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Author Topic: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)  (Read 131485 times)

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #675 on: June 03, 2021, 12:22:50 AM »

Oh no!  I wondered what was up with you.  I hope you get some answers - fingers crossed that they are the kind of answers you want to hear!  No wonder you haven't been on as much.  I always get a headache when I don't drink enough water too.  I hope you rehydrated and are feeling better today!  Glad you were able to keep the streak alive!

Here's to hoping! :) These are the last two tests for me and the news has all been trending in the right direction so far, albeit without the desired end results as of yet, of course. I took a nap and that usually solves the dehydration headaches, but it just didn't. Then I remember that I lost some blood yesterday too, and I was like, oh now it all makes sense, haha. Yup! Doing better today on hydration and was able to finish editing my chapter for update day. I changed a lot more and wanted to track it to compare to last week, but I opted to just send the chapter into the world when it hit 9pm or so (rather than doing edits and deep analytics). Not having Masked Singer to distract me definitely made it easier.


Today was busy, so I didn't write anything until I got home tonight and wrote a sentence just to keep the streak alive.  I may try to add more before I go to bed; we'll see.  But yesterday was the first really good writing day I've had in a while - definitely since my summer started.  I wrote over 2000 words, which is what I need to do more of if I want to make my goal by the end of the month.

Sometimes we've just gotta keep the streak alive. Hopefully today was fun busy the entire time! 2000 words yesterday is awesome! It sounds like you're getting into the summer writing groove; I hope you have several 2000 plus word days coming up! I believe in you making your goal!


Most them are similar to the fanfic banner, but not exactly the same.  The dimensions are different (more like a real book cover), so what works on a banner doesn't always work with the book cover.  I actually just started making new, more minimalistic covers that don't include pictures of the Boys - that way, if people do want to download them to read on Kindle or whatever, they don't look like fanfic.  Once I finish grammar-checking all these old stories on Google Docs, I'll remake and repost the ebooks.

I think I had turned on the grammar check by the end of Bethlehem, so hopefully Google caught most of them too.

That makes sense. I love all these neat extra things you do for your readers. It's probably nice to be able to read on an e-reader as opposed to a phone or computer screen. I love the idea for more minimalist covers. I feel like most book covers are pretty minimalist too.

And don't forget Text-to-speech! I'm sure that helped too. :)


Better than for Unsuspecting Sunday, its short story predecessor.  It has a few kudos, and one person has commented so far.  She had an awesome reaction to the first shocking moment of the story, which was fun to read.  It's been so long since I started that story, I forgot how much I looked forward to reactions like that.  It's fun having people read it for the first time.

That's awesome! I always love when readers share their reactions to specific parts, especially when they're meant to be shocking/tear-jerking/angering/etcetera. I'm happy you're finding new readers with this repost.
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #676 on: June 03, 2021, 12:57:13 AM »

What made you decide to get an account on AO3 back then? Exposure in a different place? Seemed busier? I guess this is a question for everyone who cross posts, what was the appeal of moving back to the ff.net-esque websites?

I don't know how long AO3 has been around, but that must have been when I discovered it.  I went ahead and got an account so I'd have it in case I wanted to post my stories there, and then I guess I just forgot about it.  That was during my semi-hiatus while I was getting my master's, so I probably didn't have the time to post stories there then.

While I will always love having my own site, it seems like fandom has moved away from individual sites in favor of big archives.  I do like the archives for the variety and amount of stories there.  The reader/writer interaction is nice, too.  I still have a handful of readers who leave comments on my site, but since I've started posting on AO3, the majority of my feedback comes from there, just as it used to come from reviews on AC.  I guess that's what it comes down to - I cross-post so I can reach a wider audience than just the people who visit my website.


I think so too! I'm not a big fan of "Dead Dove. Don't Eat." stories, but as I said, I'll still read them. (A reference to a scene from Arrested Development that essentially means "this is horrifying from start to finish with really dark content. I have warned you, don't complain if you hate it.")

I'm trying to think if I have ever read a fanfic that would qualify as that.  (And thank you for explaining what that means because I've never come across that phrase before.)  Maybe a short story, but I can't think of a novel that was truly dark from start to finish.  Even the darkest suspense stories I've read had happy endings.  I have read published novels that would probably qualify though, and I've enjoyed those, even though they were depressing and/or horrifying.  So I guess there's an audience for everything.  I always feel the need to give disclaimers for my stories that I worry may be too dark for some readers, but I have yet to have someone tell me they're too dark.  But even those stories weren't dark all the way through.


I didn't used to track it so meticulously either. I would just count the total time I spent staring at the computer, which was often hours. I typically go to NaNo and open a "update stats" pop up, then set the time I start writing and then if I focus fail, I'll write down when the top says "x minutes since last change" and adjust the start time later (or right then if I'm on top of it.)

You do say you're always looking for boredom projects though, lol.

That's a good way to do it.  Maybe I'll have to try it that way tomorrow.


Oh easily! Sometimes there's an idea you can't let go of and you just gotta write it right then, but then once it's on paper... Poof! I wish I felt more inclined to finish my unfinished things. I'm also not happy to be seen as someone who doesn't finish things, but I also disappeared for several years, so maybe there's no expectations for me. Which is honestly freeing! Maybe everyone's new opinion of me is "cared enough to come back." I'll take that, lol.

So I hear you saying that the path to finish Guilty Roads may be your own guilty road. Hopefully it leads to endless love and you have some control. ;) I'll see myself out.

LOL That's very true.  I don't think any of us expected you to come back to fanfic, so anything you post at this point is just an added bonus.  The readers who weren't around when you were writing before won't have any preconceived notions about you, and those who remember you as someone who disappeared without finishing projects will be impressed by your regular posting schedule and ability to finish stories.  I certainly am!  I'm glad you cared enough to come back.

LOL Love it!  It is a guilty road, for sure.


Same! I'm glad we got a little more prolific, though how nice to read an entire novel in like twenty minutes, lol.

LMAO at "the BSB of late 90s free website hosting sites." I remember nothing! Just that it existed. But as you know, I save everything, so it's possible when I go back to cleaning the house, I'll find it. I vaguely remember writing down my usernames and passwords on a piece of paper at some point and obviously saved that because how could it not be important!

I'm so unoriginal, lol. No, that's not my story. You'd probably be better off googling the first line or something if you want to deep dive into Angelfire. I cringe so hard at this story and my terrible spelling, oh to be eleven again and have a Romeo and Juliet-esque story about Nick in my heart, lol:

I was sitting in my room doing nothing at all and being very bored. My mom and dad occasionally went past, but that was it. I would have been eating dinner if it weren't for my brother and Benevolant.

You're totally right and that's very admirable of you.

Aww!  I googled your first line and couldn't find it.  I'm glad you still have the story saved though.  Aww, a Romeo and Juliet story.  Did Nick and the girl both die at the end?  I wrote a Romeo and Juliet-esque story back in the day too.  It was very silly.  I had read the real Romeo and Juliet by that point in my life, but I'm sure it was the Leo movie that inspired me more LOL.


Elves makes sense. LMAO! It was the weirdest video, what do all those things have to do with Christmas?! I'm starting to wonder if I should have done drugs before I watched it. Would it have made sense then? lol

When do I have? Until 2022? I can figure that out by then probably. I still owe you some word chickens. They're almost done, just not quite up to my vision.

LMFAO! I love these banners so much. Is this series better at Christmas time?

I've always said whoever came up with the concept must have been high, and I bet the experience of watching it is better if you're high too LOL.

Whenever you want!  We already have shirts from the 2019 DNA tour, so I don't know if we'll make new ones for next year.

Thanks!  They all take place at Christmas time, and I have tried to write them at Christmas time, but the last two got so long, I ended up starting them before Christmas and not finishing them until February in one case and April in the other.  If I was smart, I would start writing them in the summer so they'd be ready by Christmas, but I've always gotten ideas at the last minute.


Also true! Maybe we need a panel of high schoolers to tell us what they think of their novel. Do high schoolers still text each other? Do they have gym class? Would they jump at the chance to hang out with demons in a mythical world? Would they love our favorite PTSD amnesiac with a hair-trigger temper like I do? What if they hate the boyband vibes of our protagonists? Maybe I've made a mistake getting back into this story ten years later, lol.

Ooh, yeah, I think the medical advancements would be the harder thing to update than the "high schooler vibe." At least it's there if you want to revisit it.

Thank goodness we have old footage to remind us! But then I get sucked into the nostalgia instead of focusing on Nick's behaviors and speech patterns, lol. Alas. Now I want to read stories about 41-year-old Nick's married with children life written by a 14-year-old! This sounds judgy, but I just want to appreciate the naivety. I wonder what types of problems he would have... I just know how much I struggled with making Kevin a full dimensional character at that age and he was only in his late twenties/early thirties.

LOL We need a "Teens react to... BSB fanfic!"  Or "BSB fanfic turned original fiction!"

A teenybopper story about the Boys today would be entertaining for sure.  I know, I was so naive too, and I was mostly writing about Brian, who is only ten years older than me.  But there's a big difference in life experience from 15 to 25.  In my first story, I originally had Brian fall in love with a 16-year-old (because I was 14, so 16 sounded, like, so mature).  Then I realized that was technically illegal, so I aged her up to 18.  She and her twin sister both drove brand new VW Beetles in different colors because that was my dream car as a 14-year-old, and I had unrealistic expectations of what kind of cars teenagers would get to drive LOL.


I don't want to judge your body burying techniques, but I'm inclined to say that if it involves a lawn mower, you might be doing it wrong? lol

Clearly the lawnmower is to cut the body into smaller pieces so it's easier to bury!  The bones would probably mess up the blade though.
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~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #677 on: June 03, 2021, 01:15:56 AM »

Here's to hoping! :) These are the last two tests for me and the news has all been trending in the right direction so far, albeit without the desired end results as of yet, of course. I took a nap and that usually solves the dehydration headaches, but it just didn't. Then I remember that I lost some blood yesterday too, and I was like, oh now it all makes sense, haha. Yup! Doing better today on hydration and was able to finish editing my chapter for update day. I changed a lot more and wanted to track it to compare to last week, but I opted to just send the chapter into the world when it hit 9pm or so (rather than doing edits and deep analytics). Not having Masked Singer to distract me definitely made it easier.

Good!  I hope it continues to go in the right direction.  I am definitely not an expert, but I've heard it can take a lot of time and a lot of tries to get pregnant even when there is no fertility issue.  Hang in there!  Glad you're doing better today and were able to get your update done, even if you didn't get to edit and analyze it as deeply as you wanted to.

I agree about Masked Singer.  I love having TV shows to look forward to during the school year, but in summer when I'm off my schedule anyway, I don't really care.  I still have shows on Tuesday nights, and I haven't watched any of them yet.


Sometimes we've just gotta keep the streak alive. Hopefully today was fun busy the entire time! 2000 words yesterday is awesome! It sounds like you're getting into the summer writing groove; I hope you have several 2000 plus word days coming up! I believe in you making your goal!

Tonight was fun busy; we went out to dinner and played trivia at a bar and won third place!  The rest of the day was spent running errands and getting my car serviced, so not so fun.  But now that I've gotten my adulting out of the way, I can retreat back into my fanfic bubble.  I'm in the middle of this Kevin chapter now and don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, so it should be more productive writing-wise.


That makes sense. I love all these neat extra things you do for your readers. It's probably nice to be able to read on an e-reader as opposed to a phone or computer screen. I love the idea for more minimalist covers. I feel like most book covers are pretty minimalist too.

And don't forget Text-to-speech! I'm sure that helped too. :)

Thanks!  A lot of it stems from summer boredom and wanting to work on something fanfic-related without actually writing LOL.  Making banners and book covers is fun and requires a lot less mental effort.  I started making the ebooks sometime after getting my first Kindle Fire and before getting a smartphone.  It's a lot easier to read on a phone nowadays because most websites have mobile versions, but it wasn't back then.  I still prefer the ebook versions for when I'm wanting to read a whole novel.  I made them for a bunch of my old favorite stories by other authors too, and I've read my own too... and highlighted all the mistakes I found to edit later... ugh. LOL

I am proud of my minimalist covers because I am not a minimalistic person by nature.  They look more mature than my banners.

You're right; text to speech did help!


That's awesome! I always love when readers share their reactions to specific parts, especially when they're meant to be shocking/tear-jerking/angering/etcetera. I'm happy you're finding new readers with this repost.

Same!  I'm surprised because she's one of the kinky ones, and my story is not kinky.  But it's nice to see a slash writer enjoying my slash story, even though it's not full of sex scenes.
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~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #678 on: June 03, 2021, 01:35:23 AM »

Can't wait to hear Mare's contributions, lol.

I feel like I always used lame normal names like Victoria or Jessica or something like that. Maybe Minako is the most fanfictiony name I have? And it's only "weird" because I (and likely most of my readers) are English-speaking. I literally can't think of a fanfictiony name I've ever used.

LOL!  Mare comes up with the best ones!

I don't think Minako is that fanfictiony either.  It's different, but only because it's not a common name here.

I haven't used many fanfictiony names either.  I wrote a girl band story back in the day with characters named Ashalyn and Elyssa, which were more on the fanficcy side for me.  I also wrote a short story with a vampire character named Nastassia.  But otherwise, my female characters mostly have normal names.

I did write a parody back in the day called "Not Another Teenybopper Fanfic," and the girls in that story were named Nikki Cartier, Taylor, Ali, Praline, and Safyre.  It's a toss-up between Safyre and Nikki Cartier as the most fanfictiony name I have ever used.
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nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #679 on: June 03, 2021, 09:40:28 PM »

I don't know how long AO3 has been around, but that must have been when I discovered it.  I went ahead and got an account so I'd have it in case I wanted to post my stories there, and then I guess I just forgot about it.  That was during my semi-hiatus while I was getting my master's, so I probably didn't have the time to post stories there then.

While I will always love having my own site, it seems like fandom has moved away from individual sites in favor of big archives.  I do like the archives for the variety and amount of stories there.  The reader/writer interaction is nice, too.  I still have a handful of readers who leave comments on my site, but since I've started posting on AO3, the majority of my feedback comes from there, just as it used to come from reviews on AC.  I guess that's what it comes down to - I cross-post so I can reach a wider audience than just the people who visit my website.

That kind of thing happens to me all the time! Where I do something and forget about it.

I wonder if it's due to the variety, but also that it's a lot harder to lose things in general. Like all those abandoned Angelfire sites from way back when. I enjoyed AC because it brought a lot of people together, more than just an individual site would, but I also enjoy that authors have control over the way their work looks more with their own sites, so you get the full experience of their vision.

I think it's the community of AC that I miss. It's very different when it's quiet. Maybe some day someone will review something I post on AO3 and it'll feel like a community again, lol. At least this forum is still here. :)


I'm trying to think if I have ever read a fanfic that would qualify as that.  (And thank you for explaining what that means because I've never come across that phrase before.)  Maybe a short story, but I can't think of a novel that was truly dark from start to finish.  Even the darkest suspense stories I've read had happy endings.  I have read published novels that would probably qualify though, and I've enjoyed those, even though they were depressing and/or horrifying.  So I guess there's an audience for everything.  I always feel the need to give disclaimers for my stories that I worry may be too dark for some readers, but I have yet to have someone tell me they're too dark.  But even those stories weren't dark all the way through.

As promised, I will explain random tropes and fanfic things I know of when I mention them, lol! I think it's harder to make a novel dark throughout than it is to make a short story dark throughout. But you're right, there are definitely published novels that qualify better, though I can't think of one off hand at the moment.

Lately I've been worrying that I haven't given enough disclaimers. Like should I go back and add specific warnings to chapters? I just hate spoilers, but I don't know if people would prefer having them if they're willing to risk a spoiler. I like that "chose not to warn" exists.


That's a good way to do it.  Maybe I'll have to try it that way tomorrow.

Did it work?


LOL That's very true.  I don't think any of us expected you to come back to fanfic, so anything you post at this point is just an added bonus.  The readers who weren't around when you were writing before won't have any preconceived notions about you, and those who remember you as someone who disappeared without finishing projects will be impressed by your regular posting schedule and ability to finish stories.  I certainly am!  I'm glad you cared enough to come back.

LOL Love it!  It is a guilty road, for sure.

I didn't expect to either, and yet, here we are. It's probably heavy in the nostalgia and leaning into things that made sense. We can't say I'll finish anything yet, there's still five chapters, lol. Let's reserve that judgement for when I finish something that's not related to PBox. ;) Kidding, I'll probably finish it. I think it helps that like eleven-year-old Dee, I once again have stories in my heart that want to come out. And once it was enough of a thing, it's just not the same writing without the community. Not readers necessarily (though readers are nice too), but talking to other writers. :) As always, I'm happy to be back! :)

Do people often come back? I feel like it's usually more of a "once they're gone, they're gone" type thing.

Thanks for always enjoying my jokes. Backstreet jokes were something I didn't know I missed making until there were appreciative people to tell them to around again, lol.


Aww!  I googled your first line and couldn't find it.  I'm glad you still have the story saved though.  Aww, a Romeo and Juliet story.  Did Nick and the girl both die at the end?  I wrote a Romeo and Juliet-esque story back in the day too.  It was very silly.  I had read the real Romeo and Juliet by that point in my life, but I'm sure it was the Leo movie that inspired me more LOL.

I kind of have it saved? I think I got thirteen chapters of it on AC before something died. I might have it somewhere, but that would require a lot more effort.

They did not die! It was less a tragedy and more inspired by the rival "families" aspect. I feel like at the end of the story, the Boys won the battle of the bands competition and Nick got the girl. lol That sounds accurate based on my vague memory of it. The only other things that sticks out is Nick climbing in her window to see her like in Clarissa Explains It All, lmao.

Obviously the Leo movie! I don't think it's the worst adaptation of the play, but I also enjoy Baz Luhrman contrasting the ancient with the modern. He did it in Gatsby too and people hated it! But I always defended his choice.


I've always said whoever came up with the concept must have been high, and I bet the experience of watching it is better if you're high too LOL.

Whenever you want!  We already have shirts from the 2019 DNA tour, so I don't know if we'll make new ones for next year.

Thanks!  They all take place at Christmas time, and I have tried to write them at Christmas time, but the last two got so long, I ended up starting them before Christmas and not finishing them until February in one case and April in the other.  If I was smart, I would start writing them in the summer so they'd be ready by Christmas, but I've always gotten ideas at the last minute.

Absolutely! Not about to test that theory, but I agree completely.

Hmmm... I have ideas. I'll get back to you.

Aww, I feel like a holiday story works better when you're in a holiday mood. Maybe channel the Boys in Bethlehem and decorate your house with Christmas decorations, lol. I can see why they would take a while though.


LOL We need a "Teens react to... BSB fanfic!"  Or "BSB fanfic turned original fiction!"

A teenybopper story about the Boys today would be entertaining for sure.  I know, I was so naive too, and I was mostly writing about Brian, who is only ten years older than me.  But there's a big difference in life experience from 15 to 25.  In my first story, I originally had Brian fall in love with a 16-year-old (because I was 14, so 16 sounded, like, so mature).  Then I realized that was technically illegal, so I aged her up to 18.  She and her twin sister both drove brand new VW Beetles in different colors because that was my dream car as a 14-year-old, and I had unrealistic expectations of what kind of cars teenagers would get to drive LOL.

YES! lol Please teens, tell me what I've done wrong! I just don't want to turn Minako into a VSCO girl or anything!

It was only 7/8 years for me (I relished the time between our birthdays when it was only seven years, lol), but I just didn't have a clue on what a nineteen-year-old was doing with their life! Hence why I posted my old stories and laughed and said they were terribly naive as a college student (who then understood what a nineteen-year-old was doing with their life, which was... being a mess).

I get it! 16 is mature when you're 14. Sixteen-year-olds can drive, they have some level of responsibility, they seem so cool. And then you reach 16 and you're like "What was I thinking?" Aw, brand new VW beetles, so 90s! I also had unrealistic car expectations. I wanted a BMW Z3 so badly and not only could I have ever gotten one of those as a lower middle class student, but no one at my high school had one (or a Z4 by that point). Heck, I have an adult job now and still can't afford a BMW, lol.

You know, I had originally made Minako 17 in PBox because I was 17 when Never Gone came out and I... just didn't care about the legality that she was 17 and Nick was 25, supposedly. Again, the whole thing was less squicky when Nick reads 18 and in the big edit, I took out any clear definite age references (even though Minako and Renee are clearly still in high school). Then PNecklace starts with a reference to college, so that's my way of saying "we're all legal age here, don't @me about my questionable life choices in 2005," lol.


Clearly the lawnmower is to cut the body into smaller pieces so it's easier to bury!  The bones would probably mess up the blade though.

See, I foresaw this argument in response, but not only would the bones mess up the blades, but you would also spray blood everywhere. It would not be subtle. I stand by my judgement of your choice of tools to assist in the body burying.
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #680 on: June 03, 2021, 10:05:15 PM »

Good!  I hope it continues to go in the right direction.  I am definitely not an expert, but I've heard it can take a lot of time and a lot of tries to get pregnant even when there is no fertility issue.  Hang in there!  Glad you're doing better today and were able to get your update done, even if you didn't get to edit and analyze it as deeply as you wanted to.

I agree about Masked Singer.  I love having TV shows to look forward to during the school year, but in summer when I'm off my schedule anyway, I don't really care.  I still have shows on Tuesday nights, and I haven't watched any of them yet.

You're right. I also think it's harder for many people if they're trying in their thirties rather than their early twenties as I'd say most people do now. Wish it was something that was talked about more because it is a roller coaster of emotions that feels a little isolating at times. But dwelling doesn't usually help (except that one time I took inspiration from it for my writing), so it's important to just keep moving forward. Thanks for the support from afar!

I was worried about finishing! I had a moment where I thought, "Do I post this without editing to get it out on time?" It all worked out fine, but I've been telling myself that I need to start my edit on Sunday this week to be sure it's done. I've gotten about 600 words today, but ended up watching two tv episodes during dinner, so I may be done for the night. I'm going to try popping into my other arc and see if anything more substantial sparks from that. I'm trying to decide if I want to give AJ a specific powerup that I've never mentioned before... I'm wondering if it would be too unforeshadowed or make him too powerful without the proper training... Then again, everyone else has some downer shenanigans going on and he's fine, so I may need to give him something horrible so he doesn't feel left out, lol. I've also spent today hitting refresh on my stats, which I know they never jump crazily or anything, but I always do it anyway. It's a bad habit, lol.

That's just about the only show I watch live anymore, so it was nice knowing that I didn't have the commitment yesterday. I have so much tv I need to catch up on at some point, but I figure there's plenty of time. You've also got a whole summer!


Tonight was fun busy; we went out to dinner and played trivia at a bar and won third place!  The rest of the day was spent running errands and getting my car serviced, so not so fun.  But now that I've gotten my adulting out of the way, I can retreat back into my fanfic bubble.  I'm in the middle of this Kevin chapter now and don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, so it should be more productive writing-wise.

Congrats! Third place is awesome! Ugh, I hate getting my car serviced. I'm about due, but my mileage is never as high as they say it should be, so I don't even know that I have to go in, but hubs always insists.

Adulting is over-rated anyway! Retreat! lol I hope it's been a productive day and you've written many things about Kevin. :)


Thanks!  A lot of it stems from summer boredom and wanting to work on something fanfic-related without actually writing LOL.  Making banners and book covers is fun and requires a lot less mental effort.  I started making the ebooks sometime after getting my first Kindle Fire and before getting a smartphone.  It's a lot easier to read on a phone nowadays because most websites have mobile versions, but it wasn't back then.  I still prefer the ebook versions for when I'm wanting to read a whole novel.  I made them for a bunch of my old favorite stories by other authors too, and I've read my own too... and highlighted all the mistakes I found to edit later... ugh. LOL

I am proud of my minimalist covers because I am not a minimalistic person by nature.  They look more mature than my banners.

You're right; text to speech did help!

I get it. I've been wondering what fanfic related project I can pick up and I have zero ideas, lol. I think I just have to write. That makes sense! The internet in the early days of smart phones was a disaster. Are kindles and such less popular now because websites are more mobile friendly or do you think it's about the same? What a labor of love to make them for other fanfics! Is it easier to spot mistakes on the ebook format than computer? I wonder why that is? Same reason everyone says to write in comic sans?

I've always wished I could be the type of person who is minimalist because their aesthetic just seems so sleek. But, I am also not a minimalist person at all. This office that needs organizing speaks volumes on that without me saying anything, lol.


Same!  I'm surprised because she's one of the kinky ones, and my story is not kinky.  But it's nice to see a slash writer enjoying my slash story, even though it's not full of sex scenes.

I'm just happy you found a new reader enjoying your Nowie whether its kinky or not. :) I think it's always a good compliment when you're writing in an untypical genre and an author who writes in that genre enjoys your work. Feels like you're doing something right!
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #681 on: June 03, 2021, 10:12:24 PM »

LOL!  Mare comes up with the best ones!

Here at least. I can't imagine Mare actually using fanfictiony names in her stories.


I don't think Minako is that fanfictiony either.  It's different, but only because it's not a common name here.

I haven't used many fanfictiony names either.  I wrote a girl band story back in the day with characters named Ashalyn and Elyssa, which were more on the fanficcy side for me.  I also wrote a short story with a vampire character named Nastassia.  But otherwise, my female characters mostly have normal names.

I did write a parody back in the day called "Not Another Teenybopper Fanfic," and the girls in that story were named Nikki Cartier, Taylor, Ali, Praline, and Safyre.  It's a toss-up between Safyre and Nikki Cartier as the most fanfictiony name I have ever used.

Exactly.

I think vampires are a tossup. They need kind of out there names even though I guess they could technically be from any era. Ashalyn and Elyssa don't seem that bad.

Oh, now that you mention Nikki, I think I had a Nicole once. But I would only call Nikki/Nicole a fanfictiony name in BSB fandom because of how close it is to Nick. Same with something like Brianna, Alexandra, or... Howina and Kevandra? There's not a clear gender flip for those two, lol. Doubly so for Cartier being almost Carter, but also a fancy jewelry company, lol.

I think in a satire/parody, it would be wrong not to pick fanfictiony names. However, I noticed you didn't list Praline as a fanfictiony one and that screams fanfictiony to me as well, lol. I laughed so hard when I originally read that one, more than Nikki Cartier or Safyre.

I've now written "fanfictiony" so many times that it feels like even less of a word than it did before, lol.
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #682 on: June 03, 2021, 10:39:07 PM »

That kind of thing happens to me all the time! Where I do something and forget about it.

I wonder if it's due to the variety, but also that it's a lot harder to lose things in general. Like all those abandoned Angelfire sites from way back when. I enjoyed AC because it brought a lot of people together, more than just an individual site would, but I also enjoy that authors have control over the way their work looks more with their own sites, so you get the full experience of their vision.

I think it's the community of AC that I miss. It's very different when it's quiet. Maybe some day someone will review something I post on AO3 and it'll feel like a community again, lol. At least this forum is still here. :)

Yes, all very true.  I keep a "link graveyard" on my site, mostly just to help myself keep track of those old sites that are no longer online so I can at least access them through the Wayback Machine if I want to reminisce.  There are definitely pros and cons to both, and that's why I enjoy cross-posting my stories.

I miss the community too.  I enjoy our nightly conversations, but I wish it wasn't just you and me usually LOL.


As promised, I will explain random tropes and fanfic things I know of when I mention them, lol! I think it's harder to make a novel dark throughout than it is to make a short story dark throughout. But you're right, there are definitely published novels that qualify better, though I can't think of one off hand at the moment.

Lately I've been worrying that I haven't given enough disclaimers. Like should I go back and add specific warnings to chapters? I just hate spoilers, but I don't know if people would prefer having them if they're willing to risk a spoiler. I like that "chose not to warn" exists.

I'm learning so much from you!

The first published novel that came to mind when I made that comment was "The Ruins" by Scott Smith.  It's a great horror/survival novel, but once it gets going, it just keeps getting darker and darker and never lightens up.  Another one I thought of is Stephen King's "Cujo."  That was the first book I read by him, and it's great, but much darker than the movie version.  I'm sure there are plenty of other examples, but those were the two I thought of right away.

I don't think you need to add specific warnings.  Mine are usually pretty generic, just warning readers that a story is going to be depressing or an emotional rollercoaster.  I hate spoilers too, so I would never warn about specific things that happen in the story.  If people are that easily triggered by sad or scary things, they should probably stick to fluffy romance.  But again, it's never been an issue as far as I'm aware.  The "Author chose not to use warnings" tag is basically a "Read at your own risk" disclaimer anyway.


Did it work?

Well, I forgot to track it as I was writing, but I did go back and look at the actual times it recorded changes in the version history.  I was amazingly focused today!  I wrote for four hours, and the longest pause I had was 23 minutes long.  Besides that one, I didn't have a pause longer than 6 minutes the whole time.  And I only watched one YouTube video!  I got 1,500 words written, yay!  Hoping to write some more tonight, but I haven't gotten back to it yet.  I did more grammar checking and editing on SAMS and finished making my minimalistic ebook covers.

Speaking of which, if you want a banner for PNecklace or anything else, I'd be happy to make you one.  I've been in the mood the last few days and have run out of my own stories to make them for.


I didn't expect to either, and yet, here we are. It's probably heavy in the nostalgia and leaning into things that made sense. We can't say I'll finish anything yet, there's still five chapters, lol. Let's reserve that judgement for when I finish something that's not related to PBox. ;) Kidding, I'll probably finish it. I think it helps that like eleven-year-old Dee, I once again have stories in my heart that want to come out. And once it was enough of a thing, it's just not the same writing without the community. Not readers necessarily (though readers are nice too), but talking to other writers. :) As always, I'm happy to be back! :)

Do people often come back? I feel like it's usually more of a "once they're gone, they're gone" type thing.

Thanks for always enjoying my jokes. Backstreet jokes were something I didn't know I missed making until there were appreciative people to tell them to around again, lol.

I have faith in you that you'll be able to finish five chapters!  How did the writing go today?

People come back to check in here every now and then, but I can't remember the last time anyone started writing and posting new stories after being gone as long as you were.  Maybe never.  It does seem like once people move on from writing fanfic, they move on forever.  Sometimes to other kinds of writing, and sometimes to other hobbies and real life stuff, I guess.


I kind of have it saved? I think I got thirteen chapters of it on AC before something died. I might have it somewhere, but that would require a lot more effort.

They did not die! It was less a tragedy and more inspired by the rival "families" aspect. I feel like at the end of the story, the Boys won the battle of the bands competition and Nick got the girl. lol That sounds accurate based on my vague memory of it. The only other things that sticks out is Nick climbing in her window to see her like in Clarissa Explains It All, lmao.

Obviously the Leo movie! I don't think it's the worst adaptation of the play, but I also enjoy Baz Luhrman contrasting the ancient with the modern. He did it in Gatsby too and people hated it! But I always defended his choice.

Aww!  I hate when that happens.  My R&J story is missing its epilogue, but I don't think much happened in it.  Knowing me, it was probably some cheesy scene in the afterlife because I was a big fan of those as a teenybopper LOL.  Mine was actually a sequel to a story in which Nick ruined his liver and needed a transplant and got Justin Timberlake's liver... yeah.  And then the R&J-esque sequel was about Nick falling in love with a girl who turned out to be Justin's sister?  Which I guess is where the R&J comes in, because Justin was always Nick's arch-enemy in my stories LOL.  Anyway, they get into a car accident in the middle of nowhere toward the end of the story, and Nick slowly dies of liver failure after his body rejects Justin's liver because he doesn't have his anti-rejection meds with him.  Then the girl remembers she has a bottle of Tylenol or something her purse, and she takes the whole bottle and kills herself out of grief.  I wrote some really stupid shit back in the day LOL.

I like your battle of the bands take on it with the happy ending!  And Nick climbing into her window like on Clarissa!  That is so cute.

I like Baz's R&J better than Gatsby, but I didn't think Gatsby was horrible.  My favorite Baz Luhrman movie is Moulin Rouge.


See, I foresaw this argument in response, but not only would the bones mess up the blades, but you would also spray blood everywhere. It would not be subtle. I stand by my judgement of your choice of tools to assist in the body burying.

LOL Very true - mowing over a body would be a bad idea!  Hopefully I'll never have to dispose of one...
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RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #683 on: June 03, 2021, 11:03:01 PM »

I was worried about finishing! I had a moment where I thought, "Do I post this without editing to get it out on time?" It all worked out fine, but I've been telling myself that I need to start my edit on Sunday this week to be sure it's done. I've gotten about 600 words today, but ended up watching two tv episodes during dinner, so I may be done for the night. I'm going to try popping into my other arc and see if anything more substantial sparks from that. I'm trying to decide if I want to give AJ a specific powerup that I've never mentioned before... I'm wondering if it would be too unforeshadowed or make him too powerful without the proper training... Then again, everyone else has some downer shenanigans going on and he's fine, so I may need to give him something horrible so he doesn't feel left out, lol. I've also spent today hitting refresh on my stats, which I know they never jump crazily or anything, but I always do it anyway. It's a bad habit, lol.

I'm glad you were able to finish, even if it was down to the wire.  Is AJ's powerup important to the rest of the plot?  Does he need to have it now, or is it something you could foreshadow now and have him develop later?  (Though I'm not sure when, if you only have five more chapters... maybe in the next story? LOL)  You probably don't want him to come across as some kind of Chosen One who has all these extra powers no one knew about right when he needs them, so if there's not a way to foreshadow it, maybe you should try to come up with something else.  Lucky AJ, staying out of the drama LOL.

I checked my stats on AO3 today too and noticed that, after my novels, the short story that has the most hits is the stupid sci-fi/slash/m-preg I wrote for an April Fool's challenge here.  It doesn't have any comments and only kudos, but it has that damn Nick/Brian tag, so people clicked on it.  So if you want to improve your stats, have Nick and Brian kiss and slap a slash tag on it LOL.


Congrats! Third place is awesome! Ugh, I hate getting my car serviced. I'm about due, but my mileage is never as high as they say it should be, so I don't even know that I have to go in, but hubs always insists.

Adulting is over-rated anyway! Retreat! lol I hope it's been a productive day and you've written many things about Kevin. :)

Ugh, I know.  And of course they found an oil leak, so now I have to take it back next week to get that fixed.  There's always something, which is why I hate taking it in.  I usually go over my mileage and the recommended number of months, and nothing bad has happened... except apparently a leak? LOL  But I don't know if there's any correlation there.

Adulting sucks.  I did absolutely nothing productive today in the real world except dishes, and it was glorious!


I get it. I've been wondering what fanfic related project I can pick up and I have zero ideas, lol. I think I just have to write. That makes sense! The internet in the early days of smart phones was a disaster. Are kindles and such less popular now because websites are more mobile friendly or do you think it's about the same? What a labor of love to make them for other fanfics! Is it easier to spot mistakes on the ebook format than computer? I wonder why that is? Same reason everyone says to write in comic sans?

I've always wished I could be the type of person who is minimalist because their aesthetic just seems so sleek. But, I am also not a minimalist person at all. This office that needs organizing speaks volumes on that without me saying anything, lol.

I'm not sure about the popularity of e-readers.  I've learned to like reading that way because it's easier to lie in bed and read in the dark than with a paper book.  But I currently don't have a working Kindle, so I have to read on my phone.  It's okay, but I prefer having a bigger screen.  So I think there's still a place for e-readers for those who don't need a physical book.

I do think it's easier to find mistakes when I'm reading that way, maybe because fewer words fit on the screen so it's easier to focus on what's there instead of skimming?  I obviously didn't catch them all that way though because Google keeps finding more LOL.

It's not hard to make the actual ebooks.  I downloaded a free program called Calibre that does it.  It's just a matter of converting a doc to PDF and uploading it; then Caliber can convert it into different ebook formats that work for Kindle, Nook, etc.  The most time-consuming part was making a cover for each one, but like I said, I actually enjoy doing that, so it was fun.

I am way too materialistic to be minimalistic LOL.  My aesthetic is more colorful and cluttered.  But it's organized clutter.


I'm just happy you found a new reader enjoying your Nowie whether its kinky or not. :) I think it's always a good compliment when you're writing in an untypical genre and an author who writes in that genre enjoys your work. Feels like you're doing something right!

Absolutely!  It's a huge compliment.
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~Julie

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RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #684 on: June 03, 2021, 11:15:51 PM »

Here at least. I can't imagine Mare actually using fanfictiony names in her stories.


Exactly.

I think vampires are a tossup. They need kind of out there names even though I guess they could technically be from any era. Ashalyn and Elyssa don't seem that bad.

Oh, now that you mention Nikki, I think I had a Nicole once. But I would only call Nikki/Nicole a fanfictiony name in BSB fandom because of how close it is to Nick. Same with something like Brianna, Alexandra, or... Howina and Kevandra? There's not a clear gender flip for those two, lol. Doubly so for Cartier being almost Carter, but also a fancy jewelry company, lol.

I think in a satire/parody, it would be wrong not to pick fanfictiony names. However, I noticed you didn't list Praline as a fanfictiony one and that screams fanfictiony to me as well, lol. I laughed so hard when I originally read that one, more than Nikki Cartier or Safyre.

I've now written "fanfictiony" so many times that it feels like even less of a word than it did before, lol.

LOL No, and all the ones she has come up with were for jokes, either joke stories or jokes here on the forum.  But she does come up with some great ones!

I've seen several mentions of "Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way" on Reddit, and I thought it was just a joke, like the most Mary Sue fanficcy name ever, but apparently that is the name of the real main character from an infamous Harry Potter fic called "My Immortal."  I had seen references to this story before, but never looked it up, so I finally did...  OMG, it's so bad you can't tell if it's real or satire.


I think vampires are a tossup. They need kind of out there names even though I guess they could technically be from any era. Ashalyn and Elyssa don't seem that bad.

I think Nastassia the vampire was literally from Transylvania LOL, so I wanted to give her an Eastern-European sounding name.  It means "resurrection," so it worked for an undead character.

Ashalyn and Elyssa aren't too bad, but they are more teenybopperish than the typical name I would pick out.  It's the Ys LOL.  And the E instead of A in Elyssa.  I had read another fanfic with a character who spelled it that way and thought it was cool.


Oh, now that you mention Nikki, I think I had a Nicole once. But I would only call Nikki/Nicole a fanfictiony name in BSB fandom because of how close it is to Nick. Same with something like Brianna, Alexandra, or... Howina and Kevandra? There's not a clear gender flip for those two, lol. Doubly so for Cartier being almost Carter, but also a fancy jewelry company, lol.

Absolutely - nothing wrong with Nikki/Nicole until she ends up in a BSB fic and falls in love with Nick LOL.  Same with the other gender-swapped names.  There were a lot of Briannas and variations of Alexandra/Ali back in the day too.  Poor Howie and Kevin... they don't even have Mary Sues named after them!


I think in a satire/parody, it would be wrong not to pick fanfictiony names. However, I noticed you didn't list Praline as a fanfictiony one and that screams fanfictiony to me as well, lol. I laughed so hard when I originally read that one, more than Nikki Cartier or Safyre.

I've now written "fanfictiony" so many times that it feels like even less of a word than it did before, lol.

LOL I always loved Praline too.  I'm glad it made you laugh!  They were all fanfictiony in different ways - some for being overused in our fandom, others for just being weird and/or spelled weirdly.
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nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #685 on: June 03, 2021, 11:28:25 PM »

Yes, all very true.  I keep a "link graveyard" on my site, mostly just to help myself keep track of those old sites that are no longer online so I can at least access them through the Wayback Machine if I want to reminisce.  There are definitely pros and cons to both, and that's why I enjoy cross-posting my stories.

I miss the community too.  I enjoy our nightly conversations, but I wish it wasn't just you and me usually LOL.

I wonder if anyone else utilizes your link graveyard. I've seen a bunch of people recommending it on the fanfic reddit lately, but I feel like it's definitely easier to try to find something that used to be on an Angelfire or Geocities site and not an archive like AO3. Speaking of archiving, if there's anyone out there that misses the 2008 version of PBox and wants to archive it for personal reasons, I still have it and can pass it along to whoever; if you want the 2006 version of the first nine chapters, I don't reliably have access to that anymore, lol.

I also enjoy our nightly conversations. I think we're too long winded for everyone else to catch up and chime in, as opposed to the old days when we were too fast, lol. It's probably a little different if not everyone is consistently writing along with us and I think Tracy works nights a lot when we're here? Did I make that up? Really I'm just able to be here because hubs is either away on work trips or busy watching twelve sporting events at once, lol. I just sit next to him and type away.


I'm learning so much from you!

The first published novel that came to mind when I made that comment was "The Ruins" by Scott Smith.  It's a great horror/survival novel, but once it gets going, it just keeps getting darker and darker and never lightens up.  Another one I thought of is Stephen King's "Cujo."  That was the first book I read by him, and it's great, but much darker than the movie version.  I'm sure there are plenty of other examples, but those were the two I thought of right away.

I know a lot about a bunch of random stuff! lol Most of it is not useful in my day-to-day life, but you can't bet I am excited to mention these things when they are, lmao.

I haven't read The Ruins, but Cujo definitely fits! Stephen King writes so many dark things, it's great. I need to read some more of his more recent stuff.


I don't think you need to add specific warnings.  Mine are usually pretty generic, just warning readers that a story is going to be depressing or an emotional rollercoaster.  I hate spoilers too, so I would never warn about specific things that happen in the story.  If people are that easily triggered by sad or scary things, they should probably stick to fluffy romance.  But again, it's never been an issue as far as I'm aware.  The "Author chose not to use warnings" tag is basically a "Read at your own risk" disclaimer anyway.

I think I'm letting the posts in the reddit get to me and their opinion seems to be "warn about everything," haha. I figure I haven't fully tagged any of my stories anyway and probably won't do any tagging that would lead anyone genre blind to me, so... Maybe the specific "graphic depictions of violence" in addition to "chose not to warn" has tipped people off that I write dark stuff.


Well, I forgot to track it as I was writing, but I did go back and look at the actual times it recorded changes in the version history.  I was amazingly focused today!  I wrote for four hours, and the longest pause I had was 23 minutes long.  Besides that one, I didn't have a pause longer than 6 minutes the whole time.  And I only watched one YouTube video!  I got 1,500 words written, yay!  Hoping to write some more tonight, but I haven't gotten back to it yet.  I did more grammar checking and editing on SAMS and finished making my minimalistic ebook covers.

23 minutes is so short! Great job staying focused! I think a six minute pause is totally fine; sometimes you need a screen break. Yay, 1500 words! You were so productive today! I hope you can get back into it too. Glad your fanfic adjacent projects are going well. :)


Speaking of which, if you want a banner for PNecklace or anything else, I'd be happy to make you one.  I've been in the mood the last few days and have run out of my own stories to make them for.

Aww! I would love it if PNecklace had its own little banner. :) Thanks for the offer! As you know, digital media is not my forte, lol. Should I go on a google image hunt for you or just give an aesthetic?


I have faith in you that you'll be able to finish five chapters!  How did the writing go today?

People come back to check in here every now and then, but I can't remember the last time anyone started writing and posting new stories after being gone as long as you were.  Maybe never.  It does seem like once people move on from writing fanfic, they move on forever.  Sometimes to other kinds of writing, and sometimes to other hobbies and real life stuff, I guess.

I got my 600 words in earlier, 2 one hour sessions of 300ish words. I did end up switching arcs and got about 200 more words, but I may be done for the day as I popped back over to see if you replied, lol. I think I need to spend some time mulling over my AJ situation.

I was always an AJ as far as writing goes, may as well be prodigal daughter as well, lol. (I know the allegory is not exact here.) I'd always hoped I would find something to say again at some point, so I'm glad it finally happened. :) Kind of bummed I missed the cruise years though. I guess I technically moved on, but it was more being creatively spent than just not being interested anymore. Glad some other people check in sometimes. Maybe if they see we've been busy, they'll hang out longer.


Aww!  I hate when that happens.  My R&J story is missing its epilogue, but I don't think much happened in it.  Knowing me, it was probably some cheesy scene in the afterlife because I was a big fan of those as a teenybopper LOL.  Mine was actually a sequel to a story in which Nick ruined his liver and needed a transplant and got Justin Timberlake's liver... yeah.  And then the R&J-esque sequel was about Nick falling in love with a girl who turned out to be Justin's sister?  Which I guess is where the R&J comes in, because Justin was always Nick's arch-enemy in my stories LOL.  Anyway, they get into a car accident in the middle of nowhere toward the end of the story, and Nick slowly dies of liver failure after his body rejects Justin's liver because he doesn't have his anti-rejection meds with him.  Then the girl remembers she has a bottle of Tylenol or something her purse, and she takes the whole bottle and kills herself out of grief.  I wrote some really stupid shit back in the day LOL.

I like your battle of the bands take on it with the happy ending!  And Nick climbing into her window like on Clarissa!  That is so cute.

I like Baz's R&J better than Gatsby, but I didn't think Gatsby was horrible.  My favorite Baz Luhrman movie is Moulin Rouge.

I think it's an inevitable part of beginning to write fanfic in the era of floppy disks. Cloud storage is much easier for keeping track of everything.

LMAO! Of course the only semi-compatible liver they could find was Justin's and then Nick ended up dating his sister. Aww, sad his liver was what killed him; I'm surprised he forgot his meds for something like that. You know, it's good that we can look back and laugh at our early writings these days.

I feel like for feeling ho-hum about NSYNC at the time, I have written them a lot. I think I once tried to start a Sabrina-esque story where Nick and Justin were brothers, lol! Because I just didn't care for Aaron. I ended up not liking it, so it was good that I got to read Kelly's version several years later and that it didn't include Justin or Aaron, lol.

Battle of the bands felt like a reasonable BSB rivalry. Really, I'm just glad that the other band wasn't NSYNC; I dodged a cliche there for sure, lol!

Moulin Rouge is definitely his superior film! Overall, I enjoy him as a director, so I'll watch just about anything he does.


LOL Very true - mowing over a body would be a bad idea!  Hopefully I'll never have to dispose of one...

Or at least do the yard work body disposing during the day so you look less suspicious! Seems like that would be better, lol.
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #686 on: June 03, 2021, 11:51:55 PM »

I'm glad you were able to finish, even if it was down to the wire.  Is AJ's powerup important to the rest of the plot?  Does he need to have it now, or is it something you could foreshadow now and have him develop later?  (Though I'm not sure when, if you only have five more chapters... maybe in the next story? LOL)  You probably don't want him to come across as some kind of Chosen One who has all these extra powers no one knew about right when he needs them, so if there's not a way to foreshadow it, maybe you should try to come up with something else.  Lucky AJ, staying out of the drama LOL.

He probably doesn't need to do it now, it just sounded cool. He's done portions of it before (mostly as a joke), but I thought it could be interesting if it had a more practical application. You're right, it would need to be in the next story. The timeline to add it is just too short. Although, I suppose I technically have about twenty unposted chapters where I could go back and add it in if I really wanted it to happen here in the end.

Obviously AJ can't be the Chosen One, Nick is the Chosen One! I'm kidding, lol. Nick struggles so hard all the time, does his best, and gets excited and unfocused when things go his way. AJ is lucky! Why am I being so nice to him and so hard on everyone else? Hmmm... Your days are numbered, AJ!


I checked my stats on AO3 today too and noticed that, after my novels, the short story that has the most hits is the stupid sci-fi/slash/m-preg I wrote for an April Fool's challenge here.  It doesn't have any comments and only kudos, but it has that damn Nick/Brian tag, so people clicked on it.  So if you want to improve your stats, have Nick and Brian kiss and slap a slash tag on it LOL.

I think that's more the slash and m-preg than the sci-fi aspect of it, lol. What was the April Fool's challenge, write a genre totally opposite of your typical work? Okay, but PBox&Co is very much Nick&Brian, not Nick/Brian, even though Brian likes to tease. I just can't lie to people like that for accolades, lol.


Ugh, I know.  And of course they found an oil leak, so now I have to take it back next week to get that fixed.  There's always something, which is why I hate taking it in.  I usually go over my mileage and the recommended number of months, and nothing bad has happened... except apparently a leak? LOL  But I don't know if there's any correlation there.

Adulting sucks.  I did absolutely nothing productive today in the real world except dishes, and it was glorious!

Oh no! Sorry your oil is leaking; that can get pretty scary. Glad it's good otherwise though. I drove my last car with a slowly dying transmission for about a year to a year and a half, so... I get it. It wasn't worth replacing the transmission though since it was a Saturn older than Millennium, lol.

Jealous. I went to work and did the dishes, lol.


I'm not sure about the popularity of e-readers.  I've learned to like reading that way because it's easier to lie in bed and read in the dark than with a paper book.  But I currently don't have a working Kindle, so I have to read on my phone.  It's okay, but I prefer having a bigger screen.  So I think there's still a place for e-readers for those who don't need a physical book.

I do think it's easier to find mistakes when I'm reading that way, maybe because fewer words fit on the screen so it's easier to focus on what's there instead of skimming?  I obviously didn't catch them all that way though because Google keeps finding more LOL.

It's not hard to make the actual ebooks.  I downloaded a free program called Calibre that does it.  It's just a matter of converting a doc to PDF and uploading it; then Caliber can convert it into different ebook formats that work for Kindle, Nook, etc.  The most time-consuming part was making a cover for each one, but like I said, I actually enjoy doing that, so it was fun.

I am way too materialistic to be minimalistic LOL.  My aesthetic is more colorful and cluttered.  But it's organized clutter.

That's a good point, it's like a cross between a phone and a book, and not quite as heavy as a tablet. I just like the way real books smell... but I also haven't read anything in a while.

That makes sense that it would be easier to catch with fewer things to focus on. Sorry Google keeps finding more though.

Oh, I'm glad there's a program! I was curious how you were using your website skills and digital savvy to convert files. Does it require you to have a cover or do you just like adding one in?

Same! All of that the same for sure. Case in point, I wore lobster print shorts today, lol.
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #687 on: June 04, 2021, 12:08:04 AM »

LOL No, and all the ones she has come up with were for jokes, either joke stories or jokes here on the forum.  But she does come up with some great ones!

I've seen several mentions of "Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way" on Reddit, and I thought it was just a joke, like the most Mary Sue fanficcy name ever, but apparently that is the name of the real main character from an infamous Harry Potter fic called "My Immortal."  I had seen references to this story before, but never looked it up, so I finally did...  OMG, it's so bad you can't tell if it's real or satire.

I feel like it's almost harder to take a joke and run with it sometimes, so I always appreciate Mare's thought in her jokes. If anything, the backstories of these fanfictiony Mary Sues are better than their names.

Yeah, it's wild, right?! I didn't read too much into it, but it's all over TV Tropes too (and as you know, I love TV Tropes) and curiosity got the better of me a long while ago. Is it still updating or is it finally finished and/or abandoned?


I think Nastassia the vampire was literally from Transylvania LOL, so I wanted to give her an Eastern-European sounding name.  It means "resurrection," so it worked for an undead character.

Ashalyn and Elyssa aren't too bad, but they are more teenybopperish than the typical name I would pick out.  It's the Ys LOL.  And the E instead of A in Elyssa.  I had read another fanfic with a character who spelled it that way and thought it was cool.

So Eastern-European, so meaningful. My other OF story I've worked on for a while, I went all in on meaningful names for the characters. The rival was definitely named Damon (for its "demon" meaning) and I had a character that came out of a coma and used light powers named "Uriel," so... I was team baby name book for a very long time, lol. Somehow, this never really translated over to my fanfic writing though. I just picked normal sounding names that I liked.

I feel like the 90's were when weird spellings of typical names started, so to me it's more just 90's aesthetic than teenybopperish . Those Ys in the 90's! lol


Absolutely - nothing wrong with Nikki/Nicole until she ends up in a BSB fic and falls in love with Nick LOL.  Same with the other gender-swapped names.  There were a lot of Briannas and variations of Alexandra/Ali back in the day too.  Poor Howie and Kevin... they don't even have Mary Sues named after them!

And Brian falls in love with her too because Brianna is uninteresting, then they have this weird love triangle only for Brian and Nick to realize that they didn't love Nikki/Nicole at all, but each other! And then Nick realizes that dating someone with the same name as him would be weird. lol!

And now I have yet another idea for my comedy story. For sure naming the girl in the romance subplot Nikki or Nicole now, lol.

I know! I tried so hard to come up with a genderswap that made sense and I just couldn't come up with anything and just added feminine suffixes, lol! It just wasn't the same when Nick was with Nikki/Nicole and Howie was with a Hailey or a Hannah just because it started with an H.


LOL I always loved Praline too.  I'm glad it made you laugh!  They were all fanfictiony in different ways - some for being overused in our fandom, others for just being weird and/or spelled weirdly.

Ali for the AJ thing, but I don't think Taylor is that teenybopperish . I guess ladies with masculine names are more of a thing now.
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #688 on: June 04, 2021, 12:43:16 AM »

I wonder if anyone else utilizes your link graveyard. I've seen a bunch of people recommending it on the fanfic reddit lately, but I feel like it's definitely easier to try to find something that used to be on an Angelfire or Geocities site and not an archive like AO3. Speaking of archiving, if there's anyone out there that misses the 2008 version of PBox and wants to archive it for personal reasons, I still have it and can pass it along to whoever; if you want the 2006 version of the first nine chapters, I don't reliably have access to that anymore, lol.

I have no idea.  Even having a links page seems obsolete at this point because there aren't many sites outside of the archive site that update anymore.  But there are still plenty of preserved websites with good, albeit old stories on them.  It would be hard to look for a specific story on one of the archives if you didn't know the title or author.  But then, I guess that would be hard to look for anyway.

Have you ever thought about making a website for the Pbox series and your other stories?  There's a fanfic project idea for you LOL.  It's not necessary, but it might be fun to have a place of your own to post not only the stories, but all the behind the scenes kind of stuff you talk about in your update posts here.


I also enjoy our nightly conversations. I think we're too long winded for everyone else to catch up and chime in, as opposed to the old days when we were too fast, lol. It's probably a little different if not everyone is consistently writing along with us and I think Tracy works nights a lot when we're here? Did I make that up? Really I'm just able to be here because hubs is either away on work trips or busy watching twelve sporting events at once, lol. I just sit next to him and type away.

Yeah, I do think we're hard to keep up with, and people that aren't writing or reading anymore probably don't care about most of what we discuss LOL.  Tracy does work a lot of night shifts, but she's more active on Twitter anyway.  We are way too long-winded to have discussions on Twitter! LOL


I haven't read The Ruins, but Cujo definitely fits! Stephen King writes so many dark things, it's great. I need to read some more of his more recent stuff.

If you like survival kind of horror, definitely check out The Ruins.  It's a pretty quick read because it's such a page-turner.  It's about a group of college kids who go off the beaten track to visit some ancient Mayan ruins while they're on vacation in Mexico, and things go horribly wrong.  I reread it last summer for inspiration while I was writing Bethlehem because I got one of my ideas from that book, but it's much darker than Bethlehem.  There's also a movie version that I actually saw before I knew it was a book, and that is good too.  The author of the book actually wrote the screenplay, so the basic plot is the same, but he purposely switched things up to keep you guessing.

I haven't read any of SK's super recent books, but if you haven't read 11/22/63, that is one of my favorites!  I recommend it to everyone because it's not even a horror story, so I think even people who don't like King's usual books would like it.  Do you have a favorite of his older books?


I think I'm letting the posts in the reddit get to me and their opinion seems to be "warn about everything," haha. I figure I haven't fully tagged any of my stories anyway and probably won't do any tagging that would lead anyone genre blind to me, so... Maybe the specific "graphic depictions of violence" in addition to "chose not to warn" has tipped people off that I write dark stuff.

I have noticed that too.  I wonder if that's a generational difference.  There's so much more talk about mental health and trauma and "triggers" these days than there was when we were growing up, so teens today are probably more conscious of that stuff.  I get it to some extent, but at the same time, it's just fiction.  And it does take away from the experience if everything gets an advance warning.  I live for those shocking moments, both as a reader experiencing them for the first time and a writer creating them.  But it seems like the majority of readers these days prefer dark stuff, whether it's kink or angst or full-on horror.  Like I've said, I have posted stuff that made me squirm, and my readers seemed to enjoy it.  If it was ever too much for any of them, they never mentioned it.


Aww! I would love it if PNecklace had its own little banner. :) Thanks for the offer! As you know, digital media is not my forte, lol. Should I go on a google image hunt for you or just give an aesthetic?

LOL I am much more artistic on the computer than I'm capable of being on paper, so it's a trade off.  If you have something specific in mind, definitely go Google image hunt!  Otherwise, a description of the aesthetic you want will work.  If you have a preference of what kind of color scheme, font style, etc. you want, let me know.


Kind of bummed I missed the cruise years though. I guess I technically moved on, but it was more being creatively spent than just not being interested anymore. Glad some other people check in sometimes. Maybe if they see we've been busy, they'll hang out longer.

I hope there will be more cruise years!  I haven't been able to go on one since 2014, and I miss them.

It seems like new albums tend to re-inspire people and bring them back, so maybe the Christmas album will help. 


LMAO! Of course the only semi-compatible liver they could find was Justin's and then Nick ended up dating his sister. Aww, sad his liver was what killed him; I'm surprised he forgot his meds for something like that. You know, it's good that we can look back and laugh at our early writings these days.

I feel like for feeling ho-hum about NSYNC at the time, I have written them a lot. I think I once tried to start a Sabrina-esque story where Nick and Justin were brothers, lol! Because I just didn't care for Aaron. I ended up not liking it, so it was good that I got to read Kelly's version several years later and that it didn't include Justin or Aaron, lol.

Battle of the bands felt like a reasonable BSB rivalry. Really, I'm just glad that the other band wasn't NSYNC; I dodged a cliche there for sure, lol!

LOL What are the chances?  Yeah, the whole thing was so convoluted!  It only took like four days without meds for him to die, which I'm not sure is the most realistic.  This was before I did any serious research; I just took whatever tidbits I did know and ran with them LOL.

I'm impressed you didn't use NSYNC for the battle of the bands!  I included them in quite a few of my old stories too, always as villains or being made fun of.
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RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
« Reply #689 on: June 04, 2021, 01:00:51 AM »

I think that's more the slash and m-preg than the sci-fi aspect of it, lol. What was the April Fool's challenge, write a genre totally opposite of your typical work? Okay, but PBox&Co is very much Nick&Brian, not Nick/Brian, even though Brian likes to tease. I just can't lie to people like that for accolades, lol.

Yeah, it was the 2008 April challenge here: http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php/topic,1036.0.html  We had to write something totally different from what we would normally write under a pen name and then try to guess who wrote what.  It was really fun!  That is hands down the worst story I have posted on AO3 though.  It is definitely the slash that gets people to click, not the sci-fi.

I'm not saying lie; I'm just saying maybe there's room for them to become more than friends in the end? I'm just kidding LOL.


Oh, I'm glad there's a program! I was curious how you were using your website skills and digital savvy to convert files. Does it require you to have a cover or do you just like adding one in?

Same! All of that the same for sure. Case in point, I wore lobster print shorts today, lol.

Yep, it was pretty easy once I figured it out.  You don't have to add a cover, but I like to because then it looks like a real book on Kindle.

Lobster shorts!  Love it!


Yeah, it's wild, right?! I didn't read too much into it, but it's all over TV Tropes too (and as you know, I love TV Tropes) and curiosity got the better of me a long while ago. Is it still updating or is it finally finished and/or abandoned?

I think it was finished, but taken down.  It's been reposted by other people, which is how I found it on ff.net.  There's a Wikipedia page about it if you want to read the whole history.  I skimmed it earlier.  It's interesting because no one knows for sure who actually wrote it and what their intent was.  Some author who's writing a memoir took credit for it and said it was satire, but it's not confirmed that she was telling the truth - people have questioned some inconsistencie s.


So Eastern-European, so meaningful. My other OF story I've worked on for a while, I went all in on meaningful names for the characters. The rival was definitely named Damon (for its "demon" meaning) and I had a character that came out of a coma and used light powers named "Uriel," so... I was team baby name book for a very long time, lol. Somehow, this never really translated over to my fanfic writing though. I just picked normal sounding names that I liked.

I feel like the 90's were when weird spellings of typical names started, so to me it's more just 90's aesthetic than teenybopperish . Those Ys in the 90's! lol

I love baby name sites too!  I sometimes tried to go for meaningful names, and sometimes I just used them to find names I liked or that fit the character.

Very true about the 90s names!


And Brian falls in love with her too because Brianna is uninteresting, then they have this weird love triangle only for Brian and Nick to realize that they didn't love Nikki/Nicole at all, but each other! And then Nick realizes that dating someone with the same name as him would be weird. lol!

And now I have yet another idea for my comedy story. For sure naming the girl in the romance subplot Nikki or Nicole now, lol.

I know! I tried so hard to come up with a genderswap that made sense and I just couldn't come up with anything and just added feminine suffixes, lol! It just wasn't the same when Nick was with Nikki/Nicole and Howie was with a Hailey or a Hannah just because it started with an H.

Ali for the AJ thing, but I don't think Taylor is that teenybopperish . I guess ladies with masculine names are more of a thing now.

LOL Yes!  That is one thing I don't think I ever got far enough to include in Not Another Teenybopper Story - a slash storyline!

I think Taylor just seemed like an overused teeny name to me at the time.  I guess that's when masculine names for girls were becoming really trendy.
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~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling
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