#Gale is her dream guardian <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[loviatarsluv-old]

I know your voice… I’ve heard you before.

[achantersayswhat]

This post is a formal apology to Gale Dekarios of Waterdeep, who I spent my first couple of runs aggressively friendzoning because I was worried I'd trigger his romance path accidentally because I thought he had that vibe*. I am now doing a Gale romance run and have a better appreciation for how much work you actually have to put in to get this man to try and fuck you. Mae has been trying to hit since the tiefling party** and wishes it did not take the threat of imminent orb explosion to get them across the finish line but what are you gonna do.

*I attribute this fear at least partially to the fact that even if you're not romancing Gale you get some cutscenes with him that are CLEARLY potential romance setups so like on my first run I had Saffria who is just trying to a) get her vampire boyfriend to admit he has feelings for her and/or b) get her druid crush to stop eyefucking her and start actually fucking her and instead of making progress towards either of those goals she is currently sitting on a blanket under a starry sky with Gale while he says things like "the timelessness of lovers" and Saffria is like "look I want to be gentle because I know you're dealing with a lot right now but uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh buddy where is this going".

**Mae DID end up sleeping with Astarion in the meantime because what is she gonna do, NOT sleep with the hot vampire who propositions her at a party, and I was a little worried about that because I've never broken up with anyone in this game before, but fortunately I got the post-Araj version of the feelings talk before Gale's romance scene and Astarion's reaction to being told "maybe what you need is a friend" is actually lovely so that worked out fine.

[evtoine]

playing leyla today did nothing but hurt me 🫠

[oktopiasscarletqueen]

Neurotic Erotic (Bloodweave Fic) playlist

Alright, so, heres the playlist I made for the fic and unreasonable analysis I made relating the songs to Gale and Astarion.

I know writing all this is a touch cringe, but I’m at peace with that; BG3 is a special interest of mine, and so is musical/literary analysis. That being said, I’m not trying to write any kind of groundbreaking, profound interpretations here. Moreso, I’m yelling my funny words at you because I like to yap. And, sometimes this is what me and my little sister do for fun; J and I put on music and go, “ [insert character would like this sound in a Modern AU” or, “this song is incredibly [insert character]-core because…”

Before you jump in, I’m gonna warn you, the transition between ‘Francis Forever’ and ‘Cancer’ (track 6 & 7 respectively) is a touch jarring, as is the inclusion of ‘Cancer’ in the middle of the playlist  in general, lol. Second, I’ll warn you this list is bound to get updated here and there eventually. Also, I may update/add to these in future.

I have put the songs “in order”, or as best “order” as my brain can think of right now.

Oh, and of course, spoilers ahead for essentially the whole game.

Fic Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56262295/chapters/142934368

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/@Oktopiasscarletqueen/playlists

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3BIufG9W5783HUh3OvDboD?si=675313ddfbbe4664

Song list, and correlation (with my interpretation and justification, if that interest you at all, lol):

INTRODUCTION:

¡Aikido! (Neurotic/Erotic) – Everything is a Lot by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

This song is about being obsessed with death, or the idea of dying; Theres something very Gale & Astarion about it (one being asked to die and the other literally being dead). Astarion being dead is a sort of representation (within this fic) of Gale’s later focus and near idolisation of dying, which really reminds me of the song. It’s title and the general idea behind it inspired me to write this fic. Mostly the title, its catchy and interpretive whether you know the song or not.

2. Maya the Psychic – Hesitant Alien by Gerard Way

So, y’know the tadpoles, right?

3. Starman – The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars (2012 Remaster) by David Bowie

So, y’know the “Dream Guardian”, right?

GALE:

4. Cover This Song (A Little Bit Mine) – Everything is a Lot by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

Early game, Gale’s caught up on Mystra, and that’s an objective fact.  That’s what this song is in relation to him. Wishing to have her back, or at least her grace and favour. Like, imagine being cast aside by a god. A god who was your previous lover and kinda decides your fate.

5. First Love/Late Spring – Bury Me at Makeout Creek by Mitski

More Gale “pining” songs (you’re gonna see a lot of this). In the case of this one, the song is a sort of ‘love, life and duty is painful’. After the Mystra heartbreak, I can imagine Gale’s not exactly keen on letting anyone in else they abandon him again (Gale has a big ego, but he feels he’s not enough—he’s scared he’s not enough). Also, a few lines stick out for interpretation in regards to Gale. ‘One word from you and I would jump of this cliff I’m on, baby’ is very fitting for Mystra being like “lmao, kys” and how Gale is fully ready to do that as a show of faith. Another line that I wanna note, ‘And I was so young when I behaved 25…’ reminds me of not only Gale’s early magical prowess, but the fact  Gale being only 8 when he met Mystra for the first time; Gale had big shoes to fill, extremely high expectations to live up to and also an omnipotent, ever-present god leaning over his shoulder. This is where I’m gonna put a link to this Tumblr post because the OP does a fantastic job at dissecting all that (TW: mentions of grooming): https://www.tumblr.com/kirain/739521230081851392/i-want-to-take-a-moment-to-talk-about-gales

6. Francis Forever - Bury Me at Makeout Creek by Mitski

Kinda similar to above, but more “romantic” in a really twisted way. Gale really did love Mystra, I think; In the case of this song, it’s less about him as a character but more his past feelings and the grief there (obviously this isn’t what the songs exactly about, but we’re running on interpreting them into fictional characters, so… lol.

7. Cancer – The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

So, y’know the Nether Brain fight and Gale’s Orb, right?

8. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Remastered) by Elton John

Acceptance and a return to the “average”. If you don’t let him ascend, Gale has the option to just live life at his own pace, and for me that’s his canon ending. My boy deserves a rest, and this song just remind me of that.

BLOODWEAVE (songs that just scream them)

9. Cannibal Queen – Tell It to the Volcano by Miniature Tigers

I just feel like the lyrics suit Gale’s feeling for Astarion in a really  fun way, idk man. It’s just weirdly them-core.

10. Baby You’re a Haunted House – Single (no album) by Gerard Way

Another ‘Gale to Astarion’ song. ‘…you’re a haunted house’ as a lyric reads as someone who has a lot of metaphorical ghosts in them (closet full of skeletons). Shout-out to the versus: ‘In the dark, we dance together…’  ‘In the dark we laugh together, because the misery’s funny to you’ ‘Sometimes you scare me, but I’ll come around to you… And I’ll find a way to scare you too’.

That’s just them (you’ll hear this from this section a lot).

11.  Red Moon – Everything is a Lot by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

First and foremost, this song is SO underappreciated (as is the album). It’s one of my favourites. This so in particular just sounds like the embodiment of Bloodweave. I take a lot of inspiration from this song when it comes to Neurotic Erotic (the fic). This song analysis would be paragraphs upon paragraphs long, so I’ll sum this up as simply as I can:

- Astarion is kinda ethereal looking (moon-elf-core) - Gales heart go doki-doki later in fic (referring to the 5th verse: 'Waxing to the rhythm writhing my chest’) - Gale and Astarion are drawn together by circumstance - They remain in each others orbit regardless of circumstance - Night is their time

Theres so much more, but I’ll leave some of the linking to you, lol

12. The Rhumba of Death – Camp Here & There: Campfire Songs Edition by Will Wood

*see to every other comment in this section*

13. We’ll Never have Sex - Single (no album) by Leith Ross

I think it’s not necessarily an argument that Astarion has issues around intimacy, particularly sexual intimacy. That’s what this is; this is why the song is here.

TRANSITION (A heads up to Astarion Territory, lol. Plus, I just like the song :P)

14. Interlude – Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance

Every playlist needs a good intermission, and this one has an Astarion-vibe to it. Serves as a good heads-up for whats to come and as a cool down from the previous song instead of just jumping right into a different tone. Plus, I’ve not gotten over my emo days, so…

ASTARION

15. The End – The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

The end. The end of Astarions mortal life, the end of being under Cazador’s thumb while tadpoled.

16. Dead! – The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

You can’t put ‘The End.’ without ‘Dead!’ and vice-versa. But, the lyrics do speak to me in encapsulating some surface-level Astarion plot, especially when it comes to his mortal, Magistrate days. Did Astarion get what he deserved? (referring to the versus: ‘I’ll be here waiting, babe; Did you get what you deserve?’). The BG3 artbook tells us Astarion was a corrupt magistrate, so this feel fitting. It’s speculative, but I think Astarion wasn’t too popular when he was alive, lol.

17. The Sharpest Lives – The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

‘I’ve really been on a bender and it shows’Astarion doesn’t have the best coping mechanisms and skills, and this song is that. Plus, it’s another vampire-related song so it fits in well. And the lines below feel like they were written for him (y’know what I mean?): ‘You can take off your skin in the cannibal glow, Juilet loves the beat, and the lust it commands, Drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo’

18. Brand New City - Lush by Mitski

I feel like Astarion has a lot of issues around control, like specifically in regard to needing to be in control in some small way. He’s emotionally withering away with his destructive ways, but it’s the only way he knows how to grasp onto some semblance of control over his life. ‘I think my ways are wearing me down, But if I gave up on being pretty, I wouldn’t know how to be alive,’

19.  The Jetset Life is Gonna Kill You – Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance

This song is about Gerard Ways substance abuse and struggles with it, his addiction personified as a woman. In a similar vein, I’m using this song as a representation of Astarion’s own addiction (or obsession) to power and revenge. Its fuelling him, but its also slowly him a dark, toxic (and even dangerous) path.

20. Hand Me My Shovel, I’m Going In! – SELF-iSH by Will Wood & The Tapeworms

Another case of a song about self-destructive behaviours that just really fits Astarions own trauma and his response to it. Will Wood is a genius lyricist, don’t @ me, and this is a prime example of his work capturing addiction and other self-destructive behaviours, feeling powerless in stopping/not being able to stop, even though you could (with a lot of effort of therapy, mind you).

21. Kill All Your Friends – Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance

The opening lines capture more Astarion plot:  ‘Well, you can hide a lot about yourself, But honey, what’re you gonna do?’ Mainly, this song just feels like it fits him, especially with ‘I was killing before killing was cool,’.

22. Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) – The Normal Album by Will Wood

Another vampire song, so naturally its here. A number of the lines in this song feel like inner turmoil within Astarion, but I can’t just copy paste the whole thing here, lol. Side note, this song has been in my private Astarion playlist for the past 2-ish years and I’ve always been like, ‘man, I wish I had the time to make an animatic to this (or Hand Me My Shovel) for Astarion’, and recently I stumbled upon an Astarion animatic someone made to this song and was SO SHOOK. So, I’m going to link it, because its fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWKObQgHaGg

23. Your Body, My Temple - Camp Here & There: Campfire Songs Edition by Will Wood

POV: Astarion’s manipulating you.

24. Vampire Reference in a Minor Key – “In case I make it,” by Will Wood

Very Astarion-core song, but specifically in regards to his softer side (in the case of this fic, his feelings down the line for Gale). Obviously the vampire song is gonna remind me of the twink vampire.

25. The Chain (2004 Remaster) – Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

So, y’know Cazador and Astarions “siblings”, right?

26. Against the Kitchen Floor – “In case I make it,” by Will Wood

So, yknow the confession Astarion has in act 2, right? My canon ending for Astarion is him healing, finally. He’s a spawn, yes, but he’s making the most of that his immortal life as he can. I’ll say it again, Will Wood is a GENUIS and (most definitely because it comes from his own experiences) he captures the process of healing but not being fully there in this song. In relation to Astarion, this is him trying—genuinely trying to be better and work out what he’s going through. He’s not there, he won’t be for a long time, but he’s willing to try. Trying is the first step.

[secretlywritingstories]

This thing won't have you, it won't win | BG3 Astarion one shot

Summary: You had tried to kill Astarion because he was the one you cared for the most. Now you'd vowed not to sleep to keep him safe. It doesn't take long for him to notice and confront you.

Tags: During canon Act 3, resisting the urge, late night conversation, show of trust

Warnings: Past suicidal idealisation and talk of dying/being killed

Word count: 4.8k

Read on AO3 or below

It should feel like victory to have made it this far. A mere walk away from getting into Baldur’s Gate. Part of you hadn’t sure if you were ever going to make it here, but now it was within your grasp. You might even have been there already, if you hadn’t insisted that you should approach the gate with fresh eyes and set up camp in Rivington for tonight.

Most of your companions had very good reasons to want to be in the city as soon as possible. Shadowheart wanted to search for her parents, Wyll wanted to rescue his father, Karlach wanted to confront Gortash, Lae’zel wanted to meet with Voss, Gale wanted to find answers in Sorcerous Sundries and Astarion wanted to confront Cazador. You’d promised to assist all of them with their missions, even if you weren’t sure why they trusted you.

Especially now that they’d seen the destructive dark urge brimming under your skin. Though, they did all seem to move past it too quickly. So very full of trust when you were just as dangerous as the monsters you all had been hunting. It had only been a couple of days since you tried to murder Astarion in his sleep, and they all sleep soundly or trance comfortably next to you again.

They were so trusting. It would be so easy to take advantage.  

Granted, a lot had happened since then. Taking down Ketheric Thorm was no easy feat, nor was the battle inside of the prism that revealed that your supposed dream guardian was none other than a mindflayer. It’s just monsters everywhere you turned these days. After today, you could add Orin to that list.

A shapeshifter with the ability to imitate any of you. She could be any of your companions right now, feigning sleep and plotting her move. That should be the reason you were staying awake restlessly, but wasn’t. You were fairly confident that you could sniff out an imposter if needs must.

It was something she said that added to your sleeplessness. When you found her impersonating that Flaming Fist. In the moment, you tried not to let the words burrow under your skin but now they did. She called you her sibling.

Even though she could shapeshift, you doubted she meant that she was a fellow tiefling. No, her words spoke of something much more sinister. A deeper bond. One likely made of servitude. And you knew which of the Dead Three that she served.

Bhaal. The lord of murder.

And a killing urge had been burning in your chest ever since you woke up on that nautiloid. It’s been the only thing that you’d felt yourself tethered to. The urges compelling you to take lives and delight in the gore. It’s the most real thing about you, and it felt like it was the only thing you would find whenever you tried to look into your past.

It was what that stupid self-acclaimed butler, Sceleritas Fel, kept telling you about yourself too. As if this used to be something you did with pleasure. You were good at it. What did that say about you?

“Darling?”

The way you twisted around, weapon raised and poised to strike could just be a testament to all of the trauma and fighting you’ve had to undergo these past weeks. It would surely be enough to make anyone skittish and paranoid.

But you felt how your body moves with practiced ease, and it took all of your focus to adjust your swing to avoid contact when you spotted Astarion’s red eyes. Granted, he could probably survive a slash of your dagger, but you didn’t trust yourself not to keep going if you started spilling his blood.

“You got a death wish?” you snarled.

Your grip on the dagger was so tight that it almost hurt. Just like it would hurt to plunge it into Astarion’s heart. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would make such a beautiful mess. Blood everywhere. Oddly, he’d probably appreciate the view too.

“I did,” Astarion said and despite how you just tried to attack him, he found a spot next to you. He ducked into you tent to share your bed roll. “Before.”

The word was loaded and it made your jaw flex. You had a feeling that you still didn’t know the true extent of Astarion’s torment at Cazador’s hands but you’d got more than enough to paint a vivid picture. It made sense that he wanted to die before.

200 years was a very long time. It’s the kind of time that you couldn’t even grasp. You didn’t think you’ve been alive for that long, but even if you had, you wouldn’t know. Sometimes, it really did feel like your brain was only a few weeks old. Everything before it was black.

No, not black.

Red.

Bathed in it.

You were just as bad as the damn ox with his inner visions of carnage.

A touch on the back of your hand pulled your attention back to Astarion. His touch was so gentle that you barely felt it. You weren’t sure how he could touch you like that when you almost took his life just days ago.

When you would have made quick work of him just like you did poor Alfira. Alfira who just wanted to join the party, see the world and play her lute. The same lute that still sat in the camp chest, bloodied edge untouched.

You’d blacked out for that. No recollection at all but the blood on your hands and the sick delight twirling around in your chest was more than enough to confirm you were the culprit. It should have been the first warning. The others should have kicked you out of the camp.

Even if you now knew it would have turned you into a mindflayer without the prism’s protection. Though, it had flown to you before, and the Emperor seemed rather attached to you. So maybe you’d have killed all of the others if you’d wandered off and it had decided to follow you.

“Maybe you should kill me,” you found yourself saying to Astarion and withdrawing the hand under his touch.

You didn’t deserve gentleness. Not when you might have laid waste to whole cites, bathed in the blood of children and done it all with a sick grin on your face. It felt like something you would have done.

Well, not you now, but you then. And you were not sure if there is all that much of a difference. Fighting was becoming more difficult with each passing day.

“Way too late for that,” Astarion said, drawing his hand back to himself. “If you wanted to die at my hand, then you should have let me drain you that first night.��

Right. Back then, he could have killed you. You had presented yourself to him and let him sink his teeth into your neck. Part of it felt wrong, like you shouldn’t be handing him such an obvious chance to hurt you.

But he’d stopped when you’d asked. And every time since that, he’d just taken enough to recover his strength, not even disturbing you in your sleep.

“Can’t turn back time,” you muttered.

If you could, you’d go further back. Figure out what had happened to you. You had more pieces now, and you knew you’d landed in a pod in the mindflayer colony and been experimented on. A sneaking suspicion told you that maybe Orin had been involved in landing you in there with the way she acted around you.

But if you had truly been her sibling and delighted in killing like your urges told you, wouldn’t you have been on the same side? Why would she have turned on you?

Astarion let out a soft huff. “I would not want to,” he said and reached for you again. This time, it wasn’t just fingers gracing the back of your hand. No, he grabbed your hand and pulled it into his lap. Held on tight enough that you couldn’t just slip it away easily.

You could get it free. His fingers probably broke rather delicately. Snap, snap, snap.

No. You liked his hands. You didn’t want them destroyed. You pinched your eyes together and willed the thoughts away. It was something you were getting better at, at the very least. You were starting to have practice.

But it had been something different when it came to the full slaughter. You hadn’t been able to anticipate what happened with Alfira. You had just barely managed to warn Astarion that he was about to be next.

And when you’d come to all tired up and angry, it had felt like you were in some sort of primate, feral state. But it had still felt like you. Just unleashed. Like it was always going to be brimming underneath the surface. It had been caught just in time, but you might not be as lucky next time.

“I’m going to hurt you,” you said to Astarion and felt how it cracked something open in your heart.

You’d told Sceleritas Fel that you hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Astarion about how you cared for him yet. It was the truth, but it was probably better if he didn’t know the true extent of it.

You were so selfish for even getting involved with him when your past was blank but stained. When you had to worry about tadpoles in your brains and the elder brain being controlled by lunatics. Two now, instead of three but still. There should be no time for romance or attachment at all.

It didn’t seem to matter, because you couldn’t deny that you cared deeply for Astarion. In fact, you cared for every single one of your companions and all of them were in danger because you couldn’t control this part of you.

“I’ve got thick skin. You know, you’ve seen my scars,” Astarion said, voice almost dancing over the words, even as he pulled forth his own trauma for you. “Is this why you haven’t been sleeping?”

You snapped your head sideways to face him. “What?”

He was right of course, but you’d mostly been sneaky with you lack of sleep. You still let keeping watch rotate and you lied down in your tent, pretending to sleep. It was taking its toll, but it wasn’t anything that a few healing potions couldn’t fix. It was a good thing that you were far more precise with your arrows than your spells. Those hadn’t been recharged in a while.

“Halsin noticed,” Astarion said, just a touch too casual. “You’ve got to remember that I’m not the only elf in the camp anymore. Him and Jaheira aren’t as willing to look the other way.”

“Concerned?” you asked, propping a knee up in front of you, leaning on it and tilting your head to the side. You tried to pull your hand back over to yourself, but Astarion kept hold of it. Not hard, just enough that it couldn’t slip away from him without you putting more force behind it.

You didn’t.

“Always, that big hunk of an elf. He has quite the soft spot for you. Going on about how he had high expectations and you exceeded even those,” Astarion said, and he was too tense about it.

Jealous maybe?

He hadn’t seemed to care back in the groove when several of the other companions started to veer for your attention. He hadn’t brought it up until that dance with Wyll where he’d asked you to choose between them. You’d chosen Astarion without blinking.

It had been easy.

All of the other companions had their beauty, charms and even dark demons, but Astarion was the only one who seemed to get you. He accepted you, even when you weren’t always put together right. He’d proved that even more when he’d comforted you after you’d tried to kill him.

You wondered if this was a wound for him and Halsin was a tool that you could press into it. Drive a wedge between you and Astarion. If you broke up, then he might no longer be the one you cared for the most. He could be safe from your sharp claws wanting to dig in and draw blood.

Though, if you did that, maybe it would just be someone else next time. Your care for Astarion was extraordinary but you truly cared for everyone in camp. Even the kid you’d allowed to stay here on a whim. Yena. A damn bleeding heart you were, even if it was not the kind of blood that you desired to spill.

It was the second time you’d brought a child into camp. Arabella had made it away okay but it was not sure that Yena would. Perhaps that was why Astarion had wanted to turn her away.

He would never admit it, but you were discovering a soft side to him. Just like now, with how he was holding your hand, thumb gently stroking over the back of it. A little quiet moment for just the two of you. You’d been spiralling and he’d come to find you. Sit with you, so the night didn’t seem so daunting.

You should be driving Astarion away but your heart couldn’t take prying into his insecurities. It felt too cruel. You might be bloodthirsty and have urges but you didn’t want to be cruel.

At least not the you who didn’t remember what you’d been like before.  

“Do you think I’m a worshipper of Bhaal?” you asked him, gnawing on your lip.

“Because of what that maniac shapeshifter said?” Astarion asked.

“Orin,” you corrected, even though you knew he must know her name. He liked to play aloof and like he wasn’t paying attention but he always did.

“No,” Astarion said. 

“What? it’s the most sensible explanation,” you argued.

“Well, remember what you asked, love. You asked if you’re a worshipper. Present tense. You’re not.”

“Semantics.”

“No, I do not think so. You don’t know your past but you do know what you’ve been acting like in these weeks.”

He was trying to be sweet but maybe he had fallen for whatever charade you’d been putting on. Yes, you’d tried to be honest with your companions about what was going on with you, but you knew they couldn’t truly grasp the extent of it. Just how brutal it got inside of your head.

“Just because I don’t remember doesn’t mean that it’s not true. And I doubt you just leave Bhaal behind. Look how complicated it got with Shar for Shadowheart,” you pointed out.

“And look how she’s now. New hairdo and everything!” Astarion said with a high-pitch giggle.

He was clearly trying to lighten the mood, but you wouldn’t let him. This was too dangerous.

“She was a Selûnite first,” you reminded him. “Taken against her will when she was just a child. Brainwashed into worship.”

Astarion clicked his tongue and gave your hand a squeeze.

“And who’s to say that you weren’t?”

You didn’t mean to laugh but it jumped out of you. You almost admired his optimism and faith in you. You didn’t think that he’d be the kind to look on the brighter side of things, yet here he was. Maybe he really was changing.

“Because I like it,” you admitted in a tiny voice. “I revel in it. I crave it. The urge is all-consuming sometimes. And it’s…”

Your throat felt tight. Not like you were about to cry but like you were about to scream. Scream out all of the frustration and fear sitting so tightly in your chest.

“Tell me,” he requested so gently.

How could you deny him?

“It’s not this thing,” you said recalling his words from that night. They had burned into your brain so much and you’d clung to them like they were a lifeline, even if it felt like it was made of twine.

This thing won’t have you.

It won’t win.

But it would. Because as much as you wanted to trust it and believe him, it didn’t feel like a thing. Something external. It would have been so much easier if you could cheat yourself into believing that. This was something done to you. A thing making you do horrible thing. A forced worship. A butler guiding your murderous hand. Any of the options was better than what felt like the truth if you dared look close enough.

That it was just you. Not a thing in you, but part of you. Intricately woven into your very fabric in a way that it could never be separated. It would win because the only way to kill it would be to kill yourself.

“It’s me,” you whispered.

Astarion let go of you hand and you thought that maybe he was finally recoiling in fear and disgust when he understood that all the death and destruction lived in your bones. But then he came close again. Much closer than before. Kneeling. Right in front of you and reaching up to gently cradle your face.

A thumb swiped across your cheek.

It felt wet.

Tears.

You were crying. No, what? You weren’t even sure you could do that. You hadn’t so far since you’d woken up. You had been ready to chalk it up to the fact that you were mindless and traumatised, or maybe just incapable of it. Like you could either be a murderous lunatic or a cry-baby but not both.

Clearly, you had been wrong.

You hoped it wasn’t the only thing you were wrong about. But you shouldn’t cling to that hope. You should be protecting Astarion and create distance between the two of you. So, you wouldn’t have the urge to drive a stake through his heart again. You weren’t sure what you’d do if you went to sleep and woke up with his blood on your hands.

Maybe it would make you snap into your old self. Bloodthirst ruling above all when you’d taken the life of the person you cared for the most.

Astarion’s eyes were so expressive and he looked like he wanted to say words of comfort but he was holding back. You appreciate that. You didn’t want platitudes right now, because you felt just vicious enough to twist them and spit them back in his face.

But you let him hold your face and look at you, even if it hurt to be seen like this.

“You know what I thought when I first saw you?” you asked, closing your eyes so you wouldn’t have to look at him as you shared this confession.

“What a handsome elf,” he said, a wry twist to his words.

You huffed out the tiniest laugh.

“Not too far off,” you said and swallowed. Licked your lips, exhaled. “What a perfect pretty corpse he’d make.”

You were echoing a thought that had resurfaced that night you’d felt driven to kill him. A fantasy that you couldn’t shake from your brain. You didn’t feel like you wanted him dead. In fact, you wanted to protect him but your thoughts told you a different thing.

Astarion didn’t let go of your face, but he let out a soft hum. Considering. You didn’t dare open your eyes to see the expression on his face.

“Stay here,” he said, gently letting go of you, “and keep your eyes closed.”

You had been proclaimed the leader by every single companion, even if you had never fought for the position. You didn’t have to listen to anyone. They had to listen to you. But still, you sat with your eyes closed and waited just like Astarion had asked.

The night air was crisp and almost comforting. Tomorrow, you’d reach Baldur’s Gate and you could find an inn. You’d leave your camping days behind you. You had a feeling that you’d miss it. 

Astarion came back and it felt as if he was making more noise than he needed as to not startle you again. He could move deadly silent if he wanted, as he’d proved against your enemies many times. They never knew what hit them when he came out from the shadows.

“Hands,” Astarion asked and you weren’t sure what he was asking for but you lifted both your hands, palms up.

He took hold of them and he pressed a handle of a weapon into your waiting hands. Not one of your own, they all had handles smoothened from use. No, this texture was rough, like uncut wood.

Astarion hadn’t said that you could open your eyes but they snapped open all the same, and you opened them just in time to see him kneeling in front of you again. Only this time, there was a stake between you and your hands on the handle of it, while he guided the sharp tip to the centre of his chest.

When you realised, you tried to thrash away and toss it aside. It would kill him if you drove that through and you weren’t in control of your impulses. What in the hells was he thinking? He had said he didn’t want to die anymore but then he handed you the very thing that could kill him.

“Astarion,” you said, in warning, when he grabbed your elbow with one hand and curled your hands back around the stake firmly with his other.

“This is what you should have done when you found out that I was a vampire spawn,” he said, and you’d never quite heard his voice sound so quiet. His usual melodic tones stripped away, it seemed to bare and vulnerable. “It is what most people would have done if they’d woken up to a vampire trying to feed on them.”

You couldn’t exactly disagree with that, but honestly the thought hadn’t crossed your mind. A part of you had been almost thankful, because it meant someone else in camp was hiding a dark secret. That you weren’t the only one driven by your urges.

You’d uncovered more of your companions’ secrets now, but Astarion had been the first. A glimmer of hope that you weren’t quite so alone. Of course, you hadn’t killed him. You understood what it was like having bloodthirst driving you.

“I didn’t want to kill you,” you said, and the words sounded strange in your mouth. You meant them but it still felt unnatural.

Astarion’s expression softened into a smile and he looked like he knew something that you didn’t. But instead of flaunting that, he was trying to make a point. You weren’t sure that you liked where this was going but you were still bound and breathless to watch. Poised with a weapon to end him with just one good thrust.

“And a stake to the heart is what would have happened the morning after too, if you hadn’t stuck your neck out for me figuratively as well as literally. Our companions would have killed me.”

“They wouldn’t have,” you argued because you knew the good hearts of your companions.

Even back then, when everything had been new and confusing and you were just figuring each other out. They wouldn’t have killed him, would they? You didn’t want to think them capable of killing Astarion, but all of you had blood on your hands by now.

Sure, it was mostly blood of cultists hellbent on causing war and destruction or monsters trying to take your lives, but it was still lives lost. And with each fight, you fed into that urge to kill just a bit more. It wasn’t enough to fully satisfy it clearly, but it was a slight release all the same.

But you didn’t want to drive this stake through Astarion. You wanted to let go of it and pull him into your arms. Hold him instead. Close enough that some of your hellish warmth could seep into his cold skin.

“You are dangerous,” Astarion said, looking into your eyes with purpose. “But so am I. So is everyone in this camp. Trained killers the lot of us. Complicated pasts. You’re not special.”

His voice tilted up, gaining a humorous lilt and it made you laugh. It sounded kind of choked up and wet. His red eyes had never looked as soft as they did while gazing into yours.

“You are,” you whispered, almost inaudible but he’d hear it. “Special.”

“You can try to kill me anytime,” Astarion said. “I don’t think you’ll go through with it.”

What a novel and lovely idea. As if your love for him could keep him safe when it was exactly the thing condemning him to your murderous attentions.

Your love for him.

It was love, wasn’t it? You didn’t have anything to compare to, but it felt like that, even out here in the wilderness, tadpoled brains and an ever-present ticking clock. However unlikely, it felt real.

“You don’t know what I’m capable of,” you told him and hoped that he could see the sincerity in your eyes. Make him understand the threat he was standing opposite.

“You don’t either,” he said, lip twisting up to a smirk and you guessed that he had a point with that.

He moved the hand from your elbow and instead laid both of his hands on top of yours. He let himself press just a bit more into the stake, enough that it was catching on his sleepshirt. A flimsy fabric. It would do nothing to stop the stake from driving through it. Smooth like butter. It would sail right home, poison his heart and stop it a second time.

Stop it for good.

“You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“And yet, I’ve never felt so alive,” he said and leaned just a tiny bit closer. “You are not your past, even if you don’t remember it. So, the urges are a part of you. Big deal. You still get a choice who you want to be right now. Just like I do. Let’s keep making choices together. This is what freedom is about, isn’t it?”

It felt like a stake was driven through your heart, knocking all of the air from your lungs with one fell swoop. He was paraphrasing something you’d said to him. That he’d be responsible for his own choices now that he was out from under Cazador’s thumb.

For good and for bad.

He was right. It wasn’t so different from you. You were still the one making the choices. You were allowed to cast the die on your present and your future, just not your past.

The nagging grating voice in the back of your head still told you that you could drive the stake in and kill Astarion but you shut it right up, like you had done dozens of times already. You just had to keep resisting that part of yourself. You could do that.

“Let go,” you told Astarion and he pulled his hands from yours.

He looked at you, chest open and inviting for malice, but you tossed the stake aside and instead grabbed hold of his face. You cradled it like he’d cradled yours, holding it like he was the most precious thing in all of Faerûn. He might just be.

“It’s not going to be easy,” you said, leaning your face closer to his.

You wanted to spill every warning you could think of but you knew that he already knew a lot of it. He’d seen you in action, tied up and snarling like a feral beast. You at your most dangerous and at your most vulnerable. And he’d taken care of you.

He’d chosen to take care of you when he had ever right to kill you.

You had to choose to take care of him, even if your urges screamed to kill him.

 “Kiss me.”

Astarion’s smile turned soft and he reached behind your back until he could pull you right up against him into his lap. His hands stayed behind your back, holding onto you gently, as your tail whipped back and forth in anticipation.

“You’ve got this, and I’ve got you,” he whispered as he leaned in to press your lips together.

Those were other words echoed from that night when you almost made the worst mistake of your life. You hadn’t really heard him then. Too hung up on how he didn’t understand that the urges controlled you so deeply, so intricately, but now you were finally ready to hear him.

“And I’ve got you,” you whispered back, as you broke the kiss just for a moment.

When you kissed him again, you felt how his lips tilted up into a smile.

[irradiatedsnakes]

i need to know more about pennybun i have fallen deeply in love

PENNY MY BEST FRIEND PENNY!!!!

(by @/skypiea)

penny is my first tav and i love her. she's a white dragonborn circle of the spores druid. i finished her first playthrough a couple weeks back, and i've started on a second playthrough with her! slightly edited, and now that i understand more about the game and the story i'm refining her character and story. i missed a lot of stuff on that first playthrough!

pennybun's name comes from the mushroom, by the way. i'd decided on that before i knew that there was a mushroom-themed druid circle in this game, i was GOING to choose moon, but, like. it's perfect. penny buns aka porcini aka king bolete aka Boletus edulis are an edible mushroom that symbioses with the roots of pine trees. they're part of my research and they're quite adorable

she's from a circle of druids located in the shelterwood- a dense forest near baldur's gate. she grew up in the city proper- or at least, on the edges of it- before moving out to the woods to pursue life as a druid.

she's solidly good-aligned- as my first playthrough, her story is kind of the best-case-scenario for everything, savescumming the hell out of some fights (good god the last light fight with marcus). everybody gets their good ending, everybody gets saved, that kind of deal.

she had a generally good relationship with everyone in the party, but gale, wyll, and karlach are her best mates for sure. i missed out on romancing karlach the first go around, but we're doing it on penny's second save file. it's happening.

she's also quite close with shadowheart, especially after the events of act ii. her relationship with lae'zel is more tense.. but i'm still working on figuring out that exact trajectory- missing a lot of lae'zel's storyline was one of the biggest mistakes i made in the first go-around. she and astarion never get close, but there's not any malice there, either.

she's good friends with jaheira, the two get along like a house on fire, and she looks up to jaheira a lot. she didn't have a lot of time to get to know minsc and boo, but they were plenty friendly in the short time they crossed paths. halsin, i need to work on, i also kind of fucked up his stuff first go-around by neglecting to fix the shadowlands. to be updated when i reach act ii in Penny The Sequel.

overall, penny's a big ol goody-two-shoes. she wants to help as many people as she possibly can, and feels a massive weight on her shoulders because of it, having been thrust into this leadership role by apparent pure chance.

while i'm still working it out, the central theme of pennybun's story is trust, and who she puts it in. an early decision i made before knowing anything about the story was that penny trusts the Mysterious Dream Guardian completely and totally, which made for some EXTREMELY fun character moments later on- utilizing the tadpoles (her and gale both), becoming partial illithid, and eventually in act 3 losing her trust in and culminating with her turning on the emperor, plus her own ceremorphosis to wield the netherstones against the netherbrain.

gear-wise, she uses the default druid armor for most of the game, switching to the armor of the sporekeeper in act 3. she assembles the mourning frost in the underdark in act 1 and it remains her favored weapon for the rest of the game. she also wears the key of the ancients, and just before the start of the finale gains the nymph cloak.

other assorted Penny Facts:

she keeps a detailed log of every camp dinner the group has. good food is very important

she has a soft spot for parasites. part of why she was receptive to the idea of utilizing the tadpoles, and also part of why she lets astarion take a bite from time to time.

she got her eye poked out by volo

she has a -1 int modifier

she's a lot keener on necromancy than you might expect a druid to be. she views necromancy and the undead (for the most part) as a natural part of the cycle of life- after all, everything will eventually return to the dirt to be eaten by the fungi and the other decomposers, no matter how prolonged it is.

it is imperative that all her friends (karlach excluded for reason of cool hair) wear fun hats. ive posted about The Hat Tax before but everyone in the party gets a funny hat. it's so important.

she's my best friend and i love her

[eeldritchblast]

Baldur’s Gate 3 Fandom Survey Results

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind that the respondents of the survey make up just a very, very small fraction of the entire player-base of the game. As such, much of these results will not add up with official statistics collected by Larian Studios, and should not be treated with equal weight. This survey was just conducted for entertainment purposes and to look at the small corner of fandom mostly found on Tumblr!

PART 1: CHARACTER CREATION

RACE

In Early Access, most respondents chose to play as a Tiefling, with Half-Elf and Drow close behind. In Full Release, the most selected race to play as was Half-Elf, with Tiefling close behind. The number of Drow players dropped from 24% to 18%, though still accounting for the third-most picked race.

The least-picked race to play as for both Early Access and Full Release was Githyanki, contributing to just 3% in Early Access and down to 1% in Full Release.

GENDER & PRONOUNS

In both Early Access and Full Release, most respondents picked a feminine body type for their protagonist, with She/Her pronouns. However, the percentage of masculine body types chosen and both He/Him and They/Them pronouns used increased in the Full Release version of the game.

CLASS

The two most common classes to play as in Full Release (tied) were Sorcerer and Bard. The two least-chosen classes (tied) were Monk and Barbarian.

The most common class per race were as follows:

Dragonborn: Sorcerer & Paladin

Drow: Bard

Dwarf: Warlock

Elf: Druid

Githyanki: Sorcerer & Paladin

Gnome: Druid

Half-Elf: Bard

Halfing: Bard & Wizard

Half-Orc: Bard, Paladin & Wizard

Human: Druid, Paladin & Sorcerer

Tiefling: Sorcerer

BACKGROUND

In Early Access, the most selected background for the protagonist was Noble. In Full Release, discounting The Haunted One background—which is exclusive to playing as The Dark Urge—the most selected background was Sage.

THE DARK URGE

Speaking of The Dark Urge, 24% of respondents to the Full Release survey did so with a Dark Urge character in mind.

Most Dark Urge respondents chose a Half-Elf to play as, with Tiefling and then Drow as the second and third most popular options.

The split between masculine and feminine bodies for Dark Urge respondents was 50/50.

The most common class for Dark Urge respondents was sorcerer—which is the default class for the origin—with Bard and Paladin as the second and third most popular options.

THE GUARDIAN

The most selected race for The Guardian was Tiefling, with Elf and Drow as second and third. In Early Access, 22% of respondents made a Dream Lover (the EA equivalent of The Guardian) the same race as their protagonist. This is about the same as Full Release (21%).

The split between masculine and feminine bodies for The Guardian was about 50/50. 53% of protagonists with feminine bodies also had a Guardian with a feminine body. 60% of protagonists with masculine bodies also had a Guardian with a masculine body.

PART 2: PARTY MEMBERS

RECRUITMENT

Here are the recruitment percentages of all the party members from respondents:

Shadowheart: 99%

Astarion: 100%

Gale: 97%

Lae’zel: 99%

Wyll: 98%

Karlach: 96%

Halsin: 92%

Minthara: 8%

Jaheira: 88%

Minsc: 79%

Astarion is the only character that every single respondent recruited in the playthrough they had in mind when filling out the survey.

ROMANCE

Here are the percentages of (primary) love interests chosen by respondents:

Shadowheart: 9%

Astarion: 50%

Gale: 17.5%

Lae’zel: 2%

Wyll: 6%

Karlach: 12%

Halsin: 4%

Minthara: 0.5%

(Special shout-out to the one single person who romanced Minthara. Live your evil, evil dreams.)

WHAT HAPPENED TO…

Shadowheart:

94% of respondents had Shadowheart reject Shar

4% of respondents had Shadowheart embrace Shar

2% of respondents had Shadowheart die

Astarion:

88% of respondents had Astarion remain a spawn

11% of respondents had Astarion ascend

1% of respondents had Astarion die

Gale:

78% of respondents had Gale give up on the Crown of Karsus

18% of respondents had Gale pursue godhood with the Crown of Karsus

2% of respondents had Gale die

2% of respondents did not recruit Gale

Lae’zel:

48% of respondents had Lae’zel leave to save her people herself, with Orpheus dead

38% of respondents had Lae’zel follow Orpheus alive to save her people

11% of respondents had Lea’zel remain with the player

2% of respondents had Lae’zel die

0.5% of respondents did not recruit Lae’zel

Wyll:

81% of respondents had Wyll become the Blade of Avernus

17% of respondents had Wyll become the next Duke

1% of respondents had Wyll die

1% of respondents did not recruit Wyll

Karlach:

66.5% of respondents had Karlach go back to Avernus with Wyll and/or the protagonist

16.5% of respondents had Karlach become a mind flayer

14% of respondents had Karlach die

3% of respondents did not recruit Karlach

PART 3: WORLD DECISIONS

Overall, the vast majority of respondents picked morally good choices.

97% of respondents protected the grove from goblins

43% of respondents agreed to work with the Zhentarim

77% of respondents lied to Voss to avoid killing the Gith patrol

95% of respondents did not give their eye to Auntie Ethel

82% of respondents saved Mayrina from Auntie Ethel

89% of respondents investigated Crèche Y’llek

92% of respondents saved the Last Light Inn

74% of respondents rescued Rolan from the shadows

90% of respondents reversed the Shadow Curse

87% of respondents rescued the prisoners of Moonrise Towers

93% of respondents rescued the prisoners of the Iron Throne

92% of respondents destroyed the Steel Watch Foundry

93% of respondents sided with Dame Aylin and killed Lorroakan

29% of respondents had sex with the Emperor

89% of respondents killed Raphael

54% of respondents freed Orpheus and he became a mind flayer

6% of respondents had their player become a mind flayer

94% of respondents destroyed the Elder Brain

PART 4: FINAL THOUGHTS

42.5% of respondents rated the game a 10/10, with other ratings being at least above 6, all except for 2. That being said, in the optional comment section, among much praise there was also some some critique, including:

Wishing there was more time with certain characters, Wyll being the most highlighted

Feeling like Act 3 was rushed

Wishing there was more body diversity in the CC

Thanks to everyone who responded to the survey!

[jynxeddraca]

My Thoughts on The Emperor's Dream Visitor/Guardian Appearance

I honestly think that until Act 3 of the game, Team Tadpole honestly think they each have their own guardian. I also do not think that The Emperor is picking a specific person to mimic for each companion, but instead an amalgamation of different people they have trusted in the past because he wouldn't trust they would suddenly recognize the face he was wearing. I think they would see as follows:

Astarion: A blend of his mother, the 'darling man' Astarion mentions after almost getting kidnapped by his siblings, and some of his kinder victims

Shadowheart: Either a female drow or a tiefling with features from both Nocturne and Mother Superior.

Lae'zel: Definitely a githyanki, probably with features of Vlaakith and some of the kith'raks she knows and her visitor instead wears githyanki armor and carries a silver sword.

Karlach: Combination of Fytz (the friend in Act 3) and other friends she knew back in Baldur's Gate.

Wyll: Combination of heroes from books he has read or other folk heroes he has worked with.

Gale: Definitely strong influence from Mystra (both from memories and statues because they do not look alike), maybe a bit of his mother, the rest assorted professors from Blackstaff Academy.

For Tav Moonridge Specifically: He knows Tav is most comfortable with other tieflings due to all her childhood trauma of how non-tieflings treated her and those she cared about so he does choose to go with a tiefling form as well. As for appearance, his image is a blend of Tav's father (Iados), Caemorn (a former FWB sort of lover), and Serena (best friend but also ex-girlfriend) and then tweaked the coloring. It lends to a sense to Tav that she knows his face but for the life of her she cannot place how she knows him. He also causes her mind to detect a floral smell similar to the perfume to what her grandmother wore that she does not recognize - but finds soothing.

Interactions With Tav:

He refuses to give her his name, so she eventually calls him 'Stoic' because 'Dream Visitor/Guardian/Person' felt weird to her.

"Stoic" doesn't emote with his tail often or well. Tav doesn't immediately pick up on it because she's focused on a variety of other things, but she does eventually feel that something is 'off' about his body language.

[baldursgatethoughts]

Theory: Why all the origin characters have the pasts they have

The Origin characters and potential party members in this game are generally amazing and so well crafted. One thing that make them stand out from characters of other games is how their narratives are so intrinsically linked to the main story, and that in itself is not only good world building but most likely part of the story itself.

Heavy spoilers for the entire game coming up >>

Do not read unless you have played through the entire game from start to finish and want to know even more than one playthrough would reveal:

All of the original tadpoled characters share a type of background; they've all been manipulated, indoctrinated, groomed and abused.

This is a very likely reason for them specifically being chosen my the Guardian aka the Emperor, since he can read all of their minds and knows their thoughts, feelings and weaknesses.

In the intro scene you can see the Emperor* putting the tadpoles in our eyes on the nautiloid. He is making all the origin characters into "beautiful weapons" (as he says to Shadowheart) to combat the elder brain as part of a plan to regain his freedom, something you can hear the story of in Balduran's song itself:

When three, though dead, assailed his port (the three start their plan) transformed (he is a mindflayer) he fell their thrall, succumbed (he was mind controlled) as threat from nether years arose to conquer all (the absolute came) Now hope is gone, or so it seems, but game's not over yet New cards are drawn, new hands are played, newcomers place a bet A knave, a wizard, devil, gith, the odds are cast anew (the tadpoled ones) And Baldur's fate now turns upon the whims of fortune's few

The Emperor thinks these characters would be especially easy to control and manipulate, as they never been independent and free, at least not for a long time.

Astarion - by Cazador

Gale - by Mystra

Shadowheart - by Shar (through de Vir)

Karlach - Gortash and Zariel

Wyll - Mizora and Zariel

Lae'zel - by Vlaakith

The Dark Urge - by daddy Bhaal

Except for this bringing an additional layer of epic proportions to a game where divine forces are battling for the destiny of souls and power (Bhaal, Myrkul, Bane, Jergal, Selune, Shar, Mystra, Raphael/Zariel, Vlaakith, Orpheus, the Elder Brain to mention the most involved ones, Lliovathar, Magblubiet, Cyric and Silvanus among others also being in the game) which adds so much lore lore, understanding and impact to the main story, this also makes for very interesting character arcs.

You can through the game bring all of the origin characters further into the manipulative machinations of their evil patrons or you can free them from their past abusive cycles.

Astarion - free from his master or make him the new evil master

Gale - have him succumb to the magic power hunger or make him see that there are other values in life than magic power

Shadowheart - make her into the weapon Shar has been forming wants or let her reclaim her lost Selunite past

Karlach - let her give up and die from the results of her abuse or embolden her to fight back to those who have wronged her

Wyll - let him be manipulated or free him to create his own fate

Lae'zel - let her keep being manipulated by a false god that will eat her or let her believe another fate of the githyanki race is possible

The Dark Urge - embrace murder in the name of your controlling dad or free yourself from your ungodly father

There are many more nuances to those quest lines of course and other options like killing everyone, betraying them and so on, but these are some of the main dichotomies when it comes to playing out the relationship between the tadpoled origin characters and their abusive gods and masters.

BALDUR'S GATE 3 - NO GODS NO MASTERS Or obedience, abuse, murder and power? ;)

You decide!

* aka Balduran, who navigates the prism heist nautiloid for Gortash, an idea the elder brain puts in his head in a dream as part of its grand design to become free again, after giving them the idea to steal the crown of Karsus and control it in the first place, and mr Balduran Guardian Emperor doesn't realize he is being used as a pawn in the elder brain's grand game. Boi this game is so full of twists and turns and lore!

[queen-scribbles]

Finally, FINALLY had time with my brother to play more so we could do more Tala & Bottlen, and this time had everything; goblins, skin-of-our-teeth close calls, spiders, REVENGE, one very large bear, a devil we know(sort of), tadpole and dream guardian shenanigans, and MORE!

We left off last time right after luring Priestess Gut to her quarters so we only had to fight her and Polma. This time we worked our way through fighting small groups of goblins at a time :3 Like the rest of the main room crowd. Whereupon the game decided we'd avoided Raphael too long and triggered the cutscene... with just Gale.

Who got to pull his best ThisMightAsWellHappen.jpg face before going back and we resumed our goblin killing ways with Torturer Spike's gang when Bottlen got caught picking the locks on Liam's cuffs (oops!). And then fought the ones in the worg pens to free a certain bear bc Tala scolded them for throwing rocks. (Because I would have hijacked the game if it had taken any longer xD)

Which involved Karlach throwing a goblin child at another goblin child. And then--after that killed one of them--throwing the survivor at a worg, which killed both 😂😂😂

And then Bottlen STOLE the first conversation with Halsin, so Tala picked him up and threw him(with my brother's blessing) to see if it would break the conversation. It did not. But it was fine bc then Tala talked to Halsin and convinced him to join them (this would prove to save our bacon), so they had a gigantic bear to help with the Dror Ragzlin fight. Considering Bear-sin can one hit kill most of the goblins, this was very handy.

Especially after Bottlen got shoved down into the spider cave and Karlach went unconscious. 😅 Fortunately, Tala has both the boots and gloves that give healing boosts/temp hit points, so that was easy enough to fix. Gotta be honest, I think if bro hadn't flipped Bottlen from ranger to paladin, we probably would've died. Gale pulled off a sleep spell to take out some of the adds for a couple rounds before their friends kicked them awake literally, and Halsin took out a whoooole bunch thanks to the aforementioned oneshotting. Including!!! Ragzlin. >:3 so that was fun.

Minthara was, comparatively, very easy, even if she misty stepped to a spot that made her very hard to hit.

I was v happy the cutscene picked Tala to talk to Halsin after that, so she got to have the "praise you, my friend" conversation.

now kiss AHEM. Seeing as we were all basically out of spell slots, we cheated the system by then popping to camp for a long rest. We needed a break. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to have one just yet. :D

Lae'zel tried to kill Bottlen for having a fever rude and then came the Dream Guardians just to make things more interesting.

Because that's not a terrifying angle and it totally inspires trust when you look at me like that.

Finally finishing our rest, we popped back to start killing our way out of the goblin camp from the top down. Got all of them up top(again, if Bottlen wasn't a pally, we would probably have died. So. many. goblins.) plus the ogre. We were planning to go all the way through escaping and getting back to the Grove, but he had to leave bc there was something in the car his wife needed asap. So we're gonna finish tomorrow and maaaybe get to the gnolls if we have time. 🤞

[darlinghowl]

evolution of my second tav who eventually wound up being val’ghast’s brother: taz’myril, romancer of karlach and wyll

started out as a potential love interest dream guardian for val’ghast (bc of the dream guardian being ‘your hearts desire’ or whatever in EA) but the idea never stuck and i liked the design but not the concept. but i knew i wanted an important figure in her life

then i decided no actually. i think i would prefer her have a brother given her background. so i created him as her twin but he didn’t feel Right. then i put down the game for several several several months

and then when i went to make him again this time i fleshed out more of a backstory for him. so here’s his final form (he’s a dream guardian here bc i made him her dream guardian and her his. i’m ignoring the advances of the emperor and the whole like. ‘desire’ element of it in terms of attraction for the idea that what her heart actually desires most is to find her brother who she lost on the day she was abducted by the mind flayers):

and here’s my princess :3

they’re both half-drow and multiclassed with bard. i had this idea that they’re kind of like whatever the faerun equivalent of a punk duo is, which makes it all the funnier that val’ghast is romancing gale of all people

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

omg ok, now that I am done with Act 2 again, I need to take a break.

Same point as my previous playthrough, as well.

I think that Act 2 is so emotional and filled with stuff to do that the idea of starting Act 3 right away is just DAUNTING.

But because I cannot stay away from the game for so long (and because I felt a bit nostalgic tbh), I just went back to the Tav Character Creator and made Mathias, Antoine and Dorothea.

BEHOLD.

LOOK AT THEM. MY DARLING BRAINCHILDREN, FOREVER TOGETHER IN EVERY SINGLE UNIVERSE THEY WERE EVER TO EXPLORE.

My dearest Mathias De Beumont, a Mephistopheles Tiefling, ever virtuous, a Paladin devoted to Selûne and hailing from old town Elturel, and my darling Dorothea Morgenstern, Half-High Elf Cleric of Laethander and a member of the "Seekers of the Dawn", who consacrated her life to protect her homeland, Neverwinter, but has quite the knack to find herself in trouble more often than not.

I like to imagine that they met on the way to Myth Drannor, with Dorothea tasked with a mission to search for artifacts that belonged to Lathander to bring back to Neverwinter and Mathias looking for means to reinstitue the defunct Order of the Guardians of Light. And then, together, they enbarked in a journey to bring a sacred relic back to Neverwinter and OF COURSE, they would fall for one another on the journey back home.

(blame me listening to this version of "For The Dancing and the Dreaming", dear Gods, this song is so Mottie coded it's not even funny)

GAH, NOW I NEED A VERSION OF THE GAME WHERE I CAN HAVE MY TWO BRAINCHILDREN FALL IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN. FML.

Honestly, Mathias and Gale would get along so well. SO WELL.

And Dorothea would just adore Karlach, and engage in as many bitching duels with Shadowheart as possible.

[spainkitty]

I'm so embarrassed! I thought I had replied to your last ask and I didn't😳 I'm sorry!🙈

I hope you're feeling better. I remember recommending you cloud gaming for BG3 so I wonder if you gave that ago and if you did, if it works for you👀

I'm deep in BG3 brainrot🙈😅 I'm in my 4th pt right now lol. I have a stand-by pt of my monk tav in act 3 cause the kiss animation with Astarion with a tav with body type 1 (the smollest one lol) is broken since patch 4. And yes, I'm becoming the kind of person who romances Astarion with every single tav I make😂

I'm curious to see your tavs so please show me whenever you can👀

Here are mine in chronological order of my pts:

Iriel - seldarine drow sorcerer

(the 2nd pt I did was Astarion's origin so no tav)

Ceres - half-elf monk (on stand-by until Larian fixes the kiss animation with Astarion in act 3 lol)

Nephalem - high-elf necromancer (current pt)

And yes, they're all head over heels in love with Astarion🙈😍

I really hope you've got the chance to play BG3 further! If you have, please tell me about your tav(s) and what you think if the game so far👀

I... can't even remember what I sent you, but I gather it was about BG3 LOL I'm feeling much better. I haven't tried your cloud idea yet. I wanted to finish my Adaar run and I replayed DAO instead. Mainly because my friend said during our little Christmas break (we have 4ish days off for it and we're coworkers) he's getting it on his Xbox and I'm gonna go play it with him! Which means when the spiders come I can hide 🤣🤣 I DID make three "Tavs" before I gave up (and I'll be remaking one for the Xbox marathon).

All your Tavs (pts?? pcs??) look SO cool! I wasn't super pleased with how limited the faces were, but you did a great job making each unique. Silly Larian, fix the bug so Ceres can have a kiss! KISS KISS KISS! Oh, also, how is it playing a monk?? I had a tabaxi (cat person) monk in a campaign and she was so fun to rp, does it work out well in bg3?? I think Iriel's design in my favorite, though. I looove that half-buzz cut. Nephalem looks very suave and cool, too 😎

As for my girls, I'll show the few pics I got.

This is Karik, my Moon Circle Wildshaping half-elf Druid! And her dream guardian. I made her look like my current campaign's Tepin Pallis Cuautl Lozano, another Moon Circle Druid Wildshaper 🤭🤭🤭 I wanna romance Lae'zel, but I never met Wyll or Karlach, so... we'll see.

Then, there's Andry Cousland, my og Warden, Warrior-Archer human. I just wanted to see what she'd look like in BG3. Not bad🤔

Lastly, the one I'm going to remake for the Xbox and I'm super excited for it! I'm probably going to romance Gale, maybe... Anyway, meet:

Agnes, half-elf drow, Trickster Cleric of Tymora

(you can see where the computer started losing itself and her hair looks weird and pixel-y, but still cute 💖)

[absurdist-void]

One of the inconsistencies about BG3 that bothers me is that blowing up the brain with Gale in Act 2 is a game over where all the tadpoled people get turned into mind flayers, but if you blow up the brain in Act 3, it fixes everything.

I’m still scratching my head when it comes to how everyone got their tadpoles and how they all ended up in the nautiloid. Did the Emperor or the Sharran strike team get the artifact first? Did the Emperor pick Shadowheart up when she got the artifact and then decided to enter it? Did he put the artifact in her pod and then enter it to hide himself? All we know is that Viconia sent a team to get the artifact and somehow Shadowheart held the artifact while she was infected. At the same time, Gortash/the brain sent teams of mind flayers out to find the artifact. Somehow, the Emperor’s team found it first, the brain let the Emperor free from its control, and he went into the artifact to hide thinking that Orpheus’ power released him.

I feel like the rewrite of Daisy to the dream guardian/Emperor really messed up the continuity of the beginning of the game.

[mercy-mercie-mercymorn]

TAVS.

bg3 spoilers ahead!

aurora (gold dragonborn cleric of mielikki) grew up in the woods, far away from the city. she likes animals and once spent three days chasing a unicorn, just to see what it did. on a diplomatic trip to stop logging that was infringing on a grove once considered sacred to mielikki, she got abducted. pokey sticks and fire breath quickly proved to be the best way to make her way through her new life. on the way she fell head over heels for the two dumbasses who got fucked by the Hells. so they decided to start saving people, hunting things. and now it's wyll and wyll's wife aurora and aurora's wife karlach's family business. yay hell polycule!

(aurora is the reason i call wyll my wife. he's just. my wife <3)

kassandra (seladrine drow warlock) has never been to the underdark. she has a cousin there, on her mom's side, maybe? she grew up in baldur's gate and made a career for herself as a shrewd businesswoman (she makes jewelry; that's how she got warlockéd). using people's impressions of drow against them is like her primary skill and it works surprisingly often despite the fact that she is 5'3" on a good day and has the face of a disney princess. she also has the animal skills of one. aurora is steve irwin, kassandra is cinderella. karlach and kassandra were instant besties, which evolved in the sapphic tradition of "surely she doesn't mean it like that haha" until kassandra just straight up said she wanted to make out with karlach.

(i haven't finished her playthrough yet because i'm afraid teehee)

winter (avariel [mod, winged elf] bard) is your manic pixie dream girl. i stole her name and most of her appearance from Winter The Lunar Chronicles because i am a silly little criminal. winter has never met a problem she could not make marvel-esque quips at, much to shadowheart's eternal chagrin. desperately wants karlach to teach her that silly tiktok dance she's always doin So Bad. her adventure is a very strange change of pace for her because she was previously a tavern waitress/occasional entertainer when there was literally no other option. as such, she does not know how to use weapons really at all and makes everyone else protect her (insert pleading face emoji). anyways, she's the golden retriever gf to shart's black cat gf.

(her wings get in the way of every cutscene but i still love her)

marie (human durge paladin) is like if tinkaton was a person. she hates the murderhobo ps5 in her brain and loves weird little guys (gale). voted most likely to cry at dog food commercials. i really haven't played much of her, so i haven't decided on much backstory for her.

(i just think she's a little funny)

the one that only sort of counts.

cynthia (tiefling wild magic sorcerer) is literally just my OC who got isekaid to faerun. the only people who know this are the """dream guardian""", the gods, and the three dipshits and their lame goddess. she's there to cause problems and live up to her old nickname: Godkiller. her fake persona, Lady Cynthia Tav, is from a little town on the coast and enjoys the finer things in life. her most fervent desire is to have a spray bottle so she can get astarion to stop that (at any given moment, "that" ranges from mild horniness to wanting to violently murder people). she is beginning to understand what it was like for her brother to raise her.

(don't have many pics of her, but she's the most frequent subject of my drawings)

there's a bunch of more in my notebook that i doodle in while playing

[fade-and-loathing-in-thedas]

will we get to see akroma in baldur's gate at some point 👀👀

Hi!!!!

Omg yes, she was my first finished playthrough of BG3 lol I still haven't finished it more than once despite a bunch of act 3 playthroughs just sitting there (including a level 12 honor mode I'm slowly working on finishing lol)

Her main party was usually a combination of Gale, Astarion, Shadowheart, or Karlach. She was a Wizard/Warlock multi-class (cos studied mage and curiosity lol). I stole Abdirak ritual knife to get a bonus whenever I bonus actioned to bleed lol (had to embrace the blood mage bullshit)

I also got the read 100+ books in a single playthrough achievement on her playthrough, cos yeah she read everything.

I didn't get as many screenshots as I wanted but here's a couple of her absolute gorgeousness 😁

She romanced Gale and encouraged him to research the crown of Karsus and he ended up a tin man who broke up with her lol It was never going to work they were both still a little bit too obsessed with their exes.

I ah also kinda tortured her (and myself) a bit lol I made the dream guardian a Alistair look alike... She of course slept the emperor in the Alistair form (yeah, I'm an asshole lol)