Behind the Scenes: Belladonna Cove | Episode 2.2

Justin Cleveland after being pick-pocketed by the Unsavory Charlatan

You know what I realise now, thinking back on this episode of the series? That the game was mocking me - it must have been mocking me! See, for a while now my summer (in real life) has been reasonable. Not too hot. Bearable. But we've been having warmer days now. Days where we want to melt in a puddle, just cease to exist.

When I recorded this episode, I was expecting some rain, some thunder, and reasonable temperatures. But this was the reality: I had to try my best to ignore the heat and focus on ordering my sims around, and then, in-game, witness the weather I had been expecting for the day. Rain and thunder. See, mocking me! 

(And the rain didn't even stop the Unsavory Charlatan from targeting poor Justin Cleveland! This moment wasn't included in the episode, because the camera angles were bleh, and I'm picky like that. But other screenshots of Justin's incident will be in the Green/Gere household bio post for their first round. Jessica Peterson's bio for her first round is here.)

But all in all, I like the episode, and it's in this part that I started an experiment: playing with the speed of a clip. I realised after finalising episode 2.1 that I didn't quite like how I edited out certain moments. Yes, we've all seen our sims flirt and hug before, but I feel that sometimes we can (or should) see the flirting and hugging. Especially when the relationship's developing. I think it's important to see the little moments then. So, I decided to play around with the speed of a clip.

Also, I would say that it's this episode that made me finally consider this series as my baby. I want this project to last as long as possible. I want to see the family trees grow, becoming so entwined that I'm flailing in confusion. And it was a moment near the end of the episode (between Kimberly and Gabriel) that made me love the developing story.

I didn't expect that moment to happen. I didn't expect Kimberly to do what she did. (Though, realistically, she was there to visit Chastity because Gabriel was still Gabriel who? for her at that moment.) The story unfolding in episode 2.2 made me jump over to the next household, the Cho household, so that I could write down even more ideas for Vivian's introductory episode, but I quickly stopped myself because I was getting distracted from Chastity and Gabriel!

In the previous blog post, I mentioned that the introductory episode for a family is a bit stressful for me. I think it still is, in a way, but I'm excited for the other families. I'm excited to see what will happen in Carlos' round! But, right now, I'm especially excited for the Cordial sisters! You should see me smiling!

Well, I'll end this little post here, otherwise I'll continue to gush and grin stupidly at my computer screen. So, everyone, thank you so much for coming over to my little spot in the internet!