#durgetash musings

[archduchessgortash]

Praxas reacts:

So, even the voice in my head thinks I'm a pretentious asshole? Wonderful...

I want to poke holes in this cute little talking brain critter.

Why do I want to poke holes in this cute little talking brain critter?!

I am NOT poking holes in this cute little talking brain critter! My brain is a right prick.

Go free, you cute little fucker!

Hot.

You know... you might remind me of someone.

Short, bossy, bit of a know-it-all...

Talks with their hands...

Smug. Thinks they're in charge even though clearly I am...

Still... kind of adorable.

Yes, you definitely remind me of someone.

I wish I knew who...

[bhaalsbabe]

Divine intervention when Gortash says "It's like you were made for me" to Durge during sex

[serendipizzy79]

Omg Larian your timeline is a mess! How am I supposed to write a stupid fanfic that makes canon sense if your canon is nonsensical?

The timeline from Durge crowning the brain to being the first tadpole victim to being put on the nautiloid makes no sense when you look at the results Gortash and Balthazar have had with the tadpoles. Gahh!

[bhaalergate]

I imagine prior to the Orin Incident, Gortash and the Dark Urge were both disturbingly possessive of each other. To the Dark Urge, Gortash was their prey, the last man they would slay before taking their own life at the end of everything. To Gortash, the Dark Urge was simply his. His beast, his to own. The one person with the guts to stand shoulder to shoulder with him and dive into the Hells and back with him. He likely felt smug about the Dark Urge's possessive streak because that meant he owned their mind too. They wanted him and craved him, but stayed their bloody hand -- and that's a powerful thing.

(Of course, Gortash paid no mind to how his own thoughts were consumed by the Dark Urge. They can't own him if he owns them first.)

[fortheghostsinmycloset]

I love playing with the idea that Gortash only slept well when Durge was there with him, holding him protectively and forcing him to stop thinking about work for one damn night. Given the sheer number of traps and Steel Watchers near his quarters, he may have been paranoid about his comparative lack of combat skill and overall vulnerability. After Durge's disappearance, that paranoia increased tenfold, only magnified by Orin's constant threats. Outwardly, he projected prudence and the sort of detached fearlessness expected of the Chosen of Bane. But behind the curtain, he struggled to get a full night of sleep, often wondering what happened to Durge and missing the safety he felt in their arms.

[little-tyrant-gortash]

Durge: This soup is too hot.

Gortash: *smirks* You're too hot too, and I eat you every night.

Durge: *blushes*

Ketheric: *closes his eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose as an exhausted sigh leaves him*

Orin: ONE FUCKING DINNER! JUST ONE!!!

Orin:

[alfonxzie]

So a thing I've been thinking about constantly is that ppl say Gortash's eyes look more alive with only Durge at the coronation

and it's a sweet thought cuz...the sight of someone whose entire existence is to deliver /death/...bringing /life/ to his eyes??

[pixie-in-a-moonlantern]

Thinking of how Gortash made me really get into the Durge story. Where I ignored a lot of things before, I now collect literal scraps to put together into a clearer picture, squealing at every new bit of info I can get my hands on.

But so much is left to interpretation... it's both infuriating and exciting. Because now I have to fill in the blanks myself, and also because I can. As a writer, I can't but appreciate the room for creativity. I'm sure there's a whole pile of data that didn't make it into the game, but as long as it's not shared, I can make my assumptions.

Horny aside, I very much enjoy reading through other fans' headcanons. Idk why, but most are like "that's what I figured too!", while some are pure gold of "omg I never even dreamed, but now it's etched in my brain". Players filling in the blanks in the most exciting ways, making Durgetash into a love story of the century... I'm in love with all of this.

[bones-and-bondage]

I am writing my Durge pre-worm as a terrifying cult leader. Charismatic, authoritative, deeply religious and observant of the traditions not held up by most anymore, but are carved into his very bones.

There are snippets here and there which suggest that’s what he was, that’s what inspired the Tyrant to commit the sins against the Edicts and declare him an equal, that’s what made the damn Brain admire him even.

Gods I could go on about Durge for hours.

[interplanet--janet]

It's time for the threesome chapter (tw for blood and durge typical violence)

[princeofhags]

thinking of writing the nastiest most objectionable smut for a ship that no one would but me would care for 😔

[archduchessgortash]

Thinking about Gortash...

And how he can't get inside the temple of Bhaal to recover Default Durge's body, which lies on the floor naked in a sacrificial circle in Orin's room in a non-Dark Urge playthrough...

Maybe the reason we don't find Scribe Yanthus in the game is because he never returned from the Disciplinarian after he couldn't find the Temple of Bhaal...

Did Gortash determine that, for this failure, there would be no expiation?

Afterward, Gortash is gathering everything he can find that even reminds him of Durge in a desperate attempt to somehow reconstruct his favorite assassin. He's mixed necromancy with illithid and Gondian technology; he should be able to remake him.

A montage of Gortash wiring together brains and Steel Watcher parts, using any traces of Durge that were left behind: blood, semen, scales he might have shed, all with Oingo Boingo's Weird Science playing in the background.

Maybe covered to Gay Science?

I can totally hear it in my head now...

[bhaalsbabe]

They need each other.

[serendipizzy79]

Thinking about the Bhaalspawn Aura of Murder versus Bane's Chosen doesn't feel fear in the context of Durgetash...

There's jokes about Gortash's anti-anxiety coat but really, is this Larian giving Gortash no fear in an easy way? Durge doesn't have an aura of murder unless they're wearing the Bhaalist armour - which they don't have when they wake up. Or you use mods.

I have looked but I can't find a canon source for Bane's Chosen no fear thing. So why does Gortash have an anti-anxiety coat if he didn't need to be immune to Durge without their armour?

I is confuzzled.

We can't have it both ways 😭 ... or can we?!

[bhaalergate]

Cain hangs off of Gortash's every word when they first meet, without truly meaning to. At the start of his journey, he was painfully awkward. He was more like a feral creature pretending poorly at domesticity with no clear understanding of what it means to be docile. All he had was his name and his Oath. Over the course of his journey, Cain gradually forged bonds with his companions and they even accepted him despite the bloodlust they learned was living in his veins. He became more of an actual person.

Then he meets Gortash, and Cain doesn't remember him, but the way he engages him with such genuine warmth and familiarity makes him feel utterly seen and accepted. Wanted not in spite of the murder in his heart, but with it. (Something unknown stirs inside of him. Like the Urge, but not, though equally fervent. He wants to lace his fingers through Gortash's and squeeze until their hands fuse or bones break. He wants to crack open his ribs and crawl inside his guts and live there.)

Gortash sees his wolf returned and giving him puppy eyes and he can't help but wonder how sharp his teeth still are. (A wild part of him wants to pry open his jaws to find out.)

[quaintnecromancer]

@little-tyrant-gortash

WHY DOES THE DARK URGE NOT REMEMBER ANYONE EVEN BHAAL BUT GORTASH IS SICKENINGLY FAMILIAR WHY IS HIS NAME SICKENINGLY FAMILIAR I NEED ANSWERS IS HE THE HEADACHE IN THEIR BRAIN ARE THOSE JUST GORTASH WITHDRAWALS