#and don't like melee in most games | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shuttershocky · 5 months

Note

i was wondering if you could give some general tips for is3? i have a decently developed account but i still cant manage to even get to the first boss every run, let alone beat it. like most runs in is2 i could at least beat Lucian but here i feel like im hitting a brick wall

I've prepared something special for this ask today.

We will be doing a full breakdown of a squad I've run with restrictions. It's a run I just completed as I'm typing this, so I can go over my thought process on both team building and path taking. I also won a run on my first try with the restrictions in place (in fact my IS3 winrate is actually much higher than my IS2 winrate at this point), so I'm fairly confident my strategies are sound. If the massive text scares you, don't worry. I'll also make a TL;DR version at the bottom.

My Three Restrictions:

Ch'en the Holungday, Gavial the Invincible, Mlynar, Kal'tsit, Texas the Omertosa, Pozyomka, Horn, Ling, Goldenglow, and Yato x Kirin are banned - This is a combination of both CN's usual ban list for IS3 competitions, as well as the latest ban list on Lungmen Dragon's latest IS3 competition for Global. This is to show that I don't need meta ops to win that proper teambuilding is what wins runs

Must be Wave 5 - This means the difficulty is low enough to still be considered "low level IS3", but high enough to have the +1 hope cost, +10 RES, and +15% ATK and DEF on all bosses

CANNOT pick People-Oriented Squad - This means I've got to deal with the big hope costs.

And here is my results screen

Now I know what you're thinking. "What the fuck Shutters, your run got the -2 hope costs for 4 stars, AND for 5 stars, AND the 6 stars! Carried by RNG!" While it is fucking hilarious I got all three Hope cost reduction relics when I was trying to starve myself of hope, be assured I didn't get 6 stars - 2 Hope until late Floor 4 where it was hardly relevant. i'd actually rather have gotten combat relics since I still had Hope leftover by the ending.

Let's get into teambuilding and decision-making.

I started this run with 8 Hope (got the pre-run bonus for +2 starting Hope), which let me recruit one 6 star at the very start (I always go with As You Wish so I can get a 4 star for free). In this case, the random shuffle I got was a 4 star Defender voucher, a Vanguard voucher, and a supporter voucher. My starting squad was Gummy, Ines, and Orchid.

In both IS2 and IS3, a usual strategy is to have one core 6 star operator carry you through the early game until you grab more vouchers. Ines is an incredible starting core in this difficulty, since she sees through Invis, is a fast redeploy, is a vanguard, can block enemies, and has enough damage in S2 to get you through Symbiosis in the worst case scenario. I'm actually surprised she isn't considered ban-worthy.

Your biggest threats in the first two floors are Symbiosis, Sniper Squad (if emergency), and Malady. Always, ALWAYS try to have one operator capable of blocking enemies on the ground. If you get all ranged vouchers, bring someone with a summon such as Beeswax if Caster (or Amiya then change to Guard Amiya), an Artificer for Supporters, or Totter (to kill invis) or Rosmontis for Snipers. If you get Emergency Sniper Squad and have no way of blocking or killing invisible units, you autolose. Malady wants you to have either two melee blockers, or one melee with a medic and some ranged damage. Symbiosis is the biggest threat — One unit has to be able to block, and you need strong DPS to cut through the horde. There's no shame in losing to Symbiosis, you either got the operators you need, or you autolose, so I always make a starting team assuming I'm gonna get Symbiosis.

I got lucky with a medic voucher and got Pith (who is so damn good), and on my next defender voucher I got Spot instead of upgrading Gummy. This is because I wanted to get two sources of melee block-3 ASAP since I was lacking in AOE, and Spot is one of the best 3 stars in IS thanks to being Block-3, tanky, having a heal, and evasion. He's worth the 1 hope.

Once you get ground units and a heal, hopefully by Floor 2, you want to start preparing for Floors 3-5. In this case, I got a Sniper voucher and immediately got Kroos the Keen Glint. I consider Kroos the strongest Sniper in IS3 just behind Pozy herself, because she has two traits any IS3 team needs: a source of stun/bind/freeze, and strong anti-air. The Stun/Bind/Freeze counters two gimmick enemies, UFOs (I forgot their real names but you know which ones) and the hated Nethersea Predators from Stulifera Navis. Both enemy types get countered by crowd control.

So by early Floor 3, I had Ines (promoted), Kroos the Keen Glint, Pith (promoted), Spot, and Gummy. At that point I had pretty much everything I needed to make a run to Floor 5 (to reiterate: one fast redeploy, several ground operators, good anti-air, at least one source of stun that can also hit air units), so I began grabbing operators that synergized with my collectibles. Hand of Pulverization meant Rosmontis, uh, pulverized everything, Gnosis was a second source of crowd control in case I got unlucky with Kroos' stun crit RNG (protip: In IS, getting two different kinds of operators who have overlapping roles will carry you deeper into runs since it gives you leeway to make mistakes), and I got Firewatch for that mix of AOE burst damage, invis if need be, and for her incredibly high damage against ranged enemies.

I got two cursed relics on the way. - light per battle, and all operators start with -15 SP. I always try to pick a path with Fortuitous Opportunity since you can trade cursed relics for good ones. Luckily, I had two such nodes, one in Floor 3 and one in Floor 4.

If operators get cursed (which can indeed be instant losses if it's a bad curse very early on and on your core operator), I go for the node that lets you send units out for supplies, it removes curses and promotes operators. At Wave 5 or below you always start with 100 Light, so it's possible to avoid instant loss curses by playing well in Floors 1-2 and not losing any lives (so even if you roll a 1 you don't get cursed)

While you can start freestyling team building once you have your important roles all assembled, I personally like grabbing counters to Floor 4/5 stages that have the biggest chances of ending my run. For this run in particular, these are

Lin, for Out of Control - This stage is one of the most terrifying no matter how experienced in IS3 you are, simply from the sheer amount of Possessed and Bonethrowers coming at you. Lin hard counters this, since with her module active, Bonethrowers cannot break her shield, giving you a tank that doesn't need medics.

Franka for Ubi Bona Somnia - Those spear-zombies from originium dust have 2000 DEF and 80 RES (90 at Wave 5), Franka is there to kill the one that spawns in this stage specifically.

Pompeii (Territorial Tendencies) - I didn't need to grab a counter for in case I met Pompeii since I already had Firewatch and a hand-powered Rosmontis, but if I didn't, it's always a good idea to grab an anti-Pompeii unit like Jaye.

Then once I got to Highmore it was a simple matter of knocking down Highmore with Gnosis' freeze, pulverizing Phase 1 with Rosmontis S3, knocking down Highmore again with Gnosis, then killing Phase 2 with Ines. If you're aiming for Last Knight or Ishar-mla, your team needs will be different of course!

So! I hope that helped you understand how to think about approaching an IS3 run, but in case none of that made any sense and I wasted 3 hours writing this, here's a TL;DR

What do I generally need?

Floor 1

Ground units because you need to block

DPS to counter Symbiosis specifically

Heals

Floors 2-3

Strong Anti-air (IS3 has a lot of flying enemies)

One fast redeploy like Agent Vanguards or Executor Specialists (effective in a vast majority of stages in IS3)

At least one source of Stun/Bind/Freeze that can hit aerial units (to deal with UFOs and Highmore that need to be knocked down, Nethersea Predators so they stop fucking dodging)

You may realize that Texas the Omertosa has all 3 of these qualities. This is why she's considered an automatic ban in all IS3 tournaments

Floors 4-5

Specific counters to the stages that kick your ass the most

Specific boss counters if necessary

Specific operator combos with your collectibles (for example Cutter + Any spinach type collectible)

#Arknights #long post

92 notes · View notes

blueskittlesart · 5 months

Note

Hey it's the anon who wants to play BOTW but is egregious bad at video games again. I took your advice and I've shocked myself at how much progress i've made, I got to the goron village, korok forest, and rito village. One current issue is that I am still. SO bad at the combat. Like SO bad. I panic immediately and lose all coordination (which I already had very little of). I managed to get myself killed before I could even get to the point where Sidon GIVES YOU the quest to get to Zora's domain. I completely fumbled through a minor test of strength.

Any tips for improving general combat capabilities. HELP

hi! first of all, i'm gonna go over the basics of combat and how/when you should use them. the game does technically tell you these things, but they come up early game and are pretty easy to miss imo. you might know some of them already tho!

the first thing that's probably going to be really helpful to you if you don't already know about it is enemy targeting. this locks the camera in place on a specific enemy, even within a horde of them, giving you free reign to abandon the right stick and focus on button pressing. to target an enemy, get close and press the left trigger (ZL.) this will also equip your shield if you're using a one-handed weapon, but the targeting is the most important. Once you're locked in on one enemy, so long as you keep the trigger pressed, the camera will auto-lock into a straight line from link's back to the enemy, so there's no need for you to worry about camera controls. if you DO touch the right stick while targeting, the target camera will jump to the next closest enemy to link and auto-lock again. in general, when fighting, your left pointer should be pressing the trigger to target at all times, your left thumb should be on the stick moving link around, and your right thumb should be pressing Y and shouldn't move from that button. that's the basic combat configuration and there aren't a lot of scenarios where you're going to have to do much more than that (except maybe the right trigger for your bow.)

next is weapon classes. there are 3 different melee weapon classes in botw--swords, greatswords, and polearms. each weapon class has a different attack pattern and speed, and each class has its own strengths and weaknesses.

swords are any weapon link swings one-handed. (examples include the master sword, broadswords, tree branches, boomerangs, small boko clubs, etc.) they have a decently fast attack pattern and when they're equipped link can also use a shield in his left hand with ZL. this is my favorite weapon class, as it's pretty middle-of-the road, usually they have mid-range attack points, as previously mentioned their attack speed isn't too slow, and they come with the added bonus of being able to use a shield. if you're fighting something like a guardian where shielding is necessary, you should always aim to be using a sword-class weapon as it's the only weapon class that link can also hold a shield with.

greatswords are heavy two-handed weapons (examples include claymores and bigger boko clubs.) they usually have very large attack stats, often in the 50s or above, which makes them tempting, especially early game. however, they have several noticeable drawbacks that make them my least favorite weapon class. because of their weight, their attack speed is very low, and because they're two-handed link can't shield when he has one equipped. I personally stay away from this weapon class early-game--imo they're only worth it if you have both hearts and stamina to spare. I only ever use them for hard-hitting charged attacks after stunning an enemy, and will almost always switch back to a sword-class weapon for regular combat.

polearms are long, light two-handed weapons that link holds like a spear (examples include spears, halberds, and tridents.) these have the fastest attack speed in the game, but because they're two-handed link still can't shield with one equipped. these weapons also usually have a longer reach than swords and greatswords, so they can be useful if you don't want to get too close to what you're fighting (however you forfeit the more reliable protection of a shield in order to get that benefit.) these are useful in a pinch, and personally i won't actively discard them like i tend to do with greatswords, but they definitely don't have the same versatility and ease of use as a sword-class weapon.

for early-game, i'd try to stick to sword-class weapons as much as possible, and ALWAYS have your shield up with the left trigger/ZL when you're in combat. this alone will make you harder to hit and let you last a lot longer. with the limited weapon slots you have early-game, i'd focus on collecting weapons that are easy for you to use rather than the ones with the highest attack stats, especially since they're going to break anyway. be willing to sacrifice a high-attack greatsword for a lower-attack one-handed sword in a pinch.

as for the actual mechanics of combat, there are plenty of fancy things you CAN do, but very few of them are actually necessary to beat the game. you can get through 90% of all combat in botw by just targeting with ZL and mashing Y, maybe occasionally sprinting with B to avoid enemy attacks. there are shrines and npcs that will teach you fancy things like backflips and perfect-dodges, which are useful if you can reliably perform them, but if you're someone who gets easily confused when you have to perform a lot of button presses in quick succession, it'll probably be more useful for you to just stick to Y attacks.

the one special combo attack you ARE going to need to learn in order to get through the game is a perfect shield parry, which is going to sound scary and difficult when i explain it but i promise it becomes like second nature after a while. this combo is the easiest way to combat anything that has a laser-beam attack, like guardians and certain late-game bosses. you hold your shield up with ZL, (this combo can ONLY be performed if you're holding a one-handed weapon, and make sure you're targeting the enemy attacking you and not just holding your shield up at nothing) wait for the laser to lock onto you, (the target line will blink rapidly and then disappear just before the laser fires) and then, right when the laser hits your shield, hit the A button to redirect the beam back towards the enemy. there is some level of danger here, because if you press A too early the beam may hit you, but most of the time if you fail to perform a perfect parry the beam will still just bounce off your shield and not do any damage to you. there are plenty of stationary guardians on the map you can use to practice this skill until the timing is ingrained into you, and i would highly recommend practicing it as it's super useful late-game.

as a final note, remember that botw is a game designed for versatility. it seems like you're doing everything very by-the-book--fighting whenever the game tells you to fight, regardless of whether you really WANT to fight. and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's also by no means the only way to get through the game. if you find yourself struggling with melee combat, there's nothing stopping you from buying a bunch of bomb arrows and just firing them off at enemies from afar, or even just eating a shit ton of stealth food and sneaking around them. certain combat scenarios are going to be unavoidable, but botw is a game that prioritizes player innovation, meaning that very rarely is there going to only be one way out of a situation. if you're struggling with melee combat, try something else! try your bow, or a rune, or avoiding combat altogether, until you find something that sticks and makes the game fun for you. there's no wrong way to play!

#also worth noting--if you get scared by the quick weapon-switch mechanics mid battle you can literally just pause and open your inventory #to manually switch if your weapon breaks. you don't NEED to use the D-pad for anything except runes if you don't want to #asks

93 notes · View notes

wastelandhell · 5 months

Note

I absolutely love your character Val! I'm a newer follower so I don't know much about him, but I love whenever you draw him. could you tell me more about his story? or how he ended up with Danse or even what their dynamic with each other is?

Ah thank you <3 I used to post more "lore" stuff on here and theres a bunch if you go way back in his tag, but in the last year I've just been kind of posting a lot of out-of-context and au stuff with no connection.

Him and Danse are both very opinionated men, and those opinions rarely align. They spend about as much time arguing as they do getting along, their relationship through most of the game is equal parts mutual pining and divorced.

They are finally able to acknowledge their feelings for each other shortly before "The Nuclear Option", but mutually split afterwards while Danse tries to find himself and Val focuses on establishing a stable home for Shaun. They reconnect about a year later when the commonwealth is in less of a state of crisis, and are finally able to pursue their relationship.

You know what, I haven't posted anything about him in a while, who's ready for a

This is not going to be very edited or formatted because I am a clown so. Sorry in advance.

A brief overview?

His "real" name is Vasili Gavriilovich Andonov but he goes by Valerie Anderson wherever he can, and does his best to hide his russian ancestry. He prefers people call him Val, though most of the brotherhood soldiers refer to him as Andonov. He hates people referring to him as Vasya or using his patronymic name, though thankfully there aren't a lot of people in the commonwealth who use russian naming conventions.

He's an autistic, bisexual, depressed alcoholic who indulges in stimulants a bit more than he should. He's surprisingly good at playing guitar, especially slide blues with his steel resonator guitar. He loves aircraft and built/painted scale models before the war. He's very lonely, even when around people who like him he never feels like he belongs. His birthday is Jan 12th, which is coincidentally a sort of holiday for the cryonics community.

He'll spend a lot of time looking inward and ruminating, and can identify a lot of his personal problems, but is not very good at "fixing" them. So he just kind of mopes around and wallows in self-loathing and self-pity. He's very gullible, and hates people messing with him. While he struggles a lot socially he is very intelligent, and is a genius with anything with an engine. Before the war he worked on vertibirds for the us military. His support of the brotherhood has nothing to do with their ideals; just that they keep him fed, paid, and let him work on aircraft. He's not particularly concerned with "saving" the commonwealth, he just wants to hurt the people who have hurt him.

Gameplay-wise, he's a melee/power armour build, with his highest stats INT and END. He can built so many weird and wonderful things that either explode or he can beat you to death with. Maybe both. His LCK and CHR are pretty miserable, nobody likes him and things are constantly going wrong. Playing a melee character in survival with MAIM is... a task.

Some sort of timeline?

He's the son of Russian immigrants who met in the US, His father Gavriil was an angry alcoholic who worked for the government and his mother Lidiya was a stay-at-home mom and a fervent christian. He had a sister, Kseniya, who was almost his opposite; a very polite and reserved child.

Valerie was small as a kid; being ginger, autistic, queer, and an immigrant made him a frequent target of his peers. Paired with his fathers physical and emotional abuse at home this made him a very angry and defensive person.

He spent most of his time away from home, preferring to spend his time in the woods around their home or just walking around town. He started smoking when he was 12 and drinking when he was 14, stealing from his father. As he got older he missed more and more school, spending his time committing petty crimes and getting into trouble.

While his father was more directly hostile his mother was equally overbearing in her own way. Val would identify himself as agnostic and having no belief in god, but for all of her preaching he still harbors a lot of “catholic guilt”, and fears that when he dies he will go to hell.

As he got older he quickly sprung from a small kid to a tall, muscular teenager. While he never learned to get along with his peers he learned to adapt an imposing, aggressive and masculine personality to defend himself.

When Val became too large for his father to easily push around he turned his anger towards Kseniya, whom Val was fiercely protective of. This only raised tensions at home, and Val and his father would get in frequent physical altercations. He contemplated leaving when he was 16 and could drive, but didn’t want to abandon his sister.

Eventually things came to a head when both of them had been drinking and Valerie came home late. Their fight got particularly nasty, and Val broke a bottle over his fathers head. He was immediately out cold, and Val was left shocked, covered in his fathers blood, believing he had just killed him. This would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Kseniya was home at the time, and ran in when she heard the yelling. Val tried to convince her to come with him, but she was shocked and terrified and refused to leave. Fearing retribution, and before he could really process what he had done, Val took any cash he could and the keys to his fathers car and fled.

He sold his fathers car and got something less traceable, which he lived out of for the next several years while he jumped around state to state. He picked up the occasional day job, but mostly supported himself by stealing cars and running drugs.

After he left is when he began going by Valerie Anderson. At first it was out of fear that he was wanted under his legal name, but he soon realized how much better people treated him if he had an “american” name.

When he was 20 he was eventually picked up for a minor offense, but given the political climate at the time he was offered the opportunity to join the military rather than face charges. As much as Val hated the government he was still very afraid of being connected to his fathers murder, and jumped at the chance to avoid any legal issues.

In his time in the military he discovered a love for aircraft, and pursued it doggedly. He got his GED, and went on to earn a masters in aerospace engineering. He never bothered with friends or relationships, he put all of his time into education and work. Lived and breathed for aircraft.

While Val enjoyed his job he continued to struggle with his mental health and substance abuse. He would frequently get into fights, eventually he got into a bar fight bad enough he nearly killed someone, getting the scars on his face at the same time.

While he was in trouble with the law he would end up working with his new attorney, Laura Walsh. She was elegant, graceful, composed, brilliant, persuasive, someone who always got what she wanted. And had terrible taste in men. Before the case was even over they started hooking up.

Their relationship was strictly friends-with-benefits, neither of them really cared for the other as a person and it was just sex. Over time, despite their best efforts, they came to see past the carefully crafted personas that they both presented to the world and fell in love with the people behind them.

He was 29 when they met, and they married less than 3 years later. They were moved to Boston for Val’s work, and it seemed like they would be staying for a while so they tried to establish themselves. Val tried to quit drinking around this time but struggled to face reality sober for the first time, and frequently slipped back.

Laura had always wanted children but Val was initially very against the idea. He still held a lot of unaddressed trauma from his own childhood and did not feel that he could ever be a good father.

Eventually Laura convinced him otherwise, and he agreed, again making an effort to clean himself up. When she fell pregnant his anxiety led to him having a breakdown at work, afterward he admitted himself to an inpatient rehab and spent 6 weeks there. From here until the start of the game was probably the best time of his life; sober, medicated and attending regular therapy sessions.

While Val was worried about his capacity to be a father, as soon as Shaun was born he lost that. That kid was his life, he did everything for him. He stayed on a break from work while Laura returned to practice, being a stay-at-home dad and throwing himself into domestic life. He even built a robot housekeeper!

His sister tracked him down somewhere around here and they began communicating through the post. She reveals that his father survived the attack, and was still alive, though she hadn’t spoken to him in years. They were planning to meet in person in the winter, though obviously that didn’t happen.

He was 33 when he went into the vault, and the main fo4 plot takes ~3 years to complete, but I think I’ve made this post long enough and I am too drunk and tired to keep typing. Safe to say hijinks ensue.

tl;dr hes an orange cringefail loser, and im hopelessly in love with him.

#asks #val #if you actually read all of that thank you. and im sorry.#id love to say english isnt my first language but it is. im just terrible at writing.#fallout

80 notes · View notes

bloodyshadow1 · 2 months

Text

do we know what subclass of artificer Gorgug is? I thought he was a battlesmith since I though Cloaca was his steel defender, apparently it is just a humonculus one of the possible infusions artificers get. I was disappointed because other than the steel defender, it doesn't seem like the class would give him anything that barbarians wouldn't. Since he doesn't have a steel defender I assume he's not a battlesmith. so what could his subclass be?

I'm not super familiar with artificer as I am with other classes, and he doesn't really give a lot of clues because whenever he does artificer stuff he's more of a generic tinkerer. I think that would cut out Alchemist, I'm assuming since he doesn't really deal with chemicals in the game including roleplaying sessions. So artillerist or Armorer are the most likely.

I could defintely see him being an armorer if he wants to completely get rid of being a barbarian, seeing how Zac took a level of barbarian away to boost artificer last level up, he could be doing that. Not to mention Porter is being a dick to him making it harder for him to do barbarian stuff with how down time works this season.

being an armorer will let gorgug stay a melee combatant and protect his friends, which the bad kids probably need more than an artillerist who would be more dps which the bad kids do pretty good already. It also just seems to fit Gorgug's style more than artillerist.

I don't know, I'd like the opinions of people who are more knowledgable about the artificer class than me

#fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #gorgug thistlespring

38 notes · View notes

cerosin-bis · 5 months

Note

Hello again and don't worry about the former question :) and I'm sorry to annoy again😭 but I can't help it.. KruegerNikto gives me something to think about. Can you give us Headcannons especially about their relationship? Like, are they jealous(u mentioned that Krueger will 100% cheat but is also kinda possessive), do they beat each other bloody when they have a disagreement, are there things that they hate about each other, and what I am the most interested about: how does Krueger manage to calm Nikto during a psychotic episode??

I feel so annoying, I'm so sorry!!

Hi! and you're not annoying!! You're ALL being super lovely in your asks, which makes my heart full - I'm just slow, I'm sorry 🥲 But I am more than happy to be asked for more Krueger/Nikto!! So it is my pleasure to answer your questions. Sorry this got long, when given the opportunity to talk about them it just flows out from my fingertips. CW for unhealthy dynamics.

Both of them are jealous, in a territorial way, but particularly Nikto. @modernghostfare summarised it well here. Nikto is direct about it, while Krueger is underhanded. Krueger is used to having a hold on people/people coming back to him, while Nikto is insecure (in his Nikto way). For Krueger it's about asserting control and for Nikto it's more about asserting possession.

They do fight sometimes. It can be nasty. It's usually a game for Krueger since he has the upper hand in melee combat, but if Nikto is mad *mad* and actually wants to hurt him, Krueger has to actively retaliate and it can escalate quickly to the point they break bones and/or need to be physically separated.

They don't hate anything about one another, really. Nikto just hates the fact that he trusts Krueger. and that he cannot read his mind.

Krueger has 2 ways to ground Nikto during a psychotic episode (*disclaimer: this is NOT how it works in real life. this is just my fictionalised "version" of nikto's condition and kn's dynamic) :

1) if it's a violent outburst Krueger immobilises him. Nikto can be extremely violent but if he's not entirely there, then Krueger can and will overpower him quite easily and keep his face on the floor for as long as necessary. It's foolproof and works everytime in this specific case.

2) if it's "just" hardcore dissociation he has ways to talk him through it. Asking him questions if he feels like Nikto is almost there. Provoking him (making his brain stop and recalculate, if you will), or reassuring him. Nikto's psychotic outbursts are often immediately followed by distress/anguish, in which case Krueger will stand by him. Cushion the coming down phase with silence, a shared cigarette and a hand stroking his hair.

#kruegernikto #headcanons #ask #I LOVED answering this. even tho I'm shy about it.. ;_;#2-4 weeks delay answering asks currently... i'm super sorry

58 notes · View notes

utilitycaster · 5 months

Note

What would you say are the CR cast's individual weaknesses? I'm always trying to improve for my own games and also curious to see if I can spot them in the episodes.

Hi anon,

This is super subjective, heavily biased towards my own personal likes and dislikes, etc, so I don't think you should per se use this as your own metric, and also a lot of these are not mechanical but more broadly about structure or acting.

Travis: bias immediately begins here; I think he's one of the strongest actors and one of the strongest people mechanically at the table. He also really knows what he wants and likes to do, which, spoilers, is essentially my biggest criticism of almost anyone else; and I think as part of that he addressed what would have been my biggest criticism in the past (namely, a hesitancy towards emotional roleplay which was present in C1 and was very much part of what he proceeded to push his boundaries on with Fjord and in some ways even more so with Chetney). Anyway I think my current main critique is that I would like to see him play a character who really isn't good with melee/is a full caster and I think he's been more hesitant on that, but also, it's valid to have a strong preference for one type of build so like. he can keep doing what he's doing and I will not be mad.

Marisha: I've talked about this before but I think she really needs to do more involved backstory planning that dives into motivations more, or, failing that, simply have very goal-oriented characters. I think that even when there's been vagueness in the backstories of her other characters (basically everyone but Keyleth) their motivations were enough to carry them through, but this has been a campaign-long struggle for Laudna. I will also admit that I find her acting choices as Laudna specifically to be rather overwrought in a way that doesn't particularly, work for me but I have a really strong personal bias towards naturalistic styles. She's also capable of much subtler work, and both Bee and Patia I think showed that off.

Sam: Kind of a weird in-between situation in comparison to the above. I think Sam knows his sweet spot and capacity for humor and so he rarely goes as dark as say, Oscar Grimm, but he is absolutely killing it already over there. In general I think Sam needs to be more willing to leave his comfort zone and push himself more because he can play it a bit safe. I think he does have a sharp learning curve re: complex mechanics (this is why early FCG was rough) exacerbated by the fact that I think he really tends to assume what he can do is way more limited than it is, and I suspect the much simpler Candela system is working to his favor, but like, he does eventually get there and, should we get a campaign 4, I'm going to tape "BE PATIENT WITH SAM, HE ALWAYS GETS THERE" on my laptop to remind me.

Ashley: Bit like Sam actually! I think she can and should go harder on mechanics (and for the most part has been; I think she underestimates herself a lot), and I also think she needs to make wilder choices. Fearne has been a delight in this regard but I want to echo the cast at one of the recent convention Q&As: please push the red button more, please go absolute as hard as you want. Will say her acting is maybe my favorite in the cast.

Laura: ABSOLUTELY NEEDS TO PUSH MORE BIG RED BUTTONS. Like...man. I feel this mindset; I don't really play video games other than stupid phone games but I'm That Person who's like "I only have 100 erasers in Two Dots, I must ration them". But I think she's doing a fantastic job with Imogen and my one criticism would truly be Go Bigger And Weirder And Harder. This is why I mentioned her; she was willing to take such massive risks as Arlo, and I think part of that was because it was a short campaign and she didn't feel that need to hold back but like, please, press buttons and take more risks. Her RP is always stellar though. Like, truly, I think Laura, Ashley, and Travis often appeal to my personal taste in acting choices and themes the most, and I just want Laura and Ashley to make similarly wild choices to Travis sometimes.

Liam: This is 100% purely a very me thing; I find he acts like a stage actor (which he is!) when there is a camera like 10 feet from his face and it can at times be a bit much for me, a person who is annoying re: subtlety. When he hits, he fucking hits though. Vax sometimes got a little overwrought for me but when he went quieter it was top notch; Caleb was fantastic because I think he counteracted this tendency; and there's been a couple moments with Orym I haven't loved but so many that I have. Mechanically he is great and while I'm a noted Rogue Disliker, Wizard/Fighter/Cleric are all flawless and much as I'd like to see him play other classes he is valid for his core four choice.

Taliesin: Here is the thing. I think whereas Laura takes a somewhat hesitant, afraid to let her character die stance, Taliesin does in fact have sort of a parallel issue of taking huge risks and then being very pikachu face when his character does die. Big swing of the pendulum in the other direction. However, Taliesin tends to hit on themes I find fascinating, consistently, and has a truly impressive breadth of mechanical skill. Even when I don't like his characters (only happened once) I absolutely respect what he's doing, and perhaps most importantly, he truly does not care what I or others in the fandom think, which makes me respect him more. Like, you know what? Molly isn't for me, and that's valid! Anyway. I hesitate to suggest more caution bc episodes 3x77-78 were so good and I loved all the wild shit Percy got up to (I also loved Caduceus but he was a much more laid-back character by design) but I do think that lack of caution is his weakness.

Matt: Judging more on the basis of being a DM than a player here just for sheer quantity but I think that his two greatest weaknesses are first, communicating highly specific risks (the main ones being the Iron Shepherds and the Otohan fight; you can't do that in pitched combat my man); and for lack of a better way to put it, I do still think he needed more firmness in the character creation stage of c3 and then looser reins during the campaign itself. I've been thinking about this a lot because I think that when I have frustrations with Aabria's style it's weirdly sort of...needs slightly looser reins but in a totally different way, and like, when Matt needs to loosen up, RP moments fall by the wayside and plot is fine, whereas when Aabria needs to loosen up, RP is still stellar but plot suffers.

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag #cr spoilers #candela spoilers

59 notes · View notes

onlyancunin · 18 days

Text

Baldur's Gate 3 for dummies

I just read the reaction to my post about ascended/non-ascended Astarion, which goes as follows:

this makes me 1. want the game even more 2. want to write about this… manipulative vile man canonically being manipulative and vile and slowly transforming into this monster (i don’t know any lore of his, his back story, nor anything about the game. only what this tag shows me. but one thing for sure is that people are arguing about his ‘ascended form’) (i lost my train of thought el oh el) — @tiyoin

And I thought of maybe compiling something of a BG3 for dummies sort of post. Because believe me, it is not an easy game to just jump in and hope for the best.

Starting from my own perspective, as a person who currently has 600+ h of gameplay - this is my story:

I bought the game for Astarion after spoiling to myself most of his storyline. I was pretty hesitant as I don't really consider myself to be smart enough to play these kinds of game, but decided to give it a shot nonetheless. By "these games" I mean turn-based strategic combat set in DnD rules - it's just not my forte, as people with 8 out of 20 Intelligence points tend to say.

So it was a struggle in the beginning. My friend advised me to look into general DnD combat rules and this is what I learned:

High ground is always good, unless you're a melee (barbarian/fighter/melee-focused paladin), then just throw whatever you can or get down to their level and hit them repeatedly with your best weapon

Good classes for starting are fighter, barbarian, rogue (I came to BG from Dragon Age, where I usually played as rogue). Monk is the most karate-ish bananas one.

My personal fav class to play as as a Certified Dumbassᵀᴹ is warlock (Eldritch Blast can get you through the game all the way, don't ask me how I know ).

Race matters only sometimes, so pick the one you like (as a nocturnal creature myself, I usually go for drow). Tiefling and drows get the more racist treatment, with drow getting some perks here and there.

You can always respec later, so don't panic.

You can play the way you want, bu the game is built to give you unique and/or funny experience even when your dice rolls are low. Do what you're comfortable with, but don't strive for "winning". I'd argue that while there are some morally good or bad choices, there's no winning or losing the game.

And all in all remember who you're doing this for:

If anyone has any insight, tips, tricks, advice, feel free to add!

P.S. The game has no right to be this funny in the most unexpected of ways, just FYI.

#maybe it helps someone maybe it doesnt #i just wish I knew these before I got myself into the mess of my first run lol #just have fun #it's there to be had I promise #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #astarion #baldurs gate astarion #astarion ancunin #bg3 astarion #baldurs gate #dnd #dungeons and dragons

35 notes · View notes

kerubimcrepin · 23 days

Text

Liveblog - Dofus, livre 1 : Julith [PART 11]

As I've mentioned, Kerubim and Julith have Beef.

As far as she is concerned, whether he was behind her framing (he wasn't) he is one of the people to blame. He defeated her that fateful day, and then she never saw her son again.

I've already went into detail, on the way "killing" her has affected him, (A mixture of horror and duty. Killing a mother and making a child an orphan for the sake of a city. Being grateful for her dying because it made him a father instead. Feeling awful for that thought.) but it is interesting, how he reacted to her turning out to be alive, when he killed her with his own hands.

Seething. Perhaps even coping.

This is chichala, which we had seen. I suppose he uses it to buff himself up before the boss fight. Drinking alcohol before a fight is very much RPG logic.

Sadly, there are no interesting buffs to it in-game:

I think a lot about the way Kerubim, Joris, and Atcham would be characterized in video game logic, by the way. I still have no working theory of how the hell their fighting styles would synergize. Would Joris be their buffer/debuffer? Their glass canon? Both? And do any of them take ranged weapons on missions...?

They probably do. It'd be kinda dumb not to. Personally, I like to imagine that Atcham would be the one using those, most of the time. He has that "skyrim stealth archer" vibe to him. (Though they're all melee users, through and through.)

Despite how smug he is at a couple of moments, he really was struggling during this fight.

My honest reaction whenever Kerubim does this fucking face is just:

youtube

This is very much a "deeply mentally ill adoptive father (who inadvertently ruined his child's life by adopting them to atone for his sins + because he was abused as a child) fighting through an army for his child before dying in their arms and saying they're the only good thing he ever had" look for him.

Another reason that one has to support both women's rights and wrongs when talking about Julith, is that, like.,.. what was she playing at, here? There are two possibilities:

That she would destroy whoever has the dragon's soul and set it free, giving her an advantage.

That Kerubim would shield that person.

Either one is good. :)

Either way she was perfectly willing to risk/attempt blowing up a random, innocent person, who was hiding from her.

My personal headcanon is that while Julith is physically stronger than Kerubim, she lost ten years prior because she couldn't stop thinking about The Baby. Where were they taking Joris? Did Bakara leave with him? Is Joris alright? Didn't Jahash give him to this cat man, who was now trying to kill her? What the fuck is going on, who did this, why, why, why?

I imagine seeing him lose for the exact same reason brings her great pleasure.

the nonbinary slay here was insane

Guys I think this might be bad for Joris's long term mental stability.

On a more serious note, I think there should be more content about Joris fucking hating Julith. During the movie? There's too much going on to work out what he feels.

But after? He has all the time in the world to hate her for everything she did.

I do think that he probably grew up and found whoever framed her to take revenge on/to get justice. But hating her, and wanting to clear her name of the crimes she DIDN'T commit so she could have some peace in death, so that people would stop smearing her name, — are two things that can coexist.

Like to slap his bald scaly head, reblog to slap his bald scaly head.

Kerubim never changed his stupid ass baka "George George the Farmer Farmer" name.

Though we've been knew.

BAD. I DON'T LIKE THIS.

AND she recognizes him by the blue eyes. AND, this implies that, for the entirety of the Dofus show, — and the entirety of Wakfu as well, since he, once again, has yellow eyes there, — he had dragon eyes.

Imagine being Simone, waking up at 3am, realizing because you forgot something in Joris and Kerubim's bedroom, sneaking in, and seeing this.

It also raises some questions about adult Joris, because we know he no longer has Grougalorasalar in him. The easiest explanation is that he spent so much time with the dragon, that after their final separation, his eyes couldn't change anymore.

After all, — the changes the dragon made to his height/skin/hair are permanent. It would make sense that, with time, even his eyes would be permanently altered.

I don't think it's a sad thing, by the way. Imagine going your whole life with beautiful brown eyes that look a bit like your adoptive father's. Then imagine suddenly having blue eyes (scary) and that they're your Dead Father's Who You Never Met but whom everyone misses. Like which pair of eyes would you choose? Because I think there IS a right answer to this riddle.

I think Julith has convinced herself that whoever took her and Jahash out wouldn't want loose ends, and that Joris was taken out as well, or something. Maybe that's why he wasn't really on her mind.

Mind you, this is a tinfoil hat headcanon.

This is so beautiful, to me... She was so emotionally stricken by seeing him again as his mother, that his father, who was both fatally wounded and stricken by seeing her perform deeply painful dark rituals on his son after traumatizing him, could land one last hit on her to save said son.

Julith has been a mother for a grand total of a few days to a month, while Kerubim has been for 10 years. Of course, her first concern is getting surprised it's him, and not that she hurt him. Because she couldn't even dream that she'd ever see him again.

There's a tragedy in that. She never even had a chance to learn how to be his mother, or who he is as a person, — she was the mother of an infant. Her love for him is far more theoretical than Kerubim's.

It's a love for Joris not as a person, but as a lost opportunity.

So she has no regrets about hurting him, — and she will hurt him as many times as it takes, if that's what it takes to get back her family.

#ro liveblogs dofus #dofus #wakfu #krosmoz #dofusmovie #Youtube

34 notes · View notes

vvh0adie · 11 months

Text

period pooh

pairing: jungkook x reader | type: oneshot | words: 5.6K | rating: 18+ / M

After a long week of work, your week can only get better with a pregnancy scare. You really don't need this especially when you already take care of your biggest baby, Jungkook. And he seems to be taking this the hardest. Either way you two will get through this together.

masterlist | inbox

✧༺♡༻✧

“Baby, I’m home,” you call out, kicking your shoes off and tossing your keys into the bowl.

After hanging your satchel and coat on the rack, you travel down the corridor to find the kitchen empty as well as the barren living room.

“Where is he?” you whine; your brows knit, and your bottom lip juts out. His car was in the parking garage. Did one of the boys pick him up? He'd call if he went out.

You wash your hands in the kitchen, letting the warm water run through your fingers. Chills ripple through you and the tension releases from your temples. It feels good to be in the warmth of your home, no longer freezing to death.

The lab was hectic today, and you've been feeling sluggish since the afternoon. Your feet hurt from standing and running around for long hours, scrambling to send off evidence as you and your team just finished the last DNA analysis needed for an upcoming trial.

You’ve seen a lot of bodily fluids today and don't want to see any more for the next week. You just want to stay home and eat. You ate breakfast and lunch today and had a snack in between, but you’re still hungry. You usually wait till dinner, but suddenly have the urge to stuff your face.

You dig through the pantry, finding some potato chips to snack out of the bag before retrieving a bowl. You lean on the island counter, looking around your apartment. It’s a little too quiet.

Grabbing your bowl, you scurry to your bedroom. Your paradise.

You duck in to see the bed in disarray, but those are the only signs of life. You hate when he doesn’t make the bed -his excuse being that you’ll get back in it anyway- but it brings you a little comfort to know that he’s here. Most of the time, he’s traveling for photoshoots, collabs, or on tour.

At the end of the hallway, you slowly open the office door and clicks of a joystick sound from the game chair surrounded by a halo.

“Kookie, I’m home.” He doesn’t respond, but you figure it’s his headphones. You step into the office, coming behind him. He’s playing Resident Evil.

While others may find your stalking creepy, this is a natural occurrence for you and Jungkook. You literally hover over each other like guardian angels, silently immersed in the moment. You’re always with one another, even if you perceive yourself alone.

You watch as he melees a horde of zombies down like a simple farmer scything away at tall grass. Even when the cutscene ends for the boss fight, he serenely plays while his fingers move vigorously. He seems enthralled and relaxed, so you choose not to disturb him.

As you turn to leave, a kaleidoscope of light catches your eye. There sits your buttercup yellow set up on the adjacent wall. The BT21 gang run across the screen as they parkour through the city.

You smile, remembering when Jungkook surprised you with your custom PC next to his. For a month, you spent every night beside him till work, unfortunately, whisked you two away. You could surprise him with your presence, even play for a bit, but you’re not feeling too hot. You literally feel cold.

You swiftly leave, gently closing the door. Back in the kitchen, you finish your snack before rinsing the bowl and plucking some grapes. Then, you go into the pantry one last time to get some cookies.

Pushing the last one in your mouth, you dust your hands together, releasing a sigh as your chubby cheeks chew.

Feeling satisfied, you walk to your bedroom. Picking up your phone, you see that it’s 10:00 pm. Considering all the work you accomplished today, you stayed an hour over which isn't too bad.

Heading to the bathroom, you begin to strip. Bending to remove your panties, you instantly feel your core contract, sending a shock to your system. “Ooh~ Shit.” You shoot back up, shaking your foot to get your underwear off. You stand, anticipating another throng of pain, but it never comes. “Okay, weird,” you murmur, staring into the mirror, brows raised and lips pouty.

Then you notice how bloated your stomach is. It could be from the food. You typically don’t snack a lot in between meals, but now you feel bad for eating because you know you didn’t have an appetite.

Bending down to retrieve your underwear, you throw them into the hamper before turning on the hot water. When you step into the shower, your whole body shivers, your muscles relaxing. If Jungkook knew you were showering this hot, he’d nag you nonstop. Truthfully, you wish it was hotter. It feels lukewarm, even though the whole bathroom is covered in steam.

The first time Jungkook met you, he confessed that he likes a little masochism with his partners, but apparently, he meant bedroom-wise and not just in general. Though it seems he was able to look past these scalding hot showers and boiling baths to make you his fiancée.

Closing your eyes, you clean yourself of the cold, sterile lab and any perceived germs you might have picked up. Even when you only go to one place and never sit down, you feel like you have to bathe just because of the air.

Once you’re done, you moisturize, put on your -Jungkook’s- oversized shirt, and crawl into bed. Sticking your hand under the pillow, you pull out your big bonnet, slipping it on before flopping onto the cool pillow. And just like that, you’re asleep.

✧༺♡༻✧

“Ugh, why was that so easy? This is on Hard?” Jungkook clicks on the menu, checking his game mode to see that he’s right. A deep and heavy sigh resounds throughout the soundproofed room.

The first hour was fun, but now the gameplay feels monotonous. He simply turns the game off, shutting down the computer before turning in his chair to look at your setup.

He misses you so much. He even updated your computer today, hoping he could make your weekend better with some new games.

Pulling his phone from his hoodie, he sees you haven’t texted or called once. He knows you’ve been really busy, but he just wants a moment of your time, a cuddle… Maybe even some cozy love-making.

After shutting your area down, Jungkook comes to the kitchen. His brows immediately raise at the lip gloss stained glass and crumbs on the counter. He stands for a bit, analyzing the scene. Either you’re home or there’s a deranged fan in the house. And oddly enough he wants to say the latter for the simple fact that you're a clean freak.

“____,” he calls, walking down the hallway again. Opening your bedroom door, he sees that you’re knocked out. He sits down on the bed, gazing upon your beautiful face. “When did you get home, Baby?”

He moves part of the bonnet from over your face, getting a better look at your puckered lips and slightly tensed brows. You look like an angry baby all curled up in the fetal position.

But as cute as you are, his own features can't help but harden with worry. Are you okay? Are you sick?

He didn’t see any dishes indicating that you ate a proper meal. He has the mind to wake you and ask just so you can surrender to his care, but he’d hate to see you grumpy, especially with him.

So he does the next best thing by tucking you in real good and placing a kiss on your temple. Then he leaves to take a shower.

When he returns to check on you, you’re still precious as ever. But this time, his will to leave seems nonexistent. He just stands, watching your sweet face scrunch up as you move a hand under your cheek like the daintiest princess.

He misses your touch madly. He wants -needs- you close.

Worse case, is that you kick him -literally in your sleep- out of the room. But he’s willing to take that chance if it means getting to feel the warmth of your body.

So giving into his desires, he slides into bed. After briefly checking the time, he lies down, studying your precious face. It seems odd for you to be asleep this early as you’re somewhat of a night owl, even with an intense job like yours.

He’ll definitely make sure to ask if everything was good at work. For the past few days you've been quite distant. Mute even. You wake up, go to work, come home, eat, and go to sleep without any in between time for him.

Truthfully, there's a sense of neglect stirring within him which he can only articulate as some unresolved insecurity he has because it’s definitely not you.

Chances are you don't mean to do it on purpose; you've been extremely busy. You do something life changing and he's so proud of you. If missing you means you bring someone else comfort then he’s okay with it. He just wants to be by your side while you do it. How could he not when you've already been doing the same for him?

Reaching out, he caresses your cheek. And as he cozies up to you, the scent of vanilla and coconut swirls in the space between you. If he could only follow one path in life, it would be to simply love you without any obstacles.

You suddenly roll into his chest as if urged by the powers that be to fulfill his weeklong -eternal- wishes.

Pulling you into his chest, he rubs your thigh as he drifts off.

✧༺♡༻✧

Birds chirp and sunlight beams in your face as you wake up. With heavy eyes and a swollen face, you take your phone from the nightstand. It's 7:00 am.

A sudden shift from behind, turns you around to gaze upon the puffy face of your adorable boyfriend. Caressing his cheek, you admire the jut of his pouty lips and soft slope of his big nose. How could you not love him? How could you not feel a burst of excitement looking at this beautiful man?

You even know his heart. A smile splays across your lips at the thought of what he's dreaming about. There's only innocence and wanderlust in that beautiful mind of his. Even when riddled by salacious thoughts, they’re always coveted by soft and gentle intensions.

And though you’d like to stay put, you’re forced to the bathroom. You feel fatigued and the fluorescent lights don't make your eye strain any better.

Looking into the mirror, your bonnet haphazardly sits on your head, most of your hair left unprotected. With a heavy sigh, you secure it back in place. You're surprised it wasn't up cooking breakfast for you and Kookie.

Closing your eyes, you pee. The steady stream almost lulls you back into tranquility but you manage to wash your hands, turn off the lights, and crawl back into bed still in the cover of your shielded eyes.

Snuggled back up to your boyfriend, your hand gliding over his broad chest and taut abs. You listen to his breathing, smiling at how deep of a sleeper he is.

Looking up, he has an arm thrown over his eyes, shielding the long blade of light snaking across his beautiful, golden complexion.

You two are very adamant about sleeping in total darkness. So you get back up and pull the edges of your black out curtains, vanquishing the remaining slivers of sunlight.

Scooting right back next to him, you lay on his chest as your leg throws over his waist. And you quickly fall back to sleep.

✧༺♡༻✧

Waking up, your hand stretches out to find the space beside you empty. You yawn and a shudder ripples through your body, urging you to immediately shuffle towards the kitchen.

You’re cold. You’ve endured the cold one too many times this week and for an extended amount of time you deem unbearable. You need warmth -specifically his.

As you enter, Jungkook’s hunched over the bar, raking his tatted hand through fluffy hair as he sits in his Calvin Kleins. He’s truly the only man you know who can make eating oatmeal look sexy.

Coming from behind, you wrap your arms around his waist, peppering kisses on his naked back. He’s smooth and soft against your lips. Every inch of his body is like a kiss that when you kiss him on the lips it feels as though you've transcended the very concept.

He hums, and you mimic back as your hands caress his sides and abs. Your lips peck up into the crook of his neck, nipping and sucking.

The glide of your tongue against his hot skin renders him motionless, stunning him and tilting back his head as a low moan escapes past his plump lips.

Satisfied, you release him, walking towards the stove to fix yourself a bowl before sitting next to him.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” he chuckles. It may not be early morning but he still can't believe you're so touchy after just waking up.

But it's good. It gives him reassurance that his recent thoughts don’t carried any weight. You haven’t forgotten about him, not that you ever did. He's just happy to have something more than a moment of time to spend with you. His beautiful fiancée.

He caresses your cheek before rubbing the crud from under your eyes.

“Don't look at me.” You smack his hand away with an oversized sleeve. “I got eye boogies.” Jungkook laughs.

“You look so beautiful, though,” he coos, leaning in to kiss you. It’s extra sweet from the taste of brown sugar. You melt into it. You need him and you're sure he feels the same way.

“Thank you, Pookie,” you say, give him a timid smile.

After cleaning his bowls, he comes back to sit, swiveling your chair to face him. Eating in this angle is too weird so naturally you freeze mid-bite to pick up the bowl. He watches with delight as your mouth hangs open as you try to move into a more comfortable position.

When you finally settle, he shakes his head, laughing. And you try hard not to, not wanting to begin your day with oatmeal coming out your nose in front of your future husband; mainly because he’d never let you live it down and you're sure he'd manage to sneak the event into his vows.

“I think I'm allowed to look at the woman feeling me up.” He raises a brow as you take a bite of oatmeal while shifting your gaze away from him. Your face heats up as you become antsy in your seat.

“Shut up.” You pout. Ugh! What power does he have over you? Honestly, Jungkook wouldn't be able to say with how hyper-fixated he is with you. And it would be like the two of you to become bewitched by the other.

“Anyway, how was work yesterday?”

“Chaotic like Satan’s asshole.”

“How do you know that?” He quirks a brow. “Is that who you peg when I’m gone?”

You stop mid-bite, staring up at his grinning face. You hold contact, eventually cracking as you giggle and shake your head. This can't be the same man that shows up in compilations titled “Bangtan’s Baby.”

“Don't tempt me, Jeon Jungkook.”

He gently squeezes your thigh. “Kiss.”

“You don't deserve one.”

His lip juts out. “Please.” You stare at his plush pout, admiring his wet inner lip and its pretty two-toned shade. And just above, his eyes reflect the light, sprinkling his deep browns with mini stars.

He’s so pretty. And he’s about to be yours forever in the coming months. Sometimes, you truly forget who's going to be lifting the veil. You’ve honestly considered making him walk with one out of fear that someone would see his face and incite an objection. You know you’d never recover from such heartache.

“____,” he hums, breaking you out of your daydream. A grin spreads across your lips as you lean in to kiss him again. It completely takes him by surprise but he gladly succumbs to your overwhelming prowess.

Cupping his cheeks, you slip your tongue into his mouth, swallowing his moan. He truly wants to know what you were thinking about and if he can satisfy you on this magnificent morning.

You finally release him with a wet smack, leaning in once more to lick his bottom lip. Then you get up circling the island, to wash your bowl. You grin at him aimlessly staring and licking his lips. He’s gone to Kookie Land.

After rinsing and placing the bowl on the rack, you retrieve cups to make juice.

“Baby?” he asks softly, prompting you to hum as you open the fridge. “Why didn't you say you were home?”

You immediately look towards him, almost missing the shelf to place the juice back. “I did. I was just too tired to repeat myself. Plus, I wanted some alone time.”

“Ouch.”

“Kookie~” You pout, worry contorting your face. You didn’t mean to sound so harsh.

“I know, Baby, I’m kidding.” He smiles, and you melt at his even cuter eye-smile. He’s your baby bun; all tattooed and pierced out.

“Y'know, I almost went to my own room.”

“What? Why?”

“‘Cause I sensed you were tired, but you looked sick, so I didn’t wanna leave you.”

You pout, fluttering your lashes like the sweetest cherub. “You were gonna get sick with me?”

He leans onto the counter, cupping his face. His fluffy bangs bounce with each nod and you instantly become a giggling mess, prancing over to him with open arms as he turns for you to wrap around his neck.

He hugs you tightly, burying his face into your shoulder as he takes a deep breath, and you rub his back, choosing to ignore the way his hands squeeze your ass. You're surprised that work kept you two from intimacy this long. You’ve never gone this long without sex since you began dating. Not even long distance could stop you when video calls are just a tap away.

“Are you sick, though?”

“Mmh~ No, not that I’m aware of.”

His eyes widen. “Did you work with something dangerous?”

“Everything I work with is dangerous, Boo Boo.”

“Well, you know what I mean; like dangerous dangerous.”

“Uh, no. This case was just dirt and blood.”

“Ugh, I don’t know how you do that stuff.”

“Easy, I just don't think about it. Everything is just a substance that needs analyzing. I don't even have to see the victim.”

“Good…” He rubs your sides. “I heard that it messes people up, and… I don't want you to go through that.”

“Well, you never have to worry ‘cause your existence makes me happy.” You squish his cheeks. “You're my eternal sunshine, Jeon Jungkook.” You lean in to kiss his pouty lips, grinning at the way his eyes sparkle in admiration. “Mmh~ mwah!” You giggle as he leans in, not wanting to release you.

Pulling away from him, you wander back near the pantry, grabbing the chips. Then you snack on a few cookies, afterward heading towards the fridge to eat some mixed fruit. The whole time Jungkook watches you, a bit perplexed because you two just had breakfast.

“Baby, you pregnant?”

You whip around in shock. “Boy, what? What makes you say that?”

“You’re eating… a lot.” You push the cookie into your mouth, side-eyeing his gaze. “I think your period was supposed to be this week,” he mumbles to himself, his brow heavy as he scratches his chin.

You almost want to get defensive and ask him how he knows, but that would be stupid because you always look out for each other healthwise, especially when it comes to sexual health.

“Mmh, yeah~”

He just stares. “It's the weekend, Baby.”

“Oh.”

“You check this morning?”

“No~” He chuckles at your minimal response. “But I don't feel anything.”

“This is not good, ____… At least not yet.” He gives you a tiny smile. You've always admired how he leaves the option open, even though you’re not big on the idea of parenthood either.

“Okay, but how? I used the Plan -oop- wait… never mind.”

“Baby~”

“I’m sorry, but that night was so~” You giggle, reminiscing about the transcendent love you two made after Jungkook came home from Japan. You really missed him, and apparently, he was dying without you, too, because even after sex, he wanted to stay nestled inside you.

He sighs, causing you to frown. “It’s your fault too, y’know.”

“Well, I can’t force pills down your throat. I can only force my di-”

“Aah~ I’m finna go get my phone! Bye~”

“Y’know I do it respectfully and consensually!”

He steals a nervous giggle from you as you quickly scurry off to look at your period tracker.

When you return, Jungkook’s darkened gaze is heavy; unwavering, as you try feigning ignorance to his antics by scrolling through your calendar.

“I'm late.” You bite your bottom lip, looking up at him with worry as he does the same.

“How long?”

“Just a week.”

“It could be stress? You worked really long this week.”

“Yeah, but I still need a test to be sure.”

Jungkook gets up, walking past you. You then feel a sting on your ass from him giving you a little slap before he heads to his room to get dressed. “Looks like we're going to the grocery store,” he calls out, seeming excited to go out.

✧༺♡༻✧

You hate going out. And you hate public places that are always full. You stick close to Jungkook as you enter the market, taking the basket he gives you. He smiles at the way you cling to him.

He’s a homebody too. But being in the public eye doesn’t give him the nerves as bad. He still wears a hat out and sometimes a mask or high-collared jacket to hide his face, though. But right now, he wants to have a normal outing with his beautiful fiancée.

You make your way towards the aisles closest to the pharmacy. As you pursue the shelves, you see condoms and immediately throw them in the basket.

“Wait a minute. You’re gonna put me on protection?” he scoffs. You simply look at your man. You don’t know where he thinks this is going but you've won either way.

“Boy, bye. You can hardly call this protection. If I really wanted to, I’d ask you to get on male birth control or have a vasectomy. ”

He stirs in silence for a bit. “Yeah, yeah… you right.”

“I know I am. That’s why you need me, Pookie.” Your smile is so bright that it’s contagious enough for him to do the same.

“Anyway, it’s just till I can get more Plan B. Then you can cum in me all you want.''

“____,” he gasps, looking around the empty aisle.

“What, you don't want the masses to know you have a breeding kink? Hm, Jungkook?” His ears turn bright red, causing you to giggle. You walk up to him, rubbing his chest as you look into his big, brown doe-eyes.

You lean into his ear. “It's okay, Baby, you already know I love it when you fill me up.”

His eyes wander your face. There's no way you're this cute and freaky. He knew you were crazy but in public? Being married is gonna be something else.

But to keep it a buck, you don't feel ready for a baby… Yet? Like you really don't know if you ever will be. You know that Jungkook is indifferent but he's heavily leaning towards not wanting any. He would be just as content with you, and you feel the same way. Plus, ain’t nobody havin’ kids in this economy. Period. You’d be a damn fool to even entertain the thought. Like now, but thankfully Jungkook interrupts.

“____, how ‘bout this one?” You look at the pink box in his hand. There’s a little circle with a baby-shaped silhouette inside. Your stomach instantly drops; reality finally sinking in that you could be pregnant. Is it normal to feel this way about something that so many people want?

You sigh, slowly nodding. “Yep, any should do-” Jungkook throws at least five boxes into his basket. “Uh~ Pooh Bear, we only need two.”

He scratches his head. “Eeh~ Better safe than sorry. Right?” You can hear the slight panic in his voice. Oh Lord, you're both freaking out. And if this really is stress you're causing more harm than good. There could be no baby after all this but will your period ever come back on?

“Plus, you're not the one paying anyway.”

Your mouth hangs. “Ooh~ Excuse me, then.” You turn your head, scratching behind your ear as you look surprised. Jungkook knows how to put you in your place, but you’re a brat for a reason.

You turn towards the open aisle and start walking. “Aight then, Mr. Black Card, since we finna play like that. I’m gonna get snacks.”

“We have snacks at home.”

“‘We have snacks at home’,” you mock as your pace speeds up. Jungkook is not afraid to chase you in this store. You swear he thinks it's an episode of ‘Run!’ His stamina highkey scares you. But can you really complain when he’s thrusting into you at max speed, stretching you along his cock for what seems like hours of you screaming his name?

“I'm eating for two now, so…”

“Don't say that.” You hear him whine as you turn the corner.

✧༺♡༻✧

You grab gummy worms, some animal crackers, butter pecan ice cream, a two-liter strawberry soda, and even some things for Jungkook.

As much as he complains about you buying more snacks, he could eat you out of house and home. And don’t even get you started on his snacking habits as he’s gaming. You’re not even sure if you can call eating a whole plate of wings a snack. All this tells you is that you and your fiancé eat enough to feed your standard nuclear family, so you feel like you’ve fulfilled your societal duties quite well.

Your phone suddenly buzzes.

Pookie🥺💖 Your basket better not be past the rim

You frown. Why is he trying to budget now? Like you know how much is on that card. He better stop playing with you.

Sleep Demon👹💦 suck my dick babygirl😏

Pookie Ain’t no fkn way… in the store too? I’m starting to think you like being watched🤨 … Actually, y’know what? Bet. Pick a time and date.

Sleep Demon bruh😦

Pookie I take strap like a good girl too😋 Thank you very much😌💅🏻✨ Unlike some brat I know😒 They never just know how to take good dick Least you can do, letting me get you pregnant and shit

Sleep Demon it takes two idiots to make another🤨

Pookie Noooo😭 Screamin’💀 No way you just called our unverified baby an idiot Like I know we are, but damn😫

Sleep Demon you just called it unverify like it's some kind of alien

Pookie Well, it kinda is😬

Sleep Demon oop😦 it's the way we callin’ it ‘it’🙃

You grin so hard because you know Jungkook is doing the same.

Pookie We don’t deserve kids😔

Sleep Demon FTK😈 well, I'm done so👀

Pookie I’m at self-checkout Run stink🏃🏽‍♀️💨

When you meet back up, you check his basket, seeing that he picked up your period essentials: pads, Ibuprofen, period panties, two 52oz smoothies, and batteries…. He’s definitely a keeper.

Jungkook’s seriously the best thing that’s ever happened to you. You wrap around his arm, nuzzling against him as you take in his scent.

You hate your period is about to begin because you’re definitely in the mood to fuck him. And knowing Jungkook, he’d take you up on that offer. He’s a freak, and you’re a self-aware hypocrite, so it works out nicely.

✧༺♡༻✧

The car ride home is somewhat silent, save for the light hum of singing from the radio. As your boyfriend drives, you intertwine your hand with his after noticing the way his leg bounces. You look at him, but your smile falters a bit, watching as he messes with his lip ring. He’s nervous.

“Baby, it's gonna be okay. I think it's stress like you said. Plus, I've gained a bit of weight from eating out.” You squeeze his hand. “And y’know if it is, we can just go to the clinic. We’re not fated into this.”

He sighs, ceasing to bounce as he releases his lip. “You’re right.” He squeezes your hand before kissing it.

✧༺♡༻✧

Once home, you immediately head to pee with Jungkook not too far behind. After peeing on the second stick, you wipe it off and set it on the counter just a few inches from your boyfriend.

He’s looking at the floor, spaced out but you can see the way he’s biting his lip, twirling his rings, and kicking his legs. You've never seen him this nervous; not even during a performance.

“How ‘bout you pee a third time for me, huh?” You slightly jump at how he abruptly breaks the silence, now staring at your big, wide eyes till your face falls neutral. Is he serious?

“I never thought I’d hear a man I'm romantically involved with ask me something like that.”

“You had no problem the first time I made you squirt.” Your eyes widen. “And that's before you found out it wasn’t pee.”

You gasp. “Hey-” He rushes out the room, clearly not listening to you. You know he’s nervous but shouldn’t you be even more so considering that you’d be the one carrying it. And if Jungkook tends to be this overbearing when it’s just you, you can only imagine he’d be worse than your mothers.

Jungkook comes back into the bathroom with a water bottle, twisting the lid with a pop.

“Aren't you supposed to be a scientist? Like you should know pee from sq-”

“Wait. A. Damn. Minute.” Your mouth drops. “You can’t just talk to me any kind of way,” you giggle. “I’mma damn forensic technician, bruh; not no damn obgyn.”

He just looks at you as if saying ‘I don't know the difference and don't really care.’

You two begin to laugh.

“Lord have mercy.” You beckon him over. “I’ll take the third one -damn.”

“Thank you.”

“You better be.”

“Maybe I’ll reward you.”

You look at him, shaking your head and scoffing. Who is this man?

“Now, open.” You drink half the bottle as he doesn’t let up until he’s satisfied. He looks at you with a darkened gaze the entire time. You like it when he's stern with you.

Jungkook releases and you gasp a bit. Then he finds his place back on the counter and you two sit, waiting.

The wait feels like purgatory. But after listening to Jungkook hum obscure melodies, you work up a steady flow to pee on the third pregnancy test.

When you ask him to check the previous two, you watch his face contort a bit before he tells you they’re negative. He seems surprised.

You finish up and prepare the test, taking it with you into the bedroom. Jungkook plops down beside you, leaning in to look.

“What if this comes back positive?”

“Then it's a false positive.”

“But what if-”

You push him, causing him to fall back onto the fluffy comforter.

You hope it's negative.

✧༺♡༻✧

After a while it turns and you let out a sigh of relief, falling back next to him.

“See there, goofy.” You raise your arm as you two stare up at the stick.

“Gimme that.” You roll your eyes, handing it over. “Ugh, thank god almighty!”

You laugh. “I swear you’re just an old church lady. You want to get up and shout now?”

“Don't tempt me. I’ll outdo every single one of them broads.” You chuckle at him.

He was so different when you first met him. This can only be your doing, but then again you wouldn't be surprised if the seed was first planted during American Hustle.

Silence quickly falls as you continue to stare at the stick.

“Now what?”

“We wait for my period to come on.”

“What does that look like?”

“What are you getting at, Jungkook?”

“Just maybe we can get a round in -or two- before.”

“Have mercy, I’ve never seen someone so horny.”

“Hey, it was a suggestion.”

“That you want to be taken seriously.”

“Well, I’ll be careful, use the condom, and a towel just in case.”

“Mmh… No.”

“Alright.”

It's not that you don't want to but you're a little scared, especially after today.

You look over at him. He’s staring at the ceiling, and doing so beautifully: from the slope of his nose, pout of his lips and curl of his lashes. Even the way his hair softly frames his face before pooling onto the bed. He’s like the rarest storybook that you’ve ever had the pleasure of unfolding.

You've missed him so much and yet you never left.

“Jungkook?”

“Mmh?”

“You bought batteries?”

“Yep.” He shakes his head still looking up as his thumbs twiddle. When you look at him, he finally stares back smiling.

There's something else behind your eyes. Something sweet. But also needy.

He immediately sits up, his eyes widening.

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, sit tight.” He almost stumbles but quickly sprints out the door. You giggle, loving how excited he is.

You’ve had a really rough week and an even crazier day.

“I’ve been wanting to test it out. Y’know it's got like five sett-“

Jungkook freezes, staring at your sleeping body. Of course this would happen, but it's no big deal.

He just wants to be close to you and that doesn’t always involve the extreme.

masterlist | inbox

#btswritersclub #plym writes #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #jungkook fanfic #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #jungkook fanfiction #kflixnet #klabels #kvanity

131 notes · View notes

danwhobrowses · 1 month

Text

So I Finally Finished a Playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3

It's been months of playing over my holidays and the weekends, but I've finally completed my first playthrough of what was deemed Game of the Year for 2023.

As someone whose only D&D experiences come from the two movies (the bad one that traumatized me as a kid by killing Snails and the good one that deserves more love) and Critical Role, I didn't know much of what I was getting into, only my coworkers saying 'buy it, it's a masterpiece' unanimously when I inquired about it. Having no idea how to play or the lore, I was very much entering blind.

Continued down the Keep Reading

So, I'm sure we gotta get through the first set of questions so let's get to them.

What was your Tav? It took a long time to realise that 'Tav' meant your player character among fanpages, I can't tell you why it's Tav still, but I only pieced it together from Durge naming too. My Tav is Dec, short for December because that's when I started playing and I couldn't waste too much time on stream thinking up a clever name. He was a High Elf Guild Artisan, for Class I started as a Beast Master Ranger, ironic that Ranger is deemed one of the lesser classes among the community, I was adamant to not use archery at the start but by the end of it I was a Crossbow Expert. I went 9/3 with Rogue to get Assassin, but then respec'd my Ranger into a Gloomstalker, since I never really summoned the bear (probably should've learned from Sam's constant dissing of Trinket eh?) plus when I remembered Dread Ambusher it gave me 3 attacks on the first turn. He has combustible blood thanks to Araj and some tadpole powers after consuming them after the creche incident made him more open to trusting the Dream Visitor; Charm - which failed 90% of the time - Psionic Backlash, Favourable Beginnings and Luck of the Far Realms used mainly, I had Stage Fright and Force Tunnel but didn't use it, same for Cull the Weak. Likes to talk things through, especially with Persuasion/Charisma buffing invisible hats. Has the Duellist's Perogative Sword and the Swire's Sledboard Shield for Melee, and the AC bonus, plus the Armor of Agility giving him an evasive 24 AC with Advantage thanks to 20 DEX and the Cloak of Displacement.

You can't see his scar and tattoo too well from here but I had to show off his Black Furnace and Red dye on his armour it looks too good. Here's a better look of his face:

For his tattoo and scarring I like to think he got the tattoo after the burn, in some ways distracting it from the scarring.

Did you Save Scum? Don't Lie to Me! Yes and I'm not sorry about it. If you wanna invite me to a D&D table I'll follow the rules and how the dice lands but there's a lot more wiggle room there than in a game where there's finite dialogue options. I was also not going to sit there and let my companions turn against me just because the game fancied throwing continual Nat 1s or low rolls at me, nor would I let Omeluum die in the Iron Throne, or end up leaving the Mirror of Loss empty handed. I bought the game so if I wanna carve this experience this way I shall carve it this way, I get some people see the Morally Good path as boring for this kind of gaming but I like to be good, it feels good, and I want good things to happen for my allies, even if it means having to undo most of their religious indoctrination. But, it did take a while for me to start save scumming, really it was freeing Halsin that started it but it didn't become regular until Auntie Ethel. I only really did it for dialogue/lore expansion (or when there were two dialogue options I was between which I hoped would be interpreted how I expect it to) and for necessary buff rolls like the Mirror of Loss, but sometimes I did it to keep some key NPCs alive like Jaheira, who died at Moonrise the first time.

Who did you usually team up with? Kinda a harem squad since I had Lae'zel, Shadowheart and Karlach. I was very combat-oriented; Lae'zel adding support to Karlach's melee or Dec's ranged combat while Shadowheart made up for most of the magic with heals, summons and like 100 scrolls in her bag (Dec horded about 100 different arrows and poisons too, sometimes pays off). I respec'd her to Light Domain after the Nightsong stuff to fit her character and hair change - though I must admit I preferred the black hair - and gave her my Adamantine Splint Armour for defences plus the ring and Balduran's Helm for +5 healing each turn. Lae'zel was a Battle Master, clad in the Helldusk set, though I didn't use much of her Superiority dice moves; the enemies often made saves against it even with 18 strength (20 after the mirror of loss, and higher at endgame thanks to an Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength), I relied more on her brute force, plus reaction skills like Executioner and Sentinel, plus the Silver Sword of the Astral Plane. Karlach was a 9/3 Bear Heart Barbarian and Champion Fighter, I did respec her for the Feats but the Bone armour, Balduran's Greatsword and Brutal Jump also helped at times, plus the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength and the Amulet of Greater Health made her a high damage, near-200 Health-on-Rage machine (over 200 thanks to the +30 extra health at the final battle). I tended not to swap around a lot, I couldn't abandon my healer, loved Karlach's personality and I had sentiment for Lae'zel being the first person I encountered, she has the sad eyes too, but I did do some rare switching for personal quests. Initially I started with Astarion, but that's because of a misunderstanding of who Karlach was - more on that later - and it turned out that I wasn't doing much for stealth, I brought him for Cazador though, much like I brought Wyll for Ansur and Gale for the Book of Karsus. Later in Act 3 I played around with dyes and equipped everyone, out of fear that I may be sprung unprepared like with Orin - Halsin only had a torch - by all campmates joining the fight, it didn't happen but everyone at least looks stylish.

I go between whether I like Wyll's colours though, on one hand he looks like a Templar and the white would stand out in Avernus, other times he looks like a cosplayer XD Minsc and Jaheira needed no dyes the colours already suited well, but I do love the colours I chose for Astarion, Halsin and Karlach.

Who did you fuck? (romance) Probably would've been asked sooner but sadly Dec became an unintended bachelor, at least outside of the headcanon. He did share a night of passion with Lae'zel after freeing the Emerald Grove but it wasn't something he wanted to pursue further, our dynamic was more befitting of two soldiers, or at least a dynamic where we think we're the General and the other the Advisor. Had Shadowheart took 'later' for her drink offer as 'I want to see all the dialogues other characters have first' rather than a refusal there might have been a romance there, instead I feel we fell into a more sibling bond, she can be a bit too sassy at times in passing dialogue - I had hoped to see more development with her and Lae'zel eventually being friends. Wyll did his best to throw sad puppy eyes at me when I refused to dance with him but it just made things more awkward, Gale meanwhile probably was gonna make moves when teaching me the Weave but he was very hung up on Mystra for me to entertain it, I sat with him when he felt the mortal coil though. Astarion I think made a passing suggestion but nothing of substance, Halsin left it late after he got kidnapped by Orin - I didn't realise he had to physically join the party to be a part of the group until Act 3 - coming onto me right before I confronted the Brain which was quickly turned down. I believe Minsc and Jaheira are unable to be romanced atm, and I did not fuck the Emperor; it weirded me out that he just was there shirtless chilling next to my unconscious dream state. We killed Minthara, didn't know you could recruit or romance her in a Morally Good path. Which left Karlach, fuck did I want to romance Karlach, not for lack of trying either; but because when I met Wyll he was talking about killing her I immediately assumed 'oh Karlach must be that woman on the cover with him' (aka 'the bitch who could've been cool if she wasn't such a bitch' Mizora, who I also wouldn't have romanced given the option) and stuck a pin in it, I was also unaware that most Act 1 romance stuff would come to a head at the end of the Emerald Grove quest which I prioritized so I only encountered Karlach after I saved Halsin and the Grove, meaning I couldn't reach Dammon until Act 2. By then Karlach seemed to be locked out of romance, perhaps for another misunderstanding on my part too since I did upgrade her engine twice at Lost Light very swiftly, but it still was a knife to the heart after all that and the date at the circus that she called us 'just mates' to Fytz. All this and then they give us a better kissing patch ¬_¬

Yes so sad, anyway what about ~Astarion~? Astarion is popular, and I know why he's popular, and the scene of him killing Cazador was very well done...but Astarion for me though was just fine; I mean you guys see Karlach right? Part of the reason she stays my group was that I can't bear to part from her. A lot of the times my Morally Good options didn't align with Astarion's brand of pessimistic chaos, so he spent a lot of time in camp as I mispronounced his name until I heard it be properly said, which probably hampered his story a bit more, but we had a close enough friendship that he heeded my advice with the Ascension and the spawn, wish he reacted to me getting a painting of him since he can't see his reflection though, felt like something could've been done there. Jaheira was a fun personality too, angry old lady who says it like it is, kinda wish we had more to her quest, seeing her home and her interacting with her wards/children was interesting, Minsc was charming too in his simple way, would've been cool if he had more of a presence as well, like we could hear about Minsc and the Stone Lord in separate lights earlier in the game to build up to him. On that topic, I was surprised to find that there wasn't a companion for each role, I suppose there were constraints but Aylin and Zevlor both worked as Paladins, Alfira a Bard (though I don't think anyone would dare put her in the line of fire), I suppose there's little need for a Sorcerer when you had a Wizard or a Monk when you had a Fighter and Barbarian but it was strange, you get 2 Druids and your Ranger is built more like a Fighter or Barbarian (the latter I added to Minsc). I'd later learn that there was cut content for a halfling companion who was a werewolf, but I can see why that one was cut, with Chetney and all, but yeah not any halflings, Barcus could've been a companion even without the Artificer class, or a Dragonborn.

So how did your story go? Being the Morally Good Guy I was I went through most of the best options I could, but I also tried to avoid combat earlier on when I was struggling to work with it. I was friendly with the Goblin Camp for starters, since they thought I was with the Absolute and Dec is willing to put shit on his face to avoid conflict, it all went tits up after freeing Halsin and having to kill everyone but it may've had some benefit to how I could walk freely through Moonrise. Ironically it was the same with the Githyanki, friendly up until they wanted me to hand over the prism, though the Creche was a lost cause anyway, they're lucky I didn't ransack the place, could've gotten a lot of xp and loot there. I let Viconia live, so she can dwell on that burn Shadowheart gave her but oftentimes I was not so merciful, do wish I didn't kill that one Sharran with the letter of hating being there though, why'd you fight me girl? Same with the Bhaalist with the parents at Elfsong, and the goblin children, I was using nonlethal but arrows don't count as I'd soon learn. Allies were mostly good-to-neutral creatures like the Tieflings (though I wish I saved more, nobody told me about the harpies and I thought convincing Rolan to stay would mean the Grove not the Shadow Cursed Lands - also why send refugees who struggle with goblins through the SHADOW CURSED LANDS?) and 90% of the Ironhand Gnomes because fuck Wulbren - I didn't like Barcus too much at first, thought him rude, but when Wulbren didn't even show gratitude for his attempts I softened to him. Kindness made me quite the enemy to others however; the infernal naturally did not appreciate my deeds of pact breaking but saving the Duke anyway and pilfering the House of Hope, but to be fair Raphael (and his clear portrait of himself I clocked onto immediately when he was in his human guise to know he was untrustworthy) never repaid me in-game for 'killing' Yurgir, and Mizora would've squirmed a lot more in her Ilithid pod had it been a table interaction - though, the latter two were more than willing to help me with the Absolute, 'cept Raphael because he's dead - but in my defence I loved outwitting and being a sassy little shit to demons. Slaying the Chosen was a given, as a very Pro-Karlach guy I was never letting Gortash live, got the Father/Grandfather-Daughter set with Bhaal too. Killing the former Balduran was disappointing; as much as he was on my side he always felt like he had his own ulterior motives, he also had a superiority complex to him with his constant urging of being half-Ilithid; thinks it's not important that he's Balduran either, dismissing Ansur's legend until confronted by Ansur's spirit. Stealing the Orphic Hammer was an insurance policy at first, I could understand Voss' disdain for us using Githyanki Jesus in a box like a forcefield, but it's a shame that the guy who was all about trust decided not to trust me in releasing Orpheus; we could've stopped the brain together! Omeluum would've heard me out. I mean Orpheus was a bit salty but he at least was willing to negotiate and not immediately side back with the brain like a petty bitch. I'd say the gods have mixed feelings with me; friendly with Selune and Lathander at least, and whatever Withers is - though the guy roasted me about my love life. The rest either neutral or anti; Shar and Vlaakith (if you can call her a god) definitely hate me, because they're sore losers, think Myrkul and Bhaal likely hate me, Bane however seemed to respect game not sure how I feel about that. I don't quite like Mystra, think she's a bit extreme with her treatment of Gale, but I understand her role, valid god but shitty person. On the other hand I probably have Cyric's favour for helping the Strange Ox, which might be bad...but Milil was happy to be recognized.

In the end, most of the allies got to live somewhat happily; Gale got the orb out of him and became a professor, Lae'zel - having dealt the final blow to the brain - leads the charge against Vlaakith after Orpheus became a Mind Flayer and was mercy killed, Shadowheart has her family (Shar would've always been with her regardless of her choice), a bunch of pets and can maybe reminisce with Nocturne again one day, Jaheira and Minsc - once he survives Zhentharim execution, didn't realise I needed to have him talk to Nine Fingers - also can rest with her wards and probably share drinks with Nine Fingers until the next fight, Astarion sadly has no cure for vampirism but he is owning it and killing the right people (I like to think he'll get to see the sun again, maybe Omeluum and the Mycolids help), plus Halsin has a bunch of kids in Moonrise to look after, plus Thaniel, Oliver and a new Owlbear who I'd rather had left with Dammon given the option. Isobel and Aylin can settle down, Rolan runs the Sundries, Hope is free, Alfira and Lakrissa got their bard's school, Florrick and Ravengard resume leadership to rebuild, Dammon has his forge, Scratch found a new home in this Mindy (but I remain best master), Mol I'm sure will be running the Guildhall in a few years, Thrumbo has a shelter for his brothers, Mayrina will raise her son without the threat of a hag, Vanra won't become a hag (but does need therapy), and Arabella will probably be the next Withers after reading some more rocks. Yenna didn't seem to have an ending so I'll assume that she found a loving home too, maybe with Halsin or as one of Jaheira's wards, or maybe Gale wants a Sous Chef since she did bring her own carving knife if you didn't know. I wish Alfira got invited to the epilogue, god of song is fine but not the familiar face and it would've been cool for them to meet, nice to get a letter at least, and we'll have to visit Art's grave sometime. Surprised we got no word about Mizora, I didn't get a letter from Geraldus even though he survived, Naaber apparently had more in him after wanting to be a dog, sad not to get anything from Rolan, Devella (I know Valeria mentioned her but c'mon), the Gondians, Mol, Omeluum, or Aylin and Isobel from the epilogue, did we really need the ramblings of Ettvard? Plus the papers must've glitched they said Stelmane's killer was still at large? Post-credits scene felt a bit weak mind you, but guessing Withers is that old God of Death Jerghal? Least he's not a surprise villain to fight. As for me, well, I was never one to give up on people and neither is Dec, and thus Dec and Karlach brave Avernus to seek a fix for her infernal engine, punch a few demons and whatnot, Wyll is there too as the Blade of Avernus, a role he embraced twice after barely contributing to killing Ansur but that's more proximity. We'll chill in the House of Hope especially after her letter, but soon enough we'll all return to Faerun on a more permanent basis.

So you enjoyed it? Yes, very much. I did of course make a lot of mistakes though; kept forgetting about Dread Ambusher for one, my earlier failures at romance still stung, I think the game wasn't as welcoming to those unfamiliar to it. The dice did not like me many times, I once got a Nat 1 in a 2 DC with +2 bonus, I also have had several instances of back-to-back Nat 1s, even had 6 in two different streams. Combat was an adjustment period, I missed a lot of the time which was frustrating, or the enemy would make saving throws on my gambits, Karlach even got pushed into the abyss at the Temple of Bhaal, I was livid. I think I probably would've experienced more if the game established better that you can long rest as much as you like without turning into a Mind Flayer, because much of Act 1 was me reluctant to Long Rest because they say you can change 'within 2-3 days', as a result that affected some romance options too, nobody to spend the night with if there's no night, as well as other in-camp interactions - Astarion never tried to bite me for instance, and I'm sure Raphael would've arrived to reward me for killing Yurgir had we not dealt with a backlog of interactions. I remained quite the hesitant player too, I ignored Gale stuck in a portal for a while fearing some magical backlash was gonna vaporize me, oftentimes I expected worse than what actually happened. Graphically there were a few characters whose cheeks were being pulled to the far left side of the map which was weird, and some battles would have enemies who would just do nothing for their turns, and some areas didn't render quick enough to not be noticed, but it was small stuff in comparison, I didn't do much for camp clothes or dyes until late on but probably for the better since style should be for the final act. I also keep seeing stuff that I somehow missed in my playthrough; like there's an angry squirrel near the grove? A frog in Ethel's house? A bird who wanted help with the giant eagles? What? Where?

What was the most difficult part? Act 3 had a lot of tough shit going down, though one of my most memorable struggles was against Auntie Ethel in Act 1. Already deep in her domain at lv4 it was a rough run to start with, continually hit by Hold Person by her projections, only when I learned they were one-hits did it become a little easier, but without Extra Attack it was still difficult. After that combat was here and there, sometimes it was just the environment like being jammed in a pipe when fighting Minsc; Lorroakan was annoying, Grym I had to be tactical with the hammer, the Assassin at the Facemaker was quite difficult too because he'd Haste himself and hide. The Death Shepherds in the Mountain Pass were surprisingly difficult without the Blood of Lathander, much easier with its Sunbeam. The companion quest final battles of Cazador, Ansur and Viconia were each difficult in their own way; the former was most annoying because my party would be downed but the thrown healing potions weren't working (plus those downed members were the ones with Radiant damage and holy water), wasn't even Bone Chilled like with Viconia, Ansur was difficult because of his burst attack. Raphael hits fucking hard, but once I realised that Hope kept dying because she was getting backlash from dealing Radiant Damage it was just attrition and lots of potion throwing. Combat-wise I think the toughest battle was Cazador due to the glitch of thrown potions not healing, otherwise the toughest boss was Ansur. Overall the most difficult experience I found was the timed operations of the Iron Throne.

Will you play again? Most likely, which is something I don't tend to say so Larian did do their job well. Though I might wait a bit to play other games first and give Larian time to add more content and finer polishing, I think I'd have a better time with it the second time around, would definitely try to resolve previous wrongs or missed opportunities, though I doubt I'd look forward to everything there; killing the Goblin Camp was still difficult work, same with the Steel Watch and all the turn limit stuff, I'll at least wait until I have Extra Attack before dealing with Ethel in Act 1 and take more Long Rests, maybe rotate the party a bit more and try out some other classes - but you will pry Speak with Animals out of my cold dead hands! Learning later about there being a bunch of cut content would entice me to play a third time if they reach a stage where all the intended content has been added in, but there's not exactly a time frame for that or a clear show of intent so far, so we'll see in that one, for all that is cut it seems like the end product is the tip of the iceberg. Enjoyed the play, played for a long time, would play again: money well spent.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #larian studios #karlach #shadowheart #lae'zel #astarion #jaheira #minsc and boo #minsc #halsin #wyll ravengard #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 tav #bg3 withers #it wouldn't have killed larian to give us more dice skins too just sayin'#but I loved that they added little messages in the credits

26 notes · View notes