#bg3 hot take

[downbadspanishlad]

I know I'm most certainly FAR from the last person to say this, and it's likely not much of a hot take anyway, but I feel like folks really need to lay off the people who choose to get tattoos of Astarion's scars.

I completely understand not wanting to get a tattoo like that yourself, but some people really seem to forget:

1. Elves aren't real.

2. Vampires aren't real.

3. Astarion, as lovely as he is, isn't real.

Tattoos are very personal, and the people getting tattoos of his scars likely have their own personal meanings/sentiments behind getting them. I've seen some victims of SA who have gotten tattoos of his scars and explain it as their own sort of medusa tattoo and view his scars as a personal symbol of survival, which is an incredibly beautiful, powerful, and VALID thing. I'm sure there's other people out there with their own equally valid ideas of what Astarion's scars mean to them, too.

It's perfectly okay not to want such a tattoo for yourself. Getting a tattoo of Astarion's scars is just something that might not be for you (it's not really something for me either), but that doesn't mean anyone needs to harass or judge the people who DO like the idea of it for a tattoo.

And to further emphasize the importance of understanding the fact that Astarion isn't a real person, I think it's important for us to remind ourselves that, if he WAS a real person, then it'd be weird for us fans to love him in the way that we do given the fact that he has described himself as someone with a "casual relationship with murder." He's killed so many people that he doesn't even remember everyone he's killed.

Does this mean I'm saying it's bad to like Astarion? Absolutely not. In fact, I'd be a huge hypocrite to even suggest that. No, what I'm really saying is that we can't pick and choose which parts of his story to take seriously.

I appreciate just how lovely and chill the BG3 fandom is, but the issue of harrassment over this is quite ridiculous and incredibly harmful (though harassment is also just awful in general). I've seen a crap ton of harrassment directed towards people who get tattoos of Astarion's scars AND towards the tattoo artists who do those tattoos for those people. It's really lame and toxic behavior, and it really needs to stop.

To the people with tattoos of Astarion's scars (and also the people who like the idea of getting it done for themselves), you guys are valid. Please don't let randos online bully you into feeling bad about it (and I sincerely hope each and every one of you guys are doing well).

To anyone who still finds the idea of getting a tattoo of his scars distasteful or wrong, that's fine. You're entitled to feel however you feel about it, but PLEASE, just leave people alone if you have nothing nice to say to them. Your entitlement to have the feelings you have about it does NOT = entitlement to harass people.

[cymk8]

her hair so CRISPY

(commission!)

[foxtatodreams]

I think I need more star sticker sheets.

[myrkulitescourge]

the way that one line from the new epilogue in an astarion romance is going to HAUNT me

just. what a profoundly intense thing to confess to someone.

like, just these six months of newfound happiness with you exerts a force on his heart equal and in direct opposition to two centuries of endless torment, the gnawing hunger and exploitation. this flashbulb-bright fraction of his long life holds the same gravity to him as years upon years of darkness and suffering.

in all likelihood, he hasn’t even known his lover for as long as his worst memory lasted, that year sealed away to go mad from starvation and sensory deprivation, yet he still tells them this brief time has been so fundamentally and powerfully important that the weight of even that unimaginable hell is vanishingly small compared to this present he has now and the future ahead of them both.

how am i supposed to act normal about this.

[purrgilpawkins]

Companion Sexuality Headcanons

a/n: I saw people doing some of these and thought I’d share mine. 🥰

Shadowheart

Bi/Pan! This is, of course, influenced by the fact that she is canonically bi/pan.

Lae’zel

Bi/Pan! This is, of course, influenced by the fact that she is canonically bi/pan.

Karlach

Bi/Pan! This is, of course, influenced by the fact that she is canonically bi/pan.

Astarion

Bi/Pan! This is, of course, influenced by the fact that he is canonically bi/pan.

Gale

Bi/Pan! This is, of course, influenced by the fact that he is canonically bi/pan.

Wyll

Bi/Pan! This is, of course, influenced by the fact that he is canonically bi/pan.

Halsin

Bi/Pan! This is, of course, influenced by the fact that he is canonically bi/pan.

Minthara

Bi/Pan! This is, of course, influenced by the fact that she is canonically bi/pan.

-

omggg thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed ❤️

[autistichalsin]

"Why couldn't Jaheira have lifted the Shadow Curse instead of Halsin?"

Did none of you actually play this game? Jaheira did not give a single fuck about the curse. I mean. Okay. She gave a fuck. She felt, like, really bad about it when she left after the curse fell. So bad that over the following 100 years, she never once did anything to learn about how to fix it until she was sent there for an unrelated mission. She doesn't even know Thaniel exists. No, seriously- she doesn't have a single line about either Thaniel OR Oliver.

All she knows is that Ketheric cursed the land to shadows when the Druids and Harpers defeated him 100 years ago. That's. It.

By comparison, Halsin grew up near Reithwin, played with Thaniel, became a Druid specifically so he could protect Thaniel better, was there at the battle against Ketheric, watched the curse unfold, then spent 100 years researching how to stop it, and begging to gain Silvanus's favor. In a cut line from when the player could collapse the portal, he says he suffered along with the lands, growing his empathy to empower the magic- that the portal's magic needed not only wisdom, but tremendous empathy and understanding for the paoin of the Shadow-Cursed Lands.

Like the pain Halsin spent 100 years feeling, that Jaheira very much did not, because she was focused on other missions.

This isn't a Jaheira-negative post, she's in my top 5 favorites, but the idea that she should have been able to lift the curse instead of Halsin requires hating Halsin so much that it rots your ability to understand the plot of the game literally at all, tbh.

[chimkennuggies]

It started as a joke between a friend and I, now I'm not sure what it is bc I've spend too much time drawing/writing stuff related to them that I've actually ended up getting invested in this crackship.

Anyway

HEAR ME OUT WITH RAPHAEL X CAZADOR

Just let me explain, they're both AWFUL and suck so much LIKE- THE POTENTIAL, THE TOXICITY, + they both like poetry and are theatre kids I just know it.

Also, I made an AU were instead of actually dying, after being killed by the protagonists party both Cazador and Raphael end up in the Hells, being more specific, in Mephistar and double punishment bc they can't stand each other at first and they both want to return to they former life and stuff.

ANYWAY, long story short, kind of an enemies to allies to extremely toxic lovers to actually strangely decent lovers bc tbh I'm a sucker for tragic villain stories and these two have the backstory and the vibes to just fit into that (their narcissism and egomaniacal traits and behaviour have captivated me).

Btw they're t4t bc I'm trans and I say so.

I do have LOTS of stuff of them bc tbh I've been having quite the brainrot with this shit, so I'll be uploading more of it in the future idgaf.

[embrace-your-illithid]

"it's a monster" they say, "it's manipulating you" they add

Wroooooong. They r wrong, The Emperor is my baby angelcakes and I will be calling it that from now on. He will not approve but that's okay

ok maybe just don't call him that in front of corporate hq

[t-toyeon]

Something tiny that bothers me about the Tav/ascended Astarion dynamics i see is that… Tav has literally downed so many INSANELY POWERED foes, theyre the hero of baldurs gate and the leader of the party for a reason.

(One could argue she didnt do it alone but ill get to that)

So why in all these fics are they just reduced to a damsel/victim? :((( I WANT THEM TO PUT ASTARION IN HIS PLACE FR LIKE I KNOW THEY CAN!!

They have loyal companions other than him that would drop everything for them, Theyre resourceful and brave and could absolutely save or defeat Ascended Astarion.

To have a character just be stripped down to nothing the second their lover knocks them down a peg just feels maddening, Tav would have so much fight in them seeing their love become everything he ever fear and hated.

[wilteddreamsofbaldursgate]

I’m really torn over Ascended Astarion because, yes, he would have you sit naked on his lap like the good little pet that you are (it simplifies a lot of things). Giving you some two-hour-long edgy monologue over his Dark Desires™ (you're just nodding along), while nonchalantly blowing 1000 gold cigar smoke in your face (you haven’t decided how hot you actually think this is).

But on the other hand, it's a given that Astarion would take one drag of the cigar and suffer a violent coughing fit midway through his Ascended Bullshit®, requiring you to fuss over him (not in front of the servants, pet, please!), only to later pretend it never happened (he can pretend all he wants; you won't. Not in private, at least).

The only thing that truly ascended was Astarion's ego; any self-awareness whatsoever went down the ritualistic drain. He can see himself in the mirror again, yes, but he’s blissfully ignorant of the silly little man looking right back at him.

[bluerose5]

Okay, but dragon Wyll though? I mean, I'm already on board with him being a draconic sorcerer from Ansur and all, but make no mistake, I need him to turn into a dragon at some point after that. I don't know if I'll survive it, but it has to happen.

[apostaterevolutionary]

The wildest thing about veilguard opinions is I see my fellow DA2 and similar fans of taste saying ‘I really wish these characters had more bite’ and I’m like. Yes, I agree, I would really like that. The characters having bite is a huge part of why I like DA2

And then I leave my bubble and I see someone be like ‘omg it’s so bullshit that certain characters get mad at me for making a choice in a no-win situation that negatively affects them’ and it’s got over 1500 likes and it’s like

As much as I, too, wish the characters had more bite (I actually wanted them to yell at me more for the above decision! People are irrational! Let them act like it and take out their grief on me for at least a second! Yell at me! Make me feel an emotion!), I think there’s a lot of people who say that’s what the want when in reality they absolutely do not. Those of us that genuinely want that seem to be in the minority and lbr, that’s probably why the companions are so pleasant - even this is too much bite for some people

[nerd-stuff-inc]

As an asexual and demiromantic person, I can't tell you how grateful I was that he wanted to take things slow. Wyll's romance is the only one I could find any real comfort in. I understand that his route is more vanilla, but that doesn't mean his route deserves to get shit on.

[littlestarbigfangs]

[Would you like to kill the old man, Jaheira, or shall I?]

[autistichalsin]

"They should have kept in Halsin killing Isobel, it would have made him so morally complicated" y'all couldn't even handle Halsin not wanting to travel with Minthara

[foxglovevibes]

I have come to the controversial but very brave conclusion;

that THIS man swaggered,

so HE could strut 👀

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk-