Old School X Interview: Michelle (XFImnotdone)
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Old School X Interview: Michelle (XFImnotdone) |
| Interviewer: | Lilydale |
| Interviewee: | Michelle (XFImnotdone) |
| Date(s): | August 24, 2021 |
| Medium: | online, Tumblr |
| Fandom(s): | The X-Files |
| External Links: | at lilydalexf |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Old School X Interview: Michelle (XFImnotdone) was conducted by Lilydale as part of the series Old School X Interview Series.
Some Topics Discussed
- being a fan of only one fandom/show
- writing as personal and mostly a secret
- being a teenager in adult forums
- fandom was easier/better then as it was smaller and more centralized
- being a better writer as a teenager than as an adult
- the stories: Blink of an eye and Letting Go
From the Interview
What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?
When I first started writing fic during the original run of the show, I was 16. I would say that my fandom experience then was actually better. There were forums with threads and a whole mess of people writing and I secured a fan base for my own writing amazingly pretty quickly. Back then we wrote in chapters, longer fics and posted each week or so and then a slew of comments would follow. People took more time back then to actually converse specifically about a fic with lots of fanfic details. My fandom experience now, then I’m 36, has been OK. I think we all were rejuvenated by seasons 10 and 11. I really enjoyed meeting new people and reading new stuff that came along with that. However, I feel like now searching for new stuff that I like is a needle in a haystack, and specific feedback is almost nonexistent.
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 belonged to an xfiles forum. I don’t even remember what it was called. I just know that it was a very busy place 🤣 I think the social media nowadays in someways the platform makes it harder to find things because it’s time sensitive, like the feed changes and you miss stuff. With people from all over the world in different time zones this can be frustrating. I think before the forums were a lot nicer it was easier to find threads and keep up with things.
What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?
Interestingly enough during the original run when I started writing, all I wrote was smut, yet I was a virgin. It seems like most people didn’t know or didn’t care, I had quite the following and everybody loved my stuff. However just with life experience as I have gone back and read my old stuff I can see how much I have improved with just life experience. Yet the opposite has occurred with my writing, I used to be a better writer the words used to come very easily and I could type out stuff and envision things quickly… Now I have all this wonderful experience and I look at a blank page and It feels like I don’t even know how to write the words anymore.
[...]
Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?
All. The. Time. 😳 it’s like an obsession. Honestly fanfiction help me get my sex life back after I had my first child. I had some complications during the birth which made sex really uncomfortable and me getting back into fanfic actually helped me in that area. It allows me to explore, and embrace my sexual side in a private way through the smut reading and writing.
[...]
What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?
Blink of an eye was one of my favs bc I think it was the best one I wrote as a teenager. Sometimes I reread it and I go wow I was this? As an adult I think my favorite is Letting go. It was my first fanfic after the revival and my first time getting on Tumblr, AO3. I think it was pretty good because everyone seem to really love it and wanted to read it, and I didn’t have AO3 account at that point So I had posted under a friends account and then when she took it down the fandom went crazy and they all wanted it back! So I had to go ahead and make my own account :)
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 still have one idea for a fic that has been brewing for quite some time. I have been trying to get other people to write it. I just don’t have a lot of time or a lot of motivation to do so anymore. I also don’t feel like my writing skills are nearly as good as they were when I was a teenager/in college. I don’t really know if I’ll ever [write] again. It might just depend on the right timing in my life.
[...]
Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?
My family does not know. A few select friends know, and they were surprised. It’s kind of like my closet secret life. Especially with how personal it is sexually. My husband knows, he’s probably the one who knows the most. He’s never read my fics before though but he knows they’re smut.