#it's now and it's specifically with astarion

[litsenn]

This one made me think a lot.

 In EA, you had this dialogue after the first time you dream of the guardian – and in EA, the dream was much more erotic; even if you tried to reject the their advances, they insisted quite a lot which made the dream very awkward and creepy.

I have to says that the fact that the dream visitor took the appearance of Cazador to seduce Astarion makes me deeply uncomfortable.

It’s heart-breaking, and so is his reaction. Obviously, his anger is completely legit if you "joke" about him and Cazador in the bedroom, but the fact that he recoils and snaps at you even if you try to comfort him is really sad. "You try to connect, to let him know he's not alone" and he sees it as "pity".

Honestly, it makes a lot of sense.

I can’t really imagine act 1 Astarion accepting to be comforted like that, and his anger and bitterness fall close to home. Showing any kind of vulnerability feels dangerous, because it’s hard to trust, because he doesn’t want to be seen as “weak” and broken and he believes no one can understand his torment. So any act of kindness is depreciated as the lowest form of pity - perhaps the same kind of pity he feels for his siblings (?).

As for his line when you're mean to him: "You know what separates us from animals? Choice. I choose to travel with you. A dog would do it on instinct. To fulfil a need." It's such a powerful statement! He does have the choice now, and he chose to trust you. He did it out of necessity, but it was still his decision. The comparison with the dog is relevant: Contrary to a dog who follows blindly a master, he can make his own choices (now). He no longer is a mindless animal/puppet.

And as soon as you trample on this trust, he legitimately bites back. And in that situation, he'd let the animal(/monster) in him resurface and kill whoever mistreats him.

It's a powerful, and indeed violent way to set his boundaries, it's Astarion empowering himself and saying "never again or else I'll become the monster Cazador made of me."

Revenge against whoever disrespects him becomes a need.

The fact that he mentions the parallel between choice and instinct is so interesting. Especially if you think about the confession scene in Act 2, when he says seducing you was instinctive. And yet, it was still his choice then (cf. my long post about it here). I find it fascinating that he finds himself reflecting on that specific point: Do I do it because I want it, or because it's instinctive? And what's instinctive (or not) in a "need"?

Anyway, even if the scene itself is no longer relevant now that the dream visitor is different, it's still a heart-breaking and fascinating dialogue for what it says about Astarion's mindset at this point.

[not-poignant]

New Palmarosa chapter was *chefs kiss*! I adore all interaction between your Raphael and Astarion! I’m hoping the glimpse of True Submission we see will involve some more BDSM and kink elements 🤭

Hi hi anon!

I'm also hoping that the glimpse of true submission we see will involve more BDSM and kink elements!

That being said, Raphael's not like a professional dominant or anything. He's just a torturer who likes sadism in his kink/sex life in this story. That being said, I'm sure he has a ton of tools at his disposal that he can use if he wants to.

He's been introducing Astarion to his sexual proclivities very, very slowly. He very much wants Astarion hooked into that second contract, which has no actual end-date (it's entirely possible Astarion will complete the ritual, get access to the sun, and still not ever be able to leave if he can't submit - and then one has to ask oneself: would he be okay with that? Because he might actually be okay with that. We'll find out!)

Once Astarion is in the second contract, there's no more walking away. That's it, his body and flesh belongs to Raphael until Raphael gets true submission (and the ritual is completed). At that point, Raphael can torture him mercilessly every day if he wanted to, and never help Astarion ever again re: submission. He'd own Astarion until our vampire got hold of that contract and tore it apart.

Astarion knows that, which is why he's demanding to see true submission in action.

I sadly think Astarion will see it and still not understand and still think it's easy to do. (And for the folks who asked, no it's not subspace. You can force a sub into subspace pretty easily if you have the time and tools without any sign of 'true submission' - hell you can do it to a complete stranger). I think the best place to get an idea of true submission is to look at what Raphael actually wanted from Hope. He went about trying to get it from her in the wrong way, which shows he doesn't exactly have a skillset here for what he's truly looking for, but there's at least one point where he says exactly what he wants from her and we - the reader - know just how impossible that is based on Raphael's own actions.

And once you look at Raphael's wish through the lens of turning Astarion into his new Hope, or needing someone new to obsess over, I think it becomes at least a little clearer what Raphael's aiming for.

(Tbh I thought this was so on the nose - but Raphael needs a new Hope, his last one didn't survive the battle. He wanted one thing from her ultimately, and never received it. And he planned on keeping her until he got it. To me, Astarion being the new stand-in for Hope, and Raphael being clearer about what he wants from the outset...? Like...oof. Astarion hasn't exactly realised that's what's happening to him yet, but it is).

[fullofbees]

Fanon pet peeve is when u see a man that is a submissive and breedable brat but everyone writes him as a sadistic daddy dom. I'm so sorry king u deserve better and as many fingers as u want in ur ass 😔

[elfkissing]

[ID in alt text]

Well we sure don’t keep him around for his winning personality (actual in-game moment from the other night)

[tagerrkix]

back with my astarion bullshit again

[kindlythevoid]

Why did no one tell me that the gang (party) had literally THE funniest conversations once they found out Astarion was a vampire??

Wyll during the reveal saying “no dinner jokes” only for Astarion to say the next day “oh yeah I would totally wanna eat Wyll” when Shadowheart outright asks him who he’d like to drink in the party if he could??? ICONIC tag teaming.

Wyll asking Astarion how the “rat diet” was going and Astarion telling him to shut up or else it’ll end?? F a n t a s t i c work.

Idk if it was bc I had my whole group or something but I swear the day after we found out about Astarion it took everyone a grand total of two seconds of suspicion the night of before they were ready to start cracking jokes and ask about vampirism. I fucking love these guys, they’re hilarious.

[constantvariations]

I always found it interesting that Cazador didn't simply replace Astarion in order to complete the ritual. At first, I thought it was his obsession with Astarion that prevented him from doing so, or perhaps his pride wouldn't allow even a single spawn to escape the fate he created for them

Then I watched Origin Astarion confront Cazador, and the latter said the following:

All those souls you brought me, all linked through the lines I carved on your back. All linked through your blood.

Somehow, every single one of Astarion’s conquests is connected through him to the ritual. The line about blood makes me think there's more to it than just the scars

Perhaps all those tortures Astarion endured weren't entirely on sadistic whims, and the blood collected from those torments was embedded in the carvings of each of his victims. Going by the description of Scarlet Feast, Rhapsody seems to have a container, so it would be easy to carry Astarion’s blood inside the carving weapon itself. Quite convenient, really

Anyway, that's just a theory. I'd love to know y'all's thoughts

[vorestarr]

ok is this a gale romance thing in general to get super horny for the player after fighting in the shadow cursed lands because i have not played the gale romance before and im doing it for the first time with astarion origin, and when he's like "hey do you ever get horny after a fight" to astarion (who is covered in blood and happy for the record) and astarion responds "yeah lol i wrote the book on it" well. let's just say it was a lot.

[galedekkarios]

ascended astarion wanting to sit on his throne with his naked lover sitting nicely in his lap x the arm candy!gale references and line about him looking better naked in the epilogue... amazing how none of us have to ever say that bloodweave is meant to be because the text already does it for us 👍

[finderedacted]

it just keeps happening!!! god bless

[lunian]

I just think this scene of my BG3 replay should get a separate post

[spidersarecannibals]

I can’t be the only one who thinks Wyll and by some small extension, Karlach’s story makes no sense right?

Like Karlach clearly says that she’s not going back, implying that the paladins were supposed to kidnap her and take her to the hells, and if they failed, then kill her. And wyll was already hunting her down (to kill, as further proven later with the Mizora stuff in act 2) in the hells, not kidnapping her, before the tadpole. Why was Wyll hunting her, not a devil that was loyal to Zariel? Why was he supposed to kill her prior to her fully escaping from the hells? Why does Zariel only send the paladins to hunt them down? Mizora knows where Wyll is, it wouldn’t be difficult to send people after her surely.

Also I assume the point of Mizora targeting Wyll to be a warlock was because he is the son of the grand duke, but the game does like three things with this information total and for a allegedly cunning and clever devil, that seems like a dumb move to even risk getting Wyll kicked out of bauldrs gate. If she had never revealed herself, she would be in a far more favorable position in terms of Baldur’s gate to manipulate the political and inner workings.

I also hate how the Ansur quest is both difficult to access and do, discouraging people from actually doing it, and gets hijacked by the Emperor. Pretty much none of Wylls story is just about him and what he went through and it’s really frustrating.

He is an incredible character and where he is going is really interesting to me but there’s so much that isn’t done and doesn’t make sense. He has just a disproportionate amount of content and care compared to some characters (cough cough astarion cough) and I’m so tired of the racism.

I also am so upset that Larian didn’t give him more content in patch 8, because that’s apparently supposed to basically be it for new content and even just having more voice lines and a mildly improved romance would be amazing.

[bananasfosterparent]

The amount of people I've come across in conversations who are

Extreme spawn fans

Extremely anti-aa

Directly making fun of people who positively enjoy villain romances, dark romance, and yandere dynamics

Cherry picking for little things AA says/does that they negatively perceive to be defined as abuse

Directly telling AA fans that those little things are indisputably absue

Unable to step outside of their own perspective window to look through another

But then ALSO state that they are

A professional in the mental health field who works with people

Is concerningly too high for my liking.

[invinciblerodent]

going slightly feral today for characters who don't think of themselves as being "~into~" touch and physical intimacy suddenly discovering that they actually are, in like an embarrassingly huge way

"oh fine, I'll indulge you, but I'll have you know that I'm not exactly cuddly, darling. 🙄" (proceeds to wrap themselves around their partner in their sleep like a boa constrictor) (yes this becomes a regular occurrence)

"no dear, I don't like hugs" (does, in fact, melt into each embrace with a soft sigh and eyes sliding shut, all gooey inside like a person-shaped fudge brownie)

"how juvenile. I'm not ticklish, I'm not a child. 😒" (starts convulsing with stifled laughter if their partner as much as wiggles their fingers in their general direction) (no they are very cool I promise)

"don't touch me 😒" (secretly pouts when their explicit wish is respected. no wait come back i didn't mean don't as in don't, i meant it as try harder. yes i know that's counterintuitive. no you should read my mind exactly. how is that even hard--)

"*makes a longing 🥺 face every time their partner is doing something just out of their reach, wanting to touch them but not wanting to come off as ~needy~*" (scoffs and turns away when asked if they want a hug) ((that means "yes please"))

"ugh, fine, but if you ruin my hair--" (all but tears up at having their scalp gently scratched. finds that they do not give a solitary shit about their hair now, actually.) (yes, they will now regularly plop their head in their partner's lap as a silent request for scritches. they're not cuddly, though.)

will not hold hands. will, however, knock shoulders while walking. (it means try again. it means please never stop trying.)

[forcedhesitation]

cute wyll & astarion dialogue that can trigger when you explore the cliffs around wyrm's rock fortress. wyll would fish when he was younger! I would imagine he continued to do so, while travelling the sword coast as the blade of frontiers :)

[what-is-it-to-be-pk-esque]

Damn ok doing the "Raphael revealing Astarion's scars" scene in a friendship route by the mausoleum instead of by the lanceboard at Last Light Inn is SO MUCH DARKER 😭

At the inn Astarion's pants at least stay on to show his scars, but in front of the Mausoleum? Raphael strips him totally naked. It's very obvious he's naked even with the default camera angles. The dialogue and line delivery is almost identical (Raphael mentions "revealing his skin" in this path though ugh), but I was stunned at the difference

I had heard about this being an old patch thing, so I thought it was maybe a glitch or bug they fixed, but the line from Raphael makes me think it was intentional to have it happen that way in at least one of these scenes

God damn