#smallnioc

[smallnico]

durge desensitizes to casual positive affection and friendship compilation

also known as real feline durge hours. esper's companions look at them and say Is Anyone Gonna Manhandle That Murderous Twink and then not wait for an answer. contexts/explanations under readmore for the curious

lae'zel and esper do morning exercises and meditation together. most of the time they pass the time in silence, but sometimes they're joined by the local wildlife. esper is a great fan of showing their friends things they might find interesting as a form of affection instead of words, especially with lae'zel, since they have a common discomfort with small talk.

esper doesn't like looking at themself in the mirror, so their makeup is always ancient and haphazardly applied, a fact that distresses the more image-conscientious shadowheart. she and esper have a sibling-like relationship fuelled by mutual amnesia and goth solidarity, among other things, but sometimes a sister has to take it upon herself to fix her stinky sibling's wings.

i already expanded on wyll and esper's dynamic a bit in this piece and i didn't feel like drawing the same thing twice, but suffice it to say, they have absolutely no idea how to talk to each other, but still look out for each other. the joke here is about how i've done a couple of long rests in-game with just alcohol i've found. hey 5 camp supplies is 5 camp supplies

jaheira unearths esper's forgotten mother issues. no real things to add here. no thoughts only cub.

gale said way back in act 1 that esper reminded him of tara, and esper isn't leaning into that on purpose per se, but as i said for lae'zel, they like getting their friends things those friends might enjoy. they also love chaos. show your evocation wizard some love by bringing him extremely destructive spells to play with. show your durge some love by casting chain lightning and letting them watch

i have no justification for this one lmao. esper isn't a Huge fan of being picked up and hefted around like a sack of oats, but maybe they should've thought of that before being small and scoop-uppable. socially, esper and halsin don't click especially well, but esper is fundamentally a creature, and therefore pretty easy for halsin to understand. obviously they don't mind that much :J

esper and karlach voted two most touch-starved nerds in faerun, they help each other cope by sleeping in a cuddle pile like cats. karlach runs warm even after getting her engine tuned up, but esper doesn't mind. she's cozy

astarion is by far the person esper is the most verbal with, probably because he's the only one who really thinks the durgeisms that slip out are funny and #relatable. everyone else errs on the side of caution with esper, but astarion knows he's allowed to take liberties with them, and he does. they have the same sense of humour. these two freaks are completely insufferable together because they're vibing so hard on a level incomprehensible to everyone around them, but astarion can put a stop to esper's self-destructive internal stress engine, and esper can drag him into helping and working hard. the others have no choice but to tolerate them as a couple because no matter how unhinged they are as a unit, they're so much worse for society on the whole as individuals. do not separate them

if you read all this, hope you enjoyed this illumination of esper's party dynamics, i love you <3 enjoy

[smallnico]

"... can you even reach my hand?"

esper is not very tall. be careful what you say to them before you finalize your oath not to harm each other.

(a better look at the high primate fit under the cut!)

concept by me. lots of red jewels and teeth and pieces of bone. i wanted so much to work the general forgotten realms description of bhaalist robes into the concept here, but i had such a hard time making the purple look the way i wanted it, so i just had to get really generous with the notion of "purple".

(gort's mask is based off of the baneite concept art for bg. if it's proper to cover your face during a bhaalist ceremony to ensure anonymity then esper will have insisted. they're a very straightlaced and disciplined bhaalist.)

it's hard to be intimidating when your god made you 5'4" and the shape of your ceremonial robes makes you look even more scrunched, but esper takes their job as head of the temple of bhaal very seriously.

[smallnico]

i draw esper in all sorts of outfits with all sorts of hairstyles, so i decided to make a little roadmap of their fashion progress through the game, with some bonus epilogue and prologue looks. they're easily one of my most dress-uppable ocs.

the fact that they wear nothing but black and other dark colours is a practicality more than anything, clearly. their ability to wear white for any period of time without ruining it is one of the best things they got out of rejecting bhaal. the one thing that has never changed is their need to have tits out at all possible times.

this is something i've always wanted to do for a character but haven't had the energy or motivation to do, just goes to show how deep into the bg3 hyperfixation and obsession with my own durge i am. the piece that put me over the fence and inspired me to do this was @tcustodisart's piece for connecticut tav? and i'm glad i did it because this was fun :>

[smallnico]

may i have this dance?

i know from a character perspective why the dance is a romance-only thing for wyll, since it's an intimate moment and he is both a gentleman and a shy egg, but it's kind of a shame there's no platonic version of the scene that doesn't involve breaking his heart.

romantic or no, esper is a dancer, and having someone to dance with meant the world to them. seeing as wyll and esper are both pretty slow to open up to others, it helped them understand each other better once they discovered they share a common language in busting moves and grooving it. it was a pleasant surprise, too, since esper thought initially that wyll, more than anyone in the party, would turn on them after the durgeisms came to light, but no.

no hard feelings, just two eggs dancing in the moonlight.

[smallnico]

it's kind of a relief to share a brainworm with at least 1 other person who's just as much of a freak as you are.

one of my favourite astarion dialogues is when he just starts wondering at you about how everyone else's blood tastes, so i made this shitty quick comic about it. gale does NOT taste like a well-aged brandy. but can you fucking imagine being camped out right next to that conversation?

[smallnico]

you kill one phase spider matriarch and suddenly your friends are smeego. and your ass is that gay little ring.

i don't know what it is about the whispering depths but esper did get laid twice down there. their friends are bigger freaks than they are, i guess. at least let them clean the spider goo off their sword before you jump their bones and give them a bi crisis in front of shar and everyone

[smallnico]

made a ref sheet for my dark urge, esper, in response to the deluge of bullshit i've drawn about them, and in anticipation of further bullshit to come. they're a nonbinary drow half-elf, they're a college of swords bard with 3 levels in assassin rogue -- definitely not the most ethical of resist!durges, since they do still solve most of their problems with murder, fear, and manipulation (it's what they're good at! a gift is a gift) but they do have standards, and they're trying their best to do right by their friends.

[smallnico]

warden commander peria tabris // inquisitor illeyna lavellan

(coughs this out) so uhhhh the veilguard news is making me nostalgic. i'm very excited to add to my emotional support collection of knife-wielding elf women (knelves)