Busy Working Thursday
Feb. 26th, 2026 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickVery busy, in fact, so let's get straight into the write-up:
Work – Finally went back to work at 10 AM this morning and proceeded to have a very busy day – while my coworker handled the GLs and returned most of the messages left on the phone during our long absence, I found myself juggling:
A) Depositing the checks from the safe and doing the morning reports (as usual)
B) Going through my e-mails and answering those that needed answering (prioritizing the ones from my boss, of course)
C) Taking a bunch of credit card calls (including playing phone tag with one particular guy who was trying to do a pledge – we FINALLY connected at the end of the day), along with answering a few donor questions (including one from a lady who didn’t speak much English asking about her credit card gift – I’m pretty sure I managed to explain to her that her card hadn’t gone through, and she said she’d sent a check instead)
D) MAKING a few phone calls to set up credit card stuff (one went through fine, the other ran afoul of an error that keeps popping up from time to time which just says there was “a problem” with setting up a gift/pledge – the donor was fortunately understanding and admitted he’d had trouble on the website too, which was interesting)
E) Sending more e-mails to the credit card company to thank them for finally posting the missing payments for the 2026 CCA pledges, and asking them to get on posting the missing payments for the 2025 CCA pledges, and to keep looking into that weird nonspecific error
F) Checking the credit card company’s work on posting all those 2026 CCA pledge payments, because I don’t trust them
G) Checking on a few issues our regular check processors brought to light (had to fix someone’s payment schedule and move a gift from the account of someone who’d recently died to the new account we made for his son, who happens to have the same name and live at the same address – this is an annoying fact of life in Rhode Island)
H) And helping my coworker with some GL weirdness (some gifts got split up weird on the reconciliation report, no idea why)
Whew! Quite a lot to get through, as I think you’ll agree! But I did the best I could to handle it all. Tomorrow’s going to be a full-length day – not sure if that will make things less busy (because we’ll be able to spread the work out across more hours) or more busy (because more time for donors to call us and nonsense to happen). We’ll find out when I go in!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, another night on C. M. Alongi’s channel, pedaling my way through:
A) The end of “Creating CaFae Latte: Behind the Scenes!” Which featured:
I. C. M. showing off a bit more of the kind of “detail editing” work she does (clipping out awkward moments, adjusting how quickly the next line of dialogue starts after the previous one, overlapping one scene’s audio onto another scene’s video so she could show a nice facial expression without any awkward pauses, etc) and talking about how, after she’s done with all that, she sends everything back to Video Editor Nic so he can clean it up and add any necessary special effects and whatnot (like the blue filter and blizzard effects in the “kids escaping from the Yule Troll” videos – adorably, she said that she often had to rein him in on the amount of stuff to add because he was so eager to make the videos look good)
II. C. M. showing off the Google Drive where she and Video Editor Nic exchange videos, and being very pleased to see the video intended for January 8th was ready for her to download and post, yay (though she had to change the title as the date in it was wrong – January 7th)
III. And everything ending with a look at the final product – which, in this case, was the skit where Mark comes to the cafe and meets JC, and JC checks in on how he and Drek are doing (and Drek jokingly gets dramatic about being a gay teenager)
Cool stuff! It is nice to see exactly what goes into making these videos – it looks like a lot of work! But it seems C. M. and Nic have a system down. :)
B) And the first half of “Reacting to YOUR Greek Myth Hot Takes!” A video that C. M. did when she needed a break from doing “CaFae Tales,” as apparently those are a lot of work, and which doubled as an advertisement for her Monstrous Kickstarter (which is fully funded and then some as of this writing, yay). Much like her “reacting to your ‘CaFae Latte’ hot takes” videos, this involved her having I presume Video Editor Nic gather up a bunch of people’s opinions about various Greek myths that she could scroll through and react to. Hot takes so far have included:
I. “Hades and Persephone is too romanticized as a myth; he DID kidnap her” – C. M. allowed that Hades did kidnap Persephone (though she did note that in some of the earliest versions of the myth, Zeus basically SOLD Persephone to Hades, and was treated as the actual villain of the piece as a result), but argued that the reason this myth gets so romanticized is because, after the initial kidnapping, Hades and Persephone have probably the most functional relationship out of all the Greek Gods. And us modern folks see that and are like “it’s really a shame that this surprisingly loving marriage starts in such a not-good way – let’s rewrite things so she wants to go with Hades of her own free will instead!” Basically, it may be too romanticized, but it’s not going to STOP being romanticized anytime soon!
II. “Dionysus is so much more than just The Drunk Guy in Greek mythology” – C. M. hard agreed with this one, noting that he was much more than the God of Wine (specifically, that he was also the God of Insanity), and recommending the Overly Sarcastic Production’s video on the guy so people could learn more. And then talked about how one of her favorite experiences as a theater kid was starring in a play about the Bacchanalia that the scriptwriter had turned into a musical of sorts, which she thought really beautifully highlighted all the fucked-up bits in that play.
III. “Hercules is so over-rated, and Sisyphus is underrated” – C. M. mostly agreed with that one, admitting that she herself was pretty “meh” about Hercules (he just had the good fortune of being popular among the Greeks, meaning he got a lot of stories) and explaining the Sisyphus myth for all of us in more detail. Basically, Sisyphus kept killing people who stayed at his house (a HUGE no-no in Ancient Greek society, where being a good host was MANDATED BY THE GODS), then trapped Thanatos, God of Death – the Greek Grim Reaper, separate from Hades – a box when he came from, then got yanked into the Underworld, THEN managed to pull a fast one on Persephone by saying he needed to go up to the living world to put his affairs in order for just three days, then running away and living to a ripe old age. You see why he eventually ended up rolling that rock up a hill over and over and over again. XD
IV. “Jason shouldn’t be considered a hero, he didn’t even DO anything, all his deeds are the result of his wife Medea helping him” – C. M. argued that Jason did manage to successfully wrangle all the heroes who were part of the Argonauts, which did indicate he had some skills...but then allowed that, yeah, no, him getting the Golden Fleece was all Medea. And that he should have thought twice about fucking her over and trying to officially marry someone else after promising himself to her.
V. “I don’t care what Percy Jackson says, Ares was NOT a dick to his daughters” – C. M. hard agreed with this one too, telling us all about a myth where Ares murders Poseidon’s son after he rapes one of his daughters, and when Poseidon took him to court, Zeus ruled in favor of Ares as he didn’t want to upset the other goddesses (including his own wife, who was very much on Ares’s side). Apparently Ares is also POSSIBLY the only god who didn’t rape anyone himself, which – good for the God of War, I must say.
Interesting stuff – C. M. knows a lot about this kind of thing. :) I left off with her talking about the Medusa myth (and how the Greeks were very victim-blamey when it came to rape most of the time) – we’ll finish this off tomorrow and see what other myths and what other hot takes come up!
2. Continue editing Chapter 4 of “The Van Dort Vacancy”: Check – I did in fact manage to fit in an editing session before work today, yay! One of the benefits of going in late. :) Today’s page featured:
A) Victor telling Alice (who’d noted yesterday that the Van Dort servants dressed very well, and she wouldn’t mind taking the outfit she was wearing) that the nice dress was just another way for his parents to show off their money, and that if she wanted it, she could have it, as they had plenty of spares, before adding she’d probably want to resew it to make it less obvious it was one of theirs. Alice assured him that she’d already planned to take up the skirt, as anything that touched her shoes bugged her (made her feel like she could trip at any moment), and mused about moving the lace around the collar to the hem...before admitting she might have to pay someone to do that, as she was much more versed in practical mending than decorative sewing (confessing she’d never had any patience for samplers as a child). Smiler said that Widow Black could help, with Victor confirming she’d done an excellent job on his jacket, while Victor said he could get her into Dundridge & Sons if she wanted, as he was sure Amelia Dundridge would find her a better customer than Nell.
B) Alice telling Smiler and Victor that she’d consider her options dress-wise later, and that they’d better get a move on – because even if Barnaby and Kasimir didn’t object to being left in the wine cellar, there was always the risk that Mrs. Pemberly would notice them missing and go on the hunt. Victor allowed that was a good point and started picking out suits while noting he was surprised that they had convinced her they were new employees – Smiler confessed they hadn’t, really, she’d just decided she needed the help in the kitchen more than figuring out who they were, with Alice confirming they’d only been saved by an incident with a cheese tray. And that it was lucky she knew her way around a cutting board, and Smiler around soup – “Cooking is just another form of alchemy!” Smiler cheerfully proclaimed. :P
C) Smiler asking Victor if he wanted help folding up his clothes, and Victor saying that he could handle the suits, but if Smiler wanted to get some shirts out of the chest of drawers nearby, that would be useful – before promising them that he had fewer shirts than suits with an awkward chuckle. Smiler laughed along but assured him that he really shouldn’t feel guilty about having so many clothes – Victor said he knew, but he’d just had it shoved in his face just how lucky he really was to grow up rich, and he didn’t want either them or Alice to feel like he was somehow flaunting his wealth. Cue Alice telling him that he apologized for being a “spoiled rich boy” way too often already, and given the way his parents treated him, she’d consider him at most a little off. Before telling him he’d have to get one particularly-high-up-the-wall sketch himself, as she couldn’t reach it. XD
And so I ended on Victor fetching the sketch and saying he was glad she felt that way – it was just getting him to feel that way that was the trick. *nods* We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow, and see if Alice and Smiler can’t boost his self-esteem a little.
3. Watch something on FreeTube: Check – managed to fit in the latest from C. M. Alongi tonight – “CaFae Latte Season 83 - TikTok Compilation!” This one was all about the characters dealing with the ICE threat in Minnesota, and featured:
A) Bob checking in with the Stoughton Street Coven on how they were doing with protection charms – after checking in with Lindsey to see how many she’d need (less than last week, as most of the people she and the food shelf have been delivering to already have one now) and Nicole to see if she needed any for her students (already taken care of), Mike declared that ten more on top of the thirty they already had would do the job. Nicole was a little worried about supplies at first, as they’d been going through a lot of unicorn blood, but Bob told her that she and Cyrus had each donated a pint of their blood to the cause. Mike was a little startled, going “this is YOUR blood?” before Bob explained that Fae blood has plenty of magical properties, and it was only a pint –
And cue Ghost Hunter John coming in going “what’s this about blood?” XD Nicole explained about how, since humans aren’t inherently magical, they have to rely on magical ingredients – animal parts and plants – and that Bob and Cyrus had just donated some Fae blood to them as it was excellent for protection and good luck charms, with Mike chiming in that this is why some covens just straight-up kill paranormal people – to harvest their bits. John admitted he’d helped solve some of those cold cases, then asked about the homemade journals in the shop (made by Mike’s wife, as per Lindsey and Mike). Mike was like “didn’t you just get one?” but John explained that he’d been doing a LOT of archiving of what was happening in the Twin Cities – both hard copies locked in his safe and digital ones anyone could access (“Historians will thank you,” Nicole informed him). And then revealed that he’d actually struck up a friendship with fellow archivist Rabbi Rabbit (who Bob confirmed was now friends with Rethu and Cyrus), with the video ending on him praising the guy for doing the archiving, running his synagogue, and getting drivers to help with food deliveries. Though that latter wasn’t too hard, as – well. A not-inconsiderable number of people he knows are related to Holocaust survivors, so…yeah.
B) Kord, Drek’s Dad (who, as per the behind-the-scenes video, was missing his proper facial hair in this episode and instead was making do with C. M.’s hair tied under her nose like a mustache XD) coordinating with Lindsey to do some deliveries (she was making sure they all had protection charms), with Lindsey reminding him that he’d better have his protection charm in his car – Eric, nearby, admitted that the one she’d put in his mom’s car broke recently, making him think that he’d narrowly avoided getting hit, prompting Lindsey to give him a new one and make him promise not to leave without it. Shortly thereafter, the Wulver showed up to make a donation of canned fish – Lindsey and Kord were very grateful, but Eric was briefly befuddled. Wulver explained to him that he’d been running a seafood restaurant in town for decades and, while he personally preferred to get and cook fresh fish, he had all sorts of contacts willing to sell him the canned stuff for cheap, so he was buying it and giving it to the food shelf to help out. Kord commented they’d made spicy tuna stir fry out of his last donation to give away, and that he’d have to inventory the new stuff and flip through his recipe book to see what he could make this time once he got back –
Cue Wulver being like “oh, you’re delivering?” and Kord explaining that, since ICE was snatching people out of grocery store parking lots, it was safer for the vulnerable to stay home and the food shelf people to take the food to them. Eric mentioned he’d heard a lot of the schools were also transitioning back to digital learning to keep kids safe – Kord confirmed that was the case with some, but not all, and that Drek was driving some kids who had to go in in person. And then related the argument he’d had with his son about that – Drek pulling the “legal adult” card, Kord responding with “don’t have permission to use my car,” Drek coming back with “I’ll borrow a friend’s or hot-wire yours, JC taught me how,” Kord trying to compromise with “okay but only if you get three protection and good luck charms from Bob and Nicole” – and revealing that the ladies gave Drek five. Wulver was like, “Yeah, sounds right.” XD And the video ended with Wulver telling Lindsey that, every time someone in his restaurant ordered a drink with no ice or crushed ice, the profits would go straight to her and the shelf –
And presenting her with a check with a looooot of zeros on it. Because a lot of people have been asking for crushed ICE. *nods*
C) Nicole meeting with Asif at her place about her computer, thanking him for coming in since he didn’t do house calls and everything was really stressful – he assured her it was fine and he was more worried about the temperature than “the knock-off Gestapo.” Nicole explained to him when he asked that the computer had been glitching a lot during virtual lessons – her school had allowed kids to do digital lessons instead of in-person ones if they didn’t feel safe coming in. Asif asked how the kids were handling it, and Nicole admitted straight up “they’re scared,” explaining she’d redone her syllabus to remove as much stress as possible and was currently just focusing on having them express raw emotion through art, any medium they wanted. “Free art therapy,” basically. Asif said that they must appreciate it – Nicole replied “they’d appreciate it more if it wasn’t necessary,” which he had to agree with. She then asked how he was doing, working a regular IT job now that he was out of the CIA – Asif said it was a pretty regular 9-to-5, but now, instead of finding ways to look busy while waiting for an actual problem to pop up, they were cyber-stalking ICE agents. In fact, he mentioned being in a friendly rivalry with David (the IT guy who used to be Bob’s fuckbuddy and is now dating Lisa the ER nurse) to see how many they could expose – Asif was winning, but only because he could rely on his old CIA and FBI contacts to help him out. XD He mentioned how stupidly easy it was to find them, doxx them, and sign them up to malware sites – Nicole was like “isn’t that illegal?”
Prompting Asif to reply that it was no more illegal than shooting someone in the face, or on the street, or dragging people off the street without a warrant, or anything else ICE did. Nicole conceded the point, and Asif got back to business, saying that the problem was probably with the wifi, not the computer…
D) Drek and Husniya showing up at CaFae Latte with a bunch of kids they were transporting to school, informing them that they’d pay for ONE drink or pastry each (while JC noted that half-goblin-and-thus-very-short Drek calling the kids “squirts” was very weird :P) – Husniya helped reassure a little Muslim girl who couldn’t eat pork that there were plenty of halal options on the menu, while an eleven-year-old attempted to order a big-ass coffee, only for JC to get their age and go “nope, you’re getting decaf.” Drek advised the kid not to fight it. JC also gave Husniya and Drek an extra discount after learning what they were doing – Husniya tried to protest, saying Bob already paid them really well, but JC retorted that Bob would also consider what they’re doing worthy of the Protector Of The Realm discount, which neither Husniya nor Drek could protest. JC then got the rest of the kids’ orders and started working on them –
And then, a few minutes later, while they were finishing up the last of the drinks, who should walk in but Cyrus! Having a rather tense phone conversation with someone who was apparently obstructing his access to his clients (or who was too incompetent to find paperwork). Drek explained to the kids how Cyrus used to work at CaFae Latte for fun, but now was a lawyer full-time trying to get ICE to let his clients go or at least get them in a proper courtroom, while Cyrus ordered a few drinks from JC – stressing that the last drink had to have oat milk before JC cut him off with “your paralegal has a severe allergy, I know, you’ve ordered this nine times already.” XD JC then sent Drek, Husniya, and the kids off with the drinks and snacks (everyone going “thank you” and one kid making sure to put some money in the magic tip jar), then surprised Cyrus with a box of cheese-and-vegetable-stuffed croissants, complete with dairy-free options for the paralegal. Cyrus gratefully told JC he loved them – then hastily corrected the person on the phone that he did not love them, and that one day they’d look back and realize what a monster they were.
E) Yarn Granny, a friend of hers (later named Ophelia), and Lisa the ER nurse hanging out in the vampire lesbian bar knitting cold weather gear for the protesters – Lisa admitted that she hated making gloves, but when Ophelia asked why she kept doing it, saying that the protesters needed them to deal with the icy cold weather, and that otherwise she’d have to treat them for frostbite later. Yarn Granny noted that what impressed her was how good Lisa was at knitting, given her age – Lisa explained that she’d taught herself in med school as a way to help unwind (as just sitting in front of the TV after doing homework didn’t work, as she felt like she still had to be “productive”). Apparently it’s her favorite way to relax before bed – apart from CaFae Latte pixie dust. :p She then admitted that she still felt like she should be doing more –
Prompting Yarn Granny to remind her she’s Latina and that she was at risk of being deported, and she was already going above and beyond with her ER nurse work. And that she wouldn’t tell a patient they weren’t doing enough, so she should give herself some grace. *nods* Denise the “muscle mommy” vampire bartender showed up then, asking if she could hang out with them on her break as the boss was having a call in the break room – Yarn Granny welcomed her to pull up a chair, and she revealed that she’d had to kick out some ICE agents the other day who’d showed up off-duty thinking they could get service. (And who hadn’t realized it was a lesbian bar.) They were naturally upset about being refused service, but after Denise tipped over their car with one hand, they, uh, backed off. XD Lisa was jealous, saying that if she had that kind of strength, she’d win all the arguments, but Denise informed her that she’d still lose some – just to other vampires, werewolves, and dragons.
...and the final few bits are gonna have to wait until tomorrow – short version, season ended with the CaFae Latte cast helping keep ICE out of a Mexican restaurant, which included Rethu plopping herself down in front of it in full dragon form. Details later! EDIT 2/27/2026: Okay, next morning, let's see if we can get this sorted --
Anyway, Denise then asked what the ladies were making, and Yarn Granny told her that they were knitting hats and gloves and scarves for the protestors to keep them warm, with her selling whatever was left over on her Etsy and in her shop and donating the profits to people supporting the cause of fighting ICE. Apparently Cyrus, who does all his legal work pro bono, is getting a good chunk of that money. (Though, knowing him, he's probably passing on the majority to his paralegal and then using the rest for snacks. :P) Denise was like "nice, we donate to that coven on Stoughton Street, the ones who do the protection charms for people targeted by and fighting against ICE," and Yarn Granny confirmed that the coven had set her boys up with a few. Speaking of which, Vet Grandpa and Oscar showed up then (with Ophelia throwing a playful flirt Vet Grandpa's way – and responding to Lisa's "isn't he married?" with "so am I, just celebrated 30 years with my wife"), quite chilled – Oscar explained they'd gone to check a possible ICE sighting, but fortunately it was a false alarm. Denise was like "you guys are ICE watchers?" and Vet Grandpa confirmed they were – though Oscar more than him since, you know, Oscar can fly. Oscar then revealed his shift actually officially started tomorrow, and it was Rethu's turn today –
And cut to a couple of ICE agents pulling up to a Mexican restaurant (one commenting on how much he loved their tacos, and the other saying it was too bad they had a quota), ready to conduct a raid – only for an off-screen full-dragon Rethu to plop themselves down VERY FIRMLY in front of the place. And ignore their honking to get out of the way. One of them was all for shooting them, but the other said that regular bullets just didn't work against them thanks to the scales, and they'd need a bazooka – and when the first whined that if Trump would just initiate martial law, they'd have one, pointing out that that was only happening if one of them died, "and do you volunteer as tribute?" So the skit ended with the pair calling backup, leading to...
F) Bob, JC, Patrick, Janine, and Vet Grandpa (the latter three in military uniform – I assume as as an intimidation tactic?) standing outside the restaurant with a crowd of protesters as the ICE assholes tried to get in. JC complained that they'd known the Mexican restaurant would get hit – Bob replied she'd given them a protection charm, regularly renewed, last year, which was probably why the crowd had formed so fast. JC said that getting a dragon to plop themselves in front also helped in stopping ICE, asking how many raids Rethu had managed to stop via that method – Bob was pretty sure four, by this point. A freezing Vet Grandpa commented that, if things went on much longer, he was going to ask them if he could use them as a heated mattress, with Patrick confessing that he was sooo tempted to go full wolf, but the uniform was more important, so... Of course, Janine, being undead, was fine, as she smugly told Vet Grandpa when he checked in with her – the only thing that could get her was a fire. Vet Grandpa, Patrick, and JC were all like "yeah, that's how you do it." XD Vet Grandpa also questioned Bob bringing a sword to a gun fight, but Bob was pretty sure if those assholes started shooting, not a single bullet would touch her. Patrick then asked why JC was wearing goggles, and JC explained that they didn't want to end up like that one protestor who was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet and was now half-blind, so they'd got them off Amazon and had Nicole enchant them; Vet Grandpa pointed out that meant ICE would aim for them first, but JC was like "Renee Good taught us that no one is safe, and me being whiter than white means I still have a better chance of getting home safe than the werewolf who's part Native American...or the fairy, actually." Causing Patrick to admit that he genuinely often forgot Bob and Cyrus were immigrants, given they'd been the street longer than anyone else besides Rethu. *nods* Makes sense. Anyway, Janine saw that ICE was starting to retreat (as they hadn't been able to get in the back way either), and they decided to linger a little longer just to be on the safe side (and to get a well-earned hot drink in Vet Grandpa's case), and the season ended with Bob noting ICE would probably be back sooner than any of them would like.
*nods* Good stuff as always.
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: N/A – I didn’t have anything I had to do over on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler), and it was all quiet again over on Valice Multiverse. *shrug* How it goes sometimes!
...yeah, properly-spaced-out-version is going to have to come tomorrow too -- it's a normal workday, so I HAVE to get to bed now. Night all! EDIT 2/27/2026: Okay, everything's good now, please enjoy the fully-completed and fully-spaced update!
Work – Finally went back to work at 10 AM this morning and proceeded to have a very busy day – while my coworker handled the GLs and returned most of the messages left on the phone during our long absence, I found myself juggling:
A) Depositing the checks from the safe and doing the morning reports (as usual)
B) Going through my e-mails and answering those that needed answering (prioritizing the ones from my boss, of course)
C) Taking a bunch of credit card calls (including playing phone tag with one particular guy who was trying to do a pledge – we FINALLY connected at the end of the day), along with answering a few donor questions (including one from a lady who didn’t speak much English asking about her credit card gift – I’m pretty sure I managed to explain to her that her card hadn’t gone through, and she said she’d sent a check instead)
D) MAKING a few phone calls to set up credit card stuff (one went through fine, the other ran afoul of an error that keeps popping up from time to time which just says there was “a problem” with setting up a gift/pledge – the donor was fortunately understanding and admitted he’d had trouble on the website too, which was interesting)
E) Sending more e-mails to the credit card company to thank them for finally posting the missing payments for the 2026 CCA pledges, and asking them to get on posting the missing payments for the 2025 CCA pledges, and to keep looking into that weird nonspecific error
F) Checking the credit card company’s work on posting all those 2026 CCA pledge payments, because I don’t trust them
G) Checking on a few issues our regular check processors brought to light (had to fix someone’s payment schedule and move a gift from the account of someone who’d recently died to the new account we made for his son, who happens to have the same name and live at the same address – this is an annoying fact of life in Rhode Island)
H) And helping my coworker with some GL weirdness (some gifts got split up weird on the reconciliation report, no idea why)
Whew! Quite a lot to get through, as I think you’ll agree! But I did the best I could to handle it all. Tomorrow’s going to be a full-length day – not sure if that will make things less busy (because we’ll be able to spread the work out across more hours) or more busy (because more time for donors to call us and nonsense to happen). We’ll find out when I go in!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, another night on C. M. Alongi’s channel, pedaling my way through:
A) The end of “Creating CaFae Latte: Behind the Scenes!” Which featured:
I. C. M. showing off a bit more of the kind of “detail editing” work she does (clipping out awkward moments, adjusting how quickly the next line of dialogue starts after the previous one, overlapping one scene’s audio onto another scene’s video so she could show a nice facial expression without any awkward pauses, etc) and talking about how, after she’s done with all that, she sends everything back to Video Editor Nic so he can clean it up and add any necessary special effects and whatnot (like the blue filter and blizzard effects in the “kids escaping from the Yule Troll” videos – adorably, she said that she often had to rein him in on the amount of stuff to add because he was so eager to make the videos look good)
II. C. M. showing off the Google Drive where she and Video Editor Nic exchange videos, and being very pleased to see the video intended for January 8th was ready for her to download and post, yay (though she had to change the title as the date in it was wrong – January 7th)
III. And everything ending with a look at the final product – which, in this case, was the skit where Mark comes to the cafe and meets JC, and JC checks in on how he and Drek are doing (and Drek jokingly gets dramatic about being a gay teenager)
Cool stuff! It is nice to see exactly what goes into making these videos – it looks like a lot of work! But it seems C. M. and Nic have a system down. :)
B) And the first half of “Reacting to YOUR Greek Myth Hot Takes!” A video that C. M. did when she needed a break from doing “CaFae Tales,” as apparently those are a lot of work, and which doubled as an advertisement for her Monstrous Kickstarter (which is fully funded and then some as of this writing, yay). Much like her “reacting to your ‘CaFae Latte’ hot takes” videos, this involved her having I presume Video Editor Nic gather up a bunch of people’s opinions about various Greek myths that she could scroll through and react to. Hot takes so far have included:
I. “Hades and Persephone is too romanticized as a myth; he DID kidnap her” – C. M. allowed that Hades did kidnap Persephone (though she did note that in some of the earliest versions of the myth, Zeus basically SOLD Persephone to Hades, and was treated as the actual villain of the piece as a result), but argued that the reason this myth gets so romanticized is because, after the initial kidnapping, Hades and Persephone have probably the most functional relationship out of all the Greek Gods. And us modern folks see that and are like “it’s really a shame that this surprisingly loving marriage starts in such a not-good way – let’s rewrite things so she wants to go with Hades of her own free will instead!” Basically, it may be too romanticized, but it’s not going to STOP being romanticized anytime soon!
II. “Dionysus is so much more than just The Drunk Guy in Greek mythology” – C. M. hard agreed with this one, noting that he was much more than the God of Wine (specifically, that he was also the God of Insanity), and recommending the Overly Sarcastic Production’s video on the guy so people could learn more. And then talked about how one of her favorite experiences as a theater kid was starring in a play about the Bacchanalia that the scriptwriter had turned into a musical of sorts, which she thought really beautifully highlighted all the fucked-up bits in that play.
III. “Hercules is so over-rated, and Sisyphus is underrated” – C. M. mostly agreed with that one, admitting that she herself was pretty “meh” about Hercules (he just had the good fortune of being popular among the Greeks, meaning he got a lot of stories) and explaining the Sisyphus myth for all of us in more detail. Basically, Sisyphus kept killing people who stayed at his house (a HUGE no-no in Ancient Greek society, where being a good host was MANDATED BY THE GODS), then trapped Thanatos, God of Death – the Greek Grim Reaper, separate from Hades – a box when he came from, then got yanked into the Underworld, THEN managed to pull a fast one on Persephone by saying he needed to go up to the living world to put his affairs in order for just three days, then running away and living to a ripe old age. You see why he eventually ended up rolling that rock up a hill over and over and over again. XD
IV. “Jason shouldn’t be considered a hero, he didn’t even DO anything, all his deeds are the result of his wife Medea helping him” – C. M. argued that Jason did manage to successfully wrangle all the heroes who were part of the Argonauts, which did indicate he had some skills...but then allowed that, yeah, no, him getting the Golden Fleece was all Medea. And that he should have thought twice about fucking her over and trying to officially marry someone else after promising himself to her.
V. “I don’t care what Percy Jackson says, Ares was NOT a dick to his daughters” – C. M. hard agreed with this one too, telling us all about a myth where Ares murders Poseidon’s son after he rapes one of his daughters, and when Poseidon took him to court, Zeus ruled in favor of Ares as he didn’t want to upset the other goddesses (including his own wife, who was very much on Ares’s side). Apparently Ares is also POSSIBLY the only god who didn’t rape anyone himself, which – good for the God of War, I must say.
Interesting stuff – C. M. knows a lot about this kind of thing. :) I left off with her talking about the Medusa myth (and how the Greeks were very victim-blamey when it came to rape most of the time) – we’ll finish this off tomorrow and see what other myths and what other hot takes come up!
2. Continue editing Chapter 4 of “The Van Dort Vacancy”: Check – I did in fact manage to fit in an editing session before work today, yay! One of the benefits of going in late. :) Today’s page featured:
A) Victor telling Alice (who’d noted yesterday that the Van Dort servants dressed very well, and she wouldn’t mind taking the outfit she was wearing) that the nice dress was just another way for his parents to show off their money, and that if she wanted it, she could have it, as they had plenty of spares, before adding she’d probably want to resew it to make it less obvious it was one of theirs. Alice assured him that she’d already planned to take up the skirt, as anything that touched her shoes bugged her (made her feel like she could trip at any moment), and mused about moving the lace around the collar to the hem...before admitting she might have to pay someone to do that, as she was much more versed in practical mending than decorative sewing (confessing she’d never had any patience for samplers as a child). Smiler said that Widow Black could help, with Victor confirming she’d done an excellent job on his jacket, while Victor said he could get her into Dundridge & Sons if she wanted, as he was sure Amelia Dundridge would find her a better customer than Nell.
B) Alice telling Smiler and Victor that she’d consider her options dress-wise later, and that they’d better get a move on – because even if Barnaby and Kasimir didn’t object to being left in the wine cellar, there was always the risk that Mrs. Pemberly would notice them missing and go on the hunt. Victor allowed that was a good point and started picking out suits while noting he was surprised that they had convinced her they were new employees – Smiler confessed they hadn’t, really, she’d just decided she needed the help in the kitchen more than figuring out who they were, with Alice confirming they’d only been saved by an incident with a cheese tray. And that it was lucky she knew her way around a cutting board, and Smiler around soup – “Cooking is just another form of alchemy!” Smiler cheerfully proclaimed. :P
C) Smiler asking Victor if he wanted help folding up his clothes, and Victor saying that he could handle the suits, but if Smiler wanted to get some shirts out of the chest of drawers nearby, that would be useful – before promising them that he had fewer shirts than suits with an awkward chuckle. Smiler laughed along but assured him that he really shouldn’t feel guilty about having so many clothes – Victor said he knew, but he’d just had it shoved in his face just how lucky he really was to grow up rich, and he didn’t want either them or Alice to feel like he was somehow flaunting his wealth. Cue Alice telling him that he apologized for being a “spoiled rich boy” way too often already, and given the way his parents treated him, she’d consider him at most a little off. Before telling him he’d have to get one particularly-high-up-the-wall sketch himself, as she couldn’t reach it. XD
And so I ended on Victor fetching the sketch and saying he was glad she felt that way – it was just getting him to feel that way that was the trick. *nods* We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow, and see if Alice and Smiler can’t boost his self-esteem a little.
3. Watch something on FreeTube: Check – managed to fit in the latest from C. M. Alongi tonight – “CaFae Latte Season 83 - TikTok Compilation!” This one was all about the characters dealing with the ICE threat in Minnesota, and featured:
A) Bob checking in with the Stoughton Street Coven on how they were doing with protection charms – after checking in with Lindsey to see how many she’d need (less than last week, as most of the people she and the food shelf have been delivering to already have one now) and Nicole to see if she needed any for her students (already taken care of), Mike declared that ten more on top of the thirty they already had would do the job. Nicole was a little worried about supplies at first, as they’d been going through a lot of unicorn blood, but Bob told her that she and Cyrus had each donated a pint of their blood to the cause. Mike was a little startled, going “this is YOUR blood?” before Bob explained that Fae blood has plenty of magical properties, and it was only a pint –
And cue Ghost Hunter John coming in going “what’s this about blood?” XD Nicole explained about how, since humans aren’t inherently magical, they have to rely on magical ingredients – animal parts and plants – and that Bob and Cyrus had just donated some Fae blood to them as it was excellent for protection and good luck charms, with Mike chiming in that this is why some covens just straight-up kill paranormal people – to harvest their bits. John admitted he’d helped solve some of those cold cases, then asked about the homemade journals in the shop (made by Mike’s wife, as per Lindsey and Mike). Mike was like “didn’t you just get one?” but John explained that he’d been doing a LOT of archiving of what was happening in the Twin Cities – both hard copies locked in his safe and digital ones anyone could access (“Historians will thank you,” Nicole informed him). And then revealed that he’d actually struck up a friendship with fellow archivist Rabbi Rabbit (who Bob confirmed was now friends with Rethu and Cyrus), with the video ending on him praising the guy for doing the archiving, running his synagogue, and getting drivers to help with food deliveries. Though that latter wasn’t too hard, as – well. A not-inconsiderable number of people he knows are related to Holocaust survivors, so…yeah.
B) Kord, Drek’s Dad (who, as per the behind-the-scenes video, was missing his proper facial hair in this episode and instead was making do with C. M.’s hair tied under her nose like a mustache XD) coordinating with Lindsey to do some deliveries (she was making sure they all had protection charms), with Lindsey reminding him that he’d better have his protection charm in his car – Eric, nearby, admitted that the one she’d put in his mom’s car broke recently, making him think that he’d narrowly avoided getting hit, prompting Lindsey to give him a new one and make him promise not to leave without it. Shortly thereafter, the Wulver showed up to make a donation of canned fish – Lindsey and Kord were very grateful, but Eric was briefly befuddled. Wulver explained to him that he’d been running a seafood restaurant in town for decades and, while he personally preferred to get and cook fresh fish, he had all sorts of contacts willing to sell him the canned stuff for cheap, so he was buying it and giving it to the food shelf to help out. Kord commented they’d made spicy tuna stir fry out of his last donation to give away, and that he’d have to inventory the new stuff and flip through his recipe book to see what he could make this time once he got back –
Cue Wulver being like “oh, you’re delivering?” and Kord explaining that, since ICE was snatching people out of grocery store parking lots, it was safer for the vulnerable to stay home and the food shelf people to take the food to them. Eric mentioned he’d heard a lot of the schools were also transitioning back to digital learning to keep kids safe – Kord confirmed that was the case with some, but not all, and that Drek was driving some kids who had to go in in person. And then related the argument he’d had with his son about that – Drek pulling the “legal adult” card, Kord responding with “don’t have permission to use my car,” Drek coming back with “I’ll borrow a friend’s or hot-wire yours, JC taught me how,” Kord trying to compromise with “okay but only if you get three protection and good luck charms from Bob and Nicole” – and revealing that the ladies gave Drek five. Wulver was like, “Yeah, sounds right.” XD And the video ended with Wulver telling Lindsey that, every time someone in his restaurant ordered a drink with no ice or crushed ice, the profits would go straight to her and the shelf –
And presenting her with a check with a looooot of zeros on it. Because a lot of people have been asking for crushed ICE. *nods*
C) Nicole meeting with Asif at her place about her computer, thanking him for coming in since he didn’t do house calls and everything was really stressful – he assured her it was fine and he was more worried about the temperature than “the knock-off Gestapo.” Nicole explained to him when he asked that the computer had been glitching a lot during virtual lessons – her school had allowed kids to do digital lessons instead of in-person ones if they didn’t feel safe coming in. Asif asked how the kids were handling it, and Nicole admitted straight up “they’re scared,” explaining she’d redone her syllabus to remove as much stress as possible and was currently just focusing on having them express raw emotion through art, any medium they wanted. “Free art therapy,” basically. Asif said that they must appreciate it – Nicole replied “they’d appreciate it more if it wasn’t necessary,” which he had to agree with. She then asked how he was doing, working a regular IT job now that he was out of the CIA – Asif said it was a pretty regular 9-to-5, but now, instead of finding ways to look busy while waiting for an actual problem to pop up, they were cyber-stalking ICE agents. In fact, he mentioned being in a friendly rivalry with David (the IT guy who used to be Bob’s fuckbuddy and is now dating Lisa the ER nurse) to see how many they could expose – Asif was winning, but only because he could rely on his old CIA and FBI contacts to help him out. XD He mentioned how stupidly easy it was to find them, doxx them, and sign them up to malware sites – Nicole was like “isn’t that illegal?”
Prompting Asif to reply that it was no more illegal than shooting someone in the face, or on the street, or dragging people off the street without a warrant, or anything else ICE did. Nicole conceded the point, and Asif got back to business, saying that the problem was probably with the wifi, not the computer…
D) Drek and Husniya showing up at CaFae Latte with a bunch of kids they were transporting to school, informing them that they’d pay for ONE drink or pastry each (while JC noted that half-goblin-and-thus-very-short Drek calling the kids “squirts” was very weird :P) – Husniya helped reassure a little Muslim girl who couldn’t eat pork that there were plenty of halal options on the menu, while an eleven-year-old attempted to order a big-ass coffee, only for JC to get their age and go “nope, you’re getting decaf.” Drek advised the kid not to fight it. JC also gave Husniya and Drek an extra discount after learning what they were doing – Husniya tried to protest, saying Bob already paid them really well, but JC retorted that Bob would also consider what they’re doing worthy of the Protector Of The Realm discount, which neither Husniya nor Drek could protest. JC then got the rest of the kids’ orders and started working on them –
And then, a few minutes later, while they were finishing up the last of the drinks, who should walk in but Cyrus! Having a rather tense phone conversation with someone who was apparently obstructing his access to his clients (or who was too incompetent to find paperwork). Drek explained to the kids how Cyrus used to work at CaFae Latte for fun, but now was a lawyer full-time trying to get ICE to let his clients go or at least get them in a proper courtroom, while Cyrus ordered a few drinks from JC – stressing that the last drink had to have oat milk before JC cut him off with “your paralegal has a severe allergy, I know, you’ve ordered this nine times already.” XD JC then sent Drek, Husniya, and the kids off with the drinks and snacks (everyone going “thank you” and one kid making sure to put some money in the magic tip jar), then surprised Cyrus with a box of cheese-and-vegetable-stuffed croissants, complete with dairy-free options for the paralegal. Cyrus gratefully told JC he loved them – then hastily corrected the person on the phone that he did not love them, and that one day they’d look back and realize what a monster they were.
E) Yarn Granny, a friend of hers (later named Ophelia), and Lisa the ER nurse hanging out in the vampire lesbian bar knitting cold weather gear for the protesters – Lisa admitted that she hated making gloves, but when Ophelia asked why she kept doing it, saying that the protesters needed them to deal with the icy cold weather, and that otherwise she’d have to treat them for frostbite later. Yarn Granny noted that what impressed her was how good Lisa was at knitting, given her age – Lisa explained that she’d taught herself in med school as a way to help unwind (as just sitting in front of the TV after doing homework didn’t work, as she felt like she still had to be “productive”). Apparently it’s her favorite way to relax before bed – apart from CaFae Latte pixie dust. :p She then admitted that she still felt like she should be doing more –
Prompting Yarn Granny to remind her she’s Latina and that she was at risk of being deported, and she was already going above and beyond with her ER nurse work. And that she wouldn’t tell a patient they weren’t doing enough, so she should give herself some grace. *nods* Denise the “muscle mommy” vampire bartender showed up then, asking if she could hang out with them on her break as the boss was having a call in the break room – Yarn Granny welcomed her to pull up a chair, and she revealed that she’d had to kick out some ICE agents the other day who’d showed up off-duty thinking they could get service. (And who hadn’t realized it was a lesbian bar.) They were naturally upset about being refused service, but after Denise tipped over their car with one hand, they, uh, backed off. XD Lisa was jealous, saying that if she had that kind of strength, she’d win all the arguments, but Denise informed her that she’d still lose some – just to other vampires, werewolves, and dragons.
...and the final few bits are gonna have to wait until tomorrow – short version, season ended with the CaFae Latte cast helping keep ICE out of a Mexican restaurant, which included Rethu plopping herself down in front of it in full dragon form. Details later! EDIT 2/27/2026: Okay, next morning, let's see if we can get this sorted --
Anyway, Denise then asked what the ladies were making, and Yarn Granny told her that they were knitting hats and gloves and scarves for the protestors to keep them warm, with her selling whatever was left over on her Etsy and in her shop and donating the profits to people supporting the cause of fighting ICE. Apparently Cyrus, who does all his legal work pro bono, is getting a good chunk of that money. (Though, knowing him, he's probably passing on the majority to his paralegal and then using the rest for snacks. :P) Denise was like "nice, we donate to that coven on Stoughton Street, the ones who do the protection charms for people targeted by and fighting against ICE," and Yarn Granny confirmed that the coven had set her boys up with a few. Speaking of which, Vet Grandpa and Oscar showed up then (with Ophelia throwing a playful flirt Vet Grandpa's way – and responding to Lisa's "isn't he married?" with "so am I, just celebrated 30 years with my wife"), quite chilled – Oscar explained they'd gone to check a possible ICE sighting, but fortunately it was a false alarm. Denise was like "you guys are ICE watchers?" and Vet Grandpa confirmed they were – though Oscar more than him since, you know, Oscar can fly. Oscar then revealed his shift actually officially started tomorrow, and it was Rethu's turn today –
And cut to a couple of ICE agents pulling up to a Mexican restaurant (one commenting on how much he loved their tacos, and the other saying it was too bad they had a quota), ready to conduct a raid – only for an off-screen full-dragon Rethu to plop themselves down VERY FIRMLY in front of the place. And ignore their honking to get out of the way. One of them was all for shooting them, but the other said that regular bullets just didn't work against them thanks to the scales, and they'd need a bazooka – and when the first whined that if Trump would just initiate martial law, they'd have one, pointing out that that was only happening if one of them died, "and do you volunteer as tribute?" So the skit ended with the pair calling backup, leading to...
F) Bob, JC, Patrick, Janine, and Vet Grandpa (the latter three in military uniform – I assume as as an intimidation tactic?) standing outside the restaurant with a crowd of protesters as the ICE assholes tried to get in. JC complained that they'd known the Mexican restaurant would get hit – Bob replied she'd given them a protection charm, regularly renewed, last year, which was probably why the crowd had formed so fast. JC said that getting a dragon to plop themselves in front also helped in stopping ICE, asking how many raids Rethu had managed to stop via that method – Bob was pretty sure four, by this point. A freezing Vet Grandpa commented that, if things went on much longer, he was going to ask them if he could use them as a heated mattress, with Patrick confessing that he was sooo tempted to go full wolf, but the uniform was more important, so... Of course, Janine, being undead, was fine, as she smugly told Vet Grandpa when he checked in with her – the only thing that could get her was a fire. Vet Grandpa, Patrick, and JC were all like "yeah, that's how you do it." XD Vet Grandpa also questioned Bob bringing a sword to a gun fight, but Bob was pretty sure if those assholes started shooting, not a single bullet would touch her. Patrick then asked why JC was wearing goggles, and JC explained that they didn't want to end up like that one protestor who was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet and was now half-blind, so they'd got them off Amazon and had Nicole enchant them; Vet Grandpa pointed out that meant ICE would aim for them first, but JC was like "Renee Good taught us that no one is safe, and me being whiter than white means I still have a better chance of getting home safe than the werewolf who's part Native American...or the fairy, actually." Causing Patrick to admit that he genuinely often forgot Bob and Cyrus were immigrants, given they'd been the street longer than anyone else besides Rethu. *nods* Makes sense. Anyway, Janine saw that ICE was starting to retreat (as they hadn't been able to get in the back way either), and they decided to linger a little longer just to be on the safe side (and to get a well-earned hot drink in Vet Grandpa's case), and the season ended with Bob noting ICE would probably be back sooner than any of them would like.
*nods* Good stuff as always.
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: N/A – I didn’t have anything I had to do over on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler), and it was all quiet again over on Valice Multiverse. *shrug* How it goes sometimes!
...yeah, properly-spaced-out-version is going to have to come tomorrow too -- it's a normal workday, so I HAVE to get to bed now. Night all! EDIT 2/27/2026: Okay, everything's good now, please enjoy the fully-completed and fully-spaced update!
no subject
Date: 2026-03-07 01:10 am (UTC)In this universe, fairy blood is gold. And lacks iron, so it doesn't taste as tangy as human blood For a truth potion, it's boiled and added to a handful of other ingredients that make it safe for human consumption. I tried to find a passage about using blood to enchant objects, but all I found was this:
Nicole took it and a larger, empty jar form her purse (JC didn't ask; you never question the mysteries of a woman's purse). She emptied the blood into the bigger jar, dropped a few of her loc rings into it, and shook it.
It was like a smaller version of what had happened when Violet changed their name: JC felt a tiny pop around them, like reality had shifted.
All the jewelry Nicole had just handled -- the bloodied stuff in the jar, the rings and bracelet tied together by her and Violet and JC's hair -- all broke, scattering across the seat and floor.
"What the -"
"They're good luck charms," Nicole interrupted, motioning to her jewelry as she cleaned up her mess. "All of them."
Per the video description, the Asif and Nicole part was filmed when the temperature was in the single digits. "This week is a balmy 40+F. Practically tank top weather!"
For the record, "Baraka Allahu fik" means "May Allah bless you" or "God bless you". Someone in the comments said she pronounced it very well.
The lesbian vampire bar scene (vampire lesbian bar? whichever...), her description says "Ignore the fact that I'm not actually making hats, gloves, or scarves. I was sewing together the squares for my patch cardigan--which I successfully completed!"
I thought maybe Oscar could wrap his wings around himself for warmth. Something AL does.
For the Mexican restaurant, the video description reads: "Those of you who have read HEART OF IRON may recall that the Mexican restaurant on the same street as CaFae Latte -- the Red Dahlia -- is where Nicole's paternal grandparents met." Also, Chris got the sword at a silent auction at CONvergence. IMO, Chris looked pretty good in that uniform for Janine.
Edit: Forgot to mention, after the present ICE arc she's going on hiatus until April for conventions and stuff.
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Date: 2026-03-08 04:37 am (UTC)Interesting! But yeah, given that fairies can't handle iron, it would make sense that their blood doesn't contain any -- and as it's that iron that I believe gives blood its red color, also makes sense their blood would be a different color! And yes, again, given fairies can't lie, makes sense it would be a primary ingredient in a truth potion! And even if it wasn't exactly what you were looking for, that's an interesting passage -- I especially like the line: It was like a smaller version of what had happened when Violet changed their name: JC felt a tiny pop around them, like reality had shifted. Cool stuff. :)
Ooof, I see -- poor Chris! I'm glad it's a little warmer around there now, but I'm sure she appreciated being bundled up in Asif's costume for that bit!
Ahhh, nice -- and I'm glad to hear that! Nice to know she's getting those more-or-less right. :)
*snork* I see, I see -- well, hey, I'm glad she was able to get the patch cardigan completed! I'm sure it looks great. :)
I would probably try that if I had wings, yeah! Though I guess if they're as cold as the rest of him, that might not work so well...still, layers are good!
I see -- that's very sweet. :) And neat! It's a cool sword. And yeah, Janine's uniform is definitely the best out of her, Patrick, and Vet Grandpa. She looks very swag in it.
*nods* Fair enough -- she's gonna be hella busy with those, that's for sure!