trappedinafantasy37

[trappedinafantasy37]

Aight, Chapter 9 has been posted. It's a tad uneventful as it is just the scene with Thisobold Thorm. But, I really wanted to include it. So, enjoy!

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 fanfiction #fanfiction #ao3 #minthara #minthara baenre #shadowheart #dark urge #durge #minthara x durge #OC: Daedra #slow burn #evil playthrough

[trappedinafantasy37]

Whenever someone is talking about how they raided the grove to romance and recruit Minthara, there's always someone who's gotta push themselves to the front of the conversation just to say, "YOU CAN RECRUIT HER NOW WITHOUT RAIDING THE GROVE!!!". I'm sorry, but you need to shut up, I don't care. You seem to mistake me for someone with empathy and compassion and someone who cares for, eugh, refugees. I know I don't have to raid the grove for Minthara... I want to. Believe me, I did not feel forced to raid the grove, I chose to. Gotta make my baby gorl happy. I mean, how else am I supposed to get my cuddles?

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara baenre #team raid the grove #fuck them tieflings #shadow curse would have gotten them anyway #this is also a pro dj shadowheart post #tieflings never make it out alive when i play this game #the knockout method is not new info at this point #im aware it exists and i elect to ignore it #stop assuming im a good person who wants to do good things #evil is fun and i dont feel bad #brb gotta go commit heinous atrocities for my evil murder wife

[trappedinafantasy37]

Aight, Chapter 8 has been updated. I think I figured out a decent schedule for updates, which means an extra treat gets released today.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 fanfiction #fanfiction #ao3 #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara baenre #shadowheart #dark urge #durge #minthara x durge #OC: Daedra #slow burn #evil playthrough #doomed lesbians

[trappedinafantasy37]

I couldn't get it outta my mind! I had to draw out how Daedra actually would draw the symbol while channeling her divinity. Why the hell Lolth puts up with her, I don't know. If I was Lolth, this shit would piss me off!

One of the underrated things about writing fanfiction is going back in game and analyzing details so you can create good descriptions that readers can see in their minds. Wanna know something I learned that I never noticed before until I really looked at it?

When a cleric is channeling a divinity spell, they draw a little circle in the air before them. In most of my playthroughs, Shadowheart has been my only cleric so it was just always a bland circle. Figured this is how it always was for most clerics so I easily overlooked it.

But going back to Daedra, who is a cleric of Lolth, I noticed that she doesn't have a bland ass circle like Shadowheart does. She's got a little tiny spider in it. It's so frickin adorable! Look!

When the clerics channel their divinity, they are literally drawing on the powers of their gods. So, when they are enacting the spells, they are also displaying the symbols of that very god.

Now I can't help but imagine that every time a cleric starts to channel their divinity, they literally spend the time to draw the symbol of their god with their little magic fingers. It also makes me wonder how their reaction speed is in combat if they have to draw these symbols.

Shadowheart is lucky that Shar has a boring ass symbol and it's just a circle, so she's probably pretty quick with getting her spells out. But, Daedra has to sit there and individually draw each and every spider leg. Being the lazy shit she is, I can definitely see Daedra getting sloppy with her drawing, but it's accurate enough that she can still get the spell out. This is definitely how I'm gonna write it in my story.

#OC: Daedra #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #Cleric of Lolth #Lolth the spider queen #baldurs gate 3 fanfiction #fanfiction #symbolism #daedra is such a lazy cleric #at least shes a good ranger

[trappedinafantasy37]

One of the underrated things about writing fanfiction is going back in game and analyzing details so you can create good descriptions that readers can see in their minds. Wanna know something I learned that I never noticed before until I really looked at it?

When a cleric is channeling a divinity spell, they draw a little circle in the air before them. In most of my playthroughs, Shadowheart has been my only cleric so it was just always a bland circle. Figured this is how it always was for most clerics so I easily overlooked it.

But going back to Daedra, who is a cleric of Lolth, I noticed that she doesn't have a bland ass circle like Shadowheart does. She's got a little tiny spider in it. It's so frickin adorable! Look!

When the clerics channel their divinity, they are literally drawing on the powers of their gods. So, when they are enacting the spells, they are also displaying the symbols of that very god.

Now I can't help but imagine that every time a cleric starts to channel their divinity, they literally spend the time to draw the symbol of their god with their little magic fingers. It also makes me wonder how their reaction speed is in combat if they have to draw these symbols.

Shadowheart is lucky that Shar has a boring ass symbol and it's just a circle, so she's probably pretty quick with getting her spells out. But, Daedra has to sit there and individually draw each and every spider leg. Being the lazy shit she is, I can definitely see Daedra getting sloppy with her drawing, but it's accurate enough that she can still get the spell out. This is definitely how I'm gonna write it in my story.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #shadowheart #shar #cleric of shar #OC: Daedra #lolth #cleric of lolth #durge #baldurs gate 3 fanfiction #fanfiction #clerics have the most tedious jobs in the world #being powerhouses healing their team and appealing to their gods vanity #how the hell did shadowheart think she could hide being a cleric of shar #she literally has to draw shars symbols while doing spells

[trappedinafantasy37]

Aight, got two more chapters for ya'll. I intend to start updating semi-frequently and I'm working on a schedule. I currently have the entirety of Act 2 written out so I need to workshop Act 3 and the transition I have planned between the two acts. Enjoy!

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 fanfiction #fanfiction #ao3 #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara baenre #shadowheart #dark urge #durge #minthara x durge #OC: Daedra #slow burn #evil playthrough #doomed lesbians

[trappedinafantasy37]

What makes it even better is that some of the hardest and most iconic bosses in the entire souls series are women and definitely stand out in their own respective games. If you think about it, Lady Maria was kinda the blueprint that Sister Friede and Malenia followed and improved upon.

I want to be every soulsborne woman at the same time. Why are they all so ethereal and divine and mysterious and powerful and feminine and graceful and elegant and dark and I love women

#bloodborne #lady maria #lady maria of the astral clocktower #lady vileblood #dark souls 3 #sister friede #elden ring #malenia #malenia the severed #dont tell me that women are weak when malenia makes everyone cry

[trappedinafantasy37]

Let me tell you about my first time meeting Minthara and locking myself into the grove raid

I was having a chat with someone in the comments of my fanfic where I had told them I locked myself into the grove raid on my first run. They got really curious as to how I managed that. But, my response got a bit too long, so I figured I’d kinda do a bit of a writeup and reminisce about my first time playing Baldurs Gate 3 all the way back on Christmas Day and how I raided the grove with Minthara.

And oooo boi, where do I begin! Just a massive string of first time player who doesn’t know how to look, how to listen, or how to read. To start, never found Wyll in the grove (and when I eventually did he was big mad). I have no idea how I missed him. For some reason, my dumb ass also didn’t explore north of Blighted Village. So, I never found Karlach (and when I eventually did she was big mad). I went down to the swamp and Ethel just humiliated me, so I decided to go back until I was level 5 cause she was level 5. I never found Wood Woad so I never learned of the Shadow Druid stuff. I also never found the Underdark or Grymforge until exploring the goblin camp AFTER the raid so the only thing left for me to do was the grove.

Kagha wouldn’t talk to me cause she wanted me to go to Zevlor. I don’t know how I did it, but Zevlor wanted me to kill Kagha and just refused to talk to me when I said I wasn’t gonna kill Kagha. I also never found Mol so never got the quest to steal the idol.

So, all that was left was the goblin camp. Went downstairs to find the bear in the cage, I kinda figured it was Halsin. But, I think I picked the wrong dialogue options with the goblin kids and pissed off the bear. Long story short, bear got dead. All that was left was talking with Minthara and man she scared the absolute fucking shit outta me! When she told me to tell her where the grove was, I was literally too scared to tell her no and gave her the location. Don’t know bout you, but powerful and scary women can convince me to do just about anything! I felt awful, but it felt like it was the only way to progress the grove conflict.

Then I started the raid and saw that I still had the option to turn against her. I was so excited and thought “Yay! I can still save them AND I’ll have an army of tiefling and druids.” WRONG! I had 3 tieflings and only 1 was actually worth a damn and the druids slept through their big day. Minthara swept the floor with my ass, again, and again, and again. I tried that fight for 3 hours and Minthara won the fight every time. Mind you, I was severely under leveled and was doing the raid at level 3.

I may have found Withers, but didn’t know about respecing so Shadowheart was still in her default class of Trickery Domain (WHICH IS GARBAGE), Astarion who was an Arcane Trickster (WHICH IS GARBAGE), and Bae’zel who carried our asses as best as she could. And then there was me, a Rogue Assassin who loses her biggest advantage after round 1.

In typical drow fashion, she quite literally beat me into submission and I just said, “fuck it, I’mma join her.” Easiest fight in the game, didn’t break a sweat. When I talked to her in the inner sanctum, I genuinely felt nauseous to my stomach, but I decided I wasn’t gonna reload and was live with my choices, even if they’re stupid. I told Minthara that what we did was murder and we deserve to hang for it. Then she said “Look at me” and I was hooked. She has had me in her clutches ever since.

I did the goblin party and her and I went to the chapel. I figured I was gonna get a fade to black kinda sex scene. WRONG! It has got to be the most graphic and explicit sex scene I’ve seen in a game second to Cyberpunk. I was literally in shock the whole time. And then, afterwards, I cuddled with her and she wanted to talk about my feelings and I'm all "O.o, you're supposed to be evil?" The game may have been painting her as an evil character, but that moment showed that there was so much depth to her than just being an evil character. A moment most players will never see cause most don't raid the grove. I truly wasn’t expecting to see her again in Moonrise. And when I did, I knew I had to get her outta there no matter what.

Looking back on it now, it’s interesting for me to see how many things had to go wrong in order for me to end up raiding the grove. If I had found Karlach first, it wouldn’t have happened. If I found the Underdark/Grymforge first and leveled up a bit, wouldn’t have happened. If I freed Halsin, I probably would have killed the goblin leaders (including Minthara cause I did not know about the knock out method on my first play through) and the raid wouldn’t have happened. Hell, if I had thought to lower the difficulty to Explorer it wouldn’t have happened! But I didn’t get that big brain idea until the fight with Nere, well after the grove raid.

Minthara left such a massive impression on me because I did raid the grove. It really does make me think of her line “I would have just been another casualty in your crusade against the Absolute and no one would remember me.” If I did things right, that’s exactly who she would have been and probably would have been dead in most of my playthroughs. But, instead, I fucked everything up and she most certainly wasn’t a casualty and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget her. When meeting her in the goblin camp, never could I have imagined relating so much to a character. Out of all the companions, I relate to Minthara the most and Karlach comes a close second.

I don’t always raid the grove, but I will never kill her under any circumstance. Her and Shadowheart are the only two companions who have survived every playthough I’ve done and will survive every future runs cause I just cannot play this game without them. And it’s all because I was a chronic dumbass and raided the grove.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara baenre #shadowheart #karlach #karlach cliffgate #astarion #laezel #wyll #wyll ravengard #team raid the grove #seriously why didnt the druids help its their grove #accidentally evil #life is more fun when youre a chronic dumbass

[trappedinafantasy37]

💀 vid src + tags by @roughlytwentytwofrogs

#This was not fun #how dare you show this to me #i cant unhear it #youve ruined the fun of the barn scene #i dont think i can open it anymore #now everyone must suffer as i do

[trappedinafantasy37]

Alrighty, Chapter 5 has been posted. It's a little bit uneventful as it just details Minthara and the team arriving to Last Light and her getting settled in. But, I should be getting more chapters posted this weekend (but no promises). Enjoy!

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 fanfiction #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara #shadowheart #dark urge #minthara x durge #OC: Daedra #slow burn #evil playthrough

[trappedinafantasy37]

Exactly my thoughts! I feel like a lot of people just want to reduce her down because they don't want to admit that she is as powerful and significant as she is. They take her one L and just assume that she has centuries full of L's. I mean, her ending if you don't romance her has her return to the Underdark and guess what? She's alive and thriving! Despite the significant danger returning should be, she still manages to evade death from other drow Houses, her House, and Lolth herself. it is actually a miracle that Lolth didn't immediately smite Minthara the moment she walked into the Underdark. But, I have a personal theory that Lolth chose to spare Minthara because she loves chaos more than traitors and Minthara most certainly will bring chaos by trying to destroy the most ancient and powerful house in Menzo.

I've even seen someone argue that Minthara was always "worthless" cause her own mother tried to kill her. Mothers and daughters trying to kill each other is a common practice amongst Menzo nobles and certainly wasn't a unique situation for Minthara. Sure, it's usually the daughter trying to kill the mother so she can assume her mothers place. But the mother trying to kill the daughter happens because the mother sees the daughter as a threat to her power and authority. Minthara was not worthless to her mother, SHE WAS A MOTHERFUCKIN THREAT!

I pretty much think about this post whenever people try to argue that Minthara is, like, a low-tier Baenre or nepobaby who didn't amount to anything. It comes across as a fundamental misunderstanding of how status works in Drow society, especially for nobles.

I chalk it up to people working from an assumption that being a Paladin of Lolth somehow isn't a big deal compared to being a priestess. But like, what makes you think priestesshood isn't a PREREQUISITE to Paladinhood? Heck she even used to BE a cleric in EA, and even in final release still fights using cleric weapons (ie. maces) but with the full weapon training of a graduate of Melee-Magthere on top of that.

And while this is admittedly some conjecture, holding enough favor to swear an oath to carry out Lolth's will reflects a level of confidence in where you stand with your god that very few can likely boast. Meanwhile even HIGH priestesses need to beg from a yochlol to determine whether this or that matron has fallen out of favor.

The OTHER reason I often see given to saying she isn't important points to the lack of Drow politics or antagonists coming after her when she fell under the Absolute's control, presumably a traitor. But like, she already SAYS the consequences of that; she can never go home, or she will be tortured, turned into a dryder, sacrificed, or just straight up killed on sight. When all it takes is one member of a house to jeopardize the Matron's standing with Lolth, it's no surprise they'd take the "cut ties, brand an outcast, and call it a day" path.

Meanwhile I look to her ability to command a sizeable army of House Baenre soldiers as a big deal in and of itself, that gets equally ignored. People have to understand that armies in Menzoberranzan don't work like standing armies or police forces in real world societies. They're not beholden to Menzoberranzan as a nation-state, but to the house they serve.

Not just any Baenre could march a bunch of soldiers out of the Underdark (travel that's already heavily restricted) basically on a whim. If you think so I'd love to see examples, but at the very least this puts her in a high position of authority over military forces, a general basically, who may answer to some High Priestesses and certainly the Matron, yes, but that applies to every other noble so I don't see the point in diminishing her for that.

There's also the fact that she's 250+ years old, which is impressive for a female Baenre who must have SO MUCH competition for every step of station she achieves coming from below, and pressure from above not to overreach, yet still she not only survived, but thrived. She MISSES noble life, someone with her degree of ambition doesn't yearn for that unless they are confident they have what it takes to play the game. If she was foolish or overestimated her position, or didn't make herself an asset in all of that time, she would not be around, simple as that.

#minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara #like she was a soldier in lolths army #and the absolute went out of their way to target her specifically #idk bout you but Minthy was probably in the line of succession if her mother wanted her out of the picture #can you imagine if the absolute actually managed to get control of house baenre via Minthy

[trappedinafantasy37]

I was just thinking how when you tell Minthara you love her, she responds with "I know". I used to think that she just has an unshakable confidence that you love her and she doesn't really need you to tell her cause, well, she knows. But, why does she never say it back?

She will show you she loves you by doing things for you like one shotting your enemies and soloing all the bosses for you. She also will very quickly give you affection when you ask (and she's hella aggressive about it). She will support you in every decision you make (even if she thinks you're making a stupid ass decision). But, why won't she just tell you she loves you?

Cause if she says it out loud, you become a target. That's how it is for Menzoberranzan drow, especially nobles. A drow who admits they love another will quickly find their lover killed as a means to hurt them. That's why they have to use roundabout ways to admitting love to each other without actually saying it. Plus, the word "love" just doesn't really exist in Menzoberranzan and most drow who live there don't know the concept. She refuses to say she loves you cause she's afraid that someone will kill you just to hurt her. And a lot of people (and gods) want to hurt her.

The only time in the game that I can think of where you tell her you love her is the reunion party. A party full of people she feels do not like or trust her. A party that she feels is an excellent opportunity for a poisoning. Minthara is definitely a product of her environment. Now, I don't think she actually thinks your friends would hurt you. But, she kinda just kicks into Noble Party Mode. And Noble Party Mode says: don't eat the foot, don't trust the guests, and don't tell your lover you love them because someone will hear you and do something about it. It's not a surprise that she's very anxious the entire time and wants to leave. (Another example is mentioned in a previous post of mine here where in a Karlach origin, a non romanced Minthara will use very roundabout language to admit she's in love with Karlach but never uses the word love. You can see that here)

And then there's 'alurlssrin', which basically means an unshaken, deep, passionate love. This is a word that belongs to Eilistraee and should be foreign to her, a word that she would be punished socially (or killed) for even knowing if she was still in Menzoberranzan. That is what she feels for you. She also says that she hopes the bond you share with her will last as long as you two live.

She says this before facing Orin, someone she deeply fears. She is going down into the temple terrified that she will never leave. She literally pulls you aside to tell you she loves you in the best way that she can, cause she's afraid that Orin will kill her and she'll never be able to tell you otherwise.

To sum it up, Minthara does love you. She loves you a lot. She loves you deeper and harder than any of the other companions will and with a burning passion. She wants to go where you go, do what you do, see what you see. It never crosses her mind that she'll be doing something in which you're not right fucking there with her. She won't say she loves you, she will never say she loves you, and it's because she does love you. When she follows up with "I know", she's not being arrogant or downplaying what you feel. She's trying to keep you safe.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara #team raid the grove #yeah shes evil but she loves me

[trappedinafantasy37]

Alrighty, I went ahead and uploaded Chapter 4 to my Minthara fic "To Be Free From the Gods". Figured I'd go ahead and get it up now since I might not be able to get to more chapters until much later this week. Please enjoy!

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 fanfiction #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwareden minthara #shadowheart #dark urge #durge #minthara x durge #slow burn #evil playthrough #it is canon that durge has low int

[trappedinafantasy37]

Some of ya'll severely underestimate just how much Minthara loves Karlach. Out of all the companions, Karlach is the only one that Minthara has no negative opinions about. She doesn't have a mean or cruel thing to say about or to Karlach. Now, she's pretty kind to Shadow and Lae'zel, but she can still be an asshole to them from time to time. Most of Minthara's comments about Karlach is praise and approval.

If you do the Karlach origin and you have romanced her, she will urge Karlach to return to Avernus. If Karlach chooses not to, Minthara will cry. This is the only scene in the game where Minthara cries and shows that level of emotional vulnerability. Lol, she didn't even cry when she was being tortured in Moonrise and thought she was gonna die! She tries to persuade Karlach by basically saying, "I'm going to personally throw hands with Zariel regardless on whether or not you're with me, so you may as well come with me." That vengence paladin in her is really shining through. And Minthara is a paladin of her word. Even if Karlach does choose not to return and dies, and enraged and heartbroken Minthara will walk right into Hell and invent a new flame so hot not even Zariel can resist the heat.

If you do the Karlach origin in which you go to Avernus but do not romance Minthara, she will be excited to see Karlach at the reunion party alive and happy. She also says that once she reclaims her house, she has every intention of joining Karlach in Avernus and she does this completely unprompted! Karlach does not even ask and Minthara is just offering her an army once she has one, and she will provide it free of charge. Karlach can ask Minthara why she's doing all of this. Minthara kind of not so subtly admits that she's in love with Karlach, but, of course, won't use the words "love" and she dances around it.

Romanced or not, Minthara is willing to go head first into Avernus on Karlachs behalf to demolish Zariel. Do you have any idea how huge that is? Minthara has been nothing but power hungry the entire game and is constantly clawing to get more. But in this moment, she is putting all desire for power on furlough just for Karlach. She is going to wage a war against Zarial and all of Avernus for the life of just one person, a person who might still die in the end. If Karlach does not romance Minthara, she is still putting her own ambition and desire for power on hold to help Karlach in which she'd gain no benefit other than Karlach being alive.

You cannot convince me that Minthara isn't canonically in love with Karlach.

PS: even the VA for Minthara, Emma Gregory, ships these two. In almost every interview Emma Gregory has done, she specifically mentions the romance with Karlach and its impact for Minthara's overall character arc.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #karlach #karlach cliffgate #minthara #minthara baenre #minthara x karlach #doomed lesbians #they were made for each other

[trappedinafantasy37]

Alrighty. After proof reading and editing for the past two days, I have finally posted the first few chapters of my Minthara fanfic. I’m super excited about it. I’ve never been much of a writer, but Baldur’s Gate has given me an inspiration that I never knew I had. I plan for this to be a bit of a long story. I do plan to update somewhat regularly, but I make no promises.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 fanfiction #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara baenre #dark urge #shadowheart #durge #bg3 shadowheart #minthara x durge #slow burn #evil playthrough

[trappedinafantasy37]

I have never understood this whole notion that the companions don't take Durge seriously when they talk about their urges. it's not that they don't take Durge seriously, I just don't think they comprehend just how bad it is for Durge.

Shadowheart acknowledges that everyone has these thoughts and everyone seems to indulge in them. But you and the others have a conscious. She truly believes that you have the ability to fight them because she has faith that you do have a conscious.

Gale interprets it as if it just ordinary anger, something that everyone has from time to time. But, he also stresses that thoughts like that should remain only as thoughts because he knows that they should not be acted on.

Lae'zel says that there is nothing wrong with enjoying a little bit of murder, as long as there is a purpose to it and isn't done too often and without restraint.

Wyll also sees it as anger, but feels that that anger is justified considering what everyone has been through the past few days. However, he sees no issue with the problem, as long as it is directed to those who deserve it (like your enemies).

Karlach immediately applauds you for admitting your problem and suggests that you can either change, or also direct your urges out on those who deserve t.

Halsin perceives your situation as any other illness, but one that you may not be able to rid yourself from. He advises you to engage in mindfullness and self control.

None of these come off as people who aren't taking Durge seriously, but merely people who do not comprehend that the urge is pathological. Astarion, Minthara, and Jaheira are the only ones that truly know and understand just how bad it is for Durge from the get go.

Astarion will actually approach Durge if he notices the symptoms as he himself knows what it's like to be feral and driven by impulses he cannot control. All the companions (except Minthara) will tell Durge to resist the urges but Astarion is by far the most convincing because he has literally been in Durges place. He truly and fully understands what it means to have another force compel you to do things you don't want to do.

Minthara has personally witnessed people driven by darker urges both in Menzoberranzan and by being the plaything of Orin. When Durge confesses to her, she will admit that she fears that Durge is like those that even Lolth would destroy for the greater good (and Lolth has no concept of greater good, that's how serious it is). She admires the power of the slayer, but she believes it to be a power that should be controlled. If the slayer cannot control themselves, then she will destroy it.

Jaheira clocks Durge as Bhaalspawn not too long after joining camp. Considering that she has personally traveled with Bhaalspawn in her past, she literally does know better than anyone how deep things go for Durge. She has witnessed it herself, many times.

When Durge reveals to everyone about being Bhaalspawn, they are all surprised (except Minthara and Jaheira) because they are forced to recognize that these aren't fleeting thoughts, but the core nature of Durge. They are forced to recognize for the first time that these are persistent thoughts that Durge has to resist every single damn day. They are forced to acknowledge that if not for the incredible restrain, Durge would have killed them all.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #shadowheart #gale #lae'zel #karlach #halsin #astarion #minthara #jaheira #durge

[trappedinafantasy37]

There are two manipulators in camp, and the more successful one isn't Astarion. It's Shadowheart. I'm not saying that Shadow is a better manipulator necessarily, but that she uses more successful tactics than Astarion.

Astarion does not care about your relationship or affinity with the other companions. He only cares about your relationship and affinity with him. He may call everyone "darling" but he flirts with you. He gets in your ear and says sweet and nice things... to you. He compliments... you. He plays around... with you. He wants you to feel good about yourself which will make you feel good about him. Most of his manipulation moments happen in one on one scenarios, where it is just you and him. He is a very different man when he's with you because he's manipulating you. He acts very differently with people around you or in group settings. If anything, the person he is in group settings is closer to the real man he is cause he's not trying to manipulate everyone.

He puts on this overly flirtatious mask cause he is using you to guarantee his survival (at least at first). But, because he puts this mask on in one on one scenarios, it only takes just one second to you to see through it to fail. And if you happen to catch on to him, you can see very easily through the mask. The manipulation instantly fails and he is forced to be himself to try to maintain your approval. But if you don't see his mask early on, he could convince you to do just about anything, even the most heinous of actions. And then when he willingly lets his mask fall or feels he no longer needs it and you see the real him, it's too late. You've already fallen in love with him. Now, he can do no wrong in your eyes.

Shadow uses nearly the exact opposite approach. She does care about your relationship and affinity for others. To be precise, she wants you to have a slightly unfavorable opinion of the others so that she comes out as the favored by default. Lae'zel is a particular target of this. She avoids one on one scenarios and pushes you away every time you try to get close. Yes, it is that inner Sharran of hers in regards to keeping secrets. But also the fact that she's super easy to see through if you get close to her, so she wants to keep you away for the sole purpose that you don't see that she's manipulating you. But, even if you do, she still has the benefit of the doubt on her side.

Her manipulation mostly takes place in group scenarios. She takes advantage of things as they happen and she says very precise words to sway your opinion in the way she wants. Unfortunately, Lae'zel is a perfect example of how successful this manipulation tactic can be. Shadow doesn't not need to tell you Lae'zel is dangerous, she just reminds you that she is while Lae'zel is actively doing dangerous things. Shadow will even openly admit to this tactic and it will fly over your head that that's exactly what she's doing because she has made herself appear as someone who wouldn't do it to you. Or, admitting to it can make you doubt that she ever would as you may think, "a real manipulator wouldn't admit to manipulating me, right?" Her manipulation is all about planting just the slightest bit of doubt, and you do the rest and manipulate yourself for her. And she does it so marvelously. She makes sure that the only person you don't doubt is her.

Astarion's manipulation requires that you never see through his bullshit at any given point in time. If you do, the manipulation fails. Shadow's manipulation can survive you seeing through her bullshit because everyone, somehow, keeps proving her right anyway.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #astarion #shadowheart #lae'zel #manipulation #masks