As some might have noticed, I removed all links and contents already because I’m working on a more serious version of it. Why? I started it in 2008, which was around the same time I was wrapping up college and used it to distract myself. It was meant to be fun and senseless because of the celebrities I supported around the time, etc. Yeah, it was a fangirling phase all around. I tried to keep the majority of it lighthearted even if there were some conflicts going on between different characters.
So much changed since then and I’m no longer as attached to some. Not to mention how my perspective have changed regarding some matters. It was more obvious during the last three parts of the story. So, I decided to do a revamped version of the story. Considering how it would be a waste to get rid of everything. Some characters will be cut and some details will change. A lot of random stuff will be cut out to make way for those new details and explain some of the background and relationships of the major characters better.
So, as always, who got cut and who didn’t? I guess it would depend on their impact in regard to the story. It’s obvious some of the major characters can’t be cut just like that or it would take too much time to work around them, which I did try by doing several version of it but it didn’t feel right. The point? I can’t guarantee everything but I have the general layout of the new version already. In fact, I might just scrap the fan fiction altogether (aka the celebrity aspect of it) and maybe continue with the actual story so I could freely include some details about certain characters without offending some fanbase. Yes, the downside of attaching the celebs was that I had to hold back somewhat. Even if there were some conflicts (as said above) between several characters, it was eventually resolved. However, the majority of the made up characters (no celeb names attached to them) got the brunt of the bad image, etc. So yeah, lots to think about. I actually have several spin-offs in the background as well. So that has been going on for a while now. It’s also the reason why I want to strip the celeb names out completely to do a new version so the character development would work better. We’ll see. If that does happen, probably I won’t post it here since this blog is dedicated mostly for entertainment and celebrities-related.
Anyway, just out of curiosity, who made it and who didn’t? (This doesn’t mean it’s final but I could disclose a bit.)
- Jacky – As much as I want to kick him out (for many reasons), I couldn’t. Why? He’s one of the main three, it would take major creativity to take him out of the game (pun intended) and I seriously felt like I tortured him enough in the story to make up for all of it so it’s not all lost. Seriously though, he’s a major character. Because his character is full of flaws, I felt he’s more realistic in that sense than the perfect image dramas often project for main characters. Well, Jacky has portrayed quite a few shady characters too. So this is actually a tamed down version of it. Because it mostly had to do with the romance side, etc.
- Ehlo – Another major character. Even if I wrote him to be random and pointless for the majority of the plot, he is a hidden gem where the majority often look past. He’s also part of the comedy team that the story needed. So, can’t cut him out. His background will be elaborate even more (like his parents, etc). In fact part 9 is focused on him for the majority of the time so yes, if I cut him out, I have to slash all the spin-offs because his storyline affects all of it. Yes, that extreme. And yes, there’s part 9. I finished it already but needed to go back to tweak some parts because I put them in as placeholders before thinking up of a better approach for them. But I didn’t want to post it because I might think of taking the story elsewhere. There are a lot of ideas I already put out in the last 8 parts SO I thought I save part 9 as a secret for now. It depends on how far I get in changing the various details. The current ending (at part 8) indicates that Jacky ends up with Jan. I could say, that’s no longer true. Because I had an idea later on so yeah, that’s where the story is taking off. Part 9 is actually also the key reason why I wanted to go back and re-work everything.
- Wallace – Yes, he has to stay. He is the balance between the other two so he has to stay. His character is known to be the most level-headed (with some exceptions here and there). Not to mention, I explained (no longer there but still) their relationship in more details in part 7 and why he’s an essential character in the other two’s lives. Even if they do run into conflict at times.
- Johnny – I slacked off on his story after deciding to focus on Wallace more. Yes, it’s hard because Wallace’s one of my favorites since ages ago. So, Johnny got sacrificed although he was mentioned a lot throughout to keep consistency with their relationships with one another. He will become a bigger character BUT not too much because I might or might not do a prequel. So I might save that for it. But his character needs more background than just their older brother figure and peacekeeper for the majority of the time.
- Joanne – Yes, she’s the main female character of the whole saga so she has to stay. It doesn’t matter if she’s not romantically involved with one of the main three. I had planned that way from the start. I actually did it before it was cool, okay? (Yes, looking at different productions trying to do that BUT ended up cutting out scenes of the so-called main leads.) Unlike them, though, Joanne did appear a lot throughout so it still made sense. She will appear even more once I cut some unnecessary characters out. Her background will also be explained better.
- Andy Chen Yi – Yes, he had to. He was Joanne’s sidekick and an important part of her life growing up.
- Angela – It’s Angela, I can’t cut her. Come on, Ehlo and Angela are the golden couple in here. I can’t tear them apart. Their get together was also at the expense of both Jacky and Wallace–for different reasons. It became a recurring joke later on (even if that wasn’t the real reason for them getting together). But all in all, this saga wouldn’t be the same without them as a team.
- Sonia – It’s obvious she has to stay. She’s a major part of their lives at one point and successfully returned to their sides years later. How could I cut her out?
- Bianca – I can’t cut Johnny’s other half out, lol. Considering how I will add more to Johnny’s storyline and how the guys actually met him. She will play an even bigger part because of that, so yeah. Not to mention, how she was the balance between Angela and Sonia, so yeah. It was a nice lineup before I destroyed the plot (lol) with how they paired up perfectly and all (Jacky and Sonia, Ehlo and Angela, Johnny and Bianca) with three best friends.
- Ming Dao – Yes, he made it. Even if his appearances would still be the same. But he’s a consistent part of their lives and a down-to-earth character that show more humanity toward others in here. Even if he did get into silly disagreements at times as well but he’s an essential character that keep their heads straight at times. Also, he did give Joanne a lot of advice at times or just listened when she needed someone to strip the problems down to its simplistic nature instead of how complicated some of them made it at times.
- Cyndi – Yes, Cyndi’s staying. She ended up playing a major part later in one of the conflicts so she had to stay.
- Achel – Mostly because of her relations to different characters in here. But in a way, she was like Ming Dao’s character that she was supportive and lent an ear (without judgment or biases) when they needed it the most. Even if she was considered almost invisible later on. She showed up when it mattered, not all talks like some people. And the need for a variety of characters in here.
- Penny – She wasn’t part of the OG but made it because of the character I built for her later on. She became a major character in Part 9 also, so cutting her out wouldn’t be the same. I will also try to work on her background a little more as well. I meant to expand her story arc with Melody Chen (completely made up character, not celeb-related) but never got around to it. Perhaps, now I could explore that route more with different cuts.
- Xiao Qiao – I changed the background story of her character and linked her to some other characters in here versus in the past version. Because I changed how Jacky and the others met her.
- Wei Ru – Still around to be Xiao Qiao’s best friend but her character might get a little more extension because of the nature of the story.
- Tony – He plays a big role in the later parts of the story–as I increased the business battles and all. So, having him is essential.
- Ambrose – He was added at first to give Penny a pairing, so he was just a tag-along character at first. Yet he became an important figure later (or was revealed to be) so cutting him would be a major loss to the main story. Not to mention he played a key role in one of the spin-offs so he can’t be cut.
- Alyssa – Too close to Joanne to cut. I will try to involve her more than just someone who had a convenient place where Joanne crashed at. Or will try. See how the new timeline goes.
- Vincent – He was sealed because of his initial link to Alyssa and somewhat because of Jacky and more background info will be added for his family and other tidbits. However, he won’t hog the scenes as much and will only be known for his family, etc.
- Tang Feng – He had to stay. He was a big part of their life at one point and his influence had changed many character’s lives in here–both good and bad–at various points.
- Nic – His link to Angela and Achel made him solid. Aside from that, his involvement in the later parts were essential.
- James Wen – Keeping him for now because of the consistency for Sonia’s story arc.
- Sophia – She became a bigger part of the story (even if she wasn’t around anymore) so can’t cut her.
- Cynthia – Yes, she has to stay because I worked in some additional background story for her during the previous version. So, it would be a waste not to pursue further in future edits.
- Bryant – He had to stay. Not only because he became Joanne’s other half later. But because he was involved in a past conflict that was essential to the main story and affected some of them at one point of the story.
- Kris Shen – He was mostly put in because of his link to Andy regarding AK. However, he became a bigger part of the picture, even if he only appeared occasionally. He was also involved in the conflict of part 9, so can’t really cut him.
- Eddie – Yes, he’s staying in. Partially, because of his link to some people in here. But also, they needed someone equally level-headed as Johnny and a neutral party at times in various conflicts. Even if he was upset at one point, but he also forgave easily and moved on after everything was resolved. Not that he tolerated some of the BS others threw his way. But it was more like he didn’t care to hang onto it after it was resolved. The conflict in part 9 changed his perspective somewhat but it showed another side of him.
- Janine – She had to stay because of the conflicts at various points.
- Novia – Yes, she has to stay for now. At one point, I considered her a possibility for Jacky’s pairing. I might go back to visit this again.
- Yvonne – Obviously, can’t cut Yvonne. She became one of the main characters later.
- Chris Lee – There was a conflict in part 9 that he was a major part of so I was thinking many times to scrap it. Going back and forth made it harder to finish part 9 and fix it. But we’ll see.
- Margaret Wang – She was meant a fun part of Chris’ past but ended up being much more. So, I’m still debating but she has to stay for now because of her established friendship with Janine in here already.
Now, the ones who might NOT make it:
- Sam – Unfortunately, I made a hard decision (actually happened the day I started this post). Yes, I had to cut him out because his only purpose was because I wanted to include every single member of 183 Club in there. BUT his story wasn’t that essential. He appeared less and less after Part 2. So, it makes sense to cut him out. IF he doesn’t get cut though, he would leave completely to make way for other characters. It mostly had to do with the fact that I changed Xiao Qiao’s character and it wouldn’t make sense that he ends up with her. And no, I didn’t pair her up with Jacky if anyone was thinking that was the new endgame. Jacky’s not that lucky with his journey in search for love (lol).
- Esther – Yes, also decided this the day I made this post. And yes, this is shocking but she appeared less and less and only at times with others as a whole group and stopped having her own story arc. Not to mention, she was only put in because I loved Sweety at one point (and still do but that’s another matter). Yet she only played the part of being the other three’s friends and Tony’s other half. There wasn’t much to go on really. Unless, I execute that dramatic route to the max and sacrifice her altogether. So yeah, I felt the characters involved were already bloated and it was more beneficial to develop background story for some other characters. The tricky part is to break up the Tony and Esther pairing but not impossible. Because as I wrote up to part 9, her character got into some disagreements with Ehlo’s side of the family and it got really complicated and sticky. So, it might be better not to visit that story. Initially, I mentioned some changes when I was writing this saga due to one reason or another. (Go here to refresh your memory, lol.) Esther was supposed to end up with Eddie. But then Eddie ended up being a major character in part 9 that it wouldn’t make sense to pair the two up for the sake of a cute pairing. It could work but still weird because she would be on the other side of that major conflict regardless if she is still with Tony or would somehow change to become Eddie’s other half. Because of the situation at that time and who they grew close with later on. And why did Achel make it and she didn’t? Achel’s advantage was being Angela’s sister, a major character of the story. Yes, that seemed like her only purpose was being someone’s sibling but she and Nic will become a support team for a major character later so it would make more sense to keep her like it is. Not to mention with Esther’s exit, it could increase the storyline for Achel. It wasn’t like out of character because she already supported Joanne at times (even if she didn’t flaunt it like some people). Also, I know I said I kept Bianca because she was Johnny’s other half but Esther didn’t make it. Johnny and Bianca are the model couple in here. So, breaking them apart would affect more characters. Or maybe that one breakup with Tony will be it and they won’t be reunited. Like I said, still lots to think about so nothing is for sure. Or maybe one day I wake up and finally have the solution to resolve the conflict of part 9 in a better manner that I won’t have to cut her after all. Who knows?
- Xiao Jie – She’s somewhat similar to Achel and Joanne. Just a cute character mostly. Cruel, but she was fun to include because of 7 Flowers link to 183 Club at one point. But that was it. Why did Wei Ru make it? I initially wanted to cut Wei Ru too but I somehow thought up of a side story for her, so I decided to keep her for now. If it doesn’t work out, I might cut her too.
- Gino – He was never part of the OG anyway. I added him at the last minute ages ago so Wei Ru got a pairing. But now it seems too random.
- Anthony – He was mostly placed in to be paired with Xiao Jie and didn’t have any real purpose in the main plot. So yeah.
- James Chu – Shocking but I might have to cut him to make the story different from several of the others I placed them in already. Depends on how the third version plays out.
- Elisa Lin – If I cut James, she’s no longer relevant to the story so it makes sense to let her go as well.
- Zhao Jun Ya – Yes, I had to take him out. I actually started to feel the irrelevancy to his character awhile back already since he was just there later on after the initial introduction into my story and stuff. So, the recent events just added to my motivation to cut him out in general. I’ve been delaying some updates on purpose. Mostly because I wanted to confirm some information. I had to say I haven’t been paying closely to Taiwanese stuff lately and came back to find tons of disturbing stuff. It was very hard to ignore. So, I can’t forgive him for what he did. There were additional dirt dug up and I’m not saying people can’t change. BUT because of the recent events that had led people to deep dive even more regarding those disturbing past incidents. I had cut people off for less than this. So, I think I should follow up on my words in the past about completely stop promoting certain people because they do stupid to harm their careers. This is beyond that because the actions hurt others too, which is WAY more important than entertainment stuff. So I will scrub my blog regarding him in the next few days (and might need next week too since I have real life stuff to do too). It’s going to hurt like hell because the majority of my blog at one point was about him. Yet I have to do it. This is not to erase the shame on my side for supporting someone for so long. But I need to cut all the spread of information about him in a positive light. He doesn’t deserve it. I need to save my resources for others. And sadly, some of the shared posts of him with others will be affected too, depending on topic. I will try to cut his parts out and see what I could do with drama reviews. But I will just delete it if the post is drama updates because it’s no longer relevant anyway. Even if there are others mentioned in the post. Looking at the current posts, Rookies’ Diary will have to stay because it included other people too. The rest? Like I said above, it will disappear.
- Chris Wang You Sheng – For the same reason I couldn’t forgive Jun Ya, I have to let him go. It’s a different situation but also involved hurting others and ONLY apologizing when he got caught. All the damages he’d done to his family and others by using his celebrity status couldn’t be washed away if he wasn’t genuine about his apology. He did get punished for it but the pain won’t go away just because of that. So, another person I’m not going to give spotlight to after this post. Yes, Sonia’s story arc will be affected but I might turn that character into a made up one (who happen to have a similar English name as him since it’s relevant context to some story details later).
- A bunch of made-up characters (who are not celebs). Yes, because the nature of the story change, they will be eliminated too.
So, how high of a chance does one to get stay or goes depend on their proximity to the main characters. And I have a confession to make. I added eight new characters during my first run in an attempt to cut characters. Some were to help with background story (aka adding more family members). But it made the story even more bloated with characters. Hey, I’m NOT Jin Yong. I can’t pull this off, lol. As much as I enjoyed working on those characters at one point, I’m no longer attached to some and it felt senseless to keep them any longer. I was a bit lenient in my cut the first time around so need to try harder this time around.
Anyway, if I choose to just strip all the celebs’ names out and just do a regular fiction story, what would the major challenge be? Believe it or not, it’s actually names. Yes, sooooo hard. Not to mention how the majority of the jokes depend on their names in here. (I did it on purpose because it would be harder to change if someone tries to lift off of it and post it somewhere else. Yeah, I’m not the best writer BUT I’m not going to pretend someone didn’t try to lift a part of my story to use for theirs without even caring if I liked that or not. So I’m more careful now. Unless I don’t care about the state of it, I had been posting less. Yes, that was also one of the reasons why I stopped posting fan fics for the past few years. Some, I was stuck for real. The others, I’m thinking and maybe I will take it out later if I decided to give it the axe. It has been years now, I don’t think anyone’s still around to care.) Yes, the names would be so hard to mimic or make it work. I might retain a small part or some common names will stay. Or change last names. Because if I post it somewhere else, it would be too obvious with some names being similar to some celebrities, etc.
The point of the post? I guess it’s just a courtesy for those who followed The Dating Game saga at one point and want to know what happened. I was told years that there could be silent readers lurking (even if they don’t comment) so that too. Even if I don’t believe so myself.
So, that’s it for now. Yes, long update but I felt it was much needed. Considering how quiet it has been with fan fic updates and all.