#i love astarion for his story first and foremost

[neet-elite]

do you guys have a character that you just adore but every time you even think about writing them (or every time you try) it always ends up feeling like you're failing them? like, you like them so much that you don't feel skilled enough to do them/their story justice?

thats me with astatrion. i love his story so much, relate to him more than any character before, and always romance him in game. but any time i try to write anything, smut or not, i feel like it's lacking. feel like he deserves better than my piss poor attempt at depicting his intricacies LOL...

[bg-brainrot]

"When He’s all but Forgotten How to Love Again" - Astarion x GN!Reader - Series Masterlist

Pairing: Astarion x GN!Reader (Elf!Tav for plot reasons)

Genre: Reincarnation, Angst, Mystery, Slow burn

Rating: Explicit, 18+

Tags: Gender-Neutral Pronouns, POV Second Person, Canon-Typical Violence, cw: blood, cw: Astarion's entire backstory, cw: sex, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Eventual Fluff, Grief, Mourning, Developing Relationship

Series WC: 113k words and ongoing, 21/?? chapters

Summary: An Elf-Tav reincarnation story where Reincarnated!Tav dreams about Astarion in their nightly reveries and eventually seeks him out once they reach maturity. Things definitely totally go well.

Author’s Notes: I'm bringing over some of my multi-chapter fics from AO3, so if you've already read this, ty!! I love you and appreciate you so much! I will continue to add chapters as I format them, but the full fic is available on AO3 here if you're feeling like a binge.

Heads up-- while there will be explicit moments, this is first and foremost focused on romantic tension and yearning, asking the question: 'Would you still love me if I was someone completely different?’ Explicit scenes will be few and far between and very much focused on their feelings. It’s essentially an established relationship slow burn?

This has unascended Astarion, “good” choices are made in the original timeline, Tav needs to be an elf for this to work, but otherwise no specifics on past Tav. Present day Tav is a magic-user.

Chapters:

Chapter 1: Knifes and Nightmares

At 12 years old, you first dream of the Pale Elf. The encounter scares you and sets you on your path forward.

Chapter 2: The Second Encounter with the Pale Elf

Nearly 19, you think you have a handle of your past lives. However, not all of your past lives are created equal.

Chapter 3: What it Means to Love

Now 29, you're still trying to piece together parts of your past. In particular, what exactly was your relationship with Astarion?

Chapter 4: In this Lifetime

Now 99-years-old, you've managed to ignore your worst impulses to run off to Baldur's Gate. One night's reverie finally breaks you.

Chapter 5: Guidance from a Druid

After finally setting off to find Astarion, you receive a confounding memory from your past life. Ignoring what it might mean, you focus on your task and visiting Halsin, one of your past-self's friends.

Chapter 6: The Man of your Dreams

You make your way toward Astarion, trying your best to prepare for the encounter to come.

Chapter 7: Just One Night

You plead your case to the vampire.

Chapter 8: Who You Have Become

You try to learn more of who Astarion's become, while also trying to convince him of who you were.

Chapter 9: Ghosts of You

After he storms off, you try to track Astarion down only to find yourself on a trip down memory lane. Once you do catch his trail, you’re surprised to see where he’s gone.

Chapter 10: Overheard in the Underdark

You traverse a new landscape, looking for Astarion. What you find might be more than you bargain for, and what you hear might be too much to handle.

Chapter 11: An Interrogation

You spend the night in vampire prison and have a difficult conversation.

Chapter 12: The Source of his Pain

As you aim to leave and never look back, Astarion realizes that perhaps *he's* the one that made the mistake.

Chapter 13: And They Were Roommates

You and Astarion try to find a common ground between you. Things are awkward and tentative, and progress is anything but linear.

Chapter 14: A Blossoming Friendship

Now in your second week of living together, you and Astarion have to get past some of the hurdles your first week introduced, all while getting a bit closer along the way.

Chapter 15: More than Friends Pt. 1

Push finally comes to shove. As fun as living in the present is, Astarion forgets that present dangers are still very, very real. Afterward, emotions run high, and you find yourself in a familiar predicament.

Chapter 16: More than Friends Pt. 2

After talking through the previous night's tryst, emotions are confused, pasts are divulged, and everything comes to a head when your heart and soul want different things.

Chapter 17: What We are Now

When you’re left to your own devices, you find yourself knee-deep in mystery. Despite all of this, Astarion never leaves your mind. And perhaps you never leave his.

Chapter 18: Traveling with a Friend

You and Astarion travel together to Waterdeep. Emotions run high as you reconnect and reestablish your boundaries.

Chapter 19: The Wizard’s Tower

After traveling through Waterdeep, you and Astarion finally arrive at Gale's tower. Introductions are made, tours are had, and the relationship between yourself and Astarion continues to remain complicated.

Chapter 20: Sweets and Shopping

After receiving some advice from Gale, you and Astarion spend the day shopping and talking through your friendship.

Chapter 21: Dansarra’s Delights

Your wizard friend gives you a nigh impossible task, and you spend the day trying to find your opening to complete it.

Chapter 22 - TBA

...

[thecampjuicebox]

I always wondered how the romanced companions would react if Orin kidnapped the player character. Any thoughts?

Be prepared for some angst because PHEEEEWWWWW

Astarion

At this point in the story, romanced Astarion and Tav are very close. He even states that Tav is the only person he's ever cared for, so I can imagine he'd be devastated if his beloved was taken by Orin. He'd take a relatively unhinged approach to saving them, running in with fangs bared. Daggers swinging. He'd make quick work of Orin, slicing and dicing to save his love. They've always done so much to save him so he'd feel it was his duty to do the same in this instance. Once he's able to hold them in his arms again, he'd allow himself to cry. Sob, even. He'd hold them close, smooth their hair back, bury his face in their neck to deeply inhale their familiar scent, but not until telling them how stupid they were for allowing themselves to be kidnapped by the shape-changer in the first place.

Karlach

Tav is Karlach's first taste of intimate touch in YEARS. Her first taste of love for as long as she can remember. When she finds out Tav is the one taken by the shape-changer, it would break her. Shatter her into a million burning pieces. Her engine would run hotter than the searing fires of Avernus. She'd yell and spit and grab the nearest bludgeoning object she could to absolutely decimate Orin where she stands. The pale eyed woman has caused enough problems and with Karlach's already crushed morale after seeing Gortash again, she'd go absolutely ape shit. She'd fall to her knees in front of Tav. Hug their legs. Cry as she rubs her nose across their thighs. Cling to them like a child. "Don't ever leave me again, Soldier. I can't bear it."

Wyll

First and foremost Wyll, I think, would be the most level headed in this situation. He'd quickly devise a plan to save his love. The Blade of Frontiers or the Blade of Avernus, either way, he'll prove his heroism and his devotion to Tav. No one lays a finger on his prince/princess. Their Devil in shining armor. He'd make an entrance similar to when Tav first encounters him in the Emerald Grove. Bold and brave, ready to dominate the fight. And once Tav is assured safe, he'd sweet them off of their feet. Shower them in love and praise of their bravery during this traumatic event.

Shadowheart

Shadowheart is very reserved and quiet about her feelings and thoughts. If her love was taken by Orin, I think she'd play calm about it while absolutely losing it inside. She's mentioned previously that she isn't one for romances, more just short lived flings. With Tav, however. It's incredibly different. She'd rally the other companions and rush into Bhaal's temple to find Orin. Slay here right there. And then take Tav into her arms and check them other, make sure the shape-changer caused them no serious harm. If she had, Shadowheart would heal them. Make them feel safe once more.

Lae'Zel

Lae'Zel's love of Tav goes from 0-100 real quick, and hearing that Tav was taken by an enemy, I think she'd LOSE it. Lae'Zel has not known love like her love for Tav. Tav showed her freedom and no one is going to take that away from her now. She's not known to show very intense emotions, but I think she would let herself cry this time. Lae'Zel is trained in combat so taking Orin down would not be a difficult feat with the help of the other companions. Once Tav is safe, she'd embrace them with all of her strength. Hold them close to her as she mumbles softly in their ear "Zhak vo'nfynh duj. Source of my joy."

Gale

Gale is such a soft lover. His prior relationship with Mystra caused a lot of trauma and I think his romance with Tav is his key to being happy again. With himself and in general. Even the threat of having to blow himself up is softened by Tav's presence. "One moment with you could sate me for a lifetime, and prise the fear from my heart." Once he learns that Tav was taken, I know for a fact he'd go into bad bitch mode. He'd storm his little wizard self right into Bhaal's temple and fireball the hells out of Orin before she could get a word in edgewise. Where'd all this courage come from? The lovely idea that after all of this is over and Tav is safe, they can return to the illusory scene of his tower in Waterdeep and reside there whenever the feeling arises. Not without a lecture on why it wasn't the smartest idea to get kidnapped, though.

[alpaca-clouds]

Gale's Trauma (or: Fuck Mystra)

I have right now four different game states playing in BG3. I restarted my Tav, I have a Durge, then I am doing Astarion and Gale. I did not really plan on doing a Gale run, but then I learned that with him you have Tara in your camp and fuck, I love this snarky little cat. xD

But man, going into this... The shit with Mystra really hits home for me. Like, fuck, I hate Mystra so much.

Spoilers and CW for abusive relationships under the cut!

To me the true tragedy with Gale is, that he really does not realize how fucking abusive Mystra was and is towards him. Like, best case scenario (as someone who has not romanced him) is that he starts understanding this abuse towards the end of Act 3. But he very much starts the story thinking that Mystra was right about everything, continues thinking that her ordering him to commit kamikaze suicide is totally valid, and then only in Act 3, after being stopped from blowing himself up, starts to understand that maybe this was not okay.

Here is where I love Tara. Because Tara respects Mystra, but Tara is also very aware how toxic the relationship was for Gale. And while I have not reached the point, I saw the video of Tara react to the "blow yourself up" command. And I just fucking love how she says basically everything I wanted to say in reaction to it. Like, my sweet cat, you are BASED!

This is of course realistic. He was in a very abusive relationship and while we do not have a lot of details on what happened exactly between him and Mystra there is a lot of evidence that she probably took him as a chosen when he was a teenager. So, he probably was very dependent on her - and with that she had a ton of control over him.

Also I am very much shuddering about her having sex with him, because... well, age and power difference.

Him not realizing the abuse is just very typical about someone coming out of an abusive relationship. Because especially if it is the abuser ending the relationship the abuse victim will often end up feeling very, very guilty and at fault for it. Something we see a lot in Gale who just excuses Mystra's action towards him as understandable and seeing himself at fault for it.

And we know, of course, that Mystra could have just made his problem go away. She very much would have been capable of just removing the orb. We know that, because she does this when he brings the crown of Karsus to her. So, she was very much capable of doing this all along.

Funnily enough Gale for me is the character, too, who first and foremost needs friends, not a romantic partner. Because I can tell you, if you just start to realize how toxic your last romantic relationship was, you will just try and fall back into the same kind of dynamic if you start a new relationship.

What is good to know is that he has Tara and Tara does look out for him very well. I really love this cat (yes, I know she is a Tressym, but also... I don't cat, she is a very good kitty).

[whathebeep]

Can I just say like,,, obviously my brain is always thinking about Baldur's Gate 3 and narratively how it could continue for a BG4 (I know I'm getting ahead of myself here) BUT

There's so many characters that could make comebacks in the game and I am so here for it. In my mind, under the cut, here's the top contenders for returning characters (other than obviously Volo, Jaheira and Minsc) (Late game Spoilers included!!)

So first and foremost our fav Archdruid Halsin! The fact that he goes back and rebuilds the shadowlands village and builds it up as a community means so much. It means you could go there in BG4 and meet Halsin, the community leader, the wise Archdruid who runs the orphanage. Whether or not he is actually the leader directly or just a respected community member and advisor to the leader of the town/village (depending on how big it grows) would both be good narrative choices. You could listen in on him tell stories of the adventures he has with the PC from BG3 to the kids. Hell you could probably meet Thaniel while in the area if you're a druid/have a high enough nature skill. There's so many possibilities for this and I adore it so much.

There's a lot of the characters you could also meet there too, who so happened to either have settled down there or are only passing through, visiting an old friend.

Astarion of course you could meet either ending route for him! Either as an adventurer (maybe travelling with Shadowheart?) Or as a vampire lord ruling in Baldur's Gate, out of Cazador's old estate. He would probably keep the vampire secret from you as he's a spawn l, but perhaps if he comes to trust you he'll let you know. Perhaps he'll even direct you to a safe spot in the Underdark to rest your head. Whether or not he tells you it's all spawn would be up to choice. If he's a vampire lord I imagine he'll be very Strahd/Cazador like, and will either want you to be a spawn for him or will want to kill/manipulate you into doing his bidding. Either way he'd probably be a boss fight

Shadowheart as an adventurer as well (again potentially travelling with Astarion, or having settled down) but HEAR ME OUT. I love LOVE the idea of A Selune worshipper Shadowheart eventually returning to revitalize the Selune temple you see early game and starting up a village there. Hells.or even Isobel and Dame Aylin doing that and Shadowheart eventually making a home there.. I'M HERE FOR IT

Lae'zel ofc, but they'd have to have a strong reason for her to return to the material plane. Maybe she would, after defeating the bitch I MEAN Lich Queen.

Gale maybe as an Elminster type character? Like it would be different depending on what ending for him is considered "canon", but either god of ambition or teacher will work super super well for this. He could offer the position of his chosen to the PC cause let's be real that's basically your thing no matter if you're good or evil, or he could be a wise wizard who can give safe advice to you or just bump into you on your travels.

UGH there's just so many options and I love it

[kelpie-bael]

Bg3 epilogue spoilers and thoughts below. I have romanced no one except the Emperor and all companion quests were completed. Orpheus was killed.

First off, I talked to Lae'zel first and foremost expecting to be hated for killing Orpheus but she calls me old friend 😭😭😭. I love you so much, thank you for still liking me!!

Ajdjdjddj she calls herself Zealous, bossy, and insistent and that it's all part of her charm. God she's really making me regret not romancing her.

Lae'zel says she missed me 😭😭 It's confirmed she's Bael's best friend

Shadowheart says she missed me and then says I've gotten fatter XD She's much more soft spoken and calm. She truly seems at peace and happy. And then she makes fun of herself for spouting sharran drivel lol HAHA still so sassy!

HAHAHAHA SCRATCH HAS THE ASTRAL PRISM AND WANTS US TO THROW IT

For some reason Volo is fucking here lmao and Withers didn't invite him XD he fucking showed up on his own. He's fucking forging our signature for release forms. Arrogant bastard but he's hilarious

Gale is a professor! Esteemed and honored! I got to hug him!! He unfortunately gave the crown to Mystra and no longer has the orb yet threatens the students with blowing up XD LOLOLO references how I failed at his magic lesson

TARA MY BELOVED!!

!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to get the Cleric option!!! Roleplaying Bael as super devout and getting this is a blessing <3 AND THEN! Gale says he expects nothing less!

YES YES YES, MY EVANGELIZING BABE!! Lol he's still attempting to rizz me up and inviting me to stay in his tower

Right out of the gate, Astarion is flirting with me too X3 LOLOL if you ask him if he's been drinking and he calls us cheeky and that he's been well behaved. Aww little grumpy cat became respectable and a hero, killing the right people. He still doesn't consider himself 'good' which tracks. Aww he's accepted himself and seems happy, good for him. He's now less wet cat and more satisfied and happy. And he still wants the sun which of course he does

Halsin is still so formally articulate. Awww you offer a hug and he makes a joke about never declining and he's a doppelganger otherwise. Which hits because Orin did kidnap him 😭 Aww the Shadow lands are healing well and they've done wonders with reconstruction! Aww everyone is welcomed! What a shift from what we see from the grove at first. HALSIN HAS CHILDREN, 'CHARGES' TECHNICALLY BUT CHILDREN!! HAHA he jokes about tucking us in and telling bedtime stories. It's a little disappointing telling him about your time is less descriptive than the other companions.

Oliver and Thaniel are happy!! Yay!! Also he stills loves bear form and the children love it <3 Also he doesn't fuck as much anymore XD He's settled now and is happy!

He's not involved in the grove at all now but things are going well! I killed Kagha, good riddens. One last Halsin hug 🥰 HE GAVE ME A WOODEN DUCK!! I'm very happy about this duck

Jaheira is such a mom right out of the gate makes fun of me for being presentable for once lol And then I give it right back. Baldur's Gate reconstruction is going well! Jaheira still has a rough relationship with her kids but it seems to be better. Aww she doesn't truly care for the city but she helps for her children <3 Adopt me Jaheira! Aww unfortunately not too much to talk about with her. Very dry but I didn't bring her with me much.

Karlach is doing well in Avernus! Her and Wyll have been fighting hard to survive! AND! She might be able to fix her condition!! She does immediately make fun of me being clean though XD Aww and she really wants to come back to Baldur's Gate and she asks if she can find us 😭😭. Of course you can!!

LOLOLOL Withers is torturing a bard who owes him a favor to play for is. AJDHDJDJFJS EXCUSE ME??? THIS BARD IS AN ALLY OF MY GOD??? I just made fun of him... And then I said it is an honor to meet an ally of Oghma.

Honestly this feels so nice to be called a fellow Oghmanyte! Bael loves her god so much and to meet a peer is wonderful! I really appreciate how much I can bring up my class in this. He also pepped up so much knowing I worship Oghm

Awww Minsc and Boo are already so cute!! Lmao Minsc and Boo were locked away by Zhentarians for execution. He is so very happy to get a chance to beat his way out ... I don't think he'll survive tho... Aww he says don't cry because you've missed us! Also he's gonna get himself presentable which is fair, he's literally in prison garb

Baldur's Gazette articles are very interesting. Lol Astarion gets in the paper for sparing people!

Lol bug

OMFG THE LETTER CHEST!!! I DONT GET TO TALK TO THE EMPEROR BUT HE LEFT ME A LETTER!!

It is less than I wanted but I'm still so so so happy we got anything

I won't be going over all the letters in here lol, but they're great! Actually no, fuck you Valeria. Barcus you lovable bastard lmao. Arabella you're growing well and I love you! Aww the gur to Astarion is cute. Araj, wtf. Voss doesn't seem to hate me much anymore either 🥹 Aww zevlor, stop being so hard on yourself

Finally saved the best for last, Wyll. Enjoying the fresh air!! Obviously much more enjoyable than sulfur. He missed me too <3 Hes very soft and saying he can't imagine doing everything again without us <3 He's still deadly as ever without his powers, get fucked Mizora!! His father is proud of him and they've seen each other often. I still hate his father and he should be a little bitter but he's happy so I won't intrude. Also the fists have been forgiven and are back in good order. Hes getting fucking wasted!

Withers!! You've done wonders to this dilapidated building!

Lolol withers gives us a speech and says it's over for now with a naughty little finger wag. I love you Withers so much!! <3

[goatsorcery]

>:3 Alright Frank, my turn. Please share your bg3 brain worms (tadpoles). Favorite character(s)? Preferred companions? Do you have a consistent party? If not, how do you choose your members at any given time? I am very curious if it’s the latter because as I mentioned, I don’t really ever switch it up.

you said in the tags of your answer to write as many paragraphs as my feelings can fill… and well… it’s a lot haha :)

i love all the characters so much! they're all so unique, interesting, and charming in their own way. i'm only in act 2 myself (about to finish it though i think) so i haven't gotten to see everyone's full stories yet. narrowing down a favorite is so hard! i change up my party every once in a while, but consistently i still always bring wyll or shadowheart so I guess they would be my favorites!

i love wyll so much, im always a sucker for characters who are able to stay postive and optimistic even through the worst of times. I also love characters (especially in fantasy) who are primed to be the main character either from their backstories or narratively (alistair in dragon age and aragorn in lord of the rings are other examples); wyll, who is a monster hunter but is first and foremost a protector of the people, (there are other details about him that I wont spoil for you that also lend to this) has all the makings of a classic fantasy protagonist, but he never expresses the desire to be the leader (i guess, unless the player plays as him haha) or to get any recognition for helping cure the tadpoles. other possibly-spoilery tid-bits about him that break away from or invert fantasy character archtypes help to really round out his character in an interesting way.

I loved shadowheart pretty much instantly (shadowheart and lae’zel being the first two companions you meet is everything, i love them both and their dynamic so much) shadowheart is a bit of a mystery, even to herself, which is fascinating to me. I find her whole story, so far, really interesting, and I’m excited to see where it goes and what else is learned about her through the rest of the game. i love characters who are so dedicated to one goal to the point that it’s all that matters to them and it’s all they are, but then the story challenges their dedication or pulls them from it for a larger cause.

i switch up my party every once in a while, but its usually just to swap out characters for quests that are relevant to them or that i think will prompt dialogue or approval from them. i think my game is a bit bugged, because i didn't even realize there was party banter until very late into act 1 (also just might be  because i fast travel a lot) so i've been switching out characters more to see what conversations they can have.

my go-to parties in act 1 were wyll, shadowheart, and lae’zel or wyll, karlach, and lae’zel (this was mostly because of combat game play, karlach and lae’zel with their extra attack or shadowheart as an extra healer was so helpful when I was still trying to learn the combat system).

in act 2 my go to party is wyll, shadowheart, and karlach, or wyll, shadowheart, and halsin depending on if im just exploring/doing side-quests or if i know I’ll run into heavy combat. karlach regularly one-shots enemies with 30+ hp and having her extra attack is the only way i get through combat most of the time (even on the easiest difficulty, combat continues to kick my ass).

when I reach act 3, I plan on mixing up my party more, depending on what’s in store for act 3 (I have surprisingly not been spoiled on anything that happens in act 3).

combat is the main reason why i don’t switch up my parties more since i get used to having certain spells or abilities. on my second play through (which I’ve already started planning even though im not close to being done with my first lol) i plan on trying to mix up my groups more to get more banter and to spend time with other characters I haven’t had much chance to. I rarely take gale or astarion with me (unless there is a relevant quest) but only because of combat, i feel like other characters have more useful abilities then they do. which is a shame because i like them both a lot, and want to get to know them better. my tav is a cleric, so that also factors in to party make-up. gale’s party banter is always bugged for me as well which is a bummer, the captions will pop-up but his voice lines never play.

one thing i like so much about the characters is that they all have interesting interpersonal dynamics. it really only comes up in banter and the occasional camp conversation but its enough to make it feel like they're all actually interacting in camp. whether or not they fully get along, they still all seem to care about each other which i love! its the friend group you'd never expect (most of who would probably not get along or get the chance to interact if the circumstances were different) but they all end up being close in some way or another. shadowheart and lae'zel's dynamic is especially a favorite of mine, i always love characters who don't get along on the surface but are actually "no one's allowed to be mean to them except for me". shadowheart and astarion are a bit like this too, with each other, and astarion with the rest of the companions as well. another one of my favorite party dynamics is wyll, shadowheart, and astarion; three people I wouldn’t have expected to really get along but the first time i had them all in my party I triggered like three conversations in a row where they were flirting with each other (my favorite of their banters is astarion saying he’d drink from wyll if he could chose anyone in camp after shadowheart asks him and then her sounding disappointed that he didn’t pick her. in my play through shadowheart then asked astarion if he was single less than a minute later lol).

my favorite character dynamics are:

wyll and karlach

wyll, astarion, and shadowheart

shadowheart and lae’zel

[peachteagaming]

hiiiii!!!

I have to vent because honestly Astarion is making me FEEL things!!!

I let myself be willingly seduced, enjoying those silly corny pickup lines whilst knowing they are a lie. Then the whole magic of his writing comes in when we’re offered to give him comfort and pursue a purely romantic relationship with him.. these kinda relationships have never been on offer in any game of this genre, and even within BG3 he’s the odd one out, unique.

the whole thing just hurts so much that he doesn’t know what he’s feeling but he doesn’t want these feelings tainted with an act that was performative for 200 years..but ironically the act of having sex with Tav actually caused him to catch those feelings and he’s so confused. it felt rewarding to show him he’s not just a piece of meat and we do care about him on a deeper level. the fact that it can be indirectly proven (either by the drow scene or romancing Halsin) that from his act 2 confession Tav has not been forcing him to have sex absolutely warmed my heart.

then at the end —the graveyard scene (especially now after seeing it from proper camera angles instead of the crumbs we were fed in the actual cutscene lol) — the way how the whole scene is chaste because they’re not naked yet it is so damn sensual with the whole intense eye contact and touching. this is the man fully present in the moment and laser focused…he’s just so… Astarion.

I honestly do not care about sex and don’t want to have sex irl but his whole story arc fulfills me somehow. In a way that having a relationship not based on sex is beautiful anyway and I guess that’s what they wanted to portray by characters not being naked right away in that scene but rather enjoying the eye contact, touch and closeness first and foremost. i don’t know if I’m making any sense here I’m sorry 😭

That’s so true, the drow scene was heartbreaking. It also really confirms that casual sex isn’t something he wants. Like he just wants to be loved more than anything and protected, bc the universe failed him for so many years 😢

[mybg3notebook]

Loving your analyses of Astarion's behaviour and character so far! It has really reaffirmed in my eyes just how much of a bastard he really is. (I say that fondly, of course.) Do you have any thoughts on why the general reaction on tumblr has leaned so much towards woobifying him? After looking at his actual (explicit and implicit) morals in game it seems quite odd that some people are reading him as an edgy soft boi who just needs a hug from the right person to fix him.

Hello!

Thank you very much! I really enjoy seeing chars in a deep way. It makes me change my opinion on them, sometimes. That's why I like to do these analysis, even though it's a lot of work for a person who doesn't speak English as a native.

Lol, please, I won't be offended. Astarion is a bastard in the whole sense of the word, lol.

However, I find Astarion an interesting evil (evil neutral imo) char to explore the narration of “abuser who found a greater abuser”, with all the topics I talked about in those posts. I would feel a bit disappointed if Larian suddenly changes him into a man who always had a gold heart (because for that, you need to give hints, even in EA, and none of that has been seen so far).

An example of how this is done is with Shadowheart, she is evil and she supports a lot of cruelty that Astarion does too, but we got meta-knowledge (and not so much meta when we see her heavily drunk after killing the tieflings) that gives us enough reasons to believe she has some heart in her, despite Shar and her teachings. I do not support the idea of “she is a softie”, because she is not, but she doesn't have the same level of cruelty nor revels in murder so much as Astarion does. They represent different degrees of evilness. What plays in her favour is her face, which gives the idea of more softness than she truly has; the same happens with Astarion. Lae'Zel is less cruel than Astarion in general, with more logical reasons to be so because her brainwashed culture made her to be more pragmatic than a taster of cruelty, and yet, she receives a lot of more hate in the fandom... and it is clear to me why: she is not “beautiful” in the traditional white euro-centric standard sense.

And this is my point to answer your question (remember all this is personal opinion): I think there are many reasons why people woobify Astarion (not only in tumblr, but also in Reddit or in Larian Forums, it's a big part of the EA fandom).

First and foremost, I believe it's his appearance. If he were a bugbear or a goblin, few in this fandom would give a thought about his abuse, his pain, Cazador, etc. They would focus on his “bastard” side and leave it at that (again, Lae'Zel has this treatment). I want to make clear that I'm not questioning people's taste, everyone can like whatever they want to. I'm saying that, for me, there it proof enough to sustain this idea that Astarion is woobified because he is beautiful: when you read that a lot of people in this fandom never had an interest in Larian's previous games, or isometric rpgs, or even turn-based combat games (there are some people who are giving feedback against the game being a turned-based combat one! It's the nonsense because it's basically Larian's style), but they bought bg3 because they saw Astarion, even though they knew nothing about him.... All this, clearly, shows to me that a lot of people approached this game for only one char, for only his design (a big amount of them say it explicitly), and it is not far-fetched to know that people justify more easily beautiful villains than ugly ones. We can explore a lot of examples of this in many fandoms. People can love villains because they have real complex reasons to be so (like Loghain in DAO), but they also can like whimsical villains just because they are “hot”. I feel this is Astarion's case, he is a “beautiful villain” who apparently has always been evil. His reasons for his whimsical evilness is more like “it's always been in his nature”. Unless the family part has a different role in his backstory (mirror option) and it's not a mere line for a player to play a “good aligned” Astarion when picked as Origin. I don't like to read much about it in that scene because the game still doesn't have companion Tags; those options in the mirror can be there just for the player to pick, flavoured with each origin, but not necessarily the three of them are canon. This will be seen once we have the companion tags activated as it happened in DOS2.

What we can say for sure is that Larian knew what they were doing when they picked Astarion's design; they choose a dangerous white guy with white hair and evil alignment: an archetype that catches a lot of people in many fandoms.

Part of his woobyfication process has a deep root there, in my opinion. Again, if he were a bugbear, a goblin, a githyanki, a monster-humanoid... we would not have 90% of the EA fandom collapsed with his image, or Larian focused on him to the point that after 4 patches he had new scenes, lines, corrections, and development, while Wyll is still there, sitting in the bench of “the less developed chars” (with around 2k less lines than the rest of the chars, and his personal quest bugged since the first day). Yes, I don't like the preference on one single companion when I am seeing the “future Beast” (from DOS2) in Wyll.

Second, he is a vampire. Vampires are a great element in any fantasy narrative. You know you will have a lot of fans behind a vampire char. Not by chance Vampire The Masquerade is one, if not the most important product of White Wolf, which keeps still giving them a lot of profit despite being decades old. Vampires are always a good element of personal horror, of lack of control of your own body, and also an allegory of abuse, power, and rape. This concept of “being a monster without control” that they embody helps a bit more for the woobification.

Third, people tend to mix a lot headcanon with what a character gives us as canon. We can have a long useless discussion about which is more worthy: canon or headcanon, or about why one should or should not respect canon, but putting all that discussion aside, and considering the previous two points, I see that a small part of his woobyfication comes from the fact that people love denial and self-projection instead of analysing of what they are given (and let's be honest, we know in tumblr, reddit and others social networks, people lack of reading comprehension skills, which makes analysis all about self projection without a real effort in understanding the character's perspective. It's all about the player unilateral perspective. How can you analyse a char you didn’t play with or explored in all its paths? ).

So if their beautiful character is behaving in a way they don't want to, they start considering him “random” (I read this so much that confuses me, because Astarion has clear patterns for everyone who wants to see them, like the rest of the companions. He is not random, he follows pretty well all what I listed here, that list helps you to predict what he will disapprove or approve) so they end up filling this apparent “randomness” with headcanons and self-projections. Don't get me wrong, I don't despise headcanons, I love them, I have a lot of them and create with them. But I also like honest analysis and separate what I want from what I get from a company (to correctly give them feedback, otherwise I will be giving them my headcanons).

If you don't want an aspect of a given char, and you want to deny it, it's perfectly fine. Do it, it's your entertainment, but be honest with the fandom about it, acknowledge this is a personal denial you enjoy. And mainly, don't use headcanons and self-projections to attack the rest of the chars you don't like in their own tags. We know how aggressive some people in this fandom are, and it's a bit frustrating to see aggression without the slightest effort in understanding the character they hate.

There is also something sad to say, related to self-projection, that contributes to Astarion's woobyfication too: a lot of players are survivors of abuse who connect with him from trauma, and I can understand if denying his past is a way to help them to release any kind of pain or need for vengeance against their abusers. It's a natural and totally understandable projection. The woobyfication, then, ends up in an intense self-projection where they give to the char something that they needed because their own trauma.

This is why I would like Larian to give us other survivor chars that people can project onto, whose stories are really about survivors of abuse who were not evil in the beginning. Because I feel a lot of people approached Astarion as a narration of a “victim who will become a victimiser” or as a “bad behaved victim”, instead of what I think it's shown: an abuser who found a greater abuser (and his story is about punishment of the abuser and the concept of justice in a world which has none), so trauma survivors will end up with disappointment if they think Astarion is something similar to the representation of what they experienced. Plus, vampirism is never good to use as allegories of abusers/victims because the relationship Sire/Childe is too sick and twisted. So, again, this is a mere opinion from all what I've been reading since the game came out.

I hope Larian sticks to the narration they seem to follow with Astarion: an abuser who found a greater one, and now wants to become the next Cazador, and this woobifycation doesn't change the real potential of a dark deep story that I believe they want to give us: not every char is redeemable, and sometimes evilness is capricious. We had chars like these in bg1 and bg2 after all.