#Astarion is kinda of a whole can of worms

[knightcallie]

Baldur's Bounties: Nicknames

At any point in life, one was given a nickname. It may be a shortening of a name, or perhaps it described something. That something could be of anything: circumstances, personalities, a moment in time, the body, favorites... Weichei contemplated the ones he has accrued over his lifetime and ones for his companions.

Weichei has been compared to a star before. He was not like the sun, something gentler. But he was not like the moon, something not so melancholic. The bright freckles on his cheeks had earned him the nickname of Starcheeks by Einar Cadmus, the paladin who gave it all up for music. His penchant for cannons and explosions earned him the name Starburst by Relentless Makatza, the gunslinger grandpa. 

His partners don’t really use the star nicknames from their own language (stellino, sternchen), using his love of cherries and his family nickname. ‘Cheri’ was typically called sweetly, fondly; but he could remember the calls of exasperation and shrill shrieks. ‘Mauschen’, the little mouse of his family. He was so small compared to his absolute giants of his family, and his ever moving inquisitive ears.

But for some reason, ‘Starlight’ slips out of his lips terribly easy for the vampire spawn of the camp. Astarion, little star in elven. Star was an obvious nickname, but for some reason, Starlight, was the one that left his lips. Wyll can take calling Astarion ‘Star’ or ‘my star’.

He can remember when he first called Astarion that, it earned quite an inquisitive look. It was like seeing the stages of grief on that pale face, but not those exact emotions. Then, a bit of a forceful bark of a laugh. “That’s cute darling.”

Then he kept calling him that throughout the adventure, earning some teasing queries from the other companions. He honest to gods don’t know why it came to him so easily, but nicknames were just also a 2nd nature to him. Damon was Dage (his big brother), Dalmond, Macadamon. Lor was just lengthening it and making the names just as ridiculous. Asperitas was Peri, Pear. Volna was Voli, Vol, Spines. Beaulieu was Beau, Bear. Damiano was Dame (either sayings), ex-husband/exie/my mistake (an extremely funny explanation), dancer. Vierna was Vie, Vienna. Yasdia was Ya-ya, Yazzy. Temerity was Mer, always Mer.

His new companions also had nicknames, though some may be kept to himself. 

Lae’zel was Lae, Zel, Lae’bel. Though, he’s not sure she’d be too keen with the nickname Toad being said familiarly. Suddenly, his heart ached at the memory of sharing custody of a frog and toad with Voli. They named them Missile and Toad respectively, especially fitting when Vetleviola came along.

Shadowheart was Orchid, Doe, Heart. He does shorten it to Shart from time to time in his journal. He’s sure she’d be appalled and punch his arm for it.

Wyll… bill… Duck, he landed with duck, and it stuck. The warlock hearing his reasoning admitted it was silly, but then when he explained that it also meant “dear” or “darling”, he softened. 

Karlach was harder to pin, having drawled out Karl. Lackey could be seen crossed out heavily in his journals. Fireball could be used, or perhaps comet. He’s working on it, maybe Chath (drow elvish for fire) would work.

Gale took some doing. They have been calling each other bookie, for their love learning and infodumping when allowed. He could see the wizard be an Eres-blessed, majorly at that. He could’ve been Eres’ Passion, and perhaps that’s why he called him Iris.

Halsin was Hal or Bear. He did remind him of Beau, he has seen large elves before. He married Beau, and his Vaddy was built like a tank. Though in his sleepy state, he has called the wood elf Sisi.

Jaheira reminded him of a grandmother, Oma slipping easily from him. She could complain and argue she was not that old, but she holds Joma close. She was probably around his parent’s age, maybe a little older. He’s also called her Heira, she doesn’t make as much fuss.

He’s told the group the whole splattering of names he’s been given. Weichei had become Weich, Cher, Cheri, Cherry, Cherries, T’puuli, Cher bear, Little Whistle, Silver Silence, maus, mauschen, little maus, triel, little triel, starcheeks, starburst, son, Batty, pup, puppy, little bat. And more he couldn’t quite recall. He’s lived 250 years, made so many friends across the trade, taught so many. 

He wondered, if the others were jealous of the type of life he’s lead. Out of everyone, he didn’t have a terribly tragic past, an abuser in his life. He’s grown up poor and constantly moved in a trade considered dangerous, but those were circumstances. His deity was quite different from the others, well the pantheon overall from his home was vastly different. They actually listened, but some do have iffy times with responses. As Eres’ passion, he was granted the blessing to be able to talk with his goddex often. Though, because the pantheon was different here, he needed a magic source to even be strong enough to get a signal.

He’s been called “my passion, passion” before, but that’s because he was chosen to be that. But hearing it fall from Gale’s lips did leave a warmth in his chest, a twinkle in his eye. Wyll took the various forms of Cheri, the familiarity just felt comforting as he leaned into the man. Astarion kept using “darling”, but that was kinda for everyone. But, he has taken to calling him mouse, finding it quite amusing especially after learning why.

[thedomesticanthropologist]

As a person with sexual trauma I actually really Vibe with the Drow Scene at the Brothel with Astarion and I wanna talk about my own experience to show how I relate.

When I'm not the one initiating, all sexual or romantic or intimate contact gets immediately translated into assault by my brain. That means if my partner of 18 years gropes my boob in the morning with a tired, affectionate grab, I may get caught off guard and snap, accusing them of crossing boundaries or otherwise "over" reacting, wherein I have to back peddle as soon as I can back off and secure myself mentally and physically out of reach.

But. If I am in the mood, I will crawl all over my partner, I'll touch, I'll invite touch, everything from gentle to rough- unless I get triggered. If I get triggered, I'll shut down halfway through whatever is going on. Mentally, I'll find myself in an escapist fantasy that is also sexual, change the partner that I'm with or who I am in my head, but my body tends to go kind of numb, I tend to go kind of limp. However,

During these situations, it doesn't always mean I want my partner to stop. It's frustrating for me to have these reactions, but I can get really upset if my partner backs off when I want to see the act "through" even if I'm not "in it". And that becomes a discussion of consent, as well as a really complex mental gymnastics situation where my partner has to decide if they want to continue when I'm kinda checked out, and I have to decide if I want to continue too.

Sometimes if my partner decides to stop because I'm not having fun, I can get angry. At myself, at them. It's not rational, it's angry at "the situation" and not them. Maybe I want to see you finish, but maybe I'll cry afterward.

The point with the Drow and Astarion is he wanted to try,he promised he would dip out if he didn't want to see it through, and he dissociated midway and didn't dip out like he said he would. This is sooooo real. Sometimes I don't want to stop even when I feed Bad and it's going Bad. That's a WHOLE can of worms for sexual trauma survivors and I know some people will resonate with it.

Maybe it'll affect what choices he makes next time. Maybe he won't try an orgy again. Maybe he will, and maybe it'll go bad again, but maybe he wants to explore even when things go bad. Or maybe he will go celibate for two years and not even want your hand on his unclothed skin, but he still wants you to be with him.

I'm just saying it's messy. Sexual trauma is messy. The mental parts and the physical parts. It may make your partner unsure because you switch on a dime, you're unpredictable, some things you want wholeheartedly one moment set you off in the negative the next.

I'd love to see more exploration of how hard his journey with himself could be on Tav, honestly, because people are being SO CAREFUL in their writing with making sure they don't make a single "mistake" in supporting Astarion, and it's sooooo sweet but

Give me messy. Give me grey area. Give me hurt feelings and miscommunication and bad moods and meltdowns. It's realistic, and it's okay to write about these things. //Yes you can reblog this

[atsadi-shenanigans]

FSBE 14 - We're All Children of Jesus

You have a confession.

On AO3.

By the time you’re done talking (and plus a “magic” ring that seems to be a flaking “gold” ring, all copper underneath) and gone to join the others, Wyll done went and slammed back some kinda truth potion. Tea. Thing. Holds eye contact with this Jaheira lady the whole time he does it, too, while Shadowheart’s face goes flat in a distinctly disapproving way, and Astarion outright rolls his eyes.

But this Jaheira lady—Karlach says she’s a druid—seems to like that. Her thin eyebrow cocks in what you think might be amusement.

Then she starts talking and you’re real glad Wyll took one for the team here. He’s a good guy. Young, earnest, and ridiculously charming.

Cause the news she shares, it sucks real fucking hard.

The Absolute cult is here all right, holed up in a tower fortress, led by an invincible old man Jaheira says she shot through the eye. She don’t seem like she’s exaggerating, neither (and huh, she’s gotta be speaking Faerunian with an accent, because the dirt potion apparently decides in your brain that she’s, what, Hispanic?). Oh, and they have a fucking army. That they’re planning on marching to Baldur’s Gate.

Y’all been tromping around out here in the sticks. You still don’t got a good grasp on population density or how big these people consider a city to be. Ancient Rome held about a million people, you think. But all that’s peanuts compared to modern cities. You flew into Phoenix, Arizona one time on your way up north, and that fucker stretched from one horizon to the next, like a carpet of brown moss between the hills.

Jaheira seems a decent person. Worried about the people around her. And she don’t shoot none of y’all through the fucking eye, so that’s a bonus. Though she does threaten to knife y’all if it turns out you’re here for culty shenanigans. You can respect that.

She also mentions something about Mr. Invincible, General Thorm, and a former army of something called “dark justiciars.” Y’all ran into a dead one on the road, if you remember right, and your gaze slides over to Shadowheart. Who watches like somebody reading Moby Dick out loud in the world’s flattest monotone.

Except you been around her a while, now. Enough to pick up on the shift. A vibe. A cat that done spotted a hummingbird outside the window.

And it occurs to you that brainworms aside she…might be a threat.

You try not to blame a whole religion for what was done to you. And to others. And to your mother. Your father. Grandfather. Entire line of ancestors and all Natives and Black people and women and each fucking other—

You take a breath.

Some people of that persuasion use it for good. Build houses for poor people until they’re ninety-fucking-years old. But some people have and will use it for the most vile shit the human imagination ever fever-dreamed up. And if somebody is inclined to vileness, or induced to it, it’s the perfect set of both shield and blinders.

How much of Shadowheart wants them brainworms out, and how much of her might look at an invincible fanatic and decide her goals might be better met with him?

The cleric turns to you, as if she knows. You fumble for your brainworm, slap around to make sure your thoughts ain’t leaking, and you look back to Jaheira.

Right as the woman says, “The artifact protects you. You can gain passage as a True Soul. Find what makes him invincible and strip him of it. And once he has been made vulnerable, we can take them all down.”

It takes a second. Cause it unfolds in your head like a kaleidoscope of razor-sharp lines.

She needs spies. Saboteurs. A man (or several) on the inside. Of a brainworm cult. And y’all got them worms without being pushed into the dirt by a Big Bitch Voice.

It’s clear. Perfect. Almost makes your eyes water, it’s so fucking clean.

All as bile claws up your throat and your stomach gives a tight lurch.

“Any cure starts with understanding the disease,” Jaheira says. Which is true. “The magic protecting Thorm must be in Moonrise Tower.”

Infiltrate a psychic cult. Pass as one of them.

Astarion glances over and you can’t meet his gaze. Can feel the ghost of his frown, though.

She says stuff about a cleric of their own and protection from the darkness and blah blah blah. You can’t hear over the hornet’s nest buzzing between your ears.

Then she leaves y’all to it. Invites y’all to some rest and vittles. Stock up and take a breather. You got half a mind to snag yourself a wine bottle and guzzle down enough your head calms down. Then remember how that shit burns on the way back up and decide it ain’t worth the small window of happy oblivion.

They got two rooms upstairs. Y’all will probably split it boy-girl.

But first, y’all need to Plan.

“No magic can put this Form together after I’ve smashed open his skull,” Lae’zel says over the bar.

“Thorm,” Shadowheart corrects, without any blade to it at all. “And that sounds like exactly what he’ll do.”

Lae’zel lifts her chin. “Then I will do it again.”

“This sort of magic tends to be very powerful,” Gale says.

“I will split his skull as many times as is required.”

“Much as I do like a good head-cracking,” Karlach says, “I’m with Sparkles here.”

The wizard coughs into his goblet of wine. “Sparkles?”

You heard he got something like a cat but he insists ain’t a cat, and you also heard that people with a pet for a long time tend to start looking like it. You’re pretty sure whatever a tressym is, it’s a fucking cat, based on the face the man makes.

“Yeah! You got them…” Karlach holds out her hands and wiggles her fingers. Magical jazz hands.

Gale takes another drink, muttering into his cup. Something about “archmage.”

“Part of any successful hunt is knowing the terrain,” Wyll says. “It would be incredibly worthwhile to get in there.”

“The Blade of Frontiers wants to lie his way into a den of illithid-infected, mind-reading cultists?” Shadowheart says, slipping her chained ponytail off one shoulder. You wonder, idly, if it ever snags and tugs one hair on her scalp the way your braid used to do when you had long hair. Fuck long hair. “Have much experience with that, do you?”

“Cults, no. But I’ve been chained to a devil since I was seventeen.”

Karlach frowns. Mutters, “Fucking bitch.”

“That’s something entirely different,” Shadowheart says. “Who here even has experience with gods or their followers?”

The countertop looks like it was carved outta a solid piece of wood. The edges are all knobby. You trace your finger along the picked-at bark and imagine a squirrel once followed that same path up to a cache.

“If I may remind you, I was the chosen of Mystra herself,” Gale says.

“And you did such a fine job, she’s tasked you with blowing yourself up,” Shadowheart says.

Wyll opens his mouth, but it’s Astarion who says, “As if you wouldn’t leap at the chance to do the same should your lady order you.”

Man’s been quiet the whole time, content to sit beside you and clean his daggers. That he jumps in now, for Gale, slams the brakes on the entire conversation.

“And out of the entire pantheon,” he says, “I think perhaps only a few would be less likely to command some grand, sanctimonious suicide than that, Sharran.”

Shadowheart focuses on him, gaze sharp. “I take it you have some great insight into the gods, then, Astarion? Funny. I’ve never heard you praying.”

“Oh, I prayed to them all. Multiple times. Every one I could remember. None of them answered.”

You close your eyes. Bow your head. Ain’t sure if the others hear in his voice what you do. They wasn’t in his head (on accident) when fish people was peeling him open. Didn’t feel his horror. His pain. And even worse, the resignation to it. Part of him, a lot of him in the moment, just accepted that he deserved it.

You spent hours, days on your knees in prayer. Years in prayer. That you would be good. Be worthy. Be enough. And it never mattered. Not once. Always dirty. Always unclean and rotten, stupid and lazy. A willing whore, but for the benevolent vigilance of the congregation, fighting against your natural inclination as a bride of the devil. On account of being born in sin, and an Indian at that; everybody knows Indian girls can’t keep their legs closed.

The lord ain’t never answered you.

Sasha did. Her friends and her people did. Your family did, once they found you again. Even though none of them could fully understand it, they all tried. Not because some holy man ordered it. Not to avoid an eternity burning alive in a lake of fire. But because they thought it right.

You got out. You got away. You fucking ran.

You wonder if Astarion ever got that chance before.

Yet here you are again. Trapped between permanent squid-face, and infiltrating a psychic army of brainwormed believers.

“I,” you start. Feel attention shift to you and nearly dive off your barstool to sprint for the door. Them shadows seem real accepting. But you know Astarion is looking at you, even as numbness starts to creep up your fingers. “I grew up. In a religious cult.”

And fuck you. There it is. Went and spilled that one all over everybody like projectile vomit. Classy.

“I thought you said your world didn’t have gods?” Gale says. Bless his poor heart.

There’s that cold spot again. To your right, this time. Don’t gotta look up to know Shadowheart stares.

“We don’t,” you say. Fuck this world and everybody in it, they will pry that conviction outta your cold, dead hands. And since your soul is stuck in a jar, maybe not even then. “But that don’t mean we don’t got believers.”

Wyll catches your gaze. There’s knowing in his eyes. He’s piecing together what you told him after that fucking bitch Mizora showed up to jerk his chain.

“So three of us possibly able to infiltrate this fortress,” Gale says.

“Four,” Astarion says.

Gale’s mouth opens. Closes. Wyll glances between you two and frowns softly.

“I mean, he is a damned good liar,” Karlach says. “No offense, Fangs.”

“None taken, darling, though I wouldn’t exactly call it lying.”

“How long did you keep your undead nature from us?” Gale says.

“According to you, it was apparent from the start. And none of you asked. There is a difference between lying and saying nothing at all.”

Lae’zel spits out what’s gotta be a githyanki curse. The dirt potion don’t translate it. It’s gotta be tied to Faerun, somehow. The perception of the people from here. Maybe the people who brewed it? Isn’t it nice to think about something else?

And that leaves…

It’s almost amusement, what Shadowheart wears. If something that condescending could be called amusement. “How long were you with your own god or goddess?”

Fuck. You was getting along. She’s been looking out for you. Then y’all got here, and she got fucking mind-whammied by her faith, and it’s like being back to square one. She was all closed off and sniping. She sees you as a threat, don’t she? You seen this before. With the newer ones to the farmstead, sometimes. Fresh converts is always the worst. Don’t matter what kinda person she is. Don’t matter how nice she is to you at first. Her allegiance is to her goddess, and if she sees you as the enemy, if her god deems you that enemy, she’ll kill any decency she might have felt for you in the name of what she’s told.

“Long enough to make it out and stay out,” you say.

It ain’t quite cruelty sparkling in her eyes. Just smugness, you think. You hope.

“And you think that’s enough to get you inside? They can read minds.”

So could the Pastor, through the lord. Or that’s what y’all earnestly believed.

Yet, in hindsight, you didn’t lose your faith all in one swoop down in that root cellar, holding a piece of glass. You didn’t even fully lose it until years after.

No. It’d been in your head for months, since Mother started talking about finding you a husband. It’d been there for years, maybe. A niggling thought. Disgruntlement, sure. But in between raving about the lord returning in fire with the sword to cleanse the world of sin, the Pastor would tell bible stories. The virgin birth. The letters of Paul. Some of the gospel, in the early days, before that got eaten by hellfire. People was kind, in them stories. Kind to adulteresses and whores, who were the worst things a person could be.

But the farmstead had no kindness for you or the other girls it deemed filthy, which was all of you on rotation. Though it called what it did to y’all as a result a kindness. Pain now for salvation later.

No, you’d been doubting for some time before that night you ran through darkened fields towards the old pickup truck sitting quiet in the road. You’d spent years hiding it from even yourself. Months spent hiding it (you thought) from the lord who knew all, and the Pastor his chosen to whom he told all.

“I fooled my mother for years,” you say. “And she was second in command. I think I can handle a single day up in that tower.”

[renn-aissance]

Mom Plays BG3: Ep.6 - “It’s a Woof.”

It’s been a while! Work/School/Life… yeah.

Anyway! It’s a long one today, boys.

(So a little recap of what’s kinda going on with her character! She’s been going back and forth between the Goblin Camp and the Blighted Village. So, she went and talked to Priestess Gut, but when she tried to kill her in her office an entire fight broke out so she got overwhelmed and reloaded lol. So instead she explored more, killed Minthy, talked to Halsin, and used the Waypoint to get back to the village.)

Rundown:

Shart had mentioned Shar and my mom was like “I don’t have anything against Shar worshippers if that’s what you were afraid of.”

After that she asked me if Shar was evil.

Me: “Well… I mean I guess that kind of depends on how you see her? I guess? She’s like a goddess of pain and darkness.”

Mom: “Well that doesn’t sound good. Why does she follow her?”

Me: “You told her you were cool with it.”

Mom: “I was ignorant.”

I had been WAITING for her to go to the well and she finally clicked on it.

Sees she gets an advantage as a ranger on a nature check.

Mom: “I’m a ranger! I’ve got this! Oh god please let me got this…”

Me: *starts laughing when she chooses an intelligence check to investigate.*

Mom: “WHAT. My -1 intelligence!?”

Goes down the rope

PISSES ME OFF BECAUSE SHE TOTALLY ANNIHILATED ALL OF THE FUCKING SPIDERS WHEN IT TOOK ME SO MANY RELOADS THE FIRST TIME. AND NOT ONLY THAT- THE BIG ASS SPIDER DIDN’T EVEN HATCH THE BABY ONES!!

Then Lae’zel wants to talk 🙂

This is where I’m like “okay she’s gonna be like ‘what the hell kinda games are you playing.’”

Lae’zel: “I want to taste you.”

Mom: “Uh… okay.” (Clicks no thanks.)

Queen of gently letting someone down.

Whenever the characters climb onto crates she’s like “PARKOUR!”

Clicked on a body with money.

Mom: “Yayyy! I haven’t seen money in a while.”

Me: “Same.”

She went to the windmill, guys. I was so fucking excited.

Also she keeps using the brain worm even though she doesn’t trust it lol

Went to save Barcus and was looking around the windmill. I made her do a save real quick when I saw her heading to the levers.

LAUNCHES BARCUS INTO THE FUCKING SUN.

Mom: (First, horror. Then, losing her mind) “I guess I wound up teaching him how to fly better than that other guy.”

Mom: (reloads lol)

Goes back to the Goblin Camp and talks to those goblin kids. They tell her to kick the corpse and she cracks up that she has the option to. She kicks the corpse.

Talks to Crusher and tells him he should kiss her feet. She has ZERO charisma btw. And she needs to roll a 15.

Mom: (Weighing her options.)

Me: “You don’t have any rizz.”

Mom: “I know… I GOTTA DO IT!”

ROLLS A 16

Mom: “YEAAAH!”

Crusher kisses her feet.

Mom: “He didn’t even let me take off my shoes first.”

All of the goblins just like “ew Crusher licked toes!”

She explores some more and kind of makes a circle back to where she started.

Mom: “Oh yeah, I remember this. Yeah, they’re all really mean and they’re drunk.”

She ends up going back inside and killing Gut and those goblins. She picks up the tadpole and has that option to resist it and does resist it because she still doesn’t trust the Dream Visitor.

Astarion tells her that he would be more than happy to take it off her hands.

Mom: (turns to me, whispering like he can hear her) “You know I actually wouldn’t mind if he took it.”

IT HAPPENED. ASTARION TRIED TO BITE HER IN HER SLEEP.

Astarion: “Shit.”

Mom: *Laughing like crazy. Chooses the options that are like ‘why did you lie to me, I can’t believe it. Ultimately lets him drink from her. Stops him after the first round.*

Astarion: (FERAL) “That was amazing… [blah blah blah] I thought you might turn up with torches and pitchforks… though it looks like there might still be time.”

Shadowheart: “So he’s a vampire? I should have known judging from his pallor.”

Mom: “Did you not see his fangs this whole time?”

Goes to talk to Astarion after.

Mom: “Tell me about your history.”

Astarion: “Why do you insist on exhuming the past!?”

Mom: “Hey. Take it easy.”

After leaving camp, Shart has something to say.

Shart: “There’s… something that I would like to share with you…”

Mom: “What’s with all these secrets?!”

Shart: “I want to show you something.”

Mom: “I don’t like using the parasite.” (Still let’s Sharty bae into her brain.)

It’s the memory of Shart in the woods and she sees a wolf. We had just finished watching New Girl.

Mom:

Mom: “Her hair… was this her in her anime phase?”

She goes back to the Goblin Camp to take out Dror Ragzlin. She got a little stressed out during that fight lol.

Mom: (clicks on Gale’s quaterstaff) “Will this DO anything?? I don’t know, this guy’s pretty weak.”

Mom: “HOW DO YOU MISS! YOU’RE SO CLOSE!”

Me: “I mean… it tells you when you’re too close-“

Mom: “But why do I have a disadvantage? I CAN SEE HIM.”

(Enemy goes after Wyll)

Mom: “Get away from him!”

Me: “Yeah! Get away from her boyfriend!”

Mom: “YEAH!”

She beat all of them and then went to the prison to talk to Halsin. She passes by a rat.

Mom: “A rat! Astarion, your friend!”

Me: 😀

All in all was a pretty good chunk of playtime. For one of the play throughs we didn’t even set a timer and played til like midnight. She comes over and she’s like “are we gonna play tonight :D” and bought hot Cheetos because, and I quote, “we’re gamers.”

Oh, also she met Auntie Ethel, idr if I mentioned that before, but she hasn’t gone to save Mayrina yet. She started that quest but after Ethel went into her little cave my mom went straight back to the Goblin camp. Her reaction to Ethel’s real form was “ew.”

[limpfisted]

being wyll ravengqrd is suffering bc he is DANGEROUSLY bisexual but also SO romantic and SO repressed at the same time

he wants his monster/monster hunter romance with the cute vampie elf man. probs had his awakening to monster erotica. and he immediately checks astarion off as a handsome vampire. he literally says “hes mire bite than bark” the very fiest time u see him, if wyll is recruited first. (and he will not stop flirting in a “im a monster hunter, im lawful good, u wanna roleplay sexual tension” way. even tho he never lays a hand on astarion, ever.) and astarion is so pretty he wont stop fuckinnnn talking about it

he wants his romance with the githyanki warrior. he loves the stars and dragons as much as she does, hes dreamed of what was out there his whole life. he makes comments on this when he interacrs with the telescope. literally since he was a little boy. and he genuinely finds her so so beautiful and FUNNY.

he probably flirts with halsin, probably, who is only into polyamarous open sex.

he flirts with shadowheart, who he GENUINELY LIKES AND GETS ALONG WITH? and does not jusge for he religion. hr just tells her matter of factly what he believes instead. and does also not jusge her or comdeacend to her when she silently kinda goes “damn thats right.” theres never an i told you so.

then theres karlach. who he calls a “beautiful, impossible woman.” a whole can of worms

gale. who wyll likes so much hes like “haha dont kys ur soooo funny and cool and powerful” and who he tries to give titles to,

but all these people. these hot hot hot people. want vastly different sexual and romantic experinces at least in his own eyes, than he is willing to give!

he is so attracted to each and every one of them, and yet, he wants a real romance, and he must stay true to himself!!! if u play his origin, that locks u out of every single romance being “canon”!!! just bc he doesnt want to have sex!!!

hes so horny. and so attractive. but his heart is the horniest of all. and if he cant take your heart…. he cant take ur body…..

rip laezel, my queen

[meanbossart]

I've been really enjoying your fic and it got me curious about how your campaign went??? I got the important parts (your Durge denied Bhaal, Shadowheart spared nightsong I think, Astarion obviously didn't ascend) but what else happened? Will we ever see any of the other companions?

Thanks for enjoying the story! I can say with pretty much certainty we won't be seeing any other canonical characters from the game, Jaheira, Minsc and Halsin would have stayed behind in Baldur's Gate, as well as Wyll. My Durge killed Lae'zel early in the game and Karlach also died at the end of my campaign.

Gale's character decided to go after the crown, and while he was the staple fourth member of my party the relationship had always been uh... Tense. This was before they apparently patched out how needy he was, but frankly it made for a really interesting story since i just kind of assumed his character was kind of a creep wearing a nice-guy's face. Also, to be fair, I DID fall for his "wanna see a magic trick" line but that just kindled the fire to my theory that he's actually a fairly manipulative person (and perhaps he's unaware of it). MIND YOU PLEASE that this doesn't mean i don't like his character - honestly i feel like I got a REALLY interesting side of him in my campaign and i wouldnt have it any other way - this was a party composed of the dark urge, Astarion, Shadowheart and GALE and to have us all turn down power and glory only for the goody-two-shoes wizard of the camp to turn kinda evil and power-hungry made for a really satisfying narrative.

... Sorry i ended up rambling about Gale LOL to actually answer the rest of your question, my campaign went like this:

I made a Fighter, champion sub-class, BIG hulking drow because i thought it would be funny. Because i went in blind I started off as a confused homicidal murderer who is a liiiittle weirded out about his urges but he doesnt stress TOO much about it. Is fairly standoffish and distrusting toward all of his companions which made for a weird start. Motivated by gold, killing things, getting this worm out his head and making off-color jokes. Ends up siding with the Tieflings because i also decided that, as a very hedonistic character who thinks we should be lunatics because we want to rather than because a cult is telling us to be, my durge would profoundly hate the absolute. As a male drow he also really hated Minthara so yeah, easy choice there. As mentioned above, I also killed Lae'zel when she tried to murder-suicide everybody.

I wasn't going to fuck anyone, believe it or not, so during the tiefling party i went with Gale because it SEEMED like he just wanted to show me something neat (it ended early because i failed his checks and i guess he can't get hard unless i can cast fireball). Also, at this point even though i made mostly "good" moral choices i *was* still a dick the whole time - despite this, everyone in camp wanted to fuck me BESIDES Astarion, which was so fucking funny and devastating that I decided my Durge would, from that moment on, turn on the charm and the flattery and make it his mission to bang him. So yes, they were manipulating each other. I don't have to explain why that made for a really really fun little dynamic. Also Astarion had to tell me he was a vampire through dialogue instead of biting me and i got to say "yeah duh" which was hysterical.

I finally banged him sometime during the underdark (didn't go to the creche at all) and during Act 2 I followed the same pattern of doing mostly the Good Thing while being arrogant the whole time, I fell into a kind of chaotic-neutral/true-neutral aligment and watched my little homicidal maniac cluelessly stumble his way into a hero's journey. I had also really grown to like Shadowheart at that point after having a really negative first impression of her character and she basically became my durge's best friend. Astarion also grew on me for all the reasons we know and love and he did his confession to me sometime in late act 2. I Never met Araj (though i think i mention her in the fan story only because her interaction is interesting) so I got the dialogue that isn't prompted by her encounter. I also had to "break up" with Gale at this point which boy that sure came as a surprise to me! I also didnt break the shadow curse.

Because I didnt kill isobel (Again, my guy didnt like people telling him what to do or not to do), my little butler guy made me wanna kill Astarion. I SWEAR this happened pretty late in game, maybe even in the first night in baldur's gate which i realize is unusual. Naturally I didnt and I decided that would be the turning point where my Durge decides to not just Go With The Flow of things but actively fight his urge and pursue its root cause. He tried to be more of a good person from that point on which was kind of a clumsy effort lol

He completely antagonized the emperor immediately upon him revealing his true identity, stole the orphic hammer from Raphael's house, betrayed Gortash after setting an "alliance" with him, killed Orin (she kidnapped the orphan and killed her in front of me because i failed the check :| ) stopped Astarion from ascending and helped Shadowheart kill everyone in the house of grief, i let her make her own choice regarding her parents and she decided to kill them. I also encouraged her to not immediately align with the Selunites just because of her past.

I got Astarion the thing that helps him read the necromancy book and i cannot tell you how satifyins it was that, after giving up unspeakable power by killing Cazador, that dude and his little ghoul army basically mauled Orin and her grandad for me practically by themselves while I was down on the floor with 1 health. PROUD OF YOU BUDDY.

Gale spoke to Mystra as well at some point and i swear I NEVER encouraged that guy to take the crown for himself. It was always either "do whatever you want" or "i think thats a shitty idea." At this point my Durge was super sick of him so they had a bit of a crappy relationship which may have something to do with how things turned out.

I betrayed the emperor, released Orpheus and when he asked if any of us wanted to be a mindflayer i went "Fuck No" big time and luckily the guy just did it for me. Chaos ensues, I kill the emperor and the absolute in an epic battle that took me like a whole day. I also killed Orpheus when he asked me to. Karlach died ( :c ) and Gale told me he was gonna fuck off to get the crown. In the final Astarion dialogue I told him we would find a way to get him to walk under the sun again.... AAAAAnd thats it i think? Man this game is huge lmao i swear i wasnt trying to be long-winded.

[blackjackkent]

Everyone has Comments(tm) about Rakha having slurped the tadpole.

Rakha's whole current party (Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Wyll) are NOT happy about it:

"It was bad enough having just one of those tadpoles forced upon us. I can scarcely believe you actually inflicted another on yourself..."

"Kaincha! No good will come of devouring a ghaik worm, no matter what you might think."

"Gone gods - watching you consume that tadpole was more disgusting than the tadpole itself."

Rakha feels a little like she's in that meme of the people yelling at the cat at the dinner table.

(This really is kind of stressful for her because Lae'zel and Wyll are the people whose opinion she trust most generally, and she's going against them because of the Dream Guardian. It's also kind of funny bc I am starting to suspect Lae'zel and Wyll might have a smidge of unspoken competition going on, since Lae'zel seems to have caught some kinda feelings for Rakha and Wyll seems to be starting to connect with her too. But they are most DEFINITELY allied in thinking she's being a dumbass right now. :P )

Gale and Astarion are a little more chill about the whole thing:

"Well, no tentacles yet. I suppose we can consider that a success."

"Come on then, don't leave me in suspense. How are you feeling? No errant tentacles? No sudden cravings for a more cerebral diet?"

"No signs of ceremorphosis taking effect, if that's your concern."

"I was rather more curious to know what benefits the tadpole might have bestowed, but no doubt the benefits of your change in diet will become apparent soon enough."

But of course the most interesting was Karlach's, which also blindsided me with feels:

"You really did it, huh? Not worried about adding more illithid into the mix? Well, what can I say. You look fine. Smell fine. Seem fine. If you got a little boost from the tadpole, who am I to begrudge you."

(Me, watching this: Aw, Karlach is such a sweetheart and I love her so mu-- wait. Why does she look so sad?)

"In fact... got any going spare?"

"If I did, would you accept it?"

"You know, I think I would. Bit surprising, but I'm starting to see the silver lining of this whole parasite situation."

She sounds SO sad saying this, you guys. :( I'm fucked up realizing she's thinking about this all the way back here at the beginning. Fuck.

Rakha gave her a worm. (In dialogue, at least; I didn't actually have one left to give her.)

"Thanks, soldier. I'll use it well. Promise."

😭Weh.

[firekitten830]

thinking about gio .... tell us more about him he's literally silly + i like him so much

YOUVE ACTUVATED . MY AUTISM

Makes a bulleted list

-full name Giovanni Morningstar, both of them chosen rather than given. Ooc I chose Giovanni because he is actually vaguely based on my pc from a different ttrpg, and that characters middle name is Giovanni. And Morningstar is a reference to The Devil. like from the bible dksgsjhd

-his divine blood specifically comes from Sharess, goddess of hedonism and indulgence that vanished when dnd 5e came out during the second sundering . So it is no surprise he is motivated almost entirely by hedonism

-he does not know this.

-he’s definitely not her only descendant but he’s her only descendant that inherited any of her magic

-he was not always a tiefling

-he didn’t always have access to his divine magic

-the previous two points were sparked by the same event

-he was born in waterdeep! Not baldurian but gets around enough to know some things

-wanted magic desperately but had absolutely 0 talent for it before his divine magic awakened so he learned the next best thing: stealing shit. Man has been conning and pickpocketing and just generally getting up to thievery and tomfoolery since he was like. 8 (charlatan background)

-folk hero background could fit him pretty well too! Before he got Tadpoled he sorta wandered from place to place helping common folks and robbing rich people blind. Sort of a Robin Hood type guy but he did also keep a good bit of money lol

-he’s a trans man :] no surgeries and he doesn’t want them, though he does take wizard testosterone or whatever it would be in dnd. Probably a potion or something

-queer and poly!! I imagine he has a couple lovers across the sword coast, some he’s going steady with and others he’s sort of off and on with. He’s so lucky he lives in a world where teleportation exists and is not that hard all things considered im so jealous fr (I’ve also decided that his dream guardian looks suspiciously like one of his boyfriends). Worm nerfing his magic has unfortunately made keeping in touch a bit harder but he’s been managing

-his blood is a pretty potent magical power source and several people have tried to abduct him to use him as a conduit for spells or rituals because of this. I imagine after That Scene™️ with Astarion he was like “oh shit I should’ve warned him about that. Oh well he seems fine” . In the moment he was too focused on there being a hot vampire straddling him

-his tattoos are tied to his magic and glow when he casts spells. You can tell which way he’s about to fucking get you because he’s conveniently color-coded

-may or may not be on the brink of turning into a mind flayer but I’m sure that’s like. Fine.

WAIT I just remember I made a dnd character sheet for him before I ever got bg3 and I wrote a whole background thing as well as a value/ flaw for him . I’ll put those under a read more tho this is already kinda long

this part is written ooc!!

“Sharp, charismatic, and hedonistic to a fault. He has a silver tongue and a knack for deception, able to lie his way into and out of nearly any situation. He’s been driven out of many towns for his infernal heritage, alongside the myriad cons and schemes he often pulls on the wealthy, though he’s welcomed into just as many as a minor celebrity, and in some cases, a hero. This suits him just fine, though; he’s always been one to dance from place to place anyway. He enjoys finery of all kinds, and is happy to trade fine food, drink, clothing and accessories for coin… though he much prefers to offer favors as payment. He does have many talents after all; a quick-fingered thief, an excellent negotiator, a ruthless conman, a somewhat formidable sorcerer, a gifted storyteller, and if it suits your fancy, an escort (though he does charge extra for events)… as well as some other things, of course~”

“It is fairly difficult to draw his ire;he’s more than willing to forgive and forget most wrongs against him. But it would be wise not to test his limits too much; his normally capricious manner becomes cold and relentless when he feels punishment is owed. People who hurt those he cares about often walk away with gruesome scars… if they walk away at all.”

And then I have a ummm ideals and flaw section written in character cause these are on his character sheet

Ideals: “The safety and happiness of those close to me matters far more than any laws, or the ‘greater good’”

Flaws: “I’ve been called self-serving on many occasions, and I’m always weak to a bit of liquor and a pretty face”

I am sure I will think of more things to say about him I inevitably always do but I’m a little sleepy so I’m ending this post now!!

[lanaevyssmoved]

helloooo Afhiri sounds SO lovely. can you tell me more about how they feel at the start of act 1 about her predicament with the tadpoles, her companions, etc etc if you want!!

it might be cruel to say that they're pretty damn simple . actually no its not ive decided theyre pretty damn simple. literally wakes up and has a panic attack because where is flute?? where flute?? WHERE. FLU TE? flute was no where to be seen (depression). a very sad clown exploring this ship literally with minimum interest because flute :( flute :( this is a child who has lost their autistic hyperfixation toy.

lae'zel is hot. the sword scene is hot. hiri has immediate gay panic and forgets flute for 2 whole seconds. asks lae'zel if seen flute. lae'zel doesn't even know what a flute is.. smh. sticks around because was told to. does whats told (for now........ ominous.) so to start lae'zel is literally party lead this clown is NOT a protagonist (for now...... no im not making that joke twice)

SHADOWHEART IS HOT... absolutely ignores lae'zel to free shadowheart. literally dumbass tries to pull the door off. lae'zel ends up being the one like "maybe u should look around if u INSIST on saving this HALF ELF." frees shadowheart :) oh my god you have an autistic hyperfixation too?? your rock is so cool!!!!!!!

the flute is not rescued. please F's in chat for the lost flute of afhiri's childhood. her father made her that flute and it's DEAD. AND THERE WASN'T EVEN TIME FOR A FUNERAL.

the first thing they do after hoarding all of the fish on the beach like a little goblin creature is find gale's portal. shiny. Oh My God is that an arm without a body? that is Soooo cool...... high fives. they free him of course!!! used bard Magicks to calm that shit down and free the silly man. she finds him SOOO silly. he is such a silly little guy. his lil expressions and hand movements are SO funny. she wants to get acting classes from him so she can be just as funny and then she'll rank up in Clown. she's sure of it. (he is a clown to her. a truly excellent clown. there's real talent..........)

after that she gets knife throat by astarion :( not very nice of you :( i would have given you money if u wanted :( oh not a robbery? OH WE'RE WORM BUDDIES? friendship acquired :) they genuinely don't have any more thoughts rly at the start because he is mean and she doesn't understand its mean and looks at him stupidly like a dog who cannot understand the new word u just said. tilts head :)

their friendship stat is SO high all of a sudden. this clown has had NO friends their entire damn life (weirdo coded) and suddenly they've got SOOO many best friends oh my god they're so excited for the campfire stories hehee :)

next is oh my godd its the hot. gi..gi... Girlfriend? :) no its gith u stupid clown. get pied. ANYWAY tells the tieflings some absolute BULLSHITERY. this clown is So good at lying (this is a positive. their moral code is kinda messy.) and frees lae'zel :) shadowheart doesn't trust lae'zel but how can you Not when she's Also Green? I'm Green? You're Green? Da Ba Dee

after that its oh my god is that A GOBLIN? never seen a goblin before. finds them extremely cute. they're also kind of green (positive). and A WARG? can i PET IT? No? It'll eat me? bite off my hand? chew up my suit? this is supreme sadness. wait- flute still gone. that's supreme sadness. ALSO WYLL IS FUN!!!! wyll gives her fairytale hero prince vibes and is absolutely fascinated and thinks as a bard should sing of his tale because hes so cool (please don't trust them. they will make him sound like a fool.)

hearing about the spooky scary teeth-ling from wyll is super!! exciting!!!! a devil?? fought in devil war?? fire?? death?? epic story . we must find out more (not to kill. to talk to. must have some REALLY COOL STORIES!!!) very easy to convince wyll not to kil- OH MY GOD HOT?? HOT? ?? literally hot. this is the most Supreme Gay Panic. afhiri never thought about girls (or boys) like this before. none of the Lads give the Panik.. but these girls are a little too much (fainting vibes) also karlach is so fun :) daydreams about karlach throwing her like a javelin into battle

the tadpole though :/ they don't know!! everyone keeps saying. bad! evil! bad! removal! death! kill! and they're like :/ idk guys.. worms are kinda cute. u ever seen a worm do a lil wiggle on some mud? its so cool.. i wish i was a worm..... everyone is concerned. do not trust them with decisions (they trust them with decisions. they are All stupid.) they name the worm. the worm is named little buddy. it's not creative. it's not a name. but this is Little Buddy and she talks to her little buddy sometimes. she even wrote it a song. (she doesn't consume more little buddies. that's weird.. this is HER little buddy and those are OTHER little buddies. there's only one little buddy for her....)

extra: GUARDIAN. oooohhhhh my god .. never seen someone soooooo CLOWN. (this is false. guardian looks nothing like a clown. theyre projecting HARD. guardian plays along because this is clearly going to work better than being Hot and Mysterious). trust them explicitly (reminder: not smart), treats like another Best Friend like the squad. gets sad they don't ever join them in camp for her performances. does private performances sometimes :)

DOUBLE EXTRA: the possession.. of Flute 2.

a daring tale of (gale takes some of the squads money and buys them a flute. cannot bare to see the sad puppy dog eyes any longer.) AN INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE OF PERIL AND DANGER... THERE WAS GNOLLS AND GOBLINS AND MAYBE A BEHOLDER!!!!! gale.. an incredibly brave adventurer.. this is going in his next song

[awellboiledicicle]

I just realized several backgrounds apply for Hunter Hawke, as I've named him.

Soldier, bc Ostegar.

Criminal, bc smuggler.

Folk Hero, bc Kirkwall in general.

I'm probably going soldier bc if the worm resets him to level 1 all his body has left is his military training and not his assassin skills.

That said his newly shit strength stat means hauling loot is going to be hell. Just. What do you mean I cant carry 49 shields, 12 swords, assorted bones, and every book I see? What bullshit.

Tho I do keep imagining him insisting he can do something bc he was in the army, but only in situations where it doesn't translate as well.

Also imagine him clocking how nervous Astarion actually is pretty early. Bc he's confident. Isabella was confident. But hes seen Isabella scared and charismatic scared is easier to note when you've seen it before. Asks what's wrong and gets brushed off. Concerned.

Wyll is the wildcard tho bc generally folk heros are... well, Hawke. Hawke is the folk hero and Hawke knows what hes like. Wyll genuinely being a good guy is kinda weird.

Anders relates to Wyll via seeing the Warden Commander in him a bit. Isnt happy about the whole deal with a devil thing but it isnt far from the pact of the Joining he supposes.

Not pictured, Hawke looking around camp once everyones together like "Everyone here has issues and no one likes each other. Just like home."

[collegeoflore]

6 + 7 for Xarrai and Ieriyn from the ask meme you reblogged?

hiii anon thank you 💖

6. How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

xarrai:

idk man astarion works pretty fucking hard to do this and it does not work LOL the thing about xarrai is that they barely have a moral compass at all and so what little they DO have they are incredibly dedicated to. like the only real moral they have to speak of is Tyranny Is Bad - though like, there's wiggle room there (in their opinion). at what point does something become tyranny? how much power is too much? i feel like they're constantly living in that grey area honestly so it may not be as hard to get them to do something against their morals if you kind of treated it like the frog in the boiling water analogy. like what astarion did (offered to share the power of the vampire ascendant with them) would not work because they can go "hm no that sounds like tyranny. hard pass." (tho he was also lying and they knew that) but if someone were to, say, encourage them to take power slowly and carefully by winning people over one by one and systematically ruining their lives to keep them in line, you may be able to get them a few ruined politicians deep before they were like "hey wait a minute...."

i rly need to expand on the weird mind games they've been playing with the elites of the upper city for the last 15 years to make this answer make any amount of sense tbh but that is its own can of worms. essentially for them the line between tyranny and simple control/influence is very thin and always moving and they are always always always right up against it out of some sort of baked in compulsion to seek safety in power whether they use that power or not.

ieriyn:

ieriyn has already crossed that line. killing people at all period was against his moral compass. BUT that wasn't him being convinced so much as him seeing the reality of the situation this whole tadpole business has put him in which i think is kinda different. and see the thing about ieriyn is he's not stupid but he is trusting and the right person probably could convince him of a lot. i'm cooking up some sort of plot wrt to his lifelong mentor manipulating him into. something (undecided what yet) that's going to play into the personal quest i'm giving him (bc i'm unwell and need all my tavs to have their own special personal quests) but that's like the exact thing i'm talking about - ieriyn trusts easy and he trusts deeply and while he does have a strong moral compass he also has a deep need to please the people he cares for that makes critical thinking harder for him sometimes.

7. What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

xarrai:

well when i made xarrai they were just some dude. they were just a stoner bard who moonlighted as an expensive fssw and that was... it. lol. they didn't give a shit about much of anything (still kind of true, though they have Some Things They Give A Shit About now) and absolutely didn't want to be any sort of leader. and now they're. well. an ex-banite cultist with a shitload of childhood trauma and an abstract sense of self trying to navigate cycles of abuse and trauma AND a stoner bard who moonlights as an expensive fssw.

ieriyn:

i initially planned to multiclass him into a warlock with the idea that he made this pact Very Recently to try to wrest power/inheritance money away from his older siblings but that seemed 1. too power hungry and i already have xarrai and their weird relationship to power and 2. too cool. ieriyn needed to be a little cringe. he needed to be a boyfailure. he was also originally meant to be part of a co-op campaign with my partner for their spawn astarion romance run (they r doing an ascended run rn) but i just didn't think his arc would work as well if he had to share responsibility like that because, again, i wanted him to be kind of a failure esp early game and the tav ramza has planned for their astarion romance is actually competent and i didn't want to bog him down with my sweet sweet fail son.

[fenharel-archived]

5, 28, 36, and 47 for Isabel please? 🥹

no worries, autocorrect is my biggest enemy tbh 😅 anyway THANK YOU for asking about her omg 💜

5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults?

ysi has two older sisters (yris, yvory) and one younger brother (ysamel - my very first d&d character who I love very much 😘). i would say you could call their relationship with each other complicated. there is no real love between any of them, but there is loyalty, even if it’s rooted by their responsibility for their house (house do’rahel is one of the 8 powerful houses in menzoberranzan). yris as her oldest sister was more of a second mother and mentor figure to her. yvory has been in just as many fights with her as she was for her. her relationship with ysmael is the most complicated. as a child, in a weird way, he kinda looked up to her. but he’s an incredibly jealous man, and his hatred for her grew when she took the role of house wizard even though it was meant to be his.

28. What is their biggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared?

she grew up in a society that taught her that fear is weakness, and even after everything she learned and went through, she still likes to pretend she is never afraid. which of course is a lie. still, it caused her to have an incredibly good poker face. she has learned to stand her ground and act intimidating and charming in front of a foe instead of showing fear. people who are around her 24/7 might notice a fake smile or laughter that doesn’t sound quite right however. in private, in her tent or far away where nobody can see her. she paces, breaks things. now with a worm in her mind she sometimes even cries. she’s terribly afraid of love. (or used to be, her journey through bg3 and her relationship with astarion helps her overcome some things<3) she was in love once and the outcome of that failed relationship completely broke her apart (literally). it takes her a while to realize that she isn't truly afraid of love, but that she's afraid of the pain that can come with it. not being in control is also something that scares her, just as much as failure and weakness. back in the underdark it would make you vulnerable causing you to probably get killed, but her worm related problem doesn’t help either. it takes her the journey through bg3 again to realize that she never really was in control of most things in her life, and that she is a coward. that it was easier to ignore and pretend, to continue playing her part, instead of facing the reality that she had forsaken lolth and (most of) her ideals a long time ago, and that she never had the courage to leave her house and possibly make herself a target. i think that realization also caused her to be afraid of lolth and her mother, too.

36. What are they good at? What hobbies do they like? Can they sing?

typical for a wizard she’s super intelligent, likes to read, learn and picks up new things like it’s nothing! she also has a love for science and experiments and later in life gained a reputation for being somewhat “insane” (even by drow standards). she can sing and also dance! she also has a taste for fashion and spending her house's money, always making sure she’s wearing the latest fit. she enjoys visiting fighting rings and pleasure houses. there was a time she also enjoyed public executions and watching an enemy's house fall from grace. she’s incredibly charismatic and can get almost anyone to talk. some hobbies she’s more private about. she paints, collects fungi and has somewhat of a philosophical streak, which if it where known most would call heresy. she also loves her pets very much, and likes having people around her more than she wants to admit.

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event?

ah she loves it. she loves dressing up for the occasion, (though she’s always dressed up), she loves the food and the music, she loves to judge other people’s choice of outfit or company. she loves the ~dance~ and the ~game~ in those events. chit chat bores her but she’s good at it, and she absolutely loves getting on other peoples nerves. getting them into discussions and riling them up lmao. it’s a power play, i think. but it’s also a useful skill her mother often took advantage of when she saw opportunities for their house. and i would imagine that most nobles were warned at some point that she would try something like this on them lmao. 

super detailed questions about your oc

[seeminglyseph]

I beat Nere fucking twice but the first time I realized I forgot to barter a deal for the dueger the team up with me, and I lost out on a bunch of stuff, and then at the last fucking second I fell in the fucking lava and it was *just* Cin, and he would not be revived and would not get out fast enough to not die and so I could not revive them and I just got trapped like. No main character.

And like. I guess Withers will only revive people for your main character not your party members??? Bitch. Absolute asshole behaviour. Or I came at it all wrong. No idea. Either way I had finally cleared the stupid thing despite accidentally aggroing the whole room a couple times by detonating the wall too soon and suddenly everyone is like “hey! Stop blowing up the wall and being an enemy! Time to attack!” I which is a pain in the ass like fucking back up I said I was detonating the thing. Your fucking fault. Gods almighty.

Is very fun playing a Lolth Drow and interacting with other Lolth Drow and they’re still your enemies and the dialogue that best covers it is like “try to take it as a compliment.”

I think I absolutely adore that kind of fictional shithead. “Honestly, you’d be insulted if I didn’t try.” Is some of my favourite sort of “I come from a backstabbing society of sociopaths and assholes” it’s part of the appeal of playing Lolth Drow. Just being like “yeah, I am Drow, I have absolutely no allegiance to the other Drow, I expect absolutely no allegiance from them. We are are all doing the crab in the bucket thing to such a high degree that the closest thing to seeming like we’re on the same side is that if something else falls in the bucket we all team up to tear it apart. That’s why everyone thinks we’re on a team, if they get trapped in the bucket with us we will fuck them up together but it’s because we’re so desperately out for ourselves that outside competition has even less right to survive than inside competition.”

This is not a commentary on real life I just think they’re delightful as characters. They can be evil angst and murder factories. The way Astarion got abruptly kidnapped out of his absurd murder den is how I’m imagining Cin. It’s like “one second I was part of this stupid ‘Menzoberranzan’s Next Top Model Assassin’ and now I have to figure out how to make friends and influence people while trying not to feel like the sky is going to eat me. And I have literal brain worms. What the fuck. Absolutely bullshit.”

And like. No I’m not aiming for the “evil” playthrough. Just the like… asshole playthrough. I don’t know how much the game is programmed to have a difference but the point is like. Doing morally ambiguous things to effect a positive result. Team up with the Ogres… and lead them into an unbalanced fight so I still get that circlet, and also eventually destroy the goblin camp and help the Tieflings. Lie cheat and steal so I have enough power to eventually blast my way through things, make allies with questionable people and let some people get killed if in the game it seems reasonable for my character to be apathetic. (Sorry those two brothers who are hassling Auntie Ethel, you were doomed by the narrative anyway, one day I might rescue your sister, depending on my level)

I like the way BG3 is approaching morally grey options because a lot of games are just like “these are the bad options and these are the good options” from what I’ve played in my limited experience, so far playing this it’s been a lot of fun to just be like “this is the shithead option” where the shithead option still lets me gain approval and advance things and be like. An overall good force in the world while being kinda a shit. They’ve realized that a lot of folks who play DnD really wanna backtalk people. I know for a fact I was bad for it at the table and I’m eternally grateful I managed to get laughs instead of pissing people off.

[neutralevilslayerofevil]

Verdance my necromancer

Not neccessary to read this... but if you want context for my Tav posts you can

There's some spoilers. Its also long

Personality: Neutral evil b/c she's a power hungry necromancer; but hates oppression/inequality so she's basically good aligned even if her execution is lacking.

Rejects the tadpoles, malevolent entities (hags, devils, etc). Wants her power to come from her own efforts and doesn't trust them at all. Disdainful of "higher powers"/authority figures

Style/Gear: Dual daggers, lots of poison. Summoning and necromancy are her breaad and butter, those she's great with evocation too. Fully read the necromancy of thay.

Her hair starts of a vibrant green, but the more forbidden knowledge power she unlocks the more it turns the color of dead and dry foliage. Has heterochromia due to how she originally learned necromancy. Starts with a normal brown eye and the one with a black sclera and a sort of brightish green iris. After completing the necromancy of thay the iris turned orangeish.

Her tattoos/curse markings shift as well.

Origin:

When she was younger, her village was destroyed. She was trapped under a tower with only a magic book. Taught herself magic... didn't know what she was doing but figured it out. Unfortunately by the time she freed herself everyone was already dead and she managed to create some necromancy spells. But all she made was some very weak zombies. Eventually some late Fists found her and took her to Baldur's Gate where she grew up as an orphan refugee. She kept teaching herself magic and eventually got really good at it.

Before the abduction:

strongish necromancer with a small army of beasts, elementals, zombies etc getting ready to march on Baldur's Gate when they all got jacked by the illithid. Got nerfed by the tadpole.

She probably would of got her ass kicked and sent to a supermax prison or something; but her primary goal was getting ingredients for a lich potion. Becoming a lich is basically her goal for act 1, until Wyll worms his way into her heart

Interaction with other characters:

Wyll: Her beloved. Thinks of him as her lighthouse and herself as the gull sheltered by his light. Wants to protect him and frees him from his 360 deal with mizora. Loves how pure hearted and heroic he is and tries to make herself as vulnerable. Basically the do it for her meme.

She has an idealized view of parents and can't understand why Ulder would cast out his son. (Resents Ulder on Wylls behalf. <Would her parents resent who she's become as well>)

Laezel: Her bestie. Give each other the go ahead to do evil aligned shit. Will help her free Orpheus and her people. Have nicknames for each other.

Karlach: Doesn't care for Karlach. Sends her out to tank hits and then gets annoyed when Karlach is injured. When she found out about the infernal engine thought it would have been better to have just died to Wyll but kept quiet.

Astarion: Mostly ignores him. Kept him alive with the hopes of getting his sires blood since she still wanted to be a lich when they met. Did not force him to give the blood mage his blood. Now doesn't really know what to do with him, but he's on thin ice. Especially since he keeps wanting to make deals with devils and eat tadpoles. Left the brain jars at camp, so he could eat them if he wanted, but laughed in his face when he asked for the necromancy of thay. Since they don't talk will end up destroying Cazador and his chance at ascension unknowingly.

Gale: Initially disdainful for his love of the weave and Mystra, but fully supports him once he gets the whole crown of Karsus idea in his head. They did the tower puzzle to find their gated knowledge together and now he's her wizard bestie. Wants to learn his weave. Kinda jealous, but figures the realms got enough supreme necromancers

Halsin: Doesn't really understand him. Her perception of druids was tainted by her initial interactions with Kahga and the rest, but gained a lot of respect when he went into the shadowfell alone. Was annoyed when Orin kidnapped him, and wonders if the confession the night before was actually orin.

Shadowheart: was annoyed by her dramatic secrecy. if she'd kept her secrets in silence probably would have been more ambivalent. Unfortunately she fell on Verdance's dagger during her try to kill Laezel event. Thought the Shar thing was weird but wasn't really judging. Though secretly was glad she didn't get trapped with a shar book or something worse.

Jaheira: Likes the old lady. Will help her free her friend. Wonders if her harpers could have saved her village

Minthara: Died during the goblin incident.

Barcus: She will protect and keep him alive.

The tieflings: Saved each and every single one of them. Wants to see them all happy. Killed Lorrakan on sight. Mainly for Rolan (also for aylin). Hopes Zevlor can forgive himself one day. Loves the kids, knows Mol doesn't know better but for some reason wants to discipline her anyway. Was glad when Arabella got powers. Confused when she didn't want her to leave on her own, when *she* turned out just fine on her own.

[transkingcobra]

Also just. Every one of the origins is a follower.

Lae’zel knows what’s going on with illithid bullshit - but she’s no leader of her people, she’s fighting to be seen amongst her people by her queen. She’s also in a very different place with very different people - while she mentions subordinates so she may have some experience with leading, she is still very young so that experience will be short, these are not fellow gith she has to deal with, and the violent ways she leans with her preferences are a very different set of skills for searching for a crèche in this unknown area.

Shadowheart may be in the grooming process to become a leader, but she doesn’t know that, and she’s nowhere near being allowed a position remotely close to a leader - Viconia never believes her good enough, and constantly puts her down. She’s not allowed to lead. And generally speaking, you have a gith with you. The gith won’t trust someone who just took issue with her race, and Shadowheart won’t trust a gith, so that defaults to Tav/Durge.

And so by this point typically you already have a set leader, even really before Shadowheart, but of course you don’t have to have any of these people when meeting a companion for the first time.

Gale does not seem the kinda guy used to group cooperation. When you’re the poster boy for gifted kids, your focus is on what you yourself can do, how good you are at it, in this case how good is he with magic. That isn’t much of a group effort, that seems simply a case of studying and practice, at most with a teacher to guide and peers to bounce off of, but not to a collective goal. Even outside of a classroom, Mystra was his teacher then imbalanced lover - he was never in the leading position. He’s book smart, he can cast spells, he can be the devil’s advocate yet try to steer your opinions towards good, but he’s no leader. And then he just spent a year in isolation speaking to no one but Tara. His social skills in general are gonna be shaky.

Astarion hasn’t been able to lead his own life let alone anyone else’s for two centuries. He doesn’t know what to do, even without the “I’m not a details person” mindset. Also: he’s an escaped pet. He needs protection. He doesn’t much care about anything but surviving and being free at the end of all of this. And the easiest way to have protection here is to let someone take the lead and want to protect you, not demand it from them. So his goal is to get the important people on his side - the leader will unify the group to his goal, or (iirc) going for the strongest (touchable) member, Lae’zel, should the leader not play along.

Wyll is quite honestly my personal favorite for choosing a leader among the origins. But he’s still not used to leading people. He’s second youngest and been alone for seven years - before that he was also no leader, he was still a teen. He knows how to fight, but it seems he’s been on his own this whole time for it. When you recruit him it’s pretty much either “I’m gonna do my own thing with this devil but if we find a cure for this worm that’s cool too” or “oh shit I’ve been lied to I guess I’ll hang with you because you’re right and I need help if I’m to figure out this worm.” So he either doesn’t care about the tadpole but will accept the help, or he’s now feeling lost after the deception and still needs help with the tadpole.

Karlach is another one who hasn’t had autonomy for years, she couldn’t lead her own life. She took orders to fight in the blood war and before that took orders from Gortash, a man she looked up to, to protect him. She’s a soldier and a damned good one but she’s not the type to call the shots because she isn’t a planner - she can even get herself arrested trying to get to Gortash on her own. She’s the type to run headfirst into a fight with little thought - which is fine when you’re being told “go here and fight,” but is not sustainable to do all the time as your only plan, especially for how big and complex the journey in the game becomes.

And then you have the other companions - Halsin, Minthara, Jaheira, and Minsc. Mostly these guys are going to follow your lead because you’re already the leader.

Halsin is done being a leader and never wanted to lead anybody to begin with. And at first he’s not even there to help you with the tadpoles, he’s helping around in camp to travel with you since you have the same destination - so it’s safer for him to get there. If you help him lift the curse, he stays and helps in return. You are already the leader and again he’s done leading, but also you are the one to make the plans to help him while also hunting down your own cure. And if he’s coming with you to act 3 - your plans work.

Minthara I honestly am not sure I can speak much to her character but - your plan saved her. Her plan got her tortured and tadpoled. It is the pretty logical solution to let your rescuer lead in such a situation. You are her only safety, and if I remember correctly she doesn’t even think the others care for her at all - they just follow your lead.

Jaheira is honestly to me a weird one to have tag along but I can see the why. She is also a leader, but for her she can lead her people from a distance. The Harpers she’s leading are following orders and snooping around and they don’t need her personally there all the time even if they are constantly acting as one group - which I feel like they don’t for such a secretive thing, groups get noticed. Her Harpers are pretty much assumed to be a well-oiled machine - I don’t expect her to bring people she doesn’t trust into the shadow cursed lands, nor do I expect her to send people after Minsc that she can’t trust do the job without her either. So for her with the tadpoled group, it’s already got a leader, but it is also not entirely her fight to lead. You are leading the fight against the Absolute because you have the one thing that keeps the Absolute at bay, and she’s offering to join that fight directly. Not as an ally to the cause to work separately, but a direct member of the party working towards the defeat of the brain. She is a hero, after all.

Minsc is, well, Minsc. He follows Boo. He follows Jaheira. And he’s only alive because you lead the party to save him. Jaheira puts her trust in you and is following your lead, so Minsc is of course going to do the same.

People wonder how Tav became a leader so easily and let me tell you: after being in several projects, majority of people really do appoint leadership to the very first person who glances at the wheel of the ship. Most people want to be given a task and do the task. Anyway I'm just like Tav for real irl please demote me I beg I do not want to make decisions

[offbrandhand]

19 & 42 for pc ask game!!!

19. What is your PC’s Pokémon Gym Leader type and signature Pokémon.

I’m gonna be honest I didn’t read all the prompts so this threw me off AND it’s 6 am as I’m typing this so forgive me for any whackyness

My initial reaction was dark or ghost type but based on the way I’ve built Cetus and dove into the illithid powers quite a bit I think psychic type would probably be more fitting. As for the signature Pokémon? Espeon was my first pick if I went with psychic bc I go feral over the eeveelutions but unown would also be very neat and fitting.

If I went with dark or ghost I’d probably do zoroark or cofagrigus (or hisuian zoroark) in case you were curious.

42. PCs favorite NPC and why.

If you’ve looked at my blog at all astarion would probably everyone’s first guess and it’s definitely true. I’ve built them a little mental bond in my head that is wayyy more in depth than in game lmao. I very much enjoy astarion as a character myself and by extension that’s my PCs general favorite as well as her romance. However I think Cetus has also made a good connection with karlach as another tiefling as Cetus has spent majority of her life kinda secluded from others in general and vicariously tieflings as a whole especially since her parents her not tieflings (but that’s a whole other can of worms)