Author Commentary (spoilers!)

[DarkPhoenix]

CHAPTER 1, PART 1

So, this is the author’s commentary for “When Cliques Collide.” I figured this would be a good place to provide a lot of the background details, point out stuff you might have missed the first time around, etc. It’s kind of like the audio commentary for movies. So, as a warning, if you have not read the whole story, there are a lot of spoilers. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

The chapter marker… I got the idea for the chapter markers from the various manga series I read. Only thing I really want to point out about this is the outfits that the CNC crew wears in this chapter marker. I tried to choose stuff similar in color/design to the stuff worn by the characters in “The Breakfast Club.” I kind of started out wanting this story to be kind of a midway point between “The Breakfast Club” and “Heathers.” In fact, initially, I was unsure of how much I could get away with in this story. That’s why the earlier chapters of this story are tamer than later ones.

So, here, we meet Tiffani. In the earliest versions of this story, back when I was just drawing it as a comic strip, she was this total ditz who was obsessed with fashion and had it bad for the popular guy character. I figured she’d need some fleshing out and… well, this is the end result. I intended her to be sort of “Hollywood Chubby.” By normal standards, she’d maybe be considered big-boned or well-fed, but not fat. Maybe somewhere in the size 9-12 clothing range. Point is, she’s not obese, unless you think the average woman should look like something from a fashion magazine. It was fun to write Tiffani’s stuff.

A lot of stories and movies and TV shows have the “all-mighty student council.” In this case, we can amend that to the “all-mighty cheerleaders and dance team.” I thought it would be good to introduce them first, just to provide a nice contrast to the CNC team that forms at the end of the chapter.

And then we meet Gabby Gibson. She’s based off of a teacher I had back in high school. She was an English teacher, and… well, I tried to base GG’s appearance off of how she looked. Personality, too. Anyway, I wanted to show Gabby as kind of a “voice of reason.” She recognizes the cheerleaders’ show for the crap it is.

The interaction between Charise and Gabby seems to just be a nice little conversation between a caring teacher and one of her former prized pupils. It’s only when you re-read it, knowing how they’re actually connected, that you see the true significance of their interaction. Gabby isn’t just asking that stuff to be friendly; she is genuinely concerned about what Charise has been up to. The fact that Charise dislikes the show and asks about legitimate, mentally stimulating options shows that she’s a decent person in general. The fact that she comes up with the CNC show concept-- something that Gabby didn’t even think of-- is significant. It ultimately ends up becoming Gabby’s way of saving several previously “doomed” students. The fact that at the end of this part, she has “an idea,” that’s significant. Perhaps she wanted to save those students, but wasn’t sure how. Maybe this was how she could connect to the students in question.

The people that Charise mentions… we get to meet all of them eventually.

By the way, the assignment mentioned in this chapter, about making a speech about something important to the student… I had to do this assignment as a junior in high school. And yes, someone did do a speech on why cheerleading should be a legitimate sport.

Charise’s suggestion of who should be in the group: an athlete, a brainy kid, and a member of the alternative crowd. See anyone missing? Angela was basically the wild card in this equation!

Oh, and I tend to include a lot of shots of Charise and Gabby together. If you’ll notice, there’s a nice resemblance there…

[DarkPhoenix]

CHAPTER 1, PART 2

And now, we get to see Emily for the first time. Originally, I designed her to look a lot more like I did as a teen, but I didn't like how she looked. So, I tweaked the Sim to have fuller lips, a thinner nose, different hair color. I ended up showing a picture of her in Body Shop to a friend, and his exact reaction was, "It's you with black hair." So, I guess she still looks like me.

Her class speech is actually based off of a similar speech I had to give in a class. The assignment (just like in the story) was to give a speech about something that matters to you. Since it was an honors-level course, a lot of my classmates presented on why being in honors-level courses should count more than it did. One girl presented on why cheerleading should be considered a sport. I presented on basically the same thing Emily did, and what she says is almost identical to the end of my speech. And yes, some people were apparently ticked off or offended. If I recall, the "cheerleading should be a sport" girl was one of them. I got an A on the speech, and the teacher liked that I cited actual facts instead of just giving my opinion like most of my classmates. So, there you have it.

Notice that Tiffani is more or less the ringleader here, in harassing Emily. I wanted Tiffani to change pretty dramatically throughout the story, so I kind of made her a jerk in the beginning. I wanted her to go from more selfish and self-serving to someone who maybe understands that there's more to life than just being one of the "beautiful people."

Sherrie Aldrich (the blonde chick who stops the fight)... there's a story in itself. Originally, before I started writing WCC, I was going to write a murder mystery story. Several of the characters who appear in WCC were going to be characters in the story; I was going to use WCC to introduce some of the characters (Sherrie, Bruno, Maya, Sara). However, given that some of them are still alive, I'd probably only release the murder mystery as an "AU" version of Oakdale. I did throw in a few pieces of information that would have been useful, had I actually gone through with writing the story (such as the implied Sherrie-Bruno-Maya love triangle mentioned occasionally in the story).

Ophelia and LB... this is a fun one. LB is named after one of three iguanas a friend of mine used to have. He had three-- Mae, Louie, and LB, and as a joke, I wrote them in as characters in my story. I figured that Ophelia and LB would at least be on speaking terms, since LB is Mae's brother, and Mae and Ophelia are friends. No idea why he would be complaining to Ophelia, though. Maybe he's just a loudmouth who complains to anyone who can hear him. Oh, and it's kind of funny that he gets into a fight in a class taught by his dad.

Ophelia's based off of a close friend of mine from middle school and high school, and I actually based her appearance (to some extent) and a great deal of her personality on that person. I wanted Ophelia to be kind of mature for her age, someone who has her own ideas about moral issues. She has no problem standing up for someone who isn't present to defend herself (and someone she probably hasn't interacted with very much), even at the risk of getting in trouble.

The scars are from Ophelia's cat, Elphaba, scratching her. Ophelia does not cut herself.

Ms. Bellereve... when I was writing this scene, I pictured her doing her makeup and fixing her hair the whole time, not looking at Tiffani at all. And Tiff looks so sad, doesn't she?

[DarkPhoenix]

CHAPTER 1, PART 3

So, we have Ophelia's transcript, etc. being shown here. Notice which classes she tends to do better in than others. Also, her birthday's on Halloween. We can't see her parents' phone numbers, but we know the area code starts with 50.

I think this is one of the few times we see the principal. I guess I did that because back in high school, hardly anyone ever saw the principal himself; you'd see pretty much everyone else-- the counselors, disciplinarians, etc., but hardly ever him.

AJ's flirting with girls (and succeeding) is part informed ability, part supported (see later chapters on that). I kind of liked the idea of him being kind of a loser, in his own way. He's sort of based off of someone I went to middle and high school with, who I had a bit of a crush on.

Maya... Maya, Maya, Maya... originally, WCC was not going to be as long as it was, and it was meant to introduce several of the minor characters who would play a major role in a mystery/thriller I was going to write, along the lines of "Urban Legend." As it turned out, I ended up being more interested in writing WCC. So, Maya, Sherri, Lyle, Sara, and several other characters are kind of the reminents of it. I did keep some of the weird relationship stuff in there which would have had payoff in the other story. I might sit down and write the story one day, so I won't spoil anything.

Notice, it's one of the few times when anyone in the series actually has a backpack on at school!

Also, Emily's hair was a bit gappy in some shots, so I had to go back in Paint and kind of fill in stuff manually, with mixed results.

Foreshadowing in Ms. Gibson's response: "...They're not... well, unique enough. You're not quite like the other students..." As we learn later, she is indeed not quite like the others. Technically, she was the first one who was supposed to die; fitting that she was the first one that Gabby actively chose.