strangetomato | Thought for the day: Sim stories are like serial comics

Remember how I said I thought sim stories were more like graphic fiction than novels or movies? No? Well, I did. I think they're often sometimes like television shows too, in their serial nature, but the format speaks more to the comic medium (if we're talking about text and image sim stories, and I am).

The latest issue of Bitch magazine came in the mail today, and I was reading the review of Alison Bechdel's The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For (a GREAT read, in my opinion - you should check it out). At the end of the review, they quote her as saying, "A comic strip, like life, is a novel that never seems to get anywhere." It really reminded me of sim stories, especially mine. They just soldier on, perhaps with an end in mind, perhaps not, and that's just what I like about it. That's why I enjoyed DTWOF too. I came to really feel for the characters, and I was content to see them going through their day to day dramas, or even just cooking dinner (laced with politics, which makes it even more interesting). With sim storytelling, I'm writing (and playing) instead of reading, but I enjoy the feeling of following a set of characters as they gradually grow. Is it the same for you when you play and create? Or read, for that matter?

Of course, if I'm going to compare my story to a specific comic, I'd probably lean more towards Strangers in Paradise, which does have a plot, but it's really not nearly as important as the ongoing development of relationships between the characters. I love that series, but it's introspective to a fault, just like S,HWC is. It's obviously something I enjoy. In fact, when reading SiP, I often find myself going "yeah, yeah... crime stuff, plot... where's the next scene where the talk about that awkward kiss they shared?" Yeah, I may have a problem (I'll look into getting the help I need). SiP even ocassionally features pages and pages of lyrics, which is something a lot of us sim storytellers indulge ourselves in (it's super indulgent in the most teenagery kind of way - I know this, but still I just can't resist at times).

Anyway, I just wanted to share my musings. Feel free to add your own two cents or three.

(Is this what they call a meta? A baby meta, maybe?)

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I definitely agree. I was thinking about that when I was writing up my notes- how some stories progress and watch the characters grow and become more than they originally were, while others tell a specific story and that's it. Your story is definitely one of those, we're content (well, I know I am) to just watch the characters live their lives, and watch them change and evolve.

I was going to say that my story does have a definite end (it's actually VERY short- it's looking at 6 chapters, with the epilogue) so it won't continue. As much as I love the characters I'm writing about, I couldn't do it for as long as you (and others) have.

That's all. I feel like I should say more (but as you know, I'm not an in depth commenter. It's all surface for me.)

Oh, and meta are usually much more self referential, I think. All the ones that I see are usually talking about their stories and WHY they do certain things and HOW the characters behave, mostly. It's like musing... about yourself.

I actually watch

metafandom and the posts are usually discussing some topic that relates to fandom, which may or may not refer to their own work. But it does usually use a certain fandom as an example (maybe just because they are in it, though).

I like that comm because they often have very interesting posts about writing, character building, and sometimes sexuality/gender stuff too (among other things).

That comm is AWESOME. I've never been, but I can already tell it rocks.

I guess we're just using different definitions, then. xD

Yeah, I saw you use the word, and also some other people, but I've never fully understood the meaning. I know what meta means, but I've always assumed it could refer to any reflection of the fandom or medium you're using (based on that site, which has so many different topics). Self-referential would make sense, but maybe any analysis of simming and sim-related things could also be called that?

I have no idea. I need someone to define it for me.

Yeah, me neither, actually. I just went off what I saw other people using it as. I have ideas for those sort of things all the time, but I never type them up.

I get most of that urge to self-analyze my stuff out while I respond to comments. After replying to a lot of them, I'm usually all meta-ed out.

I'd always imagined meta to be any sort of like... analysis? Trying to get to a deeper understanding of things by talking about it? IDK. I agree with Strange that at least the LJ definition of it doesn't have to be self-referential.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meta

I'd go with second definition maybe?

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Yeah, I guess I should be clear that I'm talking about ongoing serial stories, but so many sim stories fall into this category, I didn't bother to be specific. It seems to me that sim stories either go on and on, or are dropped without being finished. A short series or one-off seems pretty rare in these parts, though they're out there, for sure.

I'm thinking it's the way the game is set up that plays a role in this. It's a game about playing the day to day lives of simulated people, with no specific purpose or ending. It only makes sense that many stories would follow that trend too, right?

It's nice to have a clear layout when writing a story, like you are. It feels good to know you'll finish something too. With my story, though, I'm pretty happy with the aimlessness. One day I'll just call it off, and that'll be that (hopefully at some point that gives some small amount of closure, at least).

Yeah. Legacies MIGHT fall into that category, since they're so rarely featured, but I personally don't put them there. The ones that are stories seem to go somewhere, so they don't count.

That's an EXCELLENT point about the game though, it's SO TRUE. People are just... more "biased", I guess, to like those sort of stories, because we're all Sim players-- we're used to seeing them in the everyday grind?

Yeah. I have a definite ending in mind, so I don't worry too much about it.

NO DON'T EVER DO THAT. :( :( :(

(I'd be happy with closure. That was me being dramatic.)

Hmmm, legacies are much the same, really. Commentary legacies are a lot like comic strips in their focus on humour and the regular format and sequential episodes. It could work. And story legacies are very much serial stories.

The game is about domestic life, so maybe that does appeal to many sim storytellers. It's also a shell for customization, so this obviously doesn't apply to everyone. Some people use it as a tool to create very different things.

I can and will end the story at any given moment. ;) Haven't you heard the sage advice to "leave a party while you're still having fun?"

Thought for the day: Sim stories are like serial comics

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