Corando's "Don't Lose Hope"

"Don't Lose Hope" is a short story told in the mimicry of a music video. It was originally an automated slideshow website modeled after the DSHW web storytelling format used by Dozerfleet Comics for various Sims storytelling projects such as The Battle for Gerosha and the original Ciem trilogy. It was inspired in part by Nickelback's song "Photograph." While the original is set in Gerosha Prime, the new version is set in Cataclysmic Gerosha, in the years 2017 and 2018, as part of the Orient volume.

History
"Don't Lose Hope" was created around the same time that Ciem 3: Curse of the Millipede. Because this version of Ciem 3 was considerably shorter than the previous two entries in that series, it was packed with several extra short stories. These included Star Flops: Curse of the Medium Side and Lo-Mun's Cooking Adventure, all in a bundle. The Blue Face Film Strips: The Sims 2 Edition was likewise considered for this bundle. All of these bundled projects were later separated into standalones in 2006. Blue Face: TS2 became an entry in the Eccentriaverse, isolating it entirely from Gerosha continuity. It was later replaced with a Sims 4 machinima video remake of the original Blue Face Film Strips.

The story in Corando was intended as a gift to a woman that the Dozerfleet founder was interested in back in December of 2005. However, the two of them parted ways some time later, leading to interest in remaking the project to not be about her.

By 2022, the project was authorized for a remake - with new background story characters, revised lyrics, revised verses, and theme revisions. Its new moving of the setting to 2017 in India results in the piece's background story, which Jerry and his band comment on in their video shoot set in 2018, squarely sets the story in the Orient volume of The Gerosha Chronicles. This makes for the only Orient volume comic to exist in that set in Cataclysmic Gerosha, with the other four works in that volume all being novels.

Corando band members
In Gerosha Prime, Corando recorded their music video in 2005, to reflect Jerry's visions of Dillian and Tina.


 * Jerry Emberton (guitarist, lead singer)
 * Jen Emberton (drummer)
 * Spike Monide (bass guitarist)

In Cataclysmic Gerosha, Corando recorded their song's audio and video in 2018, right before they had to flee to Texas to get away from Affadidah's regime. They wanted to bring attention to various world issues, such as those that led to Filforth nearly destroying all of India. However, at that time, the world was more concerned with the revelation of Soetera as a second Cherinob, and with the damage done by Soetera, Kamohoalii, and Cherinob's war against Pele. Later that year, they edited together the music video in Texas, releasing it to a world that was confused as to how they were still in Maine during the time the video was recorded. Affadidah's occupation quickly made Maine a dangerous place to live after the band left.


 * Jerry Emberton (guitarist, lead singer)
 * Jen Emberton (drummer)
 * Spike Monide (bass guitarist)

Original background story
It's unknown if Dillian and Tina ever officially existed as a couple in Gerosha Prime. However, the song was based on Jerry's visions.


 * Dillian Stentz
 * Tina Nares

Remake background story
Filforth's destruction of southern India takes place in 2017, a year before Corando supposedly recorded their song. Somehow, word of what happened reached the west, allowing Corando to reach out and learn more about the Chawlas. With their industry connections, Corando paid to have the Chawlas visit them in Texas. They had the couple re-enact their struggles in Porbandar; from inside a film studio near Houston, hiring actors to portray Amita, Daruka, and the temple rioters as closely as possible to how they actually looked. Corando would later sign on with the same label, run by Aaron Stefflin, as currently had Aaron's wife Meredith on it - one that considered also signing on Turkeybreath Skyline.


 * Protagonists
 * Darshan Chawla
 * Mahima Zecharia
 * Baby Boy Chawla
 * Filforth


 * Antagonists
 * Daruka Naidu
 * Temple rioters


 * Supporting characters
 * Ketan Arudash
 * Amita Zecharia

Locations

 * Earth-G7 timeline
 * Earth
 * United States
 * Maine
 * Orono
 * Corando's Maine studio
 * Texas
 * Houston
 * Corando's Texas studio
 * India
 * Gujarat
 * Porbandar
 * Hidden St. Thomas church
 * Vira Bhagat Ni Jagya Temple
 * Daruka's brothel
 * Hotel Viram and Multi-Cuisine Restaurant
 * Gokul Mathura Towers
 * Porbandar Airport
 * Bihar
 * Darshan and Mahima's home near the border with Nepal

Foreground events
Jerry, Jen, and Spike perform the song on a studio stage. They periodically overlap atop the background story, in order to remind viewers that they're performing a song over that story. Sometimes, the camera cuts to them in the studio, and takes a break from the story altogether.

Original
Dillian Stentz and Tina Nares are depicted in numerous scenes throughout the footage; that serve as metaphors for fear, doubt, and loneliness. These include a forest, an abandoned park, a prison cell, and similar settings. The song shows them meet, and their confinements begin to break down as they grow closer. They feel less "trapped" in their lives, the more time they spend together.

Remake
Young Darshan Chawla is facing an uncertain future in his hometown of Porbandar. Being encouraged by his friend, Ketan Arudash, to take a plane to America, Darshan is willing to risk his exchange student future in order to court one Mahima Zecharia. Amita, Mahima's mother, a widow, is all in favor of the two of them getting together. They are shown to be St. Thomas Christians, with a small church that tries not to draw too much attention to itself. Daruka Naidu, who despises this church, whips up a frenzied mob of Hindu rioters to burn the church down. Amidst the chaos, Darshan and Mahima are separated.

Darshan ironically escapes the mob in a patch of woods, located not far from the Vira Bhagat Ni Jagya Temple, along with Ketan. Amita is killed by the mob, and Daruka kidnaps Mahima and makes off with her. It's revealed that Darshan and Ketan survive the woods, and return to civilization some time later. However, Ketan keeps pushing Darshan to get on the plane and start a new life in America. Meanwhile, Daruka taunts Mahima with the fact that he intends to have her trafficked on the global sex trade market, while holding her in a wooden cage outside some village. He also urges her to forget about Darshan, and face her impending dark future.

The two lovebirds refuse to abandon hope that a way out will be provided, in spite the pressure both face to give up. The angel Filforth is seen in space, starting out in his starfish tropical island form before assuming a humanoid form. He then holds up an hourglass, carrying a look of scorn and contempt for southern India - indicative that time is up for the region.

A massive meteor shower hits the region, and Porbandar Airport is destroyed. A meteor falls on and kills Daruka, and another one smashes open the cage that Mahima is inside of. Mahima escapes, fleeing from the carnage all around her, until she is able to reach a town not far away. She calls Darshan's cell phone, and tells him where to find her. Darshan rips up the plane ticket, and takes the nearest car he can find with a full gas tank to Mahima's location, even as Ketan protests the fact that driving around amidst a meteor shower of that magnitude could get them all killed.

A fast-forward reveals that most of the region has been destroyed by meteors - including the Hindu temple that Daruka recruited his rioters from. However, Darshan and Mahima are finally reunited, with promise for a bright future awaiting them atop the ruins of civilization.

Message

 * Original

The original incarnation's focus is on the tormented state of mind of lonely individuals, as well as the need for communication and an unwillingness to give up on the ideals of love and faith as being critical for surviving the dark parts of one's own mind.

When the couple are separated, and left to dwell on their own misery; their mental states of being grow gradually worse. When they finally reach out to one another, they are able to break free from the "prison," and escape from the "forest." In the beginning, Dillian was in a metaphorical cell; and Tina was lost in "the woods." As a caution to readers of the consequences of disregarding paths to hope, Jerry reverses Dillian and Tina's predicaments near the end, to show that the metaphors of being lost in the woods of life and being lost in the dungeon of one's own mind are virtually interchangeable ideas.


 * Remake

The remake is about determination to believe in higher ideals, regardless the seeming hopelessness of one's situation. Darshan and Mahima's worlds are torn to pieces, right as they have learned to find value in each other's company. They are tempted to despair in their own ways, Darshan with an offer to become an exchange student in America and forget about Mahima; and Mahima to give in to despair and become a slave in whatever brothel she is sent to by her captors. Their stubborn refusal to give up on God - or each other - is rewarded in a bittersweet way.

Their homeland is destroyed by a vengeful angel; yet they are at least together in the end. Their family church is still in ruins; but so is everything that came between them. There is still hope for a tomorrow, even though the world they once knew is lost. All Mahima had to do, was refuse to stop looking for a way to escape the brothel, and refuse to stop looking for a way back to Darshan. All Darshan had to do, was refuse to get on the plane to America. Though separated amidst a very dangerous countryside in India, surrounded by raining destruction and heartless enemies, God directs them back together.

A secondary theme features in the song; one of concern for underground churches in India. In spite claiming to believe in "tolerance," not all Hindu sects practice it. Hindu mobs attacking St. Thomas Christians is a very common real threat across India. The story hopes to raise some awareness of this.

Slideshow
The original's introductory background info page informs readers that the site was assembled with the aid of Photoshop Elements, Advanced Browser, Firefox, Notepad, and The Sims 2: University. It was assembled in December of 2005, before the Dozerfleet founder had been able to successfully purchase the Nightlife expansion for his copy of The Sims 2.

Slideshow effects were accomplished by having meta elements in the project's HTML pages which refreshed from one page to another every ten seconds. Photoshop was used to create some blur effects, yielding a dreamy, surreal effect consistent with what Jerry would see in his visions. The browsers and Notepad were used as primary tools for code assembly.

There were few good tools available for development of websites to the Dozerfleet founder until January of 2006. Come that year, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 with a Visual Basic .NET development suite was provided, along with a book on how to program in VB.NET. This came with a class being taken at Lansing Community College that same year. Since then, major web projects such as the Ciem trilogy were developed under the Dozerfleet label using versions of Microsoft Visual Web Developer Express - which Dozerfleet Labs later replaced in 2020 with a copy of Visual Studio 2019.

Book
The remake book uses the same template from Microsoft Publisher 2016 as was established by Dozerfleet Literature for use in developing Volkonir 2008, When Bikes Argue, When Bikes Argue 2, and the remake of Star Flops: Curse of the Medium Side, converted for use in Affinity Publisher.

These in-turn built atop the framework used for Blood Over Water: The Photocomic and Blood Over Water: Dirty Laundry. Screenshots were shot using The Sims 4, rather than The Sims 2. Photoshop Elements 1.0 has since been replaced with Photoshop Elements 2019, Affinity Photo, and Krita. This version utilizes a book format, largely due to the abandonment of DSHW.

Initial screenshot work for the remake was completed around 2:30 PM EDT on Tuesday, August 16th of 2022, and the piece was sent to post-production editing to add effects to screenshots, develop a chronological sequence for their viewing, splice Jerry and Darshan's stories together, and synchronize the output with the display of song lyrics and cutaways to dialog in Darshan's story.

Trivia

 * Page 18 of the original slideshow lists the following Mod The Sims artists for their contributions in production. All game modders whose works are visible in the end products get credit for their work at the end of most Dozerfleet Sims comics.
 * A custom in-game camera by GunMod was used for acquiring key camera angles.
 * This was before the 2007 version of Ciem, in which CaptFalcon007's camera became a more popular choice.
 * The prison doors used were designed by Atavera.
 * Colored lights (which were not normally possible in The Sims 2 before Nightlife) are the result of custom light creation and scripting by JG Whiteus.
 * Sky effects were accomplished using Oberkorn's sky projector.
 * Tina Nares' nose ring was created by Siren.
 * All skintones and freckles featured were designed by popular Sims artist Helaene.


 * Jerry's voice is modeled after that of Chad Kroger.


 * Filforth holding the hourglass before sending the meteors is symbolic of the fact that he is also the angel that sent most of the meteors toward Sodom in Dozerfleet mythos, a nod to his having a role often accredited to Raphael in Catholic and Talmudic tradition.


 * The remake is, to date of its production, the only time a Dozerfleet work has ever been, even partially, set in India.


 * The remake's Corando band has three unofficial members as well, that don't feature in the artwork.
 * Martin Zorge is an activated Servo, who functions as the band's manager.
 * Some time after fleeing to Texas, Spike and Jen get married. They have a daughter named Kasey.
 * Since making the video, Jerry adopted a stray female cat named Ruby.