niceguar

[niceguar]

As much as I love having the Dark Urge as a customizable player character background because Nox is my babygirl sugarplum mass murderer, I think it would have been fucking incredible to have them be a companion. You wake up on the beach and find a heavily amnesiac person also suffering a tadpole infestation. But they're pretty likeable and seem a capable fighter. Really capable. Better take them along.

They're a little weird though. Twitchy as you pull Gale out of the portal. Looking at Astarion oddly. A little too into being covered in blood. Dude seriously, you want to eat the bbq dwarf??? Anyway.

Maybe you gain their trust and they admit that they dream of unspeakable violence and have urges to commit them when awake. Maybe you take them seriously. Maybe you brush it off like everyone else. Maybe you never learn about this. But then one morning you wake up and your amnesiac is standing over a fresh desecrated dead bard.

Well fuck. Maybe you expel them from camp, wash your hands of this nightmare. But on the other hand, they're a super great fighter and you do enjoy their company. Maybe this is a one off and you can help them try to control this inexplicable urge. Maybe you think you can harness and guide this urge to suit your own purposes. So you keep them around.

Where'd they get that sweet invisibility cape? Don't worry about it. You have bigger fish to fry.

And then you get that Last Light. Will they admit to wanting to kill Isobel? I guess that depends on how much they trust you. Maybe if they don't trust you, they'll go rogue in the fight and kill her without telling you. Maybe they'll admit to it and you have a choice. Is the prize they said they're promised worth Last Light sight unseen? Or will you encourage them to not kill Isobel? Maybe they listen to you. Maybe they don't. But if they do... you might wake up with a knife at your throat. Or find them pinning down another companion. Maybe you'll convince them to resist. Maybe you can't and a companion dies.

Regardless of Isobel or potential companion murder, you have a choice to make. Are they worth keeping around? They're clearly dangerous, and it can't entirely be controlled. But it mostly worked out okay this time, right? And you do really like their personality when they aren't behaving rabidly. And if they have it, that giant monster form is sure to come in handy later when you start taking on bigger foes, right?

So you keep them and then you get to Baldur's Gate and what the fuck do you mean Gortash was besties with them and made the whole Absolute scheme together? What the fuck do you mean that pasty weird shapeshifter girl is your "sister"? What the fuck do you mean you're the scion of Bhaal, the God of Murder. I mean it makes perfect sense but... What the fuck man.

They don't know, they're as clueless as you are. They have no idea how things should proceed. So they continue to defer to you and assist as needed. Things just keep getting weirder but honestly everyone traveling with you has their own special nightmare that needs resolved so. Keep trucking.

And then you reach the temple of Bhaal. Hoo boy. Are they going to reject Bhaal after the showdown with their sister? Well, I guess that depends on your actions so far. Have you gained their trust? Did you refrain from slaughtering the Grove? Have you helped them resist the Urge at Last Light/companion problems? Then yeah, they'll reject Bhaal and everything will be fine. Congrats, they're (mostly) normal now after Withers resurrects them. The game continues normally.

But maybe you didn't do those things. Maybe they don't trust you. Or maybe you've been encouraging them this whole time in a bid to use their violence to your gains. They swear themself to Bhaal as Chosen. Jaheira tries to convince you how bad a choice this is. Maybe you finally agree this is a problem that needs to be nipped in the bud and help her kill them. Or maybe you're just that sure of yourself that you have them properly harnessed despite their fealty to Bhaal. And you help them slay Jaheira to keep everyone else in line.

And then maybe when all is said and done... They kill you and the Emperor, and take control of the Brain in the name of their Father. Because you were too blind to see that their Father was pulling the strings all along, and you were unknowingly the puppet of your own demise.

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Riverside Teahouse, Wilderness. Full-size: 1, 2. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.  

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Riverside Teahouse, Wilderness. Full-size: 1, 2. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Riverside Teahouse, Wilderness. Full-size.   Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Kind Eyes. The Camp. Act I. Full-size. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Paladin. Underdark. Act I. Full-size. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Festering Cove. Underdark. Full-size: 1, 2. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Owlbear Cave. Forest, Wilderness. Full-size: 1, 2. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Oops my faithful bloodthirsty minion is a girl apparently

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Companions. Act I. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Ok it's very funny to laugh at Tuxedo Mask for showing up and doing nothing, but his job was never to actually fight the monsters.

His job was just to show up and believe in Sailor Moon so overwhelmingly resolutely that she remembers she's a fucking demigod long enough for HER to fight the monsters.

Because she's the only one strong enough to do it in the first place, and in this regard Tuxedo Mask is the first example of being "Kenough" in this essay I will

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Andree. Act I. Full-size. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Emerald Grove, Wilderness. Full-size. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Baldur’s Gate 3: Forest, Wilderness. Full-size. Reshade: Gleaming Sun Reshade by snippis. Screenshot was taken with Baldur’s Gate III Camera Tools.

[niceguar]

Template by @me. Full-size: 1, 2.

[niceguar]

Cyberpunk 2077: Friends.

[niceguar]

"You truly are a feast for my eyes"

Halsin <3