Picture this. It's been almost a year since Tech's death. His siblings are still grieving as though it happened yesterday. They hang on to all his things, never modify the Marauder in a way he wouldn't have approved. The wall next to his bunk is still full of equations in his handwriting.
They miss his frequent chatter - it's too quiet without him. Omega frequently tears up when she's flying the ship, his voice in her head gently reminding her to check the fuel gauge and brake status as he always did while mentoring her.
One day Tech's datapad pings. It hasn't gone off in a long time. On the screen is Tech's notification to commemorate a year's passing since Wrecker ate a full meal during their first evening on Pabu.
It's almost like he's still with them.
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what are some of your favorite acting moments in the x files?
i may do a proper full list sometime in the future but one thing that i think about every single day of my life is mulder being scripted to cry in the beginning of memento mori and duchovny saying that a lot of actors “try to feel” but people don’t go through life trying to feel, they go through life trying not to feel. “we go through life trying not to cry.” and so he plays it as completely composed, “but struggling,” and it defines an arc.
because if scully tells mulder that she’s got incurable cancer and she is going to die and he says “i refuse to believe that” while crying, it projects to the audience that he already does. why break down over something you don’t think is going to happen? he says “i refuse to believe that” with a straight face, and eventually gets her to acquiesce and admit something that she knows isn’t true, that goes against literally everything in her as a scientist and a doctor and someone whose job is to tell him the truth, and says that maybe they’ll find a cure for her death sentence.
she meets him where he is, and they stay there, and every scene that follows that decision is so haunted by it. they don’t talk about it, they don’t accept it, she’s dying alone and he doesn’t believe.
there’s this really palpable and intense repression that i’ve written about in the past, that comes with the fact that they’re both lying. he does know what’s happening. he is completely capable of understanding. she does not think that he can save her. they both go through it alone, because of that initial refusal, and it doesn’t work if he reacts to that diagnosis with tears.
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I just think Tallulah gets to be upset about this. “It’s not Wilbur’s fault” “He’s not a bad dad” “He loves his daughter so much” yes! These are all true! And it’s not his fault! But he’s still not there. And Tallulah has gone through so much and still hasn’t seen him, the one time he was around was the one time she wasn’t, and all she has are letters and “I’m thinking of you always” and things that used to be theirs together, but he’s still not there. She’s waited and she’s been patient and she’s loved him all the same, and he’s still not there. Like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, from the happy milestones to the traumatic events, he’s still not there.
She knows that it’s not his fault, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s absent. That in and of itself just adds to the sorrow, because she knows why he’s gone, and she’s been told time and time again it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care, she knows this - it doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting, that it doesn’t hurt, that she doesn’t yearn for her father to be there more than anything in the world, and he’s just not there.
So yes, she gets to be upset, and be caustic, and stomp her feet and write bitter messages, and be angry and vitriolic, because she’s a little girl missing her father, who feels things with her whole heart and soul - and that means she gets to feel the ugly parts of it, too.
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Instructions
Maglor sat the children down in front of him, then bit his lip, unsure of where to begin.
He didn't want to have this conversation at all, but it had to happen. The other night, Maedhros had...slipped again, been dangerous; it was nothing that Maglor couldn't handle, but the same wouldn't necessarily be true of anyone else. Particularly not of the peredhil, and if anything were to befall them, Maedhros would never forgive himself.
“You remember,” he said slowly, “that I once told you to always listen to me and Maedhros, and trust us, because your safety could depend on it?”
Elros and Elrond nodded, looking uncertain as to where this is going.
Maglor took a deep breath. “You need to know that there are times when that...may not be true. When your safety will depend on not listening to us, on disobeying us, even. You should not have to make that distinction--I do not want to have to burden you with this--but I want even less for you to be put in harm’s way because I failed to speak about this.”
Elrond pursed his lips. Elros frowned, head tilted. “How will we know the difference?” he asked. “Between when to listen and when not to?”
Maglor bowed his head. “If we are ever trying to hurt you, or cause you distress, either because we are...not ourselves or because of the Oath,” he said. “You must stop us, then, however you have to.”
“You wouldn’t,” Elrond insisted. “Whatever happened, you’d never do anything to hurt us.”
Given the circumstances under which they’d ended up in his custody, Maglor found that statement ironic enough to be laughable, if he’d been in any mood to laugh. Instead, he just shook his head. “I would rather have the assurance, all the same,” he said. “Promise me that you will do this. Please.”
The twins exchanged looks.
“We promise, Atya.”
***
“Elrond, what are you doing here?”
Maglor couldn’t help but stare. He’d successfully avoided his one surviving son former kidnapee for two Ages, or thought he had, and had only let his guard down at all because he’d thought Elrond was on his way to the Grey Havens. Apparently, he’d been mistaken, because Elrond was right there, standing in the middle of the woods with him, a look that might have been fond exasperation on his face.
“Coming after you, of course,” Elrond said, folding his arms. “I am set to sail West soon, with several of my household and some others, and I have come to make sure you go with me.”
“I am not meant to sail,” Maglor said, shaking his head, “and my presence would do you no good, here or across the Sea."
"I beg to differ."
"You are too kind." Maglor took a step back, then another. "Let me alone, and do not worry for me. This exile is no more than I deserve."
Elrond's voice was oddly calm. "And what of what I deserve? What your family in Aman deserves?"
Maglor bowed his head. "I am no longer the person whose return they wish for," he said, "and you ought to have the chance to know your true parents without my shadow over everything."
He turned to walk away, but found himself arrested by Elrond's hand on his arm. "I won't let you, Atya," he said firmly. "You are coming West with me, and if you hate me for it, we can work through it on the way." With a raised eyebrow, he added, "This is what you told me to do in such a situation, after all. If you wished me to leave you to fade in self-punishment, you should not have made me promise to stop you from causing me distress."
Maglor did not quite see the connection there, but in the next moment, Elrond sang out a cascade of familiar notes, meant to send someone into unconsciousness, and he was forced to put the question aside for later.
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