#don't know how their reunion with the ascended astarion will go and whether there will be a reunion

[fangsandfeels]

Going through all the ascended Astarion stories, where Tav either breaks up with him and reconnects years later, bringing the messiest “divorced couple” vibe along, or becomes his spawn and ends up being completely miserable and at the complete mercy of the vampire lord, I got a vision.

(Short outline: spawn!Tav goes to Avernus to avoid being trapped in a relationship, badassery, horrors, and deep existential issues ensue. Full description of the cringe can be found below)

- Tav agrees to be turned into Spawn by Astarion, ignoring the red flags because they really wanted to believe him and didn’t want to leave him alone. However, after they do, they get slapped with way too many red flags in the face (the “as long as you remember who you belong to” phrase during the second encounter with Araj, the command to shut up after mentioning Cazador’s name, the deceptive reasoning behind why he isn’t making them a full vampire), Tav grows very aware of eternity that awaits them after they defeat the Netherbrain. And it terrifies them. They understand that they don't want to find out what being his consort means. They are no longer sure about anything.

- When Karlach starts burning, Tav talks her out of it and jumps on the opportunity to go to Avernus with her  (and Wyll), before Astarion gets to react and use compulsion on them. They aren't sure it would work, but it does. Small mercies.

- Between fighting off Zariel’s hordes and getting used to their new condition, Tav goes through heartbreak, oscillating between being angry with Astarion to missing him to feeling sorry for themselves. It's a cycle of angst and mental gymnastics, interrupted by battles and stirring trouble in the Hells.

- Ultimately, Tav reflects on the choices and actions that led them to this path. And when they find a way to fix Karlach’s heart, making it possible for her to go to Faerun for good, Tav chooses to stay in the Hells. Not even because they aren’t eager to confront Astarion and get controlled by him, but because they feel they belong there. Cazador might have planned the ritual, and Astarion might have completed it, but it was them who helped him do it -- they can be angry at Astarion all they want, they can tell themselves it's no longer him. They can spend years guessing whether he really wanted it, whether he is happy or not right now. Maybe they did fail him. It all doesn’t matter. They are as guilty for condemning these souls to suffering in the Hells. So, the question is: what will they do about that?

- Basically, a story that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Astarion, and is mostly focused on a vampire spawn Tav, who navigates hellish landscapes, occasionally helping whatever poor souls they can, learning sad stories of victims who got lured into horrible deals, musing on existential questions and wondering how should they take their life when their luck runs out on them, and they get captured by Archdevils.

- While they avoid signing any contracts or any deals and focus on honing their skills and new vampiric abilities, they do seek ways to modify their body, so they could increase their chances for survival (yes, I freaking love Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, how can you tell?).

- For an extra Divine Comedy (and angsty) flavor, Tav talks to an imaginary Astarion (the one they remember so fondly before his Ascension) -- the habit that started from a random “what the Astarion I knew would have said about this?” thought and kinda became a way to stay sane in this place.

[senualothbrok]

Hello! I'm Senua! 🤗

Welcome to my world! 👋

Commission by @demiesop

I am obsessed with Gale Dekarios and Baldur's Gate 3. I also love animals (especially dogs, cats and horses), tattoos / neotrad art, and existentialism. This post pretty much sums up who I am, and this post goes into my writing journey!

I write BG3 fics, mainly about Gale. I write angst, hurt/comfort, and smut (Gale x Tav/OC/reader). Occasionally, I make memes about Gale brainrot. I am also learning how to draw.

Below the cut, you can find a list of my work and an assortment of things I love. You can also find me on AO3. I have a Ko-fi account if you want to buy me a coffee for something you enjoyed reading.

I'd love to get to know you, so please feel free to pop me an ask or message with any comments, questions, or requests! Just don't be a hater. I'm not into those.

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Fics

Enough (Non-18+. Astarion x female Tav. Angst. Trauma and recovery.)

You agreed to help Astarion with the Rite of Profane Ascension, but you can't watch him go through with it. You interrupt the ritual, and Astarion turns on you. Now, you must deal with the aftermath of your actions.

Love and Beauty (Non-18+. Non-ascended Astarion x female Tav. References to bereavement.)

A few days after Astarion has taken you to his grave, you are lying in bed together. You decide it's time to make a confession.

Rest (Non-18+. Gale x female Tav. Hurt/comfort.)

You have defeated the Netherbrain and survived. But when Gale asks you to marry him, you find that you cannot accept his offer.

Content (Non-18+. Gale x Tav. Mild hurt/comfort. Fluff.)

After the reunion party, Gale wonders whether you regret choosing him over Astarion.

Prayer (Non-18+. God!Gale. Gale x Tav. Heavy angst. Grief/mourning.)

The God of Ambition has returned to Elysium, and you did not follow him. You grieve for Gale, and you struggle to move on with your life.

A Show of Love (18+. NSFW. Gale x female reader/Tav. Smut.)

Sometimes, Gale doesn't seem sure how much you love him. So you decide to show him.

Words (18+. NSFW. Gale x female reader/Tav. Smut.)

At your home in Waterdeep, you and Gale recall the early stages of your relationship.

Progress (Non-18+. Professor Gale x female OC. Angst. Mental illness and recovery.)

When you start your studies at Blackstaff Academy, you expect a battle with your demons. But the last thing you expect is to fall in love.

Promise (Non 18+. Professor Gale x female OC. Angst with a happy ending. Mental illness and recovery.)

Gale learns what it means to love and be loved. Sequel to Progress.

A Brush With Danger (Non 18+. Gale x female Tav.)

Anon prompt: Gale's thoughts and feelings before his infamous declaration in the Shadow-Cursed Lands.

Unexpected (18+. NSFW. Professor Gale x female reader/Tav. Smut.)

You pay Gale an unexpected visit after one of his classes.

Absolution (Non-18+. God!Gale. Gale x Tav. Angst.)

The God of Ambition considers the last of his attachments. Sequel to Prayer.

The Difference (Non-18+. AU (reverse isekai). Gale x female Tav/OC. Angst. Hurt/comfort. Mental health issues.) Multichapter.

When a portal appears in your living room and Gale Dekarios tumbles out of it, you think you are going insane. But truth is stranger than fiction, and things are rarely what they seem.

Mortal pleasures (18+. NSFW. Smut. Gale x female Tav/reader.)

Gale has shown you how gods bond in the astral. Now, you show him how good mortal pleasures can be.

Revelation (18+. NSFW. Smut. Gale x female OC.)

Gale shows Aurora she has nothing to hide. Sequel to Progress and Promise.

Open Hands, Open Hearts (Non-18+. Gale x female Tav. Mild hurt/comfort.)

With the Netherbrain defeated and the companions about to go their separate ways, Gale decides to be honest about his feelings for Tav.

Remembrance (Non-18+. Professor Gale x female Tav. Angst.)

In Waterdeep, Tav journeys through grief and loss, with Gale by her side.

Oath of Devotion (Non-18+. Professor Gale x female Tav. Mild hurt/comfort.)

When you accompany Karlach to Avernus after the defeat of the Netherbrain, you assume it is the end of your romance with Gale. But you have a lot to learn about the meaning of devotion.

Come What May (Non-18+. Gale x female Tav. Angst (with a happy ending). References to trauma, grief, and suicidal ideation.)

On what Gale believes is his last night alive, you cannot give him your body. But there are countless ways to declare love, and infinite ways to express it.

Nocturnal Postulations (Non-18+. Gale x Tav. Fluff.)

Response to prompt: Tav gets grumpy when sleep-deprived. Gale sleep talks a lot and then jokes about it.

Carried Away (18+. NSFW. Smut. Gale x female Tav/reader.)

Response to prompt: good old fashioned 'boring' bed sex with Gale.

Here (Non-18+. Gale x reader/Tav. Hurt/comfort).

After you rescue Gale from Orin's lair, he has some things to work through. You show him he is not alone.

A Tight Fit (18+. Smut. Gale x female Tav/reader)

You and Gale are trapped in a locked room, with no space to move.

Research (18+. NSFW. Smut. Gale x Mia (female OC from The Difference))

Gale and Mia do some very vigorous research.

A Generous Portion (Non-18+. Gale x female Tav/reader)

Gale is a flustered mess after you are locked in a room together. Sequel to A Tight Fit.

Other writing

My Tulpa - a personal reflection on what Gale means to me, and what it means to love him

System Error - a poem on a hard day

Ember - honest feelings about love

Collaborations

Two Monks, Two Gales

The adventures of a pair of polar opposite Monastery-siblings and their same-person-different-version Gales

Celebrating monk Tavs and East Asian culture with @inglorionamy-ammy

* Vegetarianism 茹素 (1)

* Vegetarianism 茹素 (2)

Gale's Compundium

A magical collection of Gale's best puns, with a sprinkling of chibi Gales

Adoring the socks off our dorky wizard with @dekariosclan

Drabble tennis

Gale-based to and from drabbles with the magnificent writer extraordinaire @theletteraesc

* Hands

* Asking for help

* Introverts

* Undiagnosed sorcerer

* Pillow talk

* Challenge accepted

* A lover and a fighter

* Sleepy, dishevelled and hungry

Memes

I occasionally make Gale-related memes because I think I'm funny 💀

* The inside of my brain

* When your soul mate is a pixel man

* Smooching Gale - the struggle

* Gale porn is therapeutic

* Fic vs therapy

* Gale's chest hair

* Trying

* Every day I wake up

* I don't get it

* Fictiophilia

* Horny on main

* Drawing Gale

* Evil endings

* Happiness is

* Can't let go

Doodles

I'm not very good, but I am trying 🤦🏻‍♀️

* Bite that wizard

* Infodump on me, baby

* Smiles and smirks

* Why so serious

* Chibi Gales

My OCs

I like to make things about my OCs, because who doesn't? 🥰

All the picrews

I self indulgently made picrews of most of my Tavs/OCs, and there are a lot

Mia Zhang (from The Difference)

* Playlist

* Picrew of Gale x Mia

* This or That

* Nine things

* Five songs/outfits

Aurora Dekarios nee Wintertal (from Progress, Promise and Revelation)

* Picrew of Gale x Aurora

* This or That

* Dressing up

* Mood board

Tav (from Open Hands, Open Hearts)

* Picrew

* Patron saint

Gifts

* My dear friend @dolceaspidenera made some wonderful gifsets of Gale x Aurora from Progress and Promise. They are so beautiful, I still haven't recovered from them.

* Lovely @mahiiimahiiii made a beautiful piece of art inspired by The Difference, which overwhelms me with so many feels.

* My beloved @practicallydeadinside-blog gifted me a cameo from national treasure Tim Downie explaining why Gale is so shredded and it changed my life.

* I commissioned one of my favourite artists @demiesop to draw Gale and Mia from The Difference, and Gale and Aurora from Promise, and she truly delivered. She has also done an epic chibi masterpiece of the companions which gives me such joy.

* Tim Downie kindly did a beautiful reading of Gale and Mia's wedding vows from The Difference, which I treasure so much.

* Wonderful @alpydk wrote a heartrending poem dedicated to Elspeth from The Difference. I'm beyond amazed.

* For my birthday, amazing @inglorionamy-ammy did a beautiful tribute not only to Gale and Tara but to my best buddy George who passed away. I cherish it.

* @inglorionamy-ammy and I had an unhinged conversation about trading a liver for Gale to become real and she made this hilarious comic on the back of it. I love her.

* The wonderful @thycatsays has written a beautiful sequel to The Difference called Divenire. It is truly excellent, and such an honour to enjoy this.

* @colorisandoo did a beautiful commission of Mia from The Difference which I love a lot.

[kemendin]

Epilogue

Or, I finished my first playthrough of BG3 and had many emotions (still processing) and many thoughts (also still processing), so here are some Kem ramblings on chosen endings and what happens post-game in Dhamari canon. Under cut because major spoilers of course!

So, for anyone curious, here's how things turned out, and these are fairly unsurprising I'd imagine:

Astarion did not ascend. I tried it for kicks, and I hated his ascended self lol. And Dhamari wouldn't have gone for the 'replace one tyrant with another' idea.

Gale did not claim godhood, BUT nor did he actually give the crown to Mystra - it was left in the sea. As Dhamari said, "If Mystra wants it, she can damn well fish it out herself."

Wyll became the Blade of Avernus, and went romping back to the Hells with Karlach. Go be badasses, guys!!

Lae'zel became the new Comet, and went sailing off to be the saviour of her people.

Shadowheart turned her back on Shar and went off to explore Faerûn and her new faith in Selûne (and got custody of the owlbear).

As for Dhamari and Gale... I had to do a lot of pondering on their ending, both in terms of in-game choices and how things ACTUALLY play out in my brain. While I’m very entertained by the idea of ‘Professor Dekarios’ I don’t think Dhamari is cut out for city life. So the short answer is, I went with the ‘I’ll marry you but I won’t live in Waterdeep’ option and they go off adventuring again instead.

The long version is, of course, more complicated:

Initially Dhamari is all 'yes of course I'll marry you and go back to Waterdeep with you' because frankly he's got no idea what to do with himself post-Netherbrain destruction. But that goes kinda not too well overall, for several reasons:

a) He really has no idea what he's getting into with the whole wedding business, because drow don't DO that. So while Gale's making all these plans and sending out multitudes of invitations, Dhamari's list consists of Wyll, who can't come, and Jaheira, who probably could, and he's just very overwhelmed by all the grand ceremony notions.

b) He's jealous of now having to share Gale with Tara and Mrs Dekarios and probably half of Waterdeep, because Gale's of course rather well known, and even more so after saving Baldur's Gate. Gale knows everyone and Dhamari knows no one, and he feels like he's being perceived as this odd little drow blemish on the local wizard celebrity (whether or not this is actually true is up for debate).

c) After the relief of no longer having a brain death sentence and the pressure of saving the world wears off, and he's had a little chill time, he starts feeling incredibly restless again. He's never had a point in his life till now where he wasn't scared or in danger or both - he has no idea how to live a life that doesn't involve fighting to survive. Unfortunately, in absence of obvious threats, he ends up on some mental level fighting Gale instead - lashing out with confusions and uncertainties he doesn't know how to cope with.

So within a month or so things get very tense between them, because Dhamari is rather terrible at communicating his problems to other people, but eventually they're forced to hash all this out. The end results are: a much smaller wedding than originally planned, Gale declining the offer to take a teaching post at Blackstaff Academy, and soon after the wedding they pack up and go adventuring again for a while so they can spend some time together that's ACTUALLY just the two of them.

At some point - dunno yet if it's pre- or post-epilogue reunion get-together - Dhamari visits with Jaheira, and she invites him to join the Harpers. Dhamari's felt a sort of half-conscious connection with the Harpers for a WHILE now, since finding the executed patrol of them in Grymforge (that's a whole other ramble/fic in process lol) and so when Jaheira makes this offer he's like '...huh yeah I could do that'. It gives him a much needed sense of purpose in life, gets him out and about and not quite so latched onto Gale every hour of the day. So when he and Gale take breaks from adventures and chill in Waterdeep for a bit, Gale can be doing his wizardy stuff with his wizardy friends, and Dhamari does whatever Harper business needs doing around the city.

So things aren't always perfect between them, and frankly these two will always find something to argue about because they ARE such different people. But they love each other, and they learn from each other, and as far as they're concerned - it's a happy ending.

Random tidbit - I really like that in the route I chose, Gale retains the mark of the orb. I think that despite what it was - a death sentence - Dhamari's actually rather fond of it aesthetically, and even sees it as a reminder - to both of them - that Gale survived. That Gale chose Dhamari, chose life, and it was the right choice.