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From the beginning I wanted to write the kind of high school story I would have liked to read; it was going to involve clichés, because this is the one fandom that can’t do without them. But I was going to find my own way to turn those around and twist them to something different. So I thought, “Hey, there’s enough shy girl vs. super extrovert guy going on.” And thus the idea of a shy guy and an outgoing girl was born (read: outgoing, not overwhelmingly so). It might have been done before, I concede, but not this way huh?

With that in mind I started shaping the boy’s personality first, and noticed that there were external forces that influenced him greatly. Like that his two pals were created. Next was naming the lot of them. Ryan’s name came easy (much later I realized “Ryan Adams” is in fact a celebrity… first time something like this happens to me); it’s a classic name that doesn’t lose its appeal (so it’s good for your kids, if you’re wondering). His buddies’ names had to be on par, with no weird combinations or whatever. Scott Walker and Daniel Johnson, simple… but when you add the fact that they nick named themselves as Cooties and Dandy, it kinda changes a bit. Henriette Adams (Henri) came along the same way; she was the other big (and only female, other than his mum) influence in Ryan’s life. I knew from the start she and Scott had a thing for each other since quite sometime, and that was why she put on a special grumpy front for Ryan and Daniel. Hence her “mask”.

The camaraderie between the three stooges was mentioned a lot, you guys liked that, didn’t you? I particularly enjoyed the innuendos. They can’t say a single thing without having an ulterior meaning; it’s part of who they are. I hope I made a decent work at creating and portraying their personalities. And don’t forget the major catalyst: The Babysitting of Ryan. It’s a lot like something I’d do to my kid if he’s too shy to tell the girl he likes how he feels. Only because I’m mean like that.

Louise Parker was a subconscious blow to myself; I picked the name quick and settled for it, later on realizing Louise wanted to be a journalist, and it reminded me of Lois Lane (journalist extraordinary that gets saved by Superman every time), and then Peter Parker (who… crap, is also a journalist of sorts!). And then I thought, “Well that’s funny, because Louise is the one doing the actual saving.” So in that sense, she’s Ryan’s personal hero. Lily was born from the need of something to affect Louise and passive-aggressively push her into action; at the beginning she was going to be just another sidekick, but I think she gained her own importance with time. I’m especially happy she and Daniel never hooked up in the story, and no, I’m not doing a side story about them.

There had to be a motive for Ryan to come out of his shell that was rooted from inside of him. WHAM! Rock music. Why the hell not? I’m a huge fan of modern hard rock, and I know real life stories or people (famous rockers, no less) that overcame their shyness and gained people skills thanks to music, not to mention musicians have a certain appeal, and he was going to need all the weapons he could get to capture Lo’s attention. Other than his fully bloomed physique, that is. Progressively Ryan became less introverted, thanks to the influence of Lo, one way or the other. Or more accurately, cos his mum pulled a prank on him.

One of the big things of the story was that at the same time Ryan started opening up (a tiny little weenie bit), people around him started showing they approved of what he had to offer. This in turn, instead of making him feel happy and more confident, only freaked him out (since he didn’t have the social skills to deal with attention) and made him close off again. Insert Louise and the absolute need to get closer to her. This is precisely what gave the story its title: Everybody Wants Ryan. Including her.

Strangely the hardest part for me was to mention real life bands in the story; on one hand I wanted readers to relate to the kind of scene I was aiming for, and on another I felt apprehensive (it might put off some people, narrow the plot a lot, etc). It was a double edged sword I thought about a lot during the months I spent writing the first ten chapters without posting the story. In the end I mentioned some of the bands that helped me find inspiration to write this story, Metallica, Pantera, Disturbed, Nickelback, Green Day and Three Days Grace, I think. I didn’t mention others like my eternal Linkin Park, Lostprophets, Evans Blue, Breaking Benjamin and Chevelle, or most recently 3 Doors Down, Red and Slot. Music is art, folks. I tried to create art by writing up the Zero’s own lyrics. Believe it or not that was a long process (the lyrics you read weren’t written on the spot). These bands helped me a lot, and trust me when I say I wish I could thank them properly and in person!

The lyrics that made it to the story were:

1) My Name

2) You Get

3) Get Away

4) The Funny Song (chap 19)

5) Every Little Thing

6) Forget

7) Free

8) Down

9) All For Now (the much awaited)

Lots of “get” going on.

There are about two more that didn’t make the final cut. They were too hard for T rating. And oddly, there were three songs in the final chapter alone. I seriously hope it doesn’t make anyone think of High School Musical or some crap like that. Which were your favourites?

I hope you guys noticed about the chapter prologues? I once said they were the present time, and the story was actually the past. That’s true, and also the chapter prologues come around at about the middle of the story, and from them on they become the past as well. Nifty huh?

Finally, I want you all to know that in spite of the weekly updates, it took me over two years to write this story. Give or take. I wrote the first ten-ish chapters without having posted the first, and made some changes here and there to fit my (hopefully) improving writing. It was my second attempt at an original story, but the first hard worked one. And I wanted to do it right, with proper grammar, punctuation, tenses, not to mention the sub-plots and biggest plot itself. I’m happy with it, even if it didn’t get a whole lot of mass recognition.

I’d like to think that, while at the beginning it possibly looked another one of those stories, it turned out to be something else.

At:	Room of Gloom
Feeling:	blank
Listening To:	Chevelle - Jars