Camp moments I wish we had:

Someone gets stuck trying to take their armour off, maybe a great way to bond with a lower approval companion

Helping your companions and them helping each other do their hair after they find a place with showers/baths

That time they got food poisoning because people complained about the ingredients Tav provided and the lot of them didn't manage to make a safe meal

(Once Karlach can touch people) a battle for who's strongest with arm wrestling and lifting companions and all the hilarity that comes with it

Wyll gives a ballroom dance class

Gale reads to the group one of the books he's fully memorised

Karlach (and Wyll) give a class about killing hellspawn

Lae'zel gives a "class" about (slaying) illithids before the emperor reveal

Astarion gives everyone locks to pick after they keep complaining that he takes too long and Tav wouldn't let him give flirt lessons

Shadowheart subtly finds and evening to make everyone more resistant to the interrogation techniques she knows so well

Gale tries to teach every one of the companions to cook at one point, it goes as well as you'd expect

People asking Tav/Durge how they're doing

Birthday party? Surely someone has a birthday somewhere along the way and they can just celebrate all of theirs together because who knows how long this journey will last

Intervention for Tav to stop adopting children and pets

Cuddle pile!

Trying to scare Whithers

A story never to be told. 🥲

(Please tell me I'm not the only person creating an elaborate backstory for my Tav in my head.)

baldur's gate 3 companions in my sim style

The "Dog Days Are Over" dance scene at the end of Guardians Vol 3 except it's the Baldur's Gate tadfools because they deserve it, damn it 🥺

Continuing my new series of "dumb thoughts I have about Baldur's Gate 3," I have a strong conviction that every companion/main character may be represented by an (hilarious) 80s anthem (if you pretend that 1976-1983 is the 80s).

So, without further ado, here is my personally curated playlist for the BG3 Companions!

Astarion

"Somebody to Love" by Queen I mean, where do I start? Take a look in the mirror and cry? I spent all my years in believing you? Or my personal favorite, I just gotta get out of this prison cell/Some day I'm gonna be free! Lord... And the thing to get about this is not so much that Astarion is looking for romance necessarily, but he wishes to be in a place safe enough to love. I think that's really one of his most cherished dreams, being able to form a stable, long-term relationship with someone who will keep him safe, where he will be safe and not alone anymore. But also, can you imagine this drama queen complaining, with a full choir back up, about how hard he works every day? Dear god. So I humbly pitch "Somebody to Love" for his anthem.

The Emperor

"More than a Feeling" by Boston Listen, I was overcome by the fact that a tadpole in your brain certainly is more than a feeling. It was too good not to share! He just wants to love you!

Gale

"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell Is there a more appropriate sentiment for Gale and Mystra than I gave you all a boy could give you/Take my tears and that's not nearly all! ? This is my break up song for the poor boy. You can do this Gale, I believe in you!

Halsin

"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper You see a big bear sprawling in the sunny flowers in the middle of a forest clearing and what do you think? Girls just wanna have fun, absolutely! Also, Cyndi Lauper is an OG in sexual liberation, which is very Halsin.

Karlach

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler Oh, the jokes really don't stop with this one ^^; It's about living in a powder keg and giving off sparks? Being lonely for so long? Bright eyes? I mean... Karlach absolutely lives up to the melodrama here.

Lae'zel

"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor This one I'm probably least satisfied with as it feels very hurr durr Lae'zel fight good. But "Livin' on a Prayer" didn't come out until 86, "Welcome to the Jungle" was 88, "Immigrant Song" is right out in 1970... and none of these are quite right either. Haven't found one yet that properly captures some of the nuance of our complex, fighty lady. Perhaps subject to change later.

Shadowheart

"Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey Alright, I'll admit this one isn't perfect either, but... come on! The title is just too good! And such a rosy, hopeful song about beating the odds in the face of Shadowheart's pessimistic doom and gloom, it was just so good!

Withers

"Hotel California" by The Eagles If bone man isn't the personification of You can check out any time you like/But you can never leave I don't know what is.

Wyll

"Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas If this song is ruined for you by certain other cultural touchstones... suck it up. Or if you must, replace with "Take On Me" by a-ha, because that was a close second. But I think when you really think about it, Wyll is very much a wayward son, trying to create a little peace in this world.

Shouting into the void (that is my following) cause my friends don't play bg3 and i need to rant >:|

Here is the situation: i create Tav thinking of playing how i will like it and choosing dialogue options like i would irl (not really but you get the point), i also want to romance Astarion cause i love him -> i play for a while and decide that actually Shadowheart has better chemistry with my Tav and i kind of want to romance her more -> now i have a problem cause i want to date her but i also want to deepen my relationship with Astarion -> maybe we can be besties- but what if that won't be possible and i accidentally hurt him?? -> i can't decide, i'm gonna install a mod to be able to romance them both -> but they deserve someone who will have eyes only for them :C and even if the mod makes dating both possible i still would feel too guilty to do it -> okay, plan B i'm just gonna create a Tav on my 2nd playthrough who will have better romantic chemistry with Astarion (the one with my current Tav sucks) and then romance him -> but it will take soooo long to finish my 1st playthrough -> okay fuck it i will wait, it would be boring to just play the game once and be done with it anyway, now i at least have a plan for the future run -> ok let's pray that the game will let me be besties with him while i romance my best girl Shadowheart

Yeah so that's that, now excuse me while i go and try to kill that goddamn Auntie Ethel Hag at level 4 with all my spell slots exhausted

okay, so i think i've cracked the code

on why the girls, gays and theys all really like BG3

the short answer is the subversion of toxic gender stereotypes and the more or less relateable themes that each character has come up in game, or are implied, long answer under the cut

lots of people have been posting about individual (main and supporting) character motivations, yes but i haven't really seen any analyses based on gender and/or romance situations quite yet (please feel free to point me to them, i love discourse) as well, i am well aware that the romanceable characters are scare quotes "player-sexual" for the most part, but some elements of the gendered experience may feel more relateable to certain groups of players than others. i'm going to refrain as much as i can from making moral judgements (in terms of motivations and alignments) because all of these characters are morally complex. let's take it on a case by case basis, starting with the women in the game (minthara isn't included since i haven't done a playthrough with her as a companion yet :'D): Karlach

Karlach seems like this huge butch imo, but from what i can see she has to battle with the touch starved-ness. i guess you could make the argument here that that feeds into a stereotype about stone butches, but i think it presents a very relatable (and honest) representation of how a LOT of queer folks, especially queer non-men, deal with being touch starved. i think one thing that potentially a lot of queer women and femme-identifying folks can relate to is the fear of being "imposing" in wlw relationships. for example, i would say the fear of coming off as "creepy" or "dangerous." and inversely, the feeling of relief when you're assured that that isn't the case. the other thing that comes up, i think, with Karlach is that there's this stigma surrounding masculine women. for one, she towers over everyone else, and she's a barbarian. on the surface level, that can be extremely intimidating, obviously. but playing through her romance, understanding that she is capable of and honestly, exudes tenderness -- and the majority of which being without touching/sexuality, is just... it's really important y'all okay? Shadowheart

my personal favourite thing about Shadowheart and her storyline is that even if she appears very feminine, there is no part of the game that i can see (thus far) that has railroaded her into that stereotype. not even with the armour choices. in my file, the armour i've picked for her "end-game" level 12 armour is the shar justiciar armour she gets in the gauntlet. it's not stereotypically feminine at all. historically in video games, armour that covers everything on a woman's body (i will bring this up re: Lae'zel as well) is uhh.. really fuckin hard to find.

the other thing is while she may be very femme-coded, she doesn't necessarily use "stereotypical" seduction methods in her romance scenes. her first one is sharing wine with you and kissing, that's pretty much it, right? and if you call her beautiful, instead of acting coy, she says "i know." and thanks you for noticing. she doesn't need someone to simper over her and tell her that. she's also never shy about telling you exactly what she wants, whether in a romantic or platonic situation. picasso, i like it. Lae'zel

jesus, what can i start with here? this woman is an extremely skilled fighter, wears heavy armour, wields a fucking greatsword that's bigger than she is, all while being like, 5 feet tall. her first romance scene shows me that she is interested in sex but is primarily concerned with her own pleasure (this can be read in a positive or negative way of course: positive being she is getting hers, and negative being not concerned with her partner's pleasure). not only that but she is not interested in having kids at all, based on in-game dialogue. and like i mentioned with shadowheart, her armour (most of the gith armour options you can put her in, i would guess) are full sets of armour - minus the admittedly a little weird lack of butt coverage on most of the gith plate and half-plate that i've seen her in. uhh, yeah- wow. in a romance, it seems like she fits the "shrew" stereotype, but i argue that for lae'zel, it's more about respecting Tav than it is about swooning over them (and knowing that they're passionate). if she doesn't respect Tav, there's no way she's going to share a bed with them, never mind anything else. that to me, shows a woman who has self-respect, which isn't often something shown so strongly in a video game/media in general especially when it's written by men (which is fucking unfortunate!! i hate it!!) i think this is beaten over our heads as players most blatantly when she challenges you to a fucking duel in act 2 and then if Tav wins she boinks them right in the middle of camp. Jaheira

Jaheira is old enough to have adult children, for one. i know she's an elf, and there's some in-game dialogue that alludes to her having extended her lifespan, etc. but for argument's sake, let's say she's middle aged - she is in friggin' top physical condition. and while during the events of bg3 she is a widow, you think that's gonna stop her from meeting her goals? not only that, but her adventures didn't suddenly stop when she became a mother. there's not much of a romance element to her storyline, but she's definitely biffing off a lot of stereotypes about older women and mothers here.

the men - most of my arguments here are going to come back to the utter lack of hypermasculinity/toxic masculinity:

Wyll

he talks about dancing with you in his first romance scene, not seducing you - in fact, he shares a really chaste kiss and then is like "but now isn't the time to jump into bed, actually." he friggin blushes, because thinking about a romance with you gets him all giddy. the man dances for you. then he goddamn proposes to you like a proper gentleman. he is concerned with family. he's concerned with Karlach's well-being. he's concerned with other people's emotions, and is extremely considerate of them. he's pacted with Mizora, not some unseen super masc devil. Mizora the friggin danger femme. lastly, and i think this is really important: Wyll, regardless of a high-fantasy setting, is a black man. i am well aware that eschewing the many stereotypes of hypermasculinity in regards to black men specifically, cannot be undone with one video game, but i think it does a lot. it could do more, of course - but i feel that Larian made a wholehearted attempt with this specifically.

Minsc

the man is large and very visually "stereotypically masculine," yes, but all of his actions are either influenced by Jaheira or Boo. case closed, your honor. i'm joking. but really, Minsc respects and admires Jaheira intensely as a comrade. and what she thinks seems to matter more to him than his own motivations. that's what made it so easy for the Bhaalist assassins to manipulate him - they just had one person pose as Jaheira. boom.

Halsin

another very visually "stereotypically masculine" man, yes- but i have three things: he's open to polyamory that is represented in the game more or less in a healthy way he's very concerned with consent, both in a monogamous romance or a polyamorous one - this includes the bear scene, he does ask about it before like, barrelling into it (and no i'm not poking that bear any more than i have to in this post) uhh, have you heard him talk to/about Tav? my my. not only that but this man is quite literally built like a bear, yet he is a druid, literally about all things nature. you could make the argument that this subverts the nature/culture; emotion/reason debate as it relates to gendered roles.

Gale

okay so, not only has it been confirmed/alluded to by in-game dialogue that Gale does the cooking for the camp- (specifically by Wyll if i recall correctly), he's also just a fairly forthcoming person with his feelings and insecurities. i know a lot of people have deemed that a bit annoying, but i do think there is some value in it. for example, he is a little self-deprecating about being a bad kisser, but it's his way (especially if you read him as autistic) of saying "hey, i'm insecure about this and i usually spend a lot of time alone in a mother fucking tower in waterdeep." i.e. i don't exactly know how to do this. he's an honest, giving, and kind man, and is just as likely to show you as he is to tell you how his heart and mind function. he wants you to understand him. he's also very idealistic- that of course can be a double edged sword, but i think he comes by it honestly as well. given his background with Mystra. i shouldn't even need to mention it but the way the "with you i forget my goddess" and the "you would really prefer me as i am?" lines wrench my heart- like, okay that's very romantic but he's also (imo) accepting that he, a human man, cannot be perfect. that to me is like anti-toxic masculinity in the sense of accepting that a real relationship is where two people are equals and that it's founded in mutual respect and adoration. not unrequited love and service (especially service).

Astarion

get at me if you want, but this man is in touch with his feminine side. i would personally call him high femme, but that's a little besides the point, he sews, appreciates fashion, yada yada. the next part about him i want to discuss as delicately as possible- he's very forthcoming (once he feels relatively safe and in control of the situation at hand) with his experiences as an ab-se/SA survivor. most men do not have the space to do this, nor are they actively encouraged to share their experiences. and with that, depending on dialogue choices, he wants to cease all intimate contact and go at his own pace. not expecting men to be sexual is kind of big on its own, but given his background, i think it's especially important in his storyline. furthermore, in the spawn!romance stream, he is very explicit about moving forward with Tav as equals.

Raphael

you.. y'all. you already know what i'm going to say regarding the dialogue with Haarlep. i don't really know if i have anything to add besides reiterating that men do not have to be these perfect, virile sexual machines.

Extra Stuff

the emphasis on consent: whether it's in a romance dialogue or if it's the game warning you "you're about to do xyz, are you sure?!"

specifically consent in the romance dialogues though: there are usually 3-4 chances for you as the player to be like "actually, i don't want to do that"

queer couples (npc + npc or pc + companion) are just.. normal. once you get to the lower city you'll hear a ton of ambient dialogue where it will be like "my husband blah blah blah" and you look and it's a gnome and his dragonborn husband standing in the street

uhh, hi larian jumping on the character creator with gender neutral and gender-mixed/mixable options, way to make the player base feel seen. hearing my Tav (Festé) be referred to as "they" in dialogue without issue (especially glaring grammatical ones like i've seen in other games) was really big for me, personally.

openly trans npcs. the defense rests, your honor. okay but imagine my surprise when i hear abigail fucking thorn in a completely missable dialogue scene, where she (the character) talks openly about the fact that she is a fucking trans woman. like.

This is not Stray, I swear! But damn if'n ain't quality gaming!

hello yes i would like to report a murder

Since it's my birthday today here's how I think everyone would celebrate Tav's:

Karlach is all giddy and excited for her gift that she accidentally spoils because she leaves it lying around. It's either something handmade or something you mentioned once. She also bought fireworks that she lights with her tail.

Gale gives you one of his favorite books magically annotated with his opinions and reactions (it can be dispellled easily so it doesn't ruin the actual book). He tells you you can do the same for his birthday and it could become your thing. He also casts an illusion in the sky/ceiling of your favorite weather/starry night

Shadowheart gives you something stylish and practical like a sturdy clip for your cape in your favorite color. She spends a lot of time undoing Astarion's sabotages and teaching Lae'zel which Githyanki birthday customs would not be well received.

Wyll organises the party, he reminds everyone to get gifts, arranges for Alfira to play (or magiced self-playing instruments for durge), ensures they have a hearty inn-style meal and tables and chairs at camp for the night. Tav insists they don't need a gift after everything he's done, but he writes them a poem anyway and gives them flowers.

Astarion is busy trying to make it all "less boring, darling" aka he's a menace setting traps and sabotaging preperationd. He also "finds" a bunch of liquor he deems good enough. He jokingly gifts Tav 'a night with him' and they all laugh, he then pulls out a beautiful hand-stitched camp shirt he made for Tav.

Lae'zel is "unimpressed" by this Faerûnian birthday celebration as it involves no fighting nor enjoying people's bodies in other ways. Despite it all she gives Tav a Gith style weapon appropriate to their class which she may or may not have been sharping for days. She helps people do their hair, pretending to be mad about that. She also shares her eyeliner.

Why is Astarion using Sleight of Hand on my Tav's a$$??? I mean they already spent a couple of nights together. He only needs to ask, 😭 what the heck.

Three dads wishing their daughter good luck at her Catholic school final exams.

Does this count as finger food?

We all know where those fingers were.

I was wanting to practice color theory

putting astarion's sewing skills to worthwhile use