#why was Astarion working at 40?

[sorcerous-caress]

Drow elves would probably relate to humans more than surface elves.

In normal elf society, they really coddle their kids and let them fuck all and do nothing until their 100th birthday and then maybe they start easing them into society with the outside world. They genuinely give them no responsibilities until then and spoil them rotten

While in drow society, the second someone even resembles an adult, they're expected to act like one. It's so brutal, especially to males that they are forced to grow up extremely fast.

Which coincidently aligns almost perfectly with normal human maturity rate, where we're also expected to act like adults the second we look like ones, 18 to 20+ age range.

[twistedapple]

On cherry and musk

EDIT 28/10/2023: Part two of the Perfume Rant is bout, about Astarion this time! + added a correction regarding the sulfur part.

EDIT 3/11/2023: Part three of the Perfume Rant is up, this time I talk about my OC, Nuria.

EDIT 28/11/2023: I kept forgetting to make that edit but I added a comment regarding the cherry and how its sickly sweet tone is usually used in perfumes to express death.

Hello hello.

Because Raphael's perfume, according to Yurgir, is exactly the type of scent that makes me lose my mind while being quite uncommon for men perfumes IRL, I've decided to go on a bit of perfume rant because I really like perfume in general (which is funny considering my autistic ass easily goes in sensory overload, especially atm with my state of autistic burnout).

To introduce the topic, I'd like to present some generalities about perfumes, so you know what I mean once I start losing my mind about why Raphael's scent would drive me crazy IRL (someone at Larian knows their shit about perfumes).

Perfumes are, most commonly, made with an alcoholic base (the Middle East also has an oil base), because the ingredients used to create the scents are more soluble in alcohol than water. There are distinctions in the types of perfumes once can find, based on the concentration of scented molecules:

Perfumed mists: less than 3% of scented molecules, low duration over time;

Colognes: the weakest concentration in perfumes as we usually know and use them. It has a long history as well, and was first worn by men;

Eau de toilette (here, understand that it's a perfume associated with cleanliness): count between 5% and 15% of scented molecules;

Eau de parfum (lit. "perfume water"): count between 10% and 20% of scented molecules. These perfumes are more expensive because they're more concentrated, however nowadays they're still commonly found in stores;

Extrait de parfum (perfume extract - pure perfume): count between 15% and 40% of scented molecules, the high concentration means it has to be used with care.

Now, why do we wear perfume? Everything around us as a scent: the soap used to wash our clothes, the food we cook, the deodorant we use... Our own skin has a natural scent. Wearing perfume is a way to control our scent and define our olfactive identity as part of our self-expression and sense of fashion. With hormones at play, not every perfume works with anybody - for example, Hesperide-type perfumes don't suit me, but work wonderfully well on my mother -, so the way a perfume sits and ages on one's skin is just as important as one's personal preferences in term of scents. Interestingly, for some decades now the most common perfumes tend to have a "clean" scent, which matches with Western standards of cleanliness. However, the goal of perfumes being self-expression, they also tend to tell a story based on the way the notes develop and work together.

We have various categories for perfumes, which involve the styles based on the families of notes, the time of the day and the seasons.

The main families of perfume are Floral (self-explanatory), Chypre (woody scents), Oriental (spiced scents), Hesperide (citrus scents) and Aquatic (water-like scents). These families can be mixed in the scale of notes to obtain a more complex scent. For example, Floral scents tend to work well with Oriental and Hesperide tones, Hesperide tones work well with Aquatic ones, Oriental and Chypre scents can be associated to create heady perfumes...

The times of the day are either Daytime or Nighttime. Daytime perfumes tend to be lighter, while Nighttime perfumes, often worn during events or at clubs, will be stronger since they compete with other stronger scents.

Seasons also influence perfumes, some molecules won't last as well in Summer as they do in Winter for example. On the other hand, some molecules will have a harder time expressing themselves in the cold of Winter, so heavier scents may be needed.

A perfume is organised in three layers to unfold its story:

Top notes: the very first notes, which usually don't last much but open the impression of the perfume;

Heart notes: the core scents of the perfume, around which the story is built;

Base notes: the lasting notes of the perfume, which close the story.

There is also two ways a perfume works:

Sillage: the trail left by a perfume;

Projection: the perimeter in whih a perfume can be felt.

Feminine and Masculine perfumes tend to be quite different as well. Feminine perfumes tend to lean on floral and fruity scents, while masculine perfumes will be more in the Aquatic and Oriental family with leather and musk tones. This is where I start my rant on Raphael's likely amazing perfume.

Fruits are rarely used for masculine perfume, to the point I'd say it's a grossly ignored scent family for men. Some years ago, I crossed path with a man in the metro who had the most amazing perfume, with raspberry in distinctive top note, unfolding into a warm woody scent. This is what got me into perfumes, because I had to find out what perfume it was - the most likely candidate is One Million by Paco Rabane, but even then I am not sure. This is a very specific and striking scent, precisely because it's so uncommon for a man to wear. With that in mind, let's remember what Yurgir said Raphael's scent is: cherries, musk and sulfur. I suspect we can take these notes in the proper top-heart-base notes, because they'd make sense that way both in term of perfume composition and as a mean to tell Raphael's personal story.

Cherries make for a sweet, enticing top note, perfect to express Raphael's ability to charm his victims clients. Cherries' sweetness is also often associated with the sickly sweet smell of death, and is used for that purpose in perfumes following that theme. Considering what signing a devil's contract entails, it's quite fitting.

Musk is a common note both for masculine and feminine perfumes, but it tends to be used as a base note. This time, however, it'd make sense to have it in heart note for at least two fantastic reasons: to draw people further in with a warm and sensual note, and because the base note serves to close the story better than musk.

Sulfur as base note would be extremely smart. One might ask me "but Crow, doesn't sulfur smell like rotten egg?" And that would be a pertinent question. It wouldn't be the first time a strange ingredient is used to complete a perfume by providing unexpected results. Here, we're not just talking sulfur, we're talking brimstone. Mixed with the other notes, however, it creates a smoky scent that serves to hint at Raphael's nature as a devil (gotta smell like Avernus!), and also provides a strong support for the sensual musk by adding depth to it.

We also have Raphael's boudoir invitation described as having his perfume: palmarosa and pepper. These scents tend to be heart notes, to compose a refreshing spicy floral: palmarosa is a floral scent with a citrus tone, pepper is what it says on the tin and is considered an aphrodisiac scent. Fitting the boudoir invite, considering the presence of a certain incubus... This addition in the heart notes would counter-balance the musk nicely and contribute to a layer of complexity with a surprisingly feminine tone: floral oriental notes are rarely used in masculine perfumes. However, here I think it serves to express refinement through complexity - something people often associate with Raphael, who presents as a noble (and is, by the Nine Hells' standards, a noble in his quality as Mephistopheles' son), as well as frames himself as an agreeable host who can offer many pleasures to his guests and clients (as long as they have something to provide in exchange - cue the sulfur as base note to remind of Raphael's diabolical nature).

Yurgir describes Tav as bearing Raphael's scent. Raphael was near Tav, which makes me think his perfume has projection rather than sillage. It'd make sense for Raphael to have a perfume more oriented towards projection than sillage: he'd want to let people know he's here, and it's a subtle way to dominate the scene as well in a magnetic manner - and we know Raphael has an imperious tendency, even in his handwriting, so having it expressed in his perfume as well would make sense.

To conclude, Raphael has fantastic taste in perfume in my totally biased opinion (this sort of perfume is a shortcut to make me swoon IRL), and what has been confirmed as being his scent/perfume serves to subtly support his characterisation and tell a story both to us players and the people he deals with in the story.

[vide0-nasties]

Going to be rambling insanely about Ghost and probably what his feelings on the monarchy would be, coming from one deeply damaged povo to another.

Anyway, specifically around the time the parasite in chief in her idiot hat (thanks Eccleston lub u) died and passed said idiot hat on, I was seeing a lot of (fun and gentle-ribbing, mind you!) posts about Ghost getting razzed about the queen croaking and maybe him being sad about it or something - I don’t really remember bc I have shit for brains and I just latch onto what bits my adhd will allow.

SO. I really don’t think Bruv Innit gave two shits about Liz buying the farm, bc he grew up working class in a working class town to a drug addicted, drug peddling dad, and a fairly nondescript mom who likely didn’t have a way to get her and her kids out of that shit situation (per ‘09 MW lore and some presumption). I imagine dude was dragged around a shitload of council estates and his dad’s friends’ shitty crash pads, no stability whatsoever, where food insecurity was a big ass forever-looming deal, mom had no idea if her 20 year old vauxhall was going to make it another trip to her minimum wage part time job, and school was forever on the back burner bc when it came to school supplies/trips vs eating and keeping the lights on. You can guess which one won.

If we’re also going with him being about 35-40ish, he would’ve been 10-12ish or so around Diana’s divorce and then her death. So, here’s this starving, horrendously abused kid, with his starving, horrendously abused mother and little brother, drowning in a system that is pretty much just letting them sink to the bottom, nothing is being done about the evil sperm donor that ruins everything for them, and he’s obliterated constantly by TV coverage and tabloids and radio DJs talking about this goddamned family’s stupid fucking drama. Charles cheated, Diana left, her poor boys in their fancy private schools with their endless wealth and glowing skin and brand new clothes that don’t stink of consignment shops are sad.

Sorrows - sorrows, prayers. 🫶

It’s a story he’s seen countless times, the only difference is money and coverage. And, realistically, the women in the stories he knows aren’t killed in car wrecks, they’re killed by their infuriated husbands who think they’re owed something catching up. Maybe that’s why his mom doesn’t leave the cocksucker that trapped her, she could’ve ended up another council house Diana that no one gave a shit about.

He grows up, becomes a butcher’s apprentice, joins the army. Straightens his brother out, makes sure his mom is set up nice, finally beats the shit out of his dad. And all the while, there looms the most fucking pointless, parasitic family in England: living off taxes taken from the public, god knows how much land and how many castles, even owning all the fucking swans on the island.

Relics, vampires, leeches.

But, you know, twenty years down the road, he’s pushing 40, his services to the country are done in the dark, the family he tried so badly to save were brutally cut down anyway, and when he goes to Tesco, the price of a fifth of piss Smirnoff is insane, and he’s still got Soap swimming in his head mid-rant bc his mam’s fucking knee replacement appeal has been denied for the third time and she can’t even walk anymore, Gaz is moving for the second time in a year bc he just can’t afford to live close to his parents even on his salary, meanwhile there was a stretch where it looked like Philip was surviving solely by being pumped full of virgin blood and straight stem cells.

So, yeah, if anything he probably said cheers when the news broke and cracked a couple extra jokes that day.

“What d’you call one dead Windsor? A good start.”

Edit: This is picking up some traction. @50cal-fullauto-astarion is my CoD blog if you like my Call of Bullshit stuff, this is my main and I don’t really go into CoD here

[consistencynevermether]

Astarion x Wizard! Tav reader

A/N: part 3 of my Astarion with different Tav classes. its magic time baby

summary- 1.1k words, SFW, gn reader

Astarion x Wizard! Tav 

Neeeeerd

No seriously, that's Astarions reaction to you being a wizard. You choose to base your entire life around studying? You two are basically like oil and water in a lot of ways. 

Ok but in all seriousness, Astarion does admire your dedication to your craft. He sees how much work you put into learning new spells and is genuinely excited when you get it right 

It doesn’t mean he’s gonna stop making fun of you though. You're telling him you belong to a SCHOOL of magic??? Need for Academic validation much? Oh and please, if you're gonna wear wizard robes try to make them a little stylish, or he’ll come for your sense of fashion too.

Actually, I bet he’d help you spice up your outfits a little. A thigh slit here, a tasteful gold embroidery there, your not completely beyond hope

Dw tho, you can absolutely get him back. Oh, you need some magical assistance? Maybe help figuring out how a magical item works? Uh oh, looks like the rouge needs the wizard's help after all dontcha astarion? 

It’s definitely the highlight of your day when he has to ask for help. Unfortunately, it goes both ways. His speed and skills have definitely saved your ass in battle before 

Honestly, it’s giving annoyances to lovers. Plus I’m convinced at least 40% of Astarions love language is sass and knife cat energy. 

He enjoys the banter definitely, but it’s never meant to cut too deep. He’s good at reading people, so say you're having trouble learning this one spell and you're starting to get frustrated. He can definitely tell and knows not to make jokes about your magic today. He can’t exactly help, because this man is NOT magically inclined. But he’ll pull you away from the spell scroll long enough for you to take a deep breath and have a break. It helps in its own way because now you can come back to it with a more calm mindset. 

You can’t tell me this man isn’t laughing (a little manically) when you cast fireball. I mean come on that’s one of the most entertaining things he’s seen in 200 years let him have some fun

But also-  

He secretly finds your powers very cool. I mean there’s something beautiful about magic at its core, he can’t help but be just a little entranced. And you’ve definitely used magic to show off to him just a lil (make a rose out of magic blue light or somethin he’ll scoff but find it endearing) 

Honestly, I imagine you two are a slight hoarder couple. I mean you need to have all these ingredients for spells on you, and Astarions a rouge he definitely has like at least 5 knives on him at all times. Also the magic items. You both love to hoard those, just in case they’re useful 

If you actually do have some sort of wizard's tower, layer, study, or something Astarion wants to see it

He’ll make a joking excuse as to why he wants to see your lair. And he’s DEFINITELY gonna grab a random cloak in there and do a bad wizard impersonation 

BUT- 

The real reason he wants to see it is because it’s an integral part of you. It’s basically your home, where you store everything you find valuable, where the pantry is always stocked with the food you like, and where the bed has the exact number of pillows you want it to have. Astarion wants to know these things about you. 

I imagine after you finally defeat the mindflayers and everyone goes off to find their own way (or maybe you all stick together and keep adventuring while also occasionally having individual adventures, who am I to break up your found family) you immediately take Astarion to your tower and start working on methods to help him walk in the sun. magic sunscreen? Enchanted daylight ring? Charmed circlet? You've got options and you're not afraid to use them. Anything to make it so that Astarion doesn’t have to live his life in darkness anymore. You jest and say it would be a true tragedy if you couldn't see his beautiful silver hair kissed by the sunrise, but in reality, you were immediately tearing through every tome you owned looking for a solution. After all, who wouldn't do anything for the man that held their heart? 

Ok now imagine. You and Astarion just completed a mission, saving some people in the grove with Halsin. And you already had received a message from Wyll and Karlach asking for assistance smoking out a group of assasins that had settled in Baldurs gate. But gods you were so tired. It was nearly midnight when you both decided to crash at your liar instead of heading straight to the location Wyll had given you. You were both covered in mud, twigs, and other “gifts of nature” as Astarion had described them in a voice mocking Halsins. You were so tired your eyelids stung, and everything was hazy. You both more or less stumbled into your study, already half asleep. 

Of course, you had become a bit more coherent when you realized that there was only one bed. And two of you. Now this might seem a bit ridiculous to care about things like that considering how close the two of you are and how much you have been through and done together, but now hear me out. This man has spent the last 200 years either not having a bed or being forced to share one. You had both decided he needed some time to just be able to have his own space to sleep, after all, you had all of your lifetime together, and you wanted him to be comfortable, so whenever he had come to your study, he slept on the couch. You had wanted to get him a cot or something of his own at the place, buuut it had kinda slipped your mind entirely. And the couch he slept on was currently covered in about 50 books stacked across the couch, another thing you had forgotten about. Whoops. 

You and Astarion both looked at the pile of books on the couch and then at each other. You felt like you were about to pass out where you stood and he didn't look much better. There was an instant understanding between the both of you, that understanding being “fuck it” as you both collapse onto your bed, neither taking off your filthy armor and robes, simply passing out on the spot.

You awoke to a certain vampires face buried in the crook of your neck, trying to block out the sun now shining in his eyes. Eventually, you both dragged yourself out of the small bed and cleaned yourselves up before heading off to Wyll's location, but after this situation you both unspokenly began to sleep in the same bed alot more often.

[not-poignant]

OMG, I literally found your Astarion/Raphael fic yesterday, desperately looking for something like it. So happy someone else had the same brain worms as me XD

I was wondering if I could pick your brain a bit about what kind of direction you think you will take the fic? I was wondering if you had any plans in your head or if you are just following the vibes so to speak.

Especially with Raphael being in the pairing, I wondered if this is more of a "It turns out they are actually good for each other" kind of thing or more of a "Astarion has to find out what his life is going to be now/get over some things and Raphael will enjoy every second of making him squirm" kind of thing.

In any case, I am looking forward to reading more, thank you :)

Hi hi,

So I guess answering this would kind of be talking about really end-game spoilers, but I also don't have a plan for this story beyond Astarion/Raphael, and 'hopeful ending.'

(I mean I do have more than that, I just don't know how much of that I want to reveal at this stage, when it's only chapter 5, and this story could easily be over 40 chapters long - there's a lot of potential for change and growth that could alter the trajectory of the relationship in a lot of different directions.'

What I will say is that:

I do not consider Astarion giving into a regular non-consensual situation and just accepting it and making painful peace with it, a hopeful ending type situation. Agency is important to me in my characters. Even if he one day decides to voluntarily submit to scenes he doesn't love - that would at least be a choice. Anything done while under contract with difficult consequences will not be where the hopeful ending happens.

It's an Astarion/Raphael story, therefore the hopeful ending will be an Astarion/Raphael ending. That's just how my brain works. It will not be a 'they break up and THAT'S why it's hopeful.' However, the end may not have a conventional looking relationship. And I've written unconventional endings in relationships before (like Stuck on the Puzzle)

For me, a hopeful ending (as opposed to a happy ending) means that we have to have confidence in the idea that Astarion's life will continue to improve and get better even after the story has ended. There's now enough evidence that he has enough enrichment and potentially for happiness in his life, that he won't downward spiral like he has in the same way again. This means he needs - more support, more healing, healthier avenues for communication even if the relationship isn't healthy overall all the time/every second, and some pretty big personal realisations about what he wants in life. Hopeful ending is both 'better than where we found him, but also genuinely, when most people think on the last chapter, they think 'he's got some ways to go in healing, but I really think he's/they're going to be okay'' not just physically, but also emotionally, spiritually, mentally.

Those are the things I'm happy to reveal because that's how I feel about almost all of my hopeful endings. That's what that means to me.

I do think Raphael and Astarion can actually be good for each other, but I think we're missing huge pieces of the puzzle as to why that's true. Because we're missing so much of Raphael's post-death story, because he's deliberately hiding it.

But we'll find out more soon. At some point, High Inquisitor Verillius Receptor will visit, and then we'll find out a lot more, lol.

(Also yeah this story will be long, easily I suspect around 150k in length as a baseline - we're on an emotional journey folks! Sometimes the growth will be healthy, sometimes it'll be negative, we're going in all the directions lmao).

[toomanytadpoles]

Hot take...

I don't think that Larian is the kind of group of assholes who would say that the good ending for a character is one where their make up with their sexual abuser.

And I think the takeaway from that isn't that the other ending (which they have called the bad one) is instead the good ending.

But that the interpretation that they character was sexual abused was incorrect.

I think that means that Gale wasn't a child when he met Mystra. He was an adult; it was sometime after his study and apprenticeship at Blackstaff academy. Early and mid 20s is an adult, and he was/is normally a very confidant capable man who had a healthy relationship with his parents and is still close to his mother. He says he's never been nervous before in act 3. I don't think he would have qualified as vulnerable. He is when meet him because he is heartbroken, and his power are diminished (because he messed around with magic that ate them). His entire identify is tied to his magic, so he's absolutely f*cking lost. But that is only after the orb.

If we think Msytra met him more than five years ago, she wasn't at full power and godhood...

Astarion and Halsin are older than her...

Wyll is 24yrs old an Lae'zel is 22yrs old....who are they being paired with in fanart or fanfiction or in your own origin playthrough...

I sure see a lot of Wyll and Astarion cutie pie pairings...

If you're still reading - some math:

Year during current Game events 1492 DR.

Mystra (Midnight) was born 160 yrs ago (1332 DR)

Ascended to godhood 1358 DR @ around 26 yrs old

She Died in 1385 DR

And then was basically dead or bear-ly alive for 94-ish yrs until 1479 DR (her avatar was in a bear when Elminster found her (I am very funny))

Elminster brought her back (diminished) in 1480 DR.

[somewhere in here Gale and Mystra meet (after he had gone to Blackstaff Academy?)]

The Second Sundering ended in 1487 DR, and she has full god powers, her godly portfolio back, and the weave is quickly resorted to working order.

With that celestial dirt nap in mind. She’s 53-60ish yrs old when she meets Gale. 65ish during BG3 and she's only been a living god for 40 of those years. Has she been like 26 for 40 those years…how does ascension work?

Even including the time that she was less than fully alive, she is still younger than Astarian – 263 yrs (Idel Campiagns corrected age, he’s a least 239, became a vampire over 200 yrs) and Halsin is 350-ish yrs.

Why is it excusable to romance them as a human (or as a race with a similar lifespan) if the age difference is a problem?

If the power difference is the problem, then should non-magic users never hook up with magic users?

Ex: I don’t see swarms of people against Rose Tyler and The Doctor as a couple. She was 19 when they met, he was over 900yrs old.

Or Thor and Jane Foster in the MCU. She was about 26 when they met, he was almost 1,500 yrs old.

Both relationships have MUCH greater age differences, and each male character is a god or a bit more immortal at least. Why are those two couples ok? Why aren’t those male characters called groomers?

I think the whole thing has been a hotfix #17 issue of misunderstanding the intention and misreading what is given...

[nicollekidman]

can we hear the lyra lore 🥺🥺🥺 pls

omg bestie.... i'm still actively working it out which is why i keep talking about journaling but bare bones.... she's the only child of a powerful elf family in baldur's gate, her mother is a mystery to her and her father is in Money, she's always been weird and withdrawn but like. a Dreamer in some sense.... she learns archery early and spends a lot of time alone. i don't think she's ever particularly happy or emotive but she enjoys exploring (and she's terribly vain... wants to look just like her mother). then she gets a baby sister and dotes on her to the point where she's basically raising her alone in kind of an obsessive way. when her sister is young, things start to get weird with her parents, they're gone more and more, and when they're home they're.... strange. but they want for nothing, and lyra and her sister are happy and inseparable (i'm still deciding on her name). when her sister is 20ish she's murdered, and through some set of circumstances i haven't fleshed out yet, lyra figures out it was her parents, as a sacrifice to bhaal. she kills both her parents and burns down their entire house for good measure, both so that there is no trace but also for herself.

i think she spends the next 40-50 years alone, basically doing bounty hunter work for money and drifting along. she only speaks when necessary, becomes ruthlessly pragmatic and essentially uninterested in the general population. she's basically turned off everything except her Life Functions. she gets a reputation in the lower city as the Ghost and people leave her alone because she minds her own business unless provoked or on a job (and sometimes the kids will manage to get gifts from her... they learn to read her body language and approach on good days). she keeps her rich clothes and facepaints and always looks immaculate (when you look both dead and rich, no one gets close). i think she also sometimes lets herself be bought when she's bored but if she ever ends up genuinely vulnerable or lets anything personal slip to a patron, she kills them. i think probably she's looking for something/someone to make her come back to life but she doesn't know that's what she's doing..... like being so hungry you can't feel it anymore. she's not evil and she's not robotic she's just kind of in an emotional coma, she's not even really seeking revenge bc she knows it won't bring her sister back and she can't bring herself to care enough.

i want to flesh out more of who she was before the murder but i'm waiting for her to tell me lol.

but yes, this is why she is such a freak with astarion + the party, but this post is long enough skdjfghjfkdsl canon timeline lore is insane in a different way but who doesn't want to be murdertwins with a random traumatized vamp you stumble upon, yknow.

[all-pacas]

🛼🧃🧩

🛼 - (summary of current wip in 5 emotes:)🧑‍⚕️👩🏻‍⚕️👨🏾‍⚕️🔒🏠

🧃- (secret personal lore:) i was born on april 25th in shaker heights ohio. this is the same day and place as himym’s ted mosby and like 40% of why i will always defend him

🧩 - (what makes me stop reading a fanfic:) everyone kind of inserts themselves into their writing a little, but sometimes i’ll be reading a story and go “oh, this isn’t fanfic, this is a person layering themselves over a fictional character and working through some shit.” to use a bg3 example, there was one fanfic i read that centered around astarion but was prefaced with an author’s note basically going “i dislike this part of his backstory, i don’t think this thing in canon is true, i hate how he shames sexwork,” and then proceeded to lay out and write a story where all the things they didn’t like or identify with were removed. like, what’s the point. that’s not what i’m here for.

[princeofhummingbirds]

50 bg3 OC questions

because i have other stuff to do, but i’d rather hear about people’s ocs instead. mostly bg3 specific questions, with a few general OC questions sprinkled in.

spoilers ahead!

1. if your tav had a companion quest, what would it be called?

2. goblins, tieflings or druids? who does your tav side with?

3. for a spellcaster, what’s their favorite spell? for physical fighters, what’s their preferred weapon?

4. who, if anyone, do they romance? why?

5. favorite party member?

6. least favorite party member?

7. what’s their relationship with their parents like?

8. any siblings?

9. how do they feel about baldur’s gate as a city?

10. any deity they worship? how faithful are they?

11. do they try for diplomacy or go straight to fighting?

12. what do they do with the githyanki egg?

13. favorite person outside of the party?

14. do they enjoy fighting?

15. how do they handle life on the road? any problems with camping?

16. what’s their fondest memory?

17. what does their tent look like?

18. what do they do about the parasite in act 1? do they accept any attempts to remove it (ethel, volo, etc)?

19. how do they handle astarion trying to bite them?

20. how do they feel about their class? is it something they happen to be, or does it define them?

21. what was the lowest point in their life?

22. what’s their basic stat spread (str, dex, con, etc)?

23. do they spend time exploring or head straight for their goal?

24. will they help people without reward?

25. what’s their origin?

26. what’s their alcohol tolerance like?

27. do they help Us on the nautiloid? what about the ilithid colony?

28. how good of a liar are they?

29. what were they like as a child?

30. how do they see themself?

31. what would they change about themself, given the opportunity?

32. do they plan things out beforehand or rush right in?

33. do they utilize the power of the tadpole?

34. how do they feel about the tadpole in general?

35. do they use the astral touched tadpole?

36. do they trust the emperor?

37. what does their dream visitor look like? is it someone they recognize?

38. what do they do about orpheus?

39. do they take raphael’s offer? if so, do they honor it or try to get out of it?

40. what do they fear most?

41. what drives them? is there something they’re fighting for, or maybe they just want to live?

42. do they change over the course of the game or remain static?

43. what’s their greatest treasure?

44. do they work with gortash at all? if so, do they betray him or stay with him till the end?

45. how do they feel about each of the chosen?

46. what ending do they get?

47. what endings do their companions get?

48. what do they do postgame?

49. is their name remembered, or do they fade into obscurity?

50. tell us a fun fact about them!

[ap-trash-compactor]

Ok I think the way to make the astarionmance work better is to (1) be durge, (2) don’t pick up any companions EXCEPT Astarion until after you murder a bard, (3) before you murder a bard, go kick a squirrel.

This got a lot of the rapport building scenes to drop in a really nice order, it made more sense that someone without memories and only one comrade on earth would put up with stuff like “guy tries to bite your neck and suck your blood while you’re sleeping,” but you also get to talk to Astarion about your durge problems after the squirrel incident, and you get to talk about them again after the bard murder, and both of those scenes if navigated correctly lead to Astarion doubling down on sticking with durge in spite of their obvious problems. He’s the only companion you don’t have a “I have thoughts of murder” convo option for with durge but also the one one, with these two scenes, who demonstrates any real attentiveness to durge’s symptoms (this in the scene that drops either for cutting off Gale’s hand or by killing the squirrel [a scene that itself only drops if you talk to Timber without having Speak with Animals enabled]), and the only companion who gets an Act 1 option for durge to say that they’d understand if he wanted to go his own way in light of their, you know, durge problems, and he flat-out says he’s not going to do that (and suggests that he and durge can keep an eye on each other in case this is a tadpole problem that gets worse).

Overall, this all means that there is a real sense of them having… something… weird but organic between them. Not romance, really, but a kind of mutual pact — keeping one another’s secrets, providing for each other — that binds them surprisingly strongly. When other companions DO start joining the party, it has a sense of them coming into something established, which again helps explain why durge wouldn’t just stake Astarion when Astarion is kind of objectively the least pleasant and most insufferable companion in Act 1, and also helps create a reason that Astarion would kick his manipulations up a notch in response to the arrival of possible competition (the PC should hit 40 approval with him shortly after starting to add companions). Overall it just feels a lot more organic than his plot line did when starting at the same time as all the other companions.

[thebookbin]

The Fox

Sherwood Smith

Publisher: DAW Books (Penguin Random House) Genre: epic fantasy, military fantasy Year: 2007

So I guess I am starting off 2024 with a bang, because I stayed up into the wee hours of the night to finish The Fox, sequel to my first read of the year Inda (review here). Because Sherwood Smith has now ignited a ravenous hunger in me to see where this story goes and I expect I'll have finished the quartet before the end of the week. When people as me "have you seen x movie?" and I answer "no" this is why. I'm too busy speed-running an entire fantasy epic.

Somehow, I think this book is even better than it's first installment. Inda, on his way to being a grown man, works his way up through the world of privateers and pirates, forging friends and alliances wherever he goes. He really learns how to be a man, a good one at that. The way this book kept me in suspense, when like half the characters died at 40% I was shocked I was bamboozled I could not fathom where the story would go next, but it went to new places still. And the teasing and close calls! Inda gets so close multiple times to his old life. And despite Inda cultivating a larger-than-life aura, he is still at his heart a young man. The tryst in Ymar was the pinnacle of this.

Inda: "I will go undercover to learn things" Inda: gets captured on the first day Inda: gets drugged an immediately gives up the ghost Inda: does not go undercover, does not learn things

Thank god Tau and Jeje are still alive because if they were also dead, I was going to riot. That cliffhanger on the last book where I thought they'd all died nearly wrecked me, first Dogpiss and now this? But they both made it alive. They are such an interesting duo, Taumad the pretty man who uses sex and seduction to get what he wants, and Jeje, the ugly, loyal, stoic female fighter. They make such an interesting contrast as people, and as narrative foils that inhibit the opposite gender trope character-wise. It's usually the femme fatal with the gruff soldier, but in this it's Tau with his complex feelings about intimacy and sex as someone who uses those skills as a job (tbh I feel like the Astarion girlies would go feral over Tau).

My only hangup is Signi. She appears as a much-coveted mage that Inda will need to brave the war across the seas. His crew captures her, and fresh off the heels of his own torture, he refuses to torture her. In 4 chapters after meeting Signi, Inda declares he's in love. Compared to all the deep characterizations and relationships, romantic and otherwise throughout the novel, Signi's appearance clangs discordant with the meat of the novel. It's almost like Smith was so eager to explore what their relationship will mean that she blasts through the most important bits, the getting-to-know-you bits, and all the interesting ways their relationship could challenge them in its beginning.

I feel like Inda has been through so much although he's only twenty by the end of the book and I just... still a child. That's a baby. I can't tell if I'm dreading watching him become a man or excited. Maybe a little bit of both. And I absolutely cannot wait for the reunions that are promised at the cliffhanger.

storygraph | bookshop.org | local houston

★★★★★ HOMESICK, SEAFARING STARS

[elfinbloodbag]

37, 40, 42 for ara ♥

Thank you for asking! :):) 37. What flower represents your PC? I don't know a lot about flower languages, but I DO love this question, so I did a bit of research! I think lisianthus is the best flower to represent her, at least that I've come across so far. It represents gratefulness, charisma and is often included to show acceptance and acknowledgement, which all makes a lot of sense for her!

40. What are your PC’s eating habits? Ara loves to eat well. Fine dining is her jam, she gets excited about delicate pastry work and rich pates. She's not squeamish about "slumming it", but she loves really good food. She's also something of a grazer, often picking at food throughout the day.

42. Who is your PC’s favorite NPC(s) and why? Well, Astarion by a long shot - the very short version is that he allowed and even encouraged her to show the bad parts of herself and that gave her a kind of freedom with him she's never had before.

Apart from Astarion though, Gale. She appreciates his openness, his candor, and that he's always willing to lend an ear. She thinks of him somewhat as her consul.

[emahriel]

✦ ⤚ 𝐅𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐒: HE/THEY 𝐀𝐆𝐄: 40 (APPEARANCE-WISE) 𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄: FALLEN AASIMAR (HUMAN & AASIMAR DESCENT) 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: BISEXUAL 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒: OATHBREAKER PALADIN & NECROMANCER 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓: CHAOTIC NEUTRAL/LAWFUL EVIL

“𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄, 𝐀 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐏 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃”

Fjorn's mother was a human, whereas his father was a protector aasimar. He knew little of them as they both disappeared, or perhaps passed away, when Fjorn was but a boy. Nevertheless, he knew of his parents' faith from the token he held onto from when he was a child and up to this day - the last memory he has of them. It was a golden necklace carrying the symbol of a sunrise; Lathander's holy symbol. Though Fjorn initially followed his parent's faith, he eventually entered the ranks of a Sovereign as a paladin and had to swear an Oath of Vengeance and serve Myrkul, God of the dead. As he swore an oath to this sovereign, he eventually lost himself in his devotion to her.

While he was born to serve as champion and guide people, Fjorn's early adulthood consisted of misdeeds and barbarity in her name, ultimately leading him to become a fallen aasimar. The loss of a lover he had to kill bewildered and tormented him until it eventually prompted him to break his oath and kill his sovereign. In current days, Fjorn follows his whims and his own liberty, but won’t strive to protect others’ freedom. He believes “everyone should fend for themselves”, and he resents authority and restrictions. He’ll take what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts - his own code, which is why he broke his Paladin oath by eventually killing that sovereign. Given his nature, he got along with Astarion the most since they share similar views regarding hierarchy and use of power. With that being said, he will do what he can to save children who have been put on the wrong path or forced to do things considered “illegal” or “unlawful”, because he believes this is the outcome of bad leadership, lack of equity in society and other wrongdoings from leaders in general.

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒����𝐈𝐏𝐒

Fjorn fears intimacy and the idea of getting close to someone he meets during the events of Baldur’s Gate 3 scares him. He spent many years serving a sovereign until he lost himself in his devotion to her and committed barbaric acts in her name. Not once did he question it, because his sovereign had pulled him out of the gutter - she gave him a future. He was later sent to wipe out a cult worshipping Lathander, sworn enemy of Myrkul, only to find out the fiancé of the cult’s leader still lived, successfully dodging the massacre. For months to come, Fjorn is sent to inquire about her and make sure she has no plans on bringing back the cult to life, whereas Esfina sought him out in order to avenge her late fiancé. However, they both eventually fell for each other; she dreamt with him of a life where they could help those in need, those who shared their early life of misfortunes and give a chance to those doomed to suffer by the hands of people in power. They grew close enough to each other that they imagined a future together.

But Fjorn was his sovereign’s strongest soldier, and so when word reached his sovereign’s ears that Esfina worked in the shadows to keep the cult alive while distracting him with treacherous dreams, she sent assassins after them both. She thus murdered Esfina in the cruelest manner, making sure Fjorn was not only a witness to the spectacle, but reminded of how insignificant their lives were to her. Seeing the leader to whom he had devoted all these years simply reduce to ash any hope for a better future alongside someone who truly wanted better crushed him. It was then that he made it his resolve to break his oath the moment an opportunity arose and follow his own path.

Esfina had become his future, his reason, his weakness - and for years to come, he would blame himself for her fate. He vowed he wouldn’t let anyone close enough to him again, out of fear they would become his weakness once more and suffer the consequences of his actions and beliefs… until he met Astarion.

𝐒𝐘𝐌𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐌 (𝐏𝐑𝐄-𝐁𝐆𝟑)

◈ BLACK WINGS – As an aasimar, Fjorn has wings though they are black considering his grief and service for Myrkul turned his nature towards darkness. They are also a bit boney and missing feathers here and there from being overworked, considering he was his sovereign’s preferred pawn. While still being able to manifest wings, using them drains him of his life force. When manifesting them, the skin on his back starts scarring and decaying, and black veins sprout from their roots. Fjorn’s skin becomes slightly desaturated, as if life is being sucked out of him bit by bit. The tip of his fingers also become dark and his hands have a bruised look to them, turning blue & purple.

◈ SKULLS AND BONES – To represent necromancy, the death that surrounds him and the years he has served Myrkul. Fjorn did not worship the latter though, but rather came to dread him.

◈ MONKSHOOD – Known for its lethal toxicity, represents misanthropy and death. Can serve as a metaphor for the impact Fjorn’s deeply rooted hatred and grief had on him, how that and Myrkul’s influences spread through his body like poison.

◈ MOTH – To represent change, transformation, and death. Fjorn first changed the moment he started serving his sovereign and saw his life become filled with death. With that being said, after killing Myrkul’s disciple and breaking his oath, he goes through another significant change in his life: the Baldur’s Gate 3 events and what follows.

◈ ROTTING POMEGRANATE – To symbolize the break in the natural, cyclical relationship between life and death. The rotten pomegranate brings a sense of melancholy and nostalgia; a reminder of what once was and what could’ve been.

𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒

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