#astarion: does no such thing

[mysticalfg]

Saw fanart of gale in a robe n went mildly feral, possibly

[artist-rat]

quick existential crisis vibe check 👍

[volucrine]

Cazador has a lot to say to MC if Astarion isn't with them, and it is all such hard-hitting CPTSD/abusive relationship meta that I had to go stare at a wall for a long time before starting to function again.

Stephen Rooney was not pulling any punches with this storyline. And he really, really did his homework. For his sake I hope that his "background research" on abuse and trauma was entirely theoretical.

And then there is this gem.

[Player: "And you call yourself his family? You're a monster."

Cazador Szarr: "What is family, if not the monsters we are obliged to love?"]

I mean... Jesus Christ...

[astarionancuntnin]

"hello my sweet"

"i did miss that face, you know"

"ah, you're so adorable when you're thinking what to say"

"you are perfect, every time"

[housederiva]

I need a mod author to do me a huge solid when they get a chance

[myrkulitescourge]

can i just say, it still makes me feel a little crazy how astarion, come act 3, still can’t quite put a name to his relationship with his partner, but he WILL tell them he wants to keep them both safe.

he won’t say i love you just yet but he will say forever, for good.

[spadoodle]

Goth Uncle Astarion.

[palespawn]

as soon as the necromancer's tome had been so charitably bestowed unto him, it was all astarion could do not to drop everything, sit down and scour the pages until his eyes bled. he had felt the cursed, necrotic-like energy emanating from the sealed book even tucked away in his pack as it had been; such temptation always came at a cost, a greater power perhaps not meant for him but taken despite the fact. he was no sorcerer, no necromancer, no god-like prodigy built to withstand the atrocities scribed onto each page. his reasons for enduring were entirely his own.

it was madness. his eyes burned with the near-indecipherable text, amethyst runes carving into his mind, whispering dark secrets into his undead soul. it was all very dramatic. each turn of a page felt like arm-wrestling a thousand karlach's at once― it was only by the third page that he felt delving deeper was to attempt the impossible. that the answers he so desperately sought would be nestled in the heart of it, if anywhere, just out of reach.

or, you know, maybe he could try turning another ...

“  gods―! ” reflexively, astarion slams the tome shut at the tiefling's sudden and unanticipated appearance by his side. where majority of the camp had turned into their tents, or huddled in their bedrolls by the fire, luz was undeniably awake and apparently set out on giving him a fright. and imagine that, scaring a vampire. astarion frowns at the man in disapproval. “  any more cursed than an undead, tadpoled spawn? ” the rhetorical question sits between them awkwardly, as he tries to figuratively brush away his discomfort. his skin still crawled with the accursed text.

“  ... i won't lie, it's difficult. although, hardly a page-turner. but if i wanted a fairy tale or tragic love story i'd implore gale bore me with his never-ending narrative about his dearest mystra, ” he deflects, slowly lowering the tome. astarion levels luz with an inquisitive eye, “  why, tempted to take a peek, are we? ”

MOONHAVEN, IN ITS PRIME, HAD EVIDENTLY been a hotspot of exceedingly interesting activity. A devotee of Lolth hiding in the cavern system below the town, working towards a terrible transformation, was one thing; a necromancer of Thay was quite another. For both to have been operating within a stone’s throw of the other, particularly in such a small, out-of-the-way village, was exceedingly bizarre. It was, in Graz’zt’s estimation, just another heavy-handed sign that something much grander was working its will about his group of tadpole-infested ratcatchers. The universe was testing their mettle to see what sort of stuff they were made of.

In particular, he found that it was testing the spawn. Each and every one of them was under Fate’s microscope at the moment, but Astarion was something of an anomaly in their ranks–Wyll, Karlach, and even Lae’zel were frogs through and through; Gale and Shadowheart, he suspected, had stingers they were more clandestine about and in control of; but Astarion was pure scorpion. He didn’t know it yet, but his real fight wasn’t against his vampiric sire–it was against his own worst impulses. That tended to be the struggle when something with previously no free will suddenly had quite a lot of it. He was learning; testing boundaries.

This made Astarion’s newest possession, the necromantic tome they’d uncovered in the apothecary basement, very interesting indeed. It was obvious he’d had some ulterior motive in asking for it, and if Graz’zt had to make an educated guess, he assumed it was related to a hope that the book might contain secrets to either reversing his vampirism or perhaps maintaining permanent, sustained independence from his sire. Maybe he really did just want to raise an undead army one of these days. 

Whatever the reason was, Graz’zt planned to have it. He didn’t like not knowing things, and so when they made camp in what remained of an old two-story family home at the edge of the village, he waited and watched. Surely enough, as the evening died down and the others began settling in for the night, out came the book. Luz very courteously gave Astarion nearly twenty minutes alone with it before he appeared beside the elf, smiling as always.

“Well? Do you feel any more cursed than you did before?”

closed starter for @palespawn

[baldursgate3tempobsessed]

Please let Astarion meet Tav's family and have a younger sibling like 6 be like im gonna marry the prince points at Astarion.

Tav : Sorry, im married to the prince

NO IM GONNA MARRY THE PRINCE

That's so fucking cute kill me. But I just realized AFTER I finished it I read this wrong 😭😭 I read it as "marry" instead of "married" so whoops now it's an asking for your hand in marriage fic.

Also, I'm going to make this a weird little, unofficial, alternate reality, off shoot of this fic to explain away why Astarion can be in the sun without ascending because I am ~lazy~

Quick summary if you didn't read it, Tav serves Selune, gets a blessing for all the good work, and uses it to cure the anti-light issue of the vampirism (but not all of it). It's not a literal extension of that fic but I'm stealing my own plot explanations. That's it! Now here we go:

~

Astarion wasn't nervous per se. He was just... on edge. And the two-week journey it took to get here wasn't helping things, not when it gave him so much time to ruminate in his thoughts. He never expected to be in the position of "meeting the family," let alone in anticipation for asking for someone's hand in marriage.

Astarion wasn't even quite sure how his life got here. He had always fantasized that a life without Cazador would be one of selfish hedonism, not one where he would be legitimately concerned about a damn six year old sibling's first impression of him.

But then you came along, effortlessly shattering all of his grandiose plans with a batt of your eyelashes. Perhaps the entire journey of falling in love was more complicated, but it felt like it was that simple. In hindsight, he never stood a chance against you, but it was hilarious that there was a time he ever thought he did.

All of his prior dreams and fantasies felt like nothing in comparison to just being with you. It had been a year since you both saved the Sword Coast, a beautiful, fantastic year. That had ended with him somehow more in love with you now than when he first confessed. Selune's blessing had certainly helped with that he was sure. He still couldn't quite believe that you would use a god's blessing on him of all people, but gods, was he appreciative. Because being able to walk in the sun again meant that he could live the life he wanted, with no restrictions. He could be the partner you deserved, the kind that a father would happily say yes to when asking for your hand.

Which brought him back to his current dilemma. Perhaps he hadn't seen any of your family members in the time you'd been together, but he had heard plenty. You loved them all to death, especially your little sister. You wrote to them constantly, the mere sight of a letter from your parents enough to put you in a great mood for the rest of the day. He was aware that your mother was supposedly a saint, a fact that your own father had instilled in you often. He knew that they had a wonderful, loving marriage and were both higher ups in the Church of Selune. A fact that Astarion didn't particularly enjoy.

As grateful to the moon goddess as he was, he was aware that you were an expectation to the very normal belief that vampires were bad. And that marrying one was one of the stupidest things you could ever do from an average person's perspective, let alone a Selunite.

Why you hadn't done the smart thing and lied about what he was, Astarion would never know. But he did know that the thought of their rejection over his admittedly sordid history was putting him in a tailspin.

"They're going to love you," You said for the hundredth time, giving his hand a squeeze as you led him up the steps to your childhood home, "You have nothing to worry about sweetheart. I promise."

Astarion highly doubted that, but you were already knocking on the front door before he had a chance to argue. The door instantly slammed open, a beaming child already launching themselves at you before Astarion could process what was happening.

But you were more prepared them he was. You effortlessly caught them in your arms, laughing at their excited shouting, "Titi! You're late!"

So this was the famous Arabeth.

"No, I'm not!" You laughed as you settled her on your hip, "And what happened to my little girl's manners huh? You haven't even introduced yourself yet."

The child glanced over at him, like she was just realizing for the first time that someone else was standing over there. She looked a little shocked at the sight of him, staring at him with wide eyes. Wide enough for Astarion to start to wonder if something was on his face.

He gave her a little wave only for her to bury her face into your shoulder, peeking out at him with her lips pursed. Which was not the best start to the whole making his darling's family actually like him plan.

"Well, as you've probably guessed this is Arabeth. She's just a little shy," You reassured as you stepped inside, muttering a quick invitation inside under your breath. He appreciated that, he didn't need the whole house to be reminded of his... limitations.

"But she'll get over it soon enough," You continued as you called into the house, "Mom? Dad? We're here!"

And just like that they were rushing into the room, acting just as excited as your sister had been. Your mother wasted no time in smothering your face with kisses while your father swept you up into a hug. It was a rather impressive display of coordination, considering how they hadn't managed to knock you and your sister to the floor in the process. Astarion was pretty sure they were both saying something along the lines of We missed you! But it was hard to tell with all of you so tangled up in each other.

It was heartwarming to see, in all honestly. Of course such a loving person would come from an equally loving family, what else would he expect?

Though he certainly hadn't been expecting for your mother to throw her arms around him next. She brought him into a tight hug before looking him up and down, "So you're Astarion huh?"

She turned back to you, grinning ear to ear with her hands set on Astarion's shoulders, "He's so handsome! Selune help us, do you remember the last boy you brought home? He had a nose the length of my arm-"

"And that's enough of that," You said with a strained laugh, pulling your eccentric mother back a few inches, "And we've talked about the impromptu hugs. What happened to asking for permission?"

"Sorry, sorry!" She said with a wave of her hand, "Let me try again. I'm Seliras, and this is my husband-"

"Marcoul," Your father interrupted, putting his hand out for Astarion to shake, "It's been awhile since we've met a boyfriend."

"He's a little more than that," You said with a sigh as everyone exchanged pleasantries.

"We'll be the judge of that," Marcoul said with a sharp but friendly grin, the grip he had on Astarion's hand briefly tightening before he let go, "From what we've heard, you're quite the character aren't you?"

Ah, so the interrogating was starting early then. It was nothing that Astarion hadn't expected. Besides, turning up the charm was his strong suit, even when he was uncharacteristically nervous.

Astarion smiled back at him, "You've heard right. And I'm more than happy to answer any questions you might have."

"Oh gods please don't say that," You groaned, but it was too late. Your parents were already leading him to sit, rapid-fire questions coming out of their mouth.

Where are you from? How did you meet? Are you serious about our Tav? What's your religion? Where's your family? What are your plans?

But Astarion answered them all, with only mild censorship for the child's sake. The child who suddenly couldn't stop staring at him. It wasn't exactly easy to sell himself as a future husband when he was a vampiric ex-slave, but he made do.

It was an overwhelming experience to say the least, but not necessarily an unpleasant one. That was one good thing about trying to marry into a family of zealots, it was a lot easier to convince them of your virtue when you received a personal blessing from their goddess.

By the end of the night, they were all throughly appeased, enough so to get off the topic of him for a moment.

"You look a little young to have a thirty-year old child," Astarion said to your mother. He was actively trying to compliment her for obvious reasons, but he was also genuinely curious. She barely looked a day over 40.

"Oh we breed young," She said with a laugh, "We had Tav in our teenage years. Arabeth came much, much later. Our favorite little surprise. Gods, I can't think of a single person in our family who didn't have kids young. Our little Tav is the only exception to the rule."

"But maybe not for much longer, huh?" Marcoul added with a grin, yelping when you lightly smacked him over the head for the comment.

"Do not start the kid talk again!" You hissed out, cheeks red, "We've talked about this!"

Astarion couldn't help but grin at your reaction, charmed by your embarrassment. Though... the idea of the two of you having children together sure was an interesting thought.

Astarion felt a tug on his sleeve while you were distracted arguing with your parents. He turned, smiling when he saw your little sister standing there, still staring at him with wide-eyes.

She took a deep breath before blurting out, "You look like a prince. Are you?"

"Not exactly," Astarion said with a small laugh. That couldn't be further from the truth, "There's no blue blood in my veins."

She frowned, cocking her head at him like he wasn't making any sense. But then an idea obviously struck her as she excitedly asked, "But if you married a princess, then you'd become a prince too. Right?"

"I suppose?" Astarion answered with a shrug.

"So if I become a princess, and I marry you, then you'll be a prince?"

This conversation was quickly becoming out of his depth. But luckily enough for him you were swooping in to save him.

You laughed at her question, turning your attention back to the two of them, "No offense Bethy, but I'm going to be the one marrying this particular prince."

But Arabeth wasn't having it. She crossed her arms, looking at you like she was the one talking to a child, "You can't. Because if I don't marry him, he won't be a prince. So there. I have to do it."

She looked so serious, her facial expressions incredibly similar to your own. Astarion was holding back a loud laugh as you tried and failed to reason with her, "I can marry him without the royal status-"

"No! I'm marrying the prince!"

Your parents were doing a much worse job at hiding their reactions, both of them opening giggling behind their hands as you came up with a compromise.

"Okay, okay," You said with a sigh, kneeling down to look the small girl in the eye, "How about this? I marry him first. But only until you become a princess. Then he's all yours. Sound fair?"

She thought about it for a moment before nodding to herself, "Sounds fair."

Well Astarion wasn't going to get a better set-up then that. He turned to your father, his nerves coming back for a brief appearance, "I'm assuming now might be a good time to ask what I came here to ask. Though I do promise I only intending on asking for one of your children's hand in marriage."

Marcoul nodded slowly, his face unreadable as he spoke, "I mean no offense when I say this Astarion, but you aren't exactly who I imagined for my daughter."

"Dad don't-"

"Darling, let him finish," Astarion gently interrupted, his eyes still locked with your father's.

He took a deep breathe before continuing, "That said, I've never seen her so... herself with someone else before. So yes. The two of you can marry. On one condition."

"Anything," Astarion said instantly, nearly giddy at the fact that he was so close to the official yes, "Just name it."

"You have to have the wedding here," Seliras answered for him, a massive smile on her face, "No ifs, ands, or buts."

"And I get to be flower girl!" Arabeth chimed in, her past indignation completely forgotten as she climbed all over you, "And there has to be chocolate cake!"

"Oh gods, help us," You groaned, but Astarion was already nodding along. He couldn't give less than two shits where it happened or who was involved. He could scarcely believe that it was happening at all. But that was the last thing he had needed.

He already had the ring, the most amazing person he could ever fathom being with. Who actually wanted him back.

Now all he had to do was ask.

[teiasviago]

[baesooraya]

So it seems like Neil Newbon, the mocap and VA for Astarion was also a mocap/body double for Gortash and now I feel like such a fool.

[beckyblah]

My Durge and new names: at the beginning of the game, when she discovered her true nature, and when she was finally free of her Bhaal’s influence.

Also my Durge is a bard and I thought I was real funny huh

[emmahdraws]

[deer-with-a-stick]

i can't fucking believe the memes paid off. the bg3 cast played fucking dungeons and dragons. i can die happy

[hellbentrapture]

So like, yes Neil Newborn has done an incredible job, he makes Astarion - who would otherwise be a generic emo fuckboy lmao. But I am begging y'all, there is so much more to the cast and characters.

Can we talk about the Narrator (Amelia Tyler)? Narrating is such a specific art and the fact that she has range even within confines what she does do is incredible. Like the difference in her voice between a standard good playthrough versus an embraced Dark Urge. Like hello?? Why are we sleeping on the Narrator?

[khywren]

"This is my chance to get back everything that was taken from me. Everything Mystra denied me. And once I have it, I can forge a better world."