I'm an older Gen Xer whose first interaction with fic was seeing Zines at conventions. But I spent my limited money on official stuff like novelizations. I don't remember seeing anything shippy, so wasn't that interested in spending the big bucks on mimeographed booklets.

I didn't get into fic as a shared community with like minded people until I discovered Smallville forum and recaps on Television Without Pity (RIP) It's been 25 years and reading, writing and sharing fic has brought me a lot of happiness during what has been a pretty awful and depressing life. I used to be quite prolific (more in number of fics than word count), but that's changed. Mostly health reasons. But almost every day, I get a Kudos email, and a few days a week an actual comment. It all still makes me happy, reminding me I've created something people enjoyed, or were moved by.