Oklahoma

Fanfiction
Title:	Oklahoma
Author(s):	Amperage and Livengoo
Date(s):	October 1995 (authors' story header), January 21, 1996 (posted to alt.tv.x-files.creative)
Length:	156,304 words
Genre(s):	gen fic, casefile, Muldertorture
Fandom(s):	The X-Files
Relationship(s):
External Links:	Oklahoma @The Annex Oklahoma @Gossamer Oklahoma @IOHO (via Wayback) Oklahoma @Ebook Library Parts Linked Here cover by MustangSally
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Oklahoma was an influential novel in the early years of The X-Files fandom. It is set before the canon of the series and provided quite a bit of Mulder fanon. The story shows him as a profiler on a difficult serial killer case before he discovered the X-Files. When Mulder is sent by BSU to Oklahoma to crack the case, it spells the end of his time as a criminal profiler and propels him toward a different path that leads from his pre-XF days right to where we later meet him on the show. Angst, angst, Muldertorture, more angst and the one story everyone remembers all these years later.

Summary: "It's 1987 and the Oklahoma cops have an unsolvable case. Fox Mulder, golden boy of the VCU, is called in to stop the murders of children across the state. What he finds takes him places he never wanted to go and forces him to make the pivotal choice of his life."

The novel was written in 1995. The first of 41 parts was posted Jan 21, 1996 to the newsgroup alt.tv.x-files.creative and a new part was posted every day. The novel is more than 150,000 words long.

From the introduction:

Hiya, folks! This is for all of you who wondered what happened to Amp after Therapy II and Goo after Corpse, not to mention the lost souls crying out for Colors.

So, you ask, where HAVE Amp and Goo been? Home! Slaving our little fingers off writing Oklahoma.

So what, besides the obvious, is Oklahoma? Back in January '95 Amperage ran a riveting story called The Sacrifice, in which she made passing mention of a Mulder case, years in the past, with an eviscerated child, and Mulder writing the impossible profile. It was the turning point in 1987, where VICAP and BSU overwhelmed him and hot-shot young Fox Mulder started to turn away and explore the fringes of the X-Files.

Back in June, Amp let me get my slimy lawyer fingers on her history for Mulder, and expand on that a bit. She gave me some history and some details, and I was hooked. I wanted more and I whined for it in the classic manner.

And then. . . .

Amp sent along a gritty, gorgeous opening like nothing I'd seen, with an idea out of an English Lit. major's dreams - help her write Oklahoma, and brace that baby around the poems of T.S.Eliot. How could I say no? EVERYTHING went on the back burner when the new piece of Oklahoma needed to be written. And it's hot.

If you ask me what this story's about, I'd tell you it's about transitions. Those key points when you stop being one thing and become another. In this case, it's Mulder's transition from what he was to what we see in the X-Files. And transitions from one kind of society to another, one level of awareness to another. I'm sure Amp has her own ideas of what this story's about, but she keeps her own council.

Fair warning time. This story isn't nice and it isn't kind. It's hot and rolling, and violent and full of disturbing notions. NC-17 for violence and language, oh my yes. And if you didn't like Therapy or Corpse, I doubt you'll like Oklahoma. You've been warned.

Awards

Winner of 1996 Spooky for Best Action/Adventure (First Place), Best Drama (Second Place), Best Mulder Characterization (Third Place), and Best Portrayal of Mulder Angst (First Place). Winner 1996 EMXC Awards for Best Horror, Best Novel, and Best Drama.

Wombat's parody The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Mulders presents Oklahoma!Mulder as one of two case studies to illustrate the true extent of Mulderabuse in the X-Files fandom: This sad Mulder, recently found by ASPCM workers, spent his first few weeks in our care centre hiding under his desk and emerging only for takeout. He was terrified that ASPCM carers would make him return to Amperage and Livengoo fanfic 'Oklahoma'.

Fanworks Inspired By "Oklahoma"

• Oklahoma Music Video, by Lexikal ("Clips are from "Clean, Shaven", various season 2 eps of the X-Files, "Baby Blues" and "Mysterious Skin" with a few seconds of "Playing God."")
• The fanfiction Gazing Back by Tim Scott features characters from Oklahoma
• The fanfiction Minnesota by Wickdzoot is a licensed parody of Oklahoma
• XScout's Crossing Bridges briefly references Oklahoma
• Yin/Yang by Lee Ann Wagner includes a victim killed in a similar way to those in Oklahoma

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

Back before the X-Files, Mulder was the golden boy of the VCU - this is the tale of the case that broke him; it's about transitions, connections, choices and places you never wanted to go...

1997

I've mentioned Oklahoma elsewhere, as a sample of MulderTorture at its best. This story by Amperage and Livengoo takes pre-X-Files Mulder through a harrowing hunt for a serial killer. It isn't perfect, but the flaws don't really matter. Most readers either love it or hate it. It helps if you're a T. S. Eliot fan.

2002

"Corpse" and "Oklahoma" are my all-time favorite fics. The angst and psychological plot in both stories is to die for. I was still thirsting for more after I finished them. An oklahoma native myself, the landscape and setting in "Oklahoma" are a bit off the mark, but the setting itself is one giant metaphor, so it works beautifully. Also, if you're a T.S. Eliot fan and aren't afriad of a little adult matter, "Oklahoma" is for you. And there is no Scully, but that is fine, because believe me, Goo and Amp put this all in Mulder's very capable hands.. and mind. bottom line, the story is a roller coaster and reading it is a vacation in and of itself. I finished it in five days four summers ago and read it again last may. I *still* get chills when I think about it.

2003

Two years ago, when I was going camping for a week, I made a plea to my friends for good, long stories I could print out and bring with me so I woudn't lose my mind with no 'net-fic access. imkalena responded with Oklahoma, which she'd already printed for herself, and wanted a good home for. It was very badly formatted, with no line breaks to speak of. But after the first page, I just didn't care.

The story is set pre-X-Files, when Mulder was the Boy Wonder of the ViCAP program. It's canon that he "burned out" as a profiler, and this story is one possible answer to how. It's violent and scary at times, and not at all pretty. But Jumpin' Jeebus, it's good.

I won't waste any more of your time -- Go! Read!

Ohh, man, this was, I believe, the very first piece of fanfiction of any sort that I ever read, and what an amazing place to start. I still remember how totally it knocked me on my ass, not just for the "You mean a person can actually *write* stories about the show??" factor, but also because it is one hell of a ride.

The story that . . . did everything I could possibly want from fic. Loved it so much, carried it around, feeling lightheaded after reading it.

I remember when this story first came out. Amp and Goo posted one chapter a day. It was freakin' torture. I would rush home for lunch and pray they'd posted a chapter overnight. I'd read each chapter twice, once over lunch and then again when I got home from work. It's a truly amazing piece of work.

I download long stories to my palmpilot. I started reading this one on Sunday night and I actively resented that I had to go to sleep. I stayed up til 2 am last night finishing it. Wow, thank you so much for the recommendation. I was totally immersed in the world the authors created.

2004

I adored that fic, though it gave me an allergy to T.S. Eliot that has never gone away.

Amperage and Livengoo wrote this over-blown monstrosity back in the dark ages, and everyone still acts like it's the be-all end-all of Mulder characterization. All it really amounts to is 40-something chapters of vomit, anti-psychotics, cutsey-bootsy "ain't we the greatest?" self-congratulatory writing, and a Mulder you wish would have died when that pathetic excuse for a serial killer took him for a ride. Go on - ask me how I really feel.

2012

Warnings: none of the triggers listed on the user info page, but mental illness, torture, medical trauma...makes Criminal Minds look like the Hallmark Channel.

I started reading this on Thanksgiving Day 1997 in a 24-hour computer lab at school. I read it straight through, finishing around noon the next day. It was one of the reasons I bought a tv after 17 years without, because I'd never seen the X-Files, and after this, I just had to learn more about the fascinating creature, Fox Mulder.

This was originally issued on Usenet in 1995/96 in 41 parts, so when you get to the end of part 1, it says "continue to part 7." Ignore it. It's on several other XF archives in the original ASCII text.

This is a really old story; I found it last year during a minor resurgence of my (also really old) X-Files obsession. This is X-Files pre-series gen; it reads like a psychological horror novel, with a really fucked-up Mulder investigating a child serial killer who finds a way--real or imagined, we don't know at the start--to get inside Mulder's head and mess with it even further. T.S. Eliot's poetry plays a central role in a wonderfully creepy way. This is Muldertorture (a subgenre I usually run screaming from) at its most Muldertorturous, and definitely NOT for the squeamish. It's also really, really good. I would love to comment on this story at the source, but it was written back when emails were the only way to comment, and I'm not sure the authors would appreciate kudos 16 years out.

2014

An absolute classic in the TXF fandom and for a damn good reason. It’s chilling, angsty, dark, and so very satisfying. I read it in one sitting one day when I was home sick from work. I’ll never forget sitting huddled at my desk beneath a blanket, shivering not from fever anymore but from the words I was reading.

I dislike "Oklahoma,"... at one time it had quite a following. People thought is was classy (my guess) because TS Eliot everywhere you look. It is [p]athetic. They were practically wheeling spiritual crushed Mulder around on a gurney.

2023

The X-Files has always implied more psychological depth than it was properly able to portray in its monster-of-the-week format, and has hinted at Mulder’s dysfunctional past at the FBI. This story takes a deep breath and dives into those waters. It also resists the temptation to shoehorn Scully in, instead providing us with some great and believable original characters. You almost pity Scully by the end—there’s just so much that she doesn’t know when she walks into the X-Files office.