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 Rachel Nobel / Rae Lynn
Rachel Nobel, aka Rae Lynn, has 2 fics at Gossamer, but she’s written many more X-Files stories than that. You can also find fics by her at AO3 and various other archives. She’s one of the rare, special authors who’s posted numerous fic during the show’s original run and again in recent years. Big thanks to Rachel 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)?
Absolutely. I joined a Facebook group for fanfic writers where someone recognized my name and asked about some of my stories that have disappeared from the Internet, and I almost fell off my chair. On the other hand, I go back and read original-run fanfic all the time - the Wayback Machine is my best friend for all the late great fanfic archives. Like fine wines, they get better with age!
What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?
I was fairly young during the peak of the fandom - I was only 12 when I started watching the show and discovered the fandom online. A few years ago, right around the time we learned the revival was coming, I wrote an essay I called "How 'The X-Files' defined my adolescence," in which I wrote: "If you think about it, 'The X-Files' is a lot like adolescence: You start out thinking it's going to be a little hokey, NBD, and then you end up in its thrall, captivated and occasionally hugely let down. A lot of people behave strangely, and no one gets out unscathed. Mulder, in his own weird way, is the perfect mirror for an adolescent: He doesn't fit in; his life careens between being utterly consequential to the fate of the known universe and being completely pointless; he's socially awkward and can't quite nail it down with the girl of his dreams."
So for me, the fandom is inextricably bound up with adolescence, that feeling of vacillating between desperate loneliness and being on the verge of something enormously significant. Take romance: I was a bit of a late bloomer, and when all my friends were exploring their first relationships I was watching Mulder and Scully navigate this beautiful, complicated, soulful relationship without ever even kissing. That was deeply affecting for me as a teen.
Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?
I started out on mailing lists - there was an EMXC mailing list and one that I think was called X-Angst. [Lilydale note: There was a mailing list called XAngst Anonymous.] This was back at the dawn of the Internet when I only had 10 hours of AOL access a month, and I remember using what AOL called a "FlashSession" to log on, download all the fanfic from the mailing list and log off to read it. I vividly remember the excitement of watching all that new fanfic flood my inbox! Later on I was on atxc. During the long summer between "Gethsemane" and "Redux," it felt like fanfic was at its peak. There was a group of about a dozen women who got together (virtually) to discuss a work in progress by Lydia Bower called "Primal Sympathy." We called ourselves the "Primal Screamers," and we had our own website with fanfic recommendations and other discussions (it cracked me up to locate us as an entry on Fanlore.org). I was still in high school at the time and I was the youngest member; I felt like I had been accepted into a cool underground club. I worshipped these women, who were fanfic writers themselves. They taught me everything I knew about how to be a decent, respectful, enthusiastic consumer and writer of fanfic and fandom. [Lilydale note: I’ve talked enthusiastically about the Primal Screamers here before, including their fanfic primer.]
What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?
In the '90s, I would have been embarrassed to tell anyone I read fanfic, let alone that I was writing it. Now, I look back on it and realize how talented and smart and passionate we all were. It's something to be proud of.
What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?
The first episode I ever saw was "Shadows," which was on in reruns between the second and third seasons. I don't think "Shadows" is an episode that anyone today would consider thematically significant, but something about seeing those office supplies float spookily through the air - it wasn't like anything I had seen on television, and I wanted in.
What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?
I've always been a person who, when I am interested in something, seeks to learn more about it. So I guess I got online as a 12-year-old with this new interest and discovered fanfic. It was thrilling to find out that so many talented people were taking characters I loved and bringing them to life for me. When the screen faded to black each week and I wondered, "That's it? What next?", fanfic was always there to fill in the blanks and take Mulder and Scully to the next level. As a teenager, I was self-indulgent enough to think I had something to contribute, too. Most of what I wrote in the '90s would today make me cringe. I remember literally paging through the dictionary in search of erudite words I thought Mulder and Scully would say! But occasionally I'll feel brave enough to read an old story and I feel encouraged to see a spark: a turn of phrase or a fragment of dialogue that I still feel proud of. I write professionally now, but I've never written fiction that isn't X-Files fiction, so it's something that has really allowed me to hone my creative juices in a different way.
What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?
Sometimes I feel like the Statler and Waldorf of the fandom, like I'm sitting up in the balcony grousing "Back in my day...!" Because the fandom is remarkably robust, and I've gotten involved with it to an extent on Twitter and AO3, and now all these young whippersnappers idolize Mulder and Scully just as much if not more as I ever did!
Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?
Not really, no. I've of course consumed a lot of media since The X-Files that I wanted to discuss with others - I'm a huge "Harry Potter" nerd, and I was outraged when Netflix canceled "The OA" - but strangely I've never had the urge to read or write fanfic about anything other than "The X-Files."
Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?
Every Thursday night! I watch a chosen episode with a group of fans on Twitter and tweet about it - #tbtXFiles. That's great fun. There are episodes I've seen dozens of times over the years and episodes I think I only ever watched once, and it's always enlightening to watch them again with a certain critical eye. When I was a fan during the original run, I really idolized Mulder; I loved episodes where we saw him in all his cracked genius glory. Scully was a trailblazer of a character, of course, but I think the fandom has evolved over the years to give Scully her due.
Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?
I was fairly stunned when the revival came around and I realized that people were still writing X-Files fic, and that a lot of it was so good. So yes, I do read fic on Archive of Our Own. But my heart is always with the early days of fanfic. In the revival when Mulder says "I've always wondered how this was going to end" - that felt to me almost like a love letter to fanfic authors who had been trying to answer that question for 25 years. Surprisingly, I've never had the urge to read fic in another fandom. Every time I try, it just feels like I'm cheating on Mulder and Scully.
Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?
My favorite author back in the day was Kipler. Her stories were just like real episodes of the show I could vividly imagine in my mind. I adore syntax6, particularly "20" and "The Birthday Stories," because of the way she perfectly and poignantly captures vignettes that span the entire series. Another favorite is Dawn and her "Blood Ties" series - I started out as a "NoRomo," and Dawn was one of the authors who made me believe Mulder and Scully could have a romantic relationship that really worked. And I always had a soft spot for Profiler!Mulder stories, so to this day I mourn the unfinished state of the great Kronos fic "Ascent to Hell." One fic I always come back to that captures profiling Mulder really well is "Domination of Lies," by cslatton. And then there are stories that I consider classics: "Corpse" by Livengoo, "Oklahoma" by Amperage and Livengoo, the "Revelations" and "All Hallow's Eve" series by Windsinger.
What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?
I have a soft spot for a story I wrote called "Human Credential." I was attempting, a quarter-century after the first season of the show, to set a story in the very early days of the partnership (which these days is one of my favorite kinds of fanfic to read), and I felt like I nailed it.
Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?
I have been doing both of these, as a matter of fact! Or in my case, they are oldies that made it online but vanished when Geocities went belly-up, for example, that I sometimes go back to and reshape.
Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?
As the swallows return to Capistrano, I seem to always return to writing fic at periods of transition in my life. The first time I "retired" from fanfic, I wasn't even in college yet! If one can be nostalgic at 21 years old for something one gave up at 17, I was nostalgic for fanfic, and I picked it back up again in grad school. Then I became a teacher and a wife and a mom and years passed, and the revival seduced me back into it again. But the vast majority of fanfic I've written is firmly planted in the first seven seasons of the show - poor Mulder and Scully never seem to get to grow up in my stories.
What's the story behind your pen name?
I wrote under a lot of pen names over the years! When I first started writing fanfic, no one knew anything about Internet safety and it didn't occur to me that it wasn't wise to use my real name. There was a period when I would have been mortified if anyone discovered my stories under my real name - now, at least I can write it off as a youthful indulgence! When I finally grew into a more mature writer, I started using the name Rae Lynn, which is almost-but-not-quite my real first and middle names.
Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?
As far as I know, unless my friends and acquaintances have done some sleuthing, only my husband knows I still write fanfic. And he's never read it, though he's kind enough to give me a glazed-eyes indulgent smile if I ever talk about it.
Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?
I am xraelynn on AO3! I have about a dozen stories there - some of them I wrote 15 years ago and some of them are brand spanking new.
Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?
Fanfic is a true labor of love. Fanfic authors don't write fanfic for money or fame; they do it because they love it. Sites like AO3 and Tumblr have made it so much easier to show your appreciation to writers (::gruff reminiscing voice:: back in my day, you had to send them an email, and now you can just click the "kudos" button!). I can only speak for myself, but I really thrive on that feedback - otherwise I'm just Mulder in his cramped hovel of a home office waiting for Scully to nag me to shave my beard. Every so often I think about the fact that there is so much high-quality writing about these characters I've loved for decades just available on the Internet for free and it feels like a true gift.
**Highly recommend listening to Lonely Call by RaeLynn when reading this.**
It was just a regular Monday night. You had worked late so you decided on a bowl of cheerios for dinner. You sat down on the couch to catch on your Real Housewives show. When you were half way into the first episode, your phone rang. You didn’t even have to look at the ID before you knew who it was. It was his ringtone. You saw on Instagram earlier that all of his friends were out of town so you knew it was only a matter of time before he called you. He only called you when he was alone, because that was the only time he had been thinking about you. Your phone is still ringing but you can’t bring yourself to answer it. Instead you thought back to when you first met Tyler.
You had met Tyler at a local coffee shop by the American Airlines Center. You lived right down the street and decided to go there to study for your upcoming finals. Tyler was in line in front of you and when he turned around to leave, he accidently bumped into you and spilt his coffee on you. He was so sincere with his apology and you knew right then and there that you were a goner once it came to him. He offered to buy you a new shirt but once you explained you lived right down the street he offered to walk you home so you could change.
Since that first day, Tyler would text you every single day and you two became inseparable. He would leave for practice early every morning and you would always wake up to a 6 a.m. “hey good morning, beautiful. How you been?” text. When he get home from road games, you always got the text, “we just landed. Miss you, can’t stand it, see you this weekend.”
Your phone was still ringing but now all you could think about it how Tyler was the last time you saw him. He had picked you for some team event that he asked you to go with him to. Everyone always thought that you and Tyler were a couple and it always said that you were like a sister to him. You just brushed it off like it was no big deal. You didn’t mean to look at Ali’s Instagram that day and now you really wish you hadn’t because she posted an Insta story earlier with herself wrapped around Tyler. He hadn’t texted you all day which was unusual but when you saw the story you understood why. Ali never liked you and she especially didn’t like how close you were with Ty. Tyler and you had fun at the team event but you could tell that his mind was somewhere else that night. You decided not to push talking to him until the ride home. It wasn’t until he pulled in your driveway that he finally spoke. There in the front seat of his Jeep in your driveway Tyler muttered the words, “Let’s take a break.” At first you didn’t know what he meant but then he said that he just needed to be on his own for bit and needed to be without you.
That was three weeks, two days, and twelve hours ago but who’s counting? How had you gone from 6 a.m. and just landed texts to a midnight number familiar voice. You wondered if he was only calling you because he was alone and thinking about you or if he was wondering if he made the wrong choice by ending the friendship.
Either way you didn’t care anymore. You were not going to be his lonely call. So when the phone started ringing again you sent him a text saying, “If you got more to say, leave a message at the beep, cause I ain’t your lonely call.” He kept trying to call but you didn’t care anymore because you were never to be his lonely call.
Request: Hey before I say anything else I just want to let you know how amazing a writer you are. Also I’d like to request an imagine if that okay. One where the reader is liked by two of the boys (maybe Brandon and Zion) and has to chose but it’s a constant back and fort?
Word count: 1,258
masterlist
“Oooh I got you! YES!!!!” you jump out of the seat and shout louder. “I can’t believe you lost again!”
Brandon playfully shoves you. “Y/n stop being a sore winner.”
“You’re just jealous B. Happens to us all.”
He shakes his head at you, begins to tackle you on the couch. “I’ll get you back for that little girl.”
You can’t help but laugh, one at the disgusting comment he just made and two, because he’s tickling you and won’t stop.
“BRANDON! I’m dying here!” Giggle escape your mouth, laughter following immediately behind. “I’ll do anything! JUST STOP!”
You try rolling on the floor and get out of his grip, but he just pulls you back up.
Laughing along with you, or possibly at you, Brandon sits on top of your waist and smiles. “Anything?”
Rolling your eyes at him, you nod. “I’m not giving you another foot rub. I can’t believe I lost that bet against you. I’ll never do that again in my life!”
“A date. You and me, someplace romantic. What do you say?”
His eyes are full of hope as you gaze into the brown sea of Brandon’s eyes.
“Of course.” You lean up, peck his cheek and push him off you. “Pick me up tonight, 7pm?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” he says, watching you grab your phone and open the front door.
“Don’t be late.” you wink and leave, entering your car.
“Does this look alright?” Brandon asks walking up to the guys in the studio.
“Where are you going? Why the hell are you dressed up like your going to a red carpet event?” Zion asks.
“A date with Y/n. I’ve been wanting to ask her for a while now.” Smiling instantly when he says your name, trying to not blush in front of his friends. He opens his phone to text you
I’ll be there in 10. Can’t wait to see you Y/n. 💛
“I think you look handsome.” Edwin places his hand on Brandon’s shoulder. “Y/n is one lucky girl.”
“GET IT MAN!” Nick shouts out, suddenly silenced by the death stare given by Zion.
“Thanks guys. I’ll be back late.” With that, Brandon drives to your apartment.
Meanwhile, you are still in your bra and underwear, looking for the perfect dress for this date. You really liked Brandon and wanted to look your best. You had a gold sequin dress that was the perfect balance of flashy and fancy, along with your maroon/plum heels. That dress couldn’t be found ANYWHERE. Panic begins to rise as you get the text from Brandon and you haven’t even gotten dressed. Makeup and hair still needed to get done too!
You opt for a short shimmery skirt that stops just before your fingertips at your side. Paired with a loose white cream tank top, and a black bomber jacket. Finding your black heels and choker to finish the look.
Hearing the doorbell, you hope the makeup from earlier looks alright as you run your fingers through the beach wave styled hair.
“I’m so overdressed aren’t I?” you begin to close the front door.
“Babe!” He puts his hand in the middle of the door edge and the wall, catching it while staring at you. “You look so damn gorgeous!” Looking you up and down, he licks his lips. “Perfect outfit for a perfect lady.”
Hardcore blushing right now, you nod and kiss his cheek. “Thank you.” Walking to his car, your arm is holding onto him.
Brandon gently pushes you against the car before opening the door for you. “I’m going to win our date. Looser gets to kiss the winner.” he winks and opens the door.
@brandonarreaga: Although she lost mini golf, she won my heart. #perfectdate #perfectlady #loserkisseswinner
“Did you all see this?!” Zion shouts, running across the house for someone to listen to him complain.
“See what?” Austin asks, eating some cereal.
“She kissed Brandon. He posted about her. God, I wanted to be with Y/n and Brandon isn’t backing off!”
“Zion, cool down. Just go win her over.”
“You know what, I’m going to do just that! Thanks Austin!” he runs off to his car, taking the long way to your house, to pick up roses for you.
You are still in your outfit, lounging on the couch with Brandon while watching The Princess Bride. Legs are intertwined with B’s and the blanket keeps all the revealed skin warm. Getting to the part in the movie where they’re in the dungeon and on the pulling/torcher machine, when the doorbell rings.
“I’ll be right back B.” you lean up and kiss him softly before getting up, pulling your skirt down. “One second!” you shout towards the door.
Opening the door, you find Zion standing there, holding three dozen roses. “Y/n I have loved you ever since we first met at the dog park. I need to let you know my feelings and I hope you feel the same way.”
Zion continues to ramble on for another good four minutes or so. Brandon has gone to the bathroom, leaving you alone with the guest at the door.
“Z, I’m with Brandon.” you say feeling guilty, for some reason. Brandon makes you happy and tonight was a night you didn’t want to end. Both of you agreed for him to stay the night anyway.
“I know Y/n but I just...” he drops all the roses to pull you into a kiss. His hands wrap around your lower back, keeping you pulled in close to him. You begin to kiss Zion back and getting into the kiss, feeling like his lips were made to fit yours. That’s when you jump and stop, standing still in your tracks.
Brandon walks out and starts to shout. “Get the hell off my girlfriend!” He pulls you back into his embrace, checking you for any signs of harm.
“You knew I like her, yet you’re here with her for the night! I thought we agreed to not make a move!”
“Zion what the hell are you talking about? You’re holding three dozen roses and kissing my girl! I gave you long enough and you did nothing, so I went for it.”
The boys continue to argue, you turn the movie off and send them both on their way. Locking the door you sigh. You really had no desire to be in a love triangle.
It has been two weeks and both boys have taken you out almost every day of the week. You’ve become exhausted from the back and forth of it all. You were not a toy and if they honestly did love you, they’d respect your decision. After thinking it through you call them both to come over to talk.
“I love you both so much, you know that. I hope you can respect my decision on who I want to date. There’s nothing against the other person, but I can’t be living like this. I feel like I am a rope being pulled in two different directions.”
Brandon’s hand finds your knee and rubs it softly. He always knew how to comfort you, without saying a thing. On the other hand, Zion keeps his eyes on you, sending you the familiar message of how he will always be there for you.
“I’m so sorry Zion. My heart is saying Brandon, over and over again.” Tears begin to fall and you feels as if you’ve now crushed his life. You didn’t want to do this, knowing you’d see him daily or so.
THE END.... hope you enjoyed this. It’s kind of long, I got really into it! Loved this request!
This will be the first of many controversial posts. These are my stories, not yours. My takes on things I would do different now that I know how I was affected by these things.
Driving home from Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, I heard the song “Love Triangle” by RaeLynn. The lyrics are very powerful to a child who grew up in a divorced home. Holidays were always bittersweet. I only saw one…
