So... I loved the X-Files for the first several seasons when it originally aired. My interest started waning, though, somewhere around the seventh season. I actually did like Agent Doggett (sp?), and got a little bit more into it again when he came on board, but I was only a casual watcher by then. I thought the final episodes were a huge let-down. To me, this series went out with an indifferent whimper - most definitely not a bang. I tried on three separate occasions to get through the second movie. I fell asleep every time. I vaguely remember some guy who looked a lot like Crazy Data, and something about a frozen lake or field or something, but it was all such a "meh" at that point.
Youngest got her hands on DVDs of the show and we've been binge watching them because she wants to "know the background" before watching the new series. I've discovered something that will probably make me hugely unpopular with most X-Files fans.
Agent Fox Mulder is a total [insert favorite pejorative here.] Seriously, I get that he went all the way (literally) to the ends of the Earth to save Scully in the first movie, but holy crabapples is he a self-absorbed jerk most of the time. I suppose on some level, I always thought this. It was probably why I didn't care when Duchovny left the series and was okay with the T-1000 taking over.
I don't know if I even care that the show is back. I purchased a "season pass" from Amazon, but honestly, I did it for Youngest. If she wasn't such a fan, I wouldn't have bothered. Why? Because I don't have that much attachment to either the lead characters or the show itself. Bring back the Lone Gunmen and I'm there, but otherwise... *shrug.*
Youngest got her hands on DVDs of the show and we've been binge watching them because she wants to "know the background" before watching the new series. I've discovered something that will probably make me hugely unpopular with most X-Files fans.
Agent Fox Mulder is a total [insert favorite pejorative here.] Seriously, I get that he went all the way (literally) to the ends of the Earth to save Scully in the first movie, but holy crabapples is he a self-absorbed jerk most of the time. I suppose on some level, I always thought this. It was probably why I didn't care when Duchovny left the series and was okay with the T-1000 taking over.
I don't know if I even care that the show is back. I purchased a "season pass" from Amazon, but honestly, I did it for Youngest. If she wasn't such a fan, I wouldn't have bothered. Why? Because I don't have that much attachment to either the lead characters or the show itself. Bring back the Lone Gunmen and I'm there, but otherwise... *shrug.*
It was actually the X-Files that introduced me to the term "shipper." When the internet was still a floundering toddler struggling with its first steps, I found some fan sites devoted to the show. I learned early on that there were these people who proudly identified as relationshippers - soon shortened to shippers - and they believed Scully and Mulder were Destiny! or what have you. They were doing that whole OTP thing before I think anyone thought to call it that. I ventured to mention on a message board that I didn't particularly care one way or the other and that I could see the series going either way with it. This opinion? Introduced me to another term - flame wars. I didn't get it, and as I wasn't invested in the show that much, I simply never visited an X-Files fan site after that.
It was about this time that the Trixie community was hitting its first big growth spurt. We went from a handful of people on Zap's site to several new writers, The Other Side of Glen Road, and the first forays into individual writer websites.
And we had our very own Shipper War I. The first Team Jim/Team Dan meltdown was probably nothing compared to the legendary Harry Potter freak-outs, but it was still several days of back and forth and angry posts and general unpleasantness.
It's a concept I honestly still have a hard time wrapping my head around. I get the OTP thing in general. I do. I know people have couple preferences. Heck, I love Trixie and Regan together and I believe there are at least four other people on the planet who do, too. (Heh.) But I still don't truly get the sheer animosity some people have to the existence of fanfiction that breaks up their own OTPs. I understand not wanting to read it, but going bat-crap crazy because someone wrote it? That's a bit too nuts for me.
Don't get me wrong. One of the things I have always appreciated about the Trixie fandom is that while there are Diehards, no one has ever out-and-out attacked me personally for my CrackPair. Yes, I have gotten variations on the theme of, "No. I can't handle/see Jim with anyone but Trixie (or Trixie with anyone but Jim) and so I won't read your stories." This makes perfect sense to me. I don't like Jim for Trixie. I just don't. To me he was always more patronizing to her than anything and it bugged when I was a young girl reading these books. This makes it hard for me to read or write them as a couple. I just figure people's feelings toward Trixie and Regan are similar to mine for Trixie and Jim. (Well, I don't know if anyone actually ever thought Regan was patronizing to Trixie, though I would say he was on at least one occasion that I can think of, when he told Trixie and Honey to run on home because of the storm in Glen Road. O.o Don't know why that never bothered me as much as some of the things Jim did.) In any case, I don't care to read Jim/Trixie and it doesn't bother me a bit that many people don't care to read Regan/Trixie.
So when I hear about other fandoms and the apparently never-ending OTP wars that go on... yeesh. I've been happily married to my husband now for over 26 years. That's my OTP. But we're real people. It's kinda scary to me that some people get that involved in the idea concerning fictional characters.
The X-Files shippers eventually got what they wanted - though I'm under the impression Scully and Mulder broke up or something? Still, at least for awhile the ship became canon. I don't know if this is too spoilerish or not, but I will not ever be breaking Trixie and Regan up in any story that I put them together in. Still, that doesn't mean I won't write other Trixie pairings. (Or possibly Regan pairings, though since Trixie is the character I "get" the most, my stories are definitely Trixie-centered.)
When it comes to fanfiction, I don't think I want to believe there's a genuine OTP in any fandom. To me? It's sorta the whole point to fanfiction. You get to take characters/settings/plots and run off in any direction you like. Scully can marry Skinner. Harry can pine away for Hermione. Or Scully can pine away for Hermione and Harry can marry Skinner. They aren't real. No one is really getting his/her heart broken. No one is seeing his/her life in tatters. The great thing is, if it's not your box of chocolates, you don't have to read it, and meanwhile it opens up entire universes of possibilities for writers to explore. I love the opportunities this presents for people to express their creativity and I hope that never changes.
It was about this time that the Trixie community was hitting its first big growth spurt. We went from a handful of people on Zap's site to several new writers, The Other Side of Glen Road, and the first forays into individual writer websites.
And we had our very own Shipper War I. The first Team Jim/Team Dan meltdown was probably nothing compared to the legendary Harry Potter freak-outs, but it was still several days of back and forth and angry posts and general unpleasantness.
It's a concept I honestly still have a hard time wrapping my head around. I get the OTP thing in general. I do. I know people have couple preferences. Heck, I love Trixie and Regan together and I believe there are at least four other people on the planet who do, too. (Heh.) But I still don't truly get the sheer animosity some people have to the existence of fanfiction that breaks up their own OTPs. I understand not wanting to read it, but going bat-crap crazy because someone wrote it? That's a bit too nuts for me.
Don't get me wrong. One of the things I have always appreciated about the Trixie fandom is that while there are Diehards, no one has ever out-and-out attacked me personally for my CrackPair. Yes, I have gotten variations on the theme of, "No. I can't handle/see Jim with anyone but Trixie (or Trixie with anyone but Jim) and so I won't read your stories." This makes perfect sense to me. I don't like Jim for Trixie. I just don't. To me he was always more patronizing to her than anything and it bugged when I was a young girl reading these books. This makes it hard for me to read or write them as a couple. I just figure people's feelings toward Trixie and Regan are similar to mine for Trixie and Jim. (Well, I don't know if anyone actually ever thought Regan was patronizing to Trixie, though I would say he was on at least one occasion that I can think of, when he told Trixie and Honey to run on home because of the storm in Glen Road. O.o Don't know why that never bothered me as much as some of the things Jim did.) In any case, I don't care to read Jim/Trixie and it doesn't bother me a bit that many people don't care to read Regan/Trixie.
So when I hear about other fandoms and the apparently never-ending OTP wars that go on... yeesh. I've been happily married to my husband now for over 26 years. That's my OTP. But we're real people. It's kinda scary to me that some people get that involved in the idea concerning fictional characters.
The X-Files shippers eventually got what they wanted - though I'm under the impression Scully and Mulder broke up or something? Still, at least for awhile the ship became canon. I don't know if this is too spoilerish or not, but I will not ever be breaking Trixie and Regan up in any story that I put them together in. Still, that doesn't mean I won't write other Trixie pairings. (Or possibly Regan pairings, though since Trixie is the character I "get" the most, my stories are definitely Trixie-centered.)
When it comes to fanfiction, I don't think I want to believe there's a genuine OTP in any fandom. To me? It's sorta the whole point to fanfiction. You get to take characters/settings/plots and run off in any direction you like. Scully can marry Skinner. Harry can pine away for Hermione. Or Scully can pine away for Hermione and Harry can marry Skinner. They aren't real. No one is really getting his/her heart broken. No one is seeing his/her life in tatters. The great thing is, if it's not your box of chocolates, you don't have to read it, and meanwhile it opens up entire universes of possibilities for writers to explore. I love the opportunities this presents for people to express their creativity and I hope that never changes.
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