Video games are a good place to learn how to deal with rejection. By the way, what the following player does is not the way to go about it.
What would Baldur’s Gate 3 be without the romances? Probably still a pretty good role-playing game, but we wouldn’t want to miss out on flirting with our companions. But what if your companion of choice isn’t interested in you? You could go back a few save games, choose someone else, or eat a cup of ice cream and then just keep playing. Or…
The revenge of the rejected
Reddit user butternutgutterslut4 (what happened to 1, 2, and 3?) was rejected by half-elf and vampire charmer Astarion. The reaction was quite drastic and bloody:
Astarion dumped me so I stabbed him to death at camp
by
u/butternutgutterslut4 in
BaldursGate3
Why the dead Astarion is lying there in front of the fireplace in the pose of a tiger skin is anyone’s guess. The player in question reports having done everything to make a romance with Astarion work, but was rejected nonetheless. Lae’zel, Halsin, Wyll, Karlach, and Shadowheart were all rejected by butternutgutterslut4, only for him to be rejected by one of them in turn. The image clearly shows how well the player coped with this.
Community has understanding
“Good thing you didn’t overreact,” is the first cynical comment from TheOldskywalker. But apparently, butternutgutterslut4’s reaction is pretty low on the scale.
SenaM66 sacrificed his soul and body to Bhaal and plunged the entire world into ruin—all because Wyll didn’t want him.
Getsupsettooeasily would say, given the temperament of the post’s author, that Astarion dodged a dangerous bullet by refusing to take it, but it didn’t help. Arealis correctly assesses the situation and comments: “He dodged the bullet, but the knife found its target.”
“Hell hath no fury like a spurned video game protagonist,” sums up Reddit user Kseplion summarizes the story. However, there is a happy ending. Later in the comments, we learn that butternutgutterslut4 loaded an earlier save file. Although the entire second act had to be repeated, at least Tav had his companion of choice by his side. It’s a good thing Astarion doesn’t remember the little outburst. At least, we hope so for his sake.
