SPOILER WARNING: these Q&As are full of spoilers. Read at your own risk.




Q: Will you ever do a version of this mod that would un-do the core changes to Shadowheart's character arc?

I regard this mod as a whole thing and I do not intend to split it. My goal is not to please the public, but to demonstrate that her story could have
been better.


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Q: Are you a Christian fundamentalist?

I am as opposed to religion as one could be. I am a hardline atheist, a naturalist. My worldview is heavily influenced by folks like Sean Carroll,
Roger Penrose, Brian Greene, Daniel Dennett, Varg Vikernes, Vegard Sverre Tveitan, etc.
I despise social conservatism in all of its forms. I'd prefer a large properly formatted data file over a pretty flower.


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Q: Why do you say this version of Shadowheart is "real"? Do you mean it is better than Shadowheart from vanilla game?

From my perspective, Shadowheart in the vanilla game was written to be everything for everyone. It is very easy to miss all the polyamory extensions
of her romance. I missed all of them after spending 500 hours and finishing 3 playthrough. Another player who installed my mod told me they clocked
2000 hours before discovering all that. Needless to say, neither of us discovered that in the game. We both read about that on reddit.

Very few people tend to see things from an "external observer" perspective. This is rather common among illithids than humans, I think.
This creates a situation when different players observe different projections of Shadowheart's character. I think, these projections are reflections
of our life experiences. This is why creating a character that is everything to everyone is so hard. Eventually, a player will run into something
that isn't part of their projection. Immersion is broken, and another thread on reddit is about to start.

It works both ways. Monogamous people focus on her rejections when Tav proposes a 3-way relationship with other origins in acts 1 and 2. Polygamous
people turn blind eye on her monogamous dialogs (she never mentions Halsin after Tav starts a 3-way relationship except Sharess' Caress) in the
epilogue and throughout the game.

So who she is, "real" Shadowheart? Her character evolves a lot throughout the game. Shadowheart at the end of the game is not the same person as
Shadowheart in the pod on board of the nautiloid. This is true for the most of us, we, humans, evolve and change a lot throughout our lives.
My take, the real Shadowheart is what remains constant throughout the game. Whatever happens, she remains at our side, a loving and caring companion.
When on Seline path, she is the only companion who remains with the evil Dark Urge no matter what hoping to sway them away from Bhaal, and paying
the ultimate price for that. Other companions either have approval requirements, or align with the Dark Urge. She wants to save her partner until
the very end, essentially sacrificing herself for them. When on Sharran path, she confesses that it was for the better that they part ways because,
quote, "It would have pained me to have you close, but not be able to dedicate myself to you in every waking moment".

I have no problems with her for having hots for someone else. This is natural for a human being. I have a big problem with the game, with the way how
it depicts that. They did a very sloppy job shoehorning a polyamorous alfa male into the two most popular romances, completely ruining immersion and
making this all look like a trashy romance novel. The 5-some reads like a script of a low budget porn parody to me.

Shadowheart and Astarion, they both deserve better.


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Q: Why do you dislike polyamory?

I am not against polyamory. I respect people of all orientations. I do put extra effort in my mod to make sure it is as LGBTQ friendly as possible.
But when it comes to BG3 polyamory, I say, Larian dropped the ball big time. The game does not portray a healthy polyamory; instead, it forces
Shadowheart into approval of Tav's chaotic sexual adventures in a very blunt and therefore disrespectful (first and foremost, to her) manner.
Yes, she can take part in one of them (at Sharess' Caress), but at the same time Tav can deny her that, and there are no repercussions
after such an inappropriate behavior. She only says:
"Fine, hog them all to yourself. Perhaps I'll find amusement elsewhere".
Needless to say, she doesn't find any amusement. She stays loyal "as a pup" and will pet your Tav moments after that.

Larian did throw us a bone by making her to reject the drow twins orgy if her act 3 romance scene didn't happen yet. However, this only creates more
controversy. For example, the following is very much possible:
1. Tav proposes her to join them and to hire both drows
2. Shadowheart says her line: "While it's a fascinating prospect, I'd like you all to myself... at least the first time."
3. Dialog ends
4. Tav immediately gets back to drows and hires one of them for themselves only
5. Shadowheart reacts: "Should I be jealous? At least you have good taste."
Hasn't she just said that she'd like "you all to myself"? Why does having a good taste suddenly be enough for her to forget what she just said?
Is this polyamory yet, did she give her consent? Weird, to say the least.

All other scenes are off-limits for her. She literally sits in camp and waits while Tav rides a bear or a cambion. Like a trad wife.
Except a trad wife at least could get a divorce. Perhaps, that's what they like about this version of her. She isn't a trad wife, so she won't
break up with them. Tav has her consent to climb the mountain, like a true alpha male while she's having 'me' time at camp. Worse than that,
Tav never asks her consent before sleeping with Mizora, and this may happen after talking to her about Halsin. In real life, this kind of
behavior happens in couples where one partner is far too dependent or attached to another; consequently, this allows this kind of exploitation.
Other companions react to those things like real people, which proves the point, it is that bad.

A good illustration would be spawn Astarion's reaction to Mizora debacle after patch 7. They changed his lines, and now he compares Tav directly to
Cazador. Astarion clearly recognizes this act as abusive. Why does Shadowheart turn a blind eye on that? She has pretty much the same background
as Astarion. He was dominated by an abusive master, her mind was wiped out repeatedly to make her bow and obey. Yet, she reacts very differently.
Her entire post-Mizora scene can be summarized by these two lines:
"You were offered a chance, and you seized it with both hands - and some other parts besides. It's admirable, really."
"Just don't forget about me either - I have needs of my own."
She doesn't even try to define boundaries. She just begs to not forget about her. This is so sad.

Compare that to Astarion's:
"No, I'm not jealous. Disappointed, maybe."
"Perhaps not, but now I'm wondering if any of this meant anything."
"I may not have the moral high ground when it comes to betraying trust, but right now, I see everything I've been trying to escape in you."

I can't help myself but see Shadowheart as a hostage that bends over backwards to please her abusive partner in the face of disrespectful attitude.
And I applaud Steven. He got the gravity of the situation exactly right, and this change brought so much joy to Astarion fans. John, you?

Try something much more innocent with Shadowheart in act 2, and she breaks up with you right away:
"In truth, I don't think I'd want to be your spare lover. I'd always want more of you than you'd have to spare. Better perhaps to bow out with dignity."

Yes, DIGNITY, goddamn DIGNITY. That’s what was taken away from her character in act 3 for the sake of adding an alfa male companion with specific
views at partenrship and commitment.

So why did this happen to her character in act 3?

Truth be told, there is a simple answer to the question above. Shadowheart was written to be everything for everyone. Unfortunately, the task
was too hard, and John had failed miserably. This failure created two groups of fans that are at war. The first group are Halsin supporters.
They are few but they are backed by John/Larian. They are almost never silenced, and they basically define the narrative. The second group are
Shadowheart ultrasimps. Needless to say, we outnumber the first one by an order of magnitude at minimum. However, we are disorganized and weak.
We aren't exactly on good terms with each other and everyone has a life outside BG3. Then there's the silent majority who either isn't aware
or don't care... Halsin fans always play the same card. They put a "right wing conservative" tag on everything we say, and this is good enough
for Larian to ignore us.

Who lost the most besides us? Halsin! He is easily one of the most hated characters in the game (probably second after Wulbren). While Shadowheart
ultrasimps are powerless to change the narrative, we go for Halsin. Some kill him while he is in the bear form, others raid the grove. Most just
let Orin kidnap him... At least Yenna is spared the horrors of Bhaal's temple. I am pretty sure, Larian has the stats, but they don't want to change
anything because they don't want to upset Halsin supporters.

Personally, I do not expect anything to change. That's why I spend my spare time working on my mod to restore integrity of her character,
and give Shadowheart what her life was missing the most: a respectful and loving partner.


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Q: Why did you add marriage and "Shadowheart's expecting" scenes?

The vanilla game already hints at that. Shadowheart says this line in act 3 if asked "What do you think of all that's happened to us so far?":
If not romanced: "It'll make quite a bedtime tale for the children - if I survive to have any, that is."
If romanced: "It'll make for quite a bedtime tale for the children, if you ever get me in a family way."

The "life with Tav and parents in a village" ending is a good old domestic partneship. The seeds are already in the soil, and Shadowheart has suitable
lines to build the narrative, unlike most other companions.

I do find that the modern society has a very special kind of misogyny engrained practically everywhere thanks to endless cultural wars started by
populist politicians. Because of that, the value of bearing and birthing a child has diminished over past decades. Don't get me wrong here, I am not saying
that not having kids is bad. A negative attitude towards women that chose to raise kids, this is what concerns me.

Yes, I do try to convey a message. I think, the modern society failed miserably to implement gender equality. From my perspective, it happened because
we collectively decided to ignore differences between genders. This is akin to solving a problem of extinction of native american languages by forcibly
taking their kids to boarding schools and teaching them English. Instead, we should embrace the differences, and I am not talking only about men and women here.
The society should cherish every sub-culture as long as those sub-cultures accept others and co-exist peacefully.

In particular, this mod has got a lot of criticism from feminists (and not only them) who claim it portrays a male fantasy. First of all, a female Tav can
marry her too, and this is the imperative of my work. Shadowheart loves and cares about all of us, regardless of who we are. I'd say, this criticism
is a bit discriminatory. There is a social group that doesn't see commitments and sacrifices that partners willingly make (in this case I mean man+woman
or woman+woman) the same way as feminists or some (not all!) poly folks do. This mod caters to that group because the vanilla game excluded them in the first place.

Besides, the scenes in question are optional. The player has to pick specific lines in the "romance fate" dialog after the final fight. If we all are fine with
unrestrained freedom of romance options in the game (except shoehorned and insulting pseudo-poly), why would this option be a problem?


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Q: Why do you think Shadowheart is monogamous?

Because she acts like a monogamous person in most situations, besides very few edge cases that usually are missed by the majority of players.

When the party returns from Shadowfell and if she made the right decision, she technically proposes to Tav:
"I've squandered too much time already. I want to be with you. Now and always. Do you want the same?"

NOW AND ALWAYS. She is really doubling down on this relationship, and given all the exclusivity seen before, this sounds like what a woman would
say to someone with whom she wants to spend the rest of her days. Yes, at that moment, she wants to marry Tav. Of course, this is impossible at
that point because they all are doomed to turn into illithids.

If you don't have specific characters in your party or you don't pick specific options, you will never know about all that extra stuff.
If you try to start any other committed relationship in the first two acts, she always ends the relationship. She is very specific as to why:
"In truth, I don't think I'd want to be your spare lover. I'd always want more of you than you'd have to spare. Better perhaps to bow out with dignity."
This quote is particularly suggestive of her being not too vested into sharing.

Our opponents claim she doesn't really love Tav because she never says "love". I admit, she doesn't over-use this word, and in my opinion, this
just adds weight to situations when she says it. Besides, most of the times she says "love" in phrases that could be repeated multiple times.
There are quite a few of them:
"Hmm...? Oh, has the mood struck you, love? I suppose we could try, if you think the others won't stir..." - this is the only one off phrase
"High Hall. There's nowhere else to go... This is where it all ends, my love." - her greeting phrase before the final fight
"Tired, love?" - if you sit on a stool near her tent

If parents are saved, she calls Tav "true love" if asked how does she feel:
"Whole - at last. Thank you, for being by my side through all of this. I never realised I could have a true family - or a true love."

She says quite a few times that she HAS Tav. This is not quite polyamorous thing to say, as far as I can tell.
When discussing shared future in a rural cottage:
"What more could I need? If I had all that, and I had you... that's more of a life that I ever dared to dream of."
In the Selunite epilogue if parents are saved:
"Perhaps. I won't get my hopes up just yet, but in truth, it doesn't matter. Her plan failed - I'm happy. I mean, how could I not be? I have you."
Then, she says about dedication in her Sharran epilogue:
"A pity, yes... but also for the best, perhaps. It would have pained me to have you close, but not be able to dedicate myself to you in every waking moment."

Then there's this exchange in the epilogue, again, if parents are saved:
Shadowheart: "I hope we won't seem terribly boring to everyone, when they ask what we've been doing this past while. A cottage in the countryside?
They may have been expecting something more... well, more."
Tav: "We're a couple - it's our duty to bore them to tears with details of our adorable home life."
Shadowheart: "True. They might even be jealous of the bucolic life. Perhaps every adventurer secretly pines for a little flower strewn cottage overrun with animals..."
Tav: "Perhaps. But they may crave some more excitement."
Shadowheart: "Let them crave whatever they want then - I'll know I got the better end of the bargain."

I find a lot of evidence of a deeply monogamous relationship between Tav and Shadowheart in these lines. Note that this conversation happens even if Tav
slept around as if there's no tomorrow.

There is no discussion like the above about polyamory. When the relationship starts, she doesn't mention that she is open to sharing. Halsin openly says
about that, credits to him for that. Shadowheart rejects any prospect of 3-way relationship. She is not comfortable sharing before the skinny dipping scene,
yet Tav can sleep around with drows without her, and suddenly she's fine with that. There is no narrative or any indication in what she says why would
she allow Tav to start a 3-way relationship with Halsin. Nor there is any indication that she is actually interested in anyone except Tav. The Sharess'
Caress scene with Halsin hardly counts as a relationship, this is a plain orgy in a brothel. Tav changes the rules and Shadowheart accepts the change,
this is what all of the polyamory boils down to. Shadowheart never explains why she changed her attitude nor Tav is allowed to ask. Too much hassle, I take.
She never asks for consent to sleep with Karlach, for example (she is attracted to her, I guess this is at least one thing that everyone agrees with).
She doesn't act like an equal partner. Her participation is contingent on Tav's behavior, and this either makes it look unnatural, or makes it possible
to role-play an abusive partner.

Yes, our opponents will point out that she disapproves when Tav rejects Halsin in Sharess' Caress. But this is precisely what should be fixed to
restore integrity of her character. This disapproval makes perfect sense if Tav slept with Halsin before and now deny him to join them. Instead,
this disapproval happens all the time (Astarion also disapproves all the same), because Halsin doesn't take "no" as an answer, and of course internet trolls
say Shadowheart wants "to bang" Halsin. I would like to point out that she "wants" to join both Tav and Halsin, and the two drows. This is very
different from wanting "to bang Halsin". Nevertheless, Shadowheart simps don't take this lightly, of course, because this is essentially what we all
have seen in a typical low budget porn parody. I am not sure that I'd applaud the writer for coming up with this way of introducing "polyamory" into what
was a monogamous romance between Tav and Shadowheart up to that point. This scene became troll's favourite A-bomb, a really cheap and effective tool
that generates tons of high quality troll food. All I can say, install the mod, or don't talk to drow twins, if you want to avoid this plot twist.

I want to close this with the following quote:
"It'll make for quite a bedtime tale for the children, if you ever get me in a family way."
Well, I did that. I added a possibility of getting her in a family way, because she asked for that in the quote above.


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Q: Why do you think this behavior makes sense for Sharran Shadowheart?

This has nothing to do with the "Selunites as Christians" trope, far from it. In fact, I'd prefer Shadowheart to abandon all goddesses, but unfortunately,
the game makes her Selunite, and it'd be extremely hard to un-do that. My preferred way of dealing with this fanservice is Larian coming to their senses
and just plainly removing all that, but that ain't gonna happen. The game is done, it is as it is. Also, I am not a big proponent of removing already made
content from the game. So, I actually see how this all works for Shadowheart on Sharran path. Shadowheart explains intricacies of Sharran dogma,
I don't want to repeat that again. The key tenets of their relationship are:

a) it can't be "true love"
b) it has to be framed as service to Shar
c) there is no attachment, partners are not bound by the relationship.

The c) comes in a very subtle way, Shadowheart says:
"But you're clever, willing, and flexible... you needn't feel left wanting."

What does this line mean? She admits that she can't give what Tav really wants. She cannot be their lifetime partner, as Shar always comes first.
When she tells Tav, you need not feel left wanting, the only possible interpretation, she tells Tav to be flexible and willing, and to look elsewhere,
to compensate for what she can't give. She promises to give all that she can, but she understands, this won't be enough. Shadowheart understands,
she will anger Shar if she demonstrates a bond between her and Tav. As she said in act 1 banter, shor-term amusements are much less hassle.
With this perspective, Sharran Shadowheart can't and won't stop Tav from climbing the bear, or hanging out with the cambion. This has nothing to do
with the religion itself; it rather has to do with Shar's personality, as all gods of Toril do have personalities.


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Q: Why don't you make similar changes to Astarion?

I pity Astarion, but I don't have enough time to work on what I already planned for Shadowheart. If Baldur's Gate III actually turns to be the next Skyrim
and stays for years to come, I would work on Astarion once I am done with my Shadowheart TODO list.


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Q: Why does Shadowheart refuse to join the drow twins at Sharess' with Tav/Durge?

While I agree that Shadowheart may be open to this, I think the way how it is portrayed in the game is very blunt and it damages her character.
By the time the players arrives at Wyrm Crossing, the relationship is pretty well established, and it is pretty much an exclusive relationship.
The bluntness is in how the game portrays opening the relationship. It doesn't. It is suddenly open, and that's about it. When this happens, I feel
like Astarion and question "did all that mean anything at all?". Tav has a lot of moments when they have an option to tease Shadowheart. Most of
them are benign, but some other not so much. Technically, there is an option to pull back at every moment, which could turn this whole polyamory
proposal from Tav into a giant tease. I wouldn't say this is healthy tease, it isn't. But Shadowheart picks it up and suddenly Tav discovers she
is fine with that. If a couple wants to open or share, they don't do that in a conversation with two s**ual workers. This has to be a heartfelt
conversation at nighttime in camp. I made this reference before, and I want to repeat it again: this kind of dialogs are usually found in porn
parodies.

Then there's a question why they open their relationship so early. I would understand it if it'd have started as open, but no, it was exclusive
and quite a slow burn type of relationship. The question "did all that mean anything at all?" arises precisely from this comparison: how long it
took for Tav to romance her, and how long it took for them to open their relationship. And why she stays with Tav after that in by all means an
exclusive domestic partnership. I have my explanation, so does her writer (I hope!), however he failed to convey it to the audience, hence we
see a lot of online hate towards both characters he wrote.

I have neither time nor resources to fix this mess. Therefore, I removed this part from her Selunite arc to keep integrity of her character,
and to avoid breaking immersion for the players who are not interested in this variance of "polyamory".


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Q: Why do you dislike Halsin?

Make no mistake, I absolutely hate the druid. I feel nothing but pure antagonism towards him, and not because Shadowheart has hots for him. My
disgust to Halsin is founded on his absolute denial of self-control over animal instincts. His self-undulgent and egomaniacal pursuit of pleasure
coupled with denial of any commitments paints a grotesque personality incompatible with an image of an archdruid that leads the grove. He doesn't
understand or doesn't accept if he is rejected because he is an alpha. Even if Tav rejected him, he injects himself into the drow twins conversation.

How many children did he raise? How many druids from the grove slept with him? Was Kagha his lover once? Would you imagine being a druid in the
grove with this kind of a leader that doesn't accept "no" as an answer, and what would you do if you become his love interest? Maybe this is the real
reason why Kagha aligned with Shadow Druids: to get rid of the thirsty boss. Luckily for her, Halsin has hit on Tav and left the grove. I don't even
want to start speculation around how this could've played a role in death of Isobel and downfall of Ketheric.


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Q: Why do you think saving parents is the best outcome for Shadowheart?

There are several hints in the game that I think are clues to the correct interpretation of the events in Chamber of Loss.

First, if Selunite Shadowheart goes in there alone, meaning Tav stays out of it, she always saves her parents. There's a special cutscene for that.
This is a part of the "companions always do the right thing when they are left alone" thing that one can see if you try the same with Astarion and
his ascension, or Gale with some shadow magic stuff in Moonrise towers. There are videos on YT.

Second, the "shared future" discussion in camp. She directly tells you about everything she wants. She basically describes her version of a happy ending,
which is exactly the "retirement to a cottage with her parents" ending. She tells that she wants to save parents, retire to a farm, grow flowers,
and be surrounded by animals. She doesn't want to travel the sword coast in an attempt to forget her parents (of whom she remembers only how she tortured them)
and somehow re-start her life.

Third, keywords. If you save the nymph in Sharess Caress, she will grant you a free session of a guided self-reflection of sorts. Almost every origin
character has a keyword that represents their best outcome (weirdly though, except Lae'zel). Again, there are videos on YT. Shadowheart's word - "whole".
When her father asks her to kill them, he says "we'll be at peace". At peace is another keyword. So, if you save her parents, she will tell you that
she is now whole: she got her family back and found a true love (if you're romancing her). Therefore, saving parents is her best outcome. Another keyword,
"at peace", pops up only if you force her into killing her parents.

Fourth, if parents are saved, she is much happier, even if Shar inflicts pain on her from time to time. There's mention in the epilogue that those events
become less frequent over time, as if Shar lost her interest (oh really? Who would've though that a goddess known for complete disregard of her followers
would lose interest in tormenting a former one). She keeps talking about her garden, about her pets, she tells you jokes that her father told her,
and she also tells that she's happy because she lives with Tav on a farm. If parents are killed, she goes back to that many times, and every time her words
are full of subtle regret. Not to mention clear signs of suffering because of that loss, the very thing that drives people to Shar. This makes me think that
the ending where parents are killed is open-ended, and she may potentially go back to Shar.

Fifth, there's a trope that this wound somehow binds her soul to Shar. This is a baseless claim. Cosmology of Forgotten Realms are quite clear on that,
gods claim souls of mortals based on whom they worshipped. Meaning, it doesn't matter how many curses one has, if they worship Selune, Selune has a claim
on their soul. Therefore, this wound is just that, a source of physical pain and nothing more than that. Therefore, getting rid of it is basically a question
of exchanging physical pain to actual loss and subsequent mental suffering. To me, the only reason to make the choice of killing her parents is if you
role-play a narcissist that has zero compassion.

And finally, Shar path is the worst. There's a book, "Unclaimed". She tells a story about a woman that dedicated her life to Shar only to be abandoned by her.
Shar abandoned her soul in the city of judgement, and never claimed her to "her embrace" (that sharrans speak about all the time). Then, there's a skeleton
of a dark justiciar somewhere in Reithwin with a diary. This diary tells a story about losing everything after they stepped on the DJ path. Then there's epilogue.
Sharran Shadowheart doesn't even try to hide her regret about how things ended, if the player romanced her and she broke with them to serve Shar.
Her words are full of hints that she is still pretty much in love with Tav. She says:
"It would have pained me to have you close, but not be able to dedicate myself to you in every waking moment".


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