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[nicksgal]

I haven't read Redwall in a long time, but those books had such a vivid world and history, it seems like perfect source material for fanfic.

I haven't either, but I feel like that one and Watership Down (the rabbit one) are both so vivid that they would make great source material.

I'm glad your friends are interested and supportive!  I'm sure mine would be too (supportive, not necessarily interested LOL), but I have never even been tempted to tell them.  That's a big no for me LOL.  It is nice to have friends in the fandom who are genuinely interested and understanding though.  I guess that's why I've never felt the need to talk about my writing in real life.

I am too, albeit a little surprised. And now I get to find out about everyone's writing related history or aspirations, it's been fascinating. You know, other than the two I recruited as gamma readers? delta readers? (I guess the old version of PBox was pretty much just written and posted with minimal editing from me, then AC got to read it, then I edited it, and now AC gets to read it again, now I'm editing it again, and they read it... so whatever that is... third version? Sixth if you count all the editing?), it mostly comes up when people start talking about all the bread and puzzles they did during quarantine/stay-at-home recommendation s, lol. I didn't bake any bread or do any puzzles, but I did start writing a book.

We're here for you! (I assume this is another case where I can speak for everyone.)

[nicksgal]

So NaNoFinMo is more like NaOhnoFinMo for me... I wrote my six words on Thursday and then have had no inspiration whatsoever on it, but I did have some major inspiration on OFPBox, so I did about 2100 words of that instead yesterday. NaNo won't let you have multiple projects associated with official events, but I figure if it's all PBox universe related, it all counts, so I counted it. I have this sneaking suspicion that this chapter may stick me for a while and I'll just have to find some other part of the story to start writing ahead. I'm just trying to decide which section would be more immediately interesting for me. I thought it would be the more Nick focused portion (for obvious reasons), but the other one is where little bits and pieces have been popping up lately, so...  

Also, just wanted to let everyone know that this:

How did you come up with the idea to have demon hearts become gemstones?  Is Pandora's Necklace like the [Nick's] Heart of the Ocean? LOL

You know... It was mostly leaning into the gemstone aesthetic with the countries in the story. That and they needed to be something tangible for the end of PBox/beginning of PNecklace. I never intended it to be anything deep and poetic necessarily. Please tell the children that I “just liked green,” lmao

apparently did have a reason that I just found again while researching the "additional things that would be interesting" that came up last week, although what I said ("just leaning into the gemstone aesthetic") is still true. But I don't know that I can say "why gemstones" without giving something big away that has yet to be revealed. I have really got to stop thinking I'll remember things and actually write them down! I'm pretty good about remembering that things are important for PBox et al., but not where the inspiration came from, lol! At this point, I should just assume that any tiny thing is "all mythology somewhere," probably...

Julie, how's Camp Nano going for you? It seems that on a whole MBK is going great! Also how was your April Fool's joke? I forgot to check.

Anyone else writing who wants to challenge themselves to NaNo with us? Or has writing they want to talk about without necessarily taking on a challenge?

[RokofAges75]

I totally believe ghosts are real, but I also absolutely do not want to meet one. I did a lantern tour at Cave of the Winds (there's another thing that's really fascinating: caves) and I didn't feel anything paranormal. I know that the tour guides specifically pick on people who seem like they'll have big reactions, so I purposefully went with the persona of "externally cool as a cucumber, internally screaming" to the point that when they volunteered me and and another friend (who was one of my bridesmaids) to do the 'Lover's Lane" walk, I said "We're not even that close. Business associates really." Then I let her volunteer someone else, lol.

The part of me that likes creepy stuff would like to believe in ghosts, but I've never had a paranormal experience that has convinced me they're real.  The only thing that even came close was once when I was in college, a group of friends and I drove to this supposedly haunted bridge in another town.  In typical urban legend fashion, the story went that a school bus crashed off the bridge, and if you stopped your car in the center and put it in neutral, the ghosts of the dead children would push the car to safety.  We tried it in the middle of the night - stopped the car just past the center of the bridge and put it in neutral.  And sure enough... the car started rolling slowly backwards, going slightly UPHILL back over the bridge.  It was freaky.  We didn't see anything, but we couldn't explain how it could have rolled up an incline.  We ended up going back the next night in a different car and put baby powder on the hood and bumper to try to get finger prints, but nothing happened, and there were no obvious prints.  So who knows.

Cave of the Winds makes me think of South Park too LOL.  Did you see Manbearpig there?  Someday I will have to make it out to Colorado and do a tour of places referenced in South Park - Casa Bonita and Cave of the Winds for sure.

I love history too, which is why it probably gets easier for me the more removed it is from modern. Of the ancient preserved sites we went too, I liked Akrotiri (in Santorini) better, but they were both really interesting (this might be my predisposition to all things Greek over Roman, but who knows). In Akrotiri, there's a theory that everyone escaped the town before the eruption since they've found things preserved in the layers of ash but never any remains. They also built a structure around the ruins to keep them from deteriorating as they excavated, which was also fascinating. I would go again to either in a heartbeat. It had been unbearably hot the week we went to Pompeii and that day it started pouring rain (but wasn't cold), so most of the tour groups left and ours didn't, so we basically had all of Pompeii to ourselves. It was amazing.

I only went to Ground Zero after it became the memorial, but it was a huge gut punch since the original tower site is now this big water structure surrounded by the black name walls. I definitely stood there for a long time pondering existence and tragedy.

Your trip to Greece sounds so cool!  I like ancient Greece better than Rome too, although I would happily visit either place.

I went on a high school choir trip to NYC nine months after 9/11, so I got to see Ground Zero when it was still a hole.  There was a temporary monument made of plywood there at the time, where people had written messages and put up pictures, flags, flowers, etc.  It was incredibly sad.  I haven't been back to that site since they built the new building and memorial, but I'd like to someday.  I take my class there via Google Maps street view every year when we do our 9/11 lesson, so I have seen what it looks like now, just not in person.

[RokofAges75]

So NaNoFinMo is more like NaOhnoFinMo for me... I wrote my six words on Thursday and then have had no inspiration whatsoever on it, but I did have some major inspiration on OFPBox, so I did about 2100 words of that instead yesterday. NaNo won't let you have multiple projects associated with official events, but I figure if it's all PBox universe related, it all counts, so I counted it. I have this sneaking suspicion that this chapter may stick me for a while and I'll just have to find some other part of the story to start writing ahead. I'm just trying to decide which section would be more immediately interesting for me. I thought it would be the more Nick focused portion (for obvious reasons), but the other one is where little bits and pieces have been popping up lately, so... 

Oh no!  Sorry to hear you're having a hard time so far.  Do you think the pressure of having a goal and a time limit is getting to you, or were you just due to hit a road block?  It happens to all of us.  I'm glad you were inspired to work on something.  I think it still counts, since it's all in the same universe.  Sending good vibes your way; hope you can keep making progress on one project or the other!

Julie, how's Camp Nano going for you? It seems that on a whole MBK is going great! Also how was your April Fool's joke? I forgot to check.

Anyone else writing who wants to challenge themselves to NaNo with us? Or has writing they want to talk about without necessarily taking on a challenge?

So far so good!  I've written every day of April, and my streak is up to 22 consecutive days.  I didn't update my word count the first day and now wish I had when I saw there was a badge I could have earned for doing so.  Rookie mistake!

Three people acknowledged my April Fool's joke, which is better than some years, so I guess it was a success.  That is partly why I went ahead and posted MBK this week, since my new Brian story was obviously not real.

Yes, I hope more people come on here and share!

[nicksgal]

The part of me that likes creepy stuff would like to believe in ghosts, but I've never had a paranormal experience that has convinced me they're real.  The only thing that even came close was once when I was in college, a group of friends and I drove to this supposedly haunted bridge in another town.

The car went uphill?!!! I hate everything about that, lol. I bet they didn't help you the second time because they saw the baby powder and knew you weren't actually in trouble. That's like a definite "meant to be here, meant to test this" sign.

Have we talked about sleep paralysis here yet? Because that's the only thing that's ever happened to me that felt paranormal and I thought maybe I saw something, but could have just been spooky shadows while unable to move. It only happened once, but it was horrifying.

Cave of the Winds makes me think of South Park too LOL.  Did you see Manbearpig there?  Someday I will have to make it out to Colorado and do a tour of places referenced in South Park - Casa Bonita and Cave of the Winds for sure.

I'm sure that I could mention anything vaguely Coloradoan and it would remind you of South Park, lol. The waterpark episode, for instance, is based on our waterpark, but I'm betting they were not on board with them saying the water was 99% pee anyway. But the shot with the little "street sign" for the rides is all accurate.

lol! I did not see Manbearpig, but maybe that's the monster that pulls people into the pit, lol. I wonder if they have one of those that's already being run... There's not that I can find, which is surprising to me, but I found this little article that would be a start: https://www.outtherecolorado.com/adventures/11-real-south-park-locations-you-ll-find-in-colorado/article_495a072e-dc36-58ca-a174-5eaa87de649c.html

Your trip to Greece sounds so cool!  I like ancient Greece better than Rome too, although I would happily visit either place.

I went on a high school choir trip to NYC nine months after 9/11, so I got to see Ground Zero when it was still a hole.  There was a temporary monument made of plywood there at the time, where people had written messages and put up pictures, flags, flowers, etc.  It was incredibly sad.  I haven't been back to that site since they built the new building and memorial, but I'd like to someday.  I take my class there via Google Maps street view every year when we do our 9/11 lesson, so I have seen what it looks like now, just not in person.

It was super cool! I wish we'd had more time. There were a lot of things I wanted to see, but it was a lot of "____ or _____" things. And we didn't see Crete at all because we docked at like 7am and left at noon, so it just wasn't worth it to rush to any place only to rush back to the boat.

The temporary monument seems even more sad, the freshness probably. That's cool that you do a virtual tour for them. It's nice that we have access to stuff like that now.

[nicksgal]

Oh no!  Sorry to hear you're having a hard time so far.  Do you think the pressure of having a goal and a time limit is getting to you, or were you just due to hit a road block?  It happens to all of us.  I'm glad you were inspired to work on something.  I think it still counts, since it's all in the same universe.  Sending good vibes your way; hope you can keep making progress on one project or the other!

I'm just happy to be writing at all, so I'm not super worried yet. If I go the entire month without writing PNecklace anything, then I will worry. I was probably just due for a roadblock. I also had a small "if I could go back and change x in the beginning" moment, so I'm trying to get away from wanting to do major editing while posting (especially when x thing in the beginning is semi-helpful to the story as is, but becomes redundant with some additions to the OF version, which is where the want to change it probably came from, I think). It probably doesn't help that I'm also thinking "Yeah, that series discussion, I think that this is the weak one right now... still got some awesome stuff, but could use some love..." while I'm writing, ha. I think it will all be fine. I just need to get out of my head and back into the characters' heads. Thanks for the good vibes!

So far so good!  I've written every day of April, and my streak is up to 22 consecutive days.  I didn't update my word count the first day and now wish I had when I saw there was a badge I could have earned for doing so.  Rookie mistake!

Woo! 22-day streak! That's awesome! You can go back and add it after the fact and it will count it in your streak! Go to https://nanowrimo.org/stats and it should pop up with MBK as your current project. Then in the "Progress Updates" box, you can click the "+Add New Update" link and at the bottom where the date is, just change it to the first by either manually writing "01" where "03" is or by clicking the little calendar icon and selecting the first. You deserve those words you wrote on April 1st to count toward your goal and give you a two-day streak badge!

Three people acknowledged my April Fool's joke, which is better than some years, so I guess it was a success.  That is partly why I went ahead and posted MBK this week, since my new Brian story was obviously not real.

Yes, I hope more people come on here and share!

What was this fake Brian story about? Self-insert romance and a bus crash? lol

[RokofAges75]

The car went uphill?!!! I hate everything about that, lol. I bet they didn't help you the second time because they saw the baby powder and knew you weren't actually in trouble. That's like a definite "meant to be here, meant to test this" sign.

Yep!  We had that thought, too, that if there were ghosts, they saw the baby powder and decided not to cooperate the second time.  Who knows.

Have we talked about sleep paralysis here yet? Because that's the only thing that's ever happened to me that felt paranormal and I thought maybe I saw something, but could have just been spooky shadows while unable to move. It only happened once, but it was horrifying.

That does sound terrifying!  I'm glad it only happened to you once.

I'm sure that I could mention anything vaguely Coloradoan and it would remind you of South Park, lol. The waterpark episode, for instance, is based on our waterpark, but I'm betting they were not on board with them saying the water was 99% pee anyway. But the shot with the little "street sign" for the rides is all accurate.

lol! I did not see Manbearpig, but maybe that's the monster that pulls people into the pit, lol. I wonder if they have one of those that's already being run... There's not that I can find, which is surprising to me, but I found this little article that would be a start: https://www.outtherecolorado.com/adventures/11-real-south-park-locations-you-ll-find-in-colorado/article_495a072e-dc36-58ca-a174-5eaa87de649c.html

That's awesome!  I love that list.  Adding Fairplay to my personal list of places to go.

I'm just happy to be writing at all, so I'm not super worried yet. If I go the entire month without writing PNecklace anything, then I will worry. I was probably just due for a roadblock. I also had a small "if I could go back and change x in the beginning" moment, so I'm trying to get away from wanting to do major editing while posting (especially when x thing in the beginning is semi-helpful to the story as is, but becomes redundant with some additions to the OF version, which is where the want to change it probably came from, I think). It probably doesn't help that I'm also thinking "Yeah, that series discussion, I think that this is the weak one right now... still got some awesome stuff, but could use some love..." while I'm writing, ha. I think it will all be fine. I just need to get out of my head and back into the characters' heads. Thanks for the good vibes!

I hate when that happens.  I get stuck in my own head sometimes too, obsessing over small details.  "Is this right?  Should I go back and change this?"  I was doing it yesterday and spent way too long researching, trying to find an answer to what seemed like a simple question.  But I never could find a clear answer... I assume because every case is different.  I finally decided if I am actively searching and can't find an answer, no one is going to be able to fact-check me anyway, so I might as well just stick with my thought and not worry about whether it's right or not.  As long as it sounds realistic, no one's going to question it.

That is one challenge of writing a series - always comparing the later stories to the earlier ones and trying to live up to the original.  It's hard to compare a work in progress to one that is already complete though.  PNecklace probably only seems like the weak one because it's not done.  By the time you finish it, I'm sure you'll be happy with the final product.  I have faith in you!

Woo! 22-day streak! That's awesome! You can go back and add it after the fact and it will count it in your streak! Go to https://nanowrimo.org/stats and it should pop up with MBK as your current project. Then in the "Progress Updates" box, you can click the "+Add New Update" link and at the bottom where the date is, just change it to the first by either manually writing "01" where "03" is or by clicking the little calendar icon and selecting the first. You deserve those words you wrote on April 1st to count toward your goal and give you a two-day streak badge!

Thanks for the tip!  I went back and added Thursday's writing too and got my badge.

What was this fake Brian story about? Self-insert romance and a bus crash? lol

http://dreamers-sanctuary.com/2021-04-01/

[nicksgal]

Yep!  We had that thought, too, that if there were ghosts, they saw the baby powder and decided not to cooperate the second time.  Who knows.

That does sound terrifying!  I'm glad it only happened to you once.

Next time do it when it's snowing. Could be "in trouble," could catch hand prints in the snow, win-win.

I don't know if you've ever googled it in your adventures, but it is crazy what is likely going on in your brain and then the weird stories people have.

That's awesome!  I love that list.  Adding Fairplay to my personal list of places to go.

It's a cute little town.

I hate when that happens.  I get stuck in my own head sometimes too, obsessing over small details.  "Is this right?  Should I go back and change this?"  I was doing it yesterday and spent way too long researching, trying to find an answer to what seemed like a simple question.  But I never could find a clear answer... I assume because every case is different.  I finally decided if I am actively searching and can't find an answer, no one is going to be able to fact-check me anyway, so I might as well just stick with my thought and not worry about whether it's right or not.  As long as it sounds realistic, no one's going to question it.

That is one challenge of writing a series - always comparing the later stories to the earlier ones and trying to live up to the original.  It's hard to compare a work in progress to one that is already complete though.  PNecklace probably only seems like the weak one because it's not done.  By the time you finish it, I'm sure you'll be happy with the final product.  I have faith in you!

It's always the small details that get me too! Whether that's a research thing or getting stuck on one word and none of the options sounding right. That sounds frustrating that it seemed like a thing that would be easy to fact-check and then wasn't. I say if you did your due diligence, then you're all good.

I guess that's true. And I also wanted to edit early PBox while I was writing it too, lol. I think this is just a place I hit once I get a third of the way through. It doesn't help that my brain is like "We're stuck. Let's go back and do this instead!" So once again, I've worked for about two hours, edited about 700 words, and researched materials for paving streets, the history of columns in architecture, and when carriages were invented/where they were widely used, but nothing for PNecklace. I'm hoping something will come to me tonight as I lay awake that is as persistent as the stuff I wrote yesterday. I've also spent some time making my first verb, but I don't think any of the conlang sites can do what I want... So, I've been messing around with that and just putting in a placeholder for now as I familiarize myself with verb conjugation in Greek, lol.

Thanks for the tip!  I went back and added Thursday's writing too and got my badge.

Yay! Keep that writing streak up!

http://dreamers-sanctuary.com/2021-04-01/

LMFAO! The sound effects! The video effects! I'm dying! It reminded me of that episode of South Park where it reveals Gerald is the internet troll, lol. Was that your real voice? Because I think that's brave.

[RokofAges75]

Next time do it when it's snowing. Could be "in trouble," could catch hand prints in the snow, win-win.

I don't know if you've ever googled it in your adventures, but it is crazy what is likely going on in your brain and then the weird stories people have.

Good idea!

I have looked up a little bit on sleep paralysis because it's something I may include in my Brian horror story if I ever get around to writing more of it.  It is interesting!

It's always the small details that get me too! Whether that's a research thing or getting stuck on one word and none of the options sounding right. That sounds frustrating that it seemed like a thing that would be easy to fact-check and then wasn't. I say if you did your due diligence, then you're all good.

I guess that's true. And I also wanted to edit early PBox while I was writing it too, lol. I think this is just a place I hit once I get a third of the way through. It doesn't help that my brain is like "We're stuck. Let's go back and do this instead!" So once again, I've worked for about two hours, edited about 700 words, and researched materials for paving streets, the history of columns in architecture, and when carriages were invented/where they were widely used, but nothing for PNecklace. I'm hoping something will come to me tonight as I lay awake that is as persistent as the stuff I wrote yesterday. I've also spent some time making my first verb, but I don't think any of the conlang sites can do what I want... So, I've been messing around with that and just putting in a placeholder for now as I familiarize myself with verb conjugation in Greek, lol.

Wow!  At least you've gotten a ton of research done.  As you've told me many times, that still counts!  Research can be a way to get re-inspired too.  I hope it helps!

LMFAO! The sound effects! The video effects! I'm dying! It reminded me of that episode of South Park where it reveals Gerald is the internet troll, lol. Was that your real voice? Because I think that's brave.

Thanks!  I had fun making that LOL.  I love that it reminded you of South Park - high praise!  And yes, that is my real voice, although I lowered the pitch a little because I always think my voice sounds too high-pitched in recordings.

[nicksgal]

I have looked up a little bit on sleep paralysis because it's something I may include in my Brian horror story if I ever get around to writing more of it.  It is interesting!

It definitely belongs in a horror story, haha. I look forward to this actual Brian horror story and not internet troll Brian horror story, lol!

Wow!  At least you've gotten a ton of research done.  As you've told me many times, that still counts!  Research can be a way to get re-inspired too.  I hope it helps!

It was mostly mundane things I didn't look up before and an attempt to smooth out the blatant fantasy Asia aspects by mixing them up with some fun fantasy Mediterranean stuff. I actually did end up writing about 300 words of two little scenes from PNecklace, so maybe it will happen!

Thanks!  I had fun making that LOL.  I love that it reminded you of South Park - high praise!  And yes, that is my real voice, although I lowered the pitch a little because I always think my voice sounds too high-pitched in recordings.

I can tell! It's too funny not to enjoy while making it. I'm surprised you didn't just laugh hysterically take after take. Ugh, my voice is also too high-pitched, but we've talked about this. I don't think I would ever make anyone listen to it that didn't need to, lol.

[nicksgal]

I stumbled on this little compilation of Tumblr posts about fanfics and it made me laugh: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf

Although not all of them apply to us, technically. My two main questions were, did we ever have "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys"? I don't think I've ever read something like that. And do we have salt fics? Are the "Everybody Hates Leighanne" fics our salt fics? I feel like those are the only ones, because we're fine with the Boys doing whatever.

[RokofAges75]

It definitely belongs in a horror story, haha. I look forward to this actual Brian horror story and not internet troll Brian horror story, lol!

LOL Thanks!  Hopefully I'll get around to writing it someday.  I did write the first scene back in February and then moved on to MBK.

It was mostly mundane things I didn't look up before and an attempt to smooth out the blatant fantasy Asia aspects by mixing them up with some fun fantasy Mediterranean stuff. I actually did end up writing about 300 words of two little scenes from PNecklace, so maybe it will happen!

Mundane is okay; sometimes that's what is needed.  I'm glad you got something written!  Every little bit moves the story forward.

I can tell! It's too funny not to enjoy while making it. I'm surprised you didn't just laugh hysterically take after take. Ugh, my voice is also too high-pitched, but we've talked about this. I don't think I would ever make anyone listen to it that didn't need to, lol.

It actually only took me two takes to record it, and I made it through without laughing.  The part that kept cracking me up was the Psycho music playing as his tweet pops up.

I think everyone hates the sound of their own voice on a recording!  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  Anyone out there love to listen to themselves? LOL

[RokofAges75]

I stumbled on this little compilation of Tumblr posts about fanfics and it made me laugh: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf

I could relate to most of those!


“People are naturally lazy and will never do any kind of work for free.”

Fanfiction Writers:  Words: 1,066,979

LOL So true.  Writing fanfic definitely takes time and effort, but I don't think of it as "work."  It's a hobby, and we do it for the fun of it, not for money.  Sure, we're providing free reading material, but we also benefit from the free books provided by fellow fanfic writers.  Feedback is our form of compensation, which is why it's so important to give it after reading someone's work,


fanfiction is so wild cause im like…..ugh im not in the mood to read a book…..i’ll just read an 82k word fic instead……

I used to be like this at the height of my fanfic addiction.  I'm not really anymore, but I understand the feeling.  Fanfic is like the comfort food of reading.  Sometimes you just wanna read something that doesn't require a lot of thought - not that fanfic plots are simple, but because you're already familiar with the main characters, it doesn't take as much commitment to get into the world of the story.  It's like watching reruns of your favorite show instead of starting a new series.  The familiarity is comforting.


me externally: I write fanfic because I enjoy it! I write for myself!

me internally: validate me. drown me in kudos. i will sell my soul for comments and fic recs

Behind every writer on AO3 is actually a dragon that hoards kudos, comments and bookmarks.

Yep!  I do write fanfic because I enjoy it, and I write for myself to a certain extent, but obviously I want validation and feedback too, or I wouldn't post my work for the world to read.  I squeed with excitement when I opened my email and found two comments and an email about my new story.  An email is rare; I don't get many of those anymore.  I like how AO3 and AC save all your reviews in one place, but I miss the days of hoarding feedback emails.  I save every one I get, but I lost a bunch of the old ones that I used to have saved in my old Hotmail and Yahoo accounts that were deactivated after I switched to Gmail and stopped signing in.  So sad!


My coping mechanism is reading fanfiction from 9pm-3am every night and my therapist is not pleased.

Again, this was more me in my early days of reading fanfic than it is now, but if you replace reading with writing, it still applies.  If I had less self-control, I could easily stay up writing until 3 a.m. most nights and would be even more continually sleep-deprived than I am now LOL.  Although my new weekend routine has been writing from 9am-3pm instead.  I'm getting old!


Fanfiction is the literal embodiment of “if you want something done right, do it yourself

I just told the story of how I got started writing fanfic the other day, and yep, it was pretty much this.  My Brother's Keeper came about this way too.  Who else can relate?


i can read 100,000 words of fanfiction a day but if a professor assigns more than 30 pages of reading i just stare off into space while tears fill my eyes

100% accurate.


*me writing fic*

me to me: don’t use the word eyes, you just used it in the previous sentence. use something else

my inner me to me: no, don’t call eyes orbs, it’s cringey

my deeper inner me to me: call them face balls

This one cracked me up because... orbs.  Let's call them face balls!

Although not all of them apply to us, technically. My two main questions were, did we ever have "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys"? I don't think I've ever read something like that. And do we have salt fics? Are the "Everybody Hates Leighanne" fics our salt fics? I feel like those are the only ones, because we're fine with the Boys doing whatever.

I don't think I've ever read a "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys" story either.  That sounds like a sex trafficking situation.

I had to look up what salt fics are.  For anyone else wondering, it's when the author doesn't like something about the canon (or in our case, the Boys in real life) and writes a story that fixes it, reworks it, or bashes certain characters.  I do think you could make a case for Leighanne bashing being a form of salt fic in our fandom.  I also thought of Hot Mess Nick and how so many of us wrote Nick romance in which he was not a hot mess during that time - trying to fix canon LOL.  There may be a bit of that going on with Brian stories right now.  Seems like the Brian stories being written are either set in the past or put him with Nick instead of Leighanne (or both).  90s Brian was better.

[nicksgal]

LOL Thanks!  Hopefully I'll get around to writing it someday.  I did write the first scene back in February and then moved on to MBK.

Definitely stay inspired on MBK! Always sending you and everyone good vibes for whatever compelling thing is currently being written!

Mundane is okay; sometimes that's what is needed.  I'm glad you got something written!  Every little bit moves the story forward.

It definitely does! And then yet again today, I had a stroke of genius because of the 300 words I wrote yesterday, but still not for PNecklace. I'm apparently just sitting here writing an entire epic out of order and not caring about being structured or focused at all, lol. I wonder how PBox would have gone if I hadn't written in strict order back then. Would I still be writing the first version? I hope not.

It actually only took me two takes to record it, and I made it through without laughing.  The part that kept cracking me up was the Psycho music playing as his tweet pops up.

I think everyone hates the sound of their own voice on a recording!  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  Anyone out there love to listen to themselves? LOL

Only two takes! Impressive! Yes, the Psycho music got me too; the way it just zoomed in on the tweet with the Psycho music in the background, I laughed so hard.

People on radio? I think that's all. You'd have to if you were listening to yourself all the time. The Boys? Do the Boys or any actor, singer, etcetera mind the sound of their own voice? Maybe the more your job involves hearing your voice recorded and/or blared over speakers, the less it bothers you.

[RokofAges75]

I stumbled on this little compilation of Tumblr posts about fanfics and it made me laugh: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf

Although not all of them apply to us, technically. My two main questions were, did we ever have "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys"? I don't think I've ever read something like that. And do we have salt fics? Are the "Everybody Hates Leighanne" fics our salt fics? I feel like those are the only ones, because we're fine with the Boys doing whatever.

Why aren’t there drive-throughs for fanfiction though?

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’d like a modern “pretend boyfriends” AU, no dub-con, add frottage, please.”

“Would you like a happy ending with that?”

“Yes, please.”

“And for length?”

“Oh, a 50k-er, please.”

“Will do, please pull around to the first window.”


If you could "order up" the ideal fanfic to read, what would yours include?