Eight Ways to Live Forever: The Waverly Immortal Dynasty ("Complete")

[Trip]

Definitely link, Trip!  I understand completely ^^  I still try to keep up with Sims 3 stuff, but... my biggest problem with doing anything with it myself is the fact that trying to play it is a study in frustration due to the fact that it's so laggy due to the huge file size.  I do try to keep up with things on this forum though.  I am behind on the Waverlys though because I need to go back and reread a few things.  I missed stuff while I wasn't feeling well for a while.  But I am definitely looking forward to your rewrites and eagerly await it!

Sorry to hear that about your file. My new desktop handles larger saves a lot better, so it hasn't even been a worry for me.

I hope you're feeling better. And I appreciate the effort put into reading, but a part of me wants to tell you to wait until I re-post things. I've been doing a lot of planning.

One thing I found funny was that I was often praised for doing so much planning...I assure you all that it was not the case. I'm actually awful to work with in real life because I have no sense of organization, at any level. I didn't do much planning for this first story, which I think hurt me.

My new course of action right now is to identify one strong character development arc that defines them, one driving story arc that gets them to immortality, and one thing that they struggle with after they reach immortality, which might make things seem formulaic, but I think it's for the better. It guarantees that everyone has something of substance. And I can add to it as I see fit, but I'm considering those my bare minimum now.

An example of what I have so far for Annette, to keep her character in order for me:



Probably not what you wanted as a response, but I always have things I want to explain.

I totally understand, Trip. I think I am either single-handedly keeping some of the topics alive or one of a few keeping them alive  Please link if you continue the story elsewhere so that way we can continue to see what happens with the Waverly's!

I really appreciate the work you do by still posting dynasties, by the way. The updates always put a smile on my face.

thanks for telling us what you're planning, Trip. I normally don't comment very much but I think your explanations here are going to spur me to comment more on the Sims 3 stories I read (I don't read many Sims 4 stories, though I'm sure they're well-written). I wish you all the best with this story and that you can whip it into a shape that satisfies you.

When I say I love all my readers, I mean all of them: regular comment-posters to unregistered guests. Thanks for reading! TS4 has some nice stories, for sure, but my heart's over here.

I hope to as well! It's a lot of effort for something I can't professionally publish, but I want something to be proud of.

I will read wherever you post. I'm following all Sims 3 stories on this site hoping to help keep things going, but it's been disheartening how many have just stopped.

Believe me, I know.

[roismaire]

Ok, I’m doing it, I’m actually registering, which as a dedicated lifelong lurker feels very odd. I’ve read pretty much all of the immortal dynasty stories in a splurge, and this one is my favourite by quite a stretch. I was very sad to realise the story was unfinished, this forum was basically dead when I found it and I got used to reading things that were finished years ago all in one go. I’m very glad you’re keeping going with it, despite the drop off in readers/commenters, which must be very disheartening at this stage in such a long project.

I think your plans for the story are a very good idea, although I will obviously be sad not to see it finished sooner, I am interested to see the re-written version and what you’ve done with it. I think you’ve really clearly and accurately picked out some of the problems with earlier sections. You’re right that Lily’s character arc isn’t as clear as some of the others, probably because she was so much happier, which is much harder to write about (although a nice change, and still interesting to read) but she seems to have come into focus more as an elder so I’m sure you can work that back into the earlier bits. Also agree that Tegan’s bits could do with tightening, there were a couple of moments where it dragged ever so slightly, I think it felt like one setback too far with the Bryant/Heph business.

Sorry, I hope you don’t mind me making criticisms with my first ever comment.  Its because its such a strong piece altogether that its worth re-drafting and making more cohesive, and I think its a testament to your quality as a writer that you can see specific problems and know how to fix them (as long as you keep in mind that even the weaker parts of your own writing which probably make you cringe are still at the higher end of the scale when it comes to over-all quality)

I also agree a lot when it comes to the content and the forum rules. I’ve admired the way you have managed to tread that line, but it must have been hard (especially with the Bryant parts- that boy is crying out for a PG-13 vocabulary at the very least!) It will be interesting to see what you can do when give a bit more freedom- not that it needs a load of explicit content, you would just be able to refer to things slightly less obliquely.

I think you are very good at writing the darker edgier themes, because they always come through naturally from character and situation. You have the balance too, you give us moments of loyalty and affection and a lot of people trying the best they can and sometimes making a horrible mess as a result. None of it feels gratuitous or unearned (and believe me I’ve come across a lot of the other sort of ‘dark edgy’ writing- I have never seen another sims writing site but have read an awful lot of Harry Potter fan fiction in my time, and oh dear that can go badly wrong)

Anyway, sorry this was so long and convoluted and I’m not really sure how to quote so I hope its not confusing what I’m referring to. All I really needed to say was that you for the story, good luck with the rewriting, and I look forward to re-reading and continuing reading wherever it ends up.

And I will check out your recommendation in the meantime.

Rx

[Trip]

@roismaire Oh my god, thank you! Now lemme try to address that post in detail.

It was disheartening at times, but my view count accumulation remained consistent throughout the run. Which was weird but welcome nonetheless. My own personal crap tended to dishearten me more than my boards dying until very recently.

I kick myself for not handling Lily's story as well because I had such high ambitions for her character (her traits would have easily lent to a highly violent radical leader...instead I got happily-married artist!), but that's why the second draft is a thing for all writers. Happy is nice for some, but I don't like happiness in a story without ten tonnes of grief behind it. Her personality did seem to shine through more later...much later. She hasn't gotten her revised character brainstorming session yet, so I can't say much about my plans because they're not there. Tegan's story should have been an exercise in picking and choosing screencaps and threads (boy were there a lot sitting in my hard drive), but I got metaphorically lazy.

I don't mind the criticisms. I'm even more honest with myself, but I can't do the work alone.

It was a challenge to adhere to the rules, and it worked for two and a half years of writing (failed) stories for this forum. But I started that straight out of high school, and now I'm a little more of a sad, jaded adult. I am looking forward to not shrouding everything in euphemisms...I'm actually much happier to get Annette to talk without any filter. As for how explicit I make things, the preliminary outlines and chapters would make it difficult to merely promote here, but I have more active places to flaunt my stuff anyways. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I do thank bad fanfics of old for showing me what not to do. Especially bad Sim-fics. You'll have to take my word for it, but many of those (mostly on larger sites, like the official forums or blogs hosted on Tumblr) have a beautiful cross-section of "Plot? What plot?" and "SexCancerDeathEDGE~" that I try to avoid. I do try to make the darkness have a reward at some point, and I made a point so that the immortals were either good people at their core and/or believable in their badness while I played the dynasty, so I hope that carries over to my writing when I get there. It's a fine line to tread.

And don't worry, the post read fine to me.

[Trip]

The Magnificent Double-Post

I'm keeping this thread open, still, for a variety of reasons:

1. I plan to post Chapter 126...sometime, just to give something resembling closure, so I can move it to the Completed Stories board (not the Completed Dynasties board). It's the halfway point of the story, so it half-counts as an ending! Other than that, I want this thread to stay in some sort of public view as a bit of an "origins" post, instead of languishing in the Graveyard.

2. Roast me.

Maybe not that drastic, but I'm open to criticism and discussion of the story I gave to you here, as well as having a venue to discuss things that bothered me about my own work. Feedback is key to helping any writer improve, and while I tend to act like an encouraging and nice mod to others, it's Open Season on my own writing.

[hazelnut]

Just caught up with the Waverleys.  I'm totally with you on the content restrictions: speaking as a former teacher, I've yet to meet a six-year-old who didn't know and regularly use all of the banned vocabulary (although maybe that's just British six-year-olds - I recognise that a lot of Americans regard us as frighteningly loose-lipped types .)  I would also be interested in following future incarnations of this story.

The rapid decline of the Sims 3 part of the forum is also upsetting - my lack of regular posting and commenting over the last two or three months is entirely due to real-life madness and not to lack of interest.  So far, I've totally failed to be enthused,  or even remotely interested, by Sims 4.  There's loads of stuff I still want to do with 3, assuming I ever get the free time to do it.

[Trip]

Just caught up with the Waverleys.  I'm totally with you on the content restrictions: speaking as a former teacher, I've yet to meet a six-year-old who didn't know and regularly use all of the banned vocabulary (although maybe that's just British six-year-olds - I recognise that a lot of Americans regard us as frighteningly loose-lipped types .)  I would also be interested in following future incarnations of this story.

The rapid decline of the Sims 3 part of the forum is also upsetting - my lack of regular posting and commenting over the last two or three months is entirely due to real-life madness and not to lack of interest.  So far, I've totally failed to be enthused,  or even remotely interested, by Sims 4.  There's loads of stuff I still want to do with 3, assuming I ever get the free time to do it.

I knew a few bad words as a six year-old, but I don't know the state of them now. But the game is rated T for teens and teens tend to know this stuff already. It bugs me, but this is the forum I chose.

I understand that all completely! One person isn't the downfall, and I'll blame the shiny new toy EA released as a collective whole. I'll be honest: TS4 has a long, long way to go. I still want to tell a story using it just to say I did/get my money's worth, but it's not a worthy replacement.

[Magpie2012]

Phew! Finally caught up in the story. Trip, I will follow you to WP, just as I did some of my other favourite Sims authors! This story is amazing and I can't wait to read the rewrite with its grittier edge. Phil in particular strikes me as having a very un-Pg-13 vocabulary which just can't be written here. Once you link to WP I'm there!

[Turoskel]

I haven't read the last chapter yet, just skipped that to read the rest of the thread first, I totally understand how you feel Trip, I have zero interest in Sims 4, I tried the trial and it only confirmed what I already knew, it just isn't the game for me and I'm not sure it ever will be even a few expansions from now, the core game just isn't what I'm after for my sims.

It is sad to see how quiet this part of the forum has become, I said to my boyfriend shortly after Sims 4 came out and everybody else was off playing with the new shiny that I felt almost abandoned, after so long having challenges to look forward to each month that was suddenly gone, I was doing my 4x4 and wasn't sure if I felt like doing a story for it, why bother? who cares? is what I thought to myself but some still are interested and it shows in the comments on that and in this thread and others.

I was sorry your 4x4 failed as I was enjoying that but glad you are doing another, and I agree that having the option to tell it as you truly see it outside of forum restrictions would be great, the stories in my head as I played them out and visualised them are pretty much nothing like what I wrote, keeping it within certain parameters and only having a certain amount of images is restrictive to the imagination. I founded my immortal dynasty with five evil sims who read like a litter of fluffy kittens because I didn't think I could write them as evil, I admire you for pushing the boundaries as much as you have while staying within the rules.

I would love to see a revised version of this story in all it's dysfunctional glory, there have been times when I have felt there is something you were trying to say but it didn't quite come across because you couldn't outright say it, for example some of the conversations between Tegan and Bryant felt a little too 'nice' to me, which from Tegan's point of view I can understand as it's in her nature, but I felt Bryant was maybe a little stifled by forum restrictions.

Whatever you decide to do I would definitely be interested in reading it.

[Trip]

Phew! Finally caught up in the story. Trip, I will follow you to WP, just as I did some of my other favourite Sims authors! This story is amazing and I can't wait to read the rewrite with its grittier edge. Phil in particular strikes me as having a very un-Pg-13 vocabulary which just can't be written here. Once you link to WP I'm there!

Nice! For now, you can follow my main blog at Our Blessed Frozen Cells. It's just a placeholder right now, but I'll use it for announcements and probably later for album reviews (the hobby I had before writing fiction. A big tip for anyone: any writing is good practice. Learn how to write essays, reviews, argumentative papers, journalistic pieces, etc.).

Oh Phil. He and Annette were the big deciding factors in the move/rewrite. I needed to make her more callous and vulgar from the start, and his story was going to focus on some nasty things no matter how many euphemisms I used. As you could guess, Piper's "pharmaceutical research" would play into it, and even if that didn't, Phil was married to the criminal career for his adult life. There isn't much story without his job taking the starring role, and while the game might hide what goes on behind the warehouse doors, I couldn't.

And he had a special way of getting to know his co-workers. In bed.

I haven't read the last chapter yet, just skipped that to read the rest of the thread first, I totally understand how you feel Trip, I have zero interest in Sims 4, I tried the trial and it only confirmed what I already knew, it just isn't the game for me and I'm not sure it ever will be even a few expansions from now, the core game just isn't what I'm after for my sims.

It is sad to see how quiet this part of the forum has become, I said to my boyfriend shortly after Sims 4 came out and everybody else was off playing with the new shiny that I felt almost abandoned, after so long having challenges to look forward to each month that was suddenly gone, I was doing my 4x4 and wasn't sure if I felt like doing a story for it, why bother? who cares? is what I thought to myself but some still are interested and it shows in the comments on that and in this thread and others.

I was sorry your 4x4 failed as I was enjoying that but glad you are doing another, and I agree that having the option to tell it as you truly see it outside of forum restrictions would be great, the stories in my head as I played them out and visualised them are pretty much nothing like what I wrote, keeping it within certain parameters and only having a certain amount of images is restrictive to the imagination. I founded my immortal dynasty with five evil sims who read like a litter of fluffy kittens because I didn't think I could write them as evil, I admire you for pushing the boundaries as much as you have while staying within the rules.

I would love to see a revised version of this story in all it's dysfunctional glory, there have been times when I have felt there is something you were trying to say but it didn't quite come across because you couldn't outright say it, for example some of the conversations between Tegan and Bryant felt a little too 'nice' to me, which from Tegan's point of view I can understand as it's in her nature, but I felt Bryant was maybe a little stifled by forum restrictions.

Whatever you decide to do I would definitely be interested in reading it.

At least you didn't make the same mistake I did and buy it. I still play around with TS4 on occasion so that I can levy decisions for the Dynasties and Challenges, and I want to see how jarring a sad story in a bright and happy game can go too, but that project's on the back burner for now.

I've ranted to my girlfriend about the state of the forums too. It bothers me! But I think it's important to try and encourage the writers that stick around...I'm just really inconsistent about it.

I'm not too sad about my 4x4 now. The restart is currently going a lot smoother, and the story is forming itself better. But I think that a change of hosting will really do my stories more justice. All of them. And yeah, your immortal dynasty could have been a pretty brilliant subversion of how dynasties start...not that I didn't like the end result, but as you said, five evil sims! I had just one and I'm jumping ship before I get to his teens.

It's something I wish I did from the start, a bit, even if I liked this practice run. I went into the Waverlys fully intent on satirizing immortal dynasty conventions. Annette instead ended up too charming and competent the first time, because yes, I was afraid to write her how I actually imagined her: something closer to how she was as an elder. But I blame a decent amount of this story's end result on my own, flawed choices at the time. If you asked me a year ago how this story would end, I would throw out a completely different answer. There was a striking lack of of consistency and organization on my part, especially with Jo's subplot. I knew my ends for her time in Roaring Heights and with the extended family but the means were, shall we say, ad hoc. There were a lot of points and characters and plots I stuck with even though they turned out to be horrible ideas.

Seriously writers: make sure your stuff goes through some screening before you decide on its inclusion to the story. 75% or more of your ideas will be crap and it's better to cull the weak than let them suffer in the open.

There's just so much about the world of the Waverlys that I needed to address but didn't. There's more people can get away with on the TS3 boards when it comes to content. I'm starting to care less and less if content seems "mature," and I do a decent load of the moderation work for the stories now. But regardless of that, I can rant for hours on everything I did wrong here. Like how quick and worryingly convenient Franco and Hannah's resolution was. How stupid Annette was for dropping hints about her past left and right (yeah, there's gonna be some major name changes to rectify this in Version 2.0). How Tegan suffered from a massive case of plot-induced idiocy and some of the most inconsistent characterization that I'm personally ashamed of. How freakin' random Jo's clues, hints, and salvation came about. How clumsily I handled the details of Maeve's criminal empire. How clumsily I handled every character's jobs in Roaring Heights, to be fair. How...impossibly dense Moira was being at another rainbow-colored chick somehow sharing a rare trait in her blood relatives (fangs) and her dead husband's surname. Actually, how dense everyone was being there. As I said, major name changes have been made.

Tegan's point of view is meant to be sweet. I couldn't tell you how much of it was that and how much as self-imposed censorship, because I don't know. Lily's story arc is going through its planning stages right now, so while that means Tegan is up next, it also means that I can't say exactly what will change other than "things, lots of things."

I've been honored to have you as a reader, and I'm glad you want to stay with me through it.

[CeresIn]

I'm a little behind in terms of this story (just reached the chapter 50). Now I'm going to stop reading and wait for the revamp version.
Just wanted to say that you have a reader in me who will read the new version wherever you post it.

[Trip]

I'm a little behind in terms of this story (just reached the chapter 50). Now I'm going to stop reading and wait for the revamp version.
Just wanted to say that you have a reader in me who will read the new version wherever you post it.

Hopefully the wait won't be too long! I'm aiming to have the first five chapters ready by my birthday (April 19th, save the date!).

And thank you!

[Deklitch]

Trip,

I've tried, I've really tried to get on board with Sims 4. I just keep on coming back to Sims 3 and families like the Waverlys. I don't know, I guess I just enjoy the Sims 3 more.

I will be following the Waverlys wherever you take them and no matter how 'dark' and 'gritty' the story gets.

Satirising conventions is something I love to do as well, you should see my lampooning of Star Trek a few years ago in Nano, fantasy novels in general two years ago and murder mysteries last year. Actually no, they won't be shown to anyone else. I look forward to reading the revamp from April 19th.

[EtnaFan666]

It's not a sin to love an old series over a new series when the new one becomes popular. I still like stuff in the Sims 3 - World Adventures, Supernatural, University Life and Into the Future are my favorite expansions - but now that Get to Work is out, EA is trying very hard to seduce me into spending more money for Sims 4 stuff, lolz. XD

To Trip, I hope your reboot works well. It's not a sin to throw out stuff and try again. Heck, I could give you long winded accounts on how many Dynasties I've started but threw out because I was bored or went to play some other game instead.  Good luck.

[Trip]

Trip,

I've tried, I've really tried to get on board with Sims 4. I just keep on coming back to Sims 3 and families like the Waverlys. I don't know, I guess I just enjoy the Sims 3 more.

I will be following the Waverlys wherever you take them and no matter how 'dark' and 'gritty' the story gets.

Satirising conventions is something I love to do as well, you should see my lampooning of Star Trek a few years ago in Nano, fantasy novels in general two years ago and murder mysteries last year. Actually no, they won't be shown to anyone else. I look forward to reading the revamp from April 19th.

Aww, but I bet your lampoons are great too! Thanks for the dedication. I really do appreciate seeing you around on the forums.

It's not a sin to love an old series over a new series when the new one becomes popular. I still like stuff in the Sims 3 - World Adventures, Supernatural, University Life and Into the Future are my favorite expansions - but now that Get to Work is out, EA is trying very hard to seduce me into spending more money for Sims 4 stuff, lolz. XD

To Trip, I hope your reboot works well. It's not a sin to throw out stuff and try again. Heck, I could give you long winded accounts on how many Dynasties I've started but threw out because I was bored or went to play some other game instead.  Good luck.

I don't feel bad about it at all! Mostly because I've really been enjoying the brainstorming session...even if there's a lot to do and change. More than I thought. O_____O

I have my own dynasty failure stories, but I'm considering them old shames.

While we're waiting for me to turn 21 and hopefully get this out in time, have the screenshot I really wish I used this time around:



I showed it to my girlfriend and we had a good laugh. Poor Shark. I also forgot how much Bill and Annette matched color-wise. Brown pajamas!

[Trip]

I re-considered posting Chapter 126 just because I don't feel like it. 125 still counts as an ending (Tegan coming to terms with what she can do after immortality), so...good enough.

I'm moving this to the Completed Stories board (not the Completed Dynasties board). Thank to everyone for the support over this past year and a half. You guys, from regular members to lurking guests, matter so much to me.

As for the future, it's here for you too.

- Trip