#when i tell you that Astarion has had to fight tooth and nail for any ounce of normalcy around Gale

[saltycryptid]

"Gale and Astarion share some friendly banter back at camp."

Is it friendly? 😭 not 100% sure but i AM sure that whatever check Astarion had to roll was a crit fail.

((🫶💖 a little moment from the tiefling party with a bloodweave spin! TY for the ask!!))

[coriphallus]

The Dark Urge thoughts (and prayers)

anyone whos been following me knows im absolutely not normal about durge and i wanna share some tidbits that are implied, but not necessarily canonised, from their story;

I already made a post about it but it seems like bhaal has a degree of control over whether they live or die. he can deny them death, if they fail the duel with orin.

bhaal can command the slayer. he forces orin to transform if you talk to her about sarevok and the scene makes it clear that its against her will.

bhaal manipulates his kin in a subtler way. in the colony you can find a letter from old durge thats apologising to his father for 'liking' gortash. you can interpret their relationship as something deeper but even if it wasnt, this reads to me as terrified and desperate.

the reason being, if you have a LI in act 2 you get the famous bondage scene. coupled up with the letter above makes me think this is a pattern. bhaal can use their feelings against them. he did it with sarevok and orin's mother, orin's mother and orin, etc... it's not as straightforward as 'if you disobey ill kill the one you love'. you will. durge will.

bhaal is testing them in act 2, he revels in chaos, sure, but in the grand scheme of things he doesn't care about isobel. even if you tell scel that you'll kill her you're told that youre too late, you ignored your urges. from durge, bhaal doesn't expect calm calculated murder, he expects blind obedience. failing to receive that his first punishment is to take away something they cherish. there are no half measures, theres no bargaining with a god.

we get so many snippets of information that this has happened before, their foster family being their first victims. theyre made to kill their support system with their own hands, with no one to blame but themselves. they are actually apologising to their father for being fond of gortash because (in my humble opinion) theyre genuinely afraid.

how many times could this have happened, how many nights durge couldve woken up covered in the blood of someone they love until they gave in, became daddys obedient puppet?

durge is groomed for murder. scel says 'you always failed to conduct yourself without me' and given who he is i dont think hes talking about table manners when he says 'conduct'. durge needs 24/7 oversight to set themselves right lest they get tempted by softer things. lest they dare to step away from bhaals grand plan.

durge do have a choice. just as shadowheart had a choice, just as wyll or astarion had a choice. its a choice only in name.

theres no ending besides refusing bhaal that their friends and LI wont die by their hands. the entire lore of bhaalspawn is that theyre meant to conquer the world in his name and slit their own throat a top the mountain of corpses. as cazador aptly put, 'theyre made to be consumed.'

you can pray to bhaal and the narrator says he won't accept [any offering] but the entire world.

durge (and bhaalspawn) do get some sort of euphoria from murder. they crave it like an addict, but bhaalspawn (on prev games) don't constantly have to grapple with these urges as durge does.

now durge is a slightly special case but not in a good way. its implied that theyre not like a regular bhaalspawn, that theyre made by bhaal directly -so to speak-. which is to say, if youre playing a drow, they are bhaals closest approximation of a drow rather than a drow flesh and blood.

thats why theyre fighting tooth and nail against these urges every step of the way, they are literally bhaal himself(in essence). the personality they develop, the person who calls themselves 'tainted' and 'wretched', the character thats making choices throughout the game, theyre the tumour.

theirs is the story of cycle of abuse cranked up to 1000 and it is in parallel to all other origin companions.

[fishsticksloser]

hii so this is kinda like. self indulgent 😭 but could you write platonic spiderverse headcanons w a gn spider-reader who’s 12?(got bitten at around 9-10)

hopefully that’s ok, if not it’s fine tho sorry 😭😭

Young!Spiderperson

Spiderverse + gn!reader

Warnings: slight angst, platonic fluff, pretty short

A/N: I'm so tired. I wish I could sleep... We don't need sleep... We only need Astarion... Also before you all yell at me... Noir was bitten at 16 in the comics and says he's been spiderman for 3 years in ItSV meaning he's 19 then 20/21 in AtSV. Same with Hobie, bitten at 16 and says he's been spiderman for 3 years making him 19-20

Miles

He was only 14 when he was bitten

So he's very understanding and wants to help in any way he can

He's thankful he had Peter to help him learn how to be Spider-Man

He can't imagine being 9/10 and doing it alone

Miles has had a fair share of difficult times

But being so young and going through that

Terrifying to him

He will beg his parents to adopt you

Pav

A lot like Miles

He cares so much

He's such a good listener too

And he wants to do everything he can to make your job easier

He was bitten at 14/15, so he's fairly knowledgeable on how hard this is

So never once has he yelled at you for how you performed

Pav spends a lot of time with you

He thinks you're so amazing and he tells you that every time he sees you

He might be your number one fan... Might there might be someone who has him beat

Gwen

She was bitten at 12/13

So the fact that you've already been spiderman for a few years just...

Breaks her heart

It was hard enough at the age she was bitten

She can't imagine having that pressure, those powers

And still be in elementary school

She decides to help you

Not just learn how to use your powers (cause you've been doing it for 2-3 years at this point)

But she decides to be your confidant

She wants you to come to her if you need help or guidance

Noir

He will adopt you

In a heartbeat, are you kidding?

Did you see how quickly he basically adopted Peni?

Yeah... he basically adopted a 14 year old while he was 19

But being so close to Peni, he understood the termoil she went through after she was bitten at 8

This man will fight for you

Tooth and nail

Especially since the spider goddess won't let him die...

He will do whatever it takes to protect and empower you

#1 dad young dad

Hobie

I said someone might have Pav beat for your number one fan...

And this man here might have him beat

He's a punk

Are you kidding?

He is astonished by you

He had his own problems being 16 and a crime fighting rockstar in his universe

But you...

You were just a "wee thing"

He is your biggest fan

Constantly encouraging you to do better

Be better

Be amazing

He is definitely upset that you had so much on your shoulders so young

He wishes he could go back and take it so you could be a kid

Miguel

As if anyone could be more upset by what has happened to you

Losing his daughter at such a young age

He was outraged that you were put under this

He makes you a little escape at HQ

He absolutely builds forts with you

Whatever you want

He just wants to make you happy

You didn't deserve this

Really none of them did, but at 9/10?

You never got to experience what it was like to be a normal kid

Peter

Dad #2 on this list

Peter adopts you instantly, on sight

He's 100% 'kidnapping' you

He treats you like his own kid

You wanna spend the night at his?

He doesn't even have to ask MJ cause she'll agree

Smores, popcorn, Kool aid, you name it he'll get it

He wants you to experience real kid things without all the pressure

Cause you don't deserve that

You shouldn't have had to go through that

And he plans to make you feel loved and appreciated every day of his life