*Every time I watch "The Red and Black" I am re-shocked into a slash-induced speechless state when Krycek kisses Mulder on the cheek (after beating him up & dropping some serious alien-related knowledge on his ass). Too bad I am such a delicate flower with such little interest in hate sex & enemy 'ships. And there's not more pre-MSR Mulder/OMC slash to be had like
[this story].
*I was talking to my friend the other day and realized that
the X-Files is one of the few fandoms that would not be improved for me by any genderswitch AUs. And this is because as much as Mulder & Scully's partnership defies a lot of gender norms (she's the scientist, he's the emotional one, respect, etc.), their characterizations - and what I appreciate about them - are so very rooted in their gender. For example, I really like how the traces of Mulder's privilege (class, race, gender, height & symmetrical attractiveness) are as evident as his more and less successful attempts to check it. I appreciate that realism: he's a good guy & he tries, but no one's perfect. And Scully! Bulking up her tiny, tough self with those heels and those pastel pant suits stuffed with shoulder-pads. Her many strengths & rebellions but ridiculous diet food eating.
* I like to think that the showrunners of
Bones and
Castle and
Fringe learned from
The X-Files that the whole
Moonlighting curse thing is bullshit - i.e. resolving the sexual tension between your leads doesn't have to ruin your show - unless you are a bad writer or buy into the idea of marriage as narrative closure. But I don't think the lesson came in how
The X-Files actually went about getting Mulder & Scully together (especially since they obfuscated things to such a degree that I have a better handle on the Conspiracy metaplot than I do on how & when exactly Scully got knocked up). Nor do I think canon MSR should have happened pre-FTF - I LOVE that Mulder & Scully were friends and partners first, and in such a way that "more than friends" seems like a ridiculous concept when applied to them. It was the squirrely, half-assed and yet excessive way it all went down that serves as a cautionary tale, I think.
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