25 December 2003: Small fic update, with a few Christmas stories arising from list challenges (see the most recent 25 stories here). There have been lots of interesting discussions since we started the community, so check it out!

17 December 2003: Site and community overhaul! We've got some big changes happening, so read the FAQ (below) and poke around the site to see what it's all about. All internal links have changed, so be sure that any links are correct. I've added some new linking buttons thanks to Emily, as well. The fiction archive was updated earlier this week, and I've added a "Recent Stories" page that will only show the last 25 stories for quicker load times.

The Harem was born in late 2001 at the P2K Boards. Many of us had noticed that our fellow fans overlooked female characters other than Scully, or were overtly hostile towards them. Our scope has broadened a little in the years since then - we have adopted Jeffrey Spender as our Token Male, and culturally we tend to support the whole nexus of supporting characters, both male and female, though the male characters are not our focus. The Harem has become a haven of sorts for alternative philes of many stripes.

The list arose out of need. Most of the male characters have lists and followings, and fic about them has a home elsewhere. That was not the case for women other than Scully at that time. If you wrote a story about Teena's introspections or Marita's backstory or the thoughts of Kim the secretary, there weren't any receptive places for it, unless you could tie it to a male character. And so the Harem was born.

The Harem can look a bit clique-y to newcomers, I suspect, but that isn't its culture. Very few people here knew each other when the Harem began, and we continue to gain members who don't know anyone. There's no real trick to being part of the in-crowd at the Harem. If you have something constructive to say and you're capable of saying it respectfully, you have a home here.

I think culturally we're pretty conscious that we (as fans of supporting characters and/or unusual pairings) have been targetted with hostility during more tumultuous times in the fandom. We've worked pretty hard to stay unified. We have fans of many competing pairings, both het and slash, and some are Scullyists and shippers as well. You name it, we have it, and none of us can do what we do here alone.

I think we can all accept respectfully-aired criticism of our pet characters and ships, but people do identify with their pet characters, and outright flames (of people, characters, or pairings) are unhealthy and discouraged for that reason. Fortunately it's not a problem we've encountered much of. This is meant to be a safe place for everyone. I'm a firm believer in adopting a moderate middle ground to provide a culture we all can live with, and it's an approach that has worked for the group so far, and one we adopt to this day.

What is the Harem?
The Harem is a mailing list and general collective of X Files fans who, amid a flurry of tongue-in-cheek marriage proposals, discovered to our great delight that we were not alone in our fondness for those Other Women of the X Files - that is, women who are not Scully.

Wait a minute. You don't like Scully?
Well, it's not so much that we don't like her (some of us like her very much). But we feel that the show had many interesting, brilliant, beautiful women who were either dismissed as unimportant or maligned without cause (often because they were perceived as being sexual competitors to Scully). That said, Scully-bashing is not welcome on the list - actually she's rarely mentioned at all.

What sorts of things do you discuss?
Our discussions vary from light to meta. Among other subjects, we've discussed the relationship between het territorialism and female-character hate in XF fandom; which female characters might be friends or allies and why; the role of canon in writing and defining female supporting characters; and the treatment of female characters in m/m slash. It's not all Deep And Gravid, all the time, but we have our in-depth moments. It's a nice balance.

Who are the Other Women?
We don't have a list, as such, but the names coming up in discussion the most are Marita Covarrubias, Diana Fowley, Cassandra Spender, Kim Cook, and Samantha Mulder. Other women such as Monica Reyes, Holly, Sharon Skinner, Teena Mulder, Shannon McMahon, Yves Adele Harlow, and AD Cassidy have all been mentioned, as well.

Are you including Monica Reyes in your collection of Other Women?
Yes, to a certain extent. She is considered on-topic because she was a supporting character when the list began. Discussion of her is welcome, but in reality she is not the focus very often, having reached more mainstream acceptance over the course of Season 9.

But that doesn't explain the Jeffrey Spender section...
Jeffrey is a long-time favourite among the wives, connected as he is to Cassandra and Diana and Marita, and finally we agreed to formalise his status as our token male. After all, he deserves a harem.

What about couples?
Many of us like our Other Women to have company, either het or slash. Discussion of that is perfectly welcome. In reality, the pairings discussed tend towards het, possibly because the supporting women rarely came into contact with one another over the course of the show. But slash has been posted and is very welcome.

Wait - does this mean I might see Mulder/Diana discussed? Or Scully/Reyes?
That's quite possible. In particular, we have several Mulder/Diana fans in our midst. That said, so far romantic alliances have not been particularly focal in our discussions - discussion leans towards the women's activities and strengths in their own right. Male companions are discussed only peripherally at present.

Do I have to love all the Other Women?
Not necessarily, but knee-jerk character-hatred will not be welcomed. Criticism of characters is acceptable as long as it's expressed civilly.

Can I post fanfic here?
We would love you to. Please post to both the list (essential for archivists) and the community (desirable). Please use LJ-cuts in the community, and warn for NC17 content for the benefit of underage readers and people reading in the workplace. Your fanfic should feature one or more Other Women as either a main or well-developed supporting character. Portrayals do not have to be positive, but they should be thoughtful and well-explored. Fanfic will be archived on the list archive unless you specifically state otherwise.

Now, what's this Off Topic Tolerance Day?
Off Topic Tolerance Day is a day in which off-topic discussion is allowed. Tell us what's going on in your life, what's got you steamed, what you're writing about, whether you're thinking interesting thoughts about other fandoms - whatever. Topic rules are suspended, but netiquette rules still apply - bashing of ships, characters, genres, groups of fans, individuals etc is still unwelcome and inappropriate.

Why do you have both a community and an email list? What's the difference?
We started out as an email list, but as more and more people migrated to LiveJournal, most of the Harem-type discussions were taking place in people's journals rather than onlist. I resisted making a community for a lot longer than I really should have, out of a concern for those who prefer list culture, but it wasn't working. Finally, we shifted to community format for our discussions. We've retained the list, partly for the convenience of fic archivists (yes, that means all fic should be cross-posted to the list as well) and partly to assist people who don't regularly use LiveJournal. The intention is that I will post there every week or so with a summary of active discussions, to keep them in the loop.

I have a question not answered here.
Just drop me a line and ask.