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crossover_chickEnded up having a stress dream/nightmare this morning about getting to work late (don't remember all of it, but I do remember looking at the clock and seeing it was 8:43 AM and realizing with a jolt I was supposed to be at work already), then got up to find Mom taking everything out of the pantry because, yup, THERE WERE MORE FUCKING ANTS. She then proceeded to spend most of the day cleaning, spraying, repainting, and putting down fresh contact paper in there in a desperate attempt to clear them out --
Only for another two to appear tonight. *heavy sigh* I just -- I don't know WHAT is going on with these fucking bugs. I've floated the idea of calling an exterminator, but Mom's certain that they wouldn't do anything to help, and I have no idea how to convince her otherwise. Just -- I am SO SICK of dealing with these little fuckers. They have cost me TWO boxes of cereal at this point, and all of our peace of mind. Just -- I'd really love to have TWO nice days in a row for once!
*shakehead* Anyway -- here's the daily write-up:
Work – Kind of an annoying day, though I suspect that was largely due to my own very cranky mood thanks to the one-two punch of the nightmare and the ants this morning. Basically, after the GL, it was all about catching up on the failed credit cards and taking calls from people trying to update their cards and make gifts and whatnot. With me playing phone tag with two callers in particular who called on Friday after we left, and then insisted on calling me back during my lunch break after I called them back. *sigh* Plus one lady deciding to call in and finish off her Capital Campaign pledge at the very end of the day...and a surprise thank-you QC file for me to do in the afternoon (fortunately it wasn’t too big, so I got through it pretty fast). Just – irritating, given the mood I was in. We’ll see if it’s any better tomorrow!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, another night with Oxventure as I started “Oxventure D&D: Wyrdwood | Chapter 7: Friends & Falsehoods - Part 1!” Today’s chunklet featured:
A) Morven immediately confronting the Poor Man about what the hell happened to her to put her into Robin’s body and what he knew about it – turned out he was not responsible for it, he’d just gotten an inkling that something interesting was going to happen at her burning and showed up to see what it was. He found the whole thing both quite amusing and quite fascinating, even if he didn’t know exactly what had happened! Morven was like “well, you want to know what happened, I want to know what happened, maybe we could work together and you could help me take over this idiot’s body or something.” The Poor Man was like, “we have to get Robin’s opinion on that first” and brought Robin out quickly with a snap of his fingers – Robin, naturally, objected to the plan during his brief moment conscious (earning his IMDB credit for the episode, as Luke joked), and Morven said “okay fine I’m willing to work with that – maybe we find a new body for me. Or for him! Let’s stick him in a sheep, they do all the same things he does – wander around, eat, and argue with dogs.” XD Poor Robin, Morven is so mean to him…
B) While all this was going on, Happen cast a spell to try and determine what exactly the Poor Man was. He was able to get that the man was fey, but also a placeholder of some kind? Johnny refused to elaborate beyond that. O.o Happen didn’t get much chance to mull on it, though, as casting a spell meant Luke had to open the envelope he got from last week’s Rolling Rite, and the effect this time was painfully and immediately negative – twenty points of radiant damage from the spell going off explosively in Happen’s face! D: Happen was of course knocked over – Morven looked at him on the ground and was like “you see what I’m working with here.” XD
C) The Poor Man revealing to the group that, if he’d done his “job” properly, they’d all be dead by now – Willowfine being like “what?!” before Lug reminded her that he’d been the one to save them from the dullahan just before they’d met the Green Man. The Poor Man explained that he found them all so interesting that he just had to save their skins – and that, despite warning Morven earlier that she was assuming a lot thinking he’d help (Morven protesting that that was why she was asking if he would), he was willing to aid them in their current quest, at least. If only because he really wanted to see what happened next! He thus cut them a deal – he would tell them where they needed to go next and provide some aid in the form of the costumes they needed to get around said place, and they would retrieve for him a certain amulet from the pile of “confiscated items” the people of said place had. There was a little bit of trouble with Happen, panicking over hearing a prophecy of the future, covering his ears so he wouldn’t know his fate and thus be tempted to change it (as that is VERY much against the teachings of Cadence), but once the others had heard what the Poor Man had to say and assured him it wasn’t a prophecy so much as just a task for them to accomplish, they all agreed to this bargain.
D) The Poor Man thus providing everyone with mysterious beekeeper-like outfits (Johnny had a miniature and everything – Luke commented that it looked like a Midsommer Big Daddy XD), the garb of the people who lived in the encampment they’d be coming across in about two miles. They were well-worn, with blue hoods and weird wicker meshing in front of their faces – the Poor Man warned them not to take them off, as seeing each other’s faces would be forbidden, and delightedly added that he’d gotten them the lowest-ranking hood color, so they’d better address everyone else as “Superior!” They were also quite dirty and smelled weird inside (Jane comparing them to the inside of a Disney mascot costume). Oh, and as Johnny explained a little bit later, they also came with magic-suppressing iron torque collars, only the Poor Man had made sure they were fake so they’d still have access to their spells. He took quite a lot of pleasure in watching Morven squirm about putting one on until that fact was revealed! Lug was like “could you at least pretend not to enjoy all this so much?” with Morven replying “I don’t think he could.” XD Anyway, Happen said that they should maybe try to undo the wicker a little bit on one side to help make sure they could spot members of the group in a crowd, which evolved into everyone making a mark on their mask somehow in a clockwise pattern so they could try and identify each other individually too (Cressida insisting she get the one o’clock position because she was the best XD). The group thus altered their masks, put on their costumes (Cressida only after hitting the inside with Prestidigitation, naturally), said farewell to the Poor Man (who was still deeply amused by everything), and set off!
E) Willowfine informing Morven as they set off that she hadn’t wanted to say anything in front of the Poor Man, but she and the others rather liked Robin and didn’t want to see Morven take over his body. After all, Robin was a lot kinder and didn’t ridicule them constantly! Morven protested that “I’m not RIDICULING, I’m pointing out your shortcomings so you can do something about them.” XD Happen backed Willowfine up about Robin being a good man, though, and Willowfine insisted they wouldn’t let Morven hijack his body. Morven was like “I’d like to see you stop me” (and as she has thirty freaking spells at her disposal, including the famous Sorcerous Burst, it probably would be a tough fight) but said that they could table the issue for now as currently their goals aligned, and the group agreed.
F) The group traveling along the road for a bit before seeing a sort of town in the distance, with simple mud-and-thatch houses surrounded by a big wooden gate – Cressida, with her half-elf eyes, could just about spot people in there, and something that MIGHT be a beehive, but she wasn’t sure. Morven used Gaseous Form to scout out the place while Cressida sat and thought about her life choices and Willowfine attempted to find bees they could bring to the camp as a cover story, only to be interrupted by Happen politely asking her help healing his shattered face. She accordingly yanked up his hood and fired Cure Wounds in there for 15 points of healing damage. XD Morven then came back and drew them all a crude map of the encampment (provided by Johnny), stating that she’d seen about a dozen people in brown and red robes milling about (though she hadn’t been able to determine which of the two were higher-ranked in the society they were entering, putting a damper on Lug’s plan to try and use mud to change the color of at least one of their hoods) and that there was indeed at least one beehive in the middle of the whole thing. This reignited Willowfine’s desire to find some bees, and she cast Locate Object to find some. The magical ping led her to a hive dangling from a tree, which Happen offered to shoot down – it was pointed out that this might anger the bees, but Happen said that was going to happen anyway, and Morven offered to cast Feather Fall on it so it didn’t come smashing down and make things worse. And so one excellent shot (from an inspiration-fueled reroll, because why not use your free point of inspiration per long rest on the bee-gathering sidequest? XD) and one well-cast spell later, the group had acquired a beehive with less-than-angry bees! And the players had acquired a cute story from Andy about how honey was Robin’s favorite food, after a harvest festival where he managed to get a taste finishing off someone else’s discarded honeycomb. It was honestly very sweet! Uh, no pun intended. XD
G) And, finally for this chunklet, the group approaching the encampment with beehive in tow (Plan B, as Morven called it, with Plan Other B being to start blasting since they still had their magic XD), and Lug calling as politely as he could for the “superiors” on the other side to open the gate. Which did happen, but only after a worryingly-long pause… I left it with the group being met at the newly-opened gate by a woman (or, at least, someone who had a feminine voice), one of the red-hooded members of the encampment, who called them “fresh blood” – tomorrow, we see what the deal is with the creepy beekeepers, and if Morven can keep herself from Sorcerous Bursting everyone and calling it a day. XD
2. Continue writing “The Van Dort Vacancy”: Check – today’s page was all about the group following Kasimir as he showed them how best to sneak down the hallway and avoid those tricksy little pressure plate tiles they’d found! Poor Victor was very nervous about doing it right, and almost took an unfortunate tumble when the toe of his shoe caught in a crack between two tiles – but fortunately Smiler was right at his back to catch him before he could topple over. And even more fortunately, after a check-in with Barnaby (who was like “this is murder on my thighs”) and Alice (who reported that Cheshire was making a game out of only stepping on the fish in the mosaic...and abusing his power to become merely eyes and smile to get over large gaps), Victor turned back to the front – and spotted a little black tile poking up a tiny bit above the best. I left it with him getting Smiler’s opinion on if they thought that might be the final tile – next time, he warns Kasimir to avoid it, and the group makes it through the danger zone! ...though, again, not without Kasimir tripping and falling over. Because the poor bastard rolled a 3 as his highest result on the Prowl group action and thus must suffer the consequences. :P
3. Keep up with YouTube “Subs”: Check – managed to get in one video and one Short tonight –
A) First, I continued my quest to chip away at the OXBoxtra lists sitting in my Watch Later tonight by viewing “7 Stupidest Armour Sets That Could in No Way Protect You!” Ellen and Jane going through a set of ridiculous armor sets and outfits that should make it very easy for the enemy to murder you, NOT offer amazing bonuses! The Mushroom Set from Elden Ring, that makes you appear as a walking pile of fungus? Best immunity in the game to poisons and the dreaded Scarlet Rot! The Bare Chested And Oiled legendary torso armor from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey that basically gives you a couple of pieces of cloth to wrap around your naughty bits and a bucket of baby oil? +9% “warrior damage,” whatever that is, and +10% elemental build-up! AND if you get covered in black oil from smashing pots while wearing it, that’s a +500% damage boost! The Chicken Hat from Resident Evil 4 Remake that plops a rubbery chicken head on Leon’s head? Significantly reduces all damage from enemies! At least that one has the metatextual excuse that the game is calling you a chicken...which is undercut by the fact that the hat is only unlocked once you complete a Hardcore game in under five-and-a-half hours while getting S+ rank. Mixed messages, RE4R! But yes, video games do love making absolutely ridiculous things absolutely amazing armor. I am looking forward to the commenter’s edition of this one. XD
B) And second, I couldn’t resist checking out this Short that was sitting in the sidebar next to the video: “How to Save Squire And Have Him Join You in #bg3 #baldursgate3 #baldursgate” by Toyhouze! A clip out of one of his longer videos that details how to avoid having to fight Squire, Ketheric Thorm’s loyal skeletal warhound and one of the many good boys in BG3. Basically, Squire will show up as part of the initial battle against Ketheric atop his tower UNLESS you find him earlier during your explorations (he’s hanging out in Ketheric’s room, unsurprisingly), chat with him (either figuratively or literally, depending on if you’ve got Speak With Animals), and pass one of three checks to make him friendly and thus disinclined to hurt you. If you do this, he won’t show up during the fight. And, if you’re an Oathbreaker Paladin and at least Level 6, you can also use Control Undead on him to get him to fight on YOUR side! Turns out he has an extra attack and a nasty bite, but – unsurprisingly – pretty low hit points. So yeah – if you want to save the undead pupper, make sure you find him BEFORE any boss battles kick off!
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Usual Monday N/A – had no idea what I wanted to do, if anything, on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) tonight. Like, I know I need a Friday post for my queue, but I’m not sure what it should be. Meeeh – maybe tomorrow I’ll have some inspiration. (And if not, I’ve got plenty of one-off shit in my drafts.)
Yeah, pretty typical Monday, all told. And now it's time for me to head to bed. Fingers crossed I don't wake up having had another stress nightmare...night all!
Only for another two to appear tonight. *heavy sigh* I just -- I don't know WHAT is going on with these fucking bugs. I've floated the idea of calling an exterminator, but Mom's certain that they wouldn't do anything to help, and I have no idea how to convince her otherwise. Just -- I am SO SICK of dealing with these little fuckers. They have cost me TWO boxes of cereal at this point, and all of our peace of mind. Just -- I'd really love to have TWO nice days in a row for once!
*shakehead* Anyway -- here's the daily write-up:
Work – Kind of an annoying day, though I suspect that was largely due to my own very cranky mood thanks to the one-two punch of the nightmare and the ants this morning. Basically, after the GL, it was all about catching up on the failed credit cards and taking calls from people trying to update their cards and make gifts and whatnot. With me playing phone tag with two callers in particular who called on Friday after we left, and then insisted on calling me back during my lunch break after I called them back. *sigh* Plus one lady deciding to call in and finish off her Capital Campaign pledge at the very end of the day...and a surprise thank-you QC file for me to do in the afternoon (fortunately it wasn’t too big, so I got through it pretty fast). Just – irritating, given the mood I was in. We’ll see if it’s any better tomorrow!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, another night with Oxventure as I started “Oxventure D&D: Wyrdwood | Chapter 7: Friends & Falsehoods - Part 1!” Today’s chunklet featured:
A) Morven immediately confronting the Poor Man about what the hell happened to her to put her into Robin’s body and what he knew about it – turned out he was not responsible for it, he’d just gotten an inkling that something interesting was going to happen at her burning and showed up to see what it was. He found the whole thing both quite amusing and quite fascinating, even if he didn’t know exactly what had happened! Morven was like “well, you want to know what happened, I want to know what happened, maybe we could work together and you could help me take over this idiot’s body or something.” The Poor Man was like, “we have to get Robin’s opinion on that first” and brought Robin out quickly with a snap of his fingers – Robin, naturally, objected to the plan during his brief moment conscious (earning his IMDB credit for the episode, as Luke joked), and Morven said “okay fine I’m willing to work with that – maybe we find a new body for me. Or for him! Let’s stick him in a sheep, they do all the same things he does – wander around, eat, and argue with dogs.” XD Poor Robin, Morven is so mean to him…
B) While all this was going on, Happen cast a spell to try and determine what exactly the Poor Man was. He was able to get that the man was fey, but also a placeholder of some kind? Johnny refused to elaborate beyond that. O.o Happen didn’t get much chance to mull on it, though, as casting a spell meant Luke had to open the envelope he got from last week’s Rolling Rite, and the effect this time was painfully and immediately negative – twenty points of radiant damage from the spell going off explosively in Happen’s face! D: Happen was of course knocked over – Morven looked at him on the ground and was like “you see what I’m working with here.” XD
C) The Poor Man revealing to the group that, if he’d done his “job” properly, they’d all be dead by now – Willowfine being like “what?!” before Lug reminded her that he’d been the one to save them from the dullahan just before they’d met the Green Man. The Poor Man explained that he found them all so interesting that he just had to save their skins – and that, despite warning Morven earlier that she was assuming a lot thinking he’d help (Morven protesting that that was why she was asking if he would), he was willing to aid them in their current quest, at least. If only because he really wanted to see what happened next! He thus cut them a deal – he would tell them where they needed to go next and provide some aid in the form of the costumes they needed to get around said place, and they would retrieve for him a certain amulet from the pile of “confiscated items” the people of said place had. There was a little bit of trouble with Happen, panicking over hearing a prophecy of the future, covering his ears so he wouldn’t know his fate and thus be tempted to change it (as that is VERY much against the teachings of Cadence), but once the others had heard what the Poor Man had to say and assured him it wasn’t a prophecy so much as just a task for them to accomplish, they all agreed to this bargain.
D) The Poor Man thus providing everyone with mysterious beekeeper-like outfits (Johnny had a miniature and everything – Luke commented that it looked like a Midsommer Big Daddy XD), the garb of the people who lived in the encampment they’d be coming across in about two miles. They were well-worn, with blue hoods and weird wicker meshing in front of their faces – the Poor Man warned them not to take them off, as seeing each other’s faces would be forbidden, and delightedly added that he’d gotten them the lowest-ranking hood color, so they’d better address everyone else as “Superior!” They were also quite dirty and smelled weird inside (Jane comparing them to the inside of a Disney mascot costume). Oh, and as Johnny explained a little bit later, they also came with magic-suppressing iron torque collars, only the Poor Man had made sure they were fake so they’d still have access to their spells. He took quite a lot of pleasure in watching Morven squirm about putting one on until that fact was revealed! Lug was like “could you at least pretend not to enjoy all this so much?” with Morven replying “I don’t think he could.” XD Anyway, Happen said that they should maybe try to undo the wicker a little bit on one side to help make sure they could spot members of the group in a crowd, which evolved into everyone making a mark on their mask somehow in a clockwise pattern so they could try and identify each other individually too (Cressida insisting she get the one o’clock position because she was the best XD). The group thus altered their masks, put on their costumes (Cressida only after hitting the inside with Prestidigitation, naturally), said farewell to the Poor Man (who was still deeply amused by everything), and set off!
E) Willowfine informing Morven as they set off that she hadn’t wanted to say anything in front of the Poor Man, but she and the others rather liked Robin and didn’t want to see Morven take over his body. After all, Robin was a lot kinder and didn’t ridicule them constantly! Morven protested that “I’m not RIDICULING, I’m pointing out your shortcomings so you can do something about them.” XD Happen backed Willowfine up about Robin being a good man, though, and Willowfine insisted they wouldn’t let Morven hijack his body. Morven was like “I’d like to see you stop me” (and as she has thirty freaking spells at her disposal, including the famous Sorcerous Burst, it probably would be a tough fight) but said that they could table the issue for now as currently their goals aligned, and the group agreed.
F) The group traveling along the road for a bit before seeing a sort of town in the distance, with simple mud-and-thatch houses surrounded by a big wooden gate – Cressida, with her half-elf eyes, could just about spot people in there, and something that MIGHT be a beehive, but she wasn’t sure. Morven used Gaseous Form to scout out the place while Cressida sat and thought about her life choices and Willowfine attempted to find bees they could bring to the camp as a cover story, only to be interrupted by Happen politely asking her help healing his shattered face. She accordingly yanked up his hood and fired Cure Wounds in there for 15 points of healing damage. XD Morven then came back and drew them all a crude map of the encampment (provided by Johnny), stating that she’d seen about a dozen people in brown and red robes milling about (though she hadn’t been able to determine which of the two were higher-ranked in the society they were entering, putting a damper on Lug’s plan to try and use mud to change the color of at least one of their hoods) and that there was indeed at least one beehive in the middle of the whole thing. This reignited Willowfine’s desire to find some bees, and she cast Locate Object to find some. The magical ping led her to a hive dangling from a tree, which Happen offered to shoot down – it was pointed out that this might anger the bees, but Happen said that was going to happen anyway, and Morven offered to cast Feather Fall on it so it didn’t come smashing down and make things worse. And so one excellent shot (from an inspiration-fueled reroll, because why not use your free point of inspiration per long rest on the bee-gathering sidequest? XD) and one well-cast spell later, the group had acquired a beehive with less-than-angry bees! And the players had acquired a cute story from Andy about how honey was Robin’s favorite food, after a harvest festival where he managed to get a taste finishing off someone else’s discarded honeycomb. It was honestly very sweet! Uh, no pun intended. XD
G) And, finally for this chunklet, the group approaching the encampment with beehive in tow (Plan B, as Morven called it, with Plan Other B being to start blasting since they still had their magic XD), and Lug calling as politely as he could for the “superiors” on the other side to open the gate. Which did happen, but only after a worryingly-long pause… I left it with the group being met at the newly-opened gate by a woman (or, at least, someone who had a feminine voice), one of the red-hooded members of the encampment, who called them “fresh blood” – tomorrow, we see what the deal is with the creepy beekeepers, and if Morven can keep herself from Sorcerous Bursting everyone and calling it a day. XD
2. Continue writing “The Van Dort Vacancy”: Check – today’s page was all about the group following Kasimir as he showed them how best to sneak down the hallway and avoid those tricksy little pressure plate tiles they’d found! Poor Victor was very nervous about doing it right, and almost took an unfortunate tumble when the toe of his shoe caught in a crack between two tiles – but fortunately Smiler was right at his back to catch him before he could topple over. And even more fortunately, after a check-in with Barnaby (who was like “this is murder on my thighs”) and Alice (who reported that Cheshire was making a game out of only stepping on the fish in the mosaic...and abusing his power to become merely eyes and smile to get over large gaps), Victor turned back to the front – and spotted a little black tile poking up a tiny bit above the best. I left it with him getting Smiler’s opinion on if they thought that might be the final tile – next time, he warns Kasimir to avoid it, and the group makes it through the danger zone! ...though, again, not without Kasimir tripping and falling over. Because the poor bastard rolled a 3 as his highest result on the Prowl group action and thus must suffer the consequences. :P
3. Keep up with YouTube “Subs”: Check – managed to get in one video and one Short tonight –
A) First, I continued my quest to chip away at the OXBoxtra lists sitting in my Watch Later tonight by viewing “7 Stupidest Armour Sets That Could in No Way Protect You!” Ellen and Jane going through a set of ridiculous armor sets and outfits that should make it very easy for the enemy to murder you, NOT offer amazing bonuses! The Mushroom Set from Elden Ring, that makes you appear as a walking pile of fungus? Best immunity in the game to poisons and the dreaded Scarlet Rot! The Bare Chested And Oiled legendary torso armor from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey that basically gives you a couple of pieces of cloth to wrap around your naughty bits and a bucket of baby oil? +9% “warrior damage,” whatever that is, and +10% elemental build-up! AND if you get covered in black oil from smashing pots while wearing it, that’s a +500% damage boost! The Chicken Hat from Resident Evil 4 Remake that plops a rubbery chicken head on Leon’s head? Significantly reduces all damage from enemies! At least that one has the metatextual excuse that the game is calling you a chicken...which is undercut by the fact that the hat is only unlocked once you complete a Hardcore game in under five-and-a-half hours while getting S+ rank. Mixed messages, RE4R! But yes, video games do love making absolutely ridiculous things absolutely amazing armor. I am looking forward to the commenter’s edition of this one. XD
B) And second, I couldn’t resist checking out this Short that was sitting in the sidebar next to the video: “How to Save Squire And Have Him Join You in #bg3 #baldursgate3 #baldursgate” by Toyhouze! A clip out of one of his longer videos that details how to avoid having to fight Squire, Ketheric Thorm’s loyal skeletal warhound and one of the many good boys in BG3. Basically, Squire will show up as part of the initial battle against Ketheric atop his tower UNLESS you find him earlier during your explorations (he’s hanging out in Ketheric’s room, unsurprisingly), chat with him (either figuratively or literally, depending on if you’ve got Speak With Animals), and pass one of three checks to make him friendly and thus disinclined to hurt you. If you do this, he won’t show up during the fight. And, if you’re an Oathbreaker Paladin and at least Level 6, you can also use Control Undead on him to get him to fight on YOUR side! Turns out he has an extra attack and a nasty bite, but – unsurprisingly – pretty low hit points. So yeah – if you want to save the undead pupper, make sure you find him BEFORE any boss battles kick off!
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Usual Monday N/A – had no idea what I wanted to do, if anything, on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) tonight. Like, I know I need a Friday post for my queue, but I’m not sure what it should be. Meeeh – maybe tomorrow I’ll have some inspiration. (And if not, I’ve got plenty of one-off shit in my drafts.)
Yeah, pretty typical Monday, all told. And now it's time for me to head to bed. Fingers crossed I don't wake up having had another stress nightmare...night all!
