#last day but i did it

[baronessblixen]

A Day In May

Year of the OTP May prompts: sunshine, pet acquisition, “who are you”?

Set in the revival, wc: 1,057, more on the fluffy side

tagging @today-in-fic

A regular day in May, but things are changing for Mulder and Scully.

The late May sun is relentless on the skin of his neck, right where his shirt ends and his hair no longer reaches. Both he and Scully got haircuts before they came here. After all, this has been a long time coming. They’re waiting for their turn, Mulder with his hand on his neck, trying to prevent the inevitable sunburn. He used sunscreen – or rather Scully used it on him. How could he say no when she offered to apply it for him? The ghost of her small, but strong hands and nimble fingers is still dancing over his skin.

Another couple leaves, holding their official papers, looking joyful. They pass them and that’s when he catches Scully smiling. It’s one of his favorites. All of her smiles are his favorite, of course. But this one holds a special place in his heart. It’s the one she wears when her thoughts and seemingly all her troubles are miles away. It’s an absent-minded smile that only pops up every once in a while. Lately, he’s seen it more often. He cherishes each one of them, never knowing when he’ll get to see it again. Except things will change now. Isn’t that why they’re standing here? He glances over at Scully. As much as he doesn’t want to disturb her moment of happiness, he needs to make sure.

“Hey, Scully?”

“Hm?”

“Is this really what you want?” She turns to him, her eyes wide.

“Have you changed your mind?” she asks.

“No,” he says hastily. “I haven’t, I just- you never wanted… I mean. This is… it’s a big deal for us.” It's been 25 years and now...

“Mulder,” she says softly, taking his hand into hers. He realizes how sweaty his hand is. Hers is, too. It’s either nervousness or the early bout of summer.

“I want this. I asked you, remember?” He nods, slowly. Of course, he remembers. The first time he asked her to marry him was shortly after they went on the run. She said no. The same thing happened after they got their house. Another firm no. He asked her again after their vacation, their last attempt to ditch the darkness that was threatening to swallow them whole. When she said no that time he was almost relieved. And that was the beginning of the end. Or, as he likes to think of it now: the interlude. Because here they are, about to make it official. Well, sort of.

They’re next in line, finally. His skin is scorching and he knows that Scully will have to apply aloe vera later tonight. At least there’s a silver lining to his pain.

“Who are you?” The man behind the desk adjusts his glasses and his base cap. It reads ‘what a good boy’ and Mulder averts his eyes, looking everywhere but at the hat.

“Mulder and Scully,” Scully says, taking charge. “We have an appointment.”

“Do you?” The man asks lowering his head and going through his list. Several names are already crossed out. Panic grips Mulder’s stomach. What if something went wrong? What if their names aren’t on the list and they’re-

“There they are,” the guy says, beaming at Scully. “Dr. Scully and Mr. Mulder.”

“That is correct,” Scully says, squeezing Mulder’s hand. “Is everything in order? Can we go in and…,” she trails off, and this time Mulder tightens his hold on her. She’s probably just as nervous as he is. This was her idea, after all. And she’s always been better at hiding. He? He wears his heart on a sleeve. Hers, to be exact. Almost three decades together, and enough trauma for just as many lifetimes, they’re wary. When was the last time anything went exactly as they’d planned it?

“Everything is in order. You can go right in.”

“Thank you,” Scully says and Mulder hears the relief in her voice. They walk towards the entrance, but before they go inside, Mulder stops her.

“Last chance to change your mind, Scully.”

“I don’t want to change my mind. This is what I want. Are you sure it’s what you want? You look hot.” He grins at her. “You know what I mean.”

“I want this, too. All of this.” The house, the woman, and yes, the dog. The commitment. The whole package. It’s what he’s wanted for years. Now all he has to do is reach out and grab it. "Ready?" he asks and they walk through the door.

It’s much cooler inside and Mulder takes a deep breath, thankful for the air conditioning. A few dogs watch them walk past them and Mulder knows he can’t look because if he does, they will go home with a dozen instead of one dog.

“Dr. Scully?” A young volunteer walks towards them, smiling. “Someone’s been waiting for you.” The volunteer opens a door and there's Daggoo. His tail waggles as soon as he spots Scully, and then Mulder, too.

“There you are.” Scully is on her knees greeting her dog. Their dog, as of today. As soon as they hand in the paperwork, that is. After today, it’s going to be official. Mulder, Scully, and Daggoo. Registered at the same address.

“Do you have the paperwork?” the volunteer asks Mulder and he hands it to her. He, too, gets down to pet Daggoo behind his ear. The dog seems to grin at him, happy about all the attention. Two days without him and he’d started to miss the little bugger, who, if he’s honest, has helped him and Scully find their way back to each other much quicker with his antics.

“It all looks good. You can take him home.”

“So he’s ours now?” Scully asks, her voice trembling, her eyes traveling to Mulder’s face. All they’ve lost. All that’s been taken from them. This is their moment. It’s a new beginning. He doesn’t want to go as far and hope their luck is changing – but of course, he wants to believe. In five minutes, they’re going home. With their dog, who is registered at their address, who they’re paying taxes for. They’re going to file for taxes next year. Together. And who knows who else will wander back into their lives. He won’t ever give up hope on their son.

“He’s ours,” Mulder confirms. “Let’s go home.”

And so they do.

[isjasz]

Stellar death

[pangur-and-grim]

I’m too gullible with people. I’ll have encounters and be like “aw they seemed nice ☺️” and then everyone around me will be like NONONONONO THAT WAS THE DEVIL!!!!!!!

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[petricorah]

manga antics [ids in alt]

[hugs-and-stabbies]

The self-awareness on this guy 😞 someone pls send him an "are you bi?" quiz STAT

[saradiation]

HAPPY CRAB KARKAT DAY!! 🦀

[the-chat-who-got-the-cream]

i was gonna tack this on at this end of the last post but thought it deserves it’s own post 💀 because AINT NO WAY ADRIEN DOESNT QUESTION THIS MAN ASNJDILHASJKLE

Bonus:

[daeyumi]

Exploring the depths 🌌🪻

[lilybug-02]

Eimmet High...temmiE high. OMG!

Part 28 || First || Previous || Next...

--Full Series--

Next update may take...much longer! I have finals and an internship and not to mention I have to draw- A LOT :')

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

some misc Barn & Wally doodles from the past week or so <3 i heart them

[joejoeba]

💎💲

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[pato-roldnart]

Some friendly Quidditch match for @hdwickedwixen zine :3

He caught the snitch!

[breakbleheavens]

Nothing is permanent, so I’m very careful to be grateful every second that I get to be doing this at this level, because I’ve had it taken away from me before. There is one thing I’ve learned: My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. Keep making art.

HAPPY 34TH BIRTHDAY TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT Born December 13, 1989 | Reading, Pennsylvania.