Ah, those crazy days

[lazypadawan]

I watched AOTC on Spike this evening and it brings back the gooey summer days of 2002. Boy, it sure was nice having all of that time on the Metro to crank out A/P fic or finding "inspiration" by visiting places like Ellicott City, MD. Looking back on the type of stuff I wrote then as I post it all on FanFiction.net, it wasn't as hopelessly mushy as I feared ;). I always wrote that stuff bearing in mind that somehow, someway it was bound to come to a tragic end and even so, not every moment of their time together was full of angst and dark foreboding. There had to have been moments of great happiness and joy, and a lot of of my 2002-2003 A/P fic reflected the giddier moments seen in AOTC.

After the recent Metro train wreck, I got a message from someone on the old A/P Defenders thread on TFN I hadn't heard from in ages. The person didn't know I'd moved cross-country since then but after reassuring the person I was a safe 2500 miles from the carnage, I was inspired to look at the old A/P Defenders posts from summer 2002. Then I realized how much I really miss the great discussions that took place. It felt like at times I was actually learning something. What makes it even more painful now is how uninspiring a lot of SW discussion online has become. Twitter is nice for finding out something fast--it's how I found out Michael Jackson had died--but the format just doesn't allow for anything more. Most message boards are full of the same stupid crud. Metas are a dying artform even on formats like LiveJournal.

*Sigh.*

Comments

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

even so, not every moment of their time together was full of angst and dark foreboding.

Absolutely - I mean, even the happiest moments are going to be inherently bittersweet because of what we know happens, but I wonder if too many authors feel A/P always has to include a "but they're DOOOOOOOMED" moment/undertone.

I know what you mean about those discussions - even though there were a handful of times I had to take a break from the thread because of some of the stupid drama that would erupt, at least passionate discussion was taking place. Having plenty of like-minded people to gush with at certain tidbits was enjoyable, too. ;)

I think the biggest part of the drop is just that there aren't any films coming out any more - yes, we still have TV series and novels, but those will never be as big a draw. I saw the same thing happen in HP fandom - after the last book was released, online discussions and fanworks just dwindled drastically, even on boards that used to be jumping. I've definitely noticed it at TMOI, too: in the AOTC/ROTS days I got a ton of submissions/activity; now, things are much more sparse, even with CW.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

It was to be expected and I knew for a long time things wouldn't be the same once the last movie was out for a while. I started reading SW fanzines in 1992 and there were only a handful of zines compared to the number being published 10 years earlier, in the time period between TESB and ROTJ. When there was a resurgence of interest in SW again, the number of zines grew a little but the younger/newer fans pretty much went straight to a new format, the internet.

Concerning A/P fic, there are people drawn to them mostly for the angst, therefore the stories are full of angst. Nothing wrong with that, but there had to have been some happy moments too!

[krpalmer.livejournal.com]

I managed to catch some glimpses of the broadcast myself, which helped remind me of thoughts that it would be nice to watch the Star Wars movies again... I do feel like I somehow missed "the tenth anniversary of TPM" by not being able to watch it.

Still, I had a gloomy certainty about what things "had" to be like in 2002, and missed out altogether on AotC discussion... I could certainly do with more discussion now myself, though. I was also wondering myself if "we've all formed our own opinions" by now, and that has something to do with it...

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Maybe, but it's always interesting to get a new perspective!

[ayajedi.livejournal.com]

I like this post

[felaries65.livejournal.com]

It's interesting. The only two SW movies I love to watch more than the others are EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and ATTACK OF THE CLONES.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

It must be a middle-of-the-trilogy thing. Perhaps both films focus more on the 'ships than the others?

[rkc-erika.livejournal.com]

Yeah I miss our big crazy A/P defenders days also from our crazy weekend online chats to our huge discussions about A/P it was fun. I've moved on and run a bunch of different TV show websites so I don't have time to crank out my world class deep and thought provoking essays like I used to, much less think of writing anything. Once in a blue moon I'll stop over at TF.N to see what's going on but I've put SW behind me.

I do have that my Legend of the Seeker fanboard has a very A/P vibe to it, not as many active male participants though as we had w/ the Defenders, but our members are crazy bonkers for our favorite ship like we Defenders were.

TF.N taught me what I like about fanboards and what I don't so I'll always appreciate my time there. I do miss my friends from there, but you know we all move on :(

Erika aka PLJ

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

You never know, maybe one day you'll be back ;).

Ahhh those glory days....

[animusing.livejournal.com]

I stopped going many moons ago, and sadly ended up distancing myself from the whole thing. Now I look on occasion, but I recognize so few names...

Re: Ahhh those glory days....

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

The thread has changed quite a bit in recent years. It'll spurt every now and then.