born to lurk

One night, I was working my last hour of my shift covering the Customer Service desk, which meant when I wasn't busy, I was supposed to help clean up around the cash registers, including taking back items people changed their minds about at the checkout. Earlier, I had witnessed a kid carrying thos cute plushy toy. It was a brown and white hedgehog. The kid, at the checkout, saw a remote control car and he told his dad he qanted it. The dad told him, "The plushy or the car- you can't have both" (by the way, I respect boundaries with kids and parents sticking to their guns about it), and the kid picked the car.

So, I'm cleaning up, have less than an hour left of my shift, and I see the little plushy hedgehog. Somehow, he never got put back nor had anyone else seen him and decided to buy him. He was just sitting there, slumped to the side, unattended.

It's Christmas and I'm a sentimental old sap at heart. My brain starts replaying the scene from RUDOLPH where he's on the Island of Misfot Toys, and is told a toy is never truly happy until it is loved. I picked him up and quickly took him back to the bin with the plushies but... It was empty. He was literally the last plushy toy and my boss was about to wheel the bin out. We weren't getting any more toys till November, so that meant any toys left at this point needed to sell or they'd be sent to the dump.

I brought the little hedgehog to the front, figuring someone would see him with the candy, candles, & Christmas brick-a-brack, and fall in love with him. When I finished my shift, I went to ask my manager a question and as I passed the Christmas candle display - there he sat, the sad little slumped over hedgehog plushy. No one had bought him, or even moved him.

My manager, Phillip, saw me and the hedgehog. He asked how the hedgehog got there. I told him how I'd put him there when the bin got sent back, and he was the only plushy left. Philip had kids, I figured he'd probably get sentimental and buy it for his kids. Nope. He shrugged and said he'd send it back to be disposed of.

That night, I came home with a plushy hedgehog in my passenger seat. My mom saw him and just thought he was the cutest little hedgehog and asked what I wanted to do with him. I told her the story, then added I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with him.

My mom is a child psychiatrist, specializing in children with PTSD and brain damage that results in learning problems/issues with processing their emotions. She asked if she could have the plushy hedgehog (even offered to pay me for him, she didn't expect me to just give him over), so kids could hug him when they were upset in session.

Murphy, the plushy hedgehog that still slumps a little to the left when seated, has been hugged by hundreds of kids. Little girls have held him tight while explaining about bullies, little boys have held him tight while crying over their panic attacks, younger siblings have held him to whisper secrets while elder siblings and parents talk about self-soothing techniques, teenagers have hugged Murphy while talking about the worst day of their lives. Murphy has also been hugged by kids excitedly chatting about a new friend at school, a teen girl excited to be called by her name instead of her dead-name, little kids proudly saying they've mastered their ABCs, and even staff members who just need to come chat over a case they are having trouble with.

Every now and then, my mom brings Murphy home for a weekend. He gets washed (she calls it a Spa Weekend, to her coworkers, all of them laughing), dried, and sits outside with my mom in the sunshine to get aired out, then on Monday, they are back to work. Some kids even just ask to hold Murphy while they talk, no matter their mood or what they want to talk about. They just want to hug Murphy.

MSaRt<3

stop leaving me

i won’t take you down with me

i can’t let you die

i would

for you i would

but i won’t say it, not now

Two FBI agents having a moment in my sketchbook (because they deserve some happiness, okay??)

(also this song is so MSR-coded, I couldn't not to attach it)

Writers: 12, various combos Directors: 10

Episodes: 20 (least in the original run)

Locations: 16 states + DC, Kazakhstan, Russia, Canada

On the surface, Season 5 looks like any previous season of The X-Files. Which is exactly what makes it so extraordinary. The challenges that the cast and crew faced, both anticipated and not, were constant, and yet the end result is the same quality production that fans have been drawn to year after year. There's no doubt in my mind that these were the hardest working people in television at the time.

Writers: CC started things off with the Redux's, has a MOTW, a mythology pair with Spotnitz, and the finale. But the man was busy. Because he had a little movie in the works in LA, a second show on the go, and some director's duties along the way. The guest writers (Scott & Wolleager, Gibson & Maddox, King) helped deliver content but required more work than the regular staff, with teleplays and/or rewrites. Not that all of the staff were immune to those same needs (Brown & Angel, Minear).

So, who does that leave you? John Gilnitz. Shiban, Gilligan, and Spotnitz wrote constantly this season. Even when they weren't credited, they were helping out. Singly and in various combinations, this trio delivered and with some long-term fan favorites. Spotnitz gave us Detour. Gilligan gave us Bad Blood. Shiban gave us The Pine Bluff Variant. (Oh, how far he's come from Teso Dos Bichos!)

Directors: Normally, Bowman and Manners split the lion's share of the work. But Bowman was tapped to direct FTF, which he started on over the summer, and he continued through S5. He only directed two episodes. Manners and Goodwin played their usual parts with 7 and 2, respectively. CC wanted The Post-Modern Prometheus and picked up The Red and the Black when Bowman was needed for FTF reshoots.

The rest? Digging deep. I feel like CC called in everyone who had ever shot an episode. There are names we haven't seen since S1. And why not? I mean, they 'believed' they were headed to LA. Why try and recruit yet another unknown? They also pulled Dowler up from the second unit and several others from Millennium. Six of the ten directors of S5 shot one episode each.

Chaos. First, your lead characters weren't available from time-to-time. Then, Mother Nature created delays (Detour, 19-day shoot). They made a major casting change, requiring reshoots and extensive post- production work. A contractual issue was misrepresented in the press and created local tension, particularly with one of the show's stars. A series of guest writers led to delays and technical challenges. Kill Switch (22 days) and TR&TB had extensive and expensive requirements. Spotnitz and Shiban added eight pages of script to All Souls at the last minute. Pine Bluff had script edits dated after the official wrap party (but filmed with DD's body double in the Dracula mask). And Folie à Deux's post-production team worked on the boss monster up until the day it aired.

All of this happened to the people who already worked 16-hour days.

The Rewatch. My best rewatch experience shouldn't be confused with my favorite episode(s). Even then, it can be hard to choose. This season, though, The Pine Bluff Variant was easily my #1. I had forgotten just how tight of an episode it is. It has those iconic theater shots with the Big Ass flashlights (with Skinner!), Mark Snow's score, and some MSR by the light of the fish tank, and I'm there. I also really enjoyed returning to Kill Switch's sass and Redux's monologues. Honorable mention: Travelers. I like the backstory and sets and I had no idea that Garrett Dillahunt was in TXF. If only it had Scully.

The Hook-up. (aka If it finally happened, then when?) My vote, again, is Pine Bluff. Mulder survives and escapes. Scully needs a hands-on medical assessment. Stat. Second place goes to The Post-Modern Prometheus. It was in the running for first, absolutely. They look stunning in black and white. Points only deducted because *some* people choose to believe that it's only a comic book story. Taking a prisoner to a Cher concert is no less believable than some of the other asks we've had. (Just ask Scully.) In third, Redux II also has M&S celebrating the joy of both being alive and highly attracted to one another. Fic unanimously states that M drives S home from the hospital and of course he's going to help her get settled.

Fanfic. Speaking of fic, no recap is complete without thanking our generous community of fanfic writers. This season, I have recommended a whopping 86 different writers. (And CC was relying on 3?) I can't say enough good things about you all. I'm amazed at how accessible and supportive this fandom is for fic writers and fans alike. For the readers, there truly is something for everyone, even if you think your tastes are...unusual. Treat yourself!