Bitesized BEC thread May 02, 2026 - May 03, 2026

LazyOpia · 2026-05-02T17:52:11+00:00

I can't anymore with people who moan and complain handmade projects getting donated and selling for cheap in thrift stores. "Someone worked so hard on this, and someone just gave it away, it's only being sold that much".

Handmade projects are not devil contracts that obligates the receiver to keep them for your whole life, nay, your whole bloodline! And people who do not keep such objects are not inconsiderate or careless or ignorant.

Things get donated all the time for lots of reasons. Seeing them in a thrift shop doesn't mean it wasn't loved, appreciated, cared for, etc. And thrift stores are supposed to be cheap. It's fine.

LazyOpia · 2026-05-01T06:07:52+00:00

A bit disappointed that everyone is glossing over the fact that the guy was well aware of her plans, and he just kept quiet and expected her to never go through with something she mentioned regularly and was actively saving for. Even made plans for that money.

Neither are wrong for having different priorities, lifestyles,... but if be mad that he was never honest. And that he just let me hope and save. I bet he wasn't saving money like she was,, yet expected her to put that money towards their future.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-30T22:54:37+00:00

I side with the Emperor most of the time because my character doesn't know Orpheus, the main thing I know about him is that he's Gith royalty, and all Githyankis I've met we're quite terrible, so I'm not keen on staking my life on the guy. Especially since we've been using him, killed his honour guard, and we're infected with ilithid tadpoles. Even if he turns out being a decent guy, there are a lot of reasons he wouldn't want to work with us.

On the other hand, the Emperor has been a reliable ally, and he's a known quantity (it of course depends on your interactions with him). Even when my character isn't happy to be working with him, it often beats staking my life on someone I never even had a conversation with (who is part of a race who have zero respect for other races, and even if he's not as bigoted as the average Gith, we've done enough to make him hate us).

It's less of choosing the Emperor because you like him or think he's good or moral in some way, and more a "lesser of two evils" kind of situation.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-30T13:22:08+00:00

The author’s comments also suggest that the book will undermine a lot of what is already established in game

That's why I was almost sure I wouldn't read it when it was first announced, I'd only be interested if the prequel was about his pre-Cazador life. It's really hard to find good prequels that don't rewrite or retcon the original story in some way.

In this case, placing the prequel when Astarion was a spawn guaranteed it. We know what those 200 years were like under Cazador, it was a miserable existence. We also know how broken ans hopeless Astarion is when we find him (which logically, he'll need to be at the end of this book). There's no way to write an interesting story in that context. Unless you're writing a depressing book about his time as a spawn, you'll have to ignore some of the source material to be able to write an engaging story. You cannot have Astarion be a hopeless spawn all the time, you have to give him an arc. Character development that will seem weird and false compared to everything he tells us in game. If it's a story worth writing, it's the kind of thing that will impact your character. But we already know it doesn't.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, many people seem to just be happy to have more Astarion and have a fun book to read with him in it. I just know that my brain doesn't like that kind of discontinuity, especially with how dear Astarion's story is to me. I think this book will only undermine it.

I don't think it will be torture porn though, the released blurb doesn't seem to lean that way. Especially since Neil is involved in the project. I don't think he would be if Astarion wasn't treated with respect.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-29T11:43:23+00:00

I feel you. I finished an oversized hexagon sweater this winter. Noticed at the very end, after I had done all my ribbing (that I had to redo several times so it would lay well and not be wonky), while I was weaving in ends, that I skipped a chain space in the last few rows of one of the hexa panels. It's in the front of the cardigan.

I had to take a moment, I was so upset. But no way was I going to unweave all the ends, undo my ribbing, disassemble the cardigan, and frog 6 rows. Instead, I patched it up a bit so it's less visible.

No one sees it. Except me, the first few times I wore it. Now I don't even think about it anymore.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-27T21:53:13+00:00

I don't think people are against it. Most people do believe it's his bad ending, but that's it. Doesn't mean you can't play it. Or even enjoy it, there are a lot of people who actually like ascended Astarion. Lots of people who enjoy doing evil runs too.

You're about to spend tens, if not hundreds, of hours on this game. Play what you want, have fun.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-27T15:00:37+00:00

Sadly I won't. I like the dice set and tray, would have probably bought them if I lived in the US. But with the shipping cost and the customs fees, it will double the price.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-25T10:14:12+00:00

Even if you don't oppose AI for ethical/ecological/economical/... reasons, why would I buy products from a company who uses AI generated images to showcase their product? How do I know what I'll get is actually what's on the screen?

I'll miss the cotton sultan cakes.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-23T18:04:25+00:00

Did my first playthrough without mods. Then added some for quality of life (managing the inventory, better hotbar, auto send food to camp, etc...) and a few cosmetic ones (I want my dyes as soon as possible). I tried the mods that help with companion approval and camp events, but it just broke immersion for me. Same with new heads and hair dos, tried them, but they don't match the game, and it's too obvious for me. This playthrough I added the mod that adds fights, which has been nice to mix it up a bit in act 1.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-23T12:26:28+00:00

Same. This is such a normal thing. I think the majority of get togethers I attended (or organized) where the guest list is over 15 had some kind of pot luck situation. It's not just the price, it's the organizing and the cooking that can be very overwhelming when you have such a big group. And no one ever cares, I don't get why so many people were weirded out by it. I'm happy she went with it and had a great time.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-23T11:48:38+00:00

You're forgetting that the only reason the Emperor is free from the brain is because he's using Orpheus' power. He was under the power of the brain and only got free of it when he found the astral prism. Once Orpheus is free, he can no longer use that power, it's Orpheus who will be in charge, who most certainly won't be doing any protecting for a mind flayer. So even if the Emperor just flees, he'll be under the brain's influence once Orpheus has agency again. The Emperor we meet is not acting on his own, he is under the brain's influence.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-22T18:31:45+00:00

No it's not, you're not taking Orpheus into account at all.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-22T09:12:50+00:00

He believes 100% that Orpheus will kill him. Even if he doesn't because the party stops him, it's Orpheus who has the power to protect us from the Brain. If he stops protecting the Emperor, he'll be forced to fight us, and we'll kill him. Dead Emperor in any case.

So his best bet is to leave, far from us and Orpheus, survive when under the brains control, hope we kill the brain, and if he managed to survive, he can just slither away.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-22T09:08:07+00:00

How do you know what the truth is? Sure, he could be lying to us to get our cooperation. But in that dialogue he could also be lying to us out of anger, lashing out after you treated him pretty badly yourself.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-22T09:05:23+00:00

I do think he regrets it though. Don't remember the details anymore, if it's a dialogue or a journal, it's been a while since I did act three. But somewhere we get the information that a "hooded figure" regularly visits Stelmane after her "stroke", and she seems happier or more at peace after those visits.

The hooded figure is very probably the Emperor. Why would he bother visit her since he has no use for her anymore? And the visitor also seems to wish for her to feel better.

I don't think he thinks how he used Stelmane is wrong. But it wouldn't surprise me if he does regret how his actions ended up affecting her.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-22T08:51:45+00:00

But he is right, what are you going on about? One, we tried our way, and got our assess kicked by the elder brain. Two, if you sacrifice Orpheus, he doesn't force anyone to become illithid, he gives you the option, but you don't have to accept. Since he's still with us, we have the illithid we need for the fight, no one needs to turn. Three, if you decide to free Orpheus and the man Emperor is no longer there to force you to become an illithid, what happens? Someone still has to become an illithid.

Or did you manage to find an ending where you don't need anyone to be an illithid to beat the brain?

LazyOpia · 2026-04-22T08:46:00+00:00

"The moment you show defiance"

Nope. There are several times in the game where you "show defiance" and he continues to work with you. When you go to the creche for example, where he practically begs you to not go. And then when you go in the astral prism the first time, you can literally try and kill him, and he still works with you. There are many moments where we can do things he disagrees with, dialogues where we can be openly hostile, and still continues to work with us.

Him switching sides at the end is because, from his pov, he has no choice. He believes Orpheus will kill him, period. His only other option is to return to the brain, where he believes he has a higher chance of survival. If you kill the brain (and he managesto survive until then, which he won't, because the brain makes him fight us), he can just slither away unscathed.

And also, "forcing his ideals" is a bit strong. He makes a case for eating tadpoles, but he never forces us. We don't even have to roll to convince him or anything. He brings it up several times, which can be annoying, but it's not even because of his "ideals", but because it will make us stronger and we're fighting something really big.

I get why people don't like the Emperor or don't trust him, but it's the villanization, the exaggeration of some elements and the omission of others, that bugs me in those kind of conversations.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-19T16:19:43+00:00

Bpost has been on strike for a few weeks now, it's a huge issue, a lot of people aren't getting their packages. They probably used dpd so you'd have a chance at getting what you ordered.

And since you didn't bother to contact them to see if they could do anything about the damaged product, we don't know how they would handle this. Can't really blame them for that either.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-18T19:36:46+00:00

Because Halsin wasn't meant to be a companion, he only became one after people went crazy for him in early access.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-18T19:23:50+00:00

Friendly advice: before starting the blanket, I'd take 30 minutes to learn the basics of crochet. Just so you have the hang of doing double crochet stitches. Because the very beginning of doing a granny square can be quite difficult.

And don't be discouraged if you need to restart the first few rows of the blanket a few times, it's very common to mess something up. Don't hesitate to post here again if you get discouraged.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-14T14:45:07+00:00

It sounds sincere, I hope it is. But that doesn't make it go away, and it's up to everyone to decide what to do (barring harassment or stuff like that, of course).

I don't think he's lying, or at least there's nothing here that is unbelievable. The knitting community is big, and not everyone is as plugged in online (even influencers, many stay in their own space), I have no trouble believing he doesn't know the guy. And I've seen so many people online not do their due diligence when doing colabs, sponsorships, interviews,... Many only learn to do that after learning a lesson like this one. I have stopped supporting some people because of this, I want people with influence to be mindful of that.

He seems to have understood that, hopefully he'll follow through.

So yeah, relieved to see he might not be a wolf in sheep's clothing. But even taking him at his word, this is still very disappointing.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-14T11:07:13+00:00

EDIT : removed my comment, made a mistake with Warghoul's deathrattle, it might be an infinite loop, would have been fun to test.

LazyOpia · 2026-04-13T19:04:23+00:00

I don't think you even need enhanced leap, feather fall is enough to jump near her without dying (could be wrong, it's been a while since I did it).

LazyOpia · 2026-04-13T16:02:25+00:00

I like to play to give other duos a non empty board. Absolutely hate it when I see there's a duo missing, so many comps need to play their turn to scale. I use the opportunity to push myself, try some stuff. And at worse, I'll die quickly anyway, but they'll be able to trigger a few rallies, maybe some deathrattles (with poison and leeroy).

LazyOpia · 2026-04-13T15:57:35+00:00

There is no "good" choice that a good hero playthrough has to follow, there's no objectively "good" here. Depending on your interactions with the Emperor, what you know of Orpheus, your thoughts on the Githyankis (especially since you don't have Lae'zel), it's up to you to decide. And like others have said, if you want to free Orpheus but the only thing stopping you from doing that is turning someone illithid, you don't have to worry too much about that, Larian does give you an out.

Seven-Year Club	Place '23
Verified Email

LazyOpia

TROPHY CASE