If you wonder what happens in your favorite X-Files episodes when the cameras aren’t there, this week’s excellent author has the answers. Meet Scullywolf, the author behind “Scenes In Between.” If you haven’t been following the journey on tumblr, this series takes a look at what else was happening during each episode and what we didn’t get to see. Scullywolf started with the Pilot in July of 2015 and has made her way through to Season 7′s “The Amazing Maleeni.” It’s a big undertaking but well worth your time to make your way through the entire series. Just make sure you have a good chunk of time blocked out. You think you’ll just read one or two scenes and then all of a sudden you’re so involved in this fantastic series you’ve blown through Season 1 and are halfway into Season 2!
We talked with Scullywolf about writing, The X-Files, and the inspiration a long project like this needs.
How long have you been a Phile?
I started watching in late 1996 when Season 4 was airing. So I guess that’d be 20 years!
What was your first episode?
“Tunguska” was the first one I watched live, but that Christmas we got my dad the Season One VHS set, so I started with the Pilot shortly thereafter. (TXF started out as “Dad’s alien show” in our house, but
my sister and I very quickly became the superfans of the family, haha.) I also have a really strong memory of watching what must have been a rerun of “Pusher” very early on and being convinced from the handhold at the end that, even though I didn’t really know much about them at that point, Mulder and Scully were definitely super in love. ;)
How long have you been writing fic?
I found some half-finished stories in notebooks from high school and college, but I didn’t start posting stuff online until about 3 years ago. I started out writing for the Doctor Who fandom and finally came back to TXF last year with “Scenes In Between.”
This week’s author is a long-time fan and a long-time writer but her take on our favorite characters is anything but old! Meet all-these-ghosts. Whether you’re looking for something that will make you laugh or make you ugly cry you’ll find it in her great collection of work. “The Son You Always Had” looks at four different options of what life could have been like for William Scully, and explores the life he did have. Each world is painful in it’s own way but the look at William’s involvement in a “My Struggle II” world really punched me in the gut.
If, like me, you enjoy beautiful imagery with a side of “carves a hole in your chest angst” I highly recommend “The Sea That Has Become Known.” It starts with a Scully adrift after losing her mother, and moves to snapshots of Mulder and Scully’s life “before” and you can feel the weight of that history as you read.
And if you’d like something to laugh along with “First Date” and “Poltergeist” definitely hit the spot.
We talked with all-these-ghosts about writing, inspirations, and of course, The X-Files.
How long have you been a Phile?
Apparently twenty years, which I didn’t realize until I answered this question. Yikes. I spent a lot of time on the AOL boards in the late ‘90s.
What was your first episode?
Um. “Home”. My dad had been watching the show for a few years and he thought I would like it; unfortunately, that was the episode that aired when he decided I was old enough to join in. I was ten. Somehow my dad decided it was okay for me to keep watching.
How long have you been writing fic?
Also about twenty years, in a bunch of fandoms under a variety of pseudonyms, most of which I won’t fess up to! I did find my very first fanfic on Gossamer recently. I cannot imagine what compelled me to post it. True story: it was a songfic about a song that my neighbor wrote.
This week’s author not only writes to keep Philes entertained, she’s working on a philanthropy project that helps fandom have a way to give back. Meet 2momsmakearight!
She may be new to fic writing but her first offering “For Better or For Worse” does a great job of exploring the rest of that conversation we didn’t get to see between Mulder and Scully in the parking garage in “My Struggle Part 1.″ If you wonder how our heroes went from fighting at the beginning to presenting a united front by episode two this should fill the gap!
The short but so heartbreaking “Of Butterfly Books and Yellow Shampoo” takes a deleted S10 scene between Scully and William and squeezes your heart with the sadness of what could have been.
And we can’t leave out “Undercover Swing.” Let’s just say this fan-favorite will hit the spot if you’re looking for something more “adult….”
We talked with 2momsmakearight about writing, inspiration, and of course The X-Files.
How long have you been a Phile?
Since right before the first movie - “Fight the Future”. I was friends with a die-hard fan in high school, and she converted me. Gave me her tapes (yes, VHS tapes) to watch, one-by-one, until I was caught up. I’ve been hooked ever since…
What was your first episode?
My friend was very adamant that I start from the beginning. So, even though I started watching during Season 5 (1997-1998), my first episode was “The Pilot”.
How long have you been writing fic?
I started writing for the fandom during Season 10. “My Struggle Part 1” presented as a great muse, and I spent the following morning writing “For Better or For Worse,” which was my first official story for the fandom. The feedback I received was favorable, and I was excited to write more.
Her fanfic ambitions started in a notebook years ago and we're lucky she's moved on to sharing her work with us online! Meet this week's author PiecesOfScully. A wonderful author with a growing body of work, she's also the other half of @txf-fic-chicks which is a great site that will help feed your fic fix. But before you go digging through their site to find fanfics past, read through PiecesOfScully's current body of work. I promise, it's well worth your time.
"Ravenous" is a brand new story, published just this week, and a dark case file that’s anything but a nice trip to the forest. Mulder and Scully wrap up one terrible case only to find themselves dragged into another urban legend that isn’t legendary at all. It’s suspenseful, and terrifying at parts. Let’s just say, as I was reading very late at night, I really didn’t appreciate my neighbor making a sudden noise while taking the recycling out. And I would guess they wondered what I was screaming at. There’s also some adult content so keep that in mind if you were thinking about reading on your lunch break at work.
If all someone has to do is say "Maggie" to make your eyes misty, the lovely "The Art of Grieving" will have you diving for a box of tissues. It's a heartfelt look at how Scully is grieving the loss of her mother and the first-person POV makes me feel like I got a look at the pages of a journal.
If you want something with a delightfully evil plot-twist that will make you want to throw something across the room, check out "That Which Cannot Be Undone." One of the tags for it on AO3 says "I know I hate me too for writing this" but sometimes you just need a good read that makes you howl “noooooooo!”
We talked with PiecesofScully about writing, The X-Files, and inspiration.
For a fandom that’s been around as long as The X-Files has been, we’re so lucky that we have new authors adding their voices and continuing the story. This week’s author is newer to writing fic, but she’s also working to keep older stories alive. Meet KatEyes224! If you’ve ever wondered why Mulder and Scully seemed so close already by “Deep Throat” and “Squeeze,” her story “Center Mass” shines a little light on that mystery in a delicious way. All that UST didn’t come out of nowhere, right?
And if you find yourself with the need to sob, “The Enmity Within,” will hit you hard. It deals with Scully’s grief after “William” and the last line alone knocked the wind out of me.
The antidote for all that pain is the sweet and wonderful “Coming Home” which imagines a world where Melissa Scully and Emily Sim are still alive. It’s such a relief to see Scully get a happy ending once in a while!
We talked with KatEyes224 about writing, The X-Files, and her other fanfic project that will keep you with fic to read for days.
How long have you been a Phile?
Since the show started in 1993.
What was your first episode?
It must have been the Pilot, but I actually have an independent recollection of watching “Squeeze” for the first time, and it freaked me the hell out.
How long have you been writing fic?
I wrote my very first Mulder/Scully casefile in fifth grade, then went on hiatus until Season 10 was officially announced last year. That’s when I started posting drabbles on Tumblr. I really began writing in earnest about six months ago.
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