The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05/18)

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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 20/01/

Post by cynicalbadger »

Spoiler:
Jackdory's outfit is so good! It's the same style as Sims 3 isn't it? Anyway, Jackdory is a cutie and I hope Mally makes him real just to prove everyone wrong. Part of me was going to start shipping those boys but when Jackdory saw Morgan I got a little bit excited about those two too. Jackdory is such a handsome sim, I want ALL the blue babies!

Also, it's so wonderfully weird that Mally knows that he's the end of the line (inevitable since they always have known about the challenge and stuff) but it is kind of sad at the same time? That he knows his future lineage isn't going to be special or documented or whatever. We must protect lovely Mally.
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 04/02/

Post by bookloverblue »

WARNING: CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT

Updated 04/02/18.

At Josie's party, Morgan gets talking to a classmate that she considers quite charming. However, when things turn sour, Mally ends up making promises to both his sister and his best friend.

Generation Ten, Part Two: Party Animals, Beastly Behaviour
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 04/02/

Post by cynicalbadger »

Spoiler:
do I have to wait until they’re adults to have Jackdory real :hissyfit: he’s such a sweet sim and I want him to be happy. So gloriously happy with what Liam suffered, he had it coming to him :twisted:
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 13/03/

Post by bookloverblue »

Updated 13/03/18.

Following his university studies and gaining a doctorate, Mally has given up on love, and instead focuses on his scientific work - even building a lab in the Miskin's basement. But will his devotion to seeking knowledge lead him to breaking his word to those dearest to him?

Generation Ten, Part Three: Promises, Promises
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 13/03/

Post by cynicalbadger »

I always get excited when they become adults! That’s when it all comes together
Spoiler:
i am excited for the machine!! (Please let it work!)
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 16/03/

Post by bookloverblue »

Updated 16/03/18.

Jackdory enters Mally's machine in the hopes of gaining humanity. But is he putting his entire existence, or Mally's safety, at risk? And what about Mally's promise to attend Morgan's housewarming?

Generation Ten, Part Four: Jack Out of the Box

(I understand there may be an issue with the layout - I will work to resolve this ASAP!)
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 16/03/

Post by cynicalbadger »

Spoiler:
I am so thrilled for Jack! Mally did it!! I’m excited about this concept of time - will he go back and not ruin the start of the potential romance? I’m hoping he’ll go back even further!! Imagine if the Miskins became cyclical?! Like he somehow went back to Gen 1 and affected it in some way that he actually starts it off again. Sure Mally has no heirs that matter in terms of the legacy but if his actions set the legacy off?!? Very cool
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 20/03/

Post by bookloverblue »

Updated 20/03/18.

Whilst testing out his latest and greatest creation, Mally makes a new friend, and has hopes it may blossom into something more. But could his presence in this lady's life have devastating consequences?

Generation Ten, Part Five: When Mally Met...

(Again, I'll fix the layout ASAP!)
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 06/04/

Post by bookloverblue »

WARNING: CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT

Updated 06/04/18.

Mally's blossoming romance with Polly leads to the pair travelling through time together - different eras providing the backdrops to their dates. But will their choice to begin a relationship result in more than an altered timeline?

Generation Ten, Part Six: The Time-Traveller's Girlfriend
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The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 19/04/18)

Post by bookloverblue »

Updated 19/04/18.

As Mally slowly comes to terms with his pregnancy, he decides to tell his parents... leading Max to remember a conversation from long ago. But how will Polly take the news? Will she stand by her boyfriend of just a few weeks? Can the couple get through this? Or might the new Miskin heir be raised by a single parent?

Generation Ten, Part Seven: A Bump in the Space-Time Continuum
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 30/04/

Post by bookloverblue »

Updated 30/04/18.

Max makes his peace with an old enemy at the hospital, whilst the eleventh generation of the Miskin family comes into the world.

Generation Ten, Part Eight: The Last of a Noble Lineage
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Re: The Miskin Legacy - From Misery to Merit? (UPDATE 06/05/

Post by bookloverblue »

Updated 06/05/18 - the penultimate update of The Miskin Legacy!

After Mo and Theo meet their new granddaughter, Mally and Polly celebrate a very special day - but an unexpected visitor brings an unusual gift from the long-distant past.

Generation Ten, Part Nine: Love that Lasts a Thousand Years
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The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05/201

Post by bookloverblue »

The final installment!

Following the death of his older brother, and having been treated like a spare part from the day he was born, Myron feels that his life has lost all meaning. However, an unusual visitor will show him just how valuable and important he really is.

Finale: The End is Only the Beginning
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Re: The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05

Post by Livvielove »

Congratulations on completing your Legacy! If this is the final chapter I can move this to the Completed Sims 4 Legacy board, and it is my great honor to award you your Completed Legacy medal! What a ride, Blue! I can't wait to see what you'll do next!
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Re: The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05

Post by jcampbell »

:party: Congrats on finishing your legacy! Well done :highfive:

I haven't made it to the end yet but I'm enjoying the ride :))
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Re: The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05

Post by Livvielove »

@jcampbell I swear I laughed and cried a little... it's such a great story! What generation are you on?
Zara is always my fav. :heart: :whome:
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Re: The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05

Post by bookloverblue »

@jcampbell Thank you - feel free to share your thoughts!
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Re: The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05

Post by jcampbell »

I am on Mordecai's gen.
Spoiler:
Him and Lily just kissed for the first time and the twins had their birthday. I am enjoying the story :thup:
It definitely makes you feel the feels, lol. I really liked how the deal with the reaper essentially made Mordecai the way he is. I thought that was a great plot twist.
I am excited to carry on reading. You have really done a great job!
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Re: The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05

Post by bookloverblue »

Hi everyone - thanks for reading The Miskin Legacy!

A reader has asked me a few questions about the story, and I decided to share my answers here so others can know my thoughts and get involved!

WARNING: BELOW BE SPOILERS!
Spoiler:
What was your favorite thing about writing this?

Looking back over it, I think the story got far better as it went along, when I decided to let the challenge aspect slide and focus on story more. I know my strengths. I did my best to make each successive plot better than the last. (Although, I do feel Marlon’s might have been a slight slide backwards - he should have had a more active central role alongside Alex and Libby - like maybe having him meet Cassandra at a fashion show beforehand or something to give him more motive - but at the same time, it was fun to pin the focus on the spare rather than the heir.)

So, my favourite thing was seeing how far I could push myself and the plot each time. The only exception was Generation Ten, where I knew up-front it was going to be full of fun and weirdness, and didn’t worry too much about reaching new heights.

Fun and weirdness… those two words are my writing in a nutshell, I daresay!



Were there ever times when you thought you might not finish, and if so, what kept you going?

At the beginning, I went into this thinking I may not complete it. If I’d maintained a challenge focus, there’s no way I would have finished. I would have worried too much about scoring points and getting achievements to go for the wackier plots. It would have been Myron’s baseline, daily life approach ten times over. When Monty’s deal with the Reaper genuinely happened in-game (only time I’ve ever won against the beggar!), I took it as a sign to introduce some strangeness: I suppose, given that I write some fantasy and sci-fi satire stuff elsewhere, it’s my natural writing inclination. This in turn led me to break the formal Miskin mould with Mordecai - and from there, things got a lot more fun, and when writing is fun, it’s easy to stay motivated.

As a anxiety sufferer, though, I have crippling self-doubt - so the feedback and support of readers like you also kept me moving through the tougher times. I truly do appreciate it.



Who was your favorite character?

God, that’s like asking me to choose a favourite child!

Mac won a special place in my heart: my goal with him was to create an all-round good guy that the reader would sympathise with, and I ended up doing so myself.

As a massive geek, I also relate to Milo and Mally in some respects, feeling alienated (symbolically, in my case!) from those around me.

Mina, with her love of writing, is a thin parallel of myself - again, putting the alien stuff aside (I AM NOT AN ALIEN I SWEAR PLEASE DON’T CALL THE MEN IN BLACK)!

But… my overall favourite? It’s gotta be Max. Making a rockstar was so much fun, but due to having a ton of favourite films about the perils of stardom, it was a fable I wanted a go at rewriting for myself, hence the sadder parts. It took me an hour to design his stage outfit because I was laughing so hard I was crying - not to mention a lengthy search for the right floofy hair! And yes, I did try to make him “crush-able” - and I’m glad to know it paid off, at least according to one reader!

By the way, Max was partially inspired by a comedy “rockstar” called Danny Sexbang (real name Dan Avidan), vocalist for the band Ninja Sex Party.



How did you come up with your plot arcs?

The in-game careers lead the way a lot of the time - hence why each Miskin has a different profession, except Myron and Mally. I used them a starting point for each new plot, and some of them, such as criminal and detective, offered plentiful opportunities for adventure on their own.

Marcel’s - and later Marlon’s - arc came out of a want to explore other supernatural Sims alongside aliens. (Mordecai’s abduction and pregnancy was unplanned, just FYI! The twins were even more of a surprise!) Originally, Marcel was simply going to move away and exist as a vampire prince, but when I got stumped thinking up Marlon’s adventure, I decided to bring him and the Mortan-Murdacs back into it - and also used this opportunity to “resolve any potential issues” with the legacy succession, AS MUCH AS I HATED DOING IT!

The Mitch arc was partially inspired by D.B. Cooper, Stephanie St. Clair and Robin Hood - creating a likeable criminal was a fun challenge!



How far in advance had you planned out the time-travel bit?

Towards the end of Marlon’s arc. I realised I hadn’t created a happy ending for Polly, and I didn’t want her to be left out. I also thought Mo would love for one of his previous “gels” to marry into the Miskin clan, and I thought it might be fun to have the last Miskin heir revisit the founder. Hence why Mally became the discoverer of time-travel!

I was actually tempted to “tease” Mally all through Generation Nine by having him appear in background shots, but that would have meant playing through Gen Nine, having Mally born, bringing him up and working backwards. I also considered an ending where he visited each Miskin heir in turn, including Mitch in prison, but I thought it might be overkill. After all, it’s easy for one Miskin (Myron) to keep it a secret, but if every single heir knew about it, one of them would be bound to let it slip. The current ending also made the format feel more circular, which I liked.



Anything else you want to share about the writing of this?

Well, I’ve a few silly questions of my own, if people don’t mind:

1: Whose voice do you hear/imagine when Max and Zara sing?

2: Do you imagine the Miskins talking with British accents, American accents, or something else? Due to myself being British and the game’s setting being more American-inspired, I feel they’ve become a strange mish-mash of the two.

3: Dream casting for the Miskins? (Any actor/actress living or dead. I’ll give this some thought too.)

4: Favourite character outside the family? (While writing, I grew to love Theo and Mo so much, I simply had to give them their fairytale ending together.)

Also, once again, I must express my thanks for your ongoing support! I hope you all came to love this eccentric little family as much as I did, and I am sad that things have now come to an end. (Well, unless Mina decides to write back to a certain Mr. Clements…)
If you lovely people have any more questions, please ask away!
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Re: The Miskin Legacy: From Misery to Merit? (COMPLETE 10/05

Post by cynicalbadger »

I had to quickly skim read to catch up to the end and I loved it!
Spoiler:
it was so wonderfully circular going back to Myron - seeing other heirs would have been fun but you’re right that it would have been hard to keep a secret! I also ADORED the trophy room! It was beautiful

Are you planning anything with Mina? She’s so lovely!
When I get time I want to go back and read all of them again! Congrats on finishing, Blue!!!!
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