#poor redeem durge

[toastofwaterdeep]

I want to talk about the dynamic between my Durge and Gortash.

Early acquaintance

Gortash: I am insanely jealous and resentful of you, but I'm really horny about it. I'm going to play nice and charm you because I have a lot to gain from this alliance.

Durge: You are a weird guy, and I LOVE it. What is your deal? (Like how one might be totally enamoured with a cool bug).

Partners in crime

Gortash: Okay, this is tight, actually. The alliance is awesome! You are unattainable, tho, and I wanna live, so I've put aside any notions of putting my dick in crazy.

Durge: I think of you less like a cool, weird bug and more like an equal. This is more like an unlikely animal friendship. We are like a shark and an otter who are friends inexplicably.

Evil office romance

Gortash: I can't deny it any longer. If I receive even one sign my affection is returned, I'm risking it.

Durge: oh no, oh fuck, oh dear-

Reunited after amnesia

Gortash: ❤️

Durge: You smell familiar :D

[y-rhywbeth2]

I always enjoy it when the most horrible villains have little flickers of humanity in them to make them even worse; I love that the Dark Urge apparently has a soft spot for the poor and homeless and gives to beggars, and that Gortash seems to have one for orphans and abandoned children (and possibly the people that care about them). Also the fact that this empathy can kind of apply to each other, if you think about it. In my head it's one of the things they silently bond over.

Sceleritas tries to convince himself that Durge did it to distract the attentions of the Fist, and Gortash could be said to be doing it for PR; but honestly I think it's more interesting if they're genuine (and doing it for PR)

Does it make them redeemable? Nope. And they can turn this off easily; Durge is a Bhaalist and can and will hunt the homeless. Gortash kills children when it will advance his goals. But does it make this interesting (for me)? Yeees.

[aint-thata-bitch]

Playing bg3 again and after finishing the lorroakan fight and Aylin addresses Rolan, telling him he "didnt embarrass himself", I'm picturing them being besties post-game. And on a similar note, playing as a redeemed durge who adores Rolan, that just adds to the hilarity.

Like imagine being Cal and Lia and you've grown up with your jerk loser nerd older brother who has always had trouble making friends and you know hes grown as a person but you can't help but hold onto how you saw him in Elturel a bit. And then one day he tells you he's going out for lunch in the afternoon and you're like "sure. Oh that's the door, lemme get it I gotta see what poor unfortunate soul is hanging out with you lol" but then you open the door and standing there is the literal demi-goddess, daughter of Selûne, and the pure blooded Bhaalspawn that helped you guys a while back.

Truly a sobering experience that would force your perceptions into the present so fast it would give you whiplash.

[crossdressingdeath]

Astarion: Well done again on besting Bhaal and all that. It was very twee. Astarion: Especially the part where that poor excuse for a skeleton waved his magic wand and made it all better. Kyvir: I am myself at last. You don't need to fear anything from me ever again. Astarion: Yes, you were so very scary. Astarion: I knew you had that sweet heart all along. I was alarmed by you sometimes, scandalised even, but somehow by your side, I still only ever saw you.

I also liked the part where Withers made it all better! Very convenient!

But I will say, Astarion's dialogue is the only one that feels a bit like rather than not mentioning Durge dying he's Not Mentioning Durge dying. If that makes sense? Like, with the others it feels like they didn't even notice, but Astarion going "Oh yes, that was all very twee, I especially like the bit where the skeleton waved his magic wand and made it all better" can easily be read as him just not being able to face the fact that Durge fully died for defying their father and it was only Withers happening to be there and happening to like them enough to intervene that kept that from sticking. In snarking about how nice it was that Withers snapped his fingers and made it all better Astarion is at least acknowledging that there was something to make better, which the others don't.

Astarion being utterly unconcerned about his own safety regarding his lover occasionally being possessed with the overwhelming, uncontrollable need to kill but extremely concerned about their mental well-being is one of my favourite things about the dynamic between him and Durge. I definitely have to get the act 2 scene next time instead of immediately murdering Isobel the first time I talk to her, I feel like that'll add something to this. Astarion being so determined not to be afraid of Durge is a very sweet part of the relationship between them, and it's especially good if you play Durge as equally determined not to be afraid of Astarion, vampire or no. Sure, Astarion is occasionally a little freaked out by Durge (only an idiot wouldn't be) and it's not that he doesn't realize that Durge could kill him really very easily, but... well, it's like he says. Even when they're at their most Bhaalspawn-like, he still only sees them. The sheer affection in "I knew you had that sweet heart all along" is so good. Redeemed Durge x spawn Astarion is so fantastic because it's basically these two people who can't see any good left in themselves but see so much in this person they love. It's two people who are convinced they can't be good but are determined to push the other to embrace their own goodness, I can't get enough of it.

[slasher-smasher]

I would like to think that for Durge, since they are essentially created from the flesh of a God, they would be at least have SOME divination right? I know there is a race of children of gods but I don't think Durge is that and I am not very knowledgeable in dnd lore. But I HC that they have a little more ✨️ than the rest of the citizens of Baldurs Gate SO my silly HC is this:

Since they are mortal+ they probably never have gotten sick. Like your average cold or the flu. So in this case your resisting durge is redeemed and get downgraded to your average immune system right?

I can just imagine the first time they experience getting sick. They are not stupid. Unless that's what you want them to be. They know what a cold or flu is and how it works but experiencing it themselves is a whole different world. It's slightly terrifying not being able to keep anything down or feeling like you are being frozen alive yet your blood is boiling in your veins. I know a potion or a healing spell would burn that sickness out in a snap but I'd like to think for simple sicknesses they just have to give you a nice tea and your body has to do the rest.

I can imagine the companions and/or lover for your Durge having to comfort them and tell them this is normal and will pass. Roll the poor ex murder cult leader up burrito style and give them all the snuggles.

[jessiemeows]

Insecure

Pairing: Spawn Astarion x F! Tiefling Redeemed Durge/Tav

Summary/Setting: post-Cazador and post-Ansur the dragon in Act 3, Astarion and the companions are back near the Rivington camp. Karlach accidentally hurt our poor vamp’s feelings lol.

I wrote something a while ago regarding Astarion most likely gaining weight from finally having access to blood after years of starvation so I wrote it a little short story for it!

Rating:  pg-13 lmfao, very light but mentions insecurities around weight

I wrote this while wine-drunk last night so, hopefully, there are not too many errors! 

------------------------------------------------------

Karlach exclaimed, "Come here, Fangs! I need to pinch those cheeks of yours!" while inching her fingers closer to Astarion's face. Astarion had just finished sewing up Clive, the teddy bear, who was Karlach's partner in crime. As a rogue, Astarion could easily dodge Karlach's attacks, whether it was her bear hugs or pinches, but he let the fiery tiefling have her way with him now and then.

“You are just so adorable, I can see why Eris can't resist you.” Karlach was rambling on about the vampire, smooshing his face to the point he could barely speak “Eris is such a lucky duck to have a chubby little vampire.”

Astarion's eyebrows furrowed as he glared at Karlach. "Chubby?!" he shouted, squirming out of the tiefling's grasp. His face was red and sore from Karlach's previous actions. "What do you mean by calling me chubby?!" Karlach's eyes wandered, searching for answers, giving him a dazed look. "I- Astarion," she stuttered in response.

Halsin stopped teaching the Scratch and Hoots how to roll over, and Gale, Minthara, and Shadowheart paused their conversation to look at them. Lae’zel’s usual loud sharpening sounds of her greatsword ceased, and the sudden silence was deafening. ‘Great,’ he thought to himself “now the whole camp was staring at them now.”

"I-just," Karlach stuttered, trying to choose her words carefully. "Since you and Eris have been together and you've been eating from her, you've filled out a little bit. It's not an insult! You deserve to finally be happy! That's all I meant, Astarion."

Astarion waved his hand at Karlach dismissively and stormed off to his tent, relenting on his next poorly chosen words.

------

Eris had returned from a retreat with her companions Wyll, Jaheria, and Minsc. They had been hunting for fresh game and gathering vegetables to celebrate the defeat of Ansur, the dragon, and Wyll's new title as 'The Blade of Avernus'. After the celebratory meal, they all sat by the fire. Minsc was telling one of his many stories while Jaheria kept interrupting him, saying that she remembered the story a little differently. Of course, Minsc claimed that it was how Boo, the giant miniature space hamster remembered it, so his story was the truth. 

The tiefling spent hours enjoying the company of her friends, laughing and drinking. However, she couldn't help but miss the absence of her vampire partner who had retreated to their tent for the night. This wasn't anything new for Eris, as he sometimes became moody and preferred to be left alone. In fact, it was often for the better that he did so, as he had gotten into arguments with others on more than one occasion. But it was quite unusual for him to not even come out to greet her once she returned from her travels and to say hello.

As the night was drawing to a close, she said her goodnights to her friends and made her way back to her shared tent. She may have been a little tipsy from the wine she had consumed earlier, and all she could think about was kissing her adorable, charming vampire. However, upon stumbling into the tent, she noticed the elf sitting quietly, reading and sulking about.

"Hey Astarion, is everything okay? Or are you mad at me? You seem quiet tonight," Eris asked as she began to change into her nightclothes. Astarion's gaze wandered as he took in her hourglass figure, admiring her soft curves. "I missed you at dinner," Eris added, tilting her head at him. Astarion remained silent, lowering his eyes again and pretending to read his book while avoiding eye contact with Eris.

"Astarion," Eris said again, this time staring at him with big, puppy eyes and a pout on her lips. He couldn't resist those eyes. "Hm? Oh, it's nothing," Astarion replied, trying to hide his true feelings. Eris, however, knew him too well. She finished getting dressed and crawled towards him, sliding her arms in between him and shutting his book. 

"I know you're hiding something from me, Astarion," she said while resting her head in the crook of his neck. "Come on, you can tell me. What is it?" Her warm breath left a trail of kisses down his neck to his jawline. He could smell the wine on her breath, which meant she was a bit tipsy. She always got playful when she drank. He tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

“You’re gonna think I’m silly.” He trailed off before speaking again. “Do you think I've gained weight since we met?” 

A moment of silence followed, Astarion released his grip on her waist and placed her back beside him. "Wait, let me speak, my love," she pleaded. Despite her words, the vampire turned back to the book he had been reading. However, before he could start reading again, she sprawled herself on top of the book on his lap and let out a groan.

"Instead of throwing a temper tantrum, please go ahead and say what you need to," he said, clearly upset with her silence.

"Astarion, I won't lie to you. Yes, you have gained weight, but it's a healthy weight. When we first met, you were very thin. I was surprised when you were able to hold me down when you used that dagger against me." She quickly sat up, straddling him and cupping his face.

"Ugh, when are you going to let that go?" the vampire rolled his eyes at her.

"Never," the tiefling giggled quietly, "but you've gained a significant amount of healthy weight. You're so much stronger than before, and you're still absolutely beautiful to me." Eris started kissing Astarion's cheeks, then moved to his neck. Meanwhile, Astarion began tracing his fingers on a couple of scars she had on her back, slowly inching his fingertips underneath her shirt. He let out a soft moan as she nipped his neck with her own fangs. The poor thing was trying to show him a taste of his own medicine. "And I wouldn't change how you look now for the world."

Astarion's cheeks began to blush. He grabbed Eris's chin and parted her lips with his own. "I love you so much, Astarion," Eris said, breaking their kiss momentarily. "I love you too, Eris. I will always love you.  How about a little fun, hm?”. He deepened their kiss by rolling Eris over to her back, feeling her smile silently say yes.

[animentality]

saw your post about redeemable durge and gortash and how they are different. And my two cents is that pre amnesia durge was way beyond redemption, there is just so much necrophilia, cannibalism and mass murder you can do before it forever stains you haha xD It is like finding some old demented man that used to do warcrimes, you can jail them, but they wont fully understand why they are there. anyways, love durge and gort <3 thank you for your posts. Hopefully larian gives us option to rule with gortash at some point. there seems to be some hints of that happening in game files.

you know, I said something similar once.

but I don't know now.

the game is pretty liberal in terms of presenting villains as sympathetic and capable of redemption.

Astarion might've been forced to do some awful things, but he still has the weight of thousands of souls on his head, doomed to an eternity of hunger. wyll was mizora's lapdog, and he was absolutely going to kill poor Karlach, who did nothing to deserve it. his guilty reaction implies he might've done this before.

gale's desperation for mystra's approval and power resulted in him getting that orb in his chest, which could've detonated at any moment, killing like... I don't know. it could kill a damn netherbrain, right? so it would've been able to flatten at least a city. that's a lot of deaths at his hands, and for what?

nothing. his own ambition.

Lae'zel and Shadowheart of course serve evil cults.

I'm not saying it's the exact same, because they've definitely all been coerced in some way.

but it allows for some ambiguity, doesn't it?

let's even look at outright villains.

you can tell Ketheric that he's still redeemable. he even falters when you suggest it.

and while Orin was never going to redeem herself, I mean fucking look at Sarevok and her mother. she was a product of incest already, which was absolutely disgusting, and then her own mother tried to kill her as a child, for the approval of Bhaal.

and then Sarevok tells you to kill her!!! his own daughter/granddaughter (yuck).

she desperately wanted his approval, and Bhaal's approval, and when you confront her with the truth, she's forced to turn into the slayer before she can even contemplate what it means to her.

I just.

I know Gortash is awful and if he existed in real life, I would absolutely kill him. he's on Joseph Mengele levels of fucked.

I wouldn't even need a trial, he'd be like Hitler. just shoot him in the head.

but since it's a game.... I can say that they presented him in an oddly sympathetic light, just like the villains, just like our morally gray heroes.

nubaldin boasts about how he used to bruise his knuckles on his face. Karlach, who is his chief victim for the audience's understanding, even says that it makes sense.

it doesn't excuse what happened to her of course.

but it explains it.

so... anyway I've rambled too long.

I admit that amnesia is really the only thing that redeems the dark urge.

but consider that I also said that Gortash is actually less evil than them from the start.

and they kind of balance each other out, in that way. you could even call them equals.

they could both have redemption, if only they both sought it.

[caynesugar]

Do you have any nsfw durgetash hcs? Inquiring minds want to know 👀

oh GODS my first ever ask and it’s a spicy meatball.. i’m sure i can oblige with a few..

• desk fucking?? nah. we can upgrade to altar fucking, we’re all tasteful here. of course enver would get the biggest ego boost from splaying durge out on an overly-elaborate bloodstone altar dedicated to bane and rawing them nasty.

• BANITE. BAPTISM. this shit has been rotating in my brain like a frozen hot pocket for like.. a good month now. redeemed-durge who leaves bhaal and swears their allegiance to bane because their big booty goth bf said it would be good for their alliance. anon, you don’t realize how much i’ve been seething with rage with the lack of canon info abt people being baptized in the name of bane. anyways, yk this shit gotta be dirty. downright humiliating. mayhaps poor r-durge would have to prove themselves worthy with a lap dance, while enver grabs the nape of their neck and growls at them to continue on. with all the other banites watching and prodding them on with searing brands. FUCK.

• enver strikes me as the type to say sm like, “that’ll do, that’ll do nicely” when you finish. that thought alone gets me wild.

• proudest scenario i’ve got atm is enver half-hanging durge over the ramparts while having his way with them. i’m talking them clinging to the stone railing while enver mutters about how durge can, “bask in the glory of his proud city as he takes his prize”. stomping my feet punching the air at that thought.

[zmediaoutlet]

Astarion/take your pick

oooooo how exciting -- let's take two options here -- and rip, this will be spoiler central --

Astarion/redeemed!Dark Urge

this shit feels like how the game was meant to be played. I mean first of all just on pure amount of content, the Astarion romance blows everyone else out of the water, and the integration with a durge who's trying to get his shit together is suPREMEly good. It's fine I guess when you're just doing murdelation blood blah status, but the additional effort caused by just trying to get control of yourself is fascinating, especially when Astarion is clearly watching and going, hmm.

You can play a redemption however you want -- really trying to push into Good alignment, just trying to be neutrally in control of yourself, still flat-out a shithead but you don't want to be a shithead for daddy anymore, whatever -- but my favorite is a guy who's just trying to put one foot in front of the other, and looks at his worst blood-black impulses and goes okay, well not THAT obviously, so let's try to do the opposite. Contrary to some players' belief, it is SO easy to get Astarion to 100% loveydove romance while still being A Good Guy; you just have to not be an idiot, lol. Durge choosing to listen and having the wis/cha/int score to see through Astarion's bluster and see what he's actually saying is such a gift; Astarion carefully watching Durge not be as untrustworthy as he assumed literally everyone was, and thinking maybe I could... -- girl, that shit is catnip. Yum.

I also have a boner for the way that Astarion comes from this terrifying torture background and Durge is a terrifying torturer and could probably detail everything that Cazador did to him and make it worse -- but he's choosing not to, and it is an active and daily choice. Fits so nicely with Astarion being, yeah, a moderately amoral vampire, but he can watch that and go 'well, maybe I don't need to... be the worst version of myself...' Not that he turns into a paladin or some shit like that, but by the time you get to him in the ritual and you have to explain to him in baby steps that 'yo idiot, if you turn into supervamp you'll be Cazador but worse' -- seriously, it's like he never pays attention to literary tropes -- it's sOOO satisfying when he believes you, and backs off, and then when it's your turn to defy Bhaal it's like -- hell yes, not echoing the mistakes of our fathers! Freedom! And then they have like lots of sex about it or whatever. (I like the 'go to the Underdark with the spawn' ending; presumably we have a little vamp castle where boinking occurs.)

but to take it a different direction, a quick jaunt into:

Ascended!Astarion/Dark Justiciar!Shadowheart

and the reason I like this is that playing as the Origin characters fucking suuuuucks because they get ripped down blandly into the version of themselves who could react like a boring blank-slate Tav, because "player freedom is so important" [rolls eyes, jerking off motion]. More than that, though, they aren't allowed to really go through their own journeys, because no one listens to them. The job of the PC is to fix everyone else's personal sidequests -- none of the friends give a shit about your own. (Tav doesn't even have a problem, it's hysterical. At least Durge has something going on people pay attention to.)

so with that said, Astarion has no one to genuinely dissuade him against Ascending. I mean, Gale and Lae'zel aren't exactly for it, but none of them actually listen and talk him through the thought process the way a real PC can. So what's to stop him from Ascending? It's the obvious best option.

and then, relatedly, if you have a scared almost-feral Astarion who's desperate to get power however he can -- if he discovers that his hot cleric friend is a cleric of Shar, and she can do some hella dangerous shit and become an even stronger bodyguard? Uh, yes please. What does he care if the world rolls to darkness? He's got darkness plans of his own. And poor Shart then has no one actually giving a shit about her own problems -- why would a still-evil-track Astarion coach her into not sucking? They can be cunty wine drinkers together, never actually learning lessons and spiraling down into shitholery together. Does Astarion actually want to fuck her? What does it matter. They'll rule Baldur's Gate above and below. The fight can come later.

anyway, origin characters making each other worse is fascinating and also hysterical. shithead4shithead, amen.

[50cal-fullauto-astarion]

what smiley face would they use the most if they had a phone (changing this to emoji in general)

hobby or interest they are most embarrassed about (PLEASE tell what brings shame to the Durge Boy)

what mundane human job would they have in modern society to pay the bills and do they like it

their top 3 songs on repeat name a toxic trait of theirs that is really just a beige flag at best

THANK YOU BABE EHEHEHHEEH ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 I’m going to answer for both of these smelly bitches bc I can dghj

1. what smiley face would they use the most if they had a phone

Yder’s a definite tie between 🖕 and 😐. Yder is constantly expressing annoyance, whether fondly or genuinely.

Scorpio oh man. I feel like he’s by and large a FaceTime or voice note sort of dude, and his emoji game is fuckin whack and inscrutable fghhd. He’s giving me HUGE 🔫, 🔪, 👊 vibes though, with a dash of 🙇, 🤡, and 🥰. Also maybe a few of these 🐂 bc I feel like he’s got an obsession with the strange ox and he just NEEDS ppl to know he’s thinking about it again.

6. hobby or interest they are most embarrassed about

HUEHUEHUE YESSSS. Oh god this hit me like a ton of bricks, and it’s making me cringe in sympathy embarrassment, but I feel like my poor Durge baby Scorpio has a REALLY pretty voice. Like REALLY pretty, nice and gravelly and deep. Anyway where I’m going with this is smth smth he narrates erotica and/or creates porn ASMR audios. Slaps them on Patreon, makes a mint even though he’s just doing it for fun, but if ANYONE caught him recording whimpering audios, he’d send himself straight to hell. I owe him a formal apology dfhh. He sounds like Ghost Call Of Duty |’:

Real time life update I almost got shit on by a fuckin bird

YDER. So I had to think about this a minute - NOT bc she doesn’t have shame, she has that in spades, but omfg she’s so like Go And Do that she wouldn’t have time for a hobby, let alone an embarrassing one. Oh god no I figured it out. She’s low key kind of a furry/scalie and she’s got sonas for each that she doodles a lot. One’s a water monitor and one’s a mongoose 😭😭 YDER I’M SO SORRY. I’ll give her one redeeming quality, her art Twitter is fucking insane. SECONDARY EMBARRASSMENT: this is the actual one bc it popped in my head but I think the furry thing is funny enough to leave, but she has a huge assortment of romance themed pinboards that she likes to edit and curate and if ANYONE saw them, she’d ruin their life.

15. what mundane human job would they have in modern society to pay the bills and do they like it

Yder’s is boring and immoral, but she’s a computer hardware engineer for fantasy!L*ckheed M*rtin while she’s pursuing her master’s. ): She likes it bc she’s good at it and it pays a lot, but not on its own merits.

Scorpio — my brain IMMEDIATELY said barista and dog walker?? *ETA: also is a bouncer at a shitty dive bar known for violent patrons. I mean he’s probably super married to Gale and living in luxury in Waterdeep like a trophy wife, so he’s just doing both of those to have something to do and some pocket change, even though Gale 8000% gave Scorpio a black card tied to his accounts that he can use freely. Plus he’s got the Patreon audio porn racket going on, he’s just doing shit for a laff at this point lol.

19. their top 3 songs on repeat

THIS ONE IS SO GOOD. All Spotify links!

Yder: Hot Knife - Fiona Apple (gives her Astarion feels, Abs she’ll annoy him by tugging his ear and going, “If I’m butter, if I’m butter, then he’s a hot knife.”) Беспонтовый пирожок - Grazhdanskaya Oborona (THIS SLAPS THANK YOU FOR THE REC WARDS!!). Ederlezi - Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra (this version is so fuckin good it got me to change her name).

Scorpio: Dirty Harry - Gorillaz. Anywhere I Lay My Head - Tom Waits (ANY Tom Waits song lbr, but this one is special and probably the song he associates most with Gale). Coal - Dylan Gossett (he’s my loves-country boy, and this song makes him feel seen).

27. name a toxic trait of theirs that is really just a beige flag at best

THIS one really had me thinking bc they’re both literally decimated with toxic traits, but bending them into beige flags is a trick dghj.

Yder: oh god so her selfishness and manipulative tendencies are omnipresent and bulletproof, but 💀💀 safe really DOES use it to improve the lives of the ppl she cares about. She’s an insular, horrid woman who rarely cares if she has to kill to get her way, but she’ll put that to use to beg, borrow, steal her friends’ ways into better lives. It’s a nice bonus if it sets her up nice, too.

Scorpio: He is EXTREMELY fucking clingy and possessive—whether it’s Gale, his friends, or just someone he considers ‘Mine Mine Mine,’ like the Finding Nemo gulls. But uhhh woof his loyalty is SERIOUSLY unmatched. And you’ll never be lonely if you have his number and want to hang out!

Bonus: they’re both in insanely codependent relationships 🤪🤪 but it makes their partners feel loved, wanted, and secure! That’s kind of like getting an A in relationships, right?

[ell-vellan]

All of your Tavs are so pretty excuse me

For Minoraun, would they embrace the dark urge initially, or would they try to resist it? What do you think pulls them in that direction? And if they have a LI, what about that character drew them in?

Thanks for playing :)

So I haven't gotten past act 1 with my Durge meaning I don't know his whole backstory yet! And I don't know precisely yet how his amnesia affects his choices - being a Seldarine drow means he would probably at least know that much about himself. And knowing he had rejected Lloth, he thinks he is "one of the good ones" and sets about trying to dispel the poor reputation of Drow. Also this is why he thinks he is a Paladin of Vengeance. He thinks at first his Urge is due to him being good at killing due to being a paladin, and paladins are generally forces for good. Slowly it gets worse and he freaks out after The Incident because the loss of control and brutality is terrifying. He realizes something is wrong with him but it does feel wrong. So he resists it, trying to redeem himself as he believes he is a good person within; the first few quests he completes at the beginning of act 1, saving the tieflings and Shadowheart, felt good. And he chooses to be that person.

He romances Astarion because he at first finds him interesting and also pretty :) I think he senses a similar struggle in Astarion of fighting their worst natures, and they make each other better.

[bhaalschosen]

I wanted a character who would hate durge no matter how redeemed they were or how much of a poor little meow meow they were, thus Lily

People like "we can't kill durge, for reason x, y, z" and Lily, three and a half feet tall with a glock, is like "I'll fucking do it, since you are so complicated. Get out of my way"

[thecryptidgrey]

This post! Yes!!

There's a great post floating around here somewhere that I cannot for the life of me find back, but it basically summarises how Wyll and Gortash are perfect opposites as Durge's lover, especially if you fully lean into redeeming Durge. Everything about their storylines- how they came into their positions of power and how they use it, their aspirations, especially their romance with Durge- is a perfect mirror of one another, and of course a big part of it is everything OP said about Wyll as the Beauty to Durge's Beast! Wyll wants to help fix Durge for their own good, but Gortash wanted to make them worse for his own enjoyment. He's kinda the Gaston of the allegory, I think. Same rancid vibes <3

Also, I know people love Astarion for Durge, and I do like him as Ascendant with Evil Durge, but for the redemption arc I think Wyll is their perfect parallel (plus it's really fuckin funny to me that you can rock up to your ex's coronation hand in hand with the, as OP said, literal Best Man Alive, said man is the biggest threat to his power, son of the guy he just stuck in prison, and undermines him in the most annoying ways possible). Anyway, the point I was trying to get to here is that Wyll feels most like the canon Good Durge romance to me.

...and tbh? he's really just the sweetest in terms of an actual romantic partner you could spend your life with. I do love all of the companions, but they're all a bit fucked up and you know Wyll is the only one who's dealing with it responsibly. He honestly deserves a patch focused entirely on overhauling his romance- poor guy is so lacking compared to everyone else when his story has so much to it!

I know people tend to forget Wyll a lot in this fandom (I wonder why. What Could Possibly Be Different. Can you spot the difference?/s) but I'm genuinely surprised at the lack of Durge x Wyll content. Especially if you're going Redeemed, there's that inherent flavor of "My lover cannot know the truth, I am horrible and they would hate me, they would be correct to hate me." And with Wyll it's just... so juicy, he's so pure and shining, and Durge is so filled with filth and misery that there's barely a person left underneath.

Idk, as a femme romance reader I've spent so many years reading the "love redeems" arc where a FMC plays beauty to an MMC beast, in every genre, medium, budget, etc. I'm not here to yuck anyone's yum, but beauty and the beast as a story structure has never done it for me.

until it's reversed, apparently, because Wyll as the beauty to Durge's beast needs to be injected directly into my veins like yesterday. All the other companions are good and sweet, don't get me wrong, but their reactions are coded like 'i accept you,' where Wyll to me comes off much more as 'we will heal you.' He doesn't have any funny little quips about you trying to bite him, no innuendos, no "I Will Put You Down" a la Laezel, he's just... so good, and he believes in your inherent goodness, he so easily sees "you" and "your urges" as wholly seperate entities he would step between if he could.

Speaking of which!! The coronation scene, when everyone finds out you're Bhaalspawn? I never see anyone talking about Wyll's reaction compared to other companions getting angry (even Dark Shadowheart will yell at you) because Wyll seems to be the ONLY PERSON who immediately separates you(the person he knows) from you(the person you used to be). Astarion isn't angry, he even appreciates your scheme freeing him from Cazador, but he also kinda falls into the whole "I will talk to you as if you are the exact same person who did these things, this is Your True Nature and I feel positive about it."

Wyll's reaction feels like the only one saying "You WERE that," instead of "You ARE that." It also feels like the only one that kinda-sorta acknowledges Durge's actual amnesia, because he doesn't treat this revelation like a betrayal the way the other "good" companions do. They be saying "The real evil was hiding within our ranks all along" like wym hiding? Durge didn't know either, how tf they supposed to tell you?

Wyll doesn't even blink. Once he knows what you are, his No.1 priority is reassuring YOU about it. The fact you're Bhaalspawn isn't a betrayal; it's a Horrible Burden and he's sorry you have to bear it, but there have been others like you who were good, who overcame, and your blood isn't who you are. His first instinct is to offer hope, to reassure you that there's a way out, he believes so hard that your urges are a defeatable enemy and he's ready to fight them with you.

(I also fall into the Durge And Gortash Fucked camp, and I cannot overstate the tastiness of Durge waltzing into the coronation of their ex, the Worst Man Alive, while bringing along their new boyfriend, the Best Man Alive)

Idk, I've just never engaged in a romance where I played the part of the Beast. As much as people rag on pure, princely archetypes, I don't actually see them that often. I genuinely don't remember the last time I read/saw a male lead behave like Wyll, but I've seen plenty of Astarions, Fenrises, Rhysands, etc. Romance loves a fixable MMC, but so rarely an MMC who wants to do the fixing.

Anyway. Justice for Wyll or whatever. I can only cross my fingers that future DLC will include more romance content, because we all deserve to have a Beauty for our Beast sometimes.