I Don't Know If This Is Too Much Nudity But Hopefully It Doesn't Get Taken Down??? They're Y'know Naked,

I don't know if this is too much nudity but hopefully it doesn't get taken down??? They're y'know naked, but it's not like dicks are out lol and they're not actively fucking or anything. And, I've censored their hips and such just in case it looks a little too nude, y'know? This scene and the context is much more emotionally intimate than physically, in my opinion. They're not screwing to get off, it's way more meaningful than that. In this drawing, they're not even actively banging either actually, they're just cuddling in the aftermath. Buuut they're still naked so I put a little mature tag on it, just in case!!!

Anyways have a (permanently) unfinished Mordriel and Gortash drawing in their AU where Mordriel goes a little (...more) crazy and evil.

This is right after they meet again and have a little reunion! After talking, Mordriel takes Gortash out to the woods and this is after some emotionally-driven, very loving sex. <3

abandoned-child-of-bhaal (not tagging them cuz this post is y'know nsfw, but you should go check her out!!) mentioned the idea of the Bhaalist assassin temple place he and his sister grew up in forcing everyone to have their hair short and then I thought of Mordriel growing his hair out as an act of rebellion and it giving him a much more elfy look and anyways I like it and I've been thinking about that a lot recently. I think he'd grow his hair out down to the floor over time.

Anyways I tried to do a forest background for this, then changed to a bedroom, then gave up and just slapped some random colors down when I got too annoyed lol. I think I liked the lineart more than the colors which really sucks. But whatever, it's okay, it's good practice!! Even if I'm not really that happy with the finished piece, I still think they're cute together

A friend mentioned to me that I should draw my durge Mordriel and @abandoned-child-of-bhaal's durge Neil in the "go, do a crime" meme format and I love it so much it fits them so perfectly

Always thinking about how my durge Mordriel (or durges with high intimidation rolls in general) somehow attract Astarion. Like he is ALL OVER durges. And Mordriel and Astarion's romance is so wildly unlikely and funny to me.

Like Mordriel, a hulking half-elf with solid black claws, spooky eyes, and no memories, only the urge to kill, somehow got Astarion to fall in love w him. Mordriel, the man who's muttering "all is ash and meat" under his breath, who can't get away from his chronic pain and takes it out on others, who threatens people by saying "Do you have children? Yes? I see. Do you want your children to continue having parents? Or do you want them orphaned? You don't want them as orphans, do you? Then, do as I say." and constantly using his illithid authority, who's covered in explainable scars and tattoos, who is literally murder incarnate, who has killed THOUSANDS and has no remorse except for like a couple of his kills, who can't take a joke, who doesn't even acknowledge or understand flirting and actually gets annoyed at flirting until act 3, who has nearly killed all of his party members at least once including Astarion (who actually, has nearly been killed the most amount of times out of everyone), who thinks "Gods, I can smell our last kill on you. I love it." and "Will you hunt someone with me today?" and "Your teeth are so sharp. You could crush someone's windpipe with ease." is FLIRTING and GOOD flirting at that, etc etc.... That man. That man somehow caught Astarion's eye, PAST MANIPULATION. Past "oh gods gotta buddy buddy with the monster in our group because he's been designated leader and now he has the power to exile me, kill me, or worse, send me to Cazador". Past all that. HE LIKES HIM. He actually likes him. Worse, he loves him. Loves the murder incarnate. Feels SAFE with the murder incarnate. Do you see the irony in that? The first person he's felt safe with probably in 200 hundred years, is a man who's been seconds away from killing him, multiple times and hated his guts for a good amount of time. But now, that man is protecting him, projecting all of that murderous energy onto others, others who have wronged Astarion. And somehow that's romantic to Astarion. Which, in a way, sure, being protected by a horrible monster who's all sweet and lovey dovey towards you is romantic. But also what the fuck.

And even funnier to me, is that Mordriel and Astarion... out of all the people in the camp, is one of the most unlikely pairings for Mordriel. Mordriel, if he hadn't slept with Astarion first, would've ended up with Gale or Lae'zel likely. Lae'zel had the "you've been looking at me differently" option so she was feeling it too, and Gale was like "well Astarion has a certain charm about him. So does a tiger when it purrs" so he did too, and Mordriel was all over those two and really enjoyed their company. Even Wyll, he actually admires Wyll quite a bit, and it actually wildly hurts his feelings when Wyll begins to think of him as a monster. Astarion is like his... third to last choice, behind Karlach and then Shadowheart. Karlach is "his sister's Tiefling", so off limits. And then he and Shadowheart are just kind of neutral until act 2, then they're best friends and she's like a sister to him.

And the only reason Astarion and Mordriel ever slept together and showed Astarion the "plan was working", was because Astarion was just... persistent. And in Mordriel's mind, the more persistent someone is on something, the more nice it is, right? In Astarion's mind, Mordriel's all over him. But Mordriel is like. kinda curious about sex? Kinda? And that's it. The plan is not working.

Also, Astarion is just about the opposite of Mordriel's type at first. The first time Mordriel even begins to tolerate Astarion, is during the bite scene funnily enough. He nearly kills Astarion in that moment, but his "must get the whole story first" type view urges him to press on first. And then their minds link, and Mordriel gets to see the first bit of Astarion's vulnerability, which Mordriel actually sees as a strength (because, in his eyes, surviving 200 years on rats is impressive. He partially pities Astarion for the moment, but it's replaced with almost... admiration. He's impressed, and willingly lets Astarion bite him, and even waited until the very last second to persuade him to stop. Even said "I trust him. He won't hurt us" the next morning, although that was said with a silent threat of "Because if he does hurt us, I think he knows he'll be dead by my hands easily", but still. He starts standing up for Astarion and his affliction because he now has some respect for the "weak, flirty, annoying thief" he once hated). And then they bond over their shared hatred for Cazador. Cazador angers the urges because he has power, so even without Astarion being around, he likely would harbor a good deal of disdain for Cazador. Astarion takes Mordriel being like "we WILL kill him." as the plan working. Again, it is not. Mordriel's merely added another powerful being to his kill list.

The way that Astarion caught Mordriel's eye, is in the moments that Astarion was not preforming and being flirty, but instead being like "Can we kill that guy over there?", or being demanding and such, or when he's giving Mordriel his "doe eyes". The performative mask Astarion has created is..., well, annoying to Mordriel. But when Astarion gets sassy, silly, soft-eyed, or bloodlust-y, THAT is endearing to Mordriel. And so, it is insane these two ended up together. Everything Astarion does to attract, annoys Mordriel. And it is a wonder Mordriel HASN'T killed Astarion because of that. So, for these two to end up together is just. insane. I guess the shared interest for other people's torture really makes you fall in love.

Also GOD did this get so much longer than I meant.

Veilguard has me thinking about DAI so much and IRON BULL. Iron Bull and Dorian and Sera and- okay well all of them. But it also brought up the "betrayal" part of Iron Bull.

!!!!SPOILERS FOR DAI BELOW IF YOU CARE ABOUT THAT!!!! also MAJOR rant below

I bought DAI for Iron Bull. Like literally just because the bull man was really hot and I wanted to see him more. I even built a handsome, gentle Qunari dude to go along with him in my first playthrough. Turns out when you choose the "romantic" dialogue options, it means it and, trying to comfort Dorian after seeing his dad, Dorian kissed my dude and I was SO shocked. Anyways, they ended up together instead, but I had my whole playthrough formed around Iron Bull at the time.

Only to hear something about Iron Bull betraying you eventually which was devastating because he and my dude were so close!! So sweet together!! I mean my dude whacked the shit out of Iron Bull after Iron Bull got traumatized over the fade! They were best buds, how could Iron Bull betray him??

turns out Iron Bull only "betrays" you if you betray him. I heard something about the Chargers and the Qunari in that article I read about him betraying you, and after reaching that scene and calling the Chargers to safety, searched up "when does iron bull betray you" and google let me know it was RIGHT after that scene. So I was worried, and even more worried when Iron Bull brought me up to a BRIDGE. I was 100% sure he was gonna push me off, only for Qunari to go after HIM instead. I searched up "when does he betray you" again and like. he doesn't betray you. he gets vengeance for his boys? I was so misled into thinking he betrays you, but he RIGHTFULLY gets vengeance after you make him sacrifice the Chargers. Like those are his boys?? That's his family right there?? He thanks you for not making him sacrifice them afterwards too. He basically goes "I don't know what I'd do without them" like making him sacrifice them, would obviously ruin him. And people are saying he betrays you, but he doesn't!! That's his family!! Imagine your friend (or WORSE, your lover) telling you to let your whole family die when you have the option to NOT. Yeah he's fake but ugh!! And it's like, the Chargers trust him so much. They would die for him. They DO die for him if you tell him not to signal them back. They trust him so much, that they don't even turn back if he doesn't call for them. Because he wouldn't possibly betray them, right? After everything they've been there? Of course not. The thought of him betraying them doesn't even CROSS THEIR MINDS. Because he's loyal. Because he's devoted to his team. The only reason he would betray them, is because you made him. It's like. how does he betray you afterwards?? It's vengeance. It's justice. Anyone would want justice for their family, if ALL OF THEM were slaughtered because of their "friend". Or again, worse, their lover. The person supposed to be in love with them, and care for them, and their needs and wants.

anyways i basically tear my hair out every time I hear something about Iron Bull betraying you because they sacrificed the Chargers like those are his boys?? Those are his babies?? His funky vagabond group?? His strays?? His family?? okay rant over now but UGHHHH

With @monsterlimbs posting her version of this meme just yesterday, let me present to you my version! This time with my girl Neil that gives Mordriel a hard time (like siblings should)

Saw this tumblr post on pinterest and HAD to put Gale behind it