#I do like thinking about romance dynamics with durge bc I think it can be very hard to figure out when part of the relationship

[steelandmayhem]

The other day, I saw a non-fandom text post along the lines of:

“What we had was so special you’ll look for me in every new person” (sorry I haven’t been able to find it again)

And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

Because to me this perfectly describes Durgetash + romancing your companions.

I can’t help thinking about amnesiac Durge missing something, always searching, but can’t remember what.

They find echoes of it in Gale’s intelligence, his enthusiasm and knowledge when he speaks about magic. And yet, it doesn’t fit entirely.

They find it in Lae’zel’s easy superiority, her ruthlessness and determination. And yet, it’s not quite enough.

They find it in Astarion’s deception and easy charm, the way he manipulates a situation to his advantage, the way he doesn’t need magic to have people literally bare their necks to him.

They find it in Shadowheart’s snark, her secrecy, her dark goddess. They find it in Karlach’s rage (though she burns hot instead of cold which is odd..), in the smell of sulphur and hellfire that clings to her. They especially find it in her mechanical heart, that makes them want to reach out, bury their hands in it, just to see if it feels as familiar as it seems. If maybe owning her heart will fill the hole in their memories, their chest even.

And yet, surprisingly, they find it in Wyll’s pact, Wyll’s past, but also Wyll’s manners and they way he dances, his stories, that make them feel closer to a city they don’t much care about otherwise.

They find it in the deep possessiveness, maybe even hatred, when Raphael first comes to camp.

And yet none of it is enough, none of it fits quite right, and while maybe eventually they manage to look past that familiar feeling and find new things to admire about their chosen partner…deep in their heart they know.

In the end, they’ll always look for something none of them can give them.

Not until they first encounter that handsome young man with an easy smile, and all the jagged broken edges click together like horrible little puzzle pieces.

[wetcatspellcaster]

After the last chapter of An Honest Lie I had to go lie down. I mean, it went much better and more constructive than the last time Astarion brought up Ascending, but somehow it felt even more painful. I'm still thinking about that one post that reminded that when romanced it is much harder to persuade Astarion not to Ascend (I wouldn't know, all three saves I've completed I only romanced him tbh). Like he sees how high are the stakes, and how hard they all have to work to get shit done, and he wants the safest pass in his mind, but like... Ugh. The whole Ascending is fascinating from the character development point of view.

I loved the planning part. It's so realistic, and damn I wish there was an option letting teammates prioritise the missions, because there are SO MUCH TASKS. Like beside urgency with Astarion there is barely any, and I'm always so lost and keep forgetting what to do next.

Also, fuck Gortash. Let him suffer more. Nasty man, nasty.

I was wincing the whole time Rosalie had been walking and doing stuff, and I'm imagining it will be even more painful once they get into the Cazador's place, because damn. Girl needs her recovery, but it seems her insurance doesn't not cover it.

Anyway, thank you so so much for this chapter! It was awesome, and I will patiently wait for the update. Take care, and good luck!

oh anon. I mean, if that last chapter was rough then good luck for tonight's update :)))))))

but thank you so much for sending this! I'm glad you enjoyed the latest chapter!! I think that Ascension has this tasty extra spice in the dynamic I've chosen, bc Astarion does see his relationship with Rosalie working, mostly because she can take care of herself. He doesn't have to learn to be relied on (the way he does, in, say, the durge version of his relationship where he does kind of take the wheel a bit more!) She's protecting him, if anything - in the beginning, obviously, when everyone is masking their tits off. So I think the realisation of 'oh. this truly is all fake.' and then 'oh. and i see now what it's costing you, and i care enough about you to not be ok with that' would in fact both 1. show how much he's changed ('i'm not going to let the person i love take the easy option for my sake') and 2. cause panic. Bc it's realising that this commitment will be a commitment not just to a person, but to the potential for more hurt or hardship, as Rose doesn't have everything on lock like it first appeared :'))))

anyway, more of this to come!! your wait for the next chapter is almost over xx

[undead-potatoes]

If we wanna talk about companions ships though, they put so much chemistry with Karlach and Shadowheart, like those two keep genuinely flirting with each other in my party, it's actually really sweet to see Shadowheart get all bashful around her. Which is funny because when anyone else compliments her she's just like "I know."

YES it's so cute, Shadowheart got it so bad for Karlach.

I also think it's extra fun because you can in fact romance all the origin characters with each other if you wish, and there are different dynamics at play compared to Tav/Durge doing the same romances.

Like if we keep using Karlach as an example, she has some very special scenes with Astarion because he literally can not seduce her in his usual manner bc of the whole infernal engine thing. Or if she romances Wyll there's the (misinformed) enemies to lovers with special dialogue you don't get with anyone else.

I'm looking forward to in a year or so when dataminers and players have really dug through the whole game, and we can lay out all the cool differences in romance between the different origins.

[keyfabed]

heard you were bored so here are some questions :) (i realized halfway through that these are all durgetash because those little shits have taken over my mind) do you like leaning into the angst of durgetash or do you prefer the more lighthearted (aside from the atrocities) dynamic? if larian dropped a gortash romance, is there any icks that would absolutely ruin it for you?

or conversely, what would be the best thing they could add in a hypothetical gortash route?

what were your biggest inspirations for lophi and vyper? do you prefer one over the other or are they equal in your eyes?

(hopefully you won't have to answer these since you'll get out of work soon)

HELLO ANON. im sorry to tell you infact waited till i actually got home to answer these because i have!!! THOUGHTS and OPINIONS about the questions asked . thank you very much btw these are all really good questions ill have fun answering

FIRSTLY, it all depends on the kind of durge gortash is being paired w imo. with vyper i tend to lean more into These Two Are Fucking Insane while w/ lophi i lean more into the sort of melancholic 'angsty' side of durgetash that i think can be real yummy too. and it's all because of who vyper and lophi are as characters pre-tadpole, too. vyper liked being a loud insane freakus while lophi was a lot more reserved and kind of a miserable mess, and that informs their relationships w/ the characters around them. i think both are good and fun to explore and i definitely like exploring the more angsty side w vyper x gortash and vice versa w lophi x gortash, so. i guess both. really. LOL .

secondly, going to answer both of the gort romance related questions in one, but i think i'm probably in the unpopular opinion that gortash doesn't really neeeeeeeed a romance and i could go without it in game. i do think he deserves more content and screentime, but that's something i can say about orin also, and frankly a Lot of parts of act 3. me and act 3 have a toxic on/off again relationship. alright.

that being *said*, if i was mr larian and i was to implement a gortash romance, i'd have it be something exclusive to a durge/evil run. or at the very least, have it have consequences with your party (i.e karlach leaving or something. love gort but i do not think you should go off romancing him scott free).

i Do think having it be exclusive to a more evil-aligned run would help add more actual content to doing an evil run (and god knows we need some with how bg3 seems to like punishing people who just want to do the evil options They Gave You) and would make the most sense, but all in all i'd just hope it's handled better than the mizora sex scene cause god how that whole thing is handled still pisses me off. hopefully this all makes sense

tl;dr, its a fun idea but i can very easily go without it especially knowing how the game treated its one other antagonist romance option

now for the lophi and vyper question... i do obviously have my biases towards vyper /looks at my blog theme/, but i genuienlly cannot pick favourites with them besides that... i use them both to explore different aspects of the durge origin in different ways bc despite what some other people say i Do think you can be very flexible w durge as a concept despite the pre-established lore for them ^_^ and i think it's very fun to play around with.

as for specific inspirations, lophi takes a lot of insp from vintage pierrot art + has accidentally gotten a very 1920s makeup vibe in My Mind. i should also note her name comes from the scientific name for anglerfish, cuz thats what i had in mind when giving her those freaky sharp ass teeth i always draw her with

and while of course, both of my durges are trans, lophi specifically was birthed from my want to make a dark urge that leans in as heavily as she possibly could in the whole trans allegory thing. so theres that as well!

vyper's specific inspos are harder for me to pinpoint cause he's much more of a 'made up as i went' character than lophi, given he was my First dark urge and i didnt really fully know what i was going into all this yet while making him (and also i was maybe a little bit high while doing so...lol) THAT SAID THOUGH, i did initially make him with akira fudo from devilman in mind. he has the horn style he does because it reminded me of devilman ... although the akira insp is very lose and barely effects his character now.. ~_~ despite bg3 being my main fixation atm devilman is still a very very important piece of media to me so vyper being loosely akira-pilled is not too surprising if you know me well enough lololol