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Companions combat animation by Jessica Simard, DA:tV gameplay animator, currently senior animator at Larian Studios.

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one of my current wips

(commissions open)

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He GIVES the best hugs, no past tense, I refuuuuse that, and I needed to see these hugs realized so, here, indulge 💖

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:)

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What a day of unexpected splendor💕

(I finally finished my Veilguard stamp rally prize for Anime Expo woo!!)

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I'm never going to take a better screenshot than this

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dogs of baldur’s gate 3 🐶

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Tav: So, your last name is Dekarios? Gale: It is. Courtasy of my mother, the inimitable, dare I say it sometimes unavoidable Morena Dekarios. It's been so long since I've used it. 'Gale Dekarios' cuts a poor figure next to the wizarding prowess of 'Gale of Waterdeep.' Tav: Gale Dekarios… I think I like him more.

Gif commissions

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can we share a smoke together after homoerotically beating each other to a bloody mess

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Boys, could you stop please. It's not a contest.

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mods edits

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Still thinking about the way Astarion reaches out to you in early act 1 and his desire to connect with other people.

There’s a scene I didn’t mention in that post, but it deserves a thorough analysis.

It’s the second night. None of you has turned into a mindflayer, but everybody in camp is thinking about it. Astarion too. And he asks you how you'd like to be killed if you ever turn into a mindflayer.

Here is what the synopsis of the scene says.

I can’t stress enough how much I like him being “professional”.

The professional Assassin

He offers his service as an assassin. You’re not a friend yet – he barely knows you - you’re a potential “client” . But you won’t pay him for sex, no. you could pay for something that appeals to him much more than sex-work: Murder – well in this case, ‘assisted su*cide’.

Of course I'm exaggerating here: you won't pay, not with gold at least. And killing you if your turn into a mindflayer will also save his life. But it's still a service he's willing to do, and there's still something transactional about it. What he'd get in exchange? Safety, of course. And a token of your trust.

Look at how disappointed he is if you refuse his offer:

 He wants you to see him as a professional assassin. And a good one. He’s not just a pretty face and a lockpick set. He can kill.  

There’s an underlying threat here, he lets you know how dangerous he can be. But it’s not exactly a threat, just a little warning behind his enthusiastic speech about his "favourite activity".

Careful bonding

It's playful, ironical, a little bit cynical too, to better alleviate the fear of ceremorphosis. After all, you’re in the same boat, and no matter how dire the situation seems to be, it’s still an opportunity to bond. He is not alone in this, neither are you.

I’ve already talked a lot about how Astarion uses irony to bond (here), and to reveal dark things about himself/his past with a smirk. Irony and sarcasm are his main defence mechanisms, the most obvious at least, and it's happening here again: There are a few hints about his vampiric natures, like how difficult it will be to kill him in a traditional way, or how improbable his current situation (free, walking in the sun, etc.) is.

In this scene, we also see the full scope of his talent at hiding his fears and darkness behind a mask, behind jokes and sarcasm.

If you refuse to chose an option, he lets you know that he’ll make the right choice, because "he likes you".

Honestly, I think he’s exaggerating here. It’s too early in the game to imagine that he “likes” you. He appreciates your presence and is probably grateful that you keep him around, but I can't imagine him being that honest with his feelings at this point. Besides, look at his face and how it changes: he looks almost sweet when he says it, but when he says the rest of the sentence "I'll make the right choice", he's fierce, almost looking like a predator, almost threatening.

Now, if you accept that he might be the one who'll kill you, he decides to show off, talking about the different methods and how to do it. It’s grim, but it’s entertaining. Look at him showing how much of an expert he is with a knife.

And how well he knows his poisons.

(Very impressive, dear. I'm proud of you🧡 )

And of course he approves! He appreciates that you play along, because you take him seriously. You take the situation seriously, and you basically trusts him to do the "right thing" in the worst case scenario.

Plus, you accept to talk lightly about it. You are bonding over something he likes talking about: killing.

The threat of ceremorphosis is real. You both know it, better prepare for the worse, together. But it doesn’t have to be a gloomy talk.

He wants to play this game with you. Not making fun of you, but having little fun with you.

The appeal of death

During this discussion he also displays sort of fascination for death.

 There’s a sort of poetry about it. As if death was somehow attractive. So attractive that he watched the child dying - not see, watch. As if death was mesmerizing.

Astarion made it clear that Cazador's treatments can make one wish for death.

And I have no doubt that it's is true.

Now, I don’t think Astarion usually has self-destructive thoughts, it’s clear enough that he wants to survive and he’d do anything to survive. His death-whish during that year in a tomb depends on the context: a painful, hopeless situation that would drive anyone crazy.

But his relation to death is complex. He's undead, after all! He already died once, his body no longer functions like that of a mortal. He's even carrying the scent of death on him.

Given that, I can perfectly understand why he'd find "death", the idea of dying (for real), fascinating, comforting, and a little bit appealing. Death is a constant part of his existence, it surrounds him but never really touches him. He jokes about it, he's familiar with it, he talks about death with sarcasm and irony to better cope with it. He is a dead person who cannot die.

Not easily die, at least.

Because you can ask him how he would like to be killed, and there he goes, amused by the idea! By the way, you can ask him twice how he would like you to kill him: Once before you give your own answer (you need inspiration), and in this case he answers enthusiastically, dropping a hint about his true nature.

The other time after you have answered, and there, he doesn’t reply, but nonetheless hints at his vampiric nature, but also as his will to live.

I see it as a technique of manipulation: He will answer your question only to make you answer. If he already knows what he wants to know, he has no reason to answer you.

In truth, he has no actual reason to manipulate you at this point of the game, but through those strategies, he remains in control of the discussion, he is pulling the strings, and that must be quite reassuring to him. Perhaps it’s an unconscious habit, something he instinctually does after years of seducing people for Cazador. Maybe it’s a defence mechanism. Or maybe he's just having fun.

Look at this silly boy.

Growing trust

And oh, if you tell him you’d kill him in return, he approves! And I think it says two things: You trust him to do the right thing and he will trust you to do the same for him. "You have my back, I've got yours."

But there's also something about how he appreciates your potential danger. He realizes that you’re not so easily manipulated, and that you can kill. Which makes you a good leader, and a potential protector. Someone who will not blindly accept to be killed. Who’ll fight. And also, you’re challenging him, you're basically telling him, ‘I don’t care how you kill me, but you’ll die with me.”

 It can be read as a contradiction, but it makes sense: He doesn’t approve if you refuse to play his game, but he approves if you play without playing, if you tell him ‘We’ll kill each other”. Because in the last option you show defiance and present yourself as someone who wouldn’t die without fighting. As someone who’s not afraid to kill.

Likewise, if you tell him you can bear a lot of blood, he approves, for the same reasons.

And in doing so, he also hints again at his dark past and his nature.

Death and Sex

Another point that I find also quite interesting is that he is asking you how you want to die, as asking for your consent : "Can I be the one who will kill you? How do you want it to happen?"

It reminds me of his pun about the little death during the party.

I don't know if it's relevant, but the truth is that he's asking you if he can be the person doing the thing, and how you would like the thing. And if you tell him you want someone else to do it, he will respect your choice. He accepts you rejection bitterly, as if you had refused to sleep with him because you prefer someone else.

It's possible to see Astarion's offer to kill you as a foreshadowing of him offering you to have sex with you. And considering what sex means to him at this point of his life - a tool to manipulate, which can lead his partners to death - the parallel between the two in early act 1 makes a lot of sense to me.

I can see another foreshadowing in the very beginning of the discussion.

This one is a bit far-fetched, I admit that, but the parallel fascinates me. And I'm a succer for such dramatic irony. Because if you romance him, he'll steal your heart so to speak, while you'll bring Spawn Astarion's heart back to life.

Whereas if he ascends, he will indeed stop that pretty heart of yours, and change you forever.

Maybe this discussion was a real (but unconscious) warning after all.

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Most people: Dragon age Veilguard

Me: Emmrich dating simulator

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So funny that Emmrich, Emmrich of all people, got scammed while buying magic items in Minrathous, so he decides to take the law into his own hands, and...

... he proceeds to haunt the shit out of the scammer while pretending to know nothing about it.

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you receive Astarion