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A commission by the very talented ArcaneMoonArt on Twitter!

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Tavuary 14 - Love!

Still not 100% health-wise, but I'm determined to get caught up with these prompts! It was the fourteenth day of #Tavuary! There are two ways to participate by either following the Week-by-Week Prompts (Week Two is "Amour") or by using the Day-by-Day prompts found in this post! Fic Title: In the Darkness Pairing: Astarion x Dandy (my Halfling Bard Tav) Warnings: None, just fluff. Summary: (Act 3) Astarion may have said "I love you" aloud first, but love takes many forms.

Love was not what Astarion expected to find after so many years of loneliness and false pretences. He had scarcely dreamed, even while alive, that love, the kind built of trust and understanding, was in the cards for him. He could not even say if he truly desired it until the possibility was taken from him in death.  Dandy, however, loved very freely — she loved people and songs and so many things in the great wide world. It seemed, to Astarion at least, that hers was a life made for loving, for tenderness. She cared so openly even when it brought her pain.  Though Astarion might have been first to say “I love you” aloud on a cloudless night above his empty grave, it was Dandy who first showed it. She listened and was patient with him, even when he acted his worst, when he taunted her good nature and mocked her kindness.  When Astarion needed assurance the most, in the depths of Moonrise Towers, Dandy opened her mind to him. She had always been reluctant to use the tadpole’s power, but she did so because Astarion needed the truth: not a promise, not physical affection, but the plain truth. He allowed their thoughts to merge, and he feared he would learn that Dandy saw him as some beautiful broken doll in need of repair and protection. Dandy’s mind and heart, however, did not view him as an object of pity. In her mind, Astarion saw himself standing strong and proud despite the looming shadows trying to push him to his knees. Dandy wanted to be the light in the darkness to ease his pain and to share his burdens but not to fight his battles for him. In her mind, they were equals, partners without pretext. She loved him as a friend first, and, in that troubling time, a friend was what he needed more than anything. 

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old friend

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Brought to you by the smoothest rogue you ever did see.

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Little wizard and his beloved Tressym ❤️💕❤️💕

I saw some hate comments on Tara lately and really wanted to draw something nice with her and Gale... she's one of my favourites and I love relationship between those two and I think it's so wholesome and precious 🥺💕💕

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Tavuary Day 13 - Vows

It was the thirteenth day of #Tavuary! There are two ways to participate by either following the Week-by-Week Prompts (Week Two is "Amour") or by using the Day-by-Day prompts found in this post! Fic Title: Thatch-Roofed Cottages Pairing: Astarion x Dandy (my Halfling Bard Tav) Warnings: None, just fluff. Summary: (Post-Game) They're going to the chapel, and they're going to get married.

Sprawled in bed with parchment scattered everywhere, Astarion and Dandy polished off their second bottle of wine and were about to start on a third. The pair cuddled beneath several blankets with Dandy’s head on Astarion’s shoulder as they poured over their copious note-taking.  “What about ‘I crossed oceans of time to find you?’” Astarion motioned wistfully with an outstretched hand.  “It sounds very pretty, but I thought you wanted to veer away from any sentiments that sound like love-is-worth-the-suffering?” He crossed out the line with a sigh. “This is hard. I used to be good at this, you know.” They were trying to craft the vows they would recite at their upcoming nuptials. They already held a “handfasting” ceremony, and Astarion still was not certain why they had to have a second wedding. He did, however, receive wagon from Dandy’s parents at the handfasting, but he was clueless as to whether the wagon was just a gift or some sort of dowry.  “Why don’t you just say what you said when we visited the graveyard? That was lovely.” “I don’t think your parents would appreciate me saying that I didn’t like you when we first met.” “I didn’t like you either.” “Little liar, you are incapable of disliking anyone,” Astarion laughed, “at least, until they have fully acted an ass.” “You certainly did.” Astarion snuck a glance at Dandy’s much more robust collection of notes in her swirling unreadable script and compared it to the few scattered scribbles on his own. His only accomplishment out of an evening’s worth of work was a ridiculous drawing of a dragon that amounted to little more than two S-shapes, stick legs, and a not insignificant amount of consummate Vs. He was just about to add some thatch-roofed cottages for the dragon to attack when Dandy doodled a blobby vaguely-rabbit-shaped orb with wings that likely could not support its weight on his paper. “I gave the dragon a friend,” she noted before adding little hearts and stars to her design. 

For a while, they just added to each other’s drawings until the entire surface of the parchment was full of delightful nonsense, including a mermaid taming a majestic winged phallus. “You can say whatever you’re comfortable with for your vows. You can be over-the-top romantic or plainspoken, and it won’t bother me either way. I know how you really feel, and that’s enough for me.” “I appreciate that, darling.” Astarion kissed the top of Dandy's head, enjoying a little nuzzle into chestnut brown waves. “Just no entendres — double, triple, or otherwise.” “I make no promises.”

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Tavuary Day 12 - Wish!

Still recovering from being so sick, still getting caught up! It was the twelfth day of #Tavuary! There are two ways to participate by either following the Week-by-Week Prompts (Week Two is "Amour") or by using the Day-by-Day prompts found in this post! Fic Title: A Wing and a Prayer Pairing: Astarion x Dandy (my Halfling Bard Tav) Warnings: None, just fluff. Summary: (20 years Post-Game) Astarion makes a wish on Dandy's behalf.

Astarion had learned one very important thing after living amongst the Halflings for half each year over two decades: They did not need an excuse to celebrate. Anything and everything could result in a spontaneous potluck or barn dance, and these fêtes could be raucous affairs with family feuds being mended and begun anew over the course of several lagers in one evening.  When Halflings planned a celebration, however, it could turn into a tenday long affair of food and music. They were currently five days into a “baby shower” for one of Dandy’s many cousins. Astarion found it a weird phrase as he felt that the mother-to-be was definitely the one being showered with attention and gifts rather than the lump in her belly. As it was the fifth-day, Safeday as the Halflings called it, the itinerary of activities were a little more pious as Berry Hollow’s clergy were out in their finery, waving the banners of Yondalla, their mother-god. While some were preparing for the village luncheon, despite the fact that they had just finished morning tea, others were setting up games for later in the afternoon. Dandy and her sisters organised the children into several little squadrons and were taking them on the “Wayward Walk,” the least intimidating city patrol one could ever imagine.  From what Astarion understood of the Halflings’ dogma, these walks were meant to prove to their goddess that they loved and protected their home, their greatest gift from the divine. Off Dandy, Happy, and Jolly went with all the children to check over every corner of the village to clear rocks from paths that might stub a toe, to prune brambles in the vineyard that might cause a scratch, and to do small chores for those they met, singing and waving verdant ribbons as they did. Astarion wandered around, watching the festivities and trying to not be awkward. It was a beautiful day, and he wanted to enjoy the sunlight on his face. Astarion flexed his hand, feeling the weight of the Moonbalm ring he wore in place of a wedding band. The ring, found after many years of researching and adventuring, was a large oval of polished lapis fixed into an elaborately carved silver setting. It was a reminder of Astarion and Dandy’s bond, the new life she had given him, and all the improvements, both emotionally and physically, he had worked so hard for. Near the centre of the village, where the children would end their promenade and lunch would begin, there was a large wooden sculpture brought from the nearby temple for the Safeday services. Atop a short pillar, decorated with woven chains of flowers, was a cornucopia bursting with all the lands bounties with a very plump dove perched atop it all. The dove represented Yondalla, and the cornucopia and its contents were all the rewards given to her faithful.  Astarion stared into the wooden bird’s cheerful little face. In the distance, he could hear Dandy singing with children’s voices joining hers. “Listen, I know you won’t help me. No gods have ever done me any favours, and I’m not one of your Little Folk,” he spoke plainly, having learned over time that prayers to this particular goddess usually came with little fanfare or supplications. “But this isn’t for me. It’s for her, and, if you think she doesn’t deserve something after everything she’s been through, then you are a terrible fucking god, and you don’t deserve her.” The carved bird, of course, did not answer, remaining eternally still and content amongst the wooden fruit. “It’s not like I’m asking for a complete miracle either. It’s like a half-miracle.”

From the corner of his eye, Astarion could see the procession rounding a bend to return to the village centre. Dandy, her face so full of life, held the hand of a small child with another on her hip as she sang her song’s words slowly so that they could learn them. “Dandy’s always taking care of everyone else. She’s kept every promise she’s ever made to me without asking anything in return, so please help me give her this. Be the god she believes you to be because, until you do, you’re just as useless as the others.” While challenging a god was usually not an advisable idea, Astarion figured that, if the all the deities were truly out to spite him, that Yondalla might intervene just to prove him wrong, and he would most happily be made a fool in this situation. 

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Tavuary Day 11 - Dinner Date!

Sorry for the delay. I got really sick, but I'm recovering -- and getting caught back up with my prompts. It was the eleventh day of #Tavuary! There are two ways to participate by either following the Week-by-Week Prompts (Week Two is "Amour") or by using the Day-by-Day prompts found in this post! Fic Title: Dinner Reservations Pairing: Astarion x Dandy (my Halfling Bard Tav) Warnings: Blood and biting, but nothing too saucy. Summary: Act 1, pre-romantic-relationship; Astarion and Dandy have to come to an understanding about his dietary restrictions.

“Why must you be so difficult?” “Not the neck,” Dandy repeated as Astarion paced around tree stump she was standing upon. She thought the added height might make him take her more seriously.  “But I have to eat! You saw how much faster I was today; I know you did!” “I didn’t say that you couldn’t drink my blood. You just can’t bite my neck. Ever. Again.” “Well,” Astarion paused his pacing and placed his hands on his hips. “Why not?” “I’m a bard, you absolute walnut. You like being healed, don’t you? You like that extra invigoration that I provide in battle? I need my throat in optimal shape to provide that.” Dandy pulled her hair away from her shoulders to reveal the deep puncture wounds, barely scabbed over, in her neck. “We’re just going to have to find another arrangement.” Astarion felt the tiniest, most minuscule twinge of guilt. The bite marks looked so much bigger, so much angrier on a Halfling. It made Astarion feel like the monster he wished he wasn’t.  “Fine, fine,” he raised his hands in a placating gesture, “we could try your wrists.” Dandy was quick to quash that idea. “No, it can’t be anything that might affect my playing. I hit a wrong chord by mistake, and we die, remember?” “Legs then?” This took a little more consideration, but Dandy eventually shook her head. “It might affect my gait or slow me when running or something.” Growing frustrated, Astarion groused, “Well, I’m not biting your ass!” Dandy’s whole face went red. She hopped down from the tree stump and began to storm away. “Why are you always so crude?!”  Astarion rolled his eyes. He supposed he should have expected such theatrics from a bard. “Wait!” Astarion managed to stop her before she got too far. “Let me try something.” Dandy, still flustered, folded her arms protectively across her chest. “You’re not biting my baps either.” “Now who’s being crude?” Astarion raised an eyebrow as he dropped down to his knees.  Perhaps it was from centuries of seducing unsuspecting folk; perhaps it was because he was enjoying how cute Dandy looked when she embarrassed, Astarion brought his hands down her sides as he went to the ground. Her curves were all softness, and he quite liked the feel of her plush frame.  Finding a slight dip over her hip, Astarion leaned forward and cautiously pulled at the waist of Dandy’s sleep capris as he lifted her top just an inch. He bit down into pillowy flesh, relishing how her body stiffened from the initial sensation of it.  One of Dandy’s hands settled on the back of Astarion’s head, fingers threading nervously through his curls. Her other hand went to his ear, rubbing the tip between her thumb and forefinger. Dandy had done the same action when Astarion bit her the first time — ready to pinch him if the pain was too much or if he was getting a little too lost in the taste of her. However, it was also a comforting gesture for her, making sure her mind was still clear and present.  With no need for pinching this time, Astarion pulled back, tentatively licking the wounds closed. His body felt so warm, so calm, with a pleasant tingle around his unbeating heart. Her blood was like cherry cordials with a sweet gin fizz, light and refreshing yet oh-so-decadent. As Astarion came to his senses, he realised Dandy was still petting his hair and holding his ear. He glanced up to see her large eyes reflecting the starlight, her heart-shaped lips parted ever-so-slightly as each breath sent her breasts heaving against her bodice. In that moment, he wanted to embrace her. However, Astarion forced himself to his feet, his head still swimming from the intoxicating experience. The blood, it seemed, had all gone in one direction which was opposite his brain. As he stood, Dandy’s arms languidly raised, as though she did not want to let go, until she could not hold on any longer. Astarion cleared his throat. “Thank you. Again.” They walked back to camp in silence, and Astarion desperately tried to keep the taste of Dandy’s blood on his tongue for as long as he could. 

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playing dress up again

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cry little star ⭐️

prints !

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Shovel says fuck the authority

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I hear you found a new lover.

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This Baby Durge is everything to me. Oh my gosh, so cute!

They agreed on "Frostball".

I'd pay for a DLC that's just more noblestalk memories for everyone.

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Yondalla works in mysterious ways!

Adoption is fun.

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Tavuary Day 10: Surprise!

It's the tenth day of #Tavuary! There are two ways to participate by either following the Week-by-Week Prompts (Week Two is "Amour") or by using the Day-by-Day prompts found in this post! Fic Title: Reunion Pairing: Astarion x Dandy (my Halfling Bard Tav) Warnings: None, just cute and fluffy. Summary: (Post-Game) Astarion receives a welcomed surprise.

The Berryborne triplets were plotting something, and Astarion pretended not to notice, busying himself with a book inside the cottage. Though he could not quite understand every conspiratorial whisper, he caught sight through the parlour window of the sisters pacing about the garden in a little huddle, like a trio of geese.  “Do you think he’ll like it?”  “He’s going to love it!”  “Stop worrying so much! Let’s just go in!” As one would expect from triplets, Dandy and her sisters were nearly identical, sharing the same precious doll-like face and bright eyes. One could easily tell them apart, however, by their hair. Astarion referred to them together as a “harlequin parfait:”  Dandy the chocolate, Happy the vanilla, and Jolly the strawberry. Upon seeing the ladies preparing to enter the cottage, Astarion moved away from the window to pose nonchalantly by the fire, pretending to be engrossed by his book and to not have been eavesdropping. After the unpinning of hats and the removal of shawls, the ladies bustled into the parlour, looking quite mischievous. “Snickerdoodle,” Dandy came to wrap her arms around Astarion’s middle. She swayed from foot to foot, taking Astarion along for the motions. “Welcome home.” He leant down to kiss her forehead before straightening to preen his hair. “I didn’t know we were having company. I must look a mess.” Dandy had to hide her laugh as Happy and Jolly instantly began placating him. “You look wonderful!” “Yes, just lovely! Please don’t fuss on our account!” Much like their sister, Happy and Jolly were very gestural, flapping their hands about when speaking, so the fact that Jolly kept arms behind her back the whole time was suspicious.  “So, ladies, what is the occasion?”  “Jolly’s made a present for you.” Dandy offered, not able to contain the excitement. Jolly’s face went as red as her hair. “It’s nothing special! It’s just that... I got inspired, and, well…” From behind her back, she revealed a lace-wrapped parcel before handing it to Astarion.  Poised to give some charming platitude about the gift, no matter what it was, Astarion lifted up the lace covering to reveal a small canvas portrait. A moment passed before his brain could process that the painting was of him. For so many years, his memories, included that of his own face, had become distorted by pain and time. Like a veil falling, Astarion had his reflection back. “Oh…” was all he managed to say before a lump of emotion formed in his throat. He never thought he would be reacquainted with his own self, captured lovingly by brush. “Hello again…”

Dandy hugged him tighter, knowing how much it meant to him. “It’s not perfect.” Jolly explained, her small hands fluttering about nervously. “It’s more like a sketch. I’d love to have you sit for me though… only you want to, of course!”

Blinking back tears, Astarion composed himself. “I would like that very much.”

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A commission from the always astounding HettiKovacs on Twitter. Dandy knows how tough it is being a Halfling when your average-height'd vampire boyfriend wants to feel tall...