#i have too much space in my party for karlach

[norringtonloverandappreciator]

just met karlach and shadowheart is already lezzing out

[e-m-ma-lmfao]

can I request some cute fluff with Astarion - I think something cute would be tav’s never worn a dress and they put one on and Astarion is just mindblow by how good they look? 🥺

maybe he can do some chivalrous acts as well~

She Looks Breathtaking

pairing : astarion x (fem) reader

summary : astarion has never seen you in a dress, you haven’t been in one since you were taken from baldur's gate. you both find it hard to hide your excitement.

warnings : none :)

authors note: I hope you like this anon! (first, i finally played baldur's gate. second, i'm going to try and pump out the requests that I haven't gotten to.)

“Oh! Look how pretty this is!” 

You turn your head to look towards Karlach’s booming voice, much too loud for the small space you were in. She held up a dress, something you hadn’t thought about wearing in months. You hadn’t had any important events to attend.

Walking over to her side, you take the fabric between your fingers. “It’s beautiful..”

“You should get it. I think you’d look great, and I bet Astarion would like it too.” She nudged at your side, teasing. Your face flushed, and you ran your fingers along the hem of the dress, avoiding Karlachs gaze. She likes to poke fun at the obvious crush you had developed on Astarion, and everytime she did you regretted telling her more and more. 

Eventually, you find a small paper attached to the fabric showing the price of the dress, eyes widening at the disgustingly low price. 

“When would I even get a chance to wear it? It would go to waste, just weigh my bag down.” Karlach huffs, taking the price tag and reading it for herself.

“Are you kidding me? Even if you don’t wear it, you’d be a fool to ignore this price. Maybe you will attend some noble party when we get to Baldur's Gate!” She was way too excited but her energy almost made you agree with her, the dress was so cheap even if it went unworn for a long time. And you hadn’t worn one in..you couldn’t even remember.

You thought about it for a moment before moving for your coin pouch, pouring the amount into your hand and handing the coins to the trader. They slip out of your hand much faster than you'd care to admit, hiding your excitement from Karlach proving to be a challenge. “Don’t say a word to anyone, Karlach, I mean it.”

“Fine. But I better get to see you in it, at least try it on for me when we get back to camp!” You shake your head, amused by Karlachs childish antics, but you yourself can’t help but feel a little bit excited by the idea of dressing up. 

When you returned to camp that night you had forgotten about the dress in your bag, slipping your mind amidst the constant thought of being attacked or having to talk your way out of a hostile situation. 

So when Karlach came bouncing over to your side, your tent tucked away in a corner secluded from most of your party to keep your privacy, you could only give her a confused look. She seemed so excited and you had no idea why, and she was beginning to return the confusion.

“You gonna put on the dress or just make me stand here?” Oh! You let your bag fall to the ground, crouching down to rummage through its contents, searching for the dress. 

When you found it you laid it over your bag, standing back up to remove the leather from your body. You could hear Karlachs giggles as you shimmied out of your much too tight leather pants, only to have to pull the dress over your body right after.

Your hair was up, but you untied it and allowed your hair to fall over your shoulders. When you turned back to her, she stared at you with awe. “Woah..”

“What?” 

“You look..nice.” You giggled, which made her laugh along with you, both of you unaware of the approaching footsteps. His eyes trace along your figure, and he allows himself a moment of greediness to take in the full effect you have. You seem so happy, a smile appearing on his cheeks as he watches you smile gleefully and so..so..carefree. You're finally allowing yourself to have fun, and not worrying about protecting everyone else around you. And Gods.. you’re breathtaking. 

He would never admit to a living soul, or a non-living one for that matter, but he had been infatuated with you since the moment you asked him to join your party. You made him weak, and with his newfound freedom he wasn’t sure what the correct way to deal with it was. Obviously he could use his charm to lure you into his bedroll, but he wanted more, he wanted to be the reason you felt giddy enough to show your teeth with a smile. He wanted to be the reason you laughed, and fooled around, the reason you felt safe enough to have fun. 

He takes a deep breath in, to regain his confidence and charm, and he proceeds towards the two of you.  

Until his voice filled your ears and caused your eyes to shoot in his direction, “Well well..don’t you look nice.” 

“Astarion!” He approached the two of you slowly, staring at you and paying no mind to Karlach’s presence. 

“I’m gonna leave you two alone..” Karlach let out an awkward chuckle, making eye contact with you with wiggly eyebrows before sneaking away.

You look back towards Astarion, who is unable to make eye contact with you as his eyes roam along your body, preoccupied. You're certain he doesn't even realise Karlach has left from beside the two of you.

“Where did you get this pretty thing?” He looks back up to meet your eyes, smirk big enough to show his fangs which sends a nervous shiver through your body. A tingle in your neck reminds you of the favour you allowed him. Your arms cross against your chest, suddenly more nervous in his presence than ever before. 

“Just something I picked up from a merchant..” 

“In all the time I’ve traveled by your side , I’ve never seen you look so.. elegant.” 

“Wow thanks..” You roll your eyes with a snort, crossing your arms tighter across your chest.

“Now c’mon darling..you know I mean you no disrespect. Only pointing out the obvious. May I?” At first you're unsure what he’s even asking permission for, but when you see his hands reaching out to touch you, you give him a nod. 

He doesn’t hesitate, hands finding your hips. “See…usually you’re wearing that menacing leather, always so serious.” Your face scrunches up at his words, you’ve never thought your armour to be very menacing nor did you believe you were ‘always serious’. Only when the situation called for it. 

The heat of his skin can be felt even through the fabric. His thin fingers squeeze into the plush of your hips, then run along your waist, feeling the fabric between his fingers. “But right now, in this dress, with your hair undone,” He brings his hand up to run his fingers through your hairs, “You look so free. You’re beautiful darling..so beautiful.” 

You feel your face relax, and it only softens more when Astarions eyes meet yours once more and his pupils are blown . The softest smile blossoms on his face, which turns out to be contagious cause not soon after a cheek burning smile is on your face. Face hot as you look into his eyes, his hands still on your waist, thumbs massaging your skin through your dress. 

“I should take it off, I don’t want to get it dirty.” 

“Could you humor me?”

“Humor you? How so, Astarion?” 

“Keep it on, just for an hour. It’s been a long time since I spent an evening with a woman as beautiful as you..” 

[chaoticbardlady99]

Pinkie Promise? (Astarion x F! reader) MDNI 18+

Author note- this is specifically for @spitfireunhinged who wrote a beautiful little post with a concept that I adored. I hope I did it justice and you enjoy!

CW- NSFW, mentions of SA

Synopsis- You tell Astarion that you don’t think sex is as good as people say it is. Astarion is determined to prove you wrong.

*not my pic. Please let me know if it is yours so I can give credit

I rewrote this like 7 times. This draft is lightly edited, but I couldn’t wait to post it!

Part 2: I Triple Dog Dare You

Astarion had heard the phrase “pinky promise” before. It was usually between Leon and Victoria before Leon left for a hunt. She always made Leon pinkie promise that he would come home and Leon always swore it- his pinkie hooked with hers.

The whole thing made Astarion vomit, but he thought it was just a “them” thing since he had never heard it before.

Then you used it on him and he had hurt your feelings terribly. He had called you a child and then proceeded to mock you.

You had just smiled at him sweetly like you usually do, apologized for invading his space, and for crossing his boundaries.

When Astarion had come by an hour or two later to drop off a book he ‘borrowed’ (it was his book, but he wanted an excuse to talk to you again), he heard you sniffling and asking Karlach if you were a child. You were so upset by his judgment because you like him as a person and thought the two of you were friends. Karlach said that some people just aren’t capable of being nice.

Astarion found you after Karlach went to sleep and pinkie promised to never call you a child again (and that he doesn’t think you are a child).

Suddenly, it was your thing and it slowly became more enduring as time went on. A part of him was envious if Karlach or Gale offered you the gesture first and you would give them one of your breathtaking smiles. He wishes he could initiate it, but it feels far too intimate to him. Asking someone to promise him something? Perish the thought! No one can truly be trusted. Well- maybe you can be trusted.

Astarion doesn’t know when he became so infatuated with you and your existence. Maybe it was that first night at camp when the two of you got to know each other a little bit better. You hadn’t been able to sleep because you were struggling to adjust to the new environment. You asked him lots of questions that he honestly had struggled to answer, but you were actually interested in him- not just his body.

Astarion was beginning to crave your presence and he despised sharing it with anyone else. One time he even went as far as making you pinkie promise you wouldn’t kiss Gale when he had called you over. You had scoffed and said that is ridiculous because “Gale would not kiss you ever, yuck!” , but did it anyway.

Low and behold- Gale did not get his kiss. He’s tried since, but you have rejected his advances. Astarion likes to think it’s because you like him more- want him more.

So maybe that’s why he was quick to drag you away from the Tiefling party after you had made your rounds- not wanting to watch you be with another person a second longer. You let him take your hand and you giggle as he chastises you for taking so long to talk to everyone else.

“How dare my self-proclaimed ‘best friend’ spend so much time not in my presence!” Astarion melodramatically states, “I am hurt, Darling. I thought we had something special.”

You blow air out of your mouth with an eye roll and smile at him.

“Well of course we do,” you say matter of factly, “but I also knew the minute I went to talk to you that I wouldn’t talk to anyone else.

“I’m the fearless leader!” You say with emphasis, “Leader of the Freakshow- welcome one and all to the most traumatized individuals alive!”

Astarion’s chest bursts with laughter, “how very on the nose of you, my Dear.”

“I must keep all of us humble, my Sweet,” you say boldly.

He tsks at you and twirls you around, “I’m afraid you aren’t allowed to steal my lines- that is going to cost you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Certainly.”

“Name your price.”

Astarion pauses- right now doesn’t feel like the moment to go full throttle. He has more work to do.

“I need time to think,” he says lewdly, “there are so many things I could ask for, after all.”

You hum in agreement and smile at him coyly.

Maybe it’s because you are the first person he has actively sought out since he has been released from Cazador’s grasp.

Astarion guides you to a spot in the meadow he had found earlier. Well- actually he had followed Gale to it earlier- Astarion just found an even better spot like 10 yards away.

Gale had stupidly announced to Wyll around the campfire that he was going to ask to spend time with you alone tonight.

There was immediately not a chance in hells that that was going to happen. Gale found a nice spot in the forest- Astarion found a better one. Gale brought a blanket and wine? Pfft, Astarion can do that.

You stop in front of the blanket and wine before you look at him- a nice blush running up your neck.

“Is this for-?” You seem surprised.

Which Astarion finds very interesting considering you are from Noble society- shouldn’t you be used to being courted? Astarion is almost certain you’d have at least a hundred suitors.

“For you?” He smiles charmingly, “well of course, only the best for you, my Dear.”

You duck your head and you blush even harder. Astarion guides you to sit with him. You both drink the wine and talk. You ask him questions about himself and he asks plenty about you.

Astarion isn’t sure when the conversation turns into talking about sex- that had always been the original intention of the conversation.

“Sex can’t possibly be all that great.”

“Pardon?”

You shrug your shoulders and slightly slur the sentence again with emphasis.

“Sex can’t possibly be all that great.”

Astarion is shocked to his core. You flirt back and forth with him as if you’ve bedded at least a couple men.

“You’ve never?”

“No.”

“How?”

You look at him with a puzzled expression. You are staring at him as if he’s grown a second head.

Hypocrite. You’re the one spewing none sense!

“How?” You state incredulously, “you have looked at me right?”

Oh yes and I’ve imagined fucking you until you are screaming my name, but that’s beside the point I suppose.

“I’m nothing much to look at. I’m always the friend- never the girlfriend or the lover or whatever!” You emphasize with your hands, “no one has ever felt that way about me and if they have- they’ve never gone for it so I assume it’s just not that much fun.”

Astarion feels like he’s dying all over again. That was your assumption? Not that you might be horrifically oblivious because he’s only tried to to get in your pants several times. One time he quite literally asked you to come to his bed that night and you showed up with a book.

“Darling,” Astarion’s exasperation obvious, “I’ve been trying to have sex with you for a couple weeks now. Probably even more than that at this point.”

You stare at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

“You,” you stammer, “you want to? With me? No way.”

You laugh nervously, “you are beautiful and intelligent and-“

“No, no way.”

Astarion raises an eyebrow at you and smiles seductively. Your lips part slightly as he pushes you on your back and parts your legs with his knee.

Your arms automatically wrap around his neck- your pupils blown wide with lust. Astarion kisses to the left and right of your lips- grinning when he hears your huff in frustration.

“You sure do keen a lot for someone who doesn’t think sex could possibly be ‘that good’, Darling,” Astarion coos, you tighten your lips in embarrassment.

Astarion rolls his eyes at you and cups your face while putting his thumb in your mouth, pressing down on your tongue. You hum with pleasure and peer at him through hooded eye lids. Astarion feels his cock strain against his pants

“So, my Dear,” Astarion drawls, “do you want me to fuck you? Would you like to see all the bliss you are missing out on?”

You nod eagerly and Astarion presses his thigh against your growing heat. You whine around his thumb and you run your tongue against his skin.

Fuck.

“Are you going to be a good girl for me?” He asks hotly.

You nod- Astarion can smell your arousal and feel it seeping through both of your pants.

“Pinkie promise?” He says teasingly, pulling his thumb out of your mouth to hold out his pinkie.

You hook your pinkie with his and whisper, “pinkie promise.”

Astarion pulls you in for a mind numbing kiss- caressing your lips with his until you are keeping up with his pace. He feels your arms around his neck pull him in deeper.

Your kiss against his lips is sweet and intoxicating- for a second he completely forgets about the purpose of the evening. Astarion could sit here and just kiss you like this until the sun comes up.

Your breathing hitches and Astarion watches as you desperately try to find release by riding his thigh- your movements erratic and wanting. The sounds you are making fill him with excitement and for the first time in a while- he’s actually eager to be inside someone.

He realizes your moaning has become muffled all of a sudden and he looks up to find you covering your mouth- your cheeks and ears are bright red while you pant with arousal.

Astarion laces his fingers through yours and holds your hands down on either side of your head- your pupils are blown wide from lust. The galloping of your heart is like music to his ears.

“Oh no,” he whispers seductively, “do not keep those delicious moans of yours from me, Darling. You promised to be good, remember?”

“Y-yes,” you say between heavy breaths- this time you are the one to surprise him by closing the space between the two of you with a needy kiss.

Astarion unlaces his fingers from yours as he begins unlacing your trousers- quickly discarding them to reveal your soaked underclothes. He growls involuntarily as the smell of your arousal hits the back of his throat- you smell incredible.

Astarion could leave it at just taking your pants off for now, but Gods does he want to see more and if you are willing to let him, then he is not going to deny himself the pleasure of being able to touch and kiss every inch of your body.

Your shirt is next and you don’t even fight it- helping him get the article of clothing off and helping him discard his shirt as well. Astarion stops and looks down upon your naked form.

“Gods you are exquisite,” Astarion says as he begins to kiss down your naval, “open your legs for me, Darling.”

He leaves tiny love bites as he goes- wanting to make sure everyone knows exactly who you belong to. You are a whimpering mess underneath his touch as he presses his fingers to your clothed clit- teasing you slowly.

“Asta-“

You are cut off by your own sounds of pleasure leaving your throat as he slips your underwear off- slowly pushing one finger into you while playing with your clit using his tongue. A string of curse words leaves your mouth as he begins to pick up the pace with his fingers and basks in the way pleasure looks on your face, how your body is writhing for him, and the tumbling praises for him echo through the clearing.

He rolls your sensitive nub between his teeth and he has to hold your hips down as you keen underneath his touch. Astarion adds a second finger- still meeting some resistance, but you aren’t stopping him, in fact- you are giving him complete access using your tadpole right now (intentionally or not) and he can feel how desperate you are to feel fuller. Then he adds the second fingers and the euphoria that rings through your body goes straight to his groan. Astarion can feel his cock straining against his pants as he brings you over the edge with his fingers and mouth- your sweet pleasure dripping down his chin and his fingers. He languidly cleans his fingers off with his mouth, humming in delight while making eye contact with you.

Your eyes are half lidded and glassy- your mouth is slightly parted open. He leans forward and leaves a chaste kiss on them and begins unlacing his own pants- slipping them off and throwing them to the side- his underwear quickly following.

Astarion lines himself up with your entrance- your orgasm coating the head of his cock and he has to fight the urge to slam into you right away. He lines himself up with your entrance- teasing you. You look more nervous now than lustful and Astarion feels his gaze soften. He hovers over you and caresses the side of your face with his thumb. The last thing he wants is to start with you in the wrong headspace.

"Wrap your legs around my waist."

You obediently comply- your back slightly arching and your pert nipples are touching his chest. You sigh in arousal at the contact.

“This may hurt a little,” he says, “we can stop whenever or however much you need- we can stop completely and try again another time even.

“But do you want me to continue?”

You smile up at him with relief and nod coyly.

“I trust you, but please go slow,” you whisper.

Astarion feels a tightness in his chest when you look up at him. Your eyes are so vulnerable and of all the people you’ve decided to trust you chose him. Astarion is fighting not to dissociate- wanting to give you his full attention.

Astarion slowly begins to push inside you. You cry out and clutch at his shoulders- taking a sharp breath as he slowly sheaths himself inside you. Astarion has to fight the want- no need to go faster- you are so damn tight and Astarion is almost wondering if he should have done more foreplay.

He rocks in and out of you- making sure to check on your facial expressions. There are tears pricking your eyes, but your look of discomfort is becoming more and more euphoric as he keeps rolling his hips into you gently.

“Hells darling,” Astarion manages to moan out through clenched teeth, “you feel so fucking good.”

You whimper at his praise and Astarion lifts you up by the hips so he can get a better angle. He thrusts a minuscule harder this time and the whimper that leaves your mouth is making him feel positively feral.

“Astarion,” you whine, “ple- please I need more.”

You definitely don’t have to tell him twice. Astarion snaps himself up into you at a faster pass- your keening only encouraging him to go faster- both of you moaning and gasping while clawing at each other. For the first time in the last 200 years- Astarion does not want to stop. Despite the feelings that are always there, this may be the only time he’s actually experienced bliss while being with someone.

"Such a good little pup, aren't you?"

You clench around him at his words, you beg him to fuck you harder, and he drops your hips back to the ground before putting his face into the crook of your neck- kissing and praising you as you ride out your high.

“You were such a good girl for me,” he breathes into your air, “thank you.”

Your hands find purchase in his hair, tugging his lips to yours. If he needed air, the kiss would have suffocated him from how intense and wanting it was- the air between the both of you feels alive and Astarion barely registers that he’s finishing inside you until he’s collapsed on top of you- his head resting on your chest as it races in time with your breathing.

“That was amazing,” you say breathlessly and Astarion can’t help but laugh.

“I told you so.”

You plafully slap his arm and laugh- the sound filling his body with comfort. He can hear your heart beat begin to slow down and your breathing becomes deeper.

“Thank you Astarion,” you say sleepily, dozing off with your hands teasing his curls, “not just for this- for everything. I feel worth something when I’m with you.”

You yawn and Astarion tries to focus on the sound instead of the twisting guilt in his stomach. He cares for you too and that might be where he fucked up.

Your breathing quickly evens out and he is drowning in the smell of sex and rose water- a scent he heavily associates with you. Astarion stays there with his head on top of your chest- trying to get his bearings together. That was like no other sexual encounter he has experienced before- it was blissful- so why the hell is he about to have the melt down of the century?

“Shit,” you jolt awake, accidentally pushing Astarion off you- your eyes are still glassy “sorry I should probably not just fall asleep here- I’m sure you want to get back to your tent…”

Astarion pulls you back down and against his chest as if it’s exactly where you belong. The idea of you leaving right now makes his soul twist painfully. No, he needs you to stay. Existing is easier with you around- it has been since he met you on the beach.

“Stay,” he whispers, “please.”

There is a pause and he worries he may have overstepped his bounds. You look up at him with sleepy, kind eyes. If peace were to have a face- it would be yours.

“I’ll stay as long as you want me to.” You smile at him sweetly.

The word leaves his mouth before he can stop himself, “pinkie promise?”

You give him the biggest, toothiest grin he has ever seen. Astarion is certain you may be the single most beautiful person he’s ever met.

You take his pinky in yours and then place a soft kiss against his cold lips.

As you pull away, you whisper against his mouth, “I pinky promise.”

[wehaveimagineshere]

Request for Ren! Could I request a scenario for Astarion to react to his gender neutral crush said they would sleep on the couch while he sleeps on the bed when both of them had to share a room with one bed? Even though the bed is big enough for both of them!

I woke up at like 3 in the morning (don't worry, I went back to sleep), saw this, and spent like 20 minutes thinking about it. I think I even dreamt about it! Thank you so much for the ask, and I hope you like what I wrote!

~*~*~

While you wouldn't necessarily complain about sleeping in the wilds, with the stars above your head and the sound of creatures going about their business, you had to admit having a roof to block out the rain and a comfortable bed to cushion your back was a nice change of pace.

"We don't have enough rooms for everyone in your party, unfortunately," comes the innkeep, flipping through her books. "Hopefully you aren't against rooming up."

"It would be cheaper that way," voices Wyll with a shrug.

Karlach laughs. "I don't care if I have to sleep on the floor. Give me a nice fluffy pillow and I'll sleep like a babe."

You catch the innkeep's eye and smile. "I think that answers your question."

Setting four keys down on the counter, she motions to the stairs to her right. "Well then, breakfast will be ready in the morning if you're interested. Enjoy your night."

As you grab the keys and turn to your companions, you grin as everyone eyes each other up. Shadowheart and Lae'zel would have to have separate rooms lest you wake up to one of them dead. Maybe the druids wouldn't be against wild shaping into cats that could sleep at the ends of the bed to free up space. Astarion--

Is staring at you with mischief in his eyes.

The moment he sees your eyes lock on his, he sidles up next to you. "What was that, darling? You want to share a room with me?" He puts a hand to his heart. "I'm honored, of course I'll agree. You needn't even ask."

Fighting the smile and giving him an eyeroll, you wave the remaining keys and set them back on the counter. "Figure it out, you guys. I'm tired."

"I would be too," you hear Gale mutter, eyes darting between you two with a raised eyebrow.

Slipping an arm over your shoulders, Astarion turns you toward the stairs. "I wouldn't bother trying to add yourselves to our room. We'll be...busy."

You hear Lae'zel scoff while Wyll laughs, "We know."

Letting him lead you up the stairs and to your room, he leaves you at the door while he sets his pack down on the bed. A single bed, large enough for two, yet... Glancing about the room, you spot a small fainting couch and make your way to it.

Rifling through your pack and grabbing up your nightwear and blankets, you start undoing your clothes. "I can take the couch."

His ruffling stops, and you turn to see his shirt half off, a confused look thrown your way. "What?"

"I can take the couch," you repeat, motioning to it for good measure.

Furrowing his brow, he looks between you and the bed. "Are you blind? There's enough room for both of us, darling."

Raising an eyebrow, you study the bed. While there was enough room to stretch out comfortably, and the thought of cuddling up against Astarion all night makes your heart flutter...

"You'd be comfortable with that?"

He gives you an incredulous look, then you watch as it morphs into a confused look once again, then shifts into one of surprise. Tossing his shirt onto the bed, he approaches you slowly and doesn't stop until your chests are mere inches apart.

The emotions you see in his eyes closes your throat.

"My love," he starts softly, quietly, feathering his fingers down your arm before gently wrapping them around yours, "you always continue to surprise me." Bringing your knuckles to his lips, he places a soft kiss upon them. "I wish for nothing more than to wrap my arms around you, feel you pressed up against me, and keep you all to myself."

Feeling your cheeks burn, you squeeze his fingers and give a smile. "How long have you wanted to tell me that?"

He grins with a wink. "I'll leave that to your imagination. Now!" Pulling you forward, he tugs on your shirt. "Get dressed so we can cuddle and be mushy and gooey and make myself want to throw up."

Laughing, you pull your hand out of his and do exactly as he demands.

[pastrydragon]

The BG3 Beef I wanna see shitpost

While I do love the idea of Tav/Astarion/Karlach/whoever getting more unique mean dialogue with Ulder Ravengard, especially when he has the audacity to take up space in your camp like that instead of someone cooler like Barcus or that one bullied hyena, I want very specific flavor text that you'd only get in the epilogue party if you pick a specific ending even more.

I think if you romance Wyll as Gale or Gale as Wyll and then you don't go to Avernus, I think it would be totally galaxy brain to have dialogue in the epilogue that reveals Ulder Ravengard and Morena Dekarios fucking DESPISE one another. Because they absolutely would.

We never get to meet Morena in game but you can tell from what Gale and Tara say about her and Gale's... Galeness that she is at least a part time passenger on the "Fuck you my child is fine" train. Her sweet little boy? Commit evil deeds? Never! There has obviously been a mistake. I mean she indulged that "Gale Of Waterdeep" nonsense and when Gale summoned a full on Tressym after being explicitly denied a kitten as a child, she just let him keep her. No repercussions.

And then her sweet boy brings home another sweet boy who is probably EXACTLY what she pictured Gale's partner should be like.(Because Wyll is the damn blueprint for "Guy you could bring home to mom") Wyll is ridiculously sweet to Gale, he's the perfect gentleman, he's very open to the idea of giving Morena the grandchildren she's been nagging Gale about in the very near future. Pinch her, she must be dreaming!

I cannot imagine her reacting to Wyll's backstory with any amount of empathy towards Ulder, obviously that man is a cruel psychopath to throw poor Wyll out like that after "a tiny misunderstanding" and Wyll is just too good of a son not to see it. Which is partially true, Wyll is definitely still in some kind of denial stage over what his father did but that's not the point of the post.

Then there's Ulder who probably thinks Gale is... Fine. He's not someone he ever would have pictured for Wyll. Gale is a babbling oddball, he has chronic foot-in-mouth disease and has only ever met the pointy end of a sword. But he can't say anything because Gale saved him, his son, and Bulder's gate, and a small army of tieflings, and apparently a bunch of mushroom people and blah blah more reasons he can never have the moral high ground blah. He's undeniably stuck with this fucking wizard, and his nightmare of a mother.

Morena firmly believes that since the Ravengard manor is technically Wyll's now, then it's also Gale's and thus is now hers as well. When I say she would walk through the doors like she owned the place I mean it very literally. Where did Ulder's old helmet display go? "They were rusty and it was ruining the wooden shelves, besides these enchanted swords go better with the new drapes we had to get, I don't know how you didn't notice how moth eaten they were getting." Everyday he wakes up and something about his own damn home has been changed to make it look more like a wizard tower. She doesn't even live here most of the time!

And it doesn't stop there, not at all. No this women has to make sure his son doesn't live there full time either. Every holiday and birthday she has to send Gale a letter about how much she misses him and you should visit so you can take a break from all that(Very important!) work and how she already has the venison just for Wyll.

And every time he's forced to interact with this harpy she looks at him with a sweet smile on her face, honey in her voice and the burning hatred of a thousand suns in her eyes then somehow managed to insult him five times in one sentence without ever explicitly insulting him. This women is a devil from Avernus sent to punish him for his sins and she's even won over the grandkids. Obviously that women is a manipulative psychopath for using her control over Gale to manipulate his son. Which, yeah Gale not being able to say no to his mom has contributed greatly to this and if Wyll knew what healthy boundaries looked like he probably wouldn't have put up with it but he doesn't so here we are.

Let these two be the Tom and Jerry style B plot to BG4 is what I'm saying.

[charmandabear]

New Year's Eve

Summary:

You don't really want to go to Shadowheart's New Year's Eve party, but you meet someone who might make things a little more interesting.

Pairing: Astarion/gn!Reader (femme leaning) Rating: T Word Count: 3.7k Tags: fluff, first kiss, new year's eve, flirting, sexual tension, pool shenanigans (the game, not like swimming)

Read it on AO3.

Final part (maybe) of Midwinter Nights! I really wanted to get this out actually on NYE, but I spent too much time playing Baldur's Gate. Oops. Once again, my beautiful banner Astarion was made by Idylla.

Midwinter Nights: Yule | Christmas | New Year's Eve

You're not really one for parties. There are too many strangers in too small of a space listening to music that's too loud while eating food that's too salty. But Shadowheart was insistent, even helping you dress for the occasion.

She bent over you, applying some glittery eyeshadow that fell onto your cheeks with every stroke of her brush. Her long silvery ponytail dangled over her shoulder, the tip of it tickling your hands resting in your lap.

“Stop flinching!” she snapped, and you clenched your hands to force yourself still. You weren't accustomed to wearing much makeup at all, save maybe a little smokey eyeliner and lipstick. But you really hated having things near your eyes. Shadowheart knew this, and she promised to be as gentle as possible. She pulled up your eyebrow to smooth out her canvas.

When she pulled out a tool that could have easily been a medieval torture device, you scooted back in her vanity chair and held your hands up in defense. She rolled her eyes at your theatrics.

“This is the alternative to mascara, it's going to be one or the other,” she huffed at you. “It won't hurt at all, so long as you stay still.” Still wary of the metal contraption, you closed your eyes, taking a breath to settle your jumpy nerves.

She pressed the cool curved metal to your eyelid and you managed to still your instinct to pull back. She clamped the contraption down on your eyelashes and you held your breath to keep yourself from moving. You managed to stay frozen while she curled the lashes of your other eye, and when she finally pulled away you let out a puff of air.

“Okay, now lashes,” she said as she applied a thin layer of glue to a spidery false eyelash.

“Woah woah woah, I thought that was it. What the hell is that?” You leaned away from it like she was holding an actual tarantula. She flicked up her cold green eyes to meet yours, unamused by your antics.

“You said no mascara, so this is necessary. Don't worry, nothing will get in your eye, this just sits on top.” She waved the lash like she was shaking water off it, and you followed it with your eyes uneasily.

“Why is this so important to you?” you muttered under your breath, resuming your statuesque stillness. You heard Shadowheart release an impatient breath.

“I just want to make you look pretty, is that so much to ask? Well, prettier than usual, at least.” You could hear the smile in her voice. The least you could do is indulge her a little bit, you supposed. Shadowheart didn't have many luxuries growing up in such a strict orphanage. She wasn't allowed to keep any dolls, so letting her play dress up with you now was a small price to pay for her delight.

“Besides,” her voice took on a musical quality, “there’s going to be someone there tonight that I want you to meet.” You stifled a groan. Shadowheart had become borderline insufferable since she and Karlach started dating. The two of them were very cute together, almost sickenly so, stealing touches whenever they thought they could get away with it. You knew that she just wanted you to be happy, but you still hadn’t quite recovered from the last time she set you up with someone.

“This isn’t going to be like that awful double date with Gale, right?” you asked with trepidation. She smirked as she stepped back, admiring her work.

“No, trust me, I learned my lesson on that one. In fact, these two couldn’t be more different, I promise.” She tapped your knee, signaling you to turn back to the vanity mirror to see the final look. For a moment, you were actually at a loss for words. The silvery shimmer on your eyelids reflected every color of the rainbow, the sparkles dancing every time you moved your head. The sharp lines of the deep plum color on your lips made them look pouty and kissable. Your hair cascaded down your shoulder, pinned back with little star and moon shaped trinkets. She had put you in a dress that you were certain would make you look like a clown, but the way the rose gold sequins and sweetheart neckline hugged your curves evoked an almost ethereal quality.

“So?” Shadowheart made eye contact with you in the mirror, and you could see her bouncing with excitement.

“Shadowheart, I look amazing!” you breathed, still marveling that a little styling could change this much.

“I know,” she said in her charmingly self-satisfied way. She planted a kiss on the top of your head and bounded across the room to her dresser, pulling a necklace off the jewelry tree sitting on top.

“Hair,” she commanded, and you carefully held up your hair for her to clasp it around your neck. “And one final touch,” she added, and said the incantation for minor illusion, making everything on you sparkle just a little bit more. She put her hands on your shoulders and pressed her cheek to yours, still looking at your reflection in the mirror.

“You know, I did such a good job that you’ll have your pick of potential partners,” she grinned, “but I think I know who you’ll choose.”

~~~

The temporary confidence boost brought on by seeing your reflection had worn off and the social anxiety began to creep in. Shadowheart sashayed over to you and pressed a wine glass into your hand. 

“I don't think he's here yet, but drink this, loosen up a bit,” she said with a conspiratorial smile. You welcomed having something to do with your hands as your eyes scanned the room, looking for a comforting face. Unfortunately your eyes locked with Gale, who smiled and waved.

“Sorry, gotta run,” Shadowheart said and was gone before you could protest. Gale wandered toward you and politeness locked your legs in place.

“Hello again,” he greeted cheerily, if not a bit awkwardly. You gave him a strained smile, clutching your glass a little tighter.

“Hi Gale, it's good to see you,” you said, hoping the lie wasn't too evident. You stood together in silence for a moment, shuffling your feet uncomfortably.

“Read anything interesting lately? I'm currently several chapters into the most fascinating tome on the intricacies of the Peloponnesian War by the Greek historian Thucydides. He does something really remarkable, something that only a handful of historians even think to do, by connecting the famines around that time with the internal conflicts that arose. He manages to capture the desperation that forced them into…”

It amazed you how much he could speak without taking a breath. Despite starting with a question, he hadn't paused long enough for you to answer. You sipped the wine as he continued to ramble, eyes darting around for an escape. Your gaze landed on a beautiful young man with ivory skin and silvery hair, perfectly windswept. Your breath caught in your throat a little just looking at him. He was dressed impeccably, a blue and purple brocade vest with gold closures over a dusky lavender cashmere turtleneck that hugged his lithe figure. His legs were long and lean, and he stood with a permanently crooked gait, giving an aloof and casual air.

He caught your eye and flashed a disarming grin. His gaze shifted to Gale, who had moved on to comparing The History of the Peloponnesian War to Plato’s Republic, then back to you. He raised his eyebrows in a silent question, to which you nodded almost imperceptibly. He chuckled and sauntered over.

“Gale, darling, I’m afraid our new friend here will soon lose her hearing the way you’re talking her ear off,” he said in a melodic voice, slinging an arm around Gale’s shoulder. Gale started and turned toward the handsome stranger.

“Oh, Astarion, I didn’t see you there.” He turned to look back at you, appropriately chagrined. “My apologies, once I get started it can be hard for me to stop. I’ll stop monopolizing your presence and let you mingle.” And with that, he was off. You let out a breath you hadn’t even realized you were holding.

“Thank you, I didn’t know how to make him stop,” you said with relief, your posture visibly relaxing.

“He has a tendency to do that,” he chuckled, “you learn how to manage him after a time.”

“I appreciate it all the same,” you responded, cheeks beginning to redden. His gaze was piercing, almost as if he could see into you. 

“You know, I thought I had already met everyone worth knowing around here, but evidently I was wrong.” He held out a slender hand for you to take, and you shivered slightly when you felt how icy it was. “Astarion, though I suppose Gale let that fact slip already.”

You caught a glimpse of Karlach across the room, who noticed you talking to Astarion and excitedly batted Shadowheart’s shoulder. She turned and gave you a big smile, mouthing “That's him!” while pointing at Astarion’s back. Her lack of subtlety made you smile.

“Yeah, I think our generous host wanted us to meet,” you said with a little nod, and he looked over his shoulder at Karlach and Shadowheart, who very unconvincingly pretended to be deep in conversation.

“Well how lucky for us that we found each other, then,” he said in a low breath, and you felt your subconscious pulling you toward him, the magnetic force between you palpable. You coughed and stepped away, head spinning slightly from the rush. You nervously took a sip of your wine.

“Are you enjoying that?” he asked, wrinkling his nose at the glass. You looked down at it, perplexed. You didn't really know much about alcohol at all, you just accepted whatever Shadowheart gave to you.

“It's fine, I guess,” you said, shrugging noncommittally. He took it from you and bent down to put it on the table behind you. He brushed against you slightly as he did, and that heady feeling came back. The scent of his cologne washed over you, your body reacting to the smell like a pheromone. You blinked at him as he straightened up.

“You smell… good,” you stammered incoherently. 

“Aren't you just the sweetest?” he said with a jaunty smile. “Here, let me get you something better than that foul wine.” He grabbed your hand and pulled you over to an old-fashioned metal drink cart. Shadowheart would get something like that for a party.

“Any requests?” He surveyed the selection, lithe fingers dancing over the labels.

“I don't drink much, so whatever you think is good,” you said, looking up at him with your big doe eyes. He smiled, admiring just how cute you looked, your silky hair curling around your pretty neck. He was suspicious of your innocent act, convinced that there was more to you than you led on. He took two shot glasses from the lower tray and poured a deep red liquor.

“Try this, let me know what you think,” he said, handing you one of the shot glasses. He held his out to you, making very deliberate eye contact, waiting for you to clink. You locked eyes with him and his undead heart skipped a beat. You both downed the shot while maintaining eye contact. When you pulled the glass away from your lips, a delectable drop of the blood red liquid remained. 

Astarion reached out and swiped his thumb across your bottom lip, his touch like an electric shock. He smirked as he licked the remnant of the liquor that he stole from your lip. He must've known what he was doing to your insides, and it looked like he was enjoying watching you squirm.

“How does that taste?” he murmured, tongue lingering on the st. Your throat was dry despite the liquor still coating the inside of your mouth.

“Good,” you croaked with a nod. “I like it.”

“Good,” he repeated your word, somehow making it sound so much more lascivious. He grabbed two long flutes and filled them with sparkling wine. He then topped them off with the sweet liquor, and you watched the red liquid curling through the gold, undulating like an exotic dancer. He swirled the glasses until the entire drink had taken on a bright crimson.

“Cheers,” he said, holding out the glass. You tapped your glass to his, lost once more in his intense eye contact. You watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, mesmerized by the smooth porcelain of his skin. He noticed you staring and he grinned, causing you to suddenly look away as you felt your cheeks reddening.

In that moment Karlach sidled up to you, saving you from yourself. She threw her arm around your neck and addressed Astarion.

“Hey, Fangs, I hear you're pretty good at pool. Wyll and I are the undefeated champs right now, think you and Sparkles here can take us?”

Fangs?

“Well, I do rather enjoy seeing Wyll’s cry, so yes, I think we can. What do you think?” He hit you again with that penetrating gaze of his, and you felt yourself buckle under the weight of Karlach’s arm. 

“Sure,” you said meekly, still feeling Astarion's stare. Karlach pumped her fist in victory and ran off to grab Wyll. Astarion pressed his hand into your lower back in the direction of the pool table.

“Don't worry if you don't know how to play, darling, I'll play well enough for the both of us,” he whispered into your ear, and his breath tickled your love. You swallowed thickly and allowed yourself to be guided over to the table.

Wyll was already there, chalking up his cue. You had met him once or twice in passing, but never spent much time in each other's presence. You waved shyly and he replied with a polite nod.

“Ahh, billiards,” Wyll said wistfully. “Such an elegant game.”

“Any game where I get to smack a bunch of balls with a stick is the game for me,” Karlach cackled, clearly proud of herself. Wyll rolled his eyes as he set up the table and you giggled quietly.

“We’ll go first to give you two a little advantage,” Karlach smirked, and sent the cue ball flying into the rack.

“Ladies first,” Astarion handed you a pool cue and bowed, gesturing at the table. Your eyes scanned for the best shot. Right as you found it, Astarion came up close behind you, his lips centimeters away from your ear.

“Go for the 3 ball into the corner pocket,” he breathed, putting his arms around you to help you aim the cue. Your heart pounded feeling him this close, his front flush against your back, his pretty silver curls tickling your neck. You struggled to keep your breath even and you tried to focus on the ball in front of you. You managed to snap out of it when it became clear that he wasn't helping you angle the cue correctly.

You looked over your shoulder at him and the spark in your eye was electrifying. Your muscles, previously lax and easily pliable, suddenly sprang to life as you took control of the cue. He heard the crack of the cue ball hitting the 3 ball before he saw it. He also felt the jab to his gut as you thrust the cue back in order to gain the necessary momentum to make the shot. He stepped back and coughed, holding his hand against his solar plexus. The pain was almost worth it when you spun around and covered your mouth with your hands, face growing a delicious shade of red.

The sudden horror of elbowing Astarion in the stomach filled your body with the heat of embarrassment, your eyes about to melt out of your head.

“I. Am. So. Sorry,” you managed to squeak out behind your hands. He was bent over slightly, but he still managed a weak smile.

“No, the mistake is mine for making an assumption,” he wheezed. You gnawed on your lower lip, anxiety coming off you in waves. Astarion straightened up and gently took your chin in his hand, tilting your face up to him.

“Just make sure we win,” he said in a silky tone that sent a shiver down your spine. You nodded dreamily, and he chucked his finger below your chin. 

Watching you play pool was something else. You were suddenly more confident than you had been all night - he knew the damsel facade was just an act. He relished in seeing you stalk around the table like a lioness circling her prey. Your eyes flitted across the table, making calculations, playing each scenario out in your mind. Astarion fancied himself a decent billiards player, but you were an artist at work. Even Karlach and Wyll’s banter died down as they struggled to figure out how to beat you.

But even better than witnessing your mastery at pool was simply watching you as you played. The slight imprint the cue made across your chest as you leaned into it, the way your dress sparkled every time you moved, the cheeky glimpse of your ass as you bent down to take a shot. 

He preened a little while he played, not so secretly hoping you were watching him as much as he was watching you. He may have put a little extra arch in his back, leaned back on his leg a little more than was necessary, just at the chance of seeing you flustered.

And fluster you it did. Not enough to throw you off your game - no, when it was time to take a shot, everything else fell away. But while you were waiting, you couldn’t keep your eyes off him. Every time he bent over, scandalous images passed through your mind, deepening the flush in your cheeks. While Wyll and Karlach discussed a shot, you watched his fingers lightly run over the length of his cue, and you wondered what else those fingers could do. The thought made your heart race and Astarion turned to look at you, almost as if he could read your mind. Which you didn’t think he could do. He didn’t know any spells, to your knowledge, but you should really try to control your thoughts just to be safe. Though you weren’t sure if you could around him.

You came back to yourself just as Karlach celebrated sinking their last striped ball. She punched Wyll in the shoulder and he rubbed at it while her back was turned. He surveyed the table, tried for an angle to pocket the 8 ball, and missed.

You stepped up to the table, mapping out the geometry in your mind's eye. You found an angle that should work, and you leaned over to line up your shot. Astarion came up behind you, and you could feel him pressing into your backside.

“You've got this,” he whispered, and a shudder shot through your body. Enough to misalign your carefully lined shot. And you missed.

“Aww, tough break!” Karlach could barely contain her glee. “Looks like Pretty Boy got you distracted,” she added with a devilish grin. You looked at Astarion and then quickly looked away, trying to hide your blush.

“What can I say? I'm very distracting,” he retorted. “But you haven't won just yet. I still get a shot.”

“Oh boo, just take your shot, then, so we can win.” She stuck out her tongue at him.

You felt awful for missing, since you absolutely would have made you hadn't been so down bad for him. It's also not lost on you that if you win, he might want to celebrate…

You quietly cast guidance on him as he's lining up his shot. He bristles, then changes his angle ever so slightly. He tapped the cue ball which bounced against the 8 ball, knocking it into the side pocket. You and Astarion both shouted with joy. Karlach’s face fell while Wyll eyed you suspiciously. 

“What? No way, man, I can't believe you made it,” she pouted, crossing her arms across her broad chest. Astarion threw his arms around you and you pressed yourself into his chest, inhaling that intoxicating fragrance. You felt him vibrate with a low chuckle. You looked up at him without breaking the hug, and he whispered, “you cheeky little minx.”

You looked up at him with those doe eyes again, the feigned innocence back. He smirked and gently stroked your hair.

“Everyone, gather round, it's nearly midnight!” Shadowheart called out to the room. “Help yourselves to a toasting glass.”

Astarion led you to the tray of glasses and handed you one. 

“I never fancied you a cheater,” he murmured under his breath. You looked at him aghast, this one not quite as convincing.

“10!.. 9!..”

“I'm certain I have no idea what you mean,” you shyly glanced up at him through your lashes. He was certain you knew exactly what you were doing.

“8!.. 7!..”

“I don't know if there's anything strictly in the rules about using cantrips,” he mused, looking off to the side. You stepped a smidge closer.

“6!.. 5!..”

“Well either way, I enjoyed playing by your side.”

“4!.. 3!..”

“I just enjoyed being by your side,” his voice was low and cool, and your heart started pounding in your throat.

“2!.. 1!.. Happy New Year!!”

He pulled up your chin towards his, planting a tender kiss on your lips. He tasted sweet, the drink he made earlier still on his tongue. You clutched at his fine vest, aching to deepen the kiss. You knew this wasn't the time or the place, but you desperately craved more of him.

He swiped his tongue along your lower lip and pulled away, hovering a few centimeters away from your face.

“Happy New Year indeed,” he purred, and smiled, flashing two pointed incisors that you just barely caught out of the corner of your eye.

Fangs? Your heart thumped loudly against your chest, trying to escape in excitement.

Fangs.

[vemaro]

alone again

[PART 1]

This is the next part!

Summary: Tav can’t deny her own eagerness to reunite with everyone. She’s missed them all dearly. It’s been years since so many of them have been in the city concurrently, not since the final fight against the Elder Brain. Lae’zel immediately ran into a battle to save her people from Vlaakith. Wyll and Karlach went to Avernus. Gale stayed behind for a little while, but eventually left for a position at Blackstaff Academy. Astarion is no longer safe from the sun so he went into the Underdark. Shadowheart stayed the longest, but she too ventured out of the city, following Aylin and Isobel.

She considered asking to tag along with someone, but she felt it wasn’t her place to insert herself into their lives. If they wanted her around, surely they would’ve invited her … right?

Pairing: Astarion x Tav (female Tav)

Word Count: ~1000

Notes: This is set in the same universe as my last fic. I’m planning on about three parts. Enjoy:D

…

The door to her bedroom opens, and without a proceeding knock. There’s only one person who forgoes such a courtesy. “Yes, Terrick?” He doesn’t fully enter the room, but she can feel his gaze on her back. One, two, three minutes of silence pass before Tav closes her wardrobe and turns around. He’s still just standing there with this scrutinizing expression on his face. If nothing else, Tav is a patient woman, so she continues getting ready.

Naturally, that is when he speaks up. “That’s not the dress I picked out for you.”

She pauses right in front of the bed. It takes every ounce of her willpower not to sigh. “I know.”

But he presses on. “Are you going to change?”

Breathe. Just breathe. But don’t sigh. Don’t give him the satisfaction. “No, Terrick. This is what I’m wearing.”

He finally walks in only to stand in front of her vanity. “At least put on a dress,” he says, adjusting his cravat.

Tav plops herself on top of her bed and crosses one leg over the other. “I will if you will.”

He doesn’t look away from his reflection. The man keeps working on that damn cravat. “For the gods’ sake, can you please not make this harder than need be?”

She rolls her eyes. “Can you allow me some comfort while in public? Most of the dresses I have are too tight.”

Terrick scoffs. “Then lose some weight.”

Tav wouldn’t describe herself as overly confident in her appearance. However, she is content. Growing up on the streets as a child, looks didn’t matter all that much. And then after joining the enclave, she was taught inner beauty was of more import than physical beauty. As an adventurer, as long as she was alive and well, that’s good enough for her. Yet holy hells, did that scathing remark almost make her convert into a Bhaal worshiper.

The druid doesn’t miss a beat with a quip of her own. “Awe. Concerned you don’t take up enough space in pictures?” She speaks in a cooing voice that drips with condescension. “Don’t worry, husband dear, I will happily step aside so you can have all of the spotlight.” The last thing she wants is to be in the Mouth anyway.

He whips around to leer at her. “I’ll have you know—”

She’s not through. “Oh, but you’re not the reason the journalists come to these events. I am. The people want to see the Hero of Faerûn on the front page, not some glorified Baldurian socialite.”

“A socialite?” Terrick goes so red in the face, he puts Karlach to shame.

She rises to her feet, refusing to let him stand over her. “What else do you call a man who lives off his family’s fortune while floating from party to party?”

Any more pressure in his head, and the man’s eyeballs would pop clear out. “How dare you?” he snaps, b-lining towards her. “I’m the only reason you’re able to start your little projects. Your schools, your food banks, your clinics; they’re all possible through my family’s name and wealth. Without me, you’d be nothing.”

Actually, she’d still be the Hero of Faerûn, but Tav bites her tongue. By now, she was far too used to him lording his status over her head. They’ve had this argument numerous times and she’s so tired. If she said that thought out loud, it would eventually end with her pompous husband threatening to end their arrangement. Tav would be out on the streets, which isn’t too much of a concern. She’s no longer a small defenseless child with no way of earning money. She’s wholly capable of enduring hardship, homelessness included.

But it wasn’t just about her anymore.

She has a son; Callum, who is a small defenseless child. Terrick may or may not keep Callum. He doesn’t care for him like she does, but she wouldn’t put it past the bastard to use him as a bargaining chip. But if they both ended up on the streets, there’s no guarantee gold would come her way, even with the title of Hero. And she couldn’t burden her friends with her problems.

So Tav stays.

And Tav bites her tongue again and again.

And Tav prays for the days when Terrick is out of the house.

Breathe, don’t sigh. “I’m sorry, Terrick.” She bows her head slightly. “You’re right. My comment was … out of line. Please forgive me.”

“I suppose.” He squares his shoulders and clears his throat. “See to it that it doesn’t happen again.”

It most certainly will happen again. “Of course.”

“Now put on the damn dress I picked out, wife.” When Terrick invokes that title, it’s like a curse, something akin to a Dominate spell. It makes her skin crawl.

“Yes, husband,” she responds.

Placated for now, he nods once more then rushes for the door. Just before exiting the room, he throws out one last command over his shoulder. “And do check on the boy. Last outing, he was rather irritable.”

Tav grits her teeth. Callum was sick during their last outing, just coming down from the flu. She offered to stay home with him, but Terrick demanded otherwise. The poor thing was miserable the whole afternoon, constantly coughing, sneezing, and sniffling. Breathe. In and out. Or else Bhaal may have a new follower by nightfall. She forces a smile onto her face. “Yes, Terrick. In a moment then.”

“Thank you.” And he slams the door shut.

Now that she’s alone at last, she finally lets out the heavy sigh she’s been holding in.

By some miracle of the gods, the grand opening of the new food bank goes off without a hitch. Speeches are made, the people seem receptive, and Tav doesn’t pass out due to her constricting clothes. All in all, today can be chalked up as a success. What brings her true happiness though, isn’t the praise from the crowd or the pride of a job well done. No, it’s the sight of some familiar faces scattered amongst the crowd.

Wyll. Gale. Karlach. Lae’zel. Shadowheart. Astarion.

She’s so very happy they’re all here for her.

But also incredibly sad because they may be here now, but they’ll all inevitably leave again.

…

Thanks for reading!

[pagesfromthevoid]

Imagine this because I am and it’s just. It’s cute and I just REALLY WANT TO PLATONICALLY HUG ASTARION IN THAT FUCKING DUNGEON

Cuddle Puddle:

The party returns back from killing Cazador and Astarion has essentially disappeared. Tav is worried sick, because even if they’re with Gale, Astarion is her friend and she’s scared. Gale tries to reassure her obviously because he doesn’t want her worried but she just can’t help it.

Astarion finally comes back, still covered in blood and battered from the fight, and Tav immediately approaches to check on him. He tries to wave her off but she scolds him, reminding him that they’re friends and she was scared.

“Can I just…can I hug you? Is that okay?” She asks, because she’s never actually touched Astarion, let alone hugged him.

He hesitates but nods slowly, because he also hasn’t been hugged in centuries and honestly he has no idea what to expect. But Tav throwing her arms around him to hold him like this is almost too much to bear. And he just starts sobbing into her neck.

So when he’s finally done sobbing and being a mess (Tav doesn’t mind. She reminds him over and over it’s okay to cry! She cries all the time! So does Gale!), he pulls away and apologizes. But she waves him off with a reassuring smile.

“Why don’t you lay with me a while? Just so you’re not alone.”

And Astarion immediately thinks —no, she’s not trying to proposition me. Not now, not after everything. But looking at her, he realizes she’s *not*. She’s just…being nice. Offering solace and comfort in her arms like a mother would her child.

“I’m sure your wizard would be less than thrilled,” he counters, though he wants to. So bad.

“Gale doesn’t mind —do you?” She turns to Gale now, those puppy dog eyes working wonders on the resident know it all. “Just a cuddle. Nothing more than that.”

Gale stammers a bit and blushes, but shakes his head. “I- no, of course not. A comforting embrace is an important cure for overwhelming feelings. And I’d know —Tav has spent many a night comforting me.”

“Gale —,”

“I mean with cuddling!”

Astarion hesitates again, but nods slowly as Tav takes his hand gently. Gale pushes two of the beds in the Elfsong room together, making it a little more comfortable for the three of them to lay down. Astarion is surprised Gale agreed, given how uppity he had gotten when Halsin approached Tav, but he’s secretly thankful the Wizard didn’t mind as he sat on the edge of the beds.

Tav practically throws herself into the middle, sighing as she pulls all the pillows around her like she’s making a nest. Astarion watches for a moment then kicks his shoes off and joins her, allowing her to take him in her arms and rest his head against her chest. Her arms snake around him tight, hugging him close to her. Gale makes room for himself on her other side, where she rests her head on his shoulder as he wraps his arm around her.

“What’s this, then? A cuddle party and I wasn’t invited?” Karlach all but yells, throwing her hands in the air. “Finally get my engine tuned and I can’t even have a cuddle.”

“No one said you couldn’t,” Astarion counters, peaking up from where he lay against Tav. “It *is* rather nice.”

“Softy,” Tav teases, running her nails through his hair. Then she extends her free arm out to Karlach. “C’mon then.”

Karlach all but squeals in delight, pushing another bed closer to connect the three. Then she throws herself into the mix, laying half on top of Gale and Tav.

“Fuck, this is great. I love this. I love you guys.”

Tav glances up at Gale, who’s trying not to move too much or risk pushing Karlach off him. But he leans down and kisses Tav’s hair and Astarion all but gags.

“No way,” Karlach warns, swatting Gale’s face away from Tav. “Absolutely no lovey dovey shit in the cuddle puddle.”

Halsin joins next, though he takes up far more space than anyone else. And then Shadowheart comments about missing out on all the fun, so Tav finds her way out to pull her in too. Wyll joins, laying closer to Astarion with a soft smile and his arm around the vampire (who totally doesn’t move away from Tav to lay a little closer to the Blade of Frontiers. No way). Lae’Zel side eyes everyone, but caves and sits on the floor beside the bed.

Eventually, they throw all the pillows and blankets in the sitting space by the fire to make more room for everyone.

This begins the party cuddle puddle.

[spin-birdie]

tabaxi tav headcanons

teehee making an original post on this blog for the first time in like 2 million years because i have cat-people brainworms. anyway

tabaxi tav (tavaxi, if you will,) acting very much like a cat when it comes to hanging out/showing affection towards their companions

they're totally content to just sit across from someone while reading separate books. like, wyll's reading some adventure book and tav is reading a book about ancient githyanki architecture or whatever niche thing they're invested in, and wyll thinks they don't like him cause they haven't said a word to him the whole time but tav is like "man i love hanging out with my good friend wyll :)"

going through obsessive phases as tabaxi are wont to do. they spur every companion into a passionate rant about their field of expertise at least once. (like when they're into githyanki architecture they happily let lae'zel talk their ear off about anything and everything related to it)

tav purring when they're happy is a given. but also. cats are known to purr to soothe themselves or other cats in their colony when they're distressed. tav noticing shadowheart is upset about something, getting as close to her as they can, and instinctively purring to try and comfort her

karlach is like forbidden fruit to them at first, bc part of them wants to curl up next to her and use her as a space heater, but the rest of them wants to keep their fur blissfully unsinged thank you very much

astarion immediately takes a liking to tav bc they're the only other person in the party who will enable his sticky fingers, for they too will pick up random trinkets for the sake of it

you empty out their pack and its just full of like, anything remotely expensive or unusual-looking that they picked up with intent to either sell or research and just got bored before they could get around to it (on the plus side it means astarion can usually rifle through their belongings and pocket whatever he likes bc they probably wont notice)

astarion: i need blood, but which of my companions to try and drink from? the tabaxi seems to sleep deeply, and hell if cazador's compulsions are still in effect maybe itll be easier to drink from a cat-person

astarion 5 mins later: ptah! ptah!! hair in my mouf

tav's fine with kissing, but they prefer to show affection through kneading, grooming (though they know their companions arent keen on getting clawed or licked) or rubbing their cheek against peoples armor (to scent it, like "yeah these are my people i hang out with :3")

when astarion breaks down crying after killing cazador, or shadowheart's wound is causing her pain, or karlach is distraught over her impending fate, tav will hurry over and rub their cheek against their friends shoulder, purring as hard as they can to try and soothe them 🥺

[therealeagal]

Baldur's Gate 3 - companion ranking.

Decide for yourselves whether my list is accurate or not. Whichever you decide, please do @ me, bro. I'm interested to know who your favorite character is!

I switched up my usual intro. What do you think? Anyway. Let's begin. This is a list of the companions in Baldur's Gate 3. I think I got all of them. There's so many. They are enumerated from best to worst.

Wyll Ravenguard, the Blade of the Frontiers. Really got a stick up his ass. I try to romance him and he starts throwing out disapproves whenever I talk to someone else. Motherfucker I'm not the one flirting with them I just want to know what they're up to. Stuck up piece of shit. Also I guess he's a hypocrite that literally sold his soul for power (he says he had a good reason…) But mainly I'm mad about him being a fucking diva when other people flirt with me. Fuckin' Wyll… Wyll stans got pissy at me because they didn't get the joke. Well, his placement at the very bottom of the list was a joke. Don't tell the stans, but my review was completely accurate) What? I didn't say anything. I mean, Wyll Ravenguard is Ao's gift to humanity. There exists no person in this world that is better than Wyll. I could wax loquacious about all the ways in which Wyll is perfection beyond perfection, but I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that no matter what Karlach's entry may suggest, Wyll is truly the greatest of the great.

Scratch the dog. Maybe it's just because I'm a dog person, but there's no way you can convince me that Scratch isn't the best.

The owlbear cub, for much the same reasons as Scratch. Although I can't say I have any strong feelings one way or the other about owls or bears...

Karlach. No question that Karlach would take the top spot if Scratch and the owlbear weren't around. As she is the first companion that is both A: a good person and B: not a prick about it on top of being irrepressibly cheerful and kind, there is no question that Karlach is the best official companion (Scratch and the owlbear are more pets/familiars than companions). I mean, Gale is also a good guy too and he's not an asshole about it, but he's kind of a tool. Karlach is a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

Editing this one in, because I FORGOT WITHERS! Rookie mistake. Sorry, Withers!

Jaheira. I never played the first two Baldur's Gate games, but I understand that Jaheira is a returning character. Either way, she's a fuckin' badass. A regular in my final party.

Shadowheart/Lae'zel. It's hard to choose between the two. They've both got excellent storylines, which are actually quite similar in a lot of ways. And they're both badass chicks. What's not to love?

Boo, the miniature giant space hamster and his human familiar, Minsc of Rashemen. Also often a fixture in my party, because he's funny.

Gale Dekarios. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about Gale at first. Kind of pretentious. But he's grown on me. Yes, he is kind of a tool, but at least he generally likes it when I'm nice to people, unlike a certain vampire who shall remain unnamed... also he eats three of my magic items. Not that I was using them but it's the principle of the matter!

(this is Wyll's true rating, but ignore it because obviously he belongs at the top of the list. PLEASE LIKE ME!)

Halsin. Ever wanted to fuck a bear? In every sense of the word? Well, have I got news for you!

Astarion. WHY DO YOU HATE IT WHEN I'M NICE TO PEOPLE, ASTARION??!?!?!?!?!? IT'S SO ANNOYING!!!

The dirt.

The worms inside the dirt.

The stool of the worms inside the dirt.

Minthara. A giant asshole. Which I guess is to be expected. Still better than Solas. Yes, I know they are from two different games. Shut up. Fuckin' Solas...

The Emperor. He of the gaslighting and the tentacles.

The Absolute. Yes, the main bad guy. I'd rather hang out with the main bad guy than...

Oh, lemme edit this in. Just in case. If you, for some reason, get your dander up about the contents of this list, please refrain from reblogging this to just whinge about what a terrible person I am. Not that I am opposed to someone challenging my ideas, but the death spiral does get tedious quite fast. If you really really got an axe to grind, try the PMs. Please and thank you. :)

[dicethrow]

List of Headcanons

What is their backstory and why did you choose it?

Well, I wrote up a bit on his backstory on the carrd but essentially he's a classic story of a good lad being forced into a criminal lifestyle cause of family and life events.

Finn's moral compass for most of his life is constantly spinning around, not sure which way to point. His mother raised him until just before his teens and she tried her best to nurture a kind hearted nature, a boy who loved music and arts and just wanted to play the lute and sing.

After her passing and his father returns to his life to take him "under his wing", Finn's life of music and art is torn to shreds as his father toughens him up for the life of a pirate. At first Finn resents his father, but over time begins to see it as his father trying his best to make sure Finn survives and thrives in this lifestyle. And by his late teens he certainly thrives. He earned the name Finn "The Fury" Locke for his rage during raids but mostly his constant simmering anger even out of fights.

He's fiercely loyal to his father, the captain, and the crew, having taken many injuries and killed for them throughout his life. Out of the crew, his closest friend and mentor was a half wood-elf named Jon. Jon was the chef and took wee Finn under his care when Finn was still a child grieving the loss of his mother and the life he once knew. Jon was much calmer than most of the other pirates, more patient and open-minded. The kitchen was always a space for Finn to be himself and funnily enough, the one spot on the ship where he never simmered to anger.

As for why I went with Finn? I've always been fond of the sea, I've sailed, dived, surfed, etc. I spend so much of my free time at the beach. I wanted to write a character that also shared the same love for the ocean and Finn as a pirate just fell into place for me. I wanted to write someone who's main obstacle isn't anything or anyone but just finding himself again. For the story of the fight against the Dead Three, Finn doesn't have his own personal battles per say, just the slow crawl to self discovery and finally feeling happiness with himself. His biggest quest mark is facing his father at the docks of Baldur's Gate.

Do they multiclass? Why (not)?

Yes! With my playthrough Finn is going up to level 20 (😎) and so my current plan for Finn is:

Level 12 Rogue Pirate

Level 5 Fighter Battle Master

Level 3 Bard College of Swords ( only happens near the end of Act 3 as he begins to embrace his Bardic nature )

What was your Tav like as a child?

Near unrecognisable to the man now. Young lad, not well off by any means but rarely knew hunger. Carefree, happy, excitable child that had a small group of friends where he loved being the jokester with. He would sneak to watch street performers play songs and tried to set up a terrible band with his friends.

Academically he was perfectly average in most classes, with exception to music and writings where he excelled. His mother worked hard to save up to buy him a lute that he treasured until his father took it from him and cast it into the ocean.

What do you think happens to the party, afterwards? Do they go for drinks? Do they go their separate ways?

Finn would certainly suggest drinks, a well earned rest. He'd also be very glad the Elfsong is still standing.

Now, the question is would Finn join Karlach in Avernus? I'm between two minds on this cause Finn would adore Karlach so much, she's a very dear friend to him but he'd also know that Wyll would join her too.

If he doesn't join her, he'll be dashing after Astarion and using his cloak to cover him up enough until the others can join them and help. After that, he will insist on serving all those who remain a pint or two in the Elfsong but he wouldn't feel much joy to celebrate. His friends fighting for their life and freedom in the Hells. If anything he's just grateful it's all over and he can focus on the next stage of his life.

Otherwise, he's diving right into Avenrus and smoking that fat cigar before chopping up as many demons as possible while the smarter lads work on a way to fix her engine for good.

Years after the game, what do you think your Tav is up to?

Most of his adventuring, and rogue lifestyle has been put away. Finn has now focused his energy on being a simple bard and author. He's trying to write the story of the journey of their adventure with the tadpoles and how a group with little in common banded together to crush the plan of the Dead Three and later the Netherbrain.

Finn has no ties to anywhere on land, his home in Waterdeep is long gone and so he will happily go wherever he needs to be.

One day he also meets Jon, who's left the pirate life to set up an inn in Baldur's Gate and Finn makes sure to be as much of a regular customer as possible.

What do you think of your Tav's development throughout the game? If you compared them to who they were at the start, what would be different?

Like chalk and cheese, Finn in Act 1 wouldn't recognise Finn in Act 3, from physical appearance to his entire personality. Finn slowly gets calmer and open to new ideas.

Yet, Finn post game finally understands how it is to be truly happy with himself. He's finding peace.

Did Karlach get upgraded? Did she turn Illithid? Did she return to Avernus? If so, did Tav join her, or Wyll, or both?

No fucking way would be agree with illithid Karlach.

Anything you want to say about your Tav! Give a random headcanon, answer a random question, say whatever you want!

Pigeon (his parrot) is the real hero of the story.

Does your Tav help the mindflayer against Commander Zhalk or do they run straight to the helm?

Okay so Finn has a surprisingly high intelligence (and extremely low wisdom) and his high intelligence is mostly because he's quite tactical. When he sees that fucking huge flaming sword, all his thinks of how useful and valuable it is. So he asks Shadowheart if she has a way to disarm the commander and turns out Shadowheart was able to command him to drop it. Once he got the sword in his possession then he dipped the hell out of the crashing ship with.

What's their opinion of Emerald Grove? Do they help the tieflings or side with the druids?

Finn hasn't met a druid until coming across the Grove and his first meeting with them trying to kick out the tieflings doesn't bode for a good first impression.

Considering a few of his old crew mates were tiefling who joined the ship, a couple boarded to escape unjust persecutions, he's leaning towards the tieflings instantly. Nettie trying to poison Finn doesn't cement a better view either.

One thing he likes from the Grove is one of the druids is willing to sell him a flintlock pistol and so Finn scourged up as much gold as possible to buy one. Failing to get enough gold, he steals the pistol and lets poor Gale get the blame as he was nearby.

But overall? He's 100% on the tieflings side and thinks Zevlor is pretty badass.

What does your Tav think of the Underdark and the Myconids?

The Underdark? Fucking loathes it. The only person likely to complain about it more than him would be Astarion. From open seas to co fined underground? Nothing he'd hate more.

Finn knows nothing about the Myconids when meeting them. Initially he wonders if they're edible cause they're fungi but since he works on the principle of "if you ain't threatening my team then I'll leave you be" so he's happy to hear them out. Although he will constantly mutter how "this fucking caveland is full of weird shit" while moving around their colony.

[emmy-dekarios-bg3]

Heart of the Weave - chapter 14

We all gather outside in the yard, thrilled about the upcoming fireworks we are about to light off, though I imagine no one is quite as excited as Karlach is. The woman could live in Whizbangs. The point of the fireworks? To celebrate our lives, how we made it, and new beginnings for everyone. The sky is flourishing beautifully with an aura of magenta and violet as the sun begins to rest.

Gale finally makes his way outside with Jenevelle in his arms, ready to socialize and get this party started. He smiles at me as he walks in my direction, his brown eyes darkening from the sleeping sun. The sky is getting darker every second, and during those seconds I can sense Karlach about to explode from the intensity of her excitement. Another reason why I’m glad her engine is fully repaired.

“Well, the baby is changed and we’re good to go. Now Karlach, try to light them up a few more feet away. I don’t want to scare Jenevelle when you set them off,” Gale alerts her. She ecstatically dances as she’s about to set off her first firework of the night, followed by a chaotic laugh from her enjoyment of the first spark.

“Ah, don’t worry pal! I’ve got you. However, I will say I believe she’s going to be a lot like aunty Karlach. The human version of course, in case that wasn’t clear.”

“You know what? I wouldn’t hate that, actually. It would make our days rather exciting.” His gaze is toward me, a cheeky smile still glowing on his face. My favorite smile. That very one that made me fall in love with him the first time I saw it. The one he gave me when I was giving birth to Jenevelle. He proceeds to place his lips on my forehead.

“I go back to work tomorrow. Go mingle with our friends while you can and have some fun. I’ll hold the baby and will let you know when she gets hungry.” Words could never express how much I appreciate this wizard; the love of my life through thick and thin. I kiss Jenevelle on the cheek, noticing her admiring the exquisite outdoor scenery. Living in Waterdeep is the blessing I’ve always needed, and while I’m away from where I grew up, the feeling of being loved will always be present to me.

I walk up to Shadowheart, who is drinking a glass of wine while mingling with Astarion and Halsin.

“Hey everyone, how's it going?” I ask, a smile growing on my face as I approach my friends. The vibe of close ones mingling under the evening sky while fireworks are being set off in the distance is pleasing to the soul, and part of me wants to relive this night over again.

“Just catching up! Though, Astarion is just hanging around. I can’t tell if he’s paying attention or just a little too…erm…drunk,” Shadowheart says, observing his face to try and comprehend his facial expressions. “I live with the guy, yet I can’t fully understand him.”

“Uh! Excuse me! I was simply catching up with Halsin.” His voice is slurred just slightly, as if he’d consumed too much boar blood. It’s good to see him happy and more importantly, healthier than he’s ever been since he’s been in recovery from the years of trauma and abuse. He smiles, laughs, and socializes more than he did before while on our adventures. It’s been pleasant to see.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you and Shadowheart are like siblings who need space from one another,” I tease. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve been flirting with each other, but I didn’t want to say that out loud.

As everyone continues to catch up, the sounds in the surrounding area become muffled, as if someone put a large sack over my head. The world begins to spin as my vision becomes slightly blurred. More vertigo. A sinister yet familiar voice begins to play in the back of my head like an old broken record:

The smell of your blood is desired like the carcass of an animal to a starving wolf.

You will be our servant in the Hells, watching the skin fall off the bodies of those you once knew.

Rotting. Stinking. And you will thirst for more.

The voice sounded like Orin, but I know she’s dead. She can’t come back, but why am I hearing her voice over and over again? Why can’t I get rid of it? It’s been months since it happened last, so why is it still stuck with me like a mosquito on human flesh? I blink repeatedly, trying to ignore the haunting voice. Hopefully no one will notice my unusual behavior, if I’m giving off any suspicion that is. I begin to tune back in, the voices and sounds around me are no longer deeply muffled.

“Yep, in fact, my whole living room is covered in duck decor,” Halsin says, and I’m now confused on how that entire conversation started.

“Fascinating,” Astarion responds with the most sincere of interest. No, really. Ducks. I noticed some of the surviving tieflings from Moonrise made their way, including Rolan, but I was so absorbed into the horrific voice that I didn’t realize any additional people had shown up. What the hell is going on with these deep dissociations?

“Hey, you punk ass winners, the barbecue is ready! When the sky finally turns as dark as Zariel’s heart, I’M GOING TO TOWN ON THESE FIREWORKS!” It appears Karlach’s barbarian shout is still intact as it was before, though I’m not surprised in any way. At least she knows how to keep me in a lightened spirit, I’ll give her that.

“In case anyone didn’t know, my wife really likes fireworks. As she should,” Wyll says, smiling and shaking his head as he watches her dance from her excitement.

While I thought the annoying vertigo was gone, I was wrong. It continues to hit me like a freight train, my whole body becoming numb, and not in a good way. Could this be Raphael’s doing somehow?

“Oh Gods,” I mumble, not thinking anyone could hear me. Shadowheart immediately turns to look at me with a concerned expression on her face. Gale somehow manages to hear her from across the yard and heads toward me to stand by my side. I, however, don’t want to feel like a burden, especially since weird instances like this seem to only happen when we’re having fun. I just want everyone to enjoy each other’s company without causing a scene.

“Yes, I’m okay, I promise. Um, just some heartburn,” I lie. Luckily, the vertigo fades away again but the sickening feeling continues to linger in my stomach. Whatever this is, I want it to go away. What’s funny is that none of these symptoms I’m having had anything to do with me being pregnant back when. They were just merely a coincidence.

“You’d tell us if anything was wrong, right?”

“Yes, I promise.” Ouch, it hurts to lie out of my teeth like that. Gale gives me a worried look, and I feel like he knows I’m lying, though he doesn’t say anything. I never lie, so something must have given it away.

“Well, let’s eat and watch some fireworks, shall we?” he asks, a fake-smile on his face but I can tell he’s concerned about me. Damn it, Gale.

“Where’s Jene– oh, Karlach again.”

“Bingo.”

The rest of the evening involved a very blood-drunk Astarion, who had hunted a boar followed by a few glasses of wine, which led to some revealing secrets. Though, who knows how much he has left to confess? He’s been talking for over an hour now.

“Well… Probably my last confession for the evening. A lot of you have probably been wondering ‘Astarion, how is it that you’re able to walk in the sun again?’ Well, let’s just say I remedied that, my darlings.”

“Wait, how?” I ask. “Wouldn’t that involve ascension?”

“Ah, there’s always a loophole, my dear. I ended up selling my soul to the archdevil Mephistopheles. I’m not too worried because I was damned anyway.”

“So, in exchange for you being able to walk in the sun, you sold your soul?”

“Correct! As a vampire, I’m bound to the Hells no matter what, so why not make a deal?” I always wondered if that was true. I remember hearing and reading about legends on how vampires were always damned to Hell, and they were meant to be slaves under the doings of Devils. Astarion pretty much confirmed this was true, and I’m actually happy for him. I wonder how he managed to convince Mephistopheles.

“Well, that certainly answered all our questions. Shit, I was wondering about this for weeks!” Karlach exclaims. “Phew!”

While I am exhausted from the consistent mingling and staying up later than usual, I did enjoy all the company coming to visit to not only see us, but our new little one. Gale and I head back inside with Jenevelle, and I immediately plop on the sofa so I can nurse her and get her ready for bed. As I’m doing so, I begin to slowly doze off; at least until Gale comes to sit next to me. I wake up, my eyes feeling heavy as drowsiness courses through my body, particularly my mind. I look down at Jenevelle, who is completely milk drunk and asleep on my chest. I smile, stroking her little chunky cheeks with my thumb as I watch her sleep. I never want to let her go.

“I go back to teaching tomorrow, but luckily only for four hours a day now. While I’m thrilled to indulge in books and research, along with teaching students all about magic, I can’t help but think about how much I’ll miss you. How I’ll miss Jenevelle. These last few weeks have been incredible,” he says, his voice in a soft whisper. I can’t help but be relieved that his days will be shorter, because I know postpartum depression will hit before too long, and if it does, I’ll need someone to help get me through it.

“At least your days will be shorter and it shouldn’t be too bad. I believe in you. I’m sure your students miss you like crazy and can’t wait to learn from their favorite professor,” I say with a sleepy smile. I lean my head on his shoulder, falling asleep again, my eyes begging to stay shut. He shakes my shoulder gently and kisses the side of my head.

“Come on. Let’s get you to bed, my love.” We walk to our room and Gale takes Jenevelle from me, gets her dressed, and then places her sleepy body in the bassinet next to our bed. She falls asleep almost immediately, ready for a good night’s sleep. Gale admires her, watching her sleep peacefully for a moment, and I can just see in his chocolate eyes how much he loves our daughter. After a couple minutes, he proceeds to get undressed and crawls into bed with me. I’m living on a prayer with my exhaustion right now. The lights are dim and we curl up with each other under the thick comforters.

“I meant to ask you, I could see in your eyes earlier that something was bothering you,” he says. Oh man, I was hoping he wouldn’t bring it up. “I know you said you were fine, but you know I worry.”

“I heard the voice again,” I say, followed with a sigh. “This time it mentioned the Hells, wanting me to be there as some sort of thrall. If not, then…our child. I’d rather it be me.” Gale’s warm flesh is pressed against mine, making me feel a lingering sense of comfort.

“It may be your mind playing tricks or another devil that isn’t Raphael.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it is him, though. Why would he set me free so easily?” Gale hesitates, just as puzzled as I am on the matter. He may know a little about devils, but not enough to answer my question.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I had the answers to stop all of this and keep you safe.” I place my hands on his face and stare deep into his glossy dark brown eyes. Just for a moment, I take it all in as I look passionately within him. Our souls connect on a whole new level.

“You always keep me safe. You do everything you can to keep us protected. I hope I’m able to do the same in return. I used to be this all-powerful war cleric, and I sure as hell hope I can be that again.” A light smile curves on his face and he closes his eyes, leaning his head onto mine.

“You still are. This time, you’re a mother, and that doesn’t make you weak or any less than before.” His words soothe me, but in a way I haven’t felt before. My eyes slightly tear up as I feel all the deep emotions within me, but in a good way of course. It’s like when a butterfly flies around the Earth for the first time. When the world sees a rainbow after a vicious storm.

“I feel so much better after that. Thank you.”

The following morning, Gale goes back to the Academy to teach, but luckily he has shorter hours than before. Tara keeps me company while he’s away luckily; our baby sleeps a lot. It’s been an adjustment having him go back to Blackstaff, but I’m grateful he’s doing what he’s most passionate about: teaching and providing knowledge to the younger people about the ways of the weave. I am so proud of him. He’s overcome so many obstacles, starting at a young age when it all started with Mystra. Life has been full of challenges for him ever since.

“Oh, the veggies and fruits in the garden appear to be growing well!” Tara exclaims, looking out the window. “Maybe we can do some harvesting. I’m sure baby Jenevelle would love to get some sunshine while we tend to the garden.” I smile, admiring my newborn who lies so contently in my arms.

“That’s a wonderful idea, Tara.” I grab the baby-wearing wrap and place her in it, making sure she’s all snug as a bug. We walk outside to the yard, feeling the warm embrace of the sun. I get on my knees and begin picking all the ripe, fresh foods from our garden. I’m so thankful we’re free from our worries, and enjoying life as we should. After about an hour of gardening, I take the baby inside and prepare myself a delicious lunch, leaving some out for Gale for when he gets home in roughly thirty minutes; I imagine a busy morning leaves him rather hungry at the end of his work day.

After eating lunch, I nurse Jenevelle and notice a strange image in the mirror across from me in the living area, and it looks like a familiar face, though it’s a little obscured. I try to ignore the image and just focus on feeding my little person. As I’m feeding her, I hear the front door open and Gale’s voice saying, “Hello, I’m home!” He notices me on the couch with Jenevelle just nomming away.

“You made me lunch. Thank you.” He kisses the top of my head and looks down at our daughter. “How is Jenevelle?”

“She’s wonderful. She helped me garden outside. Well, I wore her. Still, she enjoyed it nonetheless.”

“Ah, nothing like the pleasure of the blazing sun on a spring day warming up the flesh. I can imagine why she enjoyed it.” Gale finishes up eating his lunch, and then takes the baby from my arms, holding her and admiring her as she gets sleepy. He rocks her gently, staring at her in awe as she begins to fall asleep, not a worry in the world at all. I can’t help but smile, thinking of how good life is now, enjoying it with the two I love most. The void that was once in my heart has blossomed into a field of flowers.

[karinamay]

OC deepdive: Tav'ará Naldarai

Thanks for the tag @cinnamontails-ff <3

What common/uncommon fear do they have?

She's very scared to let people in, to trust them, which is just because of how she was raised. She's scared of being unimportant, of not making an impact in the world. She's also very scared of snails, but we're not going to talk about that.

Do they have any pet peeves?

When people ask you a question solely so they can talk about themselves. Also she loves physical intimacy but she hates when she can feel someone's breath in her face and she feels like she's breathing in their out-breath.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

Her bedroom is extremely tiny, basically just a mattress shoved into the attic space right under the roof. There's no shelves, or anything, but she does have fairylights, and a lot of pictures up, of her and her friends mainly (two of them are very important, one of herself, Alfira and Dammon when they graduated high school, and where Shadowheart is giving her a piggyback ride and Karlach took a picture mere seconds before Shadowheart misstepped and the two of them fell into Grey Harbour.)

What do they notice first in a person?

How they present themselves. (Their vibe if you will.) Not in an "are they attractive" way, but how they want to be perceived. Do they take care of themselves or is their appearance unimportant to them, do they like being the centre of attention or prefer being left alone.

On a scale from 1-10, how high is their pain tolerance?

Probably an 7. She absolutely hates pain, which is why I won't put it up to an 8 or a 9 even, even though she's very accustomed to dealing with pain and can technically deal with a lot. It just pisses her off too much to deal with it in a more composed manner.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

Fight 95% of the time. She's act first, ask questions later. There is however a 5% chance that she'll freeze, in very specific circumstances.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

Tav has a pretty terrible relationship with her parents, which is fair. Jorgeon is just an absent father, and Eildys is extremely strict and holds Tav to an impossible standard, all while just not being very nice. That said, Tav does have a certain level of respect for her mother. She's not a family gal, she prefers her found family.

What animal represents them best?

My first thought it maybe a fox? I'm not sure that's just the vibe.

What is a smell they dislike?

Honeysuckle.

Have they broken any bones?

Yes, she broke her left arm once when she went on vacation to Elturel with Alfira and Dammon. No one is exactly sure what happened, but the doctor that took the x-rays at 3am was hot, though.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

"Loud" may have been a word used a lot to describe Tav, although that's gotten less bad over the past few years.

Are they a night owl, or morning bird?

She leans to being a night owl, but she also just doesn't need a lot of sleep. She likes being awake at night to see what happens in the dark, though.

What’s a flavor they hate and a flavor they love?

She kind of hates the taste of honey in any form - mead, honey cakes etc. She likes powerful flavours, salts, bitters, sours. She likes seafood, pickles, black licorice, campari, the weird kinds of gin & tonics etc.

Do they have any hobbies?

She really likes dancing when she has time to go, whether that's a class or just out at a club.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprise?

She would try very hard to pretend she didn't already know it was happening.

Do they like to wear jewellery?

Not particularly, she doesn't like rings or bracelets to get in the way of her movements. She used to have a lot of piercings but that was mainly to piss of Eildys and now she just has her ears pierced. She is currently wearing a tiny locket with a snowdrop on it. It's new.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

Messy, but definitely legible.

What are the two emotions they feel the most?

Determination and joy (shocking, but true)

Do they have a favourite fabric?

She loves knitwear, so chunky woolen sweaters, she's very partial to jeans, but not new jeans when they're still stiff, old jeans when they're soft.

What kind of accent do they have?

Tav has done her very best to take the posh out of her accent, and she's now stuck with what we'd recognise kind of as estuary english, but she does have a certain way of speaking that's still kind of melodic, due to having spent the first years of her life in Astrazalian, and solely speaking Elvish.

[symunuk]

for the companion asks: general 7, 10, 11 and the free space!

7. Do they have their own personal quest that spans the course of the game? Can it take different branching paths depending on the choices the Player Character makes?

Since his story got worked up from a Tav perspective his story's a lot less about big villains or having something in your chest ready to pop - his quest circles more themes of family trauma, giving a shit about other people when it doesn't directly impact him, oh, and Tymora favouring him enough to give him a critical nudge towards the end that stops him falling to his death. From my interpretation of her, she's the type to favour those who push on despite the odds - so the PC making those kinds of decisions would favour that sort of thing I suppose?

Also: whether you take the Underdark or Mountain Pass route into the Shadowlands would change something pretty significant for Symon :') See No10.

10. Are there any unique NPCs associated with your Tav that can show up during the course of the game?

Oh god, is there. If he wasn't a PC then the minimum would be: Ikkath (younger brother, part of the Drider's escorting party, dies if you don't meet them before the Harpers are involved) and Hogarth (youngest brother, can be persuaded (checks) to assist in the Moonrise prisons if Symon is in your party or your PC recognises the tattoo on his face as matching Symon's). Perhaps Durz too (true soul, can be brought under the protection of the artefact as long as Symon & Hogarth are alive in Act 3). Getting Durz and Hogarth onside means they'll go off with the Harpers in Act 3 and turn up for the final battle with the rest of the family as a summon.

11. Are there any moments in the game that trigger unique dialogue for your character? (Like Gale’s anecdote about the barfight after you save the goblin prisoner)

I think he'd have something to say if he was present for the first chat with Alfira (and he wouldn't be kind about Alfira or the PC - unless the PC already had performance proficiency). Something along the lines of:

"That was very sweet. It reminds me of when I was first learning the lute - the worgs were the only ones would could tolerate that too."

Free space! Share anything from your companion!Tav au!

He's actually significantly nicer as a PC - when he's shunted into a leadership position he's much more inclined to try and keep the peace for the sake of his own neck. He gets along best with Shadowheart and Astarion, and then Karlach once she's found. And to flesh out the Tymora thing: this came entirely from me picking the Lucky feat early on and then just barely scraping through a lot of difficult fights because of one critical decision that completely turned the fight around. Usually stuff that had a low odd of success but NEEDED to work, or a character crit'ing at a key moment, or suddenly realising information that let me change strategy ("Hey, the werewolves are humanoids... hmm--") (End of Game spoilers below)

So that was in my head when we got to that series of rolls in Act 3 and used all the Lucky + Inspiration rolls on the first 3... and then passed the DC99 without any save scumming. And that's the only reason we were able to kill the brain fast enough to stop him from falling to his death (it was on ~9 health and I only had one attack left before the floor under him broke). So safe to say Tymora had been looking out for him the whole time.

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

I'm sorry if this was a hassle

This is for the BG3 match-up,

I want to say that my best attributes are that i'm a generically nice person. I'm quite kind and patient and quite understanding. Although I'm quite sensitive and quiet and can be stubborn at times. I can anxious when there is a crowd or I meet someone new. I think my hobbies would be reading (I love reading so much), dancing by myself but i wouldn't mind a partner. I love the rain and misty mornings, quiet times through-out the day. Not sure if this is strange or not but I enjoy listening to people talk, I usually don't care what they're talking about but I like listening to them.

I prefer males/masc people and I would rather have one person, or monogomous. Hopefully this'll be enough? Thank you for your time

A/N: This is totally enough! Not a hassle either, you got it submitted in time. Thank you for your submission! 

So for you, @hugthedragon (LOVE your username btw), because you said you’d prefer a masc monogamous partner, I’m thinking you’d be best matched with…  Wyll!

Wyll is a great guy for you! He’s kind and quiet and very honorable. He always tries to do the right thing, and to do right by the people he loves. He may be quick to judge in some scenarios, like in a battle or fight, but he is generally level-headed and very willing to see reason. Even though he had orders from Mizora to kill Karlach, he listened to the party’s opinions and ultimately sided with them. Even though he was punished with horns for it, he still has pride in doing what he believes to be the right thing. 

I think he’d get along great with you because you’re so nice and patient. Wyll also would do well with someone who’s understanding because it can be a bit tricky to explain how it is you’re a hero yet working under a demon. So he’s so appreciative that you give him the time of day, and don’t judge him for his unwanted servitude to Mizora. He’s also a touch stubborn himself, but he can be made to listen. So he doesn’t get mad when you refuse to budge on things. Instead, he listens carefully to your side and then tries to work out a compromise. 

Wyll makes a point to try and protect you when in crowds or large groups of people. He remembers from living with his Father in Baldur’s Gate how uncomfortable all that attention can be. He’ll try to keep a hand on your waist, or entwined with yours as he leads you, weaving through the crowds to get you to a more quiet space. He prefers smaller groups as well if he’s being honest. Although he may take you to a formal ball or soiree or too, since returning to the city, but he makes sure to check in with you through the night, asking if you’re overstimulated and the two of you need to leave soon. 

Wyll loves how you enjoy stories so much. He hasn’t had too much time as an adult to read any good books, so he asks you to read them for him and give him a summary. He loves listening to you excitedly talk about all the new worlds and characters you’ve discovered over the years.  And oh boy, does Wyll love dancing! As a matter of fact, one of the first things he does to try and flirt with you is ask you to dance with him. He loves it when the two of you are in sync, as well as when you’re just happily sort of bouncing around without rhythm or rhyme. He thinks it’s so romantic, and he is an old romantic at heart. 

Wyll would love nothing more than to spend quiet rainy days inside with you. The two of you curled up in each other’s embrace, each reading a book of your choosing. That sounds like a perfect day to him. Or perhaps, if you prefer, he’ll read aloud to you, since you love listening to him talk. His voice is so reassuring and smooth, it makes all the troubles of the future melt away. He’ll read or talk about his adventures as the Blade of Frointers, being sure to really amp up all the exciting bits just for your entertainment. 

He cares about you so much. And he’s touched that you care about him. He’s spent years taking care of everyone else’s needs, but never his own. He feels so blessed to have a partner to love, and to love him in return for all your days to come. 

…

I hope you enjoyed it!

If you did, please consider Liking and REBLOG!!! 

[swashbucklcr]

1, 3, 10, 93, 94, 95, 100, 105 (dont have to answer all these, just want the world to know!)

@iron-hearts-ablaze | Questions for my Tav

This is super fucking long so it's under a read more:

1. What is their backstory and why did you choose it?

Well, I wrote up a bit on his backstory on the carrd but essentially he's a classic story of a good lad being forced into a criminal lifestyle cause of family and left events.

Finn's moral compass for most of his life is constantly spinning around, not sure which way to point. His mother raised him until just before his teens and she tried her best to nurture a kind hearted nature, a boy who loved music and arts and just wanted to play the lute and sing.

After her passing and his father returns to his life to take him "under his wing", Finn's life of music and art is torn to shreds as his father toughens him up for the life of a pirate. At first Finn resents his father, but over time begins to see it as his father trying his best to make sure Finn survives and thrives in this lifestyle. And by his late teens he certainly thrives. He earned the name Finn "The Fury" Locke for his rage during raids but mostly his constant simmering anger even out of fights.

He's fiercely loyal to his father, the captain, and the crew, having taken many injuries and killed for them throughout his life. Out of the crew, his closest friend and mentor was a half wood-elf named Jon. Jon was the chef and took wee Finn under his care when Finn was still a child grieving the loss of his mother and the life he once knew. Jon was much calmer than most of the other pirates, more patient and open-minded. The kitchen was always a space for Finn to be himself and funnily enough, the one spot on the ship where he never simmered to anger.

As for WHY I went with Finn? I've always been fond of the sea, I've sailed, dived, surfed, etc. I spend so much of my free time at the beach. I wanted to write a character that also shared the same love for the ocean and with all the plotting we've done Vix, Finn as a pirate just fell into place for me. I wanted to write someone who's maIn obstacle isn't anything or anyone but just finding himself again. For the story of the fight against the Dead Three, Finn doesn't have his own personal battles per say, just the slow crawl to self discovery and finally feeling happiness with himself. The fact he has also met Osian, the man who makes him finally believe soulmates just makes his journey all the better.

3. Do they multiclass? Why (not)?

Yes! With our playthrough we're going up to level 20 (😎) and so my current plan for Finn is:

Level 12 Rogue Pirate

Level 5 Fighter Battle Master

Level 3 Bard College of Swords ( only happens near the end of Act 3 as he begins to embrace his Bardic nature )

10. What was your Tav like as a child?

Near unrecognisable to the man now. Young lad, not well off by any means but rarely knew hunger. Carefree, happy, excitable child that had a small group of friends where he loved being the jokester with. He would sneak to watch street performers play songs and tried to set up a terrible band with his friends.

Academically he was perfectly average in most classes, with exception to music and writings where he excelled. His mother worked hard to save up to buy him a lute that he treasured until his father took it from him and cast it into the ocean.

93. What do you think happens to the party, afterwards? Do they go for drinks? Do they go their separate ways?

Finn would certainly suggest drinks, a well earned rest. He'd also be very glad the Elfsong is still standing.

Now, the question is would Finn join Karlach in Avernus? I'm between two minds on this cause Finn would adore Karlach so much, she's a very dear friend to him but he'd also know that Wyll (or Gale of we're throwing in our HeatWeave plot) would join her too.

If he doesn't join her, he'll be dashing after Astarion and using his cloak to cover him up enough until Osian can join them and help with some magic. After that, he will insist on serving all those who remain a pint or two in the Elfsong but he wouldn't feel much joy to celebrate. His best friend(s) is(are) fighting for her life and freedom in the Hells. If anything he's just grateful it's all over and he can focus on the next stage of his life.

Otherwise, he's diving right into Avenrus and smoking that fat cigar before chopping up as many demons as possible while the smarter lads work on a way to fix her engine for good.

94. Years after the game, what do you think your Tav is up to?

Most of his adventuring, and rogue lifestyle has been put away. Finn has now focused his energy on being a simple bard and author. He's trying to write the story of the journey of their adventure with the tadpoles and how a group with little in common banded together to crush the plan of the Dead Three and later the Netherbrain.

Finn has no ties to anywhere on land, his home in Waterdeep is long gone and so he will happily go wherever Osian needs to be. He will ensure to visit his favourite niece Calise as often as he can, and has regular correspondence with Osian's family who have taken him in as his own. He's far happier and more relaxed now with the love of his life and the life he always wanted to live.

One day he also meets Jon, who's left the pirate life to set up an inn in Baldur's Gate and Finn makes sure to be as much of a regular customer as possible.

95. What do you think of your Tav's development throughout the game? If you compared them to who they were at the start, what would be different?

Like chalk and cheese, Finn in Act 1 wouldn't recognise Finn in Act 3, from physical appearance to his entire personality. Finn slowly gets calmer and open to new ideas, plus Finn in Act 1 would have never expected to fall in love with a wood elf wizard and yet by Act 3 Finn can't imagine his life without him.

Yet, Finn post game finally understands how it is to be truly happy with himself. He's finding peace.

100. Did Karlach get upgraded? Did she turn Illithid? Did she return to Avernus? If so, did Tav join her, or Wyll, or both?

Mostly answered this in question 93!

No fucking way would be agree with illithid Karlach.

105. Anything you want to say about your Tav! Give a random headcanon, answer a random question, say whatever you want!

Pigeon is the real hero of the story.