#trying-to-do-good

[grenanigans]

For headcannons, could I request the bg3 companions reaction to an overdramatized bardic ballad of their adventures? Like they just fought TWO dragon's, not two hundred!

Ohhh, this is a hilarious prompt! Let's get to it! 💪

Lae'zel: I do not recall ever saving a family and their animals from a building on fire about to collapse. And dragons are the most noble creatures. I would never slay one with my bare hands, kaincha. What is this istik singing about? Somebody explain it to me.

Karlach: *watches the performance amusedly and with a little embarrassment at the exaggerations - if her skin weren't red, she'd even blush -, but cheers on the bard either way and spends the next three days singing and humming the song because it's stuck in her head*

Wyll: Oh, another bard spicing up The Blade of Frontiers' adventures? Nothing new. *much like Karlach, enjoys the performance and shows support for the artist anyway, although deep down he thinks he could have spiced it up better*

Gale: That was a most entertaining song, my friend! Nevertheless, I am afraid some of these facts are not portrayed accurately. Have you contrasted your information and ensured your sources are reliable? Ah! I will gladly provide some first-hand details. *clears throat* See, it all began one winter evening in the lovely town of Waterdeep when... *drags the bard to a corner and proceeds to tell them his whole story, from his birth to the fight with the Netherbrain*

Astarion: Ugh! Again with the hero nonsense? This song makes me sound like a pathetic do-gooder who goes around feeding every single orphan in the Lower City and helping every old woman cross the street. It's awful! The raunchy part about my irresistible attractiveness, however, was rather accurate.

Shadowheart: *facepalm* I'm going to need a lot of alcohol to cope with this. *retreats to the most secluded corner of the tavern with a bottle of wine*

[grenanigans]

Hey there... I'm terribly angry about something big and outside of my control at the moment. Could you let me know what you'd think the BG3 companions do if Tav started self destructing? Like Tav passing harsher judgments, snapping at neutral NPCs, or fighting more dangerously and recklessly with bad guys?

Hi!

First of all, whatever happened, hope to feel better soon 😞 In the meantime, you know I'm always happy to distract you with some good old headcanons.

Let's start with Lae'zel. She doesn't mind the fact that Tav is more aggressive lately. In fact, she thinks they're becoming stronger, getting a backbone, and she finds that great. But when she starts to notice the recklessness, Tav better get ready for some yelling, especially after a battle that doesn't end as well as it should have.

Astarion also enjoys Tav being a bit meaner to NPCs... until he is the victim of the meanness or Tav being an asshole gets the whole party into a fight that could have easily been avoided and Tav almost gets killed for fighting too dangerously. Then he will make some of his bitchy comments and, if Tav doesn't respond well, he'll start avoiding it ignoring them as much as he can. Of course, he's worried deep down, but knowing Tav won't listen to him, he figures the best he can do is save himself all the trouble.

Karlach is the first one to sense that there's something wrong with Tav. She may not be super smart, but she's really perceptive. At first she'll ask Tav many times if they're ok or what's going on, or try to do a little something to cheer them up. But if Tav isn't cooperative, she won't take any crap. She'll call them out and pretty much grab them by the collar and shake them.

Wyll does pretty much the same as Karlach. He's a little more patient and less blunt though. He tries to have a friendly conversation with Tav and lets them know that he's there for them. If he sees no results, he'll talk to the rest of the companions and organize an intervention.

Shadowheart knows how to get information out of someone and she's not afraid to use any manipulation techniques (or anything darker if necessary). She talks to Tav, but in a more subtle way, trying to get them to open up but making them think it was their idea. You know, like when you tell someone that a friend of yours has a problem and ask them for advice, but in reality they are the friend with the problem. Oh, and the intervention thing probably starts with her and Wyll. In fact, it might have been her who gave Wyll the idea originally...

Gale is not that perceptive, so at first he simply tells Tav things like "Are you sure it was a good idea to talk to that person like that?" and tries to find logical arguments to make them see what they're doing is wrong. If Tav stays rude and reckless, just like Astarion, he'll distance himself. He knows it's not his problem to solve and will wait patiently until Tav is ready to change their ways. He has faith in them.

[grenanigans]

For your get to know your fan fiction author post, could you answer 13 and 69 please? Tysm!

Oh hells! Thanks to you for asking! 😍

Question 13: writing advice I always follow. First, I have to say that I'm not really into writing advice. Especially when it's professional writing advice because it absolutely kills your excitement to write. However, as someone who quit the world of publishing and went back to fanfiction, I think the most important thing is

WRITE THE STORY YOU'D LIKE TO READ

It doesn't matter if it's not good. It doesn't matter if no-one cares about it (not true; regardless of how weird you think it is, there's always someone out there who likes the same stuff as you and will enjoy it). If you are a little self-indulgent and write something that satisfies you, you will have fun during the process, feel excited to continue the next chapter, spend hours working on it like time doesn't exist and no-one will ever be able to take that away from you.

Question 69: something I'm embarrassed to have written.

I was going to say nothing because although I've improved considerably, there was always something good about everything I've written, even my very first fanfics or that one fantasy novel when I was still at school.

However, thinking about it, there's a certain poem I haven't shown anyone and I don't think I ever will. Not because it's bad, not at all, but because it's really personal and kind of dark.

[grenanigans]

Hey there! Do you know what genuinely makes the BG3 companions laugh? Not sarcastically or seductively, but genuinely? I could really use this prompt in my life right now.

Hiii! Thanks for the prompt! Happy to spread some sunshine and silliness 😚

Let's start with the easy one: Gale is a massive pun whore. He just loves word humor, the sillier the better. He's the kind of guy who would laugh hysterically at "Why was six afraid of seven? Because 7, 8, 9." He also makes this kind of jokes all the time, but the only companion who appreciates his creations (sometimes) is Wyll.

Wanna see Shadowheart giggle? Show her animals doing cute or weird shit. If she lived in our time and world, she would spend half the time watching cat videos, especially when she's sad or stressed.

Karlach is a teenager at heart (that's what happens when you get your adolescence ruined and are forced to grow up too fast), so she has a thing for dirty jokes. Anything that can be misinterpreted as sexual will have her rolling on the floor. Also, since she got her engine fixed, she realized certain parts of her body are really sensitive and the slightest touch tickles her. The other companions sometimes use it against her because her laugh is absolutely infectious (and cute).

Lae'zel had a hard time understanding the istik concept of humor. The gith are not used to such impractical stuff. However, during her time in Faerûn she has realized she is a fan of slapstick (even if she doesn't know the term). It's not with bad intentions, but seeing people falling or hurting themselves in ridiculous ways is something she finds hilarious. She just can't help it. If she weren't so hyperfocused during combat, she'd laugh herself to tears whenever an enemy slips on one of Gale's icy surfaces.

Astarion shares Karlach's love for sexual innuendos and anything that's a little cringey (I mean, remember Blighted Village). Didn't I mention in another headcanon that he and Shadowheart have some sort of bad pick-up line competition? Well, I stand by it. He also has a list of silly quotes by the companions (be it moments they tripped over their tongues, Lae'zel mispronouncing Faerunian words, conversations that turned out unintentionally funny...)

Apart from enjoying wordplay (though not as much as Gale because that would be impossible), Wyll tends to like what we'd consider family-friendly humor. Think exaggeration, observational comedy, stories with an unexpected turn, references... For him, it's usually more about the delivery than the content itself. So you get an idea, he'd go insane if you replied to him with a quote from a movie/book/show he likes at the right time.

[grenanigans]

Hello! How about what the BG3 companions would have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Plus snacks and desserts, of course.

Hi!

While they are camping, I guess all they can do is rely on the supplies they can find in their adventures, so they eat... whatever's available. We all know Gale is the appointed cook, so thank Mystra he's good at coming up with fun ways to combine that stuff. This is how legendary recipes like pork and apple stew or mashed potatoes with salami are born.

So the fun part would be what our besties eat when they settle down after the whole Absolute mess. I'm leaving Astarion out because we all know what he ears, but assume that Karlach and Lae'zel stay in Faerûn.

I already talked about the latter in another ask, so to sum up, she loves meat (especially rothé, when she can find it). Once she discovers the concept of spicy, she becomes a little addicted (she also has quite high tolerance) and makes absolutely everything she cooks hotter than the Nine Hells. Other than that she's quite healthy, so expect a lot of fresh fruit for breakfast, snacks and dessert.

Wyll spends a lot of time travelling and camping, so his habits are not very different from back at Tav's camp. He hunts most of his food (the type of animals depend on where he is venturing at the moment) or takes advantage of whatever he can find in his adventures. Sometimes he makes Gale's weird recipes out of pure nostalgia.

If one of the tadfools were to become a vegetarian, that would be Shadowheart. You know, with her cottagecore life she gets really attached to her animals and is incapable of killing them, even if it is for food. She has no problem with eggs or cheese (in fact, she looooves cheese) though. Eggs from her own chickens or toast (bread is homemade, of course) are her usual breakfast, and the rest of her food consists mostly of different vegetables from her garden (salads, soups, stir-fried...) She's also getting really into baking, so she often makes cakes with her own fruit (or homemade jam) or cinnamon buns. She also has a thing for chocolate. What? If they can have coffee and potatoes, they can also have chocolate in Faerûn because I said so!

Now I'm gonna let my clitbrain wishful thinking speak for me and say that Karlach loves with her in the cottage. Shadowheart is very good and finds cooking relaxing, so she does most of the cooking. Plus she doesn't let Karlach anywhere near the kitchen because she a bit messy. The only exception is when Karlach catches something in the forest or buys meat in the market. Vegetarianism is not for her, so every now and then she needs something meaty. She has a sweet tooth, too, so Shadowheart's baking is a massive blessing for her. She constantly snacks on nuts of some kind and eats her roomie's jam straight from the jar, as many people do with Nutella.

As for our resident chef, the ironic thing is that in his tower he doesn't do that much cooking. He's often so focused on his books and his magic experiments that he would starve to death if Tara didn't force him to eat something. So he tends to prepare simple things that don't take too long, like sandwiches or salads. On the rare occasions when he does decide to spend a little more in the kitchen - or when Tara yells at him to take a godsdamned break already -, he makes improved versions of the wacky things he used to cook for the rest of the party, much like Wyll. He's also working on spells to summon food or create it out of thin air. Oh, and he loves tea, but it ends up getting cold most of the time.