#as other tags suggested

[shepscapades]

I wish you coulda seen the look on my face when I glanced at Bdubs’ comment section for his wild life ep2

[notherpuppet]

Can you do a gender swap Alastor and Lucifer in human form?

Yes

Luci and Alice

[jsketch12]

lesbian elf love......

[u3pxx]

brain empty skills doodling WAHOO

[vorestarr]

I think this is a place where it's helpful to play the friend route with Astarion as well as the romance, because some of the ascended path outcomes are still true in the friend route.

He still offers to share power with friend Tav if you have high approval and let him drink from you, he still talks about creating a new world, he still talks about being protected, etc. And honestly to me, a lot of what he says as an ascendant sounds similar to the way he talked in act 1, when he'd first broken free of Cazador's influence and was trying to figure out how to keep this freedom.

So romance aside, to me, the difference with ascended and spawn Astarion is his perspective. Not that he lost a soul or doesn't feel love anymore or even that he is a different person, but that he's stuck in a particular way of thinking, while spawn Astarion is stuck in a different way of thinking.

I think a lot of it comes down to the cycle of abuse narrative as well. Cazador was treated poorly by his vampire master until he killed him, then he treated Astarion the same until Astarion killed him. Now here's Astarion, who ascended because he believed it was the way to ensure Cazador did not gain more power and also to ensure no one could ever do to him what Cazador did again. Is he right? No, we see that the non-ascended route works for him too. But he doesn't know that in the ascended path, and ascending kind of locks him into that kind of thinking. Because he's given up so much, sacrificed 7000 souls, there's no going back and there's no questioning it now.

I think that's the thing for ascended Astarion: he can't go back. Spawn Astarion has chosen not just to not ascend, but also to begin the process of grappling with the terrible things he's done and that there are ways to move forward to try to right some of those wrongs. Ascended Astarion argues those 7000 spawn are already dead, he already killed them centuries ago when he brought them to Cazador, that's in the past, there's nothing he can do, the world is terrible, all he can do is look after himself and make sure he has the power to stop things from hurting him that way.

To me, that's the key difference in perspective.

And when we apply this to the romance paths and see the difference in how ascended vs spawn chocies play out, I think for me, things fit into place.

Ascended Astarion loves Tav, he didn't stop loving Tav, his feelings for Tav haven't changed. But Ascended Astarion wants to make sure he can't lose them. He wants to make sure no one can take them from him or hurt them. He offers them parts of his power, offers to share his world dominating throne, offers to make sure things don't hurt for Tav the way they hurt for Astarion. I think all of that is an expression of love, but it's coming from someone who is convinced the world is terrible and cannot change and the only way to ensure you aren't hurt is to have the most power and control. And he learned this because this was how he survived those 200 years.

The difference with spawn Astarion is that he's opened himself up to the different idea (and very painful idea, for the record, looking at his reactions to being confronted by his past conquests in the dungeon, by the families of the children he kidnapped and the children themselves, etc) that things can change, even things that have already happened, and his previous way of thinking, while protective when he was in Cazador's control, is not the truth of the whole world and does not apply to all situations.

So it's something like, staying in your trauma-response pattern of thinking because that's what saved you before, versus going through the painful process of learning a new pattern of thinking because you are no longer in the trauma situation and that pattern doesn't exactly apply anymore.

And I think in the context of the romance, to me, that doesn't make the Ascended path bad or evil. It makes it messy, it makes it painful, it means Astarion feels like he can never loosen his grip, it means he can never stop looking over his shoulder because that's what he's had to do for 200 years. I think it's a safe path for him in the way that sticking to what you know is safer than taking a risk on something new. I think his romance with Tav was not safe in the same vein because it was something new, because it made him question things, because he can have realizations like "I don't think I want anyone to think of me in terms of sex." And if he starts having those realizations, who is he? How does he learn who he is again?

He knows who he is as a vampire ascendant. And he knows how to have a relationship with Tav based on all the relationships he had as a vampire spawn. He tries, I do think he really tries, to be good to Tav in that relationship. But deep down, he has all the insecurities and fears he had as a spawn, but he doesn't have the tools or ability to address those fears, and that reflects how he frames their romantic relationship.

tldr; he loves Tav even if he ascends, but that love is framed by the fact that he lives his life with the fear of any vampire master - that someone will take it all away from him one day.

I'm not

Tryna make discourse here

But I'm curious about Ascended Astarion. All evidence I can see points to the fact that his love for you dies and warps into possession, obsession. Like you're his favorite pet, and not an equal or a partner or even really a person

But I've seen some fans of ascended Astarion state that they believe he does love you, he's just blinded by his new powers and will mellow out in a bit.

I wanted to point out how spawn Astarion speaks about loving being in the sun,

But ascended Astarion, who CAN walk in the sun, speaks about wanting to blot it out completely and plunge the world into darkness

Spawn Astarion says he wants to be equals with you at his grave scene

Ascended Astarion breaks up with you if you do not agree to become his spawn, and, if you DO agree, he believes you are degrading yourself.

I understand that there's a wealth of ways to interpret things, but I haven't seen any evidence of Ascended Astarion having.... How can I explain my feelings here...

He seems to me to have lost his soul and his ability to love. I see the desire for power, control, safety, possession. Obsession. But I don't see love, or affection beyond "obey me and you will be my most treasured possession"

Again, please, no hating on one route or the other I'm looking for legit like, literary analysis of the scenes we have been given for evidence. I'm even trying to refrain from pointing out my own opinions based on what I've seen to some degree so I don't overly colour this post while asking for more info. Also

Question: is Ascended Astarion a full vampire, as well as "the vampire ascendant" like is he a true vampire? Or is " the vampire acendant" a different kind of creature than a full vampire since he did not drink the blood of his master? Do we have any in game or canon explanations?

I'm curious! Help me

[magicicephoenix]

dca who (doctor who) au!!! it’s happening!! sound the alarms!!!

Sun comes much later in the au once y/n and Moon become closer… but i couldn’t just NOT draw him :)

[umblrspectrum]

tessa, being the edgy little freak she is, obviously took the original darkxwolf username

[basslinegrave]

pin-up

b&w originals

[soosoosoup]

Chord Striker Au by @thatbennybee

[elkian]

So I never really questioned Kabru and Mithrun's dynamic given what's coming up, but that episode really emphasized some stuff to me. We know already that long-lived races, particularly elves, have a tendency to dismiss the other groups as being childlike. But the sheer infantilization that everyone, and specifically Kabru, have to deal with in that episode really hammers it home.

When Kabru mentions his adoption, pretty much all of the Canaries start immediately treating him like a toddler. And we know from flashbacks in the manga that he received pretty much the same treatment from his adopter - I wouldn't say he was quite treated like a favored pet, but it's much closer to that than any kind of healthy relationship dynamic.

So when Mithrun stands up, gets in his face, looks him eye-to-eye and says: "You're plotting something. I'm going to find out what.", that? That is the first time in this scene - maybe in his life - that an elf takes Kabru seriously. Mithrun has his own thing going on, but regardless of his reasoning, he addresses Kabru as a person and an adult. As someone with complex motivations who could potentially trip him up. I don't doubt Kabru has in the past used that infantilization to his advantage, but it's blatantly obvious that he doesn't enjoy it. Who would? So Mithrun starting their relationship by treating Kabru as a peer explains a lot about their dynamic down the line, in my opinion.

Kabru doesn't have to prove his humanity, his personhood, his adulthood to this man, one of a group infamous for how they treat younger species. It must feel like one hell of a paradigm shift.

EDIT: I've seen it pointed out on this post and others that Kabru also shows Mithrun understanding and decency and sees him in a way that others haven't been and I think that's a very important parallel and good point.

[mossdogs]

[fridgrave2-0]

hehe ghost-turbo haunting felix au

turbo is connected to the last piece of his code in the whole arcade - a trophy he gifted to felix in mid 80s as a symbol of him genuinely caring about their relationships on par with being the best racer. felix also gave him one of his medals and both kept their gifts next to other rewards, but when roadblasters and turbotime were unplugged, the medal was gone with everything else

now, after burning in cola-lava turbo is basically dead, but scraps of his code still were intertwined with the trophy (after all, it was his first winner's cup, but felix never knew about it), giving turbo an opportunity to exist as a shadow incapable of interacting with anything and anyone besides felix, who kept the trophy even after the roadblasters incident

also I went crazy in tags, feel free to check them out

[way2gosuperrstarr]

me and . your mom. last night . if you even care

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Me: This AU is a slowbu

(The absolute urge to make a canon short fic about how touch starved Caine is has an iron grip on me you all have NO idea.)

[spectrecowboy]

im just the guy who takes the traumatized blorbos and gives em a nap

[starryeyed-seer]

me: I'm not a bat

Mr pages: (stuffing novels under its robe): I must abscond