Kinda Distracted Saturday
Jul. 15th, 2023 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickWhich, probably, was only to be expected, given that I have cottoned onto the PMSing thing and am keeping a weather eye out for my period (which is now expected for next week; wonder if it'll come with the pre-Horse Ranch patch) -- it's always harder to concentrate during this time period! And my parents having a cranky morning (Mom having computer troubles) and it being a super muggy day didn't help matters. . . Still, I got some stuff done --
Cleaning: Pretty standard Cleaning Saturday, apart from the fact that my laundry wasn’t folded into any bigger family batches this times – just two loads on my own! Started about 10:45 AM with the dusting, and had that, Swiffering, and vacuuming, plus one load of laundry in the dryer and one in the washer by about 1:10 PM and lunch! Finished off both loads by 4 PM, and that’s another Saturday of cleaning in the can, yay.
Tumblr: Didn’t really do anything here, but I HAVE gotten all the pictures for the next Chill Valicer Save update sorted – managed to do thirty last night, and then the remaining sixty this evening. Yes, that does mean that the Big Valicer Wedding Update has ninety pictures in it. (Would have been over one hundred if I’d decided to add in the “okay, so many wedding pictures all over their house” set I did after sorting through the wedding snaps, but I decided that can either wait until the NEXT update, or maybe be an update on its own. XD) Yeah. I think I may have to take advantage of the fact that I’m on the new tumblr post editor now and can upload more than ten pictures at a time to posts (in fact, I can upload up to thirty) to make sure I don’t drown my followers in Valicer Wedding posts!
Sims 4: Fairly short session today, just to wrap up what was going on with the Valicer Honeymoon on Fall Sunday – though unfortunately it WAS a little bit “glitchy game is glitchy.” Nothing save-ruining, but – well, let me just give you the run-down –
A) Picking up where I’d left off yesterday – with the trio back from their trip to Ohan’ali Beach, with Victor and Alice’s needs looking a little not-great – I had Victor go and use the bathroom, while Alice went and “marked her territory” before licking herself clean, because werewolf powers are useful like that. :p Victor then got sent to take a nap on one of the floaties I’d provided (though I had to drag it a little way into deeper water first), while I grabbed all the fish out of his and Smiler’s inventories and decided on what I wanted to keep. All their various catches ended up going in the fridge for the moment except Victor’s big old tuna, which I decided would be perfect for Alice to grill up in the fire pit for a nice island feast. :) (Yeah, yeah, Victor normally isn’t a fish person, but I figured he could make an exception in Sulani, with a fish he himself had caught.) I dropped the tuna in Alice’s inventory and had her wrap it up in some big leaves to slow cook on the coals in the pit, then had her go join Victor in napping on the other floatie so they’d at least be SOMEWHAT awake for dinner!
B) But what was Smiler doing during all of this? Well, I had them go listen to some pop music at the speaker by the games table to keep them busy and fulfill a want while I got Victor and Alice sorted, but while getting the fish out of their inventory, I spotted their drone and went “Oh yeah, I had them bring this thing with them for a reason – should record some video while Victor and Alice are napping!” So I had them place the drone in the world before going to make sure Alice had dinner sorted and send her out to nap –
And when I looked back, I could not find the drone for the life of me. I knew they had put it out because it sure as hell wasn’t in their inventory anymore, but it was nowhere to be seen on the lot. o.O Annoyed, but figuring it couldn’t be lost (the game returns stuff like that to your Sim if they travel, so it would have to pop back into Smiler’s inventory SOMETIME), I instead had them play with their quadcopter for a while, then decided, “actually, Victor and Alice sleeping on the floaties is a good opportunity for some pictures” and had them go to the edge of the sand and whip out their phone. They took a couple of shots of Victor and Alice snoozing, and a few more of the pretty scenery in the sunset glow –
C) And cue the game just starting to CHUG. Now, it WILL do this sometimes after you take pictures, because who knows why, it just does, but usually the issue just clears up after you’ve pulled up the “Save/Save As/Options/Exit” menu (you don’t even have to click any of the options, you can just hit the (x) in the corner). THIS time, though, when I tried that trick, it only started running smoothly again for a few seconds, then started chugging again. I kept trying it, having Smiler swim out to clear some garbage from the ocean and then do a little back float with Victor and Alice while clicking in and out of the menu, but no luck – it was just SLOOOW. Even exiting back to the main menu didn’t help – the worlds themselves were loading in slowly. So, I saved, quit, gave the game a second, and then came back in. Returned to everybody chilling in the water –
D) And Smiler’s drone on the porch by the games table! THERE you are, you little fucker! I had Smiler go and start a recording, intending to make a video of them building a sand sculpture –
And cue Smiler just – standing around. Like, the action was queued up, but it just wouldn’t actually enter the queue as something they could do. The drone was definitely filming, but they wouldn’t do anything for it TO film. Annoyed, I ended the recording early, and was even more baffled when the pop-up for the resultant video informed me it was a “Charisma Video.” Ze heck? I mean, okay, yes, I have made jokes about Smiler being the most charismatic and likable Sim in the world before, but – seems a bit extreme to call a video of them just standing around a “charisma video!”
E) And then, just as I saw dinner was ready and had Alice wake up to go grab it, Leila came over and immediately declared that she wanted to be best friends with Smiler. *sigh* I’m a bit over these pop-ups, especially for Sims who have JUST MET. I had Smiler say “no,” brighten her day to make sure she didn’t feel too bad, and then send her home. Really gotta find a mod to stop those from happening, or at least stop them from happening so often. . .AFTER the upcoming patch, of course.
F) With that all settled, though, it was dinner time! I’d INTENDED for Victor and Alice to eat outside, at the table under the awning thing, but when I sent Victor to go set it, he could only do two places before indicating he couldn’t reach the others. Methinks the table is too big for the awning! Ah well, my fault for sticking it under there. I had everyone gather in the kitchen instead, and Smiler had a plasma fruit while Victor and Alice ate their fishy island feast. Everyone had a lovely meal, and then Victor and Alice headed off to bed (I briefly considered having them woohoo, but then figured “nah, this is Victor and SMILER’S honeymoon, technically – I’ll reserve that for them”). I had Smiler clean up the dishes, then decided to try again to have themselves film themselves building a sand sculpture. THIS time it worked, with Smiler actually completing the action while the drone watched. They walked around the sculpture so the drone could get a good look at it, then shut it down. And then installed an HD camera on the thing, because I had to have them do SOMETHING while Victor and Alice slept. XD
G) It was around this time that I was reminded “oh, Alice has one Ability point from her werewolf XP, and Smiler’s collected seven vampire Power points – what do I want them to get?” So I took a look at their power trees. Alice ended up getting “Lunar Blessing,” which allows her to take advantage of the various effects the moon phases have on werewolves all day as well as all night, while Smiler upgraded the “Child of the Moon” everything-works-better-at-night power to the full “Master of Darkness” state, and picked up “Vampiric Charm” (which gives them an aura that makes everyone see them as super attractive) because I wasn’t sure what to do with the remaining three points and felt like it did fit their deal. *shrug* Maybe they’ll use it on Victor before the honeymoon’s over. ;P
H) And with that, the day was pretty much over – once their drone upgrade was complete, I had Smiler put it back in their inventory, then head inside to play on their laptop (regaining their “Techie” lifestyle in the process) and make a social media profile online. I left off with them having just made an update (probably telling everyone “I’m on honeymoon in Sulani!”) and Victor having just gotten up and Scruberooed himself, all while a fresh thunderstorm raged outside. *sigh* Next time – well, we’ll see what happens, but I am prepared to end this vacation a bit early due to bad weather. I kind of wanted them to spend Fall Monday, aka Spookfest, at home anyway. . .
I) However, I wasn’t quite ready to stop playing there, so after saving all my progress in the Chill Valicer save, I headed over to my Building Save – specifically, I hit Windenburg to check out the Havisham House lot, because I was curious what the starter homes in Windenburg are like (because I’m once again having “new save” thoughts, and those thoughts involve a couple of Corpse Bride families living in Windenburg).
They’re shit, that’s what they are. The Havisham House is HORRIBLE – like, no furniture, a mystery closet on the FIRST floor instead of in the BEDROOM, and horrible GREEN fixtures in the upstairs toilet. Oh, and distressingly low-set windows on the medium-height walls. I could not let this stand and deleted all the furniture, made the walls on the lower level shorter, repainted the interior, repainted the EXTERIOR (well, sort of – I changed the color of the exterior wallpaper), and created a little “mud room” entrance at the front door. Didn’t do anything else because part of the reason for a shorter Sims session today was to have time to do other stuff, but eeep. EAxis builds sure are, uh, something. Maybe I’ll make messing with it further a post-patch project, if I am so inclined. . .first, though, gotta finish that damn spa build. Priority one! :p
Writing: Wasn’t sure I was gonna get to this today, I have to admit – my first attempt to find something I wanted to work on in my personal “hypnokinky” master file of snippets left me feeling completely uninspired, and then I didn’t think I’d have any time to write after the RE4 Remake double feature below, but thanks to my friend Squid having a movie night during our usual talky time (Into the Spiderverse, for the curious) and thus replying to messages a bit more slowly, I actually was able to squeeze in a page! Said page being on one of the fanfic snippets I’m working on for the Valicer In The Dark AU – probably should have realized that, after watching another episode of Oxventure Presents Blades In The Dark this week with my workouts, I’d want to do something with that! Today’s scene was Alice – upon realizing that she, Smiler, and Victor were about to be hauled off by the Bluecoats (as Victor was unable to bribe their sergeant, thanks to forgetting his wallet at home), and that she was likely to just end up right back in Rutledge without ever getting revenge on Bumby and justice for all those he’d hurt – being inspired to fight back by Wonderland and rapid-fire taking out all of Sergeant Tannen’s guys with her blade. :D Victor and Smiler were very impressed, as you might imagine! The trio are now literally on the run, hoping to escape Tannen and any of his crew who can actually get up and come after them – we’ll see how things go the next time I work on it!
YouTube: Well, no GrayStillPlays tonight, but I left him behind for a good cause – finally finishing up OXBox’s LP of Resident Evil 4 Remake! Spent the evening working my way through the final two episodes –
A) “Resident Evil 4 Remake: SO OVER THIS PARASITE | Let's Play Resident Evil 4 Chapter 15” – OXBox plays the penultimate chapter of RE4! Featuring Leon, post-battle with Krauser, FINALLY getting an ally for a brief while in the form of combat helicopter pilot Mike, raining death from above with his guns and rockets as they battled their way across the island to Saddler’s inner sanctuary – until the anti-aircraft guns come out, and then he runs out of ammo, and finally he’s taken down by plagas bugs just when he’s willing to give Leon an airlift to where he needs to go; Leon having to fight all the dudes (so many dudes) as he works his way across the island, nearly getting wrecked by multiple mounted machine guns before getting to turn them briefly on the plagas whenever he takes out the gunners; Leon FINALLY making it to the Sanctuary, only to be nearly controlled and taken over by Saddler – and then saved by a machine-gun-wielding Ada; and Leon just BARELY getting Ashley to Luis’s lab and the plaga-killing machine and saving her – before fainting very dramatically. Also featuring Andy being VERY hyped to get off this damn island after killing Krauser; Mike being delighted that the explosion-creating helicopter pilot is ALSO named Mike; everyone willing to excuse Helicopter Mike for taking a pee break during the “take down the anti-aircraft gun” section (government worker, mandated fifteen minutes every three hours) but NOT for not bringing enough ammo to the fight; everyone also being mad that the mounted guns in this game DO NOT have unlimited ammo (it’s supposed to be piped in, like taps!); Jane deciding that one of the good things of being part of the plagas hive-mind is that injuries are probably shared amount the group and thus are dimmed, and that everyone has already caught up on all of the Netflix; everyone wondering what kind of vacations Leon might take and deciding he’s definitely a sports guy – and Andy declaring Leon’s haircut means he’s a snowboarder; Jane being worried about Leon’s potentially rumbling tummy because they don’t know how long he’s been in the village, only to be reminded that he has been eating – raw snakes and raw fish and raw eggs he’s been picking up randomly XD; Jane theorizing that the Merchant orchestrated Ashley’s kidnapping so Leon would go treasure-hunting for him in the process of getting her back, and Mike accusing the late Helicopter Mike of ferrying him around for a cut of the dosh; Jane very much still wanting them (or at least Andy) to try kicking a barrel apart – and when Andy said “maybe for your birthday,” immediately deciding it should be like a piñata and full of candy; everyone just full-on missing crest puzzles by the time they encounter the final minotaur-man with a machine gun strapped to his wrist; Jane and Mike trying to figure out who should play Lord Saddler while he was making his big creepy speech (Ralph Fiennes was mentioned, and apparently the actor who actually voices Saddler said he got inspiration from the guy’s portrayal of Voldemort, so...); Mike somehow ACCIDENTALLY calling shit that happens in the games without having played them himself (talking about the helicopter right before it showed up, and then talking about Ada’s adventures when she showed up to machine-gun Saddler, unknowingly referencing her DLC campaign in the original RE4), confusing the hell out of Andy; and me being utterly shocked by Leon’s fainting at the end of the chapter, as my friend Cas from tumblr wrote a fix-it fanfic with a friend where Luis survived, and I thought the faint in this scene was something they added to the fanfic to give some suspense about whether or not Leon would make it. O.o Also the gang joked that Leon was obviously dead and they’d have to play as Ashley for the final chapter, and I actually think that would make a good “Bad End” alternate ending. Someone call Capcom and let them know.
B) “Resident Evil 4 Remake: FINAL CHAPTER | Let's Play Resident Evil 4 Chapter 16” – OXBox plays the ultimate chapter of RE4! Featuring Leon getting cured of plagas parasite after Ashley somehow hauled him into the chair and got the machine working while he was unconscious; the pair making their grand escape past the final appearance of the Merchant – only to be stopped by a captured Ada being laid out as a trap for Leon; Leon springing the trap to rescue her, only to have to fight a horrible scorpion-spider Saddler with so many eyes in places they don’t belong (with the boss eye being in his MOUTH, which is somehow the worst); Leon defeating Saddler with the help of the special rocket launcher Ada throws down; Leon refusing to take Ada’s helicopter to safety because she’s being an awful mercenary and taking the Amber sample, and instead being thrown her “water scooter” (I guess that is the non-brand name for a Jetski vehicle?) key so he and Ashley can escape that way; Leon and Ashley indeed escaping by water scooter before the island just totally blew up; and Leon and Ashley making for the mainland (with Leon gently turning down Ashley’s offer to get put on her personal detail) while Ada called her contact for the Amber (Wesker), discovered that, oh surprise, he was planning on killing billions of people, and hijacked her helicopter to change course because looks like she DOES have a tiny bit of a conscience. Also featuring Andy being VERY impressed that Ashley was able to haul Leon into the chair and get him de-plagased because he’s probably at least 210 pounds with all that muscle; the gang going slightly mad trying to find a final treasure in the final room before the final Merchant stop; Andy genuinely trying to snipe Ada down from the lookout-point where Leon sees her tied up, only for the game to go “nuh-huh, you have to go and have the boss fight;” no one appreciating Saddler’s penultimate and ultimate forms, especially all the awful gross eyes everywhere (Mike specifically asked how Saddler was still TALKING if he had one in his MOUTH); everyone ragging on Leon for refusing to take Ada’s helicopter, especially with the damn island exploding; everyone wondering WHY the island is exploding, actually, was something somehow hooked up to Saddler’s heartbeat; the gang comparing the final water scooter escape sequence to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney while Andy took all opportunities to do cool tricks; Andy accusing Leon of just trying to water scooter his way back to America at the end (“that’s just open ocean!”); the gang learning Andy’s final score on the playthrough was a “B” (which I have learned is actually the WORST score – though that’s mainly because it took him twelve hours to play through it); and Andy delightedly unlocking the gangster outfit and an eyepatch for Leon to wear in the next playthrough. XD Ahhh – good times. Been a really fun LP series – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the OX commentary on the game, and all their little jokes and whatnot (ESPECIALLY the picture they made of Leon and Luis on the minecart “ride” XD). Hopefully when the inevitable DLC comes out, we’ll get a nice playthrough of that too!
So yeah -- not a perfect day, but it felt good to knock out the RE4 stuff, and I'm glad I DID get some writing done. :) Really gotta try and get some more focus for tomorrow, though -- especially as I have comments owed on AO3 fics and some messages from Moose on top of the other things I wish to accomplish! At least this weekend I do have an extra day to work on all that...as it stands, must-dos for Sunday include getting the Chill Valicer Wedding Update at least partially sorted in my tumblr drafts; setting up Jamaica Plain for inhabitants in Fallout 4 and updating the Playthrough Progression appropriately; watching at least one GrayStillPlays video and Jon of Many A True Nerd; and leaving at least one comment/answering at least one message. *nods* Hopefully doable, especially since I'll have the morning to play around with as well tomorrow! Just have to cross our fingers that no thunderstorms come on through...night all!
Cleaning: Pretty standard Cleaning Saturday, apart from the fact that my laundry wasn’t folded into any bigger family batches this times – just two loads on my own! Started about 10:45 AM with the dusting, and had that, Swiffering, and vacuuming, plus one load of laundry in the dryer and one in the washer by about 1:10 PM and lunch! Finished off both loads by 4 PM, and that’s another Saturday of cleaning in the can, yay.
Tumblr: Didn’t really do anything here, but I HAVE gotten all the pictures for the next Chill Valicer Save update sorted – managed to do thirty last night, and then the remaining sixty this evening. Yes, that does mean that the Big Valicer Wedding Update has ninety pictures in it. (Would have been over one hundred if I’d decided to add in the “okay, so many wedding pictures all over their house” set I did after sorting through the wedding snaps, but I decided that can either wait until the NEXT update, or maybe be an update on its own. XD) Yeah. I think I may have to take advantage of the fact that I’m on the new tumblr post editor now and can upload more than ten pictures at a time to posts (in fact, I can upload up to thirty) to make sure I don’t drown my followers in Valicer Wedding posts!
Sims 4: Fairly short session today, just to wrap up what was going on with the Valicer Honeymoon on Fall Sunday – though unfortunately it WAS a little bit “glitchy game is glitchy.” Nothing save-ruining, but – well, let me just give you the run-down –
A) Picking up where I’d left off yesterday – with the trio back from their trip to Ohan’ali Beach, with Victor and Alice’s needs looking a little not-great – I had Victor go and use the bathroom, while Alice went and “marked her territory” before licking herself clean, because werewolf powers are useful like that. :p Victor then got sent to take a nap on one of the floaties I’d provided (though I had to drag it a little way into deeper water first), while I grabbed all the fish out of his and Smiler’s inventories and decided on what I wanted to keep. All their various catches ended up going in the fridge for the moment except Victor’s big old tuna, which I decided would be perfect for Alice to grill up in the fire pit for a nice island feast. :) (Yeah, yeah, Victor normally isn’t a fish person, but I figured he could make an exception in Sulani, with a fish he himself had caught.) I dropped the tuna in Alice’s inventory and had her wrap it up in some big leaves to slow cook on the coals in the pit, then had her go join Victor in napping on the other floatie so they’d at least be SOMEWHAT awake for dinner!
B) But what was Smiler doing during all of this? Well, I had them go listen to some pop music at the speaker by the games table to keep them busy and fulfill a want while I got Victor and Alice sorted, but while getting the fish out of their inventory, I spotted their drone and went “Oh yeah, I had them bring this thing with them for a reason – should record some video while Victor and Alice are napping!” So I had them place the drone in the world before going to make sure Alice had dinner sorted and send her out to nap –
And when I looked back, I could not find the drone for the life of me. I knew they had put it out because it sure as hell wasn’t in their inventory anymore, but it was nowhere to be seen on the lot. o.O Annoyed, but figuring it couldn’t be lost (the game returns stuff like that to your Sim if they travel, so it would have to pop back into Smiler’s inventory SOMETIME), I instead had them play with their quadcopter for a while, then decided, “actually, Victor and Alice sleeping on the floaties is a good opportunity for some pictures” and had them go to the edge of the sand and whip out their phone. They took a couple of shots of Victor and Alice snoozing, and a few more of the pretty scenery in the sunset glow –
C) And cue the game just starting to CHUG. Now, it WILL do this sometimes after you take pictures, because who knows why, it just does, but usually the issue just clears up after you’ve pulled up the “Save/Save As/Options/Exit” menu (you don’t even have to click any of the options, you can just hit the (x) in the corner). THIS time, though, when I tried that trick, it only started running smoothly again for a few seconds, then started chugging again. I kept trying it, having Smiler swim out to clear some garbage from the ocean and then do a little back float with Victor and Alice while clicking in and out of the menu, but no luck – it was just SLOOOW. Even exiting back to the main menu didn’t help – the worlds themselves were loading in slowly. So, I saved, quit, gave the game a second, and then came back in. Returned to everybody chilling in the water –
D) And Smiler’s drone on the porch by the games table! THERE you are, you little fucker! I had Smiler go and start a recording, intending to make a video of them building a sand sculpture –
And cue Smiler just – standing around. Like, the action was queued up, but it just wouldn’t actually enter the queue as something they could do. The drone was definitely filming, but they wouldn’t do anything for it TO film. Annoyed, I ended the recording early, and was even more baffled when the pop-up for the resultant video informed me it was a “Charisma Video.” Ze heck? I mean, okay, yes, I have made jokes about Smiler being the most charismatic and likable Sim in the world before, but – seems a bit extreme to call a video of them just standing around a “charisma video!”
E) And then, just as I saw dinner was ready and had Alice wake up to go grab it, Leila came over and immediately declared that she wanted to be best friends with Smiler. *sigh* I’m a bit over these pop-ups, especially for Sims who have JUST MET. I had Smiler say “no,” brighten her day to make sure she didn’t feel too bad, and then send her home. Really gotta find a mod to stop those from happening, or at least stop them from happening so often. . .AFTER the upcoming patch, of course.
F) With that all settled, though, it was dinner time! I’d INTENDED for Victor and Alice to eat outside, at the table under the awning thing, but when I sent Victor to go set it, he could only do two places before indicating he couldn’t reach the others. Methinks the table is too big for the awning! Ah well, my fault for sticking it under there. I had everyone gather in the kitchen instead, and Smiler had a plasma fruit while Victor and Alice ate their fishy island feast. Everyone had a lovely meal, and then Victor and Alice headed off to bed (I briefly considered having them woohoo, but then figured “nah, this is Victor and SMILER’S honeymoon, technically – I’ll reserve that for them”). I had Smiler clean up the dishes, then decided to try again to have themselves film themselves building a sand sculpture. THIS time it worked, with Smiler actually completing the action while the drone watched. They walked around the sculpture so the drone could get a good look at it, then shut it down. And then installed an HD camera on the thing, because I had to have them do SOMETHING while Victor and Alice slept. XD
G) It was around this time that I was reminded “oh, Alice has one Ability point from her werewolf XP, and Smiler’s collected seven vampire Power points – what do I want them to get?” So I took a look at their power trees. Alice ended up getting “Lunar Blessing,” which allows her to take advantage of the various effects the moon phases have on werewolves all day as well as all night, while Smiler upgraded the “Child of the Moon” everything-works-better-at-night power to the full “Master of Darkness” state, and picked up “Vampiric Charm” (which gives them an aura that makes everyone see them as super attractive) because I wasn’t sure what to do with the remaining three points and felt like it did fit their deal. *shrug* Maybe they’ll use it on Victor before the honeymoon’s over. ;P
H) And with that, the day was pretty much over – once their drone upgrade was complete, I had Smiler put it back in their inventory, then head inside to play on their laptop (regaining their “Techie” lifestyle in the process) and make a social media profile online. I left off with them having just made an update (probably telling everyone “I’m on honeymoon in Sulani!”) and Victor having just gotten up and Scruberooed himself, all while a fresh thunderstorm raged outside. *sigh* Next time – well, we’ll see what happens, but I am prepared to end this vacation a bit early due to bad weather. I kind of wanted them to spend Fall Monday, aka Spookfest, at home anyway. . .
I) However, I wasn’t quite ready to stop playing there, so after saving all my progress in the Chill Valicer save, I headed over to my Building Save – specifically, I hit Windenburg to check out the Havisham House lot, because I was curious what the starter homes in Windenburg are like (because I’m once again having “new save” thoughts, and those thoughts involve a couple of Corpse Bride families living in Windenburg).
They’re shit, that’s what they are. The Havisham House is HORRIBLE – like, no furniture, a mystery closet on the FIRST floor instead of in the BEDROOM, and horrible GREEN fixtures in the upstairs toilet. Oh, and distressingly low-set windows on the medium-height walls. I could not let this stand and deleted all the furniture, made the walls on the lower level shorter, repainted the interior, repainted the EXTERIOR (well, sort of – I changed the color of the exterior wallpaper), and created a little “mud room” entrance at the front door. Didn’t do anything else because part of the reason for a shorter Sims session today was to have time to do other stuff, but eeep. EAxis builds sure are, uh, something. Maybe I’ll make messing with it further a post-patch project, if I am so inclined. . .first, though, gotta finish that damn spa build. Priority one! :p
Writing: Wasn’t sure I was gonna get to this today, I have to admit – my first attempt to find something I wanted to work on in my personal “hypnokinky” master file of snippets left me feeling completely uninspired, and then I didn’t think I’d have any time to write after the RE4 Remake double feature below, but thanks to my friend Squid having a movie night during our usual talky time (Into the Spiderverse, for the curious) and thus replying to messages a bit more slowly, I actually was able to squeeze in a page! Said page being on one of the fanfic snippets I’m working on for the Valicer In The Dark AU – probably should have realized that, after watching another episode of Oxventure Presents Blades In The Dark this week with my workouts, I’d want to do something with that! Today’s scene was Alice – upon realizing that she, Smiler, and Victor were about to be hauled off by the Bluecoats (as Victor was unable to bribe their sergeant, thanks to forgetting his wallet at home), and that she was likely to just end up right back in Rutledge without ever getting revenge on Bumby and justice for all those he’d hurt – being inspired to fight back by Wonderland and rapid-fire taking out all of Sergeant Tannen’s guys with her blade. :D Victor and Smiler were very impressed, as you might imagine! The trio are now literally on the run, hoping to escape Tannen and any of his crew who can actually get up and come after them – we’ll see how things go the next time I work on it!
YouTube: Well, no GrayStillPlays tonight, but I left him behind for a good cause – finally finishing up OXBox’s LP of Resident Evil 4 Remake! Spent the evening working my way through the final two episodes –
A) “Resident Evil 4 Remake: SO OVER THIS PARASITE | Let's Play Resident Evil 4 Chapter 15” – OXBox plays the penultimate chapter of RE4! Featuring Leon, post-battle with Krauser, FINALLY getting an ally for a brief while in the form of combat helicopter pilot Mike, raining death from above with his guns and rockets as they battled their way across the island to Saddler’s inner sanctuary – until the anti-aircraft guns come out, and then he runs out of ammo, and finally he’s taken down by plagas bugs just when he’s willing to give Leon an airlift to where he needs to go; Leon having to fight all the dudes (so many dudes) as he works his way across the island, nearly getting wrecked by multiple mounted machine guns before getting to turn them briefly on the plagas whenever he takes out the gunners; Leon FINALLY making it to the Sanctuary, only to be nearly controlled and taken over by Saddler – and then saved by a machine-gun-wielding Ada; and Leon just BARELY getting Ashley to Luis’s lab and the plaga-killing machine and saving her – before fainting very dramatically. Also featuring Andy being VERY hyped to get off this damn island after killing Krauser; Mike being delighted that the explosion-creating helicopter pilot is ALSO named Mike; everyone willing to excuse Helicopter Mike for taking a pee break during the “take down the anti-aircraft gun” section (government worker, mandated fifteen minutes every three hours) but NOT for not bringing enough ammo to the fight; everyone also being mad that the mounted guns in this game DO NOT have unlimited ammo (it’s supposed to be piped in, like taps!); Jane deciding that one of the good things of being part of the plagas hive-mind is that injuries are probably shared amount the group and thus are dimmed, and that everyone has already caught up on all of the Netflix; everyone wondering what kind of vacations Leon might take and deciding he’s definitely a sports guy – and Andy declaring Leon’s haircut means he’s a snowboarder; Jane being worried about Leon’s potentially rumbling tummy because they don’t know how long he’s been in the village, only to be reminded that he has been eating – raw snakes and raw fish and raw eggs he’s been picking up randomly XD; Jane theorizing that the Merchant orchestrated Ashley’s kidnapping so Leon would go treasure-hunting for him in the process of getting her back, and Mike accusing the late Helicopter Mike of ferrying him around for a cut of the dosh; Jane very much still wanting them (or at least Andy) to try kicking a barrel apart – and when Andy said “maybe for your birthday,” immediately deciding it should be like a piñata and full of candy; everyone just full-on missing crest puzzles by the time they encounter the final minotaur-man with a machine gun strapped to his wrist; Jane and Mike trying to figure out who should play Lord Saddler while he was making his big creepy speech (Ralph Fiennes was mentioned, and apparently the actor who actually voices Saddler said he got inspiration from the guy’s portrayal of Voldemort, so...); Mike somehow ACCIDENTALLY calling shit that happens in the games without having played them himself (talking about the helicopter right before it showed up, and then talking about Ada’s adventures when she showed up to machine-gun Saddler, unknowingly referencing her DLC campaign in the original RE4), confusing the hell out of Andy; and me being utterly shocked by Leon’s fainting at the end of the chapter, as my friend Cas from tumblr wrote a fix-it fanfic with a friend where Luis survived, and I thought the faint in this scene was something they added to the fanfic to give some suspense about whether or not Leon would make it. O.o Also the gang joked that Leon was obviously dead and they’d have to play as Ashley for the final chapter, and I actually think that would make a good “Bad End” alternate ending. Someone call Capcom and let them know.
B) “Resident Evil 4 Remake: FINAL CHAPTER | Let's Play Resident Evil 4 Chapter 16” – OXBox plays the ultimate chapter of RE4! Featuring Leon getting cured of plagas parasite after Ashley somehow hauled him into the chair and got the machine working while he was unconscious; the pair making their grand escape past the final appearance of the Merchant – only to be stopped by a captured Ada being laid out as a trap for Leon; Leon springing the trap to rescue her, only to have to fight a horrible scorpion-spider Saddler with so many eyes in places they don’t belong (with the boss eye being in his MOUTH, which is somehow the worst); Leon defeating Saddler with the help of the special rocket launcher Ada throws down; Leon refusing to take Ada’s helicopter to safety because she’s being an awful mercenary and taking the Amber sample, and instead being thrown her “water scooter” (I guess that is the non-brand name for a Jetski vehicle?) key so he and Ashley can escape that way; Leon and Ashley indeed escaping by water scooter before the island just totally blew up; and Leon and Ashley making for the mainland (with Leon gently turning down Ashley’s offer to get put on her personal detail) while Ada called her contact for the Amber (Wesker), discovered that, oh surprise, he was planning on killing billions of people, and hijacked her helicopter to change course because looks like she DOES have a tiny bit of a conscience. Also featuring Andy being VERY impressed that Ashley was able to haul Leon into the chair and get him de-plagased because he’s probably at least 210 pounds with all that muscle; the gang going slightly mad trying to find a final treasure in the final room before the final Merchant stop; Andy genuinely trying to snipe Ada down from the lookout-point where Leon sees her tied up, only for the game to go “nuh-huh, you have to go and have the boss fight;” no one appreciating Saddler’s penultimate and ultimate forms, especially all the awful gross eyes everywhere (Mike specifically asked how Saddler was still TALKING if he had one in his MOUTH); everyone ragging on Leon for refusing to take Ada’s helicopter, especially with the damn island exploding; everyone wondering WHY the island is exploding, actually, was something somehow hooked up to Saddler’s heartbeat; the gang comparing the final water scooter escape sequence to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney while Andy took all opportunities to do cool tricks; Andy accusing Leon of just trying to water scooter his way back to America at the end (“that’s just open ocean!”); the gang learning Andy’s final score on the playthrough was a “B” (which I have learned is actually the WORST score – though that’s mainly because it took him twelve hours to play through it); and Andy delightedly unlocking the gangster outfit and an eyepatch for Leon to wear in the next playthrough. XD Ahhh – good times. Been a really fun LP series – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the OX commentary on the game, and all their little jokes and whatnot (ESPECIALLY the picture they made of Leon and Luis on the minecart “ride” XD). Hopefully when the inevitable DLC comes out, we’ll get a nice playthrough of that too!
So yeah -- not a perfect day, but it felt good to knock out the RE4 stuff, and I'm glad I DID get some writing done. :) Really gotta try and get some more focus for tomorrow, though -- especially as I have comments owed on AO3 fics and some messages from Moose on top of the other things I wish to accomplish! At least this weekend I do have an extra day to work on all that...as it stands, must-dos for Sunday include getting the Chill Valicer Wedding Update at least partially sorted in my tumblr drafts; setting up Jamaica Plain for inhabitants in Fallout 4 and updating the Playthrough Progression appropriately; watching at least one GrayStillPlays video and Jon of Many A True Nerd; and leaving at least one comment/answering at least one message. *nods* Hopefully doable, especially since I'll have the morning to play around with as well tomorrow! Just have to cross our fingers that no thunderstorms come on through...night all!
