Editing Firework (section)

==History==
===Level concept===
According to Vernam, the idea for Firework dates back to 2016, when he saw a showcase video of Arceans's former impossible level, Classical, which featured a black-and-white colour scheme and the song 'Classical VIP' by NIGHTkilla (Rukkus). Vernam was inspired by its song and initially envisioned a new level in red and turquoise, but due to a complete lack of collaboration skills, the idea remained just a concept for a long time. The project only really took off in 2019, when Vernam shared the idea with ORte (who would also be building the entire gameplay), and ORte offered to take the project seriously.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwGyRANjmwY</ref>

===Development===
On 7 April 2019, Vernam, the leader of Cherry Team at the time, published a video on YouTube titled 'Firework is literally impossible in current state (Bad noclip and Broken sync)',<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8txbdNUcQ0</ref> showing the first ever preview of Firework. Vernam mentioned that Cherry Team members would decorate the level as the team's newest project. Vernam initially intended for Firework to be decorated in blue, orange, and green. However, implementing these colours was too complex, so Vernam went for a simple black-and-white scheme. A few parts were completed two months after the first preview was posted: Lilium's first part, Konsi's part,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm9MGLffEVE</ref> Grayrain's part,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjkZ-k2l5bU</ref> and Desumari's two parts. Because the level's production was moving swiftly, Dolphy, the verifier at the time, published the first Firework preview to his channel, showcasing each of the previously listed parts.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8aoM-71Qy8</ref>

Shortly after the preview, several other creators uploaded their parts, including Deron,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzh1IiofTUU</ref> Buragoz's two parts,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuRguCB_ah4</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP1e5LPr8pQ</ref> Itami (who replaced Grayrain's part),<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM-w39jVh0o</ref> RealVet (who replaced Desumari's second part),<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5KLhM1hB4</ref> and OfficialFreck.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgGH-nj8xcg</ref> OfficialFreck, however, later got replaced by Crouley,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb1sETilPbQ</ref> as well as Deron by 00Zero. Some of the decorators were working behind the scenes and not releasing footage of their sections, but these parts were later exposed in a montage released by f3lixsram on Christmas 2019.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFcq8XWspD0</ref>

A little more work was done behind the scenes before the level was properly merged and polished. Dolphy then posted a full-level showcase on New Year's Day 2020.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aW6xOpWzJo</ref>

===Start of verification===
Once Firework was finished, Dolphy began verifying it. He did not make much progress on it since he needed to work on [[Silent Circles (Zynvire)|Silent Circles]] by Zynvire, his other verification project. Realizing this, Vernam gave Firework to Crazen, who, like Dolphy, made very little progress on the level. Vernam opted to have Firework placed into the servers as an open verification after realizing that a standard verification without any nerfs would be incredibly tough to figure out.

Once Firework was released onto the servers, there was little progress, with only GMDomy (who obtained runs of 0-18%, 64-85% and 84-100%)<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AnJXWgnw-s</ref> and xPixel (who got the world record shortly after GMDomy) working on it.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnAME6SeDak</ref> Both players constantly streamed the level for about a month. However, on 4 October 2020, xPixel published an updated video.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2SUJqtomSI</ref> He noted that Firework was highly object-heavy, and his PC could not handle the amount of lag produced by the level when he streamed it. As a result, Vernam decided to create an LDM so that players like xPixel could play the level without lag. The LDM, however, was cancelled entirely for an unclear reason. The verification was formally returned to Dolphy after GMDomy stopped playing the level entirely. He set a record of 15% but quickly dropped out of the level.

In the meantime, xPixel continued to play with the copy on the servers, although not as an official verifier. He played Firework continuously, and he ended up with a precise no-clip run of 40% of the level,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nejWzmQfzB0</ref> 19% again (seven times soon after),<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cRTwx_g17s</ref> and 24%. Fortunately for xPixel, Dolphy dropped the level a month after reaching 15%, prompting Vernam to select xPixel as the official verifier because he was the only one making progress at the time. However, xPixel thought that this would be a bad idea, likely due to stress; therefore, he offered that Firework be verified by a German player named Kurumi (who achieved 84-100% on the public version of the level two months earlier<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwXN3PhHahk</ref>).

===Kurumi controversy===
Vernam officially passed the verification to Kurumi, per xPixel's recommendation. Unlike the previous verifiers, Kurumi made speedy progress on Firework, quickly setting new best runs that no other verifier had done before. Kurumi eventually achieved 68% on a super-buffed version of Firework, catching much of the community's attention.

Despite much of the community supporting Kurumi, his rapid advancement drew the attention of Russian players Bytema and Eiriley, who accused him of cheating.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUc0CZloRWY</ref> They both released videos seeking to expose him, causing the majority of the Russian community, including the creators of Firework, to turn against Kurumi. According to Vernam, Kurumi became increasingly rude and refused to speak to him as his popularity grew. Vernam further stated that he was informed that Kurumi was harassing him and the other Firework creators on his streams while he was not present.

These instances, combined with Kurumi's slower progression on Firework after he reached 68%, enraged Vernam, who mistreated Kurumi on Discord and became overly aggressive. Furthermore, Vernam constantly fat-shamed Kurumi, threatening to kick Kurumi out of verification if he did not 'go to the gym'. (Vernam later remarked in 2022 that he felt guilty about all this and that he 'just had all this crap built up in me from all the days of his rudeness, constant ghosting and insults' throughout the incident.) Kurumi informed the community about Vernam's behaviour via the YouTube community tab, prompting the majority of the English-speaking community to back Vernam and accuse him of threatening Kurumi. Kurumi was also overwhelmed because every time he posted something unrelated to the level, he received a barrage of comments begging him to play Firework. It eventually got to the point where he questioned if the community cared more about his mental health than Firework. As a result of the community overwhelming him and the mistreatment from Vernam, he dropped Firework and abandoned [[Geometry Dash]] entirely.

===End of verification===
Some believed that Firework would never be verified, since only Kurumi could make progress. It took a long time for someone to beat Kurumi's 68% record after he dropped the level. The next verifier was Sid125, an Argentine player. He achieved a record of 64-96%.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ7V_AQ5vbQ</ref> Regardless, he quickly dropped it due to unknown reasons. Vernam claimed in a YouTube video that he harassed Sid into quitting the game, but this has been proven false, as Sid beat Aronia shortly after dropping the level. Doli, a Belgian player, was the next verifier, who got a run of 84-100%. Soon after, he got three more good runs: 79-100%, 71-94%, and 65-82%.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ0ZOE7Hm-M</ref> However, he also dropped the level for unclear reasons. Vernam then discovered Trick, a previously unknown American player who had been getting strong runs on the public copy of the level just weeks before. He made Trick the official verifier after some consideration.

Trick made rapid progress with Firework, breaking Kurumi's previous record of 68% and several others set by other verifiers. He broke practically every prior verifier's record in two months, achieving 91%<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fAmY7DVRwM</ref> and a run of 24-100%<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK8ttV3XF4s</ref> in September 2021, as well as a no-clip accuracy run of 99.98%. He buffed the level more and more over time to ensure it was the most difficult level ever beaten, while he nerfed some timings to balance the level. On 29 October 2021, he got runs of 92%<ref>https://twitter.com/GmdTrick/status/1454227394395615232</ref> and 95%.<ref>https://twitter.com/GmdTrick/status/1454243803909525510</ref> He verified the level later that day,<ref>https://twitter.com/spadeuk/status/1454264491374428161</ref> following a 98% failure.<ref>https://twitter.com/spadeuk/status/1454255949271736324</ref> Trick's reputation as a player exploded as a result, and he is now regarded as one of the most skilled players in the game's history.