Man, I Need To Play A Pokémon Game Now.

[rionaleonhart]

Apparently, zarla's Pokémon website, Neglected Pokémon Lovers Unite!, had its tenth anniversary a few days ago!

'What?' you may ask. 'You've never mentioned this website before. Is it important?'

You probably weren't actually asking that, but I am going to tell you anyway. It is important. It is so important

Comments

[reipan]

THAT'S RIGHT: WHEN I DISCOVERED THE INTERNET, THE FIRST THING FOR WHICH I USED IT WAS BEING A TROLL. I am not proud of this.

Last summer, I dug up what I hope was the current email address of the creator of a certain website I briefly frequented and wrote her a long message apologising deeply for our brief, yet intense, email flamewar when I was twelve - which was, I hasten to add, entirely my fault. We've all been there. (She hasn't replied, but I feel better for having done it.)

I think the first m/m fic I ever read was by you, actually. I was looking through your ff.net account and came across a fic with "Zell/Squall - WARNING SLASH" in the description. I did not know what slash was and I did not know who Zell or Squall were, so I read it to see what this thing you were warning for was, and was mildly perplexed at this shameless, wanton description of two men cuddling.

I came to the fanfiction world a little later than you did - I was eleven. (Hopefully this doesn't make my shameful shameful mistakes any less understandable.) I remember the first fanfic I ever wrote - as well you know - was a Pokemon epic about how Missingno was born from a poor abandoned baby Lapras in a storm. No, wait! I wrote another one before that - it was meant to be an extension of one of the Tamora Pierce series, but I got bored and never posted it. Ah, youth.

When I was twelve/thirteen I went starry-eyed with admiration over self-harm/suicide fics, and if they were about two characters' repressed homosexual relationship, so much the better. That was during my emo phase. I will say that this has made me a permanent sucker for well-written angst and that that is totally not the same thing. (...right?)

...and now let us never speak of it again. >_>

[rionaleonhart]

I find your story of apologetic e-mails terribly charming!

and was mildly perplexed at this shameless, wanton description of two men cuddling.

Goodness, yes. What is the world coming to? (I am quite glad you did not know who Zell and Squall were, because that story was appallingly, ridiculously OOC.)

I remember your Missingno fic! I am quite sad that it is no longer around, alas.

[reipan]

Well, memories of the whole episode kept coming back to me and making me cringe, so I thought that maybe if I could track down the lady in question and apologise I might be able to make my peace with the foibles of yesteryear. ...or something. As I say, she hasn't replied, but knowing that I've actually made the apology has let me stop beating myself up about silly things I did seven years ago. So this story has a happy ending.

(I am quite glad you did not know who Zell and Squall were, because that story was appallingly, ridiculously OOC.)

So I found out several years later! I've now moved on from having no idea who Zell and Squall are to having only the vaguest idea of who Zell and Squall are, so as far as gross miscarriages of fanfic accuracy are concerned I'm still just taking your word for it.

(P.S. My, my, old chap, aren't we speaking formally all of a sudden?)

[moogle62]

Butting in here to say this:

this has made me a permanent sucker for well-written angst - OH MY GOD, I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE. Er. Goddd, I if I find well-written angst in a fic (admittedly this is rare now, because my standards of 'well-written angst' have kind of sky-rocketed since I got out of the 'reading all the terribly-written angst and liking it' phase of being 12/13 (what is it about that age, seriously?), but goddd, nothing can make me fall in love with someone's writing faster. This is because I am 100% ridiculous.

When I am writing something in which angst happens now, I have to be reeeeeally stringent with myself, or it goes all heavy-handed and self-indulgent. FAIL, MOOG.

[wolfy_writing]

I'm the same. I went from "Happily gobbles any cheap, badly-written, over-the-top angst" to only liking the plausible, IC, and well-written versions, but loving them like mad!

[moogle62]

It's a sickness! Except, er, less painful.

HURT/COMFORT AS WELL, OH MY GOD ajhbdjabsj. Clearly these is something wrong with me.

[reipan]

admittedly this is rare now, because my standards of 'well-written angst' have kind of sky-rocketed since I got out of the 'reading all the terribly-written angst and liking it' phase of being 12/13

Agreed. I'm also ridiculously hard on myself whenever I write angst these days. I love it so so much, but I'm terrified of straying into emo - I'm hyperaware of my own melodramatic streak. Give me some realistic suffering, though, and I'm yours for life. Hoyes.

(While I have your attention - got the full first season of Being Human for ninety-eight pence! Amazon discounts and the voucher I won = match made in Heaven.)

[moogle62]

(Ninety-eight pence! I bow down to your Amazon skillz.)

Oh, melodrama, you were good to me in my early teenage years. ♥