#cw: bg3 spoiler

[citruskushh]

" Place your hand on my shoulder, would-be Sharran. "

Shadowheart makes the choice to spare Aylin, with only a little bit of convincing needed.

[mageofpanic]

go go little star

[crocodiller]

Not his first time (also grumpy, sweaty, and ready to get the heck outta Grymforge)

[lazylittledragon]

did somebody say dadkarios

[janearts]

Roisia in her original Divinity: Original Sin build was a witch and witchcraft spells are a combination of D&D's Necromancy + Enchantment schools. I replicated that in-game and had a think about the… complications that might arise when Astarion realises that this unassuming woman has also been a bit of a deft hand at persuading, deceiving, and manipulating her targets too.

[steelsartcorner]

BG3 Mini-Comic: They Don’t Belong to You

Ahhh, parallels, my beloved.

Playing a Dark Urge who is a squishy lil' sorcerer, I love the fact that you can choose to say "haha no, fuck what Big Daddy Murder wants" and have your buddies immediately join the 1-v-1 fight in order to win against Orin.

I like to imagine that my durge, Jiril's (she/they) romanced Astarion was particularly proactive about it. The man does not give a shit about rules, only survival.

[momochanners]

Saviour

Pages 3 & 4 of 6

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Thanks to my patrons for helping making this comic possible; Next update coming soon!

[leopardmuffinxo]

Kar'niss 🕷

[gothicspork]

High INT dumbasses

[witchiestwitch]

Your Body a Blood Sack to Feed It

[serpenlupus]

Wyll has a lot of scars, and some are easier to see (find) than others, so I put together a little reference sheet for anyone that may need the knowledge

Done with the help of the lovely folks of "The Blade of Frontiers" discord server!

Also added a bit of the context the game gave us + some real life knowledge in case anyone wants to do some headcanons

[maleficore]

But this is how it must be.

[finny-bear]

you see, you see, im such a good kid!!

song: aishite aishite aishite - kikuo (ado cover)

[crocodiller]

thanks gale 💜

[messiahzzz]

i have been thinking a lot about mystra’s relationship with gale, how reducing her to “his ex” really is an understatement. she was and still is so much more than that. moreover, using the term “ex-girlfriend” in relation to her plainly feels wrong and diminishes the influence she has over him, as well as the role she played in his life since his childhood (and it also trivializes the abuse he suffered through her).

there are several instances where gale gets defensive when his companions mention or ask him abt mystra. he claims that their relationship was no less real even though most of their interactions were incorporeal.

we have already established that gale is an unreliable narrator in this particular case, still not having fully come to terms with the fact that he was groomed, manipulated and abused. he ping-pongs between bouts of realization (even in his romance), gaining clarity that he was merely used and eventually discarded and that mystra never truly cared for him, back to making light of his situation, idealizing her once again. realizing the extent of his trauma, that he is indeed a victim in this scenario, unlearning what he has been made to believe from a young age is a slow and painful journey. he is in the process of healing, but it takes time. time he deserves just like anyone else.

which makes me wonder what their relationship really looked like, once the lines between teacher, muse, and lover began to blur. i also feel like one of the reasons why part of the fandom still struggles to identify mystra as his abuser, is because she is a white woman who initially presents herself in a soft-spoken, benevolent manner… and well, the fact that gale himself is ambitious to a fault and a lil insane about the promise of power. he also briefly mentions "crossing mystra’s boundaries” when he confides in tav and tells them about his folly. (“i am, after all, the villain in this story.”) which led to a looooot of misinterpretations.

leaving the overall lore and mystra’s treatment of her other chosen aside — what we can discern from her interactions with gale in-game, is that mystra is civil as long as she remains in control and gale follows her demands, but as soon as there’s even a slight mention of challenging her power or defying her rule, she rather quickly changes her tone.

there is also one particular exchange between them that just won’t leave my head:

“you were many things to me, but never a threat. and never a savior."

even if we choose to blatantly ignore the fact that mystra is a deity, his goddess - there is no possible way that their relationship ever could have been equal by any mortal standards. the power imbalance that comes with her being his teacher and a symbol of his admiration, plus the sheer control she holds over him and his powers are simply too great. don’t even let me get started on how it is a common tactic of abusers to isolate their victims from any outside influences so they can exert full control over them. and how up to meeting tav and their merry band of misfits, every single soul he was close to was inevitably tied to mystra in one way or another. he briefly mentions his colleagues and then there’s elminster, also mystra’s chosen and former lover, and tara, who is a fine wizard in her own right. he spend so many years in service of her, dedicating his life to her, that now there is no one left he can truly call a friend. most of his little anecdotes and stories he tells are restricted to his childhood and university days, everything else was mystra.

evidently, ordering gale to detonate the orb is the most efficient course of action in her eyes. he is just as expendable as any other mortal, after all. maybe once significantly more useful given his status and the extent of his powers, but she doesn’t feel sorrow nor remorse for ordering him to end his life. his death is simply the most convenient means to an end.

another thing i would also like to briefly touch upon is the trigger/detonator itself. a dagger to the heart. it could have been literally anything else, a simple incantation. it is well within mystra’s power to stabilize the orb and also to remove it from his body entirely. but no, what she requires of gale is to stab himself. one might argue that it was simply a cinematic choice meant for a more dramatic effect, but it really leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. especially considering the fact that she is commonly known and referred to as a jealous goddess. it almost makes it seem like yet another form of punishment or mere pettiness. after his long period of isolation, gale is now surrounded by fellow humans. people he cares about, even perhaps people he might eventually consider good friends — which is enough of a reason for him to not want to die, to keep going and try to find another way, rather than to blindly follow mystra’s bidding. now there’s a group of people who support him and are genuinely invested in him staying alive. hmmm...

[janearts]

Honestly, I have no idea what we're doing. Or what comes next. But I know that this? This is nice.

My spin on Astarion's confession scene and a follow-up of sorts to this comic.

[What the hell is a #4? This post explains Roisia's List.]