Greetings! I am about to start posting chapters from a simlit story I have been working on for quite some time. This will be my thread for announcements about new chapters, which will be posted ...
Thank you to all for your comments! They always really make my day. Sorry I'm a bit slow in responding. It's been an exhausting week in my (not nearly as interesting as the pretend world) real life.
I like that you described the chapter as funny but also making you think. This is definitely what I intended, so it makes me happy that you said that.
The ripple effects of this chapter (and all the stuff that happens on "Friday" actually) will spread out through the story for quite some time.
What you point out about Annie and Reuben's difference of opinion is insightful. I agree with Annie as well. Conspiracies and misinformation have been a huge problem where I live. When I created Tre, I knew I wanted to avoid the common trope of "the one guy who knows the truth". He is definitely not that. He's wrong a lot. When he's right, it's mainly by accident, and often only part of the truth. The trick is, as mightysprite says, "figuring out how much is right".
With regards to Reuben and Tre's nonsense... did you notice that Reuben only cares what conspiracies Tre is spreading once he starts talking about vampires?
I'm glad you liked the "decorative carbon crystal" joke so much. I'm a geologist, and apart from the cool fact that diamonds come from some pretty deep mantle material, I really don't get the human obsession with them either. :wink:
I love that you still love Ion so much. :smiley: Reuben really is being pretty callus in this scene. Poor Ion is taking it all literally and to heart. Probably won't help them become more harmonious roommates.
Finally, I've been trying to decide how much "behind the scenes" thoughts I want to share with you all. SnowBnuuy and HermioneSims often do with their stories, and I enjoy it a lot. With mine, I've kind of held off at first so I could figure out how to talk about the story without giving away spoilers, or influencing readers' interpretations too much. But I feel like at this chapter, I really do have some things I want to share. There is a little bit of a shift the story takes at this point, so this feels like a good moment for it. I promise, no actual plot spoilers here, just some (hopefully) insight into the author's mind.
When I first started writing Seventeen & Maldusk (in 2018?), I had no idea what kind of story it would be. In fact, when I first created the characters of Ion and Reuben, I didn't even know it would be a story at all. They were originally tester sims for the "Get to Work" and "Vampires" packs, both of which which I got quite a while after they were released. I thought "A vampire detective with an alien roommate! That would be cool!" and that's literally all the brain-effort I gave the concept initially.
But once I started playing with them, there was just something about them that grabbed me. I loved the contrast between them and I started having all sorts of ideas about who they were. I created a set of quirky neighbors, tossed in a few nefarious but (extremely) slow-cooker plotlines, and the rest is, well... Seventeen & Maldusk.
The Movie Night chapter is kind of a pivotal point. First, it's the point where I realized I wanted to do the story's dialogue in a comic book style, causing me to start over and take a ton of extra screenshots in order to make that happen. And second, it's the point where I realized I wanted it to be a soap opera.
I was genuinely surprised, when I started posting the story, at how much readers seemed to enjoy the humor in the initial chapters. My test readers mostly didn't have such a favorable reaction to that part. I'm glad now, that I didn't really listen them or change it much. It was fun to see readers here react to it. Your comments made me feel like a way better comedy writer than I probably actually am. I thank you.
I've been a bit worried though, because after the Movie Night, things start to take a more drama focused turn, and I'm not sure what readers have been expecting. Humor will still be a part of the story (because that's just part of how I think), but from this point in the journey onward, it takes a more backseat role (making snarky comments and faces in the mirror) while Drama tries to actually do the steering. The story still has its funny moments, and a certain "GlacierSnow" brand of nonsense worldbuilding, but it wasn't ever really intended to be completely a comedy.
The story has been deceptively innocent for the most part so far, but it's meant to be a soap opera. In coming chapters some of the background things I set up in the earlier chapters will come to the front, while new traps are getting set up for later. Tension between the main characters will ramp up. Side characters with various agendas will begin to come into play. And by the end of Season One and into Season Two, we'll start to learn about Reuben's backstory... and that's not totally a pretty sight.
Tone-wise, I don't think it ever really gets "dark" (at least not for long), but bad stuff will start to happen to some of the characters, and they don't always respond like mature, well-balanced, stable adults (Looking at you, Reuben. And also ).
I appreciate the comments that readers have posted so much. I love hearing what you think, what you notice, and how you're reacting. It really makes it all feel worthwhile. I know that some of you are communicating through a language that isn't your most familiar one, both to read the story and to comment, and I am honored that you take the time to do that. It means a lot to me.
And I want to thank everyone (commenting or not) who has been reading the story. I'm thrilled that people have been enjoying it. I hope that as this ship of fools pulls out of the harbor and into the choppier water ahead, you'll all still stay with me.
Thanks for reading!
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