#laura sprys

[randomfoggytiger]

X-Files Collector's Fic: Injured but In-Charge Scully (Poll Results: 1st)

This list was inspired by this poll, winning by a ~3% margin.

**NOTE**: I have a ton of Scully-In-Charge fics in my other fic list Creepy and Cozy Cabins, which includes the works of @discordantwords, @sarie-fairy, LuvTheBeez’s Snow (a personal favorite), and Karen Rasch’s By the Wind Grieved. Anyway, onward!

Loose chronological order below~

30xf's Young At Heart - Chapter 1

""How's the ribs?" Mulder asks, returning from the door with a large pizza box in his hands and setting it on the coffee table.

"Better," Scully sighs, stretching out and making herself comfortable on his couch. "I can almost take a deep breath without it feeling like someone's stabbing me."

"Well that's progress," he allows before disappearing into the kitchen. He had intended to grab plates and cutlery, but of the three plates he owns, only one was clean. And not having plates makes the cutlery a little useless. After a quick search for napkins turns up nothing, he remembers why they usually eat at Scully's place."" 

Post Young At Heart Scully is recovering and fending off Mulder from further poking her bruised ribs.

@spooky-nerd’s (Ao3) A Minor Inconvenience

""He is afraid to touch her and yet, illogically, touching her is the only thing that will quell the panic that is slowly building inside of him, bubbling up into his throat and making it hard to breathe. His fingers brush the side of her face gently, and her eyes flutter. His heart does a nauseating flip.

"Hey," he says, in case she can hear him, rubbing her cheekbone lightly with his thumb. "Hey, you're okay. You're gonna be okay," he says as much to himself as to her. He hopes she can't feel how hard his hand is shaking.

Her eyebrows draw together, etching painful lines into her forehead. She inhales sharply and cracks an eye open. "Ouch," she rasps.""

AU S3? Mulder realizes he loves Scully after she gets rag-dolled by a psychic. She wakes up, asks if he's okay, then starts listing her symptoms. He drops an "I love you" after that.

Donna’s Without a Trace

"I'll get a rock. I don't think that lock will be too much trouble."

She nodded and stepped onto the porch to look closer. "I think it's already broken," she said over her shoulder and tried the door. The sound of the gun going off paralyzed him for an instant, then he was racing to her as she lay on the weathered wood of the porch.""

AU S3? Mulder and Scully wake up on isolated train tracks with amnesia. They quickly rebuild trust and scavenge for a way back to civilization-- unfortunately, the first shelter they find is very booby-trapped; and Scully has to guide Mulder through a bullet retrieval.

@tatooedlaura-blog/tatooedlaura/Laura Sprys's

Lucky Ones

""Slowly opening her eyes, she searched the room for some kind of clue that she was actually alive. A moment late, she focused in on the body wedged painfully in a chair against the wall.

Choosing that moment to check on Scully, Mulder met her gaze and held it for a moment before sliding out of the chair, trading for a more comfortable spot on the side of the bed. Lowering himself carefully onto the mattress, he spoke softly, "sleeping beauty awakes."

"More like came off the pain medication," she answered back in a hoarse whisper.""

Scully is shot cleanly through the shoulder while protecting a little boy. Miraculously, his head was never hit-- though it should have been.

Your place or mine - Chapter 3

""Did they really have to end the case with a dead kid, a burned out house, a bullet wound and a desperately long de-briefing?

By the time they stumbled up to Scully’s door at half past three in the morning, they hadn't slept in three days and Mulder was so stressed and tense, he threw their bags to the ground and slammed the door shut hard enough to knock the mirror hanging beside it to the floor. The resounding smash left mirror shards strewn from the front door through to the kitchen. Scully would have yelled at him if she hadn’t been wincing at the pain in her upper arm from the through and through gunshot and if she had the energy to care.

She did not.""

Mulder hunkers down with a recovering Scully, continuing their inside joke of "love is--"; and barrels her out of the bed when Maggie drops in unexpectedly.

Foul Ball

""You don’t want to hear the story?”

Wincing when she shifted her shoulders, “first I want out, then you can tell me all about your time in the slammer and why baseball games are fun to go to.""

Dating-- Scully is knocked over by an aggressive baseball fan; and is driven home later by Mulder (after he pummels said fan, gets jailed, then bailed out by Frohike.)

@baronessblixen’s (Ao3)

Unnamed

""Mulder reacts before he even knows what is going on. There against the wall, pinned up high, is Scully. A large, fat hand around her throat keeps her there, strangulates and chokes her. Her feet dangle in the air, try to kick and fight. 

“Let her go!” Mulder’s yell reverberates through the room and the intruder turns to Mulder, bares his dirty, yellow teeth like an animal. His hand opens, lets go of Scully, who slips to the ground. Thump, only once; a sad sounds swallowed by the carpet.""

S5 Mulder is horrified that Scully was attacked and almost killed by a random serial burglar in the motel room right next to his.

Fine (Ao3)

""You’re not carrying me.” The way she says it leaves no room for negotiation.

“Then how are you planning on getting back?”

“I’ll walk,” she says, hopping on one foot.

“Let me help you, please,” he begs her. “Just… let me make sure you don’t break your other ankle, too.”

“It’s not broken, Mulder.”

“Potato, potahto.""

Mulder and Scully are still dating, and Scully still gets another leg injury.

Twisted

""Scully!" She hears the breathless desperation in Mulder's voice and the rustling sound his boots make, running through the leaves surrounding them.

"I'm fine," she yells back, hoping he'll slow down. If they both fall and hurt themselves, then how are they going to get out of here?""

Scully falls down a hole and twists her ankle; and Mulder ditches the search party to carry her back to the car.

"You're okay, I promise" (Ao3)

""It hit her,“ Mulder screeched, “He hit her!“

Scully didn‘t know what ‘it‘ was, or who ‘he‘ was. Maybe ‘it‘ was the thing that was gripping her head violently, squeezing it as if it were an orange.""

Scully, dazed, falls to the ground after being clubbed with a baseball bat; and listens to Mulder make a big racket until he is allowed to run over and provide moral support.

Fictober Day 26 (Ao3)

""I’m too heavy for you. Let me down. I’ll try to walk myself.”

“Scully, you weigh next to nothing,” he assures her. “Good thing I didn’t hurt myself this time, huh? Though you’d probably try to carry me anyway.”

“I would,” she says, smiling softly.""

S6 or S7 Mulder and Scully may be dating, but that won't prevent her from getting a leg break in the forest.

Prove It

""I have a headache,” she says, swallowing her standard ‘I’m fine’.

“Let’s get you back to the motel.”

She should have known he wouldn’t leave her alone once they get back. His hands are on her as soon as she’s out of the car. His concern, while exaggerated, is sweet, and she smiles up at him.

“Now that’s what I like to see,” he mumbles, his own lips curling into a smile."" 

Post Theef Scully lets Mulder care for her.

There's No Place Like Home

""You should get checked out at a hospital. I can drive you.”

“No,” she says, picking up speed to prove her point to him. “Look, I’m fine. I just need to walk it off.” He loves her stubbornness. Once, she told him that she fell in love with him because he was stubborn. Well. That was the pot calling the kettle black. No one is as stubborn as his Scully. Any other day, he finds it cute. When she refuses to budge because she knows how things should be done, he admires it. But when she’s hurt, hobbling away from him, holding her side and grimacing, just so she can appear invincible, he can’t accept it.""

Revival Scully is banged up from her garbage chute tumble; and Mulder is thrilled when she asks him to drive her home. This leads to a discussion about how much they missed each other.

Jodithann827/DrDanaScullyX's How to Save a Life

""It hurts to breathe Mulder. Short. Of Breath.”

“Do you think you can make it to the entrance? I wasn’t kidding about carrying you,” he replies.

“I… Mul…,” is all she’s able to get out before shaking her head, suddenly knowing something is very, very wrong.

“The bullet didn’t penetrate the vest, did it, Scully?” He's already moving his hands back to where the bullet hit the vest. She shakes her head. “No blood,” she replies. Mulder lets out a deep breath for the both of them and looks longingly in the direction they came.

“Mulder, something isn’t right,” she whispers, and Mulder snaps his head towards her."" 

Post Folie a Deux Scully's vest stops a bullet; however, the impact causes air to build and pressurize in her lung. Mulder has to perform an emergency "puncturing" procedure (with her guidance) to save his partner's life.

Vickie Moseley 's Split Seconds

""Why wasn't his door locked? He pushed it open cautiously, his gun already in his hand. He saw movement and the flash of metal. Whoever was here was armed. He saw the movement toward him and the sight of metal being raised. No! He fired two shots as he threw himself to the side. Mulder heard him fall and rose carefully to his feet. He flipped on the light and froze.

"Scully?" A whisper, then he was beside her, frantically searching for her vital signs. "Scully!" This time was a cry as though to call her back to him. No pulse, he ripped her blouse open. Blood, too much blood. ...what had he done? He was performing CPR, nothing. Nothing! "Scully." This one was a sob. She was gone; he'd really killed her time. No dream. He pulled her up against him, but her arms didn't go around him and never would again. Never. Time disappeared as he held her.""

AU-- Post Tithonus Mulder shoots Scully, kills her, and goes crazy. Scully is able to heal anyway and talk him down from madness despite her injury.

Oracle's (TheOtherSide) Deluge (Gossamer)

""She is trembling, shivering, and doesn't speak. He stands quickly and pulls her to her feet, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Scully?"

When she looks up her face tilts towards a streetlight, allowing him to read a bleak horror in her expression.

"Scully," he says, clasping her shoulders, leaning close to her. "Scully, it's okay. I'm okay." He hears a dull, shaky edge to his voice when he speaks, but can't help it.

"I know, Mulder," she replies, seeming calmer, the pain fading from her eyes.""

AUish? Post One Son Mulder almost loses himself in a brutal case, barely being saved from traffic by Scully (who had flown in last minute after recovering from a recent injury.)

@mappingthexfiles/Apostrophic’s Agua Mala

""The infection wasn’t severe, it should only last a few days, but it meant Mulder trailed after her into the kitchen, a shadow she’d acquired with her temporary impairment.

He folded his hands and laid his head atop them, then pointed at her. Had she slept, or would she sleep? One or the other.

“I’m fine,” Scully said, covering all the bases. “And I can still hear you. Mostly.""

Post Agua Mala Scully has a bad cold resulting in hearing loss. Mulder brings a bad movie and jokes to ease her recovery.

@ghostbustermelanieking/skuls's

mondays on an endless loop (Ao3)

""She doesn’t speak, but her eyes are surprisingly alert; her leg is moving, off to the side, and he’d like nothing more than to hold her, to try and help her. “Don’t move too much,” he tries, moving a few inches closer, hoping Bernard isn’t watching. “It’s okay.”

Scully grunts, very pointedly, and he sees her leg moving again. He looks down to her foot and sees what she is doing: she’s sliding her gun over towards him with her foot. Bernard forgot to get it.""

Monday-- Mulder and Scully alternate "getting shot" days; when it's her turn, she uses quick thinking for his sake even though she's dying.

bearing north

""She tastes blood in her mouth, maybe from where she fell. She drags herself off of the ground, wincing at the pain in her head. The suspect’s footfalls are far away now, from where she was shoved down into the empty pool. She touches the sore spot where her head smacked the concrete and hisses with pain.

“Scully!” Mulder’s voice, echoing frantically from somewhere above her. His dress shoes pounding the stairs of the pool. “Scully?”

“I’m here,” she croaks, pushing herself into a sitting position. Nausea clogs up her throat and she swallows it back, blinks owlishly in the dark as Mulder approaches her.""

Revival Scully is banged up while pursuing a bad guy. Mulder helps her out of a pool, and takes care of her back at the UH.

Athene's Learning to Share

""Scully inhaled deeply, and then resolutely met his eyes. "I have a low-grade concussion, and a horrible headache." She paused, then went on, voice just slightly rougher. "If it hadn't been for you, Mulder, I think I'd be dead." Forcing back a reflexive dread at disclosing weakness, she kept her gaze on his eyes, and saw a glow begin in his eyes as her answer registered. She reminded herself again that the reward for her unaccustomed emotional transparency was greater intimacy with this man.

Mulder quite obviously reveled in her newly overt trust. He slowly extended his left hand, touching her forehead lightly with his fingertips, and gently swept a few strands of stiff, blood-sodden hair away from the cut.

"That would have made two of us dead," he whispered in an odd, hoarse voice.""

Post Millennium Scully blocks most of a baseball bat weapon, but still has a concussion. She is amused that Mulder is ogled by the patients and nurses in the ER; but her amusement dries up when Maggie nails her on the relationship she shares with her partner.  

@alienbaby-babymama/ABBM515‘s Smart Enough

""It came in threes this month. Not only was Scully down for the count with the flu and a sprained ankle from running after Mulder who was chasing an unknown entity through the dank woods in the early morning hours, but it was also her time of the month.

Dana Scully was miserable."" 

Dating-- Scully has a triple "injury"; and Mulder is both amused and mother-henning her at the same time.

@wexleresque/hllsteeth’s Fictober 2021 - Chapter 16

""Her injury isn’t his fault, per se, but it feels like it is since he’s the one that opened the case that had sent them out into the forest in the first place. Scully had been climbing a tree, ascending higher and higher and wiggling between branches in search of evidence she’s suspected a killer had been hiding at the top.

It might have been her shoes- heels that were admittedly impractical for tree-climbing -or a distraction in the form of an animal making noise in a nearby tree. It might have just been a plain old accident. Regardless, something had caused Scully to miss a branch by just a fraction of an inch, sending her crashing through the canopy of the forest. She’d landed with a crunch and a scream, a sound that has brought bile to the back of Mulder’s throat every time he’s remembered it in the last twenty-four hours.""

Dating-- Scully breaks her leg after a fall from a tree; and Mulder helps care for her cantankerous self, using saran wrap to cover her cast so she can shower.

@jewish-mulder/@anders-hawke/@iwtbscully/BananaChef‘s 

Us

""He rushed into her hotel room with the force of a tornado, per Scully’s words as she relays his mindless pursuit of her beside.

“You could’ve died!” Mulder says, a tortured look on his face.

She rolls her eyes and looks at the stark white ceiling. “I’m fine, Mulder.""

Dating-- Scully's newest injury require forehead stitching. It rattles Mulder more than her.

@scullyphile​‘s (Ao3) Unnamed

""I’m OK, Mulder, really,” she offered in her calmest voice, but her hand was still touching the spot where the ball had struck.

“Josh,” the young male teacher called, “what did I tell you? Go get the ball and apologize to the lady.""

Dating-- Scully gets hit in the head with a tennis ball while on a museum date with Mulder.

Lapsed_Scholar’s Variations - Chapter 3

""If only her body would be so acquiescent. Her nausea was better, but she was starting to feel light-headed again. This ultimately annoyed her. There was nothing wrong with her (there wasn’t), and she expected her body to obey her.

She walked (only a bit unsteadily) over to a chair at the terminal and sat down. Oh, yes, much better. She took deep, calming, surreptitious breaths. She could do this. Just wait for the darkness encroaching in her peripheral vision to pass....

The floor was at an odd angle. She tried to make sense of this, opened her eyes a little more. Oh. Must have passed out. Again. Fantastic. How humiliating.""

AU Requiem Scully INSISTS on going back to Bellefleur with Mulder, ignoring his mandates and silent pleadings. Unfortunately, she embarrasses herself by collapsing in the airport and scaring her partner to death. (This is a comedy; and it is amazing.)

WildwingSuz/Suzanne Feld's Existessence

""I glared over at Mulder, who had set his gun on top of the dresser and was leaning against it. “I don't believe you,” I snapped at him. “You kidnapped this poor woman out of her house?!”

“What was I supposed to do?” he said plaintively. His eyes followed Alma Jackson as she went into the small bathroom then we heard water running, and she returned drying off her hands with one of the cheap white motel towels which she tossed back into the smaller room. “I can't deliver our baby alone, Scully, I was terrified that I'd screw it up and hurt either or both of you.”

“Ya coulda just come told me you needed a midwife, ya didn't need t’shove that gun in m'face,” Alma said succinctly. I found myself liking and trusting her more and more by the minute.""

AU Essence Mulder swipes Scully from her apartment and drives them out to a motel in the middle of nowhere. His next brilliant idea: kidnapping a midwife last minute.

TheAddict4Dramatics's Enough

""I couldn’t stop thinking about this morning.” Scully said suddenly, breaking the gentle silence that Mulder had been enjoying. Her voice was tight now and her eyebrows were drawn low over her eyes. “When he pulled the gun and I thought he was going to shoot... I couldn’t stop thinking about this morning and you and Will waving me off from the doorway.” 

“It’s okay.” He soothed, stroking his fingers over her hand. She’d started crying again and it was breaking him. 

“It’s different now than it was before. I have so much more to lose!"" 

AU S9 Scully is injured while on duty with Doggett; and she sorrowfully recounts the events and her realizations to Mulder (after peeking in on her little baby boy.)

Girlie_girl7’s Day in the Life 39 - Super Bug

""She seems to have developed a blister on her heel."

Mulder frowns behind the mask and looks at the broken blister. "The first time I talked to her she mentioned that she was going to change her shoes.

"NF can enter through a wound or weakened skin. This is no doubt the point of entry." ...

"Will it continue to infect her?" Mulder questions as he looks at Scully's face.

"We hope not but NF does tissue damage at the subcutaneous level and it's hard to judge just how much damage there actually is.""

AU S9 Scully has a big family with Mulder; but tragedy still strikes-- this time in the form of an infectious blister that turns deadly rather quickly.

Nonspecific Timeline

@purrykat/mylifeinshadow’s Prompt #6: "I can't breathe"

""All at once, it comes back to you — the suspected psychic who turned out to be just your garden variety psychopath, the pursuit, your partner’s voice sounding far away as a gun appeared in your peripheral vision, the bulletproof vest you’d had the forethought to strap yourself into. The sigh of relief leaves you sputtering against warm, wet lips. Mulder. His body covers yours as he attempts to resuscitate you needlessly. You’d blacked out; clearly had the wind knocked out of you, and in typical Mulder fashion, he’d panicked.""

Scully is knocked down on duty; and Mulder almost comedically crushes her trying to help.

@ghostbustermelanieking​/skuls‘s (Alt. Ao3) 

Unnamed 

""Mulder lay on the floor inches away from her, his mouth half-open, gasping on air. His mouth formed the first syllable of her name, soundlessly. Near them, the feet of strangers pounded the carpeted floor, every footfall reverberating through her body like nails on a coffin.""

Scully and Mulder are gravely injured; and she reaches for his hand just before they pass out.  

in another world - Chapter 7 

""A smile spreads involuntarily across her face. “Mulder, you’re an idiot,” she rasps, and he laughs so hard that he cries."" 

Dating?-- Scully shoves Mulder out of harm’s way, taking a bullet for him. During her recovery, she keeps the mood light and teases Mulder out of his guilt.

Lovesfox's Close Call

""The liquid that had dropped on him, and most likely what he had thought was condensation on the rungs, wasn't water or oil.

It was blood.

"Scully?" Mulder gasped out, and stopped in his tracks, clinging to the ladder. The word echoed slightly in the shaft, for he had spoken louder than he had intended to with his shock. He cringed - expecting to hear a barrage of gunfire, or perhaps a voice shouting out detection.

"Scully, you're bleeding," he tried then, in a voice just above a whisper, when nothing happened.

"I know," Scully replied faintly, and sucked in a noisy breath. "Not much...we can do about it right now," she said next. "We've got to...get out of here.""

Mulder and Scully are escaping from a set up-- unfortunately, Scully has been shot in the side. She fades on their journey back through the woods, and Mulder puts his spare medical techniques to use.

@scullysexual/PostApocolypticAlien's

100 days of 100 word - Chapter 31

""Scully is trying to yank her arm out of his grasp.

“Mulder, it is fine,” she is insisting through clenched teeth.

“Just humour me, Scully.""

Mulder makes sure that Scully gets her injured arm tended to by EMTs (despite her protests.)

the_eternal_optimist’s Distraction

""I don’t like them on in the middle of the night,” she told him petulantly, but he knew it was a lie because she usually left a few lamps on in her living room and kitchen. “And I didn’t know you were back in town,” she added slowly. 

He could tell Scully was trying very hard not to fumble over her words. His delight faded at the thought and he reached towards her, beginning to grow concerned. But she took a step back, towards her bedroom. Because he was overtired and prone to dramatics when he’d been away from her for a while, a wave of panic crashed over him. Why was Scully trying to get away from him? Was she mad? Had he overstepped too much this time, showing up in the middle of the night? Had Skinner found out he was MIA and asked Scully to rein him back in?""

Mulder returns from a mandated trip, realizing that Scully hasn't called because she'd been injured on the job. He reiterates her importance in his life.

LuminousPie’s

Five Times Mulder Got Injured and One time Scully Did

""She feels like a rag doll at the moment, all loose-limbed and pulled in too many directions. She was sore too, her skin burning for an ice pack. She knew her hair was matted, coated in blood.... She sniffed it and recoiled. Someone placed a small bandage to the laceration on her chin. It wasn’t big, probably wouldn’t even scar but it was another war wound. One to add to the many she already carried.

She batted away an EMT and an overly fussy Mulder. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate him here, she did. Familiarity oozed out of every pore and she welcomed his comforting aesthetic. But she didn’t need his grief or his worry. She needed to patch up her walls and build them higher.""

While Mulder gets most of the injuries in this fic, Scully gets a small one at the very end. She's more annoyed with the EMTs than concerned about a possible concussion.

trustmescully's Bang Bang

""She's a fighter. Dana will make it. Just as she has always managed. She's not dead yet, Fox. Dana is alive. She lives and fights. Even if their injuries are severe and we can't do anything for them at the moment. You are absolutely not to blame. Don't blame yourself, please."

Images flashed in his head. They were images of horror. Blood.

Blood everywhere.

Scully's blood.""

Scully saves Mulder, getting shot in the process. Maggie comforts Mulder during surgery; and Scully banters the tears away when she wakes.

sixthfinger/spookyanthropologist/shadowkissedsoulmate's

I Think He Knows

""—lly! Scully! Can you hear me? Come on, Scully, wake up. Scully!”

There’s a hand pressed up against the side of her face. 

“Scully! Come on, come on!”

It’s definitely not her hand.

“Please, Scully.”

Oh. Mulder. It’s gotta be Mulder’s hand.""

Mulder and Scully suffer various injuries throughout the years; but in section iii, Scully is attacked in her autopsy bay. Mulder doubles back and helps her out.

Enjoy!

[letterboxd-loggd]

Spencer (2021) Pablo Larraín

December 4th 2022

[wearevillaneve]

What we don't talk about in the KE fandom.

Easily one of the best deconstructions of the repulsive way Killing Eve destroyed the four seasons of goodwill it built up was written by Vulture essayist Angelica Jade-Bastien's "Killing Eve Chose Cruelty". In four words, Jade-Bastien captured why weeks after the last gruesome minutes of the show flickered away from the eyes of horrified viewers it continues to burn and sear into their minds.

The fourth installment to the series, but particularly its last two episodes, demonstrates how far the show has fallen from the dizzying heights of its premiere. Gone is the delicious fashion pivoting on moments of transformation in the manner of fairy tales. Gone is the supremely precise characterization, replaced with a confused internal logic that jockeys the characters according to the needs of its threadbare espionage plotting. Gone is the spry presentation, achieved through blocking, editing, and costume and production design. But most important, gone is the tense cat-and-mouse game between Villanelle (Comer) and Eve (Oh) that acted as the engine. Killing Eve is a study in how jumping from different showrunners each season can leave a series without a profound singular voice — and it is evidence that a shallow understanding of representation and the female gaze isn’t enough to create a memorably good, cohesive story that gives a damn about the women onscreen. It amounted to a finale that gave once perpetually ravenous viewers a paltry version of what they wanted before snatching even that away.

Read the entire essay and it makes you feel better about the nonsensical trash Laura Neal dreamed up one night over too much cheap beer. Jade-Bastien brings up the one problem that predates Neal and the KE fandom hasn't talked about nearly enough.

This is a topic that many in Killing Eve's non-White fandom are well aware of, yet many of their White peers are oblivious to. Racism? In my favorite show? How could that be? Real easy.

The obvious and overt racism of Donald Trump or Kanye West is in your face and it can't be easily ignored. The soft, but pernicious bigotry practiced by the KE writers' room was manifested by keeping Eve an enigma from beginning to end. She was never given a family or life outside of her job, marriage, and the obsession with Villanelle that cost her everything. It's an irritation to know less about Eve than we do about Gemma, Geraldine, or Pam, but that's where we are. Eve was an enigma because she was never written to be anything else. A decision was made by someone to ensure nothing more than the bare minimum would ever be known about Eve. She was given a name and the bare bones of a backstory, and that's all.

For many in the KE fandom the Villanelle solo episode is their absolute favorite. It's one of my least favorites because it made erasing Eve official as Villanelle forgets all about her and so much so in "End of Game" even her name isn't uttered.

KONSTANTIN: I don't think you really want this.

VILLANELLE: I want it!

KONSTANTIN: You know what it means? It means you have to leave everything, the clothes, apartment… and her.

VILLANELLE: I know.

"...and her." "Her" has a name and it is Eve, but to Heathcote that wasn't important. That was a disservice to Sandra Oh, the actress who brought Eve Polastri to life even though she was not allowed to be more than a one-dimensional cut-out of a character. Remember Oh was one of the two stars of the show. This was one of those rare occasions where the titular lead character gets less fleshed out than multiple supporting ones.

That's not accidental. It was deliberate and it robbed Eve of her agency and autonomy. She really was little more than "an Asian woman with amazing hair." Eve was the lone woman of color constantly reacting in a world of Whiteness. Phoebe Waller-Bridge boldly chose to be colorblind in casting Sandra Oh as the very British and very White Eve Polastri and deserves all the credit in the world for it. Unfortunately, when she left she didn't leave any instructions to her successors on what to do with Eve, so they all chose to do nothing. After the show ended some sought to scapegoat Sandra Oh for the lousy last season stating as an executive producer she must have approved the direction the show went when Suzanne Heathcote and Laura Neal became the lead writers. Nobody knows how much input Oh had into the writer's room, but if she did that means she went along with a noticeable drop in screen time and the complete absence of a backstory for Eve. It's hard to believe any actor would deliberately reduce their own role in just the third season of a show, but that's exactly what some KE fans believe Oh did. They're the same ones who say Villanelle needed a stand-alone episode to explore her history, but have no issue with Eve being devoid of a past. This isn't racism in the Killing Eve fandom. Most of the fans don't show up that way. What they do instead is fail to notice how little Eve there frequently is in Killing Eve. It's not necessarily racism, which is bad, but it is erasure, which isn't good.

[broadwaydivastournament]

While it may be inaccurate to say Laura Linney is the Biggest Tony Loser of all time (Legendary Chita Rivera, for example, won just two of her ten nominations, and Kelli O'Hara won just one of her seven*) it's also not...inaccurate if you go solely by success rate, hers being, well, zero. With five nominations, she is among just seven performers in Tony history to be nominated that many times without winning. Three men (all of whom are now deceased) and four women. It's likely Laura Linney will return to the stage in the near future, get herself another nomination, and (if she loses) be Officially the Biggest Tony Loser of all time. A title unlikely to be challenged on the actress side as Dana Ivy (82) and Estelle Parsons (96) are both mostly retired, and Jan Maxwell, my beloved, is dead. Meanwhile, Laura Linney is still a spry sixty and MTC has her in there every few years anyway.

On the opposite side of the Tony scale, we have six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, a record-breaker on several fronts. She has won more competitive acting awards than anyone else, including Angela Lansbury (whose sixth Tony was a Lifetime Achievement Award). She is also tied for most nominations alongside Chita Rivera and Julie Harris (both deceased), and will almost certainly hold the record in her own right soon enough. She is also the only performer to win in every eligible category**, and just one of five to have been nominated. At the young age of fifty-three, Audra will likely continue to break her own records in due time. And if we get that unlikely Gypsy revival...well.

Pictured (L to R): Laura Linney and Audra McDonald about to throw hands at the 2017 Tony Awards.

So, while Audra McDonald absolutely wrecks Laura Linney in our little tournament, let's take a look at who they were up against for each nomination.

Her latest two nominations have probably been the closest races. 2010 was, as you can see, Viola Davis's show. Even my beloved Jan Maxwell didn't stand a chance.

Pictured (L to R): Cynthia Nixton, Laura Linney, and Audra McDonald at the 83rd Drama League Awards, 2017

Audra's losses have been to Heather Headley (Aida, understandable), Christine Ebersole (I suppose, but I'd have gone Donna's LoveMusik...), Mary-Louise Parker (I get it, but I'd have actually gone Laura Linney's one-woman show), and Jodie Comer (deserved).

Pictured (L to R): Laura Linney and Audra McDonald, pre-feud, holding a sleeping puppy twenty years ago at Broadway Barks, 2004.

*And will probably have only won one out of eight after this next awards season passes...

**some might consider Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill to be category fraud given the copious amounts of singing and music going on.

Broadway Divas Tournament: Round 2A

Laura Linney (1964) "LAURA LINNEY (Diana) Broadway credits include My Name is Lucy Barton (Tony nom. dir. Richard Eyre): The Little Foxes (Tony nom.) Time Stands Still (Tony nom.) and Sight Unseen (Tony nom.) all directed by Daniel Sullivan at MTC. Other credits include Les Liaisons Dangereauses, The Crucible (Tony nom.), Uncle Vanya, Hedda Gabler, Honour, Holiday, The Seagull, Beggars in the House of Plenty, Six Degrees of Separation. Television credits: "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City," "Ozark" (SAG, Emmy nom), "The Big C" (Emmy, Golden Globe Awards), "John Adams" (SAG, Golden Globe, Emmy Awards), "Frasier" (Emmy Award), "Wild Iris" (Emmy Award), "The Laramie Project," "Tales of the City" trilogy. Film: Falling, The Dinner, Nocturnal Animals, Sully, Sympathy for Delicious, Morning, The Details, The Savages (Oscar nom), Kinsey (Oscar nom), You Can Count on Me (Oscar nom), The Other Man, City of Your Final Destination, The Squid and the Whale, Jindabyne, Love Actually, Mystic River, The Nanny Diaries, Breach, Man of the Year, The Hottest State, Driving Lessons, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, P.S., The Life of David Gale, The Mothman Prophecies, Maze, The House of Mirth, The Truman Show, Absolute Power, Primal Fear, Congo, Lorenzo's Oil, Dave. Training: The Julliard School, Brown University. Member: AEA, SAG." - Playbill bio from Summer, 1976, June 2023.

Audra McDonald (1970) "AUDRA MCDONALD (Suzanne Alexander) is honored to take part in Adrienne Kennedy's historic and long overdue Broadway debut. A board member of Covenant House International and co-founder of Black Theatre United, McDonald is a singer, actor, and activist who lives in New York with her amazing husband and children." - Playbill bio from Ohio State Murders, December 2022.

NEW PROPAGANDA AND MEDIA UNDER CUT: ALL POLLS HERE

"Do you ever think Laura Linney reads her playbill bio and cries? Does she dream of the day when she too will hold a Tony Award aloft in triumph, or has she resigned herself to being one of four actresses with the biggest fail rate and will one day hold the record outright? (Given that Estelle Parsons is in her nineties, Dana Ivey is in her eighties, and Jan Maxwell, my beloved, is dead?) Anyway, the point of this isn't to rub salt in the wound. Love you, Laura Linney."

"It's too mean to title this poll Biggest Tony Winner vs. Biggest Tony Loser but it's pretty damn accurate, and given the overwhelming whiteness of award shows overall, it's damn satisfying that the Black woman is the one with a record-breaking Tonys on her shelf and the white blonde woman is not (no matter how talented she is). Audra McDonald, my beloved, you're going to sweep this entire tournament."

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with tatooedlaura (Laura Sprys)

Laura has 28 fics at Gossamer, but the big treasure trove of her stories is at AO3, where she has 193 fics. Thank goodness for the richness of the X-Files and for talented, creative people like Laura who can find so many interesting ways to tell tales in the show’s universe. Big thanks to Laura for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Maybe reading mine but reading older fic in general is something I still do and something I still find entertaining. I do wish i could get into my old fics and post a warning that some of those were written before the author: ever had a drink, ever had sex, ever had a boyfriend, ever lived on her own, ever had a real job, or ever experienced much of anything in the real world.

Then again, fanfic is a perfect time capsule for the age and it’s always fun to see where the originals started and how they’ve grown.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

Back in the day and up and through today, it has always been a fun experience. From it, I’ve learned to love writing. I’ve learned that fans are crazy, weird, wonderful, generous, talented, committed, passionate, and imaginative. In a fandom, you can think whatever you wish and write about anything you like and because I’ve been around so long, I’ve gotten to watch the storylines shift and the relationships change ...

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

Originally, I never had much interaction with people other than ones who sent emails commenting on my fanfic … the internet at my parents house was dial-up and I had to access through the AOL free disks that arrived in the mail so, for the most part, I didn’t have the bandwidth or the connection speed to do more than upload stories and download episode guides.

Good lord, I remember submitting a story and having to wait upwards of two days to two weeks before the new batch of stories was posted ... then ephemeral came around and you could actually have your story up in under a day ... all ya'll who started on tumblr and ao3, you have it great, let me tell you :)

One thing that stands out in my mind still (and I’m still friends with her on Facebook) was a woman from western Canada who I stumbled across somewhere while looking for the blooper reels. She offered to send me her copies on VHS for my collection. I don’t think she asked for payment and one day, a package arrived from a lovely woman near Lethbridge, bloopers playable, tapes labeled in clear printing. I still appreciate that 20 some odd years later :)

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

Fandoms are crazy places. Tread lightly at first but enjoy what you want, ignore what you don’t, rewrite what you hate, and write what you love. Don’t be an asshole when you don’t agree with someone … when you do, tell them …

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

I was on board from the first episode. It was a show about two people who you felt were destined to be together but weren’t, and wouldn’t be for years. It was a cop show about aliens and a monster show with cops. I was in the right place at the right time in the right frame of mind and there was just something that clicked and I never looked back. Friends were not allowed to call me on Friday night and once it switched to Sunday, I made sure that my parents got us on early evening bowling league so we’d be home in time to watch. Even my boyfriend (eventual husband) knew to shut the hell up from 9-10pm, even if he was sitting next to me on the couch (with my parents in their chairs watching as well)

Also, my 56-year-old dad had a crush on Scully from the start so that was entertaining as hell as well

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I have been writing stories in my head for literally as long as I can remember. Watching some episode, I honestly don’t remember which one, I suddenly had an idea for a story about Mulder and Scully. I had never written a story with pre-existing characters before and it was totally foreign to me. How do you write a character with a current storyline. It was weird, it was difficult, it was some of the most fun I’d had writing up to that point.

Suddenly, I didn’t have to explain or describe the characters, think of jobs and mundane things … they already had those … and it was great.

Honest-to-God, my first fic was written, in pencil, on a yellow legal pad by flashlight while lying with my head at the foot of my bed so I could see my parents coming down the hall if they happened to wake up at midnight to go to the bathroom. Later fics were written by the light of an 10” TV/VCR combo with me still lying with my head at the foot of the bed. I still have those old legal pads somewhere and I remember having to type them in secret, having to wait until the house was empty for 20 minutes to an hour at a time. Uploading them was always unnerving because of the slow dial-up and the fact that I didn’t have my own email address, but had to use my dad’s. I’d have to make sure to check it whenever I could, intercept the feedback I’d get off gossamer.

I was such a damn rebel.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Well, I now know how to interact with people given tumblr and AO3 but it hasn’t changed much. I contribute a little more now that I understand posting on social media but mostly, I still just write like a fiend and post, read voraciously and give kudos and likes often, comment some and reblog.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

I dabbled and have a favorite ‘Fringe’ fic … I tried to read a Harry Potter fic once … I type ‘West Wing’ occasionally in ao3 and tumblr ...

And nothing, absolutely nothing, has ever caught me like the X-Files did in regards to the fandom experience.

I have shows I watch and re-watch and re-watch but no two characters have ever had me writing and thinking and planning like Mulder and Scully. No other combo has ever made me write upwards of 300,000 or more total and still have plenty of stories to tell.

I’m okay with this.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Aside from Mulder and Scully and the gentlemen three of Frohike, Langley, and Byers … I love all Scully’s nieces and nephews in my ‘Life’ series … I also love Corduroy (picture books), Harold (purple crayon fame), Neville Longbottom, the characters from my own novels, Katniss (book not movie), Anne Shirley, Elnora (from the Limberlost), Will Stanton/Merriman/Barney/Jane from ‘Dark is Rising’ and 10,459 others …

I’m a children’s librarian so most of my favorite books are those written for the younger and YA crowd. I like my job :)

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I watch this show all the damn time. I will think about Mulder and Scully when I have nothing else to think about, normally writing and editing whatever story I may have in the hopper at the time about them.

My husband laughs when I have the show on. He knows all the episodes with me and it’s one of my comfort shows that I don’t have to pay attention to when it’s on. During it, I have edited books, decorated cookies, been sick, been recovering, simply wasted a perfectly good day because I could.

My 17-year-old daughter keeps it on while she does homework and works out.

It’s a staple at our house and no one is allowed to make fun of it, even though we all know that parts are completely ‘make fun-able’

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I read fic all the time … I have worked my way through AO3 starting from the beginning and if it was more easily readable on a phone, I’d work my way, once again, through gossamer.

Restated from above: I dabbled and have a favorite ‘Fringe’ fic … I tried to read a Harry Potter fic once … I type ‘West Wing’ occasionally in ao3 and tumblr ...

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I have all kinds of favorites on tumblr but right now, I honestly don’t remember most of the names … I pretty much read everything that comes through my dashboard and every few days, i read through the newest posts on AO3 … I love you all!!

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Of X-Files fics, I love my newer stuff … I read “Life” and its sequels every few months … ‘Your Place or Mine’ is another one I will read … actually, I’ll just say it .... I read all my own fic over and over again …

With fic, you get to write the characters as you want to see them and write situations that you want to see … I write for myself most of all and I love to read what I wrote :)

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I write them all the damn time. I have tons of snippets and half-finished that I occasionally glean things from but while sometimes, old stuff morphs into new, sometimes, it just needs to gather that dust and live a quiet little forgotten life in some backhand folder on my dropbox account ...

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

First question is answered above.

As for other creative work, I have published two YA novels, have the third in that series in editing … I have five other novels in the hopper in various stages of ‘good lord this needs an edit or twelve’ …

I am writing things constantly in my head or on my laptop … most is crap … stome sticks … some turns into fic and some turns into books …

But the point is, I am writing, in some form, at all time :)

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Some two sentence conversation will spark an idea … the line of a song will inspire an idea … a word will start a sentence which will turn into a paragraph which will tumble straight into a story … and sometimes, stuff just pops in my head for no damn reason at all ...

What's the story behind your pen name?

On gossamer, I am L. Sprys because that was my name at the time :)

On tumblr and AO3, I’m tatooedlaura because my name is Laura and I have, now, six tattoos (yes, I spelled it wrong in my handle but that’s life) … when I decided on the name, I think I only had two

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

They do now … it took me years to crack and tell them … my husband has never read them, nor have any of the people I have told (as far as I know)

Now, I don’t really care who knows … I’ll tell them I write smutty X-Files fanfiction and family-friendly X-Files fanfiction …

I am too old at this point to be embarrassed by what I like to do. If they laugh at me, I tell them they only get to laugh when they’ve published a book and I pull up my books on Amazon … I’ve only had to do that once and it shut them right the hell up …

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

Gossamer: L. Sprys

Tumblr and AO3: tatooedlaura

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

I love you! I see you! I appreciate you! I hope you enjoy! Don’t judge me for my grammar issues! I will never be able to spell the word ‘excersize’!

(Posted by Lilydale on April 27, 2021)

[milliondollarbaby87]

Spencer (2021) Review

During Christmas 1991 at Sandringham estate Princess Diana is struggling to hold everything together as her marriage is unravelling. ⭐️⭐️ (more…)

[ken-branagh]

Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to Kenneth Branagh's Belfast. Written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Branagh, Belfast is the humorous, tender and intensely personal story of one boy’s childhood during the tumult of the late 1960s.

The cast stars Golden Globe nominee Caitriona Balfe, Academy Award® winner Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, and introduces Jude Hill.

Dornan and Balfe play a glamorous working-class couple caught up in the mayhem, with Dench and Hinds as the wry and spry grandparents. The film is produced by Branagh, Laura Berwick, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas.

"Belfast is my most personal film. It's about coming home – a dramatic journey of excitement, emotion and humour," said Branagh. "To be embraced by filmmakers and distributors of such proven imagination and talent as Focus is fantastic. We are honoured to partner with Peter Kujawski and his amazing team. With the incredible support of Northern Ireland Screen also in the mix, we are very excited for the future of Belfast in cinemas around the world in 2021."

Said Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski, “We are excited and grateful to collaborate with such an esteemed filmmaker and storyteller as Kenneth. Highly personal and passionate, Belfast is a heartwarming piece that is bursting with life, and we look forward to sharing it with audiences worldwide."

Source: focusfeatures.com + their Instagram, December 16 2020

[cadaceus]

C3E03

So... this episode was a lot. Things escalated so much more quickly than I could have anticipated! I don’t want to say too much because of spoilers but hey remember how in my last liveblogs I mentioned that I was super attached to this whole party already? ...  😭

- Choose your fighter: Imaginary Flashback Robbie/Imaginary Flashback Travis or Nordverse Sam/Nordverse Laura (speaking of which, I am eagerly awaiting our next Nordverse segment)

- “Pretty spry for a…” Finish the joke Laura!

- “You’re gonna make me cuss” I love Imogen sm

- TRAVIS WEREWOLF MENTION

- Professor Lockhart??? Is that you???

- The whispers on Laudna’s message are so creepy but so funny, I love it so much!

- IMOGEN MY BELOVED

- “Be cool, hunny bunny” Laudna and Imogen crumbs

-Bertrand and Imogen are my new favorite comedy duo, I cannot stop cackling at them swinging their arms around 😂😂

- Who is Ashton indebted to??? I’m so curious!

- THE LIGHTING CHANGES AGAIN YES

- Awww Imogen :(( Losing focus in crowds is a big social anxiety mood, but Fresh Cut Grass and Laudna sticking with her is so sweet

-Travis mouthing “is that me? That’s not me” in response to the old man comment is sending me

- WHO IS THE MYSTERIOUS PERSON SPEAKING TO DANAS HELLO

- Nobody in the room? Where did they go??

- LAURA AND TAL BOTH GETTING NAT ONES ON ROLLIES LMAOOOOO

- FCG: “Well smiley day, everybody! :) How’s it going—oh my!” Ashton, pointing aggressively at the Bad Guy: “Situation! Situation!” STOP I LOVE THEM BOTH SM

- Laudna: “He’s afraid of me” / Sam: “As are we all” I mean….. it’s true :P

- I’m so intrigued by Mr. Bell’s Gambler’s Blade! Was that something from the one shot he was in?

- Aww, FCG quietly goes “I like that name” after Imogen calls them “Freshy”

- Liam saying Counterspell in Caleb’s voice ohhhhh my heart

- WHOAAA FRESHY CAN PUT THE POINTS HE STOLE FROM AN ALLY INTO AN ENEMY??? okay that ability is really cool! Maybe it won’t be too angsty after all! (Famous last words of course)

- Matt sounds so unreasonably upset about the Bert and Fearnie joke and I cannot blame him whekdndjfn

- BARRY HITTING DORIAN RUDE

- “Take your attack of opportunity!” liam the chaos monger I love it LOL

- MATT GIVING ROBBIE ADVANTAGE TO HIT BERTRAND EHDJDKKGKEJJFKD GOODBYE

- Oh rip Danas…..

- When did Laudna and Imogen deal with the Shadow Creepers before? 👀 it sounds like it may have been a Session Zero for those two!

- DORIAN AND IMOGEN MY BELOVEDS, this scene is so funny, they are a duo that I never knew I needed!

- Can Dorian/Robbie stay forever please 🥺🥺

- LORD ETHEROSS BAKED A CARROT CAKE??? GO STAR BAKER GO

- Orym: “Im more familiar with pie” throwback to the people of Byroden making him a pie judge that one time in EXU agsjkdmdm

- The Ruddy Hilt was Lord Etheross’s old party, noting it!

- MORE WHISPERS

- Fearne paying for Bertrand’s drink is so sweet awwwe

- Ashton saying “You know what happened last time” I CERTAINLY DONT PLEASE DO TELL

- Also Milo asking “did she come around anytime recently?” Who is the “she” they’re talking about let me know your secrets plsssss

- Imogen’s dream… is this her home?

- The sense of mounting dread that suddenly overcame this entire studio……. Mr Stark……..

- The lights turning red in Imogen’s dream is such a cool effect

- HER voice?? Who’s voice does Imogen hear in her dream??? Her mother’s, maybe?

- Lieve’tel… I know that name :(

[lord-tathamet]

Dinner Plans

A short story almost two years of age, that I once wrote for a university class. Found it again, dusted it off, polished it slightly, but let it retain that little bit of amateurish writing simply to marvel at how far I’ve come with my writing ever since. 

Enjoy. 

For the fifth time in the last two hours did the man with the moustache and sunglasses look up from his research and look at the face of the clock of the broken church. He scowled beneath the moustache, but forced himself to look at it regardless.

4:18 pm.

They were late, as per usual. He shook his head and focused back on his literature. He made the mental note to have a number of alarm clocks be send to each of them for next time. Flatteringly Photoshopped pictures of the Mexican coast reflected in his sunglasses while his eyes skimmed through the brochure's whimsical descriptions of the rich culture of its indigenous people and beautiful beaches.  He skipped through a couple of pages until he found what he was looking for. A decidedly too sharply fined and too pale fingernail stabbed into the page displaying the photograph of an ancient, grey pyramid.

The man sitting behind the shining aluminium table was tall, narrow and sharply dressed: a suit jacket with bloodstone cufflinks, black suit-pants, a clean white shirt only slightly wrinkled and  two buttons open. His legs ended in a pair of shiny, pointy shoes. His face was stern and angular, with pronounced cheekbones and a pointed chin. Bushy eyebrows sat above the pair of sunglasses that protected his eyes against the sun, and a long white moustache grew beneath the hooked nose which gave his appearance a certain roguish charm. A wavy mane of grey-white hair surrounded his face and hid the pointed tips of his ears, giving him certain qualities akin to an old lion. It was difficult to clearly guess his age, but anyone briefly passing by and glancing at him would take him for a very spry looking gentleman in his mid-fifties.

Leaning in on his read, the man with the white moustache made a few notes on a small block of paper. The pen he used was black, ornamented with silver filigree and absurdly expensive, as was the ink held within. Next to the note pad stood an untouched and by now cold cup of coffee, its content as pitch-black as a dark winter night and reflecting the bright afternoon sun above.  Disgusting in taste and disgustingly cheap in comparison, but he needed the table, and none of the waiters would bother him as long as he had at least one beverage in front of him, as maligned and untouched it was.

Cars rolled by exhuming grey fumes, the nearby fountain shot water into the air and people passed his table. Most of them in casual summer clothes, sundresses and cargo pants and shirts and some of them even with hats to gain some shade. For a moment, the man looked up from his notes and allowed himself a brief indulgence – the eyes behind the sunglasses darted from one healthy neck to another. A small, wolfish smile parted the pale lips and if there had been anyone to pay close attention, they would have gained a brief glance at his very pointed, very sharp and unusually long canines.

“Good afternoon, count.”

The man in the white moustache begrudgingly pulled his eyes away from his current mark – a lovely Turkish woman with streaming black hair that was climbing the stairs around the fountain just a shy dozen feet from his table, close enough for him to smell the sweet mixture of blood and perfume she exhumed – and he turned to the youth that had seated herself opposite of him, soundless and sudden as if she had appeared out of the thin air.

“And to you, countess. You are looking lively as always.”

She seemed young enough to be his granddaughter, though no one within their right mind would have thought to imagine a superficial familiarity between the two. A girl of fourteen years, with a healthy, rosy complexion and flowing, lush dark hair that curled at her shoulders, the sunshine twisting golden shimmers into its waves. Large doe-like eyes that projected innocence and hid a vicious intellect, a petite body that suggested fragility and cloaked the strength to bend iron bars as if they were straws. She was in white, of course she was, a pretty, knee-length dress and a white handbag in her lap and with her hands folded atop of it. The lid of her bag, the man with the moustache noted with a mild amusement, was riddled with numerous, colourful stickers and badges, and around her wrists hung several loops and bands of tiny gemstones like rainbow wreaths.

They were the only change about her since their last meeting.

“Thank you. My sincere apologies, there was an unfortunate delay with the train between Kassel and Hannover.” She shook her head. “More than five centuries since the invention of rail transport and still a simple thing like an open door may stall a train's journey for almost an entire fifteen minutes.”

She nodded at the travel brochure still open in front of him. “Are you already planning your next journey? I thought you would stay in Berlin a little while longer.”

“I am a traveller at heart, milady. Although my beloved home will always be in the heart of Europe, the other continents do possess their own charming allure,” he replied, setting the brochure and note block aside. “And besides, it has been a while since I have last visited the Americas. There must be much exciting game to be hunted there.”

“Always about excitement, is that the reason you wanted us all to meet here of all places?” The countess nudged her chin toward the broken church spire in the background, a disgusted sneer cracking her face. “And mirroring glass everywhere around us. One of these days, your thrill-seeking hunts might cost you your life.”

“How would the youth of your seeming generation say? No risk, no fun.” The count let his eyes wander around the square for a moment. “Where is Laura? The two of you were practically bound at the hip when we last met.”

The young-seeming woman stiffened in her seat. The snarl dissolved into a very neutral, very calm expression that seemed like it was carved from marble. “Laura is... no longer with us.”

A single eyebrow rose, but otherwise the count's face remained unmoved. “Hunters?

“No.” There was a subtle tremble of her lip, the count noted, before she continued: “She could no longer bear it, she told me, moments before she drove the knife through her own neck. She betrayed me, just like the others before her.”

“My condolences.”

She nodded, her face remaining neutral. “It has been over three decades since. I have moved on as best as I could.

“In fact,” she allowed herself a smile,” I happen to have a date just after we met up with our friends.”

“You still insist on fraternizing with your prey?” The count sneered. “Now that is a carelessness that will get you killed one day.”

“Because unlike you, I seek actual companionship?” Her eyes glinted like sharp icicles in the sun. “Because unlike you, I do not wish to to prolong myself in solitude and run afoul like some pack-less dog? Because I want to spend this blasted eternity with someone like myself?”

Blue flashed and briefly turned red. For a moment, the two stared at each other with an intensity not unlike of two big cats, every individual muscle tense and ready to pounce. Then as quickly as the moment came, it passed.

“I did not mean to insult you, milady. Forgive me. I only worry about others of our kind. We are already so very few remaining,” the count sighed.

“Do not kid yourself, count. You care for nobody but yourself,” the countess replied, but she too relaxed in her seat.

The next five minutes they spent in silence. The count returned to his brochure, only briefly looking up to take notes and to send another quick glance up at the clock tower. The young woman had produced a smartphone from her handbag and immersed herself in the screen, brief smiles lighting up her face in between her typing and the brief ping of sent messages.

“Empusa will be here in half an hour,” she said after little while and looked up from the screen. “She is picking up Lamia from the airport and helping her through customs right now.”

“What about Schreck?”

“The sun is still up, remember? He will meet us after dusk.”

“His mutation is as highly fascinating as it is impractical,” the count murmured. “Why didn't they update me about it?”

“We do possess a text chain, you know. I'm surprised you are not part of it, since you are always the one organizing our meetings.”

“I refuse to touch one of those damnable Apps ever since Lestat sent around pictures of his own rectum to everyone.”

“Suit yourself. Why the Americas?”

The count tapped his finger on the table. “The Mexica people of pre-Columbian America possessed fascinating religious rites related to blood sacrifice to honour their gods...I wonder if there might be others of our kind still in their old territory.”

The countess fiddled with her smartphone. “Sometimes, I admit, I envy your ability to travel without restraint. I tried everything, yet I still must return to my family's tomb ever so often.”

“Have you considered moving your tomb in its entirety, stone by stone? There are still many old woods and mountain valleys unmolested by human hand. I am sure the hags you usually travel with would be most grateful for the exercise.”

“I have tried, once, when Laura was still with me.” A twinge of sorrow crept across her face. “I wanted to go far, far away from home and take her with me. But then, my body began to wither, my senses to decay the longer I prolonged returning to my tomb for a night. Laura, too, could not go long without a place to return to. Horse-carriages can only get you so far. And when we tried to move a single stone, what little strength I had left in that moment was about to leave me.”

The count hummed. Then his own phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, swiped across the screen, read the message in silence. A wolfish grin split his face.  

“Then you'll be happy to know that I plan on putting an end to these laws that seem to bind us.”

“What to you mean?” The countess leaned forward, an eyebrow arched.

“I planned on surprising all of you when Schreck, Lamia and the others would be gathered with us, but I might just as well reveal it all now,” the count smiled and leaned back, hands tapered together. There was a red gleam to his eyes, behind the sunglasses. “In my studies of the Americas, I came across a new initiate to our little circle – one that shares many of my own tastes and wishes to help others of his kin. Among such, is breaking the accursed bindings placed upon us.”

He extended a pointing finger. “He is currently sitting on the other end of the Breitscheidplatz. The tall man, olive skinned, with the gold rings in his ears.”

The countess followed his direction, narrowed her blue eyes to a glint. “What is his name?”

“The old Mayan people called him Camazotz. And he might very well be one of the first of our kind to walk this earth.”

On the other end of the square, the tall, olive-skinned man with golden rings in both his ears turned his head and nodded at them. His eyes gleamed in a blood-red, and for just a moment, both of the undead nobles could catch a glimpse of his shadow flickering across the wall behind him.

For just a split-second, they saw the shadow of a bat the size of a small house, stretching its wings and enveloping the street within its grasp.

[spryfilm]

Television/Streaming review: “Project Blue Book - Episode Five – Foo Fighters” (2019)

Television/Streaming review: “Project Blue Book – Episode Five – Foo Fighters” (2019)

“Project Blue Book – Episode Five – Foo Fighters” (2019) 

Sci-Fi

Ten Episodes

Created by: David O’Leary

Featuring: Aidan Gillen, Laura Mennell, Michael Harney, Ksenia Solo, Michael Malarkey

Crop Circle: “An area of standing crops which has been flattened in the form of a circle or more complex pattern. No general cause of crop circles has been identified although various natural…

[randomfoggytiger]

do you happen to have any fic recs where Scully is the one to initiate msr’s first kiss? I see a lot of the opposite but scully should get to do it

Oh, yes, a ton.

Here are a few I haven't reread in a while. *ahem*

Loose chronological order below~

Little_Pumpkin_Bagel's Vive Ut Vivas

I swallow hard. Assuming by the way she’s looking at me, I’m mostly sure that whatever she’s up to will throw caution out of limits for the sake of both of us. – “And what would that be, Scully?”

She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she holds my collar and pulls me down....

Post One Breath Mulder can't quite conceal his true feelings, which leaves Scully an opening.

trustmescully's Intoxicating Darkness

"I love you too, Scully," he smiles and his eyes shine with his mouth.

S2 Mulder, depressed and suicidal, is stopped from further considerations when Scully chases after him in the freezing rain.

@danadeservesadrink/Samwritess's

Collapse (Tumblr)

But he needed her to know like she needed him to know, and there was no pretending any more.

“I know” she whispered, so quiet it was almost in her head. He nodded silently and pressed his forehead to hers, their eyes closing, hands falling intertwined again between them. 

Post Pusher Scully supports Mulder until his defeat breaks her walls.

Justin Glasser's (xphilefic) Lonely Nightmare

She brushed her knuckles over his cheek. "When are you going to start listening to me?"

Mulder felt his mouth twitch into a smile. "Scully," he said. His voice sounded like it was rubbed over sandpaper. Screaming, he thought. That's from when I was screaming.

"What, Mulder?" She was rubbing his shoulders now, trying to work the blood back into them. He was alive, so she was playing Doctor Scully, all business, rubbing their relationship back to normal as quickly as possible. Mulder wasn't sure he wanted it back to normal so quickly. Mulder wasn't sure he could handle normal right away.

"If you kiss me again, I promise not to shout."

Post Never Again Mulder and Scully slowly bridge the distance between them during an intense case of missing teens and bonfires.

@mollybecameanengineer/Sareki's My Beloved (Tumblr)

He started to rise, to apologize and leave the room, but she stopped him. “What things?” she whispered. 

Her face was open, her eyes bright. She knew what he was going to say, and it didn’t look like she was afraid of it.

Post Kaddish Mulder can't sleep, slipping into Scully's motel room for a late-night conversation.

@tatooedlaura-blog/tatooedlaura/Laura Sprys's

Max 2.0

Once her forehead touched his, she whispered, “you are not Max. You have so many people here who love you and need you and you have so much to offer them back and you do. That’s the difference between you and Max. He searched for himself. You search for me, Mulder. You search,” kissing his forehead, then quickly his mouth, “for me.”

Post Max Mulder drives Scully out of the city where they stargaze while she tries to reassure and motivate him to keep fighting.

The Warmest Thing I Own

He saw her suddenly blink, head shake, both signs she was just waking up, “what? Mulder?”

Knowing she didn’t recall anything because there was no embarrassment turning her red, no heat in her cheeks, eyes innocently confused, “nothing...."

Cancer arc Mulder and Scully skip work, spending the day together as he prepares the best gourmet steak and mushrooms he can for her. (The sequels Fancy Paper Napkins, End of the Road, and Post Moments are excellent reads, too.)

Miles to Go

"Mulder ..."

"Yeah?"

"Smile."

The camera flashed in his face, "I think this one should be labeled 'Before'."

Mulder gulped down the last of his hot dog, "before what?"

"Before I kissed you."

Post FTF Mulder and Scully take the remains of their burnt office home, falling asleep and waking to a storm outside. Scully bucks the expected in a few unexpected ways.

206 Bones

Chocking up her growing feeling of dread to exhaustion, anger and lack of any type of proper vitamin or mineral, she helped her partner search, track and eventually corner Parsons in an abandoned building fifteen minutes away, half demolished and dangerous to any and all who set foot inside.

Only seconds before getting the final word to take the building, Scully’s fear got the better of her and she turned Mulder to face her, pulling him down to her....

Scully gives Mulder a good luck kiss before they attempt to flush their suspect from a rotten building... and ends up the one worse for wear.

Anne Haynes's (xf-redux.com)

Sonnet

The kiss was sweet. Simple. Breathtaking.

Redux II Mulder is afraid Scully is dying, at last, only for his world to be turned right-side up in a multitude of ways.

Package Deal (txt)

But she ran her thumb beneath his chin, tipping his head up, forcing him to meet her gaze. Her eyes spoke a thousand sweet promises and then there was no more hesitation, no lingering gaze, no more silent questions passed back and forth between them.

Post FTF Scully is overjoyed: she and Mulder are still partnered, their story was believed, and the files are getting expanded. So overjoyed, in fact, she moves their relationship to the next level.

nabokoves's Unwritten Hymns

She mumbled his name into his shoulder, foggy with confusion. She wanted to know if he was okay. He pulled back to look at her, struggling to find something to say. He brimmed with words so corny they would make even the poets puke.

Post Redux II Mulder may hate God-- chalking up Scully's remission to science instead of his angry prayers-- but he in no way hates God's believer, Scully.

@nowwhateinstein's (Ao3) Fic: Seeking Warmth/Seeking Warmth

I look at him. He’s regarding me with a gaze that is both familiar and thrilling. Tenderness and desire are present in his eyes. It’s the same look, I realize, he had moments before he went to kiss me in the hallway outside his apartment - a moment that seems like a lifetime ago. Then, I found myself hesitating, afraid to reciprocate his acknowledgement of a truth we’d both known. Now, however, in light of everything that’s happened in the past week, it seems like the most natural thing in the world to lean over and kiss him.

Post FTF Scully picks up where she and Mulder left off, despite her slowly recovering body and patched-up snowsuit.

@ghostbustermelanieking/skuls's ice crystals (Ao3)

He pulls her hand up and kisses the back of it in relief. Her forehead furrows and she pulls her hand out of his. Something inside him thunks. 

But the next thing he knows, she is leaning across the space between them and cupping her face in his.

Post Tithonus Mulder and Scully flesh out their frustrations and feelings as they (almost) freeze to death.

@purrykat/mylifeinshadow's

How about M&S in Boston

She joins you next to the desk, a murmured noise of acknowledgment at the ‘CANCELLED’ notice that appears next to your flight number. You brace yourself for thinly veiled frustration, but when you risk a glance, there’s a funny little twinkle in her eye instead. You’re instantly taken back to the week prior—

Post IVF Mulder mulls over the brief kiss Scully gave him after the procedure failed.

Sending you number 20 for the kiss prompts.

I think it’s safe to say that it’s not Skinner that I’m interested in.”

And there it is. You’ve been steadily climbing toward this moment for the better part of the month, neither willing to take that final leap. It’s as if the absence of height difference gives her a burst of confidence, even as it turns you into a fumbling idiot.

Mulder, very late for a meeting with Skinner, is intercepted on the stairway by Scully.

effywho's Astra Inclinant

"I say...I say we stop talking." Scully replies.

It's his turn to look down, crumbling. "Sure, I understand."

He feels her breath on his hair as she leans closer. "I'm not sure you do."

Post IVF Mulder is shocked by not only their success but also Scully's follow up after his declaration.

EvanBlack's WHITEOUT

'You have a beautiful face Mulder.'

...There was an awkward silence, then he shifted and propped his cheek on his hand.

'That's the Evening Blush talking Scully.' He smiled with his lips, but she could see his eyes were serious - and nervous.

His nerves gave her sudden courage. 

A plane crashes Mulder and Scully in the snowy mountains; and their petty squabbles become small in comparison to starvation, necessary cannibalism, and the increasing odds of death.

Xequinn's (Ao3) Playing Hookie

“Yeah let's do this” “On a count of three” she says” “One,” he responds On “Two” they adjust suddenly sweaty hands “Three!” Scully leaps off, pulling Mulder behind her

Scully has fun dragging Mulder around on her slightly manic beachside adventures.

The Trouble with Expectations - Chapter 1 (Tumblr)

“Scully of course I showed. Why did you think I hadn’t?” She didn’t answer. Just let more tears fall. He grabbed for her hand again, and she let him. “Scully I’ll always come get you”

She didn’t answer. Just lunged forward and grabbed his face and kissed him as hard as she could.

Scully, assuming Mulder forgot to pick her up from the airport, is heartbroken... until Mulder wanders over from the bathroom.

@this-is-surely-tru/yours_truly's If the Fates Allow

“Tactile evidence only increases the anticipation, Mulder. It doesn’t diminish it.”

The slightly concussed look on her partner’s face was undeniably adorable, and he shook his head slightly as if to clear it while they both relaxed again into the carriage seat. “Far be it from me to argue with that, Scully.”

Mulder, stuck in New York for Christmas, surprises his partner with a rented carriage ride; and she, in turn, surprises him as well.

@alabama-metal-man's Unnamed

 She pulls back, runs her hand along his cheek, and turns away to take a long drag of her coffee. She closes her eyes, sighing contentedly.

“What was that for?” She can hear the hint of teasing, the lingering smile.

Scully is having a rotten morning until Mulder remembers her coffee order.

@admiralty-xfd/admiralty's Up in your arms - Chapter 1

He stared at her with a look she couldn’t figure out, but it wasn’t a look that said don’t. It was the furthest thing from that look she could discern. So she leaned into him, all the way in, and she felt him inhale ever so slightly as she took the biggest risk of her life.

Post Closure Mulder contemplates his new life. Scully answers at least one question for him.

And just for fun, I grabbed a few of my baronessblixen rereads:

@baronessblixen‘s (Ao3) 

Temporary Insanity (Ao3)

How many times has she cheated death this year? Two times? Three? She’s come so close that she’s stopped counting. Every time, she just picked herself up, bought a new blouse if it was torn or bloody, threw away shoes that weren’t as lucky as she was, and calmed herself down when a nightmare tried to take her under. She’s done. She feels it in her fingertips. She feels it like a current running through her body. She needs something. Something to make her feel alive.

Paper Clip Scully is spurned by her anger into more-than-professional overtures.

The Day After (Ao3)

“Kiss and make up?” Mulder says with a grin, biting his bottom lip. He at least has to try. Scully stares at him for a moment, the way she sometimes does before she tells him how crazy he is. He knows that look. But this time it’s different. 

Wetwired Mulder and Scully's discussion leads to decisive action on her part.

Never Cold With You By My Side

Feeling bold, she lets her hand wander behind his neck to play with the hair there. If he doesn’t want this – her – he can stop her before this even starts. But he doesn’t. So she pulls him to her, pressing her lips to his.

One Son Mulder and Scully spend the night locked up in Fort Marlene while she is hurt, jealous, and angry.

Dreams Are Made of This

Scully gets on her tiptoes and kisses Mulder. On the lips, just like that. Just like she’s been thinking about. It’s a quick kiss, but thorough. Like you’d kiss your husband. The person you love. All those thoughts fly through her head as she steps out the door. She stops there, realizing what she just did.

Scully, in the midst of a hopeful IVF daydream, accidentally kisses Mulder.

Five Minutes - Chapter 2 (Tumblr)

He returns with them, one in each hand, and when Scully reaches out to take hers, he shakes his head. Seeing him like this, her knight in crinkled Armani, his hands full, she can’t wait another second. She gets on tiptoes, careful not to topple over, and presses her lips to his. He tastes like coffee and the chocolate chip cookie they shared on the plane. They’ve waited long enough for this.

“We have?” Mulder, his eyes glazed over, grinning stupidly, sounds amused.

Will never not include this post IVF success story.

Candlelight Moments With You

You look like you're gonna faint. Eat something." She holds a chip up to his mouth and he accepts it, his lips closing over her finger. He can't tell what flavor the chips are, but he knows he wants more.

"More?" he asks in a whisper. She smiles at him and nods. But he doesn't get another chip. Instead, he gets a kiss.

Mulder tries to give Scully a good enough Christmas while both are practically stranded in a motel.

[letterboxd-loggd]

Spencer (2021) Pablo Larraín

January 30th 2022

[tatooedlaura-blog]

*Gasp* ---> Having already downloaded all 179 pieces from your AO3 and sad that eventually I will get through it all BUT now realizing your Gossamer Laura Sprys account has ones not included in your AO3 --> Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. *jumps up and down in excitement*

:) ... I think I only have one on ao3 from gossamer but please ... be gentle ... some of the gossamer ones were written 26 or so years ago :) ...

Enjoy :)

[thenxghtwemet]

&&. cauldron above, ( darcy dunn ) was just spotted in the fae lands — word has it ( she ) is affiliated with ( the dawn court ). ( she ) is a ( 27 ) year old ( indentured human ). it’s been said that ( she ) resembles ( rebecca rittenhouse ). ( she ) has been said to be ( hardworking & sweet ) but also quite ( cowardly & ambivalent ). ( she ) is currently serving as ( handmaiden to duchess louisa caerwyn)

Basic Info

Name: Darcy Dunn

Occupation: Handmaiden of the Dawn Court, serving Louisa Caerwyn

Age: 27

Place of Origin: The Dawn Court

Physical Description

Height: 5″8

Hair Color: Blond

Eye Color: Blue

Gender: Cisgender Female

Build: Slender

History

“Better a life of servitude than a life of starvation.” It was a frequent phrase, thrown about by the Jameson clan. Few humans could claim a legacy, and even fewer could claim its impact on their daily lives. But from the moment Darcy could walk, she was put to work. An inevitability, given her family lineage. The Jameson family served a number of noble fae in their generations. Humbled servants, with debts accumulated in exchange for coin or the mystique of magic. In Laura Jameson’s case, it was an amassed debt after the falsity of her husband. A spy entrenched in the Dawn Court, whose sins were paid by his death and the servitude of his wife. And soon after, his step-daughter. As a servant to the Caerwyn Dukedom, Darcy knew nothing but hard work and struggle. Lumenopolis may have captured the daydreams of fae, but by Darcy’s assessment, it was nothing short of a deception. It was the harshest of realities, as fae drew pleasure and privilege from their suffering. Still, Darcy kept her nose to the ground. Never one to speak ill, or spur an argument with her masters -- it was only a matter of time. Her coming-of-age would put an end to her obligations to her mother’s debt, and set her free. With an older half-sister, Delphine, serving as a handmaiden to the Caerwyn nobility; she would have options.

But weeks shy of her coming-of-age, her mother came to an accord with the Duke. As a mature woman, she was slower in pace and limited in her abilities. Her daughter, however, was spry and capable. Literate, hardworking, and capable; Darcy would make a fine substitute to pay off the remainder of her debt. The horrific betrayal, by Darcy’s assessment, would surely be unthinkable. It was a cruelty that she did not know of Duke Caerwyn or his family. But with a most casual nod, he agreed to her terms. Darcy can still remember the distinct look on her mother’s face as she told her the news. Although she wished to see an ounce of guilt, all the young woman could see was the relief and joy in her mother’s irises. Soon after, her mother left the noble house. Now, Darcy would carry on with her debt as an indentured servant. The devastation of it all tempted her to flee. But she knew better. A debt, especially to a high fae, was not so easily forgiven or escaped. By the grace of the Duke, she was plucked out of the kitchens to act as handmaiden to his daughter, Louisa

Currently, Darcy continues to serve as handmaiden to Louisa. However, as the cruelty of the Duke grows and whispers of a Resistance begin to linger in the kitchens, it isn’t long before a change is afoot.

Personality

Darcy, is best known for her bright smile and soft spoken charm. She soon learned that to survive, was to be liked. And so, she keeps her thoughts on the cruelty of fae or the resistance to herself, to survive the fray. A talented seamstress, cook, and dancer; Darcy exemplifies a picture-perfect handmaiden. Responsible, hardworking, and capable -- she seeks to make the most of her servitude pleasant. However, as the whispers of a Resistance grow, she finds herself growing bolder as well.

[vethyourhalflingmother]

anyway what we’ve learned today is sometimes we get our fanon content and our canon content mixed up and that’s why it’s important for me to try and source things

anyone who has a timestamp for when scanlan asks which twin is older and vax says “me” while vex says “it doesn’t matter, we’re twins”….. i will write something for you. or i’ll make a shitpost for you. i don’t know how to bribe people but this. specific moment. i have been trying to find and it’s driving me nuts.

[the-t-boy-king]

Sherman Hollis deserves Father of the year. He traveled miles to find Laura, sprayed bear spry into the eyes of a vampire and a murderer,helped solved the mystery of the sword by cleaning it, made a device that helped Laura, Carmilla, Mel and Kirsch get into the pit, and he somehow got the fucking military to come to Salis university. If that doesn't isn't the best dad ever I don't know what is.