#celia plays baldur's gate

[jennycalendar]

so undeniably cute and funny that jaheira hates being in a good party and is married to someone who is delighted by it. like girl you can complain all you want you are literally holding hands with sainthood incarnate The Entire Time. we all see that

[kellerybird]

I already have like five* runs going help

Sag-Aftra: half drow druid, basically a test run that I'm using as the basis for aurelia so I can do her run properly. Fuck around & find out (good ver.) Trying to romance as many characters at once as I can but leaning very heavily into Astarion rn

Lilith: Mephistopheles teifling rogue, basically gonna be self serving criminal run lol will get with anyone and everyone is possible

Celia: Mephistopheles teifling paladin, oath of devotion. Intended to be a true good run, will probably romance wyll with her

Nephele: half high elf fighter. Certified Lesbian Run.

*Selto (not started): dark urge, fuck around & find out (evil ver.), possible murder hobo. That's all I've got right now. Will expand on this when I get around to her I haven't even gone into character creation for her yet bc I'm saving her for a multi-player game *evil laughter*

*Aurelia (not started): half-drow druid. Essentially will be a sort of "true run" with her own lore, probably will definitely be using mods with her. As close to a magical girl as I could probably get with this game.

*Unnamed bard (not started): no idea what I wanna do with this yet either aside from making her "the Sword Coast's #1 Aspiring Idol! ♡" bc I feel like it'd be funny to have a bard that is really bad at being a bard but so obnoxious about it. Will also probably use mods bc God damn if I'm not gonna try and anime-ify as many tav's as I can bc I have a brand to maintain

[abscondminded]

Playing baldurs gate with some friends

Celias Morningstar (he/him)

Former mercenary converted to loyal follower of the morning sun upon his chance encounter with a solar eclipse in the desolate tundra snow. After finding new meaning in life and deserting the military, Celias now spreads the good word! And wildfires, he spreads a lot of wildfires.

[chronurgy]

commentary ask game! From your most recent fic which I loved: The tailor had done nothing to soothe his shaken nerves. Celia and her assistants had been on them the instant they stepped through the doorway, faster than a swarm of gremishkas on an abandoned spellbook. The whole visit had been nothing but a whirlwind of activity, with Celia and her innumerable assistants rushing back and forth carrying stacks of clothing and bolts of cloth, calling out questions and numbers and suggestions of all sorts to one another. Wyll could see why this establishment was considered one of the best in Baldur’s Gate – even the assistants had a good eye for colors and patterns, and with their assistance he’d quickly found a lovely ensemble. The cuts and cloths were beautiful, to be sure, and the fashions not so dissimilar to what he had worn before – before everything. But for all the nostalgia the experience had plied him with, it was not the same. He was not the same. The part of himself that he had cultivated over his years of adventure, the part that ran the sums again and again, the part that knew the price of a day’s bread, a room at a shabby inn, a farmer’s tools that would need replacing after being broken in a monster’s attack – it whispered to him about all the useful and practical things that might be bought with this sum, of all the good that might be done with it, this chunk of Gortash’s blood money. The rents that could be paid on just his share alone. But they’d be among the upper echelons of the Gate’s society at this ball and, as his father (for all his distain at such fripperies) had always said, appearances were as important there as was armor in battle. It rankled him still to politely take such princely gifts that were so clearly stained with blood, all for the purpose of playing politics. Politics – the practice of shaking hands with monsters, which was exactly what he would be doing in these beautiful, bloodstained rags. How he longed instead to slay them instead of playing nice.

Thanks for the ask!

So first things first, this was actually my second go at the tailor scene. I threw out the original version about 2 minutes after I finished writing it because I realized it was far too long and pulled way too far out of the flow of the fic without enhancing the themes. I was sad to toss it, but it was the right choice because this is much better

"Faster than a swarm of gremishkas on an abandoned spellbook" - I did a little research for this line because Wyll was a monster hunter and I wanted him to use expressions involving monsters to showcase that part of his life. When I found out that gremishkas swarm and are attracted to magic items I knew they'd work perfectly for this

"the fashions not so dissimilar to what he had worn before – before everything" - for all wyll's poise, his exile is still hard for him. It's something that pains him a great deal to this day, and that's why he can't even say the words here

As for where this section fits into the whole - Wyll is kinda living through the back half of a coming of age story in act 3. He's coming home after his heroic acts and looking around and realizing that his time away has fundamentally changed him. He's different now and he can't look at things the same way anymore. Wyll's struggle with returning home is the second major conflict in the piece and it's on show here (the first being his conflict over Vesper's loyalties). He's facing it here from an internal source when he can't stop thinking about the cost of his clothes. As a child he loved balls, loved dancing, and must have loved the beautiful outfits. But he isn't a child any longer, and he can't live in a sheltered child's world where pretty clothes just happen. His love for balls is now tempered with the cold reality of the world he lives in. It's changed, he's changed, and it can never ever go back to the way it was. There's also hints of what I'll call a minor conflict, which is Wyll the aristocrat vs Wyll the man of the people (which is more hinted at than elaborated on but it's worth mentioning).

I also just figured that wyll's a pretty caring person, of course when he went put into the world and saw how the other half lived he'd feel for them. How could he not? Especially if he struggled with money himself for awhile after his exile, which I assume he had to. He was making his living as a monster hunter, and that wouldn't necessarily be lucrative

Also Wyll had to cite his father here. So much of his interpretation of the Gate's society has to come through the lens of his father. His father (who is only ever referred to as his father in this piece) is this looming presence through the story, integral to everything that's happening even in his absence.

"Politics – the practice of shaking hands with monsters, which was exactly what he would be doing in these beautiful, bloodstained rags. How he longed instead to slay them instead of playing nice" - this was inspired by Wyll's "but a Duke shakes hands with more monsters than he slays" which has been running through my head nonstop since he said it. Duke is a political job! The monsters that the Duke is shaking hands with are people! So from that I pulled that Wyll must have an intense hatred of politics - and that feeds into some of his feelings here (that same line also comes into play with the way Wyll talks about gortash elsewhere in this piece)

[lunar-fey]

9 people you want to know better

tagged by: @celia-the-pikachu

last song I listened to: uhhh technically probably something on the bg3 ost. but i don't know any of the names and i feel like it kinda doesn't count anyway. the actual last song i listened to was @/dootnoot7125's mashup of the concept of love from jet set radio future and twister from twewy linked there for your convenience

currently watching: i actually watch a lot of anime every season LMAO its kind of My Hobby. like. i'm watching 10 shows rn. 7 of which are currently airing. uhhh but top few for the season: bleach thousand year blade war, bungo stray dogs s5, link click s2, & undead girl murder farce which is like. i feel like it has a very specific audience in mind. and i am that audience. the jokes hit perfectly. to me <3 but im not actually sure if its like. Good. also honorable mention for jujutsu kaisen s2 and zom100 which i actually haven't started yet bc i'm gonna watch them with skerples but they both look really good 👍

currently reading: .......... ..... I think the last thing i read was the mononoke manga...? probably over a year ago now? unless you count video game dialogue bg3 i GUESS. uhhh actually visual novels should count imo. i haven't started it yet but i have downloaded the vn mamiya and i'll be reading that....soon ish? but also i'm going in blind and don't really know anything about it

current obsession: baldur's gate 3. in case you couldn't tell. ouhhhhh its sooo much fun for me i love it sooo much . not really much to say there just having a classic Good Time. also really happy seeing like Everyone getting into baldur's gate as someone who played the games on like. ps2 as a small kid with his dad. its awesome :)

as per usual i'm not actually going to directly tag anyone but if you see this and want to do it feel free to say i sent you!! and tag me so i can see your answers :3

[jennycalendar]

jaheira watching everyone run around horrified courtesy of the mage we're fighting completely uncontrollable and choosing now to go "perhaps this group needs not quite as much help as i thought :)" girl i love you so much but like genuinely what are you talking about. objectively THE MOST hilarious time to give us the thumbs up

[jennycalendar]

khalid going "it's nice outside :)" this is upsetting. this is like watching a car crash

[jennycalendar]

been just going through this entire endgame stage letting an officer of the flaming fist chase us because when i took the reputation hit and killed him khalid said gorion wouldnt be proud of me. so obviously this is clearly the only other option. to be in constant combat while still running through all the necessary dialogue options to finish the game. we brought him into sorcerous sundries and he is in fact still trying to kill us while we buy potions. i want to see how far this man is going to chase us

[jennycalendar]

giving khalid all of the best pieces of magical armor and equipment i get with complete unearned insane conviction that he will go into bg2 and be fine bc i dressed him well enough for it. its going to be fine. (through gritted teeth) It Will Be Fine

[jennycalendar]

tried playing on easy mode for a second and went why are things just dying when i kill them. wheres the excruciating 30 seconds of waiting to see whether or not they kill me

[jennycalendar]

FORGOT TO SAY i LOVE how when anyone in the party dies who isn't khalid, jaheira's reaction is "no sorrow for those lost in righteous battles :/" and if her husband dies she immediately starts going postal

[jennycalendar]

accidentally brought like 17 zombies into the temple of bhaal with us <3

[jennycalendar]

decided to let viconia go and be free bc i like being niceys too much and im not putting the woman through that. she's had enough to deal with

[jennycalendar]

when you dismiss viconia from your party she acknowledges your kindness and asks that you take care of yourself .... oh :')

[jennycalendar]

i really want to meet the other bg1 potential companions but the thing is that i dont think im physically capable of putting down jaheira and khalid in any run of this game. at all. like i just cant do it.

[jennycalendar]

cutest possible inadvertent gameplay thing to ever happen: shadow archdruid making death threats towards jaheira and combat starting with khalid positioned directly in front of her, blocking anyone from reaching her