#musings about bg3

[bones-and-bondage]

Some people can’t be brought back. In a world where Revivify and True Resurrection scrolls exist and Temples offer services to bring back those who can afford the components, some people still can’t be brought back.

Isobel Thorm couldn’t be brought back. Ketheric begged Selune for his daughter back and was answered with silence. He turned to Shar and she turned his grief into a weapon, but she would not bring Isobel back. And when he turned to Myrkul, what he brought back wasn’t fully right, and Isobel coughs and she knows there is something wrong, even as we as players can look behind the scenes and see she is undead, not truly living again.

The Dark Urge can beg Withers to bring back Alfira, and he gives a resounding no. He says she is at peace where he can never torment her again. Is it punishment? Is it to keep Alfira safe from what the Urge might do to her again? Or is it because some people, killed some ways, just cannot come back?

Is how the person died part of the ultimate decision as to who could come back? What power would Bhaal have, after all, if every victim murdered in his honor was just revivified?

What of Mayrina’s husband Connor? Did she seek out the Hag to return her husband because there were no temples available to her nearby? Because she couldn’t afford the cost of their services? Or had something else decided he, too, was to remain dead?

If Revivify had made death a non-worry, there wouldn’t be so many gods of the dead.

[alibonbonn]

A @corviiids tweet that is very important to me 🙏 I'm always thinking about spawn Astarion how he loves the sun

[invinciblerodent]

This is going to be very ranty and disjointed, probably borderline incomprehensible post, but with the "return" of Dragon Age Discourse (and really, did it ever go anywhere?) and me repeatedly seeing the complaints and dismissals of DA:I as a "chosen one"-type of a narrative, I just.... I keep finding myself thinking about the relationship of truth and lies within the game.

Throughout the course of DA:I, the idea of a malleable, flexible personal identity, and a painful confrontation with an uncomfortable truth replacing a soothing falsehood, follows pretty much every character throughout their respective arcs.

There are some more obvious ones, Solas, Blackwall, The Iron Bull, their identities and deceptions (of both those around them and themselves) are clearly front and center in the stories told about them, but this theme of deception (both of the self- and the outside world) is clearly present in the stories of the others as well.

Like, for example, ones that come immediately to mind are stories like that of Cullen, who presents an image of a composed and disciplined military man, a commander- all to hide the desperate and traumatized addict that he sees himself as.

Dorian grappled with the expectations of presenting the image of the perfect heir to his father's legacy, the prideful scion of his house, his entire life (he even introduces himself as the result of "careful breeding", like one might speak about a prized horse)- all while knowing that his family would rather see him lobotomized and obedient, than anything even just resembling his vibrant and passionate self.

Cassandra calls herself a Seeker of Truth, and takes pride in that identity- only to learn that in reality, she has been made a liar, a keeper of secrets, without her knowledge or consent, and it is up to her to either uproot the entire organization and painfully cut out the abscess it is to build it back from the ground up into something respectable, or let the information she had revealed sit, and continue to fester.

And this theme continues and reframes itself in, among others, things like Sera's own inner conflict between her elven heritage and her human upbringing, or in Cole being caught in this unconscionable space in-between human and spirit, between person and concept, etc.

The Inquisitor isn't exempt from this either.

I feel like this is where the core of the many misunderstandings of this plot come from, why so many people continue to believe that Inquisition is a "chosen one" or "divinely appointed" type of story, because I think many might just... not realize, that the protagonist's identity is also malleable, and what they are told in the setup/first act of the game is not necessarily the truth.

The tale of the Inquisitor is the exact opposite of that of a "chosen one" story: it's an examination and reflection of the trope, in that it is the story of an assumption that all wrongly believe to be the truth, and thrust upon you, even if you protest. The very point is that no matter who you choose to say that you are, you will be known as the Herald of a prophet you don't even necessarily believe in, and then that belief will be proven wrong, leaving you to cope with either a devastating disappointment if you believed it, or a bitter kind of vindication if you didn't.

There's a moment just after Here Lies the Abyss (when you learn of the lie you've been fed your entire journey in the game) that I don't often see mentioned, but I think it's one of the most emotionally impactful character moments, if you are playing an Andrastian Inquisitor who had actually believed themselves chosen (which I realize is a rather unpopular pick, lol): it's when Ser Ruth, a Grey Warden, realizes what she had done and is horrified by her own deeds, and turns herself in asking to be tried for the murder of another of her order. As far as she is concerned, she had spilled blood for power, and regardless of whether she was acting of her own volition at the time, whether she had agency in the moment, is irrelevant to her: she seeks no absolution, but willingly submits to any punishment you see fit.

And only if you play as an Inquisitor who, through prior dialogue choices, had established themselves as a devout Andrastian, can you offer her forgiveness, for a deed that was objectively not her fault- not really.

You can, in Andraste's name, forgive her- even though you, at that point, know that you have no real right to do so. That you're not Andraste's Herald, that Andraste may or may not even exist, and that you can't grant anyone "divine forgiveness", because you, yourself, don't have a drop of divinity within you. You know that you were no more than an unlucky idiot who stumbled their way into meddling with forces beyond their ken.

You know you're a fraud. You know. The game forces you to realize, as it slowly drip-drip-drips the memories knocked loose by the blast back into your head, that what all have been telling you that you are up to this point, is false. And yet, you can still choose to keep up the lie, and tell this woman who stands in front of you with blood on her hands and tears in her eyes, that you, with authority you don't have, grant her forgiveness for a crime that wasn't hers to commit.

Because it's the right thing to do. Because to lie to Ser Ruth is far kinder than anything else you could possibly do to her, short of refusing to make a decision altogether.

There are any number of criticisms of this game that I can accept (I may or may not agree depending on what it is, but I'm from the school of thought that any interpretation can be equally valid as long as there's text that supports it, and no text that contradicts it), but I will always continue to uphold that the Inquisitor is absolutely not- and never was a "chosen one".

They're just as small, and sad, and lost, as all the other protagonists- the only difference is that they didn't need to fight for their mantle, because instead of a symbol of honor, it acted as a straitjacket.

[barilleon]

One thing that I've noticed about Baldur's Gate 3 is that sometimes it really does feel like your companions are being piloted by other players. Sure, there's the standard approval system that most CRPGs have nowadays, but there is an even more powerful mechanic at play here: giving the player the option to shut the fuck up.

There are tons of moments when your companions are forced to confront parts of their past they can't shake. You always have the option to speak up for them if you like, but most times you also have the option to say nothing (sometimes the prompt is literally "say nothing," sometimes it's "let [character] handle this."

And this is such an important tactic of playing at the table: turning the spotlight onto to another player and letting them handle it. Because the story isn't just about your player character, it's about all of you.

When you do choose that option, I've noticed more often than not that the character approves of you letting them take the wheel. When you try to speak up for them, they may not express disapproval, but it comes up in the fiction. I tried to defend Astarion once and an NPC was like, "You're letting swine speak for you now?" and Astarion shouted, "I don't need anyone to speak for me!" He's right! This is his moment! Why did I say anything?

Baldur's Gate doesn't have to do this! There's no actual person piloting your companions. And in games a lot of people will say it's usually best practice to keep the spotlight on the players. But BG3 is a video game based on a tabletop game, and I think this is one of the main differences between the two. Maybe it's a tiny detail, but giving the player the option to relinquish the spotlight (and oftentimes encouraging and rewarding it) is such an incredible detail, and faithful to the medium the game is trying to emulate.

It's also a great lesson for everyone who wants to be a good player at the table: if it's not your scene, consider shutting up and letting the spotlit player handle it.

[dumbofass-homo]

I've been thinking about how Halsin is always the caretaker.

He takes care of nature, but that's obvious. He takes care of a bunch of orphaned kids in the endgame. He took care of the grove, healed people, took in refugees. He cares about Tav (even if he is not Tav's partner) and the rest of the weirdos in the party. He cares.

It's so easy to forget that he is also a person that needs caring for. He is large and always has his emotions under control, so people tend to brush off his needs, sometimes subconsciously. And he is used to it, living for as long as he has.

It even shows in the fanart and fanfics - he is almost always the one to offer support and encouragement, emotional or otherwise. In the smutty works, he is almost exclusively the top, caring for his partners'pleasure.

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this or what I'm trying to say, but I think he would just melt if his partners and/or companions would slowly start taking things off his shoulders.

The children want bedtime stories? Astarion will do you one better. He will act out the heroic victory over a certain vampire with so much flare he will be the talk of the settlement for days to come. He most certainly didn't do that to get the kids off Halsin's bear back and most definitely doesn't enjoy his new fans.

Lae'zel isn't affectionate, no, not at all. It's just that when she sees how dull his blades are, it infuriates her. Definitely. So she takes them, along with his armor and polishes everything to perfection, just like she would her own. The githyanki cannot allow their metal to be in less than perfect condition, you see.

New refugees came to the settlement and Tav gets them settled, shows them the place they've built and makes sure they know they're safe. The newcomers are a little baffled that one of the saviors of Baldur's gate is so normal, and it gives them reassurance. Tav wants to make sure not everyone needs to look to Halsin for the smallest things.

In the midst of the shadow curse, despite their animosity, Shadowheart infuses several items around camp with light. She knows he must miss the sun.

In Rivington, Gale scouts for ingredients for a certain cake. He can't find what he's looking for, the settlement is very short on sweets. But with his little eye (and a bit of magic) he finds a honey bee hive. A few blisters and agry bees later - a small honeycake is done, served with tea. Gale didn't want to make assumptions but Tav had told him their favorite bear loves honey.

On a particularly dreadful night, Wyll invites Alfira to play them a few tunes. He goes from person to person and gets them to their feet to do a little dance. Halsin is sure he has two left feet so he is reluctant to try - but everyone cheers and encourages him so he does, peer pressure be damned. He steps on Wyll's feet and has no idea how to move his body in sync, but Wyll isn't phased by it. He moves and twirls him around and Halsin is sure that looks absolutely ridiculous - but he is having fun, for the first time in a long time.

[sacrosanctitty]

grief is an ever constant companion

[marigoldbaker]

i should have called the astele keene thing this is like embarrassing on a professional level for me

[corporalmoth]

going through dialogue with Gortash's parents one more time, and the way Sally talks about him (i.e. calling him whiny and needy) kind of reminds me of the way parents talk about their super sensitive neurodivergent children. I doubt it was in any way intentional and instead more of association my brain pulled out thanks to some personal experience with such stuff, but still - a fun little detail about Gortash's backstory to think more about.

[seaglassmelody]

Ok so bouncing off of that last reblog real quick I have a thoughtdump to make:

Namely, BG3 was celebrated for having such a range of options to cover a ton of different roleplaying possibilities. And it was great! It was cool! It definitely left a lot of blank slate flexibility for Tav to be who you wanted them to be!

But I also need people to look at the actual reality of what that looked like. The grand majority of the time, it was a few lines of text dialogue in a dialogue tree, several of which had overlapping consequences with OTHER options in the same dialogue tree! It didn’t require extra animations or voiced lines or anything, it was just an additional branch of a dialogue tree that loops back to one of several consequences that was included with the rest of the tree! So much of the “roleplaying” in BG3 was just as “use your imagination, bestie” as it is in Veilguard. It just has less MC voiced lines.

BG3 is a fun game. It’s a really good game. Veilguard is a fun game. It’s a really good game. They were NEVER going to be even close to the same game. Comparing them and expecting BG3 from Dragon Age is folly.

[polluxii]

my bloodthirsty muse

[psychopomp-namine]

sometimes there will be areas in a video game that will just suck you into a timeless prison that makes it impossible for your brain to gather enough motivation to escape and move forward with the main quest

[ghostwise]

i'd love to see some banters for zira! 30. Party banter with Shadowheart and maybe another of the party banters with a character of your choice if you feel like doing more? :)c

Shadowheart: Not that it wasn’t an… enjoyable show, but I’m curious, death cleric: how exactly do you rationalize performing a rite for Loviatar? You are no follower of hers.

Zirahuén: It was Abdirak who performed the rite, and he who benefited. The worship was his, not mine.

Shadowheart: Forgive me, but I don’t see the distinction. He asked, you acceded. True, it may have aided our quest. But it is no trivial thing.

Zirahuén: Worship is an internal process, Shadowheart. I can perform death rites for any number of corpses, but Kelemvor gains no followers for it.

Shadowheart: Touche.

Zirahuén: Ultimately the worshiper is the one who defines what worship is. Even above the Gods.

Shadowheart: Ah, back to heresy again.

-

Shadowheart: Going back to your earlier blaspheming…

Zirahuén: Certainly.

Shadowheart: What do you mean the worshiper defines worship? The worshiper! Imagine what that would imply.

Zirahuén: It would imply all the qualities of fruitful worship: honesty, freedom, prosperity, creativity…

Shadowheart: Fruitful!

Zirahuén: Gods are not the source of faith, merely the inspiration. We provide it. We nurture it. Surely you agree; you are a cleric, after all. You worship because it is fulfilling to you. As pleasant as a good meal, as restorative as a deep sleep.

Shadowheart: (laughing) You Kelemvorites!

Zirahuén: (chuckles) Admittedly I might be the odd one out in this regard.

[junpickles]

I'm quite happy with how the reflections and the background turned out. Since Nel has the dark urge background, I tried to incorporate more red light in the background and shadows, to hint at the darkness, the vileness always lingering behind every action of hers. That it is easy to just let herself sink and give up control, let herself be enveloped by the urge.

The urge is the past, a reflection of what used to be, a moment frozen in time that is desperately trying to claw itself up and out of the depths of her soul.

Or something, I'm only in act 2 for this playthrough, I don't know what'll happen. 🤷‍♀️

[daemon-in-my-head]

Actually I'm not done for today-

Given how Karlachs whole Soul and Body thing works despite the deal between Gort and Zariel, it is to assume that if a 3rd party sells you, it is not your soul being traded but your body instead. Aka, you really are just a commodity/slave being sold, and you may lose the ownership of your body, but despite devil dealings, your soul still belongs to you.

This also explains why Gorts' soul immediately ends up in Bane's grasp rather than the HoH or smth. Because Raphael may have been the owner of his body, but the soul belonged to Gort the entire time, and it stands to reason one of the main motivations Raphael has for torturing kid Gort is to gain his soul in exchange for peace or some shit.

But this also means there is a high likelihood Gort was aware of what the deal entails, the transfer of ownership of his body and not soul, meaning he knows his body is technically speaking Raphael's property.

And petty and spiteful as that man is, I propose a lot of the shit he did was deliberately aimed at ruining his body, for he's aware it is not his own but Raphael's. And spiting Raphael and fucking over or ruining his shit is one of Gortashs most beloved past times.

So basically, Gortash does not care how horrible his body is suffering from his strict regime or Bhaalspawn antics instead he takes twisted pleasure in mailing his physicians reports to the House of Hope, always keeping Raphael up to date on how hard he's ruining some property of his rn.

[telumendils]

me when two characters who've never known a gentle touch are slowly learning how to be gentle with each other

[sacrosanctitty]

@okthatsgreat was thinking about the ivan the terrible piece you did of these two again and had enough motivation to finally finish(ish) this WIP I’ve had sitting in procreate since november 😭