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ghost-proofbaby · 2 months

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“By all means, sharpen your axe, dear,” his voice has dropped to a hush, and she feels a shiver run up her spine once she realizes just how close he is now. She hadn’t even noticed his hand creeping up between them until his fingertips were just barely brushing her throat. A hovering grasp, a mere breath away from wrapping around her, “And I’ll ready my hands.”

summary: aruna and astarion begin to have a few interesting conversations, but she can't seem to shake that part of her that craves to keep him close. the part of her desperate to convince her that she knows him.

wc: 5.1k+

warnings: continued memory loss, spoilers for the game (specifically for a conversation that you can have with astarion that isn't triggered by a cut scene or exclamation point lol), talk of hypothetical murder as flirting

a/n: possibly one of my favorite rewrites of a canon scene thus far. will always be mad we couldn't say 'strangulation' as how we want to go. but i digress. also to anyone who is unfamiliar with the game this might seem fast paced, but to anyone who has played the game, this is probably dragging. my bad. anyways, please enjoy <;3 and peep my nod of homage to the way i keep making bard tavs only to abandon them

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The tiefling, Zevlor, had proven to be an interesting conversation.

He wants something in return for a favor. Of course he does. Aruna doesn’t even glance Astarion’s way, because she’s not in the mood to be told I told you so once it’s all said and done. She’d heard every huff and sigh from him as she’d talked to Zevlor, and she already knew he was less than impressed with how the conversation had gone.

The grove is closing itself off. The refugees are at risk of being sent to their certain death. Zevlor wants them to speak to the druids. There’s a healer named Nettie who may be able to help them.

There’s a healer named Nettie who may be able to help them.

Aruna is an optimist, and chooses to focus on that bit rather than the performance she had put on back there. There’s hope yet – they just have to take the scenic route to get to their final destination.

The group explores the grove a little bit, perusing several small booths that have been set up amongst the large caves. They all keep their distance, not yet deciding to approach any vendors, but Aruna still keeps a list in case they need resources: there’s a corner with a frail elderly lady who’s surrounded by tables littered with what Gale can identify as healing potions, beside her is a tiefling stirring some giant cauldron of what must be food as it smells delectable, and across from her is some sort of blacksmith who has a small shop set up with a depleted source of weapons and armor. All people who might be useful to speak to at some point.

But that’s for another day. The elderly lady piques Aruna’s interest for a moment, but Zevlor had said that Nettie could be found in the druid’s grove, and this was decidedly not the actual grove.

Aruna watches Astarion like a hawk through all of it. And he knows that she’s watching him closely, because at some point he even teases her about it.

“Say, shall I just creep over there and snatch one of those healing potions for myself, dear leader? I doubt the woman would notice it missing. I do have quite skilled hands.”

She’d nearly smacked him for the suggestion of theft, and he’d only cackled when she’d started to look around for any signs of guards that might have overheard his words.

Just before they leave back to their camp for the day, for Aruna to mark this place on their map and begin to formulate some sort of plan for finding this Nettie come tomorrow, they find Wyll. Wyll, the human who had joined in the fight at the gate, tearing down goblins easily with eldritch blasts and the flourish of his rapier.

He’s kind enough. Astarion is rolling his eyes when through that tadpole connection (which is once again, not as painful as it had been with the pale elf), a new quest is presented to them. Hunting a Devil with Wyll. Securing his companionship, increasing their numbers. It’s a small cost, Aruna decides, and she invites him back to camp without hesitation, fully agreeing they’d help him track down this Devil soon after speaking to this Nettie.

“Has anyone ever told you that you have a bleeding heart?”

Despite an additional body now joining them on their trek back to camp, Astarion still clings to Aruna’s side as she leads the group.

“It’s not a bleeding heart,” she quips back, giving a quick glance to the map in her hands. Less for finding her way to camp, and more for engraving what she needs to draw out once they get back. “He has a tadpole. He needs us as much as we need him – the Devil will just be something to keep in mind.”

“It’s a side quest, and side quests will sidetrack us,” Astarion points out as Aruna finally veers between trees, beginning to stumble into heavier bramble that they have to navigate in order to arrive at their clearing, “It’s going to take years for us rid ourselves of our little problems at this rate.”

Aruna rolls her eyes before stepping widely over a fallen log, “You’re being dramatic.”

“Never denied having a love for the theater, darling,” Gods, his tongue is fast. Always equipped with a new comeback, always readied with a new nickname to make heat flash through her body. “My point is, we don’t have years. Time isn’t exactly on our side, if I’ve been listening to that wizard correctly.”

“Gale,” she corrects him absentmindedly, stopping for a second to gather their surroundings as well as allow the other three to catch up a little bit, “His name is Gale, and… and he’s right, I think. We should be weary of ceremorphosis.”

Astarion waves off the reminder of Gale’s name as if he has no use of it. Which, at the rate in which he only seems keen on speaking to her, he might not. “We haven’t sprouted any tentacles yet. And our flesh has yet to melt off our faces, so to speak. However, I am curious as to what your plan is if any of that does start happening to one of us.”

She starts to head west. Or at least, the direction she thinks is west.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that at the first sign of change, I’d have to stop that pretty little bleeding heart of yours.”

Aruna nearly trips over her own feet.

Is he seriously threatening me right now?

When she turns to look at him, though, he doesn’t look one bit as frightening as she had expected. His hands are far from his daggers, and she swears there’s a smile playing on the corners of his lips.

“I am open to suggestions,” he presses on, meeting her gaze and leaning forward, the face of playfulness, “Knives, poison, strangulation – whatever you’d prefer.”

He’s not going to kill her. There’s absolutely no way that there’s any weight to his words. If someone were going to choose to kill someone, they would not be indulging in this type of conversation with them, would they?

She stares at him for a few moments, completely still and silent as she blinks slowly before finally saying, “You are odd.”

It makes him laugh. A scoff that echoes through the trees around them as she starts to quicken her pace. Camp is near, the rest of their group isn’t far behind – he’s not going to kill her. She’s not worried about that, but she is worried for his sanity by thinking that this was small talk.

“Humor me,” he calls after her. Even as her strides turn longer, he doesn’t struggle to keep up, “I deserve it after being on my best behavior at the grove.”

She’d argue that he hadn’t been on his best behavior, but the more she gets to know him, the more she’s thinking that the way he had restrained himself today was him attempting to follow her rules.

“I’m not sure,” she sighs, “How would you like to go?”

Even in her peripherals, she can see him light up as he realizes she is actually humoring him.

“I don’t think that poison is for me. Nor stabbing, come to think of it. I always felt decapitation was a fine choice. One good swing and then – nothing,” Gods, he’s thought about this quite sincerely, hasn’t he? “But we were talking about you. What’ll it be?”

Through the breaks in the trees ahead, she can see the camp. She could choose to ignore him, dart ahead and leave him behind without an answer. But for some reason, she found herself almost enjoying the conversation. There was something in his cadence, in the hand gestures she was only catching the tail end of. If she were going to question his sanity, she might as well also question her own, because she was actually entertaining what he was suggesting.

“You said strangulation was an option?” she stops and turns to him, catching sight of just far ahead they’d gotten from the others. Probably for the best, given their current exchange.

His grin widens. His eyes sparkle in the warmth of the setting sun. He’s beautiful enough to take her breath away if she’d let him. Literally, given what she’d just said to him.

“Strangulation?” he parrots back. She’s taken him off guard, returning the favor of setting him off his kilter, “Can’t say that was the option I’d imagine you’d choose. It’s the least messy, of course, but you did strike me as someone who might prefer a classic knife.”

“Or a goblin bow,” she says before she can even think of it. It rolls off the tongue easily, and the moment the words hang between them, they’re both smiling. She’s almost laughing, even.

Just hours before, she had almost met her very real and very timely death by the exact object of her joking. It hadn’t been a joke then – it had been a real fear, staring her right in the eyes as she had helplessly reached for daggers that she severely needed to grow more skilled with.

And he had helped her. Saved her life, even. The exact opposite of the hypothetical they were posing to one another now.

“Or… that,” he’s so close to being at a loss for words, she’s nearly proud of herself, “But this is all hypothetical, of course. I’m sure tomorrow we’ll find this Nettie and there will be no need for any gore.”

“Or we won’t,” she can hear the footsteps of the others now, not far off, but she’s in too deep to not finish Astarion at his own game, “And I’ll just have to sharpen my axe.”

He takes a step closer to her, lips still curled. She’s glad she’s humored him – glad she can make him smile, make him laugh, even with such morbid conversations. They deserve a little bit of that joy, even if it comes by odd means.

Something inside of her sparks. Yearns, weeps, lashes out as his hand drops just before the other three join them. It wasn’t just his velvet voice or the brush of his breath against her cheek, it wasn’t just the alarming temperature of his hand and the way her body reacted to the mere thought of him putting it on her – it was a strange need for closeness. As if he had belonged there, pressed right against her, staring right into her eyes until she’d grown nervous that he could see straight to all the memories she couldn’t unlock quite yet.

“Interrupting something?” Gale asks, oblivious, once the rest of the group has caught up to the pair. Astarion had moved away at just the right moment; just close enough for them to see they’d been talking about something, but not to catch that innocent movement of his hand that had sent Aruna into a tailspin.

It had felt right.

For a moment, his skin had been on hers, and everything fell into place. As if she didn’t have a brain riddled with holes. As if she hadn’t had to learn her name from some letter. As if she’d known Astarion for two hundred years, not a petty two days. The buzz of the frustration she has battled with since waking on that beach had simply quieted by her space being invaded by him.

She wants him close again. She wants to feel it again.

Instead, she only lies to Gale, shakes her head and pretends like there had never been anything to interrupt. Acts as if her whole mind and soul are there with the rest of them, not lingering on that blip of a moment, stuck in a capsule of time in which Astarion had somehow made her feel whole again. She hadn’t even remembered a damn thing from her past – not a single vision, not a single thought of something as trivial as to what her favorite color might have been before the tadpole – but none of that mattered with the distraction of his presence.

They carry on into camp. She knows she has an endless list of simple tasks to complete before she can fully rest for the night: she needs to speak with Lae’zel, she needs to help Gale ration out their supplies for dinner for the next few nights, she needs to update the map, she needs to curate a plan for the next day.

She does none of the above.

Some pathetic excuse is mumbled out between her lips in a voice she can’t even recognize as her own, claiming she’ll go gather some mushrooms or pick some berries for Gale to utilize for tonight’s feast. And no one stops her as she departs from camp, not even the pale elf who hovers by the fire Wyll begins to build, eyes locked on her in curiosity she doesn’t witness.

He was right. Her heart is bleeding, a gaping wound in the center of it that gushes with every beating of her pulse. But for which it bleeds, she isn’t so sure.

Not quite the tieflings they met today and offered to help. Not quite the companions she’s offered to embark on personal journeys with.

No, Aruna’s heart is bleeding, and she’s starting to suspect that it all begins and ends with the garnet eyes she feels on her long after she’s departed back into the trees.

—

“And I thought I was going to be the broody one of the camp.”

Astarion’s voice should startle her, especially considering it comes from behind her in the woods rather than him approaching her from the rocks leading up to her perch, but it doesn’t. No surprise, no annoyance, no irritation – all she really feels is a deepening of a gaping hole inside of her that hasn’t subsided since her tadpole first connected with his.

Upon her arrival back to camp, she’d handed over a pitiful handful of berries and a small bouquet of mushrooms to Gale, and had immediately retreated. She wasn’t in a talkative mood; she’d glanced around for somewhere to hideaway, and had landed on the small lookout atop a stone cliff not far from where Lae’zel had set up a tent.

Most of her companions had set up tents. Where they’d gotten them from, she has no idea. But each one has found a corner to call their own in the camp, creating almost homey environments, except her.

Her, and Astarion.

She tilts her head ever so slightly as she shakes it, a small tsk falling from her lips, “Nope. I’m afraid that title has already been taken, my friend.”

His footsteps are light as he approaches her side, hesitating before he awkwardly lowers himself onto the ground beside her. She’d offer up space on her rock, but her body was heavier than even the stone below her, and she couldn’t find it in herself to make any movement.

They’re just out of sight from the rest of the camp. A thinner grouping of trees offers minimal coverage, a large boulder her current seat. She could easily walk out onto the stone ledge and expose herself, but she was already feeling a little too seen for the night.

Has anyone ever told you that you have a bleeding heart?

She wonders if someone had, before all this mess, from a time she can’t recall.

“Friend,” he echoes her. His tone isn’t condescending, but rather curious, “I’m not sure I’ve ever-”

And then he cuts himself off, as though he’s caught himself in the act of opening up. He looks as if he hadn’t been in control for a few moments.

That draws in her curiosity well enough. She thought she had been burnt out for the day, beyond the capability to hold conversation, but he’s drawing her into it easily. Like a moth to his flame, like a moon stuck in his orbit.

“Well? Don’t hold out on me now. I’m absolutely on the edge of my seat,” she only sinks into a more comfortable position to add humor to her words, “Let me guess. You never would have called someone such as myself a friend before all this. I understand if that’s the case-”

“I’ve never called someone a friend, period,” he interrupts. He says it all in one breath, and when she looks down at his face, nearly hidden by the shadows, it looks absolutely petrified. As if he can’t believe he’s just said that outloud. As if his mouth had moved without permission in order to spill the words out for her.

The soft ‘oh’ that leaves her is completely involuntary. She isn’t sure how to respond to that – that level of vulnerability, the kind that is making him shrink under her gaze and curl his lips in disgust at himself. It’s not the kind of thing you’d reveal to a stranger.

But Astarion feels like anything but a stranger, fight it as she might try.

“If it would make you more comfortable,” she starts, and his head whips up to look at her in alarm, “I could always refer to you as an enemy instead.”

When he laughs, it’s a symphony. She wishes she were lying, but the music of his joy fills her with an indescribable light, as though she might have just swallowed the sun whole. It warms every joint, every crevice, every shadow she has within her. For just a moment, all the monsters within her are quiet once again, content to sit and simply listen to him with a smile.

It makes her want to run. It makes her breath catch, and a certain resentment begins to build against the way he can have this effect on her so effortlessly. It’s the same gut reaction as she’d had on the beach when Gale had also laughed for her, but more.

It’s better than hearing Gale laugh. So, so much better.

Would it be better to not fight this wonderful blanket of deja vu? If she just loosened her fists, unclenched her jaw, she could let it anchor her easily in an almost comforting manner. Even after the echoes of his amusement had long faded, it whispers to her in the dark.

She’s terrified of the way it feels; it feels as though she’s spent countless nights listening to that laugh. By a campfire, in dark tents, in shared beds. She’s heard it withheld with constraint, free without care, hushed for the sake of others – for a moment, she swears, she knows Astarion’s laugh like the back of her hand. And that, that indescribable feeling, is what stokes all her fear.

“You know, perhaps you’re a bard,” he jokes once he’s calmed down, waving a hand through the air without purpose.

“Ah,” her smile she hadn’t even noticed finally falters, remembering what had happened outside of the Grove. She needed to speak with Gale, as well. She’d just add it to the list. After another moment, she swears to herself that she’ll see to doing all that she must before retiring for the night, “So I see you’ve heard of my little identity crisis.”

He tilts his head back to look at her fully, and she’s moments away from genuinely offering to share her boulder as a seat.

As if to stop herself, she makes another bad joke. Maybe he’ll laugh, and she’ll have no room to say something stupid, like offering him a seat next to her. Letting him close to her again. “Gale is a terrible keeper of secrets – noted.”

There’s still ghosts of giggles on his lips as he sighs, pressing two hands into the dirt behind him and leaning his body into a reclined position.

“Not entirely. Less that he’s terrible at keeping secrets, and more that I’m particularly skilled at learning them. Ask anyone the right questions, and their pretty tongues will always sing.”

He rolls his ‘r’ when he says pretty, and that gaping hole nearly enlarges itself enough to swallow her up.

This surely isn’t how their nights are supposed to go. They’re strangers. Surely, surely, they should be more guarded. Less jokes, more awkward silences. Less revealing of who they really are, and more false pretenses to cover up the truth.

The quiet is nice. It’s exactly what she had been seeking out when she’d sulked away from the others for a moment to herself, and Astarion neither adds nor takes away from the tranquility. He’s just there. If she tilts her head just right, leans back to an even more horizontal angle, he’d leave her line of sight entirely.

She doesn’t. She keeps him there, safe in her peripherals, no longer trying to unknot all her emotions that draw her to him. She knows the letter still waits for her in her pack, and there are conversations to be had, responsibilities for her to shoulder. But for a brief moment, it’s just them – it’s just Aruna, and it’s just Astarion. Two unfortunate souls stuck with tadpoles in their brain, and now each other. No more, no less.

The moment passes eventually.

“Do you truly believe I’m a bard?”

She isn’t sure why she asks that. But she’s handed over her trust to him freely thus far, a few more inches can’t hurt.

“Hm?” he hums, rolling his head on his shoulders, a tension under the surface she only sees glimpses of in the moonlight, “Oh, who’s to say? I’m not all that well-versed in magic, being a-”

“Wait, don’t tell me,” she stops him quickly, scooting to the edge of her boulder, ankles now swinging dangerously close to him.

He peers up at her curiously, brow furrowed, “Don’t tell you… what? That I’m a-”

“Let me guess,” she nearly begs.

The last three days have felt anything but normal. Tadpoles, mysterious letters, lost memories. Guessing someone’s class just felt normal. She needed normal, if only for a moment.

“By all means,” he lifts a hand, flourishing it in invitation, “Be my guest.”

She presses her elbows into the tops of her thighs, studying him intensely as her fists squish her cheeks. And he lets her – he even tilts his head back to the sky, clearly putting on a show as her eyes scan him intensely. He’s used to it. He’s used to being the center of attention, of being something pretty to gawk at. He slips into the role far too easily to not be accustomed to such.

The longer she looks at him, the more she notices.

The surface level is what she drinks in first. Soft, white curls that nearly glow under streams from the moon. Lashes so long that they brush the porcelain skin of his under eyes. Perfectly pointed ears. And a perfectly sloped nose, albeit a little crooked if she were to scrutinize it too long from the side. Somewhere along the ridge, it’s almost as though he’s experienced a break that never quite healed right. Laugh lines that dig in deeply to his cheeks, but that almost fade from existence when his face goes as slack as it is currently. He’s not a young boy, not by any means, but there’s a certain youth to him in this state that could break her heart if she tried to contort it into a perfect metaphor. He’s a devastatingly beautiful stranger. His confidence is well earned.

But his confidence is only the surface of it all. Once she scratches past the way he doesn’t seem to falter under her careful observation, the layers practically reveal themselves. He appears relaxed, she’s been under the assumption that he’s been relaxed this entire conversation, but as she lets her eyes fall to his shoulders, she sees a tenseness that she hadn’t noticed before. One that can’t be brushed off by his current position or the weight his palms are balancing. His neck rolls with it, and she gets the smallest glimpse of his neck beneath the high-neck of his collared shirt – a scar. It flashes for only a second, giving her no time to know exactly the shape nor circumstance, but it’s there. An imperfection. A spanse of skin on him that holds a story she certainly won’t get out of him tonight, not when his shoulders still nearly tremble with that tenseness.

He’s not a damsel in distress. She doesn’t know why the letter insists that she save him.

“Well,” his voice finally startles her, breaking her from her trance, “Are you going to gawk all night at my ethereal beauty, or are you going to guess my class, young bard?”

She’s decidedly not a bard. She knows it the moment he properly refers to her as such. Really, she has no idea what a bard is, but she almost wishes she was if only to let him be right.

“I only know the few classes that Gale has mentioned in passing,” she admits into the night quietly, her voice a whisper.

His eyes flutter open at that. Gorgeous, piercing red.

“And which ones are those?”

She knows now that he’s wearing a mask. Maybe not a heavy one, maybe not a thick one, but he’s wearing one all the same. If she were more clever, she’d put on one herself. Simply for protection. A shield for whatever game the two of them were playing at.

And yet, she can’t seem to find the mind to dig through her arsenal and mirror him in defenses.

Instead, she prattles off the list Gale had rambled on about to her. Sorcerers, wizards, warlocks, druids, clerics. He’d mentioned paladins in passing, but never elaborated. Really, he hadn’t properly elaborated on any of them. He’d simply reassured her again that he had books for her to read back at camp.

None of those books were in her hands, at the time being. All she had right now was Astarion. And surprisingly, he appeared to be feeling particularly helpful.

“I see,” he nods, looking out over the camp. Gale begins cooking for all of them, Wyll rests by the fire, and the other two women of the camp are nowhere to be seen. In their tents, presumably, “Well, I can tell you that I am none of those. I don’t wield quite as much magic as those who are.”

“Quite as much?” she mimics back, a smile creeping up on her lips, “Are you insinuating that you do hold some?”

He chuckles in response, “Of course I do. You aren’t this beautiful and intriguing without having a little bit of magic, dear.”

Something flashes in his eyes when he takes on that tone with her. A faint taunting, a gentle flirtation. But when she looks in his eyes, they’ve lost some of their glimmer. His words are playful enough, but the feeling doesn’t extend beyond his voice.

She wants to poke and prod, pry till her fingers bleed and he’s cursing her name. Because she knows he would. If his little slip ups just in this conversation and his reactions to them are any indicator, Astarion hates nothing more than to offer up any vulnerability. And yet, for her, he already had.

He’s admitted that he’s never had a friend before. It’s a small detail, petty in nature, but it is a stepping stone nonetheless.

Tonight’s not the night. There will be other nights to spill the blood of honesty.

“Oh, of course. My mistake,” she plays along, feeds into his act. The insatiable animal inside of her prefers his company, after all. His simple presence is a soothing balm she can’t quite place, and she’ll do anything to drag out their time, “I’ll keep that in mind during my studies with Gale.”

Speaking of the wizard, she catches the tail end of a cautionary glance from him, his head whipping away from the direction of herself and Astarion. Whatever he’s managed to scrounge for dinner is done, plated to the best of his abilities as Shadowheart crosses camp to join him.

They’ll have to join them soon enough.

As soon as she realizes this, she has another realization, looking down to find Astarion watching a nearby tree with vexed interest, “We’re going to act like this conversation never happened come morning, aren’t we?”

We’re going to pretend like you never opened up for a fraction of a second. Like I didn’t let my guard down as well. Like we didn’t sit in the forest like two well-acquainted souls, protected by the moonlight as we shared laughter and a kinship forgotten.

We’re going to pretend like the thing ripping apart my chest doesn’t know you, somehow, someway.

“I suppose so.”

She hops down from the boulder, keeping her balance easily as she turns to offer him a hand. But he’s already standing back up, completely ignoring her offer as he brushes away the dirt on his legs and palms.

She swallows hard, nods slowly. “That’s fair, I suppose.”

It was nice while it lasted.

Even after the dust has long since been discarded off his body, he makes no move to walk down the slope of the miniature cliff and rejoin the other companions. He’s waiting – waiting for her to take the lead. Just as the others had during their travels thus far.

She’s selfish. So, so ardently selfish. But before they leave this space, before they abandon the serene moment they’d been granted, she has to learn one last thing about him. If nothing else, she’d like to say she knows the very basics of who he is.

His name, the fact that he’s never been privy to friendship before, that he is a very guarded individual with a superior skill at hiding that mask, and whatever his class is.

And that she has to ‘save him’. Apparently. Allegedly.

“What is your class?” she asks, voice steady and head held high as she only looks at him. She doesn’t care if Gale spares them any more side glances.

His head tilts curiously towards her, “What? Giving up so quickly?”

“Well, if we’re to pretend this conversation never happened, then-”

“I’ll tell you what… bard,” he starts, but when she shakes her head, he’s quick to correct himself, “Or… not bard? Regardless. Once you’ve figured out your own class, see if you can then figure out my class, hm? Read those dreadful books our camp cook has assigned to you, and then get back to me.”

She knows what that is.

It’s more than playful banter. More than him hiding away secrets.

They won’t be pretending that this night never happened – not even close.

taglist:

@emmaisgonnacry @writinginthetwilight @moonmunson

#ghost's stories #astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion x oc #astarion x tav #astarion fanfic #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #also heyo we finally have wyll in the party!!!#slight spoiler but astarion only goes along with the bard bit because that man KNOWS she isn't a bard #really preying on her ignorance there mister pale elf #the moon will sing

22 notes · View notes

normal-thoughts-official · 3 days

Note

You are getting me intrigued about Bladeweave, and i want to know your thoughts on:

A) Do they get a pet together? (The correct answer is yes)

B) Do you imagine them like, in a specific Bladeweave universe, or like canon-ish one, but like after the Hell Trip?

C) Do you think Tara and Wyll team up to make sure Gale doesn't forget to take care of himself and then Tara teams up with Gale to do the same to Wyll?

D) What do you think Wyll's father thinks of Gale?

Also feels weirdly nostalgic to be on your asks

omg hiiiii beloved. first of all finish the damn game 🔫 second of all damn i missed your asks 💕

in order:

A) they get a frankly ridiculous amount of pets but neither of them will admit it because they're the "they're not my pets, i just feed them" kind of mfs. i mean, that's canon on gale's end but we all know wyll is just as bad if not worse with the whole "hm actually animals are fully fledged individuals who belong to no one but themselves and only a tyrant would wish to conquer them and reduce them to something to be owned and,"- bullshit.

(also, honestly? after being called a pet and a pup by mizora for so long, the last thing he wants is to be reminded of her. and considering how in wyll origins he says his biggest fear is to become the devil he was made to look as, i think it'd be highly triggering for him to say anything at all that sounded like it could've come from her mouth, even in a completely different context. so, no, he'll never have "pets", he'll have loyal animal friends whom he feeds and takes care of and who live with him and always come back to him but they're not pets how dare you)

gale is more of a cat/tressym person, and of course tara is gale's friend first and foremost and wyll and her mostly bond over their love for gale. wyll however has no discrimination when it comes to species and i mean none. he'll show up at the tower or wherever else they live all like "hey gale so hear me out" and it's just as likely that he'll have a cat, a dog, a pigeon, a horse, or a crocodile in tow. gale just sighs and goes magic up whatever sort of specialized environment their new tennant will need because he knew what he was getting into when he married Literal Disney Princess, got-speak-with-animals-as-a-cantrip-out-of-a-devil-deal Wyll Ravengard. those are mostly wyll's friends (not pets, the dekarios-ravengard household is completely pet free, ignore the first 10 levels of the tower) but they also get along well with gale too. he makes them tea when they to to their area upstairs for a chat or whatever

B) usually the canon universe, yes. i mean it's fully possible to have a canon run without ever even meeting karlach so it's not like i'd need a fully fledged AU if I didn't wanna include the going to hell part (plus other ending possibilities im not spoiling you about). but also i feel like gale is the kind of stupidly self sacrificial mf who would go to hell with wyll and karlach if that's what it takes, both to be with his love and because karlach does deserve to live and be safe. and he knows that he can help try to look into arcane solutions for her heart. and if anyone understands having a ticking time bomb in their chest and needing support to grow back hope that you'll be able to live without it being a risk, and deserve to, it's him. wyll's saved him from his own time bomb; he would never deny karlach the same sort of redemption, especially when she got in that situation through no fault of her own

so, yes, i can imagine him joining them, even if not 24/7, and trying to help with her heart before they come back. and then we can have bladeweave and karlachzel (? what's their ship name called man) or Fucking Whatever lol. i mean part of the appeal of wyllach to me is that i feel like it makes 0 difference whether it's platonic or romantic, so i can see a platonic helping each other in hell before we can go back to our respective baes sort of situation

C) duh. tara and wyll have a whole routine they've executed to perfection for when gale is having a bad depression day, or a bad back/joint pain day, or an orb flare-up day, or whichever other flavor of disabling situation gale faces (semi-)regularly. tara is both relieved to have someone else to take care of him (both so she gets room to take care of herself as well and just from knowing that no matter what, someone else has gale's back) and pleased to see that, at least as far as depression days go, gale has been having those less and less. not because true love cures all or whatever but because now gale has a significant support network with all the tadfools, plus with the orb stabilized he doesn't have to fear going out, seeing his family, and making friends anymore. nothing is perfect or cured but slowly and steadily he's been building the kind of support net that allows him to breathe and keep himself alive more easily, you know

as for wyll's own disability days, tara is kind of slow to trust and even slower to show said trust. naturally she would always be there to support them both when wyll needed, if anything because it mattered to gale. but it was mostly supporting gale while he supported wyll at the beginning, because she was still wary of anyone who could potentially break her wizard's heart and make him even more fragile

also, he kind of waltzed into her house and then started bringing dogs. yuck.

but wyll is nothing if not explicitly and selflessly loving of gale and completely polite and respectful of tara's boundaries, which means he earns her love faster than any other humanoid ever has. so at first she was kind of tsundere about it - trying to hide her concern when wyll was having PTSD episodes by being kind of focused on gale, being a bit snarky (although never in a mean way), that kind of thing. over time though she fully gave up on pretending and became very involved in helping him. nothing like having a tressym purr to help pull you out of a flashback, or having someone to pet during a depression day, etc.

she is also one of the few people who always keeps in mind that wyll is not, in fact, fully sighted. whenever they go somewhere new or something changes in the layout of the tower she always helps him figure out clues to make up for his lack of depth perception while he's getting used to the state of things. gale also has a tendency to clutter and leave his stuff everywhere when he's particularly invested in a subject so she always makes sure to point out to wyll if there's anything in his path. especially when they're in waterdeep, she always takes the lead when they're walking through crowds, helping make the way so wyll won't bump into anybody by accident. with gale she's more of a supportive friend/housemate but with wyll she goes full on service animal without him ever asking. neither of them ever say anything about it but when she starts doing it wyll knows that he is, officially, part of the family. and most of all, loved

(and they take care of her too, of course. with food and pets and help when she's in pain or sad too. gale is aware that he put quite a heavy load on her when she was literally the only thing keeping him alive after the orb, and wyll is endlessly thankful to her for making sure he was cared for during that time. so they make sure she has all the resting and support she needs, and she is, quite frankly, the most spoiled tressym in the sword coast. wyll also went to ridiculous lengths to make sure everything in their tower was accessible for a non-opposable-thumbs-haver, especially the wizardy stuff because tara is, as gale said, a fine wizard on her own right)

also, sometimes she kneads the bases of wyll's horns when they hurt or feel particularly heavy, physically or emotionally, and it's really cute

D) difficult one. i kinda struggle to imagine ulder having a good relationship with any of wyll's partners, considering he... like... didn't even have a healthy relationship with wyll lol. so he'd probably be distant and kind of strained, but as far as partner choices go, i feel like gale is some of the best he could be hoping for among the tadfools. he is smart and can be charming, and he thrives with older people tbh. ulder wouldn't be a fan of the fact that he's the wizard-living-in-a-tower stereotype and has never really gotten his hands in the mud, so to speak, but gale is respectful, polite, interesting to talk to, intelligent, compassionate, and honorable and ethical to boot, which i think ulder would see as more important. also, he obviously loves wyll, and there's not much more ulder can ask of a partner, especially after he himself failed to provide wyll the love he needed for so long

so i believe he'd like him, although they'd never really be close. the real question though is what gale would think of ulder, because while i think he would be nothing if not polite to him, especially since he knows how much he means to wyll, i also think gale would be playing 5d chess to subtly insult his parenting skills at every opportunity. he is way too nice to be explicit about it but the way he keeps going for the softest, most subtle and hidden of stings, can be more devastating than calling him a bitch. ulder will suddenly realize that two weeks ago gale implied that he was a dumbass, and given that he only noticed that afterwards, he feels like he was probably right. it keeps him up at night sometimes, trying to figure out if gale lightly insulted him or was genuinely just commenting on the weather. the fact that it drives him mad only makes it all the more satisfying to gale. wyll has no clue this is happening at all

this got long and far too detailed but I won't apologize cuz what did you expect really. anyway i love they

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 #wyll ravengard #gale dekarios #tara the tressym #tara bg3 #bladeweave #ask #confused-inalltheways-human #overflowing trashcan #long post

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mtreebeardiles · 3 months

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Hmm ok so thinking about that BG3 post, particularly in terms of the main villains and

Spoilers ahoy!

I gotta say, the more I think about it the less I agree that the narrative of the game positions Ketheric as more important or having more character weight than the other two, in terms of the stuff you gotta get through to even reach those final fights

Now I have **not** gone after Gortash directly yet, so I can’t speak to his fight, but I have done the lead up for all three villains and I think they kinda work out fairly evenly?

Ketheric-related quest lines: gauntlet of Shar (which is as much tied to a main companion as well) confronting Balthazar (I think this fight can even be skipped? Idk if he tries to stop you later if you bluff your way out of a confrontation since I usually just dive right in hahah), ending in moonrise. He does have 1-2 bonus stages leading up to the Avatar of Myrkul final, though one of them is optional if you manage to hit certain checks

You can argue confronting the other Thorms is part of it, but those fights can also be avoided and are optional

Orin - starts antagonizing you right out the gate, shape shifting into various people to mess with you. The serial killer subquest could be optional? Maybe? Might be harder to get into the Tribunal without it, and I’m fairly certain taking down Saarevok (spl?) is necessary to even reach her in the temple. You could luck out and find the entrance to the tribunal without following the murder mystery questline maybe? 🤔 but in terms of narrative weight, having to fight her grandfather, learning that aspect of her history beyond talking to her mother’s corpse (which I actually didn’t think to do but still got her backstory for the most part? I’ll have to remember next time), is pretty solid I think. In terms of fights, you’ve got Saarevok, the gauntlet leading up to the temple, and Orin goes monster form in her final fight. Similar in structure, I’d say, to ketheric’s questline

And now Gortash. I can’t speak as much to his questline since I haven’t finished it (no idea if it’ll trigger any end game stuff, so I’m avoiding it until I finish exploring the Gate), but you’ve got the submerged prison fight (😫), the steel watch foundry fight, and at least a few fights in wyrm’s rock (I think that’s where he’s holed up?) before reaching him. You can find his parents in the city, and unlike the other two you can kinda stumble upon them by accident — there doesn’t appear to be a related questline for it so far as I know? But you do learn from his mother that he’s trapped them in their own minds, that they sold him to a warlock when he was younger, and just… yeah. Yikes. Idk how any of that plays out later or if it ever does, but I’ll keep an ear out when I finally finish that questline 🤔

But yeah, idk how fair it is to say the narrative tilts more in Ketheric’s favor when the underlying structure is about even. Maybe because he’s more directly tied to a few companions? His quests overlap with Shadowheart, Halsin, and Jaheira, whereas Orin’s only really connects with a Durge run and/or Jaheira and Minsc (both optional companions, though I guess you could say the same of Halsin, though he and Jaheira are not formally part of the group until near the end of Act 2 and beginning of Act 3, respectively) and Gortash’s impacts Karlach and Wyll

Idk I’m rambling at this point, might revisit this after I’ve actually finished a run 😅

#rambling #bg3 spoilers #bg3 #again the only thing I want #is a tortle dlc #lemme be a big sentient turtle pls

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myersesque · 3 months

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playing bg3 a lot lately!!! some highlights (act 1 spoilers):

wyll is lying unconscious on the floor. shadowheart runs over to help him up, slips in the grease, and lies on the ground in defeat. the camera immediately cuts away. i lose my shit laughing

astarion then proceeds to slip in that grease puddle THREE TIMES on his way out of the room

"watch this - astarion NEVER fails at lockpicking." (he proceeds to fail at lockpicking twice consecutively)

gale disengaging from an enemy so he won't immediately get squished like a bug. the enemy ignoring every other member of the party to charge at him full force and oneshot him into death

astarion being the only party member not to fail every fucking nature check and therefore ending up sounding like the world's snarkiest tour guide

ethel teleporting mayrina directly into my cloud of daggers at the end of the fight, not even bothering to move herself out of the cloud, so both of them died simultaneously and i had to reload

gale being restrained, put under a silence spell, and set on fire, making him essentially fucking useless and also killing him faster than anybody could get him unstuck because he is squishy and flammable

the entire party slipping on grease and falling down the stairs in PERFECT UNISON

me, my bf (in our co-op save), and karlach, accidentally triggering the ragzlin fight... then we realise astarion isn't anywhere on the initiative menu, nor is he in the room. i switch control to him real quick to discover he's having his own separate boss fight against priestess gut and like twenty goblins, the poor sod

my bf getting arrested for theft within maybe 20 seconds of entering emerald grove, whilst i was still stuck in dialogue and could do nothing to stop him. he then forgot to re-equip his gear after getting it from the prison chest, despite me reminding him a bajillion times, which led to some INTERESTING combat encounters

"well, astarion is doing okay!" an enemy runs up and throws astarion off a balcony, knocking off half his health. "...ok well he WAS-"

getting jumpscared by gale's laugh, courtesy of a timmask

accidentally destroying a bridge mid-fight! it did absolutely nothing to any of the enemies but it took out lae'zel AND shadowheart in one fell swoop

getting confused by the blessing effects looking simular to the blue circles used to show allies, and therefore letting astarion fire bolt shadowheart to death before realising, in a moment of quiet horror, what i had just done

wyll killing half the goblins by shoving them off balconies instead of actually fighting them lmaoooo

"wait, where the fuck are karlach and astarion?" (the answer is always "they forgot to jump ten minutes ago and i only just noticed, so they're in a cave halfway across the map")

#for the record. astarion and karlach r pretty much permanent members of my party #me and my bf's too bc we're romancing them lmao #occasionally i switch karlach out for lae'zel or wyll depending on the quest but it's usually karlach #then the third member is usually shadowheart but i've been bringing gale with me more lately #because i got an amulet that lets him cast healing spells so i no longer have any reason not to switch him in every now n then lmao #my tavs are a tiefling bard (solo) and a drow fighter (co-op) if any of u were curious #i'm up to the underdark in my solo game and rescuing halsin in co-op #but i know some shit from later in the game bc fixation is a bitch and youtube is free yippee #ok infodump over #og #baldur's gate 3 #bg3

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neonbutchery · 4 months

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You not seeing mystra as evil despite grooming someone just BC her victim is a man is uh a red flag ngl

okay i'm going to turn off anons for a while so this will be the last thing i'll say about this. if you do want to have a discussion about this, i'm open to having it as long as it's earnest (which judging from the tone of your message, isn't the case).

number one, the post about the evil bg3 character hairstyle was meant to be a joke. i know that saying "bro this is just a joke" is a crappy defence sometimes, but i never aimed for serious character analysis in a joke image i made in 20 minutes that came from me noticing a funny pattern.

number two: i haven't done the gale romance nor played through the gale origin. all i know about gale's story is what i've experienced through a tav that didn't romance him, so it's very likely i missed some of the content related to his story. that being said, i've seen both "mystra is evil" and "mystra isn't evil" thinkpieces, so i honestly didn't want to get into this discourse since i have zero to none knowledge about gale's wider backstory and mystra's wider dnd lore. if i had included mystra as a villain i would've probably gotten people contesting that, too, so i decided to just put her in a category that wasn't "100% maliciously evil villain". she absolutely did harm to gale, and i'm not denying that. i'm just not comfortable making a clear judgment on if she's irredeemably evil or not.

you want to go back to that image? fine. i included cazador and mizora, both of whom have male victims (astarion + all of the other male spawn, and wyll). mizora's abhorrent treatment of wyll is especially dismissed by the fandom as something that's not that serious anyways, too. are also you going to jump into the inboxes of every single person who's ever made "step on me mommy mizora" jokes and accuse them of also not caring about male victims?

finally, number three: i really don't appreciate the implication being that i condone abuse/grooming if it's directed towards men just because of a shitpost i made. i'm sorry, but you don't know nothing about me nor my personal life nor my relationships, and i don't think that making wider judgments on internet strangers based on a single meme about fictional characters from a fictional world is something that you should be doing. i can't tell you how to think, and if you're weirded out by my take (which, i reiterate, isn't even a serious character analysis) that's completely fine! feel free to mute me or block me or unfollow/unfriend me if you're one of my mutuals. i won't even hold it against you, since i know that everyone's triggers and squicks are different. but what i don't appreciate is you coming into my blog and accusing me of being a grooming apologist based on only one tumblr post that wasn't even about mystra's relationship with gale on the first place.

again: if you want to actually have a serious discussion about this, you can go off-anon and dm me. if you want to accuse me of something as heavy as being an actual abuse apologist, say it with your whole chest. have a nice night, afternoon, or morning, wherever you are.

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sugoiney-weaver · 4 months

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I finally finished my first playthrough of BG3 last night, and it's maybe the worst/most depressing playthrough possible. I went into the game mostly blind, and tried not to savescum any major decisions or events. Spoilers below the cut

I accidentally killed the Owlbear mama. Without Speak with Animals, I got the gist that she wanted me to leave and not come back. I found a potion of animal speaking, and she was serious about the not coming back part.

I did not free the owlbear cub from the goblin camp, but it showed up at my camp later. It was only there for a few days before I accidentally made its hurt paw worse and it ran away, never came back

I didn't know Minthara would be a companion until after I killed her

I completely missed Halsin until after I killed all the goblins and saved the tieflings

I misunderstood/misclicked the levers at the windmill and sent Barcus flying

At Waukeen's Rest, I saved the guy upstairs, not realizing there was anyone else to save. I then went and found the Zhentarim hideout and didn't come back for a while. The other person (people?) died. Could I have saved the Duke there? IDK.

I saved Baelen by yeeting a healing potion at him, but he triggered the Bibberbang field so I didn't get the Noblestalk

I didn't realize that the world moves on and events resolve themselves without you, so Nere died behind the cave-in. I was trying that fight over and over, kept dying, so I went and explored the rest of the area and came back after a couple long rests. I had been drinking so I was very confused. I KNOW I didn't kill EVERYONE here, but where the fuck are they?

I explored the Grymforge but didn't actually use it. I thought for sure that I would find something that would explain how to use it, but I didn't. I refused to look up walkthroughs so I missed a lot of content because I didn't immediately understand what I was doing

When I first got to Last Light Inn, I missed Dammon. I failed to rescue Isobel and reloaded when I saw Zombie!Dammon. I then went and talked to Dammon to fix Karlach's heart, tried again to save Isobel, failed, and killed ALL the Tieflings and Harpers

Jaheira died on the front steps of Moonrise Towers. Because she wasn't actually in my party, I couldn't revive her.

I remember seeing some stairs that probably led to where the rest of the Tieflings were being kept, but I forgot to check it out before I moved on. I assume they're still there.

I decided not to give a fuck about Halsin's quest, so he was very sad that I did not lift the Shadow Curse

When I found Mizora at Moonrise Towers, I correctly translated the button that said "Unleash" and assumed it meant "unleash the Illithid." I failed to translate the one that apparently says "annihilate," so I pushed that one. Mizora and Wyll went WOOSH and Karlach was pissed

I didn't know that Isobel was saveable so I killed her.

Gale got kidnapped by Orin in Act 3, before I had a chance to take him to Sorcerous Sundries

Because I didn't need him (I was already a wizard) I took my sweet time rescuing him. I think I accidentally killed him on the altar with a Fireball. He wasn't technically in my party so Spell Sculpting didn't help?

I completely skipped Cazador's Palace for the sake of finishing the game. I hadn't taken Astarion out of camp since act 1 so he was only level 4 the whole time lol.

At the end, I turned Karlach into a Mind Flayer, released Orpheus, fought the Emperor.

I crit failed my attempt to convince Laezel to stay with us

That's pretty much it lol. I also abandoned so many quests that I probably could have gotten an extra 60 hours out of this playthrough. I ended at 129 hours though!

#bg3 #baldurs gate #baldurs gate 3

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astarionposting · 4 months

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hi! hope this is okay to ask (: i wanna try my own at swap out companions and use gale and my tav for romance scenes, but other than his own romance scenes etc. i know how to do the swapping thing but i wondered - which companion romance scenes do you recommend to use? i havent tried them all so i dont know which one is which and how they look or anything. would you mind doing a lil description or something for me with the scenes you recommend and a little about them/visuals? etc: astarion scene x - tav does this, astarion does this, mostly nude. etc etc (: also im fully up for the ntsw scenes :D hope this isnt a bother, or if you know a place where i can watch ALL the romance scenes of every companion. sorry this got long. thanks so much!!!!!

Not a bother at all!

My favourite romance scenes are:

Astarion Act 1 (in the forest at night and then depending on when you trigger this scene, you will have a convo in the day or night), Lae’zel Act 1 (u have sex with her and eat her coochie), Shart Act 1 (she invites you to drink some wine with her and then u kiss), Astarion Act 2 (soft hug 🥰 ), Gale Act 2 (He either conjures up an illusion of being at his home in waterdeep and then u have astral projection sex, or he conjures up a bed and u have bed sex), Karlach Act 2 (her kiss and her sex scene in front of the campfire usually, but I haven’t tried it with swapped models yet actually…), Wyll Act 2 (He dances with u and it’s very cute), Astarion Act 3 (Graveyard for spawn Astarion, it is very sweet and some spice at the end when he kisses u/Ascended Astarion basically has sex with u and then turns u into a vampire, it’s very very nsfw), Shadowheart Act 3 (Selunite Shart is like a skinny dipping on the beach together at night and DJ Shart is u put blood on a Selune statue and kiss and then she jumps on u and bites u/puts blood in your mouth) and Wyll Act 3 (he proposes to u with an acorn and then pills u to the ground for some smooches, very very cute), Lae’zel Act 3 (watching the sunrise together, and then u hold hands; nothing beyond that happens and it’s a very warm scene). OH and I forgot to add, minthara’s Act 1 scene: she sits on ur lap and kisses u, then u guys have SEX and she gives u a blow job/eat ur coochie and then u guys cuddle until u wake her up and kiss again—I have also learned the hard way that you can only resculpt Minthara into other body type 1, resculpting her into a body type 2 DOESNT WORK! It is actually horrifying cause her head just disappears lol

I haven’t tried Karlach’s Act 3 yet and I’ve only watched Gale’s Act 3 on YouTube. I’m not very good at describing the scenes lol, so it is better to watch on YouTube to see what you like or just romance the companions and try them out first hand!

As much as I love Halsin’s scene, he is a big boy (we love to see it), so the other companions do not fit his animations, and it looks messed up 💀 just don’t do it it looks so weird LOL

Hopefully this helped with an idea of what most scene entails!! Some are longer than others and it’s easier to get shots, but some are really short and you’ll be reloading the same save like 10 times before getting the right shots 😔😔 I often have to reload scenes like 15+ times to get what I want cause I’ll either miss it/or accidentally unpaused 😭 😭

#༊*·˚ my asks

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rhysintherain · 1 month

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15 and 18 for Jaheira, Karlach, and Shadowheart :D

Jaheira

Favorite ship for this character: this is a wildly unpopular opinion, but I actually liked the BG2 PC romance plot for Jaheira. It's messy, it's complicated, but so are relationships and especially so is Jaheira. It makes sense in character, and it's really well written and I spent SO MUCH TIME walking in circles in the wilderness to trigger all the dialogues. Again, keep in mind that I pick fictional relationships mostly for the chaos they cause.

A canon relationship I admire: I mean, Jaheira and Khalid are and always will be relationship goals, and I'm still mad about how that ended (even though I know their story wouldn't be as impactful as it is if it hadn't). They were 'opposites attract' personified, and you can see a little of Jaheira in Khalid at Bridgefort and a little of Khalid in Jaheira in BG3.

I also like how her friendship with Minsc has evolved in BG3. They argue constantly but would fight gods for each other. He was a statue for a century and they just... picked up where they left off when he thawed out. After so many people have come and gone in Jaheira's life, it's nice that she has one friend who keeps coming back against impossible odds (even when she tells him to get lost. ESPECIALLY when she tells him to get lost).

Shadowheart

Favorite ship for this character: I like Shadowheart and Karlach. Shadowheart's starting banter with almost everyone is standoffish and secretive, but she immediately warms up to Karlach. Their conversations are always a little bit flirty, and I doubt Shadowheart's attempts to keep people at arm's length would last even a minute with Karlach.

A canon relationship I admire: look, if you'd asked me to make up some off-the-cuff fake facts for Shadowheart when Skye first met her in the nautaloid, "her parents call her Jen and her best friend has purple hair and goes by Nocturne" probably would have been it. And maybe "secretly listens to Mandy Moore".

That said, I really love their friendship. Nocturne is the only thing Shadowheart remembers if you give her the noblestalk. She's the only one who doesn't attack the party in the Sharran sanctuary. Shadowheart does a full religious 180 and ends up hunted by her own people, and Nocturne manages to stay in touch anyway, even though she's not willing to leave herself. That's a level of pragmatism and devotion I rarely saw from the people I grew up with.

Karlach

Favorite ship for this character: Shadowheart or Wyll. I think Shadowheart would be a stabilising influence and Karlach could have a real future to look forward to (for the first time ever). They'll eventually settle down on a farm in Rivington and adopt a million stray animals and they absolutely deserve it.

But you can't beat the drama of Wyll and Karlach: that first moment when they meet and reality snaps apart, because this is supposed to be your enemy, but you can see inside their head and it's a reflection of your own. Everything is temporary because you could die, you could be pulled back to hell, you could become something horrible and you can't even say which horrible thing will claim you first. You're both desperate to be the heroes from your parent's stories, but you can't be sure the person you love sees anything but a monster when they look at you. You're the same in infinite ways, and sometimes that's heartbreaking.

Canon relationship that I admire: hero worship is less a pedestal than a flight of stairs. The literally less-than-a-minute from "wait, you're Karlach! We saw you fight in Elturel, you were AMAZING!" To "I can't believe I get to meet THE Jaheira! She's a legend, Mum used to tell me stories about how she saved the city!"

The irony of this is completely lost on Karlach, and I love that. She manages to learn from her role models, encourage her fans, and never quite realise how far up that staircase she actually is.

#Baldur's Gate 3 #ask game #thanks for asking!#character asks #just finishing my dark urge run then I'm gonna remake Skye and post some of the writing I've done for them #speaking of a stabilising influence... Skye needs one lol #Nocturne walks out of the stockroom; overhears Viconia and Shadowheart arguing in the sanctuary;#turns on her heel and gies right back into the stockroom #ain't no way shes getting between those two (again)#shadowheart might not be the strongest fighter the sharrans had #but dammit she BITES #baldur's gate 2

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sorcerous-caress · 4 months

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I don’t remember if you’ve talked about this before or not but is there a companion romance that you think would fit Sol the most based on her personality and her story? Like with me I think Sean and Lae’zel would be a pretty interesting romance (even if I prefer Karlach) given how different they are.

It's hard to say, Sol's romance is a rollercoaster and a constant game of push and pull. Being friends with them comes much easier than romancing them, and being friends is always a struggle on its own.

Take Lae'zel for example, she makes the perfect candidate because they are such good friends right? But the problem is that if they end up in a relationship, they'd feel too comfortable with each other as they are.

They would never learn or grow as people because they already get along so well with all of their flaws and self-destructive behaviour. Why would you ever change when the person you're dating never challenges you as a person?

They are so used to never putting effort in and easily liking each other, so they'd never know how to deal with an argument or when they find something they don't like about one another. They take liking each other immediately for granted.

It's a very fragile relationship where the thread connecting them could easily snap at any moment. They don't have any support beams lifting them up and everything could crumble when life becomes too windy.

Tav romance challanges Lae'zel's views on dating and sex. Sol wouldn't do that, they wouldn't ask her to cuddle afterwards. Neither of them will ever know true softness with each other, only companionship and the occasional sex. Even if they truly love each other, neither is willing to take the first step of vulnerability and mark themselves as weak.

They'd be that one couple that breaks up every month over a stupid argument then get back together the next week, because neither is ready to have the actual serious argument.

Also, Lae'zel might lead them down a dark path, Sol wouldn't stop her spirals into brutality or remind her to be kind. Think about their romance trigger in the druids confrontation.

Lae'zel would either leave them outside or sneak them in and tell the druids to fuck off. Which might result in a fight against the druids and even their death. Sol wouldn't care if they were left outside, but they would swoon if someone was willing to murder just for their company.

And this is just the start of their romance with each other, imagine how much this cycle will repeat and encourage both of their toxic behaviours.

But I do see Sol encouraging Lae'zel to leave Vlaakith at the first sign of abuse. Sure their way of persuasion can be rude and tactless at times but Lae'zel listens to the meaning of their words and not just the surface.

But honestly, I don't see Lae'zel encouraging Sol to lose their magic. Both of them hold this idealisation for death in battle or dying for the sake of a cause. Sol might help her resistance against Vlaakith with their few remaining years.

So it's not always the friends. Take a look at the most popular ships in the fandom.

Shadowheart and Lae'zel aren't even close to being friends, and yet they are the most shipped with each other. Shadowheart is the closest to Wyll as a friend, but people don't ship them as much.

Astarion isn't close to Wyll or Gale but they are shipped together because...well they're the only men in the party let's be honest. They make an interesting dynamic even when a Sebastian x Astarion ship would make much more sense.

I see Sol getting the same treatment. They would be shipped based on what's the fandoms finds the most interesting.

Probably Gale. They solve each other's problems too.

He has an orb inside his chest that is a literal leech for magic and Sol has too much magic inside them that is melting their bones. Together they keep the other alive.

Sol's bullying of him will get reduced to playful banter and Gale's ignorance about them will get reshaped into good intentions.

They don't get along because they both view each other through clouded lenses of judgement. If Gale wasn't a wizard, then Sol probably wouldn't have been so shit to him.

If Sol wasn't a mean harsh person then Gale would've sympathised with their past instead of treating them as a byproduct of their environment.

He thinks there the mean bully isn't them, he only focuses on the human in them and deems all their harsh edges to not belong to them. They are annoyed because of that, every part of them is them and he doesn't get to pick and choose.

So they poke holes in his logic by constantly reminding him of his failures, his jagged edges, and his meanness masquerading as intelligence. He gets defence and they are at each other's throats screaming about how the other person is wrong and they are a shit mage actually.

Fandom would see that and want to make them smooch and honestly I don't blame them.

I think in a different au where mindflayers never kidnapped either of them, the two of them might have had an arranged marriage. If Gale became desperate because of the orb killing him and running out of artifacts, then his mom or Tara would've done some digging and found Sol's family of powerful sorcerers.

Their families talk together and they end up in a marriage to keep Gale alive by feeding off their magic, meanwhile Sol doesn't seek freedom in this au and they don't care.

It would be a loveless marriage, really. Even if they were polite to each other in this au, Sol is beyond finding love at this point, and Gale would hate the idea of marrying someone he doesn't love.

If either of them cheats, I don't think the other would care. They would have kids just to appease their families, and they'd make decent co-parents. As much as Sol doesn't care for Gale, they admit he is a much better teacher and guide when it comes to magic than their harsh ways.

Talking about marriage, i planned for their wedding in their good ending as a fighter in a village to be to an npc.

Either a cute barmaid in a tavern who took time off her shift to bandage their wounds after a battle, or a cute farmboy that Sol saved from a wild animal once and carried him back to the village.

They need someone to be enamoured with them and make the first move. Especially since their fresh start, this person probably doesn't know about all their past sins. Sol wants nothing more than to start over with someone new.

They'd probably never mention the fact they were a sorcerer to their spouse, tell the companions to shut it if they start talking about Sol's past around their spouce.

They want someone selfless. You'd have to be that to look past all their flaws and burning exterior during Act 1. The gift of kindness.

But you can't be too selfless, you need to stop them when they're too much, tell them when they're wrong. Challange them as a person in order for them to grow up and mature. Help them face their fears and self-reflect whilst still offering comfort and love.

And tbh none of the companions really fit the whole selfless thing.

All except Halsin.

Oh yes, the fucking irony.

But everything about him puts them off. Sol knows how he is only selfless to those he deems worthy. How easy it was for him to murder goblin children but not tiefling children. How it's okay to kill the shadowlands plants while claiming to respect all of nature.

Sol sees themselves in those things, the goblin children, the withered cursed trees. They know the only reason Halsin is extending his good hand forward to them is because they are human and their sins are deemed forgivable in his eyes.

And he knows that and pities them for it, treats them like a wild animal who needs coaxing. But it's different with Gale because at least he was staying ignorant by choice.

But they fear Halsin actually sees them that way, a charity case. So they opt out of his whole Game and never participate. Never bicker or argue, just avoid him.

The only way I see them two getting together is if Sol met him after their good ending as a stranger.

He would see them as any other human, an equal rather than a lost soul. Sol would see him as a decent kind druid. Both unaware of the other's flaws or past.

So they'd get along over plants or animals. Maybe Sol would have an issue with the fact he doesn't want to use a relationship label on them but after a while they'd let it go. They're not as possessive as they used to be and polyamoury might be worth a try.

The thing is they do want to get married, but they'll never get that with Halsin. So their relationship wouldn't last long.

Minthara would be a mirror to Lae'zel's relationship in some way. But much much worse.

They are both extremely possessive and jealousy, both want to own one another and both consider murder threats as foreplay.

Probably would end up with Matron Minthara establishing a new drow house with her red dragon "pet". Sol wouldn't object to the title only if no one else ever gets it.

She'd rather them die powerful than live weak with shame. Maybe even Minthara gets to take over their own family house of sorcerers after Sol's death. They'd leave her in charge and their family would have to accept it, even more so if they had kids together.

That leaves Shadowheart, Wyll and Astarion.

Ascended Astarion makes me wonder if he is Sol's only ticket to immortality whilst keeping their magic.

The problem is that their fire is literally burning them inside out, their bones are melting. It gets to a boiling point where it become an entirely new fire that ignores fire immunity.

And vampires heal very quickly, i think it would double their lifespan from 5 years to 10.

Oh, but they'd absolutely hate him during it. He becomes someone selfish and condescending. An ancient red dragon is much more powerful than a vampire without weakness and yet they can't lift a finger against him because of his mind control over them.

Whatever love they had for him at saving them quickly turns sour and bitter as they are forced into a decade of slavery. Doing his dirty work and destroying his enemies, wishing for their death to come sooner while Astarion becomes more agitated at the idea of death stealing them.

They'd probably try to kill him with their death. Bury him deep down below with them beneath so many mountains and inside molten lava surrounded by obsidian so he may burn with their corpse for all of eternally. There is no way he is crawling his way out of this tomb unless someone else moves the mountains for him.

I see them freezing during his choice with Cazador. It depends if they finished their quest or not, their answer will depend on it.

Shadowheart has potential. Both of their good endings work together. Sol would move in with her parents and their farm. They'd treat Sol like their own kid, too.

Raising animals, enjoying a slow life. They slowly get stronger as a fighter with a whole cleric to have their back whenever they get too injured. They'd spend time with Shadowheart's mom because of her fleeting time, writing down all the recipes and memories she shares with them.

Sol wouldn't interfer during her choice with Dame Aylin. They think it should be her to decide for herself once in her life, not Shar, not them. Does she want to kill her? Then Sol would help. Does she want to not? Then Sol wouldn't bring it up.

And I do see Shadowheart telling them to abandon their power. Who cares for the magic when they're alive and well?

But during the druid choice, Shadowheart would decide to leave them outside. And that locks her out of their romance.

Karlach would be a cute romance for a while. They're frustrated and stunned by her at times. How easily she throwns love and smiles around, how quickly she forgives their mean words.

How she jokes and never takes things seriously while Sol is a drama edgy bully.

Oh, they would more than kill Gortash with her. They'd gladly fight him during the coronation no matter how stupid.

They tell the other companions to just wait outside while they take care of it, if they die they die. Karlach would refuse and Sol would be touched that she wants them beyond their use.

Good ending Sol is a guarantee after dating Karlach. They go with her to the hells, they'd suffer a lot from that choice and feel guilty over the fact she is using her own body to protect them with.

They want to become better and stronger, they try their best. For her sake.

With Wyll, he probably has the highest success rate.

Wasn't it for Sol being so envious of him and his life. But he is including them in it and celebrations. He is selfless to a fault but he calls them out on their awful behaviour.

Sol never saw a reason in protecting others. If they can't defend themselves, then they deserve to die. Much like if sorcerers couldn't control their magic, then they didn't deserve it.

Which is why being a wizard or warlock annoys them so much, it's basically cheating magic. Like the difference between a walk into the park with full protective gear and a hike through the mountain by your own with no help.

That magic is tamed, weak, and an imitation of real power. But Wyll didn't choose it really. He was forced to use that fake power while protecting himself, and that makes him better in Sol's views than warlocks who do it for fame.

He would take the peaceful option and convince the druids to let them stay. He is kind and his words are beautiful, beyond any beauty Sol could ever know.

Also red dragons are so vain they love praise and flowery words a lot, Sol would eat that shit up from him.

He wants out of Mizora's contract. He doesn't latch on to this power, he rather makes his own. Sol notices that and remembers it when he tells them to leave their magic behind.

He comes from nobility and knows how to dress. Sol's attitude doesn't put him off. Also the fact he hits on Lae'zel is a plus to Sol, it means he has taste and working eyes to them.

They wouldn't want him to be a duke just to please his father, do what you want, fuck anyone else. Also both of them ending up losing their magic and having to start all over would make them bond together and encourage one another in training.

The major flaw is that Sol wouldn't defend Karlach from him during their meeting. Wyll will do something he regrets if no one else steps up.

The silver lining is how fast he admits to his mistake afterwards, Sol is used to themselves and others never admiting their mistakes and instead doubling down. They respect him a bit bc of it.

Another flaw is how he claims he is a hero but still cherry picks which people are worthy of his help? Again the whole Goblin and devil things. He is a hypocrite as far as they are considered.

But unlike Halsin, he isn't some wise archdruid. But some dumb 20 something guy with a sword and flare so they cut him some slack. Also he never treats them like a charity case, never pities them and rightfully is careful around them.

Also just to establish something, they don't care for killing someone. Goblins or humans. They just hate when people clutch their pearls at killing humans but cheer for goblins, like either you're a hero who defends every single life or you're as bad as Sol. You don't get the middle ground, there is none.

Okay, I'm hungry and tired. I wrote a lot a lot. Thanks for asking this. It was really fun <3 but my food is getting cold so imma go.

#♡sol #♡myocs

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