#mindflayers were not invented in bg3

[bigmfrat]

if I see Thez tagged as the emperor one more time I'm gonna start drawing him throwing hands with the emperor istg PLEASE HIS NAME IS IN EVERY POST

[potatoesandsunshine]

everyone writing a classic "girl wakes up in a videogame" fic for bg3 you are making the strongest girl in existence every time bc if I woke up on a beach and they were like showers are not invented I'd say well fuck it turn me into the mindflayer bc I'm out. i'm not going on your little walking tour through the rotting swamps or whatever. I'd have food poisoning before we even got off the beach. if your self insert can hold it together long enough to fuck a vampire then you have an unshakeable strength drive and vision etc

[omgshiftercat]

BG3 Blogging: Used Tadpole Salesperson

Some spoilers here, though I'll try to avoid the really big ones.

Now that I am replaying, I must share what I find to be a masterful example of character actions making sense based on the information they have, which isn’t the entire truth:

The PC has decisions to make about how much to trust the Dream Guardian, who, as it turns out, is inside the Astral Prism (that mysterious spiky-D20-like artifact carried by Shadowheart).

Kith’rak Voss speaks favourably about how the being inside the Prism has chosen to protect the PC party. This was the bit that made me think, “Okay, I guess the DG can be trusted.” And I figure it’s where Karlach will become convinced it’s okay to eat some tadpoles.

Neither Voss nor the PC is aware that there are TWO beings inside the Prism. And it makes sense for Voss to be cagey, because he’s not yet certain of the party’s loyalties.

🐇: Not having actually played the game, I understood “The PC has decisions to make about how much to trust the Dream Guardian” and “Karlach will become convinced it's okay to eat some tadpoles.”

Well, “understand” may be a strong word for that second bit... wut?

Me: Not a spoiler: the core companions have some minor illithid powers from having been infected by the modified mindflayer tadpoles. They can acquire more powers by consuming more of said tadpoles.

🐇: Eew!  Good to know. Also, eew!

Me: Since 200 years of horrific abuse have convinced Astarion that power is the only reliable path to security, the challenge with him is not to convince him to eat more tadpoles, but to discourage him from scarfing down every one he can find.

🐇: (Not sure if that counts as not a spoiler in general, but I'm guessing everyone looking at this channel knows that the modified tadpoles are there.) 

Me: I mean, the viewpoint character + Lae’zel + several at-the-time unspecified characters being aboard the nautiloid ship and getting infected was right there in the opening cutscene. And then “hey, we're not undergoing ceremorphosis even though it’s been days, obviously something’s up” is the driver for much of the plot, especially during Act 1.

🐇: I’m sure there are people who would want the premise to be a surprise, but they would presumably not look at a bg3 channel. (And if they do, they cannot be helped.)

Me: Kith’rak Voss is a high-ranking Githyanki and, as a good gith, hates anything to do with ghaikh.

...I must congratulate whoever invented the Githyanki language for coming up with a word that can be spat out with the appropriate levels of hatred and disgust.

I’m thinking that Karlach’s attitude towards consuming tadpoles will be similar to her mindset about using soul coins: she’s nominally against it, but can be convinced that it’s for the best.

🐇: It’s creepy and gross, but sometimes doing creepy and gross things helps you win?

Me: Exactly, and she’s had to do some questionable things to survive in the Hells.

I’ve decided that in this playthrough I’m not going to try convincing Lae’zel to eat any tadpoles. It’s not that necessary, and I think Karlach would respect her Githyanki culture.

...If I were playing Lae’zel Origin, of course, I’d be all, “None of us shall further taint our bodies with these ghaikh larvae! We do not need any-- I SAW THAT, ASTARION! SPIT IT OUT THIS INSTANT!” Turns the vampire upside-down and starts shaking him violently

Unfortunately, this means that every damn time I initiate dialogue with her, the first option to pop up is, “Have you considered making further use of our tadpole powers?”

That astral tadpole the game wants me to keep pushing in Act 3:

Similarly, in Act 3 of my Astarion Origin campaign, every companion dialogue had the option of trying to persuade them to eat the astral tadpole, even though I’d decided not to. The Emperor is lying through its tentacles when it says, “It will not affect your beauty,” and I figured there was no way the pretty vampire would risk his looks.

🦀: Even beyond that, I imagine the way it’s being offered throws up all sorts of red flags.

🐇: “The Emperor spoke true, Astarion. You look fine. I am not lying.”

Me: “Dark grey vein-like lines radiating from the middle of your face make you look totally hot, actually” <- The Emperor, probably

Later confirmed: Astarion is not interested in the astral tadpole. He says, “I don’t want to turn into anything else. I can’t do that again. I can’t watch my body be taken over.”

Hm. It occurs to me that there’s a lot of stuff tied up in Astarion’s obsessive attention to his appearance. Some of it is definitely vanity, and he admits that himself. Some of it’s ingrained habits from having to be pretty bait and meet Cazador’s exacting standards despite being given few resources to help with that. (When I confronted Cazador during my AO run, the first words out of his mouth were, “This is how you present yourself before me? As some ragged adventurer?” When you confront him with Astarion as a companion, he snaps, “Do not slouch before me, boy!”) But also, looking good is one of the few things he had any control over.

Also, looking in the mirror is something that can help with dissociative episodes (for some people, anyway -- for others, it can trigger dissociation), and that’s a tool Astarion doesn’t have.

My headcanon is that when he figured out that the tadpole had negated some of the vampiric banes, he stole some mirrors in the hopes that he’d get his reflection back, and that’s why he’s got them at camp. Also that “dropping broad hints” thing.

🐇: And he keeps using the mirror because he’s hoping that the reflection will start working and that tadpole power just hasn’t kicked in yet? ...hm... also a good reason for nomming every tadpole he sees…

Me: Now picturing Astarion scanning the “manage illithid powers” screen and complaining loudly about the options.

🐇: Fix mirrors is the best upgrade!