meddow

When it comes to Baldur's Gate 3, I try to have at least three playthroughs going at any given time. Specifically, I try to have one playthrough (or more) that's currently in each of the three acts of the game, so that I can switch to a different one if I need something new. Once my Act 1 playthrough reaches Act 2, I'll start a new one. (Or sometimes I'll start a new one before then. I don't always have just three playthroughs going at once. Three is the minimum number.)

On that note, Taviana is currently in Act 3 while Apophis is currently in Act 2. Which means I also have an Act 1 playthrough going right now as well.

Meet Lilith, my resist Dark Urge.



Minor spoilers for Act 1, but nothing for later ones.

( More under the cut. )

ACNH had a free update two weeks ago that added some new features to the game, and I've got to admit that I'm quite enjoying them. Considering it's an almost six-year-old game, I'm still a little surprised that they released such a big update after all this time, but I'm very much not complaining.

They've added a hotel which means you can have more visitors to your island every day, and they're all wandering around instead of staying in one spot like visitors who are at the campsite do. The only thing that I'm disappointed about is that there doesn't appear to be any way to get hotel visitors to move to your island like with campsite visitors, which made me very sad when Raymond showed up a few days ago. That said, I've discovered that former residents of your island remember you and talk about coming back to their old home for a visit, which is amazing. I'd forgotten that a few of them even used to live on my island until I saw them again.

I've currently put over 1000 hours into this game, which I quite honestly find hilarious. The four Dragon Age games beat that, as I've put around 1500 hours into them, but the four Mass Effect games are only around 980 hours and Baldur's Gate 3 is only around 820 hours. So far, at least. The way I'm going, it may be in the 900s at least before my birthday next month.

Considering this was my very first Animal Crossing game, I really can't believe that it's second only to Dragon Age when it comes to my hours played. I only bought it because one of the players in my Friday night D&D game made an impassioned argument to convince us all to get it so that we could play together during the early days of the pandemic. Yet here I am, almost six years later, still playing it regularly.

Ah. It's officially one month until my birthday, and I've gotten the first "here's a birthday coupon so spend money with us!" from a company whose emails I'm subscribed to. Let the inundation begin.

This one is at least useful, I'll give them that much. It's for Adagio, and I drink enough tea that I can definitely put a coupon to use.

Back before the holidays, I didn't stay up to watch the very last episode of Critical Role for 2025. Despite knowing damn well how hard it is for me to catch up if I don't watch the episode as it airs, I figured that I was going to have almost a month until the next episode and would be off work for a decent chunk of that time. It would be fine. I'd definitely find the time to watch one single episode before the next one aired.

... yeah, that didn't happen. 🙃

The show picked back up last week, and I couldn't watch live because I still hadn't watched the previous episode. And then last night I couldn't watch because I was two episodes behind by that point. So I now have three episodes to watch, which is a whopping 10 hours and 17 minutes (plus an additional 30 minutes from the Cooldown for the two episodes that have one).

This happens every time. I don't know why I'm remotely surprised. There's a reason that I intentionally fuck up my sleep schedule every Thursday, because I know myself well enough to know there's not a chance in hell that I'll actually watch the episode before the next one airs if I don't force myself to stay up and watch it live. And then I end up 2, or 3, or 5, or 7 episodes behind and have to work my butt off to catch up.

On that note, I'm going to do my best to set aside some time this weekend to watch at least two of the three episodes that I'm behind on (and maybe even part of the third if I can manage it). I'm pretty sure that I won't be going into the office next week, so hopefully I'll be able to watch the third episode here and there between phone calls at work if I'm working remotely all week like I expect.

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

I've been trying various new foods from Aldi (and experimenting with ways of cooking them in some cases), and I've found my new favorite comfort food for cold winter nights.

A bowl of their creamy curry bisque with toast made with bread, butter, and their shredded swiss & gruyère cheese is absolutely delicious. I've found it works really well for when I want something relatively quick and filling that's not too heavy.

I've also found a yummy way of using up russet potatoes that are starting to go a bit wrinkly or getting too many eyes on them, which I have happen way too often since it's just me eating them and even I struggle to make it through an entire small bag of potatoes before they start showing their age. I'll peel one and chop it up into something resembling cubes, toss it in a teaspoon or so of olive oil, and then add garlic power, onion powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. Then I dump it in my air fryer on 400°F for twenty minutes, shaking them halfway through.

The potatoes are great by themselves with some sour cream/ketchup/ranch/whatever you want to use, or they work as a side dish for breakfast or dinner either one. I especially enjoy them with an over easy egg and a slice or two of bacon (which I've also started making in the air fryer since my microwave here in the hotel is on the fritz again).