Candi Levens across Geroshas

The following is a description of various ways that Ciem, and the interpretation of her world, evolved from one telling of her story to another.

Genetics and appearance
This was the first attempt ever at the character, being a quick-fix way of trying to put good use to the multiple children that Sims 2 base game Stan and Shalia had in 2005. Due to the way game genetics work, Candi looked very much white like Stan and bore none of Shalia's skintone attributes. She was also blue-eyed like Stan, since Sim genetics randomly decide which trait is dominant. In this version, Erin is murdered offscreen and never once depicted. No word is ever spoken of concerning her death ever again; only it is to suffice that she gives Candi reason to move away and marry. One other major theme that would continue is that Candi has an affinity for dyeing her hair red, but her natural color is black.

Family
In 2005, Denny marries Candi due to her having led to his conversion, as his family is still atheist. We know almost nothing else about Denny; and Donte does not surface in Candi's life until much later on. "L1 the Llama" was originally Jeraime in a high school llama mascot suit, as that was easily pulled from the game's Sports career path. His catchphrase of "DIIIIEEEEE!!!!" was in here, but was downplayed considerably.

It didn't reach the exaggerated levels of 2007's Ciem until Despair Gerosha. In this version, Denny is killed by Capp Aard rather than Jeraime, after being brainwashed into Dr. Leone and assigned to make monsters. Candi's pregnancy is less of a big deal in this version; but she does lose Angie shortly after Angie's birth. Jeraime is blinded in this version, and Milp was introduced. This version also established that Candi would have Dana in the future, and that Arfaas wants Candi's head as a trophy.

Donte's half-brother Khumar is introduced in this version as Khumar Emeraldo, recycling the old masculine form name that was going to be assigned to Esmeralda in Stationery Voyagers before that character was made feminine. Likewise, Donte wasn't known as Emeraldon in this version. He was known as "Captain Emerald." Lindsay was still Khumar's wife, but she was at one point attached to an AI backvisor and put in a Janette the Bunny suit to become S2 the Bunny. Dolly was forced into being S1 the Bunny. All such "Bunny Units" were using the game's Social Bunny NPC outfits.

With exception of Miriam and sometimes Marina, it was implied that Candi did not have a healthy relationship with most of her family. Reily ignored her, Erin was a surrogate mother to her when she didn't stay with the McAuleys, Jason and Tanya ignored here, Mike and Jeff outright held her in contempt, and Vince had vanished to some place that nobody knew. (In actuality, he was somehow exported as a Townie and the game all but forgot about him afterward.)

Power losses and nature of enemies
Arfaas' sister Harga attempted to reform and become a human woman named Hannah. By Classic Gerosha, Harga became an impenitent Hebbleskin Gang member. By Comprehensive Gerosha, she was written out entirely.

Candi's power losses in Ciem 2 in this version were brought on by feelings of guilt that by developing an interest in Donte, she was somehow cheating on Denny and that Denny was still alive somewhere and somehow. In every later version, being pregnant with Frank becomes the basis for her developing a vulnerability to a strain of influenza that interferes with her powers.

Despair Gerosha (2006)
This was a primitive attempt to take seriously the continuity started in 2005 via reboot. Awkward though this failed universe was, it established several firsts that have carried on as canon ever since.

Erin's death and Candi's enemies
One of these is the fact that Erin Flippo was murdered by Gunner and Skellig. Her killer was never made explicit until 2006. Despair Gerosha is also the last time that Ciem's archnemesis early-on was named "L1 the Llama." Musaran in later versions was a BrassTex Mecha suit from Mod The Sims repainted to look shrew-like. L1 in this version was a repainted Storm Trooper and a repainted llama mascot helmet. This was still an improvement over the 2005 version, where L1 used the Sims' in-game llama mascot unchanged as his suit.

This was also the first version where Candi saves Denny from a Meethlite's assassination attempt late at night. Candi's attempt to save Denny also leads to the Meethlite's death. However, Classic Gerosha states that Gunner makes the attempt right outside Candi's house. Comprehensive Gerosha has it happen outside the home Candi is renting from Heather, and has Gunner fall on his own knife after a quick and vicious battle with Candi. Classic Gerosha's explosion death for Gunner is also covered in this version.

Relationship with Denny
Another change to occur in this version is that Denny was attending church with Candi well before they got married, and that this version shows them getting married because of their common enemies. That trend has remained ever since. In 2005, Denny marries Candi due to her having led to his conversion, as his family is still atheist.

Major differences between the first battle for Denny's life in Despair Gerosha and Classic Gerosha are location. Despair Gerosha had the affair happen in a city park. Unlike later Geroshas, where Candi and Denny decide to get married later the same week or following week, the two of them decide to consummate their relationship immediately in this version. They get engaged, but don't marry until after Candi learns she is pregnant.

Other major changes include the fact that Despair Gerosha is the first time that Donte was in Candi's life before Denny. Donte and Denny both meet Candi in this version around the same time. It is discovering herself pregnant that convinces Candi to choose Denny; but Donte remains a best friend. Denny's tragic and sudden death becomes the grand opportunity for Donte to win Candi's heart for good. However, he does get captured; leading to Candi having to rescue him.

Candi's biology
In 2005, Candi had visible pores where her centilegs were hiding inside her. Denny has to strap her up to a device to allow her to hide the openings. This never becomes an issue in later versions. However, 2006 Candi also had half the centilegs at half the length of her 2005 counterpart. In Prime, Candi had 64 centilegs at around 16 feet in length total each. These were reduced to only 32 centilegs at 8 feet in length each. By 2007, she'd have only 16 and they'd be about 5 feet in length each. Finally, the 2010 version has only 10; and they are only called "legs" by a technicality of term. In truth, their small size and length of only a few inches makes them more adequately described as stingers.

The year 2006 was also the beginning of efforts to make Candi more biologically realistic in terms of appearance. Her eyes were still gray/blue instead of the brown they'd become in 2010, but her skin was getting darker. Sims 2 depictions are limited since only four default skintones are possible.

Other relationships
Donte's last name in Gerosha Prime was initially stated as Williams, before being changed suggestively to McArthur. That has since been fixed, with his name having always been McArthur in later versions. The change also reflects that McArthur is the name he was assigned by the game when he was auto-generated for the first time by the Tombstone of Life and Death. Donte is a police chief for the last time in this version. Afterward, it was ruled that he was highly unlikely to have obtained that role. Donte also hides his alter-ego from Candi for the last time in this version. He is revealed to her almost immediately from then on.

Milp is an interesting case in this version. Unlike every other version, where she is at least briefly mentioned before her appearance in part 3, Milp is never once mentioned in Despair Gerosha. However, this version does make it explicit that Jeraime, not Simon, was Denny's murderer. Candi in this version is first arrested when she is mistaken for a streetwalking prostitute. She is never sent to jail for any reason in Despair Gerosha, though later Geroshas have fun with the idea. Candi's first arrest in Classic Gerosha is for being Denny's widow, and for hacking a library computer to acquire information about Arfaas' raid and Donte's location. This essentially makes her a freedom fighter captured by Afaas' growing police state; one that has somehow still not figured out that she is either Ciem and/or a Flippo. In Comprehensive Gerosha, she is arrested by a lady officer who mistakes her for Miriam. Due to Candi's ability to heal quickly from injuries, she is unable to pin the officer for brutality. Candi is later detained for about a week, as she is in shock and the police aren't sure what to do about it.

Candi goes into a coma after giving birth to Angie for the first time in Despair Gerosha. Her Prime self remained consciousness all throughout the ordeal. Imaki dies of a heart attack in Candi's presence in Prime, as well as in every incarnations except Despair Gerosha. Although Prime and Comprehensive attempt to make Imaki relevant to Candi's life somehow, Despair Gerosha has Imaki leave behind little more than a video for Candi to watch. As Candi recovers in the hospital in Classic Gerosha, Imaki dies in front of her.

Classic Gerosha (2007)
Along the way to developing the distilled and promising Comprehensive Gerosha continuity, the Classic Gerosha of Ciem webcomics proved to be an important precursor step.

This version of Candi's life initiated many firsts in the character's mythology. Even more so, her enemies were revolutionized. S1 and S2 the Bunnies were now only alluded to, with no intention of them ever being shown. One universe generation later, and they never existed at all. L1 the Llama was renamed "Musaran," shorthand for "shrew" in Spanish (musaraña.) According to Wikipedia, shrews eat certain types of centipedes. This made pitting Candi against a shrew-themed villain only natural. This version of Musaran was not as crude as the failed L1 suits of before, but was still not as well-thought-out as the Comprehensive Musaran promises to be.

The 2007 webcomic is also the last reference ever made to Arfaas' sister Harga Hebbleskin, who more or less doesn't exist in later adaptations. Gunner's brother, Skellig, was consistently identified as Skellig in this version. However, the surname of Soorfelt didn't get made explicit until the novel in 2010. This is the first time that Denny's would-be assassin is identified explicitly as Gunner.

Nolle Barret first makes an appearance in this version, leading the charge to destroy Candi's reputation at church. Aiding Nolle is Pete the Shouter.

Another major difference that pops up in Classic Gerosha that is not found in any other version is the existence of Kelsea Linney. This enemy of Denny's was based on a real-life hairstylist who worked at a salon in Big Rapids. However, the Comprehensive universe novels seeking to be profitable, Kelsea is now Classic Gerosha-exclusive.

Donte's job as a police chief in Prime and Despair is no longer true as of Classic Gerosha. However, exactly how he afforded his house and what he did with his time outside heroics is never explained. Comprehensive Gerosha seeks to cover those grounds in more detail. His capture happening early in the story is established in this continuity, and is explored in more detail in Comprehensive Gerosha. Unlike in earlier versions, Donte establishes who he is to Candi early on here, a continued tradition later. Since he is now Emeraldon and not Captain Emerald, Khumar and Lindsay were renamed from the Emeraldos to the Hamiltons. This last name is a recycling of Anyce Hamilton from Replox: Abstract Foundations.

Just like in Despair Gerosha, Classic Imaki does very little for Candi onscreen. This is also the last time that Imaki is pure Japanese, as his backstory grows more developed after this continuity. Much like Gerosha Prime, however, Classic Imaki dies of a heart attack in front of Candi. This becomes established as true for all later versions.

Reduced reliance on Sims software
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j130/bulldozerbegins/Ciem/Model%20matches%20for%20Ciem/th_CharoRonquilloasCandi.jpg A (significantly altered) photo of Charo Ronquillo, who looks very similar to Candi. (Presented here for demonstration purposes only.) This version makes significant changes to Candi, but most notably, it changes the size of her centilegs and the strength of her venom. Unique to this version is that a Sims 3 version existed at The Dozerfleet Forum, and is now available here via Utterly Sims. More work has been done with this version to find a template for what she would look like if played by someone real. In addition, this is the first version of Candi to be depicted in 2D using UGO's HeroMachine software.

Also of note, is that she is only portrayed by a Sim in this version for storyboarding, wiki portrayal, lot layout reference, and marketing of her for download. The book cover will feature an as-of-yet-to-be-decided version of Candi in a format not drawn by a game engine. This marks the first time that Candi has been primarily marketed outside of game downloads using anything other than Sims software.

Geography more realistic
This is also the first version where Evansville is explicitly called by its real-life name, rather than being dubbed "Dirbine." This change makes at least the capital city where Ciem patrols into a real geographic location, cementing the mythos. Viron keeps its name, but is based on Perry Township in Vanderburgh County. This is a departure from traditional Virons, which were entirely fictional towns.

Musaran
Musaran retains his name in this, but a lot of other things change involving Candi's enemies. She no longer has to worry about Kelsea Linney, Bumphrob, or other villains of that sort. She does, however, have new enemies to replace some of them. Gunner falls on his own knife in this version of his epic showdown with Candi. In past versions, the Meethlite which Candi fights blows himself up. Musaran's slaughter of Viron University students is depicted a little differently here than in the 2007 comic, but that tradition continues to be canon.

Allies
This version also sees a return of Imaki to being more actively involved in Candi's life and in the decisions she makes. He dies of a heart attack in her presence, same as in every version except Despair Gerosha. However, he offers her more actual practical contributions that are more than just referred to. His presence was barely there in 2007's story.

This version is the first to show much concern for Candi's in-laws: the Levenses. Eric and Patti were only alluded to before, as was Jessie. This time around, they get to actually react to Candi and Denny's decision to elope.

Lesser enemies
Nolle Barret returns in this version, but her role is toned down significantly. A right-hand man of the church's district president turns out to be manipulating Nolle the whole time. Nobody is ever referred to by name as defaming Candi before Classic Gerosha. In the Comprehensive timeline however, Luke Zahrn is identified as being behind Nolle. Luke is a pudgy, liberal-minded Arfaas sympathizer. He is a replacement for Pete the Shouter, whom Candi handled very differently in the Classic timeline.