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Rainiest Car Trip Ever
Jul. 3rd, 2021 11:21 pmWell, okay, that's probably an exaggeration, but the weather was downright MISERABLE today -- high of about 61, and misting for most of the day, with the real rain picking up in the afternoon. AKA right as Mom and I were going out for the trip up to one of the local malls to get my hair cut and see if we could get anything for Dad for a birthday present. The haircut went all right -- the hairdresser gave me a short bob to about chin length with a little light layering. My head already feels a lot lighter, yay. :D Looking for a present for Dad was a total bust, though -- nowhere we went had anything. :( Though I did pick up a new nightgown at Marshall's, since my old one is basically developing holes out the wazoo. And we got cards at the local grocery store at the way back, which was good. *nods* The ride itself was -- well, we made it there and back without incident, even if we had a few idiots on the road. *grumbles* And I'm more used to the car now too -- still working on getting the right feel for the pedals and stuff, but yeah. It'll be an acceptable ride to and from work, I imagine. *nods*
Now, that trip took up a good portion of the afternoon, but happily, I had some actual downtime today, and managed to get a few things done:
1. Work on the HypnoKink Notes Document: Check! Worked some more on the timeline a bit, nailing down potential dates for stories and figuring out what order certain events have to be in (like Alice has to be okay with amnesia suggestions for Victor before she’s willing to do things that involve him forgetting something temporarily) – and I DID have a bunch of these as a sort of “story collection” at the end of the story list, but I think I’m actually going to split them up into separate one-shots (or, at the very least, TWO separate collections) to help fit them into the timeline better. Most of this verse is one-shots, after all. . .also need to come up with names for the unnamed stuff. Something to ponder tomorrow!
2. Watch something out of the Watch Later as well as keeping up with YouTube Subs: Check! Actually got a couple of shorter videos out of the WL, along with getting the Subs for today! Finally, a bit of progress there. . .
A) Started with a trio of videos from onlyabidoang –
I. A quick video on a special NPC occult Sim from Realm of Magic – the Night Wraith! This is a special Sim who shows if up if your Sim has the appropriate curse – he comes around every other day or so to scream at your Sim and freak them out. Abi added them to the household via cheats and found he’s a ghost who died from spellcaster overload while under the “disgusting visage” curse, and that he’s permanently “Very Sad.” So he’s not so much “evil” as “depressed and very awkward socially.” XD His special “Night Stalker” trait can also be added to other Sims with cheats, including children, toddler, and pets! Makes for some awesome-looking ghosts, it must be said. :D
II. A mod showcase of PandaSama’s toddler activity mods! They’re a modder who made bunk beds before EA got off their asses and did it, and now they’ve done things like make a mini-basketball hoop for toddlers to use; a swing chair; a rocking horse; a play stove (also usable by kids – toddlers make silly things like “Mr. Corn” and plastic hamburgers, while kids can create one of three actual meals); and special toddler bunk beds! There’s also some stuff currently in early access on their Patreon – like a coloring kit they can use on the floor; a ring-stack game; and the return of the xylophone! :D Yeah, now THIS is something fun for families! :)
III. A look at the latest patch, the one that added the “Sim Sessions” mini-music festival by the big park in Willow Creek. Abi showed off how that worked and what it looked like (a little stage by the river bend, along with some tents and vendor stalls – three performers take turns performing on said stage and its piano, and then everything fades when the festival ends), then moved on to showing off some of the other new stuff (like a new picture and a couple of new CAS items) and the handful of bug fixes they put in. All decent stuff, and I guess I am glad to see the festival, since I doubt I’ll ever see it in-game.
B) Then, this evening, it was onto James Turner and “Rags To Redecoration, Part 18!” And, as I guessed last time, today’s episode focused on Hazel renovating her own home with the profits earned from her last job. The wall between the kitchen and the living room has been knocked out, with the kitchen moved to the front of the house and the living room moved to in front of the now-uncovered fireplace; the orientation of her walk-in closet has been adjusted so it’s against a different outer wall; she has a new bathtub in the bathroom; and her basement has been fully expanded and has interior stairs and window wells! It’s a touch cramped in spots, but it looks nice. And now Hazel can watch the fireplace channel on the TV right above her own fireplace burning away. XD
C) Then it was onto Call Me Kevin playing an Alpha of Hello Neighbor 2! Yes, uh, apparently the original was popular enough to get a sequel. I’m a touch confused. O.o But yeah, apparently the new thing is some weird crow-dude kidnapping trick-or-treaters, and you play what looks to be some sort of news reporter going in to try and rescue them. Cue a lot of obtuse puzzles and moving around of generators, Kevin getting the ability to fly from a fire extinguisher, a candy hunt through the other abandoned houses, and an ending that is literally just small talk. Also, Kevin tore his way out of a garbage bag to try and demonstrate how easily Crow Man’s kidnapping should have been thwarted. Weird, but fun – typical Kevin fare, in other words! XD
D) And then it was onto GrayStillPlays and Be The Judge, a puzzle game of determining why people have done crimes! You had to find the element in the scene that could be clicked on or moved to figure out the crime, and then determine a punishment from both “possibly reasonable” and “completely out there” options, with a jury deciding if you made the right choice. Gray did things like lock up an expectant father who ran a red light for his wife, send a cheater on a bench to Hawaii, allowed a man who escaped his bath in an earthquake to go free – while still covered in nothing but a froth of bubbles, impounded a UFO who abducted a rapper, took away the Reaper’s robe and scythe for killing a man who threw something out his car window at him, and set up another cheater Kill Bill-style against some ninjas. You know, just the usual stuff on his channel. :p
3. Playeither Sims 4 or Portal Reloaded: Check! Fired up Portal Reloaded after that first trio of videos and played for a little while – I’m up to Chamber 20 now! Chamber 17 I managed to figure out on my own (hint: you need to “solve” the puzzle once to get a certain ability back to solve it properly), Chambers 18 and 19 required walkthroughs (Chamber 18 I found confusing; Chamber 19 I thought I had it, but it turns out I’d done some of my portaling wrong and had to go back and fix a few things. I did at least get the initial cube in the right position?) Only a few more chambers to complete. . .dunno if 25 is the actual end of the game or not, but I imagine it’ll take me a little while regardless to get there. XD
4. Get in a workout: No check, and you can blame the above run on Portal Reloaded for that. I honestly DO want to get in another workout, but so far this long weekend hasn’t been very good for that. Maybe tomorrow, since I plan to go nowhere.
Additionally:
-->Got the pictures and a bit of starter text drafted for the July 7th “Chill Save” update on Victor Luvs Alice – aka “The Wedding Episode!” :) It’s actually going to be a rare two-parter for the Chill Save, as I have five pictures from the day after their wedding too. . .plus another ten from the play session after THAT one, but I’ll save that as another update for the next week. :p
So yeah, that was nice -- at least I got to hang out, watch some videos, and play some games! And I should have more time tomorrow, as it's July 4th and I have no plans to go ANYWHERE, new car or not. Let's set up some new to-doing:
1. Work on the HypnoKink Notes Document
2. Clear out the Sims-related content from the Watch Later, listen to the latest Wyrd Sisters Podcast, watch Jon's latest FO4 YOLO episode
3. Play Sims 4 (save file to be determined)
4. Get in a workout
I really need to remember to get in that last one! Should try to start the video-watching early tomorrow to make sure I fit it in. . .
As it stands, I'm watching the tumblrs and any DW comments that might pop up and getting in some chill time right now. Let's hope the actual 4th has some better weather, everyone! Night all!
Now, that trip took up a good portion of the afternoon, but happily, I had some actual downtime today, and managed to get a few things done:
1. Work on the HypnoKink Notes Document: Check! Worked some more on the timeline a bit, nailing down potential dates for stories and figuring out what order certain events have to be in (like Alice has to be okay with amnesia suggestions for Victor before she’s willing to do things that involve him forgetting something temporarily) – and I DID have a bunch of these as a sort of “story collection” at the end of the story list, but I think I’m actually going to split them up into separate one-shots (or, at the very least, TWO separate collections) to help fit them into the timeline better. Most of this verse is one-shots, after all. . .also need to come up with names for the unnamed stuff. Something to ponder tomorrow!
2. Watch something out of the Watch Later as well as keeping up with YouTube Subs: Check! Actually got a couple of shorter videos out of the WL, along with getting the Subs for today! Finally, a bit of progress there. . .
A) Started with a trio of videos from onlyabidoang –
I. A quick video on a special NPC occult Sim from Realm of Magic – the Night Wraith! This is a special Sim who shows if up if your Sim has the appropriate curse – he comes around every other day or so to scream at your Sim and freak them out. Abi added them to the household via cheats and found he’s a ghost who died from spellcaster overload while under the “disgusting visage” curse, and that he’s permanently “Very Sad.” So he’s not so much “evil” as “depressed and very awkward socially.” XD His special “Night Stalker” trait can also be added to other Sims with cheats, including children, toddler, and pets! Makes for some awesome-looking ghosts, it must be said. :D
II. A mod showcase of PandaSama’s toddler activity mods! They’re a modder who made bunk beds before EA got off their asses and did it, and now they’ve done things like make a mini-basketball hoop for toddlers to use; a swing chair; a rocking horse; a play stove (also usable by kids – toddlers make silly things like “Mr. Corn” and plastic hamburgers, while kids can create one of three actual meals); and special toddler bunk beds! There’s also some stuff currently in early access on their Patreon – like a coloring kit they can use on the floor; a ring-stack game; and the return of the xylophone! :D Yeah, now THIS is something fun for families! :)
III. A look at the latest patch, the one that added the “Sim Sessions” mini-music festival by the big park in Willow Creek. Abi showed off how that worked and what it looked like (a little stage by the river bend, along with some tents and vendor stalls – three performers take turns performing on said stage and its piano, and then everything fades when the festival ends), then moved on to showing off some of the other new stuff (like a new picture and a couple of new CAS items) and the handful of bug fixes they put in. All decent stuff, and I guess I am glad to see the festival, since I doubt I’ll ever see it in-game.
B) Then, this evening, it was onto James Turner and “Rags To Redecoration, Part 18!” And, as I guessed last time, today’s episode focused on Hazel renovating her own home with the profits earned from her last job. The wall between the kitchen and the living room has been knocked out, with the kitchen moved to the front of the house and the living room moved to in front of the now-uncovered fireplace; the orientation of her walk-in closet has been adjusted so it’s against a different outer wall; she has a new bathtub in the bathroom; and her basement has been fully expanded and has interior stairs and window wells! It’s a touch cramped in spots, but it looks nice. And now Hazel can watch the fireplace channel on the TV right above her own fireplace burning away. XD
C) Then it was onto Call Me Kevin playing an Alpha of Hello Neighbor 2! Yes, uh, apparently the original was popular enough to get a sequel. I’m a touch confused. O.o But yeah, apparently the new thing is some weird crow-dude kidnapping trick-or-treaters, and you play what looks to be some sort of news reporter going in to try and rescue them. Cue a lot of obtuse puzzles and moving around of generators, Kevin getting the ability to fly from a fire extinguisher, a candy hunt through the other abandoned houses, and an ending that is literally just small talk. Also, Kevin tore his way out of a garbage bag to try and demonstrate how easily Crow Man’s kidnapping should have been thwarted. Weird, but fun – typical Kevin fare, in other words! XD
D) And then it was onto GrayStillPlays and Be The Judge, a puzzle game of determining why people have done crimes! You had to find the element in the scene that could be clicked on or moved to figure out the crime, and then determine a punishment from both “possibly reasonable” and “completely out there” options, with a jury deciding if you made the right choice. Gray did things like lock up an expectant father who ran a red light for his wife, send a cheater on a bench to Hawaii, allowed a man who escaped his bath in an earthquake to go free – while still covered in nothing but a froth of bubbles, impounded a UFO who abducted a rapper, took away the Reaper’s robe and scythe for killing a man who threw something out his car window at him, and set up another cheater Kill Bill-style against some ninjas. You know, just the usual stuff on his channel. :p
3. Play
4. Get in a workout: No check, and you can blame the above run on Portal Reloaded for that. I honestly DO want to get in another workout, but so far this long weekend hasn’t been very good for that. Maybe tomorrow, since I plan to go nowhere.
Additionally:
-->Got the pictures and a bit of starter text drafted for the July 7th “Chill Save” update on Victor Luvs Alice – aka “The Wedding Episode!” :) It’s actually going to be a rare two-parter for the Chill Save, as I have five pictures from the day after their wedding too. . .plus another ten from the play session after THAT one, but I’ll save that as another update for the next week. :p
So yeah, that was nice -- at least I got to hang out, watch some videos, and play some games! And I should have more time tomorrow, as it's July 4th and I have no plans to go ANYWHERE, new car or not. Let's set up some new to-doing:
1. Work on the HypnoKink Notes Document
2. Clear out the Sims-related content from the Watch Later, listen to the latest Wyrd Sisters Podcast, watch Jon's latest FO4 YOLO episode
3. Play Sims 4 (save file to be determined)
4. Get in a workout
I really need to remember to get in that last one! Should try to start the video-watching early tomorrow to make sure I fit it in. . .
As it stands, I'm watching the tumblrs and any DW comments that might pop up and getting in some chill time right now. Let's hope the actual 4th has some better weather, everyone! Night all!
