I don't know how long AO3 has been around, but that must have been when I discovered it. I went ahead and got an account so I'd have it in case I wanted to post my stories there, and then I guess I just forgot about it. That was during my semi-hiatus while I was getting my master's, so I probably didn't have the time to post stories there then.
While I will always love having my own site, it seems like fandom has moved away from individual sites in favor of big archives. I do like the archives for the variety and amount of stories there. The reader/writer interaction is nice, too. I still have a handful of readers who leave comments on my site, but since I've started posting on AO3, the majority of my feedback comes from there, just as it used to come from reviews on AC. I guess that's what it comes down to - I cross-post so I can reach a wider audience than just the people who visit my website.
That kind of thing happens to me all the time! Where I do something and forget about it.
I wonder if it's due to the variety, but also that it's a lot harder to lose things in general. Like all those abandoned Angelfire sites from way back when. I enjoyed AC because it brought a lot of people together, more than just an individual site would, but I also enjoy that authors have control over the way their work looks more with their own sites, so you get the full experience of their vision.
I think it's the community of AC that I miss. It's very different when it's quiet. Maybe some day someone will review something I post on AO3 and it'll feel like a community again, lol. At least this forum is still here.
I'm trying to think if I have ever read a fanfic that would qualify as that. (And thank you for explaining what that means because I've never come across that phrase before.) Maybe a short story, but I can't think of a novel that was truly dark from start to finish. Even the darkest suspense stories I've read had happy endings. I have read published novels that would probably qualify though, and I've enjoyed those, even though they were depressing and/or horrifying. So I guess there's an audience for everything. I always feel the need to give disclaimers for my stories that I worry may be too dark for some readers, but I have yet to have someone tell me they're too dark. But even those stories weren't dark all the way through.
As promised, I will explain random tropes and fanfic things I know of when I mention them, lol! I think it's harder to make a novel dark throughout than it is to make a short story dark throughout. But you're right, there are definitely published novels that qualify better, though I can't think of one off hand at the moment.
Lately I've been worrying that I haven't given enough disclaimers. Like should I go back and add specific warnings to chapters? I just hate spoilers, but I don't know if people would prefer having them if they're willing to risk a spoiler. I like that "chose not to warn" exists.
That's a good way to do it. Maybe I'll have to try it that way tomorrow.
Did it work?
LOL That's very true. I don't think any of us expected you to come back to fanfic, so anything you post at this point is just an added bonus. The readers who weren't around when you were writing before won't have any preconceived notions about you, and those who remember you as someone who disappeared without finishing projects will be impressed by your regular posting schedule and ability to finish stories. I certainly am! I'm glad you cared enough to come back.
LOL Love it! It is a guilty road, for sure.
I didn't expect to either, and yet, here we are. It's probably heavy in the nostalgia and leaning into things that made sense. We can't say I'll finish anything yet, there's still five chapters, lol. Let's reserve that judgement for when I finish something that's not related to PBox.
Kidding, I'll probably finish it. I think it helps that like eleven-year-old Dee, I once again have stories in my heart that want to come out. And once it was enough of a thing, it's just not the same writing without the community. Not readers necessarily (though readers are nice too), but talking to other writers.
As always, I'm happy to be back!
Do people often come back? I feel like it's usually more of a "once they're gone, they're gone" type thing.
Thanks for always enjoying my jokes. Backstreet jokes were something I didn't know I missed making until there were appreciative people to tell them to around again, lol.
Aww! I googled your first line and couldn't find it. I'm glad you still have the story saved though. Aww, a Romeo and Juliet story. Did Nick and the girl both die at the end? I wrote a Romeo and Juliet-esque story back in the day too. It was very silly. I had read the real Romeo and Juliet by that point in my life, but I'm sure it was the Leo movie that inspired me more LOL.
I kind of have it saved? I think I got thirteen chapters of it on AC before something died. I might have it somewhere, but that would require a lot more effort.
They did not die! It was less a tragedy and more inspired by the rival "families" aspect. I feel like at the end of the story, the Boys won the battle of the bands competition and Nick got the girl. lol That sounds accurate based on my vague memory of it. The only other things that sticks out is Nick climbing in her window to see her like in Clarissa Explains It All, lmao.
Obviously the Leo movie! I don't think it's the worst adaptation of the play, but I also enjoy Baz Luhrman contrasting the ancient with the modern. He did it in Gatsby too and people hated it! But I always defended his choice.
I've always said whoever came up with the concept must have been high, and I bet the experience of watching it is better if you're high too LOL.
Whenever you want! We already have shirts from the 2019 DNA tour, so I don't know if we'll make new ones for next year.
Thanks! They all take place at Christmas time, and I have tried to write them at Christmas time, but the last two got so long, I ended up starting them before Christmas and not finishing them until February in one case and April in the other. If I was smart, I would start writing them in the summer so they'd be ready by Christmas, but I've always gotten ideas at the last minute.
Absolutely! Not about to test that theory, but I agree completely.
Hmmm... I have ideas. I'll get back to you.
Aww, I feel like a holiday story works better when you're in a holiday mood. Maybe channel the Boys in Bethlehem and decorate your house with Christmas decorations, lol. I can see why they would take a while though.
LOL We need a "Teens react to... BSB fanfic!" Or "BSB fanfic turned original fiction!"
A teenybopper story about the Boys today would be entertaining for sure. I know, I was so naive too, and I was mostly writing about Brian, who is only ten years older than me. But there's a big difference in life experience from 15 to 25. In my first story, I originally had Brian fall in love with a 16-year-old (because I was 14, so 16 sounded, like, so mature). Then I realized that was technically illegal, so I aged her up to 18. She and her twin sister both drove brand new VW Beetles in different colors because that was my dream car as a 14-year-old, and I had unrealistic expectations of what kind of cars teenagers would get to drive LOL.
YES! lol Please teens, tell me what I've done wrong! I just don't want to turn Minako into a VSCO girl or anything!
It was only 7/8 years for me (I relished the time between our birthdays when it was only seven years, lol), but I just didn't have a clue on what a nineteen-year-old was doing with their life! Hence why I posted my old stories and laughed and said they were terribly naive as a college student (who then understood what a nineteen-year-old was doing with their life, which was... being a mess).
I get it! 16 is mature when you're 14. Sixteen-year-olds can drive, they have some level of responsibility, they seem so cool. And then you reach 16 and you're like "What was I thinking?" Aw, brand new VW beetles, so 90s! I also had unrealistic car expectations. I wanted a BMW Z3 so badly and not only could I have ever gotten one of those as a lower middle class student, but no one at my high school had one (or a Z4 by that point). Heck, I have an adult job now and
still can't afford a BMW, lol.
You know, I had originally made Minako 17 in PBox because I was 17 when Never Gone came out and I... just didn't care about the legality that she was 17 and Nick was 25, supposedly. Again, the whole thing was less squicky when Nick reads 18 and in the big edit, I took out any clear definite age references (even though Minako and Renee are clearly still in high school). Then PNecklace starts with a reference to college, so that's my way of saying "we're all legal age here, don't @me about my questionable life choices in 2005," lol.
Clearly the lawnmower is to cut the body into smaller pieces so it's easier to bury! The bones would probably mess up the blade though.
See, I foresaw this argument in response, but not only would the bones mess up the blades, but you would also spray blood everywhere. It would not be subtle. I stand by my judgement of your choice of tools to assist in the body burying.
Author
Topic: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3) (Read 446995 times)