Stacy in Bloom | 16: How Can I Forget You?

[luxken27]

Title: Stacy in Bloom
Fandom: Kids Incorporated
Universe: Canon (Season 5 – 1988)
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Rating: T
Summary: With her sister and best friend halfway around the world, who else is there for Stacy to turn to…but Ryan? When the consequences of their actions become clear, the two must decide if pursuing each other is worth breaking up the band.
Mega-meta resource thread: http://luxken27.livejournal.com/137711.html

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5873801/16/

So there aren't a lot of references this week, as the story heads in another completely original direction. I'll start with what's there, and kinda talk about what's coming up, as this is a chapter of transition, in a lot of ways.

[+] The title song was actually a really awesome cover by Ryan of a rather obscure Elisa Fiorillo song:

Watch on YouTube

[+] The Tommy Morgan storyline was originally the content of just one episode, and of a very basic premise: Brian was going to be gone for merely a week, so they needed a temporary replacement. That didn't quite mesh with my universe, so I knew it was important to send him off with dignity. It was a challenge to write it in such a way as to not have it read completely condescendingly, but I'm pretty proud of how I did it. Sometimes Ryan the Fixer just makes things easier, LOL. He'll definitely be making a cameo later (see New Year's Eve note).

[+] I totally misplaced the 'Brendan Roberts' reference from two chapters ago, not realizing (even though I'd just read the darn thing) that I'd edited it out of Stacy's thoughts on Brian's taking over the band. Instead, I snuck it in here, as one of Ryan's insults, but the effect is the same :) Brendan tries several times over the course of the second season to associate with Kids Inc in same way, and trade off their homegrown popularity, with mostly tragic and/or hilarious results :P

[+] The New Year's Eve party was the subject of the 1986 special, Rock in the New Year. Various theories abound as to why this special was made (and off season, no less), including wanting to hold onto the 1986 cast for as long as possible, and giving Martika a big send-off as she launched her own pop career. Whatever the reason, I enjoy the hour-long episode/clip show quite a bit, and the idea of having a huge annual party works very well into my story (and will represent roughly the halfway point of the piece). Already there are several tendrils of the storyline coming together, and I'm really quite excited about it :) For this, Dirty Dancing will be mentioned again, LOL. I'm also debating about who I want to make a surprise cameo appearance, considering it *will* be holiday time, and holidays are when family and friends gather together...

[+] Devyn's reader-inspired friends make a second appearance in this chapter, and help give her a little more depth beyond the fangirl vs non-fangirl divide. She will feature pretty heavily in the Kenny subplot, because I want to explore their friendship a little bit, even if I have to do so by testing it :P When I was that age, nearly all of my friends were boys, and I remember how strange and awesome it felt when I finally had some close female friends. (Still prefer guys, tho - at least they don't have the tendency to be passive-aggressively bitchy over dumb shit.)

A couple of people have mentioned that they were wondering what was up with Kenny - and, well, you're about to find out :) I had some reservations about writing him as I did at the end of this chapter, but hopefully the other characters' reactions make it apparent his behavior is totally out-of-character, but for a reason - a reason the other kids want to find out as quickly as possible, lest the band really does fall apart at the seams.

And, a million apologies to the real Brian Poth, but I'm having far too much fun writing his silent show character as Ryan's antagonist. It's been a real challenge to not turn him into an outright comic villain, but its been fun nonetheless. Ahahaha, I love a master of the slow clap sarcasm :P