This Scene Is Beautiful For Its Subtly. 

Margo Madison vs the longest day of her life

FOR ALL MANKIND | 2.06 "Best Laid Plans"

Mwahaha... My hack fraud-ery continues!

An excerpt from my little fic Sergei Serenades in Seclusion:

The mixed CD had “MUSICAL EDUCATION” written with no accompanying track list. Margo pressed play on her stereo and began skipping through the tracks. The music and lyrics emitted by the speakers jumped genres and moods representing an interesting variety of music.

Margo’s brow jumped and creased as she recognized each track. Not all were familiar, however.

She landed on a truly unfortunate country song where the cowboy crooner uttered the phrase:

If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me.

Margo’s brow creased incredulously and wondered at the ceiling, “Dear God.”

Read more here!

You know, I was rewatching the docking module scene last night, like one does. And I’m not sure we talk enough about, before they get into the docking module, how incredibly cute Sergei is trying to remember the English word “equidistant.”

This is exactly how I feel about the fic writers I follow here. 😘

Do you ever binge read someone's work on ao3 and get the urge to serenade them, like, hello my fair fic author you have wooed me with your excessive flowery metaphors and complete lack of plot, even your messy 3am fics with very visible flaws are gorgeous, your self indulgent dynamics have enchanted me, please accept my kudos

Due to popular demand (all of 3 comments mentioning one of these) i made two extra gifs to the last set:

Sergei's wandering left hand (look at the mirror, too) and his blink-and-you-miss-it smile now better visible in the middle of the gif.

spaceparents + tumblr

Warning! Do not listen while operating heavy machinery! Just about knocked me out with that voice. Woof.

I'd like to propose an alternative soundtrack for FOR ALL MANKIND season three finale. 😁 (Although not QUITE the same vibe, this is so damn cool).

Sergei awoke mid dream. It was beautiful. Sunlight bathed him, but the source of light warming his body was his hand intertwined with Margo's. He caressed her fingers, soft skin over delicate bones. The smooth skin and strong fingers of a mathematician.

Sergei rubbed his fingers together, trying to conjure the feeling of her hands and fingers caressing his. Chagrined at his indulgence, he smiled nevertheless. She was the thought behind his smiles these days.

He checked his watch for the time, he had forty minutes. Standing from his desk he stretched his back and then shrugged into his coat. Nodding to remnant staff and security, Sergei made a smooth exit.

He easily managed a solemn facade as he made his way to his appointment, but inside he was beaming. When he began walking to the phone booth, his battle to keep a straight face was lost.

He noted little of his cold surroundings, instead focused on his destination. A smile quirked at the corners of his mouth and his pace quickened. Sergei checked his watch again and adjusted his pace, slowing down.

His mind was buzzing with idle questions: how was she doing, what would she think of his latest record selection, what new detail of her life would he learn about. Other thoughts, pernicious though they were, he shoved aside. He was a practiced and careful party man; he could hold two opposing ideas in his head easily. Yes, the KGB needed him to work Margo for information, but he also wanted to do right by her as a friend.

When he got to the phone booth, he checked his watch again. Stepping inside, he closed the door and waited. The phone startled him from his musing.

He eagerly picked up the phone, “Hello?”

“Sergei! How are ya?” Came a smooth southern drawl.

“Margo! I'm cold, but well. You?” Sergei couldn't keep the smile out of his voice. Pleased to hear from her as ever.

“What record should I expect today,” came an eager reply.

Laura Roslin in 2x09 Flight of the Phoenix

>> [Margo] seems to be such a tightly wound individual. So I was wondering if you could talk to us a little bit about the roots of her tension. Because she seems like there’s so much repression, she’s holding so much in, but she expresses it through little moments that mean volumes when they come from her.

In season 1, there is this really kind of dynamite scene between Molly Cobb and Margo. And it’s right after a sim goes wrong, and Molly storms out, and Margo says, ‘What are you doing in there?’ And essentially, Margo says, ‘No no no, you have to be perfect.’ There is no room for air because, you know, a guy can mess up and he’s gonna get ten more tries. A woman messes up once, and that’s, you know, you’re done. So I think to a certain degree what you are seeing is that [...] Margo has to play things close to the vest. Because she knows […] she can’t make a mistake. So I think in some ways what you are seeing is her tracking something, or maybe something flickering across her eyes where there’s a little bit of reaction, but then she’s gotta cover that. And I think what’s been kind of interesting is that you see for three seasons how that evolves, as she becomes more and more powerful, and also more and more seasoned. I think sometimes, too, another interesting thing is as you become more experienced, there are certain things that maybe you show a little bit more about what you think, because you’ve seen so much and there really isn’t someone that is above you anymore. But then, in season 4, because Margo’s kind of thrown back to the bottom of the pecking order, she really has to keep everything buttoned up. And I also think that’s because Margo’s playing the most intense game of chess. Literally her life is at stake. And I think once she’s been interrogated and then becomes part of Roscosmos, she just never knows how  the tectonic plates beneath her feet are shifting. I think that’s part of it, too – she doesn’t know how much of it is safe to share. She’s always been a very private person, but I think in season 4 it’s really– now I’m working for a woman who if you really cross her once, you’re gone. […] And that’s one of the reasons that I felt like it was so fun to play all of the scenes in episode 6, in the storage room. You get to see this picture of her, up close, where she’s not having to kind of mask what she thinks.