped in front of the boat. “Oh, it’s nicer than I expected. I like it.”

“They’re good little boats. Definitely better for the plans today than something bigger.”

“Oh, that’s right,” she said, taking off her backpack and passing it to him as he held her hand to help her into the boat. “Is your parents' boat docked here?”

“Mmhmm, it’s just there,” he said, pointing as he handed her backpack to her. She looked and her eyes widened.

“That’s their boat? It’s…” She stared at it as she sat down and he untied the boat, carefully stepping in beside her.

“No, that’s the Youngs boat,” he said, smiling at her as he pushed away from the dock and began to prepare the sail. “Ours is much bigger.”

“Bigger than that?” she asked, pointing as they began to pass the boat.

“No. I’m just kidding,” he said with a chuckle. “Gotcha.”

“So funny,” she said, setting her bag down and shaking her head.

“I know,” he agreed. “The life jackets are underneath your seat. Could you pass me one and then put yours on as well? Safety first, you know.”

“Of course,” she said, taking out the life jackets and handing him one. He slipped it on and then turned his attention to getting them out into the open water.

He watched her, the wind blowing her hair gently as she smiled and closed her eyes. It felt like his dream and he could not help but smile in return. A larger boat honked at them and they both turned to wave as it passed by, children running along the side and calling out hello.

“Hello!” Scully called back and the children laughed and screamed excitedly. “Aww. Aren’t they so cute?”

You are, he wanted to say, but he only smiled as he adjusted the sail to catch more wind.

“Mmm,” she said, leaning back and tilting her face to the sun. “This was a perfect idea. Thank you for thinking of it.”

“Sailing always impresses the ladies,” he said, watching to see her reaction.

“This is where the debauchery happens, isn’t it?” she asked, turning her head to look at him. He laughed and shook his head as she shook her own, a smile tugging at her lips. “I knew it had to be somewhere.”

“Imagine attempting anything like that as an awkward teenager. We’d both have ended up in the water. That would put a damper on things for sure,” he said with a laugh, guiding them past some larger wakes.

“So you haven’t won the ladies over with your sailing abilities?” she asked and he shook his head as he looked at her.

“Only woman I’ve been sailing with is my sister. And she usually takes over as she is, in fact, the better sailor.”

“I’m liking her more and more,” Scully said, opening her backpack and taking out a floppy, wide brimmed hat and a pair of sunglasses. He smiled as she put them on and then leaned back, her face once more tilted toward the sun.

They sailed around the harbor, not talking much as they absorbed the view and the weather. She had taken her hat off and braided her hair into two long braids, the wind causing it to tangle and cover her eyes too often. The hat was then replaced and he could not help but find her even more adorable.

“Do you want a blanket or anything? It’s in that large bag there,” he offered and she shook her head.

“Not just yet. But I’m sure I will soon.”

Five more minutes and she was reaching for the bag, taking out one of his sweatshirts and a blanket. She put them on and smiled at him.

“Much better,” she said and he nodded.

“There is a spot about ten minutes from here. It’s a little cove with a dock. Do you want to stop there for a bit?”

“If you want to, I’m game.”

“Radical,” he said and she laughed, shaking her head and pulling the blanket further around her.

“That sounds weird coming from you.”

“Is bitchin’ better?”

“No. Definitely not,” she laughed and he nodded in agreement.

“Far out?”

“No,” she said, laughing again and he smiled.

“To the cove we go,” he said and she nodded.

When they arrived, she was ready to help pull them in. She grabbed the buoys and tied them to the side as the dock came into view. Without even asking, she then took hold of the ropes and stood carefully to her feet, ready to jump out and tie the boat to the cleats.

He was more than impressed as he watched her, doing his portion to secure the boat was properly docked. She smiled at him as he handed her her backpack and then the backpack he had brought, taking her life jacket and placing it into the boat. Taking off his own, he stepped out of the boat and stared at her.

“We had a boat, a small one, but my dad sold it when we had to relocate. Aside from knowing about ships of all sizes, I also have basic boat knowledge,” she said, shrugging as she slipped on her backpack.

“I figured you would. But still, that was pretty smooth-”

“Sailing?” she interrupted, her eyes shining. “Imagine that.” She slid her arm through his and he laughed as he picked up his own backpack.

“You got me,” he said quietly and she nodded happily.

“I certainly did,” she said as they began to walk up the small dock, her hand finding his and squeezing.

“There isn’t really much to do here,” he said, walking into the grassy area that held two picnic tables and a community barbecue. “I just thought you might like to walk around a bit before we start heading back.”

“You’ve been here before, obviously. What do you usually do?”

“Well,” he said, stopping for a second and looking around. “We had a badminton set that we put up and played over there.” He pointed to the area away from the tables. “My sister and I would play and then my parents would join us after we’d eaten. Or if we were with other families, we would play with their children and the adults would drink and talk, getting louder as the drinks became stronger.”

“Sounds familiar,” Scully said with a laugh.

“We’d play horseshoes too sometimes, but that was when the pits for it were here. They took them out a couple years back. I think too many drunk college kids got hurt acting like idiots.”

“Well, that’ll do it,” Scully said, laughing again. “Having seen the idiotic things our fellow classmates do, I can understand the need to remove them.”

“Yeah,” he said, squeezing her hand before letting it go. “I brought some snacks. Just drinks and chips. Do you want to look around the area and have something to eat?” He smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Look around, yes,” she said, adjusting her backpack. “Eat… no. You mentioned lunch at the yacht club. I’ll wait for that.”

“Okay then,” he said, adjusting his own backpack. “Let’s explore the wooded area here.”

“I’ll try not to touch any unknown plants this time,” she said with a smile.

“If you do, don’t worry. I have the Super Salve,” he said and she chuckled softly as she reached to take his hand again.

“Always prepared,” she said and he nodded.

“Gotta be, with you around,” he said, squeezing her fingers and pulling her closer.

“I’d be mad at that comment,” she said, sniffing with her head turned away from him. “Buuut… I know how well that salve works, so you’re forgiven.”

“Thank you,” he said with a chuckle and she nodded curtly before looking at him with a smile. He laughed again, guiding her to the small copse of trees.

When they walked back to the boat twenty minutes later, she held two large pine cones in her hands and in her backpack there were numerous rocks to which she had taken a liking.

“What will you do with them?” he asked as they pushed away from the dock and he glanced at her, adjusting the sail.

“Hmm, I’m not sure exactly. Well, about the pine cones anyway. I think I’ll paint the rocks and then put them on my desk. I like doing that. Gives the room a bit of color and…” She shrugged and smiled at him as she situated the pine cones. “I don’t know, I just like it.”

“What do you paint on them?” he asked and she shrugged again.

“Different things,” she said, twisting a braid and looking out at the water. “I’ve made ones of beach scenes, campfires, city lights… just different things.”

“So they’re detailed, not just colored rocks,” he said and she looked at him with a smile and furrowed brow.

“No! Not just colored! Like they’re Easter eggs or something?” she asked with a laugh and he shrugged, his hands raised with the palms up.

“I don’t know! I didn’t see any on your desk the other night.”

“Because I don’t have any there,” she laughed, giving her backpack a nudge with her foot. “Hence the reason I collected so many.”

“Hence,” he repeated, laughing as he steered the boat back towards the yacht club.

“Yeah, hence,” she said again, tugging at her life jacket and then leaning back, crossing one leg over the other. He stared at her foot, watching it move up and down and he smiled.

“Well, I’ll enjoy seeing them when you’re done.”

“Would you like to paint them with me?” she asked and he lifted his head to look at her. “Not today, of course. But maybe this weekend?”

“I��d like that,” he said, grinning at her. “Although I’m not much of a painter.”

“Psh,” she said, waving her hand in a dismissive way. “It’s rocks… Fox.” She grinned and he laughed at the rhyme. “You can’t really mess up a rock.”

“I suppose that’s true,” he agreed with a nod.

“We could go to that park close to Toni's,” she suggested. “The park for artistic inspiration and then Toni’s for dinner? Or late lunch depending on the time?”

“I’d like that,” he said, grinning as he nodded again.

“Good,” she said, twisting her braid again as she looked down, almost shyly. “It’s a date.”

“Totally,” he said and she shook her head as she raised it to look up at him with a smile.

“Radical,” she said, echoing his word from earlier and he laughed loudly, the wind picking up and carrying his laughter across the water.

The ride back seemed to take less time, the wind pushing them on. They were quiet, comfortable in the silence, as they watched other boats and Scully ran her fingers through the water, smiling as she watched it drip down as she raised her hand. He smiled as he stared at her in her big hat and sunglasses.

So cute, he thought. Really wished I would have spoken to her sooner.

“Does it ever make you stop and think?” she asked.

“What?” he asked, feeling for a second that she was reading his mind.

“Just how big the world is, how amazing. That this water is here, that it stays here, hundreds, if not thousands, of feet deep, and it’s just here. And that there are places in the world that we will never see, yet they are there, simply existing.” She stared at the water dripping from her fingers. “I’m touching something that someone might be wishing they could touch. In a place where someone might yearn to be. And yet I might wish to be where they are, exploring what their homeland may offer.” She looked at him, smiling slowly. “It’s wild isn’t it?”

“Whoa… getting all profound on me,” he said and she exhaled a laugh. “But yes, I understand what you mean.”

“This is big,” she said, waving her other hand to emphasize the area around them. “But it’s also small. It’s just… I don’t know. It just struck me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

“Puts things into perspective,” he agreed with a nod. “I was just thinking, I wished I’d spoken to you sooner. Maybe this wouldn’t have been the first time we’ve gone sailing. Maybe it would have been a weekly occurrence, something we did every Monday.”

She tilted her head, staring at him through her sunglasses, and shook her head slightly.

“I wasn’t in a place then to spend my Monday’s sailing with anyone. I was… I was going through some things last year- my own personal things and I…” She shook her head again and leaned forward, holding her hand out to him. He took it and she squeezed gently. “I think… I think I would have broken your heart. And my own in the process.” She smiled sadly and he squeezed her hand a little tighter. “Because like I told you already, I really like you, Fox Mulder.”

“Well,” he said, smiling softly. “Then we met exactly when we were supposed to.” She nodded, squeezing his hand again. “Because I really like you too, Dana Scully.”

“Good,” she whispered and he nodded as they squeezed at the same time, smiling as she let go and leaned back, picking up the blanket beside her and wrapping it around her legs.

When the docks began to come into sight, she took off his sweatshirt, packing it and the blankets back inside of his backpack. Into her own, went her floppy hat.

Jumping out again as they reached the dock, she securely tied the rope to the cleat, smiling at him proudly.

He took her life jacket and placed them both back in their correct space, then he furled the sail and continued securing the boat. He set their backpacks on the dock before stepping out and standing beside her. She smiled as they picked their things up and walked to his car to drop it off.

“Are you sure I’m dressed okay for lunch here?” she asked, loosening her braids and letting her hair flow freely. “I do have a different shirt, but I don’t-”

“You look fine,” he said, taking in her attire of a black sweater and jeans.

“You’re sure?” she asked again, quickly braiding her hair into one long braid that lay over her left shoulder. She twisted the end, biting her lip as she looked at the building nervously.

“Hey,” he said softly, covering her hand and bringing it down to hold her fingers loosely in his own. “If it was a fancy place and there was a strict code, especially at this time of day, I would’ve told you. I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable anywhere.”

She stared at him, her sunglasses now off, allowing him to look into her beautiful blue eyes. She squeezed his hand, placing her other on his cheek as she rose up to kiss him softly. He put his hand on her hip to hold steady and kissed her back just as gently.

“You,” she breathed as they broke apart. “You are something else. You know that, right?”

“Hmm,” he hummed, squeezing her hip and stepping back. “I might.”

She laughed quietly and he tugged at her hand, pulling her toward the building. She held his upper arm with her other hand and he smiled as they walked.

“I promise that you don’t need to feel nervous,” he assured her as they neared the doors. “My parents are going to love you.”

“Oh my God! Your parents are here?! Right now?!”! she asked, stopping in her steps and staring at him, her eyes wide. He smiled and shook his head, stepping close and squeezing her hand.

“Gotcha,” he whispered.

#the x files #msr #alternate universe #college au #college classmates #second date #sailing #laughter #getting to know each other #happy #teasing and flirting #kissing #holding hands

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attn-all-pickpockets · 1 year

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top 5 txf episodes

I loved this prompt but also it was very hardddd, I mostly chose ones that I never shut up about lmao

"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"

This is my girl, this is my ride or die. I was in the Northeast when the first category 1 hurricane hit in like 50 years and I had to drive through the outer bands in a rental car with a spare tire on it and when we got home I made everyone watch this because it's my comfort episode that accompanies me through moments of triumph as well as crisis. Scully befriending the depressed old man psychic is such a great storyline for Scully and this whole ep really lets her shine. Scully has such a kindness and playfulness that she typically only shows with Mulder, but her fondness for the deadpan comedy stylings of Bruckman made her fond of him and her heartbreak when he dies is such a perfect scene. Also I just think of her smile and "there are hits and there are misses, and then there are misses :)" a lot.

2. "Leonard Betts"

If someone asked me what is the episode of The X Files that feels like the quintessential episode, I would say "Leonard Betts", which I think some would think as a weird choice. But this episode is what this show was at the height of its popularity to me. It aired after the Superbowl and the cold open is one of its best with a beheading, followed by the corpse waltzing right out of the morgue. The banter between Mulder and Scully is top notch and full of perfect Mulder quips ("blinked or winked?") and incredulous Scully deliveries ("Mulder, they're worms") and even if the scientific explanation of "evolutionary cancer" is deeply ludicrous from a scientific perspective, it is a great x-file. And the ENDING of finding out Scully has cancer is such a gut punch, just a phenomenal hour of tv.

3. "Paper Clip"

This is on here because I love the Anasazi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip trilogy so much and I have to shout it out. I will always cape for early mythology because I think the fact that became a muddled mess makes people forget how damn good it was to begin with. So much of the early character work was done in these episodes and they're so compelling. Bringing in real history with Operation Paper Clip and connecting Mulder's father to the people Mulder is trying to investigate was a great move (that they didn't totally deliver on imo, but "sins of the father" is a great idea at the very least) and expanding the scope and complicity in the conspiracy really put what Mulder and Scully were up against in perspective. Mulder relenting and choosing to go out of hiding for Scully so she could see her sister and their conversation in the hospital room after Melissa died are some of my favorite moments of the show.

4. "Folie a Deux"

It's hard to pick a Vince episode and this could just as easily be "Pusher" (which was the episode that got me to seriously ship msr) or "Bad Blood" or almost any other episode he wrote, but "Folie a Deux" is special to me. Mulder's mental wellness and people's belief that he's crazy has been an angle that has always been present and Vince framing this as a joint delusion on Mulder and Scully's part is so fascinating and a fantastic bit or writing to me. Mulder is so discredited and dismissed in this episode and the only person who listens to him is Scully and that's a perfect distillation of their dynamic and the show itself. Also the episode is Marxist to me.

5. "Jose Chung's From Outer Space"

I thought to myself "well I can't have two Darin episodes on here" but…of course I can! This is one of the greatest episodes of TV of all time. Not just of sci-fi or network or pre-00s TV, of all TV ever made. This is one of the episodes that sets The X Files apart from its clones or other cop procedural shows and it's that it can switch genres and tones and bring this post-modern, storyline hopping masterpiece out and no one thinks twice about its place in the show or season. A lot gets said about how funny it is and the melancholic tone Darin brings to his writing, but I find myself so impressed by they way the writing and directing work to make the timeline jumping work and not end up confusing the viewer. I'll eventually talk about this more, but the shot construction to create anchor points between a re-enactment and the scene of the narrator telling this story to Mulder and Scully is so great.

#the x files #ask

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sigritandtheelves · 5 months

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I can't remember if I've ever dropped in to say I adore your fics. Soooooo, here I am, praise in tow.

I love your Mulder and Scully dearly. Your Mulder: he's earthy, cottony, man-in-jeans-with-trembling-fingers-and-motivated-action for lack of a better expression. Your Scully: she's a woman in charge of her destiny, Mulder's shotgun rider and whose strength he relies on even more than his own. With your Scully, he can relish being "the family man"-- I admit, those are my favorite of your fics-- while knowing she and he are a force to be reckoned with no matter how many kids they balance on their hips.

I have too many favorites-- in the very literal sense of that expression-- to pick one; but A 2004 AU was the first of your work I'd read (I think?), and it still has me in its grip: condensed, dynamic, and perfect. It can only be tied by Ground; and they're both only a hairsbreadth ahead of a long list of your other work.

Thank you for the beautiful pieces you've put out into the world~. :DDD

i'm ... 🥺

holy cow.

thank you so much for this ❤️🥺❤️

i took a little break from tumblr and i come back to the nicest ask/ note i've had in years?? you make me want to write again, friend.

#the nicest note omg #xf fic stuff #was just thinking about tackling the IVF arc... again #or that wrinkle in time crossover i've always wanted to write 🤔

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ailendolin · 11 months

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Ooh hello 😊 Let's start with those for the Honest Opinion ship game:

* Norne

* MSR

* PatCap

Aw, thanks so much, dear!

Norne

Norne is very special to me because it's the first time I actually created a ship (I still can't believe no one had thought of it before I joined the fandom). The very first Ghosts fic I wrote was about Nigel comforting Thomas so I guess you could say it sort of always made sense to me. I know it's a silly ship but it's also a fun one and after series 4 gave us Nigel having a crush on Thomas it doesn't feel quite so far-fetched anymore. I think one of the reasons I like it so much is because neither of them seems to really fit into their respective groups (Humphrey/Thomas appeals to me for the same reasons). It's the possibility of them bonding over that and growing as people with each other's help (Nigel becoming more self-confident and Thomas learning not to force the words) that makes this ship work so well for me. I really think those two could be good for each other.

MSR

I shipped these two before I even knew what shipping was. They're one of my childhood OTPs and little me lived for the little moments when they took care of each other or almost kissed (I was so angry at that stupid bee in Fight The Future, you have no idea lol). Mulder and Scully's dynamic is precious and they're definitely THE ship of the show for me (though every now and then I'm also a little partial to Mulder/Krycek I have to admit).

PatCap

PatCap is one of those ships I totally get in theory but for some reason never really got into myself - perhaps because Pat and Cap are a little too similar in some aspects for my taste (their obsession for routine for example), or maybe because I just prefer the tragedy of Capvers. Whatever the case, PatCap definitely makes sense even if I don't actively ship it. They work well together and are obviously good friends, so once the Captain has come to terms with who he is, Pat, out of all the present day ghosts, would be the perfect partner for him, I think.

Ask Game can be found here.

#norne #patcap #msr #bbc ghosts #the x files #ask game

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randomfoggytiger · 1 day

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I am stuck on something right now and you are a meta queen and I did read this and I haven't watched IWTB in over 15 years and you have so I'm hoping you can help me out. I was so angry and disappointed when the film came out because so much of what you wrote about in your analysis. However, my delicate little shipper heart didn't clock their fight as a break up. And I'm wondering if I missed something or if it's a case of the revival breakup got retrospectively applied to IWTB. I know she says she's not coming home but I took that as she wouldn't be coming home until the case was done. I could watch for myself I suppose but honestly I just can't and it's driving me kind of crazy.

tldr: Yes, it was permanent; but DD and GA can't (read: won't) act "permanent", and thus break the immersion.

CC, in my opinion, has two modes when "breaking up" his characters:

The implied rift: One Son is the perfect example. Scully lays down her boundaries, stating that if Mulder doesn't trust her the partnership (read: relationship) won't work. She walks off, leaving the choice up to him. Yet, when she finds a lead, she calls him and expects him to immediately jump on board. Moreover, he isn't surprised that she calls, only that she is going off on her own with or without his help. Ultimatums have been given but no break has occurred.

The permanent rift: IWTB and pre-Revival fall into this category. Scully separates from Mulder because he pursues the Truth above their (read: her) relationship needs. She leaves, sleeps elsewhere; and in the Revival had no intentions of going back. Why the break is also permanent in IWTB is because Scully knows Mulder will put the truth above her; meaning, he will choose the case, enforcing her decision to leave.

Why break it only to put it back together? Because CC loves being the puppet master, the man behind the curtain: creating disaster and watching his audience clutch their chests in horror before knitting everything back together better than before. Scully and Mulder have to believe it's over in order for his writing to work; and if you peek at the scripts without the natural charm of DD and GA's dynamic, Mulder and Scully do seriously believe it's over.

But yet, the characters don't... seem to believe it's over, even when the script and dialogue are enforcing that fact.

Acting in nuances have been DD and GA's M.O. since Season 1; and what's on the page often doesn't come across as permanent or life-altering when the two act it out on the screen. But that doesn't mean it wasn't intended: the rest of IWTB falls in the same lines, David and Gillian often spout lines with completely different body language than their words imply, creating a disconnect that lightens rather than elevates the script material.

In short: DD and GA more often than not act their lines in such a way that nothing feels permanent; but if you read the scripts or listen to the lines devoid of their mannerisms and interplay, it becomes obvious IWTB was supposed to be about conquering fears and reknitting them back from the chasm: Mulder's obsession and Scully's fear, sure, but most importantly, their broken and (*gasp*) irrecoverable relationship.

Thanks for dropping in~! :DDDD

In short short, whenever I hear others say the rift wasn't permanent... yeah. It does come across that way because of the actors involved, what they believe Mulder and Scully stand for, and how they execute the material together. But CC did/does intend for things to be "over", affording him the opportunity to make it "right." (Not a bad thing... but a frustrating one if carried out incorrectly.)

#asks #calimanc #thanks for droppin in!#IWTB #THAT movie #nice ideas badly executed

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roswellnmsource · 3 years

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Michael Trevino Talks The CW’s ‘Roswell, New Mexico’

So first off, what was your reaction to finding out you’d be doing that time jump this season? Michael Trevino: For Kyle, I think jumping — I mean yeah, time has passed, right? And I think whenever you start a new season, we always ask that. We’re like, “Well, how much time has passed? Where are we starting from? Has as my character been here, been there?” So this is one of those seasons where yes, time has passed, kind of a restart, reboot and it’s fresh. I think our first episodes were showing people in their different dynamics and kind of briefly alluded to what they’ve been up to, and that’s always nice.

I had the chance to see episode nine early and really enjoyed it. What can you preview for the fans about what this episode has in store for them? I feel that episode nine is a turning point for Kyle. Kyle, as we all know, is there for everybody, whenever he can be. He seems to be the one that they go to. He’s always putting out fires, I keep saying that but it’s true. Whenever there’s a problem, Kyle’s there for you. And I think this episode is kind of where — not that he’s reached a limit, but it’s taken a toll on him and we get a very frustrated, little angsty Kyle for good reason, I feel. I think that that frustration is a bit earned after everything, but we are going to find out in 3×09, as we’ve been finding out, a bit more about who Jim Valenti was, who was Kyle’s father, who is Eduardo, what is Deep Sky about, and it’s going to kind of jumpstart Kyle for the rest of the season. It’s a big episode for him because he finally makes a decision on, “Okay, enough is enough. This is how I feel about this and this is what we’re doing next.”

How was it for you to play with that sort of stroyline as an actor? As you said, it is such an important point for him. Well, I gotta be honest, I just saw the episode and I’m coming in hot! I’m coming in real hot and in the moment I didn’t think it was that hot, but damn, we’re there. And so I think it’s fine because I get a lot of feedback, which is great, that Kyle is such a good guy and “I like his character, he’s there for everybody.” That’s nice, right? So I feel like after three seasons of that, to see Kyle a bit over it with what’s going on and everything that he’s being told, new information, more new information, I think it works. For me, you try to find those moments of like, “Okay, can I keep being there for everybody,” or at some point I’m going to be like, “Okay, I’m done,” right? Or “I can only do this much.” He’s never going to turn his back on people, but in this episode we see him a little frustrated.

Fans love the show, what does it mean to you when you go on social media or meet fans in person and hear their response to your work? It’s great. It’s a beautiful feeling because we’re currently filming season four and that’s rare for a series to really last that long, to build these characters, and to still have these interesting storylines. So, to know that people are still engaged in these characters and the story that we’re telling, they’re still tuning in, it’s nice. What makes it even more special this season is because we’re watching season three right now, but we’re currently at the same time filming season four. Through the scheduling it just worked out that way, but it’s almost instant feedback and it’s also an instant reminder of “Okay, where have we been? What have we done?” So we feel closer to the story, which is great for us as actors, but sometimes it’s not that way. You’ll see something and be like, “Oh yeah, we shot that a year ago. Where am I coming from? Where are we headed,” and you want to track these stories but right now I’m just thankful for everybody that’s continuing to watch and who’s invested in these characters.

The show was picked up for a season four ahead of season three even premiering, which was so amazing to see. What was your reaction when you heard the news? I was genuinely surprised because usually you don’t get a pickup until at least the season has aired or the season is four or five episodes in, but I guess because in the year COVID and the delay, the network was able to see all these episodes and see the ones that we’ve done already. It’s great feedback. I think that we have something special happening here in Santa Fe, New Mexico with this crew, this cast, and our writers back in LA, who are back to visiting us on set per their episode. Everybody’s still invested. It’s a great feeling because we’re all here, we’re happy to be here, grateful to be telling these stories and working, and we’d like to continue.

What has been your favorite storyline of the season so far that fans have already seen? I think — okay, well, to answer that on what we’ve already seen, I did like and enjoy the scenes with Kyle and Michael. Those were fun to shoot. I get along great with Mr. Michael Vlamis and it’s always fun to be in scenes with him because, as we know, Michael Guerin is a bit of a wild card. With that, Mr. Michael Vlamis on the day is able to be a little bit unpredictable and I like that. I like performing with him and feeding off of what he’s bringing. He always keeps it fresh and new in each take. So, I like those scenes with him

I know you can’t tell me too much, but what can you tease about the rest of season three? The rest of season three, I feel now that Jones is really flexing on us, we have this bit of the Avengers assembling right in Roswell, like everybody having to come together, everybody has a job, and it’s to really take care of Jones and get him out of here. So I think that’s really what the rest of these episodes are going to be about.

I love that metaphor you did. It’s perfect. It really is because it’s like from season one to season three, we’re all separate. Now, it’s like, “Okay, we have to join forces to handle this guy.” And that’s what we’re gonna see.

You filmed season three with the COVID pandemic and now you’re filming season four with those safety precautions since the pandemic is still going on. What did it feel like for you to wrap season three with those circumstances, but then also come back for season four? Well, I have to give it to our producers, really, because everybody in the world had to pivot. We all had to make changes in our lives and I think the changes that have been made to keep everybody — crew, catering, casting, post production, accounting, whoever — safe on set, there’s been some different rules and it’s kept everybody safe. I’m proud to say we didn’t have to shut down once in season three. Unfortunately, there’s other productions that had to, but up here in Santa Fe, no. We were just lucky or we followed the rules, I don’t know but we were great and we were able to keep to our schedule, not have to shut down, and now we’re back for season four and we know what to expect. So things are running smoothly and there hasn’t been any problem. I’m just happy, glad, and grateful that we’re able to still tell the stories.

What is your personal favorite dynamic (friendship or relationship) when it comes to Kyle? I’m going to say that I want to see more Kyle and Isobel. I think that Isobel brings out a different side of Kyle whenever they’re in scenes or have interactions with one another. I’d like to lean more into that storyline for whatever it may be, I just want them to have more interaction because I think Kyle acts a different way around her. She’s just such a big ball of energy, so I think that would be fantastic and I would want to see more of that.

I know you’re probably not going to be able to give me too much on this, but I have to ask you, what was your reaction when you read the scripts for season four? Well, my reaction is a kind of going off of my last answer, Kyle ends up having more storyline with Isobel and it’s nice to see that play out. And so far, it’s been refreshing to see them in scenes together. I will tease this: so far in season four, the scenes that are with Kyle and Isobel have a comedic feeling to them. I feel like their scenes are fun and funny to shoot, but there’s a comedic element to it.

Is there any other show that you are personally a fan of and would like to see Roswell, New Mexico do a crossover with? Oh damn, that’s a great question. Off the top of my head, we’re gonna have a Roswell, New Mexico and The X-Files crossover event. This episode is going to air right after the Super Bowl and millions of people are going to watch it. It’s going to be Scully and Mulder pulling up to Roswell, New Mexico and Kyle will be there to greet them.

Is there a memory that sticks out to you as a memorable moment from filming season three? Oh gosh, it’s our season finale, it has to be our season finale. I can’t give away too much, but like I said about as far as Avengers assembling, it’s those scenes when we’re all on set together. It’s the season finale, we’re in Santa Fe in the middle of February and March, it’s freezing, it’s like 10 degrees outside, we’re getting the exterior night shoots that we need, and we’re all in. It’s not even just the cast, it’s the crew, it’s everybody. We’re just trying to get the final shot done of the season and we are working against all the elements. It’s a bit chaotic but it’s organized — organized chaos, that’s what it is. Those feelings are you got to get the job done and that’s what we do. I mean, we all know Jones is the big bad and everybody’s gonna have to get involved to take care of him and we see that in our last episode. Those scenes are really fun to shoot. They were challenging but I think it’s gonna come together well and it’ll be a strong finish for us.

If you could create a tagline or a phrase of your own to describe Kyle as a character, what would you pick? Kyle Valenti: I’m there if you need me.

#michael trevino #kyle valenti #roswell new mexico #press #3x09 #rnm spoilers

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enigmaticxbee · 3 years

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S6 Rewatch - Fic Recs

Need something better to read than Padgett’s florid drivel? These are a few of my favorite season 6 fics that aren’t connected to a specific episode. This got long - turns out there are a lot of great old school casefiles that are set in season 6:

Overnight Sensation by @syntax6 - novel length casefile with great msr as Mulder and Scully try to get back in sync post Two Fathers/One Son. This is an old fave.

Amish Country by lolabeegood - great long undercover casefile. Fake married! One bed! All the good stuff. (On Gossamer so if link doesn’t work you can search for it there.)

Queen’s Gambit by Suzanne Schramm - early season 6 casefile with great angsty msr. It’s a serial killer case, but features Psychic!Scully. And a great series of motel scenes where Mulder and Scully slowly, angstily, ust-ily work their shit out. (On Gossamer so if link doesn’t work you can search for it there.)

Quietus by Allison Johnson - casefile follow up to Paper Hearts set early season 6. No overt romance, but delves into their dynamic in an interesting bittersweet way.

Lesser Evils by Hannah Mason - dramatic, tropey Scully is kidnapped, will Mulder save her in time? fic. Set post FTF, dealing with the aftermath of their almost kiss.

No Earthly Means by Circe Invidiosa aka @invidiosa - A Genderbender follow up casefile set in season 6. Great UST and an ending that harkens back perfectly to the episode’s own WTF ending. (On Gossamer so if link doesn’t work you can search for it there.)

Ensky by ViXen - serial killer casefile with some great slow burn msr. My jam.

And a few non-casefile recs as well:

Dividends and The Seven Year Itch by Suzanne Schramm - a late night motel room conversation set early season 6 and a mid season follow up. In the first the FTF almost-kiss is finally addressed and on the precipice of changing their relationship Scully says Oh god, this is it, isn't it? which just captures the irrevocability of that shift for me and why they teeter on the edge for so long. Don’t worry, RST in the second part. (On Gossamer so if link doesn’t work you can search for it there.)

I Never and Imagine Yourself Magic by artemisx3 - takes place in early season 6 when they’re on manure duty and margaritas give them the push they need. (On Gossamer so if link doesn’t work you can search for it there.)

Opposite of Impulse by Maria Nicole - pitch perfect broken down car on a hot summer day interlude set between The Unnatural and Biogenesis.

Snow in Alabama by Tesla - offbeat little fic with a memorable motel room first kiss featuring embarrassing misunderstandings and their classic lack of communication.

Blame the Weather by @softnow - first time fic, not much plot but HOT, NSFW obviously.

Show Me by ArtemisX5 - Scully responds for once to Mulder’s late night what are you wearing jokes. NSFW. (On Gossamer so if link doesn’t work you can search for it there.)

Contemplating by Dreamshaper - a late night visit from a bored Mulder, turns surprisingly sweet. (On Gossamer so if link doesn’t work you can search for it there.)

Cherry Blossom Season by @peacenik0 - a fun, fluffy slow burn over the end of season 6, turns NSFW after The Unnatural!

The I in Team by @spookydarlablack - Sensing their discord, Skinner sends Mulder and Scully to a team-building seminar. It goes about as well you’d expect at first. It’s so satisfying to see them actually work through some of their season 6 issues.

No Regrets Compiled Part 1/Part 2/Part 3 by MystPhile - after running into Detective Kresge during the case in Arcadia Scully embarks on a journey to recover her sense of self and reconnect with the people in her life. Ultimately MSR but definitely NSFW Scully/Other. I read this years ago and was searching everywhere for it. Thank you again to @arboreta for helping me find it again! Takes place over the back half of season 6 and includes some wonderful introspection from Scully and insightful conversations with Kresge, her mother, and in the end with Mulder. (On Gossamer so if link doesn’t work you can search for it there.)

Triptych chapters 14-18 by @iconicscullyoutfits - AU where Mulder and Diana were married at the beginning of the show, but otherwise following canon. WIP but these chapters set over the course of season 6 can be read as a standalone arc (although you really should read the post FTF chapter 13 because it is FANTASTIC and sets up this season’s dynamics). Conveys the complexities and contradictions of these characters so, so well - ease and warmth and tension and heartbreak all at once.

Contact High by Penumbra - I also rec’d this under 6x21 Field Trip since it’s a post-ep but it’s one of my favorite fics of all time. A trippy, beautiful first time fic, captures Mulder and Scully and this moment perfectly. If you haven’t read it just GO.

See individual episodes S6 Rewatch posts for episode-specific fic recs.

#xf rewatch #txf #season 6 #fic recs #long post #whoops this got long

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gra-sonas · 3 years

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I had the chance to see episode nine early and really enjoyed it. What can you preview for the fans about what this episode has in store for them? Michael Trevino: I feel that episode nine is a turning point for Kyle. Kyle, as we all know, is there for everybody, whenever he can be. He seems to be the one that they go to. He’s always putting out fires, I keep saying that but it’s true. Whenever there’s a problem, Kyle’s there for you. And I think this episode is kind of where — not that he’s reached a limit, but it’s taken a toll on him and we get a very frustrated, little angsty Kyle for good reason, I feel. I think that that frustration is a bit earned after everything, but we are going to find out in 3×09, as we’ve been finding out, a bit more about who Jim Valenti was, who was Kyle’s father, who is Eduardo, what is Deep Sky about, and it’s going to kind of jumpstart Kyle for the rest of the season. It’s a big episode for him because he finally makes a decision on, “Okay, enough is enough. This is how I feel about this and this is what we’re doing next.”

How was it for you to play with that sort of stroyline as an actor? As you said, it is such an important point for him. Michael Trevino: Well, I gotta be honest, I just saw the episode and I’m coming in hot! I’m coming in real hot and in the moment I didn’t think it was that hot, but damn, we’re there. And so I think it’s fine because I get a lot of feedback, which is great, that Kyle is such a good guy and “I like his character, he’s there for everybody.” That’s nice, right? So I feel like after three seasons of that, to see Kyle a bit over it with what’s going on and everything that he’s being told, new information, more new information, I think it works. For me, you try to find those moments of like, “Okay, can I keep being there for everybody,” or at some point I’m going to be like, “Okay, I’m done,” right? Or “I can only do this much.” He’s never going to turn his back on people, but in this episode we see him a little frustrated.

Fans love the show, what does it mean to you when you go on social media or meet fans in person and hear their response to your work? Michael Trevino: It’s great. It’s a beautiful feeling because we’re currently filming season four and that’s rare for a series to really last that long, to build these characters, and to still have these interesting storylines. So, to know that people are still engaged in these characters and the story that we’re telling, they’re still tuning in, it’s nice. What makes it even more special this season is because we’re watching season three right now, but we’re currently at the same time filming season four. Through the scheduling it just worked out that way, but it’s almost instant feedback and it’s also an instant reminder of “Okay, where have we been? What have we done?” So we feel closer to the story, which is great for us as actors, but sometimes it’s not that way. You’ll see something and be like, “Oh yeah, we shot that a year ago. Where am I coming from? Where are we headed,” and you want to track these stories but right now I’m just thankful for everybody that’s continuing to watch and who’s invested in these characters.

The show was picked up for a season four ahead of season three even premiering, which was so amazing to see. What was your reaction when you heard the news? Michael Trevino: I was genuinely surprised because usually you don’t get a pickup until at least the season has aired or the season is four or five episodes in, but I guess because in the year COVID and the delay, the network was able to see all these episodes and see the ones that we’ve done already. It’s great feedback. I think that we have something special happening here in Santa Fe, New Mexico with this crew, this cast, and our writers back in LA, who are back to visiting us on set per their episode. Everybody’s still invested. It’s a great feeling because we’re all here, we’re happy to be here, grateful to be telling these stories and working, and we’d like to continue.

What has been your favorite storyline of the season so far that fans have already seen? Michael Trevino: I think — okay, well, to answer that on what we’ve already seen, I did like and enjoy the scenes with Kyle and Michael. Those were fun to shoot. I get along great with Mr. Michael Vlamis and it’s always fun to be in scenes with him because, as we know, Michael Guerin is a bit of a wild card. With that, Mr. Michael Vlamis on the day is able to be a little bit unpredictable and I like that. I like performing with him and feeding off of what he’s bringing. He always keeps it fresh and new in each take. So, I like those scenes with him

I know you can’t tell me too much, but what can you tease about the rest of season three? Michael Trevino: The rest of season three, I feel now that Jones is really flexing on us, we have this bit of the Avengers assembling right in Roswell, like everybody having to come together, everybody has a job, and it’s to really take care of Jones and get him out of here. So I think that’s really what the rest of these episodes are going to be about.

I love that metaphor you did. It’s perfect. Michael Trevino: It really is because it’s like from season one to season three, we’re all separate. Now, it’s like, “Okay, we have to join forces to handle this guy.” And that’s what we’re gonna see.

You filmed season three with the COVID pandemic and now you’re filming season four with those safety precautions since the pandemic is still going on. What did it feel like for you to wrap season three with those circumstances, but then also come back for season four? Michael Trevino: Well, I have to give it to our producers, really, because everybody in the world had to pivot. We all had to make changes in our lives and I think the changes that have been made to keep everybody — crew, catering, casting, post production, accounting, whoever — safe on set, there’s been some different rules and it’s kept everybody safe. I’m proud to say we didn’t have to shut down once in season three. Unfortunately, there’s other productions that had to, but up here in Santa Fe, no. We were just lucky or we followed the rules, I don’t know but we were great and we were able to keep to our schedule, not have to shut down, and now we’re back for season four and we know what to expect. So things are running smoothly and there hasn’t been any problem. I’m just happy, glad, and grateful that we’re able to still tell the stories.

What is your personal favorite dynamic (friendship or relationship) when it comes to Kyle? Michael Trevino: I’m going to say that I want to see more Kyle and Isobel. I think that Isobel brings out a different side of Kyle whenever they’re in scenes or have interactions with one another. I’d like to lean more into that storyline for whatever it may be, I just want them to have more interaction because I think Kyle acts a different way around her. She’s just such a big ball of energy, so I think that would be fantastic and I would want to see more of that.

I know you’re probably not going to be able to give me too much on this, but I have to ask you, what was your reaction when you read the scripts for season four? Michael Trevino: Well, my reaction is a kind of going off of my last answer, Kyle ends up having more storyline with Isobel and it’s nice to see that play out. And so far, it’s been refreshing to see them in scenes together. I will tease this: so far in season four, the scenes that are with Kyle and Isobel have a comedic feeling to them. I feel like their scenes are fun and funny to shoot, but there’s a comedic element to it.

Is there any other show that you are personally a fan of and would like to see Roswell, New Mexico do a crossover with? Michael Trevino: Oh damn, that’s a great question. Off the top of my head, we’re gonna have a Roswell, New Mexico and The X-Files crossover event. This episode is going to air right after the Super Bowl and millions of people are going to watch it. It’s going to be Scully and Mulder pulling up to Roswell, New Mexico and Kyle will be there to greet them.

Is there a memory that sticks out to you as a memorable moment from filming season three? Michael Trevino: Oh gosh, it’s our season finale, it has to be our season finale. I can’t give away too much, but like I said about as far as Avengers assembling, it’s those scenes when we’re all on set together. It’s the season finale, we’re in Santa Fe in the middle of February and March, it’s freezing, it’s like 10 degrees outside, we’re getting the exterior night shoots that we need, and we’re all in. It’s not even just the cast, it’s the crew, it’s everybody. We’re just trying to get the final shot done of the season and we are working against all the elements. It’s a bit chaotic but it’s organized — organized chaos, that’s what it is. Those feelings are you got to get the job done and that’s what we do. I mean, we all know Jones is the big bad and everybody’s gonna have to get involved to take care of him and we see that in our last episode. Those scenes are really fun to shoot. They were challenging but I think it’s gonna come together well and it’ll be a strong finish for us.

If you could create a tagline or a phrase of your own to describe Kyle as a character, what would you pick? Michael Trevino: Kyle Valenti: I’m there if you need me.

#michael trevino #kyle valenti #rnm cast interviews #rnm spoilers #rnm 3x09 #roswell new mexico s3 #roswell new mexico #roswell new mexico s2

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soft-thrills · 4 years

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XF Fic: Too Much, Just Right

I fear that if I don’t post this now, I may never post it.

Summary: Mulder/Scully smut. Dom Mulder. NC-17. Classic PWP. Mulder and Scully get kinky on a vacation to Big Sur. That’s it, that’s the plot. It’s embarrassingly long, what else is new.

It satisfies two prompts from the Dec ‘18/Jan’19 @xfpornbattle, which, LOL, could I be any slower?

Those prompts are:

Dom Mulder draped over Scully's back, pounding into her and whispering the dirtiest things in her ear while playing with her clit. Bonus if there are people nearby.

and:

Dom Mulder blowjob, slapping Scully's cheeks with his dick while she touches herself

I reserve the right to revisit this setting, by the way, because Big Sur is the most surreal landscape I’ve ever visited, and it’s a BIG Mulder/Scully mood.

If I’ve not scared you off, keep reading, friends. Unbeta’ed. Sorry for the typos or tense slips. I tried to catch ‘em all. If you like it, hate it, it makes you feel something, anything, please let me know.

He books them a cabin in a redwood grove on the California coast. Their cell phones lose reception as they begin the winding drive through Big Sur, dramatic scenery seemingly all around them — jagged cliffs and primal, roaring ocean waves on one side; mountains and thick forest on the other. It feels like the edge of the universe.

They are in a rented Jeep, with the top taken off, and Mulder had popped The Beach Boy’s Pet Sounds — somehow at once upbeat and melancholy, not unlike him — into the CD player.

They are relaxed, happy. Blessedly alone.

“No shared apartment walls out here, Scully,” he says, his voice dark and low, the way it always sounds in the evenings when he takes charge.

His hand lands on her thigh and she jumps. He smirks. She feels off balance — the rush of the wind around the Jeep, Brian Wilson’s voice, the sheer edges and the blue sky — and it feels good.

“No neighbors. I’m going to have so much fun making you scream,” he promises. “Just you and me in the middle of nowhere.”

...So he hadn’t realized there would be another cabin about 20 feet away from theirs, occupied by a friendly couple in their twenties who wave when they pull up, just as the sun is setting. She shoots him a trademark raised eyebrow.

“All alone in the middle of nowhere, huh?”

In the end, it works out. Ed and Mary are lovely, and they spend the evening sitting around a fire pit between the two cabins, sharing a cache of West Coast IPAs, pinot noir and marshmallows. Sadly, Mulder and Scully have to politely turn down the couple’s generous offer to enjoy some fine California Gold marijuana, what with the federal employment and all.

A couple hours later, it is well and truly dark. Scully knows from past trips out to Big Sur when she was young that the sky is full of stars, though they can’t see it from their vantage point beneath the thick canopy of redwoods. She feels warm from the fire and the drinks and the easy camaraderie. She feels happy, relaxed, far from her responsibilities.

“Ready to hit the hay, Scully?” Mulder asks, a voice so sweet she’d almost forgotten the mood he’d been in earlier.

Almost.

She felt warm all over again.

“Yeah, if we want to get up early tomorrow and hike, I suppose we’d better.”

And so they say goodnight to Ed and Mary, who say they’d be outside a little while longer, making sure the fire safely dies down. Very responsible.

The cabin is small but well appointed — for once it really is a nice trip to the forest. It has sliding glass doors, and once they were inside, Mulder drew the curtains almost all the way. Almost. It would be unlikely Ed or Mary could see anything from their vantage point, but not entirely impossible if they ventured out of the clearing. The walls are thin enough that she can hear Mary laughing at something Ed said outside.

“Guess it would be a little rude to make you scream, Scully,” he says, and she jumps, because Mulder’s low voice is right against her ear, and she hadn’t even realized he was behind her.

“I guess so,” she says, not happy about how shaky her voice is already.

“Maybe I’ll just have to settle for making you whimper. Making you beg. Making you moan.”

She could settle for that. Doesn’t really feel like settling at all, actually.

“And maybe, Scully, if you’re very good, and you promise not to make too much noise, maybe I will let you come.”

She watches her own chest rise and fall, listens to the sound of her own breath. He is so annoyingly, wonderfully good at this. It was hard, at first, for her to accept that she liked it — that bossy Dana Scully liked being bossed around in bed. She supposes it’s not particularly shocking. It might even be predictable. It took Mulder next to no time to figure out, brilliant profiler and whatnot. But it’s still hard to be vulnerable with someone when you want them to treat you as an equal in a relationship. Harder still when you also work with that someone in an environment where it is imperative that they treat you as an equal.

Needless to say, she got over it.

“Would you like that, Scully? Would you like me to make you beg?” he asks, running his hands up her sides, and she can’t help but shiver.

“Yes.”

“Take your clothes off,” he says, not a whisper anymore, and his voice is enough to make her jump.

He stalks out from behind her as she sheds the fleece jacket she’d worn to keep warm by the fire, then her t-shirt, then her jeans.

“Stop,” he says, when she was down to her underwear and bra, simple but matching black cotton.

He kisses her, hands in her hair, like he’d been waiting to do it since he’d made his now-amended promise back in the Jeep all those hours ago. A needy sound escapes from the back of her throat, and she can’t tell if she’s squirming because of embarrassment or desire but she’s pretty sure it’s both.

She is out of breath when he pulls away.

“You’re so beautiful, Scully. You’re perfect,” he says, and while she doesn’t think of herself that way, in that moment, she believes him.

“I want to make you deliriously happy,” he tells her.

She leans into his chest as he strokes her hair.

“But first,” his voice drops again, his hand goes from stroking to gripping the hair at the nape of her neck, pulling back so she looks up at him. “You’re going to suck my cock.”

He is good at that — setting her at ease with sweet little touches and then jolting her back into their kinky little game — and she is a real sucker for it.

She glances in the direction of the bed, but he shakes his head. She feels herself get hotter. He pulls a pillow off the bed and places it in front of him. She knows what he wants, but she wants to hear him tell her.

“On your knees, Scully.”

She’s always been good at following directions. When she is settled, he unbuttons his fly. He takes his cock in hand, but instead of pressing it against her lips, he rubs it against her cheek. She feels herself blush and then he gently taps it against her cheek, and then a little harder, and that’s something new and Christ, it’s almost too much, which means it makes her wet.

“Does sucking my cock turn you on?”

She silently curses him for expecting her to speak in this condition. “Yes. Please,” she says, although she’s not entirely sure what she’s asking him for.

He slaps his dick against her cheek again and she squeezes her legs together. Too much. But God, she likes it.

“You can play with yourself,” he says. Of course she can, she is a grown woman, and she can do whatever she likes to her own body… and yet on this evening, in this mood, she wouldn’t dream of it without Mulder’s permission.

He puts his cock in her mouth, and she takes him up on his offer, slipping her hands inside her panties and finding herself predictably wet.

She takes him as deep as she can, concentrating until she gets into a rhythm, then looking up at him and making eye contact. He groans, and she’d smirk if she could.

“I’ve been waiting all day for this, Scully,” he mutters. “Been thinking about sliding into your mouth since I started teasing you in the Jeep. I could barely concentrate out by the fire, I wanted you so bad.”

She moves the busy fingers under her underwear a little faster, and he notices.

“It makes you wet to have my dick in your mouth, huh?”

She moans around his cock. Too much. Just right.

Kinky sex with Mulder never fails to remind her what a good interrogator he is. He is constantly talking to her, asking her to react, asking her to admit her secrets — yes, I want you to make me beg, yes, I want to suck your cock, yes, I like having your dick in my mouth. It is a temporarily lopsided power dynamic — there is no doubt that Mulder is in charge right now — but there’s rarely any sense of force. She wants every filthy thing he does to her, and he makes her tell him that.

It is overwhelming to be the object of his intense focus, his questioning, his curiosity. At first it was terrifying how little she could hide from him. It is still a little scary — in an exciting, pulse-quickening way that reminds her why she turned in her stethoscope for a gun. It’s also oddly comforting: She doesn’t have to hide, or pretend, with Mulder. She just has to be herself, strange quirks and kinks and all. He could see through any pretending she could try.

She takes him a little deeper, deep enough that it makes her eyes water. A gentle thumb wipes away a tear that had formed at the edge of her eye. She looks up into his eyes and when he smiles at her, she nearly melts.

“Hands where I can see them, now, Scully,” he says, and she reluctantly stops touching herself.

Mulder withdraws from her mouth a moment later, and helps her to her feet. He steps out of his jeans, then pulls his t-shirt over his head.

“Did you enjoy that, Scully?”

That he calls her by her last name, even now, as she wipes the corner of her lips, it’s somehow a thousand times more intimate than if he’d used her first name. It’s like he sees right through whatever walls she might want to build, flimsier than the walls of this cabin, outside of which the fire is still burning as Ed and Mary keep talking.

“Yes,” she says simply, finally, answering his question. Then she flicks her eyes at his erection. “I could feel that you enjoyed it as well.”

Despite how much she likes it when he’s in charge, she can’t help but try to claw back a little pride.

“Of course I liked it,” he says, pulling her close against his erection. “What’s not to like about my buttoned-up partner getting on her knees to take my cock down her throat while she plays with herself?”

She moans -- an embarrassing, unintended, not very quiet moan.

“What did I tell you about being quiet, Scully?” he teases, followed by a sharp swat on her ass.

Too much. Just right.

“I can’t help it,” she whines, a whisper.

“Well you’d better try, if you want me to let you come.”

On any other evening she’d laugh. She’d scoff at the idea that anyone could *let* her do anything. But it isn’t any other evening and she’s ready to dissolve into a puddle at his feet and so she bites her lip and she nods like a --

“Good girl,” he says.

When she is back in her right mind she is going to murder him. Or buy him breakfast. She can’t really be sure.

He shoves her -- shoves her! -- onto the cabin’s king size bed, which takes up most of the small space. Her pulse is racing.

Scully knows, rationally, that there are lots of reasons people like any manner of kinky sex -- the trust, the intimacy, the letting go of responsibility, all of those things are appealing to her. But she thinks the biggest draw is the sheer thrill. She doesn’t know what Mulder will do next. She is a little afraid but terribly excited, the way she is as a roller coaster cranks its way up a hill, or when her heels click on the pavement as she chases a suspect. She slinks backward on the mattress, away from him, back up against the headboard, even as all she wants is his touch.

He slips out of his boxers.

“Where ya going, Scully?” he asks, all boyish charm and wolflike grin. He yanks one leg, hard, pulling her down the bed until she’s flat on her back again.

“Mulder, please, I --” and she stops, because she doesn’t even know what to say.

“You looked very pretty with my cock in your mouth, Scully. Would you like me to touch you? I haven’t yet, have I? Touched your pussy, I mean,” he says, marking that last bit with a firm squeeze of her left breast.

“No,” she replies.

“No, you don’t want me to touch you?”

“Oh, god, please touch me. You haven’t, but please,” she begs, and it’s embarrassing to beg, but it’s also hot, and it’s also all she can do, because if Mulder doesn’t touch her soon she’s going to lose her mind.

He slides her underwear, embarrassingly wet, down her legs, his fingernails scraping their way.

“Turn over,” he says.

She does, arching her ass up almost unconsciously. He gives it a playful smack and she moans.

“What do you want?” he asks her, drawing his penis up and down her labia, teasing.

“I want you to touch my clit,” she says.

He waits. She waits.

“No,” he says, the only real warning she gets before he slides his cock inside her, to the hilt.

She cries out -- and his hand covers her mouth.

“What did I tell you about being quiet?” he growls.

The feeling of him inside her -- hot and hard and so big -- is overwhelming. But she knows she won’t come without his fingers on her clit, and so does he. He’s going to keep teasing her.

He moves his hand away from her mouth. She’s prone on her stomach and he’s draped over her, all over her. His lips are against her ear.

“Are you going to be quiet for me, Scully?” he asks her.

“Yes,” she whispers.

“Good,” he says. “We wouldn’t want our friends outside to hear what a little slut you are, now would we?”

Too much. Just right. She whimpers, muffling the sound into the mattress beneath her.

“I bet you’d like to rub your clit right now, wouldn’t you?” he asks her.

“Yes, please,” she says.

“But you’re not -- why aren’t you touching yourself?” he asks.

She squirms, just another subject of his interrogations, just as helpless against his probing questions as any of them have ever been.

“Because you haven’t let me,” she admits. “You haven’t given me permission.”

“That’s right, and I’m in charge, aren’t I?”

She has heard Mulder’s voice crack like a whip. She has heard him bellow, heard him snarl, heard him command a room of men with just his words.

But this — this rough, ragged whisper, so close to her ear she feels it more than she hears it — it’s so unbearably intimate, so unnerving. It reverberates to her very core.

“Yes,” she admits. “You’re in charge. Please.”

“Please what, Scully?” he asks, as he slams into her. “Do you want to touch yourself?”

“Yes,” she breathes. And then: “No. I want you to touch me. Please.”

“That’s my girl,” he says.

Before she knows it, two fingers are working her clit in tight little circles as he pounds into her. In another moment she might envy his athleticism, be impressed by his coordination. But all she can do right now is moan into the pillow beneath her, overwhelmed, overloaded.

Too much, just right.

“I told you to be quiet, but you just can’t help yourself, can you?” he asks.

She assumes all he can hear is a moan, but what she’s muttering into the pillow is: “Pleasepleasepleaseplease.”

“I like it when you can’t control yourself, Scully,” he mutters. “Because even if you can’t -- I can. You know that, right?”

“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes yes, please, please.”

“Come for me,” he says, his voice practically a growl. “Come for me, Scully.”

She’s so worked up that a few flicks of his wrist is really all it takes for her to tumble over the edge, as sharp and severe as the cliffs they drove past a few hours ago.

“That’s right” he says, so fucking smug she wants to suffocate him, except she’s busy gasping for air herself.

She’s coming down as he starts moving faster. She realizes, appreciatively, the amount of self-restrain that was probably necessary for him to focus so singularly on her orgasm. She arches a little higher, moans a little breathier. He deserves it, doesn’t he?

“Give it to me,” she moans, knowing what buttons to press, wanting it to be as good for him as it was for her. “Please, Mulder.”

A moment later he spills into her, collapsing on her back, overwhelming her, surrounding her in the best possible way.

For a moment they both just lie there, flattened, useless, happy, sated people. Scully feels empty in a good way, a way she rarely feels. Divorced from her worries, from her expectations. Elated.

He slips out of her, slides to her side and spoons against her.

“God, I love you, Scully,” he murmurs into her shoulder.

“I love you too, Mulder,” she says, pressing back against him.

“I hope I wasn’t --”

“Stop. It was perfect,” she sighs.

A beat.

“But I hope we don’t run into Ed or Mary tomorrow.”

#xf fic #xfiles fic #dom mulder #xf fanfic #xfiles fanfic #Mulder/Scully #msr fic #msr smut #xfpornbattle #myfic

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masterthespianduchovny · 3 years

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I may have made a post about this before, but I truly struggle with Scully/Other stories, which is why I tend to stay away from them.

I always have to spoil myself because usually it follows the logic that Mulder should be lucky Scully choose him in the end. Which, to be honest, is viewer logic and not Scully logic.

Typically these S/O have Scully "empower" herself and "take back her life." She sees how much she gave up and Mulder needs to earn her or not fuck up and risk losing her.

And it's like...Scully wouldn't view any potential relationship with Mulder that way, IMO, even if she broke up with someone to be with Mulder. Her relationship and feelings for Mulder are so special and sacred to her. Scully knows he messes up and can be an ass at times, but his heart is there.

Although Scully can stand her ground with Mulder, when it comes to her feelings she'd definitely be vulnerable no matter how much she improved her life. Being with Mulder is a big step and I can't imagine her viewing him like that: Don't fuck up, Mulder, or I'll leave you in a second flat.

She'd definitely have her boundaries and express her expectations with Mulder, however, this "you better be lucky I chose you, Mulder" Scully that many writers have Scully believe, totally takes me out of the story.

It also doesn't mean I want to read about Scully dating assholes either. I guess some people in the fandom want to prove that Scully can have it all and the perfect guy, so her being with Mulder is a choice and not her only option. But it gives, "I can do better, but I choose you, Mulder; be lucky I didn't stay with the other guy."

I like my Scully's conflicted not because she has the perfect guy, but because as much as she enjoys this man, there is something about Mulder she can't shake. Something about Mulder that she has to see through. I like her considering staying because she's scared of what her and Mulder can be.

Sure there are other interpretations of Scully and I'm not saying my opinion is the right opinion, I'm just always miffed when I read "Mulder better be lucky" interpretations, especially because that's not the Scully we saw.

This is where Scully taking back control of her life comes in, however, Scully taking back control of her life would also likely be her being forward and honest with Mulder about her feelings. Nervously telling Mulder how she feels and saying, "Well...I believe you feel the same. I want to be with you, Mulder. I think we've waited long enough."

Scully doesn't have to say to Mulder she could be happy with another man because it's unnecessary and Mulder likely already believes that. This is not about what she left behind or hypotheticals with other men, this moment, her revealing her feelings to Mulder, is about what they can have and finally putting their cards on the table.

I know people want Scully to have an option (all while loathing the same for Mulder, which is honestly weird because he's more isolated than her), but I don't mind it because Scully didn't want options, she wanted Mulder. However, I don't think she pined over Mulder, I believe Scully was in a place where she wasn't interested in actively dating and she didn't understand the full scope and complexities of her feelings for Mulder. Their relationship was intense, confusing, and unconventional. It takes time and perspective to understand those types of relationships.

We see Scully put her career and Mulder first when she declines another date with Rob to go listen to a professor talk about paranormal shit on her off time. Scully dated, but she wanted to be challenged by her career, which top priority. At the same time, she was so intrigued by Mulder, she allowed him to seep into the crevices of her personal life and career ambitions. She wanted him to trust and invest in her and exposed herself to him, which in turn made them become entangled and lost in each other.

Scully finding out she had cancer understandably sent in her in a tailspin. Mulder had consumed so much of her life, personal and professional, that he cannot differentiate where his ends and hers begins. This is when Scully becomes annoyed and uncomfortable about the lack of concrete boundaries. How dare he make assumptions on her life? But most importantly, she starts thinking about her legacy and the mark she left not on the world, but in Mulder's life. He says she's important to him, but she doesn't even have a desk. He bosses her around (their power dynamic is more complicated than that because they operate as partners and implicitly hand over the reigns when necessary).

She got too comfortable and let her guard down and needs to rebel to assert her power. Mulder instantly went from the bad boy to an authority/father figure when Scully realized how smart, capable, and sane he was. She placed a title on him that he didn't ask for, which is why he's confused by her rebellion. This isn't to argue that Scully was wrong, it's to say Scully projected things on Mulder than he never saw himself as and largely didn't treat her the way she viewed.

So she rebels with Ed. She likes doing something out of character and not expected. Scully is doing what she wants and not what's expected. What's fascinating to me are the people who believed that Ed deserved a second chance. Scully and Ed had no real shot of ever being more than that one night. For starters, Scully was rebelling and Ed was the right person to act out with. When Scully centered herself again, even if Ed hadn't attacked her, she would've ended things and that's assuming she allowed the encounter to be more than her Philadelphia trip. They were doomed from the beginning because Scully wasn't herself and she needed an outlet. His temperament, pre poison, wasn't compatible with her normal temperament.

After Scully reveals her cancer diagnosis to Mulder, things return back to normal. She's accepted that she has cancer and wants things to go back to normal. That's how she can control her fate even though she isn't long for the world.

Scully's journey after cancer is first accepting her life as is, and then understanding this was where she was meant to be. She was happy, but caught up in "what ifs." She was concerned about why she didn't want the life other women her age wanted and had. Like, yeah, she wanted kids, but she had no desire for a stereotypical life.

I'm not against Scully having (female) friends, however many fanfic writers try to have her have a roaring social life when they go down the "taking back control over my life" narrative. Some people have very full lives with one or two friends and being homebodies. With the life Scully lived, I can imagine her being content being in the house and occasionally socializing with the outside world

As I've said months ago, Scully asking Mulder to get out of the car wasn't abut wanting a normal life, but wanting moments of normalcy with Mulder. She's asking a man obsessed with work to slow down and enjoy life, but really, she's unknowingly asking him to slow down and enjoy life with her. Because why is she in the car on her off day? She could be doing anything else. Mulder didn't make her get in the car.

Just like in HTGSC, why did she show up to a haunted house on Christmas Eve? Admittedly, Mulder did steal her keys, but the point is: she showed up. Then later admitted that she was there because she wanted to be there.

Scully lived a life that it's hard to regularly hang out with people who don't "get it."

Again, I'm all for Scully having friends and I even don't have an issue with reading S/O to MSR, but some people's interpretations just don't gel with how I see Scully and how she navigates the world.

#MSR #fox mulder #dana scully #the x files #scully #mulder

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nellie-elizabeth · 5 years

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Elementary: Their Last Bow (7x13)

Oh my goodness what the heck I'm crying! That was so lovely!

Cons:

It sure would have been cool to get Natalie Dormer back as Jamie Moriarty, but I understand why they couldn't. A part of me wishes that a bit less of this episode had been focused on her, because it kind of set up expectations that she might make an appearance after all. Next to the looming specter of Jamie Moriarty, the random NSA guy just didn't pack much of a punch.

I absolutely loath the narrative device of showing a coffin and trying to fake out the audience as to who has died. They've done it on Arrow, they've done it on pretty much every procedural show I've ever watched... I'm sick of it. This one was particularly annoying because it dragged on for a while, with Sherlock and McNally talking about a nameless "she" who had died. Obviously we're supposed to think it's Joan, but it turns out it's Jamie Moriarty in the end. Sigh. This was obvious and they dragged it out way too long.

Pros:

But whatever! This episode was so soft and lovely! My favorite thing about Elementary for all of these years has been how down-to-earth it is. We don't need to have insane drama at the last minute. We need a quiet story about relationships and love. That is exactly what we were gifted here at the end, and I adored every second of it. I'm a little unsure where to even start, actually.

The idea of doing a flash-forward in a finale episode is always slightly risky, but in this case I think it worked really well. We want to know how these people's lives are going to continue. We want to see their futures play out for us, or at least a little section of them.

Bell becomes Captain! And gets married and has a kid! I'm proud of him, and I love that Joan tells him (and Gregson) that Sherlock is alive. I get that Sherlock wants to protect people, but Joan was right to put them out of their misery. Bell's reaction to seeing Sherlock is to punch him, and honestly... right on. I like that Bell is hurt, but that he's still ultimately Joan's biggest supporter, and you know that he and Sherlock can patch things up.

Gregson is retired now, and Paige has passed away. He spends time with his remaining family and seems to be enjoying his retirement. He gets one of the best lines in the episode, when he wonders why Sherlock is leaving again. After all, there's only one person in the world that Sherlock truly loves, and she's in New York. That is just such a gut-punch and I love that Gregson is there to offer that perspective. He also betrays Joan's trust by telling Sherlock about her cancer, but under the circumstances, I'm not mad at him for that.

And let's talk about the creme de la creme - the reason I watched this show for seven seasons. Sherlock and Joan's relationship. I've never seen a show pull off a relationship like this. I trusted and believed that they'd never go the romance route with them, but there was always that fear in the back of my mind that they'd pull a Mulder and Scully or follow the precedent of pretty much every similar show on the air. When you have a man and woman team up to solve crimes, they're supposed to fall in love at some point, apparently. But Joan and Sherlock... they do love each other. They are family in every way. But they're not in a romantic or sexual relationship. They never were, and they were never going to be. I love it! I'm so excited! Last season gave us this understated sendoff for the characters that worked beautifully as a final episode to celebrate their partnership. This season managed to give another understated sendoff, one that I liked perhaps even more, because Gregson and Bell also got a chance for beautiful final moments.

Joan goes through with adopting a child, which I was really pleased about. I always loved the potential of that plot thread, and while it was mostly dropped from the show, it comes back here in the perfect way. Her son, named Arthur (ostensibly as a tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle), is just the cutest little guy. And Sherlock is in awe of him. He's so complimentary and so honored to meet him, and keeping Arthur safe is a big part of the reason he stayed away from New York. It might not be a totally logical impulse - after all, if Sherlock has enemies, it wouldn't be difficult for those enemies to find out about his relationships in New York. Joan and Arthur might have been targets no matter what. But the instinct is also really sweet, and selfless. We learn that Sherlock relapsed during his time away, and he's especially afraid of being a part of Arthur's life if there's the risk he might not be able to stay sober. I bet Sherlock is an amazing caregiver to little Arthur. We don't know if he becomes something like a father to the child or not, but knowing that he's with Joan, that their partnership remains, and that Arthur gets to grow up with Sherlock Holmes in his life, is warming my heart to no end.

We now need to talk about The Scene. You know the one I'm talking about. Sherlock learns what's going on with Joan, learns that she has cancer. He comes to her, horrified at the thought that she was going to let him leave and go back to his work around the world, without even telling him about it. Joan gets upset too, saying that she plans on beating this thing, that she didn't want him to feel like he had to stay... and then Sherlock hugs her, and says of course he's staying. The acting in this scene from both of them was beautiful. Sherlock was getting so choked up. He was so scared for Joan, and so upset at the thought that she would have kept this from him. See how it feels, Sherlock? Yeesh. In any case, of course Sherlock will stay with her. We even get that affirmation in the final scene of the episode, when Sherlock says that nothing else matters as long as they're together.

I want to talk about my favorite little detail from that last scene, actually. Obviously Sherlock's last words on the show being about his partnership with Joan, and how much he values it, is pure excellence. But it's earlier, on the elevator, that I think their relationship is demonstrated at its finest. Joan asks what Sherlock thinks of her wig, they banter about that for a moment, and then Sherlock asks Joan if she has the note from her doctor declaring her "cancer free." When Joan says she doesn't have it, and that Bell isn't likely to need an actual doctor's note to give her the job back, Sherlock replies that it doesn't matter, he has a copy of it in his email inbox.

It's just that little thing, right there. Joan forwarding the results of her doctor's tests to Sherlock, and Sherlock keeping it. Over the years, I've always complimented this show on the way it sweats the details. The little things, the proof of domesticity and partnership, that pervades their relationship. I love that even in this final scene, that dynamic was what was at play. Simply beautiful.

For this finale, I give a score of:

9/10

For the show as a whole... gosh. You know, in so many ways this show is just a procedural, and while there have been plenty of similar shows over the years that I've enjoyed in various degrees, this particular genre of TV show is not really my thing. In fact, I don't think I'll ever start another show like this again, unless there's something truly exceptional about it. I could do without the bajillion case-of-the-week plots. I'm never all that intrigued by the murder mysteries, the gathering clues, the capturing of criminals. But the core of this show was something more beautiful than I know how to describe. Just the joy of having a truly platonic love story between a man and a woman, the pleasure of watching them build a life and a relationship together over so many years, made this show one of my favorites to watch each week. I have to mark it down for the fact that most of its run-time was eaten up by procedural cop stories, and that's just not what I watched it for. But the rest of it was so good that I can't exactly give this show a negative rating. Over-all, Elementary gets...

8/10

#review #elementary #elementary review #elementary cbs #i can't believe it's over!

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skcolicity · 5 years

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Finally finished Arrow Season 7

(Spoilers if you haven’t watched season 7...though I’m totally late to the party so the spoiler period is probably long since passed)

I am an emotional wreck right now. I just spent the last few minutes sobbing as Arrow Season 7 drew to a close, and it really felt like a series finale. I know there’s 10 more episodes to go, but I’m holding onto this ending for Olicity as the final chapter of their story, as shown on TV, anyway. (I hope there’s an explosion of fanfic for after Felicity walked through that portal. I’m down for Olicity-in-Space-or-Other-Realm stories.)

I know Emily isn’t returning for Season 8, so for all intents and purposes this really was an ending. I loved how they gave us a bit of their happily ever after at the end there. I love that they got to be a happy family with their daughter. I love how they honored OTA, as Diggle walked them into their new home. I know a lot of those emotions shared between those characters came from an honest place from the actors themselves.

I am so happy they honored Olicity all the way to the end. I am so beyond excited that Oliver said to Felicity the line she said to him in 3x20. And yeah, it’s a tragedy in the end, but it’s a well done, heroic tragedy that honors Oliver’s and Felicity’s character journeys. But it’s also not a complete tragedy because, really, Felicity got to reunite with Oliver in the end. (off camera, but hey, I can’t wait to read the fanfics of their reunion.)

That ending really puts the perfect cap on one of the most epic love stories of all time. Yes, Arrow is about Oliver Queen’s heroic journey and the team that is his legacy, but for me, it is the greatest romantic epic of all time. Yeah, there have been a lot of missteps by the writers (a LOT of missteps *cough*back-half-of-season-6*cough*), but now with Olicity’s finale, I can look back and really appreciate their complete journey, from the best meet-cute ever in 1x03 to that ending and everything in between. Even the difficult times.

I mean, think about it, we got to witness the very origins of this love story, before it was even part of the writers’ plan. It began with a natural spark, something that no one could have predicted, and grew very organically. As many writing problems as there were, they did right by Olicity, by respecting that dynamic and giving it the prominence in the story it deserved.

With the final part of their story behind us, I can now, 100% definitively say that Olicity is my greatest ship of all ships. They have thoroughly dethroned Mulder/Scully. All my other ships don’t even come close. And that’s because the writers didn’t toy with them the way TBBT writers toyed with Shenny. They didn’t make it too subtle or dismissible like Doctor/Rose. And they certainly didn’t shit all over it like Mulder/Scully (damn you to hell CC!) No, Olicity had a beginning, an exciting and often rough middle, and a damn satisfying ending. There was love, of course, but also passion, and joy, and pain, and coy smiles, and flirting, and kisses, and fights, and bickering, and banter, and I could go on and on.

I almost don’t want to watch season 8 because I’m so happy with this ending. But I’m sure I will, eventually. As sad as it’s going to be, I’m actually looking forward to the end of Oliver’s story, how it’s going to happen and the emotions it’s going to wring out of me. I’ve always been in it for the story, and how the story makes me feel. It doesn’t have to be a happy ending, but it has to be an honest one.

And then I’m going to binge on all the fics.

#arrow #arrow season 7 #arrow 7x22 #olicity #arrow spoilers #i guess #for those that haven't been watching live like me lately #so sorry fandom #coming out of hiding for a tiny bit just to express my feelings

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monikafilefan · 5 years

Note

#72 from the prompts pleaseandthankyou 😀

I finally got around to writing this and fought through a bout of writers block, but ta-da! I hope you like it @allyinthekeyofx I took some liberties with Scully’s chip regarding her being sick.

I’m combining an angst/romance prompt with an earlier request for a pre revival sickfic. Since I’ve ready written a Mulder S-6 sickfic, I wrote a sick Scully this time. Also, this is sort of a follow up story to the angsty chapter 1 of this:

Tagging @today-in-fic @kyouryokusenshi @fragilevixenfic @scully-eats-sushi @peacenik0

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#72 “You need sleep.”

Feb. 2016: Several months before MS1

Mulder ran a hand through his hair for at least the tenth time with his phone glued to his ear as he paced the cold creaky floor throughout the unremarkable house. The fact that he had to resort to calling her office at the hospital at all this morning would be worrisome enough. But because he hadn’t heard from her at her usual once a week phone call time yesterday, he was concerned to say the least.

Truth be told, they had only started talking on a regularly scheduled basis for about three months now and had only seen one another in person sporadically since she’d left. But on one Friday night, Scully called him to discuss whether he was okay with celebrating Thanksgiving with her. Eventually, she had confessed that every night before bed she would stare at his picture in her room and tell him what was on her mind. Her therapist had advised her to bridge the gap and tell him herself. And that’s what she has done ever since, until last night at least.

His bare feet slapped along the hardwood towards the entryway door and he leaned his forehead against it, frustrated with a familiar nervous churning roaming his gut as the ringing of her phone continued to go unanswered.

Ever since his ‘whole life’ walked out of their front door he was currently grinding his head into, he has worked his ass off both physically and emotionally to find himself again. And he knows that, with her own therapy, she has too. His depression and obsessions with the future and secretly searching for clues about William consistently for the last four years had secluded him even further away from Scully. And he hated it—hated everything about it, including himself. Yet, he just couldn’t stop himself from doing what she begged him not to do—go searching through the darkness without his light.

After a while, it finally dawned on him to really look at her—his light—and what he saw scared the hell out of him. He painfully watched Scully’s own guilt and depression that she had tried desperately to keep hidden away, coil tighter inside, dimming that light, and choking her like a noose. All of it brewed into a perfect storm, creating the catalyst of that one dark night in 2014.

“Come on, Scully, answer the phone.” He ended the call to her house phone without leaving a message and quickly switched back over to her cell number. Mulder wandered over to the mantle where most of their shared items still sat, mocking him. Memories of their past that they had created together were collecting dust.

The ringing shrilled through the earpiece again as he stared at a recent photo of them taken at Margarets house sharing a kiss on New Years Eve just over a month ago. Scully hadn’t wanted him ringing in the new year alone and Margaret’s quick photography rewarded him with a rare memento of their halted intimacy that night.

They were better in 2016. Happier together than apart. Mulder knew she wasn’t ready to come back home yet and to be honest, he wasn’t either. Even so, his resolution was to make damn sure he was ready when she was. And that’s exactly why he was currently on the verge of panic as he leaves her yet another voicemail just minutes after receiving a callback from her office stating that ‘Dr. Scully had called in sick two days ago’.

“It’s me again, Scully. Please call me back. I’m worried about you and in fact, if you don’t call back in the next five minutes, I’m coming over to check on you. You know if you’re sick, I help you—no matter what, Scully,” he rushingly said and huffed as he clicked the end button, stuffing his cell in the pocket of his sweats.

Dammit, that’s just like her too. Her calling into work and telling them she’s too sick to work and no one else. Which in the language of Scully means that she literally cannot function enough to crawl out of bed and get dressed. Scully rarely ever got sick, especially after her cancer remission. Which Mulder knew the chip most likely protected her from any serious virus infecting her immune system. But when Dana Scully did feel ‘under the weather,’ as she called it, she was usually bedridden for days and completely reliant on him for help. Whether she admitted it or not.

She must really be ill this time and that scared the shit out of him. Not being able to see her, to touch her, to dote on her when she normally would scoff at his babying, had his anxiety riddled heart nearly pounding out of his chest.

Yes, Scully was an excellent doctor and always has been. Yet, she was also his wife, his other half, his partner in every respect of the word, and had felt that way about their dynamic from the beginning.

He worried back then and worries still. It’s silly he knows, but he worries that if he doesn’t lay eyes on her for several weeks at a time then he might miss some subtle change in her appearance. Yet, he worries when he finally sees her face to face that he just might cry and beg her to come back. He worries more that she might even cry right along with him. But what he worries about the most while laying in bed alone at night, is that she might not care enough anymore to cry at all. He figured that this was some kind of cruel karma for all the worry he’d laid on her shoulders throughout the years.

But the fact remained, he relished every moment spent with her and worrying about her through every illness. Even when she hadn’t known about half of it.

Mulder had hoped to be the one she leaned on since the beginning if she’d ever gotten sick and shockingly, she had done just that. He would wait on her hand and foot, pretend to leave her apartment when she told him to go home and sleep, but would instead lay on her couch while she stubbornly thrashed alone in her bed just feet away from him. He’d bring her water and a cool rag to wipe down her sweaty skin when her cancer invaded her nights with fevers, or curl up next to her when the chills wracked her body so hard she couldn’t sleep. Mulder would even happily sacrifice what little sleep he did end up capturing to hold her hand while he sat scrunched up on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed just listening to her raspy breaths filling the silence between them.

On nights like those, Mulder would quietly leave just before the sun came up, but not before placing a kiss upon her cheek that she would pretend to sleep through. It was just one of their many silent agreements that lay between them throughout the years. Much of their struggles were silent, yes, but it was their silent adoration for one another that screamed the loudest.

Breaking that silence was deafening—an altogether beautiful thing, and that’s exactly what Mulder intended to do all over again.

He ran up the stairs, threw on his shirt, and grabbed a couple personal things of Scully’s that she had left behind before he hurried out the door. The realization that he was also one of those things that she had left behind, felt like a slap in the face.

Nearly slipping on the unsalted porch, it suddenly registered to him that the last time Scully stepped foot on the wooden beams beneath him, it was sprinkled with freshly fallen leaves and not snow.

Pushing aside a sudden new wave of woe, he tossed her things in the seat as the Mustang roared to life. It echoed into the cold February air as he put the pedal to the metal and raced towards the familiar D.C. city limits.

---

“Scully?” Mulder closed the front door of the smart house he hated and punched in her security code. He’d only been here a handful of times since she moved in eighteen months ago, and it looked exactly the same way every single time. Sterile and uncomfortable. “Scully, it’s me. Where are you?” He searched the tidy living room, tossing her things and his coat on the couch, and walked through the kitchen, taking in the scene of how clean and orderly everything seemed without him.

His head spun at the thought of her choosing this life over the one they built together.

The sound of coughing had him swiftly moving down the hall and into her bedroom. And sight before him, sucked him back almost twenty years in the past. The room was a mess. Her bed was piled high with multiple comforters, clothes riddled the floor by the nightstand which was covered with pill bottles and Nyquil. He took a step and noticed a giant wad of used kleenex in the overflowing trash can the floor next to her bedside. Mulder gasped when he saw that some were clearly stained in various shades of blood.

No! It can’t be!

“Scully…” His heart was beating so loud, it was surely enough to wake her.

Her wild haired head popped up beneath the mound of blankets with a look of shock and relief in her expression. “Mulder?” she yelled out, swiping a tissue across her nose. “Ugh! There you are!”

Swooping down upon her without thinking twice about it, he grabbed the hand she had hovering over her nose and wrapped her up in a tight embrace, smashing her face against his chest. “Jesus, Scully you scared the shit out of me.” Pulling back when he heard her grunt, he held up her hand that gripped the used tissue and examined it. “No blood.”

“Mulder!” her droopy lids, stark white face, and red tipped nose had nothing on the overly loud barking sound of her voice. “I’m so glad you came!”

“What? Scully you never called me. And why are you yelling?” Looking at her sleepy confused face, he realized that she was probably drugged up on sleep aids and decongestants.

“Oh, I can’t hear very well!” He watched her eyes narrow as she tried focusing on reading his lips. “I’m talking too loud?”

He had to laugh even though he was still concerned over seeing her blood soaked into anything again. “Yes, but that okay,” he spoke louder than before. She tossed the mucous laden tissue over his shoulder and flung the blankets off her legs. “That would explain you not answering your phone I suppose.”

“My phone?” she questioned him quieter now with a crinkle in her brow.

“I called you over and over. I was worried.”

Reading his lips, she nodded and said, “sorry I haven’t gotten out of bed much yesterday or today. I’ve got an upper respiratory infection and a double ear infection and can barely hear with all this congestion. I’ve resorted to knocking myself out every chance I get,” she grinned.

Oh loopy Scully was always fun, but that didn’t explain the crimson streaks on the kleenex.

“What’s with the blood?” Her mouth opened and before she could utter a word, he jumped in and told her not to lie to him with the tone of his voice he hoped she could hear well enough. “Scully…”

“It’s not what you think, Mulder. I’m fine.” Mulder winced and she quickly amended her usual brush off line. “It’s not what you think. There are broken blood vessels in my nose and my lips were cracked and they bled on and off this morning.” She must have seen the relief wash over him as his eyes fluttered shut because she brought his hand up to her face and held it to her cheek. “I’m okay, Mulder. And… I’m really happy to see you.”

Mulder wasn’t shocked at her choice of words. She had told him several times when he saw him that she was happy to see him but the way she said them with such reverence, took him by surprise.

She removed his hand from her face and rolled out of bed onto wobbly legs. He grabbed onto her arm with one hand and clutched her slender hip with the other as she stumbled over a water bottle, making sure she didn’t face plant on the uncharacteristically messy floor.

She relaxed and sighed under his touch. “Thanks. My equilibrium is off a bit,” she chuckled with the volume of her voice wavering.

Mulder sat there staring at her as she closed the bathroom door, stunned at how easily she accepted his presence. Then again, she’d been confused and thought she had called him at some point in the last two days to come over. Glancing over at the medications lined up like soldiers awaiting orders, he understood why. All of these had the side effect labeled, ‘May cause drowsiness and/or confusion. Do not operate heavy machinery’.

Fucking great!

Now he had no idea if she really meant anything she has said so far to him tonight, let alone the possibility that she might not remember him being here at all tomorrow.

Swinging the door open, Scully gave him her now very rare and honest smile that’s done things to him since day one. She looked so small standing there in her bare feet and underwear wearing an oversized t-shirt that looked suspiciously like one of his missing workout shirts. She had no makeup on which highlighted the freckles scattered disobediently on her face. Without a second thought, he stood up, bent his head forward, and planted a kiss on her nose.

She gasped and cleared her throat. “Sorry,” he mumbled, not really wanting to apologize for kissing his wife as he locked his eyes onto hers. “I should probably take off then since I know you’re alright,” he pointed to the bedroom door over his shoulder with furrowed brows. “You need sleep.”

“What?” Scully looked up at him, her big blue eyes shining under the dim lighting. “You’re leaving? A-choo!” Scully sneezed then rubbed her ears, yawning. “Oh, that helped my ears. I can hear a little better now.”

Laughing, he repeated “you need sleep,” louder this time and rubbed her shoulder for his own comfort just as much as hers.

Scully cocked a brow and still too loudly blurted out, “not as much as I need you.”

Mulder’s smile faded slightly and felt his knees bob as the weight of her words smacked into him. “You seem high as a kite with all of those meds your on. Not to mention you probably have no idea what day it is and will very likely think this whole conversation was all a dream in the morning,” he reminded her, offering her an opportunity to take back her words.

“Mulder?”

“Yes?” She stepped closer and his hand moved from rubbing her shoulder to rub the expanse of her back.

“I love you.”

“Oh brother,” he threw back, replaying their conversation from the past while clearly understanding now just how foggy her head is at the moment. Yet, no matter the context in which she spoke those three words to him, he always took them to heart.

He swallowed hard and looked away from her stare. It was safer this way. He could listen to her words or look into her eyes, but not both at once. He might not survive the honesty of her regret if she rescinded them.

“I miss you, Mulder,” she mumbled, and he could see her eyes glistening with unshed tears from his peripheral. “I do. So much. It's just… Just not time for me to come home yet.”

He risked looking into her bright blue eyes again, his stomach churned, and his throat tightened so much that he thought he’d choke right there. “Oh I know, Scully. Me too—and you’re right.”

Even in her increasing lethargic state, she managed to toss him a perfectly arched brow and a mock look of surprise.

“Yes,” he said louder, ensuring his words wouldn’t be blamed on pain meds, muffled congestion, and swollen eardrums. “You’re right, Scully. It’s not the right time. For either of us; not yet.”

He watched a lone tear leak out of the corner of her red rimmed eyelid and slide down the swell of her pale skin that she didn’t even attempt to hide. He fought the urge to swipe it clean—to wash away evidence of her sorrow. It was exactly that; evidence that her internal pain equaled his own.

“Soon,” she nodded and limply held out her hand to him. He took it gratefully and she laced her fingers within his. “Stay with me tonight.”

“Are you sure?""I want you here and you sleeping all the way out on the couch isn't going to help right now. It's running away and that's what I do, not you."Mulder balked at the sharp self-deprecating words she’d just used. That was the sort of thing he has hear himself say many a time. Not Scully. If she felt that way, she had never expressed that to him before. The concoction of medication had loosened her lips—breaking through the silence.

Forcing himself to brush off her words, he pushed back the comforter and sheet and as she slid in, gingerly laying her ear atop the propped up pillows.

“Oh, I brought over a couple things from the house for you. It’s probably unnecessary now that I’m thinking about it, but I know how much you love wool socks and your eucalyptus body cream.”

Her heavy eyes lit up and she smiled. “You brought me my blue wooly socks, Mulder?” To him, she sounded too excited over a pair of socks she had likely replaced long ago. But looking at her face, he saw that she really was. “You know me so well.”

“That I cannot deny. I’ll get them for you.” He went to the couch and grabbed her slippers and lotion, feeling pretty excited himself at the thought of being useful to her once again.

Mulder sat the container of green body cream onto the only open spot next to the near empty Nyquil bottle and knelt at the edge of her bed. Scully outstretched her bare legs into his waiting hands so he could slide her navy blue wool socks onto each small foot. If it were close to two years ago and she had done this to him, Mulder would have massaged the minty smelling lotion into her feet from heel to toe and sensually worked his way up her soft slender body until she begged for more. Right now, he would just have to be grateful she was letting him comfort her at all.

“Thank you.”

“Of course, Scully, you know I love your little feet,” he smirked and reluctantly removed his hands from her ankles. She didn’t move to cover herself back up so he stood to adjust the balled up comforter around her, but her hand wrapping around his bicep halted his progress.

“Lay here next to me.” It wasn’t a question and Mulder opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off. “Come on, Mulder. No reverting back to sitting on the floor uncomfortable while you stay awake and hold my hand all night long. Please just… hold me tonight?”

Blinking away rapidly rising tears, he nodded and responded the only way he could. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, whispering along her skin, “I can do that.”

Mulder carefully climbed over her and pulled the blankets up, tucking it around them. Her bed seemed huge, the space between them cavernous. It felt good to be this close to her like this again, too damn good and his arousal blooming beneath his sweatpants agreed immensely.

He slowly wrapped his arm around her waist and she laced her fingers between his as a silent thank you. The back of her chest rose and fell in tandem along the front of his own and he knew if he closed his eyes, he could picture every single night spent embracing is wife in their shared bed. But he didn’t close his eyes, didn't dare. Because he knew that the next time he and Scully lay in bed, It wouldn’t be in their shared one together.

“Sleep, Scully. I’m here.” Mulder pressed his lips to her ear and rested his head along the crown of hers.

Breathing deeply now, he felt her slight nod and her backside snuggled in closer, no doubt noticing his ill-timed erection.

“Mulder...”

“Yeah.”

Scully tucked their entwined hands under her chin and he felt the heat from her lips warming his fingers. Waiting with bated breath for her next words, Mulder moved down and nuzzled his nose through her mussed hair, inhaling her scent within the crook of her neck. It was something so familiar and comforting to them both, showing her affection like this as they laid alongside one another. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

“I meant what I said,” she murmured.

“Said about what?”

“That I’m still in love with you,” she turned her head towards her shoulder when his breath hitched. “I may be medicated and half asleep, but I can never forget that. I never want you to either.”

He kissed her neck, her cheek, her ear, and told her, “and you forget, Scully, that I could never forget anything about you.” He heard her sigh and felt her whole body melt into the mattress. “You need sleep,” he said again. Mulder moved his mouth away from her face before he gave into the powerful urge to kiss her once more. This time on the lips, crossing over their convoluted line of separation.

When her breathing slowly evened out minutes later and sleep reclaimed her, Mulder carefully untangled their fingers while he gently moved out of her embrace. He stood at the end of her bed, taking in every detail of her peaceful face before he needed to force himself to leave.

He missed seeing her smile, the caress of her touch, the comfort of her warm body next to his lulling him to sleep every night. He missed his Scully. And tonight, Mulder was lucky enough to witness the fact that his Scully had missed her Mulder just as much.

---

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agentelmo · 6 years

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The X-Files MSR Analysis Series: Season 1 Episode 12

“Fire”

Previous episode analysis - 1x11 Eve.

Oh Fire, what an episode. The first time we see Mulder actively pursue a woman and it’s not Scully. WHAT IS THIS FUCKERY.

It’s okay though, because it turns out Mulder’s ex -- Phoebe Green -- is a real piece of work, making it quite easy to dislike her, which is handy because I think that’s the point.

There are two MSR angles here. The first is how Scully is really there for Mulder as a friend. She sees he is vulnerable and is protective of him; she is caring and reassuring even when Mulder seemingly dismisses Scully in pursuit of that British poontang. The beauty of their blossoming platonic bond really shines through in this episode.

The second angle is that Mulder has exactly what he desires right in front of him, but doesn’t see it. Phoebe is a tantalising reminder of a lifestyle he’s given up -- having a woman in his life -- someone to love and care for who loves him back. But everything that he desires in Phoebe is already there in the form of Scully. The issue is that Mulder doesn’t allow himself to see her as anything more than his partner, his friend, and so doesn’t recognise that he has this incredible woman right under his nose already.

With this in mind, there are parts of Fire that almost play out like a stereotypical romcom. The male protagonist with the amazing female best friend who is perfect for him but he just continues to pursue terrible women, all while the best friend looks on from the sidelines, picking up the pieces, supporting him. Until one day... *cough* seven years later... *cough*

So since this is an MSR review series, I tend to start with Mulder and Scully, not the cold opening. But I have to comment on this, being English myself.

What were they thinking? It’s actually kind of painful seeing these frankly horrendous actors talk in exaggeratedly hoity-toity English accents.

Tally ho, pip pip, cheerio!

Did you feel that? It was the collective eye roll of the entire population of Ireland.

If this gets any worse we’ll be giving Dick Van Dyke a run for his money. But hey, thankfully we’re not here long since Lord Moneybags McPoshface goes up in smoke.

Now we’re off to see our favourite FBI star-crossed lovers. Muldo and Scullywag!

So this episode confirms that Mulder and Scully do have other cases between episodes that we just don’t see. Fertile ground for the old fanfic writers, amirite?

In fact, it’s reconfirmed again in the season 10 episode, Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster, where Mulder recounts how one time the two of them went on a case looking for a “rock-like creature”...

Only to discover it was a publicity stunt by a local landscaping business.

Yeah, I don’t remember that episode.

Makes me wonder who were they prosecuting in Fire? What case was this?! What cute MSR moments are we not getting to see?!

So we start with these two coming out of a hard day at court, Mulder jokes with Scully about the case.

Epic bants, Mulder. You slay me. And Scully too, apparently! She’s fucking giggling. GIGGLING.

Look at how cute they are. Having fun and enjoying each other’s company so effortlessly. There’s no guile about it, they are just comfortable being themselves.

Is it weird that I just feel happy seeing Mulder have a friend? He’s actually a pretty sweet, charming guy when he lets that side of himself out. Few people gave him the chance, and after so many years of being labelled “Spooky”, combined with some clear trust issues, he rarely gives anyone else a chance either.

Until Scully, of course.

Mulder relaxed and just having fun with Scully is my jam, fam. She laughs at his joke and he laughs at hers.

Just get fucking married, already.

Sadly, all marriage plans must be put on hold since some British bint arrives and ruins everyone’s day.

This “practical joke” Phoebe plays with the cassette tape gives some possible insight into the kind of relationship she and Mulder had when he was at Oxford.

She appears to enjoy toying with the emotions of others and then makes light of the consequences. I mean, here she makes Mulder and Scully believe they were about to be killed by a car bomb, but then makes no apology for it. Especially to Scully, someone she doesn’t know from Adam.

Mulder, clearly accustomed to her torment, doesn’t even bother to chide her for the prank, despite clearly scaring the shit out of Scully. I think he knows it’s easier to just play along.

Nicolas Cage, is that you?

Phoebe seems like the type who would say things like “it was only a joke” or “what’s the big deal?” or “stop being so over-sensitive” etc. The kind of gaslighting cunt that makes people crazy in an intimate relationship.

What’s interesting about these two is that it’s apparently been 10 years since they last saw each other, but Mulder wastes no time dredging up their romantic history like no time has passed at all. Making it abundantly clear that 1. Mulder isn’t entirely over Phoebe, and 2. he’s still resentful towards her for whatever it was she did to him in their relationship -- more on that later.

So spinning off on a tangent for a moment here... This all throws some serious shade on Mulder’s relationship with Diana Fowley. You would think that whatever left over resentments or lingering feelings he had towards Phoebe would have been resolved or at least faded in the wake of a new long term relationship with another woman. Mulder later says in this episode that he has spent the last 10 years trying to forget Phoebe -- it’s within those 10 years that he had a relationship with Diana.

This would place Mulder at Oxford in approximately 1983. He met and started dating Diana when he left Quantico which was three years later in 1986. We don’t know when their relationship ended, but let’s assume it was when she fucked off to Europe to work for the Syndicate in 1991. So, he was in a relationship with Diana for approximately five years and in all that time he still harboured feelings for Phoebe. Wow. It’s strange to think, that 100% canonically Mulder wasn’t over Phoebe when he was with Diana. Perhaps Phoebe was his first love?

I mean, it’s possible -- he was very young then. It would certainly explain why he doesn’t ever romantically pursue Diana when she returns, even though he could have, and she was certainly interested. Perhaps his feelings for Diana weren’t quite what we’re led to believe? Or perhaps it’s simply that his growing feelings for Scully just made things too complicated. Personally, I blame Amor Fati for muddying the waters on that one.

Aaaaaaanyway, back to Fire.

I love Scully’s face when Phoebe feeds Mulder this cheese-tastic line.

She’s clearly uncomfortable witnessing this, most likely feeling somewhat of an awkward third wheel. Not to mention a little put out -- dat’s my man biyotch!

I jest, but I wonder if there is some truth to the idea that she felt special to Mulder because he is a loner. This man who doesn’t let anyone get close chose her to open up to. Yet she’s now realising that wasn’t always true, and perhaps her connection to him isn’t as special as first thought? I mean look at her face, she clearly does not like this.

The dynamic between these two women is intriguing too. Phoebe clearly makes Scully uncomfortable. Firstly, Phoebe never acknowledges Scully’s presence; only greeting her when forced to by Mulder’s introduction.

To play this joke on the two of them, Phoebe had to have been watching them approach the car and no doubt overheard their conversation -- noting their close relationship. Seemingly she’s already sized Scully up as rival for Mulder’s attention -- someone to undermine -- and so expertly removes her from every interaction the three of them have by outright ignoring her.

It almost works too, Mulder is clearly enthralled with Phoebe, gazing at her the whole time in this dreamy way, but as soon as Phoebe says this:

It breaks Mulder out of her spell almost instantly -- he even physically pushes her back.

Talking shit about Scully is the point at which Mulder will no longer play along.

There’s some interesting symbolism in this scene with the camera work too. Where Phoebe and Mulder are always in frame together, and Scully is separate -- the camera reflecting how Phoebe’s relationship to Mulder re-positions Scully as the outsider.

So before we move on, I gotta share the amazing eye fucking that is going on during the cassette tape scene in the car.

That second picture looks like it should be captioned “find someone who looks at you the way Mulder looks at Scully.” I mean, geez man. His face is a weapon of mass seduction. He really should have a licence for that thing.

Next we’re in basement HQ and Scully notices straight away that something is up with Mulder.

She keeps eyeing him as he is clearly becoming more and more uncomfortable. But why might that be? On first viewing you could be forgiven for thinking Mulder is just getting hot under the collar -- pardon the pun -- chatting away with his old flame. Pardon that pun too. Potentially this is what Scully assumes as well, but we know with hindsight that it’s because he’s listening to Phoebe ream off the details of how her suspect likes to burn people alive.

Phoebe maintains her campaign of exclusion. Trying to undermine Scully by completely ignoring her, and then throwing out a reference to a “private joke” she shares with Mulder -- drawing a clear barrier between the two of them and Scully. She’s making it clear that she’s talking to Mulder and only Mulder.

As Phoebe leaves, having never once glanced in Scully’s direction, she suddenly says goodbye to her, treating her as an afterthought to emphasise that Scully is neither needed or wanted.

Seriously, dis bitch man. Scully is onto you.

As Phoebe tries to erect barriers, Scully immediately kicks them back down again as she straight up asks Mulder what’s this private joke is.

That’s my girl.

Mulder concedes, but you can tell he is embarrassed. I love that you can see the exact moment he decides to just tell her the truth.

Up until this point Mulder has kept his private life quite guarded, even from Scully. For all the world to see, he is a man entirely about his quest. Revealing to Scully that he has the same frailties as any other man -- falling in love with the wrong woman, for example -- is making himself vulnerable to her too. The fact that doesn’t stop him is a testament to their relationship at this point, to how much he trusts and respects Scully. He feels safe with her.

Only living for his quest is how Scully saw Mulder too, so to see that he can be consumed by something other than the X-Files -- be made vulnerable by a woman -- is surprising to her. She’s seeing another side to him.

When Mulder starts to deny he’s affected by Phoebe now, Scully takes the opportunity to dig him out a lil’ bit. Of course she’s gonna call him out on his bullshit. That’s what friends do.

What’s striking about this exchange though is that shes not jealous. She’s amused. Shes truly playing the role of his best friend, looking out for him rather than being the best friend secretly in love with him -- which she totally is by the end of season 1. What? Fight me.

That switch Scully talks about in season 6′s Rain King? It’s not been flicked quite yet. She still only sees him as a friend, someone she cares about deeply, but she’s not at “the only person you can ever imagine yourself with” point. Not quite yet.

Guys. Did Scully just make a dick joke? Like, not just any dick joke... but an erection joke? And, and... not just any erection joke, but Mulder’s erection joke?

Wut.

Also what the heck is that voice she puts on? “Is that what you were extending?” She is so cute when she’s teasing him. UGH!

Now this is where I see some of the romcom-y aspects of the episode come in. Mulder is honest, open and unguarded with Scully -- playful, even. He’s being his usual self again. This cool, controlled act he seems to don when Phoebe is around is completely shed and they banter away again like they did moments before Phoebe arrived. Basically, with Phoebe, he knows revealing weakness is danger, whereas with Scully he can let his weaknesses show.

Dude... the perfect woman for you is right there. RIGHT THERE! OMG.

Unfortunately, this could then mean something negative for the MSR, at least here and now in season 1. That perhaps Mulder doesn’t even allow himself to see Scully as a “woman” i.e. as a sexual being. Thus she is safe to bare his soul to, she’s his friend and partner only -- a non-threat.

But I suspect that’s actually what Mulder needs. To see Scully this way first. A friend and equal first and a lover second. Even when they are finally together I believe this is how they continue to see each other.

Entering into a romantic relationship with Scully then, would be the ultimate statement of self-healing for Mulder. That he can find love with a nurturing, caring, loving woman rather than an emotionally damaging one. Let’s stick a pin in that thought, we’ll come back to that.

So Mulder and Phoebe go down to the arson specialist, Agent Beatty, and he proceeds to slather all over Phoebe. He’s being quite gross and creepy, actually. Almost makes me feel sorry for her.

Yeah... Almost.

Thing is, she knows the power she wields over men and uses it against them. More power to her when the men in question are like this guy. But Mulder? She’s basically kicking a puppy.

It always bothered me how OTT Agent Beatty is with Phoebe. Is it the British thing? I am not the kind of woman to tear another woman down about her looks -- Phoebe is beautiful -- but the guy is falling over himself. Is that really warranted? It’s gotta be the accent. I don’t get it, but then I am British too so, yeah, it’s like being Superman on Krypton. Big deal. We all have the super powers so it’s hardly special, ya know? 😂😂

All while this is going on, Scully is there but unsure where her place is. Phoebe’s exclusion tactics clearly working their magic, because it seems Scully is starting to feel a bit insecure about where she fits into this new three-way dynamic. She’s no longer sure if her place is alongside Mulder, so she just loiters in the doorway.

The camera focuses on her a couple times and at first she’s just listening in. But then she seems to crane her head around to look at Mulder; possibly noticing that there’s something up with him?

Remember, this is happening before Mulder has told Scully he doesn’t want her on the case. So there’s something quite sad about this. Scully standing alone in the doorway, unsure of her place.

Sir Malcolm Marsden’s dog is named Jackson. Really, Chris? Really?

I think Chris Carter has a very short list of names that he must use again and again otherwise anything he writes will simply spontaneously combust.

Now this next scene is probably one of my favourites in the entire episode, because as insecure about her position in all of this Scully seems to be feeling, she isn’t one to be so easily pushed aside. So she appropriates the three pipe problem “private joke” from earlier, and completely hijacks it’s meaning to make it their private joke.

She is the Watson to his Sherlock, and Phoebe? Phoebe is Moriarty -- “mind game player extraordinaire” as Mulder describes her, a foe who likes to play at being a friend and who is decidedly the true outsider of this three-way dynamic.

Not to mention, Mulder truly is the Sherlock to her Watson too. He is the ideas man, the guy who is so completely in his own head that he sometimes fails to grasp the human element. I mean, how many times throughout the series do we see Mulder eff things up by not dealing with people very well, necessitating Scully to step in?

In fact, you don’t have to go very far to find the last instance of it. In the previous episode, Eve, Mulder has to be rescued by Scully when dealing with one of the murder twins parents. In many ways, Scully is his connection to the outside world. His human credential, as David Duchovny once so poetically put it. In the same way Watson is Sherlock’s.

So Mulder tells Scully she’s off the hook on this case because he believes Phoebe is playing a mind game with him, a practice of hers he seems acutely familiar with.

Scully concernedly eyeing up Mulder all episode is suddenly vindicated. He is clearly distressed and Scully switches tack. She goes from teasing to protective.

That worried look on her face, the way she leans forward, searchingly. She’s seeing how unnerved he is and she can tell he’s upset. She is truly his best friend in this moment. She doesn’t judge, doesn’t criticise -- she just hears him out.

Mulder has already confided that he “got in over his head” with Phoebe, and so now all past questions about whether Mulder truly trusts Scully seem to fall away here, because he’s now freely baring his soul to her. The flood gates are open.

Phoebe is fire. Wow. She terrifies him. But there is a double meaning here. Not only is she like fire in that she represents a painful memory that laid the way for emotional trauma, but she’s like fire in the way that draws a moth to its flame. Mulder being said moth.

She’s dangerous, but he’s attracted to that danger. Something about Phoebe pulls him in, almost against his will. He walks out of the office determined to face his demons, but ultimately ends up willingly ensnared in Phoebe’s web, yet again.

Unfortunately it seems Mulder is drawn to the leggy, brunette, femme fatale type. I mean, look at Diana. Perhaps this is why he doesn’t look at Scully that way for such a long time, she’s not the kind of woman he would ordinarily go for. Not in just looks, but in the element of danger. In the same way some women are attracted to the bad boys, perhaps Mulder is attracted to the bad girls. Women who emotionally mistreat him. It would certainly align with the idea that we seek out unresolved past traumas in intimate relationships, doomed to relive them. Perhaps Mulder has mommy issues. I know that’s certainly a popular fanon concept.

Ultimately what it comes down to is trust. Mulder’s trust in others was probably damaged considerably by Phoebe.

Think about the circumstances under which he met her. He’s left his home; left his country; gone to college as far away from his old life and miserable, divorced parents as he could get. He’s looking for a fresh start, a way to leave the past behind. Running all the way to England is one way to do it. There he meets Phoebe. This brilliant, beautiful woman who takes an interest in him -- wants him.

Desperate for comfort, for love, for understanding, he lets her in. I think he lets her in so completely that she knows everything -- his darkest childhood fears, his secrets. Probably knows all about his sister too. I think he gave everything to her and she lit the fire and watched him go up in smoke.

Phoebe is fire.

Scully, bless her, now feeling quite protective over puppy, seeing how vulnerable he is to Phoebe, offers to help on the case. But Mulder declines, believing he can handle it himself.

Yeah good plan, Fido. Let’s see how that goes.

I’m just sayin’.

Now there’s some strong suggestions made about what might have happened between Mulder and Phoebe when they were at Oxford.

Phoebe compliments Mulder on his interview technique, and how he managed to persuade the witness to cooperate after she had confessed to lying to her partner about where she was the night before.

To which he quips back...

So the suggestion being made here, is that she had one or two indiscretions of her own during their relationship. Namely, that she cheated on him. If we think of how this episode ultimately ends, it’s a pretty safe bet. The look on his face when he sees her in Lord Marsden’s arms is the look of a man who has been there before, and is not even surprised. Almost like he had been waiting for this all along.

So I think it’s fairly certain she cheated, probably several times. From the sounds of it he forgave her and took her back every time and was probably a push over about it. Firm but polite.

And you know what? I can absolutely see Mulder being like that. As mentioned before, Phoebe was probably the first woman he opened up to emotionally. So severing that bond would have been a huge loss, leaving him incredibly vulnerable to emotional abuse -- he would have forgiven her anything if it meant holding onto her.

My impression of Mulder is that through all his bravado he feels very deeply and so, when he does let people in, he can be very easily hurt.

His behaviour much later in I Want To Believe demonstrates that quite well. Mulder is clearly very hurt by Scully’s suggestion that she won’t come home if he continues working the case. He sees this as a rejection of the person he is -- “...this is everything I know, this is who I was before I met you...” etc etc.

Later when he goes to see Father Joe at the hospital Scully comes across him first, she grasps his hand but you can see he’s not comfortable with it -- he feels vulnerable around her, she’s essentially broken his heart and he’s doing his best to bury that and keep focused on the case. She hurt him and his walls are up. He takes his hand away again, and can barely even look at her.

When she can see he’s avoiding her, trying to run away, she calls out to him. Tells him that she does understand this stubborn, passionate, drive of his -- that it’s the reason she fell in love with him in the first place.

But he is still too hurt to be understanding. He’s defensive, and saying something he no doubt regrets later. He’s let her in, deeper and more completely than anyone has ever been, so for her to reject him this way isn’t just a disagreement he can work out later, it cuts him very deeply.

Bare in mind, this is in 2008. So you can imagine how much more fragile and vulnerable he was where love and women are concerned back in his Oxford days in the 80′s.

Anyway back to Phoebe…

Mulder’s sharp comment clearly strikes a nerve with her, and she chews him out for holding onto what happened 10 years ago. Mulder then infamously says...

So who wants to bet that he might have walked in on Phoebe with another guy?

Remember how Mulder later catches Phoebe with Sir Marsden? I suspect there’s a mirroring of the past in the present. You gotta feel for Mulder, though. It’d be difficult to let go of something you can never unsee with the passage of time to dull the memory.

Not to mention other memories that can’t be dulled; like that one time they fucked in a graveyard, apparently.. Oh good times, good times.

Soooo... Mulder fucked Phoebe on a tombstone? Yikes. That’s simultaneously creepy as fuck and so Mulder all at once.

Also, with a bit of Google-foo I discovered that there is no grave for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Windlesham. He was originally buried there in a rose garden, but was exhumed and re-interred in Hampshire in 1955 – as far as I can tell, there is nothing left at the original Windlesham grave site. 1955 is long before Mulder and Phoebe would have been there. So… yeah. Whoever’s tombstone they were fucking on, it wasn’t sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s.

Perhaps there’s a metaphor for their relationship in that. A complete lie? A huge error in judgement? That which appeared to be something it wasn’t? You could go on forever.

Dana, babe... you need to get a freakin’ light bulb up in that office. No wonder the two of you wear glasses -- that poor lighting is not doing your eyesight any favours.

Next we see that Scully -- despite Mulder’s insistence that she not get involved -- has decided to help him anyway.

There are two reasons for this. First, she’s feeling insecure, she’s been dismissed by Phoebe and, to a lesser extent, Mulder too. The two of them are still feeling each other out and defining the parameters of their working relationship, so I think there is a part of her that seeks some kind of approval from Mulder. She is determined to assert her worth. She’s worked with him long enough to know he can use her help; but I think a part of her wants to prove to Mulder that she can’t be so easily replaced as his partner.

The second reason is simply because she’s feeling protective over him after hearing about his history with Phoebe. She can see he’s vulnerable and it concerns her -- she’s never seen him like that before, and she’s quick to fly into protective mode when she feels he’s in harms way.

What I love is that Scully proves her worth with flying colours. Coming up with a stellar profile which pegs the guy perfectly.

Seriously, who is the profiler between these two? Seems the majority of the profiling we’ve seen thus far has come from Scully.

She has the presence of mind to check immigration records for British citizens with a connection to the Marsden’s or previous victims that have recently come into the United States.

She also correctly analyses which accelerant he is likely using.

As well as how he uses it.

Cough syrup?

Paint?

She does all this work without a sniff of help from Mulder or Phoebe. They’re too busy fawning over each other and planning a little fuck buddy interlude at a swanky hotel.

All the while Scully is getting the job done.

She is forever the MVP of the series. Seriously, Mulder and Phoebe would have been up fudge creek without a paddle if she wasn’t working the case.

The next scene with Mulder and Phoebe seems to lay the foundation for why Mulder finds himself being drawn back into Phoebe’s thrall.

He shares his theory with her that the arsonist has some kind of pyrokinetic ability and Phoebe agrees without batting an eyelid. Mulder laughs at her because he’s quite taken aback by this. He’s more used to Scully who would have challenged him -- grounded him -- and got him to think of how what he’s suggesting could be scientifically possible.

Without that challenge, Mulder doesn’t even consider how the killer is doing it beyond “he did it with his magic fire!” Thus missing the significance what Scully is investigating -- the accelerant.

Mulder has a bit of an issue with confirmation bias, so as soon as he gets even the slightest inkling of some kind of paranormal goings on, he will straight away gravitate towards avenues of investigation that prove his theory. People agreeing with him plays into his egomania – having this beautiful, “brilliant”, woman agreeing with him is gonna get his “juices flowing” too. But it also blindsides him -- this is a man that needs to be challenged.

While investigating apart on this case, they are coming at it from their own unique point of view, but both are missing a significant piece of the puzzle that they fill for each other. If Mulder hadn’t ditched Scully they would have arrived at the complete answer by now. That the killer cannot control fire, he does not have pyrokinesis necessarily, but he does have the unique ability to ignite fires if a powerful enough accelerant is present.

In Fire, Mulder hasn’t fully recognised it yet, but this is the unique and beautiful dynamic that makes them perfect partners. As he later says in season 11′s Nothing Lasts Forever -- they are reason and faith in harmony. It’s been their magic formula from the very beginning.

Unfortunately their harmony is being stifled. Mulder is distracted by Phoebe -- her agreement has flattered him, stroked his ego, and with that she goes in for the kill -- easily seducing him with an offer of spending the night together.

It’s bittersweet to go back and watch this episode now; seeing Mulder pass Scully over in hopes of bedding Phoebe, knowing what we know now; what Mulder will come to realise. That the woman who is perfect for him is the one that’s always right next to him.

Ah the folly of youth, eh?

Oh Mulder...

He’s such a pathetic puppy. The idea of getting laid gets him all giddy.

I think what you can take away from this, is how over the fucking moon he would have been in All Things when Scully comes to his bed. I mean, can you imagine? 😂😂

Theeeeen it’s awkward-conversation-with-Scully time. Mulder is clearly not focused on the case at this point, he is far more invested in getting his head away than catching this arsonist because Scully is there saying hey, I might know who this guy is, and he’s like, “yeeeeeeeah, that’s nice, but this is not a good time for me soooo...”

I mean, wtf Mulder! Sir Marsden’s family is at risk, he has a wife and children. People have been burnt to death by this guy and you’re all nah, sorry Scully I haven’t got time to solve the case, I am kinda busy right now trying to get laid.

Fuck. Me. What a douche nozzle.

Look at Scully’s face at the end of the phone conversation. She’s not liking this new side of Mulder at all. She keeps pushing against his obvious resistance because she believes he’s ditching her in favour of Phoebe. Her insecurity is more palpable here -- but this isn’t necessarily romantically driven. I think she’s feeling insecure as his partner; like she’s being replaced. Whereas Mulder just wants to fuck Phoebe; working with her is actually beside the point. Poor Scully.

Then it’s the scene you’ve all been dreading! Yep, it’s the dance/kiss scene.

So it starts with Mulder milling around the hotel lobby waiting for Phoebe to arrive, but she ignores him and walks straight by. Mulder was clearly thinking they will be spending the evening together as well as the evening together, if you catch my drift.

It suggests that Mulder was actually interested in rekindling their relationship -- he was planning on a romantic evening with Phoebe I mean, look at what he’s wearing. He’s “undercover” but he could have gone as a bodyguard to one of the other guests, or as a member of staff to give him more freedom to move around without raising suspicion. But no, he’s dressed to attend the party, not to stand guard dog outside of it.

He wanted to dress up for her. I don’t think he was just in it for a one night stand. He loved Phoebe once, and I think if she didn’t fuck him over later in this episode, he was in very real danger of falling in love with her again -- her betrayal pulled him back from that precipice.

Let’s not think about that too much.

He looks vaguely pathetic standing in the hallway, desperately waiting for Phoebe to throw him a bone.

Phoebe, of course, wouldn’t want Mulder and Sir Marsden in the same room together since she’s playing both of them. Yet, despite the fact she’s ditched him the entire evening, with just the tiniest scrap of attention, he’s eating out of her palm again.

She truly does have a power over him. For some reason he is enthralled by her, and it seems to be related not just to her beauty, but her intelligence, her “brilliance” as he called it.

But you know who else fits that criteria? Yeah, not even gonna say it.

Scully is genius-level brilliant. It’s a very rare occurrence when she’s not the smartest person in the room. She was perhaps less conventionally attractive for the 90′s. She has a 1950′s Lauren Bacall-esque screen goddess look to her, especially in seasons 1-3.

Which is my only explanation for why people fall all over themselves when Phoebe is on screen but seemingly fail to notice Scully at all. Oh that, and...

So back to this dagger-through-the-heart scene... Phoebe uses sex to lure Mulder in several times in the episode, and it happens again during this scene.

Scully arrives in time to see them start dancing and is more irritated, or fed up, than jealous. She’s arrived at entirely the wrong moment and now she has to wait.

This episode does then establish that Scully wasn’t in love with Mulder this early on. Attracted to him sure – but not so attached that she would be jealous of him with another woman. We know exactly what that looks like for Scully, and when that woman is jealous she is completely incapable of hiding it.

As much shit as they’ve been through together at this point, it has still only been a matter of months since they met.

Although I think she does experience a bit of a sting when she sees them kissing – rolling her eyes at him. This wasn’t what she came up here for.

She’s there to work, to focus on the-- wait.... WAIT. WAIT.

Is that butt groping I see, Mulder?!

It fucking is!

That horny, sex-starved, puppy is just gagging for it! GAGGING.

Fuck. Seriously, in All Things I think he must have all but attacked Scully.

ANYWAY.

Scully is there to work, to focus on the case, while Mulder... well...

Mulder is distracted by a handful of ass cheek and a tongue down his throat, it seems.

It might be crossing her mind that she had decided to forego her own love life to work with him on the X-FIles back in The Jersey Devil. She’d berated him for not having a life, and yet, here he is. A taste of her own medicine, perhaps? Let’s not forget, Mulder had a similar scene waiting for Scully as she went on a date, staring at the clock looking miserable.

I suspect she’s probably also wondering what the hell happened to trying to avoid getting ensnared in the flames of Phoebe Green??

Scully then stops dead in her tracks as she sees Creeper McCreeperson hiding in the foliage.

But she doesn’t get the chance to think about that for too long before she spots that there is a fire on the 14th floor. She rushes out to tell Mulder and Phoebe and then proceeds to raise the alarm in the rest of the building.

Dana Katherine Scully -- MVP.

Phoebe informs them both that the children are on the 14th floor, and so Mulder, being the action hero that he is, decides to go up there -- people need help and so he will save them, that’s his edict in life. No matter how difficult it is for him, he’s going to try because that’s what he tells himself he must do. In the psychotherapeutic sense, he is every bit a “rescuer”. A person who feels connection to others through saving them. It’s how he has learnt to relate to other people.

The rescuer identity usually emerges in childhood in reaction to a feeling of powerlessness. The child may have experienced their parents as emotionally unavailable, distant and unable to meet their emotional needs. With these needs being unmet, the child learns to experience love and connection vicariously through meeting the needs of others.

Think about it. Mulder lost his sister when he was supposed to be looking after her, and in his memory of these events he is powerless to stop her abduction -- no matter what he tries; grabbing a gun, screaming for help; nothing works. We know from the Pilot that his parents refused to talk about what happened to Samantha and as a result the family fell apart -- his parents divorced and the first chance he got, Mulder got as far away from them as he could; going to Oxford.

To compensate for this trauma; the unimaginable weight of guilt and powerlessness he felt to save Samantha, he saves anyone and everyone he can. This way he can sooth that voice in his head; the voice that tells him he is worthless, unlovable. From his 12 year old perspective, his parents withdrew their love when he failed to save Samantha, and so now his self-worth is tied up in a need save -- if he can save someone, he is worthy of love.

So regardless of how terrified he is, he goes head first into the fire to save those children.

He doesn’t want to do it, in his mind, he has no choice.

In a way, it makes me wonder if that’s why he took back Phoebe despite the fact she cheated on him. Perhaps he saw her flaws, saw her destructive behaviour and believed her could save her. Men and women often fall into the trap of believing they can change their partners through love. Perhaps Mulder believed if he loved Phoebe enough, she would change -- that effectively, he would save her?

Poor Mulder. He pushes himself to the point of passing out to save those kids, but fails. While everyone else, including Phoebe, is fawning over Creeper McCreeperson for ultimately being the one to save them...

...it’s Scully who searches for Mulder and immediately goes to him when she sees he needs her help. Regardless of where she falls on Mulder’s priority list, he’s always at the top of hers.

This whole hotel scene really tells you everything you need to know about how these two women feel about Mulder.

One casually discards him when it’s convenient, while the other will wait for him, and be there for him even when he doesn’t ask for it.

Even when he pushes her away.

The next scene emphasises this further, with Scully sitting at his bedside taking care of him. Handing him water as he chugs up his innards and the first thing out of his mouth is...

The script notes for this scene are well known now. Mulder apparently wakes to see Scully and muses on the fact this was not the woman he had anticipated ending up in bed with.

Chris Carter’s writing, everybody.

Thankfully Scully is sensitive enough to his shame and embarrassment that she doesn’t give him a hard time. In fact, she’s mothering him, using that soft, gentle, loving voice that she usually reserves for talking to children.

She’s trying to sooth him, knowing he is going to be hard on himself.

When she asks what happened, he is entirely honest with Scully. They have established a level of emotional intimacy in this episode that they’ve not touched on since Mulder’s emotional confession of his childhood bedtime ritual in Conduit.

This intimacy gives Mulder a feeling of safety that I suspect he hasn’t experienced in a long time. He can be wholly open with Scully, all his weaknesses and vulnerabilities laid bare for her. Represented physically by his walking around almost naked in front of her, wearing nothing but black silky boxers.

Oh Mulder, he really goes all out when he think’s he’s gonna get some. Which just makes me think all sorts of fun thoughts about Mulder and Scully’s season 7 sex life.

(Here ya go, @allyinthekeyofx these gifs are dedicated to you.) 😉

There’s a significant shift in Phoebe’s behaviour when she enters the room. First, she directly addresses Scully, and holds a whole conversation with her. Shocker! She dismisses a piece of vital information Scully gives her, of course, but she still has noticeably adjusted her approach to her. She doesn’t seem to be treating her as a threat anymore.

When Mulder comes back in and sees Phoebe, he suddenly becomes conscious of his body, of his exposure and vulnerability, so immediately covers himself.

The difference in the level of intimacy he feels safe sharing with these two women is clearly drawn by such a simple gesture.

It then becomes apparent why Phoebe is behaving differently, she is returning to England. Mulder is clearly disappointed to hear she’s leaving. Again, reinforcing the idea that perhaps he was hoping for more than a one night stand. Was he hoping she would stay in the US for him?

Phoebe’s dwindled interest in Mulder is palpable. She seems to have given up her romantic pursuit, no longer bothering to ostracise Scully. She politely, and it seems genuinely, bids her goodbye as she leaves.

Knowing full well what she’s just witnessed -- Mulder essentially being dumped -- Scully is ever protective. Looking out for him once again. It’s a shame you can’t hear gifs, because it’s all in that soft, gentle, tentative tone of voice she uses when she asks him...

Mulder is clearly deflated, but I love the next exchange between the two of them.

This is Scully’s chance to shine, to prove herself to him. She basically single-handedly solves the case and discovers who the arsonist is after Phoebe and Mulder spectacularly failed.

She’s clearly making a point to him in outlining the entirety of her investigation. She wants him to know exactly how much she has done. Mulder seems to be only vaguely interested.

That is until she gets to the climax of her little tale, and he flips into overdrive realising they now have what they need to find this guy.

Scully’s face as Mulder leaps into action is perfect. That smug smile of satisfaction.

Whose “brilliant” now, eh?

Mulder flies over to Cape Cod to warn Phoebe, only to find her wrapped in the arms of Sir Marsden. Oh hey, I made these gifs already!

Mulder’s face... It all makes sense to him now. This was all just another game. She played him, and she played him good.

But it seems Mulder has finally learnt his lesson. Fool me once, and all that.

Since it was clear Mulder hadn’t fully let go of his feelings for Phoebe in 10 years, I’d say this was a good thing for him. If she had gone home and he was left to pine over her, that would have been disastrous. So it worked out for the best, if a little painfully for Mulder.

It’s called tough love, bitch. Suck it up.

After this moment, Mulder’s entire demeanour with Phoebe changes – he’s put his barriers back up, and the detached Mulder tone comes out.

He’s looking at her like he can’t quite believe he almost fell for it again.

When Scully arrives later, she can tell straight away that Mulder is upset.

Again, Mulder… what you are looking for is right in front of you. He brushes it off, but she’s watching him intently. She’s so protective of him, it’s so sweet.

So they discover that the arsonist is not the driver, but is in fact the caretaker, and as we know, has painted up the house with argotypoline -- rocket fuel.

In a repeat of the hotel scenario, the children are up stairs in a building that starts going up in smoke.

Mulder valiantly but stupidly tries to put the fires out. Bath towel vs. rocket fuel, Mulder. Seriously?

Finally realising that whacking a rocket fuel fire with a towel is the stupidest thing he’s ever done whilst sober, Mulder orders everyone out of the room.

However, Mulder does find a moment to continue his hand’s love affair with Scully’s back. All in the midst of facing his darkest fear of fire – nice!

Now this is going off book a bit, but I get the sense that there was supposed to be some kind of scene where Scully is in danger in the fire and Mulder overcomes his fears to save her.

I say this because there is a cut line of dialogue from the original script where Scully says “don’t let it be said that you wouldn’t want through fire for a woman” and Mulder apparently replies “and don’t let it be said that I wouldn’t do it for you again, Scully.”

To whoever it was that decided to cut that. CC, I’m looking at you.

I mean, that’s pretty heavy handed stuff… perhaps they realised it was a bit too heavy handed for a show that was supposedly never going to put these two together romantically.

If it had been left in, it would have drawn a clear parallel between Phoebe and Scully. Still along the vein that the episode is already toying with throughout, but those lines of dialogue would have made it far more blatant. The comparison being that Phoebe is fire – she is a tormentor, a symbol of sexual desire and emotional pain for Mulder. As such, his relationship with her compounded his fear; she feeds them. Whereas Scully is a soothing, caring presence. A symbol of love and friendship, and emotional healing for Mulder. As such, his relationship with her helps him to overcome his fear.

The episode does still maintain certain aspects of this – once Mulder has severed his bond with Phoebe, and reunites with Scully, he does put himself between others and the blaze, trying to put it out. He also takes control of the situation and orders everyone out of the house. He’s no longer freezing at the sight of fire.

I really like that as they shuffle everyone out of the house, Mulder tells Scully to find a fire extinguisher but tells everyone else to get out. It’s him and Scully again – together as partners, she’s the one he trusts to have his back.

Mulder, Gawd bless him, summons up the courage to face his fear without needing to save Scully in the end, its having the chance to vindicate his earlier failure at saving the children that motivates him to push forward.

Bless this brave puppy.

Success!

But yeah, being pulled from a burning building twice in one night? Those kids are fucked. Traumatised for life.

So remember I said there was some interesting symbolism with the camera work in the opening of the episode. Well, now we’re at the end, the framing has flipped. Mulder and Scully are reunited as partners on the screen, and now, with Phoebe’s influence over Mulder dashed, she is framed as separate from the two -- the true outsider.

The final scene is very sweet, and symbolic of Mulder and Scully restoring their equilibrium as they return to the casual bantering we saw from them in the beginning of the episode, before Phoebe showed up.

Where we started was that Phoebe was the one in on the joke, now she’s the butt of it. Scully does have a fun side too.

I just gotta say, she looks especially beautiful in this scene, thankfully this was a good wardrobe day for her. Season 1 was very hit and miss.

Scully asks where Phoebe is, and Mulder, clearly more relaxed than we’ve seen him the entire episode, shrugs – he doesn’t know, and seemingly doesn’t care to.

Now if we were to get the romcom ending, Mulder would have noticed all the times Scully was there for him and would have thanked her, or at least recognised that he did need her help after all. Or maybe he’d tell her he’s thankful she didn’t listen to him when he told her not to help. But this is the X-Files, so... yeah who the hell do you think you’re kidding?

Phoebe also sends Mulder another tape, but he doesn’t need to hear it. He’s free of her thrall now, and so there’s nothing she could say that would be meaningful to him anymore.

Would have been a nice touch to see him drop the tape in the trash, but I think we get the idea. It took 10 long years, but Fox Mulder is finally over Phoebe Green.

Next up… My favourite episode of season 1. 1x13 - Beyond the Sea.

#thexfiles #x files #txf meta #txf analysis #MSR #x files msr analysis series #xf gifs #xf screencaps #fox mulder #dana scully #chris carter #david duchovny #gillian anderson #phoebe green #txf 1x12 #fire

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