#and THAT'S my favorite dynamic

[carefulfears]

txf30 day 4: favorite dynamic (besides the obvious): scully/mulder/skinner

y’all mind if i ramble for a second?? there are so many connections that are so important to this story, but i always come back to these three. i think everything does.

i say that memento mori is the most loving episode of the series, but when i think about that one, it’s not even the kiss in the hallway that stays with me. it’s skinner coming in to work, the first time scully was in the hospital, and finding mulder sitting in his office. and he’s just been sitting there. bypassed the secretary (lol), and just sat and waited. he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.

and the way that skinner tells him, no. don’t do it to yourself under any circumstances. that he is not to risk himself to try to save scully. ultimately, it’s not mulder that made the deal with the devil, it’s skinner who didn’t follow his own advice. (gave up everything he has, to save them both).

and these are just two weirdos who work for him in the basement!! he doesn’t owe them anything. but he’s the one there, at the end, no matter what. he’s the one who comes to get them when they’re hurt, or lost, or need help. they’re his emergency contacts, the people who show up, the people who advocate for him. the people who know him. (the bigfoot division are a.d. skinner’s silly rabbits etc etc etc)

in iwtb, after six years away, it’s skinner who comes to get scully, on the side of the road, next to mulder’s flipped car. tells her that they will find him, that he’s okay, to breathe. it’s skinner that holds mulder on the ground, in the end.

when mulder went back to bellefleur, it's skinner that scully sent with him. that girl has never trusted a single soul to so much as breathe mulder's air, but "i won't let you go alone," is immediately followed by skinner packing the car.

like trish said last night:

i think telling scully he "lost" mulder was the hardest thing he ever did. skinner loves mulder too, but mulder is scully's entire world. and this time around, he won't let scully be alone the way mulder was.

(and the kindest thing scully ever did: squeezing his hand, saying "i already heard.")

(skinner returns the favor: he tells mulder about william, so that scully doesn't have to.)

my favorite moment in requiem is the final scene, the two of them crying together. the only two people. the only two people who know.

when she tells him that she's pregnant, he's the first to know. the only person to know, for most of her pregnancy. 18 years later, he's still the first person thinking of their baby, looking out for him.

honestly, it always comes back to sein und zeit for me. when after 7 years, after 27 years, mulder says that it's just too much, and he wants to go home. he wants time away from work. the sequence in the car: mulder in the backseat, skinner behind the wheel, scully on the passenger's side. for so many years, mulder had to be searching, so that he wouldn't be alone. but now he stands in front of two people who love him, and admits to needing a break. to wanting it to stop. he's guided, he's guarded.

skinner is a hardass. it's not easy to manage their madness. it's not easy to write the footnotes, to be the person waiting, in this particular story. but like he tells mulder, 14 years after they last worked together: not a day goes by where he doesn't just wish they were there, trying to make things better.

[cioscizor]

the bride and her ugly ass groom

[akanemnon]

Family game night

[magicicephoenix]

i finally finished reading I see you, Sundrop! by @shirajellyfish and IT'S SO GOOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT TOOK ME THIS LONG TO FINISH IT RAAAAAAA

i will be gushing about it in the tags but here's a lil animation i made based on the below paragraph in chapter 6 that gave me such a strong mental image that i had to make it real :)

[lotus-pear]

charm stat at debonair ‼️‼️

[cringefailvox]

stolas tugging the disguise down to hide blitz better. blitz holding stolas in his lap. stolas peering up at blitz from the couch looking so fucking sad. blitz's little "go on" wave when stolas automatically looks to him for permission to go dance. it's about the familiarity despite the hurt. it's about loving someone and being angry with them but being unwilling to let either overrule the other. it's about being unable to stop caring even if it might be easier on both of you. i am sobbing facedown on the floor

[the-phantom-peach]

I love them so much I will shove my entire fist into my mouth ❤️

[nostalgicish]

“oh no.”

[erinwantstowrite]

the most realistic part of gravity falls was how dipper and mabel fight but specifically the "meow meow meow meow meow meow meow!!!" mabel shouts at dipper. i know this because i'm an older sister and we have gotten into so many fights where i just said complete nonsense at my baby brother and he loses his absolute shit. one time we were at a chili's and fighting about who knows what and i just glared at him and said "HOT. SAUCE." and he leapt over the table to try and kill me

[densewentz]

Girl Dinner

[ukiyoebirds]

"Old Friend, I dreamt I saw you last night. But I was mistaken: it was a stranger all along."

TF One has me in a chokehold ( ; . ; ) .

May need to click on the image for better resolution.

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

incrumbsiderate

[egophiliac]

What do you like about the Diasomnia boys if I may ask?

I always love hearing about the different reasons people enjoy characters.

I mean, c'mon. he has split custody over Sebek okay

also, Lilia in particular has maybe the best timeskip character development of all time

[meteortrails]

guys I got too attached to the sacrificial lamb again :( yeah I let myself pet its soft little head and care for it forgetting that I would be its undoing again. yeah I witnessed the unconditional love and trust in its innocent eyes even as I held the blade to its throat and set it free again. sorry :((

[skeletood]

i've been sitting on a lot of disgrub related art.

no, context will not be provided (probably)

[firenaition]

thinking about what zuko means to azula and weeping. he's a traitor but he's your brother. he held you when you were born. he's banished for being too weak to hurt your father and you learn to hate his goodness. he is somewhere in the world carrying your eyes. he misses your absent mother more than he loves you but that is the price you pay for being the one who stayed. he never grants you this same kindness. you are faster and deadlier and better but it doesn't change the fact that your brave big brother used to tell you stories of dragons every time it stormed because you were so afraid of the thunder. he is the only one who understands what it means to bear the brunt of your bloody inheritance. he crumbled under the weight of it, but you stayed. you always stay. he is half of you. you hate being betrayed.

you don't love him. he's your big brother. who could you possibly love more?