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I nobly spent most of today advancing the dissertation chapter I'm working on to 10 pages rather than praying to Mystra to kill suffering hyenas for Gale approval points. Ugh.
BG3: Larissa and Tav redux!
In response to this post (on Tumblr), my friend ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
venndaai said:
and now they're terrified of being Found Out and losing it all, especially with Gale who has been treating them like a magical equal
they would have a veeery interesting dynamic with Larissa because they're pretty suspicious of the gods, even/especially Mystra (they tried praying. She never answered, and they'd given up long before the tadpole.) but also rather in awe of clerics and jealous of their faith. They've chosen to believe in themselves and their friends and believe that they can do Anything!!! but it's mostly bravado and desperation.
but also they could bond with Larissa over nerdy bookworm things :)
I replied:
Ohhh, your Tav's "if only I had true wizardly power this wouldn't be happening to me :(" is really fun, and definitely resonates with their drive to hang onto what power they obtain. I love it! Also a fun contrast with Larissa's "If only I'd been more faithful this wouldn't be happening to me :("
and now they're terrified of being Found Out and losing it all
I love it, especially combined with a Gale romance. It's totally fair to wonder if he'd think less of Tav if Gale knew they weren't a "real" prodigy like him.
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venndaai said:oh I love Larissa initially assuming she's being punished! and love your appreciation for Guiding Bolt <3 My Tav is all, if I was a REAL WIZARD I wouldn't be about to die here, and then they escape the pod and they cast a 1st level spell and it just happens? They don't have to struggle through a ritual, they just will it to happen?? and it doesn't take long to form a theory that the new lodger is the culprit...
and now they're terrified of being Found Out and losing it all, especially with Gale who has been treating them like a magical equal
they would have a veeery interesting dynamic with Larissa because they're pretty suspicious of the gods, even/especially Mystra (they tried praying. She never answered, and they'd given up long before the tadpole.) but also rather in awe of clerics and jealous of their faith. They've chosen to believe in themselves and their friends and believe that they can do Anything!!! but it's mostly bravado and desperation.
but also they could bond with Larissa over nerdy bookworm things :)
I replied:
Haha, thank you! There's nothing like playing three D&D clerics in a row and then a celestial warlock to appreciate Guiding Bolt, esp at low levels! And a critical hit with it ... whew. (I'm playing a wizard in a Pathfinder campaign right now, and she's fun, but I do miss that sweet divine power.)
Ohhh, your Tav's "if only I had true wizardly power this wouldn't be happening to me :(" is really fun, and definitely resonates with their drive to hang onto what power they obtain. I love it! Also a fun contrast with Larissa's "If only I'd been more faithful this wouldn't be happening to me :("
and now they're terrified of being Found Out and losing it all
I love it, especially combined with a Gale romance. It's totally fair to wonder if he'd think less of Tav if Gale knew they weren't a "real" prodigy like him.
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BG3: Gaila + Larissa's Mystra symbol redux
So the short version of my last f!Gale fic-sketching-out post is that Larissa saves Gaila per Tav canon, is attacked by Astarion per canon, and I think he inadvertently snaps the chain Larissa's Mystra holy symbol is on. It tumbles to the ground not far from Gaila, who immediately realizes the helpful cleric is a cleric of Mystra. For a wild moment, she longs to believe that it's not a coincidence and Mystra sent Larissa to her, ergo she still cares.
Anyway, I was sort of choreographing it in my mind and nailing down details. I think that when Astarion releases Larissa and agrees to join up, Gaila instinctively snatches up the holy symbol—Larissa's focus for drawing on divine power—and would feel the traces of Mystra's magic within it.
I think Gaila's fingers close around it and for a(nother) moment she desperately wants to keep it for herself. But instead, she forces herself to place it in Larissa's palm.
(Larissa has high enough wisdom to pick up the Gaila is reluctant to give it back to her, but she doesn't know why and assumes it's some wizard thing. I think it's also Gaila who supplies her with another chain to hang it on and helps her put it on again. She even keeps her hands steady, if barely.)
Anyway, I was sort of choreographing it in my mind and nailing down details. I think that when Astarion releases Larissa and agrees to join up, Gaila instinctively snatches up the holy symbol—Larissa's focus for drawing on divine power—and would feel the traces of Mystra's magic within it.
I think Gaila's fingers close around it and for a(nother) moment she desperately wants to keep it for herself. But instead, she forces herself to place it in Larissa's palm.
(Larissa has high enough wisdom to pick up the Gaila is reluctant to give it back to her, but she doesn't know why and assumes it's some wizard thing. I think it's also Gaila who supplies her with another chain to hang it on and helps her put it on again. She even keeps her hands steady, if barely.)
BG3: Larissa and (another) Tav [crosspost]
Over on Tumblr, my friend venndaai replied to the Tumblr version of this post:
Oh wow, Larissa and my Tav should be friends! They’re a half-drow whose father wasn’t able to study magic in the Underdark and put all his hopes on them, but they were always the weakest student at wizard school despite studying really hard, but the tadpole in their head seems to have finally unlocked their wizard potential and they’re not willing to give up that power for anything…
Very curious now about why Mystra chose Larissa!
I replied:
Ooh, they should be friends! I love the idea of these two people trying so hard to get magic to work and having potentially dangerous degrees of aspiration to that kind of power, and being continually frustrated in that desire until suddenly everything changed. The two of them should hang out with Gale and have hubris tea parties :P
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venndaai replied to the Tumblr version of this post:Oh wow, Larissa and my Tav should be friends! They’re a half-drow whose father wasn’t able to study magic in the Underdark and put all his hopes on them, but they were always the weakest student at wizard school despite studying really hard, but the tadpole in their head seems to have finally unlocked their wizard potential and they’re not willing to give up that power for anything…
Very curious now about why Mystra chose Larissa!
I replied:
Ooh, they should be friends! I love the idea of these two people trying so hard to get magic to work and having potentially dangerous degrees of aspiration to that kind of power, and being continually frustrated in that desire until suddenly everything changed. The two of them should hang out with Gale and have hubris tea parties :P
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BG3: the Book of Lost Gods
The Book of Lost Gods scene is genuinely delightful to me, given that Larissa is a sage, and a knowledge cleric of Mystra—so she's like, ooh, a mysterious book! ( Read more... )
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BG3: headcanon for Larissa's cleric of Mystra deal
I guess my BG3 custom character headcanons could be de-canonized in-game, but I doubt it, so here's one for Larissa:
She loves magic. She always has. Her parents are both spellcasters (her father a less-obnoxious-than-usual sun elf, her mother a human sorcerer) and she grew up with magic all around her. She's longed to have magical power for as long as she can remember.
...but she's also always been bad at it. Really bad. After years of practice with her father, she managed to learn exactly one(1) cantrip—and while the ability to summon fire felt like a great achievement at the time, she couldn't do anything else no matter how hard she studied, how much she learned, how much she practiced.
But her fascinated study of magic and its lore took on an increasingly spiritual awe, and she developed an intense devotion to Mystra, goddess of magic. She swore herself to Mystra's service and as one of her priests, worked steadily towards greater knowledge, greater understanding of the mysteries of the world, greater preservation of magical lore, and over time, Larissa became one of the sages at her temple.
And she still sucked at magic.
She's personally kind and caring, if a little abrupt, but at heart, she longed to be acknowledged as one of the most devoted, most respected, most learned, most favored of Mystra's priests. Yet her near-total lack of facility with magic made it clear to her that she was not particularly favored.
Still, she continued to faithfully serve her goddess—and a year before the BG3 story begins, Mystra herself appeared to her in a dream and granted Larissa her blessing.
Larissa wasn't sure what that would mean until she woke to light flickering around her hands—and a distant sense of approval and power. She still can't use magic the way her parents can, can't feel the Weave properly: but when she prays, Mystra answers. In her thirty-nine years, Larissa has never felt anything to compare with the sensation of divine power flowing through her, and her devotion to Mystra has never been stronger.
what could go wrong
She loves magic. She always has. Her parents are both spellcasters (her father a less-obnoxious-than-usual sun elf, her mother a human sorcerer) and she grew up with magic all around her. She's longed to have magical power for as long as she can remember.
...but she's also always been bad at it. Really bad. After years of practice with her father, she managed to learn exactly one(1) cantrip—and while the ability to summon fire felt like a great achievement at the time, she couldn't do anything else no matter how hard she studied, how much she learned, how much she practiced.
But her fascinated study of magic and its lore took on an increasingly spiritual awe, and she developed an intense devotion to Mystra, goddess of magic. She swore herself to Mystra's service and as one of her priests, worked steadily towards greater knowledge, greater understanding of the mysteries of the world, greater preservation of magical lore, and over time, Larissa became one of the sages at her temple.
And she still sucked at magic.
She's personally kind and caring, if a little abrupt, but at heart, she longed to be acknowledged as one of the most devoted, most respected, most learned, most favored of Mystra's priests. Yet her near-total lack of facility with magic made it clear to her that she was not particularly favored.
Still, she continued to faithfully serve her goddess—and a year before the BG3 story begins, Mystra herself appeared to her in a dream and granted Larissa her blessing.
Larissa wasn't sure what that would mean until she woke to light flickering around her hands—and a distant sense of approval and power. She still can't use magic the way her parents can, can't feel the Weave properly: but when she prays, Mystra answers. In her thirty-nine years, Larissa has never felt anything to compare with the sensation of divine power flowing through her, and her devotion to Mystra has never been stronger.
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BG3: er, yay?
I did the whole conversation with Healer Nettie, and got another Mystra-specific option!
Well, I'm sure this could in no way go badly.
Well, I'm sure this could in no way go badly.
BG3: speaking of clerical magic...
I was rambling the other day about Larissa experiencing channeling the Weave/Mystra via Gale, and how I headcanon that it would also be cool and probable for Gale to experience (or at least witness) Mystra's power simply being given as a personal favor to Larissa.
But then I realized, wait, that would have to happen, because Gale's a squishy wizard and Larissa is the main party healer.
We don't see it in game, of course, but ... at least in the Gaila fic, I totally imagine that the first time Gaila gets any significant injury, Larissa would rush over to be like, "oh, I can help you, let me just call on Mystra..."
Gaila: call on who—
But then I realized, wait, that would have to happen, because Gale's a squishy wizard and Larissa is the main party healer.
We don't see it in game, of course, but ... at least in the Gaila fic, I totally imagine that the first time Gaila gets any significant injury, Larissa would rush over to be like, "oh, I can help you, let me just call on Mystra..."
Gaila: call on who—
BG3: thinking again about the Weave scene
One of the fun things about combining the Gale romance with a cleric of Mystra PC is that ... okay, there's the whole channeling the Weave scene where he's guiding Larissa, though the game makes it clear that her affinity with Mystra makes it easy for her where it might not be for someone else. But it could still feel kind of unbalanced, esp as a man guiding a woman through something she can't really do without him.
However, while the Weave is a more "sensitive" conduit (lol) than prayer, I feel clerics' prayers are more ... personal, I guess? The player's handbook, iirc, distinguishes between a priest and a real cleric because of that personal element—gods have lots of priests, or at least can, but only clerics are blessed recipients of the deity's power in that way. As a cleric, you are a conduit for your deity, and you get divine power just by asking them for it (typically, without nearly as many demands as a warlock's pact, even a celestial warlock's). You just ask your deity for a personal favor and they're like "okay, sure." I think this is at least partly true in BG3, because in a previous run, Gale talked wistfully at the end of the channeling the Weave scene about how nice it must to be to have your deity's power on tap. And people (including Gale) definitely talk in BG3 about clerics as a specific thing.
So in Larissa's case, she can't draw directly from the Weave without help, but she can straight-up ask Mystra herself for favors every day, and Mystra's like "oh, you want your enemies irradiated by divine light? sounds good." And I think Gale would probably find the idea of just ringing Mystra up for spells about as cool as Larissa finds channeling the Weave.
However, while the Weave is a more "sensitive" conduit (lol) than prayer, I feel clerics' prayers are more ... personal, I guess? The player's handbook, iirc, distinguishes between a priest and a real cleric because of that personal element—gods have lots of priests, or at least can, but only clerics are blessed recipients of the deity's power in that way. As a cleric, you are a conduit for your deity, and you get divine power just by asking them for it (typically, without nearly as many demands as a warlock's pact, even a celestial warlock's). You just ask your deity for a personal favor and they're like "okay, sure." I think this is at least partly true in BG3, because in a previous run, Gale talked wistfully at the end of the channeling the Weave scene about how nice it must to be to have your deity's power on tap. And people (including Gale) definitely talk in BG3 about clerics as a specific thing.
So in Larissa's case, she can't draw directly from the Weave without help, but she can straight-up ask Mystra herself for favors every day, and Mystra's like "oh, you want your enemies irradiated by divine light? sounds good." And I think Gale would probably find the idea of just ringing Mystra up for spells about as cool as Larissa finds channeling the Weave.
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BG3 + f_fa?
I was browsing f_fa again for pretty silly purposes, evading spoilers, etc, but I kind of love this nonny's take on Gale/Mystra:
As for Gale, he never got over it. She was out of his league and he knew it, so he's going to make it everyone's problem.
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BG3: opening section of the Gaila fic (in which Gaila does not appear)
Because I feel like it, basically. As I said in the post title, Gaila isn't even in this section—but Mystra feelings still are!
It feels like there should be a warning for the canonical opening of the BG3 story (though it's hard to imagine the fic being interesting to anyone without the context of the game), so, hmm, cw for canon body horror (but not the worst canon body horror...)
[The Parasite]
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It feels like there should be a warning for the canonical opening of the BG3 story (though it's hard to imagine the fic being interesting to anyone without the context of the game), so, hmm, cw for canon body horror (but not the worst canon body horror...)
[The Parasite]
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BG3: ...
Apropos of this:
I know but...
She received no words in reply, no impression of Mystra’s face. Yet, as ever, she felt a flicker of peace—the peace that almost always accompanied Larissa’s prayers to her goddess, the sense of Mystra’s grace and crackling power. What did it mean? Was she going to be spared after all?
That hope died almost before it could form. The pod opened—the mind flayer looked down at her with its tiny orange eyes, tentacles writhing—the wriggling tadpole in its hand came nearer and nearer—
I am Larissa, priestess of Mystra, she thought desperately, as if her final memories might somehow remain to her after. I am forty-six years old, half-elven, a sage of the temple in Baldur’s Gate. I am—Mystra preserve me—
...anyway, going through the dialogue record now >_>
I know but...
She received no words in reply, no impression of Mystra’s face. Yet, as ever, she felt a flicker of peace—the peace that almost always accompanied Larissa’s prayers to her goddess, the sense of Mystra’s grace and crackling power. What did it mean? Was she going to be spared after all?
That hope died almost before it could form. The pod opened—the mind flayer looked down at her with its tiny orange eyes, tentacles writhing—the wriggling tadpole in its hand came nearer and nearer—
I am Larissa, priestess of Mystra, she thought desperately, as if her final memories might somehow remain to her after. I am forty-six years old, half-elven, a sage of the temple in Baldur’s Gate. I am—Mystra preserve me—
...anyway, going through the dialogue record now >_>
BG3: look. I know.
But I was doing this WIP meme on Tumblr and, in the meanwhile, my friend venndaai made a truly genius post about how they'd genderbend the various BG3 companions (when at all). And as soon as they mentioned f!Gale, I was like ... omg, the vision. F!Gale would be incredible! I love him but just imagine. (I was also genuinely surprised that I, of all people, hadn't yet considered this. I'm slacking.)
And then ... okay. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be into writing BG3 fic. And I wasn’t. Even in the Larissa/Gale campaign, there was just … idk, something that made it not really a fic-style canon for me. But Larissa/f!Gale lit up my brain like New Year's Eve and, as I said on Tumblr, "well, I have to actually play the rest of the game, which is most of the game, and a longer piece would probably be in drawerfic territory anyway, but I’ve already played through one very shippy scene and………….."
This is a long prelude for my final excerpt for the WIP meme:
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venndaai made a truly genius post about how they'd genderbend the various BG3 companions (when at all). And as soon as they mentioned f!Gale, I was like ... omg, the vision. F!Gale would be incredible! I love him but just imagine. (I was also genuinely surprised that I, of all people, hadn't yet considered this. I'm slacking.)And then ... okay. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be into writing BG3 fic. And I wasn’t. Even in the Larissa/Gale campaign, there was just … idk, something that made it not really a fic-style canon for me. But Larissa/f!Gale lit up my brain like New Year's Eve and, as I said on Tumblr, "well, I have to actually play the rest of the game, which is most of the game, and a longer piece would probably be in drawerfic territory anyway, but I’ve already played through one very shippy scene and………….."
This is a long prelude for my final excerpt for the WIP meme:
( Read more... )
BG3: still on my nonsense
I could just, idk, actually play the game, but ... I'm honestly just sort of baffled at how the Gale/Larissa game is going to go. I really thought that, if being a cleric of Mystra had any effect on romancing Gale, it would make things more difficult. But while it certainly has an effect (/cough), thus far it's been entirely helpful. Like:
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BG3: I think I need a Mystra/Larissa/Gale tag
Larissa's team is Gale (of course), Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Larissa herself. Shadowheart sort of likes Larissa and Lae'zel is allegedly neutral but actually slightly below 0. But Gale's approval has just kept climbing and is now at "high" (even before that, he had a very flirty comment when she nervously asked what he thought about her wish for a romantic walk at some point, but he's pretty flirty in general, so).
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BG3: The Courtship of Gale 2.1
Just a couple of screencaps to illustrate the consequences of Larissa being who she is in the awkward nerd romance with Gale:
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BG3: enter one(1) wizard
After picking up Shadowheart as usual, I took a detour to ensure that Gale joined the party as soon as possible, in order to gain the maximum amount of approval from him. I actually really love his introduction, but there was a rather surprising small variant this time:
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