Entries tagged with who: me

Prologue to an Interview:

When I called and asked X_tremeroswellian for an interview, I offered up three meeting place suggestions: the Crashdown Cafe, the Hyperion Hotel, and the Dominion Hotel. To my surprise, she turned down all three and suggested one of her own: the basement office of FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. She said she knew the agents who used that office and she felt the most comfortable there. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to interview her, I quickly agreed. The following is a transcript of said interview.

Interview with X_tremeroswellian
by Callie Jacobsen****

Callie: What is your real name?

X: My real name is Angie. No last name. And not in the Darla-no-last-name way, either. I just don't wish to aquire any online stalkers.

C: Okay, Angie. Do you have any nicknames?

X: Yeah. One of my best friends calls me 'Angelina.' My mom sometimes calls me A.J. because one of my friends from junior high started calling me that.

C: What's the J stand for?

X: I have no idea. My middle name is Dawn, so it doesn't make a lot of sense.

C: Are you in school?

X: Right now I'm on summer vacation. But yeah, I'll be starting my junior year of college in the fall.

C: What's your major?

X: English lit.

C: What are your plans for the future?

X: Well, I want to get my master's in creative writing and teach that at college-level. I'd also like to do some traveling.

C: Do you work?

X: Yes. I'm a secretary at J.L. Pritchard. We sell golf carts, forklifts, trailers and stuff like that.

C: What are some of your hobbies?

X: I like to write, read, paint, design websites, listen to music, swim, talk to my friends.

C: How long have you been writing?

X: I wrote my first story when I was in the fifth grade. It was about a serial killer that lived in a secret passage in my house.

C: Do you really have a secret passage in your house?

X: No. But I wish I did. Just one that didn't have a serial killer.

C: Of course. So what else do you write?

X: I've written several novels, some novellas, poetry, short stories, essays, non-fiction articles.

C: What writing genres haven't you tried but would like to?

X: I'd like to write a movie or tv script. I've tried writing some horror and sci-fi fiction, but I'm not very good at those so I quit. I'd eventually like to go back and finish all the stories that I've started and not finished.

C: What television shows do you watch on a regular basis?

X: The X-Files, Roswell, Third Watch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dawson's Creek and E.R.

C: What shows have you written fanfiction for?

X: The X-Files, Roswell, BtVS, Angel, Dawson's Creek and Sliders.

C: A little birdie told me you wrote a fanfic using ER characters once. Is that true?

X : Um...no?

C: Tell the truth.

X: Okay. Yeah. I wrote a fanfic that was this huge ER, X-Files, Sliders, Spy Games, Early Edition crossover.

C: What was it about?

X: All the characters got sucked into the vortex from Sliders and were sliding through parallel universes trying to get home.

C: That doesn't sound so bad. Will we ever get a chance to read this story?

X: I really hope not. It was my first ever attempt at fanfic, before I even knew what fanfic was or that other people wrote it, too. It was kind of awful.

C: So what made you write it?

X: The X-Files 4th season finale cliffhanger. The way that episode ended started driving me crazy. The 5th season wasn't going to start until November, six months later. I had to do something to maintain my sanity until then.

C: Did you ever finish the story?

X: Actually, I decided that it was a never-ending story. You know, so when I get writer's block, I can use that as a jump off point, and it doesn't matter how crappy it gets because I never have to let anyone else read it. I'm free to be as "out there" with it as I please.

C: Sounds reasonable. But obviously you eventually discovered that other people write fanfic.

X: Yeah, my freshman year of college I did an Internet search on "The X-Files" and all these fanfic sites came up. I was truly amazed.

C: So what jump-started your "official" fanfic writing?

X: Well one of my favorite shows, "Sliders," had been cancelled from FOX, and I wound up finding a whole big section of Sliders fanfic online and I got inspired.

C: How many "Sliders" fanfics have you written?

X: I'm not exactly sure. Nine or ten, I think. And then I did a couple of Sliders/Roswell crossovers, too.

C: Okay, so why do you dislike Maggie Beckett so much?

X : I actually don't dislike her anymore. But when she first came on the show she was really mean to Wade, and Wade was my favorite character, so...

C: The show was cancelled?

X: Off of FOX. It moved to the sci-fi channel and had 2 more seasons before they cancelled it. I watched during its first season on Sci-fi and then it just got...bad.

C: Why do you say that?

X: Well, Sabrina Lloyd had left (Wade), and then Jerry O'Connell (Quinn) left and the storylines they were using...beyond the realm of even my imagination.

C: I've heard you're very imaginative. What happened?

X: They left Wade at a Kromagg breeding camp and Quinn "slid" into some other guy's body whose name also just happened to be Quinn Mallory. It was retarded.

C: I see. Let's talk about "Roswell" for a minute. Were you watching the show from the beginning?

X: Yep. My mom called me away from watching some other show and said, "Come watch this new alien show with us." So, unable to resist the "alien" aspect, I watched the Pilot when it first aired.

C: Were you "hooked" immediately?

X: No. I did like it, and I had decided to continue watching it, but I wasn't "hooked" until the fourth episode "Leaving Normal" aired.

C: When did you first start writing "Roswell" fanfic?

X: After the fifth episode, "Missing" aired. I wrote, "When the Day Ends," "Limitations," and "Whatever it Takes" within a two-week period.

C: And then you created The Max and Liz Project.

X: Actually, I didn't open that site until January 2000. My best friend Sarah taught me how to make websites and I did a lot of experimenting. Without her, the Project would never have happened.

C: It's been closed down now, right?

X: Yeah. It was sad, but I just didn't have the time to archive fanfic and do it justice anymore. I had to focus on school this year so all my hobbies kind of took a backseat.

C: You're still writing fanfic?

X: Oh, yeah. Not nearly as much as I used to, or as often as I'd like, but yeah.

C: Okay, so who's your favorite "Roswell" couple?

X: Max and Liz. Although lately I've become a big Michael/Maria fan. I used to really like Alex/Isabel, too, but that was ended. Quite tragically, I might add.

C: I've been told you were a really big Alex fan.

X: Yeah. He was one of my very favorite characters.

C: How did you react when "Cry Your Name" aired?

X: Well, I'd read spoilers, so I knew he was being killed off. It made me pretty unhappy when I found out. I wasn't really shocked, though, because the writers never really did much with his character, but I was still unhappy about it. I cried the entire episode, beginning to end.

C: I've heard you're also a bit of an unconventional shipper.

X: Only through fanfic. I'm a conventional shipper when it comes to the show itself, but the UC fanfics tend to be really interesting and fun to read.

C: Are there any UC fanfic couples you won't read from "Roswell?"

X: Max/Tess, and Max/Isabel because those give me the wiggins.

C: Have you ever written an unconventional couple Roswell fanfic?

X: Yeah. I wrote an Alex/Liz fic called "Something to Talk About." It's also Max/Tess and Kyle/Isabel.

C: I thought Max/Tess gave you the wiggins?

X: They do. But they weren't the focus of the story, so it was different.

C: Speaking of Tess...

X: Do we have to? I just ate breakfast.

C: I take it you dislike her.

X: Dislike is such a weak word. What I feel for Tess is more of a violent, burning kind of hatred.

C: I'm not going to ask why you hate her so much.

X: That's good. Because once I start talking about how much I hate her, it's hard for me to stop.

C: Okay, how about this one: what's your favorite "Roswell" episode?

X: That's a hard one. There were so many good episodes during the first season. "Pilot," "Leaving Normal," "285 South," "Heatwave," "Toy House," "Blind Date." It's impossible for me to choose an exclusive favorite.

C: I take it second season wasn't to your liking?

X: Some of the episodes were all right, but overall it didn't do much for me. Plus the whole killing-off-Alex thing didn't win them any brownie points with me, either.

C: Will you continue watching it once the show moves to UPN?

X: I might be away at college, but my parents will be record it for me, so I'll watch the tapes when I come home to visit.

C: Out of all the "Roswell" fanfics you've written, which was the hardest to write? The most fun? The one you're most proud of?

X: The hardest ones to write were "Matters of Trust" and its unfinished sequel, "Ghosts." The subject matter of those stories is emotionally draining. The most fun were "Inside Out" and "All's Well That Ends Well." Mainly because they were pointless fics that had no angst. I'm most proud of "Matters of Trust" and "You Were Meant For Me."

C: Speaking of "You Were Meant For Me," you left us with a cliffhanger! Are you ever going to write a sequel?

X : Actually, when I wrote it, I had every intention of writing the sequel ASAP, but was creatively inspired to write fanfic for other shows. I honestly do hope to do a sequel sometime if time allows.

C: Tell us about the "fanfic for other shows."

X: I got really into Dawson's Creek for awhile because of the whole Pacey/Joey thing, so I wrote four short fics about them. Then I started an Angel/Roswell crossover fic called "Illusions."

C: Isn't that actually part of a series you're working on?

X: Yeah. It was originally just a story, but it wound up being the first of a series because I kept getting ideas to add to it.

C: You're a self-admitted Angel/Cordelia shipper.

X: That's right.

C: On the show or through fanfic?

X: Both. I'm a huge fan of Angel/Cordelia. That's actually what hooked me on "Angel." I wasn't watching until rerun season started and I had never seen an episode of BtVS, so I had no idea that "Angel" was a spinoff or had anything to do with BtVS. I just thought the 2 characters had great chemistry together. When I saw "To Shanshu in L.A." it solidified my feelings.

C: So were you surprised to see your first Buffy/Angel crossover?

X: A little, yeah. So I started watching BtVS, too.

C: Who are your favorite couples on BtVS?

X: I don't have any, actually. I like all the characters, but I don't have any specific couples that I wish would get together, or stay together, or whatever. Whatever they do on the show (as long as it's not Buffy/Angel) is fine with me.

C: What do you have against Buffy/Angel?

X: I'm not exactly completely against them. I'm just an A/Cer. I may have felt differently if I'd been watching BtVS from the beginning. I have gone back and seen a lot of the old episodes and liked them. I think they were really well done, and I do see the B/A appeal, but I also see it as being...unhealthy. I don't know if that's the right word. I mean, it's like Romeo and Juliet. Yes, it is romantic, but they both end up dead. I guess a line from Sheryl Crow's song, "Crash and Burn" sums it up for me: "Well, love might be great, but why lose your head?"

C: Interesting point. So do you think Angel and Cordelia will ever actually get together?

X: Honestly, I don't know. I hope so. I think there's a chance it could happen. I also think at the end of the two series' they may put Buffy/Angel back together. It's hard to tell.

C: Do you take flack from a lot of B/Aers?

X: Me personally? No. But I know a lot of A/Cer's do.

C: Why do you think that is?

X: Well, I think a lot of long-term Buffy fans don't like Cordelia because of the way she was in high school. She was kind of snobby and mean to the other characters, but they weren't exactly nice to her most of the time, either. The way I look at it is that yeah, she was snobby in high school. So what? She's not like that anymore. People change. I think a lot of the people who dislike Cordelia were probably teased in high school themselves, so they identify with Willow or Buffy. Well, I was teased in high school, too, but I got over it. Life goes on. Being teased is not the end of the world.

C: Have you met a lot of other A/Cers?

X: Oh, heck yeah. Our numbers grow everyday. There's a bunch of us out there, believe me.

C: What would you like to see happen with A/C?

X: I'd like them to continue down the friendship path, to really let it build like they did with Mulder/Scully on "The X-Files." I don't want a lot of angst. Some would be all right, and is probably even necessary, but too much would make it like B/A and I don't want that.

C: Do you dislike Buffy Summers?

X: I think a lot of people assume that all A/C fans hate Buffy, but that's simply not true. I like her, I admire her, but I just don't want to see her and Angel back together.

C: What do you think of a Buffy/Spike pairing?

X: Let me say for starters, I adore James Marsters, and I love the character Spike. He's my favorite on BtVS. I'm not opposed to a Buffy/Spike pairing, but if they don't get together, I won't cry, either.

C: So this Angel/Roswell/Buffy crossover series you're working on. Any hints on upcoming fics?

X: : Wow. Spoilers for fanfic. That's kind of funny. Well, the series is about halfway done. It's going to get a bit...darker than it has been. Darla's up to no good and she's going to become a real problem, more so than just making Angel dream about her.

C: What about on the "Roswell" side of things?

X: Let's just say that the Roswell gang is going to participate in their first apocolyptic battle.

C: Sounds fun!

X: Only because it's fiction.

C: Touche. So, out of all the shows you watch, what couple do you think is the best?

X: Mulder and Scully from "The X-Files." Hands down. Maybe it's because I've watched the show for years and have waited for them to get together for so long, I don't know. They're just my all-time favorite couple on tv.

C: You know, after looking at the shows you watch, I'd venture to say you're a sci-fi fanatic.

X: You could say that. That's pretty accurate.

C: So what's so appealing about sci-fi?

X: I think it's because I've always had a fascination with unexplained phenomena.

C: Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?

X : You just quoted Mulder! I believe that there's a bigger chance that they're out there somewhere than not. There are billions of galaxies in the universe. We're honestly supposed to believe that we're the only ones that exist? Ego-centric much?

C: Do you think these "aliens" have visited Earth?

X: Let me put it this way. Over 4 million people a year claim they've been abducted by aliens. That's a whole lot of people. I can't rationally chalk all those abductions up to delusions. Now, I'm not saying I believe these "aliens" are necessarily from another planet or galaxy. I've taken an astronomy course and I know the likelyhood of Earth being visited by actual aliens is less than zero. But there has to be some explaination, right? There's a free online book titled, "Come Sail Away: UFO Phenomenon and the Bible" by Guy Malone. I suggest anyone who's interested in a new theory on alien abductions read this book. It's very fascinating.

C: I take it you've done a lot of research on the topic.

X: Understatement. It's just one of those things that I've been interested in for as long as I can remember, so it's been a continious researching process.

C: Do you believe in ghosts?

X: Yes, absolutely. There was a ghost in the dorm I was in my freshman year of college. A lot of strange things happened, like this one time my Sarah McLachlan cd started playing on its own.

C: Scary.

X: Terrifying.

C: So you're a Sarah McLachlan fan?

X: Oh, I'm a huge Sarah McLachlan fan. She's my very favorite singer.

C: What's your favorite album by her?

X: Don't make me choose. I can't do it.

C: Okay, what about your five favorite S.M. songs?

X: "Do What You Have to Do," "Fear," "Drawn to the Rhythm," "Ben's Song," and "Hold On." But I love them all.

C: What other musicians do you like?

X: Dido, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Coldplay, Third Eye Blind, Garbage, Hole, Kendall Payne, Enya, Garth Brooks, JoDee Messina. The list is endless. I like all types of music.

C: Speaking of Enya, you named your site after her song "Only Time," right?

X: Yes. I debated what to name the site for awhile but the lyrics of that song describe pretty much everything about me--my life, my feelings, my writing...all of it.

C: What about movies? What are some of you favorites?

X: Titanic, Twister, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, X-Files: Fight the Future, Independence Day, Jurassic Park, Steel Magnolias, Scream 2. It all depends on what mood I'm in.

C: What was your favorite cartoon as a kid?

X: I had two. Scooby Doo and She-Ra. It's no wonder I like BtVS so much. Put those two together and you've pretty much got Buffy.

C: What about books?

X: I've enjoyed a lot of the BtVS novels--especially the Gatekeeper Triology by Nancy Holder and Christopher Golden. My absolute favorite is Jane Eyre by Charolette Bronte. Anything by Richard Peck is good; as authors go, he's one of my favorites. He's actually a local author, so that's how I was introduced to his stuff. I loved "Hamlet" by Shakespeare. I've been reading the Bible a lot lately, and I came across a new sci-fi/fantasy series called EverWorld by K.A. Applegate that I love and highly recommend to anyone who likes the genre. I read a pretty wide variety of stuff.

C: Are you a morning person or a night person?

X: As much as I hate it (and hate to admit it), I'm more of a morning person. My brain tends to stop functioning around 5 p.m. I did most of my studying this year in the wee hours of the morning and my grades were higher than they've ever been.

C: When you need to talk to someone, who do you confide in?

X: It depends on what I need to talk about. A lot of times I'll turn to my mom because we're very close. Other times I turn to one of my best friends (Sarah, Lea, Tim). I have a very good online friend (hi, Sarah!) that has helped me work through things on several occasions. My 9 year old nephew Nick is also a great listener, and gives great advice. I think everyone should get a kid's perspective on things because they're so much wiser than adults sometimes. Kids look for the simplest solution, where as adults have a tendency to make things more complicated than they really are, and a kid can point out something that's totally obvious that an adult has probably overlooked. I also pray for guidance from God, and spend a lot of time writing in a journal.

C: You've recently become a Christian.

X: Yes. It was a long road for me and I avoided it for a long time. I was a Baptist up through high school, but I stopped going to church my senior year when some of the people started talking about how any non-Baptists were going to hell. It really turned me off religion for a long time. I became agnostic, with the "who cares" attitude. Then I went down the pagan path for awhile. I got really into all the new age stuff--crystals, feathers, tarot cards, etc. But it never really felt right. Eventually I went back to being agnostic. Then when I was taking a biology course, I started to believe in the Theory of Evolution and the Big Bang. My best friend Sarah converted to Christianity, and while I didn't convert til several months later, her conversion made me start thinking about religion again. Anyway, at the end of February, I watched the movie, "Left Behind" with my parents. I can't explain it, but it just felt like the truth. And it terrified me. I converted to Christianity that same night.

C: Has anyone made comments about it just being another phase you're going through?

X: Yeah. But it's okay. I understand, given my history of religious wandering, why someone would think that. All I can say to those who think that is that for me, I finally feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I feel like I'm on the right path. And I've had signs that have proven to me that this is right.

C: So are you Baptist again?

X: No. I consider myself non-denominational. I think by separating yourself into all these different categories, you divide yourself from a lot of other people and I think that's where a lot of prejudice and discrimination begins.

C: Has your life changed since you became a Christian?

X: Definitely. I feel like a whole person. I feel like I have a purpose in life, and my outlook on the future is much more optimistic than it used to be. I think I've become more of an understanding, forgiving person, and I'm much calmer and less anxious than I used to be. I really feel like I've learned who I am.

C: If you had your life to live all over again, what would you do differently?

X: Nothing. I believe that everything that's happened in my life has had a purpose and has made me who I am today.

C: Are you saying you have no regrets?

X: Not at all. I have regrets. I think everybody does. But I've learned a lesson from every regret I have. For all I know, something's about to happen that I need the knowledge from one of those lessons, and without that knowledge, then what would I do?

C: So are you saying you believe in fate?

X: If you define fate as being that God has a plan for each of us, yes.

C: So you believe that everything that happens to us is pre-destined? That we have no choices?

X: Oh, we have choices. I believe that God allows us to be who we are, and to make the choices on our own. But whether we're right or wrong in those choices--that determines when certain things happen. I think, however, those are the lessons we learn. Eventually we all come full circle.

C: What do you want to do before you die?

X: There are a lot of things I want to do before I die. Way too many to list.

C: Okay, if you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

X: That I could learn some balance in my life. I always seem to be focused on one specific thing, such as school, and then every other aspect of my life gets neglected.

C: What's your biggest fear?

X: That I'm washed up as a writer. I write fanfic, but I haven't written anything of my own for over two years now. I guess I'm afraid I can't do it anymore.

C: If you could describe yourself in one word, what would you say?

X: Eccentric.

C: Who's your favorite relative and why?

X: My nephew Nick. I can relate to him more than I can the adults in my family. We get along great despite our 11 year age difference. He's the light of my life.

C: Who do you think understands you the best?

X: That's kind of a toss-up between my mom and my best friend Sarah.

C: If you could be any kind of animal, what would you be?

X: A butterfly or a dolphin.

C: And, last but not least, if you could guest star on any show, what show would you choose?

X: Probably Roswell or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

****Callie Jacobsen is not a real person. She is actually one of Angie's alternate personalities. **
***Angie does not really have dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities). She was simply wanting to make an interview/ homepage thingie, and thought the normal, I'm 20 years old, live in Illinois, blah, blah format was boring. So she used one of her characters from a soap opera called Awakenings she wrote in high school as the interviewer. *

**Since the interview was not actually an interview, this "meeting" did not take place in the basement office of the FBI building (that was just a reference to "The X-Files"). It actually was written on Angie's home computer.

*Angie frequently talks about herself in second and third person.

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