cosmicaeons21

[cosmicaeons21]

It’s still cooking… (sneak peak) 🤫

#work in progress #artists on tumblr #baldurs gate 3 #halsin silverbough #promarkers #bg3 fanart #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 tav oc #nsft ish #mature art #steamy #thunder and lightning #JH (my) Art

[cosmicaeons21]

To the budding writer… ✍🏽

I’ve never left any of my work unfinished due to writers block. But I know I’ll have to cross that bridge eventually… it is inevitable. A test of will, discipline and courage. Because inspiration is a fickle thing and it won’t carry us over rough seas. But routine and planning ahead, will. And in that knowledge I find comfort. Writers block is not a state of permanency. It is not a malady. It is a capitulation; a surrender in the moment. And above all temporary. So here are some words of encouragement 💛

#writers on tumblr #writers block #writing inspiration #writing advice #fanfiction writer #on writing #Blogs on writing #Aspire to inspire #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fandom

[cosmicaeons21]

People saying the dialogue line “I feel closer to nature, now that nature’s been inside me” is the horniest in game clearly didnt go to the Drow siblings and witness “how does it even fit??” “It doesn’t, but Halsin is a very proficient healer” and it shows cuz I saw that line and thought I was gonna need my inhaler

[cosmicaeons21]

Lift the Shadow Curse. Cut content. Part II

In continuation to previous post. This part is mostly about the cut lines.

Upon arrival in the Shadow Cursed Lands, Halsin's comments about this place were slightly different from what we hear in the game.

You'd think all the years passed by would dull the pain of seeing this place again. But no.

An endless sea of silence and shadow. Except for one island of hope. [Last Light Inn]

Any words I could muster would underestimate the horror of this place.

This land has been flooded with shadow right from Shar's own domain. It poisons what grows and corrupts those who linger.

The shadow curse grips the land tighter than ever. It must be stopped. It will be stopped.

He also told you the story about Ketheric and the shadow curse.

He was once warden of these lands, a knight sworn to Selune. But he lost his daughter, and his broken heart proved easily tempted.

Shar embraced him, and he turned Moonrise Towers into a citadel in her name.

The druids and harpers formed an alliance a hundred years ago to put an end to his madness. But we only made it worse.

He was our target, the reason we attacked Moonrise, and we vanquished him. His death blow should have been the end of it.

Instead, Shar answered his prayers, and he unleashed her darkness into this world.

I was there when the curse was unleashed. Many of us marched on Moonrise Towers. Few managed to get away, because of Ketheric Thorm.

When he mentioned Thaniel there was some sort of explanation why he couldn't join us in the search. He tried to find the boy's trace through meditation. Better than nothing. Because in the game he stands and literally does nothing.

He is the heart of this land, imprisoned in the depths of the Shadowfell when the curse was unleashed.

While he suffered there, nature could not heal, just as surely as a man cannot heal while there is poison in his heart.

He must be somewhere out there. I need to find some trace of what happened, so I can bring him home and end this.

Now I must meditate. Listen for Thaniel's presence and beg the Oakfather's strength for what lies next. If you find anything, come to me. Please.

By the way it seems Thaniel had a different name in the early version.

His name is Elwood, but he is not a child as you would normally understand.

Just like in early access, you could argue with Halsin, but these lines were cut out. At first he tried to convince you calmly that you have common goals.

Getting what you need at Moonrise and lifting the curse are two sides of the same coin. You'll need to know what you're facing.

But if you were to take action, should the opportunity present itself? Then perhaps we can both get what we desire.

Of course, but your efforts to rid yourself of the parasite will no doubt further my aim as well.

Keep your focus on the parasite if you must, but please, if you learn anything that might help restore Thaniel and lift the curse. Let me know.

But if you kept insisting that the shadow curse wasn't your problem, he started to get annoyed.

This is everyone's problem. The shadows will find you wherever you hide and no matter how fast you run.

The point is that it's taken a century for me to even begin to understand this curse. Dismiss its power at your own risk.

The point is that ridding yourself of the illithid parasite will be all the more difficult thanks to the curse. Heat the warning or suffer the consequences.

Keep telling yourself that, Sharran. Pretend that your eyes deceive you. But the curse will hamper your search for a cure no matter your beliefs. [if the player is Shar worshipper]

And the last thing. I'm not sure if this is related to Halsin's quest, but I'll mention it anyway. According to some flags, Halsin and Jaheira also had disagreements. There should have been a dialogue in the game where they were arguing in the camp when you ended the day, but other details are unknown.

[cosmicaeons21]

— “HOLD YOUR TONGUE UNTIL I’M DONE” 👅 🤣 😍 👏🏽

Poking around in the EA build and indulging in nostalgia. What else I love about Halsin from EA. He was more confident in himself and he always had a witty answer ready. His lines when Tav argues with him are hilarious. I miss it.

Halsin: I am a healer of some renown, if I can cast aside modesty a moment.

Player: If you can help me, you should do it now! Halsin: There is an order to things. First, I need to safeguard my grove from these butchers. Then I shall see to you. [devnote: Stern, his way or the highway]

Player: Not my problem. I saved you - you will help me. Now. Halsin: Please, spare me your efforts at intimidation. No more effective than those goblin children's taunts. [devnote: Stern and unimpressed]

Player: Enough delays. I want to be cured. Now. Halsin: Then go forth. There are no easy paths to what you seek. If you seek my aid, you must show patience. [devnote: Stern. 'Show patience or you get nothing']

Player: Why do I sense more delays and excuses incoming? Halsin: Because you're a realist, I'll wager. Or a pessimist. But yes, I'm afraid there is still work to do.

Player: You've said little I couldn't figure out for myself so far. Halsin: And yet here you are, desperate for help. Hold your tongue until I'm done.

Player: You can't just cut it out? Halsin: I could, but I'd be cutting it out of a corpse. We'll have to try a different approach.

Player: I didn't agree to your company. Halsin: You didn't agree to host mind flayer spawn either, but sometimes your fate is wrested from your hands.

[cosmicaeons21]

The bestest of boys 🥹

There are no pets in nature - only companions

[cosmicaeons21]

Lines about civilization, nature, shadow druids and Kagha.

[cosmicaeons21]

Ballsy option #4 responses from Tav reaps rewards! Love a confident bear man who can take the sass ;)

Small dialogue update in Wyrm's Crossing

[cosmicaeons21]

It's a crime that I can't find a single official concept with him on artstation. At least there is something in the artbook.

Yes, they changed scar story.

[cosmicaeons21]

halsin stimboard!!

[cosmicaeons21]

[cosmicaeons21]

Who Builds Theseus' Ship?

This ties in to a greater discussion about Larian's changes to the game post-Full Release, and whether you consider those changes to be a good thing or a bad thing. Personally speaking, the quality-of-life and gameplay mechanics improvements were appreciated, while the direct changes to characters and especially characterization were not so much.

In such discussions, I often see people downplaying the actual changes to characterization that have been made thus far as "minor" things, but I often see one of the most glaring examples of a characterization change left out, because so many people aren't even aware of it ever happening:

Halsin.

For those who don't know, if you were romancing Halsin at the time of the original full release, and for almost four months afterward, if you took him with you to Act 3's orgy scene in Sharess's Caress, he would open up about a situation in his distant past. He would tell you about how he had briefly been "something between guest, prisoner, and consort" in a drow House, and been kept there for three years before escaping.

He stated that this was something that happened "a long time ago", when he was "a foolhardy young druid", which would mean it would likely have been between ages 100 and 245 — or at minimum 105 years ago, and at (likely) maximum 250 years ago. He closed the discussion with a line that really struck me, and that gave me such an appreciation for his character, and for the writers who had created it:

The passage of time has a strange way of polishing even the most arduous of memories into precious keepsakes.

As someone in their late-20s, with a number of traumatic events in my past, this resonated so much both with my experience of those events – once harrowing and haunting, now just simple happenings that do not affect me the way they once did – and as an inspirational message, that hurt would not necessarily linger forever.

Not only that, I really valued the insight it gave into Halsin's personality, further showing him to be someone who was deeply complex and meditative, always looking for meaning and something to take away or learn from any experience. It also served to showcase the likely reality of the relationship elves and druids both would have to the concepts of time and memory. (Another example of this is the experience of Shadowheart's father compared to her mother at the hands of the Sharrans.)

I started playing the game almost immediately upon its release in August, and was intrigued by Halsin from the start. He was someone who was kind and heartfelt, but also very settled in himself and with a simultaneously rigid and very flexible moral code. It was that complexity that drew me to him, and I appreciated the inclusion of a character distinct from the Origin companions, all at close to the lowest point of their lives.

It was to my surprise to find that this appreciation for his character and perspective on his Act 3 revelation was not unanimous. As it turned out, there was a vocal group of people claiming that this writing was problematic, and that Halsin clearly didn't even realize he was actually traumatized, and that Larian needed to fix it. Not everyone joining in with this crusade had even played the game.

And, ultimately, in a pattern they have continued to follow, Larian responded. They fixed it. At the end of November, as part of Patch 5, they uploaded an edited version of the scene with new dialogue, where the player could express this "reality" to Halsin, in one of the most gallingly patronizing statements I've ever seen.

Sounds traumatic. You may need to reflect on that.

(If someone said this to me after I had opened up to them about my trauma and my experience of it to them, we would not be maintaining a cordial relationship afterward.)

Halsin's new response to these dialogue options is a cringing, self-deprecating cascade of how the player is of course right, and he should have known better, and time could "prove to be a trickster on one's recollections" and that perhaps he had "lost perspective".

Quite frankly, it is a completely different character answering, and an almost directly opposing overall message about the role of time in healing, and the path forward when it comes to trauma. No more "one day these events will not hurt to recall the way they do now". In its stead: "only healing that looks a specific way and follows a specific path is acceptable - anything else and you are simply a poor fool lying to yourself."

The following quote is from a comment left on a video of Halsin's original dialogue in that scene, before the changes, and is just one example of how much that representation meant to more than just me to see:

That said, Halsin is trauma recovery goals for me absolutely. Being able to remember without actually being triggered? Being able to fully and freely engage HOW ID LIKE TO instead of being fettered by trauma responses? Goals. I don’t know if I’ll ever get there 100%, we don’t get elven lifetimes irl, but his level of healing brings me hope.

Ultimately, this post is not meant to argue that you should agree with me that one is better than the other. More so, I want to highlight that this existed — for many people, this was their experience of events and characters, and that is not so easily redacted. And I also want to just state, for the record, that Larian's way of approaching narrative and characterization changes to their full-release game has been incredibly frustrating. I did not agree, in August, to play an Early Access game with the inherent understanding that any potential narrative aspect might change at any time. I purchased a full-release game, and immersed myself in the story and the characters, to get to know them as the writers had originally presented.

And when Larian makes these changes based on fan feedback, they are explicitly making decisions about which fans matter, and specifically, which fans matter most. Rather than allowing everyone to experience the story they decided to tell, and draw from it what they take away, and let that spark discussion and engagement, they made the decision to defer to some fans over others, and prioritize their experience of the narrative — something that, no matter how well-intended, is always going to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

[cosmicaeons21]

💯

My favorite new Halsin kiss is the one where Tav has to get on their toes because he just REFUSES to bend down this time. A man just a little ashamed of his size. Never uses it to intimidate, never uses it to coerce. Gentle man who always tries to be smaller than he is. Speaking softly, carving little ducks. He stops and grins to himself as his partner has to stretch to meet him. Eagerly stretches, even. He gets the tiniest THRILL of just allowing himself, for once, to tower over his partner, and his partner loving that about him.

[cosmicaeons21]

The way they’re looking at each other 😩 I’m gonna need a minute.

[cosmicaeons21]

"Final preparations"

Finally finished this artwork, I can't even stress how much hours I spent on it and I'M SO DONE

The result is pretty good. So that makes me a bit happy

[cosmicaeons21]

"Do you know how hard it's been for me to contain myself?"

A little comic about Halsin.

[cosmicaeons21]

🫦🫦🫦

“Nevertheless, I will be gentle.”

Shameless repost because I really love this photo set.

He’s just so beautiful 🥹

#i am melting #those eyes #send help #call the ambulance #beautiful man #halsin silverbough