#i'm kinda just being silly at this point

[carefulfears]

if y'all don't mind me talking about those fish for the second night in a row...i just love all of the little details of characterization on this show so much and i think mulder's fish are a perfect example of this

(you can find my last post about them here)

mulder has fish as early as the first episode of season two, about which set decorator shirley inget said on the DVD extras, "so, we got him a fish tank, and it's kinda nice, 'cause he's got a little pet at home"

the fish are his pets! they're what he comes home to, and the tank is tucked in the corner of the one area of his apartment that he actually uses, that he's actually comfortable in, right in between the couch and his desk

it's why we're so familiar with it and see it so often

he's literally always sitting next to it

it’s always tended to, cared for, and decorated. filled with rocks and plants.

and, of course, his UFO aquarium accessory. which, you could say he saw at the pet store and bought, i would argue that it was a gift from someone

after mulder leaves in season nine, the tank and his fish can be seen in scully's apartment

throughout the show, we see scully, doggett, and van blundt feed the fish, with both scully and doggett pausing in mulder's apartment to feed them whenever they come over while he's away

mulder jokes about them when running off on an assignment in the pine bluff variant

and checks on them upon returning after his abduction, immediately noticing that one is gone

the thing about this to me is, that mulder is a natural caretaker. we see this kick in instantly with his mother, with scully, and with all of the victims and witnesses on the cases that he takes on.

above anything else, mulder is defined by being the big brother, and he's good at instinctually caring for others

however, one of the many contradictions and conflicts of his character, is that the flipside of that core defining characteristic is that he's the big brother who lost his baby sister. who, at least from his point of view, failed at caring for her and keeping her safe, and never allows himself another chance

he isolates, he will not let himself connect to or focus on anything other than work, he doesn't own a bed. he doesn't see his family, him and scully "just work together," he packs up and leaves town 48 hours after his baby is born. safer without him there, that oughta protect everyone.

isn't that the joke of fish? they're the pet for people who can't take care of something real, who aren't capable, who don't have the time. they're low-maintenance, they don't expect anything from you, they're the starter.

they're how you introduce a child to responsibility, to looking after something that's alive.

mulder could have something real, but just like he stays confined to that one corner of his meticulously decorated apartment, he stays confined to that entry level of connection and responsibility. he picks out rocks and plants and sets up aquarium bobbers and makes sure they're fed. the tank is always clean. when he comes back from the dead, he's missing one molly, and it's the first thing he notices and gravitates towards. they have a new home when he has to pack up and go.

he knows how, and he'll tend to whatever is in front of him, but he'll never have more than that.

[zebratimw]

Spirit animal SQH

[smile-files]

oh yeah i watched the new ii and it was pretty wack. my only two thoughts are

i love cabby

they had to neutralize clover?????? hello?????????

[moe-broey]

🎶🎵 I learned to stay true to myself

By watching myself die 🎵🎶 😊

[judicent]

Yeah, I did fill 4 sketchbooks in 4 months so far this year. Huh? Am I gonna post even an ounce of it? Well, you see, I am allergic to my phone, so you will have to come CATCH ME

[meirimerens]

all the stuff that could be avoided if you just played the game before making ship art of characters you don't even know so you didn't accidentally erase the identity of the one character who has theirs stated basically textually within the first twelth of the game...

[steakout-05]

eeuuaghh i would like everyone to know that i apologise if i have not responded to your reblogs/mentions/posts on tumblr, i have really terrible social anxiety and for some reason people talking to me makes my nervous system think i'm being hunted for sport by a resident evil boss. sorry if i havent responded i'm not being rude i'm just having a panic attack :P

additionally: social anxiety is actually the reason why a lot of my old posts from late 2022 had weird spacing and spelling mistakes. i was too anxious to type properly

[bitterseadrop-a]

y'all if you wanna unfollow me ?? or i follow first and you don't want to interact ?? for literally whatever reason ?? that's totally fine.

only thing i ask is that you hardblock me, especially if it's a follow first from my side. i understand if you don't want to interact, you're entitled to curate your dash to your own needs. but i don't wanna stand here like an idiot or seem obnoxious by following again after i've already been soft-blocked, because 9/10 i won't remember if i've followed you before.

and if you have hardblocked me and change your mind one day, wanting to interact ?? i'm cool with that as well. i won't ask questions. heck even if you shouldn't be feeling any interactions at the moment but want to interact at a later point, you're free to shoot me a dm or just follow back 5 years down the line.

[whitebalverines]

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[dimiclaudeblaigan]

the best part about super mario rpg on the switch is that i can play it in bed or on long car trips

geno and i will never be apart again

[aberooski]

Okay so, if y'all know me you know I adore tmnt. It was my obsession before I ever watched even the original YGO much less GX. And now I'm watching tmnt 2012 for the first time, I'm about halfway through season 2 and honestly you guys are so lucky I'm not live blogging it because well.... I don't like it 💀

I will say I'm enjoying season 2 more than season 1 so far but still 💀

[daincrediblegg]

you ever like... KNOW if you could get over just a wee mental block you could go absolutely fucking HAM on something? like completely batshit? 

[welcometogrouchland]

I broadly think the majority of content you find in "X critical" tags tends to be a bit. Uh. Garbage in terms of legit media criticism, but I cannot overstate their importance in terms of being easily filterable for people who actually like X, and idk if it's the recent migrations from other social media platforms or (more likely) if I'm just having an off week and reading into things too much but like. Can we keep it going/bring it back??? If I have to see one more post about how ppl hate a certain thing in that certain things tag (where fans congregate to find content of the thing), with no filterable critical tag. I might actually kill ppl

[killbenedictcumberbatchagain]

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[some-teeth-in-a-trench-coat]

I'm not narcissistic* I just unrelatedly have a complicated relationship with self esteem a need for external validation a constant hunger for attention trouble connecting with humans and struggles with delusions of grandeur due to trauma some of which can impair my ability to function not everything is the last disorder I learned about and tried to understand with my big broken empathy that often overshoots and does things like make me feel drunk if I think about a drunk person for top long without ever having been drunk

*this post is pro NPD I'm just anti incorrectly self diagnosing myself because if I wasn't I'd be hoarding all the disorders

[brainfullofbees]

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