#if Tav could see this just once 🥹💕

[eliteseven]

Regarding the old!Shadowheart ask, I think this might interest you :^)

…. SOBBING RN 😭 she really does look just like Emmeline! 💕

[eliteseven]

Tav and Shadowheart teaching Jen to swim for the first time in the lake 🥰

Omg Yesss, my fave subject!!! 🥰

This is genuinely one of the most WHOLESOME moments for them as a family! (And with baby #2- I’m rolling with Lunette for now but we can always poll it later)

The symbolism is just beautiful:

Tav taught Shadowheart to swim, as we know 🥹 Shadowheart was a little terrified but she trusted Tav completely, and Tav made the entire ordeal feel a lot less daunting, to her. She faced her fears, knowing Tav would be there, always, to keep her head above water- both literally and figuratively. It was the ultimate sign of trust she could display for Tav!!! Since then, they swim daily at the lake by the cottage, it makes sense that baby Jen would want to join in!

Since she’s a little Shadowheart, she’s nervous at first 🥺 Shadowheart thinks Tav should teach her, but Tav insists that Shadowheart be the one to assuage her fears.

And it’s just so sweet? 🫠 Shadowheart holding her on her hip and wading into the water, calming her and showing her there’s absolutely nothing to fear, especially when she and Tav are right there! (And Buttons, the Owlbear, and the rest of her lifeguard animal squad are watching from shore, ofc).

The sheer JOY in Jen’s excited cries when she swims from Shadowheart’s arms to Tav’s for the first time?! The way she learns so quickly and adores playing in the water with Shadowheart? Playfully hanging off Shadowheart’s shoulders in the water, and playing mermaid??? (Or the BG3 equivalent idc lol)

Shadowheart was able to give her daughter that gift- of joy, of confidence- just as Tav gave it to her. It’s beautiful, seeing their love manifest itself again in the form of their daughter(s).

Important bonus: If they have twins, one of them sits on Tav’s shoulder and the other sits on Shadowheart’s and they have chicken fights/shoulder wars (sometimes I think Tav and Shadowheart get distracted by each other and maybe steal a kiss or two 😭💀)

Shadowheart ensures no child of hers will ever have the same fears she did! She thanks Tav for the first swimming lesson she gave her and perhaps she asks for a little “refresher” once the kids are asleep in the cottage 😏 💕

[eliteseven]

When do you think Shadowheart realizes that Tav has no alternative motives and truly just wants to be with Shadowheart?

I think she’s constantly seeing little hints at that, but it doesn’t really sink in all at once.

Like, Act 1- she’s guarded, but Tav is still good to her. Serena gives her warmer clothes when they spend colder nights in the mountain pass, she tells Scratch to warm Shadowheart, they share that first date (that poor Serena may or may not have siphoned from her memories of her 🥺)… these all tug at Shadowheart’s heartstrings. Maybe they have a moonlit tryst here or there, but it’s all hush-hush. Shadowheart doesn’t want to let herself believe it’s genuine; that would just complicate things when they eventually part.

Act 2 is more familiar- she’s getting closer and closer to Shar and being a dark justiciar and yet…she’s falling for the pretty soldier. She’s jealous of Tav and Isobel, she tries to spend time alone with Tav despite her inner turmoil, she sees a glimpse of the sweet letters Tav writes religiously to her mother…and then Tav has to go and gift her a night orchid 🥹💕 she listened. They’re slipping to each other’s tents sparingly, but it does happen. Shadowheart realizes she feels safe falling asleep next to Tav. The cloister trained her to sleep ever so lightly in the event of an attack- for the first time in ages, she sleeps in, in Tav’s arms.

She already knows it going into the trials. I HC that Shar could pick up on it and was obviously disgusted by it. I feel it contributed to her decision- Serena didn’t need to convince her. In fact, she didn’t say anything at all. Shadowheart turns from Shar all by herself, because she knows there’s genuine, unconditional love waiting for her on the other side.

[eliteseven]

To add some domestic fluff, is there any food that Tav can't stand? Perhaps in her noble life she was pampered in that sense. Or SH? We know about the cake she loves, but do we know anything about what she doesn't like?

Well, I’m pretty sure it’s canon that Shadowheart doesn’t like mushrooms bc of the gills/texture (unless I dreamt that in a fever dream or something 😅 ) which is true in Consonance too. She loves wine and her mother’s apple-plum pie canonically. I think she also comments on loving fresh fish from the docks at Baldur’s Gate at one point (unless that was Wyll 🤔)

Serena could have been spoiled, having a kitchen staff at her service. I could see her being a snob and outright refusing to eat certain foods (like…eggs. I’m declaring that Tav is an egg hater), but I’m sure military life fixed that real quick 💀

I think her favorite foods would be Shadowheart, anything that Emmeline makes, and probably an old recipe she associates with her mother 🥹

They basically had to eat whatever was in front of them when they were on the road together, so I think it humbled them tbh 😭

For domestic fluff, consider this: once Emmeline teaches them not to flail around uselessly in the kitchen, they make each other supper every night 🥰 with ingredients they grew! Learning each other’s favorite dishes and then having what’s essentially date night!

The two of them just flitting about their tiny kitchen, bumping into each other and stealing kisses, gossiping like the best friends they are, giving each other a taste and putting so much love into their dishes for each other. Sometimes Shads reads her smutty books aloud to Serena while she works. Sometimes Serena does the chopping and prepping, regaling Shadowheart with stories from her past. Them proudly taking a serving or two to Emmeline and Arnell and glowing at the praise they receive like little kids 😭🥹💕