Mostly Cleaning Saturday
May. 20th, 2023 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickAs my to-do list will bear out, though I did manage to do a few other things too --
Cleaning: Started a little later than I wanted thanks to doing some Merge Dragons stuff this morning, but it all got done eventually! Started at about 10:55 AM, and got the bed and most of the dusting done by lunch at 1 PM; then picked up again around 1:30 PM to finish off the dusting (mainly the perimeter of my room and the desk) and do the Swiffering and vacuuming – ended that around 2:20 PM. As for the laundry bit, got the first load into the washing machine around noon; put the first load into the dryer and second load into the washer around 1:20 PM, right after lunch; got the first load out of the dryer and the second load into it right before 3 PM (after doing more Merge Dragons – on the plus side, I’m in a good spot to get everything I want from this weekend’s event in just one more session), and got the second load out of the dryer just before 4 PM. All done for another couple of weeks, yaaay. . .
Tumblr: Not much happened today on either Victor Luvs Alice OR Valice Multiverse, but I am currently working on getting all the pictures for the Chill Valicer Save Love Day update sorted! Which – uh – I’m currently up to 64 pictures, and I’m working my way through the trio’s time at Plumbite Pier, so. . .gonna be another long one this week! Look, a lot happens in their lives, what can I say?
Sims 4: Welp, I wasn’t actually able to complete Alice’s New Year’s Resolution (mostly because I didn’t have the time I thought I had, as you will see), but she, Victor, and Smiler still had a good day out and about! Perhaps only marginally less busy than Love Day, but still. XD Let me give you the scoop –
A) Started with Smiler repairing wind turbines while Victor and Alice caught up on sleep in their super-upgraded bed (seriously, that thing refreshes energy like a BOSS now), and with me taking the opportunity to check on the status of Alice’s “get fit” New Year’s resolution, as the resolution and the time left to complete it show in the Simology panel. I THOUGHT I had the whole day Saturday to do it.
Nope. Eight hours from when I checked at 4:15 AM. Whoops. ^^; I resigned myself then and there to Alice probably not completing it, but figured she should give it her best shot when she woke up. And after Victor had harvested the greenhouse, as I didn’t want twelve tons of produce in the household inventory (the game will auto-harvest plants if you leave the lot and come back without harvesting them, and it is a pain in the keister to get them out of the household inventory – even just straight-up selling them takes a while!).
B) Anyway – Smiler finished repairing the turbines and scavenging the various trash piles for parts, then went over to the chicken coop to help hatch another chick before cleaning the coop and heading upstairs for a bubble bath. Alice woke up while they were bubbling away, did some push-ups (hey, she was Energized, and every little bit helps), let out a somber howl to keep the Fury low, then headed downstairs at super-speed to grab a breakfast of steak tartare. Victor woke up shortly thereafter and headed straight into the greenhouse, dodging angry bees to harvest all the latest fruits of his labor. And to magically repair the downstairs bathroom sink, as I’d just noticed it was busted. Once that was sorted, Victor grabbed his own plate of steak tartare to snack on while Alice mopped puddles and Smiler took advantage of the gang having a tiny bit of power to futz around on their computer. I was just getting ready to send the gang off to the gym – with Alice getting a quick pre-workout shower, Smiler cleaning up pet toys, and Victor cleaning up his breakfast plate – when I noticed something.
Namely, when I clicked on Victor’s plate, there was a “Magic” option. Curious, I went to see if it could be Scruberooed. It couldn’t –
But it could be Copypastoed.
VICTOR ALREADY KNOWS COPYPASTO. When the fuck – how did I forget about him learning that?! I quickly made a decision to stop by the store later to see what could be done with that, because freaking hell. *facepalm*
C) ANYWAY – after THAT little revelation, it was off to Del Sol Valley and Pectoral Fitness Refurb – an upgraded version of the old Pectoral Fitness gym by Maydussa! (With a few edits by me – pretty sure I’m the one who added in the climbing wall and the nicer equipment!) It’s a pretty nice place – toilets, showers, and changing rooms on the first level, along with a pool, sauna, and hot tub, and an actual workout space, yoga studio, hand-and-foot massage chair, and regular massage table on the second. Victor used the toilet while Alice used her super-speed to get on the weights machines and Smiler flew up to do some boxing in the boxing room. (I TRIED to have them join the yoga class going on next door for a brain-boosting routine, but for some reason they couldn’t. Based on what I saw later, I don’t think any mats other than the first two in front of the instructor’s are accessible for whatever reason. It’s weird. O.o) Victor joined them shortly thereafter to use the climbing wall, since I’d never had a Sim use it before, and climbing IS one of Victor’s “things” in my headcanon. :p He actually liked it so much, he went ahead and pushed the limits for another go without me even prompting him. :D Smiler eventually moved from boxing to the treadmill, while Alice – after a brief break to call her job and take a vacation day (I keep forgetting she’s technically gainfully employed) – kept on the weights before moving to the boxing room. I did try my best to get her properly fit –
D) But no dice – the timer ran out before the resolution could complete. Ah well, the sad moodlet was drowned out by all the confident and happy ones she had from her successful dates yesterday. :p AND she and Smiler both got to Fitness level 6, so that’s something! :D (Also, hilariously, I’m pretty sure VICTOR got fitter thanks to his climbing wall shenanigans – maybe I should have had her on THAT instead!) Victor was still feeling pretty good and ended up joining the next yoga class on offer, an energy-centering one (this is when I learned that Smiler couldn’t access the mats in the back to either join the class officially or fake it by doing the same routine), while I decided Alice and Smiler needed to relax (Alice in particular was feeling fatigued), and so I sent them down to the hot tub (learning in the process I’d given Alice some rather odd swimwear at some point). For some reason, though, neither of them would stay in it for very long, so I instead had them hang out in the sauna for a while – THIS worked, happily, and once he was done with his yoga class, I sent Victor in to join them. Smiler’s friend Nalani also wandered in, though she didn’t actually sit down, and the four of them had a nice chat for a while. :) Good way to end the workout session!
E) Eventually, though, the trio had to exit the sauna (especially since I was keeping a close eye on those moodlets to make sure they weren’t about to switch from Happy To Uncomfortable) – Victor got a shower as he was feeling stinky, while I sent Alice and Smiler outside to amuse themselves – and get into some new outfits I’d chosen for them but had yet to have them wear! Alice’s was the paint-spattered tank top she’d unlocked as part of the Artist career with some blue jeans, while Smiler had on their nonbinary shirt and black jeans. :) I sent them to explore the grassy area nearby – Smiler dug up a time capsule from a dig pile, which produced a Chaz McFreely MySim when opened, while Alice got a fossilized sea monster from a fossil rock and used her super speed to scare some nearby birds. XD
F) And it was around that time that I got the notice that the Finchwick Fair was starting! Curious, I hit the button to look at the flyer –
OVERSIZED CROPS! That’s one Victor could participate in! So once he was out of the shower (and his towel – seriously, why do Sims not autonomously change out of those while going outside?), I quickly sent everyone to the store so he could grab one of his previous oversized crops from the fridge there. Went with the watermelon, as it was the biggest. Also took a moment to check if the various foods from the Simsco Canning Factory mod could be Copypastoed – sadly no, you can only set them for sale or open them up for whatever’s inside. The various syrups and canned goods CAN be copied, though, so that’s something. We’ll see if this spell can actually help out with stocking the shelves later!
G) However, today the focus was on Finchwick, with the gang heading to the Gnome’s Arms Pub to find the fair already in progress. Victor submitted his watermelon, then headed into the pub to use the tiny kitchen in the back (apparently open to the public) to make a fruit pie to submit as well (as there’s always two competitions going on during these things). Alice and Smiler, naturally, hit the bar to get some drinks – though telling them to “get favorite drink” did not result in the drinks I expected. Namely, Alice got a Minty Fresh PET drink, and Smiler got a Wrench. I mean. . .Smiler should really know better, they’ve had Withered Stomach for a WHILE, but maybe Alice got hers because she’s a werewolf? I had her drink it, just in case, but all it resulted in was an uncomfortable moodlet. Yeah, I think I’m gonna choose what you guys drink going forward. *shakehead* On the plus side, while they were waiting for their drinks, I spotted something I found fairly hilarious in the background – a NPC wearing the Fallout 4-style vault suit I downloaded ages ago! Isis Payton, from Vault 81 apparently. XD At least SOMEONE’S getting some use out of that custom content!
H) Anyway – I had Smiler give up their Wrench and order the much more appropriate Plasma Jane, getting into a friendly chat with some newcomers to the bar, while Victor finished up his fruit pie and submitted it before drinking the rest of Wrench just to finish it off (hey, they’d already paid for it!). Alice, for her part, went and checked out all the entries of oversized crops on display (along with Victor’s watermelon, there were two lettuces, a big one and a small one – the latter submitted by a cute little kid, aw), then did some dancing with the rest of the Henford-On-Bagley-ians at one of the fair speakers. Once she was done getting her groove on, I sent her and Victor to the gardening and grocery stalls respectively to see what was on offer – Alice picked up Party, Fishy Protein, Pumpkin, and Veggie animal treats, and a glow orb fruit (I believe that’s normally only available on Sixam!), while Victor grabbed a blueberry, a cherry, and a quill fruit. Got plenty more to grow in the greenhouse now, that’s for sure! Kim also sought out Victor once she closed her stall and gave him a Finchwick Favor box, which was sweet of her – based on what appeared in his inventory afterward, it looks like he got three bottles of milk and a couple of spicy mushrooms! I attempted to have him pass on the favor to someone else while taking his turn dancing at the speaker, but he didn’t know any of the regular citizens of the town well enough to actually do it. Ah well – free stuff!
I) At that point, the festival was wearing on a bit, and Alice and Victor were feeling hungry, so they ordered some food from Sara at the bar – a meat pie slice for Alice, and a bowl of mushroom soup for Victor. They had a nice meal together for the most part, though Alice briefly annoyed Victor by asking for juice-fizzing tips. To be fair, she and Smiler have been doing that a LOT lately. . .he quickly got over it, though, and they shared a few nice flirts before finishing their food and heading back outside – Alice to do some more dancing (actually maxing the skill in the process, so good for her), and Victor to practice his magic (learning the Decursify spell in the process, so good for him). Smiler, for their part, flew on over to the local fishing spot on the river, examined the water, and cast their line – they ended up catching just a goldfish, but that’s still a plasma pack!
J) Finally, though, around 10:30 PM, the festival finally wrapped up. Victor’s pie didn’t make the cut, earning him just a participation trophy – but his oversized watermelon was good enough for second place! I like to think they gave first place to the kid. XD His prize pack included the two ribbons, a rose, a tomato, a veggie treat, and the unlocked recipes for chocolately and flirty treats. :) And now I’m wondering if we should make animal treats to sell at the store as well. . .
K) A question for another day, however – at this point, Victor and Alice were starting to feel pretty tired again, and Smiler was catching nothing but seaweed, so it was time to head home. Alice and Victor went straight up to bed to get some rest, while Smiler went ahead and spread some fresh feed for the chickens, tuned up and recharged Elmer on the robotics bench, caught a few jewel beetles by the water collectors, and did some recycling with Victor’s spoiled plate and the various trash piles they’d collected. I ended the day with them singing a few songs while playing their guitar. :) Next time, it’s the start of summer – think it’s time to head back to the store and see what needs to happen to fill up the shelves some more!
Writing: Decided to ride the Valicer In The Dark train to the end of the current bit I was working on! Nanny revealed that Victoria had married a guy named “Lord Barkis,” and Emily dropped the bombshell that a guy named Barkis was the one who murdered her. Leading her and Victor to decide they had to call on Victoria just to make sure she hadn’t been forcibly wed to a murderer. And that prompted Smiler and Alice to say they’d come with – Smiler because they’re dedicated to happiness, and stopping someone from possibly getting killed WOULD make them happy, and Alice because she hates people like that thanks to her own past. Which led to her at least partially revealing that the fire that killed her family was arson thanks to a suitor of her sister’s. . .she’s just reluctant to say said suitor was Bumby just yet, for fear of not being believed. But Victor and Smiler promised to stick up for her if and when they call in the Bluecoats to help deal with Barkis, which made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside for a moment. :) Good stuff, and now I can get back to my main projects with a clear head next week, I’m hoping.
YouTube: Only two videos, sadly, but I did get something out of the Watch Later, so we’ll call that a win –
A) Started with a video from onlyabidoang – “The Sims 4: NEW SLOTS, BIRTH MARKS, SCIENCE BABY, AND MORE! (March & April 2023 Patch Update)!” This was a quick video going through all the various updates from the March and April patches, including infants and all their related build/buy items, the addition of “science babies,” the reorganization of the social menu, the new slots on various bathroom objects, lifespan changes, the relationship gain adjustments between different ages (children get along better with other children than teenagers and adults, for example), new songs and CAS items, and bug fixes. Almost nothing I hadn’t heard before, beyond “new décor preferences if you have Dream Home Decorator” and “they’ve updated some of the new icons on the smartphone a bit to make it clearer which category is which,” but it’s always fun to watch Abi’s stuff. And the actual look at how different ages now gain relationship with each other was very enlightening, even if I’m not that much of a family player. :)
B) And then it was over to GrayStillPlays in the Subs with “What car has the strongest boost in GTA 5?” Another Alex Torture Board, this time with a scientific bent – Alex gathered up all the various vehicles with boosts in the game and put Gray through a series of challenges to see how they all did, with the winner being the one who won the most challenges. We had “Longest Jump” board (a leap over one of the rivers in the game), which was won by the Impotent Rage Scramjet car (which has both a jump AND a boost, meaning Gray could use both in tandem to angle the car right to get to the other side of the river – and past the sailboat ape circling in the water below, waiting to ruin the lives of the unwary); the “Fly Farthest Through The Windshield” board (where Gray had to crash his cars in such a way to throw himself over a windmill-filled gap), which was once again won by the Scramjet (only one that had JUST enough thrust to get Gray to the other platform); the “Yeets The Hardest” board (where Gray had to use the boost to throw increasing numbers of clowns off a series of platforms to remove teleporters blocking his way to the next area), which was won by the Vigilante, aka the Discount Batmobile (though not in the way you might think – after trying the boosts and realizing none of the boosts on their own could get rid of more than like five clowns, Gray realized he could use the Vigilante’s pretty powerful boosts to YEET THE OTHER CARS into the clowns. He had to go back to the Windshield board briefly to get another car to yeet after his last attempt fell one clown short, but he did it!); the “Pushes The Best” board (where the car had to shove two sets of buoys – one set of five, one set of ten – down a narrow channel), which was once again won by the Vigilante (none of the other cars had the power to move the buoys at all); the “Fastest Off The Line” board (where Gray had to send the car down a tightrope of 100 in-game meters in 2.5 seconds – if he didn’t get across in time, he fell under the board and into a teleporter – or, in one case, just down to the ground), which was won by the Oppressor flying motorbike (a bit weirdly, as I think it TECHNICALLY fell short and hit the teleporter, but it threw Gray off and onto the platform right before, so. . .); the “Recharges the Fastest” board (where Gray had to see how many times he could recharge the boost in each vehicle in 15 seconds – Alex kindly attached a timer to each car – then pick the right teleporter to get to the final board), which was won by the armored ZR380 car (a car that utterly FAILED all of the other challenges due to its incredibly weak boost – however, turns out it could RECHARGE that weak boost 17 times, while none of the others could get above ten); and finally the “Jumps the Highest” board (where Gray had to leap up a height wall and try to get above the 360 mark to reach the top and the finish line – each car got two boosts, one for the initial jump and one for in the air), which was won by the Scramjet (again, a car good at jumping with a decent boost). So yeah, in terms of overall best boost, the Scramjet takes it! Though the Vigilante, the Oppressor, and the semi-aquatic “Moist” car are good as well. Never use the ZR380’s boost for anything, though, it’s not worth it. :p
So yeah, not my MOST productive day, but my room is clean, my Sims had a good day, Gray was amusing. XD I'll take it. Tomorrow, we'll see how it goes, but I need to at least make a dent in the Chill Valicer Save Update for this week (starting with finishing the pictures); answer at least one of the messages sitting in my inbox; play Fallout 4 and decide what I'm doing next, and update the Playthrough Progression accordingly; and keep up with Gray and Jon. (I'm HOPING I can also add The Spiffing Brit to that list, because it looks like HE took a turn with the "Legendary Roulette" FO4 mod in one of his latest videos, but I shan't hold my breath.) We'll see how it goes! Night all!
Cleaning: Started a little later than I wanted thanks to doing some Merge Dragons stuff this morning, but it all got done eventually! Started at about 10:55 AM, and got the bed and most of the dusting done by lunch at 1 PM; then picked up again around 1:30 PM to finish off the dusting (mainly the perimeter of my room and the desk) and do the Swiffering and vacuuming – ended that around 2:20 PM. As for the laundry bit, got the first load into the washing machine around noon; put the first load into the dryer and second load into the washer around 1:20 PM, right after lunch; got the first load out of the dryer and the second load into it right before 3 PM (after doing more Merge Dragons – on the plus side, I’m in a good spot to get everything I want from this weekend’s event in just one more session), and got the second load out of the dryer just before 4 PM. All done for another couple of weeks, yaaay. . .
Tumblr: Not much happened today on either Victor Luvs Alice OR Valice Multiverse, but I am currently working on getting all the pictures for the Chill Valicer Save Love Day update sorted! Which – uh – I’m currently up to 64 pictures, and I’m working my way through the trio’s time at Plumbite Pier, so. . .gonna be another long one this week! Look, a lot happens in their lives, what can I say?
Sims 4: Welp, I wasn’t actually able to complete Alice’s New Year’s Resolution (mostly because I didn’t have the time I thought I had, as you will see), but she, Victor, and Smiler still had a good day out and about! Perhaps only marginally less busy than Love Day, but still. XD Let me give you the scoop –
A) Started with Smiler repairing wind turbines while Victor and Alice caught up on sleep in their super-upgraded bed (seriously, that thing refreshes energy like a BOSS now), and with me taking the opportunity to check on the status of Alice’s “get fit” New Year’s resolution, as the resolution and the time left to complete it show in the Simology panel. I THOUGHT I had the whole day Saturday to do it.
Nope. Eight hours from when I checked at 4:15 AM. Whoops. ^^; I resigned myself then and there to Alice probably not completing it, but figured she should give it her best shot when she woke up. And after Victor had harvested the greenhouse, as I didn’t want twelve tons of produce in the household inventory (the game will auto-harvest plants if you leave the lot and come back without harvesting them, and it is a pain in the keister to get them out of the household inventory – even just straight-up selling them takes a while!).
B) Anyway – Smiler finished repairing the turbines and scavenging the various trash piles for parts, then went over to the chicken coop to help hatch another chick before cleaning the coop and heading upstairs for a bubble bath. Alice woke up while they were bubbling away, did some push-ups (hey, she was Energized, and every little bit helps), let out a somber howl to keep the Fury low, then headed downstairs at super-speed to grab a breakfast of steak tartare. Victor woke up shortly thereafter and headed straight into the greenhouse, dodging angry bees to harvest all the latest fruits of his labor. And to magically repair the downstairs bathroom sink, as I’d just noticed it was busted. Once that was sorted, Victor grabbed his own plate of steak tartare to snack on while Alice mopped puddles and Smiler took advantage of the gang having a tiny bit of power to futz around on their computer. I was just getting ready to send the gang off to the gym – with Alice getting a quick pre-workout shower, Smiler cleaning up pet toys, and Victor cleaning up his breakfast plate – when I noticed something.
Namely, when I clicked on Victor’s plate, there was a “Magic” option. Curious, I went to see if it could be Scruberooed. It couldn’t –
But it could be Copypastoed.
VICTOR ALREADY KNOWS COPYPASTO. When the fuck – how did I forget about him learning that?! I quickly made a decision to stop by the store later to see what could be done with that, because freaking hell. *facepalm*
C) ANYWAY – after THAT little revelation, it was off to Del Sol Valley and Pectoral Fitness Refurb – an upgraded version of the old Pectoral Fitness gym by Maydussa! (With a few edits by me – pretty sure I’m the one who added in the climbing wall and the nicer equipment!) It’s a pretty nice place – toilets, showers, and changing rooms on the first level, along with a pool, sauna, and hot tub, and an actual workout space, yoga studio, hand-and-foot massage chair, and regular massage table on the second. Victor used the toilet while Alice used her super-speed to get on the weights machines and Smiler flew up to do some boxing in the boxing room. (I TRIED to have them join the yoga class going on next door for a brain-boosting routine, but for some reason they couldn’t. Based on what I saw later, I don’t think any mats other than the first two in front of the instructor’s are accessible for whatever reason. It’s weird. O.o) Victor joined them shortly thereafter to use the climbing wall, since I’d never had a Sim use it before, and climbing IS one of Victor’s “things” in my headcanon. :p He actually liked it so much, he went ahead and pushed the limits for another go without me even prompting him. :D Smiler eventually moved from boxing to the treadmill, while Alice – after a brief break to call her job and take a vacation day (I keep forgetting she’s technically gainfully employed) – kept on the weights before moving to the boxing room. I did try my best to get her properly fit –
D) But no dice – the timer ran out before the resolution could complete. Ah well, the sad moodlet was drowned out by all the confident and happy ones she had from her successful dates yesterday. :p AND she and Smiler both got to Fitness level 6, so that’s something! :D (Also, hilariously, I’m pretty sure VICTOR got fitter thanks to his climbing wall shenanigans – maybe I should have had her on THAT instead!) Victor was still feeling pretty good and ended up joining the next yoga class on offer, an energy-centering one (this is when I learned that Smiler couldn’t access the mats in the back to either join the class officially or fake it by doing the same routine), while I decided Alice and Smiler needed to relax (Alice in particular was feeling fatigued), and so I sent them down to the hot tub (learning in the process I’d given Alice some rather odd swimwear at some point). For some reason, though, neither of them would stay in it for very long, so I instead had them hang out in the sauna for a while – THIS worked, happily, and once he was done with his yoga class, I sent Victor in to join them. Smiler’s friend Nalani also wandered in, though she didn’t actually sit down, and the four of them had a nice chat for a while. :) Good way to end the workout session!
E) Eventually, though, the trio had to exit the sauna (especially since I was keeping a close eye on those moodlets to make sure they weren’t about to switch from Happy To Uncomfortable) – Victor got a shower as he was feeling stinky, while I sent Alice and Smiler outside to amuse themselves – and get into some new outfits I’d chosen for them but had yet to have them wear! Alice’s was the paint-spattered tank top she’d unlocked as part of the Artist career with some blue jeans, while Smiler had on their nonbinary shirt and black jeans. :) I sent them to explore the grassy area nearby – Smiler dug up a time capsule from a dig pile, which produced a Chaz McFreely MySim when opened, while Alice got a fossilized sea monster from a fossil rock and used her super speed to scare some nearby birds. XD
F) And it was around that time that I got the notice that the Finchwick Fair was starting! Curious, I hit the button to look at the flyer –
OVERSIZED CROPS! That’s one Victor could participate in! So once he was out of the shower (and his towel – seriously, why do Sims not autonomously change out of those while going outside?), I quickly sent everyone to the store so he could grab one of his previous oversized crops from the fridge there. Went with the watermelon, as it was the biggest. Also took a moment to check if the various foods from the Simsco Canning Factory mod could be Copypastoed – sadly no, you can only set them for sale or open them up for whatever’s inside. The various syrups and canned goods CAN be copied, though, so that’s something. We’ll see if this spell can actually help out with stocking the shelves later!
G) However, today the focus was on Finchwick, with the gang heading to the Gnome’s Arms Pub to find the fair already in progress. Victor submitted his watermelon, then headed into the pub to use the tiny kitchen in the back (apparently open to the public) to make a fruit pie to submit as well (as there’s always two competitions going on during these things). Alice and Smiler, naturally, hit the bar to get some drinks – though telling them to “get favorite drink” did not result in the drinks I expected. Namely, Alice got a Minty Fresh PET drink, and Smiler got a Wrench. I mean. . .Smiler should really know better, they’ve had Withered Stomach for a WHILE, but maybe Alice got hers because she’s a werewolf? I had her drink it, just in case, but all it resulted in was an uncomfortable moodlet. Yeah, I think I’m gonna choose what you guys drink going forward. *shakehead* On the plus side, while they were waiting for their drinks, I spotted something I found fairly hilarious in the background – a NPC wearing the Fallout 4-style vault suit I downloaded ages ago! Isis Payton, from Vault 81 apparently. XD At least SOMEONE’S getting some use out of that custom content!
H) Anyway – I had Smiler give up their Wrench and order the much more appropriate Plasma Jane, getting into a friendly chat with some newcomers to the bar, while Victor finished up his fruit pie and submitted it before drinking the rest of Wrench just to finish it off (hey, they’d already paid for it!). Alice, for her part, went and checked out all the entries of oversized crops on display (along with Victor’s watermelon, there were two lettuces, a big one and a small one – the latter submitted by a cute little kid, aw), then did some dancing with the rest of the Henford-On-Bagley-ians at one of the fair speakers. Once she was done getting her groove on, I sent her and Victor to the gardening and grocery stalls respectively to see what was on offer – Alice picked up Party, Fishy Protein, Pumpkin, and Veggie animal treats, and a glow orb fruit (I believe that’s normally only available on Sixam!), while Victor grabbed a blueberry, a cherry, and a quill fruit. Got plenty more to grow in the greenhouse now, that’s for sure! Kim also sought out Victor once she closed her stall and gave him a Finchwick Favor box, which was sweet of her – based on what appeared in his inventory afterward, it looks like he got three bottles of milk and a couple of spicy mushrooms! I attempted to have him pass on the favor to someone else while taking his turn dancing at the speaker, but he didn’t know any of the regular citizens of the town well enough to actually do it. Ah well – free stuff!
I) At that point, the festival was wearing on a bit, and Alice and Victor were feeling hungry, so they ordered some food from Sara at the bar – a meat pie slice for Alice, and a bowl of mushroom soup for Victor. They had a nice meal together for the most part, though Alice briefly annoyed Victor by asking for juice-fizzing tips. To be fair, she and Smiler have been doing that a LOT lately. . .he quickly got over it, though, and they shared a few nice flirts before finishing their food and heading back outside – Alice to do some more dancing (actually maxing the skill in the process, so good for her), and Victor to practice his magic (learning the Decursify spell in the process, so good for him). Smiler, for their part, flew on over to the local fishing spot on the river, examined the water, and cast their line – they ended up catching just a goldfish, but that’s still a plasma pack!
J) Finally, though, around 10:30 PM, the festival finally wrapped up. Victor’s pie didn’t make the cut, earning him just a participation trophy – but his oversized watermelon was good enough for second place! I like to think they gave first place to the kid. XD His prize pack included the two ribbons, a rose, a tomato, a veggie treat, and the unlocked recipes for chocolately and flirty treats. :) And now I’m wondering if we should make animal treats to sell at the store as well. . .
K) A question for another day, however – at this point, Victor and Alice were starting to feel pretty tired again, and Smiler was catching nothing but seaweed, so it was time to head home. Alice and Victor went straight up to bed to get some rest, while Smiler went ahead and spread some fresh feed for the chickens, tuned up and recharged Elmer on the robotics bench, caught a few jewel beetles by the water collectors, and did some recycling with Victor’s spoiled plate and the various trash piles they’d collected. I ended the day with them singing a few songs while playing their guitar. :) Next time, it’s the start of summer – think it’s time to head back to the store and see what needs to happen to fill up the shelves some more!
Writing: Decided to ride the Valicer In The Dark train to the end of the current bit I was working on! Nanny revealed that Victoria had married a guy named “Lord Barkis,” and Emily dropped the bombshell that a guy named Barkis was the one who murdered her. Leading her and Victor to decide they had to call on Victoria just to make sure she hadn’t been forcibly wed to a murderer. And that prompted Smiler and Alice to say they’d come with – Smiler because they’re dedicated to happiness, and stopping someone from possibly getting killed WOULD make them happy, and Alice because she hates people like that thanks to her own past. Which led to her at least partially revealing that the fire that killed her family was arson thanks to a suitor of her sister’s. . .she’s just reluctant to say said suitor was Bumby just yet, for fear of not being believed. But Victor and Smiler promised to stick up for her if and when they call in the Bluecoats to help deal with Barkis, which made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside for a moment. :) Good stuff, and now I can get back to my main projects with a clear head next week, I’m hoping.
YouTube: Only two videos, sadly, but I did get something out of the Watch Later, so we’ll call that a win –
A) Started with a video from onlyabidoang – “The Sims 4: NEW SLOTS, BIRTH MARKS, SCIENCE BABY, AND MORE! (March & April 2023 Patch Update)!” This was a quick video going through all the various updates from the March and April patches, including infants and all their related build/buy items, the addition of “science babies,” the reorganization of the social menu, the new slots on various bathroom objects, lifespan changes, the relationship gain adjustments between different ages (children get along better with other children than teenagers and adults, for example), new songs and CAS items, and bug fixes. Almost nothing I hadn’t heard before, beyond “new décor preferences if you have Dream Home Decorator” and “they’ve updated some of the new icons on the smartphone a bit to make it clearer which category is which,” but it’s always fun to watch Abi’s stuff. And the actual look at how different ages now gain relationship with each other was very enlightening, even if I’m not that much of a family player. :)
B) And then it was over to GrayStillPlays in the Subs with “What car has the strongest boost in GTA 5?” Another Alex Torture Board, this time with a scientific bent – Alex gathered up all the various vehicles with boosts in the game and put Gray through a series of challenges to see how they all did, with the winner being the one who won the most challenges. We had “Longest Jump” board (a leap over one of the rivers in the game), which was won by the Impotent Rage Scramjet car (which has both a jump AND a boost, meaning Gray could use both in tandem to angle the car right to get to the other side of the river – and past the sailboat ape circling in the water below, waiting to ruin the lives of the unwary); the “Fly Farthest Through The Windshield” board (where Gray had to crash his cars in such a way to throw himself over a windmill-filled gap), which was once again won by the Scramjet (only one that had JUST enough thrust to get Gray to the other platform); the “Yeets The Hardest” board (where Gray had to use the boost to throw increasing numbers of clowns off a series of platforms to remove teleporters blocking his way to the next area), which was won by the Vigilante, aka the Discount Batmobile (though not in the way you might think – after trying the boosts and realizing none of the boosts on their own could get rid of more than like five clowns, Gray realized he could use the Vigilante’s pretty powerful boosts to YEET THE OTHER CARS into the clowns. He had to go back to the Windshield board briefly to get another car to yeet after his last attempt fell one clown short, but he did it!); the “Pushes The Best” board (where the car had to shove two sets of buoys – one set of five, one set of ten – down a narrow channel), which was once again won by the Vigilante (none of the other cars had the power to move the buoys at all); the “Fastest Off The Line” board (where Gray had to send the car down a tightrope of 100 in-game meters in 2.5 seconds – if he didn’t get across in time, he fell under the board and into a teleporter – or, in one case, just down to the ground), which was won by the Oppressor flying motorbike (a bit weirdly, as I think it TECHNICALLY fell short and hit the teleporter, but it threw Gray off and onto the platform right before, so. . .); the “Recharges the Fastest” board (where Gray had to see how many times he could recharge the boost in each vehicle in 15 seconds – Alex kindly attached a timer to each car – then pick the right teleporter to get to the final board), which was won by the armored ZR380 car (a car that utterly FAILED all of the other challenges due to its incredibly weak boost – however, turns out it could RECHARGE that weak boost 17 times, while none of the others could get above ten); and finally the “Jumps the Highest” board (where Gray had to leap up a height wall and try to get above the 360 mark to reach the top and the finish line – each car got two boosts, one for the initial jump and one for in the air), which was won by the Scramjet (again, a car good at jumping with a decent boost). So yeah, in terms of overall best boost, the Scramjet takes it! Though the Vigilante, the Oppressor, and the semi-aquatic “Moist” car are good as well. Never use the ZR380’s boost for anything, though, it’s not worth it. :p
So yeah, not my MOST productive day, but my room is clean, my Sims had a good day, Gray was amusing. XD I'll take it. Tomorrow, we'll see how it goes, but I need to at least make a dent in the Chill Valicer Save Update for this week (starting with finishing the pictures); answer at least one of the messages sitting in my inbox; play Fallout 4 and decide what I'm doing next, and update the Playthrough Progression accordingly; and keep up with Gray and Jon. (I'm HOPING I can also add The Spiffing Brit to that list, because it looks like HE took a turn with the "Legendary Roulette" FO4 mod in one of his latest videos, but I shan't hold my breath.) We'll see how it goes! Night all!
