#baldur's gate relationships

[leiflitter]

Got my arse in gear for this + fun lil blurbs under the cut for REASONS. I haven't used the best friends because Els' general baseline friendship is pretty intense anyways so they'd all be best friends if she had her way. This may get long but hey! That's life!

Gale - Els has no idea who he is when she hauls him out of that portal. Literally. Word of his wizarding skill has not reached her particular demographic, and so she just assumes he's some sort of minor noble or possibly an elected official- because who introduces themselves as So-and-so of Such-a-place if they aren't?

However, this is probably a good thing. If Els had known about his past, she'd probably have been a little more deferential- not necessarily out of respect, but because that's what she's learned that people of that station want.

Gale, of course, has spent his entire formative years in the company of people who see him as Gale the Wizard, not Gale the Person- and although he's been to a few rough taverns in his time, that's very different from actual prolonged exposure to someone who comes from such a different background. Els' forthright attitude and general lack of simpering about magic are both a novel experience and a breath of fresh air.

He's also intrigued by her, but initially assumes that she has some hitherto-unknown power that makes her so persuasive and compelling. Because he is oblivious and probably hasn't ever had a normal crush on someone, so it's absolutely mysterious as fuck.

Els, on the other hand, has just honed her observation skills through necessity- but on her part, she thought there was something about him the moment he got to his feet and started rambling about ceremorphosis. Their forays into friendship cemented that, yes, she is going to be absolutely heartsick over him- and life is short! They have tadpoles in their heads! Life has put them on a level playing field, and if she's going to turn into a mindflayer she may as well go for it.

Despite their differences, they share a love for knowledge. Els is illiterate, but is a bard in the most archaic sense- she knows so many stories that may have never been put to paper. Gale's knowledge comes from hours of study, but he's in sore need of practical knowledge and someone to give him a nudge when he gets in too deep.

Gale teaches Els to read, and Els teaches Gale to put down the books from time to time and go outside. The perfect Autism/ADHD combo, honestly.

Halsin - why is it complicated? Well, mostly because they have a few crossed wires.

Halsin's... well. He's used to being an authority figure, and he's been through it. Due to this he defaults to what he finds comfortable- assuming that his and Els' connection is due to physical attraction. Yes, he can see that she's making eyes at Gale, but in the grand scheme of things that doesn't mean much.

Els, on the other hand, looks at Halsin and sees her father. A stoic man, connected to nature and put in a position of responsibility that he must bear alone. She can't help but treat him with the affection she holds for her father, and that leads to a... fairly awkward conversation at a later date.

Still, despite the initial disappointment, it helps Halsin move on a little- and, with hindsight, it would not have worked in any way, shape or form. For one, Halsin's too old for Els- he knows himself too well for them to develop as a pair. Also, he's absolutely huge and she's short and scrawny. She would die.

After it's over, she will absolutely be dropping in on him regularly with new wood for him to whittle into ducks, and maybe he'll have a spot in whatever enclave for an old woodcutter who can't cut down any more trees. I think Halsin and Els' dad would be great friends, honestly. I can imagine them watching her set out on her way home, both with that quiet nod of "that's my girl."

Astarion - Els has played for his type more times than she can count, and he doesn't scare her. Honestly, she mostly finds him hilarious- his ascerbic wit and general sarcasm are a great foil for her blunt nature.

He's also one of the few folk in camp who can read people the way she does- and he has valuable insights into the way the upper crust live. She absolutely turns to him for advice about Gale before she fully decides to go for it- "is there some etiquette for telling someone that you're up for it if they are?"

Gale also goes to him for advice, which honestly tickles Astarion to no end.

Els is valuable to Astarion because she sees through his posturing and absolutely will call him out on his shit. She's the conscience that he never really wanted, so it does help that he can make snarky comments about how she needs to brush her hair from time to time. He feels protective over her, but wouldn't admit it- if someone was to hurt her, he would absolutely hunt them down, but he'd be pretending it was all pure coincidence the entire time.

Karlach - these two are trouble. They cannot be left alone because that is how shenanigans begin, and shenanigans lead to their stock of healing portions being sorely depleted.

They easily fall into a sibling-type bond nearly as soon as they meet- and while it's fun, it can also lead to some very childish squabbles- although, it must be said, even the squabbles are undertaken in puppyish glee. It's far calmer for everyone when they can play-fight- although it's a little alarming the first time Karlach has Els in a headlock, they're fairly evenly matched. Karlach is strong, but Els is agile.

They have deep 3am conversations, keep each other's little secrets, and absolutely annoy everyone else at bedtime when one of them goes, "imagine if we were all frogs right now."

Shadowheart - Shadowheart would like to think that she's the 'sensible one'. Els would absolutely disagree with that. Shadowheart is just better at hiding how silly she actually is, and Els delights in luring her a little more out of her shell each time.

Els likes Shadowheart aggressively. She can sense that there's something in her that's at odds with all of her Cool Collected Shar Worship, and Els cannot leave it alone. To her, Shadowheart is like a wobbly tooth- she knows she shouldn't touch it, but she can't help it!

Shadowheart initally is being pragmatic. Els has the people skills that she lacks, and if she's to get back to Baldur's Gate she needs help. Unfortunately, she keeps bonding with the help, and it's inconvenient, and now she's half-heartedly complaining about Els and Karlach splashing when she's trying to wash her hair, can you two please stop acting like children? But she's smiling when she says it.

Wyll - now, Els has heard of The Blade of Frontiers. She's sung a fair few ballads about him, and absolutely has weaponised that against him. It's also probably why she doesn't consider him a romantic prospect- she wants to carve her own legend, not turn into an accessory to another. Wyll, for his part, isn't immune to Els' natural rizz, but I think it'd be a momentary wobble. He probably considered it for an instant, then was immediately hit with the realisation that nope, he doesn't like her like that. Like when you have a romantic dream about a friend, and wake up going "... what???? No????"

Els and Wyll aren't quite at the sibling tier that Karlach and Els are at- they're more like the two kids who compete to be top of the class, but would be at a loss without each other. If they're in the party together, there will inevitably be a discussion of who did the most impressive feat once they're back in camp.

Els normally wins, because she's a bard and as such can brag at an Olympic level, but it's all in good fun- and she's secretly putting together a new epic poem about The Blade's Adventures with The Bard.

He's a good egg, and Els absolutely sneaks him unflattering doodles of Mizora.

Lae'Zel - They butt heads constantly. Especially early on- Els may be blunt, but Lae'Zel takes it to an entirely different level- while Els is plain spoken to her friends, she also knows how to turn on her negotiator skills for the world at large. Lae'Zel's idea of negotiation is that she won't immediately kill whoever she's speaking to.

It initially annoys Lae'Zel that Els just... takes charge of the party, as if there isn't a highly trained warrior and tactician right here who would be a far better option! Then, when she realises that Els is surprisingly capable, her next thought is to see if she can best her in the bedroom- and Els politely turns her down? Inconceivable.

On Els' part, Lae'Zel is like a big, growling dog- initially intimidating, but upon a second glance she can see that the growling isn't mere hostility. It's fear. The true turning point from Els' perspective is when Lae'Zel says teethling- she talks a big game, but she's mostly bark, and Els can talk her down from biting easily.

Jaheira - Els never knew her mother, but if she could choose a replacement, it'd be Jaheira. She's an aspirational figure to Els- it stops them getting close, as Els isn't used to being starstruck, but there's a kind of yearning on Els' side for an older female role model, and although Jaheira doesn't openly take that position on, perhaps she tells Els she's doing well a little more than she might otherwise.

If Jaheira had been around since day 1, they'd probably be closer, but as she isn't... it's more like having a really cool coworker who you want to befriend but have to muster up the courage to approach.

[theoldkyokodied]

The Allegiance of the Ascended Vampire and the New God of Magic

[doodaddlesart]

who woke up mom & dad >=v0

~

based off that one meme - you know which one

[myrkulitescourge]

the way that one line from the new epilogue in an astarion romance is going to HAUNT me

just. what a profoundly intense thing to confess to someone.

like, just these six months of newfound happiness with you exerts a force on his heart equal and in direct opposition to two centuries of endless torment, the gnawing hunger and exploitation. this flashbulb-bright fraction of his long life holds the same gravity to him as years upon years of darkness and suffering.

in all likelihood, he hasn’t even known his lover for as long as his worst memory lasted, that year sealed away to go mad from starvation and sensory deprivation, yet he still tells them this brief time has been so fundamentally and powerfully important that the weight of even that unimaginable hell is vanishingly small compared to this present he has now and the future ahead of them both.

how am i supposed to act normal about this.

[lazylittledragon]

nomad boyfriend comes back for a visit

obviously there are some extras for the patr0ns <3

[catsharky]

Hey Larian why can't I mention to anyone that the squid man tried to get in my (Ember's) pants? If that happened to me in real life I don't think I'd ever stop talking about it

[zwierzodudle]

just durge things 💕

commissions \ ko-fi\ patreon

[verawhisk]

save me professor dekarios... save me...

[tendermiasma]

Clover somehow managed to survive Thisobald but at the cost of becoming extremely inebriated so Halsin just carried him around for a while

In spite of his protests 👉👈

[mogwaei]

The Bard deserves to be swept off their feet every now and then by a Hero.

[ zjinn canonically plays "I need a Hero" for wyll during fights ]

[tomurakii]

I feel like I'm going insane.

Why does Gale's "good ending" if you don't date him imply that he gets back with Mystra.

Why does the grown ass woman who intentionally isolated 17-year-old Wyll and trapped him in a relationship get to hang out in your camp (and potentially sleep with you).

Why do the writers (head writer and literally Wyll's personal character writer included!) have so little respect and tact when talking about their characters' traumas only when they are male and their abuser is female.

Nobody would find it funny if the Christmas animatic had Astarion blush at a picture of Cazador. Nobody would think it was "a good resolution" if Karlach saved and then dated Gortash at the end of the game.

And the characters aren't treated well outside of their relationships either, the writers love to laugh when people call Wyll boring or Gale annoying. I dunno what's worse: all the extra in-game dialogue calling Gale pathetic, or the fact that Wyll barely has any additional dialogue at all. With the additional factors of Wyll being the only Black companion and Gale being the only one with a disability that is somewhat "inconvenient" to the player (because God forbid a person need help), it just comes across as implicit bias from the writers themselves. To create these representations and then shit on them for traits that not only may be relatable to your audience, but traits that you gave them.

When Neil accepted the award for best performance he told people who relate to Astarion that "you are not alone." It's a beautiful sentiment, but paired with writers fetishising Wyll's abuse and saying Gale's best ending is the one where he kills himself, it comes across as though for POC, the chronically ill/disabled, or male victims of women, the statement does not apply.

[voltaical-art]

im in agony. a little self indulgent but I think wyll deserves to be told he's loved and have a small breakdown about it

[metal-junk]

Scary dog privilege

ignore that his gauntlets look like complete ass i genuinely could not be fucked with them

[lazylittledragon]

dood dump <33

[catsharky]

Yeah I was right and there was no way I was getting the rest of this done without making you all wait another month or two, so I just went to the next good break point. We're officially past the halfway point with Astarion though, so not too much longer before you actually get to see Rolan again!

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Full page format under the cut:

[moghedien]

Minthara says “in Her name” when you first meet her and she’s following the Absolute but when you recruit her and she expresses that she no longer follows any god, but she still has an intact paladin oath, and she says “in your name” occasionally because she’s no longer Lolth’s paladin or the Absolute’s paladin, she’s your paladin