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Kara Wild: Difference between revisions
→Abruptly Amy
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==Abruptly Amy==
Although Wild wanted to finish her continuum, another story was burning in her mind. She had long been amused and exasperated by the "Saint Amy Barksdale" image perpetuated by fanfiction (most notably in C.E. Forman's "[[Quinntet]]" and "[[Alienation Legacy]]"), in which Amy was the only person who understood Daria. In her fanfiction, Wild sought to portray a more human, fallible Amy, but considered going a step further, completely subverting the image. Inspiration came in the form of Aaron and Barry Adelman's "[[Daria the Movie]]" fanfic, which was preceded by such an authentic "rumors" website, many fans thought it was real. The fanfic consisted of a film script for a live-action movie, emulating the poor movie scripts of then-current teen flicks. (Several movie "images," for example, came from the Jennifer Love-Hewitt movie "Can't Hardly Wait.")
Wild decided that instead of a movie, she would create a pilot for a "spinoff" starring Amy, with the twist being that the pilot was written by someone ("Alan Smithee") with no understanding of the show, ''Daria.'' Using themes of then-current shows like "Suddenly Susan" and "Providence," Wild came up with a storyline in which Amy was a glamorous FBI agent forced to take refuge in her home town to escape the mob. While Amy's abilities were inflated to ludicrous proportions, in keeping with her "Saint Amy" image, her personality was flighty and emotional. Wild created several new characters for the pilot and a "making of" special, "In Search of Amy," that delved into the behind-the-scenes tensions. Most notably, Wild enlisted several fanfic artists to do "screen captures" for the pilot. To preserve the mystery, she only e-mailed select scenes to the various artists who had volunteered. The result was an eclectic mix of images from artists as far-ranging as John Berry to [[SBBED.D]]. Finally, Mike Quinn agreed to read the pilot and do a "Delayed Reaction Review" as though he had watched the episode live.
Wild put all the parts together into one big fanfic called "Abruptly Amy (The Spinoff That Never Was)," which she premiered in spring of 2000. While some fans appreciated the joke, the primary response of people not involved with the project was shock. Many could not believe that Wild, who was known for her good characterization, would deliberately "dumb down" her writing in such a way. Michelle Klein-Hass was particularly critical, and to this date has not read any of the "Abruptly Amy" fanfics. Aaron Adelman, on the other hand, saw "Abruptly Amy" as a "Jane" fanfic to his "Daria" fanfic. While his "
Wild was concerned that her credibility might be hurt as a result of this project, but she felt liberated nonetheless. Wild would later credit "Abruptly Amy" with keeping her passion alive long enough to keep writing the Driven Wild Universe. Over the months, the project would draw enough fans that Wild and other fanfic authors/artists would take it to the next level. (For more information, see [[Abruptly Amy (series)|Abruptly Amy]].) Meanwhile, the project had taught Wild how to code and upload web pages, which would soon come in handy.
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