No, wait! Let me explain!

About the site change. About a month ago I did some serious thinking in regards to the role of art in my life, and I discussed the topic at length with Rose. After some careful thought we came to the conclusion that though we still talk about potential stories and assorted other written projects, we're deluding ourselves by hoping that they may actually someday come to fruition. No amount of movie watching or reading or midnight walks can generate inspiration powerful enough to change the fact that we're both tired and unwilling to sit in front of a computer again after a day's work; weekends are something of a write-off, as between friends, family and errands there really isn't much room for a satisfying writing session. There's nothing quite so frustrating as having to stop writing because it's terribly late and you have to get up before the sun does the next morning.

Because of the abovementioned circumstances, Rose and I find ourselves 'co-zoning' (where we quickly come up with characters and something of a plotline, get very excited over images and possibilities, then basically discuss the whole story until it feels as though it's already been written) instead of actually writing. This is poisonous, to be sure, and we're both acutely aware of it...too bad there isn't a damned thing we've been able to do about it for the past 2-or-so years.

Which isn't to say we haven't been writing. To be honest, I haven't been writing -- the last thing I wrote was a 2-page short, and that's the first piece of work from me in a what must be a year. Rose, on the other hand, continues to work on her Zelda fanfic and has produced a couple other shorts that she's been posting up on FS Connect. The action-adventure/horror original she started a while ago is something I'm pleased to say she's still invested in and has recently completed the third chapter (see the sidebar on the left of the news column to check that out). But that's it. And that's how it's looking like it's gonna be going forward.

So, to reflect that, we decided that the site needed to change. Alot of the work posted on the old FS was very old and didn't reflect our current style or writing quality, which made us somewhat uncomfortable. Aside from Rose's Zelda fic, we no longer write fanfiction that's worth more attention than a simple FS Connect post. On the originals front, we're no longer working on anything other than The Last New Yorker, which takes up alot of juice -- so to speak. As such, we quickly realized that hosting all this 'dead' work didn't really bring us anything positive any more; we need to be proud of what we feature on FS, and we owe it to you to present you with fresh (or at least unique) material.

So what's changed, exactly? The old fanfiction and originals are gone, as are the D&D journals and practically all the Labamba! rants, which were either just plain bad or not really fun/insightful. And...that leaves what? Almost nothing, actually. I struggled with this same question for some time and briefly considered taking down the whole website, but to tell you the honest to God truth I can't see myself ever doing that. I like website design way too much to kid myself into thinking that I can just quit, I love the forums we've got (not to mention there's loads of people on there!), and there's still some pieces of writing Rose and I want to share with you. So giving up on FS was strictly out of the question. So what then? Our options weren't very numerous, as our art sucks too bad to post (except on deviantART, which is a magical place where sucky and kickass artists can live together harmoniously) and we don't produce anything else. The conclusion we came to was that we'd cut the site down to a miniature version of what it used to be, and that it'd serve primarily as a quick-access portal to FS Connect and the stuff of interest posted there. There would be outside links as well, but FS itself would be a free-standing, single-page site much like a liveJournal or other blog-ish thing.

Having said that, if you're looking for something that used to be here but that isn't any longer, e-mail me and ask for it. I still have whatever it is and can send it to you.

♠ KA

P.S. I was pouring myself a cup of coffee last night at around 10:30 or so; it was actually really cold out and the window was open. Rose and I had just hit a nice little lull in our conversation and the whole moment had this kind of sober, contemporary feel to it. I was about to break the silence and comment on it and then out of the blue Rose goes: "What is it when the pill goes in the ass?" in a really concerned tone of voice. It's like...sometimes I wonder why we even live together.