Tumgik
#btw. i love lae'zel so much
artist-rat · 2 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
I feel your breath upon my neck / a soft caress as cold as death
787 notes · View notes
araneapeixes · 6 months
Note
I love your Shadowheart art, I'd love to see your Tav. Do you have any headcanons with you Tav and the party? Romance/friends bffs etc?
Omg that's so sweet, I can't believe someone is interested in seeing my Tav 😭❤️ This is her, her name is Ren, pronouns she/they (in game I sometimes switch between she/her and they/them using the magic mirror basically lol)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
They're a half-drow fighter with urchin background, basically a scrappy street kid who had to learn to survive. Her main drive is that she would do anything for her friends, and as someone who had never worshipped any gods or had reason to trust in figures of authority, she just wants everyone to understand that they are fine the way they are and don't need the approval of some god. She doesn't seek authority or power and thinks that doing so never ends up being like, good for you (holding Astarion and Gale by the scruff of their necks)
Before the events of the game they'd say 'yeah i basically just want to survive and not be bothered lol' but when put in a situation where they have the power to help someone less fortunate they will ALWAYS take the opportunity to do so - too much of life spent being the one less fortunate!
Despite being a half-drow they'd never actually seen the Underdark before the events of the game and never met their drow father either so all that ancestry has really been to them is the assumptions people make.. In her appearance I was going for like, softer features than most drow seem to have and kind, human, brown eyes<3 You can'r rly see it in the pictures but she also has the neck rose tattoo.
They're a bit on the quiet and pensieve side (especially for a fighter) but have a cheeky sense of humour and always stay positive!!
This is the only art I've really done of Ren so far lol
Tumblr media
Sketched it out after the first Shadowheart romance scene so YEAH Shart romance obviously hehe Ren was immediately drawn to her because 1)hot goth girl hiiiii and 2)she could see the incongruity between what SH said she was and believed and her actual morals and behaviour. And Ren's calm, kind and unjudgemental presence made Shadowheart trust her very quickly. Basically an immediate attraction and fascination that quickly turned into a strong bond, ik that's not very unique or interesting sorry they're just in louve<3
as for the other party members she feels very close to Astarion (just drawn to edgy bitches with a dark past ig!!) and is basically trying to domesticate him and show him the joys of found family. Karlach is also a very easy natural friend for her as they're similar in many ways although Ren is much quieter and less intense lol but they're Best Bros and drink beer together and arm wrestle and laugh at stupid shit
also good buds with Gale despite his initial romantic intentions and she helps him with the cooking<3 She admires Lae'zel and feels for her struggle a lot but had a bit of a harder time with her at first because of the rough bossiness but they grew closer over time and respect each other greatly. and loves Wyll obviously who doesn't love Wyll but rolls her eyes at his dramatic heroism. Really vibes with Jaheira's sense of humour and thinks shes hot too
44 notes · View notes
lucrezianoin · 8 months
Text
Here is how to get astarion approval so high he will proposition you before the tieflings party. No evil choices, just some chaos. The score you want is 40.
Not all of these are necessary btw, if you di all of this you'll get over 40. Avoid what sounds too evil and check that you're getting up to 40. Also remember that for the party romance you actually only need 20.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
- When Lae'zel is in the cage, talk to her before releasing her and ask her to say "please"
- Attacking the thieves at the ruined temple
- When Shadowheart mention needing a cure (at camp) make sure to choose the option about being cautious
- When you meet with Zevlor, refuse to help saying you have your own problems. (you can help anyway, don't worry)
- When Lae'zel meets the tiefling and ask him to bow, go along with her at least once, then you can stop her and apologise to the poor man
- When you meet Wyll, you can talk with the guy training the children. Tell the children that they will all die
- After saving Arabella, tell the druid woman that you just wanted to see what would happen
- When you meet Auntie Ethel at the refugees' camp, let her fuss over you and then tell her about the tadpoles
- You know the kid with the magic ring trick? Pocket that ring
- When you meet the two siblings mourning their dying brother, Astarion will approve of you send them to face the owlbear (but I never choose this, because it makes me sad). But I think the big approval comes in the dialogue just next, where you can say that using the tadpole seems like a great idea
- At the blighted village, when the goblin spots you, you will get approval if you attack them back
- Say boooo to Volo
- Open the door where the sexy moans are happening
- At the entrance of the goblin camp, if you can, thow shit at the guard
- There's a goblin that will ask you to kneel and kiss his foot. Uno reverse it, and intimidate him
- Let the cleric at the goblin whip you
- After you free the owlbear, pet them at camp
- Get the necromancy of thay, and the amethyst that fits in it and give it to Astarion
- Recruit Karlach with him in the party
- Killing the monster Hunter will also shoot up your approval of TEN POINTS. I usually never kill him, but if you're close to the party and you really want to get to 40, this is also an option
- When you meet Raphael, agree with Astarion that you should not trust him
- If you decide to do auntie ethel too, make sure to convince her to free Maryna and get the deal at the same time
Now, I think the majority of approval will come with how you talk with him at camp.
- Go along with his dialogue about killing you if there's any tentacle showing. Just play along, don't shut him down
- Go along with the "whose blood would you drink" dialogue. Your answer doesn't really matter as long as you don't shut him down
- When he bites you, of course, offer to give him your blood
- During the mirror dialogue (sometimes it happens pre-sleeping together) you can insult him a bit (you're not aging gracefully), but at the second reply reassure him. The last reply is fine for all the lines and they seem to all get approval, as long as you don't just leave.
In general this is usually all I need to get to 40, which is pretty high. In my last playthrough I managed to also get to 40 without doing many of these.
But as I said, you only need 20. Just remember that he likes being petty and asserting dominance over others, he loves the tadpole, he is cautious, he's a little silly and chaotic, he's selfish, he likes joking and talking so don't shut him down.
Just remember that he's much more explicit about sex being an exchange if you get the proposition before the party, and you end up missing the scene of the party. Up to you! If you see that he's at 40 he will proposition the moment you talk to him, so if you accidentally got his approval too high and want to see both scenes you can technically kill the goblin leaders and free halsin, talk to him, then when you sleep you get directly to the party where you will have the party scene too.
3K notes · View notes
drizztdohurtin · 1 month
Text
Gale Headcanons: pining, dating, marriage & domesticity
Tumblr media
〚 Masterlist | WIP List 〛
this one's gonna be a doozy <3
I did change it slightly from the original description on the poll (which was dating, romance, and domesticity) because I felt like marriage would be a simple add-on.. who doesn't want more Gale content, anyways?
This post will be organized into 4 parts: pining, dating, domesticity, and marriage - so only read the parts you're interested in!
-MDNI-
some nsfw in the 'dating' & 'marriage' sections, but nothing explicitly described
Tumblr media
Pining:
i mean.... we all played the game, right
in the game, act 1 only includes light courting with Gale, versus the far more intimate moments Tav can have with companions like Lae'zel and Astarion
Tav's relationship with Gale goes from 0 to 100 in the game once you get to act 2, and I'm not a big fan of that
he's just like "hey remember that one time we shared a blink of a moment in the weave and then we never talked or hinted at anything ever again? Great, now let's have sex and also I love you <3333"
Realistically, that's not how Gale would be, so let's rewrite history
Gale's courting tactics involve a lot of info-dumping and complimenting, as we know, and he does this without even realizing it at first
up until the party at camp, that is his only strategy
he realizes he likes you fairly early on, but he actually battles those feelings for a long time - he tries very hard to shove them down and forget about them
but he can't!! everything you do seems to draw him in more and more
at the party when he offers to have a magical moment with you, he does not think you reciprocate any feelings for him
he just wanted to give you a little glimpse into the thing that he loved so much, the thing that he'd spent his whole life learning
it's not something he would do with just anyone, even if it just seemed like a friendly gesture
once he perceives your feelings for him, or at the very least the fact that you want to kiss him, he's elated - hoping to the Gods that the impression on his chest doesn't start glowing at his excitement
it was too risky to do anything with you that night, but it was all he could think about once he was in the privacy of his tent
he thought about what it meant - did you just want to kiss him (was it lust?) or did you mean something deeper? did you want him the way he wanted you? did you admire him the way he admired you?
but then he thought of the danger, and how it was pointless to get close to you or to allow you to get close to him
pointless only because he could literally level a city at any moment
but you just kept being you, and so he kept falling harder and harder - eventually, he just had to confess
upon his confession, he didn't sugarcoat anything, he was brutally honest about his worries
but he was also brutally honest about his feelings for you
the fact that you reciprocated any feelings towards him, the man with the ticking time bomb in his chest, was astonishing
he was so happy... and yet he felt so guilty
Dating:
you two start dating before the orb is stabilized by Elminster
it's very nerve-wracking for him, but he can't deny how wonderful it feels to be yours
upon your suggestion, he would agree to slowly try to take things further and further, up to a certain point
each night in his tent, you'd experiment with him - starting with just holding him, or sleeping next to him, or kissing his face
Gale made a whole big deal about your guys' first kiss, and you realized that the build-up could actually increase the chances of any unwanted orb activity
so one day you just walk up to him and kiss him
nothing long, nothing deep - just a quick kiss, stepping away right after (the look on his face was priceless btw)
and you were right, all of Gale's inner build-up to it was the issue (poor guy), so once it was over with it was very easy to work up to the point where you could come to his tent and kiss him for hours
one night you start exploring each other's bodies and you're surprised with how well of a hold he seems to have on not allowing his excitement to reach his orb, as you're able to go much further than you thought you would on the first night
but once you get to a point where your hands start exploring lower, under certain pieces of clothing, that's when it is time to stop
Gale would apologize profusely, telling you he'd give anything to be able to please you, but it was too dangerous at that moment - you'd have to keep working up to it (plz reassure him that that's not why you're with him, and you'll wait as long as you need to, even if you're never able to do anything with him PLEASE)
you and the group come across Elminster about a tenday after that, and *poof* the orb is stabilized
that night you and Gale go to "test out" the newfound stability of the orb
Gale's pretty nervous about it at first, but his anxiety is proven to not be needed pretty quickly
he ends up going down on you that night, wanting to save anything further for a more private, intimate setting
your first time together happens once you get to the shadow-cursed lands (the canon in-game scene, whichever you prefer)
after that, you guys have a few more encounters up until the Absolute is defeated - not being allotted much time for private intimacy
the 500 words describing the progression of your guys' physical intimacy aside - Gale is such a wonderful partner
Gale is such a considerate boyfriend, and he's funny!!
He'd 100% brag about you and he'd do it when he infodumps on people
Gale "erm actually ☝🤓, my partner..." Dekarios
He really likes when you sleep in his tent with him, or when you lay with him and let him read to you
He doesn't talk about the future with you - as much as he hopes for a future with you, he tries not to think about it too much because you both very well could die trying to defeat the Absolute
But if he's going to die, he wants to die loving you <3333
but to be honest, he does think about it a lot, he just tells himself it's all hypothetical
his thoughts are like this: "I really want to take Tav back home and introduce them to Tara and mother... THEORETICALLY ☝️☝️"
"HYPOTHETICALLY ☝️!☝️!.... i wonder if Tav would want a ring when I propose"
he just thinks that on the off-chance that you guys survive, maybe he should be prepared
Gale's the type to be like "my love, it's been exactly 93 days since you first agreed to be mine <333"
when you guys get to the city he WILL celebrate your 100th day of being together by taking you somewhere nice :))
Marriage:
okay this is going to be controversial..... but I like the way Gale proposes in-game
it very much feels like an accident, because he probably didn't mean to propose when he said "as a new member of the Dekarios clan" but it just kind of slipped out when he was asking you want to settle down with him
He considers you to be his family, and his asking you that question might've just been to see if you felt the same way
it does seem very Gale for something like that to just kind of happen, so despite the haters, I think it's very cute and very endearing, and I'm kEEPING IT
whether you return to Waterdeep with him or relocate somewhere else together, you get married within 6 months after defeating the Absolute
despite him saying "the Dekarios clan" (and despite popular headcanon), his family is very small - consisting of himself, his mother, and Tara
I'm a subscriber to the headcanon saying that Gale is an only child who grew up without a father and that any other family is spread all throughout Faerun, so he's not particularly close with any of them
so when you agree to marry him, he's so beyond happy at the thought of you joining his family
and perhaps the idea of growing it with you ("Gale as a dad headcanons" coming soon if that's something you're interested in)
he LOVES referring to you as his wife/husband/spouse, and before you guys get married he LOVES introducing you as his fiance!!!
it literally makes his heart jump
"my wife/husband/spouse" this, "my wife/husband/spouse" that
just like when you two were dating, he'd talk about you constantly
no one, not even his students are safe from him rambling about his spouse
taking last names isn't much of a thing in D&D and Forgotten Realms lore unless you're dealing with nobility (most common people don't even have surnames)
BUT THIS IS MY HOUSE (I'm literally a DM irl and I'm about to say fuck canon)
so if taking his last name is something you want to do, do it and he'll have a fucking heart attack
honestly, he'll even take yours if you want him to
he thinks it's romantic okay !!!!!! anyways
Gale organizes something every single year to celebrate your anniversary, and he'll never stop
on your anniversaries, he'll dedicate as much of his day to you as he can (lowkey he might take off of work)
he'll wake you up with breakfast (and maybe other things...), take you out for an activity or two during the day, and then some years he'll take you to dinner, and other years he'll make dinner for you (unless you have a strong preference for one or the other)
and then end the night with a romantic, candlelit bath, more intimacy, and really good sleep
I love the idea of married sex with Gale, guys - it's like just being married gets him off
Gale brings a sort of 'missionary sex with the lights on' vibe to the marriage that some readers don't really like
unless you're happy with that (and how could you not be), you'll definitely have to be the driving force in changing things up in the bedroom once you guys are married
Domesticity:
OKOKOK the meat and potatoes of this fucking post
Gale REEKS of domesticity
he does not need the Crown of Karsus when he is already the King of Acts of Service
(nsfw content implied) this headcanon of mine still keeps me up at night
during the events of the game, he will do literally anything he can to make your life easier
the reason he started cooking for the group every night is just because he wanted to take that burden off of you.... and quite frankly he knows he's good at it.... but MOSTLY because he wanted to take the burden off of you!
when you start regularly sleeping in his tent with him, he will start keeping an extra pair of camp clothes in there for you, and an extra bed roll
he takes on the role of alchemist, making healing potions for you and anything else that you might need
when you're in pain, he finds a way to modify Burning Hands or Cone of Cold so that he can direct small amounts of it to his hands and then places them on any aches and pains you have (menstruators! rejoice!!)
After the events of the game, once you two are home (wherever that may be), he takes care of most of the household chores unless you beat him to it
He does the grocery shopping, he cooks all of the meals, he does all of the repairs and maintenance, makes the bed every morning, does your laundry (or sends it out to be done), does yard work or gardening, ALL OF IT
you're like how tf does this man have time to beat me to all of the chores AND work a JOB !?
he has to remind you that he's a wizard and can just cast spells that do things like that, including mage hand
but the fact he even takes any care in doing such tasks for you is just the sweetest shit on the planet
he also loves to run soothing baths for you, and will always join you if you ask him to
if he doesn't have to be up early he will bring you breakfast in bed
he leaves little notes around for you to find, some of them have puns on them but most of them say how much he loves you
*1.6k words later* SEND POST !!
390 notes · View notes
galebrainrott · 4 months
Text
All of Gale's Datamined Epilogue Scenes
CURRENTLY A WIP Dead/God Gale is for last because I honestly don't like to think about it. PS: I can't SC the Devnotes so I just type it out. Does any have any tips? Only romanced dialogues btw
Gale Dekarios
Entering the Party - From Waterdeep
Tumblr media
Entering the Party - Adventurer
Tumblr media
Idles + Tara
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Conversation
Tumblr media
(In Waterdeep)
Tumblr media
Also lol "Your tentacles are looking wonderfully moist this evening." Gale the man that you are....
Tumblr media
Devnote : Relaxing, just needed some reassurance.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
"You are the happiness I never dreamed I could deserve." GALEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Tumblr media
PC's thoughts on Waterdeep
Tumblr media
(Stayed in Baldur's Gate)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Devnote : Bouyant, encouranging
Tumblr media
"'Home.' How I love to share that word with you."
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Devnote : Excited to clarify that he's a changed man.
Knitting, painting, writing... Oh Gale....
Tumblr media
"I was afraid to so much as dream of a night like this. To hope that my life might amount to more than lonely, bitter disappointment. And then I found you."
Tumblr media
This is Lae'zel origin but I can't leave it out it's too sweet
Tumblr media
Devnote : HACK VOHN-fin DOO (meaning: 'Source of my joy.' -how githyanki declare their love for another).
Tumblr media Tumblr media
237 notes · View notes
tikvin · 21 days
Text
Tumblr media
Durge girlies infodump ✨
Tumblr media
Eshra
Bard+vengeance paladin (I call it "got her powers out of sheer hate". Also dialogs of those classes are most fitting for her. She's also not classic Bard tho, doesn't have instrument either)
Is one of the most uncanny looking durges, but you only notice if you look at her for more than a moment and think about it more than a minute. The more you look at her the more strange things you start to notice. The streaks on corners of her mouth with time will reveal to be a wide mouth, unhinging jaw. Hair color and eyes that are not natural for drow. Slightly longer limbs, all that.
However she's a very charismatic person and averts the attention from the details easily enough. She's cunning, knows when to observe silently and when to speak. She's not a prying type, but very perceptive of emotions of others.
Eshra is in romance w/ Astarion, and Eshra detected his lies very soon, but kept quiet about it, playing along and waiting to see where it goes.
Eshra doesn't have anything against killing, however the real joy she gets is from killing those who think they are the shit. Bringing down prideful and strong chars to pathetic death (favourably in most dishonouroful way) is quite the delight of her life. She tries to avert her urges from the unreasonable (to anyone sane) targets to someone strong. She's also smart enough to dig for reasons to kill, Kahga being the best example. Eshra had an urge to just watch the little girl die.Fotr the fist time such urge concerned her, the itch of the urge would not stop if she just ignores it, so she redirects it to someone "bad" in the room, that being Kahga. She digs for reasons to kill and does so, without even trying to make Kahga change her mind.
Eshra also at first "saved" Lae'zel only to wait and dig for a reason to kill her. Eshra attacks Minthara almost instantly, because Minthara is smart and quickly notices something isn't right with her, and Eshra feels thretened by Minthara's prying. She would prefer her to stay silent, silent for eternity.
Tumblr media
Jericho
Wild magic sorcerer
I headcanon her to be a very masterful before the amnesia and losing the control after, requiring help of Gale to try and control it (and that's how they get married lmao). She actually might have turned a bit dumber after amnesia.
Jericho is the most determined to stop the urges and most disgusted by her deeds among my durges. She's also a bit cowardly when it comes to her past, so she doesn't pry too much into it, afraid of what she might find. She also the one to believe Emperor. She's a bit wary, but doesn't see Orpheus helping them (the mountain pass was skipped on account of lore reasons, absence of Lae'zel, cuz after reading the discs of Orpheus there's just no reason keep Emperor alive. I will be playing again with Lae'Zel present, so Jericho would free Orpheus, cuz she'd trust Lae'Zel. Which one is canon I will decide after)
After the game events she recognizes her cowardice, and now feeling much more secure in loving and peaceful environment, she does her best to research bhaalspawn and everything about it to help prevent tragedies. Also the only girlie who is a bit bummed that she must avoid having biological children, but she's dutiful enough to recognize that responsibility.
Also the softest among durges, maybe because she got hit in the head the hardest lol, the one who truly starts a completely new and different life after the incident.
Oh, and she's 100% sure Tara doesn't like her, if not hate her
Tumblr media
Thalissa
Assasin rogue+fighter.
Very much not a real githyanki and avoids actual githyanki, while simultaneously pretending to be one when it's convenient. With her I'm planning multiple play throughs btw, current one is without Lae'Zel, other will be with her and another with her being Tav.
She's also not concerned much with her urges, or her memories ("eh, I'm a rogue, I doubt I had much to care about anyway"). Obnoxiously smart mouthed, nonchalant, sometimes unintentionally rude. "Heh, yea, I'm a swamp elf". She hides her face usually, pretending to be whatever other race people might mistake her for.
Much like Eshra, Thalissa enjoys killing those who are oh so full of themselves
But she also actually enjoys being around "goodie two shoes" characters, because she likes to poke fun and make them just a bit annoyed, also secretly hoping their "goodiness" will rub off on her a bit, to quiet down the bloodlust.
Thalissa as a Tav is still the "chill and easy going gith". A githyanki who escaped strict military life and lives in material plane, because she enjoys it way more, even if often faced with prejudice.
Tumblr media
Thana
Monk
Very temperamental, openly rude, but not in an elegant way like drows are usually, more barbarian like actually. She might have a bit of a anger issues and it's relatively easy to set her off.
Not the smartest one, not book wise at least.
Not very concerned for cultural things either. "Blah blah blah, balance, rules, boooring, are we fighting or what?"
She is also the one who gets concerned only when her urges start targeting children, but brush them off to kid being annoying and the urge being an intrusive thought. She genuinely tries to be "the friendly drow", but the moment she hears something rude with "you're a drow" reasoning she just can't keep her tongue back, which then doesn't help her making her case lol. You get approximately 3 sentences to make her like you, cus that how long it takes for her to decide (however, in certain cases she might get mad that you don't like her and make it her mission to make you her friend)
She's also not too concerned about memory loss, she undermines her "condition" until it takes grave turn, then she's scared, but too prideful to admit it, until, yet again, it gets in dangerous area (act 2)
That would be it for now, just a bit of general info about the girlies. If you have your favorite, feel free to ask about them, I'd love to answer, I've been keeping the lore for a long time
78 notes · View notes
malicedafirenze · 7 months
Text
I unintentionally skipped a lot of the romance content in Baldur's Gate 3 and I want others to learn from my mistakes:
So: I managed to lock myself out of romance entirely and ended up alone, which was a huge bummer and a serious crack in my motivation to play the game. I finished my playthrough (because I was already close to the end of Act 3 when I realized it), and plan to do another one eventually. I'm making this post in hopes of a) keeping others from making the same mistakes and b) to possibly get some additional insight re. what to watch out for in my next playthrough.
PSA: Pick a Partner before Act 3
The key learning here for me was this explanation from the poly mod
In BG3, romance is divided into 2 steps: dating and relationship(also called partner). Dating is basically where you are at after the 1st romance scene. Relationship is where you are at after the 2nd romance scene (relationship also unlocks the kissing menu). BTW, If you enter A3, all dates will break up with you (partners won't, ofc).
I hadn't realized this until well into Act 3, at a point where going back to a save to properly fix it would have meant replaying large parts of Act 2 as well - I decided to finish my run instead and then start a completely new one later.
Note: lots of spoilers below. (click here to read this post on reddit instead)
My Romance Woes
I read in advance that you couldn't romance multiple people (except for the specific Halsin combos with Shadowheart and Astarion) and therefore turned down Gale and Lae'Zel early in the game (not realizing you could just date/bonk them without fully committing or getting anyone upset)
I didn't take approval all that seriously, thought I'd have more opportunity to fix things later. I was playing pretty good guy, and ended up with high approval for Karlach and Shadowheart, but low for Astarion. Weirdly, I don't recall an option to romance Shadowheart (no clue what I missed?) and the only option I had for Karlach was at the Tiefling party, where I went with Astarion instead. I had a scene or two with him, but then didn't progress further in the relationship, without really realizing what I was missing.
I wanted to romance everyone, sat on the fence for too long, and ended up not romancing anyone at all, by missing a thing or two in act 1 and 2 and being too late to fix it in act 3. Don't be like me, it feels bad man.
Early Act 3, I got Astarion's breakup dialogue ("we haven't spent a night together in some time" --> him explaining it was just transactional and he doesn't see the value in it anymore) and got super worried, but when trying to look up if I'd messed up, I didn't find a clear answer for without more spoilers, so I just continued playing Act 3, including all of the companion quests.
I later learned that I missed out on at least one important Astarion romance interaction by not going to Moonrise Towers until after freeing Nightsong. (when the Towers are already on high alert, i.e. I could only fight and not have a lot of conversations)
After realizing I had messed up companions romance, I instead fucked everyone it was unwise to fuck (Emperor, Mizora, Harleep...) for fun and to see what would happen... but chickened out and reloaded after Emperor and Mizora. Still, got to enjoy some fun content that way!
The ending I got (going to Avernus with Karlach) was really cool and made me cry a lot. I then did try to reload my last save though, to see if I'd get any other epilogue content if I didn't go to the Hells, but... apparently that scene on the docks (Astarion goofily running off, everyone kinda agreeing to go party after this, no other conversations with anyone again.... is just... it?
Idk how much of this is the lack of romance, but I really felt like something was missing there. I at least wanted to talk to everyone again one last time.
This is a post about my romance failures and regrets so I'm not gonna talk about everything else that I loved about the game, but just in case this is getting a bit too negative: I had an absolute blast with the whole game regardless, I'm stoked to give it another go the "proper" way (i.e. with romance). I also generally think it's really fucking cool that this game's romance options depend on how you behave, and that you can't just e.g. give someone the right kind of gift 20 times in a row to make them love you, like it works in games like Stardew Valley.
Next Playthrough Plans
I'll probably wait for another patch or two - considering how much got fixed and tweaked with the first three patches, I suppose it's worth to wait a bit and see what's coming
I'll play with the Poly mod next time and try to romance all of the Origin characters.
I plan to play with the camp notifications mod, as well as the approval ratings in dialogue mod. Both in hopes of being able to game the romance a bit better and get much of the romance in one playthrough
I'll play Dark Urge (haven't seen any of that so far!), but probably still go for a "good" playthrough mostly
I plan on equipping & levelling all Origin companions and switch them out more freely, in order to get approval from everyone and edit my party as makes sense depending on story events (e.g. take Lae'Zel to the Creche, take Gale to the Ketheric fight...)
I want to romance everyone. I already saw some tips for early game Astarion approval and assume the aforementioned mods will help in optimizing this
Am probably not gonna do anything all that differently otherwise because my heart can't take an actually evil playthrough
Aand that's about it. As mentioned, I'm mostly posting in case this helps anyone else.
I was really damn sad when I realized I had locked myself out of all romance, because the romance was a significant part of my motivation to start playing this in the first place. At the same time, I loved so much about the game that I still got a lot out of it in 110+ hours even with minimal romance content.
If you see any red flags about my plans for the next playthrough (or if you have experience with the mentioned mods!), I'd appreciate comments and insights. Other than that, here's hoping others can learn from my mistakes. Thank you for reading <3
65 notes · View notes
genderdotcom · 7 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
btw if you take a long rest before recruiting lae'zel in a karlach origin playthrough karlach starts fantasizing about what she'll do once her heart's fixed. i love her so much
47 notes · View notes
sorcerous-caress · 4 months
Note
Hi! I really admire the way you write bg3 charas and I was curious about your opinion- what you think about the polyamory options in the game? iirc Shadowheart and Astarion are open to it- Shadowheart at least is enthusiastic about poly with Halsin and a four/fivesome with the drows at Sharess’s Caress, I’ve seen mixed interpretations of Astarion’s reactions. Karlach I think? Says she’s open to it but due to circumstance wants a closed relationship. (Halsin ofc is very openly poly.)
Do you think any of the comps could conceivably have and enjoy a healthy poly relationship outside of what we see in game, and (toying the line of bobcourse {bob discourse} and it’s totally fine if you don’t want to touch that) (actually it’s totally fine if you don’t feel like answering this in general; please don’t feel pressured by this monster of an ask!!) do you think the ones we have rn are healthy? 👀 Sorry if you’ve talked about this already!
(Btw the theme looks great! Diarrhea never came to mind at all)
Thank you so much <3 This means a lot.
Okay, just to be clear, poly isn't having threesomes and vice versa, so I don't think we should use their willingness to have the orgy in Sharess's Caress as a frame of reference. Because the drow twins are two strangers and not people they're in a poly relationship with.
Poly relationships don't require having sex. They're like any other relationship, just with more people. AroAce people can be poly too.
Also, I think the reason we don't have poly ingame besides Halsin, which was a last edition, is because Larian ran out of time and budget. They'd have to make whole new scenes with whole new dialogue trees and animations.
And keep in mind that they're characters, just tools and dolls. Not real people. You can headcanon them all as poly, and it's valid.
Anyway, so here is my opinion who is and who isn't poly ingame.
There are monogamous exlusive characters who make it very clear they don't want poly: Gale, Minthara and maybe Lae'zel
There are some who show being poly but can't due to circumstances and the current options of people: Shadowheart, Karlach, and Astarion.
Side note, I really don't believe that theory going around about how Astarion was only willing to be poly with Halsin because "high elves don't take relationships with wood elves seriously". Maybe if this was dos2 then sure, but Larian really removed most of these things in Baldur's Gate 3.
It feels like cherry-picking. If we are going with this old representation of high elves, then based on that, he'd never be with any non-high elf Tav, not even human. Astarion agreed to share with Halsin because he is clearly comfortable with him. It feels belittling and insulting to both of their queerness to even consider this theory. Especially with how his past lover was a whole drow, you really think a high elf who is racist against wood elves would consider loving a drow if this was the case?
This leaves Wyll, which... honestly, I'm not sure how to categorise him.
Wyll is selfless. He always assumes you're going to choose the other person in Act 2 and bids you farewell, saying how the dance you shared will be a nice memory.
He focuses on his love for you, not owning you, not being possessive, but genuine overflowing love and poems. I think Wyll might be open to being poly but not just with anyone, it would have to be someone he loves as deeply as you.
*cough* Karlach Tav Wyll poly *cough* WE WERE ROBBED
Also, you were very kind and polite in your ask. It's really refreshing <3. Thank you for being so understanding and thoughtful.
20 notes · View notes
andrewknightley · 2 months
Text
OK SO I FINISHED BG3 thoughts and stuff under the cut (spoilers obvs) . Pals and mutuals that played feel free to comment it with me, and also wyll enjoyers pls do interact fkfkdk
SPOILER about the ending
-Ok so i was playing a good tav dwarf paladin romancing wyll, got my team of wyll/lae'zel/karlach, but lae'zel felt like the real main character of this story and honestly its what she deserves.
-got orpheus and turned him into a mind flayer sorry bro. and then the emperor gets angry and fights with the baddies. like gosh this guy sucks
-saved the day yadda yadda and lae'zel went away to guide her kind and LOOK SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND FOREVER i was so sad but i knew it was what she wanted but IT PAINS ME
-then gale leaves me to become a god, and then astarion gets attacked by the sun and runs away and im like wow this ending is such a downer everyone is leaving me
-AND THEN. KARLACH.......
-Ok so i cried like a baby like. i fucked up i dont know what i did wrogn i cant believe karlach is gonna die im SOBBING
-But wyll is like "WE CAN LIVE ALL FIGHTING DEMONS IN HELL" and got the coolest shit ever of these 3 going on adventures like you dont know HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS ENDING!!! im so happy aaah TOT
-then there is the epilogue and it's the cutest thing i can hug shadow heart and halsin and karlach :_) tried with astarion but i dont know if its impossible or i had him too low (every companion loves me but he finds me acceptable fgoihdgfjiodgio) anyways i wanted to hug all my friends
-gale is a god and like good for him but im like ??? damn we dont see his mission or anything he does this all off screen?? i wanted to see his struggles and stuff idk i wanted to see the FEELINGS
-anyways idk if i got a bug or something but when i get to talk with people about what i am doing is just me and karlach and 0 mention of wyll idk why TOT let me talk about my romantic companion pls
-also i had like 2 options to talk with romanced wyll and way more conver with astarion wich again i didnt even have very high on his love for me (i do love him and my chara frienenemy status tho) but why only 2 options for wyll i wanna talk with him moreeee at the end
-he did blow me a kiss it was the cutest thing tho
-Again idk if i got a bug but i never get anyone commenting on my relationship with wyll and i know the companions gossip about karlach and probs other charas >-<
-i heard a friend who had to kill karlach to get to see her gale ending so i tried in another save to see what happened (it was awful btw) and that was the only way to get an extra scene of wyll telling me to go for mizora and having other people aknowledge him in the epilogue (just with jaheira it lets me say wyll, with astarion and shadow heart they gave me answer like "oh im with my lover" and such instead of by name)
-i am a big fan of wyll but not so much of wyll missions, like they are fun to play but gosh i wanted the cool FEELINGS moments like lae'zel, shadow heart, astarion and karlach had, i feel he is straight up a classic hero tale and i want to see this man overwhelming with feelings of all the stuff he suffered. also more stuff with the dad idk i couldnt even tell him im with his son that could had been cool
-gale also feels like ???? he didnt have a proper mission and was like off screen wich is a bit weird to me ??
-my fav chara is wyll and then second lae'zel who is perfect 0 notes on her 100% increible. Then Do Not Make Me Choose for the other origin companions i cant. I love them so much. I didn't like astarion at first and i was like "really this is the man all my friends and everyone is obsessed about??" but then act 3 arrived and i was like Ah. I Get It Now. I would say my less fav is gale but because i didnt bring him anywhere so next game im def paying him more attention.
-anyways i could have some notes but in general i fucking loved this game so much TOT
19 notes · View notes
orangechickenpillow · 17 days
Note
Hello, fellow enjoyer of BG3/Prospect/Arcane/The Ghoul Boys/TAD/WWDITS/probably other things I've yet to discover because you clearly have stellar taste in media! ✨
I wanted to throw an idea at you that has been rotting my brain: TAD songs for BG3 characters.
"Inkpot Gods" simply IS Wyll and Karlach. "The Old Witch Sleep and The Good Man Grace" might seem the obvious choice for Astarion but I would like to make an argument that "Farewell Wanderlust" is even better. "The Horror and The Wild" is Karlach's all on her own. "Elsa's Song" is giving Gale for some reason? Unsure why.
Anyway, sorry for the random long-ish ask. But what do you think? :D
Ahhhh thank you so much. I've seen you in my notifs and am happy to report that we're officially best friends now <3
Thank you so much for throwing this idea at me holy shit???? I went back and listened to all three TAD albums specifically to answer this, so.... yeah, we're definitely best friends.
I'm loving what you've got so far -- Inkpot Gods works so perfectly for the Avernus duo, and honestly could be the theme song for bg3 in general. Jesus christ, what a song, am I right. Farewell wanderlust is sooooo Astarion I'm going to lose my mind about it I mean be totally normal. Also I feel like it fits Lae'zel really well too. I actually found that a lot of songs I liked for Astarion worked for Lae just as well. Interesting. Anyway, during my trillionth re-listen to the TAD albums here are the notes I took on my phone lmao:
Love Run for Wyll. The wholesome, strong, hopefulness this song radiates fits him so well. It's also really fucking romantic, and so is he.
I also think that Two Minutes is fitting for him. That whole vibe of an abandoned child, of someone who is so tired and beaten down by life but still manages to keep going despite it all. I really adore Wyll, and the more romantic TAD songs fit him perfectly.
I love Wild Blue Yonder for Karlach. It's silly but heartfelt, and so full of yearning. It has a light approach to life while still acknowledging how hard things can be, and that's just so Karlach. Also, "We don't know what's out there -- could be ghosts or monsters, or a robot vampire, I don't know" sounds like something she would say lol
You're so right about The Horror and the Wild. That's just. Karlach and Gortash. "Give me back my heart you wingless thing" are you fucking kidding me right now, I'm going to pull a Karlach and explode.
Also I think The Horror and the Wild fits Astarion equally well. I'll always yammer on about how Astarion and Karlach are two sides of the same coin, and this song is a great representation of that. "You passed your fingers through my hair and called me child -- witness me, old man, I am the wild" -- Astarion and Cazador. Please send help, I am ill over this and will not be recovering.
"Think of all the horrors that I promised you I'd bring" Karlach. Astarion. Shadowheart. Lae'zel. Literally help me.
Blossoms for Gale. It's a very intense song, but it's also weary. It's strong but desperate, yet determined. I also think it fits him as the one who would be leading the group if Tav wasn't around. It's a somber and dramatic song, but it's ultimately fueled by tender love. Sound like anyone else we know?
Similarly to you pairing him with Elsa's Song (which I love btw), I think The Rockrose and the Thistle is VERY Gale (and, dare I say, bloodweave? The singer begging to die and the other person "sewing" them back together??? Hello?????) Just like the more romantic songs fit Wyll, the quieter, more subdued songs fit Gale. I think those songs really capture desperation in its most potent form, and Gale is kind of like the human version of that (sorry Gale)
Okay, New York Torch Song could be any of the ladies. Literally any of them. It's perfect. This one also makes me think of Karlach and Wyll.
I adore That Unwanted Animal for Astarion. The helplessness paired with the subtle sense of revenge and violence. The sexual tones throughout. The lack of romance.
I like The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace for Astarion, and I also really like it for Lae'zel. Her whole being raised by a cult thing really aligns with the vibe of the song -- being told that you're one thing and having to fight to be anything else, the desperation of feeling like you have no purpose. Fighting it all and coming out on top anyway. The steady increase in the intensity of the song representing getting your power back. It's so herrrrrr
King fits her well too. This song is so badass. I think it represents the soldier archetype well. It's cool, she's cool, it's perfect.
Pray makes me think of Shadowheart. Obviously the religious tone of the song fits her well, but also its pure spite. It's really giving "abandoned daughter" vibes, which is perfect for her. Also, "honey I'm no man, I'm what's left when children go to war" are you fucking kidding me.
Anywayyyyy, this was long, yikes. I have a lot of Thoughts as you can see. Thank you SO much for letting me yap about two of the things I love very much and might be obsessed with, who knows. I'll end by officially asking for your hand in marriage <3
10 notes · View notes
Text
I wanted to do something for Femslash February but don't have enough brain cells to commit to much, so I will now be day drinking and explaining The L Word: Faerûn as well as The Chart.
Part 1: What Even Is This
Tumblr media
the tl;dr I created an elaborate mental AU to write my own ideal BG3 storyline and also shoehorned in a bunch of women kissing bc that's what I'm into
Mandatory disclaimer: I obviously love BG3 as I wouldn't spend 500 hours playing a game and countless more drawing/writing/thinking about it if I didn't
Overall, I conceptualized The L Word: Faerun as a hodge podge mad libs "if you could REALLY do whatever you want" fantasy playthrough that combines my own headcanons/preferences for how the story should go with F/F rareships and my beloved female background characters, and ignores and/or antagonizes almost every male, except Wyll because he's my son.
At the time I started this mental story, I was already hundreds of hours into the game and the veneer of "you have so many choices!" was starting to wear really thin. You don't really have that many options if you're roleplaying as any sort of reasonable character, and you're further limited because you can't even do things in the order you like because you might shut down other quests.
For example, the Tav main character of TLW:F is a drow named Alekto and Lae'zel is the only bitch in this house she respects early on, and is thus the only one whose opinion on what to do about the tadpole matters. If I could really play however I wanted, we'd make a beeline directly to the creche... but we can't. Going to the Mountain Pass shuts down the grove/goblins conflict, and it's too difficult an area, so you don't really have a choice but to play basically all 10+ hours of Act 1 first, even if it's definitely not what your character would do. (This is especially grating in a Lae'zel origin run btw, nothing shatters my immersion like having to fart around for hours when the creche is RIGHT THERE).
Act 1 also presents the most annoying story beat in the entire game, which is that the goblin-tiefling-grove conflict (in my opinion) makes no sense and has no satisfying resolutions. Being essentially forced to side with the asshat druids or lose literally half the game (pretending it's as "consequence" for being "evil" when really it's transparent that they just decided to prioritize other things) sucks, losing Minthara sucks (I do not acknowledge the knockout option, it's like the game dev equivalent of a "shut up ring"), being strong-armed into a decision based on what content I'm willing to miss and not the story I want to tell sucks.
So, when I'm playing, I fire up my imagination and mentally write my own ideal storyline, psychically rearranging the order of events, ignoring what I don't like, and inserting content I wish existed or that the game forces me to miss based on choices.
Of course I have my own plot holes and weak spots, but again like 50% of the point is making women kiss so it's not actually that serious.
Next Part: Tav Lore (aka why Counsellor Florrick is actually the main character)
9 notes · View notes
moontheoretist · 8 months
Text
Don't worry Gale. I will give you love.
Remember how I said that the Gale Bug never happened to me? It still didn't occur, but because he never declared we are together, he is still helplessly pining out there, and I felt bad, so I decided to make a character just for him to romance. I can't leave the man hanging, only because my Drow Wizard flirted with him a bit and then was shocked by Astarion's sudden interest that he decided to see what's going on.
TBF I'm going to create a character for every companion.
I already have one for Astarion, Karlach and Gale.
I accidentally ended romancing Shadowheart on the run, that was made purely, so I could recreate my character from another video game, which canonically for her is not even in BG3 at all. (She is busy doing all the questline chores in Neverwinter if you wondered).
I have some characters from early access that are hard to recreate with the new hair structure and how the color pallets look so much different on them than it looked in early access, but I will probably try to recreate them. For now, I have a Dragonborn that I made in CC and saved screenshots of when I'm in the mood to play, and now I wonder who that Dragonborn should romance. I have Wyll, and Lae'zel to chose if I don't count Shadowheart, and then there are also Halsin and Jaheira left, but they become companions later in game.
*stares at Wyll* You liked Lae'zel. Do you want some dragon ass?
(Wyll helplessly pining for Lae'zel is so hilarious, because she sees him as this squishy little human with no strenght while Gale just asks a goddamn question about the Astral Plane, and she is horny asap).
BTW If Larian seriously gives us the ability to get Minthara without condemning the entire Grove then I will need to make new character.
11 notes · View notes
prettyboykatsuki · 4 months
Note
lae’zel is truly the best thing to ever happen to me
lae'zel my mean gf who doesn't fw me. i genuinely adore her so much and her dynamic w my tav makes me feel soooo weird fkdksdj. nyx and lae'zel i love u btw
i keep saying this but the bkgism of her... its the way they're unable to be honest about their feelings so instead say crazy romantic things on accident. i love hersooo bad
4 notes · View notes
arcaneyouth · 4 months
Text
summary of how my baldurs gate first time blind playthrough is going
1 hour of struggling to get the game just function at the bare minimum. please imagine me with a tshirt that says "im surviving baldurs gate at minimum graphics and its still lagging with a frame rate of like 20 frames per second and all im getting for it is the time of my life"
im the worlds most cutest pinkest tiefling sorcerer you've ever seen. and yes i know several charming spells. im getting in theme
i didn't figure out how to turn the camera until about 2-3 hours in so you can imagine how much shit i missed
managed to completely just not notice the dungeon you find withers in and only went back for it later because i was told it existed and i should really go do it
i saw astarion, whispered out loud irl "THATS THE FUCKING GUY MY MUTUALS LOVE", ran straight toward him, and was surprised when he tried to kill me. but yknow. a lot of stuff makes sense now. hi mutuals.
(astarions the only character i havent switched out of my party even once. im not sure why tbh. im not that interested in him hes just my quirky bestie. we're hanging out)
switched out gale for lae'zel once i found her since i figured it'd be handy for plot reasons to have her around. i was nice to a child, twice. both times lae'zel disapproved. gale is now back in my party
"we've been traveling together for a while now," "gale we literally met this morning. im madly in love with you btw"
yeah you could say I'm a pro gamer. thats right. I'll start any fight completely unaware of how unprepared i am for it and get my whole party wiped. number of total party wipes is somewhere around double digits now. heh. i think i need to change the difficulty to easy.
whats a little vampire feeding between friends c: i can be a caprisun for my bestie c: <- things said before astarion made it weird by being a slut and before i realized there were consequences (2 party wipes happened while i was woozy and i like to think this is correlated)
YOU CAN ADOPT THE DOG
the devil tries to tempt me into making a deal. i go oh no thank you! and leave. he does not understand that i already have 5 other people who have already offered to get rid of the tadpole in my head and i dont care
*accidentally kills people because i dont understand non lethal mechanics. accidentally kills people because i dont understand non lethal mechanics. accidentally-*
i spent an hour brute forcing my way through a fight i was underleveled for and i was so proud of myself for making it through and then turns out i accidentally killed them because i dont understand non lethal mechanics. prior to this i had done pretty much nothing but fuck up every single part of the game so ive just. reloaded back 3 hours and im not even touching this entire section of the map for a while. i want to go home.
save me gale. gale. gale save me. please gale let me advance your relationship. do you even know how bad i want to kiss you. gale. gale please. gale. gale. why have i gotten like 4 plot beats with astarion and 1 with gale PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
3 notes · View notes
githkisser · 2 months
Note
random OC ask: what is something about your OC that people wouldn't expect from looking at them?
what are the preconceived notions people might form or have formed about them? how does your OC respond to those notions?
First question: H'rayn is extremely fragile emotionally. Wow. The darkness around her eyes isn't makeup, it's from her crying (literally) 24/7, (she's cursed :3) and from her refusing to sleep on the material plane without her agents present.
"Yes… I do not remember the last time I closed my eyes for rest. The thought of it… could gray my hair further. Every moment I blink, I fear that I may lift my lids to a nightmare. Can we move on?" — Her during Zethino's love test
She also doesn't sleep so that she can guard camp, but that's not really relevant to my answer. Nor is anything about her not sleeping. I JUST WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT!!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! She also likes flowers, btw!!!!
H'RAYN>: You do not like the flowers on Toril, Lae'zel?
LAE’ZEL>: No. And you do?
H'RAYN>: Of course. 
LAE’ZEL>: I much prefer stone, black of death, and blood red.
H'RAYN>: After hundreds of years “black of death” and “blood red” become less glorious and more so grating and mind numbing.
For the second one: H'rayn doesn't really pay any mind to what other people may think of her, preconceived or otherwise. She will correct people who are familiar with awful spins of her own stories, though. Ex there's a version of her story that insinuates she was involved with Vlaakith CLVI, she would obviously shoot that one down. Probably split in two the head of whoever started that one. She's very proud of the legend she's crafted for herself, that's the only thing she sees worth defending.
3 notes · View notes