Mulder/Krycek

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Pairing
Pairing: Mulder/Krycek, Fox Mulder/Alex Krycek
Alternative name(s): M/K
Gender category: slash
Fandom: The X-Files
Canonical?: nearly
Prevalence: huge, in the past
Archives: RatB, TER/MA, the Basement, MKRA (via Wayback)
Other: M/K Slash Ring, Mulder/Krycek Multimedia Archive
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Mulder/Krycek was one of the first big slash pairings on the net. They were enemies who loved to hate each other and Mulder especially liked to get really physical when expressing his hatred. At the same time they were sometimes reluctant allies.

Betrayal, redemption, trust issues, and Mulder in denial about his attraction to Krycek were common themes in fanfic.

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The motto of the Mulder/Krycek Romantics Association was: For those who know real UST when they see it! It was a comment on the often talked about Mulder/Scully UST and referred in this context to all the angry tension between Mulder and Krycek that was perceived as sexual. That fan interpretation of the character dynamic got a bit of fanservice later in canon when Krycek kissed Mulder on the cheek in the fifth season episode The Red and the Black.[1]

Fan Comments

When the X-Files hysteria started, I avoided getting drawn into it by the simple means of not even watching a single episode. What happened then is what happens every time you say "never" to a new fandom: you fall for it, hard. I discovered Mulder/Krycek slash via a due South author's other work, begged tapes from mareen, read whatever I could get my hands on, and was captivated by the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder and Alex Krycek. From partners to mortal enemies, to reluctant allies, to... lovers? At least that's what fandom said, and I agreed. No matter how little I care for Chris Carter's botching of the mytharc in the later seasons, I'll always be grateful to him for that kiss in "The Red and the Black", and for the tremendous potential inherent in Krycek's character. Fandom was certainly an experience although I avoided the extremes of the spectrum - the Krycek-defenders who excused or denied his crimes, and the people who saw him as a sociopath without a conscience. I prefer the middle ground and am wholly comfortable in denying the events of "Existence". Krycek, dead? I must have misheard. [2]

I need to divide the world into two halves:

There are two sorts of M/K fans: ONE kind wants to believe that Krycek isn't all bad; they prefer Skippy to Ratboy. I can't speak for those fans at ALL. Don't even ask me. (Not saying there's anything wrong with them; just that they confuse me as much as M/K confuses other people.)

But there is another kind; women who glory in Krycek's badness--who believe the only good Krycek is an EVIL Krycek; who think that Ratboy was always hiding, seething under Skippy's mild-mannered exterior. So, why do BadKrycek fans read/write/vid Mulder/Krycek?

Well, (a) he's very pretty (not that Skinner doesn't have his own animal appeal...) (b) They really do look very nice together... but mostly, it's (c). In an evil Krycek M/K story, Mulder knows *damn* well that he has no business even thinking about Krycek, much less trusting him in even the most trivial of ways (and sex, at its slashy best, is rarely trivial).

He's the guy your mom warned you about. (He's the guy your older brother warned you about--by telling you that he'd tried to convince your brother to join him in a gang bang.) He's as *other* as a slash partner can be. (Once, on this list or somewhere, I talked about a hierarchy of trust through slash shows, with K/S and S/H being the 'high trust' and B7 being the low trust: well, M/K makes Blake and Avon look like best friends.)

He's not safe; it's not forever; it's not even a good idea.

But, you do it anyway.

That's the appeal: it's a little like h/c fans who say, 'they're not in it for the specific injury; they're in it for the barriers breached, and the strong men being forced to show their inner souls.' Well, I'm not in it for the kinky sex; I'm in it for Mulder facing the fact that he's doing the most suicidal thing he could possibly be doing (not for Samantha, not for the Truth, but for himself), and he can't stop.

That's why *I* read M/K.

Having said all of this, I have to admit that (post 'Ratboy in the silo'), there is only ONE story I've read that even 1/2 convinced me that they would bump uglies: the two-parter, 'The Same Everywhere and The Hand We Were Dealt.'[3]

Ok, here's my question. I don't get M/K. Up to a point, sure. But not after Alex offs Bill Mulder. I understand the sex thing--there's always been a weird sexual subtext to the Mulder-Krycek relationship, but...well, anyway, y'all managed to explain that to me a while back. But there are some things...

For you M/K folks: how can you get consensual, non-kink M/K to work and be believable for you and for your readers post BM's death? Because sometimes it does work. I've read some where it just clicked for me, and I could take it. But a lot of it I either don't believe or it makes me squick.

Well... there's a thin line between love and hate, and forgiveness is divine. Besides, Bill Mulder was an asshole.
Okay, okay, I know that's a bullshit answer. But it's the best one I have. And if I really get stuck, there's a million ways to write off Bill Mulder's death; he shot himself... there was a shapeshifter in the bathroom, so it wasn't really Krycek... the bullet came through the window... there was someone else in the bathroom with Krycek... etc.
And then sometimes we M/K people like to say that if Bill Mulder told F. Mulder any important information, then F. Mulder's life would be in danger, so Krycek was just "helping".
Sooo... those are some ways to "justify" a relationship between Mulder and Krycek, despite what happened to Bill Mulder. Let the flaming begin...[4]

Notable Mulder/Krycek Works

fanfic banner for In a Dark Time
  • Krychek by Bren Antrim, the first Mulder/Krycek story, written before the character's name was in the credits, hence the misspelling

See also: Category:X-Files M/K Fanfiction

Fanart Examples

Awards

  • The Whammy Awards - X-Files slash awards given annually from 1997 to 1999 (1998?).
  • The Lisa e Krysa Awards recognise excellent in Mulder/Krycek fiction and were given annually from 1999 to 2001


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Archives/Rec Sites

Mailing Lists

  • one started in early 1997 by Randym: "I've been something of a slash geek lately. I've started an Internet mailing list devoted to Mulder/Krycek (mostly discussion, though there is some fanfic). Anyone who is interested in joining should e-mail [email protected]; put "subscribe" in the subject header.") This mailing list was where The Same Everywhere and The Hand We Were Dealt were originally posted as a serial. [7]

Meta/Further Reading

References

  1. ^ Mulder/Krycek kiss on YouTube (Last accessed November 21, 2008.)
  2. ^ the x-files fan fiction - recommendations by allaire mikháil, Archived version
  3. ^ from a comment by Sandy Herrold quoted with permission, from Virgule-L (14 Apr 1997)
  4. ^ comments by Laura Jacquez Valentine and Bushgrrl at First Slash fanfic you ever read..., March 18, 1999
  5. ^ Ghosts, by torch (Last accessed June 11, 2010.)
  6. ^ In a Dark Time by A. Leigh-Anne Childe (Wayback link, last accessed June 11, 2010.)
  7. ^ from Strange Bedfellows (AP) #16 (February 1997)
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