#melissa i'd give you my life

[notsosecretlyalesbian]

Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti in Abbott Elementary | 02×16: Teacher Conference

+bonus: Lauren Weedman as Kristin Marie Schemmenti

[royalarchivist]

Ramon had a cute idea for the Huevitos (members of Fit's community) to fill the #ramonbday tag with art and kind messages so he can show them to Fit for his birthday (February 1st), so here's my contribution! I have over 800 Fit-related clips, so it was hard to choose just a few fun moments from stream :'D

Even though the QSMP server won't be open until February 3rd, we still have a few more days to share messages, art, etc. – so if you'd like to post something for Ramon to potentially include in Fit's birthday surprise, make sure to post it by January 31st and use the tag #ramonbday!

[ Subtitle Transcript ↓ ]

–

Fit: I can't believe I'm a homosexual now.

–

FitMC 2023 - 2024 Highlights

–

Vegetta: Leonarda, give me the picture.

Fit: Leonarda, you should give him a picture.

Vegetta: It's for saving your life!

Fit: [Picks up the photo she dropped] Oh, now I have it. [Sees its a photo of Vegetta and Melissa in their stripper outfits] Oh. Oh my.

–

Fit: It's a life experience Tubbo, you know? Aren't you glad you–

Tubbo: "Life experience" deez nuts, you bald bastard.

–

Fit: Ok, I'm looking through the bars– There's like, yeah–

Pac: [Falls off the wall] AAAAA–

–

Fit: [Dumping his wild cats in the Bakery] I'll just– I'll just release them in here. Screw it. What's the worst that could happen?

[The next day]

The big cats are still, uh– [Sees the cats mauling the Baker] Oh my god. They do NOT like the Baker

–

Jaiden: Fit, you're just a guy, right?

Fit: I'm just a dude. I'm just like– I'm just like the generic RPG protagonist. Like, human male, warrior. Like, it's– I'm as vanilla as you can get

-

Fit: Sneeg– shut up, I'm doing gay roleplay right now!

–

Fit: Tubbo, if you want to disable mines, you are disrespecting the entire Hispanic community.

–

Fit: What are you doin' staring at me, Baldy? Yeah, you think you're hot sht?

[The Binary Monster shows up]

Fit: OH, FCK–

–

Fit: The oldest anarchy server in Minecraft.

Fit: The youngest gay roleplay server in Minecraft.

–

Fit: [While playing "Hide and Seek" with Ramon] If he moves, then I know that was the spot.

Ramon: [Stares at him as the Metal Gear Solid "discovered by an enemy" vwing! sound plays]

Fit: [Cackles] WHERE YOU GOIN' BOY? WHERE YOU GOIN' BOY?

–

Fit: To be a turtle in the Arctic, you hate to see it. Yeah, you know this turtle is... not so different from me. It's living in a place that's trying to KILL it.

–

Tubbo: [To Pac] Just lay down. [Starts Casualonas-ing] This is for you.

Fit: [Immediately equips his weapon]

Tubbo: This is for you, king.

Pac: [Laughs] Fit - you see this?

Fit: [Shoots Tubbo, who starts screaming] I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Uh-

Tubbo: Ok, ok, well he–

Fit: Misfire, misfire, misfire!

Tubbo: He wasn't- he wasn't- OW OW OW!

Fit: Misfire!

–

Fit: Sometimes- it's not about doing the right thing, Phil – it's about doing the more entertaining thing. Right?

Phil: PFTTTTT–

Fit: They banned my ass. They're like, "Why are you talking to Pac like that?" That's unacceptable on this family-friendly Christian Minecraft server (TM). Like– "We can't be having any of that." "Can't be having any of THAT."

–

Cucurucho: [Slowly turns to stare at Fit while Pac is talking to him]

Fit: [Silently starts cracking up]

Pac: Ok Cucurucho, I'm gonna be waiting for your response

–

[Fit putting up art that Ramon drew]

Foolish: Boo it if it's bad!

Fit: Heyyyyyy! That's actually –

Foolish: Oh! Wait, that's– That's actually pretty good, what the fck.

Fit: Ramon, you weren't supposed to actually try. This is incredible!

[They both laugh]

–

Pac: Yeah, yeah! I was–

Tubbo: Everyone goes through their dick phase.

Fit: Yeah...

Pac: Yeah, everyone does.

Fit: Oh? Oh– is that so, Tubbo? Yeah?

Tubbo: Everyone- everyone–

Fit: When did you go through your dick phase? [Laughs]

Tubbo: I'd argue I'm in my dick phase right now.

Fit: Uh, you know, speakin' of spruce– you know Bruce Lee, right?

Phil: Yeah?

Fit: If Bruce Lee was a plant, he'd be Spruce Tree.

Phil: [Disappointed grumbling]

Fit: [Laughs]

[Fit gets kicked off the server]

Fit: [Laughs even harder]

[felassan]

compilation of dev reactions to the recent news like the trailer, gameplay reveal, etc. ◕‿◕

Sweet Justice Sound Group: "We've been hard at working helping out the amazing team at BioWare with cinematic and ingame sound design for Dragon Age The Veilguard. You can check out a chunk of gameplay and Cinematics now!" [source] Kat Barkwell: "Everyone can finally see my son ;__; (I'm an RPG programmer at BioWare)" [source] Varric's Bianca: "SURPRISE!! I’m so wired right now!! This is what I’ve been working on for the past few years!!" [source] Crystal McCord: "I'm so emotional right now! So proud of our team and how hard they are working to bring you this incredible game!! Glad we can finally give you a glimpse into these beautiful characters!" [source] Camille Marjoux: "Give a warm welcome to the #Veilguard family ! We’re so proud and excited to reveal the new #DragonAge cast" [source] ikhandle: "Honored to work on my first BioWare as a Creature Cinematic Animator!! Check it out here! Congrats to the wonderful team!" [source] Steve: "Companion reveal!! I'm the gameplay designer for them" [source] Siggi Sigmond: "This game was such a ride. It's exciting to see some of the work that was done all the way back in 2022 come to life! Congrats to all my fellow Bioware animators for their hard work and perseverance." [source] Melissa Janowicz: "Oh hey, it's the game I worked on for a few years before I went to Respawn. Shout out especially to the gameplay and combat folks on the Dragon Age team who brought this to life, much love." [source] Crystal McCord: "It was a busy day at the office, and I'm just catching up on all the things! What's everyone most excited about?" [source] John Epler: "we've got ourselves a trailer folks holy cannoli" / "y'all i cannot describe how happy i am with the reaction. so much of us has gone into this game. could not be more thrilled. thank you all" / "the team has done an amazing job on this game and I'm so, so excited to get to start sharing their hard work with all of you. lots more to come." [source, two, three] Trick Weekes: "Happy trailer day!" [source] Nick Thornborrow: "Did not think I'd feel emotional seeing this game trickle out into the wild'' [source] Jay Ingram: "I'm so happy for BioWare and all the Dragon Age fans who are loving what they see ;; <3" [source] Karin West-Weekes: "So here’s what I’ve been working on for the last while. 🙂" / I’m so glad! ♥️ It’s nice to finally be able to share a little bit. :)" [source, two]

[queensunshinee]

Time Of Our Lives || Part 23

warnings: SMUT! 18+!, oral sex, handjob.

Part 23

"Have I already thanked you for agreeing to come with me?" Art asked after he entered the hotel where Liana was staying. His parents had also arrived. "You know I wouldn't miss you at the Olympics, right? And in London, no less!" She rolled her eyes because he hadn't stopped saying 'thank you' since the moment he bought the stupid ticket (which she wanted to pay for herself, but he didn't exactly ask her). "I love London. It's not a punishment or anything," she smiled genuinely.

Art smiled back, but he had known for some time that she loved him just as much as she loved London, and if he wanted to be arrogant, maybe even more than she loved London. And God knows how much he loves Liana. So why can't he talk to her about it? They talk about everything except that. They act like people who have been in a relationship for a decade. People whose dilemmas are about kids and home design. Why can't those be their real dilemmas? Has Art sentenced himself to a life beside Liana that will never be full and complete? Will he always have to settle for almost because he didn't insist on how ridiculous their agreement was?

"Can't wait to see all the places you love. All the buildings you told me about." His smirk widened into a real smile when he saw her face. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and her cheeks reddened. She was truly the most beautiful person he knew. He can't believe he grew up beside her all his life and didn't realize how beautiful she was for half of it. "Maybe I shouldn't introduce you to Melissa, so you won't fall in love with her by mistake," she said in response, and he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yes. I'm definitely capable of falling in love with your best friend," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as she swallowed. They both realized how loaded his statement was only after he said it. After all, Liana had been in love with his best friend. She was capable of that. It's not the same thing. He knows it's not the same thing. And yet. It's not far-fetched in their reality.

"Are you excited?" she abruptly changed the subject. "What's the worst that can happen? I'll lose in the first rounds with you and my parents in the audience, all of America watching me, and I'll become a meme. Just another Sunday," he lay down on the bed beside her, burying his head in her chest, letting her fingers run through his curls. "Or you'll win, and then win again and again," she said in response, and he chuckled. "What are the chances of that happening, Lia?" he sighed, afraid of disappointing so many people. "High. But in any case, you know I don't care, right?" she asked, moving his head a bit, making him look at her with wide eyes, absorbing every word she had to say. "I don't care as long as I know you're enjoying yourself and doing what you love to do. That's like the only reason I'm willing to watch you play tennis. Because I know you love it and it excites you. In any other scenario, fuck tennis," she shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing and moved again, allowing him to rest his head back on her soft chest. He could fall asleep like this. He had fallen asleep like this before.

"So if I quit tomorrow, you wouldn't care?" he asked without looking at her. Because he didn't plan to quit. He was far from it. He loved playing tennis. He loved seeing Liana in the audience. He loved winning. "I'd throw you a party," she replied, making both of them chuckle.

"I brought you something," she murmured, gently moving him again so she could get up. "It's not too much, so don't get too excited," she added as she rummaged through her suitcase and pulled out a box wrapped with a ribbon. "Lia, you shouldn't have." His hand found its way to his neck for a moment, unable to think clearly. His heart was beating irrationally. The fact that she thought of him enough to give him something for the tournament, even though she was already flying with him, gave him chills. "Don't be stupid, open it," she smiled. And for once, Art listened to what she told him to do instead of giving her instructions. "What is all this?" he muttered, not knowing what to focus on.

"Okay, the headphones are supposed to be really good. They're for listening to your meditations if you're with someone in the room, or the songs you like to listen to before games. The book is just because I know you might get bored in the Olympic Village between games or training or whatever, so you have something to pass the time. And there's this really silly picture my mom gave me two months ago. Art, have you seen it?" She talked so fast, and Art felt he could cry. "It's from that time you got a skateboard for your birthday," he stated, examining the framed picture. Liana and he were seven. He was holding his first racket in one hand and hugging Liana with the other. His cheeks were red, and his eyes were swollen. Liana, on her part, had her arms crossed, standing next to a small skateboard. She looked displeased.

"Yeah, and you cried and acted like a little bitch even though you got a racket for your birthday," she laughed heartily, and Art couldn't take his eyes off the picture in front of him. "I wanted to have what you had," he said honestly, remembering that feeling exactly. As a child, he couldn't let go of her at every shared moment. He followed her like he was her tail. Probably even then, he would have wagged if she asked him to. She never asked. "It's for you to put in your room because two and a half weeks is a long time, so you feel a bit at home. After that, I might want it back. It's too cute," Liana continued, partially ignoring what he said.

"Is that mine?" he suddenly asked, pulling out a simple white cap from the box. "Yes. Okay, it's weird, I know. But you had that period where you wore a backwards cap and really looked like a smug, annoying dickhead—" "Oh yes, I remember. You didn't stop telling me how much you hated all my caps," he rolled his eyes.

"Well...I lied," she said without blinking, and he looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You looked really good with those silly caps. It was awful," she rolled her eyes. "And then there was one time I was at your house one summer, and you were in the pool, so I just took that cap. I thought maybe it would make you stop wearing them, but you just wore another one the next day. An insufferable person," she spoke quickly, as if the speed would make what she said less significant.

"When was that?" For every word she said quickly, he spoke his slowly, swimming in this moment. "The summer of age 16, like 10 years ago, I think?" she tried to remember. "Lia, did you have a crush on me when you were 16?" The familiar smirk spread across his face. "Oh, fuck off," she rolled her eyes, and he put the box on the bed beside him, stood up, and approached her. Wrapping her in a hug with his big hands.

"Thank you," he said quietly, feeling himself melt into her. "You know I've got your back, right? With or without tennis. You and I will be okay," she said, looking at him again. Art kissed her in response, unable to find any words other than 'I love you' (which he wasn’t allowed to say) to sum up the discussion.

After three weeks at the London Olympics, Art Donaldson won a silver medal in the doubles tournament and a gold medal in the singles, all while wearing a backwards white cap in every match. The kiss he gave Liana after his victory was captured everywhere. It was called 'iconic.' Nobody knew who Liana was, but she was the first person to receive his attention, and his parents or Tashi, who were sitting there, weren't surprised at all.

They said goodbye to his parents and decided to stay another week in London. This way, Art could meet some of Liana's friends and see places she loved. Besides, he could use a vacation. Tashi tried to resist, unsuccessfully. It was also Liana's birthday, and Art wanted to take her to a nice restaurant.

They sat next to each other at a bar in London, with some of Liana's school friends sitting across from them. Art connected with them instantly. In a flash. Overall, seeing Liana so immersed in her element, so social, was like exploring her anew. Discovering the person she had been all these years without him.

"Does anyone want something to drink?" he asked, and after everyone told him what they wanted and someone else went with him, Liana stayed with Melissa, who looked at her as if she had fallen from the moon. "You're so in love with him it's embarrassing. I don't know what this act is for," Melissa said the second everyone walked away. "There's no act, we're fine. He's my best friend," Liana shrugged and finished her drink. "Girl, I'm your best friend. The blond guy who looks at you like you hung the moon and sleeps with you most nights of the week, he's your boyfriend." Melissa almost laughed at the absurdity. There wasn't a single person around the table who even asked who Art was to Liana. It was obvious to everyone that he was her boyfriend. His hand was on her in a half-hug, so nonchalant, as if he was born in that exact position. As if he belonged right beside her.

"He doesn't look at me like-" Liana rolled her eyes. "What are you afraid of?" Melissa interrupted, not letting her continue deceiving herself. There isn't a person in the world (literally the whole world since their kissing photos were published) who thinks Liana is just Art's best friend. "I guess, I don't want to get hurt again," Liana murmured, looking at Melissa with a pitiable expression. "Oh, babes, sweetie, everyone gets hurt all the time. Who the fuck has the energy to be afraid of that?" She hugged her, a crushing hug. "I need to visit you more. You're losing it over there in America," she concluded as everyone returned to the table.

Art's hand returned to the same spot, only this time Liana's head rested on his shoulder, as if she was born right there as well.

Two days later, Art insisted they go to the restaurant he had reserved. "Art, we're going to celebrate at your parents' house in two weeks anyway. You're really overdoing it," she said when he just told her about his plans. "Hey, we never celebrate your birthday on the actual date. It feels unfair. Just let me spoil you for a bit," he looked at her with a gaze she found hard to refuse.

So, Liana found herself sitting next to him at a Michelin-starred restaurant, telling him occasionally that he was crazy for the amount of money he spent on this meal. Reminding him that there was no real reason for this extravagance. But every time Liana took a bite or sipped the wine, he saw her face change, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. He knew it wasn't a waste. He knew he had made the right decision, and he knew that tonight might take a turn very soon, so he decided to savor the good, certain moments as much as possible.

After they finished eating, Liana took him on a tourist bus tour, which made them both roll their eyes and laugh, feeling like kids again. They weren't bothered by the people asking to take pictures with Art. What did bother them was the rain that started to pour in August, causing them to catch a taxi to the hotel, drenched. "That was a really extreme ending to this evening," Liana said as they both laughed. "Thank you, Art, this was really over the top," she said, looking at him with a gaze that quickly changed from amused to grateful.

"You don't have to thank me for anything, Liana. Like, ever." He said, his gaze was piercing. Demanding. "Haven't you figured that out yet?" he mumbled and sighed. "Okay. No more thank yous. Do you want to shower with me?" she smiled, and his look filled with mischief as he moved towards her and unzipped her dress. They were under the warm water quickly, with Art gently moving her hair away from her face, and she closed her eyes. His hands were so rough from tennis, but his touch was soft.

"You're so beautiful, Lia. It's unbelievable that you're mine," he murmured, and she opened her eyes. He looked at her, too, and knew he had crossed some kind of line. Because they didn't say it out loud. They didn't say what everyone understood. They just acted like it, and Art was about to ruin it. Or change it. Or improve it. He was about to break it. "You're beautiful yourself," she replied, standing on her tiptoes and kissing him. He deepened the kiss immediately. And it wasn't hurried or sloppy; it was serious and mature and deep. They took their time, refusing to break apart until they ran out of air to share.

Art didn't know how he found himself on all fours before her again, but he loved looking up at her sometimes. When she looked back at him, and they both knew she had the power to destroy him, but she would never use it. And Art was beginning to believe he also had the power to destroy Liana, but he would never dream of using it. His mouth was on her pussy, and even as he explored her from within, he took his time, just as he had with her mouth earlier. And the sounds she made, which he was already used to but would never tire of, made him feel like he could come without her touching him at all. "Fuck, Artie, I'm close," and he loved when she called him that because it only happened when she was needy and coming and desperate and his, and he knew she was in that stupid state because of him, and she also knew he was the one making her feel so good, in such euphoria. And with that thought in his mind, he felt her come, half leaning on the wall and half on his shoulder as he held her shaking legs. "It's okay, baby, I've got you. Come for me. I'm here," he talked her through it, making her orgasm even more intense.

And after she recovered and managed to give him a handjob while they both giggled at her inability to function, they managed to shower and get dressed. "I have a present for you," he said suddenly, with his hand on his neck, knowing this was going to be a pivotal moment but staying calm. "Art, you're overdoing it. The meal was enou-" "Please, Liana, just let me give it to you," he interrupted her because he knew the arguments would come later anyway; right now, he needed her less combat ready.

"Okay," she mumbled, and he went to his suitcase, pulling out a small jewelry box. "Art, what is this?" Liana looked at it as if it were a contagious disease wrapped in a bow. "Relax, it's not a ring. But it might make you angry, and I want you not to be mad at me. Can you do that? Not be mad before you let me talk?" he said, playing with his fingers to steady himself as he spoke. "What's going on, Art?" her voice became more serious. Every note of amusement left it as he handed her the box and sat cross-legged on the bed in front of her.

She looked at the key inside and then at him with a raised eyebrow, feeling her heart pounding faster. "The house is ready," he said, not taking his eyes off her. "Actually, it's been ready for a few weeks. The designer finished completely." He continued, seeing that Liana didn't move for a second. Not even blink. "I'm moving there, and I want you to move in with me." His look was almost desperate. He was so afraid of her reaction, as if he knew she was about to shatter him. "Art, that's not what we agreed..." she said quietly, afraid to move. "Fuck it, Liana. We haven't been in what we agreed to for a long time. We haven't been friends with benefits from the minute we agreed on it. You know that." He closed his eyes and took a long breath. "You built that house. The interior design consists of your ideas too. You love that house, and Liana, I'm pretty sure you love me too, and if you don't say otherwise, then I just want you to agree to live with me. That will be the new agreement," he was desperate. His voice shook, and he didn't speak logically, but he tried to convey a point.

"That will be the new agreement?" she asked, biting her lip, and he could see she was giving in. "Yes. The new agreement will be that we're in love and live together in the house we built for ourselves." He moved closer to her, his voice steadier as he kissed her neck and heard her sigh. "I can't pay for that house, Art. It cost you an insane amount of money," she mumbled. "Liana, the money doesn't matter to me. I have more money. Just what I earned from the Olympics covers that house. I'm not broke in any way." He tried to dramatize that this was the last thing that mattered to him.

"Okay," she said after a few seconds of silence, surprising him. Making him move back a bit and look at her. "Okay?" he asked, confused. He honestly thought it would take him more time. That he would have to twist and convince her.

"Yes, I think we can be in love and live together in a beautiful house. It's something we can handle," she shrugged and started to smile. "So I can say I love you without fearing you'll run away from me?" he continued, not believing he didn't have to struggle. "You already stated that I love you, so I think it would be fair if you also say you love-" He didn't let her finish the sentence before he kissed her. "Happy birthday, Liana Levy. I love you," he smiled into her mouth.

'Happy birthday Amanda, I miss you' will probably be the first message Liana sees when she opens her phone in the morning, but that's a worry for another day. Today, she's celebrating the best birthday she's ever had, probably because she's finally celebrating it on the actual date.

Hey guyssss, how are we doing? Let me know what you think as always, it literally makes my day. Also, send me more requests for blurbs. I love them and I will do at least another one between this and the next chapter. Patrick will come back to us. I just needed Art and Liana to be more stable at this point. Hope you're still enjoying it <3 

taglist (if anyone wants to join, just ask): @suzysface tqd4455 @soberbabes @nina357 @lamoursansfin @marley1773 @ruyaas-world @apolloscastellan @primlovesdilfs @fangirl-kimora @serenadingtigers @imbabycowboy @do-it-for-kicks @izzywags478 @4deline08 @igotmajordaddyissues @jackierose902109 @ganana @yoitsme-04 @swetearss

[fazedlight]

What's Wrong with 5B?

(aka: how It’s a Super Life ruined everything)

The premiere of season 5 was simple. Kara fucked up, felt deeply sorry for it, and revealed her secret to Lena (driven solely by her guilt) after far too long of gaslighting her. Unfortunately, it was a bit too late, Lena was already (rightfully) pissed and about to exact a(n outsized) revenge about it. Easy peasy.

We see Kara struggle with it a little. She gives Lena the superwatch, looking super guilty the whole time. She brings Lena international treats, talks to Alex about how she’s nervous about interacting with Lena. But she seems to have underestimated the damage she’s caused - and Lena is going through a major disillusionment. 

Both of which are mostly in character from my perspective. But with the caveat that, I knew the basic summary of the Rift before I watched the show. So those were moments the characters were already building to in my head. (I know some people think that Kara’s reaction in season 3 was out of character, or that Lena’s reaction in 5A was out of character, and those are valid opinions that are worth exploring! If I watched the show unfold live, maybe I’d be in that camp too.)

We then see Lena’s betrayal and Kara scrambling to pull Lena back from the edge into an anti-villain arc. The Crisis happens, Kara visits Lena, and Lena calls Kara out - “What did you think would happen when you came here? That you'd tell me everything in a fit of selflessness, even if it meant that I knew how you betrayed me, and then I'd just keel over and forgive you?” Kara still knows she did something wrong, and vows to never do it again.

Aaaaand then It’s A Super Life (beloved/beloathed) happens.

I really liked the episode the first time I saw it. I was a supercorp shipper who hadn’t read a single fic. And on its face, I mean, they dedicated the entire 100th episode to the relationship between Kara and Lena and trying to repair it. It failed, sure, but they'd make up eventually (again, I was spoiled).

But that episode was really about absolving Kara. It was a bizarre conclusion. Kara no longer had fault, because any reality they tried out would’ve failed. … which makes no damn sense. Even if no reality could work (I’m skeptical), Kara didn’t know that at the time she made her decisions. She still has fault for the harm she knew she was causing (even if it happened to work out better than the alternatives she didn’t know about).

I think this is a narrative shift. This isn’t just about the in-universe “Kara believes she’s absolved”. This is a writer's ploy to change the narrative and make the audience think that Kara didn’t have fault. Writing this as a character flaw might’ve worked, maybe, if they had Kara reexamine her assumptions later. But as a narrative? … the shift fell completely flat.

The rift was canceled at this point. Suddenly it was no longer the story of two people’s flaws interplaying in the worst possible way. Suddenly it was: Kara is right, Lena is wrong, let us never speak of it again.

It makes everything that comes after really grating. The end of 5x19 (where Kara goes “maybe I’m ready to forgive you now” and shakes Lena’s hand) feels completely empty, because there’s no acknowledgement from Kara that she fucked up - a fact she fully understood at the beginning and middle of the season! It bleeds into season 6, where we never see Lena hash things out with the superfriends or with Kara post-return. It makes the finale (Lena’s “You made me a better person”) fall flat. At this point multiple people in the fandom have pointed out that it’s Melissa’s acting that is Kara’s saving grace (though even that has limitations, as many of us felt with Sadie). But Kara as a character really suffers - and with it, her relationship with Lena, and Lena's arc - because the writers did not make a convincing argument for their shift. 

The hero’s always right, I guess? The main character can’t have major flaws? (I hope someday we learned what instructions they were getting in the writing room 😂)

For my own sanity, I have a whole slew of conversations(/arguments) in my head that I place into season 6 to fix some of this (as well as making Mxy a liar who was trying to make his friend feel better, rather than those other timelines being real). But while they’re canon-compliant… they aren’t canon. What we needed was something on screen to make the relationship shine again, to have Kara revisit why her rationale absolving her in the 100th episode didn’t follow at all, and have Lena work through her issues with Kara and the rest of the superfriends. But we didn’t get that.

Which means everything post-100th will always feel wrong to me.

[pinkthrone445]

~I'd do it all over again if you're with me~ Prequel

Next part

Pairing:Melissa Schemmenti x Reader

Gender: little bit of hurt, fluff.

Warnlings : (+18) strong words, mention of alcohol.

Summary:you and Melissa had been in a relationship for a couple of years now, until at your sister's wedding you talk about marriage and you realize that the two of you had different perspectives on the future of the couple.

Request:I’m obsessed with this! Can you make a prequel where the reader talks about getting married and Mel refuses and then later Mel proposes the reader? 🥺 I loved when you talked about it! @babytakeittothehead

Hope you like it! ❤️

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

You and Mel were at one of your sisters' weddings, you had traveled over the weekend so you could enjoy the party and the family. Everything had been beautiful, the atmosphere was spectacular, there was certainly love in the air. You and Melissa had been together all night, her hands always in contact with yours or your body. You loved moments like that where you could go out and enjoy being a couple in front of everyone, unlike when you visited her at school and you had to control themselves, so the kids wouldn't make disgusted faces.

When it was time to toss the bouquet, you and Melissa didn't make any effort to go participate, you just stayed at the table talking, that's why you were surprised when the bouquet practically fell into her hands, which made you laugh when you saw her face. While everyone applauded and congratulated you two, the redhead left the bouquet on the table making a disgusted face

-"No thanks"-she said, and another guest looked at her curiously

-"You're not a big fan of commitment, I assume"- he murmured and Melissa shook her head, taking a sip from her drink

-"Not even drunk in Vegas would I get married, that's a mistake I only made once and I won't do it again for anyone. The only thing a wedding achieves is that at the time of separation, everything it is more complicated. Because believe me, that eternal love bullshit is a lie. All couples have problems and are going to separate as soon as possible with the stupidest reason as an excuse"-The redhead replied too sincerely to be at a wedding, clearly she had taken a little too much to drink

-"Come on Mel, there are couples who last a lifetime together, look at you and me how well we are doing in 3 years together, I see us together for many more years. A wedding only confirms that love that couples feel for each other" - You responded trying to lighten the harsh comment your girlfriend had made, she just laughed

-"Believe me honey, everyone separates at one point or another and those who haven't, it's because they're cowards"-She replied as she continued drinking, you frowned and for the first time in the night you stopped having contact with her by letting go of her hand

-"I think it's more cowardly to give up... So you are planing to leave me?"-You asked, confused, and she laughed, thinking your question was a joke

-"No, not now, but we don't know what will happen in the future, life is hard and fights happen" -she replied without much care-"don't know what will happen in the future when we go through problems"

The rest of the party you avoided the redhead as much as you could, until it was time to go to the hotel. As you were taking off your dress and putting your pajamas, Melissa hugged you from behind pressing her front to your back and kissing your neck, knowing the effect that had on you, but you sighed and slipped out of her grip

-"I thought that if we were going through troubles we would talk like adults and fix things. Not that we would separate at the first sight of difficulties, I imagined myself with you all my life..."-You whispered in pain and got up from the table

-"Come on, I didn't think you were so deluded" - she joked and you sighed

- "I'll go see my sister to see how she's doing" - you said before walking away.

-"I'm tired Melissa, it was a very long wedding" - you replied and she tried to hug you but you wouldn't let her, laying you on the bed and letting your hair down

-"But it's the last day we have at the hotel before we go back home, I thought we'd enjoy it"-she whispered disappointed seeing how you covered your body with the blankets without even deigning to answer before closing your eyes. Defeated, the redhead changed and lay down next to you.

The next day you thought that you would feel better, but her words stuck in your head, she was thinking about a future without you in it. You sighed looking out the window of the plane, why would Melissa say that? Were you giving 100 percent of yourself in the relationship and that relationship already had an expiration date? Didn't she imagine a future with you? Didn't the supposed love she had for you make her want to spend her life with you? She could have said she didn't want to get married because she didn't believe in weddings anymore and you would have understood. But no, she said she didn't want to get married because it would make the separation more complicated, that only fools believed in weddings, you assumed that made you a fool... She said that problems could separate you, so little faith did she have in the relationship and so little effort would put into fixing things that she would be ready to part ways in the first fight?

Your heart felt heavy, maybe you were overthinking things, but it had really hurt you to hear that from her. If you had known that she didn't imagine a future with you like the one you imagined with her, maybe you wouldn't have been so involved in the relationship, the more you thought about it, the more heartbroken you imagined yourself.

For her part, Melissa didn't understand anything, neither your change of mood nor what made you sick. You never refused to have sex with her, in fact, you almost always initiated it and never said no, no matter how tired you were. Also, whenever you traveled together on a plane or bus, you rested your head on her shoulder and hugged her arm because that helped you calm down and sleep, but now you had turned the other way, with your back to her, looking out the window of the plane, and hugging your pillow. She tried to talk to you, but you were on the verge of tears and didn't want to cry on the plane, so you put on your headphones and closed your eyes trying to avoid her as much as possible.

When the plane landed and you got down, Melissa spent the whole way back home talking, but you barely responded to her, your head was completely elsewhere and Melissa still didn't know why. You had already been dating for 3 years and she knew you more than you knew yourself, but there were times when she could be so clueless with the things that were happening to you, if you didn't say it to her face, she didn't realize what made you feel bad, or even realize that it was she who had hurt you.

As soon as you got home, you started unpacking your bags and putting your clothes in the wash, especially the ones you would need the next day to go to work. Among the things you pulled out was a set of red underwear, Melissa's favorite color, but it was definitely new because she hadn't seen it before. The redhead's eyes lit up with excitement and possibilities, approaching you with a mischievous smile and hugging you from behind kissing your shoulder without taking her eyes off your suitcase and the underwear set

-"And that? I'm sure I haven't seen it before... Is it beautiful, when did you buy it?" - Your girlfriend asked you excitedly, hoping that the talk would lead you to wear it

-"I bought it on the trip, I was going to use it for you the night after the wedding, until I lost the desire to have sex"-you replied seriously and I let you off her grip to continue doing your things, the redhead looked at you with confusion

-"No problem with that, you could use it now... I'm dying to see you with that" - she said in a seductive tone, but you barely paid attention to her

-"I can't, I have a lot of things to do for tomorrow for my work and I want to sleep early to be well rested" - you replied putting the set of underwear in the wash and taking out some papers from work, leaving her more confused.

The next day, Melissa got up to make you breakfast, she knew she had done something wrong but she still didn't know what. When she got up, she was surprised to see that you had already left and she hadn't noticed, almost always you were the one who had the hardest time waking up. The redhead sighed, ate breakfast by herself, and then went to work.

At recess, she told her friend Barbara everything that had happened on the trip she had had with you, how much fun you were having until the bouquet fell into her hands. And how confused she had been after that because of the anger you were showing. Her friend laughed at how lost the redhead was

-"Don't you think maybe she's upset about how quickly you dismissed the idea of marriage? You're in a relationship of 3 years with her, maybe she hoped to get married someday. The fact that you are in a relationship means that these things are discussed between the two of you, not denied without first consultation at least. A relationship is about committing to things even if you don't like it, it's about demanding but also giving. I know you're not a fan of weddings because of your ex, but she's younger and maybe she imagined the perfect wedding with you. You should ask her if that's why... And maybe if you don't want a huge wedding, plan a party even if it's just to celebrate your love. That girl left her house to go live with you, she puts up with your strong character and your anger, and she is always attentive to help you with everything, I think it's your turn to do something for her..."-The eldest advised her and Melissa sighed, she knew she was right but that didn't make it any easier, just thinking about marriage turned the redhead's stomach because it reminded her of her failed marriage and how she was cheated.

After join up some courage, at the end of the classes she was ready to go home to talk to you. It hurt her to see that the food she had prepared for you was still in its place, even though you had clearly arrived home a long time ago. After leaving her things in place, she went to the living room where she found you eating a bag of chips while you watched TV without paying much attention to it

-"Honey..." -The redhead tried to get your attention but didn't succeed-(Y/N)?-she tried again

-"Mhhh?"-you asked still looking at the tv

-"I'm home..."-she whispered

-"I saw that, I saw you"-you replied dryly and she sighed

-"Look hon...I get that you're angry about what I said, but you can't treat me like this just because of that, I think you're overreacting" - Said the redhead, tired of your bad mood, you paused the movie and put the potatoes aside, finally paying attention to her

-"Do you even know what bothered me about what you said? Because for me this is an appropriate reaction, because what you said made me reconsider my whole future with you"-You got up from the couch upset and stood in front of her

-"If this is because I said I didn't want a stupid marriage, it's obvious that we're going to have our disagreements, but if you're going to get like this because of something so stupid, I can't imagine when we have more serious problems, we're not going to last much longer together"-Your girlfriend replied clearly annoyed, everything she had practiced of how to talk things down was no longer useful, her bad temper was winning over her desire to talk things calmly

-"You don't get it! It's not about the fucking wedding Melissa! Yes I would love to get married, but I can live without it. It's about you not thinking we have what it takes to be together as a couple despite the problems. We haven't had a big fight yet and you're already thinking about separation and giving up. If you don't want a future with me, if you plan to break up with me later for some stupid shit, you better do it now and end this once and for all. 'Cause I'm not your toy to please you until you decide you don't need me anymore"-You yelled at your girlfriend looking at her with teary eyes. The redhead took a step back, calming down and sighing as she finally understood what was happening

-"Hon... I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I wasn't even thinking about what I said... I just remembered how stupid my ex-husband was and everything I had to go through to separate and get a divorce" - she whispered and came closer to you, but you took a step back crying

-"Well, but I'm not your ex-husband, I'm not going to cheat on you with someone else, I love you and adore you, I'd never think of hurting you like that. From day one that we are together I have put everything I am into this relationship and it hurts me to see that you are already thinking about ending things with me at the slightest confrontation"-you whispered no longer strong enough to fight, the anger left your body and was replaced with sadness, Melissa came up to you and hugged you tight kissing your forehead and this time you left her and leaned on her chest sobbing, just the thought of losing her broke your heart into a thousand pieces-"I don't want to lose you Melissa, I want us to do everything to fix the situation even though we have fights because I love you, I love you more than anyone else in this life..."-You whispered against her chest and she hugged you even tighter

-"I love you and I can't imagine a life without you, I'm so sorry for what I said, I was so scarred by my past that I didn't realize I was ruining my future with you... Every night before I go to sleep, I pray to the heavens that for the rest of my life you will be by my side when I wake up. It was kind of unconscious that I said, I can't imagine my life without you, I'm so sorry, I want you forever in my life."-Melissa kept whispering sweet things while still hugging you, things that erased your fears and insecurities, that brought peace back to your heart.

It was Valentine's Day and Melissa had been working longer hours, having two classes together meant twice as many students, twice as many exams and twice as many children who needed help. On that particular day, she tried to leave early to see you at home, but one of her students was having trouble at home and decided to vent to the redhead minutes before she left, forcing her to stay longer to help him. When the child finally stopped crying and the parents came to pick him up, it had been almost three hours since the last time she had sent you a quick message saying she would arrive a little later without time to give you more explanations. Melissa sighed grabbing her bag and walking through the parking lot, she knew that you had agreed to go out to dinner together in a luxurious restaurant and there was still time to get to the reservation if you canceled going to the movies as you had agreed, but she was very tired and with little desire to go out, the day had left her exhausted. Between the restless children and the problem she had to handle, she no longer had any desire to be with more people, only to stay with you at home. But she had already left you waiting and you already had the reservation paid, she knew you would be mad if you didn't do anything special on Valentine's Day. Melissa carefully opened the front door, but not before smiling despite her tiredness. As soon as she put down her coat and purse, she saw how you got up from the couch wearing a beautiful and elegant dress, silently approached her side, she expected you to yell at her or get angry at her tardiness, but instead, you caressed her cheek with a small smile on your lips

~Months Later~

-"Hi Mel, I missed you... Are you okay?"-You asked with real concern in your voice, the redhead carefully hugged your waist

-"Hello sweetie, I'm fine... I'm so sorry to be late, it's just that one of my students had a problem and needed my help..." - she answered looking at your eyes

-"Are they okay?"-you asked and she nodded-"and you are really okay?"

-"Yes, I'll take a quick shower and then we can go to the restaurant, so we don't lose our reservation" - The redhead spoke quickly trying to get out of your embrace but you wouldn't let her, she looked at you confused

-"Do you want to stay?"-You whispered, the redhead was shocked, it looks like you read her mind, she turned to look at you, pointing to your dress

-"No, you're already dressed and we've already paid for the reservation" - she insisted, not because she didn't want to stay, but because she didn't want to look bad saying yes so fast

-"But you're tired... I know you Mel, I know it's Valentine's Day but you don't feel like going out and I know"-she pointed to your dress again but you took it off and let it fall, leaving you only in panties and leaving the redhead speechless to answer you-" done, I don't have a dress anymore, do you want to stay now? You can barely keep walking, I know you wanna stay, I won't get mad if you are honest with me..."-You whispered and smiled

-"I wanna stay..."-she answered and you hugged her tightly, the redhead took advantage of your lack of clothes to let her hands travel over your body smiling

-"Let's take a shower"-you whispered over her lips before kissing her

After a relaxing and gentle shower together, the two of you got into bed and put on a movie on TV, neither of you bothered to put on clothes, all you did was bring some snacks. The redhead's head was on your chest as she hugged your waist and felt your soft breathing. Usually you were the one snuggling up in her, but you knew she was tired and needed it. Melissa was focused on her thoughts instead of the television. Anyone else would have been mad at her for being late on Valentine's Day, but you were worried about her and hers students, not mad at all. In previous years the two of you had made great gestures for each other on Valentine's Day, but nevertheless, Melissa appreciated this much more, that you had put your plans aside because she needed it, she appreciated that you realized what she needed. She valued staying at home with you, without hearing a single complaint about the ordinariness of the situation on such a special day. Melissa was grateful for you, you had a lot of patience with her. Your hand was playing with the redhead's hair and when she felt your laughter thanks to the movie under her cheek, she came back to reality looking at you with shining eyes, you felt watched and you looked at her confused

-"What?"-Your mouth was full of Doritos and she thought that was adorable

-"Marry me" - she whispered getting up and sitting down next to you looking into your eyes, you almost choked

-"What?"-you asked again after drinking some water

-"Marry me... I want to live the rest of my life with you, I want the world to know that we belong to each other, I want our friends to celebrate our love with us, I want it to be almost impossible for us to walk away from each other, I want you to marry me... Please, I'd be very foolish if at some point in my life I thought of leaving you again"-The redhead spoke truthfully and you looked at her confused, although you wanted to get married you knew that she wasn't a big fan of the idea, and if you had ever imagined that she would propose to you, it certainly wouldn't be while you were in bed naked watching a comedy movie. At your silence, the eldest became nervous- "I promise I'll buy some rings as soon as possible but if you want we can..."-The redhead couldn't keep talking when you sat on her legs and started kissing her with emotion and tears in your eyes, her hands immediately went to your waist as she enjoyed having you close-"Is that a yes?"-she spoke over your lips without separating an inch

-"YES! DEFINITELY"-You screamed and kissed her again, which made her laugh. Melissa was doing this out of pure love and you knew it, she wasn't doing it in front of a big crowd to show off, or because she had made a mistake and wanted to fix it, she was doing it completely out of love, for her and for you.

-"I'm going to be the only one lucky enough to enjoy your Doritos-flavored kisses for the rest of my life, future Mrs. Schemmenti"-she answered making you laugh and kiss her again-"I love you..."

-"I love you more, happy Valentine's..."-you answered

[my-mt-heart]

Day 2 of "what the hell is going on with TBOC's promo," which is kind of a rhetorical question because I'm pretty sure we're witnessing a duel between two opposing marketing strategies again. I wish AMC would just put their foot down already and tell the dudes trying to ruin everything for Melissa and the fans to sit in the corner and stfu because the whiplash is not serving anyone, especially not two weeks before the premiere. Let's look at these bios...

Carol’s bio really does capture the true nature of what Daryl means to her and it gives her a strong emotional drive for her journey in S2. I think it also could've touched on her dealing with the trauma of losing Sophia all those years ago to round out her arc, although I'd argue that even that isn't separate from finding Daryl seeing as though that loss "ignited" their "unbreakable bond" in the first place. In any case, I like Carol's bio a lot and I have no doubt Melissa's performances throughout the season will bring it to life. Whether or not Zabel's writing can live up to it is a post for another day (Notice that the word "friend" did not come up once? That's how you know Zabel didn't get final approval on this one). Here's the thing about soulmates, though. If one feels that deeply connected, the other should too. If one of their stories gets damaged, the other's does too and that's what's bothering me right now. We should see their soulmatism reflected in Daryl's story as well, but we don't and without that mirroring, both his and Carol's journeys just feel sad.

Long before the promo circuit for TBOC started, I was worried that we wouldn't get to see Daryl fighting to get home to Carol (specifically), catch glimpses of him missing/thinking about her (specifically), or feel that spiritual connection that Carol does and this bio does absolutely nothing to alleviate my worries. This makes it sound like Daryl is going to be solely focused on whatever is going on in France until Carol arrives and even then, I worry about how he'll interact with her (thanks again for your unthoughtful analysis on that, Zabel). Similar to how Daryl has been taken hostage by the French characters, albeit through gaslighting, it feels like he has also been taken hostage by Zabel, Nicotero, and other men in charge who desperately want to use him as a stand-in for the generic, emotionally unavailable action hero that male viewers are supposed to identify with and/or aspire to. They won't let him be the character many of us were drawn to in the flagship show: the unconventional hero who's loyal to his family and falls in love "forever" with one woman (Carol). Like I said yesterday, "loyal" Daryl is the only Daryl I recognize and the only Daryl I want to watch, so it needs to be explicitly clear where Daryl's heart lies. We need to see that Carol is his first and only choice and we also need to see that Daryl has no romantic interest in Isabelle. That's the other problem...

Without Daryl's and Carol's bios mirroring each other as they should, Carol and Isabelle get framed as opponents in a quest for Daryl's heart, which is completely unnecessary, gross, and straight out of the "book of TV tricks" Zabel claims not to use. Daryl and Carol have 11 seasons of chemistry to capitalize on. Caryl's romance is the only one that's been earned, the only one I'm invested in, and the only one that needs payoff. Clemence is an extremely talented actress whose portrayal of a nun could've added something really fresh to the story, but having her catch "feelings" for Daryl after knowing him only a few months and question her long-standing faith of over a decade not only paints her as a weak woman whose weak principles are no match for a man's charm(?), but also glosses over the string of lies and emotionally manipulative plays she made against Daryl in S1. Isabelle's character has become nothing more than Zabel's and Nicotero's seriously problematic projections of what defines a woman, and I don't want it. It's an insult to Clemence, to Caryl's bond, to Daryl's history of childhood abuse, and to fans who have also suffered through CA or DV. So believe it or not, retconning her as a "former" nun all of a sudden does absolutely nothing to make this forced romance less abhorrent, AMC.

If the last couple of days have proved anything, it's that Daryl's and Carol's show needs a female showrunner who understands how to write not only complex female characters like Carol (and like Isabelle could have been), but complex male characters who don’t fit the dudebros’ definition of what makes him masculine or heroic. That's what Caryl, Melissa, and the fans deserve. They deserve a successful show and promo that gets everyone excited instead of confused and anxious. I enjoyed the clip of McReedus discussing the scene where Carol flirts with Daryl on top of the bus in S3, I liked hearing them confirm that Daryl's reaction was due to trauma and not lack of desire. I wish AMC would let them do the heavy lifting instead of trying to placate three EPs who keep self-sabotaging (seriously, you don't need all of them hogging the mic and spewing nonsense at Palyfest/NYCC). I don't appreciate being given consolation prizes (today's video, Carol's bio, yesterday's poster) after being kicked in the teeth. It says a lot about what I can expect from the season, which isn't very encouraging. It just means AMC is still trying to make everyone happy and will end up making no one happy and potentially ruining two iconic characters in the process.

[settle-down-frohike]

Was rewatching Redux II and thought Bill's POV was really fascinating.

The way he sees things isn't far from the truth. In fact, they're surprisingly clear-eyed (compared to what I'd broadly assumed about him): he laid the blame of the quest at Mulder's feet instead of Scully's; and understood that Scully strove not to disappoint Mulder. However, without all the facts, he then blamed Mulder for Melissa's and Scully's death; and assumed his sister went to work and tried "unconventional treatment" to save face in front of and for Mulder.

He even prodded Mulder's brain in the hallway; because, while he hated the guy's guts, Bill had to know what made him tick-- and if Mulder was at all sorry. So he poked and poked and poked hoping Mulder would give him an answer to soothe his anger.... But instead, Mulder poked back, poorly communicated, then let Bill think whatever he wanted.

And it's part of what you said about Mulder's self-absorption (which is why I'm here, hello!): Mulder is self-absorbed (to an extent); and Bill sensed it (as he sensed Dana doing her best to not let her partner down) and despised it. Moreover, I think he thought Mulder's self-centeredness rubbed off on Scully too much, leaving her to disconnect from her family responsibilities like their parents had raised them to do. And he confronted Dana in Gethsemane; but felt bad, dropped it, and didn't bring it up by her deathbed, preferring to swing at Mulder instead of laying blame and guilt at his dying sister's feet.

Bill's truly a litmus test character: he voices the thoughts of those who don't know or truly understand Mulder and Scully's commitment to the quest despite the toll and the tears. Yet, he has reasonable-ish reasons for believing what he does. An interesting puzzle.

He's also gentler than I remembered. And lethal, in a quiet way. Scully scowls and thunders but Bill only yells when righteously indignant (over Mulder's "science fiction" treatment,) preferring to dress people down with harsh, harsh reproofs in a moderately even tone. (I imagine he takes after their father while Scully takes after their mother.)

And, of course, he has his faults. Big 'uns. Namely, that he tries to protect Scully "without all the facts", which translates to him not trusting her judgment.

Those are my rambly thoughts. Would love to hear yours. :DDD

I think in a way Bill’s character was a voice for a lot of the thoughts the fans maybe did/would/should have had. Especially in Gethsemane, you hear him address Mulder’s absence. He asks verbatim, “Where is he”— which is a very very valid point. You also see that Scully treats Bill in a lot of the same ways that she treats Mulder. She keeps him in the dark, and emotionally at bay. (Another interesting mirror that I noticed in Gethsemane was the acknowledgment that he too remembers her birthday only once every few years—the same as Mulder.) Scully cannot answer as to why Mulder isn’t there, because she is, in part, the reason he isn’t. In Memento Mori she even confesses that she is grateful for it. For his pursuit of his “own path”.

The prodding of Mulder’s brain in the hallway is a *great* point to bring up because there again you see similarities to Mulder, in the way that he too likes to poke, prod and instigate.

What went unnoticed to me for a long time is that like her father and Mulder—Bill is another authoritative male in her life who’s approval she seeks. But she protects herself from their control by use of secrecy. Scully uses avoidant attachment as a way of managing disappointment, and her loved ones see it too, but only when it applies to someone other than themselves. But it does tell me that people see through Scully more than she thinks they do.

A lot of people tend to think that Mulder would have been less self-absorbed had he known more about Scully’s illness and I tend to disagree. Fans seem to regard their relationship during this time with tender eyes and hearts, and the truth of it is is that this crisis brought out some of their more toxic traits. They did *not* handle this well. He very much had the right to know that her cancer had metastasized and she kept that from him purposefully. She withheld information, and as cute as the birthday dinner/snowball jaunt was, his reaction to his panic and grief was to do (as many men do) try to busy themselves by fixing or handling the problem, instead of just caring for an individual as we as viewers and Bill would have rather seen him do. (And I’m well aware that Scully did not make caring for her very easy.)

*I’m going way off on a tangent here because I’ve been watching Gethsemane, Redux one and two a lot lately trying to process my thoughts on it. *

I do think that Bill’s character, however harsh people perceived him to be, was necessary. He exposed a lot of hard truths, outside of his jerkish behavior and accusations based in ignorance. I don’t mean that negatively. I just mean that he literally cannot know what he does not know. You have a loved one who is terminally ill, a natural grieving process at some point is to be angry— and to lash out at what/who seems most culpable. A lot of the accusations thrown Mulder’s way could have been easily dispelled, and yet he chose stand there and take it because he is accustomed to being a whipping boy. That was probably poor writing, but I digress.

What I think Bill, Mulder and maybe her mother, Skinner etc forget is that Scully is on her own journey, -and I quote- “for my OWN reasons” (Momento Mori). Mulder reacts poorly because he blames himself, and Bill reacts poorly because he blames Mulder. There is a lot of evidence that they are two sides to the same coin.

*sorry it took me so long to answer I have SO many thoughts on this timeline, I know this is scattered but maybe it makes a teensy bit of sense. Also I did talk to txt bc fat thumbs. So if you see misspellings 🥴🥴🥴

[deathsbestgirl]

Being soulmates takes away their choice though

okay sorry i have to answer this one because i was thinking about this the other day and i want to talk about it. and no!! it doesn't. in the field where i died, scully tells mulder, "even i knew for certain, i wouldn't change a day." that was scully saying it doesn't matter what the truth of it is, whether they're soul mates or not, she would choose the same thing. scully repeats this sentiment several times through the series. recently, i was specifically thinking about all things. this episode is a culmination for scully. for moving beyond just accepting her desires & choices, it's about affirming & embracing them. she "talks to god" and he talks back. the woman she kept seeing was an echo of mulder, leads her right to him in the end. they sit on his couch and talk about her journey. she says "i once considered spending my whole life with this man. what i would have missed...what if there was only one choice, and all the other ones were wrong, and there were signs along the way to pay attention to?"

to me, fate & choice are actually the same thing. scully, the person she is, she was always going to choose mulder. she chose mulder in the pilot, and she continued choosing him. it's a choice she made over & over, and she would do it all again. in the truth, sitting in another motel room, just like in the pilot, scully tells mulder: "why would i accept defeat? why would i accept if you won't? mulder, you say that you've failed, but you only fail if you give up. and i know you — you can't give up. it's what i saw in you when we first met. it's what made me follow you...why i'd do it all over again."

scully could have changed it any time, but she didn't. she could have transferred or quit in fight the future, but instead she goes to tell mulder in person, knowing he wouldn't let her just walk away. much like when mulder goes to see her in redux because she would change his mind if he was wrong. or in one son, she told him she couldn't help him anymore and ten minutes later, she's calling him.

i also may have literally just posted all of these thoughts recently but ya know. they're doing laps in my brain. so much of this show is about the concepts of fate vs choice. but really, it doesn't matter because they're the same. clyde bruckman's final repose is all about it. scully & melissa talk about it in the christmas carol dream/memory. mulder is always giving people opportunities, choices — not accepting anyone's fate before the end. fate & choice, like mulder & scully, are two sides of the same coin.

[jeridandridge]

Hi! Idk if your asks are open rn, I know you got a lot in your requests. But I thought of this little fluffy idea and you're my fave writer on here so I thought I'd throw it your way and see if you liked it enough to write it!

It's a dark and stormy night and Melissa takes reader to a scary movie for date night, which basically scars the reader (in a cute funny way obvs lol) and she has to stay over at Melissa's bc she is terrified. But what she doesn't know is Melissa is low-key also terrified. Every floorboard creaking, shadows on the walls, trees knocking against the windows 👻👻👻 you know?

Cute, fluffy, funny with a happy ending. If ya feel like it!

💕💕

This was so much fun to write I hope you dig it! Thank you for the request. 🩷

Deadites and Baseball Bats.

“Cmon, Mel.” You chuckle jogging up to the door to hold it open for your girlfriend. It was starting to rain outside and you knew it would only get worse throughout the night.

“Ya know I still don’t know why you picked this one, hon.” She quirks a brow as you two get to the snack area. You’d made sure to get the tickets for the movie the day before, mostly because you knew that way you wouldn’t chicken out.

“It’s supposed to be really good! My brother showed me the original when I was way too little now I wanna see this one.” You smile at the memory. You like some horror, but it still scared you. Hell, Michael meyers was a figure in your nightmares even when you were in high school.

“You saw Evil Dead when you were a kid?!” Melissa’s eyes go wide and you can’t help but laugh at her expression as you reach for her hand.

“I told you my brother wasn’t the best babysitter.”

You pay for your usual snack of popcorn and a bag of peanut M&Ms to share, even though Melissa always tells you to just sneak stuff in. In the theater you sit munching on your snacks waiting for the movie to start.

“I wonder how scary this one’s gonna be.” Melissa hums as the lights dim. When the movie starts you scoot closer to your girlfriend noting how the atmosphere in the movie is just like how it is outside now. Rain pelting down and dark. Too dark.

The movie starts out easy enough, but eventually your find yourself hiding your face in your girlfriends hair. “That’s not what a cheese grater is for!” You squeak.

“Woah!” Melissa lets out pushing further back into her seat, her hand on your thigh.

Throughout the movie you play peekaboo through your girlfriends hair, holding onto her arm for dear life.

“That’s more blood than when they got my uncle Tony.” Melissa winces.

You start to relax when the character wields the iconic chainsaw, finally killing the mutant deadite. After the movie you let out a breath and stand up blown away and terrified of what you watched.

“I can’t believe she went after all her kids.” The red head comments as you two head out of the theater.

“I mean, it wasn’t really her, the deadite was just using her.” You reason, your face falling when you get to the lobby. The glass doors give you a peak of an angry dark purple sky and lightning striking through black clouds.

“Ready to make a run for it, hon?” Melissa asks resting her hand on your lower back.

You nod pushing the door open.

“You can’t help but laugh when you two reach the car, Melissa trying to fix her soaking wet hair.

“Oh baby.” You laugh reaching over to wipe away smeared mascara. “My little raccoon.” You tease.

“Shut up, scaredy cat.” She teases you getting the car moving. As you two head home you can’t help but jump when a roll of thunder crashes seemingly right above you.

“Fuck.” You mutter looking out the window. The sky had grown even darker, making it look much later than 10 o’clock. The wind whipping around rattles the car and you reach over holding the sleeve of Melissa’s leather jacket.

Back at home you two get in shaking off the water.

“I’m gonna get some candles out just in case. That wind is too strong.” Melissa comments heading upstairs.

For some reason, when Melissa goes upstairs you feel like a child again, feet stuck in cement blocks unable to move with fear running through you. You think of how ridiculous it is.

“It’s just a movie.” You tell yourself moving through the house to get to the kitchen. All of a sudden you hear a zap and everything goes black.

“Oh fuck.” You cry out, your heart racing. “Mel!”

“I’m comin I’m comin, hon.” She huffs flicking a lighter for the candle in her hand.

Your hand grips the door frame and you don’t let go until you see your girlfriend glowing in the candle light.

“If I weren’t so freaked out id tell you how hot you look in that candlelight.” You breathe out with a nervous laugh.

Melissa moves through the dimly lit area holding the large glass candle.

“You’re scared and you still manage to flirt.” She chuckles wrapping her arm around your waist. “Cmon, baby I’ll keep you safe.” She teases.

“That movie was terrifying! I don’t know why I did that.”

“But we did have fun.” Melissa smiles in the dark. When you two get to your bedroom she sets the candle down on the dresser and moves to light more.

You strip getting rid of your wet clothes and changing into your sweatpants and one of Melissa’s eagles shirts.

You take a step forward and when you do the hardwood floor creaks forcing you to freeze.

“What was-“ Melissa whips around, stoping when she sees you on a certain part of the floor.

“Is the big and tough Melissa Schemmenti scared too?” You tease climbing into bed.

“I am not! It sounded weird, I didn’t know if- whatever.” She waves her hand continuing to take her makeup off. You sit in bed with the blanket pulled up to your chin, your phone in hand you scroll trying to take your mind off of the howling wind outside and the freaky deadites.

“Remind me to get rid of the cheese grater.” Melissa hums climbing in next to you.

“Oh god.” You shudder remembering the scene. “No cheese graters or tattoo machines in this house.”

“Deal.” The red head laughs wrapping her arm around you. You shift scooting back to have her behind you. She holds you a little tighter than she normally does, the sound of the rain hitting the window starts to lull you to sleep until youre jolted out of your haze by the sound of glass breaking and a door slamming.

“What the fuck was that?!” Melissa bolts up resting her hand on your hip. You sit up completely still, listening for anything else.

“Hopefully not a possessed angry zombie mother.” You hiss getting up with the red head. Melissa grabs her bedroom bat and you stand behind her, hands on her back as you both creep through the house.

“If I ever get possessed you better take me out.” She whispers.

“You got it, baby.” You agree, completely tense as you both get down the hall.

“It’s in the bathroom!” she hisses looking at the now closed door.

“I’ll kick it open, you swing.” You whisper standing on the opposite side of the door frame. Your girlfriend gives you a nod and you move like a lightening bolt kicking the door in and moving to the side again as Melissa winds her arms up ready to swing.

“Oh my god.” Melissa sighs bringing a hand to her chest. You look in past her seeing the bathroom window broken and a tree branch through it.

“So not a deadite” you sigh in relief. Melissa steps forward and you pull her back by the arm. “Stop, you’re gonna step on glass. It’s too dark to deal with this right now.”

Melissa puts her arms down closing the door again.

“We’ll have to wait until the morning to do something about that.” She hums.

You can’t help but smile standing beside her. “Thank you for protecting me from deaites and tree branches.”

Melissa laughs intertwining your fingers pulling you back to the bedroom.

“I think we have to put a no scary movies in the dark rule in place.”

“Deal. Big time deal.”

[spoilmesweetieforficssake]

Hey!!! first off I just wanted to say that ur fics make me go feral, like dude you have no idea they're just so soft and fluffy and awesomr and cool and yeah

I was also wondering if i could request something, prompt 10 "You broke somebody's nose for me?" "Of course, it was to defend your honor!" off the valentine's list, melissa asking reader and they're just al fluffy and cute nd yh

i have no idea if you're still doing these or taking requests, i couldn't find anything ab them being closed but if you're not that's totally cool

have an awesome day/night and thanks

There's that magic word again; feral. Honestly, I can't get enough of that reaction to my fic. *happy dance ensues*

This has taken a little longer to get out than I'd like, but I hope you like it. And please consider my requests/asks open unless I post otherwise...but please also be patient! It's not that I've forgotten about them, more life likes to get in the way.

Anyway, enough about me. More about you and your ask! I hope it ticks the cute and fluffy box and is at least in the direction of what you imagined.

~*~

You’re standing at the bar trying to catch the barman’s attention when you feel someone sidle up next to you.  

“So what does the M stand for?” 

It’s takes you a minute to realise they’re even talking to you until they reach out to touch the necklace you’ve been playing with. You startle at the unexpected touch and flinch back, only settling when familiar hands settle on your hips. 

“Mine,” smirks Melissa. 

You take a step further back from the random guy who’s now glaring at the red head. Ignoring him, you settle further back into her embrace as she wraps her arms around your waist, leaning her head on your shoulder.  

Catching the barman’s attention she orders both your drinks over your shoulder before pressing a kiss to your cheek. 

* 

Later that night, you’re sat at your table, waiting for Melissa to return from the bathroom, once again fiddling with your necklace. It’s a habit you’ve had for years, decades even. 

You smile as you recall how you came to have the little ‘M’ you now proudly wear. You had lost the one you used to always wear and had had since being a teenager. It was a simple pendant and not one of any monetary value, but it was familiar and comfortable. For days, you kept going to reach for it only for your fingers to brush empty skin and fall away in frustration. 

It had been movie night at Melissa’s and you had been cuddled up on the couch. They had become somewhat of a tradition for you both, taking turns about to pick the movie and the provide the snacks. Admittedly, the number of movies you actually watched together to the end were few and far between but you both enjoyed those nights all the same. Perhaps even enjoyed more. 

You hear the tinkling of her own necklaces as she toys with them but assume she’d just untangling them as she often does. It’s not until later in the movie that you feel her move your hair, securing a chain around your neck.  

Fingers finding the small charm settled against your chest you had lifted into your line of vision, smiling at the small ‘M’ dangling there. The subtle claim was not lost on you, nor was her nervous smile as you turned to press a kiss to her lips in thanks. 

You’re torn from your reverie by the same guy who approached you at the bar. He sidles up to your table, full of confidence and one too many drinks. 

“You want a real good night? How about you ditch grandma and come home with me?” 

“Excuse me?” you hiss, not quite believing he’s had the gall to say what he just did. “What did you call her?” 

“Oh, come on,” he says, flashing you a grin. “She’s not the worst looking, but she has years on you. There’s no way she can give you what you need.” 

That touches a sore spot. You know the age gap between you and Melissa plays on her minds at times. You hate that it does. Hate that she doubts herself for any reason. Hates that she sometimes doubts what you have together. “You need to stop,” you say, pushing yourself for her feet with the intention of collecting your bags and going to find Melissa and then a new place to drink. 

“Oh baby,” he grins. “I don’t stop, I don’t stop all. Night. Long,” he continues, stepping close and pressing himself against you. You’re not quite sure when you decide that the best response to that is bringing your fist to his face, or if there’s any real conscious decision to it at all. What you are quite sure of, however, is that the result it rather messy and has you escorted out by the bouncer.  

* 

Coming back from the bathroom Melissa finds herself thoroughly confused to find your table empty apart from the waitress cleaning up what looks like the rest of your drinks and...was that blood? She spots your coats and bags hanging still hanging off the back of your chairs, her frown only deepening. “What the hell happened?”  

“That idiot was talking trash about her girl, so she punched him,” came the no nonsense reply as the blonde nods in the direction of the guy from earlier. “Decent right hook too. Bouncer took her outside. Threw the wrong person out in my book.” 

The red head can’t help but smile as she grabs your things and heads outside where she finds you pleading with the bouncer to let you back in.  

“You broke somebody’s nose for me?” 

You turn away from the bouncer at Melissa’s voice and find her clutching your things, an odd expression on her face. “Of course,” you reply like it was obvious. It’s not like you consider violence the answer in many situations, but you’d do anything for the red head. “It was to defend your honour. And he was really pissing me off.” 

She smiles goofily at you. “You really punched someone for me?” 

“Yeah. My hand fucking hurts too,” you grumble, holding your injured hand gingerly. You’ve never punched someone in the face before. Never punched anyone anywhere before. You didn’t expect it to hurt so much.  

She pulls you in for a kiss, effectively halting any further complaints you have. “How about I go back in and get some ice for that then we can go home and I can thank you for defending my honour?” 

“You’re always full of good ideas,” you smile, enjoying the spark in her eyes as she drapes your jacket around your shoulders, careful of your injured hand.  

She chuckles, still wearing that same goofy smile. “Barb is never gonna believe it when I tell her it was you and not me that punched someone.” 

“You could just not tell her?” you suggest, already knowing you’re going to be in for a stern word or two if she does.  

“Oh sweetie,” says Melissa. “I hate to tell you but that hand is gonna bruise. She’s gonna know.” She gently lifts your injured hand and kisses you sore knuckles. 

“Yeah well,” you mumble. “At least she’ll know I stuck up for you.” 

“My hero,” she grins, pressing a sweet kiss to your lips. “I love you.” 

“Even if my cage fighting career is over before it’s even begun?” 

“Especially because of that,” she smirks. “I don’t want that hand out of commission for any longer than it has to be.” 

[specialagentlokitty]

Scott x sister!reader - done trying

Teen Wolf imagine being Scott sister and having a complicated relationship with him and your mother and putting it into a song and singing your heart out at the talent show. - @cokcola4112💜

A/N: the song used is Running by NF

Sitting in your room, you were chewing the end of your pencil as you stared at the homework in front of you.

“Hey (Y/N), we’re ordering some food, do you want anything?”

Looking up at your mum, you shook your head.

“No thank you, I’m just going to get something later.”

“Are you sure? We haven’t eaten together in a while.”

You turned back to your homework.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Melissa sighed and nodded her head, leaning against the doorway as she crossed her arms as she gazed at you.

“How’s Uhm.. how’s school going?” She asked.

You shrugged a little bit.

“Okay I guess.”

She sighed softly and walked inside.

“Are you really not going to eat with us?”

“No. I’ve got school work to do so can you please go.”

“Alright. Alright.”

Melissa walked away and shook her head as she looked at Scott who was waiting for her to come back down, hopefully with you.

“I don’t get it, she’s always trying to do stuff with us.” Scott said.

“She said she was busy.”

Scott sighed and nodded.

You closed your bedroom door, and gave up on your homework, instead you sat on your bed and scrolled through your phone.

You had always had a complicated relationship with Scott and your mom, yes you were twins, but your mom always seemed to favour Scott.

Maybe it had something to do with whatever happened when you were younger, you didn’t know.

But after years and years of trying to put the effort in with them you gave up, and they couldn’t seem to notice what was going on.

You had tried.

You were tired of trying.

You left the house about an hour later, going to meet some of your friends for dinner and you came back, only to be stopped by Scott.

“Are you coming to the game tomorrow?” He asked.

“Hate lacrosse.”

“Oh.. I thought you liked it…” he mumbled.

“Well maybe if you paid attention you would’ve know.” You shrugged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. I’m going to bed.”

You wanted to move in with your dad, but because of school and his work, he knew he didn’t have the time to look after you.

And you hated it.

It’s why you signed up for the talent show, you didn’t want people to see you as Scott’s sister, you wanted them to see you for you.

And singing was a huge passion of yours, so as you stood behind the stage the night of the talent show you felt nervous.

Your name was called up and you walked out, standing in front of the microphone, you took a small breath, and waited for your cue to start.

And what you didn’t know was that your mom and brother found out about you taking part and had come to watch.

You took a small breath and began to play the guitar.

“I'm tired. Of holding on to you, it's time to let My pride Go and learn to love myself again, yeah.”

You paused.

“I don't wanna wait another day, I've waited long enough I'm ready I can see the sun, it's coming up. There's happiness on the horizon, I'm hopeful I can see the light, I've Hesitated all my life but I'm all done.”

Scott and Melissa shared a look. You were amazing.

“I'm done running from you. Spent my whole life in your shadow Scared of who I'd be if I, Yeah, Said goodbye and I didn't have you here.”

You took a breath.

“I wish you well but I can no longer stand aside And watch you sabotage the two of us. I love you to death, but I can't spend the rest of my Life in this darkness, I'm done. I'm done.”

Melissa and Scott grew more confused.

“Is this about us..?” Scott whispered.

“I don’t know..”

You carried on singing.

“I wish you the best, but I'm not interested In giving you more of my life, I've already given you too much. I don't wanna lose ya. I don't wanna keep ya. I know that you mean well but when I fail I don't need ya. Rubbing my face in it and treating me like I'm less than you, tell the truth You know I'd be better without ya. Been in your shoes, don't be a fool And try to convince me that I'm the Real issue, when you're the root to every problem I love you but not enough to allow you to continue to drown the both of us, you're Holding me back, you're pulling me down, you're making me hate myself, I Don't wanna leave, but that's what I need, I ain't got a choice, I can't just Let you deceive and make me believe that I don't deserve to be loved. I am not gonna stand aside And watch you attempt to rob and steal and sabotage What little faith I have left, yeah, haven't I scarificed enough for you? Hate seeing you cry, but I think it's time to let go and say our goodbyes. Yeah, I'm gonna miss you, but I am not gonna spend the rest of my life running From you.”

You paused.

“Spent my whole life in your shadow Scared of who I'd be if I Said goodbye and I didn't have you here. I wish you well but I can no longer stand aside And watch you sabotage the two of us. I love you to death, but I can't spent the rest of my Life in this darkness, I'm done. I'm done.”

Mellissa had tears running down her face, and Scott gripped her hand tightly in his.

Because they realised it was about them, they weren’t sure how but they just knew.

“I have to go..”

“Mom!”

Scott rushed out after your mom, following her into the hallway he hugged her tightly, letting her cry into his shoulder.

He sniffled a little.

“We made her feel like that?” Melissa asked.

“I.. I don’t know how…” he whispered.

You had watched them rush out, and you left the stage, handing the guitar to someone else you stuff your hands into your pocket and left.

Wondering around the hallways you stopped when you wondered down their hallway and you paused.

Both of them stopped and looked at you.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart…”

You walked over and stopped next to you, moving aside as she reached for your hand.

“Don’t I love you both but I’m done…” you whispered.

“Give us a chance let us fix this!” Scott begged, “we can’t loose you.”

“Maybe you should give that song another listen.”

You walked away and they watched you leave.

“I’ve spent too long begging for your attention.” You mumbled.

With that, you left the school and got into your car, clenching your jaw as you fought the tears in your eyes.

Part of you wanted to run back inside and hug them, tell them it’s all forgive but you knew if you did that you knew nothing would change.

They had to learn their lesson, no matter how much it hurt the three of you.

You needed this.

And they needed to learn from this.

You had tried and you couldn’t do it anymore you just couldn’t.

And they didn’t know how to fix it, or if they even could change anything and make it better.

Scott held your guys’ mom as she sobbed into his arms, trying to figure out where she had gone wrong, and he was doing the same thing.

They wanted to fix this and now they weren’t sure if they could, or you would even let them.

Maybe it was too late now.

But they sure as hell were going to try, they were going to try anything

[sunflowerseedsandscience]

Various Storms and Saints- Chapter One

Previous Chapters: Prologue

Maybe it was because he'd never had any relatives or close friends have kids, but for Mulder, the hospital had never been a place he associated with joy.

His earliest hospital memory had been when Samantha had broken her collarbone, and since his mother had decided the incident had been his fault-- hadn't she told him a hundred times that the rope swing was too worn out to play on, so what had he been thinking?--most of what he remembered from that particular hospital trip had been his mother's cold anger. He'd been taken to the hospital two years later when Sam had disappeared, when first responders worried he might be in shock, and that visit had been no better.

All of Mulder's adult hospital experience up until this point had been similarly awful. Visiting injured witnesses or colleagues, meeting family members in the waiting room to deliver bad news, suffering through injuries of his own... and now, most recently, the interminable vigil by Scully's bedside, watching and waiting while the cord tethering her to life slowly frayed to nothing.

But now? As Mulder strode down the hospital hallway towards from Scully's room, where she sat waiting for him, alive, awake, and returned to him beyond all probability, there was nowhere else he'd rather have been. Even the drab green linoleum was beautiful to him as he raced along it towards her room. Her mother and sister had been with her earlier, and under their close watch he hadn't been able to be as free and open with her as he would have liked. Maybe today his luck would be better and she'd be on her own.

But then again, maybe not.

"Hi, Mulder!" Melissa greeted him enthusiastically before Scully had even had a chance to open her eyes. She leapt up from her seat by the bed and embraced him, catching him off guard. Over her shoulder Scully looked on with an amused expression, clearly enjoying his discomfiture. As soon as Melissa released him he approached the bed, and after a brief hesitation, he bent and kissed Scully's cheek. Her face flushed red as he straightened up, and he could feel Melissa's eyes on him as he took a seat by the bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Tired," Scully said, chuckling ruefully. "You'd think I'd have more energy when I've done nothing but lie in bed all this time, but...." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm still exhausted."

"You have to give yourself time to heal," said Melissa sagely. "Your body knows what it's doing. You have to trust it."

"Thank you, Melissa. As a medical doctor, I am, of course, entirely unfamiliar with the workings of the human body." Mulder laughed, his chest flushing with warmth. This was the Scully he knew, the Scully he'd missed: the dry wit, the impatience with anyone trying to tell her something she already knew better than they did.

"Doctors really do make the worst patients," Melissa intoned, and Scully scowled at her.

"It's one thing to know something clinically," Scully said. "It's another thing when you're the one stuck in bed, waiting to have enough energy to be on your feet for more than fifteen minutes at a time."

"Well, be a good patient and do what your doctors tell you," said Mulder. "The quicker you heal, the quicker you can come back... and Skinner really doesn't like me investigating cases on my own. He's probably not gonna get a full night's sleep until you're out there keeping me in check again."

Scully frowned. "Mulder," she said, "what are you talking about? The FBI has me doing autopsies. I can't exactly watch your back from the morgue." And suddenly it hit Mulder: she had no idea about any of what had happened while she'd been missing. As far as she was concerned, the X-Files were still closed, he was still on wiretap duty, and she was still expected to teach pathology at Quantico once she'd recovered enough to return to work. He grinned, about to tell her... and then stopped.

Scully's involvement with him had been exactly what had put her in danger in the first place. She never would have been abducted if she had stayed safe in the morgue. They'd taken her because she had refused to stop helping him... and because he had refused to stop asking her. If he offered her the chance to come back on the X-Files as his partner--and he had zero doubts she would take it, if he did offer--what else could happen to her down the line?

"What?" Scully frowned at him, concerned. His hesitation must have shown on his face. "Mulder, what is it?"

If he didn't ask Scully to come back to the X-Files with him, she would find out about it, one way or another. And she would be furious. He could lay out his concerns, he could try to dissuade her, but consequences be damned, it had to be her choice.

"Skinner re-opened the X-Files after you were taken," Mulder said, and the pure joy on Scully's face somehow made his heart both swell and sink at the same time. "But listen, Scully, you need to think long and hard about it before you come back to work with me."

"No, I don't." Mulder glanced at Melissa, sitting in the corner and watching the exchange with great interest, and wished he'd waited until he and Scully were alone.

"Yes, Scully, you do. They went after you because we kept working together."

"You have no way of knowing-"

"Yeah, I do. None of this would have happened if I'd left you alone." He glanced at Melissa again. "You should at least take the time to discuss it with your family. You don't need to decide right now."

"There's no need, Mulder," insisted Scully. "It's my decision. I want to work with you on the X-Files again." She set her jaw and glared at him, daring him to keep trying to talk her out of it. At a loss, Mulder looked at Melissa, who held up her hands.

"Don't ask me to intervene," she said, smiling. "You should know Dana well enough by now to know that once she decides to do something, there's no talking her out of it."

Mulder smiled reluctantly. "Yeah," he said. "I do."

------------------

Scully kept trying to hide her yawns behind her hands so Mulder wouldn't see how tired she was, but by the fourth time, it was clear she didn't need to bother. Melissa and Mulder were so deeply engrossed in conversation that she might as well not have been in the room at all. Mulder was regaling Melissa with stories of the cases they'd investigated together back before the X-Files had been closed, and Melissa, predictably, was fascinated.

"So the murdered officer's consciousness was possessing the little girl?" Melissa asked.

"Not quite possessing, not the way you're thinking. It was more of... a reimbodiment. It ended suddenly the moment Officer Morris's unfinished business with his killers had concluded."

"Wow," breathed Melissa, sitting back in her chair. "You never told me about any of this, Dana." She and Mulder looked towards the bed just as Scully unsuccessfully concealed another yawn. Mulder stood, smiling sheepishly.

"I think that's my cue to head out and let you rest," he said. He approached the bed and took Scully's hand, giving it a squeeze. "I'll come by after work tomorrow, okay? Give Skinner a call whenever you're ready and we'll get the paperwork started to get you reassigned." And with a nod and a smile to Melissa, Mulder was gone.

The moment the door had closed, Melissa sprang up from her chair and came to sit on the bed. "Wow, Dana," she gushed. "He's not just cute. He's gorgeous."

"Is he?" Scully closed her eyes and leaned back against her pillow. "I hadn't noticed." A blatant lie, of course, but right at that moment, all Scully wanted to do was sleep.

"You're really not interested in him like that?" Melissa asked, a peculiar, almost hopeful expression on her face. "Not at all?"

"He's my work partner, Melissa. And my friend."

"Then...." Melissa bit her lip. "You wouldn't mind if I asked him out, would you?"

A weight seemed to drop into Scully's stomach.

Yes. She did mind. She minded very much, in fact. But how could she possibly admit that to Melissa when she'd been trying so hard to claim that she didn't feel that way about him? She swallowed hard. She could claim that it might compromise her professionally, if Mulder and Melissa dated and it didn't work out. But....

"No, of course I don't mind," was what she heard herself saying instead.

Melissa beamed. "I'm gonna go see if I can catch him before he leaves," she said, and leaping up off the bed, she rushed out of the room.

-------------------

Mulder's hand was on the door to exit the hospital when a voice behind him called his name.

"Mulder, hang on!" He turned to see Melissa Scully hurrying out of the elevators and rushing across the lobby towards him. He crossed to meet her, immediately concerned.

"What's going on? Is your sister okay?"

"She's fine," Melissa assured him with a wave of her hand. "She's probably going to be asleep before I even get back up there. I just had something I wanted to ask you before you left." For some reason, her cheeks flushed red. "I was wondering... if maybe you might like to get coffee with me sometime?"

Whatever Mulder had been expecting, this was definitely not it. For a moment he wondered if he'd understood her correctly, but really, why else would the question make her blush unless she meant it the way he thought she meant it? Still, best to be sure. He'd misread more than a few signals in his time.

"You mean like a date?"

"I don't really like to put labels on things, but... sure, a date, if you want to call it that. I asked Dana if she minded my asking you and she was fine with it, so don't worry about that."

A confused mix of emotions settled in the pit of Mulder's stomach. Scully had told Melissa that it was fine. What did that mean? Was it "fine" as in, "I'm fine, Mulder," when she clearly wasn't fine? Or was it "fine" as in it truly didn't bother her? The thought that Scully wouldn't care at all if he went out with her sister was somehow troubling.

But Melissa was standing there, waiting for an answer. Did he want to have coffee with her? She was an undeniably beautiful woman who seemed genuinely interested in the things he had to say. He'd asked women on dates with far less to go on than that.

Really, why the hell not? It was just coffee.

"I'd like that," he said. "Let me get your number."

Melissa beamed.

[ofliterarynature]

JUNE 2024 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok nope dnf bookclub*]

The Language of Thorns • Transitions: A Mother's Journey* • Sipsworth • The Watchmaker of Filigree Street • Sunbringer • Someone You Can Build a Nest In • The Curse of Chalion • The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi • Heartstopper Vol 5 • Knit One, Kill Two • A Letter to the Luminous Deep

Slim numbers this month! But we had a few days off of work, and a couple of these were long -

The Language of Thorns (4 stars) - I don't really enjoy Bardugo's work anymore, but this survived my very first TBR poll by my interference because I love fairy tales and retellings! I think Bardugo had some cool stories, made some cool twists, the illustrations were nice to look at - I think she definitly has the structure of fairy tales down, but I don't think she quite has the language. I don't love her writing style, but it really doesn’t fit here all of the time. I'm still trying to decide if I want to keep it, but I think I'm leaning towards not. I don’t own it, but I also plan to read the Hinterland collection by Melissa Albert.

Transitions (3 stars) a graphic novel based on the real-life experiences of a mother coming to terms with her child’s transition. I could maybe see this being a helpful book for someone whose parent is also struggling, but it was a bit too short and occasionally abstract for me to really understand the mother’s behavior - we definitely struggled to find anything to talk about at the bookclub meeting.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (3.5 stars) - I wanted to like this more. I definitely liked parts of it, most of it even! I just really hated the entire Grace subplot and it dragged the rest of the book down for me. Also, major deja vu at the ending? I don't know why, I can't remember reading this before. Will probably read the sequel and more of the author’s work, but I'd love to read KJ Charles’ version of this.

Sipsworth (4 stars) - it was fine? But I was also bored enough on occasion that this really should only be 3 stars, and I only finished it because it was short. Overly sentimental.

Sunbringer (5 stars) - fun! Really wish I could have picked this up right after book 1, it gets right into things and I’d forgotten a bit more than I liked. I didn’t realize that this series was set up to be more than just a duology, so news on book 3 soon I hope!!!

Someone You Can Build a Nest In (4.5 stars) - also very fun, would recommend to fans of fairy tales if you don’t mind some gore and body horror.

The Curse of Chalion (4 stars) - did I love this to the bottom of my heart? No. Did it hold my attention and keep me entirely engaged! Yes! So overall I’d call it a great read, and I really need to get the next book(s) on my reading schedule.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (5 stars) - WHAT a delight!!! Sailing ships, a reluctant hero, non-romantic relationships at the forefront, what’s not to love? I wish some of Amina’s friends had gotten a bit more development, but I also dearly love her and her terrible cringe-fail husband. While we wait for the next book I should go back and actually finish the author’s earlier series.

Heartstopper Vol 5 (5 stars) - also fun, and if I had more time I would have absolutely launched myself into a full Oseman read/reread (I wish her later novels had been released in the US when they first came out, but I’m glad we have them now!)

DNF

Knit One, Kill Two (4%) - the problem with cozy mysteries, especially with the slightly older ones, is that they tend to give strong vibes of having been written by women of a certain social class with certain views, and the writing just does not age well. Within 4% we got a conversation about dieting and calories and a tasteless comment about a homeless individual, and I was out.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep (31%) - this one’s been getting a lot of buzz, which, honestly, means it could have gone either way for me. It did not go, alas. The story was dragging, the back and fourth between timelines was frustrating, and the letters were not really convincing - if the siblings had set out to solve their siblings disappearance, maybe it would have had more pull, but it really felt like a lot of spilling your guts to a stranger and not much else. Too bad, because I do enjoy an unusual story structure if it works.

[fazedlight]

Cameo had a sale and I couldn't resist! Transcript below the cut. Twitter link is here.

Hi Melissa! Name twins. Thanks so much for requesting this cameo, I hope you had a really happy holiday if you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope it was a really nice one. And thanks for these great questions! When I directed the episode of Supergirl that I directed, on shows like that, you don't typically have too much control over the story or things like that. It was really to make things easier to shoot, you would change something. Or if I had an idea that would tie in with a location that I chose - which, that was something I had control over, which location we used for Lex Luthor's house, we did a whole location scout. So you get to choose those spots, and how it will look on camera. That being said, every decision I made, it was a collaboration with the directory of photography, it was a collaborations with the [Associate Directors], it was a collaboration with costumes and wardrobe and everyone to make sure everything would work on the day we were shooting whatever scene. Also those superhero shows are really complicated to shoot as you can imagine, with the action, the special effects, the stunts. So really, I had control beforehand of very little, but then on the day you have control on what you say to the actors and principle actors on set with where you want to go, but also you're trying to match the tone of the show that's been established, that there's been multiple seasons of. So that's fun! And then after the fact in the editing room, you really get to collaborate 1:1 with the editor to try to make the episode more your own and give it your own voice, even though it lives in this existing world that's been established. I loved it, and it was really great, and we had the best crew, so I worked with really awesome people that I loved!

And with my book, the process of writing with my sister, we kind of came up with the idea together. Jessica is a writer, she's a much better writer than me, we'd kind of come up with ideas together, brainstorm, she'd kinda go, I'd help finesse, we had a fantastic editor. But storywise we really came up with the world and mythology together. And I go by Melissa in life! Actually, everyone on set at Supergirl called me Mel. I think because one of the stunt coordinators, Simon, started calling me Mel, and then all of a sudden I became Mel. Which, never in my life was I ever a Mel, suddenly on Supergirl I was a Mel - I was fine with it! You're awesome too, thanks for the support, thanks for reaching out, I send all my love!

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Hey Phoebe!! Soooo I don’t know if you knew, but I am a TMNT comic dubber. :) And if it’s ok with you, I would love to dub over your comic “ Draxums Nightmare”!! I would give you all credit for the comic in the end credits and in the description below my video. :)

Also, possibly if I get the time, I would also love to dub over your TMNT au Competition Saga with your UIFU boys!! I’ve enjoyed your stories so much, and I would love to bring them to life with my voice and cinematic elements like sound effects, music, and ambience. :)

Totally get it if you say no, just thought I’d ask. 😊

~ Melissa

Absolutely! Go ahead!

I've had a few peeps do dubs of the Draxum comic, and I love to see how each person interprets it with their dubs! And OOOOHHH the tmnt au comp comics?? Very intriguing to see how those would turn out... 🤔🧐 hehe I'd love to see that lol

(Also, I have a youtube account too by the same username, so you can tag me in the vid(s) when they're posted!)