he1chouarts

[he1chouarts]

"How do I look, Darling?"

[he1chouarts]

just cast the fire spell. dip shit

[he1chouarts]

Astarion and learned cruelty (spoilers)

As always, this is all just my interpretation of the character. Feel free to disagree. 

I love the writing choice to make Astarion genuinely immoral at first. They could have easily pulled the overdone trope of "I only pretend to be evil because I'm traumatized. I'm really just a sad little guy who wouldn’t hurt anyone". Now I do believe his behavior is a direct result of his trauma, but I'll get to that in a minute. The point is that he does genuinely relish in violence, although his actions will be swayed by whichever moral direction the player decides to go. But he does enjoy combat, spilling blood, and even some more cruel and unusual things. However, what makes this so compelling and narratively rich is that this is a learned mindset.

I think that a lot of people don't acknowledge that going into act 1, Astarion has just come out of a situation where he was quite literally forced to participate in horrific crimes, with severe consequences if he refused. That absolutely does not excuse the fact that he's okay with if not outright enthusiastic about murder, but we do see that he was not always this way (e.g., he tried at least once to let a target go because he couldn't bring himself to take them to Cazador). I just think it's worth acknowledging that that mindset was the product of centuries of torment and active overt and covert conditioning. He became who Cazador wanted him to be; who he had to be in order to survive. Astarion and Karlach are two sides of a coin in this regard, in that they represent opposite responses to trauma and loss of autonomy. Karlach was forced into martial servitude, which in my opinion explains why she's still kind of bloodthirsty even though she's such a good and kind person bent on protecting others. She's shaped by the role she was forced into, and it's the same with Astarion. Again, not to say he isn't morally dubious, but there's a big difference between someone evil and someone who was never allowed to be "good" suddenly being thrust back into freedom and forced to figure things out.

To a degree, I do also think that his over-the-top declarations of his love for violence are another piece of his mask. Just like with his feigned hedonism and sexual forwardness, he's trying to hold power over people by controlling their perception of him (as well as his own self-perception). He's holding a big sign that says "I'm selfish and evil, and you shouldn't like me unless you are too", when really he's not anywhere near as selfish and evil as he pretends to be. He does this in part to keep people at arm's length, but also to convince himself; to craft his own reality wherein he is the person he needs to be to get through this situation. His worldview has been warped to see domination and control as synonymous with strength, and so he's being strong in the way he knows how. As the story progresses with a good player on his side, he's beginning to learn how to be something better. And that's why it takes time: because he's unlearning 200 years of conditioning and survival instincts.

It's worth talking about that it's not unheard of for abusers to force victims to participate in the abuse of others. I think that representing that experience in this game is important and valuable. We should all walk the line between holding these kinds of survivors accountable for what is appropriate, and to offer them oceans of understanding and empathy for them over what they were forced into. Even if Astarion weren't magically forced to do Cazador's bidding, I hope that we all could still understand the power that abusers hold over their victims, empathize with him, and see that those actions were an extension of Cazador, not himself.

Official D&D definitions of "evil" aside, I don't think he's ever truly evil unless he goes down the evil route with the player and/or ascends (Ascended Astarion is a whole other can of worms I’m not going to get into in this post). By the end of the spawn storyline, Astarion does have a lot more concern and care for others, and most importantly, he takes responsibility. To me, that shows profound strength and goodness. He's never a saint, but in my opinion he's never really evil, either. He's still learning how to live in a world where he doesn't need to be cruel in order to survive. 

Concerning the early access backstory about him being a "corrupt magistrate", it's up to the individual how to headcanon that information. Personally, I think he was probably a little self-interested, but not evil by any means. I think he was probably just a pretty normal person before Cazador, not predisposed to cruelty.

In summary, I think it’s important to talk about what makes people “bad”, especially in the context of the cycle of abuse and victimization. In Astarion’s case, much of his taste for cruelty came from implicit conditioning over his years of being forced to hurt others. There are a number of lines from him during the dungeon/crypt sequence where he keeps insisting, defensively and desperately, that he didn’t have a choice in bringing victims back to Cazador. That it was all on his orders and he couldn’t say no. This might come across to some as him trying to shirk blame, but the thing is… he’s right. He didn't have a choice, other than death, but I think Cazador would deny him even that. He wanted to make his spawn into obedient tools, but also to break them. To make them an extension of his own monstrous cruelty. But in the end, Astarion takes responsibility as best he can, and begins to forgive himself for being a part of Cazador’s evil. This is part of what makes the line “I am so much more than what you made me” so powerful.

[he1chouarts]

Asty with Volo's eye <3

[he1chouarts]

[he1chouarts]

[he1chouarts]

[he1chouarts]

Trump signed another EO to suppress voters & putrid Mike Johnson is now threatening an attack on the judiciary, the primary bulwark striking down Trump’s deranged EOs. The media is complicit, & that complicity will be remembered as collaboration.

Angry yet? Find a protest. There are no excuses. Act now or lose everything.

[he1chouarts]

Completing my "Soft Astarion and warm tones" photo collection 🫣🤎

[he1chouarts]

[he1chouarts]

[he1chouarts]

I play this game for the plot

FOR THE PLOT

(but that forehead kiss really did add a year or two to my life)

[he1chouarts]

earlier this week Twitter user ppuccin0 tweeted about a fashion article that advised against tops with large floral patterns, saying the wearer was in danger of looking like a "ロマンティックおばさん," or a "romantic auntie." the tweet went viral with many agreeing that a "romantic auntie" sounded like a very nice thing to aspire to be, and some even posted illustrations or photos tagged with the trend

illustration by Toyota Yuu (author of Cherry Magic)

illustration by 141shkw/Sora Midori (author of Beautiful Curse)

photos by Takinami Yukari (author of Motokare Mania and Watashi-tachi wa Mutsuu Ren'ai ga Shitai or "We Want A Painless Romance")

illustration by m:m (mangaka of Matataki no End Roll)

illustration by ooinuai (mangaka of Onikui Kitan)

illustration by ma2 (mangaka of The Reason We Fall In Love)

BONUS:

[he1chouarts]

Been playing FF 7: Rebirth. Good game

[he1chouarts]

everything was beautiful and nothing hurt

[he1chouarts]

[he1chouarts]

Meidas Touch covered our Tesla protest and I’m in one of their videos, the movement against MAGA is real. Please, if you see ANY coverage of our protests or town halls, no matter where you are in the world, SHARE THEM. Boost them across all your social media, even tag your local news networks if you think they’d cover it. OUR news? American legacy media? Cronies. Bought and paid for. Collaborators at best, state media at worst.

Fascism is already here. The chill has settled into our major institutions. If it hadn’t, our news networks would be REPORTING ON THE PROTESTS HAPPENING OUTSIDE THEIR VERY HEADQUARTERS. The world should know that the American public is organizing, not doing NOTHING, and we have a high wall of apathy and outright cultism to scale. Please, help us!

For accurate coverage of what’s going on in the States and genuine pushback, consider following:

Meidas Touch: https://youtube.com/@meidastouch?si=iEUlTJKai-7E9qDS (also on Apple and Spotify podcasts, Substack and Bluesky)

Brian Tyler Cohen: https://youtube.com/@briantylercohen?si=Sk8yJnA2AfTMEqym (also on Substack & Bluesky)

Secular Talk: https://youtube.com/@seculartalk?si=bfVx3KF_TY6ERZHp (also on Bluesky)

Adam Mockler (who recently dog walked Fox News on their own network): https://youtube.com/@adammockler?si=HedmfwGLUsPxUche (also on Substack and Bluesky)

Parkrose Permaculture: https://youtube.com/@parkrosepermaculture?si=HfSG4q-OpF-zy5XW (also on Bluesky and TikTok)

Jack Cocchiarella: https://youtube.com/@jackcocchiarellashow?si=b5LRSsnXrsrdh40n

For takes on how this all is faring from a legal perspective (because I work in municipal law and because so much of the battleground is in the courts system right now):

Leeja Miller: https://youtube.com/@leejamiller?si=5Vb3yDYzec4A-pd_

Legal Eagle: https://youtube.com/@legaleagle?si=VPBeUIYT5A4MkKkm

These are just a handful that are keeping me sane, I’m sure there are many more. Please, throw in anyone else doing good coverage that you may see. Subscribe to them, give them views, like their posts, share them as much as you can because we are up against billionaires who do not want this message to spread. The GOP and MAGA cult are taking the position that these protests are not growing and that they’re made up of “domestic terrorists,” whom they are certain to jail for literally any little perceived slip up. We need your help. Keep yourselves informed, my fellow Americans. Do not let dirty, fucking filthy Nazi scum take us and global stability and democracy down with them. Do not make Putin’s cronies’ jobs any easier!

RESIST.