Haunted 1-12
I trust you all to have figured this out on your own already, it’s just worth saying that some pages don’t enhance characterization or drive the story forward, and are there mainly because the author wants to make super-niche jokes about what NYC subways in the late ’90s might look like in the Sims universe.
One more thing: a goal of Haunted has always been to address anti-Asian racism, and I apologize that we haven’t quite gotten there yet, especially with what’s going on in America right now. (During the 2006 bird flu outbreak, I had a teacher who made all the Asian-American kids sit in the back—in a majority Asian-American school. This shit is not new.) If you’re looking for a new organization to support, Stop AAPI Hate has done some great data collection.
In the meantime, if you’d like to use the comment section, forums, or contact form to share examples of anti-Asian racism you’ve experienced or witnessed—to raise awareness or just to vent—feel free. Because it’s wild. I watched a parent make fun of their half-Korean toddler for being mixed race. I don’t even know what the fuck even is this world. At least Xiyuan’s doing okay.
(CT readers: I got mega overwhelmed and took the purity test as all 13 main characters. The results will be released later but here’s a sneak peek at the spreadsheet)
(And CT readers, please explain the alt text for everyone else, lol)
ESO also has names-above-the-heads, but the playable characters don’t have autonomous AI; players control them. So it feels different. It’s a neat twisty thing to think of graphic novel characters as being autonomous characters in a video game.
Wait until Prophet Mickey sees Yuan’s plumbob and realizes he’s one of the Watcher’s Chosen People. Ahahahaha.
Uh oh! That’s going to be amazing! The plumbob people!
You know how I feel about tackling difficult topics via fiction, and I commend you for refusing to shy away from talking about both difficult and important issues. I am looking forward to seeing where Haunted goes — you have a knack for subtlety, and I’m excited.
This page though! As always, expressions are on point. Last night, I was going to say that Xiyuan is lucky there’s a subway preacher to distract him because otherwise, he’d have to scowl in silent judgment at the guy in the brown puffer jacket, which is a crime against fashion. Looking at it now without the night filter, I can tell it’s actually a gold puffer jacket, which is marginally better. (Insert poop emoji.)
Love the window graffiti.
NAMES ABOVE YOUR HEAD.
Shu/Mimsy is definitely a crack pairing but… who hasn’t Shu done?
Esk, babe, way to draw everyone’s attention to the rando kid I spent 5 minutes putting together and not the painstakingly handpainted Simlish Dr. Z ad in the same panel. Always with the fluids. God. You’re earning that poo Christmas tree avatar the random generator assigned you.
To your credit, though, you’re right in that if I intentionally chose to make a kid wear an ugly poo jacket, it would be a subtle ugly poo jacket.
There’s gonna be SO MUCH CRINGE; there has to be a guy at some point explaining to a woman what country her own last name is from, I promise.
I really enjoyed your artwork and the story this far! Looking forward to the plumbob part 😀
Ohh man… remembering the excuse to procrastinate on my main works—I mean the MSSSC—gives me an idea to introduce the plumbob part years earlier than it would appear in Haunted. It’s been a second, but inspiration has struck!
Also, welcome to the Yuanverse! Warning, your sims might get a cameo at some point because I’m too lazy to make my own background characters—I mean, because I want to support the small community of SimLit authors. The second one.
This is going to be a real free-wheeling response, just warning you in advance. First, the artwork = stunning. Truly. Like, the NY subway is a character officially. The S on the window? Bless. The plumbob? Magnificent. The way they were etched on the windows? I can almost hear my mom narrowing her eyes at me like: don’t you dare, don’t you embarrass me in front of these people.
That advertisement is perfect.
We are in a simulation but that dude is definitely not in charge.
In other news, I am very interested in the results of this survey. Of course Bernard and Yuan are vibrating on the same frequency. I don’t yet know how Shu’s chaotic energy is reflected in his results. Kendra makes it clear that she will not be taking questions at this time.
I keep dancing around the desire to just wail in frustration? Exhaustion? Anger? You know what I noticed this time? There was no “we are better than this” hand-wringing going on. It was like we knew the answer: we’re not. We’re really not.
SOMEONE NOTICED DR. ZIZMOR!! Wasn’t about to draw a ’90s NYC subway without him or the grafitti S. Yes. He may be a dermatologist, but his real passion is graphic design.
Shu’s chaotic energy? I do want to say something here, but am trying so damn hard not to spoil an upcoming chapter.
THIS IS TRUE. I wonder if some of it’s because anti-Asian racism flies under the radar so often that everyone who didn’t correct for it is just now having an oh-shit moment… I hope. I hope it’s harder to say “wow, this is such a bad thing those other people who aren’t me are doing!” this time.
Lol listen, he needs to live his dream and who am I to stop him.
Ohhhh shit I love spoilers, I can’t wait. (This is how I feel all the time when I am desperately trying to bite my own tongue and not reveal every secret).
God, I hope so too.
It’s the short story’s sibling! Yuan comes across all the weirdos. Or people attuned to the actual secrets behind their reality, depending on how you look at it. I suppose this is a part of his life when he had a really strong connection to the metaphysical, so it makes sense. Are the spiritual weirdos with a connection to the beyond appearing as a result of Bernard, or is Bernard one of those people… chicken and egg.
I’m not entirely sure what a purity test involves but I love personality tests, so this is right up my alley. Oh wow, Mike and Claudia have identical results in this segment of the spreadsheet. That’s so interesting!
Embarrassing to admit, I actually read your Twilight Zone-inspired short simlit story with The Prophet (and cue the embarrassing part) & never commented on that story. I DO plan to, it was just A LOT.
Ah, don’t worry about that. I know how much energy it takes to leave a quality comment and don’t feel entitled to anyone else’s time. Lord knows I get behind on comments b/c weekly updates kick my ass regularly.
That having been said, if “Eyes Up for the Prophet” was a lot, holy crap, what would Books II and III of CT do to you?! That was me holding back. Like massively holding back. I’m having to split CT chapters into parts to have something even once a month, and even then I end up with posts over 9k words. It also looks like you’re a fan of the big, meaty chapters too, so… I’m buckling in.
Oh trust, I WANT to leave a comment. I just was overwhelmed by all that story offered that it might have broken my brain that day. I actually have it saved on WP, so it’s on my to-do WP list :-p (if that makes any sense).
Oh I love me them big, meaty….er….uh, sure let’s call them chapters.
I actually had no idea that you wrote (current) stories, b/c my updates of yours have been comics… but now that I know….. I will have to get to those 🙂
I AM BACK from my rune-induced breakdown. I can do this.
Shit, an actual prophet. This, and the FWIP spin into Yuan’s clothes are giving me so much joy because I love that you are keeping the game mechanics real.
Loving the Cool S. The fact that everyone seems to have drawn these at some point, across nations and generations, really opens up for a discussion of Jung’s collective unconscious that I am not ready to have in the comment section of a simlit comic.