Our beloved babe gets her first engine upgrade. Her honestly excited and worried and nervous face while she waits to see what happens is simply the loveliest shit I’ve ever seen, and I’ll never recover.

Again, dropping the link to the next video in my Karlach Origin run. I’m actually about to enter act 2 but I thought I’d drop the links here one by one slowly just in case :3

(I curse a lot in the videos, but I don’t chat all the time - I’m not streaming, just recording my play and I often do talk to my game lol)

I’ve made 750 hours in baldurs gate god please spare me

This up there is Alexena, my first/original Tav in BG3. She is a strong barbarian skull-bashing human lady with a breezy haircut.

When I started playing BG3 I knew NOTHING of the story or Early Access. What I knew was that I had played BG1 and 2 decades ago (or watched my older brother play, in case of BG1), and was beside myself to learn Baldur's Gate was getting a third game. I'm not a gamer, I only play few titles that appeal to me, but I watched the Panel from Hell live and saw the bear scene… and I pre-ordered the game immediately. :V

Anyways, back to Alexena. She is not a "new" character. I play as Alexena in any medieval-ish fantasy game I get my hands into that allows me to make either a barbarian woman or a paladin. I also played her for years in D&D. I always name them Alexena because, well, my name is Alexandra, and motherfucking XENA. THE Xena. Sounds funny and I've been doing it for decades. So I repeated it in BG3.

I didn't know about the characters, about Astarion or Karlach (besides just laughing at the bear sex), or the premise of the story. So I went in blind, and BOY HOWDEE it was a wild ride. I left Gale stuck in the stone, so he didn't exist in my play (oops - but to my defense, the narrator said it looked dangerous…). I made decisions as I would if I could freely do so irl - meaning I was alternating between nice and absolute douchebagery, depending on my mood and how the characters came across to me at the time. I killed what annoyed me, and defended those I liked. As a barbarian, I was having A BLAST. I'm not an experienced or technical player, I just wanna bonk shit to death and growl epically while doing it. It's my happy place.

I ended up meeting Karlach only after I did the entire goblin camp, south map and underdark. I genuinely opened the HUGEST GRIN when I talked to her. She was brash, foul-mouthed, muscular, flirty and an all-around BADASS. She was what Alexena wanted to be when she grew up. I'm not crazy about tieflings design-wise, but Karlach was KARLACH. I didn't bring her with me all the time, then, but everytime I did I was laughing from any and everything she said or did. She is THAT charismatic.

I romanced Astarion (cause looks and because he suddenly hit on me before the party). So, you know, ez fun. Later on I did some smooching with Wyll too, and Astarion called me out on it so I did the right thing and ended things with the Blade. In my mind I had already decided that I'd let the companions do their own thing - it made sense for Alexena's personality. So, in the end, I let Astarion ascend, eventhough I knew I would break up with him soon after.

That is a funny thing. I am not, and was never into the whole vampire aesthetic. I even refused to play Vampire (a ttrpg) and instead joined a D&D group back in high school. It's just not my thing. I'm more the big-ass warhammer, large pauldrons, teeth smashing kinda girl. So I was surprised with myself, truly, that I really got into Astarion as the game progressed (and I was very whatever about him at first, just went with the flow).

He grew on me immensely (his story arch is great and I love me some angst), but I did NOT want to be a vampire. I wanted to continue to be a human woman, who would grow old and die. That was my tragedy - the fact that a human life is one of the briefest in the lore. And in my logic, it made no sense to ask Astarion to NOT ascend for my sake, or whatever, when I'd die in a blink and he'd live alone. Kinda selfish, in my view. Also, the thing was that the Ascension promised to quench his vampiric hunger (which in DnD lore is so horrible it drives vampires to madness), and allow him to be in the sun. Alexena would end a relationship even if she was in love if it was the best to do. Coincidentally I learned that when I refused to be bitten, Astarion also thought the same and so we broke up anyway.

Which takes me back to Karlach. Her breakdown after Gortash BROKE ME. I took a no shit 1 month+ break from my run after that scene. I was devastated - and honestly mad at Larian for just leaving her story like that (still am). In the end I swallowed my disappointment and rushed the end fight just to get the game over with. Alexena decided to go with her, with this impossibly amazing woman that was as strong as herself. So off she went with her to Avernus, with her friend. Two badass barbarian women raging and smacking the shit out of devils and demons.

The end was disappointing overall, and, to be honest, after Karlach's quest journal said "we did all we could for her", I tried a Karlach Origin run cause I was sure I'd missed something. I was okay with the separation from Astarion because it made sense, role-playing wise, for me to break up with him. But the Karlach thing just threw me off the last half of the experience.

BUT HEY. That's Alexena, my alter ego in fantasy games :3

Okay, I have to say it “out loud”.

Many people around here complaining/stating that Astarion can date women because he’s not gay, he’s pan - all the while forcing the narrative that Karlach is a lesbian and mocking straight men that are into her.

Guys. No. How about we stop.

If their orientation was set in stone, they wouldn’t be dateable in game depending on your gender. THAT is fucking canon, so let’s all chill and enjoy the possibilities.

idea from @legacyshenanigans post, the cutest video ever of their little fiery kiss :3

She’s s lovely when she glows blue :3

I imagine Astarion looking at her shit eating grin like this, teasing him to come over #)