OK, so that happened.
I've said many times, notably over on the Sim Creatives forums, that In Moonlight is the most technically complex story I've attempted so far, both in terms of writing and screenshots. I'll stand by that.
Juggling an ensemble cast of six major characters, usually in three different groups, was quite a challenge. It required more advanced planning than I usually do, because I needed to map out how to move from one group to the next while keeping the overall narrative moving forward. I have to admit, I had a lot of fun with that, though I probably talked my wife's ear off as I figured it all out.
In the Afterword for In Shadow, I half-jokingly called In Moonlight "In Shadow Part 2" because this was closer to what I had originally envisioned for In Shadow.
My original idea was a trilogy that, in my head, I still refer to as the Shadow War trilogy. The idea remains to dive more deeply into the secret conflict between witches and vampires that has been the background of my entire series. In a real sense, this is my Avengers Infinity War/Endgame, bringing together characters, storylines and ideas from everything that has come before.
Now, in attempting that, I set myself some challenges. See, I hate the Avengers Infinity War/Endgame movie(s) for a variety of reasons. The most relevant being how it is both burdened by the weight of all the movies that came before and because, in a lot of ways, I feel it betrays those prior movies.
So, I wanted to write In Moonlight in a way that tied in the characters and arcs I've been setting up. I wanted to remain true to those characters and arcs. Finally, I wanted to make the story accessible enough to new readers so you didn't have to have read everything else to understand it all. That meant incorporating enough backstory that everything made sense without overbalancing things.
That, based on some feedback I've gotten, I might actually have pulled that off has been a pleasant shock.
So, large ensemble cast, epic story arcs involving a centuries-old secret war and incorporating elements of every Wyrd Tales story I've written so far... that ought to be enough.
Of course not. See, In Shadow went off the rails and in going off the rails it changed the trilogy. First, it required the creation of In Shadow Part 2, which became In Moonlight. Second, and more importantly, it changed the entire trilogy into Genie's story.
In Moonlight, therefore, became not just about the Shadow War. It became about Genie's mom, Luna Elderberry.
Sims 4 players will probably know the pre-made Luna Villareal, daughter of gangster Jacques Villareal. She starts as a teen, with the personality traits Clumsy and Childlike, whose mother mysteriously disappeared. When I was playing the game that would eventually lead to my Wyrd Girls stories, Luna turned up when Gwen and Cassie went to university. The whole Gwen, Cassie, Luna, Rohan polycule romance comes from that playthrough.
So, as I sat down to write In Moonlight, one of the first questions I asked myself was how did Luna go from an innocent, childlike teen and Gwen's university lover, to Genie's distant mother and the cold, ruthless gangster we meet in College Years and In Shadow?
I knew I wanted it to be tied to another piece of pre-made Luna Villareal's lore, in this case her missing mother. I had decided long ago that the hinted-at standard answer that Jacques was behind her disappearance didn't work for me. I knew she was dead. I knew it had something to do with the Shadow War. I knew that was what drove Luna, and was behind Max's twisted outlook on life and women. The idea that Augustus Charm was the killer actually came after quite a bit of thought, but when it did everything fell into place.
All in all, I'm pleased with how that storyline developed.
One more thing I want to mention - the other technical complexity. Screenshots. Having such a clear vision and well-planned storyline for In Moonlight required me to have a lot more control. It also meant I had some images in my head of how I wanted scenes to look.
The final shot of chapter 33, where Genie is holding a bleeding Luna, was in my mind from the very beginning. The battle of Moonwood Mill and the fight at the Evergreen Harbor Community Garden were in my mind almost as long.
Those are things that could not be achieved using just the native animations in the Sims 4 game. So I had to turn heavily to poses for the first time. It was a real change in how I write these stories, opening up options while also requiring much more planning and control. I'll certainly keep using them, but going forward, I'll be trying to find a balance again between poses and just using the game.
I also want to once again give a shout out and huge thank you to Sim Creatives forum member OrangeYams. A regular reader and fan of my stories, OrangeYams volunteered to create some poses for me and is directly responsible for the Genie/Luna pose in Chapter 33. I could not have achieved the story I wanted without OrangeYams' help.
So, that was In Moonlight.
Obviously, we're not done. I said it was a trilogy, after all. Actually, it might be two trilogies now.
Anyway, my current plan is to take a little break. Like I did after In Shadow, I plan to write a couple of short stories to bridge the gap.
I'm also working more than I expected I would be on my Wyrd Tales spinoff, Hot Nights in Willow Creek. If you are interested in erotic fiction, check it out. You can find the Blogger version under my profile. It's also posted here, hosted on the LoversLab site. If porn-with-a-plot is not your cup of tea, don't.
Now I'm going to go take that break, and then work on those short stories.
Genie Elderberry will return In Starlight.
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