#ESPECIALLY wyll. goddamn.
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so I'm replaying bg3 with the mod that lets you travel with all companions simultaneously, which is incredible for party banter purposes
but interestingly thus far Gale is the only male companion who hasn't attempted to flirt with a female companion
#bg3#its so great though party banter triggers So Often#bc there are SO many different combinations of characters#and its all so interesting! so much insight into the characters!#but yeah gale has this rep as basically an incel bc of the bug with his approval before the big patches came out#but astarion and wyll are the ones who keep hitting on the ladies!#ESPECIALLY wyll. goddamn.#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep
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Odd internet discourse but I absolutely think every single of the main NPC’s would peel and orange for TAV/Durge, mostly depending on relationship status.
Wyll would peel an orange for you if he didn’t know you, he’s the Blade of the Frontiers!!! Peeling an orange for someone, let alone his friend or lover with probably a breath of relief from killing goblins/giant bats/gnolls. And he’d be a good orange peeler too. He’d even probably break it down perfectly into the little slices too. He kind of gets a hiccup when Mizora transforms him but he quickly figures out how to put his new claws to use and uses them to cut the peel even better like one of those fancy orange peelers.
Gale probably wouldn’t peel an orange for someone if they were some stranger on the street, but most definitely if you’re his friend or beyond. But if you’re his lover he’d probably make you a magic orange tree that gives you perfectly peeled oranges whenever you want them, mostly bc he’s not the best at peeling oranges (the skin is too tight for him, ok???) and everything HAS to be perfect for his Tav/Durge. God Gale would just be like “you’re just not ambitious enough try harder”, give you a thumbs up, and fuck off.
Karach would totally peel and orange for her bestie, and most definitely for her Tav/Durge. The thing is she’d totally suck at it. I imagine she just bites the peel to get it loose, but then her claws would just cut into the orange and get juice all over her hands (and in her eye), and it’d be a totally fucked up orange BUT she would do her best and yk what? She can just squish it and make Tav/Durge orange juice. (Plus Tav/Durge can lick it off her hands so who’s complaining rlly)
Shadowheart would only peel an orange for you if you were her BEST friend/lover and also if she’s a Selunite. Yk Shar has some sacred law about oranges being some weird metaphor for emotions and she won’t stand for that as a Sharran. She would look at Tav/Durge with that incredulous “okay…?” Look she does and that tone she has when she thinks her dearest is being silly/stupid, but she would do it. She would also be a decent peeler I imagine, but she would leave those annoying white strands on it just to kind of piss Tav/durge off.
Lae’zel would peel an orange depending on how you approach her. I think she’d have to see you peeling an orange first, get curious about it, and eventually break down and ask “wtf is that?” And Tav/Durge has to show her how to peel and orange. Then it becomes some like wild competition to her, especially if you romance her and give her a peeled orange once. Then she just starts peeling oranges and is absolutely awful at it and then gets angry that she’s not good at peeling oranges. So in the end she’ll probably take your orange, peel it for you, go like “chck, see? This is how a true warrior peels an orange.” Just to show off how goddamn good she is at peeling oranges, then give it back. And in the end she is crazy good at peeling oranges. (I imagine Tav/Durge and Lae’zel peeling oranges, then exchanging them while waiting for a sunrise. I also imagine Lae’zel likes the citrusy taste, but not how sticky it is.)
Astarion would only peel an orange for you only if you’re his lover. People who don’t think he would have never seen him interact with Durge or Half-illithid Tav (heavy on Durge in their entirety). And I don’t mean this in a “omg he’s my Prince Charming” I mean it in a way of like, a silent act of service. He would peel an orange for a romanced Tav in Act 3. He’d probably look at you weird, but he’d peel it, being anxious and snarky the whole time (bc let’s be real this man has probably never in his 240ish years of life, peeled an orange. Probably makes a note about how “CAZAdor never had USE for ORANGES”). But he would peel it, and complain about his nails and clothes in that whiny tone that he has when he really doesn’t mind, he’d just taking the piss out of you because you’re an adult and can technically do it yourself. But he gets the point. Kind of. Non-ascended epilogue Astarion is the one who gets it, and isn’t as snarky about doing it as Act 3 Astarion.
Ascended Astarion would peel oranges for Tav/Durge only after they beg him too, he wants/needs to see them pathetic before he entertains the thought of being anything for them just for them. He would also be super manipulative and bitchy about it like “oooohhh look at what I do for you, darling. You owe me so such, my pretty little consort. I treat you sooo well, don’t I?” The whole works.
P.S. Halsin would peel an orange for anyone who asks, and I imagine he’s good at it. He’s Archdruid, which means he gets a +10 to fruit checks. And oranges he peels also just always taste the best too. It’s concerning how good they are.
#bg3#baldurs gate 3#gale dekarios#bg3 wyll#gale of waterdeep#shadowheart#lae’zel#astarion#halsin#karlach bg3#karlach#my silly silly thoughts#my writing#I saw people talking about this and I felt like I needed to sacrifice my piece#I think people underestimate how much these characters adore Tav/Durge
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I love Wyllstarion but I feel like we could use more fic about why Wyll falls for Astarion alongside Wyll being Astarion's fairy-tale prince. Because look, Astarion is obviously gorgeous, and Wyll drops comments suggesting he finds him attractive, but early-game Astarion is also casually cruel and kinda goddamn irritating if you're a good-aligned character. There's a lot of free real estate around exploring what an idealistic romantic like Wyll gets from a relationship where yes, the vampire is hot and suave and funny, but he's also constantly mocking everything the Blade of Frontiers stands for, including specifically everything he thinks about sex and relationships. Contrary to romcom logic this would in fact put a lot of people off!
The most obvious dynamic for me is probably that Wyll would be fascinated by Astarion, both from the perspective of a professional monster hunter traveling with a monster (which adds its own taboo charge to everything) and a young Baldurian exile traveling with an older lifelong city-dweller. Astarion knows all the bars Wyll barely got a chance to visit before getting exiled! He remembers all the balls and festivals Wyll grew up with, even if he's a little vague about what he was doing there! Sure he can be callous and mean, but it's outweighed by him being a genuinely interesting travel companion.
And in general the game could've done more with the fact that Wyll's whole life is spent trying to be a folk hero with a literal devil at his shoulder trying to pervert his good intentions. It feels like he should be a little more shaken up about the Karlach thing - he almost killed a desperate woman by Just Following Orders! And most companions have some level of "forced to be evil to survive" going on, but especially in Act 1, Astarion is the most up-front about it. He's a natural choice for Wyll to commiserate with about Mizora, and if anything the fact that Astarion is vocally anti-heroics means Wyll's less worried about him being judgmental.
I mean look I'm very into Astarion hurt/comfort and whump and to some extent that means I'm just going to gravitate to more Astarion-focused stuff, but I read a fair amount of Wyllstarion and it seems like there's room for relationships that build out their foil-ness a bit more, from either character's POV.
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Y’all will literally bend over backwards to defend Larian replacing Karlach’s Black-coded character model, and I’m so tired of it. This is my final goddamn statement on the Karlach debate. Stop sending me messages about it.
I played all of Early Access, and this was the Karlach I got used to:
Yes she is a tiefling, not a human, but she has clear afrocentric features, coding her as Black.
Behind the scenes, Larian had created a custom head for her, and through datamining we can see this custom head still held at least some of those afrocentric features.
But at some point, Larian decided to scrap this entirely and make a brand new head for her, and this is the one they ended up using for the final release:
Some fans have pointed out that she is Asian-coded now, as if that makes it okay. But the stance I am firmly standing with is that I do not see it as okay to replace a Black character with an Asian character. POC are not interchangeable, and for Larian to treat Black Karlach as a disposable placeholder was wrong.
So, I made a mod to change that, out of respect for Black fans especially. All I fucking did was replace her face with the original EA model, kept her new body and ears, and added her datamined scarring. And ironically, some folks are now mad at me instead of Larian. Maybe people just don't know about Karlach originally being Black, or maybe it's the anti-Black racism that perpetuates every fandom. With the specific kind of backlash I've seen, I'm leaning towards assuming the later, because holy fucking shit, the comments I received on NexusMods were so rancid with racism that I had to turn them off; it got so out of control. Everything from calling her too manly to literally comparing her to a monkey. So yeah, I am suspicious when (especially white people) conveniently found a new reason to hate her being Black. It feels like y'all were just dying for a justification to pretend Larian wasn't racist for all this.
If Wyll was Black the whole of Early Access, but suddenly made a different race for the Full Release, would y'all say the same about him? Because if not, then quit lying to yourself that this isn't misogynoir.
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Valentine's Day Special
I did it! I got it finished! As a thank you to everyone who has given kudos and comments, and because Valentine's Day is coming up, here's a smuterific one-shot featuring: pegging, butt stuff, Astarion having feelings, Eleanor has dom tendencies she didn't know about, and Astarion getting nice things!
Rated a very, very E for smut.
Roses are red, violets are blue, blah blah I’d like to fuck you.
Or: Astarion bought a toy. Eleanor wants to give him a night he won’t forget.
“Legs up,” he says. “Pull your knees up. Better leverage.”
You do. He leans back, bracing his hands on your knees. Moving himself so you hit his sweet spot ruthlessly.
Another peek at you, pleasure painted over every line of his body.
“Fuck me, Eleanor.”
The inn is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Two stories, shutters closed against the torrent, lantern light turning puddles and muddy streets golden.
You’re going to cry. Not that anyone will be able to tell in this storm. Poor Karlach has been hidden in a cloud of steam since the downpour began.
“Gods, I’m not taking another step unless it’s towards the front door of that inn,” Astarion says, voice pitched firmly into bitchy. “I am not slogging through one more minute of this filth.”
Filth being the inches-deep trough of mud the road has turned into. Y’all are coated up to the knees.
“A warm bed and a warmer bath would be nice,” Wyll says. And if Mr. Of-the-Frontiers “I’m used to sleeping on rocks” is saying that, you know everyone is thinking it.
“Fuck,” you say. Eloquent as ever. “We got gold, right?”
“Plenty,” Gale says. His hair keeps sliding over his face in rivulets of water. He looks like a sad, wet cat.
“Hope they got rooms.”
They have, in fact, got a packed-ass seating area, a handful of alcove bunks in a common area upstairs, and a single, small room with a modest bed (other travelers had the same idea when the storm hit).
Y’all’ve had a helluva day. Chasing down leads to some sort of bullshit or another. Half of y’all ain’t even here (Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Halsin, and y’all’s new friends had split off to go hunt down something else).
Which meant when y’all triggered a bunch of undead critters in the shitpile of some tomb, y’all had to do a lot more work to clean up. Astarion took the brunt of it after the two of you (again) got separated from the others.
He stands there, hair plastered to his skull, not an ounce of pink in his complexion (and looking grayer than usual). That’s when the idea comes to you.
“Y’all mind if me and Astarion take the room?” you say.
Ain’t no way to be subtle about it. They all know what you two are about. Especially since that goddamn newspaper came out (it wasn’t neither of y’all’s fault the fucking graveyard grounds keeper was a nosy sunuvabitch who both took his job way too seriously, and took off sprinting to the Faerun equivalent of a tabloid newspaper after catching a glimpse of you.) (You’d finished by then, which was probably the only reason Astarion hadn’t run him down and shut him up.)
They’ve known you two were a couple for a long while. They’d assumed you two had been physical for longer than you actually had been.
“Really?” Karlach says, still steaming. “After all this?”
Astarion says nothing, though his eyebrows quirk in mild interest. The bags under his eyes are more prominent, the color almost bruise purple. His eyes are duller. He looks more corpserific than he has in a while.
You started it, he seems to say. So you finish it.
“I just wanna take a bath and lay in bed, and all my clothes gotta dry,” you say. “We both’ve seen each other naked.”
Clever mischief glints in Wyll’s eye. He’s the most solid out of all of you’uns. The one with the most rigorous sense of morality. Usually plays the straight-laced folk hero.
But the man’s damned charming, and his genial good will hides a wicked sense of humor.
“All the bunks have privacy screens,” he says. “We’ll all be drying out our belongings.”
Gale says nothing. Just stares into the middle distance as he hikes up a section of robe to wring about a liter of water out.
Wyll makes a show out of checking out the common room and y’all’s fellow travelers. “In fact, I see other couples doing just that.”
“I’m not saying we’re gonna fuck, but if we do, you really wanna sleep right next to that?”
Wyll snorts and waves a hand, smiling. “On second thought, I think I’ll pass.”
Karlach pulls a face. “In public?”
“Y’all said they got privacy screens. And you didn’t have no problem walking around tits out during that heatwave.”
“Which beds did we get?” Gale cuts in. He used up even his much-improved magic capacity trying to get you and Astarion out of that fucking trap sinkhole. He can’t even do his presto-tation cleaning spell to dry himself off.
So you end up taking the key and heading upstairs, Astarion trailing after you.
Bath water is something you gotta pay for, in Faerun. The tub’s in the room, and you’re free to haul up however many buckets from the well outside yourself. But that’s a lot of buckets to drag up a flight of stairs, and the inn keep don’t let customers heat it up over the fire themselves.
So a good hour after you and Astarion settle in, you finally got a bath drawn and steaming.
“You go first,” you say.
Astarion sits on the bed in nothing but his drawers, wrapped in a blanket. He don’t get hypothermia—undead and all—but he does get real achy in the cold.
He gives you a small, tired smile, and lets the blanket (and his drawers) slide down.
You still ain’t super used to seeing a cock all bare. Not more than what your occasional forays into porn showed—so mostly just the part not currently buried in somebody. It hangs more forward than you thought it would. Also smaller than you thought it’d be (again, porn and both unrealistic standards, and flaccid ones are smaller).
You make yourself look away. But not before Astarion—ever alert and enough of a bastard to make that your problem—notices.
“See something you like, sweetheart?” Where once that line would have been pure, silken debauchery, his voice is calmer when he’s alone with you, now. Still carries a flirty lilt (he always does with everyone), but with less performance woven through it.
“Just curious,” you say. “And I like watching you—not creepily, I mean. Anyway, if you want a bath and then the bed—for sleeping only—I’m down for that.”
“Mmm,” he says. Steps into the water and hisses. He eases himself down slow. Finally sits and all but melts against the wedge of the wooden tub, eyes closed and head tilted back. “Yet you requested this little love nest for us. And that cunning mind of yours always has at least three ideas fluttering around.
Said with a wiggle of his fingers around his temple.
He’s got a long neck. Stretched out like that, his adam’s apple stands out. As do his bite scars.
“We really can just sleep,” you say.
Now he cracks one, red eye open. Tilts his head to better peer over at you. Swirls his hand in the water as he waits for an answer.
He’s being patient with you. Says you’re patient with him, but you can count on three fingers all the people you ever actually wanted to bed, and none of them ever got that far. It’s not an ordeal for you to wait. You don’t have any expectations for him in that department (which you suspect had been a huge relief for him, and one of the reasons y’all’ve worked out).
He does so much for you. He’s helped you work through hangups you didn’t even know you had. He’s saved your ass more times than you can count, directly and not.
“If you wanted,” you start slow. “And you can say no at any point. But, if you wanted, I thought we could take a night and I could learn, um. We could learn what you like better. Just you. Or, well, me focusing on you.”
His idle finger twirling stops. He stills, both eyes open now and fixed on you. He doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Doesn’t even breathe.
Then his lips part. His words stutter and he frowns. Then, “You want to give me pleasure.”
Every word slow and enunciated. Not…trepidation, exactly. And not quite disbelieving. He trusts you, he’d said. He’s just verifying for the sake of both’ve you.
“I’m curious,” you repeat, so deliberate and nonchalant it’s borderline teasing.
“Pleasure me how?” Astarion says. Once again, flicking at the bathwater.
Aaand the rest on AO3 so tumblr doesn't slap me.
#bg3#baldur's gate 3#baldur's gate iii#fanfic#astarion#astarion x tav#feeding alligators fic#tavstarion#bg3 fic#bg3 smut#astarion smut#plus size tav#demisexual tav#slow burn#yes even the smut is slow burn#happy valentine's day#these two shitheads#two dumbasses#they're in love your honor
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I've dug around Act 3 enough times that I think I'm prepared to put in my wishlist for whenever ultimate edition releases. Understand these are all elements that may be present in mild degrees in Act 3 as it currently exists, but I need it expanded on drastically.
-More breakup reactivity in Act 3. I understand keeping it a bit on the minimal side in the early acts since you can flag those on accident/it can be pretty casual in nature. But by Act 3, you've locked in to a committed relationship. That's the kind of thing thats going to impact your dynamic severely if you end things. Having Gale sniffle a little and then immediately jump to Besties dialogue was WILD.
-I get the impulse to keep the team together in Act 3 because by that point there's a lot of story content you could potentially miss out on but I really do wish they'd been a little bolder in what choices let you drive companions away. Karlach, Laezel, Astarion and Wyll especially all have things they REALLY should ditch the player for, or at least require persuasion to stick around (allying with Gortash for Karlach, taking the astral touched tadpole/sleeping with the Emperor for Laezel, fighting Cazador without him for Astarion and hooking up with Mizora for Wyll). The hirelings system ensures the player won't be left mechanically shorthanded, and all of these are choices the player has to know would alienate their companions.
-A GODDAMN TAVERN SCENE. AN INN ROOM SCENE. SOMETHING. Let me party with these people!!! The tiefling party is so goddamn good I need more moments like that in the story!!!
-More content for allying with Gortash/Orin. I'd even accept this as a Durge exclusive, for right now allying with either of them just sort of feels meaningless. Gortash gets a good cutscene or two but it doesn't really feel like a partnership so much as him sitting there waiting for you to do what you were gonna do anyways. A reality where Orin or Gortash offer meaningful aid and interaction with you to help you take down the other would've been so interesting, especially for a Durge, because it can be another avenue through which to understand your dynamic with Bhaal's cult if Orin thinks you're arriving penitent and ready to submit to her authority
-Much as it is a fun surprise to run into the tieflings throughout the city I'd love a quest where if you find Alfira she'll invite a bunch of them over to the Elfsong for a "made it to the city" celebration. Again we really needed more moments of just. Being. in this act.
-Everyone and their mother has said this but Gortash's coronation needed so much more hype and build up around it. Why is the coronation of an Archduke being treated with all the import of just. Electing a new Senator. Why is Gortash just interrupting the proceedings to explain the Evil Plan to you while all the patriars wait in polite silence. Why is the only real pushback on entry you get just a lone Steel Watcher going hey. Dont kill anything >: (. Also considering the implications is that Gortash murdered literally all these people shortly after. Why were there zero consequences to this and zero comment for anyone in the outside world.
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"Wyll's quest regarding the Wyrmway is now a subquest instead of part of his main quest."
"Wyll's quest regarding Ravengard will now more reliably and frequently receive updates in Act III."
so mechanically speaking then, was the demotion of quest status in the first point required for them to implement the functionality of the second or??? because i genuinely don't understand why it became a subquest, especially when the game's structure already allows you to just ignore quests & move on to the next area if you want. most of the patch notes that directly mention wyll are bug-related or scripting flow, which i don't have a problem with (bug fixes are great, we love those). i'd love to hear any thoughts about this, though, because i really can't think of a reason why it had to become a subquest?
i also initially read that second point as planning for future updates to wyll's content but at a second glance i think it may just be referring to journal updates? i don't know, i'd like to believe my initial reaction was the correct one but... yknow. anyway i maintain that this is yet Another example of some really goddamn weird choices on the developmental end of things. if the companion quests exist on a sliding scale of 'most related to current main storyline to least,' wyll is very much at the top end of things. optimistic thought is that a lot of his scrapped content existed in the parts of act 3 that were cut, but i would think that as a studio you'd see that & make an effort to level things out with how much screentime the other companions have. at the bare minimum, your player base shouldn't be able to clock so many weird holes in his story arc where it's clear that something else was supposed to be offered.
i'm also not saying that the other companion arcs weren't clunky in some areas & didn't need a bit of help, but the disparity here makes deprioritizing those edits seem like a more logical course of action. like there's a difference between some slightly unpolished scenes vs. something that feels fundamentally lacking in a lot of structural ways, especially when you get into the finer points of the comparisons. act 3 imo is the one that feels the most bare-bones to me. like yes, there's Stuff there visually and quests too but it doesn't feel as lived-in as acts 1 & 2. i would say that the underdark to ketheric section feels the most dense, content-wise, and i don't think it's a coincidence that it's the bracket of the game i enjoy the most. i maintain that giving wyll's storyline the attention it needs would not only help with the character arc itself, but also pad out the quieter stretches of act 3. at this point i don't really see how they'd be able to add in the upper city without either completely changing the trajectory of the third act (so like, almost definitely something we Will Not See Happen & understandably so from a production standpoint. weird post-release editing aside, it is still a finished game.) & i'm also not sure what a DLC would look like here because the main story feels pretty complete too. off the top of my head, maybe one where you follow wyll & karlach into avernus would work, but that's worldstate dependent & probably wouldn't get made for that reason.
all that to say, from where i'm standing it really seems like giving wyll the same respect other companions are offered would by extension fix some of the act 3 issues, without having to release an entirely new area of the game (i'd love it i just don't think it's realistic lmao). like i know why/what the factors are that led to wyll getting the short end of the stick, it's bullshit but it's not the first time we've seen black characters handled unfairly by devs (& fans), but beyond that it's literally just. so confusing to me on the basis of writing alone. why wouldn't you use the character with that many ties to the titular city of the game more? why isn't he more integral to the story when it really seems like he has every reason to take the spotlight in certain areas?? like that's a fantastic resource of a character to use to move the narrative along and Yet.
idk. this started off as just a reaction to patch notes but it's so unbelievably frustrating to watch it keep happening every patch.
#like when you KNOW why but my brain still refuses to comprehend?? bc its so Dumb on production's side??#there feels like there's so little flavour text for him even like... idk.#anyway thats my thoughts on patch 6#new kisses are nice menu qol fixes sound good now please do something about this#like put it on the list or something.#bg3#no really like does anyone know why this is now a subquest. what does this mean have any of you seen this in other games.
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HII THIS IS SO LONG OVERDUE, but with the influx of my Hazbin fixation I've gotten into writing more so— IM GONNA TRY MY ABSOLUTE BEST HERE IM RUSTY
This is a Matchup for @tolkien-fantasy ´･ᴗ･`
I match you with Wyll !
°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
⚜️He definitely lets you rant and talk about anything, especially your interests or what you're currently learning.
⚜️ ABSOLUTELY dances and sings when you play guitar, absolutely supports you and constantly encourages you to get better and try new songs.
⚜️He absolutely enjoys the way you talk, Especially when y'all get sentimental he always feels so loved and heard he's so goddamn Inlove with you.
⚜️His personality absolutely matches with yours, He's calm and soft spoken and you're super hyper and kranked up to 110% almost all the time; whenever he needs to recharge his social battery he just asks for your company
⚜️Tries to match your style with you, He doesn't care what others might think, you're his beloved and if he wants to feel handsome and done up with you on his arm to match then he shall do so!
⚜️if you ask (or if you don't he will either way) he will try and pick up your hobbies and plans little dates around making pastries or cheese with you or learn the conditions and names of the plants and flowers in your garden.
⚜️ He's gonna ask to see everything you create art or writing wise like he will gawk in awe and praise you to the heaven and hells.
⚜️To say the least he absolutely adores you and would tear Baldurs gate down for you
THIS MIGHTVE BEEN SHIT???? I HOPE NO
#bg3#bg3 x reader#halsin x reader#astarion x reader#bg3 gale#bg3 tav#bg3 fic#bg3 wyll#bg3 karlach#gale x reader
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I love love love your Wyllstarion and Tavstarion (genuinely, I have read each of the fics you’ve posted so many times it’s unreal), but also your Durge/Lae’zel has captivated me. Like yes, you are so fucking right in your interpretation of them, and I love Durge with most of the companions (Shadowheart, Wyll, and Astarion were my previous faves with Durge), but reading your campaign description and reading your recent fic that included them was amazing and has solidly placed Lae’zel/Durge alongside them (I can’t pick a true fave, I love them all for different reasons, though I think that’s partially bc Durge is *meant* to work with all the companions). I love the way Lae’zel is truly a perfect counterweight for good Durge’s struggle, the way the fight and control in Lae’zel brings out the fight for control in Dorothea, and I love the way Dorothea challenges Lae’zel’s over-tight control on herself. Also the line about Astarion not knowing if the urge was possessing the bard or if the bard was possessing the urge fucking slapped me in the face in the best way—brilliant breakdown of Durge in a single line, I’m in awe. Okay done fangirling for now, I hope you have a lovey day
AH i love this message thank you!!!! i'm glad you've been enjoying the uh, pouring forth of the very specific bg3 fic concepts; i've been having a lot of fun and managing a bizarrely high (for me) output of work since playing this goddamn game
i am also so glad to have successfully sold someone on durge/lae'zel!!!! she works insanely well for a redeemed durge as you noted, especially if you want to play a durge who becomes "good" over time rather than starting that way. lae'zel actually LOVES how good at violence durge is!!! but then she herself also learns the value of care and using her strength to protect people she cares about and they evolve together!!!!! i'm frothing!!!
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also what's up with the wyll/eden/astarion polycule, how'd that happen
:3c hehehe
okay so to be clear this polycule exists only in my brain/the bg3 fic i wanna write and not in the actual campaign. but it means a lot to me and makes brain go brrrr
i like to imagine this polycule starting as like... wyll and astarion each separately develop romantic feelings for eden, and they have to figure out how they want to navigate that. i want to respect the fact that, in the game, wyll specifically says he's not interested in a polyamorous relationship, so this is kind of like... a what-if scenario for a situation where i think that might be something he'd be interested in.
because i don't think this is something any of them sought out, it just kinda. happened with time.
wyll and eden get together first, having their sweet slowburn romance over the course of the adventure. and, y'know, they really care about and support each other, and it's nice to see love blooming in such a dark, scary time.
but there's this pervasive sense among the party that they're fighting a losing battle. can they really do anything to change the world, after all they've seen? sure, they're not gonna stop trying--gods know eden is a determined son of a bitch and won't back down if he thinks there's even a minuscule chance of making a difference.
but it's wearing on them, and even though eden keeps going, it's clearly wearing on him, too. there's so much going wrong, it feels like, all the goddamn time. when does it end?
then... towards the middle of act 2, wyll picks up on something he's been subconsciously aware of, but hasn't acknowledged: the very clear feelings astarion is developing for eden. the two have always butt heads, but there's an underlying affection between them that catches his attention. and, sure, he's confident that eden isn't going to be unfaithful or leave him, but at the same time it does make him nervous.
does astarion have something he doesn't? does eden *want* him the way he wants wyll? is wyll prepared to potentially have to share eden, or lose him? he doesn't think he wants the answers to those questions.
this is something in the back of his mind for a few weeks, and he finds himself watching eden and astarion a bit more closely. eden does pick up on it eventually and asks him what's wrong, but he lies and says that nothing's wrong. why would there be?
then, wyll gets *severely* hurt in a battle, nearly dying in the process. and eden fucking *loses it*. he manages to save wyll's life, but it's still gonna take time for his injuries to heal. and that makes something click in wyll's brain: there is a very real chance he won't survive this journey, that even eden's determination to claw them out of hell might not be enough to save all of them. and, if he dies, what happens then? what happens to eden?
so, wyll, the self-sacrificing bastard he is, decides that, if he dies, then someone needs to stick around for eden. and... well, if he's right, and astarion does want eden romantically, then maybe he'll fit the bill. the same day he decides that, he seeks astarion out to talk to him and tell him, hey, if i don't survive this, i want you to take care of eden.
and astarion... does not react well. he seems deeply uncomfortable with this whole conversation, especially when he's always been sure that wyll hates him. he doesn't deny having an interest in eden, but he tells wyll off for being so willing to disregard himself in this situation (and also eden's feelings, too!). bold of him to assume eden wouldn't tear the world apart for him if it came to that.
as astarion says this, wyll picks up on a note of what seems like bitterness in the vampire's voice, as though he's resigned *himself* to the role of quietly pining from the shadows, never having the closeness he actually *wants* here, not having eden care about *him* as much as he does wyll.
basically, this whole conversation gives wyll a lot to think about.
and okay i'll admit i haven't ironed out all the details from there, but i know that astarion joins the relationship wayyy down the line from there, definitely sometime in act 3. it's not something they really sit down to discuss at first, though they do down the line when they have a moment to breathe.
i DO know that i want there to be a moment where like... *eden* is the one in peril this time, and astarion and wyll have a Moment while they're rushing to save him where it really clicks for them that... oh. yeah. at the end of the day, they both care about him, and maybe that *is* enough. they can both protect him and keep him happy, if he so chooses.
the dynamic is like. eden is dating both wyll and astarion, though wyll and astarion aren't dating each other. they might consider it at some point, but i don't think it's something they'd really want to go for.
and i'll be honest that i'm not sure if this particular dynamic would *work* long-term. maybe it could! maybe not! but it at least works for the moment they're in, even if it's rocky at times. eden has two hands.
the dynamic in my brain is like... wyll and astarion both love and care deeply about eden. eden loves and cares deeply about both of them. they team up to keep their little devil safe and in their arms, so they don't lose him as he throws himself into danger to protect them.
(also i know this isn't going much into eden's perspective, but i will be honest i'm a bit self conscious about how long this got lmao. another time, perhaps. idk idk i just love them so much)
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Thinking about Glawen choosing a relationship with Astarion in my current run-through has been a trip—in part because I built this whole world for him and (despite loving Shadowheart, Wyll and Karlach for myself the most)....Astarion seems surprisingly fitting.
Glawen is a relatively young half-elf, though certainly not young by human standards; he prides himself on maintaining the youthful idealism most full-humans have in their mid-twenties (especially his fellow nobles), where they think the world is theirs to conquer—which is compounded by the fact that he grew up relatively wealthy and has never wanted for anything. Glawen has lived a good life, chose his life path based on nothing but his own whims, & offsets his bits of snark with a primary love of the histories, fighting, and an affection for the wilderness he got from his elven mother.
Now though—here he is. Parasite in his head thinking about how to best go about stopping what he finds out is the end of goddamn world. Trying to help people best he can, but mostly feeling a bit overwhelmed by the weight of taking a hardline 'heroic' side, though he thrives on learning about people, their backgrounds, their faiths, & absorbing it like a little sponge. Glawen works hard to be as fair as he can to everyone, regardless of their pasts—coming from a house of nobles, he knows diplomacy is part of the deal if you want people to keep from each others throats all the time. It's just how he is.
But then: Astarion. A wildcard in the night, someone who says the snarky, hilarious things that come to mind sometimes (but that Glawen would never say aloud). Someone unafraid of his love of the finer things (Glawen was always taught never to flaunt them) who embraces his hedonism and sensuality without a care in the world, and who Glawen finds himself drawn to despite himself...even after he finds out the man is a vampire.
Astarion is gorgeous, and so it doesn't phase him when he realizes he's being more kind—and more attentive to—the most flamboyant of his camp. It's nice, letting loose and laughing at things he would usually keep quiet about—and Astarion is unafraid to say anything, which delights his (secretly a little) chaotic heart more than he ever dare admit to the more hardline members of the party. Adventuring with Astarion means finding the humor in the macabre, poking fun at what is too serious...and letting yourself be a little rude, as a treat. He needs some of that. Look at where being compliantly self-serious got him—trapped on a Mindflayer ship and shuffling across every corner of Faerun for a cure...and then a mission he still isn’t sure he’s cut out for.
Still, it plainly shocks him when that selfsame man—his amusement and delight during this long parade of new horrors—asks to indulge his pleasure after they defeat the goblin camp...by making it clear he wants Glawen to come to bed.
(Glawen knows in the back of his mind that this the first time he's clearly been seduced—he should have known Astarion, a long-since-turned vampire, noticed his attention—but right now, given the current circumstances, he's down for anything. When will a man like him get the chance to indulge himself like this again)?
So, he gives in. He indulges the basest desires of his own hedonism, and finds himself rewarded with a delightful night...and the sight of an infernal poem carved into the back of his 'darling' that Glawen mulls over in the back of his mind for several days.
If he’s honest, what he’s seen nags at him. His recent experiences with Astarion are a tiny prick in the back of his skull when there are momentary lulls during their rests, when he gets lost in his own thoughts, or when he ranges ahead alone to assess their wilder surroundings. He often thinks of carving on Astarion's back, the conflicting feelings he has about it being written in infernal...and the way he feels about what he's done, knowing his now-lover clearly has a conflicted past...and how indulging his plainest carnal desires has done nothing to lessen his fondness of Astarion himself.
"Its not serious," Glawen thinks to himself when Astarion flirts with him every free second they have for conversation. “You did this knowing it wouldn’t be, and there’s no way he’d be serious about someone as naive as you. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
It’s not that he feels strange about it being so casual—he’s had other lovers before, proximity-and-circumstance partners in his early 40s (after his human father died, when he was feeling sad, reckless, and full of displeasure at his own noble birth—the scar that never fades across his nose is a forever reminder of that) and even one “committed” partner fresh into adulthood, when he thought a marriage might best serve his family’s interests—so the first couple of times he goes to bed with Astarion, divorcing his feelings from his body isn’t so hard. Besides...it almost seems prudent to keep it casual given that they might change to mindflayers tomorrow, and so much of the world (for the party especially) is steeped in chaos. Right now, making complex romantic plans feels nonsensical.
Only, every time he ends up just talking to Astarion, there is always...fondness. The genuine kind, as their true familiarity grows and he learns what torturous things Astarion endured—the way he is free in word only, and hides behind a shield of hedonism the way Glawen hides behind propriety. It’s entrancing, the way Astarion’s desire to see himself freed from Cazador—freed by any means necessary—bleeds into his own view of the world; it gives him the strength to stand up to his own companions for what he wants, whether that means refusing Gale’s obvious (albeit fascinating) magical advances…or denying a head demon, Raphael, straight from the nine hells access to his mind…or the parasite writhing inside of it.
— tbc
#I just needed this on the blog. for me and lowkey for bre too LMAO#Glawen#astarion#marie x bg3#Glawen x Astarion#tav x astarion#my writing#the Tav collection#bg3#glawen lore dev
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FIVE. THE BLADE OF AVERNUS VS THE GRANDDUKE.
The Blade of Avernus is, in my opinion, a greatttt ending for Wyll. He is still so flawed. He atill believes in fairy tales. You are still a part of his fairy tale. But now he can admit he is Hellstouched, and he is making it a part of the hero that he is. He WILL right for the aword coast, because that is his home and where people have welcomed him into their homes when he saved him. He will be both devil AND heor and take on all that means—and he will split the difference between fairy tale and the passion and violence and devil inside him. Perfect ending, plenty of room to grow as a character, he still needs therapy.
The more interesting endings are where he goes off with Karlach, and where he becomes Grandduke though.
As Grandduke he is pent iut and exhausted from his Father’s backroom deals, the political assasinations, the lack of gratitude, the lack of acknowledgement. Prety much everyone hates him but the refugees, and some of THEM even don’ care for him. This is fun to me, I love it, he just goes insane basically trying his hardest to do the right thing but still not ever being able to let out the devil in him or the violence, in fact, suppressing it more as he tries to be ever and ever more good snd more noble, giving up his needs more and more for the people hes sworn to protect. It eats away at him. You can’t be “too good” forever, especially when your morals HAVE to get more and more grey, just like your Father’s did.
The last ending is my favorite.
I don’t believe in redemption. But I do believe in getting up every single day and decising to be a better person than you were yesterday and acting accordingly.
Wyll did some FUCKED UP SHIT FOR MIZORA!!! He killed innocent people!! People who could have begged for their lives!! He would’ve thought it was a devil’s trick!
By saving his last “victim!, befriending her, and fighting by her side by side for the rest of their days—Wyll gets to be both devil, both protector, but most of all—he gets to forgive himself and let himself heal from what he’s done and the guilt on his conscience. He can’t go back and un$kill Zariel’s innocent minions. But he can save this one, beautiful, strong, brave, handsome tiefling girl who he is bound to by soul and breath and blood. And that’s enough to make it jist a little bit better.
If Wyll is forced to choose on his own? He chooses Karlach. Every goddamn time. Even over you and your fairy tale. Karlach is REAL. Realer than anything he’s ever seen or felt before. Wnd he loves her in such a painful way that reminds him he’s not as perfect or heroic as he wants to be-#but maybe she can be his good eyes, and he can keep her safe.
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BG3 journal, continued
Now that the dream lover is just a guardian, I don’t see the reason to customize them anymore. Sculpting your OC’s ideal of attractiveness makes sense, it develops their character and introduces some drama into their interactions. But what even is a guardian? Am I once again visualizing my OC’s idea of something, but instead of what they find seductive it’s what they find trustworthy? Or am I just giving custom appearance to some NPC?
Another thing I saw no reason to do: the goddamn Overgrown Ruins. What motivation could my character possibly have to go there? Okay so some bandits are squatting in some ruins, I’ll go somewhere else then. But as a player I have to get Withers and I need XP.
I played on one of the very first patches and dunno when Wyll’s intro was added, but it was very dashing! I like his new storyline. Especially if that means we’ll never hear him rage about “gobbos” again!
Did they change Nettie’s scene, or did I succeed at a passive check somewhere? She changed her mind about poisoning me all on her own!
I convinced Kagha to spare Arabelle, and Gale immediately decided to confide in me about his condition. There’s time and place, dude...
I did talk to him a bit later, still in the grove, and luckily his condition gives you the motivation to go dungeon delving in the crypt. (Now that I think of it, that’s one of its main gameplay purposes...) So a bit later we teleported down to the beach, Astarion opened the door and disarmed the traps, and we easily looted the crypt without ever encountering a single bandit.
Raphael’s encounter triggered in broad daylight, very unexpectedly as I was appoaching the Guidance amulet. Sad that I didn’t have Wyll with me...
An unpleasant bug: I tidied up my toolbar, then entered combat and it was all messed up worse than before. At least it gave me an excuse to reload... And cheat a bit by choosing a different option. I naively told the novices of the Absolute that I’m a survivor from the ship, which made them aggressive. Honestly, I should have kept this in, because my character has low Intelligence and Wisdom and would have made the same mistake... But I’m too much of a softie for that, so I kept my mouth shut after reloading.
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Finished BG3 last night! Thoughts and spoilers behind the cut!
When I started the game I had just finished a rewatch of Better Call Saul, and ended up basing my Tav off of Saul and his personality, motivations, etc. At the start she just wanted to survive and come out on top. While not evil or mean, she definitely tried to rig the system in her favour wherever she could in order to survive.
She was selfish, honestly. Though still supportive of her companions and she helped those who needed aid, there was always that lingering sense of "but how does this benefit me?"
In her quest to survive she allowed the Emperor to turn her half illithid, and consumed multiple tadpoles in order to see she got to the finish line. She allowed a strange drow to turn her into a walking fire bomb, and she didn't outright deny any help - even if it meant potentially making a deal with a Devil (or his incubus).
But then we get to the choice between Orpheus and the Emperor - of freeing an unknown and potentially dangerous man, or siding with a damn liar! And that's when shit caught up to her. She realized that this was more than her and her survival, and that she needed to let the chickens come home to roost. She chose to free Orpheus and then became an Illithid herself. She finally made a choice for the greater good, rather than just for herself and what made her happy.
Besides: in for a penny, in for a pound. She was already half illithid, and half her brain was swimming with tadpoles.
We ended up saving the day and saw Orpheus and Lae'Zel off with a smile and a promise to never forget what my Tav had done for them nor their people. Managed to convince Karlach and Wyll to go to Avernus, and convinced Gale to forget about the damn crown.
Later on my Tav broke up with Shadowheart, both realizing that as a mind flayer they wouldn't be able to live much of a life together (when she walked away from Shadowheart her little leather suit was squeeking and I lost my goddamn mind). My Tav wandered Fae'run for a bit, trying to keep her humanity and memories, until the party where she met up with everyone she'd sacrificed so much for.
Other than having a sudden desire to eat Astarion's brain (despite it being 'less wrinkled than most people's), things seemed okay. Not great, not happy, but okay. Gale offered her a teaching position at his side, and Jaheria made her a Harper. But the looming sense of dread is always there - that eventually my Tav will lose herself, and either become a monster as she'd always feared or end her existence before she hurts anyone.
And I like the ending. I like the sacrifice she made. I like how a selfish, inward looking person was able to finally do the right thing and complete an action done out of pure altruism and love. It's bittersweet but fitting.
Overall the game was good! But it needs some polish - especially in Act III. Excited to see if the company can put some extra polish on it and fix things. I'm willing to be patient considering I'm a fan of Cyberpunk 2077 😂
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I got the scene where you can dance with Wyll & it kinda broke my heart to leave at the end; I've settled on Tav dating Gale, but goddamn he's taking a while. The orb is stabilized dude, make your move! Or let me make one!!!
Trying so hard not to flirt with Shadowheart or Halsin or Wyll, trying to be patient with Gale, but I looked it up & his Act 2 romance scene comes towards the end of the act? And I'm like, *maybe* halfway through at the time of typing this (a couple hours of gameplay after getting the dance scene). I helped Minthara escape, I'm partway through helping the gnomes & tieflings escape about & to go fight this orthon thing where Balthazar supposedly went. I have been taking so many long rests in the hopes that the romance with Gale would move forward but nooooo, I have to wait till I'm almost done with Act 2!
I suppose reading fanfics will have to suffice in the meantime.
Also I completely forgot tot look for that lance of light thing that I assume is at the Lathander temple. Unfortunately, we already angered the githyanki & they're kinda hunting us now, so idk how wise it would be to go back there (especially since we're kinda in the middle of dealing with the whole Moonrise tower situation).
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Fame, Riches, and Music
Name: Nalanthar Arabana (He/Him/They/Them)
Race: Drow Half-Elf
Class: Bard (College of Valour)
Background: Entertainer
WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD!
Taking a break from Pero, let's get into my Bard, Nalanthar Arabana. To recap his whole deal, Nalanthar is a Half-Elf Bard who originated from the Underdark. His past is something he prefers to not talk about, believing it as a story not worth telling. He eventually encountered the surface of Toril and enjoyed the new sights, people, and experiences; inspiring him to become a Bard. Nalanthar enjoys telling and making stories, manipulating situations to make up a favorable outcome that will make a good story.
After crashing the nautiloid ship, recruiting Lae'zel, Astarion, and Wyll to his active party & camp (left Shadowheart at the alter and failed the saves to obtain Gale ;A;), and staying at Emerald Grove; Nalanthar decided he would be interested in finding Halsin, if not for a possible cure, then to make a glorious story about saving the Tiefling refugees from the Druids. Especially since he has the famed Blade of Frontiers at his side, he's even more eager to continue the Baldes' ventures as they desperately look for a cure.
You know the deal by now, save the Tiefling kid from Kagha, met with Nettie, saved another kid from some Harpies, and helped Alfira with her song. Because Nalanthar is a Bard, there was a unique dialogue option after saving the Tiefling kid from the Harpies. Nalanthar also agreed to play Alfira's tutors' lute as he stayed in turn with the fellow struggling Bard. That does mean I didn't get the music video version of the Weeping Dawn, but success regardless. Before leaving the Grove, ran into Shadowheart lmao. As I stated before, I want to experiment how long I can avoid her before the story eventually says "goddamn it, take this secretive little meow meow!" so I avoided her like the plague.
Upon leaving the grove, before I even found the boar Astarion would consume, when I made camp, I almost immediately got his bit scene. Nalanthar, being a curious fellow and intrigued that Astarion can walk in the sunlight without being burned to death, agreed to let him drink his blood and kept him in the Party. Another tall tale to add to the list!
Not too long after this, we met Raphael. Unlike the previous TAVs who outright refused the Cambion, Nalanthar was at least considerate of Raphael's offer, though Nalanthar is hoping it will not come to that.
Of course, Nalanthar also met with Edowin, Andrick, and Brynna, but I accidentally started combat when Nalanthar confirmed that he is one of the individuals that survived the crash lol. Also, love the animation for the Hideous Laughter spell. Also, I am taking full advantage of this hat.
Nalanthar was able to get past the goblins in Blighted Village by flaunting his new found powers, intending to utilize these "power of the Absolute" to the fullest. There's also another reason why Nalanthar is eager to get deep into the Goblin Camp and find the leaders this camp. Not too long ago, the last time I played this character, Nalanthar talked with Sazza and was profiled by her because the goblin thought he was with another Drow that was considered "the boss lady." Nalanthar is curious on who this individual is and hopes to infiltrate them to get a grasp on who this is.
Also, Nalanthar got more of that Githyanki booty ;)
Hoping to add Astarion and Wyll in the mix and maybe Karlach as well
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