Wayback Wednesday #16: 2015

Hello! I hope everyone is staying well!

My latest project born out of quarantine boredom has been posting my stories on Archive of Our Own (AO3).  I’ve been wanting to branch out to a more active fanfic archive for awhile now, since Absolute Chaos is mostly dead these days.  It’s been interesting seeing the differences between archives.  I really like the features and user-friendliness of A03 so far.  I’ve chosen to backdate my stories to their original post dates because I’m OCD, but I decided I’m going to post Curtain Call (and eventually Sick as My Secrets and A Heart That Isn’t Mine) chapter by chapter as if I were still updating them so they have a chance at being seen and read. The problem with backdating is that the stories get buried and don’t show up with the recently-updated ones, which kind of defeats the purpose of posting on a new site. Anyway, if you read or post stories on AO3, please subscribe to RokofAges75. Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated as I try to build up a reader base on a new site!

Since I’ve only posted one of my novels (Secrets of the Heart) on AO3 so far, almost all of my works there are short stories, which are mostly comedies and challenge entries.  I feel like I’m best known for writing drama, but as the past few weeks have shown, I’ve written some pretty silly stories too. For this week’s Wayback Wednesday, I’m blogging about one of the weirdest ones I’ve ever written, even by Rose’s and my standards… Sharkolas!

Title: Sharkolas

Written: August 2015 – July 2017

Straightforward synopsis: After being bitten by a radioactive shark, Nick transforms into… Sharkolas! Half Backstreet Boy, half shark! With the help of his sidekick, Hammerhead Howie, and mentor, Kevin the Magic Turtle, Sharkolas sets off on a quest to save the seven seas by defeating the evil starfish Nakotba, formed by the five members of New Kids on the Block.

The story behind the story:
As with my other collaborations with Rose, I’m fortunate enough to have a complete record of exactly where the idea for this weird-ass story came from. Way back in May 2011, I was watching an episode of The Soup on E! (which I never missed back when it was hosted by Joel McHale), and he made a joke about “Shark AIDS” that I apparently found hilarious.

My new favorite thing? “Shark AIDS.” Thanks @TheSoup.

— Julie (@RokofAges75) May 7, 2011

In searching for a clip to link (which I could not find) while writing this blog, I found an entry for “Shark AIDS” on Urban Dictionary. Apparently it’s a slang term for any unidentified ailment. I had never heard of that before, but then, literally any word or phrase can mean something entirely different on Urban Dictionary.

Anyway, in a fateful move, Rose happened to message me as I was still laughing about Shark AIDS, and the rest played out like this. This is an actual transcript of our chat that night, which I saved because it was hilarious and contained so many ideas.

 

Rose: Hey

Julie: hey! I’m watching The Soup… Joel McHale just said “Shark AIDS” like 5 times.

Rose: LMAO you know my first thought…”Is that like the Nick version of AIDS” I’m so bad LMAO

Julie: LMFAO that could be a new collab idea

Julie: maybe Nick gets raped by a half-girl/half-shark… basically a mermaid, but more shark-like

Rose: LMAO and the poor guy gets Shark AIDS…oh noes!

Julie: and it gives him Shark AIDS. SAIDS.

Julie: or maybe ShAIDS LOL

Rose: LMFAO ShAIDS sounds like an AJ disease

Julie: LMFAO I know!

Julie: I would say maybe he tries to do with a shark what that monkey did with the frog, but that probably wouldn’t turn out so well for him and Thor…

Rose: LMFAO omg I was so WTF at that video. Nick’s so odd…but at least he’s as random as us LMAO

Julie: LMFAO that video was really disturbing, even though I laughed. But yeah, I think we’d get along well with Nick

Rose: He would enjoy our twisted and morbid sense of humor LOL

Julie: he wouldn’t think we were insensitive… though we probably wouldn’t show him RMTW, Broken, and CC

Rose: LOL yeah….we’d need to stop tweeting about those. But hey, Undead…Hemophilia Howie!

Julie: he would totally laugh at Hemophilia Howie

Rose: LMAO Nick would also get a kick out of that zombie porn website

Julie: LMAO totally

Rose: That’s why I’m like…I dunno if Nick should follow me and you lmao…he’d either be really scared or really entertainedLMAO

Julie: I wonder if ShAIDS is kind of like AIDS and lycanthropy combined… all the symptoms of AIDS, but he transforms into some sort of Sharkman too… like a wereshark

Rose: LMAO that would be an epic fantasy angst

Rose: He gets this terrible disease…but eventually it morphs him into a Sharkman!

Julie: LMAO that sounds kind of interesting, actually… silly, but interesting

Julie: it all starts from him swimming naked with the sharks, and he gets bitten…

Rose: Dun dun dun…

Julie: he could be like a superhero… with AIDS

Rose: LMFAO

Julie: what kind of superpowers would a Sharkman have? Breathing underwater, obviously… and tearing through things with his teeth… super-smell, too…

Rose: He’d probably have super swimming speed lol

Julie: he could also use his blood as a weapon… all he has to do is cut himself around his nemeses and be like, “AIDS, anyone? Want some Shark AIDS?”

Rose: Summary: He was living out his dream, swimming with sharks…naked. Kevin told him it was a bad idea, but he didn’t listen. It started with a bite that changed his life…and his anatomy (LMAO)

Julie: LMFAO

Julie: this would be an epically weird superhero angst spoof

Rose: I was just typing how epic a comedy this would be LMAO

Julie: LMAO

Rose: Sharktopus who?

Julie: seriously… Sharkolas is way better

Rose: LMFAO at Sharkolas! OMG perfect superhero name for him

Julie: LMFAO I know!

Rose: LMAO if we did do it, this would totally have the fate of 00Carter where only you and I are weird enough to get our own sense of humor

Julie: LMFAO I know. I was just gonna say, I love how we did this again… took a total joke and, in the span of five minutes, turned it into this whole elaborate, weird yet sort of epic story idea LOL

Rose: LMFAO isn’t that always how our best ideas happen?

Julie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Sharks LMFAO I Googled to see if half-man/half-sharks had been done before

Rose: I’m so in love with Sharkolas…I have the image of photoshopped Nick Shark in my head

Julie: LMFAO that would be epic

Julie: and yeah, that’s totally how our best ideas happen

Rose: OMG I think I watched that cartoon as a kid

Rose: That pic looks really familiar LMAO

Julie: LMAO I was wondering if you had… you’re just enough younger than me that you were probably still watching cartoons like that in 94-95. I think the only cartoons I watched then were NIcktoons.

Julie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389371/

Rose: Yeah, 94/95…8/9…sounds about right LOL

Rose: Personally I love “Jawsome” as a catch phrase lmao

Rose: I didn’t watch it when they did the dino thing though *reading wiki*

Julie: LMFAO YES!

Rose: LMAO at there being a movie

Julie: who could our supervillain be?

Rose: NKOTB…please LMAO

Rose: But we need them to morph to of course

Julie: LMFAO NKOTB merged with some sea creature

Rose: YES lmfao

Rose: LMAO at the names of these villians

Rose: “Slobster”

Julie: I think humans are sharks’ biggest enemies, but maybe a giant squid or some type of whale?

Rose: Whale would be funny…or squid..LMAO they fuse together like the power rangers dinobots did

Julie: LOL what about a sperm whale?

Rose: Each NK is a independant thinking tentatcle

Rose: That could work too LOL

Julie: LMAO that’s funny!

Rose: You know, (and this is just cause ShAIDS is forever gonna make me think of AJ), AJ could be Nick’s sidekick LOL

Julie: that would be funny. What creature could he be?

Rose: LOL Nick could be a great white…AJ a hammerhead

Rose: Although Hammerhead would probably be more fitting to Howie cause of his eye issues LOL

Julie: LMFAO! Hammerhead Howie

Rose: LMFAO! I didn’t even go that far to think of the name for him

Julie: maybe Howie could be the sidekick… cause of course Howie would be second to Nick, and Nick could rip on him all the time (but he would also be the voice of reason to Nick’s impulsiveness)

Rose: LMFAO yes please

Rose: We just like mocking Howie I think lmao

Julie: oh totally LOL

Rose: Poor Howie, but at least he gets to do more than sleep and wink

Rose: LMFAO it’s a shame Hammerhead Howie is catchy… part of me wants to be really mean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_shark

Julie: for NKOTB, with the tentacles idea… I was thinking, it’d be perfect if a squid just had 5 tentacles… so then I was like, what sea creature does just have 5 legs? A starfish! LMAO what if they were something lame, like a starfish, only a giant, radioactive, shark-crushing starfish

Rose: LMFAO omg yes, that’s hilarious, epic, and cheesy

Julie: LMAO aww…

Rose: I have this mental image of Nick as this badass manshark…and Howie as a tiny pygmy lmao

Julie: Nick would totally be a great white

Rose: And I like Howie as a hammerhead, he’d get super winking/lazy eye power

Julie: I’m Googling… there are nine different species of hammerhead sharks, and I think tihs one is the smallest https://seapics.com/feature-subject/sharks/smalleye-hammerhead-pictures.html It’s silly enough looking to be Howie LOL. Also, that page shows its penis LOL

Rose: LMFAO poor Howie

Julie: this is actually the smallest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnethead LOL it even has a pussy name… it’s not a hammerhead, but a “bonnethead.” Fail! It’s only a meter long, so it’d be a lot smaller than a great white

Julie: they’re found off the coast of Florida, too

Rose: LMFAO at Bonnethead

Julie: they’re not as silly looking as that other one though

Rose: So it depends if we wanna go for silly looking or incredibly small LOL

Julie: it looks like the smalleye hammerhead is only a little bigger… 1.5 meters. Great Whites are like 4 meters. So there’d be a big difference in size either way

Rose: Smalleye it is LOL

Julie: yay Hammerhead Howie!

Rose: Best of both mocking worlds

Julie: perfect

Rose: NKOTB STARFISH POWER!

Julie: LMFAO ohh if only it were *NSync… the starfish could be the asterisk!

Rose: LMFAO well it could be…

Julie: NKOTB is more current, though… NSync seems so irrelevent now LOL. Though I never turn down an opportunity to make fun of Justin and Lance

Rose: I agree, though I like the idea of using the old trademark * for that LOL

Rose: Sad days when mocking Nsync isn’t relevant anymore

Julie: LMAO I know, but happy days too

Rose: I dunno, I’d take the 90s boyband vs boyband over now in terms of trends LOL

Rose: Where merging *twitches* is now what gets you mainstream

Julie: this is true

Rose: So back to NKOTB Starfish, we need an evil scientist LOL

Julie: who turns them into a starfish?

Rose: yes LOL

Rose: and created ShAIDS

Julie: OMG. I was just trying to think of who created NKOTB, like the original Lou Pearlman… I knew I knew the name, but couldnt’ think of it, so I Googled. Maurice Starr. STARFISH?! Could that be more perfect?!

Rose: LMFAO! That fits nicely

Julie: so either he’s the scientist or worked with one

Julie: are we thinking this is starting out in reality, not AU?

Rose: I think it’d be more hilarious if it wasn’t AU lol

Julie: yeah, me too LOL

Julie: it’s like the Backstreet Project LOL

Rose: Cause then Howie and Nick have to hide their dark secret from AJ, Brian, and Kevin (cause what’s a BSB fic without Kevin LOL)
Julie: of course!

Rose: I like the idea of it being hulkish…Nick gets angry and he can shark out LMAO

Julie: LMAO yes… like Jacob in Twilight LOL

Julie: and shreds his clothes when he does it

Rose: LMFAO only his don’t reappear

Rose: Howie starts packing spare clothes LOL

Julie: LMAO yeah, and NIck is reduced to wearing the same old torn camo pants all the time

Rose: LMFAO oh yes we need to mock those raggy camo pants he used to always wear

Rose: I hated those things

Julie: LMAO totally

Rose: See this is the real reason Nick got that 6pack, because of his Sharkman abilities

Julie: makes sense!

Rose: Hey, just before Nick sharks out, the little shark tat on his arm can glow LOL

Julie: LMFAO nice!

Julie: so I was wondering how NKOTB becomes a giant starfish… like, why would a scientist turn them into a starfish? LOL So then I was thinking, all the old giant monster movies, like Godzilla and Mothra and so on, were because of radiation. So maybe North Korea tests out one of their nukes on the NKOTB cruise, killing everyone, so it would seem… except for NKOTB, who mutate into a… giant starfish…

Rose: LMFAO that’s perfect

Rose: We could start the story out with a news bit, about the tragic cruise LOL

Julie: instead of Godzilla or Mothra, it could be called Nakotba… LOL like what you’d say if you were trying to sound out NKOTB

Rose: And some sharks absorbed the radiation….which is how Howie and Nick…become what they do LOL

Rose: LMFAO at Nakotba

Julie: yes, and the NKOTBSB tour would be cancelled (cause their cruise is right before; I just looked it up LOL), unless we set the story in 2012 (which would work too)

Julie: Mare might even read it if we promise the nuking of NKOTB in the first chapter LOL

Rose: Lets get rid of NKOTBSB lol

Rose: I mean we prempted it in our solo stories, mocked it in Undead…we should prevent it from happening lmao

Julie: exactly; that’s what caused ShAIDS too. And since their cruise is going from Florida to the Bahamas too, it makes sense… we’ll just have Nick and Howie swimming with sharks in Florida

Julie: yeah, I agree

Julie: so do they both get bitten, or does Nick spread his ShAIDS to Howie?

Rose: Depends…Nick bites and licks people, he could easily spread it to Howie

Julie: yeah… I like that idea, cause then we could start out with just NIck noticing his strange symptoms and trying to hide it, until he finds out Howie is going through the same thing. It could be a revelation after a few chapters.

Julie: Howie can get it when he helps Nick take care of his bite

Rose: Poor Howie lmao

Rose: I wonder if he’ll taste like spicy sushi now instead of hot sauce LMAO

Julie: LMFAO totally

Julie: fish tacos

Rose: LMFAO we’ll definitely need a line in there for that

Julie: that’s a must

Julie: do you realize… this story could also include magic turtles? “Magic,” as in radioactive turtles with superpowers?

Rose: LMFAO omg…magic turtle!

Julie: I wish Kevin could be a magic turtle…

Rose: Maybe that’s how Howie and Nick keep it all a secret

Julie: like the wise mentor magic turtle?

Rose: Sort of like Splinter

Julie: exactly!!! LMAO I was just trying to remember his name, but I totally just thought the same thing

Julie: does that mean all the Boys should be involved?

Rose: OMG yes, we need two oblivious BSBs, wise mentor Kevin turtle…and evil starfish

Julie: or keep them oblivious

Rose: LOL if we involve them all, we’re bordering on a Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtle Spoof

Julie: LOL true

Julie: Brian and AJ can feel left out when they find out

Rose: poor Brian and AJ…plus they can be our damsels in distress

Julie: LMAO epic

Julie: Lauren, too… Nick would have to hide it from her; that could cause drama

Rose: Yes, Lauren too, see plenty of drama…oh noes!

Rose: We need a theme song for Sharkolas lmao

Julie: we can spoof the Spiderman song. Sharkolas… Sharkolas…

Rose: Sharkolas…Sharkolas…does what every a sharkolas does…does he bite? Yes he does…do you like it, yes you do…look out…here comes to Sharkolas!

Rose: *ever

Julie: LMAO perfect

Rose: *a Sharkolas (sometimes my brain goes faster than my hands lmao)

Rose: Would we really title it Sharkolas though? We need a more epic title

Julie: LMAO Sharkolas is pretty funny, like 00Carter, but if we can think if something better, I’m all for it. He can defintely call himself Sharkolas in the story without it having to be our title

Rose: It depends on if we wanna give it away right off LOL

Julie: LOL it could be like Undead where we start off with a vague title and then change it. Depends… we don’t wanna seem like we’re taking ourselves too seriously, but at the same time, if we call it Sharkolas, a lot of people will be like, “That’s fucking stupid” and probably not even give it a try.

Rose: Exactly, so we should probably go for something that we can stick with without changing up the title…but not 100% obvious

Rose: http://media.skateboard.com.au/forum/images/sharkman.jpg LOVE lmao

Julie: LMFAO!!!

Julie: looks like something you’d see on SyFy… epic

Rose: I had to google pic search for the hell of it

Julie: hm… maybe something involving blood, since that’s how it all starts… sharks smell blood, ShAIDS spreads through blood, and there will be bloodshed in the epic battle between Sharkolas and Nakotba

Julie: I bet if we call it Nick’s Naked Time With Sharks, a lot of people would read

Julie: is Nick still going to swim naked with Howie there, or should it just be a shark attack? LOL

Rose: Hmm…Crimson Tides?

Rose: LMFAO!

Julie: that sounds cool, although there’s a movie called Crimson Tide

Rose: It should probably just be a shark attack LOL

Julie: yeah… as funny as naked swimming would be, a shark attack will be more exciting to write

Rose: Somehow I don’t think Howie would be okay with seeing Nick nude swimming with sharks

Julie: so maybe Howie cuts himself… the shark smells his blood, but ends up biting Nick… and that’s how Howie gets the ShAIDS too when he tends to Nick. Plus, then we get to write an epic shark attack and put Nick in peri.l

Julie: peril*

Rose: Woot!

Julie: no, I doubt it LOL

Rose: Yeah, we can have them scuba diving after a songwriting session, I mean Nick did help Howie write a song or two for his solo album

Julie: how does Kevin become a magic turtle? LOL

Julie: but yeah, I like that idea

Rose: That’s a damn good question LMAO

Rose: It’s the power of a double rainbow

Julie: they could all go on a fishing trip together or somethign… but it still doesn’t explain where the turtle comes in?

Julie: LMAO

Julie: maybe Kevin’s been a magic turtle all along… it could be why he quit being a Backstreet Boy. It also explains his dancing.

Rose: Nick wishes for someone wise to help…and the DR helps by mutating Kevin LMAO

Rose: LMFAO!

Julie: LMFAO

Rose: Oh turtle dancing Kevin…

Rose: Yeah, maybe Kevin had an earlier encounter somehow

Julie: LMAO maybe the Genie from Aladdin granted Kevin’s wish to be a turtle when he worked at Disney

Rose: LMFAO

Julie: wait, wasn’t Kevin a Ninja Turtle there too? LMFAO!!!

Rose: Maybe Kevin was in the Bahamas when the NKOTB cruise got nuked. not close enough to actually die, but enough to have radioactive mutation

Rose: LMFAO yes he was!

Julie: LMFAO I love how even though this makes no sense, it almost does… it’s creepy the way it all comes full circle LOL

Rose: I’m a little scared at how random our logic it is and how it can makes sort of sense

Julie: LMFAO

Rose: That’s…frightening yet EPIC lmao

Rose: All we wanted was a magic turtle, this just proves it was meant to be Kevin LMAO

Julie: yeah, it could just be that Kevin was either with NIck and Howie or, like you said, just in the Bahamas and somehow a turtle got involved… or we go with the Ninja Turtle/Disney thing that makes no sense and a lot of sense at the same time

Rose: LMFAO maybe not the last one…but we could crack a few jokes about how that was a sign of his later fate

Julie: LOL yeah, definitely

Julie: hm… the only thing is, if he just recently became a magic turtle, how did he get so wise?

Rose: Well duh, he’s Kevin LOL

Julie: true…

Rose: Kevin seems to always know everything, now he has magical help lmao

Rose: (or ya know, radioactive…)

Rose: We need a catchphrase for Howie since he’s the sidekick

Julie: https://news.discovery.com/animals/pet-turtle-disease.html LMAO Maybe Kevin takes in an orphaned sea turtle that was harmed by the radiation, and that’s where he gets the magic turtle powers

Julie: besides just “And that’s Howie do it!”

Julie: ?

Rose: LMAO I like that as they beat the bad guy

Rose: Awwww that’s perfect! Kevin loves nature, it fits

Julie: or “It’s Hammer time!” LOL

Rose: LMFAO at “It’s Hammer time!”

Rose: I can see Nick humming “Can’t Touch This” after Howie says that

Rose: “Stop! Hammer Time!” (and now I’m singing the damn song lmao)

Julie: LMFAO that’s epic

Rose: Side Note: I love that even with an idea as random as this, we research what we can LMAO

Julie: LMAO of course! I’m looking up sea turtle migration routes to see if there’s any way Kevin could pick up the sea turtle in California. I don’t think that’s realistic. We’ll have to put him in Florida or the Bahamas or somewhere around there, too

Julie: https://mar-eco.no/learning-zone/__data/page/91/migration-route.jpg

Rose: So Kevin heads down to visit Nick and Howie, or he’s on vacay in the Bahamas with the fam, which explains how Kristin and Mason aren’t affected, if it’s just because of the turtle

Julie: they could be on a trip to celebrate their anniversary in June… that’d be like a month after the attack on NKOTB

Rose: That sounds good

Rose: And we can have Nick and Howie bonding a couple months after that, gives Kevin time to have adjusted

Julie: we don’t even have to show any of that; it could just happen independently of Nick and Howie, and when they find out about Kevin being a magic turtle, Kevin could just tell the story

Rose: exactly

Julie: or we could do it in flashback then if we wanted to show it

Rose: I’m just saying timeline wise

Julie: yeah, that totally works

Julie: and since they probably dno’t see Kevin much, neither would have a clue what the other was going through (and of course, they’d hide it)

Rose: Right

Julie: what kind of turtle powers does Kevin have, besides wisdom and mad dancing skillz? LOL

Julie: and does he actually transform into a turtle man?

Rose: A really bad ass barrier

Julie: yeah definitely… protective shield

Rose: I wouldn’t mind if Kevin went green LMAO]\

Julie: LMAO yeah, he could turn green… maybe his skin hardens and becomes impenetrable

Rose: I like it

Rose: Poor Kevin, he already speaks soooo slow lmao, now he talks slower

Julie: LMFAO

Julie: they can tease him about moving slow too because he’s old, not knowing it’s really because he’s part-turtle

Rose: Oh Kevin, we love you too much to let you leave the band in peace lmao

Julie: LMAO

Julie: are we going to give this spoof a tragic ending where, after his great defeat of Nakotba, Nick dies of ShAIDS in captivity of the evil scientists who want to study him? You know, like King Kong, only ShAIDS instead of planes and the Empire State Building LOL

Rose: LMFAO poor Nick

Rose: what happens to Howie and Kevin?

Julie: I guess Howie would die of ShAIDS too. Kevin, I dunno. We didn’t necessarily say he has Turtle AIDS. Maybe it’s not a terminal turtle illness.

Rose: Kevin lives on lol. He wins

Rose: Just like the tortoise and the hare lmao, slow and steady wins

Julie: turtles live forever; it makes sense

Julie: LMFAO yep!

Julie: Nick dies the way he lived, fast and epic

Rose: Going back to the title…I’m googling ocean songs, wave songs, tides songs, if you don’t wanna use Crimson Tides…maybe “riding on a crimson wave” which stuck out to me in a lyric

Julie: LOL that sounds like a period, though…

Rose: LMFAO

Rose: you are so wrong lmao

Julie: just saying LOL

Rose: Okay then, um…

Julie: okay, I’ll think too

Rose: Cause not having a title is gonna drive me crazy LOL

Julie: yeah, ditto; can’t go further without a title

Rose: What about Ocean of Secrets?

Rose: (I’ve moved from lyrics to quote sites LOL)

Julie: hm… maybe? It’s almost too vague, though… it doesn’t really catch my attention

Rose: Good point *continues to search*

Rose: We should just call it Under The Sea and be done with it LMAO

Julie: LMFAO Darling it’s better, down where it’s wetter, take it from me…

Julie: here’s the list I’ve started so far: The Smell of Blood, Blood in the Water, Selachimorpha (that is the superorder of sharks)

Rose: LMFAO at the last one

Julie: LMAO we might have better luck with Sharkolas than that

Rose: I know, part of me wants to use it cause no one would know WTF that is but I agree

Julie: it sounds kind of cool, but kind of like a bad fantasy story

Rose: The irony of tonight btw, I bought some gummy blue sharks to bring home with me tonight (first splurge in awhile) LMAO

Julie: LMAO!!! Destiny…

Rose: Just send you a text lmao

Rose: *sent

Julie: LMFAO!!!!!!!!!! *dies*

Julie: what is Magic Turtle carrying on his back?

Rose: That’s the note he came with when you sent him to me LMAO

Julie: aww LOL *does not remember what it says*

Julie: LOL we could call it Swimmin’ Tough

Rose: “Here’s like a MAGIC TURTLE! for guessing me correctly. May he bring you many random ideas for years to come”

Rose: (which he has btw)

Julie: awww yay

Rose: I think it’s a sweet group photo lmao

Rose: I like Blood in the Water…and LMAO at Swimmin’ Tough

Julie: if not something with blood, sometihng with teeth or maybe fins?

Rose: I’m such a nerd I’m totally holding a gummy shark going…sharkolas…sharkolas..

Julie: LMFAO I would be too, if I had gummy sharks

Rose: LOL you made me think of DWYB…you hit me faster than a shark attack…

Julie: ooooh

Rose: Bite…hmm…Bite to Break (song title lol) Teeth…(WTF at Lady Gaga having a song titled Teeth…)

Julie: LOL that Teeth song is weird

Rose: I don’t even wanna know LOL

Rose: I kinda like Bite to Break, cause this all starts with a bite really LOL

Julie: I do like the bite thing… it sounds cool; I just dunno about using a song title, especially if it’s not even a Bsb song

Rose: And it’s not a full song title, since the full is Bite to Break Skin

Rose: I cut off the skin part since it sounded better LOL

Rose: You know, for an ocean lover, Nick fans on ocean titles

Rose: *fails

Julie: LOL I know

Rose: We could call it Forces of Nature LOL

Julie: LOL that would be cool… though isn’t that the title of Tracy’s tornado story too?

Rose: Wait, Tracy’s using that huh

Julie: LMAO

Rose: Dammit! LMAO

Julie: is there a lyric from that song we could use? *goes to listen*

Rose: I can see a lyric for the summary…”For this ocean I’d fight for you” but not so much for the title

Julie: yeah, I was just thinking of that too

Rose: They suck for not having more nature titles lmao

Julie: I know LOL

Julie: the only other thing I was tihnking was sometihng with the word Shades in the title… for ShAIDS LOL. But I dunno what. Shades of Red? Sounds like all the Shades of Gray stories on AC already… too boring

Rose: I agree, too eh

Rose: Plus I have a feeling Summer would get all mad at me about that saying I copied that title from her.

Julie: that’s the only thing with keeping it vague; when they get too generic, they’re boring

Julie: LOL yeah

Rose: I thought of Sick as My Secrets but even that’s a bit too eh

Julie: I thought of that too… it’s a possibility, but yeah

Julie: again, there’s other stories already using that tile

Julie: title*

Rose: Exactly. So I’m looking more at lyrics so maybe I can picks something out, like how I did with WOOMD or you did GR

Julie: yeah, that works sometimes

Rose: The Ocean Crash….dude I’m even looking at poetry and nada. Damn you title lol

Julie: LMAO I know, I hate when this happens

Julie: I thought about something with the concepts of fallout or mutation or evolution, but I don’t have anything. The only other thing I added to the list is instead of Crimson Tide, maybe just Red Tide? A real Red Tide is caused by algae, but it can kill the wildlife

Julie: maybe Shadows of the Sea, or In the Shadows of the Sea? Sorta ties in with the Shades idea

Rose: oooh Shadows of the Sea

Rose: I like it

Rose: Vague but not too vague

Julie: I could go with that… makes me think of the giant starfish lurking… bwahaha!

Rose: LMFAO

Rose: Or Sharkolas swimming in the depths, saving the underwater world lmao

Julie: starfish can regenerate; maybe that’s what makes Nakotba so powerful

Rose: Plus this all starts with Nick trusting the ocean he loves LOL

Julie: yes, both… double meaning

Julie: and an infected shark mistaking his shadow in the sea for a tasty sea turtle or something

Rose: Thank god you thought up a title, that was gonna drive me crazy

Julie: yay, I’m glad we found one we both like. I was starting to think we hsould just go with Sharkolas LOL

Rose: LMAO me too.

Rose: So I take it this may be a summer idea LOL

Rose: or a Post-Undead idea

Rose: (we really don’t have enough time to write all our epic ideas out)

Julie: LOL I know! The NKOTB cruise is next week, so by the time we write it, it will be in the past

Rose: True, but NKOTB cruises are annual, so it’s okay LOL

Julie: yeah, we can really make it any year

Julie: http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTApO2V80gWziDlH0SDRt9cYlyeJ7K7AlqDnQo26bs1G0Qoab9teQ&t=1

Julie: http://www.behindthecuttingedge.com/storage/zombie-vs-shark-zombie-2-zombies-shark-sharks-undead-living-demotivational-poster-1249124389.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1301034978997

Rose: LMFAO love it

Julie: hehe

Rose: So if a zombies eats a person with ShAIDS…does that turn into ShAIDZ?

Julie: LMFAO!!

Rose: Honestly these are questions for the ages LOL

Julie: zombie Sharkolas wants braaaaains

Rose: And if a werewolf bites zombie Sharkolas…does that make it WeShAIDZ? Or ShAIDZWere?

Rose: I think I’m hitting delirium lmao

Julie: LMFAO

 

And that is how we came up with the idea of Sharkolas! Of course, being that we were right in the middle of Song for the Undead at the time, it took us another four years to get around to actually writing it. But once we finally finished Undead and started Sharkolas, it came together quickly. Writing it was like a walk in the park… or should I say a swim in the sea? We’re grateful to the readers who appreciated our random sense of humor and embraced the story. You are, as Sharkolas would say, “JAWSOME!”

In reading through that chat for the first time in a long time, I found it oddly prophetic that we talked about Nick infecting Howie with AIDS (okay, shark AIDS) and considered using “Sick as My Secrets” as a title. Just over two years after this conversation took place (and two years before we actually got around to writing Sharkolas), I got the idea to write a story in which Howie infects Nick with AIDS (okay, HIV), and I called it Sick as My Secrets. I’ll be back next week to blog about it!