#agent armstrong

[hellman55]

Agent Armstrong [PS1] Gameplay Walkthrough FULL GAME [4K60ᶠᵖˢ UHD🔴]

[sirgawainofgalifrey]

Everyone's always complaining like, "oh, men only write women as shallow damsels in distress" and "oh, women only write men as personality-less wish fulfillment"

So I thought I'd point out two of my favorite examples where this is not the case.

Full Metal Alchemist and Spy x Family

I like them because Arakawa write male characters like this

And Endo writes female characters like this

And I think its neat

[ragsy]

drawing my OCs in other art styles until i drive myself to madness

in order:

mark "dogmark mandog" stevens (butch hartman)

fishwoman diane fishwoman (neopets)

sloane armstrong AKA agent hill (tintin)

emily song (scooby doo)

sir dillion (rob liefeld (i chickened out on this one because i would simply pass away if i inked the whole thing))

arji the fool (animal crossing)

[artistotaku91]

Halloween Blues.^^

Vector/Vectoria are from my series Agent Monsters!X3

[finalfloorsatl]

"Final Floors: Your trusted flooring experts in Atlanta!

[castroneves]

jobs I would think each indycar driver had if I saw them on the street and didn’t know who they are (part 2 with the current grid, part 1 here lmao)

will power: Vermin Love Supreme (running for president as a meme) OR selling fake rolexes on hollywood blvd

scott mclaughlin: luxury car salesman

josef newgarden: commercial actor (e.g. billy mays)

christian lundgaard: valet driver for a very fancy restaurant

pietro fittipaldi: STNA in a skilled nursing facility

graham rahal: used car salesman

david malukas: he teaches a children's program in the reptile section of the zoo

felix rosenqvist: real estate agent (derogatory)

agustin canapino: slumlord

romain grosjean: personal injury lawyer

rinus veekay: long-term substitute teacher (middle school)

christian rasmussen: deli counter at a boujee grocery store. makes really good sandwiches

marcus armstrong: receptionist at an animal hospital

alex palou: men's warehouse salesman

scott dixon: trauma surgeon

linus lundqvist: he operates the excavator at construction sites

kyffin simpson: unemployed, but his dad is a lawyer and he makes sure everyone knows

alexander rossi: i dont know but he's in witness protection

pato o'ward: occupational therapist

marcus ericsson: electrical engineer (currently doing an apprenticeship)

kyle kirkwood: park ranger at like yosemite or smth

colton herta: sales associate at a local smoke shop (very knowledgable)

sting ray robb: junior funeral director because it's the family business but he wants to be a pediatric dental hygienist

santino ferrucci: serving 18 months for aggravated assault

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Propaganda under the cut.

Olivier Mira Armstrong:

The general who commands the forces at Amestris northern border. Believes in survival of the fittest, thinks alternative perspectives are important to lead and says that racism is a luxury they can't afford. Once took a tank in an elevator to shoot it at a monster on another floor. Fooled a corrupt superior officer into thinking she was interested in joining his side to get him to divulge their plans, then killed him, buried him in cement and took his seat in central command to infiltrate the corrupt upper ranks as a double agent. Fights primarily with a sword in conflicts including people with magic alchemy powers and monsters created with those powers.

Lucretia has too much propaganda for this post! You can find her propaganda here.

[holeintheboat]

The Outsiders Mafia AU (Headcanons)

!!WARNING: This may contain some spoilers!!!

-Johnny loves Jazz (blues are a close second)

-Darrel is called ‘Superman’ because he once stopped mid getaway to help a woman cross the street

-The entire mafia group worships Frank Sinatra

-Tim got his scar in a violent one-on-one fight with Dallas, which also led to him losing the eye

-Johnny is a FANTASTIC cook, and shares his love through food

-Ponyboy used to watch a ton of Mafia/Secret Agent movies to ‘study’ for his future job

-The Shepherds are all from Sicily, and lived there for most of their teen years

-Johnny learned to speak several languages so that he make international deals

-Angela puts hours of efforts into her curls, and once killed a man for trying to run his fingers through them to flirt

-Curly prides himself in his height, he grew to the same height as Tim just a year before the events of ‘No Permanent Death’ and loves to remind everyone

-Johnny actually has a hatred for alcohol, but drinks it (or pretends to) to make himself seem older

-Tim will only ever drink beer

-Dallas became an assassin because he wanted to be like Charlie Chan and almost quit when he realized the man was, in fact, not an assassin

-Johnny has faked his own death about six times, and has gotten creepily good at it

-Darry hates swearing, and only does it when he’s very very upset

-Darrel is the only Curtis who can speak more than just English, He learned Italian so he could understand exposed messages within the Mob

-Dallas has actually run into the Shepherds several times, he never realized Johnny was Bambi because usually the boss doesn’t participate in the fights

-The socs do exist in this universe!! Most of them are businessmen/women who the mob has killed :P

-Sylvia also exists!! She is Dally’s ex-girlfriend, she left him after she figured out he kills people for a living

-Soda and Steve are still dating Evie and Sandy in this verse. Sandy isn’t aware of what Soda does, Evie actually is also a member of the mob and often helped out Steve at work

-When Mr.Shepherd died, all of his jewelry was given to Johnny because he was taking his place. The only thing he kept was a ring (a thick, gold, engraved ring with a red ruby) the rest was given to the Shepherds to disperse amongst themselves

-The Shepherds each got one ear pierced when they were teens to be more like their father

-Johnny sees the Shepherds as his equals, which is the reason they all dress similarly. This is also why it doesn’t occur to someone that he is the boss.

-Angelas callsign “Bella” comes from the word Bello: which means Beautiful in Italian

-Johnny once shot a very important client just because they shoved Curly

-Curly is actually really bad at his job, but gets away with it because of pure luck

-Soda got the name ‘Dice’ because he's known for taking chances on the job

-Johnny called Tim ‘Scarface’ after he lost his eye in an attempt to raise his spirits, and the name just stuck

-Tim has a glass eye, but often takes it out because he thinks its funny how grossed out his coworkers get

-Johnny wanted to be a musician, and can play the sax and guitar (he couldn’t decide if he wanted to be Louis Armstrong or Chuck Berry lmao)

-Curly wholeheartedly thought he and Johnny were related for most of his life, because he wasn’t on the mission where they found him

-Johnny gives out most of the nicknames, he was actually the first person to call Darry ‘Superman’

-The Sicilian Mafia is usually very specific about only letting in Italians. Johnny called bullshit on this, and that's how Steve(slick) and Buck(comma) got put in

-Steve used to work at the DX, he got invited in to the mafia because he was the only one who was willing to take Johnny’s car (all of his former coworkers thought a scruffy child with a century old car wouldn’t pay well)

-Buck got invited in after Tim and Johnny saw a man throw a drink on him (he beat the man to a pulp and Johnny said he had good enough aim to work for them)

-Angela LOVES compliments (She forces her brothers to hype her up 24/7)

-Johnny holds large dinners with everyone who works under him once a month to get to know them. The reason so many people are willing to take orders from him is because they know he’s the kindest boss they’ll get

-Tim is incredibly well-versed in dressing wounds, it's become somewhat of his job

-Curly cannot aim for shit, and has repeatedly just handed the gun to someone else

-The Curtis’s used to have a dog before Ponyboy was born, but they had to get rid of it to be able to pay for his upbringing

-Curly is known for full-on tackling people in fights, which actually works incredibly well

-Johnny is a horrible driver and has hit several pedestrians, animals, and trees (and got very upset after each one)

-Ponyboy has a binder that he uses as a dairy, he had pages dating back to his parents death

-Curly once tried to tackle Darry on a mission, Darry then simply pulled him off and tossed him out of the room

-Darrel refuses to do any work that involves a woman, and has lost to the Shepherds several times because he wouldn’t detain Angela

-Soda once drove a getaway car straight into the side of a building, and it almost got him and Darry killed

-Johnny paid for Steve to get braces, and he had the nickname ‘Lock Jaw’ for a VERY long time

-The Curtis’s often have movie nights!!

-Johnny refuses to hurt children, and often makes someone take the kid to another room if they do anything violent

-Ponyboy LOVES the arts, and his knowledge of Italian literature and art has saved him many times

-Angela is an excellent baker, and often tries to get her brothers to help her (they fuck it up every single time)

-Ponyboy still has nightmares in this universe, and has climbed into Soda/Darrys bed several times

-Darry hates that Pony often sees him as the bad guy, but knows he has to be to keep him safe

-Johnny is known for having an odd sense of humor and it has almost gotten him killed a million times

-Tim has “la famiglia” tattooed on his right bicep, with three little hearts under it (very similar to the one his father has on his neck)

-Though Steve doesn’t have and important role in the Mafia, him and Johnny are very good friends

-Tim is what's known as the ‘consigliere’ which means he serves as an adviser to the leader and resolves disputes within the family. (Johnny refused to make anyone the underboss because he didn’t like to think of any of them beneath him in rank)

-Ponyboy is a stargazer

-Johnny was been confused for a girl several times due to his long hair, but he refuses to cut it

-Tim gets very upset when people flirt with Angela (he’s the definition of a over-protective older brother)

-Johnny has never dated anyone- he knows whomever they are will be put in danger, and he doesn’t like the thought of people he loves fearing for their lives

-Soda once got a concussion because he ran into a wall during a chase with Curly, Curly only remembers him as ‘the wall kisser’

-The Shepherds all have a violent hatred for Ponyboy because Johnny told them about what happened in the first chapter (though Johnny has never spoken about him with even an ounce of malice)

-Darrel has been shot many times, so much so that the hospital knows him by name

-Johnny can’t stand hospitals because his parents once left him at one for three weeks. So even if he is on his damn deathbed he will NEVER go to one

-Just about everyone in the Mafia is not proud to be in it, but they all know it’s the best thing they can do with their backgrounds

-Buck and Johnny are rather close, and Buck often makes him fake drinks (ones without alcohol) because he knows how much the boy hates it

-Darry and Soda are both REALLY into cars. it’s actually helped them a lot in car chases, because they can always remember the make and model of the car

-The Shepherd Family was actually not very well known until Johnny took over, but he still worships Mr.Shepherd as if he’s the most famous man on earth

-most named characters has been to prison at one point (aside from Angela, Curly, Ponyboy, and Darrel)

-The job as Boss is incredibly stressful, and Tim has taken over for Johnny on several occasions

-Tim taught Angela, Curly, and Johnny hand-to-hand combat. He’ll often brag about it to anyone who will listen.

-Johnny goes by the Shepherd name, and only signs ‘Cade’ under important documents

-Angela has the best aim out of her entire family

-Tim actually was very upset when Johnny got his job as boss, but got over when he realized just how much the job SUCKEDD

-Two-Bit and Dallas worked together when they were rookies, but Dallas eventually moved on to do bigger and better things

-Ponyboy loves August weather, but feels he can’t enjoy those months becuase that’s when his folks died

-Two has run into Angela several times and made several (failed) attempts to flirt with her

-Johnny and Dallas have actually had several conversations in this universe, But Dallas never thought he was worth killing

-Sometimes random pastries/foods would appear on the Curtis doorstep during the Great Depression, they never knew where or who it came from but it helped them to survive (take a wild guess who made them lol)

-Johnny used to play the guitar while Angela sang to help Curly sleep <3

-Darry has never once touched a cigarette, but will drink jus tan out anything put in front of him

-Pony LOVES Italian food, but refuses to eat it because it just feels wrong to him

-Red is Angela’s favorite color, which is why the whole group is forced to wear something red (she picks out their clothes literally every day)

-Mrs.Shepherd died while giving birth to Curly, so Johnny and Curly have both never met her

-The Shepherds love spring because it reminds them of Sicily

-Bucks original nickname was FAG (Funny Accent Guy), given to him by Curly

-The Curtis brothers were all relatively short as kids, but shot up the second they hit puberty

-Tim tried to kidnap Louis Armstrong for Johnny's birthday (it did not work.)

-The Mafia has two main cover restaurants. One being a bar (that we see in the first chapter) and the other being an off-brand Italian place (Whenever someone fails an important job, they are banished to work at one of these two places)

-Johnny is the shortest person on his team, so he’ll often just step on their feet when they upset him

-Darrel is an avid people watcher

-Johnny actually looked up to many of the agents, and will excitedly tell people whenever he gets in a fight with one of them (even if he completely beats their ass he's still a total fanboy)

-Dallas has a really good memory, and can easily recall every fight he’s ever been in

If you have any other things you want me to write into the story, but them into the comments :D

[unfortunatetheorist]

What happened to the statue of The Bombinating Beast? - Part 1: ATWQ to ASOUE

This theory is dedicated to @ven10, whose post depicting the statue in the episode of The End (https://www.tumblr.com/unfortunatetheorist/758594891663212544/it-certainly-is-ven10-it-certainly-is?source=share), inspired my thoughts. There are also inferences made by @snicketsleuth (and @snicketstrange) which are used.

So, by the end of WITNDFAON (which I admit I haven't read yet but will get round to), we know that The Bombinating Beast statue is of great importance, as well as:

"Snicket fed Armstrong to the creature, and then wandered into the Clusterous Forest with the statue. It is unknown what he did with the statue and what happened to that beast, or its siblings, after this" ~ Snicket Wiki.

The only hint we have of The Bombinating Beast is that Lemony wanders into the Clusterous Forest with it's statue. Therefore it is important to take into consideration an extra detail about the Clusterous Forest, which links the ATWQ universe to ASOUE:

Lucky Smells Lumbermill gets its green timber from The Clusterous Forest.

This is my line of reasoning as to what happened:

1. Despite being an agent of VFD, Lemony is still a child, so there is a chance he feels some remorse for killing Armstrong Feint/Hangfire.

2. It is out of said remorse that Lemony decides to have nothing to do with the Beast again, burying the statue of the Beast deep in the forest... or so he thinks.

3. During ASOUE (just before TMM) a worker (e.g. Evander) chopping trees for Lucky Smells Lumbermill comes across the statue.

4. Not knowing what to do with it, and being under hypnotic influence, the worker promptly hands it to the foreman, who gives it to Sir.

5. It is extremely likely that Sir (The Miserable Mill) and Wiley Smogface (FU:13SI, ATWQ) are in fact the same person; however, there is no reference of any connection whatsoever between Sir/Smogface and The Bombinating Beast's statue. This implies that he knows nothing about the Beast, which makes little sense given that he is from Stain'd-by-the-Sea.

This logical gap can be filled: if Sir/Smogface had a "very terrible childhood" as Charles has clearly stated during TMM, this could refer to his parents bouncing around from town to town as they seek different jobs with more and more money. Hence, Wiley is left by himself in his parents' latest job-stop - Stain'd-by-the-Sea - unaware of the legend of The Bombinating Beast.

6. Sir has no idea of the power he holds... but apparently, neither does Georgina! There's also no reference to Georgina knowing anything about the statue - she's just a VFD optometrist with a bad reputation who lives in Paltryville, even during the events of ATWQ.

This implies that the statue... well... just stood there, as an ornament, in Sir's office.

7. Someone took the statue from Sir's office at Lucky Smells Lumbermill. But who? Well, whoever it was must have known two things:

a) The importance of the statue

b) It's location

There are only 3 people who seem to fit the bill perfectly - Lemony, Ellington and Moxie.

We know that each of them have their reasons:

Lemony: To use its power to somehow help the Baudelaires.

Ellington: To end it all after falling into a depression from the loss of her father OR to claim revenge on Lemony after having gone through the grief mentioned above.

Moxie: For a great story and the Mallahan legacy; after all, Lady Mallahan allegedly slew the Original Bombinating Beast.

@snicketsleuth's post, 'What is The Great Unknown?' (Full post here: The Snicket Sleuth — What is “The Great Unknown”? (tumblr.com)), says the following:

"Following the events of “All The Wrong Questions”, Ellington eventually escaped from the prison cell with Kit Snicket thanks to the skeleton key in Ellington’s bag. Kit and Ellington, before going their own ways, exchanged a good deal of information. Kit Snicket could not help noticing Ellington acted extremely angry towards Lemony and VFD in general.

In the following years, Ellington worked tirelessly to recover her father’s remaining assets as well as uncovering the secrets of Inhumane Society. Though the book Caviar: Salty Jewel of the Tasty Sea was destroyed, she had had the opportunity to read some chapters Lemony hadn’t. No one knew about the CBB more than her. With some effort, she managed to find the animal hiding in the Clusterous Forest, as well as the Bombinating Beast statue that Lemony had buried there. With the statue, she was now in control of the CBB. Eventually she managed to track down an octopus-shaped submarine which used to belong to Hangfire, only to lose it to Count Olaf.

As Olaf escaped with the submarine (now rebaptized the Carmelita), Ellington pursued him. She used the statue to control the CBB, ordering it to seize the Carmelita. The CBB first encountered the Queequeg in close vicinity to the Queequeg. Unsure whether these two crafts were allied with each other, Ellington ordered the CBB to stand down. Captain Widdershins mistook the question-mark shape on their radar for an enemy submarine.  Later, Ellington witnessed the Queequeg being attacked by the Carmelita, and decided to approach the CBB to scare Count Olaf and help the crew of the Queequeg. Count Olaf also assumed the mysterious entity was an enemy submarine."

I agree with Ellington being the one who takes the statue...

...but I don't think she found it in the Clusterous Forest. Sorry, @snicketsleuth.

8. If Georgina's reputation was really as bad as Moxie made it out to be, there is a chance that Ellington would have visited the Lumbermill in disbelief - I think it is here that she stumbles upon the statue.

9. This happens:

"With the statue, she was now in control of the CBB. Eventually she managed to track down an octopus-shaped submarine which used to belong to Hangfire, only to lose it to Count Olaf.

As Olaf escaped with the submarine (now rebaptized the Carmelita), Ellington pursued him. She used the statue to control the CBB, ordering it to seize the Carmelita. The CBB first encountered the Queequeg in close vicinity to the Queequeg. Unsure whether these two crafts were allied with each other, Ellington ordered the CBB to stand down. Captain Widdershins mistook the question-mark shape on their radar for an enemy submarine.  Later, Ellington witnessed the Queequeg being attacked by the Carmelita, and decided to approach the CBB to scare Count Olaf and help the crew of the Queequeg. Count Olaf also assumed the mysterious entity was an enemy submarine.

The Queequeg eventually escaped from the clutches of the Carmelita. While making their way to the Hotel Denouement, Olaf, Esme and Carmelita Spats realized the Baudelaire orphans’ absence and were betrayed by Fernald and Fiona who let the imprisoned youngsters start a mutiny. Ellington followed the entire mutiny from afar. The youngsters were released. Esme, Olaf and Carmelita fled. The octopus-shaped submarine was eventually given back to Ellington Feint who promised to help Fernald and Fiona if they were ever in trouble."

10. Ellington had no further use for the CBB (as she already gained her father's submarine, which was the intention) so she [presumably, most likely] discarded the statue in the sea, before it washed up on the island, as @ven10 describes.

Part 2 (Post-ASOUE) coming soon,

~ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph, Unfortunate Theorist/Snicketologist

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

Were any French Revolution figures involved in duels and what was the general attitude towards dueling by the revolutionaries? (I know plenty of French historical figures who participated in duels before and after the French Revolution but it seemed less popular during the republic?)

According to the article Duelling in eighteenth-century France: Archaeology, Rationale, Implications(1980) by George Armstrong Kelly,  ”the great majority of ”patriots” abominated this feudal survival, but they found it less than simple to legislate manners.” On February 3 1791, the deputy Chevalier introduced a new law against duels, which carried, despite opposition from the right. One year later, September 17 1792, the Legisaltive Assembly did however pass an act of indulgence agaisnt all cases of duelling that had transpired since July 1789, giving as its reason that ”political and patriotic considerations might have legitimately provoked such combats.” But two years after that, July 17 1794, the National Convention, after determining that no existint legislation had dealt with duelling, instead decreed that a committee ”examine and propose means of preventing duels and the penalties to assign those guilty of duelling of provoking it.” According to Armstrong Kelly, under the ”Jacobin regime,” renewed attemps were also made to eradicate duelling in the armies.

When it comes to individual revolutionaries attitudes towards dueling, Armstrong Kelly notes two known duels between actual deputies of the National Assembly:

In the first case, it was Cazalès, the spokesman for the ultramonarchists, who delivered the injure to Barnave, then the spellbinding young speaker of the Left, having called him a "tramp" and a "brigand." The duel was fought, à l'anglaise, with pistols in the Bois de Boulogne on the morning of 11 August 1790. Despite the courteous disposition of the two men toward each other personally, they fought lethally. Eventually Barnave managed to wound Cazalès on the forehead. Surprisingly, the duel cemented a friendship across political barriers, and the two antagonists were mutually hailed with applause when they greeted each other next in the Assembly. Barnave's victory won him much popularity, especially in his native Grenoble. In the second case, the well-known friend of Barnave and future Feuillant Charles de Lameth, though avoiding the consequences of one injure by a young officer named Chauvigny de Plot, could not ignore the ensuing insults of a deputy of the Right, the due de Castries, son of the marshal. Their combat took place with swords on the Champ de Mars on the afternoon of 12 November 1790; Lameth was painfully wounded on the left hand. Though a literary descendant of the due describes the encounter as "a simple explanation between gentlemen,” more serious political implications were attached to the act, for Lameth, though a noble, was at the time a popular spokesman for the Left. Word was passed that Castries's sword had been poisoned, and on the following afternoon a large, angry mob sacked the Hôtel de Castries on the rue de Varenne. The following evening Castries left Paris for exile. Important political repercussions attended this episode, gravely damaging Mirabeau’s rapprochement with the Court.

He furthermore notes that both Brissot and Louis Sébastien Mercier wrote  about duels in the 1780s, both celebrating the fact that the amount of the them had been waning during the reign of Louis XVI and contributing this to ”philosophy” or ”the spirit of the century.” Nicolas Guénot, future agent of the Committee of General Security, "was in and out of prison throughout his [military] service [1775-1783]; and in one of the brawls in which he was involved and in which sabres were drawn, he was severely wounded in the left arm, the use of which he never fully recovered." Finally, in July 1790, Barère inserted some remarks about dueling in the journal Le Moniteur, complaining that ”the egislators are witnessing how a feudal practice is surviving the destruction of feudalism,” and calling the duelist ”a wild animal who should be handed over to the discretion of the constituted authorities of protection” and ought to even be declared an outlaw. Armstrong Kelly uses Barère’s demand as ”unquestionable evidence” that during the revolution, ”the French were continuing to draw their swords against one another”

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

💖 Sapphic Books Coming Out August 2024

🩷 There's something especially sweet about a sapphic romance. Here are only a few of the amazing sapphic books hitting shelves in July 2024.

💖 Which ones are you adding to your TBR?

Contemporary 💖 Can’t Buy Me Love - Georgia Beers 💖 The Heart Wants - Krystina Rivers 💖 Hers for the Weekend - Helena Greer 💖 You Can’t Go Home Again - Jeanette Bears 💖 Worth the Wait - Kenna White 💖 One Summer in Miami - Amber Rose Gill 💖 The Last Woman I Kissed - Venetia Di Pierro 💖 Changing Her Tune - Amanda Kabak 💖 Chance Encounter - Renee Roman 💖 The Italy Letters - Vi Khi Nao 💖 Our Slice of Paradise - Tiana Warner 💖 Dancing With Dahlia - Julia Underwood 💖 Untethered - Shelley Thrasher 💖 Comes in Waves - Ana Hartnett 💖 Libertad - Bessie Flores Zaldívar 💖 The Avian Hourglass - Lindsey Drager 💖 Mamele - Gemma Reeves 💖 Mighty Millie Novak - Elizabeth Holden 💖 A Bánh Mì for Two - Trinity Nguyen 💖 Don’t Let It Break Your Heart - Maggie Horne 💖 Chance Encounter - Renee Roman 💖 Southern Lights - Liz Arncliffe

Paranormal/Horror 💖 The Curse - Alexandra Riley 💖 The House Where Death Lives - ed Alex Brown 💖 Full Shift - Jennifer Dugan & Kit Seaton 💖 The Dark We Know - Wen-yi Lee 💖 This Ravenous Fate - Hayley Dennings 💖 Come Out, Come Out - Natalie C. Parker

Fantasy 💖 The Crimson Crown - Heather Walter 💖 The Phoenix Keeper - S.A. MacLean 💖 Oath of Fire - K. Arsenault Rivera 💖 The Palace of Eros - Caro De Robertis 💖 Gentlest of Wild Things - Sarah Underwood 💖 Queen of Dreams - Kit Rocha 💖 The Sunforge - Sascha Stronach 💖 The Ending Fire - Saara El-Arifi 💖 Skyscraper - Gun Brooke 💖 Fyrebirds - Kate J. Armstrong 💖 The New Camelot - Robyn Schneider 💖 The Storm and the Sea Hawk - Kiran Millwood Hargrave 💖 Practical Rules for Cursed Witches - Kayla Cottingham 💖 Netherford Hall - Natania Barron 💖 The Duchess of Kokora - Nikhil Prabala 💖 Rise and Divine - Lana Harper

Historical 💖 Not for the Faint of Heart - Lex Croucher 💖 Accidental Darlings - Crystal Jeans

Mystery/Thriller 💖 Better Left Buried - Mary E. Roach 💖 A Midnight So Deadly - Wren Handman 💖 Death At Morning House - Maureen Johnson 💖 A Gravely Troubling Discovery - Hannah Hendy 💖 Verity’s Game - Jennifer Giacalone

Sci-Fi 💖 Time’s Agent - Brenda Peynado 💖 New Adventures in Space Opera - ed Jonathan Strahan

[eddiespornstache]

Just watched Fly Me to the Moon so here’s a 9-1-1 AU

Scary government agent Athena Grant blackmails advertising whiz and former conman Buck Buckley into filming a fake moon landing without the knowledge of NASA launch director Tommy Kinard, a pilot who got booted from the astronaut program but wants to put man on the moon more than anyone, and whom Buck quickly starts falling in love with as they mutually break each other’s walls down

Also starring Ravi Panikkar as Buck’s eager beaver assistant, Hen and Chimney as Those Two NASA Engineers, Lucy Donato as a Neil Armstrong expy, Eddie Diaz as Tommy’s longtime coworker and second in command, Taylor Kelly as an eccentric commercial director, and Bobby Nash as a better and more beloved president than Nixon. And Maddie Buckley as Buck’s sister because there isn’t really a role in the movie that fits her (but she can steal the beta couple part from Ravi’s assistant and still be Chimney’s love interest)

[brokehorrorfan]

The Guyver will be released on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on May 21 via Unearthed Films. Also known as Mutronics, the 1991 sci-fi superhero film is based on the Japanese manga series of the same name by Yoshiki Takaya.

Special effects legends Steve Wang (Predator) and Screaming Mad George (Society) co-direct from a script by Jon Purdy. Mark Hamill, Vivian Wu, Jack Armstrong, Jimmie Walker, Michael Berryman, David Gale, and Jeffrey Combs star. Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator, Society) produces.

The Guyver has been newly restored in 4K from the original, R-rated 35mm camera negative with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 options. The 4K edition includes a soundtrack CD and a booklet. Special features are listed below.

Disc 1 - 4K UHD:

Audio commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, moderated by Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films author Dom O’Brien (new)

Disc 2 - Blu-ray:

Audio commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, moderated by Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films author Dom O’Brien (new)

Interview with producer Brian Yuzna (new)

Interview with co-director Screaming Mad George (new)

Suit tests with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang (new)

Outtakes with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang (new)

Gag geel with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang (new)

Production & artwork gallery (new)

Alternate title sequence

Trailers

Disc 3 - CD:

Original soundtrack composed by Matthew Morse (Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker)

When a researcher at the Chronos Corporation is mysteriously killed, his daughter (Vivian Wu), her boyfriend, Sean (Jack Armstrong), and a rogue CIA agent named Max Reed (Mark Hamill) all suspect foul play. Sean discovers a top-secret suit of Chronos armor called "the Guyver," which fuses to his body when he tries it on, turning him into a supremely powerful cyborg. Chronos' evil CEO, Fulton Balcus (David Gale), is enraged and sends a crew of mutant alien monsters to get the Guyver back.

Pre-order The Guyver.

[suzie-shooter]

Haven't done one of these for ages, but have a Screaming Meals commentary stream recap for the Formula E race on 13.01.24 with James and Clem.

J: Give them a taste of Kiwi!

[has a go at Clem for concentrating on the stream subs rather than the race] J: God knows what else I've missed in the time I've even just explained this point.

J: Oh God, someone's phoning me now, oh God I'm going to have to take this - improvise.

C: Da Costa's out. J: Oh well that's okay, he's not a client.

[on New Year] C: I'd be lying if I said I remembered much of it. J: Yeah I thought that might be the case.

C: Do you know what the biggest issue is right now? J: The…war, in… C: No, no, my tyre, on my car.

J: You really have to be careful when you're navigating crevices - Marcus has found that out the hard way.

J: If I was driving a Formula E car I'd be yawning too.

[on Clem's drive for next year] J: If you don't know then you're not looking hard enough are you.

C: I am doing ELMS and I'll be at the Daytona 24 in 2 weeks' time and so will my ever loyal acolyte James Blair.

J: What do you say to allegations that Moses came down with the tablets from the good Lord on the mountain faster than we have got the bank account paperwork back from Armstrong? I don't think Moses was up there for eighteen months.

J: God I really cock a shoulder when I do that.

[on Rick Armstrong] J: "If you aim high you can't shoot yourself in the foot" - he was talking about his girlfriend at the time.

C: Something we haven't told chat - I'm starting work in insurance, eh? J: Yeah that's true. Full on insurance agent. You heard it here first. […] All the heavy lifting's still going to be done by me, Clem's very much going to have a relationship management role. C: Which is great for me because that's pretty much all I'm good at. Chatting shit.

J: Qatar is sponsoring us? The government of Qatar. Our lives have changed Clem, we've got oil money! C: Yeah I wouldn't want to take their cash actually.

C: I always thought I'd be a great TV presenter. J: Technically that's what we're doing now. It's not far off. C: It's not exactly channel 4 but - J: No, it's better. Because we can say fuck.

J: Interesting storyline developing here, Cassidy's hanging out the back of Buemi. C: Don't know if you want to mention that on stream there. J: Well he's hanging right out the back of him, I mean look. C: Quite a graphic tale you're sort of describing.

J: He's getting his nose really tucked in to the rear end of Evans there […] this is the hottest thing happening on track right now, is Vergne hanging out the back of Evans, with Hughes looking to get involved […] trying to get up Mitch Evans. Who isn't trying to get up Mitch Evans, be realistic.

J: Maybe he wants Vergne to be hanging out the back of him. And then he'll just really open it up at the end.

J: It's a real sloppy rear end. C: Real sloppy. how's Jehan doing? J: Yeah he must be sort of running a sloppy rear end.

C: "Is James going to any ELMS races?" James is going to all of them. J: Pretty much all of them yeah. C: Who do you think's going to fucking be the entertainment factor behind the scenes? J: Yeah you know like endurance races are like long, you can't drive the whole thing. You're going to need some dicking around. We'll just be hanging out the back of the garage.

C: "What are your goals for this year?" - James. J: I really want to nail the guitar actually, hang on I was gonna share this earlier. [fetches guitar] C: Play Wonderwall.

C: Chasing Cars? J: Yes! C: I read the chat. J: Oh fuck off.

J: I think this is the G string.

J: I haven't done a lot of fingering in my time with my left hand […] I've got a lot of experience of strumming with my right hand.

J: Old Clemogio's a bit heavy in the eyelids. C: I've got to go and fucking - sort out my tyre.

[is-on-its-way]

In the name of the Father, the Skeptic and the Son

Episodes: One Son/ Two Fathers

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Epilogue

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

Chapter 5: And don't be alarmed if I fall, head over feet

WARNING: Gore

“Close your mouth Mulder” she whispered as she passed him eyeing him from below. She was breathtaking, literally. He was struggling to inhale. He forced himself to concentrate and took a steadying breath.

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

Vibe Check

Songs mentioned:

I ain’t got nobody Louis Armstrong  

La Mer

Always in My Heart - Glenn Miller

The Dress: (all black thats just the skirt shape)

The Vibe:

The Shoes:

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

She walked out of the bathroom and turned into the room. Agent Grey walked out behind her wrapping a cord around a blowdryer. Agent Grey was dressed nicely in a silky red dress, her curls pulled up in a twist, a few tendrils falling out in a haphazard if not aesthetically pleasing way. All the agents in the room were dressed well, just in case they had said, they wanted to blend in if they were needed. 

Mulder took little notice of anyone else though, as his eyes snapped onto her as soon as she appeared. Her hair was wild, big loose curls bounced around her face as she walked. Her body was hugged tightly in the black dress she’d picked out three days ago. The look on her face said she was slightly uncomfortable with her new look. Mulder was slightly uncomfortable with how much he was not uncomfortable with her new look.

It was long sleeved with a structured bodice and would’ve been conservative if not for the neckline. A v-shaped slit in the center cut down below her breasts. They were hugged by the fabrics edge. With every breath she took, they strained against the fabric. The long sleeves only brushed the edges of her shoulders, leaving her collar bones completely exposed in a way that was astoundingly, recklessly, alluring. 

He wondered how he had ever taken collar bones for granted. 

The skirt was loosely draped over around her hips. It fell to her calves, hugging her legs making a perfect hourglass silhouette. She had sheer black tights that made her legs glow and simple black pumps that flashed gold at the heels.  

Her hips and thighs were curvy, accentuated by just how tiny her waist really was. Things not normally seen in her g-woman suits. The way she walked was different. Or maybe her suits hid what he’d never fully appreciated. Her hips swayed imperceptibly on each step, shoulders followed hips in rhythm. He met her eyes as she carried her bags past him to a corner of the room.

“Close your mouth Mulder” she whispered as she passed him, eyeing him from below. Her lids had dark shadow that made the pale blue and yellow of her eyes radiate turquoise as if they were illuminated from within. Deep red lipstick, accentuated the plump pout her lips naturally rested in. Agent Grey had accentuated her Marilyn Monroe beauty mark, rather than letting her cover it up like she usually did. 

He forced himself to look away from her. Closed his mouth, thoughts racing and swallowed.

She was a light among the dreary men, and dreary equipment, and dreary mission in this dreary room. She was breathtaking, literally, he was struggling to take in air. He tried to get a grip, and concentrate on what agent Ramirez was saying as he took a steadying breath. He needed to pay attention to the briefing that was being given.

“…act like you’re there to enjoy yourself. Dance, watch people gamble at the tables. Anything goes. If you need us to come in with the cavalry, the signal is the word ‘petition’.

If you spot Cusano the word is ‘spotted’ and the location you’re at. Stay back until you see everyone in place if you can. If not just try to track him to a more private place until we get there.”

Agent Grey added “Agents Vince and Thomas will be in the ballroom with you guys as an extra set of eyes, but they’ve been hired as security by the Rossi family. Thats good because they have in ears and will be a point of contact if we need to relay anything to you. You two have the best chance of finding him as a regular couple so try not to be so lookey and make sure those mics stay hidden…”

Mulder nodded only half listening. She was pulling her skirt up her thigh and placing her leg on a chair. She took a gun and holster agent Grey had handed her, strapping it around her thigh. Pullling the elastic tight against her skin so it dug into her soft leg. He swallowed again as his stomach summersaulted. He knew this wasn’t for him, wasn’t meant to be so intoxicating. There had been more intimate moments shared between them in the past but something about this was different. Probably his disinterest and boredom with it translated into seeing her as she was without distraction.

She straightened and shimmied her dress down, the gathered fabric hiding the small bulge on her thigh. She checked her reflection in the mirror assessing whether the gun was well hidden.

What was he doing, he couldn’t afford to be this dopey in a ballroom full of dangerous people.

“Are we sure its okay to go in carrying?” Mulder said glancing at agents Ramirez, then Grey.

Agent Grey glanced over at him “Everyone in there is strapped, you guys will need it, just in case.” He nodded and took the single-gun shoulder strap from the bed. He caught Scully eyes on him as he threw it over his shoulders. She looked away to the Agents when he caught her eye.

“…We’re going to go down to the control room. When we’re connected we’ll call for you on the walkies.” Agent Grey was saying. 

“You’ll go down and scan the room for Lombardi, keep an eye on her. I don’t want any conversation about this out loud. Use your eyes do whatever you need to to not be obvious that you’re on the lookout for someone, capiche?”

“Capiche.” Mulder said as Scully nodded, fiddling with the microphone at her breast.

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

Everyone trickled out of the room to set up their positions leaving them alone for the first time since she had left him in the parking lot. 

She fiddled with her microphone looking down avoiding the gaze she felt from him.

She felt like she wanted to crawl out of this dress and her skin and run as far as possible away from him. But she couldn’t. She had to work, had to protect this last would be victim from a murderous serial killer. How long had she been begging for a normal case, now that she had it she couldn’t back out. She couldn’t leave him alone, partnerless, in danger. 

No matter how much she felt he had betrayed their partnership, or privately her trust in him. Kissing the woman who was so obviously connected to women murdered by the same thing she had gone through. It felt like a gut punch and she was angry at herself at letting it. 

He didn’t owe her who he kissed. They weren’t a couple. But they weren’t really just friends either. It was something unexplainable, the closeness and ownership she felt over him. He was so naive sometimes, and she suspected that had everything to do with how his mother had treated him after Samantha had gone missing. She saw that scared lost lonely little boy in his eyes sometimes begging for approval. She hated the way the world took advantage of him becasue of it. 

But this time. He was shutting her out, of all the people in the world to not automatically give the benefit of the doubt to, it felt so painful, to not be included. 

Just as a wave of despair threatened to ruin her makeup, he spoke.

“How bout them Yankees.”

She looked up at him to see that face that begged her to give him the acknowledgement he’d never gotten from the only people who should have. So she betrayed herself, and felt her insides writhe against everything in her nature as she offered him a small smile. Might as well start the act now, no use in throwing him off his game now. She sighed and tried to get a grip.

She was saved from having to say anything by the crackling of Agent Ramirez on the walkie talkies. 

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

They left the hotel room and walked shoulder to shoulder to the elevator at the end of a very gaudy, maroon carpeted hallway. In front of the brass doors of the elevator, Mulder turned to look at her.

“You uh, you look really nice.”

She regarded him with furrowed brow.

“I look like a five family wife” she said with derision.

Mulder smirked.

“I could never wear this in real life.” She pulled down on the skirt looking uncomfortable.

She looked up at him and caught the wistful expression he’d been staring at her with. He didn’t bother trying to wipe the well practiced look off his face.

“You… clean up nice yourself” she said fixing the pocket square tucked into his suit jacket. He tingled at her light touch.

 He had a million things he wanted to tell her. Diana and his need to defend her suddenly seemed like such a trivial thought. 

“We need to press the elevator button” She breathed, staring determinedly at his pocket.

“Right” he reached for the button not looking away from her magnificent face. 

“Dana…” he started.

“Its Maria remember Johnny?” She looked up at him brow furrowed. She pointed to her dress where he knew the mic was. Grey and Ramirez were on the other end of these. Listening to everything they said.

“Right… Maria.”

The elevator dinged and opened to an empty car. 

They walked on and Scully leaned against the back of the car, hands resting behind her back on the railing. Mulder pressed the top level and leaned next to her. She looked up at him and he met her eyes. 

“I know you’re angry with me…” He didn’t care who heard at this moment.

“Lets forget that now” Scully said half desperate. “We need to appear happily in love.” She looked up at him and he nodded reluctantly.

The elevator chimed and Scully took his hand in hers. She pulled his arm over her shoulder and entwined her fingers in his. As the doors opened, she pushed her body into his and they walked off, a couple. 

They made their way through the red carpeted landing and Mulder produced a black invitation from his breast pocket. The security looked it over and nodded to them to let them enter.

They walked into the ballroom and scanned the room. It was as if they’d walked into a gilded age casino. Gambling tables were set up around a ballroom floor in a U shape. A stage with a podium sat at the front of the glossy wood floor. Couples danced to a brass band located in the farthest corner against the windows. They played a melody that sounded like the Glenn Miller big band records his grandparents and father used to enjoy.

The walls were lined with arched windows that reached ten feet up the fifteen foot ceilings. The ceilings were deep mahogany with hand painted floral designs on the thick wood beams. Giant crystal chandeliers hung between every beam. 

“Wow” Scully whispered more to herself than anyone.

“I’ve seen better.” Mulder muttered scanning the room. 

“Sorry not everyone attended cotillions throughout their youth.” She said sarcastically.

He glanced at her, it was one of those things that alerted him he was being pretentiously obvious he was from a different background than she was. 

“Hey, I never said I enjoyed it. Being forced to escort girls to dances wasn’t exactly my adolescent fantasy.”

“How many girls Johnny?” She smiled, tilting her head.

“A respectable amount for government work.” He smirked and whipped around in front of her stopping her in her tracks. “Dance with me Maria?” he held out his hand and made a slight bow.

She shook her head and raised an eyebrow in affectionate exasperation, but took his hand. 

Mulder kept her hand aloft as they walked to the dance floor. They glanced around as they went. Everyone was well dressed in gowns and jewellery, bespoke suits and and fat gold pinky rings. They didn’t find a sign of Lucia or the ghost of Cusano. 

Mulder walked with her onto the corner of the floor and turned into her. The band was just finishing the slow melody of Rhapsody in blue, with staccato warbles from trombones and trumpets. He looked from the band down to her and saw her watching the crowd of couples, all dancing around with better skill than your typical high school reunion. 

She had that look she made when she was not completely in control of the situation she found herself in and unsure how to finesse her way out of it. She was so good at fighting when the going got tough, dancing like this, seemed to be out of her wheelhouse. Or perhaps this was too close for comfort when she seemed to be doing everything to avoid him. 

“Hey, we don’t have to do the fox trot here, lets just dance okay?”

She grimaced but then said with attempted levity “The fox trot?” fighting a smile.

“You sound like everyone in the dance classes my mother made me take.” Mulder said dryly. 

He was waiting for her, but she said “Shouldn’t you take the lead here?”.

At this permission, he took her left hand in his right, and wrapped his other arm around her, resting it between her shoulder blades. He pulled her close to him and she inhaled softly straining the tops of her dress. 

“Arm on top of mine” He muttered to her softly.

She put her hand up near his shoulder, copying the ladies on the dance floor. Her arm rested perfectly tucked into his. 

The band started paying ‘I ain’t got nobody’ with a trumpet soulfully taking the spotlight.

“Its like we stepped back into 1946” she wondered looking around, as they swayed back and forth. 

“Maybe except your outfit is much more modern thankfully.”

“Thankfully?” She said raising an eyebrow at him.

He chose not to answer this and guided her in a small circle where they stood. She followed his feet with hers easily.

“You shouldn’t have been so worried.” He smiled down at her.

“Well if a faster song comes on don’t expect me to break into the Lindy hop.”

He openly laughed at this, “No, we can go to the bar and walk around.” He said looking over her head. They were both scanning the room as they talked.

A blonde woman sitting on a stool on the side of the band, turned to the mic and started signing in a deeper more sultry voice than he expected.

Yes, I ain't got nobody, baby And there's nobody cares for me

“We should move more, try to get around the whole room.” Mulder bent his head to hers and said quietly. 

She looked up at him blinking at his breath on her face and nodded. 

Mm, I'm so sad and lonely, baby, yeah Won't somebody take a chance with me?

He guided her slowly across the back of the dance floor to the other side of the room. They both were so preoccupied with searching the ballroom they naturally fell into step with each other. Mulder made note of how she liked to step between his feet moving forward and adjusted expertly for her so she wouldn’t catch his foot.

The song ended and everyone politely clapped giving them a chance to look around at the crowd. The piano started to lead a slow tune and they came back together. Scully seemed to recognize it as he felt her shoulders tighten on her back. She looked toward the band her face stricken. Mulder searched her face and watched as she worked to push all the things she was feeling away. 

He leaned into her ear and whispered so the mics wouldn’t hear him.

“You okay?”

She nodded, but spoke as she saw the concern on his face. “This was my parents song.” Her throat dry.

The sultry blonde started singing in French 

La mer Qu'on voit danser And Scully’s shoulders relaxed. 

“Small favors.” He muttered to her and she smiled. Thank god this woman spoke French.

Mulder turned them toward the band into the sea of dancing couples to look among them.

Et d'une chanson d'amour  La mer  A bercé mon cœur pour la vie

They danced around the front of the floor and into the middle of the crowd, but saw no one they were looking for.

“What if they’re not here?” Scully asked searching the crowd casually.

“We’ve only been here for 15 minutes.” 

Scully looked surprised at this “Oh.”

“Time crawls when you want to be any place but where you are.” He said sarcastically.

“Thats not why Johnny.” she said, her cheeks flushed pink and she looked away from him as the song ended.

Clarinets announced the next song and Mulder knew it immediately. ‘A Million Dreams Ago’, an old big band song from a record his grandma and grandpa used to dance to in their living room. 

Their mother would put them on the Amtrak down to the upper east side of New York City and leave them with their grandparents whenever they had weeks off of school. After Samantha had gone she would let him stay for most of the summers. Every day before or after dinner their grandparents would dance like a couple who’d only just started dating. He could clearly envision the old stereogram cabinet record player with its wood top open, bigger than the coffee table. He and his sister would sometimes dance with them, he with grandma, Sam with grandpa. Other times, especially as they got older, they would do other things. He read on the couch, she colored or painted with watercolors. Both childishly exasperated by the daily ritual.

“You are always in my heart Even though you're far away…”

All the couples were embracing each other and swaying slowly. It was simple to follow suit, but it felt like he might’ve asked to hug an armed grenade. He looked down at her asking for permission with a glance and she returned a look that said ‘if we must’. He leaned into her and held her closer, she didn’t resist and rested her head on his chest turning away from his face, fitting perfectly underneath his chin. His heart fluttered. They were barely paying attention to the mission now, at least he wasn’t. He smiled to himself knowing she was probably still searching the crowd.

“…I can hear the music of the song of love I sang with you…"

His grandparents were one of those couples who had magically remained thoroughly in love throughout their marriage. He’d always used them as litmus test for his own relationships and had been disappointed to find he’d had even worse luck than his parents, in trying to measure up. 

At Oxford Phoebe was an expert at making him feel like he’d found the love of his life in her, but would inevitably, without fail, make sure he knew she didn’t quite requite those feelings in some way, usually involving making out with someone else. 

“…I don't know exactly when, dear But I'm sure we'll meet again…”

With Diana he might have had what they had, but he was so preoccupied at the time with his newly discovered mission and the sparked hope that he might be able to finally find Samantha he’d been completely inattentive and had practically pushed her out of his life. He’d still felt terribly when she intoned she was leaving because he had chosen work over her. He resigned to never finding what his grandparents had had when Diana left. 

Until Scully. Every day when she arrived he felt butterflies that only got more numerous as time went by, something he’d never felt before with any woman. It was a dilemma because he never wanted her to end up feeling like Diana had felt. Gambling with his ability to provide what he had proven he couldn’t, with someone as important as Scully felt like walking into a fire.

“…And my darling, 'til we do You are always in my heart…”

He’d tried to push Scully away for her own safety. For his own sanity. Give her that out Diana had taken for herself all those years ago, but Scully was as devoted to the work as he was. And he felt as devoted to her as he was to their work, more so, now that he considered it. Much more. It was so easy to acknowledge because it was just how it was, how he had always felt about her. He’d never met anyone quite like her… 

“How do you know this song?” She whispered looking up at his face, bent close enough to her lips he could feel her words on his cheek.

“What?”

“You’ve been singing along.”

“Oh… I used to listen to this big band stuff with my grandparents. Sorry Sc…Maria”

“No, you… have a nice voice.” She said looking at him with a mix of emotions.

She took a step back from him and her hand slipped from his. “Can we get a drink, Im tired of dancing.” She said not looking up at him, still scanning the room, or pretending to. He couldn’t be sure.

“Good idea.” He said, they were getting very little accomplished dancing like this.  

He put a hand on the small of her back and led them off the dance floor, as the band started a upbeat lively song Scully would’ve balked at anyway.

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

Scully leaned a shoulder against the cool glass of the window as she sipped the water with lemon the bartender had been annoyed to serve her. 

She’d wandered over to the window to look out at the view over the rooftops. Buildings twinkled in the night. Mulder had followed keeping an eye on the room while she took her break. 

She sighed as she turned around.  “I can’t see the white house from this side.” She said wistfully.

“Hey” Mulder said, hitting Scully in the hip with the back of his hand.

She looked up at him then followed his gaze through the sea of gambling tables.

The crowd parted enough to make out a dark haired woman in a red dress at a table, surrounded by men laughing at something she had said, and then a cheering erupted around her. 

“Shall we?” Scully said quietly.

They made their way through the seas of gamblers and tables to a gilded cocktail table with a marble top, next to, they could see now, a craps table. 

Scully sipped her drink elbows leaning on top of the small table. Looking out at the crowd behind Lucia.

The men surrounding her cheered again as she threw a pair of dice and the stickman called out.

Mulder strained to see past the crowd. He made eye contact with a big guard standing on the opposite side of the table. They were bringing too much attention to themselves being this conspicuous. 

“Lets sit at the table, I cant get a good look at everyone from here.”

“But we’ll have to gamble.” Scully said looking at him worried.

“Anything goes remember Maria? He took her hand and led her around the crowd. Tables around them alternated in exploded in cheers and jeers as they went.

“Mulder” She hissed in her classic exasperated tone that made him feel like they were back in the rhythm of their partnership. 

“Call me by my name Maria, we’re going steady now.” He smiled back at her with his best attempt at a boyish grin he knew she couldn’t resist. He reached his arm back for her to grab so she wasnt left behind in the squeeze. 

She pursed her lips “Johnny…” taking his arm in her hand, he gripped hers with his.

They reached the table and squeezed into an empty space by one of the dealers. The crowd cheered as the dice landed and the stickman next to them shouted 

“Seven! Front line winner!” Shouted the stickman from the middle, as he pushed the dice back to Lucia.

There were cheers as the men around her were paid their chips.

Scully stood staring, face set at this rash decision. He grinned at this, and looped his arms around her, resting his hands on the table, watching the men place their bets with interest. She placed her hands on the table in front of her demurely.

“Come on Scully this is the most exciting game at the casino.” He said whispering into her ear, lips brushing her hair. 

The boxman caught his eye “Hold on for the next game.”

Lucia had the dice in her hands now and was asking the men around her to kiss her fingers enclosing them. She was thoroughly enjoying the attention. She had a determined glisten in her eyes as she tossed the dice towards them. 

“Come on shooter” someone called from the crowd.

He pressed into her as he leaned over her shoulder to read the dice and her body stiffened against his. Then he felt her relax into him. He swallowed, forcing himself to pay attention.

The stickman called out “Eighter from Decatur!”

Some groaned but most cheered as the dealers paid out on the winning bets.

The dealer turned to him “$50 buy in.”

Mulder threw a hundred dollar bill on the table and Scully turned to him looking at him as if he lost his mind as the dealer gave him his chips. 

He shrugged and said “I still have the money its just in chips.”

She raised her eyebrows “Not if you loose the chips” she muttered

He found her ear with his mouth and muttered “We’ll see.” As he picked up his chips.

He placed some on the pass line, and Lucia rolled. Scully leaned forward to see the die as the stickman called out 

“Fiver fiver racetrack driver!”

He leaned over Scully to place a come bet on the five and she rested her elbows on the table leaning forward, giving him more space over her. The muscle in his jaw jumped.

Lucia made another show of blowing on the dice. 

He didn’t have to as the stickman called “Sixie from Dixie” but he leaned over Scully to see the dice.

This went on for a while, with groaning and cheers from all in the crowd. Lucia was having a good run of it. One seven rolled on the first roll of a new round would mean she would be out but it never came. 

The stickman was shouting out the numbers as the game went along

“Eighter from Decatur” 

“A square pair like mom and dad.” A four

“fiver fiver racetrack driver!” A five

Two by four, the lumber the number!’ A six

He made a come bet, The dealer doubled his bets on the five and took his bet from the eight. 

“a square pair, windows” an eight.

“Nein nein cried the Fraulein, that's German birth control” A nine and laughter from everyone at the table

The game ended with a shout of “seven out... One roll, no butter.” From the stickman.

The dealer handed out the winnings and Lucia started another game.

“See” he said into Scully’s hair “Not so bad.”

She said nothing in retort, genuinely invested in the game now.

They went on like this for two more rounds Mulder won back a modest amount, not betting recklessly and sticking to the numbers with the highest chances of being thrown. Then Lucia rolled a losing seven. 

The stickman shouted “Due, cinque. Arrivederci!!” A seven before the come bet, Lucias turn as shooter was over.

There was a general groan from the crowd of men and then they started clapping for her as she curtsied and bowed with playful grace. 

One man gave her a $100 chip and said “Thank you for a good game beautiful.”

Lucia took the praise in stride and seemed to be enjoying the male attention as she let one of the men kiss her cheek.

Scully stood and turned away from the table into him and scoffed “So much for staying widowed”

Mulder huffed a laugh out of his nose, smiling down at her indignant face.

“Who’s next shooter?” One of the dealers asked.

Lucia took the dice off the table and glanced up. Mulder saw her eyes flick to Scully. She walked around the table keeping them set on Scully. 

Mulder let his hands slide from around her and backed away behind her. As she turned to Lucia, she pushed her body against his. His heart skipped several beats.

Lucia stopped in front of Scully with her hand out holding the dice aloft. “I think the pretty lady should get the next shot.” 

Her eyes bore into Scully, looking through her darkened brow. Sultry, with a smirk on her face.

Mulder raised his eyebrows watching the two women. Then felt the trap and looked back up and around the room. All of the men around the table where watching the two women as if they’d just seen a mirage in the Sahara. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary, although he worried he’d have to fight off some of the men at this table.

She placed the dice in Scully’s out stretched hand and flipped around her hair whipping around as she sauntered away. Scully watched her leave and looked around at the men twisting the dice in her hand. 

She twisted around to him and looked up at him finding his eyes. She raised the dice to her lips and blew on them. He looked down at her gritting his teeth.

She pulled on his tie. He obeyed and leaned his face down to her. She moved her mouth to his ear, her chin touching his cheek. It took everything in him to grab her hand and take her away from here. She whispering “Im going to go after her” as she picked up his hand and put the dice in it, curing his fingers around them with her own. 

She turned and kissed him softly on the cheek running a hand on the opposite side down his jaw and onto his chest where it lingered only a moment.

“Okay” he said as she slipped away from him.

She followed Lucia through the hall to the bathroom next to the kitchens without a backward glance. He followed her with his eyes as she walked away from him. His cheek felt numb, remembering the place her lips had touched. Why were they even here?

“Hey are you going to throw or just stare after your woman?” One of the men at the table asked impatiently.

“Hey,” He said wistfully, shrugging. “When you’re in love you’re in love” He was watching as she entered the bathroom after Lucia, Ignoring the jeers and scornful laughter from the men around him.

He turned and threw the dice.

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

He’d gotten through a round, winning a number of the men money, and receiving slaps on the shoulder from those around him. All the while he kept an eye on the bathroom. After what felt like half an hour Lucia left the bathroom and headed for the kitchen. Scully didn’t follow. After a minute his worry overtook his orders to remain incognito. 

He shoved the dice into the mans hand to the left of him and said “Here have my turn”

As he started toward the bathroom, the dealer shouted something after him.

“Put a box on my chips” he shouted over his shoulder”

Scully still wasn’t coming out of the bathroom and his stomach was dropping the closer he got. Images of what Lucia might have done if shed found Scully spying in her flashed through his mind. Mafia women weren’t shrinking violets. Why had he let her go alone?

A sound of exasperation and relief escaped his throat as he rounded the corner of the slot machines and Scully slipped out of the bathroom. 

“Scully” he said exasperated under his breath, as she fell into step beside him. “She’s headed for the kitchen”

They looked though the circular windows of the double doors into the kitchen. And in one motion, they both reached for their guns and pushed through the swinging doors.

Lucia was straddling a man lying on the floor, back to them. She was stabbing him rhythmically arms rising above her head grasping a fork in her hands. Blood covered her hands and was running down her arms

The kitchen staff were screaming and running over each other to get out through the back doors. To Mulder, the chaos was muffled and things seems to be going in slow motion.

She was speaking with a gruff voice they hadn’t heard at the craps table. Shouting at the man on the ground in between each thrust of the utensil into the mans eye socket.

“You think” stab “you can” stab “fuck with” stab “Sonny” stab “fucking” stab “Cusano?!” stab

The man was screaming his hands bloodied, desperately clawing at her arms trying with all his might to force her off of him. But she seemed an immovable force.

Mulder was drawn out of his shock at the gruesome scene by Scully. She had circled partly around to face Lucia and yelled, eyes wide, “FBI hands up!” He watched Scully’s face full of confusion and was it fear? but gun trained on Lucia, never wavering.

He fumbled for the mic in his tie and yelled “We’re in the kitchen! Send everyone!”

At this Lucia looked up and turned her face to him, he gasped as he met her eyes and saw they were a bright glowing amber where the whites should be. 

Then in one fluid motion without looking, she thrust the arm closest to Scully out and grabbed her hands pulling her forward and then pushing her back so hard she flew into the wall five feet away. Scully yelped and fell, back against the wall. 

Mulder yelled “Scully!” and dived at Lucia. 

He grabbed her arms and made to pull her up to arrest her. But Lucia stood easily and wrenched her arms out of his grasp as if he weren’t even trying to hold them. She turned to him and her hands appeared around his neck before he knew what was happening. He grabbed at them but they were like iron, completely immovable. The next moment he was on the ground looking up at the florescent lights, wondering how he’d gotten there with a sharp pain in his hip and knee and his ears ringing.

He rolled over in time to see Lucia pick the man up bodily, pulling his arm over her shoulder, his head lolling. She walked with him dragging his feet along after her towards the back exit as if he were the weight of a small toddler. Mulder crawled to Scully feeling a knot on the back of his head forming. She was holding her chest and fighting for breath.

“You’re okay Scully. Just breathe, you’ll be okay.” He said meeting her panicked eyes. She nodded, already getting a breath in.

Agents Vince and Thomas burst through the doors and he shouted “It’s her! Its Lucia, she went out the back, she’s… she’s strong… PCP strong.” He pointed in the direction as he pulled Scully to her feet. No need to tell these men she was most likely possessed at the moment, he wanted them to take this threat seriously.

“I’m okay Mulder lets go.” She said breathlessly as she checked her gun, she’d impressively managed to keep a hold of it.

They all moved to the back of the kitchen and were met with a hallway leading to stairs. 

“Did she go up or down?” Agent Thomas asked.

“Wait everybody be quiet.” Mulder said

They listened to echoing footsteps and heard clanging and groans coming from above them. 

They all ran to the stairs leading to the roof. Mulder taking the stairs two at a time, effortlessly faster than everyone else with shorter legs or several extra pounds on him. 

He pushed through the door swinging in the wind at the roof and was met with Lucia dragging the man towards the edge. 

“Lucia! Don’t do this.” He ran to her but stayed out of her arms length.

She either couldn’t hear him or ignored him, as the rest of the team caught up to him. 

“Stay back!” He said to the men in warning. He didn’t need to though they saw what he and Scully were seeing. The woman had the strength of a far larger person. And her eyes were glowing in the evening darkness. 

“What the hell?” Agent Thomas muttered gun trained on her. 

“Lucia!” Mulder said again. “You have to fight this if you can hear me. We don’t want to have to shoot you.” 

She continued walking to the roofs edge. The man over her shoulder groaned. 

“Mr. Cusano!” 

Mulder and Lucia whipped around at the same time to look at Scully. Scully reflected the shock Mulder had for her, but hers seemed to be for herself or maybe for Lucia at actually listening to her. 

“Mr. Cusano, you don’t have to do this.” She continued “He’s… He’s already dead or will be in a minute. You can rest now. Come out of her. Exire… ab ea.” 

It was as if a spell had been broken. At her words Mulder whipped his head back around to catch the light go from Lucias eyes and her body crumple to the ground. The man fell on top of her.

Scully ran past him to the man and said “Mulder help me with him” as she grunted at the weight.

He bent down in a daze at what he’d just witnessed and helped her drag the man off of Lucia. 

Agents Thomas and Vince, along with backup of the tactical unit who’d appeared seemingly from nowhere jumped on top of her. They cuffed her arms and ankles and four men grabbed an extremity each, to carry her downstairs.

Mulder stood up watching Scully work. His hip seared and his head throbbed. 

Scully was bent over the man. “Sir, can you hear me?” She rasped.

He moaned as she placed a hand on his bleeding neck. She spoke into her mic at her chest 

“We need an ambulance ten seventy one. We’ve got a man down, bleeding out.”

She looked up to see the familiar faces of Grey and Ramirez and relief flooded hers. 

“Call for a bus!” She said commandingly.

Agent Grey nodded and walked away while speaking into her walkie.

Mulder was nursing the knot on his head, it was bleeding. A steady stream of blood trickled through Scully’s hands onto the floor by her knees.

“Sir, stay with me sir” His eyes were bloody messes, clear goopy liquid was leaking from one of them. She looked up, away from him finding mulder in the crowd of people. She shook her head imperceptibly. He understood. It was probably a small mercy this man would not survive his wounds. It was one thing to see this kind of damage in a corpse but when the person was breathing and in pain it was an entirely different experience. 

The man put a hand to his face.

“Don’t touch your face sir” Scully said gently pulling his hand down. “Help is on the way.”

“Se jodio esto” Ramirez said rubbing his chin, pulling down at his five o’clock shadow.

Agent Grey looked down at the groaning man with horror and turned around. 

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

They all watched as the man was loaded into the back of an ambulance. Scully had yielded her care to the paramedic in the back of the van as she hoped down from the stretcher. She had loaded onto the stretcher right on top of him preforming CPR, when he had lost consciousness in the freight elevator. One paramedic kept a hand on the mans throat all the other was pumping a re-sus bag into his mouth.  Mulder couldn’t help but be impressed at her dedication, he felt a swelling of pride in his chest as he watched her work the whole way down the elevator. 

She pushed the hair out of her face with the back of her hand and smeared blood on her forehead as she did. 

She looked up at Mulder as she approached him.

You spoke latin to her? 

Yes

“Where did you learn latin?”

Every good catholic girl reads the bible in latin didn’t you know?

He furrowed his brow, confused

She shrugged “I read the Vulgate when I was thirteen. I was interested in what people were saying in the 16th century.”

Mulder had never looked more confused and surprised. 

“I was advanced for my age. It wasn’t anything special I wanted to read it in the original Koine Greek but I had trouble finding a Koine to english dictionary” She shrugged.

Mulder nodded looking like he wasn’t understanding anything shed just said. Eyes narrowed like he was going to have more questions at a later date once he absorbed this information.

“Why would an obscure latin bible phrase have any effect on her?” He pondered 

“You don't believe?” She was toying with him a smirk on her lips

“Its not that I… what you said, it worked.”

“Mulder I said it in English as well. I said what I though a psychotic woman believed.”

“Scully thats not what you…” 

“What Mulder do you want me to admit that was a possession and the words of Paul chapter four verse thirty two expelled a demon from her body? Not even you would believe that.”

“I…”

She was looking concerned now

He didn’t want to believe it no. Religion was a waste of time and every religion before the current ones, had proven to die out in time. But she had said those words and the spirit had been extinguished all the same he couldn't deny that.

“I don’t know” he conceded

“Is that what you want me to say?” She asked shifting her weight away from him to study his face.

“Lets say this religious verse did affect that her in some way. Maybe its because the spirit possessing her, an Italian definitely also a catholic probably attended a couple latin masses in his day…”

“Mulder…” Scully said exasperated and suddenly exhausted. 

He changed the subject, “Come see this.” He put a hand behind her, leading her to where Agents Grey and Ramirez stood looking down at a slumped figure. 

Lucia was sitting on the curb limp, legs splayed, looking utterly bewildered. 

“She has no memory of any of it.”

“A psychotic break.” She said confident.

“Scully, you saw her eyes.”

“Yeah” She faltered and then admitted “They were bright yellow”

“They were glowing Scully.”

“Well jaundice can…” she trailed off. Her eyes had been more than bright, they had glowed  

“I can’t explain it Mulder.” She said. 

“She was a lemures, that dead goombah actually possessed her.” Mulder said in disbelief, staring at Lucia with clinical interest.

She looked at him exasperated and he caught her eye with a smirk ready for her naysays. “Mulder… I think its a bit of a stretch to jump to conclusions without running at least some tests.”

Explain her strength, her eyes. It all fits.”

Hyper strength can be easily explained with psychosis. Ever heard of the woman who lifted up a car when her baby was trapped under it? You even suggested PCP as a possible cause”

“I said that because I wanted those agents to take us seriously.” 

“Do you want it to be a biblical possession?”

“Is that what you want me to say?”

They looked awkwardly at each other and she rubbed her head 

“Did she hurt you?”

“No, Im fine just sore”

He searched her eyes trying to figure out what really was wrong, Im fine never meant the face of it.

It was her turn to change the subject.

“I don’t get it, all this time she’s escaped detection and done every killing evading detection and law enforcement, why did she do this one in the middle of a busy party in a kitchen full of workers?”

Ramirez turned to them “This guy she attacked, its the first times he’s been in public since everything started. He thought he’d be safe with us in the building.” He said with a grimace. “He was one of them who contacted us about the killings initially.”

Mulder grunted an understanding. “What are you going to do with her?”

 “Book her into a padded cell tonight and go from there. We should be able to transport her back to the city for the crimes she’s committed by next week.”

Mulder scoffed. “You can’t leave her just anywhere. What about the next new moon when she’s possessed again?”

“She’ll be locked up, no one to harm in solitary.” Ramirez shrugged.

Two officers came over to Lucia and picked her up under the shoulders and started bundling her into the back of an SUV.

“But this is an x file”

“Maybe” Ramirez shrugged nonchalantly, “but in New York its a Tuesday.”

He held out a hand for Mulder to shake “Listen, thanks for your help.”

“She’s a danger to everyone.” He said as he shook Ramirez’s hand.

“That’s for the psych eval to sort out.” Ramirez slapped a hand to Mulder’s shoulder. “We’re good here Agent Mulder, take your partner home.” 

He glanced at the exhaustion on her face as he held out a hand to her. She shook it. 

“Thank you for your guys’es help, we’ll be noting how integral you were to this case in our reports. 

Mulder wanted to argue this cause further but Agent Ramirez spoke before he could. 

“We got it from here, really.” he patted Mulder’s shoulder conspiratorially as he walked to an officer and asked about transport for Lucia. 

Agent Grey turned to the both of them and said. 

“Once we get her back to the city, I have a father I’m going to call for a favour.” She winked up at Mulder.

“Have you seen this before?” Mulder asked curiously.

“This exact M.O.? No. But something that needed a priest's help? Yeah, for sure”

“Did it help?” He asked.

It depends on who you ask, I suppose.” Agent Grey said, thoughtful. 

A skeptical sound escaped his throat as Agent Grey turned to Scully. 

“You can keep that dress, it looks better on you than it will on anyone else. Its technically destroyed anyway, you got so much blood on it.”

She reached a hand up to her forehead and rubbed the spot of blood. Scully closed her eyes at the touch and said “Thank you”.

Agent Grey smiled and offered her her hand.

“It was nice working with another female for once. Especially one so competent.”

Scully made a surprised face and said “Thank you Agent Grey, same to you.”

“Stella, please.”

“Dana”  Scully said automatically. 

Mulder stared. 

Agent Grey slipped a card into her hand. “If you guys ever come to New York, i’ll be very insulted if you don’t look us up.” She said without even a cursory glance at Mulder.

She flashed a smile and Scully smiled back and nodded saying “Okay, thanks.”

Agent Grey joined her partner and Scully turned to Mulder 

“I don’t think shell be a danger anymore…”

Mulder stood beside her, staring down at her, only slightly aware of his budding jealousy. 

He caught her eye and raised an eyebrow 

Scully exasperated, whispered “Shut up Mulder” as she slipped the card into the bodice of her dress. A knot in his chest formed at the small smile playing on her lips.

“What were you saying?” He offered.

“Lucia evaded detection for months, whether she planned it herself or she was having psychotic episodes”

“Or she was possessed” he interrupted.

“Right.” She glanced at him. “This feels like the magnum opus of her obsessive desires. Perhaps she didn't care if she was caught as long as she got her final mark.”

“Maybe. If he survives I have a feeling she’ll find a way to finish what she started.”

She sighed, looking defeated. “Im going to go take a shower, will you wait for me?”

“Of course, I’ll come up with you, I want to change out of this.”  

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

They climbed into the empty elevator from the empty lobby. Scully went to the far side of the elevator as Mulder to the button panel. He leaned against his side studying her as they ascended. She had her head down. Blood covered her hands and her sleeves were damp. There was dried blood smudged on her chest and forehead where agent Grey had tried to clean her off. She looked agonizingly defeated.

“Okay, listen.” He reached to the panel, pulled the emergency stop button as a ringing sounded. She looked at him eyes widening as he crossed to her, opening the top buttons of his shirt and ripping the mic wire out of the pack without caring if her broke it.

“Were going to talk this out now.” He said with an authority that made his ears burn but he was feeling like risking it all right now.

He moved to her, reached to her side were he knew the mic pack was. She inhaled sharply at his touch, and put a hand to his bent shoulder. He felt for the switch through the fabric and clicked it off. He pulled back leaning his head down apologetic at his small flicker of dominance. He felt his cheeks go hot and he added

“Okay?”

She let the breath that she had held go as she melted at his softened question, nodding “Okay”

“Okay”

“I’m sorry about everything. I didn’t realize how much the women of MUFON effected you. I should have, it was so stupid of me. So stupid to dismiss you like I did. I could’ve just explained myself. I just feel…” he glanced sheepishly at her “we’ve gotten so much closer recently, and I was hurt you didn’t trust my judgement on something… personal.” 

“She’s manipulating you Mulder.” Scully said listlessly staring at his chest.

“I… I can see how that could be. But I don’t think its anything more than her wanting to… for more personal reasons.”

Scully looked up at him resignation and anguish etched on her face as she nodded and said softly “I understand”

He furrowed his brow in confusion at first and then shook his head. “I don’t want her Scully.” He said in a soft voice, “It was never a choice.” He extended his hand to brush the taught bodice of her dress against her stomach. 

He’d stopped short of saying between you and her. His cheeks burned, at his own worry of the effect his words would have on her. He was scared of saying things out loud that would cause her to run. But now was not the time to cave to fear. He wanted to be clear with her, so if she did decide to leave him because of how he’d been behaving, she’d carry the full picture with her.

She searched his eyes then nodded, biting her lip as her chin trembled. He was overtaken by a desire to kiss the constellation of dimples there and make everything better. 

Instead he said, “You asked me what I really think of you? The impression you’ve given me over the years of working with me. I… Scully, I know you’d fall on your sword for me. You’ve tried before. I have, I have trouble with that because I don’t deserve it, and… I would trade all of your pain, all of the suffering this cause has given you, in a heartbeat, if I could.” He finished in a whisper, taking her hand. She let him.

She searched his face tears building in her eyes. “Mulder, one day you’re going to realize you do deserve to be happy, and, that you are not responsible for all the worlds burdens, or mine.” Her voice broke as she said “Your partnership, the way you care for me, has been the”, she faltered and he thought she might have lost her nerve. But she spoke in a strangled voce as if everything inside her was fighting against what she was doing “best, most meaningful years of my life.”

She slipped from behind him, not looking at him, crossed to push the emergency stop in and it lurched upward. She stood in front of the doors looking down. He crashed against the back wall to steady himself, watching her, letting the weight of her words wash over him. It felt like one of those imperceptible moments in their partnership that hid a seismic shift in their relationship. They were sinking deeper into the fault line enveloping them, more than they were ever willing to acknowledge. He wanted to though, sometimes, when he was feeling reckless, when his laser focus on the mission they shared, ebbed with the pull of her celestial allure. In those moments, he wanted to take her hand and jump into the depths with her and forget everything.

The doors opened and she stalked off down the hall without a look back. The gold of her heels glinted with each step she took. Mulder stood in the elevator, frozen watching her as she walked transfixed by what she’d said and by her departing figure. The doors started to close bringing him out of his reprieve. He put an arm out and when they reopened, followed after her slowly. She was already in the bathroom with the shower on when he got to the door. She’d left the guard bar propped open. Even in her frustration with him she remained his partner.

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

Notes: My headcanon is Scully was a child prodigy and started med school and college real real early age 15 or 16 early. But as some prodigies do when faced with so much pressure to succeed and the loss of social and emotional learning with peers of their own age group, she had a life crisis and went to pathology because its safe and she couldn’t loose patients and the nice structure of the FBI. So yeah she read the entire latin bible when she was 13 lol. Call her Hermione, call it cliche. She’s high achieving of her own accord in the series.

More meta on this theory and her dating history of older men in power over her, here

·˚ ༘ ༊*·˚·˚ ༘ ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟﾟ･༘ ☾･ﾟ⋆･ﾟ:⋆·˚ ༘ ˚·˚·༊ ༘ ˚·⋆:ﾟ･⋆ﾟ･*☾ ༘⋆:ﾟ･⋆ ☾ ༘ ˚·˚·*༊ ༘ ˚·

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Epilogue

@today-in-fic ✨

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

The top two characters will be eligible for entry to the bracket!

Propaganda below the cut.

Riza Hawkeye:

The best sniper in the Amestris military and the common sense of Team Mustang. Would be a war criminal if there was a geneva convention equivalent in Fullmetal Alchemist. Her goal is to make the things she did in the Ishval civil war illegal and face trial for them. Fights with guns in a setting with monsters and people with alchemy magic.

Lust was submitted without propaganda.

Izumi Curtis:

She always introduces herself as "just a housewife" but is in fact an extremely powerful alchemist and fighter. She met her husband when she was walking through town carrying a bear she defeated with her bare hands. She is the teacher who taught the protagonists how to fight, and can still kick their asses to this day.

Olivier Mira Armstrong:

The general who commands the forces at Amestris northern border. Believes in survival of the fittest, thinks alternative perspectives are important to lead and says that racism is a luxury they can't afford. Once took a tank in an elevator to shoot it at a monster on another floor. Fooled a corrupt superior officer into thinking she was interested in joining his side to get him to divulge their plans, then killed him, buried him in cement and took his seat in central command to infiltrate the corrupt upper ranks as a double agent. Fights primarily with a sword in conflicts including people with magic alchemy powers and monsters created with those powers.