Sexy witches are great. Bit over represented though, don’t you think? What about the more practical witch? Practical not just because of the type of magic they practice but by their personality and sense of style too.
Hettie Butterwood is representing for the Sims 4 witches that could care less about flowing gowns and pointy hats.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t as jazzed about the announcement of Real of Magic as some Simmers. Occult characters have difficulty holding my attention. I did love the fairies from Sims 3 Supernatural but even they didn’t stay in my rotation for too long.
What I do like about the occult related Sims packs though is all the CAS and build items that come with them. Heck, I’ve barely ever played and actual vampire but I use the stuff that came with Sims 4 Vampires all the time.
I never miss a pack though and so, of course, I bought and installed Realm of Magic as soon as it was released. As usual, my first stop was to Create-a-Sim. My self-assigned mission was to take the idea of practical magic and spin it into what I think a modern-ish practical witch would look like. Visions of a woman that is so out of step with the world that she’s almost cool came to mind.
Hettie’s personality fell in place before her appearance. Borrowing a trait from Strangerville, I made her paranoid. After all, how could you know for sure that magic exists and not be at least a little bit paranoid?
She’s channeling that paranoia into her Purveyor of Potions aspiration. Hettie wants to learn every potion there is so she is ready to combat anything that might come her way. Being prepared sounds like a very practical witch thing to do.
Strangerville also lent itself nicely to creating a fashion sense for Hettie. The pack has this turtleneck leather coat combination thing that I swear I have seen my Nana wearing in photos from from the 70’s. Just the kind of thing that she might pick up in a second hand shop. Combined with a pair of extremely practical trousers, Hettie’s look fell into place.
Lastly, I worked on Hettie Butterwood’s head. The bob with the asymmetrical bangs felt just the right side of awkward. Throwing in a gap tooth, a face full of freckles and those big clunky glasses, there was no doubting this was Hettie.