Charles Delaware Troll's Final Year Fan Fiction

[Nelson Collins]

What's happened to it?

It looks like AOL Hometown (the site of the fan fic) was rather unceremoniously taken down and CDT's delightful (IMHO) final year of the series is gone forever.

Does anyone happen to know where it might currently be found or if or when it might reappear elsewhere?

 

[D_Friedlander]

Okay, here's what you need to do...
The site IS archived on    http://www.webarchive.org 
aka The Wayback machine.

In the search box at the top of the home page, type or copy& paste, and enter the original website URL:

http://members.aol.com/chasdtroll/mainp.html

This will bring you to a page which shows when the pages were uploaded, with links to them.  Click on any of the blue links, and you will find the original pages.  I haven't read this in a while, so I don't know if it's 100% intact, but it looks like it.  Hope this helps everyone else looking for the really excellent fan fiction!!!

[Midnite]

The url for the Wayback Machine should read http://web.archive.org

(Or, more directly, http://www.archive.org/web/web.php)

The Preview feature is great for checking links before a post is submitted.

[Charles_Ellis]

Thank you, thank you THANK YOU!!  Not only did I recover the Troll pages, but found a Peyton Place site I thought was gone forever!! 

[Nelson Collins]

HUZZAH!  I should have guessed that the dead don't stay so very long around here.  Merci beaucoup!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I thought was gone forever!!

If it's not accessible with its original URL alone, then the original site is gone forever. It's just that web.archive.org was able to save a "ghost" copy of the site before it was shut down, which is a nice thing, but it's merely a snapshot of what the site was like at a given point in time when it was still in existence. Though, of course, if a site was no longer active/being updated prior to its disappearance, then what web.archive.org has is possibly a perfect copy of what that site was like. 

[retzev]

CDT's fanfics are the only ones I've been interested in reading. I checked out some samples years ago and it seemed like he/she/whoever did a really good job of maintaining the feel, and especially the structure, of actual DS episodes. But I still haven't made it to the last "real" episode (I'm a bad, bad fan) so...I'm really glad the site was preserved and this thread exists, muchas gracias Nelson Collins and D Friedlander.

Here's my question: Who is Charles Delaware Troll?

[barnabasjr]

He's here. I won't say it in case he wants to maintain anonymity but a search should answer your question.

[Midnite]

a search should answer your question.

You lost me, barnabasjr. 

[barnabasjr]

I was just saying that "Charles Delaware Troll" is here - on this forum - but I didn't want to mention his username directly, although he has stated several times over the years that he's the author of that magnificent fanfic. The forum's beloved search function reveals all, as some people say.

[Midnite]

I understand, but MB and I can't recall any claim to authorship.  Several times, Gerard has mentioned writing his own CDTish continuation in novel form, adding that it isn't published anywhere.  I wonder if that's what you meant.

The writer of the fan fic "DS Continued: Episode 1246 & Beyond" may be a member, but I'm sure there's no evidence of it on the Forums.

[barnabasjr]

Wow, that'll learn me! Thanks for the clarification!

[Midnite]

Oh, it's no problem.

[Gerard]

Several times, Gerard has mentioned writing his own CDTish continuation in novel form, adding that it isn't published anywhere.

Thanks for the mention, Midnite!  I did my own "version" of CTD's of what-would've-happed which spanned seven more years of the series.  I had all sorts of stories and plot-lines.  It was only "published" on-line as part of an old AOL (of which I haven't been a member for several years) DS message board.  That board, so far as I know, no longer exists.  I can't even pull it up myself as I did it in the old WordPerfect format which Microsoft no longer (except with expensive software) will no longer recognize.  But I sure had fun writing it.  I resolved, in my own way, several old story lines, including the return of Victoria Winter and added my own plots.  It ended with the entire family being wiped out by a curse established back in the 1500's in Ireland and Barnabas and Angelique returning to that time period in the old sod to save the family.  Charles Delaware Troll inspired me to do it.  It wasn't as highly detailed as his, just basic story lines, but even in that format it was about 40 pages.  I wish I had the software to transform it into Microsh*t Word so I could send it it anyone who asked.

Gerard

[Charles_Ellis]

Have you checked the Internet Archive?  Maybe it's been saved there.  Wish I could've read it.  If you do recover it, by all means contact me!  BTW, who does Barnabas wind up with in your story- Julia, Angelique, Roxanne, or Maggie?