#believe it or not this is paraphrased

[wonkyplate]

me writing the most unhinged email to my semi local theatre at near-midnight: i'd like to join :) i'm almost certain i didn’t make up the time i won a drama festival. i'm 30% uncertain and, while it's possible to live with, i can't say i'm happy or fulfilled! this event apparently never happened according to any records online and the thing about being depressed as a child is that you grow up with no memory or friends who can confirm life events. anyway, enough about that: brent spiner hasn't helped a single bit. in fact, he's made things Worse - "

[benevolenterrancy]

I'm on chpt20 and I want to study SQQ like a bug. My man is flushed, hair down, robes literally falling off his shoulders, LBH on his lap playing with his hair and kissing him... and he finally cottons on to the fact that maybe this isn't how you have a platonic and important discussion. Enforces it for all of five seconds at which point LBH starts massaging his waist and SQQ is back to being like "yeah this is fine and normal". Amazing. Can't believe he insults the IQ of SQH's characters.

[merrysithmas]

bashing my head against the wall bc i just remembered spock defended kirk on trial in Court Martial by comparing his character of righteousness, forthrightness, and goodness to an immutable law of nature to be trusted in such as the concept of gravity in physics 🫠

[theethoslab]

Grian: there’s a prize to whoever wins demise and everyone knows what it is except the audience

Etho: I had no clue there was a prize and still don’t know what it is

[nachosncheezies]

In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)

I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.

Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)

That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"

When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!

The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:

and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)

So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.

So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.

Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)

Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.

[slavhew]

always covered in your tears and their blood.

[deducemyheart]

Carlos: *is in Switzerland for the annual science convention*

Cecil: obviously every other scientist in the world travels there to calibrate their instruments to the length of Carlos' hair. Pffft what else would they be doing

[spine-buster]

THIS IS ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jesus-is-an-ally]

I've seen people (both Christians and non-Christians) misunderstand the meaning of "fear of God", and I want to explain it to the best of my understanding. Take this with a grain of salt, as I'm not a pastor or anything lol

The fear of God should NOT be a "there's this super judgey guy who secretly hates me and will hurt me out of malice if I mess with his rules!"

It's more of a "fuck around and find out"/"play stupid games, win stupid prizes" fear.

God is someone who loves you more than humanly possible and wants the very best for you while also wanting to be recognized as more knowledgeable and capable than you, because They are. God adores you, but They won't hesitate to call you out for doing dumb stuff that They already told you won't work.

The fear of God should be like a healthy fear of fire: 100% logical. You don't want to go off the deep end and becoming obsessively terrified to the point of micromanaging every aspect of your existence, but you also shouldn't be too relaxed about fire safety. Fire has helped humans since the very beginning. It will also burn your face off if you go around believing that its not real or that its too benevolent to actually harm you.

[reflectionsofgalaxies]

the more photos of Sophie T I see the more I understand why she’s so beloved in the fandom. she’s just a whole fucking mood. like

first one she’s completely dead pan doing a perfect thumbs up

second one she’s doing an exaggerated stereotypical Italian hand gesture

and in the third one she’s just fully stanced up with her fucking coffee. what an icon.

[lichtecht]

does sebastian frank hate himself?

[dapperrokyuu]

Needing a Sua perspective from the ALNST auditions to Round 1. I never put much thought into what happens to the cast post-Anakt Garden graduation (do they immediately go to the auditions? Is there a period of time where they dont see each other until they recognize each other at the audition? Theres a considerable amount of time between the auditions and their Alien Stage season, did they see each other often between then or...? etc.), but regardless, imagine being her and having to choose between sabotaging your own audition so you dont have to go the the Sing, Win, or Die Show or putting your in your all in hopes of winning and spending just a bit more time with this girl you love because you know itll likely be the last time you see her. Imagine...

[dimsilver]

by the way have you ever heard a friend say “We get such a short opportunity on this earth to glorify God in suffering. Let’s not waste it.” and thought about it for over a week!!!!!!

[fideidefenswhore]

reinas/the virgin and the martyr (2016) having a better imdb rating than anne boleyn (2021) will be my villain origin story.

[twowink]

What couples have you broken up omg what events have i been sleeping on

NONE SUCCESSFULLY </3 but like. two years ago i would fuck with couples in very passive attempts to break them up. mostly i would flirt with either or both parties including in front of the partner. alas i have no game but like the breakup attempts arent like a one time thing they is very much a documented urge to ruin peoples relationships that i do have to suppress

notably i did later very actively have to stop myself from ruining every prospect of one of my friends relationship with another one of our friends as i was crush counseling. though shockingly the point of wanting to ruin their relationship was at a different point of having a crush on one and then both of them and being deeply unwell over it. i lead a flavorful life of girlfailures. the convo where i confessed my divorce lobby urges did go hilariously though and this is still one of my favorite messages of all time

[age-of-moonknight]

“Under the Same Moon,” Vengeance of the Moon Knight (Vol. 2/2024), #6.

Writer: Jed MacKay; Penciler and Inker: Devmalya Pramanik; Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg; Letterer: Cory Petit