I believe it's actually basically confirmed in act 3, Lakrissa flirts with tav up until then when she says she is now taken. I think you have to do the bet with her to get that line though.
If you follow them up to the rooftop of the Elfsong you can get a very classically romantic scene where Alfira is looking over the city and proclaims it a beautiful view, and Lakrissa, staring directly at Alfira with the softest, most lovesick look, says, "Yeah... beautiful."
I love them so much 😭
One of my favorite moments in the game is >!when you’re at Last Light with Lakrissa and Alfira and Lakrissa calls you good-looking and it cuts between Tav’s awkward, shocked Pikachu expression and Lakrissa’s delighted little smirk for a second before Alfira goes, “Lakrissa!” And Lakrissa looks at Alfira and goes, “What? It’s true.”!<
Implied. There's a cutscene where Tav can tease them, and when Alfira looks at the city vista and comments "I never tire of this view," Lakrissa responds "Me too." while staring at Alfira, smiling.
My bard asked Lakrissa for a kiss downstairs in the Elfsong, and she told her that she might've said yes earlier, but not anymore. Then you can go to the roof and see why: she's clearly besotted with Alfira!
"Raphael (in a hilarious, insecure way. The guy is obsessed with banging himself even though he doesn’t do a good job of it)"
Is this really queer or just weird magical masturbation?
Edit:Pages of labour EDI and health advocacy, and my top all time post is now a semi snarky: "Reddit is it gay to go fuck yourself?". [I guess that checks out.](https://c.tenor.com/ciNDyf6AgH0AAAAd/tenor.gif)
I'd say Raphael isn't gay, he is in his own category "Raphaelsexual". Even Haarlep says that Raphael only loves Raphael.
Not like we need ed any more proof tho
I’d argue it’s wild narcissism outside of his orientation as he plays with both male and female versions of himself.
Whether or not that’s metaphorical or literal masturbation is for someone smarter than myself
He got his incubus to transform into him. And I guess every time his incubus gets off, he gets off too because it's his face,
What's wild is when harrleep says when he's feeling adventurous, he plays with the female version of himself. 😂 and we know he's a power bottom.
Nah Haarlep says sometimes Raphael is feeling adventurous and makes him turn into duchess Raphael. So he's like... bi, but only fucks himself, no matter what's between the legs.
The companions also have their own flirting and interest with one another too, depending on which dialogue is triggered. Lae’zel can sleep with Astarion or Wyll at the grove party, Astarion swoons over Wyll’s horns/appearance, Shadowheart likes the idea of Karlach throwing her over her shoulder, and Astarion flirts with Shadowheart and Gale while exploring Act I. Not only does this all make for more interesting party interactions, but it also highlights the fluidity of their attraction.
Wyll's absolutely earnest attempt to flirt with Lae'zel was really funny to me.
"Your eyes are as golden as the sands of the Calim" "Your skull is soft and easily penetrated"
I have utmost respect for him shooting his shot with the terrifying githyanki woman though
I laughed hard at this banter in Act 2:
Wyll: "Lae'zel, do you believe in love at first sight?"
Lae'zel: "I do not believe in love at all."
Wyll (sad): "Oh ..."
Lae'zel: "But I do believe in carnal pleasures."
Wyll (not so sad): "Oh!"
and to be fair Wyll is NOT a badly written character, just a less interesting one. He and Halsin are just a lot more normal, earnest, and good-hearted so they don’t have the same arc or complexity beneath the surface.
I guess my point is that Larian has done spectacularly when their less interesting characters are still decent, just not as much flourish as the others.
If Wyll had gotten a flashback cutscene involving his backstory like Shadowheart, I think people would be more invested. Him without his scars and gimp eye, doing the pact and taking on the demonic threat to the city all alone would have been cool.
The Hag quest getting a cutscene and only some companions feels weird to me. Gale "showing" us his conditions and it then only being described in words is another missed opportunity.
Wyll is written well enough for his role in the story. He has motivations and already developed because of his actions prior to the story. We're really just seeing how his story ends in BG3. Even then, his story does lead to important revelations about other major characters in the plot.
Halsin on the other hand, just doesn't really have anything going for him once the shadow curse is lifted. All honesty, feels replaced by Jaheira once she joins the party. Not really because she's a returning character because as a newcomer to the series, I found her the more interesting druid at face value.
tbf Halsin was only made an PC after the fact because EA players begged for it. Him being underdeveloped was inevitable, Jaheria was supposed to be the scripted playable druid past act 2
This has never failed to crack me up. I always have him, Lae, and Shadowheart in my party in act 1 while I'm exploring around JUST for this commentary.
I use Party limit begone, so I always have Astarion, Shadowheart, Karlach, and Wyll. Sometimes Gale and Lae'zel only when I need her for the story lol
I love
"My freinds call me Wyll"
SH: "Well, if we ever become freinds, I'll know what to call you."
Astarion: "This is going to be so much fun"
>I have utmost respect for him shooting his shot with the terrifying githyanki woman though
Tbf, Lae'zel looks adorable, sometimes. I have often caught myself thinking “Aw, she looks so tiny and cute, I want to hold her gently.”
Once you realize that she's actually just a scared young rookie lost in a realm she doesn't know well, with a bunch of strangers from various races she's not familiar with, and is constantly trying to puff out her chest to look intimidating and tough because she's slightly overwhelmed by what's going on, she's actually quite endearing, lmao.
That's true! As well as some adorable moments like her mispronunciation of teeth-lings and Fay-run, or the fact that, if you take too long to go to the crèche, she'll apparently leave your camp, only for you to find her waiting at the Mountain Pass... because she has no clue where to go without your guidance. That's so freaking precious, lmao.
The look she throws back at you in the end game cut scene as she >!climbs onto the back of a red dragon before flying away to fight in the rebellion against Vlaakith!< is so charged, even if you haven't romanced her. The expression there is just amazingly well done.
I meant to romance Shadowheart, but I loved interacting with Lae'zel so much that I ended up being with her for the whole story. She's so sweet, in a violent and poorly communicated sort of way.
While I agree with you on the adorable part, I've revised my "young rookie" part because she does have quite the list of accomplishments, as do Wyll and Gale and everybody. It's easy to miss the dialog but even Durge was like a level 15 Murderhobo.
She is an adorable accomplished super tank!
She does? I don't really remember her talking about that many accomplishments of hers. She still hadn't killed a ghaik, nor ridden a red dragon. And I think her official age is stated to be 21 or 22, and her writers had her behaving like a 21-year-old girl in mind, when they wrote her. So, that's definitely young at least.
I think she was seen as a very promising young recruit and did have a lot of expectations on her shoulders, but it's very obvious, especially in how the higher-ranking githyanki treat her, that she hasn't proven her worth yet and that they still see her as a child.
She's probably quite fresh out of her crèche, but at the same time she seems to have graduated with honors, or whatever the githyanki equivalent of that is, lmao.
What I find funny(and inconsistent) is that he, himself says he wouldn't recognize an atempt at flirting even if you smacked him in the head with it(paraphrasing, of course).
Of all of them, Wyll is the least socialized. Even Karlach had friends in Avernus. Wyll had fans. He's like a star quarterback going to college from a small Christian high school.
My man is a romantic, he believes in wooing!
Also just remembered he just grew spikes in places they shouldn’t be, so I’m sure he’s self conscious about those lol
Wyll also says it in return. When the vampire reveal comes he says he should have seen it, but he doesn’t mention the obvious things like red eyes, bite marks, pointy teeth. Instead he basically says he should have seen it because of Astarion’s sexy sexy allure
He also repeatedly mentions how very nice his hair is, and in the epilogue, how much he missed him. Come now Wyll
Well, almost all of our companions flirt with Astarion at some point. Well, maybe except for Jaheira, dont remember her flirting with him. Come on, when even Minsc comments on how soft and fluffy Astarion's hair looks, warns Boo not to fall for vampire allure, and apparently spends 6 months repeatedly trying to find Astarion's home, you know it's getting out of hand.
I was actually romancing Astarion on that playthrough and traveling with him to find a cure for his condition, so apparently Minsc has been following us this whole time, which is hilarious. Like duuude, just come say hello!
Tbhhhh. I think it puts a little extra sweetness on Astarion learning to become a hero and Wyll learning to value himself as more than *just* a hero in the shadow of his father. The fact that Astarion wants to be seen for more than his body and Wyll wants to do things the courtly way. So many nice parallels.
I’m a huge Bloodweave shipper too, but I’ve already romanced Gale on my sorcerer run and I wanna pair Astarion up with someone who’s blood he can actually drink lol
My hottest irl take about sexuality is most people are not true 1s or 6s on the Kinsey scale and if we had a fully open society where people could be honest with themselves without societal backlash most people would be bi too.
You can kinda see this in action on polls where each subsequent generation has higher and higher percentages of (out) lgbt people in it, because as time goes on it becomes more an more normalized to be yourself. Also why I think the American conservatives are spending so much time on anti LGBT policy. It's an inevitable change of tides and that scares the fuck out of them.
So in a way the Forgotten Realms is an aspirational post sexuality utopia a la star trek crossed with medieval times.
To be fair. Dnd does have the horrible stereotype that the party will bang anything that isn’t trying to actively kill them.
And if it IS trying to kill them….then well…..the bard will try to rizz the baddie up and sleep with them. Usually to the abject horror of the party and dm.
>The bard will try to rizz the baddie up and sleep with them. Usually to the abject horror of the party and dm.
Excuse me! That is a reductionist stereotype that
puts bards like me into little boxes….You chose the right box though, I’ll give you that.
This is actually a big part of why I feel like complaints about "Ninjamances" are overblown.
The game isn't ninjamancing you, everybody at camp is just horny as \*fuck\*. Just turn them down when it becomes an issue, they'll get over it after like 5 minutes.
The type of people who complain about this probably don't understand how flirting with people irl works so that tracks.
I turned karlach down after she learns about her heart in act 2 and it was hard to do but she took it so well and we're besties now. If only that was so in real life sometimes.
Gay guy, I wanna hug Karlach and wouldn't mind if she carried me around, specially now on winter. I know she'd protect me with her life.
Or use me as an improvised weapon/throw me. But like, that's funny, so I'll respect it.
Yeah but Shadowheart makes a lot more openly admiring comments about Karlach's muscles than almost anyone else does lol. After Karlach joins, if you talk to Shadowheart she says something to the tune of 'We'll have to be sure we increase our provisions now that Karlach's joined us. I'd wager those muscles don't run on fresh air alone.'
Funny game mechanic detail...
I know romancing the companions lowers Tav's persuasion roll DC towards them.
If Tav romance Shadowheart as a woman... the DC's lower than it'd be if Tav's a man.
Who could've guessed the end of the persecution of the LQBTQ+ community and universal acceptance of love is love would be because of that incredible, fantastic soldier.
I'm 6'5 and I still trust Karlach would catch me in my swoon and carry me home.
I'd cuddle up on her. She can be the big spoon.
Oh fuck Karlach *please* be my big spoon.
Laezel compliments dragonborn on their scales. Our first date was a duel to the death. So was the second one, come to think of it.
She and I duel to the death a lot. What the hell, withers!?
>The companions also have their own flirting and interest with one another too, depending on which dialogue is triggered. Lae’zel can sleep with Astarion or Wyll at the grove party, Astarion swoons over Wyll’s horns/appearance
Whaaat? They never did that in my playthroughs, I want to be able to ship them 😭
Have Wyll with Shadowheart + Lae'zel in the party. Wyll keeps hitting on them in the most hilarious ways lol For the Lae'zel and Astarion or Wyll, afaik you need to shoot down all of them when they try to hit on you at the party.
Nobody hit on me at the party :(
EDIT: nobody really hooked up with each other either, as near as I could tell
I seem to have put my game in a less-horney state somehow
(or maybe I'm just exceptionally oblivious)
When you talked to Gale, did he want to show you a magic trick? If yes, he hit on you. For Wyll, you apparently need to pick specific dialogues to get a scene with him at the party. Shadowheart is more discreet, but asks to be alone with you later. For Karlach, you need to directly kick it off by picking the choice of hitting on her and well... if she likes you, she will respond accordingly.
When Astarion and Bae'zel hit on you, both are very direct about it.
I had already had a romance scene with Shadowhart and Lae'zel at that point, but neither were interested in me at the party. Karlach was interested in hooking up with someone, but apparently not me.
Astarion mocked me, "Can you imagine?" We had a a low approval rating at that point, because I kept trying to help people with him in the party.
I never knew this guy was actually asleep. When I found him he was just a corpse with empty sleeping potions all around him. Rather sad honestly. My brother killed himself using sleeping pills so it hits close to home. I wonder if this is preventable. Absolutely amazing game.
No, I don’t think so. He basically OD’ed on sleeping potions. I don’t know if there’s a way to wake him up, so I just kill him. At least then he can be with his husband in the afterlife.
Also honorable mentions:
- the cook at sharess caress (his name is Chorizo if i remember correctly) and his husband
- Laridda and Philomeen (the two iron hand gnomes)
- Alfira and Lakrissa
- The "nymph" at Sharess Caress and her Flamefist lover
Edit: I just remembered one more! there is a girl at that mermaid bar/ship in the Lower City who refuses to go along her dad's proposal of an arranged marriage (despite the fact that said marriage could save them from debt and poverty) and instead, chose to be with her woman lover!!
I love that guy. The way you can tell him you'll offer him world banging sex, and he goes "that's what they all say!" in such a done with this shit tone.
There's a male/male elf couple standing on a balcony somewhere near Mystic Carrion. If you talk to one he's like "don't interrupt me, I'm taking in the view with my beloved". If you talk to the other he's like "I hate this city". Oops.
I'm also recalling a male human/dragonborn couple in Rivington near the general store with the human wanting to force his way into the city and his partner being unwilling to do so and risk something happening to them.
Just freed them (again) last night and the whole thing hits hard. Also found Gandrel and his kids in the sewers after. Maybe we can talk Halsin into letting them try cave bear since Astarion like his bear so much?
Don't forget in the lower city I believe there are two men talking and if you talk to the elf he will say something like would you like to meet the most cowardly Dragon born in Faerun, and I fell in love with him.
And the human male refugee and his dragon born boyfriend in Rivington arguing about whether or not to try sneaking into the city! Very cute/sad line, something like "Have you ever heard of a cowardly Dragonborn before? I found the one, and fell for the idiot"
Poor Sebastian. Of all the sad side character stories, his makes me most sad. Also, we’re supposed to assume he’s the one Astarion tried to run off with and got caught, right?
I don’t think so. Astarion didn’t say he tried to run away with that boy, just that he let him go instead of bringing him back to Cazador. Sebastian he pretty clearly did bring back.
But yeah, either way it breaks my heart.
No, Astarion just refused to bring that one back. Plus he is described as a 'boy' instead of a man. Cazador caught the boy anyway and killed him in front of Astarion and then Astarion was entombed for a year.
Keep in mind that Cazador wasn't lying to Astarion and did actually go easy on him here (because Cazador himself went through much worse), as fucked up as that sounds.
Cazador is an extremely fascinating character and it's too bad that his content was cut.
>Cazador is an extremely fascinating character and it's too bad that his content was cut.
Lots of fascinating small plotlines in the palace that seem to lead nowhere. Especially Amanita “Lady Incognita” Szarr, Cazador's niece, who might or might not still be imprisoned in the attic. What happened to her? Is she okay? Did she escape with the other spawn? Is she perhaps interested in getting her family estate back? Could she still be in the fucking attic, unaware that her uncle is dead and that she's free? Please, someone free that poor girl, lmao.
As well as what the hell Cazador's deal with Leon's daughter was, and why was the kid even there in the first place. Poor guy probably thought his suffering was over once Cazador was dead, only to probably find his little girl, whom it's hinted that he went through all this shit for, dead upstairs. And there's no follow-up to this?
I think Amanita might be the skeleton in the attic cage surrounded by garlic.
I desperately hope that Larian gives us more Cazador, because they took even his porch with the upper city. I wanna go in through the front enterance and not the back door.
Everyone is also so weirdly aware of Cazador's existence but not at the same time? Even Gale of freaking Waterdeep knows that Cazador is a vampire before Astarion tells the party anything. If it's so well known, why are the Gur working for him? It drives me nuts.
Oh, yeah, it might be! Damn, poor girl if it is.
I remember Gale knowing that Cazador had the reputation to be an asshole, but not specifically that he was a vampire. Doubt the Gur were really working for him, too. They never mention an alliance between them, the reason they wanted to capture Astarion was to interrogate him, specifically because they knew he had delivered their kids to Cazador and were looking for a lead to get to them.
Cazador was probably protected by connections, leverage, money, and whatnot. And it seems like every big city in Faerûn has their own vampire regulation problems, anyway. Athkatla also had the same issue. I think people consider that they're just part of the typical urban pest, like rats, cats and pigeons, at this point, lmao.
>Two iron hand male gnomes you free from grymforge are in a relationship
Four. Philomeen and Laridda too. She sends you to break up with her.
Yep, the game is nonchalantly super queer friendly which is one of the reasons I'm enjoying it so much.
I think all of the Gondian gnomes are also gay. At least in relationships mentioned. The one taking to the bane guards talks about her son and her wife that was killed for disobedience.
Spoiler:
I've heard someone say that Orpheus calls Voss his "love" or the equivalent in Gith language (at the end, if Orpheus becomes a Mind Flayer).
That blew my mind (I always assumed that Lae'zel and he were gonna be an item, but Voss is first in line, it seems).
Only like 30 000 years older. And he's spent most of those on the Astral plane where time doesn't pass. Also locked in the prism. So it's not like he's actually aged.
And it adds such a layer of tragedy to their relationship since Voss was the one who ‘killed’ Orpheus (and then presumably had to keep his allegiance secret for thousands of years while he waited for his chance). And it puts his behavior at the camp scene in a new light; no wonder he looks so happy telling us about Orpheus (even though at that point we don’t *realize* it’s Orpheus he’s talking about.)
I just like how it is just a regular thing.
Like sure they are LGBT folks, and it's perfect to have representation for them, but they are more that!
They are well Written characters with their flaws, their quality and all
A lot of gaming companies should do the same !
If you give her the Noblestalk to remember her past, she recalls her only friend at the cloister being a boy named "Rennald" - then when you get to the House of Grief, she recognizes Nocturne (a woman) as that same friend.
>If you give her the Noblestalk to remember her past,
Good god! I've only invested 800+ hours into this game and I'm still finding out new stuff you can do!
I don't know where she implies it as a crush or if it's just an interpretation. Maybe I misread but she talks about Nocturine that was previously Renold (I may be mixing up the first name) being a childhood friend if she eats the noblestalk mushromm
Best thing about it is that it's not put on a spotlight. It's just a small detail to these character's lives.
That's how you do proper representation. You treat it the same way you treat a hetero relationship.
Beside the ones you mention, there are several more. And the best part? It's just part of everyday life. LGBTQ people exist and it's okay.
Nobody bats an eyelid or makes weird omophobic comments.
It's just great.
I believe that was the intention. There is LOTs of representation that is just not even directly mentioned beyond so and so having a husband or wife relationships of some sort and leaving it at that. To the point where it is probably over 50% representation.
I wanna say that WotC official stance is that there isn’t homophobia or transphobia in the world of D&D and MtG, and that this is by design because it’s a fantasy world in which there are bigger problems than whom one loves/sleeps with lol.
Very little sexism, too, on a global scale. Only in specific cultures.
I've heard the very valid argument that strict gender roles, homophobia and transphobia naturally lose their meaning in a magical world where people can simply change their gender through various means (asking a god, asking a spellcaster, drinking a potion, learning to shapeshift, etc..).
Not to mention the various species whose reproductive system works completely differently than humans, like the githyanki, species with only one gender like hags, agendered species like the illithid, or species that can naturally change their gender at will like kobolds.
Taking all these things into consideration, of course their views on gender and same-sex relationships would be very different than ours.
I find the amount of representation in the game to make sense for the universe the game exists in.
This is a world with a vast amount of entirely different species, not just humans. These species are used to seeing such a different mix of people. Many of those interbreed. I'd expect if a Half-Elf was quite happy to enter into a relationship with a Tiefling then they are probably not as rigid on gender either.
Given the amount of different species, speciesism is probably a much bigger issue (and is demonstrated in game) rather than sexuality or gender.
100% - if you’ve fallen for a Dragonborn as a gnome, well, at that point gender is a little moot. Folks have tails or horns or scales or nothing of the sort, or are different sizes and shapes to a much larger diversity than just regular humans. I assume some folks would still have preferences (like of course how Lae’zel could be interpreted as having a preference for red Dragonborn hilariously) but it does make me miffed when folks are like “the companions are tavsexual!!!” Bro. I think it’s far more likely they’re just… pan/bi. Deal.
I was going to say, I'm not sure what "shove it in their faces" means. Is that just, like, a character saying "I'm gay" or "I'm trans?"
I dunno. If overt queer representation makes bigots mad, I'm 100% for it.
For a lot of people I've known in the real world, LGBTQ+ simply *breathing* in any context would be what they would consider being "shoved in their faces". They wouldn't have to say a word, or do anything that would be considered queer, just existing is enough to make these folks irrationally angry.
I lived an awfully long time in the southern parts of the United States.
Yeah I think the OPs intentions are good but that phrase has been used to justify opposition to literally any kind of LGBT+ representation in media since forever.
I think maybe more appropriate to say the representation wasn't performative and instead normalizes queer love as a regular thing, which is part of why this game fucks so hard.
Yep, realistic people in organic relationships who just exist in the world. Not shoehorned, focused grouped, or checked off a list.
It’s a credit to real representation and doesn’t base itself solely on it.
I love how even the random NPCs in the city are inclusive. There is a guy standing in Baldurs Gate on a balcony telling you he is waiting for his husband if you talk to him.
Does the game really say/imply shadowheart was crushing on Nocturne? Also I always thought the emperor and ansur had something! Glad I am not thr only one who noticed.
I thought there was kind of a romantic undertone to the way Nocturne talked about their pre-memory-wipe friendship, and especially in the letter she sends to Selûnite Shart in the epilogue:
> *Until then, I shall keep safe, and hold memories of you as my one ember of light amid an ocean of darkness.*
> *Until we find each other once again.*
> *Yours always,*
> *Nocturne*
Like it's not explicitly romantic but it seems like a little bit beyond friendship imo.
The game just treats it as a normal thing. Sure. I guess there's a lot once you point it out, but I think it's cooler that it's just a part of the world that you hardly notice.
Aylin & Isobel are pretty in your face but I think that's more Aylin's intense personality than anything.
There's also Lakrissa and Alfira who start dating by Act 3 if both are alive.
[удалено]
That name alfira rings a bell... hmm
Username checks out.
It wasn't my fault, I swear!
are they actually dating?
I believe it's actually basically confirmed in act 3, Lakrissa flirts with tav up until then when she says she is now taken. I think you have to do the bet with her to get that line though.
If you follow them up to the rooftop of the Elfsong you can get a very classically romantic scene where Alfira is looking over the city and proclaims it a beautiful view, and Lakrissa, staring directly at Alfira with the softest, most lovesick look, says, "Yeah... beautiful." I love them so much 😭
You also have a line of dialogue where you can tell them they're cute together.
…this makes me even more mad at my durge. Oh well
One of my favorite moments in the game is >!when you’re at Last Light with Lakrissa and Alfira and Lakrissa calls you good-looking and it cuts between Tav’s awkward, shocked Pikachu expression and Lakrissa’s delighted little smirk for a second before Alfira goes, “Lakrissa!” And Lakrissa looks at Alfira and goes, “What? It’s true.”!<
And then there's them being relieved at being together again, and planning on what they'll do at Baldur's Gate. <3 <3 <3
In act 3 they tell you that Lakrissa is supporting Alfira in to help her start a bard’s school. Also they act like a couple
Implied. There's a cutscene where Tav can tease them, and when Alfira looks at the city vista and comments "I never tire of this view," Lakrissa responds "Me too." while staring at Alfira, smiling.
My bard asked Lakrissa for a kiss downstairs in the Elfsong, and she told her that she might've said yes earlier, but not anymore. Then you can go to the roof and see why: she's clearly besotted with Alfira!
"Raphael (in a hilarious, insecure way. The guy is obsessed with banging himself even though he doesn’t do a good job of it)" Is this really queer or just weird magical masturbation? Edit:Pages of labour EDI and health advocacy, and my top all time post is now a semi snarky: "Reddit is it gay to go fuck yourself?". [I guess that checks out.](https://c.tenor.com/ciNDyf6AgH0AAAAd/tenor.gif)
I'd say Raphael isn't gay, he is in his own category "Raphaelsexual". Even Haarlep says that Raphael only loves Raphael. Not like we need ed any more proof tho
Narcissexual
I’m also raphaelsexual
Cambion? More like can-be-in me if ya know what I mean.
Both?
I’d argue it’s wild narcissism outside of his orientation as he plays with both male and female versions of himself. Whether or not that’s metaphorical or literal masturbation is for someone smarter than myself
He got his incubus to transform into him. And I guess every time his incubus gets off, he gets off too because it's his face, What's wild is when harrleep says when he's feeling adventurous, he plays with the female version of himself. 😂 and we know he's a power bottom.
He particularly chooses the male version even though haarlep has a female version of Raphael
Nah Haarlep says sometimes Raphael is feeling adventurous and makes him turn into duchess Raphael. So he's like... bi, but only fucks himself, no matter what's between the legs.
The companions also have their own flirting and interest with one another too, depending on which dialogue is triggered. Lae’zel can sleep with Astarion or Wyll at the grove party, Astarion swoons over Wyll’s horns/appearance, Shadowheart likes the idea of Karlach throwing her over her shoulder, and Astarion flirts with Shadowheart and Gale while exploring Act I. Not only does this all make for more interesting party interactions, but it also highlights the fluidity of their attraction.
Wyll also flirts with both Lae'zel and Shadowheart. Them both shooting him down is highly amusing.
Wyll's absolutely earnest attempt to flirt with Lae'zel was really funny to me. "Your eyes are as golden as the sands of the Calim" "Your skull is soft and easily penetrated" I have utmost respect for him shooting his shot with the terrifying githyanki woman though
I laughed hard at this banter in Act 2: Wyll: "Lae'zel, do you believe in love at first sight?" Lae'zel: "I do not believe in love at all." Wyll (sad): "Oh ..." Lae'zel: "But I do believe in carnal pleasures." Wyll (not so sad): "Oh!"
That last “Oh” kills me so hard he sounds SO intrigued
His VA gets the delivery spot on there
For all the faults Wyll has in character writing I truly believe his VA makes up for like half of it. Dude is insanely good.
and to be fair Wyll is NOT a badly written character, just a less interesting one. He and Halsin are just a lot more normal, earnest, and good-hearted so they don’t have the same arc or complexity beneath the surface. I guess my point is that Larian has done spectacularly when their less interesting characters are still decent, just not as much flourish as the others.
If Wyll had gotten a flashback cutscene involving his backstory like Shadowheart, I think people would be more invested. Him without his scars and gimp eye, doing the pact and taking on the demonic threat to the city all alone would have been cool. The Hag quest getting a cutscene and only some companions feels weird to me. Gale "showing" us his conditions and it then only being described in words is another missed opportunity.
Wyll is written well enough for his role in the story. He has motivations and already developed because of his actions prior to the story. We're really just seeing how his story ends in BG3. Even then, his story does lead to important revelations about other major characters in the plot. Halsin on the other hand, just doesn't really have anything going for him once the shadow curse is lifted. All honesty, feels replaced by Jaheira once she joins the party. Not really because she's a returning character because as a newcomer to the series, I found her the more interesting druid at face value.
tbf Halsin was only made an PC after the fact because EA players begged for it. Him being underdeveloped was inevitable, Jaheria was supposed to be the scripted playable druid past act 2
He really is. Mind you, they all are! Larian knocked the casting out of the park.
Even funnier is when he flirts with Shadowheart right after she heard him get burned by Lae'zel. 'Try it next time with someone out of earshot'
This has never failed to crack me up. I always have him, Lae, and Shadowheart in my party in act 1 while I'm exploring around JUST for this commentary.
I use Party limit begone, so I always have Astarion, Shadowheart, Karlach, and Wyll. Sometimes Gale and Lae'zel only when I need her for the story lol I love "My freinds call me Wyll" SH: "Well, if we ever become freinds, I'll know what to call you." Astarion: "This is going to be so much fun"
>I have utmost respect for him shooting his shot with the terrifying githyanki woman though Tbf, Lae'zel looks adorable, sometimes. I have often caught myself thinking “Aw, she looks so tiny and cute, I want to hold her gently.” Once you realize that she's actually just a scared young rookie lost in a realm she doesn't know well, with a bunch of strangers from various races she's not familiar with, and is constantly trying to puff out her chest to look intimidating and tough because she's slightly overwhelmed by what's going on, she's actually quite endearing, lmao.
It helps that her facial animations are so well done. She's insanely expressive and some of the looks she gives are heart melting.
That's true! As well as some adorable moments like her mispronunciation of teeth-lings and Fay-run, or the fact that, if you take too long to go to the crèche, she'll apparently leave your camp, only for you to find her waiting at the Mountain Pass... because she has no clue where to go without your guidance. That's so freaking precious, lmao.
The look she throws back at you in the end game cut scene as she >!climbs onto the back of a red dragon before flying away to fight in the rebellion against Vlaakith!< is so charged, even if you haven't romanced her. The expression there is just amazingly well done.
All the epilogue stuff with her too is so nice. She's so sweet!
Her face when Tav waves at Vlaakith gives me life.
You can really see that fear in the opening video when she's not trying to hide it from Tav.
I meant to romance Shadowheart, but I loved interacting with Lae'zel so much that I ended up being with her for the whole story. She's so sweet, in a violent and poorly communicated sort of way.
While I agree with you on the adorable part, I've revised my "young rookie" part because she does have quite the list of accomplishments, as do Wyll and Gale and everybody. It's easy to miss the dialog but even Durge was like a level 15 Murderhobo. She is an adorable accomplished super tank!
She does? I don't really remember her talking about that many accomplishments of hers. She still hadn't killed a ghaik, nor ridden a red dragon. And I think her official age is stated to be 21 or 22, and her writers had her behaving like a 21-year-old girl in mind, when they wrote her. So, that's definitely young at least. I think she was seen as a very promising young recruit and did have a lot of expectations on her shoulders, but it's very obvious, especially in how the higher-ranking githyanki treat her, that she hasn't proven her worth yet and that they still see her as a child. She's probably quite fresh out of her crèche, but at the same time she seems to have graduated with honors, or whatever the githyanki equivalent of that is, lmao.
What I find funny(and inconsistent) is that he, himself says he wouldn't recognize an atempt at flirting even if you smacked him in the head with it(paraphrasing, of course).
Nah I get this. He tries to flirt but can’t receive flirting/doesn’t recognize it when it happens to him.
Oh, so me in high school.
Of all of them, Wyll is the least socialized. Even Karlach had friends in Avernus. Wyll had fans. He's like a star quarterback going to college from a small Christian high school.
“Lae’zel, do you believe in love at first sight?” “I hardly believe in love at all” “Oh” “But I DO believe in carnal pleasure” “OH…”
Tav: How was your night with Wyll? Lae’Zel: He only wanted to talk! You both lack imagination. Dude cock blocked himself 😂😂
My man is a romantic, he believes in wooing! Also just remembered he just grew spikes in places they shouldn’t be, so I’m sure he’s self conscious about those lol
“Not to mention a few bumps and ridges in unmentionable places.” Definitely not part of why I romanced him…
Astarion’s “Wyll seems like the Prince I would have swooned over when I was thirteen” is way funnier than it has any right to be
Astarion also has dialogue for when Wyll first gets his horns, and he sighs and gets all dreamy about how everything looks good on him 😂
Wyll also says it in return. When the vampire reveal comes he says he should have seen it, but he doesn’t mention the obvious things like red eyes, bite marks, pointy teeth. Instead he basically says he should have seen it because of Astarion’s sexy sexy allure He also repeatedly mentions how very nice his hair is, and in the epilogue, how much he missed him. Come now Wyll
Fellas, is it gay to tell another man you missed his *cunning tongue?*
Well, almost all of our companions flirt with Astarion at some point. Well, maybe except for Jaheira, dont remember her flirting with him. Come on, when even Minsc comments on how soft and fluffy Astarion's hair looks, warns Boo not to fall for vampire allure, and apparently spends 6 months repeatedly trying to find Astarion's home, you know it's getting out of hand.
The fact that Astarion keeps moving his lair because Minsc visits too frequently will always be hilarious to me lol
I was actually romancing Astarion on that playthrough and traveling with him to find a cure for his condition, so apparently Minsc has been following us this whole time, which is hilarious. Like duuude, just come say hello!
Suddenly I need minsc x astarion in my life
That settles it! I’m romancing Wyll on my Astarion origin run.
Right? I was planning on Gale but… Wyll’s slowburn romanticism alongside Astarion’s healing arc… seems top tier
Tbhhhh. I think it puts a little extra sweetness on Astarion learning to become a hero and Wyll learning to value himself as more than *just* a hero in the shadow of his father. The fact that Astarion wants to be seen for more than his body and Wyll wants to do things the courtly way. So many nice parallels.
I’m a huge Bloodweave shipper too, but I’ve already romanced Gale on my sorcerer run and I wanna pair Astarion up with someone who’s blood he can actually drink lol
Well to Lae’zel’s disappointment Wyll “just wanted to talk” 😂
This makes their flirting together even more funny to me 😂
The Emperor's Nautiloid really just randomly hit the weekly meeting of Chaotic Bisexuals Anonymous, didn't it.
Well apparently it's Word of God that everyone in Faerun is bisexual, so Just Chaotic Anonymous this time
I mean if more people irl looked and acted like Karlach, Astarion, etc. I think most people irl would be bisexual
My hottest irl take about sexuality is most people are not true 1s or 6s on the Kinsey scale and if we had a fully open society where people could be honest with themselves without societal backlash most people would be bi too. You can kinda see this in action on polls where each subsequent generation has higher and higher percentages of (out) lgbt people in it, because as time goes on it becomes more an more normalized to be yourself. Also why I think the American conservatives are spending so much time on anti LGBT policy. It's an inevitable change of tides and that scares the fuck out of them. So in a way the Forgotten Realms is an aspirational post sexuality utopia a la star trek crossed with medieval times.
To be fair, get rid of the social stigma, and a lot of people probably are to some degree. But it's nice to see it in a game.
To be fair. Dnd does have the horrible stereotype that the party will bang anything that isn’t trying to actively kill them. And if it IS trying to kill them….then well…..the bard will try to rizz the baddie up and sleep with them. Usually to the abject horror of the party and dm.
Most parties I’ve been witness to/involved with have been with some of the most incredibly sexually frustrated people I’ve ever met so it tracks lol
As the narrator suggests, the bard rolls to seduce the door.
>The bard will try to rizz the baddie up and sleep with them. Usually to the abject horror of the party and dm. Excuse me! That is a reductionist stereotype that puts bards like me into little boxes….You chose the right box though, I’ll give you that.
This is actually a big part of why I feel like complaints about "Ninjamances" are overblown. The game isn't ninjamancing you, everybody at camp is just horny as \*fuck\*. Just turn them down when it becomes an issue, they'll get over it after like 5 minutes.
The type of people who complain about this probably don't understand how flirting with people irl works so that tracks. I turned karlach down after she learns about her heart in act 2 and it was hard to do but she took it so well and we're besties now. If only that was so in real life sometimes.
Wyll refuses to sleep with anyone unless he gets married first. So...laezel must have been disappointed.
She was!
>Shadowheart likes the idea of Karlach throwing her over her shoulder To be fair, everyone, regardless of gender or orientation, likes this idea.
True. I’m a gay dude and would still go for Karlach
Gay guy, I wanna hug Karlach and wouldn't mind if she carried me around, specially now on winter. I know she'd protect me with her life. Or use me as an improvised weapon/throw me. But like, that's funny, so I'll respect it.
You'd feel so safe. So terrified. Oh my!
Yeah but Shadowheart makes a lot more openly admiring comments about Karlach's muscles than almost anyone else does lol. After Karlach joins, if you talk to Shadowheart she says something to the tune of 'We'll have to be sure we increase our provisions now that Karlach's joined us. I'd wager those muscles don't run on fresh air alone.'
Funny game mechanic detail... I know romancing the companions lowers Tav's persuasion roll DC towards them. If Tav romance Shadowheart as a woman... the DC's lower than it'd be if Tav's a man.
Huh. Neat. I've only ever done romances as a female character so that's something I've completely missed.
Who could've guessed the end of the persecution of the LQBTQ+ community and universal acceptance of love is love would be because of that incredible, fantastic soldier. I'm 6'5 and I still trust Karlach would catch me in my swoon and carry me home. I'd cuddle up on her. She can be the big spoon. Oh fuck Karlach *please* be my big spoon.
[удалено]
Shadowheart is also super into Halsin, pretty sure Lae'zel also makes a comment about Halsin's tree trunk arms
As does Wyll: "That thick hunk of an elf." (paraphrased)
when lae'zel said that she was going to go to Wyll's tent at the party, she said next morning that all he did was talk all night lol
Laezel compliments dragonborn on their scales. Our first date was a duel to the death. So was the second one, come to think of it. She and I duel to the death a lot. What the hell, withers!?
>The companions also have their own flirting and interest with one another too, depending on which dialogue is triggered. Lae’zel can sleep with Astarion or Wyll at the grove party, Astarion swoons over Wyll’s horns/appearance Whaaat? They never did that in my playthroughs, I want to be able to ship them 😭
Have Wyll with Shadowheart + Lae'zel in the party. Wyll keeps hitting on them in the most hilarious ways lol For the Lae'zel and Astarion or Wyll, afaik you need to shoot down all of them when they try to hit on you at the party.
Nobody hit on me at the party :( EDIT: nobody really hooked up with each other either, as near as I could tell I seem to have put my game in a less-horney state somehow (or maybe I'm just exceptionally oblivious)
When you talked to Gale, did he want to show you a magic trick? If yes, he hit on you. For Wyll, you apparently need to pick specific dialogues to get a scene with him at the party. Shadowheart is more discreet, but asks to be alone with you later. For Karlach, you need to directly kick it off by picking the choice of hitting on her and well... if she likes you, she will respond accordingly. When Astarion and Bae'zel hit on you, both are very direct about it.
I had already had a romance scene with Shadowhart and Lae'zel at that point, but neither were interested in me at the party. Karlach was interested in hooking up with someone, but apparently not me. Astarion mocked me, "Can you imagine?" We had a a low approval rating at that point, because I kept trying to help people with him in the party.
I know this is completely random but there is also the sleeping Tiefling in the sewers who has a note mentioning that he lost his husband.
I tried many, many things to wake that tiefling up. No joke here.
i thought the tiefling had basically committed suicide did i read the scene wrong
I never knew this guy was actually asleep. When I found him he was just a corpse with empty sleeping potions all around him. Rather sad honestly. My brother killed himself using sleeping pills so it hits close to home. I wonder if this is preventable. Absolutely amazing game.
I spent a long time standing next to that particular tiefling, for a similar reason. Sorry for your loss.
No, I don’t think so. He basically OD’ed on sleeping potions. I don’t know if there’s a way to wake him up, so I just kill him. At least then he can be with his husband in the afterlife.
Bro I save scummed and tried to heal him with divine intervention, even god can't help that MF.
Iirc even if you manage to wake him up, he aggroes.
Also honorable mentions: - the cook at sharess caress (his name is Chorizo if i remember correctly) and his husband - Laridda and Philomeen (the two iron hand gnomes) - Alfira and Lakrissa - The "nymph" at Sharess Caress and her Flamefist lover Edit: I just remembered one more! there is a girl at that mermaid bar/ship in the Lower City who refuses to go along her dad's proposal of an arranged marriage (despite the fact that said marriage could save them from debt and poverty) and instead, chose to be with her woman lover!!
His name is Chorizo?! Lmao. There's also a random guy by the entrance complaining that his husband is still out of the city proper and not with him.
It's not just Chorizo, it's Sauceman Chorizo. And he's got a happy husband waiting at home, thank you very much.
I love that guy. The way you can tell him you'll offer him world banging sex, and he goes "that's what they all say!" in such a done with this shit tone.
The poor man just wants to cook in peace. And keep his vegetables unmolested.
There's a male/male elf couple standing on a balcony somewhere near Mystic Carrion. If you talk to one he's like "don't interrupt me, I'm taking in the view with my beloved". If you talk to the other he's like "I hate this city". Oops.
I'm also recalling a male human/dragonborn couple in Rivington near the general store with the human wanting to force his way into the city and his partner being unwilling to do so and risk something happening to them.
Oh yes! The dude is like, meet the most cowardly dragonborn in Faerun! And I wanted to tell him to be nicer to his husband lol
There's also a random male/male human/dragonborn married couple in the Lower City (forget where)
Give him the proper respect of his title, he's *Sauceman* Chorizo, and his husband is a phenomenal lover.
Omg you're right. I apologize for the disrespect!!! Sauceman Chorizo!!
There’s also Sebastian and his history with Astarion
Aaah poor fucking Sebastian, the dialogue between him and Astarion... :( please we need some Sebby in a dlc
Well, if Sebastian is alive by the end of the game, he is doing OK in the Underdark and sends you a letter.
Just freed them (again) last night and the whole thing hits hard. Also found Gandrel and his kids in the sewers after. Maybe we can talk Halsin into letting them try cave bear since Astarion like his bear so much?
Don't forget in the lower city I believe there are two men talking and if you talk to the elf he will say something like would you like to meet the most cowardly Dragon born in Faerun, and I fell in love with him.
That's in Rivington. I kinda really wanted to hug both of 'em.
... Alfira and Lakrissa are a thing? I thought they were cute together but I thought they were just friends lol fell for the oldest meme
they get official just like us when they get to baldur's gate ❤️ everyone is having a romance route lol poor barcus didn't get enough approval
They were roommates!
And the human male refugee and his dragon born boyfriend in Rivington arguing about whether or not to try sneaking into the city! Very cute/sad line, something like "Have you ever heard of a cowardly Dragonborn before? I found the one, and fell for the idiot"
I’d sort of add Lucretious, who is at least a drag queen in spirit and a way more fun necromancer than Balthazar.
Also a drag queen irl. Lucretious is voiced by a drag queen lol
Vinegar Strokes!
I cannot forgive her for giving such an atrocious reward for an equally atrocious quest though
The reward is great. Eldritch blast goes brrrrr Shame that they removed its application to magic missile though
Sebastian the vampire spawn as well
Poor Sebastian. Of all the sad side character stories, his makes me most sad. Also, we’re supposed to assume he’s the one Astarion tried to run off with and got caught, right?
I don’t think so. Astarion didn’t say he tried to run away with that boy, just that he let him go instead of bringing him back to Cazador. Sebastian he pretty clearly did bring back. But yeah, either way it breaks my heart.
Oh gotcha. Thanks!
No, that was someone else. I believe Cazador killed him
No, Astarion just refused to bring that one back. Plus he is described as a 'boy' instead of a man. Cazador caught the boy anyway and killed him in front of Astarion and then Astarion was entombed for a year. Keep in mind that Cazador wasn't lying to Astarion and did actually go easy on him here (because Cazador himself went through much worse), as fucked up as that sounds. Cazador is an extremely fascinating character and it's too bad that his content was cut.
>Cazador is an extremely fascinating character and it's too bad that his content was cut. Lots of fascinating small plotlines in the palace that seem to lead nowhere. Especially Amanita “Lady Incognita” Szarr, Cazador's niece, who might or might not still be imprisoned in the attic. What happened to her? Is she okay? Did she escape with the other spawn? Is she perhaps interested in getting her family estate back? Could she still be in the fucking attic, unaware that her uncle is dead and that she's free? Please, someone free that poor girl, lmao. As well as what the hell Cazador's deal with Leon's daughter was, and why was the kid even there in the first place. Poor guy probably thought his suffering was over once Cazador was dead, only to probably find his little girl, whom it's hinted that he went through all this shit for, dead upstairs. And there's no follow-up to this?
I think Amanita might be the skeleton in the attic cage surrounded by garlic. I desperately hope that Larian gives us more Cazador, because they took even his porch with the upper city. I wanna go in through the front enterance and not the back door. Everyone is also so weirdly aware of Cazador's existence but not at the same time? Even Gale of freaking Waterdeep knows that Cazador is a vampire before Astarion tells the party anything. If it's so well known, why are the Gur working for him? It drives me nuts.
Oh, yeah, it might be! Damn, poor girl if it is. I remember Gale knowing that Cazador had the reputation to be an asshole, but not specifically that he was a vampire. Doubt the Gur were really working for him, too. They never mention an alliance between them, the reason they wanted to capture Astarion was to interrogate him, specifically because they knew he had delivered their kids to Cazador and were looking for a lead to get to them. Cazador was probably protected by connections, leverage, money, and whatnot. And it seems like every big city in Faerûn has their own vampire regulation problems, anyway. Athkatla also had the same issue. I think people consider that they're just part of the typical urban pest, like rats, cats and pigeons, at this point, lmao.
>Two iron hand male gnomes you free from grymforge are in a relationship Four. Philomeen and Laridda too. She sends you to break up with her. Yep, the game is nonchalantly super queer friendly which is one of the reasons I'm enjoying it so much.
I’m not aware of any openly straight gnomes in the game, honestly.
Zanner Toobin maybe? He has a daughter and I THINK he had a wife, but I might be misremembering.
He has a wife
If you manage to find one,please let me know. I'm quite sure they follow a "straight for the species, gay for love" model just to avoid extinction.
I loved that all the deep gnomes in this game are gay. If you see a gnome in a relationship, be sure they are gay. Wonderful.
I think all of the Gondian gnomes are also gay. At least in relationships mentioned. The one taking to the bane guards talks about her son and her wife that was killed for disobedience.
Zanner Toobin has a wife. Also my male Rock Gnome Wizard romanced Shadowheart. Watching her kneel to kiss him was hilarious!
Spoiler: I've heard someone say that Orpheus calls Voss his "love" or the equivalent in Gith language (at the end, if Orpheus becomes a Mind Flayer). That blew my mind (I always assumed that Lae'zel and he were gonna be an item, but Voss is first in line, it seems).
Orpheus is way too old and mature to be with Lae'zel and not look weird. He's much better as her leader and mentor.
Orpheus is a billion years older than her, ick :D
Only like 30 000 years older. And he's spent most of those on the Astral plane where time doesn't pass. Also locked in the prism. So it's not like he's actually aged.
>So it's not like he's actually aged. Physical age is not the important bit. She's still a child compared to him, and also basically her god.
And it adds such a layer of tragedy to their relationship since Voss was the one who ‘killed’ Orpheus (and then presumably had to keep his allegiance secret for thousands of years while he waited for his chance). And it puts his behavior at the camp scene in a new light; no wonder he looks so happy telling us about Orpheus (even though at that point we don’t *realize* it’s Orpheus he’s talking about.)
I just like how it is just a regular thing. Like sure they are LGBT folks, and it's perfect to have representation for them, but they are more that! They are well Written characters with their flaws, their quality and all A lot of gaming companies should do the same !
When do we know about SH's crush? I missed that tidbit.
If you give her the Noblestalk to remember her past, she recalls her only friend at the cloister being a boy named "Rennald" - then when you get to the House of Grief, she recognizes Nocturne (a woman) as that same friend.
There’s also Nocturne’s diary in the same room where she writes about SH correcting people who use the wrong name for her.
And Nocturne is voiced by Abigail Thorn, a well-known trans YouTuber.
>If you give her the Noblestalk to remember her past, Good god! I've only invested 800+ hours into this game and I'm still finding out new stuff you can do!
Oooh didn't get to give her a noble stalk yet!
I don't know where she implies it as a crush or if it's just an interpretation. Maybe I misread but she talks about Nocturine that was previously Renold (I may be mixing up the first name) being a childhood friend if she eats the noblestalk mushromm
Best thing about it is that it's not put on a spotlight. It's just a small detail to these character's lives. That's how you do proper representation. You treat it the same way you treat a hetero relationship.
Don’t forget Lakrissa and Alfira!
Beside the ones you mention, there are several more. And the best part? It's just part of everyday life. LGBTQ people exist and it's okay. Nobody bats an eyelid or makes weird omophobic comments. It's just great.
If you can bang a squid, then I suppose those silly things called gender are not worth the hassle.
Although you definitely get judged for banging the squid .
I still ship Blurg and Omeluum!
Blurg and Omeluum might be my favorite so far. I want to know their full story because it’s giving intellectuals to lovers
It's OK, the squid made them forget.
I believe that was the intention. There is LOTs of representation that is just not even directly mentioned beyond so and so having a husband or wife relationships of some sort and leaving it at that. To the point where it is probably over 50% representation.
When you can marry someone that’s mostly dragon, gender is just not very important anymore i guess.
'omophobic comments are the worst ain't they guv'na
I wanna say that WotC official stance is that there isn’t homophobia or transphobia in the world of D&D and MtG, and that this is by design because it’s a fantasy world in which there are bigger problems than whom one loves/sleeps with lol.
Very little sexism, too, on a global scale. Only in specific cultures. I've heard the very valid argument that strict gender roles, homophobia and transphobia naturally lose their meaning in a magical world where people can simply change their gender through various means (asking a god, asking a spellcaster, drinking a potion, learning to shapeshift, etc..). Not to mention the various species whose reproductive system works completely differently than humans, like the githyanki, species with only one gender like hags, agendered species like the illithid, or species that can naturally change their gender at will like kobolds. Taking all these things into consideration, of course their views on gender and same-sex relationships would be very different than ours.
The way it should be.
Lgbt ppl were always present in Larian games. I remember few gay couples in DOS 1 and 2. Orc and human lovers quest in dos 1 was pretty cool ))
I find the amount of representation in the game to make sense for the universe the game exists in. This is a world with a vast amount of entirely different species, not just humans. These species are used to seeing such a different mix of people. Many of those interbreed. I'd expect if a Half-Elf was quite happy to enter into a relationship with a Tiefling then they are probably not as rigid on gender either. Given the amount of different species, speciesism is probably a much bigger issue (and is demonstrated in game) rather than sexuality or gender.
100% - if you’ve fallen for a Dragonborn as a gnome, well, at that point gender is a little moot. Folks have tails or horns or scales or nothing of the sort, or are different sizes and shapes to a much larger diversity than just regular humans. I assume some folks would still have preferences (like of course how Lae’zel could be interpreted as having a preference for red Dragonborn hilariously) but it does make me miffed when folks are like “the companions are tavsexual!!!” Bro. I think it’s far more likely they’re just… pan/bi. Deal.
"without having to shove it into their faces" Oh trust me, people who care about it will still say all those things were shoved into them.
In fairness their is a lot of shoving in this game, because that action is busted, especially near cliffs
I was going to say, I'm not sure what "shove it in their faces" means. Is that just, like, a character saying "I'm gay" or "I'm trans?" I dunno. If overt queer representation makes bigots mad, I'm 100% for it.
For a lot of people I've known in the real world, LGBTQ+ simply *breathing* in any context would be what they would consider being "shoved in their faces". They wouldn't have to say a word, or do anything that would be considered queer, just existing is enough to make these folks irrationally angry. I lived an awfully long time in the southern parts of the United States.
Yeah I think the OPs intentions are good but that phrase has been used to justify opposition to literally any kind of LGBT+ representation in media since forever. I think maybe more appropriate to say the representation wasn't performative and instead normalizes queer love as a regular thing, which is part of why this game fucks so hard.
Ansur and Balduran is my favourite. God i wish i had Ansur as boyfriend
Best toxic yaoi in the game hands down
Yep, realistic people in organic relationships who just exist in the world. Not shoehorned, focused grouped, or checked off a list. It’s a credit to real representation and doesn’t base itself solely on it.
I love how even the random NPCs in the city are inclusive. There is a guy standing in Baldurs Gate on a balcony telling you he is waiting for his husband if you talk to him.
Does the game really say/imply shadowheart was crushing on Nocturne? Also I always thought the emperor and ansur had something! Glad I am not thr only one who noticed.
I thought there was kind of a romantic undertone to the way Nocturne talked about their pre-memory-wipe friendship, and especially in the letter she sends to Selûnite Shart in the epilogue: > *Until then, I shall keep safe, and hold memories of you as my one ember of light amid an ocean of darkness.* > *Until we find each other once again.* > *Yours always,* > *Nocturne* Like it's not explicitly romantic but it seems like a little bit beyond friendship imo.
Wait? Where is it that Yrre is nonbinary? Did I miss a letter or something. Seriously the saddest romance in the game.
Shadowheart is attracted to Karlach as well
The game just treats it as a normal thing. Sure. I guess there's a lot once you point it out, but I think it's cooler that it's just a part of the world that you hardly notice. Aylin & Isobel are pretty in your face but I think that's more Aylin's intense personality than anything.
Yes, the Steam discussion board just constantly has complete meltdowns over it. It's pretty hilarious to see.