#i already have a WHOLE backstory for my Tav | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nerdalmighty · 3 months

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hey! so, i just recently started playing baldur's gate 3 after seeing people put it all over my dash for months--and you're one of the people i've seen reblogging a lot of posts about it LOL. so if you don't mind me asking, i was wondering what kind of character do you/did you play as? and do you have any sort of backstory for your tav that you'd like to share?

Hoooooooooooooh my god thank you so much for asking. I have a friend who comes over to watch me play on Thursdays and I make a powerpoint every week to catch her up on what she missed - this week's powerpoint literally has slides about my Tav's background (more on those later). This is about to be long, I'm about to drop ALL my lore so buckle up! AND THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY BG3 BRAIN WORMS!!!!! I'm glad they convinced you to play 😈

So to begin, I've been in my first ever dnd campaign with a group of friends for a little over a year now. I didn't know much about Baldur's Gate except that it was a dnd video game and that you could romance people. Me, being a Big Fan of Romance And Fantasy was like "okay well I'm in" and my friend actually let me start a game at his house. Through that, I met Shadowheart, Gale, and Astarion.

Backing up a bit to my character; I decided I'd put my character from my irl dnd campaign into the game since I already knew her whole deal. I get pretty overwhelmed with making decisions, ESPECIALLY with big open world games like bg3, so knowing who/what I wanted to be really helped me out.

In the campaign I'm in with friends, it's pirate themed, and I play a half-elf bard named Birdie Harp who's secretly half-siren (murder mermaid). To make a long story very short, she was born in the arctic and escaped her murderous pod during a coming-of-age trial where she also lost her siren abilities (hypnotizing voice, breathing underwater, etc).

I've watched a ton of Dimension 20 which is an actual play show on Dropout.tv (an "actual play" is where you watch other people run a campaign of dnd - like Critical Role, which a lot of people have at least heard of - HIGHLY recommend Dimension 20, as I find it incredibly funny and easier to get into than CR because of the episode lengths), and I knew that I really liked the silliness and theatricality of the bard class. I also loved the bards from The Owl House which helped influence my decision as well.

To be honest, Birdie is my first ever dnd character, so she's basically a self insert but with a MUCH more traumatic backstory than me (this IS dnd after all). As for the half-elf aspect, it was more of an "I want to be half mermaid, what's similar to that?" as opposed to a love for half-elves or something.

BACK TO BALDUR'S GATE - knowing I wanted Birdie to be in the game, I felt a lot less overwhelmed to come up with something entirely new - I knew a lot about the bard class having played one so I wanted to CONTINUE playing one (and I've learned even more since playing bg3!).

When I finally got my own game (I no longer play at my friend's house, but in the comfort of my own home), I recreated Birdie and started on my journey in earnest. I'm VERY MUCH someone who likes to be in control and know what to expect, so I've had guides and walkthroughs to help me the whole time - SUE ME! When it came to first meeting Shadowheart, Gale, and Astarion back at my friend's house, Gale actually immediately stole my heart - a kind, witty wizard who likes books and cats? Literally say less. I went home from that session with my friend fully thinking I'd be a Gale girlie until I really looked into the other options and saw The Vampire.

Blah blah blah, he's hot and funny, but he can also be incredibly soft, which really won me over in the end. So I've been romancing That Guy.

Through Acts 1 and 2, I wasn't all too sure about this version of Birdie's background - sure she COULD still be that half-siren from the arctic, but the game kept suggesting she was FROM Baldur's Gate. I LOVED the inclusion of the harpies in Act 1 and thought maybe that was a viable entry point for her backstory, but so far, she was kind of just... me? She was making the choices I wanted to make (and a few that I knew Astarion would like lmao), but she wasn't really her own entity apart from me except for her name. She also felt vastly different from that character I'd created for my friends over a year ago. For instance, my irl Birdie currently has a crush on a Gale-type character, but this Birdie is ass deep in Astarion (hey, sorry I said "ass deep in Astarion"). The thing I love about Baldur's Gate 3 is how you can really come up with your own backstories, since the in-game one for your Tav is so vague. It's totally fine to ignore tiny details in the game and mold them to your own headcanons for your Tav, but I was so unsure of what I wanted for this Birdie that I kind of internalized that she was from Baldur's Gate.

HEADS UP! The following has some spoilers for Act 3 and some side quests, so STOP reading if that's something you'd care to avoid (the last 3 paragraphs of this post are SAFE from spoilers):

When Act 3 finally rolled around (which is where I am currently, I only have the one playthrough so far because I become INCREDIBLY attached to things), I stumbled across the Water Queen's House in Baldur's Gate. Ah ha! Now this felt promising.

A temple dedicated to the Vengeful Sea Goddess, Umberlee, and her loyal Wave Servants to serve her. It's ocean themed, it has mermaid undertones, and their goddess is basically evil. Seems like the perfect place to FINALLY insert this version of Birdie. I wasn't 100% sure until I completed the Iron Throne mission and was faced with either handing a (mostly) innocent man over to the Wave Servants, or fighting to defend him.

Here are a few of the slides from this week's powerpoint that I mentioned all the way back at the start, starting with SOME background on the Wave Servants:

Ass and Shart are what I affectionately call Astarion and Shadowheart (Also I got this beautiful "Birdie" art on Pinterest which originated from someone named Dantrelium on Reddit):

Apologies for the small text here, but there are some more details about THIS Birdie here, which I literally made up/figured out earlier this week:

Essentially, this Birdie was born at the Water Queen's House as Kittiwake Crest - Kittiwakes are common arctic birds, which I thought would be a nice little homage to the original character she was based off of. She was raised by the collective of Wave Servants there, the main one being Flood Tide Allandra Grey who seems to be head honcho at the Wave Mother's House (in this reality, she is).

Since Umberlee is such a vengeful goddess, I imagine she asked her Wave Servants to commit unspeakable acts in her name, mainly drownings, which THEY see as merciful, but I think Birdie always saw as horrifying. Who were they to decide the fates of others? I also think that the Wave Servants themselves were abusive during her upbringing to keep her in line (but much like how Nocturne was a light in the darkness for Shadowheart, I don't think EVERY Wave Servant was evil). GOTTA have a classic tragic backstory.

Upon researching Umberlee, I learned that most of her servants are clerics, so in my mind, that means Birdie was raised to eventually become one, with her official title eventually going to be "Seawind Kittiwake Crest." Is she still half-siren/mermaid though? Not entirely sure. This IS a magical world though, so I'd be inclined to say yes, probably.

But when we first meet the Wave Servants, they're singing beautifully for their drowned sister, Holli. I think Birdie REALLY loved music and singing with her sisters and secretly trained herself in bard magic when she should have been learning to be a cleric. It's also a classic trait of bards to hide their pain through humor, so I often imagine the type of stupid things Birdie gets up to to bring herself joy (my favorite headcanon being when you meet Skittle the Rat in Wyrm's Rock prison - he's a rat merchant who speaks exclusively in puns. I think Birdie and Gale would excitedly throw puns back and forth with Skittle while Astarion and Shadowheart begrudgingly (and affectionately) roll their eyes in the background).

Another thing I love about the game is how you can string together your own ideas of how companions react to things between big cut scenes. For example, in my head, in my game, Astarion has really become a Big Softy thanks to how fucking Stupid (affectionate) Birdie acts in life and has drawn him out of his shell, but also runs a tag team scam with her where she plays her lute to distract people while he loots an entire place. Gale is Birdie's partner in crime when it comes to tomfoolery and loves to joke and fool around with her (so long as it goes easy on his knees). And Shadowheart is basically a sister figure who flip flops between sassing with Astarion and joining in on the fun. THEY'RE JUST THE BEST, OKAY? OF COURSE I'M GONNA WALK AROUND WITH A BUNCH OF IDIOTS. I LOVE THEM.

Anyway, back to Birdie's backstory: she always hated the atrocities that were asked of her, and she was looking for a way out, but was too scared to take that step and leave since the Wave Mother's House is all she's ever known. One night, while stepping out to quietly dip her toes in the water, the Mindflayers captured her, and that's where we start Act One, all the way up on the Nautiloid. She changed her name to Birdie to distance herself from her previous life, fully took up the bard class, and the rest is history.

Back to that dilemma with handing over that (mostly) innocent guy or fighting the Wave Servants: with encouragement from the party, they convince Birdie to face her traumatic upbringing and fight the Wave Servants once and for all. At this point in Act 3, she's basically helped every single person with their problems except her own. Here's another slide featuring Ass and Birdie:

That's right folks, Birdie faced her past! But the bad news is we don't get to see Astarion in this (audio from The Adventurous Adventures of One Direction):

(Video description - Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 wearing the Wave Mother's Armor with the following audio:

Guard 1: Whoa, check it out.

Guard 2: Hubba hubba hubba.

Gaurd 1: Nice. I love dudes in skirts.

END VIDEO.) I don't want to tell you how many times I recorded that until I felt like I got it right lol. Also yes, I DID do a scum save where I handed the guy over ONCE just so I could see Ass in this outfit, but Birdie did canonically save Redhammer in my actual save file.

And honestly, that's BASICALLY it for now! My most recent save was after that battle, so I need to figure out if Birdie's going to go back with her party to confront the rest of (or most of) the Wave Servants, or if this chapter of her life is closed.

In an ideal world I'd LOVE to make one of those artsy gif edits of my Tav like this and this, but PS5s make it hard to download clips without uploading them to YouTube first which I don't really want to do.

Thank you SO MUCH for this ask, I had a blast writing it!! Sorry it's so long, I just love this game so much and LOVE talking about it. Please feel free to ask more questions OR chat with me about YOUR Tav! I'd love to hear all about them :)

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shewhowas39 · 4 days

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recent bg3 fic recs

i post a lot about my own fic, but i do actually read a lot of fic as well. so for the last day of @bg3-apprecimaytion i figured i'd write up a little list of fic i've read and enjoyed recently in an effort to spread the love around!

these are all longfics. i'm gonna do another list of oneshots soon. and i'm gona try to do these rec lists semi-regularly as well because there is so much good fic in this fandoma nd it all deserves love.

***

A Greater Woman Wouldn't Beg by @dungeonsdragonsandlawyers i've already sung the praises of this one, but damn it i'm gonna do it again. this is a new Karlach x f1Tav fic. Andromeda has a really compelling backstory that ties her into the plot - and to Karlach - and all the other characters get fun moments to shine. love love love

borderline by @cinnasquawk this is a pretty new durgestarion fic - and y'all know i love durgestarion. Astarion is at peek little shit here, and Maren is a compelling mystery. the author updates pretty often and the chapters are nice bite sized snacks!

Between Tears and Laughter by @swancensus an Astarion x Tav fic. Nerine is a wonderfully complex and tragic protagonist. it's still only a few chapters in, but i'm so excited to see how her and AStarion's dynamic develops!

Your Ruination by @wolfywolfy another Astarion x Tav fic. this one has some of the best dialogue i've read recently! Astarion and Prim's banter is excellent. and the most recent chapter was SPICY. really loving this!

Judgment by @avalost y'all may have seen the drabble i did for this fic earlier in the month, but i gotta mention this durgestarion fic again! this is post-canon and features a really interesting take on wild magic sorcery. bonus points for villain Petras. oh, and it's complete now! so enjoy the whole thing!

Not Your Sweetheart by @kittenintheden okay most likely you have all already read this one, but i gotta put it on this list. am I slightly biased bc i am kitten's dungeon master and have a deep and undying love for Ori? yes. but does that make me wrong? hell no. this fic is a gem. great dialogue, great character development, and the recent chapters are fucking fire. if somehow you haven't realdy read this, remedy that asap!

***

like i said - i'm gonna do a oneshot list soon, so stay tuned for that.

also, i know most of these are Astarion fic. but i do always love to find good fic featuring other characters. so here's where i'll say - if you have some awesome Shadowheart fic, post it in the comments. i'm desperate for a fix of god's favorite princess!

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 fic #bg3 fanfic #bg3 fanfiction #tavlach #durgestarion #tavstarion #fic recs

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mywitchcultblr · 6 months

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Odd question for you:

So, the humor of Batstarion aside, do some people just elect to read their own biases into things involving Ascended Astarion. I recall being early in the fandom and assuming based on general commentary he just locked you in his basement and then molests you.

Then: when I actually ascended him and am looking forward to this whole fantasy I just get a goofy, camp vampire Lord who literally lets you live your life. Where do I get a refund? Where is my vampire daddy? lol

Am I alone in this???

No, you are not alone. I found a lot of people who have a strong negative opinion about endings for bg3 companion... How I should explain it in English? Playing the telephone game? Where they are only receiving bits of information and never really experienced the ending themselves or at least never really thought about it deeply because they already developed a bias from these fragmented information and encouragement from like-minded people who share the same bias. Thus, the truth and nuance became diluted amidst the buzz and discourse. For example, Gale endings

GALE HAS NO EVIL ENDING. YES, THE GOD ENDING IS NOT EVIL

People mistook his ambition and huge ego as evil? I think this rooted from "God Gale doesn't propose Tav/Durge unlike human gale, so God ending must have been bad"

"Gale become power hungry, so it must be the evil ending and a bad ending" and "Larian said power is bad"

Gale is a neutral guy, as a human he is neutral good and as a God he became a neutral aligned God. His ascension to Godhood doesn't turn him into Bane or Bhaal, developing an ego big enough to the point he became a god doesn't make him evil or this ending evil. You might dislike it, but objectively, this ending is not evil or bad...

Gale bad ending is him dying and never resurrected, never recruited or sacrificed to BOAAL because they led to his untimely death before he can destroy the brain, reach the crown, or determine what he wanted, how he will approach Mystra...

"But Mystra will kill God Gale because he challenged her!" That is a possibility in his origin ending, before the epilogue is even released, now we got to see new and improved epilogue Gale can take his lover to his realm where they will enjoy their life as Gods, and he has a lot of plan, and although he kinda insinuates that he wanted to challenge Mystra, maybe Tav or Durge can persuade him to not do it

"What if he has no romantic partner?" Maybe he will challenge her, or maybe he will not. I found the ending where Gale immediately going after Mystra to be frustrating, it feels like Larian insisting on the 'power bad' thing in such an on the nose and irritating manner

Gale might have a big ego but HE IS NOT AN IDIOT, he is not a barbarian with 8 intellect, even when he's drunk on power he is still a highly intellectual person/being, and surely he should know that it will take a lot of time and resource for him to be able to challenge Mystra, is it even a good idea to fight her? What would AO say?

He should just focus on his own domain and followers

Same thing with Wyll, this guy HAS NO EVIL ENDING. WYLL CANNOT BE CORRUPTED. Yet there are people out there who say that him becoming a Duke is an evil ending, HOW?!

Now, Astarion... God help us all with this guy. The moment I saw his picture for the first time, I know his fandom will be a disaster

White, sassy, morally gray, handsome, twink, vampire with a sad backstory... The perfect tumblr sexyman, I love him, but I knew the conversation about him will be a mess and headache inducing

Ascendant Astarion is NOT a bad ending, is it evil? Yes, is it bad? No.

It is bad for the city to have yet another vampire lord, an even MORE powerful vampire lord who has no vampirism weakness, but this is NOT bad for him. He enjoyed the power, he enjoyed the freedom, and he finally reclaimed everything that Cazador took from him and even more. I found the notion that ascended astarion 'is not truly free' to be baffling because Cazador is gone, no one can compel him and enslave him anymore, and he is freed from all vampirism weakness.

So long Cazador is dead, both spawn and ascended astarion will be free and have the choice to lead the life they wanted. An outsider moral interpretation of his choice is not his own opinion

"Ascended Astarion regret his choice." No, he never did. I didn't find a single conversation or scene that say he regrets his ascension

"Ascended Astarion is meaner and more evil, so this fate is bad." Your feeling about him doesn't translate to what he feels and how he sees his life and choice...

Or like you said about people claimed. "Astarion will lock Tav/Durge in his basement and molest them" Now, is ascendant romance more toxic and darker than spawn romance? Yes (although it is pretty tame by vampire/yandere standard) but how he treat his lover also depends on Tav/Durge attitude towards him, their personality, their goal and YOUR OWN ideas/ interpretation...

Baldur's Gate give you 'hard canon' and things that you can interpret on your own because it is dungeon & dragons! Hard canon or fixed canon is something like "Orin will die either way" and "If you don't spare nightsong then Last Light will be destroyed." and then there are things that you can decide and interpret on your own such as how your Tav/Durge fare after the last battle, their background, their family, and how their romance with companions play out

There are dialogues or scenes that hinted the future but at the same time there are several options and each dialogue option will lead to a different universe such as whatever you encourage Wyll to be the blade of avernus or becoming a Duke

What irritated me is that there's people who doesn't like his ascension romance, and they be like "Well I don't like this romance and i don't like him now, so I see your Tav/Durge WILL NEVER BE HAPPY WITH HIM AND IT IS A FACT!" NO, THAT IS NOT HOW IT IS WORK!

You cannot enforce your own narrative perspective into other people's. "What about the 'freedom' dialogue in patch 5?! If you clash with Astarion he will-" like I said each dialogue choice lead to a branching multiverse, just because one person have a conflict with ascended astarion doesn't mean my Tav who is very devoted to him have the same problem or will not be happy

Also, patch 5 confirmed the theory that Astarion turned his lover into a bride/groom instead of regular spawn. If you chose a dialogue option that hinted Tav/Durge feel trapped and doubted if they are truly flourishing, then Astarion will say something like (I'm paraphrasing here) "Well, I give you everything! And I will make sure that you live your best life, even if you don't appreciate it!"

A bride/groom has an emotional and mental link with their creator, if Tav/Durge is not happy then Ascended Astarion will feel unhappy as well. Mind you my Tav (Astaroth) doesn't say he feels trapped, he said that he is happy with Astarion and grateful to share everything with him and then Astarion said that he is blessed to be with Astaroth as well then he also said:

"I may have power, but it would be nothing without you. You complete me."

I don't do Karlach romance, and although I have my own thoughts that if Astaroth romanced her (tbh the guy is gay so he has to be bi/pan in alternate universe) in the end he will feel a bit disappointed with being trapped in hell, doesn't mean I have the rights to ENFORCE that Karlach/Tav romance in general will be unhappy and tragic just because of MY OWN interpretation...

People also shouldn't enforce their own choice for Astarion as

"THE TRUE AND CORRECT CHOICE FOR ASTARION AND IF YOU DISAGREE WITH ME YOU ARE DELUSIONAL AND DUMB"

#bg3 #ask #bg 3 analysis #baldur gate 3 #baldur's gate romance #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #astarion #tav #ascendant astarion #astarion x durge #astarion x tav #dnd #ascended astarion #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #wyll #god gale

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leomonae · 7 months

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I've been thinking about how differing perspectives for characters can lead to some very unexpected, yet in retrospect entirely reasonable, outcomes. Particularly in regard to the Araj and Astarion conversation.

So when Araj wants him to bite her, you can either shut her down immediately when Astarion refuses, or say you're surprised he's not more interested in the idea, right? Which... yeah, my Tav said that one because Astarion is usually all about acquiring more power and this seemed like a weird thing for him to object to. They were curious, really, nothing more. But then Astarion starts getting upset, characterises it as you trading him for some potion, and then you get a choice again.

Tell him to do it, tell him he shouldn't do it since he doesn't want to, or tell him (paraphrasing from memory) "well, the potion seems like it could be useful, but it's up to you".

And if you pick that last one, he is going to break up with you that night.

(okay yes for accuracy's sake I'll mention that there is precisely *one* way I found to navigate the following conversation so he doesn't break up with you, but it's not at all obvious, it's not a result of the profuse apologising and grovelling lines you can choose, and IIRC it required picking a line my Tav would never say because it wasn't all that sensitive or respectful in itself)

And the thing is, from Astarion's point of view, breaking up with you then is entirely reasonable! He feels used, like what he wants doesn't matter and you pushed him for your own benefit, because you basically just tripped right over a massive trigger of his! To him, you have at the very least been... careless, with him. More likely, you knew exactly what you were doing and never truly cared about what he wanted at all, because why would he ever think otherwise when nobody else ever cared? "You're the only one", he can tell you later on in Act 3. Except here, in this possible timeline where you very mildly encouraged him to go ahead, you just... weren't.

Astarion has just realised he wants something better for himself, that he can't keep on like this, and you've quite simply never given him any reason to think you might be that kind of better. Why would he have any motivation to go giving you any more chances at this point? You're just like everyone else when it comes to what you want and value from him, after all; you just proved it to him, whatever pretty words might now be coming out of your mouth to try and manipulate him into giving you what you want again. And again, and again, and again.

But that's not necessarily the case, of course.

See, I actually picked that "sounds useful but up to you" option, my first time through the conversation. And the reason for that? It was because from my Tav's perspective, that was the most respectful way to handle the situation. Especially as a follower of Ilmater; to my Tav's mind, it was about giving Astarion all the relevant info to weigh up the decision he thought was best, where he could choose to sacrifice a little for everyone's benefit. But if instead he had a reason like oh, say, massive backstory trauma which meant agreeing would be harmful to him, he could and should freely decline. And either way, Tav fully intended to respect and support his decision. To continue treating Astarion like the competent adult he clearly is (Insight check: critical failure).

But Tav wasn't yet aware of that whole "I didn't know how to say no!" aspect which he would later go on to yell as he was ending their relationship. Tav had no way of understanding him well enough yet to successfully navigate the hidden minefield that's Astarion's past and how it has affected him. And things just... never lined up right for Astarion to trust Tav enough to explain any of this, until he already felt like he'd been used and ignored and betrayed. So that was simply the end of things for them, Tav's good intentions be damned (until I reloaded, of course!).

And I kind of love how real it all felt. It can be a scary thing, trying to have a relationship with someone where it's so easy to misstep and their trust has been broken so many times before that they have very little benefit of the doubt left to offer you, after all. It really... drove home for me just how much of a gift it is, when Astarion chooses to give Tav a real chance. When he's able to bring himself to trust Tav enough to try and have a real relationship together; to be honest with them about how he can't continue to provide the one thing he believes he has to offer anyone, at this point in time. That's just... he is so, so damn brave for opening himself up like that to what must seem like all but inevitable rejection and scorn.

And I adore every little bit of how messy and complicated and believable he and the relationship with him both are. They're nothing at all like you expect, getting into things at the start; it's lovely to get to take the journey alongside your character, constantly finding yourself re-evaluating everything you're being presented with by and about him, and slowly coming to realise that something truly special lies beneath.

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #araj oblodra

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animentality · 5 months

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(Leaps in askbox now its clear) Howdy! I'm curious about your opinions on the companions, like initial thoughts and now that you've clocked in an unhealthy (affectionate) amount of hours? We know what you'd change but how about everyone as is? Thanks!

Alrighty, I can finally answer this one...

Ok.

Man. This is gonna be a long one.

We're gonna start with the shorter opinions first.

Minthara:

I have not done a run where Minthara was alive in Act 2. I literally know almost nothing about her.

I think she's hot and has the sexiest voice of all the female characters, but I know nothing about her story, other than she was a lesbian with Orin. I do wanna try and romance her, but.

Who knows if I'll ever get around to it.

Minsc:

I get that he's a fan favorite from the old games, but I kind of hate him. He feels like fanservice, and I didn't get a nostalgia boner for him, so he does nothing for me as a character.

I honestly kill him. Not out of malice, just more out of, why even have him be here?

Plus I tend to go through the entire game without swapping my party members, because I'm pretending it's a real dnd campaign.

And I ain't changing my team comp for this weirdo who only shows up at the very end.

Sorry to his hamster when I kill him, though.

Jaheira:

She's ok. I don't hate her, but she doesn't do it for me. I don't get why she's Russian. And apparently the only Russian in the whole game.

She also feels like fanservice.

Plus she fucking drops ice storms on everyone's goddamn HEADS when they're already in Hunger of Hadar, and honestly?

We have beef. I let her die sometimes, for that crime specifically. I also skip her house, because it doesn't have good loot, besides the scimitars, and I don't play races or classes that use scimitars. like ever.

Halsin:

I like Halsin generally, he's inoffensive to me, but his "romance" is so bad. It's shallow, it feels tacked on, which it was, and everyone knows how much I HATE how little his sexual trauma is focused on.

I romanced him twice, and both times, I was underwhelmed and kind of shrugged him off.

He should just be a fling option like Mizora. He shouldn't have become a "romance" option. It's fine for him to be a big buff bear hippie that you can fuck, but a companion?

He's got nothing to do with Act 3. It's a detriment to his character and the game, tbh.

Ok, that's the smaller ones out of the way. Now mains:

Astarion:

I got into BG3 for Astarion.

I fully admit it. I saw a scene of him screaming at Tav for blasting him with the sun beam from the githyanki creche, and it was funny as fuck.

Neil Newbon is highly charismatic, and truly elevates a character I don't find that physically attractive. His personality and enthusiasm shine through, and his voice acting is superb. And I am a sucker for angst and redemption and themes of abuse and breaking free of toxic relationships. And darkly, I admit. I do like the more twisted nature of his backstory, the way he had to use his body to survive, has a bad relationship with sex, and was tortured repeatedly. As anyone who reads my writing knows...I am a disgusting sadistic pervert.

That being said.

I no longer like Astarion. Well. No. I like Astarion.

I don't like his fans, or his rhetoric. Astarion has the better writing of BG3, but the lack of nuance from his fans annoys the shit out of me, and overexposure to him as a character, since Tumblr and TikTok are obsessed with him?

No me gusta. I don't hate him as a character, but I can't stand to see Astarion is so perfect posts. He's not, and that's the whole point. He's awful, but you people don't appreciate that. I don't want to see Astarion x Tav headcanons. And I especially do not care about the BookTok crowd being obsessed with him because they just like a dommy vampire, and disrespect his narrative with absolutely no self awareness.

BookTok Astarion is SO GODDAMN BORING. They really just reduce him to a hot dommy vampire daddy, and that's why I never take BookTok recs. Pure garbage.

So. TL;DR - I got BG3 for him, but overexposure to his fans made me be significantly less interested in him. It's a good thing. If I was obsessed with Astarion, I'd be forced to interact with his fans. Thank god for Gortash... I'm free of that prison.

Lae'zel:

I loved Lae'zel the minute she was mean to me.

She's hot as fuck, like seriously, so hot, her neck makes me sweat something fierce, and her voice is sultry and raspy and hostile. just how i like my women.

But I admit...she's too fucking meta. gameplay wise, she's probably the strongest companion you can have for DPS...so I admit...I've had her on my teams so much, that I am sick of her.

And again! It's not because she's badly written. I actually think her character is really strong, and really awesome. I also think her arc is amazing, going from this devoted cult member to basically saying I'm going to fucking kill a god.

I actually teared up a little at the creche this one time, when I had to beg her to stay, and she was like, you knew I had no other path to follow, but this one, or something like that.

But.

But I have beaten the game with her in my party like three times. I've had her in my party on Honor mode like...a million times.

So, tl;dr - I love her to death, but gameplay wise, she's so strong that I can't play her anymore.

Shadowheart:

Ok...I admit it.

I don't like Shadowheart. I find her boring visually, because she's just this generically hot white girl. She was designed to be the companion that all straight cis white men would want to see naked, and that's fine but uh.

Does absolutely nothing for me.

I don't care for her personality either. I don't like her lines, all coy and vaguely condescending. I don't really like how mean she is to you, and it's different from Lae'zel, because at least Lae'zel came from a warrior culture that doesn't put much value on flowery language. Lae'zel makes sense.

Shadowheart is an amnesiac who's just mean to you because.

I also don't care for her story, at all.

Don't care about Shar's Gauntlet or her kidnapped backstory. Don't give a shit about her parents. Don't care that she's scared of wolves or that her hand hurts.

I like the overarching thematic bridge that her character exists on, specifically that the gods will demand everything of you, and will hurt you for their own amusement.

But as a companion...no.

I have never been interested in romancing her. I never have her on the party, except to get that achievement.

I also don't like clerics. I think they're kind of weak, tbh. They're heal bots. They're really only good for spirit guardians, glyph of warding, and removing status effects. Just don't care for that. I'm an all dps team, we have no room for healers.

TL;DR: I don't think Shadowheart is interesting design wise, story wise, or gameplay wise.

Karlach:

I loved Karlach the moment I saw her, I fell deeper in love with her the second I heard her voice, and I knew I would die and kill for her, when I saw her excited "I love you" confession scene.

Seriously.

I have said this before, and I will say it again.

Out of all of these characters, romanceable or not...

I would only marry Karlach in REAL LIFE. I'd never date a man like Gortash or Astarion. I might be friends with Gale, but he's too smart to be my boyfriend.

But Karlach. She brings the wife energy. She could throw me over her shoulder and bash me against the concrete, and I would say thank you, ma'am.

she's also so fucking fun to play. barbarian options in bg3 are so goddamn funny. you can intimidate everyone and just break shit. it's great. you can also constantly throw people AT PEOPLE. And it's great. She's way more fun than Lae'zel because of it.

No notes. Top tier character design. My wife.

But also FUCK the developers for only giving her two fucking quests, one of which is a FETCH IT quest and the other is just a lame boss fight.

And FUCK THEM for only originally giving her an ending where she either dies or becomes a mindflayer. WHY.

And the Avernus ending still annoys me, because the ENTIRE PARTY should be there too.

FUCK YOU LARIAN. Why do you hate Karlach???? You're monsters. She's never done anything wrong, and yet all you do, is wrong her.

Bullshit.

Wyll:

Ok.

Hard truth time.

Wyll is the hottest male companion.

Like.

No cap. Everyone who says Gale, or Astarion, or Halsin-

Incorrect. It's Wyll. He is literally so hot, with the white eye and those sexy throat scars. Hrrrrrrr.

Also, controversial opinion. I actually like his devil form.

I think it makes him even hotter. I do wish he had wilder hair, though.

That being said...

He's horribly underwritten.

I went in, thinking, he's so kind and nice and hot...and then I was disappointed by how little they gave him.

He, like Karlach, got hit with the cut content curse.

And it's so ugly.

And gross.

And honestly, I suspect it's racist.

But yeah.

I think he's really sweet and I like romancing him and all. But they didn't dedicate any time or effort to his romance, and I hate that. But not him. Never him.

TL;DR - my first impression of Wyll was wow, he's hot, I wanna know more about him, and my last impression is, wow, he's so hot, I hate that he has nothing going on because Larian simply didn't bother to give him shit to do.

Gale

Alright, I left Gale for last, because he has the MOST complicated relationship with me.

So I initially missed Gale, because my friend failed the strength check to get him out of the portal.

So for a while, I didn't even know he existed.

Then I started to see more of him on Tiktok and Tumblr, and I was like oh...ok. So...we missed him. Damn.

So I decided to try romancing him fairly early on....only to find out...

I absolutely despised that when he dies, he killed me with necrotic damage.

That pissed me off. In the early days, when I was new to the game, I think I once had a whole team wipe, because Gale and Lae'zel went down, and then Karlach went rampaging, set me on fire, and then died to Gale's necrotic...which is funny in hindsight, but it was annoying at the time.

The eating magical items thing was mildly annoying, but that was far worse.

I pretty much never ran Gale for a long period of time.

As the Dark Urge, I'd often kill him, in fact, just so I wouldn't have to deal with his Arcane Hunger.

And honestly, initially, I kind of disliked his personality too.

I think the first scene I ever saw of him was when you tell him he's ok in bed, and his response is like, I guess I'll go kill myself.

And honestly, I thought he had incel vibes because of it. Then add to the fact that he's rude to you, no matter what, when he needs his third item...and also add that to the annoying gameplay, PLUS the fact.

That I was rocking Sorceror and Warlock for most of my early runs, so didn't need a wizard...I said, no. No Gale.

I don't like Gale.

BUT.

Here's the thing, right?

I got into Gortash... and then I stepped away from Astarion. Started being obsessed with the Dark Urge...

And then I noticed that all of my Durgetash friends were super into Gale, and I didn't get why...

But then weavewithshadow specifically alerted me to the fact that... there are Gale and Gortash parallels...specifically, that they're both brilliant, scruffy, are blinded by ambition, can't appreciate the things they have, and keep chasing after things they can't quite reach.

And then I was like...ok, maybe I've been harsh on him...

So I did his romance...and I felt bad.

Because he's actually very sweet.

And his voice is reallllly lovely when it's soft and fond.

He's a poet...and then I felt bad for all the times I had chewed off his arm.

And honestly, with experience...I now know what to feed him. Mostly garbage magic items like Komira's dumb locket or the ring of color spray from the harpies' nest, or those dumb boots that electrify the water you stand in.

Plus, I'm smart enough to know how to keep Gale alive now, so the necrotic thing isn't an issue.

So.

So. TL;DR I had a very complicated relationship with Gale, first with his mechanics, then with this random out of context scene where he's kind of nasty to you. But I came around, and honestly...right now...I like him more than Astarion.

All he wants to do is...live.

And I relate to that.

And his romance scenes are nice, and he has more of an arc than most of the other companions, Astarion aside.

So there you go, anon.

This took forever to write.

Thanks for the ask, though.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3

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ivys-valentine · 6 months

Note

Hmm I can’t speak for others but it’s Jason Issac’s voice for me, damn him for voicing Gortash so well *shakes fist* 😂 but in all seriousness, I think it’s the intrigue with his past for most people, his past/timeline is littered all over Act 3 and you can piece together how he came to be the Chosen of Bane and why he is the way he is. It’s tragic and enthralling all wrapped into one, it’s not really about his looks per say, more so the charisma and intellect that allowed him to rise to the position of Archduke from literally nothing, through all sorts of (mainly ruthless) means. It’s grotesque and fascinating all in one! He’s a horrid person, but there was always that whole “if he would’ve been treated kindly he would’ve been incredible” lurking in the back of peoples minds. The villains in BG3 are so three dimensional that you almost feel sorry for them and wish we could help like we do with our companions, but they’re all just too far gone by the time we meet them.

Also there’s the potential enemies to lovers trope for normal Tav, and forgotten my love trope for Durge.

That’s my thoughts on it anyway! TL;DR It starts off with fascination of the tragic backstory and turns into simping along the way with the help of the voice actor lol we hate ourselves for it TRUST. 😂

Thank you for the response btw! Really enjoyed reading it and fully thinking about it.

I definitely feel for him in a way regarding his backstory. I’m not sure if I got everything on my first playthrough, however, I am now playing as Durge and I suppose I am going to be getting a lot more information now?

This and other responses definitely have given me lots to think about and to appreciate the villains even more than I already had.

I completely agree with what you said about them being three dimensional. BG3/Larian Studios has really made some wonderful interesting characters and they/the writers deserve any and all praise or awards they receive.

I really really really love this game

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #larian studios #enver gortash #bg3 gortash #durge #i’m just happy to be here

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ilphelstacia · 7 months

Text

Astarion: I love you.

some ramblings about this interaction for my tav, this moment in the game was part of my inspiration for even starting to write a fic for the first time and my thoughts since it happened have evolved a lot~

⊱ ⸙ ⊰

for context: ⁎ I got Astarion's 2nd night romance scene in the underdark after getting the first one at the tiefling party

⁎ I was really bad about long resting because it was my first playthrough of the game and I didn't Get It that you needed to long rest to get more scenes..

⁎ ...so he never propositioned my character BEFORE the party even with high approval because I missed a lot of the bonding moments

⁎ Honestly works for the slower burn I ended up imagining for these two anyway. My tav was nice but did NOT particularly like him either at first.

⁎ Getting back to this actual moment. Because of this reaction I decided "oh shit, oh SHIT. 100% someone else has used this line to manipulate her before."

⁎ And yet...she still goes along with it. "Irresistible desperation" does not extend only to the dark urge. She knows he's bullshitting and plays around, but when she hears this it snaps her back. I chose for her to retort with a pretty angry "Having fun, are you?"

⁎ My tav is a girl spurned by a previous relationship (betrothal) where she was never seen as more than a decently pretty face, never allowed to be herself, gave her whole heart for nothing but anguish, apathy, and cruelty in return.

⁎ The only loving & reciprocal relationship she had (at that same time, as it turns out) ended up being with a man who was morally reprehensible & hid it from her. Only for her to find this out at her lowest, after fully running away from & ruining the life she had planned...

⁎ At this point, girl has already broken down an reinvented herself completely before the events on the nautiloid. It's been years since those other relationships & though she remains a hopeless romantic, she does not see it as something she will ever truly have or deserves.

⁎ Despite all of the self-awareness over the fact that Astarion is likely playing with her, she can't help but chase love again. Even if it has a good chance to end poorly, unrequited, she ends up hurting him too, or they just die from their adventure

⁎ I'm not going to go into her backstory much more at this point, but she has terrible taste in partners, objectively - she feels like she chose them it's very much her own fault for getting into these situations

⁎ Getting involved w/ Astarion for her is very "ah shit, here we go again"

⁎ I remember when she was just a Good Druid, but that was too boring for me so I like to have OTHER legitimate mistakes/crimes/demons in her past and anyway puts her in a cardboard box and shakes her really really hard.

⊱ ⸙ ⊰

#bg3 #my tav #bg3 tav #astarion #act 2 #act 2 spoilers #bg3 act 2 #fanfic #rambling #ramblings #astarion x tav #astarion romance #astarion x oc #angst #I counted these words for my nanowrimo word count fr fr #heh #I gotta get these bg3 out of my head

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sewermageboy · 3 months

Note

2, 13 and 14?

2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Technically? During Early Access, my first Tavs guardian basically looked like Hyacinth with a different hairstyle, and I liked their design so much that I had to implement it for a Tav. Played them as a cleric of Eilistraee in EA, but they didn't have a backstory yet, or their personality.

I started their run on August 4th and finished the game on August 11th, so I kind of binged through a lot of it, so a lot of their backstory came afterwards lol. But, essentially, they're modeled after my first guardian.

13. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

My friend @snailcommando and I have a whole expanded universe in which Hyacinth, Gale, Astarion and their Tav Brie are all in a polycule (not all romantic/sexual, but still), and we've definitely flashed out a lot of stuff after the game, like them going to Waterdeep together, or Brie and Astarion going to wrangle the vampire spawn in the Underdark etc.

Backstory wise, Hyacinth is almost 300 years old, and I'm still filling that time, but there's already a LOT lol

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

impulsivity. Hyacinth might be almost 3 centuries old, but their worst stat (apart from strength lol) is wisdom for a reason. No common sense to be found here. Tempt them with something dumb, and they'll do it

identity. Hyacinth spent almost a century hiding their face behind Disguise Self spells due to overall hostility towards drow on the surface. As a result, even over a century later, they're still struggling to figure out who exactly they are. It also made them very avoidant, I think? During that time, they could simply cast aside one identity and take on another, so dealing with things that are actually emotionally challenging for them can be hard, and simply makes them wanna run away (see: why have they never tried to see if their brother is still alive, find out what happened to their family, why don't they at least TRY to be a parent to their daughter, etc.)

#oc: hyacinth #my ocs #my tavs #thank u for the ask ahhh im sorry it took me so long to get around to it :')

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wretcheddthing · 2 months

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This Is @pricemarshfield's Fault

all of them? i will do my level best! i liked ur answers for tav btw. ily

under the cut

Your Tav as a Companion

What would your Tav's greetings be (at different levels of approval)? Already Answered :)

Describe their tent setup! What's on the outside? The inside? she has a closed tent that is that nice sorta emerald green/teal color i usually have her in. inside is a chest of clothes and a string tied up with random notes clipped to it, outside she has a soft rug to sit on, a short table to write on, and a stack of notes and books about the weave, wild magic, and magic suppression strewn around. there are also bottles of clothing dye, a makeup kit, and a random instrument arranged around her chillin' area.

What would their character quest be titled? Why? Already Answered :)

What would your Tav's romance scenes look like? How many would they have? ideally, one scene for each act. i don't think she'd have a dedicated romance one for each act, but definitely character moments that could lean that way. she'd probably get a fully dedicated romance scene in acts 2 and 3 tho. i'm trying to think of her outside of terms as a protagonist because romancing gale was a bit of an outlier situation for her, i'm trying to consider how she'd really be. her first scene would be Tame i feel. she'd be upfront about feeling some sort of attraction, but she doesn't think it would be fair to indulge those feelings when she already has so much more going on. this is also where she'd admit to not actually being a wizard, but being a sorcerer. she wouldn't delve too deep into her reasons for it yet. her second scene would be after a character scene where she fills you in on the rest of her backstory. her university admissions project/excavation, finding the ruin, remembering bits and pieces of being taken control of to kill her friend, watching her 3 other friends do the same, being granted a volatile magic against her wishes, trying to gather information on how it happened and being rejected, her plan to pose as an inexplicably skilled and reclusive wizard ready to enter academia to trick her way into gaining the respect of people who can get her the information she's looking for. in the romance scene itself, she'd go a little deeper in explaining her relationship to the person she was forced to kill, how it feels to have wild magic almost ripping through her veins at every given moment, the guilt of being surrounded by people who think they're friends but don't know her at all, how frustrating the search has been. and then they could say something nice and kiss her or whatever idk. her third one would come After resolving her personal quest where she's just really happy to have finally been able to make some progress on what felt like a fruitless quest and being happy someone was willing to help her out and that she's equally proud of how well they've done in handling the absolute crisis so far. idk this one's kinda hard for her bc i can only see her with gale <3 so if she were to be played as an origin character or romanced in a gale origin run, there would be Way more content for the two of them. in my heart.

Describe their idle animations Already Answered :)

How would the player go about meeting them in Act 1? What is their introduction? i think you'd find her at the ruin where you find withers. maybe she's being hassled by the looters who are set up there, trying to talk her way out of whatever fight they have in store for her. she's freshly tadpoled and not near as powerful as she was, so this is a situation she wants very badly to be able to talk her way out of but might not be able to without help from the player. if you get the looters to leave through a charisma check, that's instant brownie points and she'll ask to stick around first after the whole tadpole mind meld thing. during that, btw, you'd hear a description of how she got her power. a cold, damp darkness, shattered memories, distant screams over a chittering cackle. she is super super mega against people delving into her mind like that, so if you're caught trying to look deeper she'll get Pissed. if you trigger a fight, she'll be kind of annoyed but still thank you for getting her out of that. if you leave the encounter without helping her, she'll get injured in the fight. if you return to the ruins later on, she'll be gone. she can be found again in the grove getting healed and she'll Not be happy to see you again.

Describe their arc. How would a player help resolve it? What choices can be made? Can your Tav be turned down a dark path, or pulled to a lighter one? venali is a strictly good-aligned character so she will get Mad if you try to make her do bad things. not only will she get mad, she will Leave if it's egregious enough. like killing the grove? not only will she yell at your for considering it, she'll try to fight you if you insist. her arc has a lot to do with learning to be at peace with her circumstances despite trying Very Hard to change them. she'd disapprove if you tried to persuade her from her search despite it being obvious that it's stressing her out. if you do successfully persuade her, she'll be a bit lost. it's occupied so much of her time and she doesn't know how to be happy with her situation because it never crossed her mind to try. she will insist that how her magic feels is not the same as how other mages feel. to her, it's an actively harmful element she cannot get rid of and she is Always uncomfortable with it. that doesn't mean she can't learn to find appreciation and utility in magic outside of necessity. she will fight the process of getting there, though. also she’d have something huge with the sussur tree and everything going on in lenore’s tower in the underdark given the effect of the sussur flower and the nature of Lenore’s research. and she would also be able to eat the noblestalk if you find it to try to remember what happened to her more vividly, but she wouldn’t like it very much. even if it does aid her search significantly.

After Act 3, what does their life look like? What are they talking about at the reunion party? she's getting ready to hit the road again, with or without an invitation to the player, depending. she'll mostly be talking about how strange it is to see everyone again

Back to Basics

9. What's the significance behind your Tav's name? fantasynamegenerators.com :)

10. Does your Tav have a last name? Is there a meaning behind it? Yes, Kelvyre. Also No, i just thought it sounded good with venali.

11. What is your Tav's go-to comfort food? a chunky stew i think. And mashed potatoes with cheese.

12. Does your Tav have any tattoos or scars? Why? Already Answered :)

13. What is your Tav's main color palette? Why do they choose those colors? i swap it up between acts! in act 1 it's Red + secondary color. depends how I'm feeling. sometimes just the red dye, sometimes it's the furnace red and black dye, but usually just the red one so her accent color can still be gold and not look bad. act 2 it's the blue and black dye and her accent color becomes silver. act 3 is the faewild green and dunn dye which looks super good with the gold accents again and also just suits Her so well. most of my screenshots for her are from act 3 because that's just quintessential Venali 2 me. she chooses to switch it up because that's just what she likes to do. she likes playing dress up and looking pretty.

14. Where are they from? What was home like? she is baldurian and is initially very protective of her home because everyone she's ever loved is from there. this stops being the case after That One Reveal in the wyrmway in act 3 (FUCKING ********!!!). she feels just kinda. gross about it all because of finding out her magic is sourced from the far realm and the emperor says some weird shit to her about it.

she had a good childhood, though. relatively peaceful. her parents didn't get along and her father stopped inviting her over for visits (her mother stayed in rivington, her dad stayed in the lower city), so she spent a lot of time with her pretty large friend group going on adventures and making "discoveries" at the ruins along the chionthar

15. Is your Tav more likely to fight/flight/freeze/fawn? it depends! if it's a more social setting, she'll be likely to fawn if something comes up to appease any tensions as quickly as possible. if it's out in the field and her life is being threatened, she's more likely to fight For a couple reasons. 1) she adventured on her own quite a bit while looking for answers on what sources her power and how to sever to connection to it and that comes with encountering dangers in the wild. i think she was about a level 10 sorcerer before getting tadpoled. 2) her magic is BEGGING to be used, otherwise it backfires on her more severely. it's like a constantly building pressure that needs release.

16. What do they do for fun, when not adventuring? What are their hobbies? Already Answered :)

17. Do they have any enemies outside of the main plot? Any friends? i like to think she has a sort of academic rivalry with another wizard in baldur's gate who is just. a Real Wizard about stuff. it's more of a petty annoyance to her, though. her real enemy is the thing that forced magic onto her and her friends, whatever it is. i have some ideas but nothing solid which i think. kinda might be the point of it. she has some other wizard acquaintances who would call her friend, but she wouldn't be comfortable calling them friends because she's not sharing her real self with them. her actual friends are the ones who went into and left the ruin with her. zela, currently a ranger. askal, currently a healer. and ambition, currently a part-time musician. they all have the same aspects of wild magic as venali and all were forced to kill one of their friends before being "granted" that power. it hinders them in the same way it hinders her, but venali feels she shoulders the most responsibility for it and insisted on being the one to find a "cure" if possible. the ones who died were maude, killed by venali; samti, killed by zela; gailhard, killed by askal; and ganur, killed by ambition.

18. Where/with who do they feel safest? with her mom, with gale, or in her little cottage she posts up in at a village between baldur's gate and waterdeep. after the game, this becomes gale's tower in waterdeep.

19. What is their MBTI Type? idk i think we stopped doing these?

Deep Dives

20. What is their relationship to touch? Do they shy away from it? Do they need it to feel present? she is a Very tactile person and usually just does it to show familiarity or affection. obviously if that isn't someone's jam she'll respect their boundaries, but she loves casual hugs and hand holding or just a gentle hand on their arm or shoulder.

21. Describe a defining moment from their past, which makes them who they are today! i don’t have the whole thing typed out to copy paste AUGH it’s in bits and pieces and the full story exists only in my mind. which is why i said i’d write it but have you considered that that’s hard and i get nervous.

anyway. Basically what happened was venali was working on an admissions project for a prestigious university so she could study history. her focus was the ruins of faerûn, the previous occupants, what they did, and what currently resides. she finds a ruin a ways outside of baldur’s gate that locals have really strange memories of, in that they speak of it as if it’s been there for centuries but written records don’t show its appearance until 50 years back. what struck her as odd was the records didn’t show it was recently discovered, but also referred to always having been there.

so she’s excited and is like. hell yeah i get to make a cool discovery this will Super impress the admissions board. she gets her friends together and organizes an excavation. they’d done shit like this for fun for years, which is how developed an interest in it. now she wants to do it ethically (and with funding). things are going well when ven discovers a mechanism that opens an archway leading deeper into the ruin. everything after stepping through the threshold is where everything gets fuzzy.

she remembers it was dark, Really dark. their torches hardly cut through it. there was a damp sort of Liveliness to the air. the walls looked wrong, like they were too soft and pulsating, but they were cool and rough to the touch. they walked further in, as if willed to do so. venali, to her knowledge, never even thought about turning back. there was a presence deep in an inner chamber, it spoke to them in their minds. whatever it was surrounded them, promised them power, Demanded they took its power, the price was low. logic overruled, everyone started realizing something was very wrong. with just a shred of competence left, they tried to leave. they couldn’t. the presence wanted them to leave with something, very badly. they only had to make a small sacrifice.

the next thing venali knew, her best friend’s head was in her hands, and jerked to the side in an instant. ahead of her, zela’s arm sliced her blade across samti’s gut. beside her, ambition was screaming as her hands choked ganur. she couldn’t see what happened to gailhard, but askal’s wailing was enough to know he’d met a similar fate to the other three.

venali blanked. for the first time she didn’t know what to do. and then her skin burned all over, something in her connecting to a new thread of reality. her arms crackled and spit with electricity, a rock wall formed to her left, cats and mice appeared at random around the room, the air thickened to the point of choking, a deafening Boom shook the chamber and the ceiling began to fall.

zela managed to take action and lead the other three to the exit, dodging rubble as it fell on them. venali was hit by a few large pieces, splitting her forehead and lip.

after crossing the threshold, her mind cleared but her blood still tingled. she was quickly losing what had just happened. the other three had casual expressions as if they had already lost it entirely. until confusing set in. venali was the only person who retained even a shred of memories, and those were fading fast. she had to relay what she could to the others before it left her completely and hope they believed her.

it didn’t take much convincing, as she was the first to discover she could conjure a fire bolt, having never previously done this. the others tried smaller forms of magic as well, finding they could now manipulate the weave. but it was Wrong. stirring and bubbling and Demanding to be used. and not every effect was intended. some harmful, some odd. few helpful.

the end :)

22. How is your Tav's relationship with their family? Their parents? i just wrote a novel so forgive me if this is short

no siblings, close with mom, not close with dad. her parents didn’t get along, they never married. dad tried A Little Bit to be present when she was young, but had a hard time acting like he wanted to be. her visits became few and far between, though she still tried to write. she would sometimes get a response.

she has an aunt and some cousins on her father’s side, but they lived several miles away and weren’t very fond of ven’s mom either. her family was most her friends, and that got halved pretty quickly. and badly.

23. How does your Tav act in situations of stress? In moments of peace?

stressed really depends. social stress she can handle like a champ. she’s very graceful in those situations and can think quickly on her feet. having to fight shit she doesn’t like so much because her best weapon is her magic and that often goes bad for her. she can’t control the wild magic surges, so at the very least she’s Adaptable in a fight.

in moments of peace she tries very hard to be relaxed, and occasionally she can be, but her mind is always at least slightly occupied by the worst thing to ever happen to her. either as regret, or in planning her next moves, or deciphering the information she does have.

24. What does your Tav consider to be their own biggest character flaw? Already Answered :)

25. What is something they would die on a hill over? uhhh probably something something wizards don't own academia and trying to gatekeep and weave-ify knowledge makes you an asshole. idk i feel like there would be real beef between wizard academics and regular academics. and ven would have opinions about it having posed as a wizard to gain access to information she was barred from otherwise.

26. Give us one of your Tav's secrets! other than The Big One? idk. she's really a bit of an open book in all other instances. she doesn't hide her personality or interests so much as she's just spent a long time misrepresenting herself. OH also. she doesn't mind her name being shortened to ven, but the reason she absolutely will NOT allow anyone to call her veni is bc that was maude's nickname for her.

27. What is the worst thing they've ever done/said to someone they love? for sure it would be killing maude. i feel like that is a pretty significantly bad thing that happened, even if it wasn't of her own free will.

28. Describe a smell that reminds your Tav of childhood. sea salt, brackish water, rotting wood, dusty stone, and baking bread. that's many smells :)

29. What fears keep them up at night? she has nightmares of what happened in the ruin, even seven years on, because that incident has been a driving force as much as a source of torment since it happened. she worries over what will happen if she never gets closure on that part of her life, being stuck with a volatile magic as a major hindrance forever. she's also terrified of the dark and cannot sleep without some form of nightlight.

30. What does your Tav want more than anything? to have just a normal, relatively peaceful, quiet life. she wants to try to go back to school, focus on her interests, start a family, and not wake up every day actively fearing what she doesn't know. she just wants peace of mind.

and I think that’s all of it. i can and will talk about her forever tho. btw.

#oc: venali kelvyre #friends #note while writing post: this is gonna take fuckin forever #also adair i would recommend caution in viewing? there are spoilers

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lewis-winters · 3 months

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Day 16: Victory

Part of my OC-tober 2022 (that will get fucking finished in 2024 so help me god)! Another Baldur's Gate 3 one, folks!

This was just an excuse to write a Tadfools puppy pile and also a little dropped hint to whatever is going on between Halsin/my Tav. Again, some Bloodweave in there. Because I care them. And Shadowheart being clingy, because I like that, too. Team As Family, of course.

Also! A tiny depiction of a stray headcanon of mine: being a particularly stubborn and petty godless Paladin means breaking the habit of using gods’ names in vain so, Pasiphaë often incites the ‘Great fuck’ or ‘Holy shit’ when truly exasperated or in a situation that might have had her previously calling for Ilmater. She does this out of spite. I love her.

tw: allusions to Astarion’s whole backstory; they’re all traumatized and pretending so hard that they aren’t

As soon as the sun sets, they go and set Cazador’s Palace ablaze.

Between Gale’s fireball, Shadowheart’s conjured elemental, a gallon of gasoline Astarion had filched from an abandoned food stall, and their overall enthusiasm, they make quick work of the old place in little under two hours. With the amount of destruction that has been wrought upon the city already, nobody bats an eye at the raging flames, nor at the four lunatics that started it. The only ones who do are their Harper allies, who find them sitting together on the Lower City Wall a relatively safe distance away, surveying their handiwork from under some curtains they’d stolen from the ballroom and are now using as blankets to keep warm.

“We were wondering where you were,” Jaheira sighs, making herself comfortable on the ground with them as the rest of her team scouts ahead, checking to make sure the damage doesn’t spread anywhere else. “When we saw the brain fall, our first thought was to search for you in the Chionthar’s waters. Were you here the whole time?”

Nobody answers for a long moment. Nobody moves. They simply watch the flames, its blaze and its warmth enough to evoke the sun.

Finally, Pasiphaë blinks, slowly, like she’s just been awoken from a dream. “We hid by the docks until the sun set,” she tells Jaheira, flatly. “Slept some.”

What a sorry sight they must have been: huddled together behind some barrels and crates like a litter of abandoned kittens, licking their wounds and attempting to crawl into each other’s skin—the very antithesis to the image of victory.

They couldn’t help it, though; the overwhelming silence in their minds where six other presences had been was disconcerting, to say the least. After nearly a year of sharing their tadpole telepathic link, suddenly being unable to feel each other, mentally, incited a desire in all of them to feel each other tangibly, instead. Even Astarion, who in different circumstances would have turned his nose up at the mere idea of cuddling, did not protest when Shadowheart so much as crawled into his lap, and simply turned his face into the crook of Gale’s neck while Pasiphaë circled her arms around all of them best she could. It was difficult, too, to simply dismiss the absent pieces of their seven-way connection. Pasiphaë had wondered, aloud, if Wyll and Karlach also felt the loss. Or if Lae’zel missed it, now, with as much intensity as she had despised it, then. Nobody had wanted to follow that trail of thought.

It ached too much.

Instead, they’d made plans. Serious ones at first, with the Crown of Karsus still in pieces in the Chionthar and majority of the city reduced to rubble and ruin. But the more they talked of it, the more they went in circles. Those plans were for a future a bit farther from reach. Complicated. They wanted—needed something simple.

Shadowheart had been the one to suggest burning Cazador’s Palace to the ground; arson sounded much more invigorating than drinking themselves into a stupor at the nearest tavern. Once they’d unanimously agreed, they’d quickly fallen asleep, tucked tightly against each other. Waiting out the sun.

“I’m sorry,” Pasiphaë tells Jaheira. “We worried you, didn’t we?”

“No more than you usually do,” Jaheira says, waving a dismissive hand. To Astarion, she asks; “do you intend to see this blaze all the way through to its ashes?”

“Not if you promise something better, darling,” Astarion shrugs. He’s managed to slot himself sideways upon Gale’s lap, arms wrapped around his wizard’s neck, legs slung over thighs. Nuzzling into him, he recalls; “what was it? A night of hedonistic debauchery?”

Gale has his eyes closed, weary. “Hm. I think you have to count me out this time, ‘Star.”

“The short length of your sentences are starting to concern me, Gale,” Shadowheart says, from her spot against Pasiphaë, her arm intertwined with hers. Her head on her shoulder. “So long as this hedonistic debauchery involves a bed—”

Astarion snorts, an undignified sound. “How straight forward of you, Shadowheart.”

“Is the Elfsong still standing?” Pasiphaë asks Jaheira, ignoring the new wave of bickering that’s begun.

“Tall and proud, with barely a scratch,” Jaheira tells her. “I must warn you, though. A difficult conversation awaits you there.”

The bickering ceases and three pairs of curious ears perk up. Pasiphaë struggles not to roll her eyes. “For tomorrow,” she says, to both Jaheira and audience, before stretching her legs out with a groan. “For now: home. And rest.”

They get up with some struggle, sore and tired, pins and needles rushing through their stiff limbs as they pick their way through the smoking city toward camp. They cling to each other still, even when it makes walking through narrow alley ways tough. But it doesn’t slow them down at all. The moon has barely made it up into the sky before the Elfsong finally looms before them, a welcome sight.

Halsin is waiting for them at the entrance, whole, largely unharmed, and pacing. He hasn’t clocked them yet.

“You don’t have to engage him,” Gale reassures her with a whisper. “Halsin has always been a reasonable man; if we were to tell him that you wish to be left alone tonight, he would no doubt honor that request.”

“You don’t have to get between us,” Pasiphaë tells him. “But I appreciate it.”

Luckily, it doesn’t come to that—before she can even so much as make eye contact with the druid, the door of the Elfsong opens, and her children spill out.

“Mama,” Serafina gasps in Elvish, as she and her brother practically throw themselves at Pasiphaë. They’re not quite as small as they used to be, but Pasiphaë still catches them well enough and only stumbles a bit. “Phaë, oh thank the goddess, we thought you—I thought—”

“Oh, my baby,” Pasiphaë coos, holding her close as she begins to cry. “It’s alright. I’m alright. We’re alright.”

Everybody graciously gives them privacy—though from the corner of her eye she sees Halsin hesitate, just a moment, before Jaheira pulls him inside the building—leaving them to relocate to one of the tables still intact out front, waiting out the worst of the water works as Serafina blubbers and hiccups her way through words. By the time she’s calmed down, the world about them has quieted into a near hush, sans perhaps some lucky crickets. It’s still quite early into the evening, but even for a city as robust and bustling as Baldur’s Gate, being invaded by an army of cultists and mind-flayers would significantly damper the night life. On the bright side, there’s less vampire spawn and Bhaal followers in it, now. “This city is not so bad,” Pasiphaë snorts. “Now that we cleaned it up, some, I mean.”

“I’m sick of it,” Serafina sniffles, shaking her head. “I think. I think it’s about time I moved.”

Xenodius chuckles. “I was just jesting about that, you know?”

“No. I know you were. But I’m not so stubborn now as to dismiss the wisdom behind the jest. Besides,” Serafina smiles. “Phaë’s wizard has sold me on the idea of Waterdeep.”

“Well. It’s not Neverwinter.” But at least it isn’t the fucking Gate, goes unsaid.

“I want you to come with me, Phaë.”

Pasiphaë blinks. Then blinks some more. “You—”

“Please don’t say you want me to have a life of my own. I have that. I’d still like for you to be in it.”

“I… wasn’t going to say that,” Pasiphaë lies, grasping for other arguments she might have. “It’s just… Waterdeep is so awfully far, linnon dithen, and the house—who will take care of the house?”

“I will!” Xenodius protests. “I’ve inherited your propensity for bringing home strays, you know. Elias and I will need more space, soon.” He reaches out and takes Pasiphaë’s hand. “That house is too big for you, Phaë.”

He does have a point. But Pasiphaë isn’t going to give them both the satisfaction of being right without working for it, just a bit. “Have you two been talking about me behind my back?”

“Of course.”

Pasiphaë rolls her eyes. “Such brats.”

“We were just worried about you,” Serafina says, so, so patient. Since when has she become so patient? All at once, Pasiphaë’s throat tightens with emotion, and she has to blink rapidly to keep it all at bay. “That house… it has a lot of happy memories. But there are many bad ones, too. I lost Phaedra and Mel in that house. I thought I lost you in that house—” Pasiphaë winces. “—There’s been more bad than good that’s happened there, recently. I don’t like the idea of you wallowing in that for the rest of your life. Perhaps it’s time for some where new?”

“Sera—”

“Or you can go with Halsin, if that’s what you want!”

Pasiphaë feels like her heart’s been tossed into the air. “What.”

“I mean. I thought—” Serafina fidgets, her turn now to grasp for something to say. “You know I don’t mind, right? You aren’t… I don’t think you’re replacing Mel at all! Odi doesn’t, either.”

Xenodius nods, enthusiastically. “I think he’s nice, Mama.”

Oh, great fuck, deliver her. “I am not ready to have this conversation with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because Halsin and I are most definitely not like that.” She doesn’t try and specify what that means, afraid to lose the plausible deniability in lacking a proper label.

Despite her efforts, though, the siblings seem to understand it perfectly. Exchanging glances that are a bit too knowing for her comfort, they look to her, frowning. “Oh?” Sera says, an eyebrow raised. “I… Are you sure?”

Pasiphaë flounders for an answer. She can’t find one, so she just doesn’t answer at all.

They stay for a few more moments, before Pasiphaë’s growling stomach and growing anxiety prompts them to go inside. Everybody else is waiting around the fire pit for them, idly chatting between themselves. Shadowheart has the Owlbear sprawled across her lap while Astarion has Scratch in his. Tara has found Gale as well, kneading biscuits into his lap while meowing and mrrp-ing what Pasiphaë suspects to be admonishments and endearments.

Through all this, Halsin is cradling a slumbering Yenna, the child the only thing keeping him from getting up and… well. Pasiphaë isn’t sure what he wants to do. From the look on his face, she thinks he might want to kiss her. Or maybe tell her that he never wants to see her again. It would take more than a cursory look for Pasiphaë to determine which it really is, but she’s not ready to take more than a glance. Especially with everybody else discretely staring and wondering too loud without saying a word.

Pasiphaë looks at Jaheira, and sure enough, the druid is looking at her already, an eyebrow raised in question. Pasiphaë shakes her head. Jaheira rolls her eyes.

Dinner is a subdued affair. Nobody really wants to talk all that much. Or eat much, either. But Odi’s paternal instincts kick in, and he forces them to stomach a few bites, even when the tavern’s stew is a bit too bland for their tastes. Serafina gives up some of her own blood for Astarion’s meal, and Pasiphaë hugs her daughter extra tight to thank her for her generosity.

“It’s nothing,” Sera tells her, and Astarion, too. She smiles at him, and for a moment looks like she wants to say more, but thinks better of it. “You’re… uh. You’re welcome.” Astarion appears grateful for her intuition.

Sleep comes quick. They’re less huddled together about it, with Gale and Astarion retiring together to their own cot while Pasiphaë acquires both her children and Shadowheart in hers. Pasiphaë wants to grumble something about being made into an elf-sized teddy bear by two fully grown elves far too old to be sleeping in their mother’s bed, but decides to keep it to herself. Shadowheart is still grieving the loss of her parents after all, it’s no use accidentally prodding that wound for the sake of faux-surliness. If she could help curb that by holding her the way she did her own children after a particularly nasty nightmare, then Pasiphaë resolutely doesn’t mind being slowly crushed to death. They push together three cots to fit all of them together with Pasiphaë in the middle—and if it so happens to be within sight of Gale and Astarion’s cot and Halsin’s place by the fire, well. Nobody says anything.

They let exhaustion take them as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

Linnon dithen means ‘little singer’ in Tolkein's Sindarin. Forgotten Realms doesn’t actually have any official Elvish conlang (aside from the few official words in that one dictionary), so I substituted it with Sindarin instead.

Serafina also switches between calling her mother(s) Mama and their nicknames, while Odi prefers to just call them Mama. Pasiphaë and Melisandre had really tumultuous relationships with their own parents/guardians and I imagine weren’t so precious about parental monikers as a result. Odi prefers calling them Mama, though. I think that's just the kind of person he is. To their other children (Sera and Phaedra), they were Mama in times of heightened emotion while any other time they were Phaë and Mel.

#estrella_marie #stella's oc-tober 2022 #bg3 #pasiphaë elago #i am getting Attached to pasiphae A Normal Amount #my next pieces will be about how fucking Insane She Is Actually and they're... so much fun #not hbo war

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vagueiish · 7 months

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fuck i wish i could write. oliver just signed the deal with raphael (because he constantly feels like he's doing nothing to help the party or anyone and putting his soul on the line is the very least he could do, even though he helps everyone and also is like.... at max approval with the whole party and has finished or done the majority of everyone's personal quests)(he's trusting the emperor less and less, for Reasons, which i guess would involve more writing because it involves personal backstory shit, and he's already burned the bridge with gortash by crashing the party at the iron throne and saving wyll's dad, so his options to deal with the tadpoles are becoming fewer and fewer)(so. raphael it is. for now...?)

and astarion's basically just like 'well that was stupid, but what do i care, it's not *my* name on the contract lol' (even though oliver's apparently the first person he's truly cared for, bb, what are you doing? is this a 'id rather you hadn't, and i'm actually kind of upset but don't know how to deal and also you're a fuckin adult and made your choice, so what's the point in saying anything' moment or what, i am having trouble deciphering this right now)(and i know the dude is an ass, i dont expect him to be Nice, but your honor, theyre in love. and he did sound kind of pissed about it! or irritated/sarcastic??? but! how did he mean it? my brain is not cooperating, i hate this, lmao, i wish there was a follow up convo or something so i could pin down this fuckin plot bunny)

(and i mean. this is deviating into headcanon/oliver as tav specific territory, and is me trying to figure out how it'd figure into the thing i'd wind up writing for this if i do, and again, astarion is an ass and all that, maybe not the most emotionally mature dude in the realms to put it mildly, but he'd know, right? eventually, at least??? that he fucked up saying that? that however he actually meant it, it's going to sound very much like 'i don't actually care about you' to the first person he professes to actually care about?)(and in terms of oliver's canon timeline, i think he signs well after his own 'personal quest' would have occurred. so astarion would know about oliver's mother and all that baggage. not that he'd necessarily know what do to with it, but he'd probably have heard her be all 'yeah, i never actually cared for or wanted you, soo....')(which is an oversimplification and the whole situation is quite complicated, but. that's the gist he gets, so anyway...)

and then karlach. my love. the bestest of girls, she's angry and insisting on going to avernus one last time to save oliver's fucking soul because she's awesome and also because he's her friend and, tangent, i wish there was an option at all times to hug her, whether as a friend or lover. she deserves all the hugs, romantical or platonic or whatever, fuck, i want to hug karlach so fucking bad

and there is something *there* with all of this because oliver, sweet and sad and self-loathing, wouldn't have any of her help. he'd want her to let it go. gently, at first, but of course she doesn't, so then he gets pissed. because this is his decision. because it's not her name or anyone else's on the dotted line, so why the fuck does she care? (hm. sounds familiar.......) let it go. let him help for once, not be a burden on the party for *once* (as if he hasn't spent the whole adventure bending over backwards not just for our merry band of adventurers, but everyone he's come across)(because it's not enough, never enough, it'll never be enough to make up for being him) he isn't worth the trip to avernus, isnt worth her forcing herself to face that place again. and he's rarely loud or angry but he's both now, the exhaustion and frustration and uncertainty and fear re: the future that he's been trying to ignore pouring our of him, horribly misdirected at probably his best friend in the whole group, so of course the rest of the party is going to hear it and it's just.... there is something here, i feel it in me bones

(also. tangentially related, but didn't raphael imply that fucking up the contract would fuck over the whole group and not just whomstever is signing it? said something about hanging you and your friends from meathooks while watching the world burn??? so either he's full of shit or the contract actually fucks over everyone if broken, which..... oliver as tav would not have signed if breaking it affected anyone else, so this might all be moot. i dunno. just rambling)

#long post #but #it's kind of funny because i had oliver bring only astarion to sign the contract #because i imagined oliver wouldnt want the rest to know but he was still unsure about the decision #and wanted moral support lmao #he'd refused at first but overthought it and came crawling back #i dont know. maybe he was hoping the man he loved would try to stop him but he didnt....#anyway.....#so it kind of feels like astarion got back to the rooms and was like 'oh btw he signed the fuckin contract lmao'#which i imagine karlach would flip out on him like 'why the *fuck* would you let him do that?'#to which astarion's snarks like 'what do i look like? his mother?' before maybe having an aha moment #hopefully having an aha moment #and maybe he notices that night that oliver doesnt ask if he's managed to feed at all today #something he's asked pretty much every day since astarions big vampire reveal #in some form or another. sometimes direct 'have you eaten?' sometimes a subtle 'you good?'#maybe he notices and maybe he knows something's wrong. but what the fuck is he supposed to do about it?#fuck. i dont know #there's something here. i know it #oc: could it be this misery will suffice? (oliver)#scott sucks at bg3 #bideo gaems #to the void with love

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panigamermauser · 8 months

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I have been pondering why I did not touch bg3 in more than a week now, despite it being the best game I played in at least a decade, and just a week ago I was looking to replay it several more times.

Finally realized that it is because the game upset me one time too many. Not as in 'the story bit that was written to be sad did its job', but 'the writing/development decisions make me sad'.

Ugh, I hate my brain. Why do bad things always wear me down even when good ones outweight it 99 to 1? At this point I'm not even sure if I even can get back into playing it again. It is a very much 'me' problem, not game problem. Why cannot I be normal? 😭

Venting/ranting under the cut, if anyone cares.

So, it is again about Tav being non-character. I know, I know. I keep harping on it. But this is like a pebble stuck in a boot. It just keeps getting worse with time😔

That story from Astarion writer about how they added more content for Durge just because they could pretty much broke me. Especially the part how they wished there was more time to add same level of care for Durge from other companions.

Why Durge - who already has a metric fuckton more content, major impact on the main plot and exists in game world no matter who you play as - deserves extra care and even more content?

It did not even cross their mind to wish there was more time to add unique interactions only Tav players would see. To make Tav a real character that exist in the world no matter what. But no, let put a cherry on top of massive cake Durge already got instead.

It turned my jealousy of Durge being 'Tav with lots more content' into resentment. It is unfair, and I do not even want to play Durge now, out of spite. And it was supposed to be my next playtrough too!

And I know, in real world there is budget and time, and neither is unlimited. So choices have to be made. But if they could not spare any to make Tav part of the world, they could have let them to be the only one customizable character. It could have been their special unique thing with zero extra effort on team's part.

Default Durge is a white dragonborn monk. Should have stayed this way as a preset character. This way Tav's unique thing would be customizability, and Durge's extra content would have felt as premade story of this one premade character, just like playable companions feel.

But no, they had to go and make Durge customizable too, which instantly made Tav infinitely worse by comparison. Of course, it is too late to change it now. So Tav is stuck as an afterthought. An unloved child of development team, if you will. And unfortunately for me, this is my main char. So I'm salty and jealous and mad and resentful about Durge.

There's not a single thing you miss if you do not play as Tav. No extra story, no extra NPCs, no extra written notes, no extra dialogue. Nothing. In contrast, I learned whole Durge's backstory while playing Tav, just from reading books and notes.

The saddest thing is that it makes me like Astarion less too.

Because due to writers whims out of two customizable characters Astarion cares about Durge, but not about Tav. Even though both character treat him equally. But for some reason (aka the writer's whim) Astarion cares for Durge a lot more. Gives them a special nickname too. And I'm salty about it.

Honestly, it feels like Tav is being punished for being 'normal' (whatever your headcanons are - the game treats Tav as someone well-adjusted and untraumatized).

Yeah, you go solve everyone problems and tragic pasts while no one ever wonders about your mental state, backstory and possible troubles even once. No one cares whether Tav is scared, stressed etc. If they are sad because they do not have a single person in the world to talk to outside of tadpole crew. But Durge is oh so special and needs whole group support, always.

With Durge it feels like everyone supports each other. With Tav it feels horribly one-sided. Tav will risk their life for companions. But they won't even ask how their day is going.

I really wish I played Durge first. This way I would not get invested in my main (who is Tav, because Durge was not a thing during early access). Alas, it was Tav, and I cannot rewrite the past and not play EA.

Add to this the problems with Act 3 pacing and the ending being unsatisfactory(I wrote some long-ass posts about it before)

Add to this poly relationships being an afterthought(despite it being a point in advertising the game!) and Halsin never treated as an equal partner by the game. You never see all three interacting as a policule either. No epilogue of planning the future as policule too.

Add to it me being done with fantasy/sci-fi stories of 'you can save the world, but not the ill person you care about'. Like, is it realy that unrealistic compared to stopping an alien invasion all by yourself? Especially when the possibility of cure is heavily teased by those games themselves.

Asd to it the recent numerical confirmation of how Wyll has so much less content than everyone else... (I'm sure it is because he got rewritten. Does not make it hurt any less, tho)

Death by a thousand papercuts right here

Again, compared to wastness and overall quality of the game those are such small and insignificant things. And I'm sure there won't be another game this good for many more years. And I totally planned to play BG3 till something just as good comes along.

But my brain has stopped me in my tracks before the second run is finished. And I hate it so much. Because when I'm done with something - I am really done and cannot go back, no matter how much I want to. And I do not want to be done with BG3 just yet. But also cannot bring myself to start the game anymore 💔 As I said - It's a 'me' problem. But it still hurts as all get out and I wish I was not the way I am.

#mausertalks #baldur's gate 3 spoilers

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zenjestrr · 9 months

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So, for those Baldur's Gate questions, how about: 1, 2, 10, 21, and 39.

Tell us about your Tav! Name, class and subclass, race, pronouns. Do you have a headcanon for where they’re from? Their family? Are they a Dark Urge? Or did you choose an Origin Character? Was it an easy decision? (1) I'm gonna talk about the ones that have made it to Act 2, I have like a million that haven't even left the nautiloid yet cuz I just played Barbie's Dress Up in the CC and quit lol

Zeneeva: Blue Dragonborn (they/them) that started off as a Paladin of the Ancients and went Oathbreaker after reviving Mayrina's husband with the wand. I ended the game as a Paladin 3, Fiend Warlock - Pact of the Blade 6, Gold Dragon Sorcerer 3 (honestly only grabbed Draconic Sorcerer for the aesthetic tbh). This was my first full release character that I beat the game with on Tactician. although tbh I really only went Tactician because I was using a mod that let me bring the whole squad with me so it was my attempt to compensate for having access to like 10 goons every battle lol. I have no real headcanon for this character. but the fact that Tav is from Baldur's Gate and Dragonborn specific dialogue choices imply having a clan makes me believe that they grew up in a tightknit Dragonborn community in the city. I also made them a Guild Artisan (for optimization reasons since there are none of the companions have this background so it's an extra source of inspiration and the skill bonuses are nice), so maybe their family had a crafting business or something that they helped out with idk. maybe they went Paladin of the Ancients as an adult because they saw how shit animals were treated in the city and decided to defend nature. I will replay this character once support for this game is finally done and Larian implements their final patch

Zenuuja: Dark Urge half-orc (she/her) Spore Druid/Monk. She started off as a Druid and then as she had some uhhh...."accidents" tried to control her urges better by going Monk (this is the RP reason, meta reason is I want my final build to be Spore Druid 2, Open Hand Monk 6, Thief 4). She is loosely based off of my Bhaalspawn from Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (named Zenuuva) who has a half-orc kensai/mage. I wanted to go druid back in BG1 but classes in the old school Baldur's Gate games were race locked so only humans and elves could be druids. so I went with an axe throwing battlemage build instead. She will reject the urges as best as she can. I already know the Dark Urge plot and backstory so I won't fill that in here so I don't spoil people who want to experience it. I guess I sort of headcanon her as blood related to my BG1 character in some way.

Xabal: (he/him) started off as a Rogue and is now an Assassin 3, Gloom Stalker 3 and will eventually be Assassin 3, Gloom Stalker 5, Champion 3, Great Old One Warlock 1. Reason: Assassin is to help with surprise attacks and round 1 bonuses. Gloom Stalker up to 5 for all the insane bs Gloom Stalker Rangers get plus extra attack and Misty Step and all that. Champion for the crit bonus since half-orcs do triple damage on crits instead of double and that one point in GOOlock because when you get a crit it basically applies an AoE Fear effect and the Fear status is busted in this game. I made him to see how Minthara is like so the tieflings had an accident. He's also installing brain worms like eye drops. RP-wise the only thing I know so far is that he thinks the world fucking sucks and views death as a mercy if done quickly and he was a career assassin before the events of the game.

Was there something about the character creator that just couldn’t capture your Character? Please tell us about their hair, facial hair, tattoos, piercings, disabilities, their trans or intersex body, or anything else you’re comfortable sharing. (2)

I was already familiar with the CC because I played EA. if anything experiencing the CC of full release allowed me to be more creative since this CC is way more expansive than what we got before. I can never truly make someone that looks "like me" exactly so I tend not to try. especially since we cannot alter the dimensions of the faces in this game. the closest I got was this lil guy:

but this still doesn't exactly look like me but out of all the available options it's....close enough kiiiind of not really

Honestly kudos to the art team, the Dragonborn options are fucking fantastic. it's why I went Dragonborn even though, without mods, the Dragonborn are objectively the worst race in the game from a pure minmax perspective (maybe tied with Humans idk)

Do you have a favorite member of the Goblin Camp? Is it the same as your Character’s? (10)

if it means anyone in the Goblin Camp, not just the actual goblins then

Zeneeva's favorite was the ogre guard cuz he was charmingly stupid. Zenuuja liked Abdirak the Loviatar Priest ...it's quite obvious who Xabal likes the most based on what's going on in the pics

What are your Character’s thoughts on the strange artifact that was in Shadowheart’s possession? Did it jump to your pack because you changed her out of your party? (21)

Zeneeva was curious but not curious enough to pry. Very much a "if it's important I'll find out" sort of mentality. Shadowheart literally never left the party (she was the romance option). plus I was using a Party Limit Remover mod for this run so nobody did. Zenuuja was too focused on her dank urges to really worry about Shadowheart's spiky d20

Xabal got super annoying about it after it flared up at the goblin camp but it's still in Shadowheart's possession at the moment. Since this run is going evil (and I will go the evil route with Shadowheart's story) she's not leaving the party, especially since the evil route has less companions to choose from than the good/neutral routes (Wyll and Karlach leave you and you need to convince Gale to stay, although I didn't recruit Gale this run so I'm curious to see how that plays out)

What does your Character think of Raphael? (39)

Zeneeva: did not trust him. told him to fuck off Zenuuja: initial reaction was to reject him but wonders if he can fix her murder hobo thoughts Xabal: not against working with him but not eager to do it either.

#bioticmindtrick

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