The Beatles If They Uuhhh... If Flavio Was Their Manager

AO3 Top Relationships Bracket- Semifinals

This poll is a celebration of fandom history; we're aware that there are certain issues with many of the listed pairings and sources, but they are a part of that history. Please do not take this as an endorsement, and refrain from harassment.

AO3 Top Relationships Bracket- Round 2 Side 1

This poll is a celebration of fandom history; we're aware that there are certain issues with many of the listed pairings and sources, but they are a part of that history. Please do not take this as an endorsement, and refrain from harassment.

MULDER + running in a wetsuit (requested by anonymous)

Fernando Alonso, 2023 Canadian Grand Prix Post-Qualifying

let's chat about mulder and names <3 (and bear with me because i'm not feeling great today)

"who'd you tick off to get stuck with this detail, scully?"

following only "no one down here but the FBI's most unwanted," and "isn't it nice to suddenly be so highly regarded," his third wise-crack is the first to address his new partner by name; effectively endowing dana with new identity as soon as she crosses the basement office threshold.

one of the few things that i get a kick out of in season nine, is how everyone has a first name again, after mulder leaves.

characters that we have known for years as "scully," "skinner," "doggett," and "reyes" become "dana," "walter," "john," and "monica."

it means something else, in this particular group, in this particular absence.

when scully's father passes away, mulder addresses her by name for the first time (visibly throwing her off as she clocks the difference, chuckling and repeating it back) to check on her personally, before suggesting that she take some time away from work.

and this continues to be the line drawn throughout season one, a way that he signals a personal connection apart from the professional; notably here in lazarus, when concerned for her safety ("this one is important to me")

carrying over to his next partner, he also utilizes this timing to establish connection with krycek, when they were working together.

(i believe that krycek is the only character other than scully that we hear mulder call their first name? do with that what you will!)

and seven years later, to reference and recall that connection, in the end.

after nearly a year together, always the learner, scully attempts to reciprocate this method; addressing him by his own first name, when she has something personal that she wants to communicate.

when she's cut off, and he interrupts with a laugh and shake of his head.

he tells her, "i even made my parents call me mulder," which is not true- but as discussed here- isn't a ploy for distance either. rather, it's more to say, "this is what i prefer from those close to me."

his parents, diana, senator matheson, CSM at times, all call him "fox." everyone in his personal life (aside from TLG) calls him "fox," regardless of if he's asked them not to in the past.

for some, it's a power play. for others, an insult. some just don't care.

my favorite thing about this scene in tooms with scully, is that she doesn't pause. she doesn't reconsider, or redirect. she doesn’t address it. she doesn't look away. she attempted to establish intimacy in one way, and was communicated with, and she takes it in strides.

it's barely a breath before she says exactly what she had planned on saying, adjusted only slightly to accommodate: "mulder, i wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you."

our first introduction to another scully girl, a comatose dana tells her sister through astral planes to say "mulder."

i love this about missy, that she holds crystals over her sister's body and listens. she instantly corrects herself the next time she sees mulder, offering that respect her sister had demanded.

and the first time we hear scully speak after her abduction is to correct her mother, before even opening her eyes.

this is part of their secret language, these identities that they have. the name that he gave her, and the one that she never questions. she takes him exactly as he offers.

diana says "fox" like she has something to prove, scully says "mulder" like it's an endearment. her secret treasure that only she understands.

after all, scully has heard this story: the only thing that stays the same each time mulder recalls samantha's abduction, is his memory of her screaming for him.

"fox" is the last thing that he ever heard his sister say, and it remains hers only. the only exception being the lost children that he tries to save, for her, whom he always introduces himself to by first name.

after a while, that intimacy trick from the beginning becomes moot, as the professional becomes the personal. the work becomes life, and dana becomes scully.

she might be “dana” to everyone outside of that office, but does it compare?

and he only employs it one more time between season 1 and season 9, in the field where i died, an episode all about connection and interpersonal fate.

a whisper, a question: dana, if we had known each other always, in every life, would it have changed things?

she gives him his answer: no. she wouldn’t change a day. and she remains “scully.”

(look at my baby daddy dawg i'm going on the run from the law)

until season 9 brings change, and they are so removed from that office that it would be unrecognizable.

and she’s “dana” over and over. she’s “dearest dana.” she’s his “son’s mother.”

and 25 years after that car outside tooms' house, we hear scully use his first name for the second time. barely above a whisper, it's a personal confession; he's her secret-keeper, he's her accomplice, (he's her son's father).

Just some cool stuff from The Unofficial X-Files Companion by N.E. Genge, 1995 (open pics for a better view!) 👽

the "calamari fiasco" translated 🫡

SAY NICE THINGS TO PPL

AO3 Top Relationships Bracket - FINALS

This poll is a celebration of fandom history; we're aware that there are certain issues with many of the listed pairings and sources, but they are a part of that history. Please do not take this as an endorsement, and refrain from harassment.