#every day i don't know what to write

[baronessblixen]

Prompt: ‘Mulder, how long till a…urrp! Rest stop? I don’t,’ her intestines gurgled audibly ‘feel good’

Set in (late) season 7. Hurt/comfort/(fluff).

Fictober Day 9 | Tagging @today-in-fic @xffictober2022 | Wc: 1368

Don't Blame Me, Blame the Food

It starts with a twinge in her stomach. Scully ignores it and takes a few sips from the water bottle she and Mulder are sharing. There’s another twinge and she bites her lip to stop herself from groaning in pain. She doesn’t want to concern Mulder, who seems happy enough driving, rapping his fingers on the wheel, occasionally singing along to the radio.

“Scully, I know you love this song,” he says, glancing over at her. “Sing with me.”

“You know I can’t sing,” she says, nausea overwhelming her. Her tongue seems to big for her mouth and there’s too much saliva. She knows all the signs well enough and she knows what this means. Just because she is aware of it, though, doesn’t mean she’ll address it. If she ignores her gurgling stomach, the sharp pangs, and the waves of nausea long enough, it will all clearly just go away by itself.

“It’s not about sounding good,” he says. “It’s about having fun.”

“I’m singing in my head,” she replies.

“Party pooper.” He chooses the worst possible moment to give her a smile because her stomach protests again and she winces in pain, holding her side.

“Hey Scully,” he says, sounding serious now. “Are you okay? Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m fine,” she says, closing her eyes in an attempt to will ache pain away. Except it only makes it worse. Her eyes fly open again and she tries to wipe the sweat from her forehead without Mulder catching the motion. It’s no use. She has no idea how he manages to pay attention to the road and to her at the same time. His hand lands on her thigh and he squeezes it gently.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” she says and it sounds whiny. If they stop, she will have to admit that she’s not feeling well. That she might even be sick. She swallows hard, nausea knocking against her intestines.

“Let me know if you need to stop, all right?”

“I’m fine, Mulder,” she assures him, lying through her teeth. She would be fine, she thinks, if he stopped making her talk.

Twenty minutes later she knows she can no longer deny the obvious. She is not fine. At. All.

“Mulder,” she says, his name almost too much already.

“Hm?”

“How long till a…,” she pauses, swallowing. Tears shoot into her eyes. Why is this happening to her? “Till a rest stop? I don’t,” she pauses again, her insides turning against her, her stomach gurgling so loudly that she’s sure Mulder must have heard it. “Feel good.”

“We just passed one. I don’t- it could be a while until the next one.”

The noise she makes is barely human.

“How bad is it?” He asks.

“Very bad,” she says, trying not to cry. She needs a bag. Something. She can’t be sick in the car. Their rental cars have experienced many, many things, but so far neither of them has ever been sick in one. They may have dodged that bullet, but she remembers that time when she was a kid and Charlie got sick in the car, no rest stop in sight. He threw up all over himself and his sisters. Which in turn made Melissa got sick too. The car had reeked for weeks.

“Can you- no, of course you can’t. Hold on, Scully.” Mulder sets the blinker and the car comes to a stop. Getting sick by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere has not been on her bingo card for today – or ever. Wanting to get out as quickly as possible, her fingers are numbly trying to unbuckle her seat belt. In the end, it’s Mulder helping her that frees her from her seat. Scully pulls open the car door and stumbles out. She doesn’t make it far before she can no longer hold it in.

She stands there, hurt and humiliated, but feeling – at least for the moment – a sense of relief. It doesn’t take long until she hears the car door and she knows Mulder is walking up to her.

“Hey,” he says. “Better?” His hand lands on her back and he strokes in gently.

“This is embarrassing,” she says and Mulder hands her a bottle of water.

“Why? You got sick. It happens to the best of us. Do I need to remind you how often I’ve been sick? There’s nothing embarrassing about this. I just want you to feel better.”

“I’m feeling a bit better,” she says, knowing her stomach is not done with her yet.

“We can stay out here for a while. Take all the time you need.”

“You’re not feeling sick at all?” She asks him.

“No,” he admits. “I feel fine. As in really fine, not Scully-fine.”

“Haha,” she says, leaning against him. Her clothes are sweat-soaked and she shivers out here in the breeze. Mulder holds her and hugs her to him, sweat be damned. She’s grateful that he’s here after all. Even if he had to witness her being sick.

“Could it be something else you ate?”

“I don’t know,” she says. “Must have been.” Another wave of nausea crashes over her, surprising her. She just about manages to turn away from Mulder before she gets sick again. This time he’s there for all of it, stroking her back and holding her hair back.

“Oh Scully,” he says. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” she reminds him. She wonders what it was. The sandwich she and Mulder shared? It can’t be because then he’d be sick too. The breakfast she had earlier? Can’t be that either because Mulder had the same one. There must be something she’s missing.

“How are you feeling now?”

“Better,” she says, realizing she means it. Her stomach is still grumbling, not quite finished throwing a tantrum. But it has settled down, is only growling from a distance. She no longer feels like she’s going to be sick again any minute. She takes another sip from the water bottle to rinse her mouth with it. That will have to do for now.

“We’re stopping at the next motel.”

“Mulder, we’re done here. We have a plane to catch.” He shakes his head.

“We have to make sure you’re okay.”

“I am okay.”

“Puking your guts out is not being okay. So what if we don’t get home before tomorrow? Skinner is always telling us to take a day off. Now we’re doing exactly that.”

“Not the kind of vacation I imagined,” Scully says, following Mulder back to the car.

“We’ll make the best of it,” he says, smiling at her. He stands close to her, blocking the car door. Scully looks up at his soft expression that’s full of worry. She reaches up to touch his cheek, wanting to brush away the worry lines she sees.

“I’m fine, Mulder. My stomach just didn’t agree with something. You’re not thinking about kissing me, are you?”

“I was,” he admits with a grin. “But I think I can wait until later. Let’s go find a place to stay.”

*

They find a nice hotel and Mulder pays for their room with his personal credit card. Scully walks out of the bathroom just as Mulder is on the phone with Skinner, informing their boss that they won’t be back tonight, or possibly even tomorrow, depending on Scully’s health. She rolls her eyes in amusement, running her fingers through Mulder’s hair to let him know she’s not mad.

“Um, Scully,” Mulder says once he’s hung up the phone. He doesn’t need to say anything because she can see it written clearly on his face. She steps aside and he dashes past her into the bathroom.

“I think it was the sandwich after all,” Mulder says once Scully has joined him in the bathroom. He’s leaning over the toilet bowl, looking terrible. She kneels bis his side, rubbing his back, just like he did for her earlier.

“Good thing we stopped, huh?” She touches his warm cheek and he nods. “I’ll see if they have Pepto-Bismol for us.”

“We’re gonna take a real vacation after this,” Mulder swears before he gets sick once more.

[little-pondhead]

Danny moved to Gotham.

Freakshow is touring in Gotham.

Freakshow knows Danny is in Gotham.

Danny knows Freakshow is still after him.

Danny's faith in heroes has been shattered.

Danny turns to the only person powerful enough to run Freakshow out of town, hopefully for good.

Danny turns to the Joker for help.

The Joker is looking for a new punching bag sidekick after Harley Quinn left him.

Danny is just the perfect person to be shaped by the Joker's hands.

Danny becomes the new Joker Junior.

[inkskinned]

this is sort of pathetic, but when you were younger, you were sort of puzzled by the cartoon representations of fathers: how a kid would be outside with a mitt, waiting to play catch.

it's not that your father never played catch with you, but you also didn't like when he did. something about a hard ball coming quickly towards your face doesn't seem exciting. not that you'd ever say you don't trust him. you trust him, right?

it's not like he never tried to teach you anything. or never tried to parent. on rare days, a strange person would walk in your father's skin. bright, happy, magnificent. this version of your father was so cheerful and charismatic that you would do anything to keep him. and this is the version of your father that would laugh and gently coax you try again. this is the version of your father that would break down the small elements of a problem and point them out so you have an easier time with them.

as a kid, those days happened more often. but somewhere around 11, you started being too much of a person, and he was often cross about it. when he'd try to sit you down to learn something, you spent the whole time with your shoulders around your ears, nervous, uncertain. terrified because you didn't immediately understand how to navigate something. worried you will run out of his goodwill and then you will have the Other Father back, and you will have ruined a good day for your entire family. something about you being visibly afraid - it just made him angry. he would accuse you of not wanting to learn and storm away.

on tv, it's not like there's a lot of versions of men-who-are-mostly-fathers. they can be good dads, but usually their stories are not told in the household. so it's normal that your father is there, but he's never around. you know he was in the house, somewhere, it's just not that you guys ever... "hung out". he just seemed to get kind of bored of you, annoyed you weren't made in his perfect image. frustrated with how much energy it took to raise a kid. over time, you kind of adopt a bittersweet band around your throat - he knows nothing about me. he says at least i never abandoned my family.

and it's technically - technically - true. he was there for you. sometimes he even made an effort and made it to the big moments; the graduations and the dance recitals. he grins and tells everyone that he taught you. it almost erases the days in between, where he complains because you need a ride to school. the weeks that go by where he doesn't actually ever speak to you. the times you say i am struggling and he says figure it out on your own. i can't help you.

and that's fine! that's all fine. you can call him if you are having a problem with your car. or if you need a ride to the hospital. he loves playing hero, he just doesn't like the actual work that comes with being a father. and you've kind of made your peace with that; because you had to, because you don't want to live your life like he does; the whole world at a managed distance, a little rotating and controlled orb he can witness and take credit for but never truly love.

as an adult, you are rewatching some dumb cartoon - and again, the child standing in the rain, with a mitt, waiting for their father to come play catch. as an adult, there's this strange creeping dread - this little thing? this little thing, and their dad can't even show up for that? oh god, holyshit, it's not about the mitt, is it. oh god, holyshit, your father spent most of your life leaving you hanging.

[wonder-worker]

I've been thinking about the tragedy of Elizabeth Woodville living to see the end of her family name.

I don't mean her family with her husband, which lived on through her daughter and grandson. I mean her own.

Her sisters died, one by one, many of them after 1485. When Elizabeth died, only Katherine was left, and she would die before the turn of the century as well.

All her brothers died, too. Lewis died in childhood. John was executed. Anthony was murdered. Lionel died suddenly in the peak of Richard's reign, unable to see his niece become queen. Edward perished at war. Richard died in grieving peace. For all the violence and judgement the family endured, it was "an accident of biology" that ended their line: none of the brothers left heirs, and the Woodville name was extinguished. We know the family was aware of this. We know they mourned it, too:

“Buy a bell to be a tenor at Grafton to the bells now there, for a remembrance of the last of my blood.”

Elizabeth lived through the deposition and death of her young sons, and lived to see the end of her own family name. It must have been such a haunting loss, on both sides.

[evilkitten3]

naruto crack au where kakashi manages to successfully drill the "never abandon your comrades" thing into team seven's heads

so when sasuke deserts naruto and sakura immediately desert with him. like he gets to the village gates and they're just waiting for him bags packed like "what took u so long we doing this or what"

he tries to get them to go back bc of course he does. "no you losers this is about me i'm going to kill my brother. also i'll have to kill my best friend for the super sharingan and you two are like the only people i talk to". but they do not listen. teamwork sasuke we will defeat your brother (OUR brother #communism) with the power of teamwork. just like kakashi-sensei said

suddenly orochimaru has to deal with three horrible little goblins with an even more codependent relationship than his old team

[tsunochizu]

I know this is not what all of you followed me for but deal with it

Ragequit head bonk

[deadpanwalking]

That writing advice makes me wanna kms 💀

I don't know what to tell you, man. None of that should feel like pulling teeth. If you truly dislike reading books, do yourself a favor and find another outlet for creativity that doesn't require it. Ask yourself if you want to be a writer or if you just want to be perceived as the kind of person who writes—if it's the latter, thrift a tweed coat with leather elbow patches and keep vaguely alluding to an unfinished novel.

[sciderman]

(Idk if someone asked this already) since we’re on the topic of gender

sci what is gender to you and how do you see it in you and how you express it in your art?? (Just a young queer artist who wants some light shined upon them 🥺)

i 'unno ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[iwanttobepersephone]

I love the way words and phrases will squirm their way into my brain so while I'm drawing pictures of skeletons and dead grass I will simply hear "is this where God has gone to hide?"

[skylarbee]

miles about the possibility of tlsp3 coming out in 2024: "fat chance of that" "it's a while off that, if it happens you know, it's... yeah, unfortunately, but one day maybe"

massive thanks to @mileskanex for sharing this, full interview linked🥰

[psychologicalwarclaire]

I just realized that the one year anniversary of Spider's Web With Strings Attached is coming up. The SWSAnniversary, if you will.

August 5th. It was first posted on August 11th, but the actual day I decided to write it, the day I started planning it out, the day I actually started writing was the 5th

So, uh, do with that information what you will

[deoidesign]

hi. I just read your entire comic in one go and I’ve gotta say I am in love with it. as a trans guy with hair that looks so much like Steve’s and who loves werewolves, I had to physically restrain myself from squealing out loud upon realizing he was trans, because I am currently living in a room with five other people in a small community in rural Alaska and didn’t want to explain to them the joys of seeing yourself in a character and then realizing “oh shit they’re trans like me”. I hope you are doing well, and may the gods of creativity and carpal tunnel bless you with much fruit in your artistic endeavors.

how could I ever show how deeply messages like this touch me... I never know what to say, I want so badly to have the proper words to show you how grateful I am

This is why I write. so that people get to feel like this, and I could never reflect that properly with just my words... But I want you to know that.

I hope to make something that is worthy of your love, and I hope every day that my work is sufficient to show I love you. so I'm relieved that it's succeeding and you feel seen.

Thank you for sharing this with me, I love you

[some-pers0n]

Every once in a while I think about the ship I've been obsessed over for close to two years now and feel like I'm ascending to another plane of reality. Like sometimes you just encounter a ship that hits every single mark and is perfect in every regard and you're left stunned how something like that can even exist

[erabundus]

HAPPY BLOG ANNIVERSARY!

it's  officially  midnight  here,  which  means  i'm  allowed  to  post  this!  so ...  happy  one  year  anniversary  of  enduring  the  plague  of  avalon  upon  your  dashboards!  alternatively,  thank  you  so  much  for  giving  me  a  place  to  babble  about  my  #1  favorite  comfort  character  who  has  experienced  zero  comfort.  (  i  swear  i  am  being  SO  NORMAL  about  this.  yes i did literally buy  cake  and  party  hats.  )  whether  we  speak  on  the  daily,  you've  just  gotten  here  or  anywhere  in  between,  i  want  to  extend  my  sincerest  gratitude  for  being  on  this  absolutely  wild  ride  of  a  blog  with  me.  there's  been  ups  and  downs,  but  ultimately  i  feel  like  my  passion  for  writing  has  been  ignited  stronger  than  it's  ever  been  before.  i  am  still  always  so  excited  whenever  i  get  the  chance  to  log  on  here  and  create  stories  with  all  of  you  —  and  i  wouldn't  have  that  opportunity  if  it  wasn't  for  this little  corner  of  the  internet  you've  helped  make truly special.

there  are  so  many  of  you  i  feel  lucky  to  have  met.  (  and  so  many  i  would  love  to  get  to  know  better,  too!  )  i  hope  we  can  continue  writing  together  for  many  more  anniversaries  to  come.  and  if  the  day  ever  comes  that  they  finally  pull  the  plug  on  this  cockroach  of  a  hellsite,  i'll  forever remember  this  community  as  the  rpc  that  got me to  laugh  at  petrichor.

have  a  wonderful  day  /  night!  i'm  sharing  the  cake  with  everyone  in  spirit.

[reallyhardy]

Sorry what’s up w the Ethan slater stuff? I know him only from your posts / SpongeBob stuff

HI HELLO please buckle in

yep -- the same guy from the spongebob musical, and my posts abut the spongebob musical.

he blew up completely and now the general public knows him as 'ariana grande's new boyfriend' - their relationship seems to have started off the back of co-starring in the upcoming wicked musical film adaptation.

it's just been like. a monkey's paw curling sort of a way for him to get catapulted to fame, as i had always really enjoyed him as a performer (as spongebob, yes, but also in the other roles i'd seen him in,) and my biggest hope back around 2017 was that he would continue in and be really successful in theatre, get a lot of broadway roles, maybe take on some existing parts i thought he'd really suit, like seymour in little shop or ogie in waitress.......... but instead he booked the role of boq from wicked in a massive hollywood film production instead, where he met ariana grande. THE ariana grande.

and then yeah. at some point, he and grande broke up with their respective partners, (slater leaving both his wife AND newborn son) jumped into a new relationship, and now the whole wider internet knows who he is but certainly not for the right reasons.

there's been speculation regarding whether or not grande and slater had cheated on their previous partners before their relationship began with various sources coming out of the woodwork saying "yes they did" and others saying "no they didn't" -- humans are all perfectly capable of making stuff up, the media especially, so i simply don't know who to trust and i admit it had completely shattered my whole good impression of him - PLUS it gave the wider internet an absolutely awful first impression of him, resulting in, yeah, the (frankly, unflattering, sometimes downright cruel) memes of him popping up on twitter and, as i discovered yesterday, in non-theatre youtubers' videos who would literally never have heard of him if not for the slater-grande romance 🥲

FULL COVERAGE of the situation as it was happening can all be found on the lovely @notasimpleslater's blog under the tag 'ozgate' if you want to delve deeper!

[comfortlesshurt]

okay, I promised I was gonna do the outline for my fic today. so that's it. i'm gonna do it, and i'm not gonna draft a word of actual fic until i do