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 MaybeAmanda
MaybeAmanda has been a longtime participant in X-files fandom. She has 29 stories at Gossamer, the earliest being archived there in 1998 and the latest in 2012. I've recced some of my favorites of her stories here before, including "Malus Genus" and "Snow in Alabama." Big thanks to MaybeAmanda 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)?
It does, in a way. The feedback I get nowadays is either of the "I read this like 20 years ago and I just read it again" variety or the "I was too young back in the day but I have been watching the show in reruns/on XYZ streaming service/on the full-series of DVDs I got for $3 from the thrift store and I was THRILLED to discover fanfiction was being written even in the Dark Ages!" So it's a bit of a surprise, but it's a pleasant one. I answer every mail/comment because my mama raised me right!
What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?
It was great. It was fun. It was educational. It was a godsend. Even with the occasional bouts of back-stabbing and flame-throwing, it was mainly a welcoming, inclusive place to be. I made so many online friends who have turned into meat-friends (do they still call them that? Probably not). During the first run of the show I had small children and we had relocated for my husband's job. I had very little social life, but the fandom gave me a chance to meet and connect with people who liked what I liked. Then I discovered online fanfic, and it was even better!
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.)?
ATXC I think. A lot of email lists - 5 or 6 or 7 or so over the years. Gossamer, of course, Ephemeral when that came into being. Haven discussion boards. My own websites.
What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?
More than anything? I am a fangirl.
What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?
I have always been partial to sci-fi and speculative fiction, but it rarely makes it to the screen - large or small - without being trite, clichéd, or just plain bad. It's easy to forget that The X-Files was groundbreaking - smart, scary, funny, insightful, intriguing, complex plots, on-going mythology. It looked great. It sounded great. David Duchovny was pleasant to look at, too, and damn! Gillian Anderson is/was one hell of an actress.
What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?
I found XF fanfic - somehow - probably by accident, or by way of a recommendation - and it blew my mind. I had written fanfic (of a sort) with my friends in highschool, so I was familiar with the beast, but to find what amounted to excellent story after excellent story for free within (relatively) easy reach (because dial-up, right?) written by people who, for the most part, were thrilled you read their story and were happy to talk to you about it, about writing in general, about your shared obsession - that was amazing. As I am sitting here typing this I am feeling that thrill again - discovering Karen Rasch, Madeliene Partous, Paula Graves [Lilydale note: AKA Anne Haynes], Sheryl Martin and all the other early BNFs was, well, the only word is exciting. I felt like I was a member of a secret society and that I was sitting at the popular kids lunch table, all at once. (Don't forget, in the early days, shippers were considered delusional outliers - seriously!)
What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?
Good? It's not as lively a place as it once was, but I haven't renounced my citizenship or anything. If I get a rec, I check it out. I know there are those who like to pretend they never had anything to do with the fandom, but why? I am still a proud XPhile.
Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?
Angel (a teeny tiny bit) while XF was still running, but those fans were - I don't know the word. Hardcore does not begin to do it justice. I wrote two short pieces at a friend's request then backed away slowly. Sherlock (a bit) - it is/was very LJ centred and that made it hard to find things. A lot of it moved to tumblr which made it harder, then to twitter, which - no. I was involved in one of the less fashionable facets of the Sherlock fandom, so I was really a fringe-dweller there, too. It seemed clique-ier than XF, and they all seemed so young, and they all knew EVERYTHING about everything, and every damned thing was political, and, and, and... GET OFF MY LAWN!
But maybe I am remembering the XF fandom wrong. ;)
Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?
Like, all fiction? Mulder and Scully for sure. Arthur Dent. Sherlock Holmes in most of his incarnations. Spock. Winnie the Pooh. Why do I like them? They speak to me, I guess.
Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?
I haven't watched an episode in probably two years (back when it was on regular tv). Yeah, I think about them surprisingly often. Story ideas, weirdly.
Do you ever still read X-Files fic?
I finished re-reading The Iolokus Series a couple of weeks back, so yes. It's excellent comfort reading.
Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?
Lots! But as far as authors go, I hate playing favourites. I will miss someone I shouldn't and feel like crap. The Iolokus Series by MustangSally and Rivka T. is probably my all-time favourite fic because it's so very well-written, and so very fucked-up. Kipler's Strangers and the Strange Dead is also terrifically well-written and clever. For complex, interesting case files, you can’t beat syntax6 - pick any of them.
What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?
Oh geez. Seriously? I wrote a lot of collaborations and I love them - and my co-authors - all! Stuff I wrote on my own: Anniversary Waltz (first XF fic I wrote so it's sentimental.) Or Blue Patches. Or Epiphany. Or The Gifts of the Magi (On a Kaiser Roll). Or 221XF. Gonna stop now.
Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story?
Every time I thought I wouldn't, I did. I would never say never.
Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?
Nothing finished ever went un-posted. All the unfinished stuff remains unfinished.
Do you still write fic now?
Haven't for a while, but it's not as if I have said "I SHALL NEVER WRITE FANFIC AGAIN!" I just have nothing in the works at this moment.
Where do you get ideas for stories?
With fic, it's usually from canon - some question unanswered, some road unexplored, some "what if?" that needs iffing. With "original" fiction, damned if I know. A snippet of overheard conversation, an interesting photo, something a random story generator spit out at me. Sometimes things just click.
What's the story behind your pen name?
Okay so...many years ago I was on a (smallish) fic list with a friend. There was a challenge posted - a bad fic challenge. We knew we could write some truly bad fic if we really tried. One of the rules of the challenge was to post under an assumed name so no one would know who they were voting for. Well, my friend and I wrote something truly, painfully horrid and we were very proud of its ghastliness, so were brainstorming possible pseudonyms. She hated everything but had no real suggestions of her own. I knew that she was a bit of a Trekkie (like me) and I said - What about Amanda Greyson and Joanna McCoy? And she said - What?? Huh?? Why?? And I said - Spock's mother and McCoy's daughter and she replied, "Maybe Amanda is Spock's mother but on Star Trek there is not a Joanna." By this point, I was SO DONE, and I became MaybeAmanda and she became NotJoanna. Really.
Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?
It took years for me to admit it, but yeah, they know. They didn't entirely get it. The reactions I most often got were:
"Ew! You write stuff without being forced?? Ew!!"
or:
"Is it smut? I bet it's just smut. You write smut, don't you? Pure filth, right? I can't believe you are wasting your time writing pornography! That's disgusting! You sicken me! Um, can I read some of it?"
And of course:
"If you are going to write anyway, why don't you get published and become fabulously wealthy?"
which is really two questions, neither of which is easily answerable.
Anyone who tracked my work down (because I told them I wrote, but not my pseudonym) usually said something like, "Hey! You're an okay/passable/decent writer! Why don't you get published and become fabulously wealthy?"
Yeah.
Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?
Same old email (maybe_a@rocketmail_dot_com). Gossamer, my site, my LJ and probably some other places. I can't lie - it's a bit scattered.
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This story finds Mulder and Scully in Alabama working on some weird random case that Mulder found in some haphazard random way. But the story is really about Mulder and Scully's interaction, which shines with loaded banter and romance.
Title: Snow in Alabama
Author: Tesla and MaybeAmanda
Summary: None provided
Length: 21k (~3,800 words)
Classification: MSR
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None (but assume into season 6)
Favorite line: She took the turnoff for Church Street, thinking it sounded familiar, hoping it was the one she wanted, and hating Mulder in fresh and inspired ways as the car fish-tailed around the curve.
Read the story!
Oh, Three Words. If any episode needed to be fleshed out and added to, because several scenes were missing, it’s that one. So today’s rec is a brief but sexy and extremely emotional missing scene. It’s a Mulder POV, so it gives us some really great insight into exactly what was going through his head.
Oh, and that whole scene where Mulder and Scully have that awkward exchange in his apartment when Scully first brings him home? Yeah...that ends a bit differently in today’s rec. And much more to our liking.
Sustain series by MaybeAmanda was my first ever Sherlolly fic and still is one of the best I've ever read. It made me read other Sherlolly ficd. Kudos to her works.
Some are on Fanfiction.net, most are on Archive of our Own. Some are on both. You can download them on AO3 which I love. Complete unless noted. AU where noted, although since none are canon I guess technically all are AU. Eh, you know what I mean. :-)
Sustain Series by maybeamanda - I'm pretty sure this is my all time favorite Sherlock fic. I've read it like three times. Long.
Torn by MizJoely - DarkSherlock AU WIP I'm dying for an update. Not abandoned, I'm just dying because it's so good! If you dislike WIPs, this is a great exception.
John's Interludes for Three by JennoftheGlenn - Jollock (John/Molly/Sherlock)
The Falling by PetraTodd - My fave AU. Wildly AU but awesome.
The Pirate & the Doctor by PetraTodd - OK maybe this is my fave AU. Again, very AU but worth it.
Love Stories & the Tournament of Lies by nocturnias - Very believable scenario in which Moriarty is his usual twisted, playful self & manipulates Sherlock.
That Dear Perfection by dietplainlite DarkMolly. Amazing. So good. Twisted yet beautiful with an unexpected twist.
There are so many more (that I just can't think of right now), including basically anything else by the above authors.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
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Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming