#so you see claims that astarion or lae'zel are immutably evil bc of how they act at the beginning of the game.

[forcedhesitation]

people will say "wooooooow astarion and/or lae'zel suck for approving of this TERRIBLE thing that I did!"

my guy. read over what you just said. remind yourself that this is a video game. are you not the one perpetrating the crime they just witnessed? each one of these characters is moulded by your choices...some more than others, some less, depending on how past experiences left their state of mind. not all of them begin with a good, or even neutral, alignment and that is good because the game would be pretty motherfucking boring if you were travelling with six characters who all shared fairly similar moral alignments and thus also shared equally similar outcomes to their storylines!

you have the ability to show the crueller, less kind companions that they do not have to be the person they were taught to be by their tormentors/traumatic experiences. you have the ability to do that, just as you have the ability to affirm their selfish and/or violent outlook on the world. just you pal, because remember! it's a fucking video game, and one of its objectives is to travel with these characters and complete their companion quests!

#bg3 #thoughts about media #I love how there are a lot of things that tie all the companions together- but they are also each unique! #they have each have their own struggles and all responded differently to the torment they endured! #it is awesome! what isn't awesome is that the fandom treats companion morality as a binary with no room for nuance. #people reduce the companions down into a few traits that support their opinion on the given character and ignore the rest. #so you see claims that astarion or lae'zel are immutably evil bc of how they act at the beginning of the game. #or because they do not fully heal from their LIFELONG trauma by the end of the game. #because apparently trauma needs to go away QUICKLY in order for you to be redeemed! you must be palatable!! #and then if you ARE palatable...you don't get to have flaws AT ALL. #so you see karlach's moments of selfishness/impatience being erased because She's Good and therefore Can't have flaws. #you see wyll's inability to realise the harm his father caused him ignored bc it's not That Bad. he's apparently “fine & well-adjusted" #I HAAAAATE IT!!!!!!! #a right fool am I to expect better though. a complete idiot to hope for better actually. considering st.