Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.
Interview with bugs
bugs has 40 stories at Gossamer. They mostly focus on Mulder and Scully, but there are also some goodies featuring Reyes and Doggett. Iâve recced some of my favorites of her fics here before, including The Link. She also co-ran WhyIncision, a fun, smart X-Files mailing list that dissected fics like a book club. Big thanks to bugs for doing this interview.
Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?
Not really. While I was still in high school, I started watching the then 20 year old OG Star Trek and became a Trekkie of a sort. Starlog magazine, James Blish novels and the other novelizations, and while I was working as a library page, I found fanfiction one day among the periodicals. Â Who knows how fanfiction ended up as part of a libraryâs materials, but there it was, this tattered mimeographed collection. The fic that had the most impact on me was one where Nurse Chapel wrestled a giant alien snake to save Spockâs life.
So when I got into XF, one of the first things I did was look for fanfic, knowing somewhere out there, Scully was wrestling a big snake for Mulder.
That experience showed me the power of fandom, that even without the internet, how the second generation of Trekkies joined the original group to advocate for the franchise to be revived. I remember sitting in the theater for that first awful Star Trek movie, choked up with what weâd done.
Tragic backstory way to say, no Iâm not surprised that a well-produced show like XF would beget future generations of fans, and that theyâd be chewing their way through the fanfic archives still being maintained.
What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?
Iâm so grateful to the fandom. Literally formed the life I have today through the confidence it gave me. Many of my friends to this day are âpocket friendsâ from the various fandoms Iâve been in, and the longest friendships were formed in XF. I learned how to write, both technically and finding my voice. I learned how to think analytically, more than any college courses.
The two most important things I took away were, write for yourself first and always, and shit ainât that damn important. In the end, itâs a TV show.
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