#yes im also writing a oneshot about tav realizing he seemed like he wasnt fully there during the scene

[sewermageboy]

"Anyone who makes Astarion do the foursome/fivesome is a monster -" shut the fuck up.

He is the one who initiates it. At no point in the conversation did my Tav say that they wanted to do this, until Astarion was the one to suggest going for it.

Now, I as the player know that Astarion isn't going to have a great time here, that he will dissociate, and it'll probably end up as a shit experience in the end. But my character doesn't know that. All they know is that their partner is enthusiastically suggesting that he wants to do this, to reclaim a part of himself, that he wants to try and figure out his own desires after having them be cast aside for so long.

He assures you that he is up for this, that he'll leave if he grows truly uncomfortable. I (as the player) know that he won't, that he'll still go along with it even if he starts to grow uncomfortable, but my character? They're choosing to trust their partner in asserting his own boundaries and telling them if he's uncomfortable, if he needs to leave. To my character, telling him not to do this when he so clearly wants to try feels almost a little condescending.

You can even check in with him during the scene, asking him if he's alright.

To me, this isn't a scene in which one partner pressured the other to do this at all. It's a scene in which Astarion tried something, eager to experience all the pleasures that come with freedom and healing, and it didn't work out because 200 years of trauma and baggage don't just miraculously go away.

But he tried, and he chose to try, and supporting him in those choices matters, too.