#niko plays bg3

[nikomedes]

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this is durgestarion 2 me (original post)

[nikomedes]

idk i think what is interesting about astarion to me is the fact that you have a guy who started out an asshole (normal type) and then spent two hundred years in a very carefully and specifically crafted (by the writers of the game) Become A Terrible Person Or Die nexus. like it wasn’t just a Torment Nexus, he wasn’t just in hell, i feel like this is very important not to forget, he was in hell but it was specifically a hell designed to, over time, kill the empathy of anyone trapped in it, kill their brain’s ability to prioritize other peoples’ survival, to numb one’s conscience.

and then he gets yanked directly out of that nexus and despite that the fact that he spent, again, two hundred years in a situation that was sort of a rock tumbler for the human soul, there’s still a pebble left in there. and it’s a pebble that can be grown if placed in the right environment and provided with a support network.

so i think it becomes interesting because it really does i think force you to start thinking about the limits of free will even on as basic a level as the human personality. i think the fact that he becomes such a different character based on player choice, that his end morality is so hugely dependent on player choice, is uhhh. a big part of what the devs were going for probably.

it makes a lot of people really uncomfortable to acknowledge some bad people would be good people if literally nothing changed except they had a good support network and different circumstances. especially because it means the opposite is also true. which is even more uncomfortable.

you know that part in the beginning of fellowship of the ring where gandalf is talking about how gollum is ultimately only like that because of the ring and gandalf thinks his story is sad? astarion is kinda like if they sexualized gollum.

[flashhwing]

i don't have the game open rn to double check but i'm pretty sure. that after draining Nikos dry, Astarion did not have the "happy" buff. which is fascinating to me. like yeah you drank sentient blood for the first time ever, but you also killed someone who trusted you. and it's not exactly the first time that's happened either, but maybe it's different this time. because it was just you. no one holding the reins, no one made you do it. so despite what the mechanics are supposed to do you just. can't be happy about it

just. is that a glimmer of genuine remorse, Astarion? this early in the game? glib though your apologies may be, you truly did not intend -- or want -- to kill Nikos, did you?

[photochoco]

Fun Fact: Nemises' Dream Visitor is based off her husband in her original canon :>

[crowscroll]

actually unfair that i have to write a whole 400 words today i think my adhd is trying to kill me

[nikomedes]

#I TOOK THE TRASH OUT SEVEN MOONS AGO. HE TOOK THE TRASH OUT A FORTNITE AGO. GO. #*chugs half bottle of pinot grigiot* DO YOU SEE HOW EASY THAT WAS. man he was gonna do that anyway that was a total waste of time. NAY. #SOMEONE HAS TO TEACH THE BOY HOW TO LIVE. okay well do you have any molly i can buy off you. YES. #ill venmo you. I DONT KNOW WHAT THAT IS. ILL TAKE ONE OF YOUR STABLE BOYS. JUST KIDDING. HAHA. #*chugs more pinot* *checks label* THIS IS SHIT. (via recents)

Ascended Astarion

[thesoulforgeorder]

hello!!! congrats on the chapter 2 part 1 release!!! you've worked very hard and you should be proud of what you've accomplished!

so far I've only played as the Military!MC and god i could just feel how much their family cherishes them. i specifically play as a Military!MC who's not really entirely sure what she wants and is just trying to fulfill their duty so to speak and thus hasn't really voiced any of their doubts, but that little moment made me think, "you know, i don't think they would immediately turn their backs on you like you fear they would." idk it just made me tear up a lil bit ;3; disappointing them would still make me sad, but i was gladdened to see MC loved by their parents and siblings. i will probably defo come back after playing as an Orphan or Wastelander MC (*w*)

that said, i had to mention something funny. so i often use "Nikola", shortened as "Niko" as my preferred name. i also tend to play as a Chinese MC if the setting is conducive for it because well I'M Chinese xD so it was ESPECIALLY funny for me to meet Nico as Niko. like ok buddy, one of us is gonna have to change--especially if we're dating LOL

even funnier is that you said Nico would be a bard in DND...because I, too, am a bard in DND/BG3. when asked the same question about me, all of my friends took one look at my dopey, loves to sing, "but can i kiss the eldritch abomination?", troublemaker gremlin ass and said "yeah that's a bard." and now i am so curious and excited to see what makes Nico a bard >W<

*insert Spiderman pointing meme*

✓Chinese

✓Shared/homophonous nickname/preferred name

✓Bards

✓Military background

✓Rhyming surnames (Zhu VS Wu)

ONE OF US IS GONNA HAVE TO CHANGE, BUDDY!!! nah jk we can just be Nico^2. or to avoid confusion i'm just gonna give him THE most annoying nicknames. and/or petnames if i romance him LOL please wish me luck that i come out of this IF unscathed for i am just as likely to get eaten by an Exillium as i am to get blasted by Nico for calling him "my dumpling" over the comms.

anyhow. once again, congratulations on chapter 2 part 1!!! i look forward to what else you've got cooking up; that said, please take all the time you need! you've worked very hard!!!!

Thank you so much for the kind words, Anon! All the hard work is worth it when I see how much you and others are enjoying the game.

Military!MC has a lot of interesting family moments throughout the game. The battle of wanting to not disappoint your father, live up to the family legacy, fear of isolation and rivalry and tension with siblings will all come into play in later chapters.

But there will be a lot of sweet moments to soften the angst!

Also that is absolutely hilarious, what a coincidence! Not so long ago another anon said the same thing but in regards to being Astrid! So I see I have anon twins. I can't believe it.

I am still new to coding so I'm not sure how to get characters to recognise players as having the same name as them but when I do, I'm writing that as a scene. Nico would 100% insist that he gets to be nico prime and MC will have to go by a nickname.

Perhaps people will get to see his bard side in part two hehe.

Thank you for the ask and you made my night! I love the Niko and Nico duo. Truly iconic

[eclecticworm]

dead boy detectives on my tomodachi life island?!?!

it's more likely than you think

here's a bunch of pics of them cause I'm OBSESSED!!

the photo booth is my favorite thing I took so many pictures of them there

this is the most on brand thing for him to say

these people do NOT want to leave their rooms they have ZERO friends (that's why there's like zero pictures of Niko...)

except for Crystal who is apparently BFFs with Astarion from BG3 and Michael Myers

I'll probably post some more photos soon cause I'm having a blast with them this is the most I've played tomodachi life in YEARS! also I just really want these losers to get some friends (and better outfits if we're being honest)

[the-four-humors]

I don't play BG3 but Niko was insistent on showing me Gale's sex scene and like. Wow. The nerdy ones are always freaks, aren't they

[nobleburn]

(Thinking about reworking this blog into a (small) fantasy/d&d multimuse? Might move over Lilli from @markofkaine and add a small group of other characters I've played + maybe my BG3 tav(s)? Not sure, but with BG3 out, I really want to do more stuff with Niko's mainverse, and generally just D&D/BG3 things in general)

[nikomedes]

even resistant durge has his moments

(anyway how bout that one durge epilogue?)

[nikomedes]

it makes me so insane that minthara is such a missable companion given she's The One with the info on orin. unless you play durge the info on her and her characterization is so thin on the ground. minthara is the one to tell you that at a dinner party courting powerful drow orin slit an entire table of throats and crawled across it to claim minthara from ketheric. minthara is the one who can tell you this woman is not just craAaAzy she is a ruin and there is no reasoning with her, there is just her also making you into a ruin. u meet minthara and she's a brutal, cruel, sensual, unyielding, vicious daggerslash of a woman and u REALLY meet her and you find out she's terrified of orin. like do u get me? am i making sense? so much of the background we get of orin from saarevok, her journals, gortash, etc, paints her as petulant, childish, and easily manipulated with "dangerous" almost as a footnote, ESPECIALLY if you play durge. it's from minthara and through her subjugation of minthara that we rly get her as an imposing figure akin to ketheric and gortash in power. and you rly can just skip minthara. nuts to me. anyway happy belated international womens day

[nikomedes]

energy of this if it were a less rancid maneuver

im OBSESSED obsessed with this idea that straight men are modding bg3 to make astarion a woman “so that a guy doesn’t hit on them” thats. thats so much gayer than if they just never added him to the party. gameplay wise, you can easily get through the game without him frankly. and the vast majority of player-focused flirtatious dialogue you have to romance him at least a little for. are they. are they romancing him like that. this is beyond homophobic at this point this is psychosexual

[nikomedes]

astarion saying “this is why your father doesn’t love you ❤️” whenever durge does something considerate/romantic. aaand send tweet

[nikomedes]

excuse the dogshit quality screenshot but WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME MINTHARA CAN DUAL WIELD HAND CROSSBOWS!!!!

LETS FUCKING GO

[nikomedes]

my dealer: got some straight gas 🔥😛 this strain is called “troubled white-haired elf pussy” 😳 you’ll be zonked out of your gourd 💯

me: yeah whatever. i don’t feel shit

5 minutes later: dude i swear i just saw fear concealed in the core of desire

my buddy lae’zel, pacing: shar is lying to her