this is why I've got nothing...

Such a pretty hair for such a very angry girl! ;)

Vicky is wearing Carla's retextured Nouk Tommie hair, and I just love them! So if you haven't already, head over there and pick that up!

The first month of my year has been amazingly productive, full of creativity and more ideas than I know what to do with. Unfortunately, all that good work is wreaking havoc on this blog, lol! Please bear with me. I don't have Matt's story ready - I haven't even started it, to be honest, and there's a novel chapter I want to finish before I turn my focus to anything else. But there are a couple things I want to tell you about first! :)

shameless self promotion?

I am allowed to do that on my own blog, right? lol!

views on sex: a study on fictional nookie

* warnings: pics are marginally NSFW, and plentiful discussion of a wide variety of sex ;) *

Okay, first of all, I have no idea why I was so compelled to do this study, lol! But since I couldn't think of a fictional Christmas gift to you all, I decided to give you a character study on fictional sex!!! :D

Of course, just the very reason I'm exploring my characters' views on sex at all has to be inspired by Lunar's profiles for Ruin. I've always felt (and I think she would agree) that you can tell a lot about a character based on how they approach their sexual relationships. This became even more apparent as I write my characters' current relationship ordeals, seeing how each of them view love and sex so differently.

time in a bottle, revisited

* Sorry, this is going to be unbelievably long and rambly! *

not really a prosperity blog, or anything like it, anymore...

It's been a long time since I wrote that post on time and aging, and a lot of things have changed in the almost-three years I've been writing this story. So if this opens a new era in the keeping of LH time, then it's something that actually happened quite a while ago. If you compare my rounds 2076/78 to rounds 2080 and especially 2082, I'm sure you'll see the huge difference ;)

I don't play/write my families in anything resembling equal turns. In fact, I rarely get the chance to really and truly "play" my families at all anymore. I'm fine with that, by the way. I have just as much fun using the game to tell my story as I do playing it for fun. And in the midst of posing, I do try to steal a couple minutes to just "play" them like the little pixel dollies they are. If I do manage to take any cues from gameplay anymore, it'll be found in these little 5-minute play sessions.

This story (and all of its story parts) has plenty of momentum, for the next two rounds, and into the spin-off even after the Lakeside Heights portion of the story is finished. So I thought we could talk about the way things started here, and what things have become. And I'll go ahead and finally say out loud that we're leaving that "prosperity blog" structure, which in honesty, we left quite a while ago.

idle chatter: cool finds 'n stuff

I'm having to push back the second half of Jodie's story (part 2), mostly because my kid got sick this weekend and the past two days have dissolved into a pile of snotty tissues and vomit (oh hey, I know you're all super jealous of my life, lol!). And then I have some other things to finish the next couple days. I'll try not to make you wait all the way until next weekend, but it'll be Wednesday or Thursday before I can give it any proper attention.

But I do have a surprise mini-thing for you later tonight, from Amelia.

party prep picspam...

It's basically party season around here in Lakeside Heights, December through the New Year. Or at least this year it is. The elections are coming up fast, there's a war going on, and people are stressed out and need to blow off some steam. So the next few updates will feature parties, family gatherings, holiday events, or get-togethers for no specific reason at all.

winter 2083/84: still hear you

I'm rather excited/anxious/nervous to share this season with you. If you've been following the babble thread, some of these are the stories I had clogging up my head for months. Many months! Almost a year for some of them! I've been waiting so patiently to share them, trying desperately not to drop spoilers all over the place. (And probably failing in some cases.) And of course, after all this hype, now I just have to hope they're as entertaining in reality as they are in my head, lol! ;)

now, the building spam ends

And to wrap things up, I have some build month outtakes ;)

In real life, people don't teleport, so I always forget that Amelia learned how to do it. Here she is teleporting up to the third floor of Collins Hall for a graduate level drafting class.

on the building of a university

The thing about LCU is that it's never finished. I had this grand idea that I would get it all finished up and post this huge all-inclusive tour of the thing, inside and out, every single building. (I know, what was I thinking?) But it wasn't done. And I couldn't get it done - not before this weekend, not definitely not before I burn the hell out on all these building projects! And in just the process of simply working on it, I thought of ten more things I want to do with it. I thought about how Lucy will be starting college in just a year and a half, and she'll want to study dance, and I don't have a dance hall for her. Yet... ;)

how to materialize a family background in five seconds or less...

Believe it or not, this all started with a building project.

on character traits...

I don't know *what* inspired me to start a mega-post on characterization, lol! But I had what I thought was a simple project of adding character traits to my profiles (like Apple Valley or Heredon Cove), and then I got started writing this and I couldn't stop.

This is something I've always done for my characters, behind the scenes. And for more serious stories, I'll even write out a whole page of defining characteristics for my characters. These are the sort of inherent personality features that we guide our lives and decisions by. We all have them - and not just aspirations, though those are true too, at a much simpler level. But not all [insert your favorite aspiration] "Sims" want the same thing, or go about it the same way. Their character is deeper and more unique than that. We don't always hold true to our inherent nature, but when we don't, there usually has to be a reason for it.

Not that I feel at all qualified to give a lesson on character writing or anything, lol! But I do know a couple things that help me write my characters, so maybe it might help you too ;)

from myself, extras and author's note

first, a note on the ending of stories:

Since this is kind of the first storyline that's been well and truly wrapped up in this blog, I thought I'd do a little author's note. I'll also probably want to give them each their own author's note when they're finished. For a time, I was doing the author's notes by round, but I think this works better, maybe.

But on the ending of stories in general, this is how it will work:

The storyline tags cover the arc of the story itself, from beginning to middle to end, and only the story. Both Micah and Mariah existed as Sims/characters before this story took shape, and those entries are not included. Likewise, the whole Buchanan family will still exist in Lakeside Heights in the future. You'll still hear from them in other stories, and they'll still get their once-a-round family update. But as far as I'm concerned, this story is finished, and I'm happy to let them have their peace, lol!

Basically, the storyline tags contain only what I would include if I were writing this as its own stand-alone book. It's still a work-in-progress, but main characters are also getting their own name tags as well, and those name tags will span the entire collection of stories, any entry they make a meaningful appearance in. So for further reading, you can continue to follow their tags: Mariah, Micah, and for entries relating to the whole family, Buchanan.

And James too. James is one of those who doesn't really have his own storyline, yet plays an important role in about three or four different stories. Or maybe he does have his own story, and I just haven't discovered what that is yet.

Anyway...

This obviously contains major spoilers, so if you haven't read through all the from myself stories, you'll want to finish those first.

Author's note on the "from myself" storyline:
The hows, and whys, and hitches in the writing of...

this is the sorry excuse for why I've got nothing...

Well, this is how I spent my Simming time this weekend, but unfortunately, it did not amount to much shooting of the next story update.

But... Lakeside Heights now has skies!!!

idle chatter: a hole in the head

Guess who? Couples edition!

Wouldn't that be a fun game? I'd show you couples, in different clothes and with their faces obscured and you'd have to guess who they were, just from their surroundings and mannerisms.

You all shout, "Yes!"

Well, maybe I'll put one together some day ;) LOL!

No, I'm not that mean. But I do need to finish out this chapter of stories first, so maybe we'll do that in the next chapter break.

You can try to guess who this couple is though. They've both had recent makeovers, so it might be a little tricky. I'll reveal them at the end of this post.

I'm kind of itching to finish this round by the end of September (I know, longest round ever, right?), which I'm aiming to coincide with the completion of my novel, because I'm itching to play FFXIII in my intermission. And you all should know that when I play FF games, I disappear from the conscious world for a solid two months! FFXIII is going to be my prize to myself for finishing the first solid draft of my novel - what more incentive does a girl need than that?

Of course, when I actually sell the damn thing, my prize will be a supercool new gaming computer! :)

welcome to LH blogiversary week!

Lakeside Heights turns two years old this week! (Or precisely, it did last Wednesday, on the 24th, but whatever, lol!) It's been a fun ride, and I have some special things planned for you all!

prequel stories #7: love at first sight

Half of this is a prequel story, and the more recent half you'll probably remember. This is not including the couples from the other young loves prequels, just to save space - I have a lot of couples ;) But some of those other stories would definitely qualify as love at first sight. You can find those here: who just kisses a little in college, young loves, and couples never meant to be. So, for Valentine's Day, I'll give you something good and heart-farty. Prequel story #7: love at first sight :)

under the skin, revisited

Gameplay notes, extras, outtakes, and assorted goodies for the four part, "under the skin" story series.

fall 2083: take it down

Our little project is well in the works now, so let's dig ourselves out of the past around here and carry on. With the new year, we'll start a new chapter. The theme for fall 2083 is "take it down." This chapter will span from August through November.

author's picks (round 2080 and earlier)

I enjoy seeing other writers discussing their stories, after the fact, about what their intentions were, or what their story was meant to do. So I'm going to do something of my own.

I usually try to be pretty impartial in my notes, so that my opinions won't persuade the way you read these stories, but I thought it might be fun to share which ones are my favorites. I can usually tell which ones are your favorites, from the comments and the way you react to the entry. Your favorites and mine are not always one in the same, though sometimes they are.

It takes some time after the round is finished to look back and reflect on the ones that really stand out. So these are the ones I spent a lot of time on or felt particularly proud of. And maybe some time after this current round is over, I'll post something like this again.

And it's a good way for me to stall and take a little Christmas/mid-round/just finished a huge-ass chapter break, lol! So here, go read something I already wrote! :)

***

November 2079: Summer's place

At some point, I started writing these updates a little less commentary-style, and started shaping them into stories. I think it might have been around the time of this update. The writing of this one isn't my best, but it reflects this change, the opportunity I saw for turning these prosperity-style updates into actual stories.

And I guess I also noticed that writing these updates in any less quality than I was capable of wasn't beneficial to my real storytelling. So my pace has slowed down considerably in doing this, but the end result was a good one - a better story for you to read, and better practice for me.

But like I said, this wasn't my best writing ever, and it almost makes me want to not showcase it, but for sentimental reasons, I will.

I also wrote this story the same week I conceived the novel I'm working on (I remember, because I was thinking what the crap is up with all these tragic stories???). Which makes it a very nostalgic time in my storytelling life. *sigh* LOL!


May 2080: blissfully clueless

Even though Piper had been around Lakeside Heights since before this blog began, this was sort of her "debut" story. She'd never been a feature of her own story before, though I have no idea why I waited so long, because this one really just made me fall in love with her!

Then this was also Jodie's first real story as a side-kick since she moved to Lakeside Heights, in all her arctic cold glory, and certainly made me fall in love with her as well.

Amelia has always been one of my favorites, and then add Carly in there too, and I really found that these girls would become (and still are!) one of my very favorite groups of friends to write about. All of them are so completely different in character, but yet they're all looking for the same things, to have fun, to love and be loved, and wondering what it's all about - is that not the formula for a great sitcom or something? (Well, yeah, duh... Sex in the City? But set in Michigan, lol!) Can I sell this idea to someone? Any TV producers reading? ;)

But anyway, this was the start of many fun stories to come.


August 2080: you're doing it wrong

When you're a parent, you're not supposed to have a favorite child... you love each of them for their individual quirks and beauty, though some of them give you more joy, while others give you more grief. The Deppiesse family would be that beautiful, bright, and quirky child that gives me nothing but joy, lol!

The twins are always hilarious fun, and Dallas is always charming and adorable. And this story in particular, the start of Dallas and Lucy as a Lakeside Heights power-couple, lol! That's enough in itself :)

March 2081: the love shack

And if we were to carry on the child comparison, Maxwell Shaw would be the one who gives me nothing but grief, lol!

But I love him just the same. Being in Max's head is so much fun, probably because he's just so foreign to my way of life (any maybe most people's?). I love him for bringing color to my story, and forcing me to think outside of my own personal comfort zone. I love that even though he's quite honestly a creepy pervert, he adores his family and is madly in love with his wife. I love that even when he screws up, he manages to weasel his way back stronger than ever. But most of all I love that he does actually have a little bit of a soul in there, buried deep, deep down. Who knew? :)

I just posted a new family picture in the database for them, and I think it really captures the essence of them as a family. And I love that I couldn't for the life of me manage to squeeze a genuine smile out of Max for that picture. It was like pulling teeth! He strikes me as the kind of guy who doesn't smile willingly for pictures.


April 2081: fourteen percent

This one erupted from my brain in a flash of words and images before I'd even started up my game. Its initial form was very poem-like, and was maybe one of the first in this blog to really show off (with no apologies) my mad poetic skillz, yo! ;)

I think each manifestation of grief is a very complex and personal thing, and Hayden's head has been both a very dark and beautiful place to be. I'm happy to finally see him leaning more towards the beautiful lately though.


August 2081: outshine

I love Melissa Fortney! Who doesn't love Melissa Fortney? I love how she always manages to make sunshine out of the little bits of light she has in her life.

Well, I've always had a soft spot for her mother as well, who never meant to be such a screw up. These two are so dynamic as characters in my head that I already know they'll exist in some form or another after this story ends...

(psst, maybe novel #2?)


September 2081: headcount

This one wasn't exactly a literary masterpiece or anything, but it's always been one of my favorites. The whole Deppiesse clan are hilarious together. It was just plain fun, from beginning to end, and who can ever get enough of Fiona McCullough? And I still laugh out loud when I read it :)


October 2081: curiouser and curiouser

Well, who doesn't like dropping secret bombshells? Except for the people they're dropped on, I guess... This one was just a lot of fun to write. I always have fun bringing up history from the neighborhood that I didn't get to write while it was happening. And this one brought to light the secret past binding together two very unlikely families. Hmmm...

I also tried to weave in a little bit of a subtle Alice in Wonderland theme, though I don't think anybody picked up on it at the time... too subtle maybe, lol! :)


December 2081: in real life

I have to identify with Hailey quite a bit, a hopeless romantic writing about love. This one was maybe one of the smartest I tried to write in that round, if you were inclined to try to pick it apart, with the facade of Hailey's idealistic romance novels against all these portraits of realistic love and its failures. I had a ridiculous amount of fun writing that scene in the literary cafe... and all of the therapy scenes too for that matter. You guys should see me writing these things - I must look like a lunatic, cracking myself up, lol! :)

I loved including Jodie, Mariah, and Hayden with their smaller cameos, so that all these different love stories became interwoven, finally coming to the conclusion that what it means to be honestly happy in life turns out to be not very idealized after all.


May 2082: lost and found

Now tell me that picture of Hazel with the bear doesn't still make you spew your coffee!!! What is she doing?!?

Besides that even, it's got Dallas and Lucy doing ballet, Beau being adorable and clueless, April being fun, Robbie and Liza getting in trouble together! And all those stories seemed to revolve around this central theme that pulled it all together. What more could you possibly want from an update? :)

July 2082: Summer's place, continued, part 1 and part 2

Summer is a girl so close to my own heart, and I draw on much personal experience when I'm writing her stories. We (Summer and myself, lol) slaved over this decision that she needed to take a break from Tyler, and we still stand by it, even knowing what we know now about how it would unfold.

I love writing about choices and consequences, and that also means letting them make mistakes if they're so inclined to make them. I don't really believe in mistakes though, they're just chances to learn something. And sometimes what you discover is what you thought you knew after all.

***

So those were my favorites of round 2080, all the ones I put my blood, sweat, and tears into. Maybe half-way through the next round, I'll do this again for round 2082.

And Merry Christmas everyone! :)

come undone, extras

Psst, Lara... that's not your husband...

After what was the longest "chapter" I've ever written for this story (totally got carried away there, lol!), I've decided to start doing these extras by chapter from now on, instead of by year.

Okay, so let's see what other extras, misfits, and outcasts we might have from the spring/summer 2083, "come undone" chapter...