X-Ville

Community
Name:	X-Ville, XVille, XV
Date(s):	1996 - 2002
Moderator:	n/a
Founder:	Portia, Gizzie
Type:	RPG
Fandom:	The X-Files
URL:	alt.tv.x-files and alt.tv.x-files.x-ville
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

homepage, roughly 1998

X-Ville was a combination role-playing and interactive storytelling newsgroup, originally based in ATFX. It was at its most active from 1996-1997 (at alt.tv.x-files) and 1997-1999 (at alt.tv.x-files.x-ville) , though the occasional post still trickles through the sea of spam on ATXV.

Overview

X-Ville was a character RPG that evolved out of alt.tv.x-files (ATX) in fall of 1996. The ATXF Chamber of Commerce, as it was originally called, started with newsgroup members claiming job titles and real estate within the town of "X-Ville." These job titles and group affiliations could often be found in the poster's sig. The Chamber of Commerce began as a simple list, but quickly grew into an active virtual community.

To join X-Ville, all you had to do was create a character and write about their adventures as they went about their day and interacted with other X-Ville citizens. Characters were usually modeled on the poster themselves and X-Ville posts were identified with "XV" in the subject line. X-Villians would create original story lines, often riffing on current events in the newsgroup or borrowing elements from The X-Files to work into the town. For example, X-Ville was populated with Mulder, Krycek, and Skinner clones in a nod to the show's mytharc and the two-part episode Colony/End Game, which introduced dozens of Samantha Mulder clones. In June 1997, Pamela T. Pon founded the FOX Answering Service, using Mulder clones to deliver notes to other X-Ville members. (FOX Mulder. FAX machine. Get it?) This was a typical use of X-Files canon in X-Ville, but for many newsgroup members, that wasn't enough to justify X-Ville's place on ATX.

From the FAQ

FAQ

Q. Just what is X-Ville? A. X-Ville is a fictional (probably...) place where anything can happen. Basically the point is to have a laugh and to have fun. Lots of fun.

Q. How did all this X-Ville stuff start? A. X-Ville started life sometime in Octoberish 1996 as the X-Files Chamber Of Commerce, and exploded in popularity into full blown X-Ville by December.

Q. How do I join X-Ville? A. Well first of all, you have to be able to subscribe to the alt.tv.x-files.x-ville newsgroup. If you can't get that, then I'm afraid you simply can't join X-Ville, as there's no way for you to interact with the other residents. If you are subscribed to the newsgroup, then I'd suggest first of all, that you read all the posts for about a week, and decide on your persona then. When you're happy with it, simply post it to the newsgroup (alt.tv.x-files.x-ville) and you're ready to start interacting with the other residents!

FAQ

What's the deal here? Isn't this an X-Files newsgroup?--Well, it used to be. This group was spawned as a running gag on alt.tv.x-files, but we were too popular, or too loud, or too something or other, and we were asked to leave. Check out the history section.

So what is X-Ville, already? --X-Ville is a virtual village. It is a place where posters may create or expand upon story lines, events, or places in X-Ville. The comings and goings on in X-Ville can revolve around the TV show "The X-Files" and its characters, but they don't always. X-Files in-jokes are fairly common, and X-Files mythology is considered "fact."

Enough of this crap! I want to talk about my favorite show! --The best place to do that is alt.tv.x-files. You can also go to alt.tv.x-files.analysis. Atxfa is a moderated group, though, so behave. There are regional newsgroups for whatever your local time line is. For instance, there is aus.tv.x-files and uk.media.tv.sf.x-files. You can talk about the show here, but it takes more work (it should be in character).

OK. So how do I join? --Come up with a character idea and delurk. It's really that simple. Be creative. We've had anime waifs, maneuverable punks, viking barbarians, radio DJs and crunchy frogs. Be normal. We've had English majors, orphans, pie store owners, and a weather forecaster. Be dead. We've had two ghosts and vampires. Don't be X-Files characters. Flukeman is the exception to this rule. If a character has been in only one episode, its probably OK. Just be forewarned, no one will believe you if you say you're Mulder. If you want to make it look official, you can register yourself at the Welcome to X-Ville site. If you want to make it look really official, fill out and post a character sheet. All of the official stuff is optional, however. By subscribing to the newsgroup, you've already joined.

Delurking is so hard. I don't want to butt in. --You're in luck. There are currently at least three ways to butt in. 1. Check into a room at the M&S hotel. Murry or Sue can help you check in or their coffee shop where you can be waited on by Dee or Beryl and Jane, her clones. 2. Stop by Puffy's. There you can join in at Open Mic night, or just stop by the bar and ask for Shayne, the friendly barmisstress. 3. Fill out a character sheet. Start out by using this template. Barring that, find a thread that appeals to you and hop in! Most people do an "introductory post," but it's not always necessary. And a couple of last words about butting in: your enjoyment here is directly proportional to the amount of butting in you do. There are ways to get yourself a cameo appearance in anything.

About this "character sheet" noise, what's up with that? --I think this was once a fifth business practice that kind of spilled over into public usage, still (sofar) completely optional, but very helpful for those who wish to get to know your character. The sheets are all compiled and posted at the Official X-Ville site.

Are there some rules or etiquette I should know about so as to avoid annoying people? --There's only one hard and fast rule: don't do anything nasty and/or permanent to someone else's character (or their "property") without their agreement. Discuss the situation with them via e-mail first, and once the two of you have settled on what's going to happen, write up the resulting scene in character and post it. Also, it's perfectly acceptable to push other character's buttons, but if a participant tells you out of character (OOC) that you're pushing his/her buttons, back off. Don't get personal. Other than that, it's all free in love and war. Matter of fact, subjects you avoid at dinner parties-sex, religiong and death-are not only perfectly acceptable here, they're quite the popular topics. But be sure to label you post with a rating if the material could be considered "Rated R."

I was talking to somebody and he suddenly stopped talking to me. He didn't seem angry before. Is he ignoring me? What did I do? --More than likely, it wasn't you. News servers download and upload messages to and from the rest of the net at fived intervals. If your server and the server of the person you're talking to are on different schedules, it may take days before they see something you've posted. If your post expires of your server before the other person's server checks for new messages, they'll never see your post. So it's common to miss posts. If you think you've missed a post, sometimes you can find it on Deja News, a web site that archives newsgroup postings. If the person stops posting altogether, though, it's possible they could have lost interest and ceased to post, or lost Internet access before they could write an exit scene. Then again, the thread may have just "petered out." A lot of time what you've posted seems "complete," and there's not a whole lot anybody could add. Also, sometimes people are a bit leery about invading someone else's plotline. You are not being ignored (and for all us "oldbies" out there, one really cool thing to do might be to send some fan-mail).

What does OOC mean? --OOC is used on some role playing newsgroups to mean out of character. IC, in character is its opposite. Right now, neither one is mandatory, although OOC seems to be gaining popularity. IC is assumed.

Is there anything else I need to know? --Don't forget it's in character. your character may not be having fun if you're not having fun and you need to stop. Remember, the other players don't have it in for you personally. It's all in the game. If you find you're getting mad at other players, firing off angry e-mails, taking out revenge on other characters and in other threads, you're doing something wrong. Take some time off and chill out. It's just a game.

Is this group archived at all? --Sure is. On Deja News.

Some Histories

Two excerpts from The History of X-Ville: Our Humble Origin, see that page for more.

The beginnings of X-Ville remain obscured in the rose colored glasses of old fogies who were around when it all happened. It is impossible to pinpoint the exact dates or events that, when connected together, reveal the hidden picture that is X-Ville. The two things we can be sure of, though, are that gizzie (aka: Coleen Sullivan-Baier) was at the center of it and that we had nothing to do with it.

To understand the origins of the beast, which is to understand X-Ville itself, one must familiarize oneself first witht he comings and going of a place formerly known as alt.tv.x-files, the cultural soup from which X-Ville was fissioned. A.t.x-f is a place where all opinions are welcome, although not always. It is a place where fierce polarity over significant issues can rip neutron stars apart. It is a place where whether or not David Duchovny dresses to the right or to the left can be a significant issue.

With the combined popularities of "The X-Files" and the internet, the new Fall season opened the floodgates to record posting on alt.tv.x-files. It was crazy. The season premiere inspired upwards of one thousand posts witihn a few hours of its airing in North America. Everyone had questions, and answers, and opinions, and counter-opinions, and gossip about future episodes, and gossip about Winona Ryder, and opinions about gossip about Winona Ryder, and opinions about people posting their opinions about the gossip on Winona Ryder, and get rich quick schemes, and trading cards to trade, and questions about the "X" on the window, and squidge moments, and opinions about people who post about squidges, and nit-picks, and webpages, and a whole bunch of other things to discuss.

It was beautiful.

As a witty response to the unprecedented traffic at alt.tv.x-files, gizzie posted a "Cyber Trafic" report. It referred to such things as ""the corner of Samantha's Alive and Why did Mulder Leave Scully" in a town called "X-Ville." It was undoubtedly meant as a comment on things happening in alt.tv.x-files and indirectly as a tribute to the fact the "The X-Files" was very popular and doing very well-something that most of us enjoyed seeing for our favorite show-and not meant to incite people to create a virtual on-line village.

The Town Charter

The beginnings of X-Ville remain obscurely secure in the rose coloured glasses of the old fogies who were around when it all happened. It is impossible to pin point exact dates or events that, when connected together, revealed the hidden picture that is X-Ville. Two things that we can be sure of, though, are that Gizzie (aka Colleen Sullivan-Baier) was at the centre of it and that we had nothing to do with it.

To understand the origins of the beast, which is to understand X-Ville itself, one must familiarize oneself first with the comings and goings of a place formally known as "alt.tv.x-files", the cultural soup from which X-Ville fissioned. alt.tv.x-files is a place where all opinions are welcome, although not always. It is a place where fierce polarity over significant issues can rip neutron stars apart. It is a place where whether or not David Duchovny dresses to the right or to the left can be a significant issue.

The alt.tv.x-files newsgroup is also a breeding ground of devout worshippers and awe inspiring gods and goddesses. It is a place where a clever thought, a well written sentence, and brilliantly executed action can be appreciated and bronzed into ones synapses. It is also a place where a person who says, "Bite me!" can not only attract a following who would gladly throw themselves into burning lava so that their goddess could pass over unharmed but also unite a whole slew of teeth gnashing meanies who would wish her in the burning lava.

Many people find this hard to believe.

[snipped]

The Summer 1996 saw anticipation for the new season crescendo to a climactic frenzy very much like the orchestral bridge in "A Day in the Life". Some of us toughed out the Summer months. Without any new episodes to discuss, we had a chance to get each other. Thanks to Dr. Aay's "Idle Thoughts on an Idle Afternoon" post, many of us did. The newsgroup began to feel more like a smoking room where friends get together and gossip than a conference room where scholars discussed angels dancing on the heads of pins. Gizzie would refer to the newsgroup as "the pool" or "the playground". Eventually, she referred to it as our neighbourhood.

With the combined popularity of "The X-Files" the internet, the new Fall season opened the floodgates to record posting on alt.tv.x-files. It was crazy. The season premier inspired upwards of a thousand posts within a few hours of its airing in North America. Everyone had questions and answers and opinions and counter opinions and gossip about future episodes and gossip about Wynona Ryder and opinions about the gossip about Wynona Ryder and opinions about people posting their opinions about the gossip about Wynona Ryder and get rich schemes and trading cards to trade and questions about the X on the window and squidge moments and questions about squidges and opinions about people who post about squidges and nit picks and web pages and a whole bunch of other things to discuss.

It was beautiful.

As a witty response to the unprecedented traffic at "alt.tv.x-files", Gizzie posted a "CyberTraffic" report. It referred to such things as "The corner of Samantha's Alive and Why did Mulder leave Scully?" in a town called "X-Ville". It was undoubtedly meant as a comment on things happening in alt.tv.x-files and indirectly as a tribute to the fact that "The X-Files" was very popular and doing very well - something that most of us enjoyed seeing for our favorite show - and not meant to incite people to create an on-line virtual village.

Gizzie, who knows a good thing when she sees it, knows that if something is worth doing once, it is worth doing more than once. Such was the case with her CyberTraffic reports. As high traffic levels continues, she continued to report on traffic, all the time developing her repertoire. Others who got the joke started to refer to the comings and going in X-Ville. With the high traffic levels, the community feeling which had developed during the Summer was missed, and small references in posts from here to there helped bridge the gap.

The inside joke was not appreciated by all. There were those who disliked the idea of community; the newsgroup, they felt, was for the discussing of stuff relating to "The X-Files" and not for discussing; each other. Even if these "X-Ville" posts did refer to things loosely associated with the show, these "X-Villains" did not felt that the posts were somehow ruining the fabric of alt.tv.x-files, clogging up an already busy newsgroup, and just plain silly.

All opinions, welcome or unwelcome, get heard at 'alt.tv.x-files'. This is arguably one of the great strengths of the 'net, UseNet, and the "alt" hierarchy itself. It also gives rise to pig-headed rivalry. The "X-Ville" vs "X-Villain" rivalry was one such situation. The gist of differences of opinions lie in deciding whether or not "X-Ville" posts are in essence "The X-Files" related discussion, for if they are not, then they should not be posted on the group. However, this was never directly argued.

It started with the "X-Ville people are idiots who are ruining my newsgroup. You should all leave" posts. These were often answered and counter answered in a Monty Python-esque argument style. Nothing was resolved. Polarity was created. Then some people came up with the brain storm that just didn't like these "X-Ville" posts, and therefore they shouldn't exist. These were countered with the "If you don't like it then don't read it" posts. Then the rationalists came in with the "X-Ville takes up space and I have to pay to download" posts. It should be noted that all posts take up space at alt.tv.x-files and not just these "X-Ville" posts. However, by isolating the issue at hand, whether or not "X-Ville" posts are "The X-Files" related or not, we were able to disagree a great deal on how much space these "X-Ville" posts actually took up, what "bandwidth" actually meant, how newsgroups are run, whether alt.tv.x-files should be moderated, who is or isn't a loser, and who does or doesn't own the newsgroup.

Finally, a compromise of sorts was suggested: all X-Ville posts should be labeled so that they can be kill-filed, thus allowing those who like them to continue reading and writing them and allowing those who don't like them (and who may be paying download time) to eliminate them without having to read (or download) them. This wasn't a very good compromise in a sense that the X-Villains wanted "X-Ville" posts removed completely from the newsgroup and were not completely satisfied with this solution; The question of belonging had never been resolved. Small skirmishes were created regarding how to label the X-Ville posts so that they could be best kill-filed, but all in all most people were compliant in labeling their posts.

It can be argued that this counter-action did more to mould and shape the course of X-Ville from an inside joke to a virtual village than any other thing. A joke grows thin after a very short time, not matter how developed it becomes. Undoubtedly, the CyberTraffic reports would have died off as the traffic eventually did, and Gizzie would have gone on to her next schtick. References to this thing called X-Ville would have decreased until they were non-existent. Even David Letterman can only beat a joke so far into the ground before it ceases to have any use. With posts isolated all across the newsgroup, this undoubtedly would have been the result. Fencing off "X-Ville" posts by requiring them to have an "XV:" label in essence created a vacuum that needed to be filled.

And filled it was...

Controversy: Space Issues

posted by a fan on ATX on April 18, 1998

Because X-Ville wasn't strictly a discussion, its presence was a sore point in the newsgroup. Some members found it disruptive and off-topic, while others considered its parody just a different type of discussion and an important part of the newsgroup's dynamic. It was a conflict that would never be fully resolved. Many X-Ville members understood that the town didn't really fit the newsgroup's purpose, but they didn't want to leave either. They considered ATX to be X-Ville's home and the source of much of its material.

From a March 1997 discussion:

I can appreciate that the XVille resident can possibly claim some eminent domain here on the Xfile NG but this is indeed an XFile NG. It seems that since Ive come on to this NG, more and more threads are being written about the amazing town of XVille. But these seems to be produced at the expense of actual XF threads. Each day I find myself wading through 250+threads most of which are XV related. It is definately a touchy subject but contrary to my previous post, maybe Xville would be better off on a sep. NG. I must say I really do appreciate the XV prefixes on all posts though. I can read the XF posts and come back to any XV stuff later.

>I mentioned this fact and was told that a Kill File does the job >nicely. That's all well and good, but still misses the point. >X-Ville is an issue of great interest to some, no interest to others, >and takes up a lot of room. Why not give it it's own "home"? Aside from this valid point, I haven't seen anyone address the very real issue of expiration times. Groups that have a heavy volume are the first to get targetted by overloaded news servers for quickie expirations. Your ISP might decide that the volume of posts in alt.tv.x-files warrants setting the expiration times to 24 or 48 hours. Splitting up the group just makes good sense.

I have mentioned expiration on a couple of occassions when XVille folks said that "bandwidth is not an issue because we tag our posts XV." Diffferent ISPs set varying time limits or disk-space limits on nesgroups, based on volume. Premature expiration of ON-TOPIC posts due to a high volume of OFF-TOPIC posts is indeed a problem for some readers of this newsgroup. Splitting the group is rational, courteous, and SIMPLE. Why so many XVille folks take it as an "insult" or a "rejection" to be told this can only be symptomatic of their lack of rationality, courtesy, or SMARTS.

I LIKE the Xville people. I fully intend to read whatever group they move to (if they move), and i'm contemplating applying for citizenship. But there are some very, very good reasons for wanting a split that have absolutely nothing to do with 'liking' the Xvillagers. I'm concerned that many of the threads are titled 'Xv vs. XF' or something similar, as if it's an adversarial relationship. There have been many posts making sweeping generalizations about those who want a split, and I think that Catherine's post was an expression of frustration at those who have refused to address the very real technical reasons on why a split is a logical idea.

I'm not a part of X-Ville, nothing personal but I have no desire to be a part of X-Ville, but in my opinion first it's unfair to ask the X-Ville people to leave, they are just using a different way to express their appreciation of X-files, which is what this ng is all about anyway right? Secondly, if you have all of the X-ville people leave you're probably going to loose the majority of the posters to this ng. I mean if I were kicked out of an ng for one reason, I sure wouldn't return to it again. They'd just create a whole new X-files ng and this one would probably die out. As long as they mark the post XV or X-Ville, which I'm sure just about everyone of them do, then it's been no problem for me to skip over their posts and read the posts that I am interested in. A little tolerance is all that's required. Kieran, trying to figure out why this became such a big problem all of a sudden

X-Ville's New Home

In March 1997, alt.tv.x-files.x-ville (ATXV) was created to give X-Ville its own space, but it didn't lessen the strain on ATX. Most of the newsgroup members involved in X-Ville were also active in threads throughout ATX and found it easier to stay in one place. Some members couldn't access ATXV because their ISPs didn't carry it. X-Ville ended up being crossposted to both newsgroups and the friction continued.

From a 1997 post by Leigh A. Vrabel:

Once upon a time in the fall of 1996, a rather shy, retiring young graduate student discovered the joys of Usenet. Lo and behold, there was a newsgroup dedicated to a show she'd enjoyed since its inception, The X-Files. So she decided to join.

When she got there, she found that, in spite of her not-too-shabby intellect, she felt quite inferior. It seemed that everyone in the group was so darn smart, and so she lurked for a long time without saying a word, fearful that she had nothing intelligent to contribute.

Then the COC came into being, and the shy young lady realized that this was where she could make her mark: parody had always been her strong suit, and by tying her smart-alecky thoughts to Chris Carter's creations, she could comment on the nature of the show in a clever way.

When X-Ville, as the COC rapidly became, sprung up full-blown, the young lady began posting more confidently, and eventually began participating in the non XV discussions, made bold by the acceptance and nurturing of the group. She soon developed e-friendships with other ng participants, and threw herself wholeheartedly into both aspects of the group.

All of a sudden, along came a group of people, prominently headed by cat y (who, in case nobody noticed, has posted the same damn thing about ten times now), complaining about XVille. Apparently it wasn't about the show, despite the fact that it uses characters and plots from the show. Apparently XVille was fanfic or shared reality, and should be kept somwhere else, in the dark. After all, this was a "serious" newsgroup.

My question was...and continues to be...who the hell died and put you people in charge of the ng? No one person or clique--XV or non XV--is in charge here. The majority rules because it is an unmoderated group. If there were a moderator, we would have to bow to his/her dictates. However, the last time I checked, we had complete freedom of speech.

XVille is not fanfic. Fanfic is composed of NEW, ORIGINAL plots about Mulder and Scully's adventures. X-Ville is puns, wordplay, and variations on themes gone by. X-Ville is not shared reality. Why? Because it's a BIG JOKE, people. We're not serious about this at all. It's not another world, another dimension, another anything. It's a self-perpetuating, long-running joke. I'll bet Darin Morgan, if he ever read this group, would pee his pants laughing. Hell, I'll bet Duchovny, if you could lure him next to a computer for five seconds, would at least crack a smile...

I used to not give a Ratboy's ass whether or not this newsgroup moved, mostly because I thought the people who wanted us to move seriously had our best interests at heart. While that may be true of some, I feel that the majority of anti Xvillers, including and especially cat y, are trying to exercise control over what is jointly "owned" by every single damn one of us. Should hell freeze over and X-Ville move, I'll go...but I'll stop coming here...not, as some have implied, because my love of the show has flagged (what the hell is that all about, pledging alt.tv.xfiles?), but because my love of the show has been tampered with, inhibited, squashed by people who travel in straight lines only while some of us prefer to think around corners.

I'm probably going to get flamed beyond belief. I care not. I'm wearing my asbestos trenchcoat.

X-Ville Members

See X-Ville Homepage, ^{Archived version}.

• Gizzie
• Heavy: Lead Screamer: Scream Moldy Bore, X-Ville's first and only death metal band ("We'll kick your ass and eat the rest."). Later took the name Savage Brutality because it "sounded more, you know, relentless."
• Ophelia Quickly: Assault Bassist/Occasional Banshee: Scream Moldy Bore, X-Ville's Premeire Death Metal Band; Proud Proprietor of Stupendous Yappizza.
• Myrke: Creator and original leader of the Rogues. Became an elf and moved to Middle Earth, leaving leadership of the Rogues to Punk M.
• Alan Hurshman: ran the X-Ville spa.
• Flynn: "XV Enigma/Tattooist? Who knows? Not me...; Proprietor of the Tabernacle of Tattooing Terror. Probably."
• Punk M: X-Ville's poet laureate, owner of Wetwired Ad Agency ("Where Every Ad Looks the Same!"), Triangler in the X-Ville Musical, and leader of the Rogue OBSSE.
• Meg: X-Ville's Resident Juvenile Delinquent & Part-Time WIB; Evil Music Director of X-Ville: The Musical; Castle M's Ghostly Mumbling Wanderer; Lover of all things Krycek--"Visit the Lair Of The Rat!"
• Beagle: Proud Prop., Spam Cafe/Kam Kafe; Director, Queequeg Memorial Small Yappy Dog Rest Home/Bait Shop; lyricist, X-VILLE: The Musical.
• Prebend Thurman: Bishop Thurman, Prebend of X-Ville; Founder, First Righteous Combined Church of X-Ville, Chapel of the Cross Parish
• Alby Reid: X-Ville's dysfunctional teenager, Lt. 1st D.A.M.U.
• Red Crow: X-Ville's resident Hippie, and co-captain of the Doug Hutchison cheerleading squad, Director of X-Ville: The Musical.
• Leigh Anne Vrabel: Producer, X-Ville: The Musical; Head of 4/27 Productions.
• Laura Capozzola: Town Spy and Proprietor of Laura's and Cloneboy's X Why I Spy Store.
• Pepper: Owner, X-Ville Newsstand/Videorama; High Priestess of the Cult of Tooms and co-captain, Doug Hutchison Cheerleading Squad; First Fluke, X-Ville: The Musical.
• Buster: Captain - X-Ville 1st Division Anti-Troll Militia Unit, A SubDivision of the United Nations PeaceKeeping Forces (Canada).
• Paulina the RedHead: X-Ville's Inebriated Baker's Sometimes Inebriated Assistant; Semi-Permanent Occupant of the Second Stool From the End at Puffy's; Proprietor of X-Ville's Shooting Range and Medieval Warfare Battlefield; Performer of the Role of Dana Scully in the XVille Musical; Compiler of the X-Ville Musical Lyrics.
• Claire: Canadian Ambassador to X-Ville.
• The Paulverizer: Owner/Bartender, Puffy's Saloon; Atheist Minister, Church conveniently located at the bar in Puffy's: all are welcome; Rent-A-Cop—HOME Asylum.
• Spectre: Proprietor, The X-Ville Auto Garage; Proprietor, BOSS (Black Op's Surveillance Store).
• Pamela T. Pon: Lifeguard at XV's Olympic-Sized Public Pool & Skinny-Dipping Spot, Owner of the FOX Answering Service.
• Jenny: Caretaker, HOME Asylum.
• Kath: X-Ville BabySitter; HouseKeeping Manager, HOME Asylum.
• Spectre: Proprietor, The X-Ville Auto Garage; Proprietor, EyeSpy.
• Patterns: Runs the X-Ville China Outlet and Pie Shop (ChOPS, the 'h' is silent). She ended up in X-Ville after one of her Darin Morgan clones found a map tucked into a comic that was bought at a garage sale.

Landmarks

• Puffy's Saloon: X-Ville's local tavern, located in the town square. Named after the long lost original pervert, Puffy Breat Boy [sic].
• The Castle: Home to Punk M and Rogue Headquarters, the castle definitely had a kitchen, a library, a dungeon, and a bowels (as in "deep in the bowels of the castle"), all other architecture was subject to change at will. Also known as Rogue Manor or Castle M.
• Queequeg Memorial Small-Yappy-Dog Rest Home and Bait Shop: "Conveniently located by the pier, we offer full service care for those S-Y-D's unfortunately orphaned by serial killers and/or located by psychics....aaaand 'round back you can buy your 100% guranteed gatorbait/Nessie attractors. Plus maps, 5$. Roaches free with purchase."
• HOME Asylum: X-Ville's insane asylum.

Community Groups/Events

• Queequeg Memorial Service and Wake: An event in honor of everyone's favorite Small Yappy Dog (SYD). Prebend Thurman lead the group in a hymn.
• Rogue OBSSE: The Rogues were the black ops arm of the OBSSE. A radical splinter group, they were sometimes referred to as "the kitchen crew."
• X-Ville: The Musical
• 1st D.A.M.U.: 1st Division Anti-Troll Militia Unit.
• X-Ville Goth Ball: Held at Castle M.

A 2008 Plea to Fans

In October 2008, runpunkrun asked fans to contribute to this page:

It is now up to YOU, YOU THE VIEWERS, to bring X-Ville back to its former glory by installing it firmly behind glass where all can gawk and wonder at its awkward hideousness!

That is to say: If you were a member of X-Ville or even just a fan, please visit the wiki and add some info in. We need more X-Ville facts, landmarks, members, and community groups and events! Tell us your X-Ville yarns! Tell your friends!

You have to sign up with Fanlore in order to edit the wiki, but that's quick and easy. You know what's also quick and easy? Learning to edit the wiki and promptly losing nine minutes nine hours of your life. I kid. That didn't happen to me or anyone I know. *cough*

But, seriously, stop by Fanlore and add your lore in. Up until last week I hadn't done anything but fix egregious spelling and punctuation errors on Wikipedia, and now I'm creating my very own brand new pages! It's addictive, but 100% organic, I swear.

ETA: ALSO, the entry for alt.tv.x-files is really naked. Think of the children!

External links

• alt.tv.x-files
• messages at alt.tv.x-files which mention X-Ville
• alt.tv.x-files.x-ville
• X-Ville FAQ
• Alby Reid's X-Ville website via the Wayback Machine
• Leigh A Vrabel's account of joining ATX and X-Ville