I Would Watch The Stars With You To The End Of Time. BOOK OF POETRY, BALDUR'S GATE III

I would watch the stars with you to the end of time. — BOOK OF POETRY, BALDUR'S GATE III

✨ read, review, reblog ✨

are you a writer who feels discouraged by the lack of engagement here on tumblr dot com?

do you just want someone to read, review, and reblog your hard work? appreciate it? give honest, thoughtful feedback to the best of their abilities?

look no further, because I'm your girl!

this read, review, reblog initiative is a new personal project of mine that I am committing myself to for a multitude of reasons:

i can say that after nearly twenty years of writing, about twelve of that relating to fandom, I know better than most what it feels like for your work to not matter, be overlooked, be discouraged, wonder if this time you should call it a day and leave writing in the past.

it's a therapy thing ✌🏻.

because my hope is to inspire other writers (particularly younger, newer, less confident ones) to keep practicing and keep writing despite the odds they feel are stacked against them.

if I can encourage other folks to start doing the same (particularly reviewing and reblogging), then that's an even greater success imo.

I wanna make new writing buddies 💀💀

so, you're interested.

what do you need to know?

I am open to reading, reviewing, reblogging to moots + followers + anyone who comes across this post. however,

you must be 18+. non-negotiable. if your age is not in your blog, your request will be rejected.

I don't need to know about the fandom you're sending me writing for. just be aware that if you do this, I will not be able to give you feedback on characterization.

I am perfectly fine with dark content/nsft, most kinks, and sensitive topics.

the only things I refuse to read about are pregnancy and childbirth.

it can be reader-insert. it can be self-insert. it can be oc x reader. it can be personal pieces. it can be canon ships.

it can be any length, just be aware that while the review you'll receive will likely be more substantial the longer the piece is—it will take longer to get a response. this also applies if you're wanting me to review multiple chapters.

I do not have an established schedule, rhyme or reason to what I read and review first. until now, I've been mostly going in order received, but depending on the response I get that may change. understand and be receptive to this.

please specify if you want a general review or constructive criticism. what's the difference? in a general review, I will simply cover a range of things (prose, plot, pacing, flow, character dynamics, world-building, character development, ect). my goal is highlight your strengths and bring them forefront, in my opinion. vs concrit where I will be more discerning and respectfully make suggestions on areas of improvement (does not include sentence structure or grammar). no matter the choice, my aim is to be encouraging and help foster your growth and desire to write!

cool ✨

all of that is covered.

what else do I need to know?

as mentioned above, I cover several things within my reviews: prose, flow, pacing, plot/storyline progress, character dynamics, character development, world building, characterization (if I know the characters), impact, things that standout. some, most, or all of these may be touched upon in a single review depending on your piece and me deciding what I have to work with.

I do not possess formal credentials or degrees; just my twenty years of writing experience. this is not a serious thing. it is mostly for fun and to help y'all feel good and encourage you to keep writing. that's all.

I do not have a sizable following. if you're asking for a review, please understand there's a good chance the only person who will see your piece is me.

these are all only opinions. what I say does not make anything right or wrong. what I say only holds weight if you want it to. keep that in mind.

here is my MASTERLIST to peep with both fanfiction and originals to help you determine if I am the reviewer for you 🫵🏻

still unsure? check my #2k reviews tag showcasing recent reviews I've already done for folks for this little project!

right. okay...

how should I go about asking you?

where do I send my writing?

you can ask me through this post, dm, and askbox! I am not fussy.

please link your work to me. I really don't want to have to go hunting it down. just grab me a link and respond to this post, send it in an ask or dm.

wherever you plop your link, please tell me if you want a gen review or concrit. I will default to gen review if you say nothing.

if you do not give me particulars of what you're looking for in a review, I will be adhering to my personal list.

finally...

please consider helping to foster a better community for all of us writers by reading, reviewing, and reblogging other people's work you come across! a reblog, a couple of lines, a couple paragraphs can make all the difference to someone. 💝💝

if this post comes across your dashboard, PLEASE reblog it so it can get around to folks who may need/want it!

Some sketches for Halsin 🪿

In the last couple sketch he is with my Tav, Marion!

Bonus Pic with the wooden duck!

Extra bonus Pic, a Halsin gardener 🌿

Others prone to ascension

Touching on Gale, Wyll, and Halsin's traumas being a bit undermined in parts of the fandom

So one thing I notice on Twitter is how some people act about the bg3 characters whose abuses were perpetuated by women.

Gale specifically for this reason (but I will touch on others)bbecause I see him dismissed super often as "can't get over his ex".

But Gale's case obviously be has the line of Mystra being like "she was my muse, my teacher, and then my lover" and sure to some that's a red flag in itself (when it comes to adults I don't really give a fuck about teacher/student) but if you view it from not only Gale's own words "ive been connected with the weave for as long as i can remember"

And that doesn't distract from his genuine love of magic of course. And it also doesn't mean that he's actually been in connection with mystra for an amount of time.

However, if you ascend Gale, and he becomes a god, you get a bunch of new little things. Tara reminiscing of course, but you get a letter from Elminster, detailing that Mystra had Elminster scope out Gale when he was eight!

And sure is that pretty cool that he's a prodigy that got the attention of the goddess of magic at that age? Yes. Mystra is, however, known in forgotten Realms lore to seek young young boys who are in tune with magic to make into her chosen. And from context clues, her chosen can be anything from Elminster and Volo, dedicated wizards who try to keep things in check, etc etc. or they're somewhat of playthings to her.

Minsc also has a conversation where me mentions that weave-touched boys in his homeland were hidden away to hone their craft, then suspecting that it was because of Mystra, given Gale's case.

Gale always seems so proud that he got to bed a goddess, and on the surface, hell yeah, that's cool.

Gale continued to have her attention even as he went to Blackstaff Academy, and Mystra eventually did take him on as an apprentice directly to her, later making him her chosen, and sleeping with him.

The reason it bothers me that people dismiss all of Gale's stuff to just "he can't get over his ex" is because that's is like almost textbook grooming? She was in his life from a young age, shaping and moulding him up as he grew up to be her perfect chosen, rewarding him by sleeping with him, and so on. And then of course casting him away when he has his folly with the netherese orb (and to be fair, it very well could have looked like to her that he was trying to seize the power himself and yes the orb does siphon off weave. That is a problem for the mistress of the weave yes).

But she also tells gale to KILL HIMSELF for her forgiveness.

Gale is much more than "unable to be over his ex" this woman was in his life since he was a kid. She's almost all he has ever known. If course it's going to be difficult for him to 1. Say no to her. 2. Get over the fact that he's lost someone that he spent his literal entire life dedicated to. Honestly if asked, I don't even think Gale would acknowledge or really see that what he went through was, in fact, abuse until it was spelled out in front of him. (Which does happen somewhat with the player character pleading to him that killing himself for mystra's forgiveness is actually horrific and that he should in fact be angry for how he was treated)

Similarly, and this one has been discussed a lot, Wyll and Mizora. Wyll was 17 and actively trying to help his people. 17, in a vulnerable state, willing to do anything to help and prove himself. Mizora very clearly took advantage of him, and regards him as a "pet", refers to him being "leashed", and so on. Personally, I do dislike the sexualization of their relationship, because it very much is also grooming (although a different type. Rather than manipulating and shaping his life from the ground up, she takes advantage of a vulnerable and desperate state to manipulate and contract Wyll into doing her bidding. I won't go too deep I to this one because it has been discussed to hell and back. But I did wanna touch on Wyll's situation as well.

Also, Halsin as well, though that has also been discussed in many retrospectives by a very good friend of mine. Halsin's trauma often get dismissed due to his polyamory, open sexual nature, and his own somewhat diminishing/dismissal of it, which honestly I love the representation of, cause for a while I did that with my own trauma. Halsin was a sex slave to a house of Lolth-Sworn drow, a matriarchal society, where the men are generally used as fodder or for breeding, though male Lolth-Sworn drow can be wizards and rise in the ranks if wizardry, but are limited everywhere else. (Minthara mentions that the third male, and every subsequent male child after third are killed for being"useless"). Halsin often referred to them as "hosts" rather than being captors, (though he does touch on that if the Player Character threatens to sell him back into slavery). Again, everything I'd have to say here for Halsin has entirely been discussed top to bottom by a friend, their link is below!!

Anyway, long story short, I dislike it a lot when Gale, Wyll, and Halsin's traumas and abuses get diminished, even if/when the character themself doesn't see or acknowledge the abuse in the same lens that we, the players, do.

oh to one day live in a world that doesn't hinge on the whims of the united states of fucking america.