F-Files Postmortem

F-Files has ended. As we’ve seen many times in the past, I had an impulse out of left field that was strong enough that I actually sat down and wrote it. I really liked the actual X-Files; some things about it just spoke to me. Just like Judge Dredd did once, and various other things. My passion for RE seems to be eternal. Will X-Files fade in my brain as Judge Dredd and so many others have? We’ll see.

Anyway, my VFU stories are definitely shifting into a more structured and plot-driven area. “Come for the smut, stay for the plot,” is probably closed to what I’m aiming for, although I understand that for most readers that does not align with the more common and perfectly legitimate position of: “Come for the smut, then get back to doing other things,” I get that, but I do it for the love of the game and I’m sure my approach will continue to change. And of course, if we’re going to do “Come for the smut,” then the smut needs to be compelling, which is something that I’m still hit or miss on and trying to be better about.

With F-Files, I wanted to cover the beats and some aspects of the feel of an X-Files episode. A little investigation, a little spookiness, a hint of groundedness, and some interplay between differing perspectives. We mostly achieved that. Flores is more open-minded and laid-back than Scully, and Wilde is more pragmatic than Mulder. I’m hoping that they end up having good chemistry, but we have to see. X-Files was arguably at its best in a handful of exceptional standalone episodes, but there’s a lot to be said for the overarching aliens plot as well. (If you are one of the readers who is unfamiliar with X-Files, watching a couple of those really good episodes would get you up to speed on the premise and be a good time. You don’t have to slog through all 200 episodes.)

Anyway, what I’m getting at is that while X-Files can ultimately be described as being about aliens, F-Files is not. That’s not to say we’ll never do anything with that, but F-Files is more interested in creepypasta, SCP, Backroomsy, occult stuff. In the X-Files, Mulder’s obsessed with aliens because he believes that his sister was abducted. Well, Wilde has her own backstory of that type, which we’ll do if we ever get around to Episode 2, and that will bring some focus to the whole ‘old technology’ aspect of the story that we never got into. X-Files wasn’t always ambiguous, but a lot of the time it left you wondering. If I do more F-Files, I’ll want to include that sense of mystery, but try not to be annoying about it by also granting some closure and satisfaction.

On the matter of smut in F-Files; while I think it’s “OK” lewd content for Alice to hook up with multiverse VFU cameos as she and Flores travel the country investigating stuff, I’m not sure that’s a good enough lewd hook, so I think the smut angle of F-Files will benefit if I make sure that the spooky thing in each episode is also in some way horny and tie that in centrally. I think that would give F-Files a more distinctive identity and better status as smut. I’m sure that’s a niche audience that wants explicitly spooky smut, but and I have no idea how to find and/or reach that audience, yet it’s still logical to create the identity and commit.

So, I have a pretty good idea of how to continue improving the F-Files. The only question is when and how. A plot-driven story, especially a new one, benefits from being a daily. But I think the daily readers are not clamoring for more F-Files. F-Files would work best as a single PDF like the ones on Patreon. (And Firewatch will be collected into a single PDF for Patrons—look for it one of these Fridays.)

When and how to do more F-Files is to be determined. If someone wants to sponsor it to get it back sooner, that’s always an option, but it’ll be back on its own eventually regardless. It makes sense to do F-Files around Halloween, but I don’t think that timing works this year because Halloween will be here so fast. We’ll figure it out. Thanks for reading, and of course if you do like F-Files and want more, be sure to let me know. I had a pretty good summer, and although the smut will slow down now that I’m back to work, we do have lots of plans and hopefully fun stuff on the way. The amount of content on Patreon has grown steadily this summer, and now there are quite a few Twine stories and PDFs if you want any of that. Several new things get added each month even if you don’t care about polls, so I think it’s a decent value. Thanks for stopping by!