socket's goblin den - currently playing BG3 EA

Ehehehehehe. I have just learned that certain breeds of magnolia have edible flowers. We have a magnolia. It is one of those breeds. I’m gonna munch....!!! I’m gonna crunch....!!!

(Well, I’ll munch and crunch when it’s nicer out and I can collect some good chonky petals.)

Listen. Listen. There’s just a part of me that gets very excited when flowers are for eatin’. Incidentally, for those interested in eating flowers, nasturtiums rule. Good for making your salads pretty.

 

Talking with the pals about the rules of the Pokémon universe (which pokemon are ethical to eat? how come children can run gyms?) and now I remember that Lance straight up has his Dragonite Hyper Beam a human man and LANCE MY DUDE WHAT THE FUCK! Even crime bosses don’t sic their Pokémon on humans most of the time! Love these games. The universe is bizarre.

 

Staving off one videogame TTRPG itch with another: I’m back on my Divinity bullshit and I’m deep in Gay Elf Love again

Sebille can have little a murder, as a treat

(No seriously I absolutely had a whale of a time deferring half the party’s turns just so she could be guaranteed the final blow against one of her marks who uhhh, I think thoroughly earned it and I wanted her to have this. We all knew what we were getting into bringing her into the same room as him and everyone was just there to cheer her on and stand at a moderate distance while she got very cathartic vengeance

while Fen watches on like, “I feel like I shouldn’t feel quite so enthusiastic about someone’s violent exsanguination in but in this particular case: FUCK YEAH BABE, GET HIS ASS, YOU’RE DOING AMAZING SWEETHEART”)

 

I’m still really curious to see what the Sebille romance actually looks like further down the road because I still can’t quite pin down what I expect the vibe to be. Like, I have all my headcanons about elven intimacy (because obviously I do, if I can get Weird Fantasy Intimacy into anything I will) and while I’m fairly certain none of it will be canon, I’m hoping for at least like….listen, I am extrapolating from previous interactions that there’s emotional hurt/comfort on the table, because as a Zevran adorer there is no romance like damaged assassin romance where genuine connection is hard-won and therefore like…..extra warming to the heart that they actually trust you??

I’m ready for it to be a totally different flavour but as an angst-loving gay I’m definitely hoping for that sort of energy because it’s my emotional kryptonite in, like, the good way

 

back on my dos2 bullshit and lord help me the lohse route has grabbed me by the heartstrings and garotted me with them

Spoiler: lohse questline spoilers

like oh my GOD, the options you get when she's had her failed exorcism - there's just something about Resurrection Attempt Confessions that just knock me flat in my feelings anyway. and then her voice actor absolutely fucking sells what is already stellar writing - when she wakes up and as soon as you ask what happened for her she's just sobbing, the entire Hey Hi Chief I'm Lohse And My Head Is Full Of Ghosts But Don't Worry About Me I'm Used To It I'm Absolutely Fine, Just An Average Day In Lohse's Head! veneer (which was already getting shaky) just shatters and you finally get to see how it really is, how she really feels, how terrified and alone she's been this whole time.

the fact that she was nearly completely lost to the thing inside her head and the fact that it's your voice that gave her something to hold on to, that it was the only thing to hold on to...and her response is, 'what the hell do I do with that?!' - that just desolate frustration. what is she meant to do with that? like she doesn't even know how to process that. even if you tell her you care about her, that you want to help her, even when you're literally holding her and she's crying she tells you, 'i'm not a real person, you know.' like she's trying to explain that she's not worth it.

the contrast of this versus when you re-recruit her on the lady vengeance and there's that split-second moment of Serious Lohse where she only rejoins you if you promise you'll kill her if the demon wins, and then as soon as you say yes, back to chipper, back to, "aw, chief, knew I could count on you to murder me in a pinch ;P" like

she's comfortable enough - hell, she's assertive - about asking you to kill her if you have to.

but actually being there for her?

what the hell does she do with that?

OUGH MY FUCKING HEART

 

lohse is honestly my new favourite companion, i'm just not quite over it. like i've seen her origin route dialogue options and those already blew me away because it really recontextualises her Really Early On because as soon as you're playing from inside her head and seeing the things she can say to other people, that some part of her wants to say but as a companion never does (always opting for the cheery-quirky option) you can see exactly how much she's Not Actually Okay

she just feels weirdly Real and i'm just genuinely impressed by how her whole deal is handled so far

 

back on BG3 and thanks to a tip off from beloved friend I may have

simply allowed Astarion to have as much to drink as he liked

and let me tell you it is HYSTERICAL to watch my little sorcerer halfling, the next morning (after being revived), punch him in the face. she needed a jumping start, but by god she managed it. the moment he told me about it I thought, “okay but how does a halfling character achieve this feat of well-earned violence?” and he said, oh, i won’t spoil you but they absolutely manage it.

(Pepper is giving him very mixed messages. Like ‘man what the fuck, you killed me, asshole!? ….anyway, get some self-control. same time tomorrow night?’)

 

delighting in the fact that i can do a very solid Laszlo Cravensworth cadence :3c

 

finally started revving back up to run Curse of Strahd after a near year of hiatus and it’s quite exciting actually! spent today re-checking my ambient music playlists (because the last time I didn’t Kevin McLeod had decided to delete and reupload half his discography, breaking all my links!!) and finding voices

Spoiler: Don’t look if you’re in my game!! that’s you Wyrm!

I’ve been terrified of having to voice Strahd because what I do with him sets a tone for the whole campaign but I think I’ve finally found him - had to step back from Classic Dracula into something more subtle and with a more distinctive cadence. I recorded a little reminder clip and I’m surprised that I like it - he feels adequately composed and unhurried and gently menacing, like, I think combined with not leaving that tonality beyond adding a *slightly* sharper edge even if things rise to violence he does read as actually quite scary. Weirdly pleased with myself because I rarely trust that I’m doing ‘a good voice’ but this feels close enough to my intentions that I’m confident it’ll hit the right mark.

Since Anastraya is going to be in the room I thought I’d try and find a voice for her in advance too, and ended up just going “take Najda WWDITS and slow her down just enough to feel like nobility” and that feels pretty solid

Esmeralda is still a bit of a wild one for me because it’s like I’ve got three of her and I can’t pick my favourite. They’re not going to meet her any time soon but she feels important to pin down, since they almost certainly will! I really, really liked her played by Noura in Into the Mist and she’s probably the Ez I’ll use most as inspiration, I’m mainly intimidated by how confident and comparatively fast-talking I want her to be, so I’m having to fully treat her like a player character in terms of how deeply I want to be able to intuit What She Would Do / Say.

i’m right excited to get it back underway! we left on such a fucking cliffhanger and I know they’re all dying to / terrified of having to meet Strahd in person. once I feel ready, I think it’s going to be a Very Good Time.