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Better If Hotter Tuesday
Aug. 2nd, 2022 11:19 pmYes, the day has taken a very hot and humid turn, and I think it's supposed to stay roughly this way through the rest of the week -- August for you! It takes no prisoners. But, on the bright side, I had a day with less annoyance, and the surprise of the "bugfix patch for the patch" for Sims 4 releasing! So maybe I can get to that game this week after all. We shall see! *fingers crossed* in the meantime, to-dos:
1. Continue writing on “As Long As You Love Me”: Check – have started Chapter Six, with Victor and Alice on their stolen motorcycle, leaving the Blackwing motorcycle gang’s “base” far behind them and exchanging a few apologies (Alice for threatening to break Victor’s fingers before; Victor for stopping her trying to do her job in the first place). Things are a lot more settled now that Victor’s on-board with the universe’s plans, it must be said. XD Thinking they hit up a thrift shop for some more clothes next, and then get some food before Victor learns Alice has enough for a hotel stay. . .
2. Keep up with YouTube Subs and see about getting something out of the Watch Later: Check plus – one Watch Later item, one new release, two in the Subs. Let’s go –
A) Started this afternoon after Goosing (below) with “Let's get this Gregnancy underway! The Sims 4 Werewolves (Part 11)” from James Turner! Yes, he actually finished up the “Rage To Riches” LP at the end of last month with a couple of hour-long episodes, and in honor of the fact that we got the bugfix patch to the patch today, I figured I’d knock one of them off. In this penultimate episode (done when he could FINALLY ACTUALLY READ COMMENTS), James had three goals: turn Angus and Nina’s debug factory lot into a real build; finally find Cupcake and adopt them; and get Nina “Gregnant” – aka pregnant with Greg the werewolf’s baby. How did he do on all of these goals?
Build the Factory – Check! The money tree finally grew, and after a couple of harvests (plus cheating the damn thing back up to “blooming” status when it reverted to a dirt pile during initial building, thanks Sims 4), James was able to fully build the shell of the factory he’d made with debug items, and even get a few basic rooms in (kitchen, bathroom, the werewolf panic room, and separate bedrooms for Angus and Nina). Coming along VERY slowly but surely. Good thing actual “riches” was not actually the aim of this LP. XD
Adopt Cupcake – Check! James got the help of the “Dog Hangout” lot trait to attract Cupcake to his lot as a stray, then had Angus adopt them, yay! :D He promptly made sure Cupcake had everything they needed and had Angus and the elderly poodle become companions. :) Nina likes the little dog too, as she’s the one who took Cupcake to the vet when they needed it AND got them an age-down treat so the dog wouldn’t die too soon. But Angus and Cupcake are the real friends – Angus has already taught Cupcake a few basic commands, like Sit and Pee Outside. Must be that old werewolf blood. :p And as a bonus, Cupcake has an ADORABLE little onesie they wear while out on walks, awww. James was actually quite invested in this little pup, and now everyone is saying that in addition to Angus becoming an immortal werewolf again and moving in with Brodie the Grampire, their pets should hang out as ghosts eventually too. XD
Get Nina Gregnant – Check – but at a grave cost. James tried, oh he TRIED to have Nina get Greg to like her just long enough for them to woohoo. He had her take countless pictures. He rigged Greg’s little trailer yard with enough romantic incense to choke a goat and a convenient tent for sexy times. He made sure her Fury meter was empty, her confidence was up, her mood was good. He worked his way through multiple rampages, ate part of a store to get more ability points, and just generally did whatever he could to keep things civil between them up to and include save spamming. . .and all for naught. No matter what, Greg’s instinctive hatred of his own kind always got in the way and led to a brawl. In the end, there was only one thing Nina could do to get her desired Greg baby –
Cure herself. After one too many failures, James had her gather the necessary wolfsbane, get the needed moonpetal from her brother, hit the bar, make the drink, and surrender pack leadership of the Wildfangs to her brother-in-arms Lou before downing the Wolf-B-Gone. Oof. All that work, gone in an instant.
. . .And even THEN it took multiple attempts to get Greg to FINALLY go woohoo with her in a bush. XD I mean, he was more RECEPTIVE to her as a human, they got along better and all that, but he kept glitching out or running off before the deed could be done. Fortunately, they did FINALLY make it to the woohoo bush, and tried for baby (twice in a row, just to be sure) – and in the middle of house renovations, Nina took the test and got the great news – Gregnant! She promptly told Greg, who ran off. XD Ah well. At least she’s got her kid! And, once said kid is born, she will be getting her werewolf form back too, damn it. But THAT is for episode 12. . .
B) Then I decided to keep the Sims 4 train going by hitting the Subs for the latest from Call Me Kevin – “I ruined the Sims 4 High School Pack!” Yes, his turn to play with the latest expansion released for the game! Though first he had to do a little sneaky deaging of the most normal Sim in his current household – Jim Pickens. Yes, really, JIM is the most normal one out of the Erractic KevinWolf and the ghost werewolf of Kevin’s dead MCCC-adopted son. So Jim went from elder (or at least elderly-looking adult) down to teen, losing his beard but gaining a terrible mustache, and joined the gang at Copperdale High School!
Things did not go well! Jim was not exactly a popular or studious student – spending his time drawing the same prank pictures on whiteboards, skipping classes without even really trying, getting detention, and being baffled by some of his fellow students T-posing in the hallway (not because they were glitched, but because that is genuinely a challenge Sim teens can do in this expansion). Not even changing up his sweet fashion for a classic “little German boy” look, a “down with the kids old surfer” look, or even just the “boxers and boots” look helped! His “father” Kevin decided what he needed was a boost of confidence and gave him a cursed bite so he could play the part of Teen Wolf, but all that led to was him rampaging in the school and marking his territory in front of his crush. Which did not go down well, as you might imagine. XD Despite all this, though, he’d actually managed to get someone to agree to be his girlfriend and his prom date, joined the cheerleading squad, and found a way to even live in the school so he didn’t have to go back to his horrible home with plants instead of fridges and those windows you can climb through instead of doors –
But as it turns out, trying to live in a school means you can’t actually attend your classes, and Jim’s poor grades during his exams (coupled with eating the whiteboard in a panic after missing the first) got him expelled. Oh dear. He still tried to compete in the cheer festival after school, but didn’t win any prizes – and then, right when he was about to head to prom, he got distracted by an invite to hang out by some Sims at a Sims 4 recreation of Kevin’s original terrifying Sims 2 house, and ended up missing it. :( Not a very happy end to Jim’s school career. Well, we all know the Dear Leader can bounce back from anything – I mean, he actually STARVED TO DEATH midway through the episode and was saved by Sim!Kevin’s intervention, so we know Grim still likes him. :p
C) Then, after supper and writing and all that, it was time for the latest OXtra list: “7 Pun Achievements So Painful You’ll Need Paracetamol!” Because Ellen openly loves puns and everyone else on the team pretends to hate them. XD Winners from the list included Nathan Drake from Uncharted 3 using a fish from a fishmonger’s stall in an environmental takedown three times in a particular fight (He’s Gonna Need A Sturgeon); Spider-Man defeating Mr. Negative in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man (Stay Positive); and getting five LEGO NPCs to boogie with your character (likely Peter Quill, aka Starlord, as he comes with his own music player) in LEGO Marvel Superheroes (Dancing in the Moon Knight). So many groans, especially when Mike started punning himself without meaning to after the fish one. XD
D) And finally, back to the Subs for GrayStillPlays and “When you become heavier than the world in 5 minutes,” aka Gray plays Giant Rush! This is another “race your figure down to the end of this course while picking up things to make them bigger in some way” mobile game – this time, you’re racing them to beat the hell out of some stick-figure king and send them rocketing down Multiplier Lane, and the thing you’re picking up is OTHER STICK FIGURES TO MAKE YOURSELF BIGGER. Occasionally the game breaks it up with a “proper” boss fight with a mace that you have to jump out of the way of before hitting him, or a treasure chest you have to hit as many times as possible to bring up your multiplier – Gray grabbed an autoclicker for that one. XD But yes, you are essentially making yourself huge by devouring your brethren while avoiding pits of lava and various spiky things and smashing through walls. XD Simple premise, excellent execution by Gray praising cannibalism and being determined to send the king flying as far as humanly possible. His commentary really does make these games. XD
3. Either a) work on another Untitled Goose Game time trial,b) play Fallout 4 and clear out the National Guard Training Yard, or c) forgo video games in favor of Blades in the Dark: Check – the winner was a) work on another Untitled Goose Game time trial! After another couple of failed tries and some hard work on my timing, I finally managed to complete the back gardens within the six minute time limit! :D Gotta make the man go barefoot early, use various distractions like him spitting out his tea in response to the woman’s bell and him breaking the woman’s fancy vase by tossing it over the fence to steal all his stuff for the bust, and try to save any task where you might be waiting around until the end (aka when you have to get dressed up with a ribbon). Made my way over to the pub next and gave that time trial a go – got pretty close with some lucky timing on stealing stuff off the main pub patio, but wasn’t QUITE able to pull it off. I have set myself up in an advantageous position for next time, though – namely, outside the pub’s now-open back entrance to the model village. A lot easier to get into the place and steal a pint glass to drop into the canal when you can use the back gate, that’s for sure!
That being said, I DID make a point of opening up the Blades in the Dark PDF tonight and taking a skim around – I’m gonna try and do more with it over the course of the rest of my vacation. I bought it for a reason, damn it.
4. Work on tumblr drafts: Check – did a very easy morning update on my Victor Luvs Alice tumblr’s dash (quiet day to start) and tags, then worked my way through the following:
A) Getting a head start on the NEXT Chill Save update after the one due to go up tomorrow, with Victor, Alice, and Smiler finally all together by sorting out all the screenshots to post – and it’s a good thing I did, because the final count of pictures I want to post is 45. That’s five posts’ worth! O.o Well, I did say I got the serotonin from them moving in together. . .and to be fair they also celebrated New Year’s Eve AND went to the Snow Festival in Mt. Komorebi, sooo. . . XD
B) Doing a PROPER write-up of my draft on an “All Occults Coffee Shop” AU post, inspired by a prompt in that direction I saw on tumblr, where Alice and Smiler work in a coffee shop and Victor, Victoria, and Emily are the late shift regulars – and also they’re all supernatural (Alice is a vampire, Smiler a fae, Victor a spellcaster, Victoria a werewolf, and Emily a mermaid). The AU itself is kind of a vague “this would be kinda cute” thing at this point, but I did the draft post, so I wanted to clean it up. Never know when inspiration might strike, anyway!
C) Spending FAR TOO LONG trying to find a specific post on a kink I came up with for Victor spontaneously about a year ago (about him enjoying having his neck nibbled and sucked thanks to a love of vampires when he first started having sexy thoughts) that for some reason I could NOT locate in my tumblr for like a HALF HOUR), then doing an “update reblog” draft with some new information (namely, modern!Victor’s “sexual awakening” being thanks to that scene of Jonathan Harker being menaced by the brides in Dracula (thanks “Dracula Daily!”), and Alice’s “awakening” always being a surprise reaction to subby/hypnotized Victor) – should have kept with my original idea of it being its OWN post, but noooo. . .
D) After lunch, quickly repurposing what would have been that separate “sexual awakenings” post into a short draft for my inevitable Blades in the Dark AU
E) And finally, this evening, setting up the Smiler Always Chill Save update for the semi-failed “Night On The Town” in Henford-on-Bagley in the Victor Luvs Alice queue (I’m thinking Thursday will be an update on how “Londerland Bloodlines” is going, so I can’t actually write that one until after I’ve done my latest writing session tomorrow night), and a pair of ask replies over in the Valice Multiverse queue
Whew! At least it was a productive day!
5. Get in a workout: Check – another evening on the bike, another evening with “Oxventure Presents: Blades in the Dark! Dead Man’s Debt!” Edvard, as it turned out, did have something useful on his bandoleer – a vial of sleeping potion! Which he asked to Tinker into an aerosol bomb to keep the servants asleep. . .and knock out Barnaby because the prick needs to get into his servant’s costume. XD Luke ruled that actually MAKING the bomb should be a flashback action to when they were preparing for the heist, but allowed Edvard to make it for one stress – he rolled well, got Barnaby to go down the other way, rolled the bomb into his general vicinity, and – presto! One unconscious Barnaby. :D Edvard and Kasimir promptly dragged him away and got him into the servant’s clothing, throwing his OTHER clothes out the window so he couldn’t try to redress himself properly. XD
Cut back to Zillah in the basement, who, well, didn’t know about any of these shenanigans. A mini-flashback allowed her to spot the various bells used to call any servants who might be in the basement upstairs, each labeled with which room. Lilith obligingly rang the “dining room” bell, but Zillah did spot there was a “Collection” bell as well that seemed to go to the third floor. . . Deciding she wasn’t about to fit in the dumbwaiter with her pack, she instead took her chances up the stairs, peeking out for signs of life. No one living – but there was mysterious spooky scratching noises and children’s laughter near the front door. . . Zillah stayed well away from that and just rendezvoused with Lilith, who told her about the teacup – they got that cleaned up, and Zillah got them both onto the servants’ stairs and sneaking farther upward.
Back to the attic – Edvard woke Barnaby using the servants’ washbin; fortunately, upon discovering he was dressed as a servant, he took it in good cheer and considered it a prank the likes of which Squiffy would have played on him at school. XD Edvard was like “great, let’s keep the prank going by getting a move on” – and Kasimir chose this moment to call a flashback to him saying, back in the planning stages, that if they can do this sneaky sneaky, that’s great, but in case things start dragging on, the best thing to do might be to set the house on fire and help the servants rescue what they can. And then, back in the present time, he PULLED OUT A MOLOTOV to show that he fully believed that plan was still on the table. (Barnaby complimented him on the vintage of booze he’d stolen to make it.) So yeah, hasty trip downward from the attic –
Into the collection room! Which was full of spinning tops of various kinds. Apparently the councilwoman they’re robbing, one Lizette, has a thing for them.
She also has a thing for sleepwalking, as the boys found out when they entered the room to find her in there, wandering around but not really aware of anything – certainly not of them! Barnaby called for a flashback for Squiffy to remind him that this was a trait of hers; Luke allowed it and added the further complication that, because she has hurt herself in this state before, she’s never truly alone these days when she sleepwalks – some member of the household stays awake to see that she gets through the nights safely. Barnaby, to his credit, promptly warned his companions, but they saw no servant on watch nearby –
That’s because the butler was out in the corridor by the door. Right in the way of Zillah and Lilith. Zillah was a little reluctant to just knock him out, because due to her career as a prizefighter, she knows that’s not good for people, so Lilith tried to call a flashback where they nipped to the front door to deal with the ghostly presence there, and she attempted to compel the spirit to spook this guy a little to get him away from his post long enough for them to pass. Luke allowed it and she made her roll –
Ones. Lilith WAS able to Attune very strongly to the child ghost (with the Stereotypical Dickensian Orphan Accent) and talk to it, but the little boy refused to work with her, saying he found the lady up there scary, and that Lilith couldn’t tell him what to do. He then proceeded to bounce around wildly in the way of children, and Jane – trying to determine what Zillah could actually SEE of all this – jokingly said that the child ran through Zillah and possessed her – “now I’ve got all these muscles ha ha.”
Luke said “you shouldn’t have made it so funny, that’s now canon.” XD In fact, he built on it, with the little boy dragging Zillah’s body around, stuffing her full of about five heads' worth of cabbage, then being sick and escaping her body – all in about 20 seconds. Whoops. XD That brought us back to the present, where Lilith was like “okay, so, no ghost help.” XD Zillah decided that the best plan might then be to “Hitman” it and throw a distraction coin at the window to make a noise; it was eventually decided that since Lilith was better at Finesse throws and Zillah better at Skirmishing, Lilith would throw the coin and Zillah would deliver the man a light tap on the head with her nightstick. One roll later, Zillah had accomplished her aim –
And Lilith had rolled a two. XD Ellen is basically rolling like shit in this early adventure! Luke ruled that Lilith ended up launching the coin directly into the butler’s face, and he had enough time to let out a brief scream of surprise before Zillah walloped him. Luke TRIED to have her accidentally kill the poor man, but Zillah was like “NO I DON’T WANT TO KILL HIM RESIST RESIST” and with a good roll to keep the stress cost low, got it downgraded to just grievously harmed. (Good thing too, because Johnny was looking downright HORRIFIED at this game already featuring a murder, given how death works in BitD. . .)
This DID still mean the guy screamed, and hit the ground with a hell of a thud – meaning Lizette woke up with the boys in front of her. Barnaby FINALLY made himself useful by stepping in with a story about how he’d dressed up as a servant for a tryst with one of her help, sorry to be a bother. . . While that was going on, Edvard called for the most important, most relevant flashback of all –
LOOKING UP WHAT EXACTLY IT IS THEY’RE LOOKING FOR. XD Luke said that was very reasonable and, for the cost of a bit of stress, said that Edvard had managed to bribe his way through the auction house to get the necessary catalog. Yes, they were looking for a top – a fancy green one of great age, which had been held for quite a while before auction, thus starting up the “cursed” rumors. Time to look around and see if that’s anywhere – hopefully while Barnaby is keeping Lizette distracted!
Hah, good times, good times -- and I am VERY much enjoying the -- let's call them Bladeventurers, given that's the system they're using. :D I mean, seriously, EVERYONE was cracking up at the Dickensian Orphan Boy's adventures in Zillah's bodies. I know the general setting and lore can make this a very grim game, but damn do the OXBoxtra team bring the funny. I'm so eager to see how this all works out tomorrow! :D But first, the rest of my new to-dos:
1. Continue writing on "Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland"
2. Keep up with YouTube Subs and see about getting something out of the Watch Later
3. Either play Fallout 4 and clear out the National Guard Training Yard or work on Blades in the Dark stuff
4. Work on tumblr queues
5. Get in a workout
Holding off on Sims 4 for at least one more day just to see what the full community reaction to the bugfix patch is. I feel that's safest (and allows me to keep checking my mods and CC). Hopefully I can keep up the productive life! Night all!
1. Continue writing on “As Long As You Love Me”: Check – have started Chapter Six, with Victor and Alice on their stolen motorcycle, leaving the Blackwing motorcycle gang’s “base” far behind them and exchanging a few apologies (Alice for threatening to break Victor’s fingers before; Victor for stopping her trying to do her job in the first place). Things are a lot more settled now that Victor’s on-board with the universe’s plans, it must be said. XD Thinking they hit up a thrift shop for some more clothes next, and then get some food before Victor learns Alice has enough for a hotel stay. . .
2. Keep up with YouTube Subs and see about getting something out of the Watch Later: Check plus – one Watch Later item, one new release, two in the Subs. Let’s go –
A) Started this afternoon after Goosing (below) with “Let's get this Gregnancy underway! The Sims 4 Werewolves (Part 11)” from James Turner! Yes, he actually finished up the “Rage To Riches” LP at the end of last month with a couple of hour-long episodes, and in honor of the fact that we got the bugfix patch to the patch today, I figured I’d knock one of them off. In this penultimate episode (done when he could FINALLY ACTUALLY READ COMMENTS), James had three goals: turn Angus and Nina’s debug factory lot into a real build; finally find Cupcake and adopt them; and get Nina “Gregnant” – aka pregnant with Greg the werewolf’s baby. How did he do on all of these goals?
Build the Factory – Check! The money tree finally grew, and after a couple of harvests (plus cheating the damn thing back up to “blooming” status when it reverted to a dirt pile during initial building, thanks Sims 4), James was able to fully build the shell of the factory he’d made with debug items, and even get a few basic rooms in (kitchen, bathroom, the werewolf panic room, and separate bedrooms for Angus and Nina). Coming along VERY slowly but surely. Good thing actual “riches” was not actually the aim of this LP. XD
Adopt Cupcake – Check! James got the help of the “Dog Hangout” lot trait to attract Cupcake to his lot as a stray, then had Angus adopt them, yay! :D He promptly made sure Cupcake had everything they needed and had Angus and the elderly poodle become companions. :) Nina likes the little dog too, as she’s the one who took Cupcake to the vet when they needed it AND got them an age-down treat so the dog wouldn’t die too soon. But Angus and Cupcake are the real friends – Angus has already taught Cupcake a few basic commands, like Sit and Pee Outside. Must be that old werewolf blood. :p And as a bonus, Cupcake has an ADORABLE little onesie they wear while out on walks, awww. James was actually quite invested in this little pup, and now everyone is saying that in addition to Angus becoming an immortal werewolf again and moving in with Brodie the Grampire, their pets should hang out as ghosts eventually too. XD
Get Nina Gregnant – Check – but at a grave cost. James tried, oh he TRIED to have Nina get Greg to like her just long enough for them to woohoo. He had her take countless pictures. He rigged Greg’s little trailer yard with enough romantic incense to choke a goat and a convenient tent for sexy times. He made sure her Fury meter was empty, her confidence was up, her mood was good. He worked his way through multiple rampages, ate part of a store to get more ability points, and just generally did whatever he could to keep things civil between them up to and include save spamming. . .and all for naught. No matter what, Greg’s instinctive hatred of his own kind always got in the way and led to a brawl. In the end, there was only one thing Nina could do to get her desired Greg baby –
Cure herself. After one too many failures, James had her gather the necessary wolfsbane, get the needed moonpetal from her brother, hit the bar, make the drink, and surrender pack leadership of the Wildfangs to her brother-in-arms Lou before downing the Wolf-B-Gone. Oof. All that work, gone in an instant.
. . .And even THEN it took multiple attempts to get Greg to FINALLY go woohoo with her in a bush. XD I mean, he was more RECEPTIVE to her as a human, they got along better and all that, but he kept glitching out or running off before the deed could be done. Fortunately, they did FINALLY make it to the woohoo bush, and tried for baby (twice in a row, just to be sure) – and in the middle of house renovations, Nina took the test and got the great news – Gregnant! She promptly told Greg, who ran off. XD Ah well. At least she’s got her kid! And, once said kid is born, she will be getting her werewolf form back too, damn it. But THAT is for episode 12. . .
B) Then I decided to keep the Sims 4 train going by hitting the Subs for the latest from Call Me Kevin – “I ruined the Sims 4 High School Pack!” Yes, his turn to play with the latest expansion released for the game! Though first he had to do a little sneaky deaging of the most normal Sim in his current household – Jim Pickens. Yes, really, JIM is the most normal one out of the Erractic KevinWolf and the ghost werewolf of Kevin’s dead MCCC-adopted son. So Jim went from elder (or at least elderly-looking adult) down to teen, losing his beard but gaining a terrible mustache, and joined the gang at Copperdale High School!
Things did not go well! Jim was not exactly a popular or studious student – spending his time drawing the same prank pictures on whiteboards, skipping classes without even really trying, getting detention, and being baffled by some of his fellow students T-posing in the hallway (not because they were glitched, but because that is genuinely a challenge Sim teens can do in this expansion). Not even changing up his sweet fashion for a classic “little German boy” look, a “down with the kids old surfer” look, or even just the “boxers and boots” look helped! His “father” Kevin decided what he needed was a boost of confidence and gave him a cursed bite so he could play the part of Teen Wolf, but all that led to was him rampaging in the school and marking his territory in front of his crush. Which did not go down well, as you might imagine. XD Despite all this, though, he’d actually managed to get someone to agree to be his girlfriend and his prom date, joined the cheerleading squad, and found a way to even live in the school so he didn’t have to go back to his horrible home with plants instead of fridges and those windows you can climb through instead of doors –
But as it turns out, trying to live in a school means you can’t actually attend your classes, and Jim’s poor grades during his exams (coupled with eating the whiteboard in a panic after missing the first) got him expelled. Oh dear. He still tried to compete in the cheer festival after school, but didn’t win any prizes – and then, right when he was about to head to prom, he got distracted by an invite to hang out by some Sims at a Sims 4 recreation of Kevin’s original terrifying Sims 2 house, and ended up missing it. :( Not a very happy end to Jim’s school career. Well, we all know the Dear Leader can bounce back from anything – I mean, he actually STARVED TO DEATH midway through the episode and was saved by Sim!Kevin’s intervention, so we know Grim still likes him. :p
C) Then, after supper and writing and all that, it was time for the latest OXtra list: “7 Pun Achievements So Painful You’ll Need Paracetamol!” Because Ellen openly loves puns and everyone else on the team pretends to hate them. XD Winners from the list included Nathan Drake from Uncharted 3 using a fish from a fishmonger’s stall in an environmental takedown three times in a particular fight (He’s Gonna Need A Sturgeon); Spider-Man defeating Mr. Negative in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man (Stay Positive); and getting five LEGO NPCs to boogie with your character (likely Peter Quill, aka Starlord, as he comes with his own music player) in LEGO Marvel Superheroes (Dancing in the Moon Knight). So many groans, especially when Mike started punning himself without meaning to after the fish one. XD
D) And finally, back to the Subs for GrayStillPlays and “When you become heavier than the world in 5 minutes,” aka Gray plays Giant Rush! This is another “race your figure down to the end of this course while picking up things to make them bigger in some way” mobile game – this time, you’re racing them to beat the hell out of some stick-figure king and send them rocketing down Multiplier Lane, and the thing you’re picking up is OTHER STICK FIGURES TO MAKE YOURSELF BIGGER. Occasionally the game breaks it up with a “proper” boss fight with a mace that you have to jump out of the way of before hitting him, or a treasure chest you have to hit as many times as possible to bring up your multiplier – Gray grabbed an autoclicker for that one. XD But yes, you are essentially making yourself huge by devouring your brethren while avoiding pits of lava and various spiky things and smashing through walls. XD Simple premise, excellent execution by Gray praising cannibalism and being determined to send the king flying as far as humanly possible. His commentary really does make these games. XD
3. Either a) work on another Untitled Goose Game time trial,
That being said, I DID make a point of opening up the Blades in the Dark PDF tonight and taking a skim around – I’m gonna try and do more with it over the course of the rest of my vacation. I bought it for a reason, damn it.
4. Work on tumblr drafts: Check – did a very easy morning update on my Victor Luvs Alice tumblr’s dash (quiet day to start) and tags, then worked my way through the following:
A) Getting a head start on the NEXT Chill Save update after the one due to go up tomorrow, with Victor, Alice, and Smiler finally all together by sorting out all the screenshots to post – and it’s a good thing I did, because the final count of pictures I want to post is 45. That’s five posts’ worth! O.o Well, I did say I got the serotonin from them moving in together. . .and to be fair they also celebrated New Year’s Eve AND went to the Snow Festival in Mt. Komorebi, sooo. . . XD
B) Doing a PROPER write-up of my draft on an “All Occults Coffee Shop” AU post, inspired by a prompt in that direction I saw on tumblr, where Alice and Smiler work in a coffee shop and Victor, Victoria, and Emily are the late shift regulars – and also they’re all supernatural (Alice is a vampire, Smiler a fae, Victor a spellcaster, Victoria a werewolf, and Emily a mermaid). The AU itself is kind of a vague “this would be kinda cute” thing at this point, but I did the draft post, so I wanted to clean it up. Never know when inspiration might strike, anyway!
C) Spending FAR TOO LONG trying to find a specific post on a kink I came up with for Victor spontaneously about a year ago (about him enjoying having his neck nibbled and sucked thanks to a love of vampires when he first started having sexy thoughts) that for some reason I could NOT locate in my tumblr for like a HALF HOUR), then doing an “update reblog” draft with some new information (namely, modern!Victor’s “sexual awakening” being thanks to that scene of Jonathan Harker being menaced by the brides in Dracula (thanks “Dracula Daily!”), and Alice’s “awakening” always being a surprise reaction to subby/hypnotized Victor) – should have kept with my original idea of it being its OWN post, but noooo. . .
D) After lunch, quickly repurposing what would have been that separate “sexual awakenings” post into a short draft for my inevitable Blades in the Dark AU
E) And finally, this evening, setting up the Smiler Always Chill Save update for the semi-failed “Night On The Town” in Henford-on-Bagley in the Victor Luvs Alice queue (I’m thinking Thursday will be an update on how “Londerland Bloodlines” is going, so I can’t actually write that one until after I’ve done my latest writing session tomorrow night), and a pair of ask replies over in the Valice Multiverse queue
Whew! At least it was a productive day!
5. Get in a workout: Check – another evening on the bike, another evening with “Oxventure Presents: Blades in the Dark! Dead Man’s Debt!” Edvard, as it turned out, did have something useful on his bandoleer – a vial of sleeping potion! Which he asked to Tinker into an aerosol bomb to keep the servants asleep. . .and knock out Barnaby because the prick needs to get into his servant’s costume. XD Luke ruled that actually MAKING the bomb should be a flashback action to when they were preparing for the heist, but allowed Edvard to make it for one stress – he rolled well, got Barnaby to go down the other way, rolled the bomb into his general vicinity, and – presto! One unconscious Barnaby. :D Edvard and Kasimir promptly dragged him away and got him into the servant’s clothing, throwing his OTHER clothes out the window so he couldn’t try to redress himself properly. XD
Cut back to Zillah in the basement, who, well, didn’t know about any of these shenanigans. A mini-flashback allowed her to spot the various bells used to call any servants who might be in the basement upstairs, each labeled with which room. Lilith obligingly rang the “dining room” bell, but Zillah did spot there was a “Collection” bell as well that seemed to go to the third floor. . . Deciding she wasn’t about to fit in the dumbwaiter with her pack, she instead took her chances up the stairs, peeking out for signs of life. No one living – but there was mysterious spooky scratching noises and children’s laughter near the front door. . . Zillah stayed well away from that and just rendezvoused with Lilith, who told her about the teacup – they got that cleaned up, and Zillah got them both onto the servants’ stairs and sneaking farther upward.
Back to the attic – Edvard woke Barnaby using the servants’ washbin; fortunately, upon discovering he was dressed as a servant, he took it in good cheer and considered it a prank the likes of which Squiffy would have played on him at school. XD Edvard was like “great, let’s keep the prank going by getting a move on” – and Kasimir chose this moment to call a flashback to him saying, back in the planning stages, that if they can do this sneaky sneaky, that’s great, but in case things start dragging on, the best thing to do might be to set the house on fire and help the servants rescue what they can. And then, back in the present time, he PULLED OUT A MOLOTOV to show that he fully believed that plan was still on the table. (Barnaby complimented him on the vintage of booze he’d stolen to make it.) So yeah, hasty trip downward from the attic –
Into the collection room! Which was full of spinning tops of various kinds. Apparently the councilwoman they’re robbing, one Lizette, has a thing for them.
She also has a thing for sleepwalking, as the boys found out when they entered the room to find her in there, wandering around but not really aware of anything – certainly not of them! Barnaby called for a flashback for Squiffy to remind him that this was a trait of hers; Luke allowed it and added the further complication that, because she has hurt herself in this state before, she’s never truly alone these days when she sleepwalks – some member of the household stays awake to see that she gets through the nights safely. Barnaby, to his credit, promptly warned his companions, but they saw no servant on watch nearby –
That’s because the butler was out in the corridor by the door. Right in the way of Zillah and Lilith. Zillah was a little reluctant to just knock him out, because due to her career as a prizefighter, she knows that’s not good for people, so Lilith tried to call a flashback where they nipped to the front door to deal with the ghostly presence there, and she attempted to compel the spirit to spook this guy a little to get him away from his post long enough for them to pass. Luke allowed it and she made her roll –
Ones. Lilith WAS able to Attune very strongly to the child ghost (with the Stereotypical Dickensian Orphan Accent) and talk to it, but the little boy refused to work with her, saying he found the lady up there scary, and that Lilith couldn’t tell him what to do. He then proceeded to bounce around wildly in the way of children, and Jane – trying to determine what Zillah could actually SEE of all this – jokingly said that the child ran through Zillah and possessed her – “now I’ve got all these muscles ha ha.”
Luke said “you shouldn’t have made it so funny, that’s now canon.” XD In fact, he built on it, with the little boy dragging Zillah’s body around, stuffing her full of about five heads' worth of cabbage, then being sick and escaping her body – all in about 20 seconds. Whoops. XD That brought us back to the present, where Lilith was like “okay, so, no ghost help.” XD Zillah decided that the best plan might then be to “Hitman” it and throw a distraction coin at the window to make a noise; it was eventually decided that since Lilith was better at Finesse throws and Zillah better at Skirmishing, Lilith would throw the coin and Zillah would deliver the man a light tap on the head with her nightstick. One roll later, Zillah had accomplished her aim –
And Lilith had rolled a two. XD Ellen is basically rolling like shit in this early adventure! Luke ruled that Lilith ended up launching the coin directly into the butler’s face, and he had enough time to let out a brief scream of surprise before Zillah walloped him. Luke TRIED to have her accidentally kill the poor man, but Zillah was like “NO I DON’T WANT TO KILL HIM RESIST RESIST” and with a good roll to keep the stress cost low, got it downgraded to just grievously harmed. (Good thing too, because Johnny was looking downright HORRIFIED at this game already featuring a murder, given how death works in BitD. . .)
This DID still mean the guy screamed, and hit the ground with a hell of a thud – meaning Lizette woke up with the boys in front of her. Barnaby FINALLY made himself useful by stepping in with a story about how he’d dressed up as a servant for a tryst with one of her help, sorry to be a bother. . . While that was going on, Edvard called for the most important, most relevant flashback of all –
LOOKING UP WHAT EXACTLY IT IS THEY’RE LOOKING FOR. XD Luke said that was very reasonable and, for the cost of a bit of stress, said that Edvard had managed to bribe his way through the auction house to get the necessary catalog. Yes, they were looking for a top – a fancy green one of great age, which had been held for quite a while before auction, thus starting up the “cursed” rumors. Time to look around and see if that’s anywhere – hopefully while Barnaby is keeping Lizette distracted!
Hah, good times, good times -- and I am VERY much enjoying the -- let's call them Bladeventurers, given that's the system they're using. :D I mean, seriously, EVERYONE was cracking up at the Dickensian Orphan Boy's adventures in Zillah's bodies. I know the general setting and lore can make this a very grim game, but damn do the OXBoxtra team bring the funny. I'm so eager to see how this all works out tomorrow! :D But first, the rest of my new to-dos:
1. Continue writing on "Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland"
2. Keep up with YouTube Subs and see about getting something out of the Watch Later
3. Either play Fallout 4 and clear out the National Guard Training Yard or work on Blades in the Dark stuff
4. Work on tumblr queues
5. Get in a workout
Holding off on Sims 4 for at least one more day just to see what the full community reaction to the bugfix patch is. I feel that's safest (and allows me to keep checking my mods and CC). Hopefully I can keep up the productive life! Night all!
