Faux Saturday-Friday
Nov. 11th, 2022 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickMy struggles with days of the week continues -- what can I say, it just FELT so much like a Saturday today! Though a very nice one, even with the weather getting shittier as the day went on -- the family and I are watching the Weird Al "biopic" over the next couple of days, and that's been fun (though I must confess to not knowing it was a parody going in, so I had to take a minute to get warmed up to it). And I got a good amount done in my "to-do categories:"
-->Tumblr: Did a dash-and-tags catch-up on Victor Luvs Alice before lunch, as you do (and I really needed to do). Nothing going on on Valice Multiverse at the moment – gonna have to find something fandom-related to reblog over there, I think. And I’m tempted to try and get at least some of my pictures for the next Chill Save update on Victor Luvs Alice sorted tonight. . .we’ll see, though!
-->Sims 4: Yup – I decided all my mods had had PLENTY of time to get updated at this point, so I decided to risk it and FINALLY get the Valicer trio sent on their end-of-summer Granite Falls vacation! Here’s how it went –
A) First, some prep in Granite Falls itself – namely slapping down my Green Getaway Makeover cabin in the world and giving it a few last-minute tweaks (added in some fireflies environmental effects on the side and a sunflower out front; changed the back stairs banister to green to match the front; and added the Simple Living and Wild Foxes lot challenges, as those both felt appropriate).
B) Second, time to visit the Valicer group and keep them occupied/prep THEM for their vacation while waiting for a decent hour to send them off (as I always save in the wee hours of the morning). This consisted of having Smiler make another computer chip on the robotics bench (getting their skill up to level 6!), having them make a drink for a specter (which did not go over well – fortunately Smiler’s silver tongue got them out of trouble with an attempt to communicate), collect their laptop and their yoga mat for the trip, clean the chicken coop and scatter some feed for the chickens, and empty the trash can at the local rabbithole; Alice get in a shower and a nap before recycling some trash from her inventory and doing some last-minute scavenging, reaching Prime werewolf status in the process (she now has the Grumpy Wolf temperament on top of the others, meaning she wants to take more naps); and letting Victor get as caught up as possible on his sleep before using him to grab some of the ingredients they’d need to cook and recycling some trash and composted food from HIS inventory. Whew!
C) By that time, we’d hit 8 in the morning, so I figured it was time to go before my Sims wandered off to do unapproved activities. XD I had Alice make the call and sent them off to their new temporary cabin in Granite Falls –
Where it was raining. *facepalm* Figures. Well, that wasn’t so much of an issue for Alice – as she was hungry, and I did want the ability, I had her pick up “Hunt For Food” and go looking for fresh meat in the forest while transformed, while Victor headed inside for a shower and Smiler watched TV for a bit before going outside to shower in the rain. . .
Just as the local ranger, Kamala, showed up. XD She was briefly horrified by Smiler’s nudity, but I had them put some clothes on and say hi, and of course they were instantly the best of friends. XD They chatted with her on the porch and took a moment to detect her personality while Alice came back with her meat and chowed down and Victor practiced magic inside. Very supernatural vacation, as you can see. XD
D) Having picked up a new friendship and some camping tips from the park ranger, Smiler sent her on her way and decided they wanted to play some games with their friends – namely, Don’t Wake The Llama! The trio played a couple of rounds (Victor lost the first one, Alice the second), then I sent them inside to watch some more TV (Victor and Smiler), listen to the gramophone (Victor), and make some apple jam (Alice, back in human form). Smiler also got out their laptop and practiced their programming a bit, while Alice took a nap in the bedroom (not in the bed, just the bedroom) and Victor got his dance on.
E) And then I saw that the damn rain had stopped and it was just cloudy, yay! I promptly sent Smiler to look at the water and do some fishing (though I had to reset them at one point because I noticed their arm had gotten stuck in the “umbrella-holding” position and it was screwing up their pole-holding animation) – they used snapdragons to catch a minnow, then used that minnow to catch a walleye, which then got turned into a plasma pack. Alice, meanwhile, went for a feral run (as the Fury was starting to build up again), and Victor practiced his horseshoes – then, once Alice got back and had a shower, they switched. Smiler got a drink from Alice after she’d had a few practice throws (no “dog water” moodlet, I was happy to see), then went to practice their yoga while Alice went wolf again to do some more scavenging and Victor, back from his run (now that it had started raining again), took advantage of having a NICE bed to get some PROPER sleep.
F) And then – RAMPAGE! Yes, Alice’s Fury boiled over, and she lost control of herself. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to keep a hold of her, especially in a nice big wooded area like this – I just had her run around and do loads more scavenging, with a bit of howling for flavor. I did have her try to regain control halfway through, but no dice – eh, more chances to get some werewolf experience without the Fury gain! She ended up digging up loads of nice crystals and minerals, and even a few upgrade parts, and only spooked one passing Sim (who indicated he was disgusted with her digging up the ground – dude, you were stinking so much you were being followed by a green cloud) and scratched up one of the outdoor seats (which was an old stump – who was gonna notice?). Oh, and marked her territory a few times. :p All in all, a productive rampage. XD
G) While all that was going on, Smiler got their Wellness skill up (and accepted they Liked Wellness), did a little horseshoe practice themselves, gathered up some chamomile (Smiler technically doesn’t know what it is, but the game keeps telling ME its chamomile), sent out a burst of focus to everyone passing (as they themselves were quite focused from their yoga), then went fishing with snow drops, getting a sprig of basil and a trout (which once again became a plasma pack) and getting their skill up to level 7, nice. Victor, meanwhile, did some stargazing at the telescope before his fear of the dark got to him and he had to hide under the covers (NEVER MIND WE CURED THAT FEAR A FEW DAYS AGO – seriously, the moodlet seems to be stuck, gotta figure out how to fix that. . .and I just looked it up and it’s a known bug with no easy fix, ugh. Damn it EA).
H) Alice eventually regained control of herself and went to go hunt for some more food – I had Victor get the campfire going while she was gone and roast a few marshmallows for s’mores. She came back with more meat, which she wolfed down by the fire – I got Smiler to join them, then (after Alice washed her dishes), got Alice to turn back into her human form and had her and Smiler tells some stories (Alice an adventure story about the high seas, Smiler a fairy tale about a little mouse). Everyone had a very good time, and I ended my session with Alice and Victor both going to catch a few zzzs after extinguishing the fire (Alice outside, Victor in bed) while Smiler played some video games. XD
So yeah, nice start of the vacation, even with the rain! Tomorrow we’ll get through Friday – I’ll probably send them into the deeper woods around the ranger station or whatever the community lot is, have them grab some pictures, and see how they can entertain themselves there! I already know I want Smiler to play the guitar, as I forgot to bring theirs. . .ah well!
>Writing: Got that done in between Sims 4 and my workout – Victor has finally met Dr. Kelman, who is being his usual creepy self by refusing to refer to Victor by anything but “SW9” and talking about how they’re going to study him here at The Sanctuary, and that there may be a little pain, but it’s for a good cause! Also Miles Cedars is there, on the edge of a nervous breakdown as usual. Victor has realized that they’ve mistaken him for the holistic assassin and is in the middle of trying to explain that no, he’s not the one they want, and the one they want is PROBABLY gonna storm the place and do some murder if they don’t let him go, but – afraid that’s gonna fall on deaf ears, Victor. You’re stuck for the foreseeable future. At least next chapter you’ll get to meet some new coaster friends!
-->YouTube: Ooooo, I came SO close to getting completely caught up on my Subs for two seconds – but because I had one of Kevin’s long videos to watch, I ran out of time to watch Gray’s upload for today. I am down to just the ONE video, though! And I did enjoy what I did watch –
A) First up, we had the Call Me Kevin from yesterday – “Resident Evil 8 Village DLC blew my mind!” I really wasn’t expecting my first proper look at the Shadows of Rose DLC to be from him, but – not complaining! Unlike Kevin, who complained throughout the entire thing. XD Not without reason, though, because that DLC looks HARD. And it’s even harder when you share your Perception score with a certain Jon of Many a True Nerd and keep missing the things you’re supposed to be interacting with. XD The story of the DLC is Rose, who is now a teenager, is feeling pretty shitty about her mold-given powers because the people at school are making fun of her. One of the agents tasked with protecting her, K, tells her that if she interacts with a bit of the fungus that copies people’s memories and gave her her powers (through her dad, Ethan, thanks to the events of RE7), she might be able to find a way to remove them. Cue a horrible trip through the heart of the Megamycete fungus as Rose has to work her way through the two most memorable locations in the original game (Castle Dimitrescu, aka Lair of Tall Vampire Lady (though she herself doesn’t make an appearance), and House Beneviento, aka That Fucking Doll House With The Baby Thing (again, who does not make an appearance)) and some other horrible goopy places, fighting off monsters that want to suck off her face, horrible Mia mannequins, killer dolls, and other terrible things to try and find the thing to remove her powers. . .
And as you might imagine, it was all a trap. Mother Miranda lives in within the mold, and created all of this to get Rose to give up her powers to HER so she can use them to turn her into a better vessel for her dead daughter. Fortunately, what Miranda forgot is that a certain father (who has been using glowing text under the name “Michael” to help Rose out with hints) died in the heart of the Megamycete too. Cue him saving Rose – and then Rose saving him when she smashes the crystal used to drain her powers and regains them tenfold. :D It’s deeply touching. Even if the series has now basically made a game out of “Ethan Winters Is Not Allowed To Have A Face.” XD
But yeah, it was a great watch, and a blast to watch Kevin play through. Even if he was a little slow on the uptake with some of the controls and such. XD Poor guy – don’t worry, I don’t think I would have done better!
B) And then, because it was quick, watching it meant that I’d be all set except for the latest video in my Subs, and because it was a GrayStillPlays short and those are as funny as his normal-length videos, I watched “I Spent $10,000 Breaking GTA 5 #shorts” – which looks like the future start of a longer video, featuring an animated Gray showing off an e-mail from his accountant asking what the hell all these weird GTA transactions were. Gray replied with “I want to play a game,” and went on Fiverr to find some people willing to make Saw-style puzzle boards for him. XD So, unless I miss my guess, that’s a future GTA V video to look forward to! :D
-->Workout: Another night on the bike to wrap things up – and as I was done with Dicebreaker/OXBox on Praxis Prime, I ended up watching a trio of videos instead –
A) “6 Lessons We Learned Playing Dungeons & Dragons: Oxventure at NYCC Metaverse” – a video from one of the earlier Laserventure sessions (as Luke was there), with the OXBox gang detailing some of what they’d learned from playing D&D over the years! Stuff like don’t be afraid of bad rolls (Andy); combat is more than just hitting things with weapons or using spells (Mike); don’t be afraid of not knowing everything (Ellen); embrace changes to your character (Luke); embrace the roleplay aspect (Jane); and have a long memory (Johnny, specifically referencing how Luke was, at the time, waiting for the return of Katy Pearlhead XD). Fun stuff, and nice to see them talk about how far they’ve come with their characters and suchlike.
B) “6 Small Mods That Add Extra Realism +LINKS (The Sims 4 Mods)” – another ItsMeTroi video, this one detailing some little mods that might add some extra realism to your game – like giving teenagers the ability to vote on a senior trip (rabbithole, admittedly); some new kisses for your romantic Sims (though, uh, when she showed off the animations, I wasn’t impressed); and a new delivery option specifically for healthy foods (looked good, but maybe a BIT too realistic for my taste?). It was interesting, but she talked kind of fast through the video, so I didn’t feel like I caught everything she was saying, and none of the mods really grabbed me. *shrug*
C) “10 City Living Objects You Need To Start Using | The Sims 4 Guide” – another Petey Plays It video, detailing some stand-out objects from City Living (like the karaoke machines and the talking toilet), and some overlooked ones he feels should get more love (like the wall murals, and the coffee table with built-in fire pit). Short and sweet!
Not bad, not bad at all. :) Now, tomorrow is a cleaning Saturday, so that's how I'll be spending my morning, but I hope to do more Sims 4 in the afternoon, more writing, and try to keep up on my YouTube Subs (and maybe even get a few more OXBox videos out of the Watch Later). Just trying to get the most out of my long weekend! But right now I have a few other things to attend to, so I'd best get going. Night all!
-->Tumblr: Did a dash-and-tags catch-up on Victor Luvs Alice before lunch, as you do (and I really needed to do). Nothing going on on Valice Multiverse at the moment – gonna have to find something fandom-related to reblog over there, I think. And I’m tempted to try and get at least some of my pictures for the next Chill Save update on Victor Luvs Alice sorted tonight. . .we’ll see, though!
-->Sims 4: Yup – I decided all my mods had had PLENTY of time to get updated at this point, so I decided to risk it and FINALLY get the Valicer trio sent on their end-of-summer Granite Falls vacation! Here’s how it went –
A) First, some prep in Granite Falls itself – namely slapping down my Green Getaway Makeover cabin in the world and giving it a few last-minute tweaks (added in some fireflies environmental effects on the side and a sunflower out front; changed the back stairs banister to green to match the front; and added the Simple Living and Wild Foxes lot challenges, as those both felt appropriate).
B) Second, time to visit the Valicer group and keep them occupied/prep THEM for their vacation while waiting for a decent hour to send them off (as I always save in the wee hours of the morning). This consisted of having Smiler make another computer chip on the robotics bench (getting their skill up to level 6!), having them make a drink for a specter (which did not go over well – fortunately Smiler’s silver tongue got them out of trouble with an attempt to communicate), collect their laptop and their yoga mat for the trip, clean the chicken coop and scatter some feed for the chickens, and empty the trash can at the local rabbithole; Alice get in a shower and a nap before recycling some trash from her inventory and doing some last-minute scavenging, reaching Prime werewolf status in the process (she now has the Grumpy Wolf temperament on top of the others, meaning she wants to take more naps); and letting Victor get as caught up as possible on his sleep before using him to grab some of the ingredients they’d need to cook and recycling some trash and composted food from HIS inventory. Whew!
C) By that time, we’d hit 8 in the morning, so I figured it was time to go before my Sims wandered off to do unapproved activities. XD I had Alice make the call and sent them off to their new temporary cabin in Granite Falls –
Where it was raining. *facepalm* Figures. Well, that wasn’t so much of an issue for Alice – as she was hungry, and I did want the ability, I had her pick up “Hunt For Food” and go looking for fresh meat in the forest while transformed, while Victor headed inside for a shower and Smiler watched TV for a bit before going outside to shower in the rain. . .
Just as the local ranger, Kamala, showed up. XD She was briefly horrified by Smiler’s nudity, but I had them put some clothes on and say hi, and of course they were instantly the best of friends. XD They chatted with her on the porch and took a moment to detect her personality while Alice came back with her meat and chowed down and Victor practiced magic inside. Very supernatural vacation, as you can see. XD
D) Having picked up a new friendship and some camping tips from the park ranger, Smiler sent her on her way and decided they wanted to play some games with their friends – namely, Don’t Wake The Llama! The trio played a couple of rounds (Victor lost the first one, Alice the second), then I sent them inside to watch some more TV (Victor and Smiler), listen to the gramophone (Victor), and make some apple jam (Alice, back in human form). Smiler also got out their laptop and practiced their programming a bit, while Alice took a nap in the bedroom (not in the bed, just the bedroom) and Victor got his dance on.
E) And then I saw that the damn rain had stopped and it was just cloudy, yay! I promptly sent Smiler to look at the water and do some fishing (though I had to reset them at one point because I noticed their arm had gotten stuck in the “umbrella-holding” position and it was screwing up their pole-holding animation) – they used snapdragons to catch a minnow, then used that minnow to catch a walleye, which then got turned into a plasma pack. Alice, meanwhile, went for a feral run (as the Fury was starting to build up again), and Victor practiced his horseshoes – then, once Alice got back and had a shower, they switched. Smiler got a drink from Alice after she’d had a few practice throws (no “dog water” moodlet, I was happy to see), then went to practice their yoga while Alice went wolf again to do some more scavenging and Victor, back from his run (now that it had started raining again), took advantage of having a NICE bed to get some PROPER sleep.
F) And then – RAMPAGE! Yes, Alice’s Fury boiled over, and she lost control of herself. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to keep a hold of her, especially in a nice big wooded area like this – I just had her run around and do loads more scavenging, with a bit of howling for flavor. I did have her try to regain control halfway through, but no dice – eh, more chances to get some werewolf experience without the Fury gain! She ended up digging up loads of nice crystals and minerals, and even a few upgrade parts, and only spooked one passing Sim (who indicated he was disgusted with her digging up the ground – dude, you were stinking so much you were being followed by a green cloud) and scratched up one of the outdoor seats (which was an old stump – who was gonna notice?). Oh, and marked her territory a few times. :p All in all, a productive rampage. XD
G) While all that was going on, Smiler got their Wellness skill up (and accepted they Liked Wellness), did a little horseshoe practice themselves, gathered up some chamomile (Smiler technically doesn’t know what it is, but the game keeps telling ME its chamomile), sent out a burst of focus to everyone passing (as they themselves were quite focused from their yoga), then went fishing with snow drops, getting a sprig of basil and a trout (which once again became a plasma pack) and getting their skill up to level 7, nice. Victor, meanwhile, did some stargazing at the telescope before his fear of the dark got to him and he had to hide under the covers (NEVER MIND WE CURED THAT FEAR A FEW DAYS AGO – seriously, the moodlet seems to be stuck, gotta figure out how to fix that. . .and I just looked it up and it’s a known bug with no easy fix, ugh. Damn it EA).
H) Alice eventually regained control of herself and went to go hunt for some more food – I had Victor get the campfire going while she was gone and roast a few marshmallows for s’mores. She came back with more meat, which she wolfed down by the fire – I got Smiler to join them, then (after Alice washed her dishes), got Alice to turn back into her human form and had her and Smiler tells some stories (Alice an adventure story about the high seas, Smiler a fairy tale about a little mouse). Everyone had a very good time, and I ended my session with Alice and Victor both going to catch a few zzzs after extinguishing the fire (Alice outside, Victor in bed) while Smiler played some video games. XD
So yeah, nice start of the vacation, even with the rain! Tomorrow we’ll get through Friday – I’ll probably send them into the deeper woods around the ranger station or whatever the community lot is, have them grab some pictures, and see how they can entertain themselves there! I already know I want Smiler to play the guitar, as I forgot to bring theirs. . .ah well!
>Writing: Got that done in between Sims 4 and my workout – Victor has finally met Dr. Kelman, who is being his usual creepy self by refusing to refer to Victor by anything but “SW9” and talking about how they’re going to study him here at The Sanctuary, and that there may be a little pain, but it’s for a good cause! Also Miles Cedars is there, on the edge of a nervous breakdown as usual. Victor has realized that they’ve mistaken him for the holistic assassin and is in the middle of trying to explain that no, he’s not the one they want, and the one they want is PROBABLY gonna storm the place and do some murder if they don’t let him go, but – afraid that’s gonna fall on deaf ears, Victor. You’re stuck for the foreseeable future. At least next chapter you’ll get to meet some new coaster friends!
-->YouTube: Ooooo, I came SO close to getting completely caught up on my Subs for two seconds – but because I had one of Kevin’s long videos to watch, I ran out of time to watch Gray’s upload for today. I am down to just the ONE video, though! And I did enjoy what I did watch –
A) First up, we had the Call Me Kevin from yesterday – “Resident Evil 8 Village DLC blew my mind!” I really wasn’t expecting my first proper look at the Shadows of Rose DLC to be from him, but – not complaining! Unlike Kevin, who complained throughout the entire thing. XD Not without reason, though, because that DLC looks HARD. And it’s even harder when you share your Perception score with a certain Jon of Many a True Nerd and keep missing the things you’re supposed to be interacting with. XD The story of the DLC is Rose, who is now a teenager, is feeling pretty shitty about her mold-given powers because the people at school are making fun of her. One of the agents tasked with protecting her, K, tells her that if she interacts with a bit of the fungus that copies people’s memories and gave her her powers (through her dad, Ethan, thanks to the events of RE7), she might be able to find a way to remove them. Cue a horrible trip through the heart of the Megamycete fungus as Rose has to work her way through the two most memorable locations in the original game (Castle Dimitrescu, aka Lair of Tall Vampire Lady (though she herself doesn’t make an appearance), and House Beneviento, aka That Fucking Doll House With The Baby Thing (again, who does not make an appearance)) and some other horrible goopy places, fighting off monsters that want to suck off her face, horrible Mia mannequins, killer dolls, and other terrible things to try and find the thing to remove her powers. . .
And as you might imagine, it was all a trap. Mother Miranda lives in within the mold, and created all of this to get Rose to give up her powers to HER so she can use them to turn her into a better vessel for her dead daughter. Fortunately, what Miranda forgot is that a certain father (who has been using glowing text under the name “Michael” to help Rose out with hints) died in the heart of the Megamycete too. Cue him saving Rose – and then Rose saving him when she smashes the crystal used to drain her powers and regains them tenfold. :D It’s deeply touching. Even if the series has now basically made a game out of “Ethan Winters Is Not Allowed To Have A Face.” XD
But yeah, it was a great watch, and a blast to watch Kevin play through. Even if he was a little slow on the uptake with some of the controls and such. XD Poor guy – don’t worry, I don’t think I would have done better!
B) And then, because it was quick, watching it meant that I’d be all set except for the latest video in my Subs, and because it was a GrayStillPlays short and those are as funny as his normal-length videos, I watched “I Spent $10,000 Breaking GTA 5 #shorts” – which looks like the future start of a longer video, featuring an animated Gray showing off an e-mail from his accountant asking what the hell all these weird GTA transactions were. Gray replied with “I want to play a game,” and went on Fiverr to find some people willing to make Saw-style puzzle boards for him. XD So, unless I miss my guess, that’s a future GTA V video to look forward to! :D
-->Workout: Another night on the bike to wrap things up – and as I was done with Dicebreaker/OXBox on Praxis Prime, I ended up watching a trio of videos instead –
A) “6 Lessons We Learned Playing Dungeons & Dragons: Oxventure at NYCC Metaverse” – a video from one of the earlier Laserventure sessions (as Luke was there), with the OXBox gang detailing some of what they’d learned from playing D&D over the years! Stuff like don’t be afraid of bad rolls (Andy); combat is more than just hitting things with weapons or using spells (Mike); don’t be afraid of not knowing everything (Ellen); embrace changes to your character (Luke); embrace the roleplay aspect (Jane); and have a long memory (Johnny, specifically referencing how Luke was, at the time, waiting for the return of Katy Pearlhead XD). Fun stuff, and nice to see them talk about how far they’ve come with their characters and suchlike.
B) “6 Small Mods That Add Extra Realism +LINKS (The Sims 4 Mods)” – another ItsMeTroi video, this one detailing some little mods that might add some extra realism to your game – like giving teenagers the ability to vote on a senior trip (rabbithole, admittedly); some new kisses for your romantic Sims (though, uh, when she showed off the animations, I wasn’t impressed); and a new delivery option specifically for healthy foods (looked good, but maybe a BIT too realistic for my taste?). It was interesting, but she talked kind of fast through the video, so I didn’t feel like I caught everything she was saying, and none of the mods really grabbed me. *shrug*
C) “10 City Living Objects You Need To Start Using | The Sims 4 Guide” – another Petey Plays It video, detailing some stand-out objects from City Living (like the karaoke machines and the talking toilet), and some overlooked ones he feels should get more love (like the wall murals, and the coffee table with built-in fire pit). Short and sweet!
Not bad, not bad at all. :) Now, tomorrow is a cleaning Saturday, so that's how I'll be spending my morning, but I hope to do more Sims 4 in the afternoon, more writing, and try to keep up on my YouTube Subs (and maybe even get a few more OXBox videos out of the Watch Later). Just trying to get the most out of my long weekend! But right now I have a few other things to attend to, so I'd best get going. Night all!
