#he's still romanceable for both endings

[bluecoolr]

Excerpts from my DnD journal

If ever my drow Tav was a BG3 companion, he'll have two possible fates:

The Blue Ending has him give in totally to his good compulsions and become a Silverhair Knight for Eilistraee, swearing to protect his fellow converts and to uphold harmony among drow and other folk.

The Red Ending sees him become a Crusader of Vhaeraun. Ultimately, he becomes one of his top enforcers, seeks out revenge on House Everhate (who destroyed his family), and takes an active part in establishing a drow-led society on the Surface.

In the Blue Ending, he weilds T'zeklochar's scimitar, Reckoning. In the Red Ending, he weilds Nalaghar's flaming scimitar, Grief.

[eff-plays]

Watching videos of Ascended Astarion and I need to give props to Neil for delivering the lines in a way that they still sound like Astarion's voice but something is off. Like something is deeply wrong. It makes me both really sad and viscerally uncomfortable.

And I also can't imagine how Ascendant apologists can hear all that, even just his regular, non-romance lines, and still hear Astarion. Maybe very early game Astarion, at best? But like ... girlies that is not him anymore. That is not Act 2 Astarion. That is something else.

[tcfactory]

Okay smartass how would you fix Bingqiu if you had your way?

If you actually want to know you could do to be less of a rude little shit about it, anon, but all right.

This is not about 'fixing' anything. Bingqiu is a wildly popular ship and a lot of people enjoy the exact kind of delusional insanity these two have about each other and that's honestly great. Love it for them. Not my cup of tea though.

I think the easiest and fastest way to make them sort their shit out and maybe put them in a position where I might actually be interested in what's going on with them is to take the protagonist halo away. Maybe the System short circuits, maybe it just gets automatically turned off after the extras, don't know don't care.

A lot of Shen Qingqiu's self delusions are fueled by his unshakeable belief that Luo Binghe, being The Protagonist, is Perfectly Fine the way he is. Binghe is the Protagonist, so when there are no character development or obligatory angst events going on he is happy and healthy and a slightly charred good boy and Shen Qingqiu is The Happy Wife who dotes on his hubby and Everything Is Right In The World. Endless honeymoon with their responsibilities only coming to bother them every once in a while. And it makes it way too easy for Binghe to cover up that he's still hurt, still unstable and still insecure by what went down because Shen Qingqiu is willing to take him at face value when he presents his insecurities as just being shameless neediness for his husband. Of course he happily indulges Binghe! But that isn't really helping with the core of the problem now, does it?

Like, Binghe takes steps towards ensuring Shen Qingqiu's mental wellbeing even at the cost of his own as soon as Maigu Ridge is over when he takes him back to the sect. Shen Qingqiu tries too, in his own way (the entire segment in the tombs is all about him putting himself in very real danger for Binghe's sake) but at the same time, this is a guy who completely missed the writing on the wall that Bingge was deeply unhappy in PIDW. As long as he can hold onto his internal picture that The Protagonist Suffered A Lot But He Is Fine Now I don't think he can really offer the right kind of emotional support for Binghe to actually heal from what happened to him and move on to a healthier frame of mind.

If you take the protagonist halo away, then first of all Binghe can, you know, suck a little. Or a lot, actually. The world not making excuses for him and him being a little defanged would be good for him. He gets really nothing he actually wants from being the protagonist - Shen Qingqiu will love him anyway. Mobei-jun will still stick around to back him up and help him out, because he's still Shang Qinghua's favorite fictional son and Qinghua is happy to see Binghe happy, just, you know, somewhere way over there where he can't get jealous tsundere over Cucumber bro and maybe murder him about it. Sha Hualing is still going to be his buddy because he's her best source of human trivia and the writing inspiration for her girlfriend. Not having to be demon emperor and getting more time to spend with his husband would be a relief.

But he would have to be more aware of other people because he's not above them anymore. Maybe even forced to make a few new friends to get by. And his mask will fail and Shen Qingqiu will have to see him for what he is: just Luo Binghe, still hurt and still confused half demon, who loves him very much, but can't make sense of him and is afraid that he will be left behind or pushed away without explanation again and that's kinda Shen Qingqiu's own damn fault.

And Shen Qingqiu can't hold onto his delusions about The Protagonist. He can't willfully ignore that things are not fine with Binghe because he's not the Protagonist anymore and the world only allows that special privilege for the Protagonist. Binghe is just a guy now and he has so many heart demons he needs help with. His trauma from the abyss or Xin Mo can't be brushed off with 'oh that's just part of his blackening he's fine now' anymore. And it might need a little bit of adjusting to internalize that these problems have always been here just below the surface, but Shen Qingqiu genuinely loves Binghe and would want to help him become happier and more stable in any way he can.

Binghe becoming part of the world in a way that's one person among many - building a support network! maybe befriending new demons or actually getting to know and making up with the QJ disciples or finding common ground with LQG and becoming sparring buddies - rather than a protagonist in a sea of NPCs is a lot more interesting to me than whatever he has going on at the end of canon. And Shen Qingqiu can be there with him on that journey, because he already started unlearning the sense of unreality the System conditioned into him, but he still has a long way to go.

[swordmaid]

my hag romance murder mystery au turning to magistrate astarion working with executor shri’iia we kind of like that development

[clericofshadows]

I redid my engineering Shepard, Nyx, and fully embraced the Witcher vibes for him <3

plus it wouldn't be one of my Shepards if I also don't make his squad match with him. I may give Ashley the same Alliance texture as Kaidan but for now I'm digging her Ashley Consistency Project ajax armor on her.

[forcedhesitation]

I love that the bg3 guys are all written to have this intense adoration of karlach and lae’zel’s abilities to absolutely eviscerate their enemies. they’ve all got the same taste in women, which is “she could gut the big scary man chasing me, and then princess carry me to safety in her blood spattered arms.” and I respect and relate to that, as a bisexual man myself.

[shaxxophone]

[wenellyb]

Bridgerton Season 2

The show villain: The Real villain:

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

As much fun as I'm having doing my alternative run of DA2, one thing I really miss about my mage Hawke is his friendship with Merrill.

Those two are best friends and he's 100% supportive in her goals toward the eluvian. Ed has the humorous/charming personality, too, which bounces off super well with Merrill. He doesn't think any less of her for her usage of blood magic; if anything he's impressed by her level of strength and willpower. He's so ready to defend her from the other companions and the clan, and he's absolutely out here attempting to matchmake her and Carver....at least he is in my heart because the game won't let me, it's fine, I'm not bitter about it or anything-

But then my warrior Hawke? She has the diplomatic personality with quite a bit of direct/aggressive thrown in there and she ends up having the same attitude as that one party banter Aveline and Merrill have: "Merrill, you're clearly talented and meant for great things, but you're stupid," and that's so difficult for me to lean into. I'm trying to play Aris differently so she ends up being so condescending to Merrill, like she's trying to gently tell her to give up on the eluvian but it doesn't come off well.

Also if Carver was around, Aris would be the opposite of Ed, she'd look at the suggestion of her brother and Merrill getting together and be like, "No :) I don't think so :) I like Merrill, she's my friend :) but she's not right for Carver."

But I guess it makes sense; if you told him that Bethany would giggle and kick her feet and twirl her hair around Sebastian, Ed would've thrown him in the ocean as a warning. Meanwhile, Aris is like, "A handsome prince that could take my sister away from all of this? Wonderful, we just need to work on his incorrect views on mages, but that shouldn't be a problem :)"

Anyway I miss playing Hawke as the #1 Merrill stan.

[maliro-t]

as a bona fide vaxleth lover i am more confused than ever about how they are portrayed on the animated series i'm not gonna lie 😭

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

The streets of New Orleans were so quiet and peaceful when Randall and Emily went on their evening walk: The autumn winds were pleasantly chilly, whistling between the branches of the trees and kicking up piles of leaves as they walked along the sidewalk hand-in-hand. Under the light of the moon, under the darkened skies, the world seemed so...quiet. Peaceful. No cars around, the only presence of others being the lights on in the houses they walked past.

It was funny to think about now, admittedly: While most people were winding down at this hour, getting ready to turn in for the night, his and Emily's "day" was only just beginning...!

"Evening!" a man greeted brightly as they walked by, taking Randall out of his thoughts-he smiled and bid the same to the passerby, catching sight of him as he did. A man about his age, with dark hair and bright blue eyes, looking very snappy in his autumn evening wear...

Something gave Randall pause. And if he were paying any attention, the man had paused two, both of them stopping where they stood on the sidewalk, having been struck by an intense feeling of deja vu. There was just something...awfully familiar about the other...!

"Randall?" the man called, a touch hesitantly, as if he were unsure of what his mind was telling him. Looking back to face him, Randall answered, "Dorian?"

With those confirmations, the two men laughed and embraced each other-it was as if no time at all had passed as they hugged, both of them talking a mile a minute, with Randall quick to introduce Emily to Dorian as his wife, something Dorian was extremely receptive of-in fact, he'd just gotten married too.

"Come to my house, I'll explain everything!" Dorian invited excitedly-he had a feeling both of them had some very long stories to tell...

[swordmaid]

I do like the idea of hag romance having the ability to precisely be so cutting to each other. in a scenario where they’re only allies and not lovers, I think they’ll both be able to hurt each other in a way that matters ! bc they’re both so similar, lying fuckers. but then if they’re not poking at each other’s bruises they’re laughing at someone’s misfortune together because they’re both menaces to society

[clown-eating-pig]

Do you guys ever have a headcanon that you believe in soooooooo much like so deeply and it’s absolutely real and true to you, but if asked why you would simply have to shrug and shuffle your feet a bit?

[figurativesin]

havent drawn these two in a hot minute so i spent ~4hours remedying that. they turned out so cuuute 💕

OCs, any pronouns for raphael and he/she/they for bria

[quilleth]

WIP Wednesday progress

Whew this week somehow went fast and also took for fucking ever >< But I managed to work on everything voted on in my poll!

Here's what the results of the poll were: -write 5 sentences for Elisabeth and Jasper fluff -spend 25 minutes sketching for the recipe card(s) I am making for the next zine -spend 10 minutes working on the floriography doodle for Vanora and Faolan -write one sentence for the Moshang whump prompt

Sentences and sketch progress below the cut!

Elisabeth and Jasper floriography prompt: larkspur, first time making someone laugh

“No, no! I’m quite certain I heard you!” Elisabeth protested, vexed by how unflappable he was. “Do tell me exactly what part amused you so much. I shall endeavor to think of more stories like it to tell!”

With a hint of a smile, Jasper asked, “Might I inquire what brought on this recitation?”

Elisabeth was convinced that if he were a less dutiful sort of man, he might even have allowed himself the luxury of leaning against the writing desk. She sighed, but replied brightly “Noah was less than pleased with me for explaining to Hamin how he broke his arm when we were children, particularly since I did so during the Welcome Feast.”

��Oh?”

Moshang whump prompt "flashback"

Shang Qinghua, however, still looks terrified. “Aha, well, I couldn’t sleep and there’s all this work to be done, you know,” he says with a shaky laugh that wouldn’t convince a child.

Recipe card sketching: I actually did more than 25 minutes for this, but a lot of it wound up being measuring things, sketching in some things, erasing them, sketching something else, more erasing, and looking at fonts, so I don't have much fun to show for this :/ I need to refine the lettering I sketched more and then maybe i'll have something interesting to show ;)

Vanora and Faolan doodle: I also didn't make a ton of progress on this, partly because i started it in my sketchbook a little too small, so now it's a scan I'm working on digitally so i can't work on it at work. But I did some work on going over the lines with my tablet, so there's a slightly easier to see Faolan xD of course I wanted to do slightly more complicated poses so I'm still figuring that all out and finding references to get the angles right :/ But here's where that's at!

And that's it for this week! I'll make another poll tomorrow/ Thursday :D

[flamboyant-king]

We saw the beginning, now I be thinking about all the possible...uhh the word is like aftermath...epilogues? Seeing as the narrative will be left open ended, we can hypothesize and fantasize just about anything!

This one is Harvey carrying on with what he idealized as a normal life, getting married, having kids, going out with the boys, stuff you see on TV. But Cammy is still there, still a part of his life. And that's pretty neat. And also I cry.