ascendedastarionapologist - Tumblr blog

[ascendedastarionapologist]

He came to me in a vision!

[ascendedastarionapologist]

On the topic of the spawn… is it not a reasonable moral dilemma as opposed to a black & white choice? I feel like too many in the fandom approach this situation as inherently evil if you choose to kill them (probably bc 7k is an insanely ridiculous number of souls). Astarion has lived with that hunger, a year of hunger without blood and it left him feral- he is TELLING YOU that these people could hurt thousands because he KNOWS FROM EXPERIENCE & they have been starved for decades to centuries.

Not only is it questionable to basically tell him “you’re wrong, I know better. Don’t kill the ravenous horde of vampire spawn :)” but also you’re telling me out of 7,007 not a single one killed an innocent person? Hell, Astarion could barely control himself at camp and can literally kill you if you roll low enough. But like every discussion surrounding Astarion, the fandom wants shit to be cut & dry/right & wrong

It is one of the strangest dilemmas I've seen in a video game if I'm honest. You have to deal with it regardless of what you choose for Astarion.

I'll tell you, the first thing I thought of when Astarion talked about what would happen if you release them was literal carnage and my entire team being mauled cuz I fucked up Last Light Inn and saw what happens when you go against what NPCs tell you. When that DIDN'T happen in a non ascended route and the spawn were released, it felt entirely unbalanced. I braced myself hard for the consequences that never came. The spawn didn't come flooding out and attack the closest heartbeats like something out of 28 Days Later as the game had been harping since Act 1. Spawn were very dangerous. Grendal and Astarion hammer it home hard, and given what they are, you were supposed to believe them.

Add blood starved and pissed/vengeful to the list and no way to control them since their "master" was now dead, and you have a recipe for absolute disaster once those cells opened. I'm honestly surprised we didn't get Astarion killed by opening those cells. Instead, it was "Oh, just take them to the Underdark through the sewers," something you weren't made aware of beforehand, which also ignores the activities going on down there. It's anticlimactic as hell.

And I've said it before, the 7K, while it makes sense for such a contract, it is merely there for the shock factor. I seriously think they should have focused on the siblings instead and made the spawn be something else, something that wouldn't have been a monster Hunter's job. I'll touch on an idea later that I've had a while back after work that would have dropped the moral dilemma and made it the "good/evil" indication.

Though the game could have been a bit more clear about what happens to those souls if Astarion ascends. I feel that is way too vague.

[ascendedastarionapologist]

im so excited that ulterior motives / ekt has been found

the fact the song is from a porn has just the right amt of sensationalism to match their vibe

its such a bop and i feel like the lyrics would match the sort of gossip that would float around baldur's gate's most problematic couple

[ascendedastarionapologist]

Sorry but

[ascendedastarionapologist]

[ascendedastarionapologist]

“The pale elf” (4/8).

[ascendedastarionapologist]

BUNNY WHISKERS !!!

[ascendedastarionapologist]

Carved from marble.

Sad/soft feels.

[ascendedastarionapologist]

I'm dreading my finals next month but in the meantime, I've been practicing during free time

[ascendedastarionapologist]

Magistrate

Prompt on twitter 💫

Print ❤️

[ascendedastarionapologist]

There it is. Finally.. So much going on in this one. Press ''keep reading'' for the full comic.

Lots of little teaser cameos here and there.. And foreshadowing. Some pages took longer than usual because there's a lot going on in them. But I'm happy to be finally here and am very excited to share it online!

If you're new here, this is the 4th comic. Please check the pinned post for chronological order.

[ascendedastarionapologist]

Astarion's Ascension - Traditonal art (pencils, gold acrylic, PS edit). Sketch here.

You had demons to kill within you screaming With a gun loaded with guilt You opened their eyes [...] Bleed well, the soul you're about to sell For passion deranged [...] Bleed well, the heart you're about to fail For reasons insane Kill and tell Baby, we're bleeding well In hell [...] I heard you weeping And on those words, a church was built To keep the pain in

[ascendedastarionapologist]

Let's try to paint a picture of our man based on what he approves

Note/Warning: this is a ramble about his approval list.

This is nothing new, I just feel like writing it up.

I copied the list of approvals from BG3 wiki for Act 1 and Act 2. Generalised the trigger for approval and here we go lolll Of course, this is how I see those triggers, you don't necessarily agree with me. If you think differently, that's fine. This is not rocket science, nobody needs to go boom.

The number on the top is the total for entries. It doesn't account for how many approval points it gives. Very occasionally, I may have some triggers sitting in 2 category, but none sits in 3.

If I filter out all the 1 approvals, things look interesting.

This is the first one that he gives >1 approval. Our boy wants to help himself first for sure. lolll

This is the first +5. Our boy probably appreciate people with the same level of survival will plus the ability to fight for that survival.

And if you side with him to help/let him survive? Brownie points.

Going further down the list, things that gives >1 approvals, are all similar or adjacent to all these things mentioned above. The most important thing for our boy is his own survival. He really appreciates some kindred spirit. He likes to have "a kin".

This one is quite cute. Either he appreciates the player rooting for their ally, either he appreciates the increased survival chance by keeping a good fighter in the team. I can see he has his hopes up when watching this camp scene and nodding to himself in his head.

Of course we have these ones where the play shows trust and a strong will to keep him. He is happy when his alliance and protection is strongly with the player, very understandable.

Again, very understandably, he likes it when the player respects and shows care for him. After these, more >1 approvals are related to getting his scars deciphered by Raphael and promise help to kill Caz.

Now, people, take a good look at this whole list of approval on BG3 wiki. Does the list of approval paint a man that:

puts his own survival and interest on the top priority

everyone comes as an after thought

well aware of the value of keeping the leader (player) close

happy to gain favour for alliance and protection

very good with his looks and tactics

being bitter about the world

more than happy with personal gain in terms of power and any other things

has a wretched idea of "fun"

No? Look at them again. lol

I love him little shit.

[ascendedastarionapologist]

I kept seeing AA in some dank places... so I think after my work I'll be making a sun throne for him, in my HC, his throne podium is well lit with sun stones to showcase his immunity against the sun (hence the title, Sunwalking Regent). He would extent his blessing to everyone in the room that are his spawns and maybe other true vampires that aren't his lineage, but he can also take the blessing away when he's pissed. I imagine even when the Crimson Palace is covered in fogs day and night, he would have a patch of private gardens where the sun still reach, with greenhouses and shallow ponds to swim with his consort and favorite spawns.

[ascendedastarionapologist]

Quick, catch him! He's ascending!

[ascendedastarionapologist]

beed dabbling with Daz3D again because i found a Genesis 8 model. I think i will commission the artist after i finished my translating work ehehehehehe

Edit,

Credit to: A Cabin in Midgard

[ascendedastarionapologist]

Out of all the possible endings for Astarion the one where he becomes a random traveling hero seems weird to me. just something about it…I dunno it just seems so unastarion like? I can see how his still Astarion as Ascendant, I can see his still Astarion when his king of the spawn. But not some random traveling hero. I might just be weird tho

i think its the best he can do with what he ends up w. thats the one where he stays a spawn and is un-romanced, yeah? tbh what else is a fantasy man supposed to do in faerun other than pick up odd mercenary jobs. i like that they put in the little "its easy to get away with murder if you kill the right people" bit but it is a super lame ending for him