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bg-brainrot · 3 months

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Hugs for a Vampire (Astarion x GN!Reader) - Chapter 6: Before the Assault on Moonrise

Chapter 6: Before the Assault on Moonrise

Each chapter can be read as a standalone hug.

Pairing: Astarion x GN!Reader (Rogue!Tav)

Genre: Fluffy, Filling in Canon

Rating: Teen

Tags: Gender-Neutral Pronouns, POV Second Person, Act 2, Canon-typical violence, developing relationship, blood, boundaries

WC: 2.3k words, 6/18 chapters

Summary: A feeding-hug for Rogue!Tav and Astarion. They're still working out how to act around each other, with Astarion setting the boundaries.

Ao3 | [Hug5][Hug7] | Hugs for a Vampire Masterlist

It feels like the calm before the storm. Come tomorrow, you’ll head to Moonrise and begin an attack on the evil that resides there. You’ve freed the Nightsong, given Shadowheart some time to herself, and now gathered the Harpers for a full-on assault. Your companions are all itching to get going– for the most part.

Throughout the Gauntlet of Shar, Astarion had been a bit off. You imagined it was an odd combination of learning about the scars on his back and, selfishly, both of you trying to figure out something real between you. Now that you’ve left the Gauntlet though, Astarion still seems lost.

“Something the matter, love?” you ask him over dinner at the Last Light Inn. The two of you are eating together, though he only holds a glass of wine to your plate of actual food. He seems deep in thought, staring off into the distance as he runs his tongue over one of his fangs.

Astarion jumps at your words, taking a second to register that you’re speaking to him. “It’s nothing,” he says, on instinct. Then, after a stern look from you, follows it with. “I’m just a tad peckish, my dear.”

Tilting your head, you ask, “Have you not found something to your liking today?” Early on, you’d agreed that he can and should drink from any enemy with a pulse.

He shakes his head ruefully. “Not much on offer out here,” he sounds wistful, and you register an underlying desperation to his voice. “I don’t think I’ve had a solid meal… well, since we entered the Shadowlands.”

You balk at that, thinking back to every enemy you’ve faced so far. Undead, plants, cursed fish, the odd shade, and he hasn’t fed from you since you’d agreed to take things slowly– how did you not realize this sooner? “Astarion, you must be starving!” You push your own food away, as if its presence would only make his hunger worse. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What will you do, bring the undead back to life? And it’s not like I could drink from a Harper,” he rolls his eyes and pauses. “Wait, do you think I could–”

“Don’t you dare,” you stop his thought process in its tracks, holding up a hand. “We are nice to the Harpers and we appreciate their help, got it?”

“Oh, you’re no fun,” he pouts. “I guess I’ll just continue to starve. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve gone without.” He adds that last sentence as a bitter afterthought. The thought of him having gone weeks, months, a year without so much as a drop of blood tears at your heart.

“And why don't you ask me?” you ask, quieting your voice so that only he can hear you in the din of the Inn.

He looks genuinely confused. “Ask you what?”

You narrow your eyes at him– surely he didn’t forget you are not an undead, not an aberration or anything of the sort. Right? “Um, ask me for blood?” you offer, equally confused.

“Ah,” he says, it comes out like a soft huff. “My love, I couldn’t.”

“And why not?” You bristle at the thought that your blood isn’t good enough, isn’t as satisfying as some random Harper’s. “Am I no longer to your taste?”

Placing a hand on his chest, he gives you an aghast look, “Of course not, dear. You’re quite possibly the most delectable creature I’ve had the fortune to taste. In every single way.”

You hear a startled choke from behind you. Astarion has not been keeping his voice quiet in the same way you have, and a blushing Gale tries to pretend that he is absolutely enthralled by the plate of food in front of him.

Shooting a look at Astarion, who doesn’t even have the good grace to look embarrassed, you say, “Let’s talk a bit more privately, shall we?”

“If you insist,” he replies, with a hand wave. “But I hope you know it isn’t the first time that half this team imagines devouring you.”

You decide to ignore the bait, opting instead to drag him gracelessly away from the Last Light’s central area. All but pulling him upstairs, you set him on a bed and place your hands on your hips.

“You’ve had your fun, now tell me truthfully,” you start, keeping him pinned with your eyes. “Why haven’t you asked to drink from me? You know I’m happy to offer.”

“Darling,” he starts, eyes avoiding yours, clearly intending to avoid this conversation. “I don’t see what the big deal is. We deal with the cult, we get back to Baldur’s Gate and I’ll have a veritable feast of ruffians to pick from.”

“The big deal is that you planned on suffering by yourself this entire time,” you say, and hurt begins to color your voice. “I thought we were being more… honest with each other. Maybe I was wrong about that.”

Astarion stands then, whispering your name as he takes a step toward you. “I am being honest, love. I can’t possibly drink from you, not anymore.” His hands reach up to cup your face, and the ruby eyes that lock with yours are so very conflicted.

“Why not?” you ask again, trying to keep firm under his piercing eyes but failing miserably.

“Because it feels different with you,” he says, quietly. He rubs a cool thumb across your cheek, bravado all gone as a searing sweetness settles between you both. “You’re not some bandit, some cultist, or goblin. I don’t want to hurt you and…” Astarion looks down, away from you. “I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything.”

You lean into his hands, closing your eyes. A strange sort of relief settles over you as you respond, “My sweet fool.”

“What?” he says, indignantly.

“I don’t feel like I owe you anything,” you say before opening your eyes again. “I want to do this for you.”

“And how do I know that I haven’t just entranced you against your will?” he says with a soft, disbelieving scoff as his eyes search yours. “In fact, I’m finding that, for perhaps the first time in my life, I'd rather someone’s blood remain soundly in their body.”

“What if,” you start, not sure how to say it without sounding insane. You drop eye contact with him to muster the will to continue, “What if I said I liked it when you fed from me?”

He’s silent and you’re suddenly worried that you’ve said too much, been a little too honest too quickly. But when you finally bring your eyes back to him, you just see a war going on behind Astarion’s eyes. A deep hunger, surely, but above all else, a concern– one that you know is for you and your well-being.

“I promise I’m not just saying that,” you add, hoping to assuage his worries.

Your love doesn’t seem to believe you, brows furrowed and hands gripping your face a bit tighter as he tilts it this way, then that way. “You… like having your life force drained out of you?”

“Listen,” you start, placing a hand on Astarion’s arm to stop his examinations. “If you don’t want to believe me, you don’t have to. But I invite you to drink from me regardless. You can’t confront the armies at Moonrise like this.”

He finally releases your face, shoulders drooping with a heavy sigh. “In two centuries, I never thought I would be fighting an offering of blood like this, but darling, if I injure you, if I take too much…”

“You haven’t before,” you try reasoning. “Besides, I’ve pushed you off once, I can always do it again.”

“Fine,” he says with a frown. “But don’t you dare hesitate.”

“You know I wouldn’t,” you respond easily, tugging on one of his hands. “Shall we get comfortable?”

Astarion allows you to take him back to the bed, sitting down in a manner all at once defeated and eager despite himself. You can’t even imagine the hunger he must be feeling right now, and the fact that his feelings for you could have overridden even a portion of that astonishes you. You sit down next to him and bare your neck.

He settles in behind you, hands ghosting at your neck and shoulders. “You’re certain?” he asks again, eyes large and pleading.

“Yes,” you stress. “But if you’re that worried, could I make a request?”

“Anything,” he says, the word a breath on his lips.

You still waver, the vulnerability new and quite frightening. “Well, the previous bites haven’t been exactly cozy. Would you mind… holding me while you bite?”

Astarion’s response comes in the form of his arms wrapping around your torso, pulling you into his chest. He places a fleeting kiss under your ear before burying his head into the crook of your neck. Nuzzling softly, his nose tickles your bare skin. “Cozy enough, my dear?”

“Mmm, yes,” you say, feeling a blush creeping up your neck. You hadn’t expected him to embrace you so thoroughly. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” he murmurs and he sounds utterly bewitched as he inhales. The sharp bite that follows catches you by surprise and you know that he couldn’t resist any longer. He takes a long pull from your neck, drinking more deeply than he has in weeks.

However, unlike previous times that he’s fed on you, this feels distinctly different. It’s the first time he’s bitten you since you’ve agreed to figure out, well, whatever you have between you two. And it shows.

It shows in how his arms, which had previously held you in place while biting, gently squeeze around you. In how his lips, which he used to bare wide, press the occasional soft kiss as he drinks. In how your heads tap together, his curls caressing your cheek.

Oh, you think distantly as you lean into his devouring mouth. I see why this might feel different from a bandit. While it felt like a nice gift you could provide before, now the act of feeding him feels immensely close. Could you always feel his breath on you like this?

You don’t have to ponder long before he pulls away, placing one last kiss where he’s bitten. “There,” he says, taking a shallow breath. “How do you feel?”

Taking a second to check in with yourself, you find that you feel pretty normal. “I feel good, too good,” you say, turning to face him. “Are you sure you had enough?”

Astarion licks a few drops of blood from his lips as he surveys you, verifying your liveliness. He smirks before responding, “More than enough. As I said, I was only peckish. Thank you, love.”

He looks more vibrant now– his eyes shine bright in the firelight of the inn and there’s a rosy tint to his skin that wasn’t there before– so you decide not to push it. “You’re welcome, and thank you,” you say, grinning at him cheekily.

“Whatever are you thanking me for?” he asks, skeptically.

“If you always embrace me so tenderly while you feed, I may run out of blood asking for another go.”

Astarion clicks his tongue with annoyance. “I was not being tender. I was quite literally consuming you. Could you please have an ounce of self-preservation?”

You keep a small, satisfied smile on your face as you shrug. “Some mighty righteous words from a man who was just refusing to feed.”

“How about this,” he starts, leaning into you. “I promise to seek you out if I need sustenance and you promise to never call me tender again. What will the others think of me?“

You lean right back into him, and give a short affirming nod. “Your secret is safe with me, my oh-so-fearsome vampire.”

“Thank you, my delicious little treat,” he responds. Swiftly bringing your hand to his face, he places a kiss on the back of it. “And thank you for…” He clears his throat. “Helping me navigate whatever this is.” The vampire vaguely gestures between you both and it’s evident what he means. If feeding felt different for you, he surely felt it too. Even the emotions bubbling at the surface now feel different. It would surely settle in time, but for now, learning together, it is a terrifying new unknown.

“Of course,” you say, placing your other hand on top of his. Your eyes meet in unspoken communication, marveling at the absurdity of your situation, of your gentle moment. Of course, you must be the one to break it. “I was worried for a moment there.”

“Whatever for?”

“I thought maybe you didn’t like the taste of my blood anymore, maybe I ate something off-putting,” you pretend to sniff at your arm, as if you’d be able to pin down the scent of your blood.

Astarion shakes his head at you, ruefully. “I meant it when I said you’re the most delectable.” His eyes get a distant look to them, as he thinks. “Maybe it’s because you were the– ehem– first. Or because you're just… you. But you have a lovely flavor.”

Unable to help your own curiosity, you ask, “What do I taste like?”

“It’s hard to pin down.” He pulls your hand to his nose for a long sniff. “But you taste like warmth feels.”

You’re not sure what to say to that, but by the way it’s sending your heart somersaulting, you’re not certain you’d be very coherent anyway. So you just give a little, “Mmm.”

Astarion laughs at your reaction and drops your hand. “Let’s head back to dinner. You’ll have to keep your energy up if we’re to defeat the Absolute or whatever nonsense.” He gets up to leave and you return to reality.

“And to keep my blood tasting warm,” you quip, standing up and following after your vampire.

#astarion #astarion x tav #fanfic #astarion fic #astarion x reader #rogue + rogue #astarion fanfiction #astarion fanfic #astarion fluff #astarion masterlist #hugs for a vampire #hfav #gn reader #astarion x gn reader #astarion x gn!tav #astarion baldurs gate #bg3 astarion

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kirain · 2 months

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I've been on this site for over ten years and I've never had to do this, but sadly the time has come where I feel forced to make a call out post, if only for the safety of my blog.

Please do not harass this person. PLEASE DO NOT HARASS THEM! That is not my goal here. That said, I do suggest you avoid them at all costs, for your own safety and sanity.

A few days ago, I made a post responding to some anonymous hate I received regarding Gale Dekarios, a character from BG3. An account named Turtwg, who has now changed her name to Shdowheart, took issue with the content and tone of my post. Instead of simply blocking me, she attacked me and several other people in the notes, and accused me of sending the anon to myself.

I responded, arguing against her accusations and a few other remarks she made. Just typical fandom discourse. Or so I thought.

I regret it now (only because I've lost some evidence), but I deleted many of her and my messages. They were clogging up my post and veering extremely off topic, but eventually she admitted I didn't send the anon to myself. When I asked her how she knew that, she said she traced the anon to a Gale-centric account. You see, she believed the anon wasn't sent by an Astarion fan, but by a Gale fan trying to create discourse. In a normal situation, I'd say that's a fair assumption for anyone to make, but something seemed off.

First of all, despite several people telling her it's not possible to track down blogs through their anonymous messages, she insisted she found the user responsible—which honestly made me wonder if she sent the anon herself, hoping to create drama. If she did, then mission accomplished, I guess. We messaged back and forth in the notes for a while, with me commenting on both the impossibility and morality of tracking down an anonymous user. During that time, her responses to me were lightning fast. Constant. Remember that for later.

Second, she soon told me she had the anon's IP address, which she said she'd "happily send me". I told her an IP address doesn't prove anything because it can be photoshopped and a lot of people use VPNs. I also pointed out how utterly insane it is to dox/cyberstalk someone over a post about a video game. It's really not that serious. But out of sheer curiosity, I told her to give me the blog name. Not because I believed her, but because I was curious to see if she'd accuse a popular blog or someone who could defend themselves. The moment I asked, she went silent for nearly an hour. 🤔

When she came back, she gave me the name of an account called Dekariosbf. She told me to message the account, so I did, though I made no accusations against them yet. As I waited for a reply, I accused Turtwg of making the account herself, as it was barren with no activity whatsoever. No likes, no posts, nothing. She easily could've created the account during that hour of peace. Moreover, after she gave me the account name and I accused her of creating it, her responses were once again lightning fast. 🤔

As we argued, I sent my brother-in-law and a friend of mine a link to my blog and had them read through the discourse. They don't have Tumblr accounts, but they're both computer nerds and my brother-in-law literally works with computers/programs for a living. I asked them if anything Turtwg said was valid, and they (along with someone else in the notes who claimed to work in UI/UX) confirmed that no, absolutely nothing she said was valid. Tumblr pays for a service that protects their users, and the only way to trace anons is by using extremely unsavory and illegal methods ... and even then it's extremely unlikely to work.

Speaking of, my brother-in-law eventually messaged me and told me he found the actual account that sent the anon. I stupidly believed him and jumped the gun on that, because it turns out he was just being a shit disturber. That said, I used this information to call Turtwg out on her lies. In response, Dekariosbf miraculously (and in a rather timely fashion) responded to me. Unfortunately I don't have any screenshots of this interaction, but I'll explain why in a moment.

Dekariosbf was chatty and cordial at first. I asked them for their main account name, but they refused to give it, saying they only use it for poetry; which, as you can see from the screenshot, directly contradicts their bio, but I digress. I was suspicious, but also kept in mind the possibility that this might've been an innocent person Turtwg accused. For a while we shot the shit, talking back and forth about BG3, reading, teaching—but I did this for a reason. I wanted to get a feel for their writing style. Sure enough, they wrote exactly like Turtwg. Same spelling mistakes, same pattern of punctuation, same use of lower case letters instead of capital letters, same abbreviations, etc.

Finally, when I was sure it was her, I dropped the bomb. I very gently told "Dekariosbf" that someone named Turtwg accused them of sending me a hateful Gale anon, but that I didn't believe it. Low and behold, they did a complete 180.

"Yes, it was me. It was totally me. I just LOVE your blog and RESPECT you so much. I LOVE Gale and I wanted to know what you'd say if I sent that anon. It wasn't meant to be hateful. Please don't write a call out post about me. Please don't tell your followers. I mean, I understand if you do, but please don't. Turtwg messaged me and threatened to dox me and sent me a photo of my IP address. She's so smart, I don't think you should mess with her. Oh and my mom can't speak English. If we get doxxed, I think it would kill her."

Right...

I said I didn't believe them and accused them of being Turtwg on a sock account. They kept insisting they weren't, begged me to believe they sent the anon (and I mean they were desperate for me to believe it), and very strangly didn't express any anger or confusion over the situation. When I brought up the accusation, they completely changed their tone from friendly to "oh yeah, that was me". I kept saying I didn't believe them, particularly because of what my brother-in-law said, but promised not to call any attention to them. I was happy to simply let the matter rest. Suddenly, mid conversation, they deleted their entire blog. Poof. It's gone now, along with all our messages.

I thought that would be the end of it, but not even five minutes after Dekariosbf flung themselves into the void, Turtwg herself DMed me out of nowhere and accused me of trying to hack her account, presumably because I told "Dekariosbf" that my brother-in-law is computer savvy. Keep in mind that before this moment, our entire conversation took place in the notes of my post. I never DMed her, nor did I have any intention of doing so. I also had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, I just knew she was lying to me. Now it looks as though she's ramping up to lie to the Tumblr admins in order to get my account deleted.

And all because my post about a video game made her angry.

I really hate drawing attention to this. You can see in my other posts that I always censor people's usernames, but as I said at the beginning ... I don't feel like I have a choice this time. I want this up so the Tumblr admins or whoever can see it.

Turtwg has attacked other people for posting their opinions as well. For example, she attacked this person just because they expressed their opinon on wyllsterion. She went so far as to call them racist when Wyll is literally one of their favourite characters. She just got mad because they don't think Wyll and Astarion make sense together; a perfectly valid opinion. And I only know about this because I received messages warning me about interacting with Turtwg/Shdowheart from someone who recognised them in the notes of my post.

I guess I should've blocked her from the start, but I've said many times in the past that I enjoy a good debate. Plus I was genuinely curious to see how far she was willing to take her lie. Unfortunately, I underestimated just how unhinged she truly is. On her own blog, she's even admitted that she's had to make a new account seven times, likely due to other drama she started.

I was very hesitant to put this in the BG3 tags, but since that seems to be the fandom she interacts with the most, I figured it would be a fair warning to anyone else she might harass. She's particularly active in the Astarion/Wyll/Wyllsterion tags. Stay safe, everyone. I think I'll sign off for a while. I'm tired, and this has somehow become the most toxic fandom I've ever dared to be a part of.

Please do not harass this person. PLEASE DO NOT HARASS THEM! That is not my goal here. That said, I do suggest you avoid them at all costs, for your own safety and sanity.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #wyll ravengard #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep

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ghoulpepperv · 5 months

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I've been struggling to be motivated to do any writing or much of anything lately. I won't go deep into it, but I did this to just do some writing for fun. It's been healing. Just two little drabbles.

I apologize to those who don't want more BG3 shenanigans. This is about my Tavs, Beryl (Wood Elf Warlock Bard) and Tessa (Human Rogue Ranger), because I love them. I might keep them as just DnD characters to play in the future or give them their own unique story.

If you're a BG3 fan, I'm sorry about getting my brain babies all over everything.

It Wasn't Kindness

Beryl couldn’t even remember why she was in Baldur’s Gate to begin with. It was probably nothing more than a layover to where she actually wanted to be. It all seemed so unimportant now. Until this tadpole in her head was dealt with, she wouldn’t be able to focus on much else. Getting off the Nautiloid had been her first priority.

Gaining party members had been a side effect of her journey. The first person the Wood Elf had encountered was Lae’zel. The Githyanki was a formidable but vexatious ally. She was the right amount of unhinged, topped with a refreshing bluntness. You were never left wondering where you stood with Lae’zel. Beryl could work with that.

As they made their way off the Nautiloid, Beryl and Lae’zel came across Tessa, a human rogue, trying to pry a half-elf out of one of the pods. The woman was desperate for this help which Lae’zel was hesitant to give. Beryl nearly walked on by but something compelled her to stay. Maybe she was getting soft or just stupid.

Once free, the half-elf would introduce herself as Shadowheart. It turned out to be for the best since she was a cleric. It always helped to have one on your team. Tessa found her own way of being annoying: she was too fucking nice.

Beryl wrote her off as an idiot who would probably get them killed. Yet her skills would be helpful. And Beryl couldn’t turn any of them away, could she? It wasn’t out of kindness, of course. That would be silly. They all needed each other to survive this. It wasn’t deeper than that.

As they traveled forth, the group kept growing. Tessa was insistent on saving Gale of Waterdeep from the sigil. The wizard was grateful and Beryl would be remiss if she didn’t admit having a wizard around is a good idea.

Astarion was different. He had greeted Beryl with a knife to the throat. Yet she admired his moxie. The pretty face didn’t hurt either. Tessa seemed more annoyed by how easily Beryl let him join them after attacking her.

“I’ll take responsibility if he does anything untoward, don’t worry,”

“Like holding a knife to your neck?”

“Oh, would you let that go?” Beryl was tired of this conversation.

“Gods, you really can get away with anything if you have a pretty face.”

“Not that you would know anything about that.” Beryl immediately regretted the words. She sounded so much like her mother in that sentence. She sighed, prepared to swallow her pride and apologize.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that, it was a knee-jerk reaction.”

But to her surprise, Tessa was laughing.

“Your words have no sting,” Tessa said. “Just something a very hurt person says when backed into a proverbial corner.”

Beryl scowled at the accusation.

“You’re forgiven.” Tessa’s tone was obnoxiously saccharine. Beryl made a mental note to never apologize to her again.

“We need all the help we can get.” Beryl felt the need to defend her decision suddenly. “It can’t hurt having two rogues with us.”

Tessa mulled this over. “I guess, but if he kills anyone here, it’s on you. And he better not kill me. I’ll be particularly angry about it.”

Beryl nodded, accepting the terms of the agreement. This seemed to appease Tessa.

The other companions weren’t any less drama free, especially when Wyll and Karlach joined. Beryl wasn’t used to playing peacemaker, but she had managed to keep Wyll and Karlach from killing one another. Beryl was used to traveling alone. Solving other people’s quarrels was not her forte and yet here she was. Doing just that.

But she wasn’t doing this out of kindness. None of this was kindness. It was survival, just like she’d been taught. She didn’t care about any of these people.

She couldn’t care about them. It would be a weakness and weakness means death.

So no. It wasn’t kindness.

It wasn't.

Right In Front of My Party?

“It’s quite thrilling, to fight off such grim creatures as this region throws at us. Especially being at your side.”

Tessa and Gale locked eyes. He spoke to her as if she were the only person in the world. In that moment, she was at least to him. Despite the entire band of misfits standing just behind them, forced to witness this display of overt horniness.

“I once read a book that explained in some detail the effect a brush with dangers has on one’s desire for… other forms of stimulation. Have you ever read anything on that subject?”

Beryl furrowed her brow. Was he really doing this here? In front of everyone?

The wood elf glanced around the group, searching for an ally in her confusion. Karlach watched with an adoring look on her face, like she was watching a romance novel unfold. Wyll gave a sly thumbs up to Gale to encourage him. He had been playing the role of wingman for Gale so Beryl couldn’t feign surprise at it.

Shadowheart was unmoved. Lae’zel didn’t seem as disgusted by it as Beryl thought she would be. It made some sense given how much githyanki connected love and fighting. The group had seen how true that was first hand through Shadowheart and Lae’zel’s unique romance.

Beryl believed Lae’zel felt nothing but hatred for Shadowheart, especially after catching them at each other’s throats one night. But only a few nights later, Beryl had heard sounds from Lae’zel’s tent that seemed to indicate they had more than buried the hatchet.

Beryl struggled for some kind of sex pun, but it eluded her. Lae’zel buried her hatchet in Shadowheart’s? No. No, that was bad.

Shadowheart was “the source of her bruises.” Of course, she wouldn’t mind whatever it was Gale was doing right now.

Astarion had a mischievous grin, enjoying the show. He was so adept at that act of flirting, it wasn’t a surprise he was relishing Gale’s awkwardness. It was like a wild animal studying a caged one.

Beryl turned to Tessa. She had to be mortified––

“Read?” Tessa gave a flirtatious smirk. “I could have written the thing.”

These absolute freaks. Tessa looked ready to jump his bones.

“I believe you. You never looked so beautiful as at the end of a stirring battle, your cheeks flushed, gaze bright, muscles glistening,” he continued. “Perhaps it’s just the thrill of our near-death experience talking. But standing at your side through such darkness and disrepair, it only makes me want you more.”

Gale paused to regroup himself. “Unfortunately this is neither the time nor place to indulge such feelings. So, we must be patient and push all such thoughts aside. For now.”

Though a bit disappointed, Tessa nodded in agreement. Gale placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her to the Last Light Inn.

Beryl hated that she was happy for her two humans. She should have just been embarrassed for them, yet her brain signaled to her that this was “cute.”

“Pity,” Astarion commented with a fanged smile. “I thought we’d be getting a show. I can’t say I wouldn’t have enjoyed it, even if it involved Gale.”

Beryl met Astarion’s eyes. He seemed to be drinking her in. Beryl couldn’t keep her grin at bay when he sent attention her way. While she knew Astarion was using her either for sex or something else, she did appreciate his boldness. He got to the point. He didn’t waste time on conversations about books and battlefields. He just asked if you wanted to have sex.

“Don’t you agree?” Astarion’s voice was dangerously low. Beryl’s eyes widened, taken aback. She nodded slowly. Oh no. Oh no, oh no. They were flirting over the idea of those two having sex on the battlefield.

Pleased by the confession, Astarion began to follow the rest of the group to the inn.

“Don’t fall behind, my sweet,” Astarion noted. “You don’t want to be caught in the shadows.”

Beryl didn’t need to be told twice.

Gods, she was an absolute freak, too.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 tav #baldur's gate 3 oc #baldur's gate oc #baldur's gate iii #baldurs gate tav #bg3 fanfiction #baldurs gate 3 fanfiction #baldur's gate 3 fanfiction #bg3 fanfic #baldurs gate fanfic #baldur's gate fanfic #Lae'zel x shadowheart mention #lae'zel x shadowheart #astarion x oc #gale x oc

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ellekhen · 3 months

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When Your Mind's Made Up

Chapter 7 - The Heart

Chapter Summary: Church has a heart to heart with Gale and Halsin, but it goes very wrong. The adventurers make their way to the Temple of Bhaal to save their companion, but Church is again reminded that Bhaalists are the least of his problems in his new form.

Pairing: Ascended Astarion x Original Male Character/Illithid Tav Rating: Explicit Progress: 23K+ words; Chapters 7/15

Excerpt below:

“We have a Temple of Bhaal to find,” Church reminds him with a frown. “Hells, we have Halsin to rescue. Don’t you even care about that?”

“What? Halsin?” Astarion says disinterestedly, examining his gloved nails. “Orin can keep him as far as I’m concerned. We have no use for a druid here in the city.” He sniffs. “He should have stayed in the Shadowlands if he wanted to stay useful.”

Church gawks at him, incredulously.

“Are you kidding me?” he exclaims, his voice echoing in the sewer chamber. “Who healed me after your siblings attacked us? Who healed you when the Sahuagin ambushed us?”

“Oh don’t lecture me,” Astarion scoffs. “You act like we haven’t had Shadowheart and Jaheira this whole time. They would have been able to do anything he did.” He shrugs, but his eyes are hard as they look back at Church. “Of course, they may not have been able to give you some other things like he did, but I’m sure they could have been persuaded…”

“You’re being an ass,” Church mutters, nudging over a cultist with his foot to search her pockets.

Astarion hums dubiously as he approaches the tiefling. “Tell me, darling, when we rescue your dear Halsin from Orin’s bloody hands…”

Church startles as the elf’s hand grasps his chin, yanking him to look up into his lover’s intense, unblinking expression.

“Do you think he’ll want to thank you? Personally? Or, perhaps you’ll want him to thank you, back in those woods?”

“What? No, but… why is this even a question?” Church pulls away from his grip. “I… chose you. You know this. Halsin and I are friends.”

He steps out of reach of the vampire, frowning as he finally digests his words.

“…how did you know we were in the woods?” Church asks uneasily.

“Lucky guess,” Astarion smirks, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

“You followed me?” Church protests. “You could have just asked. I would have just told you if you wanted to know!”

“I told myself that I wanted to make sure you were safe. The city can be unforgiving to a lone traveler, after all,” Astarion bends down to daintily retrieve one of the Bhaalists’ daggers. “But… perhaps there was a perverse part of me that wanted to see what he could give you that I could not.”

He glances up at the tiefling suggestively. “And did he ever give.”

Church scoffs at him in disbelief. “What do you want me to say that I haven’t already said? It was one time, and I broke things off when I realized we didn’t want the same thing. Because I wanted you, and you alone.”

He throws his hands up in exasperation. “I told you all this. Why are you bringing it up again?”

Astarion laughs lightly and sidles up to the tiefling, casually twirling the Bhaalist blade in his hand. Church spares it a nervous glance. The high of the cultist’s blood has faded, replaced only by a deep, overwhelming trepidation.

“I just want to be sure, my love,” Astarion smiles beatifically. “I want to know that you are mine, and mine alone. Halsin can bat his eyes all he wants at you, but the only person taking you in the woods for the rest of eternity will be me, thank you very much.”

Right now, Church wants nothing less.

Start from the beginning!

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raphaelapproves · 2 months

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Today, focus was a precious commodity and I ended up behind at work so did not get the chance to post the conversation as promised.

But now, here we are, the "conversation"--and I do use that term loosely--that I had with an Astarion girlie.

Allow me to set the scene.

This happened on a video where a streamer was, I assume, HORRIFIED to find that if she just self-insert played the game with answers she would give--SHOCK!--Gale was the companion who liked her the most. I can't imagine why.

Anyway, the comments section was the predictable Gale-bashing. Some in good fun. Most of it not. And I'm me, so I just couldn't help myself, because I see too much of my younger self [ who still tried to engage with people and connect but didn't know how ] in Gale, so I responded to a couple of comments. This was the one that prompted this little meeting of the... well, one mind and then whatever the other person was operating with. Must have been a different Operating System, because it sure didn't make sense to me.

It is below the cut, as are my thoughts because it turned into a long post as, apparently, I had many thoughts.

Astarion Girlie [ henceforth AG ]: THEN HE CAN GO SUCK OFF LETTO II ON ARRAKIS CUZ I AM NOT HERE FOR GALE'S SEXIST A$$ 😤

Me: First: how is Gale sexist? Second: and yet you're okay with Astarion [ NOTE: the username had something to do with what Astarion could do for them, so I made an educated guess ] who is canonically racist, knowingly lured people to their deaths, and was fine with condemning the world for himself???

AG: are you serious??? 🤣 Gale mansplains EVERYTHING to the women around him including magic to other magic-user, uses coercion as a flirting tactic, & slvt-shames Tav if you're romancing someone else.

Me: Wow. There is so much wrong with that. 1) Tell me you don't have an autistic friend without telling me. 2) He explains to EVERYONE not just women. 3) Genuinely? What coercion? 4) He just tells you -- He isn't for an open relationship [ says he wishes you had asked him first which is y'know healthy? ] and asks you to choose, then says he wishes you well if you don't choose him.

AG: have you considered touching grass?

Me: This is such an intelligent rebuttal. Brava! So insightful and useful to a debate. Have you considered maybe listening to others without belitting them because you can't have a friendly discussion?

AG: 1) all of my friends are auDHD and so am i. you're an ableist joke. 😘 2) now you're gale-splaining his sexism 😂 3) i'm not interested in continuing with someone as clearly unwell as you are, bye!

Me: I AM autistic, friend. 2) It's not sexism if he's literally explaining his special interest to EVERYONE regardless of sex. 3) Again, quite mature. Thank you. 👏👏👏

I am just. How??? can anyone be so ??? I do not even have a word for it. It baffles me.

Astarion has canonically done terrible things, would canonically do many even more terrible if not swayed from it, and yet Gale??? is the one with whom they have a problem??? And they can't even logic their own argument???

As someone who is autistic and has been a victim of continued mental and emotional abuse from someone who always wanted to play the victim card and as someone who was always given the excuse "well they're not well and you know it, so you just have to deal with it and don't argue" when they're going out of their way to make your life hell and trying to frame you as their own personal villain, up to and including gaslighting you to the point of nearly two decades of depression, making you feel like you were broken and the worst human being in the world, and having you contemplating things you shouldn't, and them lying to others about things that happened or things that were said to get you in trouble, I get very, very tired of the mentality I see so much around the crazed Astarion Girlies of excusing everything he has ever done and being unable to even acknowledge a single flaw and attacking anyone who does say anything.

I have and continue to live that, have been and continue to be on the other side of it having to suffer because someone else wasn't held accountable, and I am Tired. [ At least now, thanks to my best friend in the entire world, I can see it for what it is and I'm in at least a better place now mentally, 98% of the time. ]

[ NOTE: This is NOT against the Astarion writers I have seen on here. Please do not misunderstand. The Astarion writers I follow on here are the only reason I can still even marginally like the character at this point. He is fascinating. He is multi-faceted. It's one of the things I love to see explored by those who I follow. It is always interesting to see people write complex and even morally difficult characters because that, too, is a form of understanding humanity. It's one of the things I love exploring with my anti-heroes and villains. In Baldur's Gate, that would include characters like Raphael, Gortash, Dirge, etc. So please know I am not hating on any Astarion writers! Everyone I follow is amazing! ]

But when you bring up those character flaws and morally difficult things that does make the character so complex and multi-faceted, these are the responses you get:

Astarion is a victim!

Yes, that is true. But Gortash who, let's be honest, at least doesn't fully know what he's doing is wrong [ you pass the insight checks and what not/narration tells you/the VA tells you that he thinks he's doing the right thing for himself and for the city, etc. and with the way he was raised, what example did he have to the contrary but I've already gone on that rant HERE ] is to the smallest degree even less culpable in my mind than Astarion, and he doesn't get a pass the way Astarion does? And he certainly shouldn't. He isn't absolved. He is doing terrible things whether he can fully rationalize it or not with his understanding of life.

Astarion though, acknowledges on multiple occasions, gives excuses, justifies his actions at every turn while still knowing that what he's doing and planning to do is wrong. And it's heavily implied that he really wasn't all that great of a person BEFORE Cazador either [ that is not to say that he deserved what happened either, just to clarify ]. But the point is Astarion did, at one point, having come from what seems an affluent family, have a knowledge of right and wrong and still made decisions that he made, even before Cazador and after once he was free.

Cazador made him do those things! Yes, he did, but that excuse stopped the moment Cazador's control was no longer an issue. He had free will and a knowledge of right and wrong, and he made the decisions he made.

But it was a habit by then! It was what he learned to survive!

And that coupled with the knowledge of right and wrong goes only so far as the moment you choose to knowingly make your trauma someone else's. Cazador wasn't going to force him to do the Ascension ritual and pay 7,000 souls for his own betterment. "Because after 200 years of SHIT, PURE SHIT, I think I deserve better." A paraphrase, but I think I caught the most important parts. He knew it was wrong, he acknowledges it and immediately tries to justify himself, and is still quite willing to do it. Literally, if he kills you by draining your blood, he acts like nothing ever happened and then tries to sweep it under the rug with Tav if they continue to be upset about it by telling them there's no reason to be.

And yet, we have a problem with Gale, who can be or come across as condescending at times, but I think you can hardly call a man sexist who made his girlfriend his entire personality--since she was the goddess of his SPECIAL INTEREST--and continues to put her word above even his own life, prioritize her forgiveness over his continued existence and who takes such great interest in literally everything Lae'zel has to say about the Astral Plane and her people. We have a problem with a man who is honest about his comfort zone? Who loves your PC even if you become a mindflayer? Who only takes issue with you when you do something morally bad? Who literally gives you approval points for anything even remotely resembling a good choice? Who feels like he doesn't even deserve a place in the world and would gladly give himself up for any one of his companions?

He's always harassing me for items!!!! AND HE GOT MAD WHEN I WOULDN'T GIVE THEM TO HIM!!!

The count is THREE and you can give the man the most trash items you have and he still thanks you and tells you that he will repay your kindness because he knows what such sacrifice means. He is thanking you--just as he gets mad at you if you don't--because he literally has a ticking bomb in his chest that would kill not only HIM if it de-stabilized and exploded, but also anyone within the vicinity.

Well he betrayed Mystra!!!

He tried to get on equal footing with someone he loved, to share in something he loved with the person who embodied it. Was he overly ambitious? Absolutely. [ And honestly, tell me it's not Gifted Kid Syndrome -coded to assume that he could do this impossible thing. ] Did it cost him? Yes. And then Mystra, who could have fixed it and didn't cast him off. And he still prayed to her. And took all of the blame on himself, despite the fact that Mystra shares more than a little responsibility for what transpired. [ I.E. all of the Origin PCs have been victims in this game, in some way or another, and some if not all of them to power imbalances in relationships. Why does anyone think Gale is the one exception? ]

HE'S MANSPLAINING TO ME!!!

He is literally telling you all about his special interest and probably assuming that you don't know much about it, or at least not as much as him, because he was literally a Chosen of Mystra and an Archmage. Again, can he be condescending and huffy at times? Yes. He absolutely can. Call it a character flaw. Everyone has them, but you know what? His doesn't condemn anyone to death, so why are we up at arms?

HE DOESN'T WANT ME TO SEE OTHER PEOPLE!!!

And that is his prerogative and he's straightforward and honest with you about it. He tells you--if you already started flirting with or seeing someone--that he wishes you had the courtesy to tell him first [ which, IS IN FACT the healthy way to go about a relationship of that nature, just as shown with Halsin insisting you ask your partner first ]--but if you choose the other person, he wishes you both well, usually gives some compliment to the other person, and then continues to treat you well as long as you weren't rude and demeaning to him during or after the fact.

So why???? Is so much of the fanbase SO AGGRESSIVELY against Gale? But Astarion is uwu Babygirl and can do no wrong? What about defending Gale makes me "so unwell", but how DARE anyone rightfully criticize even the smallest thing about Astarion because [ insert extensive list of reasons why none of that should matter ].

That he is a victim, that he's pretty, that his VA has a great voice and personality, et cetera, does not excuse that Astarion has knowingly done terrible things both against and within his will and will do so again without hesitation if he helps him, particularly if your Durge or Tav doesn't try or manage to sway him.

Make this make sense to me, because I certainly cannot seem to make it do so.

I've said it before with that Gortash post I linked above and I said it on a similar post for Zevlor and somewhere that I was talking about Minthara and Nere, but the double standards within a loud portion of this fanbase--even within the game itself and among the people who worked on it--is not one of its better qualities.

#|| out of charm || { ooc }#|| ' full of sound and fury signifying nothing ' || { psas // thoughts // ramblings }#tw; abuse #tw; abuse mention #tw; suicide #tw; suicidal thoughts mention #// Vague blink & you'll probably miss it on the latter but still there so I'm putting the warning & tagging 'suicide' alone tag blocks

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geraskier · 13 days

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finished shiv's run of bg3. some highlights (BG3 SPOILERS ABOUND):

raphael's battle music is SOOOO good. so good. worth it just for that

freed orpheus, who immediately called shiv out for, quote, "fornicating with a mind flayer" (i guess they did fuck right in front of him)

lae'zel breaks up with you if you fuck mizora or halsin, but not if you fuck the emperor or raphael's body double incubus

gale's cat doesn't like it if he ascends to godhood bc he isn't *hers* anymore

turned karlach into a mind flayer bc....she was dying anyway.....which i thought would be sad but she seems to take to it well. i didn't think that would cancel out the infernal engine but it does, and karlach's "i get to stay!" was cute

for all the emperor says he has faith in tav & co., he allies with the netherbrain with no hesitation if you free orpheus. which....given how quickly orpheus comes around w/rt to karlach's ceremorphosis..... remarkably short-sighted for how worldly he is. the balduran reveal was a surprise. why didn't he just enthrall ansur? very cool character tho, i love how slowly the game fills in his past.

YEAAAHHHHH RIDING WITH BAE'ZEL ON A RED DRAGON

wasn't expecting to like voss but he kinda grew on me

astarion bb ;_; his character growth was heartwarming but realistic. im sure romancing him will permanently shatter my psyche in some profound way

honestly i think my struggle to understand how to make effective battle choices within 5E limited my connection to halsin and jaheira. i just didn't care for how limiting wildshape feels, so i didn't take either of them with me unless it was quest relevant.

i didn't finish the quest to expose kagha so i wasn't named faithwarden despite shiv being a druid. suits him tho, he's more of a loviatar type after everything.

did not spec the squad in a way that made hold person/tasha's laughter/etc viable so i just. didn't use mind control spells hardly at all the whole game. spammed multi attack/multi hit options and moonbeam pretty heavily.

for similar reasons, i found wyll to be very squishy, but the displacement with his eldritch blast was useful.

hey y'all don't destroy the steel watch foundry asap the way i did. it kills everyone in the underwater prison and you never get to visit it. wyll already expected his dad was gonna die cause i freed him from mizora's pact, but still. i wanted to save omeluum...

#newt needs a text post tag #newt plays bg3 #bg3 spoilers #i think im gonna play a bard durge. thinking deep gnome or dragonborn #bg3 #or like maaaaaybe a ranger. idk i like the idea of durge being charismatic despite the bhaalspawn thing

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thessalian · 6 months

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Faerun!Alisaie vs Lorroakan

Aylin: Ah! Come and tell us the glorious tales of your recent deeds! You have anger-face!

Alisaie: It's been kind of anger-time, honestly. I mean, at least we sorted out the mess with the newspaper people and that bounty-posting wizard asshole--

Aylin: Which 'bounty-posting wizard asshole'?

Alisaie: Oh. Right. With the whole hag thing, I kind of forgot to mention - there's this wizard asshole called Lorroakan who hired a bounty hunter we met waaaaaaaaaay back in the Emerald Grove to find him the Nightsong because the wizard asshole's another one who apparently wants to live forever--

Aylin: ...wut.

Alisaie: I know, right? I'm pretty sure you'd get bored after a few hundred years. Anyway, point is, I scared the bounty guy away and told Lorroakan you flew away to fuck-knows-where. Or died. I don't remember which. Anyway, sorted.

Aylin: ...Right. I am going to STOMP HIM.

Alisaie: But ... Aylin, I get it, I do, but he thinks you're well out of his reach now and we have--

Aylin: Since Ketherick Thorm's example wasn't enough, I will show exactly what happens to people who want to cage me.

Isobel: I kind of want to go too, honestly...

Alisaie: Okay, but--

Aylin: Well, I'm going now; meet you there.

Alisaie: But we just finished fighting Sharran cultists and--

Aylin: *flies off*

Alisaie: *siiiiiigh* Well, so much for a long rest to get our magic recharged. Team Dangerous Company, assemble...

And, over in Sorcerous Sundries

Gale: I wonder if we're actually going to have to rob the place after we kill Lorroakan...

Alisaie: I think it's better making Astarion look like a bit of an idiot stealthing when he doesn't have to than to just blatantly walk in and waste my verbal get-out-of-jail-free card. ...I mean, there's a massive hole in the jail now so at least breaking out would be easy...

Aylin: LORROAKAN YOU LITTLE SHIT!

Rolan: Wait. The Nightsong he's been burbling about for years is a person?

Lorroakan: Yep; now get the shackles I set up!

Rolan: How about ... no.

Alisaie: ...wut.

Rolan: Look, Lorroakan, you're a shit wizard and a worse mentor and you've encouraged me to be nothing but shitty to everybody and these people have saved my life and the lives of my friends and if they're going to stomp you into a smear on your carpet, I am going to help.

Gale: ...Well. That happened. At least another wizard on side will be a vaulable ally in the fight to come.

Alisaie: HE HAS LIKE FIVE HIT POINTS.

Rolan: Forty, in point of fact, but...

Lorroakan: MEPHITS! TO ME!

Alisaie: ...Well, at least it's just mephits...

Lorroakan: *summons what looks more like full-on elementals instead*

Alisaie: ...Dude, your definition of 'mephits' and the ones I saw in the hag-swamp are two very different things!

Stabnation: *ensues*

Elementals: *wreck everyone's shit up, including Aylin's*

Lorroakan: Try not to actually kill my key to immortality, if you don't mind...

Alisaie: ...Fuck it. It worked for the hag. *Mobile Flourish - Ranged*

Lorroakan: *is yeeted off a balcony and dies*

Rolan; Elementals: .....................

Gale: You get used to it.

Elementals: *go on attacking anyway*

Wyll: Don't these things get ... I don't know, un-summoned when the person who summoned them dies?!?

Gale: Not particularly!

Rolan: If you must know, if the one who summoned an elemental dies, the elemental is free to do what they want - either to go back to their elemental plane or ... 'wreck shit up' where they are. And we've been stabbing them for the last ten minutes!

Alisaie: ...Wait. If they go back to their elemental plane ... they stay there?

Rolan: Generally. Why?

Alisaie: *puts swords away*

Wyll: Wait what are you doing?!?

Alisaie: *pulls scroll*

Gale: Oh. Ooooh...

Alisaie: *casts Banishment*

Shadowheart: ...Oh. Right. I can actually do that. *also casts Banishment*

Alisaie: I really need to remember I have magic. Just ... shiny rapier.

Rolan: Well. I mean, if you don't want this place, I guess it's my tower now. But I'm going to be a way better wizard than that asshole.

Gale: Are you going to let us rummage the archives to find Important Book?

Rolan: I might, but that freak in the book section will take some convincing and it's going to take weeks for the sentries to be recoded and...

Alisaie: I get it, it's cool, put your house in order first. We'll be discreet.

Gale: We are looking for information to save the world and we're having to be discreet because--

Alisaie: Because a traumatised and abused man is taking the eminently reasonable time required to heal before he recodes all the staff here to give us a "get out of everything free" card. We have Astarion. I can talk around the sentries. We will be discreet.

Shadowheart: You just want to give Astarion the promised heist, don't you?

Alisaie: He's still bummed about missing the printing press infiltration. He's owed. ...Aylin? You okay?

Aylin: Meh. That wasn't as satisfying as I thought it was going to be. Give me a minute and then we'll go.

On the way back to Elfsong Tavern to clean up a bit

Wyll: I suppose a warrior like her will get a little flat when she takes that much beating in a fight...

Alisaie: ...Noooooooo ... this is going to be a Thing later. So we're going to decide whether we're hitting the anti-refugee assholes in the fireworks shop now, or going straight back to Sorcery Central for the heist while Rolan's getting constructs to clean up the bloodstains.

Gale: You know my vote. Books. Always the books.

Alisaie: Also maybe find a way to tell Rolan that maybe 'Sorcerous' is a bit of an appropriative name for a shop?

Shadowheart: ...How 'appropriative'?

Alisaie: Sorcerers are born magical. Wizards strive to be magical. And warlocks have magic thrust upon them.

Gale: You know the original of that one was a sex joke, right?

Alisaie: Am I not a bard? It's not against Wyll; I just like the idea of Mizora being so hard up that she's effectively willing to trade massive magical power for a quick blowjob behind the privies.

Wyll: .....................*hysterical laughter*

Alisaie: There we go. Better laughing in her face than being glum in her general direction. Mostly because I probably shouldn't have the Ravengard heir involved in heists and I need to bring Astarion anyway. *kicks open the door to their rooms* Hey Astariooooon... Want to rob a wizard?

Astarion: You read my mind. What else is on the docket after that?

Alisaie: Shutting down the anti-refugee fireworks assholes. Up to you whether you want in on that one or not.

Astarion: ...We'll see. I'll think about it. On one hand, it's altruism at its 'finest' ... but on the other hand, a good meal so you don't have to worry I'm snacking on the cook downstairs.

Alisaie: ...I guess if you're saying it, you're generally not doing it. C'mon. Heist.

#Faerun!Alisaie #Thess liveblogs Baldur's Gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 spoilers

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the-phantom-otaku · 6 months

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What would Wyll and Gale think of Bayonetta

Ooh, this is a very interesting thought!

You'll have to forgive me but I don't know as much about Wyll as I do about Gale, Karlach and Astarion. Those three are like my main party, so my opinion about Wyll might not be great. But I think Wyll would be able to relate to her on some level considering his status as a Warlock. I think this means he'd also be the most... understanding? He wouldn't jump to conclusions about her morality or judge her for her demonic pacts. Tho I must admit, I think he'd be a tad jealous that her demons seem much friendlier than his (I mean, her and Butterfly are like besties while Mizora treats him like a pet). Idk if they'd but heads, but they definitely don't have the same morals, and I don't think Wyll would approve of her more brutal attacks (TAs, Wicked Weaves, anything that seems over the top and unecessary). But I think they could both agree on saving/helping a child. Oh, and one last thing: I can't help but think of him being intrigued by her dancing considering his own interest.

Gale I think would be just dying to ask her a million questions about her magic bc it's basically a whole new form that he's never seen before. He'd also make some stupid joke about "taking the Weave a bit literally." Just like Wyll, I don't think he'd approve of her sadistic ways, but he probably wouldn't write her off as evil. I guess he'd see her in much the same way he views Astarion or Lae'zel: Just someone who doesn't exactly have the same morals as him but still a good person in some respects.

Aside from that, I think both him and Wyll have become a tad desensitized to more overtly sexual things bc of Astarion, so her naughty banter with the angels wouldn't catch them as off guard. Again idk Wyll as well as Gale, but he seems like the type to even find it funny after some time.

I kinda just rambled bc I don't really have a whole cohesive thought, just bits and pieces really.

#bayonetta #bg3 #bg3 gale #bg3 wyll #baldur’s gate iii #baldurs gate gale #baldurs gate 3 #baldurs gate #baldur's gate 3 #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #wyll ravengard #baldurs gate wyll #bayonetta 2 #bayo #bayonetta 3 #cereza

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wizzardhat · 7 months

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Rambling about my 2nd playthough and respeccing origin characters with wild abandon.

Since i pretty much only use astarion gale and shadowheart on my first playthrough, im really determined to only used laezel karlach and wyll on my next playthrough. But i find both barbarians and warlocks annoying to play, at least without dual classing, and im going to find it really annoying to not have a wizard on hand for practical reasons. So so far my plan is this:

Play either a 2nd tav that is a rogue or play as a shadowheart and dual class or respec in to rogue early on. Leaning on dual classing here because later cleric spells will help make up for the lack of wizard, and i dont really need a lot of levels in rogue for her to do what i need her to do. I guess i could also just...give a rogue tav levels in cleric? Actually, at that point, since rogues have decent int, i could probably just... take some levels in wizard. Hhhhmhmhmh lmao im just. Smooshing together the classes of the characters im giving up lmao. I think cleric/rogue would be interesting. Curious to see how your interactio s with shadowheart change if you play a sharran cleric tav.

Wyll im all set on because i can dual class him in to college of swords bard immediately. In terms of his personality and reputation this should have been his class out the gate, but i get that he needed to be a warlock for plot reasons. All set there. Bard spells will also pick up a lot of slack for giving up gale

Laezel ill keep as a fighter. If it aint broke etc. Probably make her an eldrich knight tho, so i have an extra half caster on deck? Or if im feeling insane i can also give her some oath of vengence paladin levels, but her charisma is piss so probabpy not.

Karlach....not sure, this is where im a little stumped. Thematically, a few levels in druid might make sense, and some circle of spores abilities are good for a front line attacker. Her wisdom is also not super impressive, but passable for this build and i can bump it up. Same with laezel, part of me wants to give her levels in paladin because im just so addicted to divine smite, but her charisma is also piss so.

#bg3

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the-apocryphal-one · 3 years

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Apo Plays BG3 EA Part Six: Companion Thoughts

So I guess I’m pretty much finished with EA, three playthroughs has been fun (especially Isaniel’s), but it’s gotten to the point where I’m getting tired of doing the same content over and over. Which means it’s time to stop either until full release or a major update.

I’m probably gonna procrastinate on a proper review like forever, but I did post my thoughts on the companions in a reddit thread and decided to just copy + paste them here.

(unmarked spoilers ahead)

For Gale and Wyll, I don't think their motivations can easily be summed up in just one word. Like yes, there are selfish undertones to why they do what they do--but at the same time, there's layers. Wyll wants to be perceived as a hero, but he takes time to teach little kids to swordfight. He hates the goblins for what they've done (the war party that torched that town and stole his eye) and wants to protect people from them, but also wants vengeance. He's a mix of selfishness, appearance and genuine altruism, imo.

Likewise, Gale simps for Mystra, but will go for you, which isn't exactly faithful (I've heard--can't confirm--but I've heard that he'll try to persuade you to cheat on your LI with him, if you got the Weave scene but didn't pick him at the party, which is Not Cool). He regrets his past actions and wants to make sure no one else is hurt by them, so he's willing to go off and die alone. But he doesn't want to just lay down and give up, he wants to find a cure. So he'll consume magical artifact and not stand up for his principles when it matters the most (not turning on you if you attack the tieflings). I think he's a man who talks a lot about the value of life, protecting kids, helping others, and believes it, but is being held back by fear from committing.

Astarion is definitely the most relatable of the companions right now, imo, just because his reactions are exactly the kind of stuff you'd see from an abuse victim. Flinching away from genuine vulnerability (the shoulder pat), trying to mask his pain at what he went through (look at how often he talks about what Cazador did like it's a joke), and showing genuine terror at the thought of going back? All super humanizing and compelling. Then he turns around and laughs at people being hurt or hurting animals and it's awful, unjustified--but it makes sense because sadly, abuse victims can become cruel themselves as a way to cope. But then he goes and approves of helping Karlach, so maybe he's not beyond hope? You could take out the fantasy stuff and plop him in the real world and he would still fit, is what I'm saying.

Lae is full of herself, but the way the other gith treat her really gives me the impression she's a young teen trying too hard to impress the adults. Like with that context, the scenes where she talks about how she's definitely going to have a silver sword and ride a red dragon one day, or where she talks about proving her loyalty to Vlaakith, come off less as sure arrogance but more as a kid talking about what they want to be when they grow up. Which, along with her complete inexperience with the Material Plane, is kind of adorable. But I definitely think she's been indoctrinated by her culture to not question anything and just lay down her life for Vlaakith, which is not so adorable.

SH's super secrecy frustrates me as a player, but as a roleplayer it's great and fitting for her deity worship. I think there are a lot of hints lying around that she's not who she thinks she is, with the missing memories, magic stirring up around Selune, and her own (to her admitted surprise) compassion for the tieflings. I feel like I don't have as much to say about her as I do the others? Maybe because there's a lot missing from her past, but what is there is very consistent with her secretive personality.

tl;dr the “evil” companions’ worldviews stem from past evils done to them--abuse, indoctrination, or cult brainwashing--and hopefully you can help them heal from that, thus bringing about a redemption arc; the “good” companions aren’t entirely altruistic, but struggle with human flaws that hinder their better natures; and all of the companions so far have been nuanced, consistent, and interesting.

EDIT: I should clarify Gale’s unfaithfulness isn’t because he’s with Mystra (he isn’t, and he even says he’s not sure how to feel about her), but because he still has some hang-ups from that relationship and thus can’t give full emotional fidelity right now.

EDIT #2: I should also clarify that I have no delusions that Astarion was a good person pre-turning. I would be more surprised if he was than if he wasn’t. I just think he may not have been as bad as he is now and that many of his beliefs have been predominately shaped by his experiences with Cazador.

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #astarion #shadowheart #gale #wyll #lae'zel #meta #my meta

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thessalian · 8 months

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Faerun!Alisaie vs The Powers of Persuasion

But first, old ruins, as guarded by a Three Stooges routine

Gnome: Hey, you! Hands off! This is our treasure! Or was it the ship you were after? 'Cos we saw it first!

Alisaie: Dude, we just came from there, so no you didn't. And I should warn you - if your idea of 'treasure' is brains with feet and squid-faced horrors using your skull as a soup bowl with the contents of said skull as the soup? Then go nuts. If not? I'd stay clear.

Gnome: ...Right. Thanks for the heads up. Let's get out of here, people; leave the others to loot the ruins!

Bandit Group 1: *leaves*

Shadowheart: Didn't we kill basically all of the more ... squiddly survivors of the crash?

Alisaie: Maybe we did and maybe we didn't, but we're unsure enough that it's not technically a lie. Right. Let's see what they mean by 'the others'. *knocks on locked door*

Astarion: *holds up a set of lockpicks with a frustrated expression*

Alisaie: *puts finger to lips with a 'shut the fuck up' expression*

Bandit: *from behind door* That you, dude? What's going on?

Alisaie: *dead-on impersonation of Gnome* Yeah, it's me. My asshole comrades lost the bloody key again.

Bandit: *from behind door* Well, guess you get what you pay for. C'mon in. *click as door unlocks*

Astarion: ... *quietly* All right; I'll give you this. That was far more fun. *opens door and immediately shanks dude behind it to death*

Alisaie: Well, that was ... extreme.

Astarion: Worked, didn't it?

Alisaie: Yes. Okay. Everybody quiet. There are probably more.

Several rather easy kills later, as Controller Person has figured out a few neat tricks when it comes to turn order and hiding companions, and into the main crypt

Alisaie: Okay, I spent a lot of time hiding out in libraries as a kid and this is ... nothing I know anything about.

Gale: One of the death gods. Scribe of the dead, something?

Shadowheart: Ha! What are the odds we'd trip over one of his old places?

Alisaie: Is this a "my god is better than their god" thing? 'Cos ... y'know, I get the temptation but you're here and breathing and they're piles of bones on the floor, so-- *presses button*

Skeletal Scribes: *get up and start shambling*

Alisaie: ...You're here and breathing, anyway. Want to prove exactly how much better your death god is than their death god?

Shadowheart: You really do know just what to say, don't you?

Stabnation: *ensues*

Further travelling through the wilderness

Alisaie: So our betting pool is ... brain-damaged lich for Gale--

Gale: He had that vibe, really.

Alisaie: --really advanced zombie for Shadowheart--

Shadowheart: If it was a lich, it would have killed us all.

Alisaie: --Astarion bringing up the rear with "I don't give a fuck"--

Astarion: Well, I don't.

Alisaie: --and me? Well, bards go big or go home, so I'm going with "tattered remnants of the ancient god the temple's devoted to, inhabiting whatever body's handy". None of this answers why he feels bound to our camp, but never mind. ...Okay, anyone hear a ruckus? A kerfuffle? A brouhaha, maybe?

Gale: Maybe a commotion, but-- 'kerfuffle'?

Astarion: For my sins, it's a Baldurian one. Probably hasn't made it as far as Waterdeep yet. And do we not just say 'bloodbath' anymore?

Alisaie: It's not a bloodbath. Not yet, anyway. Bloodbath has more of a squelch-splat undernote to the yelling.

Goblins: *are attacking*

Wyll: *swashbuckles his way into the fray*

Alisaie: ...Duuuuuude that is epic.

Shadowheart: Dark Lady be praised...

Gale: ...Why, exactly?

Shadowheart: Look at that. That's bard-bait right there. And a certain amount of squirming leads me to believe he shares our condition. He'll join the party, and we'll have to leave someone behind.

Gale; Shadowheart: *meaningful looks at Astarion*

Astarion: Oh, because being left back at camp with my book and whatever wine you send this way is such a hardship.

Alisaie: EARN YOUR REPRIEVE BY SHANKING GOBLINS!

Astarion: Oh. Right.

Stabnation: *ensues again*

In the Emerald Grove, after the stabnation has come to an end with none of the scouts having died even a little

Zevlor: You led goblins here? We're boned enough as it is without goblins coming right to the door!

Aradin: If you'd just been quicker about opening the gates in the first place--

Alisaie: --Well, if he'd done that, the raiding party would have gone away and come back with more reinforcements and battered the gate down and then everybody's screwed to the wall. As it is, Aradin and his valiant scouts risked their lives to lead that goblin raiding party into a clever trap, opening a hole in their scouting sweeps of the area that could be exploited to the advantage of any tactician clever enough to give the go-ahead to such a plan. And your plan worked brilliantly, even with us blundering into the middle of it, so you're both heroes and should take a breath before you say something you're going to regret later.

Astarion: *watching Alisaie defuse this messy situation from a distance* Aren't we the only reason those scouts survived?

Shadowheart: Don't interrupt a genius at work, Astarion.

Astarion: Fine; I'm going back to camp so I don't have to watch altruism happen. Call me when you actually want to do something naughty. *leaves*

Gale: Well, hopefully our swashbuckling friend really is willing to join us or we're going to have to either call him back or get Lae'zel. Who ... we should not bring here or Alisaie's thing about the cheese wheels will be exposed for the lie it was.

Wyll: *wanders back over with Alisaie* What's this about cheese wheels?

Alisaie: *digging around in a sack* Long story, fit only for a campfire and a beer. Look, we're going to see if we can talk this Kagha into maybe not sending tiefling refugees out to become goblin target practice, and also ask her where this Nettie is because hey, druid healer, might be helpful, and also I went shopping. Got rid of some of the variegated junk and turned it into useful things.

Gale: So I see. Nice armour.

Alisaie: Yeah, they didn't have anything better than you already do, Gale, but if we can scrape up the gold, he had a staff that might be useful someday. Anyway, Shadowheart, here. *hands over good armour* Also, some supplies, some healing potions, materials for more healing potions, and trick arrows. We're good. Now let's see a druid about a tadpole.

Shadowheart: You really think they'll help us?

Gale: Look at what we've seen so far. That woman could talk her way out of a demon pact if she had to.

Wyll: *tinysquee*

Gale: What was that?

Wyll: Nothing; nothing! Just ... happy to be among the skilled.

Gale; Shadowheart: Riiiiiiiight...

Alisaie: This from the people who have made their desire for their privacy very clear. Or were you putting an "all cards on the table" policy in place for Team Dangerous Company? If you were, you'd obviously be telling us what your various bits of bullshit are as a show of good faith. I don't want to know until and unless you want to tell me, but you don't get to ask for his bullshit when you're being cagey about yours.

Gale; Shadowheart: ......Fiiiiiine.

Alisaie: That's the spirit! Now, if we don't want to be all Elder Brain hive-mindey nobody-has-secrets-at-all-for-we-are-one...

Shadowheart: Right!

Gale: Yes!

Wyll: Druids right down this way! Let's go!

Alisaie: *grin* I love being me.

#Faerun!Alisaie #Thess liveblogs Baldur's Gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 spoilers

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