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Happy Chill Thanksgiving!
Nov. 25th, 2021 11:27 pmAnd it has been very chill for me -- apart from what's mentioned below on my "Not To-Do" list, I spent the majority of my time online just browsing TV Tropes and looking at various things to do with dragons and vampires. XD (Discovered what sounds like a truly awful book series too. . .) Kind of a "brain break" day in the end. But I did get a few things accomplished --
Thanksgiving Not To-Do List:
-->Took some time this morning to answer my friend’s FF.net PM – I really wish they’d start e-mailing me about these again. The thing sitting in my inbox is a good reminder to get to it sooner rather than later!
-->As it was actually in the 50s today, after our pizza lunch (we don’t really do traditional Thanksgivings), we went outside and played what may be the last beanbag game of the year. Fortunately, we did all win one (though let me tell you, the third game ended up being a SLOG) – I got 2-W-2-2-3; Dad got W-2-W-3-2, and Mom got 3-3-3-W-W. So not too shabby! :)
-->YouTube videos of the day:
A) Started with a pair of Plumbella updates –
I. “STORY PROGRESSION IS HERE THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! ITS HAPPENING!” – Plumbella having a happy little freakout over the fact that the Sims 4 will be getting a form of story progression (aka Sims you’re not playing doing things on their own other than talking to each other and/or dying). Currently it will only affect Sims your current played Sim knows, and it will take the form of pop-ups asking for advice on things like changing careers or having a baby. Plumbella is super-excited as she misses some of the chaos that can result from Sim families deciding to do things on their own, and she likes the two new aspirations that come with the update (being a good neighbor, or being AN INCREDIBLY BAD ONE). She’s not keen on all the pop-ups that the update implies, though, and would like better tools to fine-tune it – as would I. I can’t be as enthusiastic as her about the whole thing, simply because I don’t trust them to do it right (and I feel like it’s gonna screw up people who play multiple families in a save – makes me glad Newcrest is retired right now!) I mean, we’ll see what happens when it’s released next week – all I know is that it’s probably gonna take longer than I’d like to fix MC Command Center in the aftermath. . .
II. “The Goth and Caliente refresh is coming and I WAS PART OF IT HEHE” – Plumbella reveals that she was actually consulted for the upcoming skintones and lore refresh (her and SpringSims, apparently), giving advice to the Sims Gurus about the Goth and Caliente families in particular. She showed off her moodboard for the Goth family (basically “they’re supposed to be like the Addams family”) and said that doing this – helping update the game so it undoes some of the whitewashing and whatnot – is definitely the highlight of her career. The concept art so far is a little – mmm. I don’t think they portrayed the darker skintones very well, but Plumbella cautioned that it is still just concept ART, and that future updates should look better. I was a little worried about this too, but if the self-proclaimed “whore for lore” has actually been involved in this, I’m now actually HOPEFUL about this particular update. If only because I’m half-sure Plumbella will rip the Gurus a new one if they ignore her. XD
B) Then, this evening, we had the latest AT4W and “Batman #1” – aka the first appearance of both Joker and Catwoman! Though only the former was going by his modern name – Catwoman was just “The Cat” in her first appearance. They’re two separate stories in the same book (broken up by a Hugo Strange story) – the first is the Joker doing a bunch of jewel heists, murdering his victims with his “Joker venom” in a variety of ways (sneaky injection; blow dart from a suit of armor; posing as the police commissioner) before grabbing their stuff. He and Batman start tangling when the local mafia gets sick of him getting to the jewels first and try to lure him into a trap – the first fight ends with the Joker winning and beating poor Batman to a pulp, but Bats comes out ahead in the second rumble (admittedly after poor Robin nearly got venomed). The second is a mystery story with “The Cat,” with Robin trying to ferret out who had the most opportunity to steal a rich old lady’s necklace while she’s hosting a party on her yacht. Initially everyone suspects her brother or her doctor, but Batman is able to figure out that the real culprits are her nephew and his supposedly-elderly lady guest. And then he lets “The Cat” go via letting her jump off his boat after unmasking her because he thinks she’s hot. *shakehead* Also, there’s an interlude where some gangsters show up to steal the necklace and then just rob everyone else when they’re informed it’s already been stolen, only to be taken down by Batman, and then taken down AGAIN by Robin because Batman wanted to do a PSA about not looking up to criminals to kids. Also also this is the comic with the famous “Quiet or Papa spank!” panel. XD Good stuff – the stories were goofy, but well-executed, and Linkara had some great jokes (especially regarding a very stupid, sexist rant Bob Kane made about women when it came to the creation of Catwoman). Can definitely recommend!
C) And then it was over to the Subs for my only video there of the day – Call Me Kevin doing a “never leave your spawn” challenge for Terraria! This is another game all about exploring a strange new world, digging down and going up and all that, with Kevin enacting the rule that he couldn’t leave his “spawn” – aka the screen he started on. He built some walls to enforce this, then dug tunnels down either side next to those walls so he’d have a clear sense of where he could go while underground. Interestingly enough, this spawn came with a friend, Daniel! Hermit, Kevin’s character, promptly locked him out of his little home in the rain while he explored underground, building a platform ladder in one mine shaft and setting up a pit of water to fall into down the other. Later on, he built Daniel a tiny basement to keep him trapped in – through Daniel did manage to escape by strange and unknown means after a few more trips into the depths. And then survived being bombed back into his hole and escaped AGAIN. XD Hermit left him alone after that and concentrated on the important things – digging out massive tunnels into the deepest parts of the map (filled with lava and tin); making himself a set of tin armor; dying a few times to massive falls and nasty enemies (and once to a surprise mine cart ride that took him out of his spawn, forcing him to just accept death); expanding the house to three levels with a rope ladder on one side; collecting fallen stars; and eventually building his way into space to box himself in, fighting some surprise space slimes before managing to leap into the pit with the water to get back down to earth. XD He already looks like he’s having fun, and he even did a little song at the end to celebrate! :D Good stuff, especially from someone apparently sick as a dog yesterday.
-->Played some Chill Save Sims today! Yeah, haven’t visited that Victor and Alice in a while, have I? Nothing too special happened today – both Victor and Alice attended their first day of classes for their final semester, and Victor had a brief gathering with the Garden Gnomes in Hare Square, where they did some fishing. Victor actually caught the rare Treefish while he was out there, which I promptly mounted and put on the wall once he got home. The NAP Inspector also dropped by – after making some notes on their garden, he said they were obviously cool with the NAPs in play and said they’d see a discount on their bills, yay. :) Main annoyance was Victor’s honey going missing from his beehive YET AGAIN while I wasn’t looking – unsure if this is a “travel away from the lot” glitch or passing Sims helping themselves, I have fenced in his little garden and made it so only he and Alice can get in. Hmph. Next time, plan to visit Britechester itself and at least have them wander around campus for a bit!
-->Did get my queue for Valice Multiverse done this evening – one thread reply (wrapping it up so my partner and I can start the sequel one) and two asks. Nothing too straining!
Yeah, I think I ended up using all my "oomph" for the day on getting that PM answered (since it was part review of her latest fanfic chapter). XD Ah well, what else are holidays for, than giving yourself a bit of a break from the usual? However, I DO want to get a few specific things done during my time off, so we're going back to to-do lists for tomorrow:
1. Edit some more on "Londerland Bloodlines"
2. Keep up on YouTube Subs, watch the OXBox list in WL, see about another OXventure
3. Play Bloodlines and do the final Chinatown sidequest and move onto the Giovanni mansion
4. Get in a workout
I think that'll be good for the Friday after Thanksgiving. :) Night all!
Thanksgiving Not To-Do List:
-->Took some time this morning to answer my friend’s FF.net PM – I really wish they’d start e-mailing me about these again. The thing sitting in my inbox is a good reminder to get to it sooner rather than later!
-->As it was actually in the 50s today, after our pizza lunch (we don’t really do traditional Thanksgivings), we went outside and played what may be the last beanbag game of the year. Fortunately, we did all win one (though let me tell you, the third game ended up being a SLOG) – I got 2-W-2-2-3; Dad got W-2-W-3-2, and Mom got 3-3-3-W-W. So not too shabby! :)
-->YouTube videos of the day:
A) Started with a pair of Plumbella updates –
I. “STORY PROGRESSION IS HERE THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! ITS HAPPENING!” – Plumbella having a happy little freakout over the fact that the Sims 4 will be getting a form of story progression (aka Sims you’re not playing doing things on their own other than talking to each other and/or dying). Currently it will only affect Sims your current played Sim knows, and it will take the form of pop-ups asking for advice on things like changing careers or having a baby. Plumbella is super-excited as she misses some of the chaos that can result from Sim families deciding to do things on their own, and she likes the two new aspirations that come with the update (being a good neighbor, or being AN INCREDIBLY BAD ONE). She’s not keen on all the pop-ups that the update implies, though, and would like better tools to fine-tune it – as would I. I can’t be as enthusiastic as her about the whole thing, simply because I don’t trust them to do it right (and I feel like it’s gonna screw up people who play multiple families in a save – makes me glad Newcrest is retired right now!) I mean, we’ll see what happens when it’s released next week – all I know is that it’s probably gonna take longer than I’d like to fix MC Command Center in the aftermath. . .
II. “The Goth and Caliente refresh is coming and I WAS PART OF IT HEHE” – Plumbella reveals that she was actually consulted for the upcoming skintones and lore refresh (her and SpringSims, apparently), giving advice to the Sims Gurus about the Goth and Caliente families in particular. She showed off her moodboard for the Goth family (basically “they’re supposed to be like the Addams family”) and said that doing this – helping update the game so it undoes some of the whitewashing and whatnot – is definitely the highlight of her career. The concept art so far is a little – mmm. I don’t think they portrayed the darker skintones very well, but Plumbella cautioned that it is still just concept ART, and that future updates should look better. I was a little worried about this too, but if the self-proclaimed “whore for lore” has actually been involved in this, I’m now actually HOPEFUL about this particular update. If only because I’m half-sure Plumbella will rip the Gurus a new one if they ignore her. XD
B) Then, this evening, we had the latest AT4W and “Batman #1” – aka the first appearance of both Joker and Catwoman! Though only the former was going by his modern name – Catwoman was just “The Cat” in her first appearance. They’re two separate stories in the same book (broken up by a Hugo Strange story) – the first is the Joker doing a bunch of jewel heists, murdering his victims with his “Joker venom” in a variety of ways (sneaky injection; blow dart from a suit of armor; posing as the police commissioner) before grabbing their stuff. He and Batman start tangling when the local mafia gets sick of him getting to the jewels first and try to lure him into a trap – the first fight ends with the Joker winning and beating poor Batman to a pulp, but Bats comes out ahead in the second rumble (admittedly after poor Robin nearly got venomed). The second is a mystery story with “The Cat,” with Robin trying to ferret out who had the most opportunity to steal a rich old lady’s necklace while she’s hosting a party on her yacht. Initially everyone suspects her brother or her doctor, but Batman is able to figure out that the real culprits are her nephew and his supposedly-elderly lady guest. And then he lets “The Cat” go via letting her jump off his boat after unmasking her because he thinks she’s hot. *shakehead* Also, there’s an interlude where some gangsters show up to steal the necklace and then just rob everyone else when they’re informed it’s already been stolen, only to be taken down by Batman, and then taken down AGAIN by Robin because Batman wanted to do a PSA about not looking up to criminals to kids. Also also this is the comic with the famous “Quiet or Papa spank!” panel. XD Good stuff – the stories were goofy, but well-executed, and Linkara had some great jokes (especially regarding a very stupid, sexist rant Bob Kane made about women when it came to the creation of Catwoman). Can definitely recommend!
C) And then it was over to the Subs for my only video there of the day – Call Me Kevin doing a “never leave your spawn” challenge for Terraria! This is another game all about exploring a strange new world, digging down and going up and all that, with Kevin enacting the rule that he couldn’t leave his “spawn” – aka the screen he started on. He built some walls to enforce this, then dug tunnels down either side next to those walls so he’d have a clear sense of where he could go while underground. Interestingly enough, this spawn came with a friend, Daniel! Hermit, Kevin’s character, promptly locked him out of his little home in the rain while he explored underground, building a platform ladder in one mine shaft and setting up a pit of water to fall into down the other. Later on, he built Daniel a tiny basement to keep him trapped in – through Daniel did manage to escape by strange and unknown means after a few more trips into the depths. And then survived being bombed back into his hole and escaped AGAIN. XD Hermit left him alone after that and concentrated on the important things – digging out massive tunnels into the deepest parts of the map (filled with lava and tin); making himself a set of tin armor; dying a few times to massive falls and nasty enemies (and once to a surprise mine cart ride that took him out of his spawn, forcing him to just accept death); expanding the house to three levels with a rope ladder on one side; collecting fallen stars; and eventually building his way into space to box himself in, fighting some surprise space slimes before managing to leap into the pit with the water to get back down to earth. XD He already looks like he’s having fun, and he even did a little song at the end to celebrate! :D Good stuff, especially from someone apparently sick as a dog yesterday.
-->Played some Chill Save Sims today! Yeah, haven’t visited that Victor and Alice in a while, have I? Nothing too special happened today – both Victor and Alice attended their first day of classes for their final semester, and Victor had a brief gathering with the Garden Gnomes in Hare Square, where they did some fishing. Victor actually caught the rare Treefish while he was out there, which I promptly mounted and put on the wall once he got home. The NAP Inspector also dropped by – after making some notes on their garden, he said they were obviously cool with the NAPs in play and said they’d see a discount on their bills, yay. :) Main annoyance was Victor’s honey going missing from his beehive YET AGAIN while I wasn’t looking – unsure if this is a “travel away from the lot” glitch or passing Sims helping themselves, I have fenced in his little garden and made it so only he and Alice can get in. Hmph. Next time, plan to visit Britechester itself and at least have them wander around campus for a bit!
-->Did get my queue for Valice Multiverse done this evening – one thread reply (wrapping it up so my partner and I can start the sequel one) and two asks. Nothing too straining!
Yeah, I think I ended up using all my "oomph" for the day on getting that PM answered (since it was part review of her latest fanfic chapter). XD Ah well, what else are holidays for, than giving yourself a bit of a break from the usual? However, I DO want to get a few specific things done during my time off, so we're going back to to-do lists for tomorrow:
1. Edit some more on "Londerland Bloodlines"
2. Keep up on YouTube Subs, watch the OXBox list in WL, see about another OXventure
3. Play Bloodlines and do the final Chinatown sidequest and move onto the Giovanni mansion
4. Get in a workout
I think that'll be good for the Friday after Thanksgiving. :) Night all!
