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Holy Crap, Slightly Early Update
Nov. 22nd, 2022 11:40 pmYeah, been a bit quiet on the old tumblrs and such tonight, which is good as I am mildly bitchy on my period right now. Am also pleased to report that Mom's new oven and stovetop are both functional now, complete with range hood and whatnot, AND Dad has plans to plumb in the sink we currently have (with Mom taping up the sides with Frog-brand tape to keep water from getting in the gaps) while we're waiting for the new one to arrive, so hopefully TOMORROW is the last day for washing dishes in the bathroom. Keep your fingers crossed!
As for official to-do list items:
Work – Well, day started with more credit card company bullshit, in this case discovering that some old stuff that really should have been deactivated ages ago was still live and kicking and screwing up our numbers. *sigh* Also a few people calling in to do pledges and gifts and things. That was pretty much all before lunch, though, and the rest of my day consisted mainly of clearing up more duplicates. *shrug* Could have been worse, I suppose.
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, finishing off Oxventure Presents Blades In The Dark, “The Dreadful Dimmer Sisters!” Having devised their plan to find Barnaby and grill him, the gang split up again, this time into pairs – Lilith and Zillah making their way to the study/laboratory to cause a distraction; Edvard and Kasimir to the arboretum to take advantage of that distraction to find Barnaby. Lilith got a flashback where she did some research on the Dimmer Sisters and learned a few of their names, including those of Molly and Holly, two Sisters who go out on the regular to find cool stuff to store in their vault. (Jane admitted she was glad this meant they didn’t have to think of rhyming names off the top of their heads, and a lot of joke names got thrown around as a result.) So she and Zillah impersonated them, managing to slip unnoticed into the study. Zillah was all for just setting off the ghost lock, but Lilith pointed out that the ideal situation would be to get someone else to do it so that any angry ghosts would go for them. Lilith then tried to find the mystery hidden vault that Edvard had reported seeing earlier, but no luck. However, a good roll meant that she DID notice a locked hazardous materials cupboard, complete with its own little glowing attuned lock. Turns out the Dimmer Sisters use these things liberally, to the point of having one on the light switch. Lilith and Zillah were appalled; Andy was just surprised the Sisters didn’t have a dimmer. XD Wanting to see one in action, the girls approached the experimenting Sisters still in the room, Chloe and Zoe, and explained that there was something that desperately needed cleaning up in the torture room, and they didn’t have the password for the cupboard over there. Chloe was annoyed, but Lilith name-dropping that they were Molly and Holly (and agreeing to hold the thing on her side of the ghost-splicing experiment) got her to go over and open the door by whispering “Magda” to the ghost stuck in the doorknob.
It was around this time that Zillah realized that they’d screwed the pooch by having a Sister open that door correctly and go hunting for hazardous materials/cleaning supplies. That wasn’t a distraction at all! And, not being good at social stealth, Zillah decided to just do what she did best and choke out Zoe, drag her to the cupboard, throw her at Chloe, and then lock them in. A good Skirmish roll meant that this went well –
But it also interrupted the experiment, meaning that a horrible fused ghost of a man and a dog – soon dubbed “Cocker Daniel” – was released and immediately began causing HAVOC, smashing other spirit bottles and releasing even more ghosts. Zillah was like, “Well, good, distraction – all yours, Lilith!” while Lilith was like “I CANNOT DO ALL OF THEM I DEMAND WE RUN.” However, Cocker Daniel proved to be in the way of the secret door, so Lilith had to face down ONE ghost (all while Zillah kept trying to call all of this “the mess we caused,” as she had made a conscious decision not to be responsible for her actions XD). She tried a Compel to tell it to “Fetch!” in the general direction of the vault, thinking of the bracer Edvard had seen, and got a 6! :D
Luke said that this spared her from having her arms and legs torn off by the badly confused spirit. XD The man-half began asking what the hell was going on while the dog-half started barking about bones, and Zillah took the opportunity to blow it up with an electroplasmic round (thanks to a 6 on her Wreck roll). Cocker Daniel basically went up like a ghostly flame, and the girls booked it into the secret passages, Lilith getting Zillah to throw their cloaks into the room to make it look like they’d been disintegrated. Clever!
However, naturally, that had caused a LOT of noise, so there was another tick on the old “Discovery” clock, and ringing alarm bells went off all over the mansion, summoning all Sisters to see what the hell was going on. Fortunately, this was exactly what Edvard and Kasimir needed to break into the arboretum! Of course, the door had a spooky glowing ghost lock – but Edvard is not a tinkerer for nothing, and produced the Volisport equivalent of a WELDING TORCH and cut a big old square out of the door. A roll of 5 meant that he got the door open in decent time, but not fast enough for Kasimir’s liking, and he barred the door leading to where they were with his cane just to buy them some time. They got in, though, and found their rake unconscious and tied to a chair (and in his own flesh – apparently that was just a random spirit Josie was playing with earlier). They had some fun smacking him to bring him round, but even with a whiff of Kasimir’s fine whiskey, Barnaby never fully came around (possibly because Mike wasn’t there to play him), just babbling on about “Squiffy” and japes and whatnot. Edvard decided at that point it would honestly be easier just to take him and run, and Kasimir (after swigging some of his own whiskey) agreed and had Edvard go on ahead while he repaired the door. He asked for a Devil’s Bargain to get some more dice for the roll, and Luke obliged with “you’ll need to melt down your cane for extra solder for an extra die.” Kasimir took it, and got a nice 6 of his own, repairing the door so neatly with his melted cane that even the ghost in the handle was impressed. XD
And then it was back to the torture room to make their getaway, hopefully with the sisters thinking their captive had just disappeared (given all the ghosts released from the study, this seems reasonable). There was also the matter of the man in the torture chamber itself, who begged them not to forget old Billy and said that he was with the Billhooks (another gang) and could get them a favor if they let him go. They figured “in for a penny, in for a pound” and got the guy free (Edvard tinkering with the manacles, Zillah just ripping them apart XD). He thanked them and took off into the sewer, and Zillah insisted on a flashback to arrange for nicer transportation back so they didn’t have to wade through the muck AGAIN – Kasimir said that he could probably get that unfortunate gondolier he made a contract with to come down on the promise that he’d release him from the bond, and so it was that they were ferried back to their lair (Eleanor’s Largely Legal Antiques shop), with one Barnaby! Minus, of course, his coat – did I mention that was indeed ruined by being used as the wrapping for his fake arm? :D And after that was just the mopping up, with Edvard deciding to improve his Wonderful Mechanical Man and Kasimir getting his help in designing a new cane so it could be electric or something. XD I look forward to seeing their next adventure! Though next week I DO need to start getting back to the Oxventure proper. . .
2. Continue writing “Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland”: SUBSTITUTION – with my period-brain making writing a bit harder, me thinking it might be easier to do another chunk of that particular story tomorrow when I have a bit of extra free time, and being on a Blades in the Dark high thanks to all the Bladeventurer stuff I’ve been watching, I decided to do something self-indulgent and wrote out the scene where the Alice and Smiler of Duskwall (already acquaintances as Smiler sells their Joy Serum in the same area as the Mangled Mermaid) meet Victor, who only JUST escaped half-feral ghost!Emily by flinging himself out of the ghost field through a door that in reality is bricked up behind a wall. Simple, but I think I got the atmosphere down even in that rough draft, so I’m happy. :)
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Half check for today’s uploads – Kevin had another hour-long video, so I’ll try to catch up with his stuff tomorrow when I have a bit of extra time. But for tonight –
A) Took a moment to catch up with another OXtra list – “7 First Levels that are Easily the Best Bit of the Game, So You Can Stop Playing Now!” Luke and Ellen discussing games where the first level got all the love, and the rest of the game just didn’t quite match up. From the awesome City Escape level of Sonic Adventures 2: Battle, to the tightly-paced tutorial mission of Watch Dogs, to – the opening five minutes of Aliens: Colonial Marines? Yeah, uh, apparently the game manages to sell the atmosphere up until actual Xenomorphs appear and the borked AI (apparently the result of a spelling mistake!) murders your immersion like the Xenomorphs in the movies and better video games will do. Who woulda thunk?
B) And then it was over to Gray for today’s upload – “GTA 5 but everything I touch turns to money!” Which is only half-true as a title, as Gray had a two-part GTA V challenge board from Alex this video. The first half is where the title came in – Alex had a selection of cars and bikes for Gray to purchase to try and complete a parkour board where he had to jump from platform to platform in an open space between four pillars, never repeating colors or he’d either screw himself or fall through the platform. However, to buy these various vehicles, Gray had to earn money by adding various obstacles to the board – a thumbnail hole sign in front of a platform, a stop sign hanging in mid-air and blocking his flight path to the next platform, and of course a wind turbine just chilling out. XD Gray attempted to complete the board with a cheap car and a motorbike with the ability to glide, but ultimately went for the Ruiner and its rockets and parachutes to finally complete his parkouring, despite all the obstacles in his path.
And then he got to the second part of the board, and all that went out the window as Gray was forced to navigate yet another Wall Ride From Hell (patent pending). This one had turning cut-outs that TWITCHED and thus didn’t move smoothly enough for him to anticipate; a cylinder with cut-outs on either side where he had to get the timing to get past them JUST RIGHT; a license-plate loop at one end where he had to keep going around and around until the MOVING section of wall came by and he could hitch a ride to the next part (not only did it move almost faster than he did, it came with an attached windmill), and finally a ramp that he had to hit when it was in the EXACT right position to get the checkpoint. And then it was just a matter of jumping out of the building Alex teleported him into for the win. XD Oh, Alex really is reaching new heights of sadism here. . .
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check – two ask replies over on Valice Multiverse, and the four-part Chill Save update on Victor Luvs Alice both queued up for tomorrow! Plus I found a fun post to stick in my drafts regarding shipping. XD So that’s all good.
Not too shabby -- and yeah, catching up on Kevin will be the focus of tomorrow. I figure I can get at least one of those videos in! But for now, I should probably go and get some decent sleep. Just over three-quarters of a work day to get through tomorrow! Night all!
As for official to-do list items:
Work – Well, day started with more credit card company bullshit, in this case discovering that some old stuff that really should have been deactivated ages ago was still live and kicking and screwing up our numbers. *sigh* Also a few people calling in to do pledges and gifts and things. That was pretty much all before lunch, though, and the rest of my day consisted mainly of clearing up more duplicates. *shrug* Could have been worse, I suppose.
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, finishing off Oxventure Presents Blades In The Dark, “The Dreadful Dimmer Sisters!” Having devised their plan to find Barnaby and grill him, the gang split up again, this time into pairs – Lilith and Zillah making their way to the study/laboratory to cause a distraction; Edvard and Kasimir to the arboretum to take advantage of that distraction to find Barnaby. Lilith got a flashback where she did some research on the Dimmer Sisters and learned a few of their names, including those of Molly and Holly, two Sisters who go out on the regular to find cool stuff to store in their vault. (Jane admitted she was glad this meant they didn’t have to think of rhyming names off the top of their heads, and a lot of joke names got thrown around as a result.) So she and Zillah impersonated them, managing to slip unnoticed into the study. Zillah was all for just setting off the ghost lock, but Lilith pointed out that the ideal situation would be to get someone else to do it so that any angry ghosts would go for them. Lilith then tried to find the mystery hidden vault that Edvard had reported seeing earlier, but no luck. However, a good roll meant that she DID notice a locked hazardous materials cupboard, complete with its own little glowing attuned lock. Turns out the Dimmer Sisters use these things liberally, to the point of having one on the light switch. Lilith and Zillah were appalled; Andy was just surprised the Sisters didn’t have a dimmer. XD Wanting to see one in action, the girls approached the experimenting Sisters still in the room, Chloe and Zoe, and explained that there was something that desperately needed cleaning up in the torture room, and they didn’t have the password for the cupboard over there. Chloe was annoyed, but Lilith name-dropping that they were Molly and Holly (and agreeing to hold the thing on her side of the ghost-splicing experiment) got her to go over and open the door by whispering “Magda” to the ghost stuck in the doorknob.
It was around this time that Zillah realized that they’d screwed the pooch by having a Sister open that door correctly and go hunting for hazardous materials/cleaning supplies. That wasn’t a distraction at all! And, not being good at social stealth, Zillah decided to just do what she did best and choke out Zoe, drag her to the cupboard, throw her at Chloe, and then lock them in. A good Skirmish roll meant that this went well –
But it also interrupted the experiment, meaning that a horrible fused ghost of a man and a dog – soon dubbed “Cocker Daniel” – was released and immediately began causing HAVOC, smashing other spirit bottles and releasing even more ghosts. Zillah was like, “Well, good, distraction – all yours, Lilith!” while Lilith was like “I CANNOT DO ALL OF THEM I DEMAND WE RUN.” However, Cocker Daniel proved to be in the way of the secret door, so Lilith had to face down ONE ghost (all while Zillah kept trying to call all of this “the mess we caused,” as she had made a conscious decision not to be responsible for her actions XD). She tried a Compel to tell it to “Fetch!” in the general direction of the vault, thinking of the bracer Edvard had seen, and got a 6! :D
Luke said that this spared her from having her arms and legs torn off by the badly confused spirit. XD The man-half began asking what the hell was going on while the dog-half started barking about bones, and Zillah took the opportunity to blow it up with an electroplasmic round (thanks to a 6 on her Wreck roll). Cocker Daniel basically went up like a ghostly flame, and the girls booked it into the secret passages, Lilith getting Zillah to throw their cloaks into the room to make it look like they’d been disintegrated. Clever!
However, naturally, that had caused a LOT of noise, so there was another tick on the old “Discovery” clock, and ringing alarm bells went off all over the mansion, summoning all Sisters to see what the hell was going on. Fortunately, this was exactly what Edvard and Kasimir needed to break into the arboretum! Of course, the door had a spooky glowing ghost lock – but Edvard is not a tinkerer for nothing, and produced the Volisport equivalent of a WELDING TORCH and cut a big old square out of the door. A roll of 5 meant that he got the door open in decent time, but not fast enough for Kasimir’s liking, and he barred the door leading to where they were with his cane just to buy them some time. They got in, though, and found their rake unconscious and tied to a chair (and in his own flesh – apparently that was just a random spirit Josie was playing with earlier). They had some fun smacking him to bring him round, but even with a whiff of Kasimir’s fine whiskey, Barnaby never fully came around (possibly because Mike wasn’t there to play him), just babbling on about “Squiffy” and japes and whatnot. Edvard decided at that point it would honestly be easier just to take him and run, and Kasimir (after swigging some of his own whiskey) agreed and had Edvard go on ahead while he repaired the door. He asked for a Devil’s Bargain to get some more dice for the roll, and Luke obliged with “you’ll need to melt down your cane for extra solder for an extra die.” Kasimir took it, and got a nice 6 of his own, repairing the door so neatly with his melted cane that even the ghost in the handle was impressed. XD
And then it was back to the torture room to make their getaway, hopefully with the sisters thinking their captive had just disappeared (given all the ghosts released from the study, this seems reasonable). There was also the matter of the man in the torture chamber itself, who begged them not to forget old Billy and said that he was with the Billhooks (another gang) and could get them a favor if they let him go. They figured “in for a penny, in for a pound” and got the guy free (Edvard tinkering with the manacles, Zillah just ripping them apart XD). He thanked them and took off into the sewer, and Zillah insisted on a flashback to arrange for nicer transportation back so they didn’t have to wade through the muck AGAIN – Kasimir said that he could probably get that unfortunate gondolier he made a contract with to come down on the promise that he’d release him from the bond, and so it was that they were ferried back to their lair (Eleanor’s Largely Legal Antiques shop), with one Barnaby! Minus, of course, his coat – did I mention that was indeed ruined by being used as the wrapping for his fake arm? :D And after that was just the mopping up, with Edvard deciding to improve his Wonderful Mechanical Man and Kasimir getting his help in designing a new cane so it could be electric or something. XD I look forward to seeing their next adventure! Though next week I DO need to start getting back to the Oxventure proper. . .
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Half check for today’s uploads – Kevin had another hour-long video, so I’ll try to catch up with his stuff tomorrow when I have a bit of extra time. But for tonight –
A) Took a moment to catch up with another OXtra list – “7 First Levels that are Easily the Best Bit of the Game, So You Can Stop Playing Now!” Luke and Ellen discussing games where the first level got all the love, and the rest of the game just didn’t quite match up. From the awesome City Escape level of Sonic Adventures 2: Battle, to the tightly-paced tutorial mission of Watch Dogs, to – the opening five minutes of Aliens: Colonial Marines? Yeah, uh, apparently the game manages to sell the atmosphere up until actual Xenomorphs appear and the borked AI (apparently the result of a spelling mistake!) murders your immersion like the Xenomorphs in the movies and better video games will do. Who woulda thunk?
B) And then it was over to Gray for today’s upload – “GTA 5 but everything I touch turns to money!” Which is only half-true as a title, as Gray had a two-part GTA V challenge board from Alex this video. The first half is where the title came in – Alex had a selection of cars and bikes for Gray to purchase to try and complete a parkour board where he had to jump from platform to platform in an open space between four pillars, never repeating colors or he’d either screw himself or fall through the platform. However, to buy these various vehicles, Gray had to earn money by adding various obstacles to the board – a thumbnail hole sign in front of a platform, a stop sign hanging in mid-air and blocking his flight path to the next platform, and of course a wind turbine just chilling out. XD Gray attempted to complete the board with a cheap car and a motorbike with the ability to glide, but ultimately went for the Ruiner and its rockets and parachutes to finally complete his parkouring, despite all the obstacles in his path.
And then he got to the second part of the board, and all that went out the window as Gray was forced to navigate yet another Wall Ride From Hell (patent pending). This one had turning cut-outs that TWITCHED and thus didn’t move smoothly enough for him to anticipate; a cylinder with cut-outs on either side where he had to get the timing to get past them JUST RIGHT; a license-plate loop at one end where he had to keep going around and around until the MOVING section of wall came by and he could hitch a ride to the next part (not only did it move almost faster than he did, it came with an attached windmill), and finally a ramp that he had to hit when it was in the EXACT right position to get the checkpoint. And then it was just a matter of jumping out of the building Alex teleported him into for the win. XD Oh, Alex really is reaching new heights of sadism here. . .
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check – two ask replies over on Valice Multiverse, and the four-part Chill Save update on Victor Luvs Alice both queued up for tomorrow! Plus I found a fun post to stick in my drafts regarding shipping. XD So that’s all good.
Not too shabby -- and yeah, catching up on Kevin will be the focus of tomorrow. I figure I can get at least one of those videos in! But for now, I should probably go and get some decent sleep. Just over three-quarters of a work day to get through tomorrow! Night all!
