Ahhhh, let's get wild! I'm already caught up with this story so here are my answers :P
GENERAL - Cats or dogs?
Definitely dogs. #TeamNinja
- Okay, questions for realsies now. What are your general thoughts on the story so far?
I absolutely love it. I don't know exactly why but the way you write was attracting me. I don't really know much about Camelot and I'm not really interested in it but for some reason now I want to know more about it HAHAHA.
WRITING - What do you think of my writing style? Are the sentences clear? Too short? Too long? Am I saying the same words repeatedly?
Your writing style is what attracted me to your story, so yeah, I adore your writing style. Everything is so in detail. It's as if I'm thrown back in time and I'm there myself as Sarah or something.
I don't think there's something wrong with your writing style. Keep it that way.
- I sometimes switch between points-of-view as the story is going on. Is this confusing to read? Should a writer stick with one pov, or is it all right to peek into multiple people's heads in the same chapter? What do you think?
Nah, I like the aspect of different points-of views. Chapter 1 started with Morgana and Gawain (at this point I thought that it would be a point-of-view story from Morgana's point of view, because the prologue was mostly about her ), then the King is introduced, then Arthur, ... You get to know the characters at a slow pace and that's what I like. If everyone is introduced in one chapter, I'm done for.
I'm going somewhere else with all my blabla, sorry. What I want to say: I like being able to read multiple points of view!
Back to going somewhere else: I totally forgot about the prologue. The prologue was mysterious because I didn't knew a lot about the subject but hey, I like mysteries. Is Merlin going to return sometimes? In my head this story goes on until Arthur becomes the King and nobody ever heard of Merlin again (and everybody forgot him as a character in the prologue hahahaha), but then suddenly BOOM, there he is! XD
- My chapters tend to hover around 3,000 words, with some longer and some shorter. What do you think about the length? I sometimes have trouble hitting the right story beats with fewer words per chapter, but I realize that too long a chapter can overstay its welcome.
At first you may think 'ooooof that's long' but when you're actually reading, you're done before you know it. I think if you shorten the chapters, I would be like "Oh, is it already done?"
STORY - What do you think about the main characters (Arthur, Gawain, Morgana)?
Morgana and Gawain stole my heart from the beginning. I wasn't super into Arthur at first (okay he's a handsome kid and probably even more handsome when growing up), but after talking with Gawain and loosing up a bit, I think he's also very nice.
- What do you think about the side characters (Uther, Richard, Gaius)?
Ehhhhhm, who's Richard again???? Is he that little black-haired boy? I even remember Agravaine more than Richard HAHAHAHAH oops.
I do Like Uther and Gaius in their unique ways. Okay, I want to stomp Uther in the butt for being so close minded, but he's actually a really nice father. Gaius is super chill and stole my heart after Chapter 1.4 - in the end where he helps Morgana out. Morgana stole my heart so I love everyone who's sweet towards Morgana.
- What is your favorite moment in the story, and what is your least favorite? Why?
The big 'Morgana is actually a witch'-reveal. Well, I think everybody had it somewhere in their mind, but when she really used her magic I was like "Yeahhhhhh, you go girl!"
- Where do you think the story is headed? Where would you like to see it go?
Merlin is going to come back at a very delicate time. WATCH MY WORDS.
VISUALS - What do you think about the pictures taken? I have a habit of showing close-ups to showcase their emotions. Are they too close, or do you like them this way?
I like all of your pictures! I'm always wondering "How?!" because yeah I just can't do that. It's good. Super good.
- What do you think about the size? They're now 1200 x 675, and 1100 x 612 in the next chapter. Are they too big?
I don't think that the photo's are too big.
- In TS3, we could tilt the camera to give dynamic angles to our pictures. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do that in TS4. Did they remove the option?
Have you tried hitting the shift-button? :') Idk that's how I always take my pictures. Hit shift-button, 'walk' around with WASD, changing angles with my mouse (I always have my computer mouse in the screen so I need to click until it's away and then I can move around as much as I want) and when I take a picture, I hit C.
Am I making sense with this?
- For purposes completely unrelated to the story *cough* I need magic. All the magic. Do you have any good CC for visual effects? Alternatively, is it worth buying the Realm of Magic game pack?
I have the Realm of Magic game pack and I'm using it for my SimLit 'Wizardry Academy' but I'm not really far enough in the story to let you know how the magic is shown . Now I'm wondering... How on earth did you do Morgana's magic?
MISC - The white pose statue and I are at war after I spawned him at the bottom of a pond by accident and forgot about him for a week. He has sworn watery revenge. I need allies. Are you with me, or against me?
I'm with you! That white pose statue likes to irritate me when I use it. It NEVER stands on the place where I want it.
- I like having my cast comment on things out-of-story. If you want, you can ask questions of them, and I'll write the answer from their POV (they may not be completely truthful, though )
Oof, I need to think about that but I'll give every character something soon! (I'm too lazy to think about it now and I still have a whole week hehe)
Oh wow, so many neighbors! I’m afraid I’m all the way at the other side of the earth and hemisphere. G’day mate! I’m in Australia. (GMT +9:30) No Dutch blood here.
Both, though I lean towards cats. My family used to have 5 dogs and 1 cat. All of them are strays we rescued from the streets. I used to be closer with my kitty until I developed cat allergies. After that it was hard for me to give her cuddles and kisses and she couldn’t understand why I can’t have her nap on my lap anymore.
- Okay, questions for realsies now. What are your general thoughts on the story so far?
Tales of Camelot is a very interesting story for me. It has solid characters with distinct personalities, an intriguing mystery and promising of a rich backstory (and story). The setting encourages witty dialogue and schemes which is something I personally enjoy. I find each child relatable and regardless of who’s pov is featured, I enjoy seeing through their eyes.
WRITING
- What do you think of my writing style? Are the sentences clear? Too short? Too long? Am I saying the same words repeatedly?
I enjoy your blend of narrative, dialogue and action. It doesn’t get too fast paced for the readers, nor is there too much narrative or dialogue. It is an excellent balance that moves the story along and keeps the readers engaged. I love your command of the language and you use it very well to deliver the plot, character motivations and feelings very well. The vocab you use is expansive so I don’t focus on repetition. Sentence length is irrelevant to me as long as it clearly conveys what you’re trying to say.
I also want to add that I find your narratives impressive, especially in regards to building the setting for readers to construct. There are pictures, but your descriptions are vivid and elaborate, hence even without them, I am able to imagine the setting and the players within it.
- I sometimes switch between points-of-view as the story is going on. Is this confusing to read? Should a writer stick with one pov, or is it all right to peek into multiple people's heads in the same chapter? What do you think?
Shifting perspectives is an important writing technique to build a relationship between the character and reader. As long as it is structured clearly within the chapter you can peek into several perspectives and readers will go along with it. IMO there is a time when it will be too much. When ‘head-hopping’, it is usually done with a purpose I.e. you want to show their backstory, inner thoughts/dilemma which is so so important for reader/character intimacy. If shown too many without connection to one another, it may come across as rushed, but if they both are dwelling on the same issue, or one causes the effect of the other, the story will flow seamlessly between the perspectives.
- My chapters tend to hover around 3,000 words, with some longer and some shorter. What do you think about the length? I sometimes have trouble hitting the right story beats with fewer words per chapter, but I realize that too long a chapter can overstay its welcome.
Length is relative so I will include my reading comforts at the end of this for comparison. I agree with you, too short a chapter and the reader isn’t fully immersed. Long chapters though are more forgiving because if the writer balances narrative/action well, long chapters will feel like too short chapters because the reader wants to go on. I.e a person may not be able to read beyond a paragraph of a dry textbook but can read an entire novel in one setting. (Meeee )
- My chapters hovers around 1300 - 1700 words, but I post 2 chapters at a time, so we have the same ish word count. As long as it is not entirely narrative and the plot/writing varies, readers are more likely to immerse themselves with solid writing than nitpick on number of words.
STORY - What do you think about the main characters (Arthur, Gawain, Morgana)?
Arthur, Gawain and Morgana’s characters are the richest and most fleshed out. (That’s why they’re the mains right?) I think I’ve gushed about Arthur and Gawain for the longest time so I’m not going to continue like a broken record and bore you to death. I’ll just do a summary and say that I really like how you’ve captured Arthur and Gawain’s perspectives, motivations, reservations and values. These are conveyed very clearly to me so I, the reader, find them relatable.
In one of my comments, I asked about Morgana because while she is the main character. I find her so endearing and lovely that I have not yet found a weakness in her. She is a perfect all-round character who isn’t too arrogant and isn’t too pure, considerate of others and a healthy trust/mistrust. A very good balance. There are no problems with characters like this, (There are so many like this too actually) but it does put Morgana at a disadvantage compared to Arthur and Gawain. To err is human and at this point, Morgana’s lack of weakness makes me unable to relate to her.
I can relate to wanting to be like her and I do like her, but I feel so much closer to Arthur and Gawain because I can imagine a time when I was just as arrogant, or just as pure at some point in my life, but not so much to being perfect. Especially when Morgana is a budding spellcaster, she is going to become quite an unstoppable force in the future. So to enrich her character, it’ll be good to portray her not in her best moments. It’ll be good for us too! Because once we know what is her kryptonite, readers will be actively looking out for it because we’re invested in her wellbeing and we don’t want her to get hurt like that again!
- What do you think about the side characters (Uther, Richard, Gaius)?
Hm.. My favourite side character so far is Richard. Uther is a character I love to hate because of what he did to Millicent (she’s a dang healer for watchers sake) and Merlin (a child!) He is the embodiment of modern day racism too. Granted his racism came from a tragic backstory involving his wife but of all the sins he could’ve developed, racism is the one vice I am completely intolerable of. We can all have prejudices and biases but for him to employ it on a national scale and hunt down innocent people, it’s not mere discrimination anymore. It’s ethnic oppression and committing genocide.
I like Richard because he is not fully fleshed out at all, just enough for us to know he’s a key player, but so much is left shrouded in mystery. He also doesn’t seem too malicious yet, and at this point of the story, the other kid’s wit/cuteness serves as a buffer that he might not be as bad as it seems. So he is a promising character that will present more lovely drama. This makes me (reader) look forward to his next appearance.
Gaius is taking the form of a protector role for me. He is a healer, an elder, has an innate desire to help others and is accepting of Millicent. He doesn’t scheme, but is wise enough to engage in deception when needed. He is a VERY important side character. We can’t have all schemy nasty characters. I also think he is the kind of character that MUST steer clear of the main conflict. There’s only imo, two outcomes for lovable characters like this: they stay away far enough and survive, or they are sacrificed.
- What is your favourite moment in the story, and what is your least favourite? Why?
Hmm… I love the lighthearted moments in the story. I also love how you put me on the edge when Gawain’s life was in jeopardy. Man you’re evil I don’t really have a least favourite moment at all. If have to point one out, Uther would be it because he and my personality clashes and I want to continue to hate him in ignorance so I don’t want to see his backstory. Hehe! Of course I’ll still read it but I’m happy you’re not showing it to us yet so I can justify my condemnation of his character.
- Where do you think the story is headed? Where would you like to see it go?
It goes into their teens and Richard looks like a promising young chap so. Arthur and Gawain are showing signs of brotherhood/good relations. Merlin is safe from harm so… Hi Romance! You can start budding now. Btw I have no idea about the orignal Camelot so I’m purely saying this of my own imagination.
I can forsee a battle/war coming. I’m worried for that. But it’s a natural progression of things. That masked figure and his band of shadiness will not stop at this hurdle either. They’re waiting for their time to strike so I assume Morgana will be in trouble again I only hope this time Gawain is more capable of handling himself against that assassin. I can see Gawain thinking of the assassin as he goes to bed every night. Making pure sincere promises to himself and Morgana that one day he’ll be able to protect her, Arthur and his kingdom. NOOOO, the powers that be usually sacrifice these beautiful souls!
VISUALS
- What do you think about the pictures taken? I have a habit of showing close-ups to showcase their emotions. Are they too close, or do you like them this way?
PFFFT I can’t answer you. Have you seen my pictures!!! Anyway, it’s important to have long shots/close ups/variety because each picture angle/distance conveys visual input to the readers. As you said, close up focuses on emotions, Mid range on relation/interaction between two or more characters and long shots to convey details of settings. Of course this is just a simple overview to camera positioning and is in no way absolute, but yes don’t worry about the nitty details of your readers liking it or not. If you don’t know this and are actively applying it, it shows you have a keep intuition on how to deliver/convey stories. Trust your gut.
- What do you think about the size? They're now 1200 x 675, and 1100 x 612 in the next chapter. Are they too big?
As long as they convey the message you want and do not have obstructions like blurriness. Or color contrast problems. I think you're worrying about obscure details again.
- In TS3, we could tilt the camera to give dynamic angles to our pictures. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do that in TS4. Did they remove the option?
Hmm.. I’m using a camera mod for my pictures. I don’t know if you find my photos ‘dynamic’ but you could try the mod. I can’t give you a good overview on this because I had this installed since forever so I’m not sure if there’s any difference between ingame default picture taking or this xD
- For purposes completely unrelated to the story *cough* I need magic. All the magic. Do you have any good CC for visual effects? Alternatively, is it worth buying the Realm of Magic game pack?
Depends on how you want your magic to look like. I wanted the magic in my story to be relatable to readers, hence I have ROM (it’s 50% off now) And I use ‘Studio Effects player’ mod to extract in-game special effects and pose them wherever I want. That’s how I used to construct all my magical scenes in my story. I only added small special effects like cracks in the shieds, but the shields themselves, the crimson beams, god rays, and devilish lightning balls are all in-game effects.
Edited to add that Natalie Auditore has an amazing amount of magic/fantasy CC. There's god rays, ring of fire, weather effects, shattered glass, just so much fantasy cc. Haven't used any but downloaded heaps and they are amazing! It's not very maxis match but give it a go.
MISC
- The white pose statue and I are at war after I spawned him at the bottom of a pond by accident and forgot about him for a week. He has sworn watery revenge. I need allies. Are you with me, or against me?
LOL. I have no words. But of course I’m with you! Let’s take em down!
- I like having my cast comment on things out-of-story. If you want, you can ask questions of them, and I'll write the answer from their POV (they may not be completely truthful, though )
Writing
What do you think of my writing style? Are the sentences clear? Too short? Too long? Am I saying the same words repeatedly? I love your writing style. It's easily readable and pulls me into the story immediately every time. I haven't noticed any word repetitions or anything, maybe some slight overseen mistakes but that doesn't bother me. I also feel like there's enough text with each picture. I don't like it when there's almost a full novel underneath one picture. It feels like the picture doesn't convey very much. So I like what you're doing. Keep doing it! 😂
I sometimes switch between points-of-view as the story is going on. Is this confusing to read? Should a writer stick with one pov, or is it all right to peek into multiple people's heads in the same chapter? What do you think? Huh. I hadn't noticed specifically. It doesn't happen within one scene, right? It's from one scene to the next? Because I think that's why it isn't confusing at all. We alternate between different scenes and as long as you don't shift between multiple characters without giving a clear indication, I think it'll stay fine. I think multiple POVs within one chapter is always good that way. It also gives us insight into more than one character which is fun.
My chapters tend to hover around 3,000 words, with some longer and some shorter. What do you think about the length? I sometimes have trouble hitting the right story beats with fewer words per chapter, but I realize that too long a chapter can overstay its welcome. Your chapters feel like they're the right length. This last one was longer than usual and I did notice that a bit, but I do enjoy your story so much I didn't particularly mind. 3.000 words overall seems like a good length. As long as there's some Arthur in it ( ).
Hmm, maybe I should add a third option of "neither" to the cats or dogs question, then
Your chapters feel like they're the right length. This last one was longer than usual and I did notice that a bit, but I do enjoy your story so much I didn't particularly mind. 3.000 words overall seems like a good length. As long as there's some Arthur in it ( ).
Thank you for the feedback! I'll try to keep an eye on not letting the chapters go on for too long. Looking forward to the rest of your feedback!
Dangit! I should have known Ninja is too strong a foe to defeat
Ehhhhhm, who's Richard again???? Is he that little black-haired boy? I even remember Agravaine more than Richard HAHAHAHAH oops.
Woops, maybe I should have put Agravaine on the banner instead of Richard, then Thank you for the feedback. He's a big driving force behind Morgana's behaviour in my mind, but in the story he's only appeared one time, so it's good to get a reader's perspective on this. Noted for the future!
Merlin is going to come back at a very delicate time. WATCH MY WORDS.
Are you a mind reader, too?
Have you tried hitting the shift-button? :') Idk that's how I always take my pictures. Hit shift-button, 'walk' around with WASD, changing angles with my mouse (I always have my computer mouse in the screen so I need to click until it's away and then I can move around as much as I want) and when I take a picture, I hit C.
Wait, shift is still a thing? I'm going to try that when I'm done with work today. Thanks for the tip!
Now I'm wondering... How on earth did you do Morgana's magic?
Adobe fireworks, random sparkly effects from the internets and a lot of frustration It was the game version of a person on set being told to put out their arm with the special effects guy going "It'll look awesome later! I promise!"
I'm with you! That white pose statue likes to irritate me when I use it. It NEVER stands on the place where I want it.
Yes! First ally obtained!
Oof, I need to think about that but I'll give every character something soon! (I'm too lazy to think about it now and I still have a whole week hehe)
Okay! I look forward to it
@mercuryfoam Haha, don't worry about it. You can be our honorary far-away neighbour
Shifting perspectives is an important writing technique to build a relationship between the character and reader. As long as it is structured clearly within the chapter you can peek into several perspectives and readers will go along with it. IMO there is a time when it will be too much. When ‘head-hopping’, it is usually done with a purpose I.e. you want to show their backstory, inner thoughts/dilemma which is so so important for reader/character intimacy. If shown too many without connection to one another, it may come across as rushed, but if they both are dwelling on the same issue, or one causes the effect of the other, the story will flow seamlessly between the perspectives.
Thank you for your perspective! I've seen people divide chapters into two parts before - one from the perspective of A, and one from B, while they go through the same event. That's an interesting way of doing it too, but I always end up skipping through parts of B because we already know what happened from the last chapter.
In one of my comments, I asked about Morgana because while she is the main character. I find her so endearing and lovely that I have not yet found a weakness in her. She is a perfect all-round character who isn’t too arrogant and isn’t too pure, considerate of others and a healthy trust/mistrust. A very good balance. There are no problems with characters like this, (There are so many like this too actually) but it does put Morgana at a disadvantage compared to Arthur and Gawain. To err is human and at this point, Morgana’s lack of weakness makes me unable to relate to her.
I can relate to wanting to be like her and I do like her, but I feel so much closer to Arthur and Gawain because I can imagine a time when I was just as arrogant, or just as pure at some point in my life, but not so much to being perfect. Especially when Morgana is a budding spellcaster, she is going to become quite an unstoppable force in the future. So to enrich her character, it’ll be good to portray her not in her best moments. It’ll be good for us too! Because once we know what is her kryptonite, readers will be actively looking out for it because we’re invested in her wellbeing and we don’t want her to get hurt like that again!
Thank you for bringing up Morgana. Her flaws are very clear in my head, but you're right that they haven't really shown themselves in the story yet. I'll keep that in mind, and try to show them a little clearer in future chapters.
It goes into their teens and Richard looks like a promising young chap so. Arthur and Gawain are showing signs of brotherhood/good relations. Merlin is safe from harm so… Hi Romance! You can start budding now. Btw I have no idea about the orignal Camelot so I’m purely saying this of my own imagination.
Haha, I see that most of the future ships will probably be coming from you There's definitely potential for it though, yeah! That reminds me, I have no idea how medieval courtship works. Better read up on that before they turn into teenagers.
I think you're worrying about obscure details again.
I know figured it couldn't hurt to ask, hehe.
Hmm.. I’m using a camera mod for my pictures. I don’t know if you find my photos ‘dynamic’ but you could try the mod. I can’t give you a good overview on this because I had this installed since forever so I’m not sure if there’s any difference between ingame default picture taking or this xD
Oooh, there's a whole mod for that? I'm going to try Skeilah's suggestion first tonight, but if that doesn't work, I'll definitely check it out!
LOL. I have no words. But of course I’m with you! Let’s take em down!
Hahaa, two allies! Statue won't know what hit it.
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
My great great grandmother was born in the Netherlands. I asked my mom and she thinks she lived in Limberg Province before she emigrated to England to marry my great great grandfather. So I'm only like one-sixteenth Dutch on one side of my family.
G'day, @mercuryfoam! I have several other Simming friends from Australia and New Zealand. No DNA though.
What do you think about the main characters (Arthur, Gawain, Morgana)? As you know, Arthur is my favourite. I started out disliking him, but I can honestly appreciate the arrogance. I can see there's a nice boy underneath all of that but I love the attitude. He feels like he has the most personality to him and I love it when his good side comes out. I wonder what he'll be like as an adult. I genuinely hope he doesn't lose that arrogance. It suits him.
Gawain is the purest boy out there. Sometimes even naive. I love the relationship he's forming with Arthur. I hope they get a good friendship out of it, going over into adulthood. I like how he wants to be a soldier and how he's willing to work hard for it. He seems like an honest guy who sticks up for the people he loves and doesn't want anyone to get hurt. He's a little cutie and I treasure him.
So far, Morgana is my least favourite but that doesn't mean I don't like her. I sense she has a darker side to her and I'm waiting for that to fully come out. She comes across as manipulative at times, like when she met Richard. I'm excited to see more of her interacting with him by the way. That could be an intriguing relationship. I also feel like she has an anger to her which I think we'll see much more of in the future. I like my characters on the darker side, so I love it when they show me that. Although I can appreciate Gawain too!
What do you think about the side characters (Uther, Richard, Gaius)? Just like with Arthur, I started out not liking Uther but ever since we saw him worry about Arthur when he was cursed I appreciate him more. I get that he's a king trying to do what he thinks is right. I don't agree with eradicating magic and killing people for it, but we did get a little bit of backstory concerning that. It looks like magic took everything from him and it made him bitter. So I can see his motivations for what he's doing, although I don't agree with the way he's going about it. His character is growing on me.
Richard is the most fascinating out of the bunch. I'm so excited to see more of him. He came across as a little gentleman, but then he started spewing these secrets he knew about towards Morgana and I just want to know how he knew all of that. Does he have his own spy? Almost seems like it. Another dark character, it feels like. I do want to get to know him better. He intrigues me.
Gaius seems nice so far. He's definitely a magic sympathizer. I feel bad about Meredith being killed. It seemed like he was close with her and it lead to him being alone to heal people. It must have frustrated him immensely when he couldn't heal Arthur and knew a magic user could do it. I admire him for trying so hard anyway. I also like how he is keeping Morgana's secret, although I do have a bad feeling about it. The less people know about her secret, the better. I hope Gaius keeps his mouth shut under any circumstance.
I feel like Agravaine deserves a spot in this row and to be talked about, so I will. I find him a funny character, how he doesn't like kids and he feels overwhelmed by his work all the time. He gave great advice to Arthur in the chapel and it made him do the right thing which I can appreciate. He was very stern about it and I think that's what Arthur needed in that moment. They encountered each other at the right time. I think it's especially the way Agravaine dislikes kids which makes him talk so maturely and adult-like to them. I don't like baby-talk and I've always been about being as mature as possible with a child, so I like the way Agravaine goes about it similarly. No babying.
What is your favourite moment in the story, and what is your least favourite? Why? My favourite moment/chapter has to be the one where Arthur is trying to be good at everything and failing miserably. It was a good laugh and I think also a good lesson for the prince. I was also fond of the moment where Arthur ran into Morgana's room and asked her to hide him because the servants were trying to cut his hair. That one made me laugh too.
I don't think I have a least favourite moment. I can't pinpoint one exactly.
Where do you think the story is headed? Where would you like to see it go? I'm horrible with predictions. I can only make the obvious ones. Morgana's magic is going to play a bigger role and we're going to see more of the escaped kidnapper.
What I would like to see is a descent into the darkness. Morgana's magic spiraling out of control and falling out with Uther. Richard getting to know Morgana's secret and blackmailing her with it. Basically anything that makes the characters miserable. It feels realistic when they get out of it on the other side and have couple (mental and/or physical) scars to prove it.
Visuals
What do you think about the pictures taken? I have a habit of showing close-ups to showcase their emotions. Are they too close, or do you like them this way? I love your pictures. I think they showcase what's going on perfectly. I'm especially a fan of the close-ups. I always take a second longer to actually look at your pictures before I move on to the next part.
What do you think about the size? They're now 1200 x 675, and 1100 x 612 in the next chapter. Are they too big? I didn't notice the differing size of them at all. I think it helps that you post on a blog and not in a forum thread here. They look great on your blog!
In TS3, we could tilt the camera to give dynamic angles to our pictures. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do that in TS4. Did they remove the option? I can't seem to figure out how the TS4 camera works so I went back to the TS3 camera options and I can tilt the camera with my middle mouse button. Or is that not what you mean?
For purposes completely unrelated to the story *cough* I need magic. All the magic. Do you have any good CC for visual effects? Alternatively, is it worth buying the Realm of Magic game pack? I don't use visual effects mods and I haven't use the ROM pack very much. If you want more magic visuals, ROM is probably your best bet.
JI feel like Agravaine deserves a spot in this row and to be talked about, so I will. I find him a funny character, how he doesn't like kids and he feels overwhelmed by his work all the time. He gave great advice to Arthur in the chapel and it made him do the right thing which I can appreciate. He was very stern about it and I think that's what Arthur needed in that moment. They encountered each other at the right time. I think it's especially the way Agravaine dislikes kids which makes him talk so maturely and adult-like to them. I don't like baby-talk and I've always been about being as mature as possible with a child, so I like the way Agravaine goes about it similarly. No babying.
Oh dear, I totally forgot about Agravaine in the questions! I had a feeling I was leaving out something, but to forget the entire church? Woops. Sorry, Vainey. Thank you for including him! I''m on the same page as you about talking maturely to children, as long as it's not subjects they really aren't developed enough to handle yet. You actually see that a lot - if it's a person who babies them vs a person who treats them like a capable human, kids usually end up liking that second person the most!
I'm horrible with predictions. I can only make the obvious ones. Morgana's magic is going to play a bigger role and we're going to see more of the escaped kidnapper.
What I would like to see is a descent into the darkness. Morgana's magic spiraling out of control and falling out with Uther. Richard getting to know Morgana's secret and blackmailing her with it. Basically anything that makes the characters miserable. It feels realistic when they get out of it on the other side and have couple (mental and/or physical) scars to prove it.
I like the way you think I love it when characters go through hardships, so there's absolutely going to be a bunch of that in the future!
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
The white pose statue and I are at war after I spawned him at the bottom of a pond by accident and forgot about him for a week. He has sworn watery revenge. I need allies. Are you with me, or against me? Wow, how rude. I'm with you!
I like having my cast comment on things out-of-story. If you want, you can ask questions of them, and I'll write the answer from their POV. Yes, all the questions for Arthur.
How do you imagine yourself ruling the kingdom one day?
Would you describe your relationship with Gawain as a friendship?
Did you come to terms with the fact that you'll never be able to excel in everything?
Do you sometimes long for a peasant life, a life of freedom?
I also have a discussion question for the group. How would you write a nuanced morally grey villain, a villain with a soft side? You don't want people to dislike them outright. You want to create some likability so it's hard to hold on to a grudge even though you really want to. He/she does some evil stuff one moment, but shows a vulnerability you can't ignore the next. How do you write someone like this in a subtle way so it doesn't seem wildly out of character?
I also have a discussion question for the group. How would you write a nuanced morally grey villain, a villain with a soft side? You don't want people to dislike them outright. You want to create some likability so it's hard to hold on to a grudge even though you really want to. He/she does some evil stuff one moment, but shows a vulnerability you can't ignore the next. How do you write someone like this in a subtle way so it doesn't seem wildly out of character?
Hmm… you could make it a villain whose intentions are noble, and whose goals could even align with the hero’s, but who completely goes overboard on the means to get there. Or you could have them develop a relationship with the hero, either before or during the story, that endears the reader to them.
Or it could be someone you follow from the beginning, and slowly twist into being the villain of the story through events that happen to them. A lot of people aren’t inherently evil, but become that way. There’s Darth Vader from Star Wars, but Buddy from the Incredibles also comes to mind (though that one’s way more over-the-top, I guess xD)
Maybe someone whose goals are opposite to the hero’s, but there’s such a relatable side to their “side” that you end up understanding where they’re coming from? I’m thinking of Magneto in X-men as an example.
It’s difficult, though. If you write them as too likeable, the reader may no longer want to see them fall, or even root for the villain instead of the hero. Which can be interesting if that’s what you’re going for.
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
I also have a discussion question for the group. How would you write a nuanced morally grey villain, a villain with a soft side? You don't want people to dislike them outright. You want to create some likability so it's hard to hold on to a grudge even though you really want to. He/she does some evil stuff one moment, but shows a vulnerability you can't ignore the next. How do you write someone like this in a subtle way so it doesn't seem wildly out of character?
This is a cool exercise. I’ll try.
If I am crafting a morally grey victim, I’d flesh him out as thoroughly as my mains and make sure he’s a complex character. Complex that he’s neither good or bad. His ideals/character/beliefs may clash with the main character, but depending on the situation, they can be good traits to have. I’d then craft conflicts/argumentative scenes to convey him/her in both good and bad light.
An example would be a cop hell bent on justice. He’s sharp-minded, hardened, merciless and unforgiving. He’s a protagonist to the people, but an antagonist for his son. Every interaction they have is laced with brutal coldness, unacceptance, and merciless discipline. I think no one is inherently good or evil. So as long as the villian’s backstory, motivation and qualities are conveyed clearly to me, I’ll sympathise with the villian. If not, I’ll at least know where he/she’s coming from and respect his/her position, even if I don’t necessarily agree with it.
It’s difficult, though. If you write them as too likeable, the reader may no longer want to see them fall, or even root for the villain instead of the hero. Which can be interesting if that’s what you’re going for.
Ahh I think you should pat yourself on the back if you make a villian likeable/respectable. The villian is the person who will make your hero shine. If he's likeable, your hero has to prove themselves more. It's 2am in the morning so I can't think of any more common examples, but Colonel Jessup from 'A few good men' comes to mind. For the entire movie I hated this guy, but this one scene I linked here made me understand him so completely that I have to begrudgingly respect him as a good villian and sympathise his position. (Though for the purpose of this discussion he is nowhere near 'soft' villian) But I like him as the villian.
@Duvelina
Here are the answers to your questions! I had a little too much fun with it
“Okay, Arthur, I have some questions for you from our readers.” “Of course you do. I knew I had fans. Didn’t doubt that for a second.”
“How do you imagine yourself ruling the kingdom one day?” “Just like father, of course! I know he’s strict, but he’s a great king, and I’m going to be just like him. Did you know that we haven’t had a famine in almost five years? Father did that. And he’s always arresting criminals, too. When I’m king, I’m going to rule just like he did, so he can be proud of me.” “Well... maybe I’ll be a little less harsh against sorcerers. Maybe we don’t have to kill them for it. We could banish them, or something.”
“…don’t tell father I said that.”
“Okay, next one. Would you describe your relationship with Gawain as a friendship?” “Friendship? Pffft! Nobles can’t be friends with commoners, everybody knows that. I’m just spending time with him because I promised. It has nothing to do with friendship.”
“Are you sure? Because you looked like you were having a lot of fun talking with him the other day.” “S-shut up! It’s not like that – he was just teaching me about wood carving, is all! It’s fun to listen to. And we spend time together after sword practice sometimes. It’s not a big deal. He’s just amusing to talk to.”
“That sounds a lot like friendship to me.”
“Shut up, Watcher. It’s not like I care if we’re friends or anything.”
“Whatever you say, Arthur. Whatever you say.”
“One more. Did you come to terms with the fact that you’ll never be able to excel in everything?” “Yeah, I guess so. I thought that you had to be able to do anything as the king, but I guess that’s too hard for anyone. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t excel in everything, you know. I just have to be picky about what I choose to be good at. I can already carve proper shapes. Morgana’s birthday is in another month or so, and I’m going to try and carve a dragon for her. I know I can do it. It’s not hard. This’ll be a piece of cake. I think I just have a natural talent for it, like sword fighting.”
“…You do realize I’m the Watcher, don’t you? I’ve seen you in your room at night. You’re practicing until your hands bleed.”
“S-shut up! 🐸🐸🐸🐸 it, You’re ruining my image!”
“Last one, Arthur. Do you sometimes long for a peasant life, a life of freedom?” “What do you mean? Peasants aren’t free. They have to work the fields for us, or make things, or work as servants in the castle if they can talk proper. Father turns a lot of them into soldiers, too. They can’t do whatever they want. I can do a lot more than they can. No, if I wanted to be totally free, I’d just switch places with Morgana.”
“Morgana?” “Well, yeah. I can do a lot, but father still forces me to study and train because I’m going to be king someday. He never lets me do whatever I want all the time. But she’s the princess, so she doesn’t have to do anything. And father lets her do whatever she wants. She can just play cards with him all the time, or take walks, or whatever it is she does all day.”
“You don’t think Morgana has restrictions?”
“Pfft! Of course she doesn’t! She’s the princess. She can do whatever she wants until father marries her off, and then she can do whatever she wants there. What restrictions could she possibly have?”
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
Misc.
I also have a discussion question for the group. How would you write a nuanced morally grey villain, a villain with a soft side? You don't want people to dislike them outright. You want to create some likability so it's hard to hold on to a grudge even though you really want to. He/she does some evil stuff one moment, but shows a vulnerability you can't ignore the next. How do you write someone like this in a subtle way so it doesn't seem wildly out of character?
Ooooof, hard one. I may agree with Yimi when she said "make it a villain whose intentions are noble". People always think that they're the good side, even if the majority doesn't think that. I would make someone who thinks that what he/she's doing is the right thing, although everyone keeps telling him/her to stop. I'll also use multiple points of view: the villain with a soft side & someone who doesn't agree with him/her. That way you can see what both are thinking.
@Skeilah@_sims_Yimi@mercuryfoam Thank you for the replies. These will come in handy later on in my story. Because of your answers, I also started thinking about TV shows that included characters I'd aspire to write. One of those characters is Klaus from The Vampire Diaries/The Originals. I think he's an amazing villain/antagonist because I've always kept liking him even though he does horrendous things. I think it's because he indeed believes he has the best intentions and that his intentions are the only right ones. It helps that his intentions are always to serve and do right by his family (although they might view it differently). He has such emotional depth and I would want to be able to write someone so real in his emotions (even though he's a vampire and couldn't possibly be real).
@_sims_Yimi I love the answers and how you took pictures with it. Such a creative way of doing things. Now I wish the others asked questions too. 😂 I'd love to see the other characters discuss their story like Arthur did. The hypocrisy from Arthur on the last question though. Pretty amazing.
Hi everyone, I'm slowly reading. I promise I'm still here and I'm looking forward to answering all the questions. I've got a bit of a stomach bug and migraine. I've been home from work for two days but I'm finally feeling better. Loving your story, @_sims_Yimi's and everyone's been asking cool questions. I hope to catch up this weekend.
Hi everyone, I'm slowly reading. I promise I'm still here and I'm looking forward to answering all the questions. I've got a bit of a stomach bug and migraine. I've been home from work for two days but I'm finally feeling better. Loving your story, @_sims_Yimi's and everyone's been asking cool questions. I hope to catch up this weekend.
Don't worry about it! Stomach bugs are the worst. I had one just the other week, so I know how much it sucks I hope you feel better soon. Just take it easy and maybe try stay away from bright screens if they make your migraine worse.
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
@AdamsEve1231 I hope you're feeling better soon! No worries about taking your time reading♥
I've also been kind of absent from the discussion this week because I've had a lot of work (housework and work-work, haha), but I've been lurking and reading y'all's discussion about Tales of Camelot and other questions, and I've been itching to get into it. It's fascinating to see all your points.
@_sims_Yimi OK, I'm all caught up so let's get into all this goodness~
GENERAL
- Cats or dogs?
This is such a hard question! I'm more naturally into cats because I'm just a cat person through and through, but I actually currently only have a doggie and no cats. When I'm at my parents' home I love being with their cat, but at my own home in France I only have a doggo that I'm 100% in love with. It was so hard for me to consider getting a dog because I'm not a dog person per se, but I can't imagine not having my lil' Pickle Princess nearby (my dog's name is Pickle, haha). So maybe I'm not really a dog person... but more a Pickle person?
What are your general thoughts on the story so far?
I tend to gush about your story in comments on your blog and in your thread, but really, it's that good. All the different elements of the story come together so well. The writing, the story plot itself, the character development, THE FLAWLESS IMAGES, everything. You weave all these elements together with mastery to create an immersive story that I'm really, truly enjoying so far.
WRITING
- What do you think of my writing style? Are the sentences clear? Too short? Too long? Am I saying the same words repeatedly?
I enjoy your writing style very much. To me, the way you write is very effective for the story you're telling. Even though I'm only reading and not hearing it, it's like I'm hearing someone tell me an epic story. The sentences are clear, your paragraphs are well-written, and I don't think I've noticed any of them being too long or too short. I usually go back and read a chapter twice before commenting, but it's never because any part of the story was unclear in your writing. I also haven't noticed any sort of repetitive language because you have and utilize a very large vocabulary. You're very good at writing and that makes the story a very satisfying read.
- I sometimes switch between points-of-view as the story is going on. Is this confusing to read? Should a writer stick with one pov, or is it all right to peek into multiple people's heads in the same chapter? What do you think?
I don't think that a story should necessarily only focus on one POV in a chapter. More often than not, only having information from a single character makes the story feel slightly shallow (not always, but in many cases). I haven't felt that in ToC. There are some chapters where you focus on a single character but also add thoughts and POVs from other characters and this fleshes out the story and makes it more interesting for me. I don't think it's confusing at all, you present it in such a way that it makes the story intricate, but your writing is so clear and expressive that it's never confusing for me when you switch to another character's POV. I particularly love when you give minor characters moments to shine (like, the iconic section in 1.6 where poor Sarah is excited for her night only to have to cancel it because of Arthur's shenanigans... that was amazing and a very welcome humorous section in the story). Without this, I think the story would be less immersive for me. I want to feel like I'm a part of the universe, and having thoughts from an array of characters makes this easy!
- My chapters tend to hover around 3,000 words, with some longer and some shorter. What do you think about the length? I sometimes have trouble hitting the right story beats with fewer words per chapter, but I realize that too long a chapter can overstay its welcome.
I am NOT the one to discuss chapter length, because my "episodes" tend to be behemoths and I'm obviously not very good at having the restraint to make them shorter or divide them into shorter parts. However, I will say that I've never felt that your chapters are too long. More often than not, I think to myself "no! it's over already??", and this is because you have just the right amount of story in your chapters. The length for me is irrelevant because the story contained in each chapter is well structured, detailed, and developed.
STORY
- What do you think about the main characters (Arthur, Gawain, Morgana)?
I could spend hours discussing why I think each of the main characters is excellent. They each have their moments, and you've taken great care to make sure they're detailed and deep characters. As I said before, I was familiar with their names because of the legends but I've never taken the time to read almost anything about them, and yet now I feel like their stories ARE the ones you tell.
Here's what I think about the characters individually: Morgana is a very sympathetic main character. I love her spirit, and I think she's an excellent heroine for the story. I particularly love seeing that you've not held back on detailing her emotions about the things that happen. I particularly love that her naturally inquisitive nature and desire to help and know about things that affect her can and most likely will lead her into very difficult situations (spying on Richard, helping Merlin escape, investigating the May Day incident), but she's been developed so fully in these chapters so far that I can't help but cheer her on even when it's obvious that she's going to get in trouble. I'm also very excited to see what's going to happen in the future with her powers. Gawain, well, he's the best boy and I love him. He's naturally a very positive character because he provides a good insight into the things that the "powerful" characters are lacking, mainly empathy, humility, certain everyday skills, etc. It's so easy to root for him because the things he does are motivated by a desire to better himself and not by greed, envy, pride, or anything of the sort. I love him! Finally, Arthur... well, it's no secret that I was not a fan for a while, but you've done a wonderful job of humanizing him and making me feel.... sympathy?!... for Arthur?! Yes, he's snooty, vain, and insufferable, but you've shown us that he's also not infallible; his greed has gotten him into very difficult situations (the poisoning), plus he's insecure and more than a little concerned that he's not perfect. I think his relationship with Gawain is going to help a lot, though I can imagine that it's going to be difficult for him to truly tone down his unsavory tendencies. But it can happen, and I believe it because he's well-written!
Side-note, but I adored his little interview with the Watcher. I loved that. He's a little snot-nosed 🐸🐸🐸🐸 but in such a human and vulnerable way, we love to see it.
- What do you think about the side characters (Uther, Richard, Gaius)?
They're not as fleshed out as the main characters, obviously, but I still feel like we've gotten nice windows into their minds and motivations. Well, mostly. Some of them remain mysteries because the story dictates it, but that's what I love about a good epic story. We know a lot about everyone but there are always more mysteries to uncover. You give us just enough about the side characters to keep us guessing about where the story could go. It's excellent.
Here are some brief thoughts about the side characters so far:
-Uther: I can see where Arthur got most of his unsavory traits. He's insufferable, but also human and I can't help but feel a little sympathy for him, especially when he talks about Ygraine and when he interacts with his children.
-Agravaine: I'm excited to see what his role will be in the story. So far he hasn't had much of a role, but I just know you're setting something up and it's going to be exciting.
-Gaius: I like his role in the story so far, and I was happy to learn about his stance on magic. I wonder if his knowing about Morgana's powers is going to come up later.
-Ygraine: I want to know more about her! Uther's flashbacks were a highlight of the story for me, and I want to know more about Ygraine!
-Richard: Snot-nosed little s***. But interesting.
-Merlin: (Is he a side character? I feel like eventually he's going to be a main character but for now his role isn't too developed) Again, I want to know more! I can't wait for he and Morgana to grow up and find each other again. I want to know what's happened to him so far.
-Helios: Dark, mysterious, and handsome... I'm excited to see what his spying will lead to.
-Sarah: Iconic. I stan.
- What is your favourite moment in the story, and what is your least favourite? Why?
If I had to choose a moment that made me laugh, and you can guess, it's Sarah's little section in 1.6. I just really, really love side characters getting humorous little moments like this, and that was wonderful. Stan Sarah! But if I had to choose a moment that is relevant to the main plot, I think I have two that are related to each other: first, when Arthur's greed leads him to get poisoned by eating the honey cake. I think having such a horrible consequence by indulging this flaw was instrumental in me turning my opinion about Arthur around. Second moment: when the hints about Morgana being magical are confirmed when she breaks the curse in Arthur. That was exciting and suspenseful, a really great moment in the story.
Least favorite? I guess I'd have to choose this one, not because it's a bad moment in the writing because it's not, it's fantastically written, but because it was difficult to read. When Gawain is willing to fight to the death against the shady man kidnapping Morgana, that was so hard to read! It was exciting and powerful, but I was horrified that it seemed that Gawain was going to die at the hands of this evil man. Calling it my least favorite makes it sound like I don't like that section of the story, but I absolutely do, so this might be a useless answer
- Where do you think the story is headed? Where would you like to see it go?
I think there's so much still to learn. In only seven (eight? Including the prologue) chapters you've set up so many mysteries that have yet to unfold. I'm up to 1.7, and the amount of plot yet to happen has me all abuzz with excitement. The things I'm most excited about: Morgana's storylines involving spying on Richard of Nemeth, the development of her powers, and her investigation of the May Day incident; Arthur and Gawain's unfolding friendship; and Merlin's eventual return. As to what I think will happen, and this is just guessing, but I'm pretty sure Morgana is going to be horrified about what she's going to find out in her investigation of Ada's death, and this revelation is going to get her in big trouble and she's going to have awful thoughts about her father. I can imagine Arthur and Gawain are going to have very difficult moments in the future, as well. It can't all be flowers and cakes and bunny carvings, and even though they're slowly getting to like each other (as much as Arthur denies it), they're massively different and this is going to lead to lots of tension.
Where would I like to see it go? Honestly @_sims_Yimi I couldn't answer this truthfully, because I'm truly on the ride that your story has me on, and while I anticipate and expect some things to happen, I don't particularly have any desires about where I want the plot to go. This is to say, I'm under your spell and I'm just dying to learn more about the story you are telling.
VISUALS
- What do you think about the pictures taken? I have a habit of showing close-ups to showcase their emotions. Are they too close, or do you like them this way?
No, no, no. They are not too close! I love them. I think the variety of shots you have really showcases the visual beauty of the story you're telling. I can't compliment you enough on the quality of your visual storytelling; even though your story would still be excellent without any sort of visual aid, the images are lush, detailed, dark when they need to be, and beautiful. I haven't thought for a second that any images are unnecessary.
- What do you think about the size? They're now 1200 x 675, and 1100 x 612 in the next chapter. Are they too big?
When I'm on your blog they're quite large but this doesn't bother me at all. When I'm in the Wordpress reader they're scaled down anyway, so the size of your images is fine. In fact, having them be so large really helps if at any point I want to zoom in to see the details in the background, and since your sets are so detailed this happens quite frequently, so the large size is actually helpful.
- In TS3, we could tilt the camera to give dynamic angles to our pictures. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do that in TS4. Did they remove the option?
I can't really answer this, but when I take screenshots I use the Tab mode, + or- to zoom in and out, Q and E to go up and down, and then the mouse to change the angle, and this works pretty well for me to find some dynamic angles for my screenshots. Not that I think your pictures aren't dynamic, because they totally are.
- For purposes completely unrelated to the story *cough* I need magic. All the magic. Do you have any good CC for visual effects? Alternatively, is it worth buying the Realm of Magic game pack?
This I definitely cannot answer! I don't use magic in my game, sadly. My Sims game has been fully consumed with my story and since that's based on "reality" I haven't played around with magic yet. Your story makes me really itch to play something more fantastical, though...
MISC
- The white pose statue and I are at war after I spawned him at the bottom of a pond by accident and forgot about him for a week. He has sworn watery revenge. I need allies. Are you with me, or against me?
I am completely with you. That statue needs to be knocked down a few pegs! Down with the statue!
- I like having my cast comment on things out-of-story. If you want, you can ask questions of them, and I'll write the answer from their POV (they may not be completely truthful, though )
Oooooh, I love this. Especially seeing since Arthur's answer special was so beautifully done! Let's see:
Morgana: what do you think you'll learn from your various investigations (into Richard, the May Day incident, etc.)? Do you really think you should be opening those cans of worms? Where do you think Merlin is? Do you think magic is truly bad or are you only afraid of your powers because of your father's stance on them? And finally, are you going to give our girl Sarah some more time off? Girl needs it! (kii at these basic questions, but I just had to ask~~)
Sorry if this is a huge barrage of thoughts! I have a lot of feelings about your wonderful story
I also have a discussion question for the group. How would you write a nuanced morally grey villain, a villain with a soft side? You don't want people to dislike them outright. You want to create some likability so it's hard to hold on to a grudge even though you really want to. He/she does some evil stuff one moment, but shows a vulnerability you can't ignore the next. How do you write someone like this in a subtle way so it doesn't seem wildly out of character?
I loved this question! Discussion questions like this are really useful for my writing. When it comes to my story, I have had a few villains but I never want to make them too evil because... well, because I like creating stories where everything has a reason for being, and my villains all have more to them than just being rude, or mean, or evil. If I think about my villains, I can think of a few (and no spoilers since we haven't discussed my story yet); an immature womanizer, an insensitive and catty drama queen, a rude wannabe mastermind, and a truly dark character, and they each get some sort of moment where they're seen as not just evil. I try to do this in a way that seems natural and, as you say, not out of character. My story develops mostly in real time (as set by the story), but there are special chapters where I go beyond the main story and I try to use these as a way to add depth to the personalities seen in the main story. This is where I like to slowly add nuance to characters, especially ones that aren't as likable. I think that this can be achieved by giving insight into why the evil characters do what they do or by showing some sort of vulnerability or insecurity that could explain their actions, and this can be done by writing sections where the characters are fleshed out. Though this doesn't necessarily absolve them of their bad actions, knowing more about their stories is a natural way of having sympathy for them even while still disliking them. And I think this is way more effective than having, say, a main "good" character asking for sympathy for an "evil" one or by having the "evil" one somehow taking a 180 turn; it's cool if someone expresses sympathy for or doubt about an evil character's nuances, but it's even better (for me) when the readers can judge this for themselves by including writing that can humanize the evil characters.
Sometimes this works, I think, and sometimes it doesn't! But I think having more details about someone can help in our perception of them. I'm no expert by any means, so I'm not sure if this is truly an effective way of writing a nuanced, morally grey character, but it's something that makes me more open to them and I try to include this in my writing.
Ermagewd, I’m so happy with your detailed answers! Thank you for taking the time to write it all out =D
So maybe I'm not really a dog person... but more a Pickle person?
I demand Pickle Pictures! Here’s one of my cats to make it fair ^^
I particularly love when you give minor characters moments to shine (like, the iconic section in 1.6 where poor Sarah is excited for her night only to have to cancel it because of Arthur's shenanigans... that was amazing and a very welcome humorous section in the story).
Thank you for letting me know! I was in doubt on whether to add that or leave it on the cutting room floor to make room for the main cast, so I’m glad that you’re enjoying the minor bits ^^
Morgana is a very sympathetic main character. I love her spirit, and I think she's an excellent heroine for the story.
Question! Since the latest chapter focused exclusively on her, do you have an idea of what her flaws are? @mercuryfoam made the correct observation that her traits and flaws weren’t that fleshed out yet in previous chapters, so I was wondering if the latest one changed that.
Finally, Arthur... well, it's no secret that I was not a fan for a while, but you've done a wonderful job of humanizing him and making me feel.... sympathy?!... for Arthur?!
“Ha! I knew you couldn’t resist me for long.”
-Richard: Snot-nosed little s***.
HAHAHAHAHA. I’ll let him know XDDDDD
When Gawain is willing to fight to the death against the shady man kidnapping Morgana, that was so hard to read! It was exciting and powerful, but I was horrified that it seemed that Gawain was going to die at the hands of this evil man.
There was a moment during the picture taking where I had Gawain on the bridge, and the man posing to strike at him. That picture when he’s suddenly right next to his face. You know the one. I didn’t know he was going to look so menacing, and it legitimately surprised me, especially because there was an in-game lightning strike right at that moment that illuminated his face 0.o The close-up one of his face while holding a sword over Gawain was like that, too. It’s like the in-game sim knew what was happening and wanted to give a good show 0.o
Okay, one more from me before I get to the questions part. This one is for everyone that wants to chip in. The legend of Arthur is, among other things, a tragedy. There are some very dark parts in it. I can axe some of them, but a few you can’t get rid of without breaking the story. I’ll never show anything of a graphic nature and most of it will be implied indirectly, but what do you think about the disclaimers on chapter 1.7 and 1.3?
"Okay, we’ve got some more questions from a reader! Let’s get-"
“Wait. Watcher, why are you in your pyjamas?”
"…I’m not. This is a blouse."
“With pyjama bottoms. And… are those Christmas socks?”
Hey, don’t judge my Christmas socks. We’re in quarantine, this is my work outfit now. Nobody can see my Christmas socks during a Zoom meeting, anyway. “What’s 'Zoom'?”
"OKAY, let’s move on! First-"
“Nuh-uh! If you’re in pyjamas, I get to be in pyjamas, too. This dress is itchy.”
“You’re a sim. You don’t get itchy.” “I do too. Let me change.”
“Ugh… fine. Hang on.”
"There. Happy now?" “Yup!”
"Okay, first question. What do you think you'll learn from your various investigations (into Richard, the May Day incident, etc.)? Do you really think you should be opening those cans of worms?"
“Richard knew exactly what to say to get to me back during the ball. I don’t know if he paid a servant to spy, but I want to find out what I need to say to get to him. It doesn’t have to be really big. Just something to give me an edge. Maybe he has a crush on a noble girl. Maybe he’s into boys. Any secrets he doesn’t want people to know about work, too. Or maybe he’s really scared of the dark, or can’t deal with small rooms, or maybe there’s an animal he is afraid of?”
"Oh, yeah… speaking of which, aren’t you terrified of-"
“THANK YOU, Watcher! Next topic!”
"All right. There’s still May Day. What do you expect to find?”
“I don’t know. A criminal to have my father arrest, I hope. But it bothers me. If I lost someone important to me to a murderer, I’d want to see them brought to justice, too. I’m sure that peasant man feels the same way. He doesn’t have anyone left… and he doesn’t even have closure for Ada. No wonder he still cries. I know Merlin would be mad at me, but I can’t let it go.”
“Speaking of which. Next question… Where do you think Merlin is?"
“Oh, I know that one! He’s with the Druids!”
“Druids?” “Yeah. When we were smaller, Millicent used to tell Merlin and I stories about the druids in the deep woods. She said they were peaceful, and kind, and heal people with magic like she and I can. She told us how to find them. We had to use our magic and follow the signs. Merlin is really good with magic, so he’ll find them in no time!”
"He’s really sweet, you know? We found a baby bird in the gardens once. A cat stole it out of its mother’s nest. It didn’t make it – I didn’t know how to heal yet back then. But we tried really hard anyway. Merlin… he stayed up with the bird all night, trying to get it to eat and watching over it. When it died, he cried for almost a week."
"I don’t know why I told you that. Don’t tell Arthur, okay?”
"Next one. I don't think you're gonna like this one. Do you think magic is truly bad or are you only afraid of your powers because of your father's stance on them?"
“I… I don’t know. Everything bad that’s happened is because of magic. Arthur almost died because of the magic in that pastry. And the man that tried to take me… he used magic, too. Father says that magic took my mother away, and every criminal he burns is a sorcerer. I know that Merlin and Millicent are good… but she always told me not to use my magic. She taught Merlin... but she wouldn't teach me.”
"That... probably means something."
"And the last question! Are you going to give our girl Sarah some more time off? Girl needs it!"
"...Why?"
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
@_sims_Yimi You know my stance on the trigger warnings. I think you did a great job because especially the moment with the peasant man was really sad and emotional. Those warnings are necessary when chapters are going to get darker.
I loved the interview with Morgana as well. She somehow felt more childish here. Sometimes I feel like she's so mature all the time but we got a good feel of her inner child (which to be fair, she still is) here. The last answer cracked me up.
@Duvelina Haha, I'm glad you liked it! That's what I picture Morgana to be really like, when there's nobody around to put her guard up for and no social games that need to be played. Granted, she doesn't get the chance for that very often.
Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
Comments
- Cats or dogs?
Definitely dogs. #TeamNinja
- Okay, questions for realsies now. What are your general thoughts on the story so far?
I absolutely love it. I don't know exactly why but the way you write was attracting me. I don't really know much about Camelot and I'm not really interested in it but for some reason now I want to know more about it HAHAHA.
WRITING
- What do you think of my writing style? Are the sentences clear? Too short? Too long? Am I saying the same words repeatedly?
Your writing style is what attracted me to your story, so yeah, I adore your writing style. Everything is so in detail. It's as if I'm thrown back in time and I'm there myself as Sarah or something.
I don't think there's something wrong with your writing style. Keep it that way.
- I sometimes switch between points-of-view as the story is going on. Is this confusing to read? Should a writer stick with one pov, or is it all right to peek into multiple people's heads in the same chapter? What do you think?
Nah, I like the aspect of different points-of views. Chapter 1 started with Morgana and Gawain (at this point I thought that it would be a point-of-view story from Morgana's point of view, because the prologue was mostly about her
I'm going somewhere else with all my blabla, sorry. What I want to say: I like being able to read multiple points of view!
Back to going somewhere else: I totally forgot about the prologue. The prologue was mysterious because I didn't knew a lot about the subject but hey, I like mysteries. Is Merlin going to return sometimes? In my head this story goes on until Arthur becomes the King and nobody ever heard of Merlin again (and everybody forgot him as a character in the prologue hahahaha), but then suddenly BOOM, there he is! XD
- My chapters tend to hover around 3,000 words, with some longer and some shorter. What do you think about the length? I sometimes have trouble hitting the right story beats with fewer words per chapter, but I realize that too long a chapter can overstay its welcome.
At first you may think 'ooooof that's long' but when you're actually reading, you're done before you know it. I think if you shorten the chapters, I would be like "Oh, is it already done?"
STORY
- What do you think about the main characters (Arthur, Gawain, Morgana)?
Morgana and Gawain stole my heart from the beginning. I wasn't super into Arthur at first (okay he's a handsome kid and probably even more handsome when growing up), but after talking with Gawain and loosing up a bit, I think he's also very nice.
- What do you think about the side characters (Uther, Richard, Gaius)?
Ehhhhhm, who's Richard again????
I do Like Uther and Gaius in their unique ways. Okay, I want to stomp Uther in the butt for being so close minded, but he's actually a really nice father. Gaius is super chill and stole my heart after Chapter 1.4 - in the end where he helps Morgana out. Morgana stole my heart so I love everyone who's sweet towards Morgana.
- What is your favorite moment in the story, and what is your least favorite? Why?
The big 'Morgana is actually a witch'-reveal. Well, I think everybody had it somewhere in their mind, but when she really used her magic I was like "Yeahhhhhh, you go girl!"
- Where do you think the story is headed? Where would you like to see it go?
Merlin is going to come back at a very delicate time. WATCH MY WORDS.
VISUALS
- What do you think about the pictures taken? I have a habit of showing close-ups to showcase their emotions. Are they too close, or do you like them this way?
I like all of your pictures! I'm always wondering "How?!" because yeah I just can't do that. It's good. Super good.
- What do you think about the size? They're now 1200 x 675, and 1100 x 612 in the next chapter. Are they too big?
I don't think that the photo's are too big.
- In TS3, we could tilt the camera to give dynamic angles to our pictures. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do that in TS4. Did they remove the option?
Have you tried hitting the shift-button? :') Idk that's how I always take my pictures. Hit shift-button, 'walk' around with WASD, changing angles with my mouse (I always have my computer mouse in the screen so I need to click until it's away and then I can move around as much as I want) and when I take a picture, I hit C.
Am I making sense with this?
- For purposes completely unrelated to the story *cough* I need magic. All the magic. Do you have any good CC for visual effects? Alternatively, is it worth buying the Realm of Magic game pack?
I have the Realm of Magic game pack and I'm using it for my SimLit 'Wizardry Academy' but I'm not really far enough in the story to let you know how the magic is shown
MISC
- The white pose statue and I are at war after I spawned him at the bottom of a pond by accident and forgot about him for a week. He has sworn watery revenge. I need allies. Are you with me, or against me?
I'm with you! That white pose statue likes to irritate me when I use it. It NEVER stands on the place where I want it.
- I like having my cast comment on things out-of-story. If you want, you can ask questions of them, and I'll write the answer from their POV (they may not be completely truthful, though
Oof, I need to think about that but I'll give every character something soon! (I'm too lazy to think about it now and I still have a whole week hehe)
@_sims_Yimi Get ready for an essay.
GENERAL
- Cats or dogs?
WRITING
- What do you think of my writing style? Are the sentences clear? Too short? Too long? Am I saying the same words repeatedly?
I also want to add that I find your narratives impressive, especially in regards to building the setting for readers to construct. There are pictures, but your descriptions are vivid and elaborate, hence even without them, I am able to imagine the setting and the players within it.
- My chapters hovers around 1300 - 1700 words, but I post 2 chapters at a time, so we have the same ish word count. As long as it is not entirely narrative and the plot/writing varies, readers are more likely to immerse themselves with solid writing than nitpick on number of words.
STORY
- What do you think about the main characters (Arthur, Gawain, Morgana)?
In one of my comments, I asked about Morgana because while she is the main character. I find her so endearing and lovely that I have not yet found a weakness in her. She is a perfect all-round character who isn’t too arrogant and isn’t too pure, considerate of others and a healthy trust/mistrust. A very good balance. There are no problems with characters like this, (There are so many like this too actually) but it does put Morgana at a disadvantage compared to Arthur and Gawain. To err is human and at this point, Morgana’s lack of weakness makes me unable to relate to her.
I can relate to wanting to be like her and I do like her, but I feel so much closer to Arthur and Gawain because I can imagine a time when I was just as arrogant, or just as pure at some point in my life, but not so much to being perfect. Especially when Morgana is a budding spellcaster, she is going to become quite an unstoppable force in the future. So to enrich her character, it’ll be good to portray her not in her best moments. It’ll be good for us too! Because once we know what is her kryptonite, readers will be actively looking out for it because we’re invested in her wellbeing and we don’t want her to get hurt like that again!
I like Richard because he is not fully fleshed out at all, just enough for us to know he’s a key player, but so much is left shrouded in mystery. He also doesn’t seem too malicious yet, and at this point of the story, the other kid’s wit/cuteness serves as a buffer that he might not be as bad as it seems. So he is a promising character that will present more lovely drama. This makes me (reader) look forward to his next appearance.
Gaius is taking the form of a protector role for me. He is a healer, an elder, has an innate desire to help others and is accepting of Millicent. He doesn’t scheme, but is wise enough to engage in deception when needed. He is a VERY important side character. We can’t have all schemy nasty characters. I also think he is the kind of character that MUST steer clear of the main conflict. There’s only imo, two outcomes for lovable characters like this: they stay away far enough and survive, or they are sacrificed.
I can forsee a battle/war coming. I’m worried for that. But it’s a natural progression of things. That masked figure and his band of shadiness will not stop at this hurdle either. They’re waiting for their time to strike so I assume Morgana will be in trouble again
VISUALS
- What do you think about the pictures taken? I have a habit of showing close-ups to showcase their emotions. Are they too close, or do you like them this way?
Edited to add that Natalie Auditore has an amazing amount of magic/fantasy CC. There's god rays, ring of fire, weather effects, shattered glass, just so much fantasy cc. Haven't used any but downloaded heaps and they are amazing! It's not very maxis match but give it a go.
MISC
- The white pose statue and I are at war after I spawned him at the bottom of a pond by accident and forgot about him for a week. He has sworn watery revenge. I need allies. Are you with me, or against me?
What do you think of my writing style? Are the sentences clear? Too short? Too long? Am I saying the same words repeatedly?
I love your writing style. It's easily readable and pulls me into the story immediately every time. I haven't noticed any word repetitions or anything, maybe some slight overseen mistakes but that doesn't bother me. I also feel like there's enough text with each picture. I don't like it when there's almost a full novel underneath one picture. It feels like the picture doesn't convey very much. So I like what you're doing. Keep doing it! 😂
I sometimes switch between points-of-view as the story is going on. Is this confusing to read? Should a writer stick with one pov, or is it all right to peek into multiple people's heads in the same chapter? What do you think?
Huh. I hadn't noticed specifically. It doesn't happen within one scene, right? It's from one scene to the next? Because I think that's why it isn't confusing at all. We alternate between different scenes and as long as you don't shift between multiple characters without giving a clear indication, I think it'll stay fine. I think multiple POVs within one chapter is always good that way. It also gives us insight into more than one character which is fun.
My chapters tend to hover around 3,000 words, with some longer and some shorter. What do you think about the length? I sometimes have trouble hitting the right story beats with fewer words per chapter, but I realize that too long a chapter can overstay its welcome.
Your chapters feel like they're the right length. This last one was longer than usual and I did notice that a bit, but I do enjoy your story so much I didn't particularly mind. 3.000 words overall seems like a good length. As long as there's some Arthur in it (
Too Good at Goodbyes forum thread
Too Good at Goodbyes blog
@Skeilah
Woops, maybe I should have put Agravaine on the banner instead of Richard, then
Are you a mind reader, too?
Wait, shift is still a thing? I'm going to try that when I'm done with work today. Thanks for the tip!
Adobe fireworks, random sparkly effects from the internets and a lot of frustration
Yes! First ally obtained!
Okay! I look forward to it
@mercuryfoam Haha, don't worry about it. You can be our honorary far-away neighbour
Thank you for bringing up Morgana. Her flaws are very clear in my head, but you're right that they haven't really shown themselves in the story yet. I'll keep that in mind, and try to show them a little clearer in future chapters.
Haha, I see that most of the future ships will probably be coming from you
I know
Oooh, there's a whole mod for that? I'm going to try Skeilah's suggestion first tonight, but if that doesn't work, I'll definitely check it out!
Hahaa, two allies! Statue won't know what hit it.
G'day, @mercuryfoam! I have several other Simming friends from Australia and New Zealand. No DNA though.
Find me elsewhere:
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My Worldbuilding Blog
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As you know, Arthur is my favourite. I started out disliking him, but I can honestly appreciate the arrogance. I can see there's a nice boy underneath all of that but I love the attitude. He feels like he has the most personality to him and I love it when his good side comes out. I wonder what he'll be like as an adult. I genuinely hope he doesn't lose that arrogance. It suits him.
Gawain is the purest boy out there. Sometimes even naive. I love the relationship he's forming with Arthur. I hope they get a good friendship out of it, going over into adulthood. I like how he wants to be a soldier and how he's willing to work hard for it. He seems like an honest guy who sticks up for the people he loves and doesn't want anyone to get hurt. He's a little cutie and I treasure him.
So far, Morgana is my least favourite but that doesn't mean I don't like her. I sense she has a darker side to her and I'm waiting for that to fully come out. She comes across as manipulative at times, like when she met Richard. I'm excited to see more of her interacting with him by the way. That could be an intriguing relationship. I also feel like she has an anger to her which I think we'll see much more of in the future. I like my characters on the darker side, so I love it when they show me that. Although I can appreciate Gawain too!
What do you think about the side characters (Uther, Richard, Gaius)?
Just like with Arthur, I started out not liking Uther but ever since we saw him worry about Arthur when he was cursed I appreciate him more. I get that he's a king trying to do what he thinks is right. I don't agree with eradicating magic and killing people for it, but we did get a little bit of backstory concerning that. It looks like magic took everything from him and it made him bitter. So I can see his motivations for what he's doing, although I don't agree with the way he's going about it. His character is growing on me.
Richard is the most fascinating out of the bunch. I'm so excited to see more of him. He came across as a little gentleman, but then he started spewing these secrets he knew about towards Morgana and I just want to know how he knew all of that. Does he have his own spy? Almost seems like it. Another dark character, it feels like. I do want to get to know him better. He intrigues me.
Gaius seems nice so far. He's definitely a magic sympathizer. I feel bad about Meredith being killed. It seemed like he was close with her and it lead to him being alone to heal people. It must have frustrated him immensely when he couldn't heal Arthur and knew a magic user could do it. I admire him for trying so hard anyway. I also like how he is keeping Morgana's secret, although I do have a bad feeling about it. The less people know about her secret, the better. I hope Gaius keeps his mouth shut under any circumstance.
I feel like Agravaine deserves a spot in this row and to be talked about, so I will. I find him a funny character, how he doesn't like kids and he feels overwhelmed by his work all the time. He gave great advice to Arthur in the chapel and it made him do the right thing which I can appreciate. He was very stern about it and I think that's what Arthur needed in that moment. They encountered each other at the right time. I think it's especially the way Agravaine dislikes kids which makes him talk so maturely and adult-like to them. I don't like baby-talk and I've always been about being as mature as possible with a child, so I like the way Agravaine goes about it similarly. No babying.
What is your favourite moment in the story, and what is your least favourite? Why?
My favourite moment/chapter has to be the one where Arthur is trying to be good at everything and failing miserably. It was a good laugh and I think also a good lesson for the prince. I was also fond of the moment where Arthur ran into Morgana's room and asked her to hide him because the servants were trying to cut his hair. That one made me laugh too.
I don't think I have a least favourite moment. I can't pinpoint one exactly.
Where do you think the story is headed? Where would you like to see it go?
I'm horrible with predictions. I can only make the obvious ones. Morgana's magic is going to play a bigger role and we're going to see more of the escaped kidnapper.
What I would like to see is a descent into the darkness. Morgana's magic spiraling out of control and falling out with Uther. Richard getting to know Morgana's secret and blackmailing her with it. Basically anything that makes the characters miserable. It feels realistic when they get out of it on the other side and have couple (mental and/or physical) scars to prove it.
Too Good at Goodbyes forum thread
Too Good at Goodbyes blog
What do you think about the pictures taken? I have a habit of showing close-ups to showcase their emotions. Are they too close, or do you like them this way?
I love your pictures. I think they showcase what's going on perfectly. I'm especially a fan of the close-ups. I always take a second longer to actually look at your pictures before I move on to the next part.
What do you think about the size? They're now 1200 x 675, and 1100 x 612 in the next chapter. Are they too big?
I didn't notice the differing size of them at all. I think it helps that you post on a blog and not in a forum thread here. They look great on your blog!
In TS3, we could tilt the camera to give dynamic angles to our pictures. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do that in TS4. Did they remove the option?
I can't seem to figure out how the TS4 camera works so I went back to the TS3 camera options and I can tilt the camera with my middle mouse button. Or is that not what you mean?
For purposes completely unrelated to the story *cough* I need magic. All the magic. Do you have any good CC for visual effects? Alternatively, is it worth buying the Realm of Magic game pack?
I don't use visual effects mods and I haven't use the ROM pack very much. If you want more magic visuals, ROM is probably your best bet.
Too Good at Goodbyes forum thread
Too Good at Goodbyes blog
@Duvelina
Oh dear, I totally forgot about Agravaine in the questions! I had a feeling I was leaving out something, but to forget the entire church? Woops. Sorry, Vainey.
I'm horrible with predictions. I can only make the obvious ones. Morgana's magic is going to play a bigger role and we're going to see more of the escaped kidnapper.
What I would like to see is a descent into the darkness. Morgana's magic spiraling out of control and falling out with Uther. Richard getting to know Morgana's secret and blackmailing her with it. Basically anything that makes the characters miserable. It feels realistic when they get out of it on the other side and have couple (mental and/or physical) scars to prove it.
I like the way you think
The white pose statue and I are at war after I spawned him at the bottom of a pond by accident and forgot about him for a week. He has sworn watery revenge. I need allies. Are you with me, or against me?
Wow, how rude. I'm with you!
I like having my cast comment on things out-of-story. If you want, you can ask questions of them, and I'll write the answer from their POV.
Yes, all the questions for Arthur.
How do you imagine yourself ruling the kingdom one day?
Would you describe your relationship with Gawain as a friendship?
Did you come to terms with the fact that you'll never be able to excel in everything?
Do you sometimes long for a peasant life, a life of freedom?
I also have a discussion question for the group. How would you write a nuanced morally grey villain, a villain with a soft side? You don't want people to dislike them outright. You want to create some likability so it's hard to hold on to a grudge even though you really want to. He/she does some evil stuff one moment, but shows a vulnerability you can't ignore the next. How do you write someone like this in a subtle way so it doesn't seem wildly out of character?
Too Good at Goodbyes forum thread
Too Good at Goodbyes blog
Hmm… you could make it a villain whose intentions are noble, and whose goals could even align with the hero’s, but who completely goes overboard on the means to get there. Or you could have them develop a relationship with the hero, either before or during the story, that endears the reader to them.
Or it could be someone you follow from the beginning, and slowly twist into being the villain of the story through events that happen to them. A lot of people aren’t inherently evil, but become that way. There’s Darth Vader from Star Wars, but Buddy from the Incredibles also comes to mind (though that one’s way more over-the-top, I guess xD)
Maybe someone whose goals are opposite to the hero’s, but there’s such a relatable side to their “side” that you end up understanding where they’re coming from? I’m thinking of Magneto in X-men as an example.
It’s difficult, though. If you write them as too likeable, the reader may no longer want to see them fall, or even root for the villain instead of the hero. Which can be interesting if that’s what you’re going for.
This is a cool exercise. I’ll try.
If I am crafting a morally grey victim, I’d flesh him out as thoroughly as my mains and make sure he’s a complex character. Complex that he’s neither good or bad. His ideals/character/beliefs may clash with the main character, but depending on the situation, they can be good traits to have. I’d then craft conflicts/argumentative scenes to convey him/her in both good and bad light.
An example would be a cop hell bent on justice. He’s sharp-minded, hardened, merciless and unforgiving. He’s a protagonist to the people, but an antagonist for his son. Every interaction they have is laced with brutal coldness, unacceptance, and merciless discipline. I think no one is inherently good or evil. So as long as the villian’s backstory, motivation and qualities are conveyed clearly to me, I’ll sympathise with the villian. If not, I’ll at least know where he/she’s coming from and respect his/her position, even if I don’t necessarily agree with it.
Ahh I think you should pat yourself on the back if you make a villian likeable/respectable. The villian is the person who will make your hero shine. If he's likeable, your hero has to prove themselves more.
Skip to 1:17 for immediate conflict scene.
Here are the answers to your questions! I had a little too much fun with it
“Okay, Arthur, I have some questions for you from our readers.”
“Of course you do. I knew I had fans. Didn’t doubt that for a second.”
“How do you imagine yourself ruling the kingdom one day?”
“Just like father, of course! I know he’s strict, but he’s a great king, and I’m going to be just like him. Did you know that we haven’t had a famine in almost five years? Father did that. And he’s always arresting criminals, too. When I’m king, I’m going to rule just like he did, so he can be proud of me.”
“Well... maybe I’ll be a little less harsh against sorcerers. Maybe we don’t have to kill them for it. We could banish them, or something.”
“…don’t tell father I said that.”
“Okay, next one. Would you describe your relationship with Gawain as a friendship?”
“Friendship? Pffft! Nobles can’t be friends with commoners, everybody knows that. I’m just spending time with him because I promised. It has nothing to do with friendship.”
“Are you sure? Because you looked like you were having a lot of fun talking with him the other day.”
“S-shut up! It’s not like that – he was just teaching me about wood carving, is all! It’s fun to listen to. And we spend time together after sword practice sometimes. It’s not a big deal. He’s just amusing to talk to.”
“That sounds a lot like friendship to me.”
“Shut up, Watcher. It’s not like I care if we’re friends or anything.”
“Whatever you say, Arthur. Whatever you say.”
“One more. Did you come to terms with the fact that you’ll never be able to excel in everything?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I thought that you had to be able to do anything as the king, but I guess that’s too hard for anyone. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t excel in everything, you know. I just have to be picky about what I choose to be good at. I can already carve proper shapes. Morgana’s birthday is in another month or so, and I’m going to try and carve a dragon for her. I know I can do it. It’s not hard. This’ll be a piece of cake. I think I just have a natural talent for it, like sword fighting.”
“…You do realize I’m the Watcher, don’t you? I’ve seen you in your room at night. You’re practicing until your hands bleed.”
“S-shut up! 🐸🐸🐸🐸 it, You’re ruining my image!”
“Last one, Arthur. Do you sometimes long for a peasant life, a life of freedom?”
“What do you mean? Peasants aren’t free. They have to work the fields for us, or make things, or work as servants in the castle if they can talk proper. Father turns a lot of them into soldiers, too. They can’t do whatever they want. I can do a lot more than they can. No, if I wanted to be totally free, I’d just switch places with Morgana.”
“Morgana?”
“Well, yeah. I can do a lot, but father still forces me to study and train because I’m going to be king someday. He never lets me do whatever I want all the time. But she’s the princess, so she doesn’t have to do anything. And father lets her do whatever she wants. She can just play cards with him all the time, or take walks, or whatever it is she does all day.”
“You don’t think Morgana has restrictions?”
“Pfft! Of course she doesn’t! She’s the princess. She can do whatever she wants until father marries her off, and then she can do whatever she wants there. What restrictions could she possibly have?”
Ooooof, hard one. I may agree with Yimi when she said "make it a villain whose intentions are noble". People always think that they're the good side, even if the majority doesn't think that. I would make someone who thinks that what he/she's doing is the right thing, although everyone keeps telling him/her to stop. I'll also use multiple points of view: the villain with a soft side & someone who doesn't agree with him/her. That way you can see what both are thinking.
@_sims_Yimi I love the answers and how you took pictures with it. Such a creative way of doing things. Now I wish the others asked questions too. 😂 I'd love to see the other characters discuss their story like Arthur did. The hypocrisy from Arthur on the last question though. Pretty amazing.
Too Good at Goodbyes forum thread
Too Good at Goodbyes blog
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Don't worry about it! Stomach bugs are the worst. I had one just the other week, so I know how much it sucks
Too Good at Goodbyes forum thread
Too Good at Goodbyes blog
I've also been kind of absent from the discussion this week because I've had a lot of work (housework and work-work, haha), but I've been lurking and reading y'all's discussion about Tales of Camelot and other questions, and I've been itching to get into it. It's fascinating to see all your points.
Kev & Get It • Forum Thread
- Cats or dogs?
This is such a hard question! I'm more naturally into cats because I'm just a cat person through and through, but I actually currently only have a doggie and no cats. When I'm at my parents' home I love being with their cat, but at my own home in France I only have a doggo that I'm 100% in love with. It was so hard for me to consider getting a dog because I'm not a dog person per se, but I can't imagine not having my lil' Pickle Princess nearby (my dog's name is Pickle, haha). So maybe I'm not really a dog person... but more a Pickle person?
What are your general thoughts on the story so far?
I tend to gush about your story in comments on your blog and in your thread, but really, it's that good. All the different elements of the story come together so well. The writing, the story plot itself, the character development, THE FLAWLESS IMAGES, everything. You weave all these elements together with mastery to create an immersive story that I'm really, truly enjoying so far.
WRITING
- What do you think of my writing style? Are the sentences clear? Too short? Too long? Am I saying the same words repeatedly?
I enjoy your writing style very much. To me, the way you write is very effective for the story you're telling. Even though I'm only reading and not hearing it, it's like I'm hearing someone tell me an epic story. The sentences are clear, your paragraphs are well-written, and I don't think I've noticed any of them being too long or too short. I usually go back and read a chapter twice before commenting, but it's never because any part of the story was unclear in your writing. I also haven't noticed any sort of repetitive language because you have and utilize a very large vocabulary. You're very good at writing and that makes the story a very satisfying read.
- I sometimes switch between points-of-view as the story is going on. Is this confusing to read? Should a writer stick with one pov, or is it all right to peek into multiple people's heads in the same chapter? What do you think?
I don't think that a story should necessarily only focus on one POV in a chapter. More often than not, only having information from a single character makes the story feel slightly shallow (not always, but in many cases). I haven't felt that in ToC. There are some chapters where you focus on a single character but also add thoughts and POVs from other characters and this fleshes out the story and makes it more interesting for me. I don't think it's confusing at all, you present it in such a way that it makes the story intricate, but your writing is so clear and expressive that it's never confusing for me when you switch to another character's POV. I particularly love when you give minor characters moments to shine (like, the iconic section in 1.6 where poor Sarah is excited for her night only to have to cancel it because of Arthur's shenanigans... that was amazing and a very welcome humorous section in the story). Without this, I think the story would be less immersive for me. I want to feel like I'm a part of the universe, and having thoughts from an array of characters makes this easy!
- My chapters tend to hover around 3,000 words, with some longer and some shorter. What do you think about the length? I sometimes have trouble hitting the right story beats with fewer words per chapter, but I realize that too long a chapter can overstay its welcome.
I am NOT the one to discuss chapter length, because my "episodes" tend to be behemoths and I'm obviously not very good at having the restraint to make them shorter or divide them into shorter parts. However, I will say that I've never felt that your chapters are too long. More often than not, I think to myself "no! it's over already??", and this is because you have just the right amount of story in your chapters. The length for me is irrelevant because the story contained in each chapter is well structured, detailed, and developed.
STORY
- What do you think about the main characters (Arthur, Gawain, Morgana)?
I could spend hours discussing why I think each of the main characters is excellent. They each have their moments, and you've taken great care to make sure they're detailed and deep characters. As I said before, I was familiar with their names because of the legends but I've never taken the time to read almost anything about them, and yet now I feel like their stories ARE the ones you tell.
Here's what I think about the characters individually: Morgana is a very sympathetic main character. I love her spirit, and I think she's an excellent heroine for the story. I particularly love seeing that you've not held back on detailing her emotions about the things that happen. I particularly love that her naturally inquisitive nature and desire to help and know about things that affect her can and most likely will lead her into very difficult situations (spying on Richard, helping Merlin escape, investigating the May Day incident), but she's been developed so fully in these chapters so far that I can't help but cheer her on even when it's obvious that she's going to get in trouble. I'm also very excited to see what's going to happen in the future with her powers. Gawain, well, he's the best boy and I love him. He's naturally a very positive character because he provides a good insight into the things that the "powerful" characters are lacking, mainly empathy, humility, certain everyday skills, etc. It's so easy to root for him because the things he does are motivated by a desire to better himself and not by greed, envy, pride, or anything of the sort. I love him! Finally, Arthur... well, it's no secret that I was not a fan for a while, but you've done a wonderful job of humanizing him and making me feel.... sympathy?!... for Arthur?! Yes, he's snooty, vain, and insufferable, but you've shown us that he's also not infallible; his greed has gotten him into very difficult situations (the poisoning), plus he's insecure and more than a little concerned that he's not perfect. I think his relationship with Gawain is going to help a lot, though I can imagine that it's going to be difficult for him to truly tone down his unsavory tendencies. But it can happen, and I believe it because he's well-written!
Side-note, but I adored his little interview with the Watcher. I loved that. He's a little snot-nosed 🐸🐸🐸🐸 but in such a human and vulnerable way, we love to see it.
- What do you think about the side characters (Uther, Richard, Gaius)?
They're not as fleshed out as the main characters, obviously, but I still feel like we've gotten nice windows into their minds and motivations. Well, mostly. Some of them remain mysteries because the story dictates it, but that's what I love about a good epic story. We know a lot about everyone but there are always more mysteries to uncover. You give us just enough about the side characters to keep us guessing about where the story could go. It's excellent.
Here are some brief thoughts about the side characters so far:
-Uther: I can see where Arthur got most of his unsavory traits. He's insufferable, but also human and I can't help but feel a little sympathy for him, especially when he talks about Ygraine and when he interacts with his children.
-Agravaine: I'm excited to see what his role will be in the story. So far he hasn't had much of a role, but I just know you're setting something up and it's going to be exciting.
-Gaius: I like his role in the story so far, and I was happy to learn about his stance on magic. I wonder if his knowing about Morgana's powers is going to come up later.
-Ygraine: I want to know more about her! Uther's flashbacks were a highlight of the story for me, and I want to know more about Ygraine!
-Richard: Snot-nosed little s***. But interesting.
-Merlin: (Is he a side character? I feel like eventually he's going to be a main character but for now his role isn't too developed) Again, I want to know more! I can't wait for he and Morgana to grow up and find each other again. I want to know what's happened to him so far.
-Helios: Dark, mysterious, and handsome... I'm excited to see what his spying will lead to.
-Sarah: Iconic. I stan.
- What is your favourite moment in the story, and what is your least favourite? Why?
If I had to choose a moment that made me laugh, and you can guess, it's Sarah's little section in 1.6. I just really, really love side characters getting humorous little moments like this, and that was wonderful. Stan Sarah! But if I had to choose a moment that is relevant to the main plot, I think I have two that are related to each other: first, when Arthur's greed leads him to get poisoned by eating the honey cake. I think having such a horrible consequence by indulging this flaw was instrumental in me turning my opinion about Arthur around. Second moment: when the hints about Morgana being magical are confirmed when she breaks the curse in Arthur. That was exciting and suspenseful, a really great moment in the story.
Least favorite? I guess I'd have to choose this one, not because it's a bad moment in the writing because it's not, it's fantastically written, but because it was difficult to read. When Gawain is willing to fight to the death against the shady man kidnapping Morgana, that was so hard to read! It was exciting and powerful, but I was horrified that it seemed that Gawain was going to die at the hands of this evil man. Calling it my least favorite makes it sound like I don't like that section of the story, but I absolutely do, so this might be a useless answer
- Where do you think the story is headed? Where would you like to see it go?
I think there's so much still to learn. In only seven (eight? Including the prologue) chapters you've set up so many mysteries that have yet to unfold. I'm up to 1.7, and the amount of plot yet to happen has me all abuzz with excitement. The things I'm most excited about: Morgana's storylines involving spying on Richard of Nemeth, the development of her powers, and her investigation of the May Day incident; Arthur and Gawain's unfolding friendship; and Merlin's eventual return. As to what I think will happen, and this is just guessing, but I'm pretty sure Morgana is going to be horrified about what she's going to find out in her investigation of Ada's death, and this revelation is going to get her in big trouble and she's going to have awful thoughts about her father. I can imagine Arthur and Gawain are going to have very difficult moments in the future, as well. It can't all be flowers and cakes and bunny carvings, and even though they're slowly getting to like each other (as much as Arthur denies it), they're massively different and this is going to lead to lots of tension.
Where would I like to see it go? Honestly @_sims_Yimi I couldn't answer this truthfully, because I'm truly on the ride that your story has me on, and while I anticipate and expect some things to happen, I don't particularly have any desires about where I want the plot to go. This is to say, I'm under your spell and I'm just dying to learn more about the story you are telling.
VISUALS
- What do you think about the pictures taken? I have a habit of showing close-ups to showcase their emotions. Are they too close, or do you like them this way?
No, no, no. They are not too close! I love them. I think the variety of shots you have really showcases the visual beauty of the story you're telling. I can't compliment you enough on the quality of your visual storytelling; even though your story would still be excellent without any sort of visual aid, the images are lush, detailed, dark when they need to be, and beautiful. I haven't thought for a second that any images are unnecessary.
- What do you think about the size? They're now 1200 x 675, and 1100 x 612 in the next chapter. Are they too big?
When I'm on your blog they're quite large but this doesn't bother me at all. When I'm in the Wordpress reader they're scaled down anyway, so the size of your images is fine. In fact, having them be so large really helps if at any point I want to zoom in to see the details in the background, and since your sets are so detailed this happens quite frequently, so the large size is actually helpful.
- In TS3, we could tilt the camera to give dynamic angles to our pictures. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do that in TS4. Did they remove the option?
I can't really answer this, but when I take screenshots I use the Tab mode, + or- to zoom in and out, Q and E to go up and down, and then the mouse to change the angle, and this works pretty well for me to find some dynamic angles for my screenshots. Not that I think your pictures aren't dynamic, because they totally are.
- For purposes completely unrelated to the story *cough* I need magic. All the magic. Do you have any good CC for visual effects? Alternatively, is it worth buying the Realm of Magic game pack?
This I definitely cannot answer! I don't use magic in my game, sadly. My Sims game has been fully consumed with my story and since that's based on "reality" I haven't played around with magic yet. Your story makes me really itch to play something more fantastical, though...
MISC
- The white pose statue and I are at war after I spawned him at the bottom of a pond by accident and forgot about him for a week. He has sworn watery revenge. I need allies. Are you with me, or against me?
I am completely with you. That statue needs to be knocked down a few pegs! Down with the statue!
- I like having my cast comment on things out-of-story. If you want, you can ask questions of them, and I'll write the answer from their POV (they may not be completely truthful, though
Oooooh, I love this. Especially seeing since Arthur's answer special was so beautifully done! Let's see:
Morgana: what do you think you'll learn from your various investigations (into Richard, the May Day incident, etc.)? Do you really think you should be opening those cans of worms? Where do you think Merlin is? Do you think magic is truly bad or are you only afraid of your powers because of your father's stance on them? And finally, are you going to give our girl Sarah some more time off? Girl needs it! (kii at these basic questions, but I just had to ask~~)
Sorry if this is a huge barrage of thoughts! I have a lot of feelings about your wonderful story
Kev & Get It • Forum Thread
I loved this question! Discussion questions like this are really useful for my writing. When it comes to my story, I have had a few villains but I never want to make them too evil because... well, because I like creating stories where everything has a reason for being, and my villains all have more to them than just being rude, or mean, or evil. If I think about my villains, I can think of a few (and no spoilers since we haven't discussed my story yet); an immature womanizer, an insensitive and catty drama queen, a rude wannabe mastermind, and a truly dark character, and they each get some sort of moment where they're seen as not just evil. I try to do this in a way that seems natural and, as you say, not out of character. My story develops mostly in real time (as set by the story), but there are special chapters where I go beyond the main story and I try to use these as a way to add depth to the personalities seen in the main story. This is where I like to slowly add nuance to characters, especially ones that aren't as likable. I think that this can be achieved by giving insight into why the evil characters do what they do or by showing some sort of vulnerability or insecurity that could explain their actions, and this can be done by writing sections where the characters are fleshed out. Though this doesn't necessarily absolve them of their bad actions, knowing more about their stories is a natural way of having sympathy for them even while still disliking them. And I think this is way more effective than having, say, a main "good" character asking for sympathy for an "evil" one or by having the "evil" one somehow taking a 180 turn; it's cool if someone expresses sympathy for or doubt about an evil character's nuances, but it's even better (for me) when the readers can judge this for themselves by including writing that can humanize the evil characters.
Sometimes this works, I think, and sometimes it doesn't! But I think having more details about someone can help in our perception of them. I'm no expert by any means, so I'm not sure if this is truly an effective way of writing a nuanced, morally grey character, but it's something that makes me more open to them and I try to include this in my writing.
Kev & Get It • Forum Thread
Ermagewd, I’m so happy with your detailed answers! Thank you for taking the time to write it all out =D
Thank you for letting me know! I was in doubt on whether to add that or leave it on the cutting room floor to make room for the main cast, so I’m glad that you’re enjoying the minor bits ^^
Question! Since the latest chapter focused exclusively on her, do you have an idea of what her flaws are? @mercuryfoam made the correct observation that her traits and flaws weren’t that fleshed out yet in previous chapters, so I was wondering if the latest one changed that.
“Ha! I knew you couldn’t resist me for long.”
HAHAHAHAHA. I’ll let him know XDDDDD
There was a moment during the picture taking where I had Gawain on the bridge, and the man posing to strike at him. That picture when he’s suddenly right next to his face. You know the one. I didn’t know he was going to look so menacing, and it legitimately surprised me, especially because there was an in-game lightning strike right at that moment that illuminated his face 0.o The close-up one of his face while holding a sword over Gawain was like that, too. It’s like the in-game sim knew what was happening and wanted to give a good show 0.o
Okay, one more from me before I get to the questions part. This one is for everyone that wants to chip in. The legend of Arthur is, among other things, a tragedy. There are some very dark parts in it. I can axe some of them, but a few you can’t get rid of without breaking the story. I’ll never show anything of a graphic nature and most of it will be implied indirectly, but what do you think about the disclaimers on chapter 1.7 and 1.3?
"Okay, we’ve got some more questions from a reader! Let’s get-"
“Wait. Watcher, why are you in your pyjamas?”
"…I’m not. This is a blouse."
“With pyjama bottoms. And… are those Christmas socks?”
Hey, don’t judge my Christmas socks. We’re in quarantine, this is my work outfit now. Nobody can see my Christmas socks during a Zoom meeting, anyway.
“What’s 'Zoom'?”
"OKAY, let’s move on! First-"
“Nuh-uh! If you’re in pyjamas, I get to be in pyjamas, too. This dress is itchy.”
“You’re a sim. You don’t get itchy.”
“I do too. Let me change.”
“Ugh… fine. Hang on.”
"There. Happy now?"
“Yup!”
"Okay, first question. What do you think you'll learn from your various investigations (into Richard, the May Day incident, etc.)? Do you really think you should be opening those cans of worms?"
“Richard knew exactly what to say to get to me back during the ball. I don’t know if he paid a servant to spy, but I want to find out what I need to say to get to him. It doesn’t have to be really big. Just something to give me an edge. Maybe he has a crush on a noble girl. Maybe he’s into boys. Any secrets he doesn’t want people to know about work, too. Or maybe he’s really scared of the dark, or can’t deal with small rooms, or maybe there’s an animal he is afraid of?”
"Oh, yeah… speaking of which, aren’t you terrified of-"
“THANK YOU, Watcher! Next topic!”
"All right. There’s still May Day. What do you expect to find?”
“I don’t know. A criminal to have my father arrest, I hope. But it bothers me. If I lost someone important to me to a murderer, I’d want to see them brought to justice, too. I’m sure that peasant man feels the same way. He doesn’t have anyone left… and he doesn’t even have closure for Ada. No wonder he still cries. I know Merlin would be mad at me, but I can’t let it go.”
“Speaking of which. Next question… Where do you think Merlin is?"
“Oh, I know that one! He’s with the Druids!”
“Druids?”
“Yeah. When we were smaller, Millicent used to tell Merlin and I stories about the druids in the deep woods. She said they were peaceful, and kind, and heal people with magic like she and I can. She told us how to find them. We had to use our magic and follow the signs. Merlin is really good with magic, so he’ll find them in no time!”
"He’s really sweet, you know? We found a baby bird in the gardens once. A cat stole it out of its mother’s nest. It didn’t make it – I didn’t know how to heal yet back then. But we tried really hard anyway. Merlin… he stayed up with the bird all night, trying to get it to eat and watching over it. When it died, he cried for almost a week."
"I don’t know why I told you that. Don’t tell Arthur, okay?”
"Next one. I don't think you're gonna like this one. Do you think magic is truly bad or are you only afraid of your powers because of your father's stance on them?"
“I… I don’t know. Everything bad that’s happened is because of magic. Arthur almost died because of the magic in that pastry. And the man that tried to take me… he used magic, too. Father says that magic took my mother away, and every criminal he burns is a sorcerer. I know that Merlin and Millicent are good… but she always told me not to use my magic. She taught Merlin... but she wouldn't teach me.”
"That... probably means something."
"And the last question! Are you going to give our girl Sarah some more time off? Girl needs it!"
"...Why?"
I loved the interview with Morgana as well. She somehow felt more childish here. Sometimes I feel like she's so mature all the time but we got a good feel of her inner child (which to be fair, she still is) here. The last answer cracked me up.
Too Good at Goodbyes forum thread
Too Good at Goodbyes blog