Last Day Off

And it was a cloudy, sprinkly day -- to the point where my parents believed it would rain strongly enough to not play beanbags. I find this kind of amusing just because we played on a day where it was ACTUALLY RAINING when we started. XD But yeah, bit of a gloomy end to my time off. Though you can't say it wasn't productive as well --

1. Continue working on the Sims 4 challenges: Check – started last night by going through the various ranked powers and picking which ones felt right for which clans for the VTMB challenge. Then I kept going back to it throughout the day, figuring out how to handle the weaknesses for each clan, and setting up the rest of the rules. And – I think I’m pretty much done with it now, yay! :D About time. . .so next Sunday, I’ll start working on getting the Fallout 4-themed one sorted. :)

2. Keep up on YouTube Subs: Check and more check – got in some bonus videos and even some rewatches! So that was good – I am definitely in a good place when it comes to YouTube right now! Ah, the pleasures of an empty Watch Later. . .

A) Actually started with that rewatch of Linkara’s VTMB review from six years ago, because I DID want to watch it again. Still a lot of fun, especially his “I’M A GODDAMN VAMPIRE” breakdown regarding the Ocean House Hotel. XD (Plus I got confirmation that his character for the review is just named “Linkara” according to the shots of his character creation, so I can totally just call the guy “Lewis” in my fanfic for the shoutout. :p) Ahhh, 2015, a simpler time when it came to his stuff. . .

B) Then, this afternoon after Bloodlines and tumblr queue stuff (see below), it was back onto Sims stuff, with the latest from Plumbella – “I tried to recreate this horrifically unique house in The Sims 4!” And trust me, it WAS horrifically unique – a weird double dome thing with a raised porch and a chimney in the middle that makes part of it look like a laboratory beaker. XD Plumbella did her best, and actually (with the help of moveobjects and carefully layering windows) did a decent approximation of the outside, and even made a livable inside (sort of – one of the roofs insists on clipping through the house itself, but you can’t see it with the walls down, so) – Murphy bed in the living area, little cut-out toilet and shower at the front, and a small kitchen in the side bit! You go, Plumbella – don’t let these weird-ass houses take you down! :)

C) After that was James Turner, with another episode of the Dream Home Decorator LP! Today was an episode in two halves, more or less –

I. Hazel “buys” the house next door, as represented by James tracing over the walls of the debug house, then removing it and building an actual house that more-or-less matches it (he went ahead and used the nice windows that Hazel’s place has, and he couldn’t match the outdoor shingles perfectly), with an unfinished basement, two tiny “double” bedrooms (he had to fiddle with the beds and sink them partially into the walls to make sure Sims, namely Hazel, could actually walk around them and use them), a decently-sized bathroom, and an okay-sized kitchen and living room. Everything’s usable, and there’s room for two or three Sims (one of the beds is shoved into a corner so only one Sim can use it), so Hazel has put out the call for roommates to get her a little extra cash from the rent!

II. Hazel visits the Ricks farm again for another renovation – this one a hobby room addition! This is one of those higher-level gigs that can break really easily, but fortunately the Ricks farm is huge and has space to add a new room. James decided on a shed out by the llama (Llamanade) and cow (Cowtrina), which could hold the brothers’ woodworking bench, some shelving, and a juice fizzer for the smaller produce. And some lovely Monet paintings! (I should note here that Hazel’s last name is Monet. XD) Trenton wasn’t quite feeling it, but Chaz loved it, so she walked away with a decent payday of $750. And, as a gesture of goodwill, she returned their stolen couch once James found it in her household inventory. XD Good, productive day for our favorite decorator!

D) Then an upload from good old OXBox – “Hitman 3 EVIL WEDDING PLANNER | Elusive Target The Heartbreaker!” Yes, Hitman 3 has released another elusive target, this one a murderous wedding planner who plans weddings for couples, takes a shine to one of the pair, kills the other, and then goes off his chosen lover because, naturally, they’re sad that their partner has been murdered. An outside client tasked 47 to take him out before he did anything to his latest clients. Andy and Jane handled this one, though Mike was there in spirit – namely in the way they took care of the wedding planner, Philo, himself. Andy managed to get himself a bodyguard disguise (crouching in a bit of lavender to “hide” when people came looking) and raided the planner’s van, taking a picture of the cake and picking up the guy’s serial killer scrapbook. This he turned over to one of the brides when he finally found them taking a tour of the place (it’s the Argentina vineyard level, by the by), which alerted her to what the hell was going on and got her and her fiancee out of the picture. And then he followed Philo down to the cinema room (a new spot for Andy and Jane, apparently!) which had been kitted out for the wedding, dropped his briefcase which contained an explosive, waited for Philo to pick it up, then detonated it from just outside the area. Then, after a brief look at the canapes on offer, escaped through the vineyard. Only two stars, but Andy will accept that as the trick with an elusive target is always to actually COMPLETE it. XD Good show, Andy and Jane, good show.

E) Then this evening we had Call Me Kevin and more Bitlife – Battle Royale Mode! Basically Kevin decided to double down on the murder with “Fortnite Gamer” and just kill every person in his Relationships tab so he could score a “Victory Royale” at life. Hilariously, Fortnite’s first murder was of his father, and it gave him almost two million dollars in inheritance. For once, Kevin didn’t have to worry about the money! Which is good, because Fortnite was getting plastic surgery as much as he was killing people. He successfully killed his parents, his stepsiblings, his nephew, and his abandoned daughter over his lifetime, and had two potential wives die on him from old age immediately after rejecting his marriage proposals. He also held jobs as a Pornography Historian (yes, really – he had that job TWICE) and an Exorcist, and was in and out of jail for most of his later years. Not to mention he died once due to a fellow prisoner smashing him over the head with a mug for complimenting him, forcing Kevin to pay real money to rewind and try again. In the end, he died at age 63 in prison – but he successfully outlived all his family and potential loved ones, so play the song! *dances to Kevin’s cover of that Fortnite song parody*

F) And then it was time for GrayStillPlays and more Happy Wheels! Had some fun ones today – a trip on a rocket-powered toilet through a poop tunnel to get toilet paper! A “trials” board forcing him to go through a bottle run, a rocket run, and a glass break before destroying Tom Hardy and himself via blenderizing (Tom) and meteor (himself)! Another longer bottle run drenched in, uh, lemonade! A challenge board with what looked like a secret win at the very start, accessible by bouncing up and down a vertical boost – but by the time Gray finally got there, he discovered the creator had COVERED IT WITH INVISIBLE WALLS. No, seriously, there wasn’t a single place to cheat. And then he fought his way through all the challenges (including a very painful harpoon run) past ANOTHER fake win, to finally limp his way to the real one. He was SO GRATEFUL. XD And then there was the person who tried to “Grayproof” their level – Gray DID manage to cheat that one by leaping over their spike fall and hitting the win on the way down. XD And there was also a lovely family drive in the car, a rampage with Iron Man’s Hulkbuster armor, and a lady on a scooter who propelled herself upside-down to get the coin between Hulk’s legs after Slenderman’s exploding butt knocked them both over. Ah, Happy Wheels, you never disappoint.

G) Started with a rewatch, ended with a rewatch – went ahead and rewatched onlyabidoang’s video of racing a bunch of different Sims, occults and humans, with different ages, walk styles, and swimming speeds, along with a small teleportation race at the end. This is a bit of a special video to me as he featured my comment about doing a teleportation race in the video right before he did said race. :) Just – something nice to end the vacation on, you know?

3. Play Bloodlines and finish off a few more Santa Monica missions: Check! As stated yesterday, I wanted to get through Stanley Gimble’s boss fight today, so that’s exactly what I did. Crystal went over to his place, followed him down into his murder basement, and killed him with her amazing Thaumaturgy skills – seriously, I can see why people say this Discipline is overpowered. Blood Strike is basically free feeding, and Blood Purge is amazing against human enemies. Even against nonhuman ones, it’ll make them hold still for a while! Very useful. . . Anyway, Crystal freed Carson and told Arthur what happened, getting her payment and picking up the quest to figure out where Muddy Durbin had gone. She went by the Asylum since she was in the area, politely but firmly refused to hand over the stuff from the Ocean House Hotel to Jeannette, but did pick up Slashterpiece. From there it was back to the Pawnshop Lodgings to pick up her money from LaCroix and finish off “Bloody Mess” by reading his e-mail, then get into Muddy’s girlfriend’s apartment and listen to his message on the answering machine. (Also, I thought there was a skill book over there, but I can’t find it – Wesp, did you move things again in the latest patch?) Brought that news back to Arthur, then hit Foxy Boxes to take care of the Cathayan, where Crystal made good use of Blood Strike and Blood Purge. . .

But not so much Blood Shield, as – well, it’s a protective shield of blood that helps lessen the impact of enemy attacks. But, as you are literally covered in blood while using it, it’s also a massive Masquerade violation if you’re in a non-combat situation. And, as I discovered today, the bosses in Santa Monica simply don’t hit hard or often enough to shatter the shield, as it only goes away if it absorbs enough damage. I found myself still covered in blood when I ended the fight with the Cathayan, and going outside caused massive panic but nobody shooting me to, you know, disperse it. Fortunately I’d quicksaved right before the fight, so I just redid it without using Blood Shield. Same thing happened when I went over to the Gallery Noir (and persuaded my way past Chunk, claiming I was pulling art from the show) – I saved right before triggering the fight with the Blood Guardian, then tried using Blood Shield to see how the Guardian fared against it. He ended up KILLING me before the shield broke! O.o Damn – hopefully it’s more useful in the later game, otherwise I feel like I might have just wasted some experience points buying it. (Though, admittedly, this means I can buy even more fun Thaumaturgy horrors earlier, so. . .maybe worth just for that.) Anyway, left off in the Asylum after completing Knox’s quest – now I just have to finish things up with Therese and Jeannette! We’ll see how that goes. . .

4. Get in a workout: Check! Back on the bike today as stated, and back with Jon’s Original FO4 Playthrough! Started Episode 8 today, with Past!Jon absolutely RELIEVED to see traveling trader Lucas Miller over at Tenpines Bluff. Miss Jon did a bit of trading with him, picking up her first bit of legendary gear from him (not that I think she recognized it as such) – a Champion Left Arm! After that, she swung back by the Cambridge Police Station to pick up the “Lost Patrol” quest from Paladin Danse, learning about the missing recon team and getting pointed toward the area where they were last scene (Past!Jon was happy to discover it was a quest with a bit of detective work to it – namely finding the distress pulsers of the missing patrol members.) From there she worked her way downward toward the river, though she ended up taking a small detour when she stumbled across Fraternal Outpost 115. Past!Jon thought that sounded friendly and went inside –

And found it was full of Super Mutants! Battle commenced, with Miss Jon coming out the victor, though perhaps only just. She looted the place, got the “Guns and Bullets” magazine available on the podium, and then finally started toward her actual quest objectives at last. First stop – Beantown Brewery, where she killed a bunch of raiders (including Tower Tom) and got the “haptic drive” that Haylen was looking for in her “Quartermastery” quest. Second stop – Oberland Station, who directed Miss Jon down to Back Street Apparel to clear out the raiders there (Past!Jon was a little disappointed it was another “raiders” quest). From there, Miss Jon worked her way down towards the outskirts of Boston (with a stop at a creepy boat with a mutated dolphin on it that thoroughly freaked Past!Jon out), and finally entered civilization – and raider territory as she found the clothing shop. Left it with her having taken out the raiders outside and a good chunk of the ones inside (with Dogmeat setting off a bunch of traps along the way); next time she should take out the leader and solve Oberland’s raider problem, yay!

5. Work on tumblr queues: Check – did the text for this week’s Newcrest Adventures update, and got the pictures ready for next week’s update, in between Bloodlines and Plumbella! :) And then after watching the OXBox video, got this week’s Song Saturday post sorted (discovered a lovely new Poets of the Fall song that I knew had to go up there).

So yeah, nice -- pretty much completely caught up on YouTube, and shouldn't have to worry much about queues this week on Victor Luvs Alice! Which is good for my first week back to work. . .at least it's fairly short. And hopefully fairly quiet, but we'll see. *fingers crossed!*

But yeah, back to work means back to my regular bedtime, so I've got to close up and sign out now! Night all! Hope you're all doing well!