stranger
Joined: Sep 2023
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Interesting perspective. However, it seems you're missing the fact that he is Balduran, he already has a personality and form from his human life. His guardian form was his way of trying to build trust with you instead of scaring you off with his true form. I think it also goes against how The Emperor truly wants people to accept him as he is, especially those close to him. He wrote to Ansur desperately to stop trying to cure him because he doesn't need fixing. The Emperor in no way shape or form will ever be able to turn back into a human (unless a god intervened). Then there is also the dialogue where The Emperor says you've both bonded on the deepest level and the narrator says you can understand him now because of it. Because illithid's do cherish their thralls and actually mind control as a basic fulfilling need, even seeking out to renew the companionship, it wouldn't make much sense for him to throw a very useful and powerful person away. These endings are also very depressing, I'm curious as to why you don't want the relationship to work out? Thanks for bringing up those points! I will try to address them one by one. Interesting perspective. However, it seems you're missing the fact that he is Balduran, he already has a personality and form from his human life. His guardian form was his way of trying to build trust with you instead of scaring you off with his true form. I do remember who he is, that he has a personality and form from his human (elven in our case, I believe) life. And while I can see why he could theoretically return to his original body image if we nudge him towards it enough, I also feel like we shouldn't undervalue the form he picked for us. Not just because that's our preferable face and gender, but:
1. The Emperor himself states that he is Balduran no longer. He might not want to use that appearance anymore.
2. He wears the Guardian image when he connects with us for the first time - a fresh start of sorts, something he seems to be after ("I am who I was when we met" etc etc). He also proceeds to use said image well into Act 2, all while trying to act human in order to get us to cooperate with him. If we get him to see that there's a good side to embracing his feelings, I think it is possible that he might learn to associate emotional/personal growth with this image as well. I'm not sure how to properly explain it, but I hope you get the idea.
Still, I'm not against him taking his original form, I would even encourage it. But it would be a very big step. Additionally, he could build himself an entirely new image, though I can't really see why he would want to do that. It would be yet another fresh start, and there's no reason for such. I think it also goes against how The Emperor truly wants people to accept him as he is, especially those close to him. He wrote to Ansur desperately to stop trying to cure him because he doesn't need fixing. The Emperor in no way shape or form will ever be able to turn back into a human (unless a god intervened). He doesn't have to and really shouldn't change back into human (/elf)! I think it would be a terrible thing. When I was describing the endings, one requirement always stayed the same: we should accept him as a mind flayer. As in his species, his looks, his abilities and so on. When I was describing him as 'leaning more towards his Guardian form' I merely meant him showing that he's learned to appreciate both sides of himself and is willing to show it. In the ideal world he would easily alternate between his two images, depending on what he feels like wearing. If he wants to only appear as a mind flayer, I say why not? These endings are also very depressing, I'm curious as to why you don't want the relationship to work out? It works out in ending 3 and somewhat in ending 2 (open ending, however mostly negative if you squint, yeah). I definitely want things to work out with him, but I also feel like this should be a difficult relationship to build simply because of what he had to go through before he encountered us. He's deeply distrustful, arrogant, calculating and currently leans more towards cold logic rather than feelings and emotions. If we are to truly get him to love us, we should first show him what's the point of it in the first place, help him see the benefits of emotional co-depndency and all that. If we succeed - congrats, we get ending 3. Then we get to kiss him (or her, depends on what image he chooses) on public and grasp at his tentacles behind closed doors.
Last edited by Dotsat; 01/09/23 02:02 PM.
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