#emp <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[phreakedt]

actually ill post this too bc it still makes me laugh

[teem-boo]

needed some motivation to draw yesterday

og

[atramentar]

"Once you take an illithid by the talon, there's no telling how deep into the abyss it might drag you." (for @theemperorweek)

[xdraonarts]

happy pride to this dude

[tavtime]

There is something skittering around in my brain tonight about the way that BG3 intends the audience to view mind flayers as individuals vs as a species, and the way that plays out in the player's relationships with Omeluum and the Emperor.

I mean, one of the primary gears upon which the story turns is that when a person becomes illithid, the soul they previously had is destroyed (but not their memories of the person they were). This is presented as an insurmountable wrong - literally socially aberrant - and it certainly is so from both the point of view of the gods concerned with mortal souls, and illithids' mortal prey concerned with keeping their brains in their heads.

The Emperor's storyline takes this to the conclusion that the condition of being soulless is, in and of itself, a complete destruction of the individual; that whatever it was before, the illithid will be invariably manipulative, inherently untrustworthy, and unable to reconcile its needs and desires into peaceful coexistence with non-illithids. It's certainly the conclusion you're intended to draw from Duke Stelmane's story, as well as numerous supporting texts, most notably from the creche.

But then... Omeluum offers the refutation to that. Here he is, leading a peaceful life because he just... wants to. Absent a soul or comprehensible mortal desires to operate as a moral compass, Omeluum still chooses to contribute to the Society of Brilliance. He voluntarily and at personal cost researches alternative food for himself so that he doesn't need to feed on sentient beings. He helps the player character multiple times, despite the fact that doing so carries variable risk with little promise of reward.

So clearly, being illithid in and of itself is not what makes someone manipulative or untrustworthy: it's not a baked-in species trait. The Emporer isn't Like That solely because he's a mind flayer; he's like that because... he's like that. That's who he is as a person. That's what he has become, in his current incarnation, and yes, some of it is certainly due to his transformation (having your soul shredded and your will broken would screw most people up pretty badly, I imagine), but not all of it! If something about his circumstances had been different, maybe he could've been different as well. Maybe his moral compass would have pointed in a similar direction as Omeluum's.

[lazywriter-artist]

Chapter one

Homecoming

Finally.

The warmth of the Terran sun slowly bathed over the trio as they stepped off of the ‘Macragge’s honor’. A number of ultramarines stood tall in salute as the three Primarchs passed by. Guilliman felt as a lump formed in his throat when his gaze trailed over his sons, and up to the golden palace of Terra. By the throne. This looming sense of dread could not be shaken from the back of his mind, not helped in the slightest by the masses gathering and gawking as if this were some glorious parade, but he couldn’t turn back now. Guilliman couldn’t even begin to imagine what the masses thought of his brothers, of Magnus... He and his brothers had made it so far already, and father couldn’t be left unchecked. Not anymore. They had to do something, anything, to make father grow up and get a grip. Sigh. Such a state of mind was one Guilliman would have never thought himself capable of fabricating on his own…that was until now he supposed.

You know, it was strange to be by Magnus’s side again…much stranger to the gawking, watchful eyes of the Terran populace they walked amongst, no doubt. He was pretty sure most didn’t even know of Magnus…and even fewer expected…such a form as the one his brother undertook now. He knew even after the arduous journey aboard the ship, with time to readjust and remember his brother’s figure, it still caught him off guard at times. Guilliman was just glad Dorn seemed to be taking it well too, there had been some tensions upon the reunion that had worried Guilliman. Even now, while Magnus had agreed to help them, Guilliman could feel something was not entirely honest in the why…but he trusted Magnus. He couldn’t place why, after millennia of what felt like confirmation to the contrary of trusting Magnus’s judgment, his mind still placed faith with his brother. Maybe it was a longing for a past that never was, or something that could have been. He did not want his mind clouded by the fog of ‘what if’s. They were in the now. Though…even still, something trusted Magnus. Perhaps, he could sense a burning passion that coursed through even Dorn in their conversations of father’s ill behavior, thus forming a burning and quiet pact that they needed to make things right, even if they all had different reasons.

…

Yes. That was it, Guilliman decided. They united themselves under the trust of their quiet pact. Their pact to rectify father’s behavior. Precisely…

His thought spiral was disturbed as there came the cheers of some Terran civilians at the sight of the three- well, he supposed Dorn and himself were the main reason, but he wanted to try and think of this as merely a mission like they used to go on. Before… everything. When they were still brothers. Well- certainly they were all still brothers, it would be foolish to insinuate they weren’t still related and tied together by their father’s blood coursing through each of them. Though…even more foolish would be to deny that there wasn’t a change in the way they spoke to one another now. Thinking about it this way? The idea that they were merely returning home to the praise of dozens for their work after using each of their strengths to save some distant far off world? It made the things he was about to do feel just that little bit more honorable. Just- just don’t think about it. They were simply reporting back to Terra after a successful mission with Magnus and Roboute merely having a long itemized list to report back to father with. It was a wonderful mission, he decided, the planet had greeted them with great kindness and open arms. That is why the civilians cheered. They were merely so successful and had done such a great job making peace that all the cogs fit nicely into place, no casualties at that. Yes. Didn’t his brothers recall? Simply a check up, a peace mission. You rarely get to go on those! Father will be glad to hear about it. Yes. yes he will…

Roboute felt that lump form again in his throat at the thought, when did his armor get so tight? He didn’t recall Terra being so hot. He felt like he was cooking in a portable oven. His gaze ran over the heads of his sons once again. Over the heads of the populace. His sight shot back and forth between the towering buildings, the bustling walkways, his mind churning through all the little noises he heard. The quiet chatter. The screams of joy. The pushing and shoving. The footsteps. The gasps, the idle street conversations being halted— he felt like the world was spinning around him. Like there was nowhere to go– was he always so light headed?

Oh dear.

He couldn’t keep deluding himself like this, could he? No…The cheers being silenced by the heavy stomps of Magnus behind him told him so. The fearful gazes of horror and some semblance of disgust when they caught sight of his brother told him so. The way his body perspired and muscles contorted in ways he never thought possible for a primarch told him so. The way his gaze landed back upon those towering, glimmering pillars of gold which concealed his father, who he never in a million years thought would use that grandiose booming voice of his to echo orders down the bustling halls again, told him so. Deep down, as much as he dreaded to admit it, His own senses told him so.

Taking in this acceptance, he’d draw a deep breath, his mind shutting out the ambient noise. His eyes focused forward as he’d quickened his pace. Reminding himself as he walked:

Steel your nerves, Roboute Guilliman. There is work to be done. You have never shied away from your duties, especially duties to better your home. Finish your task, with great care as you’ve always done. Steel your nerves, Roboute Guilliman.

Master list || Chapter select || Chapter 2

[fritterbat]

Power, 11x14, oil on canvas ... i'd hoped to be able to do more for @theemperorweek but i've been very busy so i'm sneaking in before the week is up with this painting of our beloved squid !

[extravalgant]

wizbat kinda is like looking in the mirror sometimes huh...

i think this point of dialogue sort of mirrors the kind of person the wizard is -because theyve had to make the same decisions in the past too...

and to that, i bring up mirage

what happens in mirage - the good (being grandmother raven and in extension mellori) versus the good of the spiral (not killing spider and the chaos heart, the one thing holding the spiral together), is a difficult choice that the wizard has to make. one they already make before they even face off against spider

i think they placed an especially heavy emphasis on the wizard's and mellori's connection in mirage on purpose because of this - ambrose mentioning how nice it is to see them together, how mellori misses our adventures and wishes they could travel together, mellori saying they go way back...

to mellori, we betrayed her. and even moreso, we betrayed grandmother raven.

the wizard often has to make difficult decisions, a point that bat makes here as well. i cant imagine what the wizard felt like in this moment - to be on the same sides, but on different ends. two sides of the same coin...

but if we think about it, bat and the wizard were on the same side the whole time. the only thing that was ever stopping them was simply... each other. both of them have pride, and their pride is inherently tied to the spiral as a whole

the wizard and the spiral are intertwined in one another. the fact that theyve been able to protect it for so long (minus a few mishaps) is a point of pride for them. bat's pride is one that concerns himself—his knowledge, his ability to do things. so when medulla continuously reads his mind and steals his knowledge, we know that hurts his pride as a whole.

both of them think that they could handle this on their own, and that they need to. they're stubborn. and i think their first interactions in part one kind of show that

while its clear that the wizard may not like or trust bat, i'm unsure whether or not bat trusts the wizard. maybe he has complex feelings about the whole thing, considering the wizard is the reason he was freed in the first place. but considering what happens at the end of part one... maybe the reason he didnt want to get involved was what he (thought) he had to do...

because look. this is the first instance of the wizard sensing what i can assume is bat's shadow magic, and it lets them pass! it senses the wizard's presence ("senses your presence"!), and it lets them pass... almost like bat knows they both want the same thing but that he needs to do it his own way... (stubborn)

^ okay ngl i sound kinda crazy when i talked here LOL BUT STILL. i think my point still stands. bat and the wizard are more similar than we think, and that makes their connection stronger...

[marmaladespread02]

BG3 men in white tennis shorts 🤤

[fiddlehead-soup]

Happy Friday. Post your Dream Guardians!

[phreakedt]

I was someone once... An adventurer.

(read more for me rambling about the emperor)

theres rarely any particular meaning or intent behind my art but i swear the emperor is literally my muse, so i thought id share my thoughts about what this piece means! i was listening to punish by ethel cain and couldnt get this idea out of my head… i feel like the line "i was an angel, but they made me leave" or the fallen from grace motif pretty well encapsulates the tragedy of balduran and the emperor and why he'll always be such a sympathetic character to me.

ultimately while there are valid reasons to believe the emperor's evil/irredeemable or whatever, its quite literally not his fault he became what he is. he never asked for his ceremorphosis (of course, he came to accept it, but that doesnt make it any less fucked up). its generally considered that mankind is capable of good and evil in equal measure, but if your humanity is literally stripped away from you, what is there to stop your descent? this isnt even to justify his actions but instead about how titles like "angel" and "demon", "good" and "bad" etc etc are so subjective and perception-based. like if it was the human(oid) balduran and not a mind flayer behind all his actions throughout the game, i doubt he'd be so universally hated. i mean, better a bad person than a literal monster, right?

there's also the "only god knows / only god would believe", or to me the idea that no matter how hard the emperor may try to exercise morality, he's so far departed from his former self that people will only ever see him as a villain, not a hero. its truly a damned if you do, damned if you dont situation. and most ironic is the fact that despite everything, he hasnt fully lost his humanity. he genuinely yearns for companionship and mourns what hes lost and who he used to be (to some degree). i think hes so well-written because he is just like you in the sense that hes simply playing the cards he was dealt, right or wrong. i could go on and on about this awesome character and song (especially its themes of perversion, punishment, and love) but that's the gist. thanks for reading ^^

[the-weeping-dawn]

Me: I would like to know if hirlings can not count as full people for all alone story flag reasons as they do sometimes not the challenge.

Also Me: I WIL L MAKE THIS WORK WITHOUT RESPECING TO A CLASS COMBINATION BETTER SUITED TO THIS I AM PLAYING MY FAVOURITE'S OTHER BAD TIMELINE OF WHICH HE HAS SO MANY APPARENTLY.

[ice-emperor-irl]

Long live the king.

For an empire returns.

[xdraonarts]

don't really have a whole prompt week worth of images in me this month, but i did wanna toss my hat into the emperor appreciation week going on rn (check out @theemperorweek if you want more of this squit from other artists/writers/creators) so im tossing flowers at it

[kaxenart]

Since the newest update changed some of the evil ending cinematics, I was messing around with the endings.

Asking emps to do some world domination and be its lapdog sword arm now wraps up in a much more satisfying way than the original like "emps sits in a chair, TAV IS NOT EVEN IN THE FUCKIN' SHOT, the end!"

My squsband is one hype man away from evil and I am the hype man.

awwooooooooooo

[jack-wack]

save me my munch boyfrimd....... ssave meeee.....