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Natural Fireworks Are The Worst Fireworks
Jul. 4th, 2023 11:48 pmYeah, uh, I didn't have the greatest 4th of July. Not only was the mood in the house not great when I woke up (I guess Dad was having more trouble with the post office), almost right after lunch we got a wave of absolutely MASSIVE thunderstorms. Like, it was absolutely BUCKETING down, with TONS of lightning and thunder. And this lasted for about TWO HOURS -- basically sucking up most of my afternoon. Meaning between that and some more garden-mill "distracted by random crap" stuff (you know, me going onto a tumblr and getting caught up in reading back entries, or making an ill-advised trip to TV Tropes -- as is shown below), I didn't get to most of the things on my to-do list. I didn't even properly write today. *sigh* But I did get a few things of importance done --
Tumblr: Well, at least I had some productive times on HERE –
Victor Luvs Alice – I managed to finish up most of the Chill Valicer Save update posts before lunch – I was just shy of the end of the sixth (out of seven) when the thunderstorms started and I had to shut down my computer in favor of playing Merge Dragons on my phone. I got back to it after the storms finally fucked off around 4:45 PM, and finished up the sixth and seventh posts and got them in the queue. I also have drafts of Friday’s post (an update to my “Valice Weddings Masterpost” with some favorite Valice – and now Valicer – wedding shots) and Saturday’s post (the yearly reblog of the Valice wedding song, “Lights Down Low”) in my, well, drafts, waiting to be completed. The big problem right now is I’m not sure what to post on Thursday. . .I’ll figure it out, though.
Valice Multiverse – Yeah, of course, on the night before I have to go back to work, NOW people start reblogging our threads and sending me asks and messages. *sigh* At least it wasn’t a complete deluge – put two thread replies and one ask reply in the queue for tomorrow. We’ll see what happens as the week goes on.
YouTube: I ended up going on TV Tropes briefly this evening (looking up the page for the movie we watched over the past couple of days, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – perfectly entertaining summer blockbuster-y type film, though not nearly as funny as I was led to believe), and that ate up enough time that I only had time for yesterday’s GrayStillPlays offering tonight – “Every time I crash the car turns invisible in GTA 5!” Yup, we had another delightful Alex Torture Board, inspired by the comments on previous videos where everyone wanted Gray to have to drive an invisible car through one of Alex’s challenges. So Alex created a script where, every time Gray crashed, his car would turn invisible for five seconds. However, Alex knew that if he did one of his “normal” challenges, Gray would crash, then just try to wait out the invisibility, so not only did he disable the immunity timer (meaning EVERY time Gray crashed, he would turn invisible – and if he was already invisible, well, he just stayed invisible for longer), he ALSO made this particular challenge almost entirely ONE GIANT WALL RIDE. XD So Gray COULDN’T stop, otherwise he’d fall off. The challenge was divided into three sections via checkpoints – first up, was the starting wall ride, where Gray had to grind on the dummyproofing platform to even get onto the ride at first (meaning he STARTED invisible), then go up and down avoiding various gaps, through a “cup” full of spinning soccer balls, along another wall ride on the other side with thumbnail holes and more gaps, around and down a curve onto a THIRD wall ride where he had to make it across a couple of ribbons and down a transfer before finally landing on an icy road area. Then we had the trip across the icy road, where Gray had to avoid skating cops and disappearing-and-reappearing snowmen while also doing a couple of chassis slides (the first through a windmill, natch) before getting onto the next wall ride, weaving around some “carrot sticks” before doing a series of SIX jumps onto consecutive ribbons, then going through a chassis grind, then over a couple more ribbons before having to do an 180 and get smacked by a windmill so he could go the opposite way along the bottom and the ribbon there before reaching the second checkpoint. And THEN we had a wall ride with an INVISIBLE section in the middle, which led into a couple of more ribbony wall rides with genuine jumps and transfers, all designed to keep his car invisible until he flew through the winning circle at the very end. Gray suffered QUITE a lot trying to navigate his trusty pink car through all of this bullshit (having particular trouble with the midpoint ribbon jumps), but – as is usual with him – he gritted his teeth, spouted much angrish, and made it in the end. XD Good job as always, Gray! Hopefully I can catch up on the rest of your nonsense before the week’s out. . .
Workout: Well, I woke up with some definite stiffness and aching in my thighs and lower back thanks to yesterday’s DVD (that was rather more energetic jumping around than I’d like), but I felt a little better as the day went on, so I was able to get on the bike and do a ride to the next Oxventure One-Shot Wonder in my list – “Teatime Adventures!” A cozy little game about cozy funny animal people living in a cozy little town called Oakenbend (and, naturally, sponsored by a tea company). Ellen took on the role of GM for this episode, with her cast being Jane, playing a bird-person named Posy who’d recently set up in town as the new florist; Mike, playing an unknown creature (he didn’t say what species he was) named James T. Cosy who was utterly obsessed with cricket and all things related to it; and guest player Grant From-Some-Other-Show-I-Don’t-Watch, playing Tabitha, a crocodile-person (increasingly from the Deep South as the game went on XD) who had come to Oakenbend to see what it was all about. The adventure picked up with the gang in the local milk bar, having a lovely brunch together (pancakes, eggs, beans, the works) and talking about the items they were contributing to the Pot Luck (where everyone puts their food in a magical pot, then draws another food item out – if you’re lucky, you want to eat it) that evening as part of the Festival of Flourish (an annual festival held in March where everyone starts getting ready for spring planting). Posy had some brownies with edible flowers on top; James had brought in pre-buttered English muffins; and Tabitha had special swamp quiches, made with special swamp leeks. Everyone was very admiring of each other’s items –
But then, as one of the local frog people came in for their fortifying morning tea, disaster struck – the town dog, Old Daffodil, came charging in the open door and made STRAIGHT for their table, knocking over all their precious treats and scarfing down some of James’s English muffins. Fortunately, Posy rolled well to keep the dog away from the much more dangerous chocolate brownies! The gang were rather upset (and actively disputing Ellen informing them that the dog’s lineage was that of a “very good girl who deserves treats” – though when James learned that Daffodil had no official owner, he immediately felt bad and gave her the English muffin he’d saved for himself, causing her to bond with him and follow him around in hopes of more food), and the owner of the milk bar commiserated. . .but then admitted, in essence, “you know what? There’s still time to get something else for the pot, and most EVERYONE brings baked goods. What we could really use are some nice veggie hot dogs, in fresh buns and with spring lettuce for a bit of greenery.” The gang were keen on replacing their treats with the veggie hot dogs, and so set off to gather the ingredients (Daffodil in tow, to Tabitha’s annoyance). First stop was the Sage Sausage shop – the gang elected to follow their noses and the delicious smell on the wind, James in the lead because he’s the one who’s lived here the longest. Results?
THREE BOTCHES. XD James THOUGHT he had the scent, but as it turns out what he’d smelled was Daffodil’s breath (as you might imagine, the dog LOVES the sausage place, even if it’s fake meat); Tabitha got distracted by a handsome skunk person passing by; and Posy just went down the wrong street and instead led them to the Bright Blue Bakery – so named because of its bright blue awnings and door. The gang decided “Well, we might as well get the buns while we’re here” and went inside, to find the owner (a sort of plant-moth person) in an absolute tizzy – not helped by James asking for her brightest, bluest bread. Tabitha gave the baker a comforting hug against her expansive bosom as the trio explained they were in charge of the veggie hot dogs and needed the buns. The baker explained they were in the oven and would be ready soon, but she needed help with something herself – she wanted to make her Cleverly Cookies for the Pot Luck, but had run out of the cleverly candies that she put in them (said candies helping boost the consumer’s cleverness when it comes to planting). And she couldn’t leave the bakery because, well, busy day, things baking. The gang promptly struck a deal to go and get the candies she needed in exchange for getting the hot dog buns for free, and then politely asked for directions to the magical confectioner’s shop after admitting the reason they were here first was because they’d gotten lost on the way to the sausage shop. XD The baker was happy to give them, and fortunately it proved to be a pretty easy trip, straight across to the other side of the town square. The gang went in and had a look around to see if they could spot the candies –
And got a middling roll from James, a good roll from Posy – and a critical failure from Tabitha! Tabitha, as it turns out, was distracted from looking for the candies by spotting Daffodil trying to get into the pick-and-mix and promptly wrestled the dog outside to stop it getting hair everywhere (where they proceeded to have some out-of-focus adventures with Tabitha trying to stop Daffodil climbing atop a moving carriage). James, for his part, got distracted by finding cricket-themed performance-enhancing candies (gobstoppers made to look like cricket balls and dipping candy with a stick like a cricket bat) and immediately decided he needed those to win his next match, to the point of utterly forgetting what they came in for when the proprietor came over to see how they were doing. XD Fortunately, Posy was on the case, and had spotted the cleverlies – or, at least, one kind of them, as different colors enhance different skills. A quick chat with the confectioner revealed that the green ones were the ones they wanted – and Posy, not knowing how many the baker would need, elected to buy the whole jar. Fortunately, it was only four gold – and when the confectioner started struggling with the jar, James was on hand with a nat 20 roll to save it (he even got to spin it on his finger/possibly hoof (I THINK he mentioned those?) like a basketball). XD James got his performance-enhancing candies for two gold (with the confectioner making a mental note to sell any future opponents of his the same thing to keep it fair), and the gang trucked the cleverlies back to the baker, who thanked them profusely and gave them the buns warm out of the oven (in a dog-proof box, mindful of Daffodil). I left it off with the gang having made it to the Sage Sausage place (having discovered it was actually very close to the bakery on their way to the confectionery – they just took a wrong turning), with the owner insisting they put Daffodil outside and Tabitha immediately essentially chucking the dog outside while making heart eyes at said owner. XD This is a very different sort of RPG than I’m used to them playing, but it’s fun nonetheless. I find it deeply amusing that Mike’s character apparently has minus one in his Personality stat. XD At least he’s good at cricket? :p Anyway, we’ll see how the whole “acquiring sausages” thing goes tomorrow!
Other: Remembered to get Dad’s birthday card sorted, at least! Found a funny card that I think he’ll enjoy and set it up to be sent tomorrow morning, so hooray, that’s sorted. (Gift-wise, Mom and I are buying him a big-screen TV – he’s gonna pick it out tomorrow.)
So I guess pretty much all the most important stuff got hit, at least in terms of what I needed to have up on my tumblrs and what I had to get for Dad's birthday tomorrow. But still, I would have really appreciated a more chill and productive end to my long weekend. *deep sigh* Well, I have to remember that it's only two and a half days this week, and half-day Fridays now right through Labor Day, so. . .I'll have other chances to catch up. *nods* Right now, though, I have to hit the sheets. Night all.
Tumblr: Well, at least I had some productive times on HERE –
Victor Luvs Alice – I managed to finish up most of the Chill Valicer Save update posts before lunch – I was just shy of the end of the sixth (out of seven) when the thunderstorms started and I had to shut down my computer in favor of playing Merge Dragons on my phone. I got back to it after the storms finally fucked off around 4:45 PM, and finished up the sixth and seventh posts and got them in the queue. I also have drafts of Friday’s post (an update to my “Valice Weddings Masterpost” with some favorite Valice – and now Valicer – wedding shots) and Saturday’s post (the yearly reblog of the Valice wedding song, “Lights Down Low”) in my, well, drafts, waiting to be completed. The big problem right now is I’m not sure what to post on Thursday. . .I’ll figure it out, though.
Valice Multiverse – Yeah, of course, on the night before I have to go back to work, NOW people start reblogging our threads and sending me asks and messages. *sigh* At least it wasn’t a complete deluge – put two thread replies and one ask reply in the queue for tomorrow. We’ll see what happens as the week goes on.
YouTube: I ended up going on TV Tropes briefly this evening (looking up the page for the movie we watched over the past couple of days, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – perfectly entertaining summer blockbuster-y type film, though not nearly as funny as I was led to believe), and that ate up enough time that I only had time for yesterday’s GrayStillPlays offering tonight – “Every time I crash the car turns invisible in GTA 5!” Yup, we had another delightful Alex Torture Board, inspired by the comments on previous videos where everyone wanted Gray to have to drive an invisible car through one of Alex’s challenges. So Alex created a script where, every time Gray crashed, his car would turn invisible for five seconds. However, Alex knew that if he did one of his “normal” challenges, Gray would crash, then just try to wait out the invisibility, so not only did he disable the immunity timer (meaning EVERY time Gray crashed, he would turn invisible – and if he was already invisible, well, he just stayed invisible for longer), he ALSO made this particular challenge almost entirely ONE GIANT WALL RIDE. XD So Gray COULDN’T stop, otherwise he’d fall off. The challenge was divided into three sections via checkpoints – first up, was the starting wall ride, where Gray had to grind on the dummyproofing platform to even get onto the ride at first (meaning he STARTED invisible), then go up and down avoiding various gaps, through a “cup” full of spinning soccer balls, along another wall ride on the other side with thumbnail holes and more gaps, around and down a curve onto a THIRD wall ride where he had to make it across a couple of ribbons and down a transfer before finally landing on an icy road area. Then we had the trip across the icy road, where Gray had to avoid skating cops and disappearing-and-reappearing snowmen while also doing a couple of chassis slides (the first through a windmill, natch) before getting onto the next wall ride, weaving around some “carrot sticks” before doing a series of SIX jumps onto consecutive ribbons, then going through a chassis grind, then over a couple more ribbons before having to do an 180 and get smacked by a windmill so he could go the opposite way along the bottom and the ribbon there before reaching the second checkpoint. And THEN we had a wall ride with an INVISIBLE section in the middle, which led into a couple of more ribbony wall rides with genuine jumps and transfers, all designed to keep his car invisible until he flew through the winning circle at the very end. Gray suffered QUITE a lot trying to navigate his trusty pink car through all of this bullshit (having particular trouble with the midpoint ribbon jumps), but – as is usual with him – he gritted his teeth, spouted much angrish, and made it in the end. XD Good job as always, Gray! Hopefully I can catch up on the rest of your nonsense before the week’s out. . .
Workout: Well, I woke up with some definite stiffness and aching in my thighs and lower back thanks to yesterday’s DVD (that was rather more energetic jumping around than I’d like), but I felt a little better as the day went on, so I was able to get on the bike and do a ride to the next Oxventure One-Shot Wonder in my list – “Teatime Adventures!” A cozy little game about cozy funny animal people living in a cozy little town called Oakenbend (and, naturally, sponsored by a tea company). Ellen took on the role of GM for this episode, with her cast being Jane, playing a bird-person named Posy who’d recently set up in town as the new florist; Mike, playing an unknown creature (he didn’t say what species he was) named James T. Cosy who was utterly obsessed with cricket and all things related to it; and guest player Grant From-Some-Other-Show-I-Don’t-Watch, playing Tabitha, a crocodile-person (increasingly from the Deep South as the game went on XD) who had come to Oakenbend to see what it was all about. The adventure picked up with the gang in the local milk bar, having a lovely brunch together (pancakes, eggs, beans, the works) and talking about the items they were contributing to the Pot Luck (where everyone puts their food in a magical pot, then draws another food item out – if you’re lucky, you want to eat it) that evening as part of the Festival of Flourish (an annual festival held in March where everyone starts getting ready for spring planting). Posy had some brownies with edible flowers on top; James had brought in pre-buttered English muffins; and Tabitha had special swamp quiches, made with special swamp leeks. Everyone was very admiring of each other’s items –
But then, as one of the local frog people came in for their fortifying morning tea, disaster struck – the town dog, Old Daffodil, came charging in the open door and made STRAIGHT for their table, knocking over all their precious treats and scarfing down some of James’s English muffins. Fortunately, Posy rolled well to keep the dog away from the much more dangerous chocolate brownies! The gang were rather upset (and actively disputing Ellen informing them that the dog’s lineage was that of a “very good girl who deserves treats” – though when James learned that Daffodil had no official owner, he immediately felt bad and gave her the English muffin he’d saved for himself, causing her to bond with him and follow him around in hopes of more food), and the owner of the milk bar commiserated. . .but then admitted, in essence, “you know what? There’s still time to get something else for the pot, and most EVERYONE brings baked goods. What we could really use are some nice veggie hot dogs, in fresh buns and with spring lettuce for a bit of greenery.” The gang were keen on replacing their treats with the veggie hot dogs, and so set off to gather the ingredients (Daffodil in tow, to Tabitha’s annoyance). First stop was the Sage Sausage shop – the gang elected to follow their noses and the delicious smell on the wind, James in the lead because he’s the one who’s lived here the longest. Results?
THREE BOTCHES. XD James THOUGHT he had the scent, but as it turns out what he’d smelled was Daffodil’s breath (as you might imagine, the dog LOVES the sausage place, even if it’s fake meat); Tabitha got distracted by a handsome skunk person passing by; and Posy just went down the wrong street and instead led them to the Bright Blue Bakery – so named because of its bright blue awnings and door. The gang decided “Well, we might as well get the buns while we’re here” and went inside, to find the owner (a sort of plant-moth person) in an absolute tizzy – not helped by James asking for her brightest, bluest bread. Tabitha gave the baker a comforting hug against her expansive bosom as the trio explained they were in charge of the veggie hot dogs and needed the buns. The baker explained they were in the oven and would be ready soon, but she needed help with something herself – she wanted to make her Cleverly Cookies for the Pot Luck, but had run out of the cleverly candies that she put in them (said candies helping boost the consumer’s cleverness when it comes to planting). And she couldn’t leave the bakery because, well, busy day, things baking. The gang promptly struck a deal to go and get the candies she needed in exchange for getting the hot dog buns for free, and then politely asked for directions to the magical confectioner’s shop after admitting the reason they were here first was because they’d gotten lost on the way to the sausage shop. XD The baker was happy to give them, and fortunately it proved to be a pretty easy trip, straight across to the other side of the town square. The gang went in and had a look around to see if they could spot the candies –
And got a middling roll from James, a good roll from Posy – and a critical failure from Tabitha! Tabitha, as it turns out, was distracted from looking for the candies by spotting Daffodil trying to get into the pick-and-mix and promptly wrestled the dog outside to stop it getting hair everywhere (where they proceeded to have some out-of-focus adventures with Tabitha trying to stop Daffodil climbing atop a moving carriage). James, for his part, got distracted by finding cricket-themed performance-enhancing candies (gobstoppers made to look like cricket balls and dipping candy with a stick like a cricket bat) and immediately decided he needed those to win his next match, to the point of utterly forgetting what they came in for when the proprietor came over to see how they were doing. XD Fortunately, Posy was on the case, and had spotted the cleverlies – or, at least, one kind of them, as different colors enhance different skills. A quick chat with the confectioner revealed that the green ones were the ones they wanted – and Posy, not knowing how many the baker would need, elected to buy the whole jar. Fortunately, it was only four gold – and when the confectioner started struggling with the jar, James was on hand with a nat 20 roll to save it (he even got to spin it on his finger/possibly hoof (I THINK he mentioned those?) like a basketball). XD James got his performance-enhancing candies for two gold (with the confectioner making a mental note to sell any future opponents of his the same thing to keep it fair), and the gang trucked the cleverlies back to the baker, who thanked them profusely and gave them the buns warm out of the oven (in a dog-proof box, mindful of Daffodil). I left it off with the gang having made it to the Sage Sausage place (having discovered it was actually very close to the bakery on their way to the confectionery – they just took a wrong turning), with the owner insisting they put Daffodil outside and Tabitha immediately essentially chucking the dog outside while making heart eyes at said owner. XD This is a very different sort of RPG than I’m used to them playing, but it’s fun nonetheless. I find it deeply amusing that Mike’s character apparently has minus one in his Personality stat. XD At least he’s good at cricket? :p Anyway, we’ll see how the whole “acquiring sausages” thing goes tomorrow!
Other: Remembered to get Dad’s birthday card sorted, at least! Found a funny card that I think he’ll enjoy and set it up to be sent tomorrow morning, so hooray, that’s sorted. (Gift-wise, Mom and I are buying him a big-screen TV – he’s gonna pick it out tomorrow.)
So I guess pretty much all the most important stuff got hit, at least in terms of what I needed to have up on my tumblrs and what I had to get for Dad's birthday tomorrow. But still, I would have really appreciated a more chill and productive end to my long weekend. *deep sigh* Well, I have to remember that it's only two and a half days this week, and half-day Fridays now right through Labor Day, so. . .I'll have other chances to catch up. *nods* Right now, though, I have to hit the sheets. Night all.
