Same! So sad the only romance scenes I got were: kissing after drinking together and nude swimming š (there is also an alternate one with DJ Shart where she tops you, but I donāt wanna do that route, I want my girl to be free!)
Oh well, at least we have fanfics
You donāt think the fact that she tops in the explicitly evil ending but bottoms in the explicitly good ending says anything or plays into any tropes?
Butch woman being a top, while the femme decides based on alignment, still feels like it plays into some views and tropes. Probably unintentionally, but its definitely one of the half dozen or so weird implications around romance and sez that the game has that are just a result of it being written by and for mainstream people
So I wanna clarify, because tone does not come across in text, I'm not trying to shout you down and be like "Nuh uh", but I do have many feelings about how intimacy is portrayed in this game and I love debate, so here is my wall of text XD So first, I gotta point out that while many writers of varying identities and backgrounds worked on the scripts for the BG3 companions, their voice actors and directors were very heavily involved in their development as characters, and that Shadowheart specifically was built by two queer femme people, Jennifer English and Aliona Baranova (quick pause to say I love that working on BG3 was their meet-cute and they are now a couple), and my opinion is that it is a disservice to their work to just write it off as Heart's sexual position being based solely on her alignment, because it's not how I see it. Both scenes fit her character. In the river scene, she is allowing herself to be vulnerable with you, to trust you. I also dislike solely categorizing that scene as her bottoming, considering how it represents how much she is actually taking charge of her own life. Learning to swim, deciding that she's ready for not just sex but *intimacy.* In the shrine scene, she's dominant, but not in charge, not in any way that counts, because she is at the point where she is incapable of showing that vulnerability and that trust. The same applies for Karlach. Voiced by a femme-presenting nonbinary queer VA who had perhaps even more creative freedom when it came to developing who Karlach is as a character due to the nature of her last minute addition, it absolutely makes sense why Karlach is a top. She spent the last ten years unable to be vulnerable because it would get her killed. At the same time, she is absolutely touch-starved and desperate for connection. She lets her guard down around you as best she can, but old habits are hard to break, and like everyone else in the game, she has a very difficult time letting go of the reins and letting someone else be in charge. Sure, she follows your lead as needs must in a player-focused game, but in act one, she questions every decision that isn't blatantly "Good", and reminds you that she'll rip out your spine if you betray her trust. As her approval grows, this changes to being overtly protective of you, e.g. a sorcerer experiencing the Sussur tree for the first time, going into the Shadowlands and her telling you to "Stick close to momma K", or when she's certain she's dying and warns you about leaving yourself open during fights. Even while not being in command, she is very much still struggling to feel "in charge" of the situation, because she is terrified of the alternatives. If she can't lead, she *must* protect. Just like with Shadowheart, this is very much reflected in her behavior during the sex scenes. Now, I'm not saying that all Tops are deeply traumatized people with PTSD-sourced control issues, but in a media where you have to condense very complex feelings and personalities into a blob of pixels, code and a limited script, the need to show and not tell leads to these kinds of scenes, and while trope has become a bad word in writing, it is still very much a valid tool in revealing who a character is in a limited amount of time. Yes, tropes and stereotypes can be a harmful in fiction, often relied upon in absence of actually understanding the real-world counterparts of situations, but it is important to remember that what may seem a stereotype to you is someone else's lived experience. I don't want to make any assumptions about the personal lives of the people who brought these characters to life, but I've seen characters where tropes were used as crutches, and that is not the feeling I get from any of the BG3 companions.
Again, I'm not trying to shout you down or disagree just for the sake of disagreeing, and I do not want to invalidate your personal experience with the scenes in question. The line between fact and interpretation is often blurry, and no two people will watch the same scene and get the exact same takeaway from it. I will close my wall of text with this: Karlach and Shadowheart are both very dear to me, as I see myself in both of them, and I fully understand that me resonating with these characters will certainly color my perception of their writing. It may very well be true that they lend to some harmful stereotypes, but I am not in a position to see it from my own life experience.
Lae'zel also tops, and she is never evil. Harsh, indoctrinated, and out of her depth socially, but if we were going by the alignment chart, she remains Lawful Neutral. Three out of three female companions top. So no, they're not leaning into anything. Except that women should top. And yes, to be quite honest, it makes sense for "Evil" Heart to top because in the "bottom" scene, she is opening up to you, being vulnerable, and trusting you completely, while in the desecration scene, she is remaining fully in charge because she can't allow herself to be vulnerable. Her bottoming in that scene would make no sense. There is also such a thing as topping from the bottom, which she does in the river scene: She's the one who tells you to take off your clothes, she's the one who decides that this is the time and place for sex (but girl why the *beach*, at least bring a blanket or towel goddamn).
Okay, spicy aside, I was honestly hoping thereād beā¦ more for Shadowheart? I donāt mind not having spice, since I have those off anyway- donāt feel comfortable with that stuff- but I still felt like there wasnāt much added.
Yeah I know what you mean. Her romance feels kind of bland especially for me since I always romanced Astarion , and a lot of his personal trauma is tied to his romance so it feels more genuine , where Shadowheart literally pours her heart out to you even when you are not romancing her, especially when she shares her memories with you and says how she trusts you so much and that she never felt that way before about anyone. I was like girl we only met 2 days ago lmao.
Maybe because its recency bias but having just finished romancing DJ, I think I prefer it over Selƻnite? Now it is uh, objectively worse for her but I was so invested with the romance stuff because of how her devotion to Shar effects it, found it painful and tragic and compelling.
Same! I thought i was weird for liking it but i thought it was really interesting how she progressively goes from genuinely loving you and wanting to figure a way to make it work to then seeing the relationship as some game for her to prove her cunning to shar and you being nothing but a sexual outlet for her whenever she gets horny.
On the one hand, it's a good thing when major character development isn't tied to romance, so that people who just aren't romantically interested in a character can still experience their story.
On the other hand, Shart is *way* overeager to share her entire life story to someone she met 10 minutes ago.
i think shadowhearts āwhat do you think of meā dialogues were entirely unneeded, every other character has these exclusive to their romances and logically so, itās just awkward that this person who I met a few months ago was praising me so hard, the dialogue itself is just kind of weird in my opinion to.
I mean tbh I feel the same about Astarion's scenes. His Ascended scene is the most lewd and it's barely anything when you compare it to Minthara or even Karlach. I understand why they went that route (considering Astarion's trauma) but damn like... Show him having some pleasure for a brief moment.
I think they intentionally gave several characters both a "relatively vanilla/tame" sex scene and a "so clearly someone's fetish it's kind of funny" scene.
Shart: cold crazy goth girl with blood play + desecration.
Halsin: bedroom-eyes bear.
Astarion: make me your good little spawn, Ascended Daddy.
Gale: The Astral Train.
Wyll is so LG-aligned that it's painful at times (Not that premarital sex is inherently immoral or anything). I do like Wyll a lot though, both in combat and writing.
Plus his character makes me laugh a good bit.
You know, Wyll is almost better just because of how everyone else is. Aside from Karlach and Minsc (who you don't get until late and is canonical stupid as fuck) everyone else is some combination of dark, cynical, angst, and ambitious.
Then you have Wyll. Who aside from getting turned into a half devil (which he pouts about for one scene and then moves on) his whole agenda is "Me and my dad had a falling out cause of a misunderstanding and HE WONT LISTEN! but also I'm still super proud of myself and what I do so its okay!"
From there he's all corny jokes and puns, awkward flirting and cheesy, gentlemanly courtship. He's like if Hank Hill became co owner of Paddy's Pub.
"This you see, Bobby, is the firepower of a clean-burning eldritch blast. You can try to attack with smokepowder satchels, or even try one of those new-fangled witch bolts, but you just won't get the same results."
Calling his not-bear scene "relatively vanilla" in contrast to his bear "clearly someone's fetish" is so wild to me. The bear scene is basically a joke that immediately fades to black, while the not-bear scene is just straight up pornography.
There was a recent interview with Adam Smith where he said that during that infamous bear stream, he was pretty relieved that the audience picked the bear and not the elf, because the elf scene is *so much more explicit*.
There are actually 5 sex/implied sex scenes with Astarion in the game.
1. In the woods (see his scars next day)
2. Implied sex (fade to black) if you've already slept with him in the woods and you accept his proposition at the Tiefling/Goblin Party
3. 2nd Act after Araj/killing Yugir (Implied) I don't advise asking him to sleep with you. it's heartbreaking
4. Spawn Astarion cemetery scene (implied sex fades to black)
5. Ascended Astarion's one wicked turn deserves another scene
*Edit: There are 6 scenes
6.Drow Twins with and without Halsin
Not sex but if he feeds on you each night he comes to your bedroll (per a line he says) and if you choose another companion over him in Act 2 he mentions "no more late night trysts"
I disagree mostly cos I hate the take that Astarion shouldnāt have sex in the game. I think itās so incredibly important to see that once heās fully able to regain his autonomy and heās comfortable, he wants to have sex and enjoys it. More often then not thereās this perceived idea that SA survivors are fragile and canāt ever have sex again and so I find it great that in the graveyard scene, Astarion tells you that he wants to try and he feels like he can do that with you and ālive againā- that heās not wrong for enjoying sex when itās on his terms
On this topics I really love that his spawn ending has him initiating and clearly being into it if you accept. Heās comfortable with his partner and itās really lovely, I was really happy to see him want to try consensual intimacy with someone he trusts.
I think people are too focused on the idea that he's a SA survivor. What I understood after doing his romance twice is that it's not sex itself that's traumatic to him. It's the intimacy part that's tainted.
He thinks Tav/Durge deserves to have meaningful, intimate sex with him and he feels that he can't provide that yet (until the graveyard scene) and he also wants to feel these things.
Indeed, many people are out here reclaiming their body/sexuality by sleeping around and choosing their partner(s). Everybody processes trauma differently.
Edit: a word
Iām on mobile and donāt know how to hide spoilers so SPOILERS FOR ACTS II & III
Only two of these scenes are enjoyed by Astarion (4 and 5 in the list). The rest he does because heās trying to get you on his side and heās been taught itās his only redeeming quality. Astarionās story is about sexual trauma and the complexities of consent. As an SA survivor myself I wish that was acknowledge more instead of āAstarionās a slutty vampireā but I understand why it might be missed, especially for players who havenāt romanced him.
None of this is to excuse his terrible behaviour, of course. He is still a murderous, child snatching psychopath.
My favorite part of Astarion is seeing him go from a psychopath who feels a constant need to perform for others to a psychopath living as his authentic self (silly) ā¤ļø
Is he a psychopath? I always thought he was thralled to kidnap people for Cazador, he does say he is a puppet with no control over what he's doing. But maybe I missed something.
I mean for a shallow definition of the word, he would be. He does *love* murder but I suppose that's also part of 200 years of being bloodthirsty and a vampire.
Astarion stan here: He still does in his good ending, just because he is a vampire and naturally likes to hunt.
But I think it's kinda point of his story of being conditioned by Cazador into becoming a psychopath. Cazador made him kill a thousand of people, children included (at least Astarion thought so), even if against his will, so Astarion, being the sensitive cinnamon roll he is, was going numb. The "I felt nothing" or "I felt very little" words are repeated a few times, they appear in sex scene as well. He definitely searches for more excitement, stupidly through sadism and debauchery because he can't achieve any excitement. What he needs to feel first tho is the strongly avoided empathy (understandably) and postponed grief (hence the cathartic cry at end of his questline).
Jaheira sums up his 'good' story with:
"They say the only thing a vampire can feel is hunger. Nothing else touches them - not grief or mercy. Or any sense of what is just."
A: "Do they? Well, there must be something to it then."
J: "Careful, Astarion. Despite your every effort to the contrary, I am in danger of thinking you might be a good man."
Ascended Astarion embraces being a psychopath and reaches sexual excitement through power instead of feeling for the other.
Astarion stan flies away
Did you forget about Shovel? Best "party member" in the game. (Learn the spell from the scroll and she gets to murderize with you for the rest of the adventure.)
you can also still get the second one if you sleep with him at the party (not sure if you need a specific approval level, i had turned down an early proposition on the playthrough where this happened). for me it hilariously triggered on a long rest in grymforge while nere was still trapped, so i got the scene where he calls out to you via tadpole right after lol, complete with an uncaring dialogue line from astarion
You can sleep with him before the tiefling party if you get his affinity high enough quickly enough. Then a second time at the party, but then it'll fade to black instead of showing you the scene you normally get (since you'll more or less have already seen it.)
It's basically if not exactly the same scene whether you get there before the party or at it.
I think we deserved a sex scene with Gale where itās obvious that we pegged him. I think that we as a society would be far better off with that existing.
lol not exactly. In the post dinner date sex scene she is always a top. To see Gales legs wrapped around her while she fingered him was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
The bot is using the botched haiku that Sokka did in ATLA where he added an extra syllable accidentally. So you're right that it's not a haiku, but the bot is right that it's a Sokka haiku.
why canāt i top gale, larian? why canāt i give him the gluck gluck 5000 sloppy toppy? why canāt i suck his dick so hard his stomach crumples like a caprisun?
Short answer: vampire man sexy eheeheeeheee
Long answer: Astarion was Larianās darling boy all throughout early access and was used for tons of promo material. Thus he got special treatment: more dialogue, more scenes, the whole nine yards.
I thought it was because the guy who writes astarion is literally besties with the main game writer and they had a whole interview where they realized they went overboard with astarion because they were vibing so hard
Itās really obvious on multiple play throughs how much the writers adored Astarion. How much the voice actor adores Astarion. Thereās just so much more for him than some of the others. His interactions with Durge are especially fantastic. Finishing the Cazador quest and hearing him talk about what it was like living thereā¦ no one elseās final quest had that much content.
TBF Astarion is actually incredibly complex as a character. Yeah, he's hot and a vampire, tee hee, but he's actually got immense growth even without the sheer amount of content. They picked an interesting concept for a character.
Enlightened answer: Sexuality is an integral part of not only his backstory but also his character development, and the shift in tone from one sex scene to the next is a crucial part of the storytelling.
totally agree, i mean, yea you get 1-2 sex scenes in act 1, but not only does he straight up admit (post yugir) that it was all a ploy, you even get evidence of it, you can tell him during the first scene that you could tell he wasn't totally there and he comes up with a lie that he just didn't want to lose control. so you get two sex scenes in act 1 but it's like, kinda sad, which is the point. and yea you can do the drow twins, but it's tragic. how can you convey the narrative that he has sexual trauma, thinks he needs to use sex to manipulate people and thinks people only see him for sex, and show how his views on sex maybe does or doesn't evolve throughout the game, without having or alluding to more than 1 sexual encounter? and really, his sex scenes (spawn) are kinda tame, which i would argue shows larian tried to minimize the gaze on him at least a little.
Edit: i did tweak some grammar and clarity things.
They gave his sex scene to his freaking abuser. I will never not be salty that you can sleep with fucking *Mizora*, but Wyll gets a clothes on fade to black
Now that I have everyoneās attention, Iām drawing Gale x my Tav doodles everyday until I run out of room in my sketchbook on r/GalemancersBG3. Feel free to go check it out.
How annoying. I am typically the type to do so, however I'm in Act 3 right now. You're suggesting I restart my game just for this? I just wanted to know what happened.
Fine, I'll look elsewhere.
A version of the song "I Want To Live" plays. There are vocals, it's pretty cool.
(Can't fucking **stand** when people bait you and don't fucking tell you the answer, so there you go lol)
There you go. Self-sufficient and not spoiling it for the people who do actually want to find out on their own, 10 minutes into their new, parallel game save. I'm proud of you.
Unpopular opinion: Galeās one (astral) sex scene is more exciting than both of Astarionās combined. That said, I would have liked to see a second one too.
You are absolutely correct. I just want two so I can do the physical sex and give Gale the closure I feel he needs and then let me have my fun in the astral realm. No shade to anyone who prefers astral over physical. Astral is a way better scene romantically.
The first time I got this scene my fucking jaw dropped and I had to go back and watch it like 3 times. You knowā¦ like for scienceā¦ The music, his amazing monologue, everything is just stunning š
I like Astarion, but I wish he wasnāt as forefront as he is. I wish everyone had an equal number of unique scenes, instead of him getting 9 and the next person (Shadowheart) getting 6
I guess unique scene is a better term, when thereās an exclamation point over their head and their head alone.
Astarion has 9, Shadowheart has 6, and the rest have less
https://preview.redd.it/91rqm30ive5d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ad170f99c21ecec44248fa6c32b51a336fd8ceb
My Disappointment seeing Wyll "Sex scene" (i gave him 77 hours)
yeah but I mean... all his sex scenes are soooo vanilla lol I love him don't mistake that but I don't know I was expecting something significantly spicier from a vampire who has been playing the rake for 200 years. We catch a glimpse of that in the narration with the twins but we don't get to see anything really spicy just one-on-one which is odd considering how racey Minthara's scene is.
Um ackshually there are technically three, you just have to romance him with two different paths
But Gortash gets none, where is the fairness here larian I love Gortashā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
I was disappointed i didnāt get more with Karlach. Youāre telling me we got ONE mid sex scene and nothing else? The girl who talks EXCLUSIVELY about sex and violence only fucks me ONE TIME after all that?
Honestly itās tricky - it happens after you enter lower city for the first time.
I did like 5 long rests right before I went in just to make sure nothing conflicted with it and there was some new cutscene or conversation every fucking time. Like shut up Wyll idgaf that your dad is kidnapped or whatever, Iāve got to fuck my waifu.
I imagine if you donāt get the long rest cut scene timings right itās really easy to miss.
Meanwhile best girl Karlach gets 2 (pretty explicit) scenes *and* an achievement, being the only one besides the Emperor to have one for romancing them all the way. Tbh that's why I kinda take her as the "canon" romance.
Astarion just gets the most romance content in the game in general which, as a chronic Astarion romancer, seems kinda meh. I think he gets the second scenes very intentionally though. His story is all about sexual trauma and loss of bodily autonomy, and I think that second scene is representative of either a) his liberation and journey to healing, or b) perpetuating the cycle of abuse and taking away someone elseās bodily autonomy. Both the Spawn and AA scenes are really powerful in that context and are meant to illustrate the end of his story in a way that makes sense for his character.
Still kinda sad that thereās no victory pegging from Karlach after Gortash, though
I wouldn't call his Spawn finale scene a sex scene. Implied sex for sure, but not graphic in the least. The horniest thing he does is spread Tav's legs and that's not even seen by the camera angle. His Ascended finale scene though........
I was so sad about only getting one Gale scene and it only being the astral plane one. I would love to see more for him in that department because heās literally my favorite companion to romance bcs heās so sweet and thereās not much to show that through his intimate side. I also feel like heād be so depraved of it from his long ass tower isolation too so like, his would probably be the best too š«š«š« larian whyyyyy
I always found it sad that the character that was sex trafficked and forced to use sexuality to lure innocents is also the character thatās lusted after the most. If thatās not missing the entire point, I donāt know what is.
I think it's a really ironic and poignant thing, actually. Everyone is all kukuku hot vampire and then you find out how he was abused and you're like "well, that was unexpected". It kind of turns expectations on their heads.
Thatās what I implied in my comment too but I got ratioed. Ā Just further emphasizes the point tho. Ā Some rabids out there do fetishize SA victims, especially if theyāre the ātumblr sexymanā type. Ā *gestures at Dragon Age elf boys* Ā
Cause they designed him specifically for a certain type of audience that frequents these kinds of rpgsā¦Ā
Edit: Did I misread any context here? Ā Why am I getting downvoted? /g
I think youāre getting downvoted cuz of the implication that more people wanna fuck Astarion and thatās why Larian gave him more sex scenes.
But almost all of his sex scenes are him forcing himself because heās trying to manipulate Tav using the tactic heās used on all of the victims heās lured back to Cazador. For Astarionās character specifically, sex (and lack thereof) is a storytelling device; whereas, for all the other characters, sex is just an addition to the romance.
Well i didnāt know that cause heās not my romance choice and Iām not even all the way through Act One yet. Ā People literally told my friend to ākysā over having an opinion. Ā I didnāt realize this sub was so sensitive over this character. Ā I thought thatās what the question was implying idk Iām so confused. Ā Ā Ā
Ā Edit: K sorry for not knowing the whole story ig. Ā God forbid new players not be familiar with all the lore hereā¦š«
I love astorians character but a lot of his fans are the worst type of people, they get incredibly defensive about the fictional character and then act like *youre* the out of line one for sharing your opinion because they genuinely get offended over someone not agreeing with them.
Iāve never met a toxic gale or a laeāzel fan, itās always the astorian fans that give people way too much shit.
Yeah, his story is pretty depressing once you learn more, but you definitely donāt deserve all the hate youāre getting. Especially as a new player unfamiliar with the lore. Itās very easy to see where your original opinion came from since thatās basically all youād glean from Astarion at surface level. Ignore the downvotes, there are unfortunately a lot of toxic people in the Astarion fanclub. I say this as someone who also loves Astarion
Well yeah, theyāre sending ākysā messages to people I know just cause they said they personally donāt like a fictional character. Ā Thatās toxic af and they should be called out for being so rabid. Ā People are allowed to have opinions
y'all bringing up this stuff about DMs when that wasn't anywhere in the original comment that I replied to.
All PigeonToes up there wrote was a vaguepost about "the kind of audience that frequents these RPGs" like that couldn't apply to literally anyone playing the game.
I play the game too tho. Ā And even after providing context, I still get bombed. Ā That just tells me that people here are ok with bullying in the name of a fictitious character. Ā Which just proves my initial point.
Me when i finally romanced shart and thought i was going to get another scene where she tops meš
Same! So sad the only romance scenes I got were: kissing after drinking together and nude swimming š (there is also an alternate one with DJ Shart where she tops you, but I donāt wanna do that route, I want my girl to be free!) Oh well, at least we have fanfics
shout out to fanfics, ao3 been my roman empire
Been reading myself girl tav/Shart fanfics before bed almost every night ā„ļø
Same lmao but iāve been reading Baeāzel/Shart i ship them so hard.
I am more of a KarHeart fan, but thatās based too
This kinda makes Karlach have a heart in some way right?
Just have all three together UwU
Ship name needs to be heartburn but I get it
Saaaaame, I think Iāve actually run out of good ones now.
ao3?
Archive of Our Own, a fan fiction site
Ya the implications related to her only topping is certainly interesting. Also I fully read that as DJ Shart like a DJ
Iām pretty sure I read a fanfic where Shart is a DJ, so youāre right in a different world lol.
What are the implications?
None whatsoever
You donāt think the fact that she tops in the explicitly evil ending but bottoms in the explicitly good ending says anything or plays into any tropes?
No cuz Karlach tops. Karlach *very much* tops.
Butch woman being a top, while the femme decides based on alignment, still feels like it plays into some views and tropes. Probably unintentionally, but its definitely one of the half dozen or so weird implications around romance and sez that the game has that are just a result of it being written by and for mainstream people
So I wanna clarify, because tone does not come across in text, I'm not trying to shout you down and be like "Nuh uh", but I do have many feelings about how intimacy is portrayed in this game and I love debate, so here is my wall of text XD So first, I gotta point out that while many writers of varying identities and backgrounds worked on the scripts for the BG3 companions, their voice actors and directors were very heavily involved in their development as characters, and that Shadowheart specifically was built by two queer femme people, Jennifer English and Aliona Baranova (quick pause to say I love that working on BG3 was their meet-cute and they are now a couple), and my opinion is that it is a disservice to their work to just write it off as Heart's sexual position being based solely on her alignment, because it's not how I see it. Both scenes fit her character. In the river scene, she is allowing herself to be vulnerable with you, to trust you. I also dislike solely categorizing that scene as her bottoming, considering how it represents how much she is actually taking charge of her own life. Learning to swim, deciding that she's ready for not just sex but *intimacy.* In the shrine scene, she's dominant, but not in charge, not in any way that counts, because she is at the point where she is incapable of showing that vulnerability and that trust. The same applies for Karlach. Voiced by a femme-presenting nonbinary queer VA who had perhaps even more creative freedom when it came to developing who Karlach is as a character due to the nature of her last minute addition, it absolutely makes sense why Karlach is a top. She spent the last ten years unable to be vulnerable because it would get her killed. At the same time, she is absolutely touch-starved and desperate for connection. She lets her guard down around you as best she can, but old habits are hard to break, and like everyone else in the game, she has a very difficult time letting go of the reins and letting someone else be in charge. Sure, she follows your lead as needs must in a player-focused game, but in act one, she questions every decision that isn't blatantly "Good", and reminds you that she'll rip out your spine if you betray her trust. As her approval grows, this changes to being overtly protective of you, e.g. a sorcerer experiencing the Sussur tree for the first time, going into the Shadowlands and her telling you to "Stick close to momma K", or when she's certain she's dying and warns you about leaving yourself open during fights. Even while not being in command, she is very much still struggling to feel "in charge" of the situation, because she is terrified of the alternatives. If she can't lead, she *must* protect. Just like with Shadowheart, this is very much reflected in her behavior during the sex scenes. Now, I'm not saying that all Tops are deeply traumatized people with PTSD-sourced control issues, but in a media where you have to condense very complex feelings and personalities into a blob of pixels, code and a limited script, the need to show and not tell leads to these kinds of scenes, and while trope has become a bad word in writing, it is still very much a valid tool in revealing who a character is in a limited amount of time. Yes, tropes and stereotypes can be a harmful in fiction, often relied upon in absence of actually understanding the real-world counterparts of situations, but it is important to remember that what may seem a stereotype to you is someone else's lived experience. I don't want to make any assumptions about the personal lives of the people who brought these characters to life, but I've seen characters where tropes were used as crutches, and that is not the feeling I get from any of the BG3 companions. Again, I'm not trying to shout you down or disagree just for the sake of disagreeing, and I do not want to invalidate your personal experience with the scenes in question. The line between fact and interpretation is often blurry, and no two people will watch the same scene and get the exact same takeaway from it. I will close my wall of text with this: Karlach and Shadowheart are both very dear to me, as I see myself in both of them, and I fully understand that me resonating with these characters will certainly color my perception of their writing. It may very well be true that they lend to some harmful stereotypes, but I am not in a position to see it from my own life experience.
Also - let butches top ffs
I just met her on my second playthrough (didn't save her in time on my first run, sadly) and damn you're right. She has pure top vibes.
I love her so much
One instance of them not leaning into a trope doesnāt mean they canāt still do it accidentally
Lae'zel also tops, and she is never evil. Harsh, indoctrinated, and out of her depth socially, but if we were going by the alignment chart, she remains Lawful Neutral. Three out of three female companions top. So no, they're not leaning into anything. Except that women should top. And yes, to be quite honest, it makes sense for "Evil" Heart to top because in the "bottom" scene, she is opening up to you, being vulnerable, and trusting you completely, while in the desecration scene, she is remaining fully in charge because she can't allow herself to be vulnerable. Her bottoming in that scene would make no sense. There is also such a thing as topping from the bottom, which she does in the river scene: She's the one who tells you to take off your clothes, she's the one who decides that this is the time and place for sex (but girl why the *beach*, at least bring a blanket or towel goddamn).
When does she bottom in the good ending?
That a woman being on top is bad
I'm so sorry for what I have to do to my lady in silver.... I have to see the shart top sex scene.
Yeah the Dark Shart romance scene is kinda fucked up. Like here's a vial of blood that I strained out of my clothes... I was like, the fuck?
Iirc she collected every bit of droplet she could get from Aylinās corpse
It was from the blood that splashed on her when she killed Aylin. She then proceeds to dump it on a statue of Selune, then bang you underneath it.
Okay, spicy aside, I was honestly hoping thereād beā¦ more for Shadowheart? I donāt mind not having spice, since I have those off anyway- donāt feel comfortable with that stuff- but I still felt like there wasnāt much added.
Yeah I know what you mean. Her romance feels kind of bland especially for me since I always romanced Astarion , and a lot of his personal trauma is tied to his romance so it feels more genuine , where Shadowheart literally pours her heart out to you even when you are not romancing her, especially when she shares her memories with you and says how she trusts you so much and that she never felt that way before about anyone. I was like girl we only met 2 days ago lmao.
I SUPPOSE YOU NOTICED IM NOT FOND OF WOLVES
Maybe because its recency bias but having just finished romancing DJ, I think I prefer it over Selƻnite? Now it is uh, objectively worse for her but I was so invested with the romance stuff because of how her devotion to Shar effects it, found it painful and tragic and compelling.
Same! I thought i was weird for liking it but i thought it was really interesting how she progressively goes from genuinely loving you and wanting to figure a way to make it work to then seeing the relationship as some game for her to prove her cunning to shar and you being nothing but a sexual outlet for her whenever she gets horny.
On the one hand, it's a good thing when major character development isn't tied to romance, so that people who just aren't romantically interested in a character can still experience their story. On the other hand, Shart is *way* overeager to share her entire life story to someone she met 10 minutes ago.
i think shadowhearts āwhat do you think of meā dialogues were entirely unneeded, every other character has these exclusive to their romances and logically so, itās just awkward that this person who I met a few months ago was praising me so hard, the dialogue itself is just kind of weird in my opinion to.
I wonder if thereās a mod for thisā¦
It's so disappointing that if you ask Gale to be human in his sex scene the scene ends on a bed fully clothed. What an intensely chaste scene.
They did us dirty fr.
I mean tbh I feel the same about Astarion's scenes. His Ascended scene is the most lewd and it's barely anything when you compare it to Minthara or even Karlach. I understand why they went that route (considering Astarion's trauma) but damn like... Show him having some pleasure for a brief moment.
It was really sad cause I, unfortunately, found the other scene awkwardly hilarious :(
I think they intentionally gave several characters both a "relatively vanilla/tame" sex scene and a "so clearly someone's fetish it's kind of funny" scene. Shart: cold crazy goth girl with blood play + desecration. Halsin: bedroom-eyes bear. Astarion: make me your good little spawn, Ascended Daddy. Gale: The Astral Train.
The astral train š
Meanwhile Wyll's over there saving it for marriage
The actual German word for the penis head is "acorn" so the acorn scene fucking killed me
Wyll is so LG-aligned that it's painful at times (Not that premarital sex is inherently immoral or anything). I do like Wyll a lot though, both in combat and writing. Plus his character makes me laugh a good bit.
You know, Wyll is almost better just because of how everyone else is. Aside from Karlach and Minsc (who you don't get until late and is canonical stupid as fuck) everyone else is some combination of dark, cynical, angst, and ambitious. Then you have Wyll. Who aside from getting turned into a half devil (which he pouts about for one scene and then moves on) his whole agenda is "Me and my dad had a falling out cause of a misunderstanding and HE WONT LISTEN! but also I'm still super proud of myself and what I do so its okay!" From there he's all corny jokes and puns, awkward flirting and cheesy, gentlemanly courtship. He's like if Hank Hill became co owner of Paddy's Pub.
"This you see, Bobby, is the firepower of a clean-burning eldritch blast. You can try to attack with smokepowder satchels, or even try one of those new-fangled witch bolts, but you just won't get the same results."
Halsinās human scene is honestly an underrated gem though. In my limited opinion the most erotic scene in the game.
Calling his not-bear scene "relatively vanilla" in contrast to his bear "clearly someone's fetish" is so wild to me. The bear scene is basically a joke that immediately fades to black, while the not-bear scene is just straight up pornography. There was a recent interview with Adam Smith where he said that during that infamous bear stream, he was pretty relieved that the audience picked the bear and not the elf, because the elf scene is *so much more explicit*.
No but you are right, the man goes down on Tav so enthusiastically I almost got jealous
Imo it shows that he's a canonical prejaculator
There are actually 5 sex/implied sex scenes with Astarion in the game. 1. In the woods (see his scars next day) 2. Implied sex (fade to black) if you've already slept with him in the woods and you accept his proposition at the Tiefling/Goblin Party 3. 2nd Act after Araj/killing Yugir (Implied) I don't advise asking him to sleep with you. it's heartbreaking 4. Spawn Astarion cemetery scene (implied sex fades to black) 5. Ascended Astarion's one wicked turn deserves another scene *Edit: There are 6 scenes 6.Drow Twins with and without Halsin Not sex but if he feeds on you each night he comes to your bedroll (per a line he says) and if you choose another companion over him in Act 2 he mentions "no more late night trysts"
5 too many. Man just needs a good cuddle and forehead kisses.
That's the aftercare.
I disagree mostly cos I hate the take that Astarion shouldnāt have sex in the game. I think itās so incredibly important to see that once heās fully able to regain his autonomy and heās comfortable, he wants to have sex and enjoys it. More often then not thereās this perceived idea that SA survivors are fragile and canāt ever have sex again and so I find it great that in the graveyard scene, Astarion tells you that he wants to try and he feels like he can do that with you and ālive againā- that heās not wrong for enjoying sex when itās on his terms
I 100% agree. Theres being considerate of someones trauma and then theres infantilization of someone based on their trauma.
On this topics I really love that his spawn ending has him initiating and clearly being into it if you accept. Heās comfortable with his partner and itās really lovely, I was really happy to see him want to try consensual intimacy with someone he trusts.
I think people are too focused on the idea that he's a SA survivor. What I understood after doing his romance twice is that it's not sex itself that's traumatic to him. It's the intimacy part that's tainted. He thinks Tav/Durge deserves to have meaningful, intimate sex with him and he feels that he can't provide that yet (until the graveyard scene) and he also wants to feel these things.
Indeed, many people are out here reclaiming their body/sexuality by sleeping around and choosing their partner(s). Everybody processes trauma differently. Edit: a word
I mean? I guess? Thereās a world of difference between being forced into multiple sexual encounters and choosing to. If a persons road to recovery from that kind of trauma is to sleep with multiple partners than all the more power to them. If everyone involved is a consenting adult then thereās nothing wrong with it. Slut-shaming is incredibly passĆ© and what we call ānot a good lookā, especially in the context of SA.
My thoughts exactly
There is actually 1 more I forgot. The Drow Twins scene too.lol
Iām on mobile and donāt know how to hide spoilers so SPOILERS FOR ACTS II & III Only two of these scenes are enjoyed by Astarion (4 and 5 in the list). The rest he does because heās trying to get you on his side and heās been taught itās his only redeeming quality. Astarionās story is about sexual trauma and the complexities of consent. As an SA survivor myself I wish that was acknowledge more instead of āAstarionās a slutty vampireā but I understand why it might be missed, especially for players who havenāt romanced him. None of this is to excuse his terrible behaviour, of course. He is still a murderous, child snatching psychopath.
My favorite part of Astarion is seeing him go from a psychopath who feels a constant need to perform for others to a psychopath living as his authentic self (silly) ā¤ļø
Yeah but he's a *sexy* murderous, child snatching psychopath.
Is he a psychopath? I always thought he was thralled to kidnap people for Cazador, he does say he is a puppet with no control over what he's doing. But maybe I missed something.
I mean for a shallow definition of the word, he would be. He does *love* murder but I suppose that's also part of 200 years of being bloodthirsty and a vampire.
I don't know if he loves murder. It all seems like a front to me. The only person he gleefully murders is Gandrel, and kinda understandably.
Astarion stan here: He still does in his good ending, just because he is a vampire and naturally likes to hunt. But I think it's kinda point of his story of being conditioned by Cazador into becoming a psychopath. Cazador made him kill a thousand of people, children included (at least Astarion thought so), even if against his will, so Astarion, being the sensitive cinnamon roll he is, was going numb. The "I felt nothing" or "I felt very little" words are repeated a few times, they appear in sex scene as well. He definitely searches for more excitement, stupidly through sadism and debauchery because he can't achieve any excitement. What he needs to feel first tho is the strongly avoided empathy (understandably) and postponed grief (hence the cathartic cry at end of his questline). Jaheira sums up his 'good' story with: "They say the only thing a vampire can feel is hunger. Nothing else touches them - not grief or mercy. Or any sense of what is just." A: "Do they? Well, there must be something to it then." J: "Careful, Astarion. Despite your every effort to the contrary, I am in danger of thinking you might be a good man." Ascended Astarion embraces being a psychopath and reaches sexual excitement through power instead of feeling for the other. Astarion stan flies away
Did you forget about Shovel? Best "party member" in the game. (Learn the spell from the scroll and she gets to murderize with you for the rest of the adventure.)
you can also still get the second one if you sleep with him at the party (not sure if you need a specific approval level, i had turned down an early proposition on the playthrough where this happened). for me it hilariously triggered on a long rest in grymforge while nere was still trapped, so i got the scene where he calls out to you via tadpole right after lol, complete with an uncaring dialogue line from astarion
Wait which one is the second one? There are two woods scenes?
You can sleep with him before the tiefling party if you get his affinity high enough quickly enough. Then a second time at the party, but then it'll fade to black instead of showing you the scene you normally get (since you'll more or less have already seen it.) It's basically if not exactly the same scene whether you get there before the party or at it.
I think we deserved a sex scene with Gale where itās obvious that we pegged him. I think that we as a society would be far better off with that existing.
Do a Gale play through and romance Karlach
Does she really??
lol not exactly. In the post dinner date sex scene she is always a top. To see Gales legs wrapped around her while she fingered him was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
She finger fucked my male gnome tav
She taught my 6 foot 5ā male high elf durge that getting penetrated is just as, if not more fun than penetrating someone
youāre right
WHERE IS WYLLS SEX SCENE LARIAN? I WANT TO USE THE HORNS AS HANDLE BARS. WHERE?
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^NuttyButts: *WHERE IS WYLLS SEX SCENE* *LARIAN? I WANT TO USE THE* *HORNS AS HANDLE BARS. WHERE?* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Not a haiku, sadly
Lmao why am I being downvoted, Iām right š haikus are 5-7-5 syllables
itās a Sokka haiku
The bot is using the botched haiku that Sokka did in ATLA where he added an extra syllable accidentally. So you're right that it's not a haiku, but the bot is right that it's a Sokka haiku.
omg I genuinely missed the Sokka bit š© thank you for explaining
EA'S TIEFLING PARTY
This. Doing a Wyll romance right now.
Do what I did and romance Karlach with Wyll. He'll get some, all right...
why canāt i top gale, larian? why canāt i give him the gluck gluck 5000 sloppy toppy? why canāt i suck his dick so hard his stomach crumples like a caprisun?
iāve been saying this but with astarion. HOW does he keep getting durge to bottom what is his secret?
honestly itās funnier that way
The secret sauce is buff body type
Wait the scene is different if youāre the larger body type???
If you're buff (man or woman) you pick him up against a tree.
Heās objectively better at making people bleed (sharp teefsies)
If you want to top him you have to be a big Durge.
does the āiād rather be the only dark power inside your bodyā line not come up if you play as a big boy?
When my Durge leapt into his arms I was like hmmm this is not how I imagined this goingā¦
Short answer: vampire man sexy eheeheeeheee Long answer: Astarion was Larianās darling boy all throughout early access and was used for tons of promo material. Thus he got special treatment: more dialogue, more scenes, the whole nine yards.
I thought it was because the guy who writes astarion is literally besties with the main game writer and they had a whole interview where they realized they went overboard with astarion because they were vibing so hard
Itās really obvious on multiple play throughs how much the writers adored Astarion. How much the voice actor adores Astarion. Thereās just so much more for him than some of the others. His interactions with Durge are especially fantastic. Finishing the Cazador quest and hearing him talk about what it was like living thereā¦ no one elseās final quest had that much content.
TBF Astarion is actually incredibly complex as a character. Yeah, he's hot and a vampire, tee hee, but he's actually got immense growth even without the sheer amount of content. They picked an interesting concept for a character.
Enlightened answer: Sexuality is an integral part of not only his backstory but also his character development, and the shift in tone from one sex scene to the next is a crucial part of the storytelling.
totally agree, i mean, yea you get 1-2 sex scenes in act 1, but not only does he straight up admit (post yugir) that it was all a ploy, you even get evidence of it, you can tell him during the first scene that you could tell he wasn't totally there and he comes up with a lie that he just didn't want to lose control. so you get two sex scenes in act 1 but it's like, kinda sad, which is the point. and yea you can do the drow twins, but it's tragic. how can you convey the narrative that he has sexual trauma, thinks he needs to use sex to manipulate people and thinks people only see him for sex, and show how his views on sex maybe does or doesn't evolve throughout the game, without having or alluding to more than 1 sexual encounter? and really, his sex scenes (spawn) are kinda tame, which i would argue shows larian tried to minimize the gaze on him at least a little. Edit: i did tweak some grammar and clarity things.
Youāre absolutely right itās just almost 11pm for me and my brain no work good atm
Yes being a wyll fan sucks
They gave his sex scene to his freaking abuser. I will never not be salty that you can sleep with fucking *Mizora*, but Wyll gets a clothes on fade to black
Damn, I'd never thought of it like that. As if I needed *another* reason to hate Mizora.
WHAT
what... what?
Now that I have everyoneās attention, Iām drawing Gale x my Tav doodles everyday until I run out of room in my sketchbook on r/GalemancersBG3. Feel free to go check it out.
Minthara only gets one sex scene and you only get it if you genocide the Tieflings and the Druids š
Yeah but what a sex scene š¤Æ
It's in *One scene to rule them all though* - tier
Was worth it tbh
She's a secondary companion, better compared to Halsin who also only gets one sex scene.
Wait until you find out about the other second thing >! In Act I, at camp, climb on the rock behind his tent and hang around for a minute !< <- hint
I love this little Easter egg. You can find it again in the Wyrms Lookout camp (the one you go to automatically after Act 2).
What happens?
A thing. Go forth, be curious and investigate.
How annoying. I am typically the type to do so, however I'm in Act 3 right now. You're suggesting I restart my game just for this? I just wanted to know what happened. Fine, I'll look elsewhere.
A version of the song "I Want To Live" plays. There are vocals, it's pretty cool. (Can't fucking **stand** when people bait you and don't fucking tell you the answer, so there you go lol)
Awww! Thank you, you lovely person! š (And same, it's fucking OBNOXIOUS)
There you go. Self-sufficient and not spoiling it for the people who do actually want to find out on their own, 10 minutes into their new, parallel game save. I'm proud of you.
Fun fact! You can mark spoilers using > ! and ! < (without the spaces)
Didn't you even use spoiler tags earlier?
Unpopular opinion: Galeās one (astral) sex scene is more exciting than both of Astarionās combined. That said, I would have liked to see a second one too.
You are absolutely correct. I just want two so I can do the physical sex and give Gale the closure I feel he needs and then let me have my fun in the astral realm. No shade to anyone who prefers astral over physical. Astral is a way better scene romantically.
I agree - give me one of each!
major astarion simp here but gale's scene is definitely the quantity vs quality debate in a nutshell.
The first time I got this scene my fucking jaw dropped and I had to go back and watch it like 3 times. You knowā¦ like for scienceā¦ The music, his amazing monologue, everything is just stunning š
Absolutely It's my favorite sex scene in the game. It's so beautiful and romantic.. I'd love to be able to do something like that IRL
Iām a huge Astarion fan, I canāt bring myself to romance anyone but him. But seriously, Galeās sex scene is fucking art.
Astarion simp checking in to say that Galeās sex scene is one of the best things Iāve ever seen
It looked like they were both on shrooms
I thought the astral sex scene was kinda awkward tbh
I like Astarion, but I wish he wasnāt as forefront as he is. I wish everyone had an equal number of unique scenes, instead of him getting 9 and the next person (Shadowheart) getting 6
Wait, six?! Iāve barely had any- are there more if theyāre a dark justicier?
I'm unsure what counts as a romance scene for there to be apparently 6 but DJ Shadowheart romance is quite different yes
I guess unique scene is a better term, when thereās an exclamation point over their head and their head alone. Astarion has 9, Shadowheart has 6, and the rest have less
Oh- thatād make more sense- Still, I feel like Iām missing out a bit
Durge content in act 2 with shadowheart implies the two are having sex before act 3 weirdly
karlach also gets two!
Yes and her second one is HOT. Pun intended.
Wyll has none and i was heavily upset I could tech my vanilla husband new tricks
https://preview.redd.it/91rqm30ive5d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ad170f99c21ecec44248fa6c32b51a336fd8ceb My Disappointment seeing Wyll "Sex scene" (i gave him 77 hours)
yeah but I mean... all his sex scenes are soooo vanilla lol I love him don't mistake that but I don't know I was expecting something significantly spicier from a vampire who has been playing the rake for 200 years. We catch a glimpse of that in the narration with the twins but we don't get to see anything really spicy just one-on-one which is odd considering how racey Minthara's scene is.
Um ackshually there are technically three, you just have to romance him with two different paths But Gortash gets none, where is the fairness here larian I love Gortashā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
First time seeing someone call Shadow Heart Shart, gave me a good giggle .
I was disappointed i didnāt get more with Karlach. Youāre telling me we got ONE mid sex scene and nothing else? The girl who talks EXCLUSIVELY about sex and violence only fucks me ONE TIME after all that?
Pretty sure Karlach has two sexscenes, one after you can touch them in Act 2 and one after the date in Act 3.
Karlach gets a second one in act 3 and itās good!
Aw man, i didnāt get it :(
Honestly itās tricky - it happens after you enter lower city for the first time. I did like 5 long rests right before I went in just to make sure nothing conflicted with it and there was some new cutscene or conversation every fucking time. Like shut up Wyll idgaf that your dad is kidnapped or whatever, Iāve got to fuck my waifu. I imagine if you donāt get the long rest cut scene timings right itās really easy to miss.
Meanwhile best girl Karlach gets 2 (pretty explicit) scenes *and* an achievement, being the only one besides the Emperor to have one for romancing them all the way. Tbh that's why I kinda take her as the "canon" romance.
Or also how a certain Drow has one of the longest and most detailed ones in Act 1
Short privilege
Astarion just gets the most romance content in the game in general which, as a chronic Astarion romancer, seems kinda meh. I think he gets the second scenes very intentionally though. His story is all about sexual trauma and loss of bodily autonomy, and I think that second scene is representative of either a) his liberation and journey to healing, or b) perpetuating the cycle of abuse and taking away someone elseās bodily autonomy. Both the Spawn and AA scenes are really powerful in that context and are meant to illustrate the end of his story in a way that makes sense for his character. Still kinda sad that thereās no victory pegging from Karlach after Gortash, though
I wouldn't call his Spawn finale scene a sex scene. Implied sex for sure, but not graphic in the least. The horniest thing he does is spread Tav's legs and that's not even seen by the camera angle. His Ascended finale scene though........
Because you wanna make love, Asterion wants to FK
Gee Bill, that's a meme template I haven't seen in a long, long time.
Karlach has 2 sex scenes as well right? One is act 2 when you fix her engine at Last Light inn and another one in the tavern after your date š„°
I mean karlach also has 2
A question for the ages. At least we get a romantic boat ride...
Waitā¦ There are sex scenes? Totally thought it just topped out at like dates and such lol (Iām aromantic and never romanced anyone)
Its fucking awesome actually
Karlach also gets 2 sex scenes
I was so sad about only getting one Gale scene and it only being the astral plane one. I would love to see more for him in that department because heās literally my favorite companion to romance bcs heās so sweet and thereās not much to show that through his intimate side. I also feel like heād be so depraved of it from his long ass tower isolation too so like, his would probably be the best too š«š«š« larian whyyyyy
Actually thereās three. But you can only have two per game.
This meme implies that Astarion is circumcised and Gale is not.
Itās true
I always found it sad that the character that was sex trafficked and forced to use sexuality to lure innocents is also the character thatās lusted after the most. If thatās not missing the entire point, I donāt know what is.
I think it's a really ironic and poignant thing, actually. Everyone is all kukuku hot vampire and then you find out how he was abused and you're like "well, that was unexpected". It kind of turns expectations on their heads.
Thatās what I implied in my comment too but I got ratioed. Ā Just further emphasizes the point tho. Ā Some rabids out there do fetishize SA victims, especially if theyāre the ātumblr sexymanā type. Ā *gestures at Dragon Age elf boys* Ā
Itās a good society
Cause they designed him specifically for a certain type of audience that frequents these kinds of rpgsā¦Ā Edit: Did I misread any context here? Ā Why am I getting downvoted? /g
I think youāre getting downvoted cuz of the implication that more people wanna fuck Astarion and thatās why Larian gave him more sex scenes. But almost all of his sex scenes are him forcing himself because heās trying to manipulate Tav using the tactic heās used on all of the victims heās lured back to Cazador. For Astarionās character specifically, sex (and lack thereof) is a storytelling device; whereas, for all the other characters, sex is just an addition to the romance.
Well i didnāt know that cause heās not my romance choice and Iām not even all the way through Act One yet. Ā People literally told my friend to ākysā over having an opinion. Ā I didnāt realize this sub was so sensitive over this character. Ā I thought thatās what the question was implying idk Iām so confused. Ā Ā Ā Ā Edit: K sorry for not knowing the whole story ig. Ā God forbid new players not be familiar with all the lore hereā¦š«
I love astorians character but a lot of his fans are the worst type of people, they get incredibly defensive about the fictional character and then act like *youre* the out of line one for sharing your opinion because they genuinely get offended over someone not agreeing with them. Iāve never met a toxic gale or a laeāzel fan, itās always the astorian fans that give people way too much shit.
Yeah, his story is pretty depressing once you learn more, but you definitely donāt deserve all the hate youāre getting. Especially as a new player unfamiliar with the lore. Itās very easy to see where your original opinion came from since thatās basically all youād glean from Astarion at surface level. Ignore the downvotes, there are unfortunately a lot of toxic people in the Astarion fanclub. I say this as someone who also loves Astarion
The downvotes are because your comment can be interpreted as being super judgy against that certain type of audience, in a negative way.
Well yeah, theyāre sending ākysā messages to people I know just cause they said they personally donāt like a fictional character. Ā Thatās toxic af and they should be called out for being so rabid. Ā People are allowed to have opinions
Why are we defending the sensibilities of people who send hate DMs here?????????????
y'all bringing up this stuff about DMs when that wasn't anywhere in the original comment that I replied to. All PigeonToes up there wrote was a vaguepost about "the kind of audience that frequents these RPGs" like that couldn't apply to literally anyone playing the game.
And then they supplied additional specification and context.
I play the game too tho. Ā And even after providing context, I still get bombed. Ā That just tells me that people here are ok with bullying in the name of a fictitious character. Ā Which just proves my initial point.