Hi Everyone,
As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been active in the SophieGTV channel comments recently, and as promised, I wanted provide an official update.
It’s true, LPS Popular is returning and episode 30 is currently in production!
Continuing the series is something that my family knows I’ve had on my mind for years. Because not only did I miss expressing myself creatively through storytelling, but I was also so touched that so many of you still reached out to me on this blog to ask about the series and whether I had plans to continue.
It was incredibly heartwarming to hear how many people still cared and expressed how much LPS Popular meant to them. Your kind words have meant so much to me, and I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and enthusiasm for the series, even after so many years had passed – I never expected it.
Because to be honest, I didn’t check on the SophieGTV YouTube channel for years as I found it too upsetting (the reasons for which I’ll get into below).
First, I wanted to explain why production for episode 30 has been progressing slower than expected. I also want to explain more about my absence. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll do my best to explain things as succinctly as possible.
So if you’re wondering what happened to SophieGTV and the real reasons why LPS Popular has been on hiatus, I will explain everything below.
As many of you already know, I have chronic pain due to a car accident that still affects my daily life. Recently I learned that my jaw and teeth have also been affected, and I was experiencing severe TMJ pain, headaches, eye pain, and neck pain. Surgery was suggested as an option but currently, I’m wearing Invisalign trays to fix my bite.
Unfortunately, I didn’t anticipate how much this would affect my speech. While I know this is a temporary part of the process, I’m now speaking with a lisp, even when I take out the trays. Overall it’s bad timing for voice acting, and I’ve had to re-record a lot of dialogue. (Of course, some people naturally speak with a lisp and that’s okay! But it’s ruined the continuity when everyone at Orange County Day has suddenly developed a lisp.)
Initially I had planned to have episode 30 out by late December 2025 (which I previously said in many comment responses). But because of the above issues, I’m behind schedule.
This has been causing me a lot of stress, because I’m excited about its release, but I also don’t want to sacrifice quality either. I want episode 30 to be worthwhile to all of you who have been so patient and supportive since my accident.
However, my family has been concerned that I was pushing myself too hard and too fast, because the accident caused a lot of issues that I didn’t have prior, and I’m sure anyone who has been in an accident understands the long term effects of a high impact crash even years later.
I haven’t talked about this in too much detail online, because I was going through a personal injury case which has since wrapped up. But even with my settlement (which doesn’t last forever), the cost of pain relief treatments and specialists (which aren’t covered by medical) has been expensive, and I can’t always afford to go as often as I would like. So I’ve had to work a lot slower than I did before my accident, and the long hours of filming and computer work that go into producing a full-length episode are a lot harder for me now with chronic pain.
All that said, please let me assure you that this is not a “maybe” or a “what if” or a “someday” – LPS Popular is coming back in 2026, episode 30 is happening, and I’m actively working on it every day.
However, I’m unable to estimate the release date right now, and I don’t want to announce another timeframe that I might not be able to uphold while navigating my treatment. But I will keep you updated along the way, without giving away too much.
Anyway, it’s been surreal to hear from so many of you who are now adults. I love that the series has grown up with its viewers, and I want to continue that trend and give you something that can (hopefully!) live up to the wait time.
That’s why I’m giving this my all and doing my best to up the production value. I’ve invested in new equipment and sets, and I’m also very thankful to have my family as my set design team, because I couldn’t do this all alone. They have been working for months building sets, hand-making props, and helping me on countless runs for supplies.
Finally, I also want to share a bit more about why I was gone for so long to clear up any misunderstandings or assumptions about my absence. Because while most of you understand I have been dealing with a personal struggle not published online, unfortunately, some people believed I didn’t want to continue or simply chose to abandon LPS Popular.
This was never the case, and leaving YouTube after my accident was not a happy decision. I was very dejected to not be able to continue something I had poured so much of my heart and soul into. I started my first channel 17 years ago when I was a child, and LPS Popular’s first episode was 15 years ago now, so YouTube has been an important part of my life.
Comments were also shut off on most of my videos for years, and to lose over a decade’s worth of comments was heartbreaking to say the least. So was not being able to participate in discussion with you, which is one of my favorite parts of uploading.
At the time, YouTube’s COPPA changes had also drastically reduced my income from my channel. Coupled with the fact that I was already struggling physically, this meant that making videos was not a viable full-time job option for me anymore. (Because while my channel started as a genuine love for storytelling as a kid, I’m sure most people understand why it had to become a business once I had bills to pay.)
I was also faced with the need to quickly adapt and find a new way to make money that allowed me to accommodate my pain. In the years since my hiatus, I started a new business with my mom (this blog) and most of my focus has gone towards building that new venture and trying my best to heal. My mom also has a severe headache disorder, and being self-employed allows her to work around her debilitating attacks, so it was a good fit for us both.
(This new business, as you might have noticed, focuses on DIY beauty, skincare and haircare, which suited me considering I have allergies and sensitive skin, and enjoy writing. I also cannot use many store-bought skincare products without a reaction, so formulating my own was something I was already doing, but I digress!)
To share something very personal with you, things were also made more difficult by a complex and very stressful family situation that put a lot of emotional and financial strain on our family. The situation also greatly impacted my mental health and led to me being diagnosed with C-PTSD. What happened is not something I can talk about publicly at the moment, but maybe one day I’ll share more or you’ll see some of my personal experiences expressed through LPS Popular.
So, I hope you can understand that even though I always wanted to finish my series, it didn’t feel possible when I was already dealing with so much. I always imagined continuing LPS Popular one day in the future, when I could handle it physically, my new business was more established, I was making enough money, and the timing was “right” – hoping each year would finally be the right time.
But as the years went by, I also kind of expected that people would probably forget about it.
That’s why I was very surprised when I ventured back into the community and came across all the LPS Popular TikToks, memes, fanart, cosplay, animations, YouTube video essays (my playlist here), a detailed viewer-made wiki (thanks to everyone who contributed!), and a subreddit (thank you to the moderator Macy Jo for creating the r/lpspopular community – and also for making me laugh with your hilarious Tumblr posts!).
I was blown away, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed. Your posts have brought me so much joy. It’s surreal to browse social media and see you talking so fondly about something I created as a teen.
I’d like to comment and express my appreciation on everything that I can! But I’m also trying to be mindful of time while keeping up with YouTube comments, my other business (this blog), and trying to dedicate most of my energy to working on episode 30 while also managing my pain level.
If I have missed a DM, tweet, or comment from you on any social media channels, I’m very sorry, and I likely either didn’t see it or wasn’t able to get to it yet. I try to respond to as many of you as I can, but I have to be strategic with my tech use so I don’t trigger a worse pain flare. Even text to speech still requires editing.
To tie this all together, the reason I’m back is not because I’ve healed or fully recovered, but because your support has motivated me to push through, along with the help of my family. Knowing just how many of you still cared was an unexpected blessing that has helped me more than you know.
In early 2025, I was already considering releasing the next episode of LPS Popular in the final quarter of the year if I felt I could handle it. It’s been a rough year with my jaw issues, but at that time I was working with a TMJ specialist and hoping to feel better by the end of the year. It’s still not perfect timing, but the perfect time may never come.
And sometimes, I think time away from a creative outlet also makes you realize just how much you need it. I’ve reached the point where if I’m going to be in pain anyway, I’d rather work on something I love at a slower pace than not do it at all.
Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your kind words, messages and comments over these last few months. As I have told many of you in my responses, I’m very fortunate to have such supportive viewers to come back to.
Above all, thank you all for watching my series and showing so much love for LPS Popular. The teenage girl making videos in her bedroom never would’ve imagined such a wonderful community would come out of it, and I’m so grateful for all of you.
I truly hope that I can repay you with an episode you’ll enjoy (with many more to come in season 3). At the very least, you can expect episode 30 to answer some of your questions, dig up the past, and finally expand upon my unfinished storylines. You’ll also meet some new characters on social media before the episode is live.
To quote some of you on Twitter… we are so back, and this is not a drill! If you have anything to add, I’d love to see you in the comments of my YouTube community post.
With love and gratitude,
Sophie 💗
💌 PS – I’m sure we’ve all noticed that social media platforms are changing, so I’m starting a SophieGTV email list to make sure we stay in touch. To get future LPS Popular updates from me, you can sign up for my email list below.
