Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => Featured Story of the Month => Topic started by: mare on May 01, 2012, 06:35:14 AM
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Hello and happy May!
This month we are featuring Remember Me This Way by Rose. For those of you that haven't read it yet, it's a tearjerker so have those tissues ready!
If you would like to read along this month let's start with chapters 1 - 10.
Here's the link to the story: http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10108
Please post your comments and questions right here & I'm sure Rose will be happy to answer them for you.
Happy reading!! :)
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Absolutely love this story Rose, as you already know.
What inspired you to write this topic?
Do you need to do a lot of research?
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Thanks Steph!
It came to me in a statistics course I had to takea couple of semesters ago. I'm majoring in Psychology as most people know lol, and I was kinda spacing in class. And literally it was... "hmm, what if this happened to Nick?" and it spiraled from there.
OMG I still have so many links om the topic. I have case studies from textbooks (that came in handy haha), videos from youtube linked, a documentary I found on I think HBO's website, all sorts of stuff saved. I definitely looked up a lot of information so that way I could have this come off as accurately as possible.
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Yay Rose! I love this story! All the angst of a medical drama, but something we haven't seen done to Nick in fanfic before.
I'll come back when I think of a question to ask! LOL
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Thanks ZDR! LOL I have to say, you helped a lot when I wasn't sure about something. :)
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Glad to help! You know I love me some angst! :)
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I love this story! this made me cry.... Im just not sure though if I left any reviews. If I didn't I will when I have time. :)
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As I told Rose several times in reviews, this story reminded me of what I had gone through with my grandmother years ago who had Alzheimer's Disease. It wasn't like how Nick had it, but still was difficult for me and my family to see her deteriorate mentally. It is a very difficult process to see a loved one slowly forgetting everything, including you. In a way this story gave me closure and helped me cope. It also made me cry several times. Thank you for writing this story, Rose. It really touched me in a positive way.
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Thanks Ritz! I didn't know you read this lol.
And aww thank you Tracy. It's weird, how the disease affects people in different ways. I'm so touched the story affected you in that way. :)
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AHHHH, IT'S THE STORY THAT MADE ME CRY!!!! :'(
Where is that bitch?! >:( *wanders off, searching for Rose, still angry at her for making me go through a freaking box of Kleenex.*
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LMFAO thanks Reb!
My favorite thing to hear about this story is when people tell me it made them cry. I was going for tears but when I see that with some I got them, it's probably the biggest compliment ever. Especially since this was my first major tearjerker story.
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Lots of things made me bawl honestly. The ending had me in a puddle lol
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LOL awwww.
The ending I knew from the prologue. Like almost line for line. It's weird, I almost never know the ending that well, just a general idea. But with this one, I knew exactly how I wanted to write the epilogue. If it helps, I teared up as I wrote certain points of the story LOL.
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As I've told you before, it felt sooo damn real, like I wanted to tweet Nick and be like, "Are you okay bro?" Lol.
Okay, my question... not sure if it was asked yet, cause I'm on my phone, lol, but you could've easily struck any of the members with this sad and unfortunate ailment. Out of all of them, Kevin probably would have been the easiest, given you could have ran with his age, but I felt there was a deeper reason why you chose Nick, besides it being really rare for someone his age to be struck with this ailment. So, why Nick? Who else would you have wrote this storyline for if you didn't choose Nick?
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Part of the reason I went with Nick was because of how he is right now. He's so happy, so vibrant and so full of life, I felt the tragedy would've been bigger, to cut it down. I liked the idea of using Nick to really take away things he's never done yet (marriage, kids). Not to mention as the youngest, it tapped into the "older brother" feelings of the others. This time they couldn't protect him, this time they couldn't fix it. He had to stand alone while the others supported him and watched.
If it had to be someone other than Nick, I probably would've used Kevin. So that I could take away the one who'd always been there for them. But it was too easy a choice, given his age. I wouldn't have used AJ, it just didn't fit, same with Howie. There's Brian I guess, but with his faith so steadfast I feel like the difficulty wouldn't have been as high.
The other thing is, though this is very much centered on Nick's relationships as everyone, I did use this to focus in on the Frick and Frack relationship. Brian's at the center of all of it. I test that friendship to the end. I've always been such a Nick/Brian girl and so putting that through the ringer was another reason I wanted it specifically to be Nick.
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Also Nick is just fun to torture, right? LOL
Like you said, Rose, I think there's just something so tragic about it happening to the youngest one and the other four having to watch him deteriorate. Alzheimer's is sad at any age, but at least when it happens to an old person, you can take comfort in knowing that at least they lived a long, full life leading up to that. But to strike Nick down in his prime... that is brutal! But tragically beautiful, in the twisted way we angst-lovers can appreciate LOL.
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Yes, yay for Nick torture! LMAO.
Exactly, it's far sadder to have it happen to Nick, than any of the others. I struck Nick down as young I could do it realistically. It's mean, it's cruel...and it's fun LOL. I'm twisted that way.
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Congrats on being featured, Rose! I really liked this story. Also, I really liked the graphic you used for it, all the photos and Nick looking so reminiscent always made me smile. Which is probably the wrong reaction because he couldn't remember anything, LOL!
I remember when you were writing this, I think you ended it a bit earlier than you had originally intended. What was the reasoning behind that, and was it a hard decision for you to come to?
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Thanks! LOL well reminscent was more for the Boys, who Nick wanted to remember him specifically how he was and not how he became.
I debated about how far I wanted to let Nick go. I always knew the Epilogue was going to be a leap into the future a few years and Brian's POV. I just didn't know how bad I wanted Nick to degenerate before I hit there. I was gonna let Nick get really bad, but getting there required a lot of filler. And honestly it was more filler than the raw material that I was debating actually using. So after a certain point, I just realized that constant visits to the home wasn't the way I wanted to go. One visit summing everything up at the end seemed to be a better fit for me.
And thanks to Julilly's songfic challenge, it gave me a companion one shot where you get AJ's POV too lol.
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Not a lot of stories make me cry, but this is one of them. I think having Nick go through it had more impact than if it had been any of the others too. Poor Nick, we all love to torture him :)
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Awwww yay!
Glad to know I gave kleenex a boost in sales LOL.
And yeah, I gotta say, I've tortured all five at one point or another... Nick torture is by far the most fun. It's out of love Nick, I swear! LMAO.
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1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.
4) What made you come up with the concept of this one?
5) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
6) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
7) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
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1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
Hmm, oh I toyed with the idea of writing it in first person, but I figured I'd write myself in a corner once Nick stopped being able to remember things. So I stuck with third.
2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
A little over a year, this one came fast lol.
3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.
Nick Carter had it all. Yet despite that, he appreciated none of it. Caught within old habits that once threatened to destroy him, in one moment, he'll learn something that may put everything in perspective. But will it be too late?
4) What made you come up with the concept of this one?
It was literally just a random musing during a very dully statistics and research methods class LOL.
5) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
Other than Nick you mean? Brian. I loved writing Brian because since the beginning I wrote this as if it was Brian writing this as a promise to Nick. It was so neat trying to be in his head and write as "him" and then write him as a character within the story.
6) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
Jane Carter. It took a lot for her to FINALLY see what she had in Nick, but I knew I had to do that to get her there. She really doesn't deserve forgiveness. But forgiveness isn't about if you deserve it, it's about compassion.
7) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
Of course! I love my Boys and I knew this had to have all of them.
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Good morning! Time to read the next set of chapters. Let's read 11 - 20 :)
I'll be back with some more questions later!
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Hello! Time to read the next set of chapters. Let's read chapters 21-30 by next Tuesday :)
Rose, which scenes did you find most difficult to write?
How did you come up with the lyrics and ideas for the fictional album and songs in your story?
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One of the hardest scenes I had to write is when Nick first tells Kevin. It's the first time I actually teared up writing it. It's just a very emotionally charged moment. This is Kevin, and he breaks down himself a bit, despite the fact he's supposed to be the strong one. Though, how could anyone stay strong, hearing that?
Another hard one is when Aaron shows up at Nick's hotel when he's there in NYC doing solo promo. I hated writing Aaron like that (he annoys me but still lol). Partly because his behavior comes from someone in my own life. I understood Nick so well in that moment. At the same time, to get the story where I wanted, Aaron had to be like that.
As for your second question, I was so amazed anyone liked the lyrics for the fictional album lol. A lot of those were poems I'd come up with and then rearrange a bit so that they would work more as songs. I used two real songs, "Scream" and "Story of My Life", because they fit the story. When I came up with this idea, I thought of things Nick would want to be sure to do. An album was automatically one of them, a last hurrah, you know? That BSB song "I Did It For You", I'd just gotten it, and it felt like a very fitting title for the album. Nick's love for the ocean, and the idea of him being washed away, it just seemed a good representation of what was happening to him.
And since he knew he'd never use or remotely need the money, I liked the idea of him setting up a non-profit as another way of leaving his mark in the world.
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Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I was having trouble getting onto the site!
Time to read the last set of chapters to this wonderfully sad story. Don't forget to post your comments & questions to Rose & I'll be back with more when I'm not sneaking from school lol
Happy reading!
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Some more questions for you, Rose.
What made you decide to end it the way you did?
Why did you pick Brian to tell Nicks story?
Did you ever need to step away from writing this because of how emotional it was?
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What was everyone's favorite part of this story?
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What made you decide to end it the way you did?
I always had the epilogue in my head from the moment I wrote the prologue. IWITW is their trademark and although it's really tragic that Nick no longer remembers it, it's the song that really made it's mark, I wanted to touch on that. And it had to be in Brian's POV, because it just made everything more personal.
Why did you pick Brian to tell Nicks story?
Because I'm a Frick/Frack girl, it gave me a chance to explore that bond from a different angle. Brian is the one that has the hardest time letting Nick go. He's the one who to the end, prayed for a miracle to come and save his best friend. He's the one who doesn't want to put Nick in a home. This is as much Brian's tale of letting go, as it is Nick's journey, I think.
Did you ever need to step away from writing this because of how emotional it was?
There were times I'd have to stop in the middle of a chapter cause the writing got too intense and I found myself tearing up. But at the same time, I cracked a lot of very insensitive jokes with Julie, which helped. Not because I don't take the disease seriously, I do (it's the worst thing to possibly happen in my opinion) but because it gave an emotional break.
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What was everyone's favorite part of this story?
It's hard to decide on a favourite part for me. I just love the way they all handle Nick's illness and are there for him no matter what and didn't just abandon him.
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I think that's my favorite part too. I love how they all come together to support him. Rose did a great job in the bromantic department with this one lol
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Thank you! I loved writing the group bromance Lol.
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I loved the whole story, but the first part that came to mind was when Nick wanders off on Thanksgiving (or was it Christmas?) and goes missing... partly because Rose and I made a lot of jokes about it on IM as she was writing it, and partly because when I actually read the finished scene, it was really sad and scary and showed just how bad he'd gotten and how freaked out by it the Boys were.
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I know it's June and all but I just started reading this story! okay I know it's because Rose is my reading challenge partner but I have been meaning to read it.
So far I am enjoying what I'm reading and the subtle hints that she's already started putting in the chapters before the diagnosis. It is a great way of leading it to show that it's not something that happens overnight and I have my tissues ready.
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I loved the whole story, but the first part that came to mind was when Nick wanders off on Thanksgiving (or was it Christmas?) and goes missing... partly because Rose and I made a lot of jokes about it on IM as she was writing it, and partly because when I actually read the finished scene, it was really sad and scary and showed just how bad he'd gotten and how freaked out by it the Boys were.
Traveling Thanksgiving.. . Christmas was the Carter Christmas LOL. We're horrible, but the pics you made still crack me up LMAO.
I know it's June and all but I just started reading this story! okay I know it's because Rose is my reading challenge partner but I have been meaning to read it.
So far I am enjoying what I'm reading and the subtle hints that she's already started putting in the chapters before the diagnosis. It is a great way of leading it to show that it's not something that happens overnight and I have my tissues ready.
Thanks! That's to me, the scariest part, is how signs show up but you typically don't notice them as they're easy to shrug off.