well, yes! you know what i love about je souhaite? mulder. i love je souhaite mulder so much. this is the mulder that called the jersey devil "beautiful" and ran through the woods trying to save it. the mulder that looked the soul-eater monster in the eye and gave up the chance to save his own life, because he couldn't bear to add to the monster's pain. he's a bleeding heart behind 7 levels of delusional mania and vince writes the balance better than any other.
i love that the first thing he does is ask the genie what she would wish for, just because he wants to know. just because he's curious, and he's curious about her as a person, her own desires and input outside of the role she's cursed to play in the world. in her answer, you can see how much 500 years of being a slave to people's selfish whims has weighed on her, in the way that she tells him she would just want her days to be her own. to sit and have a cup of coffee.
at its best, this show and its lead characters endowed their central "monsters" (and victims) with so much intricate confliction, humanity within the metaphysical.
i love that mulder tries to win at the genie wish, to save the world. tries to construct the perfect wording and all-encompassing fool-proof plan. he literally throws around the phrase "the end of tyranny."
he thinks that he can crack it, that he can solve it, that he can come up with just the right wish that will make everyone safer and happier, and free. je souhaite is a quintessential season seven episode in that it's a lesson for mulder that scully already knows, scully gets to spend this episode being wise and joyful and absolutely giddy with nerdy delight.
her perspective on the genie wish (something that she doesn't believe in, but takes seriously, as she always takes him and what's important to him seriously) is perfect. "maybe it's the whole point of our lives here, mulder, to achieve that. maybe it's a process that one man shouldn't try and circumvent with a single wish."
in the end, as optimistic as his hope in what's possible is, it's a cheat. it's no more grand than the 500 years of people before him who wished for things like boats and beauty. mulder is learning lessons that scully already knows, and when the time comes, he closes his notes. you can't escape doing the work, that's the whole point of being alive.
after so much mystical pondering, the next scene is refreshingly down to earth: mulder and scully on the couch at his apartment, him complaining about her popcorn choices, her complaining about his movie choices. the way he throws the beer cap just to make her giggle.
there are few moments i love more than the exchange here, when mulder says, "i don't know if you noticed, but i never made the world a happier place." and scully casually answers, "well. i'm fairly happy. that's something."
what a lesson to be learned at the end of the day!! what a sentiment to express, to someone who spends his entire life trying to save the whole world to make up for not having been able to save one person. who spends his entire life trying to repent for having lived.
you don't have to save the world, you can call your best friend and sit on the couch and watch caddyshack. it's something, that someone loves you in a way that makes a life spent with you fairly happy. this is the point, part of what she was telling him earlier.
when she asks what his wish was, and he just smiles and turns to the movie, this cut to the final scene is one of my favorite shots of the series. the genie, finally her own person for the first time in 500 years, sitting with a cup of coffee.
thinking about your older bf!simon that cannot cope with being far from you.
when you’re in the shower, he’s sat on the lid of the toilet on his phone (watching those rug cleaning videos) enjoying your faint singing under the stream of water, the smell of your body wash on the cloud of steam- ready to pass you a towel or get your back.
when you’re at your desk, working from home or studying, he’s just on the other side of it reading the paper with one outstretched leg tangled with both of yours. he’s dead quiet when you’re on a call, just happy to be around.
when you’re doing laundry, collecting the clothes in the hamper and crouching to stuff them into the washer- turning around and accidentally colliding with a thick wall of muscle.
“sorry, love”
he steps aside but you can hear his soft footfalls as he continues to follow you throughout your home.
when you’re both watching something on the couch, what starts as his pinky locked with yours turns into his arm around your waist. that turns into your head on his chest, which culminates with you falling asleep in his lap with his cheek on your head and soft snores emanating from his lips.
when you grocery shop, you push the trolley but his chest is to your back, arms either side of you and hands clasped over yours on the handle. you can thank his military training for his uncanny ability to tell exactly when you’ll stop walking.
when he wakes up in the middle of the night, on a rare occasion when you’ve managed to slip out of bed without him realising, he’s immediately in a panic calling your name.
“in here, my love”
as soon as his heart settles, he realises the bathroom light was probably a dead giveaway. you’re taking a wee, you’ll be back in a minute.
that doesn’t stop a sleepy simon from leaning in the doorframe, shielding his eyes from the big light as he waits for you to finish up.
even on the short walk back to bed, you can feel fingers twisted in the back of your shirt- almost like you’re leading the way.
minute you’re both on the mattress, you’re being wrapped up in his arms, slotting you perfectly into the curve of his front- almost like you’re made for him.
the easy grip on the knife. the leg over the seat. the hand over the other seat. the sassy "come get it" move. you know the bitch is smiling behind that mask even as he said the line.
I am loudly pushing the batdad agenda i am loudly pushing the— DPxDC Prompt
“Woah. You look like shit."
Granted, that’s probably not the first thing Danny should be saying to the guy that just bit the curb, but in his defense; he’s not running on 100% right now either.
The man -- tall, towering, and broader than Danny is tall -- whips around on his heel, black frayed cape flaring out impressively. Danny would've whistled in appreciation, but he takes the time instead to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood running from his nose across his cheek.
"Sorry." He blinks widely, not even flinching as the man with the horns zeroes in on him. "That was rude of me. I have a really bad brain-to-mouth filter; Sam says its what always gets me into trouble."
And she's not wrong either, per say. His smart mouth is what landed him in this situation -- with blood blossom extract running through his veins and cannibalizing the ectoplasm in his bloodstream. Thanks Vlad.
The man grunts at him; a short, curt "hm" that shouldn't make Danny smile, but he does because he's somewhat delirious and probably concussed. The man keeps some kind of distance, sinking towards the shadows of Gotham's alleyway like he dares to melt right into it.
If it's supposed to scare Danny, it doesn't work. Danny's never been afraid of the dark; he's always been able to hide himself in it. He blinks slowly at the mass of shadows.
"You look hurt." The shadows says, blurring together around the edges. Danny squints, and licks his lips to get the blood dripping down his chin off. Ugh, he hates the taste of blood.
"I am." He says, "My godfather poisoned me. M'dying." The agony of the blood blossom eating him from the inside out looped back around to numbing a while ago, so all he feels is half-awake and dazed.
"Hey," Danny stumbles forward towards the man, a bloodied hand reaching out to him. "You-- you're a hero, right? You're not attacking me; which is more than I can say for most costumed people I've met." Maybe it's a poor bar to judge someone at, but he's already established that Danny's not in his right mind.
The man makes no change in expression, but Danny realizes blearily that it's hard to tell with the shadows on his face. He stays still long enough for Danny to latch onto the cape -- stretchy, but almost soft under his fingers.
He looks up blearily into the whites of the man's eyes. "Can you help me? I don't-- I don't wanna die." Again. He doesn't wanna die again. He blinks slow and lizard-like. "I mean- I'll probably get to see mom and dad again, but I told them I'd at least try and make it to adulthood."
There's a clatter down the street, and Danny's ghost sense chills up his spine and leaves a bitter, ashy taste in his mouth. He immediately knows who it belongs to even before the deceptively gentle; "Daniel?" echoes down the way.
"Daniel? Quit your games, badger, Gotham is dangerous for children."
Danny's mouth pulls back, and blood spills against his tongue. "Please." He rasps, and grabs onto the shadow's cape with both hands. "Please. He's going to kill me. Please--"
"Daniel? Is that you?"
His lips part, dragging in air to plead with the darkness again. He doesn't need to, the whites of his eyes narrow, and the cape whirls around him before Danny can blink. Soon swaddled in shadows, the Night lifts him up, and steals him away.
[Leo is taking the fact that he was born biologically female simultaneously very well and also not so well but overall he’s mostly coping with the fact that it was Draxum that just essentially gave him the turtle equivalent of ‘The Talk’.]
The best fics are the ones that recognize that although Luke Skywalker may APPEAR on the outside to be a normal friendly twink who happens to have cool powers, especially when contrasted with such ship partners as Boba or Din or even Han, he is arguably the scariest person alive in the galaxy around the prequel era. AND, crucially, he is also a fundamentally weird guy. This man was homeschooled on a rural farm his entire life and then apprenticed to a swamp gremlin who showed him how to tap into the cosmic power of the universe. He blew up the death star age 19, killing approx 2 million-ish Imperials. He is a vortex of Force power that can communicate with the ghosts of dead Jedi. He’s staring into the distance and mumbling to himself and doing Yoda aphorisms and casually pulling out the “yeah I could crush that guy into a paste with my mind (:” and nobody around him knows what to do with that. I think he is a character who has very little frame of reference for how a Jedi or a person in general is supposed to act and there is some thing about him that is by necessity really fucking weird and a little scary but he’s so nice that it can throw you off the scent a little bit. Thanks for coming to my TED talk
So! It was finally happening. After Years of Pleading with the Guardians and other Ruling Bodies of the Galactic Community, the Justice League had finally gotten then to agree to create an Alliance with Earth.
With an Alliance, Earth would gain the Protection of Multiple Empires and The Guardians, which would mean an end to the Constant Alien Invasions they faced. There was also the legal opening of Trade Routes between Planets to exchange Technology and Resources on the Galactic Scale.
Of course Earth would return the Favor, legally being able to defend it's Allies with its unusually large population if Superheroes and quickly advancing Tech, while also trading Tech and Resources between Planets.
Of course the battle was not entirely won yet.
They still needed to begin Negotiations to see if both sides would even agree to the Alliance in the First Place, as well as decide on the specifics of the Treaty. The United Nation's would decide on Ambassadors to represent the different countries, while the different Alien Governments would send an Ambassador Each.
When the Ambassadors arrived, they asked to be introduced to the Representatives of the Planet. Except, they claimed that there was a missing Member.
They claimed that there was one more Major Kingdom on the Planet, the most Powerful One, which they felt must be at the Negotiations.
When asked who this missing Ambassador was, they simply replied, "King Phantom of the Infinite Realms, he and a Shard of his Kingdom reside on this Planet, do they not?"
Now they are working around the clock to find this missing Kingdom, because the Alien Ambassadors refused to negotiate without the most powerful Kingdom at the Table, and they woud not wait forever.
Just who was this "King Phantom", and why had he not revealed himself yet?
...
Sam and Tucker sat on the Couch in their apartment, staring at the TV as the Chosen Representatives for America finished their Speech. Apparently the Peace Talks had been put on Hold for a few more days as they did some last minute preparations. Something about making their Guests more comfortable before they began discussing politics.
"Hey Danny, they're delaying the Negotiations for a few more days." Sam called over to the Kitchen.
"Aw, what?!" Shouted Danny from the Kitchen, sounding extremely disappointed, "I just finished making all the Popcorn!"
"I know Honey, its too bad." Tucker comforted his Partner, "Let's marathon Star Trek instead, how about that?"
Danny slumped out of kitchen and into the Couch between them, steaming bowl of Popcorn in his Lap, "I guess. We can make good use of all this popcorn at least."
Sam patted him on the arm, "Hey it's okay, the Talks will just take a few more days."
Danny shrugged, "Yeah, you're right. Man, what I wouldn't give to be in that Room."