#I get that he doesn’t like Minthara and I respect that

[the-pale-3lf]

so is my game bugged or did Larian really think the best solution to the issue of Halsin and Minthara sharing the same tent space was to just… kick Halsin out of a tent entirely and have him stand in a random place at each camp??

edit: it is apparently a bug (thank you all for the clarification!)

[arctophyllax]

*clears throat* why I think Larian should let us recruit Zevlor:

More people are desperate for Zevlor than I thought at first. We all want to see him happy. We all want him to get all that he deserves and more. He just has SO much potential, he’s such a well written character just for his story to get cut off so suddenly? Thinking about how badly his story was neglected by Larian after they made us so attached breaks my heart. Of all side characters we met along the acts he is undeniably one of the most important and memorable ones; we fought for him, we saved him, we helped him, hells we even get the option to reject his payment for us for helping him and his people.

We practically got nothing out of helping him, especially the ones who reject his payments and i find myself rejecting the payment every single playthrough because i can’t find it in my heart to take something away from people who have nothing left already. If you betray the tieflings you get Minthara- and yes that may cost you certain companions too, but wouldn’t it be fair to be able to have Zevlor at camp if we save his people? At least after we save him in act 2? That way it would still be optional but god I need him so badly, I need to see him happy, I need Larian to let me look after him and take care of him and make sure that he doesn’t drown in sorrow and I know everyone who reads this feels exactly the same.

He went through so much, and every time his hope returned it got shattered to bits again. And it just feels like we’re forced to “give up” on him after we let him wander away in act 2. It doesn’t feel right. It will never feel right. We saw how miserable he was in that pod, how distressed and in pain he was. Common sense would have told us to take him with us. Make sure he fucking survives the night without doing anything stupid. Clean him off the blood and clean him off his worries, all that self hatred.

God, do I so hate to see him in such distress. And while a tiny part of me believes that death might have actually been a small mercy for him I was and will never be ready to give up on him.

Every time I see him on that damned screen, every time he speaks and every time I witness him interact with someone I DON’T see an oathbreaker who failed his people and had to be saved from being consumed by the Absolute. All I see is a competent leader who carries a burden not meant to be carried by one person alone.

This has nothing to do with him being weak. This has nothing to to with him being incompetent or not careful enough. This has nothing to do with any lost faith or broken oath. This has to do with the fact that he is so selfless that he wouldn’t allow himself to share this burden with anyone.

Yes he has (had?) his fellow tieflings, he has Tilses right beside him all of the time. But did he ever open up to her? Does he ever accept any help from his own people while he knows that they are already suffering? Would he EVER allow ANY of these people to carry even a SLIVER of his burden?

No. He would not. He would NEVER let them bear any of those duties, he has seen them in way too much pain already, seen them suffer far too often.

He is the type who gives and gives and gives and he never takes. He doesn’t know how to take, take anything positive.

His past, his comrades, his Hellriders- yes he had them. They gave him as much as he gave them. But they got torn away from him, cruelly and mercilessly.

His people, the refugees, family- he had them. And they gave him the respect and admiration he deserved. But they got torn away from him. Cruelly. Mercilessly.

His saviour, us, Tav- he had us. But we left him. Because we had no choice. We watched him walk of as though it was nothing. Cruelly. Because we could do nothing else.

And yes, I will always see red at that. Because we SHOULD be able to do better. We shouldn’t be just another loss for him.

And I will personally fistfight Larian if it meant hope for just a single chance at giving Zevlor what he never allowed himself to have: stability, encouragement. Someone he can rely on and share his burden with. A rest. Peace.

(Larian do you hear me I am under your bed we are going to fight)

(Scratch would like him to stay at camp, too)

(And what Scratch wants, Scratch gets. Right?)

(No because when you talk to Scratch the second time at camp during the tiefling party he actually says that he wouldn’t mind if you kept the tieflings at camp… trust me, Scratch, i wouldn’t mind either)

…I’d honestly die for him who’s with me

[tavs-tressym]

Delicious Denial - Chapter One

(AO3 Link) | Master List | Ko-Fi

Rating: Explicit, 18+

Pairing: Astarion x Fem!Tav (You). F/M.

Word Count: 2100 (approx)

Tags: Fluff, eventual smut, Tav w/tragic backstory, graphic violence, domestic fluff, camp life, Tav has no magic/fighting ability, slow burn romance, sexual tension (A LOT).

WARNING: Contains graphic descriptions of violence and gore.

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A reimagining of the game's events if Tav had zero magical or fighting ability. But she's still pretty fucked up. 👍

(Lots of comforting camp life content.)

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Chapter One - Intoxicating

“Fucking-... Piece of-... Ugh!” Your fingers burn from the friction of wrestling with your chain. You let out a guttural growl as you fall back, flat on your arse in defeat. Yep, you’re definitely stuck. The cuff makes your ankle itch and the chain doesn’t seem to have weakened. Panting, you search your cell for some form of escape to no avail. Just in the cold cobbles beneath you and the bars that cast lengthy shadows on your bruised body. Your clothes are tattered and ripped, if you can even call them clothes anymore. They leave your injuries from your perilous journey here on full display. The last thing you remember was falling, then… Floating? Then black. Now, there’s goblins everywhere and your head hurts… A lot… It really, really hurts actually…

The room begins to spin as you focus on the sensation, then you remember the creature that lives behind your eye. You shiver at the thought as the room pulses around you. It’s searching for… something? It searches for… it’s own kind. You sense it’s kin nearing your cell. The creature writhes in your skull, burning your eyes from the inside. You cry in pain, holding your head to prevent it from coming apart. “This, is the human?” A raspy, deep, feminine voice commands. You squint, attempting to pierce your vision through a wall of warped pulsations. “Y-yes ma’am. We found her by the crash site.” Another voice responds, full of gravel and apprehension. Whoever he’s speaking to, he’s afraid of her.

“Hmm… Interesting.” Your creatures connect and you feel an overwhelming urge to open your mind to the intrusion.

You see her silhouette: Thin, tall and armoured. Then, her wisteria skin and light blonde hair comes into focus. “Welcome home, True Soul.” You do not see her mouth move, nor hear the words through your ears. Instead, her voice echoes in your mind. She pokes and prods at your thoughts, prying open your defences and harvesting your memories. She smiles and pulls out of your mind abruptly once satisfied. You gasp for air as the pain finally subsides and you crumble to the floor. “It will get easier.”

“Wh-what is this? I don’t-” You speak through tears.

“Shh. It will become clear soon enough. The Absolute has plans for you. For us all.” Her words almost sounded like comfort, but there’s something wrong. When she dug into your mind, it left hers open to you. She wants something.

She scans your deteriorating rags, then glares at the goblin by her side who shivers under her gaze. “Do you have no sense?! No respect?! Find some clothes for her. Now!”

“Y-yes Minthara! Sorry! Er-” He dashes away and returns moments later, bundle in hand, he slides it through the bars, shaking.

“Thank you…” You reach for it hesitantly.

“Once she is dressed, you will bring her to me.” She walks away.

“Y-yes Minthara.” The goblin responds. He flicks his eyes back at you and gestures for you to hurry up. You nod and dress yourself, trying to conceal as much of your body as you can from the worried eyes of the goblin.

You smooth down a dress made of various pelts over your wide curves. It wasn’t well made and it certainly could have been more modest, but it fit well enough and you were grateful for the change. The gate opens and the goblin hastily releases your ankle from the chain and pushes you forward. “Move.” You obey and walk in front of him, arms behind your back as he directs you through the camp by your wrists. As you move through what seems to be a lively party, all eyes are on you. Some goblins jeer and make obscene gestures, others inspect your body from afar as they glug their ale. Choosing not to let this phase you, you dare to ask your guard a question: “What are you celebrating?”

“Raid. Good one.” Despite his bluntness and reluctance to reveal information, you hear the smile on his face in his words.

Eventually you make it to the inside of a large, run down, temple-like building. It seems the party stopped here. The grand architecture allows for various phrases, commands and even cries of agony to echo and bounce off the walls. Minthara is observing a map as you approach her. She looks up at you, briefly. “Better. Leave us.” You can’t help but admire her authority as the goblins scatter at her command. She looks back down and traces her fingers along painted roads. Curiously, you look over to find that the map contains no location that you recognise other than Baldur’s Gate. “Is this where we are?” You ask hoping that maybe you aren’t as far from home as you once thought.

“Yes. But I’m hunting for something that isn’t on this map, or any for that matter.” She doesn’t look at you as she speaks.

“That doesn’t sound easy.” You try to sympathise. Powerful allies are always useful, especially in situations such as this.

“No. Especially when all you have are dimwitted pawns at your disposal.” She spits disgust through her words, you nod and move closer to get a better look at the map. “In usual circumstances, I wouldn’t care, but I plan to make great use of you, True Soul. Your name, what is it?”

“Tav. And you are Minthara?” She nods. “You call me True Soul, what does that mean?” She grins with excitement as she gets to be the one to explain The Absolute, the tadpoles and your potential. She does so with a fierce determination in her eyes and a proud loyalty in her voice that speaks to the darker cravings of your mind. You consider that maybe this creature in your head isn’t so bad, after all. “And your hunt? Is it to serve The Absolute?”

“Correct.” She pauses to consider whether or not to reveal her intentions. “There’s a weapon. Powerful and well sought after. I am sure that it is being protected by a grove of druids somewhere in this area.” She circles a section of the map for you. “No matter how many patrols we have sent, they return with little information. Pathetic creatures.” She grumbles under her breath. Her eyes light up, she looks at you and grins.

“We have a prisoner. Though, I believe our… ‘interrogators’ lack a certain finesse. His lips remain tightly bound. I’m sure The Absolute would have a fine reward for the one who loosens them.” Her eyebrow raises as she eagerly awaits your response. Torture isn’t your usual expertise, but you can see in her eyes the excitement and even arousal at the thought of you shedding such blood for The Absolute’s cause. You deduce that her disappointment in you would have far greater consequences than the pain of a stranger.

“I understand.” Your eyes are wide as you accept this unsightly task. You stretch a smirk over your teeth in an attempt to match her enthusiasm.

“Excellent. Follow the screams, oh, and do not come back empty handed.”

You do as she commands, following the pleads for mercy until you find two goblins and a human tied to a torture device. You try to put on your most authoritative voice as you speak. “I have orders from Minthara. I’ll take over from here.” The goblins grumble, displeased with the arrangement as they open a space for you, directly in front of the stranger. You move into position and look up at him. His eyes are dry yet his cheeks are stained with tears, his cracked lips part as he whimpers softly. You approach, he scans you, unsure of your next move. And honestly, you’re unsure too. You’ve never been in a position to hurt someone, before now there was no opportunity for you to take. In fact, you have grown accustomed to the opposite, but this is different. This is… Powerful. Powerful in a way that makes your stomach churn and your heart flutter. A questionable, undefinable mix of want and need. You graze your finger over your canvas as he squirms. His fear is intoxicating.

Hot pokers sit in a brazier, you take one and hold it in front of his face, just close enough to singe hairs. “Where is the grove?” You ask him calmly, allowing the poker to emphasise the question for itself.

“F-fuck… Y-you…” His response doesn’t anger you, it frightens you. Your eyes widen as you build the courage to transform your threat into action. Your breathing becomes deeper as you try to submerge your hesitation. You muster as much command in your voice as you can, trying to hide your pleading. You do not want to hurt this man, no matter how intriguing this sensation is. “Where is the grove?”

He lets out a desperate whimper before feebly grasping onto his loyalty. “I s-said… F-fuck you.” The emanating heat travels from his cheek, down his neck, down his chest, stopping at his stomach. He gasps and desperately tries to wriggle away to no avail. You look into his eyes, searching for the key to end his torture, you find none. He screams in devastating agony, the smell of his burning flesh causes the goblins around you to salivate. You look down to find your own hand gripping the poker. Although you had prepared and felt it’s movement, somehow the choice your arm made surprised you. “Okay! Okay! Please! Stop!” You hold on a moment longer, examining the strange appendage before you as it shamelessly displays it’s power over it’s victim.

You pull away suddenly, your mind inhabiting your arm once again. The man splutters and cries, riding out the unrelenting wave of soreness. Regaining composure, you look back into his eyes. You yearned for the ability to communicate that he was not the only victim in the room, that you don’t want him to feel such pain. Then again, you suppose that would offer him little comfort. “Where is the grove?” The tears in his eyes obscure his vision until you are nothing but a blur.

“P-please…” By now he knows his pleas are useless but he continues anyway, using them as a mantra to calm himself through the pain. “No more… I beg of you…”

“Where is the grove?”

“No… I can’t be responsible for their deaths… I can’t…” In all the chaos, you hadn’t even considered the possible slaughter that Minthara had planned for the grove. If these druids are guarding this ‘weapon’, it is doubtful that they will hand it over without a fight. You can only hope that their forces are stronger than hers, for there is nothing you can do now, you need this information to protect yourself.

You spot a rusted dagger on the floor and swap it with the poker. The man flinches at the possibilities you now hold in your hand. You place the tip on the left side of his stomach, below the steaming burn. “Where is the grove?”

“No, I-” His defiance is interrupted by a shriek as the dull blade buries itself into his skin. You push. “Stop! Stop!” You look at his pained face, he looks at you, you need not repeat the question. You begin to drag the blade to the right, rust snagging on flesh, his blood leaks in irregular spasms, it is and isn’t pretty. He cries and looks at you in terror as he realises that you have no intention of stopping and his innards will soon be spilled onto the floor. He submits. He submits to you.

“P-please! I’ll tell you! Everything! Please!” You step back, removing the dagger from his body and releasing it from your grasp. Once he regains somewhat control of his breathing, he speaks again. “E-East… P-past the ruins and… The bridge. They c-covered the gate with ivy…” His head lolls in defeat and exhaustion.

You look around to find goblins staring at you in awe. Before any could compliment you on your twisted success, you nod and leave to report back to Minthara. She leans back and hungrily gazes at you as she processes the information: satisfied, impressed, fascinated. Before you know it, you’re travelling by her side, her army marching closely behind. She steals glances at you, noticing your beads of nervous sweat. You’ve never been close to a battle like this, and you’re really, really bad at hiding it. She doesn’t comment, just smirks and continues her pursuit. Together you head to the grove, to the weapon, to the East. Once again, you hope that they can handle what’s coming.

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Next Chapter

[ithinkdogshouldvote2]

THE DNDADS TEENS PLAY BG3!!! HOW THEY’RE PLAYING AND WHO THEYRE ROMANCING!

‼️‼️Pretty major spoilers for big parts of Baldurs gate. PLEASE read with caution. ‼️‼️

Scary: she plays a drow wild magic sorcerer. If this is before she and Willy broke their patron pact, then her dream visitor is Willy. If its after that, then its some really hot emo person. In terms of romance, Scary is likely drawn to Astarion after the vampire reveal but is torn between him and Shadowheart. (Also Wyll because hes actually GENUINELY nice to her but sincerity scares her so she doesn’t try to pursue anything with him even though she does actually really like him) she tries to romance the dream visitor (if it's NOT Willy obviously) but is pretty disgusted by the later reveal and later kills them. Scary plays evil until she gets to the nightfall and shadowheart doesnt kill the night song. After that, scary makes an effort for the rest of the game to be better.

Lincoln: Linc is just a normal human guy oath of devotion paladin. He’s literally just playing himself. He makes his dream visitor his dad which makes later scenes REALLY uncomfortable and he gets real-world mad at Marco like it’s somehow his fault. Linc helped minthara take over the grove because he got to the goblin camp before meeting the tieflings and he supports women. (#ally)(also she reminded him of scary and her character) but he massacred an entire people and then didn’t know why everyone was so upset at the party. Anyways he ended up romancing her. He DID NOT romance the dream visitor for obvious reasons. Linc does a FULLY evil run because he listens to women (ally) also hes: "too far in now to be saved anyways."

Normal: norm is a half elf, elf, gnome, dwarf, halfling, dragonborn and gith. He keeps restarting the game when he makes a choice he feels guilty about (Often). it REALLY bothers him that he cant make ALL of his companions approve of ALL of his choices at the same time. Eventually, he settles on a halfling college of valour bard. His dream visitor is (unfortunately) hermie. For romances, like Scary, hes also drawn in my Astarion’s “emo bad boy ness” and normal BELIEVES that he can fix him. He cant. He ascends him because he really just BELIEVES that there’s no way astarion will continue the cycle of abuse. It’ll be different this time for sure. It’s- uh- NOT. (Shocker). Also he romanced the dream visitor and felt guilty about it. Normal plays a good route (with the exception of ascending astarion) and the final party is bittersweet with his partner being the way he is. (Scary hears him talk about what happens to astarion and is FULLY like: “norm thats straight up toxic as fuck. LEAVE HIM” "ITS MY FAULT HES LIKE THIS" "no its NOT norm i am BEGGING you to raise your standards")

Taylor: oh you KNOW hes playing a tiefling. He plays a gloom stalker ranger because now he can actually USE those skills on the road. His dream visitor is his anime waifu. He’s romancing Lae’zel WHICH SOUNDS KIND OF SUPRISING until you realize the conversation went like this: Lizzie: “you’ve earned my respect and more still. You’ve proven your wits and your efficient and dominant. In and out of battle.” Taylor: “heh. It’s about TIME someone recognized what i bring to the group. I truly am the backbone of our party and shes smart for finally recognizing the value of my expertise. A WORTHY PARTNER FOR- (15 more minutes of monologue)” also he romanced the dream visitor and DID NOT feel guilty about it and was in fact, VERY onboard with the later revel. But he does end up turning on them and killing them to free Orpheus. (which he cried about afterwards) Taylor plays a fully good play through and gets the best possible ending.

[croginski]

Restaurant AU post

(I’ve been rewatching The Bear and I got inspired. I kinda want to write a fic now with my Tav- Holly and the bg3 crew.)

Front of house

Maître d’Hôtel/ Maître d’

This is the person responsible for the overall management of the restaurant. The ideal maître d’ is sometimes perceived to be a charismatic and imperious personality, whose personality comes to be associated with the restaurant itself.

Tav/Durge

While durge might not be the best example but Tav and durge need to be able to be the face of the group and make all the difficult decisions while keeping everyone else in line.

Hostess

The hostess greets the guests and shows them to their tables. At some restaurants, the hostess may also perform many of the managerial functions allotted to a maître d’hôtel.

Shadowheart

We know that she probably cannot cook but she enjoys good wine and food. While she doesn’t necessarily like people, she can put on a happy face when she needs to. When there are regular customers that she likes her snarky side comes out and the customers love her unconventional charm. Plus she looks excellent in black.

Sommelier

A sommelier is usually only found at quite formal restaurants and is the person responsible for choosing and maintaining the restaurant’s stock of wines, as well as serving them to customers.

Astarion

Man knows his wines and is a highly sought after sommelier. He spent way too many years under a shitty restaurant owner who didn’t appreciate his excellent palate and talent for wine pairings.

Back of house

Chef executif

Also called the executive chef, this role is often less involved in the daily kitchen operations in large establishments. They typically collaborate with other restaurant executives to manage the operations, and are usually tasked with designing menus and restaurant concepts.

Minthara

This is pretty obvious, she would run the kitchen and restaurant with an iron fist. While she can be brutal all the other chefs have an immense respect for her. She is known through the food community that if you work under her for a full year you can get a prestigious position in another kitchen easily.

Chef de cuisine

The chef de cuisine translates to chief or manager of the kitchen. This is a leadership role involved in the daily management of the kitchen. They typically perform administrative tasks, like inventory management, hiring and training. In small establishments, this position may be combined with the responsibilities of the executive chef.

Jaheira

Stern but calm, Jahira works well as a chef de cuisine. She is the mom of the kitchen making sure every thing is stocked and ready to go. If your mise en place is not perfect you’ll get a light smack on the head.

Sous chef de cuisine

The sous chef is an assistant leadership position that typically reports to the chef de cuisine. They’re directly involved in kitchen operations, often acting as a manager when the chef de cuisine is unavailable.

Wyll- see aboyeur

Chef de parties

Also sometimes called a station chef or line cook, this is a broad term often used to describe an individual responsible for leading a particular area in the kitchen. These roles are necessary in the kitchen brigade system, as its function depends on assigning cooks to specific areas.

Aboyeur

An aboyeur supports both the kitchen and dining room by acting as the link between the two areas. They relay orders with efficiency and organization. In modern structures, the leading chef de partie takes on this role for their station.

Wyll

Can both play the happy host while keeping his calm around the customers and relay affective orders that keep the kitchen working smoothly. He can be diplomatic and precise in his work, a necessary quality for working under jaheira and Minthara

Entremetier

The entremetier is a chef de partie who may broadly oversee stations relating to entrees. They may have line cooks working below them who help compose fish, meat, egg and vegetable dishes.

Gale

At one point in his life Gale wanted nothing more than to be executive chef. He worked in another kitchen for years as a chef de cuisine under a renowned executive chef only to be fired. He soon discovered that all he wanted to do was cook, any higher than a chef de partie and you weren’t necessarily cooking anymore.

Saucier

Also called a saute chef, the saucier is a type of chef de partie responsible for all sauteed items and sauces. In larger establishments, they’re assisted by a potager who’s responsible for stocks and soups. Smaller establishments usually combine these roles, making the saucier responsible for all these items.

Gale-see entremetier

Plongeur

A plongeur is responsible for dishwashing and porter tasks. In addition to cleaning and organizing cookware and serveware, they may also provide support with kitchen prep tasks.

Minsc

Man takes pride in his work, dishes are always completed quickly and with great care. Some may say that his job is unimportant but without clean dishes- chefs could not cook, customers could not eat, and if not done correctly they could make a lot of people sick. Him and Jaheira have been working at the restaurant the longest.

Boucher

Translated directly as butcher, this brigade member oversees all meat and fish butchery tasks. This role is often outsourced to vendors.

Laezel

The chef with the greatest knife skills (according to her) she treats every piece of meat with respect. She makes sure every cut is beautiful and perfect. If a piece of meat ever comes back cooked wrong she yells at Gale, Wyll, and Karlach. If a customer complains the cut isn’t good or it’s too fatty, they have to physically hold her back in the kitchen.

Boulanger

A boulanger is a baker. They’re responsible for preparing breads and other baked goods in-house. Some establishments may eliminate this position and order fresh or frozen baked goods from outside vendors.

Halsin

Dude knows how to work with yeast like it’s nobody’s business. He names his sourdough starter and he’s kept it alive since he started culinary school (late 80’s early 90’s). He talks to all his creations as if they were living, breathing things. Probably the most chill chef in the kitchen, that is until you fuck with his dough and it loses its rise.

Garde manger

Also called a pantry chef, the garde manger is an ambiguous role that generally relates to cold foods. This may include salads, appetizers, pates, charcuterie and desserts.

Astarion

While he is also the sommelier for the restaurant he also takes on the role of making sure all the cold dishes are beautiful and delicious. He is known for his charcuterie boards that have perfect wine pairings

Grillardin

Often combined with the fry cook role, a grillardin or grill chef is responsible for the restaurant’s grilled food, including vegetables, meats and more. This role is common in steak restaurants where a large volume of the orders are prepared on the grill.

Karlach

She is a self made chef, she worked her way up in many different kitchens in the city. She may not have the technical skills to be any higher up in the kitchen but she knows how to work a grill and fryer. She knows how to endure the heat, and everything she does is the perfect temp. She only loses her shit when a dish comes back claiming to be cooked wrong. She also is the funniest in the kitchen.

Patissier

Otherwise known as the pastry chef, this role is responsible for producing items on the dessert menu. In large establishments, a variety of positions may be involved in the dessert station. They may include a glacier for ice cream, confiseur for confections and decorateur for the decorative work on fancy cakes or other desserts. Some kitchens combine the pastry chef and baker responsibilities.

Halsin- see Boulanger (man also has a sweet tooth)

[spiderwarden]

Sometimes I’m sad that most people don’t get to enjoy the tempering that Minthara adds to the camp in terms of dynamics.

Wyll? Will call him a hypocrite and humble his proud pedestal he’s built up on goodness and if he goes down the path of keeping ties to Mizora she will always be there to remind him, but on the flip side will tease him and say no matter what she does, he will always be the better person.

Gale? Will call him weak and question his remaining loyalty to Mystra and support his ambition and independence away from her, will only reveal much much later how much she respects him if he’s not acting better than her because he knows he’s great he doesn’t need extra ego stroking.

Astarion? Will remind him that despite his confidence he is nothing to her and his death would be meaningless. However in truth supports his freedom from Cazador and his right to slaying his tormentors and making himself stronger and will admit that he reminds her of the beautiful drow men back home. So really it’s a “you are meaningless so make yourself meaningful damn it.”

Lae’zel? Is foolish because she chooses an inconvenient time to rebel and does so without thinking. But will support her standing up against her queen, and commend her training and culture and is the first to defend it against anyone who speaks ill of the Githyanki.

Shadowheart? Does not approve of her pitying herself and will remind her of how foolish it is, but understands the plight she has with Shar and Shar’s teachings because she too now has fallen from Lolth’s grace quite recently and speaks on how it is better for Shadowheart’s health to be severed from her influence.

Karlach? Will note how she helps everyone but herself and will encourage her to take care of herself because at the end of the day she has to live with herself and her pain. But note Karlach is the only one that Minthara thinks is entitled to self pity - but she admires that despite all she’s suffered she still smiles and laughs.

Halsin? There is nothing with him in game. But I imagine like Wyll she would question the air of goodness apparently around him and call him a hypocrite for his decision around Kagha and question the balance of nature talk while neglecting the predators. And question why Sylvanus does nothing to help when it’s so clear that Lolth herself has broken the rules of influence of the mortal realm.

Minthara is very much in the temperance aspect of the camp. And I don’t think many consider that part of her dynamic she adds and it saddens me.

[sm0lprism]

I found your BG3 fic on AO3, having no knowledge of g/t whatsoever, and found it so cute that I had to come find your tumblr to learn more! And omg the genre is adorable! I’m loving your fic: Ria herself is such a little (tiny!) badass, and the dynamics with the group are so much fun to read! Your style is really descriptive, too, and conveys a lot in the small actions of the characters.

The first chapter had me cackling at the accuracy — Ria is only alive and not-eaten because Astarion likes the sound of his own voice so much that he talked at her until Official Cat Dad Gale could notice and stop him (“What’s in your mouth? No! Spit that out! That’s people! Bad vampire!”). He literally cannot get out of his own way.

I’m so excited for the next chapter! Poor Ria, that her ally in finding Minthara is the smoothest brain in the party. And this will not be easy for Astarion to explain to the rest of the crew that *this one time* he actually wasn’t trying to eat her. So worried for our teeny friend! I guess worst case scenario… at least he’s undead? So, maybe Ria isn’t in *as much* danger, maybe? Would be kind of hilarious if Astarion knows so little about vampirism as to not even know that eating solid “food” (ie people) doesn’t agree with his undead organs.

So looking forward to Ria meeting Minthara! Ria may be small, but she’s still a tough little lass and I can see Minty respecting that.

Oh my goodness anon, you have no idea just how much this comment means to me - this has made my whole day, no, my whole week, and if I could frame a comment I would frame this one and hang it on my wall. It means even more since you had no idea what g/t was prior to reading my fic, and that is honestly so special to me that you took the time to read it (and liked it!!) and leave such a thoughtful comment. All I can say is welcome to the g/t community! It makes me so happy that you found the community through my fic and I hope you enjoy it! I have been laughing so hard at your description of Astarion finding Ria in chapter 1 and Gale being a cat-dad, like, I actually don't have the words because it's so goddamn accurate and hilarious all at the same time!! As for the latest chapter, I promise that Ria will not be taking a trip down Astarion's throat, so you needn't have to worry about that. Although if he were to swallow, it would be very bad for Ria as I believe in game Astarion can consume solid food, it just doesn't hold a lot of nutritional value for him. However, in my fic, vampires do in fact consume borrowers quite actively for their blood, so it would be a grim end for Ria if he were to actually eat her. ;w; Fortunately for her though, he has developed a small soft spot for her now so she'll be okay <3

Ria's encounter with Minthara is not going to go well. ^^; I don't want to spoil too much, but seeing as how Minthy was involved with trading borrowers for their blood in my fic, she thinks very lowly of them which you'll see in the next chapter when I get around to writing it. Anyhow, thank you so much for your comment. I actually can't stop smiling since I read it and it's probably the best feedback I've ever received for a fic, so thank you anon. <3

[spacemonkeysalsa]

BG4 brainstorm

I know they've already got a bunch of it written and outlined or whatever, but I can't turn my brain off, so I'm just going to talk exclusively about the way in which I'd like to see BG3 characters and events incorporated into BG4, if they are even going to do that-

First off there's-

The Stuff That Doesn't Need To Come Up In The Narrative Right Away But Let's Establish The Underlying Assumptions Shall We?:

The white dragon born dark urge managing to overcome Bhaal and defeat the elderbrain, in the end, but with a somewhat uneven series of good and bad choices at their back.

Minthara is probably dead, though I’d love it if she was still around and you absolutely can get away with that, narratively, thanks to the patches.

On the other side, Halsin, Dame Aylin and Isobel are probably alive.

Astarion and Gale are both alive and may or may not be the god/godlike versions of themselves.

Karlach and Wyll are alive and still in Avernus together (unless the DLC drops and we have Blade of Avernus/Fixing Karlach's engine adventures between the games) not explicitly as a couple though, I'd leave that ambiguous.

Lae’zel and Shadowheart are in love (this is both the most specific my post-headcanon gets, and entirely non-negotiable) but spend a lot of time apart because of respective responsibilities. Lae’zel can be a diplomat or a freedom fighter, but Shadowheart is a Selunite living with her parents on a farm and overcoming her fear of wolves by also raising some wolves alongside her adopted Githyanki son.

What Larian did with legacy characters from the earlier game was smart, in that they didn’t overuse them or reveal too many details about what they’d been doing in the interim, so like, we’ll keep it basic, leave a lot up to the imagination, but the writing around their appearances and roles in the story would match the above info.

Starting with origin characters, I think there’s potential to include familiar faces.

First Familiar Face - Githyanki egg all grown up. He shouldn’t be called Ptaris, because this is kind of assuming that the path where he ends up with that name doesn’t happen. For now, I’m just going to call him Egg, as I can sort of imagine Lae’zel using it as a slightly mocking but ultimately affectionate nickname, and miss “I picked my own name” maybe sort of leaving it up to him.

Egg - as I would write him, would have spent some time on the astral plane, like one of his moms and so his age is kind of a ??? because time is different there, and Egg would have also spent some time living with one of his moms on the farm. There’s sort of an obvious characterization available here. Where does he belong? Who are his people, really? You could write him confused and conflicted, or you could take the route I like and say that he was raised by the two most perfect people to help him understand that. He has his half-elf mother’s compounding knowledge of temperance between seemingly conflicted forces, and disparate elements, and his githyanki mother made sure he grew up confident and sure of himself and proud of his incredibly unique heritage. Also, these two states of mind aren’t totally mutually exclusive, cognitive dissonance is a major part of life, and an appropriate coming of age theme. I already love Egg. In keeping with the idea of temperance, I’d put him firmly in the true neutral category.

Second Familiar Face - Mol. Like. Just give me more Mol. What a great character, I’m so stoked imagining her grown up. I would write her as our team warlock, even if Raphael has been eaten by Mephistopheles. She can still do eldritch blast and the works ever since her pact with him. She’s pretty concerned that the implications of this are that Meph is her true fount now, and she wonders if he knows, or if there’s some small bit of his power he’s not aware is being lent out to her, and what he’ll do if he ever learns of her existence. She keeps these worries close to the chest though, instead projecting nonchalance that comes off as careless and callous during the earlier parts of the story, before she opens up. Probably neutral evil.

Third Familiar Face - Arabella. I’d make her so, so weird. Her magic is druidic, so she’s probably our druid, but you could easily get away with sorcerer or a secret third thing and I wouldn’t be mad. As a fully grown woman she speaks with the annoying esoteric air of a dryad and personifies inanimate objects, and is constantly carrying on conversations with animals when left to her own devices. She and Mol do not get along anymore, though they still care a lot about each other and there should be some cuteness about their history and childhood as buddies and little lost refugees together. Chaotic good.

I think you could get away with including all three in the main party, even early game, but I wouldn’t do more than that. New original characters are potentially more important and I would have the plot and the bones of the game be more closely tied to these totally new faces rather than relying on sequel energy. Even if all three games exist in the same universe and share themes, elements, and some characters, they don’t really feel like direct sequels and I think that’s a good thing. The only reason I think you can get away with using these three kids from the third game like this is because as adults, they’ll be completely different people, to the point that the story would have to reintroduce them anyway. The fact that they have any connections to the events of the past games doesn’t even really need to be explored beyond the kind of high-level backstory stuff that affected everyone in the world:

Arabella: “Remember when Baldur’s Gate almost got destroyed by an Elder Brain?”

Mol: “Yeah, that was wild.”

Egg: “No, I was there, but I hadn’t hatched yet.”

Mol: “HOW OLD ARE YOU?”

Egg: “Ugh, it’s complicated.”

I would probably continue with the often fun but at times vaguely serious “kill all the gods and masters” themes from previous games, and use this as a way to get everyone into hell for a portion of the game to go toe-to-toe with some archdevils, and also as an excuse to get Karlach and Wyll in the game (it's hard for me to get too much into this idea tbh, because I'm still hopeful that they'll be lvl13-20 dlc that involves Avernus, in which case, all of this is resolved and idk where to go from here with those two as I'm sure it would be affected a lot by how all that theoretical dlc content turns out, and I'm like so invested in going to Avernus with Wyll and Karlach).

And, Legacy character time!

Lae’zel I think could be our Jaheira analog, meaning she’s a previous origin character who I think could join the main team and be a party member for a chunk of the game without breaking anything. I would keep it until later though, but make it about as simple as recruiting Jaheira, in that it feels almost compulsory if you just follow a common path and progress the game.

Shadowheart would work nicely as our Minsc analog, in that she could be introduced as a very late game party character, essentially starting off as a lvl 12 cleric of light, as Selune intended, and I would make her recruitment more complicated and involve a side-quest. A rough idea for that side-quest would be trying to successfully get a message to Selunite allies, asking for aid. If you manage to meet the requirements and your messenger isn’t killed—and I think it would be fun if there was some randomness to it, like maybe a background constitution check that just mysteriously triggers when you cross into a certain area, and if it passes, it means your messenger (wherever they are) safely made it, and if it fails, they didn’t. So, I would let Shadowheart have a big damn hero moment and ride into a battle (on the back of one her wolves, why not) and join in the fight as an unexpected ally. From a play testing point of view, it would be especially fun to set up a certain fight so that waves of enemies arrive, and there’s a point where most people get overwhelmed and that’s when she shows up. But, for extra complication, if you don’t have Lae’zel or Egg with you at the time, she shows up for the one battle, saves your ass, then fights you if you’re responsible for either of their deaths, and if they are in your party, then you have to pass the roll, and play the whole thing for family drama.

Gale and Astarion, if you wanted to go with their bad endings, then Gale becoming and god and Astarion ascending would be the canon and there’s a lot to work with. Or, if you wanted to go with the good ending, then Gale is professor Dekarios and Astarion would either be an adventurer or leading the spawn in the Underdark. Professor Dekarios could easily just be a helpful mentor-type. His participation in shenanigans can be limited to a side quest or two, an Elminster/Volo like series of cameos etc. He’s a good adventurer when he has to be, but it’s not really where his heart is and we always knew that. He’s a wizard in his tower/in the classroom, but sure, he’ll lend a helping hand as he still remembers how valuable a service that can be. As a silly goose, I’m tempted to write a Volo/Elminster/Gale scene that involves all three of them very wine drunk and arguing about something absolutely no one else could hope to understand.

God Gale I can’t resist making him one of the baddies. It’s sad, but it feels appropriate. If he’s now the god of ambition then he failed to learn a pretty fundamental lesson during the course of BG3, and Tav/Durge who didn’t help him out with that failed and should feel bad. Offense absolutely intended. The logical conclusion is that Gale has become exactly the sort of god that once threatened and made his life miserable, especially since his antagonism towards Mystra with this ending seems to just be couched in pure unexamined hurt, and pettiness rather than a real understand that even as one of the “good gods” she wronged him, and she was wrong from the beginning and that there might just be something inherently bad about having and wielding this kind of power, at all.

He doesn’t get that, but it’s a bit due to wilful ignorance, I think, so I’d continue that and I wouldn’t make Gale knowingly the big bad. it just doesn't fit his character. You have a mortal avatar/chosen, some very ambitious enemy who Gale is helping, without a clear understanding of exactly what kind of schemes he’s backing. He’s too removed to really understand that he fucked up, and by the time he figures it out, it’s too late. Necessarily, his presence like this would be minimal, maybe we don’t even know for sure that he’s involved in any capacity until quite late, and even then, I’d make getting an actual appearance from the guy, pretty hard fought.

Astarion would be our other antagonist, and I think you can get away with going in any of the three different routes with him (Ascended, Spawn Adventurer, Spawn Dad) and make him an antagonist regardless. It would more be a matter of setting, do you want a quest in a big gothic castle or at a fancy party? A totally new location where he can turn up unexpectedly? The underdark? Setting might be the deciding factor, but his behavior and his role in the story could more or less follow the same pattern because the degrees of difference in his personality as ascendant/spawn are workable. That’s the thing about being a neutral evil aligned character—it’s maybe the broadest category as far as D&D character rep goes. He can get away with doing basically anything and still remain in that alignment because it takes an extreme act of unhinged evil to shift his alignment towards chaos, and anything good he does can still be dismissed as a cheap “pet the dog” moment by everyone who is unwilling to admit that he might have some capacity for redemption in him.

I would not make him a big bad antagonist though, because why would he ever bother, what’s actually in it for him? And I would want to create a route where he can join your side, but I wouldn’t have him join the camp/party in a permanent sense, at most you could do a Dame Aylin thing and keep him around and available for additional dialogue, a later quest or two.

In any case, even at his most antagonistic, Astarion isn’t truly ambitious. In BG3 he’ll ascend if he gets the chance, he'll try and run the city as long as the network is all in place already and it's not too much work, but he was never going to go out of his way to set all that up and he’ll settle. You could easily tie his story together with God Gale, if you wanted. “Ambition gets you stabbed to death by your spawn—of course none of this shit was my idea! I didn’t have a choice!” He was always quite good at delivering overdramatic ( but more often than people want to admit, totally valid) justifications for his behaviour, so I’d use that again, to utilize him to his maximum anti-hero/anti-villain potential.

He’d make a great red herring villain in the story, like let everything—including his old allies—think that he’s some mastermind (and let bg3 fans freak out a little that they've characterized him wrong), or that he’s more involved and more willing than he actually is. Then story beats slowly reveal that he’s a smaller level antagonist, pressed into the service of the bigger bad by circumstances/fear/whatever. It brings back bad memories. He’s pissed about it actually, doesn’t want to be doing any of this, has maybe been planning his own escape/betrayal for a while now. The player can ignore all that and just kill him here, or they can help him and see where things go if you give him a chance to ally with you against your common enemy. Fans can then continue their very stupid argument about whether he’s a hero or a villain, and we know that arguing is what truly makes them happy, so everyone wins.

A possible later quest could tie with Mol, if Astarion is the vampire ascendant, because in that scenario they are both in a weird ambiguous state where Mephistopheles is maybe their master or maybe not? D&D lore arguments continue?

Doing all of this would obviously be a lot, but I'd be thrilled if some version of any one of these ideas appeared in bg4. Assuming, I ever stop playing bg3 long enough to get trully invested in bg4 eventual existence.

[avelera]

I had tried starting a couple Dark Urge playthroughs but neither of them really CLICKED. Then I tried one more time with a Drow character I’d been mulling and suddenly it all came together because I made her older.

Like I made her a properly mature badass (and in my own head) general on par with Ketheric Thorm. That kind of older. Lines on her face and scars and white hair lost amidst the Drow white hair.

Suddenly the whole character just worked for me. This wasn’t some doe-eyed ingenue constantly rocked by her own murderous urges. Hell no. This isn’t some unhinged slaughter junkie like Orin either. This was one of the masterminds of the entire Dead Three plot. This Durge (Zenobia) was planning this just as long as Ketheric and Gortash. She was just as much a mastermind and she had the age and bitterness and the battle scars to prove it. This Durge wakes up without her memories and she’s PISSED the same way Ketheric would be pissed in that situation.

Idk, something about playing an evil character (Grove slaughter included) just made more sense when it was a character who was older and made a calculated decision, albeit one based in cruelty, rather than a waif being controlled by bloodthirsty forces beyond her understanding. Something about her turning down all the companions until a fellow general like Minthara was an option just made sense.

Zenobia has her other foibles too. Even without her memory back (just got to the Underdark) she still delights in tearing down people’s faith in their gods along with their comforting illusions. She is sadistic but she especially enjoys being kind and loving before the rug pull. She made Gale like her, really like her at first. She did all the nice Tiefling plots and helped everyone out, even sparing Kagha after unmasking her, before Zenobia turned on the Grove. She relished the moment Gale’s illusion of himself as a kind and noble scholar rocked as he realized unlike Karlach and Wyll, he’ll choose his own survival even if it means collaborating with a monster after he was forced to participate. She loved showing the Chosen of Mystra that he’s just as bad as any Bhaalspawn when his survival was on the line.

Zenobia was also completely respectful of Vlaakith for Lae’zel. Didn’t shove the obvious in her face that the Queen Lae’zel devoted her life to would sell her out without a second thought if it got her an eyelash closer to her goal of becoming a god. Zenobia let Lae’zel get there entirely on her own. She let Vlaakith show her true colors. She let Lae’zel see the lie of being a god’s Chosen, ripped the glory of it away. All it took at the end was a tiny nudge to make the rest of Lae’zel’s world of religious and spiritual certainty fall apart.

Astarion doesn’t need that kind of lesson. He already knows most of this, even if he’s going to Zenobia’s eyes. Emotionally young. Not allowed to progress in maturity due to his horrific circumstances. He already gets it.

Minthara really is the closest person to understanding this Zenobia. A fellow general. Forced to commit evil acts against her will but not actually a good person underneath. More a cold, brutal person who nevertheless does care for those close to them, even if it means hurting them, like Minthara had to kill her lover, but stayed with her until she died.

Zenobia loves her companions. Unfortunately, that love has teeth and enjoys watching them lose their comforting illusions, for their own sake.

[humanransome-note]

Cause @meanbossart has been getting a bunch of asks about DU Drow as a companion, it made me think about the world building of DND.

Specifically the Drow.

Cause meanboss’s interpretation is that in the Underdark, male Drow being fucking STACKED is weird and unattractive…. Which I get, Menzoberranzan and Lolth sworn Drow are a matriarchal theocracy, any “masculine” traits would be seen as undesirable. But then why is there a shredded Drow option then? (I know why, logistically, but story telling wise these thoughts don’t vibe and I know it’s meanboss’s headcanon but that headcanon makes sense—!)

And in game Minthara says that families are allowed two sons, with anything after that being culled.

But… that seems… wasteful? I don’t know how else to say it.

Menzoberranzan is a very isolated place, there’s like no real interaction with the surface and any interaction with people from the surface is a big no no… so while the two sons mitigates the genetic diversity issue, it’s not a long term sustainable thing. Then again, Elves live 700+ years on average, so it’s not as immediate an issue as if it were humans doing the practice.

But I still think it would be weird to kill every son after the first two.

Something that makes more sense to me, is that after the first two sons, every subsequent son is taken by the church. Where they are raised until physically capable, where they are then assessed. You’ve got a few possibilities:

Sold into slavery, there are references to a slave market in the Underdark.

Breeding stock, they already have regulations regarding the amount of male children, there being state sanctioned eugenics doesn’t sound so far off.

Church property/attendants, why waste a woman’s potential by having her clean? She has more important things to do.

Immediately killed.

This keeps body numbers higher for things like manual labor, and it helps scramble up the genetic diversity a bit, because class isn’t (as much of) a consideration. Then, for the boys who do stay with their families, the happiest/most content men they see are the ones who belong to the church. So it reinforces that devotion to Lolth is a good thing.

So stacked Drow existing makes sense, like you wouldn’t want your firstborn boy to be 100% underground beef, because he’s undesirable/more likely to have been sired by a stud and not your actual partner(s) (are male harems a thing in the underdark? I feel like they would be) but they exist.

And then once the men are no longer useful, they’re killed, either immediately or, more horrifyingly, strung up in the temple rafters to be eaten by the spiders.

Being strung up is seen as the more respectable death, even if you can no longer perform duties for Lolth, your flesh is still useful in this. This is mostly what happens to those who belonged to the church, their bodies paralyzed so they don’t feel anything or struggle, even in death they find peace in Lolth’s embrace.

BUT!!! It is also used as a punishment. Because if you can’t provide for Lolth in life, you will in death. And those who are punished this way don’t get paralyzed. So they struggle and feel the pain as their insides are liquified and their skin torn open.

People outside the church don’t know about the paralyzation, so they believe that it is Lolth’s judgement causing the different reactions. Even further reinforcing how important it is to be devoted to Lolth.

PLUS!!! This adds another layer of political intrigue and plays if that’s more your speed. Families bribing the assessors to have their sons given to the church, “Lolth may not have blessed us with another daughter, but we are thankful we can provide to her another servant just the same.” Have this other one sent to the mines, keep this family out of the breeding pool, we want them wiped out entirely.

Great- great- great- Grandma made a deal with a devil for power, the agreement was one of her descendants would inherit it, the first third son in generations is the (un)lucky sorcerer, having him killed would undermine all of that work, but he can’t stay with the family either. He couldn’t be bought back if he’s sent into slavery, having him be a stud would mean that power leaves the family line and is basically just given to some random other, manual labor could kill him, and most church attendants are celibate if not full on eunuchs.

Do you see the possibilities Charlie? Do you?

[abyssmarked]

i thought it might be fun to write out my headcanon dynamics for neph and the companions in her party ( this is solely based on my playthrough and doesn’t necessarily reflect how neph feels about any of these muses in threads i might have with anyone, and neph’s feelings about companions also don’t reflect MY personal feelings of said characters, i promise i actually really like gale. ).

astarion ; nepharia started manipulating him from the beginning, very quickly picking up on the fact that he was doing the exact same thing to her. after each of them realized that the other was being disingenuous, and only using the other, desperately seeking someone they could trust in these stressful and dire times— an actual bond began to form. a trauma bond, mostly, opening up about their time as slaves to people more powerful than them. nepharia encouraged his hunger for power, just as he did her — they were partners, but ultimately realized they needed a friend more than a lover in the other. eventually, she helps him ascend.

shadowheart ; the cleric’s secrecy and incredibly reserved demeanor bothered nepharia none, because she didn’t want to talk about herself either. she didn’t want to reveal to anyone the true nature of what she was, lest they not trust her, or worse, leave her alone to deal with everything by herself. she respected shadowheart’s privacy, and never pushed for information that wasn’t willingly given. now with shadowheart, though— nepharia convinces her not kill the nightsong, not because she didn’t want to see shadowheart get the things she wanted, but because she knew that their next battles would be far more difficult without a powerful demigod on their side. neph even helped save her parents. :’) i like to think these two are close.

lae’zel ; the way lae’zel would compliment neph’s brutality in battle is what made this demon really like lae’zel. having lae’zel in combat was always such great motivation. and scary devil though neph may be, she knew better than to get on lae’zel’s bad side. did she think she stood a chance in a fight against her? honestly, it’s a 50 / 50 in the succubus’ mind, but only if she was in her true form. out of it, she stood less of a chance.

minthara ; as much as nepharia loves dabbling in her fair share of vicious and brutal bloodshed, releasing those atrocities on innocent refugees certainly wasn’t the succubus’ idea of a fun time. but it was the safer choice, better than going up against the entire goblin camp and risk blowing her cover as an unsuspecting tiefling, or worse, dying. she doesn’t reciprocate minthara’s advances at camp that evening, and not because she didn’t find minthara— intriguing, something about her immediately made nepharia curious. what was a woman who wields so much power and authority in the sound of her voice alone doing with a charge of… goblins? and why attack meaningless, minuscule tieflings, when she seemed so very capable of so much more than that? nothing about it seemed right, but nevertheless, the image of dead tiefling children etched into her mind was enough to kill any sensual mood, even for a succubus. it’s not until they meet again at moonrise towers, when nepharia smells the sheer terror and helplessness coming from the drow, that the devil for the first time empathizes with minthara. she’s known that fear, that helplessness. minthara becomes neph’s biggest motivator in every sense of the word, and encourages her to take control of her life again— she gives neph that fire back, that absolutely unhinged, feral drive that she lost long ago.

gale ; neph honestly almost didn’t pull him out of that portal as soon as she heard his voice, and then when she did, and he didn’t. stop. talking. she wanted to shove him back in. she resisted the urge for a very long time in the beginning to seduce and kill this man, the only thing really stopping her was the orb in his chest, not knowing whether or not it would kill them all off if she did. she found him unbearably sad and pathetic, but eventually— he does grow on her, as much as she’s annoyed by it, and she might not ever admit it. but he hated her guts for a while as well, especially after the grove raid…

karlach & wyll left the party. :’)))))

[truly-sincerely]

Dark Star Falling (1 of ?)

Star-

I can talk a devil into killing himself but for some reason when I try to tell you how I feel nothing comes out quite right. So here I am, having gone thru more paper than Klagga trying to confess his love to Minthara.

I don’t understand why you didn’t want to bite the blood merchant. I respect your decision not to, of course, but I don’t understand what’s different about her. We both want you to bite us. Was it because I was reluctant at first? Or because I punched you for killing me? Because I was your first? I didn’t really believe you when you said you caught feelings for me. You seemed so sincere and you’re an awful liar, but it doesn’t make sense. Just because I’ve been kind to you. I’m kind to everyone (as far as they know). Did I trick you, somehow, into believing I’m worthy of affection?

But then I almost killed you and you made jokes about it and I fell in love with you. I liked you from the moment I saw you. I know that was the line you used on me, but it’s true. I liked it when you put a knife to my throat and called my neck darling. Not just because I’m a depraved pervert tho. I saved Shart and Gale and even Lae’zel (the second time). I liked that I didn’t need to save you. Even tho I think we both know you would’ve died in the wilderness without me. You really did need my protection, but I like that you picked me instead of just getting stuck with me.

My butler said something when he was telling me to kill you. He said that you’re afraid of everyone except me, who you should be the most afraid of. He’s right, but that’s also why I love you. He also said you’ll never believe that I love you for more than your looks. I’m writing this because I don’t want that to be true. I’ll tell you that you’re beautiful whenever you want and it’ll be true but it’s not your piercing eyes and your dangerous smile that I want. You make me feel safe, like you’re covering my blind spots. Your jokes make me laugh, and you accept all of me even tho I’m messy and I stick my arm in stuff and lick things and make, sometimes, extremely catastrophic mistakes like destroying a building on top of you. Which is important because I’m never going to stop doing any of that (except, hopefully, the building thing).

We’re going to the coronation tomorrow and then into the city and I’m pretty sure that I’m going to find out that I’m bhaalspawn. Orin hasn’t exactly been subtle in calling me out. I’ve been piecing things together. That I went to moonrise and Orin ambushed me and destroyed my brain and put me in a pod. I also found something. A letter or a prayer. Everything I’ve found is in my pack, if you want to read it. But the short version is that I think I have history with Enver Gortash (and I mean sex, just so we’re clear). I think things are going to get even messier.

No matter what happens or how bad it gets in Baldur’s Gate I love you. We’re going to kill Cazador and set you free. I love you. I want to make your next two centuries joyful. I love you. I want to be there with you when this is all over. I love you. Please love me too.

-Your Darling

Next

[itwasabeautifulwebbing]

not to get all mass effect on my minthara simping blog but i remain BEYOND baffled by the amount of garrus hate i’ve been seeing in the notes on those polls. like… you hate garrus? really?? the guy who has had your back from day one even if you pick arguments with him about his morality every single day? the guy who, when you disagree with him, genuinely seems to pause and give what you say the serious thought it deserves? you can change this man’s mind about what justice looks like, that’s how deeply he thinks about and respects shepard’s opinions!

“yeah well he’s a cop and acab” acab doesn’t mean assigned cop at birth you walnut, and he very definitively stops being a c-sec officer! that’s like a core component of his character arc!

[tav-marcio-leles]

17, 23, 25

17: How good of a liar is your Tav? How do they feel about lying?

He’s alright at lying, but he doesn’t like doing it. He will outright lie to protect those he cares for.

Most of the time, he will play dumb (within reason) as to avoid hurting someone mostly when the whole camp was trying to confess their love to him, and he didn’t want to be mean

23: What are 2-3 songs that your Tav would relate to?

Kill V. Maim - Grimes

Welcome to Your Life - GROUPLOVE

Eet - Regina Spektor

Lucky - Lucky Twice

(You get 4, because I couldn’t decide between Eet and Lucky)

25: How does your Tav feel about what others think of them?

Really the only thing Marcio prioritizes when it comes to the opinions of others is if they feel safe approaching him or not. As a Cleric of Ilmater, his whole deal is helping lift burdens. If someone doesn’t feel safe enough to ask him for help, he’ll give them their space, but he’ll continue to do his best to help them feel safe (within reason).

For closer relationships though, his feelings are a bit more specific~

Karlach: His best friend! His childhood friend! He cares deeply about what Karlach thinks of him. If she ever disapproves of something he does, he feels puppy getting told “bad dog”.

Gale: He knows Gale adores and cherishes Marcio for all his strengths and his flaws. But Marcio also knows that Gale gets way too excited about ideas he has, and he wishes Gale literally thought more about him (have him in mind) while coming up with said ideas. It’s all good though. Marcio understands how Gale’s brain works, and Gale has always asked Marcio his thoughts before doing anything. He knows Gale has him in mind, just at different parts of his thought process compared to his own.

Astarion: He knows Astarion is a little piss baby who judges people for getting involved in stuff to do the right thing. He wishes Astarion felt safer around him and the party, but he knows with time, he’ll open up. He just has to keep a safe distance while showing him the party can be a safe space. He’s almost there <3

Lae’zel: He loves Lae’zel, but he knows she respects him the most when he’s just doing his thing. He doesn’t need to worry about how she feels 90% of the time (for lack of a better way to word that).

Wyll: He loves Wyll! Wyll is really sweet. Good man in every sense! If anything were to happen to Marcio, Wyll would be put in charge. He cares greatly about how Wyll feels about him, because he looks up to Wyll.

Halsin: Kind of the same care he feels towards Wyll and Karlach, but in the sense that Halsin is so wholesome that if he got upset at Marcio, he would feel like a kicked dog. He’s not super close to Halsin, but he thinks he’s pretty and values his presence.

Shadowheart: When she was with the party, they were not close. She was unwilling to work with the group, so he gave her space—respected her boundaries.

Jaheira: This is the one person Marcio will actively butt heads with in the group. He respects her experience and feels sympathy for her, but half of the things she says, his reaction is just, “What are you talking about? Did you really just say that??? Out loud? With your whole chest?”

Minthara: Dead. Bye. Didn’t even know she could be a companion until after I killed her.

Minsc: Haven’t met him yet.

[macgyvertape]

BG3 Act 2 thoughts and liveblog part 1

Yeah act 2 was the point where I just kept my tablet open so I could write down how my character would roleplay things, and this really stopped just a liveblog. Upon reread, I forgot how many people my character killed through dialogue checks, that weren't hard to pass, during this part of the game. To borrow from D2: "I will take what I need. The words in my throat are the weapon in my fist" really does sum up my character.

I went over the mountain pass first. I demanded the goblin fetch his bone after he did that to the animal, “forcing responsibility” my character is worse than whats in the shadows. Fun that Astarion approves of things like this that play to the Dark Urge but are also about striking against abusers

I wiped out the camp then called Kar’niss with Minthara’s lyre then intimidated him when he questioned me. My character is pretending to go along with the cultists right up until they are acceptable targets for attacks, and I turned on Kar’niss during the harper attack

Was not expecting Mol to show up and vouch for me with Jaheira

I got to hug Karlach, it was so emotional. My D!urge character is definitely fond of Karlach and willing to admit that to herself, likes her enough that making Karlach happy and trying to find a third option to Karlach’s dilemma is an influencing decision factor. She’s leaving it to Karlach to choose between death vs going back to the hells and in the meantime really wants to help Karlach live life to the fullest. She would definitely be happy to sleep with Karlach if she wanted that or help her do whatever hedonistic thing she wanted.

Oh so Wyll’s demon patron showed up, I can’t believe he still says he chose right even after my character pointed out he’s everything he accused Karlach of being. D!urge isn’t emotionally invested in Wyll but Karlach is, so she’ll help.

Ok my character definitely doesn’t trust the Dream Guardian but thinks he’s hot in the new outfit, but is really suspicious he’s secretly a mindflayer

I saw the Stange Ox’s thoughts of murder and let it be, if it wants to run from the dark urges, who am my character to say differently

Of course my character sniffed out the truth serum and didn’t drink the wine. It's very easy making consistent character choices that Astarion keeps approving of. Also of course Astarion approves of talking to the cat, he is one

My character does not play chess, good thing she had Astarion and Gale along and just let them help Mol

My character is obviously not going to help the Absolute since she doesn’t want to be a puppet for his cult, anything he wants she doesn’t want him to have. She felt that Dark Urge to let Isobel get killed then thought how the inn would fall and there goes Karlach’s chances of being helped by Dammon, but there was a moment where she was tempted talking to Isobel until she pushed it back since she doesn’t want the D!urge to rule her. 

My character was very flattered that Asatarion said “every step we walk trails blood, killing is an instinct for us. I respect you for that'' especially since Astarion was right there with her doing the killing. My character doesn’t want to turn into a mindflayer but controlling the parasites with Astarion’s plan of a little world domination does sound tempting. Love the idea of him influencing my character into more than just killing the cult 

My character is definitely worried about the butler showed up urging her to kill Isobel

This cool looking guy wants justice for murder victims, my character agreed to help for a reward but also out curiosity since she's a murderer will this guy come after me

Love how Lae’zel is inspired by us killing the undead Drider in 1 turn, yep I’m leading our team to be good at killing

Gave Shadowheart her favorite flower, and told her that she’d give me something in time, since we aren’t so close that my character wouldn’t think of this as an exchange

I let Lae’zel beat me in the fight, but turned her down when she asked me to be hers. I assume that ends the fling so I figure its just a messy relationship that my character feels awkward about

My character’s line in the sand is not extorting a child for money to find their parents, liked the “muster some kindness for once”

Also my character loves the Phalar Aluve sword, all it took was some blood in the underdark and I can buff my allies or hurt enemies around me

Of course I killed the undead brewer with his own brew and was D!urge inspired by it, it was peak my character performing as a bard with my feats, faking the drinking to gain confidence and exploiting an enemy for information

My character has also been running around with Gale nonstop since entering the creche especially since the shadowlands are in her view “weird wizard shit” so he’s designated Moonlantern holder, and I like to think this is the point she finally grows fond of him and his sense of humor and his stories. 

Astarion’s line about pitying the other six stuck with Cazador and how Cazador tortured him, like my character felt really sympathetic listening to that. Cazador was already in the kill list, now its help Astarion kill him extra painfully

My character was surprised Wyll made a pass and it wasn’t just for casual sex, she thinks if Wyll wants a committed relationship there are a lot more morally compatible companions, like Karlach, than her. 

Madeline snitched on people to the Dark Justicars and got them killed in a brutal way and He Who Was wants to torture the souls of murders, seemed the most fitting way was to make her spirit in his body recreate how the people died by stabbing themselves, it seems fair to my character that He Who Was also feels some of the pain if he’s going to be weird about this

My character’s opinion of Shar is dropping with encounters of people like Malus Thorn so she hasn’t been spending much time with Shadowheart. 

Raphael showing up and warning me in his dramatic manner about unleashing a pestilence if a creature makes it out of the tomb I open, my character is definitely on high alert. That Astarion will get his scars translated, adds impetus to not mess around. I then thought this would lock me out of things and left for later

My character did enjoy convincing all the Shar nurses to turn on each other or commit suicide. I killed Sister Lidwin for torturing/kiling Arabella’s parents, figured my character would be happy to avenge them. Used the bard actions to be kind when telling Arabella about her parent’s deaths, and Karlach and Astarion approved which re-emphasises is probably some good positive moral reinforcement for my character

Halsin’s portal was defended by prepping the surrounding area in flammable surfaces and throwing a lot of bombs and fire damage spells

Finally unlocked Halsin as a companion, wish I had figured out how to do this earlier. Oh well, that’s for the next playthrough.

My character is thrilled, she’s super attracted by how buff Halsin is but also finds him really charming. He seems open to causal relationships and she’s impressed that someone who doesn’t had a tadpole joining in to help out and hopefully he can defend himself unlike that poor bard.

The one person my character wishes she could ask for money is Rolan for rescuing him from his own idiocy 

Initial Moonrise tower team is Astarion, Gale, and Halsin. Its an unbalanced team but figured my character would choose along the lines of people who could infiltrate and lie, and would be open to Astarion’s plan of some light world domination plus Halsin who has unfinished business

My character is worried that the cat says she was there before, and wonders how monstrous she was to deliberately step on a cat’s tale. I chose the option “try to remember what was forgotten” and even though it killed the cat I decided to keep that choice for rp purposes, since my past evils aren’t so lost. Want to amp up my character being worried about the loss of control and what monster they were, as well as the fact she’s done risky stuff in this quest to figure out their past or gain more power. 

My character figures whatever monster she might have been the woman mind dominating the knolls to be “better people” is far more fucked up. So of course she influenced the knolls to turn on her, but was surprised and discomforted that they too recognized her

My character gave Araj some of my blood continuing the train of fucking around with sketchy things for power. She spoke up that Astarion was his own person but was like “Astarion why don’t you want to just bite her for this great reward?” since I like to think she’s a little confused on what others will do for power if it isn’t life or death (convincing people about the tadpoles was life or death) and the person hasn’t set firm boundaries. Then when Astarion said he really didn’t want to she was like “don’t do anything you don’t want to”, and when he thanked her, she assumed it was for not trying to persuade him.

Ketheric Thorm immediately got cooler once I heard his voice and recognized it was JK Simmons. Also oh wow its Fezzerk from Blighted Village windmill so many many hours ago

Lol of course my character didn’t speak up for the goblins, it would blow my cover and they were torturing Barcus Wroot when I met them, and they aren’t going free since they serve the Absolute. My D!urge character did “BEG! CHOKE! DIE!” (I originally chose “I will do this with my own hands, it always feels better” and liked it more for the role playing but it gave no Astarion approval)

I sat in Kethric’s throne and Astarion had the funniest dialogue mocking me. Fitting that I then distracted from my mind being searched for loyalty by focusing on my lust for Astarion

Act 2 in the shadowlands has really been my character growing closer to Gale, where she’s moved beyond being fond of him to actually caring for him which makes not feel awkward about how much he really likes her.  Especially since she hasn’t been persuading him to like her, and hasn't pushed him to go for the power and ambition or to be less loyal to Mystra. She's just agreed with his ambitions since he has (in her view) a good mix of pragmatism and morals, and she thinks he's a loyal type of person so she doesn't need to watch her back. So she encouraged him to do the pixie necromancy and then thought it would be a good time to bring up he doesn’t have to live by Mystra’s doctrine and has a choice about the orb.

Yeah of course even though it made Karlach feel bad my character stood with her and listened to 3 sad stories in exchange for some demon coins, and then told her I was her real friend and my D!urge character actually meant it. (Actually I’ve never used the demon coins to empower her since I forgot about that mechanic till now and I’ve been resource hoarding). 

When Astarion thanked my character back at camp again for not forcing him to bite the Drow she was a bit surprised and of course said she doesn’t want him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. My character mentioned “So why sleep with me? Did you think you'd get something from it?” since of course she recognized he was seducing her back in act 1 before they really knew each other, Astarion responded “Of course I needed protection… and seducing you was easy frankly”. My character genuinely respects him for doing that, manipulating her for his own survival and so she’ll like him considering she regularly uses [persuade] and [intimidate]. Astarion mentions he started to genuinely feel something for her, and she responded that she cares about him; genuinely she likes him the most out of the whole group not just romantically but also in terms of the lengths she would go and the things she would do for him. 

Ideally my character could choose all the options of “what do you want to do” and “we can be together without sleeping together for as long as you need” and “open your mind so he sees you care”, but since I can only pick one I figure Astarion knows my character can lie even in their mind so best just talk to him with words. 

When Gale wanted to speak privately and was melancholy about his future death my character took every opportunity to say that they would find another way, he didn’t have to die, but didn’t mention anything about how he might kill innocents because she would kill those same innocents herself to keep Gale alive. When she met Gale on the cliffs it was really I think the moment she acknowledged she cares about Gale and him living, that she’s turning down an easy way to destroy the Absolute. When Gale said “I consider myself lucky to call you my friend” my character genuinely meant it when she said the feeling was mutual.

Prisoner rescue team is: Astarion, Gale, and Karlach. Of course I get the “not to worry I have a permit” when I exploit Balthazar not being around to contradict me having his permission

After talking with the Warden my character is definitely worried they used to be an Absolute cultist before she lost her memory

In the tower jail I used Astarion to 1 hit ko the eyes, then killed the Warden in her tower in 1 hit with an exploding barrel, then threw the gnomes his tools so he could escape, and we made it to the boat without the other 2 guards catching up

My character wants Barcus to realize he can do better than Wulbren, that Wulbren doesn’t like him but is happy to use his concern

After 3 reloads because a companion triggered a trap in the gauntlet of Shar i just said fuck this I’m looking up a walkthrough, this is giving me flashbacks to The Fade section in DA:O

Astarion was upset my character started chatting with the demon in Shar’s Gauntlet, then was impressed when D!urge talked the demon into killing all the companions then itself. My character didn’t care about Astarion saying thanks, she just wanted to see if Astarion was happy with the demon's death and say it was a pleasure to kill him

My character of course was going to help Astarion kill Cazador, she was happy to kill him all the way back in act 1. As for the ritual for vampire ascendant she has her doubts; how many souls need to be sacrificed and is there some other catch.

I didn’t realize we weren’t supposed to follow the rats to the bottom area; then Shadowheart and Gale were inspired when the swarm turned back into a dude and my character was inspired by killing more than 5 enemies in a round. So worked out all around

My character killed Balthazar before continuing through the gauntlet. That was a hard fight, where Gale having counterspell and lots of special arrows helped

My character decided since the deception is at a dead end killing Balthazar she might as well break into Kethric’s quarters. She thought the undead dog Squire was adorable, but all of her fears of her past reading about “the handpicked captain not found in the wreckage” are becoming worse

In front of the Nightsong my character had finally hit the breaking point of tolerance towards Shadowheart’s worship of Shar, and she did charm (to pass the 30 roll persuasion) Shadowheart to not go through with killing the Nightsong because otherwise it would have been a bloodbath killing Shadowheart to stop her.

This is the first time my character used charm/friends on a companion

Looking up other ways to do this afterwards, I guess it fits into role playing my character that over the course of being in the shadowlands and seeing the proof Shar just uses and twists people while Shadowheart stayed devoted, it had a big negative effect on my character's trust in Shadowheart and her loyalties. So much so she pushed the issue at the first opportunity and didn't tell Shadowheart “do what you want” like some other companions, and didn't wait for Shadowheart to change her mind. There's too much on the line to keep the Inn's protections and to fight Ketheric

[pricemarshfield]

general 2, 4

story 6, 8

romance 10, 12

:3c

HI FOX MY BEST FRIEND FOX. GOING BONKERS UNDER THE CUT ♥️

2. Do the other companions have special comments or reactions upon recruiting your Tav?

yeas :)

shadowheart: hmph. i’m sure she’d be useful, but i don’t think we NEED her.

lae’zel: chk. better her than shadowheart. at least she’s demonstrated prowess in a fight

astarion: as long as you keep that lightning away from ME, i say we bring her along.

i cant think of gale and wyll and karlach’s comments but they Would have them. i know this

4. What sort of general actions raise or lower their approval?

acting with caution, lying for basically any reason (if it’s useful, she respects it, if it’s not useful, she just thinks it’s funny), supporting party members (regardless of the moral implications of whatever help you offer, ie giving astarion or gale the necromancy of thay would net approval even though it’s perhaps not Smart. BUT she’d approve more if you gave it to Her), and also everything i talked about in the previous ask fndndnd. also mocking raphael (she disapproves of taking haarlep’s deal but you get a full +10 approval if you call raphael bad in bed to his face so like net positive).

6. Will they stay with the Player Character regardless of siding with the goblins or the tieflings, or is it possible for them to leave the party permanently?

she will stay no matter what! she does not care! if she’s not the leader of the group she has no reason to keep up an act of altruism to keep the group together. however she will speak sadly about missing wyll and karlach even up until late act 3 if you side with the goblins, and never seems to get along with minthara quite as well as she did them. (she does laugh when minthara is mean to people though. especially gale. she likes gale but she’s a cunt with a complex about wizards so like you know how it is)

8. Do they have comments on who the Player Character chooses to spend the night with? 

YES.

if romancing lae’zel and SPECIFICALLY sleeping with her at the tiefling party, she’ll gripe in the morning about how you took the only partner she’d planned on sharing her bedroll with, but she’s smiling and not upset. UNLESS she propositioned you and you rejected her in which case she’s honestly pretty annoyed. no approval loss or anything it’s just like 😒 for a bit. either way, she tells you to take care of each other.

with astarion she questions your judgment (lol. lmao, even) but is supportive of you both, moreso than some other companions! she’ll also probably have banter with astarion where she kind of pokes at his actual motivations for seducing the pc because she’s terrible

with shadowheart she shovel talks you. she Adores shadowheart. they have a complex about each other but she loves her (platonically. they are besties :) )

with karlach she will actively offer to help find ways to help with her heart/infernal iron if you met dammon! she thinks karlach’s great!

with wyll she’ll tease you both gently but fondly, and will probably ask you if you’ve thought about how you’ll react if/when mizora gets possessive. she approves of any reasoned or determinedly protective answer, and disapproves of “why would she?” or “that’s wyll’s problem, not mine”

with gale she’ll less-gently tease you and will not care if he’s around. HOWEVER she will pull a hard 180 once elminster shows up and tells gale to kill himself because she’ll be like UH?? THATS OUR WIZARD?? and gale’s like i thought you hated me? and tav will go 🙄 i don’t think about you enough to hate you. and then they hang out and talk about magic a lot :)

with minthara she’ll Actually question your judgment, as she doesn’t trust minthara. if you tell minthara about that you immediately net -5 approval

with halsin she’ll go “huh. good for you. not my thing, but good for you. did the wildshape stay on?”. you get +1 approval if you tell her. the same is true if you poly romance him with her :) she doesnt want him but she thinks he’s fine!

10. Will they join in with the PC and the Drow Twins, or no?

“is the sibling thing marketing or real?” “uh—“ “ew. real. absolutely not.” pushing further after that exchange nets disapproval.

12. Free space! Share anything from your companion!Tav au!

this girl LOVES the society of brilliance. helping/being nice to omeluum and blurg nets approval and her “good” post-game ending is joining the society as a research assistant. (her bad one is if you push her towards pure obedience and faith towards talos, in which case she starts just rampant destruction on the seas and is actively trying to form her Own world-destroying cult.)