#But most of that is Astarion-centric too

[rahabs]

While I'm thinking deeply about this game, though, it's very frustrating to try and read fics for BG3 specifically. Beyond the Reader issue/infestation, which I mentioned already (and that I expected because of the ability to create a custom player character), almost all the pairings involve Astarion so woe be to you if you want something not Astarion-centric. Even if you don't mind consuming Astarion content it gets very frustrating after a point because it seems all the other characters (especially non-Tavs, and I don't really read Tav fics so it's usually one of the other companion pairings, sans Gale because I'm not a fan of Gale/Astarion as a ship despite loving Gale) just exist to comfort or validate Astarion. There's rarely exploration of their own traumas, their own issues--just sad wooby Astarion being comforted. And that's probably 90% of all BG3 fics.

[baldurs-writers-3]

Astarion: A Baldur's Gate 3 Fanfic Rec List

This week, we have Astarion Centric fics! Check under the cut for a whopping seventeen fics all about our favorite vampire spawn, and as always, give them a comment and kudos if you like them!

The stars began to burn by peregrinefeathers (87k, Mature) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Gale

An AU where instead of having an orb lodged in his chest Gale got stuck in a book. Then when a vampire spawn opened that book he got stuck in that vampire spawn's head. This is the best thing that has ever happened to Astarion; within 15 minutes he's running out of the Szarr palace into the sunlight. Then adventures begin!

Reccer says: a slow burn, like bloodweave is obvious endgame but it takes a while to get there, and Astarion is written /so/ well

Uncrossed Lines by Asidian (1209, Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion & Wyll, Astarion & Halsin, Astarion & Karlach

Friends don't let friends get hurt and/or pressured into doing things they don't want to do

Reccer says: Just an incredibly sweet depiction of people recognizing Astarion's boundaries and helping to enforce them, whether he's expecting them to or not. I love it

Hydnellum Peckii by OctolingO (4403, General) Warnings: talks of Astarion's past but no gruesome details Pairings: none

Astarion is doing a great job hiding what he is from the party, until they reach the Underdark and he has nothing to feed on.

Reccer says: this is so angsty! i loved Gale being too curious for his own good and trying to help and be supportive, and all of Astarion's fears of getting kicked out or killed, bc nobody could ever be in his corner, and having anyone in a position of power apologizing *to him* like that's so foreign - this gave me so many feels!

caught between the dark and the dreaming by Raayide (18925, Teen) Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Pairings: Astarion & Friends

Marcus wants answers, and no one is going to give them to him, unless he forces them to. Astarion is the unlucky target forced to drink a truth serum.

Reccer says: Absolutely delicious whump and found family comfort afterwards

of death potential and death absolute by Raayide (39119, Teen) Warnings: Derealization Pairings: Astarion & Gale, pre-relationship

Astarion is never quite sure, until the moment Cazador lies dead before him, whether this entire adventure is anything more than an extremely vivid hallucination.

Reccer says: this story takes Astarion and twists him up into a little heartbreaking ball of a premise that makes him think everything is just a dream, and how desperate he is to stay in the dream rather than waking up. it retells most of the game with a tight focus and some lovely lovely characters scenes, everyone gets a moment in the spotlight!

Those left behind by Gally (73949, Mature) Warnings: None Pairings: Past Astarion/Karlach

What's Astarion to do after the Absolute is destroyed and the love of his life is now dead?

Reccer says: Lots of funny. Lots of sad. Lots of excellent characterization and slow but steady healing

All it Cost Me by HydieMurderBabe (38529, Explicit) Warnings: Ite explicit, very raunchy and Durge elements of rougher kinds Pairings: Durge X Astarion

Two traumatized nubbins heal from their pasts. Lots of sex and violence ensues.

Reccer says: Its funny, its raunchy, its detailed and most of all I feel like Im invested in the pairing

Collision Course by VakarianSyndrome (123444, Explicit) Warnings: No warnings. Tropes: Modern Girl in Baldur's Gate, found family Pairings: Astarion/F!OC

Set in Baldur’s Gate, this series follows Adelaide, a human woman from Earth, and her somewhat clumsy attempts at navigating this new and fantastical realm. In the process, she falls for Astarion, the pale elf, vampire spawn with level 100 rizz.

Reccer says: It starts out really funny, but then gradually gets serious where needed. The buildup between Astarion and the OC is spicy and sweet, and the smut delivers! And it's completed!

No Good End in View by not_whelmed_yet (60,797, ongoing, Mature) Warnings: Character death (temporary), torture Pairings: Astarion/Wyll/Karlach

Astarion doesn't get time to be terrified of the party, because Wyll cuts off what he sees as a feral vampire spawn's head long before he can try to seduce them. The only problem is that this doesn't kill him. And it continues to not kill him.

Reccer says: this is an achingly beautiful exploration of a team that gets off not so much on the wrong foot but on a freefall - each doing horrible things to each other in ways that all read perfectly understandable from their point of views, but have wretched lasting consequences. the author writes them so in character that I want to throttle them and fall in love all over again

What Could Have Been by Bella1433 (70000, Explicit) Warnings: There is mention of past sexual trauma, its Explicit, and goes into dark territory but not dead dove. Pairings: Named Tav X Astarion

Astarion's transformation into a vampire lord and Sima's fight to reclaim their lost love thrust them into a perilous dance of power, obsession, and redemption.

Reccer says: Its dark, rich, has a different tone and some of the most immersive writing I've read

the ghost of elturel by Raayide (4452, General) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion and Zevlor

Astarion and Zevlor meet, talk, hate each other, and hate themselves. There is nothing particularly of note about any of it.

Reccer says: Recognition of self in the other tied with some amazing introspection and metaphor

Circus of the dead by Ineadhyn (5995, Explicit) Warnings: Rape/Non-con, graphic violence, self-harm Pairings:

A dark horror circus AU with Astarion, Cazador, and his other spawns.

Reccer says: This is so beautiful, tragic, gripping, and I'm utterly obsessed with everything about it.

No Good Deeds by Garnett Gibson (39715, Explicit) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Tav

A young woman trying to be a good person gets corrupted by Astarion as they navigate the tadpole issue.

Reccer says: Delicious slow burn and creative deviations from canon.

The Lord and his new ways by FartasticDurge (26459, Explicit) Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Coercion, Manipulation, Abusive Relationships, Dissociation Pairings: Astarion/Tav

Ascended Astarion and Spawn Tav's post-game turbulent relationship from Tav's POV.

Reccer says: She struggles between doing what she thinks is right and obeying him, and seeing her process is interesting. In the latest chapter, they go to therapy, a unique twist for Ascended Astarion.

In Time by FartasticDurge (16927, Explicit) Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Pairings: Astarion/Tav, Astarion & Gale

Post-canon fic where Astarion is looking for a Tav who died and reincarnated into another person. Gale helps him find her, but things take an unexpected turn when they find her.

Reccer says: Astarion POV, a lot of D&D lore, the friendship between Gale and Astarion is interesting and supportive. Tav and Astarion's roles are reversed; he is being nice and she is suspicious of him, which is a nice twist with funny moments.

How Far You've Come by Garnett Gibson (5481, Explicit) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Tav

Astarion's obedient consort has come a long way, but sometimes she still steps out of line.

Reccer says: I liked it!

If Only For One Night by Terrormisu (682, Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Tav

With their party always busy, Astarion finds himself longing for his little love.

Reccer says: It's a short sweet one shot that made me feel all warm and squishy inside. Hehe. But even the implied intimacy was steamy.

The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ!

Next week, we’ll be back with another character rec list, this time focusing on Family!

[taki-yaki]

Domestic In The Underdark Headcanons

Pairing: Astarion x GN!Reader/Tav/Durge

Despite the dangers that people preach about the Underdark, you and Astarion try to make it feel like home.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Got this out in time for the day of love. It's not quite Valentine's centric but I hope everyone enjoys it either way.

Despite the Underdark being known as the most dangerous place to live in, you and Astarion try to make it feel like home.

After finding some of the freed vampire spawn, you take up residency in an old abandoned fortress in the Underdark. It’s no grand mansion in the upper city, but you hire some artificers who are paid a little extra to keep quiet about the whole spawn situation, as well as them being able to help out fellow heroes of Baldurs Gate.

You and Astarion have a home specially made for the two of you, based on the houses in the city, as well as the spawn having homes for themselves.

When it comes to decorating the house, Astarion was mainly in charge of wallpaper and furniture choices for the home, but would also take in your inputs as well.

However, the main issue with all vampires when it comes to personal homes is the forbiddance rule they must follow, in which they must receive an invitation to enter the home, so a little hanging sign is made saying Astarion & Tav’s home which sits outside the door.

When it comes to cooking, Astarion would make an effort to learn how to, mainly for your sake if you can’t cook at all. Of course, the first few dishes may be a bit too burnt or too salty, but you can’t blame him, he hasn’t needed to eat food in over 200 years. 

“What do you mean it’s too salty for you? Well, I just kept adding salt until I could taste it”

The two of you would also take trips to the surface, via a portal setup that Gale was kind enough to arrange for you both. Visiting nearby night markets that local villages provide.

When it comes to clothing, he would embroider small messages into them whilst patching up any loose holes. Additionally, when attending parties or balls, he ensures that you wear the best outfit, during the preparations for Wither’s reunion party, he ended up spending so much time decorating your outfit, that he had to grab one of his old shirts and quickly patch it up.

He would also write small messages on your work clothes/armour for you to read while you are both apart from each other for the day, managing tasks.

During the evenings you would share each other's shirts and Astarion would always make a fuss over it “Honestly darling, it’s an honour to be wearing one of my handcrafted shirts.”

He does enjoy seeing you wearing his shirts though.

Since Elves only need around 4 hours of rest through trance, Astarion would sometimes wait for you to wake up by reading a book whilst watching you nearby. If you are an Elf or Drow, he would try to wake up before you regardless.

During the evenings, you would both cuddle together, either reading books out loud to one another or listening to each other ranting about how your day has been, from managing wayward spawn to taking out some drow raiders.

You both would bathe together, as a form of non-sexual intimacy, trying out the different scented oils that you’ve purchased from the market.

You would gift Astarion flowers that you collect from the surface, although he does find them a little gaudy, he enjoys having them as the colours remind him of being in the sun.

Astarion would try to return the favour by gifting you flowers, but only ones that would be useful for making into poisons and lists what each one is and its function.

”See if you take the petals from this one then crush and burn them, you can make a quick deadly toxin, but I think they look nice like this as well.”

Of course, when these flowers started to dry up, he would press them between books to persevere them.

Despite all the horrors of the Underdark and the gurgling task of managing over 7000 spawn. You are both able to make a place to call home.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Isn’t Baldurs Gate a multicultural city?

I physically cannot simply answer a question, I blame my teachers for teaching me to write essays.

In the sense that it has multiple minority cultures living in it, yes, but it's a human dominated city just like the remaining 99% of Toril (slight hyperbole, but still). Faerûn's population ratio is such that 9 in every 10 people on the continent are human, with the remaining 1 in that ten being any of several other races - most of whom live in their own countries (Elves in Evereska, the High Forest and Evermeet (plus a few smaller out of the way settlements). Dwarves in the Great Rift and the mountains. Halflings mostly in Luiren, etc) "...the question has been asked by some that when this race finally gets all the quirks out of its system and gets moving, will there be any room left for the other races of the Realms?" - Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Revised)

Humans kind of just push you out, take over and build their stuff all over everything. Elves specifically refer to them as "the many handed curse", because there's just so many of them, disunited, all with so many conflicting aims and actions that they fight and bring destruction everywhere they go. The other non-humans, also kind of annoyed by humans, have adopted this name for them too.

Hell, even the words for non-humans, "humanoid" and "demihuman", are human-centric. Like-a-human, human-ish, almost human.

Baldurs gate is a city founded by humans, with a dominant human population, whose customs and laws are from human culture. Humans are/were the norm and the default.

Astarion was born in the time frame where elves and demihumans were not that common. Silverymoon is considered unusual as the most metropolitan cities in existence, and its population was still 41% human with the remaining percentage being everyone else. Waterdeep, massive cosmopolitan city and one of the most important trading cities? 64% human. In the original games you'll notice that in cities like Baldur's Gate and Athkatla non-human citizens are rare enough that they stand out when you spot them (although the latter has a significant halfling and gnome minority).

Slightly off topic to babble about the stupid elf (affectionate) some more:

By the time Astarion was born, the elves were prepared to leave on the Retreat - a summons for elves to totally abandon the world for what remained of the elven homelands (and Evermeet) which from the elven understanding of time was basically happening next week. As a people, elves are not keen to mingle with human society, which they view as dangerous, so while it is possible for his family to have integrated with human nobility I do find it odd, and would say that he was nouveau-riche at best. He makes an offhand reference to Evereska at one point, and I would assume his family is from there.

(I did say I was sceptical, not that it's impossible - Rule of thumb for high elves: moon elves putting down roots like that would be unusual because they're sort of semi-nomadic outside of elven lands, even though they could be sticking around for a human generation, they'd be new money mingling with old money; sun elves would sooner die then subject themselves to human society; star elves weren't currently on Toril due to not wanting to be invaded by human armies, and left long before Astarion was born and wouldn't be back until a while after his death).

The Szarrs I can handwave, considering there's some strongly implied human ancestry what with the Kara-turan signet ring. Cazador just has more elven genetics than human.

[spicedrobot]

GIVE ME THE BLOODWEAVE!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🥵🥵🥵🍆🍆🍆💦💦💦

yessir!! I tried to keep this Act 1-centric since you're not that far in the game. <3333

-

Gale stirred the porridge bubbling over a low fire. He had taken on the mantle of camp cook, a position that hadn’t been delegated to him, but one he performed regardless. Most of his fellows hadn’t the skill for it, and he was always awake well before the rest. 

Dawn touched the horizon. The air still had a bite to it, the grass cold and dewed at Gale’s feet. He huddled closer to the fire and added a few spoonfuls of pulped, fresh raspberries. As he mixed, a sweet, subtly tart aroma rose, melding with the warmth of cinnamon and cloves. He smiled. Cooking was a pleasant distraction, and he was good at it, not just by his own estimation, but by those of his companions.

Well, most of them, anyway. The only one who hadn’t yet partaken was the mysterious Astarion. The man often stayed in his tent past breakfast, and he always had one excuse or another not to eat a single bite when he did grace his peers with his presence. 

It had become something of a game for Gale, trying to find something the man would eat. The porridge was a bit of a change in tactics. It was a humble dish, to be sure, but hearty, easy on the stomach, and delicious, too. Each portion would be topped with crushed, roasted almonds and fresh honey that Tav had harvested the day before.

Your move, my pale friend, Gale thought, as he called his companions to eat. 

-

The days passed. Gale cooked and schemed, but Astarion never ate. 

Then they found the boar. 

That night, as Gale lay awake, sleepless as always, he heard something outside his tent. Familiar voices: Tav and Astarion, one’s gasp, another’s worried swear. 

He wasn’t sure if the encounter was friendly, but as Gale reached the flaps of his tent, he froze, awestruck by what he saw. In the fire’s light, Astarion’s sharp teeth, his crimson eyes, his hunger, revealed him for what he truly was. Obvious, so obvious, in retrospect. Gale felt fearful and foolish—miffed too, truth be told. Vampires were known for their killing and cruelty. How could they trust him after he attempted to hide his true nature? 

But anger fled with a sudden thought and a cold smile. Wasn’t Gale doing the same? Though if the sleeplessness, the hunger, had anything to say about it, his own predicament would be revealed sooner than than later.

His companions seemed to have come to an understanding, so Gale laid back down and gave them privacy. He tossed and turned, longing for sleep to come. His only comfort was this: at least he now knew why Astarion had been so unwilling to eat the meals he prepared.

-

Gale was no stranger to hunger. He was a man of robust appetites, a gourmand, an avid reader, a lover of magic, of power. In the end, it was the latter that had gotten him into this mess. Saddled with a hunger stranger than one for blood, a hunger that could no longer be satisfied with the threads of weave that had used to feel like feasts. 

Sleep was more impossible than before. And a certain calm despair rose in its place. Listening to the sounds of the night, hour after hour, knowing respite was out of reach. Especially when his companions snored. Or when they met together in the dark. It should’ve been the quiet sighs and moans that drew his attention. But mostly, he perked at the quiet words of Tav and Astarion as they met for the vampire’s nightly sup. Astarion made it a performance as he did anything else, flirting and posturing, the act akin to a mealtime prayer. Tav was a quiet, contemplative man by nature, but Astarion sometimes managed a laugh from him. It was easy to picture Tav’s scarred smile, and the flash of Astarion’s eyes, the sharpness of teeth as they sunk into dusky, freckled skin.

What wasn’t easy to imagine was the bite itself. What did it feel like? It must hurt, though Tav never made a sound. The bloodletting was an exchange of power, an extension of trust, though they had only traveled together for a few weeks. Tav had bouts of foolhardiness, but he wasn’t stupid.

Perhaps, Astarion could be trusted. Gale had already made it clear he didn’t want to be on the menu, so to speak, but… the thought lingered. Curiosity was its own kind of hunger. 

Try as he might to ignore it, it did not let him go.

-

“You look ill, friend,” Gale said. He had pulled Tav to the side after breakfast, not wanting to alarm their more… suspicious companions that might take any sign of sickness as the beginnings of transformation.

“I’m okay,” Tav replied. He smiled, but it was strained. It was a look Gale knew well.

“What you’re doing for Astarion is admirable, really. But it is taking its toll on you.” 

Tav’s eyes widened, then he looked away. He watched his raven companion clean its feathers in the morning light. “You’re right, though there’s nothing to be done about it. I won’t force him to feed on animals. Astarion is stronger now. Happier.”

It wasn’t selflessness that made up Gale’s mind. He wished it was, wished that he could be more like Tav. Iron-willed… kind-hearted. It was Gale’s nature, to chase knowledge, learning well but never learning his damn lesson. 

“If you would let the burden be shared, I would be more than happy to offer my aid.”

-

Astarion seemed almost mystified at the prospect. Then that pretty smile, that cutting wit smoothed over his surprise. “I would be delighted to have a taste of you, darling.”

Gale rubbed his hand over his face. “Do you have to say it like that?” 

Astarion’s grin widened, and his fangs gleamed. “Yes.”

-

The evening’s meal had long since been stored away. Gale had retired to his tent, as agreed. He waited as his heart pound away in his chest, his ears perked for any wayward sound of approach. 

Ah, and there it was. The rustle of fabric, the chill of night air slipping in with his guest. Gale sat up quickly, wincing as Astarion gestured him to ease.

“Ssh, there’s no need to be nervous. Just lie back. Get comfortable. It’ll be over quickly.”

“How can I not be nervous? A vampire is going to put his very sharp and deadly teeth to an extremely vulnerable place on my person.” 

Astarion knelt down next to him. The flickering glow of candlelight played on his face, cutting his cheekbones into ravines. His eyes were as bright as embers. “Oh, I’ll be doing more with my teeth than just getting close.”

Gale clicked his tongue and angled his face away. After a moment, he tucked his hair behind his ear. Fully clothed and within the safety of his own tent, he felt horribly exposed. But he was getting what he wanted. An answer. Knowledge. Or a gruesome death! Which, on reflection, would solve the other problems he’d been dealing with. 

Astarion’s breath was hot against his neck. His hair was soft, ticklish. Gale felt his skin raise, blood and thoughts racing.

It hurt, just like he thought it would. Twin punctures that coalesced into a heavy ache that throbbed to the beat of his fearful heart. He fisted his fingers into Astarion’s hair, just for something to focus on, anything—until the pain lessened—until it changed. There was heat, prickling like the beginnings of sweat, a sensation, primordial but so unlike the weave. 

He groaned and immediately choked on the sound, embarrassed. Astarion’s mouth moved, not just to draw more blood, but to smile as he did so. It was enough to mortify, to keep logic centered in Gale’s mind, even as the sensation of the feeding continued to shift and grow. The heat became dizziness, exhaustion, bone deep and whole like a moonless night.

And, just as Gale began to pull at him, to fight him off, Astarion let go. The sound was obscene, a wet sucking sound as his lips parted from his neck, as if his very body had been loathe to give up its meal. 

Astarion tossed his head back, languorous upon his knees as he licked the blood from his lips. Gale watched, stunned.

“My dear,” Astarion breathed. Then he smiled his viper’s smile. “You taste awful.”

“Well, I did warn you!” Gale sputtered. He gingerly touched the bite, shivered, turned away. “I suppose a bit of thanks is too much to ask?”

“Not at all. Thank you.” Gale could picture the theatrical bow Astarion was surely doing as he spoke. “Or were you expecting a more… physical display of appreciation?”

“I would appreciate some peace and quiet now,” Gale said quickly, tugging his bedroll over him and closing his eyes.

Astarion’s chuckle rose the hairs on the back of Gale’s neck. “Of course, darling. See you in the morning.”

The rustling of the tent flaps, the brush of night air. All at once, Gale was alone. He released a shaky breath, tugged his blanket tighter. His hand stayed on the bite. He traced it with his fingers as he lie there, willing his heart to calm, his breath to even.

He felt drunk. He felt scraped clean.

Gale woke to the smell of roasting meat. He jerked to full alertness, wincing as his head and neck throbbed. He rubbed his sleeve over his cheek and realized he’d been sleeping in a pile of his own drool. 

Light and voices filtered in from the outside. Someone laughed. Tav’s raven cawed. 

It was morning. Gale had overslept… he had overslept! He still felt terrible, but it was less terrible than he had been. As he changed, he inspected the bite mark in his small hand mirror. It was just as neat as Tav’s was, though the skin surrounding was starker, more bruised. He pressed his fingers to the bite once more, then he pulled high his shirt collar and left the tent.

-

There was a strange sort of coziness to it. If you ignored all the potentially life-threatening ways things could go wrong—and surely would, given enough time. Gale revealed his secret. It went better than expected. Tav fed Gale artifacts, and they in turn, fed Astarion.

The vampire seemed enhanced by his new food sources, not just in battle, but in visage. His skin glowed, glass-like, his eyes shone like rubies. His nails were lacquered and as sharp as knives. His body had filled out, muscles pronounced, the harsh lines of his face easing. His smiles, however, were softer.

Gale should enjoy it, shouldn’t he? Helping just because he could. Even simple appreciation of how the… feedings were good for him too, helped him sleep. But that didn’t feel like the whole picture. He was missing something. 

And that something gnawed.

-

Astarion recounted a sultry story over the campfire one night. Tav laughed unexpectedly, and how Astarion did preen at the sound, just like Tav’s raven.

And that something gnawed.

-

Gale was not jealous. He did not love Tav nor Astarion. He barely knew them, and his romantic proclivities were… complicated, to say the least. He knew what love felt like, and it wasn’t this.

But still that something gnawed.

-

“Oh, darling, back already? And I thought I was supposed to be the hungry one.”

“Be quiet,” Gale said, pushing his way into Astarion’s tent. “Let’s get this over with.”

“But it’s not your night…” Astarion said lightly. Gale’s nape prickled. “Did you forget?”

Gale was hungry, no, ravenous. The artifacts weren’t enough. His sleep had grown thin and troubled. But this was not Astarion’s fault. Gale sighed. “Well, I’m here already, aren’t I?”

“Of course. Why don’t you get comfortable, and we’ll get started.”

Gale laid on Astarion’s bedroll. It smelled like him, a floral, ancient scent alongside the smell of leather and rotting leaves. He pulled his hair away from his neck and closed his eyes.

Astarion was a reassuring weight behind him. A promise of peace, short-lived though it was. When had Gale lost his fear?

He sighed at the depression of teeth. He was tender, being fed from two nights in a row. The extra sensitivity was… nice. He tried not to think about why that was, and then, minutes later, he didn’t have the capacity to care. 

Gale didn’t know when the feeding had stopped. The pressure was gone, but the sweet ache remained, pulsing along with his heart. And the ache wasn’t the only thing that lingered.

They laid, bodies pressed together. Astarion’s breath was warm against his neck. 

This was right about the time when Astarion would start with his barrage of double entendres, not really looking for anything more, Gale realized, but simply to mark the return to normalcy, or whatever served for it on this strange journey. But Astarion was quiet. His breathing was even. Not sleeping, he didn’t need to, but perhaps in stasis.

Gale allowed himself to bask in it, if only for a few minutes. Then he began to get up.

Astarion caught his wrist. Several heartbeats passed in silence. Then,

“It’s late, darling. You’re apt to wake the whole camp if you go trundling out of here in that state.”

“Well, not all of us can be delicately-footed assassins, now can we?” Gale grumbled.

“A special skill, I’m afraid.”

Gale relaxed once more into the bedroll. Astarion released his wrist, but left his hand on top of it. The touch was grounding, like the bite was grounding. 

Like Astarion was grounding.

Gale slept.

[thecurlyginger]

Your Protector

Hi everyone! This isn't a new fic, but I've been working some edits for my first BG3/Gale fanfic as I (attempt) to write it's sequel. And with so many new friends here, I wanted to reintroduce you to this story with the hope that it'll see new eyes and I can receive some feedback!

Summary: Sometime after being pulled from the sigil by her strong arm, Gale found himself being pulled in by the party's enigmatic leader. While trying to uncover Tav's mysterious past, he fell into the all-too-familiar entrapments of longing, burdened further by his self-doubt. The road to Baldur's Gate would be a long one indeed, though perhaps Gale and Tav could find easier footing by walking it together. A Gale-centric POV fic that follows the game narrative with the romance in the foreground.

Rating: NSWF for eventual smut (slow burn baby), and descriptions of violence

Pairing: Gale/Named Female Paladin Tav (But you'll learn that name later)

Status/Word Count: Complete! 13 Chapters - 43.5k

Read it on Ao3 with an excerpt below!

Excerpt:

"You’re hurt,” he said, his voice incredulous. It wasn’t that injury was uncommon – Gale and the party had sustained their fair share of battle wounds in addition to the scrapes and bruises that came with traveling in the wilderness. But a cleric traveled amongst them, and no one in the party withheld any healing potions found. He tried to recall when he had seen Tav sustain the gash. “The gnolls?” One had slashed at her left arm in an ambush three days prior, but Gale distinctly remembered her declaring she was fine after the battle, even laying a healing hand to Wyll.

“Yes,” was all Tav answered.

“Even if you couldn’t heal yourself, surely you could have asked for a potion.” Gale couldn’t help but chastise; this was borderline foolish, even for her. “To die of an infection after all that we’ve survived so far? Not exactly the legacy I’d leave, but to each their own.”

Tav scoffed at him, rising to stand with her bowl. “I’m not going to die, Gale. I have salves to use.”

“Just heal yourself!” He turned to his companions for support, finding a range of humor on the faces of Astarion and Shadowheart at the spat, to disinterest from Lae’zel, and concern from Wyll and Karlach.

“I don’t like to.” Tav’s tone of finality, of the end of the discussion, were never used toward Gale with such force. He knew he must have looked taken aback, but felt worse, like he had overstepped, defying her in front of everyone. “I do appreciate your concern, though.”

And with that, she departed to her tent, leaving an air of awkwardness behind. Gale looked to Shadowheart, ignoring her sly look to Astarion in the aftermath. “You’ve never once healed her?”

“She asked me not to, and while I might not be as learned in magic or as smart as the great Gale of Waterdeep, at least I’ve known better than to stoke that flame,” she quipped sarcastically while nodding in the direction of their leader.

Gale followed her gaze to see Tav’s pained look as she took a clean dagger to reopen the wound and drain it before applying her salve and rebandaging with fresh cloth. Only then did she eat her dinner, the food undoubtedly as cold as it was in his own untouched bowl. Had he truly been so absorbed by his own condition that he never noticed her unwillingness to heal by spell or potion? Still flummoxed, he waited until the party separated to their tents and nightly rituals before strolling as casually as possible to the only tent he could imagine having as selfish an occupant on the matter as himself – Astarion. After all, this wasn’t just about Tav’s wellbeing; their individual survival counted on the skillset of the entire group. Going down their mighty paladin dwindled their strength and lost them their most sound leader.

“Don’t you think it’s odd?” Gale asked without context, knowing by the raised eyebrow Astarion greeted him with that the vampire spawn still found the events from the previous hour highly amusing.

With a flicked wrist, Astarion responded, “Not any odder than a visit from a cambion of Zariel herself or, say, a magical orb that could level a city.”

“Ah, I see,” Gale said, regretting his decision to start this conversation in the first place. “We’re going to forgo reason for the person who so recklessly agreed to let you drink her blood, which is even worsened by the fact that she didn’t heal herself after. Excellent. Truly sound decision making.”

“Maybe darling, you care this much on the matter, not out of self-righteousness, but because when you look at her, you also see her as a little snack.”

[imagineitdearies]

I am so curious about what is going through Cazador mind when the subject is Tyrus, cause wtf.

My theory is that friend his old master killed and then impaled Cazador for 11 years

Like, he's living viciously through Tyrus the fantasy that ok,maybe his friend wasn't able to rescue him,but he is alive and support him in this hell making everything a little bit better.But this projection is on a subconscious level.

For a moment due to the interactions with Amanita I thought hmmm Tyrus would be the perfect heir, obedient as fuck and not rebellious,and like he is the most like the other spawn that behaves like the family role that was imposed on him if you understand me? He behaves like a son.But again,Tyrus was made to be consumed.

And what is this family talk? Why is he so insistent on that..To be honest it's totally impractical, in the game until the last moments he was insistent on saying that he and the seven spawns are family , as if two seconds ago he wasn't saying that Astarion was made to be consumed, but ok,and it's not like when he lied saying that the seven would gain ascension out of pure cruelty, it's purely impractical no one believes they are family, there is no psychological horror on their part of torturing a sibling.

I think the motive that Cazador is so adamant of the family business is conected to why he transformed amanita and the way he treats Tyrus, anyway RIP Cazador you would have loved Freud.

But again I am probally wrong as fuck.

~Regarding my fic Perfect Slaughter (Astarion x Tav, Astarion backstory-centric)~

Hi anon!! Thanks so much for this question. Cazador had two very objective, practical reasons for turning Tyrus. One, as we know, was for Tyrus's promising necromantic talents. The second will get revealed at the end of part two!

But he also had a third, more....nebulous reason, and I think your conjecture is right on track. In my opinion, Cazador likes to see himself as a very caring, long-suffering, reasonable master. In comparison to his sire, Cazador would say he is benevolent and merciful. And in my fic at least, Vellioth was confirmed by Amanita as a relative of Cazador's, so his obsession with 'family' and enforcing the idea on his spawn (in a twisted, sick way) stems from his resentment of his actual family treating him so terribly. He's replaying his own trauma to some extent, except 'improving' upon it and being the one with all the power this time. I agree that there's some contradiction to calling his spawn family but also saying they are a consumable means to an end--but honestly I love that Cazador contradicts himself there. It shows just how fucked up his perception of what family is has become. Everything becomes about power and control to an abuser.

The Szarrs seem to turn at least one family member into a vampire per generation (see Amanita's journal about her family rites), so Cazador turning Amanita is the usual order of business. But turning her so young? I think this says a few things: 1) though he upheld family tradition, Cazador still had to have a little extra power over his 'heir,' 2) he found every other option from his family line too threatening, 3) on some level, he is attached to the idea of 'fatherhood' and influencing those he has power over, not just controlling them. Not that Amanita has turned out to be that easy to influence anyway 😂

Cazador's feelings about Tyrus are nearly as complicated as they are about Astarion. Tyrus potentially being the 'perfect son' for him is not far off--he's incredibly useful (no matter how Cazador downplays it) and outwardly respectful, he's thoughtful and careful besides being beautiful and young as all Cazador's spawn need to be. Tyrus's only flaw thus far is his weakness for Astarion, which....Cazador can relate to, let's be real lol. And as Tyrus has realized in the recent chapter, Cazador can now use their growing bond to better rein in Astarion and motivate Tyrus to work even harder for him. Unlike Vellioth, Cazador believes love can be useful. I think he'll forever resent his master for killing that friend, you're right, so he's always trying to toe that line: give just the right amount and type of fear and pain into his spawn so that they're easy to control, but not enough to make them angry and dangerous like he became.

Cazador would have felt VERY called out by Freud 😂

Thank you for this lovely ask, it was wonderful to write out these thoughts that have been mostly just bouncing around in my skull as I write Cazador in PS! In chapter 16, we'll get a little peek into Cazador's thoughts and motivations too, so watch out for that!

Happy holidays everyone 🥰🥰

[jupitermelichios]

Fic: out here on the other side

Relationships: Astarion & Gale, Durge & Gale, Astarion/Durge

Tags: #Gale-centric #Warning: Mystra #Gale Needs a Hug #None of these characters are okay, but they’re trying, and that’s the important thing #Protective Astarion #Astarion and Durge somehow have the most functional relationship in the party #Fun with fantasy blasphemy

“Gale,” Astarion says eventually, the words carefully measured. “What the actual fuck?!” “Star." Better is always the gentler monster, at least emotionally. "He didn’t know.” “How?! Hells, Gale, you can’t just go around adding more gods to my kill-list! Three is already far too many for one lifetime.” He sounds angry, an edge of that deep rage he usually keeps so well hidden colouring the words, but... “You are speaking of Mystra?” “Obviously! What other goddess—?! Actually no, don’t tell me. If there has been more than one deity sticking their fingers into that vortex of insanity you call a brain and stirring, I don’t want to know it. I don’t have the time or nearly enough enchanted weaponry.”

Gale gets relationship advice from monsters. It proves surprisingly helpful.

[Read on AO3]

[defira85]

Fanfic asks: 25, 27, 30.

25. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read

Oh no this was 100% the year that Defira discovered terrible things about her taste in villains, so like 95% of my reading history on AO3 has been featuring a character that most people loathe, and a lot of it was Dead Dove content too so uhhhh. I don't know that anyone wants me to recommend that stuff >.>

I'll stick with The Illusion of Choice by @icescrabblerjerky which is an Astarion centric fic which just blows me away with every chapter. Astarion is the companion whose voice I struggle with the most, and they're out here writing an entire longfic from his perspective AND hitting his characterisation on the head every time? Magnificent. Perfection. Miri it's such a delight sharing a fandom with you again

27. favorite fanfic author of the year

Well @icescrabblerjerky would be an obvious contender. I've also been dipping my toes in the Gortash fandom on tumblr and @bearhugsandshrugs is both a delightful person and a great (and prolific!) writer. And I couldn't not mention @sithrightsactivist for the hours spent screaming in co-writer hell together. And you've introduced me to some fandoms and pairings I never would have looked at!

30. favorite fandom to read fic from this year

Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate Baldu- I am forcibly tackled and sedated

[lumienyx]

posted the first chapter of my 15k+ and growing m/m Astarion pining fest👀

———

Rating: E

Relationships: Astarion/Male Tav

Additional Tags: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Astarion Needs A Hug (Baldur's Gate), Falling In Love, Romance, Eventual Smut, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Blood Drinking, Banter, a fucking lot of it, Astarion-centric (Baldur's Gate)

———

Snippet from Chapter 1: Everywhere I Look, I Fall

Astarion makes up his mind about Tav fairly quickly: he is an idiot.

Irrationally kind. Weak-willed and pathetically naive. Trusting to a fault that would probably lead to him being killed one of these days—it was a miracle, really, that Tav managed to live to his age at all.

Of course, before he knew all this, Astarion had been careful to approach the half-elf. A familiar face from that blasted nautiloid ship. Blood that smelled of the sizzling energy of the Weave. The flow of its crackling, erratic tangles was the telltale sign of a sorcerer—the most unpredictable practitioners of the magical arts.

Yet there he was, a sorcerer stupid enough to fall for Astarion’s ruse and right under his blade, struggling almost childishly against his hold and thoroughly failing to deceive him. Even his companion—some kind of cleric, judging by the heavy, ethereal smell of her blood—seems to consider Tav a lost cause. A hand placed idly over her weapon but not that much concern in her eyes, rather bemused curiosity.

Read the rest on AO3

[the-phantom-otaku]

Idk if you do stuff like this on tumblr, but I'm looking to be a little more active with regards to Baldur's Gate 3 and my Tav so an intro post of sorts seems like a good place to start.

Hi, I’m Jina. I’m a fanfic writer, though I tend to be slow with writing. I might talk about what I’m writing here or even share some previews of what’s currently being written. I’m not exactly new to the Baldur’s Gate fandom, I’ve been floating around for a few months.

I’m not an artist really. It’s just not my thing. But you might see art every now and then that I commission and post. Credit is always given, so if you see something you like, I’d encourage you to check out the artist!

Astarion is my fav, but I like pretty much all the companions too. Karlach is a close second.

My Tav is Midna. She’s a Tiefling from Baldur’s Gate, but little does she know her demonic roots run deeper than most of her kind 👀 I’ve got a story in mind for her, and I might end up writing a little something about it soon! I’m more than happy to share my ideas if anyone is curious too. She’s paired with Astarion of course.

I’ve already written a couple of (Astarion-centric) things for Baldur’s Gate. You can find them on AO3 and FFN. Links to those (and other socials) can be found here: https://phantomotakubio.carrd.co/

Alright, I think that’s about it. I hope to maybe post more and make a few more friends!

[lukeskqwalker]

Most of these are around 20k-100k, and the ones below are wips

Dragon Age

"A Herald Named Desire" by ushauz https://archiveofourown.org/users/ushauz/pseuds/ushauz

(I recommend many of the above authors works They have plenty of longer fics)

"Of A Particular Quality" by brocflowers, brosca dao fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/49266349

"And so is the Golden City blackened" by Kitty_KatAllie https://archiveofourown.org/works/53102512

"Reflection" by prettypriestess, jowan/surana dao fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/24898678

"Empire blue, furious anger in spring sunshine" by adlerobsessed, pre-canon dai vivienne fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/36224773

"ONE ELEGANT SOLUTION" by mikkeneko, post da2 anders and justice fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/5673073

"The Ideal Adventuring Party is..." by cryptographicdelurk, anders/fenris/merrill post canon da2 fic https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753798

"Hall of Mirrors" by wombutress, dao surana fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/17604686

"Journey's End" by dalishious, post canon dai briala fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/10152314

Baldur's Gate 3

a bg3 durge/gortash series by Chronurgy called "Anthology: Is the color of midnight different than the color of sun?" https://archiveofourown.org/series/3907741

"shout love at the heart of the world" by partingxshot is only 10k but i cant not recommend this one, wyll and ansur centric bg3 fic

"like a bird, like a stone" by anonymousAlchemist, tav/astarion bg3 fic post-canon,

Other

"Joker's Wild" by dragonwrites, taz davenport centric fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/15557187

"White Orchid" by husborth and kieron_oduibhir, star wars leia fic https://archiveofourown.org/series/2411185

"Broken Rules and Consequences" by redring91, doctor from doctor who fic https://archiveofourown.org/series/72546

"Persephone" by waterbird13, post-canon elizabeth piratea of the caribbean fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/24748684

anon im IN LOVE WITH YOU!!! omg. ok not only do these all seem fire but you started off with a herald named desire, a fic that is SOOOOO SOSOSO good so i already know you have taste. and then. and THEN. you rec GEN FIC? im winning so hard right now. i feel like it can harder to find gen fics sometimes.

absolutely loving the amount of anders fic here. did you know hes my all time favorite character?? I dont talk about him Here very much but hes always vibin in my brain. also- you found my rarepair ship that i do genuinely like- merrill/fenris/anders my beloved. i've seen some really good interpretations so i'm particularly excited about that one.

also love that theres a lot of the origins warden fics. they always intrigue in a nice little way. (AND THE VIVIENNE FIC. im excited bc i DO very much love her. i wish there was more of her in inquisition.)

all of these fandoms are fan-fuckin-tastic too. its like an ideal list. mostly dragon age (with a healthy about of anders and justice), some bg3, and then a lovely mix of some others i like. I've actually really been wanting to read a doctor who fic for awhile. i've found a few short ones i like but i haven't yet found a longer one so i'm super excited to give this one a try.

thank you again for this!!! I have all of these open on my phone now lol. I appreciate the recs! and you seem to have a really good taste in characters/topics lol

[ceremorphilia]

ALL MY CHARACTERS: THERE ARE SEVERAL

this is mostly complete but i might add little tidbits. this post exists for my own personal organization and peace of mind

Marlowe

AGE: Mid-late 30s (unsure due to amnesia)

RACE: Zariel Tiefling

GENDER: Genderless (they/them)

SEXUALITY: Bisexual/unspecified

BACKGROUND: Outlander

CLASS: Barbarian

SUBCLASS: Berserker

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral/chaotic good

LOVE INTEREST: Astarion

BEST FRIEND: Shadowheart and Karlach

BACKSTORY: One day in the not-so-distant past, a pair of adventurers tracking a band of raiders through the wilds of Faerûn came across a destroyed riverside village. Searching the wreckage for survivors, they found only one: a small, injured, mute tiefling child with no memory of what had happened to their home or family. The adventurers- a dwarf paladin and an elf ranger named Gregor and Sylvya- took them in and raised them as their own. From their adoptive parents, Marlowe learned the art of combat, and took to it like breathing. Their relative clumsiness and tendency to fly into a blind rage made them well-suited to a more barbaric fighting style, and they spent their childhood and teen years adventuring with their parents. When they were old enough to be on their own, they set off to Baldur’s Gate where they quickly fell into debt to a kingpin of the Guild and were forced to work as a bodyguard-slash-general-purpose-muscle. They hated the city and wanted nothing more to return to the wilds, so they decided one day to simply pack up and leave, Guild be damned. Their plans were immediately cut short by a certain mind flayer plot. Wrong place, wrong time, and here they are with a tadpole behind their eye.

ABOUT: They’ve never known a life without violence. It’s all they know how to do and they’re very, very good at it. They’re a protector and their worst nightmare is allowing harm to come to their friends and loved ones- they blame themself whenever a party member gets hurt and feel it’s their responsibility to ensure everyone is safe. This gets annoying when they start literally throwing themself in front of attacks and getting severely injured in almost every battle. They’re quiet, reserved, and deeply insecure. They’ve been taught that fighting is the only thing they’re good for and they believe it. They’re also a big silly idiot with a soft heart, a weakness for praise, and far too much love to give.

Tyrra

AGE: 29

RACE: Half-orc

GENDER: Woman but like, only incidentally (she/her)

SEXUALITY: Lesbian

BACKGROUND: Soldier

CLASS: Ranger

SUBCLASS: Beast master (might change if/when I play as her again)

ALIGNMENT: Neutral good

LOVE INTEREST: Karlach

BEST FRIEND: Lae’zel, Wyll and Gale (although she really gets along with everyone)

BACKSTORY: Tyrra grew up in a mixed human-orc settlement out in the wilds of Faerun. She joined their militia early in life, learning from her human father how to defend against raiders and survive in nature. She had a pretty simple life before the nautiloid, patrolling the settlement’s perimeters and skirmishing with raiders and bandits along its outskirts.

ABOUT: She’s like a camp counselor-slash-drill sergeant. Very passionate about nature, highly organized, even-tempered and intolerant of bullshit. She’s highly skilled in combat but her true passion is surviving in the wilds by foraging, hunting and navigating. She tends not to get along with most people as a result of her rather isolated and combat-centric upbringing but she is truly gentle and kindhearted. She has a soft spot for creepy and maligned animals and has a giant spider companion familiar that follows her around. Her trusty crossbow is named Florence and she treats it like a baby.

Lior

AGE: ??? (He could be anywhere from like 30 to 130. He has no idea and frankly neither do I).

RACE: High half-elf

GENDER: Man-adjacent, trans (he/they)

SEXUALITY: Bisexual

BACKGROUND: Haunted One

CLASS: Sorcerer

SUBCLASS: Draconic Bloodline

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral

LOVE INTEREST: Gale (they are each other’s emotional support unstable mage)

BEST FRIEND: Mostly Gale but also Shadowheart

BACKSTORY: The Dark Urge

ABOUT: He’s very twitchy and unstable and afraid of himself. He hates feeling like he’s not in control of himself and wants very badly to get rid of the Urge. He composes poetry about murder and death to cope with his thoughts, his favorite spells are Fireball and Magic Missile, and he enjoys teasing Gale about his wizardry despite not actually having any beef with wizards.

Iulia

AGE: 25

RACE: Mephistopheles Tiefling

GENDER: Female (she/her)

SEXUALITY: Bisexual

BACKGROUND: Urchin

CLASS: Rogue

SUBCLASS: Arcane Trickster

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral/chaotic good

LOVE INTEREST: Shadowheart

BEST FRIEND: Wyll and Karlach (honorable mention to Astarion who completely hates her in a dubiously friendly way. It’s reciprocal.)

BACKSTORY: Iulia grew up as an orphan on the streets of Elturel, picking pockets and stealing from market stands to survive. She and a couple other orphans ran a scam where she’d perform a magic show on a street corner to draw a crowd, and her comrades would pick as many pockets as they could. Later, in her teens and early adulthood, she was part of a loosely-organized thieves’ guild in the city, which she promptly abandoned when Elturel fell to Get The Fuck Out Of There. After a few months of hitchhiking on the road she ended up in Baldur’s Gate where she stayed for just a couple weeks before being picked up by the nautiloid. Bad luck all around.

ABOUT: She’s scrappy and cunning, she says what’s on her mind and isn’t afraid to take risks. She’s used to bailing on a situation the second it goes bad so having to make allies and get along with a bunch of weirdos is uncomfortable for her. She’s highly capable and skilled but also very overconfident in her own abilities and often ends up in stupid situations due to her own hubris. She has a natural gift for arcana which she uses for cheap parlor tricks and mischief.

Vivienne

AGE: 50s

RACE: Wood half-elf

GENDER: Woman (she/her)

SEXUALITY: Bisexual

BACKGROUND: Acolyte

CLASS: Paladin

SUBCLASS: Oath of the Ancients

ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good

LOVE INTEREST: Wyll

BEST FRIEND: Has minor beef with nearly everybody for one reason or another, is most chill with Karlach and becomes close with Shadowheart in act 3

BACKSTORY: When she came of age, Vivienne left her commune-dwelling Lathanderite wood elf family to join the Order of the Aster in Waterdeep, and dedicate herself to the protection of all those within the Morninglord’s embrace. She spent her early adulthood fighting monsters, defending temples, and being utterly miserable about herself with no idea why. When she gets picked up by the nautiloid and set on a crusade against the Absolute she comes to realize two things: 1) she is a woman and 2) she is utterly convinced she’s been chosen for this divine mission by Lathander Himself.

ABOUT: She’s a faithful and courageous warrior of the light, sworn to protect nature and act with mercy and kindness. Her faith is deeply important to her and her driving motivation. Her oath bids her to stand against wickedness in all forms so she often goes out of her way to help those in need. She butts heads with a lot of the party members rather frequently as a result of her faith, and has to be held back from instigating hand-to-hand combat on more than one occasion. She has a passion for history, culture, nature and religion and will infodump about the pantheon of Faerun to anyone who will listen.

[mybg3notebook]

Loving your analyses of Astarion's behaviour and character so far! It has really reaffirmed in my eyes just how much of a bastard he really is. (I say that fondly, of course.) Do you have any thoughts on why the general reaction on tumblr has leaned so much towards woobifying him? After looking at his actual (explicit and implicit) morals in game it seems quite odd that some people are reading him as an edgy soft boi who just needs a hug from the right person to fix him.

Hello!

Thank you very much! I really enjoy seeing chars in a deep way. It makes me change my opinion on them, sometimes. That's why I like to do these analysis, even though it's a lot of work for a person who doesn't speak English as a native.

Lol, please, I won't be offended. Astarion is a bastard in the whole sense of the word, lol.

However, I find Astarion an interesting evil (evil neutral imo) char to explore the narration of “abuser who found a greater abuser”, with all the topics I talked about in those posts. I would feel a bit disappointed if Larian suddenly changes him into a man who always had a gold heart (because for that, you need to give hints, even in EA, and none of that has been seen so far).

An example of how this is done is with Shadowheart, she is evil and she supports a lot of cruelty that Astarion does too, but we got meta-knowledge (and not so much meta when we see her heavily drunk after killing the tieflings) that gives us enough reasons to believe she has some heart in her, despite Shar and her teachings. I do not support the idea of “she is a softie”, because she is not, but she doesn't have the same level of cruelty nor revels in murder so much as Astarion does. They represent different degrees of evilness. What plays in her favour is her face, which gives the idea of more softness than she truly has; the same happens with Astarion. Lae'Zel is less cruel than Astarion in general, with more logical reasons to be so because her brainwashed culture made her to be more pragmatic than a taster of cruelty, and yet, she receives a lot of more hate in the fandom... and it is clear to me why: she is not “beautiful” in the traditional white euro-centric standard sense.

And this is my point to answer your question (remember all this is personal opinion): I think there are many reasons why people woobify Astarion (not only in tumblr, but also in Reddit or in Larian Forums, it's a big part of the EA fandom).

First and foremost, I believe it's his appearance. If he were a bugbear or a goblin, few in this fandom would give a thought about his abuse, his pain, Cazador, etc. They would focus on his “bastard” side and leave it at that (again, Lae'Zel has this treatment). I want to make clear that I'm not questioning people's taste, everyone can like whatever they want to. I'm saying that, for me, there it proof enough to sustain this idea that Astarion is woobified because he is beautiful: when you read that a lot of people in this fandom never had an interest in Larian's previous games, or isometric rpgs, or even turn-based combat games (there are some people who are giving feedback against the game being a turned-based combat one! It's the nonsense because it's basically Larian's style), but they bought bg3 because they saw Astarion, even though they knew nothing about him.... All this, clearly, shows to me that a lot of people approached this game for only one char, for only his design (a big amount of them say it explicitly), and it is not far-fetched to know that people justify more easily beautiful villains than ugly ones. We can explore a lot of examples of this in many fandoms. People can love villains because they have real complex reasons to be so (like Loghain in DAO), but they also can like whimsical villains just because they are “hot”. I feel this is Astarion's case, he is a “beautiful villain” who apparently has always been evil. His reasons for his whimsical evilness is more like “it's always been in his nature”. Unless the family part has a different role in his backstory (mirror option) and it's not a mere line for a player to play a “good aligned” Astarion when picked as Origin. I don't like to read much about it in that scene because the game still doesn't have companion Tags; those options in the mirror can be there just for the player to pick, flavoured with each origin, but not necessarily the three of them are canon. This will be seen once we have the companion tags activated as it happened in DOS2.

What we can say for sure is that Larian knew what they were doing when they picked Astarion's design; they choose a dangerous white guy with white hair and evil alignment: an archetype that catches a lot of people in many fandoms.

Part of his woobyfication process has a deep root there, in my opinion. Again, if he were a bugbear, a goblin, a githyanki, a monster-humanoid... we would not have 90% of the EA fandom collapsed with his image, or Larian focused on him to the point that after 4 patches he had new scenes, lines, corrections, and development, while Wyll is still there, sitting in the bench of “the less developed chars” (with around 2k less lines than the rest of the chars, and his personal quest bugged since the first day). Yes, I don't like the preference on one single companion when I am seeing the “future Beast” (from DOS2) in Wyll.

Second, he is a vampire. Vampires are a great element in any fantasy narrative. You know you will have a lot of fans behind a vampire char. Not by chance Vampire The Masquerade is one, if not the most important product of White Wolf, which keeps still giving them a lot of profit despite being decades old. Vampires are always a good element of personal horror, of lack of control of your own body, and also an allegory of abuse, power, and rape. This concept of “being a monster without control” that they embody helps a bit more for the woobification.

Third, people tend to mix a lot headcanon with what a character gives us as canon. We can have a long useless discussion about which is more worthy: canon or headcanon, or about why one should or should not respect canon, but putting all that discussion aside, and considering the previous two points, I see that a small part of his woobyfication comes from the fact that people love denial and self-projection instead of analysing of what they are given (and let's be honest, we know in tumblr, reddit and others social networks, people lack of reading comprehension skills, which makes analysis all about self projection without a real effort in understanding the character's perspective. It's all about the player unilateral perspective. How can you analyse a char you didn’t play with or explored in all its paths? ).

So if their beautiful character is behaving in a way they don't want to, they start considering him “random” (I read this so much that confuses me, because Astarion has clear patterns for everyone who wants to see them, like the rest of the companions. He is not random, he follows pretty well all what I listed here, that list helps you to predict what he will disapprove or approve) so they end up filling this apparent “randomness” with headcanons and self-projections. Don't get me wrong, I don't despise headcanons, I love them, I have a lot of them and create with them. But I also like honest analysis and separate what I want from what I get from a company (to correctly give them feedback, otherwise I will be giving them my headcanons).

If you don't want an aspect of a given char, and you want to deny it, it's perfectly fine. Do it, it's your entertainment, but be honest with the fandom about it, acknowledge this is a personal denial you enjoy. And mainly, don't use headcanons and self-projections to attack the rest of the chars you don't like in their own tags. We know how aggressive some people in this fandom are, and it's a bit frustrating to see aggression without the slightest effort in understanding the character they hate.

There is also something sad to say, related to self-projection, that contributes to Astarion's woobyfication too: a lot of players are survivors of abuse who connect with him from trauma, and I can understand if denying his past is a way to help them to release any kind of pain or need for vengeance against their abusers. It's a natural and totally understandable projection. The woobyfication, then, ends up in an intense self-projection where they give to the char something that they needed because their own trauma.

This is why I would like Larian to give us other survivor chars that people can project onto, whose stories are really about survivors of abuse who were not evil in the beginning. Because I feel a lot of people approached Astarion as a narration of a “victim who will become a victimiser” or as a “bad behaved victim”, instead of what I think it's shown: an abuser who found a greater abuser (and his story is about punishment of the abuser and the concept of justice in a world which has none), so trauma survivors will end up with disappointment if they think Astarion is something similar to the representation of what they experienced. Plus, vampirism is never good to use as allegories of abusers/victims because the relationship Sire/Childe is too sick and twisted. So, again, this is a mere opinion from all what I've been reading since the game came out.

I hope Larian sticks to the narration they seem to follow with Astarion: an abuser who found a greater one, and now wants to become the next Cazador, and this woobifycation doesn't change the real potential of a dark deep story that I believe they want to give us: not every char is redeemable, and sometimes evilness is capricious. We had chars like these in bg1 and bg2 after all.