#changedates

[james-the-lass]

Eilistraee, patron goddess of transgender folks, confirmed canon.

[sickosdotjpg]

What's your favorite thing to draw in art? Like poses, body parts, clothing, etc?

obvious and cliché first answer out of the way: love to draw a nose, for obvious and horny reasons. love rendering blush/red noses/etc (equally obvious reasons, lmfao). designing outfits. fluffy hair (not necessarily long hair, but more long = more fluff so i'm biased). LINEART !! i used to hate lineart but i changed to a different brush last year and ever since then lineart and me have been best friends. uhhhhhh stupid meme redraws. probably half a dozen other things i can't think of at this time! man i love art.

[waterdeepthroat]

me when bg3

[aikawa-kazuki]

i love reading non english literature because i get sentences like this

[turbobyakuren]

@shuttershocky

i swear to god last time i logged in he was in skirmisher and now he's in support. i mean it makes a bit of sense given his kit but when, out of all other 4 supports characters, you have 3 of the most Helpful And Reliable Characters (Lifeline, Gibraltar and Newcastle) it is EXTREMELY funny

and even funnier is the fact that this is the second time he changed class

[minrathousrain]

Lycoris, my transfem sword dancer of Eilistraee, and my halfling ranger, Toby

folks please show me your nonstandard tavs. pls reblog and show me ur body type 3s, ur trans/nonbinary/gnc protags, ur butch lesbians, ur dragonborn and half orc and dwarf/gnome/halflings

[raytorosthighs]

guys holy shit

[archangel-aya]

i think i need benzodiazepines and also to not take pizotifen anymore and also to not keep these windows open bcs the cold... i wish i didnt have migraines and aura it limits my ability of things and then the triptans dont help and the pizotifen makes me sleepy but more than that i need benzos i think

head fog is maybe caused by overwhelmedness and mental tiredness but also by anxiety panic and dread and fear and. dreaddddd

if i dressed properly and cld drink some coffee maybe it wld fix it

[proffbon]

I don't like talking about things like this here, but I just couldn't stop myself, so here we go.

Nerd rant below

When some people criticize the inclusion of top surgery scars in Veilguard by saying that this is a fantasy game and it's unrealistic that someone would go through surgery instead of using magic, I have to roll my eyes.

You just know these people know fuck all about how magic works in DA. 

Dawg, Dragon Age doesn't even have revival magic. Sure, there's a spell called 'Revival' but it might as well be called 'Anti-KO spell' because it just heals knocked-out companions enough so they can get into the fight right away. If you don't 'revive' them, they get up just fine after the fight ends. 

The best you can do is create an undead akin to what happened to Hawke's mother, and even then the magic needs to be continuously sustained by the caster (she dies right after Quientin is killed) AND there's blood magic involved.

So imagine what resources must be used to fully alter someone's body, creating one set of organs and erasing another, changing the whole endocrine system, and god knows what else, and then making sure all of this works on its own without any sort of sustained magic source, if even a simple revival is out of the question in this universe.

Even if it works, it would probably require a shitton of lyrium or blood magic of an impressive magnitude. Not only that, but it would probably need to be performed by a highly skilled mage and a couple of other people in the room to possibly fight off demons who'd get drawn to such a magic nexus. The magic itself might even be highly risky due to the amount of intervention the caster must do to their body, probably even severely injuring the person the spell is performed on if something goes wrong. This is not even mentioning exactly HOW the process is achieved. It might require a spirit possessing the body to change it or entering into the Fade physically to make the body more 'changable', which are yet another risk. 

And if you want to say 'Shapeshifting', don't. Not only is it not permanent, it's not even how shapeshifting works. Go listen to what Morrigan says about turning into other humans.

This isn't Forgotten Realms. We don't have a Wish spell, or Changedance, or a Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity. This is Dragon Age, where people not only have little to no access to magic depending on the region, but also where magic requires a lot of resources, a lot of knowledge and skill, and it's also the more dangerous the more complex it is.

So out of all the fantasy universes, DA is actually the one where I can see more people preferring to go for a top surgery and then some magical healing at best rather than seeking out a magic powerful enough to alter your body perfectly. Because I'm pretty sure magic like the one I described is exactly the one Krem said he doesn't want anywhere near his body.

[mistercrowbar]

very curious what aldiirns general thoughts on eilistraee’s sword dancers with be. maybe even just his thoughts on her clergy in general? there used to be some historical issues with sexism against males within the clergy just as in regular drow society, despite eilistraee being the Good Goddess and i cant imagine thatd feel great

Aldiirn doesn’t mind Eilistraeeans or cooperating with them but he thinks their tenets of generosity are foolish and ineffective in the campaign against Lolth. Either they’re going to be viewed with extreme suspicion by would-be converts or taken advantage of until their resources are gone. But, Aldiirn respects EIlistraee for her time as the Masked Lady and his worship of Vhaeraun is influenced by her, eg being more cooperative with non-drow.

EIlistraeeans being matriarchal-leaning is a big reason Aldiirn feels alienated from that faith despite it otherwise being a decent fit for him. I don’t know the timeline in detail but I headcanon that men weren’t allowed into upper clergy roles without doing the Changedance until Eilistraee returned a few years before BG3. So of course Aldiirn gravitated to the god who said men are as good as women, and whose followers he’d find camaraderie with.

This is also a bit of headcanon since I think both siblings want their followers on the surface, but I see EIlistraee as having the ultimate goal of abandoning the Underdark for everyone to live on the surface, while Vhaeraun would take both. Aldiirn hates surface life. He only goes there for business. He thinks the Underdark is wild and beautiful and to abandon it would be a tragedy. He likes to sleep and wake up on his own terms and not be beholden to the sun. 

[alicelufenia]

Introducing Vierae, my newest tav and the star of my next playthrough.

She's a drow from Menzoberranzan, former entertainer and assassin, now a budding cleric of Eilistraee and seeker of Corellon's favor. Her kidnapping aboard the nautiloid kicks off what will eventually come to be known to Eilistraee devotees across Faerûn as The Longest Run.

At a glance:

Name: Vierae Gysselylth (drow for "Dark Dancer", elven for "Clan of the Blade")

Race: Seldarine Drow (Ancestry: Udadrow)

Background: Guild Artisan

Class: Bard (College of Swords) / Cleric (Life Domain) / Rogue (Thief)

Alignment: Chaotic/Neutral Good

Motivation: Grant aide and succor to those who suffer; seek retribution on those who would conquer, enslave and slaughter; if accepted, entice other drow to walk with her, and offer shelter to all from the cruelty of Lolth and other wicked gods.

Also she's wearing Shadowheart's armor in that pic above cause for this playthrough I'm using the SH Concept Art and Arm Tattoo mods cause I think they look neat :)

The gear has some minor bonuses fitting a trickery cleric too, which is nice considering this is a tactician run and trickery domain will need all the help it can get until Act 2 stuff happens.

I'm meeting Larian halfway with their changes to drow lore regarding eye color. She is technically Seldarine but, growing up in the underdark for 100+ years means you kinda have to be lolth-sworn to survive. Not that the spider queen's favor ever got anywhere near her.

The left eye being pink is just me continuing my trend of giving all my trans characters heterochromia to represent the magical influence of fantasy hrt. Yeah, turns out growing up a super closeted trans girl as a male-born scion isn't easy, even if your house is minor in comparison to the big players.

A bit of backstory:

She was blessed from an early age with a rarity among the drow—the ability to dream. Though infrequent, her dreams were filled with images of the surface night sky, and the elegant figure of the Dark Dancer. She longed to visit, but no means were at her disposal other than unspeakable work in surface raiding parties, and the occasional assassin work. It was only by virtue of getting captured by an enclave of Eilistraeen worshippers who offered her succor and acceptance if she abandon her evil ways and accept the Silver Lady's invitation to dance among the stars and the trees.

Taking to her studies easily, she sought a place among the priesthood. Though at the time the clergy was opening up more freely to male worshippers, she learned quickly of the so-called "Changedance" that was practiced in earlier times, where as a rite of passage novice clerics would conduct a holy dance that transformed their body from male to female, and vice-versa. She practiced tirelessly, mastering the dance in short order, and upon seeing her reflection in the still waters of the river lit by the full moon, she beheld the Dark Dancer in her dreams; it was her all along. Her true self.

She wept for the first time in her life.

Naturally, she enjoyed staying in the Changedance's form for longer than any of her male cleric peers. While the temporary reprieve was satisfying, she sought more permanent options. Her artisan upbringing proved valuable, as she learned from several of her fellow priestesses how to concoct the alchemical medicines that can change the body's shape and feel to reflect who they are in their heart. While not a complete transformation, her ability to fill out a bra and entice the gaze of young men (and not a few women) have been encouraging.

Dedicated to the Eilistraeen cause of harmony amongst the peoples of Toril, Vierae has been on many runs, to rescue underdark drow who sought escape from the grasp of Lolth's cult, to defending surface settlements from the very lolth-sworn raiding parties she was once a reluctant part of. Yet everywhere, what good faith they can harbor in non-drow communities soon sours as old suspicions and base prejudices re-assert themselves.

Seeking another way, Vierae has conducted extensive research on the worship of Corellon, sire to her Dark Lady, and ruler of all elves. If she could only entreat the teachings of Eilistraee to a few open-minded communities of elves, they may yet find wider acceptance. Thus she was in the process of a pilgrimage to petition Corellon's blessing, when the nautiloid snatched her up.

And as Astarion said, "First thing's first." She can save no one until she's saved herself, but that won't stop her from trying at every opportunity along the way. Her pilgrimage has led her to the Risen Road, and Baldur's Gate is the ultimate destination, where she either shows herself to be worthy of the gods' favor, or prove those who fear her to be right.

Inspiration for this Tav: @mass-effect-galaxy's Eilistraee Sword Dancer (general protagonist motivations, plus the hair was so good)

HoboZone's Dancer of Eilistraee Remastered Build (for the dual worship of Eilistraee and Corellon reflected in a dual wielder build)

Modlist:

No More Looping VFX And SFX

SK's More CC Colours

Shadowheart's Tattoos

Asymmetrical Shadowheart Concept Outfit

Shibariwaluigi's NPC Hair Edits

Two-Handed Longsword Finesse - mostly just to have a longsword as main arms until picking up dual wielder and Phalar Aluve

Bard Fixes And Tweaks - just to bring ranged flourishes down to melee's level, since this character's RP demands using melee whenever possible

More Reactive Companions - since this is a second playthrough I wanted to hear from the companions more, and swap to them so they can have the spotlight now and again.

Phalar Aluve - Legendary - adds combine items in Acts 2 and 3 to upgrade Phalar Aluve to a Very Rare and Legendary version.

[optiwashere]

I'm going to convert nocturne to Eilistraee that way she still gets to worship a dark lady and she gets to undergo the changedance and befriend selûnites (or a specific selûnite)

Now this is big-brained.

For those that don't know, the changedance is something Eilistraeans do to become closer to their goddess where male priests become women. Vice-versa happens too, IIRC.

Some would use it for transition.

Basically, Nocturne could have a goddess-given transition and have it go however she wants without having to worry about Shar. Operation: Nocturne is a go.

[lanaevyssmoved]

What do you think about the mod thst turns gale into a woman ? Im Intrested as story wise i think i can make MtF gale or the opposite in my game too

well. okay so.

first of all to get it out of the way - i think ai voice shit is morally abhorrent unless the actor themselves gives consent. even then i have concerns because this can be used for extremely damaging and dangerous things. so.. mods that give him a higher pitched, feminine voice? despise. burn it all to the ground. i feel so furious over shit like this i can't even debate it

mods that change gale to look more feminine.. well. this honestly ties into the genderbend debate. how do i feel about genderbending a character in a way that completely changes their body? if gale took estrogen he wouldn't suddenly have what people would call a 'womans frame' - like those mods do. so instead the mods that turn gale into a woman are turning him into a ciswoman. if you want transfem gale just make him transfem without actually changing him. headcanon that the characters do his makeup and he got some iddy bitty titties. yknow. that is unless you put magic in the picture - as far as i know there is only two cases of this happening and it involves gods. the first one was mystra forcibly changing elminster into a woman without his consent, the other is the changedance, done by eilistraee female and male priests, where they undergo a ritual to temporarily change themselves into the opposite sex - but it was never permanent.

it's also a little difficult because my transmasc gale headcanon is very dear to me, to the point i cannot separate gale from it. i know people who have many gender headcanons for gale from transfem to nonbinary - wizards are inherently very fun to play with when it comes to gender. personally i feel dysphoric when i see gale looking like a woman.

at the end of the day what someone does in their single player game isn't any of my business, and i am working on judging people for what they do - beyond laughing at screenshots i funny. if you wanna mod gale into a woman with an ai high pitched voice.. it's none of my business. but if i see it on my dash i will probably block you for my own comfort.

also - please don't send me asks in the future about ftm or mft - i find these terms to be offensive, personally.

[waterdeepthroat]

finally came up with a name for my tav

[autumnlassitude]

2, 17 & 29 for felix <3

Whoopsie I reblogged the ask game and then immediately melted into a puddle for several business days, but we’re back 💪

2. Did your Dark Urge have any romantic and/or sexual relationships prior to their illithid adventure? If yes, who was it with and what was it like? If no, how did they feel about being single?

Before Felix fell from favor with their house, they had quite a bit of casual sex. They worked as a spy representing their houses interests on the surface and would sleep with people in that capacity whenever it was expedient. They also were just a very isolated person, and didn’t really know many ways to get positive attention from people aside from sex or being good at killing.

After their matron’s betrayal and their eventual freedom they made their way to Bhaal’s temple. They thought almost everyone there was boring as fuck, and all the bhaalist seemed like a bunch of dull showboaters. They assumed Orin was more of the same, but when they finally got to know her a bit better they were intrigued. Her intensity and artistry interested them and they saw her as a bit of a mentor, despite her their difference in age. They played a bit of sexual adjacent chicken for quite awhile, resulting in some rather unsavory situations, and eventually began sleeping together.

They grew quite close, so close that it worried bhaal, fearing that the pair might care for each other more than they cared about serving him. He began to sow discord between them, primarily by 1.) beginning to elevate Felix over Orin and undermining her work, and 2.) being less generous with his blessing to Felix to let them change their form as they wished and stoking their jealousy towards Orins ability to shapeshift. Orin grew justifiably resentful and Felix grew petty. They eventually broke up real messy and after that really only talked to try and one up each other.

17.) What is your Dark Urge’s greatest regret?

They feel pretty bad about killing all their children, but they also just kinda lump it in with “bad things I did in my evil era” and don’t worry themself about it tooo much. The biggest regret is letting Bhaal manipulate them and their relationships, and string them along with the power to shape their body. Especially because they eventually learned of Eilistraee and the changedance and felt a bit bitter about all the shit they went through to get the same power from bhaal.

29. What advice would you give to your Dark Urge?

Probably that they should consider trying DBT 😂 my beautiful princess with a disorder frequently makes life a lot harder for themself because they struggle to regulate their emotions and tend to put their foot in their mouth hard when they get angry.

[missrosiewolf]

An interesting tidbit that I learned today (that is probably news to nobody but me):

The reason why Eilistraee initially struggled with letting males into her priesthood / clergy was because of her being a mother goddess (and a hint of fertility) for her people. Which is why, pre-return, any males who wished to join had to do a changedance, be a lady for a while, and then BOOM! it was done. They could go back to being a male afterwards (though from what I understand, some would spend time as females every so often to feel closer to Eilistraee cause mother goddess). It was her way of overcoming this hurdle. 

And then, after spending time with Vhaeraun in the weave, the two gained an understanding of each other and post-return males didn’t need to change dance anymore to join Eilistraee’s clergy / priesthood!

(I mean the changedance still exists for anyone who wants it, but it’s not a required thing anymore)

I think that’s pretty cool and by that, I mean her growth. I love when characters grow and finally overcome a hurdle they were previously struggling with. ^-^

oh! It’s also pretty cool that the twins are getting kind of along now. I would say I am looking forward to future team ups between them but MToF kind of…did Vhaeraun dirty.