griffinsanddragons

[griffinsanddragons]

'Tav is so boring compared to Durge who comes with a story' well its not my fault that you are uncreative... Tav is a blank sheet and you must fill the gaps to make them interesting which is the fun part.

#i can't really get into my durge run #i prefer to make my own story

[griffinsanddragons]

I won't lie - losing the eldritch blasts and the hexes took some getting used to. Nothing but void where once there was hellfire. So I stoked new fires in myself using the lessons my father once taught me. The Blade of Avernus is a ranger - a hunter of the most hellish prey.

Wyll + ghouls0rules' Ranger's Leather Armor

#Wyll #Wyll Ravengard #BG3 #he just looks so good

[griffinsanddragons]

Larian Studios reworked the dream guardian quite a bit from Early Access vs. the final game. I personally kinda liked the more sinister version of the Dream Guardian - especially when you used Illithid Persuasion while refusing their advances. I've created this supercut of my tadpole-using tiefling character's interactions with the Early Access dream visitor to save for posterity.

This is from Version 4 of Early Access

#oh! #i never touched ea so i had no idea #i like this more sinister and seductive version too #i wonder if their secret was always the same or if it larian changed them later

[griffinsanddragons]

your ocs should be friends with mine btw. my ocs told me they want to be friends with yours. theyre too shy to ask so i have to tell you. my ocs are asking your ocs to be friends with them

#my ocs think your ocs are really cool #but their mother is too shy so they have to stand back and hold my hand

[griffinsanddragons]

a lyric on your tongue (Astarion x Tav)

Summary: They weren't a fan of pet names so why had they given him one...

READ ON AO3

Astarion mindlessly twirled the curly end of their braid between his fingers as they rested at the side of the lake.

Fighting Ethel had taken more out of the group than expected. Who knew some bloody mushrooms were keeping the damnable hag alive? It'd taken them far too long to realize it until one of the lobbed fireballs finally took out a cluster in one instance. They soon make short work of her and made their way out of the cellar.

As they left the tavern, Gan started heading out of the city, Astarion following behind. The two of them reached the lake and he sat back on the shoreline while they stripped and dove in. Astarion took the time alone to clean up their gear while he waited. They finally began making their way back before the sun was fully set, he met them with a cloth and open arms.

"Thanks Plum," Gan remarked as they briefly snuggled in his arms before drying off.

Their gear back on, the two of them sat down, propping their backs against the small boulder just off the water. He tightened his hold on them as the two of them sat there watching what remained of the sun set over the water.

"I thought you didn't like pet names," he commented, interrupting the quiet as he tapped his fingers lightly on the back of their hand. They waited for him to clarify his sudden remark.

"You started calling me Plum ever since…" Astarion paused, letting the sentence stop. He was unwilling to give things more weight just then. It was pressure neither of them needed. Sure he called them darling or beautiful but he said that to everyone. Well almost everyone, Lae'zel and Minthara were only going to be Lae'zel and Minthara since he valued his pretty little head remaining on his shoulders.

He'd even taken to calling them Darling One because well…that's what they were to him. The one who'd pushed him to face uncomfortable truths and uncover revelations about himself. Astarion had been forced to do a lot of shitty things under Cazador's compulsion. Unattended for the first time in years, he thought he'd have no choice but to do those things with them in order to stay safe and be protected. They'd done their part of his plan as far as he was concerned. Skilled with daggers, dangerous from the shadows, observed far more than they spoke initially, Gan made him feel safe, if not a little uneasy about those skills possibly turning upon him.

He was even able to hold up his part after they knew what he really was that fateful night. It would have been nothing for them to slip a dagger into his heart before the rest of camp had even heard them scuffle. A personal attack vampire, they'd pondered aloud before agreeing to lie back on the mat and let him feed. Astarion should have known though when the instincts wore off and there was no more fantasy to be played; when he'd found a sliver of wanting buried deep beneath the layers of disgust and pain that something was different. Something he hadn't quite wrapped his mind around but he was willing, just like them, to see where the journey took them both.

His thoughts drifted back to the elf snuggled warmly against his side. They'd never uttered a darling or whispered a sweet in his direction. They'd only ever called him his name or Vamp when they were in a playful mood. So he certainly wasn't expecting to hear it when they asked what gear he needed as they perused a trader's stock. And he was sure he was hearing things when they told the barkeeper to get my Plum whatever he wanted. And when it was just the two of them, nestled against that tree just outside camp in Rivington, when they looked up into his eyes and said Plum we'll make sure he pays, he was confused. Astarion would have asked at that moment but before he could his attention was diverted elsewhere. Distracted by the warm hands cradling his cheeks and the softest kiss pressed to his lips. If his heart was still beating, he was sure it would have been racing in his chest.

So as the two of them sat there, huddled on a lake shore together, watching a setting sun, he asked. He asked and he waited for a response. Waited patiently first then impatiently while they sat there quietly, never stirring at his question. He was about to open his mouth, a quip ready on his tongue when he finally heard them speak up.

"Because…"

They hadn't continued just yet and he was ready to just say forget it, he told himself to practice some restraint for once.

"The first time I bit into a red plum…" A satisfied hum coming from them, as if they were reliving the moment right then, they finally carried on. "It became one of my favorite fruits."

Gan continued to look out over the water and left the sentence at that. Astarion shuffled slightly, "....come now don't leave me hanging."

Rolling their eyes as they turned to face him, "Really???"

He grinned and batted his eyelashes, finally conceding as they let out an exasperated sigh.

"Simply put, you've become one of my favorites."

He beamed proudly, sticking his chest out a little. He'd been called many things over the centuries but he'd never been anyone's favorite anything.

"I may need to reconsider my decision making," Gan teased as they grabbed him by the chin and shook his head side to side.

Astarion freed himself from their grasp, pretending to be hurt, "Oh darling one! You wound me!"

Gan playfully elbowed him in the ribs before settling back against his side. He wrapped his arm around them as they watched what remained of the sunset. It was all new. Terrifying and unknown and new. A tadpole in his brain, walking in the sun after over 200 years, figuring out there may be a way to become a living vampire, so many mysteries in so little time.

Astarion wasn't sure how this whole ordeal would turn out but he'd grown sure about one thing. There wasn't anyone else he'd rather face the approaching storm with than them.

#oh? whats this? ill read when i get home from work #but i already know ill like it

[griffinsanddragons]

Vivienne De Fer Banter Highlights

Cuz she doesn’t get enough love

#vivienne #first enchanter Vivienne #shes so funny #goals #the skitter skitter banter is top tier for me - one of my favorites

[griffinsanddragons]

ACT 2

After breaking her Oath in Act 1, Aestria was determined to take things into her own hands. She's no longer an instrument of vengeance for her God (who I've decided was Lathander) she's her own person now...but if that's true, why does she still wield Lathander's light? 🤔

Hmm...anyway.

Time has passed, her anger has cooled, and now, Aestria is filled with sorrow.

And if a god is indistinguishable from their domain, the loss she feels is indistinguishable from The Lady of Sorrows herself, Shar.

While she may not turn to worship, everything in Shar's temple resonated with Aestria in an unexpected way. Loss, sorrow, the desire to forget...

The Oathbreaker Knight said there was darkness within her heart now, and while she initially brushed it off, perhaps that darkness is more seductive than she believed.

She told Gale and Lae'zel to forget the gods that turned their backs to them - but Shar hasn't turned her back to Shadowheart. It's been the opposite, actually. Shar is the only God that's actually been of any help to them so far, and all she asked was for Shadowheart to strike down some lady, the source of Kethric's strength.

Aestria's struck down many as an instrument of vengeance. Why would she stop Shadowheart from doing the same? If serving as a god's vengeance is wrong, then what about all that she was before...?

(Also, Aestria is with Astarion now. Hilarious, considering that Lathander famously hates the undead. I'll need to make a whole post about their relationship because its silly-goofy. Basically, Aestria was living a somewhat hedonistic lifestyle to quell the disillusionment she felt being an Oath of Vengeance Paladin. She was totally ok with spending a few nights with Astarion... until she began to care about him as a person. Who started to care first? Who knows!)

@razrogue, it's been a while, but you said you wanted to read what happens next 👉🏾👈🏾

#I was not expecting this playthrough to go this way when I picked a buff Paladin #but this is so much fun #'This really might be my 'everyone ends up worse' playthrough #if she doesn't get it together she's going to mess around and let Astarion ascend :'( #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #bg3 act 2 spoilers #might there be a late game multi class in her future

[griffinsanddragons]

Varric Tethras and the Centrist Agenda

According to David Gaider in a Game Informer interview, Varric Tethras in Dragon Age II was originally a character who the player had to question if they could trust or not. But because of the political tension embedded in the game’s story, his role changed into someone that instead, the player felt was always on their side no matter what. While I can understand the motivations behind this change, I can’t help but sometimes wonder what Varric would have been like, had he been given defining viewpoints of his own. Instead, what we have is a character who has very little distinction outside of his relationship to Hawke. While this improves somewhat in his place in Dragon Age: Inquisition, he still falls flat compared to all the other characters who at least have a backbone, whether you agree with them or not. Because Varric tries to separate himself from the mage-templar conflict by equating them, he just reads as an ignorant centrist at best, or actively harmful towards the mages at worse. Pretending that an oppressed group wanting to end oppression is just as bad as their oppressors wanting to continue the oppression, is at the end of the day, only benefiting the oppressors.

Compare Varric’s centrism to Sera’s centrism: In Dragon Age: Inquisition, the very first conversation you have with Sera after recruiting her is asking her which side she’s on in the mage-templar conflict. When she says she’s “in the middle”, you can challenge this. You can repeatedly challenge her views throughout the game, to in the very least be able to express how your character feels differently. But when Varric share his “both sides have a point” nonsense, there is no such opportunity. Varric is a vehicle for Inquisition’s overall centrist messages, with his established fan-favouritism used to steer this.

I certainly believe it’s possible to write a centrist character in an interesting way, if their centrism is treated as an intentional character flaw that they are forced to confront at some point. But Varric’s centrism is treated like a positive; like he’s simply above the conflict and everyone else is being silly for caring about it. Not once in any piece of Dragon Age media he’s been present in, has he been forced to question his views. Even at the very end of Dragon Age II when Hawke asks for input from all the companions on Anders’ actions, Varric’s response is just “I’m sick of mages and templars.” This would have been a perfect opportunity to finally force Varric to take a stand, but instead he still sees the conflict as being an annoyance rather than an issue about equal rights. With the added context being the intention to create a character that the player can rely on no matter what, the result is BioWare telling the player they should feel the same.

#anti varric #dragon age #da2 #dai #he's so annoying #the bioware mandated best friend role needs to go! #I can be passionate about mages being deserving of freedom and equality #and my ~best friend~ is doesn't have a stance? we ain't friends!

[griffinsanddragons]

HE WAS SEVENTEEN. AGHHH ULDER WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU

#ulder when i catch you! when i catch you ulder! #Wyll #Wyll Ravengard #BG3 #Baldur's Gate 3 #BG3 spoilers

[griffinsanddragons]

happy dl6-mas

[griffinsanddragons]

hold on i wanna see something...

#sun #she's warm and bright and nurturing #but capable of immense fury and destruction #love her #but which one am I talking about OoooOoOOooooo

[griffinsanddragons]

for the Rolan enjoyers out there

#thank you for our food #rolan #bg3 rolan #art

[griffinsanddragons]

Theo Solomon will be streaming BG3 tomorrow 12/14 at 8pm GMT on his twitch!

#Theo Solomon #BG3 #Baldur's Gate 3 #ohhhhhh

[griffinsanddragons]

Rotating these with dangerous speed

#my heart #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #god!gale #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #patch 5 spoilers

[griffinsanddragons]

I'm not nearly done with my current playthrough, but I wanted to try out a Bard character! This is Arelia. She's a Tiefling, she plays the flute and she's probably going to be Chaotic. I tried to make her Dream Gurdian look like Raphael...you know, for reasons...

I tried to make his devil form, but it wasn't working out. Perhaps I should try out some mods?

#bg3 tav #Arelia #She's so cute #I love her #this is going to be so funny depending on who she meets first djwkdkdjskdk #might change up her horns for bigger ones

[griffinsanddragons]

I really hate how bioware at the beginning of this year was like "this year we'll have more updates on dragon age 4!" and the updates are "we laid off 50 ppl, most are veterans, including mary kirby who is responsible for the one character we are using to milk this franchise dry :) and we did not give them proper severance pay" and "here's a 49 second trailer telling u nothing but tune in 6 months (again) to find out whether this game is real or not! :)"

#yeah #Bioware critical #Dragon Age #its bad

[griffinsanddragons]

Actually, I can't decide if it's pathetic or hilarious how many times now BioWare has put out a 30 second trailer... for a trailer... for a game with no release date.

#between the layoffs and 10 years of teaser trailers I'm just #it looks very pretty #i hope the workers are alright #and but the higher ups are clowns #dragon age #dadw #oh but at least it wasnt solas saying ~i supose you have questions~ or whatever