Thank you for the article, Ido, it has been very interesting. It also explained to me why I really didn't vibe with the Dark Urge, I never even got to act 2 with it because I was so turned off by the splatter happy fun, that is never really disturbing and never taken completely seriously. It's horror for people who don't like horror.

Much like Welch, I don't like gore, not at all, but I do like horror and I think that gore can have it's place when used with purpose. For example, I love Ketheric's introduction scene (even though it makes me uncomfortable) especially when Minthara is a part of it, and I adore the writing and performance of Minthara when your free her from her mind's prison or when she tells you about her experiences at Moonrise. The character's terror is palpable in her dialogue. I think I would have enjoyed the Dark Urge if it was more like Minthara's experience.

By contrast I do really enjoy Astarion, Gale and Shadowheart's (which I recently started) origins, which take their dark elements more seriously. I especially liked how they used Astarion as a devil-on-your-shoulder for Gale because Astarion's attempts at manipulation are generally contrasted with the narration telling you what you should do. The narration tells you Mystra wouldn't want you to use tadpoles, Astarion offers to take the first shrimp, enticing you to sin along. Mystra commands your sacrifice, Astarion gives you a passionate little speech about free will (unfortunately bugged atm, please patch 7!) and then comes along with his idea to take over the cult, controlling the cult and possibly offering you a lifeline. Usually Astarion's attempts at manipulation are pretty mild and a bit lame, but when they hit a vulnerable target, the muddled mess of duty, personal will and love becomes a dark concoction that I found very satisfying.