Late Late Snowy Monday
Jan. 23rd, 2023 11:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickBeen having a bit of trouble with the old focus again lately. . .as usual, I probably need more sleep. At least I'll have a few chances to catch up a bit at the end of this week. . . And yes, as the title indicates, we did indeed have some proper wintery weather today, with a bit of snow that actually stuck as the afternoon went on! Fortunately it mainly stuck to the grass and wasn't a major problem otherwise, but still. I am not exactly a fan. *grumbles* Either give me a day off or don't snow at all!
Anyway -- here's how my day went --
Work – Meeh day – while it wasn’t too busy, it was one of those days where the phone was ringing a fair bit, and I had my fair share of interruptions as I tried to work. Still, got the GL done, got some exceptions sorted out, did some obituaries and duplicates, it all worked out in the end. And I even got home in decent time despite the snow, simply because it wasn’t sticking to the pavement. I’ve had Mondays better, I’ve had Mondays worse.
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – back on the bike tonight, and back to Oxventure Presents: Blades in the Dark – “The Gut Cutter Bargain!” Kasimir took the reveal that the new gang, the Gut-Cutters, was made up entirely of small children quite well and treated their leader, Bug (who sounded increasingly like Mickey Mouse as things went on), like any other gang leader, saying that he was there to see if the gang was interested in helping theirs on a future dangerous score, and that an alliance would probably be beneficial to them both – especially if the score paid as well as he thought it might. Bug was interested in the idea (as the Gut-Cutters were hoping to move from just doing protection rackets to gambling and vice dens – Ellen’s faces during this section were HILARIOUS), but naturally wanted something in return. Specifically, he wanted a down payment up front – two Coin, easily done with the gang’s current coffers – and he wanted Kasimir and Lilith to help THEM out with something. Namely, wrecking the train yard under construction at the new Gaddock Station in Nightmarket. It seems that, while this particular train yard is largely abandoned, there is ONE freight train that still uses the place, and the kids steal whatever they need from it whenever it comes in. But once the new train yard for Gaddock is complete, that train will move over THERE, and the kids will be left high and dry. Bug wanted construction at least delayed for a while, if not stopped entirely. Kasimir consulted with Lilith, stating that they could do more than wreck the place – they could CURSE it using her abilities, and REALLY make sure the yard wasn’t completed anytime soon. Lilith was open to the idea, and the bargain was made, with Kasimir activating his special “cursed handshake contract” ability to make sure Bug kept up his end of the bargain (Bug shook without hesitation and was more interested in the cool tattoo he got from it).
And so the score began, with Kasimir and Lilith taking along Mumbles, the Gut-Cutter’s lookout and the girl who did all that stabbing earlier. Their attempt to occult up the yard got three engagement dice due to her help and them heading in under the cover of darkness, and wonder of wonders, Luke rolled a six! That meant that they were easily able to sneak into the yard, get atop a shipping container, and get the measure of the place – at least five guards with lanterns (and a few with dogs); a big old train turntable in the middle, with a control shed nearby; a half-constructed train shed; lots of train cars with coal and whatnot; and at least one carriage full of very flammable distilled leviathan oil. Kasimir noted that as a potential way to end construction, and left Lilith and Mumbles to go take a look at it, while Lilith pondered her ghostly options. Their adventures went as thus:
Lilith got Mumbles to study the guard patterns and note them down on some paper with some charcoal she kept on her for quick studies of occult phenomena – a six on the roll meant that Mumbles was able to get most of the routes down (and figured out a way to color-code them too)! She also Attuned to the ghost field of the yard to see if there were any spirits already there to work with, got another six, and found that there was something very weirdly occult about the turntable – it was metaphorically glowing “hot” in her “ghost vision.” Naturally, she wanted to check that out, so she and Mumbles snuck over with the help of the map – and ANOTHER six got them safely there and into the maintenance area underneath. Ellen is basically rolling AMAZING on this score, and good for her. XD
Kasimir, meanwhile, went to prowl over to the leviathan oil, rolled a three on his highest result, and ended up tumbling straight into another train car, causing a super loud bang, because he’s still not fully used to his new makeshift cane. (He tried to blame the cane, but recognized this was just him being sloppy.) This naturally attracted the attention of one of the guards – Kasimir DID manage to roll high enough to hide from him (leaning against one of the doors by accident and managing to roll in unseen), but the guard was on high alert and kept looking around for the source of the sound (Luke even started a clock for the alarm being raised generally – six sections, with two already filled in from Kasimir’s initial bang and then the guard’s subsequent search). Kasimir, realizing he was in a bad spot, decided to gamble and use his “fine cover identity” as a Spider to pretend to be a safety inspector with a fake badge and papers, deliberately luring the guard into the train car with another bang and then – when the guy confronted him – criticizing his long response time and pointing out that the dude was guarding one of the things that help keeps the city going, so he’d better step up! Luke did have him roll Consort for that, and fortunately he got a five, so that is a success. But it’s a success with a complication, and while the guard seems to believe Kasimir so far and is happily throwing one of his coworkers, Derrick, under the bus, we’ll see what happens to complicate matters tomorrow. . . Hopefully Lilith can continue rolling sixes and thus carry this mission!
2. Continue writing “The Joker And The Queen:” Check – I’m close to wrapping up the Victor section of this chapter, with Wickerman having mentioned his childhood in the woods and how his mother always taught him technology was a crutch and Smiler having talked about their informerical-making parents and how they always told them that making people happy was the most important thing in life. This has led to some theorizing from Victor about the universe making sure they all had hobbies and interests relating to their eventual power – and Oblivion’s about to ask the awkward question about Alice and her life as a “holistic assassin” then. . . I mean, it’s a fair question! (And it does have a legitimate, if very sad, answer – remember, she lost her family to Bumby at a very young age, and had to learn how to fight and kill her way through her own brain to return to reality. . .)
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Check – I have cleared out the Watch Later for a night and kept up on my Subs, yay~
A) First up, a quick video that YouTube kept Recommending to me periodically for ages and which I finally remembered to watch today – “Olly Murs rides The Smiler at Alton Towers Resort!” Olly Murs being a singer over there who was on “X-Factor,” and who performed at Alton Towers Live the year the ride opened. It was a short but sweet little video – he seemed to enjoy the ride, anyway!
B) Then it was onto the OXBox list I wanted to clear – “7 Side Quests You Should NEVER Complete: Commenter Edition!” Andy and Jane taking us through commenter-suggested side quests that you shouldn’t complete, lest you make the world a worse place somehow. Help the veteran Hamish in Red Dead Redemption 2 and go hunting and fishing with him a few times? Great, but leave it at that, as if you take him up on his final hunt of a giant boar, he’s gonna die – and if you take his horse, the horse will die too at the end of the chapter! Find Thops in Elden Ring and spare him a few runes? Great, but leave it at that, as if you help him get back into the Academy he’s been locked out of to continue his sorcery studies, the next time you see him, he’ll be dead, possibly from overworking himself completing his life’s work. Help the hunter and naturalist in Borderlands 2 try to rename the bullymongs that populate the world by studying and murdering them? Great, but don’t murder too many, because the final alternate name he has for the species (before giving up and going back to the original name when you complete the murder and the quest) is “bonerfarts,” which does indeed change their name in-game, and – well. Would YOU want the bonerfarts to go away? XD Oh come on, we all know it’s at least a little funny.
C) And finally we had today’s Subs video, with GrayStillPlays and “When you become the worst mother in history,” aka Gray plays Bad Moms! More “run along the course and pick up the right items to get the best multipliers” mobile game fun, with this one being parenting-themed! You start out as a bad mom, and you must pick up things like stuffed toys and baby bottles and go through the doorways labeled “Diet” and “Care” to become a perfect mom! Or you could go ahead and pick up video game controllers, booze, and head to the casino to become an awful mom, your choice. The game will reward you either way. XD If you do well enough, your kid will crawl up the stairway of growth and get you various multipliers for your money, and may even grow up and kiss someone at prom or rock the night away at the club. The money is used to buy new children (Gray got himself a very athletic little girl, complete with mini dumbbells), new moms (a cool mom wears overalls directly over her sports bra), and items for your children’s rooms. Gray used Outwit’s hacking abilities to max these out and see where the kids would be in the future – turns out the girl lives in a sad house as some sort of architect with five million lamps, while the boy is living the dream life with tons of high-end electronics as a streamer. Gray was very pleased with Saddicus there. XD
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check – got the fourth post of the Chill Save update finished before my workout, and completed the fifth one after YouTube and all that! So that’s all ready to be queued up tomorrow, w00. And in non-tumblr news, also answered all of Moose’s latest messages, yay!
*nods* Not bad -- just gotta finish up catching up on the webcomics now, and then its off to bed. Two more days of proper work, then the Social Event... Ugh. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Night all!
Anyway -- here's how my day went --
Work – Meeh day – while it wasn’t too busy, it was one of those days where the phone was ringing a fair bit, and I had my fair share of interruptions as I tried to work. Still, got the GL done, got some exceptions sorted out, did some obituaries and duplicates, it all worked out in the end. And I even got home in decent time despite the snow, simply because it wasn’t sticking to the pavement. I’ve had Mondays better, I’ve had Mondays worse.
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – back on the bike tonight, and back to Oxventure Presents: Blades in the Dark – “The Gut Cutter Bargain!” Kasimir took the reveal that the new gang, the Gut-Cutters, was made up entirely of small children quite well and treated their leader, Bug (who sounded increasingly like Mickey Mouse as things went on), like any other gang leader, saying that he was there to see if the gang was interested in helping theirs on a future dangerous score, and that an alliance would probably be beneficial to them both – especially if the score paid as well as he thought it might. Bug was interested in the idea (as the Gut-Cutters were hoping to move from just doing protection rackets to gambling and vice dens – Ellen’s faces during this section were HILARIOUS), but naturally wanted something in return. Specifically, he wanted a down payment up front – two Coin, easily done with the gang’s current coffers – and he wanted Kasimir and Lilith to help THEM out with something. Namely, wrecking the train yard under construction at the new Gaddock Station in Nightmarket. It seems that, while this particular train yard is largely abandoned, there is ONE freight train that still uses the place, and the kids steal whatever they need from it whenever it comes in. But once the new train yard for Gaddock is complete, that train will move over THERE, and the kids will be left high and dry. Bug wanted construction at least delayed for a while, if not stopped entirely. Kasimir consulted with Lilith, stating that they could do more than wreck the place – they could CURSE it using her abilities, and REALLY make sure the yard wasn’t completed anytime soon. Lilith was open to the idea, and the bargain was made, with Kasimir activating his special “cursed handshake contract” ability to make sure Bug kept up his end of the bargain (Bug shook without hesitation and was more interested in the cool tattoo he got from it).
And so the score began, with Kasimir and Lilith taking along Mumbles, the Gut-Cutter’s lookout and the girl who did all that stabbing earlier. Their attempt to occult up the yard got three engagement dice due to her help and them heading in under the cover of darkness, and wonder of wonders, Luke rolled a six! That meant that they were easily able to sneak into the yard, get atop a shipping container, and get the measure of the place – at least five guards with lanterns (and a few with dogs); a big old train turntable in the middle, with a control shed nearby; a half-constructed train shed; lots of train cars with coal and whatnot; and at least one carriage full of very flammable distilled leviathan oil. Kasimir noted that as a potential way to end construction, and left Lilith and Mumbles to go take a look at it, while Lilith pondered her ghostly options. Their adventures went as thus:
Lilith got Mumbles to study the guard patterns and note them down on some paper with some charcoal she kept on her for quick studies of occult phenomena – a six on the roll meant that Mumbles was able to get most of the routes down (and figured out a way to color-code them too)! She also Attuned to the ghost field of the yard to see if there were any spirits already there to work with, got another six, and found that there was something very weirdly occult about the turntable – it was metaphorically glowing “hot” in her “ghost vision.” Naturally, she wanted to check that out, so she and Mumbles snuck over with the help of the map – and ANOTHER six got them safely there and into the maintenance area underneath. Ellen is basically rolling AMAZING on this score, and good for her. XD
Kasimir, meanwhile, went to prowl over to the leviathan oil, rolled a three on his highest result, and ended up tumbling straight into another train car, causing a super loud bang, because he’s still not fully used to his new makeshift cane. (He tried to blame the cane, but recognized this was just him being sloppy.) This naturally attracted the attention of one of the guards – Kasimir DID manage to roll high enough to hide from him (leaning against one of the doors by accident and managing to roll in unseen), but the guard was on high alert and kept looking around for the source of the sound (Luke even started a clock for the alarm being raised generally – six sections, with two already filled in from Kasimir’s initial bang and then the guard’s subsequent search). Kasimir, realizing he was in a bad spot, decided to gamble and use his “fine cover identity” as a Spider to pretend to be a safety inspector with a fake badge and papers, deliberately luring the guard into the train car with another bang and then – when the guy confronted him – criticizing his long response time and pointing out that the dude was guarding one of the things that help keeps the city going, so he’d better step up! Luke did have him roll Consort for that, and fortunately he got a five, so that is a success. But it’s a success with a complication, and while the guard seems to believe Kasimir so far and is happily throwing one of his coworkers, Derrick, under the bus, we’ll see what happens to complicate matters tomorrow. . . Hopefully Lilith can continue rolling sixes and thus carry this mission!
2. Continue writing “The Joker And The Queen:” Check – I’m close to wrapping up the Victor section of this chapter, with Wickerman having mentioned his childhood in the woods and how his mother always taught him technology was a crutch and Smiler having talked about their informerical-making parents and how they always told them that making people happy was the most important thing in life. This has led to some theorizing from Victor about the universe making sure they all had hobbies and interests relating to their eventual power – and Oblivion’s about to ask the awkward question about Alice and her life as a “holistic assassin” then. . . I mean, it’s a fair question! (And it does have a legitimate, if very sad, answer – remember, she lost her family to Bumby at a very young age, and had to learn how to fight and kill her way through her own brain to return to reality. . .)
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Check – I have cleared out the Watch Later for a night and kept up on my Subs, yay~
A) First up, a quick video that YouTube kept Recommending to me periodically for ages and which I finally remembered to watch today – “Olly Murs rides The Smiler at Alton Towers Resort!” Olly Murs being a singer over there who was on “X-Factor,” and who performed at Alton Towers Live the year the ride opened. It was a short but sweet little video – he seemed to enjoy the ride, anyway!
B) Then it was onto the OXBox list I wanted to clear – “7 Side Quests You Should NEVER Complete: Commenter Edition!” Andy and Jane taking us through commenter-suggested side quests that you shouldn’t complete, lest you make the world a worse place somehow. Help the veteran Hamish in Red Dead Redemption 2 and go hunting and fishing with him a few times? Great, but leave it at that, as if you take him up on his final hunt of a giant boar, he’s gonna die – and if you take his horse, the horse will die too at the end of the chapter! Find Thops in Elden Ring and spare him a few runes? Great, but leave it at that, as if you help him get back into the Academy he’s been locked out of to continue his sorcery studies, the next time you see him, he’ll be dead, possibly from overworking himself completing his life’s work. Help the hunter and naturalist in Borderlands 2 try to rename the bullymongs that populate the world by studying and murdering them? Great, but don’t murder too many, because the final alternate name he has for the species (before giving up and going back to the original name when you complete the murder and the quest) is “bonerfarts,” which does indeed change their name in-game, and – well. Would YOU want the bonerfarts to go away? XD Oh come on, we all know it’s at least a little funny.
C) And finally we had today’s Subs video, with GrayStillPlays and “When you become the worst mother in history,” aka Gray plays Bad Moms! More “run along the course and pick up the right items to get the best multipliers” mobile game fun, with this one being parenting-themed! You start out as a bad mom, and you must pick up things like stuffed toys and baby bottles and go through the doorways labeled “Diet” and “Care” to become a perfect mom! Or you could go ahead and pick up video game controllers, booze, and head to the casino to become an awful mom, your choice. The game will reward you either way. XD If you do well enough, your kid will crawl up the stairway of growth and get you various multipliers for your money, and may even grow up and kiss someone at prom or rock the night away at the club. The money is used to buy new children (Gray got himself a very athletic little girl, complete with mini dumbbells), new moms (a cool mom wears overalls directly over her sports bra), and items for your children’s rooms. Gray used Outwit’s hacking abilities to max these out and see where the kids would be in the future – turns out the girl lives in a sad house as some sort of architect with five million lamps, while the boy is living the dream life with tons of high-end electronics as a streamer. Gray was very pleased with Saddicus there. XD
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check – got the fourth post of the Chill Save update finished before my workout, and completed the fifth one after YouTube and all that! So that’s all ready to be queued up tomorrow, w00. And in non-tumblr news, also answered all of Moose’s latest messages, yay!
*nods* Not bad -- just gotta finish up catching up on the webcomics now, and then its off to bed. Two more days of proper work, then the Social Event... Ugh. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Night all!
