Thank you to everyone who voted! It was very close, however it's clear that fake apologies rule, so let's get into it! It is a long piece
(this turned into a more wholesome, truthful apology. Sorry)
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Prev.
Pretty whumpee sniffled, staring at the wall. They shifted uncomfortably in their pet bed, not daring to wake up Carewhumper with their crying. Hand to mouth, they cried into their palm. Trembling, they slowly fell asleep with a pained heart, the pet bed wet with tears and snot.
...
Blinking awake, whumpee winced. *Why was it so bright? Oh...* Carewhumper had thrown the curtains open. Carewhumper approached, bearing a huge smile.
"Rise and shine dear. Adventure awaits." Carewhumper said, far too loudly for whumpee's sensitive hearing. Pretty whumpee groaned internally, blinking at them.
"Well don't just sit there, stupid." Carewhumper said, snapping. Pretty whumpee jolted out of bed, the overwhelming tired feeling dragging them down.
"Go and fetch your fancy ribbon and collar." Carewhumper barked out, ordering whumpee. Pretty whumpee scrambled to fetch the matching set of fancy gear.
After about a minute, whumpee presented the fanciest of ribbons and matching collar to Carewhumper. Smiling, Carewhumper appeared pleased. Patting the bed, Carewhumper motioned for whumpee to join them.
Confused beyond belief, whumpee sighed internally. Whatever was happening *couldn't* be good. Fancy gear was meant only for parties and outings. Both terrifying due to the harsh nature of Carewhumper's drinking habits.
Slowly, whumpee climbed onto the soft down-filled comforter. Turning to face away from Carewhumper, they flipped the hair off their shoulders, presenting their long and luscious hair to Carewhumper. They knew the drill.
Carewhumper hummed, brushing their fingers through whumpee's hair. Pretty whumpee could feel each finger being rough with the knots and kinks in their hair. They winced, digging their nails against their palms to manage the pain. A sharp, pulling feeling errupting against their scalp as Carewhumper positioned their least favorite ribbon.
*Finally*... Whumpee thought. Pretty whumpee could hear a camera snap, the echoing flash noise bouncing around their mind. Rolling their eyes, they glared at the ground, grinding their teeth.
"Come 'ere." Carewhumper said, turning them 'round. Pretty whumpee plastered on a fake smile and lowered their head. Carewhumper went through the familiar motions of snapping the collar in place. Grimacing, whumpee sighed.
"Whumpee, my sweet, go and meet me by the front door." Carewhumper said, smile huge. Pushing whumpee's hair out of their eyes, whumpee looked up with a semi-terrified expression.
"Don't worry, darling." Carewhumper said, kissing their forehead. And with that, whumpee scrambled out of the bedroom and into the main hall.
*Shit...* Pretty whumpee scooted around, twiddling their thumbs. What laid in store for them this time? Their mind swirled with endless possibilities, ideas, and feelings.
Puttering around, they spun in a rather bored manner. They hadn't noticed Carewhumper until they heard some light clapping.
"Darling that was so pretty! Remind me to catch that on video later, ok?" Carewhumper said, taking whumpee's arm and twirling them manually. Pretty whumpee clenched their jaw, following through.
...
Soon, they were settled in the car. Carewhumper had been in the back seat of a somewhat fashionable vehicle, with a driver of course. Whilst whumpee sat on the floor of the car.
Pretty whumpee heard the rumbling of the engine, longing to see out the window like a real pet. Instead, they were stuck with a short leash to keep them in place. Growling under their breath, they changed positions and sighed, head on Carewhumper's shoes.
Carewhumper reached down and pet their hair, only tugging to remind whumpee that they weren't allowed to sleep. Whumpee felt the car scoot along, clenching their teeth at every bump.
It had been a complicated process getting the car parked, having been to a more sketchy part of town. Opening the door wide, whumpee peered out; curious.
Pretty whumpee tilted their head in confusion. This wasn't a usual spot. This wasn't a fancy party building or a drinking building, rather this building had multiple automatic doors, dirty floors and strange music. Gum littered the sidewalk. And it was dirty.
Glancing up and Carewhumper, they saw Carewhumper had put on some fancy gloves. *Why were they here?* This place was no where near fancy.
"Welcome, my beautiful pet, to the *mall.*" Carewhumper growled out, forcing a smile. Carewhumper always made it very clear how they felt about things.
*The what? What's a mall?* Cocking their head, whumpee looked up at Carewhumper.
"Come on then, walk." Carewhumper stated, tugging them along. Pretty whumpee gulped, feeling their knees scrape against the rough sidewalk and on to the tiled floor, when they walked in.
Pretty whumpee gasped, looking around in awe. There were *so* many funny rooms filled with people and the occasional pet. The rooms each had different signs in bright words that whumpee couldn't read. The rooms were intriguing, having been filled to the brim with trinkets, boxes, and things.
Tugging their leash, Carewhumper guided them along to a strange machine. It was clear they were on a second floor. But the machine looked like... Stairs? But they moved? Just looking at it made whumpee dizzy. They started to stop, despite the pulling.
"Whumpee I don't have time for this. Get on the escalator." Carewhumper said, pointing. Pretty whumpee held their breath and got onto a step, uncomfortable, as the machine was much smaller than an elevator was.
Pretty whumpee grew quite nauseous and frightened as they swayed a bit. They finally saw the end approaching. However, it didn't just *stop*. It went *under* the machine somehow. Pretty whumpee pawed at Carewhumper, who pushed them off the escalator and onto the floor.
Breathing a sigh of relief, whumpee smiled. They didn't die! Carewhumper gently tugged them along, leading them far into the mall. Getting a bit winded, not having been walked in a while.
Finally, Carewhumper stopped, leading them into one of the funny rooms. Looking around, whumpee could see the entire store was filled with books. Shelf after shelf, they looked around in awe.
Carewhumper nodded politely at a fancy person wearing a badge. It had pins on it and they really liked the person's hair. It was bright red and cropped short. Pretty whumpee got a bit jealous, having their hair not even theirs, it was Carewhumper's.
Pretty whumpee's attention jolted, feeling a familiar tug. They supposed that Carewhumper had gotten the information they needed.
Pretty whumpee watched as they made it to a colorful part of the store. There were stuffies and shiny toys. There were books of all colors.
Carewhumper unleashed them. Pretty whumpee's mind screeched to a hault. What just happened?? Staring at Carewhumper, they felt awkward and unsafe.
Leaning down, Carewhumper pushed whumpee's hair out of their eyes.
"Go ahead and go to that book shelf. Find a book with pictures you like and then bring it to me. Whumpee...." They paused.
"Whumpee, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you." Pretty whumpee was floored. Stunned. Amazed. Confused?
They started to shake a bit. Carewhumper noticed this and kissed them on the forehead before scooting them along.
"Go on, take your time."
Even though they couldn't read, they must've looked through at least 25 different books. Fascinated, they reveled in this oh so human treat.
Books had pretty pictures, weird pictures, fancy pictures, photo pictures, sparkly pictures, so many pictures.
Sitting, whumpee grinned, fully enjoying this rare treat. Sighing blissfully, they picked up one more book.
Pretty whumpee had settled on an adorable book about a dragon. They loved this one. They flipped through it one more time before nodding. Even though they couldn't read, they could tell the story through the pictures. They loved it.
Running to Carewhumper, they handed the book to them. Carewhumper smiled, breifly looking through it.
"Great choice, lovey." Carewhumper said, pleased. Pretty whumpee wanted it back so bad. So so bad. But... They had to trust that Carewhumper would return it to them. The desire burned in them deeply, though.
Carewhumper clipped the leash on with a *click*, leading whumpee out of the fun part of the store. Every passing minute, their mind lusted for the book. Darting their eyes at the book, they mentally begged Carewhumper to hand it to them. They scowled when that didn't happen.
Carewhumper lead them to a corner of the book store and waited in line at a sort of counter. Beside the counter, whumpee could see pastries and desserts. Oh how their mouth watered.
Carewhumper looked at their pet, stepping up to the machine. Pretty whumpee was a little familiar with Carewhumper's sweet tooth, especially at restaurants. This time, Carewhumper ordered something new. Something odd.
"One pup cup, please." Carewhumper ordered, along with a pastry and a weird sounding drink. Carewhumper walked them over to a near-by table, securing their leash.
Carewhumper sat, petting their hair. Before long, a person in a funny dress came by and gave Carewhumper their food.
Smiling, Carewhumper handed something to whumpee. Blinking, they stared at it, all the more confused.
"Take it, it's good to eat." Carewhumper said with a wink. Pretty whumpee took it and looked at it with curious eyes. They licked it, the sweet sensation of cold and delicious filled their mouth. Was this a pup cup? Whatever it was, it was wonderful. They savored it, but before long they just scarfed it down.
Handing the small cup back up to Carewhumper, they licked their lips and grinned.
"It's called whip-cream, my dear." Carewhumper said, taking the cup. They pet whumpee, who desperately leaned against their touch.
Smiling, they slid the book down to pretty whumpee, who's heart was full...
Remember that pic you made of Oswald jumping through a window? Could you redraw that? For me? Pls? 🥺 👉 👈
I did it :D Finally!
I have 2 versions since I kinda like it without the light streaming in lol.
This took so much time lmao.
and ngl Oswald in this was my favorite part! I can't believe I did this XD
Idk what to do for the windows since they were meant to be stained glass but Idk how to like... mute stained glass for this kind of work.
So I settled for this ^^
From pen, to stage, to film – and why it all mattered.
Google any list along the lines of ‘Best Old Hollywood Films To Watch’, or ‘Best Classic Movies Of All Time’, or ‘Best Romcoms Ever’, and this film from 1940 is probably unfailingly on it.
In short, it’s an incredibly well regarded entity and undoubtedly beloved by many. And it isn’t hard to understand why. It stars one of the world’s most well-regarded actresses, supported by some of Old-Hollywood’s most famous leading men in Cary Grant and James Stewart, and was directed by George Cukor as one of the most acclaimed directors in history. A recipe for success, surely.
And it’s a sum of more than just its parts. It’s a film you like to recommend to all of your friends who “don’t like old films” – countering instead, “Look look, they were funny back then! They said funny things! They had witty and clever banter! They got drunk! There’s crackling sexual tension! It’s not boring at all!”
And it’s not.
It’s not boring at all. Watching this film in this day and age and not in the ‘40s for the first time, its brilliance is immediately apparent. Yes, it’s also apparent some of the ways in which today’s world differs from the 1940s, but it’s more than possible to be swept up in a wave of sparkling dialogue and the rapid build of a screwball comedy plot – completely enraptured.
What’s not immediately apparent is the tumult of what was Katharine Hepburn herself was facing behind the scenes at the time when this film entered the world, and more broadly, why this film’s creation was so necessary in the first place.
By 1940, Katharine Hepburn needed something to save her.
Two Oscar nominations before this date and the other numerous such accolades since makes it easy to smooth over the fact things weren’t always plain sailing.
After her disastrously received turn in The Lake, she had not set foot on Broadway since 1934. Come 1937, she’d had four financially unsuccessful films in a row, culminating with Quality Street.
Holiday and Bringing up Baby, both with Cary Grant and both released in 1938, are praised and lauded now. But at the time, they both sank and failed to find her the foothold she was increasingly desperately needing.
Public opinion was only wavering further. Years of being unconventional were taking their toll. Challenging attitudes to the press, masculine behaviours and fashion senses, living with women, secretive and failed marriages, and ostensibly provocative political views were all snowballing behind her on top of the deteriorating critical acclaim. The time came where seldom was she referred to without the infamous "box-office poison" suffix.
Katharine knew there was work to be done.
Inviting playwright Phillip Barry to spend weeks with the Hepburn family at Fenwick, The Philadelphia Story in its first iteration as a Broadway play was born. Tracy Lord is as much Katharine Hepburn as much as Katharine Hepburn was Tracy Lord. Barry stitched a mould for Tracy out of the very fabric of Katharine and her life at Fenwick, sat on the jetty or observing the continual carousel of associates and relatives passing through the house. And Katharine didn’t just watch. “Make her like me,” she instructed Barry. “But make her all soft.”
He did. And it worked.
On the stage in New York as the play opened, she earned the reviews she’d so long sought after – Miss Hepburn had “at last found the joy she had always been seeking in the theatre.”
Success holding ground, she made her next shrewd action in purchasing the rights to the motion picture, with herself conditionally attached to the starring role. It was some fine advice from Howard Hughes, and one of the most important gifts he ever gave her. Well, what else are rich aviator beaus for?
Now film audiences all over the world, not just the privileged theatregoers of Broadway, needed to see this icy queen cut down to size.
Most literally, her opening scene watches her flattened horizontally to the floor while Grant as Dexter shoves her by the face through the doorway.
When Dexter confronts Tracy as his ex-wife to place the blame at her feet for the failure of their marriage, or when her father comes forth with further accusations of culpability, one might expect Katharine Hepburn to argue. To protest. To defend. To quip. Tracy Lord doesn’t. She cries.
No more the overt intimation of subversion and there being other ways to live. No more tomboyish wildness as in Little Women. No more masquerading as men as in Sylvia Scarlett. No more ruining her leading man’s life and work as in Bringing up Baby and being happy about it. No more rumours of the inclinations garnered by living with women and wearing trousers as in her own life. Here, she nestles herself comfortably into convention. Deferentially tempering that Hepburn fire and accepting her ‘mistakes’ head on, she slots into one of Hollywood’s most favoured neat endings – the comedy of remarriage and an acquiescence to loving her man.
She learns her lesson, Hollywood reasons. The New and Improved Kate.
Critical acclaim and another Oscar nomination? Why, but of course – nothing but the finest for our darling Katharine.
It seems upsetting to think of it like that and witness such a calculated and contrived humbling of our beloved untameable wildcat as we think of her now.
But we’ve had 80 years to settle into the ripples around the context of its creation and parse through the politics of its existence. What ever all of the surrounding paraphernalia may be, it does not negate any of the film's primary and immediate impacts.
Is it still markedly charming, clever, entertaining, funny, aesthetically wonderous and engaging to begin with? Arguably, yes.
There is no denying the wittiness of the dialogue. Regardless of what they were subliminally intended to make audiences at the time think, the endurance is shown by the fact the lines still have the capacity to make audiences today sit up, pay attention, and laugh. Even those who don’t ‘like’ classic films. The costumes are beautiful to behold. Her hungover hissing at the sunlight is one of the finest “Oh curse the follies and decisions of the night before!” sequences ever fixed into film. There's diversion too from all angles to sustain the variation and pace, with added moments of brilliance being provided by Ruth Hussey as Elizabeth and Virginia Wielder as crafty Dinah.
Ultimately, The Philadelphia Story holds up. It is still a remarkable film in its own right. But perhaps, it’s even more significant when considered in the context of its whole existence.
Summary: basically u guys get drunk, and you’re exes, but you guys have a rly healthy good relationship even tho you’re exes, but anyways you’re like really drunk and Penn’s being the caring familiar teddy bear he is like “let’s get u home” and then you go “i’m already home”
y/n got the job. She got her dream job as a lawyer in New York. She did what she’d wanted to do since she was 12, she went to law school, she passed law school, she passed the bar, and she was starting at a firm in New York City just next week, all with her ex turned best friend by her side.
Sure y/n was still in love with him, but he didn’t need to know that. The two of them had become a package deal over the past two years after they’d broken up. In fact, she broke up with him. y/n moved to New York. y/n wanted to pursue y/n’s dreams. She couldn’t let anything hold you back.
Little did she know he’d follow you all the way there, not in a creepy way, in a sort of lost puppy way.
Her phone rang, Penn’s name lit the screen. She answered it.
“I got the job! I got the job!” y/n squealed, she wanted to jump up and down, but she was in heels and that would result in at least a twisted ankle.
“y/n that’s amazing! We need to celebrate! Come to mine at 7, I have a surprise or two in store,” Penn said, she could hear his smile.
“Sounds great, I’ll stop by mine on the way, tell me if you need me to pick anything up,” y/n offered, with that, she turned the key in the lock to the door of her loft.
“Okay, see you then,” with that Penn ended the call and she placed her things down on the island. y/n took a deep breath as she tied her hair up out of her face, y/n’d straightened it for the big day, but she’s never been used to having hair in her face.
It was too quiet for her, “Hey Google, play music,” It played Sofia by Clairo as you went upstairs to the tornado she’d left from the morning before.
There were clothes everywhere, on the rack, on the floor, the bed and her desk. Her make up splayed around the mirror on the floor, the straightener still plugged in in the bathroom and hanging off the counter, she groaned at the mess, knowing she’d have to clean it up soon.
Y/n stripped down to her bra and underwear and looked through her wardrobe. After pouring over almost every article of clothing she owned she decided on a dark mauve romper with roses embroidered on the front and some blush toned sandals. y/n pretty much covered her face in highlighter and blush and completed it all with some gloss.
She ran down the stairs to the kitchen to get a drink of water, put her phone in her pocket, the biggest reason she bought this romper and locked the door behind her. Penn’s place was only a 10-minute subway ride away and before she knew it she was turning her spare key in the lock to Penn’s door.
“Penn! I’m here!”
No answer, “Penn?” she questioned, slowly walking out of the entryway and into the living room where she found Penn having a mental breakdown while trying to make a fort. She began to have a laughing fit.
“You weren’t supposed to be here til 7! It was supposed to be a surprise!” Penn faltered, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Well, I got bored, and it doesn’t take me long to get ready, you know me. You’re making a fort?”
“Yes, yes I am.”
“Oh, Penn,”
y/n grabbed a corner of the sheet he was holding and secured it to the chair he’d be struggling to do when she’d come inside. “You look like you need help,” she chuckled. “Only a little,” he pouted.
About an hour later they’d successfully pitched the fort in his living room. Penn was so determined to make tonight special that he’d gone and gotten string lights and champagne and even made y/n’s favorite, eggplant parmesan (y/n was vegetarian). “You know you really outdid yourself this time,”
“I know, but you deserve it, especially after everything,”
The “everything” Penn had been referring to was moving to New York, moving on from him just to get her heart broken yet again, and losing her sister, all within the span of a year. She’d been through a lot, but she was resilient. Y/n was laying on the floor cushions that Penn had laid out earlier to act as something to sit on in the fort and staring at the string lights he’d arranged to look like stars. A smile drew across her face, as Penn crawled into the fort with the bottle of champagne and two wine glasses.
“So I didn’t really have any glasses, of any kind, so hopefully these will do,” Penn placed two large water bottles on the coffee table that also held two plates of eggplant parmesan.
“Pump me full of alcohol and feed me my favorite meal that may or may not be laced with something? How Joe-like of you!” y/n teased him about his latest role, that’d blown up over the internet and now pretty much everyone had some level of thirst for the man that was currently pouring the entire contents of a bottle of champagne into two water bottles.
Penn smirked at her comment. He hated his character, but at the same time, he was… unique enough for him to want to play. They spent the night talking about the future. By the time y/n had finished a fourth of her bottle she had become intoxicated, she was a bit of a lightweight. “Ok you should probably stop soon, you do need to get home eventually, and I’d feel much better if you weren’t stumbling around on the subway,” Penn divulged.
“But I’m already home,”
She’s just drunk Penn thought to himself, “You can have the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch,”
“What’re you talking about, I love you,”
She’s drunk Penn, she doesn’t know what she’s saying, he tried to convince himself, until she went in for a kiss, and it was as if they had never broken up all that time ago. That everything was back to normal. He pulled away, “y/n, you’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re doing,”
“But I do. I love you. I love you, Penn. I’ve loved you this entire time, but I was too stubborn to say anything. I love you,”
With that, he cupped her face in his hands the way he used to, and pulled her closer, “You’re mine you hear.”
A/N: Wrote my Pilot fic. It probably sucks because I wrote during multiple bouts of insomnia and just to write something so ere go, probably forced. Some of the lines are from the transcript from Inside the X. Tagging @today-in-fic @suitablyaggrieved @baronessblixen @improlificinsarcasm
Darkness and mystery surrounded Scully in her motel room as she carefully lit a series of candles throughout her room. Her first assignment as a field agent and it literally had to be in the middle of nowhere Oregon. She was tired. The day had been long and grueling and oddly enough, strangely satisfying. There was a mystery...a plausible explanation of some sort that could be discovered.
She shut her laptop, being careful not to use all her battery just in case the lights would be out longer than a few hours. She shuffled her notes and files, deciding to call it a night. Suddenly, the phone rang and she jumped slightly. She huffed to herself in amusement as she looked at her watch. She picked up the phone and greeted, “Hi, Ethan.”
“Dana,” he greeted. “How’s your first field case going? Find any aliens yet?”
“It’s not aliens, Ethan. But it’s going. I just lost power. This town literally is in the middle of nowhere.”
She tried to keep it professional. She wasn’t really expecting her rocky, taking some space-boyfriend to call her. She had her suspicions for the past three months that he was cheating on her with someone else. Scully was able to solve the mysteries of death but not the one mystery of her cheating boyfriend.
“Well, maybe being a field agent isn’t what you’re calling is. You had a pretty sweet gig in Quantico.”
She groaned at his nagging. That was another thing had been growing worse too. “Well, I think I could do more good here than in a lab, Ethan.”
“Chasing little green aliens?” He scoffed. “What is that I hear? Spooky?”
“How did you hear that?” She rolled her eyes. “Of course, now I remember you telling me.”
“I’m a journalist, Dana, it’s my job to know. I heard he used to be quite the golden child back in the day.”
“That doesn’t matter, Ethan. I’m doing a greater good here helping these people than I would in the lab.”
“You aren’t cut out to be a field agent, Dana. You’re a doctor. It is a waste of your talents.”
“You think I can’t do it?”
“I just think that a woman shouldn’t be out in the field is a dangerous situation like that. You’re a doctor, Dana.”
“And I’m also an FBI agent!” She was clearly annoyed now. “Why did you call me, Ethan? To berate me? That’s why I asked you to move out to begin with.”
There was a noise in the background, a woman’s sultry. “Come back to bed, baby.” Sheets ruffled and a hand covered up the phone. She could hear Ethan’s quiet, “Not now, Trixie.”
“What was that?”
“What was what?” He hissed over the line. “Tricia stop it.
Scully rolled her eyes, berating herself for being so naive. Of course, she should have followed her gut instinct. “Goodbye, Ethan and don’t ever call me again, okay? Just leave me alone.”
“Wait, Dana...I can explain.”
“I’m done.” She slammed the receiver and rolled her eyes. How could she be so stupid? “Damn it.”
Her head was still swimming from the evening earlier of being out in the woods, their car mysteriously dying and restarting their case, and the emotions of what just had happened over the phone. Her heart was racing. Scully was upset. She could feel tears wanting to begin but she crushed the urge. She had to remain professional, still get Mulder to respect her. He was challenging her every step of the way and at one point, she began to question if he had any respect for her at all.
She ran her fingers through her wavy hair and got one of her candles to bring to the bathroom. A hot shower would clear her mind. She set the candle on the counter, ran the shower, and took off her robe. As her fingers grazed her lower back and felt two raised bumps. Panic set in. It coldn’t be…
As a storm raged, she rushed to Mulder’s door and knocked on it. The door opened immediately. Mulder’s surprise was clear. “Hi.”
Scully’s mind was still racing. She felt panic, still striding high off her previous emotions. “I want you to look at something.”
He stood off to the side and motioned for her, “Come on in.”
Scully, with her arms crossed, walked into his motel room. Mulder shut the door behind her, sealing them off from the storm outside. She turns around and slipped down her robe. His eyebrows arched in surprise to see her only in her bra and underwear. She looked at him and down her back. Wordless, he bent down and gently touched her back. She jumped and he gently caressed her skin, soothing her frazzled nerves. He spotted two small dots and started to smile. He could understand why she would be so nervous.
“What are they?”
His smile grew wider.
“Mulder, what are they?”
“Mosquito bites.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I got eaten up a lot myself out there.“
Scully gasped in relief, blood rushing to her cheek as she slipped her robe back on. She instinctively hugged Mulder and she lingered. He hesitantly returned it, surprised at the physical contact. She suddenly realized she felt embarrassed and hugged him longer than she had to. But at the same time, it just felt...right.
“You okay?”
“Yes.” Scully pulled away from the hug and tried to calm herself by taking a deep breath. “I’m fine. I just...I haven’t been sleeping well.”
“You're shaking.”
She looked away. “I need to sit down.”
She sat down at the small table and he took a seat from across from here. “Take your time.”
“You don’t trust me,” she exclaimed bluntly. She clutched her chest, willing her heart to slow. “You think I am a spy.”
“Scully,” he tried to soothe.
“Don’t, Mulder. If you don’t trust, just any it! I know you hate having me here.” She got up. “It was stupid to come here!”
“Scully!” He grabbed her hand. “You didn’t waste your time.”
“You think I’m a spy,” she spat. Mulder didn’t deny it. “Your silence is deafening. I am sorry for bothering you, Mulder.”
She yanked her hand away, wrapped her robe around herself tightly, and grabbed the candle she had brought with her. “Scully, you don’t have to go out into that rain.”
“You made it perfectly clear. I was unprofessional. Good night, Agent Mulder.”
She jogged back to her room, avoiding the pouring rain and locked the door behind her. She set the candle back down on the table she had previously been sitting at. She moved to look for additional candles but had no luck until she looked under the bathroom sink. Scully chuckled at the irony of finding candles in a questionable hotel.
She lit the rest of the candles throughout her room and decided that perhaps she could try to review the case but right now, that was the last thing on her mind. She could read the book she brought for the flight but her mind was elsewhere. But her thoughts went back to Ethan.
Scully had met him on the rebound from Daniel, shortly after graduating medical school and being recruited into the FBI. Maybe she was still looking for that hole that Daniel had filled, but for a while, it worked. A successful up and coming journalist that covered Capitol Hill that was on the up and up to eventually go to national broadcasting. Ethan had nabbed a deal to a woman who was not only a medical doctor but and an FBI agent. At a Christmas party for his work, he paraded her like a prize...the oohs and awes from his coworkers still made her skin crawl...a doctor and an FBI agent? What a catch, Ethan.
Her father was so happy. His youngest had found a good man, her mother flirted the m-word, marriage. For a month she played with the idea, however, she caught him cheating the first time, and then things just went downhill from there. Tonight was the final straw.
She sighed and went to her bed, bringing a candle with her. “I’m single,” she repeated. “Fuck.”
She couldn’t fathom it and how much her life had changed in 72 hours. New assignment. A partner, could she even call Agent Mulder that, refused to trust her. Is this was being a field agent was? And now, she was free...single too. Was she free though? Ethan’s words still stung her.
Scully jumped when she heard a light knocking at her door. “Scully? You awake?”
She felt the bile rise up in her throat. “What do you want, Agent Mulder?”
“Mulder,” he corrected. “Um, can we talk?
She was reluctant to let him in. “About what? The case?”
She would not open the door.
“No. Um, about earlier, Scully…can we just talk?”
She got up and, after a moment's hesitation, opened the door. “Is this about the case?”
Mulder held his own candle and shook his head. He looked down at his feet. “No. I feel like I made an ass of myself, Scully. Can I come in or do you want me to stay out here all night?”
Scully looked past him to the storm raging outside. After a moment’s hesitation, she stepped aside. Mulder’s reluctance to enter was clear but he did so anyway. “Say what you have to say, Agent Mulder.”
“Mulder,” he corrected. He turned on his heel to tower over her. “Scully.”
“This is not some Tarazen and Jane situation,” she snapped.
He arched an eyebrow, clearly confused. “If this is about what happened earlier, I assure you it isn’t. I want to clear the air between us,” he said softly.
“There’s nothing to clear. You made that certain.”
“You know as a profiler and just as a good observer of nature, does your anger have to deal with the mysterious phone call with someone named Ethan you got right before we left Dulles?”
Scully glanced at him in the corner of her eye and sighed. After a moment, she answered, “He is, excuse me, was my boyfriend of three years.”
“Literally right before I ran over like a coward asking you to check my back. He told me,” she paused, “that this was a waste of my talents and that a woman should not be out in a dangerous situation such as this. I told him that I felt like I could do the best out here in the field, helping those couldn’t help herself, despite what people say about me.”
Mulder saw the unmentioned barb thrown his way, and her ex-boyfriend he supposed. “Well, what purpose does some guy have questioning the person who rewrote Einstein?”
She chuckled and wiped away a stray tear. “A journalist who cheats on you with someone named Trixie.”
“Journalist...is it Ethan Minette?”
“You know him?”
“Not directly but he tried to reach out to do an interview of some sort. He seemed just like everyone else who has made fun of me over the past years so I refused it.”
“He mentioned that.”
“Can you blame me?”
She shook her head and turned to face him. “I’m not here to spy on you, Mulder. I’m here to do a job. I am here to. Find the truth, help these people, and solve this case...with you. I am tired to you fighting me each and every step!”
“Have you ever had a partner, Scully?”
She shook her head. “Unless you count a cadaver.” Mulder frowned in response. “Pathologist humor, sorry. Mulder, I’m here so we can solve a case and so I can ground our findings in science. So we can solve this case.”
He titled his head and nodded. “You know, Scully, it’s been a very long time since I’ve had anyone take me seriously since I had someone to trust.” He walked past her and sat on the floor next to her bed. “You get used to people making fun of you, teasing you…” He shrugged. “I’ve been on my own with the x-files so long, I just learned to ignore it. But when I got the news I was getting assigned a partner, a scientist no less, I can’t help but be suspicious.”
“I know the feeling,” she said, reflecting on Ethan.
“How long had your ex been cheating?”
“I caught him in my second year of our relationship. He swore it was a one-time thing. Then it happened again. Then I kicked him out.”
“Go, girl!”
Scully smiled and lowered her gaze. “I was trying to make it work because of my parents…”
He held up a hand and patted the bed behind him. Scully smiled slightly and picked up a white blanket and wrapped up around herself. She lounged behind him and adjusted the blanket to rest on her hips. “I know about trying to please your parents but coming as a third neutral party for this, Scully. I think you are better off without him. He sounds like a twat.”
“Twat?”
“Sorry. An ass. An idiot. You did the right thing, Scully. So how did you find out?”
Scully felt a little lighter. Maybe Spooky Mulder wasn’t spooky after all. “Literally the woman said something over the phone while we chatted and I heard it. 20 minutes ago.”
“Ouch,” he winced. “Well, the fool didn’t know what he had.”
“What about you?”
Mulder’s head lolled back and looked at her. “Hmmm?”
“I give a little, you…”
“Fair enough, Scully. We’re going to be partners after all.”
The first time he had mentioned something more than temporary. Maybe he would finally take her seriously. “So, what do you want to know, Scully?”
She was quiet and then asked, “You had the whole world in front of you with your career, why the x-files?”
He smiled, surprised, and decided to trust her. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, we got time,” she countered.
He lolled his head back and took a deep breath, “I was twelve when it happened. My sister was eight. She just disappeared out of her bed one night. Just gone, vanished. No note, no phone calls, no evidence of anything.”
Scully was not expecting this. She propped her head up in curiosity. “You never found her.”
“No.” He smiled ironically. “I understand family pressures, Scully, trust me. Tore the family apart. No one would talk about it. There were no facts to confirm, nothing to offer any hope.”
“What did you do?”
“Eventually, I went off to school in England, I came back, got recruited by the bureau. Seems I had a natural aptitude for applying behavioral models to criminal cases.”
“I know the feeling. We lived on the West Coast when I was a teenager and I wanted to get out so badly to make my own name. We moved back to Maryland when I was 18. I tried to go to medical school out west but I…”
“Johns Hopkins, top of your class, recruited into the FBI,” he smiled, “something we both share.”
Scully laughed and Mulder’s smile went wider. He faced her. “My success allowed me a certain freedom to pursue my own interests. And that's when I came across the X-Files.”
“By accident?”
“At first, it looked like a garbage dump for UFO sightings, alien abduction reports, the kind of stuff that most people laugh at as being ridiculous. But I was fascinated. I read all the cases I could get my hands on, hundreds of them. I read everything I could about paranormal phenomena, about the occult and…” He sighed and drifted off in thought. “I found my sister’s file.”
“What?”
“There's classified government information I've been trying to access, but someone has been blocking my attempts to get at it.”
The passion with which he spoke to her made her sit up a bit more. “Who? I don't understand.”
“Someone at a higher level of power. The only reason I've been allowed to continue with my work is that I've made connections in congress.” After a moment, he added, “The same freedom being the golden cow of VCU afforded the same connections elsewhere.”
“And they're afraid of what? That, that you'll leak this information?” Scully’s interest was piqued. “Mulder.”
He sighed bitterly. “I hate to tell you this, Scully, but you deserved the truth. You're a part of that agenda, you know that.”
“I'm not a part of any agenda. You've got to trust me. I'm here just like you, to solve this.”
He kneeled on his knees, twisting toward her. “I'm telling you this, Scully, because you need to know, because of what you've seen. In my research, I've worked very closely with a man named Dr. Heitz Werber and he's taken me through deep regression hypnosis. I've been able to go into my own repressed memories to the night my sister disappeared. I can recall a bright light outside and a presence in the room. I was paralyzed, unable to respond to my sister's calls for help.” He moved close, emphasizing, “List to me, Scully, this thing exists.”
Scully felt like she could see his brilliance but a deep trauma that permeated his every move. “But how do you know…”
“The government knows about it, and I got to know what they're protecting. Nothing else matters to me, and this is as close as I've ever gotten to it.”
Scully could see why everyone thought he was crazy but she saw past that. There was something more to him that others’ could not see. “Why tell me all this, Mulder?”
“I’ve always trusted no one.” He shrugged. “Maybe, since I have a partner, maybe I should start trusting someone.” He nodded to her. “'I know you were sent to spy on me, Scully. I’m not stupid. But…” he paused. “I can see you mean what you say. You only want to solve the case.”
They shared a moment of mutual understanding before the phone rang. Scully jumped and Mulder rushed to pick it up.
“Hello? What? Who is this? Who is thi…” He slammed the phone down and turned to Scully. “That was some woman... she just said Peggy O'Dell was dead.”
“The girl in the wheelchair?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go then.”
- - - - - -
Days later, with their first x-files case solved together, Scully found herself sitting at a bar in a Portland airport dressed in jeans and the rain jacket she felt like she had been wearing for days now. Next to her a small duffle bag with some quick clothes she had purchased after their motel had gone up in flames. Next to her bag was Mulder’s. “Hey, sorry that took so long. I got us a flight in three hours non stop to D.C. I didn’t want to deal with any layover.”
“Good thinking.”
“You order yet?”
“Uh, no. I wasn’t sure what you wanted.”
“Usually unsweetened tea but, Scully, we’re off the clock. Why don’t you say we celebrate our first solved case.”
“If you can call it solved. There are still so many questions I have, Mulder.” She shook her head. “I’ve never studied anything or seen anything like it. I know the answers are there, Mulder. There’s probably a lot of logical answers to the files down in the basement.”
“And we’ll solve them. This is what the x-files is, Scully. Unexplained.”
“Do you think that is where the ‘x’ comes from?”
“For what?”
“X as found in explained? Or imagine if they called it the xxx files...unexplained to the third power.”
Mulder burst out laughing. “They might think the FBI solves pornos or that could be a porno. Two agents, out against the world, solving one 1-900 number at a time.”
Scully snorted. “So now we solve poor pornos.” She shook her head. “And what about celebrating our first case? Is that an olive branch I detect from you, Mulder?”
“So maybe you aren’t a spy and I am making the choice to trust you, to a degree. I don’t go around telling everyone my life story. Besides, maybe I am tired of being the lone agent. Maybe I could use a partner.”
“You’re the first one who has called me, Scully...outside of my instructors. Everyone calls me Dana or whatever. It’s always a boys’ club. I knew that going into it. Ethan didn’t help.” After a moment, Scully smirked. “You’re really bad at this.”
Mulder chuckled. “Well, I’m not perfect.”
She nodded after a moment and held up a finger. “Beer but just one.”
“Scully, we’re off the clock and I saw how you gripped the armrest during the turbulence and when we took off and landed. You don’t like flying.”
“Not particularly.”
“You better get used to it if we’ll be traveling across the country.” He nodded and put their tickets on the counter and tapped them lightly. “Um, I know we had separate seats last time but no such luck. I hope you don’t mind.”
“So, how about some dinner and another beer before we fly?”
“You buying?”
“Why kind of partner would I be if I didn’t,” he teased. Scully smile coyly. Maybe he did trust her after all. “Besides, it’s only one beer. What could it hurt?”
One beer turned into two and three. They shared an order of spring rolls and spilt an order of meatball sub with extra mozzarella. The more Mulder got to know her, the more he felt like he could trust her.
“So,” Mulder said, pausing between bites. “You met Ethan where?”
Scully giggled and let her cheeks blush. He couldn’t get enough of that sound. “Of all places, a medical conference. I had just graduated from the academy and I was still fresh at Quantico. He normally covers the hill but because Thomas Miller was there…”
“The assistant director of forensics and pathology at Quantico?”
“The very same as the one who recruited me. It was by chance. He spilled a bourbon and coke on my dress. One thing led to another…” Scully shrugged looking down into her beer. “My parents approved of him but it only took a year before I caught him cheating. I was so desperate for…” She shrugged again and looked at Mulder. “I wanted so badly to believe that I could make something out of it. That it is a one-time thing. But it happened again. And again. Then I kicked him out.”
Mulder sipped his beer, intrigued. “So the phone call before we lost all our stuff?”
“I thought there was still hope. Even though he didn’t live with me, I thought I could still make it work. I’d invested three years of my life into trying to make this relationship work. We were already on rocky ground. I told him when I got the assignment and that I couldn’t have dinner with him because I was going to Oregon. I gave him my hotel phone number...out of habit I guess.” Scully shrugged. “But as I was talking, I hear this sultry voice from a woman named Trixie.”
“Trixie?” Mulder repeated.
Scully sipped her beer and snorted in amusement. “And then I just broke it off. Best thing I have ever done.” Scully smiled. “It’s very metaphorical if I think about it. Right after I decided to cut all ties and all of our stuff was burned.”
“And our evidence,” Mulder said glumly. “We were so close, Scully.”
She hummed and held up a finger and reached into her jacket, producing a glass vial with a small implant. “You managed to save it.”
“It never left my side, Mulder.” She passed it to him. “That is our best evidence for what happened to Billy Miles and those kids. I can’t explain it but it’s a start. There’s still a lot more to do.”
He was once again taken aback. “You really aren’t a spy, are you?”
She laughed. “You still can’t get pass that, can you? Far from it. I was serious about what I said. I’m here to solve these cases, Mulder. Maybe my background as a scientist can give your explanations a bit more ground to stand on. But I want to do good in the world. I’m here to solve these cases just like you.”
He nodded and lifted his half full glass of beer. “To new beginnings, Scully.”
She smiled and he sensed a real, genuine smile. There wasn’t anything about her that was fake. She raised her glass and clinked it. “To new beginnings, Mulder.”
- - - - - -
Mulder found his walls crumbling as he watched Scully doze against the window of their plane. During take off, they sat together and he held her hand tightly as she clutched his for dear life. Once they were airborne, and likely somewhere over the Midwest, she finally relaxed and slumped over towards the window. Mulder gently tugged on her hand. “I’m okay.”
She blinked sleepily and nodded. “I know,” he whispered. “But do you want me to ask for a pillow or blanket for you?”
“Finally trust me?”
“Just a bit.” He waved his hand slightly. “Can I…”
“I’m okay, Mulder.”
“Too late.” An air flight attendant listened as he requested a pillow and blanket. “See, I got you.” It was delivered promptly and Mulder offered them after the flight attendant left. Scully blinked sleepily. She took the blanket and pushed the pillow towards him. “Agent Scully, we just met.”
She chuckled and lounged the seat back to get comfortable. Mulder didn’t know why, he did the same, trying his best to master the same angle. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
The plane jumped slightly like it had on their way into Oregon and Scully turned her head and reached for his hand. He held it tightly. “Thanks.”
He squeezed it. “Of course.”
- - - - - -
At about 7 p.m local time, their direct flight from Portland landed at Dulles International in Virginia. The bump-bump of the plane landing on the tarmac woke Scully and had, embarrassingly, found herself sleeping about against Mulder’s shoulder. He just offered her a smile and said nothing about it. She blinked herself awake and watched the plane taxi to their ramp.
“Welcome back,” Mulder stated softly.
“Home sweet home.”
“So, Scully, you survived your first x-file, what’s next?”
“You sound just like a game show host.”
He shrugged and gave her a goofy smile. “Well, Agent Scully?”
“Just let me know.”
Mulder smiled broadly. “I’ll grab our bags when the plane stops. So, what’re your plans once you get back home?”
“Same old, same old.”
Mulder nodded and focused his gaze forward. As the plane parked, Mulder stood up first, unlocking the overhead bin. He grabbed both of their duffle bags effortlessly. “I got it, Mulder.”
“I’ll give you your bag once we get off the plane. Besides, I can run down people with these bags.”
His joke got the laugh it intended. Unconsciously, she grasped the back of his jacket. “Just don’t lose me in the process.”
Mulder and Scully got of the plane, and once they got to the ramp, he passed her her bag. Scully slung her duffle over her shoulder and followed Mulder. She noted that, in the beginning, she had struggled to keep up. His long strides matched his determination to seek the truth. But now, he either purposely or unconsciously matched his stride to be in tune with hers. He touched the small of her back. “You have a ride back to your place?”
“I’m fine, Mulder.”
“Dana!”
She stiffened when she saw Ethan rushing towards her with a bouquet of flowers. Mulder frowned, turning towards her. “Is that Ethan?” He asked.
She nodded slightly. “I don’t know how he knew,” she whispered back.
“Dana! I’m so glad you’re back. I was afraid you missed your flight.” Ethan stopped in his steps, seeing Mulder talking to her. “Agent Mulder, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.” He offered his hand. “Ethan Minette.”
“I know who you are,” he said cooly, ignoring the offered hand. “You dogged me on a case a few years back and made my work impossible. We’ve met.”
Scully heard the chill in Mulder’s voice and shivered unconsciously. “What do you want, Ethan? How did you know where to find me?”
“I called your mother.”
“You didn’t tell her…” Scully pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ethan, we’re done! I want nothing to do with you!”
“Dana…”
“Goodbye, Ethan.”
Mulder wisely kept quiet and placed a guiding hand on her back and pushed past the ex. “Well played, Scully.”
“Is he following us?”
Mulder chanced a look over his shoulder. “No, but as a man, I would think you just took my balls as trophies.”
She stopped and couldn’t help but laugh. “Dana!” She could hear her ex-boyfriend calling her. “Don’t go off with Spooky!”
“Keep walking, Scully, however, you might become, Mrs. Spooky in the process.”
“I’ll take the chance.”
Mulder smiled boyishly and placed his hand on the small of her back. “Welcome to the basement,” he teased.
He escorted her to the taxi area and from there, they took separate taxis to their own apartments.
When Scully got home, she stared at the empty apartment and went about her evening routine. By 11 pm, she was in bed and couldn’t sleep. By 11:21 pm, she flipped over onto her side and stared at the alarm clock. A series of thoughts rolled through her mind. She was officially a field partner. She jumped when the phone rang.
“Hello?” She answered unsurely.
“Scully? It’s me. I haven’t been able to sleep. I talked to the D.A. in Raymond County and there’s no case on Billy Miles. The case we filed was gone. We need to talk, Scully.”
Mulder? What was he talking about? Their case.
“Yes...we can talk about that tomorrow.”
He heard her sigh. “How are you doing, Scully?”
“With what? The case?”
“No. Ethan Whats-his-name.”
“I’m okay. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay, Scully.”
“How did you get my home number?” She asked after a moment.
“How did I get your senior thesis?”
Scully smiled into the phone. “Good night, Mulder.”
Let's be honest, it's been going downhill since season 5.
What they did to the Dornish storyline was unforgibable; not only was the rich and complex plot from the books was cut short, it made twisted parodies of themselves some of the books most interesting characters; the Sandsnakes. Doran, who is a political genious inthe books, deserved better as did Ellaria who is a PACIFIST in the books.
Killing Ser Barristan was unnecesary, it was poorly done and it removed an interesting character from it's development, book Barristan plays a large role.
I never liked Stannis but I admit the show did him dirty, almost as dirty as it did our girl. Book Stannis loves Shireen, book Stannis isn't that much of a fanatic.
Giving Jayne Pool's story to Sansa was also innecesary, book Sansa has a good story; why not follow that? Sansa had an interesting setting in the Vale; was it really necesary for us to watch her being raped by Ramsay when it doesn't happen in the books?
You know what was also innecesary? Killing the Tyrells, in such a fashion. The Tyrells could have provided an interesting development. But they killed them, like they killed the High Sparrow, because they couldn't really think of a good way to end their stories.
Euron Greyjoy could have been the greatest villain ever to grace television; instead we get Fratboy Jack Sparrow.
I remained for love to our girl, because I loved the interactions between The Mother of Dragons and her people, I kept watching for these great characters I had grown to love so much. And they did Jaime dirty too.
I will not watch the finale and I invite you to do the same.
