#larian writers

[gunpowdercarousel]

Larian: *Introduces a way that the companions can secretly communicate with you in front of people without needing to verbalize it by telepathically speaking directly into your mind.*

Half the companions anyway: YO this guy a BITCH, let's FUCKIN KILL HIM

[thedomesticanthropologist]

Recognizing the Hidden Architects: Game Writers 🖋️✨

Today, let's shine a spotlight on a group often overlooked in the gaming world - the incredible writers who craft the stories and characters we hold dear. 🎮📝

Baldur's Gate 3/ Larian's writing team: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/3766732716812313365/

🌟 Character Architects: Writers don't just pen lines; they create the very essence of characters. The quirks, motivations, and dialogues that make characters memorable? All thanks to the writers.

📜 Story Alchemists: Games are more than just gameplay; they're immersive stories. Writers are the alchemists turning ideas into engaging narratives that keep us hooked from start to finish.

🔍 World Builders: Beyond characters, writers shape the entire game world. The lore, history, and lore are crafted by their words, enriching our gaming experience with depth and context.

🤔 Critical Role: Writers are the bridge between developers and players, ensuring that the vision and emotions intended by the creators are effectively conveyed to the audience.

👩‍💻 Unseen Work: Often working behind the scenes, writers may not get the limelight, but their influence permeates every aspect of the game.

👏 Applaud and Acknowledge: Next time you're lost in a game's narrative, take a moment to appreciate the minds behind the story. Let's make sure the writers get the recognition they deserve!

PLEASE Reblog this and hype up the writers in your favorite games, link to their social media and work if they seem like the type to enjoy the attention, AND most importantly go FIND them and thank them (again, within the realm of appropriate social interaction)

They deserve so much love, but often end up as a footnote. Lets change that

[tomurakii]

I feel like I'm going insane.

Why does Gale's "good ending" if you don't date him imply that he gets back with Mystra.

Why does the grown ass woman who intentionally isolated 17-year-old Wyll and trapped him in a relationship get to hang out in your camp (and potentially sleep with you).

Why do the writers (head writer and literally Wyll's personal character writer included!) have so little respect and tact when talking about their characters' traumas only when they are male and their abuser is female.

Nobody would find it funny if the Christmas animatic had Astarion blush at a picture of Cazador. Nobody would think it was "a good resolution" if Karlach saved and then dated Gortash at the end of the game.

And the characters aren't treated well outside of their relationships either, the writers love to laugh when people call Wyll boring or Gale annoying. I dunno what's worse: all the extra in-game dialogue calling Gale pathetic, or the fact that Wyll barely has any additional dialogue at all. With the additional factors of Wyll being the only Black companion and Gale being the only one with a disability that is somewhat "inconvenient" to the player (because God forbid a person need help), it just comes across as implicit bias from the writers themselves. To create these representations and then shit on them for traits that not only may be relatable to your audience, but traits that you gave them.

When Neil accepted the award for best performance he told people who relate to Astarion that "you are not alone." It's a beautiful sentiment, but paired with writers fetishising Wyll's abuse and saying Gale's best ending is the one where he kills himself, it comes across as though for POC, the chronically ill/disabled, or male victims of women, the statement does not apply.

[wolfywolfy]

I love how Astarion quotes The Tell-Tale Heart every once in a while. It's a rarer line, and initially I thought it was out of place (Neil is very well versed in theater, so I assumed it was a riff from him), but since reading an analysis of the work I think it was pretty purposeful.

The piece is all about fear and paranoia, things we know Astarion is plagued by despite how he might act. Similarly, the narrator of the story also tries to convince the reader that they are not as troubled as they seem. In the end, the narrator is consumed by the beating of the heart of the old man he killed and dismembered, the sound growing louder and louder until in a fit of rage he reveals the body to the police to absolve himself from the persistent beating.

Except the police never heard the heart beat, because it wasn't the old man's heart at all. The narrator was consumed by the sound of his own heart beating more and more rapidly in his chest from fear. He was the owner of the thing that forced him to reveal his true nature, he is the owner of the tell-tale heart.

And what happens with Astarion after you romance him? He realizes over time that, while he tried to deny his feelings and was initially only interested in manipulating you for his own means, he actually has grown to care for you. You have done something to his heart that hasn't happened in centuries, you have made it feel as if it has started beating again.

Therefore, his tell-tale heart leads him to admit his transgressions, which were committed out of fear and paranoia for his safety.

So the line is actually very, very apt. His confession during Act 2 is his own version of "Villains! Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks! Here, here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!" Except, of course, it is his own heart that he is unearthing for us (and it's not so hideous, after all).

[a2zillustration]

It's fine he'll be fine

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[sun-marie]

BG3 has two of the most thoughtful, unapologetic, no holds barred depictions of men with abusive female partners I've every seen (Wyll + Mizora and Gale + Mystra), which is so rare to see in any media but especially video games, and some of the Larian writers seem determined to convince me it was 100% by accident

[tieflingteatime]

this completely reshaped my brain

[asharaks]

romance as part of the video game zeitgeist is. really interesting to me. because it is important! it's a great way to introduce depth and dimension to both character and story: it allows you as a writer to explore other sides of the characters, how they react when their feelings for a character change and develop, how they treat the player character in relation to their own goals and the ways they approach their own feelings. most games (at least, games that aren't specifically of the romance genre, ie otomes/dating sims) allow platonic routes, and while I'd love to see more bestie mechanics implemented (you have a favourite guy who is your closest friend and the game acknowledges this even if it's not romantic) i get that there's issues with scope, and deadlines, and the feasability of inputting everything that I personally would enjoy. i get it.

but. but! it is that. romance is a way to deepen the characterisation, to increase the investment in the story. from a cynical perspective, it is a way to draw in an audience, and i've discussed my feelings about how and how well larian do this before, but - it is a means to an end. it is a part of the story: it is not the story. this is not a romance game. this is a game with a story that is, and should be, unaffected by romance - the individual character arcs, sure, but the overarching plot continues regardless of your marital status, and the characters still deserve complete arcs whether they're of romantic interest to the player or not.

prioritising romance and romantic scenes over other content is one thing; prioritising romance over bugfixing, plot holes, adequate content is, put simply, poor management. the game, and each character arc, should be able to stand alone without romance; alternatively, if you're going to market it as a romance-heavy game, with a focus on romance, it is plain and simple Failure not to provide romance content in equal measure for every character. it can't be a dating sim for astarion and not for wyll; it shouldn't be a romance-centric game for shadowheart and a story-focused game for lae'zel. you can't have it both ways: if it's a romance game, it fails to provide adequate romance content for all characters, and if it's a story game, it fails to prioritise the role each character plays appropriately. I think it's a shame, and I think it's understandable - they've tried to cover all their bases, and neglected both in the process, and the game had deadlines and was released unfinished, but it's been more than six months, and the game remains woefully incomplete in many aspects.

[bhaal-battle-beer-bard]

So Patch 7 is out...

...tell me PC gamers, did Larian put @sorceresssundries letter of Rolan for Tav at the epilogue party...or do we have to remind them to do it, when the patch releases for consoles? 🤔

🤷‍♀️

Just asking, you know...

[hua-liansimp]

Ok but I need him I need more content of him he's the best murder lizard ever

[baldursyourgate]

why is that her in battle lines are so good wtf

[3gremlins]

not to keep having astarion thoughts but i was thinking about how it really would be a curse to be a vampire if you're already an elf. like for humans, it might be okay b/c we don't canonically live that long (relatively) and are squishy/underpowered af compared to the other peoples of faerun, so the win/loss of being a vampire isn't quite so bad (tho generally i feel like in the dnd universe there's way better ways to achieve durability/immortality if that's what you want).

but he was already a high elf- elves already have super long lifespans (up to 750 years per the wiki), can see in the dark, don't actually need to sleep and have inborn magic usually. like being a vampire really would be much more of a curse for an elf -esp a vampire spawn versus a full vampire since you've essentially got most of the bad and little of the benefits and are now beholden to someone else forever. so you go from being a creature with all the freedom in the world to one with very little.

[wizardsix]

honestly i think it was a mistake to add halsin and minthara to the companion pool bc like.... if your main characters are lacking in personality and story, there is absolutely no reason to pile on more work and add more characters who don't add anything. and seeing how they both barely have any content or are bugged, it was a complete waste to prioritize them over wyll.

there's better posts out there going into detail, I'm just venting here, but overall wyll could've been so important to the main plot. he's the goddamn son of the duke of baldur's gate. he's literally connected to the city we're trying to save (or destroy).... like how is it that even the emperor has more depth than wyll's story? even during his quest in wyrmway, it just happens to be about the emperor and wyll is treated as a side character. he's supposed to be one of the main characters, a fucking origin character, and yet he's treated like an inconsequential hireling by the devs throughout the entire game (and dont get me started on people/the devs downplaying his trauma... but no one makes jokes about ast*rions trauma. very professional).

I would much rather have a few fleshed out companions than a massive pool of lifeless bethesda npcs. hell, I'd sacrifice all romance if it meant the main characters were actually well developed. and as much as I enjoy the side companions, I swear it even feels like minsc and jaheira have more involvement in the main story than wyll does. it's just not a good look and it's so frustrating that this keeps happening. I need devs to grow a spine and commit to their work, because if you don't care enough about a character to give it your all, then don't even bother trying. people can tell when media is half-assed. wyll deserved better.

[gladiatorcunt]

han solo wants what atton rand has

[veranone]

it's gotten to the point where if I look up "ascended Astarion" on twitter, it's mostly just people complaining about ascended Astarion fans, or being weirdly smug about how they must be sooo mad about the epilogue for him.

I will forever go the spawn route myself, but man who fucking cares how other people play their game lmao.

"It's ok to enjoy ascended Astarion, but be mindful that he's abusive and it's not the Good end" ok and why are you so pressed if someone happens to find it hot? Or if they think it's a good end for their Tav on their own *personal* playthrough? He's FAKE literally none of this matters.

[lemotomato]

To make up for the emotional damage of my last post, some happier thoughts from watching the happy romanced Gale epilogue for the 100th time

Spoilers after the cut

The narrator as Tav and Gale arrive at the party:

"You and Gale have made a home for yourselves in Waterdeep. Sometimes it isn't clear what he loves more-- his research, or you.

But whenever he looks into your eyes, or up at the stars while he sits by your side, you know the answer.

One such night, your reveries are interrupted by an embarrassed apprentice, delivering an urgent message, written in a frail hand."

I love that just a little bit of narration made so many of my favorite fanfic tropes canon. Gale losing himself in his research, but always making sure Tav knows how much he loves them. Gale being a professor at Blackstaff Academy. And most importantly-- Gale and Tav making out/getting it on and being interrupted. Office sex with Professor Dekarios is canon!

(Imagine how everyone quickly learns that they need to knock loudly and wait a while before going in his office. And they get used to Gale coming out looking totally disheveled to accept the message or delivery. Or would he have have some handy illusion spells to neaten his appearance even though everyone knows exactly what was happening before he answered the door?)