#squidpetals

[tentabian]

Fully rendered version of a previous sketch. Hope y'all enjoy.

@neilanuruodo @oryndoll @baldursghaik

Speedpaint:

[tentabian]

Iris gave the Emperor's fingers a reassuring squeeze and it was ready to fight god immediately.

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I've gotta actually start writing and posting my fanfics bc I somehow ended up making the Emperor both more tragic, more manipulative, and more than a little socially clueless. Also, she's transfeminine genderfluid in this AU, both because of things that happen after the game and because she accidentally cosplayed as Iris's dead wife and it learned some stuff about themselves. I know so many of you would eat that shit up, I just gotta write that shit down instead of playing scenes in my head.

Anyway, have the squidpetals playlist.

[tentabian]

The Emperor remembers itself from before as Balduran. It knows that he would have jumped at Iris the first chance he got. It would've been a one-night stand, nothing more. No risk for obsession, no questions of "does she, doesn't she?" Just an outright proposition, a night together, and then he'd forget the next morning.

Instead, the illithid that Balduran has become can't find itself doing much of anything but poking at what memories Iris doesn't have outright locked up. One of her mother and father screaming at each other. One of her and her last brother playing together. One of her father telling tales of Ansur and Balduran. It kept replaying the last one.

It found itself looking for other instances where Iris has read or heard about its past self. It paid close attention to the feelings of admiration. The feelings of curiosity and awe. But most importantly, it paid attention to when those feelings stopped. When Iris started theorizing the people running the Gate were corrupt in some way. When they started running with Rue. It felt a tinge of annoyance.

Back on the nautiloid, when it first found itself attracted to the tiny tiefling, Rue had been the only thing on Iris' mind. The Emperor understood that this person was important to Iris, and that they adored her. So it took her shape. The Emperor didn't realize it would be living in that girls shadow for the rest of its life. It was so much more powerful than that dead tiefling. So why couldn't Iris just let it in?

The tiefling stirred outside the prism. The Emperor sent waves of comfort and ease, hoping to spend just a little longer in their thoughts. It took a peak at the dream Iris was having. Karlach and Shadowheart laughing. Little children gathered around them and giggled as Iris sang to them. The three kids looked like they had a mix of Karlach, Iris, and Shadowheart's features.

The Emperor felt two emotions it had been feeling more and more since Iris entered the picture. Jealousy and possessiveness. Balduran wasn't one for those, but he never met Iris either. The Emperor can't help but think he would've felt similarly at seeing Iris with someone else. Her falling in love with others was one thing. The idea of her building a life away from the Emperor? The idea of them having someone else's kids? Rage inducing. Neither Balduran or the Emperor wanted to ever settle down or have kids, but neither version of the entity would want her doing that with somebody else either.

The Emperor has to shake itself. This wasn't logical. It wasn't typical illithid behavior, and it wasn't typical Balduran behavior either. More proof that in both cases, the Emperor had evolved past those identities. So what was so special about this tiefling, that it's evolved mind just couldn't stay away?

For the first time in a long time, the Emperor was at a loss for how to move forward.

[tentabian]

i don't need to explain myself.

@neilanuruodo @oryndoll @baldursghaik

this seems like y'all's thing.

[tentabian]

iris is the renee rapp of the bg3 universe. no i won't elaborate.

[tentabian]

the face iris makes when the emperor does literally anything. they are so fucking cautious with it, it's so funny.

[tentabian]

Writing Picked Like A Rose feels like this:

For context, in my AU, the Emperor is transfem, genderfluid, and aromantic demisexual, while Iris is transandrogyne, genderfluid, and demiromantic/sexual trixic/sapphic/lesbian. There is absolutely nothing heterosexual about them but I know to a passing cishet it absolutely would seem like it until they got to later chapters. Y'all will see what I mean as more gets released.

The reason I wrote it like is because it felt like a very fucked up Beauty and the Beast retelling and that fairy tale has always been trans-coded to me. So yes, I'm being self indulgent.