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baldursgate3tempobsessed · 8 months

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Astarion teaching Tav embroidery/sewing. Preferably with him dragging them onto his lap for a close-up demonstration.

Why do I make everything so long? Do I have a problem? There is always so much introspective nonsense idk man. Anyway adorable idea actualized below!

Also mentions of sex but this is totally sfw. I went with the timeline of when your sleeping together but he hasn't quite admitted his feelings to himself, as a side!

Astarion had no idea how he became your camp's designated seamstress. How was it possible that a team of eight adults were all incapable of knowing the basics of such a fundamental skill?

Then again, Karlach seemed to be perfectly fine with wearing her clothes to tatters. Wyll was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Lae'zel, for some gods forsaken reason, was only capable of fixing up heavy armor. Gale seemed to prefer eating magical clothing items versus being able to salvage them and the rest were mediocre at best.

The look of confusion on Shadowheart's, who was the second most skilled by far, face when Astarion tried to explain a ladder stitch was enough for him to give up entirely. It was quicker to fix the tears then to explain simple concepts to simpletons.

Brats. All of you. With one who was significantly more brazen than the rest when it came to using Astarion as their personal tailor.

Tav, the lovely thorn in his side. Who could handle wielding a glaive with startingly accuracy, but somehow managed to consistently stab themselves every time they picked up a sewing needle. It was impressive, how useless someone who was otherwise extremely competent could be.

Impressive as it was frustrating. Because somehow you managed to destroy your clothes more often than anyone else. Always bashfully handing him over torn trousers and ripped shirts every other night. Anyone else he would have told to fuck off by now. Even the rest of the camp knew better than to test their luck with anything more than once a fortnight. But you lacked the very basic level of self-control.

It was his own fault for giving you special treatment in the first place. But sleeping together did warrant a few extra benefits. He got your protection and you got to experience the pleasure of being with him. Simple. Or it would have been if you didn't insist on making things complicated.

Because Astarion was starting to feel things. Things that he hadn't anticipated. Because your company was... oddly pleasant. You were an interesting little thing, he had to give you that. Well-read and talkative, but not boringly so. No, Astarion sometimes found himself losing track of time when he was with you. A simple question could easily turn into a two-hour conversation about the silliest things. It was... nice. New. And oh so different from what he was used to.

Cazador didn't even allow him or his brethren to speak in his home, let alone speak to each other unless it was strictly necessary. But here he was free to do whatever he pleased. And he was finding that included being near you, despite how differently you both saw the world.

He couldn't quite blame you for your delusional optimistic views. As a Tymora worshipper you were basically doomed from the start to believe inane concepts like good fortune, luck, and gods, the good that could be found in "anyone".

You were as sweet as you were aggravating and Astarion truly, honestly, had no idea how your insane trusting nature hadn't managed to get you killed yet. But then again he... kind of liked that about you. He liked that you trusted him. It made his life more convienet and... it was nice to be seen as a person worth confiding in. Instead of the blood-sucking monster he really was.

He... liked that. He liked you. A fact that he didn't enjoy thinking about. He didn't really know what to do with it, and the implications of where his feelings could lead were starting to become unsettling. So he pushed it out of his mind. It was an easy thing to do when doom was always looming in the background. He had plenty of things to think about that didn't include his fondness for you.

Like the inner-rage you caused when you managed to somehow rip the same shirt twice in one day.

"That's it," Astarion announced when you bashfully asked for his help yet again, "Come here. I'm teaching you how to sew."

"But you always get mad when you try," You whined. But despite the hesitancy you still obediently sat next to him as he got out the sewing kit, "Do you promise not to snap this time?"

"That depends," Astarion said with a roll of the eyes, "Do you intend on not maiming yourself with a sewing needle?"

Astarion smirked at the way that made a blush crawl up your neck, "That was one time!"

"Actually darling it was closer to seven," Astarion corrected as he snatched the shirt from your hands, "Now pay attention. Look at where the tear starts. Notice how it's on the seam?"

You nodded along as Astarion explained the basics to you. He could tell that you were trying your damndest to pay attention, but when it was your turn to hold the needle your hands couldn't stop shaking. Astarion frowned as he tried to watch you work, his view obfuscated by the angle and the flow of your hair.

Well that wouldn't do.

Before he could think better of it he was hauling you into his lap, ignoring your surprised squeak as he situated you just right.

That was better. At least now he could see what you were doing. It was a sloppy stich, sloppy enough for him to undo it before putting the needle back in your hand.

"Now do it again," Astarion ordered, "Let me see what your doing wrong."

Astarion watched as you tried again, frowning when he realized your shaking was even worse than before. In fact, you seemed more nervous than ever, your face red as you kept your eyes down.

It made Astarion torn between watching your hands and looking at your face. You really were adorable, getting all worked up from simply being in his lap, all while trying to stay dutifully undistracted. He could almost hear your heart racing, obvious through the tension coursing through you.

Silly little thing, acting all shy like he hadn't already literally been inside of you. But at least you were doing better, your stitching straighter than Astarion had ever seen it. Maybe he'd have to make the lap-sitting mandatory from now on, for the good of your learning.

"See," Astarion said softly, his breath tickling your ear as he leaned in closer, "You're perfectly capable of learning this."

"So it looks good?" You asked, taking a chance to glance at him. Astarion hadn't realized just how close the two of you really were. He had never... seen you like this before. So closely. Even when you slept together, he had been a bit distracted by other parts of your body. He never noticed just how many light freckles were hiding across the bridge of your nose, how your eyes looked almost golden in candlelight. You smelled nice too, sweet. Like you had been rolling around in a field of lilies. Considering your personality, Astarion had to wonder if that's exactly what you did.

It would take almost nothing to press your lips together. Barely a turn on the head.

"Astarion, are you listening?"

The sound of his voice snapped him out of his revelry. He straightened, clearing his throat as he looked over your work again, embarrassed in a way that he couldn't quite describe.

Maybe you weren't the only one being affected after all.

"It looks better," Astarion said honestly, "But still needs work. You'll almost certainly be needing more lessons."

Preferably like this. Astarion wasn't quite ready to let you go yet, not when you felt so pleasantly warm in his lap. But luckily enough for him, you didn't seem quite so keen to leave.

Astarion tightened his hold on you laughing at the way it made you gasp, "But that's enough for today. I think you've earned a reward. Don't you?"

"I-yes?" You said back, your eyes flitting from Astarion's mouth and back, "Please?"

You really were too precious. How could he possibly say no to that?

Astarion grinned as he tilted your chin up, finally pressing your lips together. It was an odd feeling, kissing someone when he couldn't stop smiling, but he supposed you just had that effect on him.

Maybe being the camp seamstress wasn't so bad after all.

#astarion #astarion x reader #astarion x tav #baldur's gate 3 #asks #cutsey #this was a very cute idea

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sorceresssundries · 4 days

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Writing promp:

Gale and Tav’s first night in Waterdeep, post-wedding. Both are cuddling on the couch under a blanket, Tav slowly drifting in and out of sleep.

Gale’s in tears as he really can’t believe his luck, with Tav comforting him.

(I’m a romantic sap this evening.)

By the Firelight

Pairing: Gale x male Tav - SFW

Word Count: 800

Now i'm a romantic sap!! I hope you enjoy a little bit of sweet, newlywed bliss. Thank you anon, for the prompt xx

The two Mr. Dekarios were curled up on their favourite sofa in their tower, both still in their wedding robes, drunk on love, joy, and far too much wine. The warmth of the crackling fire beckoned them towards sleep, and they were so entwined they might as well have been one person. They were, really - these husbands of Waterdeep. The broken heroes who had met in dire circumstances and somehow fallen in love amidst shadow-curses and bloodstained battlegrounds. The clash of steel had been their ballad, relentless travel their courtship. Yet, by some miracle, love had settled, flourished, endured, and wrapped them into one person.

Gale had always been one for the grand gesture, for loud declarations and intricate acts of service, it was only now he was able to sink into the quiet, delicate moments he could fully understand the true depth and balance of being the other half of a person. How lucky he was, to be the other half of someone like Tav. No, he thought, correcting himself. Not someone like Tav. There was no-one else like Tav.

Before, he had believed that in order to be loved wholly, he had to chip away parts of himself and squeeze and twist into the cramped chambers of hearts he did not belong in. Tav’s heart was a welcome sanctuary, and no sacrifices or tolls were required to settle into its soft comfort. It was the place he realised he had always been working towards, and now he was there - it felt like finally coming home.

Gale raised his hand from his beloved so the new ring adorning his middle finger could catch the light. The flickering flames made the colours dance together, and the shimmer in Gale’s eyes made it look to him as though the ring was giving off its own glow. As was tradition, they had each designed a ring, which, during the ceremony, had been cut in half and the non-matching halves fused together to create their union rings. Gale was delighted with the blend of their two designs, with how different they were and yet how seamlessly they flowed into each other. Half of the ring was a simple, slim band forged from pure silver, a mythical metal said to offer protection to its wearer, and the other was intricately braided from gold and copper, resembling a beautiful autumn vine.

“Are you crying again?” Tav murmured sleepily, not raising his head from Gale’s chest.

“Not at all, Mr.Dekarios. ”Gale cleared his throat and blinked away the tears. “Just got some dust in my eye.”

“Ah, more dust is it? How strange. There seemed to be plenty of dust in the tavern as well” Tav raised his head to offer Gale a sweet kiss, before settling back down and nuzzling his face against his chest like a cat.

“Is it because of the whole incident with Lae’zel and the cake?” Tav’s voice was low and tired “Because I think she was just trying to be helpful.”

Gale smiled at the memory, “My mother spent a fortune on that cake, and she sliced through the middle of it with a steel sword.”

“She thought there may have been a Kobold in there.”

“Yes, well she also thought the priest may have been a shapeshifter, but luckily we managed to avoid that potential bloodbath. All that was in that cake was a small fortune’s worth of traditional almond sponge.”

He felt Tav’s laugh rumble against his chest “I found it very funny.”

Gale kissed the top of his head, “Well, as long as it made you laugh, my rose. I’ll forgive her.”

The day had been filled with laughter, Gale had never laughed so much in his life. He had laughed so much with Tav it became as instinctive as breathing. They had danced, and kissed (to Tara’s disgust), and smiled until their rosy cheeks ached with joy. He was alight with unfiltered happiness.

Gale let the tears spill and held Tav tighter.

Tav stirred once again, and when he kissed Gale he could taste the salty tears on his lips.

“Normally, I would tell you not to cry.” He smiled and kissed at each tear on his cheek. “But you have earned your joy, and I don’t think you should hold any of it back.”

They settled back together in gentle silence, their breathing in sync and touches reverent and loving as they held each other in comfortable bliss.

“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” Tav’s voice was just a sleep heavy whisper, barely audible over the crackle and popping of the simmering fire.

“What’s that, my love?” Gale stroked his hair, and listened as Tav’s breathing became deeper and their eyes fluttered with the weight of oncoming sleep.

“The next adventure.” Tav sighed, before slipping away to dream of his dusty-eyed husband.

#gale x male tav #baldurs gate 3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #gale fanfic

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anxiousheart7 · 8 months

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*spoilers* Astarion’s story - analysis and thoughts

I’ve been thinking quite a lot on Astarion the last couple of weeks, and the journey I’ve been on with him. I’ve seen a lot of content about him.

I’ll start by saying this - I didn’t ascend him. I couldn’t. I did, however, watch the ascension on YouTube but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. And I’m going to explain why.

Here’s the TL:DR version, with my deeper dive below.

As Astarion gets his revenge in Cazador, his flurry of knives felt oddly satisfying to me. It was a release as grim and cathartic. That cry of pain and ending felt necessary for him. I came out of that palace knowing that it was ok and he’d be ok.

The ascension felt gratuitous. Watching him carve exactly what Cazador put him through should have been cathartic too, but it wasn’t. I just felt a shiver of cold. And that was the moment I knew it was the ‘bad’ ending.

Experiencing Astarion’s Journey - delving deeper

I don’t think I’ve ever quite experienced a character story like his before. Here’s someone who is quite clearly designed to draw you in via the usual routes. He’s attractive, he’s got the funny lines. He’s the rogue - a lot of D&D players’ favourite class. He quickly becomes indispensable.

At the start, his flirting was fun. Act 1 I think is supposed to be a light hearted toe in the water, so to speak. Right up until your first major choice with the goblin vs tiefling conflict. Then it becomes real. But until then you can spend copious amounts of time wandering and chatting to your new friends in camp while some of them (namely Lae’zel, Gale, Karlach and Astarion) go straight to ‘i want you’ territory. And you’ll gravitate to those that are ready to get hot and heavy because…video game sex.

There was such a focus on romancing your camp and you lean into that so heavily in act 1. Approval is all-important. And his approval is harder to get, so you try harder with your choices. You want this guy. Like really want him. He’s like ambrosia. And, if you’re not one of the 100k rejections toted in Larion’s infographic, you get him.

As a recovering people pleaser, I’m not going to lie, that was a hard concept to grasp. To make your choices based on who you were trying to impress is exactly the kind of behaviour I’ve been trying to step away from in real life. But hey, this is a game so I’ll be ok.

And then it starts…

Looking back, there’s this line that stood out ‘it felt like you weren’t all there’. Despite his insistence later, Astarion was very likely going to that place of dissociation that he talks about later on. And that’s sad, because as Tav you want this milestone to be special. You want them to fall in love with you. The reward for all your hard-earned approval hiking.

But Astarion masks. He masks well, but you can tell on Insight that it’s all an act. Even when you look closely, the ham fisted complements he throws at you reflects the 10 charisma he’s carrying around. He works as a lothario not because he’s an adept silver-tongued Casanova. It’s because he’s simply beautiful. People see him and want him. His looks mask what’s going on underneath. But then you look into his eyes and it’s right there, plain as day.

There’s so much more underneath. I have watched the scene over and over with the hammy chat up lines as he’s trying to convince you to sleep with him again (I got propositioned first before the tiefling party) and the more I watch, the more I believe that ‘I love you’ wasn’t an act. They wouldn’t have given you three brush off comment choices if it was. He meant that, and I don’t think he even realised he meant it until he found the words coming out of his mouth - as though he was daring himself to say it.

With Astarion, it’s all in the eyes.

And, as someone who has seen those eyes in the mirror on a pretty regular basis, I knew there and then until he started revealing his backstory - the scars, the master and all the rest, I knew this was going to hit very hard and this man was a deep well. He was so lost that he barely had any idea of who he was any more.

By the time you’re well into Act 2, you’re starting to get the gist of him. You learn about his sadness and sense of loss around his identity before he was turned. You learn about the scars. And you learn about Cazador. I got the sense that all of this exposition was almost like a therapy dump from him. Thoughts and feelings he’s wanted to express for decades but hasn’t had a soul to tell - or he’s been compelled not to by his master. Now he can get them out. He can voice how unfair and unjust it feels. The sarcasm, the cynicism, all a way of expressing how much pain he is in. But one thing he’s never lost is the knowledge that he doesn’t deserve this. He hasn’t been beaten down so much to believe that he is unworthy of better treatment. And that sense of self is what I believe has kept him going all this time. He knows it wasn’t his fault. He knows Cazador was a cruel, sadistic monster.

And I hugged him. Of course I hugged him. I defended his autonomy from the moonrise drow and I hugged him after. At this point I’d fallen as hard for him as he had for me. I cared for him. I couldn’t make any of those obviously awful choices with him. When the details of the ritual came up I felt a knot in my stomach. And sure enough every time we talked after that point he talked about taking that power and I thought ‘this will be rough’.

It reminded me of a lot of really bad experiences I’d had in the past. Boyfriends and friends who were clearly bad for me and I was bad for them. And yet, I needed to help this guy. This person who had nobody for so long. Who didn’t know what it felt like to have someone actually care about him.

I looked this as someone who has experienced trauma in their life. How would I feel. How have I felt? To be scared of so many things. To wonder why on earth would I do something nice for someone else when I’ve sat in alleys, starving and in pain while people just walk on by. No gods to answer my pleas for help. I’d be cynical and disapproving too. I’d have a warped sense of humour. I’d want to never feel that again. Of course he saw the one thing that could protect him and feel compelled to grasp it with both hands.

Astarion has conjured up feelings in me I thought were long gone.

Astarion’s finale

The images I’ve included in this post have been doing the rounds on tumblr and this hits so hard it hurts. Astarion’s journey ends in such as way that it’s meant to be hard.

If you’re a gamer that commodifies your characters as a series of stats or objectifies them based on their design, then ascend him. It doesn’t matter to you. And I’ve seen plenty of people on message boards and Facebook saying exactly that - “but he gets these powers and is so badass”. They’ve never seen past the facade. He was a jerk at the start of the game, a creepy flirt and a vampire ready to be staked. And that was it.

Every excessive power in this game has a major consequence that you have to live with. This choice I think is one of the biggest before the climax of the game.

The ascension pretty much erases him. It takes who he was and the healing that he’s done and throws it away, as if it never really mattered.

And to him he’s worth exactly what he thought he was to begin with. His self-worth is warped into superiority and his hunger and fear replaced with a hunger for power and dominance. He’s not free in this form. He just becomes a new kind of imprisoned. He’s placed in stasis forevermore. And this won’t last forever because as absolute power corrupts absolutely, it also falls. Just like Ozymandius, he’ll rise and collapse under his own grandiose. And he’ll take you with him if you let him.

That steamy scene before he turns you is basically exactly what the Larion writer is saying - you’ve not empathised or grown here. Have your sex scene and then enjoy your eternal enslavement with New Cazador. It’s a bad ending for you and Astarion. You get to be exactly what he was, no matter what pretty words he tried to convince you with - he’s still that 10 charisma trying to convince himself as much as you. He’s Act 1 Astarion with some nifty new powers. He will control you like a doll and yours will be the same half life his was. He’ll start with promises of being his right hand, but somewhere down the line you’ll do or say something and he’ll do to you what was done to him. It’s the ultimate narcissistic relationship.

If Astarion walks away, he’s him. Truly him. With purpose and a new path to walk. You can build a new life together with nothing holding you back. The trauma behind him, he can now walk a path of healing for himself and learn who he is. It makes me feel hopeful and joyful that he gets a second chance.

And that’s where I’m at. My ideal ending is for them both to go off together searching for a cure for his vampirism. Whether it’s possible, who knows - on writing this I’m still to finish my first run of the game. But at least there’s that glimmer of hope in that ending.

I think Astarion is beautiful. There’s a reason half the internet is madly in love with him right now. But if you let yourself, he becomes more than a nice body and a pretty face. His complexity opens up like a puzzle box and you feel the satisfaction of a truly beautiful arc come to its climax. He’s a beautifully written and crafted character and I’m so glad to have experienced his story.

I could say so much more…but it’s long enough as it is. Thanks for reading x

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #astarion ancunin #bg3 astarion

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m00nlight-ramblings · 7 months

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Childfree Gale Headcanons

REQUEST: yes

Some Gale/Tav headcanons being childfree! Some light NSFW. Enjoy

Lots of weekend dates to things like farmer's markets, festivals, and activities within the community.

Spontaneous getaways that Gale always plans - sometimes for a week, sometimes for a weekend, maybe even a day. But he will organize something down to the tiniest detail, and is also very good at keeping secrets/surprises!

Lots of late night talks about whatever he is hyper-fixating on at the moment - your discussions will sometimes last until 3 AM about a book he is reading, or maybe even something you're interested in, in the moment.

Certified Cool Uncle Gale status - you two will happily babysit your friends' kids for the afternoon/evening, and you're always the favorites amongst your nieces/nephews (but you're always really happy to give them back at the end of the day).

Sometimes on a random Sunday, the two of you will spend all day in bed - never getting dressed, and switching between having sex, reading, talking, napping. Gale has obviously never been in a healthy relationship before, so some days he loves to revel in the love you two share.

You two don't have a designated date night, so sometimes when either of you don't feel like cooking, you'll go to the local pub or inn and relax for a few hours. Getting a little tipsy on ale on a Wednesday? Okay, sounds good!

Both of your are very active in the Waterdeep community - ever since you moved in with him, he made it a point to show you off and make sure that everyone knew who you were so you were comfortable in your new home. Because of that, the community surrounding you always feels warm and safe, and you often find yourself doing things together in different groups.

DINNER PARTIES - so many dinner parties. Gale loves to cook and you love to host, so you often have large groups of friends come over for dinner and drinks, with music and games. The dinner parties have become known throughout town as somewhat legendary, and they last very late into the night.

Your home is decorated with lots of not kid-friendly things (magical objects, sharp corners, etc.), but both you and Gale have curated a home that feels comfy and safe, as well as aesthetically pleasing for the both of you.

Tara in lots of sweaters and costumes. Since you're not dressing kids, you're dressing her (and she loves it, even if she won't admit it).

Lots of walks along the water before dinner, while the sun is setting, holding hands and chatting about your days.

There are lots of talks about your future together, and all of the adventures and vacations you want to take - faraway lands, and expensive dinners, and stories infused with the magic of love.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when you're both woken up by whatever, you find yourselves unable to keep you hands off of each other, and will make mind-blowing super loud love well until the sun comes up. Passionate, feverish, I-won't-be-able-to-stop-thinking-about-this-night-for-weeks kind. And then once that is done, you two are able to sleep in to recoup the energy spent.

Feeling like you're constantly in the honeymoon period together since there is no other person you need to focus on in your life.

"It's always going to be us," Gale says as he holds you, "The two of us, together. With you by my side, there's nothing we can't do...together. Us versus the world, my love. And we're just getting started."

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What did you think? I love thinking of Gale as a boyf...he'd be the best partner in the world, I think.

REMEMBER: my inbox is open for requests, so submit something and I'll get to it! :)

#balders gate 3 #bg3 #gale fanfic #gale headcanons #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #gale fan fiction #gale headcanon

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blackjackkent · 25 days

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Working through Rakha's playthrough has had me thinking a lot about the Dark Urge as it relates to the other companion backgrounds.

Initially I was sort of surprised that everyone seems so fundamentally chill about learning that Durge has these dark compulsions, murder urges, bloodlust, etc. But the more I've thought about it and written about it, the more I've seen Rakha finding points of connection and points to relate to pretty much everyone she's traveling with.

I feel like I'm probably not the first person to comment on this, but nevertheless...

Karlach, good-natured as she is, becomes a violent juggernaut when she goes into a rage - not just a barbarian mechanic thing, as we see when she hulks out and tears apart the tollhouse after Anders' death. She's not completely out of control, but it's also not dissimilar from Durge going off the rails.

Astarion is driven by a lust for blood that is entirely disconnected from him as himself; he can struggle to resist it or channel it into productive avenues but it never leaves him entirely.

Shadowheart serves a power of darkness and is tormented by it even as she forms her identity around it. Based on her dialogue in the cutscene and after, there's reason to believe she doesn't really want to kill Lae'zel when she puts a knife to her throat - but she's driven by Shar, a dark force outside herself, to go to these extremes of violence even if she doesn't want to.

Wyll has lost control of his own life completely and left behind everything that he knew when Mizora took control of him. Like Durge, he has the choice to take the powers afforded him and use them in a positive direction, but he is not in control of them, and like Durge, he is cut off from everything he used to be and has had to build a new identity from scratch.

Lae'zel, similarly, is isolated from any familiar points of reference and making her way through a world that often makes no sense. She also is steeped in violence; from the beginning, she describes Durge's bloodlust as completely understandable and is only concerned about it being directed towards the right enemies.

Gale carries the force of the orb inside himself, another dark force that is beyond his control and nevertheless has the capacity to use his body for terrible destructive potential.

Halsin struggles with his more bestial nature and the tendency of the bear form to take him over in moments of excitement - and in that form he has little control over his body's violence. "I may not be able to help but to kill goblins."

I've heard that the game's design was originally centered around Durge, and the option for Tav was a later addition. I do wonder if these companion backstories, dissimilar as they seem at first glance, were deliberately constructed to all reflect aspects of the same struggle Durge is undergoing, from different angles and at different levels of severity.

Or I could be reading way too much into it, of course. :P But that can be fun too.

#bjk plays bg3 durge #rakha the dark urge #dark urge #bg3 dark urge #bg3 durge #durge bg3 #karlach #astarion #shadowheart #wyll ravengard #gale of waterdeep #lae'zel #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 meta #don't mind me just rambling XD

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littlejuicebox · 7 months

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Chasing birds to get high, chasing birds to get by

(Astarion x Original F!Character)

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Chapter number: One Themes: BG3, slow burn, original female character x astarion, dialogue heavy, mostly canon behavior Masterlist: Click here. Song: “Chasing Birds” – Foo Fighters Notes: I used to write a lot, for sheer enjoyment and as a creative outlet, but I haven't in years. This character, inspired by my own Tav, and the storyline of BG3, have really inspired me. It's been nice to get a creative spark back! Even if this goes nowhere, or only one person sees it... I hope you enjoy. :)

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Wren holds the book up in her callused hand, littered in scratches from today's earlier run-in with the owlbear. She eyes the thick, heavy tome with a grotesque, leather cover that appears to be adorned with a face… purple, glowing eyes of amethyst and a wide gaping mouth shaped into a scream. Her gut churns for a moment as she wonders if the cover is really made from the face of some poor, unfortunate, creature… or just a clever design.

The half-elf turns the prize over to examine it further, dusting off the cover in the process, thick clouds of detritus wafting through the air. It’s clear this magic item has been in this basement, untouched, for a while. Wren may not be the most versed in magic, like some of her traveling companions, but she can still feel the power radiating off of it, the hairs of her arm standing on edge, pulled by the object's magnetic force.

“Curious…. why don’t you take a closer look? I’ll observe from back here.” Shadowheart muses, playfully.

The pale elf to Shadowheart’s right chuckles lightly, but otherwise says nothing, which strikes Wren as a bit odd. Astarion loves the sound of his own voice... but he's seemed a little off today, ever since last night's events, when she awoke to his fangs clasped around her neck. Her body gives a slight, involuntarily shudder at the memory, not in disgust, but Wren would be loath to admit it was from excitement and perhaps a drop of… was that arousal?

‘Gods, no. What is wrong with you Wren?’

She hadn’t spent much time amongst humanoids out in the wilds; her friends had been the trees and the whisper of the wind. And the one night she made it back to Baldur’s Gate, after a year away, she had to go and get herself snatched up by a mindflayer. Though, it was unlikely she would have jumped at the chance, had a man or woman attracted her attention that one night. Grief still cloaked her other emotions, covering even the happiest moments in a blanket of sadness.

Her mind wanders to the events of last evening, a throb in the side of her neck, where still new-fang marks join a smattering of freckles.

'"Can you trust me a little further?" He questioned, his head tilted just-so, as she confronted the handsome, pale devil standing before her, revealing his vampiric nature. Arms crossed, she’d eyed him, appraising his intentions. She was irritated, and violated, sure. But the look in his eyes and the desperation in his voice reminded her of the scared rabbits and feral cats out in the wild… all of whom she befriended with a bit of effort and a heavy dose of speak with animals spellcasting.

And for some reason that she couldn't explain, even now, perhaps save the fact that somewhere in her subconscious she associated that vampire with any number of wild things in need of love, she’d relented and given him access to her neck. He’d almost gotten carried away and nearly drained her dry, but she’d shoved him off in time, and well…

Well, that’s that, secret is out. And, for the most part, the group had been accepting of the revelation... as long as they weren't the ones he sunk his teeth into, of course.'

The side of her neck throbs, and she absently brushes her hand against her new neck wounds, partially covered by her chocolate locks.

‘Focus, Wren.'

Snapped back to the present, Wren turns to look at the raven-haired cleric, rolling her eyes in the process. “Always concerned for my safety, aren’t you, Shadowheart?”

Her female companion laughs, “Well, if something does go wrong with what is CLEARLY an evil book, I need to maintain my distance so I can be sure to heal you… or revive you.”

Wren scoffs in response, too prideful to admit that Shadowheart’s logic is sound. After a failed attempt to open the book, which feels as if it’s practically glued shut, Wren turns to the duo, a befuddled expression on her face. After making a second attempt, the ranger hisses through her teeth, voice full of strain and effort, “The damn thing is stuck shut.”

She gives up, exhales a defeated sigh, and brushes a few wayward strands of hair from her face. “Well then, you two, we should probably head back to camp. It's been a long day. Maybe Gale will have a better idea about how to open the book; perhaps it’s locked with some sort of magic that he's read about before.”

“That looks awfully heavy, darling, why don’t you let me carry it for you?” Astarion asks, extending his hand out as if to grab it from her.

“Oh, that’s okay, it isn’t far.” Wren mumbles absently, shoving the thick tome into her pack. Why is he offering to do something kind for her? Has his attitude toward her changed, now that she's done him a favor? Seems unlikely.

Shadowheart cackles, shaking her head as she rolls her eyes up at the ceiling in the dingy, abandoned cellar. "Don't tell me you've become our knight in shining armor, Astarion, and that all it took was a little bit of Wren’s blood to turn you into a brand-new man."

Astarion fakes a gasp, hand planted on his hip, "You wound me, my dear. I'm nothing, if not a gentleman."

----

'Gale? She wants to ask Gale? What, so he can eat the bloody thing?'

Astarion bristles, flipping rapidly through the pages of his book (though not the book he wished to be reading), trying to control his underlying frustration as he watched their little gang leader talk to that pompous wizard.

He was merely pretending to read the book in his hands -- some dreadfully boring story about Baron von Baron they'd found several days back, in the Dank Crypt not far off from the nautiloid ship -- while his keen ears actually zoned in on the conversation playing across the camp, his peripheral vision just able to make out Gale as he placed a hand on Wren's shoulder.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any knowledge on how to open this book, Wren..." the wizard starts, "But by the looks of it, that thing probably contains evil magic, perhaps it's best if we destroy it. If you'd like..."

'Destroy it? He can't be serious. He really does just want to consume what is obviously a valuable and very powerful bit of magic!'

"Hey soldier!"

'Blast it.'

"I just want to warn you, don't get any bright ideas about biting my neck tonight. Unless you like third degree burns." Karlach appears in his periphery, and Astarion turns, forced to acknowledge the hulking woman's giant, good-natured grin on her face.

‘Gods, what horrible timing she has.'

"I'll keep the warning in mind, darling. Though, to be truthful, I do enjoy a bit of pain with my pleasure now and then, you know." The response is automatic, laced with innuendo and his signature vocal gravel, every bit of the retort designed to deflect from the fact that the vampire was still struggling with the idea that the entire camp knew his secret and he’d exposed himself with his impulsivity.

‘You need to be more careful than that, you fool.'

Karlach howls a laugh and shakes her head, walking off towards her own tent, taking a bite out of an apple along the way.

Suddenly, Wren is making her way towards him, tome in hand. Red eyes flicker briefly to the violet-clad man she left behind, Gale's face the picture of disappointment.

"Here," she says, matter-of-factly, as she extends the ugly thing toward him, "It's yours to keep."

Astarion reaches out his hand slowly, eyebrow lifted in such a way that clearly asks, 'Why?'

Wren shrugs, "Gale can't open it. And anyway, you helped me disarm the traps to get to it in the first place. Finder's keepers."

"You aren't interested in it?" The vampire asks, grasping the tome by the spine and staring into the honeyed eyes of the half-elf woman, trying to hide his incredulity.

"Not really," Wren responds, "You clearly are more interested in it. And anyway, even if we could open the damn thing--"

She stops abruptly, thumb moving to rub the vertical scar slashed just across the left side of her mouth. Her eyes flicker, for the smallest moment, with embarrassment.

Astarion looks at her mouth, her finger touching her dainty scar, and feels his mouth water. It almost feels as if undead heart thrums for just a moment thud, thud, THUD. Gods, he must be hungry, he needed to hunt... the owlbear took a lot out of them.

A small shuddering sigh from his companion catches his attention, and the next sentence comes out so hushed that, without his enhanced hearing (thanks to her generous gift last night), he might not have been able to understand it. "Even if we could open the damn thing, it's not like I would be able to read it."

The silence between them stretched just a hair too long. He was truly caught off guard. What could she mean? His tone was slow, measured, but clearly confused. "You... wouldn't be able to read it?"

Wren pinched the bridge of her nose, slamming her eyes shut, just at the tips of her ears began to flush. "I mean... Gods! I can read, okay. I'm not an idiot. I just... I have a condition. My father had the same one. Reading is difficult for me. The letters flip on the pages, sometimes the words move around, and the more complex the material... the more difficult it becomes to read it. The humans call it word blindness... And, I just -- well, it's clear whatever is in here is awfully complex and the thought of trying to sift through it all is already tiring me out." She ends in a flustered huff.

For a moment, Astarion thinks she is playing a joke. But he can tell by the rosiness of her ears and the quickening of her pulse that she is not.

"Oh. Well... thank you, darling. Your little secret is safe with me." He offers her a coy smile and a wink, trying to find a way to smooth the moment over, "And, not that I think you're an idiot, because clearly you are quite capable in many ways, but who needs brains with a face like yours, my dear?"

Wren laughs at his cheesy line, despite the pit of embarrassment sitting in her chest. "Well, now you know one of my deepest secrets. Seems it's only fair... since I know one of yours.”

“Just a moment, darling.” Astarion calls, book in hand, as the little ranger makes a move toward her tent. She pauses, warm orbs of amber focused on his scarlet ones. “I just— I didn’t get a moment to thank you, for last night. That was a gift, you know, and I won’t soon forget it.”

Astarion couldn't help but let his eyes flicker to the fang marks he left on her neck the night prior, hidden among a smattering of freckles that lined her neck and formed a trail down her collar bone, the rest of that speckled constellation hidden by the bust of her blouse. He'd never noticed all her freckles before, nor really paid any mind to the scar that dashed across her lip. Perhaps the blood of thinking creatures had made him more observant than he already was before.

‘Gods I would love another taste of that delicious neck.’

Wren threw a cautious smile in his direction, another beat of silence passing between the two, both of them thrown by his genuine moment of authenticity. “Yes, well… like we discussed. No more drinking without consent, and only attacking enemies and animals from now on. Though, truth be told, I think I might rather you go after evil humans than my poor little squirrel friends.” She smirked at the last bit, eyes flashing with humor. “Good night, Astarion. And good luck opening that vile thing.”

"Of course, darling, I’ll be a good boy. Cross my undead heart. Good night, little bird." He called after her, tome in hand as he turned and walked to his tent, smirking at the bit of luck he just happened upon as he placed the book amongst his belongings before meandering towards the forest. Perhaps whatever information that magical novel contained would give him the power to save himself. As for how to open it? Well, that was a problem for another day. For now, he needed to hunt, and catch more than just a little bird.

#baulders gate astarion #baulders gate 3 #baulders gate tav #astarion fic #fanfic #bg3 #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fanfic idea #astarion fanfic #astarion x tav #astarion x original female character #astarion smut #slow burn

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kirain · 3 months

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What's your least favorite thing about bg3? Mine's the inventory system. 😒

Okay, side rant before I answer! 😆

I actually really like the inventory system, but I've heard a lot of people say they hate it because it's too open with very little direction, and I know that can be a nightmare for a lot of people. In fact, a good friend of mine nearly lost his mind over it, so I showed him how I organise things and he said it helped. Maybe my method can help other players, too.

When I start up a game, I take a companion's alchemy pouch and camp supply pack (usually Shadowheart's, because I use her the least) and add it to my Travellers Chest. If you don't want your companion to be without those items, don't worry. They'll either pick up new ones on their own or you'll find some extra ones you can give them later. Plus, they don't really need them. I never let my companions pick up food or ingredients, or really much of anything without sending it straight to me. Otherwise I know I'll forget they have it. I also add two additional backpacks to my Tav's inventory.

Then, every three or four times I visit camp, I empty my alchemy pouch and camp supply pack into the ones I stored in the chest. Make sure you extract all of your ingredients before doing this (unless you're getting mushrooms of Omeluum, in which case make sure you give those to him before extracting any ingredients or they'll be destroyed, possibly locking you out of the quest). The moving process can be sped up by opening a pack and clicking "take all", then sorting your inventory by "latest". With the items now in your personal inventory, all you have to do is open the packs in the chest, hit "multiselect", and click each item one by one until you can store everything you desire. This sounds monotonous, I know, but it's honestly really fast, and you'll get into a habit if you do it enough times.

Now, in addition to the alchemy pouch and camp supply pack, I also add two different style backpacks, a crude chest, a gilded chest, and a heavy chest to the traveller's chest. Since I bought the deluxe version of the game, I also have the peculiar clothing chest, but if you don't have one, I would suggest grabbing another gilded chest with a different design. Most of these things you can find on your way to or in the Grove, except the crude chest, which you can find in the goblin camp or in Auntie Ethel's teahouse. But you don't have to be insane like me, you can just use another heavy chest or whatever. I organise them like so: backpack 1—dyes, backpack 2—potions, crude chest—weapons, gilded chest—quest items, heavy chest—miscellaneous shit I can't bring my hoarder self to part with, peculiar clothing chest—clothing/kits.

The two backpacks I carry are used for scrolls and explosives/important items I can use to pass checks or teleport, etc. Arrows I usually split between Lae'zel, Karlach, and Astarion, since they have no magic abilities. Though when I played as a fighter, I also kept those with the explosives. That said, since I'm already giving advice, I highly, highly suggest you give most of your arrows to Karlach, as her blows don't seem to be quite as powerful as Lae'zel's, and Astarion can pull off some pretty hard-hitting ranged sneak attacks. I'd also suggest giving Astarion the Shadow of Menzoberranzan, a helmet you can find in the treasure room in the Myconid Colony. It's invisibility is a great boon to any of his rogue builds.

Other than that, the only items that go directly into my traveller's chest are the big boy explosives (barrels, Wulbren's bomb, etc.) since they're too heavy and I usually send them straight there from the wild. I also put Dribbles' body parts in there, because they're annoying and I hate them, but they don't stay for very long.

As for my least favourite aspect of BG3, I'd say it's the companion management, but it looks like they fixed it with the latest patch! I loathed having to manually dismiss everyone just to swap them out with someone else, then run to that person's tent to add them to my party. I also hated having to add a companion to my party just so I could give them a ring or piece of armour. I'm so glad they fixed it. Thank you, Larian! ❤

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #inventorymanagement #bg3 tav #larian studios #astarion #lae'zel #karlach #shadowheart

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ladytesla · 4 months

Text

The Great Faerun Baking Show (Part one of possibly more)

Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put ketchup in a profiterole. Dexterity is crafting a croquembouche out of red craquelin-encrusted ketchup-filled profiteroles. Strength is carrying that croquembouche from your bench to the judge’s table. Constitution is being able to withstand the pressure of having your tomato croquembouche being judged by Prue Leith. Charisma is trying to convince Paul Hollywood that your tomato croquembouche was a completely logical idea.

Twelve new bakers have been chosen to enter the tent. Over the next ten weeks, they will face 30 brand new challenges. Every aspect of their baking will be scrutinized and put up to the scrutiny of Prue and Paul. Each week one will rise to become Star Baker, and whoever crumbles to the pressure will be sent home. But who will go on to win the Great Faerun Baking Show?

I came up with this horrible idea so now I’m inflicting it on all of you. May the gods have mercy on your souls. So here’s how this odd little imagine is going to work. I have no idea what’s going to happen. I’m just going to roll a D20 ‘bake check’ for everyone, and write out the results, including what everyone rolled so y’all know I’m not cheating just so my druid boyfriend can win. The person with the lowest total score (out of a possible score of 60) goes home. I’m going to write this in short form, but if this gets a lot of traction I might make this a full-scale fanfiction with shenanigans on like AO3 or something.

Our bakers are 6 men and 6 women. I put all romanceable companions, Jaheira and Minsc, Dammon because he’s wonderful, and because I’m making the rules here, my tav Medora. If you’d rather not deal with someone else’s tav, just pretend it’s Alfira since they’re both female bards. If you're interested in seeing what my sleep-deprived mind came up with one night, read on!

Week One: Cake Week, or "why did you think putting literal blood in a cake was a good idea"

Signature Challenge: Swiss Roll Cake

Astarion: Dark chocolate and blood orange. It cracked a little on the top, but it tasted quite nice.

Dammon: Apple pie. Surprisingly for a blacksmith who works with heavy-duty equipment he’s really good at making small, delicate things. It had a tiny lattice top in royal icing like a real apple pie would. It tasted excellent.

Gale: He wanted something unusual and colorful, so he went with ube. He wanted to use magic to make it float or change color, but was told that was against the rules. It’s okay though, It was still really nice, and beautifully presented.

Halsin: Wild blueberry and honey. He harvested the honey himself, and was proud to say so. Unfortunately he used sugar instead of salt because he got distracted by some ducks walking by outside the tent, and it tasted awful.

Jaheira: Chocolate and peanut butter. It’s flavors her kids like. Unfortunately Paul seems to always have issues with peanut butter and how it glues his mouth shut. He wasn’t as big a fan of the cake as Prue was.

Karlach: S’mores swiss roll with toasted marshmallows on top. She toasted the marshmallows a bit too much, but that’s part of the charm of s’mores. She’s not sorry.

Lae’zel: Matcha and black sesame. Interesting flavor choices, but not as well-executed as the judges would have liked.

Medora: Lemon meringue. The meringue was very poorly executed, the lemon curd squished out of the sides of the cake, and the cake itself cracked horribly.

Minsc: Chai swiss roll. The swiss roll wasn’t as tight as it should have been, but the flavors were lovely.

Minthara: Chocolate and whiskey swiss roll. Accompanied by shots of whiskey, in an attempt to bribe the judges.

Shadowheart: Cookies and cream swiss roll, with a neat half and half black and white design. It wasn’t perfect by a long shot, but she managed to cover up some of the worst sins with strategically-placed oreos.

Wyll: Red velvet. A classic flavor for a classic guy, and executed almost perfectly.

Technical Challenge: Cherry Cake

Bakers will be listed in descending order of success.

Karlach

Lae’zel

Minsc

Jaheira and Shadowheart tied, actually. You decide who gets fourth.

Either Shadowheart or Jaheira, depending on who’s your least favorite lol

Medora

Halsin

Wyll and Gale also tied. Pick your favorite.

Gale or Wyll

Astarion

Dammon

Minthara

Showstopper Challenge: Chocolate Celebration Cake

Astarion: Tiers are lopsided and the texture is claggy, but he did his best to charm the judges and distract them.

Dammon: Not as successful as his signature round, but his piping work was surprisingly delicate.

Gale: Attempted to make a chocolate tribute to Mystra. The sculptural aspect was lacking, but he was one of the few contestants to use ruby chocolate, which was unique.

Halsin: Used even more foraged berries on a white chocolate cake. Very successful.

Jaheira: Dropped her cake before she could finish decorating it. Could not be judged.

Karlach: Put in some cinnamon and chili to make a Mexican hot chocolate cake. Very nice.

Lae’zel: No one knows what dimension that chocolate came from, only that it was amazing. She got a Hollywood Handshake.

Medora: Finally seemed to get with the program and baked a lovely triple-chocolate cake.

Minsc: Despite him not having hair, Boo drove him like it was a scene from Ratatouille and created chocolate perfection. Hollywood Handshakes for both of them.

Minthara: Her cake was very dry and didn’t have enough frosting.

Shadowheart: Insisted her cake be colored black with activated charcoal and got it everywhere.

Wyll: Tried to go for a classic again, and did well, but the judges wondered if he played it too safe.

The Results

Our star baker this week with a total score of 49/60 is: Karlach!

And unfortunately due to her total score of 18/60, Minthara is the first to leave the tent.

And that concludes Cake Week!

Biscuit Week

Bread Week

Pies and Tarts Week

Underdark Week

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aladaylessecondblog · 5 months

Text

help me say goodbye (gortash x good tav pt 3)

Author's Note: Fingering, sex. Gortash is a manipulative prick.

----------------------------------------------

Tav supposed it was inevitable, even at the infrequent rate Gortash's visits happened.

She thought later that she should've known better than to assume it was just weight gain from the richer diet. The doctor confirmed what she both feared and hoped for.

"You are with child, my lady."

He had given a few gentle pats on the firm roundness of Tav's stomach, and sent her off with an order to eat well and a promise to see her again within a fortnight.

There was a chill down her spine, and yet--and yet there was a strange joy in it as well. A baby, really, a baby, someone to hold close, someone who would really love her. There was a momentary stab of sorrow but (perhaps almost worse) was the fact it passed quickly.

For all the sins he's committed, I hope making ugly children won't be one of them. Astarion's catty voice sounded off in her head. I mean, that NOSE...

One more step on the staircase into the hells. Halsin's voice followed, hard and cold. You should have left while you had the chance...but now you carry his cub, and that will link you evermore.

-----------------------------

Gortash was thrilled, but then, Tav had expected that, along with the announcement he made regarding it.

(She did not bother writing any letters to any of her former friends--they didn't care to hear news of Gortash, so why would they want to know of this?)

What she did not expect was how he would react to her growing figure. Touching her stomach, now, that might've been normal enough, but to do it so frequently...to have her join him for the night, and then to wake up with his hand on her belly...it surprised her in a way she wasn't sure she was ready for.

But it was the change in their bedroom trysts that surprised her most. Whereas before it was once or sometimes twice a week, and mostly a slow, indulgent sort of pace--now it was three or four times a week and with more quick passion. When she asked why after one such session, there was a dark chuckle before he replied.

"Can a man not be excited by his ripe wife?" He pulled her close and laughed again. "The sight of you like this has stirred me like nothing else."

Tav shivered slightly.

Why? Why must you be like this? What is making you act so kindly? Please, just stop. Be the tyrant you always have been, and this will be easier...

She didn't want to enjoy this. Didn't want to relax with the feel of his arms around her, with her head against his chest. This was not what he was supposed to be!

"I...had heard that the sight of a woman round with his child could...excite some men," Tav said quietly, "Something about looking at her, and knowing she would not be so if it weren't for you."

"Exactly that," he whispered in her ear, laying his still-gauntleted hand over the bump in her abdomen. "I see it, I see you, and think that here lies more evidence of my power. That here lies the one who will inherit what I build."

"I had the vague idea that you had planned to live forever," Tav gave a false laugh. "Through some means or the other."

"To live forever would require putting myself under another's power, and that I will NEVER do again." Gortash sat up and brought her with him. He was holding her head in his hands, and meeting her eyes seriously, directly, for the first time since their marriage had been arranged.

Silence.

"I need you to understand, Tav. What we're doing here could become a dynasty. Do you understand? Are you listening?"

Tav quailed, though not from fear of Gortash. She gulped, and forced herself to hold eye contact with him as a few tears slipped out.

"I'm listening."

-----------------------------

"What--here?"

She was pressed against the wall of the conference chamber designated for their meeting with Karlach, and Gortash was quite clearly ready to go. Never mind that they were to commence the meeting shortly, never mind that there were any number of Flaming Fists in the outer hallway--

"Why not?" he was smirking at her as one hand hiked up the hem of her gown. "No one is going to enter this chamber until I allow it."

"You are the most depraved man I've ever met," Tav practically growled the words, but didn't fight a bit when his hand slipped below her underwear. "What happened to not wanting it too often?"

"You happened," Gortash said against her lips, "You, the way you've swelled, the way you carry MY child..."

His fingers stroked down and then in--

Tav gripped tightly at his shoulders.

"Try to keep quiet," he whispered, "Do you WANT to be heard? Do you want the guards to hear how well pleased you are?"

"You--" Tav attempted to retort, but was reduced to a shaky moan when two fingers moved knuckle deep inside her. "Oh..."

"Don't call out," Gortash demanded as his fingers deviously worked inside her, "Don't let them hear you. We must maintain the visage of dignity, after all..."

"I can't--"

"You can, I know you can." The whisper turned dark as he went on, "Or...do you WANT them to hear you, Tav?"

She clenched at the wall behind her as best she could; it was wholly inadequate for the exercise.

"I think you want to be heard," Gortash teased further. His thumb rubbed eager circles over her clit, and only moved faster when she pressed a hand over her mouth. "But it's wonderful you're trying to stay quiet...you're trying so hard to do what I'm asking--of--you--"

He punctuated the last two halts with a thrust of his fingers, and she saw that smug look in his eyes even as she felt the knot coiling tighter and tighter in her belly.

Gods, take me now...

(Only at the last moment before she felt his cock on her thigh did Tav realize he'd also been stroking himself...)

His hand drew back and almost in an instant he'd lifted her just slightly to give a thrust--

Tav held back as best she could, but a muffled moan still sounded off beneath her hand.

It was awkward for about thirty seconds, terrifying for one when she felt herself falling, and awkward once more when she caught herself on the seat of a chair just beside them.

Instead of trying to hold the position she steadied herself and turned to bend over the chair. Gortash instantly took the hint and pushed into her the second he could with an almost choked sort of groan.

"And you tell ME I want to get heard--" she said, "Now...stop fooling around and--"

A hard, almost hip-bruising thrust. A leap of pleasure in her gut.

"I don't recall you being the one who gives orders here," he said, "Such a shame we don't have time to punish you properly for it. But we can correct this bad behavior."

The gauntlet came down to grip tightly at her hip. She gasped more from the surprise of it than the actual pain, but what took her breath away was the next series of thrusts. Hard, merciless, unyielding--and which left her completely unable to form anything like a coherent thought.

"Not a sound," Gortash growled after the next one, "Do you hear me, Tav? Not a single sound until after I've finished you."

It was a struggle, but with a hand clapped firmly over her mouth, Tav managed it. The ecstasy rose higher, higher, and higher still, until every feeling was lust and every thought was more--and then suddenly it broke. Her whole body shuddered with the release and the effort, and from the grunt and spasm behind her she knew he'd almost at once found his own end. It was a cascade of feeling, as the fine point of release faded into the warm afterglow...

On shaky legs she stood, healed the wound at her hip, and adjusted her gown. Gortash tucked himself away and rebuckled his belt.

Just in time, too, for there was a knock at the door.

"Enter," Gortash called.

It was one of the Flaming Fists.

"Karlach's here."

"Send her in."

--------------------------------------------

The look of surprise on sight of Tav was written all over the tiefling's face, but Karlach got down to business right away without once mentioning it. There was still the matter of the remaining Absolute army--Gortash suggested having splinter factions form in order to not only weaken the different units but also remove the singular focus as a whole.

"Won't they question that?" Tav asked. "The point of the Absolute was to unite them."

"'Only a suggestion, my dear. What do you propose?"

"Something similar, but...perhaps purging the more...bloodthirsty units in some way. Such soldiers can be handy, but...well, Orin comes to mind. A mad dog can bite its master's hand too."

"And well we know that," Karlach added.

In the end, though she didn't at all care for it, it was hashed out that the more...evil inclined...units, or soldiers, would find themselves encouraged to take place in bloodsports. The army of the Absolute would need strong champions, after all, and what better way to prove themselves than in such competition?

Karlach stood to leave once they had issued the order to the elder brain.

"Perhaps you'd like to stay for dinner," Tav said, "It's been so long, I'd hoped that I could see how you're doing. You and all the rest of..."

"Ah, you know me, soldier, I don't do well in places like this." Karlach gave a strange half-done smile, and a glance in Gortash's direction. "And I'm not so certain others would like the view."

Tav inclined her head.

"I understand. You prefer the freedom of...Moonrise Towers, and its surroundings. It's been some time since I visited..."

In similar nothings did the conversation conclude. Karlach left politely if a bit coldly.

--------------------------------------------

Perhaps it was a masochistic streak that lead her to make the journey down to the Elfsong on foot. It hadn't been bad before, but something about trying to do it not--perhaps it was just from her swollen feet. They HAD been paining her of late. Whatever she had been eating wasn't--she didn't know how to describe it, but she wanted something less refined. Something more in the way of common food, even if it was only just so.

It was raining by the time she got inside, and after fielding a few bows and polite greetings Tav headed for the bar. No alcohol, of course, but they did have a delightful fruit blend that--

"I was glad to get out of there."

Karlach's voice sounded off from a corner table, and Tav--after making a quick order for some chicken and shrimp stew--listened carefully to see what she could hear.

"She looks like she's enjoying herself. Didn't bring up the grave--Wyll told me to ask about it, but really, I don't think it's going to be necessary."

"We should all have gone," Shadowheart's voice was heard then.

Tav got her stew, and started on it.

"And make you put up with Gortash's company? I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

Yet you're making me do it, Tav thought. She tried to shut out the thought, tried not to hear more, but there was no escaping it.

"It's not that I don't want to see her," Karlach went on, "It's him. But...you should've seen her...parroting what he thought and agreeing with him in smaller ways, like she was toadying up to--"

A surge of anger carried her up and away from the very-much-wanted stew, towards Karlach's table.

It was as if something inside her had broken, given way,

"I'm so sorry I DON'T meet your standards," she snarled, "Pardon me for trying to please the man who could make my life as good or bad as he wanted to."

"I didn't make you do that!"

"What choice did we have?" Tav asked. "Orin doing what she did, the tadpoles, and...I just..."

"We could've found a way out," Karlach replied.

"I wasn't going to take the chance on losing anyone else, not after--after--" She took a deep, shaky, horrible breath. "--I did this all for all of YOU, and you just...you just abandon me! And then you wonder why I've shifted about to keep this man I call husband happy!"

Neither of the two could find a reply to that.

"I...I just wanted things to be as they were. I thought...I could bear with it, I have my friends! ...but...it looks like...like you hate him more than you like me." Tav took a deeper, shakier breath. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to...to unburden you from my company."

"Tav--"

She didn't listen; whether it was Shadowheart or Karlach no longer seemed to matter.

-------------------------------------------

There was a breeze, at least, and an air of calm peace. It was a place she was sure Halsin would have loved in life, and as for Astarion--well, his grave would get plenty of sun most days out here. It was outside the city, under a nice tall tree. And getting no sun right now, with the grey rainclouds largely blocking it out. She would have to leave sooner than anticipated if it started raining, else the maids would fuss at her for getting her silks wet.

The gravestone she looked down upon was marble, cut with the words:

HERE LIES ASTARION & HALSIN

LET YOU WHO READ THIS KNOW: I LOVED THEM BOTH

AS ONCE THEY LOVED BOTH MYSELF AND EACH OTHER

Atop the gravestone was a carving of a bear dancing with a star.

"I miss you both," Tav said quietly, "You have no idea how much...I wish I could turn back time and undo all of this, but I can't...time only moves forward and I...and I..."

Her tears began to fall just as the drizzling of the rain began.

"I don't think they meant to, but...but it's just been Gortash all this time, just me with him, trying to...trying to make something of the pile of shit I've..."

Deep breath. It didn't much help.

"Help me figure this out. Help me figure out how I'm suppose to--to--keep doing any of this when the people I did it for...don't seem to realize what I gave up for them. Maybe they don't realize because...because they don't have to live it. He's all that I have now and I...I'm afraid of what I might feel..."

She let her gaze rest on Astarion's name.

"It should be you, my star," she said, "Astarion. It should be YOUR child I carry..."

She looked away.

"Or Halsin's, but..." Tav took another deep breath. "I miss you more right now, Astarion. The jokes, the snobbishness, the catty humor...you were everything, until Orin...until Orin..."

She burst into tears once again.

There was a sudden chill, and she shivered, standing and pulling her cloak more tightly about her shoulders.

But she realized quickly it wasn't the rapidly-worsening rain, because none was falling over her.

Someone--she remembered this one from the Flophouse--was holding an umbrella over her head.

"I had heard you knew where this grave was," said a dark, clipped voice behind her. "How fortunate you chose to visit it today."

Wiping her eyes, Tav looked up and into those belonging to Cazador Szarr.

#spawns are for holding umbrellas #misery abounds #gortash x tav #tavtash #gortash #gortav #gortash bg3 #bg3 gortash #bg3 cazador #enver gortash #fanfiction #bg3 smut

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astarionposting · 4 months

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do you know any blogs with actually unique tavs? Like yours? This may sound rude, but it's not my intention! But some tav's are looking very much alike or look like they use tiktok..

Hello! Personally I love all Tavs/durges/ocs and think they are all unique, even if some may look similar, it just means it is a good design and good taste ;)

As for my favourite tavs/durges/ocs, I really love these blogs:

@haarleps - so many amazing and unique ocs, I really love Freyr and Nyx <3

@cheekylittlepupp - MIRA, MIRA IS VERY BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE HER

@anderwelt - Ceres and Tae are some of the most unique looking ocs I’ve seen, and their newest designs look soooo good <3

@mercymaker - Malayne - drow oc that is incredibly hot, like she is so mother

@vspin - Tav’Lyn - Another Drow oc that I am in love with and is also very mother I love her so much

@korcariiwitch - Vel’wyn….ANOTHER Drow oc that is incredibly hot and I am also in love with (are you seeing a pattern here yet?)

@julietvoid - I love their oc Naenia so much and have a huge crush on her like her scales, her hair, her eyes, EVERYTHING I wanna give her a big kiss

@honeysulani - Oak is the hottest green dude I’ve ever seen and I’m obsessed with his design it is so cottage core to me

@elminsters - Eurydice is incredibly gorgeous and we need to see more of her, once I stop procrastinating my Tav edits this weekend I’ll eventually get to her and I’m so excited 😭 (also the story of Eurydice and Orpheus in Greek mythology always makes me cry so her name has a special place in my heart)

@stinkrascal - SOOOOO many beautiful and unique ocs, u just have to go take a look like fr go do it rn, but I have to say Aza is one of my fav designs

@bhaalbaaby - PENELOPE and HELE!!!! that is all I have to say 😌😌

@tadpole-apocalypse I FORGOR TO ADD beautiful, amazing, incredible, show stopping art work of their OC Morgan and their art style is so unique I love it

I also remembered I had a similar ask to this one and mentioned pretty much the same blogs and also some extra ones! I didn’t want to tag too many people again just so I don’t annoy them, so I just tagged the blogs I see regularly posting oc content/the OCs I have a big huge giant crush on 😊

If you are a Tav/durge/oc blog, reply as well so I can add you to the list! I always love discovering new blogs <3

#my asks #blog recommendations

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jarebear20 · 29 days

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Dark Urges Prefer Gentlemen

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Featured Pairings: OC/Astarion, OC/Wyll/Halsin

Tumblr Link: tba

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55492618/chapters/140823982

Summary: Longtime friends Kalli and Jare find themselves in Faerûn under strange circumstances. Aside from the usual perils of being dropped in the middle of a fantasy setting, Jare must now contend with the dark urges threatening to take control of her new body. The mindflayer tadpole is just added insult to injury.

A companion to @thebearmuse's Gentlemen Prefer Tavs

---

Blood.

She can smell it. Hell, she can practically taste it. It hangs heavy in the air, like a balloon ready to pop. Before she can make sense of it, the metallic tang wraps around her throat and yanks. Her body screams, one long nerve lighting up as if it’s been struck, but all that greets her is a wet gurgling sound.

She is making that sound.

“Shhh.” She sags with relief as fingertips brushed against her temples. The pain recedes, just enough that she can actually focus on the voice somewhere above her. “It’s going to be alright. I won’t let you die.”

Oh. Well that’s good. She didn’t exactly plan on dying today. Trying to open her eyes, she lets out a sharp intake of breath as the pain flares up once more.

“You need to rest,” the voice continues. “The transition was not an easy one, and we’ll need you at your full strength for what is to come.”

Well that’s ominous. But before she can even try to talk, she feels herself slipping back into unconsciousness. Lips press against her forehead and she hears before the blessed darkness takes her, “Remember: we’re betting on you.”

——

The smell of blood is still there when she wakes, but she’s too distracted by the sensation washing over her to pay it much mind. It feels warm, almost like pure sunlight being poured directly into her. When the feeling fades, she thinks she might be able to move properly.

She pushes herself up, wanting to take proper stock of her surroundings. But when she opens her eyes, she hisses. A hand presses against her back for support.

“Jare? Is that you?”

She knows that voice. “Kalli?” Ignoring her discomfort,she looks at the person in front of her.

They’re not the Kalli she is familiar with. For one, the Kalli she knows doesn’t have pointed ears like an elf. The hair doesn’t quite match what she remembers of her friend, nor do the eyes quite hold up. But somehow, she knows that it’s really Kalli. How does she know that?

“Are you alright?”

Jare assesses herself. She can feel the various parts of her, which is nice. But there’s an ache to them that tells her she could really do with more rest. That’s less nice.

“Everything hurts,” she admits. “What… happened, Kalli? One minute we were starting the game, then--”

“We appear to be in Faerûn somehow,” Kalli answers. She sounds more calm than Jare feels at the moment. How long has she been here? “Not a clue where we are, other than not on the nautiloid. I woke up just before you did.”

“Uh huh.” Jare doesn’t mention what happened before. Did it really happen? Or had she dreamed the whole thing up? “That explains the ears and lack of glasses then.”

“Oh!” Reaching up, Kalli feels her new ears. “That goes for you as well.”

Humming, Jare feels for her own ears. The tips taper off into soft points. Interesting, but something still feels off. Like she is wearing a costume.

She blinks, surprised as a thought occurs to her. “My eyes—did one of them change?”

Jare had never been diagnosed with color blindness, but it’s the only way she can think to explain what she sees when she looks at her friend. Like someone has put a partial filter over her vision.

“That was you in character creation?”

“I thought I’d try branching out with a character’s design.” It’s never been her forte. “Seemed fitting for a Dark Urge character, no?”

“Well, it certainly is dark.” Kalli smiles. “I’m just glad it’s not connected to your wounds.”

“You never know.” Taking a moment to adjust to the change in vision, she glances around the room. “Durge does start off covered in blood.” And a headache, like the one starting to creep over her.

“Well shit. You weren't kidding about this not being the nautiloid.” There’s plenty of gore even if she ignores the stuff surrounding her, but the room looks more cave-like than the sort of stuff to be found on an Illithid ship.

"Nope, I wasn't. But hey, at least the designer studied color theory." Kalli gestures to the pools of blood. "Look, they're a happy red, not a Scorsese red."

The laugh feels like a knife slipping between her ribs. “Ow. Please don’t make me laugh.”

"Sorry, I've already had some time to process, so here we are with weird humor as a coping device." Kalli looks around. "Think you're okay to stand yet? Because wherever we are, it feels profoundly unsafe."

“Not sure,” she admits, though she’s already moving to make the attempt. “But we can’t stay here.” Kalli helps her get to her feet. Dark spots dot her vision, but Jare pushes through it. They don’t have much time, she thinks. Whoever fucked her up could come back at any moment and finish the job.

She feels something deep inside of her tug at the thought. Huh. There’s something there. If she just…no. Later. When they’re safe.

It takes some time before that happens. Despite lucking out and finding two lesser scrolls of invisibility in a chest, the pair still have to sneak past dozens of people in robes. It’s slow work, as her body keeps trying to give out beneath her. Just a little further…

They reach a dead end in the form of a stone slab blocking what is clearly an exit point. There has to be some way to open it—

The stone shifts, moving upward as someone on the other side activates whatever mechanism controls it. She steps forward, ready to book it as soon as she sees an opening, when

KillkiLLsTaBslicethatprettyfaceMAKEHERPAY

“JARE!”

She reels, barely stopping herself from lashing out from the rage boiling inside of her. At her feet is Kalli, braced for a blow that never comes. “What…?”

"Oh good, you're back." Kalli scrambles to her feet like it’s nothing. As if she wasn’t about to be attacked by her friend. "I don't know what just happened, but we need to get out of here before it happens again."

"Did I hurt you?" Anxiety eats at her, images of what might have happened if she hadn’t stopped in time flashing in front of her. Her head throbs.

"No, I'm fine. I just fell trying to stop you from going back in there. You didn't seem to like the woman in red." Kalli pats her. "We can sort that out later. We've got to move before someone finds us."

“Right.” But the guilt still gnaws at her, even as she spots the traps. "Keep to the sides. You see those long rectangles running across in rows? They look like pressure plates. I can't see where the attached traps are, but they're probably in the middle."

She’s not sure how she knows they’re there, but right now she isn’t going to question it. "All right. Let's go."

#misc: jare's writing tag #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #dark urges prefer gentlemen #gentlemen prefer tavs #astarion #astarion x oc #wyll #wyll ravengard #halsin #wyll x oc #halsin x oc #wyll x oc x halsin #modern character in baldur's gate #modern girl in baldur's gate #modern character in faerun #modern girl in faerun

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psalacanthea · 3 months

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Vampires, Romance, and Other Dead Things- Ch. 5

New chapter of the Astarion x Tav Modern AU fic. Zyn learns (shockingly), that his unwanted vampire spawn squatter has been lying. Who could have predicted that?

...

Zyn was cuffed by the back of his hoodie and dragged towards the door, away from the collection box. No! His easy out!

Like a scruffed cat, he flailed, hood falling back, hair tumbling in his face. “Come on! Get off me!”

“You disrespectful little rat!”

Shit.

It was Joe.

Ducking down low, he threw an elbow back, hitting a disturbingly solid beer belly with the swing. Joe gave a loud, offended ‘oof’, smacking him on the back of the head with a meaty hand. Zyn did some shoulder-checking and slapping, but didn’t make it free until he was all but thrown against the wall, forehead bonking the doorframe. Spinning around, he yanked his hood up, trying to hide from what brave sunlight managed to pierce down here. Silver eyes met narrowed, muddy hazel ones. Glaring up at him, a half-elven man with jowly face and rough complexion smacked his hand against his chest, sending Zyn back against the rough stone wall.

“I got errands to run, man, come on.”

“You can’t take five minutes out of your– look at me.” Joe smacked him on the cheek roughly.

Zyn glowered, forcing his attention back.

“You can’t take five minutes out of your day? You gotta act like you’re too good to be here?”

“You think I want people seeing me here?” Zyn asked snidely, and got another smack for his trouble, this time a little harder. With a grimace, he rubbed his aching jaw. “Keep your hands to yourself.”

“I got an errand for you to run.”

“No,” Zyn snapped, shrugging the man’s hands off of him. “I’m goin’ inside. I’m gonna go pray.”

Joe stuck a thick finger in his face. “You do it properly.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna do it properly. Lay off me.”

“You get away with a lot of shit, you know.” Joe lifted his voice as Zyn threw his hands up and stepped inside. “You get away with a lot! I wouldn’t put up with this shit from anyone else!”

Zyn stepped into the cool darkness of the shrine of Misfortune, rolling his eyes so hard there was a stab of pain from his aching eyeballs all the way to his brain. Ow. Grimacing, he yanked off his sunglasses, rubbing his forehead. The altar was just a few steps, taking up an entire half of the round room, candles sputtering and flickering, larger offerings besides mere cash stacked up on the altar. Random bits of gold-plated shit like candlesticks and statuettes, some phones, jewelry, one or two magical items, weapons, even a designer handbag. It wasn’t about what you gave, it was the fact that it was worth money.

Everything here would just end up pawned at the end of the week; Joe’s family ran a whole chain of pawn shops that laundered anything that wasn’t cold hard cash.

Now that he was in here, there was no more attitude. Zyn wasn’t going to get himself in trouble just to be a shit. There were consequences for that. Above all, he really hated consequences. Stupid things.

And never proportional!

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion x tav #astarion #tav: zynatheri rivati #VRAODT

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gunpowdercarousel · 9 months

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This game is honestly in DIRE need of a cosmetics system. The dyes are a great addition, but they're just not enough. You can't always recolor something to make it fit. I think I literally lost steam in a playthrough because I bought the Graceful Cloth, put it on my Tav, and found it so heinously unflattering that I just couldn't continue.

And the problem is that it's SO GOOD. It's almost unthinkable to find something BETTER for a Dex-based character, so I just COULDN'T justify not using it. So here and I am, stuck with this frumpy, awkward-looking armor that's just ruining every cutscene for me.

Am I being dramatic? Yes.

But I honestly think cosmetic systems in modern RPGs should basically just be a given at this point. You should be able to control exactly how your character looks and dresses without having to worry about if it's going to impact gameplay at all. It sucks to get a beautiful piece of armor only to have to throw it away because it's just not optimal for your build.

Credit to the design team for managing to make 90% of the armor look really good, but sometimes stuff just doesn't fit. I feel like Karlach wearing almost anything but her default armor just looks kinda whack, even if her new armor looks objectively GOOD. It just doesn't fit the vibe.

All it would take is just like one extra tab: Outfits.

Boom. Done. You can wear whatever you want and not worry if it looks whack as hell.

Anyway, rant over.

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #bg3

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the-eldritch-it-gay · 5 months

Note

15, 16, 18, and 23!

15. Do they have any sentimental items?

I think the most sentimental thing they have is what I designed for their starting armor, which is druidic leather armor but modified. The sentimentality comes from the fact that it would probably be easier at some point to just get rid of them and make or buy a new set of armor. But instead they kept it, mended it, created something new with it. It might not be a, like, positively sentimental item, in fact to them its a constant reminder of everything they lost and all the years of suffering they went through in their circle, but they can't bring themselves to get rid of it.

(Them keeping the armor and modifying it reminds me of a snippet from the piece with Halsin, where in their memory they at one point were having to modify and alter the druid leathers given to them by their circle because the circle hadn't considered how they're a tiefling with a tail. Which always stuck out to me as a very sad detail.)

16. What’s your Tav’s favorite childhood memory?

This is so tough because I don't think Majexatli has like, much of any positive memories from childhood, they ran away into the wilds when they were old 8 and life had already been tough for them.

I think perhaps it's their first time going into wildshape. They were probably around 12/13ish, and I think it's a special memory both because it was such a big accomplishment for them and they would go on to spend much of their time in wildshape. But I also think it's a special memory because Majexatli was always a rather sickly and weak child, even before the attack they had health issues, and when going into wildshape for the first time they were able to feel. Health, strong, for the first time, able to run around in ways they never were able to on two legs.

18. What did they want to be when they were younger?

I think perhaps that Majexatli wanted to be some sort of Artisan or Musician. In game I usually have them with a lyre and they like to play for people, though they don't have a good performance skill until like late act 2/early act 3 really. Before I jumped back to Act 1 again, I finally got the achievement of earning 100 gold by busking with Majexatli.

They probably also had a period of wanting to be some sort of healer, which as a druid they can be a healer (though in game they rarely do because of being focused on fighting in wildshape) but that ended up coming about far more out of necessity over the years than their desire to help people or interest in medicine.

23. Share any hcs/anything you want to say about your Tav’s backstory

Majexatli is actually very good with kids and they really have a soft spot for kids. For many reasons, one being that they had such a terrible time as a child and never had anyone help them, and they couldn't live with themselves if they left a child to suffer like they had been. Two is they really wanted a family and to have kids, though nowadays they're quite conflicted with everything that happened with themselves in the past wrt to having children (at one point they were actually pregnant, with Althyran's child no less, and the whole thing is too complicated to sort through their emotions and what happened even all these years later)

#eldritch it speaks #eldritch it answers #salam plays bg3 #oc: majexatli

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mumms-the-word · 2 months

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BG3 Tav Backstory Bash

This is a challenge to help people flesh out their Tav’s backstory by exploring their past. It is organized into four sections with seven prompts. You can treat this as a monthly challenge or a general project. You can write headcanons, fics, or share art based on the prompts! You can interpret the prompts however you want. If you want to share use the tag #bg3backstorybash

Got tagged by @elspethdekarios who already knows like way too much about Dani (I always pick Dani for these things, even though I should try to do them for Ardynn, Freyr, and Invi too). I'm insane and did all of the prompts from @kelandrin's original post. Anyone who steals this absolutely does not have to do that.

I'm tagging everyone. All of you. Everyone single person with a Tav.

Meridan "Dani" Zavrai (later Dekarios)

Age: 25

Mephistopheles Tiefling • College of Lore Bard • Entertainer • Chaotic Good

For your sanity, it's all under the cut c:

Baby:

Parents

Dani is the daughter of Maeva Zavrai and some unknown, unnamed (for me) deadbeat bard who never stuck around. Obviously Maeva knew his name, but she never spoke it after he left, because there was no point in dredging him back up.

They met in a tavern. Maeva was working as a barmaid to save up money to accomplish her dream of becoming a talented seamstress who designed elegant clothing. A certain handsome tiefling bard visited one day and the two hit it off really well. He ended up sticking around for a few months right up until the night Maeva told him that she thought she was pregnant. He conveniently disappeared the next day. No notes, no goodbyes. Maeva saw it coming a mile away, but it still stung.

Around the time Dani was a few months old, though, Brannon Rufford stopped by with his wife and brother, calling themselves the Merry Rovers. Brann's wife was heavily pregnant the night they stopped to perform at Maeva's tavern, and went into labor that same night. Maeva assisted with the birth despite not being much of a nursemaid, but Brann's wife died due to complications. Brann was...broken, and at a loss, and wasn't sure what to do next. Maeva offered to nurse his infant daughter for a few days while he figured something out. He and his brother disappeared for a week, but Brann then came back with a handful of gold and a strange request. If he worked to provide money for her, Dani, and his new daughter, Liara, could she care for his daughter for a year or two? Maeva reluctantly agreed, and from then on Brann became a kind of adopted dad to Dani, while Maeva became an adopted mom to Liara.

Birth

Dani was born in a room in the tavern where Maeva worked at the time. It was relatively uneventful as far as births go, but poor Maeva was expected to get back to work only days after giving birth, or else risk losing her room over the tavern. She moved in temporarily with her mother until she met Brann, and Brann's handful of gold and continued support allowed her to purchase a ramshackle house of her own.

First word

Probably "mumma" or something. Maeva was all Dani had for the first several months of her life. Maeva's mom was there, too, but she died before Dani could have any real memory of her.

When they first walked

She was probably a very average 10-11 months or so. I can just see her doing cute butt-scooches for the longest time, with her grandmother tutting that she's falling behind, right up until Maeva brings Liara home. When she first comes home, Dani pulls herself up to peek down into the makeshift cradle where Liara is laying, and it's obvious she's trying to make sense of this not-blue baby with no tail and round ears. Maeva tells her that Liara is going to be staying with them for a while and that it will mean some changes. After that, she's a little more inclined to walk (in part out of necessity).

Tantrum

Dani has had so many tantrums (though she's adapted her style since her baby days). Her first significant tantrum was probably after Liara had joined their household, but after Maeva's mother had died. Maeve had to bring both of them to work at the tavern and had placed them in a corner behind the bar with a couple of wooden toys to keep them occupied. While she was off cleaning tables, Liara snatched one of Dani's toys and Dani just had to scream about it. Just an absolute racket, which set Liara off, so now there are two crying babies in the corner. The tavern owner threatened to fire Maeva if she couldn't find someone to watch her brats, so Maeva quit and returned home to turn her place into a seamstress shop, something she'd been planning to do for ages anyway.

First sickness

Very early in Dani's infancy, she caught a mild cold thanks to the winter chill. Maeva was beside herself. This was her first kid, she didn't have much money for a healer, and she didn't know the first thing about soothing a baby who was hurting from upset tummies, stuffy noses, and other symptoms that must have been very, very new to a baby as young as Dani was. She ended up running to her mother's house in the wee hours of the morning half-convinced Dani was going to be dead by sunrise, until her mother took the baby, told Maeva to go to sleep, and had Dani snoozing peacefully within the hour.

Thunderstorm

Dani probably slept through most thunderstorms in Baldur's Gate. Stonyeyes, the district where Maeva lives and works, is sheltered partly by the Duskhawk Hill, so they didn't have much to fear from the Chionthar river flooding or anything like that. Honestly, the tavern noises she slept through as a baby were probably louder than most thunderstorms.

Childhood:

Friends/Siblings

I'm putting these together because to Dani, her friends Liara, Paraxxel, and Kellen are her siblings, especially Liara.

Liara was obviously the first. Though Liara lived with Dani and Maeva for the first 2-3 years of her life, Brann eventually decided to take Liara traveling with him. So for the next 10-12 years, Brann and Liara were a bit more like extended family who dropped by once a month or so. Liara still calls Maeva "Maemae" (a mix of Maeva and mama) and Dani still considers Brann the closest thing to a father she's ever had, but their relationship during this time was a bit more like really close friends. Liara is a bubbly, romantic girl who is obsessed with a good love story or love ballad and thinks her father hangs the moon.

Dani met Paraxxel (her dragonborn bestie) when he was just a street performer with an old drum and the clothes on his back. I have a whole fic about them meeting. But long story short, she convinces him to join Brann and Liara as part of the Merry Rovers, so now every monthly visit has him in tow, too. Paraxxel is a snarky, restless kind of guy who's always tapping out rhythms on his legs, on the table, etc. He and Dani are often going back and forth, ribbing and teasing each other. He's five years older than Dani, so he also takes on a kind of protective older brother role in her life, even though she insists she can fight in a scrap better than he can.

Kellen, the final member of the current Merry Rovers, joined around the time Dani was 13 or 14. He's a quiet, shy half-elf who mostly plays the flute for the Rovers and doesn't sing as much. He's about a year or two older than Dani and Liara, and Liara fell in love with him at first sight. She constantly talks about the fact that they're going to get married one day, but she never actually told Kellen she liked him until they were all well in their teens, because for a while it seemed like Kellen wasn't interested. He was, he just didn't know how to put it into words, and Brann is scary. Out of all the Merry Rovers, he's the most level-headed and sensible, second only to Brann.

Getting into trouble

When does Dani not get into trouble? She gets into scraps a lot in her childhood, including the scrap that let her meet Paraxxel. The kids that made up little street gangs in Stonyeyes were everywhere, and she wasn't about to let them cause trouble for her and her mom.

Birthday

I don't have an exact date for her birthday because I didn't think that far ahead, but during her childhood, her birthdays were always spent with Maeva (and Brann, Liara, and whoever else was part of the Merry Rovers that year, if they could make it). Maeva usually went out to buy a sweet treat and made as fine a dinner as she could for the evening. Gifts were few and far between, but Dani will never forget her twelfth birthday, when Brann gifted her her first fiddle and promised to teach her how to play it.

Games

Dani loves games. All games. Most of the games she played in childhood were the kinds you can play without actual equipment (no balls, no cards, etc). But being part of tavern culture in many ways, she learned how to play cards and play simple games in the streets with other kids too. (I have a fic where she teaches the BG3 companions one of her favorite games, actually).

Learning something new

Brann taught her every musical thing she knows, plus a couple of easy bard spells once he saw she had the talent for it. He started her off on the lute, since that's what Liara was learning at the same time, but at 12 he gifted her with a small fiddle and began teaching her that, too. She practiced for hours whenever he wasn't around so that when he next arrived, she could impress him and learn something new.

Trauma

This is a good segue into the next section. Despite growing up relatively poor, getting into scraps as a kid, and having several of the people she loved the most only visiting once in a while, Dani's childhood wasn't exactly traumatic. Hard, maybe, but she was happy most of the time. That is until she was 15 and her mother grew ill with some kind of illness that nearly killed her.

Since Dani and her mother couldn't afford healers for the most part, they tried to cure the illness the best they could, but her mother was bedridden for weeks. Dani was forced to pick up a few jobs, in the tavern, playing on the street, trying to do other people's laundry, to earn enough coin to buy her mother potions or herbs. Brann and the other Rovers were nowhere nearby and she didn't know how to get in touch with them. For the first time, she felt suddenly desperately alone and terrified that she might lose her mom.

Maeva eventually recovered, but the illness had forever weakened her legs, and she was unable to leave her bed for several more weeks.

Despite nearly losing her mother, Dani came to the conclusion that the only thing she could do to earn enough money to actually help her mother was to join the Merry Rovers. So once her mother was out of danger, she begged and begged and begged to join the Rovers the next time they passed through. Maeva agreed reluctantly, and the next time Brann arrived, he agreed to let her travel with them for while. Dani vowed to send money back as often as she could so that her mother could afford visits to a healer.

Teenager:

First love

Probably some scrappy Outer City kid who told her she was pretty enough times that she figured he wasn't just flirting. But even then, it was a fleeting relationship and it fizzled out immediately when Dani's mom got sick. After that, well...Dani is a flirty girl, and she's no stranger to one-off trysts and quick flings. It isn't until she meets Gale that she realizes what it actually means to love someone the way ballads sing about love.

Rebellion

Dani is a bit of a rebel at heart. While traveling with the Rovers, even though she loved and respected Brann, she didn't always listen to him when he told her to stay at the inn they were using that night or to not wander off. Liara swears Brann got more gray hair having to deal with Dani ignoring his orders than he ever had traveling with just her, Paraxxel, and Kellen. Sneaking out was just a common thing for Dani for a while. But she always came back.

Running away

Technically Dani didn't run away because she left her mother's home to travel with Brann with her mother's permission...but she did technically leave home at 15 to live the life of a wanderer without a home. I don't think she ever thought about running away from the Rovers. Never once. She loves them too much.

Reckless behavior

More than once while traveling with the Rovers, Dani has snuck out to meet someone for a tryst or gone gambling with the money she's supposed to be saving up to send to her mother. She's a good card player, but she sometimes doesn't know when to stop while she's ahead.

Peer pressure

Paraxxel and Dani have almost always been as thick as thieves, but for the most part it's never been romantic or flirty between them. Despite this, the ever-romantic Liara swore she saw sparks flying between them and that Dani and Paraxxel should totally start going out. Both of them were hesitant, but Liara is pretty persistent. So for Dani's 18th birthday, she and Paraxxel agreed to at least try it out. They both got pretty wasted and slept together that night. It was...fine? But the vibes were weird and both agreed, in the clarity of a slightly hungover morning, that they shouldn't do it again. They both preferred being friends and nothing more.

Growing pains

Dani probably went through a physical growth spurt after joining the Rovers, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle between knowing how to mend her own clothes and pestering Brann with a bunch of questions he always felt a little too awkward to answer. Emotionally, she dealt with the repercussions of several ill-advised trysts or unwise decisions to party or gamble. It took her a while to realize that she didn't have to constantly go out and "experience life" for her to have a good time with the Rovers.

Taking responsibility

Brann doesn't coddle his bards in his troupe. If you're going to be part of the Merry Rovers, you're also going to know how to manage your belongings, keep up with your instrument, mend your own clothes (or pay for someone to mend them), and behave yourself so you don't get tossed in jail (none of them are thieves for the most part, but Dani and Paraxxel did teach themselves how to pick locks and pockets). The most he's going to do for you is negotiate the rooms for the night and occasionally pay for dinner. So while Dani traveled with the Rovers, she had to learn to be a little more independent and deal with the consequences if she decided she was too lazy to keep up with her stuff correctly or gambled away all her money.

Adulthood:

Their “first time”

Her first time was after she left to join with the Rovers, but before she was 18. She can't even remember his name. She just remembers waking up the next morning to Brann throwing the guy out of her room and looking furious. She got smarter about flings after that. No more inviting people to the room that Brann was paying for.

Serious relationships

She never really had a serious romantic relationship. They were constantly on the move. She was fine with that, and put most of her romantic energy into teasing Liara and Kellen about their snails-pace romance while letting out steam with whatever handsome dude or pretty girl was fine with a few hours of fun. Believe it or not, Gale is her first committed romantic relationship ever. It’s very new for her and she often wonders if it’s too good to be true.

Work

Her job was to perform with the Merry Rovers. Brann could play many instruments, but he stuck to the lyre, while Liara played the lute, Paraxxel played the drums, Kellen played the flute, and Dani played the violin. She often sang and danced, too. The Rovers did more than play music, they tried to perform with decent theatricality under Brann's general direction. While not much of an actor himself, he knew how to construct a good performance, relying on the younger bards to perform and dance while he maintained the foundation of the performance with his music and voice. The Rovers were decently popular amid the Outer City districts.

Leaving home

She left home when she was 15. She's been traveling with the Rovers for ten years before she got snatched by the nautiloid.

Aging

Dani's a cool 25. "Old" to her feels like it'll be miles away. She often jokes that Brann, who is only barely 50, is old, but he's a spry guy and she hopes she's half as fit as he is when she's 50.

Finding your place

Dani doesn't feel like Dani unless she's got a fiddle in her hands or a song on her tongue. You couldn't convince her to become anything other than a bard. Separating her from music, song, and dance is like asking her to cut off a limb. She wouldn't be the same without it.

She's also obsessed with Baldur's Gate. She thinks it's the best city in the world. Not the safest, not the richest, but certainly the most colorful and the only place she would want to be. That is...until she's snatched up and dumped outside the city.

Now, she realizes her place is among the people who love her. Home, to her, is a person who holds your heart. It's her mother, it's Brann and the Rovers, it's her companions that she befriends after the nautiloid abduction, and in the end, it's Gale. Baldur's Gate is a wonderful city, and as long as she's within the city she feels happy. But she knows now that she can make a home wherever she is, as long as she's with someone she loves.

Starting a family/found family

Obviously the Rovers were her first found family, but she absolutely considers the companions she makes in BG3 her found family as well. To her, it just means her family is growing. It includes her mom, the Rovers, the companions, but also tieflings like Rolan, Cal and Lia, Bex and Danis, Alfira and Lakrissa.

She marries Gale, of course, and I think they wait to have kids for a few years. She's convinced she would be a bad mom at first (in that “I can barely take care of myself” kind of way) and Gale obviously has reservations. But I do think that down the line, they have a pair of twins who are just utter chaos, and they're only too happy to rely on their wide network of family members to help get through the more turbulent years of raising twins with Dani's personality and Gale's intelligence. It really does take a village...

———

Congrats you made it to the end! Please enjoy Dani’s expression for when she was like “Hey Gale this Waterdeep illusion is cool but I want to smash YOU, not an illusion of you” and his reply was “The old ways then. If that is what you wish, so be it.”

I could caption this so many ways lmao

#bg3 #tag game #my tav #dani #meridan zavrai #bg3backstorybash

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