#bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

before I start posting more of my bg3 stuff here I really need to warn people that I approach this game not as someone new to any of this but as someone for whom the original bg trilogy (1+2+tob) is deeply meaningful, and pretty much all of my grievances w 3 stem from how larian treated most of the legacy lore and characters (poorly. as an understatement.). I realize some of that was just them building on the atrocious way wotc finally decided to canonize the old games in FR, but shit like the character assassination of sarevok anchev (one of my favorite characters of all time) is entirely on them.

it’s not only that, it’s also that I’ve been playing in the Realms sandbox as a whole for more than half my life at this point, since I was a tween in the 2E golden age. I cut my teeth worldbuilding w Abeir-Toril. even had wotc not literally lost the plot in 4e, my Realms look very different after 30 years of worldbuilding and storytelling through the various tabletop campaigns I ran for years, my fic, and 20+ years of crpg games set in FR not just from the original BG trilogy, but even earlier in the old SSI gold and silver box era of Curse of the Azure Bonds and the like.

in short, I have a very old and very deep history w FR that predates larian’s entire existence as a game studio much less this 1 game they made in it. this game is simply an opportunity to go home again and add another link on the charm bracelet.

so. in keeping with ed’s mantra, the faerûn Gisèle inhabits is uh. different. eg durge is not a thing, was never a thing, will never be a thing. (in the interest of not upsetting folks, I’ll keep my feelings on it to myself). eg. my loviatar has always resembled lady kushiel much more than the caricature of fevered neckbeard fetish dreams, even before ed set the record straight on her church. but too there are constant references to my older lore and stories from the previous crpgs, and not only baldur’s gate—she is my reincarnated CHARNAME, but she also fled to Lith My’athar and trained under my hero of Undrentide, which becomes very relevant when she sets thousands of vampire spawn free in the Underdark. She also knows the True Name of Mephistopheles because of this association, which gives her leverage when dealing with his son. And so on. Everything is deeply connected.

That might make it a little opaque for some, but that’s nothing new for me lol.

#I have some hefty lore posts coming #which is why I’m giving this disclaimer now #Bisho liveblogs her creative process #gisele of menzoberranzan #gisele surana

[elfyourmother]

for the past few months I have been working on an extensive lore doc for Abdirak in my Realms, expect it here in the next few days along with a bunch of other lore drops about Gisèle, her noble house, etc

#bisho liveblogs her creative process #time to dust that off

[elfyourmother]

I rly feel like I need to get back to that giant lore post I started that’s been in my drafts since the full release bc that comm got tagged w ascended ast. but I need to be like. extremely clear that the ascension happened in Gisèleverse completely different than how it happened in the game w an entirely different outcome and resultant relationship dynamic lmao

I feel like those of you who know gisèle all these years in her various incarnations and know how I generally roll wrt vg canons would absolutely guess that I came up w my own third option thing even not knowing the specifics or particulars and you’d be 100% correct but folk that don’t know. lol. I don’t need those ppl thinking things given the state of the 💿 🐴

#i started a fic a while back but the disk horse on the bird app got to be real bad on my mental health #bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

Dark Secrets | Dark Legacy

The Baron Julienard de Lacroix and his wife, the Baroness Genevieve. The double life they led full of unspeakable secrets was buried by the Inquisition--their House with it--but they cast a long shadow over Ishgard to this day, most especially over their descendant, Ser Aymeric.

#here are aymeric's terrible horrible no good very bad maternal great grans #jules is horrific just. the worst #anyways the delacroix make thordan's side of the family look normal #the fic is forthcoming dw #stupid sexy aymeric #l'affaire diabolique #bisho's adventures in gpose #bisho liveblogs her creative process #julienard delacroix #genevieve delacroix #and a spoiler tag character :3

[elfyourmother]

of all such voidsent named in all the forbidden goetia of fallen mhach, who devour aether expended in pleasure, they say he is by far the most dangerous, that his beauty drives men mad. every black mage who has ever attempted to summon him has fallen to ruin and death. blackthorne was no different.

#spoiler tag character #l'affaire diabolique #you might recognize him from the jules and evie set last night #bisho liveblogs her creative process #bisho's adventures in gpose #q #prince fraech

[elfyourmother]

I have written over 2500 words today and these are the first words I’ve written in months and it’s all Gistarion vjvjvjch

#bisho liveblogs her creative process #sorry folks I am back on my faerûn bullshit #it’s been like a decade so sue me

[elfyourmother]

character hate under the cut. please do not click this and then cry to me about being mean.

Swear to god some days I’m really close to just saying the spirit vessel didn’t work or the extra one wasn’t made and GT never joined the Scions. I’m so tired of having to dance around how much the Ishgardians don’t like him bc his rabid stans can’t handle anyone not fawning over him 24/7

there’s literally nothing in the story that needs him after 5.3 either is the wild part. it would be stupid easy to just write him out altogether, that’s how entirely unnecessary he is after ShB

Hades could handle the Allagan shit in 5.4. nothing in Sharlayan especially needs him when we have so many other Archons. the rousing speech in Radz-at-Han to rally the ppl there when the Final Days hit could easily be Ysayle. From a combat standpoint Gisele has three other Scions who each cover his roles, and far better—Haurche (PLD/SAM/WHM/DNC), Hades (DRK/BLM), and Ysayle (PLD/SMN/SCH) are true all-rounders even

so if Gisele only gets to “civil if distant co-worker” w him and Estinien and Ysayle actively can’t stand him why is he even needed in this story. what does he even do. what purpose does he serve except being an agent for conflict

#character hate #negativity cw #bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

The Chart(tm) is finally getting an Endwalker update bc I have literally nothing to do at work rn. taxpayer money well spent

#gisele surana #bisho liveblogs her creative process #The Chart(tm)

[elfyourmother]

today I decided that weird recurring dream universe where Gisele married Zenos to secure peace w Doma and Ala Mhigo and was trying to take down Garlemald from the inside actually happened in the Exarch’s bad end timeline and I’ve been totally normal about it all day

#bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

ya girl actually started something last night

It did not surprise Gisele overmuch how well Zenos had taken to Abalathia’s Spine; for as frigid as Coerthas yet remained, it was naught when measured against the bone-seeping chill of distant Garlemald, and he had known such air from birth.

Still, Gisele was not born to the mountains, and cold was damned well cold; she of blood thinned by the desert and illness by turns stood beneath the covered threshold of the old hunting lodge, cradling a mug filled with rich cocoa, savoring the warmth which seeped from it into her slender hands, as much as she savored the contest which played out before her narrowed eyes.

For upon this secluded acreage that had been the domain of House Fortemps for generations, blanketed in fresh white drift, they faced one another—Zenos and Haurchefant. Though Zenos held his customary scythe in hand, Haurche eschewed his faithful longsword and shield for this bout, in favor of the gunblade.

There was a deadly manner of poetry in it; mayhap somewhat which spoke to Gisele’s Trouvère soul, but the very breath was caught in her throat as she gazed out over them. With blades drawn did they circle one another as snowflakes drifted down upon them from the murky skies of the Western Highlands, the Exile Prince of Garlemald and an Ishgardian Prince of the Blood, lighting sparks in the frigid air as steel met steel. Golden hair whipped in the briskness of a wintry gust, as did the oxblood mantle bearing the scarlet unicorn. They did not spar so much as dance upon the snows, Zenos and Haurchefant, the only spots of color upon that endless, blinding sea of white.

#bisho liveblogs her creative process #wips

[elfyourmother]

I started on Haurche week prompts this morning, I combined 1 and 2 and just need to take more gposes when I get home

#bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

a snip bc Gisele is making me lose it

“I do not believe it so simple as that, Minfilia. If you but lay your heart bare to him, he may surprise you, as yet,” Gisele said softly.

“He may—or he may not. You heard what he told the ferryman, the same as I. And I fear the pursuit of aught else would cost me too dearly.”

Gisele echoed Minfilia’s sigh, then, and kissed the crown of her gilded locks. “I dare not pry, as I said. Ever have the affairs of my lovers been their own. But, too, it wounds my heart, this unceasing yearning of yours. Not for envy, nor resentment—pray, do not misunderstand me. But because your happiness means the very world to me—as does that of Thancred. And if you but will it, I would intervene with him on your behalf.”

“Gisele…”

“Do you love him, chérie?”

“With all my heart—as I love you.”

Gisele smiled, lightly caressing her cheek. “Do you want him?”

The spray of crimson which crept into Minfilia’s cheeks was unmistakable, fair as her complexion was, and her eyes gleamed brightly. “As I want you,” she replied softly.

“Then mayhap a spot of good old fashioned seduction is in order,” Gisele declared, with a quirk of her silvery brow.

Minfilia burst into a fit of giggling, clamping her eyes shut as she shook in Gisele’s arms. “Gisele!” she exclaimed, gently poking her shoulder with a teasing finger.

“What? Do not look at me so! If you do not wish me to intervene so directly, then we shall tempt him with such delightful feminine wiles that he should be forced to confront his unspoken feelings for you—and they are there, my love, do not doubt this. I have not known him nearly so long as you, of a surety, but I know him well, and men are not so complicated, not even Thancred. I have shared love with him enough these months to know the signs of it in him. Pray trust in my words when I say that your love for him—and your desire—are most requited. But he is betimes stubborn, and despite his roguish airs too noble for his own good, even to his own detriment. So we shall go about seducing him in tandem. Subtly at first, mayhap. Testing the Waters, as it were. And then the floodgates shall open, so to speak…wherever you should like them.”

“You are a wicked woman, Gisele Surana,” Minfilia teased her, between giggles.

“Tis kind of you, chérie. I do try,” Gisele said wryly. “You see, my mentor Vivienne once shared with me an old proverb from the White Spire, the Circle tower in my family’s homeland of Orlais: ‘Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.’ ”

“In the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind,” Minfilia mused aloud; she needed not the Echo to understand, of course, for she was a polyglot and spoke the old Elezen tongue—one near-identical to Gisele’s mother tongue of Orlesian. Twas why so many she encountered in her travels throughout Eorzea believed she was Ishgardian, for the Holy See was the last place it was so commonly spoken, and the Val Royeaux dialect she inherited from her mother by way of her mother was uncannily similar to that spoken in Ishgard, according to Lord Haurchefant.

The truth, of course, lay elsewhere unfathomable and extraordinary. Gisele still struggled betimes to come to grips with it, so freshly recalled. And mayhap this game she wished to embark upon with Minfilia and Thancred was a welcome distraction, beyond even compersion and the wish to see her lovers cease their unnecessary suffering in silence.

“They are words of wisdom by which I have lived my life ever since. Even the Tevinters say that fortune favors the bold. And so, I leave naught to main chance; I make my own fortune, with boldness. Whatsoever I desire, I chase with mine own hands. And, you should be quite pleased to note that I have always gotten it,” Gisele said, smiling sweetly.

“Even me?” Minfilia asked, with a cheeky little grin.

“Especially you, my love,” Gisele replied, and pressed her lips softly against Minfilia’s, with a teasing hint of tongue darting between them.

“It does so please me to hear of it,” Minfilia breathed. Gooseflesh rose along Gisele’s arm, then, at the sensation of Minfilia’s soft fingertips drifting upon and down her suddenly too warm skin, as she lightly caressed Gisele’s exposed décolletage.

“Then we have an accord?”

“We do.”

#she is so absolutely shameless and min’s not much better #i almost feel sorry for him #he has no idea what he’s gotten himself into fjfffchhc #bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

i think my favorite thing about this fic so far besides the THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED situation is the fact that the whole point of this vacation is to rest and recover from all that Praetorium business yet Gisele makes Thancred haul all her clothes and makeup and accessories like a damn chocobo

#she can’t swim but has a bikini for every single day #meanwhile minfilia has 1 bag #bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

finally getting back to junelezen prompts and Haurche is just bursting w Compersion in half of these shots

I’m also losing it bc Raubahn is slightly taller than him

#this is just gonna be hot elf summer 🤷🏾‍♀️ #bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

Last Line

was tagged by @elveny for the last line I wrote. Not a lot going on because of work exhaustion. From the Gisele/Thancred/Minfilia beach holiday WIP:

“I beg your pardon for the disturbance, darling, but I thought I’d head out for a quick swim while there’s still sun to be had, and I did not wish you to fret,” Thancred replied, his voice low and scarcely perceptible on the other side of the door.

“You did not wake me,” Gisele reassured him. “And I thank you for your solicitous heart, as always. Pray, do not tax yourself overmuch, however—promise me.”

“I shan’t,” Thancred replied. “A touch of exercise shall do these weary bones a world of good in returning my strength. But I thank you for your healer’s concern nonetheless. Would you care to join me?”

Gisele’s heart froze, gripped by a sudden pang, and she swallowed hard before she made her reply. “Nay, my love—still I am weary, and must settle in besides.”

“Very well. I shall leave you to your rest, and return anon.”

#nobody knows that she can’t swim :’) #gisele surana #writing memes #tagged in #bisho liveblogs her creative process

[elfyourmother]

Started writing my first fill and it’s post-Prae victory vacation in Costa with Gisele, Thancred, and Minfilia bc they all could use the R&R and somehow it turned into There Was Only One Bed

#welp #bisho liveblogs her creative process #gif