Chiller Thursday
Feb. 20th, 2025 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickWhich, ironically, was a little LESS cold than it has been -- not by much, but I think it did get above freezing? *shrug* Tomorrow the wind's supposed to come back, though, so that'll be fun. *grimace* But it wasn't a very stressful day, which I appreciated --
Work – Another better day, I’m pleased to report – the worst of the credit card bullshit was finally fixed, and I had a good talk with my boss about how to handle some of the nonsense that resulted from it, so we’re in a better place with that. Spent the rest of the day taking and making a few credit card calls, working through the exceptions (which prompted some of the credit card calls), and doing some roster maintenance and reversals. Nothing particularly exciting, which was fine by me given how this week started. Just gotta get through Friday now!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, working my way through –
A) The end of “Building an Island House in Tiny Town Challenge! - Part 21” by James Turner! James finished landscaping Sonny’s lot (adding in sized-down palm trees and a bunch of other island-y plants around the place, hiding some of the more awkward parts of the build); finished furnishing and decorating the remaining rooms (the downstairs bathroom, the upstairs bathroom, and the bedroom); and made sure all the terrain was painted nicely and the water was nice and bright and all that. It all looked really nice, especially when he went into Proper Build Mode from the map and got to show it off in the more summery lighting!
And then he went back into Live Mode and discovered that all his popping in and out of various Build Modes (because of fun For Rent glitchy nonsense meaning he could only edit roofs if he went in through “editing the whole lot” Build Mode, for one) meant that Sonny and Judith had no longer fulfilled the pop-up “Rebate Day” holiday, where if Sims buy something worth more than $500 simoleons, they get a ten percent rebate back later on. Cue James hastily buying them a loveseat for their balcony and a music player for the living space, then hanging around until he got the rebate. Which did NOT count all the building he’d done previous to buying those items, so he then gave Sonny and Judith an extra $5,000 to represent what he felt they SHOULD have gotten. XD To be fair, I probably would have done the same in his position!
But yes, with that, Sonny’s second episode is done – and James honestly isn’t quite sure what he’s going to do house-wise with the third. Like, he knows what he wants to do with his SIMS – make Sonny a five-star celebrity, and get him and Judith married (Judith in fact proposed to Sonny while James was waiting around for the rebate), but in his view, the house is looking pretty damn good already. Though he allowed that the music studio and the personal vault could probably use a bit more decoration. XD We’ll see what happens when Sonny gets his Grand Finale!
B) The entirety of “An Intro to the World of BLADES IN THE DARK” by Zaktact! Which was pretty much what it said on the tin – Zaktact talking about the world of BITD and how fucked up it is (with a brief overview of the types of characters and the types of crews you can play as at the end). Zak was quite enthusiastic about describing how this is a world without a sun, with demonic sea creatures in the dark oceans and ghosts everywhere outside the lightning barriers (and not that uncommon in them), and how society is controlled by the horrible and corrupt stomping on the poor and downtrodden, and the food situation is poor to say the least, and basically everything is terrible all the time. And that’s what makes it awesome. :D It’s always nice to watch someone who loves this RPG as much as I do talk about it and highlight just how weird it is. Glad I stumbled across it while trying to find something else to watch!
2. Continue working on “A Murder Shared Is A Murder Thirded”: Check plus, as I actually got two distinct bits of writing done today –
A) First, I got over a page done on “A Murder Shared Is A Murder Thirded,” with the trio running into Abigail and having to convince her not to go tell Bumby that Alice was back right away – a task made a little more difficult by Abigail being kind of suspicious of these two weirdos Alice brought back with her. XD But fortunately Smiler talking about how amusing it would be to see Bumby’s face when he realized Alice was back, plus a little pleading on Alice’s part, did the trick, and she agreed to just go color for the moment instead. And while the trio are certain she will tattle on them the moment she sees the doctor, they at least don’t have to deal with him right away. Not to mention, Alice pointed out that when she went to fetch Bumby, Abigail tried to go to the stairs – meaning that he’s not in his office. I left it with them booking it down the hall, determined not to squander a golden opportunity – next time, the search to find that ledger TRULY begins!
B) And second, while I was drying my hair after finishing up the above, I was hit with a sudden burst of inspiration for one of the prompts in the Multiamory March list I’ve been working on – specifically, day five, “Cuddles!” So I decided to write that story up real quick. It’s a “I Owe My Soul To The Company Store” (Valicer Severance AU) flash fic, talking about how Outie!Alice never considered herself capable of being a cuddler...until she saw just how happy her Innie self was to touch and be touched by Innie!Victor and Innie!Smiler. And how she was less annoyed by that then she thought she should be. :p I dunno, I just liked the idea of doing something from one of the Outies’ perspectives for this AU, and establishing that, while Alice doesn’t like to be touched as a general rule, she can make exceptions for certain people. Especially if you take away her memories of why she doesn’t like to be touched in the bargain. Nice to get a jump on another one of these stories! Gonna have to start editing some of them soon, as March is coming up fast...
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Substitution check – there was actually a GrayStillPlays episode today, but it was one featuring AI, so I chose to skip it in favor of “CaFae Latte Season 26 - TikTok Compilation” by C. M. Alongi! This episode saw Rethu, Bob, and Cyrus helping a fox selkie whose skin was stolen by a local deputy trying to force her to be his bride (which involved Rethu explaining some of his backstory, and the deputy in question getting cursed but good); Cyrus taking a trip to Hell to trade coffees and a protective charm (to help defend against his asshole brother) to Lucifer in exchange for essence of hellfire for their lattes (featuring the appearance of Sarcastic Sinner 666 as Lucifer – yes, C. M. Along collabed with someone rather than playing all the roles herself like usual!); JC accidentally outing themselves as a math genius while helping a struggling Drek with his calculus homework (prompting Nicole to drag them off for makeouts in the parking lot because smart = sexy); and Bob taking down a creepy customer verbally – and then reminding him that she’s a fae sorceress who can do a lot worse when he started complaining (he smartly left after that). I do enjoy this series – it’s so much fun. :)
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Substitution check and regular check –
Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) – No queue stuff, but l did reblog some “current events” stuff on my dash tonight –
A) A video of former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe speaking out against MAGA in response to his local city council putting up a pro-Trump plaque somewhere, explicitly calling out all the evil it has done, then going and participating in some civil disobedience, getting himself arrested – good for you, sir!
B) And a post about how Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (signed into law by fucking Nixon of all people), the part that codifies the civil rights of people with disabilities, is under attack via a lawsuit by 17 states, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. SUPPOSEDLY the problem is the fact that the Biden Administration added “gender dysphoria” as a potential disability (which was bad enough), but a little deeper into the document, it’s revealed they just want to do away with Section 504 altogether so disabled people have even fewer rights. *grumble* This country...
Valice Multiverse – Had three things for the queue over here tonight –
A) A reblog from The Coven Wars on their recent ask to me with Charlotte proposing an experiment in turning off the fear-processing part of Cuddlepile!Victor’s brain – he asked how “trigger happy” the last person she did this to became in taking risks in his response, and her reply tonight was “Uhh not too trigger happy…” Which, well, Victor had to say wasn’t very encouraging. XD You’re gonna have to sell him a lot more on this, Charlotte!
B) An ask from another character in The Coven Wars – Venus, an amnesiac seven-year-old, introducing herself to Alice (noting that “the nice man” (teen with crutches) told her what her name was), then noting that Alice looked sad and asking if she could give her a hug. I had Forgotten Vows Alice respond that yes, she could certainly give her a hug – because while Alice is not usually one for hugs from strangers, an amnesiac small child kind of tugs on ALL of her heartstrings. She will definitely make an exception for you, Venus!
C) And an ask from The Satirical Demon, with his character Nick going on about how he was captured in Vietnam and forced to subsist on this particular stew for like three years, before nearly going mad trying to find a version of it in the States, to this Sabbat vampire he just shotgunned. Who was very much not allowed to leave during the recitation. XD I had Malkavian!Alice sitting nearby and egging Nick on, not caring if he was lying or telling the truth – she was having fun either way. :p Good times!
Yeah, I'll take all that -- especially the extra writing, that was nice after struggling last night. And now I need to wrap things up and hit the sheets -- still got one day left of this work week! Night all!
Work – Another better day, I’m pleased to report – the worst of the credit card bullshit was finally fixed, and I had a good talk with my boss about how to handle some of the nonsense that resulted from it, so we’re in a better place with that. Spent the rest of the day taking and making a few credit card calls, working through the exceptions (which prompted some of the credit card calls), and doing some roster maintenance and reversals. Nothing particularly exciting, which was fine by me given how this week started. Just gotta get through Friday now!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, working my way through –
A) The end of “Building an Island House in Tiny Town Challenge! - Part 21” by James Turner! James finished landscaping Sonny’s lot (adding in sized-down palm trees and a bunch of other island-y plants around the place, hiding some of the more awkward parts of the build); finished furnishing and decorating the remaining rooms (the downstairs bathroom, the upstairs bathroom, and the bedroom); and made sure all the terrain was painted nicely and the water was nice and bright and all that. It all looked really nice, especially when he went into Proper Build Mode from the map and got to show it off in the more summery lighting!
And then he went back into Live Mode and discovered that all his popping in and out of various Build Modes (because of fun For Rent glitchy nonsense meaning he could only edit roofs if he went in through “editing the whole lot” Build Mode, for one) meant that Sonny and Judith had no longer fulfilled the pop-up “Rebate Day” holiday, where if Sims buy something worth more than $500 simoleons, they get a ten percent rebate back later on. Cue James hastily buying them a loveseat for their balcony and a music player for the living space, then hanging around until he got the rebate. Which did NOT count all the building he’d done previous to buying those items, so he then gave Sonny and Judith an extra $5,000 to represent what he felt they SHOULD have gotten. XD To be fair, I probably would have done the same in his position!
But yes, with that, Sonny’s second episode is done – and James honestly isn’t quite sure what he’s going to do house-wise with the third. Like, he knows what he wants to do with his SIMS – make Sonny a five-star celebrity, and get him and Judith married (Judith in fact proposed to Sonny while James was waiting around for the rebate), but in his view, the house is looking pretty damn good already. Though he allowed that the music studio and the personal vault could probably use a bit more decoration. XD We’ll see what happens when Sonny gets his Grand Finale!
B) The entirety of “An Intro to the World of BLADES IN THE DARK” by Zaktact! Which was pretty much what it said on the tin – Zaktact talking about the world of BITD and how fucked up it is (with a brief overview of the types of characters and the types of crews you can play as at the end). Zak was quite enthusiastic about describing how this is a world without a sun, with demonic sea creatures in the dark oceans and ghosts everywhere outside the lightning barriers (and not that uncommon in them), and how society is controlled by the horrible and corrupt stomping on the poor and downtrodden, and the food situation is poor to say the least, and basically everything is terrible all the time. And that’s what makes it awesome. :D It’s always nice to watch someone who loves this RPG as much as I do talk about it and highlight just how weird it is. Glad I stumbled across it while trying to find something else to watch!
2. Continue working on “A Murder Shared Is A Murder Thirded”: Check plus, as I actually got two distinct bits of writing done today –
A) First, I got over a page done on “A Murder Shared Is A Murder Thirded,” with the trio running into Abigail and having to convince her not to go tell Bumby that Alice was back right away – a task made a little more difficult by Abigail being kind of suspicious of these two weirdos Alice brought back with her. XD But fortunately Smiler talking about how amusing it would be to see Bumby’s face when he realized Alice was back, plus a little pleading on Alice’s part, did the trick, and she agreed to just go color for the moment instead. And while the trio are certain she will tattle on them the moment she sees the doctor, they at least don’t have to deal with him right away. Not to mention, Alice pointed out that when she went to fetch Bumby, Abigail tried to go to the stairs – meaning that he’s not in his office. I left it with them booking it down the hall, determined not to squander a golden opportunity – next time, the search to find that ledger TRULY begins!
B) And second, while I was drying my hair after finishing up the above, I was hit with a sudden burst of inspiration for one of the prompts in the Multiamory March list I’ve been working on – specifically, day five, “Cuddles!” So I decided to write that story up real quick. It’s a “I Owe My Soul To The Company Store” (Valicer Severance AU) flash fic, talking about how Outie!Alice never considered herself capable of being a cuddler...until she saw just how happy her Innie self was to touch and be touched by Innie!Victor and Innie!Smiler. And how she was less annoyed by that then she thought she should be. :p I dunno, I just liked the idea of doing something from one of the Outies’ perspectives for this AU, and establishing that, while Alice doesn’t like to be touched as a general rule, she can make exceptions for certain people. Especially if you take away her memories of why she doesn’t like to be touched in the bargain. Nice to get a jump on another one of these stories! Gonna have to start editing some of them soon, as March is coming up fast...
3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Substitution check – there was actually a GrayStillPlays episode today, but it was one featuring AI, so I chose to skip it in favor of “CaFae Latte Season 26 - TikTok Compilation” by C. M. Alongi! This episode saw Rethu, Bob, and Cyrus helping a fox selkie whose skin was stolen by a local deputy trying to force her to be his bride (which involved Rethu explaining some of his backstory, and the deputy in question getting cursed but good); Cyrus taking a trip to Hell to trade coffees and a protective charm (to help defend against his asshole brother) to Lucifer in exchange for essence of hellfire for their lattes (featuring the appearance of Sarcastic Sinner 666 as Lucifer – yes, C. M. Along collabed with someone rather than playing all the roles herself like usual!); JC accidentally outing themselves as a math genius while helping a struggling Drek with his calculus homework (prompting Nicole to drag them off for makeouts in the parking lot because smart = sexy); and Bob taking down a creepy customer verbally – and then reminding him that she’s a fae sorceress who can do a lot worse when he started complaining (he smartly left after that). I do enjoy this series – it’s so much fun. :)
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Substitution check and regular check –
Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) – No queue stuff, but l did reblog some “current events” stuff on my dash tonight –
A) A video of former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe speaking out against MAGA in response to his local city council putting up a pro-Trump plaque somewhere, explicitly calling out all the evil it has done, then going and participating in some civil disobedience, getting himself arrested – good for you, sir!
B) And a post about how Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (signed into law by fucking Nixon of all people), the part that codifies the civil rights of people with disabilities, is under attack via a lawsuit by 17 states, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. SUPPOSEDLY the problem is the fact that the Biden Administration added “gender dysphoria” as a potential disability (which was bad enough), but a little deeper into the document, it’s revealed they just want to do away with Section 504 altogether so disabled people have even fewer rights. *grumble* This country...
Valice Multiverse – Had three things for the queue over here tonight –
A) A reblog from The Coven Wars on their recent ask to me with Charlotte proposing an experiment in turning off the fear-processing part of Cuddlepile!Victor’s brain – he asked how “trigger happy” the last person she did this to became in taking risks in his response, and her reply tonight was “Uhh not too trigger happy…” Which, well, Victor had to say wasn’t very encouraging. XD You’re gonna have to sell him a lot more on this, Charlotte!
B) An ask from another character in The Coven Wars – Venus, an amnesiac seven-year-old, introducing herself to Alice (noting that “the nice man” (teen with crutches) told her what her name was), then noting that Alice looked sad and asking if she could give her a hug. I had Forgotten Vows Alice respond that yes, she could certainly give her a hug – because while Alice is not usually one for hugs from strangers, an amnesiac small child kind of tugs on ALL of her heartstrings. She will definitely make an exception for you, Venus!
C) And an ask from The Satirical Demon, with his character Nick going on about how he was captured in Vietnam and forced to subsist on this particular stew for like three years, before nearly going mad trying to find a version of it in the States, to this Sabbat vampire he just shotgunned. Who was very much not allowed to leave during the recitation. XD I had Malkavian!Alice sitting nearby and egging Nick on, not caring if he was lying or telling the truth – she was having fun either way. :p Good times!
Yeah, I'll take all that -- especially the extra writing, that was nice after struggling last night. And now I need to wrap things up and hit the sheets -- still got one day left of this work week! Night all!
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Date: 2025-02-21 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-22 02:47 am (UTC)