Baldur's Gate Gift Exchange '22

[seikasoter]

Dear Author,

The Exchange continues, and I'm glad to rejoin it for a second year. If you're new, welcome; if you're returning, I'm glad to see you again. I've been playing these games since pretty much release year, when I was five, so they're near and dear to my heart, and I'm delighted that our fandom continues to march its way ever onward.


Some general preferences

Yes, please:

• extra/missing scenes which fit the gaps of canon;
• unbreakable friendships;
• teamwork;
• standing battered but triumphant;
• character introspection;
• a touch of the bittersweet.

No, thank you:

• In general, a lot of the common plug-and-play AUs which significantly alter the background of the setting (e.g. ABO, D/s, vampires/werewolves, Hogwarts/school, daemons, total de-powering rather than just backgrounding supernatural elements) – I like a lot of these series not just for their characters but also for their worlds and the effect those worlds then have on their characters. If you’re hit really hard by a generic modern AU, that’s something I can take though.
• Character bashing: a villainous story role is fine; it’s when the author is clearly frustrated with a character and taking it out on them that I tune out.
• What I understand specifically by 'futa' or 'G!P' - that is, sticking a penis on a cis woman for the sake of making sure there's dick involved in sex - is not my kink, though actual trans women are fine.

Rating – from General to Explicit, it's fine. Whatever feels right for your inspiration and story. Serious gore or fetishes (vore, scat, et al.) are a turn off, but I can handle most of what you’re throwing at me. My prompts generally don't stray too far toward the sexy side of things but, if you’re going unprompted or just feel like it fits your story, I can definitively say I have no objection to smut.


Specific no-thank-yous for this exchange
I haven't played the BGEEs beyond the first one's truly awful release state, so characters and situations from them (including SoD) will pass me by. Heroes of Baldur's Gate/Minsc & Boo's Journal of Villainy were not to my taste, and I'd rather their takes on the characters/history were not included. I'm also reserving judgement on BG3 (which vague word of mouth is telling me is still quite unfinished anyway) while holding something of a grudge for it co-opting the Bhaalspawn Saga's name, so I won't twig to anything from that either. I haven't prompted for anything from them, but just in case.


I'm Seika on AO3, and I have my works, my previous gifts, and some of my bookmarks public, often with notes on them, so you can glance through those if you're inclined to keep researching my bad taste.

Obviously, by the terms of the exchange, everything here is optional. I'm very happy for you to remember that, and to take advantage of it: please don't strain anything trying to fit your writing into my ideas. I'm trying to help spark off some thoughts if you aren't immediately seized by one, not to confine you. That's why my prompts often throw out a scattershot of questions and instances at you, even contradictory ones - you're free to pick up as many or as few threads as you'd like. If a single phrase inspires you, I'll be content.

My prompts are probably going to look mostly like 'fic prompts, because that's basically just what I'm used to and what I find easier to write for. I'll try not to make it too specific, since this exchange is an unlimited one, and I certainly will be happy to receive any kind of fanwork. I hope the prompts are still useful for you in some way, even if you're using some other medium.


Character Prompts

Yoshimo
A periodic request of mine in BG exchanges is filling in some of the content we knew was brainstormed or plotted but which never got into the game for one reason or another. In this case, I'd be interested in the plans for Yoshimo to return in ToB - as a sort of revenant, raised by Ilmater to seek redemption by helping the ones he'd betrayed, who knew he'd be returning to death (and whatever afterlife he'd earned) after the War was done.

Besides just the major plot point, if you'd like something narrower to concentrate on:

• There will obviously be strong feelings on both sides when it comes to him and Sarevok. Can they understand each other, these two half-dead men brought back to life for a greater purpose? Does the memory of Tamoko bring them together or drive them apart?


• The reactions of those who were directly betrayed by Yoshimo (Charname, the rescue party), those who saw him mostly as either helpful or else pitiful (Imoen, from Chateau Irenicus to basically throwing himself on the party's swords under a geas), and maybe even those who'd never known him but have to cope with his story and everyone else's emotional reactions (say, those who were recruited after Spellhold).


• The last act. When he finally is released again by his god. Or ... is it his god? Does Charname intervene, one way or another? Is it as a mortal making a request of Ilmater, or is it as a god, perhaps more forcefully?

Dynaheir
"I am Dynaheir, a witch of Rasheman. I and my comrade Minsc have been sent by the Wychalarn to determine if the prophecies of Alaundo are true. We search for the spawn of Bhaal."

Dynaheir's charmed dialogue, well, says a lot about her character you wouldn't really get another way. (And can rather give the game away if you try it early). I'd be interested in some exploration of this.

• Generally, Dynaheir observing Charname as the target of her mission, and Charname's development. Her changing feelings, astonishment at Charname rising above their blood, or despair as they sink into it.


• How, or when, does she realise Charname is actually a Bhaalspawn? Does it take until Gorion's letter? Does she see it straight away, somehow? (There are some certain ways, it seems, to identify a Bhaalspawn - Sarevok twigged to you in Candlekeep on his early visit there). Is it maybe the dreams that she sees as a clue? (Good time for some hurt/comfort).


• How does Charname find out Dynaheir? Is there a confession of sorts once she's worked it out, and found she trusts Charname? Does it happen, as in vanilla, through a spell? What reaction does Dynaheir have to that?


• So ... is this a dajemma, to which the Wychlaren have attached a secondary special mission? Or is that entirely a cover, and Dynaheir's already been out? Does the same go for Minsc? In either case, Dynaheir is presumably pretty young. It'd be interesting to factor that in, and her relatively close age to the similarly youthful Charname.


• On the same note, the dajemma in modern Rashemen is ... not really a noble quest for adulthood, so much as a gap year: an excuse to go around outside Rashemen, see new places, get drunk, and hook up with strangers. (See Spellbound: Campaign Guide p71). Again, whether Dynaheir and Minsc are on dajemma or not, do they play up to this? Do they take their mission very seriously, but kind of long for a more usual and carefree journey?

I would be happy with either platonic or romantic relationship between Dynaheir and Charname.


Sarevok

• I generally favour the BGI account of Sarevok's childhood (primarily from his diary) rather than the ToB retcons. I think there's room to explore him growing up in a clearly terrible household, with a mother either raped by or willingly giving herself to Bhaal, and a suspicious, jealous, and cruel Rieltar who reacts awfully to what he thinks is "unfaithfulness". The way this then opens him up to the influence of Bhaal as it seeks him out in his dreams, his own determination to move forward and seek out priests of the dead god (and Winski Perorate) to unlock his power, the competing influences of Tamoko (a bright spot?) and Cythandria...


• Or, a reaction to an account by Charname of Yoshimo and all that happened to Tamoko's brother as a result of his search for her killer. Is there regret? Is that one of the first steps for Sarevok toward turning away from the cruelties he'd immersed himself in before his death? Is it one of the last ones?


• Or, some kind of diachronic look at Sarevok's relationship to Charname over time: first finding out about them; evaluating them while he's undercover at Candlekeep; catching them on the road as Gorion tries to flee, but seeing them escape behind a torrent of spells; increasing frustration as they foil his plans; eventual respect as seen by the final confrontation in BGI; resentment at their life and their power in ToB, while still holding his scraps of knowledge over them; and whatever end you think is appropriate, whether it's backstabbing or supporting godhood or supporting mortality.

Elminster and/or Volo

These two are pretty much the only two people outside the party who can actually watch us develop over the course of the entire saga, from just after Gorion dies, through Nashkel, through the entry into Baldur's Gate, through the mess with the Harpers in Athkatla, through the Siege of Amkethran, and finally through to very near the end itself, as the last of the Five are falling and ascension draws near.

Either singly or in mutual discussion, I'd just like to see their reactions to the Saga as it plays out, the ups and downs, the comings and goings from the party, the development of Charname, the ever-rising stakes and power involved. It's a bit of an excuse to do some freeform selling on your Charname, and the way your party went through the games.


Relationship Prompts

Imoen/Female Charname
I think this relationship can go all sorts of ways, and I basically love all of them. Among the possibilities:

• childhood friends: the two of them as they grow up together in Candlekeep, the hints of a connexion between them, silly and sheltered teenage girlfriends in a fortress with basically no other kids;


• hurt/comfort: Imoen looking after a distraught Charname for the first day and night in the wilderness after Gorion's death, or after a breakdown at the FAI; Charname trying so hard to get through to the dazed and confused Imoen in Spellhold; their more conscious reunion after Irenicus has left Charname soulless too, and they're dumped bleeding physically and spiritually into Bodhi's maze; Imoen trying to help Charname when she's taken her soul back from Bodhi, but Charname is still struggling with Irenicus' theft...


• happily ever after: the pair of them released from the wars and the personal torments of their blood, and either finally beginning a relationship or being able to enjoy and explore it far more than they could before.