#(not all romantic love though sorry to the rest but astarion and karlach have my heart)

[bg-brainrot]

One thing I, personally, can't relate to when discussing BG3 companions: not loving each and every single one of these little weirdos.

Obviously, Astarion's my favorite (gestures at, well, everything on my blog), but I love all of the companions SO much. They're each so unique, so flawed, so painfully relatable.

Now, a quick disclaimer: by all means, these aren't the only or even the best reasons to appreciate these characters, but they're some of my personal favorites!

Some reasons to love them...

Astarion, even against two centuries of torture and trauma, for breaking that cycle of abuse and learning to become his own man.

Gale, despite her reigns on his past, on his power, for going against his goddess's wishes and living on to rectify his mistakes, rather than dying for them.

Karlach, even after everything she's ever done, after finding no catharsis in the act of revenge, for keeping her head, her ax, and her hopes high.

Lae'zel, despite realizing that her entire reason for living is a lie, for fighting on to find new meaning and build a world she'd be proud to fight for.

Shadowheart, even after finding out that her very existence is a lie, for stumbling forth into a new world, one where her devotion is hers to share.

Wyll, despite his deep, undying love for his father, for learning that he needn't sacrifice everything for the ones he loves, he has those who love him in turn.

Halsin, who for all intents and purposes doesn't need to bother with all of this, for caring enough about people, about you, to do whatever he can to help.

Minthara, after being brainwashed, betrayed, destroyed, for ultimately rising from the ashes of herself to follow and support you in anything and everything.

Jaheira, who had all but given up on passing the torch, who after love and loss decided to go out fighting, for trusting you, a kindred spirit to let her rest.

Minsc, with not a single thought behind those eyes, for understanding friendship and loyalty so deeply, that he joins your crew faithfully on Jaheira's words.

It's been a long time since I loved every single one of my companions in a game like this (maybe DA2?), and I'm so weirdly grateful to them for helping me understand myself better.

Anyway, I just think they're all super neat, interesting characters. You definitely don't need to love them all, but I certainly think it's a blast!

#listen im a sap #and i have plenty of love to go around #(not all romantic love though sorry to the rest but astarion and karlach have my heart) #bg3 #Astarion #gale #karlach #lae'zel #shadowheart #wyll #halsin #minthara #jaheira #minsc

[emcapi-gaming]

Actually, I lied, have another Karlach run update because I just realized I never posted about the resolution of her romantic Situation.

As previously mentioned, I was really, really torn on whether to have her romance Wyll or Astarion. (For the record, I adore the three of them as a poly ship. In my heart they are all smooching. Sadly you can only have one committed origin character romance in game without modding.)

I went with Astarion for the tiefling camp party because of the unique scene they have together, but was contemplating very lovingly friendzoning him for Wyll in act 2 depending on how the order of events/cutscenes/etc played out.

Well, events sure did play out.

By which I mean Astarion FUMBLED IT SO HARD. He fucked up, big time. He rolled a metaphorical 1.

By which I mean he dropped the fake ass "What about those three little words. Everyone's favorite... I love you," line.

To Karlach.

And I was just sitting there going "welp" because there is no universe I can reasonably imagine where she takes that well.

I feel that the following conversation went something like this (partly based on in-game).

K: "Are you... lying to me right now?"

A: "Yes, but it's a beautiful lie, isn't it?"

K: "...Man WHAT the FUCK."

K: "Nope. No. I'm done."

A: [dialog (can't remember the specifics) about how their time together was actually something special to him, which was lowkey heartbreaking tbh]

K: (sad) "Oh. You weren't entirely lying, were you? I think you just... don't know how to be sincere. Even with yourself."

K: "I can't do this, though. I'm sorry."

K: *trying not to cry* "also I'm still kinda mad at you!!"

And that's the story of how my blorbos slightly broke each other's hearts 🙃

The next long rest she had the dance scene and kiss with Wyll, so they are indeed a thing now.

I think maybe (in my version) they'll be able to try again later, after Astarion's had the chance to start working through a few of his personal issues. There's also been some great moments with all three of them in act 2, at least one of which I want to write a little fic about.

#bg3 #bg3 spoilers #Karlach's Super Chill And Fun Adventure #wyllachstarion