Just Another Semi-Manic Monday
Aug. 28th, 2023 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickIn the sense that, yes, I am updating later than I probably should, but I did get a good chunk of stuff done, at least --
Work – A fairly quiet Monday to start the week – I did the GL, I tried returning some phone calls (only got a couple of people to answer), I did a bunch of duplicates, I really wished I was at home instead. You know, typical work day for me. But I got through it, and now I just have three and a half more days, yay. :p
Beanbags – Despite a gloomy and foggy morning, the weather improved to the point that we were able to play once I got home. I started weak but managed to claw my way to a victory in the end, while Dad did overall pretty well and Mom started strong and then crashed. But we all got a win and that’s good. Final scores were me 3-2-W; Dad 2-W-2; Mom W-3-3. We’ll see if and how those scores change tomorrow, weather permitting!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – back on the bike, and back to the penultimate episode of Oxventure Presents Blades In The Dark – “Foundry No. 12!” This one featured Kasimir, Zillah, and Edvard, and sort of rewound time to show what they were up to while Lilith and Barnaby were freeing Rosie and Josie at Kelly’s request. After going to watch Zillah do some cage-fighting for cash (with Edvard cheering her on with a banner that reminded her not to kill anyone, and Kasimir spraying her with Edvard’s new spray-bottle invention every time she got a little too into it), the group were feeling much less stressed, and were also one Coin richer overall. Kasimir had also tried to acquire two more goats in fine fettle, but the roll on the quality was a one, so that breeding pair he has coming in are NOT going to be what he thinks, and Edvard had healed himself of most of his punching damage from Zillah’s sleep-punching and also gotten himself a Gizmo – a weird little creature he’d been warned not to get wet or feed after midnight. XD I fully expect that thing to tear up his room while he’s out on this adventure.
Anyway – score proper began with the group helping Eleanor pin up maps of the mountain range where she suspected the Barricade machine was housed, with Edvard going into full “conspiracy theorist” mode with pins and red string stretched here and there across it. XD However, a “clang” from something going through the letter box put everyone on high alert, and they rushed to the front door to find a letter there. Zillah promptly tore open the door to see who had delivered it, Edvard rushed off to get his bola-slinging invention, and before long they had very unfortunate postman Greg tied up with a bola around his legs and a pistol pointed at him. (Edvard then asked Kasimir if becoming a criminals had made them too paranoid. XD) Edvard got him to open the letter in case it was a bomb or filled with spring-loaded knives or something – he did so, clearly hoping he’d get to read it, but Edvard got it away from him before he could. It turned out to be a note allegedly from the train driver they’d lightly and politely menaced during their great train heist, stating that he now wanted payment for his silence and directing them to meet him at Foundry No. 12 to discuss terms. Kasimir was like, “no, actually, we’re not paranoid ENOUGH, look at this loose end.” After a bit of discussion, they decided that they should probably go and see the guy, to hear what his suggested terms were and to maybe intimidate him into staying silent WITHOUT being paid –
And then they realized “oh, we just discussed all of this heist stuff in front of Greg.” Not paranoid enough! Fortunately Greg was NOT interested in getting into their bullshit, and a Ghost Contract with Kasimir (where he didn’t say anything in exchange for not getting horribly murdered, symbolized by “POST MANN” knuckle tattoos on both of them) sealed the deal. Though it didn’t stop Edvard shooting another bola at him under the “not paranoid enough” rule. XD
And so the gang headed over to Foundry No. 12, an abandoned factory in Coalridge that used to be used for stuff like processing the catches of leviathan ships and smelting large amounts of metal and all that kind of stuff. Edvard was absolutely fascinated by the machinery inside, with Kasimir saying that, after they got this sorted, he could take Edvard over to Foundry No. 5 and introduce him to the girls there – Monica, Erica, Rita, Tina – maybe even Jessica, though you only ever got a little bit of her. XD This left Zillah to concentrate on their actual reason for being there – the train driver, reading a newspaper at the end of the one central clear corridor on the floor. Or, rather, only PRETENDING to read a newspaper –
Because the poor bastard was DEAD. Zillah tried to warn the others that it was a trap, but the two boys saw the dead body, immediately went “ZILLAH” and started spraying her again. XD But yes, it was indeed a trap – the lights went on, the doors slammed shut, and the group found themselves in the middle of the factory floor, surrounded by a bunch of Red Sashes up on the metal catwalk above. And then, the voice of one Lord Strangford came to them over the speaking tubes, greeting them and informing them that, while the Brighteners had been content to just observe the Hobbyhorses and their activities before, he had been utterly humiliated by a couple of the gang members today, and now he had convinced the others to take direct action. He let them know that Barnaby and Lilith were certainly dead (well, as far as HE knows, HE doesn’t realize Lilith is a master at convincing tabaxis to sneak into people’s safe houses and build trap doors), along with Eleanor, and that killing the remaining three Hobbyhorses would NOT be a problem as he had good old Bakaros on his side, before giving them one chance to surrender and leave Volisport alive. Kasimir, despite being distracted by the revelation that the ghost that’s been haunting him lately is some sort of weird ghost bird (and feeding it some peanut brittle) declared this to be a mug’s game because why would they leave THEM alive if they’d already killed the other two gang members, and Zillah refused to believe the others were even dead. And so the group chose to stand and fight as Luke informed them that their “score” today was to survive, possibly by going fucking feral (and yes, he did indeed use the word “fucking!”). Edvard, seeing that all the Red Sashes were standing on a big metal gantry, promptly began looking for the power source for the lights; Kasimir pulled out the whistle he’d gotten to summon his current pair of massive goats; and Zillah decided to drag the boys into cover as she could see some of the Sashes were packing crossbows. Luke rolled all this into their engagement roll, totting up the dice (reluctantly giving them one for “help from friends” thanks to Johnny’s continued name-checking of the ladies from “Mambo No. 5”) and rolling –
And they got a six! Meaning Edvard easily spotted the lever that controlled all the lights, and the wires coming from it; Kasimir got off his whistle without any trouble whatsoever; and Zillah was able to drag both of them behind a giant foundry pot before any of the crossbow bolts could hit them. Temporarily safe from the mercenaries, Edvard quickly outlined a plan to the other two – if they could keep the Sashes busy, he could try sneaking over to the lever and rigging up some crude connections with the wires he always keeps in his pockets to try and electrocute the lot while they were still on the metal catwalk. He even handed out some flashbangs to the pair to help with this endeavor. Zillah and Kasimir easily agreed, and a few dice rolls later, Zillah managed to basically do a chin-up with the foundry pot to fire off a blind shot at the Sashes with her pistol before running into the center aisle screaming to draw crossbow fire, while Edvard snuck around the sides of the building, trying not to get too distracted by the cool machinery and Kasimir stayed behind the pot and readied his repeater rifle to try and pick off a few fools. Zillah successfully avoided all the crossbow fire to reach some chains on the other side of the factory, while Edvard is being so far successful in sneaking along the factory floor – we’ll see how Kasimir, who rolled a five when it comes to “picking off fools,” does in that endeavor tomorrow!
2. Continue writing Valicer In The Dark, “Home Sweet Lair”: Check – having gotten the go-ahead from Cheshire to explore the building, the trio are currently in the middle of investigating what’s what in my Gutknecht Bend build. XD So far, they’ve discovered a mildewing hall, a dining room with no table and only a few scattered chairs, and a kitchen with a rusting cauldron and a sink that, when turned on, emits sludge instead of water. Not the greatest first impression, but Alice is of the opinion that it doesn’t really matter – they’re not going to be staying there very long anyway, are they? ;) I left it off with Victor discovering the courtyard, and the manhole at the far end – the gang gets to discover just how close they are to one of the old sewers tomorrow. XD
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Check – just the one GrayStillPlays video today, “Testing Cars vs Planes in GTA 5!” Another Alex Torture Board, this time with the theme of Gray doing ludicrous stunts in a car in a series of plane challenges. Each of which was presented as a question, starting with “Which car can outrun the Bomber Jet?” (or, rather, keep PACE with the bomber, as the goal was to drive along the strip until jumping onto a platform suspended underneath the bomber, then going JUST fast enough to stay on that platform, dodging a bunch of hovering static helicopters at the end before getting swung off onto the next chunk of road) and going through “Which car can maneuver under commercial planes?” (Gray had to make a jump, drive along a strip of road weaving through the landing gear of taking-off planes as they drove forward and then teleported back, do another jump, drive through more landing gear, and then do a final jump to escape), “Which car can withstand a prop plane?” (Gray had to drive his car directly into the prop of a prop plane coming at him down a super-narrow corridor, hoping to break the prop and shove it out of his way), “Which car can jump over 6 Titans?” (as in the plane type, not the statues – Gray had to build up ALL the speed and do a MASSIVE jump over these six huge planes laid end-to-end in a pit in front of him), and finally “Which car can jump inside of a Cargo plane?” (basically that bit in all those car-jumping mobile games he’s played where you have to send a car as fast as possible up a ramp and into the belly of a cargo plane). A good number of the cars couldn’t even get past the first challenge, not being up to keeping up with the bombers; the “THICK” orange super-car got to weaving through the landing gear, but not much farther; the motorcycle made it to the prop plane before getting sliced and diced by the prop; the Sprunk car smashed the prop but couldn’t make it over the Titans. Leaving only the pink super-car to complete all the challenges and leap into the belly of the cargo plane, and from there be teleported to the win. :D Ah, you always want to start your work week with some premium Gray Torture. XD
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check – got the alt text and tags done on the first half of my Chill Valicer Save update for Victor Luvs Alice for this week, yay! Just have to do the second half now – which hopefully should go faster as the “Magic Realm” half of the update has fewer pictures for me to sort through. (The first half of them on the farm had one very picture-heavy post – glad to have THAT done!)
*nods* Not too shabby, at least! But now it is time to head off to bed, because I need my sleep. Night all!
Work – A fairly quiet Monday to start the week – I did the GL, I tried returning some phone calls (only got a couple of people to answer), I did a bunch of duplicates, I really wished I was at home instead. You know, typical work day for me. But I got through it, and now I just have three and a half more days, yay. :p
Beanbags – Despite a gloomy and foggy morning, the weather improved to the point that we were able to play once I got home. I started weak but managed to claw my way to a victory in the end, while Dad did overall pretty well and Mom started strong and then crashed. But we all got a win and that’s good. Final scores were me 3-2-W; Dad 2-W-2; Mom W-3-3. We’ll see if and how those scores change tomorrow, weather permitting!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – back on the bike, and back to the penultimate episode of Oxventure Presents Blades In The Dark – “Foundry No. 12!” This one featured Kasimir, Zillah, and Edvard, and sort of rewound time to show what they were up to while Lilith and Barnaby were freeing Rosie and Josie at Kelly’s request. After going to watch Zillah do some cage-fighting for cash (with Edvard cheering her on with a banner that reminded her not to kill anyone, and Kasimir spraying her with Edvard’s new spray-bottle invention every time she got a little too into it), the group were feeling much less stressed, and were also one Coin richer overall. Kasimir had also tried to acquire two more goats in fine fettle, but the roll on the quality was a one, so that breeding pair he has coming in are NOT going to be what he thinks, and Edvard had healed himself of most of his punching damage from Zillah’s sleep-punching and also gotten himself a Gizmo – a weird little creature he’d been warned not to get wet or feed after midnight. XD I fully expect that thing to tear up his room while he’s out on this adventure.
Anyway – score proper began with the group helping Eleanor pin up maps of the mountain range where she suspected the Barricade machine was housed, with Edvard going into full “conspiracy theorist” mode with pins and red string stretched here and there across it. XD However, a “clang” from something going through the letter box put everyone on high alert, and they rushed to the front door to find a letter there. Zillah promptly tore open the door to see who had delivered it, Edvard rushed off to get his bola-slinging invention, and before long they had very unfortunate postman Greg tied up with a bola around his legs and a pistol pointed at him. (Edvard then asked Kasimir if becoming a criminals had made them too paranoid. XD) Edvard got him to open the letter in case it was a bomb or filled with spring-loaded knives or something – he did so, clearly hoping he’d get to read it, but Edvard got it away from him before he could. It turned out to be a note allegedly from the train driver they’d lightly and politely menaced during their great train heist, stating that he now wanted payment for his silence and directing them to meet him at Foundry No. 12 to discuss terms. Kasimir was like, “no, actually, we’re not paranoid ENOUGH, look at this loose end.” After a bit of discussion, they decided that they should probably go and see the guy, to hear what his suggested terms were and to maybe intimidate him into staying silent WITHOUT being paid –
And then they realized “oh, we just discussed all of this heist stuff in front of Greg.” Not paranoid enough! Fortunately Greg was NOT interested in getting into their bullshit, and a Ghost Contract with Kasimir (where he didn’t say anything in exchange for not getting horribly murdered, symbolized by “POST MANN” knuckle tattoos on both of them) sealed the deal. Though it didn’t stop Edvard shooting another bola at him under the “not paranoid enough” rule. XD
And so the gang headed over to Foundry No. 12, an abandoned factory in Coalridge that used to be used for stuff like processing the catches of leviathan ships and smelting large amounts of metal and all that kind of stuff. Edvard was absolutely fascinated by the machinery inside, with Kasimir saying that, after they got this sorted, he could take Edvard over to Foundry No. 5 and introduce him to the girls there – Monica, Erica, Rita, Tina – maybe even Jessica, though you only ever got a little bit of her. XD This left Zillah to concentrate on their actual reason for being there – the train driver, reading a newspaper at the end of the one central clear corridor on the floor. Or, rather, only PRETENDING to read a newspaper –
Because the poor bastard was DEAD. Zillah tried to warn the others that it was a trap, but the two boys saw the dead body, immediately went “ZILLAH” and started spraying her again. XD But yes, it was indeed a trap – the lights went on, the doors slammed shut, and the group found themselves in the middle of the factory floor, surrounded by a bunch of Red Sashes up on the metal catwalk above. And then, the voice of one Lord Strangford came to them over the speaking tubes, greeting them and informing them that, while the Brighteners had been content to just observe the Hobbyhorses and their activities before, he had been utterly humiliated by a couple of the gang members today, and now he had convinced the others to take direct action. He let them know that Barnaby and Lilith were certainly dead (well, as far as HE knows, HE doesn’t realize Lilith is a master at convincing tabaxis to sneak into people’s safe houses and build trap doors), along with Eleanor, and that killing the remaining three Hobbyhorses would NOT be a problem as he had good old Bakaros on his side, before giving them one chance to surrender and leave Volisport alive. Kasimir, despite being distracted by the revelation that the ghost that’s been haunting him lately is some sort of weird ghost bird (and feeding it some peanut brittle) declared this to be a mug’s game because why would they leave THEM alive if they’d already killed the other two gang members, and Zillah refused to believe the others were even dead. And so the group chose to stand and fight as Luke informed them that their “score” today was to survive, possibly by going fucking feral (and yes, he did indeed use the word “fucking!”). Edvard, seeing that all the Red Sashes were standing on a big metal gantry, promptly began looking for the power source for the lights; Kasimir pulled out the whistle he’d gotten to summon his current pair of massive goats; and Zillah decided to drag the boys into cover as she could see some of the Sashes were packing crossbows. Luke rolled all this into their engagement roll, totting up the dice (reluctantly giving them one for “help from friends” thanks to Johnny’s continued name-checking of the ladies from “Mambo No. 5”) and rolling –
And they got a six! Meaning Edvard easily spotted the lever that controlled all the lights, and the wires coming from it; Kasimir got off his whistle without any trouble whatsoever; and Zillah was able to drag both of them behind a giant foundry pot before any of the crossbow bolts could hit them. Temporarily safe from the mercenaries, Edvard quickly outlined a plan to the other two – if they could keep the Sashes busy, he could try sneaking over to the lever and rigging up some crude connections with the wires he always keeps in his pockets to try and electrocute the lot while they were still on the metal catwalk. He even handed out some flashbangs to the pair to help with this endeavor. Zillah and Kasimir easily agreed, and a few dice rolls later, Zillah managed to basically do a chin-up with the foundry pot to fire off a blind shot at the Sashes with her pistol before running into the center aisle screaming to draw crossbow fire, while Edvard snuck around the sides of the building, trying not to get too distracted by the cool machinery and Kasimir stayed behind the pot and readied his repeater rifle to try and pick off a few fools. Zillah successfully avoided all the crossbow fire to reach some chains on the other side of the factory, while Edvard is being so far successful in sneaking along the factory floor – we’ll see how Kasimir, who rolled a five when it comes to “picking off fools,” does in that endeavor tomorrow!
2. Continue writing Valicer In The Dark, “Home Sweet Lair”: Check – having gotten the go-ahead from Cheshire to explore the building, the trio are currently in the middle of investigating what’s what in my Gutknecht Bend build. XD So far, they’ve discovered a mildewing hall, a dining room with no table and only a few scattered chairs, and a kitchen with a rusting cauldron and a sink that, when turned on, emits sludge instead of water. Not the greatest first impression, but Alice is of the opinion that it doesn’t really matter – they’re not going to be staying there very long anyway, are they? ;) I left it off with Victor discovering the courtyard, and the manhole at the far end – the gang gets to discover just how close they are to one of the old sewers tomorrow. XD
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Check – just the one GrayStillPlays video today, “Testing Cars vs Planes in GTA 5!” Another Alex Torture Board, this time with the theme of Gray doing ludicrous stunts in a car in a series of plane challenges. Each of which was presented as a question, starting with “Which car can outrun the Bomber Jet?” (or, rather, keep PACE with the bomber, as the goal was to drive along the strip until jumping onto a platform suspended underneath the bomber, then going JUST fast enough to stay on that platform, dodging a bunch of hovering static helicopters at the end before getting swung off onto the next chunk of road) and going through “Which car can maneuver under commercial planes?” (Gray had to make a jump, drive along a strip of road weaving through the landing gear of taking-off planes as they drove forward and then teleported back, do another jump, drive through more landing gear, and then do a final jump to escape), “Which car can withstand a prop plane?” (Gray had to drive his car directly into the prop of a prop plane coming at him down a super-narrow corridor, hoping to break the prop and shove it out of his way), “Which car can jump over 6 Titans?” (as in the plane type, not the statues – Gray had to build up ALL the speed and do a MASSIVE jump over these six huge planes laid end-to-end in a pit in front of him), and finally “Which car can jump inside of a Cargo plane?” (basically that bit in all those car-jumping mobile games he’s played where you have to send a car as fast as possible up a ramp and into the belly of a cargo plane). A good number of the cars couldn’t even get past the first challenge, not being up to keeping up with the bombers; the “THICK” orange super-car got to weaving through the landing gear, but not much farther; the motorcycle made it to the prop plane before getting sliced and diced by the prop; the Sprunk car smashed the prop but couldn’t make it over the Titans. Leaving only the pink super-car to complete all the challenges and leap into the belly of the cargo plane, and from there be teleported to the win. :D Ah, you always want to start your work week with some premium Gray Torture. XD
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check – got the alt text and tags done on the first half of my Chill Valicer Save update for Victor Luvs Alice for this week, yay! Just have to do the second half now – which hopefully should go faster as the “Magic Realm” half of the update has fewer pictures for me to sort through. (The first half of them on the farm had one very picture-heavy post – glad to have THAT done!)
*nods* Not too shabby, at least! But now it is time to head off to bed, because I need my sleep. Night all!
