#it was fun chatting

[randomfoggytiger]

Hey Tiger!

So I’m doing a XF rewatch and In the coming days I’ll be on the infamous ‘The Field where I Died’ I don’t think I’ve seen this episode in over 10 years and I don’t really remember it. I know this episode is quite divisive amongst the community because iirc it portrays M and S as “friends” in every previous lifetime and not lovers. So I want to know your opinion/thoughts on this episode. Thank you!

Hey, thanks for droppin in! :DDDD

Your question spiraled into a longer meta I've been meaning to write, so I cut those segments out and should finish the post later on.

I've talked about The Field Where I Died before (posts here and here) but! To the point: I think TFWID can be separated into three categories: the intent, the execution, and the lack of fault-taking.

The intent of The Field Where I Died is intriguing, I own: soulmates, not in twos but threes, that are trapped in a doomed, self-fulfilling, cycle (that never-ending line.) Love and longing; yearning and relearning. For those reasons, I can see why some fans love it. (I can especially see why David Duchovny loves it-- the security of forever, impermeable love unbound by time or human faults and frailties.) And the score and cinematography are gorgeous, and moving, and haunting. I get it.

The execution, however.

It... wasn't great. So much so that Morgan had to admit its many faults. The execution is so faulty, in fact, that it's easy to write off these grand examinations and touching gestures as nothing more than the sway of persuasive, mentally unwell people. That, and Kristin Cloke's acting; that, too, and cutting up David Duchovny's hypnosis scene so badly that his own acting flails without context.

The fault-taking... was worse. And a recent discovery. Well, half recent. I'd long heard the lovers of TFWID-- DD and Kumail Nanjiani, recently-- reiterate that the power of the story doesn't dim even though Mulder and Scully aren't romantic soulmates. That that wouldn't lessen their bond; and they could be romantic soulmates if they (read: you) wanted them to. Sure, I can see it; I can buy it. The problem is, the intent was mangled in execution so badly that the message wasn't translated so much as narratively spelled out to the audience in broad, cursive, underlined letters that didn't loop back into the story elegantly (if at all.) We're told the message so we must believe it. We feel magic in the air; and thus, are expected to let rationale pale in comparison. But because the story, theme, and execution is so mangled, no one largely cares for the end result. And because no one largely cares for the end result, fault has to be laid somewhere.

And because fault had to be laid somewhere, Morgan laid it neatly on the fans for not quite understanding and on the executives for having to cut out necessary scenes and, maybe, a little on himself for not explaining as best as he could. Instead of accepting, of course, that he could have written shorter exposition to get the point across within the time limit; should have fact-checked whether CSM had already been born when Gestapo CSM was killing a previous incarnation of Mulder's; and would have anticipated these plot holes if he wasn't so self-involved in recreating his and his wife's love story through the mouths of disparate characters with separate stories, personalities, and goals.

Now, The Field Where I Died did have its merits. I love how the writers explored Mulder's draw to lonely, vulnerable, self-destructive women (like himself); and I like their read on his and Scully's characters (to be discussed in a future post.) And I do understand the magnetism of this episode's concept on screen. And I'm lulled by the thought that this episode could be stretched into a larger concept: that of Mulder the sacrificial lamb and Scully the savior, an angle canon keeps plucking at throughout the series (Deep Throat, Tooms, Little Green Men, One Breath, End Game, Paper Clip's The White Buffalo Woman/the White Calf, Pusher, Redux II, Fight the Future's "But you saved me", One Son, Amor Fati's "Get up and fight", Deadalive, etc.) and one that neatly ties into her possible immortality. But those are aspects the fans have to read into "the text", not ones that are written in purposefully.

It's just, in short, not for me. :))))))

[the-game-spirit]

sometimes a piece of media just! grabs you by the throat and says, "hey buddy! I'm gonna irrevocably alter your brain chemistry now! have fun with that!!"

and then you just ! gotta deal with that ! you guess !!

[anna-scribbles]

adrien in my outfit from a few days ago✨ feat. my claws out converse

bonus:

[nidbaesenpai]

Happy one year anniversary ISAT! To celebrate I wanted to share the lil strips I made for my friends when they reached the end of the game! They're all meant to be snippets of life post game and a glimpse into the world I'm making for Loop.

[batfluffs]

princess miku!! i just had to make a model after the cutest design of her ive ever seen to exist!!!! 🩵

[viviiyon]

The world’s your oyster! ✨

Individual illustrations below aa-

[mxmarsbars]

karma

[tizzymcwizzy]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! i hope you get to eat a lot of candy and watch a scary movie if you celebrate :D

[jattendschaton]

Ladybug and Chat Noir hosting a podcast where they're going to interview Adrien Agreste and so Adrien has to enlist Félix to pretend to be him and Félix gets to just. Make fun of Adrien to his face and to a national audience. Chat Noir keeps arguing with Félix’s Adrien about his own opinions so the next day all the news is about how much everyone thinks Chat Noir hates Adrien Agreste

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I'm back in the Tigers cage again.

(You too can join in on throwing a Rat Of A Man into a Tiger cage by reading Tiger Tiger)

[mybuginette]

i'm obsessed with this shit now

sorry, in universe social media is my roman empire now

[what-am-i-doing-in-this-fandom]

I absolutely rushed to draw this as soon as I saw this post by the lovely @rosekasa

[lurking-loaf]

It's essential to teach them color theory when they're young so they understand how to mix colors. How else will you get art that's good enough for the fridge?

Day 6 of DCA Promptober - hues plus bonus animation of Sun imitating the Mac's wait cursor aka the Spinning Beach Ball of Doom

[anna-scribbles]

oldest trick in the book

[gas1le]

I have nothing more to say.

(Мне больше нечего сказать.)