The Cheerful Tell-All
Hiya, so if you haven't noticed this fanseries hasn't been updated in two years and after such a lengthy hiatus, I've just decided to pull the plug on it.
But unlike my previous scrapped fanseries that have mysteriously disappeared off the face of the internet, I actually am upset with the decision I've made considering a lot of planning was putting into Cheerful and it actually had potential to be good. But, even if it could be salvaged, reworked and revisited, there was a reason behind the absence I took from Cheerful. I just stopped caring about it, and forcing myself to write it would've only made things worse. Now don't get me wrong, I do believe you should push yourself to write. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have two, almost three, completed fanseries. But forcing yourself when you've lost all motivation and interest doesn't work out. It becomes taxing to even think about how many chapters is left rather than how much more exciting stuff you've yet to write.
I can tell people did enjoy Cheerful Pretty Cure, so for those of who wanted to know what was to happen during the fanseries, this is for you.
What happened in the latest chapter...
Gogo and Rumi meet Yua who drew girls as princesses but was revealed to also have a smiling locket like the girls. The chapter in truth was intended to be more like a filler-type chapter but then everything somehow got intense.
Chapters 13- 15 are predominantly filler type chapters
12 and 16 are important as they are Cure debuts.
16 onwards is more filler-laden, but Chapter 21 is more concrete and a lot of lore is revealed here
22 and 23 are the training chapters
24 and 25 are more origin type chapters, focusing on the character development of Rumi and Lulu.
26- 30 is more filler type, but in this mini-arc the new villain Trickster takes over as the ringleader amongst Melancholy and we learn a bit more of his and Onyx's past.
31-36 is the final arc before the last battle where each Cure gets a focus chapter demonstrating how much they've grown since they've taken on the role as Pretty Cure.
37-38 is the finale.
What was supposed to happen in the next chapters:
Chapter 12: Cure Splendour arrives!
In this chapter, Gogo and Rumi tell Kaigara about the Pretty Cure, but keep things vague enough so that if she isn't actually the next Cure, they won't have to worry about blowing their cover. Kaigara is in fact the third Pretty Cure of the team, transforming into Cure Splendour. Yua only had the smiling locket because Kaigara gave it to her as a form of thanks for the drawing Yua made for her.
Chapter 13: Let's go to Kai's house!
If you've read Toychest Pretty Cure, this chapter is a lot like the one that takes place after Bubbly's debut but unlike Cure Bubbly, Kaigara is an only child who lives with her mom. The girls pay a visit to Kai under the impression that being under her roof will give them a better idea of who Kaigara is as a person and help them get to know her.
Chapter 14: Gogo's constellation
Gogo heads out of town for a family wedding and meets up with her cousin Seiza, who she used to be close to, but has now drifted apart from due to the amount of time they've spent away from each other and wonders how much her favourite cousin has changed in her absence.
Funny, this was actually a chapter for Imagination Pretty Cure, one of the dropped fanseries that I mentioned earlier. Seems this chapter plot is simply cursed to never see the light of day.
Chapter 15: A sibling's day picnic
This chapter was as filler generic as they came. A light-hearted break from all the heavier stuff where we see Gogo and Rumi competitively duel against each other and their siblings in a series of silly contests (Kai is only here for moral support)
Chapter 16: A rapturous saviour
This chapter could've gone two ways, so I'll just explain both of the options I had in mind.
Option A/ The original plot:
The Cures meet a person named Tsukasa, who seems to be quite coy and turns out to be the final Cure, Cure Rapture.
Option B/ The new plot:
Yua proves herself worthy to become a Pretty Cure and gets a Smiling Locket of her own, becoming the final Pretty Cure of the Cheerful team, Cure Rapture.
When I started writing the chapter of Yua's debut, I became more fond of her than I expected. I found her more likeable than Tsukasa but changing the identity of the fourth Cure meant a lot of chapters that centered around the character would need to be rehauled. It was also a choice I began to favour more since I tend to introduce the final Cure in earlier chapters.
Chapter 17: The vicious gamer girl? The Pretty Cure must keep a secret!
In this chapter, the title basically explains the plot without me having to. The Cures meet a cute girl who secretly is a video game champion but she forces them to keep it a secret for her since her boyfriend's on an opposing team of the e-sports team she's a member of. Not to mention, she doesn't wanna ruin her image.
Chapter 18: Kai's cousin is coming for a visit?
More filler-type chapters that I didn't really think much of. A scrapped chapter idea that was actually to appear in Toychest, but then that chapter got revamped. Strange, isn't it?
Chapter 19: A joyous birthday party for a not-so joyous girl
Obligatory birthday chapter (Which I never seem to get to do) in which Gogo's birthday is to be celebrated, but she doesn't want to do anything for her big day because she won't be able to spend it with her grandma as always since she passed away this year.
Chapter 20: Miss Momoko tries to take Rumi away from us?
The girls meet a supermodel who wants to have Rumi travel with her to do her makeup.
Chapter 21: Onyx's resolve and the birth of a crafty prince
This is where things get a little dark here. In this chapter, we learn that a certain someone of Cheerful Pretty Cure isn't actually who they claim to be. This person is Rumi.
Rumi hadn't even known herself, but the team learns that she isn't the real Rumi Takai. Onyx is.
When Rumi first met Onyx, she was a remnant of Castra who was seeking to return to her master. She approached Onyx, who's still Rumi, during the annual summer festival when she's about nine years old. But Rumi isn't the slightest bit scared of her, too upset over the fact her mother has passed away recently. She had been faking a smile these last couple of weeks but once she meets Castra's remnant, she immediately confesses her feelings of anguish, acknowledging both hers and the remnant's feelings of abandonment. The remnant offers her a chance to begin anew, but something doesn't go quite right in the exchange.
The two of them switch lives, only the remnant has no memory of their past, but Rumi (now Onyx) does.
Nobody had caught onto the switch except Rumi's older brother, who sides with his real sister and becomes the villain Trickster, a much more cut-loose, eccentric version of himself.
Chapter 22: Let's visit Euphorium!
Chapter 23: Here they are! The Batons of Euphoria!
The obligatory training chapters, I had nothing else planned for these aside from their titles.
Chapter 24: Let's cheer up Rumi!
The Cures attempt to help lift Rumi's spirits after all that had happened before they left for Euphorium.
Chapter 25: How Lulu became Miss Hightower
Lulu's origin story of how she got adjusted on Earth, which begins with a letter from an old friend who says they'll be in town soon.
Chapter 26: Tsukasa's sweet tooth
Filler-type chapter that had nothing but a title. Kinda like a placeholder in my chapter list.
Chapter 27: An enchanting ball for the Pretty Cure!
Yet again more irrelevant filler, the interesting part for this one though is that this chapter plot got reworked into Toychest Pretty Cure.
Chapter 28: A step in the right direction
The chapter where the Cures perform their first group finisher with their power-up items.
Chapter 29: Masumi falls for...dance?
Chapter 30: A day at the plant observatory!
The above are just generic filler chapters.
Chapter 31: Miss Hightower gets...evicted?
This probably wasn't a filler chapter but I just don't recall what was supposed to happen here.
Chapter 32: Rumi and the lost kitten
Chapter 33: You're going to pass that test! Kai's determination!
Chapter 34:Big match! The Mikami twins soccer game!
Chapter 35:Gogo's gonna make a comic book!
The above are the Cure's final individual focus chapters, where they of course reflect on their growth and how much they've matured and changed over these last few months as a Pretty Cure.
Chapter 36: It rained today
The intense last chapter before the final battle, though no notes are written down for it.
Chapter 37: Reunion
Chapter 38 What it means to smile
The finale. Some key things were of course planned to be revealed here. In these chapters...
Cure Jubilance's true identity is revealed to be Ana's pet Kallie, who's real name is Kalea and is the mother of Lulu.
Cure Jubilance had a teammate, Cure Radiance who was actually Onyx and Trickster's mother.
There is one final Cure left to join Cheerful Pretty Cure, Cure Blithe, who is actually Lulu.
It's revealed that Castra tried to form a deal with Cure Radiance to have them join forces but one taste of Castra's magic resulted in something very unexpected, her passing.
And one final battle later...the Cheerful Pretty Cure defeated Melancholy and the story ends!
Even I'll admit it's a bit disappointing to see this work abandoned, it really had a lot going for it, but I just don't have the desire to write it anymore. Also, despite the strong prologue and first few chapters, this story was becoming more unorganized in my mind as time went on. I had more things I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to revamp or just omit from the story.
I already mentioned my desire to change Cure Rapture's identity but then I also considered just scrapping the last two additions of Cheerful because I thought Gogo and Rumi had a dynamic too good to mess up by adding more members. But I was torn because I really liked the final two's designs.
As you can see, a lot had been planned for Cheerful, but I lost steam for it early on. It hadn't been a total surprise to me, but after rereading the first few chapters a couple of nights ago, I knew it wouldn't be fair to end this story without a proper explanation.
My sincerest apologies to anyone who was reading Cheerful and wanted it to see it finished. This is where Cheerful Pretty Cure ends.