@katrinasforest That never really occurred to me, but it would make events like prom and stuff way more natural. I've never really worked with teenage characters or high school settings, so fresh territory for me. And I don't remember enough of my teen/early college days to draw on. I appreciate any suggestions.
I like all your theories about James and the mermaids. I can't say too much to confirm or deny.
I'm glad everyone thought that their breakup seemed realistic. I try to make my characters and their reactions realistic, even though my story isn't the most realistic, I mean, I have shapeshifters and mer-people in my story, lol.
And I agree, I like to make my villain's motivations relatable, so they aren't just straight-up evil. But there are some pretty evil villains, even in real life, so there is something satisfying about seeing justice served to them in some way or another.
@lilypadmeulin Answers to your questions. What do you think to how things are going with the Charm family?
Emilia still has her hands full with raising all her kids, and not to mention that she now has two pre-teens in her household. Rhea is becoming a bit of a handful and I could see her becoming even more so as a teenager.
Would you prefer longer chapters?
I think the chapters are the right length. I think it's up to you if you want to write longer chapters or not. I guess in my experience I end a chapter where I feel like it needs to end and don't really pay much attention to how long it is.
If the narrative started to follow one character more, who would you prefer it followed?
I'm curious about Maranda just because it seemed like she has some kind of special magic, and she also is sort of the underdog of the family. But I also like seeing insights from Emilia, since she has her own viewpoint on each of her kids' personalities and the family dynamics.
What do you think to how things are going with the Charm family?
I think things are getting interesting, for sure. Rhea sounds like she's going through a lot between trying to maintain old friendships and establish her place on the social ladder, and that's not even counting all the expectations of being part of a magical family. I'm not quite sure what's going to happen next, but I wonder if some of the Charm family kids might become disinterested in magic or not think it's worth the effort and give up their studies to be more like the Muggles. (For lack of a good Sims equivalent of the word.)
Would you prefer longer chapters?
I like the chapters as they are. Most of the books I've enjoyed actually have tons of chapters, but they're all on the shorter end. I think it's just my reading style. Of course, if one character needs a longer chapter to tell a more complicated scene, I don't think you should restrict yourself. But when you have multiple points of view, sometimes you need those shorter "check-in" chapters to show what a particular character has been up to. Just my two cents for whatever it's worth.
If the narrative started to follow one character more, who would you prefer it followed?
Hmm...I think it might be interesting if you followed Judith Ward herself. Seeing the contrast between her and Calliope (with Calliope feeling smothered and directed in everything and Judith feeling like she's the doing all a good mother should) could be a lot of fun. But I'd be up for whoever.
Watch me mash together Sims and Pokémon to tell a story about battling glitches in Penny Saves Paldea. Updated every other Thursday.
I definitely want to put some of the focus on Maranda and Rhea more! They're probably two of my favourite characters. Not So Charmed will be getting more updates soon and I can't wait to see who will be part of it. I have a hard time posting sometimes if I feel the chapter's not quite right.
Rhea is definitely one of my favourite characters. I think she's going to stick with magic, but she's going to have some fun character stuff going on. I'm also tempted to bring Judith Ward in as part of Calliope and Calypso's story, but I'm not quite sure how - either way it'll be fun to write this!
@NyteRose That's awesome! We'll get you back in the rotation, then.
@Firande It's your week this week, I believe. Any questions for us? (I'm also up for general lamenting about the Star Wars pack...was so hoping for a Sixam or Atlantis theme!)
Watch me mash together Sims and Pokémon to tell a story about battling glitches in Penny Saves Paldea. Updated every other Thursday.
@lilypadmeulin I'll plan on reading the new chapter in the next few days.
@NyteRose Welcome back to the rotation. That's great news!
@katrinasforest I agree with you about the new pack. I'm not super thrilled that is Star Wars themed, and not sure if I'll be able to use anything in it because it's so specific to Star Wars. I'm curious if there is a story that you play through like in Strangerville, that might be interesting, but other than that, I'm pretty disappointed with the news of the new pack.
I can't do this.
I can't butcher my work into kid-and teen-friendly drivel. I just can't.
The post has been deleted and the blog made private.
I'm sorry.
@NyteRose Sorry to hear that, but I understand that you need to write what you feel. I'm following you through WP, so I'll just leave comments there.
If anyone wants to waste some time, as I did today, lol, there is a site you should check out to make your sim's portraits look more realistic. It's called artbreeder. I have a weird fascination with imagining what my sims would look like in real life. I left an example of Hailey below (don't want to bog down this thread will all my pics). If you want to check out some of the other characters I created, I have them posted to my thread(scroll to the bottom and there are more on the next page).
@lone_cat I'm back to being unable to link (inappropriate content on the main blog and original post.) I won't be sharing ANYTHING on these forums again, I'm sorry. I'm just done. The frustration isn't worth it anymore.
@NyteRose Oh. I didn't notice any link/association between the two blogs.
There's some amazing and beautiful teen fiction out there, but I can understand the frustration of feeling like you're being forced into a style you don't feel as comfortable with. You've got to do what's best for you.
@lone_cat I've never seen Artbreeder before, but the pic of Hailey looks amazing! I'll have to check it out.
My kids thought the Star Wars thing looked cool. So if they might play and enjoy the story, I might toss it in a bundle with Eco Living and Knitting. I'll always take more otherwordly furniture and decor, and I don't know enough about Star Wars to recognize half the items anyway. ^_^;;
Actually, I could maybe see myself sending Straud off through the story for the laughs. The guy's been a vampire, plant Sim, spellcaster, and he's about to be a merman in my current game. He might as well be a Jedi while he's at it.
Watch me mash together Sims and Pokémon to tell a story about battling glitches in Penny Saves Paldea. Updated every other Thursday.
The knitting pack is pretty fun, and I like having my sims do crafty stuff. I had a household that didn't have jobs and just knitted and sold it on plopsy. It's not a great way to make money. It was still fun even though my sims were always broke, lol. I played the Eco Living pack when it first came out, but haven't done much with it since. I do like some of the hairstyles and clothing, and the hydroponic planters make gardening easier. I also like the community garden lot (when you vote for it). And dumpster diving, sometimes sims throw out good stuff, lol.
Haha, I would love to see Vlad as a merman or a Jedi or both.
I also really enjoy the knitting pack! I love having them make things, because I knit myself, and I love browsing Plopsy! I think my favourite of the clothing items that you get without upping your knitting skill is probably the dress for girls - it's so cute and I love that it has a toddler version.
@lilypadmeulin I haven't looked at any of the girls knitted clothing, but now I'll have to check them out. My two knitting sims had a boy, so he got some sweaters and toys and that was it. I really like having them make those hanging planters, and now their house is filled with them.
I used to knit and crochet, but I never was that good at it. I could make really simple scarves and that was about it. My sims are way better knitters than I ever was, even just starting out, lol.
It's the CAS clothing that comes with the pack, it's super cute. I also agree about the planters, they're REALLY adorable. I think the most complicated thing I've ever made is a bunny, but I'm determined to up my game now that I have the time on my hands.
@lilypadmeulin@lone_cat It sounds really cute. I was bummed out we weren't getting Happy Haunts, but I think I can find things to enjoy in this pack.
@Firande (and everyone else, too), I actually had a thought about the format for this circle. We always have the author ask questions each week, and I know I've felt on more than one occasion for my own work that coming up with new questions every time was a bit of a challenge. Perhaps a better approach would be to post the chapters that are new since the author's previous week, and let readers give thoughts and first impressions and get the conversation going that way. Then there's less pressure on everyone to write specific questions/get up specific answers at a specific time.
I wouldn't suggest this if we'd just had a new story added to the circle, but since we've been consistent with the stories that are here for a while now, it seems reasonable to assume we'll be read up to the current chapters. (Or that we can read up to the current chapters in a reasonable time.)
What does everyone think? (We can also keep the current format if that's preferred.)
Watch me mash together Sims and Pokémon to tell a story about battling glitches in Penny Saves Paldea. Updated every other Thursday.
@katrinasforest I am so out of the loop when it comes to voting for stuff packs, so I had to look up Happy Haunts. I would have rather had Happy Haunts over knitting. I loved ghost hunting in Sims 3, and working for the Grim Reaper would have been cool. And ghost hunting would have fit perfectly into my story.
Oh, I like this idea of talking about new chapters instead of asking questions. I also struggle to come up with questions, especially if I've only had one or two chapters out since the last time it was my turn. I would be okay with changing the format.
@lilypadmeulin@lone_cat I would actually prefer that format as well, so why don't we start it on Monday with Supernatural Misadventures? I know our chat about Xaos didn't happen this week. I'm guessing @Firande got busy with real-life stuff, and the last thing I want to do is make anyone feel pressured or stressed about checking in.
I may have a story of my own to share again in the near-ish future. (No comic pages this time; just plain writing stuff.)
Watch me mash together Sims and Pokémon to tell a story about battling glitches in Penny Saves Paldea. Updated every other Thursday.
I've got some catching up to do, but you can sit back and relax and us readers will jump in with comments. I might do a few as I go, since there's several chapters I'm behind on.
Which, of course, is not to say you can't ask questions if you want to; just that you don't have to for us to get the conversation started.
Watch me mash together Sims and Pokémon to tell a story about battling glitches in Penny Saves Paldea. Updated every other Thursday.
Hey guys, I'm so sorry for being away. My friend came to visit the island last week and we went to another city so I was away all week, and this week, my country just placed the country I'm currently living in on a code orange for covid-19 which has some really big consequences for me that suck. Also got some major, major stress about my master's thesis which couldn't possibly be going anymore badly, so life's... fun.
It's totally fine doing Supernatural Misadventures this week, I do have a lot of catching up to do as well and I'm not entirely sure I'll make it as I'm so stressed currently that I haven't even been able to work on my own story, either. I'll just wait my turn!
Comments
I'm glad everyone thought that their breakup seemed realistic. I try to make my characters and their reactions realistic, even though my story isn't the most realistic, I mean, I have shapeshifters and mer-people in my story, lol.
And I agree, I like to make my villain's motivations relatable, so they aren't just straight-up evil. But there are some pretty evil villains, even in real life, so there is something satisfying about seeing justice served to them in some way or another.
Site | Thread
What do you think to how things are going with the Charm family?
Would you prefer longer chapters?
I think the chapters are the right length. I think it's up to you if you want to write longer chapters or not. I guess in my experience I end a chapter where I feel like it needs to end and don't really pay much attention to how long it is.
If the narrative started to follow one character more, who would you prefer it followed?
Site | Thread
What do you think to how things are going with the Charm family?
Would you prefer longer chapters?
I like the chapters as they are. Most of the books I've enjoyed actually have tons of chapters, but they're all on the shorter end. I think it's just my reading style. Of course, if one character needs a longer chapter to tell a more complicated scene, I don't think you should restrict yourself. But when you have multiple points of view, sometimes you need those shorter "check-in" chapters to show what a particular character has been up to. Just my two cents for whatever it's worth.
If the narrative started to follow one character more, who would you prefer it followed?
@katrinasforest
Daughters of Hesperia
Daughters of Hesperia
@NyteRose That's awesome! We'll get you back in the rotation, then.
@Firande It's your week this week, I believe. Any questions for us? (I'm also up for general lamenting about the Star Wars pack...was so hoping for a Sixam or Atlantis theme!)
@NyteRose Welcome back to the rotation.
@katrinasforest I agree with you about the new pack. I'm not super thrilled that is Star Wars themed, and not sure if I'll be able to use anything in it because it's so specific to Star Wars. I'm curious if there is a story that you play through like in Strangerville, that might be interesting, but other than that, I'm pretty disappointed with the news of the new pack.
Site | Thread
I can't butcher my work into kid-and teen-friendly drivel. I just can't.
The post has been deleted and the blog made private.
I'm sorry.
If anyone wants to waste some time, as I did today, lol, there is a site you should check out to make your sim's portraits look more realistic. It's called artbreeder. I have a weird fascination with imagining what my sims would look like in real life. I left an example of Hailey below (don't want to bog down this thread will all my pics). If you want to check out some of the other characters I created, I have them posted to my thread(scroll to the bottom and there are more on the next page).
Site | Thread
There's some amazing and beautiful teen fiction out there, but I can understand the frustration of feeling like you're being forced into a style you don't feel as comfortable with. You've got to do what's best for you.
@lone_cat I've never seen Artbreeder before, but the pic of Hailey looks amazing! I'll have to check it out.
My kids thought the Star Wars thing looked cool. So if they might play and enjoy the story, I might toss it in a bundle with Eco Living and Knitting. I'll always take more otherwordly furniture and decor, and I don't know enough about Star Wars to recognize half the items anyway. ^_^;;
Actually, I could maybe see myself sending Straud off through the story for the laughs. The guy's been a vampire, plant Sim, spellcaster, and he's about to be a merman in my current game. He might as well be a Jedi while he's at it.
The knitting pack is pretty fun, and I like having my sims do crafty stuff. I had a household that didn't have jobs and just knitted and sold it on plopsy. It's not a great way to make money. It was still fun even though my sims were always broke, lol. I played the Eco Living pack when it first came out, but haven't done much with it since. I do like some of the hairstyles and clothing, and the hydroponic planters make gardening easier. I also like the community garden lot (when you vote for it). And dumpster diving, sometimes sims throw out good stuff, lol.
Haha, I would love to see Vlad as a merman or a Jedi or both.
Site | Thread
I also really enjoy the knitting pack! I love having them make things, because I knit myself, and I love browsing Plopsy! I think my favourite of the clothing items that you get without upping your knitting skill is probably the dress for girls - it's so cute and I love that it has a toddler version.
Daughters of Hesperia
I used to knit and crochet, but I never was that good at it. I could make really simple scarves and that was about it. My sims are way better knitters than I ever was, even just starting out, lol.
Site | Thread
It's the CAS clothing that comes with the pack, it's super cute. I also agree about the planters, they're REALLY adorable. I think the most complicated thing I've ever made is a bunny, but I'm determined to up my game now that I have the time on my hands.
Daughters of Hesperia
@Firande (and everyone else, too), I actually had a thought about the format for this circle. We always have the author ask questions each week, and I know I've felt on more than one occasion for my own work that coming up with new questions every time was a bit of a challenge. Perhaps a better approach would be to post the chapters that are new since the author's previous week, and let readers give thoughts and first impressions and get the conversation going that way. Then there's less pressure on everyone to write specific questions/get up specific answers at a specific time.
I wouldn't suggest this if we'd just had a new story added to the circle, but since we've been consistent with the stories that are here for a while now, it seems reasonable to assume we'll be read up to the current chapters. (Or that we can read up to the current chapters in a reasonable time.)
What does everyone think? (We can also keep the current format if that's preferred.)
Oh, I like this idea of talking about new chapters instead of asking questions. I also struggle to come up with questions, especially if I've only had one or two chapters out since the last time it was my turn. I would be okay with changing the format.
Site | Thread
I would totally have been up for Happy Haunts, and that idea sounds great! I'd definitely prefer it to coming up with questions.
Daughters of Hesperia
I may have a story of my own to share again in the near-ish future. (No comic pages this time; just plain writing stuff.)
Site | Thread
@lone_cat, I believe the chapters posted since your last week are:
https://lonecatsims.wordpress.com/2020/08/15/chapter-15-caving/
https://lonecatsims.wordpress.com/2020/08/17/chapter-16-freezer-dream/
https://lonecatsims.wordpress.com/2020/08/19/chapter-17-blood-price/
https://lonecatsims.wordpress.com/2020/08/26/chapter-18-family-frenemies/
https://lonecatsims.wordpress.com/2020/08/27/chapter-19-maternal-instincts/
I've got some catching up to do, but you can sit back and relax and us readers will jump in with comments. I might do a few as I go, since there's several chapters I'm behind on.
Which, of course, is not to say you can't ask questions if you want to; just that you don't have to for us to get the conversation started.
It's totally fine doing Supernatural Misadventures this week, I do have a lot of catching up to do as well and I'm not entirely sure I'll make it as I'm so stressed currently that I haven't even been able to work on my own story, either.