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afterthefeast · 7 months

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was gonna wait til i finished act 2 before posting my nightsong thoughts but actually i want to get my first impressions out to see if they change but…currently i’m pretty disappointed by it because from an rp perspective i literally don’t see a single reason why the pc would let shadowheart kill the nightsong if they weren’t already allied with the absolute.

from a practical perspective your whole aim is to get rid of ketheric’s invulnerability - i guess killing the nightsong might achieve that purpose but to me at least the implication throughout the gauntlet is that if you kill the nightsong as part of the dark justiciar trial she doesn’t actually die. (never mind the fact that aylin seems far too important to both ketheric and shar for her to be sacrificed if an ordinary selûnite would do). obligatory disclaimer that i didn’t let shadowheart kill her so i don’t know what happens in that instance, but that doesn’t really matter in this case because i’m talking about how the choice is presented to you, and to me at least it did not seem like killing aylin would be in any way strategic.

in which case it’s not really a choice because a) practically you are strongly encouraged to let aylin go and b) morally your tav has to justify the murder of a defenceless woman for…what, shadowheart’s career goals? even if you’re romancing shadowheart (which i am) convincing her requires a straightforward persuasion check, the mechanics of which thus far have meant you convince her that your position is correct - there’s not much in the way of lasting relationship consequences in that she won’t get so mad at you she leaves the party because you’ve already convinced her you’re right.

all that is to say that i think this is reflective of bg3’s overall binary attitude towards its major choices - there’s a good route (save the grove, defend isobel, free aylin), and a bad route (destroy the grove, ally with marcus, kill aylin). a lot of those choices compound, as well - other people have talked from actual experience about how allying with minthara will lose you a huge amount of content and allies, thus railroading you into picking a side from both a narrative and gameplay perspective. you’ve a huge amount of freedom in how you go about achieving any of those things - stealth, persuasion, combat etc., but the objectives themselves are pretty static.

so when you then have a companion’s personal quest tied to intrinsically to the plot it negates a huge amount of player choice. thematically, the companion quests are binary because they can either break or perpetuate cycles of abuse - that’s an instance in which binary choices can be very compelling. but the thematic concerns of shadowheart’s very intricate and heartfelt personal quest are totally undercut by the necessities of a pretty straightforward choice. i can’t play a hands-off tav and let this be shadowheart’s decision without to all appearances letting ketheric win. this isn’t a truly grey choice like the decision to sacrifice isolde or go to the circle in dragon age origins. it feels like that’s what bg3 was trying to do here by combining shadowheart’s quest and the main narrative, but because that main narrative is actually relatively inflexible, it just means shadowheart’s quest suffers by comparison.

#bg3 spoilers #bg3 #havent spoken to aylin yet so maybe my thoughts will change #this isnt even getting into the fact that overall i think the apparent motivations of the absolute cultists are completely #all over the place #something obviously worsened by the game’s reliance on chaotic evil races like goblins #ketheric is individually a great character but he doesn’t really tie in to the narrativr at all #yet — obviously he could but like. ive 65 hours in this game alreadg so i would kind of hope to have seen #a little more of my villains’ motivations #by now #this really isnt helped by all your major act 1 villains ending up dead by the end of it #and gortash and orin appearing super late #and the emperor still fucking about #im genuinely very confused by a lot of the main quest and im not stupid. ive played rpgs before #like i just. dont understand. why your player would ally with the goblins in act 1 #ive seen some people come up with truly great rp about that so like. its possible to justify #but i just dont think a game touting itself on freedom #and choice should need that much convoluted character work to justify its basic ‘bad’ choice #ais.bg3

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murdher · 3 months

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❛ 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐘 𝐆𝐔𝐓𝐒 , 𝐒𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐇 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 , 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐊𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ⋯ ❜

𝐃𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐨𝐟 , 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 ; religious horror , gore , violence , loneliness , blood lust , descriptive nudity &. sexuality , death , depression , sadness &. sorrow , family trauma ⋯ among other subjects not suited for the under developed , or highly sensitive .

🔪🔪🔪 Aff. to ; ˢʰᵃᶦᵈᵒʷʰᵉᵃʳᵗ , ᶦˢᵒᵇᵉᵃˡ , ᵃʳᵃᶜʰˡᶦⁿᵍ .

𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐍, 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐘𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐓.

**I write her as an agender lesbian (they, she, he, it. With a preference for 'she'), but please don't pursue Orin under the guise of shipping. Orin is not one to be in a healthy relationship, while she does feel love, it will always be overtaken by her bloodlust.**

**Orin is cruel, unforgiving, a genuine menace to those around her. She is only 'semi-normal' in the presence of her ... allies? Enver Gortash, Ketheric Thorm. For obvious reasons, to seize control of the Elder Brain & to convert those over to worshippers of the Absolute.**

Orin the Red's Profile ->

I've been in the roleplay scene since late 2012, under various blogs/fandoms. I know most of how things work & how tense some parts can be. I wish to take no part in it, be it drama, call-outs, etc. Personal affairs between others, I also stray far away from. I simply want to enjoy this hobby among friends & new comers. Anyone who brings something on the table that may be distasteful in nature, or what have you, will just be blocked. Simple as that ...

However, I am a friendly person and open to writing with anyone. Just be a decent person, don't be a dick to me or those close to me and we're golden.

I'd like to state, I will be 'mutuals-only' on this blog. & I don't plan to curate a super huge following here, either. More on 'the why' can be seen in the Activity Status section.

I like to give my own sort of twist to canon characters, to make them somewhat more unique/my own interpretation. So, expect that from me.

Dark topics may be and will be explored here; such as mature language, religious corruption, cult references, descriptive sex & nudity, blood, gore, & other general dark topics. And though I know inc3st is something popular written in fandom, it is most definitely not something I'm going to, or even want to, write out. So, please don't pursue me under the impression that I'll write something like that with you. Further on this top is mentioned in my 'special notes' at the very end.

The activity status of this blog will be permanently labeled as 'semi-active'. Which means, that I'll be mostly lurking rather than regularly posting or engaging for now. I will remain “flaky” in terms of staying in contact with others. The best way to talk would be discord, as I don’t have notifications for Tumblr enabled. This may change in the future, but with life as it is - Orin's blog, or roleplay at all - won't be such a high priority of mine.

I tend to block others for a list of reasons, ranging from not wishing to be mutuals - to the very fact you're friends/heavily interact with someone who's brought me or my loved ones grief. I rather not bring personal issues to a stranger, so blocking is my go to.

As for the writer of this blog, my name is Archeon or "Ark", 1995 is my birth year. My favorite color is red. If I bother you in anyway, block me and be on your way. Whatever protects your space.~ :)

Special notes** i. I am against users who create art or writing/roleplay responses with the use of AI, or artificial intelligence. Please refer to this post for further info -> ii. While incest is part of Orin's background, I am not willing to explicitly write it out. However, a mention or two (were the plot called for it) during a roleplay I have with someone may appear. This will, of course, be tagged. iii. blog edits/caps are of my own. // header & initial icon border layout are created from my wonderful friend; arachling.

If you've made it down here, thanks for reading and I look forward to writing or chatting together!

#pinned*#ARK / '95 / ANY PRN.

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