Nice Saturday Even With Red Curse
May. 27th, 2023 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickYeah -- maybe because I managed to get a good amount of sleep, maybe because the weather was honestly really nice, maybe because I started the day with a homemade parfait and my favorite Alton Towers fireworks show in the background as I changed my sheets. :p But it was a pretty nice day overall, even if I didn't get to EVERYTHING I wanted to get to --
Tumblr: A combination of Merge Dragons and getting my writing done early (see below) means I didn’t get much done on Victor Luvs Alice beyond keeping up with my dash, meh. I’m gonna have to dedicate some serious time to it tomorrow. . .on the other hand, Valice Multiverse is hopping tonight, as my one regular partner is around for threads. So I’m currently bouncing around over there trying to get those answered as well as do the social thing. . .it’s something, I suppose!
Sims 4: Played through the first day of Summer for the Valicer trio, who ended up having a mostly-quiet Prank Day around the house –
A) Started by seeing if I could move the chicken coop into the cow paddock to try and reclaim some backyard space – after deciding I hated the look of the resultant mini-coop in the cow pen, I reversed it all and contented myself with just moving the pictures from their Love Day trip to Plumbite Pier up to the third floor after realizing there was some good wall space AND side table space up there – the two photobooth pictures are on the side table now, while the two shots of the rides are on the wall above. :) Sent Smiler up there to light the place up so I could get a good shot in, then had them tell jokes for a while because they do like comedy.
B) Alice ended up getting woken up early by Shadow’s barking – this time, though, when she lectured Shadow about it, the dog actually learned not to wake Sims up! Nice! :) As Alice was a little hungry, I then had her go into her werewolf form and go hunting, while Victor – who woke up shortly thereafter – went and mopped up some slime creatures and mysterious symbols before ATTEMPTING to teach Shadow how to play fetch. Unfortunately, due to having to wait for Shadow to finish chewing on her ball, then Victor complaining about how there just wasn’t enough room, it didn’t get off the ground. At least Alice came home with a nice plate of meat (plus two spare for the fridge) and a few flirts for him!
C) While all this was going on, I had Smiler go into the greenhouse and activate Elmer to help take care of all the plants, then use some of the gang’s herbalism supplies to make some deodorizing cream and some skin-soothing balm – this got them all the way up to Herbalism 4, nice! And hey, herbalism concoctions can be sold in stores too, can’t they? Hmmm. . . They also cleaned the burn mark off the back porch (from when lightning fried one of the counters) and put away all those random concoctions made by visitors at the backyard grill. I mean – ours now! I dunno what de-stressing concoctions actually do, but we’ll find out, I guess!
D) Anyway, I was determined to make fetch happen with Shadow, so I sent Victor and Shadow out onto the porch to try while Alice did a bit of scavenging for werewolf XP and Smiler tended the chickens as per usual – cleaning the coop, collecting eggs, the lot. Fetch on the porch didn’t work great (apparently Victor tried one ball throw and gave up when Shadow wouldn’t or couldn’t get it), so I had him temporarily leash her to bring her to a spot around the edge of the lot where he could throw the ball more easily – THAT worked, and he and Shadow played Fetch until she officially learned the trick! :D Nice!
E) As for Alice and Smiler – Alice’s scavenging turned up a couple of common upgrade parts, but nothing more interesting. That plus a somber howl to keep the Fury at reasonable levels did get her another ability point, though – I had her spend it on “Personal Grooming,” the power that lets werewolves just lick themselves clean. That’s nice and handy, and something she can do whenever she gets dirty for a little free XP. Smiler, meanwhile, got one normal egg and one hatchable egg out of the coop (I had them sell the hatchable egg, as we already have loads of chickens) –
F) And then purchased a cow! Yes, I came into this play session to get a cow, and get a cow I did! I had Smiler name her Moory, give her an initial brushing, and chat with her – they got on, and they were able to successfully milk her for six bottles of milk. :D So now the gang has a source of milk as well as eggs! That’ll be useful for the grocery store!
G) With Alice having gotten all her werewolf stuff sorted, I had her change back, then called Kelly the kitty home from her off-lot adventures as she was looking uncomfortable for some reason. I think it may have been her sweater, as the first day of summer proved to be pretty hot for the gang! I had Alice swap the thermostat from “heat” to “cool” and take Kelly’s sweater off before offering her some pets. :) She then got the laundry going while Victor and Smiler both got breakfast – fruit pie for Victor, plasmafizz for Smiler, both from the greenhouse fridge for some reason. *shrug* I mean, fine if you want to eat in there, but. . . Victor then got into his old jungle adventuring outfit to help out Elmer with the plant-tending (as there was a lot to do in the greenhouse, as per usual) while Alice chatted with a wild bunny hanging out on the lot, cleaned up the dishes in the greenhouse at the potting bench sink (I’d forgotten that the fake potting bench I’d put in the greenhouse is actually a real sink!) and took a vacation day from her job, while I had Smiler finally just quit theirs. No need for part-time fishing anymore – this gang has new sources of income!
H) And then – ping-pong! Yeah, Smiler and Alice randomly decided to play ping-pong together, and I decided to allow it while Victor and Elmer took on the greenhouse. Alice ended up winning, so I had Smiler prank her with the joy buzzer. XD And then Alice pranked them back with “what’s that spot?” Hey, it is Prank Day! And Alice was also nice enough to offer herself up as sustenance for the thirsty Smiler afterward. :) She took a little wolf nap on the floor while Smiler practiced bar tricks and made a wrench, then – after being meowed awake by Kelly (she lectured the cat too, but I don’t think the lesson has stuck with Kelly yet) – went to meet Moory the cow. It wasn’t a great first impression, but Alice kinda clawed it back by giving Moory a nice brush. I wonder if the cow can somehow tell she’s a werewolf who likes a nice steak. . .
I) Anyway – Alice stayed on her streak of cleaning things by putting the laundry in the dryer, before taking Shadow upstairs for a bath, while Victor finally finished up in the greenhouse, deactivated Elmer, and harvested all his produce – just in time for all of his oversized crops to grow to full size, too! Nice. :) Around this time, though, I noticed that the damn dryer had broken again – I had Victor Repairio it, then – after taking the now-dirty-again laundry out of it – upgrade it with a tungsten drum so it wouldn’t break so often (possibly not at all, the description was a little vague). Interrupted briefly by Kelly demanding some very cute affection, aww. :) Alice came downstairs for some steak tartar, then – after I got the notification – was sent out to the chicken coop to hatch the final incubating chick! Since I don’t think she’d gotten a chance to do that yet. It was a very cute moment, even if the new baby chick got a little lost in her hair during nuzzles. XD
J) And with that – more pranking! I had everyone gather in the downstairs hallway so Victor could do his pranking and being pranked for the holiday – hitting Smiler with the joy buzzer before getting blamed for a “noxious cloud” and pretend bit in return, then listening to Alice start a preposterous rumor before giving her the “what’s that spot” treatment. At least ensured that everyone would be celebrating the holiday successfully! And they all understood it was in good fun. :) Smiler then went to sing some songs on their guitar while Alice did an abstract painting and Victor used the lettuce he’d just harvested to make some BLTs. At least, until I noticed a certain Roxana Lopes hanging out on the porch a bit later – aka, that lady who was so busy with molding clay poor Smiler couldn’t ask her for a drink. I had them go outside, start a rumor with her, then dare her to streak – which she indeed did around the lot! Ha. XD
K) Pranking pretty much done for the day (Smiler had completed the holiday in full, while Alice and Victor had done enough to not get the “awful” notice), Victor and Smiler teamed up to continue improving the washer and dryer (Smiler added a laundry additive tray to the former so they could scent their clothes, while Victor made the latter lint-less so they didn’t have to worry about the lint tray anymore), while Alice finished her painting. Which turned out to be a TWELVE THOUSAND SIMOLEON MASTERPIECE. O.o Yeah, uh, this is why they don’t need traditional jobs anymore! She celebrated with a wolf nap and a personal grooming lick once she woke up. :p
L) And then Guidry appeared and started trying to drink the damn Soul Sip again. *grumbles* I got it away from him and had Victor distract him – then realized “hey, wait a minute, Prank Day” and had Victor scare him just so he could see what it was like. XD Everyone ended up hanging out in the séance room for a while, Alice sharing conspiracy theories from the rocking chair and Smiler doing a little scaring of Victor while I slipped the Soul Sip into their inventory. Victor then slouched off to bed, exhausted, while Alice did some Fury-reducing meditation (and even started levitating) and I sent Smiler out to the barn to tune up Elmer again (ironically, right after they’d lost their Techie lifestyle) –
M) And then, to my confusion, I looked outside and saw Rory Oaklow in beast form hanging around a busted water collector. Rory, it’s – it’s the middle of the night? Well, I decided she and Alice could chat for a bit, and Alice pranked her a little bit with some rumors (also fully completing the holiday) before transforming and having a tug-of-war with her (which she promptly lost). I ended the session with Smiler getting some wraith wax from a specter in exchange for a freshly-poured drink, and Victor getting ready to repair the busted water collector as a cool rainy front moved in.
So yeah – very domestic day, but I suppose I got a lot done! Very glad to have finally gotten their cow. :) Though I remembered too late there was something ELSE I wanted to get – Victor and Alice’s marriage certificate! You can get those now with Growing Together! Made a note in my little notebook to order that next time! Which should be Monday for both me and the in-game peeps – hoping to get back to the store and do some stuff there next time!
Writing: Got this done right after lunch, since I wanted to do it while I was feeling the most awake and creative – Alice has reached Grout’s house and had a very weird encounter with someone she THINKS is Nines Rodriguez over in “Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland!” She’s aware that he was acting not-himself (and also didn’t particularly SOUND himself), but – well, she doesn’t know yet that other vampires (and vampire-adjacent supernaturals) can make themselves look like other people yet. Her current theories are “Nines ended up mind-controlled and it’s making him act a little odd” or “Nines got REALLY spooked by something in the Grout mansion and it’s making him act a little odd.” And as it’s her job to find Alistair Grout in said mansion, well. . .welcome to the chapter of this story I think you’re gonna like the least, Alice!
YouTube: Got a bunch of stuff watched today, which makes me happy –
A) Started by clearing out all the remaining OXBoxtra list videos in my Watch Later –
I. “7 Bosses Who Got Demoted to Regular Enemies” – Luke and Ellen take us through those bosses who, after their initial encounter with the player, lost their special “boss” status and became like any other enemy. The Capra Demon of Dark Souls? Add a few level-ups onto the player and take away the extremely tight boss arena and helper hounds, and the gangs of said demon you find in a later stage of the game are just not a problem anymore. The Centaurs of Tomb Raider Anniversary? Take away their shields, their Medusa-like stone beam, a load of health, and one centaur entirely, and you’re left with a brief jump scare late in the game that, while it might remind you of the horrible boss fight you had to do earlier, only requires you to pull off the special “dodge and shoot them in the head” move once to kill it. Lizzie and Dana of Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage? . . .Okay, we don’t even know why these two random women in 80s fitness attire were the first boss fight of the game anyway, so making them regular enemies who just pop up from time to time as you beat-em-up your way through New York feels like rectifying a mistake, frankly. XD Sorry girls – you tried!
II. “7 Iconic Announcers Who Didn’t Need to Go This Hard” – Luke and Ellen again, this time taking us through those announcers who, for whatever reason, really went above and beyond in their games/series. From the “Voice of God” in the various Halo multiplayers who delivers super-cheesy lines with such joy you can’t help but feel inspired, to the delightfully bombastic announcer of the Super Smash Bros series, to the Administrator of Team Fortress 2 and her actual canonical face in the comics (apparently a piece of viral fan art Valve bought and ran with), these announcers make you smile whenever you come across them. And then Luke did some announcements over Ellen’s outro, and now a bunch of comments are like “we need to include Luke in the commenter’s edition.” XD I’m game.
III. “7 Ridiculous Ways You Screwed With Cutscenes” – Mike, Jane, and Andy taking us through those games that allowed you to fuck around with the cutscenes, in ways both major and minor. Bored with the often far-too-lengthy cutscenes in Devil May Cry 4? You do have the limited ability to move the camera and zoom in, so why not amuse yourself looking up people’s noses and questioning their facial hair choices? Want to liven up the serious cutscenes in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor? Turns out you can dress Cal up in new clothing and hairstyles whenever you want, so change his outfit to make him look like a stereotypical redneck mid-conversation and chuckle your way through the exposition. And feel like Altaïr could use some comeuppance for all his assholery in the first Assassin’s Creed? Well, why not lure an enemy into a cutscene? While all you can do is walk around, THEY can definitely wail on you all they like, soooo. . . XD Reminded me of all those clips I’ve seen of Fallout 4 conversations (generally as close as you get to cutscenes in this game) gone wrong thanks to surprise deathclaws and the like. . .
B) And then it was over to the Subs and GrayStillPlays for “I survived a 5,000 star wanted level in GTA 5!” Yes, another Alex Torture Board, this one themed around Gray having to make it essentially across town from the prison to the chop shop while dealing with exponentially-increasing numbers of wanted stars and all the horribleness that accompanies them. Gray started in the prison with five wanted stars, an air-dropped motorcycle, all the inmates wanting to stab him, and a news helicopter recording his every move and occasionally switch him to a very cinematic camera angle, and he didn’t even get through the INTRO before one of his fellow inmates had motorcycle-jacked him twice and then another had stabbed him to death. Things just got more chaotic from there, as every checkpoint made his stars go up very rapidly and the enemies tougher and more numerous – from cops setting up roadblocks and a military helicopter chasing his ass (and respawning glass in the TV billboard blocking his jump to the next checkpoint), to random citizens trying to run him off the road and the cops getting rocket launchers, to every gang in Los Santos getting involved in gunning him down and regular citizens getting heavy weaponry, to – at the final 5,000 star level – a Warthog matching his every move and trying to shove rockets up his rectum, a random pedestrian spawning in who had the ability to SUPLEX his damn Insurgent, tanks spawning inside him (causing glitchfests like you wouldn’t BELIEVE), and Jesus randomly ending up in his vehicle. Possibly to try and kill him, but it looked like Jesus just wanted to bail every time he showed up. XD Now, Gray DID get a bunch of guns to defend himself with at the second checkpoint, and better vehicles with more armor and more weaponry as time went on (hell, the Insurgent had a dude specifically attached to it to man the gun, not that he actually did anything), but even with that, he spent a lot of time trying desperately to outrun and outmaneuver his various pursuers (smashing through roadblocks and hiding under bridges), and a LOT of time looking at the “Wasted” screen. XD It was just – an ADVENTURE, all the way through. And then Alex ended it by having Gray get in the chop shop, pick up a new car with a “CRIMINAL” license plate, and leap through the win into an open grave in the graveyard. XD Alex, you’re mean. XD
Other: The new cornhole boards were finished today, so we did indeed play beanbags this afternoon! Aaaand everyone but Dad pretty much sucked for the entire game. XD Mom and I were really off, and I think part of it was the new boards – these are polyurethaned, so they’re a lot more slippery than the old ones, and bags just slide right off if you throw them with enough force. Mom and I traded second and third for the first four rounds, then I FINALLY was able to come back with some sixes in the fifth round while Dad just fell apart for some reason. Final scores were me 2-3-2-3-W; Dad W-W-W-W-3; Mom 3-2-3-2-2. We’ll see if we do any better tomorrow, when Mom makes new beanbags (or, well, SANDbags, that’s what ours are filled with) to go with the new boards!
And that about sums up my day! Not a bad start to the three-day weekend, though I do gotta focus more on my tumblr stuff tomorrow. . .trying to get a jump on the pictures for the next Chill Valicer Save update (the trip to the gym and the Finchwick Fair) tonight as a result! Already got ten, which is good. Also have to play some more FO4 and clear out East Boston Prep and update the Playthrough Progression accordingly; keep up with Gray and Jon -- would LIKE to fit in an OX RE4 Remake video, but we shall see; start "Snow Escape" from Oxventure during my workout; and FINALLY ANSWER MOOSE. *shakehead* Sorry, I don't mean to drag these things out! Brain just doesn't always register stuff in the e-mail inbox. . .
But yeah -- tonight, gotta wrap up social stuff and threads. And pictures. And maybe one last little burst of Merge Dragons before bed to try and avoid having to really go into it tomorrow morning, allowing me to focus on tumblr stuff. Night all!
Tumblr: A combination of Merge Dragons and getting my writing done early (see below) means I didn’t get much done on Victor Luvs Alice beyond keeping up with my dash, meh. I’m gonna have to dedicate some serious time to it tomorrow. . .on the other hand, Valice Multiverse is hopping tonight, as my one regular partner is around for threads. So I’m currently bouncing around over there trying to get those answered as well as do the social thing. . .it’s something, I suppose!
Sims 4: Played through the first day of Summer for the Valicer trio, who ended up having a mostly-quiet Prank Day around the house –
A) Started by seeing if I could move the chicken coop into the cow paddock to try and reclaim some backyard space – after deciding I hated the look of the resultant mini-coop in the cow pen, I reversed it all and contented myself with just moving the pictures from their Love Day trip to Plumbite Pier up to the third floor after realizing there was some good wall space AND side table space up there – the two photobooth pictures are on the side table now, while the two shots of the rides are on the wall above. :) Sent Smiler up there to light the place up so I could get a good shot in, then had them tell jokes for a while because they do like comedy.
B) Alice ended up getting woken up early by Shadow’s barking – this time, though, when she lectured Shadow about it, the dog actually learned not to wake Sims up! Nice! :) As Alice was a little hungry, I then had her go into her werewolf form and go hunting, while Victor – who woke up shortly thereafter – went and mopped up some slime creatures and mysterious symbols before ATTEMPTING to teach Shadow how to play fetch. Unfortunately, due to having to wait for Shadow to finish chewing on her ball, then Victor complaining about how there just wasn’t enough room, it didn’t get off the ground. At least Alice came home with a nice plate of meat (plus two spare for the fridge) and a few flirts for him!
C) While all this was going on, I had Smiler go into the greenhouse and activate Elmer to help take care of all the plants, then use some of the gang’s herbalism supplies to make some deodorizing cream and some skin-soothing balm – this got them all the way up to Herbalism 4, nice! And hey, herbalism concoctions can be sold in stores too, can’t they? Hmmm. . . They also cleaned the burn mark off the back porch (from when lightning fried one of the counters) and put away all those random concoctions made by visitors at the backyard grill. I mean – ours now! I dunno what de-stressing concoctions actually do, but we’ll find out, I guess!
D) Anyway, I was determined to make fetch happen with Shadow, so I sent Victor and Shadow out onto the porch to try while Alice did a bit of scavenging for werewolf XP and Smiler tended the chickens as per usual – cleaning the coop, collecting eggs, the lot. Fetch on the porch didn’t work great (apparently Victor tried one ball throw and gave up when Shadow wouldn’t or couldn’t get it), so I had him temporarily leash her to bring her to a spot around the edge of the lot where he could throw the ball more easily – THAT worked, and he and Shadow played Fetch until she officially learned the trick! :D Nice!
E) As for Alice and Smiler – Alice’s scavenging turned up a couple of common upgrade parts, but nothing more interesting. That plus a somber howl to keep the Fury at reasonable levels did get her another ability point, though – I had her spend it on “Personal Grooming,” the power that lets werewolves just lick themselves clean. That’s nice and handy, and something she can do whenever she gets dirty for a little free XP. Smiler, meanwhile, got one normal egg and one hatchable egg out of the coop (I had them sell the hatchable egg, as we already have loads of chickens) –
F) And then purchased a cow! Yes, I came into this play session to get a cow, and get a cow I did! I had Smiler name her Moory, give her an initial brushing, and chat with her – they got on, and they were able to successfully milk her for six bottles of milk. :D So now the gang has a source of milk as well as eggs! That’ll be useful for the grocery store!
G) With Alice having gotten all her werewolf stuff sorted, I had her change back, then called Kelly the kitty home from her off-lot adventures as she was looking uncomfortable for some reason. I think it may have been her sweater, as the first day of summer proved to be pretty hot for the gang! I had Alice swap the thermostat from “heat” to “cool” and take Kelly’s sweater off before offering her some pets. :) She then got the laundry going while Victor and Smiler both got breakfast – fruit pie for Victor, plasmafizz for Smiler, both from the greenhouse fridge for some reason. *shrug* I mean, fine if you want to eat in there, but. . . Victor then got into his old jungle adventuring outfit to help out Elmer with the plant-tending (as there was a lot to do in the greenhouse, as per usual) while Alice chatted with a wild bunny hanging out on the lot, cleaned up the dishes in the greenhouse at the potting bench sink (I’d forgotten that the fake potting bench I’d put in the greenhouse is actually a real sink!) and took a vacation day from her job, while I had Smiler finally just quit theirs. No need for part-time fishing anymore – this gang has new sources of income!
H) And then – ping-pong! Yeah, Smiler and Alice randomly decided to play ping-pong together, and I decided to allow it while Victor and Elmer took on the greenhouse. Alice ended up winning, so I had Smiler prank her with the joy buzzer. XD And then Alice pranked them back with “what’s that spot?” Hey, it is Prank Day! And Alice was also nice enough to offer herself up as sustenance for the thirsty Smiler afterward. :) She took a little wolf nap on the floor while Smiler practiced bar tricks and made a wrench, then – after being meowed awake by Kelly (she lectured the cat too, but I don’t think the lesson has stuck with Kelly yet) – went to meet Moory the cow. It wasn’t a great first impression, but Alice kinda clawed it back by giving Moory a nice brush. I wonder if the cow can somehow tell she’s a werewolf who likes a nice steak. . .
I) Anyway – Alice stayed on her streak of cleaning things by putting the laundry in the dryer, before taking Shadow upstairs for a bath, while Victor finally finished up in the greenhouse, deactivated Elmer, and harvested all his produce – just in time for all of his oversized crops to grow to full size, too! Nice. :) Around this time, though, I noticed that the damn dryer had broken again – I had Victor Repairio it, then – after taking the now-dirty-again laundry out of it – upgrade it with a tungsten drum so it wouldn’t break so often (possibly not at all, the description was a little vague). Interrupted briefly by Kelly demanding some very cute affection, aww. :) Alice came downstairs for some steak tartar, then – after I got the notification – was sent out to the chicken coop to hatch the final incubating chick! Since I don’t think she’d gotten a chance to do that yet. It was a very cute moment, even if the new baby chick got a little lost in her hair during nuzzles. XD
J) And with that – more pranking! I had everyone gather in the downstairs hallway so Victor could do his pranking and being pranked for the holiday – hitting Smiler with the joy buzzer before getting blamed for a “noxious cloud” and pretend bit in return, then listening to Alice start a preposterous rumor before giving her the “what’s that spot” treatment. At least ensured that everyone would be celebrating the holiday successfully! And they all understood it was in good fun. :) Smiler then went to sing some songs on their guitar while Alice did an abstract painting and Victor used the lettuce he’d just harvested to make some BLTs. At least, until I noticed a certain Roxana Lopes hanging out on the porch a bit later – aka, that lady who was so busy with molding clay poor Smiler couldn’t ask her for a drink. I had them go outside, start a rumor with her, then dare her to streak – which she indeed did around the lot! Ha. XD
K) Pranking pretty much done for the day (Smiler had completed the holiday in full, while Alice and Victor had done enough to not get the “awful” notice), Victor and Smiler teamed up to continue improving the washer and dryer (Smiler added a laundry additive tray to the former so they could scent their clothes, while Victor made the latter lint-less so they didn’t have to worry about the lint tray anymore), while Alice finished her painting. Which turned out to be a TWELVE THOUSAND SIMOLEON MASTERPIECE. O.o Yeah, uh, this is why they don’t need traditional jobs anymore! She celebrated with a wolf nap and a personal grooming lick once she woke up. :p
L) And then Guidry appeared and started trying to drink the damn Soul Sip again. *grumbles* I got it away from him and had Victor distract him – then realized “hey, wait a minute, Prank Day” and had Victor scare him just so he could see what it was like. XD Everyone ended up hanging out in the séance room for a while, Alice sharing conspiracy theories from the rocking chair and Smiler doing a little scaring of Victor while I slipped the Soul Sip into their inventory. Victor then slouched off to bed, exhausted, while Alice did some Fury-reducing meditation (and even started levitating) and I sent Smiler out to the barn to tune up Elmer again (ironically, right after they’d lost their Techie lifestyle) –
M) And then, to my confusion, I looked outside and saw Rory Oaklow in beast form hanging around a busted water collector. Rory, it’s – it’s the middle of the night? Well, I decided she and Alice could chat for a bit, and Alice pranked her a little bit with some rumors (also fully completing the holiday) before transforming and having a tug-of-war with her (which she promptly lost). I ended the session with Smiler getting some wraith wax from a specter in exchange for a freshly-poured drink, and Victor getting ready to repair the busted water collector as a cool rainy front moved in.
So yeah – very domestic day, but I suppose I got a lot done! Very glad to have finally gotten their cow. :) Though I remembered too late there was something ELSE I wanted to get – Victor and Alice’s marriage certificate! You can get those now with Growing Together! Made a note in my little notebook to order that next time! Which should be Monday for both me and the in-game peeps – hoping to get back to the store and do some stuff there next time!
Writing: Got this done right after lunch, since I wanted to do it while I was feeling the most awake and creative – Alice has reached Grout’s house and had a very weird encounter with someone she THINKS is Nines Rodriguez over in “Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland!” She’s aware that he was acting not-himself (and also didn’t particularly SOUND himself), but – well, she doesn’t know yet that other vampires (and vampire-adjacent supernaturals) can make themselves look like other people yet. Her current theories are “Nines ended up mind-controlled and it’s making him act a little odd” or “Nines got REALLY spooked by something in the Grout mansion and it’s making him act a little odd.” And as it’s her job to find Alistair Grout in said mansion, well. . .welcome to the chapter of this story I think you’re gonna like the least, Alice!
YouTube: Got a bunch of stuff watched today, which makes me happy –
A) Started by clearing out all the remaining OXBoxtra list videos in my Watch Later –
I. “7 Bosses Who Got Demoted to Regular Enemies” – Luke and Ellen take us through those bosses who, after their initial encounter with the player, lost their special “boss” status and became like any other enemy. The Capra Demon of Dark Souls? Add a few level-ups onto the player and take away the extremely tight boss arena and helper hounds, and the gangs of said demon you find in a later stage of the game are just not a problem anymore. The Centaurs of Tomb Raider Anniversary? Take away their shields, their Medusa-like stone beam, a load of health, and one centaur entirely, and you’re left with a brief jump scare late in the game that, while it might remind you of the horrible boss fight you had to do earlier, only requires you to pull off the special “dodge and shoot them in the head” move once to kill it. Lizzie and Dana of Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage? . . .Okay, we don’t even know why these two random women in 80s fitness attire were the first boss fight of the game anyway, so making them regular enemies who just pop up from time to time as you beat-em-up your way through New York feels like rectifying a mistake, frankly. XD Sorry girls – you tried!
II. “7 Iconic Announcers Who Didn’t Need to Go This Hard” – Luke and Ellen again, this time taking us through those announcers who, for whatever reason, really went above and beyond in their games/series. From the “Voice of God” in the various Halo multiplayers who delivers super-cheesy lines with such joy you can’t help but feel inspired, to the delightfully bombastic announcer of the Super Smash Bros series, to the Administrator of Team Fortress 2 and her actual canonical face in the comics (apparently a piece of viral fan art Valve bought and ran with), these announcers make you smile whenever you come across them. And then Luke did some announcements over Ellen’s outro, and now a bunch of comments are like “we need to include Luke in the commenter’s edition.” XD I’m game.
III. “7 Ridiculous Ways You Screwed With Cutscenes” – Mike, Jane, and Andy taking us through those games that allowed you to fuck around with the cutscenes, in ways both major and minor. Bored with the often far-too-lengthy cutscenes in Devil May Cry 4? You do have the limited ability to move the camera and zoom in, so why not amuse yourself looking up people’s noses and questioning their facial hair choices? Want to liven up the serious cutscenes in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor? Turns out you can dress Cal up in new clothing and hairstyles whenever you want, so change his outfit to make him look like a stereotypical redneck mid-conversation and chuckle your way through the exposition. And feel like Altaïr could use some comeuppance for all his assholery in the first Assassin’s Creed? Well, why not lure an enemy into a cutscene? While all you can do is walk around, THEY can definitely wail on you all they like, soooo. . . XD Reminded me of all those clips I’ve seen of Fallout 4 conversations (generally as close as you get to cutscenes in this game) gone wrong thanks to surprise deathclaws and the like. . .
B) And then it was over to the Subs and GrayStillPlays for “I survived a 5,000 star wanted level in GTA 5!” Yes, another Alex Torture Board, this one themed around Gray having to make it essentially across town from the prison to the chop shop while dealing with exponentially-increasing numbers of wanted stars and all the horribleness that accompanies them. Gray started in the prison with five wanted stars, an air-dropped motorcycle, all the inmates wanting to stab him, and a news helicopter recording his every move and occasionally switch him to a very cinematic camera angle, and he didn’t even get through the INTRO before one of his fellow inmates had motorcycle-jacked him twice and then another had stabbed him to death. Things just got more chaotic from there, as every checkpoint made his stars go up very rapidly and the enemies tougher and more numerous – from cops setting up roadblocks and a military helicopter chasing his ass (and respawning glass in the TV billboard blocking his jump to the next checkpoint), to random citizens trying to run him off the road and the cops getting rocket launchers, to every gang in Los Santos getting involved in gunning him down and regular citizens getting heavy weaponry, to – at the final 5,000 star level – a Warthog matching his every move and trying to shove rockets up his rectum, a random pedestrian spawning in who had the ability to SUPLEX his damn Insurgent, tanks spawning inside him (causing glitchfests like you wouldn’t BELIEVE), and Jesus randomly ending up in his vehicle. Possibly to try and kill him, but it looked like Jesus just wanted to bail every time he showed up. XD Now, Gray DID get a bunch of guns to defend himself with at the second checkpoint, and better vehicles with more armor and more weaponry as time went on (hell, the Insurgent had a dude specifically attached to it to man the gun, not that he actually did anything), but even with that, he spent a lot of time trying desperately to outrun and outmaneuver his various pursuers (smashing through roadblocks and hiding under bridges), and a LOT of time looking at the “Wasted” screen. XD It was just – an ADVENTURE, all the way through. And then Alex ended it by having Gray get in the chop shop, pick up a new car with a “CRIMINAL” license plate, and leap through the win into an open grave in the graveyard. XD Alex, you’re mean. XD
Other: The new cornhole boards were finished today, so we did indeed play beanbags this afternoon! Aaaand everyone but Dad pretty much sucked for the entire game. XD Mom and I were really off, and I think part of it was the new boards – these are polyurethaned, so they’re a lot more slippery than the old ones, and bags just slide right off if you throw them with enough force. Mom and I traded second and third for the first four rounds, then I FINALLY was able to come back with some sixes in the fifth round while Dad just fell apart for some reason. Final scores were me 2-3-2-3-W; Dad W-W-W-W-3; Mom 3-2-3-2-2. We’ll see if we do any better tomorrow, when Mom makes new beanbags (or, well, SANDbags, that’s what ours are filled with) to go with the new boards!
And that about sums up my day! Not a bad start to the three-day weekend, though I do gotta focus more on my tumblr stuff tomorrow. . .trying to get a jump on the pictures for the next Chill Valicer Save update (the trip to the gym and the Finchwick Fair) tonight as a result! Already got ten, which is good. Also have to play some more FO4 and clear out East Boston Prep and update the Playthrough Progression accordingly; keep up with Gray and Jon -- would LIKE to fit in an OX RE4 Remake video, but we shall see; start "Snow Escape" from Oxventure during my workout; and FINALLY ANSWER MOOSE. *shakehead* Sorry, I don't mean to drag these things out! Brain just doesn't always register stuff in the e-mail inbox. . .
But yeah -- tonight, gotta wrap up social stuff and threads. And pictures. And maybe one last little burst of Merge Dragons before bed to try and avoid having to really go into it tomorrow morning, allowing me to focus on tumblr stuff. Night all!
