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[RokofAges75]

Yay, congratulation s!!!  What an amazing accomplishment, especially considering you came back to this series after so many years!  Take time to breathe and bask in the glow of your success.

[nicksgal]

It definitely feels like end of novel adrenaline washing away; it's been a long time since I've had this feeling. I will bask, breathe, and take a nap. I earned it.

Now, everyone make sure that I stick to my update schedule. Don't let me upload it all at once out of excitement, lol! At least until I have enough of something else started to keep an update schedule going.

I'm proud of all of us currently writing. We all finished a story this year!

[nicksgal]

So true!  The feedback I do leave is often just my reactions as a reader more than anything super deep and insightful, and sometimes I don't even have much of a reaction to share.  But anything is better than nothing.

I would love if someone talked to me about deep and insightful things like my themes in a review, but let's be honest, that's an English class reaction and not a reading a story for fun reaction, lol!

Speaking of this, I found a funny thread on the fanfic reddit that addresses exactly that: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/o2m5o6/english_teachers_in_the_future_are_using_your_fic/

Same question to you all. What would like English teachers of the future to discuss in your stories?

I love the two minute rule of thumb.  That's so true.  Quick corrections on typos or grammatical errors that can be easily fixed are one thing.  I hope no one would get annoyed by that, as long as that's not the only kind of feedback you're giving - then it might come across as nitpicky if you're not in a betareader role.  Personally, I appreciate having this type of thing pointed out so I can fix it.  It may annoy me that I made the error and didn't catch it before posting, but I want to fix it.  Issues that affect the whole story and would be almost impossible to fix without a lot of revising/rewriting are a different matter.  Some writers will welcome this type of concrit, too, and others will just be overwhelmed and/or discouraged by it.  For me personally, once a story is posted, I'm not going to go back and make any major changes to it, so I would mostly welcome concrit or advice that could help me out with future stories.

The most concrit I've ever gotten for a story was about Claire's behavior in BMS.  At the time, I was kinda bummed about readers turning against her, but looking back, I was able to learn a lesson from it about letting the characters guide the story and not sacrificing them for the sake of the plot by forcing them to do things they wouldn't really do.  I'm not going to rewrite BMS, but I feel like I've been able to apply that lesson to the stories I've written since and not make that mistake again.

All of that makes sense. This is realistically fanfic's version of publishing (as we've said many times) and I imagine it's not often that published books get pulled for major edits, then republished. Nitty gritty concrit is definitely better served for a beta reader role, so it can be caught before posting, like you said.

That's one that's always good to learn! I've definitely had that problem too. I think other than PBox coming along, that's a lot of what stalled Gobosei. I think I called it "a lack of characters that breathe life into the plot," if memory serves me correctly. That's most of why I like being a bit of a pantser, I don't get stuck on a plot plan as much anymore because I know I'll inevitably change my mind on the details at some point. I did it in PNecklace too, changing some grouping dynamics up from my original plans, which were honestly pretty repetitive if I'd left them the initial way. It worked out for the best. But, I also think there are ways to be true to a vision for the plot and the characters simultaneously . At that point it's figuring out how far they can be pushed until they do the thing you want them to do. And then bonus points if they hate themselves for it afterward. (Team Dark! lol)

Yeah, I think the reading challenge died as the forum and BSB fanfic in general were dying down.  I know I didn't participate the last summer or two we did it because I was taking summer classes for my master's program and already had too much on my plate, and by the time I was ready to participate again, we had stopped doing it.

What about something where we each pick a fic that's been talked about here, but we've never personally read?  For example, I never read Mare's Why I'd Do It All Again.  I don't know why; I've read a lot of her stories, but I either missed that one or just didn't get it into it.  I honestly don't even remember trying to read it, but it's an older story, so who knows.  I've also never read PBox in its entirety.  I think I read the beginning once, but I don't remember much about it besides what I know from reading your posts here.  I haven't read Tracy's Nick and Amanda series either, which would make me reluctant to read a Brian spin-off of it.  So it might be nice to catch up on something like that.

That makes sense. It's hard to keep something like that up when it's only a couple of people wanting to participate. At least we're all doing our due diligence now to try and bring back a little resurgence in BSB fanficland, or at least sustain it.

I love that! That was my personal mission when asking for recommendation s in The Reading Thread, to catch up on good things. It would be fun if it was something several other people had read at some point so it could be both the reading challenge with some of the book club type aspects of the featured story.

You should read Why I'd Do It All Again. It was great.

The beginning of PBox is probably the worst part to read, lol. If I could do it all again, I'd start from Chapter Two. I am not selling myself here. I'd love it if anyone read it, missteps and all.

Now that I don't have a magnum opus to focus on for the moment, I feel prepared to delve into some more reading than I have been. I'm in for this little reading challenge.

Yeah, it was a few years ago.

I love your pumpkin!  That's awesome that Howie saw it and liked it!

Thanks! I squeed during Sunday Night Football and nearly gave hubby a heart attack, lol.

Also, you should have called me out on mistyping "angels" when I obviously meant "angles," lol!

Yep, that's how I take them too.  I agree; it would be nice to have the option to leave kudos on individual chapters without it skewing the overall story's kudos count.

Something else I realized about AO3's stats compared to AC's is that AO3 records hits based on the IP address, whereas AC's read count is based purely on clicks.  On AO3, a reader who starts a story and reads ten chapters in a row will only be recorded as one hit, and if you click on your own work, it doesn't count as a hit.  On AC, every time you click on a chapter of your own story, it adds one to the read count, so reading ten chapters of your own story would add ten to the read count.  You could jack up your own read count by simply refreshing a chapter of your story over and over again.  Combine that with the spambot problem on AC, and it's always going to look like your stories are getting read a lot more on AC than on AO3, but AO3's hit count is more accurate.

I love that they don't count you clicking on the chapters as a hit. If you're logged in, you should always be able to check your stories without skewing the stats. It would be nice if AO3 could provide some more detailed information, like what chapters the IP hits are on. But I imagine it works the same if you go to the first chapter and then the most recent chapter. That's why I like AC's table of contents section, to go right to the chapter I left off on. I do like knowing the accurate hit count, but it would be nice to have some way to see if they're people reading along or just a bunch of people clicking the first chapter and noping out really quickly.

I do check PBox and PNecklace's stats on AC with a method that feels more accurate. For PBox, I check the chapter in the forties with the lowest read count that isn't Disciple (since it was the same chapter as Wishes before I split them, so its stats have always been lower). Rather than the weird numbers some of the chapters get, this feels more accurate for a lifetime read count, which is around 700. For PNecklace, I only look at the newest chapter prior to posting. It's usually in the 0-2 range, and again, I feel like 0-2 is entirely reasonable for the story. As opposed to random chapters that spike up in both of them, to which I laugh and say "there's no way." There is a big drop after the big reveal I worried that I did too early, though, which tells me that it was probably too early. Oh well!

[FrickingKaos]

It feels so weird to not write on History anymore. But I'm working on Take Me Home now. I want to figure some things out like how I was going to end it because I don't remember lol. The last time I updated that story was in January of 2019. So it's been a minute. I am determined to try to finish it though because the story itself is pretty interesting.

[RokofAges75]

It definitely feels like end of novel adrenaline washing away; it's been a long time since I've had this feeling. I will bask, breathe, and take a nap. I earned it.

Absolutely you earned it!  I know what you mean about the adrenaline washing away, though; it's a weird feeling.  You feel accomplished, but also kind of empty, like, "Now what?"  Good thing you have 9 days to come up with a new project for Camp Nano... no pressure!

Now, everyone make sure that I stick to my update schedule. Don't let me upload it all at once out of excitement, lol! At least until I have enough of something else started to keep an update schedule going.

We'll hold you to it!  You'll be glad you stuck with it if it can take you all the way to the point of posting something new.

I'm proud of all of us currently writing. We all finished a story this year!

Yes!!  Go us!

[RokofAges75]

I would love if someone talked to me about deep and insightful things like my themes in a review, but let's be honest, that's an English class reaction and not a reading a story for fun reaction, lol!

Speaking of this, I found a funny thread on the fanfic reddit that addresses exactly that: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/o2m5o6/english_teachers_in_the_future_are_using_your_fic/

Same question to you all. What would like English teachers of the future to discuss in your stories?

Haha, I love that thread!

I don't use a lot of symbolism and that sort of stuff that gets analyzed in English class, but when I do, I like when it gets noticed.  I do use a fair amount of foreshadowing, which doesn't usually get mentioned in feedback from people who are reading for the first time because they wouldn't necessarily know it's foreshadowing.  But I hope it would be recognized and appreciated on rereads.

I would get a kick out of them overanalyzing the little Easter eggs I throw in for my own amusement and making them seem deeper than they really are.  "Why did she name the doctor the German word for 'platypus'?  Was that meant to represent the enigma of rare cancers, or was it a commentary on how xenophobic Americans view foreigners as strange and unusual?"  No, I actually had just been discussing platypuses with Rose and thought it was funny.

All of that makes sense. This is realistically fanfic's version of publishing (as we've said many times) and I imagine it's not often that published books get pulled for major edits, then republished. Nitty gritty concrit is definitely better served for a beta reader role, so it can be caught before posting, like you said.

That's one that's always good to learn! I've definitely had that problem too. I think other than PBox coming along, that's a lot of what stalled Gobosei. I think I called it "a lack of characters that breathe life into the plot," if memory serves me correctly. That's most of why I like being a bit of a pantser, I don't get stuck on a plot plan as much anymore because I know I'll inevitably change my mind on the details at some point. I did it in PNecklace too, changing some grouping dynamics up from my original plans, which were honestly pretty repetitive if I'd left them the initial way. It worked out for the best. But, I also think there are ways to be true to a vision for the plot and the characters simultaneously . At that point it's figuring out how far they can be pushed until they do the thing you want them to do. And then bonus points if they hate themselves for it afterward. (Team Dark! lol)

All great points.  Plantsing is the best of both worlds because then you have a rough path to follow, with the freedom to divert from it and forge a different path to your planned destination - or maybe a different one!  It's okay to change your mind in the middle or even at the end, as long as it makes sense.  Like you said, ideally you would stay true to the plot and characters at the same time.  But yeah, if you can get a character to plausibly do something they normally wouldn't do and then hate themselves for it, thus becoming a more believably flawed character, even better!

I love that! That was my personal mission when asking for recommendation s in The Reading Thread, to catch up on good things. It would be fun if it was something several other people had read at some point so it could be both the reading challenge with some of the book club type aspects of the featured story.

You should read Why I'd Do It All Again. It was great.

The beginning of PBox is probably the worst part to read, lol. If I could do it all again, I'd start from Chapter Two. I am not selling myself here. I'd love it if anyone read it, missteps and all.

Now that I don't have a magnum opus to focus on for the moment, I feel prepared to delve into some more reading than I have been. I'm in for this little reading challenge.

Yeah, I agree, it would be fun to combine the reading challenge with the Fanfic of the Month feature we used to do and discuss stories we want to revisit or read for the first time.  Then we could have some of those deeper, English-class style discussions without worrying about spoilers.

Also, you should have called me out on mistyping "angels" when I obviously meant "angles," lol!

Haha, I don't correct spelling on the forum.  We all have times when we type too fast too late at night and make mistakes.

I love that they don't count you clicking on the chapters as a hit. If you're logged in, you should always be able to check your stories without skewing the stats. It would be nice if AO3 could provide some more detailed information, like what chapters the IP hits are on. But I imagine it works the same if you go to the first chapter and then the most recent chapter. That's why I like AC's table of contents section, to go right to the chapter I left off on. I do like knowing the accurate hit count, but it would be nice to have some way to see if they're people reading along or just a bunch of people clicking the first chapter and noping out really quickly.

I do check PBox and PNecklace's stats on AC with a method that feels more accurate. For PBox, I check the chapter in the forties with the lowest read count that isn't Disciple (since it was the same chapter as Wishes before I split them, so its stats have always been lower). Rather than the weird numbers some of the chapters get, this feels more accurate for a lifetime read count, which is around 700. For PNecklace, I only look at the newest chapter prior to posting. It's usually in the 0-2 range, and again, I feel like 0-2 is entirely reasonable for the story. As opposed to random chapters that spike up in both of them, to which I laugh and say "there's no way." There is a big drop after the big reveal I worried that I did too early, though, which tells me that it was probably too early. Oh well!

Yep, I agree.  It would be nice to be able to see a breakdown of hits per chapter on AO3.  I have no idea if the hits on AC are actually even real readers or just spambots.  If yours is usually in the 0-2 range for your most recent chapter, that gives me hope that more of mine are actual readers than what I thought, but who knows.   It just always seems like the site is dead, but without the review option, it's hard to tell.

I'm looking at my chapter stats on AC now, and yeah, it's interesting how some of those random chapters spike it.  Sometimes they are chapters where something big happened that maybe readers would want to revisit, but other times they seem totally random.  The same thing happens on my site where certain chapters or posts seem to get a lot of clicks and/or spam comments.  I don't know if it's because they had certain words that made them come up in search results or what.  I noticed my third pandaskunk story that I posted early last year has more "reads" per chapter than my last three serious stories, which definitely does not match with the very minimal amount of feedback I got for it compared to what I've gotten for my dramas.  Not sure what to make of that, but I take it all with a grain of salt because I know the site has a big spam problem.

[nicksgal]

Ugh! Y'all, I was so excited to do some WADD today and what did I do? Wrote about 500 words of the first chapter of PDemons! I'm so annoyed at myself. At least I made it to day 100!

Mare, I need a facepalm emoji stat, lol.

[RokofAges75]

It feels so weird to not write on History anymore. But I'm working on Take Me Home now. I want to figure some things out like how I was going to end it because I don't remember lol. The last time I updated that story was in January of 2019. So it's been a minute. I am determined to try to finish it though because the story itself is pretty interesting.

I'm glad you were able to update it after so long!  That's a positive sign!

[RokofAges75]

Ugh! Y'all, I was so excited to do some WADD today and what did I do? Wrote about 500 words of the first chapter of PDemons! I'm so annoyed at myself. At least I made it to day 100!

Mare, I need a facepalm emoji stat, lol.

Wow!  Good for you!  Take it from me, WADDing is more frustrating than fun LOL.  Sometimes it's a necessary evil in order to come up with new ideas, but I'd much rather just write consistently on one story.

[nicksgal]

I had a really good writing day Monday!  I was up till sunrise and then wrote again later in the day and stayed up till sunrise again.  Definitely fueled by caffeine.  I think Monday night/Tuesday morning is the day I didn't go to bed until like 7 a.m. LOL.  Of course, that messed me up so much that the rest of the day yesterday was much less productive.  I did watch The Butterfly Effect though.  I hadn't seen it in years, and I enjoyed it just as much as I remember enjoying it back in the day.

Today I made myself get up in the morning so I could mow the lawn before it got too hot, and then I went out for dinner and drinks with some friends tonight, so it has not been productive at all, but I'm up in here my writing room and have written about 200 words so far.  Enough to keep the streak alive, at least.  I'm tired, so we'll see how late I make it tonight.

Wow! Two sunrise days in a row! You've definitely been productive as you get into your nocturnal groove! But yeah, when I stay up later, it always gets me the next day and I feel useless. But at least you got to revisit The Butterfly Effect on a less productive day! I'm glad it holds up. I always worry that nostalgic things won't hold up.

At least your lawn is mowed! Is that a once a week chore? Two times a month? I always picture you chopping grass and bodies on a riding lawnmower, but I feel like that's inaccurate, lol. It's good you had a fun day and still made time to write! That was me last week, just trying to keep the streak alive.

I also think writing a children's book is probably harder than it sounds.  You have to put even more thought into word choice and packing more meaning into fewer words.  I'm right there with you on being verbose LOL.  It also seems like there would be more rules and/or formulas to follow for it to be considered publishable.  I hope they do their research!

Remember when Nick said last year he wanted to write a children's book?  I wonder if anything's actually happening with that.  They all say a lot of things, but every once in a while, they actually deliver on one of those ideas.  Nick did write a memoir and a movie, so I could see him writing a children's book.  Who ever thought Nick would turn out to be the writer in the group? LOL

Yes! I appreciate the methodicalness? (Can't think of alternatives; I'm going with that). I appreciate the methodicalness in word choice, but I think it would take me even longer to write a children's book than a fantasy epic because I would have an extremely hard time choosing the precise best words. And oh, I'm sure! I've looked a little into fantasy publishing (not extensively, just skimmed), but I feel like children's book publishers are even more picky.

I do remember that. I feel like whenever Nick has said "I want to do 'creative thing'," he typically ends up doing it eventually. I buy Nick being the writer. Entertainer has several parallels with story teller, especially in the historically oratory context of stories. If I remember correctly, his original BSP plan was meticulous... six chapters or something?

I did have fun, thanks!

That's nice of you to offer!  I don't think I would be able to write or study sitting right next to someone else; I would get too distracted.  I need quiet and privacy.

I only offered because she said she wanted human contact without any of the pesky interactive and planning pieces, lol.

I'm glad you had a good time on your staycation!  Aww, you should have taken the rest of the week.  It's always harder to go back to work after extra days off.  1600 words over three days on vacation isn't bad!  If you stuck to the plan to only write an hour a day, that's really not bad at all! 

It's nice to just take some time to think and visualize upcoming scenes before you write them.  I hope you get some clarity so you can write these next few parts!

I really should have. They were happy to have me back, but on a whole, I was pretty useless, lol. Thankfully, most of my workload was catching up on paperwork. Sunday, I wrote a little longer, but yeah, it was pretty much just an hour every day. I did some editing on my phone a couple times when it was too hot to sleep though, lol.

It went quick after I decided to switch what a couple of the characters were doing from what I'd originally written. Not too bad (clearly).

[nicksgal]

Happy to report that my quest to be inspired to work on Take Me Home has been successful and I got a chapter finished for it. I was so happy. I had been watching some movies to inspire myself and I reread what I had posted to get back into it. I hadn't updated it since 2019. I'm feeling hopeful I'll be able to finish this one too!

Julie, I'm still not sure if I'll post the Brian spin off because I think the idea needs some more work. So no pressure to read the rest of the series, not to mention it's not my best work LOL it's very cheesy. There's also some plot inconsistency as well but as a whole that series was fun to write.

Glad Take Me Home is going well after not updating since 2019! I hope it continues to go well! I also find that rereading is usually a big help. What originally stopped the inspiration on this one?

Sometimes we all need some cheesy goodness in our lives. Long live the cheese! Especially old cheese, because it helps us either learn how to embrace the cheese in a more nuanced way or explore other options to cheese.

Incomplete was the first story I ever posted but Nick and Amanda is technically the first story I ever wrote, because it started as a thing my former best friend and I did back in high school. So I've been writing it a lot longer than the 10 years it took me to finish online. It started as only one story, called By My Side. Then I changed the name to You Give Love A Bad Name. I then decided I wanted to tell the story of how Nick and Amanda met so I wrote At The Beginning and Not The Other Guy. Still the One and From This Moment On came later so it just became a huge series lol. This is probably why there's some inconsistent things, that don't really change the story or anything but they still bother me and have been pointed out, like Nick knowing how to cook, or that he cleans and Amanda not knowing and her being impressed. I keep meaning to go back and fix it but I just haven't had time.

It's great that your first story turned into this whole lovingly crafted series that still inspires you! That's awesome.

Although, is Nick knowing how to cook inconsistent? He's clearly pancake daddy these days, lol. I get those little inconsistencie s being a bother, but not being a major focus. I have some of those moments as well.

[nicksgal]

Question I thought of for everyone:  If you were going to write a sequel, prequel, or spin-off to one of your older stories, which one would it be?

Does PBox not count? I'm guessing it doesn't count for being the obvious answer, lol.

Uhhhh... You know what. I'll bite and pick something else. Of my old stories that are up, I think I would write a new version of that Romeo & Juliet battle of the bands story (because, it is not good by my current standards). Then, the sequel would be inspired by some other Shakespeare play... Since the Romeo & Juliet inspiration ended happily, I think I'd take a comedy and make it dark. Twelfth Night is my favorite, let's go with that.

Anyone else?

[nicksgal]

Thanks guys.

Also if it's in Vegas you'll be free to crash on my couch lol

 

I appreciate the couch crashing offer and will let my back and neck endure what they may, lol!

[RokofAges75]

At least your lawn is mowed! Is that a once a week chore? Two times a month? I always picture you chopping grass and bodies on a riding lawnmower, but I feel like that's inaccurate, lol. It's good you had a fun day and still made time to write! That was me last week, just trying to keep the streak alive.

It's usually about every other week, depending on how fast the grass is growing.  It's been really dry here lately, so I probably won't have to mow this week.  I only have a push mower since my yard's not that big, and its blade could use a sharpening, so in reality, it probably wouldn't do much damage to a body LOL.

I do remember that. I feel like whenever Nick has said "I want to do 'creative thing'," he typically ends up doing it eventually. I buy Nick being the writer. Entertainer has several parallels with story teller, especially in the historically oratory context of stories. If I remember correctly, his original BSP plan was meticulous... six chapters or something?

Ooh, good point, I forgot to include the comic on my list of things he has written!  He really is quite diverse in his creative endeavors, and aside from acting, he's good at everything he does!  (And he's still entertaining to watch as an actor, even if he won't be winning any serious acting awards LOL.)

Sunday, I wrote a little longer, but yeah, it was pretty much just an hour every day. I did some editing on my phone a couple times when it was too hot to sleep though, lol.

Do you find you use your writing time more productively when you limit it that way, like only writing an hour per day?  Now that it's summer, I can get more written in a day where I don't have anywhere I have to be, but I waste so much time getting distracting while I'm "writing."  Today I "wrote" in bed for like 4 hours, and I finished the scene I was on, but I only wrote 900 some words.  That is really not much for 4 hours.  But I know it's because I'd write a sentence or maybe even a few sentences and then open a new tab to look something up or watch a YouTube video or check Twitter or whatever while I "thought of what to write next."  When the words are flowing, I'm more focused, but when they're not, this is why I write so slowly LOL.

[nicksgal]

Wow, over 4,000 words!  That's awesome!  At least you had a productive day.  Hopefully tomorrow's the day you finish!

When I get in the zone and have no distractions, I am a typing machine! I was excited that it happened two weekends in a row.

I vote no to another supergroup beyond a one-and-done thing like this, but if they were going to do it, I guess NSYNC are at least more talented than NKOTB?  Ugh, it kills me to admit that, but let's be honest - the only one who is actually a good singer in NKOTB is Joey McIntyre.  It seems like all the NSYNC guys can sing.  But I think if three or four NSYNC members want to tour, they should do it on their own.  People would still go, even without Justin.  And BSB definitely don't need them.

Of course I prefer they don't do a supergroup, but Nick really likes his boyband collaboration projects. You just never know what he'll do next! NSYNC wasn't untalented (though Justin is really nasally), we were just conditioned by the rivalry. It used to be hard, so it's hard to move on sometimes.

I agree. They don't need them. Let's get them back to stadium tours!

LOL It is nothing worth taking a picture of, just a badly-drawn diagram.  Yes, I finished my super long Nick chapter a few days ago and actually ended up moving the last scene I had planned into Kevin's chapter and writing it from his POV instead.  The boys are back together now, so that gives me a little bit more flexibility.  I finished 21 tonight, so now I'll be back to Nick's POV tomorrow.

I also made myself cry with my writing tonight, which is a rare thing.  I can write all this super sad stuff and never shed a tear because I have that filter of "This is just fiction; it's fine."  It doesn't usually faze me.  But tonight it was something about Kevin's dad, so the reality of that combined with the fiction of my story totally got to me - full on tears rolling down my face.  So I earned my Weepy Writer badge on Nano! LOL

Anyone else ever make themselves cry while writing?  If so, what kinds of scenes do it to you?

But it's a diagram that put things into perspective for you. Plus I loved your other blueprint, so I hope you add this one to your site at least. Woot woot! Finished another chapter! (Time is off for me and has no meaning since I have been slowly catching up on posts from last week, lol.) Hope Nick's POV chapter is going well! Now that I'm almost done catching up, I'll be better prepared to figure out how everyone's writing is going in real time.

Aww, I teared up a little at his Father's Day post. I get it. I also tend to keep a "this is just fiction" block up, but those moments where it feels real and nuanced are usually what get me too. I think the last time I teared up a bit, and usually when I do, is if I take inspiration from a scene from real life. There's an upcoming chapter of PNecklace where I definitely did cry a little since I borrowed the vibe of the scene from a conversation I'd had recently (though not exact words, of course).

I'm more likely to make myself laugh with my writing than cry, to be honest.

LOL Yeah, Nick would be like Devon Sawa in Final Destination, thinking Death is out to get him.

I love that line!  Love inside jokes in stories!

If he isn't already!

Same! That's why I add several of them.

Oh yeah, I could definitely see them googling themselves in the early days of the group/internet.  (They probably used Webcrawler or Altavista or something though, haha.)

I think we should handpick stories to show Brian and put them in increasingly kinky order so we can see the progression in his face.  LOL!

LOL Howie would be very happy to be left out.  SAMS would disturb him for several reasons, the least of which is him having sex with Nick.  That's only a small part of the story.  But it's funny because the main reason I picked him and Nick as my couple in the first place is because of that radio interview they did where he was talking about observing Nick's pubic hair and then got all defensive when they started joking about how there's a gay one in every group.  I was like, "Hm..."  Otherwise I probably would have gone for Frick/Frack.

OMG, googling yourself on webcrawler or altavista! How ancient!

LOL! Yes! The confusion to shock to horror. *chef kiss* Can we agree to leave Baylee ones out of the lineup though? I'd much rather watch him be horrified about Frick&Frack than anything to do with his son.

You're right, he probably would! Especially when the slash aspect is only a piece of the story and you haven't added any of the tags that Brian would be enjoying horrified by. OMG! LMFAO! I must have missed that one. Howie! Why would you bring that up in an interview?! Of course the other Boys would mock you!

That's a good way to think about it.  

I think it was heart-related, but we don't know exactly, and it doesn't say whether he wakes up or not!  We're just left hanging.  Which is a valid choice as a storyteller, but so frustrating to the reader!  I would never be able to do that, so I guess I admire a writer who can just intentionally leave it vague like that.  I always want to explain everything LOL.

Nick as Brian's guardian angel definitely needs to be a novel!  It could still be a series of scenes that jump around, like Tracy did with History, but I'm gonna need more than just a one-shot.

It doesn't say whether he wakes up or not?! I hate that lack of closure, lol. But you're right, a valid choice. I think there can be power in leaving an ending vague when it's been properly lead up to, but you're right, I would also want to know how it ended.

Alright, it will be a novel... eventually.

The wordiness would be a struggle for me if I ever tried to get published, too.  Although the only fanfic I've ever written that I thought could be fairly "easily" OF-ized without completely rewriting it because it's already AU is under 70,000 words.  So maybe there's hope for me in that respect LOL.  I think cutting out words would be the hardest part of editing for publication though.  It's easier to add or change words than cut a significant number of them out.

LOL A 3,000 word novel!  He's right; that sounds way too short.  Even my first fanfic "novels" were at least twice that length LOL.  200,000 words is quite an accomplishment!  You do deserve a nap!

LOL We could start a list, divided by boy.

70,000 is right on target! And you're right, I think especially for RPF stories, AUs wouldn't be entirely tedious to rewrite as OF. The problem I'm having currently is that it's like dropping stones in a pond. You know when there are major things that have to change, so you change them. But then that changes other things and it just ripples through. Then it puts PNecklace in a weird spot because I'll think "Oh man, that's totally going to be important in PDemons, so it probably needs to come up in PNecklace since it didn't originally come up in PBox (as a fanfic anyway)." It's... fun. That's part of why I'm only five and a half chapters in (well that and finishing PNecklace of course), but then I keep going back and rethinking my opening chapter. Like Nick was kind of info-dumpy and he feels like the least likely to be an info-dumper, so... more hacking and slashing is imminent, I suppose. There's probably a lot more I could cut, I just don't see what it is yet.

My first ones were also at least three times that length, lol. Silly husband, even considering that a novel could be 3,000 words.

Obviously! lol! Is this a forum thread or a shared google sheets? What would we do with all these epithets once we've penned them to paper?

Yes, you are!  I've reached that age, too.  LOL I slept wrong on Christmas Eve a few years ago and couldn't turn my neck to one side for like two days after.  Last year I was stretching in bed right after waking up and popped my collarbone, and it not only hurt, but was sore for several days afterwards.  Getting old already sucks, and we're only in our thirties!

Ack! The weird neck pain! That happens to me all the time! And it's so annoying because then you have to turn your entire body just to face something. Ridiculous!

Ouch! A popped collarbone! I'm pretty sure I tore my groin this year... of all the ridiculous injuries... lol!

Ugh, stop reminding me that it only gets worse from here!