#astarion only has 10

[caffinedragon]

The Moment my Eldritch Knight knew she had to MaleWife him up.

Transcript:

Astarion: Nice Onesie, does it come in men's?

Gale: I think you come in men enough for all of us.

I love the little smirk he has after he says it, in the video.

[championsandheroes]

It was sweet that Astarion was under the belief that no one would figure out he was a vampire before his big reveal. Most of us took one look at him and said "yep, that sure is a vampire right there." Most, however, doesn't include the party members. Some of these characters are supposed to be perceptive and intelligent, and I'm still convinced that if you press your ear against theirs you'd hear elevator music.

Over at Patreon, society6, and redbubble we don't let intellect devourers starve.

[nukbody]

Answer to twitter`s "if your tav/durge had to draw their party members, how would they draw them ?"

[peachcott]

really normal about this guy. i definitely think about other things sometimes 👍

[ramiplss]

it's 3am so good morning I have wine and a fucking sore shoulder bc I can't sit like a human while I work on Him

[bhaalsdeepbat]

Astarion and Karlach are perfect foils showing how trauma from having autonomy ripped from you, your body forcibly changed, and then used as a pawn serving a master can present wildly different, but still with that same under layer of RAGE.

[bogglesgate]

I know that canonically it is there and is not even the weirdest or most inconvenient thing that the gang totes around, but writing a fic set in camp and mentioning Astarion's furniture is jarring.

[forcedhesitation]

GRRRRRRR I hate how wulbren makes barcus feel like he's lesser. it's so clear that he's an abusive, manipulative shithead who doesn't care about an utter sweetheart like barcus. but he probably is nice to barcus here and there, when he needs something, and barcus clings to those moments despite everything. poor guy fucking feels the need to make excuses for wulbren and is so clearly broken up when wulbren barely gives him the time of day after all the HELL he's been through. shit that he would have easily died from, had your PC not come to his aid. I fucking hate wulbren so fucking much. rot and die, asshole.

[hamartia-grander]

It's a good thing none of my friends ask me about baldur's gate 3 because I'd be soooo petty about it and end up just confusing them more

[flashhwing]

when ur in Sharess’s Caress and thinking about hiring the twins for you and Gale and use persuasion on him and fail. I think you should not be allowed to use inspiration to reroll. if he doesn’t want to he doesn’t want to. you gotta respect that

[invinciblerodent]

with all the ""breeding"" oriented confessions and posts popping up on my dash [because that's apparently what you freaks (affectionate) are into], it doesn't escape my notice that out of literally ALL the character combos I've dreamed up in the past ten years, only like two are actually, physically capable of any form of reproduction, and there's only one (Harwen and Josephine) that I hc has, reproduced, once. They have one daughter, and that's it.

There's only one couple like that in this game, and that's a pair of idiots I honestly cannot picture ever actually wanting/having kids.

Going down the list and ruling out all the obvious plumbing issues (and vampirism) literally only leaves me with Petyr and Shadowheart, which..... my cringefail son should not be anyone's dad. That's the kind of emotional trauma that makes future DnD characters.

I mean, parents of the year right there: the reclusive woodsman who voluntarily exiled himself to the forest for being such a bitch, and the woman raised in an abusive cult with zero idea of what a parent-child relationship is even like. Oh, and their sometimes-boyfriend, the one sorta halfway mentally stable adult in the whole equation... whose entire presence in their life is that he just occasionally drops by for a threesome and breakfast, maybe a few days up to a tenday, and then dips out for another few months. (Yeah, here comes your Uncle Halsin, he's come to teach you about the forest and to fuck your dad while your mom watches. Just the thought has me snort-laughing.)

Dungeons and Dragons? Naaaah. It's Damage and Daddy Issues.

[princetuesday]

tip: i am so fucking mad

[ravnloft]

okay last screenshots for the night. look at my beautiful dandy man and his beautiful cat burglar girlfriend who wants to kill halsin in his sleep. i LOVE the idea of astarion wearing a mask after so long using his looks to [redacted]. like yes girl keep your expressions secret, give us nothing, find freedom in your anonymity.

alternatively: amma made him start wearing one after they found a wanted poster with his face on it (he was just upset the artist couldn't capture his je ne sais quoi)

[eff-plays]

Ok so I watched the interview with Stephen Rooney, Astarion's writer, and here are some highlights. (I'm an aspiring writer and current game design student who wants to write for games so I'm sorry if some of these insights aren't as interesting to you as they are to me <3)

He calls Astarion his "horrible little vampire boy"

He loves seeing the fandom around Astarion<3

He did write other characters in the game, but mostly NPCs surrounding Astarion or his storyline, so it mostly revolved around Astarion

Astarion is not as connected to other companions/Origins as, for example, Lae'zel and Shadowheart, or Wyll and Karlach are to each other, but he is still reactive to their stories, even if it's just to stand off to the side and laugh when something terrible happens

He had a clear sense of where Astarion's story would start and end, but it got "muddy in the middle", but those are also moments where the best ideas come from

They write from the general idea that every character has one "good" and one "evil" ending, in order to give the player choice. RIP Ascendant apologists :(

According to Stephen, two of the most important aspects of Astarion's character (to keep consistent when bringing him to Idle Champions, at least) is that he enjoys violence, but is also fun about it

"He has a certain appreciation for violence, I guess? A bit of a murdery streak. [...] He's a vampire, he's all about blood, and he's all about, kind of, those darker sides of humanity. [..] But at the same time, he is ... He is really fun, he's really fun to write, he's really fun to have in your party, and it's very important for me that that is also represented."

"He's gonna stab you, but will have a smile on his face as he does it? I mean, I dunno. That's kind of him in a nutshell."

Larian would not have allowed for Astarion to be a typical brooding Dracula type, and there were scenes that were shot down for not being original enough

The main thing about Astarion was trying to get a "sense of fun." It would be easy to write a character that was very unlikable, and they absolutely did not want to do that

Rooney says Astarion is consistently terrible throughout the game and awful in a whole lot of ways, but he also needed to be charming enough that you could tolerate his presence and wanted him around

Rooney also had a lot of input on Astarion's stats (meaning the 10 Charisma is probalby 100% intentional)

He also had input on how certain lines should be delivered, even though the writers didn't directly work with voice actors

The way Astarion moves and poses is "all Neil"

Apparently, Neil Newbon worked on the character for years and Rooney did not speak to him once, though his voice work did influence how Astarion's lines were written and it became a "feedback loop" (Possible context for "ONLY SLIGHTLY, NEIL")

There were no points where a line delivery drastically changed Astarion's writing; rather it was a constant, slow evolution

However, there was one very spoilery moment where Neil gave such emotion to some "basic" lines that it fundamentally changed the scene (WHAT IS IT OMG)

It's difficult to balance approval, as you don't want to straight up write a monster. Every character needs to have some humanity in them. So if it comes to leaving the party, it needed to be the result of something central to said character. They wanted to be mindful of situations that would cause actual rifts between characters. (I assume this is why most generic disapprovals/approvals are +/- 1 or 2, while character-related ones give +/-5 or more)

However, as they don't write straight up horrible people/monsters, it doesn't come up as often as one might think.

The interviewer makes a point about how characters like Astarion and Lae'zel are good examples of how to play "evil" characters, as they are maybe not the best people but are still eager and willing to stick around the other party members

They worked to make sure the characters would work as a group, no matter the configuration of the group. The characters needed to be on the same path, even if they don't always agree or walk that path the same way.

Stephen Rooney is very proud of the "climactic" scene of Astarion's story. (AS HE SHOULD BE.) He even had to step away from the computer and have an emotional moment. Me too, man.

He's also "extremely pleased" that there's a point where you can punch Astarion in the face. "Actually, that one might be my favorite part" A MAN OF THE PEOPLE!!

Stephen Rooney's tip on what specific thing you should try out with Astarion: When he's trying to get a "sneaky nibble" at night, you should "probably" let him bite you. Way ahead of you there, sir.

No discussion about Astarion's romance unfortunately, but that's that!

[an-excellent-choice]

I just realized another sign on how much being a god changed Gale so much is that won't actively help his followers. He chooses to inspire but not help.

This is so jarring and the complete opposite of how he was before. He always, i mean always offers to help. His greetings always starts on how he can help even when he disapproves of you.

Like look at these greetings, he was fundamentally a caring and helpful person.

Negative (-10): 

"Yes?"

"Did you need something?"

"What is it?"

"You need me?"

Neutral and up (above -10):

"How can I help?"

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"What's on your mind?"

Flirting:

"Always a delight to speak with you. What can I do?"

"I do enjoy our conversations. What do you need?"

"Tell me - What can I do for you?"

Partnered:

"My time is yours. What do you need?"

"Whatever you need, you have only to ask."

"Anything I can do for you - consider it most enthusiastically done."

This man's core and passion has always been to help and centered in acts of service. From cooking for the camp, teaching magic, even offering blood to Astarion. All of these love and care he has disappears when he becomes a god.

Elminster was right. The Gale we all knew and loved is now lost the moment he ascended.

[fkitwebhaal]

My friends and I have had a very fun conversation which revolves around one question: if you are Ulder Ravenguard, which of the origin companions is the worst option for your son to bring home as his intended.

These were our conclusions:

Gale: one of the best choices as far as Ulder is concerned. College educated, well respected (well despite the orb thing), relatively well natured. Yes, he tends to talk about a subject to death and yes, he can be bitchy but if you gotta pick someone who can make it through a high class dinner without causing an incident from the party at whole, he’s one of the best options. Also he can cook.

Karlach: what Karlach lacks in high society experience she makes up for in sheer warm personality. The fact she fought in the blood war isn’t great, but it was against her will and she’s got a home town hero vibe to her. Yes, if Wyll dates her they will be trekking around Avernus BUT that means Ulder has a ready excuse why they can’t be at political functions: they’re doing hero shit. A solid and respectable choice.

Shadowheart: depending on where she ends up this varies widely, but she was at least part of a cult with an evil goddess, so not great for optics. She also doesn’t take bullshit and will talk shit about you to your face, which isn’t a great combo. However, she does like scheming and that is a point in her favor. Middle of the pack.

Astarion: there are multiple fantastic fics on why Astarion is Ravenguard’s nightmare of a son in law and they are all correct. However, Astarion is charming and assuming no one finds out about the vampire thing, and he’s not ascended, he can make it through a political gathering and not only charm everyone in the room but also get a handful of blackmail. He will absolutely cause problems for Ulder on purpose at the highest rate of any of these options which is why he is so low, but at least it’s on purpose. It could be worse but my God, Ulder is ordering extra ale for his nerves.

Lae’zel: funniest and worst possible option. Zero understanding of politics and zero desire to learn said politics that treated her fiancée like shit. Might take his son to fight a lich in another plane. Would deck a man for talking shit. Causes problems both on purpose but also completely on accident. 10/10 Ulder’s nightmare.

Bonus:

Durge: it in fact, could be much worse