#2) I give the brain to Minthara.

[the-weeping-dawn]

....Is it really an evil ending? Is it?

I mean Minthara doesn't get the brain throne so I suppose there's that.

[daybrightsims]

Alright, they've lived in my brain too long; Time to air out my thoughts about the polyamory in BG3

To give a little context: I am currently ethically non-monogamous with my primary partner of almost 7 years. I am not a monolith of thought when it comes to polyamory/ENM/open relationships. These are my own personal thoughts and feelings. I've also completed the game with Astarion and Halsin romanced. Spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.

TL;DR - I don't share the current opinion of whether or not Astarion is okay with Tav pursuing Halsin and the discourse around his agency and choices in the relationship are bumming me out and frustrating me.

I am getting increasingly frustrated about the conversation about Astarion being polyamorous/okay with Tav being with Halsin in the game, primarily because I think a lot of the "think pieces" are coming from 1) monogamous people who have only ever been monogamous, 2) monogamous people who have been burned/cheated on/forced into polyamory by a partner (I feel for ya'll, that wasn't okay), 3) people who are very VERY protective of Astarion, and 4) people who are blatantly uncomfortable with polyamory. My goal is not to invalidate anyone's experiences, but to share an alternate perspective.

I do think that Astarion is not only okay, but happy with Tav dating Halsin. I glean this from how he responds to being poly with ANY OTHER companion. If you ask him to share with literally anyone else, he will say no and give his reason.

Gale: He doesn’t want to be in a love triangle (which with Gale, it would be).

Lae’zel: He’s uncomfortable and Lae’zel would kill him (also true).

Wyll: He knows Wyll is old fashioned and monogamous.

Karlach: He knows Karlach’s feelings for you are strong and he doesn’t want to stand in the way of that (he even says he’d be cool with an arrangement but knows Karlach will need all of your affection based on what she’s been through).

Shadowheart: He would be cool IF Shadowheart had more experience and ya’ll were together longer. But he knows Shadowheart is fragile in her current state.

Minthara: He REALLY doesn’t like this idea and will dump you immediately.

I did also see that ***SPOILER*** they updated or are updating some of the spawn Astarion language to have issues with your affair with Mizora should you pursue it, and it requires a persuasion/deception role to keep you two together.

Up to this point in your relationship with Astarion, he has become more comfortable voicing his opinions and concerns with you. He is learning to value his autonomy and his non-physical relationships. He will tell you when he doesn’t want to do something. In fact, he’ll break up with you over pushing his boundaries. He is fine with you pursuing the Drow twins and fine with you sleeping with Haarlep, even comforts you when Haarlep uses your form. So when he says he is okay with you pursuing Halsin, he means it. Yes, he voices his insecurity with you that you may be pursuing Halsin because you and he haven’t had sex in a while. But he acknowledges that Halsin has experience in this arrangement and doesn’t pose a threat to your relationship. Plus, if you kiss Halsin in front of him, he’ll say “don’t mind me, I’m just enjoying the show.”

To me, the idea that this is the ONE thing that Astarion doesn't have agency over in an arc of showing he can speak up for himself is you sleeping with Halsin is an idea that takes more agency from Astarion. He is a grown man. A 240 YEAR OLD man. That trauma he's endured does not mean he needs to be babied or coddled because he can't make his own choices. I think that's an unfair assumption to put on him that Halsin and Tav being together is the ONLY thing he can't enforce his boundaries on.

If he didn't want you to be with Halsin, he would say no like every other monogamous character in the game.

If you want a good example of someone saying yes just because they want to keep you, look at Karlach. You can tell she is HEARTBROKEN when you ask her, but she says “I don’t want to lose you”. That is not an enthusiastic participant in a polyamorous relationship. Astarion says “yeah, go for it! Just give me some reassurance”. Polyamory is not immune to insecurity. I've asked for reassurance in my own relationships and so has my primary partner. That’s not unenthusiastic. That’s realistic as shit. If you ask him about the relationship after you finish his questline, he doesn’t need reassurance because you’re having sex again. That’s also super realistic.

Am I sensitive to this as someone who practices ENM? Almost certainly. It's hard to see a lifestyle I live be villainized and claimed to be "forced" onto characters. I was actually really excited that I could pursue both Astarion and Halsin, and that Halsin places so much importance on consent and not misleading your partner. And it sucks SOO much to see one of my favorite characters be reduced to "oh, he's only doing it because he's afraid to lose Tav." It makes me almost feel bad for liking the interactions between them and enjoying to option. Do I think people mean to make me or other poly people feel bad? No.

But it does.

Headcanons are headcanons. I get it. People are absolutely allowed to interpret the poly aspect of BG3 how they want to. People are allowed to feel uncomfy with how it's portrayed and not pursue it. But it still bums a queer ENM Astarion and Halsin lover out.

Now excuse me whilst I live out my Astarion x Halsin x Tav polycule fantasies in the form of fanfiction.

[dearest-and-nearest]

What bothers me... why is everyone judge Halsin for wanting Minthara to leave in that cut cutscene?

After all, she is evil. The most evil in our party, without a chance to become even slightly better. She is a bit better that Dark Urge, but only because she's Lawful Evil, not Chaotic bloodthirsty mess. In everything else - she would slaughter Grove without second thought if it would give enough profit (i judge her for that, btw. evil is for fun, not for profit, so slaughter Grove to see how tieflings cry, lol)

And despite her being in my party from time to time, I do think she deserves death for being herself (a typical drow). She is a cruel powerhungry woman and that is her main advantages, but clearly in eyes of those who have kinks for that, not in eyes of characters who are good.

"but we can be killers too!" - we defended Halsin's Grove, while she wanted to destroy it. Of course Halsin doesn't want to be near her. It doesn't matter she was mindcontrolled, it's obvious she is evil, irremediably evil (and thanks her for that). She and A!Astarion are the only companions who encourage you to betray your Illithid and take control over the brain, do you really believe Minthara wouldn't destroy the Grove?

"But Halsin is good!". First - he is good, he didn't kill her and allow player to choose. If he wasn't, he would simply slaughter her and being completely right about it (just like gurs and spawns have rights to kill Astarion and his siblings with Cazador, not spare them and tell how good Astarion is and how bright is his soul... not mentioning how we had to pass checks so he wouldn't leave them all to die from starvation in cages, lol). Second, good and kind are different words. No need to mention how good doesn't equal all-forgiving and of course, let evil drow woman stay, despite her being herself! Because she was mindcontrolled, when wanted to do this evil thing.

Mostly it bothers me because for some reason while evil is allowed to do whatever it want if it has sad enough reason, good chars aren't allowed even to dislike it. To hate. To refuse being near. Because they're good, so they have to be saints, or otherwise they're just hypocrites!

Evil chars, even not completely, but dark grey enough, deserve death. Good chars shouldn't be judged for hating evil ones. It's simple and yet for some reason people would rather call good char hypocrite than think more than 2 seconds

[thehistoriccemetery]

hiii ... idk if you do requests exactly but if u wanted id love to hear about the companions w/ a werewolf reader ? maybe its a full moon and reader has kept it a secret until now . but instead of being in a mindless violent rampage they are just kinda ... dog brained

thank u in advance ... take ur time or dont bother if u dont wanna :)

BG3 Ladies x Werewolf!Reader

I finally got a day off yesterday and I used it to write for like 8 hours so enjoy your second day of content in a row.

A lot of people have asked for companions react to Bhaal smiting the dark urge and I’m working on it, but unfortunately I’m only on act 2 of my durge run. So that one will be a while.

In better news my Minthara folks can expect a very spicy piece at some point this week!

Shadowheart

As soon as Shadowheart sees you in your wolf form, she is terrified and runs away from you as fast as she can.

It’s only when you cautiously approach camp that her mother actually points out you’re a lycanthrope. She picks up on it pretty easily given her husband shares the same affliction.

“They don’t seem to be aggressive, though” she observes, slightly confused. She tentatively taps her legs, beckoning you to come.

When you happily pad over to her, she scratches you behind the ears and you give a satisfied smile.

She sits down on the ground and continues to pet your head.

Shadowheart is still curled up on the bed, unwilling to take part in any of this.

“Oh come on Shads, you must admit, it’s kinda cute.” Her mom says as your tongue lulls from your mouth.

The closest she gets to comfortable with you that first night is a brief game of fetch. She’ll throw the ball as long as she doesn’t have to wrestle it from your maw.

The game is over though when the ball gets too slimy for her liking.

It’ll take a little while, but perhaps it’ll grow on her eventually.

Lae’zel

Lae’zel doesn’t really know much about wolves or dogs, but she’s not particularly fond of the one that’s following her around camp.

She tries to pawn you off to Karlach, but you want her so she has very little luck with that.

When it starts to get really late, she starts to worry. Where have you gone? You’ve never been out this late.

She eventually puts two and two together and realizes you are the dog that keeps pestering her.

Once she figures it out, she just tries to treat you like your normal self, which is immensely confusing to your little dog brain.

Lae’zel gets very frustrated very quickly. It takes Halsin to calm her down and teach her how to interact with you appropriately.

Every time you do something new she looks at Halsin to tell her how to react.

You flip onto your back. “Can I just keep petting them here?” Halsin nods.

In the morning, she requires quite a hefty apology and explanation as to why you wouldn’t tell her about this.

Karlach

Karlach is almost too welcoming to stray wolf that wants to wander into camp. But it’s certainly not the oddest thing that’s come into camp.

She treats you like a normal dog at first, but after persistent whining and leading her to your bed multiple times, she finally catches on.

“You didn’t tell me you were a werewolf! That’s so cool!” She exclaims, but then her faces starts to grow concerned. “Wait, you’re not gonna flip out on anyone tonight, are you? Do I need to lock you in a cage or something?”

You whine and lay down on the floor.

“Aww, you’re not gonna hurt nobody are you, sweet puppy?” She sits on the floor next to you and rubs your shoulders.

She spends the rest of the night playing with you like she would any other dog, chasing you around camp, wrestling, and petting you.

That night she snuggles up next to you, cuddling you in her arms as you lay on your side.

You wake up just as you do any other morning, in her arms, fully humanoid again.

Minthara

Minthara is unsure what to do with this dog that keeps following her around.

You do your best to actually follow her commands to keep from pissing her off, but you’re really trying to get her to understand it’s you.

You wind up going to your tent and picking up something of yours. One of your shoes should work.

When you approach Minthara with the shoe hanging from your mouth, she grows increasingly agitated with you. “Put that down! That’s not yours!”

You whine and set the shoe down, putting your paw in the shoe to indicate it’s yours.

“Are you… a werewolf?” She asked, confused. You bark in affirmation.

She spends the night allowing you to follow her around, and, as long as you follow instructions, she’s actually quite fond of your dog form.

Most of the night she spends reading a book while occasionally throwing a ball for you to go fetch.

She doesn’t see the point of the game, but you seem to enjoying yourself and it’s only mildly inconveniencing her.

At the end of the night, you move to climb up onto her bed, but she stops you with an “absolutely not” and motions for you to lay on the floor beside her.

Jaheira

As a Druid, Jaheira can speak with you even in dog form.

Once you explain the situation to her, she rolls her eyes but smiles. She should’ve known you were a werewolf.

She doesn’t worry too much about you going fully into beast mode, as you show no signs of aggression or agitation.

But you do stink. And she tells you as much. She’s gonna give you a bath.

Your dog mind causes you to protest. You don’t want a bath. There’s no way she’s getting you in a tub.

It takes a little deception and some meat from the camp supplies to get you in the bath in under 5 minutes.

She cleans you off despite your constant whining and by the end you’re actually surprised you feel better. Less itchy.

She dries you off with a towel and you give yourself a couple good shakes.

Once you’re all clean and dried, she wild shapes into a wolf so you two can spend the night curled up around each other.

[ilikedetectives]

I romance Minthara as Tav and in both occasions where my Tav: (1) refused illithid power and saved the city and (2) accepted illithid power and saved the city, Minthara does mourn the fact that Tav refused the power to literally become a god, but understands and quickly looks forward to future conquests. And not only that, she chooses to take Tav's name (huge deal for a matriarch society like drow, let alone the Baenre family name). Minthara is also willing to die along with Tav during the final battle!?!?!? She cares for Tav ok.

So it makes no sense for her to breakup with Durge on the spot for refusing to be a god's slave, when she doesn't break up w/ Tav for refusing to be a god altogether. And this is shown in the Elfsong Tavern ending and the epilogue. Being a god sounds wayyyy more powerful than a god's slave. Not to mention commanding an army of illithids and the power to create more fighters for yourself??? Did I also mention the ability to control dragons if you seize the brain? lol

Minthara: there is nothing we can not do together...But despite everything we gave up when we destroyed the brain, it is good to be here with you.

And even if Durge didn't seize the Netherbrain, her attitude is more of "the past is in the past, I look forward to future conquests."

Given that Larian brought back the writers for the epilogue, they must have looked into the ending with redeemed Durge to write the epilogue, so tbh I'd go with that instead.

Also not to mention if Durge rejects Bhaal, Bhaal instakill Durge but Withers revives Durge, which frees Durge from Bhaal. I feel like that should be celebrated?

TLDR: It is in character for Minthara to be mad Durge gave up their power as a knee-jerk reaction for the first few mins (also Emma Gregory's performance is *chef kiss*), but it is ooc for Minthara to refuse to see the reason why and not give Durge a chance to explain.

Oh and this is if you ignore Minthara's entire character arc with Orin (Bhaal) and her relationship with Lolth and the Absolute. After Lolth and the Absolute, Minthara would never want to be under another god's control again (She explicitly states she prefers to die than be under the Absolute's control again if Tav kicks her out of the party). So if anything she would want to be "The Absolute" herself. The whole point of starting a new house is being free from constraints and obey no god.

Minthara in other words: it sucks you didn't seize the brain as an illithid, because the brain sex we could've had.

Minthara's disdain for the gods and the idea of serving/sacrificing for them is explicitly stated throughout the game. She craves power, but never at the expense of one's freedom/life.

Even with Vlaakith, the only reason Minthara doesn't wanna anger Vlaakith is because Vlaakith can and will floor your entire party instantly. Not because she wants to serve any fickle god. And let's not forget where Minthara wants to go spit on Lolth's statue in Baldur's Gate lower city.

TBH I don't think Larian would add a persuasion check simply because that requires new dialogue and voice lines, as datamine dialogue doesn't show any additional content besides this abrupt breakup. So Larian would need to bring writers and Emma back if they want to do this. Or the cheaper solution is remove it? Either way there's a mod for it already so hail modders XD

Anyway, I'm glad what I have for my Durge and Minthara deviates from the game almost entirely.

[linka-from-captain-planet]

Rating BG3 Ladies Stroke Game

My brain won't let me write my fics so have this shit instead.

Ratings based on vibes and also facts opinions (controversial: not everyone can be a sex god)

all the main and supporting women + my background babes: Florrick, Talli, Alfira, Lakrissa, Araj, Nocturne, Skoona, Adrielle, Z'rell, (ETA:) Nine-Fingers, and special guest star Philomeen

*Anyone can be trans and straps are for everyone regardless, so take your pic on homegrown vs store-bought and/or magical strap*

*Also sex is like pizza, so average results are in fact still pretty good. Only 2, 1, and 0/10 are truly trash dick. So a 5 or 6 is still a compliment!*

Lae'zel: 10/10. She pulls hair, she spanks ass. She has the experience, the athleticism, the drive, the romantic heart. Also the greatest switch to ever live as a simultaneous 10/10 bottom.

Shadowheart: 5/10. Her experience is mostly hand/mouth activities due to lack of privacy/places to hide supplies or apparati in the cloister. She has better ways of making a lover fall apart, but her stroke game is perfectly serviceable.

Karlach: 6/10. LISTEN. I see the vision as a tongue god, but she needs some work to hone her stroke game (too eager = painful, and a possible classic Bigger Is Always Better fallacy waiting to happen), and like SH, she's also not very experienced. She can and will ascend the ranks, but give her a minute to get there!!

Minthara: 10/10. We all know this. She has like 200 years of experience as well as the drive, focus, precision, athleticism, and heart. She gets RESULTS, but also is surprisingly emotionally available, so she covers all the physical, emotional, and psychological bases.

Jaheira: 4/10. Not her favorite, or her forte. CAN she strap? Yes, and it's satisfying, but nothing to write home about. A queen of the accessibility strap (thigh/hand harness GOATed... iykyk) due to her knees/lumbar hurting.

Isobel: 5/10. Perfectly serviceable, likes to tease, knows the technique and executes it well. However, being 5'2" with lung issues holds her back when it comes to higher intensity activities. Also an accessibility harness queen.

Aylin: 12/10. Has been at it since before anyone else on this list was even born. Once she connects emotionally to her partner, there's no going back to anyone else. Perfect balance of brutality and gentleness; she knows how to use her weight, and her aftercare is literal god tier.

Mizora: 0/10. Would probably be pretty good if she deigned to do it, but let's be so for real, pup!

Orin: ??/10. Either a 0 or a 10, no inbetween. A freak bitch for the daring sort who are willing to gamble on what she meant when she said she wanted to 'get all up in your guts'.

Florrick: 3/10. A perfect example of how a dominant personality doesn't always translate to an ability to top. Will do it, but focuses too much on technique and zones out and starts thinking about work. Definitely would rather be on the bottom being ridden VS putting the stroke effort in herself.

Talli: 7/10. A humble, ego-free, service top for all who enjoy a gentler lover. Hesitant to get too rough or nasty with it; she's got that +3 STR and she knows how to use it, but she doesn't want to hurt or disrespect her sweetie!

Alfira: 1/10. Sweet Alfie has many good and sexy qualities but she is never taking anyone to pound town ever. She will do it, and it might be fun and playful, but never "good" by any objective measure. Absolute demon on a slower, more sensual grind, but anything approaching "stroke game"? You're barking up the wrong tree.

Lakrissa: 10/10. Technically an 8 but gets 2 bonus points for being a random girl off the streets and not an alien, centuries-old elf, or demigod. Great dick does walk among us mortals!! She's athletic, she's flirty, she's fun, she's a known giver. She will work extra shifts at her bitch ass job to buy you a house, she will smash you through the floor of said house, she will fix the floor. The total package!

Araj: 4/10. Wears some kind of weird strap regardless of her own equipment because she loves the flair and drama of it, but isn't particularly skilled. Gets distracted. Bad top etiquette. Never shuts up. Still, she gets the job done.

Nocturne: 6/10. Like Shadowheart, her experience is limited by the lack of opportunity in the cloister; but as quartermaster, she would have a greater ability to obtain and hide supplies/equipment, so potentially more experience. Also, maybe as an officer, she was involved in more prestigious orgies?

Skoona: 7/10. Would rather be on the bottom getting pampered, but is an above average top due to always being expected to top. Also a very tender lover (not necessarily "stroke game").

Adrielle: 8/10. She has no choice but to break backs because otherwise, the weight of expectations she places on her own shoulders would break hers. Meticulous. Thorough. Is she enjoying herself? She doesn't know the meaning of the word, but being of service makes her feel whole, and that's what matters, RIGHT?

Z'rell: You Can't Handle It/10. Don't worry about it, maggot. It's not for YOU.

Nine-Fingers: 10/10. Your fingers will quake such that you sign over the deed to your house in her name and you won't even be mad about it. She knows how to work People- what makes them tick. What makes them BOOM. An unforgettable experience.

Philomeen: 20/10. It's the toxicity, I fear. If she can and will blow you up, she can and will blow your back out. It's science. It doesn't matter if she's 1/3 your size, she is FUCKING. You WILL hate yourself after.

[sorcerous-caress]

I'm sorry if you've already answered an ask like this but what are your werewolf shadowheart headcanons maybe with reader/tav included? I'm like hooked on the idea now

It's alright. If you're new here, you can check the ♡wereshart tag below this post to see the previous things I've written about her.

I haven't officially made it into a fic yet, so this is a good excuse to complie and recap everything into a headcanons post.

Werewolf Shadowheart headcanons

[ fluff, au, nb!reader ]

She's a late bloomer with lycanthropy

Maybe it was the half-elf genes contradicting against her elf father's lycanthropy. Half-elves have a drastically different lifespan and growth sprouts than both elves and humans.

In this au, it started showing during act 2 of the game. There were several hints sprinkled in act 1 but nothing major reveled.

Most werewolf transforms take years of progress, slowly easing the body into its new shape and powers.

But in Shadowheart's case, her body decided to condense these years into months and sometimes weeks. It's major changes after another and each night is more confusing than the last.

Even if she tries to suppress it, her powers evolve so fast that if something worked yesterday, it probably wouldn't work today.

She wouldn't confide a low approval Tav with it, instead she will try to hide it from them or conceal it as much as she can.

With a high approval, she will come to you one night for help. You'll notice an unusual set of fluffy ears on her head as she awkwardly explains what's happening.

But in either cases, Tav will end up knowing because there's a major transformation event at the end of act 2 under the full moon.

Shadowheart loses control fully, she is not herself and her primal urges cloud all the sense from her brain.

It can go in different ways, either ending up in a surprise encounter fight in the middle of the night where you don't have any of your equipments or weapons.

Or a multiple dialogue checks where you try to reason with her.

Being in a romantic relationship with her at the time would make both the fight and skill checks harder, because her instincts urge her to dominate you as her mate.

Having Halsin would make passing the checks easier, likewise having Minthara would make the fight easier because she will be the only one with equipments.

Her werewolf powers type would depend on if she chose Shar or Seluna, although both of them still control different sides of the moon and will give her different boosts.

If the player chose Durge then they'd have a more heart to heart talk with her in the aftermath where they also relate to her struggle. They know what it's like to lose command of their body.

You can either encourage her to embrace her werewolf side, gaining a powerful shapeshift spell in battle and wolf ears & tail.

Or advice her to suppress it, muzzles and collars included if the need arises.

Talking about her werewolf powers, it would definitely heighten her senses. An advantage to survival and perception checks.

There is also the possibility of a mating bite if you're romantically evolved, where she gets an event to reapply it whenever a long amount of rests pass.

Her teeth are sharp, contrasting her soft lips.

[trappedinafantasy37]

I guess I'll start my Daedra questions with one I've been curious since the beginning (since I think about this stuff way too much). What build was Daedra originally? Like class level division, notable feats or fun things you did/memorable moments that never made it into the story? Did it change for the story?

Also, which Tav voice? I have big feelings about all of them :3

Lots of good questions @alicelufenia! This will be a bit of a long one.

I'll do the easiest question first, Voice 4.

Before I get into it, since many people don't know what Daedra looks like, here's some Daedra spam:

Daedra's build

Her split was 5/3/4 Gloomstalker Ranger / Assassin Rogue / War Cleric of Lolth. I picked this build because Gortash describes Durge as an assassin so I wanted to go a full stealth build which is where the Gloomstalker Assassin came in. I also knew from the beginning that I was going to have her be a cleric of Lolth, but it was more for roleplay rather than any mechanic. I picked war domain because war actually is one of Lolth's domains (with the other one being Trickery. And we know from Shadowheart just how absolutely atrocious Trickery domain is). I started Daedra as a Ranger and then took the cleric dip at level 2. Afterwards, I focused getting ranger and rogue to their desired levels before finishing off with cleric in Act 3.

Like I said, I picked cleric more for the roleplay aspect rather than the mechanics. So, I did not anticipate how much synergy there would be with war domain. With War Domain you get a war priest charge in which you get an extra attack for the turn. So, you can start the game off being able to do two attacks. And then once you get 3 Ranger, you get Dread Ambusher which gives you an extra attack at the beginning of the turn. So for the very first turn, you can attack three times. Once you get to 5 ranger, you get the Extra Attack like with the other martial classes. So on the very first turn, you can attack four times.

Daedra also had all the brain worms (there actually are enough worms in the game in which you can max out two characters). For feats, she had Sharpshooter and Ability improvement for Dex (with Auntie Ethel's boon she has max Dex at 20).

Gear: Frayed Drow Hood, Deathstalker Mantle, Spidersilk Armor, Craterflesh Gloves (I forgot to give her in the story), Disintegrating Night Walkers

Jewelry: Amulet of Bhaal (gave to Minthara in the story), Shifting Corpus Ring (gave to Shadowheart in the story), Eversight Ring (gave to Minthara in the story)

Weapons: Justiciar's Scimitar, Knife of the Undermountain King (gave to Minthara in the story), and the Deadshot

Lemme tell ya, this build is nasty. It got to the point where it felt like Daedra was soloing the game. There were some times where Daedra would kill everyone in the first turn (so Minthara and Shadowheart never even got a hit off) and this was in Tactician! If Daedra didn't end the fight, then Shadowheart and Minthara would. The only time things were really tricky was during the major boss fights. But, even on the major bosses, if I had Daedra focus on the boss alone, she could get them very low on HP in the first turn. Daedra absolutely humiliated Orin.

Story Cuts

Now, onto the things that never made it into the story. First, Wyll and Karlach. Yes, I did initially have it so that Wyll and Karlach were in the story. But, I realized when I actually starting writing that Wyll and Karlach would not let the grove raid stand, so they died in the grove raid which was really hard for me to do. I also thought it was just beautifully tragic that Minthara was the one to kill Karlach in just the worst and most painful way possible.

Second change, I had initially planned a chapter were the elves met Ethel and Araj in Act 3. The reason why I wanted to do it was to kind of show how Daedra is starting to indulge on her urges as she would have chosen to kill Lora (the mom) completely on her own without discussing it with Shadowheart and Minthara. I also wanted to have Minthara interact with Araj as House Baenre was the one responsible for the destruction of House Oblodra and I wanted to have this interaction in which Araj would ask Minthara if she was here to finish the job her house didn't. But, when it came time to actually write the chapter, I really didn't want to do it, so I didn't.

Third change, I had two chapters planned in which the elves would destroy the Foundry and then go kill Gortash. Later that night, Daedra and Minthara would sneak back into Wyrm's Rock so Minthara can sit on a dead man's throne and then fuck Daedra on it. But when I was thinking about it, I couldn't find any logical reason to do so other than "just because". Minthara had made an alliance with Gortash and wanted to keep it until it proved inconvenient. But, it never proved inconvenient so there was no reason for Minthara to turn on Gortash and destroy the Foundry.

Fourth change was Mizora. I actually did have three chapters in which Mizora would just randomly show up just to be a pain in the ass. Because Mizora is a little upset that she lost her "favorite little pet" and she knows Minthara is the reason why. So, Mizora shows up and basically tells Minthara, "if I can't play with my pet anymore, I will play with yours" and Mizora just starts tormenting Daedra. There was a moment where Mizora stole Daedra's old bow and snapped it in half (which was the reason why Daedra bought the Dead Shot in Chapter 38), another moment where Mizora actually threw Daedra off the bridge between Wyrm's Rock and the Lower City, and another moment in which Mizora not only revealed the locations of the elves and broke their stealth in the fight with Dolor in Chapter 39 but she was also the one who snitched to the Fist Guards and prompted the chase. I cut Mizora from the story because I really could not find a reason as to why she would be there without Wyll other than "just because".

Another thing that didn't make it into the story was Withers! But, this was not actually intentional. I just forgot to write him in there and when I realized he was missing I didn't feel like going back and writing him. You see, I already knew from the get-go that Bhaal was gonna murk Daedra (that was a very hard in stone decision I made very early on as I was always going to have it so that Minthara killed Orin). So the question of resurrection became very tricky for me to answer, and I almost didn't resurrect Daedra. And then I remembered, Lolth is right there. The next tricky question was determining whether or not Lolth is actually willing to resurrect someone, at least with their soul intact and not as puppets. But, from the lore I've read, Lolth would resurrect a drow if she had really good reason to.

I also had a One Shot planned called "Dread Ambusher" that was meant to take place during the events of Chapter 38: Old Acquaintances. At the end of that chapter, Daedra sneaks back into the mansion in the middle of the night and Minthara questions if Daedra killed someone. "Dread Ambusher" was meant to go over those events. In this one shot, Daedra actually does sneak out of the mansion with the intent to kill someone and she runs into Orin. And the two of them hunt together, and they both enjoy their time together. Daedra even begins to feel somewhat of a sibling bond with Orin and how nice it is to have someone around that doesn't look down on her for her urges or treat her like a child. And Daedra ends up killing someone that Minthara told her not to (the victim was a patriar and someone who most certainly would be noticed if they went missing) and Orin almost convinces Daedra to kill children. But, Daedra reigns back some self control and spares the kids, but she injures herself as a means of control. This is why she is limping when she returns to the mansion and its because she has a massive stab wound in her leg. The reason this was cut was because I had ended up finishing the entire fic before I got around to writing the one shot. So, when the publications in AO3 caught up to Chapter 38, I had lost the steam to write this one shot and could not find the willpower to do so. But, I do want to be clear, just because I did not write it does not mean it doesn't happen. The events that I had planned for this one shot all actually do happen that night and are canon to the story.

There were also a few more one shots that I had wanted to do but also ran out of steam. There was gonna be a one shot that took place immediately after Chapter 44: Parting Wisdom in which Jaheira would get all the elves high, because they needed that good self medication to help them get through their damn problems and stop all this "woe is me" nonsense. I thought it would have been really funny to write Minthara completely zooted out of her mind. Another one shot meant to take place after Chapter 44 that I called the "One Eyed Paladin" in which Minthara is training and learning how to fight again now that she only has one eye and her depth perception was off. During the training, Minthara gets extremely frustrated with herself and starts beating herself up in which Daedra actually calms her down and helps her.

This post probably had more detail than you were probably expecting, but I did want to talk about all the things that I almost did, but didn't do. Really good questions! Keep 'em coming folks!

[erme-aeterna-arts]

minthara and astarion are actually quite alike in many respects, especially when it comes to their worldviews.

most obviously, their approach to power/fear is distinctly along the lines of “they hurt me >>> i must become them/get their power”. it’s been said many times about astarion before, but minthara with her equating the absolute with orin and then wanting to become the absolute is very similar to astarion’s ascension. a significant part of the interactions with both of them as companions is spent on them talking about their experiences with orin/cazador and also convincing you how incredibly dangerous, evil and powerful they are. and you promise them revenge, and they go "yes yes love revenge how about we also take their power and rule the world". in these conversations, while i think the goal is partly to share and receive emotional support, the reality constructing function is more important to them, they’re filling the gaps in your knowledge of the world with these presentations, these are our villains and we go about them like this. astarion is not subtle about it, “thank you, but this isn’t about pity”, admits that he only shared so you would know to stay alert. although he definitely wants the sympathy too, 1) to make his convincing/manipulations more effective, 2) he does want comfort, however he’s definitely ignoring these feelings at that point in the game.

btw this isn’t to say that their experiences are the same, but they definitely informed their worldviews similarly. as i write here, it’s also why they are the only characters with the canonical motivation to control the elder brain other than durge, but durge has their own thing going on.

oh, and minthara and astarion have tons of issues when it comes to trusting other people, both in terms of friendship and family. minthara shares the story of how her mother tried to assassinate her, which is a norm in the drow society. for astarion it’s definitely the dynamics between the spawn siblings. when we meet petras and dalyria, it’s clear that conflicts were very common among them. then again, dalyria and astarion seem to be treating each somewhat nicer than the rest of the spawn, so i think some comfort was possible between them. but then again, one night they treat your wounds and give comfort, and the other tell cazador on you or are made too or they are compelled to torture you or you them and this repeats itself again and again. therefore, in both minthara’s and astarion’s cases the pain was to be expected at random, even from those people that are supposed to be on your side maybe and are not even the main threat, without any means to predict when affection and care will replace themselves with cruelty and betrayal. so, yeah, “our enemies are everywhere”. but they're also extremely loyal, if you do earn their trust (romanced or not).

basically, i like to think they understand each other pretty well.

[ladyofrosefire]

I’m trying to figure out what the hell the deal is with Bg3 and kink, and I think that, while it is much less precious about sex and sexuality than a lot of things are, it does fall into some of the same traps in a way that… well, it irks me. Disclaimer that while I did do some poking around, there are some romance scenes I have not seen. I’ll run through the ones I know about for those of you who haven’t picked up a brain bug about this. 

Wyll gets nothing. This is a separate post that other people have made better than I have. 

Shadowheart’s romance scene in Act 3 runs one of two ways— either you go for a swim with her, she gets poked by a rock, and you pause while she gets rid of the offending object, or you do the Nightfall Feast, where you get pushed to the ground, she tells you to stop being so gentle, and the whole thing is framed as an “act of wickedness” in parallel to you having just dumped the Nightsong’s blood on a statue of Selune. You have literal blood on your hands during this scene. 

Karlach pegs you in Act 3. I, personally, do not count this as being particularly kinky. The whole concept of measuring kink is a little silly, in my humble opinion, but it seems strange to say penetration gets kinkier when it’s not a flesh-and-blood penis. (If you have sex with her in Act 2, it is kinkless.)

Gale’s got his whole astral projection thing going, which brings us solidly into kink territory. Tav mostly hangs out. We’ll circle back to this. There is also a non-illusory version, but it is exclusively fade-to-black. 

Astarion does a whole seduction act in Act 1, which leads to a short and honestly quite tame (although fun!) scene. Act 3, you either get the spawn ending where you have sex on his grave (he pushes you down, and it is later flagged as ‘had sex as equals’), or you get the ascension and the whole “on your knees” bit. 

Lae’zel very explicitly talks in terms of obedience and dominance and submission, and you can tell her to submit to you. We will also circle back to this scene. In act 2, you beat the crap out of each other, and either you get the option to say, “you are mine,” or you lose, and you get, “I am yours” after she also says she doesn’t want to hurt you.

Halsin has the bear scene. Or he tries very hard not to turn into a bear. Tav is once again mostly hanging out. There was a dev note at one point saying Tav was meant to hold onto his head while he went down on them, but that does not happen in this scene. 

Minthara shows Tav exactly where to put their hands and mouth. Repeatedly. At length. There is no option to take control of the scene. 

A pattern emerges from these scenes fairly quickly: if Tav is active, they are either actively submitting (i.e., the Minthara scene) or engaging without power exchange (Shadowheart, Karlach, Astarion’s act 1 and spawn scenes). Gale’s scene is a special case since he’s controlling the illusion, but Larian could have decided Tav was allowed to imagine themself with a few extra limbs. They probably chose not to do this to spare the poor animators. However, with the rest of the pattern, it still makes me raise an eyebrow. The Halsin scene, to me, is especially egregious as you do precisely fuck-all. At multiple times, you get very clear camera angles of Tav’s completely relaxed hands that give the distinct impression that Tav is in full pillow princess mode. 

You will also note kink and morality seem to have an… interesting relationship. Explicit powerplay occurs with Lae’zel in Act 1 (she is still solidly in the mindset inspired by Vlaakith and is arguably evil-aligned at this point), Minthara (you get this scene by slaughtering the grove), and Ascended Astarion (you just killed 7,000 people and he thinks you’re, and I quote, “degrading yourself”). You also get a hint of this in the contrast between Shadowheart’s Selunite Swim and the Nightfall Feast. This feels related to why when you try to flip the script on Lae’zel, you use an intimidation check rather than persuasion or performance. This could be explained by saying that Larian has decided that orders are best represented by intimidation, even in a romantic context, but most of the intimidation checks we get are open threats, often of physical violence. I’m not entirely sure how much Lae’zel drops her powerplay as she becomes a kinder person. I’d love to hear from people who have done more of her romance than I have. 

Abdirak is a torturer serving an evil goddess. He gets the player’s consent and is reasonably sweet to them if they obtain his goddess’s blessing. There are even two seconds of aftercare! His actual purpose, however, is to torture the man next door, and the two companions who cheer him on are Astarion and Shadowheart, both of whom are having some struggles with morality at this point in the game. 

And then there’s the Drow twins— and specifically Sorn. If someone other than Tav approaches him, he says you need a “rear of cast-iron” to take what he dishes out. His ambient dialogue talks about scaring off clients who were paying him to apply a clamping device to something delicate. But if you see him alone, your options are roleplay, sensation play, or size kink. I did say I wouldn’t try to measure kink, but it feels like false advertising. (You can wrestle him in the Drizzt Do’urden roleplay scenario. It is an ability check. This raises questions for me about how this was negotiated, but it’s not a deal breaker.) Where’s the sadism promised in his ambient dialogue? Some characters just aren’t subs, that’s fine, but this is about patterns, not individual characters. 

I should pause here to say that the only thing in the above with which I have an actual issue on an individual level is Tav being so limp in the Halsin scene. It would be nice if Tav touched back in a way more significant than holding onto his arms a bit and laying a limp hand on his thigh if he stays elf shaped. This is not a moral complaint— it’s aesthetic. Frankly, none of this is saying Larian has done anything immoral.

However. I’m a little frustrated, as someone who does not have a submissive bone in my body, that all but one romance scene in this game is designed for a submissive Tav or a Tav who does not want powerplay. It’s not uncommon to find people who are okay with impact play if you don’t want to hit, CNC if you don’t want to be the faux-aggressor, ageplay or petplay if you don’t want to be the adult/owner. This is not a kink-positive stance or even kink-neutral. I should also note here that I do not judge any of the characters mentioned, not even Abdirak, for their interest in consensual kink. If I judge them, it’s for unrelated reasons. Or reasons that should be unrelated but often don’t feel like it, as it seems like Larian has set them up to be interested in powerplay and sadism because of their less-than-decent moral leanings. Abdirak wants to whip Tav because he’s a follower of the Lady of Pain. Ascended Astarion isn’t playing when he tells Tav he wants to own them, body, mind, and soul, and there’s no safewording out of every other interaction after that. Shadowheart tells you to stop being gentle because she has become a Dark Justiciar. Lae’zel stops wanting to hurt Tav— and you consent to the fight— because she’s learning about care and softness. I don’t think she stops being kinky, but there are patterns, and patterns that extend beyond the boundaries of the game. 

Frankly, I’m not sure what sort of conclusion I’m aiming for here. There are patterns in Larian’s approach to sex, power, and pain that indicate some very familiar hangups. It would be nice if there were more room for a dominant Tav, not even with every character, but with a few of them. Some people don’t sub. Some characters don’t sub. It makes sense. But I’ll be rotating this further. And writing fic. To anyone else who likes writing a dominant Tav: hi! Keep doing what you’re doing!

I wouldn’t be posting this if I didn’t want to hear other people’s thoughts, but quick disclaimer: I will block anyone who comes onto this post to talk about how great the vampire ascendant is. It’s not personal. I simply would blacklist anything to do with that if I could, and the way the tag’s been going, I can’t. You saw the tags on this, and you clicked anyway. Similarly, if you’re going to throw a shitfit about how no one should like whipping a consenting partner, don’t waste your breath. You get the picture. 

[writtenobsession]

Minthara’s Jaluk

Modern AU Minthara x Male Drow Tav/Reader

THIS IS 18+ FANFIC! You’ve been warned.

Summary: You were given a set of rules to follow while at a work event for Minthara’s work. The promise of a reward at the end of the night motivates you be on your best behavior.

Tags: Dom Minthara, Sub Male Drow, Under the table clothed handjob in a public area, oral, hair pulling, and using a tie as a leash.

A/N: This is smut for smuts sake. I remember seeing a dirty bg3 confession about someone wanting their male drow to be dominated by Minthara. It lived in my brain rent free for a while. Written and posted on phone. This is my first time ever writing smut. May or may not do a part 2. Let me know if you think I should? (I couldn’t think of a title to save my life… I’m trying)

Drow terms used: Jaluk- a derogatory term for a male drow, Harl'il'cik- kneel, Parzdiamo- male playmate who is not the house patron, Ilharess- matron.

Word Count: 10,950

Your rules for the evening:

1.) Do not embarrass me.

2.)When asked about our relationship, keep it simple and to the point. Do not give out too much information.

3.) I will allow you to call me “My dear” or “My Love”, anything else will displease me.

You will receive your reward when we arrive home.- Minthara

Events like these were always stressful. Trying to remember peoples faces, etiquette, the rules, and keeping her happy. Your outfit for the evening already picked out to complement hers, the chauffeur waiting for you at the bottom for the your shared luxury apartment, and traveled downtown to the business district for the hotel hosting her work event. Stepping out of the sleek car, you straighten your tux and check your watch.

“Right on time,” you thought before taking a deep breath and plastered a well practiced smile in your face, “Let the show begin.”

With false confidence, you walk into the lobby and instantly recognize a few familiar faces for Minthara’s office. Smalltalk was always torturous for you when it came to these events. The questions were almost always the same, such as, “How are you?” or, “How’s work?” These people had no interest in you when you used to work in the same building, but once Minthara brought you to the last event, their sudden friendly demeanor grated on you. Once a lull in the conversation, you excused yourself to attempt to find your her. Shuffling through the crowd, you spot her in front of a few higher ups in the company in front of entrance to the rented hall for the evening. She looked gorgeous. You could feel your heart race just gazing upon her. Her hair done up perfectly, the earrings you picked out that matched your cuff links for your anniversary, and her black dress that hugged every curve on her well toned body. Her leg occasionally peaking out from a side slit as she adjusted her stance. You stood there admiring her from afar for just a moment before you caught her eye. A warm smile formed on her lips.

“Will you excuse me, gentlemen,” She said before sauntering over. Once she reached you, her smile harden. “You’re late.”

“I’m sorry, my Love,” you look at her lovingly, “I couldn’t help, but admire you for a moment.” She hummed at the comment, approving of your answer. “It’s almost time for the main events to begin, Darling.” You hold out your arm to escort her into the main room. She leans into you with a wicked smile for a moment and whispers, “It seems I’ve trained you well.” The hairs on the back of your neck stand. You’re already having a tough time keeping your composure. She links her arm with yours then proceeds to lead the way. Of course more small talk ensued, but it becomes manageable when your fiery lover takes charge. You would be lying to yourself that if you said this side of her wasn’t a turn on. You were pulled out of your mind when Minthara squeezed your arm lightly.

“Darling, they’re announcing that it’s about the time to take our seats.” She looked you in the eyes as if asking, “What in the hells are you doing.”

“Of course, my dear.” It took you a moment to remember where you were before walking directly towards your table near a front corner of the stage. Just enough out of the lights not to irritate Minthara’s sensitive eyes. You pull her chair out for her and rest your hand on her shoulder. She places her hand on yours and looks up at you.

You can practically hear her say, “Good jaluk,” with her eyes.

You could see some women elbow their husbands at your display of manners and love.

“Good,” you thought. You knew Minthara took joy at watching men quickly trying reenact your actions. You take your seat next to her and greet the newcomers to the table. The chatter of everyone finding their seats, you felt Minthara lean over and whisper into your ear, “You look wonderful, Jaluk.” You felt her finger ghost over your thigh for a moment. You clear your throat as you choke a down the urge to let out a soft moan. Her chuckle let you know this was the reaction she wanted. “Maybe I’ll give you a taste of tonight’s events.” You slowly turned your head towards her you almost give her a pleading look before you heard footsteps approach the podium on stage. You turn back towards the stage with your mind racing with thoughts of what she had planned for you. All attention was on the Elven man on stage as he began his speech.

“Good evening everyone, I would like to thank…” You brain cut him off when you left Minthara’s left hand squeeze your thigh.

“Gods is she really going to..?” You left her hand creep ever closer toward your length. You glance back at her, her eyes told you everything you needed to know. “Be quiet and eyes forward.” She began to palm your growing length, giving you a delicious amount for friction. You turned back and made yourself focus on anything because you knew the moment you allowed yourself to lose focus, your moans will escape from your lips and alerting everyone to what was going on under the table. Her hand movements begin to become more bold. It took you everything not to show how much you’re enjoying this. You felt her fingers begin to fiddle with the zipper on your trousers, the sensation made you flinch.

“Shit,” You mentally scold yourself. “She’s not going to be pleased by that.” You felt her give your thigh a light squeeze. That was your signal for your last chance to behave. She was being very lenient with you tonight. She continued gently rubbing her hand over length. You were aching under her touch. You could feel her enjoying this control over you. Right when you could feel yourself getting to the point of no return, her hand pulled away. It took all of your willpower not to whine in disappointment or sigh with relief that you didn’t have to break out an exit plan. You hear Minthara get called on stage to give a speech. Feel her brush your shoulder and watch the sway of hips strut past you and up to the stage. You’re completely enamored by her. The rest of the night went without anymore hiccups, but you were too distracted by what the rest of the night holds.

You arrived in the lobby of your apartment and waited for the elevator in silence. You swear Minthara could hear your heart about to burst out of your chest. Your cheeks begin to flush by the time the metal doors opened before you. The moment you walked through, you feel her hand rest on the back of your neck and pulls you into a kiss. It was hungry, like she hadn’t been touched in months. You feel her other hand grab your tie and to hold you in place. You look deep into her ruby eyes, full of want and lust.

“Jaluk,” You shiver at the word, “You performance was almost perfect. Almost.” She emphasized, her eyes slightly narrowed. The elevator dinged and you felt her drag you out by your tie as if it was a leash. She leads you to your front door before letting you go and stands there without a word. You at the hint and enter in the code into the keypad. You were quick to open the door, allowing her to walk through.

“Jaluk, come.” Releasing your tie, she walks straight toward the couch and takes a seat. She crosses her legs and waits for you to stand before her. Her eyes fixated on you. You wait for her commands. “Harl’il’cik.”

Without a second thought, you kneel before her, like a parzdiamo at his ilharess. She hums approvingly. You stay silent, you anticipated her next words. You wait for those words where everything starts.

“Are you ready to give yourself to me?”

You gulp and slowly nod. “Yes.”

“Good,” she says are she uncrosses her leg and slightly spreads them. You feel yourself begin to harden once more. She’s your queen, your goddess yet you’ve never said it out loud. You never needed to because she knew.

You reached for the slit of her long gown. As you slowly plant soft feather like kisses on her left leg. Once you’ve reached past her knees, you carefully spread her legs a bit farther to allow yourself to sit between them more comfortable. You could feel her eyes watching your every move. Your hands travel up her thighs to remove the delicate fabric underneath, yet your fingers only find smooth flesh. Your eyes widen and look up at her. You could feel yourself becoming more aroused and your cheeks becoming flushed. She looks at you with a satisfied smirk. She chuckles and rests her hand on your head. “What’s wrong, jaluk?”

“N-nothing, my-“ you were interrupted when you felt your hair roughly grabbed. You release a soft moan.

“Then show me.” Her voice firm yet a hint of lust hangs in the background. You’re more than willing to show her that nothing is the matter. You raise the rest of the dress up her legs until you could see for your own eyes the beauty hiding there. You feel her guiding your head towards her crotch. You’re more than happy to oblige her command. Your hands travel up her outer thighs, your face inching closer, and your thoughts only filled with her.

You gently grab her hips and pull her closer to edge of the couch. Your eyes flick to meet her eyes for a moment before taking a long broad lick of her folds. You continue licks her rhythmically before using your tongue gently flick her clit. Her soft sighs encouraging you to continue. You begin to pay attention to give her inner walls by probing with your tongue. Your actions were performed with great precision to ensure her pleasure. When you feel she was wet enough, you slowly inserted a finger. Her moans and heavy breathing egged you on to continue your goal to provide her pleasure. Inserting another finger, you begin to stroke her silken walls. Hitting every spot that makes her tighten around you.

Her moans and sighs were like a song you’ve played for years. The moment you feel her pull your face closer to her, you could tell she’s close to coming undone. You feel her quiver around your finger, a shiver runs through your body.

“Use your tongue,” she said almost breathlessly. Quick to follow your queen’s order, you swiftly replace your fingers with your tongue and devoured her like this was your first meal in years. Her hand painfully tight in your hair, but ignored it for her pleasure. Her hips grinding against your face, you pull her closer. Focusing all your attention on her little sounds and movements. Soon you feel her coming undone on your tongue. Her taste, smell, and cries are intoxicating. You were lost in thought, allowing her to ride out her orgasm before you were suddenly pulled away from her core. She lightly pulls your head back to examine her handy work. Her face was flushed and her chest heaving. The sight of her almost made you spill over.

“What a mess,” her husky and her hooded eyes look down on you. Her hand strokes your cheek then tilts your chin toward her. She pulls you into a kiss, tasting herself off your lips. “I believe it time for you to properly receive your reward.” A wicked smile crossed her lips. Your night was far from over.

[shadowheartwhisperer]

I don't know if anyone else does this, but I wanted to share my particular cope with my bg3 hyoerfixation.

Below the "read more" is the roadmap for my playthrough with my resisted durge Dinah, romancing Shadowheart (for the 40th time, I am not being hyperbolic).

Dinah Restart Roadmap

Notes -

Don't learn about Halsin, at all

Get Zorru then save Sazza and follow gut lead then kill leaders after gut confrontation

Agree to kill leaders because you need time to find Iron for Karlach upgrade

After leaders don't attend party, go to creche instead

Nautiloid

- fail to open Shadowheart's pod (time to save scum)

Beach

- talk to Shadowheart, don't join up

- fight brains

- kill mindflayer

- see Gale but leave without interacting

- rest (urge)

Day 2

- enter ruins - beach side

- get Withers

- find bandits - run for it

- grove fight

- don't talk to Zevlor

- recruit Shadowheart

- rest - how do you feel?

Day 3

- back to ruins

- get Lae'zel

- clear ruins

- rest - hand hurt

Day 4

- get Wyll

- save Mirkon

- play with Alfira

- talk to Arabella's parents

- save Arabella

- find lead on Kagha

- meet Mol - agree to steal idol

- zorru

- save Sazza

- rest - playing with artifact + last night in camp

Day 5

- Investigate Kagha - mud mephits

- go backwards through blighted village (we got lost)

- cross bridge, fight hyenas

- meet paladins

- Recruit Karlach

- expose Kagha

- knock out Alfira

- rest - Quill

Day 6

- inquisition

- Gith Convoy (fail, Shadowheart escapes and resurrects everyone)

- kill Paladins

- steal idol

- talk to Dammon

- rest - Mizora

Day 7 (don't find metal)

- get Gale

- get Astarion

- Owlbear cave

- Scratch

- Smuggler's ring

- Wakeens rest

- kill all gnolls

- meet the zhent

- open barn

- save Barcus

- Necromancers Basement

- Spiders (if we have the stamina) through well

- rest - Astarion bite

Day 8

- Andrik and Brynna

- talk to Zevlor

- goblin camp - courtyard stuff

- goblin indoor stuff

- get brand

- get kidnapped by Gut

- kill Gut

- save Volo

- Ask Shadowheart thoughts on parasite

- rest - Dream Visitor

Day 9

- talk about dream (Shadowheart gets ersatz eye while talking)

- chicken chasing

- poison Goblins

- knock out Minthara

- Kill Ragzlin

- pick off straggler goblins

- rest - ?

Day 10

- return to Zevlor - lie and agree to party

- fix Karlach's heart

- fight Gith convoy

- to Crèche, no party

- rest -

Day 11

- buy what we want from Esther then kill her

- Kobolds

- Gremishka

- Open door to monastery

- place 3 weapons

- rest - owl bear cub

Day 12

- place last weapon

- Enter Crèche

- Do Crèche stuff

- get Lae'zel's son

- Zaith'isk

- Captain

- inquisitor

- prism

- rest - owl bear cub 2

Day 13

- blood of Lathander

- fight our way out of Crèche

- Give Gale last treat

- back to first area

- rest - Voss

Day 14

- bah at redcaps

- auntie Ethel

- Gale gets eye

- into Ethel's lair

- take deal and Mayrina CON +1

- resurrect Connor

- meet Gandrel

- get crossbow

- to grove

- meet Halsin

- get Sorrow

- rest - Lae'zel and Shadowheart confrontation

Day 15

- open Selûnite way to Underdark

- spectator

- bulette

- boooal

- arcane tower - except last floor

- rest - ?

Day 16

- top floor arcane tower

- Duergar on beach

- myconid colony

- Omeluum

- find Baelin

- Filro

- back to colony

- rest - ?

Day 17

- to Grymforge - use brand

- architect dude

- rothe

- get Shar idol

- conspire with duergar

- return Sargent's boots

- talk to gnomes

- fight merregon

- fight ooze

- find Philomen

- kill dudes by water

- Poison slavers

- talk to spiders

- kill myrmath

- rest - ?

Day 18

- Nere

- get monk necklace

- turn in head

- last minute shopping

- rest - ?

Day 19

- take elevator to Shadowlands

- send Elmister to camp

- talk to crew

- learn about Shar worship

- save Harpers

- meet He who was

- talk to Elminster

- talk to everyone

- start long rest - Mizora

- ask about Shar Worship

- rest - dream visitor

Day 20

- test dark Justiciar Convo

- to last light

- get Karlach upgrade

- talk to Mattis

- talk to Florrick

- talk to Cerys

- talk to Alfira

- talk to Barcus

- talk to His Majesty

- talk to Raphael, no Astarion

- talk to Mol

- shop

- talk to Rolan

- talk to Jaheira

- talk to Isobel

- fight Marcus

- start long rest

- ask to get to know Shadowheart

- rest - Sceleritas

Day 21

- Mother Superior?

- memory?

- shitload of shopping

- Harper ambush

- save Rolan

- back to last light, check on Rolan

- talk to Bex

- talk to Shadowheart about hand hurt?

- rest - dance with Wyll?

Day 22

- Gerringothe Thorm

- finish off patrol

- moonrise

- trial

- Dungeons

- save gnomes, teiflings & Minthara

- tell Isobel you won't hurt her

- recruit Minthara

- talk to everyone

- start long rest

- missed our chance?

- rest - Gale?

Day 23

- blood merchant

- gnoll Control

- talk to Z'rell

- explore Balthazar's room

- explore moonrise

- meet absolute

- rest - blood merchant talk

Day 24

- Back to first area

- get noblestalk

- go past poison geysers area

- get mithril

- fight grym

- forge stuff... Dunno what

- rest - drinks with m'lady

Day 25

- maybe don't talk to her right away

- any other cleanup stuff that could be in first area

- back to Shadowlands

- Thisobald

- get ledger

- town square fight

- find Arabella

- start long rest

- dtr with Shadowheart

- rest - ?

Day 26

- back to he who was

- fight trees

- play hide and seek

- shopping

- rest - ?

Day 27

- find Arabella's parents

- Malus Thorm

- morgue

- Kua toa

- up the hill to Raphael

- tell Arabella bad news

- rest - ?

Day 28

- wake art cullagh

- defend portal for Halsin

- shop!

- clear moonrise docks

- enter mausoleum

- talk to Arabella - cooled off?

- rest - ?

Day 29

- Enter temple of Shar

- first trial

- wall of bone and blade

- learn about trials

- to camp - talk about being in temple

- Meet Balthazar - agree to work with him for now

- kill Yurgir

- lick spider/start rat fight

- finish rat fight

- rest - stupid Raphael

Day 30

- last minute shopping

- town square trials

- Shar Olympics

- pray before Shadowfell

- last, last minute shopping

- questioning faith Convo, pretty please?

- enter Shadowfell

- kill Balthazar

- save Nightsong

- talk to camp

- to last light by way of shadowed battlefield

- talk to Isobel

- assault on moonrise

- Ketheric first defeat

- dtr with Shadowheart part 2

- rest - urge

Day 31

- illithid colony - Shadowheart, Wyll & Jaheira?

- get Us

- save Zevlor

- mizora

- get Wyll's sword

- remember to fucking talk to companions!

- check Durge pod

- Kressa

- big room full of dudes

- Brain machine

- kill Ketheric

- talk to everyone in moonrise

- leave moonrise

- rest - Shadowheart truth (no talk before sleep)

Day 32

- take Halsin to Oliver

- break curse

- Selûnite Resistance quest

- ritual circle

- last minute shopping

- gith patrol

- double, triple, check done with everything

- leave act 2

- chat around camp

- smooch lady many times

- rest - fucking stupid emperor

Day 33

- talk to everyone

- enter Rivington - Shadowheart, Jaheira, and Minthara

- swap Shadowheart for Wyll

- meet Ferg - bound weapon buy all shit

- swap in Astarion

- Talk to strange ox (w/Astarion and Minthara)

- meet gur

- back to main team (Shadowheart, Lae'zel, Karlach)

- help refugees in house

- enter circus, don't talk to dryad, maybe dribbles (save scum to learn if it effects love test)

- genie

- get trident

- meet necromancer lady

- steal hat

- go to open hand temple

- agree to solve murder

- help monk

- fight doppelgangers in cave

- exit to beach

- find dying guy/Orin

- fight guild and stone Lord dudes

- rest - Vlaakith

Day 34

- meet Ferg w/Shadowheart

- break into toymaker's basement

- Wyrm's Crossing

- meet gnomes

- take Astarion to meet siblings

- shakedown toymaker

- talk to stupid fucking elephant

- Voss

- tell Raphael to fuck off

- circle back to learn about bear bombs

- Harper ambush

- Wyrm's Rock

- learn Bhaalspawn heritage

- steal flaming fist uniform

- coronation

- rest - mizora (sandcastles?)

Day 35

- lower city

- talk to Jaheira

- find guild

- talk to nine fingers

- counting house

- get Minsc through back entrance

- back to guild, deal with Zhent

- rest - Minsc and Jaheira watch me sleep?

Day 36

- follow up on murders

- elf song

- rats in basement

- stupid emperor dumb shit

- save lady at wine tasting

- find bodies

- talk to lady at salty mermaid

- save Figaro

- meet Araj

- stop the presses

- rest - ?

Day 37

- hag survivors

- follow up with Vanra's mom

- salty mermaid, Ethel

- fight redcaps

- fight masked people

- fight Ethel, save Vanra

- follow up with Vanra

- follow up with Mayrina

- rest

(Should have had either kidnapping or Astarion family reunion at this point maybe both)

Day 38 (swap to immediately after kidnapping, if needed)

- Get elf song room

- go to coffin makers place, whatever

- unholy assassin

- buy all good stuff

- kill Saravok anyway

- snoop to learn about Orin

- go to sewers

- fight dumbshit sorcerer

- buy sweet druid robes

- open way to Bhaal's temple

- rest - ?

Day 39

- Bhaal trial

- find brain rats

- chat with Sceleritas

- go to Orin's room

- chat with her mother

- confront Orin

- kill Orin

- huzzah!

- rest - ?

Day 40

- find grave, leave night orchid

- find grafitti

- house of grief maybe?

- prepare to cry maybe?

- if we have stamina - fight poltergeists

- rest - cry my eyes out

Day 41

- go to hell

- house of hope

- kill Raphael, the bastard

- steal Voss' Silver Sword for me

- get Lae'zel's silver sword

- find mummy lord

- find zombie

- track down organs

- kill mummy lord

- return to Oskar

- tell Jannath she can do better

- rest - ?

Day 42 -

- Save Volo

- break into foundry

- talk to blind dude

- wavemother, agree to kill monster

- to society of brilliance

- talk to Blurg

- Jaheira's house

- sorcerers sundries

- fucking Aradin

- Laroakan

- Vault

- stupid Gale

- meet Mystra

- shopping, stalk up for iron throne

- Worg warehouse

- rest - ?

Day 43

- Iron Throne

- get Wavemother dress

- how are we feeling? If all good start ansur

- love test first

- do all trials

- rest - ?

Day 44

- fight ansur

- feeling ok? Start Cazador's Manor

- clear upper level

- rest - ?

Day 45

- talk to skull

- kill Cazador

- prepare to cry

- not too beat? Fireworks!

- rest - ?

Day 46

- *sigh Gortash

- lead out to roof? Stand in one place, ranged only? Either way, try not to set off traps

- talk to other 2 first, then karlach

- cry

- talk to companions again

- cry

- talk to Karlach again

- cry

- anything to clean up?

- rest - ?

Day 47

- anything you've forgotten?

- did you steal the tithes?

- did you find dribbles?

- mindflayer in windmill?

- dryad sex worker?

- adventurer's dad?

- double, triple, quadruple check

- rest - ?

Day 48

- brain rats

- fight brain

- win!

[blackjackkent]

Hector!

6) If your OC is in a fantasy setting, what profession would they be in the modern day?

23) Is your OC reliable? Can I call them up at two in the morning if I have a flat tire?

29) Imagine a mood board for your OC! What's on it? (Make it if you want!)

And Rakha!

2) Who's your OCs best friend? How did they become best friends?

8) What hobbies does your OC have? What do they do to unwind?

19) What's their sexuality? What's their love language both giving and receiving?

(OC Secret Ask List)

6) If your OC is in a fantasy setting, what profession would they be in the modern day?

Ooh, this is fun to think about. :D Let's see.

I mean the obvious answer is that monk is a profession that exists in the modern day as well, so he could just... be that. But that's a less fun answer.

I think honestly the more apropos answer in a modern AU would be librarian at a university (possibly one with religious ties).

I haven't done much modern AU writing but one of these days I do have to get around to it with Hector because I NEED him to take Karlach to build-a-bear. For my health.

23) Is your OC reliable? Can I call them up at two in the morning if I have a flat tire?

Absolutely. Hector would be there on the double. He would not know how to change the tire but he would have brought along a stack of books explaining the process. And he would counsel you about how all hardship passes in time, and you would feel better for it.

In more general terms - Hector absolutely places a lot of value on being true to his word and loyal to those he considers friends. Until his adventures in-game, of course, he's never really had that reliability be tried in any significant fashion, so it's very much a question of having to learn to put his money where his mouth is.

29) Imagine a mood board for your OC! What's on it? (Make it if you want!)

I really love the one that @bladesandbhaalspawn made for me. :D

General thoughts if I were to make one myself - lots of blues, moon imagery, quotes about self-reliance or self-control, flame imagery (re: Karlach), martial arts imagery.

(It's funny that it's already a little weird to see Rakha without the Worm Slurping Lines. XD )

2) Who's your OCs best friend? How did they become best friends?

Rakha's relationships with both Lae'zel and Minthara are complicated, but I think it would be accurate to say that at this point she considers them her closest friends. (Besides Wyll, obviously, who is something more altogether, and Jaheira who has started taking on a role as more of a mentor.)

Both of them reached this level of importance by reflecting something of Rakha's own personality in theirs - her violence, her bloodthirst, her desire for revenge, her blunt directness. But the road hasn't really been smooth in either friendship; Minthara is rapidly losing her credit with Rakha over her desire to take control of the brain and rule, and she and Lae'zel haven't fully seen eye to eye since Rakha didn't reciprocate Lae'zel's romantic feelings.

8) What hobbies does your OC have? What do they do to unwind?

...Huh. Y'know I haven't thought about this much. :D

I think Rakha's "hobbies", to the extent they exist, center around the Weave. The truth is that she spends most of her free time in camp brooding, thinking, putting together bits of the world into a coherent picture, but when she's not caught up in that, she's focused on the magic around her. Playing with it, manipulating it, learning how it works, or just enjoying the beauty of it.

And of course, since Act 2, this has involved playing very atonal and arrhythmic Weird Music with Alfira's lute to see what kind of magic comes out. XD

19) What's their sexuality? What's their love language both giving and receiving?

The more I've written Rakha lately (especially thinking about her going through Sharess's Caress), the more I've come to realize this is a sort of complicated question.

I have in the past described Rakha as bisexual, which is more or less accurate in that she is attracted to all genders equally, but I think I would probably place her somewhere on the asexual spectrum as well, because her interest in sex itself varies wildly depending on the situation.

She requires a great deal of trust and mutual respect before she is even willing to be touched by someone else (hence why Wyll and Lae'zel are the only people who really do), and even then there are days when she doesn't want to be touched at all. The murder urge adds extra complexity as well, making her feel stressed by the idea of both her own vulnerability and losing control, and the other person(s) being vulnerable to her.

I also just... don't think it's something she thinks about very much unless prompted. And I think her interest in it with Lae'zel and Wyll is much more in the vein of it being an emotional gesture of trust and respect and less rooted in physical desire/physical pleasure.

In looking for an answer to this, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on the Asexuals Wiki (which is apparently a thing). I don't know how widely accepted the terms on that wiki are - some of them seem quite specific - but Demisexual, Askepsisexual, and Acorsexual all definitely had some resonance for Rakha.

Her giving love language is definitely acts of service - more than once in the past she's related to others in the group like a cat bringing a dead mouse to someone it cares about in order to show affection. Receiving... probably words of affirmation? I've mentioned this more than once recently, but someone expressing active pleasure at her being present at any particular moment has turned out to be a REALLY powerful thing and guaranteed to make her pay attention.

[ourladyofmaplemurder]

Tagged by @hauntingattheblackberrypatch

This is a Riverblog, but I believe most answers will fall outside of that. :3

three ships:

#1: Minthara/OC: This ship, also known as T'alThara for those that know it, is in my head 24/7 right now. T'alice is the cool obsidian glass to Minthara's fiery inferno. The maze that guides you to the Minotaur. She is the tactician and Minthara is the army. The scariest lesbians you know. I love them both so much and can't wait to keep working on their fic. #2: Sombra/Satya: I'm sorry to be shipping Overwatch characters in the year of our lord 2024, but I just love them so much. I do have another one shot for them. Will I ever finish it? We'll see. They're both jealous of each other. Sombra wants the cool head Satya has and Satya longs for the freedom Sombra enjoys so thoroughly. They complete each other. #3: Cheryl/Jason: Living in my head rent free at all times. The endless need for the other. These two are the embodiment of "soulmates as a curse". They can't escape their fate...even when one dies. They're horrible and wonderful and I chew on them like a bone.

first ship:

Ever? I'm going to have to say Lulu/Rikku from FFX. Tall goth mommy meets spunky little freak. Rikku is canonically afraid of lightning and Lulu, as a mage, embodies it. God, the possibilities. I remember reading tons of fics of them in like, middle school. I will give an honorable mention to Felicity/Pippa from the Gemma Doyle trilogy as well though. I was not expecting their gay romance in the slightest when I read those books, but it got to me. I was floored. I was over the moon. I still think about them all the time.

last movie:

God, gun to my head? I'm not even sure. I watch movies quite infrequently. According to my Letterboxd account, it was The Matrix Ressurections. I did enjoy that movie as a longtime Matrix fan. It was truly fanservice for fans of the OG film and I wasn't mad about it. Carrie Ann Moss can still get it. Anytime.

last song:

"You'll Never Take Me Alive" by the Paper Chase. It's my alarm. I love this band and this album. I can listen to it basically anytime and do often. It has the right vibes for almost all of my little brain worms.

currently eating:

Coffee, but later on I will enjoy some strawberry greek yogurt with blueberries and flax seed. Flax seed is fucking magical. It is changing my life. Fiber is so important.

currently craving:

My bed. I just got a wonderful new dog, but holy fuck she is an early riser. She woke me up at 5 this morning, then at 6, and finally at 7:30. It's impossible to be mad at her when she's doling out kisses and being impossibly cute, but girl. Please. Let me sleep. We went for a great walk though and she's gaining confidence every day. :3

tags:

@captainrufflebanger @langnek @vampire-juicebox @ficbrish

[queen-rhaenyras]

Ranking the Bg3 Companions after finally playing the game

I won't be ranking Minthara because I didn't have her as a companion and don't know much about her.

#1 Shadowheart (My romance option. She's my wife. My baby girl. I would cross oceans, trudge through deserts, and destroy the entire universe for her).

#2 Isobel (I KNOW SHE'S NOT A COMPANION. But I'm putting her in here because I have a crush on her. End of story).

#3 Gale Dekarios (Look I'm super fruity, but I can't help but love this wizard. He's my brain crush. He's a cutie and I would die for him. Also I relate to him the most out of all the companions. I will eventually play his origin and romance shadowheart again. I think they'd be so cute together considering their trauma is so similar and they would just be cute okay? I don't make the rules).

#4 Karlach (I am romancing her next and I can't wait. I love her so much. She deserves everything).

#5 Wyll (He's my best friend always and forever).

#6 Jaheira (I wish I could romance that old woman. She is mother).

#7 Lae'Zel (She wasn't my favorite AT FIRST, but she grew on me and I just adore her now. I'll give her romance a shot eventually and probably play as Shadowheart when I do).

#8 Halsin (Halsin is an adorable guy. I love that he whittles and loves ducks. That's so niche of him. He's a cutie).

#9 Astarion (I feel like a traitor to my people - apparently the lesbians love him - but I just don't get the appeal. I don't hate him. but he irritated me from the first moment he opened his mouth and he just got progressively worse as the game went on. I do love his story though, and I made sure to give him the good ending and was ready to throw hands with Cazador. He's just not my favorite. Please don't @ me. I just have my preferences).

#10 Minsc (I don't dislike him. I just didn't have him long enough to really care? His ranking may change my second run).

Anyway. This game was the best game I ever played. Seriously can't wait to play it again. I love it so much.

[imaginefe]

Oh yay who did you like from Baldy? Gale is my fav im actually insane about that wizard. And as far as covid, I'm on day 2! Fever was 101 for a while yesterday with body aches but I already feel so much better (no more body aches and chills, just sneezing and coughing occasionally). This is also my 3rd time getting it 🙃 so like I know how it goes.

GALE ENJOYER 🔥🔥🔥🔥 u have such good tastes (usual). my fave is minthara 🥹🥹🥹 shes my boo boo bear.., sad that shes kinda buggy and has less content than everyone else bc shes not an origin character… i like her sm… i wanna give her a lil kisse……

my fave origin character tho is wyll who honestly also is lacking in content but he has content. in my brain. hes so cute and hes a runaway noble type and knows how to dance and likes kids and uses a rapier which aligns him with my newly develop types of guys (discovered in ffxiv fandom). kinda guy who i feel shouldve been a bard if he wasnt a warlock 😞

hoping u have a fast recovery because it sounds like youre on your way there already!! sending you well wishes and flowers etc