#Nocturne walks out of the stockroom; overhears Viconia and Shadowheart arguing in the sanctuary;

[rhysintherain]

15 and 18 for Jaheira, Karlach, and Shadowheart :D

Jaheira

Favorite ship for this character: this is a wildly unpopular opinion, but I actually liked the BG2 PC romance plot for Jaheira. It's messy, it's complicated, but so are relationships and especially so is Jaheira. It makes sense in character, and it's really well written and I spent SO MUCH TIME walking in circles in the wilderness to trigger all the dialogues. Again, keep in mind that I pick fictional relationships mostly for the chaos they cause.

A canon relationship I admire: I mean, Jaheira and Khalid are and always will be relationship goals, and I'm still mad about how that ended (even though I know their story wouldn't be as impactful as it is if it hadn't). They were 'opposites attract' personified, and you can see a little of Jaheira in Khalid at Bridgefort and a little of Khalid in Jaheira in BG3.

I also like how her friendship with Minsc has evolved in BG3. They argue constantly but would fight gods for each other. He was a statue for a century and they just... picked up where they left off when he thawed out. After so many people have come and gone in Jaheira's life, it's nice that she has one friend who keeps coming back against impossible odds (even when she tells him to get lost. ESPECIALLY when she tells him to get lost).

Shadowheart

Favorite ship for this character: I like Shadowheart and Karlach. Shadowheart's starting banter with almost everyone is standoffish and secretive, but she immediately warms up to Karlach. Their conversations are always a little bit flirty, and I doubt Shadowheart's attempts to keep people at arm's length would last even a minute with Karlach.

A canon relationship I admire: look, if you'd asked me to make up some off-the-cuff fake facts for Shadowheart when Skye first met her in the nautaloid, "her parents call her Jen and her best friend has purple hair and goes by Nocturne" probably would have been it. And maybe "secretly listens to Mandy Moore".

That said, I really love their friendship. Nocturne is the only thing Shadowheart remembers if you give her the noblestalk. She's the only one who doesn't attack the party in the Sharran sanctuary. Shadowheart does a full religious 180 and ends up hunted by her own people, and Nocturne manages to stay in touch anyway, even though she's not willing to leave herself. That's a level of pragmatism and devotion I rarely saw from the people I grew up with.

Karlach

Favorite ship for this character: Shadowheart or Wyll. I think Shadowheart would be a stabilising influence and Karlach could have a real future to look forward to (for the first time ever). They'll eventually settle down on a farm in Rivington and adopt a million stray animals and they absolutely deserve it.

But you can't beat the drama of Wyll and Karlach: that first moment when they meet and reality snaps apart, because this is supposed to be your enemy, but you can see inside their head and it's a reflection of your own. Everything is temporary because you could die, you could be pulled back to hell, you could become something horrible and you can't even say which horrible thing will claim you first. You're both desperate to be the heroes from your parent's stories, but you can't be sure the person you love sees anything but a monster when they look at you. You're the same in infinite ways, and sometimes that's heartbreaking.

Canon relationship that I admire: hero worship is less a pedestal than a flight of stairs. The literally less-than-a-minute from "wait, you're Karlach! We saw you fight in Elturel, you were AMAZING!" To "I can't believe I get to meet THE Jaheira! She's a legend, Mum used to tell me stories about how she saved the city!"

The irony of this is completely lost on Karlach, and I love that. She manages to learn from her role models, encourage her fans, and never quite realise how far up that staircase she actually is.