Frequently
Asked Questions
Everything you ever want to know about Kids
Inc Forever.com, but were
afraid to ask
About
Me
About
the KI Site
About
the WO Site
Other
About Me
Who are you?/What's your story?
I'm Dawne. I've had a KI/WO fansite in different places around the Net
for 14
years, longer than any other sites have ran. (That's continually
running, btw, some sites were around earlier but died out long
before). I've been a Kids Incorporated
fan since the series started. After the move to Disney, it was a while
before we started
subscribing, and I realized how I had taken it for granted. Late '86 (a
billion years ago
to some of you guys!) we started paying, and the rest, as they say, is
history. This
is my story.
What do you actually do for a living?
Ha ha. I'm a writer. I have several short stories in circulation, and I'm working on my first novel. It's not available over the Internet because most magazines and publishing houses, upon buying your work, require "first publishing rights". This means they are the first people to print the work anywhere. I've learned my lesson from the first, disasterous novel I tried to write, which I had up on my site for a time. The novel is very adult, very non-KI, but I have written several young adult stories. I also had one short story published on a website as a contest entry. Sadly, I did not win $300 and a French buffet lunch.
Do
you like MMC/Hannah
Montana/KidzBop?
I watched a few episodes of MMC, but I couldn't get into it. I didn't
like how some cast
members wouldn't be on every show, and I didn't like that there was a
live audience,
because it never let you forget that you were watching a show. It was
like Saturday Night
Live for kids, and it didn't have the personal connections that KI did.
I'm a bit too old for Hannah Montana. I guess I understand why people
are into it. I wish
that MGM would see this and allow KI to be run in syndication again.
People miss musical
kids' shows!
I can't stand KidzBop! For the record, it has very
little to do with KI. Those
kids' voices are made to be high-pitched and annoying, where our KI
allowed kids to sing
in normal voices that sounded just like the real thing. Also, every
KidzBop commercial
I've seen is incredibly blinding and grating. Why do kids have to
listen to watered-down
versions of songs they've more than likely already heard on the radio?
Kids Inc made
minimal changes to the lyrics, and the music didn't sound like
something out of a
Tinkerbell jewelry box.
*Also, for those of you that continually make the mistake, the records
that Renee has been
doing vocals for are Disney's Super Star Kidz, NOT KidzBop (Although I
can barely stand
the child vocalists in those, either - Renee is the one saving grace
for the whole CD).
About the KI
Site
Do you know
Renee/Stacy/Martika/Rahsaan/Ryan/Thomas
Lynch/someone from the show??
No, I don't. It's nothing negative - no one on any of these fansites
knows the cast or
crew members, despite claims to the contrary. You can sometimes get
short convos going on Twitter, or maybe you're lucky enough to have fan
letters answered. These days, everyone can be on a screenname
basis with celebs.
Martika talks to all of her fans, not just the ones with sites.
I was a regular on Oppera's forum during the live chats, and
pretty vocal on Facebook and Twitter, so I guess you could say I'm
well-known. I don't do the site for suckups or endorsements,
though, I do it for love of the show, and everything else is just
icing. (Not that I'm turning down endorsements! ;P )
I'm
Renee/Stacy/Martika/"Rashaan"/Ryan/Thomas
Lynch/from the show, and "you're" site "sux"!
No, you're not. Somehow I highly doubt you have the time to rip into
random webmasters.
Also, I would like to think that successful executive producers can
spell. In fact, I'm
sure of it.
Celebrities can contact me just the same as us regular folk, by email.
I'm not entirely
sure that they would, and it's hard to tell, but why would they use
133t sp33k? Rahsaan
would also know how to spell his own name (that is
how you spell it, by the way,
with the "h" first).
Oh, and Ryan hates websites. It used to say that on Elephone's official
site before they
went to MySpace, so I would expect him to feel the same way about mine.
:P
It says "updated" on the KI/WO
page, but when I
looked, I didn't see anything updated?
Okay, you got me. Some people only go to the KI main page, or my site's
main page, and
they don't always see that I have a forum with all the updates listed.
All the news ends
up in the forum which you can see on the portal or in the forum itself.
Make sure to click
"Updates" to see what's happening in other areas.
Aren't you worried about being
shut down by MGM?
Of course. I worry about that every day, as most fansite webmasters
should. However, I've
done some research, and since I don't have full episodes or attempt to
sell anything on my
site, I should be in the clear. There is a small section of U.S.
copyright law called the
Fair Use Doctrine, and while it is very subjective, I personally feel
that I'm not doing
any damage to the show's marketability with this site, which is the
crux of the matter,
really. There would be no reason for you to not watch the show in
syndication or buy
officially licensed DVDs because of this site's existence.
Have you seen all the episodes?
Have you seen The Beginning?
Have you seen Rock in the New Year/Chartbusters/Best Of?
Yes.
I have seen all 9 seasons of the
show, including the Rock in the New
Year special when it
was aired. Chartbusters and the Best of Kids Inc I didn't get to see
until much later.
Same with The Beginning. But yes, I have seen all of the Kids Inc.
shows/specials. I seem
to be one of the few people who watched the show all the way to the
end.
Do you have all the episodes?
Yes I do!! I was very lucky to recieve them from my boyfriend. All the
captures and
pictures and whatnot on my site since the move are from my new set.
Can you make me some screencaps
or get me some pictures of
______?
Email me and I'll see what I can do.
Are you going to have videos?
I'm working on making some composite videos of clips from the show, but
as far as putting
up full episodes or songs or clips from episodes, that's not necessary
anymore.
Firstly, it's pushing copyright laws to make videos of something you
don't own. Also, with
sites like YouTube, people can get their video fix without me having to
make any.
How come you don't have an
episode guide/cast list/cast
bios/song list/etc.?
I'm expanding the site's informative content to include more of these
things for the
newbies. It won't be the same as other sites, but it will be just as
useful.
Where do you get your info from?
Watching the show, first and foremost. I watch episodes over and over
again to look for
things.
I also learn from: articles, other websites, friends, Wild Orchid
articles and interviews,
the Wild Orchid fan club and its newsletters, Fergie articles and
interviews, Martika
articles and Oppera live chats, other TV shows, official cast member
sites/MySpace pages,
all sorts of places.
Sometimes I theorize, and those opinions cannot be counted as fact,
which I acknowledge. I
also think about my own life experiences and try to put myself in the
shoes of the actors
and the characters that they played. It's a trick I learned from being
a writer. If I have
a real reference, I'll add that, otherwise, it's just conjecture on my
part, and I never
claim that something I made up is real. See the next question for more
on that.
You wrote on this page that
so-and-so said this or did that.
That didn't happen! You made that up!
Or:
What season did that happen on
because I don't remember that?
Yes, that is why it's called fanfiction. Anything on
the fanfic pages, unless it's
on the Inside Jokes and References page, didn't happen on the show. I
wrote those stories
in the style of real episodes and refer back to real ones, but the
events in them never
happened (unless it's a prequel, those stories are based on what really
happened). I would
never claim my interpretation of the show's events as real (although
I'm flattered that
anyone would mistake them for the real thing). I attempt to write the
characters the way
they were presented on the show, and choose situations that would be
likely to happen. I
am a firm believer in canon.
I also think that's why my site confirms to Fair Use and doesn't damage
the show's
reputation.
Things that really happened on the show are referenced on the Inside
Jokes page by
episode, season and year.
Stacy! Fergie! No, it's
STACY!!!!! NO, FERGIE!!!!
Everyone's right!
I'm not about to tell somebody
what to call her. Neither name is
forbidden on my site.
Since my site mostly deals with the past, I'm more inclined to use
Stacy, but I post
current Fergie news.
In case you're wondering how I feel about it, I consider anything from
the year 2000 and
back to be Stacy. I figure that's about the time the schism with WO
happened. Fergie is
for the recent stuff. However, that's not cast in stone, and it's no
big deal. As long as
you know that we are talking about the same woman, you can call her
Peter Pam for all I
care. I am sure it doesn't say Fergie on her driver's license or
wedding invitations.
Some people are new to the KI world. They know her as Fergie first.
People somehow think
they are being disrespectful, but which is actually worse: "Stacy has
such a
beautiful voice!", or "Fergie sucks and she can't sing!" Old habits die
hard, and what flashed on the screen is what fans are more liable to
associate these
people with. It's like having a teacher get married, or coming back to
school after winter
break. You take a while to adjust.
In related info, I am more
inclined to say Love instead of Jennifer as
well. I don't think
she's as concerned with nomenclature as much as Fergie, though.
Did you know
that Ryan and Stacy dated? Are Renee and
Stacy cousins? Did Connie and Richie use their real voices? Is it true
Stacy got kicked
off the show because she wanted more money?
I am willing to tell you whatever I do know about the show. However,
there is a difference
between knowing and having a theory. Some of this stuff is just rumors,
but if you want to
know what I think, I'll tell you. Keep in mind, though, that it's not a
fact unless I have
a source to show you.
Renee and Stacy aren't related at all, not even by marriage. Stacy's
own mother has
addressed this twice in WO fan club newsletters and I do have them
scanned to show you if
you'd like.
Connie has said before that she wasn't even aware that they switched
her voice for Devyn
at the last minute. However, it's not a comfortable thing for her to
talk about, and I've
elected to honor her wishes and not have endless threads about it.
Stacy only says that Ryan gave her a card and a kiss when she left the
show. Whether they
actually dated, I don't know. Her story changes a lot in different
interviews. I also
don't think it would be like her to demand more money all of a sudden,
but I can't verify
that, either.
What's with the words all over the pictures?
Nearly all of the screencaps on my site have watermarks on them to
prevent people from ripping them off. It's also easier to
catch a hotlinker if you can see that their pics have my watermark on
them. If you ever see that mark on someone else's site,
please let me know!
I'm working on making the watermarks less visible, but still detectable.
About the WO
Site
Do you know Wild Orchid?
Sadly, no. I wish I did!
Where do you get your info from?
WO articles, interviews, TV spots, Fergie interviews and articles, the
WO fan club and its
newsletters.
Do you have WO on _______?
Nearly all the WO appearances I have are on my Tape Trading page. The
few things that
aren't listed there are in very bad condition and I wouldn't think
anyone would want my
copy of them.
I started putting WO appearances on YouTube because hardly anyone else
had anything on
there, and I found out that many people were clueless as to what Great
Pretenders was.
Also, many people heard Fergie talking about WO, and didn't remember
who they were.
Do you have Fire?
Do you have Hypnotic?
Yes, I got the tracks from Fire from several
different WO sites. Unfortunately, RCA
fixed it so that's the only way we can get them. The only songs you
were able to buy in
stores were "Stuttering" and "Lies".
Hypnotic was sold by WO through their website. The
website is down, and now you can
no longer purchase that, either. I guess it's file-sharing for Hypnotic,
too.
What's Great Pretenders?
Great Pretenders was a show that WO hosted on Saturday mornings on Fox
Family which became
ABC Family. I believe there were 4 seasons in total, along with an
hour-long "Family
Style" special which had guest stars No Authority and in which WO
themselves sang
"World Without You" (which would have been on Fire).
The show was about teenagers dressing up and lip-syncing to songs. The
audience would then
judge them and pick a runner-up and a winner, who got trophies and
prizes. In the last
season of the show, they did 6 "Karaoke Style" episodes, in which the
contestants really sang, and the prize for the winner was a recording
session. All WO did
was sing the theme song, announce contestants, interview them, and read
off the winner
(after much struggling with the sealed envelopes!). I heard Stefanie
say that they
actually taped several shows back-to-back in one day. For the first two
seasons, the girls
were joined by a D.J., who introduced WO, cracked jokes, and for some
reason spun records,
although chances were slim that the kids' music was on those discs.
Later, he was replaced
by children in the audience introducing WO, one of whom turned out to
be Stacy's cousin,
Bridget. (For the Family Style special, Stacy's grandmother Lynn
introduced the group's
one musical number)
The show itself wasn't bad, but some of us felt that it was
underutilizing WO and
distracting from the fact that they were more than just pretty faces,
they were recording
artists. ABC Family made up for this a bit by giving them a spot in one
of their Front Row
Center concerts, but by then, the damage was already done.
Are
you
going to
update that part of the site anymore?
I'm
not sure what to update it with. I've been toying with the
idea
of making new, better wallpapers, but other than that, there's no real
new info I can add. I also wanted to write some WO fanfics,
but
since the KI site has the most traffic, it's the most important for
now. There will be some more reviews of TV appearances that
I
have sometime in May '12.
Other
I want to make a website. Can
you help me?
I can certainly try. I won't do it for you, but I
can talk you through most of the
stuff. The thing you ought to know is that most free sites won't let
you have a forum and
community on your website, so you'll have to decide what you want out
of a site.
Can I use some of your stuff on
my site?
"Some" is the word. Don't take the entire site content and put it on
your
webpage. That's stealing.
If you'd like to use some excerpts from my work or some graphics, let
me know what you're
using, and be sure to credit me with a link or a mention. Most
importantly, NO HOTLINKING!
This is linking to the actual pictures on my site, which takes up my
bandwidth that I pay
for. You can download graphics and save them to your own server, or ask
me for the ones
that are right-click disabled. If you don't understand, I can show you.
I will not have anything from my site associated with a hate site. Any
site that says,
"Look at how gay this dumb show is! See! These are ugly pictures!" will
not have
my permission to link to or use my graphics. I do this for fans, and I
want my work to be
shared with fans. Why would you waste time like that when you could be
building a site for
something that you really love? Leave us to enjoy our show in peace and
go bother someone
else.
I saw some of your pics/fanfics/videos on this LiveJournal/Facebook group/website!
I'd really like it if you'd tell them what for! Like I said, I don't mind using some of my work if you credit the source. I few of my images are blocked from right-clicking for a REASON. I'm aware of several thieves, and they have been asked to remove or credit me.
This is why I have watermarks on my images. You can also tell when an image of mine has been yanked if most of the picture is cut off - they just tried to cut around the watermark. Stupid, aren't they?
Also, it's really hilarious that someone tried to write a shitty fanfic about Renee and Stacy's brother, considering I made that up myself, moron! If you have no idea what's canon and what's not, you have no business trying to write fanfic! If you're wondering what's canon and what's conjecture, just check my Inside Jokes page. AFAIK, I've originated quite a few plotlines that I'm not credited with.
With the advent of Pinterest, crediting images isn't hard anymore. However, someone will still steal the images from my site and blog them, thereby causing Pinterest to link them. Be careful where you're pinning from!
What's
"canon"?
Wikipedia defines it as such:
"Canon, in the context of a fictional universe, comprises those novels, stories, films, etc., that are considered to be genuine or officially sanctioned, and those events, characters, settings, etc., that are considered to have existence within the fictional universe. In order for a setting to appear cohesive, especially in fictions that contain multiple parts, both creators and audiences sometimes find it useful to define what has and has not "actually happened" in that universe.
Material that is considered canon usually comes from the original source or author of the fictional universe, while (some) spin-offs and adaptations to other media are more likely to be non-canon and fan fiction is almost always non-canon."
In other words, if it really happened, it's canon. Fanfic authors
define canon as things
that the real writers and creators made up, things that aired in the TV
series or were
printed in their books.
I personally am on a crusade to rid fanfiction of its negative
reputation as a destroyer
of and ignorer of canon. Like I said before, I am a firm believer in
canon, and I would
never do something unless I thought it could have possibly happened on
the show. Things
like slash fanfic, 'ships or relationship pairings, sexual
behavior...none of these are
Kids Inc. canon. It was a children's show that needed to adhere to
certain guidelines to
be appropriate for its audiences. I am willing to argue my point with
you should you find
anything in my fanfics that you don't think is canonical. However,
remember that they are
fictional, so I'm pretty much making things up as I go along here.
The argument over whether or not The Beginning can be considered canon
is a very good one,
since 90% of fans didn't know it existed for a long time, and Thomas
Lynch was not
involved in the creation of that pilot. It's so far removed from the
series that I'm not
sure if we should consider it canon or not. If it was mentioned on the
TV series from
1984-1993, I'm calling it canon. What happens on other sites is up to
their webmasters,
but here, canon is important.
What's a troll?
Trouble. Chances are, if you don't know what one is, you're probably
not one. A troll is
someone who deliberately causes trouble, usually from a hate site. They
break rules in
order to get banned so that they can go around claiming injustice,
hotlink files, spam the
forum with nonsense posts...generally piss people off.
Known troll sites are blocked from linking to me, and my site content
is protected. I
check IPs and visitor stats daily, so people from those sites ARE being
watched. Trolls
are not tolerated. If I catch you, I will delete you, and that's not
unfair. This is a
great site for fans. I'm not going anywhere, and if you don't like it
here, leave.
My friend said that_____ I
heard that you _________ Hey, you
guys! She _________
Stupid much? If you like to spread rumors, check your family tree. Your
father might have
been a troll.
I would highly advise you to get the facts before
just blindly repeating what other
people have said. Sheep are just as annoying as trolls. Just because
one idiot got banned
is no reason for you not to join the forum and have some KI fun with
other fans. Try
thinking for yourself. You'll like it.
Have a legitmate question? You're welcome to submit it at dawne@kidsincforeveronline.net (NO SNARK!)