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Christmas Eve Checklist Complete
Dec. 24th, 2025 11:49 pmYes, while it wasn't a PERFECT Christmas Eve -- mostly because I ended up having to rewash a few dishes and wipe off all the kitchen counters and wash the spinning plate inside the microwave after lunch because my parents were busy playing cribbage, which ended up really annoying me because I had other shit I wanted to do, damn it, which mean that when I did get back to my room I had to spend some time calming myself down -- I did at least check off everything that I put on my must-do list last night:
1. Get all the posts for the Christmas gift fics going up on tumblr sorted and into the queue for Christmas – Check! I spent the time before lunch in the “drafts” section of Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler), reviewing the posts I’d already completed for Marie and Squid’s gift fics, finishing off the one I previously started for Nebby’s fic, then creating the ones for WeirdKev, Nattie, Ace, and SatiricalDemon’s fics (had to finish the tags on the last one after lunch, but to be fair I was nattering on a bit about how much I liked doing the research for that fic and how I felt Omega Mart was Smiler-coded). Then, this afternoon, I slotted them all into the queue to post throughout the day tomorrow! :) So Tumblr Christmas is set at least. As a bonus, I also reblogged:
A) My friend Newt’s “art vs artist 2025” post (a showcase of himself and the art he created this year, which consisted mostly of Dead Boys Detective Agency fanart along with a few other pieces like various felt friends, and an adorable cat pumpkin) because they are a good artist and, even if we’re in very different fandoms now, it felt like the right thing to do :)
B) And a photoset by sheikonfleek (via my friend SatiricalDemon) of one of the scenes from Hogfather – specifically, the one where DEATH says that humans need fantasy to BE human, and that Hogfathers and Tooth Fairies are little lies for children to practice believing in so, as adults, they can believe the big lies like Justice and Mercy. Because humans have to believe in things that aren’t real – how else can they become? As you might expect, the rest of the attached reblog chain was all “it’s seasonal again!” and talking about how this is the kind of wisdom that weighs on your chest for the rest of your life – there are reasons this scene is one of the most quoted out of the books/adaptations. *nods*
2. Watch the 12th Day of OXmas, which may or may not be the grand finale (we will see) – Check! I got to it a little later than intended, but I did get to it, watching “XMAS CHALLENGE Day 12: CHAOS MODE 2 | Mario Kart World Knockout Tour Challenge! 🏎️💨” on OXtra tonight! This challenge saw the four go into Mario Kart World, the latest in the Mario Kart series, and participate in a “Knockout Tour” – a long race through six different courses where players are periodically eliminated if they haven’t placed high enough in the rankings. The group chose to do the Spiny Rally because it had some good “festive” (aka snowy) sections, picked their racers – Monty Mole for Mike, Sombero Waluigi for Ellen (though he seemed to switch the hat for a helmet midway through), Random Penguin for Jane, and Baby Luigi for Andy – declared that whoever got the farthest in the tour got the precious Christmas point, then revved their engines and started their tour! How did it go?
Chaotically! Everyone kept changing places super-fast as they encountered various power-ups and hazards, and it was hard to keep track of everything that was going on thanks to the four-person split-screen view. I never knew who to watch! But I can do a basic breakdown of what happened per stage for you –
( Under a cut because this is a big spoiler )
3. Work some more on "The Van Dort Vacancy" – Check! I did that this afternoon after calming down from my grumpy fit, getting roughly about two-and-a-half pages edited in Chapter 2. :) And what did those two-and-a-half pages cover?
...pretty much just “Victor gets yelled at by his mother as he attempts to explain where he’s been and what happened over the past four days.” *nods* I mean, if you need more specifics, we had:
A) Victor arriving at the doors of the main ballroom, hoping to slip in quietly and without much notice so he could find his parents and take them aside to explain where’s he been – only for Nell to open one of the doors right in his face, see him, and immediately start berating him for being gone for so long, for coming back now, and for causing so much scandal
B) Victor attempting to apologize and pleading that he’s had a few very odd days, only for Nell to be like “we’ve had worse” and launch into a litany of all the indignities they’ve suffered recently, including Mayhew dropping dead and William being forced to drive their own carriage back to Brightstone; the Everglots breaking their engagement to marry Victoria off to Lord Barkis; Lord Barkis ending up dead and the Bluecoats claiming he was a Spirit Warden and that Victor helped murder him (saying it was very fortunate the Spirit Wardens put paid to that quickly); the Everglots refusing to re-engage Victoria to Victor because she stumbled across an Imperial guardsman on her flight from Barkis’s clutches and they decided he was a much better prospect for her; and having to quickly plan and execute this party to salvage their reputation with their son still missing
C) Victor finally being allowed to talk and attempting to explain about his “ghost bride” – only for Nell and William to get hung up on his claim that he got dragged into the ghost field by her (which neither of them thinks could have actually happened, as the ghost field is for ghosts, not people), and then for Nell to go ballistic when Victor mentioned escaping into Silkshore and immediately assume that her son went off to sow some wild oats (or “fish for silverflake in the canals” as per the Duskwallian version of the phrase) with a couple of wastrels (aka Alice and Smiler)
D) Victor desperately apologizing some more to his parents and saying that he wants to put things right, and being told by Nell to go into the party, find a girl, and start courting, as he’d just proven he could talk to women – cue Victor heading inside and awkwardly asking his parents if he’d see them later, and Nell rolling her eyes, shoving him into the room, and closing the door on him
Yeaaah – not a fun few pages for our boy Victor! And things are going to get worse before they get better, sadly… Anyway, I left off with him leaning against the doors, thinking about how his parents think he’s a fool and a rake and muttering how “this day couldn’t get any worse” – tomorrow, he overhears a conversation that makes it worse. But also makes it better, as it is going to inspire him to finally ditch some dead weight, so to speak...
4. Get in a workout – Check! Another night on the bike, another night with The Great British Baking Show Holidays! Because there’s really not much else I want to watch on Netflix! Trust me, I checked. *shakehead* But yeah, tonight’s pedal session took me through:
A) The end of Episode 2 of the collection, with Rav, Rob, Benjamina, and Sandy presenting their “magical ice cakes” to the judges! Paul and Prue liked Rob’s flavors, but noted that he’d completely missed the brief with his focus on his little pastries (though at least he did have some dry ice that he used to create a misty effect underneath the cake); liked Sandy’s ambition with her mousse cake surrounded by Swiss Rolls, but felt that it wasn’t executed as well as it could have been; thought Benjamina’s cake filled the brief and tasted delicious –
But felt that Rav’s cake with its little pine trees to go with the colorful ice shards and lovely spun sugar “skirt” and delicious almond sponge with passionfruit filling edged her out. And so the cake stand went to Rav, who was extremely pleased with his win! And as well he should be. *nods*
B) And – after confirming that there really wasn’t anything else I could think of to watch – the beginning of Episode 3! Featuring Liam, Flo, Jane, and Andrew as our bakers – the latter two were on the same regular season together and apparently have a friendly rivalry, which is cute. I got all the way through the Signature Bake, which was cookies decorated with the bakers’ personal interpretations of the 12 Days Of Christmas (Paul and Prue liked the taste of everyone’s cookies, but felt the fondant covering on Flo’s was just waaay too thick, and the icing work on Liam and Andrew’s a little bit messy (and a little bit confusing, as the boys went for more personalized “this is what I like to do at Christmas” cookies over the ladies’ more generically Christmassy designs) – Jane’s work was judged the best, though she sadly didn’t qualify for a Hollywood Handshake), and I’m currently partway through the Technical Bake, which is Laufabrauð – a really thin Icelandic fried flatbread decorated with intricate cut designs, kind of like a poppadom (everyone so far has managed to successfully make the dough and roll out the pieces to be the correct thinness – nearly transparent – but they all seem to be struggling a bit with getting the snowflake pattern Paul wants on them just right. They have a cutting tool to help them make the design, but the trick is knowing where to roll it…). We’ll finish this off on Friday, I think – hopefully somebody will figure out how to make a successful snowflake by then!
Other: As per tradition, I was allowed to open one of my presents early – I chose the first one in my stocking, which turned out to be a mini flux capacitor! :) It’s a tiny, quite nicely done replica that lights up AND plays sounds – though if you just want the fluxing, it has a “lights only” mode too. Plus it comes with a tiny booklet talking about Doc’s invention of the time machine, the particulars of how it works, and all the trouble Doc and Marty had while going back and forth in time. It’s a very cute little gift! I’ve got it sitting in front of my big life-size flux capacitor replica for the moment – once I can clear my desk of all the chocolate boxes and bags I’ve picked up though, I’ll probably move it next to my Victor Funko Pop figure. We’ll see!
So that was all good, at least! Kind of wish I'd been able to get more done, but at least all the most important things were accomplished! And now I should probably head to bed, as it is pretty late and I don't want to sleep all Christmas. XD Only to-do I have tomorrow is to continue working on "The Van Dort Vacancy," as I AM really enjoying editing that again after so long away -- otherwise, we'll just see what happens! Night all!
1. Get all the posts for the Christmas gift fics going up on tumblr sorted and into the queue for Christmas – Check! I spent the time before lunch in the “drafts” section of Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler), reviewing the posts I’d already completed for Marie and Squid’s gift fics, finishing off the one I previously started for Nebby’s fic, then creating the ones for WeirdKev, Nattie, Ace, and SatiricalDemon’s fics (had to finish the tags on the last one after lunch, but to be fair I was nattering on a bit about how much I liked doing the research for that fic and how I felt Omega Mart was Smiler-coded). Then, this afternoon, I slotted them all into the queue to post throughout the day tomorrow! :) So Tumblr Christmas is set at least. As a bonus, I also reblogged:
A) My friend Newt’s “art vs artist 2025” post (a showcase of himself and the art he created this year, which consisted mostly of Dead Boys Detective Agency fanart along with a few other pieces like various felt friends, and an adorable cat pumpkin) because they are a good artist and, even if we’re in very different fandoms now, it felt like the right thing to do :)
B) And a photoset by sheikonfleek (via my friend SatiricalDemon) of one of the scenes from Hogfather – specifically, the one where DEATH says that humans need fantasy to BE human, and that Hogfathers and Tooth Fairies are little lies for children to practice believing in so, as adults, they can believe the big lies like Justice and Mercy. Because humans have to believe in things that aren’t real – how else can they become? As you might expect, the rest of the attached reblog chain was all “it’s seasonal again!” and talking about how this is the kind of wisdom that weighs on your chest for the rest of your life – there are reasons this scene is one of the most quoted out of the books/adaptations. *nods*
2. Watch the 12th Day of OXmas, which may or may not be the grand finale (we will see) – Check! I got to it a little later than intended, but I did get to it, watching “XMAS CHALLENGE Day 12: CHAOS MODE 2 | Mario Kart World Knockout Tour Challenge! 🏎️💨” on OXtra tonight! This challenge saw the four go into Mario Kart World, the latest in the Mario Kart series, and participate in a “Knockout Tour” – a long race through six different courses where players are periodically eliminated if they haven’t placed high enough in the rankings. The group chose to do the Spiny Rally because it had some good “festive” (aka snowy) sections, picked their racers – Monty Mole for Mike, Sombero Waluigi for Ellen (though he seemed to switch the hat for a helmet midway through), Random Penguin for Jane, and Baby Luigi for Andy – declared that whoever got the farthest in the tour got the precious Christmas point, then revved their engines and started their tour! How did it go?
Chaotically! Everyone kept changing places super-fast as they encountered various power-ups and hazards, and it was hard to keep track of everything that was going on thanks to the four-person split-screen view. I never knew who to watch! But I can do a basic breakdown of what happened per stage for you –
( Under a cut because this is a big spoiler )
3. Work some more on "The Van Dort Vacancy" – Check! I did that this afternoon after calming down from my grumpy fit, getting roughly about two-and-a-half pages edited in Chapter 2. :) And what did those two-and-a-half pages cover?
...pretty much just “Victor gets yelled at by his mother as he attempts to explain where he’s been and what happened over the past four days.” *nods* I mean, if you need more specifics, we had:
A) Victor arriving at the doors of the main ballroom, hoping to slip in quietly and without much notice so he could find his parents and take them aside to explain where’s he been – only for Nell to open one of the doors right in his face, see him, and immediately start berating him for being gone for so long, for coming back now, and for causing so much scandal
B) Victor attempting to apologize and pleading that he’s had a few very odd days, only for Nell to be like “we’ve had worse” and launch into a litany of all the indignities they’ve suffered recently, including Mayhew dropping dead and William being forced to drive their own carriage back to Brightstone; the Everglots breaking their engagement to marry Victoria off to Lord Barkis; Lord Barkis ending up dead and the Bluecoats claiming he was a Spirit Warden and that Victor helped murder him (saying it was very fortunate the Spirit Wardens put paid to that quickly); the Everglots refusing to re-engage Victoria to Victor because she stumbled across an Imperial guardsman on her flight from Barkis’s clutches and they decided he was a much better prospect for her; and having to quickly plan and execute this party to salvage their reputation with their son still missing
C) Victor finally being allowed to talk and attempting to explain about his “ghost bride” – only for Nell and William to get hung up on his claim that he got dragged into the ghost field by her (which neither of them thinks could have actually happened, as the ghost field is for ghosts, not people), and then for Nell to go ballistic when Victor mentioned escaping into Silkshore and immediately assume that her son went off to sow some wild oats (or “fish for silverflake in the canals” as per the Duskwallian version of the phrase) with a couple of wastrels (aka Alice and Smiler)
D) Victor desperately apologizing some more to his parents and saying that he wants to put things right, and being told by Nell to go into the party, find a girl, and start courting, as he’d just proven he could talk to women – cue Victor heading inside and awkwardly asking his parents if he’d see them later, and Nell rolling her eyes, shoving him into the room, and closing the door on him
Yeaaah – not a fun few pages for our boy Victor! And things are going to get worse before they get better, sadly… Anyway, I left off with him leaning against the doors, thinking about how his parents think he’s a fool and a rake and muttering how “this day couldn’t get any worse” – tomorrow, he overhears a conversation that makes it worse. But also makes it better, as it is going to inspire him to finally ditch some dead weight, so to speak...
4. Get in a workout – Check! Another night on the bike, another night with The Great British Baking Show Holidays! Because there’s really not much else I want to watch on Netflix! Trust me, I checked. *shakehead* But yeah, tonight’s pedal session took me through:
A) The end of Episode 2 of the collection, with Rav, Rob, Benjamina, and Sandy presenting their “magical ice cakes” to the judges! Paul and Prue liked Rob’s flavors, but noted that he’d completely missed the brief with his focus on his little pastries (though at least he did have some dry ice that he used to create a misty effect underneath the cake); liked Sandy’s ambition with her mousse cake surrounded by Swiss Rolls, but felt that it wasn’t executed as well as it could have been; thought Benjamina’s cake filled the brief and tasted delicious –
But felt that Rav’s cake with its little pine trees to go with the colorful ice shards and lovely spun sugar “skirt” and delicious almond sponge with passionfruit filling edged her out. And so the cake stand went to Rav, who was extremely pleased with his win! And as well he should be. *nods*
B) And – after confirming that there really wasn’t anything else I could think of to watch – the beginning of Episode 3! Featuring Liam, Flo, Jane, and Andrew as our bakers – the latter two were on the same regular season together and apparently have a friendly rivalry, which is cute. I got all the way through the Signature Bake, which was cookies decorated with the bakers’ personal interpretations of the 12 Days Of Christmas (Paul and Prue liked the taste of everyone’s cookies, but felt the fondant covering on Flo’s was just waaay too thick, and the icing work on Liam and Andrew’s a little bit messy (and a little bit confusing, as the boys went for more personalized “this is what I like to do at Christmas” cookies over the ladies’ more generically Christmassy designs) – Jane’s work was judged the best, though she sadly didn’t qualify for a Hollywood Handshake), and I’m currently partway through the Technical Bake, which is Laufabrauð – a really thin Icelandic fried flatbread decorated with intricate cut designs, kind of like a poppadom (everyone so far has managed to successfully make the dough and roll out the pieces to be the correct thinness – nearly transparent – but they all seem to be struggling a bit with getting the snowflake pattern Paul wants on them just right. They have a cutting tool to help them make the design, but the trick is knowing where to roll it…). We’ll finish this off on Friday, I think – hopefully somebody will figure out how to make a successful snowflake by then!
Other: As per tradition, I was allowed to open one of my presents early – I chose the first one in my stocking, which turned out to be a mini flux capacitor! :) It’s a tiny, quite nicely done replica that lights up AND plays sounds – though if you just want the fluxing, it has a “lights only” mode too. Plus it comes with a tiny booklet talking about Doc’s invention of the time machine, the particulars of how it works, and all the trouble Doc and Marty had while going back and forth in time. It’s a very cute little gift! I’ve got it sitting in front of my big life-size flux capacitor replica for the moment – once I can clear my desk of all the chocolate boxes and bags I’ve picked up though, I’ll probably move it next to my Victor Funko Pop figure. We’ll see!
So that was all good, at least! Kind of wish I'd been able to get more done, but at least all the most important things were accomplished! And now I should probably head to bed, as it is pretty late and I don't want to sleep all Christmas. XD Only to-do I have tomorrow is to continue working on "The Van Dort Vacancy," as I AM really enjoying editing that again after so long away -- otherwise, we'll just see what happens! Night all!
