Latest Posts by opuspace - Page 6

-Gee, if only there was some way to make him tougher, to make him a class that is specifically designed to do that instead of control the battlefield and buff companions and debuff enemies.....what do you think, Withers? Don't you feel so frustrated that all our companions have these classes and no way to change them? Oh wait.....

-Should I ask if these same people have a problem with Jaheira or do they magically somehow manage to make her work because they're willing to figure out how she works best?

-Do they know how to make the Druid class work, or is this something they're using as an excuse for their bias? I mean, I struggled with the Barbarian class, but that doesn't mean Karlach should be considered useless nor that the class is bad.

-If you send your cleric to do the tanking, should we be surprised if they're getting stomped on? The whole point of the Druid class is making the terrain work in your favor. That's how Larian games work in general too. It's why there are high ground penalties, why you pay attention to elemental resistances, why concentration spells are a pain because they cancel each other out, why stats affect how far you move or how fast you react.

"Halsin is useless he can't take a hit and he's not strong"

HES NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HE'S A DRUID.

"He can't cast spells in wildshape smh what's the point"

Wild shape is a defense mechanism! You only wild shape as a last resort. Druids have a lot of spells meant to keep enemies away, you cast wall spells, field of thorns, everything you can to keep enemies away. Once in wild shape, they gain a new set of hit points. So say halsin gets down to 3 hp and he's suddenly surrounded by enemies. THAT IS WHEN YOU WILDSHAPE. Thats why wildshape only gets like 2 charges!!! Don't send him into a hoard of enemies in wildshape he's gunna get killed!

Gods. I'm tired of people saying he's useless in battle. You just think bc he's giant and can be a bear he's supposed to be a a melee attacker. He's squishy!! He's a lover not a fighter!!!

drop this sunflower🌻into the inboxes of the blogs that make you happy! lets spread a little sunshine ☀️

You're too kind!

Bear: *licking paws* Halsin, you have odd companions. This one came over and wouldn't stop talking to me, but the honey he gave me is very good.

Gale: *Verrrrry carefully trying to slide away from the bear*

Concept: one of the companions chilling with Halsin in bear form just chatting about nonsense

then Halsin walks over

No offense meant to the Durge background, I'm sure it's compelling, but I'd like to play a protagonist where necrophilia isn't a canon part of their background.

'Tav is so boring compared to Durge who comes with a story' well its not my fault that you are uncreative... Tav is a blank sheet and you must fill the gaps to make them interesting which is the fun part.

My headcanon for Karlach is that after a long, exhausting fight to get her a functional replacement for her engine, she and Wyll finally return from Avernus, taking a long, long moment to just. Breathe. Fresh air at last, but this time for good. A huge burst of laughter as she picks Wyll up and whirls in a loop with him, tossing him in the air before catching him and giving him the most affectionate (painful) hug she's ever given.

Years later, she's settled into a life where she's running a tavern funded by Wyll, called the Battleaxe where the plates, bowls and cutlery are reinforced to handle the barfights that break out and there's an extra fee charged for every participant (or you clean the mess up yourself). The street kids come by to hang out with her and call her Mama K. They have dubbed themselves the "Kar-lackeys", aspiring to grow up as strong and fearless as her as she fixes troublesome patrons with a steely eye and a crooked grin before launching them into a pile of outside hay she has replaced every other day due to the vomit.

Her teammates visit her often, Astarion frequently trying to get her to spot him just this once, Gale always bringing homemade cooking that he knows she missed, Halsin bringing her carvings that she keeps on a shelf behind the bar, Shadowheart hiding out there with her on occasion for relief from Sharrans and to share a drink or 5, Lae'zel comparing fighting techniques with her regarding patrons and of course, Wyll, who is always there for her because after all they've been through, how could they part ways just like that? Jaheira's kids are also frequent visitors, with Jaheira there to congratulate her on getting back and Minsc of course to tell her more of what Boo told him.

And once a year, they all gather in her tavern after last call, to share a round together as they sing rounds of the worst ballads they've ever heard. She smiles as she says silently to herself, "Mom. Dad. I made it back."

Being a Halsin fan is....a unique experience in that you're frequently prone towards running into all sorts of taunts and insults from being called "mentally ill" for liking him because people assume you're into his "deviant behavior" to hearing that there's only "7 romances" because he doesn't count, to hearing that he's a sex pest, constant reminders of how players kill him in a feedback or fan thread about him, him being seen as fit for only being left as "Orin bait" by a few Astarion fans (who hate him because they see him as a sex pest) when I'm meanwhile turning Astarion down only to run into Astarion canonically admitting that he sees Tav's denial of consent as a "dire mistake to be corrected":

Or, frequently running into complaints as to why he's there when Jaheira is around for the Druid role (he was around first so it's clear why they're not acknowledging that).

"He's just fanservice that didn't need to be there! Why can't we have Alfira?!"

"We could have had a werewolf instead of him?! Wasted opportunity!" (Fans datamined that and discovered that Helia was dropped long before they added Halsin so it wasn't a toss up between them that fans think)

"He's a cheater trying to get you to cheat!"

Ironically, another fan found a post that not only was this wrong, Shadowheart and Astarion approve of the player sexually harassing a married NPC:

His point and click lines have still not been fixed despite requests to address them for months now.

Requests for more depth from his days in Early Access has not happened.

Pleas to Larian to please fix the writing that has him making fans uncomfortable has only just now been addressed but the damage has been done.

I see all these moments that get other characters amusement and affection while seeing Halsin vilified for stuff that doesn't even happen. I see acknowledgement that Gale's Weave scene was a bug, Wyll's dance scene where you couldn't avoid him trying to kiss you as "not a big deal" (until they were corrected) and I agree, that's exactly what they were: unintended side effects of poorly thought out writing/coding/scripting.

And yet, Halsin's presence has to be justified every step of the way.

There is so little sympathy for this character. So little sympathy for fans of this character. It even feels like Larian wrote him off when their attempt to make him a companion backfired.

I'm not even sure why fans want more romances added when this one ended with such hostility. I'd rather they fix and expand on the current romances like Wyll's, Minthara's and, yes, Halsin's (he does count as a romance).

*Looks at Halsin*

*Imagines sorceress Tav recreating the Weave scene Gale taught her so she can share her thoughts to him*

*Imagines Halsin sharing his imagination of her with over 3 centuries worth of experience*

*Now imagines Tav too stunned to think and the spell breaks*

Do you think romanced companions use the tadpole to sext each other?

Like they’d be in their own tents across camp and suddenly you get a dirty message from your camp sweetheart. Or you’d be walking to wherever you’re going and get a message. And your companions would suddenly be asking if you’re ok because you’re blushing so badly.

NPCs

Sometimes my mind keeps going back to that one Bhaal cultist who wanted things to be quiet and I wonder what if she was a far more tragic figure than anyone would ever know. It's no surprise that most are sadistic, most are mentally ill or simply craved power, but what if that one's desire was born from trauma? What if she had once been a child, born in an abusive environment, unable to relax because it'd make whoever she was around angry? What if her days had consisted of fear and pain, a constant theme of screaming and yelling that scraped her nerves raw while she was silently wishing for things to be quiet? What if she had been praying for the gods to answer, only to be met with shattering glass and deafening thumps of pottery and metal hurled at her head?

Day in, day out.

The noise just won't stop.

Why won't it stop?

Why won't they be quiet?

When will it stop hurting?

Until one day, something snaps and before she knows it, she's standing in the middle of the room, hands bloodied, her tormenter(s) dead.

And for the first time, it's quiet. So blissfully quiet.

A lost soul that begged for mercy and peace. And Bhaal was the only God who answered her pleas.

That moment of feeling old when you hear a word you don't recognize and you have no idea if it's an app, a service, a product, a brand or a new slang term, etc....

*Pinches nose*

PSA Announcement: Solomancing Halsin does not make him monogamous. It's not a fan's responsibility to go sleep with others to make sure gatekeeping poly fans are reassured he's still poly. There is no minimum quota of people a fan has to sleep with for someone to still be poly. I'm sorry I don't find others attractive enough to put them above Halsin, but it's my playthrough, not the ones who are complaining. I don't owe the polyamorous group validation ON MY OWN PRIVATE PLAYTHROUGH through denial of my own preferences. What I like does not change that Halsin is still polyamorous.

On that note too, Shadowheart and Astarion are also poly despite some fans' insistence that they're monogamous victims being preyed upon by Halsin.

If you have never said this to anyone, carry on, this message is not directed at you.

*Waits for the torches and pitchforks*

What particularly frustrated me the first time I played was that Shepard can literally tell them that it wasn’t their choice, that Cerberus rebuilt them while they were in some sort of coma. But that line comes right before being accused of betraying the Alliance and them. So I ended up feeling like I had been talked over and ignored. It’s realistic but damn, it’s still frustrating every time it happens. 

you know whats hilarious about the games and the fandom giving ashley and kaidan such a hard time about criticising shepard’s decision to work with cerberus. is that they end up being right. cerberus was lying to shepard. the illusive man hand-picked kelly, gabby, ken and joker in order to give the impression of a friendly cerberus. hell, kelly was feeding reports back to TIM on shepard’s mental state throughout the entire game behind their back. and then at the end of me2, when push comes to shove? it turns out that the whole time the illusive man’s motives were getting his hands on the technology in the collector base in order to support cerberus in its pro-human agenda. and even then its made quite clear throughout the game that he doesnt really give that much of a shit about the colonies, considering he used horizon as bait. so like. idk man

I don’t know if this means anything, but I’m glad you’re coming back. I really enjoyed reading your analysis and was looking forward to more.

I came back to check up on my account and whatnot, so I guess you could say I’m tentatively back. I might soon start visiting this account more often and typing up some bits on the meta posts I want to post.

I’ll probably make them non-rebloggable and turn off replies, and just accept asks. At least with asks, if there’s something inflammatory, I can just delete it and move on.

It might be a while, but I’ve got quite a few characters in the docket and I don’t want to just go away forever without trying to address them.

Day 10: Favorite Romance

Fair Warning: This is an incredibly long essay with tons and tons of flycammed screencaps.

Obviously, my fav romance is Shakarian. It’s my favorite for many reasons, but I think the reason that I like it best is simply because it is actually a romance. I honestly love it so god damn much that I’m having a hard time focusing on what I want to talk about with it, because its that damn good.

I think I’m going to talk about the development of it, because there’s lots of essays out there already about why they’re suited for each other or what makes them such a good pairing. What I think is particularly interesting about the way the Shakarian romance is set up is that so much of the romance is not in what they say – it’s in how they say it.

Keep reading