When I was in college, I got my first tattoo. Not long after, a guy who sat behind me in one of my classes tapped me on the shoulder and told me that he'd seen my tattoo online, being made fun of as an example of "dumb shit fandom girls do." I'm not a girl, mind you (I'm nonbinary), but to a bunch of people online I was a "stupid girl who got a stupid tattoo for a dumb fandom."
Anyway, the guy from my class was really nice about it--he apologized for having to tell me bad news, and gave me the contact info for the guy who posted it so I could ask for it to be taken down.
Now, the tattoo in question? It's a bird. It's not actually a fandom tattoo, it just coincidentally looks vaguely like a bit of symbolism from a fandom that was popular at the time I got it. But it was enough to unleash a firestorm of "look at this stupid girl with her stupid cringe tattoo" comments.
(Even if it WAS a fandom tattoo...who gives a shit??? It's my body and my tattoo and I don't really give a shit what strangers think.)
The misogyny of my body being put online and circulated for mockery without my consent really fucked me up at the time. I felt awful. I was mortified. I was scared more people would recognize me from the post and give me shit. It sucked so bad.
So I just kinda think you're a fucking douchebag if you participate in tattoo shaming for anything that isn't, like, a blatant hate symbol. I don't really care if you think it's tasteless, or cringe, or badly done, or whatever other justification.
Have I mentioned that I think Mulder apologizing immediately when Scully pulls away from him in the hallway is directly related to his father deflecting his hug with a handshake in Colony?
Agree, he's got issues with feeling rejected in general and particularly with intimacy. Not just his dad not hugging him, but also shown in how defensive he is around his exes.
I mean this is a guy who has been attracted to Scully for years, arguably from the very beginning, who waits 5 years to even try to kiss her on the lips. And then only does so when he thinks he might never see her again because she's about to quit the FBI.
A recurring theme really when you look at the Triangle kiss (genuinely thinks he might have doomed himself to be never see her again) and the Millennium kiss (an excuse to brush it off as a joke about the world ending or claim it as a mere new year tradition if she rejects him)
Oh yeah, Mulder's long history of being emotionally neglected and manipulated by people who were supposed to love him (plus Samantha's disappearance) and subsequent abandonment and self-worth issues are so interesting to me, and a great avenue of character exploration. I also think it's a major factor in Mulder preemptively rejecting himself before Scully can, and why he's to scared to change their dynamic. Mulder genuinely believes based on past relationships that Scully will eventually come to her senses and leave him too
THERES MORE TO WHITEWASHING THAN JUST SKIN COLOR THERES MORE TO WHITEWASHING THAN JUST SKIN COLOR THERES MORE TO WHITEWASHING THAN JUST SKIN COLOR THERES MORE TO WHITEWASHING THAN JUST SKIN COLORRRRRRRRRR
āSkepticā this, ābelieverā that: no, the biggest difference between Mulder and Scully is that both are weirdo freaks but Mulder knows it and Scully thinks sheās normal
Listening to Damn These Vampires and Steal Smoked Fish back to back will have you thinking such thoughts as, "I have no idea how John Darnielle feels about vampires"
On the note of season 7/season of secret sex, why does everyone seem so sure that scully was playing with mulderās tie in rush? I still canāt see this
Rush's Tie Twirl and Timeline
I can understand that, anon. So, here's the clip!
To prove the tie twirl, I must explain the slight shift from Position A to B.
At the beginning of the clip, Scully is at rest in Position A: parallel to Mulder, shoulders straight across, distance between them.
The shift to Position B begins after she looks down and says, "Mulder...": her right arm moves forward, angling her body towards him, closer in.
While she continues, there is a distinctive rustling of either material-on-material friction or her fingers rubbing material between them.
Her attention remains fixed where her hand is.
Position A is regained after she says, "Please? Just..." and pouts:
her arm snaps abruptly back to her side, leveling her shoulders (and dropping whatever she was fondling.)
When she finishes, "...for me?" we get a glimpse of Mulder's face before Scully switches gears and becomes serious again.
Now, granted, Scully could have been fiddling with Mulder's coat or a button hole or a bunch in his shirt or his hand or her hand (though there isn't an audible skin-on-skin noise) if not his tie, but she was fiddling with something. Otherwise moving her hand forward, keeping it in empty air, then pulling it back only after pleading her case wouldn't make sense.
So, the most plausible explanation would be....
-Timeline: Production Drafts-
Here's a fun little aside I've thought up.
One of the quirks in Rush is its timetable, specifically a date printed on one of the teenager's exam papers (here.) If taken at face value, this would place the episode around Thanksgiving, before New Year's 2000.
After investigating the production dates, I discovered (and will prove) the episode was crafted after Millennium.
Millennium, September 13, 1999:
Rush, September 17, 1999 and Rush, September 24, 1999 respectively:
Which means Millennium's kiss (courtesy of John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz) was written no later than September 17.
Which means Rush was written after the kiss was penned.
Which means Rush was created off in the "after" era.
Couldn't find filming dates of either episode (probably wouldn't matter, regardless), but the on-screen goof can probably be explained by an oversight: Rush was aired December 5, which means a lot of its production was taking place during November (leading up to Thanksgiving.) Some exhausted or misinformed crew member must have accidentally included the wrong detail.
(Besides, timelines were never clear in The X-Files, anyway.)
-Bonus-
Want more content?
You can find a gifset of Scully's insane levels of flirtation (and territoriality) here. And this gifset. And this one. And this. And that.
And Mulder's crack here.
@agent-troi's Rush meta here (including a line from Mulder) and here.
My entrance meta here. @fringephile's thoughts/screenshots here. @scullysbagelbites's thoughts here. @unremarkablehouse's thoughts on Scully's turtleneck (hickies) here and etc. here.
My season of secret sex meta here.
Lastly, this is an open invitation to everyone: include your Rush thoughts in the reblogs or tags below. It's open season. Have at!
prguitarman
baratheonpilled
dailybridgerton
vaporwave
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
gummygunk
izzy806
gracieabrams
