#i'm now playing as astarion

[mslanna]

i play bg3 for the plot

the plot:

[destiny-islanders]

i get it now

[yutaan]

Papercraft Astarion, made as a birthday gift for a friend-of-a-friend! The designs in this game are so striking and the story sounds fascinating; I had enormous fun looking through screenshots for references and getting completely distracted. :D

[invinciblerodent]

"I'll make a save here and try breaking up with Astarion, just to see the dialogue- I could see him get kinda nasty about it, but I honestly don't know what to expect so---"

...............

.......

....

[thirddoctor]

For so long, I only felt what she wanted me to. Now I have to do it for myself, and I feel like I'm drowning.

[wooldawn]

welp lets do this! again

[simaraknows]

Play as Astarion, they said. It will be fun, they said.

It's not fun. It's really fucking sad because now Astarion started dating Karlach and I can't stop thinking about a) how hurt she'd be if she'd knew that rn Astarion is only telling her what she wants to hear so she'll protect him, and b) the fact that Karlach is such a jackpot for Astarion because she's big and strong and desperate for connection and to sweeten the deal she refuses to touch him due to burn risk.

Protection and loyalty and all it cost was a peck on the lips and some dirty talk? That's almost too good to be true.

[birdsofjoy]

BG3 art dump (feat. my three main OCs and a bunch of companions)

[kemendin]

The most fashionable party!

[hobgoblinbard]

"fuck that one up"

[nucleqr]

so, i got to moonrise towers

[miyakuli]

After 4 months, I finished my two games of BG3................I feel almost empty now x'D

[loquaciousquark]

quark plays bg3 again [10/?]

I didn't discover until my fourth playthrough that you can return to Last Light after freeing Aylin, and all the people remaining there (including His Majesty) have little lines about a bright light streaking through the sky. Jaheira deferring to Tav's leadership here is a pivotal point in her relationship with adventuring, as well as trying to persuade Ketheric down & realizing that the Prism has become perhaps too important to her.

I love the rapier Wyll gets in the oubliette, and I love puzzles like this brain puzzle so much; I wish there was a way to randomize it and do it over again. This last runthrough I solved it in less than 45 seconds, and I bet I could do it faster if I wasn't limited by camera movement. I do find the minds sequence incredibly disturbing; good job on that, Larian.

The one-two-three punch of actually defeating Myrkul, realizing that her brother is truly not her brother, and discovering that the Emperor both imprisons another for his profit & also thinks nothing of eating criminals' brains marks the final moment Tav is willing to engage with him. From this moment on, she consumes no more tadpoles, and her aim recenters on freeing Orpheus as soon as possible, regardless of the cost to herself.

I love every animal in Rivington. They didn't have to go so hard with those pigeons, but they did, and knowing the lieutenant is voiced by Cazador makes it even more hilarious. Tara is intimidating AF to Tav.

Once again, Tav barely survives Chult. Thanks, Warding Bond ring! However, she gets to have a nice moment with Astarion afterwards at the love test, and even though she hasn't told him to his face that she loves him yet, I think it's an important moment in their relationship. Astarion's face during the "seeing these streets in sunlight" gets me every time, as does Lakrissa admiring Alfira.

Visiting Selune in the tabernacle and visiting Karlach's parents' graves are interesting moments for Tav personally. She spent her adolescence and young adulthood in Twin Songs in the Outer City, where there's a ton of interfaith presence, so seeing all these gods together in one place comfortingly reminds her of that. (Robbing the tabernacle blind also reminds her of that time in a different way.) Karlach's graves, however, poignantly remind Tav that she has no idea where her parents' bodies are. She suspects they were burned with the other fever victims, but doesn't know for sure, and has no idea how to find out.

Patch 7 finally restored spawn!Astarion's dialogue/break-up reaction if you sleep with Mizora. It's very sad and tragic & I had to immediately kiss him once I was done playing through the options. Seeing Petras in the flophouse is nervewracking for everyone, and while Tav backs Astarion's play, she's increasingly fearful of what he'll choose when it comes to Ascension. Oddly, she's not afraid of Cazador at this point, not the way Astarion is; she's more afraid of losing Astarion to something worse than death. She knows people can be brought back from the dead, but if he ascends, she's sure to her bones that she'll lose him in a way that can never be undone.

This fear, and her somewhat-hypocritical driving need to get the power she needs to save herself in hand immediately, she'll deal with the consequences tomorrow, are what lead her to signing the contract with Raphael. Lae'zel needs the hammer now. Orpheus needs to be freed now. Her upbringing has taught her that contractual rewards will always be broken once they have what they need from you; far better to get what you want first, and then fulfill the job. Besides, punishment only promised is punishment that can be avoided, and while she doesn't have any idea what this contractual cage of Raphael's looks like, she's pretty sure she can get herself out of it somehow. Karlach's immediate disapproval bites, as always, but the way everyone rallies around to emphatically promise they'll also help Tav break free is a breakthrough moment for her.

This playthrough, some innocent pickpocketing accidentally somehow got Gale sent to jail. (The guard locked onto him instead of Tav, there was no dialogue option besides "attack," it was a whole thing.) One Galebreak later (and Florrickbreak, since this was hilariously how Tav discovered her in there this run), I finally discovered after six playthroughs that you can get up to the very tippy top of Wyrm's Rock, multiple levels above Gortash's office. Even after 1500 hours in BG3, I'm astounded at how big this game is.

[suitetarts]

[invinciblerodent]

Sigh, thinking about Astarion's mouth again........

Thinking about the lovely thematic contrast between the inherent danger presented by a vampire's maw, and this vampire's soft, sweet kisses... about the contradiction of vicious teeth ripping and tearing into a foe's flesh, and his gentle lips, so close to that cruel sting, kissing a lover's for hours on end...

Thinking about the way he moans ever so softly into kisses, and how despite all the throwaway lines implying his newfound fondness for romantic intimacy, in-game he only ever allows himself to kiss his lover when explicitly asked to...

Thinking about the slight unevenness of his top lip (that's also maybe just barely fuller than the bottom), about his smile lines, about those genuine, fang-baring laughs... about how being careful not to nick his partner with his teeth must be second nature to him, but with that new passion behind it, it's like he's thrown back onto that learning curve yet again...

Thinking about how his neutral expression (the one worn only on the rare occasions when nobody is looking) has his lips just slightly downturned around the corners, making him look naturally serious, and even somewhat melancholic...

Head in my hands, why can't I stop looking at this fictional man's (often literally) bloody mouth

[moinsbienquekaworu]

I get One (1) romance scene in a game and I am done for. Kicking my feet giggling blushing. I'm going to stare at the screenshots like they're a picture of my sweetheart in a locket and sigh dreamily.