#astarionmance

[swordmaid]

sun goes down 🌟

astarion x tav commission for @/alays.version over on instagram. she’s consoling him after burning in the pier 😔🫶

[aimoplaysbg3]

(Comic, descriptions and video links contains spoilers for Act 1 and 2 of the Astarion Romance)

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During Early Access, the Astarion Romance locked in during the Tiefling Celebration Party, so I was very surprised when it happened much earlier during my full release playthrough. Because of that, this scene played during the party...and while it was quite the spicy one (courtesy of actor Neil Newbon's voice-work and mocapped gestures for this sequence), there was a part of me that felt uneasy...like when you can feel something is off because he's trying way too hard to be convincing, but can't put your finger on it as to why?

Turns out there's a perfectly good explanation for that in Act 2! Stephen Rooney, his writer, really thought a hundred steps ahead.

Seeing as my Ranger girl has 16 Wisdom at this point, Insight checks are very much her thing. So I've decided to channel my discomfort as the viewer (voyeur, let's be real haha) into her inner monologue in discovering things are not as they seem with her new lover ;_;

(It all ends well for them though, so let's not feel too bad ;3)

And much thanks to my patrons for their support, making this comic possible <3 <3 <3

[momochanners]

Countdown to Baldur's Gate 3: Day 7

The Astarion Romance Experience comes with bonus Live Shadowheart Reaction!

[triaelf9]

Been thinking about, since I always give my love interests the guidance amulet, how each companion would cast with their romanced Tav XD

Anyway, this is Questionable Mess's version XD I feel like Slow Burn (Ronan and Karlach) would be like, a cute little head kiss (Ronan is a dwarf) or a high five, or a back slap... XD

[riza-hawks-eye]

Me: Okay, for my 57th playthrough I should definitely romance someone who isn't Astarion.

Astarion: Hurry, I've got one of those brain things cor-

Me:

[syn0vial]

i feel like i'm the only person who finds astarion's new kissing animation quite sweet :`D yes, it's just a quick chaste peck on the lips, but like... a big part of his romantic arc is him confessing to you that his whole ~sensual hedonistic vampire~ thing is just an act. and that in reality he's very uncomfortable with physical intimacy. doesn't it make sense that he'd prefer a kiss like that over extended makeouts?

i think it's sweet. he's dropping the act :`)

[veilkeeper]

No no no, I saw those tags on that post of Astarion's "Midnight Chimes, eh?" Line.

Let's talk about Astarion in a relationship with Tav that he feels is a ticking time bomb, about to explode and then it's over!

Cuz like...that's HEAVY. That's HARD. That shit HURTS. Tav's perspective on their relationship has to be very different than his, and he probably can't even comprehend that it's real for a long long LONG time. And a LOT of that almost DEFINITELY comes from his own insecurities. ESPECIALLY if you get together during the confession scene BEFORE meeting Araj. The GUILT and WORRY he must feel??? Gut wrenching.

to catch people up this is the post and these are my tags:

#literally i got all the break up dialogue just to see and every time he says midnight chimes with that sad little face#its like.... man he really thought it was too good to be true huh#and it adds a lot of... umm.... context. to certain paths that can be taken in the conversation where you get together#because he really does think he doesnt deserve the PC and hes very vulnerable in that convo & in the early days of the relationship i think#*forcibly drags myself away before i add more tags to this innocent ops post*

and i completely agree with you, i think for quite A While astarion is waiting for that other shoe to drop and for his partner to come to their senses and "realize" (heavy air quotes) that he has nothing to offer them. hence why he says "this facade." not because his feelings are fake (theyre not) but because their whole relationship feels like a sham to him because he cant give them a "real" relationship (i.e. one where he is able to provide, sexually, emotionally, romantically, etc). because as he says, he doesn't know what any of this means or what he wants their relationship to look like. and people can hc any number of romantic overtures or whatever (im not your mom) but the text of the game very much implies (to me) that the relationship is progressing at a snail's pace.

and that dialogue, the immediate acceptance when he's broken up with (and his fixation on protecting them in act 3 in the lead up to the ritual), is why i just cant take anybody who says "nah astarion isnt afraid of losing the PC" seriously. because like. no i think he's very afraid. he just shows it/doesn't talk about it in the way other characters might, and he's completely prepared to lose them at any moment because he can't even fathom why he has them to begin with.

[arrowfortea-moved]

[crossdressingdeath]

Astarion: Indeed you will, my love. I can't wait.

Astarion immediately going for "my love" (even though if you flirt with him at the tiefling party and he pulls out the "I love you" you can call him on it being way too soon for that and he'll agree) is a lot. Like, he's trying so hard to manipulate you! But he clearly isn't really set up to romance someone. Which makes a lot of sense; Astarion seduced people to lure them to Cazador. I doubt any of his targets lasted more than a couple hours in his company before he was bringing them home. There's a good chance this is actually the first time he's tried to manipulate someone into something more lasting, so it fits really well that he's jumping the gun on this a bit; he probably doesn't actually know how to believably fake this step.

[owlbearwildshape]

A pity you amounted to so little, despite my efforts. - Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)

[demi-pixellated]

Console Release is is Upon Me 🙌

Warm-up sketches from work today of my Tav, Anotos

[swordmaid]

back to the shadows 🌑

inspired by the storm by pierre auguste cot, shri’iia and astarion running away from the sun bc he’s a vampire and she has sunlight sensitivity.

please zoom in to see the details! 🥹🫶

[aimoplaysbg3]

SO! Out of curiousity I decided to reload the Act 2 Astarion confession scene to see if there are changes post-Patch 1...and there's quite a bit OwO

A lot more Astarion emoting and close-ups, but with some of the Dagmar reactions that I liked edited out T_T Oh well, you win some you lose some!

Compare it to the original release scene in this post

[karlachian]

If I may share my first bg3 playthru experience: I got the Astarion and Wyll dinner date convo except I was dating Wyll, and I'm like, are you guys seriously flirting right in front of me.

Also, you know how usually when you ask the companions for a kiss, all the nearby characters disappear/stay out of frame? There was one instance, I forgot exactly when but it was near endgame, and I asked Wyll for a kiss and the animation played as normal, EXCEPT Astarion was there?? In the background? Like imagine MC and Wyll smooching and when they separated there was Astarion's face going :| in the middle.

this is awesome. flagrant disregard for player characters all over the world. astarion rocking up like "what about me" while your tav and wyll kiss as if he didn't have YOU going what about me when he was batting his eyelashes talking about passing on the ale but delighting in the company.

the struggle of being on a romance run with one of them is real i was telling my friends about it i think i am cursed to just be plagued by them no matter what i do because on my astarionmance run the FIRST bit of banter after i let astarion drink my blood was shadowheart astarion "whose blood would you like" "wylllll no questionnnnn" like. okay. should i kill myself?

standing in solidarity with you. may the wyllstarion ghost in our game files. find peace? leave us alone? chill out? one of those. godspeed.

[villainanders]

willow by taylor swift is such a good song except where she suddenly says “I come back stronger than a 90s trend” it’s so embarrassing I spend the first half of the song dreading it and the second half wondering why she said that

[riza-hawks-eye]

Stop being rude to the Ascended Astarion girlies.

They just want to be an evil vampire lord's sugar baby.

And isn't that all what we want in the end?