#beast dos2

I wanted to highlight some thoughts that I have about masks and duality in this game as it is shown clearly in the game. For the companions are torn between their true self and some name they bear their own skin. A way to justify their marginality – as they're stuck with the constant feeling of inadequacy, bearing a name that doesn't correspond to their identity.

It is most relevant with the Red Prince and his thousand epic epithets. "All-Conqueror", "The World Tamer", "Spouse of the Sun", this is a clear ironic picture of fantasy heroes ( see Daenerys from GOT, for example ) : such titles made him superior to his peers, but also marginalized him. He is the Red Prince - the unnatural one - the child of prophecy, his very identity being inextricably woven with fate. And it shows with his questline : not once does he wander off his path. I could even say that his very identity revolves around the expectations laid upon him.

Ifan ben-Mezd and Marcus Miles bear their titles as if there was no other identity. "Silver Claw" – "The Beast". See the clear animalization, which leads to deshumanization. They're mere tools to a purpose, no matter what it is. They're the frightening Other, enemy to civilization, enemy to the status quo in which the powerful linger, in a justified way or not. Finding again their own worth is to embrace their name once again. Their name they rejected, being linked to what they hated ( the Divine Order for Ifan, dwarven royalty for the Beast ). Yet, I would like to show you one final thing :

Marcus is dead. I am the Beast of the Sea. And you will address me as such.

The man you speak of is not who I am. Anymore. And I'll not become him again for the likes of you.

Ifan and Beast's ending quests mean the funeral of half their identity. They embrace a face, reject the other, to become whole once again. And it's striking to see that Beast embraces the future, rejecting royalty, and Ifan embraces the past, finally rejecting the Lone Wolves.

Fane and Sebille are half empty shells of themselves, and it shows in their very name. Fane isn't Fane's name, just a homophonic word to his own name, "easier to pronounce". His identity as an Eternal, already disrupted by the drastic change of world, is made all the more clear as he needs to adapt to a new name, and so, a new identity. A mask is needed, and not just a physical one - thus the importance of such a name.

Sebille is given her full name only if she choses the path of alienation. "Your name is Sebille Kaleran", she's told. Only, she's offered her complete identity for but a brief moment. She will become yet the Mother Tree, and thus bear hundred of names, each of them aren't her own. The path of freedom is the path of incompletude : she's doomed to walk with this half empty name, only the half of who she was.

Similarly, Lohse hasn't any surname of her own. Lohse the bard - Lohse the possessed. You would say, "hey, but she always had her name ? Surname isn't proof she belongs nowhere" and while this is very much true, I see her being possessed by Adramahlik as a struggle with keeping one's own name. After all, knowing names can be a great power for and towards demons - Adramahlik probably knows that, and uses Lohse's name against herself. Jahan says to you that the demon "hadn't only coiled around her heart - it had become her heart". Lohse's body is both a vessel for her and for Adramahlik.

I've added two new pixel art characters, Malady and Adramahlihk, to my previous Divinity: Original Sin 2 collection. Now it's a set of nine, and here they are on a T-shirt.

P.S. This is a personal project and not for sale(*^▽^*)~

I've been playing a lot of Divinity Original Sin 2 and I am actually in love with Ifan. I came across a small part in one of the quests that I thought would be fun to write out as a hurt/comfort and was curious if anyone would read it and other similar works. I know the game is kinda old, but it's quickly become a favorite of mine, and if anyone is still searching for stuff about it, I'd love to add to it. I only really know about Beast, Ifan, and Sebille since they're the party members I decided on but I do plan on playing the game again with The Red Prince, Lohse, and Fane the next time around so I'm hoping I can write for all the main party options. All that to say...

This is a Beast propaganda account now.