Self-Indulgent Sunday: Jealous Gale and a NSFW tag game
Shouts to @thesanguinesonnet, @optimisticgrey, and @eliwyntorleth for the tags! To indulge myself today, I'm returning to an earlier chapter of To Err Divine for some VP, then stick around below the fold for the some disappointingly tame NSFW question game answers (credit to @thesanguinesonnet for these)
In Chapter 13, The Camp, Gale and Wren meet Halsin. He is immediately very into Wren. She interprets this as standard wood elf behavior, Gale interprets it differently. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
Halsin stepped closer to Wren. Very close. He took her hand in his. The contact was warm, firm, and confident. She resisted the urge to jerk her hand away. He is a wood elf, she reminded herself, be patient with him.
"Wren," he said. "If I were your parent, I would have named you Sparrowhawk. Your beauty is only enhanced by your ferocity." He smiled warmly at her. "But forgive me, you spoke of the Grove. I am aware of the danger. I foolishly left it vulnerable to this rabble."
Through the tadpole connection, Wren felt something sharp and uncomfortable spike from Gale's direction. She glanced at him and noticed him looking at Halsin, his fingers drumming rapidly against his robes.
"You say you've been infected?" Halsin continued, examining both Wren and Gale's faces. "But something's different. You're aware of the monster inside you. You don't bow to the Absolute, like the True Souls do. How is this possible?"
Gale took a half-step closer to Wren, close enough that his shoulder nearly touched hers. "We don't know," he replied, his voice more clipped than usual. "The tadpoles were implanted aboard a nautiloid that crashed into the Chionthar. We should have transformed by now, but we haven't. We're hoping you might have some insight into why." Gale’s foot tapped a rapid rhythm on the stone floor. "Time is rather of the essence, I'm afraid. For the Grove's sake as much as our own."
"I see," said Halsin, and his gaze took in Gale with the same warmth that he showed Wren.. "Be that as it may, the only way to restore the natural order is to eliminate this goblin threat. Help me kill the leaders of this horde. Save my Grove, then I will help you."
Wren gently removed her hand from the druid's and considered his words. Something seemed to ease in the connection between her and Gale as well. He was always agitated after a fight, perhaps it was just that.
All right, here we go, let's play ... I'm not a real smutty writer so this is gonna be pretty vanilla, lol.
1. What’s an idea, dynamic, or trope in your current work that feels naughty or self-indulgent? (Spicy answers 100% encouraged.)
In To Err Divine, I think my most self-indulgent moment was in Act 1 when I got impatient with my two main characters being forcibly kept from getting together by the orb, so I shamelessly did the sex pollen trope to smoosh them together early (with disastrous results). It's secretly my favorite chapter and I won't apologize for that. I also think my version of Gale's Act 2 romance scene is necessarily self-indulgent. It was OTT in the game, so I had to make it very OTT in writing as well.
My side fic, Further Research Required, is just complete self-indulgence although not really naughty - not yet, at least. I just wanted to write stories about my favorite couple again, so I am.
2. Is your oc a virgin, blushing maiden, or sexual fiend? or aro/ace? or something in between?
Wren: Is none of those. Before meeting Gale, sex is just a pastime for her on her downtime from missions. She finds a stranger, picks them up, has some fun, then bounces. It's something that makes life a little easier to bear and fulfills a need. With Gale, sex is intimate for the first time and it's kind of a new discovery for her.
Alyss: Alyss is also not quite any of those. She was orphaned at 15 and trying to survive on her own from then. You can connect the dots as to what that was like and the kind of things that happened to her. Early on, sex became something for her to trade, because it was better than the alternative. As a bard, she has many lovers, but no loves. She gives people what they want, either in exchange for something she needs, or just as a gift to them if she feels like it. Meeting Gale, she has to learn how to just be herself in a relationship. She has to learn how to understand what she wants, and not just perform what the other person wants.
3. What’s your OC’s “I shouldn’t be this turned on by this” trigger?
Wren: Gale's stupid dad jokes.
Alyss: Gale giving a lecture or expounding on one of his special interests.
4. What is your OC's hard NO?
Wren: High elves, she doesn't do high elves.
Alyss: Alyss has a boilerplate clause drawn up for this, I won't bore you with her legalese, but anything involving bodily fluids or certain types of roleplay is off the table.
5. What is the most debauched VP/Art you have ever created?
I haven't really done any debauched VP or art for fandom, but I do have some screenshots of Gale multiplying himself ... just for my records. And I have a file called "oop!" with any spicy shots I may have done while trying out poses. Oh, and there's this one:
6. What is the wildest NSFW smut you have ever thought up? Did you write it?
I am sure I have thought up some pretty wild smut in the depths of my own mind but anything I have actually written is part of a story and more connected into the emotional arc of what's going on. I don't really do super smutty, my spice is all very softcore for the most part.
I have some secret Alyss and Gale smut that was a test run for including spicy scenes in To Err Divine, where they play around with dominance and control. Never-written smut that I can recall includes an Astarion scenario where he takes control of his relationship to sex with Durge using some light bondage and a mage hand, and a very toxic Gale smut where he uses a mortal partner as an outlet for his Mystra feelings.
7. Do you have any crazy projects for the future?
I am forcing myself to stay on track and keep plugging away at the projects I do have in flight already, but I do have an "ideas" file where I just outline ideas I have and add to them as I think of it so that when I free up space, I have ideas to pick up. This includes a pre-canon fic, a modern AU, and an Alyss and Gale story where they have to help Astarion and we can get into Gale and Astarion's messy relationship. I'd also like to write some BG3 stuff that's not about Gale.
I'd love to delve into Rolan, and I think I could also get really deep into Shadowheart if I could ever look away from Gale. There's probably also a really sweet Wyll story lurking inside me somewhere.
Once I'm done with the current event I'm taking part in, I'll be on the lookout for others too. I'm into the idea of doing more fic exchanges, prompt events, etc!
Tags for my moots if you want to answer these or just simply indulge yourself: @tynithia, @unovafarm, @bladesingerlily, @rdekarios, @lolthwoven, @alliskit, @cinder-rellish181, @hollowharpwrites, @naiatabris. @emmyandthetieflings, @elandra-beltharys, @glitterandmoondustofficial, @ginateeth, @fireflyeyes, @asorceresswrites