#emmeline hallowleaf

[iensrobens]

Mother

[eliteseven]

I just wanna see their cottage core ending 😭

[moonselune]

Can you write something for redeemed durge and shadowheart preferably with how durge adjust to having a family/ interacting with shadowhearts fam?

aweee yess this is so cute

Shadowheart x Durge!reader | A New Family

The first time you meet Arnell and Emmeline, you are so tense you feel like your spine is made of iron.

Not because they are cruel—on the contrary, Shadowheart’s parents are kind in a way that unsettles you, gentle in a way that makes something deep in your chest ache. But they are still parents. And parents are supposed to protect their children. What will they think when they look at you? Will they see the woman their daughter loves, or will they see the monster you used to be?

They know about your past. Of course they do.

Shadowheart had told them, in careful words, about what you were, what you did, the blood you had spilled. You don’t blame her. They deserve to know. But she also told them about the way you have fought against it, the way you chose to walk away from the destiny forced upon you. The way you have chosen her, again and again.

Still, it doesn’t make it any easier when you step through their door, your hand wrapped tightly around Shadowheart’s, and meet their wary eyes for the first time.

At first, things are… polite. Too polite. Every conversation feels measured, careful, as though they are testing the ground beneath them before stepping forward. Emmeline asks you questions, but she does so cautiously, gauging every reaction. Arnell watches you with quiet intensity—not out of hostility, but out of protectiveness. He has already lost his daughter once. He will not lose her again.

You don’t fault him for it. If anything, you respect it.

But Shadowheart sees you. She sees the stiffness in your posture, the way you keep a careful distance, the way your fingers twitch at your sides like you are expecting to be called to battle at any moment. So she does what she always does. She grounds you.

She never lets go of your hand, her grip a steady warmth against your skin. When you sit down to eat, she presses her knee against yours beneath the table. When she speaks of you, there is no hesitation, no shame—only love, only devotion. And it helps. It helps so much.

Slowly, things begin to shift.

Arnell still watches you carefully, but now, there is something softer in his eyes. Emmeline still measures her words, but she starts placing extra portions on your plate without asking, as if she has simply decided you must be hungry. The gestures are small, but they speak volumes.

The realization creeps up on you slowly. That you are starting to relax. That you don’t feel the urge to reach for your weapon every time someone enters the room. That this place—this small, simple home filled with laughter and quiet conversations—is not something you need to defend yourself against.

That it might just be safe.

That night, after dinner, you sit beside the fire with Shadowheart curled against your side, her head resting against your shoulder. Emmeline sits across from you, quietly darning a tear in one of your shirts. You don’t even remember giving it to her, and the realization startles you.

It’s such a simple thing. Something a mother would do for a child. Something no one has ever done for you.

Shadowheart shifts against you, tilting her head up to press a soft kiss on your cheek. The gesture is so tender it makes your throat tighten, makes your fingers twitch against your thigh.

“Your childhood,” she says suddenly, her voice barely above a whisper. “They never gave you one.”

Arnell and Emmeline both look up, their expressions unreadable.

Shadowheart doesn’t look at them—her gaze is fixed on you, her fingers curling around your own, tracing the creases of your palm.

“They didn’t let you be a child,” she continues, so quiet you almost don’t hear her. “They trained you. Like a weapon.”

Arnell inhales sharply, and his hand clenches at his side.You open your mouth, but you don’t know what to say. She’s right. And you don’t know what to do with the grief in her voice, the sorrow in her eyes. She looks away from you then, turning to her parents.

“They never had a family,” she says softly. “Not like this.”

Another silence stretches between you all, heavy and unspoken.

And then Emmeline, without so much as a second’s hesitation, says, “Well, they do now.”

You freeze. Your breath catches.

Arnell nods beside her, his expression softening. “It doesn’t matter what you were made for,” he says simply. “You’re ours now.”

It’s too much. Too big. You can feel Shadowheart watching you, but you can’t meet her gaze. Your fingers tremble where they rest against your thigh. You don’t know how to have this, how to accept it.

But then Shadowheart’s hand is on your cheek, gently turning you to face her.Her eyes shine in the firelight, soft and steady, as if willing you to believe it.

You swallow thickly, your fingers twitching at your side. You want to say something, to acknowledge what they have given you. But the words don’t come.

Emmeline just smiles, like she knows, like she understands. Like she isn’t waiting for words you don’t have. Instead, she pats your knee and turns back to her sewing, as if it has already been decided.

And maybe it has. Shadowheart squeezes your hand, her lips brushing softly against your temple.

“I love you,” she whispers.

And as you close your eyes, resting your forehead against hers, you realize—

This is what family feels like.

So wholesome honestly, love a bit of my shadowheart. Sorry for being a bit awol recently, my ankle is mangled and work is chaos lmaoo but I love escaping on here. So hope you guys enjoyed this! - Seluney xox

If you want to support me in other ways | Help keep this moonmaiden caffeinated x

[moghedien]

I finished Shadowheart’s quest pretty early into Act 3 this time around and so her parents have just been like, there the whole time.

And so it leaves me to imagining her like going about the rest of Act 3, coming back to camp every day and them being like “what did you do today?” and she’s just like “we raided an underwater prison and blew up a foundry” or “we went to hell”

[eliseliedl]

Shadowheart and her parents Baldur's Gate 3 90 / ?

[cigfranfach]

It's done and so is my wrist, hope everybody saw this because I will NOT be doing it again. The happy conclusion to Neph's campaign!

You'll find out who's writing that text in the margins soon.

Reposting the previewed ones earlier for ease of viewing

[shewolfofvilnius]

oh god oh god. i was NOT prepared for the surprise of "Shadowheart's Mom has early stage Alzheimer's/Dementia" She literally gets you confused for Shadowheart/Jen if playing a fem durge/tav (apparently she confuses you for her HUSBAND if you're playing dude) and she's at that stage where she KNOWS she's slipping and will get worse and not better and holy shit this is so heartbreaking and hits way, way too close to home (lost my grandma to it, and my aunt that was basically my mother died from a brain tumor that...caused issues) JFC this is brutal, hits close to home, was a total surprise on my 2nd run, and I can't remember seeing it depicted in games (esp. fantasy games) very often.

[riza-hawks-eye]

Shadowheart's parents talking about their lost futures and they time that was taken away from them.

When I see Shar it's on sight.

[cchickki]

Shadowheart. Daughter.

[winter-wise]

Baldur's Gate Dad Polls: The Conclusion

For a website that makes a lot of jokes about hot dads, I was a little suprised when @bg3smash-or-pass had (excluding abstain votes) only 13.8% pass for Ulder Ravengard, and 43.3% pass for Arnell Hallowleaf. I have now discovered from my own subsequent polls more reasoning behind the pass rate for Ulder and Arnell.

Ulder Ravengard

Smash: 13.8%

Passed because he's Wyll's dad and you hit smash for Wyll: 49.1% (56.9% of all passes)

Passed because he's Wyll's dad (you did not hit smash for Wyll): 8.0% (9.2% of all passes)

Passed because he's a cop: 8.2% (9.5% of all passes)

Passed because of his past poor treatment of Wyll: 13.5% (15.7% of all passes)

Passed for some other reason: 7.4% (8.7% of all passes)

Arnell Hallowleaf

Smash: 43.3%

Passed because he's Shadowheart's dad and you hit smash for Shadowheart: 31.3% (55.2% of all passes)

Passed because he's Shadowheart's dad (you did not hit smash for Shadowheart): 3.0% (5.3% of all passes)

Passed becuse he's married to Emmeline: 9.0% (15.9% of all passes)

Passed because he's traumatised and you think he needs recovery more than romance: 4.7% (8.4% of all passes)

Passed for some other reason: 8.7% (15.2% of all passes)

and finally, an honourable mention for Arnell Hallowleaf:

[tcustodisart]

Going back home from the reunion party.

[iensrobens]

Mother v2.0

[bg3womenconfessions]

Emmeline is one fine elderly woman

[eliteseven]

OMG, Tav is just too adorable asking for SH's hand from Emmeline and Arnell, even though EVERYONE heard the proposal. How do you think the conversation went between them? I imagine SH's parents with a mix of emotions: joy, amusement, tenderness, and relief because not only has SH been lucky to find Serena, but her parents have also found a kind soul who cares for them as an equally important part of her life.

She is baby 🥺💕 she just wanted to impress Shadowheart and ask without stumbling over her words (bc Shads looks at her with those big green doe eyes and Tav forgets how to speak common, sometimes 😅)

Arnell and Emmeline love Serena. She's respectful AF, polite, sweet as ever to Shadowheart and the animals, takes time to bond with them...and she makes Shadowheart laugh. It's a resounding YES.

I actually wrote in a part where she asks Arnell and Emmeline but cut it bc it was screwing with the flow of the chapter. Here’s my favorite part of that interaction:

“You are a finer companion than we ever could have imagined for our daughter. As appreciated as this gesture is, in truth, Serena, you needn’t ask our blessing; though rest assured you have it- both of ours.” Arnell begins, calmly, and Emmeline nods her agreement. “There are but two accounts that matter in this instance; yours, and Shadowheart’s.” He smiles. “No one can question the love you bear for our daughter. And while I cannot speak for Shadowheart, as I understand it, you bring her happiness, the kind she has not known since she was but a girl.”

“She smiles in just the same way she did when she was a child, when she’s around you.” Emmeline utters, closing her eyes and smiling; she can see Shadowheart’s toothy grin in her memories, vivid and bright. There is bliss in her expression as the memories wash over her. “It was…a sight I never thought I’d see again....Until you.” The last part comes out in a thankful whisper as Emmeline’s eyes open to find Serena’s gaze, thanking her profusely without saying anything at all.  

“I- You honor me.” Serena manages to choke out a dignified response, blinking away the tears she begins to feel gathering in the corners of her eyes. 

“In truth, it might be to your advantage to ask sooner, rather than later.” Arnell admits with a little chuckle. “...Seeing as Shadowheart, too, has learned to take what she desires most deeply.” 

Serena freezes. 

She’d never once stopped to consider the fact that Shadowheart could propose first. 

Emmeline seems to be amused by her impression of a fish, what with her mouth gaping open in shock, because she chuckles over her next sip of tea. 

“I…I’m not prepared!” Serena gushes, eyes widening upon the realization that she isn’t nearly as ready as she’d believed, prior. “...Gods, I haven’t even decided how to ask! It’s Shadowheart, she’ll know what to expect if I-” Serena’s ramblings go unnoticed by Emmeline and Arnell, who find great amusement in the way their daughter seems to have such an accomplished knight, and noble, floundering so pathetically to impress her. 

Emmeline then adds, in one of her rare moments of extra-lucidity that remind Serena where Shadowheart got her playfully sharp wit from, “Any one of the fifty variations you practiced on the cats will suffice, I should think.” 

[moghedien]

this isn’t meant to be judgement on what other people choose or their opinions and there are reasons why there is no actual ideal solution, but if I’m playing the game in which I want every character to get what I feel is the best outcome for them personally, Shadowheart is always ending the game with her parents alive

There are a couple of reasons for this. I’ve done both endings with the Selûnite path for her, and I literally just let her pick what she wanted the first time (which ended in her parents dead) and seeing both, I do think she’s happier with her parents alive in general. I think, as with other characters (specifically Lae’zel comes to mind in her romance) you have to kinda challenge them on what their first immediate response is when giving them an option in order to get to what actually makes them happiest and what they’re afraid to admit

But if we’re not even taking like the arbitrary measure of happiness into account, I do think that thematically, keeping her parents alive is the only real option if you don’t want Shar to win.

The options here are either let her parents die and Shadowheart is free of the pain in her wound, or save her parents and Shadowheart spends the rest of her life with the threat of the wound hurting her at any moment. Basically no parents and no pain or parent and chronic pain for the rest of her life.

Harsh options either way, and especially when you phrase it as “chronic pain forever” being the thematically correct path, but look at it from the angle of rejecting Shar and what those options really signify form a Sharran angle.

If her parents die, she has no pain, which is good, but she also has no parents. She has no way of learning about her past other than random scraps she might find or maybe eventually remember somehow. She also has no attachment to her Sharran cloister anymore and no attachment to any Selûnite community either. She’s void of everything, including the physical pain. Now there’s obviously like emotional turmoil she’s feeling, and you do get a scene where she expresses that, but it’s from her loss. She only has loss now. The Lady of Loss gave up her physical hold on Shadowheart and in doing so, made Shadowheart embrace loss. Shar might not win completely, but she doesn’t really care about her individual followers and communities as much as they want her to. This is still a win for Shar because she still got Shadowheart to make Sharran choices in the end and embrace losing everything: the pain, her parents, her community, her past.

Hell, the desire to free oneself from pain entirely is a very Sharran pursuit. It’s why we see people turn to Shar. Ketheric turned to Shar as a way to get Isobel back and free himself from grief. One of the people that can lead you to the Sharran cloister is a man who remembers nothing about himself except that the House of Grief helped him because he was very sad and now he isn’t. Nevermind the fact that he doesn’t even know where he lives now or that Ketheric didn’t get what he wanted, it’s the motivation of freeing oneself from some kind of pain that drives people to Shar.

That is why Shadowheart received the injury in the first place.

I jokingly call it a shock collar sometimes, but that is basically what it literally is. You can get Shadowheart’s dad to reveal more about it if you control her and go talk to him in camp. The wound is because Shadowheart was constantly misbehaving and her parents weren’t converting, and they needed something to keep her in line and also motivate her parents. Shadowheart’s pain was supposed be negative reinforcement for her not to act on her kinder inclinations and for her parents to finally fall in line and reject Selûne so that they would stop seeing Shadowheart in pain. The desire for no more pain was supposed to drive Shadowheart and her family closer to Shar.

And all of this on top of the fact that Shadowheart’s memory was wiped repeatedly to an extreme degree, even by standards of the evil memory wiping cult. She was supposed to be a blank slate that only desired to feel nothing by the end. The perfect Sharran.

So if she keeps her family alive, what does she get? A life time of guaranteed pain from Shar, but also her family. Guilt over learning all she’s done to her parents over the 40 years they were held captive, but also answers about her life before Shar and kinder memories with them after Shar. She doesn’t get to not know all that she’s done and all that’s been taken from her, and she’s forced to feel all the negative emotions that come with that, but she gets comfort and positive feelings too.

The moment I keep going back to is the scene you get after she saves her parents where she’s clearly distressed. You get a similar version of this if her parents are dead, but if her parents are alive, they show up at the end of the scene when she’s crying because of the guilt she’s feeling toward all that happened to them. The specific moment in that which I obsess over a bit is when Shadowheart apologizes to them and says that they shouldn’t have to see her like this (because they just walked in on her crying). And it’s her mom’s response to that which makes me a little insane

It’s the emphasis on feeling that really gets me, and I think is the most important part here.

Because Shadowheart was apologizing specifically for them seeing her feeling. She was in this moment apologizing for them having to see her crying and in a very vulnerable emotional state over her own personal struggles and the immense amount of guilt she feels over seeing the extent of what was done to her parents, some of which she did. She’s not supposed to feel anything about that, as a Sharran. She’s not supposed to feel at all as a Sharran, good or bad.

But it’s her very visibly feeling something that her mom points out wanting to see. it’s the one word she puts emphasis on, because that alone is proof that Shar doesn’t have a hold on her. If she’s feeling something, even if it’s bad, then Shar isn’t winning and isn’t controlling her. Shar literally had to resort to trying to coax her into wanting nothing more than to be free of feeling in order to get her to behave, after all.

If Shadowheart accepts that she’ll have pain for the rest of her life in order to save her family, Shar doesn’t get anything but the shock collar she already had. And the point of the shock collar was to eventually never use it. Hurting Shadowheart wasn’t what Shar wanted. Shar wanted to eventually stop hurting Shadowheart because that meant she was a good perfect little Selûnite-turned-Sharran who had been properly corrupted. Pain wasn’t the point and was supposed to have an ending if Shar got what she wanted.

So when Shadowheart rejects the loss of the pain, that’s about as close as she can get to telling Shar to go fuck herself. Her plans didn’t work, not even a little. Shadowheart isn’t wiping her slate clean (again) and rejecting feeling things just because they’re painful. She’s reconnecting with the past that they spent 40 years trying to erase and she’s doing it even though it’ll be hurt.

Basically by keeping her parents alive, she’s doing every single thing Shar has spent four decades trying to stop her from doing and giving Shar absolutely nothing in return. Shar gets nothing besides the ability to hurt Shadowheart, which isn’t even something she wanted in the first place.

And proof of this is shown in the epilogue, where if you romance Shadowheart and kept her parents alive, you both point out what Shar hasn’t been triggering the wound much lately. She triggers it a lot and randomly in the end of the game, and it’s clear she’s pissed off, but by the time six months have passed, it’s apparently barely happening. Because pain wasn’t the point and it wasn’t what Shar wanted. The pain was Shar throwing a tantrum because she didn’t get what she wanted. Shadowheart calls it petty in the game and that’s literally what it is. Just pettiness from a god. And it’ll probably happen to some extent for the rest of Shadowheart’s life, yes, but it’s clear that Shar is bored and realizes it’s not going to work. She might try some other ways to get at Shadowheart eventually, but in making that choice, Shadowheart denied her any ounce of power that Shar actually cares about. Even if the pain is there, the fact that it’s there is proof that Shar failed.

[siyurikspakvariisis]

Today's lunch: a cheesy pasta bake.

But not just any pasta bake: a very BG3 one.

Spoilers for the Shadowheart origin run's epilogue to follow.

If you save Shadowheart's parents during her origin run, you get a letter from each of them. Emmeline's letter contains a recipe for a pasta bake.

[ID: two screenshots from Baldur's Gate 3, showing a letter from Emmeline Hallowleaf. It reads:

"My dear Shadowheart,

Here's the recipe I mentioned the other day. I wanted to write it down for you just in case it slipped my mind again. I can show you myself once you're home. Enjoy your party, and pass on my best to all your friends.

Love,

Your Mother

X

Feast Day Cheese Bake

For the filling:

One small onion, sliced

Half pound of mushrooms, quartered

Red pepper, diced small

Half pound of greens - spinach, peas, courgette, or whatever is in season in the garden - steamed or boiled

Quarter pound of streaky bacon, chorizo or similar. Fried and diced

Half pound of pasta

For the sauce:

Two tablespoons of butter

Two tablespoons of plain flour

One teaspoon of mild mustard from Cormyr. More if you are daring or congested

Ten fluid ounces of milk

Half pound of mature cheddar cheese, grated

A goodly fistful of breadcrumbs

Method:

Soften the onion in some oil, then add the mushrooms and pepper, and saute over a high flame. Combine with the cooked greens and meat, and set aside. Add pasta to a pot of boiling water.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour and whisk over a high flame for one minute. Add the milk, whisking until boiling, then add the grated cheese and remove from flame.

Drain the cooked pasta and add into the cheese sauce, along with the cooked vegetables and meat if used. Combine, and pour into an oven-worthy dish (the square stoneware one with the floral pattern should do nicely). Add the breadcrumbs on top, ad well as some extra cheese if you are feeling wicked (your father often is).

Bake unil the top layer is bubbling and golden, or your loved ones are hungrily loitering about in the kitchen.

PS - if you do not salt the pasta water, you can save it to feed to the plants in your garden."

End ID.]

Today I made it with the following modifications:

I don't want anyone's nonna to slap me so I salted my pasta water.

I also undercooked the noodles - after all, they'd finish cooking in the oven.

I used some vegan sausage I had lying around as the meat. I think the one I used was a bit too dry and bland - a more flavorful and fatty, chorizo-like sausage, would have been a better option.

I used spinach as the greens, and instead of cooking them aside of the sauteed veggies, I wilted the spinach with them. If you do so, watch out! The veggies can become watery, as the spinach releases all its water. I was careful to not dump all that water in the stoneware dish when incorporating the ingredients and it all worked well on my end.

Of course I was feeling wicked and topped the dish with extra cheese :3c

Because most of the cooking has happened outside of the oven, I baked the pasta for 15 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius, plus an extra 5 minutes under the broiler. This is the part I'm less sure about - I'm not a great cook, I just follow recipes. I'd be grateful to hear your input here!

The result: a filling, cheesy, savory, veggie-loaded pasta bake. Next time I'll be more generous with the salt in the filling, though.