boundfates

[boundfates]

He blinked. His eyes grew wider—just barely noticeable—before they softened, and some tender emotion flashed in their red depths. Their edges crinkled with another smile. “What did I do to deserve someone as sweet as you?”

“You held a dagger to my throat, if I remember correctly.”

“Remind me to do that again sometime.”

~~~~~

A sneak peak into the next chapter of Destinatus. This absolutely stunning commission was created by @swordmaid and they were wonderful to work with. I'm so grateful there are so many talented artists to bring our characters to life--including Salli.

[boundfates]

What do you do on a long road trip? Make a mood board about your Tav, of course—and answer some fun trivia questions about her.

1. What's the significance behind your Tav's name?

Salli is named after one of my cats, Sally. That’s it.

2. What does your Tav’s voice sound like?

She speaks with Tav Voice 4. Perhaps a little less refined, as she’s never been a noble, but she has a melodic voice. One of my favorite things I discovered early on was while I was watching a video of all Tav voice lines, including many that were ultimately scrapped before the game’s full release. There is a small banter between the PC and Gale where (I think?) Tav was teasing him about eating a pair of boots, and they laugh together. Her giggle was so cute and bright—and that sums Salli’s overall demeanor perfectly. ❤️

3. What is your Tav's go-to comfort food?

Salli is a bit of a foodie and knows all of the Lower City’s spots for a good meal—but funnily enough, one of the best things she’s ever had is a rabbit stew that Gale made one of the first nights after the gang all found one another on the ravaged beach. He taught her how to make it, and from there on out it was her go-to meal to make for everyone when it was her turn to cook after long days on the road (assuming Wyll and/or Lae’zel managed to find some bunnies).

4. Describe their idle animations!

While at camp, she’s often seen bouncing a little ball of fire (or whatever magic she’s in the mood for using that day) between her hands. If she’s not doing that, she’s brushing her wild head of hair out with her fingers—and then getting mad at herself when she catches on all the knots.

5. What is their MBTI Type?

INFJ. She’s a lil ✨empath✨.

6. What would your Tav's romance scenes look like? How many would they have?

I would most certainly be open to making a more NSFW questionnaire and answering some questions that people may have about Salli, if people were interested—BUT—generally speaking, Salli is a very kind and loving person, so her romance scenes would be very tender and centered highly on soft kinds of romance. She’s never really been wooed by anyone prior to meeting Astarion and only ever really dabbled in casual one-night flings with patrons of the Chionthar Chalet, so I really think she would start Act 1 feeling very unsure of her new companions and insecure with her own self. This is something that you can see a bit of when she and Astarion spend their first night together at the tiefling party. Salli would want a change of pace and wouldn’t necessarily want to sleep with someone that early on into meeting them, especially when they’re all so focused on getting the tadpoles out of their head—but, as we know with Astarion, she is welcoming of the opportunity if it’s outright presented to her (and she gets a little liquid courage in her!).

Act 2, like most of the other companions’ romance tracks, would be a huge turning point for her. She’s gotten to know the people she’s traveling with pretty well at this point and is going through the trenches with them, as I view this as the lowest point of the game mood wise. They find out they’re not getting rid of their tadpoles any time soon, there’s a dark curse trying to kill them with every step, and some of them find out that death is really their only way out (ie, Gale and Karlach). Emotions are all over the place and I think she would rush into a heat-of-the-moment situation with her romanced companion, something a little sloppy and impromptu—because who wouldn’t want one last lay before Ketheric potentially turns them to dust?

Salli would go all out for her Act 3 romance scene. She probably would have helped her partner resolve their personal quest and seen them at their worst at this point, so she’s completely willing to be vulnerable with them and let them do the same with her. She’d be all for a cozy, romantic date where she could spill her heart and fears to them, especially when they’re facing the end of the world. She wouldn’t care one way or another if it led to sexual intimacy; she’d just be happy she got to spend one last night with the one she loved.

So, a romance scene every act. Explicit? One for sure?

7. What fears keep them up at night?

Salli’s biggest fear is losing Astarion. She already lost him once in a rather horrific way, so the thought of it happening again terrifies her. She finds herself worrying about him even when she knows he can take care of himself, but tries not to let herself become overbearing.

8. Give us one of your Tav’s secrets!

Salli likes to use Astarion’s soaps and shampoos sometimes because he only buys the pricey stuff. He begins to realize that his bars of soap are running a bit thin and bottles a little low—and she simply has no idea where it’s gone.

Thank you to @for-tymora for coming up with the original prompts. I had a lot of fun thinking about these . ❤️

[boundfates]

Yet ANOTHER beautiful commission of Salli done by the talented @thelasttogruta . Thank you so much! She looks like a little whimsical ball of sunshine. ☀️

[boundfates]

His own personal (smoochable) heater.

Thank you @kkekaart for the beautiful commission! ♡♡♡

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first sunlight in 200 years

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“The rest of them had simply lost an unwelcome visitor in their heads. For him, however, it meant losing a piece of his freedom. He had spent these past few months traversing the continent all whilst being able to enjoy the simplicities of the living, without the inhibitions imposed by his curse–only to have it all taken away in a single breath. No longer would he be able to enter homes uninvited or cross a babbling brook. He could not stand beneath the sun’s warm rays anymore.”

Bound Fates, Chapter 50–Aftermath

Thank you so much to @nadiezda for the beautiful piece! You really managed to capture how much these two have been put through the wringer. 💔 Hopefully sometime soon I’ll get to work with you again! ❤️

[boundfates]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥 ℍ𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝.

"This could be our last chance to share a kiss."

[boundfates]

I've started working on the sequel to Bound Fates! You can read more about what becomes of Astarion and Salli post-big-brain-death on AO3.

[boundfates]

Teefies.

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𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤.

[boundfates]

𝕃'𝕒𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕛𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤.

[boundfates]

𝕋𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣.

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...They really like smoochin' each other.

But really I'm just happy that I finally have a game with my Salli going again

[boundfates]

It's imperative to frequently smooch your vampire.

[boundfates]

I finished my playthrough with Salli and Astarion shortly before actually writing Bound Fates.

My initial idea was to do a series of short one-shots that occurred over the course of the game, but it’s obviously become a bit larger than that and quite a bit more involved than I had planned. I definitely did not think I would have an almost fifty chapter work on my hands! I have never written something that long and it’s been a lot of fun.

With that being said, Bound Fates is almost to an end. But, if you’ve really enjoyed it, fret not—I have much more planned in another future work, though it is still in its early stages of planning and brainstorming. I am trying to remain (roughly) as compliant to 5e and the Forgotten Realms lore with only a few liberties taken here and there—mostly ones made in Baldur’s Gate—so it will require a good bit more time and effort on my part. I want to do the characters and my girl Salli justice, so I want to be able to take some extra time to make sure it’s all hashed out properly.

As I mentioned previously, I had actually finished the game before I even wrote this. When I began writing this fic, I started a new playthrough with Salli (with mods this time!) and that is the game from which all of these screenshots have come from. Unfortunately and not completely unexpectedly, patch 7 has broken a good majority of my mods so I have been unable to capture some new screenshots. Fortunately, I am working on updating as many as I can so that I can go back to taking pretty pictures of Salli and her sharp-toothed beau soon. In the meantime, keep an eye out for some new commissioned art that I am VERY excited to see. ❤️

Thanks to everyone who has commented, given kudos and read my fanfic. It means the world to me and I’m so fortunate that I’m able to have the time for such a fun hobby.

I hope you’ve enjoyed their journey as much as I have!

[boundfates]

go go little star