#xf asks

Season 1 MSR or season 9 MSR?- Season 1 MSR I think.

Favorite season(s)? Why?- Seasons 2, 3, and at a push, 8. Season 2 because I like the vibes, season 3 because it has the most episodes I like and season 8 because it's the only season with a thoughtout storyline from start to finish that has a timeline to follow keeping it on track.

Favorite episode(s)? Why?- Little Green Men, Wetwired, Roadrunners, This. Little Green Men because I think it's a really well done Mulder episode. There's also certain shots that parrellel other shots earlier in the episode and I really enjoy that shit. Wetwired because I love how it's Scully who's affected by it and not Mulder which could've been the obvious choice to go with. We see Mulder's paranoia all the time but never Scully's even though she's been through so much by this point. The scene in Maggie's where she believes Mulder had something to do with her abduction says so much and poses so many questions as to what is going on with Scully's pysche right now and it's really disappointing it was never explored in the myth-arc but I guess that's why fanfics exist. Roadrunners- like Our Town- it's just a guilty pleasure episode. This- The whole clue/puzzle scenes like when they're in Arlington trying to remember which president was born on what day that shit really gets me excited.

Which broke your heart more: Emily arc or William arc?- Emily's. Her character was just pointless- set up to die which is not a bad thing in itself but that story didn't go anywhere after that. More Emily's should be out there (Orphan Black-esque clones come to mind with this) I'm not saying we needed to endure an Emily part 2. Episode but for as long as they have Scully's ova, they should just be mass producing Emilies and Emilios and we should see them crop up every now and then but that storyline just went nowhere. Emily died, Scully had her little breakdown in All Souls but that was that, that story died when Emily died. At least they tried to do something with William in the revival I guess.

Thanks for these B!!

Thank you for loving my blog! I am also a returning new/old fan, so welcome!

First time fics are probably the most popular, I assume that is what you're looking for? If you've never read fic before, boy is there a treat for you! There is SO MUCH AMAZING TALENT I wouldn't know where to begin. Are you looking for fic starting at a particular time? There is no one consensus on when Mulder and Scully first slept together. Some people think it happened the first time when we saw it on-screen in 'all things' but other people (me included) think it happened much earlier.

I can't think of any first time recs off the top of my head, but as for general recommendations here are a few places you can go:

My own fic, which doesn't include any first time yet, unfortunately: https://dreamingofscully.tumblr.com/post/612849745093967872/my-master-fic-list

I have a few posts recommending 'classic' fanfiction which you can find here: https://dreamingofscully.tumblr.com/tagged/classic-xf-fanfic-recs

@lilydalexf has a lot more recs on her blog: https://lilydalexf.tumblr.com/tagged/fic-rec

@dnscully has a couple lists of her favourite fanfic: https://dnscully.tumblr.com/post/621265795610296321

I have some rec lists on my website (these are older because I didn't discover the new stuff until fairly recently): https://msrheadcanon.com (season 6 through 8 have the most recs I believe).

Some of my fave authors you can check out on this site are: @suitablyaggrieved, @baronessblixen, @wtfmulder and @sarie-fairy 

Answering @doctorhelena regarding this ask

9. The Lone Gunmen or Walter Skinner?

I feel like I answered this somewhere before...Yes, I did. In fact, you asked me this question back in June! And this is what I said: "This is hard. I love the Gunmen for loyalty, underdoggedness, and for the cathartic humour they bring. But I love Skinner for the no nonsense tough guy who only breaks the rules for Mulder and Scully (but we all know it’s really only for Scully). Skinner edges them out only by a smidge."

16. Favorite character developments for Scully?

Well, this is a tough question, too, because I wasn't fond of almost any character developments for Scully other than her hair and wardrobe improving over the years. She was great for me as she was right at the start - scientist, doctor, skeptic, lapsed Catholic, career driven...then over the years that eroded, almost too much.

17. Favorite character developments for Mulder?

I really enjoyed in S5 when he was having a crisis of faith in his beliefs. I wish he'd taken harder looks at exactly what he was willing to believe after having his core beliefs shaken so hard.

Thanks! 👽

3. Gillian Anderson or Dana Scully? - Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully!!💕💕💕💕💕💕

10. Who is your favourite character outside from Mulder and Scully? - I like the Lonegunmen 👾

33. Favourite season finale? - the only one I really remember is Anasazi so that one?? There was a three-parter at some point (I think it was s6-7 Biogenesis - The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati) that honestly left me speechless when I watched, it I liked it a lot if that counts ?!Pls don’t judge if they are actually bad eps I just remember being really swept up by everything and how I was feeling at the time.

45. Why did you start watching The X-Files? - Two words: Kate McKinnon 🏳️‍🌈

This feels like choosing between my children (if I were to have any).That said, War of the Coprophages is my favourite son, mostly because it canonizes Mulder & Scully’s friendship outside of work. At some point I’ll write a long post about it but…. tl;dr Mulder and Scully talk on the phone all the time just for funsies.

Thanks for the questions Niki! 😊

16. Favorite character developments for Scully?

I think I would say that she evolved from perky young skeptical no-nonsense agent wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into in Season 1, to being more open to extreme possibilities and unconventional science. She embraced her role as Mrs. Spooky in the basement without lsing who she is as a person and a scientist. To this day she remains the skeptic who keeps her partner in check, but hey, she can’t say she doesn’t believe in aliens anymore. I’ll also have to throw in her relationship with Mulder over the years – how her feelings for him evolve from “weird but cute new partner” to differing stages throughout the series (I could go on and on about this), and finally maturing into soulmate relationship. 

17. Favorite character developments for Mulder?

I almost hate to say the Samantha arc, because Closure is so dissatisfying. Although, it is interesting that he originally began his quest to find out what happened to her, and it completely unraveled into something bigger. But his persistence is uniquely him. I’m also going to echo what I said about Scully and maintain that the evolution of their relationship is the best and most interesting development of the show. (I mean, that’s basically why we love it, right?)

25. List some season 1 MSR headcanons:

Scully sometimes clutches his hand when there’s turbulence on a flight as an immediate reaction. (He doesn’t mind, doesn’t mention anything, just holds her hand until it stops.) Mulder usually picks her up from her apartment when they have to hit the road early for cases and almost always brings her a coffee and a bran muffin (because he quickly learned her usual order). By the end of season 1, they are both each other’s emergency contact numbers. Although she hates herself for it and tries to deny it, Scully secretly enjoys that the agents upstairs refer to her as Mrs. Spooky.

34. Scruffy Mulder or clean shaven Mulder?

Mulder tends to look like a bit of a trainwreck with some scruff (I mean, that can be hot too) but I think I’ll go clean shaven.

5. Who do you think started having romantic thoughts about the other first, Mulder, or Scully?

I’ve gone back and forth on this so many times, and I’m not even mad about it because it was, in actuality, really good fic and fan analysis rather than canonical events that made me question it. Initially, I was convinced that Mulder did but over the years I’ve really come to question that assumption. I think I always assumed he did because, you know, , but really one of the most fundamental things about Mulder is his single-mindedness. I don’t think it’s much of a leap to say that Mulder acknowledged and admitted and perhaps conveyed romantic interest/feelings first, given his personality — but I actually think Scully felt attraction first. In the Pilot, actually. But I think she completely suppressed it, refused to acknowledge it, probably felt guilty about it, or like she was such a cliché, etc. 

I also like the idea of thinking Scully was empowered by it eventually. I always got the sense that deep down, despite being portrayed as somewhat hyper-sexualized (porn), Mulder didn’t really know what he wanted in love. I think his sexual desires drove him because they were obvious to him and fairly easy to meet. Part of me thinks that — as sappy as it my sound — he didn’t really understand love (in the nuanced way that’s necessary to really feel and be healed by it) until he examined his relationship with Scully. 

I think Scully did know what she wanted and needed in terms of love, but I think she grappled very heavily with it throughout her life. I think she knew before she let herself know how she felt about Mulder. I started a fic about this a million years ago and maybe some day I’ll finish it, but there’s a section that incorporates this headcanon I’ve had forever about a story Maggie Scully tells Mulder at some point before Scully has explicitly told him she loves him:

“Before Dana left for college she broke up with her high school sweetheart. We were in the kitchen. She was writing her name in all of her new anatomy and biology textbooks. I was making dinner. I knew she’d let the boy down easy. He was a nice boy, but they weren’t serious. They were just kids. I asked her if she wanted to talk about it and she said — in that self-assured way that you know well; she’s always been like that — she said, “It’s okay, I didn’t love him or anything.” And I asked, just to satisfy my own curiosity really, ‘Well now, how do you know that?’ and she sighed and said, “Oh, Mom. I’d never fall in love with someone who doesn’t have something to be passionate about besides me.”

11. What is the first episode of the show you ever watched?

I was very, very young when I happened across it, while it was still on TV, and I know I started watching somewhere around ‘98/’99/2000 (so probably sometime in season seven?). But the first episode that I vividly remember watching (which must have been on in reruns, or I rented earlier seasons from the video store on VHS or something) was Eve! 

16. Tell me a fond txf-related memory.

After the series ended but it would be on in reruns every night (on Spike or SyFy, one of those networks) my first little middle school boyfriend and I used to call each other on the phone and watch it together. We did the requisite Mulder and Scully Halloween costumes and the first time I ever dyed my hair Scully red was at his house, haha! 

11. Do you have any X-Files ships aside from MSR? Yea, actually! But none that affect me like MSR. Huddy (House and Cuddy), Doug and Carol from ER, Everlark, and Jaime and Claire from Outlander. Thats all I can think of off the top of my head. But rarely will you see them on my blog. OH! Niles and Daphne <3 

25. List some season 1 MSR headcanons 

- Her partnership and experiences with Mulder had no small part in influencing Scully’s decision to alter her living will’s specifications regarding both termination life support and to see to it that “The Spirit is the Truth.” 1John 5:6 (its listed as 5:7 in the episode but that’s incorrect) was the message she wanted engraved upon her headstone. 

-More than once a groggy Mulder forgot about a morning semi and non-buttoned boxers. Scully might have enjoyed at least 30 seconds or so before cooly alerting him to his indecency.  Mulder pretended not to notice. 

-Before he got brave enough to start calling her in the middle of the night, Mulder used to listen undeleted messages from Scully on his machine. Smug narratives of autopsy reports were his favorite, but sometimes he’d just replay, “Mulder, its me.” Over and over again. 

41.What’s your ultimate MSR song/playlist?  “Walking After You” instantly comes to mind, because it was written by a phile. And that does all kinds of things to my heart. “Walking in Memphis (duh), “All I Want” by Kodaline because the video attached to it absolutely wrecks me every single time. “Have a Little Faith in Me” by John Hiatt. It chokes me up every time I hear it. It’s so them.