metalogs | Open | You think you're safe without a care...

((from here, in case you need to refresh the deal with the cats))

1. Diadem Hotel

[After Childe's heroic rescue, a trusty NPC takes Jaskier to the hotel and answers the hundred questions he has. It's a lot to take in, to say the least, but after the initial shock, Jaskier definitely gets excited about a whole new world and the incoming adventures. First, though, he needs to shower.

That... that is indoor plumbing. With hot water. And gosh, the scent of this not-oil-for-the-hair! Oh, he already doesn't want to leave.

Happy to have his lute and hat back somehow (magic, it's always magic), Jaskier takes them with him to have breakfast at the buffet. At least most of the food looks familiar, and what he can't recognize he still can take some sort of guess, so he puts a little bit of everything on the biggest plate he can find, takes two cups to fill with different kinds of tea, and finds himself a table where he can figure out the phone thingy while he eats.

His only technological knowledge is the little tips the NPC has given him, so at some point, he'll end up touching something by accident. Like right now, when suddenly Never gonna give you up begins playing at full volume - yep, accidentally rickrolling the entire room, a pity he doesn't understand the implications. Jaskier yelps and fumbles with his phone until he turns it off, then notices many people are frowning at him - perhaps even you, random stranger!]

My apologies, [He says with his most charming smile.] Funny little contraptions, aren't they?

[A few minutes later, he'll be making (kinda dirty) sounds while eating a chocolate croissant. He doesn't know what this brown stuff is but he absolutely loves it.]

2. Shopping Mall

[They told him these little plastic(??) rectangles equal coin. Jaskier isn't sure he understands how, but he isn't about to look at a gift Roach on the mouth. The bard will be wandering around, aah-ing and oooh-ing at everything, asking as many questions as he can before people get tired of him. Care to catch him? That said, most of his attention will be focused on two shops:

A. Clothing: he touches every fabric and celebrates the fact men have many more options here than at home. After taking a good look around, though, he still has one question.]

So many styles, how delightful! Pray tell, how I do know what counts as fashionable? [He thinks he's talking to the clerk behind him, but maybe it's actually your character! Suddenly, he pulls a face as he stares at a pair of crocs.] What the fuck are those? Please tell me I am not expected to wear them.

[B. Music: of course he finds the music shop! And the best part is, this is one of those places that has a piano outside for guests to have a little fun. Curious as hell, Jaskier presses each key to figure out the notes as he lowly sings a little tune.]

♫ Oh fishmonger, oh fishmonger, come quell your daughter's hunger~ ♫

[The innuendo he adds to that sentence implies is not actual hunger he's talking about. But before he realizes what's going on, his hands are moving and playing the melody on the piano as if this wasn't a completely new instrument for him. When Jaskier finally notices, he freezes with wide eyes, then yelps and steps back until he bumps into your character. Usually he'd apologize, but right now he's a little busy freaking out.]

I played that! How did I play that?! I don't know how to play that!

[Renown poet expressing himself perfectly, huh. See, part of Jaskier's new bardic powers include knowing how to play any instrument you give him. He just doesn't know that yet...]

3. Here kitty kitty

[You don't spend over twenty years traveling with a monster hunter without learning to climb a tree to stay away from said monsters. However, traveling with the mutated monster hunter that cats avoid means Jaskier isn't used to dealing with kitties. He climbs the tree and reaches the right branch, but he doesn't think of being sneaky in his approach, so of course the cat sees him, causing the chaos magic to kick in.

Now there's something a little bigger than a cat to worry about.

The mysterious beast on the ground begins hitting the tree as Jaskier screams and climbs to higher branches - yes, he's supposed to have magic now, but he's still figuring that out. And years of having run as his first instinct are hard to override.]

Fffffffffuck- Kikimora alert, kikimora alert! A little help over here, for fuck's sake!

Uh—

( this guy has been wearing the same hoodie for three days over. fuck if he knows fashion. )

I dunno. I mean, you look like you got your own thing going already. With... you know, style. Kind of a Renaissance Fair chic thing. You could just stick with that— ( wow, that is a STRONG reaction to footwear. )

Those? Those... Those are— They're Crocs. They're... squishy shoes. Good for nurses, 'cause they walk around all day.

[Jaskier turns around as soon as he hears the "uh" and has to bite his lower lip as he looks at Eddie from head to toe. A very handsome face, but while Jaskier still doesn't understand the fashion here, he's definitely getting "I only own two shirts and a pair of pants" vibes.

He tilts his head. What does half of that even mean.]

I'm afraid I don't truly understand what you said, but I recognize a compliment when I hear one. [Wink!] So thank you! I must say, however, "chick" is new - usually the bird of choice when it comes to commenting on my outfits is the peacock.

[That's the chick Eddie meant, right? Right. At the explanation behind "crocs", Jaskier nods along, wrinkling his nose but still not surprised.]

Ah, of course - practicality over style! [He suddenly exclaims with open hands, obviously not a fan of the concept.] But gods forbid you ask for both! Some things are the same no matter the sphere, I suppose. [He looks Eddie's clothes a look again, grinning.] Am I right to guess you're on the side of practicality?

Chick? No, chic. Like, shee-k. It's like... it's a fashion word. Like aesthetic? Your overall... outfit... energy. Not about birds, even though peacock feathers are pretty fashionable with old ladies.

( this is why eddie isn't a fashionista!! )

Yeah, no, Crocs definitely aren't stylish. ( see, eddie isn't entirely hopeless. he knows what good fashion is supposed to look like. ) But they're comfortable. You want a pair? Treat yourself.

( as if eddie couldn't read between the lines, venom is there to clarify loudly within his mind. He is dissing us, Eddie! He does not appreciate our style! and, yeah, bud, he picked up on that. RETALIATE! We should insult his mother! woah, there, buddy— )

I'm on the side of comfort.

And you're on the side of... excess?

Edited 2022-06-30 20:20 (UTC)

Oh! Colloquialism, I see. [He repeats "chic" under his breath a couple of times to correct the pronunciation.] What a cute little word.

[He just chuckles at the comment about old ladies - it's not wrong. Jaskier accepts being called peacock as a concept, and the birds are indeed beautiful, but there's no denying what kind of people like to put lots of feathers on their outfits (keyword being lots, the feather on his hat doesn't count!).]

I'm on the side of style and--

[He interrupts himself with a gasp when he finds the vests, and he hurries there as he continues talking, expecting Eddie to follow and still listen to him. He wastes no time in dropping his lute, hat, and jacket on a nearby chair, showing how frilly his sleeves are, before grabbing a bunch of vests and taking them with him in front of the huge mirror wall.]

wherewasi Oh yes, style and comfort! They should be an inseparable duo! [He explains as he puts different vests against his chest to check if they match his eyes and hair.] Alas, so many a tailor refuse to combine the two. As you've noticed- [The look he gives Eddie indicates that was sarcasm. Excess? He hasn't even glanced at Jaskier on an excess!] -at the end of the day, if a choice must be done, I'll favor style. Ah, but credit must be given when deserved! And these ladies- [He taps his feet to indicate his boots.] -have managed to drag me through various muddy roads and a whole treacherous mountain.

[Did his feet enjoy it? Absolutely not, these boots weren't made for walking. But they survived in their styliness, so points to them for doing so.]

[Still staying at the Diadem for now is a very tall man with long silver hair and a fondness for black coats, even in summer. Sephiroth primarily came here for the coffee, and he has a mug in one hand, a book tucked under the other, in search of a place to sit when the sudden loud music makes him wince.

He shoots a glare in the direction of the odd man who brought a lute to breakfast, but... he doesn't like these phones either.]

...you can lower the volume with the button on the side. So any future accidents will be quieter.

[Silver hair and black coats isn't an uncommon combination when it comes to old men, but this guy looks young, so he reminds Jaskier of Geralt. Especially when that glare is directed at him! But precisely because of this comparison to Geralt, the glare doesn't faze him. Sorry, Sephiroth.

He tries the volume button and nods when it works, clearly pleased to have learned something new.]

Thank you. They've told me I can put the music directly on my ears-- [Headphones. He means headphones.] --but I haven't gone shopping yet. I need to point out, however, that I don't think quieter is something achievable here. This is a rather noisy city, and this is coming from yours truly, who has wandered through the most crowded streets of Novigrad. Those-- [Ha makes a vague gesture in the air, trying to find the right word.] --smokey carts-- [Nailed it.] --truly know how to roar.

There is a certain ambient noise to cities, yes. You need not contribute to it.

[Sephiroth eyes him over. Apart from the accidental music, this stranger isn't all that irritating so far, and he's curious. Has he heard of Novigrad before? He doesn't think so.]

...where are you from, if you've not heard of cars? Or perhaps, when?

[Jaskier glares at him.] Music is not noise. Quite the opposite, in fact.

[Jaskier raises his eyebrows, definitely judging Sephirot for thinking cars should be something everyone knows. Gods forbid worlds get to be different! But then, he also asks when, and isn't that interesting?]

Quite a curious question - I hail from the Continent, and it's year 1264 since the last Conjunction of the Spheres.

[Because that's what he's going for, right? Tracking when other realms went through the same shit as this one?]

I enjoy music, but there is an appropriate volume.

[Music is not enjoyable when it's blaring at you unexpectedly on top of other loud noises.

Also he didn't mean it that way about the cars; he was honestly curious, since it seems rare, although it's easy to mistake his tone. And that is definitely not an answer he's heard before. He sets his coffee down on Jaskier's table, but doesn't sit yet.]

I'm afraid that's an event I've never heard of. I believe the year on this planet is 2022, but it isn't my world either.

[Blue eyes keep glancing between the coffee and Sephirot, but the man won't sit down. Is this a statement of some kind or just a man tired of holding a mug yet refusing to accept he's socializing? Why not both?]

The collision of different realms that fills the world with various beings from other spheres - that's what's happening here, is it not? Albeit the whole- [He vaguely waves his hand in the air.] -"gaining magical abilities out of it" is a rather new phenomenon. I'm still not quite sure what to make of it.

[So he's supposed to do magic now??? How? And should he? He can picture Yennefer being Extremely Worried about this turn of events.]

[This is a man who doesn't fully understand social situations. It seems odd to stand there holding a mug when there's a table right there, but he hasn't been invited to sit down. Also if he commits to sitting here, will he be abandoning the idea of reading his book?]

I suppose that's an apt description.

As for new abilities... this is a different planet, which may have different properties from the one you knew. It's not so surprising, especially given its propensity to connect to other worlds, that its magic might be easier to access, even for humans.

[It's curious to hear someone use the word planet outside a few nerds at Oxenfurt - this world keeps throwing surprise after surprise at him and Jaskier can't wait to discover them all. At this rate, his curiosity will never be sated.

Then Sephirot used the magic (ha) word and Jaskier tilts his head, ready to have a philosophical discussion over breakfast.]

So you do consider it all "magic", then? Those guild people had a few different words for these outstanding abilities, and I haven't figured out the difference among them.

[Sephiroth tilts his head, considering, and then gives it a shake.]

I don't know that all of it could be classified as magic, no. But I have hardly been here long enough to make a study of the people brought here, the abilities they brought with them, and those they've developed since arriving.

But you called it magic. There are different sources for that, and a wide variety of applications.

[...he'd love to discuss magic over breakfast.]

There are also different sources for music, but be strings or wind, we still call it all music.

[The only source of magic he knows is chaos, but it's not like he can trust sorcerers not to hide information, hoarders of the truth that they are. Jaskier looks at Sephirot with clear amusement, head still tilted.]

Are you planning to list all possible sources while standing up?

[Sephiroth will give him a Look for the question, but you know what, he will sit down. This is actually kind of two (2) topics he likes, which is extremely unusual for a conversation with a stranger.]

Not all sound is music, but it's difficult to define the distinction absolutely. I imagine the difference between magic and "powers" is similarly inexact.

Open | TDM prompts as canon intro

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