Odds 'n' Ends

[strangetomato]

First of all, some proof that I've been working on the next update:

The Cordial twins with their older sister, Jocasta, as previously mentioned (but not yet shown). She's a neutral witch.

 
 

I also wanted to mention that Formspring ate a couple of questions I hadn't gotten around to answering yet, but the system assures me they'll reappear eventually, so if you've asked one that hasn't been answered yet, I should get to it before too long. And feel free to ask new questions, of course.

A recent look at the Strangetown, Here We Come TV Tropes page (thanks for all the new entries, everyone! It's fun to see it being added to.), revealed that there's now a space to leave a review of the story. If that sort of thing interests you, please do so. I'd love to hear what you think.

Comments

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! She looks like Bella. :D It makes sense that there would be a neutral one. That candle looks really huge...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I made her quite some time ago (before my big game implosion), but I think she's a mix of Bella and Kimberley's genetics, mostly (since Kim's the more genetically interesting of the twins). She does have a very strong dash of Bella in there, since the sister's have already commented on her being "the very spit of Jocasta."

I sort of see Jocasta as being the neutral glue that held them together, and maybe they had more difficulty getting along without her, but they worked it out. (I've thrown out the official Maxis backstory for these gals, keeping it only as their official cover story in the secular non-witchy Belladonna Cove.)

Haha. Huge candle is huge. It's a trick of the camera.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

I love the backstory you've created, Bella's magical background is very interesting to me.

I made my own Jocasta for some Goth wedding pictures and she ended up looking like Michael in drag.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks! ^_^ When I first came across the idea that Bella is somehow linked to Magic Town in Sims 1, I thought it was really interesting, too. It makes sense in the spooky Goth family.

I'm working with the idea that Bella was never entirely aware of it, I think. Jocasta left Belladonna Cove when she met Simis and raised her family elsewhere, because she didn't want him drawn into the conplexities of witchy politics. She kept some connections to the secular Cordial family, but after a while, but after a while, they drifted apart. Jocasta only goes back to her practise when the sisters really need her. I'll give some details about that in the next update.

I think I saw that photo. You posted it separately in your journal, right? I really love all the recreations and re-imagining you've done for the Maxis characters in your story. It's a lot of fun. You strike a nice balance between faithfulness to the source material and putting your own spin on things, in that the former is never at the expense of the latter.

I really like working within the constraints of the backstories, but only to a point. It's a fun challenge to explain what's given to us in the game, but also fun to add connections that EAxis never even thought to include (or couldn't, because they'd need to be between hoods that came with different EPS).

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

The Bachelor family in TS3 seems almost too normal to me, so I like the idea of Jocasta having a secret background. I'm definitely looking forward to the next update!

Yeah, the backstories are a great inspiration, but of course there's so many inconsistencies within canon itself that I couldn't fault anyone for taking liberties. I also figure the premades' memories can't really accurately reflect their life unless they sat around doing nothing but kissing, falling in love, and age transitioning the whole time, so I mainly just try not to contradict them while still filling in the gaps.

[inferiarecoming.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Jacosta is lovely. I'd expected her to have green eyes like the other two but she looks lovely with brown. I agree with skellington7d, she resembles Bella a lot.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Bella turns after her mother quite a bit.

Hmmm. Now I'm wondering if I should have gone with brown eyes for her. She'd have been a little less Bella-like with green eyes. I think maybe I was using her SimPE genetics as a guide? I'm not sure.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Nice idea. :) I'm curious to see where you'll go with this. They all look good, and Jocasta does indeed look a lot like Bella - but still distinctly different from her.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I was aiming for some happy blend of Cordial and Bella, with mostly Bella, so I think it worked out pretty well.

Most of my thoughts on this are more backstory than anything that will have a major impact on S,HWC, but it's fun to flesh out all the same (and possibly more fun than actually moving ahead with the story? :P).

[olivethegreat.livejournal.com]

This picture is great. :) I can't wait for more story.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm really trying to work on my creative spark. I'm really hoping to keep the momentum going and have an update ready fairly soon.

[fallingrain757.livejournal.com]

I like how Jocasta looks like Bella, but also like the Cordials. It ties them all together really nicely.

I'd also consider maybe doing a review sometime, If you don't mind. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That's what I was hoping for. ^_^ I don't think it's such a huge leap from the Cordials to Bella. It's not outside of the realm of possibility, right?

I'd love that. ^_^ I've received an ocassional review of the entire story from people who've just completed reading it up to the current entry, but comments are usually in reference to a specific update, so I think it'd be really interesting to get feedback on the story as a whole.

[muslemura.livejournal.com]

Hehe, they all look great :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ^_^

[selenecorvino.livejournal.com]

I'm curious, looking forward to more.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to have more to share soon. I'm working on it.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, well, well... It seems I've finally caught up with the posts... Yay!
BTW, I'm one of newer readers... I started reading S,HWC about... a week ago? I dunno. Anyway, great story, great pics and I can't wait for more.
The third sister is fantastic. Neutral witch? Cool.
See ya! Your blog, more precisely... whatever. Bye!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Nice to hear from you! ^_^ I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far, and I always love hearing from a new reader.

I'm really fond of the idea of having all the alignments together in one family, and that the witches of different alignments do mingle with each other without too much conflict. It's more of a specialization of magical practise than an overall outlook on life, in my mind. I know that's not exactly the way EA has it set up, but hey.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Jocasta is gorgeous! I would say she looks like Bella but you already know that. :P