Guess Who Took A Sick Day?

Yeah, the stuffy nose hung on throughout today, and I woke up kinda tired and cold, so I ended up calling (well, texting) in sick and taking the day to recover. Did end up spending a bunch of time on TV Tropes this morning reading through Not Always Working stories, but fuck it, it was nice to have that time to myself for a change. :) And for what it's worth, even with being a little bit sick, I had a very nice day off --

Tumblr: Had a very productive day on here, even with the stuffy nose proving a distraction –

Victor Luvs Alice – Caught up on my dash AND my tracked tags this morning, since I actually had the time – even found some Smiler stuff to stick into my drafts (someone’s gooey monster Smiler OC and a “gay rights Smiler” picture someone got of a rainbow behind the ride). And THEN I headed into my drafts and did some work on my Smiler Otherland posts – cleaning up some typos and such in the “weapons” post; cleaning and updating some of the sections in the “outfits” post; and adding more links to the “Domains” post (like someone’s informative video on the Sanctuary stuff, all four episodes of “Smile. Always,” and a link to when Felix’s Celebration Stage show starts in Theme Park World’s vlog on the Smiler Takeover (I didn’t particularly WANT to link to their video, as they were rather negative about the whole thing, but they are the ONLY one I could find that had the “right” Felix – aka, a brunette, not someone in that weird blond wig)). :D Glad to make some progress on those!

Valice Multiverse – One anon ask where Bumby got killed by someone who attached a note with the lyrics to the chorus of “Mambo #5” to his back. I had my Valicer In The Dark trio encounter it, and Alice decide it must be the calling card of a particularly weird group of assassins. XD Just a bit of simple fun for the queue!

Sims 4: Well, I had some time this afternoon, so I went ahead and hopped on here to do some more work on my Arts Factory renovation – here’s what I accomplished today:

A) I figured out how to change the two little offices in the back, next to the canteen area, into bathrooms! As per the last time I worked on this build, I couldn’t justify turning each three-by-three office into a single bathroom – that would have been WAY too spacious, especially with the cramped-quarters cubicles downstairs! So instead, I tried making tiny one-by-three cubicles with the toilet on one side, the sink and mirror on the other, and a door in the middle of the side wall leading in between them. The idea was that there would be two of these cubicles on either side of the three-by-three rooms, with a tiny central “hallway” leading to both – but when I started copying and pasting rooms, I discovered I couldn’t put doors in all of the cubicles because the game wouldn’t let them overlap with each other (basically, the doors would be facing each other on opposite walls, and would thus share a footprint for opening, which is generally a no-no in this game). So, after a moment’s pondering, I deleted three of the cubicles, turned the remaining one into a two-by-three bathroom with a door to the outside, and then copied and pasted that twice. Result – the two offices are now a bank of three two-by-three bathrooms! Which I find better overall, as it meant there was some space for Sims to actually, you know, MOVE AROUND. XD Plus I didn’t have to worry about cramming loads of doors into a tiny space, and I could use ceiling lights instead of wall ones to light the space. Took a little bit, but I got it to work in the end!

B) I did up the main boss’s office! Since this space was supposed to be for the head honcho of the whole factory, I gave them a really nice desk (originally the Princess Cordelia desk, but after discovering the unlockable nameplate “clutter” object, deciding I definitely wanted to use it, and then realizing I couldn’t put it on the right spot of the Cordelia desk, I swapped to the unlockable executive desk) and chair; a fancy bookshelf (I was going to do two sets, but I didn’t like the copy-paste look of having two of the same kind, and the only other one I liked was much shorter than the other, so I instead put the bookshelf in the middle of the side wall and put decorations around it); some ancient decorative pots and fancy wall art (I have decided that, since this is supposed to be a VITD factory, and I chose pots from Selvadorada and wall art that looked similarly foreign in nature, the boss is a fan of Irvuvian history and artwork – Iruvia being one of the other islands in the setting of Blades In The Dark, described as being a land of black deserts and raging volcanoes); the typewriter-esque computer that came with Cottage Living (steampunk!) and some decorative books and papers (from I believe High School Living so the papers are actually homework, but shhh); and nice carpet and nicer wooden walls. Oh, and two lousy chairs for visitors to sit in in front of his desk. XD Rather like how it came out – it feels very “this person is the only one here with money and power.” *nods approvingly*

C) And I made a few more minor changes around the build:

I. I moved the dumpster that was at the front of the build around to one of the notches in the back, next to the big green double doors, since that seemed like the more logical place to put it anyway. I also moved the wrecked dresser that was there to be next to it, like it was an object too big to be properly thrown away. :p

II. I added a wooden column to the side of the gap leading into the kitchen off the canteen, because I didn’t like the way the wall just ENDED there, and I needed SOMETHING to finish it off – this DID require me to slap “move objects on” to keep my decorations on that wall in the spots that I wanted (I don’t know WHY a column that is on the END of a wall would stop me from putting something in the MIDDLE of the wall, but whatever), but at least now the gap looks a little more like an actual entrance and a little less like me just knocking out some wall segments.

III. I sold the snowboards that were being stored in the “shelf” room on the first floor (as they didn’t fit the new vibe of the factory) and the fabricator I stored in the boss’s office temporarily (decided I didn’t really need it). I have yet to let go of the robotics station, though – just really need to figure out a place to put it now that I can’t have it in the boss’s office!

IV. I moved the easel up to the second floor, putting it overlooking the main work floor next to the boss’s office, and put a “paint your own wall mural” space on the far side of the catwalk around the main work floor below. Dunno if that will be the final home of the easel – I was going to put it in the boss’s office, but I couldn’t find a good place for it without screwing up where the door to the boss’s private bathroom would go – but I kind of like the idea of people sneakily painting on the wall up there. :p

V. And on the main work floor itself, I added tea and coffee machines to the counters in one of the little nooks on the side wall (gotta keep the workers caffeinated), then moved the upright piano into the little nook at the other end of the room (closest to the “back doors”) and (with the help of more “move objects on”) added a light there (the idea being is that there’s someone paid to play songs to get the workers to work harder XD).

*nods* Not bad! This thing is slowly but surely coming together. :) Next time, maybe I’ll concentrate on figuring out where to put some of the other things I need for an “Arts Center” that don’t really fit the factory vibe (like the activity table for kids) – maybe in the “shelf room,” pretending they’re products ready to be shipped out? Hmm. . . will have to ponder!

Writing: Edited the Modern!AU Valicer “nobody wants to leave the cuddlepile” story for OT3 Week – and fortunately, this one didn’t give me the trouble some of the others did. Nope, this was just cleaning up a tale of how Victor didn’t want to leave the cuddle pile, but felt like he had to to fulfill a goofy obligation to his mother – at least, until Alice and Smiler conspired to hit him with his trance trigger to make him stay. XD Though that makes it sound like this story is from Victor’s POV – this is actually my other Smiler POV story, since I’m trying to get into the habit of writing things from their perspective a little more. I think it came out pretty well – and I managed to keep this one a little more SFW hypnokinky. XD Just one more prompt to edit!

YouTube: As you might expect, being off, I was able to get in rather more YouTubery than normal – though I am TECHNICALLY down another video in the Subs, as GrayStillPlays released another compilation, this one of his Earn To Die videos (where you’re upgrading cars while driving across the zombie wastes). But THOSE videos get saved for workouts, so here’s what I actually got through –

A) First off, a shout-out to those videos I watched while working on the “Smiler’s Otherland: Domains” post before and after lunch: “The Fear Test Festival of Thrills: The Smiler Takeover 2023 at Alton Towers Resort” by Amy and Mel (which was, as you might imagine, them filming one of the Fear Test shows during the Takeover) and “The Sanctuary at Alton Towers - What Once Was | Episode 1” by The Drop (a video talking about the Sanctuary Scare Maze (a spooky maze through Kelman’s Sanctuary that featured patients and staff alike spooking the people coming through), which debuted at Scarefest at Alton Towers in 2012, got reopened to placate annoyed people in early 2013 after The Smiler’s opening was repeatedly delayed, then came back one more time for one last Scarefest the following year before being dropped). Both very fun videos that I was happy to link to in the post, with the latter being very informative about the scare maze (and might have even gotten a comment on it from Kelman’s actor! :D If Gerry was the real deal, that would be so cool. . .)

B) Then, right before my workout, I watched the latest from Josh Way in the Subs – “SCREEN TIME: Dune Part Two Review!” Though it ended up being Josh’s thoughts on both the more recent Dune movies (he has also seen the David Lynch one, and he appreciates it for “what it is,” deeply flawed as that is). His thoughts is that he really liked the world-set-up in the first movie, and he really loved the spectacle and the cinematography and general film-making awesomeness in both movies. . .he’s just not into the PLOT. Never read the books, was completely confused by the Lynch film the first time he tried to watch it (which I think most of us would call fair), just not that interested in what the story has to say. But gosh darn it if he wasn’t blown away by the effects and the gorgeousness of the films, so, yeah. XD Also, at the very end we got to hear from his cat, meowing at him as he tried to record, and they sounded soooo cute. I hope kitty gets to come on-camera at some point. :P

C) And then this evening, we had the OXBoxtra lists for the week –

I. “7 Messed Up Soulsborne Bosses Who Destroyed Themselves to Kill You!” – Andy and Luke telling us all about those hard as nails FROM Software games bosses who were willing to basically destroy themselves and betray all they held dear in order to wreck the player character. From The Last Giant of Dark Souls 2 ripping off his own arm to use as a club and extend his terrible reach, to Iudex Gundyr of Dark Souls 3 transforming into the “Pus of Man” (a weird roiling creature that honestly wouldn’t look out of place in a Resident Evil game) to increase his already massive danger levels, to Lawrence, The First Vicar in Bloodborne’s “Old Hunters” DLC ripping off his lower half so he could SPEW LAVA FROM HIS SHATTERED TORSO, these bosses were more than willing to destroy themselves as long as they got you in the bargain. Harsh. Bu then again, do we expect anything less from FROM at this point?

II. “7 Games That Changed Completely on a Second Playthrough” – Mike, Andy, and Jane talking about all those games which have loads of new content on a second go-round. From Alan Wake II expanding both the prologue and the ending in “The Final Draft” New Game + mode (and also redoing a bunch of the jumpscares to keep veterans on their toes), to Starfield throwing you into a random alternate universe where you can straight-up skip the main quest if you want if you manage to make it to ITS New Game +, to the famous A and B scenarios of the original Resident Evil 2, which significantly changed up your game depending on which character ran which scenario (meaning you basically had to play the game FOUR TIMES so both Claire and Leon got their shot at the A and B scenarios) and what you did in A affecting what was available in B (so don’t take ALL those guns and ammo pick-ups), some games are prepared to make playing through them again VERY MUCH worth your while. ...And some of them just add sound to the game when previously it was almost silent because the gimmick was that you’re playing a deaf protagonist who naturally wouldn’t hear people talking and suchlike. XD (Jane was not impressed, The Quiet Man.)

Workout: Yes, I did do my workout today – while I took a sick day, I wasn’t THAT sick (mostly just a stuffy nose that wouldn’t quit, and even that wasn’t as bad as some I’ve had), and in fact pedaling on the bike seemed to clear up my airways a little. :) I did take it easier than normal, of course, but I was still able to do a little over a half an hour, watching the final bit of Oxventure: Deadlands content – the Q&A! Hosted by producer Zack! :D I haven’t QUITE gotten through all of it (the video is forty-five minutes), but I did learn that Johnny wanted to play a Harrowed from the start, but their initial idea was for Nate to die of natural causes (like a heart attack), only for Andy to go “how about we make the death more story-relevant, I have a duel right here that Nate can die in” – oh, and they genuinely did not tell the others the plan, Luke and Jane’s shock in that episode was genuine; that Luke kept himself “pure” by not watching the episodes he wasn’t in (to help with his roleplaying), while Ellen happily joined the group chat and read fan theories (which is how she figured out the whole “Horsemen Of The Apocalypse” angle); that Mike originally thought that Silas’s defining feature would be his short temper, NOT his absurd fear and hatred of horses (because when was THAT going to come up? XD); that Mike and Johnny immediately hit upon their character concepts without any trouble, Ellen reworked Edie to turn her from a saloon-girl-turned-monster-hunter into a monster hunter who works as a saloon girl so she can hunt monsters for people who can’t afford to pay (as it turns out, her brother died because Edie couldn’t pay a monster hunter to kill the beast who killed him), Luke’s original idea was a journalist looking for a scoop who floridly described everything that happened to him (Johnny was like “thank you for making Delacy instead”), and Jane actually had TWO other characters she could have played – her original Deadlands character she played in a campaign helmed by Johnny (rejected because said character was a pacifist nun, and Jane thought she’d need someone more willing to fight in this campaign), and a magic-slinging widow in her weeds (rejected because Jane thought that character was becoming a little too much like Prudence). Oh, and that Luke’s favorite NPC was Rex Randall The Singing Cowboy – you know, the very first guy Delacy shot in the throat. XD We’ll finish this off tomorrow, find ourselves another video to close out the week, and then get ready for compilation time on Sunday!

Other: Read through tumblr-friend Nebby’s latest chapter on her MediEvil II re-write fic and left a comment – nice to have had the time to do that today!

Not too shabby! And now it is time for me to go to bed and see how I'm feeling in the morning. The stuffiness has been improving over the course of the day, though it's not completely gone -- I mean, I'm perfectly okay with taking tomorrow off too just to be on the safe side. But we'll see. Night all!