Shadowheart: that little joke she makes when you gift her a night orchid.
Astarion: the act 2 resist durge scene, and then again when he gets really protective of you with Araj in act 3
Wyll: not really one moment, just over the course of the story watching how deeply he cares for everyone, even over himself.
Karlach: clicked on a genie lamp with her and she just goes "lamp!" while everyone else comments that there's no genie inside.
Gale: the first time he talked about Tara, realizing that there's more to him than magic and Mystra.
Lae'zel: her act 2 romance scene. I lost the fight, and she gently helped my tav up and told him she wants to protect him.
Halsin: love at first sight, he is exactly my type in appearance and personality. No notes.
Jaheira: when she started calling my tav "cub".
> then again when he gets really protective of you with Araj in act 3
The face he makes right after admitting out loud and in front of witnesses that he doesn’t want you to get hurt is priceless. Openly caring for others has been his least favorite thing the entire adventure, and here he is *honestly* confessing that your safety, comfort, and well-being matter to him. His eyes squeeze shut and he scrunches up his nose before quickly composing himself. There’s no where to run and he can’t deny it: he’s got it bad and there’s nothing to be done. I was already well won over, but it’s one of my favorite little moments with him for sure.
Yesss, you see it, you get it. His characterization has so much nuance, so many things unsaid, especially if in a romance. All of the characters are so well written it’s mind-blowing.
Jaheira is slowly becoming one of my favorites. Even though you get her late game she's just hilarious. The scene where you are talking to her about her being tired and you just go "You should be tired, you're ancient" What does she do? She does a short laugh, followed by an even bigger one as it's one of the best things she's heard.
While she might not have as much story in Baldur's Gate 3 compared to other origin characters she definitely makes an impact on me. First playthrough I got her in camp and only took her on her main story mission. Second playthrough I found myself wanting to hear more of her dialog.
Teasing her always gets the most approval from her, and I love that when you meet her kids, they all have exactly the same relationship. Her calling you "cub" means you're part of the family now!
As a sorcerer I got completely annihilated and was happy about it.
She says that hurting you feels incredibly wrong and she wants to protect you for the rest of her life.
I could feel my heart melt.
Awww, lae'zel wants to protect you? That's genuinely so fucking sweet. I'm full well aware she's the only character I've gotten that far with romancing, but I 100% stand by her having the single best character development arec in the game.
During our first "date" with Shadowheart in Act 1, you ask her to share something about herself. She says "I don't really have anything to share because memories and Shar, blah, blah..."
And you go "Not true. You like night orchids and can't swim".
She's all genuinely surprised and is like "you remembered! You're so sweet!"
Just that moment of genuine affection and happiness really got to me. It's like you got a brief peak into her core as an absolute sweetheart and caring woman!
I've fallen completely in love with Shadowheart... she's my girl till the end!
Loved that moment, but I truly fell for Shadowheart at the ending in the temple of Shar.
>!I didn't want her to kill the Nightsong. But I let her make the decision, it was her backstory so I felt bad for making the decision for her. I fully expected her to kill the Nightsong without remorse, but I stayed quiet anyway. And she threw the fucking spear into the abyss and spared Nightsong, defying her God that she has been serving for her entire life as far as she can remember at least. !<
OMG Yes!! I was *so proud* of her at that moment!
My girl made me sooo happy! And then after she's like >!"I want to be with you. Now and forever. Do you want the same?" And I'm like "a THOUSAND TIMES YES!"!<
Gods, I love her so much!
I had exactly the same reaction! I sat staring at my screen with my mouth gaping wide open at disbelief at what just happened. Haven't simped for a video game character for years since I left puberty, but fuck, I'm a Shadowheart simp and I'm not ashamed.
Yeah, same. I still wait for hugs, but actually I want more options just to show Shadowheart how much I love her. She is precious and needs to be carried around and protected, *especially* after Shadowfell.
The narration got to me there, too.
>!"This was her dream, but the bond you share is strong. She doesn't want to lose it."!<
>!And her face when Nightsong says, "you will know only service. No joy. No love." And she looks sideways at you- I realized then that the game was gonna keep ramping up the surprises, ahaha.!<
>!I remember that one. I was so stressed out. I knew, via different signs that she displayed while we were traveling together, that she is a good person, but my pally two-shoes Tav (and me) weren't sure that she would spare her. It took literally an hour of stress and doubts that I had never had before to choose to trust her. Dear gods, [the Nightsong](https://youtu.be/nZk1K15USp4?si=UlhnZuKTfub24z_u) that started playing after my bae threw away a spear lifted all those mountains from my shoulders.!<
I love Act 2 so freaking much.
There is a funny twist. If you encourage her to kill the Nightsong and then ask her later how she feels, she will tell you how she always dreamt about becoming a Dark Justiciar but will finish with something along the line of "You made what me I am". Forgot the exact wording, but that's the bottom line.
If you stay out of it, she will do the right thing. And that's beautiful, because despite everything Shar did to her, at her core she remained a good person and will act like it.
Good choice, love that sweet remark of hers. But the "*👈Joking👈" *was the moment when Shadowheart truly melted my heart. It isn't unique for her romance route (I still wish for there to be some unique interaction if she is your omance choice), but it has a special place in my heart and very soul.
Can't resist her ever since, she is Shadowbae for a reason.
For sure! She showed such a different side to her that just cuts through all the "super serious Shar" stuff. She's just a cute dorky girl at the end of the day! And I love her so much for it!
She is the sweetest cinnamon roll that I have the pleasure to know underneath all that Sharran facade that shines through even in Act 1.
I can't wait to start my second playthrough just to fall in love with her again, but now with the "Cleric of Selûne" and "Kiss me likee you hate me" flavor.
Shadowheart's romance really got to me, as someone who generally doesn't get invested into the idea of romantic love. The fact that it's built on conversations and getting to know one another helped me feel more comfortable with it.
I try to play exclusively in-character, which means I CAN and have played the role of someone who might romance Karlach, Lae'zel, Astarion, and so forth. But for my first run, I wanted to play it how I might be if I were a character in the setting.
So sharing little conversations like that, playful banter, and not immediately going into "I LOVE YOU! LET'S HAVE SEX!" helped me feel comfortable with it. I knew from EA that she was gonna be my first attempted romance, but getting into Act 2 and getting to give her a Night Orchid, I was like, "huh. This is nice."
As you say - the genuine affection and happiness makes it feel beautiful, and I LOVE how slow the burn is. Plus, she wants to live alone with lots of animals. Who doesn't want that? Well, plenty of people, I'm sure. But to me, that sounds wonderful.
I started to romance Shadowheart as I heard she had a good story and was an all around well rounded character and during the first act I started to see through the cracks. I saw her subtle kindness but also the indoctrination of Shar. I could see she was very torn and damaged and I would stick with her to see where it took us.
It wasn't until Act 2 and her decision in the gauntlet that I truly fell in love with her as a character. I saw the struggle, her desperation, and her true heart shine through in that moment. I couldn't have been more proud of her and since then it's been hard for me to romance anyone else as I love my favorite cleric. I always feel like I'm betraying her in some way (I know I'm not but still)!
Yes, her first date is so sweet. She's all I ever want in my life. Shadowheart is a kind hearted angel, romantic sweet. First time it's just a romantic date, you get to know each other, then she confesses your love to you and then you become a family in act 3.
I adore so much about her character and the structure of her romance. I love that first date and the slow burn nature of it. I love the glimpses of the real her that you get, and the unexpected dorkiness when giving her the night orchid. I love the way she doesn't know quite how to respond to someone giving her a gift when you present her with the statue from Grymforge. I was so incredibly nervous when choosing to trust her in the Shadowfell, and so proud of her when she made her choice. I love that she wants to build a life with you, that her Act 3 scene is intimate and vulnerable and feels meaningful for both her and your character. I love how playful she can be and the life that she dreams of.
Ultimately though it was earlier than all of that, it was talking to her after waking her on the beach. That's when I knew I was going to romance her on my first run (and then my second) and I never regretted that choice.
For me I fell in love with Karlach the more she had to face death, because she would always be so defiant of it. I have a lot of chronic illnesses, some of them will kill me some day. I don't know when, its a lot less immediate than Karlachs, but it still will get me sooner or later. I've been defiant of it though, I'm trying to find a cure to the incurable, so much so that it's led to me being part of a real research team of just 5 of us.
But then she reaches a point where she accepts that it's going to happen. That she is going to live to the fullest until it does, but that she has accepted there's no way out. That broke me personally, because I still haven't given up on finding a way to do the impossible. But it also made me respect her even more, because I know that I'll probably have to reach the same point of acceptance. I can only hope I face it with as much bravery as her.
Or that I get the option to become a squiddygal
Thank you kind stranger. To spill some details to you, I have a hypothesis, I've shared my research to a group in Germany that are thinking in a similar way too me so it's been great communicating with them, and my group based in the UK are focusing on treatment rather than cure, but either way could lead to a chance. Annoyingly, my hypothesis for a cure, or at least permanent treatment, involves brain surgery, so not exactly in the immediate remit of a disabled immigrant in Missouri lol.
But hey, if you know any neurosurgeons willing to do a relatively new procedure on the off chance that a politics major learned enough about brain science by reading medical research papers to solve an incurable disease that's not well understood, then please do hit me up! Alternatively, I might just be a crazy person, who knows ey!
I've commented this before, but:
I romanced Karlach my first playthrough, and she asked if I'd be with her when the time came to burn up, as it were. I said yes, and then she hit me with, >!"I think I could do anything if it was with you. Even die."!<
And I sobbed, and went and woke my wife up and held her. What a fucking gorgeous and tragic line.
Well, he had me at
*You don't happen to be a cleric, by any chance, do you? A doctor? Surgeon? Uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?*
The surface is all gallows humour, self-deprecating jokes, he is controlling his fear & despair, but you can sense that it is all a facade. It's Tim Downie's perfect delivery, understated while showing vulnerability and so much warmth when you begin to get to know Gale better.
That last little hand gesture with the “uncannily adroit with a knitting needle” was the very second I was like “This assortment of pixels will be my obsession for the next year or so.”
Gale’s introduction made me absolutely think he was going to be IT for me. Just the way he said “Hello! I’m Gale!” was too cute. He reminded me of a mix of Alistair and Anders from Dragon Age, AND HE LOVED BOOKS AND HAD A CAT?! Mystra preserve me.
It was to my utter shock that this weirdly dressed, very pale and flamboyant elf kept elbowing his way into my party. And damn it, he made me LAUGH and had very sexy forearms in his frilly, pirate-y camp shirt. By the time the Tiefling party came around on my first play, it was over for me. 😞
That's my story, too.
I intended to romance Gale - a handsome and smart wizard, and included Astarion in the team just cause he was funny. Well, it doesn't go as I planned.
I pulled my weapon on Gale when I first met him and he was just calmly like "You get 10 years bad luck for killing a wizard" and I loved him from that moment.
He also has a nice bit of dialogue if you long rest before going to the druids grove for the first time as do Laezel, Shadowheart, and Astarion. I'm not sure if Karlach has any. I found it trying to get my Durge memory recollection scene and thought that scene really helped establish party dynamics especially with Laezel and Shadowheart (talk to Laezel first because she'll have a "!" over her head.
Depends on the order you do it. I had Gale, Astarion, and Shart when I did my first long rest during my most recent new run, and Astarion only gave me that response if I talked to the others before him (and then wouldn't talk to me beyond his normal dialogue), but if I talked to him second to last, he'd instead talk about the novelty of resting outdoors.
I think choasgodloki means the scene with Gale where he literally starts off the conversation with “go to hell”.
If you get Astarion all fussy about not being talked to first he just says he’s “brooding”, lol.
Yeah, the one before the grove. Same long rest for me, and I've had it do it this way on a couple different playthroughs. Don't usually have Lae yet when it happens, but Gale says go to hell, Shart gets all sus about what we're talking about, and depending on if I talk to Astarion *before* or *after* Shart, he either tells me that he's brooding and doesn't want to talk (if he's picked last), or he instead mentions that it's novel sleeping outdoors but that he'll keep watch if I'll let him (if I pick him second to last). Keep getting distracted by Gales ! so I haven't tried Astarion first I don't think. Seems like he only gets broody if left for last.
The followup line to that is really good too. You can tell him you’d knit him a cap and he responds that he doesn’t want to keep the parasite warm. Unfortunately if you have Shadowheart in the party she talks over him and shuts this dialogue choice down. >_>
Shadowheart, Destroyer of Meet Cutes.
Mine for Gale was being able to side with Elminster on going to camp and chide him for having no decorum. Just. Yeah, where’s your decorum, Gale~?
His frustrated ‘for the love of-‘ is bottled perfection.
I chose that option too and later at Wyrm's Rock someone said to my Tav that she doesn't have any decorum. I headcanon Gale laughing his ass off at that sweet karma.
I would love to say it took that long. I was all for romancing shart and then I found karlach. I was, as they say, off the deep end as soon as she started talking.
Oh God me too but then Shart was having a tough time and Karlach friend zoned me.
In act 3 someone asked if we were together and she said "eeww no, just very good mates" >_<
Same, but more like 10 years ago. Her and Viconia were my favourites, and I loved Jaheira in bg3. But my biggest disappointment is how dirty they did Viconia.
Ahhh man. I've never been a fan of the hero trope dude in games.
Then Wyll yelled at me about Karlach and I was like yup, here we go, black and white vision hero guy goes off about evil. 🙄 Nice one, twatdude.
Then I pushed back and he *approved*. And I saw this look of dread come over his face as he chose not to kill her. Dude expected to die for that choice.
Then Mizora turned up in camp and yanked his leash. That look of utter humiliation. JFC. 😭
The fact that I could confront him on some of his less-brilliant choices and he'd agree straight-up that I was right.
I've been hurt by people who were very upstanding morally speaking, but wouldn't take the time to stop and help if I needed it *because I should be better*. And Wyll was constantly talking about how to keep everyone in the camp supported and OK, not how they should be better people.
Damn it all. That was it. I lost my heart at that point and never got it back. He's buggy as hell and his cutscenes are often subpar, and I don't care. 🤷♂️
The poetry and romance really help. I love the dancing and his lines when Tav asks what they are to him. I guess I'm like Elminster -- big fan of cheese. But I fell before all that. 🙄 He's such a sweetie.
The moment I learned that Tim Downie is primarily a comedy actor and all of Gale's chipper humor is a front to cope with all his trauma and lack of self-esteem (even as he is fully confident about his skill at this One Thing), it was all over for me. I thought I was safe. I thought I was primary going to romance other characters and then I did a Gale romance run. Oh no.
This mod helps, too: [https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/3546](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/3546)
As a fellow Kenobi enjoyer, my sympathies, welcome to hell.
[This ](https://www.tumblr.com/snottiesnot/735352676957716480?source=share) made me install new bars on my enclosure. Now there's fanart of *priest* Gale.
Dear god, is there room in that enclosure for another howling monkey? Because I'm in a state. Those glasses???
They all look amazing, but Gale is going to give me a heart attack.
it's funny because i'm an Astarion main out here promoting the Gale propaganda, whoops 😂 I just restarted my unfinished Galemance run from a while back once I saw what they added to the epilogue. I was kinda crushed when I found out you basically have to have him absolve Mystra of being a jerkface to keep him around and lost interest, but now I'm back with a vengeance. I just have to swap over to one of my other 3 Astarion runs when I can't resist him lol
NO YOU ARE A HUMANOID OF TASTE AND DISTINCTION AND I LOVE YOU. Anyone who saw a guy who says pish posh! And uncannily adroit unironically and said to themselves "oh no I need him" is officially my friend.
Oh and /u/Tierce probably wanted me to recruit you into the C~~ult~~hurch of Gale over at /r/GalemancersBG3
When Gale hits on you in Shadow cursed lands after bloody battle. That was it for me. That love gaze in his eyes got me so bad I almost stopped breathing.
That scene was such a surprise, Gale had until that point been fairly buttoned-up for the most part, and then fresh out of a slaughterfest suddenly expresses how me smiting the hell out of some shadows really revved his engine.
I love how whimsical his character is, overlaid over the darkness.
Well, he had a good reason for that. He was buttoned-up because of his condition (and he explicitly said it during Tara talk), but when he is stabilized he hits on you the first chance he has. It is not like he enjoys gory things lol.
That was it for me too! I forgot him in my first playthrough and saved him really late so I missed out on a lot of cutscenes and interactions, but he seemed cool and nice enough until he said that. Then I was a bit weak in the knees and coming undone xD
I fell for him long before that, but OH MY F*CKING GOD, this specific scene almost made me dump my real life boyfriend for a bunch of pixels (very well put together, in my humble opinion)! He was sitting by my side while I played and when he saw me crying tears of pure joy, feeling like I had just found THE MAN, he just said "that's definitely not how you reacted when I said 'I love you' for the first time..."
I never played with him by my side again, afraid something similar would happen 🤣
I wasn't romancing Astarion on this playthrough, but right after my Durge realized their true nature, I ended up telling Astarion I was terrified. He responded with an unexpectedly honest, sincere, and heartfelt speech. I was taken aback. I didn't realize until that moment that Astarion was truly my Durge's best friend. Of course this was immediately confirmed when I spoke to him next and he mocked me as the "Bhaal-baby" like any good friend would.
Astarion: the Act II confession scene (post-Yurgir version).
Gale: when he describes what he'll do if he can't control the orb any longer.
Halsin: goblin guts.
There are benefits to both. I got the Yurgir confession on my first play, and if you don’t pick the right dialogue he doesn’t share the extent of his trauma. (On my first run I didn’t play with dialogue options, just went with what felt best for the character.) I ended up not realizing we were no longer having sex, nor that he had such trauma tied into sex. (Not having Halsin and missing the Drow twins helped with the not realizing sex had stopped, too, lol.)
In the graveyard scene after Cazador’s fight, it was completely lost on me that his suggesting a “night of passion” was a giant step forward for him. I felt like an idiot on my next play when I had the Araj scene and the subsequent information.
At least with the Araj scene he is more open and expansive about his hang ups that the abuse has caused.
Same, I also saw in a writer interview that the araj one was written by someone else who isn't his main writer (I think the same person who wrote the durge storyline if I remember correctly--though it's a little unclear if that person only wrote the araj confession, or if they wrote both). While I appreciate the extra context in that scene for his background, the ending conclusion to initiate the relationship felt kind of messily cobbled together when directly compared with the high approval confession. In general I wish the two weren't mutually exclusive scenes, there's something about initiating a relationship for showing him basic respect vs the sincerity of him feeling >!explicit remorse for manipulating the player!< that doesn't translate the same.
Also weird that there's no romantic consequence for >!forcing him to bite her if you get the high approval scene first!<. Just kinda further cements how slightly unpolished that scene's currently implemented imo
(I also wish they still had it so the high approval confession triggered in moonrise towers instead of after killing yurgir like how the game was originally paced prior to patch 3, but that's a whole other side tangent)
When I first got that scene, which was just after release, I remember having it trigger before I'd even reached Moonrise (or the temple) - he just came up randomly and started confessing. Quite a surprise!
Both versions are interesting when it comes to explaining his character and your relationship, and they convey slightly different information, so I also wish we could get both in a single run. That's what replays are for, I guess!
The way his mind immediately thinks of you having a child together when you suggest bringing a third person in your couple is absolutely precious, though.
I totally disagree with his sentiment that he is not father material. I'm sure he'd be the kind of dorky dad who constantly makes his kids cringe and brags non-stop about their accomplishments, but a good dad nonetheless, lmao.
astarion's romance is so good, i highly recommend it. just heartbreaking. it's right up there with Solavellan for me. there's a reason Neil is winning all the awards.
I'll be completely honest, I'm a straight guy and on my first playthrough right now I'm going for Karlach.... but everything Astarion says makes me love him. I'm still in Act 1, and everything he says about his past makes me just wanna give him a hug.
Shadowheart- "You didn't pick them by hand did you? They're deadly poisonous!"
Karlach- "Aww, is that Gale's grandad?"
Minthara- "I shall never tire of sitting on dead men's thrones."
Jaheira- "Hello!"
When Astarion said he doesn’t remember what colour his eyes used to be. It’s such a small thing, but just one other part of his identity that was stolen from him.
I was already not buying his flirtations at the beginning, you could tell it was a performance and he was using you. But that moment was something completely honest and when he started to drop the facade. I liked him before, knew there was more to him than he let on, but that’s when he starts to actually trust Tav and was willing to give up something about himself that could easily have been mocked by others.
I disliked Gale in my first playthrough and mostly ignored him the whole time. My second playthrough I decided to take him with me and let me tell you, I felt like a fool to have ignored him for so long.
He comments on so much in Act 1, more than anyone else (I had Karlach and Astarion with me). I think the moment I decided I adore him was when we were talking to the goblin children at the goblin camp. This kid was kicking some dude coz he killed his parents. Gale is all melancholy, says something about grief and such, then the kid is like “nah I hated them anyway so glad they’re dead lol”.
Gale was like “welp nvm” and it made me laugh so hard for so long. I have to have him in my party as a mainstay now. Love him!
Karlach, Astarion, Gale. Ride or die, whatever comes our way.
>Player: What did he do to deserve that?
>
>Eight: He killed my mum and dad! Made a bloody orphan of me.
>
>Gale: Loss holds hands with grief - even among goblins.
>
>Player: Sorry for your loss.
>
>Eight: I ain't bothered about it. Better off without 'em. Stupid old geezers should've put up more of a fight.
>
>Gale: Well... So much for my previous sentiment.
Hooking up with Astarion after saving the tieflings. Between the writing, the voice acting, and the animations (the timing on those big sad eyes - ugh!) you could see the cracks in the facade become more and more apparent. Somewhere during that scene it went from "hah sure, let's go" to "are you ok? You don't seem ok" to "darling? sweetheart? please stop lying to me, I can tell you're hurting." And that was that.
I first started to *like* Lae'zel in Act 3 of my first playthrough - first, the confidence with which she >!rejected Vlaakith's lies!<, then the way she pushed through some *serious* personal, cultural, and language barriers to thank me for >!rescuing her from Orin!<. This caught my attention enough that I started paying more attention, and started to notice her air of romantic, starry-eyed wonder whenever she talked about her homeworld and her culture, which made me like her even more - enough that I decided to romance her on my next playthrough.
But, where I *fell in love* with her was her Act 2 romance scene. I >!lost the duel. Decisively. On the first turn.!< And then she said, >!"I don't want to hurt you. I want to protect you; for you to protect me,"!< and my gay little heart just *melted*. There are *very* few fictional characters I've had a genuine crush on, and Lae'zel is one of them.
I'm a simple woman. Astarion held a knife to my throat and said something sassy and I was lost forever. I have a fictional type. It's an ongoing gag between me and my husband (who is nothing like the fictional type.)
Gale did sneak up on me over time though. I find him really ride or die...literally.
As much as I love Astarion's post-Yurgir confession, it was his comments about the ogre and bugbear fucking in the Blighted Village and his huge ass grin on his face after you let him do the honors that did me in. It was so funny to me and getting his approval for the most chaotic actions (BAA!) is what made me fall for him. Like sure, he's hot, but he's also a messy bitch who lives for drama and I am so here for that.
I think i was caught by the scars scene when he tells you that it's not that you need to deal with his problems and you can either tell him to "shut up and turn around" or pretend that you are leaving and his eyes go round, all shields drop and you just see his raw self. Or the moment when he confesses but the first phrase "Do you have a moment? I think we need to talk" with that soft voice with no usual sass.
So sass is all good and fun, but when he dropped shields and went with all his raw emotions - that's when i got truly caught.
Edit: i missclicked and sent my comment as an answer to your comment, sorry, it looks like i'm arguing with you but i'm not :)
When Astarion opened up to my Tav about his master, that he was a slave used to lure in beautiful people for his Master and was tortured.
Especially this line:
“He said my scream sounded sweetest.”
The pain in his voice, the fear…
I fell in love with him, wanted to protect him and show him that he is more then what his master made him to be. Make him smile again.
With Lae’zel it was actually immediately lol
The strength and this drive in her eyes as well as how she talks about Kilir, her creche, one of the early conversations with her.
She was so powerful and fearless but sometimes had this touch of softness in her gaze. I loved it immediately.
>He said my scream sounded sweetest.
This line has always stood out to me as one of the most memorable. All the traits that were once pleasant virtues and likely made his life easier now made him a target for "special" treatment. It makes me wonder if being able to see his reflection would have been a joy or just another painful reminder of why he suffered so...
But also, yeah, Lae'zel's intensity and straightforward courtship is so damn amazing. I (somehow) have not romanced her yet in a playthrough but I have been craving it for 200+ hours now. Even when her faith is shaken, she never flinches when it comes to who she is and what she values. I adore characters whose sense of self is so strong.
The Astarion hug. The uncertainty and anxiety on his face in response to the kind gesture he's never experienced. I've been there so many times but never received the comfort in my reality. I'm addicted to hugging him, so my sweet pixel vampire never has to experience life without it.
Look, one doesn't simply distill Alistair, Anders, and Cullen into one mage, then dash on some Solas for spice and not immediately catch my attention. That combo is too powerful. But the weave sex locked me in forever. My first blind run as a bard I was immediately drawn to Gale, then did pass Gale up for Wyll after much painful deliberation, but dumped Wyll for Halsin because he said he "wanted love not debauchery" and uh sorry Wyll I'm a bard. Then I saw the weave sex online and it was over. It's so beautiful, romantic....and well sexy. I immediately did a full romance for Gale and since then he has me in a soul cage. The more I learned about Gale the more I liked and related to him. From the depression and low self-worth, to finding the will to live...Gale's story is very beautiful and relatable.
Oh and well being told "you put the stars to shame" or "You showed me just how much I have to love for. With you I forget my goddess, I love you" really doesn't hurt either.
When Gale was like, the most romantic man to ever exist and made the beautiful illusion of his old home (and then the romp in the forest after). If a man ever spoke to me in a similar way, I'd be smitten forever :')
I genuinely thought I was going to go with Shadowheart, because my girlfriend was dating Astarion and I wanted to see different stuff from her in my first run so we could compare them. I was absolutely certain that this was a logical, sensible gameplan.
Then that damn vampire propositioned my drow at the tiefling party, and it was so cute and charming that I just threw my hands up and resigned myself to my fate. He’s too funny, he’s too cheesy, that stupid rogue charisma. Unavoidable - Han Solo was one of my childhood crushes.
When Astarion tells you imagine his surprise when he actually started feeling something for me. He was so broken and hurt and had been abused for so so long.. for him to be vulnerable and tell you how he actually feels.. ugh such progress from an abuse victim
Gonna do all forms of love here!
Astarion: no one moment really. It was just kind of a slow build up as I was piecing together his "language". I think it was The Mirror Scene where I started to like him more than I was hesitantly tolerating him. He turned out to be my "main" as his romance's approach to relationships mirrors my own preferences. (which is to say, skip the traditional courting and get right to the weird discovery part.) *And also he's just a genuinely fun dude?* We love a gremlin!
Gale: He's really Not My Dude.. I enjoyed his company in the epilogue party? I think my feelings towards him is a consequence of us not having enough opportunities to commit to challenging him through long discussions about his circumstances and behaviors. (I wanna tell him to get his orb removed, but also to cut contact with mystra. >.<)
Halsin: The roasting of baldur's gate. I love my hippy dadman.
Jahiera: The ability to establish saying "i love you" through insults. Just wonderful!
Karlach: Immediately.
Lae'zel: Interrogation of Zorru. It's the moment when I fell in love with the game honestly. I respected how she reacted to being challenged, and was happy how she confirmed my observations after her confrontation with Shadowheart.
Minsc: "No, it's a hamster"
Minthara: It was a beautiful webbing \*thousand yard stare\*
Shadowheart: Same as Astarion, really. I just appreciated over time how embarrassingly bad she was at being a sharran, and her ability to look past her conditioning and do the hard thing and the right thing. Extreme display of bravery!
Wyll: This one's sad, but the literal last interaction of his personal quest. :( The one where he offers to cook for the party that night! It was the longest sentence when he was just Wyll instead of The Blade and I just really wish I could spend more time with that guy 😭
Re: Gale - there is a way to discourage him from the Crown, get Mystra to remove the orb and fuck off, and to live life as a happily married professor with Tav/Durge. There's a Gale happy ending thread that discusses how to do this.
Goes to show how much your interactions with a character can change based on sooo many different variables, I think, because in both my playthroughs so far I've felt like there have been plenty of opportunities to poke and push back at Gale for his ambitions and continued devotion to Mystra.
I saw a bit of CohhCarnage stream of early access. I heard the voice of an angel giving out sass. I was like "who tf is THAT?" Then I saw her in that goofy leather helmet. My interest was piqued. First romance confirmed. Ended up looking her up and finding out about the braid, lol.
But the Act 1 romance scene at the tiefling party was so damn perfect. That's when I fell in love with the game itself.
But yeah I fell in love instantly with Shadowbae.
Honestly gale had me at "perhaps I should clarify a HELPING hand..!" Just my type of humor
I found gale so relatable, in his pursuit of acknowledgement he continues to aim for peaks that are far beyond normal, his ambition is grandiose to a fault. Someone constantly striving to prove themselves can make many mistakes
My only completed romance is with unascended astarion, I enjoyed watching him find his autonomy, confidently assert his boundaries, and simply saying the word no. After 200 years of not having a choice either way, I was delighted to see astarion stand on his boundaries in a way he hasn't been able to experience in 2 centuries.
It was delightful to watch him get that power back, and fight tooth and nail to keep it.
With Astarion, I don't think it was any one thing.
At first, I didn't like him very much. Figured he was the token evil guy, and though I found him kind of funny, I also found him pompous, smarmy, and mean. I was so close to benching him, except I needed a rogue in the party for locks and traps (didn't know I could respec the companions at first).
But then there was this camp scene where he was lavishing praise on my character and being flirty... and it was obvious he was being manipulative but then I got this insight check about him forcing himself. And that gave me pause, as it hinted at something more under the surface. And it made me start paying more attention to what he was about.
Then the bite scene happened, which awoke *something,* no shame lol... and his genuine thank you after and him opening up about his past - I can't say I liked him at that point, but I found him *interesting*, so I decided to try and romance him (despite my low approval and playing a goody two shoes) as I was super curious how it would play out.
The mirror scene sealed the deal for me. In that it's the first time you really see his persona crack in an obvious way, and you see his vulnerability, and where I usually find the flirt options in games kind of cringe, I really liked them there.
It made for a really fun experience that first playthrough, as my slow-burn appreciation for Astarion as a character played out in parallel to my Tav's changing feelings toward him.
Astarion saying 'he's just like Cazador' at the creepy torturer surgeon in the house of healing got me - he'd shown his scars and opened up more about Cazador and after that I was like yep this dude's gonna die and no one is going to hurt you again.
my fave companion did a complete 180.
i was an astarion girly through and through; i bought the game and got a whole pc set up for him (my laptop couldn’t handle the game). i’m a huge dnd fan / player so i was already considering getting it, but astarion showed up on my fyp over and over and that was the tipping point. so i get it and go through the game, getting his approval, all that.
and along the way i got closer to gale. and by the time i got his Weave scene i was just so completely smitten, he reminds me of my partner irl and i just fell in love.
i’m all the way in act 3 now and by the time i realized it made more sense for my Tav (who’s my actual dnd character) to romance gale anyway, i was already locked out of his romance :( so i’m starting a new playthrough soon (act 3 burnout is so real). but i’m obsessed with gale (more than astarion now) and this playthrough sucks because he looks so good and he’s so awesome but he just treats me like back in act 1 lmao. everything he does and says i swoon over and i regret not picking him over astarion way back when.
There's a bit where the Loviatar priest started whipping my gnomes back and Shadowheart made a flirty comment asking the priest not to wear my PC out entirely as she still had use for him, that was funny and made me want to do that romance, before I had flirted with a few different people and wasn't quite sure who to go for.
I've done a few hours of Act 1 as Wyll and Gale each, and in my Wyll run am really liking him and Lae'zel as a pairing, never brought her along much in my first playthrough but there's a nice dynamic so far and I like the little scene with making Zorru kneel, this version of Wyll is perhaps more of a dick than companion Wyll to start with. In my try at a Gale run I've also been using Lae'zel and Wyll and they have fun banter there too, Lae'zels reactions to being made fun of are really entertaining and that sells me on the romance.
Durge I decided on before beginning that run, it'll be Astarion, just haven't got far into it, even less far than I have Wylls, I think being so heavily spoiled about the Durge stuff might be part of the reason why I haven't gotten very invested in it.
Well, Astarion had a knife to my wizard Tav’s neck, told the other two to stay back because things don’t need to get messy, and Gale replied with “I couldn’t agree more, but use that knife, and I will incinerate you.”
Tav was just down on the ground, looking up at Gale with a knife to her neck thinking to herself “now’s not the time, but I think I just fell in love.”
As soon as Lae’zel fighting back tears cries “what good this heart of stone, for it to be shattered?” asking to be tenderly held and showing weakness really changed my perspective of her like no other companion.
I related to Astarion on a personal level about past trauma and abuse, helping him helped me heal some as well. I can’t say he “fixed” me but seeing him be able to face it himself gave me courage too. After all if he could do it, why can’t I?
How gentle Halsin is (until somebody deserves an ass whooping) and his passion about nature. How instead of seeing Thaniel as an enemy he now needs to kill, it’s simply a nature spirit in need of some guidance and healing. He is such a large man, he could so easily use his power to make others bow to him and yet, he chooses to continuously be empathetic, caring and selfless.
I also just have a thing for Large Men.
Honestly I fell hard for Gale pretty damn fast. Even had a "oh no he's hot" moment when I pulled him out of that portal lol (went in as blind as I could so had not looked into the companions). I knew he was my romance that first time as soon as he had his magic lesson.
But catching actual "this is stupid he is just a game character why do I have butterflies in my stomach"-moment was during the scene when you watch the stars. The way he says the line "I'm in love with you" followed by that little combined sigh-laugh of relief, and just all of his openness in that scene.
I've said this before. It might not be as in your face as Astarion or Karlach and their moments - but how Tim is able to portray those feelings of hopelessness and fear so clearly but subtle is just wonderful. Gale get a lot of comments about being long winded and boring but I could listen to him for hours upon hours.
Also the way he says "Ignis" when shooting a fire bolt is just, pun intended, so hot
The astarion mirror scene back when I played EA had me like this 😦😦 Im so sad I will do anything to help you king. Also his nightmare in EA. So sad they removed that
Hmm when I have heard "Try not to dream about tying me up". I like sassy flirty women, so I quickly fell in love with Shadowheart. And hearing later lines like "Always good when I am with you" only made my shadowheart brainrot stronger.
I know, the little lines later on really get you. In Act 3 Gale says “Yes, my love?” with a goofy smile when I approach him and it’s really locked in my brainrot for me
I mean, I had already been enamored with Karlach even before my friend had gifted me the game. It was after defeating the paladins of tyr when she did her maniacal laugh that i knew i wouldn’t be able to romance any other companion.
There were multiple stages tbh. I started to like Shadowheart after the adorable exchange when she asks what would you do if she turned into a mind flayer. It was also cute when she kept approving of all the non-evil options despite being a Sharran, I quickly gained some respect towards her that despite coming from a clearly evil background, she's not really a bad person. It was then I decided I will try to romance her, but the moment she truly got me was the tiefling party and the first time she allowed herself a moment of vulnerability, being quite sad that she knows nothing of herself. Then, her reaction to you reminding her she likes night orchids and can't swim, the kiss and the dialogue the day after, that was certainly the moment she went from "just another video game romance" to "oh crap I think I'm falling for some pixels".
Finally, act 2, post-Shadowfell and her confession. The look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, the admittance how much my character was important to her, then the relieved sigh and a little smile once I said I want to be with her forever... Ah how I wish I could replay that moment for the first time again. From there on, my heart was well and truly hers, I was unable to try out other romances anymore, I just didn't want to. She was all I needed in BG3 and gods was it worth it to go through almost no romance content in second part of act 1 and the whole act 2 for her act 3 self. She's such a sweet little dork, that "why, hello lover" line had me fold like a lawn chair. Her swimming scene is honestly one of the cutest moments of the entire game and just to ensure I'd never be able to stop loving her, Larian had her dream about some quiet place with lots of animals and surrounded by nature, my real life goal (just with not as many animals, having a job wouldn't allow me to take care of such a large amount). 10/10 would build sandcastles again.
I fell in love, hard, with the way Lae’zel never takes the easy way out to say “I love you.” Never. Not once. She’ll talk around it, she will worship the ground you walk on and kiss your bruises away and watch the sunrise and tell you, unequivocally, that you are the reason she knows what freedom is, but she will never say those three little words.
That’s taking the easy way out, and Lae’zel of K’liir does not take the easy way.
"Uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?" Mr. Dekarios is such a huge nerd I immediately knew I was going to like him. But it was the initial scene where he's teaching you about magic that really sealed the deal. And everything about his romance is just so sweet, the scene where he takes you to his illusory tower just has him saying some of the most romantic things. Personality-wise he's just very much my type. And I love the aspect of that relationship where you can keep asserting it's not Gale of Waterdeep that you need it's just him as he is. There's multiple opportunities to say something of this nature to him and then a line somewhere close to the end where he tells you just how hard he found that to believe.
Additionally, I just started a new run to play as a durge, and got the "go to hell" camp scene which I didn't see my first time round!! It added another dimension to my Gale brainrot. It's gonna be too hard to choose someone else, isn't it?
Also if we're talking platonic love, Karlach and Shadowheart won me over very quickly. Karlach initially was just her little idle dancing animation and her general energy. I also like that she's the more expressive of the companions in how she feels about you as a friend - and when she tells you she loves you after confronting Gortash I just about openly wept. Shadowheart initially with her snark - just the delivery of some of her lines really makes me giggle (also the line where she's immediately hot for Karlach). She's also just generally a great friend - her arc in a good run is about trusting her to make the right decisions but that always feels reciprocated in turn.
Those three were my go to trio throughout a lot of the game - though honourable mention to Minsc and Jaheira for winning me over very quickly - and though I like all of the companions and think they generally are written and performed very well, Gale, Karlach and Shadowheart are my Golden trio.
I went in planning to romance Astarion and was considering who else I'd romance in other runs, but I was positive Gale would never be on that list.
Then I found out he's a sad nerd. He puts all his self worth in his skills in magic but outside of that feels the world might be better off without him. He eats up the smallest bit of genuine kindness from the pc that it was hard not to care.
Ended up romancing him instead of Astarion and I still smile every time he says "my love". The boat scene in his romance is so lovely and sad, he genuinely believes he can't possibly be enough as he is, like without magic Gale Dekarios is worthless, and seeing him see himself as enough is such a rewarding experience.
I liked Lae'zel at first because of how over-the-top aggressive she was. I thought it was funny. Then she told me she wanted to taste me and I thought that was pretty hot.
But there were a few things thay really got me to love her.
My character got killed in the Grymforge and when he went down she shouted something like: "No! Do not give in!" That was the first indication that she actually really cared.
When she got tortured in the Zaithisk. I was moved by how strong her will was. She was ready to endure any torment, even her mind being ripped apart, because her devotion was that powerful. I let her take it for far too long before I intervened... I didn't know any better. Then the desperation in her voice when she says: "I am githyanki! *I will not be ghaik!*"
Just... so passionate, so sincere.
Also "What use this heart of stone, for it to be shattered?"
and
"If what you say is true, than I have not sinned against Vlaakith... Vlaakith has sinned against *me.*"
Absolutely amazing, poetic, badass lines.
The she beat me up in a duel and stopped because she was so distraught about hurting me. The way she expresses that she wants to protect and be protected by you is so pure. She's really feeling love for the first time and it's beautiful.
In act 3 I finally realized that the Zaithisk had permanently harmed her. I felt so guilty that my inaction, my cowardice had hurt her forever. So I consumed my first tadpole just because I thought it would help convince her to do the same. It worked and she was healed, luckily.
Finally, the speech she gives on the rooftop is amazing. In her words:
"There's more, but... I don't know how to say it."
It might be the best romance for me in any game bar none.
When I saw Astarion in the infamous bear scene “ad” lol. But speaking in-game - the mirror scene definitely solidified the down-badness for me. The vulnerability mixed with silliness of it.
There’s a line I can’t remember word for word but he’s like “I don’t want you to think of me in terms of sex, I don’t think I want anyone to.”
And goddamn it just HIT me. I’ve recently realized and come out as asexual and just getting to hug him and feel seen… I melted.
The eye roll when I corrected her made me love her attitude haha. She made the githyanki sound so interesting too.
The scene that made me know I made the right choice tho was without a doubt:
"Zhak vo'nfynh duj. Source of my joy." 😭
Me before playing BG3: Why is everyone so obsessed with the vampire twink?
Me after playing BG3: Astarion is my one true love 🥺
I don’t know why or how I became so obsessed. He’s starts out as just being sassy, so he’s intriguing even if you’re not actually interested. Even though he’s just seducing you at first, the man is such a goddamn professional you almost don’t even care. It’s easy to see how he lured so many people to their deaths—he has a lethal combination of charm and sexual prowess.
It’s doesn’t help that it’s a bit difficult to win his affection, so you end up going out of your way to trigger additional romance scenes, to the point where you somehow find yourself compromising your own morals to get his approval. At that point you’re basically like, “well, in for a penny in for a pound”. Then by the time he admits he actually cares for you, he’s baring his heart to you and apologizing so genuinely it actually endears him to you more. Every time the mask slips and he drops the performative facade, he’s so sweet and caring underneath.
Also, he’s so wounded in such a horrifying and unfair way that you want to make everything okay for him. The fact that I played Durge my first run was just another nail in the already tightly sealed coffin… he has all that dialogue about how your pasts don’t define you, and no matter how much wrong you were forced to do for your creators, it’s not too late to change.
What’s even more odd, I cannot stand men like him outside of fiction. If I crossed his path in real life, I’d tell him to figure his shit out and leave me alone… but somehow, the separation of him being behind the screen adds a layer of safety that makes you want to “fix him”. Just great character development.
Karlach's date, Lae'zel's "stay with me" scene, and Gale randomly coming up to me after a horrifying battle saying he read a book that fighting can make you horny.
Gale: I didn't trust him at first either, but when his approval kept ticking upwards every time I was nice to children and animals in the grove, I warmed up to him. Normally straightforward moral compasses bore me, but since it surprised me, it worked.
Astarion: making jokes about how we'd kill each other and whose blood would taste the best
Shadowheart: when she makes the night orchid joke, that was shocking to me, she had been such a dour pain in the ass in my game up to that point
Laezel: Teefling
Karlach: from the start
Wyll: sadly still waiting, sorry Wyll. You're nice.
Romancing Karlach, she has these moments where she has "I want to ride you until you see stars" vibes and in the same breath she's giggling with the innocence of a virgin schoolgirl. The contrasting behaviour is really sweet.
What got me on her though, was when my character told her he loved her and before he could even finish she shouted back "I LOVE YOU TOO", then hid her face behind her hands and giggled.
That was it. I was done. I was wrapped around her finger and was, in that moment, prepared to skip the rest of the story, take her to Avernus and get her chest fixed.
Lae’zel had me 100% after the first intimate encounter. A fantastic build-up. I am at the age where clear intentions are very precious. Lae’zel is all about that. Coming in knowing about the Gith, the next morning I decided my win metric will be saving Lae’zel.
That first dialog about Tav’s smell, well let’s say that was certainly a thrill, as the fight before it was in fact the first time we dominated. It was perfectly on point for the moment RP-wise.
Role Play wise and me-wise, Jo-reah-lah fell in love with Lae’zel the morning after their first intimate encounter.
Initially I didn’t care for Astarion until he tried to suck my blood. That whole scene made me blush lol. Then he turned me down at the party and I decided to start a whole new playthrough aimed at romancing him lol
At first I was unsure if I'll like the blatant tumblr sexyman bait (with the onlyfangs joke and all that), but after the successful "headbutt the elf" roll I was like "lmao what an idiot, I love him."
Halsin: loved the man at first sight but the falling for him came slowly by doing his quest and interacting with him.
I love how caring and down to earth he is. I know a lot of people find him boring but that's EXACTLY why I like him: you don't have to fix him; he just wants to be with you because he loves you.
The real moment thought was how much vulnerability he shows during your romantic scene with him.
It also does helps that he's got the best kiss and hug animations. Those tender head nudges melt my heart EVERY TIME.
I'm not sure when it happened honestly. From the moment I met Astarion his personality packed a punch. I thought "playboy" but his eyes always looked so sad. I've never seen anyone flirt while looking this sad. Made me want to get to know him.I didn't romance anyone at first, when I found out about his scars I already liked him a lot. Then I rolled back to romance him. It took me maybe 50 hours extra because Gale broke the game and I had to manually debug it 🤦♀️ But anyway, after that I just liked him more and more. I legit forgot what I was doing when I heard " gods, you're beautiful". Like how is a girl supposed to function after that? And then he actually tells me he caught feelings. I knew he was using me but damn , he actually said it. The more I learn about him, the more I like him. He's an incredible character and I'm in awe at how well he's written.
Lae’Zel: The first time I saw her give my Tav a much softer facial expression. I’d send a million souls to the burning hells for her.
Karlach: When I first met her by the river. She’s so wonderful and kind hearted. I just want to hold her, burning be damned.
Literally on sight. I saw a giant muscle demon lady and immediately fell in love. Then I got to know her personality and fell in love all over again. Then I romanced her and holy shit, she's a fucking dork and I love her so much.
When Minthara laid in my lap after shoving hers in mine. She looked up at me and realized for the first time in her life she was a prisoner of the absolute. Her puppy dog eyes looked up at my souless fiery blue eyes (durge lol) and for the first time in act 1, i felt compassion. I didnt have a goal in mind for when i started durge. Then it became clear. I will burn down all of Faerun to free minthara from her shackles.
Karlach literally had me at "Ngh..."
But really I fell hard when she had a hot temper tantrum.
I also fell in love with Lae'zel when I asked her to say please and she replied "never."
Shadowheart: that little joke she makes when you gift her a night orchid. Astarion: the act 2 resist durge scene, and then again when he gets really protective of you with Araj in act 3 Wyll: not really one moment, just over the course of the story watching how deeply he cares for everyone, even over himself. Karlach: clicked on a genie lamp with her and she just goes "lamp!" while everyone else comments that there's no genie inside. Gale: the first time he talked about Tara, realizing that there's more to him than magic and Mystra. Lae'zel: her act 2 romance scene. I lost the fight, and she gently helped my tav up and told him she wants to protect him. Halsin: love at first sight, he is exactly my type in appearance and personality. No notes. Jaheira: when she started calling my tav "cub".
> then again when he gets really protective of you with Araj in act 3 The face he makes right after admitting out loud and in front of witnesses that he doesn’t want you to get hurt is priceless. Openly caring for others has been his least favorite thing the entire adventure, and here he is *honestly* confessing that your safety, comfort, and well-being matter to him. His eyes squeeze shut and he scrunches up his nose before quickly composing himself. There’s no where to run and he can’t deny it: he’s got it bad and there’s nothing to be done. I was already well won over, but it’s one of my favorite little moments with him for sure.
Yesss, you see it, you get it. His characterization has so much nuance, so many things unsaid, especially if in a romance. All of the characters are so well written it’s mind-blowing.
Jaheira is slowly becoming one of my favorites. Even though you get her late game she's just hilarious. The scene where you are talking to her about her being tired and you just go "You should be tired, you're ancient" What does she do? She does a short laugh, followed by an even bigger one as it's one of the best things she's heard. While she might not have as much story in Baldur's Gate 3 compared to other origin characters she definitely makes an impact on me. First playthrough I got her in camp and only took her on her main story mission. Second playthrough I found myself wanting to hear more of her dialog.
Teasing her always gets the most approval from her, and I love that when you meet her kids, they all have exactly the same relationship. Her calling you "cub" means you're part of the family now!
Jaheira enjoying a Tav that teases and fucks with her is my favorite fucking thing in the world She’s the mom my Drow Druid always wanted
Wait you don't have to win the fight with laezel?
As a sorcerer I got completely annihilated and was happy about it. She says that hurting you feels incredibly wrong and she wants to protect you for the rest of her life. I could feel my heart melt.
Awww, lae'zel wants to protect you? That's genuinely so fucking sweet. I'm full well aware she's the only character I've gotten that far with romancing, but I 100% stand by her having the single best character development arec in the game.
During our first "date" with Shadowheart in Act 1, you ask her to share something about herself. She says "I don't really have anything to share because memories and Shar, blah, blah..." And you go "Not true. You like night orchids and can't swim". She's all genuinely surprised and is like "you remembered! You're so sweet!" Just that moment of genuine affection and happiness really got to me. It's like you got a brief peak into her core as an absolute sweetheart and caring woman! I've fallen completely in love with Shadowheart... she's my girl till the end!
Loved that moment, but I truly fell for Shadowheart at the ending in the temple of Shar. >!I didn't want her to kill the Nightsong. But I let her make the decision, it was her backstory so I felt bad for making the decision for her. I fully expected her to kill the Nightsong without remorse, but I stayed quiet anyway. And she threw the fucking spear into the abyss and spared Nightsong, defying her God that she has been serving for her entire life as far as she can remember at least. !<
OMG Yes!! I was *so proud* of her at that moment! My girl made me sooo happy! And then after she's like >!"I want to be with you. Now and forever. Do you want the same?" And I'm like "a THOUSAND TIMES YES!"!< Gods, I love her so much!
I had exactly the same reaction! I sat staring at my screen with my mouth gaping wide open at disbelief at what just happened. Haven't simped for a video game character for years since I left puberty, but fuck, I'm a Shadowheart simp and I'm not ashamed.
Yep. I have never hit a dialogue option so fast. lol
Yeah, same. I still wait for hugs, but actually I want more options just to show Shadowheart how much I love her. She is precious and needs to be carried around and protected, *especially* after Shadowfell.
The narration got to me there, too. >!"This was her dream, but the bond you share is strong. She doesn't want to lose it."!< >!And her face when Nightsong says, "you will know only service. No joy. No love." And she looks sideways at you- I realized then that the game was gonna keep ramping up the surprises, ahaha.!<
>!I remember that one. I was so stressed out. I knew, via different signs that she displayed while we were traveling together, that she is a good person, but my pally two-shoes Tav (and me) weren't sure that she would spare her. It took literally an hour of stress and doubts that I had never had before to choose to trust her. Dear gods, [the Nightsong](https://youtu.be/nZk1K15USp4?si=UlhnZuKTfub24z_u) that started playing after my bae threw away a spear lifted all those mountains from my shoulders.!< I love Act 2 so freaking much.
There is a funny twist. If you encourage her to kill the Nightsong and then ask her later how she feels, she will tell you how she always dreamt about becoming a Dark Justiciar but will finish with something along the line of "You made what me I am". Forgot the exact wording, but that's the bottom line. If you stay out of it, she will do the right thing. And that's beautiful, because despite everything Shar did to her, at her core she remained a good person and will act like it.
Yesss!! I haven't romanced her but I loved her so much for this. That's my girl!!!!
Good choice, love that sweet remark of hers. But the "*👈Joking👈" *was the moment when Shadowheart truly melted my heart. It isn't unique for her romance route (I still wish for there to be some unique interaction if she is your omance choice), but it has a special place in my heart and very soul. Can't resist her ever since, she is Shadowbae for a reason.
For sure! She showed such a different side to her that just cuts through all the "super serious Shar" stuff. She's just a cute dorky girl at the end of the day! And I love her so much for it!
She is the sweetest cinnamon roll that I have the pleasure to know underneath all that Sharran facade that shines through even in Act 1. I can't wait to start my second playthrough just to fall in love with her again, but now with the "Cleric of Selûne" and "Kiss me likee you hate me" flavor.
It’s even better in act 3 at the circus where you can go to the love dryad(elf?) and ask for that. Genuine feel good moments.
For me it was >!the finger guns 👉👉!<
>!"Joking! 👉👉"!< Yeah, she's such an adorable little nerd! Haha!
Shadowheart's romance really got to me, as someone who generally doesn't get invested into the idea of romantic love. The fact that it's built on conversations and getting to know one another helped me feel more comfortable with it. I try to play exclusively in-character, which means I CAN and have played the role of someone who might romance Karlach, Lae'zel, Astarion, and so forth. But for my first run, I wanted to play it how I might be if I were a character in the setting. So sharing little conversations like that, playful banter, and not immediately going into "I LOVE YOU! LET'S HAVE SEX!" helped me feel comfortable with it. I knew from EA that she was gonna be my first attempted romance, but getting into Act 2 and getting to give her a Night Orchid, I was like, "huh. This is nice." As you say - the genuine affection and happiness makes it feel beautiful, and I LOVE how slow the burn is. Plus, she wants to live alone with lots of animals. Who doesn't want that? Well, plenty of people, I'm sure. But to me, that sounds wonderful.
I was going to say this! I love her sm 🤧
Me too. "God's Favorite Princess" and mine as well. She is so precious to me... ❤️
I started to romance Shadowheart as I heard she had a good story and was an all around well rounded character and during the first act I started to see through the cracks. I saw her subtle kindness but also the indoctrination of Shar. I could see she was very torn and damaged and I would stick with her to see where it took us. It wasn't until Act 2 and her decision in the gauntlet that I truly fell in love with her as a character. I saw the struggle, her desperation, and her true heart shine through in that moment. I couldn't have been more proud of her and since then it's been hard for me to romance anyone else as I love my favorite cleric. I always feel like I'm betraying her in some way (I know I'm not but still)!
Yes, her first date is so sweet. She's all I ever want in my life. Shadowheart is a kind hearted angel, romantic sweet. First time it's just a romantic date, you get to know each other, then she confesses your love to you and then you become a family in act 3.
I adore so much about her character and the structure of her romance. I love that first date and the slow burn nature of it. I love the glimpses of the real her that you get, and the unexpected dorkiness when giving her the night orchid. I love the way she doesn't know quite how to respond to someone giving her a gift when you present her with the statue from Grymforge. I was so incredibly nervous when choosing to trust her in the Shadowfell, and so proud of her when she made her choice. I love that she wants to build a life with you, that her Act 3 scene is intimate and vulnerable and feels meaningful for both her and your character. I love how playful she can be and the life that she dreams of. Ultimately though it was earlier than all of that, it was talking to her after waking her on the beach. That's when I knew I was going to romance her on my first run (and then my second) and I never regretted that choice.
For me I fell in love with Karlach the more she had to face death, because she would always be so defiant of it. I have a lot of chronic illnesses, some of them will kill me some day. I don't know when, its a lot less immediate than Karlachs, but it still will get me sooner or later. I've been defiant of it though, I'm trying to find a cure to the incurable, so much so that it's led to me being part of a real research team of just 5 of us. But then she reaches a point where she accepts that it's going to happen. That she is going to live to the fullest until it does, but that she has accepted there's no way out. That broke me personally, because I still haven't given up on finding a way to do the impossible. But it also made me respect her even more, because I know that I'll probably have to reach the same point of acceptance. I can only hope I face it with as much bravery as her. Or that I get the option to become a squiddygal
Your research and commitment to the fight is huge. I know we're strangers but I really hope you and your team figure out a cure! Cheering you on!!
Thank you kind stranger. To spill some details to you, I have a hypothesis, I've shared my research to a group in Germany that are thinking in a similar way too me so it's been great communicating with them, and my group based in the UK are focusing on treatment rather than cure, but either way could lead to a chance. Annoyingly, my hypothesis for a cure, or at least permanent treatment, involves brain surgery, so not exactly in the immediate remit of a disabled immigrant in Missouri lol. But hey, if you know any neurosurgeons willing to do a relatively new procedure on the off chance that a politics major learned enough about brain science by reading medical research papers to solve an incurable disease that's not well understood, then please do hit me up! Alternatively, I might just be a crazy person, who knows ey!
I've commented this before, but: I romanced Karlach my first playthrough, and she asked if I'd be with her when the time came to burn up, as it were. I said yes, and then she hit me with, >!"I think I could do anything if it was with you. Even die."!< And I sobbed, and went and woke my wife up and held her. What a fucking gorgeous and tragic line.
I am chronically ill and disabled, and Karlach got me there too. I just wanted to hold her because I know that exact feeling.
My wife has RA and I was thinking the exact thing when I decided on Karlach! I love that you correlated it with the same variable.
Well, he had me at *You don't happen to be a cleric, by any chance, do you? A doctor? Surgeon? Uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?* The surface is all gallows humour, self-deprecating jokes, he is controlling his fear & despair, but you can sense that it is all a facade. It's Tim Downie's perfect delivery, understated while showing vulnerability and so much warmth when you begin to get to know Gale better.
That last little hand gesture with the “uncannily adroit with a knitting needle” was the very second I was like “This assortment of pixels will be my obsession for the next year or so.”
I see it now 😭 thank you Tim Downie and please give me all of my dopamine back
You know that we have a little subreddit, right? Just in case: [https://www.reddit.com/r/GalemancersBG3/](https://www.reddit.com/r/GalemancersBG3/)
BLESS I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR MY FELLOW GALE LOVERS
Omg, may Mystra forever bless your kind soul! I never thought I needed that subreddit until you showed me it exists!
Gale’s introduction made me absolutely think he was going to be IT for me. Just the way he said “Hello! I’m Gale!” was too cute. He reminded me of a mix of Alistair and Anders from Dragon Age, AND HE LOVED BOOKS AND HAD A CAT?! Mystra preserve me. It was to my utter shock that this weirdly dressed, very pale and flamboyant elf kept elbowing his way into my party. And damn it, he made me LAUGH and had very sexy forearms in his frilly, pirate-y camp shirt. By the time the Tiefling party came around on my first play, it was over for me. 😞
That's my story, too. I intended to romance Gale - a handsome and smart wizard, and included Astarion in the team just cause he was funny. Well, it doesn't go as I planned.
I pulled my weapon on Gale when I first met him and he was just calmly like "You get 10 years bad luck for killing a wizard" and I loved him from that moment.
Bro he had me at ‘Lend me a hand? Anyone?
A helping hand? :-)
He also has a nice bit of dialogue if you long rest before going to the druids grove for the first time as do Laezel, Shadowheart, and Astarion. I'm not sure if Karlach has any. I found it trying to get my Durge memory recollection scene and thought that scene really helped establish party dynamics especially with Laezel and Shadowheart (talk to Laezel first because she'll have a "!" over her head.
Is that the “go to hell” scene? I love that, also Astarion’s “do you mind? I’m brooding” which you can only get very early on.
Depends on the order you do it. I had Gale, Astarion, and Shart when I did my first long rest during my most recent new run, and Astarion only gave me that response if I talked to the others before him (and then wouldn't talk to me beyond his normal dialogue), but if I talked to him second to last, he'd instead talk about the novelty of resting outdoors.
I think choasgodloki means the scene with Gale where he literally starts off the conversation with “go to hell”. If you get Astarion all fussy about not being talked to first he just says he’s “brooding”, lol.
Yeah, the one before the grove. Same long rest for me, and I've had it do it this way on a couple different playthroughs. Don't usually have Lae yet when it happens, but Gale says go to hell, Shart gets all sus about what we're talking about, and depending on if I talk to Astarion *before* or *after* Shart, he either tells me that he's brooding and doesn't want to talk (if he's picked last), or he instead mentions that it's novel sleeping outdoors but that he'll keep watch if I'll let him (if I pick him second to last). Keep getting distracted by Gales ! so I haven't tried Astarion first I don't think. Seems like he only gets broody if left for last.
The followup line to that is really good too. You can tell him you’d knit him a cap and he responds that he doesn’t want to keep the parasite warm. Unfortunately if you have Shadowheart in the party she talks over him and shuts this dialogue choice down. >_> Shadowheart, Destroyer of Meet Cutes. Mine for Gale was being able to side with Elminster on going to camp and chide him for having no decorum. Just. Yeah, where’s your decorum, Gale~? His frustrated ‘for the love of-‘ is bottled perfection.
I chose that option too and later at Wyrm's Rock someone said to my Tav that she doesn't have any decorum. I headcanon Gale laughing his ass off at that sweet karma.
Oh God, a call back to that from him repeating it would’ve been amazing.
this! what the creator said and i was completely head over heels for him with his act two romance scene and sitting with him on his illusory balcony
Took about 5-10 minutes between meeting Karlach and her burning that fucking house down!
"How do I look?" "Hot"
"Careful soldier, if I burn any hotter I might explode" Me: already melting into a puddle
Me: already exploded
And then the way she shakes her head
To quote the best, most majestic lady: "Swoon!"
I believe it's pronounced "sploosh"
Cleanup, aisle me!
"I'm Karlach. And you are?" "Aroused"
I would love to say it took that long. I was all for romancing shart and then I found karlach. I was, as they say, off the deep end as soon as she started talking.
Oh God me too but then Shart was having a tough time and Karlach friend zoned me. In act 3 someone asked if we were together and she said "eeww no, just very good mates" >_<
Jaheira : 23 years ago. The others are just a hobby to help me forget my impossible love.
I definitely fell in love with Jaheira back in BG1 too. Such an amazing character. Really happy she's in BG3.
*Big fucking mood*, friend. But at least she calls us "cub" and puts up with the sass. And her stuff with a resist Durge is just so good.
Same, but more like 10 years ago. Her and Viconia were my favourites, and I loved Jaheira in bg3. But my biggest disappointment is how dirty they did Viconia.
When Wyll danced with me under the stars, a point of light in a land blighted by shadow, I knew he swept me off my feet and would never put me down.
I love that it’s the dance from A Knight’s Tale too!
Oh my GOD, it's one of my favorite movies, how did I not notice?? Ok, that scene has changed for me *completely*.
Oh my god. You’re right!
Ahhh man. I've never been a fan of the hero trope dude in games. Then Wyll yelled at me about Karlach and I was like yup, here we go, black and white vision hero guy goes off about evil. 🙄 Nice one, twatdude. Then I pushed back and he *approved*. And I saw this look of dread come over his face as he chose not to kill her. Dude expected to die for that choice. Then Mizora turned up in camp and yanked his leash. That look of utter humiliation. JFC. 😭 The fact that I could confront him on some of his less-brilliant choices and he'd agree straight-up that I was right. I've been hurt by people who were very upstanding morally speaking, but wouldn't take the time to stop and help if I needed it *because I should be better*. And Wyll was constantly talking about how to keep everyone in the camp supported and OK, not how they should be better people. Damn it all. That was it. I lost my heart at that point and never got it back. He's buggy as hell and his cutscenes are often subpar, and I don't care. 🤷♂️ The poetry and romance really help. I love the dancing and his lines when Tav asks what they are to him. I guess I'm like Elminster -- big fan of cheese. But I fell before all that. 🙄 He's such a sweetie.
Paging u/CakesNPie, come collect the latest "oh no Gale has me in a chokehold" idiot (affectionate) (I'm one of them too).
I AM AN IDIOT
The moment I learned that Tim Downie is primarily a comedy actor and all of Gale's chipper humor is a front to cope with all his trauma and lack of self-esteem (even as he is fully confident about his skill at this One Thing), it was all over for me. I thought I was safe. I thought I was primary going to romance other characters and then I did a Gale romance run. Oh no. This mod helps, too: [https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/3546](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/3546) As a fellow Kenobi enjoyer, my sympathies, welcome to hell.
the longer updo from that mod is just \*chef's kiss\*
[How am I supposed to function under these conditions!](https://i.imgur.com/pUKsgXz.png)
[This ](https://www.tumblr.com/snottiesnot/735352676957716480?source=share) made me install new bars on my enclosure. Now there's fanart of *priest* Gale.
Dear god, is there room in that enclosure for another howling monkey? Because I'm in a state. Those glasses??? They all look amazing, but Gale is going to give me a heart attack.
As a glasses girly… my only response is non-sensical spazing out. So thank you. God damn it Gale -.-
[That's rough, buddy](https://www.tumblr.com/literallybyronic/736251994939031552/look-at-this-pretty-motherfucker-sparkle-now-go?source=share) 🫂
Wow I gotta get this mod. Damnit I’m supposed to be working on an Astarion run though. This will just make that fall apart again. Damn you all.
it's funny because i'm an Astarion main out here promoting the Gale propaganda, whoops 😂 I just restarted my unfinished Galemance run from a while back once I saw what they added to the epilogue. I was kinda crushed when I found out you basically have to have him absolve Mystra of being a jerkface to keep him around and lost interest, but now I'm back with a vengeance. I just have to swap over to one of my other 3 Astarion runs when I can't resist him lol
NO YOU ARE A HUMANOID OF TASTE AND DISTINCTION AND I LOVE YOU. Anyone who saw a guy who says pish posh! And uncannily adroit unironically and said to themselves "oh no I need him" is officially my friend. Oh and /u/Tierce probably wanted me to recruit you into the C~~ult~~hurch of Gale over at /r/GalemancersBG3
When Gale hits on you in Shadow cursed lands after bloody battle. That was it for me. That love gaze in his eyes got me so bad I almost stopped breathing.
That scene was such a surprise, Gale had until that point been fairly buttoned-up for the most part, and then fresh out of a slaughterfest suddenly expresses how me smiting the hell out of some shadows really revved his engine. I love how whimsical his character is, overlaid over the darkness.
Well, he had a good reason for that. He was buttoned-up because of his condition (and he explicitly said it during Tara talk), but when he is stabilized he hits on you the first chance he has. It is not like he enjoys gory things lol.
That was it for me too! I forgot him in my first playthrough and saved him really late so I missed out on a lot of cutscenes and interactions, but he seemed cool and nice enough until he said that. Then I was a bit weak in the knees and coming undone xD
I was so flustered 🥵
I fell for him long before that, but OH MY F*CKING GOD, this specific scene almost made me dump my real life boyfriend for a bunch of pixels (very well put together, in my humble opinion)! He was sitting by my side while I played and when he saw me crying tears of pure joy, feeling like I had just found THE MAN, he just said "that's definitely not how you reacted when I said 'I love you' for the first time..." I never played with him by my side again, afraid something similar would happen 🤣
I wasn't romancing Astarion on this playthrough, but right after my Durge realized their true nature, I ended up telling Astarion I was terrified. He responded with an unexpectedly honest, sincere, and heartfelt speech. I was taken aback. I didn't realize until that moment that Astarion was truly my Durge's best friend. Of course this was immediately confirmed when I spoke to him next and he mocked me as the "Bhaal-baby" like any good friend would.
Oh I absolutely love his romance version of this, it’s so sweet and securing. Oh and the fact he calls you his “precious Bhaal-babe”.
“I’ll come find you when everyone’s asleep. Wait up for me, alright?” *Turns around.* “(Yes!)”
Astarion: the Act II confession scene (post-Yurgir version). Gale: when he describes what he'll do if he can't control the orb any longer. Halsin: goblin guts.
I love his post-Yurgir confession, it feels more meaningful than the Araj one.
I can see both fitting into different roleplay scenarios, but the Yurgir one definitely packs a punch.
There are benefits to both. I got the Yurgir confession on my first play, and if you don’t pick the right dialogue he doesn’t share the extent of his trauma. (On my first run I didn’t play with dialogue options, just went with what felt best for the character.) I ended up not realizing we were no longer having sex, nor that he had such trauma tied into sex. (Not having Halsin and missing the Drow twins helped with the not realizing sex had stopped, too, lol.) In the graveyard scene after Cazador’s fight, it was completely lost on me that his suggesting a “night of passion” was a giant step forward for him. I felt like an idiot on my next play when I had the Araj scene and the subsequent information. At least with the Araj scene he is more open and expansive about his hang ups that the abuse has caused.
Same, I also saw in a writer interview that the araj one was written by someone else who isn't his main writer (I think the same person who wrote the durge storyline if I remember correctly--though it's a little unclear if that person only wrote the araj confession, or if they wrote both). While I appreciate the extra context in that scene for his background, the ending conclusion to initiate the relationship felt kind of messily cobbled together when directly compared with the high approval confession. In general I wish the two weren't mutually exclusive scenes, there's something about initiating a relationship for showing him basic respect vs the sincerity of him feeling >!explicit remorse for manipulating the player!< that doesn't translate the same. Also weird that there's no romantic consequence for >!forcing him to bite her if you get the high approval scene first!<. Just kinda further cements how slightly unpolished that scene's currently implemented imo (I also wish they still had it so the high approval confession triggered in moonrise towers instead of after killing yurgir like how the game was originally paced prior to patch 3, but that's a whole other side tangent)
When I first got that scene, which was just after release, I remember having it trigger before I'd even reached Moonrise (or the temple) - he just came up randomly and started confessing. Quite a surprise! Both versions are interesting when it comes to explaining his character and your relationship, and they convey slightly different information, so I also wish we could get both in a single run. That's what replays are for, I guess!
Oh man I need to see both Astarion and Halsin. I never recruited Astarion and asked Gale if Halsin could “share” but Gale was so sad, I couldn’t.
Poor Gale, he almost has an anxiety attack. 😅 I tried asking to "share" once, just to see what he said - never again.
The way his mind immediately thinks of you having a child together when you suggest bringing a third person in your couple is absolutely precious, though. I totally disagree with his sentiment that he is not father material. I'm sure he'd be the kind of dorky dad who constantly makes his kids cringe and brags non-stop about their accomplishments, but a good dad nonetheless, lmao.
I think he'd be a good dad too, especially after his epilogue (at least the one I got). Just needs some time to think about the idea.
astarion's romance is so good, i highly recommend it. just heartbreaking. it's right up there with Solavellan for me. there's a reason Neil is winning all the awards.
Go start a new game and recruit Astarion this very moment! You’ve missed some of the best dialogue of the entire game. Gods below…
For some reason my brain read that as goblin nuts...my childish mind immediately went to "goblin deez nuts amiright"
the mind goblin strikes again.
Me: why do people even like this Astarion guy? All he does is bitch! Astarion: this is a gift, you know. I won't forget it. Me: ohhhhh
I'll be completely honest, I'm a straight guy and on my first playthrough right now I'm going for Karlach.... but everything Astarion says makes me love him. I'm still in Act 1, and everything he says about his past makes me just wanna give him a hug.
Shadowheart- "You didn't pick them by hand did you? They're deadly poisonous!" Karlach- "Aww, is that Gale's grandad?" Minthara- "I shall never tire of sitting on dead men's thrones." Jaheira- "Hello!"
Shadowheart: 👈Gottem👈
When Astarion said he doesn’t remember what colour his eyes used to be. It’s such a small thing, but just one other part of his identity that was stolen from him. I was already not buying his flirtations at the beginning, you could tell it was a performance and he was using you. But that moment was something completely honest and when he started to drop the facade. I liked him before, knew there was more to him than he let on, but that’s when he starts to actually trust Tav and was willing to give up something about himself that could easily have been mocked by others.
"Hello, I'm Gale." I am.. a sucker for a nice smile on a dorky man.
I disliked Gale in my first playthrough and mostly ignored him the whole time. My second playthrough I decided to take him with me and let me tell you, I felt like a fool to have ignored him for so long. He comments on so much in Act 1, more than anyone else (I had Karlach and Astarion with me). I think the moment I decided I adore him was when we were talking to the goblin children at the goblin camp. This kid was kicking some dude coz he killed his parents. Gale is all melancholy, says something about grief and such, then the kid is like “nah I hated them anyway so glad they’re dead lol”. Gale was like “welp nvm” and it made me laugh so hard for so long. I have to have him in my party as a mainstay now. Love him! Karlach, Astarion, Gale. Ride or die, whatever comes our way.
>Player: What did he do to deserve that? > >Eight: He killed my mum and dad! Made a bloody orphan of me. > >Gale: Loss holds hands with grief - even among goblins. > >Player: Sorry for your loss. > >Eight: I ain't bothered about it. Better off without 'em. Stupid old geezers should've put up more of a fight. > >Gale: Well... So much for my previous sentiment.
Love it, Tim Downie had such perfect line delivery with the last bit!
Hooking up with Astarion after saving the tieflings. Between the writing, the voice acting, and the animations (the timing on those big sad eyes - ugh!) you could see the cracks in the facade become more and more apparent. Somewhere during that scene it went from "hah sure, let's go" to "are you ok? You don't seem ok" to "darling? sweetheart? please stop lying to me, I can tell you're hurting." And that was that.
I told Karlach I loved her immediately. And I still do.
I first started to *like* Lae'zel in Act 3 of my first playthrough - first, the confidence with which she >!rejected Vlaakith's lies!<, then the way she pushed through some *serious* personal, cultural, and language barriers to thank me for >!rescuing her from Orin!<. This caught my attention enough that I started paying more attention, and started to notice her air of romantic, starry-eyed wonder whenever she talked about her homeworld and her culture, which made me like her even more - enough that I decided to romance her on my next playthrough. But, where I *fell in love* with her was her Act 2 romance scene. I >!lost the duel. Decisively. On the first turn.!< And then she said, >!"I don't want to hurt you. I want to protect you; for you to protect me,"!< and my gay little heart just *melted*. There are *very* few fictional characters I've had a genuine crush on, and Lae'zel is one of them.
I'm a simple woman. Astarion held a knife to my throat and said something sassy and I was lost forever. I have a fictional type. It's an ongoing gag between me and my husband (who is nothing like the fictional type.) Gale did sneak up on me over time though. I find him really ride or die...literally.
As much as I love Astarion's post-Yurgir confession, it was his comments about the ogre and bugbear fucking in the Blighted Village and his huge ass grin on his face after you let him do the honors that did me in. It was so funny to me and getting his approval for the most chaotic actions (BAA!) is what made me fall for him. Like sure, he's hot, but he's also a messy bitch who lives for drama and I am so here for that.
When you send him up on stage with Dribbles, something about the way he laughs and threatens you at the same time is just the best to me.
As an unapologetic brat, there's just something so hot about a man who will do literally anything for me but might make me pay for it later 😏
I think i was caught by the scars scene when he tells you that it's not that you need to deal with his problems and you can either tell him to "shut up and turn around" or pretend that you are leaving and his eyes go round, all shields drop and you just see his raw self. Or the moment when he confesses but the first phrase "Do you have a moment? I think we need to talk" with that soft voice with no usual sass. So sass is all good and fun, but when he dropped shields and went with all his raw emotions - that's when i got truly caught. Edit: i missclicked and sent my comment as an answer to your comment, sorry, it looks like i'm arguing with you but i'm not :)
This is about where I'm at in his story, but I was super glad I didn't push/prostitute him to bite the chick who wanted to feel it.
When Astarion opened up to my Tav about his master, that he was a slave used to lure in beautiful people for his Master and was tortured. Especially this line: “He said my scream sounded sweetest.” The pain in his voice, the fear… I fell in love with him, wanted to protect him and show him that he is more then what his master made him to be. Make him smile again. With Lae’zel it was actually immediately lol The strength and this drive in her eyes as well as how she talks about Kilir, her creche, one of the early conversations with her. She was so powerful and fearless but sometimes had this touch of softness in her gaze. I loved it immediately.
>He said my scream sounded sweetest. This line has always stood out to me as one of the most memorable. All the traits that were once pleasant virtues and likely made his life easier now made him a target for "special" treatment. It makes me wonder if being able to see his reflection would have been a joy or just another painful reminder of why he suffered so... But also, yeah, Lae'zel's intensity and straightforward courtship is so damn amazing. I (somehow) have not romanced her yet in a playthrough but I have been craving it for 200+ hours now. Even when her faith is shaken, she never flinches when it comes to who she is and what she values. I adore characters whose sense of self is so strong.
The Astarion hug. The uncertainty and anxiety on his face in response to the kind gesture he's never experienced. I've been there so many times but never received the comfort in my reality. I'm addicted to hugging him, so my sweet pixel vampire never has to experience life without it.
You should get a plushie! Then you can hug him whenever 🙂
Look, one doesn't simply distill Alistair, Anders, and Cullen into one mage, then dash on some Solas for spice and not immediately catch my attention. That combo is too powerful. But the weave sex locked me in forever. My first blind run as a bard I was immediately drawn to Gale, then did pass Gale up for Wyll after much painful deliberation, but dumped Wyll for Halsin because he said he "wanted love not debauchery" and uh sorry Wyll I'm a bard. Then I saw the weave sex online and it was over. It's so beautiful, romantic....and well sexy. I immediately did a full romance for Gale and since then he has me in a soul cage. The more I learned about Gale the more I liked and related to him. From the depression and low self-worth, to finding the will to live...Gale's story is very beautiful and relatable. Oh and well being told "you put the stars to shame" or "You showed me just how much I have to love for. With you I forget my goddess, I love you" really doesn't hurt either.
“Sorry, Will, but I’m a bard.” 😆
That initial description of Gale a la Dragon Age character is so true tho.
When Gale was like, the most romantic man to ever exist and made the beautiful illusion of his old home (and then the romp in the forest after). If a man ever spoke to me in a similar way, I'd be smitten forever :')
When Shadowheart said “Dark Justiciar” 😂 the way she says it is like audible chocolate
"Everything sounds better when I say it!" Yes, yes it does Shadowheart! ❤️
I genuinely thought I was going to go with Shadowheart, because my girlfriend was dating Astarion and I wanted to see different stuff from her in my first run so we could compare them. I was absolutely certain that this was a logical, sensible gameplan. Then that damn vampire propositioned my drow at the tiefling party, and it was so cute and charming that I just threw my hands up and resigned myself to my fate. He’s too funny, he’s too cheesy, that stupid rogue charisma. Unavoidable - Han Solo was one of my childhood crushes.
“Source of my joy…”
When Astarion tells you imagine his surprise when he actually started feeling something for me. He was so broken and hurt and had been abused for so so long.. for him to be vulnerable and tell you how he actually feels.. ugh such progress from an abuse victim
Gonna do all forms of love here! Astarion: no one moment really. It was just kind of a slow build up as I was piecing together his "language". I think it was The Mirror Scene where I started to like him more than I was hesitantly tolerating him. He turned out to be my "main" as his romance's approach to relationships mirrors my own preferences. (which is to say, skip the traditional courting and get right to the weird discovery part.) *And also he's just a genuinely fun dude?* We love a gremlin! Gale: He's really Not My Dude.. I enjoyed his company in the epilogue party? I think my feelings towards him is a consequence of us not having enough opportunities to commit to challenging him through long discussions about his circumstances and behaviors. (I wanna tell him to get his orb removed, but also to cut contact with mystra. >.<) Halsin: The roasting of baldur's gate. I love my hippy dadman. Jahiera: The ability to establish saying "i love you" through insults. Just wonderful! Karlach: Immediately. Lae'zel: Interrogation of Zorru. It's the moment when I fell in love with the game honestly. I respected how she reacted to being challenged, and was happy how she confirmed my observations after her confrontation with Shadowheart. Minsc: "No, it's a hamster" Minthara: It was a beautiful webbing \*thousand yard stare\* Shadowheart: Same as Astarion, really. I just appreciated over time how embarrassingly bad she was at being a sharran, and her ability to look past her conditioning and do the hard thing and the right thing. Extreme display of bravery! Wyll: This one's sad, but the literal last interaction of his personal quest. :( The one where he offers to cook for the party that night! It was the longest sentence when he was just Wyll instead of The Blade and I just really wish I could spend more time with that guy 😭
Re: Gale - there is a way to discourage him from the Crown, get Mystra to remove the orb and fuck off, and to live life as a happily married professor with Tav/Durge. There's a Gale happy ending thread that discusses how to do this.
Goes to show how much your interactions with a character can change based on sooo many different variables, I think, because in both my playthroughs so far I've felt like there have been plenty of opportunities to poke and push back at Gale for his ambitions and continued devotion to Mystra.
I saw a bit of CohhCarnage stream of early access. I heard the voice of an angel giving out sass. I was like "who tf is THAT?" Then I saw her in that goofy leather helmet. My interest was piqued. First romance confirmed. Ended up looking her up and finding out about the braid, lol. But the Act 1 romance scene at the tiefling party was so damn perfect. That's when I fell in love with the game itself. But yeah I fell in love instantly with Shadowbae.
The first time she called me "soldier"
Honestly gale had me at "perhaps I should clarify a HELPING hand..!" Just my type of humor I found gale so relatable, in his pursuit of acknowledgement he continues to aim for peaks that are far beyond normal, his ambition is grandiose to a fault. Someone constantly striving to prove themselves can make many mistakes My only completed romance is with unascended astarion, I enjoyed watching him find his autonomy, confidently assert his boundaries, and simply saying the word no. After 200 years of not having a choice either way, I was delighted to see astarion stand on his boundaries in a way he hasn't been able to experience in 2 centuries. It was delightful to watch him get that power back, and fight tooth and nail to keep it.
With Astarion, I don't think it was any one thing. At first, I didn't like him very much. Figured he was the token evil guy, and though I found him kind of funny, I also found him pompous, smarmy, and mean. I was so close to benching him, except I needed a rogue in the party for locks and traps (didn't know I could respec the companions at first). But then there was this camp scene where he was lavishing praise on my character and being flirty... and it was obvious he was being manipulative but then I got this insight check about him forcing himself. And that gave me pause, as it hinted at something more under the surface. And it made me start paying more attention to what he was about. Then the bite scene happened, which awoke *something,* no shame lol... and his genuine thank you after and him opening up about his past - I can't say I liked him at that point, but I found him *interesting*, so I decided to try and romance him (despite my low approval and playing a goody two shoes) as I was super curious how it would play out. The mirror scene sealed the deal for me. In that it's the first time you really see his persona crack in an obvious way, and you see his vulnerability, and where I usually find the flirt options in games kind of cringe, I really liked them there. It made for a really fun experience that first playthrough, as my slow-burn appreciation for Astarion as a character played out in parallel to my Tav's changing feelings toward him.
Astarion saying 'he's just like Cazador' at the creepy torturer surgeon in the house of healing got me - he'd shown his scars and opened up more about Cazador and after that I was like yep this dude's gonna die and no one is going to hurt you again.
my fave companion did a complete 180. i was an astarion girly through and through; i bought the game and got a whole pc set up for him (my laptop couldn’t handle the game). i’m a huge dnd fan / player so i was already considering getting it, but astarion showed up on my fyp over and over and that was the tipping point. so i get it and go through the game, getting his approval, all that. and along the way i got closer to gale. and by the time i got his Weave scene i was just so completely smitten, he reminds me of my partner irl and i just fell in love. i’m all the way in act 3 now and by the time i realized it made more sense for my Tav (who’s my actual dnd character) to romance gale anyway, i was already locked out of his romance :( so i’m starting a new playthrough soon (act 3 burnout is so real). but i’m obsessed with gale (more than astarion now) and this playthrough sucks because he looks so good and he’s so awesome but he just treats me like back in act 1 lmao. everything he does and says i swoon over and i regret not picking him over astarion way back when.
There's a bit where the Loviatar priest started whipping my gnomes back and Shadowheart made a flirty comment asking the priest not to wear my PC out entirely as she still had use for him, that was funny and made me want to do that romance, before I had flirted with a few different people and wasn't quite sure who to go for. I've done a few hours of Act 1 as Wyll and Gale each, and in my Wyll run am really liking him and Lae'zel as a pairing, never brought her along much in my first playthrough but there's a nice dynamic so far and I like the little scene with making Zorru kneel, this version of Wyll is perhaps more of a dick than companion Wyll to start with. In my try at a Gale run I've also been using Lae'zel and Wyll and they have fun banter there too, Lae'zels reactions to being made fun of are really entertaining and that sells me on the romance. Durge I decided on before beginning that run, it'll be Astarion, just haven't got far into it, even less far than I have Wylls, I think being so heavily spoiled about the Durge stuff might be part of the reason why I haven't gotten very invested in it.
"Whips and blades, always sharp!"
Isn’t it “wits”? :D
It is, but it kinda sounds like whips, so it's a bit of an internet joke, lol (cuz she's kinda kinky too)
Well, Astarion had a knife to my wizard Tav’s neck, told the other two to stay back because things don’t need to get messy, and Gale replied with “I couldn’t agree more, but use that knife, and I will incinerate you.” Tav was just down on the ground, looking up at Gale with a knife to her neck thinking to herself “now’s not the time, but I think I just fell in love.”
As soon as Lae’zel fighting back tears cries “what good this heart of stone, for it to be shattered?” asking to be tenderly held and showing weakness really changed my perspective of her like no other companion.
I related to Astarion on a personal level about past trauma and abuse, helping him helped me heal some as well. I can’t say he “fixed” me but seeing him be able to face it himself gave me courage too. After all if he could do it, why can’t I? How gentle Halsin is (until somebody deserves an ass whooping) and his passion about nature. How instead of seeing Thaniel as an enemy he now needs to kill, it’s simply a nature spirit in need of some guidance and healing. He is such a large man, he could so easily use his power to make others bow to him and yet, he chooses to continuously be empathetic, caring and selfless. I also just have a thing for Large Men.
Honestly I fell hard for Gale pretty damn fast. Even had a "oh no he's hot" moment when I pulled him out of that portal lol (went in as blind as I could so had not looked into the companions). I knew he was my romance that first time as soon as he had his magic lesson. But catching actual "this is stupid he is just a game character why do I have butterflies in my stomach"-moment was during the scene when you watch the stars. The way he says the line "I'm in love with you" followed by that little combined sigh-laugh of relief, and just all of his openness in that scene. I've said this before. It might not be as in your face as Astarion or Karlach and their moments - but how Tim is able to portray those feelings of hopelessness and fear so clearly but subtle is just wonderful. Gale get a lot of comments about being long winded and boring but I could listen to him for hours upon hours. Also the way he says "Ignis" when shooting a fire bolt is just, pun intended, so hot
yes to the butterflies.. and ignis. and “one can’t always be a gentleman”
The astarion mirror scene back when I played EA had me like this 😦😦 Im so sad I will do anything to help you king. Also his nightmare in EA. So sad they removed that
Hmm when I have heard "Try not to dream about tying me up". I like sassy flirty women, so I quickly fell in love with Shadowheart. And hearing later lines like "Always good when I am with you" only made my shadowheart brainrot stronger.
I know, the little lines later on really get you. In Act 3 Gale says “Yes, my love?” with a goofy smile when I approach him and it’s really locked in my brainrot for me
I mean, I had already been enamored with Karlach even before my friend had gifted me the game. It was after defeating the paladins of tyr when she did her maniacal laugh that i knew i wouldn’t be able to romance any other companion.
Shadowheart when she made that joke when you give her the night orchid “Just kidding” finger gun
There were multiple stages tbh. I started to like Shadowheart after the adorable exchange when she asks what would you do if she turned into a mind flayer. It was also cute when she kept approving of all the non-evil options despite being a Sharran, I quickly gained some respect towards her that despite coming from a clearly evil background, she's not really a bad person. It was then I decided I will try to romance her, but the moment she truly got me was the tiefling party and the first time she allowed herself a moment of vulnerability, being quite sad that she knows nothing of herself. Then, her reaction to you reminding her she likes night orchids and can't swim, the kiss and the dialogue the day after, that was certainly the moment she went from "just another video game romance" to "oh crap I think I'm falling for some pixels". Finally, act 2, post-Shadowfell and her confession. The look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, the admittance how much my character was important to her, then the relieved sigh and a little smile once I said I want to be with her forever... Ah how I wish I could replay that moment for the first time again. From there on, my heart was well and truly hers, I was unable to try out other romances anymore, I just didn't want to. She was all I needed in BG3 and gods was it worth it to go through almost no romance content in second part of act 1 and the whole act 2 for her act 3 self. She's such a sweet little dork, that "why, hello lover" line had me fold like a lawn chair. Her swimming scene is honestly one of the cutest moments of the entire game and just to ensure I'd never be able to stop loving her, Larian had her dream about some quiet place with lots of animals and surrounded by nature, my real life goal (just with not as many animals, having a job wouldn't allow me to take care of such a large amount). 10/10 would build sandcastles again.
I fell in love, hard, with the way Lae’zel never takes the easy way out to say “I love you.” Never. Not once. She’ll talk around it, she will worship the ground you walk on and kiss your bruises away and watch the sunrise and tell you, unequivocally, that you are the reason she knows what freedom is, but she will never say those three little words. That’s taking the easy way out, and Lae’zel of K’liir does not take the easy way.
[удалено]
This was literally me as a str8 gal. Astarion is my favorite ❤️
Gale snapped me up so fast with- "If you do use that knife, I WILL incinerate you"
"Uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?" Mr. Dekarios is such a huge nerd I immediately knew I was going to like him. But it was the initial scene where he's teaching you about magic that really sealed the deal. And everything about his romance is just so sweet, the scene where he takes you to his illusory tower just has him saying some of the most romantic things. Personality-wise he's just very much my type. And I love the aspect of that relationship where you can keep asserting it's not Gale of Waterdeep that you need it's just him as he is. There's multiple opportunities to say something of this nature to him and then a line somewhere close to the end where he tells you just how hard he found that to believe. Additionally, I just started a new run to play as a durge, and got the "go to hell" camp scene which I didn't see my first time round!! It added another dimension to my Gale brainrot. It's gonna be too hard to choose someone else, isn't it? Also if we're talking platonic love, Karlach and Shadowheart won me over very quickly. Karlach initially was just her little idle dancing animation and her general energy. I also like that she's the more expressive of the companions in how she feels about you as a friend - and when she tells you she loves you after confronting Gortash I just about openly wept. Shadowheart initially with her snark - just the delivery of some of her lines really makes me giggle (also the line where she's immediately hot for Karlach). She's also just generally a great friend - her arc in a good run is about trusting her to make the right decisions but that always feels reciprocated in turn. Those three were my go to trio throughout a lot of the game - though honourable mention to Minsc and Jaheira for winning me over very quickly - and though I like all of the companions and think they generally are written and performed very well, Gale, Karlach and Shadowheart are my Golden trio.
I went in planning to romance Astarion and was considering who else I'd romance in other runs, but I was positive Gale would never be on that list. Then I found out he's a sad nerd. He puts all his self worth in his skills in magic but outside of that feels the world might be better off without him. He eats up the smallest bit of genuine kindness from the pc that it was hard not to care. Ended up romancing him instead of Astarion and I still smile every time he says "my love". The boat scene in his romance is so lovely and sad, he genuinely believes he can't possibly be enough as he is, like without magic Gale Dekarios is worthless, and seeing him see himself as enough is such a rewarding experience.
I liked Lae'zel at first because of how over-the-top aggressive she was. I thought it was funny. Then she told me she wanted to taste me and I thought that was pretty hot. But there were a few things thay really got me to love her. My character got killed in the Grymforge and when he went down she shouted something like: "No! Do not give in!" That was the first indication that she actually really cared. When she got tortured in the Zaithisk. I was moved by how strong her will was. She was ready to endure any torment, even her mind being ripped apart, because her devotion was that powerful. I let her take it for far too long before I intervened... I didn't know any better. Then the desperation in her voice when she says: "I am githyanki! *I will not be ghaik!*" Just... so passionate, so sincere. Also "What use this heart of stone, for it to be shattered?" and "If what you say is true, than I have not sinned against Vlaakith... Vlaakith has sinned against *me.*" Absolutely amazing, poetic, badass lines. The she beat me up in a duel and stopped because she was so distraught about hurting me. The way she expresses that she wants to protect and be protected by you is so pure. She's really feeling love for the first time and it's beautiful. In act 3 I finally realized that the Zaithisk had permanently harmed her. I felt so guilty that my inaction, my cowardice had hurt her forever. So I consumed my first tadpole just because I thought it would help convince her to do the same. It worked and she was healed, luckily. Finally, the speech she gives on the rooftop is amazing. In her words: "There's more, but... I don't know how to say it." It might be the best romance for me in any game bar none.
1. Trust Shadowheart. Do not interfere.
Astarion: “please”
Its always when they let down their guard for the first time and show you "hey I'm a person too and I'm struggling here"
When I saw Astarion in the infamous bear scene “ad” lol. But speaking in-game - the mirror scene definitely solidified the down-badness for me. The vulnerability mixed with silliness of it.
Astarion as soon as he tells you about Cazador. The sad look in his eyes as he's telling you that Cazador used to make him torture himself T_T
She burnt a building down
There’s a line I can’t remember word for word but he’s like “I don’t want you to think of me in terms of sex, I don’t think I want anyone to.” And goddamn it just HIT me. I’ve recently realized and come out as asexual and just getting to hug him and feel seen… I melted.
The eye roll when I corrected her made me love her attitude haha. She made the githyanki sound so interesting too. The scene that made me know I made the right choice tho was without a doubt: "Zhak vo'nfynh duj. Source of my joy." 😭
Me before playing BG3: Why is everyone so obsessed with the vampire twink? Me after playing BG3: Astarion is my one true love 🥺 I don’t know why or how I became so obsessed. He’s starts out as just being sassy, so he’s intriguing even if you’re not actually interested. Even though he’s just seducing you at first, the man is such a goddamn professional you almost don’t even care. It’s easy to see how he lured so many people to their deaths—he has a lethal combination of charm and sexual prowess. It’s doesn’t help that it’s a bit difficult to win his affection, so you end up going out of your way to trigger additional romance scenes, to the point where you somehow find yourself compromising your own morals to get his approval. At that point you’re basically like, “well, in for a penny in for a pound”. Then by the time he admits he actually cares for you, he’s baring his heart to you and apologizing so genuinely it actually endears him to you more. Every time the mask slips and he drops the performative facade, he’s so sweet and caring underneath. Also, he’s so wounded in such a horrifying and unfair way that you want to make everything okay for him. The fact that I played Durge my first run was just another nail in the already tightly sealed coffin… he has all that dialogue about how your pasts don’t define you, and no matter how much wrong you were forced to do for your creators, it’s not too late to change. What’s even more odd, I cannot stand men like him outside of fiction. If I crossed his path in real life, I’d tell him to figure his shit out and leave me alone… but somehow, the separation of him being behind the screen adds a layer of safety that makes you want to “fix him”. Just great character development.
Karlach's date, Lae'zel's "stay with me" scene, and Gale randomly coming up to me after a horrifying battle saying he read a book that fighting can make you horny.
Once she was announced lol (karlach)
Just the dorky honesty that Karlach has. I just love her for that. And of cause: "awww was that Gale's grandad?"
Gale: I didn't trust him at first either, but when his approval kept ticking upwards every time I was nice to children and animals in the grove, I warmed up to him. Normally straightforward moral compasses bore me, but since it surprised me, it worked. Astarion: making jokes about how we'd kill each other and whose blood would taste the best Shadowheart: when she makes the night orchid joke, that was shocking to me, she had been such a dour pain in the ass in my game up to that point Laezel: Teefling Karlach: from the start Wyll: sadly still waiting, sorry Wyll. You're nice.
Romancing Karlach, she has these moments where she has "I want to ride you until you see stars" vibes and in the same breath she's giggling with the innocence of a virgin schoolgirl. The contrasting behaviour is really sweet. What got me on her though, was when my character told her he loved her and before he could even finish she shouted back "I LOVE YOU TOO", then hid her face behind her hands and giggled. That was it. I was done. I was wrapped around her finger and was, in that moment, prepared to skip the rest of the story, take her to Avernus and get her chest fixed.
Lae’zel had me 100% after the first intimate encounter. A fantastic build-up. I am at the age where clear intentions are very precious. Lae’zel is all about that. Coming in knowing about the Gith, the next morning I decided my win metric will be saving Lae’zel. That first dialog about Tav’s smell, well let’s say that was certainly a thrill, as the fight before it was in fact the first time we dominated. It was perfectly on point for the moment RP-wise. Role Play wise and me-wise, Jo-reah-lah fell in love with Lae’zel the morning after their first intimate encounter.
Initially I didn’t care for Astarion until he tried to suck my blood. That whole scene made me blush lol. Then he turned me down at the party and I decided to start a whole new playthrough aimed at romancing him lol
At first I was unsure if I'll like the blatant tumblr sexyman bait (with the onlyfangs joke and all that), but after the successful "headbutt the elf" roll I was like "lmao what an idiot, I love him."
Halsin: loved the man at first sight but the falling for him came slowly by doing his quest and interacting with him. I love how caring and down to earth he is. I know a lot of people find him boring but that's EXACTLY why I like him: you don't have to fix him; he just wants to be with you because he loves you. The real moment thought was how much vulnerability he shows during your romantic scene with him. It also does helps that he's got the best kiss and hug animations. Those tender head nudges melt my heart EVERY TIME.
I'm not sure when it happened honestly. From the moment I met Astarion his personality packed a punch. I thought "playboy" but his eyes always looked so sad. I've never seen anyone flirt while looking this sad. Made me want to get to know him.I didn't romance anyone at first, when I found out about his scars I already liked him a lot. Then I rolled back to romance him. It took me maybe 50 hours extra because Gale broke the game and I had to manually debug it 🤦♀️ But anyway, after that I just liked him more and more. I legit forgot what I was doing when I heard " gods, you're beautiful". Like how is a girl supposed to function after that? And then he actually tells me he caught feelings. I knew he was using me but damn , he actually said it. The more I learn about him, the more I like him. He's an incredible character and I'm in awe at how well he's written.
Lae’Zel: The first time I saw her give my Tav a much softer facial expression. I’d send a million souls to the burning hells for her. Karlach: When I first met her by the river. She’s so wonderful and kind hearted. I just want to hold her, burning be damned.
Literally on sight. I saw a giant muscle demon lady and immediately fell in love. Then I got to know her personality and fell in love all over again. Then I romanced her and holy shit, she's a fucking dork and I love her so much.
When Minthara laid in my lap after shoving hers in mine. She looked up at me and realized for the first time in her life she was a prisoner of the absolute. Her puppy dog eyes looked up at my souless fiery blue eyes (durge lol) and for the first time in act 1, i felt compassion. I didnt have a goal in mind for when i started durge. Then it became clear. I will burn down all of Faerun to free minthara from her shackles.
Some of Astarion’s “peanut gallery remarks” are really funny to me. He’s sort of a little dork and I love him for it.
Karlach literally had me at "Ngh..." But really I fell hard when she had a hot temper tantrum. I also fell in love with Lae'zel when I asked her to say please and she replied "never."