Behind the Scenes: Belladonna Cove | Episode 8.2

Carlos and Jessica getting cosy in the hot tub …

So, it has finally happened. Ever since I finalised this episode, witches and warlocks have been on my brain. I'm thinking about the big story of how witches and warlocks came out of the shadows; how they introduced themselves, how the world reacted, and the present day. How can I make this story interesting? But I don't think I'm going to do a big story - at the end of the day, I want to focus on the 11 original families - so I'll just mentioned an important event here and there.

I do think this idea, of witches and warlocks leaving the shadows, can enrich the story I'm crafting for Kimberly and Samantha's second round. I'm also afraid that I'm going to screw up this story, that it will, well, suck. So I'll simply leave breadcrumbs, here and there, instead of doing a full story. 

But, as I've said before, ever since I finalised this episode, I've been focusing on witches and warlocks. I've been looking at tumblr and Googling for interesting witchy CC. I started by revisiting the tags on my tumblr, so I'm hoping to slowly, ever so slowly, build a CC collection for witchiness. I've found some interesting conversions from the Sims 3 and I'll be testing it all out when I can. Oh, and I already have an awesome witchy computer: check it out!

Since this post is all about witches, I thought I'd talk about dear Frances. (Who's a nerdy bad witch, and Phoebe's the romance-on-the-brain good witch. Isn't that interesting?) I wasn't expecting Frances to pop up (lo and behold!) but it was great, and I'm happy she's getting a role in this round. However, because I wasn't expecting her, I didn't give her a makeover.

See, I've been changing the hairs in my game, switching over to the New Hair System. Which I love because, eventually, all the reds will be same. All the browns will be the same, and so on and so forth. (Sometimes I don't care that there are different shades of red in my game, but other times I do!) I've been tweaking all the sims from the original 11 families, so they (nearly all of them, I think?) have different hairstyles or have the same hairstyle as before. I even changed the apartment residents, but I didn't touch Frances because I thought she'd only be associated with the Cordial household and that I'd change her at a later stage.

But let's move on!

I had an idea regarding the consequences of witches and warlocks joining modern society. At certain community lots, sims will put up anti-witch posters, like the prohibition red circle across the image of a stereotypical witch. But I don't think I want to do that. Though, on the other hand, it will be an extra detail. So, something to think about, I guess.

Then, something else to think about: I want a witch to have a business (I'm thinking it's in a back alley) and I'll use the Visitor Controller so that only a certain type of sim will come to the store. As you can see, so many ideas but so little time.

Speaking of mods, I've re-discovered a mod by midgethetree. I was looking for a mod that will stop a playable witch (or warlock) from using their broom. If the witch (or warlock) doesn't want the neighbourhood to know that they're practising witchcraft, then they shouldn't travel with their broom when they go out. So I'm going to test out midgethetree's mod as soon as I can, but if it doesn't address the issue I have, then I'm going to ignore it when a witch (or warlock) autonomously travels with the broom when I'm playing with a different household (meaning, the witch is a visitor).

So, yes, as you can see, I have a lot on my mind. And the first thing on my to-do list is to change Frances' hair. I'm thinking of giving her a hairstyle that's similar to her current 'do. Then, I'll see what I can do next.

Lastly, I just had a brain fart - why would Carlos marry Jessica, when he can marry Frances? Wouldn't that have a bigger reaction? Have to think about that. Maybe something for round 2 or even round 3 ...