#ea is evil yes...

[miyku]

[shadowgirlley]

Every single day I read about a game company/music artist/film company doing something scummy or being pieces of shit I get closer and closer to just up and becoming a pirate of sorts. 🦜

Support your favourite artists and creators with love and money. The people. But I will in fact be biting at Nintendo's, Disney's, and EA's feet.

I will be turning them upside down by the ankles and shaking them for their pocket money like stereotypical high school bully from the movies.

[dalishious]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Familiar Faces and Factions

The trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard has dropped, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s like a new breath of life has entered my lungs!

Within the trailer, we now have confirmation of who our seven companions are going to be, and among them are a few familiar faces from the book Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights. We also have some name-droppings of a couple factions featured in the same book and the comics, Dragon Age: The Missing. So, here is what knowledge is established about these faces sand factions.

Neve Gallus & The Shadow Dragons

Neve Gallus was first introduced in the Tevinter Nights story, “The Streets of Minrathous”. She comes off as a no-nonsense and a little intense kind of person. Neve is a Tevinter mage who works as a private investigator. For example, if someone wants some detective work done but doesn’t want the public to know, they would hire Neve. On occasion, she’s even been hired by the templars, who act like just regular cops in Tevinter – and yes, that includes their corruption and primary goal of simply protecting the elite – but Neve prefers to work alone because of that corruption, and has a personal grudge against the order for taking bribes to cover up crimes.

Neve has a prosthetic leg below the knee, made of dwarven-crafted metal.

In The Missing, Neve says she is friends with the Shadow Dragons. In the article shared by EA, as of The Veilguard, she is officially a member. The Shadow Dragons are a group of concerned Tevinter citizens who help those in need. This includes supporting escaped slaves, for example.

Emmrich Volkahrin

Emmrich Volkahrin was first introduced in the Tevinter Nights story, “Down Among the Dead Men”. He is a necromancer from Nevarra, and therefore naturally a member of the Mortalitasi – specifically, a professor in the Mourn Watch. The Watchers serve as elite guardians of the Grand Necropolis. Emmrich is on the eccentric side, personality-wise, but kindly and informal.

Emmrich has a skeleton assistant name of Manfred, who helps him with different office tasks. He also has friends in Myrna, a fellow Watcher, and Audric, a dead guardsmen who looks after the library.

Lucanis Dellamorte

Lucanis Dellamorte was first introduced in the Tevinter Nights story, “The Wigmaker Job”. He is the favourite grandson of Caterina Dellamorte, First Talon (leader) of the Antivan Crows. As such, he was raised from birth to be the perfect assassin in a ruthless and torturous environment, knowing only cruelty from his family. This has led to him feeling less like a person and more like a living weapon – and he is treated like one by everyone who knows of him. He has “the Demon” as a nickname.

I know a few people are curious about the “mage killer” title in the trailer. Rest assured that Lucanis specifically kills evil blood mages. In his own words: “If someone wants to pay me top coin to kill a bunch of racist blood mages—who have it coming—I’m not going to complain.”

Where his cousin Illario has a “silver tongue” as Lucanis puts it, he himself is a lot blunter. His reputation of a killer is spotless, except for one small problem: He has a heart under all that black leather.

Lucanis and Illario get along quite well, except for the fact that Lucanis is destined to be the next First Talon, after Caterina dies. Illario wants the job far more than Lucanis, but Lucanis isn’t sure he’s capable of making a decision for himself that goes against the wishes of the Crows.

The Veil Jumpers

The Veil Jumpers were first introduced in The Missing #3. They are a group made up of primarily Dalish elves, though also inclusive of other folks of any walks of life willing to help, working to try and control the new threats within Arlathan Forest. The forest has become a ground of chaotic magic, with the Veil so thin that time and place is jumbled together. Thus, the Veil Jumpers move in and out of the spots that bleed into one another.

The Veil Jumpers do have a headquarters called “The Sanctum”, but we know nothing else about it.

The Lords of Fortune

Despite the Lords of Fortune being mentioned in more than one Tevinter Nights story, as well as the show Dragon Age: Absolution, we don’t know a lot about them. The only concrete information provided is that they are a loose group of people who collect trinkets and glory. They come out of Rivain. They typically wear a lot of their collected trinkets like badges of honour. That’s really all there is, so I can’t wait to learn more.

[lesfir]

Astarion and Vampire Supremacy.

In general and in romance.

In DnD, vampires are huge supremacists. They consider themselves superior to any undead and certainly superior to mortals. All mortals are cattle to vampires.

In Baldur's Gate 3, this trait is also present in vampire culture.

In Astarion there seems to be almost no such things… Or they are not emphasised - as I think they are.

In my opinion we should have explored his different traits.

Vampire Supremacy is one of them.

Astarion was an Upper City noble and the chances that he wasn't arrogant towards the "lower classes" are very low. Zero for me.

So he was already familiar with supremacism very well.

Add to that the loss of his status and the hierarchy of the coven in which he became a slave.

That's something.

We barely have conversations with Astarion about vampire culture: what does it mean to be in "vampire coven"? How vampires relate to the mortal world? And what does he like about the vampire world?

It's more shadowy moments.

Here I found a few.

Part 1. Details in the story.

EA 9 patch, Act 1 - the grove, after killing Nettie.

It's one of those cut out scenes with little companion comments and reduced to a one line or remade. Shadowheart had it too :<

Now:

Act 2 - after killing the strange ox.

Act 3 - Astarion as Lord says his stuff :D

This word: "spook" cattle/sheep...

It's same edge of his character.

In Act 1, you'd think he thinks all "weak" people are sheep. That's true, too. Nettie has lost, she's dead and she's a sheep, but somewhere around here in the grove there will be a hunter for him and Tav - they have to go.

In Act 3, the path of evil, Astarion demonstrates this line deeper and more vividly.

In Act 2, it still sounds like something funny, comical. Yes, yes chickens, oxen and people.

But these are food animals - and that's not such a joke to Astarion.

To put it in perspective in Act 1 all his companions is a snack.

He discusses with Tav what they would taste like. Here's the synopsis for that scene:

Synopsis: Astarion is staring at the other companions around the campfire. He's friendly and affable, but his mind is on his hunger. He starts to wonder what the others taste like, although he's MOSTLY joking. In the end he decides to remove himself, before the conversation gets too real.

Mostly a joke that could become something serious.

Vampiric arrogance, predatory nature.

Vampires are clever hunters - their arrogance towards mortals comes in many forms, from food to merry carnage to lust. Basically, they use whatever gives them profit and pleasure.

He might not eat Laezel, but watching Lae and Shadowheart fight is entertainment for him.

Looks fun, but the nature of it is dark.

It can be taken ironically, but he really enjoys watching brutal fighting and generally killing.

It's a trait. Deserves its own post.

WYR_SmugglersCave_PAD_Suggestions

He do hope.

It's also relevant to mortals. Corrupt people with power are as parasitic creatures as vampires. Instead of blood, it's gold, work, and entertainment in an wicked way that damages people.

In this I notice the metaphorical nature of vampirism in Astarion's character.

As an example of corruption I recall Astarion's little remark when we kill the two ogre-lovers of the barn.

The insignificance (who cares about two ogres) and again the comicality of the situation, the way Astarion smiles as he opens the barn is legendary. Kind of hides it a little bit and takes it away from the thought…

Somewhere in Baldur's Gate someone is paying gold to watch fights, and it's unlikely these fights have civilized rules. And it's doubtful that such a entertainment would only apply to ogres.

The fighting pits at Baldur's Gate.

Who knows if Astarion was interested in that when he was mortal. I headcanon that he was. He was extremely corrupted and it's deep in his personality.

Here is this telling facet, Astarion's interest in such brutal things, which are as much in the shadows as gremlin remarks, yet there is exactly "evil" in this one.

This part of that aspect:

The arrogance of the Noble and the Vampire.

More points about treating people like cattle.

There is a moment in Act 2 - and I have absolutely no idea where it is.

SHA_Mausoleum_PAD_MakeshiftVessel

Players find a vessel with a half-formed humanoid shape gestating inside and reacts accordingly. The being is just inert flesh and cannot speak.

How to trigger:

Interact with S_SHA_Mausoleum_MakeshiftVessel.

Where is that thing? I can't find.

In good companions, this is a cause for concern. In general the place where they found it contributes to very unpleasant thoughts.

A mausoleum in the shadow lands of Sharr, where a necromancer and the chosen of Myrkul struts around.

Well, Astarion too, as you can see... finds a downside.

Hunting people is fun and keeps you in the spirit.

It's a good idea to check all the phrases in Astarion's Original throughout the acts. Maybe there's more.

I watched the epilogue of Lord Astarion Original and in a conversation with Minthara (hah, who else?)

And it's wild. It's literally all about the people.

:D

We have a few to choose from for rpg's.

And given the line about sports… I really don't think Astarion will be buying "food" very often.

Or that pale arse is lazy after all and his hunt is a park in the city. And when he should be setting up his power web in the city, he's too busy for hunting.

Can you imagine him wanting to hunt and get some air, but he's got some lordish business in the halls until late in the evening.

Part 2. In Romamce.

This part departs from such direct things as blood and the predator's attitude towards people.

It becomes more sensual.

I would say this trait of supremacism is slightly visible, but not over people, over mortality in a greater sense, when Astarion turns Tav:

he emphasises the strength, sharpness. Better.

The morning after the turn.

He has a point. The last time he was mortal, he was killed.

Astarion as Lord does the same with God Gale Original mentioning immortality as - strength, lack of illness and youthfulness.

love this one

His vampiric arrogance over Tav perhaps visible only in the first act. He didn't really care. Tav became his fun, his lust, and his way to survive.

Then Tav is the first person to care about him in dozens and dozens of years of slavery.

"Blood bags" and such are a bit of dark humour, so it might have been true in another life, but he and Tav are far from it, they're the first person he's cared for in decades of loneliness.

His perception of mortality as something that makes a person more vulnerable is his trigger (among others) for turning Tav into a his kind.

But since he's not in such a hurry in the end of mortal Tav, I'm guessing: it's his euphoric state after the ritual, where his spire for the castle of vampire happiness is to be with Tav forever. He chillin' about it, afterward.

Tav's immortality is a nice thing he'd like, but okay it can wait.

So.

Tav... they're special. The two of them are special. Astarion elevates Tav and himself above the others. We are Better.

Camp. Vampire ambush.

When the camp is ambushed by spawns.

If Tav proposes the idea that the world is actually a wonderful place that can accept him - he argues with them.

But approves of all three different reactions.

Also then Astarion says the word "forever" in regards to their relationship, to Tav.

This "forever" part is deep in Astarion.

According to the artbook (The artbook is EA era, which is still sold with the game though, and the story doesn't contradict anything) So according to the artbook Astarion was obsessed with eternal life, forever youth, forever being.

It extends to his feelings - it's needed forever. It's very sensual, but also very greedy and… painfully understandable - it's such a simple feeling to make something nice continue for as long as possible.

If Tav is on the same page as Astarion and tends towards the "only loved ones matter, we're special" mindset.

You'd think it was his trick-manipulation to perform a ritual, praise Tav for supporting his idea of supremacism and get what he so reasonably needs.

He's certainly glad that Tav has similar ideas to him, and he'll definitely support that.

It doesn't depend on his goals still - his "we are better" is very direct and deep in his personality.

Italicized.

Here we are. That's one of the key thoughts in his character. That's the focus.

This trait is further seen in Astarion as Lord - he says "We", "Ours".

The man even says it in Latin. Aeterna amantes.

New in patch 7, takeover of the Absolute:

This part is already moving away from vampirism.

This one is very layered.

We are because he finally found someone he can trust.

We are because we are parts fated to complete each other.

We are because he's not alone in the world anymore.

Along with vampirism, his Noble Lord status plays a role here again.

We are the mighty, above and we rule.

It's an easy and very simple fit to vampirism - we are better and we are forever.

He's also incredibly proud of himself, that he can give something to Tav, can protect them. He's been under Tav's protection the whole journey. Undead outcaster in Faerun, they regard mortals as cattle, and mortals regard them as monsters. That's why there are monster hunters. Vampire spawn he was allowed to stay in the group and he was dependent, he couldn't be a leader. In the romance he felt he had nothing to give, he was getting Tav into trouble with a powerful true vampire. He was counting the seconds until they finally decided to leave him…

In the romance, vampirism plays into the fact that Astarion is very much immersed in thoughts of eternity together.

This emotionally intense and fragile moment: "I don't want to lose anything", comes from the very moment he lost: his status, the sun, his life. Not gonna happen again.

Vampirism in the romance have fun one too:

-- wealth - these two literally wear the most expensive clothes on the Sword Coast.

-- shared powers - he is going to be in charge

-- fights and challenge is for Tav- warrior, Astarion likes to spill some blood

-- pleasure - of various kinds, from bed to blood.

The end result is an amalgamation of his:

-- his personality with, well, a pretty intense dark triad.

I would say character image instead of personality. Because the personality is itself. But the character will always submit to the idea - recall that his core is a balance of evil and fun. And evil in DnD is egoism, immorality, narcissism, harming others for fun and personal goals and all that.

These dark parts in irl personality can spoil the balance. That's why psychology is for people.

Not for characters who will eventually never go against their core. (even if all psychology reference books say otherwise).

-- vampirism - the desire for blood and a predatory attitude

-- desire for status and power as noble

-- force as magic

-- forever

-- and share it all with love

A little bonus at the end.

Animation 3 patch. Subtle process.

This scene is much improved in colours in patch 7. But I still like the original faces. He looks so much like a fox >:3

[theguywithaplan]

List of Video Games turning ten (10) years old in 2025

Alone in the Dark: Illumination (if you thought the AitD game from last year was bad, check this shit out).

Angry Birds 2 (yes, there was a 2).

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (two AC games from 2015 and neither of them were what people wanted).

Assassin's Creed Syndicate (the Bri'ish one).

Atelier Shallie

Axiom Verge

Batman: Arkham Knight

Battlefield: Hardline (the last game from Visceral Games, the guys who made the Dead Space series).

The Beginner's Guide (the second game from the creator of The Stanley Parable).

Bloodborne (anything for the 10th anniver-- no. Never gonna happen).

Broken Age

Call of Duty: Black Ops III

Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash

Cities: Skylines

Crypt of the NecroDancer

Devil's Third (one of the rarest Wii U games ever).

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance

Disney Infinity 3.0

Dragon Ball XenoVerse (the first one. not the second).

Dying Light

Evolve (these guys would go on to make Back 4 Blood).

Fallout 4

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

Game of Thrones (the Telltale game)

Guitar Hero Live

Halo 5: Guardians

Hatred (a game so edgy and terrible that it got itself kicked off of Steam).

Helldivers (the first one).

Heroes of the Storm (the Blizzard MOBA).

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

HuniePop (for all you pervs out there).

I Am Bread

Just Cause 3

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (the quintessential VR game)

Kerbal Space Program

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (one of the few Wii U games that hasn't been ported to the Switch. And probably never will be).

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

Lego Dimensions (a crossover game with about a billion different franchises).

Lego Jurassic World

Life is Strange (controversial opinion: I sacrificed Chloe and felt nothing).

Mario Party 10 (the only MP on the Wii U)

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (back when the 3DS was single-handedly keeping MH alive)

Mortal Kombat X

Need for Speed (the reboot)

The Order: 1886

Ori and the Blind Forest

Pillars of Eternity

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon

Prison Architect

Rainbow Six: Siege

Rare Replay

Resident Evil: Revelations 2

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rock Band 4

Rocket League

Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (RIP Volition. You were too good for the modern day).

Shadowrun: Hong Kong

Skylanders: SuperChargers

Soma (the best horror game ever made. Play it if you haven't yet).

Splatoon

Star Wars: Battlefront (the EA reboot).

StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (RIP StarCraft. You were too good for modern day Blizzard).

Steven Universe: Attack the Light!

Story of Seasons (the very fight one)

Super Mario Maker

Tales from the Borderlands (the best thing that Telltale EVER made).

Tales of Zestiria

Tembo the Badass Elephant (published by Sega and developed by Game Freak... the Pokemon guys).

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5

Total War: Attila

Transformers: Devastation (RIP PlatinumGames. You... kinda started sucking after Astral Chain).

Undertale (yep, it's happening).

Until Dawn

Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (just in time for the 4th game)

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (remember, kids: Nazi lives don't matter).

Xenoblade Chronicles X (finally escaping the Wii U this year).

Yakuza 5

Yo-Kai Watch

Yoshi's Woolly World

[vigilskept]

Saw your tags on the last few posts and hard agree! Between the ever present Fen'harel foreshadowing AND Sandal's prophecy AND Mythal's reckoning? It always seemed like the Veil coming down was that proper big bang finish that would rewrite all the rules in a satisfying and interesting way. One of my issues with Veilgaurd is I feel like it took the series' opportunity for a destinct ending away. Personally, I believe good stories end. I don't want 30 DA games in a MCU verse. And now, to have the series end they have to come up with a stopping point that makes more sense than the Veil. Or revisit the Veil. And what would be the point in that when they wasted all the foreshadowing?

yes, exactly!! i felt like i was going insane on my soapbox there, thank you!! it really feels like they ran up against the natural end point for the franchise and just decided to do a little shimmy around it. i just don't see what exactly that achieves except to set up a new, bigger bad which we have no real stake in.

was i curious about the executors prior to veilguard? yes! but i expected them to appear in this game since they clearly had an interest in solas' plans!! not for them to have 3 completely missable interactions followed by the worst idea of a post credit scene i've ever seen. whatever curiosity i had about what they were up to & how the kossith relate to what's across the sea is pretty much gone at this point.

a "shadowy cabal" who's secretly responsible for all of the evil enacted in this world by people in power is not a plot i care to see play out in bioware's hands. it's a stupid, elders of zion ass direction to take things and was not worth trashing over a decade of build up.

there is nowhere they could take that plot thread (already relying on the worst possible trope...) that would give dragon age a more satisfying conclusion than dropping the veil.

it would've resolved or set up a potential resolution for all of the major conflicts that have been established up to now!! (mages under the chantry, tevene class structure/slavery, oppression of elves, the blights, the waking titans, etc. etc. i could go on!)

and with the way veilguard ends... it looks to me like they wanted to somehow get the implied resolutions that would come out of dropping the veil without committing to it. that's why no matter what you do, dorian or mae will become archon and singlehandedly restructure tevinter society. the load bearing piece of "mageocracy can't function if everyone's a mage now" is gone, so we have to have a poorly executed sideplot to resolve this plot thread for us instead...

i'm sure people will feel differently, but i personally would've found it more satisfying if the veil fell and the franchise wrapped up there. for good or ill, it changes everything and we can all have the time of our lives speculating about the Implications thereafter.

if they really wanted to(/needed to promise EA they could) make more games in this setting — they could've gone backwards! there's lots of stories you could tell throughout thedas in the gap between the fifth blight and solas' ritual! there's lots of stories you could tell about the centuries between andraste's rebellion and the fifth blight! there's so much happening in the background here that they've hinted at through codices that if they really wanted more content in this setting, there is so much room to expand on those.

could they set up world shattering events like "tearing down the veil" again? no. but i think that was a very obvious one and done situation, and i don't think anyone came into this franchise expecting their dragon age games to have stakes that apocalyptic until trespasser! i think there absolutely would've absolutely been an audience for a game about the assassination of queen madrigal or the fog warriors' resistance on seheron if they hadn't fumbled this....

[kisses-in-the-void]

That part from Morgoth’s Ring makes me weep:

"The war was successful, and ruin was limited to the small (if beautiful) region of Beleriand. Morgoth was thus actually made captive in physical form, and in that form taken as a mere criminal to Aman and delivered to Namo Mandos as judge - and executioner. He was judged, and eventually taken out of the Blessed Realm and executed: that is killed like one of the Incarnates. It was then made plain (though it must have been understood beforehand by Manwe and Namo) that, though he had 'disseminated' his power (his evil and possessive and rebellious will) far and wide into the matter of Arda, he had lost direct control of this, and all that 'he', as a surviving remnant of integral being, retained as 'himself' and under control was the terribly shrunken and reduced spirit that inhabited his self-imposed (but now beloved) body. When that body was destroyed he was weak and utterly 'houseless', and for that time at a loss and 'unanchored' as it were. We read that he was then thrust out into the Void. That should mean that he was put outside Time and Space, outside Ea altogether; but if that were so this would imply a direct intervention of Eru (with or without supplication of the Valar). "

It offers a more detailed description of what happened to Melkor after the War of Wrath compared to The Silmarillion. It doesn’t reveal anything really new — it’s logical to assume the Valar had to destroy his physical form before casting him out, since he couldn’t be hurled into the Void in flesh and blood — but it still hurts to read about what is essentially his execution (yes, I know he deserved it. Yes, it’s a small price compared to the suffering he inflicted on others, but let me grieve my fictional evil blorbo in peace, okay).

I always imagined that Melkor must have hated his own body by the end. Because after losing the ability to shape-shift and most of the great powers that once made him second only to Eru, his fana likely felt like a prison — scarred, weakened, and constantly painful. But as it turns out, it was beloved. And… that broke me a little too. Maybe it means that in the end, Melkor clung to his remaining existence with all he had, no matter how far he’d fallen from his former glory.

And then there’s the implication that it’s unclear whether the Valar asked Eru to expel him — that maybe Eru did it of his own will. That Melkor’s spirit lingered in Arda for a time — even if it was only briefly — "weak, utterly "houseless", and "unanchored." (I’m weeping again.)

Now I’m going to be thinking about new angbang headcanons, where Mairon felt everything Melkor felt in his final moments — the anger, the hatred, the fear, the panic, the pain. Maybe the connection between them was so deep that he experienced it all as if it were happening to him. Maybe that’s part of the reason why he didn’t return to Valinor — not just because he feared he might be executed too, but because he couldn’t bring himself to beg for mercy from the very ones who not only took Melkor from him, but also made him endure that agony alongside him.

And what if Melkor’s spirit, just for a fleeting moment, managed to reach out to Mairon? To speak to him. To say goodbye. To say all the things he didn’t get a chance to say. Maybe that was the final straw, the moment Mairon chose to move forward alone, to build a new kingdom, and summon an army of his own.

Because his grief and fury ignited a determination that burned stronger than the fear and exhaustion he felt in the aftermath of the war, when he was left behind, lost, overwhelmed and afraid. From the ashes of loss, Mairon rose — no longer merely a survivor, but the heir to Melkor’s legacy. Because now he had a purpose again. A reason to continue. For him.

The angst potential of all this is honestly too good to resist…

[bitchesgate3]

Man, you're really making me remember that initial speech she does when she comes clean about worshipping Shar. When she never ends up questioning Shar through the rest of the game, it really begs the question why ANYONE would follow Shar. Despite the speech she gives.

It really feels like a moment where the previous writing drastically deviates from the set up in Act 1.

can we talk about shadowheart tho. her writing absolutely baffles me. like. when she admits she's shar's cleric, she gives u a speech about how shar is misunderstood and that like she's all about exposing bad ppl, toppling corrupt governments, using shady methods to get shit done, etc.

cool, so she believes that shar achieves good goals, so like. to me it seemed that her arc would be about realizing how it's not true, becoming disillusioned in shar, cue good old thats me in the corner losing my religion etc etc

and it just never happens? like we see a lot of evil shit shar has done all over the place and shadowheart never questions it, never even tries to rationalize the answers to keep her faith, its like she just doesn't care. and we as a player can't confront her either, we can't say shadowheart do you think shar successfully utilized girlpower when she cursed entire region with radioactive shadows and split it's spirit in half? instead we find like. shar's torture device secret chamber and shadowheart goes awww i wanna be a dark justiciar so baaaaaad

and then. then at culmination, at scene where she's deciding to kill aasimar or not, you can't give her arguments. you can't be like look at everything that shar has done all over this place, do you still believe this is for greater good? what greater good can justify this? what higher purpose is there in senselessly killing a prisoner again and again?

no you can only say like. you can't allow your goddess to control you! what do you meeean. like??? this isn't how faith works. clerics supposed to like. BELIEVE in the same things their god does. so far shadowheart was pro-everything shar-related she saw. she's like. enthusiastically into it. even if she's brainwashed, she still very much WANTED to be dark justiciar. and now it's all - oh, its shar "controlling" her. like. Shadowheart even said that shar's head nun or whatever told her that she isn't ready to become dark justiciar. This is very much shadowheart's own initiative. Why is it framed around like listening to yourself, instead of changing BELIEFS?

and THEN. after she doesn't kill. aasimar says. "Don't you find it oh so curious you would spurn your Dark lady? Perhaps you feel a stirring of the truth already" and then later reveal that shadowheart was like. selunite kidnapped by shar ppl. and this is why she didn't kill aasimar. WHICH??

like apparently shadowheart is the first to show mercy in a century not because she had a chance to live outside of cult for a while, meet and befriend new people and broaden her worldview, realizing her cults doctrine is false. no no no. she did it bc she's just INHERENTELY a good person. she just like. had intrusive thoughts urging her to be good. she just needed listen to herself. bc she's actually a selunite and not sharran. and like, all other dark justiciar apparently are just inherently evil and it was never possible for them to choose not to kill.

like how do you take a perfectly serviceable narrative about cult member escaping brainwashing due to being able to socialize outsife of her cult and instead make it about Selunite essentialism.

[prostocupoftea]

Urge for evil

tw disturbing imagery (?)

transcript n russian version under the cut

But what if my urge for evil

Will become a little stronger?

If you loaded the gun

Than it's already too late

But what is mu urge for evil

Will become a little stronger?

those are changed a bit lyrics from - Electroforez - Zlo (Evil) gagshfh i love this song so much go listennnnn!!!! this is like the second chorus w/o one line and with a line from third ??? idk i was doing it from memory and it appears i have really bad memory

also there are fully translated lyrics on google so you can read it to understand but ye

guuuUUUUYYYYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS AGHFSHHA IM FINISHED it eas actually so fast it took like 2-3 hours ob drawing thw silly n rendering plus like 20 mins on posing and 2 days of rolling the idea around in my head

now in russian

[daemon-in-my-head]

Gortash is hot, but the thing that actually makes me horny about this train wreck of a man is that he's a human villain.

Brother didn't wake up and choose corruption (looking at you, pale elf), my guy was genuinely incredibly hurt, and that hurt, and the fact that nobody ever came to help him led him down a path of war crimes and even more torment. He didn't start out vile. Even he was just a kid once. Before he was made to be what he is now.

Most people aren't born evil. They're made. By other people. By their environment. By the shitshow that life can be. I like villains that are the guys that weren't saved in time, because it's real. I'm pretty sure to some degree, everyone can understand why Gortash, Ketheric, Orin or even Durge did what they did. You can sympathise with their motives and their pain, maybe even emphasise. They blur the line between utterly good and utterly evil. And I like that. Because life is not black or white despite what some may claim, neither is morality or what one does.

It doesn't excuse what they did. Vivisections and human experiments are never appropriate, but it makes them more interesting. Because what if Gortash had been saved in time like your beloved companions? What if any of your villains had been saved in time? Where would they be now? What if someone had recognised their hurt or harmful environs and saved them just in time?

Ultimately, they're all just hurting, one way or another. But like an injured, scared animal, they lash out rather than back up. And I mean, their original primary motivation isn't even evil. It's as human as can be. Everyone can understand wanting to be loved and wanting their loved ones around them. Wanting to be accepted for who they are. It's just that these people, despite their constant struggle, never got rewarded with what they so rightfully desired and what they would've deserved. But even so, the original desire, their original sin, was one everyone could understand.

Anyway, just thoughts.

Ah hm yes. My posting is giving even me whiplash at times.

Edit cuz reasons: Yes I mean Astarion. Yes he is evil. He was a corrupt magistrate and will straight up admit to embezzlement even before Cazador happened. Even in the sanitised released version, don't even get me started about his EA personality. Shit can happen to evil people too. And even evil people may change their ways. But that guy still chose to abuse the power he had even before he became entangled with Cazador. And I never once said smth about redeeming Gortash. I'm literally just explaining how his reasons are understandable.

[burning2know]

I've seen lots of fans point to the external conditions of Veilguard's development in defense of it. So, let's examine the external conditions that made this disaster possible.

Misunderstanding of Dragon Age's place in the market

Dragon Age's brand identity is dark fantasy that explores what being a hero means within various structures of power. Veilguard can be seen as a re-branding from this perspective (for reasons that @sandetigerrr talked about at length here). To the extent that effort is successful? Well, with every rebrand, you can expect some level of backlash, because generally people dislike change. Tale as old as time. But, we can know whether rebrands are ultimately successful or not. (Warning: my head canons about how marketing works ahead, I'm not a marketing expert.) Let's use an analogy, if you are a company that produces a soap that is primarily utilitarian, you know, it cleans things. You need to reduce costs. You decide to change the packaging to something less elaborate. The considerations are a) that your customers will still recognize your soap, and b) that the soap still does what the customer buys it for: cleaning. Yes there will be initial backlash "gee, this packaging is so ugly." But presumably, the cleaning power stays. Over time people get used to it, they still buy your soap for the reason they've always done. But say, you change the packaging so that it's less shelf stable, and the soap, in the new packaging, is less effective at cleaning compared to before the change. Not only will the customers think "wow the packaging is so ugly", they will also notice "wow it's not cleaning as well either." Over time, they'll stop buying your soap and look for another alternative, one of your competitors. For the soap, the brand identity isn't JUST "the package looks recognizeable" it's also "the soap cleans well". So you can change some of it while retaining your customers. Undoubted, for the customers who buy the soap for the packaging, and they may go to competition with a similar packaging. But, if you're the only soap on the market with that kind of packaging and that cleans... We're in a different world now. There's no competition. You can do whatever you want short of stop making soap, because the customers are stuck buying this shitty rebranded soap.

Speaking of competition, here's something interesting that was on the EA earnings call just before Veilguard released (transcript in the link),

"When we think about what we have with Veilguard right now, we have a storage studio in BioWare. We have a storied IP and Dragon Age.

We have a team that took extra time to make sure the world was rich and the characters were interesting and the story was compelling I think we're going into a market that has limited competition for this category of game given some of the moves that have happened across the broader industry."

To me, this indicates that at the very top levels, the company thinks that Veilguard is in that last category... They can make whatever changes they want to DA because there's no competition. But they got a crucial thing wrong. There is LOTS of competition for stories that have rich worlds and compelling characters (BG3 is the most obvious one). But there's nothing quite like Dragon Age, because there's no other dark fantasy RPG that explores what good and evil means within various structures of power (hard sell to corporate in the current political climate, so I can understand why they Corinne Busche? chose a different angle... but I'm also here critiquing the chosen angle).

This is a fundamental failure in identifying the brand identity of Dragon Age.

Furthermore, they forgot that their niche is intersectional at its essence. Gamers can still find excellent dark fantasy elsewhere. And gamers can find stories that explores what good and evil means within various structures of power elsewhere. Just not both at the same time. But see, it doesn't matter, because gamers won't find this in the Veilguard either.

For all the Veilguard proponents who said "like all previous games, 5 years from now the fandom will consider this a good game", implying that, this is like any rebranding (because DA does kind of reinvent itself every iteration, in that way it's like the Doctor Who of games and it is a precious IP for that reason). They're probably right. I for one, don't see my opinion of Veilguard changing 5 years from now. But I won't be on the internet yelling at people about it. That's just not healthy for me. And the people who are motivated enough to yell about it into the void 5 years after release probably liked it. Just my baseless guess (and other disingenuous hedging).

The game's tortured development cycle

It's been 10 long years coming. So word in the rumour mills is that lots of interesting ideas and intentions were the original single player iteration. Then it was cancelled and rebooted as a live service multiplayer Destiny copy. Then that was cancelled and rebooted again as a different live service game. Then THAT was dismantled and the pieces from these various iterations frankensteined together into what finally became Veilguard.

Do I feel immense sympathy for the devs? Yes. Imagine working on something for 3 years of your life only to have it be flushed down the toilet for one reason or another. Multiple times. Devastating. Getting paid for it all helps a bit. But still, devastating. And sure enough, there were waves of resignations at multiple points over the past decade. I don't blame them.

What I don't feel sympathy for is why there were these series of cancellations and reboots in the first place. How is it that an ostensibly AAA studio backed by a publisher as massive as EA can't get its shit together enough to rally behind a single vision? Corporate bureaucracy? Office politics? Blind ambition? No matter what you call it, these were management failures that had little to do with actually Making the game, but that has a disproportionately large effect on the final product. The devs made the game DESPITE the poor management, management that was supposed to support them doing their work. Management failing the one, albeit complicated, job they have. Absolutely disgusting.

But this shouldn't excuse the final product being what it is. It doesn't somehow make it acceptable or good. This is like receiving a C+ grade for an assignment that you rushed the night before, and saying "Well, yeah, I wrote it the night before. I could have gotten an A if I spent a month on it." The fact of the matter is, you got a C+, not an A. You can still pat yourself on the back and say "I'm not stupid, or bad at assignments, I was just rushed. I'm an A student really!" That's all fine for you, but nobody else is obliged to believe you unless you start turning in assignments that gets As.

In this analogy, us fans are the grader of the assignment bioware just turned in veilguard. And we should really grade the game based on the quality of the work presented, not based on how long it took the devs to make it. One because there's contention about how much of that 10 years time should be counter. And also because time spent and quality are two separate constructs. There's a special category of people who can spent a single night and output an A assignment, and another special category of people who can spend 10 years putting their best efforts into an assignment and still get C+. We can't know which kind bioware is as a studio given the kinds of changes that has taken place in the studio over the past decade (and given veilguard, it wasn't the former).

This, to me is really tragic, because I KNOW bioware writers can write brilliant games. They have previously! This is why I like DA so much. But clearly something about this team comp leading up to Veilguard did not work. We don't know exactly what it was. And making up stories in our heads about the things we don't know isn't likely to get us anywhere that's close to reality.

We should do our best to understand the reality in which everything is operating. Not the least for the sake of supporting the improvement of labour conditions in the games industry. That's the only way that we can rally behind efforts that make effective change. Changes that, you know, make sure that the types of things that made all those bioware veterans leave (apparently without proper severance compensation, to boot) are not likely to happen again at other studios.

(this is just the rumour mill, I wait with unbated breath for a jason schreier exposé sometime down the line)

But it's all there if you look for it!

First of all, it's not. It really is not all there. Because a lot of it was cut. Check out the art book for Veilguard. The things that those creatives have planned shows that they know what effectively telling those stories would have needed, and there are some hints of them that made it into the game. But only hints. I wonder at the sheer amount of information in the art book. It's WILD. It's exceptional. It's a massacre on the cutting room floor. I weep for the brilliant, lost ideas that will never see the light of day outside of concept art form. But man, does that book ever NEEDED to be published.

Secondly, we can find evidence for anything if we look hard enough. That's the power of fandom. In a way, it's why I'm here. I'm a big fan of untethered tinfoil-hat fan theories. But, it's important to distinguish an interpretation from the actual text. Because we can read the text, but we can't read minds.

[ishaslife]

Astarion has been breaking my poor heart.

This post will contain spoilers for the game and Astarion's romance/backstory. Before anyone comes at me, I want to say that you are the main character, you are supposed to change the fates and behaviours of your characters, especially if you are romancing them. It's a video game, that's kind of the point.

This post is extremely long and I apologise.

This analysis is based off my playthrough.

(*) means check notes at the bottom of the post.

I wasn't expecting to like him as much as I do. Don't get me wrong, I really liked him during EA and I thought he was funny, charming, flirty with a dark past and all that was just a means to cover his trauma but since the full game has come out and we've gotten to know more of him, it truly breaks my heart to see and know what he has been through. My sister and I were watching his reactions to be being rejected, being told that Tav only wants sex and forcing him to do things he doesn't want to do, it is truly heart-wrenching.

Many people expected Astarion to be this "I am so sexual and my romance will mostly be sex, also I will betray you the first chance I get." and it couldn't be further from the truth. Astarion is extremely loyal, and yes he has that air of flambouncy to him, will often make japes and say evil things but most of the time, it is just a facade. It's his shield in a way, he has been treated with utter cruelty for two hundred years of his life and now that he finally has some control over himself, he doesn't wish to be hurt again.

I don't think Astarion is ever completely evil, even in the beginning. He just wants to have fun and enjoy life after so many years of slavery. He likes it when you are snarky, say mean shit to people for fun but, he doesn't like to see innocents get hurt, and he doesn't support fighting for people who don't fight for themselves. Yes, he will support some of your evil decisions but they will lead to a bad ending, for you and your characters. It'll make Astarion wallow more in his greed and he'll lose the little humanity he has left. He doesn't really have a clear sense of direction in the beginning of the game as he's just found freedom and obviously wants to live life to the fullest, being evil comes naturally to him, it's instinct as its what he's been doing for two centuries.

This is my assumption since we don't know his actual age but since he's an elf who was well-respected in society, had a pretty prestigious job and was rich enough to be corrupt. I'd assume he was at least 70-100 years old before he was turned into a spawn. (EDIT - in a recent post by @deluxetrashqueen I saw the translation of the dates of birth and death on his tombstone:

"Astarion Ancunin

229-268 DR" to which he adds, "458DR - "

which shows that he was only 39 at the time of his death, which explains his emotional immaturity for an elf.) My point being, I believe he has been a spawn for longer than he's ever been a regular person. He has spent the longer part of his life doing evil things for an evil man, that was what his life was on a daily basis with Cazador. And his former work experience probably helped, he likely learnt pretty quick how much he took for granted as a living person and the harshness of his master, peers and people he seduced made him harsh and unforgiving in return.

Once you start getting close to him, you start to learn that he is only mean to people because of how life has treated him. In his romance, he says "no one ever looked out for me, no one ever said a kind word to me. You're the only one, no one is like that." Astarion starts to see, because of you that there is kindness in the world, and he finds kindness in you. Especially after his quest, as much as he'd hate to admit it, he also sees friends in your other companions as they do in him. By the end of Act 2, he starts to get more soft towards you and the decisions you make, often even disapproving of evil decisions. People often tend to forget that a lot of Astarion's evil personality is a front, it is not who he truly is.

These points will be better explained individually so I will talk about some themes.

Power: power plays a big part in his entire storyline. In the beginning, he wants to harness the powers of the tadpole to become powerful and at first, you think that it's simply because he's an evil character and he wants power for the sake of having it. Then later, he wishes to take over the power of the ascendant but mostly only to spite Cazador and take something important from him, not fully realising the true power of the rite.

As he slowly starts opening up to you, he tells you "the mind flayers tore me from that place" and you realise that its the tadpole that let's him walk in the sun, do things a vampire or spawn would never be able to, you learn that he hates being a vampire because he can't even remember what he looks like. He seeks power outside because he has had no power over himself for about two centuries, he thinks that having this power will fulfill his needs but it won't, we know it won't because in truth he only needs to reclaim his autonomy, physical and mental. Of course Astarion would never truly admit to this for a long while, even when he's romanced. I personally really love his good romance arc where he doesn't have sex with you, not because he dislikes you or doesn't want you but because, as he says "any kind of intimacy was something I performed to lure people back for him. While I know things between us are different... being with someone still feels tainted. It brings up all those feelings of disgust and loathing." He has spent 200 years or so bowing to Cazador's whims, done things to people he didn't want to do and I assume since it's heavily hinted at, were very sexual in nature. In a relationship, he simply wants to be seen as a person and I think that's really sad because that's how low the bar is for him.

In the ending of his quest, you can persuade him and tell him that going forth with the ritual won't set him free even if he thinks it will and I agree. If he's a slave to Cazador now, later he'd be a slave to power and greed. Just look at Cazador, despite being one of the most powerful beings in existence, he still wanted more power. That kind of greed and hunger never ends and Astarion would lose himself and who he has become while he was with us. Yes, it makes him walk in the sun again and do things a regular vampire can't but at what cost? 7,000 lives and his humanity. He would never be able to enjoy this "freedom" because he'll only strive to seek more power. In his ascendant ending, he becomes everything he's ever hated about Cazador, the cycle repeats itself, from Vellioth to Cazador and from Cazador to Astarion. And it will never end. Astarion even refuses to turn you into a vampire and wishes to keep you only as a spawn. With an insight check, you can learn that he thinks you're degrading yourself and he doesn't care. He now sees you as something to own, something to possess, not love. All his good qualities, wants and needs get twisted. Astarion truly only needs to feel like a person again but he doesn't fully realise this until you show it to him, through good deeds and actions, through simple acts of kindness. As he says in his "good" ending "I've been dead in the ground enough. It's time to try living again. With all that life has to offer."

Safety: Astarion wants to feel safe. He is so scared of being found by Cazador, he knows he's looking for him and the only thing giving him some form of safety from Cazador is the tadpole so of course he wants to harness its powers that is until he finds out it'll turn him into another kind of monster, a mind flayer. He doesn't wish to lose himself and his freedom again hence is vehemently against taking on the tadpole's powers but he doesn't stop you because that is of course, your decision to make. He says "if such power would please you, darling, I won't stop you. But do be careful, I want you to remain you." Now the only thing left that can properly give him his freedom is Cazador's death and he wants to kill him himself which I think is perfectly acceptable, Cazador deserves to die and if it is by Astarion's hands, all the better. But, in his romance, he makes it clear that he's doing it for safety, and he tells himself that he wants to take the power of the rite for safety as well because in truth, he is terrified of being powerless again. He does want revenge yes, but he also wants to keep you and himself safe from Cazador, even in the dungeon, if you run an insight check, the narrator tells you that he is losing his mind because of the power that's on offer and the smell of blood in the air. It's almost as if to say "he's losing his mind, please stop him before he forgets who he is." Astarion NEEDS your guidance*, eventually he even thanks you for 'saving him from himself.' In his good ending, he sees that in taking the power, he would be no better than Cazador and would become everything he's ever hated about him, and inflict on others what his former master inflicted on him, starting with you. His ascendant ending is honestly a very sad ending for his character, all that growth, change and development you bring to him throughout your journey just gone down the drain as he becomes an unfeeling, evil, narcissistic arsehole who only craves for more power. In his good ending, he will be safe, with you and with the friends he has made along the way. He is proud of himself and so is everyone else, it offers him a kind of friendship that's afforded to very few in the D&D world, especially a vampire/spawn whose very existence is hated. It is a bond based on trust, loyalty and to a degree, even love instead of fear like in the ascendant ending.

Abandonment and Fear: Astarion is driven by fear but he also knows facing Cazador is inevitable and something he needs to face rather than avoid. Even if he isn't outright seeking it (but he does seek it) I think he is braver than he likes to think and he definitely has some anti-hero traits. He likes the tadpole because it helped him get away from Cazador's authority and he enjoys bending others to his will since it makes him feel more powerful compared to how he's felt the past two centuries. But if you choose to not do the same, he doesn't really care. He doesn't except it of you nor is he disappointed (since he neither approves or disapproves. He only disapproves helping people who didn't ask or didn't want to be helped) he only gives a snarky comment or two about what he would've done instead and follows you anyway. He realises you're a good person. If you indulge too much however, I would argue that he agrees simply because he doesn't want you to turn against him. Perhaps he believes that you can turn on him and kill him as easily as you killed the tieflings or other innocents. He probably thinks it's easier to turn a good person evil than an evil person, good (tbh he wouldn't be entirely wrong.) And making bad choices does negatively affect his character of course but I just thought I'd put that out there as I think it's very likely for him to do so. He is definitely extremely paranoid, he hardly ever says how he truly feels out loud but when you break up with him (it's so heartbreaking omg) he says "I was beginning to think someone truly wanted me. I shouldn't have deluded myself." and "From the start, I was rather counting the hours until it was going to end. Midnight chimes, eh?" As heartbreaking as it is, the latter line shows how terrified he was of being abandoned or only be used for his body, he kept obessesively worrying that Tav would leave him after he bore his heart out to them. There's another bit of dialogue in Act 1 where he is trying his lines with you to get you to sleep with him a second time and you can say no which he is fine with but if you outright reject him there, meaning "I never want to see you like that again" he gets extremely sad: "Well, excuse me while I die of a broken heart. [slight chuckle] In all honesty, it's a shame. That time was special to me. I've gotten on my back 10,000 times or more and forgotten half of them. But you, I'll remember. [long pause] Have a fine evening... dear." Mind you, this is after you've only slept with him once. His dialogue makes it seem like he was already catching feelings for you, and not realising that himself until this happens. Seeing this made me realise that you're the first person he's slept with of his own volition, even if it was to seduce you. For the longest time, I think Astarion doesn't even want to believe you'll like him as something more than someone to sleep with, he hopes you might as his rejection line says so but astarion is nothing if not careful and well, paranoid.

That's why he's so shocked when you choose to not let him bite Araj at Moonrise even if it gave you something powerful in return. He sees that you chose his comfort over a genuinely useful commodity. Biting people or using his vampire, well, anything makes him extremely uncomfortable since it reminds him of things he needed to do for Cazador. If he bites her, it makes him feel like being a slave again, but bending to your will and wishes instead of his former master's. He realises he doesn't know how to say no. Which is another thing he says if you wish to pursue only a sexual relationship with him. He feels played.

Freedom: this is probably the main theme to his character arc. He wants to be free, not only from his master but also free to make right decisions and make decisions for himself, something he hasn't been able to do for years. This is why respecting his decision to not sleep with you is important to him, he doesn't feel comfortable being physically close to someone in a sexual way as it makes him doubt the person's true intentions and feelings and of course, makes him feel loathsome and disgusted with himself. He needs that time where you just connect as people to really see that you are in fact genuine and he wouldn't be hurt if he trusted you or gave you his heart. Towards the end of the game, he is still quite ruthless, but mostly only towards people who do wrong and are criminals. Astarion has a very strong set of ideals, he believes that people who do wrong deserve to die no matter the crime. I don't think this is entirely true, every crime deserves a different punishment but most criminals, those who do severe wrong and still get away with it, do deserve to die but this is just my opinion of course. He is ruthless towards bad people because that's how people have been to him, at least Cazador and I wouldn't be surprised if he was treated badly during his sexual encounters with strangers while working for him.

Why I think the Ascendant ending is a tragic ending for Astarion's character and for you.

I won't lie, there are some aspects of ascended Astarion that are pretty hot and I'm a sucker for (pun absolutely intended) powerful, gothic vampires but this ending comes at the cost of way too much. One simply being: Astarion isn't Astarion anymore. All his snarkiness, playful nature and strange innocence is gone. In his ascendant ending, that is, when he takes the power of the Rite of Ascension for himself by carving the same rune on Cazador's back that's on his own, Astarion loses himself. In D&D lore, full vampires are unfeeling, ruthless and have all their good traits twisted into something more malignant and evil. If Astarion loved you, that love turns into possession, if he cared for you, it turns into obsession. He doesn't truly care anymore... as a vampire, he is manipulating you and telling you things you want to hear instead of what he's actually feeling. He never truly got that moment of catharsis by killing Cazador as he does in his spawn ending. That simple bliss of killing the man that enslaved him and worse all these years; he never gets to experience that because he ends up using Cazador for the same power Cazador killed Vellioth for in the past, albeit worse. It's a never-ending cycle. And if he turns you into his spawn, you will go through the same fate Astarion went through and probably turn on him the same way he turned on Cazador. He has absolutely no sympathy for you or for anyone that is not him, in fact he feels almost disgusted by you because he thinks you're degrading yourself in front of him. There is a conversation between him and if you refuse to become his spawn, and I think it sums up his character perfectly as a vampire, it goes like this:

(choosing different options will have different dialogues but they more or less lead to him saying the same thing.)

ASTARION: Just so you know, I have everything I've ever wanted. Everything lies ahead. I can see my path to a waking dream. From the Crimson Palace, I will govern day and night. Create a city of spawn who bow before me, cast a fog over the world for my children.

TAV: But the Palace halls will be lonely.

ASTARION: You'll be lonelier than I. Very soon I will discover how to call my legions of wolves, become a sea of mist, run wrongside-up on roofs. [laughs] Everything vampires do best.

You could have, too. [sniggers] What a waste.

TAV: You don't really have anything at all.

ASTARION: I can take anything I want. I should've made you a spawn just to teach you that.

And there we have it, that last bit of dialogue shows how Astarion is now everything he hated about his own master. He is Cazador's literal and spiritual successor, he thinks you need to be punished for rejecting him. He doesn't feel for you anymore, at least not in a human way. He has become someone else entirely, for the worst. His drive for taking the power of the rite was to be able to walk in the sun again but as a full vampire, he wants to "dominate it (the world) until the sun melts and give ourselves over to the night."

Astarion NEEDS change, he needs to see that the world can be a kinder place than the one he's lived in this whole time. Just a bit of care and love with him goes a long way. In his spawn ending, he comes to realise that you gave him his life back even if it was as a spawn because that is true freedom. He is free from his master, and greed & power which was in the disguise of safety. He may never be able to walk in the sun, but he is free to make his own decisions that are driven by his choices. One of them being; wanting and loving you, living a full life with you, whatever that may entail.

If you went into the game thinking that Astarion will betray you no matter what then giving him the ascendant ending brings your fears to life. Astarion doesn't learn anything, by making him a full vampire, you basically tell him that he can only be powerful and worth something if he has super vampire powers, and in turn, you lose everything too. Astarion may have gained unparralled strength but now he has no need of you, you gave him everything he wanted and nothing he needed so now he can do whatever he wants with you because you are lesser than him, literally, he is much stronger than you are and his power will only grow as he discovers more of it. He tries to manipulate you into turning you into a spawn. A dialogue being:

TAV: After everything you went through with Cazador, you're going to make me a spawn?

ASTARION: Oh that was completely different, I'd never hurt you. I love you. That's what you've been waiting to hear, isn't it? That's what you want?

Which just shows you how he's only saying "I love you" because that's what you want to hear, so you agree to becoming his spawn. He doesn't mean it, it doesn't really have any feeling behind it whatsoever. And if he turns you into a spawn, you have basically lost everything. Because he is obsessive over you, he'll never let you go and since now he is properly evil, he likely won't turn you into a vampire either, even if he says he will.

This is just my take on the ending though, I think we can all agree the ascendant ending is the evil ending for his character, even if it is an ending you prefer. I'm not trying to hate on anyone who does like this ending, only stating that I think it is meant to be evil and I personally don't like it.

CONCLUSION

Once you get to truly know Astarion, he's a pretty decent guy. I can't speak much for people who didn't romance him, I'm not entirely sure how his non-romance route plays out. The good conclusion of his quest is so wholesome, where he says he feels "truly, honestly free" and tells you "you saved me from myself. This is a gift, you know, thank you. I won't forget it." getting full circle to the first time you let him bite you (the only time in my case.) It shows so much character development and pure joy in the way he thanks you (it doesn't need to be said but props to Neil Newbon for bringing the character to life.) He will always be a spawn and yet, he feels like "anything and everything is possible" because of you and the choices you made with him, you believed in him when he didn't believe in himself, you showed him that he is enough just the way he is and he doesn't need to become a full vampire to be strong and powerful. Astarion comes out of his finale, a much more positive person, who actually cares even if he won't show it and the best part is, he always keeps that tiny streak of evil and mischief within him. He hasn't lost sight of himself, he's just less spiteful now and feels free to actually enjoy life rather than constantly being scared of what might happen to him. He finds trust and happiness in you and it makes him happy that you find the same within him. You are his home and he hopes he is yours.

I understand that my analysis may not be perfect and my interpretation of the character may be different from someone else's but that's fine, he is a video game character that can be played so many ways and people can go around it however they like, interpret his character however they wish. This is just what I think.

NOTES

'Astarion needs your guidance.' - no, this is not gaslight-y. Astarion is a deeply troubled character and clearly finds it hard to differentiate between right and wrong. He often asks for your input and what you think by Act 2 which isn't a bad thing, he's asking for help and I think that shows how far he's come. In the final scene of his quest, he is overcome by the promise of power and the safety it would've provided which would've consumed him as it did Cazador, Astarion admits to this himself too later on once he can think clearly and is in a more positive mindset. There is nothing wrong with guiding your partner towards something that will eventually be better for their growth as a person in the long run.

[sorrelchestnut]

I think everything about Astarion is perfectly explained by the fact that he has siblings.

I mean, yes, centuries of torment and trauma, grasping at power to make himself feel safe, blah blah blah: that part was immediately obvious all the way back in EA. But he's also genuinely selfish and petty and spiteful, seeming to delight in people's miseries and sulk at their joys, in a way that doesn't come off as "traumatized sadboi" so much as "spiteful bitch." Which I enjoy tremendously as a character, don't get me wrong, but like. He does cackle in joy when you accidentally (or "accidentally") send that poor gnome flying into oblivion. He is not a nice person.

But! The second you learn that he has siblings, everything makes sense! He wasn't tragically wandering the halls of a big Evil Gothic Mansion alone with his master and tormentor; he was locked in a fucking dormitory with six other spawn of indeterminate age who are encouraged to compete and sabotage each other for Cazador's favor. (There were fucking bunk beds, y'all. Just imagine.) I spent years going to sleep-away camp for the summers and usually came back meaner and that was with dozens of counselors attempting to teach us the value of friendship; of fucking course Astarion is the most miserable, spiteful little bastard (un)alive.

Some of it is the very specific trope they used to write him: he's the very model of a regency rake, not the "dark powerful reformable bad boy" kind but the drawling, pissant little dandy fortune hunter, who ingratiates himself with the dowagers by way of his cutting tongue and seduces young ladies of means to live off their dowry. But the rest of it is very definitely the two centuries of social reinforcement by his equally miserable and hateful siblings. He's every mean girl from every teen movie who got that way by climbing to the top of the pack, allergic to sympathy and sincerity because any hint of it has been consistently mocked and punished and inflicting that mindset on others in turn.

As usual none of it actually excuses his bad behavior, blah blah blah I'm not interesting in legislating the crimes of fictional men, but it is excellent character writing. None of what I learned about him later ever contradicted any of my first impressions, only informed and enhanced. And it says a lot that he does grow so much more sympathetic and sincere by the end (if that's the example you set) because it really reinforces just how much he's influenced by his social circle. When he's surrounded by a pack of perpetually-adolescent squabbling murderchildren, he's... habitually unkind, let's just say. When he's away from that environment and rewarded with kindness and validation for behaving like a moderately functional adult, he finally gets a chance to prove that he just might actually be one.

[eri-pl]

Elves and curses, Men and oaths

The Silm says that the Men have "a strange power to shape their fate", to choose their own path partially independent of the Music.

So: Aragorn's ghost army. I'm sure I've said it somewhere before, but the only way to explain them existing is to say "the race of Men has such a high degree of power over their fates that they can swear oaths that bind them strong enough to somewhat meddle with their Gift". (Somewhat, not to completely break it, but "somewhat" it's still a lot.)

And... The Nazgul. I'm sure they did swear fealty to Sauron . And whatever-happened-between-Men-and-Morgoth. I think this too involved swearing something, even if the Tale of Adanel is not proper canon.

Ar-Pharazon and his army being hibernated under the mountains feels like it may (and, in terms of a satysfying narrative, should) be a case of it. For example: they made an oath to fight the enemy that deprived them of their immortality. This would fit perfectly with the whole concept. And with the pride of Númenor, it makes sense that they would swear it.

TBH this mechanism could even give us the "Turin will fight in the last battle", if we go with the more reasonable version where he doesn't go brrrr out of Ea, but kind of waits here. I still don't like this concept, but it can work.

Oh, and the part where Beren is able to actually wait for Lúthien in the Halls. He swore to wait for her, at least in some versions of the text it's there.

The Elves don't have this power, and the only time we see Elves swearing oaths, the effects are internal. They make decisions and have emotional compulsions based on the oath but there's no clearly supernatural effect. And yes, they don't get thrown into Everlasting Darkness just because they demanded it, that's apparently a strictly human privilege, if at all. Feanor failed in his revenge and it's canonically in the Halls, so that's a data point.

(Yes, marriage. But still, it's not an oath bigger than death, like it is for Men.)

I think it may be the other way around with being cursed.

Eol - a normal elf, even though related to him, and savvy in dark lore - curses Maeglin to die like him, and it happens, in quite a big coincidence.

TBH I have to go look for more cases of Elves getting cursed. Thingol? He does get into trouble on his own then but it is quite out-of-character for an old, wise elf who has already worked through his racial biases.

Turin - a Man - gets cursed by Morgoth, the most powerful evil of all, and yet, Morgoth has to do all the curse-related stuff manually (well, draconally but you get the point) and cannot reach Turin behind the Girdle and sure, Turin does get into trouble by himself, but that's pretty in-character for him and his childhood trauma.

I need more data, but I think it would make sense if Elves were easier to curse.

[clementine-thedestroyer]

Finally made my decisions on which owl each of the 141 are!! Because yes, I’m still thinking about this!! I’ve been drawing this idea a bit too, mostly in the form of a hybrid AU because since before I can remember, I’ve always just loved the idea of humans with wings- so why not do a bit of well needed drawing practice to bring it to life?

John - Great Horned Owl

Why: Even from when I first started thinking of all this, I always knew Price would be a Horned Owl- mostly because I thought the ear tufts would look cute on him and Great Horned owls look eternally grumpy (just like our favorite captain), but also because to me, a Great Horned Owl is kind of the most iconic and recognizable species of owl. They’re almost like the kings of the owl world and they’re beautiful creatures (big ones too!). I felt that just fit really well for Price. It’s hard to describe but I just see the resemblance so clearly in my head.

Fun facts (included because I love owls and hopefully you do too): Great Horned Owl can take down and will even eat other large birds of prey like Peregrine Falcons!! Also, they can scream!! Just like barn owls!!

Kyle - Western Barn Owl

Why: So I actually had some trouble with Gaz. A lot of owls could have worked, but I really wanted one that captures how beautiful I find him. I could stare at his face for literal hours, and I think the reason I eventually settled on the Western Barn owl is because (like I mentioned in my earlier owl post) I think barn owls are just gorgeous. Most owls can be described as gorgeous, but barn owls just look so (almost hauntingly) beautiful to me. They look intelligent- they look deadly. What more could you ask for from a bird?

Barn owls both haunt my night mares (my father scared the shit out of me with a mask made to look like one once) and live in my day dreams. What better bird to (hopefully eventually) draw Kyle as.

Fun facts: They scream!!! Look up their calls- it really is like a scream! I believe most owls are able to scream/screech, but I love that it’s the barn owl’s call.

Also!! And this is so interesting, the Native American Newuk tribe believed that if you were a good and brave person, you became a Great Horned Owl when you died, while if you were evil, you became a Barn Owl. Technically this wouldn’t apply to the Western Barn Owl since it’s an old world species, but I still thought it was interesting- plus it talks about Prices owl too! (There’s a lot more Native American tribes that held beliefs about Great Horned Owls, but I struggled to find a consistent reputable source for those so take that with a grain of salt.)

Simon - Barred Owl

Why: Originally, I was considering the Snowy Owl, Boreal Owl, and Ural Owl. Eventually I had actually decided on the Ural owl before, while doing research on another owl I saw a picture of a Barred Owl that immediately struck me. While the Barred and Ural Owls both look relatively similar, the Barred Owl definitely has more ghostly (hehe, get it?) air to it, and I think it’s facial disk is a bit more defined, reminding me a bit of Simon’s mask. While the Barred Owl is a new world bird and the Ural Owl is an old world bird, it didn’t live in the UK so I mean yes… I *have* technically given 2/4 of the 141 American species of owls- but the Ural owl didn’t even live in the UK so it’s fine.

Fun facts: The Barred Owl’s only natural enemy is the Great Horned owl!! Make of that what you will, but personally, as a big fan of that one Ghost x Price dynamic where Price is the only thing bigger and badder than Ghost, I know what I’ll be making of it.

Johnny - Tawny Owl

Why: I mean it has a little brown mohawk. How could I not make this Johnny? These owls are quite adorable and honestly, most of the reason I chose this one was the brown stripe drown its head looking just enough like a mohawk for me to giggle about it.

Fun facts: This guy actually lives in Scotland!! Its range is pretty big and includes almost all of Europe and a bit into the Middle East, but the fact that it can be found in Scotland just makes it an extra perfect choice for Johnny.

If you’re a long time follower, you may vaguely remember how in a post I said that in hybrid AUs, I love when a character is a hybrid of a species that’s native to where they were born/where their family is from. While I do love that idea, I also unfortunately realized most of my favorite owls are American, so Johnny and Kyle are the only ones that idea really comes through with. Simon and Price’s owls are completely American ones.

(Below the cut are my honorable mention + the owl I imagine Laswell as- because this post is already super long)

Laswell - Northern Saw Whet Owl

Why: In addition to being native to North America, this owl’s color reminds me a lot of Laswell’s hair. It’s a small owl, but it’s quite fierce. It’s been known to eat only the heads of its prey if prey is plentiful, and that bit of info reminded me of laswell a bit. She’s so strong and confident- I love her.

Fun facts: There’s Native American beliefs about Saw Whet Owls too!! They’re super interesting and there’s quite a few!

Honorable mention:

Laughing Owl

The laughing owl is an adorable owl which apparently chased its prey on foot, rather than flying after it- which sounds really cute. The owl could only be found in New Zealand and unfortunately has been extinct for probably about 100 years, with its extinction being caused when European settlers arrived on the island. Really, this honorable mention section was just an excuse to tell you about them.

(Most of my info from this was gathered by browsing owlpages.com - which is a lovely website you should totally check out if you like owls!!)

[cinnamontails-ff]

Masterlist

Hi there, I'm Cin and I write fanfiction about badass women and emotionally constipated men. My biggest achievements include getting people horny about fountain pens and establishing the trademark "Smut starts Chapter 15" ®.

|| AO3 || Ko-Fi ||

Magistrate's Advocate:

Completed Magistrate Astarion AU, Childhood Friends, Legal Drama, Racial Themes, Eventual Smut, "Can we save him before Cazador makes his move?"

Fanart Masterpost (will be updated!)

Word count: 200k

Big Dick Mafia!Astarion:

Series of connected one-shots, featuring Mafia!Astarion and the chemist-turned-drug-manufacturer that's been sent to take out his gang. They're trying to be soo cool and casual, but they're totally falling in love. Also yes, the dick is that big.

Part 1: The Secrets of the Universe (4k words, explicit)

Part 2: Celery & Taxes (5k words, explicit)

The Accountant's Guide to Taking Down an Evil Vampire Lord (and maybe bagging Astarion while you're at it):

Completed Pre-Canon Astarion longfic, Enemies to Lovers, Revenge, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, My personal love letter to accountants all over the world

Word count: 110k

New: Podfic by the incredible @bananaiguana (*screaming crying kicking my feet*)

An Empirical Science:

Completed Rolan Academia AU, Sexually inexperienced wizard meets sex-positive STEMinist queen, Wizards vs Sorcerers, Tiefling tails as mood barometers

Word count: 27k

Vampire Stay-at-Home Trophy Husband:

Completed EA one-shot, Astarion reverse isekais into our world, mostly fluff & comedy, neighborhood feuds and lots of cats

Word count: 4k