The Ones That Got Away (Touchstarved OC Rewrite)
I changed the lyrics to “The One That Got Away” by Katy Perry (I listened to this cover by Brielle Von Hugel), based on my Hound!MC Alon's backstory and their childhood friend's betrayal.
Summer in the city where we grew up.
Running from our troubles and tryin’ our luck,
Searching for a world that’d be big enough for two.
Used to steal Headmaster’s liquor and climb to the roof.
Dreamed about the future like we had a clue.
Never thought that one day, I'd be losing you.
In another life, I’d still be your friend.
We'd keep all those promises, be us until the end.
In another life, you would make me stay,
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away,
The one that got away.
One night on that rooftop, we’d made our pact
To leave these walls together, have each other’s backs.
Sometimes when I miss you, I climb towards the sky.
Summer kept on passing, and we grew up,
Found something in the city much bigger than us.
It’s time to face the music, we had long run out of luck.
But in another life, you’d be by my side.
We'd keep all those promises to take charge of our lives.
In another life, I would fight to stay,
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away,
The one that got away.
The one that got away.
All that money won’t buy back our time for me.
Can't replace you with a million dreams.
I never thought you’d turn our dream on me.
So I guess this is goodbye.
But in another life, I could still believe
That friends would keep their promises…
In another life, we’d make our escape,
And everyone who stayed would say we were the ones that got away.
The ones that got away…
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away.
The one that got away…
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Moar Asheera image 👉👈?
🥺
Well, I decided to start a very fast Asheera run through with some mods. Basically "play this game in the easiest possible way so I can focus entirely on Asheera's feelings about the companions' reactions and motivations" for some writerly inspiration. Plus, I've been feeling the need to re-experience everything and get some Act 1 and 2 screenshots/saves.
I know there's some nasty quest item related bugs right now, but I completely avoided any sort of bugs in my first playthrough so fingers crossed!
Anyways, where was I? Ah yes.
Nautiloid business. Freed Shadowheart. Woke up on the beach, etc.
I'm trying to focus on roleplaying Asheera here, and she was definitely tempted to look at the artefact but this Shadowheart - what a strange name, Asheera would think - knew a fair bit on the nautiloid. So, awake she goes. They naturally decided to group up for safety in numbers. Shadowheart's cagey about a lot of things, but now's not the time to think about it.
Next, the pair had a run-in with a few intellect devourers, but they were no problem. A few sword slashes and mace hits and they were good as dead.
Also, this is where I mention that I cheated in a bunch of gear because I really don't want to interact with anything but the companions, a few NPCs (like Rolan) and the main quest. I plan on doing this run in a few big sessions over a weekend or two!
When it comes to Gale, Asheera's first impression is that he's a strange, strange man. She thinks he needs to just get to the point sometimes. She of course said #2 here. (Again, pay no mind to the get up lmao)
But a wizard is a fine companion on a dangerous journey, even if he's a bit odd. Then again, aren't all wizards?
Up next, they had a little run-in with the warrior from the nautiloid. How curious, she's all stranded up in this cage? It's no matter, Asheera convinces a pair of tieflings to go away so that she can talk to this woman again. She's even more knowledgeable about the mind flayers than Gale or Shadowheart it seems.
Asheera is naturally convinced of a cure and committed to finding one, which immediately makes Lae'zel warm up to her. Even just a little. (Side note: I hate Lae'zel's new dismissal to camp dialogue. Why is she soft right away?)
Side note pt. deux: Shadowheart is starting to regret trusting Asheera after this whole... let Lae'zel out thing. She says she trusts Asheera, but I think at this point she's starting to reassess things.
The group follows the tieflings' directions to the camp they called out only to find a band of adventurers being attacked by goblinoids. They call out a war cry to "the Absolute," whatever that is. After they're dispatched, the party meets another friendly tadpoled face.
Wyll is familiar to Asheera because of his moniker, and it's nice to put a face to the name. It's also a bit odd to find out someone she considers a real Hero is a fair bit younger than her. He's teaching a young tiefling how to distract someone in a fight long enough to run away, and Asheera thinks that it's A) super wholesome and B) clever to focus on the child's ability to confuse and confound if things ever got to be that bad.
Also, Asheera is beginning to see all these refugees and after talking to them she realizes they're likely from Elturel. As a Baldurian, she should be a bit frazzled by them. Some part of her probably is a bit annoyed to be helping people from what is essentially the rival school equivalent. But seeing children potentially in danger tempers that a fair bit.
Side note: Asheera laughed at this line from Shadowheart (there's a couple very fun, jokey lines Asheera says this early on for sure)
Asheera decides it's time to talk to the leaders of this place, and she gets wrapped in a whole thing with some girl named Arabella (side note: seeing her with her parents again legit almost made me cry)
I think this is a great time to talk about the fact that I'm using an Approval Dialogue mod. I want to see options when they conflict with companions' approvals and what the weighting implies. This won't always work since I'm going with my "canon" paths for everyone again, but it's something that I want to be able to see and think about from time to time.
This one where you talk to Kagha comes up after you can persuade her to let Arabella go (+1 to a bunch of approvals, but for right now I want to focus on Shadowheart for obvious reasons)
She has nothing to say about 1 or 3, but she gets a huge boost from 2. That's definitely the Sharran in her speaking through, but I do think part of it is her current mindset of pure survival instinct. If it was strictly "I'm a big evil Sharran" rather than whatever fucked up cocktail her brain is at this moment in the game, I think she would have some disapproval for 1 and IMO she might even enjoy 3 a little bit. But she doesn't necessarily mind 1 in particular, which is what Asheera says. It's a bit surprising to Asheera that Shadowheart doesn't have a comment on that. Worth noting for our half-orc.
She gets her hand pain here for the first time, but when Asheera asks about it the topic is stonewalled pretty quickly. Same with Shadowheart recognizing Dark Justiciars in one of the druids' wall murals. Fair enough. Asheera's a fair bit suspicious at this point, but they've got a unified goal and a paladin can cross that bridge when she comes to it.
Oh, and I got the wolf saving throw here which I didn't expect her to fail! It was fun having Asheera and Shadowheart talk about that so quickly. They're still a bit wary of each other, it's after all only the first (second?) day that they've even known each other. I think that Asheera would hear someone ask for comfort in a deep-seated fear and she would offer the simplest thing she can: protection. Shadowheart likely just sees it as a simple kindness given the way she words this, but I think it's very telling that just being... barely nice to her warms her to Asheera so quickly.
This is where Shadowheart's internal calculus shifts back to trusting Asheera again. Maybe she's a bit foolish about trusting Lae'zel, but there are worse people to have as a de facto leader in a situation like this.
(Also, I caught Asheera blinking lmao)
Summed up, Asheera's thoughts so far...
If this ceremorphosis is so deadly and swift, why are they all still alive?
The refugees need her help, and she's going to drag half this party into helping them if she has to.
Helping Elturians is not what she expected to be doing, but she also didn't expect to have a tadpole crammed in her brain so. You know.
Shadowheart is curious, secretive, and more than a little untrustworthy. She also approves of helping out the refugee children and seems a bit surprised to be offered basic kindness. So there's definitely more to her than the cold exterior shows, but Asheera can't quite figure it out yet. It could all be a façade. Asheera also has a thing for elven women with a little bite and wit.
Gale is an odd man with useful talents. He's been all right so far, being it's barely been a few hours, but of course a wizard would know to hide any ulterior motives right away. Asheera's suspicious of him and his kind demeanor.
Wyll and Lae'zel are the two that Asheera finds refreshing because it's clear what they want. Wyll wants to kill some devil, and Lae'zel is blunt about curing the parasite and going back to her people. They're easier than Gale and Shadowheart, even if Asheera is very lukewarm about Lae'zel. Wyll's a legend though, so she's just hoping this isn't a "don't meet your heroes" type situation.
Anyways, it was late when I decided to do this and I have other plans for the night. Next time, meeting Karlach and vampire boy and who knows what other fun moments! Toodles.
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I've decided to cheat and play Andy's bg3 run even though I have fifty tavs still in the beginning/middle of act two [and two still in act one]. Alas! Curiosity kilt me.
I love how - I say like I [who am his writer] didn't predict this - straight up Andy doesn't have time for any of it. He searches as far as his eyes can see, he will stop and loot but he won't scavange the entire area. I think it might differ a TAD when he's not in imminent danger. But Nautloid stuff begs one to run. So there's no stopping to read slates or books or whatever. But I have him take them as he goes, because that feels Andy to me. The information is good to know -- but not NOW. He's pragmatic about it. His looting is the same. He doesn't look for every body lying on the ground but what he can reach, in the moment. I feel he won't have too much but what he needs - and maybe a bit then some to sell - in his inventory. And he'll probably focus on using money than supplies/equipment to buy stuff he needs when it is time to barter.
I feel that's gonna leave him kind of poor in this [and also missing out on lore needed for puzzles]. So clearly Gale will NEED to be in his party because I feel Gale is a hoarder. Then again -- I don't think Andy .... would do what was needed to get Gale. So. *insert grimace emoji*
Like, I had thought for sure he would find the brain in that dude's head and maim it, then make use of it. Because that is such a Klaus/Marcel thing to do and they inspo Andy. And I think if he had SEEN the situation in front of him he would have moved forward with that. But all he had going for that circumstance were the words "we are trapped". He doesn't know what he's going in with. And while technically not know who "we" is and if "trapped" is true could an opening for future vulnerability, the more pressing situation is the sinking dimension-hopping ship. [Which is a note for ME who once thought andy was an intuitive rather than a sensing, bc of reasons. lmao. he ain't. clearly. i mean we shall see but idts]
Fun fact, he didn't even HEAR shadowheart so there was no opportunity to turn his back on her [Like I thought he would]. He just ran closer to the front of the ship. Because the focus is getting out of the ship. [I wonder if this'll change the interaction with first meeting Shadowheart at the beach/the crypt.]
[Another fun fact. That was my shortest EVER 'wake up in pod, head to helm' run with a Tav ever. Goodness. Collecting companions will be so much fun with this one. She says. Sarcastically.]
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Our Seer of Time claims I'm gonna be one of the exiles. To be explicitly clear, yes, I am a player, no, I'm not one of the carapace guys, this whole thing seems impossible but I don't know enough about how the game works to dispute it. Should I be worried? Rather, what should I be more worried about, my grim and sandy future or our Seer's unreliability?
I wasn't under the impression that you were a Carapacian, although now you've got me thinking that I don't talk to those guys enough. If you ever feel your skin hardening or all of your teeth turning sharp/blunt, do hit me up though.
In actuality though, I don't think you're going to be turning into a Carapacian literally. What this most likely means is that you'll be filling the role of an Exile, by sending messages to certain player, from the future of your destroyed home planet. The real question is wondering why or how this would be the case.
If your Seer is correct, there's two potential ways this happens. On accident, or on purpose. If on accident, then in the near future it's entirely possible you step into some weird device that sends you many nears in the future back to your homeworld. So be more cautious be less cautious because if this doesn't happen it creates a Doomed Timeline. After bumbling in here you'll most likely wander to a terminal and send a bunch of messages to some poor unfortunate coplayer. If on purpose, then you and/or the Seer will direct you to take the role of an Exile, potentially replacing one altogether, either because they maliciously sabotage the session or are dead and their lack of advice causes a travesty. In both cases, there are a few main concerns to look out for.
The first concern is the fact that Exiles have special powers that you may not have. I'm pretty sure it's innate to the Carapacian once they become an Exile and is not a property of the terminals they use, but basically they can essentially mind control the player under some circumstances. It's not malevolent, but there's two main instances in which they intervene. When the player has hit rock bottom, so a Knight decides they don't want to fight anymore, or a Seer isn't seeing something right in front of them. It's basically just a "don't give up yet" word of encouragement. I don't think you'll have any issues here. The second one is that Exiles can't self-terminate, and they prevent players from doing so either. So basically, if you're outright replacing an Exile for the long term, the player you're supervising won't have a safety net preventing them from committing suicide. The good news is that while I'm sure most players have depressive tendencies (being forced into this endless cycle does that to you), most of them don't act on it, especially if they tried already and their Exile yelled at them for it. The bad news is, if someone does want to neckrope, the only thing preventing them from doing so is you. So no pressure, you've got this.
The second concern is that you'll be an Exile forever, and the answer is "no way". If your Seer of Time isn't a shithead, then they'll use their powers to extract you from your role once you've completed it. And if the Seer can't do that for some reason, we have Appearifiers for that. You won't have to worry about aging or harsh conditions that much if you're God-Tiered, but you should probably bring some food with you (enough to share with the other Exiles). And your players definitely won't forget you, partially because you can use the terminal to talk to them, and partially because doing the endgame is a feat without a full party. I also don't remember whether or not the Door Beyond The End opens up without every currently alive player present. Either way, they should be able to rescue you and if they don't then there's a solid chance that this will lead to all of your collective dooms, so feel free to be smug as the Horrorterrors close in.
Of course, all of this hinges upon the assumption that the Seer of Time made a correct prediction. It's entirely possible that this isn't the case, and all of this wordcount was for nothing. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
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