“It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears…”
This week we’re laughing over our latest reposted episode, “It’s a Small World.” I wrote the retrospective blog about it!
This episode has always been one of my favorites! By this point in 00Carter, we had gotten into our groove and developed a common understanding of our characters, their relationships with each other, and the general tone of the story. I think that really shows in “It’s a Small World.” It’s a well-rounded episode with a great mix of action, comedy, and drama.
This was a really fun episode to write because of its setting in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. We loved incorporating different Disney characters, songs, rides, and lands into the storyline.
We get to see a lot of our characters paired together in combinations we haven’t seen before, including K out in the field for the first time in the story! This episode delves into his back story and his relationship with Nick. It was fun to incorporate some real life history with his stint as Aladdin at Disney World and his marriage to Kristin, the only BSB wife to get a mention so far. We also enjoyed showing K’s more sensitive side and the fatherly love he feels for Nick, who reminds him of his son.
We also discover one of Dr. Rough’s weaknesses: crippling insecurity about his height! Turns out he has a major Napoleon complex — and a temper even shorter than his stature. More minions die in this episode, but (spoiler alert) we also lose our first HimTak agent.
This is the first episode where we really get to see HimTak duke it out with FANS, and it’s better than ever after our edits. We hope you’ll enjoy reading it, whether it’s for the first time or you’re revisiting it along with us.
This episode is one of my favorites because it’s full of funny scenes. What part makes you laugh the most?
Rose: Easy, the scene where Nick and K are fighting off the minions. Nick bursts into song as he does, and the minions join in! To this day I laugh if I’m watching Aladdin and ‘One Jump’ plays. A close second is Dr. Rough’s meltdown at the It’s A Small World ride. Classic.
Dee: Me too. How they all know the words!
Julie: Same! I crack up every time I come to the part where the minions chime in with “Vandal! Street rat! Scoundrel! Take that!” And of course I love Dr. Rough rocking back and forth, screaming “It’s not a small world! I’m… not… small!” Rereading this episode, one part I’d forgotten about that I thought was hilarious was Pearl as Cinderella looking like she’s giving “Prince Charming” a blow job during the parade. She and JC were really funny together.
Rose: I’d forgotten that scene! Lol their banter was pretty good. Pearl has too much in common with Nick to ever get along with JC.
Dee: Shazam and Pearl on the float has so many hilarious moments. Their dynamic was great, it’s too bad they couldn’t get along. I think it’s the little moments that get me the most. Nick flicking an animatronic parrot, changing “swords” to “guns” for a Disney quote, Nick hoping a train car crushes Dr. Rough… And every single time an idiom about betrayal uses the word “eye” instead. I laugh every time.
As I mentioned above, this episode has multiple subplots featuring different pairs of characters: Nick and K, Pearl and JC, and Emerald and Brian. Which characters did you most enjoy writing and/or reading in scenes together and why?
Rose: Nick and K. I only wrote one Pearl scene in this one (which did lead to more character adjusting than normal on this revisit, this episode was as OOC as she gets) and I think it’s easy to guess what one. But Nick and K I loved writing. Their bond really shines in this episode and I’m a total sap for it.
Julie: Yes, Nick and K are great together! I also love Brian and Emerald. They’re a great example of opposites attracting. They couldn’t be more different, but they had great chemistry when we put them together on a mission. I hope they get to work together again someday!
Rose: Putting them together on an episode with Nick is now on my to-do list, lol.
Dee: The only scene I remember writing was the Nick and Diamond scene (and that was only after rereading the episode TWICE), but I loved all the main mission character pairs in this episode. The hilarious Pearl and Shazam banter, the contrast of Brian and Emerald that somehow works, Nick and K’s familial bond. The episodes where lots of different characters get to shine are my favorites.
This episode features our first “major” character death. Why did we decide to have Drums kill JC, and how do you feel about that decision now?
Rose: You know what’s funny? Up until recent years (like say 2016 when Dead 7 came out), real life JC was the only NSYNC member I liked. Cause I heard his solo song in like 2003 and liked it enough to get his album. But I think it was my idea to kill him in this lol. I wanted the angst. And I stand by it. This shows there’s no redeeming Drums in Nick’s eyes. He can’t save him. He can only end things. Plus if I’m being honest this gave us the excuse to bring in Leo and I love playing the similarities between him and Nick in this story.
Julie: I also think it was a good decision. Killing characters really raises the stakes in a story like this and shows readers that, even though it’s often lighthearted and silly, it can also get dark and downright serious. For me, it was easy to let JC go because I’ve never been a fan of him, yet he’s not as easy to mock as other members of NSYNC. (Mainly Justin and Lance, both of whom I love as characters in this story!) Although he had some funny scenes with Pearl in this episode, I don’t think JC’s short-lived character really added much to the story, so he wasn’t a huge loss. I’m sure we’ll talk more about Leo in a future blog, but I enjoy him much more than JC.
Dee: I’m no stranger to killing off main characters, so… I can’t remember why we decided, but I’m pretty sure it was something we’d planned from near the beginning of writing 00Carter. I think someone brought up that more NSYNC members should be in HimTak so we seemed less biased. I’m pretty sure Rose suggested adding JC to HimTak before she suggested killing him, lol. Didn’t we originally plan to kill him off in the beginning to make room for Brian? I think my only regret about killing JC off so early was that we didn’t get to see him on a full mission before he died, but overall, it’s not a huge loss. I think it’s good to remember that in life or death stakes, the heroes can also die.
