Collector's Edition: Fox Mulder Is a Father (Fan-Favorites)
In honor of Father's Day, I wanted to collect other fans' favorite "Mulder as a father" fics.
Thank you to all who participated!
Loose chronological order below~
@spooky-jordan's Picks:
rivkat's and MustangSally's Iolokus 3 (Iolokus 03 - Vix te Agnovi 1/3, Iolokus 03 - Vix te Agnovi 2/3, Iolokus 03 - Vix te Agnovi 3/3) and Iolokus 4 (Iolokus 04 - Res Judicata 1/3, Iolokus 04 - Res Judicata 2/3, Iolokus 04 - Res Judicata 3/3)
"I'm getting really tired of that song, Scully. Really tired. You didn't ask to be abducted, you didn't ask to have your ova taken, and you didn't ask for the cancer. You didn't choose to have Miranda, and when she inconvenienced your life you dumped her with Emerson and Aileen. You didn't provoke George into stalking you and you certainly didn't *aid* him when he tried to strangle you," I continued, trying to keep my voice under control even though it was crackling like a cheap stereo speaker. "When things don't go your way, you cave like a house of cards."
Parts 3 and 4 of the infamous Iolokus is stuffed with Mulder and Scully as parents: both of them unpacking their traumas, fighting for custody of their daughter, and settling into the life they're building together.
@calimanc's Picks:
Revely’s The Unfinished Universe (Gossamer)
They have a private evening ritual - nose to nose on the bed they practice telepathic communication.
Scully disappears into the motel bathroom for their soft-shelled display of male bonding, shutting the door behind her with aggravating finality - boys' side, girl's side. Mulder immediately stops casting out brain waves and begins to wonder what she's doing in there. She's awfully quiet. The baby just dozes and tries to nurse Mulder's nose until he manages to work one of his fists into his mouth.
AU-- Post-Requiem Mulder is returned a year later, bonding with his lioness partner and months-old son on the drive back to D.C.
Anjou’s (Ao3) Ghosts (mulderscreek), The Ghosts of Christmas Past (mulderscreek), and The Ghosts of Future Past (mulderscreek)
By the time that the running stroller Mulder had purchased arrived, Will had begun to stand up voluntarily. He wanted to walk, but he was still hesitant, afraid that a show of independence would mean he wouldn't get taken care of anymore. To keep William moving forward, Mulder started including him on some of the loops. This time, Scully sat on the steps and read and they waved at her as they ran by. Mulder loved the way Will's tiny hands extended out from the hood of the stroller as he laughed at the wind. By the end of the third day he was demanding "Again!" when Mulder was all tuckered out. Mulder would take him out of the running stroller and sit him on the red earth while he stretched out. By the end of the week, William was mimicking Mulder's movements. When the tiny running shoes that Mulder had ordered for William arrived, Will began to walk around their trailer and demand to dance with his parents before dinner.
Mulder, Scully, and William (who was saved via Skinner's heroic sacrifice) hide away in motels as she tirelessly works to prevent the anticipated invasion.
@samucabd’s Picks:
Donna’s Goodbyes/Hellos (Gossamer)
"Is it safe for you to be here Mulder? I . . . you can't know how much I've missed you, but is it safe?"
"As safe as anywhere Scully. He insisted we come."
Her surprise was obvious at that. "He insisted?"
"He says you're in danger. We've come to get you."
Post-Existence Scully hands William over to Mulder and tells them to go into hiding. Jeremiah Smith, the incoming invasion, and their friends, allies, and family all pitch in for a "happy ending."
Christy’s (mulderscreek)
Interstice (Gossamer | Story: "Interstice 01 - Saturday" by Christy, Gossamer | Story: "Interstice 02 - Sunday" by Christy, Gossamer | Story: "Interstice 03 - Monday" by Christy, Gossamer | Story: "Interstice 04 - Tuesday" by Christy, Gossamer | Story: "Interstice 05 - Wednesday" by Christy, Gossamer | Story: "Interstice 06 - Thursday" by Christy)
Intellectually, he knew her love. He could see it every day, as they tried to coax another bite of puréed peas past Liam's stubborn lips; as they poured through old files in Doggett's cold basement office; as they sat together on the couch at night, each armed with a red pen, wading through stacks of papers and quizzes.
Mulder left the bedroom, his gaze darting around the family room in search of Scully's shirt. Finally he found it, a puddle of light blue silk on the floor beside the couch, and draped it across his shoulder, still smelling her perfume.
He lifted their coats from where they hung over the back of the couch, then hung them in the closet. After snatching his boots up by the laces, he found Scully's shoes, one near the door, the other kicked halfway under the couch. Gathering everything into his arms, Mulder went back into the bedroom.
It's William's first Christmas, with the Scully family (and their issues) in tow.
Song of Innocence (1/3, 2/3, 3/3) and Song of Experience (1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4)
His dad looked like a superhero, tall and dark and dressed all in black like a secret agent. A spy. His voice was magical, Will decided, soft and soothing as he questioned the injured deputy; then, as he said to Will's mom, "Will you just escort Deputy Wetzel to the hospital?" Will was too busy replaying the sound of his dad saying his name to hear the crazy theories that his mom pooh-poohed whenever she stepped out from behind the ambulance door, where she was hiding from the cameras.
But his dad didn't seem to mind the cameras, even laughing at them a few times during the hour-long show. Will smiled as he listened to them discuss the case, and his dad saying that bright pink was his mom's color. Will didn't think his mom owned *anything* pink.
Then it got exciting. His dad breaking the door down and his mom pulling a gun from somewhere inside the back of her jacket, her fingernails shining against the black metal of the gun grip. Then his mom doing an autopsy, something Will had wondered about for forever but had, of course, never been allowed to see.
Then the dawning in his dad's eye when he solved the mystery, dashing off heroically to save the deputy, his mom hot on his heels. They stalked through an old beat-up house, guns and flashlights in hand, and Will thought they were ten times better than Luke Skywalker because they were real.
He had watched the tape twice more that afternoon before his mom arrived, and then once again with her, crawling into her lap when she started crying, when his dad turned to face the camera head-on for the first time.
Will and his mom took the tape home with them that night, watching it together twice before he went to bed. And even after that, Will could have sworn he heard his dad's soft, gentle voice drifting from downstairs and into his room through the vents... although it could just have been the replay of Will's own memories.
He loved to watch how his dad moved -- his long strides, the fluid way he stepped across the screen -- but it was his dad's voice that stuck with him. Not the soft, reassuring tone or the private, teasing voice he used with Will's mom, but the strong, forceful way he spoke to the deputy, begging from the wrong side of a locked door for Wetzel to "cowboy up" and be a man.
Will had heard that same voice in his head ever since then, when he needed a push. "Cowboy up," his dad said, only it was Will he was talking to, not some stranger. "Cowboy up, Will," he mentally spliced together when he needed to borrow some of his dad's courage.
Post-NIHT Mulder returns seven years later with an implant and selective memory loss. As he heals up and tries to figure out what happened with Scully, his son works through the complicated emotions both are feeling.
Vickie Moseley’s Flight Into Egypt Series (Flight into Egypt 01, Flight into Egypt 02 - Making a Home, Flight into Egypt 03 - Making a Life, Flight into Egypt 04 - Games, Flight Into Egypt 05 - New Life, Flight into Egypt - Doing it Right 1/2, Flight into Egypt - Doing it Right 2/2, Flight into Egypt 07 - Going Home 1/2, Flight into Egypt 07 - Going Home 2/2)
Mulder watched Dana take their son's hand and help the little one make the sign of the Cross, then bowed his head as the prayer began. He couldn't help thinking of their conversation of the morning. Yes, he did feel safe in this place, among these people. But maybe Scully was right. They were still very much strangers, very much alone. It felt good to forget all the danger they'd lived for so long, but the danger was still there, waiting for them to slip up.
Mulder and Scully and William hit the road, becoming fugitives in a small mountain town in order to keep their families together. Of course, ghosts from their past will always find them; and, sooner or later, they have to face the complicated present.
Girlie_girl7’s A Day in the Life (A Day in the Life, 05 and A Day in the Life 12 - A Fractured Christmas Story and A Day in the Life, 14 - Christmas and A Day in the Life, 35 - Fox Mantle and A Day in the Life, 30 - The Shooting/A Day in the Life, 31 - Home Coming and A Day in the Life, 36 - Problem Child)
Mulder carries his daughter into his office all the while rubbing her dark, curly, head against his cheek. He pulls out the desk chair and switches on the computer then sits down with Katherine balanced on one knee. Scully has the baby dressed in a light blue, terry tank top and matching shorts, she kicks her white baby shoe against the desk as Mulder absentmindedly reaches down to still her foot. He brings up his email and begins to open and delete messages. He's just opened one from a UFO hotline when Katherine begins pounding the keyboard and jabbering. Suddenly the screen goes black and the computer shuts off.
"Katherine, you shut me down," Mulder says with a frown.
Mulder and Scully, their children, and her family experience the ups and downs of parenthood: be it holidays, illnesses, near-death experiences, grown bullies at school pickups, and restaurant shootouts. (Note: the stories linked above-- for brevity’s sake-- are mostly Mulder-centric. My favorite is "14 - Christmas": touchingly touch-and-go.)
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Ending S3 with a supersized episode, controversy, & special guests!
Join @dinalit @eggshellheart, @slippinmickeys, @scullymakesmefeelautopsyturvy, @red2007, & guest @aloysiavirgata as we break down Iolokus by @rivkat & MustangSally.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
If you haven’t read this classic Halloween fic by Rivkat & Mustang Sally, now’s the time.
"Legend has it that, on Halloween, graveyards are gateways to the world of the dead. The release of a large amount of energy, spiritual or . . . sexual . . . could allow us to see what is normally unseen."
Scully turned away from him to hide her amusement. "I know you'd like to see *something* that's normally unseen."
Her footsteps were silent on the rich, lush grass nourished by human bodies.
He followed her and put his hands over her hipbones, the flesh lush and hot through her sensible suit. Her hair smelled like the Chinese food from dinner and, underneath, the clean woodsiness of her shampoo. When he darted his tongue out to touch the ghost-whiteness of the part in her hair he felt her shiver. The tiny hairs on his arms and legs rose in the cool night air.
"I'm not a cat, Mulder. My fur is in no need of grooming."
"Well, where would you like me to lick?"
"I have a choice?" She rubbed her backside against him and he hissed like a pin-stuck tire. "Is that a Snickers in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
These are my favorite of my favorites, as of today, in no particular order. All on AO3. Enjoy!
Yours by Any Other Name by Nyxocity: 3491 words, the first J2 fic I read that made me a fan for life. Non-AU, character bleed. Jensen gets jealous after watching Jared make out with an actress on set most of the day. Jensen then proceeds to show Jared he belongs to Jensen no matter who he is--especially if he's Dean Winchester.
What You Should Know by sonofabiscuit77: 16412 words, amazing AU with so many gorgeous feels. Jared is a mechanic in a small Texan town with a big secret. Jensen, a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps, is that secret.
Full Service Firm by rivkat: 11881 words, maybe my actual favorite J2 fic of all time. AU and extremely hot but with the most satisfying ending. Jared thinks Jensen’s a sex worker and Jensen just goes with it, for...reasons.
I Kind of Liked It Your Way by Chash: 10027 words, I love a good virgin story, and it’s a college setting, to boot. Chad gets Jared a hooker for his birthday, assuming (probably rightly) that Jared will never manage to get laid on his own.
we're still more in love than you think we are by forallthewords: 24824 words, one of the best high school J2 stories there is, and I’ve read A LOT of them. Jensen Ackles is not perfect. The thing about Jared is he never wanted him to be.
Homework verse by Nyxocity: 200K, 10 works, every story deepens the relationship. Toppy!Teacher!Jensen in glasses and Student!Jared.
Screw You, We're From Texas by makeit_takeit: 74894 words. Angsty but amazing J2 roommates-to-friends-to-lovers with lots of Texas culture. This is what could have happened if fate twisted differently, if they never got those big Hollywood breaks and instead ended up living the lives they grew up expecting to lead. More or less.
One Small Step series by sandymg: 62,750, 3 works, made me think a lot about space. Jared has had a secret crush for months. But it’s not like publishing genius and gay activist Jensen Ackles is going to notice the tall, weird guy pushing the mail cart.
I just realized that for some reason there is no coffee shop au on this list, so here’s mine: Worth the Wait by fictionallemons: 6290 words, Jared and Jensen are just two guys who see each other at the coffee shop a few times a week. Jared doesn't flirt with married customers, and Jensen is very married. Until he isn't.
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This fic is a good old-fashioned Conspiracy thriller. Samantha returns (or does she?). The Lone Gunmen, Skinner, Marita, and Krycek are all helpful players (or are they?). Scully goes off and marries some random dude (or does she?). (Don't worry too much – the story doesn't come with a "Scully/Other" tag for a reason.) Bees are a huge looming threat (or will Mulder and Scully save everyone?). It's very X-Files. Read it!
Title: Up the Ladder
Author: RivkaT (@rivkat)
Summary: Marita comes through for Mulder, giving him what he wants most. But twenty-five years haven't brought as many changes as he might have thought, and her gift might be more dangerous than anything he's faced to date. And what's up with those bees? A potpourri of Conspiracy elements with many old favorites present.
Length: 32,278 words
Classification: X-File, Angst, UST
Rating: Mature
Spoilers: Through "Elegy"
Favorite line: Scully spent the day making bee puree.
Read the story!
Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.
Interview with RivkaT
RivkaT has 28 stories at Gossamer and 270 stories at AO3, so she knows her way around fanfic and fandom. She's also a co-author of one of the most well-known X-Files fics of all time, Iolokus. I've recced that here before, along with some of my other favorites of her stories, including And Dance by the Light of the Moon and Into the Woods. Big thanks to RivkaT for doing this interview.
Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?
I think it's amazing! Writing styles have changed so much, along with everything else, that it's really nice to know they're still being visited. I tried to show my son the pilot episode, and it didn't move him at all, but it's good to know it's not forgotten.
What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?
I made a number of good friends, and had my first taste of bitter fandom battles. I made dumb mistakes and, I hope, learned a bit about navigating fandom spaces. My long-time writing partner MustangSally taught me that it was always worth blowing the budget in writing--go over the top if you want. I put that to good use in my next big fandom (Smallville).
Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?
I started on Usenet! Then mailing lists, and webrings, but mainly the Gossamer list.
What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?
(1) Serials are different than works posted all at once, and have different strengths and weaknesses. (2) There are many ways to write a good fic, and somewhat fewer (but still a large number of) ways to write a bad one. (3) Most good fics are bad to some readers, and many bad fics are good to some readers, and that's okay. (4) Summaries can often instruct many readers how a work is meant to be perceived, especially if they already know you as a writer--the importance of authorial intent is clearly not dead and may be unkillable! (5) Fandom has awfulness and greatness in it because fans are people.
What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?
Dana Scully. Enough said! (Ok, it was Jose Chung's From Outer Space specifically, but Scully generally.)
What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?
I mentioned to a friend that I was really into the show and she said that if I went online there were people writing stories about the characters. I knew about fanfic from childhood fannishness (Star Trek etc.) and so I went looking on this vaguely-understood thing, the internet. At the time I didn't have a computer that ran Windows so I logged onto Usenet at home and used Pine and Mosaic (an early search engine). When I wanted to see pictures I had to go to the computer lab at school.
What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?
An ex where I don't have too much memory of the bitter and drawn-out breakup and just have vague nostalgia for the good times. Of course all that was about the show, not the fandom!
Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?
A bunch, including BTVS, Smallville, and Supernatural. I loved them all--my relationships with those fandoms were equally intense, but associated with different times in my life and therefore different availability of time and other resources. I wish I had that new-fandom love again, but right now it's just not happening for me, even though I've experimented.
Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?
Dana Scully, because she is Dana Scully: smart, driven, and good at her job, with occasional daddy issues. Subsequently, Lex Luthor, Olivia Dunham, Dean Winchester. I like characters who are driven by a sense of mission and who are really good at their jobs: competence porn!
Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?
Not very often; I last did a rewatch about thirteen years ago.
Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?
I rarely revisit the XF, but I could definitely be persuaded. I read a fair amount across various fandoms now, but mostly it's dabbling.
Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?
Waaaay too many to mention. But if I had to choose: Jane Mortimer's The Sin Eater. Totally blew my mind about what fic could do. [Lilydale note: it really is a great fic!]
What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?
I go through patches of love and hate for my own work. Right now I might pick my SPN/Smallville crossover Under Darkening Skies because I had fun with the character voices and I got at least one great set piece out of it (mannequins in a hell dimension).
Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?
It seems unlikely but I have learned never to say never.
Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?
For the past few years it's mostly been Yuletide, but I'd love to get back into it more if I can be inspired.
Where do you get ideas for stories?
I have no idea! Usually it was something that bugged me about an episode, or a chance to play with a classic trope, or a random news story that would spark an idea.
What's the story behind your pen name?
Not much of one--it's a variant of my nickname that was available on AOL and I managed to snag it on most platforms fans use, which has been lucky!
Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?
Most of my friends are fannish and know everything; my family knows generally but basically doesn't want to know specifics, which is fine with me.
Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?
Archive of Our Own.
Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?
So as far as smut goes I’m wondering if you (or if not anyone) has some solid dom Scully recs?
Into the Woods by rivkat is a really good one. It’s an outtake from a longer story but stands fully on its own. I’m sorry I can only think of one story when I know there are more that fit the bill.
