More Productive Thursday

Going to bed a little earlier seems to have helped -- though I suspect me moving to the tail end of my period and thus having to deal less with hormonal nonsense helped too. :) But yes, I have actually accomplished a fair bit today --

Tumblr: Did the full dash catch-up on Victor Luvs Alice before lunch, along with most of the tags (got up to “the smiler” before having to break for bbq chicken calzones), then finished up the tags after lunch, yay! And then, while waiting for a good moment to talk to my parents about Sims 4 expansion packs (they were in and out going to antique places and looking at wallpaper samples for a future redo of the living room), I went ahead and cleaned up the post about my Valicer Soulmate AU I drafted out last night into its final form – so that’s ready to be queued up for next week!

. . .of course, that didn’t leave me with any posts to queue up for TOMORROW, so. . .fortunately I just put in that Smiler fanart I’d dropped into my drafts earlier. Maybe I’ll actually do some extra posts tomorrow if the mood strikes me! I at least want to get another post or two drafted out for later. . .

Sims 4: FINALLY got over my stupid brain stall and talked to my parents about buying both High School Years and Growing Together for me in lieu of the $100 for a game on Steam (as I don’t actually buy NEW games that often, let’s be real here) – they were more than willing, and Mom got me the codes I needed through Amazon, as that was the most convenient. Grabbed those, put them into the EA App, downloaded and installed all my new content, then booted up the game!

Then realized “oh wait, I didn’t put in my Mods folder.” XD Though I then quickly realized that this gave me an opportunity to make sure everything seemed to be installed correctly on my “testing” save with Plaice Holder. Popped into her place, took a look at the updated calendar, phone, Simology panel (poor girl had no milestones), and even peeked at Build/Buy and CAS for new objects (getting her some new outfits in the process). Everything looked good, so I saved her world, backed out of the game and the app, put my Mods folder in with all the new stuff, cleaned up all the cache stuff that needed to be cleaned, and then went in and actually played my Valicer save! Nice to get back to them –

Even if a lot of my time was spent just coming to grips with my new mods. XD Specifically, Lumpinou’s LGBTQIA+ mod, which allows you to give Sims specific gender, romantic, and sexual identities. I have officially assigned Smiler as a non-binary panromantic pansexual; Victor as a cis male biromantic bisexual; and Alice as a cis female demipanromantic demipansexual (I actually have her as gray-ace for sexuality (she’s mostly asexual but certain things can get her motor running), but I figured making her just “demi” all the way would work for Sims, at least for now). I also made sure they were all set for proper polyamory with the Open Love Life Mod – Smiler was set to “prefers non-exclusive relationships,” which I was fine with; Alice was also set to “prefers non-exclusive relationships,” which I changed to “indifferent” (as I felt like that fit her better – she can function either monogamously or polyamorously); and Victor – was set to “prefers exclusive relationships” (sir, sir you are the one with a wife and a themfriend – I made him “indifferent” too), and then set them all to have non-exclusive relationships. And spent some time making sure they all knew their various gender and sexual orientations. Everybody got hugs and a feeling of acceptance. :) I also tried setting some Talents and Weaknesses with that mod, but didn’t get much into it – the mod makes you set them one at a time, and some of the stuff I figured they had talents for is stuff they’ve already maxed (like Victor’s piano playing), so yeah, that one isn’t so important right now. Though I did give Victor a boost for Gardening, and Smiler a boost for Comedy.

On the non-mod front, I checked out everybody’s milestones (yes, they had some! I was very pleased to see that stuff they’d already accomplished WAS noted in that panel), and popped into CAS to set everyone’s new preferences for social compatibility! Basically, I just tried to make sure that the kind of Sims they liked were the kinds the others were – Alice and Victor like “Spirited Sims,” for example, because that definitely describes Smiler, while Smiler likes “Homebody Sims” and “Nature-Loving Sims” to cover Victor and Alice. They now all have amazing compatibility in-game, yay. :p And I took a look at some of the new clothes, and updated one of Smiler’s party-wear shirts just for funsies. :p

As for actual GAMEPLAY – what with all this updating of Sims, I didn’t end up sending them anywhere (sure as hell didn’t have them buy a grocery store), so it ended up being a pretty quiet day on the farm for the lot of them. Well, mostly – it was New Skill Day, so I had to make sure that they all got a new skill. :) Fortunately that was not hard to fulfill, as it turned out –

A) Started in the morning with Smiler upgrading Party Time the party bot, then working on a RC Quadcopter toy just for the hell of it – they got zapped partway through, though, so I had them tend the chickens (and, uh, buy some fresh ones, as they were down to one black hen and one rooster chick in the coop – oh, and I turned off chicken aging because my friend Squid pointed out it was weird for me to have aging on for the farm animals but not the Sims XD) before going over to Victor (having recently woken up) and initiating the whole “hey, we have proper sexual and gender identities now” conversation. Alice, meanwhile, sold her two newest books to a publisher before doing some recycling (gotta get that rotten food out of her inventory) and then joined the conversation upstairs to let everyone know about her sexual and romantic identities. :) Once everyone had hugged it out, she went for a jog (er, after briefly having to come back to take a day off work and use the toilet), getting herself up to Fitness Level 5 and fulfilling the new Skill Day traditions, w00! Didn’t even mean to do that one, but hey, I will take it. :p

B) While that was going on, Victor and Smiler headed outside – Smiler finishing up their quadcopter while Victor tended the greenhouse. Smiler was looking a little thirsty by the time they finished up, so I sent them to ask Victor for some plasma. Victor graciously agreed – which took longer than expected as he was attacked by bees before Smiler could get their fangs into him. Twice. XD After FINALLY letting Smiler have a drink from his wrist, I then had him change into proper clothes (he always goes out into the greenhouse in his bathrobe!) and continue tending the crops while Smiler entertained Kelly the cat, mopped up a slime creature, and did some flower arranging to build their new skill (a nice bluebell vase worth $12 in the end) – this also completed their New Year’s Eve resolution, so double whammy there! :D They headed upstairs to check Simstube trends and then film a gadget review while Victor harvested and replanted all the oversized crops (this last set was just medium size, though still excellent quality), demited the bees, and got some lemons out of the mini-fridge to fizz up some lemon juice and get his Juice Fizzing skill up to Level 3. New Skill Day completed on all fronts, yes! (Oh, and he also magically fixed the downstairs toilet and a broken water collector, w000. Spellcasters are so useful.)

C) Back to Alice, she returned from her jog in a flirty mood, having been thinking about her romantic situation, and wondering if she should write a book. Well, the woman IS working on being an author these days, so I sent her upstairs to write “It Takes Two Sometimes.” Took her most of the afternoon (with both Kelly and Shadow hanging out nearby at various times), but she created another bestseller! :D She was very hungry after all that, though, so I had her assume her wolf form and go out hunting. (And I can confirm – her tail WAS in place when I had her change from her Everyday form. I think it DOES depend on what outfit she’s changing from as a human! Have to make sure her tail is in place on all of her various werewolf “outfits”). She came back with some nice meat – I put the extras in the fridge, then had her do a bit of scavenging outside for the XP – she found some utranium metal, which was nice! :) Oh, and she also refilled the pet feeders, which was also nice. XD Sorry Shadow and Kelly!

D) Meanwhile, Smiler attempted to edit their new video, only to have to stop midway through to repair their creation station when it broke down. Fortunately they did so without any zappage, and were able to edit it to their heart’s content. I sent them to amuse Kelly with a laser pointer afterward, then down to the crafting barn to make a computer chip, because you can’t go wrong with computer chips. :) They also bred a few new frogs to add to the collection – a surfer eggplant frog, and a new hypnofrog! :D That along with the plain leaf frog they found recently means they’re a lot closer to completing it – would be nice if they did! They’ll get an official plaque and everything. :)

E) Victor, for HIS part, spent a good portion of his afternoon upgrading the bed to top quality, then falling asleep in it because he was exhausted, poor guy. XD Worth the time and effort spent, though – the bed REALLY gets your energy up now! He was only asleep for like an hour, hour and a half before his energy was well in the green. Now THAT’S gonna give him more time in the day for sure! Pleased, I had him join Alice in listening to, then dancing to, spooky tunes. And then directed Smiler to also join them for a spontaneous dance party. XD What, we established that they liked those last time!

F) Eventually, though, everyone broke apart to do their own thing again – Alice, who’d been trying to sample it all day, was finally allowed to try the Specter Sip on the table (she gained some Mischief skill from it, amusingly), then transformed again to mark her territory and take a nap outside; Smiler dropped off their new frogs in the attic collection, then went to practice yoga; and Victor picked up his lemon fizz from the fizzing machine before returning to bed.

And that’s when I realized “oh crap, I have to save and go now so I can get in my workout.” XD Still, though, not a bad day in the Valicer save (or the latest branch of it – yes, of course I used Save As when I saved the first time!) – always good to get back to my favorite trio. Next time, though, I am DEFINITELY putting in the grocery store and having them buy it. Gotta get THAT going before I completely forget about it!

Writing: Another Valicer Polyship Week prompt sorted – this time the Day One prompt, “Road Trip,” with Victor, Alice, and Smiler stopping for snacks at a gas station while on the road, and Smiler introducing Alice to Combos (which I suspect is an American snack, but it’s one of my old favorites, so we’ll say for the purposes of the fic this English gas station has some American imports – in fact. . . *goes back and adds a line saying exactly that*) and the both of them teasing Victor for getting at least one of every type of candy bar. XD Just some good, wholesome fun with the trio on the road! :)

YouTube: Okay, despite me arguably having more time for YouTube because Gray didn’t upload as usual today, it took so long for me to do the Soulmate AU post in my VLA tumblr drafts, then to get my Sims 4 game sorted, THEN to do all the write-ups after dinner, that I ended up only having time for the really short stuff in my Subs. I really gotta take some time tomorrow and at LEAST get through the OXBox RE4 stuff! But for tonight –

A) Started with a very brief video from PB Manning (one of the ladies behind the “Wyrd Sister Podcast”) – “Backyard foxes!” 22 seconds of her filming a fox family in what I presume to be either her own backyard or a nearby one. Adult fox and a few cute babies, aww. :) Very sweet.

B) Then it was over to Josh Way for “SKETCHY: Big Dumb Looney Tunes Monsters!” Josh had a hankering to draw some of his favorite Looney Tunes monsters, both original beasts (the Abominable Snowman and Gossamer the heart-shaped red one) and altered main characters (monstrous Tweety and monstrous Bugs – both POSSIBLY the result of Jekyll-and-Hyde potions, Josh couldn’t quite remember). This was a short video as he kept them all to fairly simple drawings (fast sketch, fast lines, one-or-two-color quick-fills), but they were good ones – he has a knack for capturing other people’s styles in his art, even when he’s working fast. :)

C) And finally we had the GrayStillPlays Thursday minisode, “Busting Spiderman Myths in GTA 5 #shorts!” AKA Gray has Florida-Man dress up as your friendly neighborhood web-slinger, gives him a super-jump, and tests suggestions from the audience. XD #1 – Spidey cannot jump the length of an entire train (true if he tries leaping onto an oncoming train from the front – however, if he’s already ON the train and jumps from the very back of the last car facing forward, he can TOTALLY go up and over the entire length of the train and land on the tracks in front of it). #2 – Spidey can outrun a deer (false – nothing in GTA V is faster than one of Meaty Bits’s kin). #3 – Spidey can kill a pedestrian by jumping on them (false – as shown in an earlier video, if the pedestrian is up and walking, all you do when you jump on them is knock them down). #4 – Spidey’s suit can repel electricity (false – landing on something electrical DOES shock the hell out of him. This is true in the comics too – he had to make a special version of the suit to deal with Electro). #5 – Spidey can survive dropping a grenade at his feet if he jumps JUST before it explodes (true! Super jump is powerful enough that, if he jumps the second before the flames start, he’ll be fine). Another fine day testing GTA V myths!

Workout: Back on the bike tonight, and back to James Turner’s High School Years Rags To Riches Generational Epic – Part 29, “The children come first!” Basically a sort of “passing the torch” episode, as James announced his intention to start focusing more on Addison and his little sister Breanne (apparently THAT is how you spell her name, at least according to a future episode’s title – I checked the playlist to see where I was in it). Major events included:

A) Breanne aging up from baby to toddler! She is also Independent, as James loves toddlers who can do stuff by themselves. XD He doesn’t think that he’s gonna try to max out all skills with her like he did Addison, but we’ll see how things go!

B) The gang celebrating New Year’s Eve – yes, James actually paid attention to a holiday for a change! Everyone who could made resolutions – Reginald to write a new book, Kevin to gain a skill point, and Addison to become a better student; Reginald got the decoration box and blinged the place up with lots of lights; and they all watched the countdown to New Year’s and shared hugs. :) Quite sweet, really.

C) Kevin getting retraited! Yes, celebrating the holiday also got James the points he needed to get that Re-Traiting Potion and change up Kevin’s traits – getting rid of “Recycle Disciple” and “High Maintenance” in favor of “Goofball” and “Neat.” XD So now he’s going to be a LOT easier to live with! (In-universe, James credited all the yoga the guy has been doing for the personality change. XD)

D) Reginald making a new clone! Yes, as part of the whole “passing the torch” thing, James decided to take everyone’s suggestion about Reginald’s magical clone being the “Reginald” living in Moonwood Mill during the Werewolves LP – however, the original clone, Quentin, had disappeared, so after popping into the Magic Realm to check he wasn’t there (he wasn’t) and to see if there were any good potion ingredients for sale (there were not), Reginald made a new clone, Rhys; befriended him with cloudgazing, gifts of money, and pictures; invited him into the family; then sent him out again to live in Moonwood Mill, in his old style of clothing. XD So the timeline is Officially Safe. XD

E) Everyone fulfilling their New Year’s resolutions! Reginald wrote a new book of poetry to add to the massive royalties he’s getting from his books every day; Addison went to school, studied hard, and successfully completed a school project; and Kevin got another point of wellness skill (and learned a new yoga pose that James tried unsuccessfully to copy). XD

So yeah, things are going good for the family! And next time, it looks like they’re gonna move into a brand-new house on a bigger lot. . .see how that goes tomorrow!

*nods* Not bad -- I'm very happy to have my new expansion packs, and to have that Soulmate AU post taken care of. :) Now I just have to get a bunch MORE posts taken care of. . .and watch some videos, and do more writing, and basically it never ends. XD Well, I'll get done what I get done, I suppose. Night all!