sofimmsstuff

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the craziest thing about mulder + scully's relationship is that THEY dont care whether or not they're dating. like, they kiss sometimes and its whatever. they work together. they call each other while they're in the bath. they flirt and play baseball and sometimes they hate each other and never once have they tried to define it. i think that's so neat.

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So you’re telling me… Mulder is abducted, brutally experimented on, DIES, is BURIED and then EXHUMED 3 MONTHS LATER and then is like…

“Back to work I guess” 💅✨

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The thing about the X-Files is that it's monsters and conspiracies for 43 minutes and then you have that one minute between Scully and Mulder. Maybe it's a scene, maybe it's a gesture, maybe it's a sentence, maybe it's a look, but it's the most devastating, oddly-romantic thing you've ever seen and it leaves you gasping for breath.

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"I’d hate to see you carry an official reprimand in your career file because of me." - Mulder to Scully in Tooms (s1 ep22)

Scully, on episode 2:

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I decided to watch the X-Files again recently because I missed Mulder and Scully. God I love them so much. They are my all-time favourite couple and I have A LOT to say about the romantic aspect of the show.

The X-Files never set off to be a romance, and during the show, the producers seemed to try really hard not to make it one for a long time. And that's fair, the X-Files is a show about aliens, conspiracies, and mothmen.

And I can see it: the show doesn't really feature typical romance hallmarks or tropes (or not too many anyway). No obvious behaviours that indicate crushes, no mentions of having butterflies, no chats with third parties who try to push them into bed (or very few), no real attempts at flirting or asking each other out, no Valentine's Day episodes... Even when there is jealousy it toes the line between their professional and personal lives. Did Scully feel more threatened by Diana Fowley on a personal or professional level? I'd argue both. Likewise, a few declarations by Mulder and Scully are kind of related to their professional roles (i.e. Scully saying she wouldn't herself on the line for anyone but Mulder) so there is plausible deniability as to whether they mean it romantically or professionally.

Naturally, later in the series, there are more romantic scenes, but for a long time, there are fewer traditional "indicators" that it's a romance. The show isn't really signaling that it's a romance.

Which, ironically, in my opinion, is why Mulder and Scully are a great romantic story.

All it boils down to is:

- 2 sexy actors with explosive chemistry. That one scene I mentionned where Scully tells Mulder she wouldn't put herself on the line for anyone but Mulder? The way they look at each other conveys a LOT. And it's there throughout the show...Their eye contact, every small touches... there is something there that can't be explained. It's just... there!

- They are two interesting and complex characters while apart, and very compelling when together;

- The Respect. It's there from day 1. Despite Mulder's reputation, she came to work with him with an open-mind. When Scully comes to him with the bites mark on her lower back in her underwear, he is an absolute gentleman and reassures her. Also, they may disagree on fundamental things, but they never say that one thing that's over the line or that is just nasty. You know, the low blow, the one thing that the other is most sensitive about, that makes the other reconsider the very partnership. And they also never talk shit about each other to other people. And with Mulder's reputation, Scully fends off comments more than once. Over the years, they become the one person they trust above all. And there is something really powerful about that.

- They are 2 characters who, despite their differences, fundamentally understand each other and who are always there for each other. They have - literally - gone - to the ends of the Earth for each other.

- From my POV, they just... genuinely seem to like each other and spending time together. On a professional level, they could have gone their separate ways many times. The X-Files were shut down more than once, and yet, they went to great lenghts (sneaking around underground parking lots at night) to keep on seeing each other. On a more personal level, Scully turns down a date to spend some time with Mulder... on episode 5!

Maybe it's just me, but... that's what love is? I don't mean this as a diss towards other types of romances (there are many good ones out there), but I don't think I would have needed to see them getting butterflies, or chatting with a friend about maybe asking them out, or big traditional love gestures. The love shines through. It seems to me like the fundamentals for a profound, lasting relationship are all there.

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And I was starting to doubt my bisexuality :[

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compiling a list of the locations in every x files episode is fun and normal and easy until i get to mytharc episodes and i have to keep track of the six hundred mideastern us cities mulder seems to just appear in over the course of 45 minutes

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this too shall pass bitches deep breaths and keep going this too shall fucking pass

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I'm just thinking about the whole IVF thing and crying in the corner over here, because it shows such courage, love and dedication. IVF is such a long and difficult process and they did it together, hiding it from the world. And a lot of the tension and confusion at that time was due to their grief over it, but of course they don't actually address it straight on, so there is confusion about what everyone feels. She thinks he's just doing it as a favor to her while he thinks she just wants his DNA. And all those times Scully appears sad and tired maybe because IVF is hard but she's dedicated because this is a dream of hers. And he's trying not to appear too involved because he's not sure if she's asking for more than just him donating.

It doesn't really get straightened out until it fails, because at that point he tells her he isn't giving up on a miracle, for both of them. And she realizes how much he wants this too, but now its too late. And that might explain why she's so sad and tense through much of Season 6. It makes a lot more sense than it being Diana, since Diana barely appears in the later half of the season. And we know canon wise that when Mulder is full of grief, he gets depressed, withdraws, gets involved in his obsessions. As for Scully, she powers through it, existing in denial and insisting on working no matter how bad things get.

Anyway, it's just so painful, because we never know when that arc happened, so it could have been literally years of them trying for a child and then they get one and have to give it up. Sigh. Talk about horrible angst.

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You will not use AI to get ideas for your story. You will lie on the floor and have wretched visions like god intended

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If Mulder had instagram (present day).

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Can’t wait for, like, 2025 when we look back on the 2018/2019 era and say “hey, remember when we were all really freaking depressed? That was a crazy time! Glad we aren’t like that anymore”

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If Scully had an Instagram account.

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I’d hate to be Mulder sometimes because every time he gets a little too into a case they bring up his dead sister like omg? What if he’s just really interested

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thinking of mulder as a criminal profiler and of scully as a forensic pathologist – he explains the ways of the living and she explains one's cause of death – and them sticking by each other through life-and-death situations ... they're quite literally the perfect match.

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I won't ever be able to understand the people who complain about the lighting in the early X files seasons. like what do you mean you don't see the appeal of twin flashlight beams in the dark.

doesn't this fill you with hope for humanity? don't you feel the child-like sense of adventure?

you're telling me you don't see the beauty of the silhouettes against the night sky?

the intimacy that comes from two people who only trust each other? you won't be able to tell that story under a bright light. it's the hushed whispers while standing very close together in an empty room, it's the shadows that lurk in the corners. that's the show's central thesis. this is also, simply put, art.

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One of her best looks!!

Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour / July 7 / Kansas City, Missouri