okay so. transfem Mulder essay here we Go this is going to be. long
1. Subversion of gender stereotypes.
Unlike most male characters of his time, Mulder possesses a lot of qualities typically assigned to women: he is the more emotional one out of the two protagonists, overly trusting, with his head in the clouds, cries more easily. Mulder isn’t “one of the boys”, so his fellow agents treat him like a joke. I’m not transfem myself, but I’ve experienced a lot of bullying because of my inability to fit in. I couldn’t be “one of the girls” because I wasn’t a girl. Scully tries to be masc enough for both of them, attempting to fit in with her male colleagues, who seemingly respect her, but drop all pretence as soon as she takes Mulder’s side. Thus begins a beautiful and tragic lesbian story.
2. Samantha
Mulder’s whole identity revolves around his lost sister, who’s been missing for decades, but he still doesn’t lose hope of seeing her again. I feel like he clings too hard to the title of an older brother to a sister who’s never coming back, of a son to an uncaring father and abusive mother. Clings to the dream of bringing Samantha home, of his parents finally accepting him. And that is why, in my opinion, he surpresses any and all thoughts of what it would feel like to be a woman. He’s scared of discovering who he is if not Samantha’s brother.
3. Paper Hearts.
In the episode Paper Hearts, Mulder is Alice in a nightmarish Wonderland. He follows the mad hatter instead of the white rabbit, who doesn’t drink tea with the march hare, but kills little girls. I feel like having Mulder wear a pink t-shirt in this episode was a deliberate choice, highlighting his femininity and the fear of growing up. Mulder is Alice who woke up to discover that her sister was nowhere to be found, and had to be confronted with the harsh reality where there’s no such thing as little green men and cheshire cats, but there are child molesters. This is further elaborating on point 2, Mulder asking himself “if I’m not Samantha’s brother, who am I?”, except I want to dissect this even more. In the dream, Mulder hugs his sister, which was obviously intended as him finally finding her, saving her, but we can also look at this from another angle. He’s hugging the little girl who he never got to be. By saving Samantha he heals his inner girl, finally accepting her, only to have her violently ripped from him. This is where Scully would roll her eyes, but Mulder would nod eagerly, so walk with me here. It was obviously not the writers’ intention, but if they make their “male” protagonist play Alice in Wonderland, they better be ready for the consequences.
4. All Things
If you've been following me for some time, you know I never shut up about this episode and its influence on transfem Mulder theory. Gillian Anderson woke up one day and thought to herself: hmmm what if I wrote an episode where Mulder and Scully get compared to a lesbian couple? And what if Scully keeps chasing this mysterious woman, and when she finally catches up with her, the woman turns around and it’s Mulder? There’s just so much to unpack. Scully has a heart-to-heart with a lesbian who tells her that she’d been so stressed about keeping her relationship a secret that she got cancer. And when she allowed herself to be open about it, she was able to get better. Scully, who also had cancer, and who is currently having doubts about her relationship with Mulder, listens to her intently. She lets go of the past (namely comphet), accepts that she’s a lesbian, and Mulder is, in fact, a woman. I’m barely even exaggerating, this is literally the plot of the episode. That’s it, case closed.
5. Denise
But of course. Even though I haven’t watched enough Twin Peaks to actually meet her, she is near and dear to my heart. I personally lean more towards butch Mulder, and don’t think that she’d change much of her appearance, but she’s an excellent point of reference for just how beautiful Mulder could be.
phm is decently popular in japan and i mostly see this when i check twitter and see accounts posting pictures of handmade rocky plushies that are so fucking round looking it brings a tear to my eye
"The last time any human touched Ryland Grace was an act of horrific violence"
Well... Yes and no.
The last time Ryland Grace was CONSCIOUS of any human touch was when he was knocked out. Absolutely true.
But the last human contact he would have had was Yao and Ilyukhina. Who were told that he was scared about panicking during launch and asked to be sedated. Who did all the pre flight checks before the Hail Mary launched. Who would have carefully, gently carried Grace to his bed in the dormitory, made sure he was secure, and initiated his coma procedure.
There would have been love there. Remember Ilyukhina throwing her hands high and saying "welcome to crew!" Remember Yao saying how he hoped Grace would say yes. Remember how much the crew trusted Grace, Stratt's First Officer, the guy who helped them so much, and was so kind to them, and was the one who they entrusted their preferred methods of suicide to. Who thought they were wonderful and brave.
They would have tucked him in. Maybe brushed his hair out of his face. Maybe said something kind to him before initiating their own coma procedures.
Ryland Grace doesn't remember, of course he wouldn't. But the last human touch he ever had was full of love.
After sifting through hundreds of photos... I have realized that every time Simon takes a photo in the SM-13, he's pulling up a frame to a stop motion animation.
And it can be played back as video.
So, I took each black box photo and compiled them together. You can now watch Simon's entire journey from the SM-13's camera like found footage.
You can also gain access to Simon's amazing photography portfolio from my master reference project, as well as the video for yourself.
Please, have a watch. It's terrifying. I feel like a C.O.I. lab tech delving into something I really shouldn't, and it's a blast!
Book stratt and ryland my beloved. The moment i found out stratt studied history i knew i had to draw something kinda inspired by it. So here is some very deep greek history dive. (Fun fact prometheus was always my favorite myth)
Also STRATT DID NOTHING WRONG. She saved humanity and we (yes WE) love her for that
~(some potential) Tropes for Archive of Our Own, Question~
"You can't hear me anymore, question" - magic that means you're the only one your crush/love can't hear. They walk right past you.
"When we share a Thrum, my voice wants to warble against your own." - Acoustic Tension aka they don't know their love is requited but everyone else in the thrum knows and is done with their shit.
Magnetized together - When your metals align perfectly with your fated someone and you brush arms and get stuck together
*NEW* The Alien next door - you live near the biodome and ACCIDENTALLY end up in the biodome WITHOUT an exosuit and (OH MY) get saved by the cool alien who is SO understanding of your struggles to fit in on Erid and is SO sympathetic of how much pain you've ENDURED.
