It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.

Ok, so this is quite a story – I get really excited just thinking about it – but before we get into all that, let’s start off with some pictures of cupcakes. 

All images can be clicked for a bigger version.

We made these a few weeks ago to commemorate the end of our epic re-watch; icing isn’t really an exact science… but we try.

      
  

Here we have an alien fetus, some ova and Mulder sperm (affectionately known as the William cupcake), Spender the Burn Victim and Dead Fowley – notice the blood gushing out of her forehead – and, of course, our old friend, Flukie.

But that’s enough of that; now for the really interesting stuff:

24 July: X-Files Day
I woke up so giddy I could hardly see. I’m sure you’re all familiar with that feeling.

Eirian and Wednesday came over bearing gifts (t-shirt!) and we left the house, clothing ablaze with such slogans as “The Truth is Out There,” “Trust No One,” and “I Want to Believe.”

We had been told that tickets for the midnight showing were to go on sale at “4:00pm and not a minute sooner,” so, to bide the time, we went downtown to pick up copies of the new X-Files comic (which is great, by the way; loads of sexy Easter eggs), and then decided to head down to Commercial Drive anyhow, regardless of the fact that it wasn’t yet 3:00.

Upon arrival, the lady at the front desk sold us tickets early – amid many squees and giggles – and we met some of our illustrious mods. (By the way, I’m still intensely jealous of that lunch box.)

Having not eaten yet that day, and having heard that Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter were to be downtown later that day for a little red-carpet-press-junket-type-thing, we went back downtown for lunch, and promptly set up camp in front of the Theatre Formerly Known as the Paramount.

Two hours later, this was set up:

And a little while after that – having espied our fangirl!t-shirts – the newly-arrived media began hounding us for interviews and footage for television spots.

Some of the articles are here: CBC News, Metro News, the Georgia Straight; note the direct quote from yours truly. Actually, that was at one of my more ineloquent moments; most of what I said was far more interesting, and far more insightful; mostly I talked about how great Chris and Frank – and the rest of the cast and crew – had been to their fans, and how no one on Earth parallels my Agent Scully. Apparently we are also scheduled to be on television several times later this week.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, Rochelle showed up:

Left to right: Rochelle, me, Wednesday & Eirian

People had started to gather around, but no one had as good a vantage point as we did; we are the masters.

At this point, Tony – a fellow fan we had met – froze up, and began to blather incoherently about something happening behind us. Sure enough, we turn around, and who do we see walking across the street but these two fine gentlemen:

Ok, maybe that's not the greatest picture, but it was the first chronologically, so there it is.

Every kind word ever said about these guys is absolutely true. Before even looking at any of the press, they made sure they spoke to us, and signed things, and what not.

 

Oh yes, that’s right: there they are signing my comic of the pilot episode. Here’s the finished product:

While Chris and Frank were talking to the press, a few other cast members showed up, including Marco, the boy who played Christian (somewhere, there are pictures of us with him, but someone else took them, so I doubt I will ever see them), and Fagin Woodcock, who made it clear that he wasn’t a villain, he was just misunderstood, in fact, he wasn’t evil at all: his Frisbee just flew into that poor FBI agent’s garage…

Then – again, thanks to the t-shirts – someone asked if we wanted our pictures taken with Chris and Frank. I think this is probably the dumbest question I have ever been asked.

Did you want a detail shot? I don’t care, here it is:

While all this was going on, Rochelle – who is absolutely shameless and I love it – couldn’t resist the opportunity to point out to Mr. Carter how sad she was at not being able to see the film. (I should explain that Chris and Frank were not only there for the media, but also for a very exclusive cast and crew screening of The X-Files: I Want to Believe.) Everyone went inside, but Chris and Frank told us to wait downstairs (while such personages as Kim Manners walked in, no less).

A few minutes later, the woman who was running the event came down the escalator and told us – Rochelle, myself, our illustrious mods, and some other members of our little community – that Chris and Frank said we could come in.

Let’s just pause a moment and let that sink in, shall we.

We got to go in.

To the exclusive cast and crew pre-screening of The X-Files film.

Before anyone else.

Holy shit.

She gave us these:

We squeed all the way up the escalator and into our seats.

Our mayor was there, but he didn’t go inside the theatre; instead he gave someone (an MLA from… somewhere) a very large plaque which was presented to Chris and Frank before the screening started. It was a proclamation, officially declaring that July 24^th would hereafter be known as X-Files Day. It was all very well and good, but all I could think about was that Mulder and Scully’s enormous visages would, at some point in the next two hours, be kissing right in front of my face.

I had to hold my hand over my mouth the entire time to keep the embarrassing fangirl noises in.

After the film, there was a little meet-and-greet where we met Bruce Harwood, and Tom Braidwood, got signed posters, and gushed profusely over Chris and Frank, thanking them, and telling them over and over that they were the most amazing people in the universe.

The rest is somewhat less spectacular: we went back down to Commercial Drive – squeeing all the way – for the midnight showing, where we met up with some other members of the community.

The next day, there was cake and balloons. We had gone to Diary Queen a few days before and asked if we could get Mulder and Scully on our cake. We got some strange looks, but those looks were nothing compared to the one I got when I went to pick it up. The lady at the desk asked me what was on the cake, and I told her it was "a picture of two people lying on autopsy tables." She was speechless. 

   

Later we – and even more of you – went to the 7:00 showing of the movie, and then headed to the Yaletown Brewpub (which, unfortunately, we had to leave because we are all underage – though they didn’t seem to catch all of us).

Saturday, on Rock 101’s electric lunch, the DJ – a friend of mine – said “Happy Birthday to Danielle, the biggest X-Files fan in the universe.” This, of course, is not true, but it’s very flattering. And if you thought the ice cream cake we had was great, look at this:

The mountains stood up, and there were little hand-made chocolate trees on the back, and holy shit... I was completely in awe. I was so paranoid I almost couldn't cut it, but the thought of eating Mulder and Scully's faces got the better of me. A friend of mine made that for me... ironically it was the wife of the man who got to go on a date with Scully in Jersey Devil.

At any rate, we saw the movie three times in 2 days. Oh, and Chris Carter wished me a happy birthday. I would have mentioned names, but I know that some people don’t like having their names/screen names bandied about. I do have pictures of some of you from the red carpet, so if you’d like them, email me.

In closing, I’d just like to say that it was really nice meeting all of you. It’s one thing to meet other fans on the internet, but actually meeting them in person is a really nice reminder that I am not, as other people like to point out, overly crazy and obsessive.(Or, at the very least, that I am not alone in my crazy obsessiveness.)

Tata!
Danielle

 

P.S.
Happy belated birthday to our mods.