#she and halsin are just on the same page basically

[quortknee]

some more portrait doodles of my tavs (i have a few too many)

[previous tav art post]

[jynxeddraca]

Small, Soft BG3 Things

Just an ongoing list of small headcanons for Team Tadpole.

Astarion:

Astarion learned how to sew and embroider from his mother. She loved to embroider poems that she sold at market. Most of his word based embroidery looks like her handwriting, even though he doesn't remember that.

He's the go-to member of Team Tadpole for mending because he's the best out of all of them at it. More importantly: as he comes to view them as friends, the basic mending is supplemented with subtle embroidery.

Every child that he ends up spending time around learns some slight of hand trick and/or how to use a knife.

When everyone is asleep and he's particularly at ease, he'll quietly sing to himself while doing other things.

Gale:

As the self-appointed cook - come time to set up camp, Gale might fuss about the bizarre assortment of food stuff they find on their travels, but he secretly revels in the challenge of making filling, delicious foods out of what they're able to scavenge.

Cooking was how his mother and him bonded as he grew up so now it's his favorite way of showing affection/appreciation to others.

Spoils Tara with all her favorite foods when they're reunited (also I headcanon Tara joins the camp most nights in Act 3).

When he was younger, he specifically created an enchantment to enchant his mother's favorite rocking chair so that when it was activated, mage hands would appear and give her shoulders and feet a massage.

Halsin:

He learned to whittle from an uncle and the knife he uses today for his carvings was given to him by his mother - whose favorite animal was ducks.

Halsin likes to go sit in Bloomridge park when the city gets to him, taking Yenna with him if she's agreeable. He has taught her and several other random children how to braid flower crowns.

When he returns to Reithwin Town, he teaches Art how to whittle and Art teaches Halsin how to play the lute.

On nights where Halsin is keeping watch will offer to turn pages for Tara so she can read a book or two.

Jaheira:

Will turn into a cat/dog to give comfort to children if they are inconsolable.

Takes an afternoon with Halsin - both in wildshape - to show him how nature and the city can be more harmonious than he originally thought.

The lullaby she knows how to play on the tin whistle was one taught to her by her late husband - she has put all her children to sleep to it's tune.

Teases Tara about her treating Gale like her kitten.

The rats that show up in camp do give her updates on other Harpers - but most of the time they are updates about her children.

Karlach:

Clive - her teddy bear - was knitted by her mother and she considers him her 'good luck charm'. Before the infernal engine was forced onto her, he could often be found tucked into Karlach's belt at any given point of the day or in her purse/pouch.

Karlach almost left Avernus without Clive, and risked missing the Nautiloid to go back to grab him.

Because she calls Halsin "Bear Man" Arabella starts calling him that too. At the same time, Karlach starts calling Withers "Bone Man" because of Arabella.

Her parents used to dance around the living room with her - in camp she'll get Arabella and later, Yenna, to do the same. When she's especially energetic, she makes Wyll join her.

Lae'zel:

While she originally hates everything about Faerûn, she becomes especially fond of the sunrises and finds she enjoys sunflowers.

After the egg is acquired, she does softly sing an old githyanki lullaby to when she tends to it.

Because she feels it is an important skill to have for when the egg hatches, she learns to sew by watching Astarion. Eventually, she asks him for tips.

Lae'zel seems well-read (on githyanki literature anyways) in my opinion so I feel like even though she's a very skilled fighter, she also spent much of her time in the creche library growing up. In camp, she raids Gale's library bag often.

When Karlach started calling her 'Lae', she began referring to Karlach as 'Kar'.

Minsc and Boo:

When Boo isn't around Minsc, he spends time around Shadowheart curled up on her shoulder or sitting beside her as she meditates.

Amused that it baffles people who can speak with animals, Boo purposefully does not allow them to understand him and sticks with his telepathic communications with Minsc.

Minsc enjoys finding excuses to tell stories and is a good storyteller.

Teaches Tav a few Rashemen songs and stories.

Minsc and Boo both have a faint smell of warm stone about them due to being statues for a while.

Shadowheart:

When meditating, sometimes unknowingly hums an old lullaby her parents used to sing her.

Still sometimes mutters "Lady of Sorrows" when exasperated, and at one point while very tired said "Lady of Sil-rrows" instead.

Has started keeping seeds and nuts on hand for Boo.

Talking to Astarion and Halsin in Elvish is soothing to her, and sometimes it triggers memories of her father.

Tav:

Was gifted a stuffed bunny by her dad when she was a baby. His name is Biscuit.

Biscuit was handed down to Temerity (Tav's little sister) while they were in the orphanage and he currently lives on Temerity's pillow.

Tav and Karlach have introduced Clive (Karlach's teddy bear) to Biscuit.

The smell of leather oil reminds her of her father.

Wyll:

Has a soft spot in his heart for trashy romance novels and anything related to mermaids. An aside: even though he hasn't been home in years, the merfolk around Baldur's Gate remember him fondly as a child trying to swim deep enough to see them.

Actually enjoys debating Astarion about laws and their effects - even though they have wildly different views on the laws.

Has a secret tattoo, and yes, it's mermaid themed.

Offered to teach Lae'zel to use a rapier if she showed him how to wield a longsword.

Also enjoys cooking and likes to show Gale different ways to season/cook in the wilds.

The rapier he has at the start of the game was gifted to him by his father.

[vespaer77]

You just did the impossible. You changed someone’s opinion online. I can see Gale now. Thank you!

Listen, I'd be the first to forgive anyone if they didn't share my feelings. Gale is the worst about filling in the gaps in his story, and I filled a lot of them by suddenly taking an interest... and then going out to the Forbidden Realms wiki pages and doing supplementary reading on Mystra and Blackstaff Academy which made me first go, "Oh." And then, "OH." And then finally, "Oh my god."

It's like the same criticism I have about Star Wars, haha =) In order to know the whole story, one has to have seen x and y shows and read z comic book. Otherwise you wouldn't know that Kylo Ren wasn't actually responsible for the destruction of Luke's temple, which is somewhat critical yet relatively hidden information.

I *hated* Gale in early access. He was my dead last least favorite character. They changed him somewhat in full release (not to mention he was infinitely hotter, lol), but it wasn't until damned near the end of the game when I was like, "Wait... wait a minute." I think that's also why they did to Rolan what they did - in the same place, even. While we were completing Gale's companion quest. Rolan was the clue, the tip off. Another insufferably egotistical wizard. Suffering abuse. They laid the parallel out so plainly and I still walked right past it until Gale read the book and suddenly took a very surprisingly dark turn. And I felt so silly that it surprised me so.

And I was so disinterested in Gale at the time that I saved his companion quest for basically the last. Sort of. I think I did Gortash after him. But I got to watch all the other companions face their abuser and win. I got to help Wyll break his contract AND free his father. I got to help Shadowheart free herself from Shar and return to the open arms of Selune. I got to help Halsin fix his past mistakes and return Moonrise to its former self. I got to help Astarion face his abuser at long, long last and free himself for the first time in his own memory, along with thousands of others. And Sebastian <3 And then I even helped Karlach face her abuser and bring him to justice.

But what did Gale get to do? Where was his freedom? His catharsis? When he faced his abuser, the only thing that happened was her expressing her disappointment that he was still alive, that he didn't choose her above his own self-inflicted demise. And then she subjected him to yet another new pact that still indebted him to her. Because he's a wizard. No matter what he does, as long as he draws breath and casts spells, he'll always be indebted to her. And it just felt so... hollow. Unfair.

it made me FEEEEEEELLLLLLugh things haha! And then I was like, fuck. No, I do. I like this character.

OKAY I LOVE HIM, ALRIGHT? THERE. I SAID IT.

So I unbelievably and totally and with full chest and face understand and respect it. Not every character is going to be to everyone's tastes. If anything? It just proves how well these characters are written. That this team of writers were capable of such subtlety and depth. I'm not sure I could do the same justice to a fictional creation of my own. I'm just in awe of Larian Studios =)

[darethshirl]

Heyyy! For Cassiopeia:

13 - When do they fake a smile? How often? 20 - Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person? 43 - If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

aaah thank you for the ask! 🥰 man you picked some fun ones 👀

When do they fake a smile? How often?

Basically every single time she interacts with other people lmao! she's a noble, she learned the art of Fake Polite Smile from a young age and it's still helping her out in her day to day life, since deep down she doesn't really like people but they respond well to her when she's pretending to be nice. It's her real smiles that are super rare, pretty much reserved just for Astarion and the group

Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

okay I'm gonna answer the second part first cause it's easier: the answer is Aylin, cause Cassiopeia HATES Aylin lmao, she finds her super annoying super frustrating and her personality entirely too grating. and yet!! she really is a goddamn powerhouse in battle, so Cassiopeia grits her teeth and stays polite cause it's worth the annoyance

as for vice versa... 🤔 man this is hard. Maybe Halsin? She likes him but also thinks he's not doing enough with his leadership position and is completely wasting all his power

If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

Power Is Good And You Should Always Grab It With Both Hands, basically 😂 shes the equivalent of an evil rich CEO that wants to be even eviler and even richer, and assumes everyone secretly wants the same thing but they're just too weak to admit it. she probably tries to cast a magic spell during the talk as a demonstration but her Wild Magic surges and sets everyone on fire. Cassiopeia thinks thats an acceptable loss 😂

[send me asks for this!] [Cassiopeia page]

[angyvalentine]

Tell us more about your Tav! You said she's followed you for 10 years?

First of all, thanks for askin’! I quite never got the chance to talk so much about Rey <3 So here’s a quick explanation about her origins, and under cut for more background stuff, may someone be interested.

Back in 2013, I started to play Neverwinter online. It was 22nd December when I created her as my first character in the game. An elf mage, as usual (there’s not the sorcerer class). A bit later I got the Knight of the Feywildpack, that allowed me to choose a specific sub-race, the Moon Elf. I had fun with this character, I completed as many modules as I could.

Then in 2015 they released the Underdark module – the first one written by R.A. Salvatore himself.

Until then, Farelya – Rey – was just a character I played in a game. Then I started writing fanfics, based on quests of the  Mage Engine campaign (tied to the Underdark one) – the longer one from a quest in particular, “A view of Menzoberranzan”, where you’ve to disguise yourself as a Lolth priestess, followed by Drizzt as your “prisoner”, and retrieve Gromph Baenre's Grimoire from a drow outpost.

Slowly, I started to add details to details. Her wicked amulet, that holds the soul of a black dragon, eager to be fed of her fears and terrors – eager to indeed consume her and wholly possess her body, destroying her soul and mind; her over-protective pseudodragon, Vulthuryol (name I chose from one of the secret dragons in Skyrim), her familiar – and details of her past, why she’s afraid of her own amulet, and why her eyes have two different colors.

I wrote 30+ pages just for THAT oneshot and I’ve yet to finish it.

But yep, I’m currently playing her adventures in the Sword Coast – and in Space now, as well (the new module is named Spelljammer. Not really my cup of tea, honestly, I prefer the classic fantasy to the science one) xD

Here we go with some background stuff, then :D Be careful, there are some gruesome parts

She was born in the Moonwood, as an only child. Magic flows in the female part of her family, indeed both her mother and grandma are sorceresses – while her father is a ranger. She started to practice very early to gain more and more control over her powers, all while occasionally wearing magic-repression cuffs to keep her wild magic at bay. She feared she may hurt others, but yet she was eager to learn.

Later in her life, she often visited Silverymoon and the libraries of the Lady’s College, at least before starting her life as an adventurer – Moon elves have a great wanderlust, after all.

She was in reverie, after a long journey, when she got kidnapped by a group of young (and crazy) Red Wizards apprentices, who had fun using her basically as guinea pig – that’s how she lost her right eye. They tried to break her. Left her to starve, drugg*d her, and pulled her eye off while she was still conscious (totally groggy due to all the alcohol they gave her to drink, obviously against her will. That’s why she doesn’t drink alcohol at all, since then. Not to mention Volo's attempt to "help" her - attempt that triggered her so badly that it resolved in his face being almost burn to crisp.)

Thanks to an amulet her master gave her years prior, she managed to (barely) escape, get found and healed by Mielikki's priests. Unknowing to her, that same necklace held the soul of a black dragon (not really a phylactery, tho) that actually could help her increasing her powers, but at the cost of little pieces of her humanity.

That’s when she got to know the creature that, later on, would become her familiar and closer confidant – a pseudodragon that she’d name Vulthuryol.

She went back to find those mages and got a (quite) gruesome revenge, taking one of the most beautiful eyes of them to replace the one she lost (the now-gold one).

Since then, Vul vigils over her reverie, allowing her to rest when she needs (this, until she got closer to Halsin).

Aaand that’s all, guys! If you want to know something more about my Moon baby, please let me know <3