Bg3 The Emperor - Tumblr Posts
I’m so excited for my brother to get propositioned by squidward tentacles
I was talking about the emperor.
To want something was as close as he could get to love. To obsess, to dominate and to submit. All of it felt like the mimicry of mortal love. Together they felt they were doing something special, creating a perversion of the process. No love existed in ceremorphosis, no love existed in the nature of illithids, and yet here they were creating a convincing act. How long does one need to play a part until it cements itself into their being?
what is Astarion doing when u are his juicebox but also you smashing the emperor in your dreams?
The Bitty Empy is finished! Here is the size comparison with the previous one I made:
More sillies below:
Chain Lightning.
Based on one of the coolest things I've ever pulled off in the game:
Display issues aside, that's 192 points of lightning damage on the red dragon with one spell 😳
Why do people keep saying Mind Flayers are sexless?
I assume this is because they only look at the Fandom Wiki about Mind Flayers, and then somehow use this information to try and be upset about being able to romance Mind Flayers/The Emperor in Baldur's Gate 3, since the Fandom Wiki calls Mind Flayers sexless. However 'The Book of Aberrations' and 'Volo's Guide to Monsters' states this;
My best bet is that due to a Mind Flayers long life span and the rarity of them spawning, Mind Flayers are most likely Simultaneous Hermaphrodites, meaning they could either asexually reproduce through self-fertilization or reproduce with another Mind Flayer who is also ready to spawn. This means Mind Flayers are perfectly capable of sexual intercourse/reproduction.
Note: I also feel like people just seem to forget that one does not need to have sex organs in order to have sexual relations, compatible or non-existent when talking about fiction.
a appil changes everything... (i wanted to do a challenge i saw on twitter)
There is no sane explanation for this
Inspired by that one octopus that got laughed at by scientists
Click for better quality!
I was always befuddled how such a mindflayer can be so hard to trust while ultimately having simultaneous goals as the team. Then I finally saw their stats in the other timeline.
It all makes sense now.
I am forever bemused by this this lower-than-the-average-squid-charisma disaster of a mindflayer.
I can only surmise that when the Emperor said Stelmane was the face of their business-partnership, it was not only meant literally but charismatically as well. Squid buddy's got the brains, none of the suave. If Emps tried rebuilding the Knights of the Shield without another business buddy, it might've been a tad difficult if morals were concerned huah.
THAT one's goin on the list too now!
I always wondered how the emperor kept an eye on us..
alternatively,
The Tragedy of Ashtoret, Part 1: Trust
Ok so I have been completely, utterly obsessed. Consumed. Diseased, even, with brainworms since concluding my first run of Baldur's Gate 3, and I absolutely have to get the thoughts of my Tav off of my chest in a format that's really only suited to this site so. Below the cut lie extensive spoilers for BG3. All of it. You have been warned. If you read beneath the cut I am not responsible for what you may get spoiled on. (This is gonna be a multi-post series, I just. I need to scream so much.)
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
I'm gonna start at the end, rather than the beginning. Ashtoret chose to undergo ceremorphosis in order to better use the Netherstones to control and destroy the Elder Brain. Why did they choose to do this, rather than let someone else take the fall or take control?
Simply put, it's all about trust. They had, out of necessity at first, then over time out of actual faith, placed their trust in the Dream Visitor, the Guardian. The Emperor. Despite how suspiciously he acted, when it came down to important matters (like preventing the ceremorphosis from taking hold too soon and letting them fall to the Elder Brain), The Emperor proved more an ally and asset than a hindrance or something/someone to be cast aside. Although Ashtoret always held a slight reserve of suspicion towards him- they'd be a damned fool not to- they were willing to extend kindness and the hand of friendship and compassion. They'd done much the same for every single other person in their merry band, after all. What was one more?
When they discovered that the Emperor was once Balduran, the hero whose tales inspired their own journey outside the city (they had the Folk Hero background), despite the obvious deception that implied and their upset with him for concealing the fact, they trusted him almost unequivocally from that point forward. How could they not? His tales were the lodestar by which they navigated their life. It'd be like a Cleric having a direct, face-to-face meeting with their god.
Note that I say, "Almost unequivocally". Because even as much as Ashtoret held Balduran in reverence, even as much as they trusted the Emperor to use the power judiciously, simply handing over the keys to godlike power to another being whose intentions could shift at a moment's notice felt foolish beyond belief. They trusted their hero... but not enough.
Not enough to fully hand the mind flayer The Emperor the reins. But, because of that same trust in The Emperor, all he was, and all he had become, they believed that it was possible to retain a sense of their 'self' and continue to help the city even after completing their ceremorphosis. After all, they had a living example right in front of them! If Balduran could do it, why couldn't they follow in his footsteps?
They would step into his shoes. Be his successor, as they'd always dreamed they could one day. Better yet, be his confidant. His equal.
Of course, we all know how this will inevitably end. Anyone who's watched Karlach transform into an illithid will note that she is not the same as she was before. Something was irrevocably lost in the process of becoming a mind flayer, and the same holds true for Ashtoret.
They, like the hero they trusted and believed and followed unto their 'doom', see their current state as a clear upgrade over what they were before. A higher state. An enlightened state. And though they, like their hero, will not necessarily force anyone else to 'evolve themselves' (though even that matter is somewhat up for debate in the fandom wrt The Emperor), they will ever seek to cajole and convince those once in their circle to join them as they are. And while they can understand from a 'read it on a sheet of paper' POV their former allies' horror at this thought, they, like what Balduran became, believe that it's ultimately short-sighted.
And unfortunately, their comrades will never again be able to trust their intentions because they laid their faith onto an already-rotten-to-the-core pedestal.
The Tragedy of Ashtoret, Part 4: Love
Look if y'all haven't heeded the massive flashing warning signs of BG3 SPOILERS AHEAD on the last 3 posts, I dunno what to tell you at this point. Those who Know Things or don't care about being made privy to the Forbidden Knowledge, read below the cut.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Ah, Love. For many a hero, this would be their greatest source of strength. And indeed, for Ashtoret, their love, their empathy, their compassion was one of their finer character traits. However, it was also this trait that allowed them to be party to some truly horrific acts, take actions to protect people that were neither desired nor necessary, and ultimately stayed their hand at times when they most needed to strike.
Love convinced Ashtoret that allowing Astarion to go through with Cazador's ritual was a terrible mistake. Having failed to talk Shadowheart out of slaying the Nightsong (more on that below), they were not about to let Astarion repeat their beloved's error. Talking him out of the ritual tested their powers of persuasion to the limit, but they succeeded, and he was thankful for it.
Love made them wither with guilt inside whenever they interacted with Karlach after their absolute failure to protect the Last Light Inn. They knew she was on the clock, knew how much she loved life, enjoyed her presence and her company... and knew it was their fault that her engine couldn't be fixed. They couldn't let her sacrifice herself to become a mind flayer. But because they loved her as a friend and respected her desires, they couldn't tell her to follow Wyll into the hells to stay alive in the aftermath, either. The Karlach they knew would sooner die than return to Avernus. Better to let her burn out on her own terms than to force her to go back.
Survival may have motivated their decision not to head straight for the githyanki creche as Lae'zel wanted, but it was love that prevented Ashtoret from seeking the Orphic Hammer. And not just love for The Emperor, though the previous post illuminates more of that particular relationship (especially the worshipful devotion that fed that love).
Ashtoret overheard Vlaakith sending orders to Lae'zel to free Orpheus and then kill him. Curious, they peered deeper into the Undying Queen's motivations to find that if Lae'zel did as asked, she would abuse her strength until even her bones and her soul were no longer of use. Orin got hold of Lae'zel shortly afterward, and once Orin's Netherstone was in their hands, they were out of time and had to head straight for the Elder Brain before its quakes ripped the city apart.
Lae'zel watched her comrade transform into a vile ghaik for the sake of defeating the Netherbrain after consuming Orpheus' brain matter. The goal of her queen was accomplished, to a certain extent, but not as ordered. Perhaps it is a mercy that Lae'zel perished in the battle atop the Netherbrain, burned in dragonfire. A mercy that she did not have to put her companion to the sword. For she will never understand that the reason Ashtoret did not do what good sense and morals would indicate was that they perceived something she did not, and cared for her too much to let her go through with it.
"I love you too much to let you do this," as a phrase, accurately sums up Ashtoret's relationship with Wyll and Gale. In Wyll's case, they couldn't allow him to damn himself forever for the sake of his father. (And in the end, managed to (albeit briefly) outwit Mizora and rescue the father Wyll sacrificed for his freedom anyway.) And in Gale's, while the strategic prospect of detonating the Netherese Orb was never out of their head as a final option, they weren't going to let him simply volunteer to explode himself and resolve problems.
Now, we come to the crux of where Love led Ashtoret straight to their downfall in the form of their two romantic love interests: Shadowheart and The Emperor.
On some level, they suspected they were being led astray from the beginning. The Emperor's facade as the Dream Visitor was too good to be true. And yet, the longer they interacted with him, the more he proved useful and an effective protector, the more they were willing to extend him trust. Empathy. Compassion. None of their companions were exactly saints, and Shadowheart especially had a penchant for secret-keeping that led to numerous intraparty conflicts with Lae'zel and frustrated Ashtoret to no end as a romantic partner.
It would be hypocritical in the extreme to offer their companions understanding and forgiveness for their secrets and not do the same for their mysterious benefactor. Hypocritical as well to judge The Emperor harshly for his true illithid nature whilst letting Astarion, a vampire spawn, something else typically considered categorically evil, regularly sup on their blood.
It's interesting to note that both of Ashtoret's primary love interests present in very guarded ways at first. Both value their privacy and both understand the necessity of secret-keeping. And yet, behind both of those facades, Ashtoret saw something. Something they wanted to protect in Shadowheart, and something they wanted to nurture in The Emperor. And in both cases, they needed someone to breach that inner shell, someone who could be trusted as a confidant, and someone who would look at their innermost nature or their deeds and not cast judgement.
Ashtoret may regard their inability to stop Shadowheart from slaughtering the Nightsong as a failure, but they could not have acted otherwise if their words were destined to fail. They loved her too much to intervene, if intervention meant stepping over her corpse. Even if it would have been the "right" thing to do.
Love led Ashtoret to stand by Shadowheart's side and encourage her coup against the Mother Superior of the Sharran Temple after her ascension as a Dark Justiciar. But it also led them to raise their voice in protest when they saw how cruelly Shar forced her memories of her parents back onto her for the sake of making their murder in Her name mean something.
It took every ounce of guile that Ashtoret had to convince Shadowheart not to spear her parents through. Even if it meant pissing off the goddess, even if it meant likely condemning her to suffer from guilt in the living realm and Shar's endless torment in the next, they couldn't let her repeat the mistake of the Nightsong. But this time... this time, their words were enough to make her stay her hand and give her back the parents and some few fragments of the past she had forgotten for so long.
And in the end, it was Love that motivated Ashtoret to let Shadowheart take some time to spend with her parents and figure herself out. Time away from them and the difficulties of discreetly partnering with a mind flayer in a city once ravaged by them. Even if it meant parting, possibly for good.
But perhaps the greatest irony (and tragedy) of all for Ashtoret is that while they were quick to tell others, "I love you too much to allow you to do this" and "I love you too much to kill you", they were never willing to hear those words applied to themselves. And thus, something that was quintessentially "theirs" was lost for good, quite possibly never to return.