#hope this makes sense!

[blighted-elf]

Baldur’s Gate 3 Modding Tutorial - How to Swap Your Character’s Head Preset Mid-game

Got a bunch of messages asking how I did this without restarting, so I thought I’d write out a quick tutorial.

1 - Extract the Models.pak file from your game directory's Data folder somewhere using the lslib tool. I don't recommend extracting it to your game directory because you won't need all the files, it can get kinda messy, and it might cause issues in future updates. Just put them in a random folder on your desktop for now or something. I'll refer to this folder as the extracted folder for now.

2 - Figure out which preset your character is currently using (mine was the Elf Female A), and which one you'd like to swap it out for. Keep in mind, you can’t use one from a different gender/race without issues.

*I used one from the “New Character Creation Presets WIP” mod. If also using this mod, you need to install it as normal, then extract the mod's own .pak file before continuing.

3 - Find the .gr2 file of the new preset you want, and copy it into your game's directory. For me, it goes to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\Data\Generated\Public\Shared\Assets\Characters\_Anims\Elves\_Female\Resources The exact directory will vary depending on your race/gender (refer to the extracted folders for help). If you don’t have the folders needed inside your game directory, then create them.

4 - Rename the .gr2 file you just moved to be what the old preset was named. For me, Kaari.gr2 became ELF_F_NKD_Head_A.gr2

Optional:

5 - If you want to also use the new head’s skin texture (and/or edit the skin yourself), just copy the three .dds files from your extracted Data\Generated\Public\Shared\Assets\Characters\_Models etc folder, then place them in your game directory. For me, I put them in Data\Generated\Public\Shared\Assets\Characters\_Models\Elves\ELF_F_NKD\ELF_F_Head_A\Resources

6 - Rename accordingly, just like with the .gr2 files. For me, Kaari_CLEA.dds became ELF_F_NKD_Head_A_CLEA.dds and so on. Do this for the other two .dds files as well.

Load your game and that's it! It should now replace the previous head with the new one. Your character's icon will still look like the old one unfortunately. I'll try to find out how to fix it.

[alxandergoth]

hii!! i love ur game so so much i look forward to seeing ur posts on my feed every day😭 i was just wondering when ur coming up w the story, do you let what happens in the sims depict ur story? or does ur story depict what happens in the sims? i hope that makes sense lmaoo

hey!! thank u so much, glad ur enjoying it 🥺🫶🏻 I usually let my game guide me with storyline’s but with charlie and eli it’s all me, I wanted to try portraying a different relationship dynamic that wasn’t perfect, I still get help from the game with moods and events but a lot of what I’m writing isn’t in line with what’s happening in my game, like for instance eli actually asked charlie to prom as friends lmfao and charlie and ruby are close friends

[chrisrin]

Hiii I want to know something about the mcyt su au! The way you assign gems to each person, does their personality influence the choice?? Or are you just going for the visual vibes of he gemstone? How do you choose

honestly it depends! some designs like bdubs was definitely more based on visuals, nephrites are green and have that one big eye so i was like, omg, that's very bdubs so i went with that for his gem.

others i feel are more personality-based, like scar as a spinel. or role-wise with mumbo as a peridot. it honestly depends on what grabs me more.

but the most important thing for me though is that for base designs (non-fusions) i try as much as i can to stick to ONLY canon designs/gems we've seen in the show, this is so i can pretty much directly pull color palettes from those characters and keep it as loyal-looking to the show as possible. it makes them more recognizable as SU designs in my mind, i did this with both gemcyt and gemstuck with only a couple exceptions (nepeta as a cat's eye, docm as bloodstone, etc.) i think a part of the fun challenge is trying to conform with these baseline designs while also trying to make the character recognizable. it's why some troll gemstuck designs have horns, and others don't. it depends on if i feel it was vital for their design aspects as most gems (unless corrupted) don't have horns.

with fusions i'm a lot more free-form with it, but for base designs i like to have at least 1 solid reference to compare the design to so i can try to match the show as close as possible. obviously this means i'm limited on what gems i can make people, and sometimes that puts me in a tricky spot because i also dislike doing too many repeats of the same gem, exceptions in both gemstuck/gemcyt being that i have multiple pearls (kanaya/eridan/jane in gemstuck, joel/pearl in gemcyt)

because let's be honest if we did this only on gem societal roles, the majority of the hermits would be either peridots as redstoners or bismuths/lapis lazulis as builders

so as far as choosing gems, that's sorta my mindset going into it! it's a mix of things but there's restrictions i give myself and i try to work within those when i can! :D

[gutfaced]

Pleasssse tell us about Chaff's arena 😭👀

re: this post

really and truly, i was thinking something like a coastline/seaside esque arena. the tribute wear that year speaks to wetsuits and anything a surfer would wear.

the year would definitely wipe out a lot of tributes fast, because of the swimming factor and the unexpectedness of it all. what looks like a beach haven happens to have a skin-melting sun lest you have a specialized anti-uv cream in your pack, stagnant waters the further you go past the rocks, and all sorts of lovely. deep sea creatures.

anything that looks friendly is NOT, the water is usually laced with poison, unless you're lucky enough to get rain or a purifier.

how chaff loses his hand? it's a mix of a shark attack (if i stuck to this theory,) and having to break the rest of it off.

second theory ↓

despite its thoughtoutness, the beach arena isn't my go-to-headcanon.

chaff's arena to me has always felt right being an arctic biome, where anything with ice is a hazard.

snow blizzards, thunder storms, deadly hail. occasional falling ice. occasional breaking ice that collapses under your feet.

want food? you'll have to hunt the mutts, and hope that you aren't hunted first.

others succumb to freezing to death, some by falling icepicks or avalanches.

chaff stays alive by hunting, along with staying in and out of caves. he kills with a scythe or in desperate times — an icicle (these do count as weapons.)

losing his hand comes from eventual frostbite, and being pulled out of the arena quick enough that the blood vessels in his whole arm aren't blocked.

people usually believe that chaff goes without a prosthetic, but in my book it's a “choosing not to use one but still owning one” situation. because yes, there are times when he's weak and needs that extra enhancement. it took him a long time to get it — namely because of technology during his games and their era, but also thinly veiled ableism.

[transingthoseformers]

yknow in ur alt es you mentioned the optional parts has to be the 2 arcees like how are ya gonna implement that? and also how would rodimus interact with the GHOST bots and the maltobots

Oh right that post!

Idk i thought two arcees that are slightly different but ultimately also the same character would be interesting because like. That's an alternate/future version of base Earthspark Arcee. It's also because Arcee was part of Rodimus's little squad in g1, but also she's already part of the earthspark autobots on earth. Though I wasn't sure so that's why I said the two arcees thing was optional

Now Rodimus that's more concrete, when he's interacting with the autobots plus Megatron he's more like g1 Rodimus in that "well he's definitely a leader but he's a bit young for it and new at it" vibe, and I think Megatron and Prowl are definitely suspicious of him and this entire situation (goddamn! A situation where they agree on something! How rare!) because there's definitely things this Rodimus isn't telling them (who makes the first connection between this Rodimus and the autobot Hot Rod?) (Or is that immediate?)

Now, I'm thinking he's got a more sort of older adult brother type dynamic with the kids, maybe?? Or at least eventually. At first he's pretty much a stranger, an ally sure but someone they don't know.

There are multiple ways this version of Rodimus can interact with decepticons (including Megatron...), and some of them depend on what makes his timeline different than the main earthspark timeline. I'm thinking though in general the interactions between the mecha from Rodimus's timeline and the main earthspark timeline decepticons are rough. (especially with the whole Galvatron thing...)

What little I know about G1 Rodimus is a big reference here, but so are elements from characters like tfa Optimus, rid15 Bumblebee, and Cyberverse Hot Rod. I need to watch g1 s3 still so there is improvement I can make on this idea.

[makingyourfavindti]

Could we see the current list of requests if that's not a bother? I Would like to submit one but I don't want to accidentally send one that's already going to be done :) no worries if not!

SO i currently have 90 requests in the inbox, so is kinda hard to list them all! feel free to submit multiple if u rlly want, i go from oldest to newest, so when i get to yours if it's already been done i'll either say its in queue or already posted (:

[projectnewmoon]

Hello, it's me again, ik it's a lil much but reading your story makes me question the plot in a good way, so my question is that will sonic experiment with his werehog form, in terms of his abilities?

Considering this fic takes place after the events of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic is already pretty familiar with his abilities as a Werehog, and he doesn't gain many new ones with the new Nightmare form besides a boost in speed and strength (and the stretchy tail).

There are some new things he would learn about his Werehog form with time, but he doesn't actively make the choice to experiment much with it. He's a "go with the flow" kind of guy, so he mostly learns about his new forms/abilities after accidentally activating them or using them on instinct (like the one scene in Unleashed, where he learned his arms could stretch by catching the ice cream cone that fell from the stand).

[zombiekombi-if]

are all the ROs available in all the paths?

yes they are! It's absolutely up to you who you want your MC to romance. So while some paths may have certain RO heavy content (for example, How being important to the city path), in no way does it mean you have to romance that RO, or that the other ROs are inaccessible during the path. For example, you can speak to Dylan about your adventures in the city and she'll share about herself in turn, and comment on the dangers that you're putting yourself through.

Of course, there are some story-relevant reasons why some ROs are not available as active companions during these paths, like for example: How is a massive skeptic and would not be caught dead venturing near the PAA settlement. He'll probably admonish you for doing so, lol.

There's also no set order to these paths. You can choose to do which one you want to do first :)

[kissporsche]

hi! this is very out of nowhere but i just rewatched ep 14 and i am still wondering, why do you think vegas didn't kill korn? he clearly didn't care about dying at that point, and korn sent the guards away before reminding vegas that macau exists, so i am a tiny bit lost in my headcanons and you're my fandom senpai when it comes to these things.

An excuse to rewatch the office scene? Anon, you spoil me!

My own headcanon entirely comes down to Macau. As soon as Vegas sees Gun's body he knows he has lost. He even got to tell Pete he loves him beforehand, which is probably more than he ever thought he would get.

Vegas raises his gun to Korn because he has nothing left to lose, he doesn't care if he dies so he might as well take Korn out with him, finally achieving his father's goal. Until, as you say, Korn brings up Macau.

This is a threat. Basically, that he'll spare them if Vegas doesn't kill him, and if Vegas does kill him they're both in immediate danger. And if it was just about Vegas then he'd spit in the face of this so-called mercy and shoot him anyway, but if there's one thing he won't do it is risk Macau.

If he shoots Korn then they'll both die, and Macau will be left completely vulnerable. If he lets Korn live, then maybe he will at least show mercy. Macau will have some protection from the main family that he would not be afforded otherwise, and although these are two shitty options, Vegas chooses the one with the least implied risk to Macau. He would be leaving him under Korn's control, yes, but not at the whims of a completely destabilised family potentially looking for revenge. He's well aware he's being manipulated, but isn't left with much choice.

While from an outsider perspective it makes more sense for him to stay alive and continue protecting his brother... being suicidal is not logical. He has lost everything, failed at his mission, and now feels like he would only be a burden to those he loves. And he cannot face that life, under Korn's control no less, cannot continue to face his own inferiority now the failed coup has robbed him of the chance of ever escaping it.

Vegas has nothing left to give, except one final attempt to protect Macau

[cursezoroark]

For clarification, what do you mean by "seeing" mercury? Like how they react to things or something else?

Reactions, personality, backstory, kind of everything? I have some core traits in mind, but then I question whether their relationships make sense and Why they’re even going along with the game events in the first place. I placed them as this person who came to Reborn with Tunnel vision, and as u know in game, a lot of stuff happened that would probably deter them. But how. As a result. I can’t rlly. Draw them as “them” that well. I have trouble “seeing” them as the “person” they are, kind of like blurry vision, but for Character traits.

[theelvishfiddler]

What inspired you to make mayze's tavern? Are there any story/worldbuilding bits you'd like to share? :]

Mayze's Tavern was inspired by a dream that I had! It was very much influenced by the "lone wolf and cub" trope type media I was watching at the time. The dream became an excuse to practice my character design skills and it eventually developed into its own story over time.

There is a lot that I'm working on and I'm not sure how I want to share those ideas yet. So, here is a rough sketched comic I made about the first time adventure dad saw RoboKid.

The kid immediately ran off. The two of them didn't officially meet until a few months later.

[chrisrin]

Do you know how much you're going to price the stickers for? If you don't or don't wanna share I understand, I was just curious :)

ofc! I have to figure out sizing wise since the sheets won't be full A4 but from what I looked around online, most people sell smaller/mini sticker sheets at anywhere from $3-4 dollars each so it'll probably be in that range! and i'd do some discounts for bundles, i defo want to sell an "all seasons" pack for a discounted amount :)

the sticker sheets themselves probably won't be waterproof, but i'd like to sell designs individually as well with a waterproof option (they'll just be a tad more expensive on their own!) so if people want one or two for a water bottle or something that might get exposed to the elements, they have that option.

[heich0e]

what is a lovergirl

idk a lover girl/lover boy to me is just someone who is very mushy and kind of effusive abt their love. ppl who love love and revel in it. who love very freely and openly and without any sort of hesitation. i admire these ppl but i can also acknowledge that i'm not one of them!

[gayaest]

all your art is so engaging to look at and it's cool to see actual research put into each condition and how it affects the character. have you ever drawn a person who uses a posterior walker?

I believe I have drawn a child with a small child-sized one! But never posted and i’d have to dig for the piece — so definitely can look into drawing another one!

There are tons of conditions I have yet to research and I prefer not drawing them until I have done sufficient research and feel like I can understand what it entails! I would hate to misrepresent a condition I don’t have, which is why so much time and care is put into most of my art! Obviously a lot of my artwork is also based on my own disabled experience and self — but you know haha 🩷

Many people have sent me anons about conditions I’ve never heard of and/or they’d like to see, which is really cool! I just always want to research in order to accurately portray them — even if it takes time, I feel like quality is better over quantity! I’ve seen so many people ill-informed and ignorant spread harmful rhetoric from lack of research and I just hope not to be that person.

Also forgot to say — THANK YOU! I appreciate that you can see the time and care put into my art!

[amalgamezz]

About your aro post in your tags you said you don’t care for any loves (romantic, familial [<- I don’t feel that one too :D] etc.) does that go for friendships as well? Or are you more of a person who doesn’t care for connection at all? I hope I worded that right…

heya, thank you for this ask, and no worries, your wordings are fine! sorry, this will be a long one because my audhd demands that i should provide full contexts 😔

as i interacted and got to know more about aplatonic and loveless communities, i found a certain solidarity/kinship with them. ever since i was in elementary, friendship has never been something i actively seek myself. i still got along well with classmates. my relationships with coworkers are chill and good. i have mutuals and friendly acquaintances here and there to talk about our shared interests. i try to maintain a good relationship with my family because capitalism sucks ass, especially for single people. in a way, this, too, is how i practice relationship anarchy — to give each casual and non-casual relationship i have a function and learn to appreciate them instead of putting the burdens on one or two committed relationships. for me, friendship has become a label for happy coincidences born out of those relationships after long and frequent interactions, if both parties desire a name for it. i have some positive connections with friends who i trust with my life, and i would mourn intensively should i lose them, but tbh, im not sure if i would personally call it "love".

i was lovequeer before i am loveless. im actually still considering myself lovequeer in a way that i strongly believe that love doesnt have to be romantic and that no kind of love is superior to the other. my personal relationship with love is complicated, but mostly sour. as an aro, i am a fierce defender of non-romantic loves. it annoys me greatly when people casually throw amatonormative phrases such as "there is no platonic explanation for this" or "friends dont do that" around. it is usually a hopeless and lonely battle because people dont really care about "not all loves are romantic" until you reject the concept of love altogether. more often than not, it becomes a gotcha towards aros who express their frustration with obsession over love by society.

this frustration, too, drew me closer to the concept of lovelessness. lovelessness means different things to different people, but for me, its the rejection of love being a superior, necessary, or moral trait of a human being. i had a knee-jerk reaction at first when i learned the term, but the more i read about it and introspect, the more it resonates with me. i remember how my parents hit me when i was a kid. i remember my aunt chewed me out in front of my entire family for expressing my wish to stay single and childless. i remember being driven to tears as my dad sneakily threw out a gift from my friend that i hung on my car and replaced it with a rosary. when asked why, they said because they wanted what was best for me. because they wanted me to be happy. because they loved me. it all sounded contradictory, but i have been with them long enough to know that they were being genuine. i dont wanna think its not a real love because i dont find it useful and more often than not, it only makes me question myself if i have been a fair evaluator and get guilty when i think im not. instead, i just have to accept that good intentions dont always bring good outcomes. their love is real, but its like a sun that burns and hurts more intensively the closer i get to it. i started coming to terms with love being a neutral but strong emotional motive that drives humans to do something — just like pleasure, joy, anger, sadness, envy, etc. whether you do good, bad, or neither because of it solely depends on you. i can acknowledge that they love me, but that doesnt mean they should be able to use it as an excuse to hurt me. this applies to all kinds of love.

i have nothing against love or the people who cherish it, but as i start dissecting and understanding more about love, it becomes less and less significant in my life. i start to realise that i dont need to love someone to bring them happiness or do good for them. i dont need to love my friends to care for or emotionally support them when they need it. i dont need to love my mutuals or even strangers to consider donating for their groceries. i dont need to love the victims of war to condemn the hideous crimes committed against them by some certain govts. love doesnt make me human. i just simply am, and im happy with the loveless relationships/connections i currently have.

[piedoesnotequalpi]

made up fic title ask:

a very scary holiday

🥰

Thanks for sending this! The contrast between the title and the emoji is very funny.

I know this is probably meant to refer to Halloween, and I love Halloween, but it's the 🎶most goyische time of the year🎶 so it's time for some good old-fashioned Christmas annoyance. I had to read about HOAs for this, and I hate them even more now.

(Sorry everything I come up with is modern AU, I'll answer one of these with canon era I promise)

For this one I'm thinking we've got Crutchie (local menace), Davey (local obnoxiously Jewish guy), Race (token goy who loves chaos), and Katherine (finally financially independent from her parents and making that everyone's problem). They're roommates, and unfortunately the only place they were able to find was a townhouse/condo in an HOA. We're going to suspend disbelief and say this HOA requires "holiday" decorations of some sort (in reality HOAs tend to not like anything over-the-top, so this scenario is unlikely). The problem is, when people say holiday, they tend to just mean Christmas, but the HOA insists that it's nondenominational.

The conversation in their house goes something like this:

Davey: Well, we can just put up blue lights and see if anyone makes inflatable dreidels and menorahs for our 50 whole feet of lawn. Really lean into the anti-assimilationist message of Chanukah and the whole "holiday could mean any winter holiday" thing.

Crutchie: But if we do that, we're playing into their hands! They'll just say, "Oh, that's nice, you have Chanukah decorations!" We need to protest! [note that this is inspired by my protest attempt when I worked at an awful customer service job being misconstrued as me just celebrating Chanukah]

Davey: I mean, they probably won't be thrilled with the inflatables.

Katherine: Surely there has to be a way to accomplish both of these goals at once.

As it turns out, there is! Some of their friends did a Nightmare Before Christmas setup for Halloween, and they kept all the supplies. So they get a small inflatable dreidel like Davey suggested, but they also put up a 12-foot Jack Skellington (with a PVC Santa hat and beard, sewn and mailed to them by Sarah) and some other TNBC stuff, plus orange and red lights. The final result is an absolute eyesore, but they're very happy with it.

When the HOA complains that the decorations aren't for a winter holiday, they counter with the fact that Nightmare Before Christmas has "Christmas" in the title and that they gave Jack a Santa hat. Also, the HOA is not happy with the inflatables as a concept; there's no rule against them, but everyone else sticks to light-based decorations. Davey, Crutchie, Race, and Katherine refuse to take the decorations down, and eventually the HOA decides to stop making December decorations mandatory, but not before they seriously consider just banning holiday decorations altogether.