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😭

Curse of the Sired - bg3 comic S. Astarion, Sebastian

I hope you enjoyed

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Bad little pup!

[michanvalentine]

Ah, good question. I chose no. But I still think she’s an interesting character, one that’s easy to empathize with and relate to.

I understand her reasons for choosing Hojo—or perhaps it’s more accurate to say science—but I can’t forgive her for experimenting on her own child. Nor on her former love.

I believe she conceived the child as an experiment from the start and only developed maternal affection later, when it was already too late. As a mother, I could never risk endangering the love of my life. It’s true that Jenova was believed to be a benevolent entity, but experimenting on a developing organism is dangerous no matter what. None of them could have been 100% certain what would happen. That means knowingly sacrificing your child to science and experimentation, which is unforgivable to me.

Equally unforgivable is bringing a man back from death through an entity of chaos, which not only could have caused disasters but actually doomed the man to a miserable life. She did it purely out of guilt—for selfish reasons. It was her thesis: she knew full well what Chaos and Omega were meant to accomplish.

But again, do I approve of her? No. Do I understand her? Absolutely yes. And I hope the remake will tackle and deepen her story and character, as she truly deserves. Because I have to say, so far, Square Enix has been a bit lacking in this regard.

Ultimately, it’s up to the directly affected parties—Vincent and Sephiroth—to decide for themselves whether to forgive her or not. Vincent never held a grudge against her, though only in Dirge of Cerberus did it come to light that she was the one who implanted the Chaos gene into him. Before that, the poor man was completely unaware!

So here's another poll. And one that I think might be significantly more controversial. But hey, that's this fandom all over. And the issue itself is very complex.

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So dark!

• Vincent Valentine •

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Tifa & her strays

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I can’t even express how much these dialogues warm my heart.

It’s so wonderful to see how some of his companions are able to see through his mask and glimpse the best parts of him, the ones Astarion himself doesn’t even know he has.

right in the motherfucking feels

[michanvalentine]

How appropriate. 🤣🤣🤣 I’m laughing so much, am I a bad person? 😝

Guest star on the blog today.

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Ok, the latest poll declared the Vincent/Cid pairing as the winner. So here’s my small and silly little story, with no pretenses, starring Cid and the women in his life. And someone else whose name we won’t mention to avoid upsetting the Captain of the Shera.

I hope the translation turned out well enough, as this time it was trickier to handle idioms and free insults. If you spot any errors, don’t hesitate to let me know so I can fix them. Happy reading!

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SLEEP

@vincentvalentineweek Day 8!

I DID IIIT YAAAAY o/

So happy to have been able to participate in this event! (Now I’m the one who needs to sleep) Thank you!

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Happy birthday Vincent!

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I want to live

Inspired by the art of the Baldur’s Gate 3 Vinyl which I got as a gift recently.

[michanvalentine]

Looking at the beautiful Astarion fanart here on Tumblr (thanks so much for your wonderful work, by the way), I found myself thinking about that cry after the fight with Cazador. To everything it expresses and the power of it all. It is useless to specify how heartbreaking and masterfully interpreted the sequence is. It's simply wonderful and if you don't cry too when you look at it, it means you have the emotionality of a garden gnome, lol.

But I try to empathize.

You died, not pleasantly. They beat you to death and the one who saved you was a vampire who gave you a choice you didn't have: death or eternal life. And you didn't know the consequences. You undergo a very painful transformation, become a spawn, and wake up under seven feet of dirt. Like an animal you dig your way out, with your nails, and when you reach the surface he is there waiting for you: your master. You don't understand, you're scared, he doesn't seem so reassuring anymore. And you're hungry. A hunger you didn't think possible. He gives you rules you can't break, because he controls your mind and body. You have to obey him, you have to stay by his side, you have to go hungry and, above all, you are his. Forever. And mistakes come at a high cost: after all, just existing is enough to incur the wrath of your master. And then there are the pliers and the whip for you. When you're lucky enough. Suddenly you lost all dignity as a human being and became a thing, a property. A thing with a purpose and its use to your master. What you think, what you feel, what you want doesn't matter. So you stop thinking, you stop feeling, you stop wanting. It probably hurts less. It probably keeps you from going completely crazy. You keep everything inside you. You learn to smile and obey, you can't say no anyway. You are forced into prostitution to bring back the cattle - not the people - needed to feed your master. It doesn't matter whether they are criminals, misfits or perverts of any kind. It doesn't matter if they disgust you or if they hurt you. You grit your teeth and let them use you. You keep it all inside and smile. You can't say no anyway. And your looks are the only thing you have, sex is the only talent you have. When you seduce someone, for a handful of hours, you are the one in control. You're the one pulling the strings of the game. Otherwise you are nothing. You're just a pathetic little boy who never amounted to anything. An imperfect being, despite your master's efforts to educate you. Your brothers and sisters - the other slaves - see you as weak. And like a rival. Your brothers and sisters will do anything to avoid the whip and gain the master's favor. To feed better, to sleep in a comfortable bed and not end up in the kennel. So you learn not to trust anyone, not to let your guard down, to strike first and hit hard. To be vulnerable is to be weak. To be kind is to be weak. And you spent an entire year locked in a tomb for a moment of weakness. Alone, in the dark, dying of hunger. So you keep it all inside, keep smiling and cracking jokes. Even if, after 200 years, you're a mess inside and you're falling apart. You keep smiling because you don't have a future anyway, you can't escape anyway. Appearance is all you have left and your smile is beautiful, your body is beautiful. Looks are all you have, the only thing you are desirable for. The only thing you can use to please your master and avoid torture. You keep everything inside: the loneliness, the pain, the fear, the disgust for yourself and for what you are forced to do, the sense of guilt for the people you ruined by handing them over to your master. You keep everything inside for 200 years, hidden, buried, if you prove weak you will die. You don't have to think, you don't have to feel, you don't have to want anything. This way it will hurt less.

And this is how each of those stabs inflicted on Cazador acquire power. This is how Astarion's screams and desperate cries become devastating to listen to. This is how it is impossible for the spectator not to cry. The moment in which Astarion kills and gets rid of his persecutor is masterfully directed and acted. It's a beautiful, cathartic moment that can shake you to the core. In that cry there is a whole world. There is everything that the spawn held back over those 200 years, everything that his beautiful smile hid. There is pain, desperation, relief, fear, tension, hope, loss and even grief. Because that bastard Cazador was his everything for 200 years and the void he left inside him is immense, however right, due and liberating.

And nothing, I'm all blaytering to say that I love the scene where Astarion slices up Cazador's dry ass.. For me it is a masterpiece! And I could watch it again and again and cry with the vampire spawn every time.

[michanvalentine]

I'm not crying, I got an airplane in my eyes.

This scene always gets me 😭 Painted using Procreate on the iPad 🎨

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Although it hasn't happened yet. If we can find an expert - someone that can control these things - there might still be time. _____ Favourite moments of act I Astarion - 1/?

[michanvalentine]

I adore him.

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For those interested, the second chapter of "From Me to You" is available.

[michanvalentine]

WoW! °O°

Transformation Trauma