Oh no, @SnowBnuuy, I was repeating myself I had to write down a paragraph on your picture but it's gone!
I more or less remember it, but I forgot details such as the expressions...
What if I proposed a new picture then?
You can follow the Legacy Miller from my blog and the forum thread, *Chapter 8.18 posted on the 23th of April 2024*
@HermioneSims I had to dig that screenshot out of a long chat log, and I've tried to re-find it, but I can't at the moment I'll upload it again though if I do manage to track it down again! Okay so here's my paragraph for your picture...
Like any young boy, Simon loved destroying things. There was no joy that could match destruction of property, and the most joy came out of getting rid of his mother's pesky, hideous garden gnomes, with their beady black varnished eyes. Simon never did like them. They were pointless, fragile and a strange combination of eerie and cute. One of them looked strangely like an old neighbour of his.
His grandmother would often tell him stories that the gnome sculptures in his mother's prized garden had actual gnomes living inside them- members of the Fae. 'If you keep destroying them, they will get their own back. The Fae do not take to it kindly, and you will pay if you do not change. Upon Harvestfest, they may come for revenge.'
Even when he reached his sixteenth year, Simon took joy in the destruction of the hideous garden gnomes...only his mother kept replacing them, and had been for years! That Harvestfest afternoon, he asked her, 'Why? Why do you keep buying new ones? They're horrible!'
His mother claimed that she didn't replace them- hadn't done since he was eleven. They just seem to turn up out of the blue, and she lets them reside next to the flowers. Heading back into the kitchen, he laughed under his breath. 'Ridiculous,' he said to himself. 'They wouldn't just come back on their-'
And there they were, waiting for him in the kitchen, angered flames above their heads. Of the three, only one seemed to be willing to deal with the situation with pacifism. As he approached them, they all turned to face him, their expressions suddenly painted with ferocious glares...
The morning after, his mother found a new gnome in her prized garden. She found the resemblance to her own son rather endearing. Had Simon apologised for his recklessness with a hand-painted gnome of his own? Such a kind boy he was.
@SnowBnuuy I'm sorry, I was going to try and come up with something for your cool picture, but just kept drawing a blank all week. April and May are my absolutely busiest time of year at work in my real world life, and I come home feeling pretty brain-dead and wiped out. So creativity is at a low right now.
@GlacierSnow It's no worry. I was clearing up my Imgur of old story banners since I made new ones, and accidentally got rid of it. XC I'll dig through the chat log tomorrow and see if I can find it again though! If not I'll mess about in-game and see if anything comes up that might spark a story...
Hmmmm - Story telling. As an artist, when I think of story telling, its how words draw pictures. In my culture, the griot was only as good as the pictures woven by the story. The griot also had to tell the story in as few words as possible. Why, because the royal family would loose interest and if that happened, the griot could loose his life.
When moving pictures were first introduced, single syllabled words were used because the majority of viewers were considered functional illiterates. Of course today, reading is "fundamental." Yet, being able to tell your story without laborious language has its place and can actually hook your audience to come back for more. The challenge is when to delve deeper into description or cut to the chase.
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
Practically all my characters are inspired or drawn in part from characters in literature, TV and films. Sometimes drawn from people in real life. As my story is set in a particular era there are certain character archetypes and tropes from that time I want to incorporate.
What are your favorite character tropes?
So many to choose from. I like quick witted characters who speak in fast paced dialogue, I like heroes especially those who don't look like much on the outside but who are brave and at their best when things are at their worst and I like a bit of sexual chemistry between characters who are clearly fond of one another.
Least favorite character tropes?
I don't like whiny characters or ones that endlessly brood that life is unfair and no one understands them. I like pro-active characters who try to change their circumstances...even if they fail it's better that they try.
And my answers to the three questions under the spoiler cut for tidiness's sake:
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
- All the time! My inspiration comes from everywhere- all kinds of media, as well as from fan theories when it comes to premades, and occasionally the odd bit from people I know. I also tend to recycle a lot of archetypes and change them up slightly.
Morgyn Ember in my story is actually partially inspired by Game of Thrones's Targaryens, at least what I'd read of them at the time. The desire for control and power, the ambition, and the obsession with the dragon as a symbol of that power were all things that came to mind from it as I was writing them. Also, I wanted something dragon-related in the story because I love dragons.
What are your favorite character tropes?
I went overboard and started discussing more than just favourite archetypes and tropes...
My favourite characters/archetypes/setups are...
- The ones who go off the slippery slope. Give me that good or normal character who slowly but surely has had enough of playing by the rules. What have the rules done for them? What have others done for them? Let me look forward to them lashing out and causing absolute mayhem. Will they feel bad about it? Will they relish in it? Who knows! The build-up to those kinds of characters, when done well, is *chef's kiss*. There's something fun about chaotic characters who care little for the rules. Sometimes even the flat-out evil ones.
- Comic relief characters, but with proper depth. Comic relief is okay, but it's even better if there's a reason for it. Is it a coping mechanism, or just someone who wants to bring some cheer to a miserable world? Do they have a personality other than being funny? Great stuff.
- Introverted or socially-awkward characters, but their introversion isn't treated as a flaw, or as something that absolutely needs to be overcome. Especially when the other lead characters don't force them to change as well.
- Underdogs are fun!
- Characters who are learning to trust others, or who are slowly learning to be loved. ;-;
- Unconventional romance is always fun. On-and-off, sort-of-not-really-a-maybe-couple-possibly?, romantic tension, polyamory, the character who got told 'no' when they asked the other out but that's okay, they're still friends. Love triangles, not a huge fan really, but it's more fun when there's more potential people added to the 'will they won't they?' crowd. I could go on forever about this.
- Bromances, so much. Close male friends are always wholesome in stories and I want to see more of them!
- Would be fun to have more focus on male/female platonic relationships.
Least favorite character tropes?
Again, what I'm discussing probably isn't necessarily tropes specifically, but...
- Agree with Kellogg on the subject of characters that are too angsty.
That said, there are times where a lot of angst is understandable, even if it lasts a while...especially when it considers younger characters. When it comes to SimLit I've read, I find a lot of readers expect teens and children, especially girls, to deal with trauma in the exact same way an adult would, for some reason, or overcome it overnight.
That point aside, constant angst means less development, and also someone who you stop sympathising with because it's so constant. The fun part of characters is seeing what they do in an attempt to overcome, heal from, or cope with the issue.
- Characters who never suffer consequences for their actions. Usually happens to an author's favourite character, not very fun. No matter how much I love my characters, they won't always get away with it.
- 'Token' characters are boring, the ones who merely exist because an author wants to be 'diverse'. Give them some semblance of personality. A want, a fear, a goal, a favourite cheese, absolutely anything. Same goes for any character really.
- Not a fan of 'damsels in constant distress', but also not a fan of the complete opposite, 'completely stoic female character who never changes or shows a semblance of emotion, ever'. I don't mind it if the character changes or starts to show fear, stress, anger etc. halfway through or something, but when it's constant it's boring. It's fun to see what makes even the most stoic characters tick a little. I wish authors would realise it's not weak to cry, or otherwise show emotions.
- Children who act like adults, when there's no proper reason as to why they do. Seeing two-year-olds talk like thirty-year-olds without some underlying reason just feels off.
- Self-inserts with nothing different to them at all to the author.Then again, might just be me. I'd make a very boring story character.
- Characters who are solely a mouthpiece of the author, nothing else to them. I don't care how subtle or 'mallet to the face' the message is, but there's a way of putting it across that isn't just having a character who's just there to get across an author's opinion. Once again, give them something outside of that. There are things I try to get across in my own work, but it's never the sole reason the character is there.
- Abusive characters whose behaviour is portrayed as desirable or otherwise a 'good thing' by the author. Just no.
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
The majority of my writing is story driven. My characters are written to match the storyline. Sometimes I will add characters based on literature, tv, etc., because I want to pay homage, while adding my own twist to make them fit the storyline.
@friendsfan367 From what your game throws at you, and your discussions in the Writer's Lounge I also feel like the Benders could easily have their own soap opera : P
@friendsfan367 From what your game throws at you, and your discussions in the Writer's Lounge I also feel like the Benders could easily have their own soap opera : P
they know they have me right where they want me.lol . i promised ayden i would finish his family story before moving on. that was the only way the save didn't mysteriously break. now it only breaks with mods. but i'm up to 2 divorced parents 8 kids thats noel and laurens 5 one girl lauren had um while married to noel but not his, twins noel had outside the marriage and this is still gen1.
Sorry to go off the topic of this thread, but I thought I would post it here seeing as we are all writers and storytellers and this might be useful.
I thought I ought to share this in case anyone needs it: I've greatly expanded on my screenshot editing guide, which now includes a section moreso focused on useful CC and mods. It also includes more bits for complete beginners such as basics about camera controls for both console and PC, reducing image file size, and the like. It also now includes a guide on how to edit parts of a screenshot as opposed to the whole thing, and a guide on how to add a Sim to a custom background in GIMP, with ways to blend them into the background.
This challenge with the screenshots looks fun! I don't have anything to add to that right now, but I can answer the character-questions:
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
I think it's impossible not to draw inspiration from things you see and experience, including media. I try not to at least copy characters specifically, but sometimes I do sneaky or not-so-sneaky homages to some of my favourites. Even then I change things up enough that it's more my own. For example, Tad is like a combination of my favourite depictions of Death in media (mostly Sir Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's, but with some other ones thrown in too) that I've tried to make my own.
What are your favorite character tropes?
Non-human character (spirit, alien, robot...) trying to understand humanity and giving an outsider's perspective on humans.
Socially awkward characters.
Snarky rogues with some goodness in them.
Intelligent and clever characters.
Intelligent and clever characters who are out of their depth/comfort zone.
Characters who are kind, especially if they have gone through a lot of hardships without losing that kindness.
More of a relationship trope, but platonic/queerplatonic relationships are especially my jam!
Least favorite character tropes?
One-dimensional villain, though that can be done in a fun way sometimes.
I agree with @SnowBnuuy about the "token" characters that are just thrown in without any effort put into them. Also about the mouthpiece-characters. And definitely about the abusive characters whose abusive behaviour is presented as a good thing. Just no indeed.
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
This challenge with the screenshots looks fun! I don't have anything to add to that right now, but I can answer the character-questions:
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
I think it's impossible not to draw inspiration from things you see and experience, including media. I try not to at least copy characters specifically, but sometimes I do sneaky or not-so-sneaky homages to some of my favourites. Even then I change things up enough that it's more my own. For example, Tad is like a combination of my favourite depictions of Death in media (mostly Sir Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's, but with some other ones thrown in too) that I've tried to make my own.
What are your favorite character tropes?
Non-human character (spirit, alien, robot...) trying to understand humanity and giving an outsider's perspective on humans.
Socially awkward characters.
Snarky rogues with some goodness in them.
Intelligent and clever characters.
Intelligent and clever characters who are out of their depth/comfort zone.
Characters who are kind, especially if they have gone through a lot of hardships without losing that kindness.
More of a relationship trope, but platonic/queerplatonic relationships are especially my jam!
Least favorite character tropes?
One-dimensional villain, though that can be done in a fun way sometimes.
I agree with @SnowBnuuy about the "token" characters that are just thrown in without any effort put into them. Also about the mouthpiece-characters. And definitely about the abusive characters whose abusive behaviour is presented as a good thing. Just no indeed.
i forgot what a troupe is so i couldn't answer those questions.
I'll try my hand at these questions from @Kellogg_J_Kellogg, under the spoiler tag.
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
Definitely. The Bailey family from It's a Wonderful Life are supporting actors for my current Simlit. IaWL is my family's favorite movie, so Z and I were excited to add them to our story. Tommy and Rosalind Geiger come to us from a series of books Z adores: the Penderwicks novels, by Jeanne Birdsall. A sharp-eyed fan of My Time at Portia would recognize Dr. Jeremy Xu, Z's favorite character from that game.
I also place real people who intrigue me into my stories, particularly if their lives ended too soon. My current SimLit has two such characters: athletes whom my grandfather and father admired years ago. Tim Horton is one of these, and Nile Kinnick is another.
We have also created Sims from the real-life story of the Johnstown Flood, which devastated the Pennsylvania city by that name in 1889. David McCullough told the story of this event in a captivating book, and several of the people who came to life in his account live on in my Gallery. Z has read McCullough's book, too, and she picked some of the characters who are now part of our Simworlds. One example is Victor Heiser, who survived the flood and went on to a noteworthy career as a physician.
What are your favorite character tropes?
I am unabashedly a fan of the wholesome, Frank Capra-esque hero, the sort of character you're supposed to root for. I'm an optimist by nature, and in my version of the world, I want to see the good people win. I think there's enough of the opposite in the real world.
Bromance, Gal Pal, and other platonic pairings are lots of fun.
The antagonists against whom my protagonists struggle may vary. I write heroes better than I write villains.
Least favorite character tropes?
I don't usually write Complete Monsters who have absolutely no redeeming qualities. I also try to avoid "heroes" without flaws, and like many of you, I won't ever write about an abusive or mean character in a way that makes them seem positive or desirable.
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
Intentionally sometimes (in particular when playing my Hogwarts save and writing about it), but I definitively suspect to be doing it unintentionally a lot of times for a lot of my characters. I mostly enjoy reading books, comics and mangas, so I'm more likely to take inspiration from those than from movies and series.
What are your favorite character tropes?
I generally don't care too much about tropes, either as a reader or as a writer, but there are definitively some recurring themes in my favorite characters. I like a lot of the tropes in adventurous and fantasy teen stories, such as friendship helping the characters overcome any difficulty, the characters always accepting to take part in crazy adventures, or they always being able to overcome apparently impossible obstacles or enemies to reach the happy ending. When writing in particular, now that I've written quite a lot of stories already, I also start to notice some recurring characteristics in the characters I write, such as a high percentage of strong and independent women, or of guys who are grumpy in the outside but very gentle once they manage to open up with others. I also had some suspiciously similar nice and intelligent characters (always wearing glasses), or shy characters who learn to open up and get more confident over time.
I do like many tropes about conflicted, problematic or even evil characters, but I'm just very bad at writing them...
Least favorite character tropes?
I'm not a fan of romance in general in stories, so I rarely like the "love at first sight" immediately followed by "I'm sure this is the person I'm spending the rest of my life with" situations, nor I like very girly or manly characters only thinking about dating. Like others before me, I'm not a fan of evil characters without any real motivation either, and I would also say that I don't generally like the use of unmotivated deus ex Machina suddenly resolving the plot.
You can follow the Legacy Miller from my blog and the forum thread, *Chapter 8.18 posted on the 23th of April 2024*
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
I definitely do, but it's hard to pinpoint where any specific character's inspiration came from, because for me it always feels like the characters just sort of wander into my head and keep telling me stuff about their lives until I finally cave in and start writing about them. Obviously, the inspiration came from somewhere, but it's often not clear what it was. I doubt I ever write any character who is totally unique though.
What are your favorite character tropes?
I have a soft spot for grumpy loners who are reluctant to do what the story calls for, but end up doing it anyway because it needs to be done. Probably because I can personally relate very well to this.
I also have a soft spot for cocky rogues who start out selfish, but ultimately end up caring deeply for some other character(s) and do something heroic in the end.
Misfits who end up finding good friends.
Geeky female characters! There are never enough truly geeky female characters. I need more of these.
Male characters who are very empathetic and kind to others. There never seem to be enough of these either.
Characters who are so wrapped up in their own little worlds that they are completely clueless about things which seem obvious to either the other characters or the audience. Again, probably because I can relate.
I like redemption arcs. And I like characters who have a lot of inner conflict.
Least favorite character tropes?
"Good guys" vs "bad guys". I get bored if that's all there is to it. I want a lot of gray area. I love it when I can't actually fully take sides in a story.
Female main characters who are not smart. I don't care if they are physically weak, or if they can't fight. But if they can't think, I'm done.
Maybe not exactly a character trope, but I also don't like it if all the conflict in the story is external and none of the characters struggle with themselves. This doesn't feel real to me, since my whole life has been primarily driven by inner conflict. Characters who don't have any feel fake.
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
Absolutely, but a lot of it is subtle. I like having characters that are my own so I don't import anyone else's work wholesale into mine and I generally avoid all premade Sims. But I consume a lot of media that I like\admire\find inspirational and must be affected by it.
What are your favorite character tropes?
Anything nuanced. It's hard for me to say what exactly because I'm not sure I know… I like different things depending on the context, so I will try to list what I've found myself writing:
Extremely questionable anti-heroes (basically villains as protagonists whose behavior may be comedic or satirical and doesn't quite cross into "unforgivable")
Aces (characters who are exceptionally skilled and competitive)
Hardworking, naïve, cheerful candy girls with a bit of dark realpolitik flavoring
Adorkable characters
Least favorite character tropes?
Like @GlacierSnow, I'm not a fan of "good guys" vs. "bad guys". I also don't like "chosen one" tropes.
@Sims4MagicalTales - Thanks for the questions. What are your answers? @Snowbnuuy - I loved reading your answers to these question. They were very thoughtful.
Comments
I more or less remember it, but I forgot details such as the expressions...
What if I proposed a new picture then?
His grandmother would often tell him stories that the gnome sculptures in his mother's prized garden had actual gnomes living inside them- members of the Fae. 'If you keep destroying them, they will get their own back. The Fae do not take to it kindly, and you will pay if you do not change. Upon Harvestfest, they may come for revenge.'
Even when he reached his sixteenth year, Simon took joy in the destruction of the hideous garden gnomes...only his mother kept replacing them, and had been for years! That Harvestfest afternoon, he asked her, 'Why? Why do you keep buying new ones? They're horrible!'
His mother claimed that she didn't replace them- hadn't done since he was eleven. They just seem to turn up out of the blue, and she lets them reside next to the flowers. Heading back into the kitchen, he laughed under his breath. 'Ridiculous,' he said to himself. 'They wouldn't just come back on their-'
And there they were, waiting for him in the kitchen, angered flames above their heads. Of the three, only one seemed to be willing to deal with the situation with pacifism. As he approached them, they all turned to face him, their expressions suddenly painted with ferocious glares...
The morning after, his mother found a new gnome in her prized garden. She found the resemblance to her own son rather endearing. Had Simon apologised for his recklessness with a hand-painted gnome of his own? Such a kind boy he was.
When moving pictures were first introduced, single syllabled words were used because the majority of viewers were considered functional illiterates. Of course today, reading is "fundamental." Yet, being able to tell your story without laborious language has its place and can actually hook your audience to come back for more. The challenge is when to delve deeper into description or cut to the chase.
On YouTube: Simmin' with MsDSweets - Enjoy, Comment, Like and Subscribe!
On Flickr: MsDSweets on Flickr
Practically all my characters are inspired or drawn in part from characters in literature, TV and films. Sometimes drawn from people in real life. As my story is set in a particular era there are certain character archetypes and tropes from that time I want to incorporate.
What are your favorite character tropes?
So many to choose from. I like quick witted characters who speak in fast paced dialogue, I like heroes especially those who don't look like much on the outside but who are brave and at their best when things are at their worst and I like a bit of sexual chemistry between characters who are clearly fond of one another.
Least favorite character tropes?
I don't like whiny characters or ones that endlessly brood that life is unfair and no one understands them. I like pro-active characters who try to change their circumstances...even if they fail it's better that they try.
Read Sim 66 here:https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/978195/sim-66/p1
https://kelloggjkellogg.blogspot.com/2020/10/sim-66-prologue.html
When making characters, do you sometimes draw inspiration from characters in literature, television, films, comics, etc.?
- All the time! My inspiration comes from everywhere- all kinds of media, as well as from fan theories when it comes to premades, and occasionally the odd bit from people I know. I also tend to recycle a lot of archetypes and change them up slightly.
Morgyn Ember in my story is actually partially inspired by Game of Thrones's Targaryens, at least what I'd read of them at the time. The desire for control and power, the ambition, and the obsession with the dragon as a symbol of that power were all things that came to mind from it as I was writing them. Also, I wanted something dragon-related in the story because I love dragons.
I went overboard and started discussing more than just favourite archetypes and tropes...
My favourite characters/archetypes/setups are...
- The ones who go off the slippery slope. Give me that good or normal character who slowly but surely has had enough of playing by the rules. What have the rules done for them? What have others done for them? Let me look forward to them lashing out and causing absolute mayhem. Will they feel bad about it? Will they relish in it? Who knows! The build-up to those kinds of characters, when done well, is *chef's kiss*. There's something fun about chaotic characters who care little for the rules. Sometimes even the flat-out evil ones.
- Comic relief characters, but with proper depth. Comic relief is okay, but it's even better if there's a reason for it. Is it a coping mechanism, or just someone who wants to bring some cheer to a miserable world? Do they have a personality other than being funny? Great stuff.
- Introverted or socially-awkward characters, but their introversion isn't treated as a flaw, or as something that absolutely needs to be overcome. Especially when the other lead characters don't force them to change as well.
- Underdogs are fun!
- Characters who are learning to trust others, or who are slowly learning to be loved. ;-;
- Unconventional romance is always fun. On-and-off, sort-of-not-really-a-maybe-couple-possibly?, romantic tension, polyamory, the character who got told 'no' when they asked the other out but that's okay, they're still friends. Love triangles, not a huge fan really, but it's more fun when there's more potential people added to the 'will they won't they?' crowd. I could go on forever about this.
- Bromances, so much. Close male friends are always wholesome in stories and I want to see more of them!
- Would be fun to have more focus on male/female platonic relationships.
Least favorite character tropes?
Again, what I'm discussing probably isn't necessarily tropes specifically, but...
- Agree with Kellogg on the subject of characters that are too angsty.
That said, there are times where a lot of angst is understandable, even if it lasts a while...especially when it considers younger characters. When it comes to SimLit I've read, I find a lot of readers expect teens and children, especially girls, to deal with trauma in the exact same way an adult would, for some reason, or overcome it overnight.
That point aside, constant angst means less development, and also someone who you stop sympathising with because it's so constant. The fun part of characters is seeing what they do in an attempt to overcome, heal from, or cope with the issue.
- Characters who never suffer consequences for their actions. Usually happens to an author's favourite character, not very fun. No matter how much I love my characters, they won't always get away with it.
- 'Token' characters are boring, the ones who merely exist because an author wants to be 'diverse'. Give them some semblance of personality. A want, a fear, a goal, a favourite cheese, absolutely anything. Same goes for any character really.
- Not a fan of 'damsels in constant distress', but also not a fan of the complete opposite, 'completely stoic female character who never changes or shows a semblance of emotion, ever'. I don't mind it if the character changes or starts to show fear, stress, anger etc. halfway through or something, but when it's constant it's boring. It's fun to see what makes even the most stoic characters tick a little. I wish authors would realise it's not weak to cry, or otherwise show emotions.
- Children who act like adults, when there's no proper reason as to why they do. Seeing two-year-olds talk like thirty-year-olds without some underlying reason just feels off.
- Self-inserts with nothing different to them at all to the author.Then again, might just be me. I'd make a very boring story character.
- Characters who are solely a mouthpiece of the author, nothing else to them. I don't care how subtle or 'mallet to the face' the message is, but there's a way of putting it across that isn't just having a character who's just there to get across an author's opinion. Once again, give them something outside of that. There are things I try to get across in my own work, but it's never the sole reason the character is there.
- Abusive characters whose behaviour is portrayed as desirable or otherwise a 'good thing' by the author. Just no.
The majority of my writing is story driven. My characters are written to match the storyline. Sometimes I will add characters based on literature, tv, etc., because I want to pay homage, while adding my own twist to make them fit the storyline.
On YouTube: Simmin' with MsDSweets - Enjoy, Comment, Like and Subscribe!
On Flickr: MsDSweets on Flickr
not on purpose. the benders well noel and lauren seem to think i should try writing a soap opera.
they know they have me right where they want me.lol . i promised ayden i would finish his family story before moving on. that was the only way the save didn't mysteriously break. now it only breaks with mods. but i'm up to 2 divorced parents 8 kids thats noel and laurens 5 one girl lauren had um while married to noel but not his, twins noel had outside the marriage and this is still gen1.
I thought I ought to share this in case anyone needs it: I've greatly expanded on my screenshot editing guide, which now includes a section moreso focused on useful CC and mods. It also includes more bits for complete beginners such as basics about camera controls for both console and PC, reducing image file size, and the like. It also now includes a guide on how to edit parts of a screenshot as opposed to the whole thing, and a guide on how to add a Sim to a custom background in GIMP, with ways to blend them into the background.
I think it's impossible not to draw inspiration from things you see and experience, including media. I try not to at least copy characters specifically, but sometimes I do sneaky or not-so-sneaky homages to some of my favourites. Even then I change things up enough that it's more my own. For example, Tad is like a combination of my favourite depictions of Death in media (mostly Sir Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's, but with some other ones thrown in too) that I've tried to make my own.
What are your favorite character tropes?
Non-human character (spirit, alien, robot...) trying to understand humanity and giving an outsider's perspective on humans.
Socially awkward characters.
Snarky rogues with some goodness in them.
Intelligent and clever characters.
Intelligent and clever characters who are out of their depth/comfort zone.
Characters who are kind, especially if they have gone through a lot of hardships without losing that kindness.
More of a relationship trope, but platonic/queerplatonic relationships are especially my jam!
Least favorite character tropes?
One-dimensional villain, though that can be done in a fun way sometimes.
I agree with @SnowBnuuy about the "token" characters that are just thrown in without any effort put into them. Also about the mouthpiece-characters. And definitely about the abusive characters whose abusive behaviour is presented as a good thing. Just no indeed.
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
i forgot what a troupe is so i couldn't answer those questions.
Read Sim 66 here:https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/978195/sim-66/p1
https://kelloggjkellogg.blogspot.com/2020/10/sim-66-prologue.html
Definitely. The Bailey family from It's a Wonderful Life are supporting actors for my current Simlit. IaWL is my family's favorite movie, so Z and I were excited to add them to our story. Tommy and Rosalind Geiger come to us from a series of books Z adores: the Penderwicks novels, by Jeanne Birdsall. A sharp-eyed fan of My Time at Portia would recognize Dr. Jeremy Xu, Z's favorite character from that game.
I also place real people who intrigue me into my stories, particularly if their lives ended too soon. My current SimLit has two such characters: athletes whom my grandfather and father admired years ago. Tim Horton is one of these, and Nile Kinnick is another.
We have also created Sims from the real-life story of the Johnstown Flood, which devastated the Pennsylvania city by that name in 1889. David McCullough told the story of this event in a captivating book, and several of the people who came to life in his account live on in my Gallery. Z has read McCullough's book, too, and she picked some of the characters who are now part of our Simworlds. One example is Victor Heiser, who survived the flood and went on to a noteworthy career as a physician.
What are your favorite character tropes?
I am unabashedly a fan of the wholesome, Frank Capra-esque hero, the sort of character you're supposed to root for. I'm an optimist by nature, and in my version of the world, I want to see the good people win. I think there's enough of the opposite in the real world.
Bromance, Gal Pal, and other platonic pairings are lots of fun.
The antagonists against whom my protagonists struggle may vary. I write heroes better than I write villains.
Least favorite character tropes?
I don't usually write Complete Monsters who have absolutely no redeeming qualities. I also try to avoid "heroes" without flaws, and like many of you, I won't ever write about an abusive or mean character in a way that makes them seem positive or desirable.
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Yevsas mairzeemo!
Intentionally sometimes (in particular when playing my Hogwarts save and writing about it), but I definitively suspect to be doing it unintentionally a lot of times for a lot of my characters. I mostly enjoy reading books, comics and mangas, so I'm more likely to take inspiration from those than from movies and series.
What are your favorite character tropes?
I generally don't care too much about tropes, either as a reader or as a writer, but there are definitively some recurring themes in my favorite characters. I like a lot of the tropes in adventurous and fantasy teen stories, such as friendship helping the characters overcome any difficulty, the characters always accepting to take part in crazy adventures, or they always being able to overcome apparently impossible obstacles or enemies to reach the happy ending. When writing in particular, now that I've written quite a lot of stories already, I also start to notice some recurring characteristics in the characters I write, such as a high percentage of strong and independent women, or of guys who are grumpy in the outside but very gentle once they manage to open up with others. I also had some suspiciously similar nice and intelligent characters (always wearing glasses), or shy characters who learn to open up and get more confident over time.
I do like many tropes about conflicted, problematic or even evil characters, but I'm just very bad at writing them...
Least favorite character tropes?
I'm not a fan of romance in general in stories, so I rarely like the "love at first sight" immediately followed by "I'm sure this is the person I'm spending the rest of my life with" situations, nor I like very girly or manly characters only thinking about dating. Like others before me, I'm not a fan of evil characters without any real motivation either, and I would also say that I don't generally like the use of unmotivated deus ex Machina suddenly resolving the plot.
I definitely do, but it's hard to pinpoint where any specific character's inspiration came from, because for me it always feels like the characters just sort of wander into my head and keep telling me stuff about their lives until I finally cave in and start writing about them. Obviously, the inspiration came from somewhere, but it's often not clear what it was. I doubt I ever write any character who is totally unique though.
What are your favorite character tropes?
I have a soft spot for grumpy loners who are reluctant to do what the story calls for, but end up doing it anyway because it needs to be done. Probably because I can personally relate very well to this.
I also have a soft spot for cocky rogues who start out selfish, but ultimately end up caring deeply for some other character(s) and do something heroic in the end.
Misfits who end up finding good friends.
Geeky female characters! There are never enough truly geeky female characters. I need more of these.
Male characters who are very empathetic and kind to others. There never seem to be enough of these either.
Characters who are so wrapped up in their own little worlds that they are completely clueless about things which seem obvious to either the other characters or the audience. Again, probably because I can relate.
I like redemption arcs. And I like characters who have a lot of inner conflict.
Least favorite character tropes?
"Good guys" vs "bad guys". I get bored if that's all there is to it. I want a lot of gray area. I love it when I can't actually fully take sides in a story.
Female main characters who are not smart. I don't care if they are physically weak, or if they can't fight. But if they can't think, I'm done.
Maybe not exactly a character trope, but I also don't like it if all the conflict in the story is external and none of the characters struggle with themselves. This doesn't feel real to me, since my whole life has been primarily driven by inner conflict. Characters who don't have any feel fake.
Absolutely, but a lot of it is subtle. I like having characters that are my own so I don't import anyone else's work wholesale into mine and I generally avoid all premade Sims. But I consume a lot of media that I like\admire\find inspirational and must be affected by it.
What are your favorite character tropes?
Anything nuanced. It's hard for me to say what exactly because I'm not sure I know… I like different things depending on the context, so I will try to list what I've found myself writing:
Least favorite character tropes?
Like @GlacierSnow, I'm not a fan of "good guys" vs. "bad guys". I also don't like "chosen one" tropes.
@Sims4MagicalTales - Thanks for the questions. What are your answers?
@Snowbnuuy - I loved reading your answers to these question. They were very thoughtful.