#morris fletcher

[randomfoggytiger]

Dreamland II: Golf Clubs, Diana Fowley, and Mulder's Father

(Courtesy of: @theparadigmshifts)

Dedicated to @goodshipsmulder~

I started out this post trying to draw parallels between Mulder's golf clubs and his past relationship with Diana. Yet, nothing about the Fowl One screamed "golf" or even upper-class country club to me; not enough, at least, for Mulder to spend money on and continually reuse a pair of clubs at her insistence.

However, I stumbled into another entirely other theory-- one that connects directly back to the late Bill Mulder.

Here we go~

DIANA FOWLEY, GOLF CLUBS, AND ORIGINAL THEORIES

Diana Fowley and golfing don't seem to fit in the same sentence: ease and relaxed calculation doesn't quite jive with bold and determined manipulation.

She's career driven: her work ethic caught the eye of the Consortium either before or after she and Mulder discovered the X-Files; and she took trips back and forth from Europe to Tunisia weekly to report her findings. Not to mention, she and Mulder were partners during his first couple months to first year on the files (if my timeline is accurate), and she's shown to fix his singular focus more firmly to "the work" in service of her own end goals. Diana's compliments and wheedling in The End imply she's not slackened her pace years later, and that she believes she can pick right up where Scully left off and do more and do it better.

Perhaps she and Phoebe Green were sporty types, more inclined to low cardio workouts to keep active and in shape. This would be an interesting juxtaposition to Scully (a tomboy Navy brat who had better things to do than hit horsehide with a stick) who might've lacked the sporty inclination of Mulder's previous exes.

Or, perhaps, the golf clubs are another manifestation of Mulder's fleeting interests after moving back stateside. Perhaps he took it up briefly, memories of his blueblood years leading him to that low impact sport first before he switched to swimming (maybe golfing was too mind numbing or it wasn't mind-numbing enough with other people interrupting his focus.)

Perhaps he took it up because Diana suggested it; or maybe he was trying to "find himself" in the wake of Phoebe cheating or Diana leaving.

However, speculations with maximum Fowley influence don't quite fit into the timeline suggested by the room's "design."

WHAT WE KNOW

(Courtesy of: @amplifyme)

What we do know is: the bed had to be the first neglected item in this room, surrounded as it is by piles of boxes, knickknacks, and junk. The golf clubs were a more recent addition-- more to the front of the line-- and look older and used. There are also upturned plastic totes, old boxes separate from the neat storage boxes in the back, a basketball hoop, a punching bag, a bowling pin-- all a bit used-- and Cougar's sports memorabilia, as well as fuzzy dice, a flat bat or rowing paddle, and newer magazines and file folders.

The bedframe is blocked in by boxes and junk on three of its sides, meaning it was the first item placed into this room. Next to it are boxes stacked professionally, and high. It's unlikely that Mulder would have done so neat a job. And the overturned totes, sports gear, and assorted mess are more recent additions-- hastily packed or thrown together, toppling and spilling out easily with one swing of the door: in other words, Mulder's work.

Thus, the stages are revealed.

The bedframe was placed first; at an undisclosed time later, the boxes were professionally placed around it; and at an undisclosed time after that, Mulder chucked in at least two totes, a lamp (he wedged into the second layer of boxes), fuzzy dice, and sports gear on top of a pullout or loveseat or fabric chair. The golf clubs fall into that addition. And lastly but also undisclosed (and likely on-going), he stuffed in light, assorted papers or shirts or whathaveyou he was too lazy to put away properly in the moment.

Let's break this down in layers.

EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE: BEDFRAME, BOXES, AND TIMELINES

The bedframe and boxes must be tackled first.

His bedframe is empty (though intact) and neatly set aside in the corner of the room. That seems to be stage one of unpacking and rearranging-- meaning, in my opinion, Mulder crammed the boxes in right after his and Diana's relationship ended. Mulder chooses smaller spaces to sleep (the couch, the bed he bought after Monday); and he also tends to collect but never unpack his hoarded loot. Those boxes can't be casefiles from the FBI since they'd never let him keep them longer than required for a case; and his most treasured valuables are kept in the basement, anyway. Leaving one to believe they're his belongings: things he brought over from Oxford (if he did) or things he bought after moving out of the dorms.

And when was Mulder no longer living in dorm rooms? Post his education, likely around the time he and Diana were dating.

Two theories present themselves: Mulder's things were moved from Diana's apartment after she left, and he never unpacked them; or Mulder himself recently moved into this apartment after Diana left.

The latter would have to mean he had somewhere else to live for the five years he and she were together. However, there are a few canonical points that negate this theory, broadly pointing to a close or working relationship that spanned two apartments rather than one house:

Mulder tells Scully in Home that if he could "settle down" it'd be "in a place like this." Settling down, in his case, meant the home as well as the environment-- living in that location with those people in that kind of a house was still a fantasy without any tempered reality. Mulder would have lived in his parents' home on the Vineyard then in dorms in Oxford and back in other dorms in the States. Afterwards, the commute to the FBI would have excluded a house if in included his focus; and both he and Diana were very focused on work back then. To Mulder, owning a house was still a fantasy, not yet a practical reality, something he associated fondly with better days and better dreams for the future.

On top of that, Mulder is out of place in houses or suburbia, neither fitting in nor feeling in his own skin when prancing about in Arcadia. Yes, he was proving a point to the neighbors (and to Scully); but he wasn't comfortable there: it was too much, too spacious, too empty; and he found corners to wedge himself into-- hopping up on cabinets, hedging himself in with pillows, cramming in a chair up close to the door instead of other manners of surveillance, etc. (That's an entirely other meta post.) Mulder displayed discomfort above and beyond "proving a point": he wasn't used to the "stereotypical American life"-- he was weirded out by the austere space of it.

Mulder is further unsettled by suburbia in Amor Fati: in that case, he has command of his actions (to an extent), doesn't have to play to "the rules", has his sister, and is (seemingly) largely in charge of his life. And yet, it's "too perfect", leaving him to wonder why he's there. Mulder wasn't surprised to see Diana sweep in and seduce him (post here)-- he was shocked when she not only embraced a slower-paced life but wanted to also further domesticate it.

In Mulder's mind, settling down included a home and kids-- whether it was he and his sister riding bikes and eating bologna sandwiches or a distorted view of Diana wanting his babies and raising his sons-- and a rest from constantly running. Permanence. He looked upon it whimsically, not cynically or longingly like he would if he'd tried his best at that vision and failed (i.e. bought a home, had a "life", and lost it to work.)

In evidence of this, Mulder is shocked when Diana returns-- but not hardened against nor drawn back into a life with her. There are no ties beyond the past; and those ties weren't definitive enough for him to have closure or even completely sever, a classic Mulder move. There were five years between them; but nothing that would jeopardize or taint the idealistic world Mulder is trying to bring to fruition by recovering his sister and restoring that happy home life lost to her abduction.

So, what does that mean for the bed and boxes? When Diana left, she probably emptied her apartment and sent over his share of the belongings-- assets of a partial but incomplete merger. Those stayed stored and cluttered around his bed while Mulder philosophically took the couch. They're not enough clutter to have filled a house, but more than enough to spill over into two apartments.

EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE: ASSORTED AND SPORTING ITEMS

That leaves the clubs, the bowling pin, the basketball hoop, the punching bag, the rest of the et ceteras, and the totes stacked (read: jammed) frontside.

Compared to the Cougars jersey, the golf clubs, bowling pin, punching bag, basketball hoop, etc., appear older, used, and worn.

Turns out, the Cougars are a Houston football team jersey-- and where were Mulder and Scully recently during the opening events of Fight the Future? Despite not attending yet another football game together, it would be like him to pick up memorabilia that had special significance to him about them. If that be the case, Mulder, it would seem, associates Scully with football. Perhaps she prefers it to other sports (until baseball ranked higher up her list after The Unnatural, that is)-- in fact, that would make sense: part and parcel of the stereotypical, all-American Navy family raised on Thanksgiving meals and afternoon football.

Meanwhile, the golf clubs and other sports gear couldn't have been a recent Mulder purchase-- not only because of their wear and tear, but also because of the extent of their wear and tear in contrast to the general lack of time Mulder has to devote to sports other than a morning swim, a once-in-a-while basketball game, and the sports tv he ingests come rain or shine. We've seen him shoot hoops (Paper Hearts, later Two Fathers), we've even seen him sink a bowling ball dead center (Elegy), but we've never seen him take up golf or boxing.

So, if they aren't recent purchases... what are they?

THE REMNANTS OF CHILDHOOD

Bill Mulder was murdered in Anasazi and buried in The Blessing Way; but his house had to have been cleaned out and sold sometime after his death.

Tena Mulder always avoided peering into the past, veering away entirely whenever her son pressed her for memories (and, ultimately, burning her children's photos in Sein und Zeit to protect its secrets.) That leaves Mulder to pack up and sell or hire to have the house packed up and sold.

I believe the sports equipment were from his childhood. It would explain the wear and tear on the basketball hoop (referred to in a deleted Two Fathers scene here) and the bowling pin, as well as the presence of the unidentified sporting stick and fuzzy dice. (It would also explain why he stuck them with his new papers and magazines.)

But most importantly, I believe the golf clubs were his father's.

Golf requires a particular set of skills: silent calculation, strategic aim, and the ability to reposition oneself if the original swing goes wrong. While Mulder destresses through aggressive play (whether swimming alone or working alongside others he trusts will have his back) and Gibson Praise out-predicts his competitor's next move and CSM plays by the blind hand of luck, Bill Mulder retires away from stress, decisions, and consequences, preferring to keep to himself (post here and here.) Preferring not to compete.

Perhaps the punching bag was Bill Mulder's, too: a solitary way to release his pent-up feelings of helplessness and rage.

CONCLUSION: A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

Diana moves to Europe; and Mulder either moves out of her apartment with the bedframe (minus mattress) and boxes or moves her boxes into his bedroom (and sells the mattress he might not have liked to begin with.)

Years later, his father dies. Mulder, a packrat at heart, can't let go of the happier times he connects with his childhood gear. Tena likely wouldn't want it cluttering up her already cluttered basement; so, he shoves it into his unused bedroom, stuffing them all to the left. In the tote closest to the door, he put his easily retrievable items (i.e. magazines, rumpled shirts, fuzzy dice, a few assorted bats, and miscellaneous filing folders) that he retrieves at will.

After Mulder's return from Houston, he opens the door and chucks in the jersey. However, it disturbs the balance of his haphazard system, beginning an avalanche that he quickly closes the door against. With the door in place, disaster is avoided, for now.

A few months after that, Morris Fletcher flings the door open and watches in appalled indignation as Mulder's junk spills onto the floor.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[all-eyes-lead-to-the-truth]

All Eyes Lead to the Truth | Dreamland II (6x05)

After spending some time with Mulder’s partner, a few things had become glaringly obvious to Morris. For starters, these two had never bumped uglies. They might’ve investigated a lot of weird creatures in their time on the X-Files, but the beast with two backs sure as hell wasn’t one of them. Dana was so tightly wound, he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d never gotten laid — either of them for that matter. The idea that the FBI’s best and brightest were a bunch of pent-up, sexually repressed virgins really shed light on the state of affairs of this country. So much for Bill Clinton’s America.

Initially, he’d wondered if maybe they had some torrid past that they ignored. Maybe they did the deed during their fed training and then got saddled with each other as partners. That was the only thing he could think of that would explain all the touching. God, had this woman ever heard of personal space? It was like every conversation they had required her to be less than six inches from his face at minimum, but heaven forbid you tried to lean in for a kiss. Sheesh.

However, he was confident in saying that nothing had ever happened between them. What a sick joke. Why they hadn’t, Morris would never understand, but it just confirmed his theory that Fox Mulder had a talent for wasting his potential. He also felt confident saying that Special Agent Dana Scully needed to get laid. Pronto.

Poor girl was so uptight, she needed to be shown a good time, and he knew more than a few ways to help her to unwind. Sure, maybe he wasn’t the ‘real’ Fox Mulder she’d always dreamt of jumping in the sack with, but he figured a little benevolent chicanery would be mutually satisfying for both of them. 

Morris thought it would have taken some convincing. He’d been getting the impression that his particular brand of charm wasn’t endearing to her, but based on the way her eyes practically fluttered shut at his dinner invitation, she’d been wanting this for a while.

The plan was in motion, now it was all down to the execution. 

Unfortunately, even from 2,500 miles away, Fox Mulder was still managing to cockblock himself. Morris had been frozen in place ever since opening the door to the bedroom — though to call it that felt like a bastardization of the English language. He’d never seen anything quite like this. It wasn’t like the rest of the apartment was in the running to be on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens by any means, but at least it was hospitable. This just looked like the den of an insane person. 

That thought elicited a frown from Morris. If this man was crazy, did that mean Morris would inherit his neuroses? On a physical level, he’d certainly enjoyed experiencing this new level of intense virility, but he certainly didn’t want to adopt whatever mental defect it is that causes a grown man to hoard copies of PLAYPEN. As if taunting him, another box of magazines fell in the corner of the room.

With a sigh of resignation, Morris set the candles down on a nearby table and grabbed the nearest phone book, flipping his way to the garbage disposal section of the Yellow Pages and ignoring the various pages that were dogeared for adult entertainment stores. He settled on calling one of those companies specializing in the quick removal of large amounts of garbage. If anything in that room was truly important, they wouldn’t be treated like a diorama of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

The couch had been so worn-in and comfortable that he’d accidentally fallen asleep there, so he hadn’t had a chance to assess the severity of the issue until now. Thank god whatshername, the hot blonde secretary, had to go early the other day. He cringed trying to think of what he would have done if he’d tried to bring her to the bedroom, only to find all those boxes of worthless junk filling the room. Then again, Fox Mulder was so attractive to the ladies that he’d probably be forgiven for being such a slovenly pig.

Glancing at the clock, Morris took note that he still had a bit of time before Dana would be arriving for their date. Even when everything was removed, the bedroom was still an issue. How was he expected to seduce a woman in a room that smelled like stale air on a mattress that was ruined by the weight of 100 boxes?

He rubbed his hands across his face in frustration, but took some comfort in the fact he was becoming more accustomed to feeling the new ridges and planes of his face as opposed to the ones he’d spent the past 53 years with. That and the absence of a ring on his left hand revitalized his spirits. This was probably for the best. After all, if the tacky, kitsch decor in the living room was anything to judge by, the bedroom already was in need of a Morris Fletcher makeover. He’d make that room so sensual, a nun’s panties would drop just from stepping over the threshold. 

Taking a chance, he flipped through the various piles of mail on Mulder’s kitchen table until he found what he was looking for: Sears Catalog. He dialed the number on the cover and listened to the hold music play before cradling the phone against his shoulder, licking his fingers as he began flipping through the magazine. He had only flipped through a few pages in the mattress section when a full-page spread of a woman with her head thrown back in subdued ecstasy caught his attention just as the representative answered the phone. 

“Hello? Yes. I’d like to place an order for same-day delivery,” he stated, a sly grin spreading across his face as he imagined Dana in place of the woman on the ad.

TRUE PLEASURE IS…

A WATERBED

Read the rest of All Eyes Lead to the Truth on Archive of Our Own!

@gaycrouton

[nerds-yearbook]

After only one season of 13 episodes, the X-Files (1993 - 2018) spin-off The Lone Gunmen (2001) series finale aired on May 11, 2001. The episode had been written simply as a season finale, so the hanging plotlines were concluded in the X-Files episode "Jump the Shark" (2002). The episode had a surprise cameo by David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and brought over popular X-Files character Morris Fletcher (Michael McKean). ("All About Yves", The Lone Gunmen, TV Event)

[x-files-polls]

Spoilers for S6

Basically would she be a good husband/father and would she like it?

[dabeth-is-dead]

Well at least in Morris Fletcher I think langly finally got that nemesis he needed

[x-files-scripts]

The X-Files - “Three of a Kind”

Written by Vince Gilligan & John Shiban

March 10, 1999 (GOLD)

Cut line:

“A Scully we’ve never seen before...”

Cut lines: Byers gives Susanne her new name...

[thats-h0w-th3-light-g3ts-in]

Annette O‘Toole & Michael McKean photographed by Manfred Baumann, 2023.

(Note from the editor:

Holy Hell, how good

looking are they?)

[the-hottest-band-tournament]

Round 5 of The Hottest 80s Band Tournament

Depeche Mode 

Defeated opponents: Anthrax, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Formed in: 1980

Genres: Synth-pop, electronic rock, new wave, dark wave, alternative rock

Lineup: Dave Gahan - vocals

Martin Gore - guitar and keyboard

Alan Wilder - drums and keyboard

Andy Fletcher - bass

Albums from the 80s: 

Speak & Spell (1981)

 A Broken Frame (1982)

Construction Time Again (1983)

Some Great Reward (1984)

Black Celebration (1986)

Music for the Masses (1987)

Propaganda: The music. The LOOKS. The voice. (The sexual tension?) And they’re still going strong. My colleague saw them in the UK when they were only starting out and said they were so nervous. I find the juxtaposition of the confidence of their sound (not to mention the black leather) and that anecdote really endearing.

idk how much this counts as propaganda but I feel like it's very important to acknowledge that Depeche Mode specifically makes kinky synth for bisexual sluts. Like that's it, that's the band. They even managed to make their cover of "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" sound like it's about selling ass on the interstate. Slutty legends.

Joy Division

Defeated opponents: The Judds, Cinderella, Black Flag, Faith No More

Formed in: 1976

Genres: post-punk 

Lineup: Ian Curtis - lead vocals, guitar

Bernard Sumner - guitar, keyboard

Peter Hook - bass

Stephen Morris - drums

Albums from the 80s: 

Closer (1980)

Propaganda: 

Visual propaganda for Depeche Mode:

[randomfoggytiger]

Mulder's Sport Obsession: a Note

We all know Mulder decorates around his current obsession: an alien mug in the basement, a UFO lamp in his hallway, a painting of a galaxy in his living room--

--gargoyles he threw up on his walls in Grotesque--

--etc., etc.

It just... hadn't occurred to me how obsessed Mulder is with sports. More accurately, how obsessed he is with sports.

The man not only ingested them through a screen, not only fondly remembered them in his childhood, not only tried to take Scully to a football game (perhaps twice) and succeeded with an improv baseball game instead, but also stuffed all his old sports memorabilia into his bedroom (I theorize why in a previous post here)--

--and went the extra mile to purchase and bring home a prominent, unavoidable cueball coat hanger.

As a sidenote: although I can't definitively confirm either way, I'm pretty positive Mulder's hoarded basketball hoop was the one he dragged along into suburbia during Arcadia. A full circle, if that was indeed a remnant from his childhood (discussed in the aforementioned post.)

And if, of course, Morris Fletcher didn't toss out his stuff for good.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[iamprchung]

I love to hate Morris Fletcher.

dana scully you are the icon you are the moment

[youcouldstartacult]

okay now that “The Show: The Encore” is out:

[dionysus-complex]

while I'm on the topic, the Mulder/Scully ship works in part because they use each other's last names as pet names. which is why it feels fucking bizarre to imagine Mulder calling Scully "Dana" or (even worse) Scully calling Mulder "Fox"

[goldenmusicmoments]

Top 10 Albums of 2022:

Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter.

Orville Peck - Bronco.

FKA Twigs - Caprisongs.

Noah Kahan - Stick Season.

Lizzy McAlpine - Five Seconds Flat.

070 Shake - You Can't Kill Me.

Sabrina Claudio - Based On A Feeling.

Maren Morris - Humble Quest.

Cannons - Fever Dream.

Fletcher - Girl Of My Dreams.

Here are the top ten albums of 2022. Like the last few years it has been quite stressful trying to narrow down to just ten. After listening to over a hundred albums released this year, twenty-five made it to the potential top ten list. Eliminating albums at that point extremely hard and it was sad letting go of some of those records. These ones were the ones that stood their ground. Album Of The Year definitely goes to 'Preacher's Daughter' by Ethel Cain, a phenomenal debut that takes you on a rather dark journey.

What will 2023 hold in terms of album releases, there have already been some new releases announced and then there are those many are anticipating. Nonetheless it will surely be a challenge selecting the ten best releases of the year.

Happy New Year! 🥳

[dabeth-is-dead]

Oh, Morris has made a tactical error. The current x files team does not contain an alien believer

[beesarthur]

The X-Files, 6:4: Dreamland, part 1

What is the plot? Well, a lot of things become text, or become more textual here, starting with Scully voicing her concern that other people have "normal lives" with children and dogs and maybe she wants something like that. Mulder alleges that they do have a normal life, and, not ten minutes later, his life takes another turn for the very not-normal. It's a body swap! Mulder further messes up the marriage of the Area 51 employee everyone thinks he is, while Scully finds herself not only dealing with the case Mulder wanted to pursue near Area 51 in the first place, but with her own personal x-file of why the guy she thinks is still Mulder is acting so strangely!

What does this episode suggest about Mulder and Scully’s relationship with each other? Not-Mulder's behavior as his version of Mulder really highlights some things about Actual-Mulder's behavior. Actual-Mulder might have ever watched porn at work and has his clumsy flirting with Scully that sometimes seems inappropriate for their dynamic, but he doesn't slap Scully on the ass, as Not-Mulder does!! (Edited to add: ALSO, Mulder-as-Fletcher in part makes Fletcher's marriage situation worse due to sleeping in a recliner downstairs instead of in bed with Fletcher's wife. Of course, she thinks its her husband doing this and takes offense, but I would argue that Mulder doing that is respectful and responsible. And very unlike the way Fletcher-as-Mulder behaves towards Scully.) Actual-Mulder also, of course, doesn't kowtow (or even show average levels of deference, really) to his bosses, smoke Morleys, or hook up with FBI secretaries on his "lunch hour" (I don't think Mulder acknowledges conventions like lunch hours, anyway, which is a different problem). Scully immediately and repeatedly clocks the strange behavior, and confronts him about it, but is not ready to believe the body-swap premise (she has other theories), though maybe she starts to at the end.

Where are the aliens? well, what's going on at Area 51? All we see is workplace dysfunction, bright lights, and some more guys who love to destroy evidence

[heystephen]

this is just for funsies but dw i know there’s a few notable ppl not represented, i will add a follow up 🫡