Mia's Human

Full Audio Series & Essay

Available on Apple Podcasts, Libsyn, & Medium

Would you become a monster if it would save the world?

That is the central conflict of Baldur’s Gate III, a three-act epic fantasy that continues the story of the critically acclaimed series, bringing a new threat to the city of Baldur’s Gate in the form of an illithid invasion. We, the player character, find ourselves infected with an illithid parasite and must unravel the source of the parasite’s uniqueness, and its connection to the rising Cult of the Absolute before we, too, are transformed.

While an epic fantasy in scope, our parasitic infection brings us into intimate proximity with the monstrous in a relationship best described as Gothic. But what exactly is the monstrous in a setting full of fantastical creatures and horrors that reach out to us all the way from the Far Realm? And why is it so queer? To answer this, I think we need to frame our understanding of the monstrous through one of the most enduring monsters in literature and media: that of Frankenstein’s Creation. Scientific experimentation, body horror, paranoia, and the Gothic all merge in Mary Shelley’s enigmatic monster. Unraveling the seams of this creation, both its horror and humanity, will serve as the foundation to help us piece together the nature of monstrosity in Baldur’s Gate III.

So, what is a monster?

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Oscar’s situation, both with the haunting and within the town of Scarlet Hollow. We really see just how alone this character is, even though we end up having a large party of “ghost hunters” that can amount to up to nine people in some playthroughs. If you visit the library in episode one, you have the opportunity to talk with Oscar about what it’s like to be the subject of small-town gossip, as he was when Rosalina was still a toddler.

Oscar grew up in Scarlet Hollow, and his father was a miner, but Oscar left to get an education and returned with a masters degree and a toddler. But with Rosalina’s mother completely out of the picture, he became the subject of gossip in a small conservative town in the South. I suspect there’s more to it than that, though. We hear many times in the game about the mines being the best opportunity anyone in Scarlet Hollow will ever have. It’s a shitty job that gives the town’s residents just enough to live, but never enough to thrive. To have one of their own leave, come back with a college education, and try to give back in the form of providing educational resources and opportunities to the community, must feel rather patronizing to many. We hear something like this from Duke when he talks about the younger generation getting “fancy degrees,” and we hear Becka getting offended when Oscar talks about the hardships of mountain life, if you visit him on day one.

If you do Oscar’s hangout at the beginning of chapter three and discuss the haunting, it’s very serious and quite frightening. We learn he tested the blood stain on the carpet, and it’s AB negative. He actually did consider it being a leaking pipe and tested it only after a period of disbelief. He also sees Charlie’s ghost, and he sees Charlie’s head cave in. In other words: the haunting is bad enough that an educated, non-superstitious man would rather move his family into the library’s back room, rather than stay there.

But what happens when others get involved? Not one person takes him seriously. Stella is excited to find proof of a ghost while this man’s life is being turned upside down. Kaneeka is hostile to the idea that this is a haunting at all and minimizes what he’s been going through. Avery is just happy to finally be invited to something. (I feel bad for Avery). If Tabitha is there, she’s also hostile to the idea it’s a ghost and even tells him to grow up to his face, right in front of his daughter. Interestingly, Sybil is never involved unless you or Tabitha call her for help during the haunting. Sybil sticks her fingers into just about everything in town, and is nowhere to be seen for this.

I’ll also add that in the world state in which Rosalina loses her foot and the other kids are safe, no one helps Oscar out, with the obvious exception of Dr. Kelly providing medical care. Oscar talks about the library being a place for kids to go during the summer when they’re out of school, and their parents are working, but no one steps up and offers to help with meals or errands, or just to check in on the family during Rosalina’s recovery. Alexis is there, and as much as I don’t like that Oscar offloads some of his parental duties to her while he’s going through his bout of mania, even her parents seem entirely absent on offering a helping hand to Oscar.

Decided to make my mc from Scarlet Hollow, and mostly just exploring things at the moment. Character creation took some getting used to, but it’s fantastic. Serious credit for the gender customization.

I’m really looking forward to what the modding community comes up with. I only have one mod installed for nudity, because never nudity and censor bars in life sims have always been a little immersion breaking for me.

Very curious if someone will make an illithid mod at some point so I can make the Emperor.

While you're still more-or-less a stranger to him, you can just go up to him the day after the mines and wrap him in a big hug without asking, and he's so happy for your company. While you did save his daughter, this is a very forward thing to do, especially to someone you don't really know. (If you have the hot trait, you can just openly thirst over him in just about every encounter, and he's actually pretty cool about it).

You can do the same thing after the haunting. He has zero hesitation to reciprocate and doesn't want to let you go.

And look how happy he is to get that hug!

You can really see just how touch starved he is during his mania in the basement when you try to snap him out of it by kissing him. Yes, he's manic and talking to the entity through a stone, but his faculties are still present to an extent, he still understands that he has responsibilities that need attending to, and the kiss does bring him back to reality at least some.