#my tav is a self insert of myself

[horridgoblin]

ok, serious lore implications aside. but why does tav look like theyre saying "he said no PICKLES"

[tavs-tressym]

I made myself so I can boink the vampire man.

[transkingcobra]

I remembered Nix’s height and

That man’s poor organs are rearranged regularly

[lae-zels]

tavarru, half-orc, wild magic barbarian

[an-actual-floof]

aw man. someone baldur-ed my gate

[beecreeper]

I haven’t posted anything about Molli yet because A) I haven’t actually started playing her yet and B) she’s especially self indulgent, self insert-y, and cringey but I DO love her and she’s going to be my next playthrough. She’s a bardlock Tav with a *coughcough*history with Gortash because I am a man POSSESSED

[wurstigdurstig]

i am Obsessed with Untitled and how u characterize astarion and also a little bit in love with taras...... do u have any fav tav/astarion fics from other writers? i trust your taste and need more good astarion content

hope this doesn't come off as too creepy but i think ur cool :)

Ahhh thank you very much 🥰

I unfortunately do not read much other Tav/Astarion fanfictions - I Do Look at some fanart. It’s partly bc the Tavs need to belong to my friends for me to be invested haha and most of them don’t write fanficiton. Because of how the game is, many Tavs are self-inserts (WHICH IS NOT A BAD THING!) but I just won't be super interested in further content for them.

I can recommend some Tav and Emperor from on AO3 Hinu it is very explicit haha

I am very partial to Wyll/Astarion so I also recommend nothing is safe

[zagreusm]

I hate him a lot *draws him with hearts during class*

[yo9urt]

started playing ball dur's gait 3

[kellerybird]

ok but where are the fics where tav can’t or won’t have children

I see so many fics about or implying tav can have/wants kids and that’s great i’m not trying to crap on those sorts of stories

but what about a tav who can’t or won’t? not even like a “hurr bdurr I hate kids” kind of thing but that’s just not something tav ever wanted for themselves or can’t have despite wanting it?

[devotedlystrangewizard]

im not doing dark urge as my first playthrough im not doing dark urge as my first playthrough im n-

[drowtastic]

I absolutely adore all of my Tavs. To me, they are characters like all the others😅. I really enjoy to look at other peoples Tavs to, just to see with what backstories/design they came up with and why.

The problem with baldur's gate is it gets you ridiculously invested in your own Tav, who no one else knows or cares about

[minnaci]

🔮 LESSONS IN CONTROL

contents: ascended!astarion x gn!reader (tav), dubcon, hand-wavey mind control magic, heavy possessiveness, master/pet titles used, canon-typical objectification and condescension of tav/self-insert by ascended astarion, reader is needy and also smitten, fingering, penetrative sex (reader receiving in unspecified hole), praise kink, lovey dovey sex depending on ur interpretation of whether or not astarion genuinely loves tav/self-insert (if it helps, i wrote it with the mindset that he does love you)

a/n: wahoo!! second week let's go! please accept my first bg3 / astarion fic <3 he's so... so... i wanna kis his FACE!! as always, rbs & comments are appreciated!

you will never tire of the way that astarion looks at you, even now. there’s a covetous kind of adoration that shines in his eyes, a sort of smug, devoted possessiveness that makes your skin ache to be touched by him.

“there’s my little treat,” he purrs, welcoming you into his lap. his hands come up to rest on your hips, where they belong. “my sweet, darling pet… whatever is the matter?”

“i miss you.” you press up against him, petulant in the way you know he loves to indulge. “will you come to bed with me?”

“oh? surely, i have not been neglectful.” he doesn’t kiss you as much as he possesses you, licking into your mouth with a single-minded desire that makes your head spin. “after all, it was only last night that i took you until you could barely breathe from the pleasure.”

“but i could never have enough of you,” you say, punctuating your words with sweet kisses. “i’m addicted to you, master. i can’t help myself. whenever you’re not touching me, i ache for you.”

“needy,” he clicks his tongue. the taste of his condescension is sweet on your tongue. it drips over your skin, sticky and golden as honey. this is what you live for— this love, this obsession, this subjugation. “but far be it for me to deny you. where it is it that you ache, my dearest? is it… here?”

he dips his head, leaving a trail of warm, sloppy kisses down your neck, over your collarbones, down to your chest. the subtle point of a fang grazes against your nipple, and you gasp as his lips follow, suckling at your chest. neither of you have been warm-blooded or warm-bodied in centuries, but heat still shoots through your body at the way his mouth feels against your skin.

“l-lower, master— i need you, i—”

“lower?” his fingers trail down your stomach, slipping between your legs and rubbing at your leaking hole with well-practised grace. “here?” 

“please, please stop teasing, master,” the words pour from you, a font of desperation. his presence is overwhelming in the best way. your chest heaves as you try to contain the abject desire that threatens to burst from your heart. “inside. i need you inside. please.”

his smile is a knife’s blade across his face— sharp, swift, satisfied. “how is it that you only grow more perfect for me with each and every day?”

if you were in your right mind, you might answer: of course you’re perfect for him. he’s molded you to fit his desires, rewarded you with pleasure beyond your wildest dreams in exchange for your submission. his love, his control— they’re one and the same. 

love as subjugation. love so strong it rips you at the seams, remodels you in astarion’s image. this is what you crave. this is everything to you—

your mind goes blank as his finger breaches your hole. you’d prepared yourself for him— of course you had— and both you and your master reap the fruits of your labor. he makes a soft, pleased sound in the back of his throat, feeling how pliant you are, how warm you are, and even the barest hint of his approval makes your head spin with heady bliss. 

his fingers stretch you out, stroking along your sensitive walls and easily finding your favorite spots. you let out a soft, shuddery sigh, melting into astarion's shoulder as he fingers you open. he coos and curls his fingers just so— a reward for your easy submission. 

ever since his ascension, astarion has changed— this much is undeniably true. what hasn't changed, though, is his uncanny ability to play your body like the finest of instruments. if he hadn't trained your hole so well, perhaps you'd be satisfied to sit on his fingers forever, drooling your brains out on the fine fabric of his regalia. as it is, your body hungers for more. 

a wordless whine escapes your lips.

“i know, my sweet. i’ve been so mean, haven’t i? i said i would stop teasing, yet here you are, so horribly teased.” he gives you a few more indulgent thrusts, taking his time to enjoy every shudder and shiver he pulls from your willing body. “and you’ve been so patient, too. so perfect.”

he pulls his fingers from your body, making a deep, satisfied noise at the way your walls cling to him, as if loathe to let him go. you mourn the loss, soul singing a requiem. every moment that he is not inside of you is suffering. 

“shh, i know. i know,” he hushes you, soothes you, gently caressing your skin. “let me make it up to you, my love. what does your little heart desire? just speak the words, and i shall give it to you.”

a reward. your master is gracious, kind, and perfect. even being in his presence is reward enough. but, if he truly wants to reward you… there is only one thing you crave. there is only one thing you have ever craved, and you know he craves it, too.

“control me, master,” you plead. “compel me. please. i want you to.” 

“however could i say no?” something sweet and distinctly desirous shines in his eyes, and he captures your lips in a deep, drugging kiss. his control envelops you, familiar and warm as the olympian hearth. when he pulls back, you remain connected to him by a thin, shimmering strand of saliva, and by the twin sparks of lust that burn in your bellies. "my treasure." 

his will wraps around you, diffuses through your limbs, and your mind quiets. there's nothing quite like this— this bliss, this pleasure. it makes you feel so, so good, just to submit, just to obey. 

you feel his commands nudging at your mind, puppeting your body. saccharine devotion rises up within you, and you shudder with delight. so this is the game tonight— he wants you needy, wants you adoring, wants you fawning over his every move. 

you'd give it to him even if you weren't under his thrall. such is the unconditional nature of your love. if he became a twisted, soulless version of himself, you would twist yourself to match him, and you'd pour enough soul into him to sustain him too. 

"love me," he murmurs against the shell of your ear. "give me everything of you, and love me." 

“yes,” you breathe, desperate supplication to the only god you know. if your master’s control had been any less potent, you would believe that you were acting of your own accord. but… this is good, too. just because he’s drawn the words from your lips doesn’t make them any less genuine. “i love you, astarion.”

“there’s my perfect little pet,” he says. something flashes across his face— something you don’t recognize, something that hints at regret. the urge to kiss the sadness from his expression is familiar, and not completely contrived. “i love you, too.”

his hands find your hips, and he finally, finally sinks inside of you. your eyes flutter shut, intent on luxuriating in this pleasure to the fullest. there is no greater joy than when astarion is inside of you, filling you, making you his. there is no greater glory than serving your master.

“astarion,” your breath catches in your throat as he rolls his hips up. his cock drags deliciously against your sensitive walls. he stimulates you mercilessly, making sure to pay attention to all of the spots that make you go weak and dizzy and pliable. you cling to him, melting against his shoulder as he thrusts up again and again and again. “i— i’m— astarion!”

“i’m here, little love,” he purrs. “it feels good, doesn’t it?”

“so good,” you say. it comes out as a soft little sob. “i— you— wait, astarion, i— oh!” 

he shifts your weight in his lap, and the slightest change in angle lets him slip just a bit deeper. the tip of his cock kisses a painfully sensitive spot deep inside, and your eyes widen, shock quickly giving way to pleasure. he’s so deep. you’re so full.

“there it is,” he coos. “that’s right. look at you, taking me nice and deep. i can practically taste it, you know. how good you’re feeling.”

your body is his. he owns it. he controls it. the barest hint of a command nudges at the corner of your mind, and you let go of the lingering pain. your gaze goes unfocused, and your jaw slackens. you have never believed in an eternal paradise, but if you did, you think it might feel something like this.

“that’s it. you’re really feeling it now, aren’t you? just keep feeling good for me, darling.”

you slip in and out of lucidity, after that. your body is a livewire of sensations, melting under astarion’s gentle, sensual caresses. nothing matters besides him. it doesn’t even matter if you cum, though you’re sure you do. astarion would never let you feel anything but pleasure. he would never let you go unsatisfied. you love him, after all. this tender dance of flesh and bliss is what lovers do.

re-emerging into reality is like breaking through the fog of a lovely dream. you come to with your cheek resting against his chest, body clean and dry and delightfully sated. though you know he hasn’t had a pulse for several hundred years, you swear you hear the gentle thud of his heart beating as he traces absentminded patterns over your skin. 

“did i love you well?”

“you were perfect.” a soft smile pulls at his lips. warmth floods your chest, followed by a pang of… of something. something aching, something hurt. you brush it aside. there is no room for hurt in his arms. you have loved him well. you have pleased him.

“thank you,” you murmur, a tender prayer against his skin. the last of his influence drains from your limbs, and you’re once again in full control of your own mind. the loss of his familiar presence in your mind hits you like waves crashing upon the shore. “i miss you already, master.”

he considers you with an inscrutable expression, and he sighs, warm and playfully exaggerated. again, you catch a hint of that odd, misplaced resignation. it almost makes you pout. is he unhappy with you after all? is he dissatisfied?

the need to reassure, to be reassured, drives you forward, and you pepper chaste kisses over the elegant curve of his jaw, the hollow of his throat. your sloppy adoration draws a soft laugh from his lips, and satisfaction settles in your heart once more. 

“you’re so needy, darling,” he says, nuzzling his nose against yours. “but i love you for it.”

the declaration soothes you— a healing balm for all of your little aches and pains. he always knows just what to say to keep you wrapped around his finger. 

“i’d do anything for you,” you say, and you mean it. “i’d give anything for you. everything, all of me, for you.”

the words darken his gaze, snuffing out the spark of regret you’d sensed in his expression for good. your heart flutters. this is how your master should look— confident, powerful. satisfied. happy.

a smile curls, smoke from the ashes, on his lips. it’s sharp; it bleeds at the edges, dark and possessive. “i know, little love. all of you, for me. just as it should be.”

[thefangdomcryptid]

So apparently besides assuming every Tav is a self-insert because gods forbid people don't want to play as themselves for whatever reason, we are now gatekeeping which characters' trauma we are allowed to relate to??? I naturally blocked this person because the question was apparently not asked in good faith but to start an argument, but it just doesn't sit right with me.

Like, fine, we get it, you don't like Astarion. Fine. You don't get why he's so popular, also fine. You don't have to understand why people like a character, because sometimes you never will.

What isn't okay is to talk down to people because they find Astarion's trauma relatable and through his journey find a sort of closure of their own, because we all have our own Cazadors to deal with, but we can't always confront them, so this is the next best thing.

Yes, all the character have their own trauma, Karlach, Wyll, Gale, Shadowheart, Lae'zel. But I can't relate to them. Do you know why?

Because in the height of my C-PTSD I was not nice. I was not helpful. I was a shitty person that made shitty decisions and treated people around me and myself like shit. I was NOT a good person. So yeah, I can see right through Astarion's mask. Just like him I felt alone, and no "heroes" came to save me either.

It's also why I don't really enjoy Ascended Astarion because he feels like me at my worst. I mean obviously not exactly the same, but hurt people DO hurt people. It doesn't mean everyone does, but some do.

Anyway, if you relate to Astarion because of your trauma, or even Ascended because it's a way to deal with yours, you are valid. If you relate to Wyll or Karlach or anyone else for that matter, you are also valid.

And if you can do one thing in Fandom, then be kind.

[abogwitchnamedsage]

𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞 & 𝐙𝐞𝐯𝐥𝐨𝐫

Finally, I’ve finished my 10th Zevlor drawing!! Huzzah!! And (as a special treat to myself), I included my current Tav build—Sage! (Why yes, I do name all of my favorite player characters Sage, lol.)

Anyway, this Tav was inspired by a “silly” Honor Mode run I did where I roleplayed myself in a isekai-esque scenario… it was the worst playthrough I ever had!! All the outcomes were super sad and unsatisfying because I made EVERY decision because on what I would do, from dialogue options down to whether I would jump over a chasm or not. Ugh, I could talk about it forever—it essentially put me through a weeks-long depression and forced me into a heap of self-discovery and soul searching. 0/10 would not recommend.

After that disaster of a playthrough, I wanted to get a legitimately silly playthrough in, so I installed a gun mod and gave my self-insert character an OP gun as their main weapon. It was funny, BUT then I started overthinking a background story and character arch until the Tav became their own strange non-lore friendly being. Thus, Sage was born!

Sage is a human from our universe who was transported to the world of Faerun, specifically Baldur’s Gate, through a multi-universal tear between the two worlds. For three months, she lived under the Society of Brilliance, who sought to study her origins and unnatural magic tethered to her home world. When they found out she could summon any item from her home world an a whim, it sparked discussions on the very ethics of her existence. After much experiments and debates, it was decided that she posed way too heavy of a threat and liability to the world. Before they could do anything about that conclusion, the mindflayer invasion that happened (at the start of the game) simultaneously saved Sage from the Society of Brilliance and doomed her with a mindflayer tadpole in her head.

I haven’t decided yet, but I might make more art including/featuring Sage!! I’ve played about 5 full playthroughs of BG3 and Sage has become my favorite Tav so far to roleplay (and I love Zevlor paired with Sage romantically… much angst and love potential!).

[postcardsfromheapside]

Look, I completely understand loving Astarion (*I* love Astarion, he's my canon Tav's romance) but it's been over a year. The posts where y'all pretend to complain that you've started/completed X number of playthroughs and only romanced him, and ask “genuinely how do you romance anyone else??? [insert emojis]”, are performative and aren't cute.

You're the one controlling the dialogue. If you aren't actually interested in one of the other characters or seeing their romance, don't do it. I think it's a shame to do the same thing over and over again in a game that gives you an incredible amount of choice, with several nuanced characters to explore, but do you.

What's an actual problem is the self-congratulatory “haha, I can't control myself!” nature of these posts - no one is controlling your fingers. You could have different saves going at the same time so you can romance Astarion at the same time another character. There's no reason to be weird, or implicitly frame your preference for him as “none of the other characters compare.” (which is nonsense)