Stephen Zacharus:
Aspects of a New Republic? That's the one with "Handcuffs" and "The Art of Love" and "Demon," right? That was a little while later. My next fanfic was "Night." Out of curiosity, what did you think of that?
Sean Catlett:
*shuffles through notes* Ohhhhh... Not bad. I think your best work is Timeline III, though.
Stephen Zacharus:
XD
Sean Catlett:
But let's go into Night. What inspired it?
Stephen Zacharus:
You know, I'm not absolutely certain. I just remember wanting to write something a little darker and edgier than the PG-rated "Wrath," and the idea sort of popped into my head. It's one of my personal favorites. Not necessarily because it's well-written, but because it was a neat concept and it was my first real contribution to the "darkfic" genre that would eventually define my work.
Sean Catlett:
Yeah, you know, when I first heard your name, I thought you were like a pioneer of darkfiction of something.
Stephen Zacharus:
I think I sort of was. I remember getting all jealous when you and M.C. and Rex began getting a lot of attention for darkfiction, and I was thinking, "Well shit, I've been doing that since last year." The thing that really did it for me was that darkfiction article that Rex linked me to. It was written by a columnist for GTKelpie (an exclusive, snobbish, invitation-only Sonic fanfiction site) and it explored the "recent darkfic phenomenon" which was established by, according to this writer, "Sonic Sketchy," "Glint" and "Sonic Noir."
Sean Catlett:
I remember that. Best ego stroke I ever had.
Stephen Zacharus:
Hehehe. And it was certainly deserved. Though maybe not "Sonic Noir," in my opinion (I think that article might be a major contributing factor to Rex's following--and continuing--state of egomania). But "Sketchy" and "Glint" were amazing contributions to the Sonic fandom, and they were very innovative. My stories, by comparison, were more ordinary. Which, looking back, is probably why they received so little attention. The early ones, anyway.
So yeah. "Night" was my first darkfic. And I knew I had a neat little story on my hands. I had a funny feeling that I'd finally get some attention with this one, know what I mean?
And I did. I think it gathered, like, five or six reviews. Which was a HUGE amount for me at the time! Compared to, like, two. Oh, I mean one.
Nobody reviewed "Perspectives," by the way. Zero reviews. Which is fine, because I didn't deserve any. But! "Night" received a little bit of attention. What really got me going, though, was that one of the reviews was submitted by A. Fleury.
Sean Catlett:
The legend herself!
Stephen Zacharus:
Who was an author I idolized at the time, and I admire her work very much today. So yeah, she really liked it. Which was very encouraging for me. I think she even added it to her "favorites" list, which, for me, was out of this world.
Continue to Part Six
