#I can't play a game without drinking as many potions as I want

[babyblueetbaemonster]

Why can't we drink as many potions as we want haha

[masiola]

Obey me brothers and datetables at the club 😛😛

Lucifer, Diavolo and Barbatos

Lucifer goes maybe once or twice a year with Diavalo, only to the VIP clubs.

3 bottles of demonus later, Lucifer can't form coherent words because he's laughing so hard.

Luci once went to a public club and so many demons were swarming around him asking to dance. Never again.

Diavolo mainly goes for Lucifer's sake so 'Lucifer can let his hair down' (is what he told Barbatos).

Also, to meet his favourite celebrities and get their autographs.

Barbatos accompanies Diavolo, when Lucifer can't. He makes sure Diavolo doesn't drink too much and does something stupid.

Barb usually just stands in the corner, but occasionally you might catch him tapping his foot to the music.

Mammon, Asmodeus and Beelzebub

Mammon and Asmo go together quite often. They play a game of who can get the most people to buy them drinks.

Asmo wins everytime because of his charm.

"What do ya mean I have plenty of charm too!"

Asmo sometimes visits the VIP clubs, but like most of his brother's prefers the public ones.

If Asmo is clubbing without his brothers, he's definitely leaving with at least two demons. Hoe life or no life.

Beel leaves half way through the night to get food from some burger place across the street.

If he sees someone who is too drunk to walk and on their own, he'll get them some water and help them call a taxi home .

Leviathan and Belphagor

The brothers convinced Levi to go once. He stayed in the bathroom for most of the night, playing games on his phone. It was too stressful and overwhelming for him so he never came back out. Probably snuck out the bathroom window.

Belphie didn't need much convincing. Beel asked to join him so he went.

He fell asleep at the bar, 2am, music blasting around him.

The bartender asked if he's okay, and the brothers said he's doing fine and to leave him be. Beel carried him home later.

Satan

Drinks a little too much and let's his sin get to the best of him.

Over time he got banned from most of the clubs in the Devildom for starting fights. Mammon recorded one of them and the video blew up on devilgram.

Solomon

He doesn't go often, but when he does it's because Asmo invited him.

Would try mixing the drinks like potions to create the most atrocious looking and tasting 'cocktails'. Dares Asmo to drink it.

Asmo says no? No problem he'll chug it himself like it's nothing. Would probably pass out for like 2 seconds and then get back up, ready to party some more.

Somehow immune to hangovers, maybe magic?

He's notorious for taking demons back to Purgatory Hall. Simeon and Luke watch them do the walk of shame in the morning, shaking their heads disapprovingly.

Simeon

As an angel, he does not indulge in drinking or clubbing culture.

Solomon once asked him if he wanted to go disguised.

"How could you suggest such a thing!" >:0

[hughungrybear]

Tagged by @telomeke in this post. Thanks for the tag 🥰

coffee or tea – COFFEE.

As much as my GP is on my ass due to excessive caffeine intake, I just can't help it. I stopped counting how many cups of coffee I drink daily since I usually just get a fresh cup as soon as I emptied the one I'm holding😅

early bird or night owl – NEITHER. I'M A PERMANENTLY EXHAUSTED PIGEON.

I am used to working until late at night (around 11pm) and waking up around 2am to work again. I have the same sleep pattern even on my off days 😭

chocolate or vanilla – VANILLA.

Only because I don't like chocolate. But if there is caramel or strawberry, then I would be down for those.

spring or fall – SPRING.

Me and slightly cool weather don't mix. 😅Plus, it's really pretty to see all the wild flowers blossom during spring.

silver or gold – GOLD.

Only because I'm allergic to silver - and no, I'm not a vampire. 😅

pop or alternative – ALTERNATIVE.

Alternative punk, to be exact. Not a big fan of teen bops. 😅

freckles or dimples – DIMPLES.

Ah well, because I have one LOL.

snakes or sharks – SNAKES.

I can't swim, plus snakes are kinda nice.

mountains or fields – MOUNTAINS.

I like elevated places better.

thunder or lightning – THUNDER.

Because thunder is safer lol. It's a loud sound vs thousands bolts of electricity, so ⚖️

egyptian mythology or greek mythology – BOTH.

I like mythology and folklore, in general.

ivory or scarlet – IVORY.

I do like reds but the texture of ivory is really something else.

flute or lyre – FLUTE.

Only because I know how to play it 😅

opal or diamond – OPAL.

Diamonds are overrated. (Plus, I'm in Australia so support our own lol)

butterflies or honeybees – BUTTERFLIES.

Never had a good experience with bees lol

macarons or éclairs – MACARONS.

Because I don't like the texture of éclairs.

typewritten or handwritten – DEPENDS.

If it comes from me, then typewritten - apparently, nobody can read my handwriting lol.

secret garden or secret library – SECRET LIBRARY.

Gimme all the books (and time to read them, please 🥲🥲🥲)

rooftop or balcony – ROOFTOP.

No, not because all good BL scenes happen on the rooftop 😅 I like hanging out on rooftops even when I was a kid. It's more private and nobody really comes looking for you on rooftops. It's like being away from the world without really leaving it.

spicy or mild – SPICY.

I'm Asian. Enough said 😂😂😂

opera or ballet – OPERA.

I actually prefer musicals, but if the choice is just between these two, then I would choose the singing/wailing over interpretative dancing. Tbf, I did try attending ballets, but it bored me to death.

london or paris – LONDON

Because it's another Australia - but wetter lol

vincent van gogh or claude monet – VAN GOGH.

Read his bio when I was still a teen and it broke me. Also, his Starry Night and Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory are my all-time favourite paintings.

denim or leather – DENIM.

I hate, HATE how leather is so hot and inconvenient to wear on regular days.

potions or spells – POTIONS.

Because it's just chemistry in heels lol

ocean or desert – OCEAN.

I may not know how to swim but I would rather drown than die of heat stroke lol

mermaids or sirens – NEITHER.

Aren't they the same thing though (human head, fish tail)? 🤔

masquerade ball or cocktail party – NEITHER.

I don't like parties in general. I would rather stay at home lol

Onward tagging: @lost-my-sanity1, @dribs-and-drabbles, @waitmyturtles, @happypotato48, and anyone who also wants to play this game.

[gaming-thoughts-by-an-idiot]

Fable'ing like the fable gamer I am

"Idk where brightwall even is"

"So I'm gonna explore"

"Okay but seriously... the 3rd game is basically an AU"

"I'm shaking hands with everyone"

"Love me, damnit"

"What the fuck, in the loading screen it said I have 6 STDs???? I've held hands with people what the fuckk????"

Game: see this sign?

Me: yup

Game: that's where you're going

Me: that's where the-

Game & me: glowing trail goes

Game: and you should follow it

Me: yeah I know

Game, sobbing: thEN WHY ARE YOU WALKING THE OTHER WAY

Me: hehe >:)

"Found a 5 silver key chest"

"I have 1"

"I found a normal chest with an amethyst, hell ye"

"The potion I got was so my dog got an expert in all things"

"My dog, Reaver, is cashing in! I got lots of coins now!"

"Yum, fried wolf"

"This game reminds me so much of dragon age inquisition"

"800 coins now, before I left the lil settlement I had 60..."

"A cave? Well... ofc I'm gonna go in there"

"Where's the hobbs tho? They've basically removed all enemies"

"Okay I can't do anything in the wolf cave"

"I have to press home, start button on the controller, B to exit and only then can I save without going to sanctuary..."

"A door want me to bring another hero, aka I need another person online..."

"Ooo bandits, I don't have a sword so I don't wanna do that rn"

"Who's burying all this gold and gems?"

"Every forth second this dog finds me either coins, clothes or gems"

"Not complaining really..."

"Ooo I found another entrance to the cave I couldn't go further into"

"Huh... maybe the isn't the same cave"

"Okay... so the cave I found, there's a silver key chest... with 15!!! Keys, I have 3"

"1469 coins... I'm thriving!"

"Alright, this cave is called 'chillbreath caverns' now I just gotta remember that for later"

"Ooo gold key"

"I found the first entrance and it is the same place, wow"

"Alrighty, going to the quest place"

"Brightwall"

"It also doesn't look the same"

"Honestly, if it had been like 100 years and not like 20(?) I'd accept it, but like...?"

"Its like they've taken the names and some characters and put it in a completely different world"

"Alrighty, I'm going into the city, what's up city folk, I am also a city folk, a normal farmer city woman"

"I sold all my gems etc, so now I have 16 507 coins... damn"

"I'm handshaking EVERYONE"

"Actually... this reminds me more of the 1st game"

"Ew... there's the gnomes"

"The character designs remind me more of fallout 3"

"Why is there coins in the bookshelves in the library school?"

"Theres a lot of chests and hollowmen here"

"Secret, I found a secret~"

"Finally"

"Zelda vibes again"

"No... no nonono not the music box bro I'm sobbing why!"

"This is actually my ringtone"

"Which is horrible ofc"

"Imma just walk around it for chests"

"Okay... I'm clicking it"

"Was it always that big?"

"Hehe"

"Wtf video Logan looks even worse"

"I wanna find a fable buddy so we can play through fable 2 and 3 together, I used to have that :( but we broke up many years ago"

"Opening up all chests cuz I've been super friendly hehe"

"Be friends with people so they can give u things"

"... and this is why I'm always a raider in fallout... isn't it"

"Walter is just drinking while I'm doing hard work"

"Gotta fix my outfit since I'm gonna go buy people's houses and charge them insane rent"

"Hmm what screams corrupt? I have no pink suit-skirt tho"

"Okay I look emo... huh, I kinda look like my old classmate... I should show her a pic"

"Alrighty... Walter where ya at"

[emmaintherealityworld]

ELDARYA A NEW ERA EPISODE 17: CDC LANCE (SPOIL)

Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening my little otters! I decide to write in English about the last episode of Eldarya. Because I saw a lot of people who play the game and speak or read only in English. So here we go because I have so much to say!

First of all, the episode begins when they woke up the next day when Chrome and Karen reveal that they are getting married. We assume Lance and Erika had sex all night. Huang Chu arrives because she needs our help at the laboratory to make potions for the fenghuangs with Koori. So here we go to the first thing that already pisses me off, which is the sentence: "Is it me or it's getting more complicated to be among ourselves ?" Just because Lance asked if they need more help...It's a very cringy way to show some feminism. I don't know why they made Huang Chu say that... It takes days for them to do all the potions, she couldn't even see Lance or talk to him. Again, we miss so many opportunities. We have an interesting conversation about the traditions of marriage with the girls. But I thought it stupid that Erika said that she's not so close to Karenn when we know on TO they had been like best friends. It's obvious she will be her bridesmaid. About that, after the funny scene about Karuto with Orgelz: Karren and Chrome almost jump on her to ask her to be their bridesmaid. But what bothers me, it's the fact that they almost forced the decision to take all the responsibilities of their bachelor party on Erika, to have an excuse to use more mana because Beemoov doesn't know what else to do. And again missing more opportunities to develop more about the relationship with Lance. Even if we have the choice to choose, the episode is a little bit empty if we don't agree to be the bridesmaids of both. So she has to do all by herself and the Purrekos to their party, but they decide to take a chance to her to ask Lance. We have ALMOST a moment with him even if it's just like 3 minutes of arguments between him and Purral. Then we have the two bachelor parties of the future brides. Both of them were fun, I'm not going to lie. But the moment with Lance was...AGAIN so fucking boring. The beginning was cringy with all the questions: "Is it the music? "Is it the drinks, Is it the perspective of a marriage (that makes me so horny again? Well...Apparently, it is. !) The moment could've been romantic if they could just say some words while they are dancing. And not her AGAIN saying to Lance: "I want to spend some time alone with you because I can't spend a day without having sex...so can we AGAIN fuck together because that's all I know and do and I can't have a real moment with you. Because all I can think about is SEX! Is it too much to ask, to have a more romantic moment with him? Having a cute illustration with just them sleeping together or laughing together than seeing them naked again? But let's talk about the NSFW scene! First of all, the sentence: "I thought we could never have a moment alone." Well obviously, it was your choice to do TWO parties almost by yourself. And the cringy part with her saying: "Oh I want you so bad Lance. Take me, Lance." Like they reused the previous NSFW scene. How about: "I love you? Or "You were so handsome tonight" or "I want to make love to you ?" Lance again doesn't even talk during the scene, how can it be credible for us that they are a real couple who love each other? Desire isn't love. You can love someone without feeling sexual desire for them. Next, the illustration...It's like they took what Purral wanted to bring to the party. They don't look in love at all and that's a shame. Because they did a good job with the other illustration. I'm so pissed again. I don't know why I keep spending my time on this game. But because like all of you, I want to know how it ends.

I'll see you guys soon, take care! See ya <3

[canirove]

The Lord in Blue | Chapter 10

Author’s note: Things get a little bit heated on this chapter 👀 But not too much, so I think it’s safe for everyone who is allowed to be on this website to read it 😁 As always, thank you for reading and for your support! 💜

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

A few days later there is a fair happening in the town nearby, and I don't know who is more excited about going, Summer or her uncles.

On our way there they can't stop talking about the different games they are going to be playing, and how they are going to beat each other. Their sister and I just listen and roll our eyes.

"You should get one of those, Mason" his brother says, teasing him. "Though you may not need it anymore" he says while looking at me. Lord Mount just ignores him, but I can see he's blushing. And so am I.

When we arrive, the fair is crowded with people. Even though it already is fall and a bit chilly, many families are spending their day here.

Besides the stands with all the games the Mount brothers are so eager to play, there are others selling food, drinks, clothes, jewels... Music is being played somewhere too, and a little play will be happening later in the day. While we walk among all of them, we pass through an old woman who sells love potions (or that's what she says).

After checking all the stands that offer games and having lunch, we stop at one where you have to throw three coins inside a frog's mouth. If you are able to do it in five attempts, you get a prize, but the Mounts are betting to see who can do it in just three.

"It's time to choose your prizes, my lords" says the man who owns the stand.

Lord Mount's brother goes first. He barely manages to do it at the fifth attempt, his little brother constantly making fun of him. Now it's his turn, and the first two coins go easily in. Before throwing the third one, he turns to me.

"If this one goes in, you owe a kiss" he says, not allowing me to reply. He's already in place, his tongue sticking out like it always does when he is focused. "A child doesn't do the things he does with his tongue". Dear brain, now it's not the time for those thoughts.

The coin goes in perfectly without touching the frog, and he starts doing a stupid dance in front of his brother to celebrate.

"Pick whatever you want, my lady" Lord Mount tells me. I pick a stuffed animal, a lion. Summer also gets to choose something, a wooden horse. And from there, we move to the place where the play is taking place.

"The say it's about that old king and all his wives, including the one you like so much" Lord Mount says as he stands next to me, his hand resting on my low back. I try to focus on what is happening in front of me and on the play, but my thoughts keep going to his hand, now moving to my waist and pulling me closer to him.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Allow me to accompany you" Lord Mount says.

It's almost night when we make it back to the house. Lord and Lady Mount choose to leave for bed, too tired and full of food, and Summer and her parents do the same, leaving me alone with Lord Mount and his brother. After a while, I start yawning.

"I think I'm going to bed too" I say.

"Good night, Mason. My lady" his brother says from the big chair where he is sitting, a smirk on his face as he sips from his cup.

"I had hoped you had" I dare to say, teasing him.

We don't share a word all the way to my room. Once we get to my door, Lord Mount finally speaks.

"I haven't forgotten that you owe me a kiss" he says with a smile way to similar to the one his brother gave us a moment ago.

"You wound me, my  lady" he dramatically says, putting a hand to his heart as he keeps getting closer to me. I just shrug. "I guess I'll have to kiss you again to prove you I am indeed a good kisser." He is too close now, his hands on my waist. "May I?" he asks.

I nod, my heart beating like crazy. He moves one of his hands to my face, his fingers on my chin, then on my lips, my whole body tensing. But then he kisses me and it's like I'm melting. This is a soft and gentle kiss, different to the one in the palace's garden.

"So?" he says, our mouths still too close.

"And now?" he says, catching his breath.

"I think you'll have to try again, my lord. I'm not too convinced" I say in a whisper.

This time his kiss is different. Rougher, but still gentle. And it goes for longer.

"That was much better" I say with a smile. He smiles too, his dimple showing. I can't help myself any longer, and lift my hand to touch it before he starts kissing me again. But this time he also moves to my neck, to my collarbone, his hands being all over my body.

"Mason..." I say to his ear. He grunts, pulling me closer. "Someone may see us" I manage to say.

"Then let's go inside."

"We can't... We can't do that" I say, making him laugh as he grabs my hand.

"We don't have to do what you are thinking. There are other... things".

"Mason!" I say while hitting him in the arm. We look at each other and start laughing, but we don't stop kissing. We move towards my bed, and I lay down as he keeps undressing. I try to focus on his face, but my eyes can't help to look at his perfect body.

We are inside my room now. He is behind me, kissing my shoulder, his hands undoing my dress. I feel it fall to the floor, his hands moving to my waist, to my chest. Every bit of skin where he has touched me feels like is burning.

Then he turns me to face him. His eyes look almost black when he looks at me, and he is kissing me again, this time with a passion and a force he hadn't shown before. My hands move to his hair, grabbing it, trying to have my body as close to his as I can. I'm so focused on it that I don't notice one of his hands on my butt until he gives it a little pinch.

Our hands are all over each other, our kisses more desperate. It's as if we need each other to breathe. Then he starts kissing my chest, my stomach. My hands are again tangled in his hair as he keeps going down, making me feel something that I've never felt before when he reaches the spot he was looking for. "A child doesn't do the things he does with his tongue".

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"You should go back to your room" I say while kissing him in the nose.

"I like it here" he says with a smile while hugging me tighter.

"The sun is already rising, the servants will be out any minute now. What if they see you leaving my room and tell your parents?"

"I don't think they will complain" he says.

They robably won't, that's true. I've noticed the way they look at us when we are together. They are always smiling, never worried or looking at us with disagreement. I don't know if I could say the same about my mother.

"Mason, please" I beg.

"All right then" he reluctantly says. Once he is dressed, he comes back to the bed to give me a kiss. "You better get used to this, my lady. I've just started."

[jaskiersvalley]

Hello. Your writing is very capturing. I spent last night on reading all your stuff and here I am, in your ask box. Especially the illiterate!Geralt is a good read. I saw a few hc about the witchers being unsettled by Jaskier being well... Jaskier and with no fear approach them and talk to them. After a while they started wondering if Jaskier is a human, but they can't smell magic on him. What he really is? How he managed to fool a witcher?

Welcome to my ask box Nonnie, it is a delight to have you here! Even better, you bring a prompt that has my little heart singing because writing about Jaskier and all the witchers is something I am rapidly falling in love with. So thank you, you have truly made my day.

While the continent was big, it was still rather limited in terms of numbers of contracts. So it was only natural that from time to time Geralt bumped into a fellow witcher. Sometimes he got there first, other times there was only a drink at a tavern to be had and maybe some quiet company if it was a fellow wolf he encountered. The perk of having Jaskier alongside him was that even if he missed out on a contract, Jaskier could earn their keep and food if coin was short. So there was no longer a vicious competition between him and other witchers which was such a nice change of pace. There was no worry that if he got to a contract late, he would have to spend the next however many nights in the woods and hunting for food because he couldn’t afford a meal at a tavern.

Sometimes Geralt would still be in the stable with Roach while Jaskier went ahead to get them a room and some food. Which was how Geralt walked into the inn and frowned when Jaskier wasn’t visible at the bar. Looking around, he wasn’t too difficult to spot, sitting opposite...Eskel?! Pleasant surprise flooded Geralt at the sight of a fellow wolf and he walked over. Already, Jaskier seemed to have made a new friend in the form of the other witcher and was chattering away, demanding details from a fight. He even looked horrified when he spotted the bloody bandage peeking out from under Eskel’s sleeve.

“Oh you poor thing,” Jaskier was reaching for Eskel’s arm without any hesitation and Geralt saw the surprise from the other witcher. Hell, he could even smell the suspicion and confusion coming off him.

“Maybe this would be better done in a room than where people might be trying to enjoy some food,” Geralt suggested. “Not everyone can eat after seeing a bloody arm.”

“Yes! Have a bath called up for us, would you?” Jaskier looked at Geralt with a smile before turning back to Eskel and guiding him up atairs. “And don’t forget to have dinner brought up too!”

By the time Geralt got to the room, Jaskier had gently bullied Eskel into showing the wyvern bite to him and was fussing over it. Above Jaskier’s head, Eskel sought out Geralt’s gaze with confusion.

Later that night, Geralt had a rather interesting conversation with Eskel, mostly consisting of “he doesn’t even smell of fear” to which the only reply was “he never did”.

They parted ways and Jaskier made sure Eskel had plenty of supplies and coin, sharing what he could of his own despite protestations.

Funnily enough, Lambert was next. Once again, Geralt had been preoccupied, this time he was sharpening his swords when the music died down sooner than expected. However, there was no sound of fighting or arguing so obviously Jaskier hadn’t gotten himself into trouble. Yet. When he didn’t go upstairs to their room, Geralt decided to venture down to make sure nothing untoward was happening. Like that time Jaskier had convinced the whole tavern to play some kind of strip card game that Geralt still didn’t understand and, quite frankly, didn’t really want to either.

The sight that greeted Geralt was both better and worse than anything he could have anticipated. Jaskier was in the corner, sitting at a table and opposite him was Lambert. Who was pressed up against the wall like a cornered cat and staring at Jaskier in horror and disgust while the bard talked his ear off. He seemed to be utterly oblivious to the fact Lambert looked ready to bolt.

“Lambert,” Geralt greeted and there was a visible drop in anxieties.

“Geralt. This is-”

“Jaskier, I know. He’s with me.” Turning to Jaskier, Geralt pulled his coin pouch out. “Charm the barkeep into three strong ales, would you?”

As soon as Jaskier was away from the table, Lambert was leaning closer.

“What the hell is wrong with him? He just walked up to the table, sat down and started talking! He does realise we’re witchers, right?” He gestured towards Jaskier’s back. Geralt’s sigh of “yes” didn’t seem to help. Lambert ranted on. “I can do monsters, creatures and spirits. But whatever that is, it’s not human and it scares the shit out of me. Not even an whiff of fear or hesitation.”

“It’s just Jaskier. He’s friendly.” Geralt shrugged. He’d been there, the confusion and distrust at the absolute lack of any negative reaction from Jaskier. But he’d grown used to it.

“You keep the contract, I’m skipping out.” Lambert made to move and got almost to the door when Jaskier got back to the table and called his name. Like a dog caught stealing a sausage, Lambert slunk back sheepishly. At least he got ale out of it even if he had to sit through the most terrifying conversation of his life. Jaskier could talk, he’d give him that.

By morning, Lambert was gone and Jaskier pouted at the fact he couldn’t bid farewell to his newest friend properly.

Last but not least was Vesemir who they encountered on a dusty road between nameless towns.

“I’ve heard of you,” he told Jaskier who had been prancing around as he played his newest song. It had been stuck in his head for days, taking shape and now he couldn’t get enough of it.

“Alas I have not been granted similar privileges. Please forgive me, darling grey wolf. I am ignorant not through lack of interest but rather lack of sources.” Jaskier cast Geralt a side glance.

He was treated to a long, hard look by Vesemir who also took a subtle sniff of the air as he took a step closer to Jaskier. “They were right.”

Who the mysterious “they” were and what they were right about was a mystery to Jaskier but he wasn’t going to get answers because Vesemir nodded at them. “See you for the winter.”

As he turned to continue his path, Jaskier shouted after him. “Just a small token for our brief yet passionate meeting!” With that, he presented Vesemir a handkerchief in a flourish. Once again, the old witcher’s eyes drifted to Geralt before taking the offering, tucking it into his armour and turning with a nod.

“So, where are we going for winter?” Jaskier asked, hopping a lttle to catch back up with Geralt.

Kaer Morhen. That was the answer and Jaskier excitedly bustled through the doors. He and Geralt got set up in a room before making their way down to the others.

“Friends!” Jaskier yelled, arms in the air as he took in the three familiar witchers. “It is so good to see you again.”

He went around to hug all the witchers to varying degrees of success. While Eskel returned the hug with a small, entertained smile, Lambert was doing his best impression of a terrified statue. For his part, Vesemir accepted the hug but wasn’t too enthused by it.

Witchers didn’t need to sleep a lot so it wasn’t all that unusual for them to gather around a fire and talk late into the night. At first, Jaskier had tried to keep up but he needed sleep and often ended up fast asleep in Geralt’s lap while the others talked.

“I’ve never met anyone like him.” Eskel nodded towards Jaskier’s sleeping form.

“Not natural,” Lambert added. He had been doing his best to keep out the way as much as possible.

Even Vesemir weighed in, “He’s certainly a rarity. There’s no magic around him. No stench of enchantment or even the scent of a beast.”

“He’s plain old human,” Geralt said. “And just seems to have no concept of self-preservation around others. But trust me, he does feel fear.”

Which was how they ended up trying to find out what did elicit a response from Jaskier. Lambert’s idea of drinking a potion and wandering around with black eyes and veins backfired somewhat when Jaskier got ready to trek out with him to the fight he was no doubt preparing for.

Inviting Jaskier to train and spar hadn’t worked out either. No matter how much Eskel threw him around, disarmed him in more and more brutal ways and held swords to his throat, not once did Jaskier ever smell anything but tired.

Nobody was prepared for the ear splitting shriek one morning. It was definitely Jaskier but he hit a pitch even Geralt was stunned by. They all went rushing to the bathroom  to see what had happened. Bursting in, Jaskier was standing in the tub, suds sliding off his head and clutching a cloth to himself while Vesemir looked just as stunned, holding a basket of laundry.

“What happened?” Eskel asked.

“I was merely here to hang up some clean clothes,” Vesemir replied.

“There I was,” Jaskier’s voice was still breathy with fright, “taking a nice bath and washing. Only to turn around and he was there. I’m putting a bell on you!”

The air was sour with his calming fear and, oddly, it seemed to settle the witchers. No longer was Jaskier some ethereal being without a single thing in the world that could scare him. From then on, both Lambert and Eskel seemed to take great delight in sneaking up on Jaskier and trying to scare him. There was something so soothing about knowing Jaskier could still be frightened to the point of outraged screeching. Especially when he cottoned on to the game and, once he was over the initial panic, he chased after the culprit until he could jump on their backs, smacking them playfully over the head until Geralt prised him off.

Even Lambert seemed a little more comfortable now that he knew Jaskier wasn’t infallible. By the end of winter, he was unofficially crowned winner of scaring Jaskier the most. Not that it was ever a race between him and Eskel. They absolutely didn’t have a tally hidden in the library with bonus points awarded for exceptionally memorable screams.

[veebs-hates-video-games]

I don't know why, but I also grabbed Torchlight 2 while it was on sale, even though I already played part of it on my computer a while ago and quit like halfway through act 2 because I wasn't having fun.

I played the first game a while ago on my potato of a MacBook, and it was pretty decent but not amazing. The most impressive thing was how well it ran on such bad hardware, especially considering that Apple didn't (and still doesn't) give two shits about games. Ok that's not fair, they don't even give half a shit. Probably around that time someone I knew at school found a reproducible crash bug in Apple's OpenGL driver, like one that actually affected commercially released games on the platform. Not only did he file a bug report, he tracked down the patch that fixed it in Intel's open source Linux driver and included that too. They never fixed it in the next few years, and probably it was still broken by the time they dropped OpenGL entirely. I could go on for a while about how poorly they supported stuff like that or how many decisions they've made that hurt game devs, especially indie ones, but...

Anyway, TL1 was kinda fun, but also it was extremely easy with the class/skill I ended up using. Based on that I defaulted to the highest difficulty on the second game, and at some point I just gave up because it apparently doesn't change anything at all beyond making enemies have tons of health and do more damage, so it was taking forever to kill things without a super optimized build.

This time around I just left it on normal so I could do my usual thing of messing around with weird combinations of things because they're silly, and it's much better. I have two characters further than I ever got before, and they're both much more fun.

The story and writing are incredibly uninspiring, to the degree that it's one of those rare games where I'm barely paying attention to the dialogue and just skim it and skip past. I just completely do not care about anything at all that's going on.

The art style generally works well though. I prefer it to the grimdark stuff that plagues the ARPG genre because of the first two Diablo games (which I just can't get into at all). It's cartoony and colorful, with flashy effects all over when you use your fancy skills.

And it's just fairly satisfying, in a brainless sort of way, to run around murdering endless hordes of whatever it is I'm fighting.

I do still have some issues with it though. Let me respec everything whenever I want, and make it free or very cheap. Don't force me to commit to stuff when I can't tell if it's going to suck or not in such a long game. Magic find is still a terrible stat, and Diablo is terrible for inflicting it on the genre. Needing to identify items before using them adds zero interesting decision-making and is a relic of the past.

(The only game I can think of off the top of my head where unidentified items genuinely created interesting situations was Nethack, which I don't particularly like playing but which has really fascinating system interactions. It has tons of really powerful items you can stumble across early if you're lucky, but also some (literally) cursed ones that can ruin your day...and you're allowed to use unidentified items. In a game with permadeath that can get really interesting. If you're stuck and don't think you can make it past where you are you can just try your best and hope you can work something out, or you can try out one of those items you haven't been able to identify yet and hope putting on that ring or drinking that potion doesn't just straight up kill you...and that you can figure out what it does do in time to take advantage of it. See, that is interesting gameplay decisions resulting from a system like that. "Oops you ran out of identify scrolls and have to wait until you're back in town to see what this does and then wear or sell it" is just extra busywork and extremely uninteresting in comparison.)

Uh, anyway...Torchlight 2 is alright. I might even finish it this time if I haven't burned myself out on it playing so much the past few days while I've been feeling crummy and needed something relatively brainless to pass the time. And maybe some day I'll get around to talking about Grim Dawn, which I find aesthetically less appealing but which does nearly everything else so much better. I'm pretty sure I've spent more time theorycrafting for that game than I've spent playing most other games...

[orrianreaper]

Pleur recieves a box of 🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓. They can share them with friends if they want.

Ohh!! Thank you so much! Pleur's gunna go and share these with my other Commanders! :D

Ask game post is Here for those that would like it for themselves!

🍓 For Pleur's strawberry, I'll say that she's canonically a jeweler as a hobby. She doesn't often ever get the chance to actually practise, but she does really enjoy it and the time it takes. She may love the fight, but even she can appricate putting some time into a careful craft. Notable things she's made are a little dolyak clasp for Warmaster Forgal (which was returned to her from the clean-up of Claw Island), and personalised emblems for all members of Dragon's Watch, and another set for those in her personal guild, Reverie's Vengeance.

🍓 Vigandi's going take a strawberry, and for her I'll give the fun fact that she's a very talented Falconer! Vigandi was a hunter first and foremost before falling into all the Elder Dragon Stuff, and her falcon Ferrow was her hunting companion, but even before that she helped care take of the various hunting birds kept in an aviary in Cragstead. She adores birds, and was heart-broken to find the charred remains of Ferrow before being ambushed by Balthazar. After this, she tamed a vulture who is now her new constant companion, and a sight more terrifying to boot - but Cairn is a softie she swears.

🍓 Matthia Prismbellow will take another one, and for them I'll give you the fun fact that they have a really, really bad habit of just, constantly handing people potions they've made without and word. They hand them off and expect people to drink them immediately without question. And what's worse is that by this point, most people do. They all know they'll be stared down impassively until they do, and Matt's concotions are always a combination of powerful and very helpful. From the mundane 'the desert is too damn hot' to 'I have been poisoned in 8 different ways please help' Matt is useful but. Definitely tends to get miffed when people don't immediately neck the the strange glowing substances their handed without question.

🍓 Sorrix will have a strawberry too, and for the Dadmander himself I'll let you know he is Legally Speaking a literal Dad. After the event of Counciller Phlunt taking Taimi's work away under claim of her being a ward of her college, Sorrix approched Taimi with the idea of becoming her legal guardian, as then that thing would he under his responability, and he'd simply hand it right back to her. Taimi agreed - and after too many jokes about calling him dad it's stuck and oops. Sorrix is her dad now. They thought they were playing a joke on Phlunt, turns out the joke was on them.

🍓 Cryssi would take the last Strawberry, but given they can't actually eat food they'll pass it to the Demon instead! A very, very important thing to know about Archosias, lagrle yjust known as Demon, is that they barely speak. If they do, it's very short, very sweet, and borderline cryptic. They're not a talker. However, they do make plenty of noises, growls and low snarls. But they'd don't sound like a dog or a big cat oh no. Demon's various vocalisations sound a lot like the kind of thing you'd hear from a crocodile. Lots of hisses are a staple feature!