Fire.
Death.
Alone.
“Hey there.”
“So what are you reading?”
“Hmm, let me guess. It’s the memoir of a seventeenth century nun and you’re reading it because you’re about to get yourself to a convent.”
“Oh yes! However did you know? I’m going to devote myself to God and remain chaste all my days. I can’t wait! I will, of course, be sure to remember your sins in any orisons I may say.”
“Hey, I’ve never seen you before today. How can you know what my sins are?”
“But if you want to find out, I know a place we could get coffee.”
JA-son. JA-son. Her heart thudded his name.
Fire.
Death.
Alone.
Her feet had led her to Maywood Glen.
She couldn’t go home. They’d be waiting for her there. She couldn’t leave Sunset Valley. Jason had said that the roads would be watched.
She remembered her anxiety on the morning that Shannon had assigned her this stupid horrible story. She’d thought then that she was smart and strong, that she could handle anything.
She didn’t think she could handle this.
Then she looked up and saw it. It was barely visible through the trees, but there it was. Still shattering the poor moonlight on its rocks.
And then suddenly she knew.
Fire. Death. Alone.
Water.
In the Valley of the Sun 
Brilliant! I like the way you fit in the flashbacks, her memories of Jason… and water! Yes, water to fight fire.
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Glad you liked it. My original vision of it was much darker and crazier and didn’t have any text, but maybe it’s a good thing that it didn’t turn out that way.
And glad you caught the water thing. 🙂
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Hmmm, a bit confused about the ending, but loved this post. Guess I will have to wait for the next one to totally figure it out.
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If you go back and read Daydream, when she’s mumbling in her sleep during the dream she says (spacing is important):
Fire. Death. Alone.
Water.
So basically the ending is that she realized that there’s only one place she can go now. To the house by the waterfall, where Seth is waiting for her.
Glad you liked it. 🙂 I know it’s not terribly exciting, but I think that a little breather was a good idea.
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Gotcha. I kind of gathered that, I just felt like there was some little detail I was missing lol. But I guess not. =]
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Holy moly! The first few images made by eyes bug out and my jaw to drop! Seth looks wicked crazy–and I mean that literally!
I liked the quick look into how Lilith and Jason met. Smooth. Very smooth. 😉
I wonder if she’s going to kill herself? OMG, what if she is!? That could be her only way to escape Seth and the sickly sweet smell of death that seems to follow her wherever she goes!
Edge. Of. My. Seat!
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Yeah, those were even scaring me when I was working on it. It’s a cool effect.
I thought that might provide a bit of closure with Jason.
Hmm. Am I detecting a hint of sarcasm?
She’s not going to kill herself. At least not before I get to write Seth, anyway. 😉
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When will Seth get what’s coming to him? First Shannon, then Bella, and now Jason!
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I had an idea that’s going to add in at least one extra update before we meet Seth. But we are entering in on the last night of the story. I think it’s going to take a while to tell the ending, though.
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Whewww! This entry made me sad; in addition to the whole “Goodbye Jason” thing, it really hit me that the end is coming!
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That idea is looking likely to span over a few updates now, like Bella’s story.
I’ve found two Sarah songs. 🙂
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There’s a lot being said here in this chapter, a lot of it is subliminal and quite visual. What I really like is the reptition of this line,
“Fire. Death. Alone.”
On its own, this sums up what the story is about. It’s a theme that has been running through the entire story since its opening pages.
The touch of sentimentality that displays the meeting between Lilith and Jason amidst the chaotic events surrounding the protagonist gives a level of balance between tension and the moments that make life worthwhile.
In remembering Jason, Lilith is honouring the man he was and acknowledging the love she has for him. Despite her discovering this at such a late stage and possibly at the wrong time, it still lends a certain amount of power to the events leading to this point in Lilith’s life. It begs the question, how different would things have turned out if Lilith had discovered her love for this brave man earlier. For one, she wouldn’t have had to go through a large portion of what she did alone. Again, this word, alone crops up.
And while Seth is being portrayed (at least through Lilith’s eyes) as the villain, I have to wonder about his motivations behind trying to beat death. It’s a lonely way of living, to live and watch others die before you. My instinct is to hope karma bites Seth good and proper but the other part of me strongly believes that behind every villain lies a motive that might not be as obviously black and white as readers might think.
Am still thoroughly enjoying this story. Provides a lot of food for thought.
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Oh yes. That phrase is repeated a lot on purpose. Same with all the pictures that repeat. And yeah, it is really the whole theme. Well – I think that for the whole theme you have to add the Water bit, but yeah.
We’ll probably be seeing less of it from here on out, though – Lilith is past the worst of the crazy.
I’ve always wanted to write prose like music, and I think this chapter feels that way – like we just rose to a big crescendo and now we’ve dropped back down into a moment of silence.
I am maybe a little bit in love with Seth myself. I know you guys haven’t seen him very much yet, but I know him very well. He’s by far my favorite character. And yeah, the other day I was saying to my husband that I didn’t want to die and I was like “That is one way in which I definitely identify with Seth.”
But then of course the reason why….errr, no, bad Stacy, no spoiling the ending.
Thank you, and I appreciate the thoughtful comment. And once it’s over and there’s no more to spoil, I imagine I will be writing essays on the themes and metaphors and symbolism on my LJ.
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Haha Jason just seems even cooler now.
The last picture looks so cool. BLACK CLOUD OF EVIL!
The pictures look so cool. Some of them sorta made me think of blood. Hm…I wonder if Seth will become more of a violent person.
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I just realized that I need to stop using the word cool.
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Yeah, he certainly was cool. My husband said today that he went on an assistant hero journey.
I don’t know – Seth isn’t really into physical violence. Despite the fact that the newest Seth song is Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up. 😉 I think I’ll go make a post about character playlists on my LJ tonight.
Maybe I should also add their song Firestarter to Seth’s list, lol.
Oh yes, I do like the effect on these pictures. It incorporates the color scheme from Suspect and the glow effect from Nightmare with a color invert.
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I have just seen this story for the first time, and it has blown me away! This is so fantastic and original, what a great use of S3!
Thank you for creating this, I love it! Reminds me of all the horor films, I ever watched and console games like project Zero!
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Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Sims 3 does fit my style very well – I like using what the game gives me and setting my stories in the game’s universe. Even with TS2 I only had a couple of posing hacks that were pretty equivalent to the chaos mod painting.
I do like a good psychological horror movie now and then, but I’ve never played that type of console game. Maybe I should.
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Awww, it was so cute how she met Jason, but so sad because he’s dead now… 😦 Now I’m really hooked to know what she thought up about the water?? :O
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She realized that she has to go to Seth’s house by the waterfall. As well as some other subconscious stuff.
And yeah, it is rather bittersweet.
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Awesome! Just like many of the others, I like the flashbacks with Jason–they lend an order to Lilith’s thoughts that she hasn’t experienced in a while. Her thoughts are extremely ordered now–she seems to know exactly what to do. She’s alone, but now she’s got nothing to lose. I think she’s angry now, and that anger is guiding her actions much more than her fear. Her mind was startled into absolute clarity by Jason’s death, and now she has a distinct goal and purpose, and can make decisions on her own again. She’s going to be awesome!
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I think Lilith is past the worst of the craziness. I think that’s why Alone didn’t turn out as crazy and dark as I thought it was going to be. The epiphany she had about Jason and how he really did love her and she loved him helped ground her and gave her something solid to hold on to, even after he sacrificed himself for her.
I think that’s believable. I used to do that myself back in the day when I had a crap job – I would think that I could handle it and get through it because…err, okay, so this was the summer before college and I hadn’t met John yet. Anyway, I would think that I could do it because Jason (yes, okay, my high school crush was named Jason – I really don’t think there’s any IRL Jason in Valley Jason though. They’re very different.) liked me.
So not at all the same level of drama, but the same general idea. She has Jason’s love in the back of her mind now supporting her.
But she is still in a very dark place, as the more edited pics suggest. But yes, it is perhaps a more rational dark place than where she’s been lately.
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Oooh, I just realized I was holding my breath and tensing my muscles the whole time I was reading that.
I was pleased to see you used the photo from your concept art. Although, MAN, good as it was, it paled in comparison to the Grim Reaper shot. That was FTW!
The flashbacks were sweet and sad. Poor L & J. It tugged at my heartstrings to see them so innocent and happy.
Nicely done. I shall be eagerly awaiting the next installment!
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Yay you rock and are all cool and I’m going to miss you so much until you come back next week – who’s going to listen to my Valley babble? 😦
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Ah, sexual tension explained. Lilith was secretly a nun masquerading as an everyday unchaste woman to trick us into believing we might get to see some action. I understand now. 🙂
Yeah, I’m probably never going to let this go.
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LOL! 🙂 I do wonder if I was thinking that when I wrote those bits. Hmm.
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Amazing shots, you really make the story that more enjoyable with them 🙂 I love how the chapter names play into this.
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Apparently my husband hadn’t read it in a while – he read the whole Fire Death Alone trilogy last night. And he did seem rather emotionally affected by it.
It’s always fun when he reads it, because obviously he knows me very very well. So he gave me a Look and laughed at the bit in Fire about Jason smelling like freshly cut grass. 😉 It’s one of my most favorite smells ever.
And thank you – I do so like taking pretty pictures.
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Brilliant! I love the way you fit in the flashbacks of her and Jason. Also love your editing, the pitures are really fantastic! Can’t wait for more!
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Awww, thank you. 🙂 I did rather like this update and I continue to like it – unlike Rotten where I liked it at first but then went on the crazy self-confidence roller coaster ride.
I do like that effect, yes. It builds on editing that came before, which I think is nice.
I imagine that Water will be out some time this weekend.
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Wonderful!
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Thank you. 🙂
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Amazing as always, can’t wait to find out what happens when Lilith meets Seth, and I really loved the flashback with her and Jason-very sweet!
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Awww, thank you. 🙂 And actually Lilith might not meet him for a while yet – I think Sarah wants to share her story first.
And yeah, I think those were a good idea. Not where I thought the update was going to go, but it works.
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WATER. Wow, what a great way to end the chapter. Fighting fire with water, that’s really brilliant.
I’m still gonna miss Jason. 😦 But I love your story. 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂
Oh yes, there’s all sorts of things going on under the surface with the water thing. And one of them, yes, is that fire and water generally don’t mix well. 😉
I miss Jason too, even if he is in my game and alive and still posing for pictures. And awww, I’m all blushy. Thanks.
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Btw, just randomly – could you any way consider putting a link to my story to your list of sims 3 stories? :O I’d appreciate it a looot… Ö_Ö I don’t know if you disliked my blog or simply never read it… but there are people who like it 🙂 And I guess they’d appreciate the link too ^-^
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Wow. Just wow. I’ve read this all today and I can’t wait for the next installment. I’m also heart broken over the loss of Jason.
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Yay! Reading it all at this point is quite the undertaking and so I feel quite flattered by that.
I tend to update about twice a week and I imagine the next bit will be out some time this weekend.
Jason was brave and noble and good, and I think we’ll all miss him. But he will live on in a way – I think that his love is giving Lilith the strength she needs now.
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OHHH NOOOO!! THIS IS THE ENDING ISN’T IT!!
OHHH I REALLY HOPE THIS DOESN’T END BAD!!
Oh my gosh! She’s going to die, she’s going to die, isn’t she? Oh my gosh!! Lillith don’t go there, Seth is going to kill you!! AHHHH!!
😦
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There are plenty more updates to come – I actually had an idea that’s going to quite possibly expand itself over a few updates like Bella’s story did and push Seth’s first real line of dialogue back even more.
We’re going to get to know Sarah a lot better soon. 🙂
So it’s not quite the ending.
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*calms down*
oooook good then that means she isn’t going to die, or maybe she will and she will be in Heaven with jason or something!! I hope this doesn’t end badly!!!
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I just read everything (I seriously don’t know how I missed this), and… wow. You are brilliant! You make me want to turn my goofy excuse of a legacy into a serious one full of murder and awesome graphics, haha. You’re doing an amazing job, truly inspirational. I need an update more than I need caffeine at this point.
Love it!
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Awww, thank you. 🙂 And this isn’t a legacy anymore – I really did mean for it to just be a prologue explaining how Lilith ended up broke and alone and homeless as a legacy founder but then it turned into this.
And hey, the world needs goofy legacies – I was going to say that I wrote one myself years ago in Sims 2, but that one was also full of murder. Goofy (and Goopy) murder, but murder nonetheless.
But really, I’m grateful that you checked it out and very happy that you liked it – it’s such a wonderful joy to work on it and if I can share a bit of that it makes it even better. Thank you so very much. 🙂
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This blog is like crack you simply cant get enough! Oh gosh I am watching a documentary on Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream and i can’t stop thinking about the blood and chuncks of flesh lol ( for some reason ice cream doesn’t sound to good anymore) Oh and for all of you who were wondering I am tottaly over the whole jason dying thing… Oh who am I kidding *breaks down into tears*
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Awww, thanks. 🙂 It’s certainly crack to me, and I fear the withdrawal when I finish it.
LOL! I just thought that was a cool metaphor and didn’t realize that other people would see it as morbid.
I think I’m over Jason too, but then something happens like people commenting on the early chapters with something about Jason and Lilith and I just almost cry.
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Jason is my favortist… lol
Oh and if you don’t mind me asking…. do you live in the U.s.a?
Oh and Great job (I think I already said that a few times but oh well who’s counting)
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I’ve lived in North Carolina all my life. Grew up in the same town as Andy Griffith, the one he based Mayberry on. So yep, I’m American.
Seth will always be my favoritest, I think. He hasn’t been in the story that much, but of course that’s about to change.
Thank you. 🙂
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To be honest the part where you said heart made me cry. I just lost the most valuble thing to me ever. A heart shaped locket. Its nothing special but it was the most beautiful necklace I ever saw and I got it when I was 6 and now I’m 16. It was pretty much the only thing that kept me alive and happy. Now its lost forever with my real heart. Now in my mind I’m in a deep dark pit falling, falling forever. Everything I cared about is gone, my heart is, my family its all gone. All happy and carefree but me… I’m in a deep dark pit falling falling…
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Everything I care about…
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I’m sorry, but that third picture just gave me chills down my spine…good job…
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Yeah – it was my concept model for what I wanted to do with this chapter. I do rather like it. 🙂
Thank you. I feel all warm and fuzzy now.
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I just grow to like Jason more and more! (*squeeze*) And it kinda pains me to know that he’s not in the future anymore. 😦 Why, Lilith, why didn’t you cherish him more? 8(
At first, I was confused by the ending but now I realised: she’s found the solution! 😀 Omg, I can’t wait to see how Seth reacts.. and if he really still exists as a human being! (*gulps!*) :S
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Yeah – I went and listened to Jason music while I was making my silly little character playlist on my LJ and I almost started crying. He really was cool.
And Lilith does cherish him now. Maybe that’s the magical talisman in her journey – she now has his love to support her and help her in what lies ahead.
There’s a lot of stuff under the surface with the Water thing, yeah. And as for Seth – I think we need to have a talk with Sarah before we meet him. 😉
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Fire. Death. Alone.
.
.
.
Water.
Chilling and vivid, I love it as usual. I especially liked see how Lilith and Jason met. Jason. *sobs*
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Thank you. 🙂 And yes, like Lilith, I’m gaining an appreciation for Jason rather late in the game. Sigh.
But I think he gave her the strength to go on. I think that’s her diamond in her black opal ring – the knowledge that he loved her. Loved her enough to sacrifice himself for her.
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Gasp! I knew it! (BTW, I just read the chapter where Jason dies.) I’m in shock, yet I knew he was going to die the since the chapter where Shannon dies.
You are such a good writer. I hope you publish this as a book. Good luck! 😀
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Then you’ve known it for as long as I have if you read Static when it came out. 🙂
Thank you! And if I do write a non-Sims version, I’m going to have to rebuild the plot from the ground up. The story is very much based in the game’s universe.
It may just be worth it, though.
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Ok, I’ve seen these in simply_sims3 on LJ. I remember reading the first few, and then not reading the rest. I just spent the last hour rereading all of these. Wow! I’m going to be sad when this is over, but I’m also curious to see how you’re going to end this. 😀
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Thank you. 🙂 I admit I watch my stats page the way I used to watch my star ratings on my Sims 2 stories, and I watch people read it and wish I could talk to them. Especially when it looks like someone is reading out of order.
I’m going to be horribly depressed when it’s over and quite possibly stay in bed for days and cry a lot. But then I’ve decided to do a non-Sims version, and that’s going to keep me busy – I have to build my own world as opposed to using the game as the setting. I’ll have to research alchemy and law enforcement procedures and possibly some other stuff that I haven’t thought of yet.
As for the end – I think people don’t realize just how much the story is set in the game’s universe. 😉
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I’ve just read through all the chapters to this story. And want to say that you have some amazing writing skills haha. Good job on creating a truly original story!
I can’t say I read many Sims stories (generally I only read legacies), but I’m really glad I stumbled across this one.
Also, your pictures are really well composed, with great expressions from the Sims (something that I know isn’t easy to get pictures of haha)
Keep up the awesome work, can’t wait to find out what happens next!
Just read that you’re going to write a non-sims version. Great idea, personally I think it will be even better without the element of Sims. A good site to upload it if you want feedback/comments from other writers etc is http://www.fictionpress.com – i think people there would definitely enjoy your story!
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Thank you! 🙂 And this one did start out as a legacy and legacies are mostly what I’ve written before.
I do use the chaos mod painting some, but the majority of the pictures are straight up game pictures. 🙂 I take the pictures and edit and upload them and write the captions in the caption space on Photobucket, so it’s more like I’m fitting the story to the pictures than the pictures to the story.
I’ve looked around that site before. I’ll think about it – it looks like it’s going to take at least a few months just to get to the point of being able to start the actual writing. I have a world to build and an alchemical system to create.
The Sims version has mostly just spilled out of my fingers with very little conscious thought. The non-Sims version is going to end up rather carefully organized and planned, I think. And also I think that it’s going to take years and a lot of hard work, and when it’s done I’ll decide what to do with it – my husband is a science fiction buff and he knows about some smaller publishers that aren’t quite so mass consumption driven as the bigger ones.
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That sounds good.
Good luck!!
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Thanks. 🙂
Working on the next update – it should be done in a few hours. I LOVE IT, OMG! 😉
Anyone who may be reading this – if you’ve just been reading the updates as they come out, I think you’ll get more out of the upcoming one if you go back and reread at least up through Nightmare. And I’ve remastered some of the early pictures, and oh – I’m just worried that the Sarah exposition bit I’m thinking about is going to drag and seem out of place, but we need the information in her story. I’ll think about it.
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Your story is AWESOME! I luv it! The way you have built up the suspense and made it so intense!
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Thank you. 🙂 I’m working on the next update now and will probably publish it tonight.
Lilith is past the worst of the crazy, and the prose is back. 🙂
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oopf. That is the sound of the punch to my gut from the juxtaposition of the lighthearted scene from her memory and her current desperate situation. Very well interplayed.
I love the effects in all the images, but I especially like the next-to-last shot. It is exquisitely sad for her to be confronted with such beauty in the throes of her loss.
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Hi! 🙂
Thanks. 🙂 I didn’t plan it like that. Like always, it just sort of happened.
I have a thing for beauty, lol.
Err – the next update doesn’t have any very edited pics in it so far, but I love it so much and I HIGHLY recommend re-reading Nightmare before reading Water (which is obviously the title of the next update.)
OMG OMG so excited. But I really don’t know what to do with the Sarah exposition plan now. Valley will show me. I trust Valley.
Off to finish Water. Yay! Will hopefully publish it in the next couple of hours.
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Then I will rush off to re-read Nightmare in preparation for Lilith’s baptism. 🙂
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Yay! OMG, finished editing and uploaded all the pics and only need to write two more captions and omg omg omg!!!
Err – I kind of like this update, lol.
And very astute observation there.
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I think what I liked the most is how the water in the last slide sort of looks like lava. I am not sure you meant it to look that way, but it does to me. So, I know she’s headed to Seth’s…and his place is a place of flames…and even though lava is pretty tough, it is always put out by water (that’s how we get islands). Not sure if you’re following my reasoning, but I liked the symbolism of the last image.
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No, I didn’t mean it – I was just like, oooh, need waterfall pic and it should match the editing on the other edited pics.
But that is awesome and has the general fire/water idea. So it’s like we sort of see the same symbolism, but in different ways.
It’s so cool how differently people’s minds work. And thank you. 🙂
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I feel so bad for Lilith at this point. She truly is utterly alone.
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Interesting avatar. 🙂
Yes, she is. But she has to be alone. That’s her lesson to learn, I think.
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hehe thanks. 😉
lilith will be stronger for it i think although there is so much pain she will need to live with. assuming she lives…
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Oh my. I just have to say that I don’t usually like this type of written sims-stories, but yours caught my attention right away. I mean, the flashbacks, they were just amazing! It completely sent chills down my spine.
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Awww, thank you. 🙂 I am completely in love with Valley and it makes me happy when other people like it, so I’m all happy and fuzzy now.
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I loved the first 3 pictures. They were hauntingly lovely. I like that you included the flashbacks, too. I saw you had mentioned thinking about how they met in an earlier comment to someone. I’m glad you were able to fit that in.
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So all along, Lilith sort of knew what was going to happen lol. Fire. Death. Alone.
I guess it’s time to throw some water on the fire 😛
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I guess so! 😉 And wooo for picking up on that! 🙂
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Poor Lilith! Great use of flashback and humor and darkness.
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Thanks! 🙂 I love those three things. 🙂
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I can tell.
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LOL. 😉
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