#muse ( morgan )

[tvinspo]

CULPA MIA (2023)

[marstonsboy]

had another evil thought that spiralled out of control. indulge me for a moment:

over the years, people start arriving on a near empty plot of land west of blackwater. it’s uncertain who got there first: bessie matthews, beatrice and lyle morgan, eliza, isaac morgan, etc.— but more and more people show up until it’s something of a community. jenny kirk, mac and davey callander. then soon after, jake adler, sean macguire, kieran duffy, hosea matthews, lenny summers, molly o’shea, eagle flies, susan grimshaw. more and more in such a short amount of time. arthur morgan is the last, and suddenly the deaths stop.

after a sudden stretch of years with little newcomers, a house starts taking shape. soon enough the house is a home, and peculiar things can be found all over: a dog barking where no one can find it. echoes of campfire songs going late into the night. photos of john and abigail’s wedding, attended by what remained of their family. a taxidermy squirrel that appears back on the mantle no matter how many times you throw it out, wearing a very familiar hat. in just a few years a heartbreakingly young girl comes home, bearing a strong resemblance to one abigail marston.

then, gunshots. john marston and uncle are the next to arrive.

in the next few years, the house is eerily quiet. the residents see it falling into disrepair, but they can’t do anything about it. the dog stops barking, the campfire has gone cold and won’t relight. abigail marston is next, and though they’re happy to see her, the arrival brings up a question. what happens to jack now?

the livestock are gone, and the house is dusty, all but stripped of the knickknacks and personality that built up over the years, like someone found it all too painful to look at. john’s hat and guns, once tucked away inside a box beneath the bed, vanish the night after abigail arrives. newspapers come to the door, announcing the death of former government agent edgar ross.

soon after, a wanted poster, bearing the name “john marston jr.” and a sketch resembling the boy’s namesake so much that it has john himself stumbling back. jack was only a boy when he left, and now he’s wanted dead or alive, with a price over his head that could rival some of his uncles and aunts back in the day.

every year that passes without any sign of jack is a relief. the house doesn’t change much, still abandoned, but letters come in. mary-beth gaskill, tilly jackson, simon pearson, sadie adler, charles smith— old friends and family, checking in on him. none of them reach the recipient, as he is not home, but they’re filled to the brim with love, letting him know that he isn’t alone. that he always has a home with them, if he wants it.

one day, john spots a book he doesn’t recognize on the shelf by the piano, and he stops. “Red Dead” by a J. Marston. it doesn’t take much to figure out who that could be. he opens it, flips through, and reads it to abigail. the kinder parts get read to their daughter, ecstatic to learn about how her older brother is doing. their son did become a writer after all, even if everything he’s written speaks volumes of his grief, his anger. the loneliness he’s endured since losing his family, and killing edgar ross.

arthur morgan opens his old journal to find several entries and sketches from john, but also many new ones from jack. his handwriting is just as clumsy as his father’s, but his drawings are more refined. little portraits of the gang members that lived and scribbly sketches of what the world is becoming in their absence decorate the pages. war, cars outnumbering horses, and a very detailed drawing of a revolver none of them have ever seen before.

he’s all grown up, and good lord is he angry. he’s mourning, and hurt, and he’s lost so much, but he’s still undoubtedly jack marston. he draws dogs and writes about missing rufus, slipping strays some food from his bag whenever he sees them. sometimes he’ll write a dry, sarcastic joke that speaks of his father’s influence, or mention missing his momma’s cooking, “even though it was hardly edible,” which makes abigail roll her eyes. he hates fishing and prefers to lose hours of the day with his nose in a book. the best maintained part of beecher’s hope is the graves on that hill, which gain new flowers every week. sometimes, if they listen close, they can hear him talking, telling his ma and pa what he’s been up to, though he saves the grisly details for his book.

and when jack marston finally does walk through that door, much older than when anyone he knew last saw him but far too young to die, he is welcomed home with open arms. because no matter what he’s done, and no matter how much he may hate himself, he will always have a home here with people who love him, and who can’t wait to get to know him all over again.

[randomfoggytiger]

The Field Where I Died: The Tragic Flaws of Glen Morgan and James Wong

My thoughts on The Field Where I Died are divided into neat little categories for this episode: frustration for what we were given, acceptance of its existence, anger at Glen Morgan and James Wong's behind-the-scenes revelations, acknowledgment of their feelings, determination that the end product's truth was different than what was originally conceptualized, and genuine understanding of others' love for its creativity and vision.

But those thoughts are inseparable from a broader perspective of Morgan and Wong's work on Season 4.

I'm going to be pulling a lot of information from an interview here; but to save time (and sanity), I'll emphasize the quotes in italics instead of continually citing my source.

"I CAN DO BETTER" VISIONARIES

(Credit to: @sleepyscully.)

It's no secret that Morgan and Wong always wrote-- shall we say-- angsty episodes that drove a wedge in Mulder and Scully's relationship. Sometimes that was executed brilliantly-- Squeeze, Beyond the Sea, Home, Never Again-- and sometimes that was executed... badly. Their bent is the nature of conflict, and its potential resolution; or ideals and tarnished realities; or things we thought we knew and understood but never really did. And those are powerful tools... if, like all tools, they're wielded effectively.

They're the difference between the ridiculous conceit of Musings of a CSM-- an episode that set everyone against each other (we'll get to that)-- and Beyond the Sea-- and episode that wowed Carter (convincing him to keep Gillian on the show), fans, and critics alike.

I've already tackled how The Field Where I Died could work here (how Scully broke the cycle) and here (Scully, snakes, and reincarnation.) I have no qualms with the idea that Mulder and Scully themselves aren't romantic soulmates in every lifetime: that was never the magic of their relationship, to me. And I do love the concept that Melissa serves as a contrast for Mulder: as Morgan says,

 One reason why I wrote Melissa that way was my notion that if you’re Mulder and you found your soulmate, the love of all your loves, within the body of this unappealing person, what would you do? I don’t know if we totally explored that. I don’t know if Duchovny would agree with me – he knows more about Mulder – but I think Melissa is the type of women that Mulder would be attracted to. Someone like Bambi in ‘The War of the Coprophages’ is good for a joke, but I don’t really see Mulder going after her. There’s something sad about Melissa. There was a secret within her that was important for him to get at. That mirrors his life, and his own search for his sister. He is a character whose whole drive is to help everybody, but he’s so unsuccessful at that, and with helping himself. All he wants is to find one person that he can rescue – but he’s not too good at it.

No matter how despairing Mulder is, Morgan said, he would not be tempted, like Melissa, to end his life. “I looked at Melissa as if she decided reincarnation might be true, and that if she had chosen this life, at that point she realized, ‘This is a bad idea. This is a miserable life and I’m not getting much out of it. I’m just going back to heaven and I’ll wait for you.’ She wanted out. But Mulder, as much as he’d love to go to the other side to see what’s there, is a life-affirming character. He’s going to keep on looking. He’s not going to quit. Mulder has questions for this life.”

That rings true to me.

What I do have qualms with is that Mulder and Scully's incredible, undeniable, written-into-canon-at-this-point connection (that was established in the Pilot, purposefully, by Chris Carter himself, post here) is boiled down to a destined, warped tri-connection that is part of and secondary to his (chemistry-less) connection with a woman that doomed him in every lifetime. A woman who is an unreliable narrator, and who could easily be swaying Mulder into believing her story because of her own form of mental instability and fragility. It could be a beautiful love story, and it's undeniably beautifully shot (and mostly beautifully written), but it's not Mulder's-- it's Morgan's:

For Morgan, an episode about reincarnation and eternal soulmates was not just a good story for Mulder, but a personal expression of the thoughts and emotions he had experienced during the past year, when his relationship with Cloke grew from friendship into romance (they are now engaged), “I had gone through a failed marriage in which I had really believed,” Morgan revealed. “I had always wanted to believe there is somebody out there for you, and I had been in a situation where that didn’t come true. And I thought, ‘It’s a lie. That person you think is out there for you is a lie.’ But then I met Kristen and I was rejuvenated by that. I really thought. that you can be reborn in this life, not just life after death. I regained faith that there is one person for you, one person who, by being in your life, can motivate you to change the crappy things you were doing before. In this case, it was Kristen. I knew she did a lot of characters and voices, so I wanted to incorporate that.. I wanted to write something for her that challenged her. Also, I wanted to write something for David Duchovny that challenged him.”

("Challenged", indeed.)

And that... that rubs me the wrong way.

NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU

I'm not here for Glen's romance, I'm sorry. I'm here to be persuaded that Mulder might have a soulmate, that Scully might be a soulmate, that all three could be bound in this doomed pattern for lifetimes; and if that cycle was broken with Melissa Ephesian's death. (More importantly: does Mulder and/or Scully believe it's broken?) What we were given instead was a memoir to love in general that shoehorned itself into the show without regard for canon.

I'm not angry with TFWID as much as I am other episodes (most of Existence and canon onward, for example) because Mulder and Scully's characterization never strays-- Field may have been carelessly wedged in, but it was skillful with its emotional exploration. Further, the events and facts presented so summarily contradict each other that there's no real "threat" propped up by its existence. And, while I can't excuse the cringe-inducing acting from Morgan's wife, I can explain why DD's turned out so "badly" (read: jarringly):

Bowman’s director’s cut ran so long that Morgan and Wong were forced to trim twenty minutes out of the episode.... Morgan felt that the emotional impact of Mulder’s hypnosis session might have been marred by the cutting, since it interfered with the flow of Duchovny’s acting throughout the entire scene. “I called David and I said, ‘I’m cutting it this way.’ I could hear that he was upset. I know what actors go through to prepare, and then to have to sit in a chair for a couple of hours in front of a bunch of grips and gaffers and people that they hang out with everyday, and cry – it’s just like taking off your clothes. And then to find it’s been cut out. I had to come home and tell Kristen, ‘Look, this part is coming out.’ She was upset and David was upset. Jim was off prepping ‘Musings of Cigarette Smoking Man’ or doing something and I was just very alone.’

(For context, the hypnosis scene was originally twelve minutes long.)

While I might be tempted to sympathize with Morgan, he didn't extend that sympathy equally to his wife or Duchovny, instead turning this combined loss into a one-sided self-pity party.

MULDER THE SACRIFICE, SCULLY THE SAVIOR

I also have a theory that Carter was writing Scully as a savior and Mulder as a sacrificial lamb for the mainline series (until he made William a magic baby and ruined eight years of build-up), post here.

There's a reason that The X-Files is told through Scully's perspective; and that Mulder is often compared to Ahab chasing the White Whale, to a man on a fated quest, to a boy who lost his sister and can't live freely until he has that closure. There's a reason that Scully is Mulder's "one-in-five billion", his salvation ("But you saved me!"), his constant, his touchstone-- and his "human credential", as David Duchovny put it. There's a reason that Carter banked an entire series off of a chemistry and bond he wrote into the graveyard scene, and maintains that that is when Mulder and Scully fell in love (though to what degree is up for fanon interpretation.) There's a reason that the CSM was wrong to picture Mulder as a Christ-like figure, and Scully was right to walk into Mulder's subconscious and rescue him with the truth ("Get up and fight.") There's a reason that Mulder's rescue in Deep Throat underscores his and Scully's partnership from then on out: he in danger-- be it from Jersey Devils, moth men, fated love triangles, Houston bombs, brain surgery, alien abduction-- and she his rescuer (discussed a little here.)

Why is this important? Because The Field Where I Died's concept is not without canonical merit: Mulder running headlong into danger, Scully holding him back long enough to prevent the cycle from repeating. And it ties into the mytharc's ad nauseam question of Fate v. Freewill (posts here and here.) TFWID could even work if you factor in the theory of Scully's immortality (post here.)

But the reality is, Morgan and Wong were not going for canonical adherence.

THE WONDER OF THE SUPERNATURAL, THE FAILURE OF THE HUMAN CONNECTION

Episodic timeline goofs and gaffes aside, the problems in The Field Where I Died lie deeper than which woman Mulder loves and which one he perpetually makes friendship bracelets with. The greatest problem arrives, settles, and stains with the introduction of soulmates: the recontextualization of the infamous MSR dynamic.

Morgan was focusing again on Mulder and Scully as humans; but he fumbled, amplifying then explaining away their "unspoken" as a supernatural connection rather than the meeting of uncannily similar minds:

Apart from personal considerations, Morgan and Wong wanted to reorient the show’s attitude towards the paranormal, which they felt in the third session had been expressed far too often as something evil or wrong. “The paranormal isn’t about death or evil,” Morgan said. “It’s about wonder.” In line with this approach, he and Wong wanted to avoid writing a conventional villain; instead, the principal conflicts take place between Mulder and Scully or are internal, with both Mulder and Melissa haunted by their pasts, in this life, and perhaps previous lives. 

Morgan and Wong wanted to zero in on two humans, and all their complications as such, brushing up against the unfathomable, neutral force beyond their comprehension... but then ruined that message, that build-up, by justifying the personal, human aspect-- their connection-- by making it inhuman, unnatural, and supernatural, too. All the while, of course, telling us (and believing themselves) that fans were upset because they introduced another romance for Mulder.

(As a side note: why do I excuse-- for lack of a better word-- David Duchovny's similar sentiments towards TFWID and its reception? Firstly, he, and others, genuinely loves it; and I'm happy for him. To David, it seems, love is more powerful when it is guaranteed for a lifetime and beyond-- the insecurity of someone falling out of love, platonically or romantically, is more powerful than a finite and fickle love that can be lost or tarnished. That being his interpretation-- and Morgan's intention-- I can see why he'd love TFWID. It's a powerful sentiment. More importantly, the man doesn't hold it against fans-- he thinks they misinterpreted its intent-- like Morgan thought they did-- understands why it would disgruntle, but maintains that he loves it, regardless. I can respect that position, even if we disagree; because the heart likes what it likes. I, for one, have my own likes that others might hate.)

LAZILY WRITTEN

The greatest mistake of all-- one Morgan humbly recognizes-- is the faults in the writing. Well... more accurately, that he and Wong failed to keep a complete vision that would (most definitely, guys) translate better to audiences. His ideas, I concede, were intriguing; but like all mediums, the final product is what audiences are left to judge and believe in. For TFWID, it was mixed up before the scenes were filmed, and hacked apart after the footage was wrapped-- so much so, that Morgan kept realizing the magnitude of his mistakes after the fact:

Under hypnosis, Mulder describes a scene of death and destruction from the Warsaw ghetto; in this past life, he is a Jewish woman, Scully is his father, Samantha is his son, and the Cigarette Smoking Man is a Gestapo officer. 

Next he [Mulder] becomes Sullivan Biddle, already dead in battle, Scully is his sergeant, and Melissa is there, as Sarah. He has no information on the bunkers, all he sees is death. Morgan wrote these scenes to express the overwhelming sense of loss that Mulder has felt his entire life. The scene was shot in extreme close-up, inspired, Morgan said, by his love of Ingmar Bergman’s films. “To spend three quarters of an act, six or seven minutes, in close-up, on television, is wonderful,” he said. “On TV, we’re always cutting back and forth. We’re always blowing stuff up. Jim and I participate in that. Act Four of ‘Home’ couldn’t be more different than act three of ‘The Field Where I Died.’ I’m proud of that. ”

(And you might have blown it, Glen.)

Morgan’s enthusiasm for the scene was not matched by a good number of the show’s fans, who felt the scene was overwrought, both in the writing, and in Duchovny’s performance. “I think both Kristen and David did a great job,” Morgan said. “David just can’t win. If he walks around going, ‘Scully, I’m going here. Oh. Extreme possibilities,’ everyone says, ‘...that guy just mumbles his way through.’ If he emotes, people don’t want to see that. People can say his acting was bad. I don’t think that it was, but some felt it was obviously ‘acting.’ It’s in a close-up, it’s a long monologue, so it points to acting. 

(An unnecessarily long scene that, unfortunately, had to be chopped; and was chopped so badly that, consequently, it lost its nuance and made Duchovny look like a fool by proxy.)

Bowman’s director’s cut ran so long that Morgan and Wong were forced to trim twenty minutes out of the episode, including eliminating one of Melissa’s personalities, a crude loudmouth named Jobee, as well information that supported Scully’s viewpoint, and large sections from Melissa’s and Mulder’s hypnosis sessions

 “If we’d focused on Scully’s viewpoint more, we could have thrown up the idea that maybe Mulder’s wrong, maybe this is just wishful thinking,” Morgan added. “I know this sounds really bad, but to me the hypnosis scene is more important than a teaser. I was desperate to cut out time, and in favoring emotional content over plot content, I might have blown it.”

[Morgan]: "... I read a post online asking why Scully was always a man in the past, and I hadn’t thought about that. I wish I had altered that; it was a mistake.”

And it wasn't just TFWID that was littered with inconsistencies in service to Morgan and Wong's vision.

TFWID, "MUSINGS", AND THE BLAME GAME

When Morgan and Wong returned from their other writing projects, they had to decide whether to leave the studio-- angry at its interference-- or take a deal and partly work for The X-Files and Millennium. Obviously they chose the latter, and rejoined after a hiatus of one or two years. In that time, the X-Files had become a hit. But M and W had changes, and plans to execute those changes, in mind: they both thought that the show had strayed from its original vision-- again, the "wonder" of the paranormal and supernatural-- and would be set to (better) rights with their input and direction.

Not all of their work was flawed-- Home and Never Again were tightly written-- and not all of their ideas were self-involved. For example: when joining the show, they and the other writers were told this season's purpose was to drive a wedge between Mulder and Scully, and framed Never Again around that idea:

“My understanding at the beginning of the year was that we were going to drive to a point where Mulder and Scully didn’t trust each other,” Morgan said. His own scenario for plotting out the season was somewhat different from what Carter and the other writers came up with this year, but the fundamental issue was the same: trust. “I would have slowly split Mulder and Scully up over the course of the season, then in the last episode have Scully put Mulder away for his own good, which he would perceive as the ultimate betrayal,” Morgan said. “And then the next season, they would have had an entire year’s healing to go through.”

That's not an entirely unreasonable direction to take, either.

The other writers had other plans. For good or ill, it was Chris's show; and Chris wanted to steer it in a certain direction. Those who joined and added their thoughts cohesively helped construct the mainline arcs that bloomed into Season 4's cancer revelation and Season 5's lack of faith, as well as building up Fight the Future concurrently. M and W, however, felt bruised when their visions were either tweaked or countermanded; and left the experience disgruntled. For good or ill, Chris Carter, Glen Morgan, and James Wong all had good and bad ideas; but only one of them had created the show-- something which the latter two couldn't, at times, accept.

Case and point: I detour to Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man because that episode-- from its conception to its creation to its execution-- explains clearly what led Morgan and Wong astray.

Home was successful, The Field Where I Died much less so. For both episodes, Chris Carter seemed content to let Morgan and Wong do whatever they wanted. However, a shift occurred when fans fell out of sync with M and W's vision (TFWID); and that shift manifested when Glen and James immediately wanted to jump into a CSM backstory, the mytharc domain of CC. Both writers felt the big bad of The X-Files had become gutless; and they wanted to inject some terror into him by killing off Frohike in the end. Per their original vision, the narrative element was excluded and CSM would reclaim his villainy via a Forrest Gump monologue then follow through by gunning down an innocent man. Chris Carter, meanwhile, did not want Frohike killed and did not think that CSM would care to waste time murdering a relative nobody to his life and work. William B. Davis, CSM's actor, was also insistent this version of CSM was not his character; and was so dissatisfied with it that he called up CC himself. Carter tried to appease all sides with a compromise: letting M and W write what they wanted (within limits) and reassuring himself and WBD that this episode wasn't canon:

Davis promptly called Carter to ask if this was the real history of the Cigarette Smoking Man (Carter told him no).

...“The Cigarette Smoking Man’s flashbacks were my idea, because I indeed wanted the episode to be a memoir,” Morgan said. But the idea that Frohike could be the real narrator was a Carter-imposed addition to the script, to make it seem as if the events of the episode were not real. Carter even changed the name of the script, from “Memoirs of a Cigarette Smoking Man” to “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man.”

[Wong]: ...“The line where Deep Throat says, ‘Maybe I’m not the liar’ was another change imposed on the script so you could make the leap that perhaps this is all. a dream, or the ramblings of Frohike.”

If that weren't potentially explosive enough, Morgan and Wong went behind Chris's back, consulting others on set to create their vision, anyway. When CC turned down Glen's dogged request, twice, to film an alternate ending, Wong took matters into his own, unauthorized hands:

Morgan and Wong felt so strongly about this issue, that they decided to try an end run around Ten Thirteen. They figured that if they filmed the scene their way, and cut it into the episode, it would be so powerful that Carter would have to agree with them. Morgan called Wong up in Vancouver and told him to take a few crew members while everyone else was at lunch, and get some shots of blood spattering on the sign to the Lone Gunman offices. Wong decided against the stealth approach; instead, he filmed William B. Davis pulling back on the trigger, and Tom Braidwood, as Frohike, getting a bullet in the head. Morgan nearly panicked when he heard what his partner had done; he was certain word of it would reach Ten Thirteen down in Los Angeles. His fears were justified.

Carter, meanwhile, allegedly proved how cleverly his fingers always remained on the pulse of the show:

Wong recalled: “I was in the editing room, and I said to the editor, why don’t we print up the B negative? We’ll cut it in and show Chris. [The “B” negative was the negative with the footage of the Cigarette Smoking Man pulling the trigger and Frohike getting shot.] And the editor told me, ‘You can’t do that.’ I said, ‘What do you mean, we can’t do that? Just print the B negative.’ He said, ‘Well, it’s been taken out of the lab. It can’t be found.” In a move worthy of a scene from an X-Files episode, someone had deliberately removed the negative without telling Morgan and Wong, and they had no idea where it was. 

(And how do we know this was CC's doing? Because every single actor, writer, and director interviewed always marveled at his inhuman ability to be aware of every single, teeny tiny detail on set.)

Apparently, the incident blew over wordlessly, so much so that Chris asked Glen and James to help flesh out Millennium and called them up, years later, to craft the Revival with him (and sat nearby while Morgan teasingly alluded to the above incident, just a few years ago.)

To tie it all back to The Field Where I Died: the work they created-- while beautifully written-- was sloppily fitted into the show they were hired to write for:

And then there were the timeline inconsistencies, which Morgan and Wong didn’t even know about until the episode aired and Morgan logged on and was bombarded with dozens of internet posts complaining that the events of “Musings” couldn’t be for real, because they contradicted the teaser to “Apocrypha.” In the “Apocrypha” teaser, which is set in 1953, a young Cigarette Smoking Man (already smoking), a young Bill Mulder, and a third man, all in civilian dress, question a horribly burned submarine crewman who had encountered an alien in a flashback shown in the previous episode, “Piper Maru.” Morgan’s version proposed an entirely different history, with the young Cigarette Smoking Man and Bill Mulder, both Army officers, first meeting in 1961 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Cigarette Smoking Man doesn’t even smoke, until he takes his first nervous puff late in the first act. Although Morgan and Wong had seen “Apocrypha,” they didn’t remember the events of the teaser. “Okay, we’re sloppy,” Morgan admitted.

To top off the battle of egos, Glen and James laid a portion of the blame at the nameless feet of some faceless "other" rather than taking it upon themselves... or having the guts to point the finger at one person in particular:

“But somebody should have told us. They all read the script. It was the same thing that happened to us on ‘Little Green Men when we showed Samantha’s abduction.'” Added Wong: “If somebody had said, ‘Hey, you know, in the third season, this was said and this doesn’t make sense anymore.’ And we would have changed it. But nobody told us that And the internet people go, ‘This doesn’t make sense,’ and now we look like idiots. We have part of the blame obviously; we didn’t know. We didn’t catch it.”

(It's easy to feel for them and their position... until you realize that there is no evidence-- that I have found-- of them asking if there was a show bible or other resource to consult. Meaning, again, that M and W have to take some blame for this grievance, as well.)

And last but not least, they-- particularly Glen Morgan-- martyred their pain instead of fully accepting and owning their own part in this ever-evolving disaster:

But their disappointment over the changes they were forced to make “Musings of Cigarette Smoking Man” caused them to withhold the ghost story and look for something else. “I had done a lot of research and I had always wanted to write a feature about Lincoln’s ghost,” Morgan said, “But I felt they didn’t want my heart and soul anymore, so I wouldn’t give this one to them."

CONCESSIONS

While these two scalawags contributed their fair share to frustrating and complicated behind-the-scenes shenanigans, their instincts weren't completely wrong, nor all their conduct unrighteous.

They were right on the money with Home--

“Thematically, Sheriff Taylor was doing the same thing that the brothers were doing. They didn’t want things to change,” Morgan said. Scully conducts an examination on the baby, and when the DNA tests come back, she is shocked to find results impossible to believe; they indicate the child had three fathers.

“It was much more controversial than we thought it would be,” Wong said. “Some fans were repulsed beyond analyzing the show; they were just kind of sickened by it. They were pretty turned off. Some people loved it. There was a lot of really, really negative reaction.”

“I have really been stung by that whole reaction,” Morgan admitted. “To me, the show must have become so big while we were away. I think a lot of people hadn’t been exposed to what we did when we were first on the show. They were going, '...what are they doing?’ and we go, ‘But, this is what we always did!’ We had “Squeeze,” or episodes like Chris’ ‘Irresistible,’ these shocking, horrible shows. Act four of ‘Tooms’ I think is on a level with ‘Home,’ so we were going, ‘What is all the ruckus about?’ We figured a lot of people don’t know that earlier stuff, or certain tones that we were going after then.”

-- and Never Again--

“He’s been caught off guard by not knowing something about her,” Morgan said. “A date with someone in Philadelphia, someone he’s never heard of, someone she’s never told him about. He’s unnerved by his lack of certainty about her, with her being wrong about Ed.” The episode ends with Scully telling Mulder firmly, “It’s my life,” and Mulder saying, “But it’s…” and suddenly stopping. Why didn’t he finish his sentence? “It was our way of saying to the other writers, ‘Here’s where Mulder and Scully are, and now the ball is in your court,'” explained Morgan. “That’s what I always felt was our role. In the first couple of years when we were on the show, we might hand it off and then have to pick up the ball ourselves a couple of episodes later, but knowing we were about to leave and would have no input whatsoever, we just said, ‘Well, here’s this thing, how about this? Now it’s yours.’ I feel that Mulder had come to respect that there’s more to this than just him, that Scully is now a part of his life and he’s a part of hers. I think that she learned the danger of exploring the rebellious side, and that it has to be accompanied by responsibility. What she did almost got her killed. So I think that she probably has it a little in check, and yet she’s always carrying the memory of it on her back. It isn’t anything for her to let go of. But next time she’ll be smarter about it, and she won’t let it get so far away from her.”

--and were misunderstood both times.

They were also wrongfully done by here or there--

Morgan had the unhappy task of telling an understandably upset Anderson that the scene she specifically requested had been cut. 

Morgan and Wong were frustrated once more when the network decided to move “Never Again” out of its post-Super Bowl slot, and substitute “Leonard Betts,” the episode that was originally scheduled to air after “Never Again.” “Leonard Betts” ended with the wrenching realization by Scully that she might have contracted the cancer that afflicted the other female abduction victims she met in second season’s “Nisei.” This revelation impacted the rationale behind Scully’s behavior in “Never Again” in ways never intended by Morgan and Wong. “I felt horrible,” Morgan stated. “Those are not her motives for her actions in this episode. The motives in ‘Never Again’ are completely altered by posing that she has a disease or a death sentence...."

-- but did wrong themselves, despite unprecedented creative freedom (see the previous section.)

The trouble, it seems, is an inability to differentiate the criticisms they receive. The pearl-clutching, deaf-and-dumb moralizers over Home are not the same crowd scratching (nay, banging) their heads over the blatant and illogical inconsistencies in The Field Where I Died and Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man. (In fact, the last episode mentioned aged nicely, if the IMDb numbers haven't lied.) And that trouble compounds when they can't understand why a behemoth ship, constantly taking on mounting expectations and schedules, might halt for pit stops but won't change course for inconsistent passengers.

Lastly, while I can sympathize with the emotions both Glen Morgan and James Wong felt for having their work constantly tampered with, that sympathy dwindles when contemplating a few factors:

They were working for someone else's show, not their own.

They were given unlimited creative freedom upon their return, and were only reigned in after their projects continued to falter.

They were butting heads against two factors that the show runner himself wanted to keep ambiguous or under hat: CSM's backstory and Mulder and Scully's lives outside of work.

Having one's spirit crushed by back-to-back disappointments can't solely fall on the shoulders of the network or show runners when the first two ventures weren't touched, tampered, or changed (except for a run time you knew you had going in); and they can't fall solely on fans when the end results provided were lackluster in quality.

And an important last note: I do not feel that Glen Morgan or James Wong acted maliciously-- carelessly, mostly; overly self-involved here or there, most probably. Their focus remained on fleshing out the characters, exploring the ramifications of their actions, and digging up and handing over imperative context for canon-- attempting to iron out Mulder and Scully's split-up, William's adoption, and Charlie's estrangement in the Revival, for example. But they're not saints; and they still have an edge against criticism and interference that clings to and eats away at the quality of their work. In short, we are only glimpsing one aspect of Morgan's and Wong's lives during an intensely frustrating moment in their lives-- but it was important enough to The Field Where I Died's lore that I felt it was crucial to share.

CONCLUSION

For me, I'm glad Morgan and Wong messed up so badly that Gestapo CSM was still alive when canon CSM was born. To me, I think Morgan was way too eager (kindly, I shall reframe from saying 'self-involved') and way too disinclined to ask for necessary criticism for his projects. To me, I'm certain Morgan and Wong cared more about their concepts than the canon they were writing for-- making Mulder and Scully platonic (but could become romantic?) soulmates without providing essential explanation or further clarity. To me, I think focusing only on what Mulder gets out of this arrangement-- instead of exploring how this would affect Scully, as well-- was a cheap maneuver to vehicle in Morgan and his wife's love story (the same impulse that drove Morgan to write Melissa Scully as a romantic option for Mulder, that inspired the death of Frohike, and that butchered Maggie Scully's deathbed in Home Again: the impulse of wanting things his way.) For me, I'm glad this episode was too long, was chopped up very badly, and was ultimately exposed as a vanity project by fans' negative reactions. And, to me, I believe that negative reaction was largely brushed aside-- ignorantly, though not maliciously-- by Morgan because "fans just wanted Mulder and Scully together."

And, lastly: to me, Glen Morgan and James Wong-- while wrong to some extent-- at least take (partial) fault for their vision going awry. We're all human, we all make mistakes; we all learn and grow.

The rest I leave to you to draw your own conclusions.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[mad3lyncline]

𝑳𝑰𝑽 𝑴𝑶𝑹𝑮𝑨𝑵 . Raw , 2 / 3 / 25 .

[magical-musings-of-morgan]

my most autistic trait is probably that, as someone raised by christian nationalists, I cannot STAND the cheap flimsy potshots antitheists fire at christianity. you guys are Doing It Wrong. you dont even know about the council of nicaea OR christianity's long history of antisemitism. get off the stage you're embarrassing yourself.

[pinkiemme]

Oh, fuck

POV: he’s drawing you

[battledroidwrites]

The Beauty of Peridea

“Something calls to me. Can’t you hear it? Something stirs here. Can’t you see it?

[firstdegreefangirl]

Time waits for no man, baby, time can go to hell (x)

[morgsdrew]

blog warning for triggering content !!

beware of mention of death, eating disorder, drugs, murder, grooming, abuse, depression, suicide, and more related things.

morgan drew / carnival created by @jnephrite .

BRIEF CHARACTER SUMMARY — harley & ivy’s adopted kid . parents murdered by the joker in front of her did serious damage to morgan .

after the incident , she got some weird abilities (fourth wall breaking) she couldn’t explain and practically made harley quinn to take her in and help her get back to the joker .

BEFORE YOU FOLLOW / INTERACT — i won’t do novella roleplay on my carnival account i will on this account. morgan’s lore will follow her original lore in jaceverse but with the mix of my interactions here.

don’t also refer to her as carnival @shecarnionmyval since the account is for MORGAN DREW (civilian identity) .

main ship is superboy (kon- el) / conner kent (jaceverse-wise) but is open to other ships (like oc x oc). currently in a relationship with @conner-kent-central.

MORE UNDER THE CUT.

BFFS (MAIN CONNECTIONS) + WILL ADD MORE:

@dr-harleen-official (jaceverse harley, mom/mentor),, @dr-pamela-isley (main poison ivy, mom/mentor),, @solaninne (oc, ex gf/best friend),, @conner-kent-central / @souperboi (jaceverse/main kon, best friend/love interest),, @jacynkaplanbrake (love interest/ex-bf/baby daddy),, @songsofbat (friend),, @vicenovirtues (little brother figure),, @vvultur3 (friend),, @ladylightningrod (mentor),, @th3edenc1ub (dad figure) !!

FILES (LINKS):

PROMPTS ,, CARRD,, LORE DOCS,, WRITINGS,, INTERACTIONS,, PROMO,, !!

MORON FIRST KISS / FINDING OUT ABOUT JACYN,, THE BREAK UP,, MORON NEW YEAR’S KISS,, IT’S A BOY !!

[serenastark-official]

💠⚙️A Heartfelt Appreciation Post for Pepper Potts and the Entire Stark Crew ⚙️💠

I’ve been sitting here, thinking about how to put into words just how much one person in my life means to me. And honestly, there are no words that could truly capture it. But I’ll try, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this woman, it’s that I should always try to express gratitude, even when words fail me. So buckle up, it’s quite lengthy.

This post is for Pepper Potts, the backbone of the Stark family, the woman who’s been holding us all together in a way that nobody else could. It’s hard to find the words to express just how much she means to me, to all of us, but I’m going to try.

You’re probably like, “Serena, we get it, you love your mom.” But seriously, I can’t even put into words how much I appreciate this woman. She’s not just my mom—she’s the glue that holds everything in this crazy family together.

Let’s start with Pepper Potts, the woman who’s somehow made it all work. She’s been my rock, the one who’s kept me grounded, kept Tony in line (which is a job in itself), and managed to love all of us despite the absolute circus that is the Stark family. She’s graceful, strong, and somehow always has the right words at the right time. It’s like she’s got a superpower of her own, even if it’s not as flashy as the suits. She’s our superpower.

I think the best way to describe it is that Pepper is the person who makes us better. She’s the one who taught me that being strong doesn’t mean you have to do it all yourself. She showed me that strength comes from knowing when to rely on the people around you, and more importantly, when to let yourself be vulnerable. She gave me the courage to face my demons and made me feel like I wasn’t alone—even when things seemed impossible.

It’s not just about the big things, either. Yes, she’s the reason Tony’s even able to function like a half-decent human being (and believe me, that’s a feat in itself), but it’s the little things, the quiet moments, that really get me. The way she handles my dad’s chaotic genius, keeps Morgan’s world domination plans in check, and even makes sure that Emma and Cameron know they can always turn to her. 

And let’s not forget: she keeps up with my nonsense too. The mess that is Serena Stark's life, including the endless stream of random experiments, awkward family dinners, and “hey, can I borrow the jet?” moments. Pepper doesn’t just handle it, she thrives in it. She's the only one who can step in and get Tony to actually focus for more than five minutes. Seriously, how does she do it? It’s like she’s a sorceress of organizational magic—no one else can keep track of all my dad's tech, my endless banter, and somehow still make time for world domination schemes (Morgan, I'm looking at you).

Pepper, I know I’ve given you my fair share of headaches, and I’ve definitely been the chaotic Stark more times than I can count. But through all of it, you’ve been there. Even when I pushed your buttons (and trust me, I pushed a lot of them), you never gave up on me. You never once made me feel like I wasn’t worth the fight. You just loved me. Always. And you showed me what love really is—unconditional, messy, and always ready to pick up the pieces when things break.

Pepper is the reason why:

The house doesn’t look like a tech junkyard (even though Tony would love to turn it into one).

She knows where every single important thing is, even when we forget.

She's always there when we need her, no matter how big (or ridiculous) the problem is.

She keeps us from blowing things up literally and figuratively. I see you, mom—balancing us out like a boss.

I mean, I’ve seen Tony do some insane things, but let’s not forget who’s been the rock behind the chaos all these years. She juggles Stark Industries, keeping Tony’s brilliance from turning into another disaster, and somehow, always has time for me—and trust me, that’s no small feat. She’s the kind of woman who can walk into a room and instantly turn the madness into something manageable with just a look. And she’s done it all while being the most caring, selfless, and genuinely amazing person I know.

She’s the one who’s been there for me, even when I was being… well, a Stark. Through every tantrum, every impulsive decision (we all know I have a few), and every embarrassing mistake I’ve made, she’s always been my safe place. She’s the person I go to when I need advice, when I need comfort, when I need someone to tell me it’s okay to be a mess sometimes. And let's be real—I'm often a mess. Hey, that’s a Stark trait!

Tony Stark, my dad. Yeah, you knew he was coming in here somewhere. We’ve had our disagreements, and sure, he’s complicated (to say the least), but I get it now. I get why he does the things he does, why he makes the decisions he makes, and, honestly, I can’t help but admire him for it. He’s made his mistakes, but he’s tried to be a better person. And that’s something I’ve learned from him.

I know, I know, we’ve got our ups and downs (more downs than I’d care to admit), but at the end of the day, I know he’s trying. Sometimes. And let’s be real, without Pepper there to keep him in line, I’m not sure where any of us would be. She’s the one who actually keeps him grounded. Without her, he’d be off somewhere making another suit of armor or, worse, blowing up the house trying to cook pasta.

I’ve spent a lot of time being frustrated with him, but deep down, I know he’s doing his best. He loves us in his own way, even if he doesn’t always know how to show it. I get it now. I really do. He might be impulsive and sometimes a little... too much, but without him, I wouldn’t be who I am. And I’ve learned from him, too, in my own way—how to fight for what you believe in, how to never give up, and how to laugh even when things are falling apart.

But the truth is, Pepper is the one who keeps him human when he forgets how to be. She’s the balance, the one who reminds him what really matters. It’s not about the tech or the suits; it’s about the people you love, the family you’ve built. And that’s something Tony learned from her, even if he doesn’t always admit it.

Morgan – Our little world-dominating genius. You may be small, but girl, you’ve got a heart that’s bigger than this whole universe. I’ve watched you grow up, and honestly, I’m proud to be your sister. You’ve got that fire in you, that same drive that runs through the Stark blood, and I know you’re going to make a difference in the world. Just remember: don’t blow anything up without asking—you’ve got that from Dad.

Emma – The calm, collected one. You’ve got this quiet strength that is honestly incredible. You keep us all grounded when we get too caught up in the whirlwind of Stark madness, and I appreciate that more than you know.

Cameron – You're the one with that spark, the wild one who adds the fun and chaos. Life would be way too predictable without you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. You keep us all on our toes, and honestly, it’s what makes family dinners so interesting (even when you’re hiding under the table with Morgan planning something very interesting)

Peter Parker – Parker… you are a literal ray of sunshine. I honestly don’t know how you put up with my teasing, but you always rise to the occasion. You’ve been like a little brother to me, and watching you grow into the hero I know you are has been one of the greatest gifts. Keep being that amazing, awkward, brilliant, and way-too-nice-to-be-real kid. And when you beat me at anything again, I swear I’m going to cry… but not in front of you.

Harley Keener – My partner-in-crime, Gadget Boi. I have never met anyone who can – things like you do, the potato gun for instance. I honestly can’t wait to see where your talent takes you. You’ve been a part of this family in every way that counts, and I’m proud to have you by my side. Let’s just agree that you’ll never outshine my genius, though, okay?

Willow – You’ve been such a light in my life, more than I can put into words. Whether we’re creating things together or just sharing quiet moments, I can’t thank you enough for being there for me. You’ve been a part of this family in the most genuine, beautiful way, and I feel lucky to have you by my side.

And through all of this, Pepper—you’ve been the heart of it all. You’ve shaped us, loved us, and made us better people. You’re the one who’s made sure that, even when things fall apart, we all know how to pick ourselves back up. You’ve taught me that being a leader doesn’t mean doing it all on your own—it means knowing how to lean on the people you love and trust.

You’ve raised me in ways I never fully understood until I was older. You showed me what it means to be strong—not the kind of strong that comes from power or status, but the kind of strength that comes from kindness, patience, and love. You showed me that being a leader doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. It means you keep going, even when everything around you is crumbling. And you taught me that you can be soft and strong at the same time. That you can hold the world in your hands and still find the space to love fiercely and without hesitation.

I know I don’t say it enough, but thank you. Thank you for being the heart of this family, for showing us what it means to love unconditionally, and for always being there for each and every one of us. Without you, we’d all be lost. She’s the reason Tony can actually keep his life together (and trust me, he tries).

So, to Morgan, Emma, Cameron, Peter, Harley, Willow and of course Pepper, thank you for being my family. Thank you for the laughter, the tears, the chaos, and the love. I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.

To Pepper—you are the unsung superhero in all of this, the reason our family functions at all. I love you more than words could ever express.

And to Tony—thank you for being the kind of dad who may not always get it right, but tries. I may not show it all the time, but I’m proud to be your daughter. 🥂

P.S. I might still steal some of your shoes when I visit. I mean, I have to, right? Fashion legacy and all.

[relicsongmel]

Wait. WAIT.

Dahlia’s alias being “Melissa Foster” also lowkey foreshadows that she’s a Fey because it gives her the SAME INITIALS MOST OF THE FEYS HAVE!!!! INCLUDING HER OWN MOM

IM GONNA EAT A CEILING FAN HOW DOES THIS GAME CONTINUE TO BLOW MY FUCKING MIND

[justafriendofxanders]

lindsey and lilah my beloved evil stooges. love a hysterical man and a repressed woman. they're so clownishly evil they only make sense with a tragic backstory that's made them this deeply jaded and cynical. all the other w&h employees appear to be slimy weasels but these guys have to try SO hard to be evil. everybody else is having a ball at evil inc, but these two fuckers are clocking in like every day is monday. they're foiled at every turn bc they're villains of the week and thus Cannot Win. they both fall in love with people who are in the middle of identity/moral crises with the conviction they can be on the same side at some point (not good or evil, but their own side), because no one has ever been on their side.

but also like. THEY chose this. tragicomic characters for the ages.

[mostly-marvel-musings]

You made Tony sort of live out his dream in Where do we go from here and now I'm obsessed with that and these prompts reminded me of it: “Reality is even better than my dreams.” and “I have dreamed of this, but this is so much better.”. Whichever one you prefer, or both, you choose, I just need to see Tony living out his dreams/fantasies.

Better than any dream

A/N: An epilogue to Annoying Neighbour? A standalone fluff bomb? Take it any way you like!! Enjoy :)

Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader

Warnings: 18+ FLUFF TO THE VERY CORE.

Annoying Neighbour Series

.

It was raining.

Today of all days. You couldn’t complain though, given how perfect life was currently. Your two month old baby boy Noah was latched on to your breast, suckling away as you sat on your nursing chair overlooking the backyard, humming a soft lullaby.

You laughed as his tiny hand wrapped around your finger in an iron grip, his big brown eyes that he inherited from his Dada turning heavier by the second as your milk filled his little belly.

“Hey, save some for me, Noah Howard Stark.”

Your husband’s voice made you roll your eyes as he approached from behind, inevitably warming your cheeks as last night’s memories flooded your mind. Tony had been quite appreciative of your changing body throughout the pregnancy, however, post childbirth, he had simply been obsessed with your breasts, never missing a chance to help you express your milk, in a bottle or otherwise.

“I dreamed of this, you know. But this is just so much better.” Tony murmured, bending down to give you a soft kiss on your lips before doing the same to Noah’s little head, caressing his dark brown curls.

You heard Rhodey’s voice call out for Tony from the garden, making him sprint towards the source despite the downpour.

“She wants you to jump in puddles with her.” Rhodey smiled, holding Morgan’s hand in his before transferring it to Tony’s. The fact that Morgan had them both wrapped around her little finger brought you so much joy.

“You too, Uncle Rhodey. Come on!” Morgan squealed, making you grin as you witnessed your older child making two full grown adults - although that could be debatable - jump in puddles of muddy water.

An echo of carefree laughter and love wafting along with the petrichor as you let out a happy sigh, closing your eyes to take it all in.

Yes. Tony was right. Reality was definitely better than your dreams.

[marstonsboy]

May I ask what you think Jack’s spirit animal is? I’ve heard some people say raccoon or wolf pup and that is so friggin cute 😖💕

hi!!! i’ve yapped about this a little on my main blog, but thanks for the excuse to talk about it here :3

so the animal symbolism in red dead redemption is fantastic, with two distinctive animals used to signify high and low honor in arthur— a buck for high honor (prey animal, usually symbolically associated w the cycles of nature and rebirth, as deer shed and regrow their antlers as seasons go on), and a coyote for low honor (predatory animal often associated with cunning and trickery, but also curiosity).

with jack, i like to think his high honor animal is a maned wolf. further explanation under the cut :)

so, for clarification, despite the name, maned wolves aren’t wolves! they’re named after wolves, and are often described as “foxes on stilts” due to their physical resemblance to foxes, but they’re genetically distinguishable from both. they happen to be the only species in the “golden dog”/chrysocyon genus. they’re omnivorous, solitary predators, and the dark mane on their necks raises when they sense danger.

i know picking a predatory animal to represent high honor is a little strange, but allow me to explain. the maned wolf is notoriously solitary— aka not a pack animal, like the wolf they’re named after. (sound familiar?) it’s also compared a lot to foxes, due to physical resemblance, but afaik they aren’t genetically related to foxes - and they’re canines, not vulpines. they’re skittish, shy, and only attack humans if they feel threatened, and can make a loud roar/bark noise to communicate over long distances.

jack happens to be the only person left of the marston family, as well as one of the few surviving associates/“members” (i guess, but he was like. four. so i hesitate to give him that status) of the van der linde gang. he’s named after his father, and is repeatedly confused with him/told how much he resembles him as an adult. he deals with the aftermath and repercussions of his father’s actions, and perpetuates the cycle of violence despite knowing it’s exactly what everyone who loved him died to prevent. i think it fits that, even with high honor, jack’s associated animal is predatory. he’ll live the rest of his life running from his own choices, just like his father, and he’ll never be able to escape his legacy.

in terms of his low honor animal, i usually default to a wolf. why? similar answer: repetition of the cycle, living his life dwarfed by his father’s shadow. becoming the monster you were told to be better than and grow beyond. my slightly more unhinged take would be a bear— in part because of that time he got mauled half to death by one, and i think i’m funny— but also because bears happen to be largely solitary predators, and, well. y’know. both wolves and bears are also considered highly dangerous apex predators, so do with that what you will.

i lean more towards wolf, though, if i’m being honest. one of jack’s defining character traits is the way he feels inferior to john, or how he feels he needs to prove himself in order to earn his affection and approval. so much so, that he’ll do things that he knows damn well his parents wouldn’t want him to do, like go hunt down a full grown grizzly bear by himself, or kill a man in cold blood and doom himself to becoming an outlaw when he’s only nineteen years old. he’s my favorite character, and thus i must emotionally torment him in the most psychologically devastating ways possible.

thank you so much for the ask, i love to yap forever and ever about him !!<3

[tojisbbygworl]

QUESTION FOR BLACK READERS

Personally, I wish there were black reader fics and I’m going to write one, but I would love to know what you guys think

Ppl are still finding this post, so I’m gonna go ahead and put the link to the story on here

[arthursfuckinghat]

☽⋅𖤐⋆ Against the sun, we're the enemy. ⋆𖤐⋅☾