#thats even sadder to me

[dizzydizney]

This is obviously a sensitive subject and not meant to cause hurt. Curious to hear what other people think, but I'm not looking to start discourse or upset people. Feel free to not answer if it's too much.

[geminipdf]

tasks today involve reading the last 200 pages of the godfather and then watching the godfather. AND drinking my funny italian soda drink i brought back from sicily

[alpinelogy]

I just realized that when I write dialogue I usually write out only the dialogue before any of the action and sometimes I even imagine the dialogues lines as if in a theater play… now im wondering how obvious it is in the final draft

[mxwhore]

mutuals. i am getting caught in my own bitterness again...

[satansleftnutcheek]

Just had like the biggest brain realization about Astarion bear with me I think I'm onto something here. Spoilers ahead for those who don't know about his "condition" or haven't heard about his tragic backstory™

I think people generally overlook the bite scene in favor of focusing on how it reveals Astarion being a vampire, how it can benefit the player if you're trying to romance him, or find an easy way to get him out of your party. I would like to note that there’s nothing wrong with this response! I did the same in my play through because I already knew he was a vampire due to spoilers. I just saw the scene as Astarion looking for his equivalent of a sandwich when it happened.

But why does Astarion bite Tav of all people?

The obvious answer is because Tav's the protagonist. Any important character scenes will happen to or involve them because they're the player character. It's the nature of how RPG stories are told. However, Larian Studios has put a lot of thought into this game, so why not dig a bit deeper?

Assuming Tav has everyone in their camp when this scene is triggered, Lae'zel and Shadowheart are off the menu purely because if things go wrong they'd immediately kill Astarion. Not good! If things go wrong with Karlach he could possibly smooth talk his way out of it. After all, she's a very kind person who goes out of her way to help people. But she's also twice his size and could snap him like a twig, which is not a risk worth taking.

Wyll isn't nearly as much of a threat as the other three, if it came down to it, Astarion could probably take him in a fight. The main problem here is that Wyll happens to have a habit of killing monsters, which would make talking things out really difficult. Astarion's relied on skills like persuasion for the past 2 centuries so he'd probably want to have his best skills be viable options if things go awry. Halsin, much like Karlach, is twice his size and could kill him with ease. Hard pass on that! This leaves Gale as the last, and really only, viable option. I mean look at him, he's frail as hell, always having the lowest HP in the party, and his weapon is a stick. Worst thing that could happen to Astarion is a bonk on the head.

So then why Tav? Why are they the one Astarion bites?

Now Tavs come in a lot of varieties. The player could be doing a Dark Urge run, they could be playing as the embodiment of pure evil, the kindest soul that is second only to Jesus, or somewhere in between. However, the one thing that unites them all is their power. They're the leader of the party and the others (to varying degrees) respect them. Tav is the one that chooses where the party goes, who they help, who they kill, and even how they'll have the tadpoles removed. In a way, Tav controls the party.

Remind you of something that Astarion openly talks about wanting?

For two centuries Astarion hasn't had autonomy, respect, freedom, resources, or control. What he's learned from those centuries is that power always gets you what you want. If you want freedom you need the power to control others. So while biting Gale would be the easy answer, it doesn't have the perk that biting Tav does.

If Tav wakes up during his biting attempt, Astarion could smooth talk his way out of it. If things go okay and Astarion gets to keep his head, he'll have gained more of Tav's trust. This in turn would give Astarion greater power over them as they'd be easier to manipulate, which in turn gives him more control over the others. If he ends up killing Tav then that technically would open up a power vacuum in the party. Whoever fills it would have all the power and control that Tav has. I don't think any of the other characters would let that happen though. Astarion's the person who you don't want to be the leader because he's clearly performing this role for his own self-centered reasons. Also seeing as this scene generally happens early in the game, nobody likes him enough to just let him become the leader.

Now if Tav lets Astarion bite them things get more interesting. It's a possibility that never occurred to him, but he isn't going to turn it down. First of all, it establishes Tav as an easy food source. Astarion has a consenting snack that in the future, might let him bite again. If that happens then Astarion's food source becomes far more reliable and surviving becomes significantly easier. Tav's consent also reveals how much they trust Astarion. From his perspective Tav's shown too much of their hand. Astarion's simple plan to manipulate Tav for the sake of his security has become child's play at this point.

All this being said having Astarion choose to bite Tav over Gale reveals so much about his character. While Gale is the safest choice to make, Tav's position of leadership is what entices Astarion to bite them over Gale. After experiencing two hundred years of mental and physical abuse, Astarion values power so much he'd be willing to risk his ability to not become a mind flare, and his life, in order to gain it. All because this is what he learned from being Cazador's slave for 200 years.

[shortnsweetgf]

i need to vent about something that happened and i’ll do it in the tags of this post and i dont really know how to trigger it but it may be triggering so yeah maybe dont read it idc i just need to talk to the void

[banqanas]

fantaaaaa do something to entertain me so i dont keep crying for missing out ballipsyfe

[thebigqueer]

its not even just seeing her that im worired about . im so dreading going back cuz everyones gonna be like 'so have you seen your pookie yet!!' and im gonna have to sit there and look embarrasing and stupid as fuck saying 'oh we broke up. yeah sorry i know i ranted to you guys all the tiem about how much i liked her and made you all listen to everything we did on some reandom date only for us to break up almost out of nowhere. sorry for letting you down and wasting your time' like fuckkkk . im gonna look so fucking stupid saying all this cuz they all knew how much we liked each other. theyre all gonna look at me in so much fucking pity and i dont want to deal with all that

[ghostlypawn]

this parallel makes me want 2 die btw

[lollylandgirl]

I watched GotG vol 3 last Monday... Movie good.

[soliddaddy96]

media analysis or just . SPEAKING about it for that matter on tiktok is so abhorrent it literally is making me infuriated 

[lavenderteacat]

honestly at this point. it feels like the difference between s1 and s2 of link click is that Everyone Mattered in s1 and s2 is just. determined to be some kind of cop show. like what the hell

[modeltyped]

no, i am not thinking about justin suffering the repercussions of having been oversexualized and objectified from a very young age -- to the point where his dms are so filthy not even bleach would clean them -- and being more than likely constantly touched without his consent, as a teenager, a child, from grown women, and subjected to having to smile and chuckle through all of that like it didn’t bother him -- TRAINING HIMSELF to believe it didn’t bother him, of course they wanted him, look at him !!  i am not thinking about justin feeling like he does not own his own body, his own image; of seeing himself and not recognizing himself -- of the first images of his completely naked body that circulate online not done in a tasteful spread by a trusted photographer ( not even his own nudes ) but taken by someone camped outside of his house and spread around the internet like wildfire -- of justin having to laugh it off as though he “couldn’t have kept all this to himself forever [he] guess[es] !!” as if it is some joke, as if he has not been constantly violated every moment of his life, especially since the exposure of to.tal dra.ma -- ESPECIALLY REGARDING THE DRAMA B.ROS ERA.  i’m not thinking of jesus setting him up with therapy appointments to learn to set boundaries and learn who he is beyond his appearance.  i’m not !!!  thinking about that !!! at all !!!

[howldive]

feeling sad for happy reasons and feeling sad for sad reasons at the same time

[caramelmochacrow]

there are 13 votes in the poll what the fuck people care about me?!?!?!?!?!? (<- he is not used to people listening to him)

[meejijis]

Crazy how a couple of years ago when the dark times from 2016 to 2018 of the dsp fandom vs the dsp critical blogs fandom wars was around, the same anti that used to "call" me out for shipping a height gap pairing spreading misinfo saying im a p word and harassed/send hate other ppl in the dsp fandom alongside the other dsp critical blogs is somehow still an anti and still acts like an anti at the age of 25. That's sad.