Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => General Discussion => Topic started by: mare on July 20, 2015, 12:55:55 AM
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So, what does everyone think about this new zombie movie?
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Is anybody doing anything concerning fanfic this summer?
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So, what does everyone think about this new zombie movie?
:bananapower: :broccoli: :wave:
I'm beyond excited for this LOL.
Is anybody doing anything concerning fanfic this summer?
I'm attempting to get back into writing. Work got crazy, the move just before summer, and other stuff kinda held me up. I'm finally at a calmer point.
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Is anybody doing anything concerning fanfic this summer?
I'm attempting to get back into writing. Work got crazy, the move just before summer, and other stuff kinda held me up. I'm finally at a calmer point.
;)
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You disappear WAY longer than I do Reb! Lol
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You disappear WAY longer than I do Reb! Lol
Haha, and I think I've discovered why that is. Unfortunately, but kinda fortunately, this fandom is... my escape. I noticed I had came back around this time last year, which was summer/ending of summer, going back into the swing of things when it came to my school job and whatnot. It's the summertime that I tend to feel the... loneliest, as weird as that may sound, lol. Although I still work one of my two jobs during the summer, it does leave me with some time to spare, and some of my other friends or family may be busy to not be able do anything. So I find myself locked up in my room, my mind going wild and thinking... eh, why not write, why not read, why not TRY to find something productive to do by yourself, lol.
But like I said last year, throughout the year, I'll come on to the discussion boards of AC or TDS and read what's been going on, how everyone's been doing and whatnot; I just sometimes don't "come back" because it's around a time where I'm working the two jobs and allow myself to get wrapped up in all that, when I'm surrounded by people daily and the only time I have is to come home and sleep. The people I've met through this fandom will always be people I will check up on... the fandom itself is an escape for me when I feel like I have nothing or no one. Did I make any sense with this? :-[ I kinda just figured it out, hahahaha.
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I'm even listening to the boys' music, all albums and blasting them on Spotify to help me cope, lol. Watching videos of them on tour and the cruise; although I can't physically escape like that, it helps my mind to escape as if I'm there, lmao. I'm a weird individual, I know. :-[
But it seems like it's been quite here on this home front...
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Haha, and I think I've discovered why that is. Unfortunately, but kinda fortunately, this fandom is... my escape. I noticed I had came back around this time last year, which was summer/ending of summer, going back into the swing of things when it came to my school job and whatnot. It's the summertime that I tend to feel the... loneliest, as weird as that may sound, lol. Although I still work one of my two jobs during the summer, it does leave me with some time to spare, and some of my other friends or family may be busy to not be able do anything. So I find myself locked up in my room, my mind going wild and thinking... eh, why not write, why not read, why not TRY to find something productive to do by yourself, lol.
But like I said last year, throughout the year, I'll come on to the discussion boards of AC or TDS and read what's been going on, how everyone's been doing and whatnot; I just sometimes don't "come back" because it's around a time where I'm working the two jobs and allow myself to get wrapped up in all that, when I'm surrounded by people daily and the only time I have is to come home and sleep. The people I've met through this fandom will always be people I will check up on... the fandom itself is an escape for me when I feel like I have nothing or no one. Did I make any sense with this? :-[ I kinda just figured it out, hahahaha.
No it makes sense. It's also been quiet in fanfic land so the return of a few vets is really refreshing.
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No it makes sense. It's also been quiet in fanfic land so the return of a few vets is really refreshing.
Yeah... I was going through the posts of last year when I came back, and it's so different because last year was the resurgence of fanfiction and writers, old and new, coming back. This year, quiet. I guess cause BSB's whirlwind of a year has came to an end, so the dust is finally settling, so to speak. Of course it'll all pick up once more when they head back into the studio I'm sure, lol.
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My question tho... HOW HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN?!?!?!?! :D
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I've been trying to get into writing again. I lost confidence for a while and I'm slowly getting it back. I wrote a bit yesterday but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it or if anyone will read. Been toying with a Nick and Brian story for a while now. For a hot minute it was going to be this epic Sci fi thing but I don't think I can pull it off lol
Now it's probably going to be about their friendship over the years or something.
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I've been trying to get into writing again. I lost confidence for a while and I'm slowly getting it back. I wrote a bit yesterday but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it or if anyone will read. Been toying with a Nick and Brian story for a while now. For a hot minute it was going to be this epic Sci fi thing but I don't think I can pull it off lol
Now it's probably going to be about their friendship over the years or something.
Go on and post it girl! ;D
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Yay, new questions! It has been way too dead around here this summer! I have been MIA like many of you too. I haven't written much of anything fanfic-wise since the beginning of the year because my master's classes have been pretty intense, and I didn't have a student teacher this year like I have in years past to ease some of my planning and grading load, so my nights and weekends and the whole month of June were spent doing schoolwork or trying to relax in between doing schoolwork. I just haven't had the time or mental energy to write anything other than the required papers. Now that I'm done with that for the summer, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things for at least a few weeks before I have to start school all over again... ugh! The good news is that I only have one more year to go before I'm done with grad school, and then I should have less stress and more time to get back into fanfic.
In the meantime, my main goal this summer is to finish my part of Song for the Undead and see what I can do on Sick as My Secrets. For anyone still waiting for updates on that or my other stories, you should probably just consider me "on hiatus" until I'm done with my master's, but please know that I fully plan on coming back when all that's over with. I still love the Boys, love writing, and have a lot of story ideas; I just know I don't have the time I need to devote to them right now. But even when I'm not writing, I still enjoy talking about fanfic on here, so keep the questions and answers coming!
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As far as Nick's zombie movie goes... OMG, so excited!!! This project is turning out to be one epic hot mess, and I can't wait to see the result! I hope it's the next Sharknado!
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Welcome back, Reb!
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Ugh Julie, I was cringing while I read what you have to do! :( That's why the teacher life ain't for everybody; I applaud you!! :D
And thanks Mare!! How've you been dear? You ready to start the new school year?
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Thanks, Reb. I really shouldn't complain because I still get a month off for the summer, and that is super nice, but I will definitely be glad to be done with my master's. I used to be able to find a better balance between working, my personal life, and writing than I have the last couple of years. I understand why you come and go now LOL. It's good to see you back and writing again though!
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Thanks, Reb. I really shouldn't complain because I still get a month off for the summer, and that is super nice, but I will definitely be glad to be done with my master's. I used to be able to find a better balance between working, my personal life, and writing than I have the last couple of years. I understand why you come and go now LOL. It's good to see you back and writing again though!
Ooooh, yay for another month of summer! I return back to work next week. :( I don't think I'm ready for my kids, lmao! But I'm sooo glad that my bipolarness is understood! Hahahahaha. But it feels good to be back! :D
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Ugh Julie, I was cringing while I read what you have to do! :( That's why the teacher life ain't for everybody; I applaud you!! :D
And thanks Mare!! How've you been dear? You ready to start the new school year?
I've been okay, just busy. This summer is going way too fast and no, I'm not really ready to start a new year. I've been steadily teaching this summer on T, W and Thursdays so I kind of haven't lost that flow. Just some private lessons, even still a big yuck for when school does start up again full throttle at the end of August. I have a workshop in a few weeks. Blech!
Enjoy your last week of summer. :(
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I've been okay, just busy. This summer is going way too fast and no, I'm not really ready to start a new year. I've been steadily teaching this summer on T, W and Thursdays so I kind of haven't lost that flow. Just some private lessons, even still a big yuck for when school does start up again full throttle at the end of August. I have a workshop in a few weeks. Blech!
Enjoy your last week of summer. :(
Blech to workshops indeed!! I've been seriously debating giving up my DOE job to become manager of the second job I work, but... I need to think everything over, lol.
And you too my dear!! Summer went by way too fast!!! D:
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I gotta pop in and add the fact I miss Mare writing :(.
It's not an AC summer without basking in the awesomeness that is you lol.
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Aww, I think those days are long gone, but thanks Rose! lol
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Wait, wait, wait, what am I missing?! What does "I think those days are long gone" mean?!?!?!?!?! O__O
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Besides taking care of AC, I've kind of moved on from the fandom. Just not into them too much anymore. I still love you guys though. :)
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I kinda scrapped the Sci fi idea. It was about them being on a flight to Malaysia and the plane is abducted by aliens. The aliens use the humans to battle against each other ala the hunger games. That was the basic plot. Like the planes disappearing were really a cover up by the government.
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That sounds cool, Tracy!
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Since Tracy just shared a story idea, what are some of your story ideas that you ended up not following through on?
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Besides taking care of AC, I've kind of moved on from the fandom. Just not into them too much anymore. I still love you guys though. :)
I feel ya with that! Do you think when things start picking up with them again, so will the fandom for you? Or naw? Lol. And aww, we love you too Mare!!! :-*
I kinda scrapped the Sci fi idea. It was about them being on a flight to Malaysia and the plane is abducted by aliens. The aliens use the humans to battle against each other ala the hunger games. That was the basic plot. Like the planes disappearing were really a cover up by the government.
That sounds cool, Tracy!
I'm with Julie, that does sound cool and interesting! I'm not a sci-fi person, but I'd honestly give that a read, because, c'mon, its the guys being put into situations, thus having to become a badass! Lol. I've been really into Marvel Avengers fanfic, so I've been all about BAMF and whump fics, hahaha!
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Since Tracy just shared a story idea, what are some of your story ideas that you ended up not following through on?
That's a good question, because I think my biggest mistake, throughout my on and off years with this fandom and fanfic, I've tried to pen the ideas I had... thus leaving A LOT of incomplete stories, lmao! I'm pretty cool at that! B)
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That is a good question. I have a lot of old ideas that have never been written (or never gotten far enough to be posted, I should say - some of them I've started), but I have a hard time letting go or giving up on them. I'm always like, "Well, maybe someday..." Guilty Roads was one of those ideas I'd been sitting on for at least 5 years before I actually started writing it.
One of my more recent ideas that will probably never be written was a Brian suspense story, tentatively entitled "Hush." I got this idea a couple of years ago when we were still speculating about what was going on with his voice, and the premise was that after having vocal cord surgery, Brian goes to a remote cabin or beach cottage or something by himself to recover, since it would be hard to be around other people when he is on complete vocal rest and can't talk, and he gets kidnapped or held hostage by a crazy fan posing as a home healthcare worker, kind of like a "Misery" situation. (I'll admit, I have always wanted to write another story like that.) He can't scream for help without risking permanent damage to his vocal cords, and since his family and friends know he's not supposed to be talking, they don't expect phone calls from him, so the kidnapper can keep them from suspecting anything for awhile by texting them from his phone. I kinda gave up on the idea once Brian opened up about his real condition, which is not treated with surgery. But I did make a cool banner for it: http://dreamers-sanctuary.com/hushbanner.png
A really old idea I started writing a couple of different times but never got off the ground was one that dealt with the idea of reincarnation. It was originally going to be an AJ canon story called "Once Upon a Dream," and then it evolved into a Brian AU called "Dreams of Blue Eyes," which I then changed to "The Distance Between Lives," but the basic premise was always that the guy has been having recurring dreams about this girl he's never seen, and then he meets her in real life, and it turns out they were lovers in a past life, soulmates, except they never got a chance to grow old together because one of them was murdered. The story would alternate between the present and the past (which was going to be Civil War era) as they try to solve the mystery of what happened in their former lives and prevent something like it from happening in the present. I have quite an elaborate outline for it and even a couple of chapters written, but I could never get much farther than that. Turns out I don't really like writing historical fiction, and I don't do well with super complex storylines LOL.
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I feel ya with that! Do you think when things start picking up with them again, so will the fandom for you? Or naw? Lol. And aww, we love you too Mare!!! :-*
I doubt it, Reb. I guess never say never but things I thought would bring me back to the fandom, like their movie for instance, didn't. I wanted to be more excited than I actually was but truth is, I watched it twice and that was that. I'll always love their music because that's what drew me to them and I will always love the relationship in my head that existed between them, but their choices over the years have just made my respect for them go down to a place where apparently I can't come back from. It's hard to write them when you can't really channel them anymore. I stopped channeling Brian years ago which was rough, then it turned into him and AJ which I wasn't feeling but now it's moved to the other three as well. I could probably still write Nick and Kevin if I really wanted to but the problem is, I don't really want to.
Maybe a new album will do it for me & they won't do anything dumb to take away from that. Maybe lol
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I am loving reading these story ideas lol keep them coming. Julie that reincarnation one would make a great OF.
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That is a good question. I have a lot of old ideas that have never been written (or never gotten far enough to be posted, I should say - some of them I've started), but I have a hard time letting go or giving up on them. I'm always like, "Well, maybe someday..." Guilty Roads was one of those ideas I'd been sitting on for at least 5 years before I actually started writing it.
One of my more recent ideas that will probably never be written was a Brian suspense story, tentatively entitled "Hush." I got this idea a couple of years ago when we were still speculating about what was going on with his voice, and the premise was that after having vocal cord surgery, Brian goes to a remote cabin or beach cottage or something by himself to recover, since it would be hard to be around other people when he is on complete vocal rest and can't talk, and he gets kidnapped or held hostage by a crazy fan posing as a home healthcare worker, kind of like a "Misery" situation. (I'll admit, I have always wanted to write another story like that.) He can't scream for help without risking permanent damage to his vocal cords, and since his family and friends know he's not supposed to be talking, they don't expect phone calls from him, so the kidnapper can keep them from suspecting anything for awhile by texting them from his phone. I kinda gave up on the idea once Brian opened up about his real condition, which is not treated with surgery. But I did make a cool banner for it: http://dreamers-sanctuary.com/hushbanner.png
A really old idea I started writing a couple of different times but never got off the ground was one that dealt with the idea of reincarnation. It was originally going to be an AJ canon story called "Once Upon a Dream," and then it evolved into a Brian AU called "Dreams of Blue Eyes," which I then changed to "The Distance Between Lives," but the basic premise was always that the guy has been having recurring dreams about this girl he's never seen, and then he meets her in real life, and it turns out they were lovers in a past life, soulmates, except they never got a chance to grow old together because one of them was murdered. The story would alternate between the present and the past (which was going to be Civil War era) as they try to solve the mystery of what happened in their former lives and prevent something like it from happening in the present. I have quite an elaborate outline for it and even a couple of chapters written, but I could never get much farther than that. Turns out I don't really like writing historical fiction, and I don't do well with super complex storylines LOL.
I totes would have enjoyed that "Hush" fic, and I love that banner! Lmao!! It's funny you mention that you've been having ideas of reincarnation, because that's the inspiration with my current fic! These past few months I've been thinking of the possibility of having a past life and wondering what people believe. I know for one my religion (Catholic) does not believe in that, but my mind has been questioning it and wanting to research more about it. From yeeeeaaaaarrrr rsssss ago when I was younger, I wanted to write an original story of a typical man living his life, but then he starts to change and exhibit behavior that's so unlike him; as the story continues, it dabbles into past life situations and yadda yadda.
When I was a kid, I used to get sooo lost in my thoughts of life after death... the thought would consume me so bad that I'd zone out and would actually have to shake myself from it because I'd be scaring myself of that thought of possible infinite... nothing after death. Again, against my religion, lol, but I used to wish that I were an inanimate object or something... where there was really no life nor death, no pain of losing someone or whatever. Yes, I was a weird kid, I know, lol, but that's what really sprung up that story idea. Since I've been thinking about that a lot, and I found myself wandering back to the fandom, I decided to pen the idea using the guys as my characters because it's easier to use already established people, lol.
I had a talk with my close church friends about reincarnation and what they thought of it, despite our religion. My friend had shared, which I didn't know this was the theory of some believers, that the whole "light at the end of the tunnel" thing, they believe is you being reborn again. Lol, it was an interesting concept. But yes, the thought of reincarnation and having past lives is very intriguing, so I'm pretty excited to continue with the story I'm writing and see where it ends up. :)
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I doubt it, Reb. I guess never say never but things I thought would bring me back to the fandom, like their movie for instance, didn't. I wanted to be more excited than I actually was but truth is, I watched it twice and that was that. I'll always love their music because that's what drew me to them and I will always love the relationship in my head that existed between them, but their choices over the years have just made my respect for them go down to a place where apparently I can't come back from. It's hard to write them when you can't really channel them anymore. I stopped channeling Brian years ago which was rough, then it turned into him and AJ which I wasn't feeling but now it's moved to the other three as well. I could probably still write Nick and Kevin if I really wanted to but the problem is, I don't really want to.
Maybe a new album will do it for me & they won't do anything dumb to take away from that. Maybe lol
Ah I see! Yeah, for me, there was even a point where the fandom got a little weird for me and I began questioning why I was a fan at all. Horrible, I know. :( Then, I have those moments of journeying back into the past and being reeled in all over again, lol. Aside from loneliness and "discovering" that this fandom is my escape, I'm trying to remember what really brought me back to them... I think I may have been on Netflix, saw their documentary was posted and was like hmm, lets watch it again. Or maybe I was just craving to listen to one of the songs off of IAWLT, I can't remember, hahaha. Next thing you know, I'm looking at AJ's, Nick's, Brian's IG, which I don't do, because I don't follow them, lol, and then I wanted to write again, lol. Like I said, I think the fact that I've been reading a lot of Avengers fanfic more than anything lately had me wanting to write again, idk, lol.
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Having that said... what's your biggest struggle with this fandom? What has changed for you? What do you wish were still the same?
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I have always found the idea of reincarnation fascinating. I kind of hope it is a true thing and if you have lived a not so great life this time around, next time it'll be ten times better. At least that's what I'm hoping. With my luck, I'll come back as a slug or something. lol
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Having that said... what's your biggest struggle with this fandom? What has changed for you? What do you wish were still the same?
This will be long and ranty lol
It's so funny you asked this because in replying to you, I was thinking about some of the simpler times when it came to BSB.
For instance, remember back during the Nevergone tour, the whole sound check thing was done by random drawer. You didn't have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to meet the guys. They seemed to be so much more accessible to the fans during that time. The only time they really whored themselves out for money was if they were doing charity events and you got plenty of quality time with them when that happened. I spent hours with Kevin, AJ and Brian at his golf event. I mean talking to them unattended etc.... The same when Howie did a bowling thing in NYC. it's like back then they did see their fans as fans as opposed to now where I'm pretty sure we are more looked at as their income source. I really miss that version of BSB. I think it's so incredibly unacceptable to ask for hundreds of dollars for a picture and five minutes. That's so pompous and ridiculous to me.
The other thing that is different for me, is how excluded I feel with the fandom. I know that sounds crazy considering I met so many great friends through BSB, but ever since the whole cruise thing and VIP thing, there's always been this divide. I wish I had a BSB click, but I don't. So, when concerts pop up or events, it always just depresses me when people are all we need to go to this together! But then you're always excluded from that. It becomes unfun and depressing. Maybe if I had a concert buddy or group who I did everything with, I'd have a different view, but it's just not like that for me.
I want things to go back to how they were right before Kevin left. lol it's all his fault! "Kicks Kevin"
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I am loving reading these story ideas lol keep them coming. Julie that reincarnation one would make a great OF.
Thanks! That is what I'm thinking about that idea too - I already changed it to an AU and will probably never get around to writing it as a fanfic, but maybe an OF someday.
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I totes would have enjoyed that "Hush" fic, and I love that banner! Lmao!! It's funny you mention that you've been having ideas of reincarnation, because that's the inspiration with my current fic! These past few months I've been thinking of the possibility of having a past life and wondering what people believe. I know for one my religion (Catholic) does not believe in that, but my mind has been questioning it and wanting to research more about it. From yeeeeaaaaarrrr rsssss ago when I was younger, I wanted to write an original story of a typical man living his life, but then he starts to change and exhibit behavior that's so unlike him; as the story continues, it dabbles into past life situations and yadda yadda.
When I was a kid, I used to get sooo lost in my thoughts of life after death... the thought would consume me so bad that I'd zone out and would actually have to shake myself from it because I'd be scaring myself of that thought of possible infinite... nothing after death. Again, against my religion, lol, but I used to wish that I were an inanimate object or something... where there was really no life nor death, no pain of losing someone or whatever. Yes, I was a weird kid, I know, lol, but that's what really sprung up that story idea. Since I've been thinking about that a lot, and I found myself wandering back to the fandom, I decided to pen the idea using the guys as my characters because it's easier to use already established people, lol.
I had a talk with my close church friends about reincarnation and what they thought of it, despite our religion. My friend had shared, which I didn't know this was the theory of some believers, that the whole "light at the end of the tunnel" thing, they believe is you being reborn again. Lol, it was an interesting concept. But yes, the thought of reincarnation and having past lives is very intriguing, so I'm pretty excited to continue with the story I'm writing and see where it ends up. :)
Thanks!
I love the idea of reincarnation too; I think it's fascinating. I have always been a history buff and an "old soul" in some ways, so I would totally read something with that premise. I don't know if I believe in reincarnation in real life; for me, it's about the same as believing in ghosts. I don't really, but then there are stories that make me wonder, so I guess I'm open to the possibility. It's fun to think about either way and would make a great story!
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I doubt it, Reb. I guess never say never but things I thought would bring me back to the fandom, like their movie for instance, didn't. I wanted to be more excited than I actually was but truth is, I watched it twice and that was that.
I also thought I would watch the documentary more than I actually did. I've seen it I think twice in its entirety, once when it came out and once when it aired on VH1, and that's it. Now I see it on Netflix, and I'm like, "Oh there it is, that's cool," but I haven't felt compelled to watch it again. It was good, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't like the videos of theirs that I used to watch repeatedly back in the day - All Access, A Night Out, Homecoming concert, etc. But that also might be because I'm not the obsessive teenybopper I used to be back in the day and don't have that kind of time LOL. I dunno. I guess I'm a little disappointed that I don't feel that way about it, but it was still interesting to watch. I get what you're saying though.
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I have always found the idea of reincarnation fascinating. I kind of hope it is a true thing and if you have lived a not so great life this time around, next time it'll be ten times better. At least that's what I'm hoping. With my luck, I'll come back as a slug or something. lol
LOL! I would like to come back as a house cat so I can just lie around all day and be petted.
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Mare may have touched on this a bit in her reply to Reb, but while we're on the subject...
What has been your favorite BSB era and why?
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For instance, remember back during the Nevergone tour, the whole sound check thing was done by random drawer. You didn't have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to meet the guys. They seemed to be so much more accessible to the fans during that time. The only time they really whored themselves out for money was if they were doing charity events and you got plenty of quality time with them when that happened. I spent hours with Kevin, AJ and Brian at his golf event. I mean talking to them unattended etc.... The same when Howie did a bowling thing in NYC. it's like back then they did see their fans as fans as opposed to now where I'm pretty sure we are more looked at as their income source. I really miss that version of BSB. I think it's so incredibly unacceptable to ask for hundreds of dollars for a picture and five minutes. That's so pompous and ridiculous to me.
I wish I could have done some of those things back in the day! It sounds awesome. I didn't meet them until VIP became an option that you could pay for, and that's really the only way I've ever been able to interact with them - by paying ridiculous amounts of money to do VIP or the cruises. To me, maybe because I have never been very lucky when it comes to just "running into them," it's worth it, and I appreciate having that option, but I do understand how it can be alienating to those who can't afford or just don't want to spend that much money on something silly.
I wish we lived closer; I would love to be your concert buddy! Maybe some summer I'll come out to PA for a show. It sounds random, but I would really love to visit Philadelphia to see all the colonial/Revolutionary War-era sites and the Mutter Museum. Save up some money for their next tour and keep that in mind! We probably have a ways to go because I bet they'll record another album before they tour again.
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^ that sounds like fun to me! I can see you excited about the Mutter Museum lol
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Mare may have touched on this a bit in her reply to Reb, but while we're on the subject...
What has been your favorite BSB era and why?
Like I said in my post, I think the Never Gone era was mine. I loved the Up Close & Personal tour (that was my very first BSB concert experience) as well as the actual Never Gone tour. I enjoyed that album. It still is right there as one my all time favorite, tied with Millenium and I think I was the most into them at that point. I was a writing machine back then and used to love watching old interviews etc... I remember the only thorn in my side at that point was AJ dating a 10 year old lol ok I'm exaggerating but not by much!
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^ that sounds like fun to me! I can see you excited about the Mutter Museum lol
OMG, I have been dying to go to the Mutter Museum ever since I discovered its existence! It's got "me" written all over it LOL.
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Like I said in my post, I think the Never Gone era was mine. I loved the Up Close & Personal tour (that was my very first BSB concert experience) as well as the actual Never Gone tour. I enjoyed that album. It still is right there as one my all time favorite, tied with Millenium and I think I was the most into them at that point. I was a writing machine back then and used to love watching old interviews etc... I remember the only thorn in my side at that point was AJ dating a 10 year old lol ok I'm exaggerating but not by much!
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Another idea I had scrapped was about Brian being shipwrecked by himself on an island but I felt I'd done too many stories inspired by movies and again... Scrapped it. I wrote Finding Carter instead which turned into a really awesome story idea and was a success for me.
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I really love the black and blue era. So much angst to work with. I also like stories about the guys when they were really young. I love those. Probably why I loved Mare's stuff... She was always great at writing baby BSB.
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Maybe this is just me, but I've noticed that there seem to be patterns among us "regulars," where we're either all writing or slumping at the same time. There have been some summers where this board sees a lot of action because we all have stories we're working on and wanting to discuss, and then there are times like this year where it's been pretty dead. I can't speak for the actual site, but the Most Recent section is only one page long and goes back to June, which suggests there haven't been a ton of stories being updated there either.
So my question is, are you influenced by other people's writing habits? Do you get inspired or discouraged by what else is happening in the fanfic world or with BSB?
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That is true. It's weird how we are all on the same cycles. As for me, what everyone is doing doesn't really effect me much. There used to be a time when a lot of BSB activity would inspire me to write, but it hasn't really happened since they all lived together in London.
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I wish I was a fan during the Millennium era. I missed all that excitement!
And thanks, Tracy. I enjoyed writing tiny BSB mainly because it was easier to make them brotherly without having to include wives etc...
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This will be long and ranty lol
It's so funny you asked this because in replying to you, I was thinking about some of the simpler times when it came to BSB.
For instance, remember back during the Nevergone tour, the whole sound check thing was done by random drawer. You didn't have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to meet the guys. They seemed to be so much more accessible to the fans during that time. The only time they really whored themselves out for money was if they were doing charity events and you got plenty of quality time with them when that happened. I spent hours with Kevin, AJ and Brian at his golf event. I mean talking to them unattended etc.... The same when Howie did a bowling thing in NYC. it's like back then they did see their fans as fans as opposed to now where I'm pretty sure we are more looked at as their income source. I really miss that version of BSB. I think it's so incredibly unacceptable to ask for hundreds of dollars for a picture and five minutes. That's so pompous and ridiculous to me.
The other thing that is different for me, is how excluded I feel with the fandom. I know that sounds crazy considering I met so many great friends through BSB, but ever since the whole cruise thing and VIP thing, there's always been this divide. I wish I had a BSB click, but I don't. So, when concerts pop up or events, it always just depresses me when people are all we need to go to this together! But then you're always excluded from that. It becomes unfun and depressing. Maybe if I had a concert buddy or group who I did everything with, I'd have a different view, but it's just not like that for me.
I want things to go back to how they were right before Kevin left. lol it's all his fault! "Kicks Kevin"
Aww Mare!! :( I'm sorry it was that way! :'( If I wasn't such a "weird" fan and lived in the states I would have LOVED to meet up with fellow fans and gone to do all these things! Being that I was stuck living on this rock, and that weird fan who didn't want to meet or see the guys, I was perfectly fine, hahaha! But like you said, reading people's reviews or seeing people plan ahead with getting together to go to the concerts or on the cruises and whatnot... I can't help than to imagine what it would be like yanno? Part of me would wanna do it to be around fellow fans and be apart of the craziness that is... and still be okay with not meeting them, LMFAO!!! Idk, I just met really great people through this fandom, and it kinda saddens me that this fandom is a closet life I choose to live and that I may not actually get to meet any of the people I've met and befriended cyberly. But it is nice to return to sites like these and check up on all of ya'll and catch up like I haven't fallen off the face of the earth for four years! ;D LMAO!!! But I totes feel ya girl, and I hope if you ever get the chance or feel like going, it'll change for you! :-*
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Mare may have touched on this a bit in her reply to Reb, but while we're on the subject...
What has been your favorite BSB era and why?
I would have to say... Millennium and Black & Blue era. I just remember the craziness of Millennium like it was yesterday! Back then, I was a fool in being both an *NSYNC and Backstreet fan, sometimes even liking *NSYNC over Backstreet and rooting for their videos to beat BSB and come in at #1 on TRL. Gosh I was a fucking idiot! :D Hahahaha!! But I fell in love with their styles, loved the Disney concert, looked through the album booklet constantly, listened to "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" constantly (that was my 90's life jam), "Don't Want You Back" was the coolest track ever, I always skipped "I Need You Tonight", and "Don't Wanna Lose You Now" and "Back To Your Heart" were the most romantic songs, I felt, that didn't get the recognition that they deserved. Millennium was just a great time in general.
Now, Black & Blue, despite it being seemingly dark and haunting with AJ's lifestyle during that time, I actually found myself LOVING AJ's vocals on this album. Yeah, I'm weird like that, hahaha. I remember buying their album wayyyy after it came out, after I had treated my family to sushi for dinner and begging them to take a detour to Walmart so I could purchase the album with my birthday money. I remember opening the CD, seeing the graffiti words and thinking it was the wrong CD placed inside; I was convinced it was a CD that belonged to Ja Rule or something... until I actually took the time and read "Backstreet Boys". ::) But "More Than That" became one of my ultimate favorite BSB songs to date, "Get Another Boyfriend", "Everyone", and "Not For Me" were the shit and should've been singles, and I fell hopelessly in love with "How Did I Fall In Love With You" and Howard's vocals. I enjoyed watching their concerts online at that time, and I believe it was around this time that I actually got into fanfiction.
I'm with you on Never Gone being a fave era too, because it was their grand return after AJ's rehab and quite a departure from the Boys' we knew back with Black & Blue. I did also like Unbreakable because that was the time that I managed to stay on top of everything Backstreet, with the multiple fanboards I joined and whatnot. Ugh, this answer turned out longer than it should have been! Hahahaha. But yes, Millennium and Black & Blue were my favorite eras, with Never Gone and Unbreakable a close second! ;D
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I really love the black and blue era. So much angst to work with. I also like stories about the guys when they were really young. I love those. Probably why I loved Mare's stuff... She was always great at writing baby BSB.
Totes agree with you on that one! You've said it perfectly Tracy! :D
Maybe this is just me, but I've noticed that there seem to be patterns among us "regulars," where we're either all writing or slumping at the same time. There have been some summers where this board sees a lot of action because we all have stories we're working on and wanting to discuss, and then there are times like this year where it's been pretty dead. I can't speak for the actual site, but the Most Recent section is only one page long and goes back to June, which suggests there haven't been a ton of stories being updated there either.
So my question is, are you influenced by other people's writing habits? Do you get inspired or discouraged by what else is happening in the fanfic world or with BSB?
Another good question! I know for me, it all depends on where I stand with my fandom, hahaha. I know back then, in the haydays of fanfiction, I did find myself inspired by other writers, with reviews and followers spurring me on. When I came back last summer, I enjoyed reading more than trying to write something. Lord knows I can't ever hold myself to committing to a story, lmao! During my long hiatus and stepping back from the fandom, I was starting to question why I even wrote fanfic in the first place. Now, this summer, I found my way back, and was really inspired, because like I said, I've been reading a lot of other fandom fanfics that made me miss writing and the reviews you would get from it. During this time though, it is a bit discouraging to have been inspired to start/write something, with not a lot of people around to receive it like how your stories used to be received back in the days. Then I tell myself times have changed and the fandom is fickle just like myself, hahaha.
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I've got to say, I'm so excited about this zombie movie too, it's probably going to be awful, but that'll just make it even better (if you know what I mean lol)
I've done no writing whatsoever for ages, I really miss it though and need to get a laptop again as I just can't do it on a phone/ipad or from work.
I've had a busy few months too, wedding planning. I got married on 3rd July and then went on a lovely honeymoon to Malta.
I really need to get back into reading too and Julie, I will be waiting for your updates :)
I've got an idea for a story too, but it's been so long since I wrote anything that I feel a little out of practice, plus the no laptop issue is stopping me!
Hope everyone is having a good summer though, and I hope you're all having better weather than the autumn-like weather we're having here in Wales!
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Congratulation s, Steph!!! I thought you might be busy with wedding planning, didn't realize you had already gotten married! I'm so happy for you!
It's good to see you back on the board, though! We've gotta get some more action around here! I know what you mean about the laptop; I gave away my slow little netbook in January, thinking it was time for an upgrade, and then I never did get around to buying a laptop until a couple weeks ago. What an expensive way to motivate myself, but it did work; I've written seven days in a row! I am planning to update SAMS on Friday, and Undead is *almost* done. I just hope I can keep going and not fall off the face of the earth again when school starts.
Our summer has been weird, weather-wise, too! It's been better this past month, but I think it rained just about every day in June and felt more like spring or autumn than summer.
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Part of me would wanna do it to be around fellow fans and be apart of the craziness that is... and still be okay with not meeting them, LMFAO!!! Idk, I just met really great people through this fandom, and it kinda saddens me that this fandom is a closet life I choose to live and that I may not actually get to meet any of the people I've met and befriended cyberly.
Hmm, maybe we should have an AC convention in Hawaii! ;)
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^ that would be awesome. I loved Hawaii although I'm saving for a 2020 cruise to Alaska maybe you can all join me lol
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Trying to think of new questions is tough, especially since no one seems to be writing lol anyone have any they can think of?
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^ that would be awesome. I loved Hawaii although I'm saving for a 2020 cruise to Alaska maybe you can all join me lol
I've never been either place, but both sound awesome!
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Trying to think of new questions is tough, especially since no one seems to be writing lol anyone have any they can think of?
Let's keep it nostalgic then. What story do you have the best memories of reading, and what story do you miss writing the most?
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So my question is, are you influenced by other people's writing habits? Do you get inspired or discouraged by what else is happening in the fanfic world or with BSB?
That is true. It's weird how we are all on the same cycles. As for me, what everyone is doing doesn't really effect me much. There used to be a time when a lot of BSB activity would inspire me to write, but it hasn't really happened since they all lived together in London.
LOL Friends in real life get on the same monthly cycles; fanfic friends get on the same writing cycles.
I am usually affected more by my own personal life and schedule than I am anything going on with BSB or the fanfic community. That said, I do think it's more fun when "everyone" is writing and reading and talking about each other's stuff; that's when it really feels like a writing community around here, and that is inspiring. If I haven't been writing and see that everyone else suddenly is, I want to be a part of that, and sometimes that is the kick in the pants I need to make it a priority. When no one else is writing or talking about fanfic, it's easy to forget about it and focus on other things (which sometimes may be what I need to do anyway LOL, but usually isn't as fun!). I am definitely glad to see us at least talking on here again, even if we're not all updating stories.
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I just realized the last update thread to be updated on the board is Rose's from March. I know not everyone maintains their own update thread, but you guys! That is sad!! I would suggest we need another challenge or something to get everyone around here writing again, but my attempt to organize one last year failed miserably, so... maybe something else LOL. Or someONE else.
Keeping this related to a question, what does it usually take for you to start writing again after a slump?
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Let's keep it nostalgic then. What story do you have the best memories of reading, and what story do you miss writing the most?
Without a doubt the best memories as a reader all come from "Ground Zero." Mainly because it was the first one I ever really read and was totally into. I remember staying up for hours reading it and I was devastated when I got to the last posted chapter to see it hadn't been updated in forever! Thankfully, Chaos did complete it but not on the particular site (Carries) I was reading it on. When I found the finished story, I swear it felt like Christmas lol
I think as far as writing it would have to be "Hope is the Last Thing Ever Lost." I just had a blast writing that one. I missed it when it was over.
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I loved reading Hope! You should just keep writing bromantic suspense stories with crazy but lovable villains. Even if you have to start recycling storylines, I don't think anyone around here would mind much. Right, guys?
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My best memories as a reader would have to be from the old days too. There are a lot of stories I remember reading for the first time and being glued to my screen, but my favorite memories might be from the Swollen Issues era because that was one of the first stories I remember friends of mine, like Mare, reading at the same time, so we could discuss it. Nowadays with AC, that is a lot more common - like with Dodging the Daylight last year - but back then I didn't really have a place or a group of friends to talk fanfic with. I was absolutely addicted to Swollen Issues, especially as the second one was being written, and would go to the site and refresh it multiple times a day to see if they had updated. It was bittersweet to see it finally end.
Along the same lines, the story I miss writing the most would have to be By My Side. It was so much fun writing all that angsty drama and looking forward to reactions from readers. I think Broken Nick and Claire will always be my favorite characters to write about.
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It's funny because I was going to say that Swollen two was a very close second because of what you said. I loved the fact that so many of us were reading it at the same time. I was also speaking to Kris on a daily basis at that point and she would always share early paragraphs or chapters. Those really were the days.
So, I should just recycle? maybe write a comedy about all my villains going on a road trip together? Lol
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My best reader memories are probably a couple of stories, Song For The Undead just had me hooked from the start. It didn't even have a title at the time as it was all part of the suspense, but I always looked forward to updates and can't wait to see how it all ends.
I also loved Hope Is The Last Thing Ever Lost, and I'd love Mare to write some more :) I think I met my Tim whilst reading this, so was glad he turned out to be nothing like the Tim in the story lol.
As for a story of mine I miss writing...I just loved torturing those boys in Save A Prayer!
I'm planning on getting a new laptop soonish, so will have to get back to working on my writing once I have one again. It's such a pain in the arse to be without one isn't it.
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Yes Mare, a story with all your villains would be great lol
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To get me writing again after a slump, I usually have to re-read something I've written. Or sometimes just reading other people's stories will inspire me to get on with my own. I've got an idea for a new story (even though I have an unfinished one) and it's something different for me, but related to some real life events which I'll incorporate into BSB lives. I just hope I can write it the way I see it in my head.
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It's funny because I was going to say that Swollen two was a very close second because of what you said. I loved the fact that so many of us were reading it at the same time. I was also speaking to Kris on a daily basis at that point and she would always share early paragraphs or chapters. Those really were the days.
So, I should just recycle? maybe write a comedy about all my villains going on a road trip together? Lol
That is funny! That was right around the time you started Fanfic Fun too.
Um, please do that!!
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My best reader memories are probably a couple of stories, Song For The Undead just had me hooked from the start. It didn't even have a title at the time as it was all part of the suspense, but I always looked forward to updates and can't wait to see how it all ends.
I also loved Hope Is The Last Thing Ever Lost, and I'd love Mare to write some more :) I think I met my Tim whilst reading this, so was glad he turned out to be nothing like the Tim in the story lol.
As for a story of mine I miss writing...I just loved torturing those boys in Save A Prayer!
I'm planning on getting a new laptop soonish, so will have to get back to working on my writing once I have one again. It's such a pain in the arse to be without one isn't it.
Thanks, Steph! Song for the Undead will be another one I'll miss writing when it's done. We're two chapters away, and then we will start posting the last ten!
I agree about Hope is the Last Thing Ever Lost too - probably my favorite Mare story, which is saying something because she's written so many good ones. That is funny about Tim!!
Save a Prayer is another one I have fond memories of all of us reading and talking about here. I hope you get a new laptop soon!
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I just realized the last update thread to be updated on the board is Rose's from March. I know not everyone maintains their own update thread, but you guys! That is sad!! I would suggest we need another challenge or something to get everyone around here writing again, but my attempt to organize one last year failed miserably, so... maybe something else LOL. Or someONE else.
Keeping this related to a question, what does it usually take for you to start writing again after a slump?
LOL I'm failing so hard. But hey Undead gave me a nice kick in the pants!
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Let's keep it nostalgic then. What story do you have the best memories of reading, and what story do you miss writing the most?
My best memories reading wise are probably Mare's "Why I'd Do It All Again". I loved that story and it was right when the Boys had gotten back together for Never Gone. There were just so many good memories during that time for me in fanfic land. Another would be back in the glory days lol, when Eboni was writing so many good fics. I felt like I was on her site constantly. I lived there.
As for writing...I miss "Remember Me This Way". That story was my baby. But I also think I'm gonna feel the same way about "Song For The Undead". Actually no, I feel that way already!
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It's funny because I was going to say that Swollen two was a very close second because of what you said. I loved the fact that so many of us were reading it at the same time. I was also speaking to Kris on a daily basis at that point and she would always share early paragraphs or chapters. Those really were the days.
So, I should just recycle? maybe write a comedy about all my villains going on a road trip together? Lol
Please make this happen!
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My best reader memories are probably a couple of stories, Song For The Undead just had me hooked from the start. It didn't even have a title at the time as it was all part of the suspense, but I always looked forward to updates and can't wait to see how it all ends.
I also loved Hope Is The Last Thing Ever Lost, and I'd love Mare to write some more :) I think I met my Tim whilst reading this, so was glad he turned out to be nothing like the Tim in the story lol.
As for a story of mine I miss writing...I just loved torturing those boys in Save A Prayer!
I'm planning on getting a new laptop soonish, so will have to get back to working on my writing once I have one again. It's such a pain in the arse to be without one isn't it.
Aww thank you Steph. We're SO close lol.
I did love reading Save a Prayer! Bot Fly Jordan!
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Aww thanks Steph. I'm really glad your Tim is nothing like my Tim too! lol
That's awesome, Rose. I gave to say I really enjoyed writing Why as well. I cracked myself up more than a few times. Hehe.
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LOL I'm failing so hard. But hey Undead gave me a nice kick in the pants!
I think that is the best part about collabs - having a co-author to give you that kick in the pants, encourage you, brainstorm with you, etc. I never seem to suffer the same writer's block or lack of motivation with collabs that I do sometimes with my own stories, and if I do, all it usually takes is one conversation with the co-writer(s) to get me back into it.
If anyone needs a pep talk or help with ideas for their story, don't forget about the Brainstorms board: http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php/board,44.0.html
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Sorry that me being on here has been sporadic lol. I don't really write anymore these days. I do read but when I'm able to. I help run three Facebook groups and cosplaying... Plus work takes up a lot of my free time. I also roleplay online as well.
That being said my favorite memory as a reader... I'm pretty sure the first thing I read was Swollen Issues. It wasn't on this site but their personal one, that was when I was using free periods at school to read fanfiction. I then stumbled on this site and started reading here. I miss reading regularly. As a writer the best for me was when everyone read Figured You Out. I felt so flattered that all of my favorite writers were reading something of mine. I still look at that feedback even now and it makes me all warm and fuzzy :)
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Just so you know, I posted a new writing challenge for anyone interested.
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Ahh, I've disappeared again! Been a crazy past week... I'm with my mother at the hospital; my mother was admitted through the ER and rushed into emergency surgery last week Tuesday for a perforation in her intestines; I've been trying to stay with her all the while. But lets try to get through these posts! ;D
Hmm, maybe we should have an AC convention in Hawaii! ;)
That would be totally awesome!! Although, not gonna lie, would love to get off this rock for a bit! :D
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Let's keep it nostalgic then. What story do you have the best memories of reading, and what story do you miss writing the most?
The stories I have the best memories of reading... are all of Mare's stories, this one story of Brian dying, and all the old school suspense stories like from Whitney, Mercy, etc.
As for what story I miss writing the most... I'm not even sure, lol.
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If you could give the guys one of your stories to read, which story would it be and why?
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Ahh, I've disappeared again! Been a crazy past week... I'm with my mother at the hospital; my mother was admitted through the ER and rushed into emergency surgery last week Tuesday for a perforation in her intestines; I've been trying to stay with her all the while. But lets try to get through these posts! ;D
Oh no! I hope your mom's doing better and recovers quickly.
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If you could give the guys one of your stories to read, which story would it be and why?
I'd give them Song for the Undead because it's probably the closest to something they might actually like, being a zombie apocalypse story. Also, it's AU, so it would be more like reading an original fiction than a fanfic.
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Hmm I don't think I have anything the guys would like to read.
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Ahh, I've disappeared again! Been a crazy past week... I'm with my mother at the hospital; my mother was admitted through the ER and rushed into emergency surgery last week Tuesday for a perforation in her intestines; I've been trying to stay with her all the while. But lets try to get through these posts! ;D
That would be totally awesome!! Although, not gonna lie, would love to get off this rock for a bit! :D
I hope she's okay!
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I'd give them Song for the Undead because it's probably the closest to something they might actually like, being a zombie apocalypse story. Also, it's AU, so it would be more like reading an original fiction than a fanfic.
Ditto on this lol.
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Oh so an old idea that I started but will probably never do.
I did have an idea called "Just To Be Close" cause in the wrong context the song lyrics are creepy. It was right before Tracy wrote FYO and I remember bouncing ideas off of Julie about it. The fan was inspired heavily by Nayeli. Nick would end up locked in her basement and it's a typical psycho fan story except she carried a doll with his face plastered on it LOL. I scrapped it once Tracy was doing FYO cause I didn't want them being compared. I kept thinking I'd go back to it eventually but it never happened.
(https://i0.wp.com/s13.postimage.org/be2997l4n/JTBC_banner.png)
I've used some of the ideas I had for that in "Miles To Go", but Miles is...well, it's very different and not the same story at all. But a few methods will be used in that, that were going to be used in JTBC lol. Miles is more inspired by Misery. Cause ya know, Julie and I share a brain so her epic Hush idea doesn't surprise me LOL.
I also got inspired to do a BSB/Agents of SHIELD crossover but this idea came up when I watched the freaking pilot episode LOL. I'd have to rework the entire idea but I haven't thrown it out yet. I do adore the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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If you could give the guys one of your stories to read, which story would it be and why?
Hrmmm...not sure if they'd enjoy anything of mine but if they could get over having their names in the story, maybe either Whatever the Night or Hope. I'd feel the constant need to apologize to them as they read it, especially Nick & Howie lol "Uh....yeah.... sorry about that" "Oh...right, that happened....so sorry...."
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Ahh, I've disappeared again! Been a crazy past week... I'm with my mother at the hospital; my mother was admitted through the ER and rushed into emergency surgery last week Tuesday for a perforation in her intestines; I've been trying to stay with her all the while. But lets try to get through these posts! ;D
That would be totally awesome!! Although, not gonna lie, would love to get off this rock for a bit! :D
I just saw this post. I hope your mom is doing better!
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Hrmmm...not sure if they'd enjoy anything of mine but if they could get over having their names in the story, maybe either Whatever the Night or Hope. I'd feel the constant need to apologize to them as they read it, especially Nick & Howie lol "Uh....yeah.... sorry about that" "Oh...right, that happened....so sorry...."
I'd have to say that pretty much no matter what story they read LOL. Especially if Brian read Undead, like "Um sorry we made your wife a zombie and you had to take her out by shoving a towel bar through her eye...". Or apologizing to Howie for giving him Hemophilia LOL.
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Thank you all for your concern! Unfortunately she was rushed in for a second surgery last night, so she'll be healing from that all over again. Last night and this morning has been rough... I've been up all day yesterday and today trying to help her with her pain, but all we can do is just try to get her as comfortable as possible. Hopefully this second surgery solved the problems.
This is totes random, but MonkeyAbu (Ashley) is trying to get back into the forums to join us with chatting, but it won't let her access. She tried to email the admin account I think.
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Oh no, Reb... I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope this will be the last surgery she'll need.
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Thank you all for your concern! Unfortunately she was rushed in for a second surgery last night, so she'll be healing from that all over again. Last night and this morning has been rough... I've been up all day yesterday and today trying to help her with her pain, but all we can do is just try to get her as comfortable as possible. Hopefully this second surgery solved the problems.
This is totes random, but MonkeyAbu (Ashley) is trying to get back into the forums to join us with chatting, but it won't let her access. She tried to email the admin account I think.
Awww Reb I'm so sorry about that, I hope things will get better!
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Thank you all for your concern! Unfortunately she was rushed in for a second surgery last night, so she'll be healing from that all over again. Last night and this morning has been rough... I've been up all day yesterday and today trying to help her with her pain, but all we can do is just try to get her as comfortable as possible. Hopefully this second surgery solved the problems.
This is totes random, but MonkeyAbu (Ashley) is trying to get back into the forums to join us with chatting, but it won't let her access. She tried to email the admin account I think.
Sorry to hear that, Reb! Hopefully after this surgery things will get better. I'll keep her in my thoughts.
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Thank you all for your concern! Unfortunately she was rushed in for a second surgery last night, so she'll be healing from that all over again. Last night and this morning has been rough... I've been up all day yesterday and today trying to help her with her pain, but all we can do is just try to get her as comfortable as possible. Hopefully this second surgery solved the problems.
This is totes random, but MonkeyAbu (Ashley) is trying to get back into the forums to join us with chatting, but it won't let her access. She tried to email the admin account I think.
Hey lady! I know we already talked last night (and yes I'm back, using this name instead of MonkeyAbu), but I'm praying for your mama and I hope things start to turn around for her!
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If you could give the guys one of your stories to read, which story would it be and why?
Oh god, I don't think I'd like them to read anything I've done lol
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Hope your mum is ok
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I got this idea from the DWTS thread. I have to admit, I am warming up to the idea of Nick being on DWTS. I still cringe thinking about it and I'm not totally sure if I'll watch it and pretty sure I won't be voting, but it is nice seeing him all over the news.
Anyway...talki ng about Survivor made me think it was a good general question to post.
Which of the boys would you like to see on a reality show? Which show and why?
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I would love to see any of the boys on a reality show, but my personal preference would be Brian, Nick, or Kevin. I think Nick or AJ would probably be the most entertaining though LOL. As far as which show, probably Survivor. It's the only reality show I really watch that doesn't require them to have a certain skill that they don't have (like Project Runway). Plus, there would be lots of shirtlessness, and Brian would be forced to grow out his hair.
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Omg, one of them needs to learn how to sew so they can be on Project Runway! lmao
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I would die to see team A-Rok on the Amazing Race!! :D They would either do amazingly well or totally freak on each other ... Either way it would be entertaining.
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I always thought a Kevin and Nick pairing on that one would be epic. Random note that I know I've shared before but "The Importance of Fly Fishing" was originally going to be a story about them on the Amazong Race lol
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Omg, one of them needs to learn how to sew so they can be on Project Runway! lmao
LMAO Can you imagine? I bet AJ would actually like to be on it if he had the skills. The others... ehh, not so much.
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Amazing Race would be fun too!
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AJ is the only one I can see on Project Runway.
I'd love to see Howie on Top Chef as well lol who cares if he can cook or not.
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Awwwww Howie on Top Chef would be so cute! I have this vague memory of Nick and Brian doing some sort of cooking segment on some (British??) morning show. I'm not sure why they were on it, but it wasn't all THAT long ago. Anyways, they had to chop some vegetables and Brian totally looked comfortable doing it, but Nick looked like he was going to lose a finger! HAHA Perhaps Nick should go on Top Chef with Howie!!
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I'd like to see Nick on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, I think he'd be entertaining to watch.
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Um- can we put Kevin on something like Man vs. Wild? That would be hot. He'd go all backwoods Kentucky boy on them, and I can see him basically kicking ass.
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Oh yes I'd like to see that too :)
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I don't think I could watch that show. It's a little too gross-ish for me. I could see Kevin on it though. Drinking his own pee and eating Mosquitos lol
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Ewwww....
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I don't think I could watch that show. It's a little too gross-ish for me. I could see Kevin on it though. Drinking his own pee and eating Mosquitos lol
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Yes, sometimes I have to look away when Bear Grylls is eating gross stuff as it makes me feel ill, but apart from the eating, I'd like to see him on it :)
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Since people have been popping in but have been really busy why don't we all say one great thing that's happened this year and one not so great thing.
Overall, has this year been a good one or a bad one?
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Overall, my year has been busy, but not bad. Work has always been busy, but I feel like the added pressures of home ownership and my master's program have added so many more responsibiliti es to my plate that the time I used to dedicate to reading and writing fanfic is now spent doing housework, yardwork, and schoolwork (or, if I'm being totally honest, lying around watching TV and avoiding those things). I will be glad to be done with my master's by the end of next summer and hoping that having one less thing to worry about on the weekends will free me up to get back to writing more regularly.
The worst thing that's happened this year is that a lot of my friends have lost loved ones this fall - mainly co-workers, but a few online friends as well. For awhile there this fall, I was going to a visitation with the same group of work friends just about every other week. I think I've been to as many visitations this year as I had in my entire life up until this year. I guess that's what happens with age, but many of these people were too young to be dying!
The best thing was probably going to Orlando in October and finally (FINALLY!) visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! It was every bit as awesome as I hoped it would be, and I had a great time. We went to Disney (Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios) for a day, too, and that was also fun, especially since I hadn't been there since I was 12. That was a great vacation with a couple of my BSB girls in place of the cruise.
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I'm glad you finally got to the Wizarding World, Julie. And I am going through the same thing when it comes to deaths. It seems like a lot of people are dying too young this year.
This summer I started to display symptoms of MS. it's kind of hard to diagnosis. It's more like a process of elimination. I'm not totally surprised. I've known for awhile that something was wrong with me. The doctor is treating me as if I do have it. I'm walking with a cane these days and I'm continually exhausted and trying my best to deal with it. I do not have lesions on my brain as of now, which is a plus. I haven't told many people at all, mainly because I'm having a hard time dealing with it myself. My sister doesn't even know. It's been a weird adjustment for me and I feel like every day something else is going on with my body, so it's been quite the adjustment. I'm not one to ask for help from people so having to ask people to close my windows at school or making copies for me because some days my fingers are so weak I can't press the buttons, has been humbling. Other days I feel absolutely fine. It's weird. Winter will be the big test for me. I'm kind of worried about that. Thankfully most of my schools and teachers have been very accommodating as have the kids. Even though they have no clue what's going on, they know something is. I do gave one school where no one seems to care, which is unfortunate since I'm there the most. Figures, right? lol
On the plus side, my publishing company notified me a few weeks ago that a talent agent requested my book and probably a ton of others. His name is David Katsman and apparently he's trying to find ideas to develop into shows or movies for Hulu. I've never heard of him but hey, that was a little exciting that he wanted Mel's to take a closer look at. After having to deal with the health crap, this would be a really great!
Despite the disease, overall my year has been okay. I've been busy and when I get home from school I tend to just want to watch tv or go online and do brainless things. I have no energy, not that I ever did to begin with lol I haven't read anything since this summer. I'm hoping that will change over the Christmas break.
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Mare, I'm so sorry to hear you might have MS. I don't know much about it, but it doesn't sound pleasant. A woman my mom worked with had it, and from what she described, it seemed to come and go. She would have to walk with a cane for awhile, and then it would seem to go into remission and she would be fine for awhile. She's retired now, but as far as I know, she is doing well. I hope your doctor will find a treatment that works for you to keep the symptoms in check.
I'm glad most people at your schools are being understanding and helpful, but it sucks that the one you're at most if the one where no one seems to care. Maybe you should send out an email or something letting them know what's going on... not for sympathy or attention, but just so they're aware. I know sometimes I get so busy with my own stuff at school, I'm not paying attention to what's going on with other people, especially the ones I only see once in awhile.
I'm glad you got some good news in the midst of all the bad stuff. That is so awesome about Mel's! Keep us posted if you hear anything else that you're allowed to tell. Fingers crossed for you!
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It's funny you mentioned that because I just did send an email out on Friday. I have my all school concert coming up there on the 16th & we do a dress rehearsal run through in the morning and afternoon and typically, it's the most stressful day of the entire year for me. Stress makes my symptoms flare up. The staff usually make things ten times worse that day because they suddenly have all these suggestions or want to tell me how to do my job or roll their eyes & talk under their breath about having to be there that night etc... I decided to just let everyone know the situation because I'm afraid if I expend all my energy during the day I won't gave any left at night. A handful of them already know but I thought I'd tell them all. I work with a lot of assholes at this one school lol there's also a lot of great people too. I'm just overall concerned about my energy level that week. I have three concerts, and two dress rehearsals. Each one of those days will be easily over 12 hour days. I've done it a billion tines but not this sick.
The last few weeks have been exceptionally bad. I couldn't even sleep in my bed the last few days because of pain and numbness in my left leg and side in general. It's been bad enough for me to have to use a walker this weekend, which has really been deflating. Today, I've been able to get around with just my cane. I refuse to use a walker at school and can't really because of the logistics. It's all one big learning process for me. My goal right at the moment is to get from one break to another. Christmas can't get here fast enough. lol
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Yikes... I hope everything goes well with the concerts and that the staff cuts you some slack. I know this is a crazy time of year for music teachers. When does your break start? We're done the 18th. Ten days and counting!
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We're not done until the 23rd. :-/
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Wow! Nothing like waiting til the last minute. That sucks!
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Seriously! lol
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So what does everyone think of Nick's new album so far?
I was a little underwhelmed when I first heard it, but I have to say, it has really grown on me. The songs are fun, and it's so NICK! Even without having liner notes, it's obvious to me that he wrote most, if not all, of the songs, and they are GOOD! Even the silly ones are clever lyrically and catchy as hell musically. My instant favorites were Man on the Moon and Horoscope, but I'm also really loving Get Over Me, Second Wind, and All American now too, and I like all of the others. I don't have a single skip song, which is a first for me. I even started writing a one-shot inspired by a couple of them this weekend, and you know how infrequently I write songfics.
Just curious to hear everyone else's thoughts!
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I love it as well. I've only listened to it twice but it's just a happy cd. It just reminds me of how he is doing these days. I love Man on the Moon. Besides, I Will Wait, I think it's my favorite song in there. I even like the booty song lol
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I agree!! I think Second Wind says it all. This whole album is definitely a tribute to how far he's come. And yes, I walk around with "We like our... boo-TAY... made in the USA!" stuck in my head on a regular basis, even at work LOL. And Man on the Moon is such a sweet little 50s-sounding song; I adore it so much!!
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Good thing for me this year was my return to writing. Returning to something I thought I had given up on brought me a lot of joy. I also booked the European Cruise. On top of this I got to finally tell Nick thank you for saving my life and he responded. And for it being the week before the anniversary of it happening it meant the world.
Sorry that turned into three things lol.
Bad stuff: well, in the past few months I was sick, had a visit to the hospital, had some family things going on, got hit with a 1,700 hospital bill for one night in the emergency room, had a lot of drama at work. So I guess it was pretty even this year. Unfortunately more bad things happened than good. I was bullied at comic con as well. I don't know if I'm going to cosplay again but I feel it's more a issue of I don't know what character to do next than me quitting it totally.
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Okay, this post is going to be rather long as I've just caught up on the thread. :)
First, Mare, I'm so sorry to hear that you may have MS. My friend's husband was also recently diagnosed with a form of MS (Relapsing-Remitting). So far, he has been doing well and has not yet experienced any of the physical struggles that you have described. It really is a horrible disease and I truly hope that you are able to find ways to cope, and that your situation is able to improve. Just keep pushing forward!
Next, Tracy, OMG $1700 for an emergency room visit?? That's insane!! As a Canadian with free healthcare, I am always amazed at how fortunate I am whenever I hear of how much it costs to receive treatment in the US. That being said, I hope that you are feeling better and that some of the drama has settled down in your life. One more thing in regards to you being bullied at Comic-Con ... really?? I would have thought that the community at that event would have been very supportive. It's not really my thing, so I have no evidence to support my assumption, but I am sorry that you had such a negative experience. People's behaviour amazes me ... and not always in a good way.
Finally, I am STILL waiting for my Nick CD to arrive. SERIOUSLY?!?! It's been over a week since I pre-ordered the damn thing. It's shipping to Canada not the f-ing moon! LOL I have listened to it online though and I have to say that I'm also enjoying it. I Will Wait is definitely my favourite and I'm with you, Julie, in the sense that I also love Man On The Moon!! I have to admit that I did not like Nick's first two solo albums (don't hate me!). HAHA So, I've been pleasantly surprised with this one. However, AJ's solo album is still my favourite by far and I'm eagerly awaiting his new album (and BSB 2016 of course)!
Okay, to wrap things up, the highlight of my year was the birth of my baby girl and the fact that I got to spend the whole year at home with her!! Although, I initially found the adjustment to motherhood to be challenging (putting it mildly), I wouldn't have traded my year at home with her for anything. I'm back to work now and, while it's nice to be back, it's also been hard to adjust to sending her to daycare.
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I've been going to comic con for three years now. Been to other conventions as well. Never had anyone picking on me before, just on Instagram I did. Plus size Cosplayers don't get the same treatment as regular ones, because we are plus size. However, my costume wasn't the reason I was bullied.
A vendor that worked at the convention was shouting at me and called me ugly, then proceeded to make fun of me for being by myself. He called me a loser and I flipped him off. What upset me was that I was not only humiliated, I got the run around when I tried to report the incident. Nothing was done about the situation. I will still continue to cosplay but the experience hurt my self esteem.
I was in the hospital for a UTI. I'd never had one before in my life. I was already getting over the flu and a upper respiratory infection so I was very sick for a couple weeks. Luckily I have insurance from work, but I don't know how much got covered.
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I find it incredibly sad that in a world where people are so concerned about being politically correct and about promoting inclusion and diversity that someone can still be shamed for the size of their body. Have we not moved past that yet? Sadly, there will always be people in the world who are narrow minded and who feel that it is acceptable to make nasty comments about other people.
Like most people, I have been bullied (in the past) because of my appearance. Although it was not over the size of my body, but over my teeth when I was a kid. They were too large for my mouth and very crooked. Thankfully, braces fixed the issue and I never experienced any kind of bullying as a teenager or as an adult. I can only imagine what that would feel like. We spend so much time and energy teaching kids to be kind to one another, but nobody really speaks to adults about the same thing. I guess it is just assumed that adults "know better." *Sigh*
Anyways, I'm sorry for your negative experience and I'm happy to hear you say that it won't deter you from doing what you love and being who you are. People are a$$holes and that vendor is clearly a massive one!!
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Seriously, that's terrible but all you have to do is look at what's going on in politics and see a big bully who is a horrible human being leading the polls and it really explains a lot about what a majority of society thinks is okay.
We live in sad, sad times.
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And it seems like so many people have been diagnosed with MS this year. So many people I know have been telling me about so and so who is going through the same stuff I am. It's nice to know I'm not alone.
And congrats on becoming a mommy! :)
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So true. Sorry for that experience, Tracy, but don't let it take the fun out of cosplaying for you. Do what you enjoy, and to hell with the haters!
Erika, I can't believe it's already been a year since you had your baby! I'm glad you got to take a whole year off with her! It must have been hard going back to work after that. Just FYI, Nick's physical CD is not supposed to ship until mid-December if you ordered it off his site.
I'm super excited for BSB 2016 too! I had no idea they were going back into the studio so soon until they started posting that they were recording! I guess it's not really that soon, since it's already been 2+ years since IAWLT, but they've been doing so much that it doesn't seem like we've had to wait that long.
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I don't plan on giving up just yet. But I'm in a bit of a rut at the moment. Last cosplay I did was in October, I dressed as Maleficent for Halloween and it was very successful. I have no idea who I want to be next.
I am excited for a few things next year. Cruise, and seeing Nick in March. Plus a friend and I are talking about possibly going to LA in September. I just need to look at how much money situation is after Europe. The cruise scares me to death because I've never been out of the country before. Luckily I won't be traveling by myself, my friend from Chicago is my travel buddy. Strength in numbers is the plan I'm going for this time.
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Erika, I can't believe it's already been a year since you had your baby! I'm glad you got to take a whole year off with her! It must have been hard going back to work after that. Just FYI, Nick's physical CD is not supposed to ship until mid-December if you ordered it off his site.
I'm super excited for BSB 2016 too! I had no idea they were going back into the studio so soon until they started posting that they were recording! I guess it's not really that soon, since it's already been 2+ years since IAWLT, but they've been doing so much that it doesn't seem like we've had to wait that long.
:blushes: Clearly, I missed the bit about the actual CD not shipping out until sometime this month. Ooooops! I spend all day telling people to read critically ... it seems as though I need to follow my own advice!! LOL
I also can't believe that my little lady is 13 months old already! My year at home was over before I knew it! It's definitely been hard to make the transition back to work, but I am enjoying the fact that I get to exist and be known as someone other then "mommy" for at least eight hours a day. :)
While I am excited to see what this new album will bring, I am also slightly worried about Brian. His voice is what drew me to the group in the first place and the fact that he is singing less makes me a touch sad. Don't get me wrong, I truly like IAWLT and the overall sound of the album was great buuuuuut I just can't appreciate that Howie is singing more. I know that sounds horrible, but I'm a Brian girl and I miss him!! HAHA
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I know what you mean about Brian. :( I do think his voice is getting better... not that I've heard him sing live that much recently, but the last few times I have, he has sounded better... still a little shaky at times, but much better than the NKOTBSB days.
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I would love to get another discussion going, so here's a new question: How have you changed as a writer since you first got into fanfic? Feel free to answer as a reader too if you'd like.
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I'll answer, even though it's been awhile. Lol
I definitely changed as a writer from when I started to when I stopped. Fanfic helped my writing by leaps and bounds. I felt like my writing was elevated the last two real stories I wrote as compared to the way I wrote when I first started. I didn't change my tastes. I never roamed too far away from my comfort zones of suspense, drama and Nick centered stories, but I did at least try just about every genre once.
As a reader, I tended to get very picky. I mean, I was picky before but once I figured out what I liked, I never really strayed too far away. I used to feel guilty about not giving other genres or boy centered stories a chance, but I got over it lol
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I've definitely changed since I joined AC as a reader to being a writer now. My tastes have changed and my writing style has changed. I am more open minded now than I was let's say a year or two ago. I've tried so many genres, I feel like I could easily try anything now. I also started reading and writing slash, something that if you'd told me a few years ago I'd be doing, I would probably laugh at you. I think I've grown as a writer as well, judging by what readers have said I've had a lot of improvements.
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I used to update every day, and now I update every four months or so. But hey, when I do write, the writing is much better than it was back when I started. Quality over quantity, right?
I've also branched out in terms of who and what I write about. I used to only write romantic Brian medical dramas, but eventually I ran out of ailments, and then he got married, and I ran out of ways to get rid of Leighanne, so I started writing more about the other boys. It got harder to write romance once they all started getting married, so I started experimenting with AU and other genres. At this point, I think I've at least tried every genre. I still love drama the best, but I've found that I also really enjoy writing horror and parodies involving pandaskunks.
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Mare, I'm so sorry to hear that you may have MS and have had a rough time recently. Hopefully you'll not be suffering those symptoms too much and it'll improve.
Tracy, that hospital bill must've been a shock! Hope you're better now.
I'm a bad fan, I've not even listened to Nick's new CD yet as all my download sites have been blocked by my internet provider :(
Something good which happened for me this year was that I got married. Nothing bad has happened to me directly, but Tim has been told that his heart hasn't improved since he was first ill and it won't get any better. He may need a transplant one day, but at the moment he's not bad enough. Also my sister's health seems to have got worse and now her brain tumour is causing eye problems with her eye turning out all the time and making her dizzy.
As for writing, I've done nothing for so long. But I treated myself to a new laptop with Christmas money, so now I have to get back into both writing and reading :)
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So I just saw this. My computer died so I haven't been on much except through my phone. Mare, I'm so sorry. I'll echo Steph on this and keep you in my thoughts with hopes it'll get better for you.
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Thanks to the both of you. I've been resting a lot this break which has been helping. Today is the first day in almost a week that I've been in a fair amount of pain.
Steph, I'm sorry to hear that Tim's condition isn't improving. That has to be scary. I'm also very sorry about your sister. Being sick sucks!
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It's good to see you both (Steph and Rose) posting on here!
Steph, I'm so sorry to hear things haven't been going so well for Tim and your sister. I was just thinking about you and Tim the other day, wondering how you were doing. I will be praying that things improve for all of you. I'm glad you got a new laptop so maybe you can get back into writing!
Rose, I hope you get one soon too! I miss the days when all of us were reading and writing. It's been way too quiet around here!
Mare, I'm glad you've been able to rest and feel better over break, although sorry to hear you were hurting today.
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Seriously, prayers all around. Here's hoping everyone has a way better 2016.
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I have to say, I was very pleased when I went to go feature someone this morning, I had decided it would be whoever last posted something new but that happened to be Julie. Then Hannah, Erika etc... I had to go a few stories down before I found an author I hadn't featured in over a year. Way to go guys!
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Well I guess that's good!
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Rose, being without a computer is a pain in the arse isn't it! I couldn't really get on this site on my phone as the screen isn't very big. I'm so happy to have a new laptop even though I've not used it as much as I've liked to yet.
Thanks for the kind words about Tim and my sister. Tim is just carrying on as normal, he gets tired easily but he tries not to let it get to him too much. His daughter and sisters are being tested to make sure they haven't got it as his consultant wants to be 100% sure it's not hereditary. We don't think it is as he was completely fit and healthy before the virus struck him down. So we'll see.
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I hope everyone's new year is off to a good start. I plan to try and become more active this year - both here in discussions and in writing fanfiction. Nick's video for 19 in 99 just launched tonight. It's what I picture happening when Lauren isn't home. ;) If you've seen the video then what were your favorite parts? Mine were the couch scenes and AJ bringing the pizza.
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I haven't seen it and have no idea where to find it.
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It's on YouTube. On his vevo. Nick tweeted a link to the video but if you just type it in on YouTube it should come up. :)
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I watched it. It was cute. Not sure I have a favorite part, but I think he looks great with glasses and in suspenders. lol
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It's so cute! I don't know what my favorite part is, but I also love AJ as the pizza boy. I also like Nick clapping along on the diving board because that is just cheesy fun. And his bad acting at the beginning... LOL. He's better off just not talking in any acting role he does, cause as soon as he opens his mouth, I start laughing. I love the video though; it's adorable!
As far as writing goes, I was off to a really good start with that this year, and now I'm getting to that point where real life is catching up to me, and I haven't written in three weeks. I had a bummer weekend a couple weeks ago that involved a funeral and a minor car accident (thankfully not in my car, not me driving, and everyone's fine), then I got a cold, and then I've spent the last two weekends working on a paper for class, so writing has kind of fallen by the wayside. I'm still like ten chapters ahead of myself on SAMS from all the writing I did over winter break, though, so I'm good for awhile. Glad to see you back on here again, Tracy!
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Yikes! Sorry to hear about the car accident, and the funeral.
The bad acting all around had me cringing and smiling. The little boy and the girl playing his wife as well. lol I forgot about AJ. I loved seeing him in there.
It is nice seeing people poking their heads back in here and also writing again. Keep up the great work guys! Hopefully I won't suck at checking in here and the site too since writing has kind of disappeared from my vocabulary. Maybe ll go have a look at the site now actually lol
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Hi everyone, hope you're all ok :) I've been a very bad fan and haven't even watched/listened to Nick's new stuff yet, but I like the sound of that video, so think I'll pop over to YouTube and watch it.
I still suck at writing even on this new laptop, I need a kick up the arse to get me back into it!
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OK I just watched 19 in 99 video and OMG how hot is he in those glasses!!!
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Wow I haven't been on here in a hot minute
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I've not been on here in ages, hope everyone is well :)
So, what did everyone think of Dead 7? I loved the song at the end, lol
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I thought it was hilariously awful, in a cute way. I admit I smiled through the entire thing. lol
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I enjoyed it! It was actually better than I thought it was going to be... not to say that it was good, but it wasn't as campy as Sharknado and most of SyFy's other movies. It was still ridiculous and cracked me up, but I applaud Nick's creativity for coming up with all of that. It was at least unique from other zombie movies.
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I give so much credit to Nick for always just going for it. He has an idea and he brings it to fruition, no matter how over the top or ridiculous. I wish I could do that, although if I were rich and famous maybe it would easier.
I was just sad that he left no room for a sequel for that one. lol
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No, but at the Dead 7 panel at Walker Stalker Con in Chicago, he said he would love to do like American Horror Story and get the same group of "actors" back together to do a completely different movie with a different storyline, etc. Or there's always room for a prequel!
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LOL yeah I tried to suggest a prequel. But I could so dig an American Horror Story series of movies. Or the idea he said on the cruise that basically reads like a fanfic lmao. Apparently he wants a movie where a crazy fan kidnaps Howie so she can do things to him, while the other 4 figure out what happened and how to get him back.
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I wonder if Nick knows how frequently that situation happens to him lol
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I remember fanfic being so addictive to me. It would be the first thing I'd check for in the morning and would spend hours catching up on all the stories I was reading. Then I'd write for hours. My summers were basically all about BSB and fanfic. Now nothing seems to motivate me to read or write it anymore. I noticed even those people who do write, it's dropped off significantly as far as reading or updating. So, my question to you is, what would bring you back to reading and writing? Is there a type of story you want to read or an event you want to write about?
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I wonder if Nick knows how frequently that situation happens to him lol
Apparently fans suggested after he told them that idea that he should read fanfic lmao.
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Apparently fans suggested after he told them that idea that he should read fanfic lmao.
Yeah, seriously. He probably thinks all fanfics are porn fests. He probably has no clue how many times he's been tortured and kidnapped. Poor guy lol
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I'm really hoping to get back into it in six days when I finish my masters! LOL It will probably take me longer than that to actually get back into that mindset, but that is the main reason I have dropped off the face of the earth and stopped updating. I don't even want to think about fanfic right now because I have so much work to do that I can't afford to let it distract me. I don't even know why I'm on this forum right now, except for that I randomly clicked on it and got caught up reading this thread. Ahh... no! Six days... Then I'll be back!
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Good luck! See you in a week lol
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I'd love an American Horror Story type loads of films and I also love Nick's suggestion for the Howie story :)
I'd love to get back into writing, I've been too pre-occupied with selling my house and trying to find another one. It's been a hard as we don't want to move, but the ex wants his share and we can't afford to buy him out, so are having to downsize :( Not sure when I'm moving yet, but maybe August. At least I've found a house now, so that's one less thing to stress over.
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Ugh that sucks! I'm sorry you have to move but I'm glad you finally found a house. I'm sure once you get moving maybe some excitement will kick in? I guess you can consider it a fresh start with your new hubby! Good luck with your move. If I was there, I'd totally help you at least pack stuff out. Not too good with heavy lifting though lol
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I've just kind of switched fandoms, to be honest. I've just lost interest in BSB fandom (though I never imagined that was a possibility) and have moved on to Outlander fandom. I'm writing fanfic still, just not BSB. :/ I do miss this place, though and fondly remember when it was the first place I checked every morning and there would be dozens of posts to catch up on!
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I would probably enjoy Outlander if I had access to it. I was a huge fan of Highlander. I used to be as obsessive of that as I was of BSB. I wanted to marry Adrian Paul. I'm currently un obsessed with anything at the moment. I wish I were.
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Good luck! See you in a week lol
Thanks! I'm back! I'm DONE!!! After spending a month staring at a computer screen, I took a few days away from the computer, but now I'm trying to get caught up in fanficland so I can hopefully make some writing happen this month.
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I'd love an American Horror Story type loads of films and I also love Nick's suggestion for the Howie story :)
I'd love to get back into writing, I've been too pre-occupied with selling my house and trying to find another one. It's been a hard as we don't want to move, but the ex wants his share and we can't afford to buy him out, so are having to downsize :( Not sure when I'm moving yet, but maybe August. At least I've found a house now, so that's one less thing to stress over.
That is stressful!! Glad you found a house; good luck selling yours!
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I've just kind of switched fandoms, to be honest. I've just lost interest in BSB fandom (though I never imagined that was a possibility) and have moved on to Outlander fandom. I'm writing fanfic still, just not BSB. :/ I do miss this place, though and fondly remember when it was the first place I checked every morning and there would be dozens of posts to catch up on!
Aww... sorry to hear that, but glad you're still writing something. I also miss coming here to find dozens of new posts to read! I have been MIA the last few months, though, so I'm part of the reason there haven't been.
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I'm still writing. I haven't had something good to read in a long time though. I'd want to see more group stories, ones about them when they were younger. Or something about them now
I love canon. Which is funny cause I've been writing AU recently. But I want a good group fic.
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^ Agreed! I haven't read any fanfic in awhile; I need to take some time to browse AC and see what people are writing these days. I've been out of the loop. Is anyone reading (or writing) anything they'd like to recommend?
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Sadly, I haven't read anything.
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I'm not sure how many people are still around to answer writing questions, but here's one for you romance people: When describing male anatomy, do you think it's better to be direct or vague with the terminology? Do you prefer to read the proper terms (i.e. penis, testicles), slang terms (dick, balls, package, etc.), or more subtle euphanisms (member, manhood, and so on)? I don't write (or read) this kind of stuff often, and I can never decide what sounds best - either way, it always seems too technical, too crude, or too cheesy. Any opinions on the matter?
Edit: Here's what I mean about being cheesy in the effort to avoid being crude: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/16/romance-novel-phrases_n_7545244.html Hilarious!
Edit #2: OMG, I can't believe in all my googling, I've never looked this up before. This blog on the subject is also fantastic; I'm laughing so hard at some of these! https://annomalley.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/writing-erotica1/
Edit #3: So, having conducted some research on the subject, the general consensus among the erotica writer crowd is that the word of choice is "cock," with "dick" as a close second - in case anyone else was wondering, LOL. Feel free to discuss!
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Let me begin by saying that reading that Huffington Post article completely MADE my morning!! LOL
Anyways, I always struggle with this kind of terminology as well. I will agree with the general consensus that "cock" and "dick" are probably the best options. I do NOT want to be reading a hot scene and then stumble across the word "testicles"! Bahahahaha! The appropriate terminology would ruin the mood IMO.
As a writer, I actually try to avoid referencing male anatomy directly and just allude to it without being overly cheesey RE: "hardness", "felt him pressing against her", "sank down onto him", etc. Perhaps I'm in the minority here ... ???
FYI, maybe next time I write one of these scenes, I will use the phrase "lightning bolts of fulfillment" ... AMAZING!! :D
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LMAO!! No, I agree with you, and the examples you gave are perfect. That's what I prefer too. I was obviously writing a scene last night where I felt like I needed to use a specific word, but I ended up finding a way to be vague without using one of those horrible metaphors. I was laughing so much at those websites last night!
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Jeez even reading these posts made me cringe lol
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LOL Sorry!
Okay, now how about lady parts? (Just kidding!)
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OMG I laughed and also cringed at those phrases to describe sex and males and female parts!
I have written romance stuff and cringed at the sex parts lol.
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I've actually started a new story at last! I just hope I can keep it up and manage to post it :)
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That's great to hear, Steph!
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Yay Steph!! That is awesome news! I know there are still a few stories being updated, and there are at least a couple of Erika's on my "to read" list, but I miss the rest of you writing!
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OMG I laughed and also cringed at those phrases to describe sex and males and female parts!
I have written romance stuff and cringed at the sex parts lol.
I don't know how people write erotica all the time. I have only written a few sex scenes, and I find them so awkward; I usually just end up giggling like a teenager the whole time. Plus, even after only a few, it becomes hard to get creative with them; I feel like I'm just writing the same thing all the time and trying to describe it in a slightly different way. I can see how that leads to some of those horrible euphemisms, in an effort to be creative LOL.
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I'm gonna reply to my own question from the bottom of the last page because I just read one of the stories on my "to read" list in one sitting, Erika's "Soldier Down," and really enjoyed it! I know some of you read it when she was writing it, but in case you missed it, it's worth the read!
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=11348
It's a great group suspense story that's full of bromance and conflict among the guys, as well as outside drama. It's been awhile since I've read a fanfic from beginning to end that held my attention that much... I think the last one may have been "Dodging the Daylight," also by Erika and also fantastic!
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Thanks for hyping up my work, Julie!! I really appreciate your kind words, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed "Soldier Down". ;D Like I said in one of my replies to your (many) reviews that I woke up to this morning, it was great to get some new feedback as it gives me the motivation to keep writing. I know that I'm a bit late to the game in terms of this site, but I miss the activity that was around when I first started posting. Maybe once the guys actually release their new album and start doing more group appearances this place will get busy again??
I'm gonna reply to my own question from the bottom of the last page because I just read one of the stories on my "to read" list in one sitting, Erika's "Soldier Down," and really enjoyed it! I know some of you read it when she was writing it, but in case you missed it, it's worth the read!
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=11348
It's a great group suspense story that's full of bromance and conflict among the guys, as well as outside drama. It's been awhile since I've read a fanfic from beginning to end that held my attention that much... I think the last one may have been "Dodging the Daylight," also by Erika and also fantastic!
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^ Agreed! I haven't read any fanfic in awhile; I need to take some time to browse AC and see what people are writing these days. I've been out of the loop. Is anyone reading (or writing) anything they'd like to recommend?
*comes out from her cave*
I've barely the time to read fanfics, life has been quite crazy here for while between my grandma going to the hospital and then her moving in with us (which meant me giving her my bedroom and cleaning my brother's old bedroom); plus, after some years of being jobess and a mild depression because of that, I've decided to go back to college so now I'm preparing for the preliminary exam. Anyway, I still write (yes, still slash if any one wants to read them XD) and read (and recommend) Erika and Tracy's stories. Those are the two that actually are actually keeping still hanging here, even if only lurking. LOL
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Thanks for hyping up my work, Julie!! I really appreciate your kind words, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed "Soldier Down". ;D Like I said in one of my replies to your (many) reviews that I woke up to this morning, it was great to get some new feedback as it gives me the motivation to keep writing. I know that I'm a bit late to the game in terms of this site, but I miss the activity that was around when I first started posting. Maybe once the guys actually release their new album and start doing more group appearances this place will get busy again??
You're so welcome! I can't believe how quickly you replied to all those reviews! I knew you were going to flip when you saw your inbox.
Things have definitely slowed down here over the last few years, and I miss the good old days when there were lots of different stories being updated and lots of conversation on the forum. It does seem to pick up a little every summer, probably because people have vacation time. I know Mare and I, the teachers, tend to be around a lot more and then get busy when school starts up again. It's easier to make fanfic a priority when other people are around to keep you motivated though. Feedback is always helpful, of course, but even just talking about fanfic on here makes me want to read and write. I'm glad we were able to resurrect this thread!
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*comes out from her cave*
I've barely the time to read fanfics, life has been quite crazy here for while between my grandma going to the hospital and then her moving in with us (which meant me giving her my bedroom and cleaning my brother's old bedroom); plus, after some years of being jobess and a mild depression because of that, I've decided to go back to college so now I'm preparing for the preliminary exam. Anyway, I still write (yes, still slash if any one wants to read them XD) and read (and recommend) Erika and Tracy's stories. Those are the two that actually are actually keeping still hanging here, even if only lurking. LOL
Sorry to hear about your grandma, Cinzia! I hope she's doing better now. Good for you for deciding to go back to college! It will be worth it once you're done and have more opportunities to make money.
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She is doing better, thank you. Driving us nuts but better than a 31 years old like me. LOL
It's quite scaring the thought about going back to study, especially since it's been almost eight years since my "first time" but I really couldn't keep staying at home and doing Cinderella. My parents are on board with my decision and they are not putting any pressure, plus I've chosen something that I love which is "Languages and Literature", hoping to be able to work as translator once I've finished.
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That sounds like a great plan! Your English is so good, you could definitely work as an English-Italian translator. Do you speak any other languages? It is hard to go back to being a student, but it comes back to you quickly, like riding a bike. Best of luck!
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I've studied Japanese for two years but it's definitely not enough.
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I've heard Japanese is a hard language to learn. I took four years of German in high school and wish I remembered more of it! I was never anywhere near fluent, but I know I've forgotten a lot. I can usually read enough German to get the gist of it and could probably speak enough for someone to get the gist of what I was trying to say (if they were willing overlook my very limited vocabulary and atrocious grammar LOL), but wouldn't be able to have a conversation with someone unless they used very simple language and spoke very slowly LOL. It's not that hard of a language to learn, once you learn the grammar and pronunciation rules because they never change, unlike English, which is full of rule-breakers.
Translating books sounds like a perfect job for you!
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Japanese is hard and beautiful at the same time. Hard because, aside the fact that you have three alphabets to learn, they imply a lot so you have to know all the cultural meanings and aspects of a single word in order to understand and translate a single word. And that is what I've found interesting.
English is not that hard to learn, there aren't as many rules as there are in Italian, for example, where you have several conjugations for each tense (present, past and future) and adjectives change for female and male. lol Luckily, I did study Latin in high school so German isn't going to that hard to learn. I've studied it a bit some years ago and my biggest problem was that I couldn't pronounce right "Ich" (I'm a little dyslexic).
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Cinzia, do you write your stories in English, or do you write in Italian first and then translate to English? My apologies if I've asked you that before. I know I've asked others the same question. I'm just always curious to hear about the process for people who write in a language that's not their first language. Anyone else who does that can weigh in too!
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No worries ;)
When I first started, I would write first in Italian and then endure the long process of translating the story in English. Now, years later, my mind immediately starts plannig and plotting the story in English so I write it directly in English: I still make some mistakes, especially with verb''s tense and I'm trying to make my vocabolary richer by searching synonymous and reading lots and lots of English book. But it's rewarding knowing that I can maintain my style even in a language that's not my first. Or that I can write a 12.000 words story in two weeks and being actually satisfied about it. lol
In the end, it's just a matter of practicing: the more you use it everyday, the more you become more secure; reading books helps, watching tv-shows and movies with their original audio; listening to music, having American and English friends to talk to everyday. (Though I have to say that I find easier to follow an American show without subtitles than an English one. English's accent is beautiful but so hard to pick up!)
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I definitely think reading and watching TV would help build your vocabulary and give you a better feel for dialogue, since phrases that are popular in one language don't necessarily translate well to another.
That is interesting about finding American accents easier to understand than English. I think English accents are beautiful, too, but even I struggle if they are really thick, especially if the person is talking quickly. Same with Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Australian, etc. I love all of those accents, though!
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I love the British accent (hello Benedict Cumberbatch! lol) but, yeah, it's much more difficult to follow than American.
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Do any of you do any other kind of writing in your life outside of fanfic, either for work or fun?
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I WISH that I had the time to do more "fun" writing. Sadly, fanfic is my only source of writing for enjoyment and/or entertainment purposes. I do; however, do quite a bit of report writing for my job. Most of the people that I work with hate the fact that we have to produce so many reports, but I actually don't mind. I'm quite fast at writing them ... maybe because I spend so much of my time outside of work writing for fun.
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Same here with wishing I had more time to write for fun. Sometimes I'm jealous of people who write for a living... but at the same time, I don't know that I would like the pressure of feeling like I HAD to write in order to make a living, plus all the other headaches that go along with being a published author, like meeting deadlines, doing required revisions, and so on. In my ideal world, I would just marry a rich husband so I could quit my job and write purely for fun without any of the pressure - but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen. LOL
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Ha! In my ideal world, I would also have a rich hubby who wouldn't care if I sat around in the sun all day sipping cocktails and writing a best-selling novel. ;D Unfortunately, I kind of dropped the ball when it came to marrying a rich man!! LOL In all fairness, I'm sure my husband really wouldn't care if I sat around writing all day ... provided that I could somehow manage to go to work, clean, cook dinner, and take care of our little one all at the same time. :P
It has always been my dream to write for a living. I actually think the pressure of having a deadline would motivate me. I would just love to walk into a book store and see my name on the cover of a bestseller. *sigh* I guess I will just have to settle for seeing my name on the most recent page. HAHA
Have you ever thought about trying to turn one of your fanfics into a an original work? Someone suggested that to me once, but I haven't actually had the time to sit down and attempt it.
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I think it would be so cool to see your name on a real book too. Ask Mare, she knows that feeling! Another writer from AC, Kelly Oram (honey), has also gone on to be quite the prolific published author, and at least one of her books was originally posted here as a fanfic.
I have thought about trying to turn one of my fanfics into an original novel and even attempted it once, but it is harder than it sounds! A few years ago, I had the idea to rewrite my story Broken as a YA novel; I planned out all the changes I would make to de-Backstreet-ize it and even started writing it (the first few chapters are on AC), but I could never get very far on it. I'm not sure why. I thought it would be so easy because the original story was a breeze to write; I was obsessed with it and never had writer's block. Re-writing has always been really tough for me, though; I lose interest in it quickly. I think it would be easier to write an AU or something that could be revised instead of totally rewritten. I attempted to do that with a different story, Secrets of the Heart, but I finished that one four years ago and haven't pursued trying to get it published. Maybe someday... It worked for the Fifty Shades writer, so why not us?
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I just wrote a tweet referring to the whole Nick/Paris Hilton debacle as "the darkest era in BSB history," and it made me wonder, what do you consider to be the darkest or worst era in BSB history? And on the flip side, what has been your favorite era? What era(s) do you like to read and write stories in the most?
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Being a Brian's fan, I think that the last years have been the "darkest era" (and let's hope it has a happy ending like Nick's. *fingers crossed*). Sadly this era and the whole heart surgery's period are the kind of stories that I would love to read.
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Being a Brian's fan, I think that the last years have been the "darkest era" (and let's hope it has a happy ending like Nick's. *fingers crossed*). Sadly this era and the whole heart surgery's period are the kind of stories that I would love to read.
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For me, I do think 2003-2004 (the Ghetto Nick/Nick & Paris era) was one of the darkest eras in their history. I'm focusing on Nick here because I really wasn't a Nick fan until Now or Never came out in 2002, and then it was hard to watch him sort of spiral downward over the next few years. From a group standpoint, though, that was also during their big hiatus between Black & Blue and Never Gone, when we didn't know if they were ever going to come back or not. There wasn't much going on with the group until AJ did that Oprah interview where the guys all surprised him. It was a good era for fanfic, but not a good time for actually being a fan of the group.
2006 was also a rough year... That was when Kevin left, and looking back, we now know things were pretty rough for Nick then too. But we did have Brian's solo album and tour that year, so that was the bright spot of 2006!
I have two favorite eras. One is the Millennium era in 1999 because that is when I went from being a fan to an obsessive teenybopper FAN and discovered fanfic and all that good stuff. I loved how popular they were then; they did tons of TV appearances and won awards and had videos on TRL, and it was so much fun to be a fan!
My other favorite era is the IAWLT era in 2013 because Kevin was back, and for the first time since he left, it felt like everything was as it should be in BSB land again. I loved how excited we all were about the new album, and I think that tour is my favorite one.
As far as fanfic goes, I like reading stories set in the good old days of the late '90s, before they all had their own families. I think it's easier to show their brotherly relationship in those old-school stories. I also enjoy present-day stories that put them in situations where they're together without the wives and kids being around. Erika and Mare are both good at doing that. I don't know that I necessarily have a favorite era to write in, as I usually write in the present or recent past.
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Julie, I have to agree with you on 2003-2004 being the darkest era of BSB history. Actually, for me, that was the "no BSB" era as it was the time that I graduated high school and went away to university. Even though my best friend (also a huge BSB fan) and I went away to the same school, we were so wrapped up with being away from home and partying that we didn't even think (re: obsess) over BSB during that time frame. I can remember us both being somewhat "surprised" when Never Gone was released and then scrambling to find out information about the tour, etc. Of course, my friend and I recovered from our "lack of BSB era" and are still fairly "obsessed" (as obsessed as you can be when you're married with a family). :P
Also, Julie, I can't believe that you "missed out" on the whole Brian's heart surgery time period!! That situation unfolded during the time when almost every girl I knew LOVED the BSB. I can distinctly remember all of the girls in my class wearing blue ribbons on the day that he went in for surgery to show support. I also remember rushing back to my friend's house after school to scour the Internet (with her dial-up connection) to look for news about how he was doing. HAHA
Hmmmm my favourite era is a toss-up between IAWLT in 2013 (Kevin came back and the group was complete again IMO) and the Unbreakable tour period. I saw the Unbreakable tour four times and it was just a great time of life for me; finished my degrees, starting to work, not too much responsibility, and the freedom to follow the boys around with my girlfriends. Although I missed Kevin during that point, that era definitely brings back good memories for me as far as being a fan goes.
FYI, the situation with Brian's voice makes me sad. I agree that he is learning to "cope" with his new sound, but it breaks my heart when he can't hit the notes like he used to. I really think that the other guys need to start backing him up at all times. As much as it pains me to say it, he really shouldn't be given solos at this point and time. He needs that other voice to fill out his sound; to carry on when his voice gives out. I understand that they don't want to change around the vocals to all of their older stuff, but someone could harmonize with him. I think it would sound just fine, and maybe even better than it does when he sings alone at this point. *Ducks for cover* Don't hate me!!
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My favorite era is definitely the Ubreakable one. Sorry Kevin! lol But that's because it was the era I truly become a BSB fan, went to my first concert and got my first "hello during a song" from Brian. Plus I think that Unbreakable is one of their best album, especially with lyrics *Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon sigh*. While I did love IAWLT because the group was complete again, Brian's problems and consequently the lack of his voice in the songs plus the fact that most of the songs were a step back from the other albums (Cavemen song? XD), I'm really hoping for the next one.
And I'm still one of the few fans who still want more Brian, no matter what. I think fans just need to accept that this is how Brian will be and just be half that he still wants to keep going and keep trying. Giving his age and all, he could have just said "guys, my voice isn't going to get better so bye" and that would have been the end (cause I really can't see them going on without him. ). And I do love his falsetto, his version of Darling during the cruise is still making me cry since May.
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My favorite era would've definitely been Millenium if I had actually been a fan back then. I think for me it was the Never Gone era. That seemed to be when I was the most pro-active BSB fan. I went to my first BSB concerts. I loved the up close and personal concert as well as their Never Gone tour. I went to two events. Brian's golfing one and Howie's bowling one. I remember always being so excited about every little thing they said or did. Fun times!
My least favorite would be when Kevin left and they became craptastic. I just felt like they lost their them-ness without him. At least the 'them' that I fell in love with. I didn't feel the same sense of comroderie between them that existed prior to Kevin's exit and sadly, besides the music, that's what I was really drawn to.
I do think that Paris era was pretty dark too, but that's also around the time when I was really just starting to get into them so it didn't bother me as much as it probably would have if I had more invested in them at that point.
Brian's vocal situation is sad. I agree, he needs to take a step back and take more of a Howie role in the group now. I'm sure his pride will forever prevent that from happening. It does effect the sound of the group, but at this point I think all of the fans they have collected over the years don't mind because we know what he used to be capable of. However the new ones think uh....what the heck?
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As far as reading or writing. I think it's obvious, I enjoyed writing stories about the early days which is kind of funny because that's the time I really had no clue who they were, except to make fun of them because of INBYH lol the whole brotherly bond before families came into play. Truthfully, if I ever was able to get myself back into reading fanfic, the only kind I'd probably be interested in are the old school Nick or group centered stories.
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Julie, I have to agree with you on 2003-2004 being the darkest era of BSB history. Actually, for me, that was the "no BSB" era as it was the time that I graduated high school and went away to university. Even though my best friend (also a huge BSB fan) and I went away to the same school, we were so wrapped up with being away from home and partying that we didn't even think (re: obsess) over BSB during that time frame. I can remember us both being somewhat "surprised" when Never Gone was released and then scrambling to find out information about the tour, etc. Of course, my friend and I recovered from our "lack of BSB era" and are still fairly "obsessed" (as obsessed as you can be when you're married with a family). :P
Also, Julie, I can't believe that you "missed out" on the whole Brian's heart surgery time period!! That situation unfolded during the time when almost every girl I knew LOVED the BSB. I can distinctly remember all of the girls in my class wearing blue ribbons on the day that he went in for surgery to show support. I also remember rushing back to my friend's house after school to scour the Internet (with her dial-up connection) to look for news about how he was doing. HAHA
Hmmmm my favourite era is a toss-up between IAWLT in 2013 (Kevin came back and the group was complete again IMO) and the Unbreakable tour period. I saw the Unbreakable tour four times and it was just a great time of life for me; finished my degrees, starting to work, not too much responsibility, and the freedom to follow the boys around with my girlfriends. Although I missed Kevin during that point, that era definitely brings back good memories for me as far as being a fan goes.
FYI, the situation with Brian's voice makes me sad. I agree that he is learning to "cope" with his new sound, but it breaks my heart when he can't hit the notes like he used to. I really think that the other guys need to start backing him up at all times. As much as it pains me to say it, he really shouldn't be given solos at this point and time. He needs that other voice to fill out his sound; to carry on when his voice gives out. I understand that they don't want to change around the vocals to all of their older stuff, but someone could harmonize with him. I think it would sound just fine, and maybe even better than it does when he sings alone at this point. *Ducks for cover* Don't hate me!!
I also started college in 2003 and know what you mean about the "no BSB" era. I definitely kept my fandom on the DL at that point because no one really seemed to like them anymore, so I just wrote fanfics in secret when my roommate wasn't around LOL. Then in 2005 when they started promoting Never Gone, it was amazing how many girls on my dorm floor started crawling out of the woodwork to admit they liked BSB. Some of us even went to a couple of their concerts together that year.
Yeah, we Americans were a little behind the rest of the world in jumping on the BSB bandwagon. Their first album wasn't released here until fall '97, so by spring of '98, I knew some of their singles that had been on the radio here, like QPG and ALAYLM, but they hadn't been popular for very long. You bet I would have been wearing a blue ribbon that day if I'd known, but like I said, I'm kind of glad I didn't have to go through the mental anguish of it LOL.
As a fellow Brian girl, I have to say I agree with you on the solo stuff. I'm glad they haven't taken his solos in the old songs away when they sing live and don't think they should, but it's probably a good idea to limit his solos on new songs. They definitely seemed to do that with IAWLT, and I think it's a great opportunity to spread the wealth and let Kevin and Howie sing more. It should be more balanced than it used to be, as far as who gets solos. Brian's voice seems to better in the high register, and he does a good job on ad-libs over the chorus at the end of songs, so I hope they keep that going.
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My favorite era is definitely the Ubreakable one. Sorry Kevin! lol But that's because it was the era I truly become a BSB fan, went to my first concert and got my first "hello during a song" from Brian. Plus I think that Unbreakable is one of their best album, especially with lyrics *Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon sigh*. While I did love IAWLT because the group was complete again, Brian's problems and consequently the lack of his voice in the songs plus the fact that most of the songs were a step back from the other albums (Cavemen song? XD), I'm really hoping for the next one.
And I'm still one of the few fans who still want more Brian, no matter what. I think fans just need to accept that this is how Brian will be and just be half that he still wants to keep going and keep trying. Giving his age and all, he could have just said "guys, my voice isn't going to get better so bye" and that would have been the end (cause I really can't see them going on without him. ). And I do love his falsetto, his version of Darling during the cruise is still making me cry since May.
Aww, you don't like the cavemen song?! LOL I love Love Somebody and love that lyric! I think that whole song is so cute; it just makes me smile.
I'm also really glad Brian hasn't just thrown in the towel. I don't think he wants to, but he definitely could have. I think it helps that the guys and the fans, for the most part, have been supportive.
I just looked up Darlin' on the cruise, and WOW! He sounded great! I definitely think he does better with the higher/falsetto stuff; hopefully they consider that when choosing solos for new songs. Here's the video I watched in case anyone else wants to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNlXkRrzXSY
I also love when he sang Mary Did You Know on the 2011 cruise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QgLXc7t8UI. That was right around when we were first starting to realize something was up with his voice, and you can hear it a little bit in this, but he still sounds amazing. This is the first time I can remember being moved to tears during a concert, and I'm not even particularly religious, but Brian's emotion and his passion and his beautiful voice brought tears to my eyes. (And wow, what a difference 5 years makes in terms of video quality! LOL)
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Aww, you don't like the cavemen song?! LOL I love Love Somebody and love that lyric! I think that whole song is so cute; it just makes me smile.
I'm also really glad Brian hasn't just thrown in the towel. I don't think he wants to, but he definitely could have. I think it helps that the guys and the fans, for the most part, have been supportive.
I just looked up Darlin' on the cruise, and WOW! He sounded great! I definitely think he does better with the higher/falsetto stuff; hopefully they consider that when choosing solos for new songs. Here's the video I watched in case anyone else wants to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNlXkRrzXSY
I also love when he sang Mary Did You Know on the 2011 cruise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QgLXc7t8UI. That was right around when we were first starting to realize something was up with his voice, and you can hear it a little bit in this, but he still sounds amazing. This is the first time I can remember being moved to tears during a concert, and I'm not even particularly religious, but Brian's emotion and his passion and his beautiful voice brought tears to my eyes. (And wow, what a difference 5 years makes in terms of video quality! LOL)
I HATE that song! lol Really, wasn't there another song to choose from? lol Let's just say that I'm not very fond of Nick's writing and I'm really hoping we'll get more writing from the other Boys on the next album. ;)
You should watch all the video from the cruise. "Darling" was that beautiful and I'm actually rpoud of Brian for choosing an old song instead than something newer: it shows that he's building up his confidence and that's the only weapon you can use against anxiety, which is at the end of day what causes most of his problems. But, for example, in "Safest Place To Hide" he actually sounded just like on the album so that's very promising for the future.
But, in the end, Brian and the other four are the ones who know most about all this situation so I trust them about how they should or shouldn't handle it. =)
Up to this day I still can't watch "Mary Did You Know?" and not ending up in tears. I agree with you about being the first time his problems were surfacing and visible for everyone but, at the same time, it's one of the few videos where you can see how much it was affecting him. I think it's one of the few moments, documentary aside, where we got a vulnerable and fragile Brian, that side of him that we have never seen before. (that's why I love writing him so much!)
Question: where do you get inspiration for ideas/plots/stories?
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I HATE that song! lol Really, wasn't there another song to choose from? lol Let's just say that I'm not very fond of Nick's writing and I'm really hoping we'll get more writing from the other Boys on the next album. ;)
I actually love Nick's writing. I think there is something beautiful about the cavemen line... "You're the reason why cavemen drew on the wall." I feel like that says something about how timeless love is; it's one of the things that makes us human. Cavemen are definitely not the kind of imagery that are typical in a love song, but that's why I like Nick's songs - they can be really quirky, and that makes them endearing to me. The first time I listened to his All American album, I thought the songs were kind of shallow, but as I got to know the lyrics, I realized there are some songs on that album that have a lot of substance and depth. And then there are songs about asses and drunken hijinks in Tijuana LOL. (I didn't say they ALL had depth.) I have really come to respect Nick's creativity and intelligence as both a writer and a musician much more than I used to. He is really talented!!
And on a related note, I also really love Howie's songwriting. His lyrics tend to be a little cheesy, but they're also adorable, and his songs are usually catchy. Two of my all-time favorite BSB songs, How Did I Fall in Love With You and One Phone Call, are both Howie songs. I would say he and Nick are probably my favorite songwriters of the five guys.
Do the rest of you have preferences on songwriters or favorite songs written by the guys?
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You should watch all the video from the cruise. "Darling" was that beautiful and I'm actually rpoud of Brian for choosing an old song instead than something newer: it shows that he's building up his confidence and that's the only weapon you can use against anxiety, which is at the end of day what causes most of his problems. But, for example, in "Safest Place To Hide" he actually sounded just like on the album so that's very promising for the future.
But, in the end, Brian and the other four are the ones who know most about all this situation so I trust them about how they should or shouldn't handle it. =)
Up to this day I still can't watch "Mary Did You Know?" and not ending up in tears. I agree with you about being the first time his problems were surfacing and visible for everyone but, at the same time, it's one of the few videos where you can see how much it was affecting him. I think it's one of the few moments, documentary aside, where we got a vulnerable and fragile Brian, that side of him that we have never seen before. (that's why I love writing him so much!)
I definitely need to catch up on cruise concert videos! I was so busy in May, I didn't have time to follow much of the cruise stuff. I didn't even know they sang Safest Place to Hide, for instance!
Personally, I tend to think Brian's emotion in the Mary Did You Know performance was more about the message of the song than what was going on with his voice, but it was still a really poignant moment anyway. Love him!
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Question: where do you get inspiration for ideas/plots/stories?
I get inspiration from all over the place... usually other stories/books or TV shows/movies, but also real life events and news, songs, jokes (more often than you'd think!), and so on. Sometimes I start with a title I like or an idea for a scene and build on it from there. Other times I start with a certain guy or type of story I want to write and see if I can develop an idea that works for that. "What if?" questions are great places to start, too. The story I'm currently working on, Sick as My Secrets, was definitely a "what if?" mixed with a joke idea. I've found that the ideas that make me laugh and say to myself, "OMG, I can't write that... but what if I did?" turn out to be the best ones!
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I used to draw inspiration from dreams. Pretty much all of my most popular stories came from random dreams I had. It Stays was an idea I had for a really long time but I felt like it was way too dark to write, so I sat on it for a year or so. That one came from watching that one old school video of them singing a Capella around a piano. I don't even remember which song it was, but the look on Nick's face as he sang and the way he and Brian exchanged glances, brought about this whole twisted story in my head for some reason. lol
As far as them as songwriters... I think the only one I'm not really on board with his AJ. I think the other four have written at least a few songs I have really enjoyed, especially How Did I Fall in Love With You. I do think they all write better when they're just writing for themselves instead of the group though.
I hate how the music industry and now it's trickled down to the public, have put a stigma on pop people that if they don't write their own music, they are selling out or are not real musicians. Some people are just not meant to be song writers just like some songwriters should not sing their own stuff. Writing a great song is hard and not many people have a natural talent to be able to pull it off without being overly cliche or borrowing from other songs or collaborators. It's one of the things that irks me lol
I feel like country is the only genre that still keeps them separate but equal.
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By My Side! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r7f5Xs-jAM I hadn't watched that video in so long!
I agree with you about the stigma on singers who are not also songwriters, and you're right - not every great singer/musician is a great songwriter, and not every great songwriter is a good singer, so I don't see why people in the music biz should have to be both. I think the Boys have gotten to be pretty good songwriters themselves, but they would be nothing without Max Martin.
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Yes, that's the one! Thanks for posting that. I wish I could hear it lol
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It's been a long time since anyone posted a question on here! I miss our fanfic/BSB discussions. Let's catch up!
Who is still visiting the forum? What are you writing right now, if anything? What are you reading? If you're not reading or writing, why not? What would it take for you to start again?
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Aww I love seeing the big red dot!
I am here every day because that's how I roll, but I'm pretty much done with fanfic, sadly. I'm just not interested in reading or writing it anymore. I think it is still a great thing so I hope we do get more traffic in here. As long as people keep coming, I'll still be here doing the mod thing.
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I appreciate you still doing the mod thing! I hope a new BSB album and/or the Vegas residency will re-inspire some people to start writing again. I miss seeing everyone writing and posting on here.
Real life has gotten in the way of my reading and writing over the last few years, but my New Year's resolution is to find a better balance between real life responsibiliti es and this hobby and try to write every weekend. So far, so good. Sick as My Secrets is the only story I'm working on right now; my goal is to finish it before I go back to any old unfinished stories or start anything new.
I hadn't read any fanfic in a long time (except for a partial re-read of Between the Lines during the baseball postseason), but I just started reading "Ladies' Choice" by KeepThisSecret the other day, and it's great so far! I love Erika's stories. At least there's someone out there still writing good stuff! I jut wish more people were. I don't know if everyone's just been busy or feeling uninspired or uninterested or what.
Have you done any non-fanfic writing, Mare (or anyone else who cares to answer)?
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No, I haven't written anything at all. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I haven't really had any new ideas or inspiration. Also, I'm so incredibly tired by the time I get home, I'm lucky I can even stay awake past 7. I have been trying to read more. I've kind of forced myself to read at least one chapter a day. I'm reading Jodi Picoult's most recent book at the moment and just finished Wally Lambs.
I'm really glad to see you writing and updating and I'm also happy to see Erika updating regularly as well as some others. It seems like a handful of you are still keeping at it. Things usually do tend to pick up around the holidays or when BSB do something.
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I hear ya. That's been a big part of my problem this year too. I'm always too tired to write on weeknights, and even on the weekends, I just want to sleep and veg out in front of the TV. Writing takes too much mental effort LOL. I got busy at the start of the school year and went too long without writing, and then I just stopped caring. I had to make myself sit down and try to write over winter break, and once I finally got going again, I got back into it. Since school has started up again, I've spent every day looking forward to the weekend so I could get some more writing done. I just have to stay inspired and not let myself go so long without even attempting to write.
I need to read more, too. I go through phases with reading, and lately I haven't been. I just bought a new Kindle, though (the charging port on my old one broke over the summer, so it's dead), so I'm hoping that will get me reading again.
Hopefully Vegas will bring more people crawling out of the woodwork this spring and summer. What we really need is new music! That always seems to help too.
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Oh heeeey!
I was just thinking about how long it has been since I've been here and decided to pop on by! I haven't been doing anything in terms of BSB, really. I have no clue what's going on in the fandom, which makes me a bit sad.
I've been writing Outlander fanfic, which I've mentioned before, and that's pretty much where my writing has ended up these days. Unfortunately it's like stepping back into 2002 with the amount of fandom drama, but that's the price I must pay lol
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I don't miss the fandom drama! (Okay, sometimes I do. It was entertaining at times.) I'm glad to hear you're still writing, even if it's not BSB. Where do you post your Outlander fics?
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Hi everyone, I pop in every so often too but like everyone else, real life has got in the way. I just haven't felt inspired to write anything, even though I did make a start on something a few months ago.
I'm still reading Sick As My Secrets, but not looked at anything else. I will get around to it though, still so many stories I want to finish reading or start reading.
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Glad to hear you at least started something new, Steph! I miss your writing! I really appreciate your reviews; it's nice to know a few people are still reading even though I've been so flaky at updating.
We definitely need some new inspiration!
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I don't miss the fandom drama! (Okay, sometimes I do. It was entertaining at times.) I'm glad to hear you're still writing, even if it's not BSB. Where do you post your Outlander fics?
As much as it pains me... Tumblr. That's the popular spot for OL fandom. Some people cross post on AO3 but it's really mostly disorganized, not at all what it's for, Tumblr. (thewhitelady.t umblr.com) I tried to get an archive going but it died off pretty quick. I think people like the immediacy of having others share/reblog their chapters so they know who is reading even without direct feedback.
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You should create an Outlander category and post on AC. I'm sure there are quite a few Outlander watchers who might appreciate it.
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Glad to hear you at least started something new, Steph! I miss your writing! I really appreciate your reviews; it's nice to know a few people are still reading even though I've been so flaky at updating.
We definitely need some new inspiration!
I'm hoping they will do something to inspire me, I need a kick up the arse to get going again lol
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You should create an Outlander category and post on AC. I'm sure there are quite a few Outlander watchers who might appreciate it.
Yeah maybe! Although then it would be obvious how much I rip off my old fics for my new ones LOL
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Yeah maybe! Although then it would be obvious how much I rip off my old fics for my new ones LOL
Seeing if anyone picks up on that would be half the fun lol
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I'm hoping they will do something to inspire me, I need a kick up the arse to get going again lol
They were just on The Bachelor supposedly lol I wish they would show up on a good show instead of these god awful reality ones on ABC. How about showing up on Modern Family or Agents of Shield. Possibly play at the inauguration on Scandal or something.
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You should create an Outlander category and post on AC. I'm sure there are quite a few Outlander watchers who might appreciate it.
I was gonna say the same thing! I don't understand Tumblr LOL, but hey, I guess you have to post wherever the readers are. Every fandom is different. I haven't watched Outlander, but I bet other people on AC have!
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Yeah maybe! Although then it would be obvious how much I rip off my old fics for my new ones LOL
Hey, that's okay LOL. As long as you're not just pulling a Tanja and doing Find/Replace with characters' names. (But hey, as long as they're your own stories, there's nothing technically wrong with that either.)
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Seeing if anyone picks up on that would be half the fun lol
This would actually be an interesting experiment.
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They were just on The Bachelor supposedly lol I wish they would show up on a good show instead of these god awful reality ones on ABC. How about showing up on Modern Family or Agents of Shield. Possibly play at the inauguration on Scandal or something.
OMG, I don't know how people watch The Bachelor. I've never watched it before, and I DVRed it and fast forwarded through every part the Boys weren't in, but just the little that I had to watch that involved them was awful!! The one blonde chick who kept complaining about what a bad dancer she was and how all the other girls kept grinding on the Nick who was not our Nick... ugh! I hope she did not get a rose. She was horrible. But they're probably all horrible, including the bachelor, or why would they want to be on that show?? LOL
I misread your last sentence at first and thought you were suggesting they play at the real inauguration on Friday, and I was like, "Nooooo!" Better The Bachelor than that. But a fictional inauguration on Scandal would be okay.
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Hi Ladies!!
I am most definitely still around and still writing (thanks, Julie, for hyping up my most recent story). As far as reading goes, I'm still invested in Sick As My Secrets, but I'm not reading anything else. Of course, I would be open to reading something else if the right story came along.
Sometimes I wish that I hadn't waited so long to start posting my stuff online. It would have been nice to have been a part of the fandom/fan fic community when it was still "poppin" LOL That being said, I will likely continue to write and to post my stuff because it offers me a good escape from the chaos that is my real life (work/mommy duties/etc.).
I'm really hoping that the Vegas stint will amp up the activity around here. How many of you ladies are doing Vegas?? My BFF and I considered it, but with the Canadian exchange rate coupled with the price of tickets, flights, hotel, etc., we decided that it was just too much. It also doesn't help that we're both new moms. *sigh* The boys better get their sh*t together and put out some new music followed by a tour that takes them somewhere outside of the USA (no offence to all of you lovely Americans who have been benefiting from all of these random "surprise" shows that they've been doing lately - :P).
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OMG, I don't know how people watch The Bachelor. I've never watched it before, and I DVRed it and fast forwarded through every part the Boys weren't in, but just the little that I had to watch that involved them was awful!! The one blonde chick who kept complaining about what a bad dancer she was and how all the other girls kept grinding on the Nick who was not our Nick... ugh! I hope she did not get a rose. She was horrible. But they're probably all horrible, including the bachelor, or why would they want to be on that show?? LOL
I misread your last sentence at first and thought you were suggesting they play at the real inauguration on Friday, and I was like, "Nooooo!" Better The Bachelor than that. But a fictional inauguration on Scandal would be okay.
Oh hell no! I was actually a little worried Orange Hitler was going to ask them to perform and they'd say yes. Thank God that didn't happen.
I admit I've never watched The Bachelor, but the commercials alone are enough to make me cringe lol I don't even know how that show is still even a thing. Don't they have a near zero success rate? lol
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I thought about Vegas for a hot minute but then reality set in, so no.
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Oh hell no! I was actually a little worried Orange Hitler was going to ask them to perform and they'd say yes. Thank God that didn't happen.
I admit I've never watched The Bachelor, but the commercials alone are enough to make me cringe lol I don't even know how that show is still even a thing. Don't they have a near zero success rate? lol
I don't think any of them would agreed except maybe Brian. (Oh Brian...) Not 100% sure about Brian's political leanings, but I know Baylee is quite the little Trump supporter, which is concerning. They weren't happy about Trump using their songs during his campaign though.
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Sometimes I wish that I hadn't waited so long to start posting my stuff online. It would have been nice to have been a part of the fandom/fan fic community when it was still "poppin" LOL That being said, I will likely continue to write and to post my stuff because it offers me a good escape from the chaos that is my real life (work/mommy duties/etc.).
I'm really hoping that the Vegas stint will amp up the activity around here. How many of you ladies are doing Vegas?? My BFF and I considered it, but with the Canadian exchange rate coupled with the price of tickets, flights, hotel, etc., we decided that it was just too much. It also doesn't help that we're both new moms. *sigh* The boys better get their sh*t together and put out some new music followed by a tour that takes them somewhere outside of the USA (no offence to all of you lovely Americans who have been benefiting from all of these random "surprise" shows that they've been doing lately - :P).
The activity in this fandom definitely ebbs and flows. I mean obviously it was a lot more active when the Boys were at their peak of popularity back in the late 90s/early 2000s, but there have been more active periods in the last decade too. New album/tour cycles do seem to help. The summer of 2013 was pretty active, in part because of IAWLT coming out. I can't believe it'll be four years already since that album! They are definitely overdue for a new one. I know they've done some recording already, so hopefully they'll be able to keep working on it during or in between the residency and get some new music out later this year so they can do a real tour next year. I hope things will pick up around here then. It's more fun when lots of people are writing and reading each other's stuff!
I agree about writing being an escape from the chaos. Sometimes the stress of real life gets in the way, but then, writing can also be a stress reliever. It is definitely my "happy place."
I am crazy and doing Vegas twice - one show in March and two in June. Yes, I cringe every time I have to pay my credit card bill, but I did get my March flights for free thanks to reward points, which helped. I've just come to accept that BSB are my #1 hobby, so that's what I spend money on, and since I'm single and have no kids, I can afford to do it at this point in my life. Plus, Rose lives in Vegas, so it's a good excuse to go see her and a good opportunity for my fellow Illinois girls and I to go somewhere warm while it's still cold here (in March, anyway... not so much June LOL). Like I said, though, I do hope they do a real world tour after this residency for everyone around the world who can't afford to go to Vegas. I'm sure they will after the next album comes out.
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I don't think any of them would agreed except maybe Brian. (Oh Brian...) Not 100% sure about Brian's political leanings, but I know Baylee is quite the little Trump supporter, which is concerning. They weren't happy about Trump using their songs during his campaign though.
Omg!! The craziness that occurred on Instagram when Baylee posted that stuff about Trump ... I have no words to describe it actually. Brian is keeping his political views quiet (maybe for good reason?), but the other wives have been pretty vocal in their dislike for Trump. As an observer from north of the boarder, I have to say that this was the most interesting US election to watch!
If I had been able to swing the cost and to find someone to watch my kid while I placed out to drool over the boys, I totally would have done Vegas multiple times! My friend and I totally lamented the fact that they didn't do this just a few years earlier; when we were both still childless and had tons of disposable income!! Haha! We're actually the only two out of our larger friend group to have kids and the only two who have ever loved the BSB - go figure!
It will be an amazing girls trip though!! If this ever becomes a more permanent thing, you can bet your ass that you will be seeing me in Vegas!
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I didn't read the comments, but I can only imagine! If Brian voted for him too, I'm glad he's keeping quiet about it. I don't want to know. LOL
Sorry to bring up politics here, but I just have to say, I have never been so embarrassed to be an American and be associated with the ignorant rednecks who made him our president. I still can't believe that actually happened. I hate to wish my life away, but I hope the next four years go by fast and that we're still alive to vote him out of office in 2020.
Hopefully the guys will do another residency and you'll be able to go then!
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I didn't read the comments, but I can only imagine! If Brian voted for him too, I'm glad he's keeping quiet about it. I don't want to know. LOL
Sorry to bring up politics here, but I just have to say, I have never been so embarrassed to be an American and be associated with the ignorant rednecks who made him our president. I still can't believe that actually happened. I hate to wish my life away, but I hope the next four years go by fast and that we're still alive to vote him out of office in 2020.
Hopefully the guys will do another residency and you'll be able to go then!
I feel the same way. I am still embarrassed as all hell that my state is one of the reasons that jerk became president. I can't believe that many Americans thought he was a good idea. There's a difference between wanting change and wanting a change for the better. It's like saying "I need a haircut, I could just go to a salon or I could set my head on fire and run around in circles. I think I'll go with that option." Wtf people?
I'm also glad that Brian has kept his views to himself, even though you can't help but really know how he feels because kids Baylee's age don't form those ideals without a little help. I really am surprised Trump didn't ask them to perform just because he does use their song. I'm also grateful he didn't ask Charlie Daniels because I know he would have said yes in a second and it would have killed Chris (his guitar player) lol
Have a great time in Vegas. It's nice when you have buddies to do things with. I've always blamed my lack of doing anything on my lack of BSB buddies. But money and failing health is a bigger problem these days. I hope new music will make me jump back into the fandom. I know it won't do much fanfic wise, but I need to feel excited about something again. It's been a really long time since I've felt any excitement about anything.
Well that sounded depressing lol
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I'm just going to maintain my stance that Baylee has adopted his mother's political views and leave it at that!! LOL Anyone who agrees to play at the Trump inauguration will receive permanent side eye from me. As far as I'm concerned, you guys have every right to be embarrassed. You should have heard the stuff that was said up here when he won ... it wasn't pretty.
I'm sure you've heard this before, but Canada really is a lovely place to live!! If Trump turns out to be a complete nightmare and you can't handle the next four years, you can always move north. However, the market for teachers in Ontario is pretty abysmal, so a move may warrant a career change if you choose Toronto or the surrounding area. :P
Mare, I can sympathize with your lack of "BSB buddies". It's a bit strange; my BFF and I are both MASSIVE BSB fans, but we are the ONLY ones out of our larger circle who have ever liked them. Everyone used to rag on us for liking them in high school, but they've come to accept our obsession now. HAHA Actually, I think our mutual love for the guys is what solidified our friendship in elementary school. I'm not sure why we've never tried to branch out and meet other fans from online as the online fandom is pretty large. I guess we're just content to do all of our BSB stuff as a two-some. However, this is now posing a slight problem as neither one of us has anyone to go with if the other can't!! Vegas is a good example as it would have been slightly easier for me to swing the trip now that my daughter is two. My friend's son is only six months and she's still exclusively nursing, and it's impossible for her to leave him with anyone else.
To be honest, I was under the impression that a lot of you ladies that post on here had met each other in real life in order to attend cruises and concerts and stuff. From what I've seen, it appears to be pretty common for BSB fans to meet online and then eventually meet in real life. Is that not true? Maybe I'm just crazy!
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Well, maybe Brian heard us or something because when I was on FB earlier, there was a trending article from TMZ with Brian saying to back off Trump with the title saying he totally supports Trump. Supposedly the boys also were asked to perform but turned it down. Brian...just.. .no!
And Erica, you are correct about most online people meeting in real life. Unfortunately, that also entails money to meet in said location. Whether it be a cruise or a concert or event of some kind. Unless one of those things happen an hour or less away from me, I can't ever really participate. I think I'm one of the only one's from the US who hasn't actually met any of the people who regularly post on here Face to face.
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OMG, I totally thought of you guys and this thread when I saw the video. You can watch it on this page if you haven't and want to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tell-us-why-brian-littrell-wants-bsb-to-perform-at-trumps-inauguration_us_58811cefe4b0e3a73567d044
My initial reaction was a huge facepalm, but when I actually watched the video, his main point is that, like it or not, Trump is going to be our president, and we should respect him as Commander in Chief. He did say he would have loved to have performed at the inauguration, so that is obviously showing support for Trump, but it wasn't like he was professing his love for him or anything. I felt like it was more just telling all the naysayers to chill out and give him a chance.
While I don't agree with his opinions, I think Brian's heart is in the right place with wanting to be positive. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has given me no reason to respect him, and I don't believe anyone deserves respect just because of the position they hold. Respect has to be earned. I'm willing to give him a chance, and I hope he is a good president, for the sake of my country and its future. Do I think he's going to be? Hell no. But in this case, I would love to be proven wrong.
That said, I think Brian and I will just have to agree to disagree on this one. ;) I wish he had just kept his mouth closed, instead of bringing all this bad press to BSB. I can only imagine what the other four thought when they found out about this LOL.
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You should have heard the stuff that was said up here when he won ... it wasn't pretty.
I'm sure you've heard this before, but Canada really is a lovely place to live!! If Trump turns out to be a complete nightmare and you can't handle the next four years, you can always move north. However, the market for teachers in Ontario is pretty abysmal, so a move may warrant a career change if you choose Toronto or the surrounding area. :P
Oh, I can only imagine! It's probably a lot of the same stuff that people have been saying here, except we're saying it about our own country. I have a much better understanding of what it must have been like in the period living up to the U.S. Civil War because that's what it feels like here. The United States is a country divided... and it's not just red states and blue states. I have co-workers and acquaintances (I won't use the word "friends") who are Trump supporters, and I can't for the life of me understand how that can be. These are decent, intelligent people... how can they support someone so awful?? I think a lot of it is religious conservatism, but the fact that so-called Christians voted for someone who doesn't demonstrate any Christian values baffles me too. I just don't get it. I can respect differences in opinion, but it's hard to respect someone who is apparently okay with ignorance, intolerance, and hatred. I have definitely lost respect for people I know over this.
If immigrating to a different country didn't sound like such a huge hassle and I wasn't so settled here, I would move to Canada in a heartbeat. It does sound like a lovely, sane country to live in. I'm hoping I can just hunker down and wait out the next four years... and I pray it's only four.
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Ha! So I logged on to FB and saw that flippin TMZ video almost immediately after I posted my comment in here this morning! I was literally staring at my phone with my mouth hanging open. Similar to what Mare said, I was like: "Has he been reading the message boards? Does he know we're questioning where his support lies?" Oh man! Seriously though, he should have probably just kept quiet. His comments are definitely not generating the kind of buzz that the boys need at the moment. However, Julie, I do have to agree that his overall point was that people should stop hating on each other (and Trump) and give the man a chance to prove that he can actually do something. My thoughts about his now obvious support for Trump are mixed at this point. It's not like I love the boys for their political thoughts and what they do and/or think in private has no impact on their music. BSB has always been an escape from real life for me, and I think that I would like to keep it that way.
I cannot even begin to imagine the division and tension that this election has created among friends and families. I have never in my lifetime seen America so divided. I cannot even begin to think about losing a friend due to a political difference of opinion. The whole thing seems a bit sad. I hope it gets better and I hope the fandom lays off Brian because I can't handle the drama! Haha
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Mare, I can sympathize with your lack of "BSB buddies". It's a bit strange; my BFF and I are both MASSIVE BSB fans, but we are the ONLY ones out of our larger circle who have ever liked them. Everyone used to rag on us for liking them in high school, but they've come to accept our obsession now. HAHA Actually, I think our mutual love for the guys is what solidified our friendship in elementary school. I'm not sure why we've never tried to branch out and meet other fans from online as the online fandom is pretty large. I guess we're just content to do all of our BSB stuff as a two-some. However, this is now posing a slight problem as neither one of us has anyone to go with if the other can't!! Vegas is a good example as it would have been slightly easier for me to swing the trip now that my daughter is two. My friend's son is only six months and she's still exclusively nursing, and it's impossible for her to leave him with anyone else.
To be honest, I was under the impression that a lot of you ladies that post on here had met each other in real life in order to attend cruises and concerts and stuff. From what I've seen, it appears to be pretty common for BSB fans to meet online and then eventually meet in real life. Is that not true? Maybe I'm just crazy!
I went for like 7-8 years without having any BSB buddies because all my friends who liked BSB back in junior high when everyone liked BSB moved on to other bands, which left me with no one to go to shows with except my parents or whoever I could drag along. I have real life friends now who would probably go if they didn't have to travel far, just for the fun and nostalgia of it, but they would never do Vegas or VIP or a cruise or anything crazy like that.
All my BSB buddies nowadays started as online friends. I've met quite a few online friends in real life, mostly on the cruises or because they only live a couple hours away from me. It's never been a bad experience, and it's always better going to shows and stuff with real fans. If you ever want to do something like Vegas or the cruise and have no one to go with, just say the word - you'd always be welcome to join us! One of my two main concert buddies started as an online acquaintance who I only knew a little because she'd left me feedback on my stories. I found out she was going on the 2011 cruise by herself, so I invited her along to a pre-cruise group dinner that some of us from AC had set up. We clicked and ended up hanging out together the whole cruise. She lives in the same state as me, so now we go to shows together every tour. She's one of the girls I'm doing Vegas with.
And Mare, I know you don't really live close to Philadelphia, but that is on my list of places I'd love to visit, so if it ever works out that they tour there in the summer when I actually have vacation time, I would absolutely come to PA and meet up for a show if you wanted to!
I would love to go to Canada sometime too; I've never been!
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I hope the fandom lays off Brian because I can't handle the drama! Haha
Poor Brian... I hate how much shit the fandom gives him these days, though I have to admit he's brought some of it on himself. I will always be a Brian girl, but that doesn't mean I agree with everything he says and does. He and Leighanne make me cringe sometimes, but I still love them. (Well, I love him. I tolerate Leighanne.)
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The divide in this country at the moment is horrible and I feel the same way when it comes to losing respect for people who voted for Trump. Many of my friends voted for the guy. I always try to see things from all sides but this one is hard. I get why a few of them did. Thankfully most of them I wouldn't consider real Trump supporters. They were more anti Hillary and found him the lesser of two evils. I can't wrap my head around that logic either. I have unfollowed quite a few people who were legitimate Trump voters though. The ones who think everything he does is fine.
I have a really hard time keeping my mouth shut, especially on FB lol I tend to keep quiet at school during political conversations but I am worried that my facial expressions give away my disgust. lol
As far as Brian, he reminds me of the friends I was talking about. I've always said that Brian would fit into my circle of friends, but he'd be one of the ones I'd constantly roll my eyes at lol just the truth.
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I'm about 90 minutes away from Philly. I'd totally do a concert if I could afford it and am able to go. That would be fun. I'm hoping they'll just come back to the Sands in Bethlehem.
I have decided to not even turn on my tv for the next 72 hours or so, unless it's to watch something on my DVR. My brain and heart will not be able to deal with all this inauguration crap. I cringe whenever I hear them doing the countdown.
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As far as Brian, he reminds me of the friends I was talking about. I've always said that Brian would fit into my circle of friends, but he'd be one of the ones I'd constantly roll my eyes at lol just the truth.
LOL That is probably very true. When I was a teenybopper, I wanted to marry him or someone just like him, but in hindsight, I'm not so sure he would be my ideal husband. He would probably drive me nuts. That said, I do think a lot of Brian's choices these days are influenced by Leighanne, so if he'd married me instead, he'd probably be a lot different now. ;)
Honestly, if I could marry any Backstreet Boy now, I'd probably pick Howie because he seems the most normal and grounded of all of them LOL.
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I'm about 90 minutes away from Philly. I'd totally do a concert if I could afford it and am able to go. That would be fun. I'm hoping they'll just come back to the Sands in Bethlehem.
I have decided to not even turn on my tv for the next 72 hours or so, unless it's to watch something on my DVR. My brain and heart will not be able to deal with all this inauguration crap. I cringe whenever I hear them doing the countdown.
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I'm gonna try and pretend this isn't happening this weekend.
If WW3 starts, I love you guys lol.
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Ditto!
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The divide in this country at the moment is horrible and I feel the same way when it comes to losing respect for people who voted for Trump. Many of my friends voted for the guy. I always try to see things from all sides but this one is hard. I get why a few of them did. Thankfully most of them I wouldn't consider real Trump supporters. They were more anti Hillary and found him the lesser of two evils. I can't wrap my head around that logic either. I have unfollowed quite a few people who were legitimate Trump voters though. The ones who think everything he does is fine.
I have a really hard time keeping my mouth shut, especially on FB lol I tend to keep quiet at school during political conversations but I am worried that my facial expressions give away my disgust. lol
As far as Brian, he reminds me of the friends I was talking about. I've always said that Brian would fit into my circle of friends, but he'd be one of the ones I'd constantly roll my eyes at lol just the truth.
I've had the same problem but I've managed to stay friends with the ones who voted "against Hillary" and not "for Trump". I've been really vocal on Twitter though and started volunteering/donating more. I haven't been this politically active since Bush but, it's different this time and I feel like a lot of people don't realize it. This isn't about political parties, this is about the threat he legitimately poses to the country. He's horrible.
And on a side note if y'all ever want, I wouldn't mind flying out to PA one day ;)
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*peeks in* I haven't been on here in FOREVER
I missed all of you.... Really. Well... I'm still writing. Sort of, anyway. I updated one of my older stories a week or two ago. I started a new job in September and I've been busy busy busy. I also run a BSB fanfiction group on Facebook. I also took over a Once Upon A Time group, the owner gave it to me so that occupies a lot of my time as well. It's a pretty active group too. I do write now and then like I mentioned, I write slash now (still BSB) and I dabble in sci fi. Thus continuing my tradition of trying multiple genres because I cannot pick just one. I still read as well but I am only reading Julie's story at the moment because nobody's been writing.
By the way when Trump announced he was running for President I immediately thought of Mare's story and went Ummm hide BSB at all costs!! Haha but joking aside I'm prepared for whatever happens with all this nonsense. I don't really discuss politics due to the fact people have not been nice when I say I didn't vote (I'm not registered) so I choose to stay out of it and keep any opinions to myself. Nice to see everyone is still around. Talk to you all soon!
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Mare, sorry but I had to laugh at you calling him Orange Hitler. I just hope he doesn't turn out to be as bad as predicted. I suppose we're not much better over here after the majority voted to leave the EU and we are faced with uncertain times too.
Wish I could afford to go to Vegas to see the boys, that would be amazing! But I'll just have to hope they do another album and tour over here again. I don't really have friends here who are into them like me, but I trained my husband and teenage daughter well and they came with me to the last concert I went to lol :)
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LOL That is probably very true. When I was a teenybopper, I wanted to marry him or someone just like him, but in hindsight, I'm not so sure he would be my ideal husband. He would probably drive me nuts. That said, I do think a lot of Brian's choices these days are influenced by Leighanne, so if he'd married me instead, he'd probably be a lot different now. ;)
Honestly, if I could marry any Backstreet Boy now, I'd probably pick Howie because he seems the most normal and grounded of all of them LOL.
I legit laughed out loud at this!! You sound just like me! I do think that wifey has quite the influence on some of his choices and on how he presents himself to the world. Sometimes, I do wonder what would have happened if he'd married someone different. He did get married fairly young and sometimes I can't help but think that it was a slightly impulsive choice because of what was happening in his life at that time. *sigh*
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All my BSB buddies nowadays started as online friends. I've met quite a few online friends in real life, mostly on the cruises or because they only live a couple hours away from me. It's never been a bad experience, and it's always better going to shows and stuff with real fans. If you ever want to do something like Vegas or the cruise and have no one to go with, just say the word - you'd always be welcome to join us! One of my two main concert buddies started as an online acquaintance who I only knew a little because she'd left me feedback on my stories. I found out she was going on the 2011 cruise by herself, so I invited her along to a pre-cruise group dinner that some of us from AC had set up. We clicked and ended up hanging out together the whole cruise. She lives in the same state as me, so now we go to shows together every tour. She's one of the girls I'm doing Vegas with.
And Mare, I know you don't really live close to Philadelphia, but that is on my list of places I'd love to visit, so if it ever works out that they tour there in the summer when I actually have vacation time, I would absolutely come to PA and meet up for a show if you wanted to!
I would love to go to Canada sometime too; I've never been!
Woah! That girl is totally brave for opting to do a cruise by herself! I have trouble eating lunch alone at like a fast-food restaurant if I'm on a course for work or something. I always feel like people are staring at me and wondering why I have no friends. LOL Of course, I know that nobody actually cares what I'm doing. I consider myself to be fairly social, but I don't think I could ever go to something that big alone.
Seriously, I would like to meet up with some "hardcore BSB fans" and go to an event as a bigger group. I think that would be amazing! Like I said before, my friend and I always go as a duo. Don't get me wrong, we always have an amazing time, but it would be nice to have some more ladies to fan-girl with. If the exchange rate wasn't so awful at the moment, Vegas with some of you ladies would be a bigger possibility. I appreciate you extending the invite!! ;D
PA is not THAT far from where I am. (Re: It's a drive-able distance, so I could not have to fly and save money.) If the boys actually do a tour outside of Vegas, I would consider it ...
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I've had the same problem but I've managed to stay friends with the ones who voted "against Hillary" and not "for Trump". I've been really vocal on Twitter though and started volunteering/donating more. I haven't been this politically active since Bush but, it's different this time and I feel like a lot of people don't realize it. This isn't about political parties, this is about the threat he legitimately poses to the country. He's horrible.
All of this!! I completely agree and I'm not even American!! I can understand being loyal to a certain political party, but if the current leader of the party that you usually support is blatantly misogynistic and hateful towards certain groups of people, why would you still vote for them? I cannot, for the life of me, understand why ANY woman voted for Trump! Perhaps our political system is a bit different. Here, people tend to vote more for the person and less for the party. We are less "loyal" I suppose.
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I've had the same problem but I've managed to stay friends with the ones who voted "against Hillary" and not "for Trump". I've been really vocal on Twitter though and started volunteering/donating more. I haven't been this politically active since Bush but, it's different this time and I feel like a lot of people don't realize it. This isn't about political parties, this is about the threat he legitimately poses to the country. He's horrible.
And on a side note if y'all ever want, I wouldn't mind flying out to PA one day ;)
That would be awesome! Having a meet up here.
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Woah! That girl is totally brave for opting to do a cruise by herself! I have trouble eating lunch alone at like a fast-food restaurant if I'm on a course for work or something. I always feel like people are staring at me and wondering why I have no friends. LOL Of course, I know that nobody actually cares what I'm doing. I consider myself to be fairly social, but I don't think I could ever go to something that big alone.
Seriously, I would like to meet up with some "hardcore BSB fans" and go to an event as a bigger group. I think that would be amazing! Like I said before, my friend and I always go as a duo. Don't get me wrong, we always have an amazing time, but it would be nice to have some more ladies to fan-girl with. If the exchange rate wasn't so awful at the moment, Vegas with some of you ladies would be a bigger possibility. I appreciate you extending the invite!! ;D
PA is not THAT far from where I am. (Re: It's a drive-able distance, so I could not have to fly and save money.) If the boys actually do a tour outside of Vegas, I would consider it ...
What part of Canada are you from, Erica? I make the drive up to Buffalo twice a year and it's right on the Canadian border by Niagara Falls. My sister used to live in Hamilton.
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I do think Leighanne is responsible for Brian's gradual descent into douchbaggery. But it is what it is lol You all know how I feel about her.
It's been a really difficult day today. I happened to have the 8th grade at the time of the swearing in and they all wanted to watch it. Unfortunately for them, my room doesn't have a smart board and no cable so unless they all gathered around my little laptop, they weren't able to watch. To try to be impartial was really tough as I explained the swearing in process to them and the transfer of power etc... One of them said at around 12:30 "Do you think he's President yet?" And not thinking I said "Well I thought I heard the seventh seal open so. Yes" he looked at me like huh? And I just said, yes I think he's our President lol
These four years are going to be rough!
Steph, I was wondering how things were going for you guys with the whole EU thing happening. This world is a hot mess!
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I think it would be fun to meet a lot of you.... I met Rose and Julie (not sure if they'd want to hang out again) but we all should meet one day. I mean I would love it. Wish all of us were going to Vegas. I'll be there the last week of June as my birthday is July 5th.
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What part of Canada are you from, Erica? I make the drive up to Buffalo twice a year and it's right on the Canadian border by Niagara Falls. My sister used to live in Hamilton.
I'm from Ontario - Toronto. I used to cross over to Buffalo to go shopping all the time when the exchange rate was better. I haven't been over in a while though. Hamilton is not a good reflection of the rest of the province ... just in case it's the only place you've ever been in Ontario. Haha! The only time I ever go to Hamilton is to see BSB and it always seems to end badly - getting lost, having our car broken in to, etc. Ugh!
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*peeks in* I haven't been on here in FOREVER
I missed all of you.... Really. Well... I'm still writing. Sort of, anyway. I updated one of my older stories a week or two ago. I started a new job in September and I've been busy busy busy. I also run a BSB fanfiction group on Facebook. I also took over a Once Upon A Time group, the owner gave it to me so that occupies a lot of my time as well. It's a pretty active group too. I do write now and then like I mentioned, I write slash now (still BSB) and I dabble in sci fi. Thus continuing my tradition of trying multiple genres because I cannot pick just one. I still read as well but I am only reading Julie's story at the moment because nobody's been writing.
By the way when Trump announced he was running for President I immediately thought of Mare's story and went Ummm hide BSB at all costs!! Haha but joking aside I'm prepared for whatever happens with all this nonsense. I don't really discuss politics due to the fact people have not been nice when I say I didn't vote (I'm not registered) so I choose to stay out of it and keep any opinions to myself. Nice to see everyone is still around. Talk to you all soon!
I'm glad you're still writing and reading. I'm sad that out of all my stories, the whole Trump becoming President is the thing that's coming true!
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I'm from Ontario - Toronto. I used to cross over to Buffalo to go shopping all the time when the exchange rate was better. I haven't been over in a while though. Hamilton is not a good reflection of the rest of the province ... just in case it's the only place you've ever been in Ontario. Haha! The only time I ever go to Hamilton is to see BSB and it always seems to end badly - getting lost, having our car broken in to, etc. Ugh!
I've been to Toronto as well. Nice city. I haven't been back in a long time. The last time I was there, passports weren't mandatory. I don't have a passport so I haven't been back.
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I think it would be fun to meet a lot of you.... I met Rose and Julie (not sure if they'd want to hang out again) but we all should meet one day. I mean I would love it. Wish all of us were going to Vegas. I'll be there the last week of June as my birthday is July 5th.
If they ever do a Philly meet up, you're not too far away either.
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I think it would be fun to meet a lot of you.... I met Rose and Julie (not sure if they'd want to hang out again) but we all should meet one day. I mean I would love it. Wish all of us were going to Vegas. I'll be there the last week of June as my birthday is July 5th.
Oooooh nice way to celebrate your birthday!! Are you just seeing the one show? I feel if I were to go all the way to Vegas that I would see the show at least twice. Or, maybe I would just go once and treat myself to VIP. However, I'm assuming you're closer to Vegas than I am!
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Right now I'm only doing one show but I am debating on VIP just because it is Vegas and my birthday week.. Why not go all out? Lol. But yeah l will be there from the 27th to July 6th so I could probably swing another show. I'm just doing one for now.
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If they ever do a Philly meet up, you're not too far away either.
No, I'm not. I mean I'm an hour from NYC so I could get to PA easily.
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Oooooh nice way to celebrate your birthday!! Are you just seeing the one show? I feel if I were to go all the way to Vegas that I would see the show at least twice. Or, maybe I would just go once and treat myself to VIP. However, I'm assuming you're closer to Vegas than I am!
I'm actually in New Jersey but I've been seeing good flight prices. I mean anything after the European cruise is cheap so I don't mind going to Vegas. I went like ten years ago. It's high time I went back anyways.
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All of this!! I completely agree and I'm not even American!! I can understand being loyal to a certain political party, but if the current leader of the party that you usually support is blatantly misogynistic and hateful towards certain groups of people, why would you still vote for them? I cannot, for the life of me, understand why ANY woman voted for Trump! Perhaps our political system is a bit different. Here, people tend to vote more for the person and less for the party. We are less "loyal" I suppose.
Voting for the person or strictly on issues makes so much more sense than voting along party lines. I am fairly liberal, especially with social issues, but I'm not registered to either party and have voted for candidates from both parties before. I think the biggest problem in U.S. politics lately is that, as South Park puts it, our choices are usually limited to voting for a giant douche or a turd sandwich. Neither candidate is admirable, so people vote for the lesser of two evils or vote against someone rather than for someone. That was definitely the case in this last election.
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It's been a really difficult day today. I happened to have the 8th grade at the time of the swearing in and they all wanted to watch it. Unfortunately for them, my room doesn't have a smart board and no cable so unless they all gathered around my little laptop, they weren't able to watch. To try to be impartial was really tough as I explained the swearing in process to them and the transfer of power etc... One of them said at around 12:30 "Do you think he's President yet?" And not thinking I said "Well I thought I heard the seventh seal open so. Yes" he looked at me like huh? And I just said, yes I think he's our President lol
These four years are going to be rough!
Steph, I was wondering how things were going for you guys with the whole EU thing happening. This world is a hot mess!
I did not even mention the inauguration all day at school. I saw some of our sixth grade classes watching it and heard a few seconds of him going on about how he's going to "make America great again" as I walked by, and I thought, I am not going to expose my students to this propaganda.
In the afternoon, one of my boys asked, "So is Donald Trump our president now?" and I threw up a little in my mouth and then said "Yes." His next question was, "Is he going to bomb us? Some of the sixth graders on the bus were saying he's going to bomb us." So even the kids are scared. I assured him that the president would not bomb his own country, but didn't tell him I'm more worried about other countries bombing us after he starts a war. What a sad day indeed.
The weather here was rainy and gloomy all day, and it reminded me of the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, when the Dementors are breeding and making it cold and misty as Voldemort's taking over. Either that, or it was the tears of 39 dead presidents weeping for the future of their country.
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I'm glad you're still writing and reading. I'm sad that out of all my stories, the whole Trump becoming President is the thing that's coming true!
Well, better that than the ones that involve Nick being kidnapped and tortured, right? LOL
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Maybe we should do the AC convention we've always talked about in PA. Seriously, next time the Boys have a summer tour that takes them there, I would be so up for a big AC meetup!
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I legit laughed out loud at this!! You sound just like me! I do think that wifey has quite the influence on some of his choices and on how he presents himself to the world. Sometimes, I do wonder what would have happened if he'd married someone different. He did get married fairly young and sometimes I can't help but think that it was a slightly impulsive choice because of what was happening in his life at that time. *sigh*
Yeah, I do wonder. I don't doubt that he loves Leighanne or that she loves him, for as long as they've been married. And I don't hate or even dislike her. I've interacted with her quite a bit compared to the other wives, and she has always been very sweet and friendly. She just makes me roll my eyes sometimes.
Who is everyone's favorite Backstreet wife? I would probably go with Rochelle, although I like all of them.
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Maybe we should do the AC convention we've always talked about in PA. Seriously, next time the Boys have a summer tour that takes them there, I would be so up for a big AC meetup!
Ummmm so fun!! It would be almost strange to meet people who know me as a fan fic writer. LOL - NOBODY in my real life knows that I write fan fic. Well, my husband knows ... but only because he came home early from work one day and caught me writing. He's a good sport about it though. All he cares about is if I'm writing a sex scene; then he asks to read it and informs me that even reading about "sexy stuff" is boring. Haha!!
It would be nice to put a face to everyone's screen name though!
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Woah! That girl is totally brave for opting to do a cruise by herself! I have trouble eating lunch alone at like a fast-food restaurant if I'm on a course for work or something. I always feel like people are staring at me and wondering why I have no friends. LOL Of course, I know that nobody actually cares what I'm doing. I consider myself to be fairly social, but I don't think I could ever go to something that big alone.
I'm the same way. I enjoy my alone time, but would never be brave enough to do something like that by myself. Plus, there's so much waiting around on a BSB cruise, it would be so boring to be there without friends. Luckily she found us! LOL
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I did not even mention the inauguration all day at school. I saw some of our sixth grade classes watching it and heard a few seconds of him going on about how he's going to "make America great again" as I walked by, and I thought, I am not going to expose my students to this propaganda.
In the afternoon, one of my boys asked, "So is Donald Trump our president now?" and I threw up a little in my mouth and then said "Yes." His next question was, "Is he going to bomb us? Some of the sixth graders on the bus were saying he's going to bomb us." So even the kids are scared. I assured him that the president would not bomb his own country, but didn't tell him I'm more worried about other countries bombing us after he starts a war. What a sad day indeed.
The weather here was rainy and gloomy all day, and it reminded me of the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, when the Dementors are breeding and making it cold and misty as Voldemort's taking over. Either that, or it was the tears of 39 dead presidents weeping for the future of their country.
I have been saying that it's God crying for our collective stupidity lol
I didn't plan on mentioning the election at all. The kids asked me because the other 8th grade class was watching it when they left to come to me. It's weird because I still can't really tell how they feel about Trump. We didn't hold a mock election like previous years and none of them have commented one way or the other how they feel. To he it seemed like they wanted to watch the actual process more so than Trump. That made me feel better for some reason since I know most of their parents are probably Trump supporters.
It is sad that we're all pretty certain he's going to cause a war. People have actually started a pool to see how long it would take. All I have to say is, that horrible DeVos woman better not became the Secretary of Education!
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Yeah, I do wonder. I don't doubt that he loves Leighanne or that she loves him, for as long as they've been married. And I don't hate or even dislike her. I've interacted with her quite a bit compared to the other wives, and she has always been very sweet and friendly. She just makes me roll my eyes sometimes.
Who is everyone's favorite Backstreet wife? I would probably go with Rochelle, although I like all of them.
I have never doubted that the two of them love each other. I guess I always just pictured him with someone a bit more "hands off" spotlight wise. Like, someone more "traditional" in the wife sense. Someone who would be more behind the scenes - doing her own thing, with her own career, and taking care of the kids. That being said, I don't dislike her (as I have no real interaction with her on which to base my dislike). I'm just neutral as far as she's concerned. Ha!
I've never interacted with any of the wives, so I can't comment from actual experience. If I had to pick a favourite it would be a toss up between Kristin and Rochelle. Kristin seems very genuine to me and her and Kevin make an adorable couple. Rochelle comes across as being very realistic as far as her relationship with AJ is concerned and she seems like a great mommy to Ava (and to the soon to be baby #2).
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Ummmm so fun!! It would be almost strange to meet people who know me as a fan fic writer. LOL - NOBODY in my real life knows that I write fan fic. Well, my husband knows ... but only because he came home early from work one day and caught me writing. He's a good sport about it though. All he cares about is if I'm writing a sex scene; then he asks to read it and informs me that even reading about "sexy stuff" is boring. Haha!!
It would be nice to put a face to everyone's screen name though!
It is strange!! I'm the same way; no one in my real life knows I write fanfic except for my immediate family (parents and sister) because it was hard to hide that from them completely when I was a teenager and still lived with them. I don't know if they realize I still write it though LOL. I have never told any of my real life friends because they would either A) make fun of me or B) want to read my stories, and I'm not sure which would be worse LOL. I've always written under a pen name so no one I know in real life can "find me" online (like students, especially LOL). So the only people I've ever really talked to about fanfic in real life are online friends that I've met, and it is way more uncomfortable than talking about it on here, even with the same people. But it's also nice to be around people who know and accept that side of you. I always feel like there's this huge part of my life that is a total secret from almost everyone I know, and that is kind of awkward too.
That is so funny about your husband! Do you ever ask his opinion on guy stuff? Not sex stuff, per se, but like, "Would a guy really think like this?" I've always felt like most of us probably write the Boys as a lot more sensitive and feminine than they really are, being women ourselves. I look back on stories I wrote as a teenager and the way I wrote the guys, and I think, "Wow, he sounds like an emo teenager girl." Because that's exactly what I was at the time LOL.
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Well, better that than the ones that involve Nick being kidnapped and tortured, right? LOL
True, although to avoid this mess I'm sure Nick would be willing to take one for the team lol
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Maybe we should do the AC convention we've always talked about in PA. Seriously, next time the Boys have a summer tour that takes them there, I would be so up for a big AC meetup!
That sounds great to me!
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I have been saying that it's God crying for our collective stupidity lol
I didn't plan on mentioning the election at all. The kids asked me because the other 8th grade class was watching it when they left to come to me. It's weird because I still can't really tell how they feel about Trump. We didn't hold a mock election like previous years and none of them have commented one way or the other how they feel. To he it seemed like they wanted to watch the actual process more so than Trump. That made me feel better for some reason since I know most of their parents are probably Trump supporters.
It is sad that we're all pretty certain he's going to cause a war. People have actually started a pool to see how long it would take. All I have to say is, that horrible DeVos woman better not became the Secretary of Education!
That DeVos woman was the running joke at my work today!! (Next to Trump and the soon to be influx of American immigrants, of course).Guns in schools?! - Okay, lady!! WTF? Shouldn't one have at least a teaching degree and/or some kind of relevant experience in order to be considered for a position with "Education" in the title?? I have no words ...
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The only person who knows I wrote fanfic in my real life is my sister. I wish I had thought of writing under a pen name completely different than me. I mean Mare is a bit close to Marianne and I am sometimes worried that some of my former students will figure it out one day, especially the ones who love BSB and there are quite a few.
I have met online BSB friends before, just not any from my AC family. I remember being worried that once we got together we'd have nothing to talk about, but then it ended up really natural. It's weird because with all of them we rarely even talk BSB anymore lol
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That DeVos woman was the running joke at my work today!! (Next to Trump and the soon to be influx of American immigrants, of course).Guns in schools?! - Okay, lady!! WTF? Shouldn't one have at least a teaching degree and/or some kind of relevant experience in order to be considered for a position with "Education" in the title?? I have no words ...
You would think so, but then again, you'd also think our President should have some qualifications as well, besides being a rich reality star/megalomaniac
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It is sad that we're all pretty certain he's going to cause a war. People have actually started a pool to see how long it would take. All I have to say is, that horrible DeVos woman better not became the Secretary of Education!
Hell, he would start a war with SNL if he could! I think someone needs to take control of his Twitter account away from him now that he's actually president.
I could not believe the clips I saw of her hearing. Grizzly bears. Schools should have guns to protect against grizzly bears. WTF?! A coworker of mine's husband is actually from Wyoming, and she said even he went "WTF?" His school never had a problem with grizzlies, LOL.
I'm making another Harry Potter reference here, but I saw this Tumblr post right after the election: http://lydia-martin.tumblr.com/post/153857842640/gimme-a-hand-scaevola In case you don't feel like clicking the link, this is what it said:
i miss 2012 when the biggest problem was Gangnam Style being overplayed it was a much simpler time before we knew what 2016 had in store for us
2012 was like the early years of harry potter when the biggest obstacle he faced was a somewhat cranky dog. now 2016 has happened, the triwizard tournament is over and cedric is dead
IF THIS IS ONLY BOOK 4 THAN WE ARE SERIOUSLY FUCKED
Ofc it’s only book 4. We just realized Trump is a real threat. Now we have to contend with a whole book of people telling is everything is fine. Then one of ineffectual governmental scrambling and then a whole book of open rebellion and racism.
I feel like we're officially to Book 5 now, and DeVos is Umbridge.
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It is strange!! I'm the same way; no one in my real life knows I write fanfic except for my immediate family (parents and sister) because it was hard to hide that from them completely when I was a teenager and still lived with them. I don't know if they realize I still write it though LOL. I have never told any of my real life friends because they would either A) make fun of me or B) want to read my stories, and I'm not sure which would be worse LOL. I've always written under a pen name so no one I know in real life can "find me" online (like students, especially LOL). So the only people I've ever really talked to about fanfic in real life are online friends that I've met, and it is way more uncomfortable than talking about it on here, even with the same people. But it's also nice to be around people who know and accept that side of you. I always feel like there's this huge part of my life that is a total secret from almost everyone I know, and that is kind of awkward too.
That is so funny about your husband! Do you ever ask his opinion on guy stuff? Not sex stuff, per se, but like, "Would a guy really think like this?" I've always felt like most of us probably write the Boys as a lot more sensitive and feminine than they really are, being women ourselves. I look back on stories I wrote as a teenager and the way I wrote the guys, and I think, "Wow, he sounds like an emo teenager girl." Because that's exactly what I was at the time LOL.
Most of my real life friends would probably be super supportive!! Buuuut I would be way too embarrassed to have them read my stuff! Maybe if it wasn't fan fic I would let them read it ...I used to share my original fiction with them back in high school and they loved my writing then. We've been friends for so long that they would probably just accept it and tease me at the same time. I do feel like I'm leading a double life at times! So weird!
I've never asked my husband anything specific, but I kind of model the way the boys interact off of how he and his friends interact. Occasionally, some of the banter that I write is copied from stuff that I've heard my husband say while he's around my friends' husbands. He would probably kill me if he found that out though!!
I know you said that you're single, but would you admit your writing to your boyfriend?? (Only if you were serious about him ... not on like a first date or anything!).
I do feel as if I write the guys as being too "girly" sometimes. But, then again, they are more brothers than friends and all of the brothers I know are pretty soft and emotional with each other when the going gets tough. I feel as though our "emo" version of the boys is warranted based on what we subject them to in the fictional world.
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I think my favorite Backstreet wife is Kristin, but besides Leighanne, I think they're all nice. I think Howie's wife is the most elusive one. I don't know much about her and I kind of like that. I like how they are all kind of in the background for the most part. I don't really care about any of them lol I always call the wives and kids misc...is that horrible?
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You would think so, but then again, you'd also think our President should have some qualifications as well, besides being a rich reality star/megalomaniac
You make a valid point ... sadly ...
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I have never doubted that the two of them love each other. I guess I always just pictured him with someone a bit more "hands off" spotlight wise. Like, someone more "traditional" in the wife sense. Someone who would be more behind the scenes - doing her own thing, with her own career, and taking care of the kids. That being said, I don't dislike her (as I have no real interaction with her on which to base my dislike). I'm just neutral as far as she's concerned. Ha!
I've never interacted with any of the wives, so I can't comment from actual experience. If I had to pick a favourite it would be a toss up between Kristin and Rochelle. Kristin seems very genuine to me and her and Kevin make an adorable couple. Rochelle comes across as being very realistic as far as her relationship with AJ is concerned and she seems like a great mommy to Ava (and to the soon to be baby #2).
I totally agree with what you said about expecting him to be more traditional like that. For example, I sure never thought he would be the type to want to homeschool his kid. As a public school teacher, that has always bugged me.
I've never met any of the other wives except for Kristin very briefly (she was also very sweet), so I can't comment from actual experience either, but they all seem cool on social media. (Leigh finally let me follow her on Instagram, so I can stalk her stuff too now LOL.)
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True, although to avoid this mess I'm sure Nick would be willing to take one for the team lol
LOL! That should be your next story. And Brian has to choose between supporting Trump and saving Nick.
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We are most definitely in book five! We need to find a secret room to practice our magic! lol
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I totally agree with what you said about expecting him to be more traditional like that. For example, I sure never thought he would be the type to want to homeschool his kid. As a public school teacher, that has always bugged me.
I've never met any of the other wives except for Kristin very briefly (she was also very sweet), so I can't comment from actual experience either, but they all seem cool on social media. (Leigh finally let me follow her on Instagram, so I can stalk her stuff too now LOL.)
I just think all three of them together are weird lol
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I totally agree with what you said about expecting him to be more traditional like that. For example, I sure never thought he would be the type to want to homeschool his kid. As a public school teacher, that has always bugged me.
I've never met any of the other wives except for Kristin very briefly (she was also very sweet), so I can't comment from actual experience either, but they all seem cool on social media. (Leigh finally let me follow her on Instagram, so I can stalk her stuff too now LOL.)
Ahhhh yes, Leigh has also granted me a follow on Instagram so I can creep. I follow all the wives actually (except for Leighanne ... #sorrynotsorry)
Homeschooling ... I have no words for that. Ugh!
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LOL! That should be your next story. And Brian has to choose between supporting Trump and saving Nick.
Lol the sequel to whatever the night may bring
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I just think all three of them together are weird lol
:D Agree ...
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I know you said that you're single, but would you admit your writing to your boyfriend?? (Only if you were serious about him ... not on like a first date or anything!).
I do feel as if I write the guys as being too "girly" sometimes. But, then again, they are more brothers than friends and all of the brothers I know are pretty soft and emotional with each other when the going gets tough. I feel as though our "emo" version of the boys is warranted based on what we subject them to in the fictional world.
Yeah, I think I would once we got to the point of living together. It would be too hard to hide otherwise. He would wonder what the hell I was doing on my computer for so many hours at a time, which could lead to all kinds of trust issues LOL. I wouldn't want him to read it, though. I think I'd have to be with someone who had his own nerdy hobby, like fantasy football or D&D or something, so we could both make fun of each other and each do our own thing.
I do think the Boys are pretty in touch with their emotions, as far as guys go, and they do have that brotherly relationship. I also think, given that most of our readers are also girls, it's okay if we write them as more feminine than they actually are because that's what the audience wants to read. I love the bromantic stuff! And yes, they definitely have more reason to cry and emote in our stories than in real life, given all that we put them through LOL.
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Lol the sequel to whatever the night may bring
Yes!
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We are most definitely in book five! We need to find a secret room to practice our magic! lol
Yes! Dumbledore's Army!
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I just think all three of them together are weird lol
They really are LOL. I'm waiting for Baylee to decide that his parents are embarrassing, but it doesn't seem to have happened yet (*cough*probably because he's homeschooled*cough*).
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Ahhhh yes, Leigh has also granted me a follow on Instagram so I can creep. I follow all the wives actually (except for Leighanne ... #sorrynotsorry)
Homeschooling ... I have no words for that. Ugh!
OMG, I just realized I could finally see her Instagram the other day, after I started writing again, and I'm embarrassed to admit I spent way too long creeping through her posts. She and Howie should probably be more careful about what they post, though, because she had James's school picture up where he was wearing his school uniform with the name of his school on the polo shirt. Someone could totally go try to kidnap him from school if they wanted to. (Don't worry, I'm not planning to do that.) And Howie posted a picture of the boys playing in front of the sign for a condominium complex that he either owns or lived at (but now, thanks to Leigh, I know that they recently built a new house).
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They really are LOL. I'm waiting for Baylee to decide that his parents are embarrassing, but it doesn't seem to have happened yet (*cough*probably because he's homeschooled*cough*).
It's weird they are so close. I mean I guess it's nice? My family was so dysfunctional that I just think it's over the top weird. I feel bad for him that he's an only child. It's like they're all he has to relate to. I don't think he has any healthy real interaction with kids his age. It seems like whenever they do anything with Baylee and friends it's over the top opulent. Like taking a huge limo to play paintball or having a party that looks like it should have been a wedding reception. The kids are probably like...Yeah let's go to that weird rich kid's house! He's got a Wii in his bathroom dude!
It is a given fact that the weirdest kids are the ones who were home schooled. I always can tell when we get a new kid at school who was home schooled. The rest of the kids always look at them like wtf? lol
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It's weird they are so close. I mean I guess it's nice? My family was so dysfunctional that I just think it's over the top weird. I feel bad for him that he's an only child. It's like they're all he has to relate to. I do to think he has any healthy real interaction with kids his age. It seems like whenever they do anything with Baylee and friends it's over the top opulent. Like taking a huge limo to play paintball or having a party that looks like it should give been a wedding reception. The kids are probably like. Yeah let's go to that weird rich kid's house! He's got a Wii in his bathroom dude!
It is a given fact that the weirdest kids are the ones who were home schooled. I always can tell when we get a new kid at school who was home schooled.
That is all so true LOL. It's a shame that they couldn't have more kids. I wish they would have adopted some or something because - again, going back to the traditional thing - I always saw Brian as being a dad to more than one kid. Not that there's anything wrong with being an only child, but that plus the homeschooling thing scores double in the social awkwardness department.
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I guess I need to find and follow Leigh. Lol
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That is all so true LOL. It's a shame that they couldn't have more kids. I wish they would have adopted some or something because - again, going back to the traditional thing - I always saw Brian as being a dad to more than one kid. Not that there's anything wrong with being an only child, but that plus the homeschooling thing scores double in the social awkwardness department.
They seemed pretty adamant that they only wanted the one. I can't even imagine being an only child. If it wasn't for my sister I'd probably be in a mental hospital or prison lol
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I guess I need to find and follow Leigh. Lol
Yeah, look her up! It looks like she and Howie have some good times LOL.
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They seemed pretty adamant that they only wanted the one. I can't even imagine being an only child. If it wasn't for my sister I'd probably be in a mental hospital or prison lol
Well, Leighanne said years ago that she physically couldn't have any more kids. It sounds like she had some complications after having Baylee and doesn't have all the parts for it any more. I do think they probably would have had at least one more if they could have.
My sister drives me nuts, but I do think it would have been lonely being an only child.
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Not to start bashing Brian again (we weren't bashing, but you know what I mean), but I just saw these photos of the other four having lunch together in L.A. today and noticed he wasn't with them: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4142024/Backstreet-Boys-reunite-LA-ahead-Las-Vegas-residency.html Wonder how much shit they said about him behind his back after all this Trump backlash? LOL It annoys me that he didn't go to lunch with them.
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I missed a lot while I was at work. It's nice to see this active.
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A lot of people know I write... Although someone at work and I had a conversation about slash the other day and I had to explain it to someone that didn't get it lol. She goes "people read this?" and I said yeah look at the Harry Potter fandom LOL
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I missed a lot while I was at work. It's nice to see this active.
I know, same!
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A lot of people know I write... Although someone at work and I had a conversation about slash the other day and I had to explain it to someone that didn't get it lol. She goes "people read this?" and I said yeah look at the Harry Potter fandom LOL
Sheesh, yeah, the HP fandom is like all slash! LOL
I find slash to be such an odd phenomenon. I kind of see the appeal more now than I used to, but I still don't really understand it. Why do so many women, most of them straight, like to write about seemingly straight men or male characters in sexual relationships with each other? The only real perk I've discovered about slash in our fandom is that it allows you to write romance without an original female character, which means you can keep the story all about BSB. But in Harry Potter, for instance, when there are wonderful female characters in canon to write about, why do so many writers insist on only writing Harry/Draco or Marauder slash? LOL
To be clear, I'm not knocking slash at all. I'm just genuinely perplexed by it.
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Sheesh, yeah, the HP fandom is like all slash! LOL
I find slash to be such an odd phenomenon. I kind of see the appeal more now than I used to, but I still don't really understand it. Why do so many women, most of them straight, like to write about seemingly straight men or male characters in sexual relationships with each other? The only real perk I've discovered about slash in our fandom is that it allows you to write romance without an original female character, which means you can keep the story all about BSB. But in Harry Potter, for instance, when there are wonderful female characters in canon to write about, why do so many writers insist on only writing Harry/Draco or Marauder slash? LOL
To be clear, I'm not knocking slash at all. I'm just genuinely perplexed by it.
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Yeah I don't understand it either. I mean I read it a bit but it's not like slash in the BSB fandom it's a bit different. I used to really think slash was weird and stuff. But I have warmed up to it and I am OK with it. However I think it's weird when people pair up Kevin with Brian.... Lol that's a bit much for me.
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Voting for the person or strictly on issues makes so much more sense than voting along party lines. I am fairly liberal, especially with social issues, but I'm not registered to either party and have voted for candidates from both parties before. I think the biggest problem in U.S. politics lately is that, as South Park puts it, our choices are usually limited to voting for a giant douche or a turd sandwich. Neither candidate is admirable, so people vote for the lesser of two evils or vote against someone rather than for someone. That was definitely the case in this last election.
I didn't know you weren't registered to either party. We really are brain twins LOL.
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I did not even mention the inauguration all day at school. I saw some of our sixth grade classes watching it and heard a few seconds of him going on about how he's going to "make America great again" as I walked by, and I thought, I am not going to expose my students to this propaganda.
In the afternoon, one of my boys asked, "So is Donald Trump our president now?" and I threw up a little in my mouth and then said "Yes." His next question was, "Is he going to bomb us? Some of the sixth graders on the bus were saying he's going to bomb us." So even the kids are scared. I assured him that the president would not bomb his own country, but didn't tell him I'm more worried about other countries bombing us after he starts a war. What a sad day indeed.
The weather here was rainy and gloomy all day, and it reminded me of the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, when the Dementors are breeding and making it cold and misty as Voldemort's taking over. Either that, or it was the tears of 39 dead presidents weeping for the future of their country.
Awww your poor kids!
It was pouring ALL DAY here in Vegas, that never happens. I support the weeping theory.
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That DeVos woman was the running joke at my work today!! (Next to Trump and the soon to be influx of American immigrants, of course).Guns in schools?! - Okay, lady!! WTF? Shouldn't one have at least a teaching degree and/or some kind of relevant experience in order to be considered for a position with "Education" in the title?? I have no words ...
I watched her get torn apart during her sessions on CSPAN and just, good god man. How the hell did she get nominated for that position.
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My thing about Brian is, I wish he'd just stop talking about Trump. I don't hate him for his views and I don't think I can really lol unless he goes VERY extreme (like "alt right" levels). My fandom goes too deep. But I wish he'd either find a way to be nicer or not say anything at all. Blaming Vegas as why they didn't perform for Trump and telling others to chill out about Trump just doesn't do him any favors with their fanbase. I'm honestly most annoyed at him implying that the others were okay with performing for the inauguration if not for the residency.
And I'm pretty sure it's why 3/4 BSBs posted Obama related posts since that TMZ video. Leighanne was in the comments defending herself on Rochelle's IG after saying it must be nice to "not be bullied for her political views" and it's like, this is why fans are staying mad about this. Politics are a divisive topic if you're not careful and either way you should be prepared for others to react.
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Not to start bashing Brian again (we weren't bashing, but you know what I mean), but I just saw these photos of the other four having lunch together in L.A. today and noticed he wasn't with them: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4142024/Backstreet-Boys-reunite-LA-ahead-Las-Vegas-residency.html Wonder how much shit they said about him behind his back after all this Trump backlash? LOL It annoys me that he didn't go to lunch with them.
I saw that this morning. Brian posted a picture of him and Baylee at a basketball game, so he probably did his usual family before BSB - I'm going to get there at the last possible second to spend every minute with my own creepy, Trump loving family - thing lol
I'm sure he came up in conversation more than once. It was nice seeing them all together.
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Well, Leighanne said years ago that she physically couldn't have any more kids. It sounds like she had some complications after having Baylee and doesn't have all the parts for it any more. I do think they probably would have had at least one more if they could have.
My sister drives me nuts, but I do think it would have been lonely being an only child.
Oh, I didn't know that. Every time anyone asked Brian if they were ever going to have another kid, he shot it down like they didn't want one, so I just assumed they were one and done. I know this seems horrible to say and it probably does speak how I truly feel about them sometimes, but I could see them thinking adoption was beneath them somehow. Sad, but true.
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My thing about Brian is, I wish he'd just stop talking about Trump. I don't hate him for his views and I don't think I can really lol unless he goes VERY extreme (like "alt right" levels). My fandom goes too deep. But I wish he'd either find a way to be nicer or not say anything at all. Blaming Vegas as why they didn't perform for Trump and telling others to chill out about Trump just doesn't do him any favors with their fanbase. I'm honestly most annoyed at him implying that the others were okay with performing for the inauguration if not for the residency.
And I'm pretty sure it's why 3/4 BSBs posted Obama related posts since that TMZ video. Leighanne was in the comments defending herself on Rochelle's IG after saying it must be nice to "not be bullied for her political views" and it's like, this is why fans are staying mad about this. Politics are a divisive topic if you're not careful and either way you should be prepared for others to react.
Yeah, I'm sure they didn't appreciate that answer, but then again he was most likely caught off guard and ironically didn't want to look bad, not realizing most of the free world thinks Trump is a lunatic who has no right being a leader of anything.
I hate when people speak on my behalf about anything. Like when someone says ""We all still love and support you!" Or something like that. It drives me bonkers so I can see them being agitated, especially his cousin lol he seems like a don't speak on behalf of me kind of guy.
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I watched her get torn apart during her sessions on CSPAN and just, good god man. How the hell did she get nominated for that position.
If they conform her, I'm done!
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Yeah, I think I would once we got to the point of living together. It would be too hard to hide otherwise. He would wonder what the hell I was doing on my computer for so many hours at a time, which could lead to all kinds of trust issues LOL. I wouldn't want him to read it, though. I think I'd have to be with someone who had his own nerdy hobby, like fantasy football or D&D or something, so we could both make fun of each other and each do our own thing.
So funny that you mention fantasy football as that's my husband's thing! He's in a league with my best friend's husband and it's all they talk about during football season! They even send each other smack talk over text. It's ridiculous!!
My husband doesn't read my stuff either. Mostly because he hates reading and would find it to be a chore. So, I guess I lucked out that way. Haha
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Oh, I didn't know that. Every time anyone asked Brian if they were ever going to have another kid, he shot it down like they didn't want one, so I just assumed they were one and done. I know this seems horrible to say and it probably does speak how I truly feel about them sometimes, but I could see them thinking adoption was beneath them somehow. Sad, but true.
I don't know what the situation is there, but I do know that every time someone asks me when we're having another kid (my daughter is two), I want to punch them in the face. Mind your business, people!! LOL But then every time I think about being "one and done" my mind flashes to Baylee and the somewhat strange family dynamic going on there with just the three of them and I fully consider having another baby!!
I kinda feel like Baylee is trying too hard to present himself as a mini - Brian. Just do your own thing kid! Just because everyone (well mostly everyone) loves your dad for the way he is doesn't mean that people won't like you if you're different. I really think they need to send him to public school. He needs to be social on his own without Brian being his coach or mommy being around.
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My thing about Brian is, I wish he'd just stop talking about Trump. I don't hate him for his views and I don't think I can really lol unless he goes VERY extreme (like "alt right" levels). My fandom goes too deep. But I wish he'd either find a way to be nicer or not say anything at all. Blaming Vegas as why they didn't perform for Trump and telling others to chill out about Trump just doesn't do him any favors with their fanbase. I'm honestly most annoyed at him implying that the others were okay with performing for the inauguration if not for the residency.
And I'm pretty sure it's why 3/4 BSBs posted Obama related posts since that TMZ video. Leighanne was in the comments defending herself on Rochelle's IG after saying it must be nice to "not be bullied for her political views" and it's like, this is why fans are staying mad about this. Politics are a divisive topic if you're not careful and either way you should be prepared for others to react.
Perfectly said!! And you know the others ripped him apart when they all had lunch without him. It makes me sad to think that Brian is like the "shunned member" at the moment. I still love him beyond words even if I don't agree with his opinions. It makes me sad to think that there's a riff between him and the others at the moment.
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I honestly doubt there's a rift. I'm sure they've all done it before and are used to it by now. That being said, I'm sure they still talked about it while they ate lol
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Agreed - I doubt any of the other guys were surprised about what he said; I'm sure they were aware of his political opinions. If anything, they were probably annoyed that he spoke to TMZ and made it sound like BSB would have performed at the inauguration if it would have worked out with their schedule, when we know full well the other four would never have agreed to do it. The media backlash is a bigger problem than Brian having a different opinion. Although, to be fair, Brian has every right to express his opinions to whoever he wants.
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Yes, I meant that the boys were likely pissed that he made them all out to be in favour of Trump in that stupid video. I'm sure that they were all well aware of how he voted ... and probably just rolled their eyes. This is why people should keep their political support to themselves!! Haha I can totally see Kevin watching the video and immediately texting him a big ol "WTF??". The media backlash has not been good. Even a local radio station here in Toronto that never plays the boys posted it to their social media pages and were totally making fun of him. Brutal.
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I don't really have much to say about any of this. Sorry. I just think people read too much into things they see on social media. I kind of sometimes wish it was like back in the day when we didn't know all the behind the scenes stuff and we just kind of made up our own story because that was the fun thing to do lol
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I like the accessibility that has come with social media; I feel like the guys are a lot more interactive with fans, and we get to see another side of them that we didn't see before social media was big. But because of that, we're also seeing them more as the real people they are outside of BSB, flaws and all. In my teenybopper days, I thought Brian was basically perfect, but I don't put him on that pedestal anymore. I never quite idolized any of the others the same way, so it's not the same for them, but all of them post things that make me shake my head or roll my eyes sometimes. That's okay, though; I don't have to like everything they do and say, but I still love them.
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No I know that. I was just saying I kind of miss it. I like knowing some stuff though and I don't put the guys on a pedestal either. They aren't perfect by any means and I find that I don't agree with a lot that they say or do. But that's how life is, I suppose.
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I wasn't disagreeing with you, just adding my two cents on social media. It's definitely changed things. I think it's a good change for the most part just because I feel more connected to them during those down times when they're not touring or making appearances, but I can see your point. There was a certain age of innocence before social media that was nice.
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I do sometimes wish I can go back to the time when I just really loved their songs too. I think knowing so much about them is what killed my love of writing about them in the end. Isn't that ironic? lol
As a whole I think twitter in particular has made celebrities seem so much more human and normal but it also hasn't helped people who feed into feeling like they are BFFs with some of these celebrities too. Sometimes all it takes is a response or a follow to make some of the more unbalanced people feed into the fantasy that they have some kind of special relationship with these guys.
I could never be famous. I hate people too much lol
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Yeah in some ways I miss the pre-social media era. We were able to think the best and not have those bubbles burst completely even in our post-Teenybopper mindset.
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I do sometimes wish I can go back to the time when I just really loved their songs too. I think knowing so much about them is what killed my love of writing about them in the end. Isn't that ironic? lol
As a whole I think twitter in particular has made celebrities seem so much more human and normal but it also hasn't helped people who feed into feeling like they are BFFs with some of these celebrities too. Sometimes all it takes is a response or a follow to make some of the more unbalanced people feed into the fantasy that they have some kind of special relationship with these guys.
I could never be famous. I hate people too much lol
That is interesting. Anyone else feel that way? I personally don't, but then, I was also that teenybopper who memorized all of their favorite colors and favorite foods and other "facts" about them after I started liking their music, so to me, liking the music and liking them as people always went hand in hand.
I think the only way social media has hurt my writing is by distracting me from actually doing it LOL. I had to remove Facebook from my bookmarks bar on my laptop so I wouldn't be tempted to randomly click on it while I'm writing. Twitter I'm not as bad about these days, but I can waste hours on Facebook.
I agree with what you said about making the delusional fans feel like they are really friends with the boys. Like I said earlier in this thread, the guys need to watch what they post and who they respond to sometimes because even though I feel the fanbase as a whole has matured and calmed down quite a bit over the years, there are still those creepy ones out there.
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I was also the crazy teeybopper who could tell you what they all loved to eat for breakfast without having to think twice about it. LOL I think liking their music and liking them as people have always been one in the same for me. I think growing older and gaining my own opinions and life experiences is what has made the boys more human for me; in combination with social media of course. When I was younger, I took everything that was handed to me at face value - OH, Brian is the good, sweet one?? Okay! I don't think it ever occurred to me that he could be anything but what he was presented to the world as being. The same rings true for the other guys too; whatever I was told, I believd. It wasn't until I was old enough to read between the lines that I started to realize that my pre-conceived notions of the boys were incorrect. Now, I kind of like having those "Christ, AJ is dumb" or the "Wtf was Nick thinking?" moments. They keep me grounded in my "infatuation" in a way that I never was when I was a teenager.
No matter how the guys handle their social media, there are always going to be a few who believe that they have some kind of "special" relationship with the boy/boys who have responded to them. You wouldn't really know from my social media pages that I like the boys at all. Of course I follow them, but I've never even tried to get them to comment on a post or to reply to me. But for some fans, it seems like the boys are the only reason why they have social media at all - all of their posts are designed to get that "like" from a certain boy/boys. I find it concerning when the boys respond to that. I know they are probably trying to be nice, but to the fan on the other side of the screen their niceness is taken out of proportion. What happens when the comments from the boys stop?? For some fans that might be all it would take to send them into depression or something even worse.
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I used to buy the teeny bopper
magazines and take the quizzes in them telling you who your soul mate was based on your favorite color and food lol.. I would get Nick every time and I think that's how he ended up being my favorite.... Which i kind of related to him anyway. My 14 year old logic said hey he likes pizza and so do you.. Totally meant to be! But now I'm more of a Brian girl. There was a period of two years however where I didn't have a favorite and it was a very strange time.
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I was also the crazy teeybopper who could tell you what they all loved to eat for breakfast without having to think twice about it. LOL I think liking their music and liking them as people have always been one in the same for me. I think growing older and gaining my own opinions and life experiences is what has made the boys more human for me; in combination with social media of course. When I was younger, I took everything that was handed to me at face value - OH, Brian is the good, sweet one?? Okay! I don't think it ever occurred to me that he could be anything but what he was presented to the world as being. The same rings true for the other guys too; whatever I was told, I believd. It wasn't until I was old enough to read between the lines that I started to realize that my pre-conceived notions of the boys were incorrect. Now, I kind of like having those "Christ, AJ is dumb" or the "Wtf was Nick thinking?" moments. They keep me grounded in my "infatuation" in a way that I never was when I was a teenager.
That's a great point! I think that's probably true for most of us who became fans when we were kids or teenagers. I like seeing them as real people who aren't perfect, rather than these pre-packaged boyband stereotypes.
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I used to buy the teeny bopper
magazines and take the quizzes in them telling you who your soul mate was based on your favorite color and food lol.. I would get Nick every time and I think that's how he ended up being my favorite.... Which i kind of related to him anyway. My 14 year old logic said hey he likes pizza and so do you.. Totally meant to be! But now I'm more of a Brian girl. There was a period of two years however where I didn't have a favorite and it was a very strange time.
I loved those teenybopper magazines. I still have a bunch of the early books about BSB too.
I'll probably always consider myself a "Brian girl" because I always have been, but I don't really have favorites anymore. I used to have a definitive ranking... I think it was originally 1) Brian 2) AJ 3) Kevin 4) Howie 5) Nick, and then Nick started rising up the ranks to my #2, but now I have a better appreciation for Kevin and Howie, and it's hard to call any of them my "least favorite." I love them all. (Though I do still tend to pay the most attention to and take the most pictures of Brian and Nick at shows, so I guess Frick & Frack are still my top 2. ;) )
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Maybe if I had become a fan right when they started, I would have had the same experience as you guys, but I'm also older than you so not sure I would have had the teenybopper mindset, but I'm sure looks would have come before the music for me lol
I loved IWITW so much, I felt the need to find out more about the people who sang the song. It's rare I will take that next step when I get into something, but when I do it generally means I become hooked. I still believe if the age differences didn't mirror real siblings and their personalities didn't completely gel with that, I would have moved along and never taken it to the next level. I never really had a favorite either. From the start, I thought of them more as musicians but personality wise, Kevin became the guy I could relate to most, followed by Nick. To me it was always more about their personalities than their looks.
The younger me would have completely fallen for Kevin. I've always been more of a tall, dark and handsome person.
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Hm it's funny how our order changes. I used to actually really not like Kevin. I thought he was stuck up, bossy and kind of arrogant but when I finally met him in 2013 and saw a after party for the IAWLT tour I realized how funny and laid back he was. My order used to be Nick, Brian, Howie, AJ and Kevin. Now it's Brian, Nick, Kevin, AJ and Howie. Kevin has moved up over the years from meeting him on the cruises. He blew me away on the European one when he made a beeline to me to tell me he loved my hat and kissed me on the cheek. I got lots of love from him. AJ changed my opinion too. He was so sweet to the fans. So I don't really think I have a "least favorite" anymore per se.
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AJ and Brian have always been my bottom two although, I think AJ is a great guy, I just couldn't ever really relate to him. It is hard to really judge how they are in real life. I know I've said this a billion times, but when most of us meet them it's because we have paid to do so. It's kind of their job to be super nice to us. Even if you don't meet them at a meet and greet and instead at a charity event or something BSB related, it's their job to make us feel special. Some of them are better at it then others. It's when you catch them during off times. How they act at that time is probably closest to the real them you'll see. I do think our fandom is luckier than most because some people are downright horrible to their fans, I think most of the boys appreciate and realize that without us they wouldn't be who they are today.
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I didn't fully appreciate Kevin until he left and came back. Now he would probably be my #3 after Brian and Nick, as far as who I watch in concerts and who I want to stand by at VIP and that sort of thing. I agree with what you said about him, Tracy - he seems a lot more laidback now than he did before he left, and he's got a great sense of humor. I think it was harder for his real personality to show in the early days because he was always in the background, and the others stole the spotlight, not just on stage but also in interviews and stuff. Kevin likes to talk, but he was never the one goofing around like Brian, Nick, and AJ.
Howie has grown on me a lot in the last few years as well. And I agree about AJ being super nice. I know they're all supposed to be nice at meet and greets, and I've never experienced any of them being "not nice," but I will say, having met them quite a few times, AJ, Howie, and Kevin have always seemed the most personable to me. I don't know if that's just my perception because Nick and Brian make me more nervous because they're the ones I'm attracted to, or if it's true, but those three always seem genuinely happy to meet you. Not that the other two aren't, but I feel like it varies with them.
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Do any of you have any other favorite celebrities that you've gone that extra step to find out more about and follow their personal life, not just their career?
BSB are my number ones, obviously, since I don't write fanfic about anyone else. The only other celebrity I've really invested a lot of time in over the years is Leo DiCaprio. I used to buy the books and memorize facts about him, and I've seen pretty much all of his movies. I'm not as obsessed with him as I used to be in the Titanic era, but he's still my favorite actor.
It's funny because I became a fan of both in the same year, early 1998, right after Titanic came out and the Boys were becoming popular in the U.S. I was 12 at the time, and I don't know if 12 is just an important year for developing tastes and interests that will last until adulthood or what, but several of my favorite things came out in 1997: BSB's U.S. debut album, Titanic (favorite movie/favorite actor), and South Park (still one of my favorite shows). I read a BuzzFeed article not long ago about what an epic year 1997 was: https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/reminder-this-was-life-in-1997?utm_term=.pjB8bnM7J#.aclqGAJ2X Crazy that it's been 20 years since all that stuff!
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The only other people I have obsessed about was Duran Duran and Adrian Paul (pauses for a who?) lol he played Highlander on the TV series. I LOVED him! At the height of my Highlander obsession,I was even considering a trip to Paris and the set in hopes of meeting him. Never happened, obviously.
I was a Durannie to an embarrassing degree. I have yet to meet them even though I've actually known and went to college with two of their replacement players when sone of the originals went on hiatus. I always tell my students about the time I was waiting online to meet them in Boston and ended up being trampled on and in the end was the cut off person. The one right before me was the last one to meet them. After I was trampled on, they gave me tickets to their concert the next night where I once again was trampled on and lost my shoe. Still didn't get to meet them. I call November 2nd my bad luck day because of that. It's pretty hilarious now but not at the time. Lmao
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Wow, that's terrible! You have some luck LOL.
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Hm well I do love Niall from One Direction. He's funny, I follow his snap chat. And the cast from Once Upon A Time, which is my favorite TV show. I've met Jennifer Morrison and she was awesome. Weird Al is someone I idolize too and I know a bit about him but not on the level I do the boys.
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I was a Durannie to an embarrassing degree. I have yet to meet them even though I've actually known and went to college with two of their replacement players when sone of the originals went on hiatus. I always tell my students about the time I was waiting online to meet them in Boston and ended up being trampled on and in the end was the cut off person. The one right before me was the last one to meet them. After I was trampled on, they gave me tickets to their concert the next night where I once again was trampled on and lost my shoe. Still didn't get to meet them. I call November 2nd my bad luck day because of that. It's pretty hilarious now but not at the time. Lmao
Omg! That's so terrible! But, I have to admit that I did laugh at your story. You seriously lost a shoe?! How did you get home with only one shoe?! Terrible! My friend once had her glasses knocked off of her face while we were in the mosh pit at a Blink 182 concert, but she somehow managed to push the crowd out of the way and get them off of the ground before they got broken. To this day, I don't know how she got so lucky.
Even after all of the concerts that I've been to, I've never been "trampled". The closest came when my friend and I were at an event for Nick's first solo album: he was signing something for me and he dropped the marker that I had handed him, so he bent down in this massive mob of girls to get it back for me. The crowd surged forward and I thought girls were going to start climbing over me to get to him. Thankfully, his security stepped in and pushed people away. Nick just stood up like he didn't even know what had happened, handed me the marker and said "sorry hunny". His security looked like they wanted to kill him!! LOL
I have no other people or bands that I love as much as BSB. There are other bands that I have seen multiple times, but none that I know as much about. I did have a pretty big love for Hanson back when they were huge ... in like 1997 (that year was pretty epic).
FYI, my BSB "order" was, is, and probably always will be: Brian, Nick, AJ, Kevin, and Howie. :-*
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^ LOL Sounds like something Nick would do!
I've never been trampled or anything too crazy at a concert or event. I was pinned to a pole for 2 hours at the House of Blues for their Up Close and Personal tour, my first GA experience. I HATE GA. But it was the closest I'd ever been to the stage, so I loved that show, even though I was so stiff I could barely move even when I finally could again.
What has been your best/worst BSB concert/event experience?
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Omg! That's so terrible! But, I have to admit that I did laugh at your story. You seriously lost a shoe?! How did you get home with only one shoe?! Terrible! My friend once had her glasses knocked off of her face while we were in the mosh pit at a Blink 182 concert, but she somehow managed to push the crowd out of the way and get them off of the ground before they got broken. To this day, I don't know how she got so lucky.
Even after all of the concerts that I've been to, I've never been "trampled". The closest came when my friend and I were at an event for Nick's first solo album: he was signing something for me and he dropped the marker that I had handed him, so he bent down in this massive mob of girls to get it back for me. The crowd surged forward and I thought girls were going to start climbing over me to get to him. Thankfully, his security stepped in and pushed people away. Nick just stood up like he didn't even know what had happened, handed me the marker and said "sorry hunny". His security looked like they wanted to kill him!! LOL
I have no other people or bands that I love as much as BSB. There are other bands that I have seen multiple times, but none that I know as much about. I did have a pretty big love for Hanson back when they were huge ... in like 1997 (that year was pretty epic).
FYI, my BSB "order" was, is, and probably always will be: Brian, Nick, AJ, Kevin, and Howie. :-*
I actually got my shoe back. About halfway through the concert, I saw someone waving it up in the air so I managed to get it back from them lol my life is a bad sitcom.
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^ LOL Sounds like something Nick would do!
I've never been trampled or anything too crazy at a concert or event. I was pinned to a pole for 2 hours at the House of Blues for their Up Close and Personal tour, my first GA experience. I HATE GA. But it was the closest I'd ever been to the stage, so I loved that show, even though I was so stiff I could barely move even when I finally could again.
What has been your best/worst BSB concert/event experience?
I have to say, i've never really had a bad experience at a BSB show. I think I have three shows tied for first place. I saw them at Hershey Park and had incredible seats. I also had incredible seats at Radio City Music Hall. That was the Nevergone tour. I also loved when I saw them for the Up Close and Personal tour because it was the first time I ever saw them live. It was GA and now that I'm using a walker, I could never do that again, but I don't think I'd ever do it again even if I was healthy.
I've also enjoyed all the events I've gone to, although Brian's golf event, I had no idea what that was going to entail. All the walking and the intense heat and bad Leighanne encounter was maybe on the more negative side for me. I've never done a meet and greet or VIP and have never met Nick. Met all the others though.
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Okay Mare, when we all meet in Philly for a BSB show some day, we are getting you a VIP so you can meet Nick! That's a must!
I've never been to one of their charity events. It seems like they did more of them years ago when I wasn't able to travel out of state to go to these things, and now, not so much. I've been to a few Wylee parties; I sort of feel like that's showing charity to Leighanne LOL.
My favorite concert experience was their holiday show in St. Louis in 2013. It was one of those radio station shows with several other artists, but they basically did their whole IAWLT tour set, plus the pandaskunk song (It's Christmas Time Again), which made my life complete. I had true, actual front row for the first time in my life, AND because the meet and greets were different from their usual VIP deal, I got to get my picture taken solo with all five of them for the first time for about the same price as a silver VIP. It was a great experience!
I've never really had a bad BSB concert experience either, but worst would have to be the first show of the IAWLT tour in Chicago getting shut down before the last set because of their stupid curfew and the fact that everything was running super late. Everyone was so pissed, the guys included, but it was memorable, and at least I got to see them again the next night in St. Louis for a full show.
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I remember that happening to you guys! Did they end up rescheduling that concert? I think they did but I don't recall if it happened or not.
I had most of my concert experiences before they made VIP a thing. Back in the days when to be able to get into a soundcheck, you had to win a spot in a lottery type draw. Remember when they used to do that? When they started the, anyone can do VIP for a price thing, I quickly figured out that was too much money for me to justify spending on five minutes with the boys.
They seem to have stopped doing all their charitable events. Those things I didn't mind spending money on because I knew it was going to a great cause. I've only done two but they were both pretty awesome experiences. Howie's bowling event is still one of my all time favorite things ever lol he's the best. And Brian's was pretty excellent too (minus Leighanne) and yes, I was being quite charitable! lol
Anyway...I wish they would do more of those and less cruises. It seems like maybe that's a thing of the past now.
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I've also enjoyed all the events I've gone to, although Brian's golf event, I had no idea what that was going to entail. All the walking and the intense heat and bad Leighanne encounter was maybe on the more negative side for me. I've never done a meet and greet or VIP and have never met Nick. Met all the others though.
Ummmm what happened with Leighanne?? I'm sure everyone else around here knows, but I'm out of the loop! HAHA
I've never been to a charity event; mostly because they only do them in the States and I'm not about to cross the boarder and pay a ton of money on travel.
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Okay, it was tough to determine my "best" concert experience. In all fairness, they've all been pretty great! I think one of the best ones was the Black and Blue tour that they played in Toronto the day after the September 11th attacks. All of the guys came out on stage before the show to pay tribute to the people who had lost their lives and to hold a moment of silence. It was a bit of a surreal moment; to have an entire areana full of teenage girls staring at the Backstreet Boys and being completely silent. I was sixteen at the time, and it was definitely a strange/uncertain time in the world. It was also the day that they debuted Drowning and we were the first audience to hear it live.
My friend and I had pretty good seats for that show and, for some random reason, the row in front of where my friend and I were sitting had been blocked off and was completely empty. So, at one point, we were jumping up and down to get Brian's attention and when he finally looked over at us my friend got so excited that she lost her balance and practically face planted over the back of the seat in front of her and into the empty row in front of us. Brian looked concerned for all of five seconds and then started laughing directly into his mic! Of course it was when he was supposed to be singing and he totally flubbed the whole verse. LOL Kevin swooped in to sing Brian's part (which was sweet) and then Brian made sure to acknowledge us every time he was on our side of the stage for the rest of the show. Teenage me was in heaven!!
Worst experience was the one and only This Is Us show that we saw. They played an open air venue in the middle of the summer and it was brutally hot! It had been close to 40C during the day with the humidex and at night it had only cooled by a few degrees. We were sweating just sitting in our seats! I actually felt bad for the guys being on stage in that heat; you could totally tell that they were struggling to cope and that they weren't feeling it. To make things worse, these two girls in front of us just kept screaming "Niiiiiiiick we love you!" for the entire show. It was all we could hear sometimes. They were acting like they were 12, but they were probably over 30. At one point, the girls sitting beside us were actually debating throwing something at them to get them to shut up. To top everything off, we had taken transit to the show to avoid the parking nightmare and, of course, the streetcar was shut down due to an accident when the show let out. So, we ended up waiting in the heat for hours until the accident cleared and the streetcars started running again. There was a crazy big crowd of people waiting and everyone started to rush the first streetcar that showed up; one girl got totally trampled and another one was bitten on the arm. Needless to say, we just hung back and waited for the next one. It was terrible!
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Holy crap! Someone was bitten? Wtf is wrong with people?
I know I've told this story a few times, but during Brian's golf event, one of the friends I went with got overheated. It was an incredibly hot day. She had to go back to the clubhouse to cool down. In the meantime, my other friend and I were briefly sitting away from the crowd by a tree where Leighanne, Johnny Wright and their lawyer Jordan, were kind of just hanging around there too. They didn't know we were fans and were kind of oblivious to our presence and they were making fun of and talking crap about most of the fans who showed up at the event, calling my friend names because of her weight. Me being pleasantly plump as well, calmly shook my head and walked away and thus the hatred of Leighanne was born. To their faces she was nice as could be, but the way she talked after these people spent so much money for her charity spoke volumes to me. Horrible person.
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OMG, Mare, that's terrible! I actually have no words ... (which is unusual for me!)
I have to give you kudos for keeping your cool and for removing yourself from the situation. I probably would not have been so kind, especially if she was saying negative things about my friend. I'm sorry that happened to you and to your friend. Ugh! This story has left a bad taste in my mouth.
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Okay Mare, yeah we gotta get you to a VIP so you can meet Nick. Period lol.
My best...I've never had a bad one, honestly. One of my favorites though was TIU, it was GA but it's because the stage was at the Mandalay Bay's pool stage which is in the middle of a wavepool so we were in water. It was my second time being front row (my first time was UB but that was the time Nick was sick and had no voice so Howie had to sing his parts). The concert was the last of the tour I think, or second to last. Everything was so laid back and they were using squirtguns during songs and tossing beach balls out. It was a giant party LOL. I ended up seeing the "proper" TIU show later on the 2011 cruise.
My second favorite was Nick's ITO tour. It was my first time seeing Nick solo and my first time really traveling for a concert (outside of a BSB Cruise). The concert itself was fun but it was more the first time I got to go to a concert in a new city and with Julie and Laureen so I just had a ball. I about froze outside and roasted inside but I didn't really care. And it was my first Nick VIP where I learned his are superior to BSB's LOL.
I have a love/hate thing with GA. During Unbreakable I went home with bruises cause I was at the barricade so there was so much shoving/pushing. TIU not so much. I like having a seat and know I don't have to fight for my space, but I tend to be closest when I'm able to do GA. GA during IAWLT in the fanpit was fantastic. There was a lot of space, I was up at the catwalk and got to experience BSB's taking my hand and singing to me LOL. If every GA experience was like that I'd never go back to seats LOL.
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I am still totally upset with myself for not saying anything. Back then, I was more worried about getting us banned from BSB events then actually standing up for my friend. Plus I was embarrassed and knew they'd just talk about me too. Me today however, wouldn't have given two craps and would have told them all where to stick their ugly opinions. Live and learn.
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Here's a question for everyone. What are your biggest concert pet peeves?
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I remember that happening to you guys! Did they end up rescheduling that concert? I think they did but I don't recall if it happened or not.
I had most of my concert experiences before they made VIP a thing. Back in the days when to be able to get into a soundcheck, you had to win a spot in a lottery type draw. Remember when they used to do that? When they started the, anyone can do VIP for a price thing, I quickly figured out that was too much money for me to justify spending on five minutes with the boys.
They seem to have stopped doing all their charitable events. Those things I didn't mind spending money on because I knew it was going to a great cause. I've only done two but they were both pretty awesome experiences. Howie's bowling event is still one of my all time favorite things ever lol he's the best. And Brian's was pretty excellent too (minus Leighanne) and yes, I was being quite charitable! lol
Anyway...I wish they would do more of those and less cruises. It seems like maybe that's a thing of the past now.
They didn't actually reschedule it; they just came back to Chicago on the second leg the following summer and offered us a freaking $5 discount (or maybe it was 5%?) off ticket prices, which everyone complained about, so they made it 25 instead. I couldn't go anyway because it was on a Wednesday night, and I had class.
I do remember the soundcheck lottery; I think they started that during the NG tour, and then during Unbreakable, they started offering the paid VIPs, but also still had soundcheck winners. I know because I went to two Unbreakable shows, and the first one I paid for VIP (which was my first time meeting the Boys) and the other I actually won soundcheck!
I have mixed feelings on the VIPs. In general, I like them because they're a guaranteed way to get to meet the guys. I like getting pictures with them, and I LOVE going to the soundchecks. For me, the soundcheck is better than the meet-and-greet. The meet-and-greets are super quick, but they've gotten better over the years. It used to be they would stand behind a barrier, and you weren't supposed to ask them for hugs or talk to them too long. They haven't done the barrier thing since NKOTBSB, and hugs are okay now, although the bodyguards still try to hurry you along. The downside is they are super expensive. I don't like the different levels because that's just made it more expensive. I will only do silver or bronze, and those are bad enough. Worth it, though? To me it is because that's pretty much the only way I've ever been able to interact with them, other than the cruises.
I love the cruises too because they're fun and a great way to meet up with a lot of online friends at once, but again, they are so expensive (and so much MORE expensive than a regular cruise), I get why people wish they would stop. I don't think they necessarily need to do one every year, but I hope they keep doing them and branch out where they go.
I do wish they would do more of their charity stuff. It's too bad they all seem to have let that stuff go. I would love to go to some of those kinds of events now that I can afford to travel and have BSB friends to go with.
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Erika, your TIU experience sounds terrible!! Your B&B concert, on the other hand, sounds awesome. The B&B show I went to was also shortly after 9/11 (9/22), and they did a moment of silence and sang Drowning there too, which was awesome. (Still one of the best BSB songs). It must have been especially memorable to be there for the first time.
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Rose, I remember writing about that Vegas concert in Curtain Call and looking up the temperature that day. I'm sure the water helped keep you guys cool (and seriously, what an awesome way to watch a concert!), but going along with what Erika said about her show too, I don't know how the guys perform in that kind of heat, especially with all the layers of clothes they usually wear on stage. I would be passed out by the end of the first set, especially if it involved dancing, LOL. I guess they're just used to it.
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Here's a question for everyone. What are your biggest concert pet peeves?
- People screaming during songs and while the guys are talking
- Tall people
- Posters
- People who throw their hands in the air right as I'm trying to take a picture
- People who push or try to sneak into better spots
- Most opening acts
- People who are constantly wanting in and out of the aisle to get drinks and go to the bathroom
- People who sing along so loudly I can hear them on my videos
So mainly other people LOL. I hate people!
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- People screaming during songs and while the guys are talking
- Tall people
- Posters
- People who throw their hands in the air right as I'm trying to take a picture
- People who push or try to sneak into better spots
- Most opening acts
- People who are constantly wanting in and out of the aisle to get drinks and go to the bathroom
- People who sing along so loudly I can hear them on my videos
So mainly other people LOL. I hate people!
Amen to those! I hate people as well.
I detest when people scream during songs or when the guys talk or in general. Unless someone is stabbing you to death, shut the hell up!
And signs! Unless you are twelve, put the damn sign away. No one cares that you heart Nick Carter!
I also hate when people feel the need to not only stand during every damn song but, who also insist on standing on their chairs. I paid for a seat. I'd actually like to sit and watch this concert like a normal adult human being.
Opening acts - BSB most definitely need to go. Some other acts have had pretty decent openers. I'm half and half on this one. Probably the musician in me understands how important that gig is but the fan in me is like "Just get on with it!"
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- People screaming during songs and while the guys are talking
- Tall people
- Posters
- People who throw their hands in the air right as I'm trying to take a picture
- People who push or try to sneak into better spots
- Most opening acts
- People who are constantly wanting in and out of the aisle to get drinks and go to the bathroom
- People who sing along so loudly I can hear them on my videos
So mainly other people LOL. I hate people!
LOL - "Tall People" - Sorry, for being tall! Actually, I'm not THAT tall. I'm just a bit taller than an average woman, so I guess I would be pretty annoying if I were directly in front of you. #sorrynotsorry
Okay, I will add to the list of pet-peeves with:
- People who are constantly on their phones looking at and/or updating their social media during the show
- People who spend the majority of the show attempting to get a good selfi (do that BEFORE the band hits the stage)
- People who brag about their other concert experiences really loudly because they want everyone around them to hear (FYI, nobody cares if you once climbed over a fence to attack Nick)
- People who bring a ton of merchandise and/or a massive purse into the GA section (What are you going to do with it??)
- Girls who wear stilettos (WHY?!!) You will receive bonus annoyance points if you cannot walk properly while wearing them and/or if you wear them in the GA section and then complain that your feet hurt
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My best...I've never had a bad one, honestly. One of my favorites though was TIU, it was GA but it's because the stage was at the Mandalay Bay's pool stage which is in the middle of a wavepool so we were in water. It was my second time being front row (my first time was UB but that was the time Nick was sick and had no voice so Howie had to sing his parts). The concert was the last of the tour I think, or second to last. Everything was so laid back and they were using squirtguns during songs and tossing beach balls out. It was a giant party LOL. I ended up seeing the "proper" TIU show later on the 2011 cruise.
You were in the water?! Whoa! Part of me thinks that would be amazing, while the other part of me would be super hesitant to go to a show like that. Like, I would have to wear a bathing suit in front of people who I'm a) not married to or b) haven't known since I was 5?? Ugh! That's so not my jam!! LOL If given the chance, I would probably suck it up and do it anyways, but not without an internal struggle. :-*
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Nah Erika, most of us were wearing tshirts and shorts. The water didn't go up super high, just enough to keep us cool. Like Julie pointed out, it was pretty warm but it was only like...101? which was almost chilly for July out here. I was totally good with the water.
- People screaming during songs and while the guys are talking
- Tall people
- Posters
- People who throw their hands in the air right as I'm trying to take a picture
- People who push or try to sneak into better spots
- Most opening acts
- People who are constantly wanting in and out of the aisle to get drinks and go to the bathroom
- People who sing along so loudly I can hear them on my videos
So mainly other people LOL. I hate people!
This is my list, except for tall people LOL. Cause I'm kind of tall. If I see someone short getting blocked I tend to let them stand in front of me in GA.
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LOL No offense to you tall girls! I agree with all the other pet peeves people have posted, though!
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Tall people hater! LOL
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For me it would be :
Opening acts unless its someone I like.
Girls who save place in line for someone that arrives last minute when you wait in line for a long time. (this happened at a couple of Nicks shows. Some well known fans that go to all the east coast stuff do this all the time. Luckily at the all American show I went to the security told them to take a hike to the back. I was laughing so hard. The girl was so pissed. That's what you get)
People who sing too loud when I am filming.
People who don't understand the concept of showers and deodorant when you're in GA.
People who are already tall and wearing stilettos standing in front of you.
Pushy Spanish fans.
People who scream before the concert even starts.
People who keep leaving the aisle and coming back.
Girls trashing a member of BSB in line and during vip kiss their ass.
Girls who wear hoochie clothes like they're a groupie.
Girls who have never seen them before asking me dumb questions like "Which one is Donnie Wahlberg?"
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Girls in general lol
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What else can we talk about? I miss seeing the red dot on here!
In sitting here trying to come up with a new question, I noticed Mare's quote in her signature:
"Writing is something you do alone. It's a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it." ~ John Green
Mare and I have a lot in common, so it's not surprising this quote speaks to me too. I am definitely an introvert and a far more eloquent writer than speaker; I tell stories way better in my head or on paper than I ever seem to tell them out loud. I just wondering if it was true for the rest of us.
Would you consider yourself an introvert or extrovert? What aspect(s) of your personality shows itself most through your writing and/or characters?
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I am a complete introvert. I don't know if any of that shows through in my characters and writing though. When it comes to writing I am extroverted. I express my thoughts and feelings so much better with my fingers than I do with my mouth. I think the one thing most of you would find shocking is how quiet I would probably be if we ever did meet in person. I am much more comfortable sitting back and observing then I actually am talking. I am only talkative around people I know very well. I'm not sure if any of my characters resemble that or not.
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This question is actually kind of tough to answer. I am an extroverted introvert. HAHA Makes total sense, right? I definitely express myself much better on paper than I do while speaking. For instance, when I was in school, I would have much rather written an essay than delivered a presentation. Speaking in front of people gives me anxiety. However, I consider myself to be a pretty social person. I am quite talkative around people that I know and I don't really have any trouble connecting with new people in social situations. It's somewhat hard to explain, I suppose.
My characters are nothing like me (at least not intentionally). Part of the fun of writing is creating "new" people. I have no desire to write about myself. Although, sometimes I will pull things from my own experiences and work them into my writing. Like, as I mentioned before somewhere, I will use banter that I've heard my husband have with his friends when I'm writing the guys. (He is unaware that I do this though ... LOL).
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Wow so much to catch up on in the last week!
My favourite BSB tour was Unbreakable. I had front row seats and AJ threw his bottle of water over me and my friend lol (it was very hot that day so I didn't mind), and Nick ran by us and touched hands. It was also the first time I saw them live, so that was special.
My favourite was always Kevin as I've always been into the tall, dark haired types lol. But I was first attracted to the music as I too wasn't a teen when I first started liking them.
My other obsession was also Duran Duran, they were my first boyband love. I was 8 years old when I first heard them. I'm also a fan of Take That and used to write fanfiction about them, but haven't done for years and haven't read any for years either. I'm not so obsessed with them anymore.
I would love to go to an AC convention and meet up with you all. I did that with the Take That fanfic girls I used to talk to (and still do talk to some of them). It was so much fun and not just all about the boys. I remember being nervous and wondering what we'd talk about, but it was just like we'd known each other ages as we used to talk online a lot.
My husband knows I've written fanfics but I've never shown him. He's always pestering to read them though. He wouldn't mind me writing as has his own nerdy stuff to do.
I'm trying to remember what the other questions were :)
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Introvert or extrovert...de finitely introvert I'd say. Not sure whether I put myself into my stories as don't think I'm like any of my characters.
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Here's a question for everyone. What are your biggest concert pet peeves?
Support acts
People getting up all the time to go and buy drinks
Hands/arms in the way so I can't see
People pushing in
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Which song do you wish the boys had recorded rather than someone else doing it?
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Which song do you wish the boys had recorded rather than someone else doing it?
Good question!! Okay, so I have several songs that I love by the origins artists that I can totally hear the boys singing. I don't necessarily wish that these people hadn't recorded these songs. I would just like to hear the boys' take on them.They are (in no particular order):
1. Cloud Number Nine - Bryan Adams
2. A Song To Sing - Hanson
3. Steal My Girl - One Direction
4. Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran
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I am definitely an introvert. Erika, I do understand what you said about being an "extroverted introvert." That is definitely a thing. Despite my wordiness in writing, I've never been much of a talker. I'm quiet by nature, although I am a lot more talkative around people I'm comfortable with, like family and close friends. I also talk all day for a living (a.k.a. teaching), so I come across as much more extroverted in my job than I really am, out of necessity. That may be part of why I'm always exhausted at the end of the day/week and look forward to weekends when I can stay home alone and enjoy two whole days without any human interaction. LOL
I don't typically base characters on myself, but I do think certain aspects of my personality come across in my characters and plots. I am a closet worrier who overthinks everything but hides it well, and I think those insecurities show themselves in the way I write certain characters. Broken Nick comes to mind - I wrote him as so angsty and insecure, I think because I was an angst, insecure teenage girl at the time LOL. I am also a bit of a hypochondriac in my own head, but I'm not sure if that's why I like reading/writing medical dramas or if that's BECAUSE I've read/written so many medical dramas.
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Which song do you wish the boys had recorded rather than someone else doing it?
That is a good question, but a tough one! I'll have to think about that one some more.
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I have noticed that many of my teacher friends are introverted. I wonder why we are all attracted to the public speaking thing while in our own time are kind of shy and quiet. Our faculty room is usually so quiet at lunch time because no one wants to actually say anything lol
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Oh wow... that isn't true at my school; most of my teacher friends are not introverts. But I'm sure a lot of teachers are. There's a difference between talking to kids all day and public speaking in front of a room of adults. I could never spend all day talking to 26 adults for a living.
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I am definitely a multivert. I am an introvert due to my social anxiety. I want to talk to everybody and make friends and be social but only for a bit lol then I want to sit alone and not be bothered. So I'm a little of both.
As far as characters.... I always put a bit of me in them. Like Nick in Finding Carter is a lot like me. Especially the part of wanting to drive a car but being afraid to. Nick adopts a lot of my traits and habits usually for some reason. I like to give AJ my cynicism and Brian usually gets my optimism. As for Kevin, he usually is the realist and the one that is like hey you guys are idiots don't do that. I'm like that with my real life friends too. I always look after everyone lol. Make sure we get somewhere on time... Make sure we have everything. So I give the anal attention to details to Kevin.
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Which song do you wish the boys had recorded rather than someone else doing it?
I also love the original version, but I'd love to hear the boys sing Rule The World by Take That
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As I get ready to write another concert scene...
What are your favorite and least favorite kind of scenes to write?
(I hate writing concert scenes.)
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My blob was not red! lol
I loved writing bromantic scenes. The simple ones with just the guys having casual conversations about nothing.
My least favorite scenes to write were action sequences. I could always picture them in my head but they were hard as hell to describe the way I saw them.
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You are the queen of writing those bromantic scenes, Mare! Question: Whenever you wrote those simple scenes with just the guys having casual conversations about nothing, did you plan those and know what they were going to talk about ahead of time, or did they just evolve naturally? I have fun writing those scenes too, but for me, the best ones are the ones that just spontaneously happen as I'm writing. Even though I'm a planner, I never think to myself, "And now I'm going to write the guys having a conversation about _____." The bromantic scenes I try to manufacture just end up feeling forced.
I agree with what you said about action scenes, too. It's hard because you want to describe what's happening so it's clear, but you can't add too much description, or it slows down the action too much. It's tricky to find the right balance. That's kind of why I hate writing concert scenes or any singing scenes, too - I always feel like they would be so much better in a movie than a story so you can see and hear what's happening. I always have to be listening to the song they're singing when I'm reading those scenes, or I end up just skimming through them.
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You are the queen of writing those bromantic scenes, Mare! Question: Whenever you wrote those simple scenes with just the guys having casual conversations about nothing, did you plan those and know what they were going to talk about ahead of time, or did they just evolve naturally? I have fun writing those scenes too, but for me, the best ones are the ones that just spontaneously happen as I'm writing. Even though I'm a planner, I never think to myself, "And now I'm going to write the guys having a conversation about _____." The bromantic scenes I try to manufacture just end up feeling forced.
I agree with what you said about action scenes, too. It's hard because you want to describe what's happening so it's clear, but you can't add too much description, or it slows down the action too much. It's tricky to find the right balance. That's kind of why I hate writing concert scenes or any singing scenes, too - I always feel like they would be so much better in a movie than a story so you can see and hear what's happening. I always have to be listening to the song they're singing when I'm reading those scenes, or I end up just skimming through them.
Thanks! I very rarely plan out those scenes. Depending on why they are existing, sometimes I'll know where I want a conversation to end, but I just kind of close my eyes and picture them hanging out and whatever pops in my brain, I write down. I'm pretty sure that's how "Why Id Do It Again" was written. Just a side note, I went blank on the name of my own story. I almost had to go check out the title lol so sad. :( I'm not entirely sure if that's even correct. I feel like I'm missing a word.
I don't think I've ever written a concert scene now that I think about it. I would imagine they would be tough.
I did miss a word. It's Why I'd Do it all Again! Lol
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I struggle with sex scenes. I never go into detail because I know nothing about actually doing it so I feel I'll get it wrong because I've never experienced it for myself. So I kind of gloss over it or I just mention it happening but don't go into detail.
I feel I'm really good at comedy and suspense and angst though.
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This forum is kind of dead but I haven't been here in ages so I had a lot to catch up on! I didn't write anything for much of last year since I was quite busy, but I have had free time again and started writing stuff again. (I haven't written anything BSB in years though. Sads.)
What are your favorite and least favorite kind of scenes to write?
Julie, I also hate writing concert scenes. So much. And I write them so often because most of my fics end up taking place on tour. Which is why I started leaning more towards AU. But I feel like every concert scene I write is exactly the same. Even though they shouldn't be, because I have reasons for putting them in the story otherwise I'd just gloss over them, you know? Maybe one day I'll write in a non-boyband fandom and then concert scenes will be a thing of the past! (Though, knowing me, the characters would just end up in a boyband AU)
My most favourite scenes to write are hyper drama-filled arguments. Which I'm sure anyone who has ever read anything I've written knows. I feel like I do those the best and often a story idea will come to me through a scene that pops into my head and I'll write the entire thing around that. My stories are always full of these scenes and I've had to learn to balance that with more of a build-up or falling action so it's not just drama all the time. I feel like I've done okay with that. I think if I went back and read some of the BSB fic (or "Nick trash" ha!) that I was writing in 2007 or 2008 I'd cringe at how those stories were just drama..drama.. drama..
I'm going to ask a question - what's a story idea that you've sat on/always wanted to write but haven't actually gotten around to writing?
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I love writing arguments, too! I usually enjoy scenes with a lot of dialogue, especially when it's just back and forth between two characters. And there's nothing wrong with drama, drama, drama, Steph! LOL Can it go over the top at times? Sure, but that's what makes fanfic fun!
I've always wanted to write a suspense story that involves fanfic... like where the villain stalks and attacks the Backstreet Boys one by one using fanfic plots. I've had the idea since like 2001, and it's evolved over the years, but it's never felt like the right time to start writing it. Now it feels too cheesy and outdated, although I guess I could set it in the year 2000 or something and it would seem more relevant. I've always wanted to write a great suspense because I love reading it, but I suck at writing it. My plots are too cliched and predictable, or I write myself into a corner and end up abandoning the story. Maybe someday.
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I love writing arguments, too! I usually enjoy scenes with a lot of dialogue, especially when it's just back and forth between two characters. And there's nothing wrong with drama, drama, drama, Steph! LOL Can it go over the top at times? Sure, but that's what makes fanfic fun!
Haha, you're right! It is much more fun that way :D
I like your suspense idea, that'd be fun to read! Even though it would probably work better set in 2000 or so, it'd also probably work if you set it in the present. BSB being around this long just breeds more crazy, lol.
I have a couple BSB fic ideas I've been sitting on for a while but haven't ever written. Both of them are set "back in the day." One of them is where Nick gets frustrated with Nsync beating out their record for Millennium and decides to take down JT via going after Britney himself. It would not have been a serious fic in the least. The other one is a slight AU where Nick never joins BSB and goes for Mickey Mouse club instead. He becomes a solo artist around the time BSB start to break in the states. I considered it being slash between Nick/Brian but I never fleshed it out far enough.
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Oh jeez, Nick and Britney?! That would have been a hot mess, but could make for an interesting, drama-filled, fun story. LOL The Nick AU idea is interesting, too. Would you create an original character as the fifth Backstreet Boy who would have taken his place or make it a real person who could have been in the group?
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LOL I know, Nick and Britney would have made a hot mess but it would have been fun to write due to its over-the-topness!
I think my plan for the AU was for BSB to be a foursome, rather than putting someone in Nick's place.
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Ah, that makes sense. That would probably be better than someone random being the fifth Backstreet Boy.
As a follow-up to your question about story ideas we've been sitting on... What is everyone's process for deciding to start a new story? Do you start one as soon as an idea comes to you, or do you wait until you're done with your current story(ies)? If you're someone who tends to sit on story ideas, how you decide which one to write when you're ready to start something new?
I have a list of story ideas that I always go back and look at when I finish a project, but some of them have been on that list for years and years and have never been written because I always end up thinking of another idea that demands to be written first. I think Guilty Roads was the last story I started from that list, and look how well that has gone. (Not well.) The stories I actually finish tend to be more spontaneous ideas that I start writing right away instead of sitting on forever. I wonder if that's just because the ideas are fresher and that means I'm more inspired or what.
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Ideas that I've always wanted to do? Wow. Well there's a Frick and Frack slash novel I've been toying with, I been wanting to do a story about how they fell apart over the years and stuff. Lots of angst and drama.
I love that fanfic plot idea Julie, I'd totally read it. You should include some cliches in each chapter if you ever do write it. It would be like one of those throwback stories. Like I said, I'd read it.
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I guess my process depends. I have a lot of stories that are sitting with an outline (and I use that term loosely - it is really just a document with babble about what might happen) and anywhere from 2k-10k. I find I often can figure out the beginnings of my stories quite easily and then have a harder time with the middle or the end. And then when I get to the middle part they get abandoned. More often than not the stories that I actually complete are the ones that I get the idea for on a whim and the inspiration just keeps coming, rather than something I planned out and thought up long ago.
Although I did actually write and complete a Soccer/World Cup AU in 1D fandom, which was an idea I had when I joined that fandom and didn't write until 2014 or so. So I guess it is possible. In rare occurrences lol.
Tracy, you should write the Frick and Frack slash. There should be more slash in this fandom! Maybe that's what would bring me back, haha.
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I have been writing quite a bit of slash recently Steph lol. I have a lot posted on AC, mostly one shots. I write Mostly Frick and Frack but I have done Nick/Kevin too, although Brian and Nick is easier to write. I have a couple chapters of the novel done just kind of been sitting on it deciding if I want to post or not. Lol
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I am also super out of the loop when it comes to BSB fic, so there is that lol
I am interested then, what sparked the uptick of slash in this fandom? Cause for a while I remember there wasn't much. But I remember Julie wrote that Nick/Howie oneshot on the cruise and SAMS and Tracy you're writing now too! Did the boys do something? LOL
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I wish I had something to contribute to this conversation. I'm just happy to see a fanfic conversation happening!
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Regarding slash, I think for me it was Cinzia (pen name Usako) participating in these threads a few summers ago that got me thinking about slash. She writes Brian/Nick slash. I read one of her stories for the summer reading challenge one year, and even though I've never been into slash, I enjoyed it. She's the one who got me thinking maybe I should challenge myself and try to write one. Then Howie and Nick did this radio interview during IAWLT press where Howie talked about Nick's pubes: https://youtu.be/doq6lpBY6xk?t=9m55s That's when I got the idea for Unsuspecting Sunday and SAMS.
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I tend to have a basic outline when I write. Nothing super detailed but a summary of what I "plan" to have happen. I never stick to it 100%, I like having my characters take the wheel cause 9/10 times it just makes everything more interesting.
I've been writing but I haven't been posting cause like in my Miles To Go fic I keep changing things and since it's suspense, it's better I stick with it. Causing delays, which sucks. And my attention span is sometimes soooo ADD. I just got an idea for a old school Kevin/Nick bromance story. It literally came out of nowhere with a "what if Nick ran away from his screaming parents at 14/15 and just showed up at Kevin's door?" LOL. I'm currently outlining it and we'll see where it goes.
I think my favorite thing to write are introspective angsty scenes. I adore getting into the thought process of the characters. Especially Nick cause he's forever dripping with angst LOL.
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I love slash and mpreg a lot! I have so many slash fanfics in my fanfic's binder, but I don't post them because I know fans don't like this type of story
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^You'd be surprised. It does seem like slash is making a comeback in this fandom, and there have always been readers who enjoy m-preg. The only way to attract them to AC is to keep posting stories; otherwise, they won't even know there's any m-preg there. Having your stuff on that Most Recent page as much as possible can make a difference.
Does anyone else have a certain subgenre or type of story they really like to write, but feel other people don't like to read? I'm fortunate that medical dramas seem to do well in this fandom because people who don't enjoy reading that type of thing probably think it's weird to spend so much time making Backstreet Boys sick LOL.
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It does seem like slash is making a comeback. Funny how things always happen in cycles.
I've been fortunate to write the mainstream genre type stories. I've never really been into the less popular sub genres. If I was I'd probably go ahead and write them anyway but it would've also depended on my mental state at the time and why I was writing it in the first place.
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I have been writing a bit of everything but for some reason I always end up doing slash now. I also have that Sci fi story I'm still working on, and a romance... So amusing I can juggle all these genres at the same time. Been doing a bit of everything lately.
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Regarding slash, I think for me it was Cinzia (pen name Usako) participating in these threads a few summers ago that got me thinking about slash. She writes Brian/Nick slash. I read one of her stories for the summer reading challenge one year, and even though I've never been into slash, I enjoyed it. She's the one who got me thinking maybe I should challenge myself and try to write one. Then Howie and Nick did this radio interview during IAWLT press where Howie talked about Nick's pubes: https://youtu.be/doq6lpBY6xk?t=9m55s That's when I got the idea for Unsuspecting Sunday and SAMS.
Oh, gotcha! That makes a lot of sense.
Also that whole interview is amaze. But LOL when the interviewer is like "Thousands of women are fixated on you..." and Nick just bursts out laughing. Thanks for sharing that!!
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And then Nick goes "There's always one in every group..." and Howie's like, "I'm married!" So funny.
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^You'd be surprised. It does seem like slash is making a comeback in this fandom, and there have always been readers who enjoy m-preg. The only way to attract them to AC is to keep posting stories; otherwise, they won't even know there's any m-preg there. Having your stuff on that Most Recent page as much as possible can make a difference.
Does anyone else have a certain subgenre or type of story they really like to write, but feel other people don't like to read? I'm fortunate that medical dramas seem to do well in this fandom because people who don't enjoy reading that type of thing probably think it's weird to spend so much time making Backstreet Boys sick LOL.
Sci-fi LOL. I love that section of AU but either no one writes it or no one reads it. It hasn't stopped my love of it, but it's crazy the difference in if I write angst vs if I write sci-fi.
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I have been writing a bit of everything but for some reason I always end up doing slash now. I also have that Sci fi story I'm still working on, and a romance... So amusing I can juggle all these genres at the same time. Been doing a bit of everything lately.
I just find it easier. Like, I always found romance to be my favourite genre. Now with slash I don't have to create a generic OFC. And the story can be about two boys instead of just one. Win-win! lol
I kind of want to start writing a BSB slash but I feel so out of touch with the fandom now. I did outline something so maybe I should just start writing and see what happens.
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^My favorite thing about writing slash has been the fact that it can be a totally BSB-centered story without any OFC and still have some romance. Definitely a win-win!
The downside to it? If you prefer writing in third person, it seems like it would get confusing with all the male pronouns. ("He pressed his mouth against his, as his arms encircled his waist," etc. Who is doing what??) That is why I'm writing in first person.
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^The male pronouns do get super confusing in third person. I struggle with this a lot and end up using names a lot more than I normally would. It's challenging to do that and still have it flow nicely.
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I bet! I guess you'd have to use their names most of the time to avoid the confusion though.
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I just find it easier. Like, I always found romance to be my favourite genre. Now with slash I don't have to create a generic OFC. And the story can be about two boys instead of just one. Win-win! lol
I kind of want to start writing a BSB slash but I feel so out of touch with the fandom now. I did outline something so maybe I should just start writing and see what happens.
That's kind of where I trip a little with the romance part. But I think I'm getting better at it. My more recent stuff has been well received. Plus with Secrets Of The Heart I got a little hospital drama in there which I have a soft spot for. Funnily I have kind of picked up my regular romance again, although it's so weird to go back to writing about a female being with Nick instead of Brian lol
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What kind of endings do you prefer (happy, sad, bittersweet, wraps up nicely, leaves you hanging, etc.)? You can answer as a reader and/or as a writer - it'll be interesting to see if you like to write the same kind of endings you like to read.
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I typically prefer the same as a reader and a writer. I like things to be wrapped up with regards to the main plot, but I do like it if something is left hanging a little bit. That way something can be left open to interpretation if I'm the one reading it, and if I'm writing it then I do that to try and leave room for a sequel should I ever wish to write one.
In terms of happy or sad, I do usually go for the happy ending. That's not to say the ending is the most typical or what you'd expect would be the happy ending. I do like if my characters are happier at the end of the story than they were at the beginning, even if they had to go through some unexpected turmoil to get there. Like, I feel like Nick dying at the end of Forever Like This wasn't necessarily the happy ending that people expected, but it helped with Brittany's character development. Throughout the story she had a habit of just getting comfortable and being stagnant, so Nick's death was a wake up call for her in that sense.
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I think it depends on the story. I like things to be tied well enough but maybe leave some things up to the reader. Both as a reader and a writer. Like with Stephen King's Dark Tower series, the ending is SO open which pissed off a lot of people but I adored it because it fit. Or like in Undead we never say what happens to Kevin or Gabby.
But in Remember Me This Way I tied up things pretty nicely, even though the ending was still upsetting (even if you saw it coming) and sad. Because there was no happy ending for that kind of story. An ending just needs to feel right, even if it's not a neat and tidy one, or even if it's unhappy.
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I like endings that wrap things up, both as a reader and a writer. I don't like to be left hanging, and I don't usually leave readers hanging with my endings, unless it's to lead into a sequel.
As far as happy vs. sad, as a reader I prefer sad stories with happy endings, but as a writer, I like them bittersweet. My favorite kind of ending to write is one that will make people cry, then smile through their tears. I don't mind that kind of ending as a reader, either.
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What's the story (or maybe part of a story) you've written that you're the least proud of, and what would you change to make yourself feel better about it?
I have to think about this for a while before I answer lol
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I tend to divide my stories into two eras: pre-Broken and post-Broken. The pre-Broken stories are all pretty bad, but the one I'm least proud of is one of my oldies called "Silent Desperation." It's about Brian dealing with a painkiller addiction. I wrote it when I was 15 and way too naive to be writing a story about addiction LOL. It wasn't my idea; a friend suggested the drug addiction storyline and somehow talked me into writing it. I had no idea what I was talking about, and my attempts to do research only went as far as looking up drugs on my Encarta '95 CD-Rom, since I didn't have internet access in my bedroom back then. My naivety, combined with my lack of solid research, led to an embarrassingly bad story. If I cared enough to go back and make changes, I would do a lot more research and rewrite the entire thing with more detail and emotional depth. I don't care enough to go to that effort, but at least I learned something about the importance of researching before you write about issues you have no experience dealing with.
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm proud of all the stories I've posted since Broken, but I think the part of one of those stories that I'm least proud of is in By My Side when Claire leaves Nick. I knew I wanted them to break up in the middle (so I could get them back together in the end), but I sacrificed her character to do it in a dramatic, Siberia-inspired way ("When I came back, she wasn't there / just a note left on the stairs"). In real life, the strong, compassionate character I'd created would never have done something so cowardly and cruel, but I was obsessed with that song and wanted to work it into the story so badly. I should have just written a songfic to get it out of my system. If I were to go back and change it, I would still have them break up, but I would do it in a more mature, believable way that involved an actual, face-to-face conversation. That story taught me to let the characters drive the plot and not the other way around.
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Probably Just Another Day. Like everything I used to do wrong in writing first person, I did in that story LOL. I mixed up tenses, I let my characters go on too many tangents, I told rather than showed, etc. It's good it happened because it was the first fanfic I learned to focus on to the point where I wrapped up a fic (I wrote a lot of OF back then which I never had issues ending, fanfic I let my Writer's ADD get in the way). And it really helped me be more well rounded since I started it as a challenge to myself.
Actually I take it back. I learned a lot writing that one so, no regrets.
I checked my profile and there was a story called Rehab and omg there's so much wrong with that fic. I was in a mini romance phase decided to have a OC knocked up show up at Nick's door, start dating another guy, she was the epitome of an "Anti-Sue" and just awful all around. I eventually dropped it mainly cause I realized this as I wrote it LOL.
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Oh man Rose, I remember Rehab. That was a long time ago!
As for my stories, I had to comb through my account on AC to remember what I'd written. I'm actually going to go with In Pieces which was the first fic of mine that people seemed to really like. That's crazy to me because just re-reading bits of it, it's a huge mess. It's basically about Nick falling in love with a fan, but instead of it happening in the crazy days of Backstreet it's a fan he had a fling with and then gets back together with in the Unbreakable era. I would alternate one chapter of past and one chapter of present... except I had a lot more present day story so about halfway through the past stuff is complete filler and a total teeny-story. I cringed so hard reading it. But Rose, like you said about your stories, I learned a lot with that one. Like how to properly incorporate a flashback! lol
For something more recent I have a 1D story that is entirely in 3rd person limited Harry's POV. Except there was this bit that I wanted to reveal to the readers a few chapters before Harry found out about it. So in the middle of this story there's one scene that switches to his sister's POV. It's so out of place and awkward and every time I think about it I get annoyed by it. I should have just let the reader be surprised with him.
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At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm proud of all the stories I've posted since Broken, but I think the part of one of those stories that I'm least proud of is in By My Side when Claire leaves Nick. I knew I wanted them to break up in the middle (so I could get them back together in the end), but I sacrificed her character to do it in a dramatic, Siberia-inspired way ("When I came back, she wasn't there / just a note left on the stairs").
I read BMS a long time ago but I do recall that even if this was out of character, as you said, it was justified well. I think Claire's reasoning for leaving and having it done in that way was sound. But I can definitely relate to the being inspired by something random and decided to work it into your current WIP even if it doesn't necessarily fit.
I tend to divide my stories into two eras: pre-Broken and post-Broken.
This made me think of another question. Does anyone else divide their "fanfic-career" like this? I guess the logical one for me is BSB fic and 1D fic.
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I would alternate one chapter of past and one chapter of present... except I had a lot more present day story so about halfway through the past stuff is complete filler and a total teeny-story. I cringed so hard reading it.
I love the idea of alternating between past and present, but that is such a challenge to pull off! I think any time you follow a strict format, whether it's alternating past/present or different POVs or whatever, it makes it that much harder to plan out because you lose some of the flexibility that comes with having ONE point of view, ONE timeline, and so on. That said, I think it's interesting to see different storylines (or different parts of the same storyline) interweaving throughout a story. I'm sure you did learn a lot from writing that one!
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I read BMS a long time ago but I do recall that even if this was out of character, as you said, it was justified well. I think Claire's reasoning for leaving and having it done in that way was sound. But I can definitely relate to the being inspired by something random and decided to work it into your current WIP even if it doesn't necessarily fit.
This made me think of another question. Does anyone else divide their "fanfic-career" like this? I guess the logical one for me is BSB fic and 1D fic.
Thanks! It's been a long time since I've read any of that too, but I think her reasoning was okay; it was just the way she did it that, in hindsight, I think was out of character for her. Sometimes I get carried away with the drama. I'm still learning to reign that in LOL.
BSB and 1D does seem like a logical way to divide your fanfic career! I know writers who have taken a major hiatus tend to use that as a dividing point. I use Broken as mine because I feel like that story shows a huge transformation in the quality and maturity of my writing from beginning to end. I wonder when the next "era" will start for me, though, because it's been 13 years since I finished that story. Kinda like how BSB released "Chapter 1: The Hits" after Black & Blue, but we don't know where "Chapter 2" of their career ended and "Chapter 3" began (or are they still in Chapter 2?). Curious to hear how others divide up their "careers," if they do.
As a follow-up question, how would you divide BSB's career, chapter-wise?
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As a follow-up question, how would you divide BSB's career, chapter-wise?
Oooh good question! I think they're probably past "Chapter 2" at this point. I'd go with:
Chapter 1: Crazy days of BSB ending right before the "hiatus"
Chapter 1.5: Solo Nick and as I like to all it, "Cocaine Solo Tour" (Sorry Nick, lol)
Chapter 2: Up Close & Personal and Never Gone
Chapter 3: Unbreakable and This is Us, plus the NKOTBSB tour.
Chapter 4: Kevin's return, IAWLT and everything that's happening now.
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^ That's pretty much what I was thinking too (LOL at Cocaine Solo Tour). You have to divide up everything after "Chapter 1" into separate eras based on whether or not Kevin was with them.
Next questions:
What is your favorite BSB era?
What is your favorite version of each Boy (according to era... for example, Ghetto-Fab Nick from the "Cocaine Solo Tour"/The Hollow/Punk'd era, ca. 2003)?
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My favorite BSB era is a toss-up between Chapter 1/Millennium era and the current era. I liked the old-school days when BSB were at their peak of popularity because they did so many appearances and interviews and whatnot, there was no shortage of BSB material to watch, listen to, and read.
What's awesome about the current era is that it's so much easier to score good seats at shows and interact with the guys, whether through social media or events like VIP and cruises. I think the fact that they're not as popular as they used to be has made the fan experience much more pleasant. That said, it's nice to see them being embraced as part of the '90s nostalgia trend lately. I also like this era because all the guys seem to be in a good place in their lives, which you can't say about other eras.
As for favorite versions of each of the boys...
Brian - Millennium era
AJ - Millennium era
Nick - current
Howie - current
Kevin - current
I think Nick, Howie, and Kevin have all gotten better with age. I was never a Nick fan back in the day, and although I loved him through his hot mess phase in the 2000s, I love Nick who has his shit together the best. I never fully appreciated Kevin until he left and came back, so I have to go with current Kevin. Same with Howie - I don't think I really appreciated him until I met him and saw more of his personality on cruises and whatnot.
I still love Brian and AJ, but I loved them more back in the day. I think Brian was better before Leighanne and Twitter, and AJ just seemed less weird (or was weird in his cool, "bad boy" way) and way hotter back then.
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What kind of endings do you prefer (happy, sad, bittersweet, wraps up nicely, leaves you hanging, etc.)? You can answer as a reader and/or as a writer - it'll be interesting to see if you like to write the same kind of endings you like to read.
I definitely love open endings for both. When I read, I want there to be a possibility of more, except when the story feels like it should be over. If you are writing a trilogy, then I admit I'm disappointed if things don't wrap up. I guess for me, there's a difference between a well written cliff hanger and just not wanting to commit to finishing a story by never letting it end.
Like Rose mentioned, The Dark Tower. Epic ending! I loved it! Only someone like Stephen King can pull something like that off!
As a writer, I love to leave people hanging and wondering what really happened or what comes next. The best comments to me are when I'm asked about sequels even though I pretty much never intended to write sequels to most of the stuff I wrote.
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What's the story (or maybe part of a story) you've written that you're the least proud of, and what would you change to make yourself feel better about it?
I have to think about this for a while before I answer lol
Definitely The Lion's Den. I hated that one lol I probably just wouldn't have ever written it in the first place.
More recently would be my description of the van that the boys were trapped in, in my last story that I can't even remember the name of lol I pictured it one way but described it another and really messed it up. I'd definitely rewrite that description.
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^ That's pretty much what I was thinking too (LOL at Cocaine Solo Tour). You have to divide up everything after "Chapter 1" into separate eras based on whether or not Kevin was with them.
Next questions:
What is your favorite BSB era?
What is your favorite version of each Boy (according to era... for example, Ghetto-Fab Nick from the "Cocaine Solo Tour"/The Hollow/Punk'd era, ca. 2003)?
I loved the Up Close and Personal and Never Gone era the most, simply because that's when I was a full blown fan. My first ever BSB concert was the Up Close one and then I went to see two Never Gone shows. That's also when I went to two fan events. I was in total BSB mode back then.
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^ The Up Close & Personal/Never Gone era is probably my third favorite era. It was so exciting to get new music after what felt like FOREVER (even though it was only a few years). I went to the Up Close & Personal show at the House of Blues in Chicago, and it was the first time I actually felt like I was "up close & personal" and could see their faces at a concert without looking at a jumbotron. I loved the NG tour as well. That was a good time in fanfic, too - all my friends were still writing!
I can't believe it's already been almost 4 years since IAWLT came out. It doesn't seem that long, although I'm looking forward to a new album. I think the various solo albums and tours have helped. I guess that's why the hiatus before NG felt so much longer, because other than Nick's solo projects, there wasn't a whole lot of other BSB stuff going on.
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Definitely The Lion's Den. I hated that one lol I probably just wouldn't have ever written it in the first place.
More recently would be my description of the van that the boys were trapped in, in my last story that I can't even remember the name of lol I pictured it one way but described it another and really messed it up. I'd definitely rewrite that description.
Hope is the Last Thing Ever Lost... it's a long title!
I don't remember anything being wrong with the van's description, except maybe it seemed bigger than it was supposed to be? I dunno, I loved that story! One of my favorites of yours. I should go back and re-read it sometime.
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Hope is the Last Thing Ever Lost... it's a long title!
I don't remember anything being wrong with the van's description, except maybe it seemed bigger than it was supposed to be? I dunno, I loved that story! One of my favorites of yours. I should go back and re-read it sometime.
Yes! That's the one. I'm so bad with titles! lol
I think in my head I kept picturing a bus but I had written it was a van so when it was overturned and the guys were trying to help Brian and AJ, the description of the inside was so much bigger than it should've been. I'm not sure if many people even caught it, but it's something that has completely bothered me.
I'm glad you enjoyed that one.
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What is your favorite BSB era?
What is your favorite version of each Boy (according to era... for example, Ghetto-Fab Nick from the "Cocaine Solo Tour"/The Hollow/Punk'd era, ca. 2003)?
My favourite BSB era is probably Never Gone. I was huge into them at that point, maybe more than I was when I was a teenager in the crazy days of BSB. I also got to see them in concert during that era, and I hadn't since 1998 when I was 11 and we were in the nosebleeds. For Never Gone we were in the 5th row, I'd gone through this phase of really enjoying live music and seeing a lot of indie shows, so getting to see BSB was amazing that year for me. I guess a close second would have to be the Backstreet's Back portion of their crazy days. That was when I first became a fan, my friends were all fans and we were just learning everything we could about them. That was really fun too.
My favourite era for each of the boys is tough. But I'd probably have to say it's right now for all of them, with the exception of Brian. For the other four, they all look so happy and like the best versions of themselves. Especially Nick... I was watching some old (1997/1998) footage of BSB a couple weeks ago and I was just cringing at Nick. I don't understand what my 13 year old self saw in him...? He really does sound and look a lot better now. For Brian... I still like him, that'll never change, but some of the things he's done/said recently have me going "...Really?" I feel like maybe it was better when I knew a bit less about him. Regardless, I'm going to go with Unbreakable Brian as my favourite era for him. Because he was more accessible but he wasn't as in your face about some of his opinions as he is now. Or at least, I wasn't aware of them.
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I feel the same way about Nick and Brian. Nick never did it for me back in the 90s; I was all about Brian back then. I will always be a Brian girl, but he and I will just have to agree to disagree on some things LOL. Nick has grown on me, as have Kevin and Howie. I think those three just get better with age.
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For the Nick girls, has the fact that Nick is now married with a kid changed anything about your writing?
I know for me, as a Brian girl, I started writing less about Brian after Baylee was born. Before that, it was easy enough to write off Leighanne - I could kill her or have them break up/divorce if I wanted to write Brian romance (which I wrote a lot of back in the day). But once they had a family, it was harder for me to do that, so I started writing more about Nick instead because he had less "baggage." I haven't started a new story since Nick became a member of the "married with kids" club, but I wonder how that will affect my future stories.
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Nick has grown on me, as have Kevin and Howie. I think those three just get better with age.
So much this.
For the Nick girls, has the fact that Nick is now married with a kid changed anything about your writing?
The current story I am working on takes place in 1997/1998, so there's no need to worry about kids and wives there (though Leighanne is in the story). That just happened to work out nicely since the setting of the story required BSB to be up and coming rather than in the crazy days or any present time period. The boys themselves had to be a bit younger too.
If I were to go and write another Nick romance story, I'd probably set it before Odin was born. I guess the nice thing about that is there's a lot of time to play with where Nick wasn't married or had a kid yet. The story could easily be set in 2013 before any of those things happened and BSB's situation was largely the same as it is now. I'm not really sure what I'd do if I wanted to write a story and work the Vegas residency or something current into it. I guess it would depend on where I was going with the plot - the last Nick romance I wrote was in 2012 and to get around Lauren I just had her leave him six months prior to the story starting. Which worked because Nick needed to be bitter and cranky when the story started out, lol.
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I think that's a good solution - just set it in the past. I personally like that better than AU.
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That's why I mainly wrote old school BSB. Takes the wives etc...out of the equation. Since they've gotten older, I haven't been able to channel them anymore.
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Yeah I'd either find a way to write the wives out if I need to or put it in the past. With Miles To Go, I made sure she wasn't on the bus LOL. In one of my To Be Written ideas, they'll have divorced. Not for any romantic reason, but to shove him in a dark place I'll need him in. That and I don't wanna write Lauren LOL.
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My favourite BSB era is probably Never Gone. I was huge into them at that point, maybe more than I was when I was a teenager in the crazy days of BSB. I also got to see them in concert during that era, and I hadn't since 1998 when I was 11 and we were in the nosebleeds. For Never Gone we were in the 5th row, I'd gone through this phase of really enjoying live music and seeing a lot of indie shows, so getting to see BSB was amazing that year for me. I guess a close second would have to be the Backstreet's Back portion of their crazy days. That was when I first became a fan, my friends were all fans and we were just learning everything we could about them. That was really fun too.
My favourite era for each of the boys is tough. But I'd probably have to say it's right now for all of them, with the exception of Brian. For the other four, they all look so happy and like the best versions of themselves. Especially Nick... I was watching some old (1997/1998) footage of BSB a couple weeks ago and I was just cringing at Nick. I don't understand what my 13 year old self saw in him...? He really does sound and look a lot better now. For Brian... I still like him, that'll never change, but some of the things he's done/said recently have me going "...Really?" I feel like maybe it was better when I knew a bit less about him. Regardless, I'm going to go with Unbreakable Brian as my favourite era for him. Because he was more accessible but he wasn't as in your face about some of his opinions as he is now. Or at least, I wasn't aware of them.
My favorite era is probably Millennium in terms of the group. It was a fun time. They seemed perfect then and everything was at it's peak. They were COMPLETELY unaccessible to me but I didn't care. That and now, because everything seems to be going their way again. The Boys are happy, there's a lot of stuff happening and as an adult I can do a LOT more than I could then LOL.
In terms of the Boys, I really love Millennium Brian, Unbreakable Howie cause that's when I started appreciating him, and current Nick, AJ, and Kevin.
Nick is so at peace, he sounds happier, he seems happier, and it's kind of awesome. Brian...man I wish he hadn't become so open. There's so many things I wish I didn't see or didn't know. Things I basically force myself to ignore these days LOL. Kevin I've always loved so I have no set preference but he's so appreciative right now. AJ is happy and settled and man, Howie's fun lol. Like I never noticed it back then but I do now.
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Does anyone actually enjoy writing about the guys' real wives/children/family members?
I usually don't and try to find ways to either write them out or avoid having to write them in, but I have to say, I've actually kind of enjoyed writing Lauren and Leigh in my current story. I don't think I would necessarily enjoy writing them as main characters, but as supporting characters, they've been okay.
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These are questions for those of you who have stopped writing fanfic or taken a hiatus from it. Why did you decide to stop? Do you miss it? Do you ever think you'll go back? Have you taken up any new hobbies in place of writing? Discuss.
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Does anyone actually enjoy writing about the guys' real wives/children/family members?
I usually don't and try to find ways to either write them out or avoid having to write them in, but I have to say, I've actually kind of enjoyed writing Lauren and Leigh in my current story. I don't think I would necessarily enjoy writing them as main characters, but as supporting characters, they've been okay.
No, I actually hated writing about their real life family members, that's why I rarely if ever, did.
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These are questions for those of you who have stopped writing fanfic or taken a hiatus from it. Why did you decide to stop? Do you miss it? Do you ever think you'll go back? Have you taken up any new hobbies in place of writing? Discuss.
I stopped for a variety of reason, number one being my lack of a computer. Also my MS has gotten in the way of my writing in general. Part of my symptoms is weakness and pain in my hands so I really struggle with typing for long periods of time. You can probably tell by how less long winded I am in replies in general whether it be here or Facebook. The good news is, i am doing better. But those two things plus loss of interest in the guys as well is what made me stop.
I do miss writing. I'll often have ideas but these days that's all they stay. I doubt I'll ever go back, but never say never I guess. If I did, it would most likely be to either finish my last story or just write a random one shot. I believe my novel days are over.
I guess I just read a lot more than I write now. Not interested in reading fanfic anymore, unless it's old school group related which it seems no one seems to be writing. I'm reading good old fashioned books again lol and watching way more TV then I should. Also writing music again.
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I'm glad to hear you're doing better! I can imagine that would make it really hard to write. The lack of computer is a problem too, but if you ever end up replacing your computer and get the urge to write again, give Google Docs a try. They have a voice typing feature that is pretty impressive. All you need is a microphone (most laptops these days come with a built-in one), and you can just talk, and it types what you say. I have played around with it just for fun, and it actually does a pretty good job recognizing speech, as long as you don't talk super fast. It's not perfect, and you do have to go back and edit for punctuation, but I think it's a neat option for people who struggle with typing.
Reading and writing music are great hobbies! What kind of music do you write?
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Does anyone actually enjoy writing about the guys' real wives/children/family members?
I was trying to think of an instance where I enjoyed writing about the extended BSB family, and I came up with nothing. I was working on a story that focused mostly on Nick and Lauren a few years ago but I only got 10 or so chapters in and the Nick/Lauren scenes were the worst to write, so I scrapped that lol. I just feel so awkward writing about them and I feel like they become more of a one-dimensional character than an original character does because I have trouble imprinting the qualities I need on them as I'm very aware that they're real people while I'm trying to write about them. Obviously BSB are too, but being celebrities it's easier to disassociate Nick Carter the Backstreet Boy from Nick the regular guy.
I will say that I did write a 1D story where Harry's sister was a main character and quite enjoyed it. I think that was probably a unique case in that it was an AU and I'm quite a fan of her in her own right anyway.
These are questions for those of you who have stopped writing fanfic or taken a hiatus from it. Why did you decide to stop? Do you miss it? Do you ever think you'll go back? Have you taken up any new hobbies in place of writing? Discuss.
I guess I technically stopped writing BSB fanfic for a while. I would dabble here and there but I haven't actually posted anything in nearly 4 years. It was a combination of just feeling burnt out and then having left and feeling like I couldn't really come back since I'd left and gone over to another fandom. That was mostly my own personal feelings, obviously no one told me that. For myself, I don't like the feeling of being dedicated to something, then ditching it, then coming back. That's why I won't post anything until it's completely finished now, and I'm like that with 1D fanfic too. I also didn't write anything in that fandom for the past year and a half or so. I've only just started writing/posting in that fandom again.
Mare, I'm glad to hear you've been feeling better. I'm sorry things have been so rough for you lately. I'm glad you've found some other hobbies since you're not feeling writing right now.
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I don't remember if I told you guys this, but I took a creative writing class a couple of years ago. It was terrifying because obviously I wasn't going to stand up and say "I just want to improve the quality of my boyband fanfic." lol but it was super informative and a lot of fun. I still meet up with some of the people from that group for tea every once in a while.
Anyway, one of my main takeaways from that class was the importance of the first line in the story and how it should be used to create conflict right away. Ever since then I've given a lot more attention to the first lines of my works and have gone back and looked at them once the story is finished to see if they still make sense. The example the teacher gave was, "There were thirteen bubbles in the milk." which was the first line in a short story about the first day of school in a town where mixed-race schools had just become a thing. He said it was great because bubbles in milk meant something was jarring it, like the situation in the story was jarring. And obviously the use of the number thirteen creates an uncomfortable atmosphere.
So I guess my question is, what's a first line of one of your stories (and someone else's story, if you can think of one!) that you really like?
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For myself, I don't like the feeling of being dedicated to something, then ditching it, then coming back. That's why I won't post anything until it's completely finished now, and I'm like that with 1D fanfic too. I also didn't write anything in that fandom for the past year and a half or so. I've only just started writing/posting in that fandom again.
Aww, you know we would happily welcome you back anytime (glad you're back to reading BSB fics and posting here, at least!), but I understand what you're saying. I know as a reader, it's frustrating to get into a story and then be left hanging when the author abandons it or doesn't update in forever, so I hate doing that to people as a writer. I used to be so consistent about updating stories, and now it's hit or miss. I go through phases when I'm still really into writing, like right now, but then I get busy and go so long without doing it that I lose interest and have to force myself to start again.
For awhile, I was thinking I might take a break after I finish Sick as My Secrets, but now that I'm almost done and still have the whole summer to write, I'm sure I'll start something new. I just probably won't post it right away. I wish I had the willpower to do what you're doing and not post anything until it's done, but since it takes me like four years to finish a story, that probably isn't going to happen LOL. I've found with SAMS that if I can just stay about ten chapters ahead of what's posted, I can keep updating consistently even when I'm not writing. That is probably what I'll do with future stories too.
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I just feel so awkward writing about them and I feel like they become more of a one-dimensional character than an original character does because I have trouble imprinting the qualities I need on them as I'm very aware that they're real people while I'm trying to write about them. Obviously BSB are too, but being celebrities it's easier to disassociate Nick Carter the Backstreet Boy from Nick the regular guy.
That is so true. It's also hard because we don't really know the wives and family members, whereas we at least feel like we know the Boys in some way. Leighanne is the only one I feel like I can portray somewhat accurately because I've at least interacted with her and seen a lot of her in real life. I think "I <3 Nick Carter" helped give me a better sense of Lauren's personality, but I have no idea what Rochelle, Leigh, or Kristin are like in real life. I don't think I could ever make any of them a main character in a story, nor would I want to. If I'm going to have a female lead, it's way more fun to make up my own.
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I stopped for a variety of reason, number one being my lack of a computer. Also my MS has gotten in the way of my writing in general. Part of my symptoms is weakness and pain in my hands so I really struggle with typing for long periods of time. You can probably tell by how less long winded I am in replies in general whether it be here or Facebook. The good news is, i am doing better. But those two things plus loss of interest in the guys as well is what made me stop.
I do miss writing. I'll often have ideas but these days that's all they stay. I doubt I'll ever go back, but never say never I guess. If I did, it would most likely be to either finish my last story or just write a random one shot. I believe my novel days are over.
I guess I just read a lot more than I write now. Not interested in reading fanfic anymore, unless it's old school group related which it seems no one seems to be writing. I'm reading good old fashioned books again lol and watching way more TV then I should. Also writing music again.
I'm glad you're doing better Mare. :) That can't be easy.
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I don't remember if I told you guys this, but I took a creative writing class a couple of years ago. It was terrifying because obviously I wasn't going to stand up and say "I just want to improve the quality of my boyband fanfic." lol but it was super informative and a lot of fun. I still meet up with some of the people from that group for tea every once in a while.
Anyway, one of my main takeaways from that class was the importance of the first line in the story and how it should be used to create conflict right away. Ever since then I've given a lot more attention to the first lines of my works and have gone back and looked at them once the story is finished to see if they still make sense. The example the teacher gave was, "There were thirteen bubbles in the milk." which was the first line in a short story about the first day of school in a town where mixed-race schools had just become a thing. He said it was great because bubbles in milk meant something was jarring it, like the situation in the story was jarring. And obviously the use of the number thirteen creates an uncomfortable atmosphere.
So I guess my question is, what's a first line of one of your stories (and someone else's story, if you can think of one!) that you really like?
You know Steph, I liked what you mentioned about first lines. So I went to go look to see how they compared.
I’m starting this book, knowing I’ll never finish it. - RMTW
Backstreet Boy in ‘Larger Than Life’ Accident
Associated Press
A violent crash on the Los Angeles highway has 35-year-old Backstreet Boy, Brian Littrell in critical condition. - Walked Out Of My Dreams
It wasn’t planned you know. - Here We Stand
t’s weird, trying to get the mess of a life I had together. - Show Me A Reason
I guess a lot of people say that through every tough thing, you find more of yourself. - Song For The Undead
It’s no secret to anyone that you and I aren’t as close as we used to be. - Miles To Go
Each of them set up conflict but it's not something I've ever consciously thought about. I just wanted to draw in the reader. But it's really neat.
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So I guess my question is, what's a first line of one of your stories (and someone else's story, if you can think of one!) that you really like?
First of all, props to you for taking the creative writing class. I think that would be so interesting, but the thought of sharing my writing with people in real life and getting critiqued is terrifying to me. I would probably enjoy an online class, where I didn't have to interact face to face with anyone. LOL
Secondly, great question! First lines are so important, and that's also what makes them so hard to write, for me anyway. Last lines are almost as bad.
I'm not good at remembering first lines, so I guess one sign of a good one is that I can quote it without even having to look back. Other than famous first lines of classic literature I've never actually read (It was the best of times. It was the worst of times...), there are only two first lines from other people's work that I can do that with. Neither are from fanfic. One is "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone": Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of Number 4, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. The other is "Six Months to Live" by Lurlene McDaniel: When Dawn Rochelle was thirteen years old, they told her she had cancer. I've always loved the last example because it gets right to the point, which goes with what you were saying about creating instant conflict.
I had to look through my favorite fanfics to find good first lines from other people's stories, but here are three I really like, in no particular order:
1. The sun had long since set and the black pavement of the back country road glistened in the moonlight, a sheen of silver covering its smooth surface after a horrid thunderstorm. ("Crash and Burn" by Refuse)
I like this line because it's so descriptive and sets the scene for this short story about a car accident. It creates conflict by establishing that it's dark, it's been raining, the road is slick, and it's out in the middle of nowhere, which are all the ingredients you need for a great car crash story.
2. Tim was never big on visitors. ("Hope is the Last Thing Ever Lost" by Mare)
This line is so short and simple, but I like it for a couple of reasons. The first time I read this story, it made me curious. Who the hell is Tim, and why is a BSB fanfic starting with him? And now, having read the story and knowing who Tim is, I can appreciate what this sentence reveals about Tim's personality, which plays an important part in the plot.
3. I’m starting this book, knowing I’ll never finish it. ("Remember Me This Way" by Rose)
I love this line because, again, it makes the reader ask questions. How does the writer know he'll never finish the book, and why not? Instant conflict.
In looking through my own stories, I've come to the conclusion that I don't have any amazing first lines. But my favorite is probably this one, from "Unsuspecting Sunday": It was four in the morning, and Nick was falling down drunk. I think it has a nice ring to it, and it sets the stage for bad decisions to be made.
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The obvious next question is, what are your favorite last lines from your own stories and/or other people's?
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Awww thanks ZDR. I kinda wanna look at first lines in my fave fics now. One thing I always loved was how you bookended Curtain Call.
Of my own stories I think my favorite first line was RMTW. I'll have to look at my stories and see how my last lines hold up.
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Honestly looking at my stories, I don't like my last lines nearly as much as my first lines lol. I don't know why but I don't feel they're very impressive. I guess I'd go with RMTW and the line I shut the door behind me. followed by Brian's signature. It's very final.
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As for other stories, I really like how Steph ended Running Up That Hill, "As far as I was concerned, our story was far from over. It wraps everything up but it also sounds so hopeful.
Also...Curtain Call. " For as long as I live, I’ll never let it die." It's so heartbreaking, because Cary is talking about Nick's memory but it's SO true to the story.
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I learned so much from looking at last lines of stories
I didn't realize this was going to be the case when I asked the question, but I agree with Rose - I don't like last lines as well as first lines. That goes for my own stories as well as others'. I think it has to do with context. You don't have to have any context to appreciate a good first line, but I found that last lines don't stand alone as well out of context. I looked back at some of my favorite fanfics that have great endings, but none of the actual last sentences really stood out to me when I looked at them in isolation. Two of them did make me tear up... but only because I knew the context behind them.
"Brightening up our night, watching us, asking us to hold on to each other now…her star will always shine." ("Cover Me With Dreams" by Heidi)
“He’s gone….” He managed to say before breaking into fitful cries. ("Swollen Issues III" by Carrie and Swenglish) <-- I had to re-read that whole last chapter after reading the last sentence... :'(
In looking through my own stories, I found that I have a lot of cheesy and cliched last lines. I like to work the title of the story into the last line if I can, which is super cheesy. One thing I noticed that I had never realized before was my love of including the word "eternity" or "eternal" in the last sentence of many of my oldest stories from my first year of writing fanfic. Look at this list!
It was because both rings represented Brian and Alexa's eternal love for one another. A love that could never die, that would always live on inside them, just as an angel lived on in Heaven, watching over them for all eternity. ("Heart of an Angel")
He followed Elisa into the beautiful light, to live for all eternity with his true love. ("Where You Are")
He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, a kiss that proved his love for her was eternal. He would be the one for her for all eternity. ("The One")
But even though that one night had become hazy in his memory, AJ knew that he could never forget Tara, the woman he had grown to love and would love for all eternity. ("One Night")
Now they could finally leave this Earth behind and go to where they truly belonged, to be together for all eternity. ("Visions of the Past")
A lot of references to going to Heaven, too. Like I said, super cheesy.
As far as actual good last lines go, I found two favorites. My favorite serious one is from "By My Side": Yet it was here their bodies could finally rest, side by side. Aww, Nick and Claire. <3
But my actual favorite is from a funny challenge story, "Shorty and the Deceased": The remaining four Backstreet Boys ran from the house, leaving the two zombie lovers to roam the earth in search of human flesh, hungrily ever after. Aww, Shorty and the Deceased, a.k.a. Zombie Nick! <3
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Aww, thanks for the Curtain Call love, Rose!
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LMAO at all the times you used eternity. And yeah last lines need a lot more context. First lines don't. So you can be vague and dramatic to get the reader's attention and then go from there.
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Thanks guys! It's been a rough year. At my worst I was using a walker. Now I'm barely using a cane. MS is an odd duck, I feel like the whole experience has made me strong and reassess how to properly utilize what should stress me out or make me sad. lol
Also thanks for the first line mention, Julie!
I'm going to have to go back and look at my stories and others to answer those questions. Now that I am on break, I will have more time to do that.
Also thanks for bringing up the google thing. I will definitely look I to that when and if I ever get a laptop.
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Happy summer vacation to you, Mare!
Chromebooks are a good option for a cheap laptop. You can get one for around $200 or less, depending on brand. They use Google for everything, so you'd have to use Docs instead of Word, but otherwise, they work about the same. I don't have one for personal use, but we have them at my school, and they're great for basic things like internet browsing and writing.
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They use chrome books at my schools too. They seem handy. I have thought about one of those as well.
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Has anyone else discovered any writing quirks or habits they have (or had), like the "eternal/eternity" thing I mentioned in one of my earlier posts? Anything you do or did often in stories that you didn't even realize?
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Another question, before I forget it: Have you ever reused/recycled a storyline, like written more than one story with a similar premise, just done in a different way?
If you haven't done this, which of your storylines would you choose to recycle?
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I learned so much from looking at last lines of stories
I didn't realize this was going to be the case when I asked the question, but I agree with Rose - I don't like last lines as well as first lines. That goes for my own stories as well as others'. I think it has to do with context. You don't have to have any context to appreciate a good first line, but I found that last lines don't stand alone as well out of context. I looked back at some of my favorite fanfics that have great endings, but none of the actual last sentences really stood out to me when I looked at them in isolation. Two of them did make me tear up... but only because I knew the context behind them.
"Brightening up our night, watching us, asking us to hold on to each other now…her star will always shine." ("Cover Me With Dreams" by Heidi)
“He’s gone….” He managed to say before breaking into fitful cries. ("Swollen Issues III" by Carrie and Swenglish) <-- I had to re-read that whole last chapter after reading the last sentence... :'(
In looking through my own stories, I found that I have a lot of cheesy and cliched last lines. I like to work the title of the story into the last line if I can, which is super cheesy. One thing I noticed that I had never realized before was my love of including the word "eternity" or "eternal" in the last sentence of many of my oldest stories from my first year of writing fanfic. Look at this list!
It was because both rings represented Brian and Alexa's eternal love for one another. A love that could never die, that would always live on inside them, just as an angel lived on in Heaven, watching over them for all eternity. ("Heart of an Angel")
He followed Elisa into the beautiful light, to live for all eternity with his true love. ("Where You Are")
He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, a kiss that proved his love for her was eternal. He would be the one for her for all eternity. ("The One")
But even though that one night had become hazy in his memory, AJ knew that he could never forget Tara, the woman he had grown to love and would love for all eternity. ("One Night")
Now they could finally leave this Earth behind and go to where they truly belonged, to be together for all eternity. ("Visions of the Past")
A lot of references to going to Heaven, too. Like I said, super cheesy.
As far as actual good last lines go, I found two favorites. My favorite serious one is from "By My Side": Yet it was here their bodies could finally rest, side by side. Aww, Nick and Claire. <3
But my actual favorite is from a funny challenge story, "Shorty and the Deceased": The remaining four Backstreet Boys ran from the house, leaving the two zombie lovers to roam the earth in search of human flesh, hungrily ever after. Aww, Shorty and the Deceased, a.k.a. Zombie Nick! <3
Omg I love that series... One of the first few stories I read. LOVED Swollen Issues. I am catching up right now cause I've been missing in action. Been working on a secret project that I might be posting soon.
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Omg I love that series... One of the first few stories I read. LOVED Swollen Issues. I am catching up right now cause I've been missing in action. Been working on a secret project that I might be posting soon.
Oooh, secret project! Can't wait to see what it is.
I need to go back and re-read the whole Swollen series sometime. It's been a long time! Those stories had such a huge impact on my own writing. Actually, all of Carrie/Jenna's stories did.
There's another question for when the rest of you come back: What other fanfic authors have inspired you or influenced your writing? You can answer for published, non-fanfic authors too if you want.
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Last lines. I had to go back and read some cause I forgot which were my favorite. But here's some of mine from my stories.
"I grinned at him and went to my seat, really feeling like my life was about to begin." - Nick (Finding Carter)
"That's what brothers were for after all." - (One Phone Call)
Here's some from MY favorites.
"And with each new tomorrow, they would find ways to leave that past behind." (Song For The Undead)
“Guys, have I ever mentioned a blueberry pig?” (What Lurks Around The Corner)
There's a lot more than this but it's just a couple
I have way too many favorites.
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Oooh, secret project! Can't wait to see what it is.
I need to go back and re-read the whole Swollen series sometime. It's been a long time! Those stories had such a huge impact on my own writing. Actually, all of Carrie/Jenna's stories did.
There's another question for when the rest of you come back: What other fanfic authors have inspired you or influenced your writing? You can answer for published, non-fanfic authors too if you want.
Now you make me want to go reread it too..
And Perfection because those were so good. Reminds me of when I first came to AC and was reading everyone's stuff lol. But to answer your question... I have said this many times but a big inspiration to me is Mare. She's still my favorite fanfic author even though she doesn't write anymore but I love and reread a lot of her work still to this day.
As for my project it's a Frick and Frack slash that you suggested I continue a while back... I've just been writing in private and not posting which I've never done before. I just want to be sure I can commit to finishing it. Lol
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Nice!
I'm happy to hear some of you have been writing things in secret!
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I've never done this before, but I have five chapters so far and I have posted a teaser on social media. There was positive feedback so I'm going to keep going. It never hurts to try out new ways to write.
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Last lines. I had to go back and read some cause I forgot which were my favorite. But here's some of mine from my stories.
"I grinned at him and went to my seat, really feeling like my life was about to begin." - Nick (Finding Carter)
"That's what brothers were for after all." - (One Phone Call)
Here's some from MY favorites.
"And with each new tomorrow, they would find ways to leave that past behind." (Song For The Undead)
“Guys, have I ever mentioned a blueberry pig?” (What Lurks Around The Corner)
There's a lot more than this but it's just a couple
I have way too many favorites.
BLUEBERRY PIG!
Literally my favorite thing from What Lurks Around The Corner. I remember when Mare was starting this, I told her to use that as the title LOL.
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Has anyone else discovered any writing quirks or habits they have (or had), like the "eternal/eternity" thing I mentioned in one of my earlier posts? Anything you do or did often in stories that you didn't even realize?
Song lyrics, whether someone is singing them or I use them as chapter titles...they always pop up somewhere. I used to use them before starting a chapter and I'm glad I kicked that habit LOL. Twins always seem to pop up in my stories too but I've gotten away from that as well.
Another question, before I forget it: Have you ever reused/recycled a storyline, like written more than one story with a similar premise, just done in a different way?
If you haven't done this, which of your storylines would you choose to recycle?
No but I've thought about it. The closest I came was when I reworked a story.
Maybe I'd do another take on the BSB summer in London now that I know what was wrong with Brian's voice. I was guessing then so I took some liberties and coming at it from a new angle would be interesting.
Oooh, secret project! Can't wait to see what it is.
I need to go back and re-read the whole Swollen series sometime. It's been a long time! Those stories had such a huge impact on my own writing. Actually, all of Carrie/Jenna's stories did.
There's another question for when the rest of you come back: What other fanfic authors have inspired you or influenced your writing? You can answer for published, non-fanfic authors too if you want.
Eboni inspired me a lot back in the day, I loved her stories. Real World wise, I'd say Stephen King is a pretty big influence. The Stand was a huge influence on Song For The Undead, and I feel you can SO see the influences from the story Misery in Miles To Go.
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BLUEBERRY PIG!
Literally my favorite thing from What Lurks Around The Corner. I remember when Mare was starting this, I told her to use that as the title LOL.
I laughed so hard at that line at the end of Lurks. So funny. Lmao. I have literally read everything of Mare's. I spent one summer reading every one of her stories. I should do that again with someone else sometime.
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Writing quirks.
I tend to forget Howie a lot. Like he'll be there for the beginning and then he's hardly mentioned at all the rest of the story. I finally got over this when I wrote Finding Carter, I actually gave him a bigger role as the villain type role in the story. I am trying to get better. I also use a lot of references to movies and songs lol
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I've never done this before, but I have five chapters so far and I have posted a teaser on social media. There was positive feedback so I'm going to keep going. It never hurts to try out new ways to write.
Absolutely! I've found that I go back and do more revising when I wait to post chapters, so the finished product is better than if I just post right away (because once it's up, it's not getting changed except for to correct typos).
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I forgot about blueberry pig! That brings me back LOL.
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Song lyrics, whether someone is singing them or I use them as chapter titles...they always pop up somewhere. I used to use them before starting a chapter and I'm glad I kicked that habit LOL. Twins always seem to pop up in my stories too but I've gotten away from that as well.
I went through a "song lyrics in story" phase too, mostly just with Broken and BMS. Before or after a chapter isn't so bad, but I would put them in between scenes or even in the middle of scenes, which I realize now is so distracting, not to mention cheesy LOL. I'm glad I kicked that habit too, although I still make playlists for myself to listen to for inspiration. I also still love using song lyrics in my story titles. That's usually my go-to if a title doesn't come to me right away.
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Writing quirks.
I tend to forget Howie a lot. Like he'll be there for the beginning and then he's hardly mentioned at all the rest of the story. I finally got over this when I wrote Finding Carter, I actually gave him a bigger role as the villain type role in the story. I am trying to get better. I also use a lot of references to movies and songs lol
I think it can be hard to keep a balance between all five boys unless you make a conscious effort to do so, like by alternating between each of their perspectives or something. Most of my stories seem to focus mainly on one or two of them, so the others are just sort of in the background.
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Wow, thanks for all the love, Tracy! I actually had to go back and look at Lurks to see how I ended it lol I do remember for a brief minute almost naming it The Blueberry Pig and knowing that if I didn't call it that I'd have to put it in there somewhere. I had forgotten that that's how I chose to end it though . Too funny.
I still have to go back and reread some things to find my answers. I know I also kind of feel the need to incorporate the title of my stories somewhere into the actual story itself. I think did it as a last line more than once lol I'm pretty sure Scars Run Deep and Wide and Seasons of Change were some of my favorite last lines but like I said, I'll need to check.
I'm totally on the Swollen Issues bandwagon as well. That story really helped me feel the brotherly bond the fictional boys had with each other. I remember being so angry at the ending of the last story, but that just shows how invested I was in the actual series.
I'll answer the rest of the questions later but all the Swollen Issues talk made me think of a question because I almost didn't read it based on it's title. Is there a story you might have skipped based on it's title? Or is there a story you read just because the title drew you in? For your own stories, what was your favorite title you came up with and why? Was there a certain meaning behind it?
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My favorite story title was totally Finding Carter hands down. Not only was it a perfect fit for the Disney theme I had going on in the story, it was a play on Finding Nemo and had a meaning about Nick finding himself during the story, which was apparent when it finished. Finding Carter is probably my favorite story I've written. I did it in first person which was something I hadn't done before. I like to challenge myself.
In response to Julie, I am finding I can write more freely this way and go back to edit. My chapters are actually longer and I find that I feel more satisfied with them without posting. It's been definitely a different experience.
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I really couldn't think of any really memorable first lines that I've written and I truly can't think of any fanfics either, but two novels that came to mind for me were:
"This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun." - The Five People You Meet in Heaven
I LOVE this book! lol it draws you in right from that first line and keeps you going until the end.
And I know this is cheating, but it was more like an opening paragraph than a sentence, that sucked me completely in and that was for the book Nineteen Minutes. When a paragraph can give you chills, you know the story is going to be epic.
"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five.
Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tennessee Titans to sell out of tickets to the playoffs. It’s the amount of time it takes to listen to the Yes song Close to the Edge. It’s the length of a sitcom, minus the commercials. It’s the driving distance from the Vermont border to the town of Sterling, NH.
In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed. You can walk two miles. You can sew a hem.
In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge."
I think finding good last lines is a lot harder so I'll be cheating on those too. I think final paragraphs are much more likely to stay with you.
I'll be back lol
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My favorite story title was totally Finding Carter hands down. Not only was it a perfect fit for the Disney theme I had going on in the story, it was a play on Finding Nemo and had a meaning about Nick finding himself during the story, which was apparent when it finished. Finding Carter is probably my favorite story I've written. I did it in first person which was something I hadn't done before. I like to challenge myself.
LOL I feel so dumb for never making the connection between Finding Carter and Finding Nemo. Duh! That makes sense. Although you know there was a show on MTV called Finding Carter a couple years ago? I never watched it, but I would see it on my guide and always thought of your story.
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I'm totally on the Swollen Issues bandwagon as well. That story really helped me feel the brotherly bond the fictional boys had with each other. I remember being so angry at the ending of the last story, but that just shows how invested I was in the actual series.
I'll answer the rest of the questions later but all the Swollen Issues talk made me think of a question because I almost didn't read it based on it's title. Is there a story you might have skipped based on it's title? Or is there a story you read just because the title drew you in? For your own stories, what was your favorite title you came up with and why? Was there a certain meaning behind it?
Good questions! I will have to give some more thought to the title things, but I just wanted to comment on what you said about Swollen Issues. I remember feeling the same way about the title when it was just the one story. I think I did read part of it and thought, "Oh, this is just a comedy about Nick having mumps" - which, let's be honest, is not my cup of tea. If I'm going to read a disease story, it better be dramatic! But when they wrote a sequel, something made me go back and give it another try - I don't remember if it was just curiosity or word of mouth, but I did reread it and went on to the sequel, and WOW! The second and third story are totally different from the first. And that ending still makes me upset, but I can appreciate the realism of it.
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And I know this is cheating, but it was more like an opening paragraph than a sentence, that sucked me completely in and that was for the book Nineteen Minutes. When a paragraph can give you chills, you know the story is going to be epic.
"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five.
Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tennessee Titans to sell out of tickets to the playoffs. It’s the amount of time it takes to listen to the Yes song Close to the Edge. It’s the length of a sitcom, minus the commercials. It’s the driving distance from the Vermont border to the town of Sterling, NH.
In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed. You can walk two miles. You can sew a hem.
In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge."
I think finding good last lines is a lot harder so I'll be cheating on those too. I think final paragraphs are much more likely to stay with you.
I'll be back lol
Ooh, I love the Nineteen Minutes one! That is one of Jodi Picoult's books that I have yet to read.
A better question might have been about last paragraphs or even last scenes or chapters, so cheat away!
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Is there a story you might have skipped based on it's title? Or is there a story you read just because the title drew you in? For your own stories, what was your favorite title you came up with and why? Was there a certain meaning behind it?
No offense, but I think "The Importance of Fly Fishing" was one of those stories that I wouldn't have clicked on if it wasn't written by you, because of the title. Not that it's a bad title, but a fanfic that sounds like it's all about fly fishing just wouldn't have interested me. Luckily I gave it a chance because I liked all your other stories I'd read, and it was great - and about so much more than fly fishing.
A couple other examples of stories that I might not have read just based on their title are "Garden" by Louise and "The Market" by Susan. They're both actually great titles once you read the story and understand the meaning of them, but out of context, they seem kind of boring.
I'm usually drawn in by summaries more than titles, but any title that sounds like it could be a medical drama is likely to draw me in. "Cardio" by Trinity is an old one that comes to mind. It's not about exercise. LOL
I am very unoriginal when it comes to naming my own stories. Most of my titles come from songs, and the ones that don't are usually either 1) one word, 2) some cliched phrase, or 3) a vague combination of dramatic-sounding words, like "Cry of Despair."
My favorite titles are the ones with more than one meaning, like a literal meaning but also a figurative one. For example, "Beside the Ocean" literally does take place by the ocean, but that title also comes from the song "I Hope You Dance" ("I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean..."), which was my inspiration for that story. In "Broken," Nick really did have a broken leg at the beginning, but I broke his spirit as well as his body LOL.
I also like titles that sound figurative, but are actually just very literal. I loved the title "Sick as My Secrets" for the song before I borrowed it for my story, but it fits perfectly because the story is literally about sickness and secrets LOL. "Secrets of the Heart" sounds like some kind of Harlequin romance title, but it's literally about a human heart that's transplanted from one character to another and the secrets those characters have.
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LOL I feel so dumb for never making the connection between Finding Carter and Finding Nemo. Duh! That makes sense. Although you know there was a show on MTV called Finding Carter a couple years ago? I never watched it, but I would see it on my guide and always thought of your story.
Lol yeah the story was literally about allowing yourself to grow up like Nemo's father had to let Nemo grow up. I know about the show and every time I saw tweets about it I would laugh. I often compared Nick to Peter Pan in the story because he wasn't ready to grow up until the end when he had children and named his son Peter. Andrew was named after Andy in Toy Story for the same reason, I did a lot of things on purpose hoping someone would get it.
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Last lines are generally my favorite things to read and write.
This first one is from Season's of Change: I posted the final paragraph to put it in context, but I had posted segments of his commencement speech as a header for each paragraph and the epilogue was the full speech and final thoughts
Many years later when giving speeches had become second nature to me while doling out advice or getting honorary doctorates, I found myself talking more openly about my father and my theories about his unhappiness. Our families overall sadness, but at that moment, I kept those words as a silent thought as I exchanged a quick thoughtful glance with my father.
"Strive to become the best person you can be and never forget the people who helped get you there. Because in the end that's all that really matters. Thank you"
I stepped away from the podium to the sounds of silence followed by a roar of applause. People were standing up for me. My family was cheering. AJ making whistling sounds. I wasn't sure when I should walk away, so I waited for Mrs. Christopher to give me a cue which she finally did.
As I walked back down to my chair I took one final look at the crowd, how different things were going to be for me now. I was terrified but open for the challenge. That's what life was all about.
The other one I like that I've written is from Scars Run Deep and Wide:
He glanced up and looked at his family. They had been through so much and there were times he didn’t think they would make it, but one thing he realized, was even though scars run deep and wide, only one thing runs deeper…
And that’s love.
And yup, there's the title. In fact if I had posted a little more of Seasons, the title would have been there too. I'm very guilty of doing that. lol
As far as other people's last lines, I generally sigh when I'm done with a great story. I most enjoy endings that leave things open, like this little nugget from Ground Zero:
And that purpose was to bind the handcuffs I was wearing to the earth.
That wasn’t the worst realization though.
That came later.
When someone placed a board over the entrance of the…cave or hole or whatever it was we were in. And when the sound of dirt raining down on the wooden plank made me realize that we were being sealed into our tomb.
The End
Um....the end? Really? lol
But there's nothing wrong with wrapping things up with a little bow as well like this suspense On the Run:
Anyway, I am glad that everyone is back to their usual self. I never thought I would say this but I'm thankful for AJ's blunt, corky remarks. Howie's peace maker manners. Kevin's bossy, responsible adult attitude. Nick's unpredictable pranks. I was actually looking forward to all of it. I realized that all these things, makes the Backstreet Boys. That's what keeps our pride alive.
Wrapping things up nicely there after taking us on a suspenseful ride.
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No offense, but I think "The Importance of Fly Fishing" was one of those stories that I wouldn't have clicked on if it wasn't written by you, because of the title. Not that it's a bad title, but a fanfic that sounds like it's all about fly fishing just wouldn't have interested me. Luckily I gave it a chance because I liked all your other stories I'd read, and it was great - and about so much more than fly fishing.
No worries, none taken lol I think I've had more than one uh...wtf is that about? Titles I'm glad you gave it a try.
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Has anyone else discovered any writing quirks or habits they have (or had), like the "eternal/eternity" thing I mentioned in one of my earlier posts? Anything you do or did often in stories that you didn't even realize?
For me, besides getting the name of each story in there somewhere, I think putting quotes or naming each chapter is one of my things. I also tend to make AJ my comic relief all the time which is kind of funny because I truly believe in real life, he's probably the least funny out of them all. I'm not sure why I started doing that, but it's something I've kept up all the way to the end. Weird lol
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You know, I tend to make AJ my comic relief too. I agree it's probably not likely but I use his quirks to ease the tension of a story, or give him THE most off the wall things to say.
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Man... Ground Zero. That takes me back cause it was one of the first fics I ever read here. I loved that story. I guess to this day I still like that torture suspense drama mystery kind of story. Which makes me want to ask a question....
If you still read, has your taste in story genre changed or stayed the same over the years and why?
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You know, I tend to make AJ my comic relief too. I agree it's probably not likely but I use his quirks to ease the tension of a story, or give him THE most off the wall things to say.
I kind of do the same thing. If the boys had a sitcom AJ would be the master of the lean in or the unexpected jokes. I usually give those to Nick or AJ. Depending on my mood.
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It seems like most of us do that with AJ. Maybe because he us such an odd duck that it's easy to make him the funny side guy. I always do find myself saying after seeing him in interviews or interactions with the guys, why do I always name him the funny one? lol
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I agree with everyone who said AJ is the comic relief. He is mine too. He is the one I can count on to make inappropriate jokes to lighten the mood. I think that goes back to the good old days, when we would see videos of the guys goofing around on the bus or backstage or whatever... it seemed like AJ and Brian were always the funniest ones, playing off each other, and then Nick would be trying too hard to be funny. I can appreciate Kevin and Howie's sense of humor more now, but they're a little more subtle about it, so I never really saw it back then.
One of my favorite videos that shows what I was saying above is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwfTuzEkNkQ It's from when they were getting their makeup done for their old men sketch from the Black & Blue tour. Stuff like this is why I love the A-Rok combo so much (not in a slashy way). The two of them are SO different, but they compliment each other so well.
Do you find that the perception you had of the boys when you first became a fan is still the way you write them, or has your portrayal of them changed over the years as maybe your perception of them has changed too?
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Last lines are generally my favorite things to read and write.
Those are all great endings! I should go back and look at last paragraphs; I might find a little more that way.
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Man... Ground Zero. That takes me back cause it was one of the first fics I ever read here. I loved that story. I guess to this day I still like that torture suspense drama mystery kind of story. Which makes me want to ask a question....
If you still read, has your taste in story genre changed or stayed the same over the years and why?
My taste has pretty much stayed the same. I've always loved medical dramas and suspense the most, and I still do. There just aren't enough medical dramas being written these days, though. Where's Jenna when you need her?? I guess I have to just keep writing my own LOL.
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I find that I write Kevin completely different now because back in the day I thought he was so small retentive, stuck up and bossy. I thought Brian was like the guy who was everybody's friend. AJ was comic relief. Nick just became any character I wanted because there's a lot to play with. Howie... Well I always forgot Howie.
Its changed a lot because as I know more about the guys now... Kevin has gotten much easier to write. Nicks the same as well. Howie, I am trying to get better at channeling him but it's hard for me because I don't relate to him at all. At least I feel that's the reason. I don't hate him but he's so awkward. Lol. AJ... I don't really think I've changed a whole lot with him because he's still the same as is Brian. But it's easier for me to write angsty Brian these days too.
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My perception of Kevin has definitely changed too. It seems like he's mellowed over the years, but maybe that's just because the rest of the guys have grown up, so there's not such a difference in maturity in the way they behave. I think his sense of humor and fun have shown more since he came back than before he left. I don't write a ton about Kevin in my stories, but I have tried to show that side of him more when I can.
Sick as My Secrets is the first Howie story I've ever written, and it hasn't been as hard as I thought it might be. It's weird that I don't write more about Howie and Kevin because, of all the boys, they are the two that are probably most similar to me in terms of personality. They should be easy for me to channel. I'm just more drawn to the other three, especially Brian and Nick. I guess opposites attract!
I think the way I write Nick has probably changed the most. He used to exist in my stories only as Brian's best friend, and he was immature and slightly annoying and kind of dim-witted because that was how I saw him until at least Black & Blue era. Then after Now or Never, he kinda grew on me, and I started making him a main character and writing him as more charismatic and appealing, but still maybe a little dim-witted and overly emotional. But he was doing all kinds of dumb things in real life back then, so maybe that portrayal wasn't so far off. My Nick now is smarter and more mature, still hot-tempered but not so angsty, and I think it's because of how much real Nick has grown up in the last decade.
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Oooh, secret project! Can't wait to see what it is.
I need to go back and re-read the whole Swollen series sometime. It's been a long time! Those stories had such a huge impact on my own writing. Actually, all of Carrie/Jenna's stories did.
There's another question for when the rest of you come back: What other fanfic authors have inspired you or influenced your writing? You can answer for published, non-fanfic authors too if you want.
Without a doubt, I'm with Rose in saying Stephen King. I really try to channel him as much as I can and I basically took his idea from The ending of the Dark Tower and applied it to,Protect and Serve with the way we want things to end versus the way they actually do. I also am inspired by Jodi Picoult and Wally Lamb.
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Another question, before I forget it: Have you ever reused/recycled a storyline, like written more than one story with a similar premise, just done in a different way?
If you haven't done this, which of your storylines would you choose to recycle?
I definitely have recycled my stuff. I plagiarize myself a lot without realizing it lol if I could do a reboot of one of my old stories it would be my very first one, Mizpah.
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I used to make Nick really dumb actually too Julie. And Kevin would always be very annoyed by it lol
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Man... Ground Zero. That takes me back cause it was one of the first fics I ever read here. I loved that story. I guess to this day I still like that torture suspense drama mystery kind of story. Which makes me want to ask a question....
If you still read, has your taste in story genre changed or stayed the same over the years and why?
I would've never tried my hand at writing if it wasn't for Ground Zero.
My taste has changed only in that I don't enjoy reading fanfic anymore. I'm Not even sure why. Maybe because I just don't see things I would want to read anymore? It doesn't hold my attention like it used to, but neither do the boys. :( I still love them to death but it's just different now.
All that being said, I still love action and suspense. I tend to always gravitate to those kinds of stories. I seem to have developed a new love of dystopian novels nowadays. Wonder why? lol
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I agree with everyone who said AJ is the comic relief. He is mine too. He is the one I can count on to make inappropriate jokes to lighten the mood. I think that goes back to the good old days, when we would see videos of the guys goofing around on the bus or backstage or whatever... it seemed like AJ and Brian were always the funniest ones, playing off each other, and then Nick would be trying too hard to be funny. I can appreciate Kevin and Howie's sense of humor more now, but they're a little more subtle about it, so I never really saw it back then.
One of my favorite videos that shows what I was saying above is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwfTuzEkNkQ It's from when they were getting their makeup done for their old men sketch from the Black & Blue tour. Stuff like this is why I love the A-Rok combo so much (not in a slashy way). The two of them are SO different, but they compliment each other so well.
Do you find that the perception you had of the boys when you first became a fan is still the way you write them, or has your portrayal of them changed over the years as maybe your perception of them has changed too?
That's true. I guess I only think of AJ within the last decade. I've never been an A Rok person so I tend to ignore their interactions. I just picture AJ as a goofy guy.
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My perception of most of the guys has changed over the years. I used to really struggle with Howie like you, Tracy. But I think I've grown to understand him a lot more now. And I feel like I understand Brian and AJ a lot less. Nick has grown so much and changed so much it's hard to write him the way I used to. I guess the only one that really would kind of stay the same for me would be Kevin.
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I definitely have recycled my stuff. I plagiarize myself a lot without realizing it lol if I could do a reboot of one of my old stories it would be my very first one, Mizpah.
A Mizpah reboot would be awesome!
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Another question, before I forget it: Have you ever reused/recycled a storyline, like written more than one story with a similar premise, just done in a different way?
If you haven't done this, which of your storylines would you choose to recycle?
I asked the question about recycling storylines because I've realized I totally do this, to some extent. In my first year of writing fanfic, I wrote a heart transplant story, a cancer story, a bus crash story, a liver transplant story, and an AIDS story. My last three novels have been a heart transplant story, a cancer story, and an AIDS/liver transplant story, and I have another bus crash story planned out (ER crossover). I guess this is kind of inevitable when you write so much medical drama because, let's face it, some illness/injury scenarios are just more interesting than others. Writing and reading about a character's battle with cancer is more compelling than their battle with irritable bowel syndrome or something LOL. I've also been able to improve on the way I tackle these topics, and the "recycled" versions are not only a lot better written, but have some kind of twist that makes them different.
If I could recycle any old storyline that I haven't yet, it would probably be "Fight for Survival," which is about the Boys trying to survive in the Rocky Mountains(?) after a plane crash. I love a good survival story and have always wanted to write another one, but have never quite pulled together a storyline. I think I could do it more justice now than I was able to do back then.
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A Mizpah reboot would be awesome!
I second this because that story is one of my favorites.
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If I could redo a story it would be In A World Like This. Classic bus crash story but I had poor execution. I would love to do a rewrite. And When I Grow Up. Premise was great but again, I know I can do better.
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Hey if Netflix keeps rebooting everything, why can't we? I say go for it everyone!
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Hey if Netflix keeps rebooting everything, why can't we? I say go for it everyone!
I really wish they'd stop running my childhood with these terrible sequels and reboots. Anyone else?
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The only reboot I've watched is Gilmore Girls and I just watched it the first time this year so it didn't really feel like a reboot. I hate sitcoms so in my eyes some of those reboots like Fuller House couldn't get any worse for me lol
They teased on twitter the possible reboot of Alias which would make me beyond happy!
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If I could redo a story it would be In A World Like This. Classic bus crash story but I had poor execution. I would love to do a rewrite. And When I Grow Up. Premise was great but again, I know I can do better.
Do it! We could always use more bus crash stories.
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I don't mind reboots of old shows with the original cast, like Fuller House, but I'm sick of remakes.
Did anyone watch the Dirty Dancing remake on ABC a couple weeks ago? Atrocious!! I thought of giving it a chance because I like Abigail Breslin, even though I absolutely hated the idea of them redoing Dirty Dancing (WHY?!?!), but it was also Survivor finale that night, so I didn't watch. Then I saw all the comments online the next day and figured I had to watch just to see how bad it was, so I caught it on demand. Yeah... it was bad!! Patrick Swayze was probably rolling over in his grave.
I can see remaking certain movies that maybe were limited by the technology of the time in terms of what they could do. One remake I really like is the 2005 version of King Kong, even though I love the original too. I also loved the live-action Beauty and the Beast - not more than the original, which is my fav Disney movie, but just in a different way. But there are some movies, like Dirty Dancing, that are timeless and should not be touched. You can never improve on something like that.
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I also hate when moviemakers (George Lucas) go back and change things in classic movies (Star Wars). To me, that is like embellishing a classic work of art, like painting clothes on the sculpture David or something. They are historical artifacts and should be left as is!
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I forgot that I also watched the Prison Break reboot and really enjoyed that as well.
I have actually never even seen the original Dirty Dancing. I never had the desire and after hearing about how awful the remake was, thought I'd just stay away from that as well. I've also never seen or wanted to, Top Gun, Footloose or any James Bond movies lol
I loved the live action Beauty and the Beast but nothing compares to the original.
I agree about the whole Star Wars thing. Just leave it alone and walk away, George!
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Aww, the original Dirty Dancing is so good! I have never seen Top Gun or Footloose either, though.
I was so excited for Beauty and the Beast, but so afraid I would be disappointed by it because my expectations were so high, and yet I knew nothing could compare to the original. I think they did a great job with it. It paid homage to the original without trying to be an exact copy. I think the details they added and changed set it apart so I could love it in its own right.
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Do it! We could always use more bus crash stories.
I might look at it and try it again. Cause I know I have grown as a writer since then and I could probably finish it now
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Absolutely! That's what can be good about recycling storylines - sometimes you know you can write them so much better years after you tried the first time.
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I was toying around with the idea of redoing Forces Of Nature. It was a homage to Twister but had AJ as the main character. I never finished it. I love the storm chasing storyline though. I'd probably want to rewrite it and finally complete it.
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You should definitely redo those if you have the urge. It would be neat to see you can put a new spin on your kier stuff.
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Exactly what I was thinking. I've been writing a ton lately. About to update Take Me Home, finish another chapter of my story that's not posted and take a look at some of my unfinished stuff. Weird World is on that list and it's so close to being completed. I might go read it to get my mind back into it.
Does anyone else read their old work once in a while or is it just me.
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I do sometimes. I go back and read parts of in-progress stories pretty often to help me get ready to write, but occasionally I get to thinking about old stories and will get sucked into reading some of them. The really old ones make me cringe, but I've actually enjoyed reading the more recent ones.
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One of the reasons I never remember titles or characters or plots of my stories is because once I write, I never look back. I never ever would read what I wrote. A few years ago I did force myself to read a story and it wasn't half bad. I'd probably be more willing to do it now. Maybe I will. I've wanted to read Why I do it all Again and Hope. I guess those two would be my choices.
I'm going to start a new thread since this one has gotten pretty long.