Love It When You Have To Suspend Your Disbelief Over The Fact That A Character Is Able To Function On

He's never done anything wrong, ever, in his entire life, actually

Also a scene where a character draws/paints him, because that also expresses how they see him, personally. Good relationship stuff.

Also, a scene where the above happens and then he sees himself through magical means, looks at the other character's portrait and says "I look nothing like that, you fool!"

In the spirit of the "two cakes are better than one" sentiment, in regards to fanfic, I would happily read 100,000 different versions of a scene where magic is used (Mirror Image or something) to let Astarion see his face for the first time in 200 years.

Wyll Ravengard from Baldur's Gate 3

Rubric

Just watched the Baldur's Gate live D&D session from Magic Con and these are the lessons we've learned: 1. Do not let Lae'zel negotiate anything ever

2. Don't try and sell your friends

3. Lae'zel is a bad influence on Wyll

4. Lae'zel will tear into the fabric of reality to give herself extra reactions; do not leave her unattended

‘I want to watch a show where characters just happen to be queer and their queerness isn’t the focus of the story.’ -you should watch the wheel of time

‘I wish there was more media that normalized polyamory’ -you should watch the wheel of time

‘I wish there were more focus on women and characters of color in fantasy and sci fi and genre fiction’ -you should watch the wheel of time

‘I want more shows that put a lot of emphasis on platonic relationships and not just romances’ -you should watch the wheel of time

‘I wish there were more fantasy shows that didn’t objectify sexual violence against women’ -you should watch the wheel of time

‘I wish television would cast more middle aged and older women in dynamic and interesting roles’ -YOU SHOULD WATCH THE WHEEL OF TIME

I cannot take Gortash seriously for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that he has anime hair

Post-game rambles

So I finally finished my first playthrough of BG3. Here are some of my brief, post-game-emotion-addled thoughts on it. (Alternate title: The existence of Astarion has forever altered my brain chemistry I will never be able to adequately express my feelings about him)

I had spent a year dying to get this game before I ever played it, because I had heard such good things, and honestly it surpassed my expectations in every way. I can tell this is one of those pieces of art that will remain firmly implanted in my heart probably forever. I could go on for days about everything I love about this game, but I think there are also some things I could never put into words if I tried.

In particular, Astarion and his storyline really just completely and profoundly captivated me in a way I don't know how to express. It's very rare that a character consumes my heart and mind this much, but his story and character is beyond beautiful and will always be incredibly special to me. Not to say I don't absolutely adore the other characters, because I do, but Astarion just stole both the show and my heart. I will never shut up about him. All the characters in this story feel so alive, and it's palpable just how much heart went into creating them, along with everything else in the world of this game.

It's been a while since a story's had me bawling my eyes out multiple times like this game had me, and it was so well-earned. I cared so much about this world and characters that everything just affected me so deeply. All the feelings are still raw and I'm a mess, so someday I think I'll be better able to put into words what this game meant to me, but right now I'm just dizzy with how amazing this experience was. I think I'll be losing my mind about it forever.

And I'm looking forward to playing it about 100,000 more times.

Just a thought on Astarion

Obsessed with how Astarion is "cursed to walk in the shadows forever" but his character has celestial motifs. He notably has very pale skin and silvery white hair, obviously, his name has the word star in it (argue over the linguistic origins of his name all you want, it still has star vibes), and the flowers on his grave look like stars as well. His story is about him saving himself, and the fact that he has iconography representing light in his endless night is beautiful actually.

okay wait I saw a comment on the patch 8 animation pointing out the knockoff Sleep Token poster in Astarion's room WHAT

people say it's a nod to all the Sleep Token edits he gets

it's so wild to me that you absolutely cannot force a hyperfixation to happen. like you'll watch the most perfectly tailor-made-for-you content that everyone says you'll love and feel absolutely nothing, and then the thing you watch on a whim to fill time will reach through the screen and put its damn fingers in your brain and start rearranging the neurons right in front of you and every single time you're like THIS??? THIS??????? and this happens like every 6-12 months forever