#astarion buddy i just wanna talk

[yarpharp]

Okay but amidst all the insane thirsting for Astarion, I am that one demisexual who just can't help but wonder: if you actually got to the choice where you and him just TALK all night instead of fuck, and you ACTUALLY got to talk your way through a dialogue tree instead of an immediate fade-to-black, what the hell would you two talk about?

I'm not saying that Astarion isn't a conversationalist. He had to make himself extremely good at inane small talk and faking interest when he lured people back to Cazador, of course he's good at making conversation. Even when you talk to him outside of the romance chatter, he's undeniably suave for all that a lot of his lines feel heavily rehearsed or carefully curated.

But if you put him in a situation where he actually had to engage personally in a discussion, what would he offer? He's spent 200 years under the control of an absolute motherfucker who repeatedly tortured him. When did he have a chance to indulge in anything but what he was told to be? Did he manage, with his roguish skills, to steal books and things? Did he hide and hoard a very beaten but precious collection of nonsense tomes under the floorboards of a room, or in an overlooked nook somewhere? Did he have a brief stint where, amidst his time hunting for the next mark to bring to Cazador, he chatted up some amiable merchant guild people? How good was he at toeing the line in such a way he could have the smallest inkling of a social life?

It's questions like these that end up leaving me to think of wild possibilities. Yeah, maybe he did have a weird collection of books. He might know how to sew very elaborate embroidery patterns from some book he stole from some merchant daughter's bookshelf. He might be shockingly knowledgeable about a stupidly specific type of regulatory city laws that've been outdated for eighty years because he once seduced a would-be prosecutor for the courts of Baldur's Gate. Perhaps he did casually chat with some fellows from the Alchemist's Guild because they were happy to tell him about their crazy experiments while never remembering his face as a result of running on barely five hours of sleep. Thus, he knows a LOT about experimental poisons or how to turn healing potions into bombs using only one obscure ingredient that anyone can grow in their city garden. Maybe he did have a few acquaintances he was fond of but never actually let himself care about too much out of fear, and when he found out they had died of old age while he kept living in a fucking nightmare he still gets choked up about it (but he does a terrifyingly good job of hiding just how bothered and upset he is about it, because surviving Cazador meant being very good at faking irreverence in the face of what he was actually feeling).

Or maybe none of that happens. Maybe he's still too disbelieving and mistrustful of your honest interest to only chat and not immediately engage in sex. He'll instead just let you talk, and make a few comments. He'd rather watch you and listen to you than be any more vulnerable than he already feels. Such is his way, in the name of keeping himself safe.

... Yeah. This shit fucks me up.

[spicyraeman]

ooh for the tav asks maybe 2, 4, 10, 22 and 56 for Emra and Virranan (and any other tav you wanna ramble about) :)

Ty for the ask! This one got a bit long so its going under a cut 😅

[Tav Ask Game]

2. What is their class (+ subclass) and why did you choose it?

Virranan: Gloomstalker Ranger, originally they were a beastmaster, but as I fleshed out their backstory gloomstalker just ended up fitting better. As for why I chose it, Vir was my first tav and in every game where I have the option I will always start with a ranger/bow user.

Emra: Great Old One Warlock, picked because of an old convo me and my buddy had about the insane 600ft eldritch blast you can get in Dnd and a hypothetical sniper character you could make with a gun as the focus.

4. Is there a reason why your Tav starts out as Level 1?

I haven't really thought about it much, but its probably mostly just the tadpole for both of them with a mix of Emra being out of his element and Vir being drunk enough to kill 3 grown men before his abduction.

10. What was your Tav like as a child?

Virranan: Before their father's death they were a quiet, curious, and incredibly observant child. Most of their time was spent reading or people watching or wandering the woods around their house. The only friend they had was their raven familiar Quothe, but they didn’t care too much as other kids tended to think they were…odd.

The year after the death of their father, she became despondent and spoke little, he spent most of his time to himself and was content to simply watch the world happen around them.

Emra: An incredibly unassuming child, he tried his best to blend into the woodwork. Being the top dog of the creche meant a lot of pressure and falling to the bottom got you killed so staying in the middle of the pack was his primary goal. 

22. What is your Tav's first impression of the other companions (Astarion, Gale, Karlach, Wyll ...)

Virranan

Astarion: Trying to pull a knife on them isn't the best first impression, but it is familiar. She has a feeling that they might have a lot in common, maybe a bit too much.

Gale: Reminds him of the men they used to escort, upper class and too talkative for their own good (even if she actually enjoys listening).

Karlach: Big, loud, and from what she can see, completely honest, probably the most trustworthy out of the lot so far.

Wyll: There's more to this man than meets the eye, he’s too good to be true, nobody acts like that unless they’ve got something to hide. He does seem genuinely nice though so they'll try to put that suspicion to the side till he lets something slip.

Emra

Astarion: Bit of a bastard but who isn’t and it's not like this is the first time he’s had a knife pulled on him so no harm no foul. Dealing with him is like herding cats though, which he could definitely do without.

Gale: Talks way to much but at least he's got an okay voice to listen to, and a wizard is always a good this to have on your side.

Karlach: It’s been a long time since he’s almost been eye-to-eye with someone, seems a kindred spirit and like she’s got a good head on her shoulders. 

Wyll: He seems like a genuinely good man, but men who burn as bright as him burn out just as quickly, and he's got a sneaking suspicion he's got a secret something to keep him going, maybe the same something as him.

56. What did your Tav think of the Mindflayer colony?

Virranan: Not much honestly. Disgusted? Mildly, but this is around the time when they realize things are truly getting serious and they’re too busy focusing on the tasks at hand to take in the entirety of the horrors that surround them. Even thinking back on it all he can really remember is freeing Zevlor and Mizora, and killing Ketheric, everything else is a messy blur.

Emra: That place is definitely making it into his top 10 worst places he’s been. He just tries to go through the motions to get where he needs to be without getting covered in too much gore. The one redeeming moment was getting to see Lae’zel accidentally drench Astarion with the gore shoot.

[wednesdayche]

Minthara&Astarion ship?

I don’t really ship them but they have this interesting dynamic.

Red eyes, light-color hair, feline nature.Lolth blessed red eyes and vampire red eyes. The color of their eyes is a reminder of what they are. As a Minthara enjoyer, it has been several times that I referred minthara as red-eye cat while others thought I meant Astarion. Lol. And I can’t find the post but someone said Minthara treats Astarion as a wet miserable cat. She took pity on him but she’ll never pet him. by ascending Astarion becomes a less miserable but barely decent cat.

Familiar with life in darkness. Old version of Minthara’s reaction when Astarion burns in the end: “I almost envy him. While he retreats into shadow, I prepare for my long exile on the surface” And they have banter at Wyrm’s crossing about the sun.

They dislike each other but they share so much in common or it seems. Minthara reads ppl like books. She pities Astarion coz she understands his suffer but also despises him for being weak. They are both terrible power-thirst animal. For most time Minthara is very pragmatic but when it comes to her problem with lolth and her family she talks like crazy. Well, same thing happens to my buddy Astarion when he talks about his revenge and Cazador. Taking down Cazador is arrangable but taking down House Baenre? Only a Baenre dare to dream so big I guess. Maybe this is just the same int 8 showing idk. Tav ask them why doing something. And they’ll be like: Coz I wanna do.

Patricide and matricide. I mention this in my previous post about shadowstarion. Yes I have a thing for this shit. And technically Viconia and shar are neither shadowheart’s mother. But Minthara literally enjoys these. She hates lolth so much but she isn’t against her teaching. She’s not Drizzt. As a matter of fact, she despises Drizzt. Astarion hates Cazador so much but he’s just like another Cazador once he ascended. They’re their parents’ children after all.

Atheist. Shadowheart and Gale are god believers. These two prayed for god at their lowest but no god helped them.

I think this ship is a toxic version of Shadowstarion. Btw do you know Shadowheart has different comments on origin character when she’s asked to share more and her approval is beneath 0. Accurate but less sassy compared with Minthara. Minthara n Astarion probably end up with one killing the other if they ever became a pair.

[atsadi-shenanigans]

Feeding Alligators 11: Murder Buddies

You and Astarion have a chat.

On AO3.

You fumble with your stolen tent for a good thirty minutes until Gale takes pity on you. Though he assembled his with a wave of his hand, and since you’re incapable of the ~mystic cosmic powers~ he possesses, he tries to show you how to rig the thing up by hand. Which means it’s Shadowheart, ultimately, who takes pity on you both and shows y’all how to drive in the stake into the ground to secure the canvas.

“As, yes,” Gale says, totally not wiping sweat from his brow. “I’d forgotten how refreshing manual labor can be. Quite invigorating to get the blood pumping again.”

He’s quick to take a seat next to the fire Lae’zel got going. From being invigorated and all.

You’re not far behind.

Your feet are about to fall off. Your legs shake so bad you don’t sit so much as keel over to land on your ass. The pounding in your skull goes atrocious for a hot second, spiking into nausea, before clearing enough for you to make out Gale telling some story about a “magical misadventure” during his youth.

Shadowheart doesn’t join you. Too busy glaring at Lizard Lady—named Lae’zel. They’ve been making snipes at each other. From what you gather, Shadowheart is real indisposed to Lae’zel, and Lae’zel is generally indisposed to everyone.

Y’all didn’t talk much as y’all got her out of that cage. Everyone boot-scooted out of the area before the demons—called tieflings—came back with friends.

Lae’zel has an accent none of the others share. And Gale said something about “astral raiders” under his breath as she marched to the front of your group (before Shadowheart stopped, declared she wasn’t “following a githyanki”, and the two almost got into a fistfight right then and there).

“Astral” sounds a lot like “inter-dimensional” to you. So you extricate yourself from Gale’s story—sorry, gotta check on the new guy!—and trudge over. Lae’zel has probably the nicest tent here, with a hide rug inside and a comfy looking bedroll set up. It’s also scattered with stuffed heads.

“Hi,” you say.

She regards you with her narrow eyes as she pulls an entire training dummy out of her bag. It’s got tentacles sewn onto its face.

“We, uh, we met on the ship?”

“The useless istik, I am aware,” she says. “So you survived the crash. Perhaps you are not as pathetic as you first appeared.”

Wow, okay. Accurate, but damn.

She keeps on hammering that one. “It would have been more efficient to kill those horned teethlings. Though I suppose one as weak as you would not be capable of such a task. In githyanki culture, you would have been culled from the creche. Your people must be soft. Or perhaps you are not as you seem.”

“Well,” you say. “I’m trying, thank you?”

Her eyes narrow. This close and actually talking to her, and she’s not so much a lizard as a crocodile. There’s the same coldness in her, the same predator shine to her eyes. Best to divert the conversation.

“The way the others are talking, you ain’t from here, right? This world?” you say.

Her spine straightens. Her face is pretty, in a sharp, harsh kind of way. “We githyanki are not bound to the physical realms. We sail the astral seas in pursuit of our ghaik quarry.”

There’s a lot to unpack there, and you legitimately would like the time to sort it out and pick through the details. Buuut…

“Your people have been to other, uh, realms, then? Worlds? Not this one?”

“My people guard and conquer all the realms connected to the astral plane, yes. The noisy ones said you were taken from one such plane. I assume that’s why you came to me with your meaningless chatter.”

“Yeah, sorry. I don’t wanna take up your time, setting up the heads and all. Very aesthetic.” She pulls out a stuffed Squidward face. “Is there a way to get back? Like, at all?”

She pauses. Her expression is still sharp enough to slice, but you think you might, maybe, just a little bit detect the faintest baby softening around her eyes.

“You wish to return to your people,” she says.

“Yes. Very much.”

“I do not know,” she says and curb-stomps your burgeoning hope. “You would have to know the path the nautiloid took, and perhaps find your world alongside it.”

Fuck. Fuck shit fuck no.

Does a nautiloid have some kind of flight data recorder? Can you even access the damned thing if you find it (if you even recognize it)?

You think of the tadpole. Amongst Gale’s ramblings had been something about a hive mind. If you give that nasty thing a nudge, learn how to use it, maybe…

Assuming it doesn’t rip your face a new asshole.

And maybe it’s the wormy bastards and their bullshit psychic powers, or maybe Lae’zel is just really good at reading people. She stops her set up. Gives you what you can only call a scathing glare.

“The only way to save ourselves is to find a githyanki creche. All this prattle will be futile should the ghaik parasite twist our bones and melt our organs and turn us into ghaik ourselves. We have been lucky, far too lucky, that the process has not yet started. But we cannot trust to luck.”

That’s that. You’re maybe three days out from being stolen and brainwormed. According to the others, you should basically be shitting blood right now. But aside from the occasional, crippling headache—and looming mental breakdown; you know that bitch has penciled herself an appointment in your mental calendar—everyone seems to be good?

You turn to watch Gale rake coals out onto cleared dirt to nestle beneath what looks like a cast iron skillet. More sausages. Jesus.

You would literally commit murder (again) for a bottle of ibuprofen and a pepperoni pizza.

***

Speaking of murder.

Almost everyone has tucked in for the night. Or made a show of doing that—you’re pretty sure Shadowheart is going to literally sleep with one eye on Lae’zel, while Lae’zel dismisses sleep entirely as a weakness and seems determined to spend her night sitting crisscross-applesauce and glaring into the night.

Maybe she’s on watch. No one asked you. No one even brought it up to you. That’s probably a bad sign.

You’re sitting next to the fire, poking at the coals with a stick and trying to rub the burning from your eyes. Then Astarion is kneeling right next to you out of fucking nowhere and you startle so bad your stick goes flying.

He watches it arc away into the night with a raised eyebrow. “You throw things a lot, I’m noticing.”

“Jesus fuck,” you whisper shout. “You scared the piss outta me!”

“Apologies,” he says in such a smooth, blatant lie like he wants you to know it. “I forgot human senses aren’t as perceptive. I wasn’t trying to be stealthy.”

Bullshit. This guy is such a fucking weirdo.

“Uh huh,” you say, aiming at amiable and probably failing.

The two of you sit there a moment. A piece of wood collapses into the fire and sends up a cascade of sparks into the sky. They look like a swarm of orange fireflies. The homesickness crashes into you so hard you have to fight the urge to curl in on yourself. Nights with Uncle Randy on his porch, his lanky frame sprawled out over a lawn chair, cigarette flaring red as he took a draw. He’d offer you a beer, which you’d decline (“It takes like piss.” “Well suit yourself and more for me, sug’.”)

He wasn’t close to your dad once they’d gotten older. Had some sort of nasty fight Uncle Randy never talked about (you’ve developed a strong suspicion it had something to do with your mother). But he told you stories he knew about your dad—hunting squirrels, illicit fishing trips, that one time they got chased and bit by a raccoon and the rabies shots they’d needed (“Your gramma was so pissed off. We came back all cryin’ from them first shots and she made us go collect us a switch for our own ass-whoopin’”).

Your family wasn’t traditional. But Uncle Randy still had the stereotypical eagle feather tattoo on his bicep. He didn’t talk about it, much.

“Wa’n’t sump’n t’be proud of,” he’d said one time. “Things’re changin’ now, I guess.”

But you’d caught him mouthing Cherokee words on the porch in the dark, scrolling along a language lesson from the Nation on his ipad.

“So,” Astarion drawls.

Fuck. You’re in another dimension. You blink a couple of times, make sure no water spills down your cheeks.

“I couldn’t help but notice how easily those tieflings left earlier,” he says. He gives you a slow, deliberate once over. “Yet you’re not drenched in blood, so I assume there was no stabbing this time?”

“I don’t know about all that,” you say. “Like I told y’all. I said y’all were monsters coming up after them and they hightailed it outta there.”

“How lucky.”

“I generally am.”

“And the gnome the other day? That was luck?”

You blink. Turn to look at him. “Gnome?”

You hear that word and you think of that old cartoon of those pixie people with beards and pointy, red hats. The guy rode a fox, you think?

“Yes. The gnome you butchered,” he says.

“I thought he was a hobbit?!”

“A what?”

This fucking place. This absolute clusterfuck of a place. The fuck else is there over here? Fucking werewolves?? Do you need to watch for fucking werewolves now???

“I’ll be honest with you,” you say. “I ain’t never hurt somebody like that before and I am in way over my head here. I don’t even know what all happened that day.”

Aside from the murder. Self-defense, absolutely. But you freaked the fuck out and a man—gnome—is dead.

He nods in what a casual glance would label as sympathetic. “I see. Your first time?”

You stare. He’s still wearing that face. But the edges—maybe it’s your hyped-up paranoia here, but it shifts into something…smarmy.

“Yeah, actually,” you say because damned if you’re gonna let some bastard man make fun of you over that. He wants some kind of easy target? Come get some.

You choose: stoic Indian face!

“It happened so quick,” you say. “All the adrenaline, you know.”

You scrutinize him. Try to catch a hint of maliciousness.

But his grin widens and the corner of his eyes crinkle. “It got the best of you, eh? Happens to us all, from time to time. The first one, especially. All that rushing and one tends to fumble. You’ll want to practice your technique for your next round.”

Stoic Indian face is super ineffective!

He pats your arm in a half-hearted “you’re too gross to actually touch” gesture.

Is he…joking with you? Not mean-teasing, but like, murder-buddies-teasing?

“Since we’re talking about that, I got a question for you,” you say. “What’s up with chucking that body at me?”

The shithead actually places a hand on his chest like some kind of southern belle-of-the-ball. “Oh darling, I had to make sure he was dead. You were in such a state.”

You’ve been told you’ve got an intimidating stare. You don’t try to look mean, you just keep everything still and blank and stare at people, and it tends to make them squirm. But that just slides right off this bastard.

“It looked kinda calculated to me,” you say. Because it was.

“I do apologize for that,” smarmy bastard says in smarmy bastard tone. “It happened so quickly. You know how the adrenaline is.”

This bitch!

You almost call him a liar to his face. But sense wrestles back control. You don’t know these people and you have no backup, no safety net. This smarmy-ass, fancy pants fucking albino elf is absolutely messing with you, but he hasn’t pulled a knife (this time). And while he’s hinting at stuff, he’s not actually accusing you of anything (yet).

A test? An introduction? Both?

Maybe you’re as weird to them as they are to you. You’re an unknown entity; unable to communicate until yesterday, unable to use their most basic magic, and no training with weapons. But you did stab a gnome to death, and you freed Lae’zel.

He chose to interrogate you—none of the others have asked, was this an agreed upon plan?—by, what, teasing it out of you?

“Well,” he says. Stands and brushes the dirt off his pants. “It’s been a delight properly making your acquaintance, my dear. Do sleep well.”

You watch him saunter back to his tent. Duck inside. His shadow moves against the candlelight as he settles down.

He doesn’t blow the candle out.

Between him, Lae’zel, the girl named Shadowheart, and Mr. Chatterbox wizard, you’ve collected quite a company of oddballs.

Your headache remembers itself and sinks in to kick at the back of your eyeballs.

Fuckin’ A.

Previous - Index - Next Chapter

[benevolentcalamity]

Baldur's Gate 3 Companions: An updated perspective.

Gale: Could also get away with being called Brian. Mans has the most red flags in the entire game. And why do I say that? WELL, would you want a guy that talks about his ex all the time and would explode if you didn't romance him? Not sure what the deal is there but I dunno if I have what I need to handle all that. His sorcery is cool though, I'd fuck him for lessons.

Karlach: Literally the biggest golden retriever energy in literally any game I've seen these past few years. Seriously, you could tell her "Well... I could go with you, cause I have nothing better to do" and she'd be like "Not because you want to?" With these massive puppy eyes. Wish they did more with her character, because a purehearted person of her race? GOOD LORD I EAT UP THAT SHIT. Karlach, please marry me

Astarion: More red flags. But here's the thing, he's honest and upfront that he's toxic and full of absolute crap. Arguably though he has the most well-done story of, again, any game I've played these past few years. From how he's slowly unlearning the toxicity of 200 years of PURE SHIT, to managing to open his heart up to Tav, to the agonized, broken cries upon killing Cazador if you choose the Spawn ending. Legitimately, this is when 'I can fix him' comes true - mans is wonderful... After all the other stuff. (Please do not drop the building on him or kick him in the balls.)

Shadowheart: Imma be upfront, I hated her guts in Early Access. She's the kind of person I'd hatefuck and move on, cause ain't no way I'm associating with followers of Shar. HOWEVER, they did good giving her a redemption arc. She's still annoying and quite frankly not the greatest traveling buddy, but I can stomach her way more. (So maybe we'd be doing it.)

Lae'zel: I loved you in early access bb, and I still do. Literally, the Githyanki are savage and coldhearted by nature and their culture, so you can't exactly blame Lae'zel for just echoing what she knows. On the other side of the coin everything she's done and said was out of the kindness of her heart. She wants you cured in the only way she knows, and she wants what's best. So, if you dare bring your hatred for her in my askbox, be prepared to catch these hands. THOU DOTH NOT WANT THESE HANDS.

Minthara: Respectfully, ma'am, I don't vibe. Drow elves are sexy. What's not sexy is trying to kill me in my sleep, trying to get me to give in to the evil force inside me, etc etc etc. Also, what happened to your fluffy hair in early access? Girl that's your one redeeming quality. Can understand trust issues though, that I'd be willing to get you help with if you'd stop trying to murder me. Seriously, I love a woman that will actually just kill me, but some of us don't wanna meet our dads yet. (Ha... ha... ha...)

Halsin: ... Oh, so THIS is the bear man... Ngl man, I'm digging it. Man is big so he definitely gives wonderful hugs. Probably cuddly as a big bear, too! Would fuck Halsin, would not fuck him as the bear. Some of you might call me a coward, but MONSTERS are my jam, not actual animals. Y'all can do as you please, though. But generally, this man is probably the sweetest big man. Huge arms? Check. Gentle personality? Check. Would kill a person for killing a child? Check and mate.

Wyll: Still don't know your deal, man, and quite frankly I'm too afraid to ask.

Emperor: ... Aren't mindflayers cold, heartless beings that reproduce by putting tadpoles in your brain? They don't have dicks, right? Does someone wanna fill me in? ... I don't know what the deal is here.

[bog-witch-blair]

Discovered some outtakes from the Narrator and here are a few of my favorites

"Insight read this, bitch"

"Welcome to fantasy spelling kids, think you know how to pronounce it? I think not!"

"Who did this word with FOUR apostrophes in it? That is some fantasy bullshit right there."

"Oh aren't you a big scary player character! What level are you now? Is it two? *gasp* You are so scary! You are so scary :D!"

Just the entire part where shes talking about "Groovy dancing eye spiders"

"The idea of a boat beckoning makes me really happy. Just like, 'Come aboard sailor ;)." It curls it's rudder at you enticingly. 'C'mon get on my deck love'"

"Nobody ever talks to me. I'm only the fucking dungeon master, its fine!"

"I just want a snack and someone to ask me to roll a dice."

"C'mon ladies get your tadpoles wriggling"

"You may know me from such things as lying on the sofa eating cheese for several months."

"It's the scent of Avernus. New by Calvin Klein."

"If you fancy Astarion, you might want to consider therapy."

"He's so damaged, I must have him!"

"Haha you rolled badly"

"The world continues to turn as you read EVERYTHING!"

"Me? I can't steal from anybody. I'm the GM, I have no hands!"

"It gets more atmospheric when they fuck up. We will reward you with some ASMR but you are fucked now."

"You can't go scrumping for cod Josh!"

"Apples? What are those? I'm gonna shoot a potato out of the sky! As nature intended."

"uuuhh where were we? Who am I? What day is it? Why do my arms hurt? This and other questions will never be answered."

"that could be the tagline for the ENTIRE game! Frantic. Bi. Energy."

"I'm a bard! I can fuck my way through any problem!"

"I seduce the door. Done it! I've got splinters places you DO NOT wanna know about but I'm through."

"We live in horny jail, you can't send us there! We've got the keys!"

"Go on, do it, jump in a well, see what happens."

"Make a wish. I wish i wasn't stuck in this well."

"Somebody studied Shakespeare and now its EVERY BODIES PROBLEM."

"Aww aren't they having a nice time. But you're gonna die. A LOT."

"I'm a professional I can say the word 'erected' without laughing. Once."

"Conceal your tadpoles gentlemen! We're entering combat!"

"Yay fish people! *fish people noises*"

"I have exceptionally moist ankles. Send Victorian text."

"Can I swallow that semicolon?"

"Gary tried to romance the town prostitute and started a war. Well done Gary!"

"He rolled poorly. He's lucky I don't rip his face off and melt it like Plasticine."

"Got a tadpole! Hello, slippery friend!"

"There we go! Read it like a grown up! Who isn't laughing at the word 'tug' or 'meat'."

"Like a sexy plaque. Get a load of the font on that."

"I am the problem and I am fully aware. But I've made the decision to inflict me on everyone else."

"Your call into the abyss is important to us. Please shout again."

"Who looted Shadowheart's box? C'mon, hands up! Astarion don't look away, I know it was you."

"Can we try that again, but move the comma to the other side of the but? *stifled laughter* You got it buddy."

"Dreamy interspersed with squirrels"

"Hallucinogenic delivery! Hi I've got a pizza for you! Also a Picasso face. try not to look too closely everything gonna start swirling."

"'He's coiled like a spring, hand inching towards his weapon.' *hysterical laughter* Oh fuck, ah shit. what, who wrote that? Oh god, that's just FILTH."

"Baldur's Gate: After Dark. It's a little bit sexy but you are gonna be covered in blood at the end."

[hobbithoes]

I LOVE YOUR DURGE!!!! she is so beautiful and i haven't seen your art in a while and it blew me away with how good it is :") i wanna know everything about her!!

THANK U!!!! >:) I’ve been getting back into it and it’s been fun! I have a bunch of just little stuff I put in my notes when I’m playing so I’ll just paste them here 😎

• fave dyes are harlequin black and white, sage green, and I forgot the exact name but the brown and white one

• has a gap toof 🦷

•Besties r karlach and shadowheart, sh is her drankinggg buddy 🍷 don’t trust ur wine around them FOREAL‼️

• astarion romance, she thinks it’s super hot that he’s a vampire lol. NGL though if shadowheart talked to her first at the party after the goblin camp it woulda been a different story 😈 bit of … energy between them !

• Really chatty girl as long as she’s not sad or her urges aren’t active atm. Pretty lighthearted for the most part just yapping as long as her urges aren’t acting up lately 😳 that’s usually how her companions notice it’s acting up again, she won’t stfu all day then they’re like huh that’s weird haven’t heard her say anything in a while, let me look back at her rq and girlie hits em with 1 of these looks :

• Likes to draw, she draws for funsies and sometimes to try to channel her urges into something, she’ll trance out and literally look like she’s tweaking and be whispering to herself all crazy and twitching and like ripping the paper with how hard she’s drawing LOL. She likes to keep them separated with 2 diff sketchbooks, they look like totally different people drew them and it’s all just gory shit if it’s the urge drawing , otherwise it’s nice and soft and mostly plants and sketches of cool loot 😎

• triggers all the traps #ethelgivemyeyeback💔😢

• In game I decorated a little space for her, I just wish it moved across diff camps and acts of the game tho 😡

[mrcrowblargs]

The final battle... to confront the Netherbrain. Even though I had gotten more used to switching up the party during Act 3, I wanted to have my favourites along, though I ended up choosing Lae'zel over Karlach because one Lae'zel quest thing remained.

So it was Aldiirn, Astarion, Gale, and Lae'zel, all in for a big headache. End spoilers below!

big brain! big scary brain! Throwing the Netherstones was scream inducing. They gave a variety of options for each throw but it was always my weak stats grouped together lmao. Aldiirn passed the first INT check, then fucking whiffed the second CHA check because I just assumed I would pass and hit continue... but then I kinda got the sense passing or failing would not make much difference here and... yup.

Empy scoops us up into the Astral Prism and it's Orpheus time, babey. Freeing Orpheus was no question but I did question, "what if I became the mindflayer" which prompted Astarion to be like, "could we have an aside, privately? You're not really going to throw away that pretty face of yours?????" very cute.

Aldiirn knew Emperor was vehemently against freeing Orpheus, but hoped he could convince Emperor to see reason. Like they all got the same goals, they can all combine their power, we can talk Orpheus into cooling don his blood feud for the sake of a bigger bad. Aldiirn's a fucking bard with +15 Persuasion if anyone could do it, it would be him, but--- NO!!! EMPEROR HAD TO BE A GODDAMN BITCH AND SWITCHED SIDES LIKE. IMMEDIATELY. NO DISCUSSION. BRUH.

Also one thing I feel there was a missed opportunity on was confronting Emperor over, hey buddy weren't you the mindflayer that put tadpoles in our heads??? It's definitely Emperor in the opening scene. I really wanted to hear from it about what happened on the nautiloid but all we got were like, some records in Gortash's palace and it's ambiguous if Emperor was of itself at the time. alas.

Gave Lae'zel the honours to free Orpheus aaaand here's the mindflayer conversation all over again. And like, shit, after everything that was done to free the guy and drive the githyanki revolution, becoming the mindflayer felt most in character for Aldiirn. I'm pretty sure I sat over the decision for a solid ten minutes like WONT SOMEONE PERSUADE ME OUT OF THIS lmao. But Astarion kinda had with the aside before. I might make a comic to flesh out the moment like... I think it would be a good one of the party backing Aldiirn up to choose his own freedom after pushing for everyone else's.

Orpheus became the mindflayer, tragic but necessary. I felt so bad for Lae'zel. Uuggh the emotion in her face here.

and then the goofiest smile ever in High Hall haha. Everyone from Gather Your Allies being mushed in there felt a little contrived but, what the hell, SUMMON YOUR SOCIAL LINKS!!! I love a good friendship moment.

Hooboy the battles here really gave the D&D experience: waiting 40 minutes for your turn in initiative to show up. IDK why but at first I thought it would be a brilliant idea to surround the enemy but soon realised it turned the battle into an immediate slog. Reload, and instead fought starting from the wall on the west side. Got this nice little screencap of my mans fighting side by side even though neither should be anywhere near melee haha.

I have to say, I think I would have preferred that all the companions be allowed into the battle over the ally summons for the final battle. At least the origin ones. I want to replay it at some point with the party limit begone mod.

The tower was the hardest part, getting up past that stupid statue that COULDNT BE BROKEN DOWN... Aldiirn and Lae'zel could fly but Astarion and Gale couldn't even see where to teleport. It's SO annoying that Dimension Door has to be a point you can see now, its whole thing in 5e was that you didn't need to.

Whenever Gale brings up exploding himself I wanna do that Archer slap fest bit to him. Buddy, no, we are ALL getting out of this alive!

Up we go to the brain of the bad bitch herself and THE BIGGEST TRAITOR BITCH!!!!!! okay but bringing out the dream visitors to fight was cool. Seems Aldiirn's got reverted to the default drow dude (he should have had similar green skiin and short white hair) and I'm guessing the others are just kinda like, stock random ones. Looks like they are all human female. Would have been nice to see ones tailored for each companion you bring. Then they can all chide each other later like "so THAT'S what you find attractive?" hehe

Remember I stole that runepowder bomb from Wulbren? Yeah, I brought it with me as a parting gift for Emperor. Threw the bomb at its feet and then KA-BOOM!!!!! Wiped out Empy, all the Guardians, and fucked up everything else INCLUDING ALDIIRN. I have no idea WHAT happened -- maybe Emperor's shield of thralls??? -- because I'm certain he was behind Lae'zel when she threw & exploded the bomb and she was kind. Aldiirn just fucking dropped dead behind her. I just laughed and rolled with it, Astarion got Aldiirn back on his feet.

Fight was good, the most annoying bit were the Mindflayers and Dominating Aylin AGAIN. I swear to got that woman can never pass a WIS save.

And then when we got to the unshakeable will of the netherbrain???? Lae'zel fucking shredded it with 9 attacks. Astarion gets a crit with an Arrow of Aberration Slaying (but no sneak attack). It's hanging on by a thread.

Aldiirn enters.

"TWIT"

"TWAT"

"TWERP"

fucking. Vicious Mockeried the BBEG to death. The most legendary goddamn move a Bard can ever do. No other bard I play will ever top that.

Down she goooooes and oh fuck everyone's getting fucked from the tadpoles dying in their heads

And then... silence. it's over. Aldiirn has his cute face back I wanted to sob seeing it again. I really expected more consquences for taking the Astral tadpole but... still, I wanted him to survive and enjoy the rest of his life.

But of course there were still things to go wrong.

Lae'zel and Orpheus, I couldn't let Lae'zel devote her life to another cult and endless war when she could have her own freedom, forge her own destiny, so I persuaded her to stay on Faerun. Orpheus went and committed sudoku which, eh, tbh I feel like he was weak willed for that. It does feel a bit like everything done to free Orpheus was for naught but Lae'zel deserves a chance to live her own life.

Side note, I was amused that Aldiirn apparently still had his Illithid Expertise feature as that was his source of Persuasion Expertise at the end heh.

continuing the mood of "fuck doing anymore quests" I told Gale to leave the crown in the river... completely fucking forgetting that Mystra was gonna remove the orb in exchange for it afhdjkfsd. I like to think it keeps Aldiirn awake at night sometimes. "why did he listen to me. why hasn't he gone back for it. all our brains were fried right then why couldn't any of you make your own decisions." lmao.

and POOR ASTARION. Just fucking fried right there in the beautiful sun. Gale's like "well we'll never see him again" UH BRO WHAT??? PLEASE JUST HOLD THE OTHER END OF THIS FUCKING TARP SO WE CAN GET HIM INSIDE SOMEWHERE. Thooouuughhh I headcanon that Aldiirn cast Darkness on Astarion and tell him to hold on while another pressing matter ignites...

Karlach, baby, noooo!!! Promising to be with Karlach at the end is the only reason Aldiirn wouldn't immediately chase after Astarion and, yeah. Aaa my eyes were tearing so much. I thought back to her post-Gortash breakdown and was like, "karlach. you want to live. you SHOULD get to live. Go with Wyll to Avernus."

Kicking demon ass never looked so good. I figure, there's some hellish real estate opening, those two should look into it, and the REAL celebration party should be at the House of Hope so everyone can be there. :D

Aldiirn would have gone with Karlach and Wyll, but he's needed on this plane.

God, Astarion looks so hollow when he mentions losing his time in the sun. Aldiirn wants that back for him so badly, but also needs a fucking break from adventuring. I headcanon that reverting the partial illithid transforation was not a clean cut thing by any measure and Aldiirn has a longer road to recovery ahead of him. But he's not gonna sit idle. There's thousands of vampire spawn in is home, the Underdark, that need guidance, and just maybe a bardy bard is just the type needed to inspire them to band together. Aldiirn's gotta know of a large enough abandoned megadungeon that could house them all while they work to support themselves. And then, when he's in good enough shape, Aldiirn will find a way for Astarion to bask in the sun again.

[tsgmain]

Just finished my first campaign of Baldur’s Gate 3… wow. I’m in pieces. My character, Zeryth, nor I, was not ready for how hard the final scenes hit.

This will have minor spoilers, but I’ll keep things mildly vague.

Fuck. I was not ready for the end for Karlach. Zeryth doesn’t have it in him to make someone do something they don’t wanna. So the ‘best’ option wasn’t on the cards. That shit stings so bad.

Astarion getting his weakness to sunlight returned as he’s talking about spending more time with the gang is awful, I feel so bad for him.

Gale left to get the crown, Zeryth tried to stop him, but also hopes he can do it and harness its power. Im glad Gale believes in himself again though!

Wyll had a nice ending, im happy he’s free of the pact, and he and Zeryth will definitely be drinking buddies after a long tenday of adventuring saving the coast.

Lae’zel is off to fight Vlaakith, fuck yeah! Good luck, and Godspeed!

Shadowheart didn’t say much, but it seems she intends to stick around in Zeryth’s party? Either way, good job her, overcoming her abusive goddess.

Honorable mention to Jahiera and Minsk, who I can only assume are going to do the same as Shadowheart and Wyll, joining with Zeryth’s adventuring gang.

In the end, I think I played Zeryth well. He got a happier ending than he would in his original world, so I’m sure he’s happy about that.

[thedubiouspeach]

New Layout New Me!

I think it's only fair that since I've been nothing but an enigma on this site that I properly introduce myself!

Hi! My name is Bliss! I'm a 25-year-old LGBTQ+ & Neurodivergent writer. I am a Jhin main first and a human never. My fixation is primarily Jhin-centric, but I tend to hop across a multitude of fandoms!

Said fandoms include:

League of Legends (Jhin-centric interest)

Baldur's Gate 3 (Astarion-centric interest)

Psycho-Pass

Jujutsu Kaisen

Sonic The Hedgehog

91 Days

Sun Haven

Buddy Daddies

Blue Exorcist

Yuri On Ice

Kuroko no Basket

Soul Eater

Dragon Ball Z

Steven Universe

Avatar: The Last Airbender / The Legend of Korra

Suitor Armor

Gangsta

Castlevania

I'm a hopeless romantic and throw together ships whenever possible because it's fun and I enjoy exploring dynamics. I sometimes find myself in Rarepair Hell and it is of every fault of my own.

Current ships and their ship names if they have one in my mind's eye:

Jhin / Rakan - Golden Lotus

Jhin / Pyke - Red Water Dreams

Jhin / Yone - Method Acting

Jhin / Yasuo - Freelance Artists

Jhin / Varus - Sacrilegious Shots

Jhin / Vladimir - Crimson Affairs

Jhin / Pyke / Rakan - Weight In Gold

Jhin / Rakan / Yone - Standing Ovation

Jhin / Rakan / Yasuo - Travelling Show

Jhin / Pyke / Rakan / Yasuo / Ezreal / Akshan - The Men Pile

Irelia / Xayah - Kingslayers

Irelia / Xayah / Akali / Nilah - Sparring Practice

Irelia / Xayah / Akali / Nilah / Neeko - Battle Born

Xayah / Sett - Fisticuffs

Shusei Kagari / Shinya Kogami - Kissed Knuckles

Satoru Gojo / Kento Nanami - See No Evil

Hiromi Higuruma / Kento Nanami

Satoru Gojo / Kento Nanami / Hiromi Higuruma

Yuji Itadori / Megumi Fushiguro

Yuta Okkotsu / Toge Inumaki - Speak No Evil

Jun / Dr. Wornhardt

Jun / Vaan

Dr. Wornhardt / Jun / Vaan

Jun / Vaan / Donovan

Jun / Van / Donovan / Dr. Wornhardt / Darius

Rei Suwa / Kazuki Kurusu

Ryouta Kise / Yukio Kasamatsu - Kisamatsu

Daiki Aomine / Taiga Kagami - Kagomine

Kotaro Hayama / Shun Izuki

Kotaro Hayama / Taiga Kagami - Hot-Head Express

Katsuki Yuuri / Victor Nikiforov - Victory/Victuuri/Victuri

Shadow the Hedgehog / Sonic the Hedgehog - Sonadow (duh)

Goku / Vegeta

Rin Okumura / Renzou Shima - Cotton Candy Complications

Shiro Fujimoto / Mephisto Pheles

Nero Vanetti / Angelo Lagusa - Russian Roulette

Katara / Zuko

Trevor Belmont / Alucard / Sypha Belnades - The Usual Suspects

Death the Kid / Crona

Pearl / Bismuth

Sapphire / Ruby

Boundaries:

I won't participate in ship discourse. I just won't, it's not worth it. I have my reservations on certain things and Imma keep it to myself.

What I will do is participate in fandom, fandom activities, and the occasional discourse about the shows/games/comics themselves!

Interests & Hobbies:

When I'm offline I tend to read here and there.

I write mostly romantic/ship-related fanfic and even original works with original characters! Occasionally, I post poetry when I'm in A Mood(TM).

It's an absolute delight to talk about all of my characters that I've taken so much time to craft <3

I make playlists on Spotify and Youtube based on stories I've written, favorite characters, favorite ships, and original characters! I'll be adding those links to my Carrd once I have them both up-to-date c:

I'm not entirely sure what I should be posting on Tumblr? This site is very awkward for me and I feel a tad isolated every time I open it. So if anyone has any ideas of what they'd like to see or a better way to be more engaging drop me an ask!

I might make a post for snippet requests and whatnot that y'all can choose from as well! It'll take a bit, but it'll be up eventually lol.

If you wanna find me anywhere else like Twitter, AO3, Commaful, Wattpad (Idk why, but it's an option), and more then you can find my Carrd in my bio!

Thanks for reading this far and getting to know me! If you have any questions then you know where the ask and DM buttons are c:

[thirddoctor]

top 5 'haha, what a loser' moments in bg3 >:3

dhgjsf very funny ask thank you

Obvious one but after we saved the grove and I was like well this sure is a fun party! let me go talk to my good buddy Gale :) and Gale was like I wanna teach you some magic, so I said sure sounds fun, then went to talk to Lae'zel and she's like I can't believe you're gonna sleep with Gale and I was like wait WHAT and it turned out all my friends were a bunch of horny weirdos who wanted me so bad it made them look stupid

Speaking of horny weirdos, when Mizora was like, so you and me, how about it? ;) after she tried to force my best boy Wyll to either sell her his soul or let his dad die. idk what kind of answer she was expecting from me

Every time I went to have a nice conversation with Astarion and instead he was like soooo have you thought about helping me take over the world yet? :) and I would have to patiently explain once again that no, I wasn't gonna do that

When I discovered my cool mom friend was in fact a deadbeat skipping out on her actual family to be my cool mom friend

Minthara trying to look tough and mean while having the saddest wettest eyes in Faerun

Some bonus unscripted loser moments:

After we'd just triumphantly defeated a horde of goblins and then all four of us slipped and fell over on some grease at the same time

In the first romance scene with Lae'zel when, playing as Astarion, I tried to be suave and assertive and immediately rolled a 2

When I saved a funny rock in Act One and spent the whole game planning to chuck it at the Netherbrain for the killing blow and then when the moment came it just bounced right off lol

When I went around opening up cursed chests and wondered why my companions were all being little babies about it even though I was the one on 1 HP and I was fine, till I realised they were, you know, getting cursed, and I was unaffected on account of being undead

When I threatened Mizora by leaving Raphael's body at her feet My pic of Raphael dying in a glue trap :)

I also spent an... embarrassingly long time carrying Cazador's corpse in my inventory, weighing me down, while I tried to figure out a fitting resting place for him. First I had the idea of leaving him in Chult to be eaten by dinosaurs, but there's no way to get back there, so then I thought about trapping him in the magic lamp, but when I went back to find it it wasn't there anymore (I might have destroyed it?), so I finally settled on dumping him in the astral prism.

I was going to put my portrait there for him to gaze on for eternity, but it switched to being Lae'zel instead. I was romancing her so it's fine I guess. I'll taunt him with my hot gf. I also left him with a jester's hat (that I sadly couldn't place on his head), a poisoned apple, a... book? Honestly don't remember what that was about but l'm sure I left him with some thrilling reading material. And for company I gave him a teddy bear, a clown head, and Gortash's hand. I think I was just clearing out my inventory at that point. Can't tell you what a relief it was to finally be rid of his weight (there's a metaphor in there, I'm sure).

[bongwaterbunny]

this is the only real pic i have of her so far- basically heres my tav!!!

bailey!! seldarine drow, (circle of the moon) druid lev 4 n wizard lev 1, she/they

they have a greatstaff rn! i think its the rain dancer but im not sure if i gave that to gale or not lmao

run in. wildshape to bear. when that fails its time to reload my last save

story she got from saving mirkon, also halsins pipe but we dont talk about that

get? the worm? out?

shes not a durge but holy shit does she wanna be (just for the complex astarion storyline)

probably wants to be a mom one day (wont admit it)

THE FUCKING YAPPING THEIR TEAM DOES. i will be sobbing about someone's backstory n then gale n astarion bicker or karlach starts dancing n suddenly everything is fine again

this was SUPPOSED to be a halsin run but astarion. is being himself.

moss, but not dirty moss

MAGIC MISSILE LETS GOOOOOOO

astarion going "dont touch me >:(" everytime she tries to get him to disarm a trap. like okay buddy nobody's assaulting you can you just pls pick this here lock? thanks

spending all her wildshapes n forcing us to short rest like crazy

for some reason shes never fallen prone before? like never. not on ice, not when pushed, idk

magic lessons with galeeeee

ithbank, she stashes that shit

grub :((( she misses the tieflings so bad guys

its SUPPOSED to be halsin but he refuses to travel with me until i clear the curse for him so rn its astarion

hugs!

cant remember it 😋😋

pls someone help me resist this fucking vampire n his sanguine charm

Get to know your Tav! (Ask Game)

A restyle of this questionaire for anyone who prefers the ask game format!

Introduce your current or favorite tav (name, race/class, age, pronouns)

What is your tavs...

favorite weapon?

style of combat?

most prized possession?

deepest desire?

guilty pleasure?

best-kept secret?

greatest strength?

fatal flaw?

favorite smell?

favorite spell or cantrip?

pet peeve?

bad habit?

hidden talent?

leisure activity?

favorite drink?

comfort food?

favorite person?

favored display of affection (platonic and/or romantic)?

fondest childhood memory?

free-response! Is there anything else about your Tav you'd like to share?

[coldshrugs]

I WANT TO ASK THEM ALL FOR ALL OF THEM AAAAA but i shall restrain myself; 10, 14, 21 for ulysse bc I neglect her in these memes. [optional bonus round] divvy up these between any other characters you wanna talk about; 1, 5, 19, 27. Yes, this is restraint.

OKAY I’M FINALLY GETTING TO THESE! Thank you and you know I would never ask you to restrain yourself 😂 

10. What energizes and drains them most?

Ulysse is energized most by solitude. As a ranger, she enjoys the time spent alone in the wilderness; it’s where she feels most at ease. She’s one of those people that’s never bored with their own company and often prefers it over the mediocre company of others.

Ulysse is drained most by Astarion.

14. What do they care deeply about? What kind of loyalties, commitments, moral codes, life philosophies, passions, callings, or spirituality and faith do they have? How do these tend to be expressed?

This is tough because Ulysse is like... incredibly neutral. She cares about her own health and safety, and that of her friends and loved ones (she has few of those). Her morals change depending on the situation but she tries to go with whatever feels right or interesting at the time.

Still, when she does feel a streak of loyalty to someone, she’s all in. It’s expressed with 100% trust. She’ll always have their back.

21. What kind of relationships do they tend to intentionally seek out versus actually cultivate? What kind of social contact do they prefer, and why?

In case it’s been left to doubt, she doesn’t intentionally seek out relationships 😂

That doesn’t mean she hasn’t had to cultivate any. She’s on good terms with many hunters and druids. She speaks with animals and enjoys the bonds she forms with them. As for preferred social contact, she prefers it to be good-natured and temporary.

She has family back in Baldur’s Gate that she sees on her occasional stops into the city. She loves them but they’re not enough to keep her from her solitary lifestyle, and they’ve never tried to stop her.

And of course, lately, she has had to cultivate bonds with her ragtag group of companions. She finds things to respect in all of them, even if she can’t find things to like about some of them.

I’ll answer the rest briefly for my four current head tenants!

1. How do they move and carry themselves? Pace, rhythm, gestures, energy?

Effie: Walks with a steady, confident gait; not quite a swagger but she’s not afraid to really take up the small space she occupies. Her energy varies wildly between a bit gloomy or bright and chipper and depends entirely on the company. She doesn’t really gesture with her hands, but her face often betrays her true emotions unless she’s in Swindle Mode.

Cleo: Bouncy, bubbly quick steps. Light on her feet. Emotive and quick to smile, and gestures with her hands when speaking. She’s touchy as well, so she’ll reach out to her conversational partners or even grab an object for a prop.

Io: She’s so lanky but moves with THE MOST grace you’ve ever seen. There are no wasted actions with Io. There’s a certain restraint there, too, because she’s almost never totally comfortable around others. Her hands are often still, arms usually crossed.

Ulysse: She’s got a VERY quiet footfall and a sort of danger about her presence. There’s a cat-like element to her movements. She’s not very emotive, but her eyes are always busy, always taking in her surroundings. Often, her hands are on her hips, ready to grab a dagger or an axe. 

5. How do they dress? What styles, colors, accessories, and other possessions do they favor? Why?

Effie: A blousy top and dark corset-y jerkin, fitted but stretchy pants, and black lace-up boots that hit just above the ankle and probably have a small heel. Or at least, that’s what she’ll wear once she’s in Velantis and can afford to dress in clothes for the aesthetic. Think like, slightly more femme Renfri from the Netflix version of The Witcher and you’ve got Effie’s look. She likes muted, dark colors; burgundy, navy, plum, and black. As for accessories: she has a few ear piercings on both ears and she prefers silver jewelry in those; sometimes she’ll wear a scarf (in case she needs to wipe away blood), and then she’d consider her dagger and sword accessories too.

Cleo: Cleo's style is all about breezy fabrics, simple silhouettes, and rich colors and patterns. She's not afraid to show skin and the weather usually permits it. To accessorize, she adds layered necklaces and a staple pair of earrings, sometimes pulling sheer patterned tights into a less busy look. When the weather cools, her usual wardrobe just gets a sweater or cardigan thrown on top and she might consider adding thick solid black tights under her skirt and boots. Cleo doesn’t own pants tbh.

Io: Oh man, Io’s gone through a few style changes in her time. I like to think the more comfortable she becomes with her place in Eorzea, the more comfortable she dresses? She’s not trying to impress anyone at this point in her journey, so she’s in drapey fabrics, practical boots, and her legs are mostly free. It’s a look she can fight in if she needs to, but it’s also something she can wear around the Rising Stones with her friends and show off her personality. She’s currently decked out in chunky jewelry as well.

Ulysse: Hmm, Ulysse doesn’t really have “style” tbh. Everything she wears must be practical. She’s got no use for anything less. She favors earth tones- greens, yellows, browns. But her clothes are sturdy, warm, and allow her to move quickly and quietly.

19. How do they behave within a group? What role(s) do they take? Does this differ if they know and trust the group, versus finding themselves in a group of strangers? Why?

Effie: She’s going to default to a Follower With Opinions unless forced into a leadership role. She’s might be confident in her abilities, but she isn’t confident about how others will react to her. With Aeran, they’re often on equal footing and will just throw ideas back and forth until something they both agree on sticks. In all groups, she’s a bit of a peacekeeper but likes to share her sense of humor.

Cleo: Oh she’s immediately going to turn into the Mom Friend. Cleo’s extremely nurturing and wants everyone around her to feel cared for. In a group of strangers, she’s probably not going to be as talkative but she’d still find a way to check in on someone feeling even more awkward than she does.

Io: Please don’t make her talk. Please don’t make her lead. Please don’t notice when she quietly slips to the back of the group and then out of the room and into the comfort of the local library.

Ulysse: She does not want to lead, but she will step the fuck up if she has to. She doesn’t really get why people want to follow her when the only thing she’s been in charge of for decades is herself but oh well. Ulysse has a bit of a problem with applying the correct amount of gravity to any given situation and in a group, she’s very “that’s rough, buddy” when someone really needs a deep emotional conversation.

27. What do they strongly like and dislike, in any category? Why?

Okay, I’ll do weather 😩

Effie: HATES rain after that year in Rona. Or hates how she’s just gotten used to feeling soggy. Really likes that sort of cold autumnal sunny weather that’s crisp and comfortable.

Cleo: Doesn’t love snow from the few times she’s experienced it. She doesn’t really feel strongly about the weather otherwise. Likes rain, besides the way it makes her hair frizz.

Io: Coerthas is her favorite place in Eorzea and she loves snow. She’s not a fan of the warmer climates, her ears get too hot and it’s just very uncomfy.

Ulysse: Loves warm balmy weather. She’s another that doesn’t care for rain. It washes away tracks and scents.