#like are you SUPPOSED to feel like shit playing durge or is that just my own personal hangups lmao

[crows-of-buckets]

Im still so mad about the fact that baldurs gate 3 is over 100gb. Like it's just wasting space on my PS5 rn there is NO NEED for the graphics to be that bloated

[asterdeer]

playing a trying-to-not-be-a-mass-murderer durge is like. i'm not cool enough for shadowheart and astarion and lae'zel but i'm too edgy for wyll and gale. quite frankly this sucks tbh

[thelikesoffinn]

Hi!! ❤️

I would love to read your analysis of how your thoughts may have changed regarding Astarion and poly relationships, now that his post-Mizora dialogue has been revamped and he reacts badly to the affair. It's such a big change, I'm so intrigued by Larians decision to do it.

(dialogue here, just in case: https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/s/pEMgC6nQr4)

Thank you! Your opinions are so great, and I'm sorry if you've already talked about this and I missed it!

Hiya there, babes!

Thank you, I'm flattered you like my rambling ♥️

I'll gladly check that one out - I haven't yet seen the new reaction because it's been a hot minute since I played act 3 and I've been avoiding spoilers ever since patch seven, so we're all getting fresh eyes this time, haha. But first, since a couple of people asked about it these past few days, I'd like to go over why I hated the old reaction as much as I did.

I'm sorry for using your ask to make this sort of bastardised hybrid of your question, but I figured it goes hand in hand with your ask!

Let's get to it!

Why is Astarion's old reaction to Tav/Durge sleeping with Mizora so. fucking. shit?

Especially since he is generally okay with poly-relationships (see Halsin) and flings (see drow twins)? So Mizora shouldn't be a big deal either, right? It should be all the same.

Well - yes and no.

Yes, because essentially the bare bones are the same. It all just boils down to Tav/Durge having sex with a character that isn't Astarion and we've seen him be absolutely fine with Tav sleeping with both Halsin and the drow twins whenever Tav asked him about it.

Now, he wasn't exactly on board with Harleep but that was likely for an entirely different reason. You know, essentially selling your body to a strange incubus for eternity and all that may strike a chord with our fanged companion, since he himself already knows the weight of such deals and has first hand experience in how long a eternity is.

But the rest of them? Completely fine! Have at it, Tav, Astarion will not be standing in your way! He just needs a tiny bit of reassurance - hey, is this because I've not been putting out in a while? No? Fantastic, off you go - and then he's right as rain.

But, the thing is: That was an agreement. Astarion was involved in the decision and he was part of the conversation the entire time. So anything that did happen, happened entirely with his blessing and to his knowledge. That is how these agreements should work.

With Mizora, we aren't given that.

The cunt just whisks Tav away immediately to show them her nine hells and then she drops them off like nothing happened. There's no conversation about it, Astarion doesn't get to know until he sees Tav and Mizora or maybe until one of the other companions informs him of what just happened. (Probably Wyll, seeing as it's Mizora.)

I don't think it needs to be said, but that is cheating.

There's nothing we can do to justify this, especially not since it's rather obvious that Astarion isn't really against Tav getting frisky with other people. So there's no good reason for Tav going behind his back - not that there ever is - and it's just a plain dick move.

When I tell you, the first time I had this scene and noticed we didn't get to have a wee chat with him first? I was SWEATING so hard, because I thought 'hot damn, did I save before this!? When was the last time I fucking saved!? He's gonna leave me so hard and I fucking deserve it too!' and then he literally rocked up to us and was like: "Naw, you didn't ask me :( But it's okay, you're not just a snack. You're a whole damn meal babe, there's enough of you to go around."

Sweating was immediately over. It was not what I expected and I was really, really REALLY disappointed.

That was not how this is supposed to work. He wasn't supposed to be alright with this, because Tav treated him like shit. They didn't give a single shit about how he might feel and what his opinion may be, which is something he's already experienced for so many years. Tav disregarded him entirely for their own pleasure.

Anyone who's ever been in a working poly- or even just in a working open relationship will probably be able to tell you that communication is a huge part of what makes these relationships work. Openly talking BEFORE anything happens, coming to an agreement with all involved parties, regularly checking in with each other to see how things are progressing.

It also needs mutual respect.

Every party involved needs to respect their partners enough to NOT go against their agreements. Enough to listen to them and enough to be willing to compromise and respect the others boundaries.

And there needs to be SO MUCH trust.

It's not easy to be honest about wanting to share, wanting to be shared or even not wanting to share anymore. It's not always easy to believe your partner will respect your boundaries and will not do anything that you specifically asked them not to do. Voicing these things takes trust and confidence.

Tav literally shits on all three of these things. Respect is apparently a foreign concept, there is zero dialogue and they essentially break any trust there is for a single fuck in the hells.

By cheating with Mizora, Tav just shows Astarion that he isn't worthy of their consideration and that his opinions and feelings don't matter at all. And him accepting that with a smile is just him falling back into old habits.

He's back to taking shit he doesn't deserve just for the hell of it. It's the same thing he's done for years, the very same thing he's so desperate to escape.

The worst part is that he probably doesn't even notice it's the same thing, because, initially, it probably feels like it's just the same as all the other examples. He'll keep telling himself that Tav sleeping with Mizora is no different than Tav sleeping with the drow or Halsin. It's all the same.

But there'll likely always be that tiny voice in the back of his head going: "But is it really?"

Oh, and that voice? That voice breeds resentment. It's the only thing it's good at, the only thing it enjoys and it won't stop until he notices how fucked up this really is.

Astarion is no longer beneath anyone. He doesn't need to take shit anymore. He doesn't need to say yes and amen, he doesn't need to cower.

He's an equal in this relationship, but his reaction makes it abundantly clear that he himself has yet to realise it.

How have my thoughts changed now that his reaction has been adjusted?

Now, after reading through the dialogue you attached (thank you for that, btw! ♥️) and looking up a video...nice!

First: He voices his concearns and is honest with both himself and Tav about how this affected him. He admits that he may be disappointed, he admits he thought Tav was better than others and that he was very clearly wrong about it.

That takes guts, especially for people like Astarion who spent so long bowing their head to others whims and it's a huge sign of progress. Love it!

"As if you wouldn't have jumped at the chance. - Once, maybe, but things change - people change. Even if they never imagined they could."

Gold. Pure gold.

Self-reflection is lovely. He knows he's changed and maybe this situation just shows him how much.

"I thought I could trust you, which was no small thing. Now I'm not sure what to think."

This is SUCH a good line, because it's wonderfully ambiguous.

It shows both a healthy dose of self-reflection AND self-worth. On one hand, Astarion clearly knows that he's slow to trust people and that his trust has to be earned but, at the same time, it shows that, quite plainly, his trust is no small thing.

His trust is costly but it's a valuable thing, that Tav has now lost.

"And if anyone should believe in forgiving and forgetting, I should."

Haaa...I absolutely get what he means, but this is a dangerous line that I'm not sure I'd advise him to cross. It's something that does sometimes happen with certain clients and I don't think I've ever seen it yield good or pleasant results. This behaviour - the very lenient, very forgiving approach - is usually done to help manage guilt.

Clients who've done "bad things" can potentially become extremely lenient towards those they're close to because, in their mind, nothing can be as bad as what they've done and yet their loved ones forgave them. So they should forgive those little 'mistakes' just as readily, right?

No, obviously not, because receiving forgiveness doesn't relate to your acceptance of any future misdeeds. That is not what forgiveness means and anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't really forgiven you to begin with.

They just want something to excuse their own shitty behaviour.

His reaction doesn't necessarily have to mean he is going in this direction, of course. He may as well just realise that Tav is truly sorry...

"You can promise me the heavens, it doesn't change the choice you've already made. It was selfish. It was you not thinking about anyone but yourself and that's a feeling I know all too well."

The ABSOLUTE BLISS my inner social worker felt when she heard this line. The fucking catharsis.

Not only does he realise how shitty this choice was, no, he's also honest about it without giving two flying fucks about what happens.

That is not only brave, no, it shows that he knows he's in the right, which is a big thing for someone whose second name is 'Rationalisation'.

I think I mentioned it in another ask, but Astarion is someone who constantly feels the need to rationalise; to justify his own actions in basically any regard - the blood, the spawn, the ascension, cazador.

Every single time.

It's probably part of what kept him alive - keep quiet like a dead rat and if you can't, explain yourself so well and thoroughly that they won't hurt you. It works for misdeeds - which is mainly where we see him use it - but it works for emotions as well.

But this time, he doesn't. He doesn't justify his reaction, doesn't explain why he thinks the way he does. No, he hits Tav with the cold hard truth and nothing but that and it's so. good.

"I may not have the moral highground when it comes to betraying trust, but right now I see everything I've been trying to escape in you. Even I deserve better than this. We're done."

LOOK AT HIM FUCKING GOOOO! 🎉

First he realises and admits that yes, he's made mistakes and he's been a piece of shit too, which is great.

(I know I'm putting a lot of emphasis on self-reflection in this one, but he could do with a lot of that. Astarion is awfully unreflected in a lot of his behaviour at first and that is always detremental. We NEED to reflect on our own actions to see where we're wrong or maybe even where we're right.)

But, at the same time, he knows he doesn't have to take this. He doesn't have to take Tav's shit, because he's better than this. He deserves better and honestly? I've got nothing to add.

I love this, I wish this had been all he'd said and that is exactly the reaction he should've had.

To be entirely honest, I was a bit miffed that he still forgives Tav so easily - I get it, it's a game of choices, so obviously they'll give us an option to get Astarion to stay with us - but meh. Left a bad taste in my mouth.

But this last one? Perf. Absolutely fucking perfect and precisely the growth I like to see.

Puuh, that was a bit longer than I intented, I'm sorry! Let's just revise that, in the end, it's save to say that I do like the new reaction MUCH better.

Even the parts I personally don't agree with - namely any forgiveness for cheaters, because cheaters are loosers that don't deserve shit - I can respect, because he's still honest and reflected. He could probably reasonably explain the choice he made.

Not only can he explain it, no, it's a decision that very clearly costs him a little and he doesn't seem to make it all willy nilly.

That is enough. If it's a good choice or not doesn't matter that much, because mistakes and regret are a part of healing and growing. You can't avoid those.

Just being able to be honest about how he feels, how difficult this is and how Tav hurt him shows that he's starting to drop the habits that were tortured into him for so long and that is, in this part of the journey, absolutely enough.

Anyway, I hoped I answered your question and if not, feel free to let me know and I'll try again! Have a lovely day ♥️

Edit because I forgot to mention: My opinion regarding Astarion and poly-relationships as a whole remains unchanged, regardless of how he reacts to Mizora. Those two situations don't really sit on the same bracket, because one is an agreement and the other is a breach of trust.

So I still really do believe he's alright with them, as long as they're discussed!

[majorasnightmare]

8, 17, 38?

why is writing dialogue for this guy so FUN

thanks for the enabling 🎉💜

8. Companion/romance death reactions

(if Minthara goes down) "KHAL'ABBIL!! Death cannot take you!"

(if Karlach goes down) "Karlach, NO! Hold on, I will find my way to you!!"

(if Astarion goes down) "Wait for me, Astarion, I will find you an ocean of blood to restore you!"

(if Astarion goes down, has not revealed he's a spawn) "Someone got to Astarion! Hunt them down!"

(if Gale goes down) "SHIT, Gale! Someone get Shadowheart, I'll stabilize the Orb!" [note: if shadowheart is no longer a party member, will call for a cleric in same tone of alarm; stabilizing the orb is appended onto line after gale reveals it]

(if Lae'zel goes down) "The pride of the githyanki goes with you. You MUST rise again!"

(if Shadowheart goes down) "Lady of Loss stay your hand, you will NOT take her from me yet!"

(if Shadowheart goes down, has not revealed sharran yet) "Shadowheart!! Stay with us, cleric! I will carve you a bridge back to the land of the living!!"

(if Wyll goes down) "NO, WYLL!! Linger by me yet awhile longer, until you walk by my side again!!" [note: entreating wylls soul to fight the pull of Avernus so that Dirge can see him revived]

(if Halsin goes down) "Halsin!! I care not if the Oak Father calls you home, you must fight by my side another day yet!!"

(if Jaheira goes down) "Jaheira, stay with me!! Who else will walk Baldur's Gate through her next crisis?"

(if Minsc goes down) "Someone killed Minsc? How?!"

(if Tav goes down) "Walk not down that darkened path, until I am there to escort you! Stay with me!"

(if romanced origin(any) goes down) "No hound of death will steal you away, even if I must travel valleys of corpses and an ocean of gore. Hear my voice and wait for my embrace, beloved!!"

17. Looking in a mirror

"Armageddon's prophet. Looking like he needs a cleanup, too."

"I didn't miss a second stab wound... right?"

"🎶Mmm-🎶 Oh. Wait. Can Caiphon see this? Hrm."

38. If a player character asks them to consider consuming tadpoles or using the Astral tadpoles, how would your Tav/Durge respond?

>"How do you feel about using the tadpoles power?"

"Mm. Can't really say I see the risk in it. I mean, yes, theres ceremorphosis, obviously, but whatever is preventing it now will most likely stop it then too."

"Besides, I feel some manner of... experience, with the gifts it offers. Mayhaps in a former life I called such strengths my own? Regardless, if you're in need of a guinea pig to, ah, "test the waters", if you will, I'm happy to volunteer."

"I'm sure I've eaten worse things, anyways."

>"The Emperor has offered us a great power, in the form of the Astral Tadpole. How do you feel about it?

"Mm. And how magnaminous of it to do so. Sorry, I'm being uncharitable. I suppose I'm just feeling a bit... raw, after it's ruse."

"To the matter at hand. Regardless of its motives for offering it, the Astral Tadpole near hums with psionic strength. Even with it ensconced in your belongings, I can feel it. Such delectable power it offers... The question, of course, is of cost."

"We've already been tadpoled, from where I stand the only real cost to be paid will come calling at the end of this sordid affair. I can't imagine the tadpole, thus strengthed, would hesitate to finish a job half started without the Emperor or the Absolute to stay its hand. But if you trust in the strength of your will, I don't see anything we have reason to fear."

->[player has not used tadpole already]

"Besides, my brain is already a mangled mess. If you wish to play cautious, I'll gladly give it a test run in your stead. I certainly have less to lose than the rest of you."

->[player has already used the astral tadpole]

"Besides, my brain is already a mangled mess. And look at what it's done for you. What kind of warlock would I be to leave power like that on the table, hm? How about this. Pass it to me, and if you start sprouting tentacles before I do, I'll only take a nibble before I put you down properly."

>>"That isn't funny." [-2 Dirge Approval]

"Tch. Go ask a clown for a better joke then. Oh, but you will still share won't you? I'll say sorry, if I must, and if you like I can even try to mean it."

[doberbutts]

i am also a “play the game unmodded the first time through” kinda person but i will say the One (1) thing i felt the need to mod before starting BG3 was giving my tav top surgery, cause I was pissed off that the genitals had a dedicated toggle option but for some reason breasts are linked to body types that are very clearly meant to be read as “male” or “female” (i wanted no breasts without having to use the more muscular body type). took me like 2 days to get it working cause i suck at modding but it was so worth it and my tav Slays now (and even has top surgery scars!)

oh yeah no judgement to people who do use mods and use them more often than not. To me, videogames are an art form, so I want to experience the art in the way it was intended before deciding if I'm going to do Something Else about it.

For instance: BG3 has a very deliberate level cap because once you get over level like 15 in DND you start unlocking literal godhood and you'd be massively massively overpowered. And I do think there is something to be said about power scaling more efficiently so that you don't hit the level cap halfway through act 2 like I'm probably going to, but also when dealing with world-ending game-breaking powers and trying to balance that in an already fuckhuge game is bordering on the edges of ridiculous.

So then they either have to homebrew the remaining levels or say "yes I know that at level 17 you're supposed to unlock this spell but we didn't include it because it will literally break all of our shit if we try". Which tbf most of the mods that let you level up to 20 or 30 do anyway.

That being said, *narratively* for both Panic and also for my future durge (possibly named Ghiddeon but still workshopping things), reaching for and touching godhood is pretty in line with what I want to do with their stories, *and* fits pretty well with this group of weirdos who 9/10 also want to ascend to godhood or something close. So at that point I feel like they *should* be hitting those high levels and not stalling at level 12. Whether or not it breaks everything will be told with time I suppose.

Anyway, again, no shame on mods whether for aesthetics or accessibility or whatever. I modded the fuck out of my longest stardew run and most of my minecraft worlds over the years have also been heavily modded. I cheese the fuck out of borderlands enemies and have been known to do so in Elden Ring whenever I see the opportunity, especially certain bosses. I have a gaming crew friend who has a PTSD reaction to thunder and firework sounds and she usually custom-mods them to be fart sounds so she can keep playing with us without Freaking The Fuck Out. It's your game! Do whatever is in your heart!!! I just want to see the creator's vision before I decide to change things.

[t-aeddie]

emotional ramblings about the dark urge that is keeping me awake...

becase, listen, i need dark urge aka durge fanfics that also address durge's trauma if we are going the redeemed route (evil durge is lost...)

thinking about how redeemed durge literally went from losing all their memories to having a tadpole in their head to having the looming fear of turning into a mind flayer while having to fight their inner demons along with feeling possibly guilty and ashamed of having these urges to remembering how they were betrayed and nearly killed by their sibling/fellow spawn to having to fight to the death said sibling to be dad's chosen child to breaking the cycle to being abadoned and murdered by their father (and it was a very gruesome and painful way to die too) to being resurrected and told "hey, there's still work to do"

and their upbringing definitely had to be also traumatic. being a bhaalspawn means that you are living the life "either you kill or you are killed" plus "imma just murder people to make daddy happy".

idk how durge is processing all that.

and thinking about the fact that durge (if you play as durge and not tav) is the leader of a group of people that also deal with their share of trauma...

and, now, im thinking about how in durge and [name of companion] romantic relationships and fanfics, durge seem fine and that really supportive partner. it's okay. but, imma need fanfics who use durge instead of tav to start thinking about the fact that durge needs hella healing to.

durge was born and raised to be murderer for their father. the level of abuse they went through. and then, we go back to what i originally wrote. the betrayal. the memory loss. the abandonment. maybe the lost of purpose because durge was groomed to be worthy of becoming the chosen. their dad literally put like 6-7 swords in them (legit stabbed durge in the back) and said "if you aren't going to be my chosen, i'm ending your life".

now, i feel like writing something. because, i haven't seen fanfics/drabbles/pieces where durge also dealing with shit. maybe, it's just me, but, if i was really durge, i would have massive abandonment issues after my dad just discarded me. i'd have trust issues too. hell, i would have so many nightmares involving bhaal killing me again and again. "you are not supposed to be here."

and imagine if durge wants kids? or durge accidentally gets pregnant? (or the opposite where i think it would be only shadowheart and karlach, because lae'zel a gith, anyways, shadowheart gets pregnant)? durge's concept of family is definitely warped and durge got to learn what family is. again, look what durge had as a family? durge's father is bhaal. bhaal ain't the father of the year.

wait, what if redeemed durge is being hunted down by people who want revenge? it is said durge has an over 100 body count (maybe even 1000)...

anyways, I've rambled long enough.

tldr; durge is a victim. redeemed durge is also dealing with a lot of trauma; however, it seems like i haven't seen fanfics that also include that. just the companion's trauma.

p.s.: i may be wrong.

p.s.s.: who can give me my dream story of redeemed durge & spawn astarion adventuring to find a legendary item so that astarion can walk in the sun + healing journey for the both of them + maybe durge is burying their own trauma while trying to help astarion go through things but also astarion trying to be equally supportive (throwback to how sweet astarion is when durge almost killed him)

[sorcerous-caress]

Oooh I made a human Durge priestess of lolth in one of my playthrough ( unhinged I know). Could u do companions reactions to that

I don’t know what why but human priest / priestess of lolth who actually received blessings / favor from her sounds funny as hell

— RED Anon

That concept is so wild anon, bless your Durge.

Like not only they abandoned their father, a whole god of murder, and went to worship Lolth instead. But also them being a human who just subscribed to Lolth's agenda and she found it so hilarious that she granted them a priestess blessings, A PRIESTESS OF LOLTH.

Drow noble women start whole fights just to get this position.

Companions reaction would be something like:

"...why? Just why?" // Gale, Wyll.

They're mostly confused. You were supposed to be a human team and all of that. Gale is especially a hypocrite by mansplaining how Lolth wants humans as slaves for drows as if you're a naive baby who doesn't know better. Wyll is hoping it's a phase, and you'll see the light eventually.

Doesn't care much, you do you // Laezel, Karlach.

Laezel doesn't concern herself with the mythology of Faerun. The only queen she cares about is vlaakith. Karlach has seen much worse in hell, so Lolth seems like a lesser evil in comparison. She knows to judge you on your actions and not who your boss is.

Suspicious of you // Jaheira, Halsin.

They have a very terrible past with Lolth worshippers. Both of them will keep an eye on you and all of that. Maybe even get jumpy or look at you weirdly whenever you're too nice to them. Most elf groves have a strick "kill drow on sight" policy because of the surface raids.

Although since you're a human, they'll mostly think you're just in need of guidance and your misdeeds will be easily forgiven and overlooked because they think you don't know better.

That is so fucking funny but also stay away // Astarion

You know he always thought he'd make such an amazing drow, besides the whole matriarchy and using men as slaves thing. If he looks past it, he really is fascinated by them. Also it's hilarious that you were such a traitor to both your god father and your own race, Ha.

But also don't bite his head off, he knows that Lolth demands high elves as sacrifices for her so don't even think about coming his way.

Fuck you, your goddess is shit // Shadowheart

While Lolth and Shar don't have much beef between each other, their followers definitely do. Their domians overlap a lot, so followers will occasionally migrate from one goddess to the other. Viconia herself used to follow Lolth before and now despises her after Lolth retracted her blessing from Viconia's house and made them fall as a noble house. That's when she found Shar.

I believe she will teach that hatred into Shadowheart.

Minthara

It's complicated. She abandoned Lolth but she is still a paladin who swore and oath to her. And Lolth doesn't seem to have abandoned her just yet.

Lolth sees drows as her property, her toys. She doesn't care for what they personally think or feel. She plays with them and wagers their lives like it's nothing.

Minthara knows the only reason Lolth still grants her power is because she finds it amusing, she is toying with her. Lolth adores chaos and Minthara is a great tool to cause it.

When she meets you, she will think you're another one of Lolth's toys. Either sent to entice her back into the spider queen's embrace and seduce her. Or you're also a victim of her cruelty.

Yet she is curious, you're not a drow, you're a human. That is unheard of. So you fully chose Lolth by your own free will? She honestly doesn't know what to think. She both is annoyed and fascinated by you.

You represent the past life she escaped from, but you also represent the new beginning you granted her by saving her. Deep down she thinks if you stealing her heart is just Lolth stringing you like a puppet.

Also, Lolth can possess any of her priestesses at will, so she can simply come down to have a chat with Minthara through you if she felt like it. And that does put Minthara on edge.

[stuckyonbucky]

Ok after playing through Veilguard twice and having some time to sit on it, here are my final thoughts. Under the cut due to length and mild spoilers.

Tl;dr: Overall I think I would give Veilguard a 6/10. I think its biggest issue is just straight up inconsistency. There are bits of this game that I absolutely love and am so happy I got to experience but then there are bits that just make me wring my hands in frustration.

What I liked:

The overall story. I liked Solas being trapped in his own prison and Elgar'nan and Gilan'nain escaping. I liked the connection between Solas and Rook and having to begrudgingly work with him. I thought the big story missions were really fun and were some of the craziest things we've ever had to do in a Dragon Age game. El and Gil felt really intimidating and it makes looking back at the Archdemon in Origins kinda funny - he's so cute. Act 3 was super intense and had really strong writing. I genuinely cried multiple times, laughed, had fun, got heart broken, got pissed off. I was moved and the end left me wanting another game. I don't want to give up Thedas yet.

Out of all the Dragon Age games, I enjoyed this combat the most. I'm not a combat girlie and it's usually just something I have to trudge through to get to the next story point but it was less of a drag in this.

The environments were interesting and beautiful. I appreciated the move away from the giant empty maps of Inquisition. The side quests were more satisfying because they contributed to your reputation with the faction and weren't just meaningless fetch quests.

What I think could have been improved:

The companions and romances. I didn't like the move away from Inquisition and not being able to talk to your companions whenever you wanted. They went back to DA2 where you only get to interact with them after completing missions. I didn't really feel like I got to know the companions as well as we did in Inquisition and Origins. And even though DA2 was also like that I still feel like we got to know that group better, maybe because that game took place over 7 years whereas there is no sense of a timeline in this game. The companions all interact with each other more than you get to interact with them. And I think because I didn't feel like we really got to know them, the romances felt lacking. It was really unfortunate because I actually like the companions, I liked the romances, I just wish there was more to them.

Dialogue and Rook. Sometimes the dialogue feels very Disney Channel. Rook is always so nice, so supportive, so morally straight. Not that I was expecting to be Durge from BG3, and not that I usually play an asshole but it felt like this game would have benefited from some kind of Paragon/Renegade system and that maybe not all your companions would like you but respected that you can get shit done in this world ending situation. I mean, you can play as a Crow ffs - do you think everyone would be ok with that? There should have been more tension depending on your background with some people. I almost expected everyone to burst out and sing 'We're All in this Together' at some points. This is supposed to be a mature, dark fantasy game and sometimes the dialogue just didn't fit that.

Solas and the Inquisitor. I'm not a Solavellan, but I just straight up wished there was more of these two because I love them so much and I still wish we had gotten to play as the Inquisitor again in this. I wish they had gotten to interact more. I wanted more angst. I wanted the Inquisitor to haunt Solas's narrative more. But a lot of that comes from headcanons so I understand this probably was never going to meet my expectations as long as we were playing a new protagonist.

Pacing. Some parts of the story feel like they go by too fast, or aren't really explained well. El and Gil feel like they amassed followers like the day after they got out. How did they get the human elitist cult and Qun defectors to follow them so quickly?? Both of those groups would be super against doing the bidding of elves just on principal. I know they can mess with your mind and take advantage of greedy and power hungry people but it just felt too quick. Did you know we were stuck in the Fade for weeks after Solas switches places with us?? I sure didn't when I played because the only person who actually mentions that is Bellara during her romance scene (which I watched on youtube). I was very confused on how they managed to make a replica dagger in what I thought were the few hours I was stuck there. How did they find us? What else did they do while we were there?? It's all just glossed over.

Catering to new players vs established fans. This game definitely feels like the existing fans were put on the back-burner a bit in favor of trying to attract a new audience. I get that it's been 10 years since the last game, and you want to get those older teens/early 20s who have maybe never played the games before but I think they could have done a soft reboot of the franchise without dismissing us as much as they did.

Enemy redesigns. I get the reason for the darkspawn and really my main issue is with the demons. C'mon - the pride demon design was so iconic and you just made it look silly!

[oogalaboogalabich]

Posting my current list of things i wanna draw cause honestly, id much rather see someone elses take on a lot of them.

Most of these are labeled under "degenerate art ideas" so take from that what you will.

Please feel free to use any one of these.

-----

- The Kiss from fallout. If you know you know. Bane and bhaal with a dead durge and gortash.

-Comic: Astarion in trouble and drizzt comes out of nowhere all heroic and saves him and hes all doe eyed n shit.

-Halsin and mr meadhoney. "Do you have a particular fondness for large and...heavily armed men, mr. Meadhoney?"

-Lucretious the necromancer and astarion dancing the tango together with the skellies in the back playing music."The dead are always such superb dancers."

-Comic: Lucretious topping astarion, bent over the stages edge. "What if we put you in my show darling. Im sure we could find something for a star like you...something youd love as much as the crowd."

"Youd make a spectacle of me?"

"In front of THOUSANDS who come just to see the most perfect beauty in all of the planes."

"Oh yes i quite like the thought of that."

-Comic: "Orin: you suck up the tyrants vapors like a babe sucks milk."

"Durge: tch fuckin yeah i do."

"Astarion: D:<!!?"

"Orin: *quinten terantino scowl that she does*"

-Vellioth as the "i yearn for the urn" tiktok

- astarion amputee doodles (thank you godey for that idea)

-3 musketeers quote "i love that in a man." "What. Passion?" "Violence" but ghoap or durge. Maybe make a version of both?

-when (doodly dude) hit me real hard that one night and my jaw rattled in my skull all nasty, but make it durgestarion hehehehehehe

-Astarion licking blood from durge in one of the pools of blood (idea from mignon scene)

-Durgetash comic of demon slayer masochism abridged thing with the lady man demon

- bg3 crew bein a bunch of rly cute parrots doin dumb cute things.

-same idea but theyre all shoebill storks.

-comic: "Mighty sanctum" bit, then durge pulls astarion into his lap and kisses him. "Fairly certain you would castrate me if i tried to fuck you right here like i want...im still not sure if thats a deterrent or temptation" but ya know...better written.

"bloody degenerate...unhand me."

"Let go of my neck then."

"No"

"Well then...")

-Mungojerrie from cats and astarion both comolimenting each others pearls and casually holding something they swiped from the other. Riumpleteaser and durge are snickering and sharing a look, while RT has swiped something of durges, durge is pulling out his/her dagger

- Durge/Tav painting astarion in gold, and feeding him blood in a hedonism date night. he thinks the gold paint is just for tav. But he keeps saying "i just want you to see yourself as i see you." And stuch things.

He leads him to a giant ass mirror and lo and behold, there he is. In the flesh. The colors arent there of course. Hes looks like a statue, but its still...its more than the statue, its more than a portrait.

-Lyrical comic of durgetash ritual by ghost

-comic: Astarion is walking with the gang. He looks up to see something and narrows his eyes. He suddenly bursts into bats, flies up onto the space he was trying to peer at and reappears in a panic. Somethin like....

"I was eight bats...how...fuck...gods how am i supposed to even process that!?

Astarion are you alri

"I WAS IN EIGHT FUCKING PLACES AT ONCE TAV I AM NOT ALRIGHT"

-comic- Volothamp talking to tav about a rat exodus from "a mysterious "red castle" " where their bretheren kept going missing. So they gave up the territory and moved to a "red cave" just beneath it, where blood flows even more freely.

Astsrion recognizes the palace, and remembers a time where rats were in such short supply that cazador had simply switched to insects for a while. Well with astarion he had, the rest had been treated to cats and dogs, in order to lessen the threat against the local rat population. Durge in the meantime, has an odd memory about commanding rats to find reconnisance if they wish to find safety with (fuzzy writing that doesnt quite translate to words)

-Astarions ascension but its happy with evil hugs.

-Durge reacting to the gnoll birth holy hells that was funny.

-Durge eviscerating astarion while he arches off the ground as if in ecstacy rather than pain. Theyre both laughing in wild, crying hysterics and theres those timasks spores everywhere.

-Comic: A -Astarion in the mirror frowning and looking distressed, even a little pissed in a mini panel, as he pinches a small amount of belly fat. Hes a very healthy weight but like 200 years o trauma dawg. Next pannel he looks thoughtful (considering that hes never had enough to eat before to warrant gaining rather than steadily losing weight), third panel he looks up in a catlike manner and fingertip taps his stomach near his hip. Very silly smug cat face meme feels here

-Chaste kiss canon durgestarion/tash vs nasty canon durgestarion/tash

-Comic of vellioth uncovering mummystarion from crypt.

-Comic of astarion fucking posessed n bound durge in the shar library.

-An archer in general doing leg archery. Maybe two goofballs doin it at each other with silly faces. I can see any combo of minsc and lazel and astarion doing this weirdly enough.

-spit/ blood exchange between s/a astarions.

-That moment when astarion is blissed out in the sauce under durge in the grove. Maybe a pov where theres drops of blood mid fall, and theres two hands smearing it all over his chest.

-A astarion sitting on bhaals altar while durge and gortash dogfight.

-Gortash with his hand inside a lasceration in durges belly, squeezing himself off all slowlike inside durge. bloody handprints everywhere, though some have turned to black sooted handprints. Theyre kissing all disgustin

-Slayer and a predator Shilouetted gwtw style

-Astarion getting railed by a Predator.

-Lazel getting railed by a Predator.

-Honestly just put everyone in every fandom with a predator at some point like fu c ks sake

-Comic of the superimposed cazador murder/thunderstorm blood frenzy xex scene from that one fic i never finished

-The king E x Ragnar bath scene but nasty. (Also durgetash?)

-Astarion with floorlength hair and dripping with pearls, looking a little emaciated, or perhaps just extra slender themes to the art

Two smaller panels where vellioth h it away and carefully styles it while figaros corpse lays in the corner. Vellioth should look younger but less pretty.

-Durge slips his hands into astarions back pockets (in this comic he has invented ass pockets) "butt"

He goes "no, butt." And walks away. Durge looks down at his hands that are still right there where his butt was. And he squeezes the air with a smile

[jessiemeows]

New OC's :) Well not really but kind of!

Rae (Storm) Nightshade & Amaya (The end) Aníara Othzál

Both are redeemed durges

Rae is for Ascended Astarion & Amaya is for Spawn Astarion

I've written a little bit of their back stories below as well just an FYI Amaya has a full story to her already while Rae is brand new so I need to cook with her a little bit.

Rae is going to be sort of power hungry and will most definitely influence all of her companions to take whatever they can and never give. Unfortunately this will lead to very bad paths :( (I will not be raiding the grove that is too much for me lmfao only one tied will die, IM SO SORRY KARLACH ITS FOR WYLL). I am also going to try to figure out how to save Last Light Inn without murdering everyone when I have Shadowheart kill Dame Aylin, I'm sure I can figure it out, I watched a YouTube vid about it the other day. Therefore I'm once again playing as a chaotic good person?? I think? I'm not sure what it is called if you are power hungry low-key do evil things but are so chaotic you end up doing the right thing. What I've come up for her backstory well what little I thought of is her as a siren, that's how she brought back her victims in sacrifice for Bhaal (similar to Amaya but I've cooked longer with Amaya so she has much more trauma). I don't think she ever liked being under Bhaal's influence similar to Amaya, I believe it is cannon that all Dark Urges have left the cult at some point (I could be wrong but I read somewhere that they have) but she did leave the cult before. I haven't cooked long enough for me think of why she rejects Bhaal's power since she is power hungry but I feel like maybe its because she's so bitter, her dad didn't save her, no one saved her from Orin and all the fucked up shit that happened in the mind flayer colony but I'll get back to y'all on that soon lol. I may give her bluish skin but I might not because tieflings can have human color skin tones, I like Rae's color scheme too it's going to be dark royal blue which reminds me of electricity. I'm not sure if I should keep her as a storm sorcerer it just fits her I suppose, I originally wanted to be a monk. If anyone knows how to use a sorcerer let me know, I've tried to play as one before but didn't understand the mechanics lmfao.I only created her in customization, I'm waiting to get to the grove with Amaya and then I'll create her for real.

Amaya is my go to playthrough that I adore so much and already thought of so much lore for her (her former name use to be Eris but I changed it lol. She's my funny little cry baby chaotic good girl, different from Rae is she always wants to do the right thing but ends up doing it in the most chaotic way lmfao. She's a cleric/paladin of Selune mainly because her mother was a cleric of Selune and her dad also worshiped her but was a ranger, after her adoptive parents died when she was 12 (she did not kill them the Zhentarim did) she was kept as a slave for them, did unimaginable things that a teen should do :( this was mainly because one of the zhents took a gross liking to her, she was also forced to thieve, her main schemes back then were using her cleric abilities to scam someone out of money and then pickpocketing the rest. She had her first Bhaal urges happen to her just before her parents died but vowed she would never act on them after their deaths. This wasn't until she couldn't take it anymore at age 16 and killed her main abuser (there's more to this but I want to write it out eventually in story form.) After a few more years of being on her own other bad shit happened which was when she finally found the cult of Bhaal at the young age of 19. After this, Bhaal of course demanded kills from his lovely daughter and she became a siren but hated every second of it and tried to run away more than once but never couId and would be punished for it which then eventually leads to her wound on her wrist which will occur she will bleed bleed and have a lot of pain, she will also have one of the worst headaches that can even make her physically ill every time she rejects one of her worse urges (this was a joy with Lae'zel thinking she's transforming every day lmfao). I think of this as similar to Shadowhearts wound but more graphic, basically a conditioning to make her do bad things. Again there's more to it that I written about already and will eventually release in future. I changed her color scheme from purple to red bc I hated all the purple eyes lol and I prefer to keep a theme going tbh lol. With Rae her physical appearance will not change when she rejects Bhaal (I may change her appearance when Astarion makes her a spawn though but only a little) but Amaya's appearance does! Her natural eye color is dark brown which is why I chose the eyes that looks like a red haze is over natural color. Her hair will also no longer have dark red streaks and will be just normal black and the glowy horns I think will change from red to white :)

I know there will be another dark urge OC soon it will be for Wyll though but that OC is literally just gonna be me lololol. I'm waiting for Larian to fix Wyll before I start that though. Hopefully SOON!

[dearlydarlingdahlia]

Holding Out for a Hero

I changed the direction of Taste of Sweetness almost entirely. It's no longer funny. It's serious. Chapter six made me cry! We are officially at 14k words now and we are not done with part 1 of 3. Woops!

I went on my long walk early this morning and I was listening to Holding Out for a Hero from Shrek 2 (best movie ever). I absolutely love the instrumentals in that song and how epic it feels! I also love how the villain fairy godmother lady is the one singing it after she made it so that the heroes couldn't enter the party (or whatever it was at the end). It's almost like a 'haha fuck you heroes.' This song is literally so good, men should strip to this shit!

I swear to god, this song is about the original dragonborn durge (who I named Vincent) returning to his love Enver Gortash. The song literally says the hero needs to be 'strong' and 'larger than life.' Vincent is 6'8" and over 300 pounds. Enver Gortash is supposed to be tall too, but Vincent is bigger.

The lyrics also refer to the hero as a 'white knight upon a fiery steed.' Vincent is a white dragonborn. His friend Andie can cast Phantom Steed for him to ride.

There are also lines like 'racing on the thunder' and 'lightning that splits the sea.' Vincent is a storm sorcerer!!

Damn, I've been listening to this song on repeat and I'm going nuts! I've been imagining Vincent doing a strip tease to it and making his pecs bounce.

I told my husband that the party is going to storm Wyrm's Rock Fortress to kill Enver Gortash. Gortash would be singing the song sarcastically because he misses his ex (Vincent) and how they used to be evil together.

My husband suggested that it would be funny if Orin was the one singing it and she was holding Gortash hostage, so Vincent needs to save him. I loved that but idk if I can keep Enver alive if I don't know how I'm going to redeem him if he's mainly only going to be in act 3. I could come up with something though. Like maybe he realizes the flaws of his plan when he's playing 5D chess in his mind with himself.

Inspired by the song 'Holding Out for a Hero', I've decided to embrace the concept I had, where the party is full of evil people, and they want to try to be good. So far they're only a party of 3: Vincent (compulsive murderer who lost his memories), Astarion (vampire rogue), and Andie (illusionist who worked in psychological torture). After getting tadpoled, all of them have unexpected freedom to choose who they want to be. They cope with the guilt of their past crimes by trying to be good. I might actually rename Taste of Sweetness to Taste of Redemption.

Originally, I wanted Taste of Sweetness to be chill and lighthearted because I just wanted something to warm my heart since I wasn't feeling great. However, I've been writing it very chaotically and spontaneously. I wrote an emotional chapter, and I liked it a lot. My husband said it made him 'feel something', which is high praise coming from him.

I recently decided that Andie's healing arc this time is going to involve coping with leaving a cult (the cult of Lolth). I've been wanting to write more about cults and the emotional experience of being in one and leaving one for a while, so I'm excited to finally have the opportunity. We'll see how much I deliver. So far, I've touched upon ideas like never feeling enough to the cult leader, constantly needing to prove her loyalty, and feeling guilty for leaving even if she knows she had to. I definitely need to go in harder though. Hopefully I'll be brave enough to go deep.

[grapecaseschoices]

Oh, please tell me more about this! That feels like it would be so juicy. I've been eyeing that mod, negl. But I've had a vendetta against Shar even since her gauntlet.

If i recall correctly although unfinished, since they took it out from the release, you still get lots of content in act 1, 2 and some in act 3 as well. If I recall correctly cleric of selune had 32 lines of dialogue back in 2022 and cleric of shar had 74,which is quite the difference. The dead three cleric, bane and bhaal had like 10 or 11 lines before the devs got rid of them in the diety list, but there's also mods that restores myrkul, bane and bhaal as deities for the dialogue. The bhaal deity dialogue choices are so unhinged though lol. I also did a good playthrough with shadowheart and cleric of selune and it was really good as well, but I am also throughly enjoying my dark urge cleric of shar, 'let's make each other worse' and dark justiciar shadowheart romance route. You get quite a few unique interactions with shadowheart, as well as the gauntlet of shar and yugir, balthazar and I think the rats and some special interactions with the selunite clerics. I do reccomend it if you ever want to do an evil playthrough, idk how it plays out if you don't make shadowheart a DJ though. 👀

This is the link, just in case you ever feel like giving it a try 😊: https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/690

modders really are wizards. finding things that are removed, making things there better, adding [mostly] new shit. but i keep wondering why they deleted a cleric of shar; could they Only Be One? bc 74 is a whopping LOT, because everyone always said that selunite clerics had the most interactions so to have had DOUBLE that. whew. and ugh it would have been so great bc act to gives you so much! and imagine if your sharic was romancing HALSIN instead or too. LIKE DANG, like okay sure you could just play as shadowheart and romance halsin but still.

negl a cleric of bhaal seems like it would be fun to do in a multiplayer PT, against a resist durge :-D

well, i suppose it would be very angsty. choose between your love and your goddess.

ty!

[rottenbrainstuff]

BG3 playthrough - exploring Moonrise and the rest of the shadow cursed lands

Lots of spoilers beneath the cut

Ah! Feels so nice to be home and done the holidays and nestled back comfortably into my BG3 brainrot.

I’m really enjoying the dark urge flavour in Moonrise - it is creepy as fuck how everyone recognizes me. The audience with Ketheric was absolutely chilling for a resisting durge. For my run, this was the first big reveal I had that my past is even more worse and complicated than just being some random murder pervert who lost their memory. My poor tav. This whole tower is just horrible. Jk Simmons does a great job with Ketheric. I wasn’t sure what to expect considering the characters he usually plays, but he’s remarkably soft-spoken here, and I think that’s a great way to make a villain seem more frightening. There is SO MUCH dark urge stuff in here. Like I said before, I’m honestly sad I picked dark urge as my very first playthrough… I feel like I should have saved it for a later playthrough when I was feeling bored with the game. I unknowingly picked all the most interesting options to do first!

I do seriously regret playing Dark Urge as my very first playthrough though. I know the game warns you not to select it if it’s your first time, but I feel I just misunderstood the warning. I thought it was more of a warning that it makes the game harder for brand new players who are just figuring things out. I had no idea I would regret it because of the extra content it adds in that really objectively would have been much better if I had saved it for later. The two things I regret: reading spoilers about the dream guardian, and picking Dark Urge for my very first playthrough.

Anywho, I’m also cleaning up the little threads I have left on the shadow curse map… got Madeline’s journal for He Who Was. The internet sure likes him but I couldn’t help him punish Madeline: I was surprised to read the journal because of how clear it was that she didn’t fully understand the consequences and only made a mistake. This means I won’t get the raven gloves, sigh. (his raven is hilariously mean btw, be sure to use speak with animals the first time you meet them)

I found the approvals interesting for this scene. I had Wyll, Gale, and Astarion in my party. Wyll and Gale ONLY disapprove of me convincing Madeline to stab herself, and NOT if I tell Madeline the deaths were her fault (which I mean I think objectively they really are not, not in the way that He Who Was is blaming her for anyway). They don’t really care about what’s fair or not - they just don’t like it if it gets too messy! Astarion on the other hand disapproves of you telling Madeline it is her fault, or it isn’t. He dislikes either choice. He has no reaction if you make her stab herself. Interesting, interesting.

With my tav’s slipping grasp on his sanity, I wanted to do the option where you piss off He Who Was by making Madeline stab herself twice, as like, thinking of a clever way to harm this messed-up shadar-kai whose cheese has clearly slipped right off his cracker. My tav lately has been all about trying to do the right thing via a gruesome route. The dialogue with this route makes it seem though that you wanted to hurt Madeline and just got carried away, so in the end I went with forgiving her. Man how horrible, imagine dying an untimely death riddled with guilt about a mistake that you made that killed your friends, then some little elf shit comes along and animates your corpse in order to get off on your fear. This was a short and understated encounter and I kind of like that. I don’t know much about the shadar-kai so I am curious what mission He Who Was and the others were supposed to be doing in the first place, and how his abandoning of his post played out. I love how messed up this shadow curse is.

I also chatted with Thisobald. I was quite surprised to see that in my list of stories to tell him, I had the option to tell him a story about a village that thought I was their protector, but I massacred them all. Boy oh boy. I wracked my brain trying to figure out what the hell that was referencing. I was concerned maybe something was triggered wrong with the tiefling siege and the game has recorded that I killed them? Or do they mean the goblins in the blighted village that I attacked after I made friends with them? Or something else? What on earth? What did I do wrong?

I looked around online a bit… it seems other durge players have this happen as well. If you actually attacked the grove, you have a different story that specifies it was tieflings you slaughtered. This story is included at the very beginning of the list, which seems to be otherwise chronological. A warlock apparently has the option to tell a story about making a pact with their patron, something that happened before the game even started. So it seems the best guess currently is that this also is something that happened before the game started. Yikes. Poor tav. I’m trying my best to help you be better.

Played hide and seek with Oliver - I didn’t realize you can’t trigger the end of the game until you stop sneaking, so that “fun” game went on a lot longer that it needed to, wow. My tav really likes children so it was upsetting to run into this poor little ghost boy. I know he’s attached somehow to the Thaniel quest stuff, so I hope we can do something for him later when I tackle that plot point.

My oldest daughter who is playing finally saw the Emperor. I was waiting and waiting for that, because she had such a STRONG negative reaction to the dream guardian right from the get go, and was really weirdly angry about all the ambiguity and questions that they weren’t answering. She chose to try and kill them in the astral plane. I was so curious to see what her reaction would be when she found out that the reason they were being so suspiciously vague this whole time was that they were a goddamned mind flayer. Surprisingly…….. She’s pretty ok with the character now! Like, I think she might end up siding with it in the end, even. She’s totally ok with it being a manipulative, selfish, jerkass mindflayer…. She’s just happy it’s actually being honest now. LMAO. My oldest kiddo is funny. It’s been fun following along with her as she’s playing, but it’s also a little frustrating, because she misses SO MUCH STUFF as she whizzes through the game. She’s not concerned about completing every single detail. She is happy leaving things to discover in future playthroughs, and in fact has even left some things unresolved on purpose to try later on, ie, Ethel’s hut, the underdark, stuff like that. In a way I think that’s probably a better way to play it than what I am doing, where I have a ridiculous amount of logged hours but I’m still only about halfway through the shadow cursed lands and honestly there isn’t going to be a lot of new content for me to discover in the future beyond just little race and class dialogue variations. But it’s annoying for me, because I want to know what she did/said in certain situations, and her answer half the time is, I just didn’t find that! Lol.

Next up I guess is the tollhouse, then on to the house of healing after that. Can’t wait to get there - the soundtrack for it sounds demented. Or maybe I’ll go to the orthon and trigger Astarion’s second romance. I have zero regrets so far for giving Astarion one level of bard instead of leveling him up properly as a rogue. 10/10 would do it again. He even landed a vicious mockery on He Who Was.