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Another Late Thursday
Aug. 1st, 2024 11:55 pmSeriously, I do seem to be running a bit late with these updates as the week ends...maybe my brain's trying to shift into "vacation mode" a little too early. :p But I am here now with the standard to-do list --
Work – Another quiet day – I did my morning reports, then spent the rest of the day working through the update lists from a particular parish, which featured a lot of me going through dead people, and finding other dead people while looking for the original dead people. There were a lot of dead people, is what I’m saying. XD But I got through that, along with some credit card nonsense, and I’m currently working my way through the list of people to add to the parish. Hopefully I’ll finish that off tomorrow – just gotta get through the final half-day and then I am freeeeee, yay~
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, another night with the GrayStillPlays compilation “Busting 500 Myths in GTA 5!” Though we’ve actually moved on from myth-busting to making Gray face his fears in the videos included in this particular set – guess Gray figured he should include just actual YouTube videos and not shorts? Anyway, highlights from this chunk included Gray managing to do a backflip on a motorcycle and landing on a moving train (after many, many unsuccessful tries); Gray managing to get through the D in the VINEWOOD sign without dying (after, again, many, many unsuccessful tries); Gray managing to get through the big abstract sculpture in one of the city squares without dying (you know the drill by now); Gray managing to toss a sticky bomb onto the spinning prop of a wind turbine and use it to blow up a helicopter (with the help of a local dump truck for a little extra height); Gray managing to use a truck bed and a gravity gun to levitate himself across a canyon (both ways!); Gray managing to use super run to outrun a RPG rocket and get on the special flying bike to fly away before it got blown up (this one required some PRECISE timing); Gray managing to get all the way across the graveyard and back again while both being chased by a rocket-launcher-wielding Jason AND dealing with the chaos mod (the poor guy got yeeted, had his glasses taken away, and had to deal with virtual Hurricane Ian); and Gray managing to land safely on top of a spinning helicopter prop with super jump (after many, many, MANY unsuccessful tries). We’ll finish this off tomorrow and see just what other bizarre and amusing challenges get featured!
2. Continue editing “Start At The Beginning...Sort Of”: Check – had a REALLY good session today, getting through almost two whole pages in the chase sequence (once I stumbled across the right music and found a way to get it to loop on YouTube – and it occurs to me that I should probably add “Survival” from the Dishonored OST to my Valicer In The Dark playlist because of this)! Alice got to show off her Devil’s Footsteps by leaping atop a carriage in a surprise real-life double jump, and Smiler proved their Alchemist chops by drugging up the Bluecoat who nearly caught them with a spare syringe of Joy Serum. Meaning all that’s left is for Victor to show off his Ghost Mind by spotting a specter that might give him and his friends some trouble – and accidentally lead Tannen and his remaining lackey straight into it. I – might actually finish off this chapter tomorrow if I can keep the same momentum now that I had tonight. We’ll see!
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Substitution Check – no Josh Way today, and GrayStillPlays uploaded another compilation (TWO HOURS AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES of ridiculous vehicle challenges in GTA V, damn), so I had to turn to my Watch Later for stuff to watch tonight! Specifically, I turned to the Sims 4-related content within it –
A) First, we had “The Sims 4: EYELASHES, CURVED POOLS, ROMANTIC BOUNDARIES, AND MORE! (July 2024 Patch Update)” by onlyabidoang! As you might guess from the title, this was an overview of the July 23rd, 2024 patch that added loads of stuff and did a lot of bug-fixing in the game (and the two patches that followed that hotfixed some of the bugs the patch introduced, like accidental incest if you used one of the new Neighborhood Stories options). Abi showed off the new eyelashes available in the base game, along with all the new fingernails and additional fingernail swatches; the “Apply To All” feature for copying stuff across outfit categories in CAS (very handy if you want a Sim to have a standard hairstyle or hat for all their outfits); the renamed-to-be-more-gender-neutral relationship categories and the fact you can set Sims to be “partners” (previously known as boyfriend/girlfriend) in CAS now; the new Relationships category in the social menu; the new Romantic Boundaries system and how it works (basically setting what makes your Sim jealous and if they can be talked around on their triggers); curved pools and fountains; and a bunch of other stuff besides. Very thorough and enlightening – I appreciate that he takes the time to go through everything that gets changed in a patch and show off as much as he can so we can see what it all looks like! And point out when a bug is “fixed” but not really, as he still has framerate stutter (though apparently it DOES clear up faster) and fucked-up foxes in his Households (though he admitted that was an old save). Thanks for keeping us informed, Abi!
B) And second, we had “Complete Romance Skill Guide | The Sims 4” from Petey Plays It! Again, the title makes it very clear what this is about – Petey talking about the new Romance skill from the Lovestruck expansion pack! Which is trained by doing romantic stuff (or reading romantic skillbooks) and unlocks things like being able to build up your partner, emotionally connect with them, share a sweetheart box of treats with them, do a very romantic dip kiss with them, and do the world’s least-seductive seductive dance with them. XD It’s all very silly, but I did like the sweetheart box and the dip kiss, I admit. Petey also touched upon the new “Romantic Sage” trait you can pick up from seeing and experiencing enough positive romantic interactions (which makes romance interactions more likely to succeed and allows Sims to remember the positive romantic interactions they’ve had whenever one fails to help override any nasty moodlets), and the two new aspirations for Sims looking to get the most out of love (including one that just seems to be “hey, be polyamorous!”). Good informative stuff again – and hey, this should be a fun skill for Tina over in the Super Sim Series to train up, given she’s already a Romantic. Just have to find a Sim to train it up WITH...
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check and check, yay –
Victor Luvs Alice – No queuing stuff necessary here, but I did make sure to reblog some stuff – a post about how silly fictional characters can take over your entire brain chemistry (SUCH a mood); Moose’s two latest McFly July fics (Dave doing the night shift at Burger King and getting briefly spooked by Doc coming in at 3:35 AM, and 1955!Doc and Marty going back to the town square to clean up the cables from Doc’s “weather experiment” the previous night, since Doc didn’t get a chance to do it due to Marty’s reappearance after he was supposed to be sent back to the future making him faint); and a really cool BTTF gifset focusing on the characters and their costume changes throughout the different time periods of the movies (it’s very satisfying, I recommend you go check it out). So that’s all good.
Valice Multiverse – One ask for the queue, about what you call a trans man’s downstairs (the anon was like “a bussy?” and Smiler was like “if that’s what he wants!”) – I also replied to SatiricalDemon’s reply to my answer to his “Paranoia Core” ask from the other day (he pointed out that, as bad as Aperture was, it wasn’t like the Industrialized Hell of The Factory where the machines are fueled by the dismembered limbs of the workers – Aperture!Victor’s response was essentially “that sounds bad but I am not 100% sure we DON’T use dismembered limbs of workers in our science.” XD). So that’s all set for the moment!
Not too shabby, I feel -- and I was very glad to get so much done on Chapter 4 of "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of." Finding the right music for that chase sequence really did seem to make all the difference! :D And now it is time for me to head to bed so I can prepare for my final morning at work for a week. Night all!
Work – Another quiet day – I did my morning reports, then spent the rest of the day working through the update lists from a particular parish, which featured a lot of me going through dead people, and finding other dead people while looking for the original dead people. There were a lot of dead people, is what I’m saying. XD But I got through that, along with some credit card nonsense, and I’m currently working my way through the list of people to add to the parish. Hopefully I’ll finish that off tomorrow – just gotta get through the final half-day and then I am freeeeee, yay~
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, another night with the GrayStillPlays compilation “Busting 500 Myths in GTA 5!” Though we’ve actually moved on from myth-busting to making Gray face his fears in the videos included in this particular set – guess Gray figured he should include just actual YouTube videos and not shorts? Anyway, highlights from this chunk included Gray managing to do a backflip on a motorcycle and landing on a moving train (after many, many unsuccessful tries); Gray managing to get through the D in the VINEWOOD sign without dying (after, again, many, many unsuccessful tries); Gray managing to get through the big abstract sculpture in one of the city squares without dying (you know the drill by now); Gray managing to toss a sticky bomb onto the spinning prop of a wind turbine and use it to blow up a helicopter (with the help of a local dump truck for a little extra height); Gray managing to use a truck bed and a gravity gun to levitate himself across a canyon (both ways!); Gray managing to use super run to outrun a RPG rocket and get on the special flying bike to fly away before it got blown up (this one required some PRECISE timing); Gray managing to get all the way across the graveyard and back again while both being chased by a rocket-launcher-wielding Jason AND dealing with the chaos mod (the poor guy got yeeted, had his glasses taken away, and had to deal with virtual Hurricane Ian); and Gray managing to land safely on top of a spinning helicopter prop with super jump (after many, many, MANY unsuccessful tries). We’ll finish this off tomorrow and see just what other bizarre and amusing challenges get featured!
2. Continue editing “Start At The Beginning...Sort Of”: Check – had a REALLY good session today, getting through almost two whole pages in the chase sequence (once I stumbled across the right music and found a way to get it to loop on YouTube – and it occurs to me that I should probably add “Survival” from the Dishonored OST to my Valicer In The Dark playlist because of this)! Alice got to show off her Devil’s Footsteps by leaping atop a carriage in a surprise real-life double jump, and Smiler proved their Alchemist chops by drugging up the Bluecoat who nearly caught them with a spare syringe of Joy Serum. Meaning all that’s left is for Victor to show off his Ghost Mind by spotting a specter that might give him and his friends some trouble – and accidentally lead Tannen and his remaining lackey straight into it. I – might actually finish off this chapter tomorrow if I can keep the same momentum now that I had tonight. We’ll see!
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Substitution Check – no Josh Way today, and GrayStillPlays uploaded another compilation (TWO HOURS AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES of ridiculous vehicle challenges in GTA V, damn), so I had to turn to my Watch Later for stuff to watch tonight! Specifically, I turned to the Sims 4-related content within it –
A) First, we had “The Sims 4: EYELASHES, CURVED POOLS, ROMANTIC BOUNDARIES, AND MORE! (July 2024 Patch Update)” by onlyabidoang! As you might guess from the title, this was an overview of the July 23rd, 2024 patch that added loads of stuff and did a lot of bug-fixing in the game (and the two patches that followed that hotfixed some of the bugs the patch introduced, like accidental incest if you used one of the new Neighborhood Stories options). Abi showed off the new eyelashes available in the base game, along with all the new fingernails and additional fingernail swatches; the “Apply To All” feature for copying stuff across outfit categories in CAS (very handy if you want a Sim to have a standard hairstyle or hat for all their outfits); the renamed-to-be-more-gender-neutral relationship categories and the fact you can set Sims to be “partners” (previously known as boyfriend/girlfriend) in CAS now; the new Relationships category in the social menu; the new Romantic Boundaries system and how it works (basically setting what makes your Sim jealous and if they can be talked around on their triggers); curved pools and fountains; and a bunch of other stuff besides. Very thorough and enlightening – I appreciate that he takes the time to go through everything that gets changed in a patch and show off as much as he can so we can see what it all looks like! And point out when a bug is “fixed” but not really, as he still has framerate stutter (though apparently it DOES clear up faster) and fucked-up foxes in his Households (though he admitted that was an old save). Thanks for keeping us informed, Abi!
B) And second, we had “Complete Romance Skill Guide | The Sims 4” from Petey Plays It! Again, the title makes it very clear what this is about – Petey talking about the new Romance skill from the Lovestruck expansion pack! Which is trained by doing romantic stuff (or reading romantic skillbooks) and unlocks things like being able to build up your partner, emotionally connect with them, share a sweetheart box of treats with them, do a very romantic dip kiss with them, and do the world’s least-seductive seductive dance with them. XD It’s all very silly, but I did like the sweetheart box and the dip kiss, I admit. Petey also touched upon the new “Romantic Sage” trait you can pick up from seeing and experiencing enough positive romantic interactions (which makes romance interactions more likely to succeed and allows Sims to remember the positive romantic interactions they’ve had whenever one fails to help override any nasty moodlets), and the two new aspirations for Sims looking to get the most out of love (including one that just seems to be “hey, be polyamorous!”). Good informative stuff again – and hey, this should be a fun skill for Tina over in the Super Sim Series to train up, given she’s already a Romantic. Just have to find a Sim to train it up WITH...
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check and check, yay –
Victor Luvs Alice – No queuing stuff necessary here, but I did make sure to reblog some stuff – a post about how silly fictional characters can take over your entire brain chemistry (SUCH a mood); Moose’s two latest McFly July fics (Dave doing the night shift at Burger King and getting briefly spooked by Doc coming in at 3:35 AM, and 1955!Doc and Marty going back to the town square to clean up the cables from Doc’s “weather experiment” the previous night, since Doc didn’t get a chance to do it due to Marty’s reappearance after he was supposed to be sent back to the future making him faint); and a really cool BTTF gifset focusing on the characters and their costume changes throughout the different time periods of the movies (it’s very satisfying, I recommend you go check it out). So that’s all good.
Valice Multiverse – One ask for the queue, about what you call a trans man’s downstairs (the anon was like “a bussy?” and Smiler was like “if that’s what he wants!”) – I also replied to SatiricalDemon’s reply to my answer to his “Paranoia Core” ask from the other day (he pointed out that, as bad as Aperture was, it wasn’t like the Industrialized Hell of The Factory where the machines are fueled by the dismembered limbs of the workers – Aperture!Victor’s response was essentially “that sounds bad but I am not 100% sure we DON’T use dismembered limbs of workers in our science.” XD). So that’s all set for the moment!
Not too shabby, I feel -- and I was very glad to get so much done on Chapter 4 of "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of." Finding the right music for that chase sequence really did seem to make all the difference! :D And now it is time for me to head to bed so I can prepare for my final morning at work for a week. Night all!
