This week's RiM is the lovely Rare Heart Scarf!
This Rare is sold in Jam Mart Clothing, but only for this Monday! 😀 Pick up yours quickly!
Next on our agenda is morrrrrrrre FROGSLOTH! 😁 This is the last of the chapter written by my mom, but she says she'll make more! I for one am very excited to see what happens. 😵
The Adventure Of The Frogsloth, 28th Entry
Dear Diary,
I looked past Walter’s elbow at the abyss before us.
“Where does that go?” I asked, assuming from his earlier question that I’d be asked to follow it somewhere.
“It’s the upper aquifer, an underground river that feeds the swamp. We should surface about 200 yards south of my home.” Walter didn’t sound very confident, though.
“Should?” I questioned. This didn’t bode well.
“Well, I haven’t swum it since the visit of the young kangaroo and that’s been a while.” He stuck his paw in the water and held it there for a few minutes. “The current is still strong, but I can’t know that the channel hasn’t altered over the years.”
“Oh, my….” I’m sure Walter could see the doubt in my eyes over this new escape plan.
“I realize this is risky. The only other options, as far as I can see, are to return to the house and hope there is still no one afoot or to go back to the collapse site and try to dig our way out, risking cave in.”
I said nothing, though I desperately wanted to scream my frustration at the situation. Suddenly, a thought occured.
“Didn’t I see scuba gear in your storage room?”
“Yes, but the tank is empty. I suppose I should have kept it stocked for emergencies, but that would require a trip into town. As you might imagine, that isn’t high on my list of favorite things to do.” Walter shrugged slightly. “I’ll go first and investigate. I’m a strong swimmer and can fight the current back to you, if all is well. If I don’t return - ”
I interrupted him. “No, we’ll go together. But I don’t think I can hold my breath for 200 yards. That’s, like, 8 lengths of a pool!”
“Nor could I. The water doesn’t quite reach the roof of the aquifer, in my experience. There is breathing room, but we may find ourselves navigating under obstacles. Also, the water will push us along at a brisk clip. I expect we will be all the way through in under five minutes.”
“Alright, then, let’s get moving. I don’t think we have much time.”
Now? I'll let you guys in on a little secret. It's a bit of an embarrassing one...
...
Y'see, I actually... haven't... written new Jamaasian High - Karalee Edition chapters. ...At all.
I know, I know, I have a responsibility to you guys, and I've disappointed you. I'm really, really sorry. 😞
Here's some of the problem. (Spoiler alert: EXTREME brainstorming session ahead. 😉 This one's about world-building. )
I'm really blanking on how the actual school will work. Besides the fact that I homeschool and so have never been to a real high school (though that problem is surmountable with proper research), I'm having trouble combining real-life elements with the whimsical elements of the AJ community.
Things like trading, reporting, and moderation don't always apply to the real world like they do in AJ. Maybe moderation could be like security cameras? And reporting could be simply telling the principal or a teacher. I think the real world could use more of that, personally... there are always extenuating circumstances, it seems.
Gems are my JH world's primary method of currency, it seems, with different colors signifying different values. I think Diamonds might be like hundred-dollar-bills or something. Maybe half-sized ones are fifties? *thinking face* So how does trading factor in?
Spiked Collars are refined in their various values to the point of a currency in AJ, and I want to see that feature in the story. HDs, too, and also betas... perhaps they're something like antiques?
Another sticky bit to me is the YouTuber stars. For one thing, it really wouldn't be safe for them to go to school with the same fans that watch them every day, because some people (not anyone I know, thank goodness) can seriously take a thing too far. *shudder* I mean, really. Creepiness-level-fifteen kind of too far. 😬
The second famous Jammer problem I have is how to correctly portray their character. They're not perfect, of course, but they're not exactly antagonistic, either.... Ironically, what I'm going for is to make my characters is to make them human in a world based on animals.
I'd like to know how they act in real life. (I'd like to actually know them, but hey. 😆 ) I think it's always true that there's more to anyone than what you see when a camera's pointed at them. Though I suppose the image they project to AJ is what's relevant in this case, anyway.
Thing is, I don't actually know their projected personalities. I never watched AJ vids with regularity, and I didn't (and don't) have the social media accounts to "follow" them on many sites. If anyjammer out there could help me with what they see in certain famous Jammers, I'd like to take them into account as research for my story.
This is what I've heard of their reputations in my AJ life, combined with what I've seen in their videos (if I've seen any by them).
APARRI inspires mixed feelings in the Animal Jam community, often extremely strong ones. He's the "poster boy" for vid makers, and is often the example given when speaking of famous Jammers in general. If some Jammers don't know what YouTubers are, you can be pretty darn sure they're heard of Aparri, whether they know who he is or not. His videos are heavily edited (and well-edited, if I may say) in the interest of succinct showmanship, and are very confidently presented. This often leads to the perception of his opinions as fact by much of the community, reinforced by his fame and position as an authority on the subject of AJ. This can be very dangerous when true facts are distorted in the interest of drama or sensationalism in an effort to get watches - something I see going on in many, many Jammers' videos. He has a "troubled past", with (- and I do NOT know if any of these are true or false, though they seem to be treated as fact by many -) hacking, scamming, and general "all-around bad"-ness. Because of this, many Jammers strongly dislike him, a few to the point of hatred. Despite some opposition, he is highly esteemed in the eyes of most of Jamaa. Many, many people are his fans, and some truly adore him, thinking of him as the most "swag" Jammer ever. (I think it's kind of a catchphrase or something. He seems to say it a lot, and it's almost his "signature word".) Due to the rivalry between Julian2 and Aparri, many Aparrians are strongly opposed to Julian2, to the point of violently opposing any favorable opinions given about his performance, appearance, or videos. (Also, while it would seem to be an extremely bad idea to go to Aparri's den and promote Julian2 to anyone there, many Jammers like to do this, "poking the bear", so to speak. I would really appreciate an explanation as to why, if anyone has it.)
JULIAN2 is essentially the other popular (male) famous Jammer. He seems to me to be quite content-oriented, bringing a less-flashy tone to his videos, compared to other YouTubers. The muted color scheme does nothing to diminish his not-so-muted reactions to events (and especially gifts). His reactions seem the most genuine to me out of the Triumvirate*. (This means he really IS the most genuine of the three, or just the best actor. Could be either.) He laughs a lot, and makes the viewer want to laugh as well, by often leaving funny slices of accidentally-recorded life in his videos (such as calling his cat in a high-pitched voice, or singing/humminng after thinking he's turned off the microphone). These could easily be deleted, but were left in anyway. It makes him seem more human, and helps the viewer (or at least meeeee :P) relate to him. After the recent drama with the infamous "plants", and HQ's removal of his name from the Jambassador list, I'm picturing the atmosphere in JH-KE and his position as very much "fallen from grace". The community still divided, the future still uncertain, opinions, rumors, and anger running wild. I can't, of course, know what he's feeling right now, but I know I'd be upset and angry, were the same thing to happen to me. Videos will continue to be produced by him, but the full impact of the drama has yet to be seen. How everything will pan out in the course of the story has yet to be seen, and I will need to see how things happen in the real world, as well. Most of his fanbase seems to forgive him, or even trying to justify his actions, but others' points of view are likely to range from crying over who they once held as a hero, to "See? I told you. I always knew it." AJHQ (the staff of the school) is, as they must, remaining impartial after giving the necessary consequences. (In my personal opinion, it's just, but very sad. His videos are those I enjoy the most, even if I don't watch many.) The poking-the-bear method of provocation occurrs in Julian2's den as well, and the war of the fans continues. Julian2's fans are called Beans (after human "beans" [beings], presumably), and a subset of those fans (with a special costume) being called Spinnybois.
WISTERIAMOON is the girl of the Triumvirate*, and "kawaii" is her middle name. (Or at least her signature word.) Rapid-fire words and shrieks of "WisteriaMOON!!" characterize her videos. She's rumored/pseudo-confirmed to be in a romantic relationship with Julian2, and the 'ships' are running wild. (They do seem to really like each other, but I dunno how much they're just putting on for the cameras.) She thinks up/participates in fun-and-funny challenges, and seems to me to be a balance of Aparri's showmanship and Julian2's content-focus.
SKORM is currently regarded as a "black sheep" and a criminal, and indeed selling Animal Jam in-game items for real money is a crime. (I'm quite dubious about an actual, federal crime, but it's totally a crime in-game, and one of the cardinal Animal Jam Rules.) He's lost his account, but he's coming/has come back with another, and has generated a lot of buzz to boot!
BEPPER is Aparri's little sister, and has a complicated dynamic as such. A highly competent vid-maker in her own right, she is gains a lot of publicity by her relation to her brother, but the shadow he casts is a large one. Nevertheless, she projects a positive attitude, and rises above a past of scamming to actively fight against the practice.
SNOWYCLAW is a very talented artist, and though I've seen her art, I have never seen one of her videos. Her reputation is one of a very kind, polite Jammer, with nary a whisper of scandal reaching my ears. She has recently(ish 😝 ) gained a position in AJHQ, as an intern.
*A triumvirate is a title for a group of three people sharing power. It's my somewhat-joking name for the top three YouTubing Jammers, namely Aparri, WisteriaMoon, and Julian2.
That's all the famous Jammers I know... I think. At any rate that's all I have time for. I'm rushing the end of this post, so sorry, it's bedtime. 😴 Therefore I won't be able to proofread this gargantuan hunk of a post, so there may be a few more typos than usual. (Hey, what can I say, I'm the Queen of 'em! 😆)
GOODNIGHT JAMAA! DXPLORERGIRL HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!
(DXplorergirl)
