#i hate that astarion lives rent free in my head

[magicalcorvid]

I have two headcanons for Astarion's romance route:

1.) he likes to lay on his partners like a lizard because he doesn't produce his own body heat so he absorbs theirs

2.) he likes to feel/listen to his partners' heartbeat because he hasn't felt/heard his own in 200 years

[bolognamayhem117]

Hot Take: Astarion does NOT hate flowers. You just missed a few subtle hints through Act 1 and early Act 3.

Astarion's negativity is directed toward just about anything remotely pleasant as you move through early act three, starting the moment you leave Wyrm's Rock. First thing after Gortash's coronation he marvels near tears at the colors of the city in daylight. If you ask if he's alright, it pisses him off.

There's other instances I can't quite remember but he's a straight crank throughout early Act 3 and it took me several hours of gameplay to have a lightbulb moment about his newly crappier attitude.

He just spent the last two hundred years seeing everything in the overwhelmingly warm dim tones of indoor lighting via sconces, rushlights, and braziers, or the dingy blue gray of moonlight outside. Daylight colors are something he had more than a lifetime to forget and now that he has a chance to remember that vibrancy in his own home town, he knows he's going to have to forget it all over again either by death or by remaining a vampire spawn forever. The worm isn't going to live rent free in his head forever, and killing Cazador to ascend in his place likely feels like an insurmountable and impossible fight against a literal titan who could stomp him flat without a corm of effort.

He doesn't hate flowers, he hates EVERYTHING right now because it's all going away very soon and if he convinces himself he hates everything then he won't miss it when it's all gone again. He was denied this for two hundred years and he's PISSED at what was stolen from him and PISSED it's all going away again.

He behaved similarly in Act 1 about anyone besides him enjoying physical intimacy. Some of this content was cut, to my best knowledge, but the overwhelming majority of his dialog addressing the PC romancing anyone but him are negative or backhanded. This is for two reasons, I think. A: his Simple Plan just dissolved right before his eyes when you chose someone else which in his mind means he has zero safety net, and EVERYONE gets to enjoy sex (key wording being ENJOY, not simply having) except him... And it pisses him off.

He also gleefully interrupts the bug bear and the ogress, I think for the same reason as the above paragraph, being: If he doesn't get to enjoy intimacy neither do they.

He reacts with anger and disgust at anything he's being unfairly denied. Which... That's fair. His feelings are valid, but his reaction to it is pretty shitty and meanspirited.

The other companions I tend to keep in my party, (that is Lae'zel, Halsin, Karlach, and Wyll) however, are actually appearing to behave pretty patiently with him in Act 3 which I find interesting.

In the instance with the flowers Karlach doesn't bother trying to convince him otherwise of his opinion, she just tells him how they make her feel instead and rather than getting snippy or doubling down he more or less agrees to disagree. I also don't recall anyone disagreeing with Astarion during Gale's last quest tasks when he mentioned that he quit praying to gods who wouldn't hear him a long time ago but to be fair, I think the gods did everybody in this crew dirty and they all know it. It seems like they're consciously giving him the space to be mad about things, is what I'm saying.

Everyone I know including myself who crawled out of a long-term hot garbage situation kinda went wild for a bit with freedom, spoke poorly, behaved strangely, had extreme emotional reactions to things, and made some particularly terrible choices. I think that's just a part of recalibrating yourself, healing and learning how to be okay again.

Point is, I wouldn't conflate too many of the turbo-negative things he says with how he actually feels about anything. We certainly know what he says and what he feels are two very different things.

[pickel182]

The Astarion’s blanket chapter because this has lived I my head rent free for MONTHS

Gods, he’s going to the the death of me, Tav thought to herself.

Well, technically already had been, but since he’d revived her after, maybe that time didn’t count. He fed as she laid beneath him near the fire, he cradled her head in one hand as the other arm bore most of his weight. He hummed contentedly against her neck and she very unsuccessfully stifled a moan.

“Listen to you,” he cooed into her ear. “Seems I’m not the only one enjoying this.” He collected the blood that had pooled around the twin marks in her flesh with a long lick, brushing his lips lightly at the skin above and below the bite before latching back on. She whimpered, the hand already in his hair tangling further, tugging lightly as if she couldn’t help herself.

Astarion quite liked the effect he had on her. He reveled in the noises she tried to contain, her little shakes of excitement as he drank languidly, in no hurry to end their little tryst. He enjoyed how tightly her breasts were pressed against him, and he sighed at the warmth spreading from her soft thighs squeezing against his strategically placed knee. He had paced himself much better this time to avoid getting carried away, and was delighted to find his companion so thoroughly pleased by the sensation of feeding him.

Her hand at his lower back was pulling him down toward her, and he was all too happy to comply by lowering his body to hers. He had held himself well in check until that point, considering he had been hard since the moment her blood hit his tongue.

She pressed into him wantonly and he groaned into her neck, rolling his hips to meet hers.

“Is this what you wanted, pet?” He asked, voice rougher than he intended.

She replied by bringing her tongue around the delicate point of his ear, nibbling softly as he shuddered against her.

He pushed up on one arm, eyes lidded with lust, his voice laced with warning. “Careful, darling, or you’ll get exactly what you want, right here in the middle of camp.”

She knew all her sense had left her then, as she met his eyes and asked,

“Do you promise?”

The bloodstained grin he gave her in answer did something to her lower body that made her arch up into him.

He inhaled the suddenly much more intense scent of her arousal and it made his eyes nearly roll back in his head. “Tell me what you want, dearest, I want to hear you,” he purred as he rubbed his nose along her jawline. She brought her legs around his hips to close whatever space remained between them, rocking upwards to grind against the bulge in his trousers.

“Bite me again.”

He lost the mental capacity for words. He managed to whimper “fuck,” before pinning her wrists on either side of her and roughly biting down on the unmarked side of her neck. He began to grind himself into her in time with each pull of her blood. She moaned and writhed beneath him, matching his movements desperately in search of friction.

He was going to come if this went on much longer, but he was too lost in her to care, until he felt her go stiff beneath him.

“Astarion, wait.”

With tremendous effort, he drew back from her. He searched her eyes in answer and found her blushing even more than she had been.

He had been so caught up that he hadn’t heard Shadowheart approach before hearing the voice above them.

“Ugh, I hate to spoil the mood, but I’m not sure that using supernatural strength to pin the woman you killed not three days ago is best practice for keeping her alive.”

The nosey bitch! He thought, despite the fact that he actually liked the cleric. The potential competition for Tav’s attention wasn’t an immediate concern, considering the state of her beneath him. He liked that Shadowheart didn’t seem as eager as the rest of the group to spill her guts and take pity on every poor soul they encountered. But that was before she had ruined his fun.

“I am perfectly able to control myself now, thank you very much.” He responded, glaring before laving his tongue over the new bite at Tav’s neck to close up the wound.

Shadowheart was not going to miss an opportunity to tease Astarion. Both to take him down a peg and poke a bit of fun at Tav for her questionable taste in company. “Terribly sweet, that she was your first. Not sure I’d keep feeding someone who killed me just because they’d been on a diet for a century or two, though.”

Astarion glowered. He changed his mind. He hated Shadowheart.

Tav moved to stand and peeled him off of her, despite his best pout. Her sense and capacity for shame returned to her. Hells, what is wrong with me? In the middle of camp? She was going to have to put her self control back in place right away to have any hope of functioning tomorrow. She was blushing and still a little out of breath from being flustered, so she was more breathless than she’d like when she spoke to Astarion. “Maybe we should get some rest, there’s a long day ahead of us tomorrow, traveling to the grove.”

Astarion considered her shift in mood and decided to change his approach. He made a show of looking as poorly as possible to complain, “But darling, I’d only just started supper… before getting distracted.” He made his eyes as large and sad as possible as he wrung his hands, the very image of contrition.

Tav turned her eyes heavenward, either for an intervention, or forgiveness for being so fucking weak, she wasn’t sure which.

She sighed. “Only what you need, and then sleep. Agreed?”

He nodded solemnly, one hand on his chest.“ Cross my heart, and hope to…” he trailed off, before adding with a smirk, “well, I’ll be good.”

She shook her head at his terrible joke and smiled despite herself. “Come on then. Shadow has first watch, so you can finish up in my tent and then I’m going to bed.”

Yes! He thought to himself. He couldn’t contain his fangy grin, and gestured with a flourish for Tav to lead the way. He valiantly fought and lost to the urge to stick out his tongue at the cleric.

Shadowheart scoffed. “In your tent?” So eager to offer yourself to our lady of loss? Suit yourself then. See you tomorrow…I hope.” She narrowed her eyes at Astarion and added under her breath, “fucking leech.”

“Cultist bitch.” He replied with a wink. Maybe Astarion liked her after all.

**********************

Astarion ducked into Tav’s tent behind her, aware of how being interrupted earlier might have just worked in his favor. He found that he was almost as eager to see the inside of her tent as he was to be alone with her in it.

Tav spent much more time letting their other companions talk than she did about herself, and he wanted to know more about her than she had been willing to share so far. This was all a part of the design of course, his excitement was surely just that of a plan coming to fruition.

The tent was just tall enough in the middle for them both to stand. Off to one side she had arranged her bedroll with various cushions, covered in a small patchwork quilt. She lit a candle, setting it’s holder back down on the crate that served as her nightstand. On her other side were two stacks of books with a plank of wood balanced across the top, holding a small velvet pouch, and a shirt that looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place why.

Astarion watched her intently as she sat down on her bed and leaned against a cushion, crossing her ankles. “Well,” she shrugged and gestured around her with a smile, “Welcome home, what little I’ve tried to make of it anyway.”

He looked around and saw a few more small crates on their sides, littered with baubles of different kinds, glass bottles, stones, and dried flowers. She had a tree branch dug into the ground near the sewing table, its small broken limbs serving as storage for a few rings, necklaces and fabric scraps. Somehow, it did seem less like a tent and more like a home. He rather liked it.

He knelt down at the foot of the bed to join her, and she pulled her knees in to give him more space to settle down.

Tav was sure that by now he’d have started pushing his luck to pick up where they’d left off. She considered that the intense desire she felt earlier might have been a chemical consequence of the bite, at least in part. Before their endeavor, she hadn’t been in the habit of being dinner for vampires, so she had no way to be sure. Even if she were to ask, he might not know, since she had been his first. She had started to tug at her rings and the ends of her shirt sleeves as she thought.

Astarion wondered where her mind had gone as she began to fidget. She had never struck him as shy before. Although he wasn’t sure what caused her hesitation, he knew there wouldn’t be anything more physical that evening. Had this been any other night before their adventure, he would have employed every temptation in his arsenal to secure his master’s prey.

But here in the candlelight with her, the far off-look in her eyes felt too familiar. How many times had his eyes wandered to another place before the inevitable? Before whoever he was with, mark or master, took what they wanted? After the first few hundred times, he stopped counting. He reached toward her and held out his hand.

His movement pulled her out of her thoughts. Oh, right. He still needed to feed. She offered her wrist, but looked up in confusion when he turned her hand and laced his fingers through hers. He shook his head as he gave her fingers a light squeeze. The unexpected gesture and intensity of his gaze set a new wave of heat across her face.

He smirked at her reaction. “Welcome back, darling. As curious as I am about what’s on your mind, there’s something else I’m dying to know.”

She laughed, surprised at how much more relaxed she felt all of the sudden. “How can I still blush about holding hands after what happened earlier? I’m not sure either. Color me shocked.”

There she is, he thought, as a genuine smile spread across his face at her response. Her hand was so warm. He wanted to unlace his fingers and hold her hand in both of his to savor the feel of it. He resisted the urge in case it seemed desperate- or worse - she took her hand away.

“Diverting as it is, I’m even more intrigued about your having Gale’s shirt on your table.”

She really laughed then, eyes crinkling as she regarded his quizzical expression.

“He got a few rips in it the other day. Apparently Mystra’s chosen doesn’t know any cantrips to keep them from pulling back open. I agreed to fix it so long as I didn’t hear anything else about ‘the weave’ for the rest of the night.”

He tilted his head in interest. “I didn’t know you could sew.”

“You’d be amazed at the things you’d learn if you’d ask. But I guess that wouldn’t be very broody of you.” She teased, letting go of his hand to give his knee a playful shove.

He frowned and held his hand back out, and she laughed before offering hers again. He took her hand in both of his, rubbing her knuckles lightly with his thumb. He rolled his eyes “Better late than never, I suppose.” He had noticed some of her fabric scraps matched the blanket spread beneath them. “Did you make this?” He patted the quilt.

“I did!” She knew it wasn’t fancy by any means, but she had taken care to make it by hand, and was proud of how it turned out.

His eyes focused on their hands. He pursed his lips in thought as he ran his thumb over her knuckles again. Tav thought he looked conflicted about something. When he met her eyes again, Tav was surprised to see him look so vulnerable as he spoke.

“Can I show you something?”

“Of course.” She replied immediately. She was eager to see what had caused him to expose what looked suspiciously like genuine emotion.

He kept a hold of her hand as he stood. “It will only take a moment.”

She followed him out of her tent and into his. While he opened a chest at the foot of his bed roll, she took in her surroundings. Several piles of books littered the area, along with a crate that was suspiciously full of valuable looking loot, and a few bottles of wine varying in fullness.

Astarion turned back toward her holding a pile of fabric that upon closer inspection, appeared to be a very worn blanket.

“I’ve had this for a very long time. I’ve only been able to repair what I can by having read a few books, but I think what it needs is beyond my level of expertise.”

Tav normally would take the opportunity to tease him about being so sentimental. But her better judgment told her it was taking great effort for him to let her see so much of him in that moment.

She reached out to rub the material between her fingers as gently as possible. She was confident it could be saved, but she’d have to make sure he was comfortable with the ideas she had in mind. She can’t imagine the trouble he’s gone through to keep it all this time, considering what she knew of the general nature of his life before the tadpole. After Shadowheart had decked the shit out of him, Tav had only agreed to let him continue to feed on her if he was honest about his condition and what had left him in his current state. Full disclosure was an important part of consent, and he had agreed that was fair.

She was confident in her abilities, and it felt nice that he’d trust her with the request.

“I know it’s seen better days, but you’ve done the best you could in taking care of it, considering.” She regarded the cloth again carefully before continuing. “I’m glad it found its way out here to me.” When Tav looked up to meet his eyes, she wished she could tell him she didn’t just mean the blanket.

Astarion felt the tadpole wriggle behind his eye, just before he heard her thought as clear as if she’d said it out loud. The unpredictable telepathic link was a side effect of their illithid parasites. His eyes widened immediately, and he felt his stomach do a little flip.

Shit. She thought, as soon as she realized what had happened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push through.” She hoped he didn’t think that she’d been snooping in his mind.

“No, I know, darling, no need to apologize.” He cleared his throat to get a hold of his sudden well of emotion. “Gods know I like you bleeding, be it the heart or elsewhere,” he purred, as he returned the blanket to the chest.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, shaking her head. “You’re terrible.”

“We both know you like it.” He teased with a raised brow as he turned back to face her. He sighed as he faced her again. Astarion wasn’t ready to let her go, but they really did have a long day planned for tomorrow. “We should both try and get some rest, pet.” He took her hand to place a light kiss on her knuckles.

“You’re right,” she replied as she held onto his hand a little longer than she intended as she turned to leave. “Goodnight, Astarion.”

“Goodnight, Tav. Sweet dreams.”

He used her name. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him say it out loud before, certainly not when speaking to her. It was nice.

She felt her exhaustion take over as she entered her own tent and settled into her bed. Just as she drifted out of consciousness, she heard his voice in her mind.

“I’m glad, too.”

*************

TikTok Link to a video a wonderful creator made about his blanket 😭

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPR7KWVea/

[idle-brit]

10 Fandoms, 10 characters, 10 tags

Thank you @baepsrae for tagging me!! ♡( ◡‿◡ )

This is everyone's preemptive warning to skip past if you don't want to read a long and rambling post, I'm about to go wild lol. I'll also include the 5 people (not 10 oops) I'm tagging here at the top so they don't have to scroll; I'm interested to hear your answers but obviously there's no pressure to do it (･ω･)b

@koscheiy, @breitzbachbea, @runmild, @toffeeanddragons, and @yatzuaka!

1. Loki (Marvel)

My poor little meow meow. My silly rabbit. My sweet darling babygirl. Picking 9 other characters was honestly hard because there's few I truly consider a favourite like Loki. Between his 2011-2013 appearances in the MCU, the comics, and the pre-Thor high-fantasy-novel-esque fics on AO3, the ideal version of this character lives in my head rent free, and has done since 2012. I picked this gif from The Avengers because it was the moment that made me want to see the film again just for his scenes, and it remains the only film I've seen in cinemas twice. He's quite literally the reason I got Tumblr, for The Avengers fanart, and my very first post was some (bad) fanart of my own haha. While the rest of this list is in no particular order, Loki is absolutely my number one, for all time, always. I could talk about him forever.

2. Evy Carnahan (The Mummy)

I had to choose the scene I got my blog title from. While Loki might be my favourite character, The Mummy is my favourite film. I think I saw it at the exact right time of life when I was a kid in my Ancient Egypt phase, but also far younger than the recommended viewing age the film suggests lol. Ever since then I've rewatched this and the sequel (yes, sequel, singular. I said what I said) more times than I can count and further developed my interest in actual Egyptology. Evy is intelligent and an academic, kindhearted, a little bit clumsy, but uses her knowledge and quick thinking to be an absolute badass and save the day multiple times. I've always wanted to be at least half as cool as her and also marry Rick O'Connell.

3. L (Death Note)

Everyone here is lucky that I got Tumblr after the height of my weeb phase that started in 2008. Death Note was the first manga I ever read and I expected to enjoy it and move on, but as soon as I got to the Lind. L. Taylor event in volume 2 my young mind was blown and I was obsessed. One scene of L outsmarting Light kept me reading manga, got me into anime, introduced me to fanart, was the first fanart I ever drew, introduced me to fanfiction, and years later I would take Japanese classes at uni. L is an amazing example of a morally grey character, wanting justice to prevail but perhaps not for the right reasons, and no matter what it takes to get there.

4. Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil 4 Remake)

Okay I'll admit Leon is the first babygirl on the list who is mainly here for aesthetic reasons. I had a passing knowledge of the Resident Evil franchise but never took an interest because military-gun-shooting-series are boring as hell... Until RE4R came out last year and I saw this scene in a playthrough. Where do I sign up for him to do this to my neck. Then I learned Leon's backstory and actually appreciated his character too. He hates and distrusts the US government, he was blackmailed into service for them at 21, he's haunted by being used as their weapon, and he's the most cringe fail man who thinks he's suave when he says "Nighty night, knights" as he's killing sentient suits of armour. I need him.

5. Astarion Ancunín (Baldur's Gate 3)

Ah, a non-human in a high fantasy world, using knife skills and sharp wit to protect himself from a deeply traumatic past, but still good at heart and willing to open up to those who appreciate him for who he is, rather than living up to someone else's standards. Now where have I seen a similar character type before... When the game came out it shouldn't have been a surprise who my favourite would be lol. The whole cast does an amazing job, but the real draw of Astarion is the phenomenal work put in by Neil Newborn to really bring this character to life, and I don't think Astarion would be the same without him.

6. Kagome Higurashi (Inuyasha)

Inuyasha is one of my all time favourite anime/manga. It's got time travel, a historic setting, magic, action and adventure, and romance between a human girl and a supernatural being who's down bad. Basically all of the tropes I adore and still look for in new favourite series haha. And Kagome has been That Bitch from the start; arriving in a village that fears a half dog-demon, freeing him from his imprisonment to help her, and then ordering him to sit when he pisses her off, knowing he's wearing a magic necklace that forces him to obey. No one is doing it like her.

7. Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

Yes this is a basic bitch pick, I'm well aware. But no matter if it's the book by Jane Austen, the 1995 BBC production, or the 2005 film by Joe Wright, I love this story so much! There's just something so romantic about it that no modern romance book can capture, and that's not without my trying to find one (just follow my trail of 1 star ratings on Goodreads). Elizabeth and Mr Darcy just read as complete and real characters, and I love how much Elizabeth cares for her family, refusing Darcy's first proposal in part because he insulted them and tried to separate Jane from Mr Bingley.

8. Lin Sukai (The Drowning Empire Trilogy by Andrea Stewart)

Now we're getting into the realm of books without adaptations so I cant use gifs anymore, and I honestly couldn't find any fanart of Lin either. Which is a crime! My girl is out here being extremely intelligent and driven (and badass in some of the later scenes), using her familial magic as daughter of the Emperor to try and dismantle his tyranny despite craving his approval, and trying her best to gain allies even though she was raised within the walls of the palace and is slightly out of touch, and she doesn't have a fandom here on Tumblr? And that's only in book one of the trilogy!

9. FitzChivalry Farseer (The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb)

I haven't even finished The Realm of the Elderlings yet (16 thick ass books, nay, tomes) but I already know this is my favourite fantasy series of all time, and Robin Hobb is beyond doubt a master of her craft. One of her main talents is writing the ultimate poor little meow meow because good lord, Fitz just cannot catch a break no matter what he does or who he's trying to benefit. The pacing of these books can be quite slow but I promise it's always worth the emotionally devastating pay off. (It's also a tough call between Fitz and The Fool on who my favourite Hobb character is!)

10. Sancia Grado (The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett)

The final one is also my most recent addition to this list, seeing as I'm only just starting book two after finishing Foundryside late last year. While that shows how much I loved Sancia after just one book of her, I also hope the rest of the trilogy delivers! So often books will state characters are masters of their craft and just expect readers to take their word for it, but Sancia gets to show off her skills multiple times on page, so you get the impression she really exists and belongs in this world rather than just being a set piece for it. Not only that, she defies the usual lone-wolf-asshole stereotype that's so common in these gritty fantasy books, and it's heartwarming to see the found family she's gathered by the end of the story compared to where she began.

So uh, thank you all for coming to my TED talk about all my blorbos, see you later!

(￣▽￣)ノ

[crossdressingdeath]

#yes yes#i also see preamnesia durge as someone going through the motions because what other choice did they really have?#for my durge azariah i feel like they maybe tried to escape a couple times in the beginning but saw there was no point in it#bhaal would always bring them back#just as Astarion learned not to defy cazador because he would always be brought back and punished#they have such a good dynamic#they really are the only ones who understand each other no matter which path you choose (tags via @litterateur97)

Yeah, part of the problem is that the other companions' dynamics with Durge didn't get nearly as much time as they could've or should've (you're telling me Shadowheart and Lae'zel don't have Opinions on what it's like to be raised to serve an evil god? Gale doesn't have Opinions on what it's like to be a god's Chosen from an early age? Wyll doesn't have Opinions on having a shitty dad who throws you away when you're not good enough oh wait Wyll isn't allowed to acknowledge that his dad sucks? So many good potential dynamics that the game doesn't do anything with...), but I think even if everyone's dynamics with Durge had equal thought put into them Astarion's would be one of the most engaging. During the Bhaalspawn reveal Astarion talks about how Cazador basically tortured him until he stopped fighting; the impression I get with what the various characters who knew Durge before say is that it was a very similar story. There's even a similar sense of "I am a monster and even if I get free I will always be a monster"; Astarion also comments that mothers scare their children more with stories about Bhaalspawn than stories about vampires. Both of them are creatures to be feared and hated and killed out of hand. Halsin's sincere worry that Durge will get lynched if they tell the wrong person what they are lives in my head rent-free and matches up pretty well with how you can immediately stake Astarion for being a vampire. Even if Durge got free of Bhaal (which as far as BG3 shows us has never been possible before—it was doable in the earlier games but Sarevok's appearance here retcons that—and frankly given apparently Durge's kids will still be Bhaalspawn doesn't appear to be possible now no matter what Withers says), they would still be in constant danger just for existing. It's like Jaheira says, someone will always be after them. And it's the same with Astarion; he's always going to be a vampire and that's always going to be something people hunt him for. As far as the two of them knew there was no happy ever after, ride off into the sunset ending waiting for them, and Astarion I can definitely see accepting that Durge just... chose the devil they knew over trying to leave and at best ending up constantly looking over their shoulder until the day they died.

Astarion: So, it was you who got us into this mess? All along, we were travelling with the creator of the Absolute... I won't lie, I'm a little impressed. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be stuck in Cazador's kennels. So, thank you. For being that evil bastard.

I love Astarion. It's true; for a lot of the party the Absolute cult improved things for them! And while it's understandable that the party is mostly focused on how hey, this whole situation is fucked up... I don't know, it's really nice having one person looking at Durge in this situation and saying "Sure you did a lot of bad things, but you saved me". I can see it being a huge deal for Durge to have someone make it clear that he's still on their side while everyone else is clearly considering cutting and running, I love it.