Chores Saturday
May. 16th, 2026 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickYeah, today was a Saturday mostly dedicated to getting stuff that needed to be done done offline in the real world, as the write-up shall prove out:
Cleaning, Laundry, Granola & Nair: Yes, this Cleaning Friday, not only did I have to do my monthly laundry (blankets and bathrobe thrown in with the usual sheets and PJs – plus, this week, the sweatshirt I’ve been wearing during my workouts because Basement Cold), I also had to make more chocolate granola to have with my weekend bowls of cereal – AND I decided to go ahead and Nair up my armpits and legs because the next few days are supposed to be summery, meaning I’ll be wearing my summer tops, meaning it was time to shed the winter fuzz. As you might imagine, doing all of these various chores took up most of my day. If you’d like a more specific breakdown –
Granola – Started with this because I wanted to get it out of the way first thing (and because, while it was baking, I could have breakfast and finish off the last bit of it I had). This took from a little before 10 AM to about 11:30 AM, when I finally asked Mom if it would be okay to let the remaining dishes air-dry so I could brush my teeth and start cleaning my room (she said yes). Though, admittedly, Mom was the one to finish off the whole process, putting the granola in the fridge so the chocolate on it would set and then transferring it to the usual container in the pantry – I thanked her for that, don’t worry!
Cleaning – Thanks to prioritizing the granola, I obviously got a late start on this, beginning the whole process shortly after 11:30 AM. I got the sheets on my bed changed and most of the shelves above and around my bed dusted before lunch a little after 1 PM, then finished off the rest of the dusting, Swiffered, and vacuumed between roughly 1:50 PM and 3:10 PM. *grimace* Though, admittedly, some of that lag could be put down to getting a little too into the videos I was listening to – I once again put on some old Fallout stuff by Jon of Many A True Nerd, and we know how much I like his Fallout videos. XD Specifically, I listened to:
A) “Fallout 4: Lockdown – Welcome to the Season of Fallout 4” – a challenge video he did back in (appropriately) 2020 to kick off him making a whole bunch of FO4 videos (which included his “Fallout 4 Is Better Than You Think” video essays and the Fallout 4 YOLO run), which featured his character having to not only survive, but build a functioning society without ever leaving Sanctuary Hills after leaving Vault 111. This involved a bit of save scumming to get certain materials she needed (specifically to build the radio tower to attract settlers), exploiting the fact that you can turn two bits of wood into two XP via fence posts to level up (and start a new religion in the settlement), and some cannibalism (don’t worry, she eventually cured her dark cravings). XD
B) “Fallout – Where To Start?” – a video he made after the Fallout TV series started attracting a bunch of people to the games, to discuss which games might be the best entry points into the franchise for different types of players. Mostly because he’d seen a bunch of people telling the newbies “play New Vegas, it’s the best one,” and went “while I technically agree with that sentiment, it really isn’t going to be the best fit for all players.” It was a pretty thoughtful discussion of what might attract people to certain games in the franchise – like, for example, if you’re more into solid gunplay and a fun “explore-loot-craft” gameplay loop than a super-fleshed-out narrative, Fallout 4 may be the best starting point, while if you just want a chill experience you can play with friends and don’t care about making a permanent impact on the game world, maybe give Fallout 76 a try. The one thing he was sure on was that NOBODY’S first experience of Fallout should be the old Brotherhood of Steel top-down shooter. That thing was terrible. XD
C) And “Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition Is Worse Than You Think” – a video he made after, appropriately, the release of the 10th Anniversary Edition of the game last year, complaining about how most of its 150 pieces of content are new paint jobs for weapons, armor, and your Pip-Boy; how the mini-quests connected to some of the actual new items were NOT balanced for where you find them in the game (a quest to either kill or befriend a mutant radstag that likes Nuka-Quantum can be triggered by a level 1 character, but gives you TWO extremely overpowered guns for that level AND more XP than the quest to find and take down Kellogg – aka THE GUY WHO KIDNAPPED YOUR CHILD); and how the big New Vegas-themed quest and associated dungeon that was so hyped up in the advertising for the new version of the game WASN’T actually part of the Anniversary Edition – it was a separate creation you had to download from the Creation Club (admittedly, it was FREE, but still). All while dealing with constant “LOOKUP FAILED” errors, because apparently quality control was also not part of the Anniversary Edition. *grimaces* Yeah. Never planning on getting that, that’s for DAMN sure.
So yes – you can see how this might delay the completion of the dusting a bit. :p
Laundry – Brought my first load down around 12:30 PM (coming in at the tail end of the family laundry Mom was doing), then continued popping downstairs to move things into the washer or dryer as necessary until I brought the second load back up to fold it shortly after 4 PM. *shrug* Nothing much to say here – just glad all my blankets and whatnot are fully clean again!
Nair – As you might imagine, I did this around the time I was planning to take my shower, heading into the bathroom at 6:30 PM to make sure I’d have enough time to wait the required three minutes without delaying supper. (I in fact got out EARLIER than I normally do – 7:03 PM instead of around 7:10 PM – which pleased Mom.) It was pretty simple – I just slathered my armpits and legs with Nair; washed my hands and the bottle; set my phone timer and waited for the stuff to do its work; used a little facecloth to make sure the hair was coming off; then hopped in the shower, wiped away the hair, and got myself cleaned up! As per usual, I did miss a few spots – I always TRY to cover my legs fully, but it just never quite works out – but I’ll clean those up with a razor tomorrow.
*nods* So at least all THAT is done now, hooray. For at least two weeks, anyway – hopefully longer when it comes to the granola and the laundry. :p
YouTube: Surprisingly, there was no CaFae Latte compilation this week – I presume that there weren’t enough shorts to compile into a proper season yet. So instead I caught up on the latest list video from OXBox – “7 Incredible Intro Cinematics the Game Couldn’t Possibly Live Up To!” Mike and Jane talking about those games whose introductory cutscenes blew the actual games they were attached to – even if they were excellent interactive experiences in their own right – out of the water. And may have given new players the wrong idea about what sort of game they were going to be playing:
A) Hyped up by the incredibly 90s two minute live action short of men driving around New York doing crimes that served as the introduction to Grand Theft Auto 2? Surprise – while you get to drive around doing crimes yourself, you’re doing it from a top-down perspective, as the game wouldn’t go proper 3D until GTA3 – and you’re doing it in a weird retrofuture city (which is, admittedly, a better setting than plain old New York)
B) Dazzled by the expertly pre-rendered scenes of various Spartans kicking Covenant ass and taking Covenant names on a war-torn planet that served as the introduction to Halo Wars? Surprise – while you do get to kick Covenant ass and take Covenant names, you’re doing so from above again in a real-time strategy game, directing your tiny tiny troops on the ground to take out the tiny tiny threats.
C) And delighted by the amazing mini-action movie featuring one character being chased by a missile-spewing helicopter and another getting wrapped up in a full-on prison riot that served as the introduction to Tekken 3? Surprise – you get to experience absolutely none of that personally, as what you’re playing is a one-on-one fighting game. One of the best one-on-one fighting games out there, admittedly, but still.
So yeah – basically, the lesson to take from this video is “intro cinematics are to be enjoyed, but never trusted. Not until you’ve played the game at least once, anyway.” :P
Tumblr: In a twist, I didn’t end up doing anything on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) today (though I can at least confirm that Squid liked their birthday fic, so yay), but I did answer an ask over on Valice Multiverse – one about the song “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, of all things. Specifically, it was from an anon who pointed out that, while Dolly begs Jolene not to ruin her life, there’s no indication in the song that Jolene has the slightest clue what’s going on – noting that the unfortunate woman might just be at the grocery story when she gets the call from Dolly, standing there listening like “...what?” XD I had Cuddlepile!Alice respond admiting that she’d never considered that before, and asking the entire reasonable question of why Dolly is calling Jolene rather than, you know, talking to her husband, causing Smiler to note that the husband might be just as confused as Jolene, given Dolly’s main reason for thinking he wants to leave her is saying the name “Jolene” in his sleep. Causing them to pretend to be said confused husband and ask Doll if she knows dreams aren’t real. XD Fun ask, even if I DID have to look up the lyrics to the song because I’m more familiar with the parody version where Jolene is a Lovecraftian monster.
Writing: While I didn’t have the time to PLAY Fallout: New Vegas today, I did have time to THINK about it – specifically, to think about my Courier Victor’s backstory! Which I’ve been meaning to get sorted for a while. So, this evening, I went into my Master Doc for F:NV, started a “Backstory” section, and listed out:
A) What is definitively established as the Courier’s backstory in the game (their official work title, Courier Six; a list of places they’ve been on their travels; and their history as the only courier willing to deliver to the community at The Divide...which, tragically, led to them unknowingly delivering the package that destroyed it)
B) What bits of backstory that can be established through dialogue I would want to apply to Victor (having seen the singer Bruce Isaac back when he was performing in the Shark Club in New Reno; extremely skilled with RobCo technology, including successfully interpreting Dr. 8 and ED-E; learned enough about history to know that Ulysses, Courier Five, took his name from former president and general Ulysses S. Grant and not the mythological Ulysses (aka Odysseus); does NOT know anything about the Midwest and needs LR ED-E to tell him what a Chicago is :P)
C) And some of my own personal thoughts about what should be present in his backstory (he probably grew up in California...as the descendant of English immigrants, as I want him to have his proper accent; his parents are still very much William and Nell, super-rich fish merchants; he was more or less raised by robots, explaining how good he is with RobCo tech; and his “Corpse Bride Incident” was actually one with a “Ghoul Bride,” with Emily as a ghoul whose elopement was interrupted by the apocalypse (which, ironically, saved her life as it killed the guy who was planning to murder her). Haven’t decided if she’s mad enough to consider a pack of feral ghouls her “friends” and accidentally unleashes them on Victor’s hometown to celebrate the “wedding,” or if Victor brings her to his town to get her help (and himself some help to explain they’re not really married), only to have to watch her get gunned down. Tragedy either way!)
So that was fun, at least. :) One day I will give him a backstory as fleshed out as Tav!Smiler’s!
Other: And, as already stated, since I got on the computer pretty late today, I forewent trying to squeeze in some Fallout: New Vegas in favor of answering all of Moose’s messages! So that is also off my plate, yay. Sorry it took me almost two weeks, Moose! Ball’s in your court!
...all right, I guess I accomplished a decent amount today. Even if most of it was chores. But now I have to go to bed, as it is VERY late. Tomorrow, I hope to work on my Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) drafts; play either Fallout: New Vegas or Portal 2 (we'll see what I feel like); and get in a workout, preferably to whatever new Fallout video Jon will be uploading. *nods* We'll see how things go -- night all!
Cleaning, Laundry, Granola & Nair: Yes, this Cleaning Friday, not only did I have to do my monthly laundry (blankets and bathrobe thrown in with the usual sheets and PJs – plus, this week, the sweatshirt I’ve been wearing during my workouts because Basement Cold), I also had to make more chocolate granola to have with my weekend bowls of cereal – AND I decided to go ahead and Nair up my armpits and legs because the next few days are supposed to be summery, meaning I’ll be wearing my summer tops, meaning it was time to shed the winter fuzz. As you might imagine, doing all of these various chores took up most of my day. If you’d like a more specific breakdown –
Granola – Started with this because I wanted to get it out of the way first thing (and because, while it was baking, I could have breakfast and finish off the last bit of it I had). This took from a little before 10 AM to about 11:30 AM, when I finally asked Mom if it would be okay to let the remaining dishes air-dry so I could brush my teeth and start cleaning my room (she said yes). Though, admittedly, Mom was the one to finish off the whole process, putting the granola in the fridge so the chocolate on it would set and then transferring it to the usual container in the pantry – I thanked her for that, don’t worry!
Cleaning – Thanks to prioritizing the granola, I obviously got a late start on this, beginning the whole process shortly after 11:30 AM. I got the sheets on my bed changed and most of the shelves above and around my bed dusted before lunch a little after 1 PM, then finished off the rest of the dusting, Swiffered, and vacuumed between roughly 1:50 PM and 3:10 PM. *grimace* Though, admittedly, some of that lag could be put down to getting a little too into the videos I was listening to – I once again put on some old Fallout stuff by Jon of Many A True Nerd, and we know how much I like his Fallout videos. XD Specifically, I listened to:
A) “Fallout 4: Lockdown – Welcome to the Season of Fallout 4” – a challenge video he did back in (appropriately) 2020 to kick off him making a whole bunch of FO4 videos (which included his “Fallout 4 Is Better Than You Think” video essays and the Fallout 4 YOLO run), which featured his character having to not only survive, but build a functioning society without ever leaving Sanctuary Hills after leaving Vault 111. This involved a bit of save scumming to get certain materials she needed (specifically to build the radio tower to attract settlers), exploiting the fact that you can turn two bits of wood into two XP via fence posts to level up (and start a new religion in the settlement), and some cannibalism (don’t worry, she eventually cured her dark cravings). XD
B) “Fallout – Where To Start?” – a video he made after the Fallout TV series started attracting a bunch of people to the games, to discuss which games might be the best entry points into the franchise for different types of players. Mostly because he’d seen a bunch of people telling the newbies “play New Vegas, it’s the best one,” and went “while I technically agree with that sentiment, it really isn’t going to be the best fit for all players.” It was a pretty thoughtful discussion of what might attract people to certain games in the franchise – like, for example, if you’re more into solid gunplay and a fun “explore-loot-craft” gameplay loop than a super-fleshed-out narrative, Fallout 4 may be the best starting point, while if you just want a chill experience you can play with friends and don’t care about making a permanent impact on the game world, maybe give Fallout 76 a try. The one thing he was sure on was that NOBODY’S first experience of Fallout should be the old Brotherhood of Steel top-down shooter. That thing was terrible. XD
C) And “Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition Is Worse Than You Think” – a video he made after, appropriately, the release of the 10th Anniversary Edition of the game last year, complaining about how most of its 150 pieces of content are new paint jobs for weapons, armor, and your Pip-Boy; how the mini-quests connected to some of the actual new items were NOT balanced for where you find them in the game (a quest to either kill or befriend a mutant radstag that likes Nuka-Quantum can be triggered by a level 1 character, but gives you TWO extremely overpowered guns for that level AND more XP than the quest to find and take down Kellogg – aka THE GUY WHO KIDNAPPED YOUR CHILD); and how the big New Vegas-themed quest and associated dungeon that was so hyped up in the advertising for the new version of the game WASN’T actually part of the Anniversary Edition – it was a separate creation you had to download from the Creation Club (admittedly, it was FREE, but still). All while dealing with constant “LOOKUP FAILED” errors, because apparently quality control was also not part of the Anniversary Edition. *grimaces* Yeah. Never planning on getting that, that’s for DAMN sure.
So yes – you can see how this might delay the completion of the dusting a bit. :p
Laundry – Brought my first load down around 12:30 PM (coming in at the tail end of the family laundry Mom was doing), then continued popping downstairs to move things into the washer or dryer as necessary until I brought the second load back up to fold it shortly after 4 PM. *shrug* Nothing much to say here – just glad all my blankets and whatnot are fully clean again!
Nair – As you might imagine, I did this around the time I was planning to take my shower, heading into the bathroom at 6:30 PM to make sure I’d have enough time to wait the required three minutes without delaying supper. (I in fact got out EARLIER than I normally do – 7:03 PM instead of around 7:10 PM – which pleased Mom.) It was pretty simple – I just slathered my armpits and legs with Nair; washed my hands and the bottle; set my phone timer and waited for the stuff to do its work; used a little facecloth to make sure the hair was coming off; then hopped in the shower, wiped away the hair, and got myself cleaned up! As per usual, I did miss a few spots – I always TRY to cover my legs fully, but it just never quite works out – but I’ll clean those up with a razor tomorrow.
*nods* So at least all THAT is done now, hooray. For at least two weeks, anyway – hopefully longer when it comes to the granola and the laundry. :p
YouTube: Surprisingly, there was no CaFae Latte compilation this week – I presume that there weren’t enough shorts to compile into a proper season yet. So instead I caught up on the latest list video from OXBox – “7 Incredible Intro Cinematics the Game Couldn’t Possibly Live Up To!” Mike and Jane talking about those games whose introductory cutscenes blew the actual games they were attached to – even if they were excellent interactive experiences in their own right – out of the water. And may have given new players the wrong idea about what sort of game they were going to be playing:
A) Hyped up by the incredibly 90s two minute live action short of men driving around New York doing crimes that served as the introduction to Grand Theft Auto 2? Surprise – while you get to drive around doing crimes yourself, you’re doing it from a top-down perspective, as the game wouldn’t go proper 3D until GTA3 – and you’re doing it in a weird retrofuture city (which is, admittedly, a better setting than plain old New York)
B) Dazzled by the expertly pre-rendered scenes of various Spartans kicking Covenant ass and taking Covenant names on a war-torn planet that served as the introduction to Halo Wars? Surprise – while you do get to kick Covenant ass and take Covenant names, you’re doing so from above again in a real-time strategy game, directing your tiny tiny troops on the ground to take out the tiny tiny threats.
C) And delighted by the amazing mini-action movie featuring one character being chased by a missile-spewing helicopter and another getting wrapped up in a full-on prison riot that served as the introduction to Tekken 3? Surprise – you get to experience absolutely none of that personally, as what you’re playing is a one-on-one fighting game. One of the best one-on-one fighting games out there, admittedly, but still.
So yeah – basically, the lesson to take from this video is “intro cinematics are to be enjoyed, but never trusted. Not until you’ve played the game at least once, anyway.” :P
Tumblr: In a twist, I didn’t end up doing anything on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) today (though I can at least confirm that Squid liked their birthday fic, so yay), but I did answer an ask over on Valice Multiverse – one about the song “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, of all things. Specifically, it was from an anon who pointed out that, while Dolly begs Jolene not to ruin her life, there’s no indication in the song that Jolene has the slightest clue what’s going on – noting that the unfortunate woman might just be at the grocery story when she gets the call from Dolly, standing there listening like “...what?” XD I had Cuddlepile!Alice respond admiting that she’d never considered that before, and asking the entire reasonable question of why Dolly is calling Jolene rather than, you know, talking to her husband, causing Smiler to note that the husband might be just as confused as Jolene, given Dolly’s main reason for thinking he wants to leave her is saying the name “Jolene” in his sleep. Causing them to pretend to be said confused husband and ask Doll if she knows dreams aren’t real. XD Fun ask, even if I DID have to look up the lyrics to the song because I’m more familiar with the parody version where Jolene is a Lovecraftian monster.
Writing: While I didn’t have the time to PLAY Fallout: New Vegas today, I did have time to THINK about it – specifically, to think about my Courier Victor’s backstory! Which I’ve been meaning to get sorted for a while. So, this evening, I went into my Master Doc for F:NV, started a “Backstory” section, and listed out:
A) What is definitively established as the Courier’s backstory in the game (their official work title, Courier Six; a list of places they’ve been on their travels; and their history as the only courier willing to deliver to the community at The Divide...which, tragically, led to them unknowingly delivering the package that destroyed it)
B) What bits of backstory that can be established through dialogue I would want to apply to Victor (having seen the singer Bruce Isaac back when he was performing in the Shark Club in New Reno; extremely skilled with RobCo technology, including successfully interpreting Dr. 8 and ED-E; learned enough about history to know that Ulysses, Courier Five, took his name from former president and general Ulysses S. Grant and not the mythological Ulysses (aka Odysseus); does NOT know anything about the Midwest and needs LR ED-E to tell him what a Chicago is :P)
C) And some of my own personal thoughts about what should be present in his backstory (he probably grew up in California...as the descendant of English immigrants, as I want him to have his proper accent; his parents are still very much William and Nell, super-rich fish merchants; he was more or less raised by robots, explaining how good he is with RobCo tech; and his “Corpse Bride Incident” was actually one with a “Ghoul Bride,” with Emily as a ghoul whose elopement was interrupted by the apocalypse (which, ironically, saved her life as it killed the guy who was planning to murder her). Haven’t decided if she’s mad enough to consider a pack of feral ghouls her “friends” and accidentally unleashes them on Victor’s hometown to celebrate the “wedding,” or if Victor brings her to his town to get her help (and himself some help to explain they’re not really married), only to have to watch her get gunned down. Tragedy either way!)
So that was fun, at least. :) One day I will give him a backstory as fleshed out as Tav!Smiler’s!
Other: And, as already stated, since I got on the computer pretty late today, I forewent trying to squeeze in some Fallout: New Vegas in favor of answering all of Moose’s messages! So that is also off my plate, yay. Sorry it took me almost two weeks, Moose! Ball’s in your court!
...all right, I guess I accomplished a decent amount today. Even if most of it was chores. But now I have to go to bed, as it is VERY late. Tomorrow, I hope to work on my Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) drafts; play either Fallout: New Vegas or Portal 2 (we'll see what I feel like); and get in a workout, preferably to whatever new Fallout video Jon will be uploading. *nods* We'll see how things go -- night all!
