Usually I try to start a story at the beginning and not peek at the most recent updates until I'm caught up. But @mypalsim1 was so very kind as to include summaries of her first two generations that I thought I'd try reading those and then generation 3, just so I'd have time to enjoy as much of the story as possible this week. I just finished the generation 2 summary, so I'm looking forward to reading onto 3's in-depth posts tomorrow! Once I have time to process, I'll try to contribute some questions for next week.
Book Clubbers! Hi! Wow! I love Chain Reaction, @mypalsim1 ! Thank you to whomever nominated it!
I had a super tough week last week, so I didn't get a chance to participate much here.
I also decided that I love this story so much, I'll read every chapter, rather than the summaries, so I probably won't be all caught up for Coffee Hour, but I'll gladly participate from where I'm at!
@simscognito Cog, I'll have some Coffee Hour questions to contribute! I'll probably just post them here and tag you--does that work OK for you? I can PM you if you prefer.
Wish me a more productive, less technically challenging week this week! I'm hoping for smooth sailing so I've got plenty of time and energy to join in with the Coffee Hour conversation!
Book Clubbers! Hi! Wow! I love Chain Reaction, @mypalsim1 ! Thank you to whomever nominated it!
I had a super tough week last week, so I didn't get a chance to participate much here.
I also decided that I love this story so much, I'll read every chapter, rather than the summaries, so I probably won't be all caught up for Coffee Hour, but I'll gladly participate from where I'm at!
@simscognito Cog, I'll have some Coffee Hour questions to contribute! I'll probably just post them here and tag you--does that work OK for you? I can PM you if you prefer.
Wish me a more productive, less technically challenging week this week! I'm hoping for smooth sailing so I've got plenty of time and energy to join in with the Coffee Hour conversation!
Of course you can post them here. I'm happy to do posts and pms.
I know right? I'm absolutely loving Chain Reaction! I too am reading the whole thing, hence I'm not caught up either, but it's a very captivating tale.
I'm hoping to write my response either today or tomorrow. It's been a bit hectic this week and I have lots to say about it. XD
Book Clubbers! Hi! Wow! I love Chain Reaction, @mypalsim1 ! Thank you to whomever nominated it!
I had a super tough week last week, so I didn't get a chance to participate much here.
I also decided that I love this story so much, I'll read every chapter, rather than the summaries, so I probably won't be all caught up for Coffee Hour, but I'll gladly participate from where I'm at!
@simscognito Cog, I'll have some Coffee Hour questions to contribute! I'll probably just post them here and tag you--does that work OK for you? I can PM you if you prefer.
Wish me a more productive, less technically challenging week this week! I'm hoping for smooth sailing so I've got plenty of time and energy to join in with the Coffee Hour conversation!
you love challenges you have like 15 stories. i hope things get smoother though. oh speaking of work you work tomorrow and i don't. lol.
she said i could tease her. i also need to catch up my reading but i need a light bulb.
So, as we are aware, this questions and answers week for Chain Reaction.
So, @mypalsim1 , what inspired you to write Chain Reaction?
I also always have to ask this question, how did you come up with the title?
And, how do you get such handsome looking sims? I'm thinking of Tommy! Such a cutie!
I haven't gotten that far, but so far, I'm loving it. I like the starting out take, and the underage part definitely has me curious how this is all going to get resolved. I wish I could read faster, but I'm trying to fit in a little here and there. I really do like Bri. She feels very real and young, much like she should. She strikes me as someone trying to figure out who she is, and I like those kinds of stories. @mypalsim1 isn't afraid to showcase her flaws. I love the inner voices too. So realistic. I like the story enough that I'm definitely going to read every chapter. I even updated my blogger account so I could comment.
@simscognito I'm glad you asked about the inspiration part because I was thinking the same. I always like to know origin stories. I'm also wondering... @mypalsim1did you use mods to continue the relationship in Gen 1? Are you more of a game-driven storyteller or a plot-driven storyteller? I'm curious about how two certain someones got together and whether it was autonomous or with a little help from the Watcher.
So, as we are aware, this questions and answers week for Chain Reaction.
So, @mypalsim1 , what inspired you to write Chain Reaction?
I also always have to ask this question, how did you come up with the title?
And, how do you get such handsome looking sims? I'm thinking of Tommy! Such a cutie!
Anyway, that's enough questions from me. XD
I don't know if anything "inspired" me to write CR. It just sort of happened. I know I've wanted to do the runaway thing before. I've also wanted to do the slightly-taboo age difference thing before, so they just combined, especially when I happened to see Graham wandering around in the neighborhood. He was actually in the mature adult stage, but I changed that in CAS to suit my own purposes.
It's hard for me to play and not write about it, creating a play-first-write-later scenario, which I don't always follow but this one is that way more often than not.
The title: I don't like naming legacies after a last name because that could change. I think it's limiting, and since this is a no-rules legacy, I didn't want anything to limit me. I just wanted to tell the story of generations of sims. Then, in my mind, I saw the generations lined up, doing a kind of vanishing-point doodah like in art class. They reminded me of links in a chain. Boom! Got a title. Plus, everything we do affects something else down the line, either for us or someone else, hence the slogan. I love the title, having it be one of my favorites of my stories--Cutest Lil' Jazz Singer being one of them too.
I'm glad you like the look of my sims. I don't work as hard as some at it, so I worry they're a little blah. Mostly, I watch for attractive townies. Occasionally, I'll look in the gallery to at least get a base starter, taking someone else's sim and making alterations. That's happened for a few background characters. Tommy's father (Brendan or however it's spelled) is an unchanged townie (well, I fixed the hideous outfits from his age-ups), and his mom (Kelsie) is actually the daughter of my sim-self and a random choice from the gallery. For a few minutes, I considered Kelsie as being my 2nd gen's spouse. Talk about weird! ("Yeah, our parents almost dated. Let's date.") I'm planning on using Tommy as a family tree breeder if nothing else.
I haven't gotten that far, but so far, I'm loving it. I like the starting out take, and the underage part definitely has me curious how this is all going to get resolved. I wish I could read faster, but I'm trying to fit in a little here and there. I really do like Bri. She feels very real and young, much like she should. She strikes me as someone trying to figure out who she is, and I like those kinds of stories. @mypalsim1 isn't afraid to showcase her flaws. I love the inner voices too. So realistic. I like the story enough that I'm definitely going to read every chapter. I even updated my blogger account so I could comment.
@simscognito I'm glad you asked about the inspiration part because I was thinking the same. I always like to know origin stories. I'm also wondering... @mypalsim1did you use mods to continue the relationship in Gen 1? Are you more of a game-driven storyteller or a plot-driven storyteller? I'm curious about how two certain someones got together and whether it was autonomous or with a little help from the Watcher.
I'm glad you're loving it! The underage part was a stroke of daring for me. There was a sims 3 story that had a student fall for her guidance counselor that I really liked because it was just so wrong. I didn't quite take it that far, but it's close.
Flaws: Do you mean character flaws or my writing flaws? I'll go ahead and address both. Characters are boring without flaws. There's only so much happy/goey/mushy/lovely-wuvvikins that I can take without wanting to scream or puke, and I consider myself a romance novelist! (I have a pen name that I won't say because the only thing I have on the virtual shelves is a book that I can no longer stand yet won't take off the virtual shelves because it's still a completed project after all.) As for not being afraid of my writing flaws: I know I'm not perfect and have plenty of work left to do. My worst thing, I would say, is totally abandoning a plot point because I'm no longer feeling it. That's gotten out of control by gen 3, and it's why the chapters are coming out slower than they used to. I have to fix it by adding a few chapters, and I just don't have time with my current class schedule and intense workload. (Like right now I have a mountain of Spanish homework not to even mention prepping for my film class tonight)
The inner voices is a direct correlation to me, sad to say. Mine is awful, so it's easy to write a mean inner voice.
You're Lizzy? I'm replying to the comments whenever possible.
Yes, I did use mods to have the relationship work like it did for gen 1. Boy, it was hard to get good kissing pics! I wasn't using any poses until well into gen 2, so I had to work with what the game gave me.
This legacy is mostly game-driven with heavy story-driven goals. I find that works better for me because matching pictures to something already written can be aggravating and more time-consuming, even as a pose maker. The goal is not to aggravate myself. Sometimes there are very specific things I have in mind for what I want to happen next, so I either find or (more often because it's faster for me) make the pose myself. Then, after seeing the pose in action and surrounded by the particular backdrop, the words and the details fly into my head.
As for those two getting together: totally planned. :P hehe
Uh, wow. I didn't know this post would be this long when I started typing it. But, as we all know, "get a writer talking about his/her story and the writer will never shut up about it." Plus, I'm procrastinating the aforementioned homework.
So, as we are aware, this questions and answers week for Chain Reaction.
So, @mypalsim1 , what inspired you to write Chain Reaction?
I also always have to ask this question, how did you come up with the title?
And, how do you get such handsome looking sims? I'm thinking of Tommy! Such a cutie!
Anyway, that's enough questions from me. XD
I don't know if anything "inspired" me to write CR. It just sort of happened. I know I've wanted to do the runaway thing before. I've also wanted to do the slightly-taboo age difference thing before, so they just combined, especially when I happened to see Graham wandering around in the neighborhood. He was actually in the mature adult stage, but I changed that in CAS to suit my own purposes.
It's hard for me to play and not write about it, creating a play-first-write-later scenario, which I don't always follow but this one is that way more often than not.
The title: I don't like naming legacies after a last name because that could change. I think it's limiting, and since this is a no-rules legacy, I didn't want anything to limit me. I just wanted to tell the story of generations of sims. Then, in my mind, I saw the generations lined up, doing a kind of vanishing-point doodah like in art class. They reminded me of links in a chain. Boom! Got a title. Plus, everything we do affects something else down the line, either for us or someone else, hence the slogan. I love the title, having it be one of my favorites of my stories--Cutest Lil' Jazz Singer being one of them too.
I'm glad you like the look of my sims. I don't work as hard as some at it, so I worry they're a little blah. Mostly, I watch for attractive townies. Occasionally, I'll look in the gallery to at least get a base starter, taking someone else's sim and making alterations. That's happened for a few background characters. Tommy's father (Brendan or however it's spelled) is an unchanged townie (well, I fixed the hideous outfits from his age-ups), and his mom (Kelsie) is actually the daughter of my sim-self and a random choice from the gallery. For a few minutes, I considered Kelsie as being my 2nd gen's spouse. Talk about weird! ("Yeah, our parents almost dated. Let's date.") I'm planning on using Tommy as a family tree breeder if nothing else.
I haven't gotten that far, but so far, I'm loving it. I like the starting out take, and the underage part definitely has me curious how this is all going to get resolved. I wish I could read faster, but I'm trying to fit in a little here and there. I really do like Bri. She feels very real and young, much like she should. She strikes me as someone trying to figure out who she is, and I like those kinds of stories. @mypalsim1 isn't afraid to showcase her flaws. I love the inner voices too. So realistic. I like the story enough that I'm definitely going to read every chapter. I even updated my blogger account so I could comment.
@simscognito I'm glad you asked about the inspiration part because I was thinking the same. I always like to know origin stories. I'm also wondering... @mypalsim1did you use mods to continue the relationship in Gen 1? Are you more of a game-driven storyteller or a plot-driven storyteller? I'm curious about how two certain someones got together and whether it was autonomous or with a little help from the Watcher.
I'm glad you're loving it! The underage part was a stroke of daring for me. There was a sims 3 story that had a student fall for her guidance counselor that I really liked because it was just so wrong. I didn't quite take it that far, but it's close.
Flaws: Do you mean character flaws or my writing flaws? I'll go ahead and address both. Characters are boring without flaws. There's only so much happy/goey/mushy/lovely-wuvvikins that I can take without wanting to scream or puke, and I consider myself a romance novelist! (I have a pen name that I won't say because the only thing I have on the virtual shelves is a book that I can no longer stand yet won't take off the virtual shelves because it's still a completed project after all.) As for not being afraid of my writing flaws: I know I'm not perfect and have plenty of work left to do. My worst thing, I would say, is totally abandoning a plot point because I'm no longer feeling it. That's gotten out of control by gen 3, and it's why the chapters are coming out slower than they used to. I have to fix it by adding a few chapters, and I just don't have time with my current class schedule and intense workload. (Like right now I have a mountain of Spanish homework not to even mention prepping for my film class tonight)
The inner voices is a direct correlation to me, sad to say. Mine is awful, so it's easy to write a mean inner voice.
You're Lizzy? I'm replying to the comments whenever possible.
Yes, I did use mods to have the relationship work like it did for gen 1. Boy, it was hard to get good kissing pics! I wasn't using any poses until well into gen 2, so I had to work with what the game gave me.
This legacy is mostly game-driven with heavy story-driven goals. I find that works better for me because matching pictures to something already written can be aggravating and more time-consuming, even as a pose maker. The goal is not to aggravate myself. Sometimes there are very specific things I have in mind for what I want to happen next, so I either find or (more often because it's faster for me) make the pose myself. Then, after seeing the pose in action and surrounded by the particular backdrop, the words and the details fly into my head.
As for those two getting together: totally planned. :P hehe
Uh, wow. I didn't know this post would be this long when I started typing it. But, as we all know, "get a writer talking about his/her story and the writer will never shut up about it." Plus, I'm procrastinating the aforementioned homework.
@mypalsim1 Yes I'm Lizzie over in the comments. It's the name I go by online if I give a real-ish name. Everywhere but the forums I go by livinasimminlife because I can't change my forums name, another variation of my name. And no it's not Eve Adams. I've had people ask. It's mostly cuz my husband once called me his "Eve" since I didn't like soulmate. It kinda stuck. Then I meant 1234 to be random but somehow the last number got changed to 1. 12/31 is my anniversary so it's almost like fate. Ha! Way more than anyone wants to know.
Aww... I was speaking about Bri's flaws, not yours, but thanks for being open. I agree. Characters without flaws are boring, and don't feel real. I think you're brave to tackle the underage thing and you pull it off brilliantly. I hear ya on abandoning plot points. I've experienced that myself. That's cool you make poses. I'm way too lazy to attempt something like that. Ha! I use premade stuff and tweak it if I have to as often as I can. Actually, that leads me to another question: What motivates you to keep writing?
Since my initial post, I did indeed finish reading the generation summaries and then caught up on gen 3. And I enjoyed it so much that I'm working my way back through the earlier generations from the beginning. So, sort of a wonky reading order on my part. But I find it really striking how much your title choice became sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's awesome how so many life decisions keep weaving through later events. Very cool!
As more of a gameplay-driven storyteller myself, I catch myself assuming things will go a certain way. And then they don't. Do you find that happening to you? I know you mentioned a certain pre-made who insisted on inserting himself into Bri's life. Are there any other major plot points that turned out differently than you initially expected they would? Do you find that exciting or frustrating? (Or maybe a combination of both?)
I'm loving this story very much! So much, that I find I can't binge it! I've got to give myself a little time between chapters to think about all that's happened. I'm still on Gen 1--and gosh! Not even that far into it! Maybe a third of the way? So I guess most of my questions and responses will be gen 1 related!
@mypalsim1 - You write so much! As someone else who also has a lot of stories going on at once, I'd love to hear more about how you balance all the stories. How do you decide which to work on? How much time are you thinking about them when you're going about your life? You also seem like someone who has a lot of other intellectual and creative activities--and it seems like you've got a busy life! How do you fit your Simming and Sim-related writing into your full and active life?
Question for readers: Do you find yourself, like me, thinking about this story a lot after reading it? If so, what do you think about?
(For me, I tend to be replaying the scenarios in my mind as well as thinking about future possibilities for the narrator...)
Disclaimer: I'm in a bit of an exhausted mood right now. I'm tempted to edit the heck outta this reply, but I won't because real is good and fake is bad.
@mypalsim1 Yes I'm Lizzie over in the comments. It's the name I go by online if I give a real-ish name. Everywhere but the forums I go by livinasimminlife because I can't change my forums name, another variation of my name. And no it's not Eve Adams. I've had people ask. It's mostly cuz my husband once called me his "Eve" since I didn't like soulmate. It kinda stuck. Then I meant 1234 to be random but somehow the last number got changed to 1. 12/31 is my anniversary so it's almost like fate. Ha! Way more than anyone wants to know.
Aww... I was speaking about Bri's flaws, not yours, but thanks for being open. I agree. Characters without flaws are boring, and don't feel real. I think you're brave to tackle the underage thing and you pull it off brilliantly. I hear ya on abandoning plot points. I've experienced that myself. That's cool you make poses. I'm way too lazy to attempt something like that. Ha! I use premade stuff and tweak it if I have to as often as I can. Actually, that leads me to another question: What motivates you to keep writing?
Good luck on your Spanish homework.
What motivates me? Hm... Well, first and foremost: the love of doing it. I always say I write for myself and if anyone else wants to read it, that's great. But I will say that a close second IS if someone else is reading it. I mean, why else publish it if not to get it out there to be read? I have plenty of stories that don't get read by others (that I know about), and they don't get as much attention as do the ones that get feedback. Sure, I still do them--but with less frequent updates. It's lonely feeling like I'm the only one who cares, and this reading group is a real boost to moral.
Also, writing is my release. It's my escape. I would sooner write than watch TV or do pretty much anything else. Being stuck with all this schoolwork is killing me in a sense, but I also get to express some creativity through my movie production classes. I did a short doodah on an apple. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a medium shot and an extreme close up to look different when your subject is a piece of fruit? Bad decision on my part, but I digress.
Thanks. I only just finished it with an hour and a half to spare before I have to leave, so if I seem a little short, that's why. It's the most advanced one offered at the university, and I'm only about 55% fluent. It's very frustrating.
On the subject of poses: I find it very difficult to tweak poses in Sims 4. It was so much easier in 3 when you could just move the sim in the moveobjects cheat. 4 requires extra planning and setup and the risk that they could all reset if you do too much. As for making them, I haven't in almost a year, trying to work with what I already have or just use game animations.
Since my initial post, I did indeed finish reading the generation summaries and then caught up on gen 3. And I enjoyed it so much that I'm working my way back through the earlier generations from the beginning. So, sort of a wonky reading order on my part. But I find it really striking how much your title choice became sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's awesome how so many life decisions keep weaving through later events. Very cool!
As more of a gameplay-driven storyteller myself, I catch myself assuming things will go a certain way. And then they don't. Do you find that happening to you? I know you mentioned a certain pre-made who insisted on inserting himself into Bri's life. Are there any other major plot points that turned out differently than you initially expected they would? Do you find that exciting or frustrating? (Or maybe a combination of both?)
Awesome story! Thanks for sharing it.
I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I had fun with the summaries, showing a bit of my more facetious side. I need to do the first one for gen 3, but, well, time...
I too like how my title choice has really worked for me. I love it when stuff like that happens, and I feel like I can't take 100% of the credit for it. Ever feel like inspiration comes from outside? Now that I've said that, it doesn't sound as weird. Maybe it does. But sometimes my ideas don't feel like they came from me. Yes, that does sound weird, lol! Probably a subconscious result of life experience. Who knows. That's my longwinded way of saying thanks.
IKR! I have these big plans and the sims don't cooperate! But then, I wind up liking more what they did than what I planned. That, or I growl at them and pull out some poses.
Oh boy. Alex Goth. NOT PLANNED. It was all supposed to be about Grayson (boy next door, not to be confused with Graham). But Alex started fitting much better with the personality that I gave him. He has all but hijacked this story after me wanting to delete the pre-mades so that I could be more unique. /sigh.
I'm trying to think of other plot points that might have turned out differently, and I have the strangest sense of deja vu. Something about Ethan's teen birthday party flashing into my mind, but I can't make sense as to why. Hm. Interesting.
I guess I could say that I preferred if Emily look more like Bri, but if you haven't gotten there, I won't say why.
I'm loving this story very much! So much, that I find I can't binge it! I've got to give myself a little time between chapters to think about all that's happened. I'm still on Gen 1--and gosh! Not even that far into it! Maybe a third of the way? So I guess most of my questions and responses will be gen 1 related!
@mypalsim1 - You write so much! As someone else who also has a lot of stories going on at once, I'd love to hear more about how you balance all the stories. How do you decide which to work on? How much time are you thinking about them when you're going about your life? You also seem like someone who has a lot of other intellectual and creative activities--and it seems like you've got a busy life! How do you fit your Simming and Sim-related writing into your full and active life?
Question for readers: Do you find yourself, like me, thinking about this story a lot after reading it? If so, what do you think about?
(For me, I tend to be replaying the scenarios in my mind as well as thinking about future possibilities for the narrator...)
Honestly, I don't think I "balance" the stories. I write the one I'm "hearing" the most in my head. Does that make sense? I'm real bad about abandoning a story to work on another one for a while. No fear with that for CR, though, at least for a while, because I have at least 10 chapters sitting and waiting (I just have to fix that plot point!).
As for fitting simming into my life, I do it when I can. I was just about to say that I hope to get in some this coming up weekend, but then I remembered I have a cinematography assignment where I'm going to someone's house and probably working on it all day. Yeesh. I'm still working on the stuff played/shot over the holiday break, when I played and wrote almost sunup to dinner time. School is really tough this year. They say 3 hours in the classroom equals 6 hours of homework, and that is more than true this semester. I need to find time to write before I explode. Sum it up: It's hard and almost impossible this spring.
I will say this, though: It's so funny showing my fellow film majors my sims writing. They see it and go, "Oh! You're storyboarding."
Uh, well, yeah, but that's it. Just pictures and writing to go with them.
Then that makes me think how since I can do poses means I can also create animations means I could also do movies. Something more complicated: just what I need! /facepalm
I'm loving this story very much! So much, that I find I can't binge it! I've got to give myself a little time between chapters to think about all that's happened. I'm still on Gen 1--and gosh! Not even that far into it! Maybe a third of the way? So I guess most of my questions and responses will be gen 1 related!
@mypalsim1 - You write so much! As someone else who also has a lot of stories going on at once, I'd love to hear more about how you balance all the stories. How do you decide which to work on? How much time are you thinking about them when you're going about your life? You also seem like someone who has a lot of other intellectual and creative activities--and it seems like you've got a busy life! How do you fit your Simming and Sim-related writing into your full and active life?
Question for readers: Do you find yourself, like me, thinking about this story a lot after reading it? If so, what do you think about?
(For me, I tend to be replaying the scenarios in my mind as well as thinking about future possibilities for the narrator...)
Hi, sorry, I hadn't responded to this earlier. Yes, I do. The characters are very real and the writing style is very fast paced. It actually feels like I'm watching a tv series, in some way.
What do you guys think?
I also love the humour. Particularly the humour regarding the quirks that the game gives us
such as the wedding where everyone refuses to sit down
Another thing I like is the character interaction. You write children dialogue really well. One of my favourite scenes is in gen 2
when Drake asks Emily to help her on his report.
I love the play on words with
photo-synthesis
XD
Question for Readers: What are some of your favourite moments when reading Chain Reaction?
And a question for the author: What has been your favourite chapter so far?
I have to admit I also read only the summaries for gen 1 + 2, and only managed to start reading the 3rd generation so far.
@mypalsim1 You sure have a lot of drama going on, I like it! And I really love your writing style, and how you incorporate the sims game mechanics like the confetti when they're pregnant into the story! It's hilarious, I keep laughing all the time while reading! I also have to admit that I really like that you have very little text, but many screenshots. I'm quite a lazy reader, haha.
My question for you: You said you write mostly game-driven, but have still have some main story goals. Do you plan the complete rough of the generation first from start to end, or do you just go with whatever idea you get while playing? I'm really curious! I just ended up rewriting my whole plot because I had an idea which I absolutely needed to write down, but it changed the whole story, haha. So I want to know if other do that, too!
I'll definitely keep up reading, as I love your style!
Hi, everyone. I just wanted to pop in and say that I'm not ignoring you. I was in a car wreck Thursday and have been on pain killers and muscle relaxers since, and I can't think. I'm hoping today is my last day I'll need the meds. My car, I think, is destroyed, but I only have some nasty bruises and whiplash. If I talk any more about it, I'll get agitated because there are unresolved details.
I'll get back to the questions tomorrow, hopefully. God bless and be safe.
Oh no, @mypalsim1. I'm glad you're ok. I was in a nasty wreck 3 years ago and totaled my car so I know how you feel. *hugs* Take care of yourself. We'll be here whenever you're ready.
@mypalsim1 I'm glad you're okay. I hope everything gets resolved.
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
(Note: this was sitting in my drafts since last night before I heard about the car crash. Hang in there!)
Lol I read through everything but it took me weeks (and I started before your book club weeks!) I guess this will answer if I like it and if I have thoughts.
Generally, @mypalsim1: great job! I'm not just saying it because I like age-gap ships and you delivered on that front. Pulling up comparisons to other authors might seem to undermine the point of Book Club, but whatever! I felt @AdamsEve1231 with her many stories about Kassiopeia Fullbright meets @Maladi777's Heffners (specifically parts of Beryl's generation...I get that you're friends and that everyone and their dog uses Meatball for minor roles, but still). I felt comforted and nostalgic with a style that's clearly game-driven to a pretty far extent, especially at first and with how the screenshots are grabbed, but that doesn't shy from heavy material and still having a strong plot made from it. Especially when the plot thickens and improves both as the story goes on and as the writer gets more comfortable with it. It's a perfectly great, likeable style and progression that can get easily overshadowed by other stories that are more plot-heavy and staged (and I say that as being fully in that genre).
Plus the fun part is connecting the threads all together so the "chain reaction" title continues to make sense. I've kind of gotten burnt out on tales about the Goths and Landgraabs but the connections Alex and Malcolm had to everything gave it a unique spin. I've never really seen a look at the business side of them, which is surprising since they're so rich and it must be for a reason. (Also I can pull out my @AdamsEve1231 comparison again because her La Vita Bella is my other Goth exception for putting a supernatural spin on the ~Bella Goth mystery~) Everything falls in place really well in the plot.
My only question that'll possibly sound too blunt and contrarian was about the choice to include sporadic game-aware elements in an otherwise serious story. I guess I do disagree with some readers here because any mention of The Maker's deliberate doings (using her as a stand-in for God in dialogue didn't bug me at all though) or game mechanics didn't amuse me or add to the story. It clashed with an otherwise intricate plot and narrative, and I found myself more immersed in chunks of chapters that didn't invoke those at all. But then again, I kept reading and sometimes a dozen or more chapters a day, so no harm done.
@Arrowleaf Hi! You are the Book Club featured writer this week, during Tasty Read!
What this means is that you choose a relatively short selection of your writing (ideally, something that can be read in a single sitting), and then we talk about it this week! You can ask questions of the readers, and we'll ask questions of you.
What selection of yours would you like us to read?
Looking forward to talking with you about your writing!
I also love the humour. Particularly the humour regarding the quirks that the game gives us
such as the wedding where everyone refuses to sit down
Another thing I like is the character interaction. You write children dialogue really well. One of my favourite scenes is in gen 2
when Drake asks Emily to help her on his report.
I love the play on words with
photo-synthesis
XD
Question for Readers: What are some of your favourite moments when reading Chain Reaction?
And a question for the author: What has been your favourite chapter so far?
Lol!
They hardly ever sit down for me. Maybe this has been fixed in a patch... It's been a little while since a wedding. :X
Hehe. I was trying to think of a childish way to say a big word, and I thought that Drake might've heard the word 'synthetic' before and inserted it into the bigger word, 'photosyntheticsis.'
I don't know if I could pick a favorite chapter. I like 1.3 because that's when the story really gets moving.
I like the one when Alex finally kisses Emily. Another favorite of mine is the one just after Charlotte ages to teen and Jarvis is going ga-ga.
@mypalsim1 Today I saw someone who looked like Graham. Haha. I almost took a picture but I didn't want to be creepy.
That's not hard to believe. I think Graham is actually probably easy to create--since the game made him. He probably has a bunch of presets put together in a nice way. You should've taken a pic! If you think about it, post it on my forum thread (link in the chapters tab at the top of the blog page).
Oh no, @mypalsim1. I'm glad you're ok. I was in a nasty wreck 3 years ago and totaled my car so I know how you feel. *hugs* Take care of yourself. We'll be here whenever you're ready.
Thanks. I've been in worse, but there's never a good one. I'm just glad I can start getting back to normal. (and glad my professors have been understanding)
@mypalsim1 I'm glad you're okay. I hope you're taking it easy and feel better soon.
Thanks. Been taking it easy (which is why this has taken forever and no new chapters released). I feel mostly better now. Neck twinges every once in a while, but it's really not bad.
(Note: this was sitting in my drafts since last night before I heard about the car crash. Hang in there!)
Lol I read through everything but it took me weeks (and I started before your book club weeks!) I guess this will answer if I like it and if I have thoughts.
Generally, @mypalsim1: great job! I'm not just saying it because I like age-gap ships and you delivered on that front. Pulling up comparisons to other authors might seem to undermine the point of Book Club, but whatever! I felt @AdamsEve1231 with her many stories about Kassiopeia Fullbright meets @Maladi777's Heffners (specifically parts of Beryl's generation...I get that you're friends and that everyone and their dog uses Meatball for minor roles, but still). I felt comforted and nostalgic with a style that's clearly game-driven to a pretty far extent, especially at first and with how the screenshots are grabbed, but that doesn't shy from heavy material and still having a strong plot made from it. Especially when the plot thickens and improves both as the story goes on and as the writer gets more comfortable with it. It's a perfectly great, likeable style and progression that can get easily overshadowed by other stories that are more plot-heavy and staged (and I say that as being fully in that genre).
Plus the fun part is connecting the threads all together so the "chain reaction" title continues to make sense. I've kind of gotten burnt out on tales about the Goths and Landgraabs but the connections Alex and Malcolm had to everything gave it a unique spin. I've never really seen a look at the business side of them, which is surprising since they're so rich and it must be for a reason. (Also I can pull out my @AdamsEve1231 comparison again because her La Vita Bella is my other Goth exception for putting a supernatural spin on the ~Bella Goth mystery~) Everything falls in place really well in the plot.
My only question that'll possibly sound too blunt and contrarian was about the choice to include sporadic game-aware elements in an otherwise serious story. I guess I do disagree with some readers here because any mention of The Maker's deliberate doings (using her as a stand-in for God in dialogue didn't bug me at all though) or game mechanics didn't amuse me or add to the story. It clashed with an otherwise intricate plot and narrative, and I found myself more immersed in chunks of chapters that didn't invoke those at all. But then again, I kept reading and sometimes a dozen or more chapters a day, so no harm done.
Thanks!
I've been wanting to do an age-gap thing for a while, and the teen/adult thing is a tricky path to tread. (LOL about Meatball. I couldn't resist.) My screenies are getting a little better now what with all this cinematography, etc classes I'm taking. Pictures have never been more important than the writing, though (not saying you say that; that's just my excuse).
Ugh! The Goths and Landgraabs. That's what I get for making an exception when starting up the neighborhood(s), lol. I'm glad your burnout didn't scare you away.
You're not the first person to mention the whole 'Maker' thing feeling out of place. I do understand that. I think I still put it in to remind myself that this is for recreation, making light of everything before it gets too serious. Plus, there are some things that would bug me continuity-wise, so I use that as my safety net/handicap explanation. (like where does the object go when they 'put it away'? maybe I don't wanna know)
Everyone: Thank you all SO MUCH for taking the time to read my favorite toy. I really do enjoy it very much and will probably keep at it as long as I possibly can (18 years of sim storytelling and counting!). I hope you find the time to come back by and catch up. Feel free to comment on whatever you like OR don't like (how can I fix something if it's not brought to my attention?) on either the blog itself or in my forum thread.
Comments
Love this book club setup, btw. What a cool idea!
I had a super tough week last week, so I didn't get a chance to participate much here.
I also decided that I love this story so much, I'll read every chapter, rather than the summaries, so I probably won't be all caught up for Coffee Hour, but I'll gladly participate from where I'm at!
@simscognito Cog, I'll have some Coffee Hour questions to contribute! I'll probably just post them here and tag you--does that work OK for you? I can PM you if you prefer.
Wish me a more productive, less technically challenging week this week! I'm hoping for smooth sailing so I've got plenty of time and energy to join in with the Coffee Hour conversation!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Of course you can post them here. I'm happy to do posts and pms.
I know right? I'm absolutely loving Chain Reaction! I too am reading the whole thing, hence I'm not caught up either, but it's a very captivating tale.
I'm hoping to write my response either today or tomorrow. It's been a bit hectic this week and I have lots to say about it. XD
you love challenges you have like 15 stories. i hope things get smoother though. oh speaking of work you work tomorrow and i don't. lol.
she said i could tease her. i also need to catch up my reading but i need a light bulb.
So, @mypalsim1 , what inspired you to write Chain Reaction?
I also always have to ask this question, how did you come up with the title?
And, how do you get such handsome looking sims? I'm thinking of Tommy! Such a cutie!
Anyway, that's enough questions from me. XD
I haven't gotten that far, but so far, I'm loving it. I like the starting out take, and the underage part definitely has me curious how this is all going to get resolved. I wish I could read faster, but I'm trying to fit in a little here and there. I really do like Bri. She feels very real and young, much like she should. She strikes me as someone trying to figure out who she is, and I like those kinds of stories. @mypalsim1 isn't afraid to showcase her flaws. I love the inner voices too. So realistic. I like the story enough that I'm definitely going to read every chapter. I even updated my blogger account so I could comment.
@simscognito I'm glad you asked about the inspiration part because I was thinking the same. I always like to know origin stories. I'm also wondering... @mypalsim1 did you use mods to continue the relationship in Gen 1? Are you more of a game-driven storyteller or a plot-driven storyteller? I'm curious about how two certain someones got together and whether it was autonomous or with a little help from the Watcher.
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I don't know if anything "inspired" me to write CR. It just sort of happened. I know I've wanted to do the runaway thing before. I've also wanted to do the slightly-taboo age difference thing before, so they just combined, especially when I happened to see Graham wandering around in the neighborhood. He was actually in the mature adult stage, but I changed that in CAS to suit my own purposes.
It's hard for me to play and not write about it, creating a play-first-write-later scenario, which I don't always follow but this one is that way more often than not.
The title: I don't like naming legacies after a last name because that could change. I think it's limiting, and since this is a no-rules legacy, I didn't want anything to limit me. I just wanted to tell the story of generations of sims. Then, in my mind, I saw the generations lined up, doing a kind of vanishing-point doodah like in art class. They reminded me of links in a chain. Boom! Got a title. Plus, everything we do affects something else down the line, either for us or someone else, hence the slogan. I love the title, having it be one of my favorites of my stories--Cutest Lil' Jazz Singer being one of them too.
I'm glad you like the look of my sims. I don't work as hard as some at it, so I worry they're a little blah. Mostly, I watch for attractive townies. Occasionally, I'll look in the gallery to at least get a base starter, taking someone else's sim and making alterations. That's happened for a few background characters. Tommy's father (Brendan or however it's spelled) is an unchanged townie (well, I fixed the hideous outfits from his age-ups), and his mom (Kelsie) is actually the daughter of my sim-self and a random choice from the gallery. For a few minutes, I considered Kelsie as being my 2nd gen's spouse. Talk about weird! ("Yeah, our parents almost dated. Let's date.") I'm planning on using Tommy as a family tree breeder if nothing else.
I'm glad you're loving it!
Flaws: Do you mean character flaws or my writing flaws? I'll go ahead and address both. Characters are boring without flaws. There's only so much happy/goey/mushy/lovely-wuvvikins that I can take without wanting to scream or puke, and I consider myself a romance novelist! (I have a pen name that I won't say because the only thing I have on the virtual shelves is a book that I can no longer stand yet won't take off the virtual shelves because it's still a completed project after all.) As for not being afraid of my writing flaws: I know I'm not perfect and have plenty of work left to do. My worst thing, I would say, is totally abandoning a plot point because I'm no longer feeling it. That's gotten out of control by gen 3, and it's why the chapters are coming out slower than they used to. I have to fix it by adding a few chapters, and I just don't have time with my current class schedule and intense workload. (Like right now I have a mountain of Spanish homework not to even mention prepping for my film class tonight)
The inner voices is a direct correlation to me, sad to say. Mine is awful, so it's easy to write a mean inner voice.
You're Lizzy? I'm replying to the comments whenever possible.
Yes, I did use mods to have the relationship work like it did for gen 1. Boy, it was hard to get good kissing pics! I wasn't using any poses until well into gen 2, so I had to work with what the game gave me.
This legacy is mostly game-driven with heavy story-driven goals. I find that works better for me because matching pictures to something already written can be aggravating and more time-consuming, even as a pose maker. The goal is not to aggravate myself. Sometimes there are very specific things I have in mind for what I want to happen next, so I either find or (more often because it's faster for me) make the pose myself. Then, after seeing the pose in action and surrounded by the particular backdrop, the words and the details fly into my head.
As for those two getting together: totally planned. :P hehe
Uh, wow. I didn't know this post would be this long when I started typing it. But, as we all know, "get a writer talking about his/her story and the writer will never shut up about it." Plus, I'm procrastinating the aforementioned homework.
Chain Reaction Legacy|After the End|Alicekai'd
@mypalsim1 Yes I'm Lizzie over in the comments. It's the name I go by online if I give a real-ish name. Everywhere but the forums I go by livinasimminlife because I can't change my forums name, another variation of my name. And no it's not Eve Adams.
Aww... I was speaking about Bri's flaws, not yours, but thanks for being open. I agree. Characters without flaws are boring, and don't feel real. I think you're brave to tackle the underage thing and you pull it off brilliantly. I hear ya on abandoning plot points. I've experienced that myself. That's cool you make poses. I'm way too lazy to attempt something like that. Ha! I use premade stuff and tweak it if I have to as often as I can. Actually, that leads me to another question: What motivates you to keep writing?
Good luck on your Spanish homework.
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
As more of a gameplay-driven storyteller myself, I catch myself assuming things will go a certain way. And then they don't. Do you find that happening to you? I know you mentioned a certain pre-made who insisted on inserting himself into Bri's life. Are there any other major plot points that turned out differently than you initially expected they would? Do you find that exciting or frustrating? (Or maybe a combination of both?)
Awesome story! Thanks for sharing it.
@mypalsim1 - You write so much! As someone else who also has a lot of stories going on at once, I'd love to hear more about how you balance all the stories. How do you decide which to work on? How much time are you thinking about them when you're going about your life? You also seem like someone who has a lot of other intellectual and creative activities--and it seems like you've got a busy life! How do you fit your Simming and Sim-related writing into your full and active life?
Question for readers: Do you find yourself, like me, thinking about this story a lot after reading it? If so, what do you think about?
(For me, I tend to be replaying the scenarios in my mind as well as thinking about future possibilities for the narrator...)
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
What motivates me? Hm... Well, first and foremost: the love of doing it. I always say I write for myself and if anyone else wants to read it, that's great. But I will say that a close second IS if someone else is reading it. I mean, why else publish it if not to get it out there to be read? I have plenty of stories that don't get read by others (that I know about), and they don't get as much attention as do the ones that get feedback. Sure, I still do them--but with less frequent updates. It's lonely feeling like I'm the only one who cares, and this reading group is a real boost to moral.
Also, writing is my release. It's my escape. I would sooner write than watch TV or do pretty much anything else. Being stuck with all this schoolwork is killing me in a sense, but I also get to express some creativity through my movie production classes. I did a short doodah on an apple. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a medium shot and an extreme close up to look different when your subject is a piece of fruit? Bad decision on my part, but I digress.
Thanks. I only just finished it with an hour and a half to spare before I have to leave, so if I seem a little short, that's why. It's the most advanced one offered at the university, and I'm only about 55% fluent. It's very frustrating.
On the subject of poses: I find it very difficult to tweak poses in Sims 4. It was so much easier in 3 when you could just move the sim in the moveobjects cheat. 4 requires extra planning and setup and the risk that they could all reset if you do too much. As for making them, I haven't in almost a year, trying to work with what I already have or just use game animations.
I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I had fun with the summaries, showing a bit of my more facetious side. I need to do the first one for gen 3, but, well, time...
I too like how my title choice has really worked for me. I love it when stuff like that happens, and I feel like I can't take 100% of the credit for it. Ever feel like inspiration comes from outside? Now that I've said that, it doesn't sound as weird. Maybe it does. But sometimes my ideas don't feel like they came from me. Yes, that does sound weird, lol! Probably a subconscious result of life experience. Who knows. That's my longwinded way of saying thanks.
IKR! I have these big plans and the sims don't cooperate! But then, I wind up liking more what they did than what I planned. That, or I growl at them and pull out some poses.
Oh boy. Alex Goth. NOT PLANNED. It was all supposed to be about Grayson (boy next door, not to be confused with Graham). But Alex started fitting much better with the personality that I gave him. He has all but hijacked this story after me wanting to delete the pre-mades so that I could be more unique. /sigh.
I'm trying to think of other plot points that might have turned out differently, and I have the strangest sense of deja vu. Something about Ethan's teen birthday party flashing into my mind, but I can't make sense as to why. Hm. Interesting.
I guess I could say that I preferred if Emily look more like Bri, but if you haven't gotten there, I won't say why.
Thanks for reading!
Honestly, I don't think I "balance" the stories. I write the one I'm "hearing" the most in my head. Does that make sense? I'm real bad about abandoning a story to work on another one for a while. No fear with that for CR, though, at least for a while, because I have at least 10 chapters sitting and waiting (I just have to fix that plot point!).
As for fitting simming into my life, I do it when I can. I was just about to say that I hope to get in some this coming up weekend, but then I remembered I have a cinematography assignment where I'm going to someone's house and probably working on it all day. Yeesh. I'm still working on the stuff played/shot over the holiday break, when I played and wrote almost sunup to dinner time. School is really tough this year. They say 3 hours in the classroom equals 6 hours of homework, and that is more than true this semester. I need to find time to write before I explode. Sum it up: It's hard and almost impossible this spring.
I will say this, though: It's so funny showing my fellow film majors my sims writing. They see it and go, "Oh! You're storyboarding."
Uh, well, yeah, but that's it. Just pictures and writing to go with them.
Then that makes me think how since I can do poses means I can also create animations means I could also do movies. Something more complicated: just what I need! /facepalm
Chain Reaction Legacy|After the End|Alicekai'd
Hi, sorry, I hadn't responded to this earlier. Yes, I do. The characters are very real and the writing style is very fast paced. It actually feels like I'm watching a tv series, in some way.
What do you guys think?
I also love the humour. Particularly the humour regarding the quirks that the game gives us
Another thing I like is the character interaction. You write children dialogue really well. One of my favourite scenes is in gen 2
I love the play on words with
Question for Readers: What are some of your favourite moments when reading Chain Reaction?
And a question for the author: What has been your favourite chapter so far?
I have to admit I also read only the summaries for gen 1 + 2, and only managed to start reading the 3rd generation so far.
@mypalsim1
You sure have a lot of drama going on, I like it! And I really love your writing style, and how you incorporate the sims game mechanics like the confetti when they're pregnant into the story! It's hilarious, I keep laughing all the time while reading!
I also have to admit that I really like that you have very little text, but many screenshots. I'm quite a lazy reader, haha.
My question for you:
You said you write mostly game-driven, but have still have some main story goals. Do you plan the complete rough of the generation first from start to end, or do you just go with whatever idea you get while playing? I'm really curious!
I just ended up rewriting my whole plot because I had an idea which I absolutely needed to write down, but it changed the whole story, haha. So I want to know if other do that, too!
I'll definitely keep up reading, as I love your style!
story | discussion | tumblr
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
I'll get back to the questions tomorrow, hopefully. God bless and be safe.
Chain Reaction Legacy|After the End|Alicekai'd
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Oh no, I'm sorry for you! But at least you're not too badly injured...
I wish you well!
story | discussion | tumblr
Lol I read through everything but it took me weeks (and I started before your book club weeks!) I guess this will answer if I like it and if I have thoughts.
Generally, @mypalsim1: great job! I'm not just saying it because I like age-gap ships and you delivered on that front.
Plus the fun part is connecting the threads all together so the "chain reaction" title continues to make sense.
My only question that'll possibly sound too blunt and contrarian was about the choice to include sporadic game-aware elements in an otherwise serious story. I guess I do disagree with some readers here because any mention of The Maker's deliberate doings (using her as a stand-in for God in dialogue didn't bug me at all though) or game mechanics didn't amuse me or add to the story. It clashed with an otherwise intricate plot and narrative, and I found myself more immersed in chunks of chapters that didn't invoke those at all. But then again, I kept reading and sometimes a dozen or more chapters a day, so no harm done.
outrun / blog / tunglr
What this means is that you choose a relatively short selection of your writing (ideally, something that can be read in a single sitting), and then we talk about it this week! You can ask questions of the readers, and we'll ask questions of you.
What selection of yours would you like us to read?
Looking forward to talking with you about your writing!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Lol!
I don't know if I could pick a favorite chapter. I like 1.3 because that's when the story really gets moving.
That's not hard to believe. I think Graham is actually probably easy to create--since the game made him. He probably has a bunch of presets put together in a nice way.
Thanks.
Actually, it pretty much has. I still have some things to take care of, but so far, things have turned out better than expected.
Thanks. So far, so good!
Thanks. Been taking it easy (which is why this has taken forever and no new chapters released). I feel mostly better now. Neck twinges every once in a while, but it's really not bad.
Thanks. I'm getting a little better every day.
Thanks!
I've been wanting to do an age-gap thing for a while, and the teen/adult thing is a tricky path to tread. (LOL about Meatball. I couldn't resist.) My screenies are getting a little better now what with all this cinematography, etc classes I'm taking. Pictures have never been more important than the writing, though (not saying you say that; that's just my excuse).
Ugh! The Goths and Landgraabs. That's what I get for making an exception when starting up the neighborhood(s), lol. I'm glad your burnout didn't scare you away.
You're not the first person to mention the whole 'Maker' thing feeling out of place. I do understand that. I think I still put it in to remind myself that this is for recreation, making light of everything before it gets too serious. Plus, there are some things that would bug me continuity-wise, so I use that as my safety net/handicap explanation. (like where does the object go when they 'put it away'? maybe I don't wanna know)
Everyone: Thank you all SO MUCH for taking the time to read my favorite toy. I really do enjoy it very much and will probably keep at it as long as I possibly can (18 years of sim storytelling and counting!). I hope you find the time to come back by and catch up. Feel free to comment on whatever you like OR don't like (how can I fix something if it's not brought to my attention?) on either the blog itself or in my forum thread.
Take care!
Chain Reaction Legacy|After the End|Alicekai'd
Eagerly awaiting the next chapter...whenever.
outrun / blog / tunglr