Conclusion: Dinosaurs

"Kiyomori Sees Hundreds of Skulls at Fukuhara" from “New Forms of 36 Ghosts”, 1890

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

The Ghost of Caesar with Brutus, from Julius Cesar [drawing], 1880

Alexandre Bida

Black chalk, with white chalk, on blue paper

yes yes yes yes exactlyyyyyy !!!!

and that's why I'm so attached to it as a headcanon because not only does it give another valid reason why Azune fears that the people he served with wouldn't recognize him when he's otherwise almost impossible to mistake (which especially since we learned about his backstory, so much of his worry, in my mind, is in how he went from an underfed child too small and too short for his age who probably spent a lot of the rebellion trying to recover or even just maintain weight to a nearly 6 foot tall well-built soldier, which like. coupled with the alter self stuff, I feel like it's so safe to say this man has body dysmorphia) but it adds just like you said such an insane level of affirmation to Teor and Kattigan's first interactions in 12 years with him if they're coming from not just a place of "of course we recognize you, you've grown up" but also from a place of "yes we see you, we remember the boy you were then and we see the man you've become now"

Kat's immediate reaction to him being to call him "the boy" literally lives so truly rent free in my brain it's concerning and not even just on a trans Azune level, just baseline. it's such a little moment but it says so much. he was so immediately excited to see Azune he literally shoved Teor out of the way about it. and Azune was so proud of Kat complementing him before the soldiers left Dol Makjar. like DO NOT talk to me about Azune puffing up his chest in actual pride at Kat giving him a sort of crass complement vs. Azune puffing up his chest when the mercenaries came reaping to make himself look bigger and stronger, I will start crying. like,,,

Ship Tournament, Round 2 — Match 11 / 15

Minthara/Orin

"Do the nominated relationships have to be healthy? Because this is not. Toxic yuri to the max. You can either have it with one side brainwashed to do the other's bidding, or after, where it'd surely end horribly, in death of at least one of the parties. Orin is messed up beyond help, and Minthara isn't merciful. Which can be juicy."

vs. Astarion/Karlach/Wyll

"What's better than Wyll and Astarion? Or Astarion and Karlach? Or Karlach and Wyll? All three together, that's what. First, there are the narrative parallels. All three are Baldurians with a very different experience of Baldur's Gate. All three had their bodies forcibly changed by their abusers, and all three have unwilling ties to Avernus and devils, with narratives aimed at subverting what they believe they want (Ascension for Astarion, to save his father for Wyll, and revenge for Karlach). Then, they all work amazingly as individual component ships - Karlach is openly attracted to (and fiercely protective of) Astarion and Astarion is gentler with Karlach than anyone else, Karlach and Wyll's narratives are intrinsically linked and they're more or less soulmates, platonic or otherwise, and Astarion and Wyll are so down bad each other it's hilarious. But what about as a trio? There's one tempting in-game crumb, only available if you play as Origin Karlach - after Astarion points out that Wyll giving Karlach the benefit of the doubt and all it earned him was a set of horns, he adds, "Not that they don't look flattering on him - almost everything does", with a lovesick little sigh. Karlach can then comment, "They do look pretty good, don't they?" to which Astarion can reply, "They do! Honestly, that man…" with an even more lovesick sigh. This conversation only being available with Origin Karlach at least says to me that Astarion recognises that Karlach is just as down bad as he is, and therefore he's more than happy to share those, like I said, lovesick sighs. They work well together. Wyll can be on the serious side; Astarion and Karlach are both traumatised, but both know how to have fun (even if that fun sometimes involves stabbin', for Astarion… come to think of it, for Karlach too). Astarion can be cruel, through nearly two centuries of his empathy being systematically dismantled; Karlach and Wyll are both genuinely good people who can drag him, kicking and screaming, into caring for people. Karlach can be hot-headed and angry; Wyll can be calm, Astarion can help her focus her anger into something productive. They make each other better. And, their endings all work beautifully together. Wyll openly begs Karlach to go back to Avernus to save her own life, promising he'll be there right there at her side. And Astarion, when romanced by Origin Karlach, outright says that Avernus is perfect for him - there's no sun, he can hunt as much as he likes… and he'll be with the people he cares most about. The three of them work together in a stable triangle, each point supporting the other, none of them letting one of the others fall."

And what if it failed because even in the fury of grief, Kattigan couldn't work up the raw contempt required to invoke the ancient magic. Even in the anger of Teor for getting himself killed and leaving Kattigan, his attempt to spit was to bring him back, an act of love- and it could never work for that reason.

Ship Tournament, Round 2 — Match 14 / 15

Lae'zel/Shadowheart

"lae’zel/shadowheart is THE enemies to lovers blueprint in bg3 idc. they start off genuinely ready to slit each other’s throats over the artefact, the gith/sharran distrust is off the charts, and somehow it turns into this insane potential for two women who were both raised inside brutal religious systems slowly realising they were lied to by the people they worshipped"

vs. Araj/Dalyria

"Araj wants to be bitten, Dalyria wants to bite someone. And together, they can commit science crimes!"

This joke will get old eventually, but today is not that day.