#❛ 𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖓. / headcanons.

[alcriti]

in dnd, backstories can have as much or as little of an impact as you want on your character, and in how i've taken to writing astarion, the influence of his backstory doesn't just begin when he met and was turned by cazador!!

(i've had rambling thoughts since i'm in act 3 on my monkstarion run), but i was telling @chmarva that meeting jaheira's family is my favourite scene to have astarion present for bc he realises that yeah, what they're doing is about preserving the city, but also about protecting the people he's come to cherish — his surrogate family.

and in that, for the first time in a loooong time, he actually starts thinking about his own family (bc watching jaheira be bullied by a gaggle of tweens unlocks core memories of astarion's childhood with his own parents lol). he starts wondering about his parents, his aunt, the people he knew in his previous life, and to those he's closest to, will bring up a little more of his past before he was turned.

those thoughts stick with him well into the endgame, where he, along with laera and lae'zel, make the journey to rebuild his broken family ties, and reestablish that connection he once had. 😭

[alcriti]

thinking about ✨family✨ and i've said it before: astarion's family follows their age-old custom of female primogeniture. celys, his aunt, being the older sister to his mother, tissana, is regarded as the head of their family. as it stood then, astarion wasn't intended to inherit any notable assets, which honestly, he couldn't care less about, as building his own wealth and influence without the benefit of his family fueled his own selfish wants (but it certainly didn't hurt).

his family name also derives from his maternal side.

[alcriti]

there's something i love about partners wearing or styling a part of their wardrobe as an homage to their partner. be it colours, a brooch, patterns, materials, aspects of a hairstyle ( braids, etc. )......... i love it.

[alcriti]

thinking about the type of attorney and magistrate astarion was… it's been established in my writing that astarion was very career driven. he knew from a young age the law, and to a lesser extent, politics, were going to the be the field he ventured in to and he pursued it with a great and fervent interest.

his reputation definitely helped in spreading his name around, particularly when he was becoming established, but astarion's credentials as a lawyer were all given because of the work he put in. as the faerunian equivalent of a prosecutor, astarion was diligent and honest in his work ethic. he worked extremely hard to be successful and the quality of his work showed his skill and talent; he also learned early that being anything less than confident and exact was a loss for him. astarion quickly became the charismatic, relentless lawyer that skyrocketed him to magistrate once he moved to baldur's gate.

i guess i should say, i do not wholly agree with the idea that he was corrupt, in the traditional sense. astarion covets power, control and being a magistrate afforded him all of that. naturally, it's easy to link power to corruption, and if you follow his ascension path, his change suggests the two are mutually exclusive, however, there is also this line of dialogue he throws out when going through the trials of balduran:

" a harsh lesson ". moving back into my portrayal/hc territory, astarion was known, not only as a prosecutor, but as a magistrate for being unforgiving and ruthless. the purpose of that particular trial was to mete out a sentence befitting the crime, and if wyll is present, he comments about finding a punishment not at the extremes, but in the middle. astarion's response is thus. he doesn't believe in mercy; he believes in teaching people lessons by handing down the harshest of sentences that's just short of executing them. a deterrence, not just for the criminal, but for others that will subsequently follow behind, and woe be to the person who finds themselves in front of him.

the opinion of the populace was that he was unfair; astarion believed himself completely fair… just, even. he has always judged by the law, but because of his unwillingness to bend, and even be somewhat forgiving, created an image of him that wasn't liked by a majority of the citizens. his refusal to be lenient, to be merciful, however, set the people against him, and resulted in the near death experience that changed his life forever.

[alcriti]

astarion: i could have lived eternally in cazador's pleasure chambers. i'm not afraid to die. i'm afraid i'll never have a new life after that.

i'm going through astarion's dialogues and this man wants so badly to be given the chance to live his life, one that was robbed from him....

😭

[alcriti]

astarion knowing how to embroider is ruining me today, but i also have to bother you now and ask if you think he would have a favorite project/piece of embroidery?

me too, megan! 😭 i wouldn't have expected it from him, but at the same time, it makes complete sense!!

i think the piece he has embroidered into his shirt, "lamentable is the autumn picker content with plums." tells you a lot about the kind of poetry he consumes. beautiful, simple, but also thought provoking, dare i say, even a bit of a motivational word?

and then less serious, in his small clothes of all things: "if you're reading this, you managed to bed or behead me. either way, you got lucky." obviously he has a sense of humour, and this is totally wrapped around the entire waistband of his underwear, but to actually answer your question...

maybe less of a project and more something he just does but taking lines of a poem, and stitching them into whole outfits he wears. so his shirt would have one line, his jacket another, his trousers, etc. he's literally wearing poetry. and it's just for himself because he enjoys it! i'd also imagine his magistrate robes have a neat little thing embroidered onto the inside of the collar or cuffs. 😊 mixing pieces obviously won't create a full poem but again, it's just for himself.

the black doublet ( which he canonically wears, no one is changing my mind! ) has filigree on the chest. i know it looks more like it's printed ( ? ) on, but he might have taken a simple, black doublet, and added his own flair. things like that i can also imagine him doing... you know, personalising garments.

edit: i want to add that post game and when things have settled, i like to think he'll pick up a project. 😭

[alcriti]

they cut the scene from patch 9 ( apparently it is not cut! ), but if u simply choose to listen to astarion and gandrel talk, the end result is astarion stabbing gandrel in the face.

the savagery of that scene is so unexpected, but also highlights how astarion is in constant survival mode and will take out threats to him as necessary.

[alcriti]

it's canon: astarion wears one (1) ring always.

[alcriti]

thinking about when astarion is falling in love and he's unsure of how to show affection... and his lover shows him affection doesn't always equate to sex; real affection can take on many forms. so in this instance he allows himself to just held in someone's arms. his lover his warm; he can hear their hear beating. there's no words, just warm silence.

it's comforting.

[alcriti]

if it matters, and since his quest is now complete (yay!):

astarion doesn't ascend. 😔 laera and company are able to convince him not to complete the ritual. obviously, it's the best path for him; the alternatives being a fight to the death, or having a vile megalomanic on hand, and none of us want that.

his character growth is beautiful, though. he understands ascending would have been the wrong choice; he understands he would have become exactly like cazador; and he understands that even without these powers, he will still be able to live a life of freedom. one that he's actually excited about!

now, my other ramblings below about his ascension:

it is extremely dark. i played through the subsequent scenes on his romance path and phew boy. let me say, it's genuinely stomach turning. in truth, there would be no option at the end that would allow him to live; he would have to be killed.

astarion has become corrupted by the power that twisted cazador, and is determined to subjugate every living thing under his control. and laera, as his lover, wouldn't stand for it; especially not as his "consort". that, and the way he treats and acts towards her is appalling. :/

my additional thoughts include that the power of ascension is truly evil; it's nature is evil. notwithstanding the ritual is linked to an archdevil, i think the moral of the story is that power corrupts.

i should add that the choice was made to kill to the spawn as well. 😔laera and astarion were both of the mind that releasing seven thousand spawn into the world was too dangerous but... his siblings did get to walk away.

[alcriti]

i think i was onto something when i mentioned in dialogue: "He taught us how to hunt, but only in ways that benefitted him. On our own, though? We were completely helpless. With half an instinct and chained to an invisible leash, it's no surprise that when left to our own we can be… sloppy."

this has been on my mind a lot bc when laera and astarion go off on their own mission, there doesn't exist a constant of source of enemies for him to feed him on — not like when they were traveling with the larger party. "no innocents" is a rule he still follows, and he will defer to animals if absolutely pressed, but it isn't his first choice. now, astarion having to feed when it's just the two of them has become a hurdle to overcome: laera worries for his safety when he prowls the streets alone, and there's an elevated danger for them both that it will be discovered he's a vampire.

all to direct back at my first point: there was no training on how to be a vampire. astarion does know how to hunt, but not really as a vampire that feeds on humanoid targets within civilised society. he was never allowed to feed on humanoids; his only purpose was to get victims from one point to the next by whatever means it required. but feeding?? there wasn't a need to consider the things he has to now. cazador shielded him from suspicion; his companions conveniently provided him a source of sustenance; their travels ( and the locations ) made it easy to go unnoticed and avoid suspicion.

astarion has to depend on his own adaptability to keep himself sustained, while having to learn how to survive without the things that made all of this easy, and kept him protected.

[alcriti]

i don't talk enough about how astarion is very talented in poison crafting. from growing the plants to actually creating the toxins, he knows his stuff!

i enjoy the thought of him discovering recipes throughout his travels and being inspired, or critiquing a left behind craft like, "not what i would have done... it could use improvements, but i understand the direction they were going in."

all to say: come to him if u have poison questions <3

[alcriti]

seeing that hc post reminded me: would astarion ever choose a new surname for himself? would he even want to/care, or would he be content with how he is?

ty for the ask, megan!

he wouldn't choose a surname or return to using his birth name. like i said in my post, his choice is for much of the same reasons. he has no career to return to; no family name to benefit from... he hasn't felt he's been the person he was in a long time, so making that choice wasn't difficult. at the end of the day, he simply wants to move on with his life, and he's all right with that.

[alcriti]

astarion's thoughts on arlis AND as a bonus his thoughts on laera pls

𝑨𝑺𝑲 𝑨𝑩𝑶𝑼𝑻 𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑶𝑵'𝑺 𝑹𝑬𝑳𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑷𝑺…

❝ What do I think of Arlis? ❞ The question is met with one of his own as he casts a knowing gaze over to his companion. ❝ There are many traits I can assign Arlis. She's distant, resilient, dangerously cunning, and sorely lacking in people skills. Like quite a few other people I know, actually. Even so, she's incredibly resourceful and dependable in all matter of situations. Admittedly… I've come to appreciate her as something of a friend. She's honest, not just with herself but with me as well, and I like to believe that despite her reservations, she's willing to put her trust in me. ❞ His thoughts briefly flash to the moment she sought his confidence; her dark gift revealed to all, and it was him she chose. The gesture moved him then as it does now to think about.

❝ I seem to attract a type! Laera isn't so different, in fact. Unmovable as a tree stump in her convictions, but I suppose her unwillingness to budge on anything proves useful when she puts herself between a horde of goblins and us. ❞ He chuckles, continuing on with a cock of his head. ❝ Another resilient soul; I knew it then when I found her in the woods, and Laera continues to be fortuitously steadfast… She's staunchly loyal and unbearably willful. ❞ Astarion pauses in his thoughts, long a drawn out before speaking his next words in contemplative quiet. ❝ We've become close, she and I; I enjoy the time we spend together. ❞ Lips purse together, returning to his gaze to some unobvious spot That is all he has to say on that.

lol he says all these things about arlis, but i swear it's coming from a place of endearment. he recognises a lot of himself, his actions and motivations in both arlis and laera, and i think that's why he's drawn to them both. he might not be there yet, but arlis coming to confide him has perhaps changed his perspective on the party. they're not there just to benefit each other in the single goal they share, but they're also forming meaningful friendships! honestly, i think arlis and astarion have a lot of potential to become close. like… ' i will stand by you no matter what comes. ' type of close, and i'm HERE for it. additionally, about laera, he is wrestling with what he feels for her and what she feels for him. laera has been very transparent about her feelings towards him, and it terrifies him. he's been conditioned to treat 'relationships' as meaningless, and without emotional attachment, but he can't deny that he's also drawn to her. i've always said their relationship goes in reverse: they develop a strong physical attraction toward each other and then all the emotional sorting comes later lol. it's daunting for astarion to navigate his own freedom and it's possible he might not even realise that if he wants, he can choose to love someone. the bes thing laera has offered him thus far is patience, and he's quietly grateful for that.

[alcriti]

tell us how you really feel about gale? i think you secretly like him. you two bicker now and then, but i'd be willing to bet you're really friends

𝑨𝑺𝑲 𝑨𝑩𝑶𝑼𝑻 𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑶𝑵'𝑺 𝑹𝑬𝑳𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑷𝑺…

❝ Have I ever expressed my dislike of Gale? ❞ He replies, equal parts challenging the assumption but similarly amused. ❝ I do, in fact, like Gale. Perhaps not when he and I first became acquainted — his people skills were sorely one-sided — but he's grown on me, you know! He's useful in combat; his worldly knowledge is sharp; and he's come such a long way in learning how to act like a person again and less like a recluse. It's charming.❞

pls read my ramblings about astarion and gale and the chaotic duo they are here! x i adore them sm

[alcriti]

astarion's leathers:

lightweight and 'subtly' ornamented, astarion replaced his much beloved padded armour with a doublet of similar design. the detailing points towards the quality and finery of its make, however, reflects the less eye-catching, neutral colour palette that he prefers.