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keyheartsia-dorm · 4 years ago

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*Sighs*

I’m bored let’s do a lore dump

It’s a Map~

Oh Yeah I mentioned a Sprinkle of Final Fantasy and KH but I haven’t talked about that Aspect of my Canon At all have I? Well truth be told it’s cause I’m focusing on getting the more Basic Aspects of my Oc’s Before I get into that but Guess who made this Baby on a Whim!

So this is the Map of the Isle of Light well the Main Island at least there are other Littler Bits of land Yet to surface I̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶t̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶A̶d̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶L̶a̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶h̶a̶h̶a̶ oh yeah did I mention it’s a FLOATING ISLAND!! Yeah P Sick right? Okay so I’ll go into the Island’s History and it’s Area’s but it may have some Spoilers I guess you could say but honestly I wouldn’t wait on me making a full fledged...Anything outta the Story I’ve made like I’ll sum it up (not here but like in general) but comics are hard Videos are hard Fics are hard maybe not individually but this is more of a Anime Series then an Anime movie if you feel me without further ado...Stuff

Oh god this was longer then expected

Some General Background

So The Isle of Light was Originally the Black Forest A Place of Freedom and Expression for all who lead lives who Needed to hide Such and Some Such was The Coven of the Black Forest made up of 3 sisters (not biologically also there was a 4th) they all found comfort and love with each other one being the Princess of the Kingdom nearby (The 4th and Littlest one) She had a fiancé who was Mad with a Lust for power and Control over things he Didn’t need power and control over He Treated the Littlest one Cruelly when the other 3 Decided enough was enough when he did...SOMETHING to Part of the Forest so Horrible it turned Dead and Cruel (Subtle Subtle Hint Hint Wink) When all 3 Of them saw the Ruin They went so mad they turned to Darkness and fought him and all his Manmade monstrosities there when the Princess Arrived there was so much Dark energy everywhere it was Bad like Real Bad So with her friends now monsters she Fought them with a heavy heart her heart broke so much she fell afterwards immediately Unintentionally Sending her Kingdom to somewhere nobody knows where she is though...That’s an even bigger question BUT the story would live on as a Weilder of the key blade who slayed 3 evil witches...(Oh yeah did I mention Crowley knows And that’s Why He Let the Girls Attend because he thought they might be the Black Forest Coven Reincarnated And the Prophecy that when they Awakened the “Keys to their Hearts once more” They’d Free The Princess From her Mirror Prison Oh Yeah also the princess DID Die But her Reincarnation Goes inside a Mirror and is trapped there when she turns 17 and Doesn’t leave until she dIES ALSO ITS HIS OLDEST DAUGHTER THIS TIME ALSO YES HE HAS 2 DAUGHTERS...Okay lemme just calm down..Also yeah she thought of the Princess System) but After a Wish got safe haven for all Keyblade Weilders (I have KH Oc’s other then these don’t ask Longer story they live and basically founded Fortana Haven) I guess the Isle of Light Rose from the Shadow Realm to be just that oh yeah also the Isle of light is literally that kingdom if ya didn’t know

Fortana Haven

(Some Love Nikki BGs for Visualization if I’m Wrong about this from being from Love Nikki Correct me pls and if this is your art sorry and I’ll take it down)

Okay this Place Basically a Modern Fairytale Everything is so Rustic~ but they Have Cafe’s and Stuff~ They’re still very much in Development as a City..or town..or whatever Boss of everything Locket Clover (An OG KH OC) Runs Everything Wonderfully she welcomes everything with open arms and If you wanna run a shop or want a Building for a particular Thing or Activity she’s Pretty open to the idea unless it’s Incredibly Dumb But she will make you get The Wood and Supplies and The Bricks and the Brick Stick Sauce or whatever it’s called she might get give you help constructing but dang is she a firm believer in “DIY” but I like how she’s Determined to Have a Good Balance between Industrial and Rural In fact there is a Mall (God knows how it got there) And that’s pretty much all there is for your Juicy Capitalism Fix She Runs “Hope Stir” Workshop according to Her boyfriend Ephmer It was always Called a workshop but for the longest time she did EVERYTHING Subtle Farmwork And Animal Husbandry ACTUAL Workshop things all cause she wanted to help every Weilder she knew out and made sure they had a place for food and such She is a bit of a Moneyholic but when you’ve been doing what she’s been doing I bet you’d be too overall While it doesn’t have much History yet Fortana Haven (4-Tana is how you say it btw) Is truly well a Haven

The Crowned Castle

(More Pics for Visuals I don’t think this is from love Nikki but if this is your artwork same applies I’m not gonna be the guy who Claims just cause it’s on google it belongs to everybody or something even though yeah I did find it on google)

The...Crown of the Isle of Light Before We came to the Isle for the first time Apparently Everyone In Fortana thought it was Haunted! Which..Fair enough Before we Placed the Princess Medals (Okay QUICK SUMMARY OF THIS BIT Okay so in the KH Mobile game there’s Medals and I wanted them to be in my story basically They’re Memories formed into powers when all my Oc’s Met the Princess’s Of Heart They Each got a Medal Representing them and then the Medals Restored the Castle I left out some details but basically that’s it) This Castle is the BOMB There’s Cool Pretty Princess Room’s And a Bedroom JUST FOR SLUMBER PARTIES!! And it’s just a good Place to Vibe and Hang out with your friends (I’m sorry I’m about to Lore Dumb all over this place) The Princess’s Fiancé Made a Crown for her before she could put it on he put some of his Subconscious in it poor Eden When she wanted to get stronger for Malleus (Malleus is her adoptive big brother and she was upset cause she felt she wasn’t good enough ran away to get power and found the crown) It really did almost completely overtake her I shudder thinking about it “Kachow”...Ew (The fiancé said that a lot ok) a lotta bad stuff happened here but as selfish as this may sound I feel like I earned my spot here and I wanna keep sharing it with my friends

The Matteria Deadland

(Also Imagine some Pointy Mountains and some Lite Mech debris)

Man What to say... So Much Happened here as well probably Tragedy I can’t comprehend there is a few good places about this place though Diane likes to Scavange around Here for Interesting Debris Eden doesn’t like the Air around here but she says she finds Interesting Jewels here and Latte says the same thing so there is good to be found here We all come here every so often to try to help..Anything grow but they don’t call this deadland for nothing but still ya can’t give up hope! I wanna grow some beautiful Lillies here one day! Also hey! Also pretty cool name (Matter-RI-a is how you say it btw) All the sadness that happened here it actually did make the land rich in Metal if nothing else there’s even a whole Cavern we found in the mountains...it almost killed us but we found it

Opal Cove

(also these are Gacha Backgrounds)

Is this Place an Actual Cove? Idk

Is this Place super cool and pretty? Yeah

Is this one of my favorite places in this whole Isle? FRICK YEAH

okay I love a lot about this Isle but Opal Cove!!

Our mermaid friend Mitella I guess “Runs” the Place Our KINDA merman Friend Skye also spends a whole lotta time here Basically it’s a Giant Pool and rumor has it...It’s endless Water...CAUSE IT IS SOMEHOW CAUSE I KNOW weird thing is the Sand it’s at the end of the Isle so there’s not really a beach just...Sand Near Water Odd The Coral Near the Bottom or well “Bottom” Is SO PRETTY it’s like Crystals in the morning the light shines its SO DANG PRETTY I’m glad Mitella is a Sea Witch Or else we couldn’t go so deep underwater it’s SOOO worth it!! She does NOT let a lotta people at once though Heck she doesn’t like Skye that much from what I can tell but she makes an Exception for ~friends~ So...BE NICE TO OUR CUTE MITELLA I’m glad we have a Convient Place for Blitzball practice and also Swimming around with pretty Mermaid Tails (New Nix Mermaid Action Fashion Doll only 25.99! Get it for your Child or they’ll cry!! Also a 5 dollar Boy doll take his Shirt off! That’s it!) Hyde Mi And Skye are kinda an Iconic Trio Mi Also Teaches how to swim with a mermaid tail better for the Weilders who wanna go to Atlantica Hey Mermaids gotta eat so get a Swim Lesson! (And also a transforming Mermaid Doll!)

Bianco Nero Forest

Well tbh I have the least to say because it’s Appeal is simple ADVENTURE AND MYSTERY! Lots can happen in Bianco Nero it’s Basically the Base foundation of the whole Isle! Presumably cause it’s the Black Forest or was at least though it can be dangerous it’s the only place heartless are know to appear in the whole isle (So where you’ll grind In the Video Game that’ll definitely happen :Says the girl who can’t commit to a single comic) They drop all sortsa cool stuff! Heck you can FIND Cool stuff just...Around so..Yeah!!

It’s 2 am maybe I’ll edit this later thanks for reading sorry I got obviously tired by the end goodbye my dearests~ (Seriously y’all deserve like a reward for reading this dumpster fire) I was inspired by those maps in those scholastic books like the Rainbow Fairies I think it was called (Anyone remember those?) that had lil maps in the beginning and also the map’s stickers all on PicsArt

#twisted wonderland #disney twst #gacha life #keyheartsia #oc #gacha club #twisted wonderland dorm #twisted wonderland oc #twisted wonderland oc dorm #anime #oc lore #kingdom hearts Oc #oh my god did you read this? thank you I worked so hard just read it pls #twst oc #twst oc dorm #Oc lore dump

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not-majestic-bluenicorn · 4 years ago

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The Practice Room Ghost || TXT One-shot

Fandom(s): Tomorrow x Together

AU: Pre-debut

Prompt: Ghosts

Genre: Horror

Relationship: None

Language: English

Status: Finished

WC: 2,474 words

Warnings: Ghosts, nightmares, possession, paranoia

Summary:

Soobin is certain that his nightmares and the rumor of the ghost that lives in their practice room have nothing in common. To prove it, they decide to spend the night there and figure it out.

AO3

Soobin walked into the company’s building, earbuds plugged in as he greeted the few staff he saw with a simple bow of his head. He was tired and a little grumpy for the lack of sleep, so he avoided looking at people’s faces so as to not catch their attention. The music in his earbuds was loud, muting everything around him and providing him some peace. He walked without hesitation towards the dance practice room, hoping to get away from everyone.

The room was empty. He was probably the first of the trainees to arrive that day, and he preferred it that way. Soobin approached the lockers placed right by the entrance and put his backpack inside, only keeping his phone outside to play music while he did some stretching. He began with his head and went down slowly, making sure to stretch properly. He was standing in front of the mirror with his eyes closed, so he heard Yeonjun arrive more than saw him.

“Oh Soobin-ah, you arrived early!” Yeonjun exclaimed as he too put his stuff in his locker.

“Mhm,” Soobin hummed, turning his arms around, “I had some free time and decided to come here earlier.”

“Oh really?” When Yeonjun asked, Soobin felt his breath right on his face.

He opened his eyes and took a couple of steps back, surprised. Yeonjun chuckled and moved away. Soobin frowned, a little annoyed at Yeonjun’s playfulness, but decided to let it go. He was too tired to get into an argument.

“You look exhausted, what were you doing before this?” Yeonjun asked again, back to the mirror. Soobin looked at his back before turning to look at his own reflection. He did look exhausted. But what had he been doing before coming to the practice room? He couldn’t remember.

“Well, I-” Soobin scrambled for a response, but in that moment Yeonjunt turned around and the words died in his lips as his heart stopped for a second.

Yeonjun’s face in the reflection was gone.

It was blurry, like it had been heavily edited. He could see it moved as Yeonjun told him something else, but Soobin wasn’t paying attention anymore. His eyes and mouth were black, outstretched cavities that seemed to be caught in the middle of a scream no matter what Yeongjun said. Soobin quickly turned around to look at Yeonjun’s face, but it looked normal as the eldest babbled away.

He turned around, intentionally avoiding Yeonjun’s reflection to look at his own, but his was normal. Soobin turned back to the reflection and swallowed a scream as Yeonjun’s reflection lost its form more and more. He turned back to Yeonjun, who was now facing the mirror, but he didn’t seem to realize what was going on. Finally he looked at his reflection again, and this time, it did look off.

It looked exactly like him, but it felt… off. Soobin approached it against his better judgement, lost in a sort of trance. He reached his hand up to the surface of the mirror, but when he touched it, all he felt was the warmth of human skin.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Soobin opened his eyes with a start. His room was still, interrupted only by the sound of the alarm. His heart was racing a mile per hour as he sat up and stared at his hand, which tingled from the warmth he had felt in his dream. Right, it was just a dream. He took a deep breath and turned the alarm off, trying to push all the memories of his dream to the back of his mind. He was stressed out as the debut date approached, so it made sense that he had a couple of nightmares here and there.

He found himself looking at his hand again and shuddered. It had felt so real, like human skin. Soobin had never experienced feeling something in his dreams before, but now the sensation wouldn’t disappear. He shook his head harshly and threw the thoughts away. He couldn’t freeze like that because of a stupid, albeit scary, nightmare. He had to get to the company and practice to perfection.

A shower and a bowl of rice later (he wasn’t very hungry), Soobin found himself walking to the subway. He paid his fare and walked into the train almost mindlessly, used to travelling that route every single day. He sat down on one of the empty seats and hugged his backpack close. The music helped him relax and he closed his eyes, but as soon as he did, he saw Yeonjun’s reflection staring back at him, all black holes and screaming smiles.

His phone vibrated and startled him awake. An older woman sitting next to him frowned with disapproval and Soobin was quick to apologize as he took his cell phone out and opened Kakao up. It was the group chat he had with the rest of his members. He opened the chat up and read the messages, feeling his chest getting heavy as he did.

YJ: i heard a very cool story from some seniors YJ: apparently there’s a ghost that lives in our new practice room

TH: That’s dumb and you know it…

HK: ahhh ㅠㅠ why would u say that? HK: that’s scary

BG: a ghost?

YJ: yeah YJ: heard it was like a past trainee or something? ㅋㅋ YJ: it likes to annoy current trainees YJ: and makes weird thing happen around the room

SB: That reminds me of a dream I had last night.

TH: Huh?

BG: ???

SB: Ah, nevermind. SB: I don’t remember it all that well. SB: Just said it because it happened in the practice room.

TH: Either way TH: Ghosts aren’t real TH: Stop scaring Kai

YJ: you’re no fun

Soobin put his phone away. It was a lie that he didn’t remember his dream. He remembered it so vividly that he could still feel a bit of tingling on his right hand, which had touched the ‘mirror’. However, he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it or scare Kai more. He was stressed and had probably heard the same story as Yeonjun from one of the seniors and just didn’t remember it.

He got off five stations later and walked a few streets over to the company. He greeted everyone and pushed the feeling of dejavu away as he made his way to the practice room. There was no one there, so he put his backpack in the locker and, instead of starting with the stretching, he walked over to the mirror and stood in front of it. Soobin examined his reflection carefully, taking note of every detail.

“It was just a dream.” He told himself.

His eyes fixed on the hand of his reflection, and the hole in his chest grew, something akin to fear spreading in him. Soobin raised his hand slowly. He knew it was just a dream, so there was no reason to be afraid; in fact, there was no reason to even check at all. But maybe, just maybe, if he touched the cold surface of the mirror it would help his mind settle and let him work in peace.

“Ohh Soobin-ah, you arrived early!” Yeonjun’s voice snapped him out of his trance and Soobin quickly put his hand down, swallowing a scream of surprise.

He quickly turned around, taking his earphones off and greeting Yeonjun with a nod of his head. Soobin didn’t think he could speak without his voice revealing how much Yeonjun had startled him, so he settled for not speaking at all. Yeonjun finished putting his things away and joined him in front of the mirror, offering to help with the stretches. Soobin accepted and they began to work on them.

Soobin didn’t realize how much he was avoiding looking at the mirror until he had to turn and his heart stuttered in his chest as he encountered Yeonjun’s reflection and the empty holes greeted him for a fraction of a second. Yeonjun looked entirely normal. And that wasn’t strange, because after, it had all just been a dream, and Soobin couldn’t understand why it was affecting him so much.

Kai, Beomgyu and Taehyun arrived shortly after, followed by their dance instructor. The training was hard and lasted for hours, and by the end of the day they were all sweaty and exhausted. Soobin approached the table where they had the sound equipment and went to grab his water bottle. His hand grabbed at air instead, because it wasn’t there.

“Huh?” He looked at the table and around it, but the bottle wasn’t there. “Has anyone seen my water bottle?” Soobin turned around and asked the rest.

Beomgyu was sitting with his back against the wall, and Taehyun was next to him. Yeonjun was stretching gently in front of them while Kai continued to practice one of the moves he couldn’t finish getting down. They all looked at him and Soobin felt oddly uncomfortable for a second. Kai turned around and pointed towards the mirror. Soobin swallowed. His bottle, a dark blue thermos, was resting next to the mirror, but he hadn’t put it there.

“By the way,” Yeonjun began as Soobin approached the mirror to pick his bottle. “I asked the staff if we could, and they give me permission, so I was thinking-”

“If we could what?” Taehyun asked. His tone gave it away that he didn’t like where it was going.

“If you could just let me finish, you’d know.” Yeonjun scoffed. “I was thinking, since our debut is just around the corner, we should do a bravery test, for bonding purposes.”

“You mean…?” Beomgyu asked, tilting his head.

“Staying the night here at the practice room,” Taehyun supplied, not even waiting for Yeonjun.

“No!” Kai immediately yelled. “Why would we purposefully pass the night with a ghost?”

“Ghosts aren’t real, Kai.” Taehyun chuckled. “But I still don’t want to spend the night here.”

“I think it would be fun.” Beomgyu said, standing up and wiping the back of his pants.”

“That’s two against two,” Yeonjun crossed his arms. “Soobin-ah, what do you think?”

Soobin had been staring at his thermos the whole time, not drinking from it. He was pretty certain he had left it at the table, so he couldn’t understand how it had made its way next to the mirror. Maybe the dance instructor or one of his members had moved it? Maybe he had actually put it there and had just forgotten? He wasn’t sure, but it creeped him out.

“Soobin-ah?” Yeonjun insisted, catching his attention.

“Ah- Yeah…” Soobin swallowed, looking up from his thermos. “Hm, I think it could be a good way to bond, yeah.”

Yeonjun clapped his hands together, content. Taehyun groaned in exasperation and patted Kai’s shoulder, whose face had gone a little bit pale. In the end, they agreed that they would go home to pick some stuff and meet back at the company to sleep at the practice room. To be fair, Soobin didn’t care much about bonding with the rest of the members -and he didn’t think Yeonjun cared much either- since they were already pretty close. But he wanted to get rid of his silly idea about the mirror, which had been bothering him the whole day since waking up.

He went home, took a shower, and grabbed a change of clothes to sleep and the sleeping bag he used when he went camping with his parents. Soobin let them know about the “bonding activity” they were doing, and his parents easily agreed to it, letting him go without asking many questions.

Soobin was the last one to arrive at the practice room. Everyone else had already settled down with blankets, pillows and sleeping bags. Beomgyu and Yeonjun had even bought snacks for everyone, and they were playing games. Soobin joined them with ease, his back facing the mirror as he tried to ignore it as much as possible.

The hours went by quickly as they played games and chatted, until eventually they were all yawning and sleepy. Yeonjun gave them some time to arrange themselves before turning off the light and rushing to his own sleeping bag. Everyone knew he too was a bit scared and they let him know with a laugh. Soobin closed his eyes and fell asleep, comforted by the presence of his members.

Help me.

Soobin opened his eyes and sat down. He looked around to find his members perfectly asleep, which was strange, because he had been certain that someone had asked for help. Maybe one of them talked in their sleep? That would be a problem once they moved in together. For now though, there was nothing he could do about it, so he turned around and put his head on the pillow.

He couldn’t close his eyes, though, as he froze in place and his heartbeat picked up.

In front of him, in the mirror, he could see his reflection and standing and looking at him. It was perfectly still. Soobin immediately sat up and looked around, but the members were still peacefully asleep, and he felt bad about waking them up. So instead he stood up and approached the mirror. His reflection moved as well, following his steps like it was supposed to.

Soobin extended his hand and touched the mirror again, and by the time he realized the rest of his members weren’t even in the reflection, the hand had already wrapped around his hand and pulled him inside.

He woke up and immediately faced the mirror. His reflection was sitting just like him, and the bundles of the sleeping members were around him, like they were supposed to. A few minutes went by before Kai woke up, trying to rub the sleep off his eyes as he looked at him with curiosity.

“Hyung, are you okay?” Kai asked, his voice a rough whisper.

“Hyung?” He turned to look at Kai, a bit confused, but then nodded. “Ah yes, I am your hyung now, that’s true.” Kai gave him a weird look, but he just shrugged.

“Is everything okay?” Kai asked, a bit worried.

“Yeah, I was just thinking of a friend of mine, don’t worry Kai, just go to sleep.” He smiled, still looking at the mirror. Kai turned to go back to sleep, but he stopped.

Save me.

“Hyung, did you say something?” Kai asked, turning around again, a bit alarmed.

“Hm? No.” He shook his head. “Must be the practice room ghost.” Kai swallowed thickly and he laughed, patting Kai’s back. “I’m just kidding, just go back to sleep. Ghosts aren’t real.”

Kai returned to his bundle of covers and pillows and he turned to look back at the mirror, where Soobin was desperately hitting it, screaming for someone to save him.

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letscuttothefeeling · 5 years ago

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season three episode three

Let me start off by congratulating the producers – not you Ish – on this great episode. I finally feel like we’re back to THE SHOW. Not a weird Bachelor spin-off with minimal drama and blatantly horrible editing (see: Juliette’s grad party scene, where Chloe’s nails change color DURING THE PARTY.) Nope, we’re done with that and back to the good stuff, so on that note, let’s cut to the feeling.

Come ON MTV it’s like you weren’t even trying. And yes, I created this, and no, I don’t have a life.

I know I’m going to like an episode when it starts off with the angelic sounds of my lord and savior, Ariana Grande. As break up with ur girlfriend, i’m bored plays, we zoom into Cara’s house. Personally, I’m hoping to see Victoria. Alas – it’s just Cara…and Garrett. God, Garrett STOP. Your ex-girlfriend has already outlined exactly how Cara is using you – since she did the exact same thing - and you’re still asking Cara on dates? This is so cringe. Where’s Victoria?!

Even though Garrett can’t score a date, Brandon can! Maybe instead of asking Cara to go look at babies, you should ask her to rollerblade, G Baby. As Amanda and Brandon glide around the Key, we learn that Brandon is celebrating his 24th birthday on Friday! And it’s “24, Like, Karat Gold Slash, Like, Pirate, Sort Of” themed, of course! He debates whether or not to invite Juliette while giving us viewers amazing helmet safety tips. Meanwhile, after Cara has removed G Baby from her property, she makes her way to Chloe’s to checkuppé on her. This is where we learn that Chloe has officially called the cops and filed a police report. I have a lot of opinions, but more on this later.

Okay, something I haven’t touched on because I wish it wasn’t happening I haven’t had time is that Kelsey and Jared have sparked a little romance. If you don’t remember, while Kelsey was dating her random LA boyfriend, Jared was the 86th person she cheated on him with. I see this going well! I mean, it always works out when you leave someone you cheated on for the person you cheated with. Right? Plus, there’s Twisted Tea and mudding involved, so Kelsey can rest assured she’ll be going on sophisticated and expensive dates instead of the shitty and poor dates that Garrett used to take her on.

FINALLY, the C + V scene I need and deserve. Donning a black one-piece that contrasts perfectly with her frozen fruity pink drink, Victoria is effortlessly exuding two polar opposite, chaotic energies. I’m getting “sassy”, but I’m also getting “I’ll fuck you up if you insult my 90’s Quiksilver skater shoes.” AKA, I’m getting Avril during the Girlfriend era. And I love it. As she floats next to Cara in the pool and shockingly proclaims that she’s not into guys, (what?!) I’m on my knees praying to God himself that she become a main cast member vis-à-vis a relationship with Cara. It’s Victoria’s show, and we’re all just living in it, baby. After Cara’s bizarre comment about how her parents punish her by locking her in their wine cellar (weird flex, but okay) Victoria giggles about how dumb Garrett is and we move on.

We leave C and V for a Madisson and Kelsey reunion, but it’s not a happy one. Madisson delivers the unfortunate news that Chloe may be pressing charges. Oh no! I would be really upset by this, but I can’t focus on the content of Madisson’s words because of how she’s delivering them. Madisson, we fully understand that you’ve been to an acting class in LA because you won’t shuttupé about it, so you can stop over-enunciating everything that comes out of your mouth. Thanks!

After Kelsey tells Juliette about her impending stint in Florida prison, she gets understandably upset. Luckily, Boring Robby is there to teach Juliette how to apologize. Don’t say he never did anything for her! I want to point out that Kelsey truly has been redeeming herself this season. She’s been pretty level headed and a very good friend. If only Boring Robby could do the same… Later in the day, Kelsey confronts Robby about another thing Madisson spilled during their meetup. Apparently, while Juliette was fighting everyone last week, Boring Robby had the audacity to applaud her! How gauche. Boring Robby vehemently denies these claims, saying, “Always take the high road, because the low road is way too crowded,” and, “Silence is the best way to react to a fool, and happiness is the best revenge.” First of all, stop lying about things that were FILMED on national television. You’re now Boring Robby: The Liar. Second of all, why are you the human embodiment of my ninth grade Pinterest quotes board?

Grab your pillows and sleeping bags because we are heading to a SLUMBER PARTY! But before anyone can start braiding each other’s hair, Chloe begins to stir the pot, yet again. She delights in bringing up Brandon and Amanda’s new relationship right in front of Madisson. But to distract from the awkwardness, Amanda changes the subject to her missing phone. After the fight, she lost her phone and no one has been able to find it. She starts to give us a play-by-play analysis of why and how she thinks Boring Robby: The Liar stole it. I’m sorry, am I watching Joe Goldberg on You, or am I watching Amanda on Siesta Key?

It’s the day of the BG’s bday, and I’m so excited to see everyone’s 24 Karat Gold Slash Like Pirate themed outfits! They don’t disappoint - G Baby and Victoria are even matching!! I’ve never screamed so loudly in my life. Garrett obviously refuses to drink, and we’re off to the party. But first, there’s one guest who needs to arrive.

As Alex descends from his family’s PJ strapped with Louis luggage, a BEER, and fresh digs straight from the Siesta Key mall, I can feel the blood coming back into my body. I can feel individual atoms multiplying. I can feel my soul re-entering my empty, hollow frame. I feel exactly like Bella in the fourth Twilight novel, Breaking Dawn. After her half-human, half-vampire baby has eaten its way out of her uterine lining, Edward is forced to do the unthinkable: steal Bella’s mortal soul by turning her into a vampire so she has a shot to survive. (It’s the second time in the series that vampire Edward is forced to resist sucking all of Bella’s enticing blood to save her – that’s true love.) As she starts to respond to his venom, each and every one of her cells begins to freeze over and restore life to her body. Suddenly, she is awake. Her vision is sharp, her mind is clear, and she’s never looked better. And that’s EXACTLY how I felt as Alex exited his plane.

I expect nothing less than for Alex to arrive at BG’s party with three underage Ukrainian mail-order brides. And he doesn’t disappoint. Unfortunately for the brides, he immediately begins discussing relationships with Cara. It’s fun to see Cara pride herself in not cheating on people for the past year. I kind of feel like that should be a given, but okay. As they’re undressing each other with their eyes talking, Garrett is having an interesting convo of his own. Classic Chloe starts stirring the pot AGAIN by telling Garrett that Cara is using him. Really Chloe? Cara is supposed to be your best friend. What’s more shocking is that VICTORIA starts to betray Cara as well. This causes an immediate fight between Carrett. They leave the party and start screaming at each other in the jungle. I’m so enraptured by the fight that I momentarily forget they’re at a themed party and fixate on Garrett’s outfit. Why am I watching Garrett Miller scream in a jungle dressed as a pirate? Oh, right. Anyways.

Even though Cara and G Baby are scream fighting, the party continues to rage on. And everyone is makingoutté. Kelsey and Jared, Amanda and Brandon... something is in the air! It must be the pirate theme. #LetsGetScurvy. But one person isn’t feeling the love – Madisson. With Dad gone, she has no one to kish. Clearly bothered by watching her friend and ex-boyfriend eat each other’s faces, Madisson decides to give Brandon the sad news that Amanda is using him. Whether or not she is, Madisson has no right to give her opinion on the matter. And BG says exactly that. Good for him! Another person surprisingly not making out with someone is Alex. He’s too busy being an asshole to Kelsey and telling anyone who will listen that Boring Robby is bad news. Probably true, but literally no one can be worse than he is, except maybe Pauly Paul. In other news, WHERE IS PAUL.

Unfortunately, the next scene doesn’t involve Pauly or Victoria – just Chloe and Juliette. Juliette shows up after Chloe gets out of work to hopefully avoid jailtime hash things out. Now strap in because I’m about to explain exactly where I stand with the Chloe/Juliette drama, and if you aren’t completely focused, please take a 10mg Adderall, wait ten minutes, and check back in.

Okay, hopefully, you’ve taken amphetamines and can really dial in. Here goes: I realize that Chloe is a necessary evil - it’s an indisputable fact that there would be no show without her antics. No one is as shameless when it comes to talking shit and completely ruining their friendships for the sake of television. And for that, I deeply respect Chloe. (I realize that sounds sarcastic but I am dead serious. Thank you for taking one for the team, Chloe.) But I simply cannot stand when she gets what’s coming to her then plays the innocent victim. Obviously, violence is not cool, and Juliette should be embarrassed by her behavior. But Chloe knew exactly what the outcome of that conversation would be. She was banking on a wasted Juliette reacting horribly. With Chloe, you simply cannot win. Earlier in this episode, Chloe verbatim says to Madisson and Cara, “If the roles were reversed, I would have shown up at her house, apologizing.”

Now cut to this scene, where Chloe verbatim says to Juliette (after Juliette shows up at her workplace) “I really don’t know why you’re here, so if you can please leave and leave me alone.”

Juliette said it best herself – “Chloe is my best friend when I’m miserable. When I’m actually thriving…this type of stuff happens.” Let’s take a moment to analyze the similarities and differences of how Chloe and the rest of the cast handled Chloe’s altercation with Amanda during season one, in which Amanda broke Chloe’s nose and sent her to surgery. After sending Chloe to the hospital, Amanda justifies her actions by saying that Chloe started it first. So everyone is okay with Amanda decking Chloe. The fact is, Chloe started it first here, too. Chloe swatted at Juliette’s hand first. So why did everyone grab coffee with Amanda, but ostracize Juliette? Amanda even had a sit-down conversation with Chloe after her surgery expecting Chloe to apologize. The inconsistencies and hypocrisy present…I CANNOT.

Chloe acts like everyone’s best friend to stay relevant and betrays them the second it benefits her. While I do agree that Juliette is only apologizing because she’s scared Chloe will press charges, I think people who talk shit, unfortunately, get hit, on occasion. Until next week!

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bubypjm · 5 years ago

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why bighit is trash

or, alternatively, a list of things that bighit, an entertainment company/music label, should start doing and stop acting like a small company.

im puting everything under a read more bcos its a lot, for one, and im also sure that not everyone wants to read it or cares lmao

a little disclaimer; i speculate and connect things based off of the things we are shown/told, i will spoil some parts of their recent movie AND its not bighit-positive, obviously

okay to start this off, bighit released an official statement to say that bts will be going “on an official and extended period of rest and relaxation” and that’s honestly one of the best things that bighit has done for bts.

the statement is linked, but since i will be referring to a fair few points on it i will also attach it here

the issues start with the opening sentence.

“for the first time since their debut” bts will be going on an official and extended period of rest. to rephrase, for the first time in 6 years, the 7 men of bts will not be surrounded by cameras, will not be expected to attend any rehearsals or interviews and will not be expected to produce or write lyrics. they will not have any responsibilities tied to their work. or, that is what we all had assumed, but as we now know the members were expected to film content on what they do during their break and, if jungkooks video is anything to go by, they were also expected to edit and send it in to the company for “review”.

judging by the release/filming of Hoseok & Becky G’s CNS, it seems like their “break” does not include solo activities. or does bighit consider the building of ones own reputation as an individual artist an “extra” and not a part of ones work?

“enjoy the ordinary lives of people in their 20s, albeit briefly”

this just hurts. it was bighits responsibility to make sure that they got more chances to enjoy their lives.

the good

bighit reminding uglies to stay the fuck away from them during their short break.

okay, the statement aside, i want to talk about a few other bighit-bts related things.

bighit staff and sasaengs

- stalkers appearing in hoseoks bday vlive (no its not staff, the girls’ accounts were found on instagram. they were quite pleased with themselves) were was the security ? how did the girls know which room the boys were in ? doesn’t bighit rent out the entire hotel floor ? does that mean they were allowed in ? why ? did they pay ? do their parents have connections bighit could use ?

- giving away members clothes, providing concert entrance, giving away members numbers ect

the thing that occurred during hoseoks vlive was not looked into, as far as i am aware, however Jimin’s Gucci concert shirt being 'lent’ to a stalker was.

However, minimum to little effort was put into the case because no staff was fired, no disciplinary measures were taken and no consequences occurred.

- during either DNA or Fake Love comeback stages on music shows, some armys were not permitted entrance and some privileged people were taken backstage to meet the members (which is NOT allowed, at any point. those are PRIVATE areas for the idols to rest and prep for the stage) source 1 & more if you look around.

- not firing a manager that hit jungkook source (some speculate he was fired, others speculate he was removed from being a manager and took another position within bighit.)

- bighit restricting any and all interactions with the members among staff. according to one of the backup dancers during Not Today and/or Singularity, bighit staff was very strict about NOT speaking with the members.

take the last point as you will. I have my own thoughts about it

- no subs on army kit content, no subs for bangtan bombs (other channels have them. bighit claims themselves to be a global company but doesn’t move as such). its all well and good to say “you’re stanning a korean company, learn korean!” and this may work for bangtan bombs, but what about army kit content? why isn’t that subtitled? or should that be dismissed with “you don’t have to buy it”?

the good

- giving bts a private jet and not making them go through public entrances and exits. thank u bighit

the movie

this will contain spoilers.

- big hit staff filmed the members during their vulnerable moments.

jungkook nearly passing out, filmed and slotted into the movie. the members crying and clearly feeling emotionally vulnerable ? recorded and snipped into the movie. this would’ve been fine if the members were fine with it, but jungkook was clearly trying to hide his face from the camera and jimin expressed not wanting to show himself in bad conditions.

- treatment of bighit staff

we all know that jungkook had to sit out during some stages during the love-yourself tour. what we didn’t know was that he got stitches without any medication that would ease his pain because he had to go on stage.

jungkook hurt himself so badly that he needed stitches, but was not allowed anything to subdue the pain while getting the stitches because it would not make him stage-ready. the staff members watched as he screamed while getting stitches.

now, i don’t really care whether it was jungkook’s decision or not. nobody in their right mind would let someone they care about go through with something like that. there will be other stages, there will be other concerts. however, idk why i find this surprising since jungkook was hit by a staff member before and the only reason why he got fired was bcos it was spotted in the bg of a bangtan bomb and armys demanded for the man to be fired.

- secondly, jimin’s neck and dropping out of the graham norton show.

i cannot find the translation rn, but while deciding what to tell the fans with regards to what happened to jimin and why he isn’t able to perform with the rest, namjoon tries to opt for telling the truth in a gentle way while one of the staff members suggests a white lie as to not worry the fans.

this has also happened before with the korean vs english statement regarding jungkook’s heal injury. the korean explanation stated that it was serious, while the english one explained it more casually. i cannot find the sources currently, but if you look around yourself you can find them.

bighit.

- keeping supreme boi employed

- forcing jimin and jin to sing in female key in fake love, despite both of them expressing their struggle with reaching such high notes.

- not providing a vocal coach while on tour (jimin had to ask jungkook for advice)

- vocal line still have not got their own studios despite expressing their want for it, yet txt members have their own studios already. source

- members having less and less influence over the groups music. even recently yoongi mentioned that the songs he makes don’t match with bts’ music/style anymore source

- bighit being immensely difficult to work with overseas (strict venue rules regarding staff, changing things last minute, not being time-efficient)

- leaving taehyung’s stage name out of promotional works/promo tweets

- not taking action against death threats made against taehyung

- forcing jimin to speak about his death threats during a live, global interview in korea

- not cleaning up the copyright matter over using michael jackson’s song “black or white” in the festa performance of jimin and jungkook - resulted in their performance being taken down

- no bangtan bomb behind jimin creating his song “promise”, while recently there have been videos released of jins, jungkooks and taehyung’s solos

- bighit shooting down collaborations and picking and chosing the artists that collab with bts, despite the members wanting and expressing interesting in collaborations with said artist (why did we get a chainsmokers collab before a tinashe one? a khalid one?)

- bighits deal with dispatch. dispatch is known for exposing scandals and relationships among idols, so the fact that they get an exclusive peak into the bangtan life is interesting and rather worrisome.

-however, one of the dirtiest moves that bighit pulled was during the break between DNA and Fake Love. as we know now, that time was very hard for the members. it was in that gap that the members spoke of disbanding, there were rumours/concerns about jungkook’s well being and fans also pointed out taehyung’s odd state.

during this time, instead of allowing the members time and space to decide everything, bighit had applied for the legal copyright regarding everything bts. the group name was copyrighted, as were the members stage names, fandom name among other things (there are articles on naver, if you’re interested).

SPECULATION

i just want to stress that these are my thoughts and you are welcome to disagree and have your own opinions.

Although we know that the members have re-signed the contract with bighit for another 7 years, I do believe that their pens were pushed by bighit’s copyrighting run. the members had 2 choices; either bind yourself to another contract and stay with that which you have built for years, or drop everything and start anew. however, something tells me that bts didn’t sign the contract with no leverage.

namjoon had said previously that although the group started with 7 boys with the same goal, it now consists of 7 men on one boat, each with their eyes set on different horizons. i believe that with namjoon’s collaborations with more and more overseas artists (honne, fall out boy, lil nas x ect), he may have gotten himself more opportunities for solo work.

similar could be said about yoongi. the man is a musical genius and with his production of suran’s wine and heize’s we dont talk together, yoongi may also end up branching in that direction.

taehyung has expressed his interest in fashion and photography a lot over the past years. seokjin has not acted at all in his life, despite starting off to do just that. hoseok began to branch out with CNS but jimin and jungkook have seemingly little to no outside projects, either (though you could count wiom for jungkook)

the boys’ previous contract was, clearly, restricting and very demanding. i think that their new contract allows them a lot more freedom and room to establish a reputation as individuals. that isn’t to say, however, that bighit let the boys end bts as a whole and permitted them to go off and start solo careers.

from what is happening now and what has happened in the past, I do not believe that bighit would let bts disband, you can decide if that is for better or for worse. however, the only way to keep bts together and satisfied, is to give room for the members to do that what they want. i think that we may start to see some more solo projects from the members, and a lot more control and influence from the outside over bts’ music, concepts and management. ever since LY: Tear had been released, i find myself thinking that their next release will be the last one before a mass hiatus due to enlisting. this time, however, i feel like it may be their final release and concert tour before the group steps back for a while. bighit debuted a new group and is pumping a lot of money into it. they had also recently obtained an entire new company that not only has a lot of trainees of its own, but also manages Gfriend - an already debuted and established group. bighit is no longer the little underground company that relied on 7 boys to bring it out of its debts. however, it will not let its biggest source of income fall away because, at the end of the day, bighit is a company. the most likely scenario, to me, is that once seokjin and/or others enlist, bts as ot7 will go on a break, but bighit will still get to cash in through the boys’ solo work. so, we may see sneak peaks of their solo careers here and there, but bts will remain active as 7 until it can’t no more.

#bighit #bts #long post

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

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November 4th-November 10th, 2019, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from November 4th , 2019 to November 10th , 2019. The chat focused on Princess Pop by carcarchu.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Princess Pop by carcarchu~! (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/list?title_no=173793)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until November 10th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think Kizumi’s secret is that she seems to be hiding? Why is she convinced it would change how others saw her? Additionally, how does Ritsu know the secret and why is Ritsu willing to keep it a secret?

FeatheryJustice

Just started reading but I wish I knew more about the poor girl who left her spot for Kizumi. Must be so disappointed later.

carcarchu

@FeatheryJustice I actually have plans for her but it'll will take forever to get to them at the pace i'm going

FeatheryJustice

Ohhh! I'm glad, I want her to be actually really good and it's like the feels bad moment if she just was able to stay in line long enough she would have been able to get in XD

Also so far I don't trust Rain, bubbly girls make me scared XD

carcarchu

ok this is somewhat of a spoiler but goldie (girl who's spot got taken by kizumi)'s entire character gimmick is that she has horrendous luck. in season 1 she tried to audition but got horrible food poisoning and couldn't make it too. basically her greatest enemy is herself

FeatheryJustice

RIPPO I love her

RebelVampire

@carcarchu Just so you know, spoilers get archived along with the rest of the chat. So make sure it's something you don't mind the public knowing before posting spoilers.

carcarchu

Yep it's no problem! Thanks for letting me know!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Given Yuna originally didn’t do so well at the beginning of her own season, what do you think changed how she sung and eventually caused her to win? How will this play a role in Kizumi’s story?

snuffysam

3) Hmm... I'd say my favorite character is... Luna. She's abrasive, but she's very practical rather than just being mean for mean's sake, which I like. Like, I find it interesting that Luna's deciding to be Kizumi's friend even after she (allegedly) tried to screw her over, because Luna knows Kizumi can be helpful to her. 4) My guess as to how Yuna's story plays into Kizumi's story is that Yuna sees herself in Kizumi. Like, she sees the potential for Kizumi to go beyond like she did (which I'm guessing is why she was disappointed in Kizumi's team performance). As for what specifically caused that change... no idea. Could be something like "she sings from the heart", or perhaps a really rigorous singing practice regimen?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think Ritsu’s story is given how cynical and serious she is about the world of idols? Do you think her mind can be changed, or will she continue to suffer through everything?

jaciopara

5) any panel with Luna being a snob in it. Shes my fav. We stan a queen 6) shes gotta have some kind of like,, tragic my parents were celebrities bg or like a bad experience with kizumis kind of hopeful personality

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene so far has probably been the group session where Kizumi enacts her plan to have everyone just skip solos. It was nice to see Kizumi and Luna work together, and I kind of liked that someone not Luna was the "villain" in that moment. It really spoke to the fact that no matter how nice all the girls might be, they're all also rivals. 2) I feel like Kizumi must have some past as a celebrity. Either through her parents, or maybe she had been a failed child star. Or maybe she was a baby in a diaper commercial. I kind of feel like this isn't her first time singing though, granted probably the first time singing for people on such a large scale. Which I think this must be how she knows Ritsu. Ritsu recognizes her for showbiz way back in the day.

3) My favorite character is probably Kizumi. I like her overly polite attitude, because I kind of relate to that in a lot of ways. That and I respect her attitude to just want everyone to get along. I also like that this is kind of a double-edged sword, where sure she can play peace keeper, but then she get walked all over and dragged into contests she didnt want to be a part of. So I just really like this cute and sweet aspect about her. 4) I feel like Yuna must have had some transcendental experience. Like maybe before she wasn't inspired and that although she tried her best, she didn't have the right motivation to win. And then she met a singer who really inspired her and who changed how she viewed singing in general. And instead of something that sounds nice, she strived to make her singing something that changed the hearts and minds of those around her. As for how this plays into Kizumi's story, given this mysterious Nagato figure, I assume that is who changed Yuna's life. The joke dark theory I have is a storyline ripoff from one of my fave mangas where the singer made herself sing better by tapping into sad emotions. Which she made herself sad by killing people close to her. So maybe that's what Yuna did.

5) It's definitely the illustrations from Yuna's performance. https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/chapter-12/viewer?title_no=173793&episode_no=15 I like the color schemes used, but legit, I am super biased this time in terms of favorites. I just honestly really love Yuna's outfit. I could look at that outfit all day. <3 6) I feel like Ritsu was happy go-lucky, maybe kind of like Kizumi, and then got super betrayed and super burned because showbiz is cut throat. And I also feel like she must have people around her who have put intense pressure that she has to succeed as an idol. So Ritsu feels trapped while also incapable of showing trust. So this makes her cyncical and mean because that is not a fun way to live. I feel like Ritsu's mind could be changed, but I think she either has to be convinced to trust again or convinced that showbiz is dumb and do things that make you happy. I feel like either is a challenge, but I do think Kizumi could help her since they have this mysterious past connection.

carcarchu

@RebelVampire THANK YOU for your long and thoughtful comments!! i won't say how close you got on some of your theories but it was a joy to read them!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. What do you think this story has to teach us about rivalry, competition, and how people handle it? In what ways do you think rivalry will get the better of the characters, and what ways will they triumph over those obstacles?

redbeanbunny

1. Favorite scene is definitely Kizumi making the plan proposal to Luna, and their meeting afterwards. It's one of the most intriguing personality bits we've seen of Kizumi, and it's cool to see that Luna isn't a cookie-cutter prissy rival. Kizumi is a nice girl but she's not just passive! I'm so interested in what Kizumi will bring to the table in the future! >:3 (alsoluna'soutfitsareallstylish) 2/4/6. I think Kizumi may be related to Nagato, the singer Yuna likes, whether he was a relative or maybe someone who she met up with randomly and joined during singing sessions. IDK, maybe in a park somewhere lol? There's no way she would just be a wildcard singer with no training or interest! Yuna was probably fibbing a little bit about seeing herself in Kizumi, she really made a connection between Kizumi and that singer even if it was just through her voice or style. Maybe Kizumi didn't want to be judged for being related to a celebrity. Or maybe... when she was a child she accidently did something in the past that prevented Nagato from continuing to sing. Depending on what it was it could possibly make people angry with her and she avoided a great opportunity for it. Is it really a coincidence her home is so near the filming site of this contest? :3c I think Ritsu knows about it from childhood bc showbiz and is angry at Kizumi for giving up on something she worked hard to get but was easily given to Kizumi, and maybe she knew Nagato too so thought that Kizumi wasted his efforts on her. Maybe she was involved secretly maybe accidentally and this contributes to her anxiety? Who knows.... but someone is definitely putting pressure on Ritsu maybe forcing her to stay in the biz.(edited)

redbeanbunny

3. My favorite character so far is Luna. She's kind of mean, but she's direct, confident and knows what she wants. Not to say she's not complex, but right now being straightforward makes her stand out from the cast. But my favorite design is definitely Yuna. I think I need to know more about everyone. 5. Probably the last panel of Ritsu in the group concert. Her pose is so powerful. It's so different from her backstage anxiety, makes me wonder about her! (I also love the endcard of Kizumi in a black dress and pink teddy jacket ) 7. It was short, but definitely Luna and Kizumi for the aforementioned reasons. They both have potential to be successful for different aspects and really compliment each other! Like Rain is nice too, but I feel like she doesn't have much going for her right now and it's also a reason she didn't have the presence to bring together her team. Marina is hilarious (I'm sorry for laughing at your suffering Marina but I can also relate to people not pulling weight on a big production T^T...) and I thought the scenes where she was reacting to Kizumi to be great, even if it's more as commentary than them interacting. 8. I think there will be lessons about taking what you're given and working with it to solve problems and move forward. You can only go so far without support, but you can't just go with the flow with others. You can already see the differences in the group elimination. I'm not really sure what the winner of Princess Pop gets, but maybe the girls will find something else out of their time on the show.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Who exactly is Nagato, and why is Yuna so obsessed with them? What does this have to do with Kizumi? Additionally, how might Yuna’s obsession bias how she judges the contest, and what consequences might there be for that?

RebelVampire

7) I enjoy seeing Kizumi and Luna interact the most. At first, I thought they were gonna have the typical bully/rival relationship. But then not only did Kizumi willingly say "Hey, let's work together," but then Luna through a curve ball saying, "Hey, let's be friends." Nothing about their relationship is typical for what their characters would normally be expected to do, so I like this aspect of figuring out exactly what their relationship is. 8) I feel the story shows us that there are two ways we can go about rivalry. We can use rivalry to drive us to a better place and use it as motivation to do better, in a respectful and friendly manner. Or, we can let rivalry and competition bring out the worst in us in the most self-absorbed way possible. Sadly, I think this comic is true to life in that we've seen a lot more of the worst than the best, and that when it comes to competition, we should probably prepare for the worst (and not think ourselves immune). I feel like the characters will are going to overcome the obstacle of having to hate your rival. But I think there's going to be lots and lots and lots of betrayals as characters have to pick between new friends theyve known a short time and their lifelong dreams.

9) I've really enjoyed the inclusion of bits from the last episodes in the new episodes at the very beginning. I know this is one of those things people will feel really mixed on, but I think in terms of not reading the comic in bulk, it's super helpful in the presentation. Sometimes people need a refresher if it's been a while, and the moments are pretty short so it doesn't hurt the bulk read all that much either. 10) As I theorized earlier, I think Nagato is someone who Yuna was moved by and influenced her own singing to the point she won the competition. I would say that maybe Kizumi is Nagato's reincarnation, but not sure that's the direction this story is going. Maybe Nagato is one of Kizumi's parents or something though. Also, yes. Yes this obsession will totally bias Yuna. We already saw it happen since she criticized for not being able to hear each singer individually. And I think the others will pick up on the fact she has a preference for Kizumi and get super mad at Kizumi for that. It's legit probably just gonna make Kizumi's life hell. ;_;

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Given recent events, why do you think Luna is suddenly interested in being Kizumi’s friend? Is it genuine, or does Luna have ulterior motives? What do you think Luna’s backstory is in general?

jestershark

11. I think this comic's strengths are definitely in the character interactions -- like all good idol competition shows! I also think one of the most compelling things is the subversion of some of the expectations that you have going in. 12. I think Luna is both interested in Kizumi and in it for her own purposes-- I think she's genuinely curious and interested in Kizumi, but maybe thinks of it as more of a self centered move.

redbeanbunny

9. I think a plus point is that everyone has a really unique style that i think matches their personalities, even ahen wearing different clothes. I also like when the artist tries to do something fancier with panels for moments like showcasing Ritsu in the group song or for Yuna singing. 11. I think the comic's strength is where some of our expectations of characters are challenged, while keeping it light-hearted though. 12. I think its probably that she's genuinely interested! I mean Kizumi technically reached out first after all. But she'll probably be okay with some messing and around and manip, but not malicious. Its competition. And you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer xD

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. At the end of the day, who do you think will win the current season of Princess Pop? Will it be Kizumi or someone else? What do you think will become of the winners and losers?

RebelVampire

11) I think this comic's strengths are how it kind of defies expectations. There are a lot of moments in the comic where you think the story is gonna go one way based on past story flows and general character types. But then it doesn't. Instead, it takes you to a new place, so each plot point is really interesting to explore since the outcome keeps you on your toes. 12) I think Luna sees Kizumi as useful. So instead of trying to oust Kizumi from the start, she's decided keeping Kizumi in the competition longer is more interesting and more beneficial in the long term. As for this longterm benefit, it's hard to say. Maybe Luna feels that Kizumi's lack of cutthroat passion to slay the competition at all competition makes her sort of a weak leak when it comes down to individual competitions. So Luna can essentially focus on getting rid of the opponents she feels are stronger first and then easily oust the weaker links, so to speak. As for Luna backstory, I feel she's the type of person who must of had parents who put constant pressure on her and told her winning was the only important thing. So Luna developed a personality that was highly geared towards being self-confident, snobby, and a little bit manipulative, since those are the things most likely that have helped her in the past to win.

13) I am actually looking forward to Kizumi coming to a head with her roommate (whose name escapes me atm). But either way, I feel the roomie is not as innocent as she pretends, and I want to see their relationship pushed as the competition gets more heated and they both come to accept they can't both win. 14) I don't think it'll be Kizumi. I feel like though the experience will inspire Kizumi to go on to have a singing career, I think ultimately it'll be someone else who wins. As for who, I'm torn cause I need more backstory. I think it's gonna depend on who reason for singing is simultaneously sad but filled with surprisingly innocent and sincere passion. I feel like the winners who wanted a singing career will get that. But I think a lot more of the girls will discover showbiz sucks and instead pursue other things that fulfill them more. Cause kind of how we see through Ritsu, showbiz looks glamorous from the outside, but is 100% not for everyone and constantly exposes you and make you vulnerable. And I think they'll also learn you don't have to have a professional singing career to sing for fun and spread music around, especially when the internet is all powerful.

Kabocha

It's gonna take me some time to answer questions, but I'm going to answer them out of order! Huzzah! 14. At the end of the day, who do you think will win the current season of Princess Pop? Will it be Kizumi or someone else? What do you think will become of the winners and losers? You know, I'm kind of hoping it's Luna? Ritsu might have the skill, but I think being showbiz is going to destroy her emotionally. Kizumi may make it to finals, but I feel like she might just step back at some point for someone else to win. Seems like her type, especially since she's only going forward with this because her dad suggested it might be a good idea. (Besides, what happened to the REST of Kizumi's life, anyway?)

3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor? My favorite character... I like Rain, honestly. She's so cheerful, and has such starry eyes... ...Literally, too. She's a cute. A shame it looks like she's going home. I wonder if we'll see her some more? Maybe on the outside, she'll exchange numbers or contact info to talk to Kizumi.

2. What do you think Kizumi’s secret is that she seems to be hiding? Why is she convinced it would change how others saw her? Additionally, how does Ritsu know the secret and why is Ritsu willing to keep it a secret? I kind of wish I knew what her secret is! I feel like the audience drama could be heightened by knowing what Kizumi's deal is, and seeing what the potential fallout for the other girls knowing that is. In any case -- I feel like maybe she and Ritsu met in school, but Rebel's suggestion of her being a model or celebrity in the past makes sense too. Maybe there was a singing competition for school or somesuch, and Kizumi did well there, but Ritsu understands the stress of being popular and saw how it ate Kizumi then, and will probably eat her again. Or maybe the secret's just as simple as "Well, you took goldie's place" and that's it. And everyone kiiiinda knows that, but...

4. Given Yuna originally didn’t do so well at the beginning of her own season, what do you think changed how she sung and eventually caused her to win? How will this play a role in Kizumi’s story? Someone in her life died. ...I dunno. I don't think we have enough information at Yuna to really theorize, tbh. But I mean, clearly Yuna had something happen, and it made her want to change. So she did. It could just be realizing that the prize money coulda been used to help someone? Or having the career woulda been beneficial to meeting her goals? Who knows.

9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention? THE DRESSES Gawsh, they're cute! Just... hhh. Yuna's dress during her special performance kind of inspired me so maybe something will come of that. Who knows.

Kabocha

7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you? I really like Kat and Lobelia - and I'm curious to see how they play off one another as siblings. Will they do any sort of duet outside of the group? Will they simply go solo? What if one of them wins? How's that gonna affect their relationship?

Honestly, I can't see that going well in some regards, but hopefully they'll find a way to work it out since they're siblings.

Kabocha

6. What do you think Ritsu’s story is given how cynical and serious she is about the world of idols? Do you think her mind can be changed, or will she continue to suffer through everything? I'm inclined to think that Ritsu just has issues with getting panicky in crowds. It might not be anything more complicated than that, and she's just like, "LISTEN, if you don't do well with crowds, this is NOT THE JOB FOR YOU" But I suppose we'll seeeeee~.

Kabocha

12. Given recent events, why do you think Luna is suddenly interested in being Kizumi’s friend? Is it genuine, or does Luna have ulterior motives? What do you think Luna’s backstory is in general? You know, I wonder. Luna seems like the type who might avoid making friends just on principle. In competitions like these, it would be difficult to keep friendships made among contestants, so it's just better to be standoffish. I wonder if she expects Kizumi to be less likely to backstab her if they're friends? It's hard to tell.

mathtans

I thought the topic for the comic looked interesting and I needed a break from doing report cards so I'm going to participate this week. O.o Will peek at questions before other answers.

1. The scene where Kizumi calls her dad stands out to me, I think because it helped to ground everything in a sense of reality. Having parents is a thing. Also amusing that he was a fan of the show.

2. Kizumi is secretly an android. ... Okay, no, but not sure aside from probably relates to her family. Ritsu knows her from way back, so that makes sense, and I think all of them would hold off on saying things they could use for blackmail. O.o

3. I'm leaning towards Rain. I like her mix of seriousness and goofiness. Also, nice entrance ducking down from the bunk above.

4. Yuna may have been like Kizumi in terms of just going along for the heck of it, until she realized she might have a shot - or possibly didn't want to see someone else win. So that could connect.

5. I kind of liked the Halloween costumes, am I allowed to pick that even though it wasn't canon? Though in general I like how the art flows down the page, a bit like how one's eye would when looking at someone singing. And there's some neat extra arts at the end sometimes.

6. Ritsu may have family issues, could also be why she wouldn't out Kizumi for family issues. She may feel like she has to suffer for her art.

7. I rather like the Kizumi/Yuna interactions. Feels like there's always something under the surface there. What with Kizumi feeling like not measuring up and Yuna kind of dancing around straight answers.

8. I feel like the plan of "flying under the radar" works well when there's multiple rivals, as we kind of saw, but that only works for so long. Not sure what else it will get into. I could see some of the more naive characters falling for ruses.

Kabocha

Yuna? Straight answers!? That would involve Kizumi actually asking a direct question, too XD

mathtans

9. I guess I already mentioned the flowing down the page matching the tracking of an eye. I also think that some of the art reuse is well done, not simply as a quick recap to start, but callbacks to people singing, or in the dream sequence... that was clever. And some of the explanation font stuff (like 'applause') doesn't come across as weird or goofy.

Kabocha: Heh. You're not wrong. She only really seems to have opened up to Rain, and then only in part.

Kabocha

Yeah. I kind of wish Kizumi would come out more with what her deal is - it would save her a lot of drama! But on the other hand, this comic does give me a very shoujo-manga sort of feel, and those sorts of misunderstandings are a pretty staple trope in the genre :3 So it's not a bad thing, it'd just be interesting to see where it went, yanno?

mathtans

10. I don't recall the Nagato thread, I've been reading very sporadically over the past week.

11. Well, the topic seems to have drawn me in. And it seems to have a good sense of which characters to bring to the forefront out of what is theoretically an oversized cast. I'm not great at this sort of analysis. O.o

12. Oh, Luna definitely has ulterior motives, but I think for the moment the offer is genuine in that she sees Kizumi as being someone who would hold her own. And better to be friends with that sort of person than on their bad side. The ulterior motive being a belief that she could win if it came down to the two of them. Something like that - Luna seems to be a strategist too.

13. It'll be interesting to see how the field gets narrowed, as it is the writer managed to cut the field in fifths with one contest. Pity about Rain, I'm wondering how she's going to handle things. Also some of those helpers/employees in the background got full bios, I'm wondering when and how they'll pop up again.

Kabocha: Also good points there too. And yeah, though I like that there's not so much misunderstandings at this point as much as secrets.

14. Goldie will win, in the most bizarre twist ever. Seriously though, uhhh? Maybe it'll be a tie. That'd be a twist too.(edited)

Kabocha

That's fair Math~ And oh god, if Goldie came back.. That would be really interesting

The final showdown is between Kizumi and Goldie! That could be amazing.

carcarchu

Ahahaha very interesting analysis's guys~ it's very difficult to sow all these seeds and then have to wait so long to be able to pay them off, i hope it will all be worth it in the end!

Kabocha

It'll definitely be interesting to see as it goes on!

I have to admit, that starry dress that Yuna wore was sorta inspiring in a weird way. It's sparked the urge to make some new brushes, too so we'll see what comes out of that. XD

mathtans

Been reading through the other comments. Interesting idea about Ritsu having been burned in the past, I can see it. (It's interesting how she was set up as a rival and then Luna became an additional wild card.) I didn't mention Marina, and that's an oversight because she was a fun character.

mathtans

Also, how could I NOT end by doing ships? With so many wonderful female characters? I mean, there's the obvious Kizumi-Rain, but I'm not sure I see that going beyond friendship. Kizumi-Yuna has potential. Ritsu seems like a bit too much of a lone wolf... whereas Reeni could pair with any of them, she's precious. Luna-Yuna I like for the name alone. (Lyuna?) But part of me likes Luna-Kat, having secret romantic walks in the morning.

redbeanbunny

13. I'm excited to learn more about Ritsu and Luna, and I hope some healing from Ritsu. They say that ppl are most critical of the flaws they have in themself, and for now she's still lashing out at Kizumi. Also to get to know the other contestants. I have no idea who the cannon fodder is right now and who will actually stay and make it to the end. For all I know Luna could get booted in the next round (noooo...). I think there are so many ways things could potentially go. And not to be shallow but more outfits for the gals, please!! Excited to see how things roll from here on out ^^ 14. We haven't met everyone yet, have we? So there's still others to consider. And I think that the other bickering characters haven't revealed their full potential yet. We don't even know the interns that well yet and what they have to put in. I mean there has to be a reason they have names I assume others will be getting their time to shine, so to speak. I just have this feeling the winner won't be Kizumi or Ritsu,,, but eh that's my gut. Who will win is one thing, I wonder who will actually continue their singing career. Maybe someone will get an image change (Ritsu? maybe she'll switch to a different style in the future). (Also Kizumi and Luna duet please at some point!). I think the real wildcard has yet to show up, kind of like how Yuna suddenly changed in the middle of the competition. This is one of the reasons why I'm so confused about what she sees in Kizumi (besides the whole Nagato thing and Kizumi possibly being his protegee). Could be Rain even. You know, like those shows that bring back the old contestants to raise the tension(edited)

Kabocha

13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

I'm looking forward to getting ANSWERS! What is your deal, Luna? As far as final thoughts, I look forward to see how this goes forward. I'm glad I read this week's comic, honestly :3

FeatheryJustice

I didn't have time to finish reading but I have to say I like the concept at least

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Princess Pop this week! Please also give a special thank you to carcarchu for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Princess Pop, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/list?title_no=173793

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plumbobpost · 7 years ago

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Fan(fic) Friday: Spotlight on Peni Griffin

Sul sul!

Today, I have a special treat for you guys. I had the chance to ask the very delightful @penig a few questions about Widespot and The Sims in general. For those of you who aren’t familiar with her work, she has created two widely popular hoods for The Sims 2: Land Grant University and the aforementioned Widespot. It’s longer than usual, and Peni expressed the concern that it would needed to be edited down, but in all honesty, her responses were such a wealth of information, deleting any of it seemed wrong.

I’ll stop teasing you, and let Peni speak for herself:

What inspired you to create Widespot?

“I’m always in story creation mode. This has been a large part of the appeal of The Sims 2 for me, as it allows me to tell a particular kind of story that I will never, ever be able to write for publication, and have always wanted to: the story of a community in which we see every character as the hero of her own story, and how all the stories intertwine (often without the protagonists recognizing it) and affect each other as they all go about their business.”

“At the time I started Widespot, I was in a situation in which my normal professional outlets were not available to me. You will excuse me from going into detail on the subject, which can be summed up as Health Crap. For our purposes, the important thing was that I needed a project, I couldn’t work on a book, I had been thinking for some time about the potential of my favorite game as a storytelling medium, and enough discussion of the matter had been generated over at MTS that I found/was directed to the late lamented Mootilda’s thread on creating a clean, safe, populated neighborhood for sharing. ( http://modthesims.info/t/455403)”

“I actually went into some detail about the process on my writing blog at the time.”

( https://penigriffin.blogspot.com/2013/02/so-you-want-to-share.html )

Did you take inspiration from the Maxis neighborhoods?

“To a certain extent, yes. I decided that what I wanted to create was a neighborhood that would feel and play as if it had shipped with the game, but with less mess. No dead people without full character data, no memories that outright contradict each other, no hints in the bios that can’t be fully explored in the game.”

In your neighborhood, you included different story elements for each family that interconnect. What is your process in developing this story?

“Somewhere around here, I have the notebook in which I first started working it out, but I’d have to dig to find it. I remember starting with the admonition to myself to keep it simple, as your first attempt at publishing in a medium should be simple - you have enough to do mastering the new medium without trying to make something complicated with it. I knew my genre was soap opera, and though I’ve never been much of a soap watcher, my mother and husband are, so that set my parameters. I listed the tools at my disposal - the five base game aspirations, the jealousy mechanics, and the generational play. The question I asked myself at the start of the process was: “How do I create the most Drama for the least amount of effort?”

“Probably the notion of having five aspiration-themed households came almost at once, possibly as I started making name lists. I wanted to give elders a big role, because I had noticed that a lot of people thought elders were “boring,” and I knew they were wrong! I’ve always felt that Maxis missed a big trick by not having a Scheming Matriarch in Pleasantview. I wanted to shake up some stereotypes and have sims who didn’t obviously “belong” in their aspirations - shy Romance sims, outgoing Knowledge sims, lazy Fortune sims. I wanted all the households intimately connected to each other, which meant that for simplicity’s sake the story (story being defined as “person with a problem”) should center around one particular event that triggered events in all the households, a cascade of consequence. At which point I wrote down “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a fortune must be in want of a wife,” and decided that the wealthy Mann family coming to town with a highly marriageable son and a Dark Secret was a good place to start.”

“That turned out not to be the trigger, but you have to start somewhere.”

Aside from your official captions, how did you set out to convey plot to those who play Widespot?

“I tried to take pictures of enough key moments that the players could inspect the albums for clues. By playing out the development I had ensured that some important information already existed in the memories and relationship panels, but I also went in and inserted memories that seemed to me significant. I had specific meanings in mind when I gave Mary memories of potty-training her younger siblings that extend all the way back to teenhood and manipulated some of her relationship scores with the testing cheats, but I wanted the players to be free to interpret those memories and relationships according to their own ideas, so I tried to background my own opinions as much as possible.”

“The plot, after all, is the players’ job, not mine!”

As far as literal world building goes, how did you factor in your characters’ surroundings to both their plotlines and their characterization?

“The smallness of the town, necessitated by the decision to keep things as simple as possible, gave me the starting point and the town’s name - it’s just a wide spot in the road, hardly a town at all. Rural areas have a certain vibe; certain types of people grow up there, and certain kinds of people wind up there, so this was on my mind as I designed the characters, built their homes, and decided what order they should be created in CAS and moved in. Each house has a history, not all of which is necessarily made explicit to the player, and some of which really, really made me long for something more than BG Maxis content! But I think most people get that the Land cabin was built piecemeal over time, that a lot of Skye’s house was DIY, that the Beech house is Daytona’s house and the rest of her family just lives there, etc. Skye only got educational toys for his kids, but the Lands have a teddy and a dollhouse as well. The Mann’s house is the only one with a fence, and Rich ensures his privacy with stained glass windows in certain rooms. He also has that ominous closet full of aspiration rewards. (I hate that I couldn’t get him a counterfeiting machine - he clearly needs one.)”

“Some details were dictated by the game mechanics. Penny needed a double bed to get pregnant in, but there’s no particular reason for one to exist on her lot; so the heck with it, everybody in that house gets a double bed and I don’t even try to explain it. The lowest-numbered playable in the hood is always the telescope slapper, so I had to create the Mann family first in order for the guy with the Dark Secret to be the one who was incensed at the possibility of being spied on. But who would beard Rich in his own den when he, Lana, or Junior used the telescope in the daytime? That would be the local cop, wouldn’t it? This is why the Land house (with the nubile Land daughters) is right behind the Mann house and the Mann telescope is pointed straight at it. I also used the house to train the Manns - especially Junior - into wanting to buy things by furnishing it minimally to start with, and then adding items as wants were rolled for expensive artwork, games, etc.”

“When I gave characters their starting skill points, I assigned them partly at random, partly according to the implied backstory and role, and partly according to what would be possible in the game. If logic or a random roll indicated that someone in a household had a skill, I made sure that suitable skilling items existed in that household. Woody has an easel because it’s a solitary tool for gaining creativity points; the other families have the more sociable piano. Neither family is much concerned about the impression they make on the outside world, so they are not oversupplied with mirrors, unlike the other families, where Charisma matters.”

“This all works back and forth; the character or situation requires something in the setting, and then I realize that having this thing here means that I also need this and that means I should improve the relationship between these two characters, or whatever. My first and best playtester insisted to me that Goldie needed a teddy bear, and made a good case for it based on Goldie’s characterization, both in the bios and as played; and she was right, so I added it almost at the last minute. (Which is why, so often, the first thing Rhett does it pick it up and try to talk to someone through it.)”

“One thing that I was aware of during development, but am a little reluctant to discuss, is the possible implications for the setting of the racial makeup of the neighborhood. At the time I was born, in the state where I was born, the Land and Beech marriages would have been illegal; and I had that in mind when I mentioned familial disapproval in the Land bios. Some people pick that up and run with it, most people ignore it. Most people look at the Hart’s Spanish-style house and decide (despite the name) that the family has a Mediterranean or Mexican background, but others have decided that Valentine is black/white biracial and all the Spanish influence comes from Angel. I have no desire to dictate anybody’s interpretation or play style, but I do want to enable as many interpretations and play styles as possible, and this variety is an indication of success to me.”

In a lot of ways, fans have come to regard Widespot as highly as they regard the original three Maxis neighborhoods. Did you envision the neighborhood being this popular?

“I beat my “expectations” about the reception of any particular work to death years ago. While I was building Widespot, I told myself that if the only person who liked it was Aegagropilon (my first playtester), that would be good enough and anybody else’s approval would be gravy. Well, Aegagropilon loved it; and I’ve lapped up quite a bit of gravy since then. I don’t have much of a grasp of how popular it actually is, and that’s not the important thing. The important thing is that I know some people are playing it, and enjoying it, and using it in different ways. How many there are, and how it stacks up next to the many other (and in some cases far more sophisticated) fan made hoods out there, is out of my hands. I’m better off not dwelling on that.”

How did Widespot evolve after you started? Were there any massive deviations from your original plan?

“Development was an alternating process of playing (including building, character design, and actual play) and working things out on paper in illegible notes, which is always how I work. I haven’t properly thought anything till I’ve written it down, but I’m a “pantser” rather than a “plotter” - i.e. I tend to fly by the seat of my pants when creating. Too much planning kills the story for me. So once all the preliminary work had been set up, and the broad strokes of the storyline determined, the rest was done directly in the game, with a little help from the testing cheats, Tombstone of Life and Death, and so on.”

“I knew I needed to wind up with a baby for every adult woman, but I didn’t always know who specifically would be the father of each baby until I saw how characters interacted. I knew one of the households would have a ghost, but for awhile I thought it might be Lana. I assumed Candy would have two lovers but I thought one of them would be Hamilton until she informed me otherwise. As mentioned earlier, I thought the Manns would be the central, triggering household rather than the Harts. I had no plans for the teens or children at all, and they took care of their own storylines”.

On a different note, what was your inspiration for the dynamic between the Harts and the rest of Widespot’s inhabitants? How did you develop the idea for these entanglements?

“As a family of Romance sims, their job was to wreak havoc. And boy, howdy, did they! But only after I realized Angel had to be the town ghost. The family ran much too smoothly when she was in charge - she and Valentine constantly smooching it up, Rhett being Mama’s boy, Candy being Goldie’s social support. Kill Angel, and everybody falls apart and starts making bad decisions. I designed Valentine as a Dirty Old Man; but he refused to be only that. I designed Rhett as a heartless jerk, and he can be that - but he’s also the only one of the immature Mama’s boys in the hood who has lost his Mama. I designed Candy as a golddigger, and yeah, she is - but she also made friends with Daytona and Goldie without any prompting from me, and she put herself in the middle of what turned out to be the hardest knot to untie in the whole hood, the Mann Triangle.”

“And Goldie - well, Goldie was a darling who autonomously put the rest of her family ahead of herself repeatedly, could never finish her homework, and never once brought anyone home from school or came home with anyone else.”

“TL;DR: I didn’t develop the Harts. They did.”

You’ve been very active on both Mod the Sims and Tumblr for a while now. How has The Sims community evolved since you first got involved? Why do you think there is still such a strong following of the series?

“It’s hard for me to speak to how it’s evolved, since I was never part of the Age of LJ and only started playing Sims 2 since after Sims 3 was already out. Also, having been on the fringes of a lot of subcultures in my life, I have become adept at keeping away from the stuff that stresses me out. So I’ve never hung out at SimSecret. I block tags on tumblr. I avoid anything smacking of edition wars, don’t allow anonymous communication, and back out of controversies as fast as I can - with an apology if necessary, because face it, everybody’s a jerk on the internet sometimes, and the most you can hope for is to not be one any more often than you can help.”

“So I have no idea how the Sims community as a whole is going on, and I only have a limited knowledge of the portion of the Sims 2 fandom that hangs around specifically at MTS and attracts my attention on Tumblr (often by tagging Widespot). Within this limited sphere, I have noticed a few changes. I used to see it assumed as common consensus that all Maxis premades were “ugly” and that “ugly” is a bad thing; moreover, that certain sims - Goopy Gilscarbo and Sandy Bruty in particular - are more “ugly” than most and are to be avoided at all costs. Now people are shipping Goopy and Sandy (that’s largely @holleyberry’s doing, I believe) and embracing the cartooniness of sims with enthusiasm.”

“On older websites I often see “realistic” (i.e., modeled on airbrushed photos in fashion magazines) sims that, as far as I can tell, are identical to each other and to the ones on the other old websites they link to. With current websites, however, I can not only tell the sims from each other, I can tell Person A’s versions of the premades from Person B’s at a glance. This is especially marked on tumblr, where I often know who originally posted the pics I’m looking at regardless of the attached avatar.”

“And there has been such a flowering of creativity in so many directions in the last eight years it’s overwhelming, though I don’t know how that compares to the days before I started participating. I like to think of Widespot as the vanguard of a Golden Age of hood-sharing. Nobody moans about the lack of clean fan made neighborhoods anymore; they’re agonizing over whether to play Europa or Widespot or Emerald Heights or Polgannon. And suddenly people are making new face sliders. Neighborhood deco lights up at night now. There’s mods for parking on the street, taking toddlers and pets on vacation, hunting, foraging, beekeeping, on and on and on.”

“I think the main difference between now and eight years ago is, that people were defensive about still playing Sims 2, and a general air of playing a “dying game” hung over us all. Now we are joyous and defiant and declaring that Our Game is the Best and Will Never Die.”

“Or maybe that’s just the people I self-select to see. How would I know?”

As a writer by trade, did you find many similarities between creating Widespot and writing a novel?

“My experience has always been that there’s an underlying unity among all kinds of creation, and in particular that storytelling is storytelling, whether it’s the language of text, sound, line and color, or whatever. My writing habits and skills translated seamlessly into the medium of the game. The chief difference, once you factor out technical matters, is that in most forms of storytelling, you need to provide a discrete unit of Story and give the reader the pleasures of closure and narrative structure, pruning out everything that disrupts that weakens the sense of completeness.”

“When making a sims neighborhood, though, you need to be as open-ended as possible, and you need to discern the optimum moment to turn the hood over to the player, while it’s still bristling with plot hooks and unresolved situations. You don’t need, as I did, to deliberately choose the moment at which a bunch of hard choices must be made immediately; but you need to put the player into a situation in which the choices he makes will matter and shape how the neighborhood develops from that point.”

You often play neighborhoods like Pleasantview and Strangetown. Do you prefer playing your own sims or those created by Maxis?

“That’s like asking if I prefer to read Diana Wynne Jones or Megan Whelan Turner. (And if you aren’t familiar with those authors, boy do you have some great reading ahead of you!) The answer is “both.” I enjoy playing characters I’m engaged with, regardless of who made them. Sometimes I wonder what’s going on with Vidcund and want to play Strangetown; sometimes I want to reconnect with the sims in Drama Acres, my personal custom neighborhood; sometimes I want to play with some of my own plot hooks from Widespot. It’s all good.”

If you had to pick between Widespot and Land Grant University, which would you choose?

“I’d attach LGU to Widespot and play them both. I don’t do either/or choices.”

(She just defeated the Kobayashi Maru.)

Do you intend on creating more neighborhoods?

“I actually have three on hand right now: a downtown called Bigg City (an empty version of which is available on SFS http://simfileshare.net/download/207580/ ); a Seasons/Pets neighborhood I call Knotthole County; and an AL neighborhood called Port Cochere. The populated Bigg City got real complicated, real fast and when Health Crap is in a certain state I can’t work on it. Knotthole County is almost completely built but got interrupted while I was designing the characters; and Port Cochere is an SC4 map and a bunch of illegible notes. And at the moment I can’t work on any of them because I need two disk drives in order to use AGS, and one of them has gone wonky. However, I should be able to replace that soon, and then - well, maybe I’ll finally get that last week of work done on Bigg City. Or maybe I’ll decide (again) that if I’m organized enough to work on that, I should seize the moment and get queries out instead.”

Your content is themed around The Sims 2; have you played other titles in the series?, If so, which installment in The Sims is your favorite to play? For storytelling? For building? For creating sims?

“I’m a late adopter by nature. I started with the original The Sims and played it till I felt I didn’t have anything more to discover in it, at which time I started looking into the Sims 2, assuming that I’d eventually plumb its depths, too, and move on to Sims 3 about the time Sims 4 came along. Then I discovered that Sims 2’s depths are unplumbable, and that it was the perfect vehicle for that all-community storytelling I’d always longed to do.”

“The more I learn about the later iterations, the more certain I am that I will never play them. I’m sure they’re fun in their own ways, and I certainly don’t look down on anyone who chooses to play them; but I don’t like the way they look, I don’t like the lack of a storytelling tool, and most of all, the mechanics and structure of the game don’t enable my style of neighborhood play. The Sims series consists of four distinct games with four distinct sets of strengths and weaknesses; and the first two are the only ones I feel any call to play.”

Lastly, why do you still continue to play The Sims? Do you feel that the games provide a positive creative outlet?

“It still gives me pleasure. And I still have Health Crap and need projects, and have a computer that will play it. The Sims 2 is as much a part of my life as reading and playing tabletop RPGs and board games with my friends. So why would I stop?”

“The game is a positive creative outlet - it has nothing to do with my feelings on the subject. One of the most rewarding things about having made Widespot and LGU is seeing people use them as springboards for developing and experimenting with their own creative capacities. Also, a lot of simmers are deliberately using the game to control or relieve some condition or other. Depression, OCD, chronic pain from which they need distraction - I’m not the only one with Health Crap, and I am honored whenever anyone uses something I made to deal with theirs.”

“They could have done these things without me, of course - but they didn’t. They used something I made for their own benefit, and I can feel good about that.”

Any parting comments, teasers, spoilers, public service announcements, etc.?

“One of the core concepts by which I live my life is that creativity is the quality that defines humanity best, and that it is the birthright of every single one of us. But we’ve been educated to think that it’s something special and separate, accessible only to certain special “talented” people; and brainwashed to think that personal creativity that can’t be monetized is a trivial use of time. On the contrary, creativity is to a large extent what time is for. Whether it’s a book, or a game, or a prom dress, the process of making is fulfilling and enriching, and sharing what we make is nourishing to us and to those we share with. So whatever your medium is, whatever resources are available to you, whatever ideas are quickening in your brain and hands - go for it.”

“It is not a silly waste of time.”

To those of you who haven’t played Widespot, go check it out; you won’t regret it. Thanks again to Peni Griffin for allowing me to pick her brain, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I certainly found a new favorite word in “pantser.”

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to visit my ask box. If you are interested, give Plumbob Post a follow, and reblog for anyone else who you think would enjoy this blog. Stay tuned for upcoming posts!

Dag dag!

#the sims #the sims 2 #fanfic friday #widespot #peni griffin

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trueheda · 7 years ago

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1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY. ya’ll know me, i hate making things serious and sappy but i really did want to get around to writing something more for my one year on this babe because she means so much to me ( and so much more now that i’ve been writing her for a year ). ontari is such a wonderful and complex character, and it’s a shame given the show she was given she was only in there for one season it’s always an honor for me that ya’ll are willing to accomidate me into your lives, rp timelines, and plots ! i’ve honestly adored spending this last year with yall. with so much that’s happened irl in this past year it’s been such a blessing to have a steady place where i felt comfortable and identified to be able to hang out and write creativly, plus the bonus of enjoying my bbies ( that’s you lot ). and i know i’ve done some pretty shitty shit in this past year. and this is deffiently also a thank you letter to everyone that’s stuck by my side despite everything i’ve done not to deserve it. so this is my personal way of saying THANK YOU for being here, for wanting to write with ontari, for wanting to write with me, thank you for those 2AM movie nights, for the 4AM rush replies because a thread was just addicting, thank you for bringing a smile to my face for introducing me to friends new and old and freinds i wouldnt have been able to make if not for this blog. thank you so much. ya’ll don’t understand how much this means to me. and i dont think you will. so here’s a small little thank you notice for those of you that care:

if you were to LIKE & REBLOG this post ( * yes both ) you’ll be entered to win the following provided to you by YOURS TRUELY examples including ( all my rp blogs legit just look at any of the rp blogs ): a THEME BG + CODE * only if u want a custom code by me ofc it’s up to you, a PROMO SET, a DASH ICON, a MOBILE HEADER and !! an AZGEDA EDIT of your character because how tf would you not want more azgeda around !!

now that we’ve gotten that out of the way and i’ve given ya’ll a small thanks, i want to give you an even bigger thanks ! and wanted to give a big shout out to my fave babes whom have stuck by my side through a whole lot of shit that is hella undeserved ! but yet you’re still here ! despite it all and i owe you all the world so thank you. so much.

@murhys - MOON !! love of my life. cas to my dean. actual other half. salt king husband to our salt kingdom. moon you’ve been there for me since day 1 and are probably the only person on this website i’ve never had a disagreement with. you wormed ur skaidad into my baby icekids heart which i thought would be impossible and it’s magic how much i enjoy ur presence really. you’re deff like my other half babe. ultimate husband. ily

@azgona / @braverstars - HANNAH !! b to my v. actual partner in crime when it comes to like anything ! legit we write anything and theres so much perfect chemsitry between the characters that i think we were meant to b babe. like legit anything we do its magic and you really need to have more faith in this community because we need u man. we need you.

@kiingbuilt - LENEE ( STARS ) !! actual babe. positivity queen lenee. honestly ur so sweet and so perf and idk what you want me to say bc ur awesome in every way ? you put up with me who’s like the dark hole to ur sunshine but like i’m always so greatful i don’t think there could be a better person i’d want to play tari against than you, roan and her have such depth and it’s so wonderful to be able to talk at lengeth about our ice siblings and what could have been like ! ily so much thanks for legt taking care of us all better than what we deserve

@leyosgona / @saviorbuilt - SOCHIE !! my babe sochie waht to i say about you. well lets start with the fact i don’t think i’ve ever become trash for a ship quite as quickly as i became trash for catari like wtf man. i’m going to second that with sayig ur clarke is presh and i love her to death ? and top it all off with the fact hat you legit always put up with me spamming u wit random af things without ur permission and are a okay with it all the time which makes u way too cool.

@humansympathies - CHARLES !! legit one of these days im sealing u away form ur wife just u wait ( * hamilton an american musical plays in the bg ) honestly i still need to thank you for making me so goddamned comfortable with being okay to write something i had been so nervous to write before because of the context of th show. you are the reason i was able to come out of my bubble and im so fucking thankful for that sitll am going to add #actualjohnmurphy bc nothing u do can change that

@ginatcnic - LAUREN !! gg lauren ur always around to help me when i need it and i really think i dont deserve you as a friend you’re amazing and always there for me and put up with me ranting @ you about the randomest bullshit and being vauge af about it and whatnot. ilysm babe dont forget ever that you are one of the most important parts of this fandom and we’d be lost without you.

@foxofthe100 / allofthe100 - BRITT !! things i never expected i would do: ship with britt. things i’m super thankful happened: shipping with britt. not that we needed it to be friends bc w were friends beforei. but i deff think that foxtari has brought us closer and i’m so glad that it did !! you’re such a fun and acomplished person, and your view on things are always so well balanced and lovely to hear ! being who i am i love understanding things and you always put things in prespective. just in time to drop an angst ball on me but yknow.

@si02built / @rainkiing - CHUCK !! yo you. yes you. i love ya man. like i do love you so much i don’t think you understand how much you’re amazing. you’ve been there for me since day 1 and i know that it dosn’t matter if i havent spoken to you in a day or in a month we’ll jump back into things just as they’ve always been meant to be and i think there’s a sort of treasure in that tat can’t be sahken. i love you man. kisses. take care

@damnleader - NIKKI !! i dont know where to start with you man. i started off as ur biggest fan and now look at us. we’re trash and i love it and you legit need to get ur ass back onto this account so i can yell at you about how presh u are and how much i miss talking to you and ranting and bless.

@youngcst - MOO !! moo. legit i never knew whether to call you that or lois but you know what it don’t matter much now does it. waht i will say however is how thankful i am that we were bros for such a long time, and how much it means to me what nova and tari built toether and their relationship like i sob over our babies so often you don’t even know ! please always keep bringing us babe characters.

bonus shoutout - @ CONSQUAD because yall put up with my ass for 4 days and if anyone can do that i think they deserve like a gold medal or smth like pls yall are honestly some of the best people keep being you !! @banishhim ( black hole ) / @algaenotwar ( milky way ) / @stellarstolen

bonus bonus shoutout - @ icesquad because AZKRU BEST KRU - some of ya’ll are inactive and need to get ur asses back here just sayin’ @icymenace / @azhaihefa / @aznofi / @azkeyva / @azgedaechoes / @azgada / @aznontu / @komashdaun / @azenblida / @dubiousloyalty / @challengedloyalty / @shudameika / @aiopgona / @zosimekomazgeda / @wintamnontu / @deathwants / @icebuilt / @icebitxh / @leyosgona / @kiingbuilt / @haihefaroun / @firraun / @rcyalscars / @acrownofice / @youngcst

i also wanted to make a sort of like FOLLOW FOREVER ? like ? idk how you make a solid one of these but just like all the blogs ? i’m in awe of whenever they come on the dash seemed like a good idea ? like these are all so quality all the time eve if some are inactive i refuse to unfollow just because of the chance they’ll come back, they should be a shoutout bc they are my inspiration to write they make me a better writer every day ! and love the hell out of them: @wolfsouled / @rattledbybullets / @ragnarsscn / @princeubbe / @belomi / @soldiiermade / @imqetuous / @everyturnanycost / @noximperator / @lionoffrance / @praycd / @redempticnarc / @bloodshedbound / @allvanquisher / @murdocksredemption / @damnmechanic / @leaderbuilt / @casuistic / @headstrongblake / @crimiinalchemiist / @noukru / @starxbcrn / @arroworn / @survivorbuiilt

#sun does one year #trueheda one year

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bluekitsune · 8 years ago

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late NDRV3 Chapter 5 impressions

Ok So Momota is being a massive fucking prick right off the bat. Like “Oh well I guess we did survive because you revealed the truth but I’m still gonna give you the cold shoulder because you were supposed to be on my side not on Ouma’s even if looking away would’ve killed us all ANYWAY”

IS...... the school....... is this a rocket......... are you fucking kidding me? Please let me be wrong

Are they in space? Did I stumble into another 999 bullshit??????

They’re obviously going to turn out being the Golsomething plan people (or not) and they were there to make sure it succeeded. Now I’m thinking. If there’s some bullshit of Despair going on again, could the Mastermind have created the meteor shower?

Noooooooooooooo thay compressor is a complete and total death flag on Kibo NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Plot Twist: Kibo has a Naegi alter ego inside him??????? That’s what I’m leaning into believing at this point

I’m gonna be so sad when he dies :C I don’t even have hope anymore tbh

Ouma pulling some Komaeda bullshit. But TBH I’ll stick with Komaeda any time. Even his despair bullshit is a lot better than Ouma’s bullshit

Magical Girl Hammers huh

Oh my god. Ok so THAT’s what was in Amami’s BG.

Ouma is like a collage of all the Mastermind theories and Monokuma gijinkas I’ve laid my fucking eyes on,down to the black and white scheme. but somehow eGdiEr wow. Idk I just wanna rip that scarf off and choke him. It’s so easy to fall on the hate or love with this kind of character. I mean, Shinguuji was very childishly delusional but I’d still stick with him. Or something. I’m very confused

How out of options where these guys? A Robot? Seriously? If you need to repopulate why would you count him as a human????? No healer in the crew? Are you guys fucking stupid? Send a sick half baked astronaut along? Fucking dicks. This is the worst “Seeds of Humanity” bullshit I’ve seen and I’ve read a lot of shitty things

Ok so does Kibo breathe? If Kibo didn’t breathe he could hypothetically scout the outside and come back with information. If there really is a way to revive the students, then they should be able to get everyone back and have Iruma make shit to help the outside, just like Towa city.

:C I hope the SDR2 crew is ok probably not . Just imagine Hajizuru and Ko and Gundam and Sonia fine aged like wine damn

Ok, this can’t be the entire twist; There’s no way they’re just handing it down so easily no matter how shitposty this is. So Ouma could have either KILLED the mastermind and hijacked the whole thing, or he could be going along with another “suggestion”. Or the simplier option, he just found the remote control laying around the Mecha’s room.

He would be the obvious “traitor” and idrk where this is going

MMMMmmmm Is there going to be 6 chapters like the tradition? I don’T KNOW GOD

AH THERE IT GOES. I knew it couldn’t be separate from the other games >:C Is the voice insde Kibo Chiaki? I’m going nuts trying to resolve what is it

Lack of options is because of Space Aids aka Radical 6 huh. Wow... An assassin, an evil leader........ does Kibougamine ever do psychiatric checks before admitting students tho? C’mon Naegi you should’ve learned this far in

NGL I think Momota is gonna be dead, either in a pool of blood or something else. I really like how the group is going now. >C I don’t want anyone else to die goddingit

Really looking forwards to Spoiler-chan

Kibo maybe you shouldn’t be around the Electric bomb you DIPSHIT

SHIT MAN. Not even glanced at the crime scene and it’s already like one of those extreme bullshit cases from Ace Attorney.

???, aka Amami’s talent, was finally murdered after he fleed his owner. RIP, Amami’s talent, Anon-kun

Maki is already jumping into concluding the body is Momota without a shred of grief? I don’t buy it. She knows something. Also, is this going to be a death caused by illness at last?????? Cuz the compressor wouldn’t trigger if it detected living organic matter amirite

Hmm So Yumeno sneaked Momota the crossbow and the bottles? Was Momota trying to question Ouma to find out if he’s really the Mastermind? The translator is a little unsure of the bottle title so I’m not sure what it actually is

Is it poison or some truth serum? HM the clothes are really weird. Kibo shoving his hand on toilets just like James huuhhhhhhh

Maki used her hammer early to let Monokuma go from the Mechas that were stopping him but why? Is the Mastermind going to be knotted into this mess again? That’s a load of crap man

I really don’t know what to expect

OK SO STOP with the voices WHICH ONE IS IT. This mecha bullshit needs to stop Why is Momota pretending to be Ouma? They can’t be riding on the same thing. But caught off guard the voice goes back to Momota’s

How can he mimic Ouma’s speech like that? This is some grade A bullshit (it’s probably the Mecha but IDK still pointless bullshit)

It’s wayyyy too early in the trial for Yumeno to be the real culprit. It’s more likely she had handed the crossbow to Momota. Also everyone is overlooking Ouma’s clothes had a shot right on the back, if you survive that shit you’re gonna be paralised; Eguisu Ouma hasn’t laughed “nishishi” even once. That’s a stupid reason but it’s what leads me to believe its not him hah.......

Also how far into the trial is someone gonna be like WELL The arrow hole just magically appeared into the video. You kids suck. YOU SUCK. Hinata was much smarter than you detective wtf. so much bullshit. If you PAUSE. YOU PAUSE. DONT NEED EDITING BITCHES?????

If they wanna shitpost to the extreme it’s gonna turn out both Momota AND Ouma are alive Lmao

Both the injuries with the arrows could be fabricated later. If Momota died of sickness that could be post mortem.

I’m so tired of this switching bullshit just get it straight out omg

Wait, with Maki’s addition we still don’t know where the third arrow hit. First was on Ouma’s arm shot by Momota, second was her trying to kill him ???? And Momota jumped in front of it. Unless I’m confused. The cutscene didn’t have Ouma with the second shot on his back

So I’m holding back on my bets

The Remote is such an unfair advantage. Couldn’t he have cheated on practically everything? Unloick the shit out of the entire school’s cardkey or not and so on

If they were going for maximum tearjerker, they’d have Ouma let Kaito die with her poison and her be executed. If they’re going for lawful good, they’d have Ouma kill Kaito and be executed. But these are too obvious. There’s also the possibility Kaito drank more poison himself so he’d die by his own hand, like Sakura

NOT THE CORPSE BULLSHIT AGAIN.

Oh man ok so Ouma was scheming for this goal? That’s way nuttier than Ko. Turn himself into a symbol for them all to hate to draw them into his goal. Then kidnap and get Momota away to force him to cooperate...........?

Idk how to feel. Purple boy was the ultimate twink (also he and Kato sharing some colors was probably intentional?)

I see what they’re aiming for, Momota to be the “true” counterpart of the “Lie” ouma, but it’s early to know how I feel about it.I’m glad Ouma wasn’t the Mastermind. He was truly a great, complex character. Not one of my favorites, but still very hard to like, and hard to read.

:C So all of Momota’s similarities with Jin were for this paralel huh. It’s sad but it’s better than dying through the execution. He looked so peaceful. Also the first time someone frustrates the plan to the end.

Junko????? Again wow who’s surprised amirite. At this point I’m not gonna be surprised if they have clones of everyone statched away somewhere. That’s why they keep fretting on “having fun again” and “lives with real (unique) meaning)?”

OH NO KIBO NO Is he berserk? HE WAS TRANSMITTING TO NAEGI WASNT HE

NO.......... NO...................... LET THE ROBOT BE........... LEAVE THE ROBOT ALONE......... (he looks so cool BUT LEAVE HIM ALONE LET HIM LIVE)

Where is my Spoiler-chan???????

I keep thinking about Jabberwock Island. I keep thinking about them building a shelter.. If they get past the Meteors, Tsumiki can create vaccines. Souda can make air purifiers. Hajizuru can do pretty much fuckall. :C I want to see them live through armagedon >CCCCCCC

#ndrv3 #drv3 #ndrv3 spoilers #new danganronpa v3 #spoilers ETC #kitsune adventures

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itsworn · 7 years ago

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Dodge Demon Unboxing: A First-Hand Customer Experience

In the music world, Kenny Wayne Shepherd is known as one of the most dynamic recording and performance artists in the blues rock arena. You’ve likely heard his music (even if you can’t place the name), and you may even count yourself as a fan. What you may not know is that Shepherd is also a bona fide gearhead and a hardcore Mopar nut who spends all his free waking hours (when not performing!) working on and driving his Dodge and Plymouth machinery. We were lucky to tag along with Shepherd as he navigated the special-order procedure and took delivery of his personalized 2018 Dodge Demon. What follows is his account of that very special experience—a process that was the clever vision of Dodge’s Tim Kuniskis (previously president and CEO of the Dodge and SRT brands), and which has had the very intended effect of creating a legion of dedicated über fanatics. Down the line, we hope to bring you more from Kenny as he gears up to hit the drag strip later this year! – Johnny Hunkins

Three hundred and eighty days. That’s how long the journey was from the first viral video of the Dodge Demon to having one in my garage. It’s been a fascinating experience and the wait has been more than worth it. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the highlights of the new Dodge Demon: 840 HP, the quickest production car ever made, 0-60 in 2.3 seconds, a quarter-mile of 9.65, and banned by the NHRA.

Over a year after jumping in line for a 2018 Dodge Demon, it arrived at Dependable Dodge on a Reliable Carrier truck. The dealership thoughtfully stored it in the showroom for two days before we could pick it up.

After watching every video Dodge spoon fed us leading up to the unveiling of the Demon at the 2017 New York International Auto Show, I became more convinced this car was for me. The day after the debut, I secured an allocation for an SRT Demon—number “18” in the sequence, and significant for denoting the 2018 model year. When order banks opened on June 21, 2017, many placed their orders at that very moment, hoping that being an early submitter would help them be one of the first to take delivery, but that’s not exactly how the process works. The build sequence considers many factors when deciding which Demons get built in what order. I don’t claim to know the secrets of how that all works out, so my resolve was to be as patient as possible and my car would get here when it gets here.

Passenger-side ac vent is serialized and matches the VIN as car number “18.” The number is significant as the model year is 2018. Once the “Demon crate” arrives, the surround will be replaced with the updated one with Kenny’s name.

Once I was 100-percent sure of the options, I formally placed the order on what would be Demon number 18:

White Knuckle paint: Some will slam me for not choosing a high-impact color for a car like this. One of my best friends was dogging me as soon as he found out I was considering it. I love a Challenger in white. It reminds me of the movie Vanishing Point. I’ve had a couple of black Challengers and the struggle to keep them clean is real. Half of my driveway is dirt and gravel, so just imagine what that’s like if you keep your car clean like I do. White just looks cleaner longer. All the available colors look great on the Demon, but my short list was White Knuckle, Octane Red, F8 Green, and B5 Blue. White won out for both looks and practicality.

Comfort Audio group ($2,495): This includes the passenger seat, adds leather instead of the base cloth material, an 18-speaker Harmon Kardon stereo system (as opposed to the standard two-speaker system), heated and cooled front seats, heated steering wheel, power tilt column, floor mats, and bright pedals.

Rear seat ($1): This is the practical thing to do since one can always remove the passenger and rear seats, but buying them after the fact would most certainly cost more than a dollar.

Demonic Red Laguna Leather interior ($295): This provides a rich two-toned red and black interior that gives the car a splash of color, which looks perfect.

Power Sunroof: Some refer to it as the “golden sunroof.” Dodge priced it at $4,995 to discourage people from buying it. All my previous Challengers had sunroofs and I used them frequently on nice days. That extra 35 pounds isn’t going to slow the car down enough for anyone to notice.

Trunk carpet ($1): This can easily be removed in a matter of moments. Why wouldn’t you get it for a buck?

Demon Storage Package: Includes a custom Demon car cover and Mopar-branded battery tender for $495.

Mopar-branded battery tender was part of the Demon Storage Package, which also included a custom Demon car cover.

The only three options I didn’t opt for were the Satin Black hood ($1,995), full graphics package ($3,495), and the engine block heater ($95). Once I placed my order, the real waiting began. I passed the next few months by joining www.hellcat.org, which has a Demon section full of other soon-to-be Demon owners sharing excitement, knowledge about the car, order details, and the constant refreshing of the Demon Concierge page to get updates on production status—which is a whole lingo unto itself. There’s even an anonymous insider who gave everyone loads more detailed information as the factory got things moving. As production slowly ramped up, we all watched a saga unfold via the forum.

Only time will tell what all these scribbles and initials mean on the Demon’s UPC-code windshield sticker, but we’re documenting this one for posterity.

There were lots of people who wanted their cars yesterday and seemed to have little patience for the process. Many compared notes as to what date and exactly what time their orders were placed to try and make sense of why someone else’s car is moving along the queue before theirs. Once the cars are built, they have to go to an up-fitter for the 18×11 wheels (with drag radials) to be installed. The wheels and tires are too big for the factory assembly line to accommodate. Also, if you choose the full graphics package (satin black hood, roof, and trunk lid) an up-fitter does that paint work as well. At some point there’s a secondary QC inspection that takes place and the car is cleared for shipment. Reliable Carriers then has to schedule an empty truck to come pick up five or six Demons at a time that are being delivered along a route that makes logistical sense.

Kenny points out this clear blue plastic protective sheet placed over the Demon’s supercharger, presumably to protect the engine while it was being installed at the factory. It was tagged with a white marker: “30 OKF.”

There are many steps in the process of making a Demon that are new to the SRT program. Tim Kuniskis (now head of Maserati and Alfa Romeo) stated that production would be a slow ramp-up, most likely to ensure they figure out the best way to get these cars built right and to a high standard. Finally, on Halloween of 2017, we caught wind that the first truckload of Demons was making its way down the road when tragedy struck. Three of the cars caught fire and were reported a total loss.

We don’t have an exact report as to the cause, but it’s been clearly stated that the cars were not the culprit. An unfortunate event? Yes, but in my opinion this only adds to the mystique and urban legend for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime vehicle. (Demons experiencing spontaneous combustion on Halloween?! You just can’t make that up.) Day after day, it was exciting watching the reports of VONs (vehicle order numbers) being turned into VINs as the cars rolled through various stages of production.

All Dodge Demons arrive at dealerships in enclosed Reliable Carrier trucks. This paper floor mat was left by the Reliable crew to safeguard the carpet while being moved.

It turns out there’s a whole new alphabet of secret code to decipher. If you want to know what’s happening to your Demon build, you can translate the order status code into real information. Here’s a list of those posted on the Hellcat.org message forum:

Demon Order Status Codes

BA new order that hasn’t been checked BB review by fleet department BD special equipment processing BE edit error BG passed edit n/a for schedule BGL edit ok, parts unavailable BX passed edit, available for schedule C sub firm, tentative schedule D firm schedule, dealer has allocation and all parts available D1 gateline schedule, scheduled to be built E frame F paint G trim I built not ok’d J built ok’d JB shipped to upfit center (for stripe) JE emission check JS shipped to storage KZ released by plant, invoiced KZL released, not shipped KZM first rail departure KZN first rail arrival KZO delayed/received KZOA plant holds KZOB zone/distribution holds KZOC carrier delays KZOD carrier holds KZOE mis-shipped vehicle KZOF show/test vehicle KZOG damaged vehicle KZOH all other reasons KZT second rail departure KZU second rail arrival KZX delivered to dealer ZA canceled

As the weeks went by, we saw production begin to ramp up, just as Tim K said it would. Once the factory really got into their groove, my car hit the queue. The condensed timeline of events for my car unfolded like this:

August 12, 2017 order submitted October 26, 2017 VIN assigned December 6, 2017 car enters the build process December 11, 2017 detailed inspection January 25, 2018 Demon arrives at the dealership via enclosed carrier January 27, 2018 I take delivery

Once the car hit the line, it didn’t take long for it to be built. Considering it had to go to the up-fitter for wheel installation, it needed to be inspected, it had been stored for shipment, and the plant was closed from December 23 to January 15 for holidays and an inventory adjustment, it was built and delivered in a reasonable amount of time, especially for the quality of the product.

A technician at Dependable Dodge in Canoga Park, CA performs the pre-delivery check while we look on. We asked the dealership to wait on this until we could be there, and they happily obliged us.

Having waited for this moment just over a year, we wanted to document every detail of the car in its as-delivered condition. I asked the dealer not to do any prep work and keep the car “as is” so we could see the little details of what a car looks like fresh off the truck. There were a number of interesting little signatures, decals, and protective plastics on various parts of the car that we documented and saved. Aware of the new secondary QC inspection process Dodge was implementing, I crawled over the car searching for a flaw and couldn’t find one. I’m impressed, and would say the hard-working people at the Brampton assembly plant should be proud of the product they’re turning out.

What will certainly be a sought-after piece years down the road is this protective yellow spoiler guard. It’s different than the Hellcat’s protective corner pieces (which are already collectibles). It’s used only during shipping, but it’s actually pretty attractive.

Ordering a Demon has been an unforgettable experience. The passion and talent that come together to make a car like this could be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Thanks to everyone at Dodge who made this car a reality for all of us enthusiasts. Now another wait begins for me: the Demon Performance Crate. It’s time to go drag racing!

Standard Demon trunk goodies include floor mats, license plate bracket (we’ll bet these never get used!), and a pair of Demon supplemental booklets.

Besides the standard stuff, Kenny got the Demon Storage Package (car cover and battery tender) which are the two white boxes. The brown box is the pedal kit, which is a customer-installed item.

The happy new owner sits behind the wheel of his new Dodge Demon for the first time. Note the “caution” hang tag warning delivery personnel of the scraping hazard from the front spoiler.

Ahh! That new-Demon interior smell will be long remembered.

The Dodge Demon pedal kit is an owner-installed item, and strangely does not come with parking brake and dead-pedal covers as similar aftermarket kits do.

Demon pre-delivery inspection at Dependable Dodge’s service department, Canoga Park, CA

Heat-shrink wrapped Dodge Demon owner’s manual supplement.

Dodge Demon number 18 awaits its new owner in Dependable Dodge’s showroom.

Hieroglyphics on the plastic sheet protecting the Demon’s supercharger read “30 OKF.”

Part of the Demon Storage Package is this boxed car cover, labeled as Mopar part number 82215727.

Also located in the trunk was the 2018 Dodge Demon Driver Supplement booklet.

Dodge Demon fender flares house extra-wide 315/40R18 NT05R Nitto Drag Radials. Kenny says those will be replaced for street driving by a set of 20-inch Widebody Hellcat wheels and tires for better tread life.

Window sticker claims 22 mpg on the highway. Who has that kind of self control? According to the graph on the window sticker, the Demon does NOT have the worst fuel economy in its class.

This box in the trunk contained the stainless steel accelerator and brake pedal covers, and was labeled with part number 05181565AB. They appear to have been sourced from Sequoia Tool in Clinton Township, MI.

This pick ticket was found in the trunk, and is a list of items to put in the Demon’s trunk prior to leaving the Brampton, Ontario assembly plant.

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