The Sound of Windchimes

The Sound of Windchimes is a very early het Mulder/Scully X-Files story written by Sarah Stegall. It is considered by many fans to be a classic and the story won a 1995 Spooky Award. The story is listed on Classics (or, Your Fanfic Education is Not Complete Until You've Read ...).
The fic contains the trope Aliens Made Them Do It, which led to much discussion about non-con. Many fans remember the story for this element, as well as the "sex on a UFO" and relentless hamburgers.
The fic was written in 1993 and was released to the net in what the author considered a rough draft via a "misunderstanding" at some unknown date between 1993-1994. "As for reworking the story, yeah, it *was* a first draft. It was never intended for posting, but got out on the net through a misunderstanding. I have no intention now of going back and revising it, since it's nearly three years old and I have moved on." -- Sarah Stegall, September 9, 1996 at alt.tv.x-files.creative It was also passed around in some format during that same time "The following is a story I wrote some time ago, which has been sitting around while I mulled it over. I no longer have the time to mull, so I am posting it here since several folks are already reading it and passing it around." -- Sarah Stegall alt.tv.x-files.creative September 7, 1994 . The revised story was posted by the author to alt.tv.x-files.creative on September 7, 1994.
 
See List of Very Early X-Files Fanfiction for similar works.
==Some Fan Summaries== 
"While on stake out, Mulder and Scully are abducted."
"I'm searching for a story that I read a while ago. It involved Mulder and Scully being abducted and held isolated in a room together. Mulder rapes Scully, Scully gets pregnant, the baby is taken when born and they are returned. alt.tv.x-files.creative › story search (Ausugust 16, 1998) 
"Ive been trying to find an MSR that was written during the 1st season or is set in the 1st season. Mulder and Scully are abducted and wind up in a room. Then
they're taken out for tests, and the fic eventually becomes NC-17...and Scully gets pregnant, and right after she gives birth, she and Mulder are returned. 
The baby is kept. Then someone says that Scully's just given birth, and by DNA tests, the person/people discover the baby is hers and Mulder's." alt.tv.x-files.creative › Looking for story (September 5, 1998) 
"With the gooey room from the Ancient and the pain/sexual stimulis, blind!Mulder, rape Scully, babybirth, and then being returned with only the vague feeling." "I decided to look into my "Worthy Yet Deleted.doc" file, of all the fics I read and liked, but which I didn't have the room on my hard drive for. My summaries, often done in groups of 10 or 15, are, to say the least. Fic spoilers lay ahead, but if you read this, you may find yourself reading something new. Taken directly from the doc, edited for time." --alt.tv.x-files.creative › Random babblings of a food-starved mind. (November 29, 1998) 
"I've read a story called "Windchimes", in which Mulder, in an alien created haze, rapes Scully while on some kind of spaceship. alt.tv.x-files.creative › Looking 4 stories with topic rape! (January 13, 1999) 
Many fans cite "hamburgers" in their summaries and comments about this story. They originate due to, in part, to "One of the hamburgers remained; thriftily, he
put it in his pocket to eat later."
==Author's Introductions to the 1994 Posting==
==The Story's Disclaimer==
"The following is a work of FICTION (take note, lawyer scum). It is based on characters copyrighted by Fox Broadcasting
and Ten Thirteen Productions. All other mistakes are my own entirely."
==1995: A Fan Reposts This Story and the Author Responded==
In March 1995, due to popular demand, a fan named David reposted the story to alt.tv.x-files.creative without asking the author first. He prefaced it with "For all the people who have requested it, here is Sarah Stegall's excellent story, _The Sound of Windchimes_. Any posting errors are my own. If the author does not wish this story to be reposted, too bad, it was too good not to be. :) Seriously though, E-mail me if this is a problem. Here goes...." 
Stegall appeared to have no public problem with David's repost, at least in her comments to this post.
Some comments to this repost: 
== 1996 Author's Comments on This Story's History and Some Unwanted Attention==
In September 1996, a fan named Katherine wrote: 
The story's author responded:
==1997 Comments on Intention and Perception==
There was a lengthy 1997 discussion on alt.tv.x-files.creative about the portrayal of rape and rape recovery in X-Files fanfiction that starts with a fan named Danielle's question: "There is definitely a line between interesting, angst-filled stories that explore the effects of rape on a character like Scully and formulaic, gratuitous stories that use rape as a plot device to get Scully and Mulder into bed. Unfortunately, the balance has tipped towards the latter recently."
One comment from that discussion was from Teddi Litman: 
The author of "The Sound of Windchimes," Sarah Stegall, also responded: 
==Reactions/Reviews==
===Unknown Date===
===1995===
===1996===
===1997===
===1999===
===2004===
===2005===
===2011===
===2014===
===2016===
==References==
 
Category:X-Files MSR Fanfiction
Category:1994 Fanfiction‎Category:2018 Featured Articles