Hiya, @MoonGirl and welcome to the Roundabout. We do have a spot open and another spot is opening up too. If you like to join us, please let me know which exact link to The Last Goodbye you would like me to add to the first post of this thread.
In the second post, we have our reading circle's schedule posted. This week we are reading up to chapter 17 of the Redux of @lisabee2 's Snow and Prince which will be discussed this upcoming weekend. If you want to get all caught up, Snow's story starts off with the Insane Asylum Challenge but you could also start with the Redux perhaps? All depends on how much time you have this week haha Snow's story can be found here: https://lisabeesims.wordpress.com/
The week after that we will be reading and discussing The Cat Chronicles by @mastressalita which in my opinion is a fun and light read. You might be able to get caught up with that in a week? Lemme know what you think
Then we will have a week open to maybe discuss your story? I see you have a prolog written atm and if we discuss your story in week 16 (October 17 - October 23) you have time to write an update or two maybe and we can really dig in Let me know what you think, though, because we could also leave a week open to maybe have a general discussion here so you can get caught up with the other two stories by @sweetnightingale and by yours truly lol.
If all this still sounds appealing hehe I'll see your link posted here soon and we can get into first gear
If you have any questions, please feel free to drop em here and I'll get back to you asap.
Then last but not least, we would like to get to know a little more about you. To get you started maybe you think it will be a great idea to fill this in...
Real name (if you want to tell it, optional nickname you prefer):
Country:
Do you have a pet:
Favorite season:
Hobby (not playing sims):
Dream job if everything is possible:
Any sports you do?
Favorite food:
Favorite superhero:
Favourite Disney princess:
My favorite film right now:
First film you watched where your parents said you are too young for it:
The first book you cried like the world is ending right now:
How would you dress yourself the whole time without thinking of the weather: summer dresses
And welcome back @mastressalita So sorry to hear you hurt your foot on vacation. Hope it is nothing lasting or otherwise too serious an injury and that the good memories of your vacation trump the pain.
@mastressalita Thank you for the welcome, I appreciate it! I hope you had a nice vacation despite hurting your foot, and that your doctor appointment was good. I know what you mean about hectic months, some of it seems almost to be seasonal, I swear!
@Twiggy Thank you! I would love to join and will put on my reading frenzy glasses! (I don't wear glasses, but if I did, I would definitely want that kind!)
I'll get stated on reading about Snow and Prince tonight and hopefully I'll be caught up tomorrow or early Saturday at the latest. My weekend is fairly open so I can work on catching up on everything. I'll just start with Snow, and then move on to The Cat Chronicles - okay that's a super interesting title, by the way - and then move on from there.
I'll probably release chapters on a weekly basis and I am pretty content with just catching up on everyone else's stories. I'm not in a rush to have my own story discussed, so maybe a general discussion would be a good idea like you suggested? I hope to catch up on everything as soon as possible.
We do things with scheduled reading weeks to break up the reading @MoonGirl , so if it would be easier for you, you could just have a slightly modified schedule from us so you don't feel completely overwhelmed trying to get caught up. We might be pretty far down in chapters since we've been in a rotation for a while (chapters 21-30 for example) but you could always start with 1-10 on one of those weeks where we are reading chapters further down and we can all be mindful with spoiler tags. I'm sure no one here would want you to feel like you need to suddenly read bucketloads at once to get caught up to where we are at.
Also, I am a librarian, and have a story index on these forums, The Stories and Legacies Index, and you are more than welcome to drop by there and submit your story to it. It's sort of a virtual, organized listing of SimLit from direct submissions from authors, all stories and Let's Plays are welcome there.
Yesterday took me pretty much my entire day home sick to catch back up the Stories and Legacies Index for the days I was gone (I'm not over-exaggerating... from the time I got up until 2 am!) Tonight I finally got the Short Story Challenge stories read as most of those came out while I was gone on vacation and I really love reading all of those. I am admittedly behind on re-reading Monstrous Mezilkree (I have read all of Gen 1 before but was attempting to re-read on the designated weeks) but since I was out of town last week I didn't have the time. I've been saving Gen 2 so I'll have something totally fresh when that week comes around, heehee.
Also a story came out while I was gone that I'd been looking forward to, which is an interactive horror story that is based around the zombie apocalypse and readers get to vote on the direction the story takes; a new chapter comes out every day for the month of October. Now I'm a good six chapters behind which means I didn't get to vote on any of those T_T (Also, I submitted my Simself as a character in said story! Will Sara-Sim survive? Will she turn into a blood-thirsty zombie? Who knows! This is a bit apt, considering my foot at the moment has me doing the zombie-shuffle, hahaha!)
And about the foot, I have plantar fasciitis, and it decided to flare up terribly the second I stepped off the plane, so it just went from bad to worse to unbarable with all the vacation walking so now I'm just hobbling about. The doctor says it's pretty bad and surgery may be my only option at this point, but it's a bad one, as the scar tissue could cause just as much pain and problems as the original issue. I was given a prescription to some steroid pills but so far they haven't helped with the pain and inflammation at all so I'm still hobbling, and my sick leave runs out today so I guess I'll be doing the zombie shuffle at work tomorrow. I will have to start Physical Therapy as well. Bleh.
Real name (if you want to tell it, optional nickname you prefer): Emma
Country: USA
Do you have a pet: I have a dog and two cats. They (sort of) live in harmony. They're all rescues so I think they have come to peace with the fact that they all have to share this pet motel aka my home lol. I also take in temporarily foster pets from time to time, like this Summer I had a litter of kittens here and their mama because it was too stressful for them to stay at the rescue shelter. The last one went to his forever home last month.
Favorite season: Fall. I used to say Summer until I started working at rescue shelters and realized that it is the #1 season for pets to be abandoned, so it's shifted to fall. I also love all the beautiful colors in nature. Living in rainy Washington, I get to see the whole range of it - red, orange, yellow and green. Can I also say I am excited already about Christmas????! My fiance hates when I talk about Christmas two months early haha.
Hobby (not playing sims): Image editing and logo design. I occasionally make posters/flyers/business card designs for bands around my town. It started by doing it for my fiance's band, and then other bands asked him who did their flyers.. and it kind of became a thing.
Dream job if everything is possible: Run a veterinarian center where I can offer free services to all animals. So basically a clinic with unlimited amount of money and staff. If only, huh? I am studying to become a vet right now.
Any sports you do? Uhm. Eat? Haha. No seriously, I don't really do sports, but I walk a lot with my dog.
Favorite food: Watermelon
Favorite superhero: Superman. He is the man of steel after all!
Favourite Disney princess: Rapunzel. Wield that frying pan, sista!
My favorite film right now: It's called "Room." I am usually not fond of drama movies (go figure since I write drama lol) but this one left me amazed.
First film you watched where your parents said you are too young for it: None. They never limited anything I watched or did. I watched a horror movie from the threshold of my living room when I was eight. No wonder I am super afraid of horror movies today.
The first book you cried like the world is ending right now: "Silver" It was a book about a dying horse. I know.. silly now that I think about it, but hey, I was nine and I still cry so easily over things in movies and books.
How would you dress yourself the whole time without thinking of the weather: In PJs!
Picture of your simself: I never made one!
Favorite sim right now and picture:
This is Brandi. She's not the most beautiful Sim I have ever made and she's plenty of flawed, but perhaps that is why I love her so much. I usually don't do the whole 'perfect happy family' thing, but decided I wanted to try it and Brandi was made. She had two kids, then started flirting with her husband's brother ALL the time without me initiating it. So I thought, why not, and she became pregnant by him. She had twin girls with her brother in-law. The household now has two children and two babies in a tiny 2 bed, 1 bathroom house - and they are totally broke. It's insane.
First time you played sims happened what: The first time I played was after watching my sister play. She had just brought home the game, and while she didn't really care for it much, I was fascinated. I just made that poor Sim do the same things over and over and over because I was so amazed that I could make them to things. Make him pee ten times, check. Make him make a meal five times, check. Make him enter and exit the house five times, check.. and so on. Poor Sim.
Dream expansion pack for sims 4: Probably not coming as a shock if you read this far, but I would love something animal themed! It would be really, really awesome if they added veteranarian as a career. ;D
@mastressalita Thank you! I will have to just start reading in bits and pieces, and tomorrow I have a lot of time on my hands too. It might take me a while to get where you all are right now, but I'll work on it. And thank you for linking your index, I will add my story to it.
And WOW! That is crazy. I just looked at the Index and it looks amazing, and it's a great thing that you do for the community. That sounds really time consuming, though! I mean an entire day is so so crazy.
Your comment about Sara-Sim made me smile. I hope she won't turn into something scary! I am such a wuzz.. otherwise I would read it, but I fear I wouldn't sleep for days if I did. I am so bad that even if a horror movie trailer comes on, I instantly have to mute the TV and look away -.-
And I'm sorry to hear about your foot, that sounds really painful. Do you have a lot of walking that you have to do at your work?
Real name (if you want to tell it, optional nickname you prefer): Emma
Country: USA
Do you have a pet: I have a dog and two cats. They (sort of) live in harmony. They're all rescues so I think they have come to peace with the fact that they all have to share this pet motel aka my home lol. I also take in temporarily foster pets from time to time, like this Summer I had a litter of kittens here and their mama because it was too stressful for them to stay at the rescue shelter. The last one went to his forever home last month.
Favorite season: Fall. I used to say Summer until I started working at rescue shelters and realized that it is the #1 season for pets to be abandoned, so it's shifted to fall. I also love all the beautiful colors in nature. Living in rainy Washington, I get to see the whole range of it - red, orange, yellow and green. Can I also say I am excited already about Christmas????! My fiance hates when I talk about Christmas two months early haha.
Hobby (not playing sims): Image editing and logo design. I occasionally make posters/flyers/business card designs for bands around my town. It started by doing it for my fiance's band, and then other bands asked him who did their flyers.. and it kind of became a thing.
Dream job if everything is possible: Run a veterinarian center where I can offer free services to all animals. So basically a clinic with unlimited amount of money and staff. If only, huh? I am studying to become a vet right now.
Any sports you do? Uhm. Eat? Haha. No seriously, I don't really do sports, but I walk a lot with my dog.
Favorite food: Watermelon
Favorite superhero: Superman. He is the man of steel after all!
Favourite Disney princess: Rapunzel. Wield that frying pan, sista!
My favorite film right now: It's called "Room." I am usually not fond of drama movies (go figure since I write drama lol) but this one left me amazed.
First film you watched where your parents said you are too young for it: None. They never limited anything I watched or did. I watched a horror movie from the threshold of my living room when I was eight. No wonder I am super afraid of horror movies today.
The first book you cried like the world is ending right now: "Silver" It was a book about a dying horse. I know.. silly now that I think about it, but hey, I was nine and I still cry so easily over things in movies and books.
How would you dress yourself the whole time without thinking of the weather: In PJs!
Picture of your simself: I never made one!
Favorite sim right now and picture:
This is Brandi. She's not the most beautiful Sim I have ever made and she's plenty of flawed, but perhaps that is why I love her so much. I usually don't do the whole 'perfect happy family' thing, but decided I wanted to try it and Brandi was made. She had two kids, then started flirting with her husband's brother ALL the time without me initiating it. So I thought, why not, and she became pregnant by him. She had twin girls with her brother in-law. The household now has two children and two babies in a tiny 2 bed, 1 bathroom house - and they are totally broke. It's insane.
First time you played sims happened what: The first time I played was after watching my sister play. She had just brought home the game, and while she didn't really care for it much, I was fascinated. I just made that poor Sim do the same things over and over and over because I was so amazed that I could make them to things. Make him pee ten times, check. Make him make a meal five times, check. Make him enter and exit the house five times, check.. and so on. Poor Sim.
Dream expansion pack for sims 4: Probably not coming as a shock if you read this far, but I would love something animal themed! It would be really, really awesome if they added veteranarian as a career. ;D
Nice to "meet" you .. and wow that simmie is adorable.
@MoonGirl Great to meet you and get to know a bit about you. I think Brandi looks gorgeous, though looking a little burdened by the struggle of everyday life. Also, I would volunteer at your veterinary shelter in a heartbeat
You are now officially added to the Random Reading Roundabout member list. The link you entered directed me to my own stats page on WP so I took the liberty to change it. Please check if I added the right link in the first post and I'll inform CathyTea over in the Reading Circle thread that you joined our Roundabout.
To all @sweetnightingale@lisabee2 and @mastressalita also I want to add that I have changed the reading schedule slightly. I took cuddles' story of our reading list. It has been over a month that she was active in this thread. Feel free to keep on reading her story naturally but we will not be discussing it here in the Roundabout. I have sent cuddles a message via the forum stating that her inactivity on this thread forces me to open up her spot. This means that with Moongirl joining we still have one spot open. Let me know your thoughts, if any. Thanks!
@Twiggy - I think that can happen with any circle. Members go inactive, so the best thing to do is open up,that spot for someone who can participate. If they don't respond to the PM in a reasonable time, then that's the best solution. It's a shame it happens and RL probably gets in the way, but time marches on.
I'm hoping to get some updates out in the next week. October is a busy month for us, so I'm hoping for the best. I hope you all are having a great Friday.
Hey all, I haven't gotten around to forming some questions today regarding the Redux of @lisabee2 fairytale of Snow White and Prince Charming since I sometimes co-judge the QualityControl building competition here on the forum. This weekend was one where I had to go through around 8 residential lots for the 3 bears with a fine comb in-game. Although that's all under control now and my scores are in haha my eyes are dropping like crazy and are telling me I need to get my behind to bed
I promise I'll get to it in the morning when I'm all fresh and fruity and my remarks won't be soiled by the sandman's dust. If anyone else has a comment or question please don't wait up for me and throw them right smack in the middle of traffic here for lisabeesims to comment on.
Thank you @lisabee2 For some reason, none of her four children look like each other. I don't know if it is random Simness, or if she would have continued to have children that are all so different.... I have NO plans of finding out haha.
@Twiggy Thank you! I am very fond of her, even though she's not my 'prettiest' Sim. And thank you again for letting me join this circle, it's so nice to be here.
And @lisabee2 - if not for already being obvious with me hitting your notifications like nobody's business for the past hour or two, I am in love with your story. My plan was to try and read about ten chapters and instead I suddenly found myself at the final chapter, dying for more to read. I think I will move on to explore the other stories on your blog in between updates. I already asked and commented along the way because I tend to do that, being a curious cat and all, but I am wondering about something.
You have an impressive amount of CC, from poses, to items, to lots etc, and you are great at how and when you use them. How much time do you usually spend hunting down your CC? And how much time do you spend on setting up your settings, be it showing just a room or location in/around the home, or planning a place they visit?
@mastressalita Thank you for the welcome, I appreciate it! I hope you had a nice vacation despite hurting your foot, and that your doctor appointment was good. I know what you mean about hectic months, some of it seems almost to be seasonal, I swear!
@Twiggy Thank you! I would love to join and will put on my reading frenzy glasses! (I don't wear glasses, but if I did, I would definitely want that kind!)
I'll get stated on reading about Snow and Prince tonight and hopefully I'll be caught up tomorrow or early Saturday at the latest. My weekend is fairly open so I can work on catching up on everything. I'll just start with Snow, and then move on to The Cat Chronicles - okay that's a super interesting title, by the way - and then move on from there.
I'll probably release chapters on a weekly basis and I am pretty content with just catching up on everyone else's stories. I'm not in a rush to have my own story discussed, so maybe a general discussion would be a good idea like you suggested? I hope to catch up on everything as soon as possible.
@MoonGirl I admin a FB group (well a couple but one is my baby) and I see most of the cc, poses and builds in there .. so not much on the hunt side. There are some amazing creators out there! As for setting the shots yes I do arrange most. I love the new teleporter .. it has made life so much easier for both poses and for setting scenes!! I also edit my pic .. that is where I wish i was better .. I want to learn more about that.
@lisabee2 I like the new teleporter too, but I still feel really confused when using it. Guessing which way they'll rotate their bodies before lining up the pose, is still a mystery to me. And yes! There's a lot of wonderful creators who are willing to share their creations with us.
Did you plan on having the first born child become your next Queen, or did you decide as your story went on?
I kind of want to freeze your characters right there so that they can't die/movie out and so on lol.
Edit: I put a spoiler on in case someone should just now stumble in on your story and start reading.
@MoonGirl You're welcome and great to hear you are off to a good start
@lisabee2 I play without cc myself and am in love and lost in a different fairytale sim world that you create every read. I can see the time and effort that goes into your screen capping but doesn't it take ages to get your sims where you want them to be? And not only that, all sims look so amazing, I just love your taste in style. Snow and the Charmings always dress the part and the interiors from cc wall coverings to all sorts of cc nick nacks is amazing. Do you micromanage your screen caps very much, like for instance to the degree that you already know where on a lot you want certain scenes to play out or how the sims will be dressed, especially when in these amazing builds? Is this something that you feel has developed over time? To me, it seems that the screen caps for the Redux are different then say the caps for the Asylum Challenge. Or has this been a deliberate choice, making a different read/story of Snow White's new beginning and then the Redux?
One thing puzzles me when starting my read on the Redux. Prince and Snow are happily united with Prince Charming's family and later on Evella too. In my mindset, though, the Prince and Snow were long past their natural deaths at the end of the life after the Asylum part of the story and I assumed most family members had died. Now I must admit I am not very familiar with the workings of the wishing well though I'm wondering how you see this. You did say though in Snow White #11 The afterlife that she first asked for youth but withhold the second or third thing she might have asked the well Did you give this much thought or perhaps the Redux is focused more on giving the Charmings the full life I assume you and/or readers think they deserved in the first place?
I hope everyone's having a great day. It's been kinda hectic for us so doing anything Sims related has been out the window, with the exception of reading a few chapters here and there as time allows.
@MoonGirl - Welcome. So glad you're right at home, and I look forward to reading your story.
So, onto the weekly discussiom and some questions for @lisabee2 .
Forgive me if I've asked this already. It's awesome that you continued with Snow's life after she was released from the asylum. Are you planning other projects or cameo appearances from the other participants? I imagine since a lot of time has passed in the story that most, if not all, have died. I'd love to see a kind of "Where did they go?" update to see how the others got on in life. A lot of work, I'm sure, but I'm just curious.
I love that you showcase the different builds you find in the gallery. You always seem to find the perfect ones that go with your story.
I told you this before, but I really love the fairy tale aspect of your story. It's such a different and nice take on Snow White. Do you plan to implement other fairy tale elements into each generation?
I wonder how hard it will be to let go of Snow and Prince when they die again. Do you plan to bring them back again or show them in the afterlife?
...but doesn't it take ages to get your sims where you want them to be? And not only that, all sims look so amazing, I just love your taste in style. Snow and the Charmings always dress the part and the interiors from cc wall coverings to all sorts of cc nick nacks is amazing. Do you micromanage your screen caps very much, like for instance to the degree that you already know where on a lot you want certain scenes to play out or how the sims will be dressed, especially when in these amazing builds?
This is where I was going with my question too @lisabee2 because your setting seems to be very detailed and you do have a lot of objects/sims and CC in your pictures so I was imagining with having to change their clothes and builds a lot that it would have to be time consuming!
@Twiggy I hope you feel rested after finally getting some much needed sleep! I just woke up myself and it's 4 PM> I don't feel very well and think I might be coming down with something Oh well.. at least it is Saturday and I am done with all homework for the weekend!
@sweetnightingale Thank you! I had the whole draft for the next chapter sitting in my blog and then in the last minute decided to re-write half of it! Like... why? Haha. Oh well. Just one of those writer things, I guess. Has it ever happened to you? I have yet to start reading your story but now that I finished reading about Snow, I moved on to The Cat Chronicles since it's up next and will continue reading through everyone's stories as soon as possible!
@MoonGirl - Ohhh boy, do I feel your pain there! Yep, that's happened to me several times, even to the point where I've deleted the whole draft and went back to square 1. It's frustrating, but usually, the second time around is better. Good luck with your rewrite, and I hope you feel better soon.
No worries. My story isn't going anywhere. It shouldn't take you long to catch up on it, as I only have 11 chapters written and they're fairly short. I'm one of the ones here who uses Sims 3 for my screencaps, and my story is very plot driven, meaning I have it planned out rather than letting the game itself drive it. I hope you enjoy it when you get to it, and I look forward to reading yours.
@lisabee2 - I'm also interested in how you get things to stay where you want them. I'm more familiar with posing and staging for Sims 3, and the thought of doing all that for Sims 4 scares the stuffing out of me. LOL. You do it so well, though, and your pictures show it.
@sweetnightingale Thank you, that's very sweet of you.... so fitting of your user name too! I think you are right about re-writing things, often it turns out better than the original idea. I'm wondering if your story is a spin-off from any of your other stories?
@MoonGirl - Awww, gosh. Thanks so much. I do have a story behind how I picked my username. I'm told I have a sweet personality, although I do have my moments. LOL.
My story isn't a spin-off, per se, but I do have crossovers of characters who will appear.
As you are caught up, you know about Shane and what a terrible person he is. It was mentioned in this story about what Shane had done, but if you really want to see him in action, that is found in "Forever in Time." Lenora and Tyrone from "Forever in Time" will soon make appearances in this story and Nathaniel will make appearances in ?Forever in Time" when he gets older.
@sweetnightingale I think we all have our moments LOL. I was about to have one today after this one lady made some horrible comments about one of the dog breeds that we have at our shelter. Relax... breathe, relaxe... xD
Shane is a super 🐸🐸🐸🐸 bag but such a wonderful part of the story because it causes us to hate on him, which again pulls on emotional strings!
@MoonGirl - Ugh, don't you hate it when people are like that? They really know how to push buttons and some even enjoy starting drama. Not good at all. Dogs are such great creatures and it's awesome that there are places that care for the ones who are unwanted.
Shane does give us that element of us needing something or someone to dislike and even hate. You feel for the protagonist (Debbie in this case) because of everything he put her through both before and during the story. It does tug at the heartstrings and makes us want Debbie, in my case, to find the happiness she deserves.
@MoonGirl You're welcome and great to hear you are off to a good start
@lisabee2 I play without cc myself and am in love and lost in a different fairytale sim world that you create every read. I can see the time and effort that goes into your screen capping but doesn't it take ages to get your sims where you want them to be? And not only that, all sims look so amazing, I just love your taste in style. Snow and the Charmings always dress the part and the interiors from cc wall coverings to all sorts of cc nick nacks is amazing. Do you micromanage your screen caps very much, like for instance to the degree that you already know where on a lot you want certain scenes to play out or how the sims will be dressed, especially when in these amazing builds? Is this something that you feel has developed over time? To me, it seems that the screen caps for the Redux are different then say the caps for the Asylum Challenge. Or has this been a deliberate choice, making a different read/story of Snow White's new beginning and then the Redux?
One thing puzzles me when starting my read on the Redux. Prince and Snow are happily united with Prince Charming's family and later on Evella too. In my mindset, though, the Prince and Snow were long past their natural deaths at the end of the life after the Asylum part of the story and I assumed most family members had died. Now I must admit I am not very familiar with the workings of the wishing well though I'm wondering how you see this. You did say though in Snow White #11 The afterlife that she first asked for youth but withhold the second or third thing she might have asked the well Did you give this much thought or perhaps the Redux is focused more on giving the Charmings the full life I assume you and/or readers think they deserved in the first place?
@Twiggy It does take a long time .. that is why I am so woefully slow LOL
You are correct .. I fully intended to END the story of Snow and Prince .. I had already set up my next story (I was to beta test a wonderful challenge called the old woman that lived in a shoe .. even had the shoe house built for me by GothKittymimi) but my readers were so upset with me (the story is so short and they were elders when they met) That was the time when the EA SP came out with the wishing well .. so I accommodated and thought it would fall away .. but it had not. It is not really going to be a legacy .. I want the next 2 stories springing from it to be able to be followed on their own. Rose White and Rose Red will have stories of their own but the other girls are not going anywhere
@moongirl Yes Rose White is our new Queen .. and not to worry as slowly as I play they will be here for a very long time LOL
@twiggy ... just a quick off subject thing .. I LOVE your person info questions .. and I went back in the thread and I had done this I went back and read everyone's lovely responses (I do not know how I missed it) .. I am so sorry it was under a spoiler and I missed it I will copy that and add it to the questions I am answering from the last discussion.
(I just looked back at the date .. I had family here from MI .. that explains not excuses)
Here are my answers to the group questions AND to the personal info thingy (which I will mercifully put under a spoiler)
Are there any mods, programs or apps you use to enhance your simlit, be it your writing or screencaps and how do you feel these programs aid your storytelling prowess?
Andrew’s pose player and the teleporter mod. They are indispensable! I also use a very simple photo editing program. The def aid in the process making it quicker and with the teleporter you can have so many join you at a party or venue .. I just love it.
What do you think, makes good simlit and how do you strive to achieve this quality in your own story?
There are a few things that are basic .. outside of the obvious of a good plot line LOL Keeping it simple .. not adding man many characters so that your readers struggle to keep up with who is who. Keep them real and relatable too. I also feel that a sim lit blog should be a fast read … I try to keep mine to about 5 to 6 minute to read. If it is quick they will pop in and read .. if it is long they will “put it on the list” and we all know what happens to the list. I also think you need a good partner who is not afraid to call you out when things are not right. I have a couple of those and I treasure them.
How do you plan or outline your chapters/story and is this a constant or do you mix things up from time to time?
Mine is pretty constant … I know where my characters are headed and have it outlined but it is flexible. Yes I am getting ready to do just that .. one of my young FB readers wants me to do something
Do you have experience with writing besides simlit or do you think you wouldn't be writing (the same story) when not using The Sims to form/accompany your story? What's your take on this?
Very little. I have a personal blog but it does not the same “love” that my simmy one does.
What made you choose your current publishing medium (Blogspot, WordPress, forum and so on) and do you have preferences for any of these mediums when it comes to reading simlit? In other words, what do you think makes a good blog?
My personal blog is on Blogger.com but I wanted a change up. My friend Lee had a WP and I just followed her over.
Real name (if you want to tell it, optional nickname you prefer): If remove the 2 you have my nick name and if you remove the bee and the 2 you have my name. (Is that evasive enough Mastressalita)
Country: US
Do you have a pet: I do a very precious Chihuahua name Jezzybelle
Favorite season: SUMMER
Hobby (not playing sims): Gardening
Dream job if everything is possible: Travel
Any sports you do? Swim
Favorite food: ANY seafood
Favorite superhero: My grandson .. mini hulk
He is the 3rd one ...
Favourite Disney princess: Princess Leia
My favorite film right now: I am a major Hunger Games fan
First film you watched where your parents said you are too young for it: Old Yeller (and I still am .. sniff)
The first book you cried like the world is ending right now: Island of the Blue Dolphin
How would you dress yourself the whole time without thinking of the weather: Jeans, Tank top and a flannel
Picture of your simself:
Favorite sim right now and picture:
Mine is more of a matched set (kind of like Brangelina .. but does not end as ugly) ... Prince and Snow from the first time around
First time you played sims happened what: I fell in LOVE. It was Sims 1 and it was BRAND new been out only 3 months.
Dream expansion pack for sims 4: Plant Sims met in various destinations LOL (I loved WA and plant sims)
Comments
In the second post, we have our reading circle's schedule posted. This week we are reading up to chapter 17 of the Redux of @lisabee2 's Snow and Prince which will be discussed this upcoming weekend. If you want to get all caught up, Snow's story starts off with the Insane Asylum Challenge but you could also start with the Redux perhaps? All depends on how much time you have this week haha Snow's story can be found here: https://lisabeesims.wordpress.com/
The week after that we will be reading and discussing The Cat Chronicles by @mastressalita which in my opinion is a fun and light read. You might be able to get caught up with that in a week? Lemme know what you think
Then we will have a week open to maybe discuss your story? I see you have a prolog written atm and if we discuss your story in week 16 (October 17 - October 23) you have time to write an update or two maybe and we can really dig in
If all this still sounds appealing hehe I'll see your link posted here soon and we can get into first gear
If you have any questions, please feel free to drop em here and I'll get back to you asap.
Then last but not least, we would like to get to know a little more about you. To get you started maybe you think it will be a great idea to fill this in...
Country:
Do you have a pet:
Favorite season:
Hobby (not playing sims):
Dream job if everything is possible:
Any sports you do?
Favorite food:
Favorite superhero:
Favourite Disney princess:
My favorite film right now:
First film you watched where your parents said you are too young for it:
The first book you cried like the world is ending right now:
How would you dress yourself the whole time without thinking of the weather: summer dresses
Picture of your simself:
Favorite sim right now and picture:
First time you played sims happened what:
Dream expansion pack for sims 4:
~Twiggy out
@Twiggy Thank you! I would love to join and will put on my reading frenzy glasses! (I don't wear glasses, but if I did, I would definitely want that kind!)
I'll get stated on reading about Snow and Prince tonight and hopefully I'll be caught up tomorrow or early Saturday at the latest. My weekend is fairly open so I can work on catching up on everything.
I'll probably release chapters on a weekly basis and I am pretty content with just catching up on everyone else's stories. I'm not in a rush to have my own story discussed, so maybe a general discussion would be a good idea like you suggested? I hope to catch up on everything as soon as possible.
Oh and I'd like if you use this link. It's directly to my website: https://wordpress.com/stats/insights/thelastgoodbyeblog.wordpress.com
I'll fill out the form below so I don't completely blow up this poor post lol.
Also, I am a librarian, and have a story index on these forums, The Stories and Legacies Index, and you are more than welcome to drop by there and submit your story to it. It's sort of a virtual, organized listing of SimLit from direct submissions from authors, all stories and Let's Plays are welcome there.
Yesterday took me pretty much my entire day home sick to catch back up the Stories and Legacies Index for the days I was gone (I'm not over-exaggerating... from the time I got up until 2 am!) Tonight I finally got the Short Story Challenge stories read as most of those came out while I was gone on vacation and I really love reading all of those. I am admittedly behind on re-reading Monstrous Mezilkree (I have read all of Gen 1 before but was attempting to re-read on the designated weeks) but since I was out of town last week I didn't have the time. I've been saving Gen 2 so I'll have something totally fresh when that week comes around, heehee.
Also a story came out while I was gone that I'd been looking forward to, which is an interactive horror story that is based around the zombie apocalypse and readers get to vote on the direction the story takes; a new chapter comes out every day for the month of October. Now I'm a good six chapters behind which means I didn't get to vote on any of those T_T (Also, I submitted my Simself as a character in said story! Will Sara-Sim survive? Will she turn into a blood-thirsty zombie? Who knows! This is a bit apt, considering my foot at the moment has me doing the zombie-shuffle, hahaha!)
And about the foot, I have plantar fasciitis, and it decided to flare up terribly the second I stepped off the plane, so it just went from bad to worse to unbarable with all the vacation walking so now I'm just hobbling about. The doctor says it's pretty bad and surgery may be my only option at this point, but it's a bad one, as the scar tissue could cause just as much pain and problems as the original issue. I was given a prescription to some steroid pills but so far they haven't helped with the pain and inflammation at all so I'm still hobbling, and my sick leave runs out today so I guess I'll be doing the zombie shuffle at work tomorrow. I will have to start Physical Therapy as well. Bleh.
Have a Sim story site? Please submit your link to the Stories and Legacies Index!
Check out my Simlit at Sim Stories: Hijinks from the World of Sims 3!
My Simlit Discussion/Updates | The Fringe | Short Story Challenges
Country: USA
Do you have a pet: I have a dog and two cats. They (sort of) live in harmony. They're all rescues so I think they have come to peace with the fact that they all have to share this pet motel aka my home lol. I also take in temporarily foster pets from time to time, like this Summer I had a litter of kittens here and their mama because it was too stressful for them to stay at the rescue shelter. The last one went to his forever home last month.
Favorite season: Fall. I used to say Summer until I started working at rescue shelters and realized that it is the #1 season for pets to be abandoned, so it's shifted to fall. I also love all the beautiful colors in nature. Living in rainy Washington, I get to see the whole range of it - red, orange, yellow and green.
Hobby (not playing sims): Image editing and logo design. I occasionally make posters/flyers/business card designs for bands around my town. It started by doing it for my fiance's band, and then other bands asked him who did their flyers.. and it kind of became a thing.
Dream job if everything is possible: Run a veterinarian center where I can offer free services to all animals. So basically a clinic with unlimited amount of money and staff. If only, huh? I am studying to become a vet right now.
Any sports you do? Uhm. Eat? Haha. No seriously, I don't really do sports, but I walk a lot with my dog.
Favorite food: Watermelon
Favorite superhero: Superman. He is the man of steel after all!
Favourite Disney princess: Rapunzel. Wield that frying pan, sista!
My favorite film right now: It's called "Room." I am usually not fond of drama movies (go figure since I write drama lol) but this one left me amazed.
First film you watched where your parents said you are too young for it: None. They never limited anything I watched or did. I watched a horror movie from the threshold of my living room when I was eight. No wonder I am super afraid of horror movies today.
The first book you cried like the world is ending right now: "Silver" It was a book about a dying horse. I know.. silly now that I think about it, but hey, I was nine and I still cry so easily over things in movies and books.
How would you dress yourself the whole time without thinking of the weather: In PJs!
Picture of your simself: I never made one!
Favorite sim right now and picture:
This is Brandi. She's not the most beautiful Sim I have ever made and she's plenty of flawed, but perhaps that is why I love her so much. I usually don't do the whole 'perfect happy family' thing, but decided I wanted to try it and Brandi was made. She had two kids, then started flirting with her husband's brother ALL the time without me initiating it. So I thought, why not, and she became pregnant by him. She had twin girls with her brother in-law. The household now has two children and two babies in a tiny 2 bed, 1 bathroom house - and they are totally broke. It's insane.
First time you played sims happened what: The first time I played was after watching my sister play. She had just brought home the game, and while she didn't really care for it much, I was fascinated. I just made that poor Sim do the same things over and over and over because I was so amazed that I could make them to things. Make him pee ten times, check. Make him make a meal five times, check. Make him enter and exit the house five times, check.. and so on. Poor Sim.
Dream expansion pack for sims 4: Probably not coming as a shock if you read this far, but I would love something animal themed! It would be really, really awesome if they added veteranarian as a career. ;D
And WOW! That is crazy. I just looked at the Index and it looks amazing, and it's a great thing that you do for the community. That sounds really time consuming, though! I mean an entire day is so so crazy.
Your comment about Sara-Sim made me smile. I hope she won't turn into something scary! I am such a wuzz.. otherwise I would read it, but I fear I wouldn't sleep for days if I did. I am so bad that even if a horror movie trailer comes on, I instantly have to mute the TV and look away -.-
And I'm sorry to hear about your foot, that sounds really painful.
Nice to "meet" you .. and wow that simmie is adorable.
LisabeeSims
New readers can visit here first: In-a-NUTSHELL
#EAgamechanger
https://lisabeesims.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/snow-and-prince-redux-25-road-tripping/
LisabeeSims
New readers can visit here first: In-a-NUTSHELL
#EAgamechanger
@MoonGirl Great to meet you and get to know a bit about you. I think Brandi looks gorgeous, though looking a little burdened by the struggle of everyday life. Also, I would volunteer at your veterinary shelter in a heartbeat
You are now officially added to the Random Reading Roundabout member list. The link you entered directed me to my own stats page on WP so I took the liberty to change it. Please check if I added the right link in the first post
To all @sweetnightingale @lisabee2 and @mastressalita also I want to add that I have changed the reading schedule slightly. I took cuddles' story of our reading list. It has been over a month that she was active in this thread. Feel free to keep on reading her story naturally but we will not be discussing it here in the Roundabout. I have sent cuddles a message via the forum stating that her inactivity on this thread forces me to open up her spot. This means that with Moongirl joining we still have one spot open. Let me know your thoughts, if any. Thanks!
~hugs~
I'm hoping to get some updates out in the next week. October is a busy month for us, so I'm hoping for the best. I hope you all are having a great Friday.
I promise I'll get to it in the morning when I'm all fresh and fruity and my remarks won't be soiled by the sandman's dust. If anyone else has a comment or question please don't wait up for me and throw them right smack in the middle of traffic here for lisabeesims to comment on.
~Twiggy falling
@Twiggy Thank you! I am very fond of her, even though she's not my 'prettiest' Sim.
And @lisabee2 - if not for already being obvious with me hitting your notifications like nobody's business for the past hour or two, I am in love with your story. My plan was to try and read about ten chapters and instead I suddenly found myself at the final chapter, dying for more to read. I think I will move on to explore the other stories on your blog in between updates.
You have an impressive amount of CC, from poses, to items, to lots etc, and you are great at how and when you use them. How much time do you usually spend hunting down your CC? And how much time do you spend on setting up your settings, be it showing just a room or location in/around the home, or planning a place they visit?
And sweet dreams @Twiggy
And a wonderful Friday/Saturday to @sweetnightingale and everyone else
I enjoyed your first offerings
LisabeeSims
New readers can visit here first: In-a-NUTSHELL
#EAgamechanger
LisabeeSims
New readers can visit here first: In-a-NUTSHELL
#EAgamechanger
I kind of want to freeze your characters right there so that they can't die/movie out and so on lol.
Edit: I put a spoiler on in case someone should just now stumble in on your story and start reading.
@lisabee2 I play without cc myself and am in love and lost in a different fairytale sim world that you create every read. I can see the time and effort that goes into your screen capping but doesn't it take ages to get your sims where you want them to be? And not only that, all sims look so amazing, I just love your taste in style. Snow and the Charmings always dress the part and the interiors from cc wall coverings to all sorts of cc nick nacks is amazing. Do you micromanage your screen caps very much, like for instance to the degree that you already know where on a lot you want certain scenes to play out or how the sims will be dressed, especially when in these amazing builds? Is this something that you feel has developed over time? To me, it seems that the screen caps for the Redux are different then say the caps for the Asylum Challenge. Or has this been a deliberate choice, making a different read/story of Snow White's new beginning and then the Redux?
@MoonGirl - Welcome.
So, onto the weekly discussiom and some questions for @lisabee2 .
Forgive me if I've asked this already. It's awesome that you continued with Snow's life after she was released from the asylum. Are you planning other projects or cameo appearances from the other participants? I imagine since a lot of time has passed in the story that most, if not all, have died. I'd love to see a kind of "Where did they go?" update to see how the others got on in life.
I love that you showcase the different builds you find in the gallery. You always seem to find the perfect ones that go with your story.
I told you this before, but I really love the fairy tale aspect of your story. It's such a different and nice take on Snow White. Do you plan to implement other fairy tale elements into each generation?
I'll add more if I think of anything else.
This is where I was going with my question too @lisabee2 because your setting seems to be very detailed and you do have a lot of objects/sims and CC in your pictures so I was imagining with having to change their clothes and builds a lot that it would have to be time consuming!
@Twiggy I hope you feel rested after finally getting some much needed sleep! I just woke up myself and it's 4 PM> I don't feel very well and think I might be coming down with something
@sweetnightingale Thank you! I had the whole draft for the next chapter sitting in my blog and then in the last minute decided to re-write half of it! Like... why? Haha. Oh well. Just one of those writer things, I guess. Has it ever happened to you? I have yet to start reading your story but now that I finished reading about Snow, I moved on to The Cat Chronicles
No worries. My story isn't going anywhere.
@lisabee2 - I'm also interested in how you get things to stay where you want them. I'm more familiar with posing and staging for Sims 3, and the thought of doing all that for Sims 4 scares the stuffing out of me. LOL. You do it so well, though, and your pictures show it.
My story isn't a spin-off, per se, but I do have crossovers of characters who will appear.
@Twiggy It does take a long time .. that is why I am so woefully slow LOL
You are correct .. I fully intended to END the story of Snow and Prince .. I had already set up my next story (I was to beta test a wonderful challenge called the old woman that lived in a shoe .. even had the shoe house built for me by GothKittymimi) but my readers were so upset with me (the story is so short and they were elders when they met) That was the time when the EA SP came out with the wishing well .. so I accommodated and thought it would fall away .. but it had not. It is not really going to be a legacy .. I want the next 2 stories springing from it to be able to be followed on their own. Rose White and Rose Red will have stories of their own but the other girls are not going anywhere
@moongirl Yes Rose White is our new Queen .. and not to worry as slowly as I play they will be here for a very long time LOL
@twiggy ... just a quick off subject thing .. I LOVE your person info questions .. and I went back in the thread and I had done this
(I just looked back at the date .. I had family here from MI .. that explains not excuses)
LisabeeSims
New readers can visit here first: In-a-NUTSHELL
#EAgamechanger
Andrew’s pose player and the teleporter mod. They are indispensable! I also use a very simple photo editing program. The def aid in the process making it quicker and with the teleporter you can have so many join you at a party or venue .. I just love it.
What do you think, makes good simlit and how do you strive to achieve this quality in your own story?
There are a few things that are basic .. outside of the obvious of a good plot line LOL Keeping it simple .. not adding man many characters so that your readers struggle to keep up with who is who. Keep them real and relatable too. I also feel that a sim lit blog should be a fast read … I try to keep mine to about 5 to 6 minute to read. If it is quick they will pop in and read .. if it is long they will “put it on the list” and we all know what happens to the list. I also think you need a good partner who is not afraid to call you out when things are not right. I have a couple of those and I treasure them.
How do you plan or outline your chapters/story and is this a constant or do you mix things up from time to time?
Mine is pretty constant … I know where my characters are headed and have it outlined but it is flexible. Yes I am getting ready to do just that .. one of my young FB readers wants me to do something
Do you have experience with writing besides simlit or do you think you wouldn't be writing (the same story) when not using The Sims to form/accompany your story? What's your take on this?
Very little. I have a personal blog but it does not the same “love” that my simmy one does.
What made you choose your current publishing medium (Blogspot, WordPress, forum and so on) and do you have preferences for any of these mediums when it comes to reading simlit? In other words, what do you think makes a good blog?
My personal blog is on Blogger.com but I wanted a change up. My friend Lee had a WP and I just followed her over.
Real name (if you want to tell it, optional nickname you prefer): If remove the 2 you have my nick name and if you remove the bee and the 2 you have my name. (Is that evasive enough Mastressalita)
Country: US
Do you have a pet: I do a very precious Chihuahua name Jezzybelle
Favorite season: SUMMER
Hobby (not playing sims): Gardening
Dream job if everything is possible: Travel
Any sports you do? Swim
Favorite food: ANY seafood
Favorite superhero: My grandson .. mini hulk
He is the 3rd one ...
Favourite Disney princess: Princess Leia
My favorite film right now: I am a major Hunger Games fan
First film you watched where your parents said you are too young for it: Old Yeller (and I still am .. sniff)
The first book you cried like the world is ending right now: Island of the Blue Dolphin
How would you dress yourself the whole time without thinking of the weather: Jeans, Tank top and a flannel
Picture of your simself:
Favorite sim right now and picture:
Mine is more of a matched set (kind of like Brangelina .. but does not end as ugly) ... Prince and Snow from the first time around
First time you played sims happened what: I fell in LOVE. It was Sims 1 and it was BRAND new been out only 3 months.
Dream expansion pack for sims 4: Plant Sims met in various destinations LOL (I loved WA and plant sims)
LisabeeSims
New readers can visit here first: In-a-NUTSHELL
#EAgamechanger