#AND I WANT TO GET TO ACT 3 SO I CAN ASCEND ASTARION i need to make everyone WORSE!!!!!!

[menzoberranzans]

i need to play more. i’m foaming at the mouth thinking about elkrysn but we’re busy moving eyuuuuuuuuuuu

[riseatlantisss]

The end we start from

Pairing : Astarion x female!reader/Tav Around 1,8 words Takes place after the events in Cazador's palace in act 3 (non-ascended Astarion, established relationship) Angst with a happy ending (and loooots of sex) <3

Astarion doesn’t feel good enough. you show him he’s everything.

TW : 18+ MDNI, unprotected sex, very angry/angsty/rough sex, fingering, mature language, mentions of death and depression, mentions of blood

A/N : when i don’t work, i do two things: i take care of my dog and i play BG3. i don’t eat. i don’t sleep. i don’t socialize. i just play BG3. and I write stuff about *him*.

Astarion is many things. Quiet is not one of them. But lately, that’s all he’s been, and you’ve been worrying about him night and day. Tonight is no exception. You wake up in the middle of the night and realize two things : not only is Astarion’s side of the bed empty but the sheets and pillows are untouched, uncrumpled. His side hasn’t been slept in. This isn’t right. Of course, he doesn’t really need to sleep but he always, always lays next to you at night, spooning you, playing with your hair and whispering sweet I love yous in your ear until you fall asleep. His absence means something’s off. Unable to shake off the anxiety, you get up in one swift motion, determined to find him. No chance you’re falling back asleep now anyway.

Your bare feet hit the cold marble floor and you shiver as you make your way accros the bedroom in a hurry. You think of searching outside in case he went for a hunt, but it turns out you don’t have to look too far. There he is, silently leaning against the wall by the window, gazing into the pitch-black night of the Underdark. The light in the room is so dim that you couldn’t even spot him from your bed. You approach him and your heart breaks a little when you notice the lingering sadness in his crimson eyes, enhanced by the faint light of the burning candles next to him.

You want to ask him if he’s ok but it’s obvious he’s not so instead, you remain silent and close the space between the two of you, wrapping your arms around him and gently resting your head on his shoulder.

“What are you thinking about?” You ask softly after a while, your voice barely above a whisper.

Astarion averts his gaze and gives you a faint smile, nothing but a twist of lips.

“Nothing,” he replies. “I’m just being selfish, as usual. Forgive me, y/n.”

You frown and stare at him incredulously. “You’re not selfish,” you say, surprised at how intensely he means it. “Why would you even say that?”

“I –” He pauses, rethinks his words. This does nothing to make you less worried. “I caused you great pain,” he finally says. “I put you in danger. Repeatedly, ever since we met. You could have died a hundred times and it would have been my own, entire fault.”

You look up to him and feel a lump form in your throat. You have never seen him look like this – grief in his eyes and etched into the lines of his face.

“I’m not dead, Astarion. I’m right here with you.” You say as you wrap your arms around his neck. He makes a sound somewhere near a sob and your arms tighten.

“But I did put you in danger and now you’re stuck with me for eternity, in the middle of nowhere, and you—" Again, he stops. He’s bad at this, at talking about emotions. But he fights through it because it’s you. And nothing can be left unsaid between the two of you. Not after everything that’s happened. “You deserve so much better. You deserve the world, and I can’t give it to you.” You’re not sure where this conversation is going but you don't want to find out. His lower lip quiver but he goes on, words spilling out of him like blood from a wound. “I can’t give it to you, and I’ll never be able to forgive myself for it. It’s killing me all over again.” You crumble under each one of his words. His lips are trembling now and you can’t stand it. You can’t but you can’t do him the dishonor of looking away either.

“Astarion, I chose this life.” Your hands flutter to his face, each one cupping a cold cheek, forcing him to look at you. Your heart is pounding, and you know he can feel it. “I had a choice; I could stay, or I could run, and I chose you. I’m not stuck here. I’m home.”

Astarion heaves a faltering breath in an attempt at composure. “Sometimes I think you would be happier without me. Better off.” He barely mouths the words, but you hear them all distinctively, nonetheless. “You should go and leave me here. Walk in the sun. Be happy and live your life.” You draw your hands away from his face and he steps back, speaking louder now.

“It won’t get any better in here,” he continues, gesturing urgently around the room. “It’ll always be cold and dark, I’ll always be a blood-thirsty monster. I belong to the shadows, and I’ll never be able to make you happy, so you might as well just leave.”

His words knock the air out of your lungs and, for a moment, you cannot breathe. You feel your pulse pounding in your veins and blood thrumming under your skin as your heartbreak turns into anger. That fucking idiot, you think, looking up at him through eyes blurred with tears.

“You don’t know what makes me happy. You don’t,” you shout, surprised by the vehemence in your voice. "And you certainly don't get to speak for me." Astarion looks at you in such confusion that you almost feel bad for a moment, but you continue.

“You – you make me happy, Astarion, gods you do. I would rather live an eternity in the Underdark with you than one more day in the fucking sun.” Your heart is clenching in your chest, and you can feel the heat pooling in your cheeks. “By no means would I be better off, let alone happier, without you. I can’t believe that you could even think –” You trail off and sigh in frustration. You can’t bring yourself to scream at him any longer because that’s all he’s ever known before you, screams and shouts and abuse, and you can’t do this to him. But that doesn’t leave you with many options to get through to him. Astarion opens his mouth to say something, but you don’t let him.

Without warning you grab his shirt to pull him close and your lips crash into his, knocking the breath out of both of you with the force that you collide with. It only fuels your rage because the moment his lips are on yours, you can’t help thinking that you almost lost this once and you can’t actually lose it. You won’t let that happen. So you kiss him harder. It’s rough and desperate and sloppy. It's harsh breath and biting teeth.

He turns you around and backs you against the wall. You take it rather hard, but you welcome the sting. Anything to shut him up about not being good enough for you. He crowds in closer, presses you even harder against the wall, shoving his knee between your thighs. His cold lips connect to your throat, making you eagerly tilt your head to give him access to your thrumming pulse dancing at your neck. You have absolutely no qualms about it. If he wants it, it’s his.

But he doesn’t take it. Instead, his mouth sucks and licks, making you squirm and rock your hips against him. You cling to him, grabbing his shoulders and sliding your hands down his shirt and to his back. He hoists you up like you weighed nothing and you wrap both legs around his waist. You tangle your hands in his curly silver hair and pull him forward to feel that mouth on yours again. His tongue running over your lip makes you grind faster, searching for more, more, more. You moan when his hand reaches beneath your gown and through your damp underwear.

Firm, icy fingers are stroking you into madness. You make a sound that’s close to a whimper, but more like a groan, because damn it, you are so impatient now. You are clenching – aching to have him inside.

He is gasping at the feeling of your fluttering around him, and you must be gasping too, but you’re not sure; your head falls back and it feels like you’re breathing, but you could just as well be drowning.

You dig your nails hard into his back - you need to channel the anger into something. Maybe you’ll be the one drawing blood this time. You lean forward to rest your dizzy head on his shoulder and groan in anticipation. Not wasting anymore time, he pushes his hard, large cock into you, going steadily until he’s all the way in.

“Harder. Fuck me harder.” You plead and he obeys.

He sets a pace that graces all the right spots, spurred on the increasingly desperate noises escaping your mouth. This is no effort at all for him, holding you up easily and fucking you hard with determination. But you can see it when you rest your forehead against his – the sheer weakness you feel is reflected right back at you and you know he needs this just as much as you do.

You are so close. You need to concentrate on breathing, just so you simply don’t die. Your lower back thuds against the wardrobe with your oh gods and fucks singing in tandem. The vampire trails open-mouthed kisses and little bites down your neck while maintaining the almost vicious pace in and out of you. Every stroke curls and loves and breaks you into submission. You forget to be angry because your release is in his hands and your body is desperately handing itself over to him.

Your thighs start to quiver around him, the sounds of wetness and the feeling of his own explosion of pleasure deep inside you taking you so high that eventually, you shatter into him. You’re so grateful for the strength holding you up, so you can fall apart.

Your repeatedly moan his name on your way back to consciousness, lips brushing softly against his pale skin.

Before you know what is happening, you break into a sob.

“Please…. Please don’t ever tell me to leave, ever again.” You try to articulate, your voice shaking uncontrollably.

He sinks down onto his knees, holding you in his lap and whispering, “Shh,” into your ear.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, his voice is low and full of gravel. He never sounded so sweet. “I love you, always have and always will. And you’re not going anywhere.”

[meanbossart]

LORE ASK COMPILATION: "Still not banging Halsin, Squid Games, Sun King, Failing at love quizzes, Bottoms, Tops, and Cats" Edition

He didn't, Halsin wasnt around for act 3, too busy healing land and saving ghost children or something!

THANK YOU/I'M SORRY, I'm surprised there isn't more Bhaalist Dark Urge/Spawn Astarion stuff out there. Don't get me wrong, I love a good evil power couple, but who can resist the good ol'heartbreak of a vicious unending cycle brought on by your own senselessness!

That wasn't something I was interested in previously just because acquiring the slayer form isn't part of his canon, but I've been looking at enough fromsoft games' monster designs that I might be a little inspired to try LOL

Also I am just a fan of the canon design and never before thought it needed altering. But I'll let it cook ;)

God damn it.

DU drow was VERY antagonizing towards the emperor since the moment he dropped the facade, which made the attempt ESPECIALLY hilarious - that poor guy is so, so lonely.

I don't recall the exact wording in-game, but once the emperor took his shiny squid pecs out and shot his shot, DU drow recoiled and called him disgusting. After having the visions of Stelmane forced upon him to make whatever baffling point the emperor was trying to make, DU drow smugly asserted that he had finally let the mask slip and their very terrible date ended with the Emperor enforcing their reluctant need for one another, for the time being.

In-prose, that would honestly be pretty much it. DU drow would have reacted with absolute revulsion at the prospect of being hit on by a mindflayer, and taken the Emperor's (miscalculated) moment of lashed-out vulnerability as a win - as proof that he was exactly as duplicitous as he always assumed the Emperor to be.

I can assure everyone that I am as entertained by the thought as the rest of you and it is in the cards for future art, I just have... So many prompts... I have at least 5 different mini-comics I want to make, BESIDES singular pieces, BESIDES the fanfic... I wish I had more time and more hands.

But DU drow's unlikely semi-success as a parental figure is hilarious to me. I think about it constantly.

I haven't entertained that thought much because its antithetical to DU drow's character. Whether "good" or evil, he wouldn't allow Astarion to ascend because of his fear of no longer being needed and his reluctance to watch his partner be consumed by out-sourced power and changed into something he despises. Realistically, in a world where Astarion is allowed to ascend they could only break up and inevitably kill each other soon after.

That said, I am fascinated by the Sun King and the implications that path has for his character. So far that is an arc that I can only really see Astarion taking on alone, though - that might change in the future, might not. We'll see!

IF I CAN MAKE IT NOT ENTIRELY MISERABLE, I JUST MIGHT.

He got 2 out of 3 questions wrong - which is to say he was way too honest and Astarion didn't like that.

Except for the "when is he the happiest" question, which he correctly answered with "when he's neck deep in gore".

This is not even a lore-embelishment, this is actually how that scene went for me and I cackled about it for ages.

He would love to get tied up for old-times' sake. I doubt he knows much about fancy knots but Astarion might (though I might be in a minority that doubts his enforced "sex life" was actually that interesting at all.)

Thank you so much!

You are mostly correct. Bhaalist drow, both pre and post tadpole would be much more keen on the idea of having people around who fulfill their every desire - EXCEPT for killing. That is a joy they take on for themselves.

"Canon" DU drow values his independence a lot, on the other hand. He's neutral on the idea of slavery (what a sentence) and wouldn't be opposed to temporary servicing, but the idea of having someone around waiting for orders doesn't attract him at all, or at least would get on his nerves quick. He much preffers to do things himself and makes sure that other people see how much he does not need assistance.

The answer is yes, basically LOL.

DU drow both adores and despises Sceleritas presence and he doesn't know why. It very much reflects the type of relationship they used to have prior to DU drow's memory loss, and it's one of those things that he has conflicting feelings about but not any context for them.

I sadly doubt that the boys would become parents during Shadowheart's lifetime (it's for the best, they have a lot of work to do before I would trust them not to drop a baby), but honestly she strikes me as really liking kids as long as she doesn't have to, well, have them LOL.

And thank you so much for enjoying them and humoring me!

I think it is less about bottoming-topping and more about enjoying a more submissive role during sex, as well as in other scenarios. He believes that giving control away is, in a way, a show of devotion that goes both ways - his own for the willingness to do so, and his partner's for not taking advantage of it despite his wanting them to do so.

With one-night-stands (which he occasionally had pre-tadpole) he would still bottom without any of the submissiveness. This is because he didn't have the capacity to understand what it was about bottoming that attracted him, and led him to feeling constantly unfulfilled and frustrated (he just isn't build for no-strings-attatched type of arrangements, lol.)

This means that he really could operate either way depending on the partner as long as he got that fix of docility, whether it be from the bottom or top.

I think of Astarion as being similarly versatile but leaning more in the opposite direction when it comes to power-dynamics - though it being less about dominance itself and more about being pampered and catered to - and, of course, getting to do what he wants. Though he's willing to try most things a partner is particularly enthusiastic for just to see how he feels about it.

That said with DU drow he does prefer to top for a plethora of reasons.

I didn't have this piece of lore thought-up at the time, but I should have made them look like the lady he lost his virginity to.

Him and Astarion were gobbling those things up until the emperor reveal, then they both quit it cold-turkey after DU drow stomped the astral-tadpole dead (and back then you didn't have to roll any dice to do it, because otherwise we would have weird veiny DU drow to deal with for sure because he would NOT have suceeded that save.)

DU drow's feelings towards animals is a constant in every iteration of his character. They are organic little pieces of art wandering about the world that act upon their own laws and regulations, ones which humanoids aren't privy to - except for when they intrude into that world through magic and try to understand it through their overly-complicated systems and concepts. If a cat made the temple it's home, it can stay.

[moltensmusings]

A few things about Astarion that I need people to think about outside of him simply being flirty and attractive (since people keep reducing him to his sex scenes):

His route has a heavy focus on emotional intimacy and consent. You can sleep with him sure, but if in-between acts 2 and 3 you learn nothing about him and pressure him into having sex with you then you're not understanding his character and he'll only see you as someone who wants his body.

Ascended astarion is his bad/dark ending. I know people love it when he's powerful and ascended/durge is a relationship people love and I'm not here to say that's wrong or that you're a terrible person for doing it. But stop arguing that it's his happy ending, or that he's better for it when he literally loses himself and in a nonascended version he'll say he could feel himself changing in ways he didn't like. He becomes another cazador. He only truly expresses himself and feels release if he kills Cazador and doesn't ascend.

Unless you do the drow twin scene prior to beating Cazador you're not forcing him into anything. He gives approval for going through with it. Do I think he regrets it after because he realizes he was biting off too much too early? Yes. But it's literally him learning his boundaries and understanding what he is and isn't comfortable with. He's only just starting to be able to fully choose what he wants, sometimes you make mistakes. It's part of the process.

Astarion died young before he fully matured as an elf, but he wasn't a child. He was a magistrate in the city, he had a fully functioning brain. But just because he was an adult by human standards when he died doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. People dying in their 30s is still tragically young. And even more so for an elf.

(This one doesn't come up as often) he doesn't hate Gale, he is very much flirting with and attracted to Gale at in act 1 if you bring them around. In fact Shadowheart and Wyll are the only ones he has dislike for at any point and as the story goes he warms up to everyone. All the companions care for each other and it's one of the best found families in video games.

There are several companions I feel large portions of the fandom just misunderstand/don't fully read into and it's tiring because the devs made each one so layered and interesting. I just feel like since Astarion is essentially the face of the game now, he's the one who constantly gets boiled down to his most surface level qualities with little regard for his story as a whole.

[blkgirl-writing]

sub!astarion thoughts?? 👀👀👀

I have so many thoughts. Some of them are a bit dark so be warned, theres a lot of trauma. also spoiler warning for act 3 and Astarions arc!

I truly just believe he's a switch and it just depends on the person he is with, because his sexuality up until the you and Astarion get into a full deep connection was based in fantasy

Astarion as a sexual person probably knows a lot about himself and what he wants but there's still definitely that need to lure and use people, so he needs to fit whatever he perceives as the perfect fantasy for whoever he is sleeping with

Once he finds himself outside of Cazador and in something stable, he would find comfort in being taken care of. Being the little spoon, taking things slow, you being the one to initiate sex, kisses, etc

I think he'd only be comfortable being more dominant again after defeating Cazador and not ascending, finally seeing he can do anything for himself and himself only if he ever wanted to

but he'd much rather do things for the both of you, now. He likes thinking for himself and another with no selfish intentions or threats

in that he'd take more control in the bedroom, but there would be a few breakdowns and needing to stop to unpack some trauma

a lot being that he's safe and here, and no one will leave him, especially you, and needing to pause or stop during intimacy is normal and perfectly ok. He can just get overwhelmed by the ghost of his past victims and his own victiomhood

there's a lot of comfort in living life to protect you, and gratefully and willingly

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@shyminnie07

[madforhoran]

Astarion & the seductive vampire trope

"The whole idea of a bite on the neck may seem exciting to some audiences, and the dark, occult, and taboo concepts have helped keep vampires popular for so long." (x)

I'd like to bring up this banter between spawn!Astarion and Jaheira, specifically her emphasis on Astarion's non-vampiric charms.

Astarion presents himself as suave and mysterious at first, trying his seduction attempts once you reach a certain approval threshold.

The initial bite scene where Tav offers Astarion their neck is shown and described as being overtly sexual, playing heavily into “sexy vampire is sexy because he’s sexy and nothing more” fantasy. Even more so when Tav allows him to bite during sex. Astarion enjoys it, Tav enjoys it too, and it nets approval. After the sex scene he uses the cliche "I didn't want to go too far" formula, implying if he'd lose control, he could hurt you (pretty much like Edward in Twilight).

The facade cracks a bit when Tav discusses any future feeding. Even if the feeding was enjoyable on Tav’s end, he isn't very enthusiastic when Tav says "you can feed on me but let's talk about it first". Instead, he's happy and approves the suggestion of feeding on villains who are about to die anyway.

[However, you can RP this situation both ways, confirm you enjoyed it and keep the feeding option available by not going along with feeding on villains, or that it hurt and you only did it to make him stronger and agreeing with feeding on villains effectively removes "you can feed on me tonight" option from the dialogue.]

The same facade cracks fully in act 2 after the confrontation with Araj. It's an optional encounter and you don't get to experience it if you already had the confession after killing Yurgir, but it gives insight into how Astarion doesn't want to be seen as an object of someone's vampire fantasy.

"I'm sorry, you want to be bitten?"

"There's nothing more desirable than a vampire, is there?"

It’s also very obviously pointed out when Tav suggests he should be throwing himself at them as a thank you.

During the confession after Yurgir, there's a little bit more insight given how Astarion feels bad for treating Tav like one of Cazador's victims.

Act 3 is obviously the big choice where Astarion gets to decide if he remains a spawn or ascends.  Putting the morality of this aside, one choice follows and progresses Astarion's development while the other puts him back to square one.

We also need to take into account Cazador's abusive gaslighting which made Astarion think of himself as a prostitute and that he's only good for one thing - sex & luring victims.

Spawn!Astarion is the same man who in act 2 apologises for manipulating Tav and who doesn't want to use his body as a tool anymore. He professes his genuine love and suggests having sex freely without any sort of manipulative intent behind it. Tav has seen him for who he is and who he can be in the future. The graveyard scene symbolises his rebirth and a new journey.

"You believed I was enough, just the way I am."

Hence bringing up the banter with Jaheira and her mentioning “non-vampiric charms”. Tav loves the man, not the vampire. There’s no more need for performing.

ascendant!Astarion is the vampire reverted back to act 1 where his behaviour was originally just a front but has now been affirmed by ascension - that this is how he should be. He's over the top seductive, even luring Tav to become his spawn. He admits this is the game he knows how to play - luring someone with sweet words (that he continues to use after Tav becomes his spawn - lovers eternal, precious treasure, pet.)

When Tav helps Astarion ascend, what happened in act 2 doesn't matter anymore - not his personhood or boundaries. Hence dialogue options such as "I want you, I want your body" or "I want to be a vampire like you" are in there once Tav speaks to him and he asks what would they desire in return for granting him powers because he's only good for that one thing.

He becomes the vampire trope,

becomes what Cazador taught him to be.

[lucrezianoin]

Interesting approval/disapprovals from Astarion (act 2)

Act 1 is here, and act 3 I will post soon!

ARAJ OBLODRA + CONFESSION

At the meeting with Araj you can immediately see which option is Astarion's favorite, the one where you remark that he is his own person:

Araj Oblodra: I assume he belongs to you?devnote Player: Excuse me? He's his own person.['Astarion 5', 'Karlach 1', 'Wyll 1'] Player: We travel together - that's all. Player: He does what I tell him, if that's what you mean.['Astarion -3'] Player: Yes. All mine (this is the romance version)

Also forcing him to drink the potion doesn't always give disapproval (ex. Player: A potion that powerful could change our fates. Isn't that worth a bad taste in your, has no disapproval), only the option that actually mocks his discomfort gives a -3 of disapproval (so lower than the 5 you get by respecting his choice).

Interestingly, even if the option "A potion that powerful could be useful" has no disapproval and Astarion replies something along the lines of "that makes sense" - the game (and Astarion) will still see it as you forcing him. It is clear that the imbalance is there, and Astarion is allowing Tav to have this control over him, and Tav is pushing his boundaries and his clear "no".

ORTHON

While talking about asking Raphael of the scars, I found it surprising that telling him "Your funeral, why not" gives the same amount of points as agreeing to want to see how this play out:

Astarion clearly does not care if the consequences are on him, he needs support - quest support, practical support.

MADELINE

This is the one thing I really cannot fully understand. If you asks Madeline to stabs herself (punishment for accidentally selling her friends), Astarion will approve (2 points), especially if you never say stop and Madeline keeps stabbing herself. This could be both his needs to see harsh punishment (confirmed by his comment during the trial for the dragon in act 3)... or maybe his desire to see He Who Was stabbing himself? Or just blood? I noticed that some of Astarion approvals seem to be directly correlated to blood.

But both forgiving Madeline and calling her a coward who doesn't deserve forgiveness will give you -1 from Astarion. I have no idea why. Saying Madeline is forgiven might be annoying for him given that he does enjoy to feel power over others.

But telling her that she does not deserve forgiveness? Is it because the punishment is TOO harsh? Not harsh enough? He wanted violence?

I could not find any other interesting approval in act 2, let me know if there is a specific scene that should have some interesting stuff and I missed.

For act 3, I think I will do a separate post for ascended Astarion (if there is anything interesting).

[madschiavelique]

Hello! May I request a drabble or headcanons for a poly romance with Astarion x Fem!Reader x Shadowheart? Perhaps taking place post-game or late Act 3? I’d love to see them trying to navigate their new lives together. It can be fluff or hurt/comfort, whatever fits best to you. Thank you! :)

hey there sweet anon !! okay so it wasn’t specified if Astarion was ascended in this or not so i’ll go the route where he is not ascended !

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ pairing : astarion x fem!reader x shadowheart

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ content warning : some hurt/comfort, mostly fluff (i am so soft for them), fem!reader (although i think it could be read as a gn!reader), no use of y/n

─ . 𝜗𝜚‧ words : 1.5k + bonus 400 words (around 1,9k)

( not proofread, english is not my first language ☆)

Shadowheart, depending on if her parents are still alive or not by the end of Act 3, would definitely want to visit them more with you and Astarion by her side. Not only because she wants them to meet you both, but definitely because she is frightened.

Frightened ? yes, because she has lost so many of her memories, and she fears that she might never recover them no matter how hard she tries. Yet somehow, you and astarion being by her side reminds her that the best memories are the ones to come, the one she will create with the both of you.

As for Astarion, he has never been much out of Baldur’s Gate during his life, being tied to Cazador and trying to escape wouldn’t have made it possible for him to get his freedom in any case. 

He had tried to escape, failed several attempts, and never managed to let his mind fully take in that he could taste freedom someday. He has probably dreamed about it though, this need for liberty, for a change of scenery, which he got from travelling all this time with you and defeating his master.

So one word would reunite you three on the matter : travelling.

Now that you had the title of heroes of the nation, or actually, heroes for saving the entire world, you had no worries for anything. You couldn’t wait to travel, just the three of you and see all the places you had only seen on maps, but you had to stick with a few activities in Baldur’s Gate.

Posing for hours on end for painters to make sure your heroicness would live through history, inaugurating monuments to your memory, and all sorts of reunions with bards and writers with each and everyone of you reciting your versions of your adventures.

Some receptions took place in Cazador’s now empty manor, Astarion having inherited the place, and some rings that would allow him to be constantly exposed to the sun if he wished. 

You were not accustomed much to big events like these. The last months had been made of exploring in various armours and dirty clothes, fighting and eating whatever you could find or steal along the way. 

And here you now were, all three of you in expensive clothing, a corset tightening your waist till you felt like breathing was the hardest fight of your life, buffet so full you thought the tables would crack under so much food at any moment, a flute of golden champagne in your hand as you had to boringly listen to whatever aristocrat lady was rambling about before you.

“I’m starting to feel like I miss wearing armour,” you huffed as you tried battling with the laces of your corset, struggling to untie them.

The evening was over, you had all retired to your quarters, undressing for the night.

Astarion’s cold hands came to stop your fingers from any more tie wars, taking the reins to undo them.

“I thought that woman would never stop talking, she could make Gale look like a debutant in the art of monologuing.” laughed the vampire, softly unlacing your cage and allowing you to breathe again, placing a soft kiss to the back of your neck as his fingers came to massage your soft skin.

No matter how many times he did that, you always shivered. Your head fell back on his shoulder, sighing with contempt in his embrace. 

“When will we finally be off of here?” 

“Soon enough,” smiled Shadowheart with her hair down, wavy from her braid. “Pity you have to remove that dress though, I could get used to seeing you wearing more of those.”

Her smile was contagious, and you allowed it to place itself on your own lips. She came to help with your hair, removing the assortment of pins, pearls and other ribbons in them, kissing your temple and face from time to time as you giggled.

She was right, soon enough you three had gathered everything proper for a good trip. You didn’t have many belongings, moving from one region to the other during your adventures had taught you to not get too materialistic. 

This hero's-pass was however useful in many aspects. You were given goods for your travel, scrolls, alchemy necessities, and big fancy tents with comfortable futons. But the most interesting and probably useful gift were the three horses and the donkey given to you, the latter given to carry your belongings.

“Tell me this isn’t some sort of bad joke made by Halsin,” asked Astarion as he arched a brow, eyeing the dapple grey stallion that was about to be his new road companion.

“Scared of a different ride than us ?” you chuckled as you lifted yourself on the stirrup and pushed yourself on your mount.

“You’re hilarious,” sighed the rogue, biting the inside of his cheek as he seemed unsure as to the way he was supposed to handle this thing.

“Have you never been on horseback, Astarion ?” Shadowheart ended up asking.

“I think your clarity of judgement must’ve understood by now that during the last couple of centuries, I didn’t have the best scenery to ride those kinds of things.”

After convincing him numerous times that the horse would not stomp on him or do a rodeo as soon as he went on top of it, he finally accepted to get on it.

Thus, your trip began. It had no end in sight, just the beginning of something new with your two loves, and that was all you needed to know.

As you were about to take a path leading you to another region, Astarion stopped, turning towards the silhouette of the city for just a moment before following you and Shadowheart. 

“Is everything alright ?” you asked after a few minutes, Astarion lost in thought.

“Hmm ?” he asked as he raised his eyes to yours. “Oh yes, I’m fine it’s just… Odd.”

“Odd ? What do you mean ?” asked the Shadowheart.

“Well,” Astarion started, “I thought that some sort of magical invisible rope would tie me back again to the city and forsake me to leave. But the further we are from it, the more this feels… normal ?”

“I feel the same way,” she seconded, “my purpose was pulling me to it, and now I don’t feel anything.”

“Exactly, but it doesn’t make me feel empty, more like…”

“Liberated ?” she smiled.

“Yes, liberated...” he hummed as he repeated the word with a satisfaction.

The journey went smoothly, the familiar sensation of resuming the adventure in a certain way taking hold of your heart, but the firmness of your saddle leather reminding you of the discomfort it could cause. 

It took Astarion barely an hour to start complaining, two before he finally decided to get off his mount and walk, and three to convince you to take your first break.

It was a pattern ready to be repeated for all the days to come. There were no itineraries, only discovery.

Passing through new areas meant that a few villagers and other locals would recognise you. You were offered food, asked to touch the heads of new-born babies as if you were saints, and children crowned you with daisy tiaras.

Some of the smells of the food revived in Shadowheart the ghosts of a past that was gradually revealing itself to her. You stayed overnight in villages, and she always listened to the stories told to children before going to sleep, hoping to recognise a character from one of the stories, or the feeling of the petals she pressed tenderly between her fingers, reminding her of such distant fragments of fields coloured by all sorts of flowers. 

You could see it in her eyes, every time the past pressed its fingertips to her temple and squeezed its hands across her throat when her voice broke, that glimmer of hope glistening in her eyes.

You took her hand every time, encouraging her to go back to her memories as far as she possibly could. She looked at you with such tenderness, each time.

Every morning, without missing a beat, Astarion would wake to see the sun rise from its slumber. The feel of it on his skin was an embrace he loved and cherished every single moment.

When the three of you shared the same bed, and he didn't want to wake you up by moving around, he'd just sit there, upright, waiting for the rays to pass through the curtains.

The first joy of the day was a ribbon of sunlight that wrapped itself around your hand and caressed your shoulder, and Astarion traced it with his fingertips without waking you up. He would never dare disturb your peace.

It was after visiting everything there was to see that you finally decided to settle in a pretty, dilapidated stone house that you renovated with your own resources. To this day, you receive your friends when they would be able to afford to come and see you, and you bask in your freedoms.

Bonus content for this : 

Several months into your travels, you had already received Gale's invitation to meet him in Waterdeep, so that he could find out more about your new life and see you all again.

You set off, and soon enough the realisation that you would have to take the boat to shorten the journey seemed to displease your two companions. 

‘Are you sure we can't make some better use of the horses ?’ interrogated Astarion.

‘We have mostly made them walk and trot a bit, we could surely make them galop just a little?’ Shadowheart rejoined.

But they finally gave in when the entire length of the journey by horse was compared to that by boat.

The two of them tried as best they could to stuff themselves with anti-seasickness potions, but as the effects of the latter were short-lived, they remained cloistered in the holds of the boat for the duration of the journey.

Back on dry land, you took the horses that had travelled with you for the last little stretch of the journey. Having finally reached Waterdeep, you asked the first passer-by where Gale Dekarios was staying.

You almost expected someone to look at you with round eyes of incomprehension as to whom you were searching for, but with a broad smile the passer-by gave you a precise indication of where he was staying.

Gale welcomed you with open arms, his new mage robes modest yet exuding nobility. 

‘I wish I could say otherwise but sincerely, the beauty of a cloth doesn't equal the kind of comfortability I had when we were in the middle of the Absolute's schemes. I sometimes grieve for these times, I never thought I would admit to it one day but I have got to say that ending the day with mud and whatever creature's blood we'd encountered on my robes sounds more thrilling than some of the books I now own.’

When Gale started a sentence, it was hard to stop him in his flow of words, and although it may have made you huff and puff at times, you had missed it.

It was while discussing Shadowheart's memory that Gale suggested a spell that he had been trying to master recently, allowing you to reopen memories buried deep in your brain.

During your stay in Waterdeep, Gale helped you to piece together Shadowheart's memory and restore as much of her past as possible.

[inquisitornocturn]

⊱─ 𝕖𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕠𝕣 ─⊰

➺ 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘: Ascended Astarion/f!reader the vampire bride

➺ 𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕤: no y/n is used, rating - T, just fluff, your Vampire Lord sure knows how to make you feel special

➺ 𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: Astarion has been gone for couple weeks, making you miss him terribly, but when he finally returns he brings a gift to make up for his prolonged absence. and what a gift that is.

➺ 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥: 2,176

𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖: written for a discord server event, just a little fluff piece because i wanted to explore how Astarion would give a gift to his beloved. enjoy! <3

Your life in the palace has been peaceful so far. Well, as peaceful as it can be while living with a Vampire Ascendant who loves to entertain himself with parties, masquerades and a good-hearted murder here and there. However, you signed up for this life willingly and you couldn’t be happier. Still, parties can be exhausting, but when Astarion notices you acting less than cheery, he halts everything and gives you peace and quiet in the palace until you suggest to him to have another celebration. Eternity is full of delights and you two haven’t shared even a fraction of ‘forever’ yet, so you both take it slow, why rush when you have the evermore?

Nonetheless, before fully settling in Baldur’s Gate, you spent first few decades traveling. From one end of Faerûn to another, tasting everything life has to offer. Not needing to fear the sun, you both strolled through the streets of every city worth visiting and stalked the nights when you needed to feed. Astarion joined you quite often. And while his own desire for blood is near gone entirely, he still enjoys a good hunt, especially in your company.

But eventually you have returned home, to the palace you both carefully refurbished before leaving. After settling back in, Astarion began preparing his plans, just like he spoke years back – to make Baldur’s Gate his domain. And you settled as his Consort – managing servants, provisions, planning parties and eventually - Astarion’s and your own spawn. He carefully chooses every single person to turn into his spawn, while you are generally more lax about it, and he trusts you to make sure that they all behave. But sometimes they do misbehave, as spawn tend to, and when that happens Astarion has to punish them, sparing you the trouble of doing it yourself. You’re not averse to getting your hands dirty, but in those times you stand by your lover’s side and watch with pride how your beloved manages those lesser than him. They all deserve it after all.

Some more years pass in a wonderful bliss. But Astarion’s plans only begin to come into motion. To keep them moving as he wants them to your Vampire Lord has to travel. Sometimes for weeks, leaving you alone to manage your mutual estate. In his absence you don’t feel lonely, but you do miss him terribly, anxiously waiting for his return. At least he sends a messenger bat to you every other day, informing you about what he’s doing and always telling you just how much he wants you by his side. You have a feeling that soon he will stop going alone and will begin taking you with, just because he’s growing more possessive, wanting to make sure that you’re safe and thriving, and to him – that’s only possible when you’re at his side. Not that you could argue with that. Your entire soul aches when he’s absent.

And such you find yourself in this state again. Anxious, nervous, and longing for your lover to come home. Astarion has been gone for two weeks this time, longest yet, and for the third day now you keep wandering the palace, feeling increasingly irritable, snapping at servants and spawn alike, punishing them for minor transgressions. You need Astarion, you crave to be in his arms again, you feel like you’re falling apart the longer you’re away from him. Finest wines and freshest blood can’t lull the ache in your very soul that you’re feeling.

“My Lady, the Lord has returned.” you hear behind you and you immediately stop in your tracks. You were pacing in Astarion’s office, restless and almost ready to send another letter via bat because his own letters stopped a week ago, making you worried.

But he returned. At last.

You turn to the servant who immediately gets out of the doorway when you rush. Your footsteps are fast, you’re holding the front of your long, lavish dress so that you don’t trip. One flight of stairs, then another one. Faster, you have to go faster. If you had a beating heart it would pound in your chest like a dwarven hammer on hot iron.

And then there it is, the last step.

You stop, slightly out of breath, and see that your beloved indeed has returned. Astarion is standing by the main entrance, his clothing and hair are immaculate as always, there’s a smile on his lips but you also see longing in his eyes. Then he opens his arms for you.

“My love!” you cry out and rush to him, the sound of your heels on the tiles fill the room and you let go of your dress just before you fling yourself into Astarion’s embrace.

You hug him with a fierce need and he too wraps his arms around your shoulders, managing to do so before you crash your lips against his. You hear Astarion’s own heart beating fast in his chest and he hugs you even tighter, painfully strong, his fingers digging into your shoulders. You remain locked like this for a long while, kissing each other first in short bursts, smiling, happy to be finally reunited. Then the kisses become longer, deeper and more passionate. You let go of him only to find first two buttons on his doublet, eager to feel his skin against yours, to feel him in a way no one else feels him, or you.

But Astarion catches your fingers with firm elegance and pulls back from your lips. You eagerly want to kiss him again but he just smiles.

“Little treasure, I missed you too, but I brought something for you. Wouldn’t you like to see what it is?” your lover asks and you stop your attempts to steal another kiss.

“What is it?” you ask and dip your head lower, now planting soft kisses on his fingers that hold yours, your heart bursting with love. Astarion’s eyes soften as he watches you and he presses his lips against your forehead briefly.

“Come. I’ll show you.” he whispers and moves from you, taking your hand in his and leading you to the room left from the main entrance. It’s where you greet guests when they arrive, that is, unless the main event is happening in the ballroom.

You follow and inspect Astarion’s appearance as you walk with him, his fingers intertwined with yours. Your beloved doesn’t look any worse than how he did before he left. In fact he looks as he always does – opulent and wonderfully beautiful. You feel relief that nothing happened to him while he was away, but what could even harm the Vampire Ascendant? You know you worry too much but you can’t help it.

“Here it is, my dear.” Astarion stops and you finally look away from him to where he’s gesturing with his left hand.

In front of you, on the floor, sits a medium sized ornate chest. There was a lock on it that now rests on the table nearby and you look at Astarion, your eyebrows raised in an unsaid question.

“Just open it.” he chuckles, obviously pleased with himself. “I got it for you myself. Although I’ll admit it wasn’t an easy task, so you better appreciate it.” Astarion raises an eyebrow and you pause for a moment longer then smile, giving him a nod.

“I’m sure I will.”

You let go of his hand, however unwillingly, and walk to the chest leaning down and slowly opening it. While you do that you feel Astarion’s palm caress your rear and you smile. Oh how you missed these touches. Even though it was just two weeks, it feels like he was gone for eternity.

However, what you see inside shocks you. Your mouth drops open and you lift chest’s lid fully, straightening your back as you stare down, utterly taken aback.

“Is that-“

“A dragon egg, my dear. Indeed it is.” Astarion says with pride and you look at him, the disbelief you’re feeling right now makes you feel like you’re in a dream rather than reality. There is indeed a red dragon egg in the chest, resting on a soft pillow, its opalescent scales softly reflecting the daylight coming in through the windows.

“How did you-“

“Found a lair.” Astarion smugly raises an eyebrow at you. “It’s a red dragon egg. I think it will be quite an addition to our little home, don’t you think?”

You’re still speechless. How in the hells he acquired a dragon egg? And even brought it here? As a gift for you?

“But Astarion, dragons are not pets they are-“ you begin but he rolls his eyes, slightly annoyed now.

“Yes, my dear, I know. You don’t need to give me a lecture about what dragons are and what they aren’t.” he says while taming his irritation, then he turns to you, taking your hands in his, making you fully face him. “You forget that I’m the Vampire Ascendant, love. And you’re my beloved Consort. I’m sure once it hatches you will be able to win its trust and have a companion by your side worthy of you.”

You think it over. Yes, maybe he’s right.

“But why a dragon?” you ask carefully and Astarion scoffs.

“Why not? My coven will survive for eons! A dragon will be a wonderful part of it. To have an ally like this will prove to others that we are not to be trifled with. And you will have something loyal to you and you alone, my treasure. I think you deserve it.” Astarion lets go of your hand and cups the side of your face with a warm palm. His eyes are locked on yours and you see that he truly believes you can convince a dragon, a red dragon above all, to become loyal to you. Well, at least he didn’t steal an egg from a black dragon.

“But what if I fail?” you ask with a tinge of worry in your tone and Astarion sighs, pulling you closer now, his hands finding their usual spots on your hips.

“My dear, I don’t think you are capable of ever failing me.” Vampire Lord smiles and leans closer to your face. “You are perfect in every way, why would you doubt yourself now?” he asks and his lips move over your eyebrow, then down your nose, making you smile and giggle, just like that.

“You put too much faith in me.” you look at him while Astarion trails a row of pecks across your left cheek, making you briefly close an eye when his nose brushes against your eyelashes.

“Everything I have would mean absolutely nothing without you.” he whispers and his eyes meet yours at last as he pulls back just enough to make sure that you see how serious his expression is. “How could I ever doubt you, my lovely Consort? You’re my world. And you will be my world forever.”

Astarion leans in and kisses you again, possessively but also affectionately, like a mere fraction of a thought of you not being in his life makes him fear losing you. His kiss is intense and needy, and you respond in much the same way, holding onto his arms when he fully presses himself against you.

“You’ll do just fine with the egg, my dear. I know you will.” Astarion whispers and you hug him now, your arms move around him; you press your palms onto his back and bury your face in his chest, feeling him begin to stroke your hair.

“Thank you.” you murmur against the fabric of his coat with your eyes closed. You smile and inhale the familiar perfume, letting it fill your lungs. “It’s a very precious gift.”

“Oh I know.” Astarion responds and he sounds like he’s smiling, you think he is. His strokes on your hair are slow and tender. A moment of silence passes before you speak up again.

“Just don’t leave for this long again. I missed you terribly.” it’s easy for you to admit it, he knows that you weren’t yourself without him.

“I won’t, I promise. And if I do need to leave for longer, I will take you with me. Does that sound good, my pet?”

You nod and sigh, relaxing in his embrace.

At last the palace feels much warmer, so much livelier now that Astarion’s back. It’s like stone and iron lost their iciness with your lover present. But no, it’s not that the walls feel more welcoming with your Lord back home, it’s that Astarion is your home. The world is a cold and unwelcoming place but not when you’re with him. Not when you’re in his embrace. Not with his lips pressed against your hair.

And you have forever together. Including, it seems, a dragon to hatch and raise.

You smile while being held by Astarion. Your Vampire Lord sure knows how to give lavish gifts.

You will have to return his kindness later. And you know just the perfect way to do so.

[senseandaccountability]

So I'm just here to scream a little about this.

WHAT A QUEST THAT WAS OH MY GOD. I loved how much he had to say about everything, all the way, how much lore and history I got out of the mission and how FUCKING SAD and messed up this vampire family/army is.

I had tears in my eyes when we meet Sebastian and the Gur children OH FUCK, I cried over them. Over the fact that they were children, that he didn't even fucking remember them (which even he was a little taken aback by) and that they didn't want to be let out because they'd hurt their families I CANNOT WITH THE CHILDREN OKAY. And the delicious study in Astarion's range of uncaring, manipulative defenses that got deflated constantly because around every corner there's something new that reminds him of what he is trying SO VERY HARD at making the world and most of all himself forget. GODS do I love that we get to call him out on this, too, the very heart of his struggle. This isn't you - NO BUT IT SHOULD BE. Because the alternative is too much to endure.

And yet, this is the line for me. THE line:

The world doesn't need to know my shame.

The actual fight went to hell in a handbasket first, because I went for the cinematics and wanted to have a big convo with Cazador. Totally worth it for screencaps and angst, though, but it stole an hour from my life.

Then I remembered that I have a brain and ungrouped them, had Astarion hide so he wouldn't get dragged into the ritual while Elnys and Karlach blew shit up and Shadowheart (who I respecced as a healer for act 3) kept everyone alive. SO much easier, thank god. I will play with the save to see the different outcomes of the ritual at some point but it's safe to say the only option for me was to convince him to break the cycle. It's just so UNFATHOMABLY dark to me to imagine him ascending after all this, I don't think I'll ever be able to do it. The abuse of power he was subjected to is such a strong theme in all of his personal details, all of his actions that it just makes me sad for these pixels to think that a solution is to repeat the miserable, hopeless pattern. I love this outcome, I love that he says he isn't above enjoying stabbing Cazadore into a million pieces because he shouldn't be. I love that he isn't even regretting giving up the power, if you ask him afterwards because the source of his fear is finally gone. The spell is broken. He can be free. So much of Astarion's arc is about reconnecting with life, feeling things instead of hiding behind a mask while carrying out shit others told him to, and I adored that it's also what he says when they're done - this place reeks of death and I want to feel alive.

[brekkie-e]

I have mixed feelings on the discussion about how "nice" Astarion gets if you go the Spawn route with him. Now, I am not reading fic so I've not personally seen the extent of how far people are running with the “redeemed” narrative. I might be completely unaware of some truly unhinged “Astarion helps old ladies cross the road with a smile on his face and kindness in his heart” takes. And I will be the first to point out his approval in Act 3 doesn’t always point towards a huge change of heart.

The flip side of that conversation that I’m not seeing discussed that much is the way Astarion talks about himself as well as the way the companions talk about him after choosing the spawn ending. In the scenes directly afterwards, and even in the epilogue a bit- you can see a very changed man. Not necessarily a humane society volunteer, but at the very least someone who’s taking responsibility for their life and viewing the world in a way they hadn’t before. Spawn Astarion’s growth cut scenes were almost jarring for me to watch after years of being comfortable with the bitch boy from Early Access.

Astarion is not the only one talking that way though! Karlach, Wyll, Minthara, Jaheira! They all respond to him as though he is a changed man. I scoured to find the actual lines since I’m away from my computer, but no luck. That being said, I do know that pretty much each companion reacts to his decision not to follow through with Ascension and his time afterwards by essentially saying, “You can’t fool me, we know you’re a good person.” In various degrees of intensity.

I know in his dialogue with Minthara he dead ass says, “Yep, love fixed me. I’m better now.” And he says it with zero shame, he’s happy about it.

At points the way the companions and he talk about it makes me frustrated with certain reactions and approvals that remain in Act 3. The further you get from finishing his plot line, the less of a changed man he really seems. His approvals in general still line up with Ascended Astarion’s. Some of his reactions to things seem out of touch with the man seen in the grave yard. For example, his reaction to being cheated on with Mizzora. Not only does his acceptance of that just seem like a different character than the one we see in his scenes after the palace, a man who clearly views your relationship as a serious commitment that he is proud of. But it also seems bizarre that he would be okay with you betraying Wyll at this point in the story. The man we see telling the spawn to go to the underdark, who thanks Tav for standing by him, and gushes about being excited to live again and embrace the good with the bad seems entirely juxtaposed to the asshole he continues to be.

Which is not to say that I want him to be all sunshine and rainbows. It just seems inconsistent. I think a part of that comes from the need to keep his reactions neutral enough that they might work for both endings. The problem with that being that Ascended and Spawn Astarion are such vastly different people in their main story scenes that it’s kind of impossible to line them back up again afterward. For me, it was hard to find it believable. Either his post Cazzador scenes were out of character, or his continued reaction scenes were out of character- it just depends on which you prefer.

Circling back to my original point, I guess what I’m trying to say is that his graveyard scenes and the companion commentary do make me think that he is still heading in a redemption arc direction. That it isn’t inherently out of character for him to be written as a character with a complicated relationship with morality, but more often than not ending up on the good side of the spectrum these days. The way I interpret it, it’s not so much because suddenly he’s altruistic and nice. It’s that he’s actively choosing change, which feels like a continuation of his recovery. He’s surrounded by people who hold him accountable. He’s trying to be better than he was. He’s trying to do right by the people who have helped him. He’s still going to bitch about it, and act like it’s stupid. But he’s going to independently prompt that the group save the kid from the hag because “that’s just what we do, I’m done fighting that reality.” In his post-Cazzador life, his only real loyalty is to his team. If that team is full of annoying do-gooders? Their his annoying do-gooders. He’ll complain about it, but he’d not trade his found family for anything. It kind of gives Loki in Thor: Ragnorak showing up with the ship. Or Megamind saving the city. I’m here. I’m going to be the hero because I guess I have to. I’m going to be positively insufferable about it though.

I certainly don’t think he’d be nice all the time. I think he’d still be a loose canon that lashes out. He’s in the middle of healing, not at the end of it. But I think if his redemption journey ends where it did in the game, the emphasis on how changed he was in his scenes and the companion commentary was a bit over done.

[meanbossart]

Hi! I'm almost certain you've answered asks regarding Drow being a companion love interest before, but I'm not sure if my question was specifically discussed. If so, I apologize!

Say I wanted the smelly, gore lusting man (God the things I'd do), what would the player find themselves needing to do to gain that relationship with him?

HMM good question, lets see!

Generally speaking, to gain approval you would have to:

Show ruthlessness during dialogue and interactions (succeed intimidation checks or jump straight into combat)

Be kind towards animals, and honest/patient with children (He will be neutral if you just coddle them)

Oppose the absolute and antagonize mindflayers, gith, and drow.

Be nice to Shadowheart.

Pick a lot of the joke/playfully mean dialogue options.

Be a little hard-to-get in romance interactions until act 3.

Responding to his advances with more mellow, romantic dialogue will earn you more points than overt sexuality (In some cases, the latter may even get you disapproval).

Make him laugh.

To trigger his romance, you have to have good approval and sleep with him once. Following that, pressuring him to sleep with you again or shaming him for not putting your life in danger by trying will earn you disapproval, and an eventual break-up if you continue to insist. He enjoys being wooed, but not chased, and dislikes when you misunderstand his visceral attempts to emotionally reach out as sexual propositions; he will play along either way, but it will put him on a Bhaalist path.

Some quest choices that will get you on his good side:

ACT 1 -

He's indifferent if Arabella dies, but you gain approval if you save her.

Let him take on the Loviatar Priest when he requests it.

Don't get the Absolute's mark from Priestess gut.

Save Mayrina, but then either break or keep the wand.

Let Astarion kill Gandrel.

Help Karlach.

Either let Shadowheart kill Lae'zel, or stop the fight.

Don't kill the owlbear mother or cub.

Send Barcus flying (He doubles over laughing)

Kill Minthara.

Side with the mercenaries at Grymforge.

Kill the gith student refusing to fight.

Refuse to give the inquisitor the artefact.

ACT 2 -

Help Arabella find her parents.

Don't release the pixie from the moonlantern.

Help Mol cheat against Raphael.

Let him massacre the goblins at Moonrise Towers.

Get the Thorm bosses AND yurgir to kill themselves instead of fighting any of them (again: You are rewarded with him laughing his ass off about it)

Don't comply with Araj.

If you save Zevlor at the mindflayer colony, shame him for giving into the Absolute's call.

Antagonize the emperor after his reveal and refuse the astral tadpole.

ACT 3 -

Help Yenna with either gold or food, but don't invite her to your camp.

Kill Arfur once you find out about the explosive toys.

Forge an alliance with Gortash.

Win the Laff riot contest.

Don't surrender Dame Aylin to Lorroakan.

Don't sign the contract, but agree to get the Orphic hammer through other means later. (Anything to not rely on the Emperor anymore)

If she hasn't become a Dark Justiciar, don't surrender Shadowheart to Viconia (He will fight the party unless you leave him at camp and succeed a deception check later). He doesn't care what you do if she's a DJ.

Vanra's quest can get you either approval or disapproval at different points. He approves of you agreeing to help her, then also approves of you killing her for the money, but he disapproves of you letting the child die or of siding with Ethel.

Agree to the Avenge The Drowned quest (He just thinks they're hot)

Don't let Astarion Ascend, or kill him if he does.

Kill Sarevok.

Let him take on Orin by himself.

Don't turn into a mindflayer (he will break up with you later), nor let Karlach do it.

If he's become a chosen of Bhaal, let him control the Absolute.

[faerievampling]

Killing Time

Chapter 17: Rogue

Pairing: Ascended Astarion x Vampire Tav (female reader)

word count: 5.5k

Summary: After their fight, Tav and Astarion spend some time apart.

warnings: 18+. Mention of SA. Graphic Violence. PiV. Vaginal Fingering.

Link to Ao3 | Killing Time Masterlist

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy the flashback scene here from Act 3 😆 I enjoyed writing them in game and fleshing them out a bit more. Next update will be within a week <3

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It’s about a little after midday, and you’re fucking bored of being in the library. You’d been napping somewhat peacefully after getting out some of those pesky emotions, but now you find yourself without wine, blood, proper clothing, or servants at your disposal. Since you aren’t connected to Astarion anymore, how are you supposed to call on them? You find yourself antsy, your fingers twitching as you desperately need movement – you need to do something, lest you wallow away in your grief for eternity. 

You feel like striking something or someone as you exit the library – your nails are digging into your palm. You tentatively make your way through your palace, slowly walking through the corridors and hallways to soak it all in. Your home is colorful, decadent, tasteful, albeit eccentric; you and Astarion have many decorations collected from all over the realms, and countless portraits and paintings of your little family. Your palace isn’t as sprawling as some: more compacted to fit a man, his wife, and a few servants and spawn. This makes you wonder where exactly Astarion is keeping all of your new…children. Below. They must be below. 

As the admittedly petty (and very pretty) lady of the house, you think you should meet them. Before that, you need a wardrobe change. Truthfully, you huff and stomp to the servant's quarters, meaning to demand Bethild’s presence in accompanying you to your chambers. The servants’ quarters are reasonable, spacious, and clean, if a bit dull – only a few servants lived on the ground, Bethild unfortunately not being one of them. She had chosen her young child over serving you, which made you scoff when Astarion told you. 

‘It’s an honor for that young lady to even touch me, Astarion!’ You yelled at him through the expanse of your shared minds. 

“Of course! I know that, my treasure, but what else am I to do? She’s the one we want, isn’t she?” Astarion was always trying to reason with you. He always tries to fix all he can and you know this – but nonetheless, it makes you feel angry when he can’t. Even then, even when he couldn’t make your favorite (you wouldn’t ever admit this to her, of course) servant live on the grounds with you, to be at your disposal always, it made you irate. Astarion can always give you what you want, why is he acting like he can’t do it now? 

‘Compel her.’

Astarion paused for a beat. ‘Is that truly what you desire?’

Astarion talked you out of it. He would have done it upon your insistence, probably, but you ultimately trusted his opinion on the matter – and Bethild does annoy you. You start to think maybe you should ask Astarion what he thinks the two of you should do, to fix this brokenness in your relationship, but you guess you already know his answer; upon returning home after finding that stupid sword for Angel and defeating the beholder with your bare claws, Astarion’s first choice was to seduce you, to coax to bed so he could have your body, as if you were some…conquest. Maybe he thought it would help you; hells, Angel suggested the same thing. 

Angel. You can’t think about him for too long. It feels wrong because he’s stirring something inside you, and when you think of it, it makes you want to…run. It’s almost as if you, the ultimate predator, are starting to feel like the prey. This is unacceptable to you. 

“This is unacceptable, Bethild,” You find yourself saying as you find Bethild lounging on a settee, knitting up a project Astarion likely has her working for you, no doubt. Bethild is caught off guard, unsure of exactly what you mean; but you don’t know, either. Your clothing, your hair, your nails, your attitude: all of it was likely to be the source of your disturbance. 

“My lady?” Bethild moves to stand, but you click your tongue at her.

“Don’t act so unfamiliar with me, Bethild. I’ve known your mind almost your whole life,” You try to soften your voice, but you likely fail by the look on Bethild’s face: still, she hardly wavers. She’s handled you for some time now. You don’t need to hide from her. You feel a little lighter around her, you notice. She waits for you to speak. 

“I…” You begin, but you don’t know why your voice falters. 

“Do you need help getting dressed? Perhaps finding your room?”

“No! No…” You swallow. You look at Bethild intensely. She knows you won’t harm her, but she can’t help but feel just a little afraid, her heart beating a little faster by the second: it was only natural for the living to fear the bloodsucking dead. “W-well…”

She knows you’re upset. “Lady Ancunín, wouldn’t you like to wear something more substantial? The Master would be displeased to know you're walking around in your shift.”

Thinking about Astarion makes your chest ache, and hearing his mention hurts no less. You nod in agreement with Bethild – you like your freedom in your dress, hair, and general actions, but you draw a line at meeting a hundred spawn in nothing but a robe. “Please, yes. But…”

Bethild gives you a moment to think, but not too long – she’s quite used to your infamous long pauses and is known to move the conversation along if she feels she must. 

“Are you quite alright, mistress?”

You blink at her. You can’t help but wince in front of her, like a hurt puppy. You don’t think Bethild has seen you this vulnerable before. In your embarrassment, you quickly remind yourself that her demise will come so swiftly, her lifespan ticking before your immortal eyes, and who would she tell of your weakness? Does it even matter to you, anymore? Don’t you just want to be yourself? What does that even mean, to ‘be yourself’?

“How about you sit, dear. You don’t look very well, do you need something to eat?” 

You shake your head, but you sit across from her, entirely unaware of just how awkward you are being. 

“You have children, four of them, don’t you?” You ask; not thinking about how you probably shouldn’t mention her children just after she asked you if you need a snack. ‘A child would probably be just enough blood for a small meal,’ You silently jest to yourself. Astarion would appreciate your joke, you begrudgingly think.

This makes you wonder, for just a moment, about your parents – you don’t think of them often, now, being that you are Astarion’s offspring. In your regards, it was he who raised you; he’s taught you everything you know as a vampire. You’ve been with him since you were just a few years out of girlhood, and he’s been more to you than your parents ever were. It’s hard to remember their faces – for a moment, you think that since Astarion met them so many years ago, he could just show you again, before realizing he can’t, anymore. You don’t know if you’ll ever get used to the silence in your head. 

Many things have been forgotten by you, simply due to the passage of time; having that worm in your head could’nt have helped. Still, you’ve lived a long life filled with so many pleasures, with discomfort being something that you rarely ever experienced; until you met Geldon Moth, of course. Those painful memories seem to be the loudest, too, even if they are muddled for whatever reason. You don’t know, anymore, and you aren’t sure it matters. You’ve accepted your mess. Now you must figure out how to clean it up. 

But isn’t that what your husband and the servants are for? Aren’t they all here for you? To serve you? You don’t understand your place in the world anymore. 

“Yes, and a grandchild on the way.” When Bethild speaks, you’d nearly forgotten she was there. You smile. Bethild can’t help but remark on your frightening majesty in her head; she isn’t used to speaking with you so casually. At least she doesn’t think you’re ugly. 

“So you’ve spent a lot of time in your marital bed?” You ask, putting off just enough charm to make her agreeable. A blush rises to Bethild’s cheeks.

“My lady…if you must know, yes. My husband and I are quite close.” But her face drops once she seems to realize where you’re going with this. Bethild knows you were taken by an evil vampire lord, and she’s thinking about he probably raped you…

“He did.” You think this is the first time you may have said it explicitly. Your face is stone, your heart is void. Angel said your soul was pure, but you think he must be lying now; because you feel there isn’t anything but darkness inside of you anymore. “He raped me. And he had others do so, too. And now my husband wants my body, and I want to give it to him, but I can’t, and he’s…” You don’t want her knowing about you and Astarion’s other arguments: there is (albeit ancient) murder involved, and she shouldn't know any details. 

“Just being a…” You ponder this for a moment. “A k’chakhi. Is that…has that ever happened to you?” 

No. You and Bethild think this at the same time. Bethild’s had a fairly comfortable life for a peasant: she has a lovely husband, and Astarion pays her well to care for you: which is part of why she’s such a good servant. You know her mind enough to know she’s experienced little harm in her life. The next thing she thinks is how she hates hearing you use githyanki slander – ‘a waste of a perfectly good Lady.’ She doesn’t quite know what it means, only that it sounds vulgar coming from your lips. You can’t help but smile a little, despite the grim topic. 

“It hasn’t, dear. And I’m sorry it happened to you,” Bethild pauses, her plain face twisting in apprehension. “Might I speak freely, Lady Ancunín?”

“Don’t you always?”

“Hmph. As often as I need, darling.” Bethild says, her face softening as she does. Maybe she isn’t so plain as you first thought, the longer you look at her: her skin is clear and soft, and she looks younger than her years. Her rounded chin adds to her almost girlish look, and her eyes have a sparkle to them. You feel relief to see life in her eyes. You wonder if the drow was ever happy. When did he last have a sparkle in his eyes? When he was finally dancing with the maiden of death? Is that who you are, now?

For a moment, you wonder if you’re still charming her by accident: but maybe you’re just seeing her for the first time. Her heart rate is slowing down as she seems to soak you in, too: she wonders about your gold eye. She thinks it's strange but beautiful, and compliments the red one fairly well – but her mind focuses on this for only a second before she wonders if Astarion’s forced himself on you, or been cruel to you in some manner. She doesn’t expect this of him, but she thinks he hasn’t been himself since you disappeared, and even worse since you’ve been back…

“Worse?” You ask, reminding the woman that you’re in her head. Bethild knows this, of course, but it still freaks her out a little. “You think he’s been worse since I’ve returned?” 

Bethild blinks, and for a split second, thinks twice about speaking her thoughts aloud, but she continues. “Yes. He’s…I don’t know if your Master is taking care of himself properly.”

You recognize her words, thinking about how exhausted Astarion always looks, how clingy he’s been with you, and how his words sometimes feel procured, as if he’s only telling you what he wants you to hear. Now, you just feel antsy; this behavior is familiar to you, but in the past, it had always been more explicit. Does he mean to lock you away again? Surely he wouldn’t…

Bethild notices your runaway thoughts, quickly redirecting you. “Come, let’s get you into something decent.”

But Bethild’s thoughts linger: she doesn’t understand why you haven’t spoken to your master yourself – why you haven’t noticed his changes. But she suspects you’ve been far too wrapped up in yourself, as you always are. Bethild brings you something casual to wear from your bedroom, and you end up changing in the servants’ quarters for the first time in your whole life. There’s nothing special about it: merely prompting you to consider how you’ve ended up right here, right now, and how you are going to remedy it. 

~ ~ ~

Astarion can’t tell if it’s in his head or not, but he feels like his siblings – especially Petras and Leon, is targeting you as if they’re trying to kill you first to add insult to injury. Sure, Astarion knows his siblings are being compelled, but still…the look of envy is apparent in the eyes of the spawn. He’s fallen in love, he has friends, allies, and nearly his freedom. Astarion has it all, and the other six have clearly been subject to more torture, and more starvation. He pities them. 

Astarion hardly cares about this anymore. The sacrifice of his siblings was entirely worth it, even if you do hate him. After you left the boudoir, Astarion found himself scrambling around the bedroom, kicking and screaming and crying; once calm, he consulted with the palace wizards, librarians, and the other intellectuals still at the palace until there wasn’t anything else productive to do except try to finally rest. Although he keeps a protective eye on you, just to ensure your safety, he doesn’t bother you, despite how badly he wants to. No, Astarion hasn’t rested for some time – just a few hours of reverie would help, he thinks. He can be with you there; but the memories he lands on surprise him. Why did he go back so far?

Leon lunges at you, hissing and scratching at your armor – you move as if your body follows your arm, swinging your sword through to cut Leon. The feral spawn tries to dodge, but fails, disappearing to red mist just as your sword hits his body. Petras comes from behind you – Astarion is quick with his crossbows, filling his brother's chest with arrows, preventing him from getting another swing at you. Astarion can’t help but protect you in battle. As a rogue, he hides in the shadows, burying his arrows in anyone who dares try to attack you. At one point, Shadowheart even complains, saying Astarion needs to focus on other enemies, not just the ones attacking his girlfriend. He does better spray his arrows out, but he still keeps a close eye on you. You swing your sword with grace, your tactical moves and a body seemingly weightless; you just have a way about you when you fight. You look like a dancer, effortlessly seducing the blade and your foe. He admires it tenfold – and admires you more than anyone in this world. You’re beautiful, kind when life calls for it, brutal all the same. You are balanced – you are balance for Astarion. Watching his siblings hurt you solidified his decision: he would take the ritual from beneath Cazador’s feet, perform that lover's ritual he’s heard about, and the two of you could be safe: forever, for good. When the fight dies down, he immediately comes to you. Seeing that you’re visibly unharmed, Astarion cracks some joke about you finally meeting his family. You don't laugh – you can’t. The worry and fear are all over your beautiful face.

“I’m doing this for you too, you know. So we’ll be safe. Forever, for good.” Astarion speaks with conviction, letting the smile drop from his face to convey how serious he is. He means this, and he wants you to know it. He doesn’t want to play games anymore – he’s tired of being hunted. Tired of fighting, tired of dragging you through this with him – unfortunately, he knows he needs you to defeat Cazador with him. That’s who you are, he begrudgingly thinks: his strong protector. 

“What are you saying, ‘Star?” You ask, eyes wide, reaching out to him; he takes your hands, which are surprisingly smooth despite your tactical abilities. That’s the thing – Astarion knows you don’t really need him to protect you, not physically. But you are a young, naive thing, one he doesn’t want getting hurt. His selfish desire for you is the one thing Astarion is allowing himself, and he needs you to just give it to him. 

“I think I hear wedding bells in your future, Tav,” Wyll teases as he hands his sword to Karlach, who’s promptly wiping off the blood, having been put on this duty after losing some silly bet to Gale that Astarion hadn’t been privy to. Wyll isn’t entirely wrong, but he knows they wouldn’t understand what Astarion wants with you is far more than a legally binding contract. 

Astarion shoots a grimace at Wyll, who does need to shut up. 

Ever since your arrival in Baldur’s Gate, Astarion’s felt both confident and horrifically terrified. Most days, he lands somewhere in between, his greatest comfort being you. The one comfort he wishes he could enjoy fully, despite the two of you sleeping together every night. You have ever since he confessed to you, that when your albeit enjoyable trysts ended, your intimacy and love began. Astarion loves nothing more than to hold you at night. It means so much to him to have someone to be with, someone he likes, someone he loves, and you’re so beautiful…so you. 

“Let me have you tonight,” Astarion whispers to you amidst the soft sounds of your sleeping companions. The commotion of the spawn attack finally dies down, leaving the two of you to the quiet of the suite. Halsin’s snores could be heard from around the room, and Jaheira and Minsc are known to kick in their sleep. Once, earlier in your adventure, you told Astarion you saw Minsc’s dreams one night: he was locked in a cage, tortured next to a far younger Jaheira, whose cries could be heard throughout whatever dark and dank prison they were in. Your psychic background was known to the whole party, but Astarion became privy to some of the finer details of your condition: strange ways you were able to unlock glimpses of the future, and sometimes even the past and present, it seems. You sometimes just knew things that Astarion didn’t know how to account for – to be fair, you’re rather observant, and you have a knack for connecting with others. Not to mention that pesky tadpole, which certainly complicates things, (you attested this to why you had been able to see Minsc’s dreams, but Astarion isn’t so sure) but it also gave you and Astarion insight into each other's minds, and you two became known to each other quickly once you truly bonded back in the Shadow Cursed Lands. 

Astarion uses the tadpole now, sharing his thoughts of burying his face between your thighs before sliding himself into you missionary style, kissing and sucking at your neck before easing his fangs into delicate flesh, your rapid heartbeat loud in his ears, your warm skin beneath his cold touch. Gods; his cock has been hard ever since the end of the battle – after your party had cleaned up, Astarion set his sights on passionately kissing you, grabbing at whatever curvature of your body he could. He quickly got you settled in bed, wrapping you in his arms and holding you tightly. 

You smile, but you look a little shy, a blush rising on your cheeks. You’re so cute like that, still so shy with him – he understands it. You hadn’t much experience when you met him, other than a few minor instances when you were a teen, when you shared a kiss with Wyll at the damned tiefling party, and the times you recently spent with Lae’zel in her tent, much to Astarion’s dismay. 

He hadn’t cared much about those things then, you being with others. It was more annoying to him than anything else, because it meant there was competition, and he needed you the most. No, Astarion tells himself he didn’t mind sharing your body (at least, for a handful of centuries) just like he didn't mind when you bled a little after he first entered you back in the clearing. He thought it was endearing, to be the first man to break through your walls, spearing through your hymen to reach your depths. When Astarion finally pulled himself out of you to clean you with his mouth, he swore that blood was sweeter than anything…

Not even your virginal blood tastes as good as you do now that you’re his. But when you were still alive, when your heart still beat, Astarion swore it was the taste of the heavens themselves. 

“Are you sure? Last time…” You begin, immediately making Astarion feel heavy in his gut. “I just don’t want you to push yourself, ‘Star. We don’t have to.”

Astarion furrows his brows, desperately wanting you to be quiet – to let him lead, to let him have you. He ignores you, brushing his lips to yours, tongue lazily teasing your bottom lip, using all his sweetest moves on you. 

Astarion doesn’t want to sit with this memory anymore. He wasn’t able to perform that night:

Astarion can’t stop looking at your face. You’re so pretty, such a stunning young woman, and yet, he feels worse and worse as his lips trail over your smooth skin, his fingers swirling inside you. Those same fingers have been inside countless other women and men, and he wants so desperately not to think of it: the sheer number of bodies that have touched him, that have now touched you. He imagines thousands of hands grabbing onto him, onto you, dragging you both below, right back down to the dungeons of Cazador’s estate. He pulls back again, fixing his eyes to yours. The flicker of the fireplace roars in the middle of the suite, giving you both just enough light to admire one another amidst darkness. Your naked figure is something out of a dream, yet it brings him back to the present: you lie on your back. Your naked breasts, your pert nipples, hardened from pleasure and the chill of the breeze from an open window, add only to your sex appeal. Your lips are parted, creating some strange, perverted desire within Astarion to see your tongue. 

You’re so comfortable with him. Him: he who is a monster, a stalker in the night. Astarion’s led hundreds to their deaths. Even just a few months ago, he was doing Cazador’s bidding, and yet here you are: the sweet, even-hearted leader, on her back for the monster. Your racing heartbeat, your utter vulnerability…it’s bringing out Astarion’s prey drive, and his fangs ache to be buried inside you. 

“Astarion…” You whisper, having noticed his absence. You half-heartedly try to pull his hand away from your sex, gripping at his wrist. In a few days, you will face Cazador. And if all goes horribly wrong, this may be one of the last times he could have you – and, truthfully, he thinks it would be a good distraction; he’s in no mood to rest, and watching you sleep is hardly exciting. And now, he’s feeling a bit peckish.

“Shh,” Astarion’s voice comes out in a seductive, hushed whisper. He kisses you again, capturing your protests in his mouth, curling his fingers inside of you to make you squirm. He remembers it’s you crying beneath him, the woman he loves, and not some stranger or friend of Cazador, or Cazador himself…it’s you. And he can bite you, and know all of you because you’ll do anything for him.

“You’re so beautiful,” He coos, unable to contain his praise for you. His nose trails along your jaw, down your collarbone; he can feel you shiver in his arms.

You chirp in pain when Astarion spears his fangs into you; he puts a hand over your mouth, continuing to push his fingers into you, slipping in a third when he feels your contraction die down, your body relaxing once again from your intense orgasm. His thumb gently works your clitoris – your body is so sensitive, and bringing you to ruin makes him feel so powerful. He believes with you by his side, anything is possible. 

Some things never change. 

Astarion can’t feed on you forever: the disgust usually comes back once he draws his fangs away from your neck. He’s already taken too much blood, he can tell just by the way you swoon, the way your hazy eyes slowly blink at him. He can’t deny he likes you this way: you’re weak. You probably couldn’t fight him off if you tried, as you’re naked, woozy from blood loss, and the monster's hands are inside you. 

He would kill to have that trust back. 

His cock is uncomfortably hard as he pulls his underclothes down, his member twitching as he rubs it against your hip. You don’t have much privacy at the elfsong – that’s part of the fun to Astarion – but the two of you have abandoned some caution along the way, ditching the blanket that once covered your forms. If anyone wakes up and sees you now, the shroud of a blanket won’t change a thing: the two of you are obviously making love. Still, you both move quickly and quietly, despite your brief protests when he starts to touch your sensitive bundle of nerves again, which you complain is too sensitive, so overwhelming…

“Y-you just like to play with me,” You cry, against Astarion’s lips, breaking your fervent kisses to take a breath. “Meanie…”

“Oh, I am quite mean, aren’t I, for playing with my food?” Astarion whispers, his voice teasing in your ear. He’s gently stroking his cock, his palm rising up and down on his shaft, squeezing before he starts to rub on your hip again. Bringing his hand to your jaw, he ensures you’re looking into his eyes. He wants you to get lost in him. But it is he who finds himself lost in you.

He wants to tell you he loves you. It pops into his mind quite suddenly, a voice in the back of his head whispering: I love you, Tav.  It makes him wonder why you haven’t said it to him first, though.

He still tastes your blood in his mouth when he brings his fingers away from you, popping them in his mouth, licking them clean. The taste of your blood and your come mix so perfectly.“You’re a feast for me. Don’t you know I survive entirely on the blood and intimate juices of very bad girls?”

Your eyes go wide like a child caught stealing sweets. “Bad? I’ve been bad?”

Astarion can’t help but chuckle, causing you to gasp, putting your hands over his mouth to muffle the noise. He could care less about what the others think: you’re going to be his, and he’s having fun. The two of you continue like this for some time, stifled moans, giggles, kisses and nips…

Astarion only realizes he can’t continue right before he pushes into you. It isn’t the worst kind of torture, not being able to make love to you, but it’s pretty damn bad. He just wants you both to feel good, to be close to each other; one moment, the both of you are stripped naked, hot and bothered, precum dripping from the tip of his cock, your core slick for him, all for him just to have to pull away. 

You hid your disappointment well: you coaxed Astarion back from the brink, making him feel more secure in your love and care. He wonders if your time of nursing and comforting him is over, now that you hate him. No matter, he tells himself, even though he knows very well it certainly does matter. Astarion falls back into reverie, to a slightly later memory:

Astarion has been traveling in the vaults under Sorcerous Sundries in the Gate, just two days after the spawn assault at the Elfsong. You lead the fray, as you always do, with Gale and Karlach in toe, looting the place high and low for supplies. Although the party is pretty rich, you insist on searching every nook and cranny. Astarion agrees with you, of course, because you’re right: he too feels the party needs more time and resources before they attack Cazador’s palace.

‘The Chronicles of Straud’ the title read; it was a thick book tucked away somewhere in Lorroakan's vault, and was making for an interesting read as Astarion occasionally sent glances your way, specifically when you would bend over to pick something up. Your ass just looks amazing in your new armor, and he catches the others checking you out, too. Annoying. 

“Karlach,” Astarion calls, the red tiefling quickly looking away from your round hips as her eyes meet Astarion’s. Gale also turns around, having been startled by Astarion’s voice. 

“What? I didn’t do anything wrong! I was just admiring the lovely armor you bought her,” Karlach chuckles, smoothing away her embarrassment as she wipes her hand across her forehead. You’ve caught on, now, turning around to give Astarion and Karlach a knowing, disapproving look, but you grin nonetheless, unable to hide your laughter. Astarion smiles at your smile. 

Gale and Karlach continue to scour the vault, Gale excitedly calling out every good find, Karlach cheering him on as he does so. You shoot Astarion a sultry smirk before doing a little waltz over to him, plopping down next to him on the steel floor of the vault. 

“What’s got your attention?” You ask, a curious smile on your pretty, smooth face. 

Astarion chuckles, his eyes flickering to your plush lips for only a moment before meeting your eyes. Astarion swiftly closes the book, losing his bookmark on the page titled: ‘The Dark Kiss’. It’s not that he means to be evasive, but he isn’t ready to share with you yet. Once he tells you he plans to make you his forever, that’s basically a love confession and a proposal in one – that’s way too much for Astarion in this state. His freedom isn’t even guaranteed, yet; not while Cazador still lives. 

“Ah, just some reading about the life of Straud. He was a formidable vampire in his day,” Astarion explains, handing the book over to you. You have no real interest in reading some random book, so Astarion knows he’s safe to show you. 

“Oh. I’ve never heard of him,” You say, turning the book over in your hand. He chuckles at this because he isn’t surprised: you knew nothing of vampires when he uh…accidentally revealed himself to you. 

Astarion can tell there’s something on your mind. When he asks you, you explain that you’ve been feeling antsy ever since the spawn attacked in the dead of night. “They tried to take you away – and now we know about the ritual…I just want you to be free. To have everything you want, that I know you deserve.”

Your words are sweet, and your lips are even sweeter. He hungrily kisses you, not caring if the others see. He knows you love him despite your lack of confession, and that you’ll do anything for him – hells, you’ve done everything he’s asked, and more. He just wants to give you so much more than what he can right now. And he should be able to give you something extraordinary once he ascends. ‘The Dark Kiss’: Astarion thinks it sounds sensual. And how lucky he is to have found the ritual hidden amongst Lorroakan’s valuables.  As the days go on, Astarion likes you more and more – and he likes the other less and less. Even he doesn’t want to admit to himself that he wants all your attention. But Astarion knows that wouldn’t be good for the party: there is too much at stake. The thought makes him pause, fluttering his eyes open as he tumbles that ancient thought around in his head: for the good of the party. But Astarion doesn’t care about the party, only the Ancuníns. So, your husband finds himself finally asking: what is best for the Ancuníns?

[100beesinatrenchcoat]

Since you want to be asked about BG3 an I don't have a more creative idea: what is your favourite character and why? Feel free to ramble <3

YES OKAY OMG

I am so conflicted between Astarion and Gale, I love both of them so much.

AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY, ITS THE BEAUTIFUL PROGRESSION OF HEARTACHE AND HEALING IN THEIR STORIES.

Astarion is a story of a cycle of abuse and a lack of autonomy (which you could argue that baldurs gate as a game is a story about autonomy but that's a different post.) and where it goes depends so heavily on how much you respect that. Astarion was a vampire spawn and Cazadors slave for 200 years, and that was all he was ever considered. He was not treated as his own individual, he was a shadow of cazador. Forced to use his conventional attractiveness to someone else's advantage. Ultimately his happiness at the end of the game depends on weather or not you allow him to become his own person when he's free. Letting him make choices for himself and not using him for his looks, and not allowing him to continue his cycle of abuse. Yes, ascended astarion acts in a conventionally attractive and desirable way. But when he's drunk on power he loses any kindness he may have held. Ascended astarion does not feel love towards whoever he's been romanced by, he sees them as someone to hold power of. Which is ultimately the worst choice for him because you've continued the cycle of abuse instead of breaking it. It is incredibly ingenious writing.

AND GALE. Oh my poor boy Gale.

The way so much of the fandom treats gale makes me incredibly sad, not only because it just doesn't make sense (seriously you only need to give him three magic items the entire game it's not that bad) but also because HE DOESN'T DESERVE IT!!! Gale was taken advantage of by the goddess mystra. She had her eyes on that boy since he was eight years old. Not out of love, it was purely because Gale was a talented wizard. Mystra did not love gale for how wonderful gale is, she loved him for his talents. And you can barely even call that love. Meanwhile gale was LITERALLY PREPARED TO DIE FOR MYSTRA. how the hell is that fair at all!!! And people get annoyed with gale because he's just not ashamed to talk about his trauma, hes more open and honest than Astarion or Shadowheart might be. He is so open, he wears his heart on his sleeve and people say "he's a yapper" !?!?!? NO!!! JAIL FOR YOU!!! Gale only knows how to exist when he's wanted. He talks about magic so much because he's been convinced that it is his only redeeming quality and the only thing anyone will ever care about him for. He wants to share his talent with tav/whoever because he wants them to be interested in him, and he thinks his magic is the only interesting thing about him. Romancing Gale and showing him that he is loved for him as a person is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling stories I have seen in my entire life. I love him so much..

[lets-go-hurt-someone]

I decided to do pragmatic evil for my current Durge and I’m getting so much new content I wasn’t expecting!

I told myself I was going to let Lae’zel “ascend” and ended up killing Voss, but then Shadowheart sneak attacked her and I figured I should just let her kill Lae’zel now since honestly listening to her simp for Vlaakith for all of act 2 and 3 was going to hurt. This seemed more merciful.

But now I’m really curious what Raphael is going to do. How is he going to try to convince me I need to free Orpheus without Lae’zel or Voss?

I also decided I’m going to free Yurgir for once, which means I have to keep Astarion and Raphael away from each other so the vamp doesn’t get big mad and leave. The Last Light Inn scene obviously plays out so differently without Astarion there, and I’m liking this weird overprotective evil Durge vibe I’m doing, like he just is so obsessed with Astarion he’s being controlling and doesn’t want him making any deals with devils. I can’t wait for this to play out and for the dynamic to switch when Astarion ascends.

I swear evil playthroughs can be so much more fun because you see new sides of everyone and it can be so engrossing. Also can’t wait to hopefully free Aylin and kill Isobel!!!

[madforhoran]

I felt the need to make another post about this because it's on my mind non-stop. Larian really did a number with Astarion's story. I may repeat things I've already said.

Argument 1: Astarion wants to ascend because that's what he always was and always wanted

Argument 2: Persuasion is manipulation, gaslighting, controlling, taking away Astarion's choice

Astarion learns about the ritual in act 2. It isn't something he always wanted. What he really wants is to be free from Cazador.

When it comes to Astarion's motivations to perform the ritual, there are slight dialogue differences in act 3 when he's romanced or not, however, from game mechanics standpoint the persuasion dice roll value is identical. It doesn't matter if Tav is his friend or LI. Romanced Tav only gets situational advantage on 20 DC insight check but it is not harder to persuade him not to ascend when he's romanced. The persuasion DC is still 18, and 15 after passing 20 DC insight.

Just to for the illustration, these are the differences for romance vs non-romance:

-> as non-romanced, he is trying to manipulate his siblings to name him their new master but he isn't as confrontational with Tav during and after the camp ambush. He later gives a solid argument to do the ritual - to get the power so that he can help Tav save the city.

-> as romanced, when called out about lying to his siblings, he lashes out and afterwards says he's doing it for Tav too, for safety of them both. But that's not really mentioned when he's face to face with his abuser. He just wants to be free and he jumps into his manipulative mode to appeal to Tav's feelings for him..."isn't that what you want?"

What's important to note as well is what he says to Durge on a redemption path - "we cannot let our lives be ruled by fear" and that's what it comes down to at the ritual. Astarion can succumb to those fears or face them head on.

Persuading someone from doing something objectively bad isn't abusive manipulation or taking away the person's choice. Especially when it comes to pivotal moments.

To add to it, persuasion is happening all around Tav and just because we don't see any dice being rolled doesn't mean it's not there. This was also mentioned in the post of my main bg3 dialogue guru @lucrezianoin. We spoke about it quite excessively.

A couple of examples:

-> Dame Aylin is persuading Shadowheart to spare her life.

-> Karlach is persuading Wyll from killing her.

-> Astarion is encouraging Tav to use the tadpoles and control the cult.

-> The emperor (!) is pressing Tav into unlocking their illithid potential or persuading them not to free Orpheus.

-> Wyll is persuading Karlach to go with him to Avernus.

In Astarion's case, persuasion is key in keeping him on the path of not becoming a monster. He doesn't want to be seen like he is one. Not persuading Astarion leads to death and him becoming what he didn't want to be.

-> in act 1 when Astarion attempts to bite Tav, he says "it's not what you think, I'm not some monster, I just needed blood." After Tav offers him their neck and doesn't persuade him to stop, he kills them. If instead he's told to stop, he later thanks Tav, saying "This is a gift, I won't forget it."

-> in act 3 at the ritual, helping him leads to death and eternal damnation of 7000 innocent people including children. When Tav asks if he's bound to Mephistopheles, Astarion says that Mephistopheles created a new monster. If instead he's persuaded to stop, yet again he later thanks Tav with the same words he used in act 1 "This is a gift, I won't forget it." Tav believed he was enough just the way he was, a person now free to figure out what he truly wants.