#spawn astarion hc

[litsenn]

Just a little hc about Astarion and my Durge I posted on my former blog a while ago. I'm reposting it here because I've been thinking about it again (I edited it a little).

We know how Astarion uses perfume to hide the “whiff of undeath” that hangs about him, and even if he kinda jokes about it in act 3, I imagine that he’s actually very self-conscious about his own scent, and would ALWAYS wear perfume, no matter what (even in Act 1 I’m pretty sure he’d manage to find some bergamot, rosemary and some stolen brandy to prepare his concoction).

Shadowheart tells him that he must have “thought this through a great deal” - and I believe he did. Not only because he’s very sensitive to fragrances, but also because his natural “undead” scent reminds him (and others) of his vampiric nature (an “undead monster”) and a salve who was robbed of everything, including his natural scent, now replaced by that foul smell.

Plus, I suppose the smell of death isn't the most attractive when he had to attract victims for Cazadork.

Ellith (my resist Durge) actually enjoys the smell of death and decay, but it takes months for them to convince Astarion that he doesn’t have to wear perfume when they are together, that they love him anyway, and that they actually find the odour of decay quite attractive.

Eventually Astarion agrees to hug them without wearing any perfume, and that's a real big thing for him. Vulnerability, shame, guilt, fear... What if the smell disgusts Ellith? what if they wince and pretend to like it even if they don't, what if...

And when Ellith leans into the embrace, nuzzling into his neck, and takes a deep breath of his natural scent without letting go of him, Astarion almost cries from relief.

(Now excuse me while I curl up and cry under my desk)

[faerievampling]

The Life of Astarion's Dark Consort

Summary: These are my random head canons about Ascended Astarion and his vampiric bride, Tav/Durge. What would it be like to actually spend eternity with him?

Warning: 18+, mention of sex.

After the ascension, Astarion is so overwhelmed with all his new abilities that he is a bit distant. (Think Lazslo Cravensworth in that one episode of WWDITS where he barely speaks for two weeks all because he’s trying to make a decision about how he is going to reorganize the library) This lasts for nearly a decade, but once Astarion adjusts to his new body, he is able to come back to himself.

Once you are Astarion’s spawn (bride), he no longer needs to mask when lovemaking. He knows you will never leave him. Your lovemaking goes through many 'phases', from being loving and tender to beastly and rough. But either way, he is raw with you, and only you.

Every night, without fail, your vampire curls up in your arms, holding you tightly as he drifts off into a dreamless sleep or reverie. He can’t fall asleep without being in your arms, or vice versa. 

You, his most prized treasure, are far too vulnerable during your rest, and he insists on being as close to you as possible, with a dagger close by, of course. Over the years, he never relents. If you two are ever apart, which happens so rarely, maybe once a millenia, he spends the night sleepless and aching for you.

One of the first things he does once the tadpole is gone is hunt down Haarlep, if you made a deal with him. He wouldn’t allow his treasure to be violated and used any longer.

Astarion’s possessive love for you only grows as the years creep on. 

Sometime during your third century of marriage, Astarion stabs the eyes out of (and allegedly kills) dozens of men and women who he deigned to have violated you (and thus, disrespected him) by looking at you lustfully. It takes two decades of you begging him to stop before he finally relents.

Ask me anything, and it will be yours. On his own time, of course, which you have so much of. You become a very patient vampire.

Astarion certainly values your life and his, but not others. You have to remind him, lest he lose his humanity completely. And you, as well, have to make sure you have a tight hold on your own humanity. You are a vampire, after all.

Watching your friends pass one by one is difficult, and Astarion supports you through it all, despite him not particularly caring about them himself. He cares about his consort, and he does everything to make you comfortable while you grieve. This is where your humanity starts to slip, when your friends are gone from your life for many years.

If you are able to reverie, you aren’t able to actually look through your memories because of your undeath. The years stretch on so long, you nearly forget how the story began at all. But you always have Astarion, and he does his best to help you both remember.

Astarion never takes another consort or another independent lover. The two of you enjoy threesomes and orgies occasionally, but Astarion prefers it to be just you and him. Astarion did particularly like to watch you get fucked by other men and women. But this changes sometime during your first century of marriage. Astarion demands to have his consort and only his consort in the bedroom. He ultimately doesn’t trust anyone else to be intimate with him. He doesn't want anyone else to touch him. You don’t protest the decision.

Astarion creates regular vampire spawn, more for utility than anything else.  He always asks your permission.

After a thousand years, you and your Lord are inseparable. You are not to leave his sight. 

He is very powerful, and has become a threat and a target. The two of you rarely speak aloud anymore as your mind connection is so strong that your minds are melded together. Your relationship is beyond spoken word. As Bride and Master, you are unsure where you begin and he ends. 

Eternity is a very long time. Astarion agrees, but he never wants to die, and he certainly will never let you go.

In your old vampiric age, the two of you strike fear into every mortal you come across. You can't help it. You are both so hauntingly beautiful and pale, and your intense mind connection makes most mortals believe you to be...absent. Oh, how the sheep forget themselves.

Yet your need for blood is so small now. They needn't fear you, not really. You now only drink from Astarion, which gives you what you need. He loves it, being your life essence. 

He doesn't let you drink too much, of course. During your fifth century of marriage, Astarion wants you to feed on him and only on him, as his contempt for others grows and his possessive love for you begins to cause him his own bout of madness.

This causes you to go mad, and Astarion is entirely distraught until you are healed. He spends an extravagant amount of money and a long time healing you.

With the last of your friends dead, you forget to view the mortals as anything but the puppets of your Master. The ways of the world as you knew it slip by you. There is a war, Astarion tells you, but you have no fear. You know he will protect you.

You often go into a vampiric hibernation as you sit on your throne during court. Astarion is still able to put on the mask, but you cannot. Astarion wishes you would try harder, but he also understands.

Even after so many years, Astarion’s body craves you. You are certain you are addicted to each other. You wonder if it is a result of your vampiric marriage. 

He pleasures you every night, and you pleasure him; you cannot remember what sex was like before your undeath, but you know that nothing feels as good as when Astarion makes you come. 

Halsin is the last of your old friends that you can remember, as he lives to be nearly a thousand. You do your best to remember his face, but it slowly starts to slip away from you. 

You feel sad about these things, at times. Astarion cradles you, both your body and your mind, and tries to assure you of your gift. Eternity.

Part 2!!

Masterlist

[mossy-rossy]

First spawn. Older sister.

[invinciblerodent]

okay I'm going through my endgame screenshots, and I remember, while playing I caught only the tail end of this voice line, and I made sure to screencap it so I'll remember to get into my feelings about it later, but then the rest of the endgame happened, and I totally forgot.

so here I am now, finally getting unnecessarily into my feelings about it.

(yes, I know most characters probably have a similar cry here. work with me, okay. let me have this.)

just.

"You need to go- I can hold them here".

and that sudden, weird burst of self-sacrifice made my ears perk up for a moment, but it's not even the first time, because even though I hadn't expected it from him after my first playthrough (when I wasn't paying as much attention to him), it's actually not even that unusual for him, the guy driven mainly by self-preservation, to be naturally putting himself in harm's way.

It's kind of subtle, but in these throwaway lines, it's really kind of sweet, how almost-uncharacteristically protective Astarion can be of the player? Especially for someone whose entire relationship with them starts off with him seeking protection (regardless of whether it's successful or not), and whose storyline is in part about overcoming self-interest in favor of self-realization.

Like, it's definitely not as overt as it is for some of the other characters, but the "your savior is here"-type barks he has for aiding a high-approval/romanced character, the "I don't want to see you hurt" and "I want to be able to protect you, too" lines...

Hearing it for the first time, I felt like it sounded maybe a touch out of place, a little bit uncharacteristically sincere, that he'd say "I'll always be here, my love" in the epilogue...

But you know what, yeah. I get it. He will always be there.

no im fine, ill get over this asshole soon enough, you just wait

[owlbearwildshape]

the only Astarion top/bottom discourse I care about is which bunk is he getting in the spawn dormitory

[lilhumanoid]

New Fic: Red Foods

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66324568

Astarion and Jamie Cross (Tav) are unexpectedly babysitting Gale's neurodivergent daughter, Ella. It's Friday, which means they're meant to go to the farmer's market and the blood co-op. Star decides to skip the blood co-op—it is not a place for mortal children, darling—but Ella has other ideas. -- The first of a series of nonconsecutive one-shots in the modern era ✨with flavor✨. Events occur post-Netherbrain, post-Cazador, post-everything, with all my headcanons (see notes for the lore).

Check it out! It's chapter one of my first BG3 fic ->

My hcs/lore for the modern AU are below the cut <3

(I live in the US unfortunately so that's where this modern AU takes place)

• The Absolute ruse was a technofascist plot by the then-government. The party stopped it about 15 years ago and have since settled down in Washington State.

• Spawn!Astarion is a model and influencer. He's secretly also a vigilante, part of a small group of free vampires that hunt vampire lords and liberate enslaved spawn.

• Star is partnered with Jamie Shayne Cross, a nonbinary half-elf who gained blood magic abilities from Mephistopheles as a kid. Jamie was appointed head of a nonprofit that resists technofascism after taking down the Absolute. Star & Jamie live together in a frankly ridiculous penthouse paid for by brand deals and money stolen/inherited from the late Cazador Szarr.

• Vampires are very sensitive to sunlight, but it won't kill them unless they're in a direct beam for several hours. They don't have reflections in mirrors, but they *do* appear in cameras/photographs. Their fangs are retractable unless they're very hungry, in which case they descend and can't be pulled back until the vampire feeds. Their eyes only go red when they're hungry. Some progressive cities, like Seattle, accept vampires living openly, and there are blood co-ops selling ethically sourced blood.

• Gale is a professor in the University of Washington's College of the Arcane. He lives ten minutes from Star & Jamie. He said this was in no way intentional (he was lying). He's a single dad of two half-elf kids, Evan (he/him, 9) and Ella (she/her, 4). Evan is an budding wizard who's obsessed with frogs and bugs, and Ella is a brilliant neurodivergent girl who loves foxes and constellations. Ella has a special bond with her Uncle Astarion.

• Wyll and Karlach are married and live in Tacoma, Washington, where Wyll's a journalist and Karlach's an engineer. They have three kids: Mara (she/her, 12), Jules (they/them, 8), and Gale (aka Lil G, he/him, 6). Mara's the top of her class and wants to be an engineer like her mom, and Jules plays old flash games on emulators and enjoys baking. Lil G is in his dinosaur phase and badly wants a sword.

• Shadowheart is a non-practicing Selǔnite. She lives near Olympia, Washington, on a small farm, where she provides animal-assisted grief therapy. She adopted a daughter, Sabrina (she/her, 13), whose parents were murdered by Sharrans. Sabrina loves skiing, drawing comics, and trying weird science experiments.

• Lae'zel is in the Astral Plane and Minthara's in the Underdark—they visit sometimes. Jaheira's retired and lives in Florida, where she supports Everglades restoration. Minsc and Boo live nearby and run a web show for kids about conservation. Halsin's returned to his druid commune in Colorado.

[ineadhyn]

Still not sure if I find it creepy or genius that I made Dalyria Astarion's guardian.

[thebalancedangel]

Astarion and Aurelia: *sitting next to each other*

Aurelia: *putting her head on Astarion’s shoulder* Hey.

Astarion: OW! Did you forget your horns are sharp?!

Aurelia: …Sorry.

Aurelia: And not just about the horns…

Astarion: *sigh* …Can we keep Cazador where he belongs?

Astarion: In the ground, I mean. Figuratively.

Aurelia: …I wasn’t referring to that.

Astarion: …I’m so glad we’re not having a serious conversation.😮‍💨

Aurelia: …Dal told me you wanted to pour acid in your brain because you saw me and Abbie- Abdirak do a…certain thing.

Astarion: …

Aurelia: So, I am sorry you saw that.

Aurelia: But I’m not sorry for doing it.

Astarion: …OK.

Aurelia: …😌

Astarion: …😐

Aurelia: …😌

Astarion: I thought you were gonna try to justify what I saw.

Aurelia: …No…

Astarion: …No?

Aurelia: I do what I want now.😉

Astarion: …That sounds strange coming from you! 😅

Aurelia: I know…😉😌

[litsenn]

Fun (/cute) fact about Durge Ellith:

During their childhood/teenage years, Ellith had a lot of freckles.

But the more Bhaal influenced them, the more their freckles tended to fade.

At the beginning of the events of the game, they only have a few rare freckles on random places on their body. Astarion had made of game out of it: he would inspect Ellith's body in search of those cute dots, and he would gloat each time he'd find a new one. ("Hey, jaheira, did you know your cub had a large spot on their left armpit")(Ellith eventually wrote a song about that specific one).

After rejecting Bhaal, they all come back in one night.

The next morning, Ellith woke up with their face and body adorned with dozens of cute red dots, and they were so excited about it that they ran to Astarion to show him.

From then on, it became a gentle, bounding (and also grounding) game between them: Astarion spends hours counting Ellith's freckles, tracing their skin at the same time, from head to toe. The challenge is that Ellith has to keep counting even when he's tickling them to death.

[faerievampling]

loving the idea (these are just some of my HCs for a soft A!A) that Astarion turned Tav so he could forever have someone to love. Like he created Tav to be loved and held by him. Gave Tav life eternal, made you part of him, for that reason alone. he didn’t create spawn!Tav to fight, or even scheme really (Astarion does all the work) — you literally just sit around Astarion’s palace, eat good, life forever, and party with your gorgeous pale bestie/lover.

that’s also the very first thing he does as the ascendant is turn his lover. He needs Tav/Durge to be his forever.

Astarion doesn’t really know how to love, so he just gives all that he can. I think with time, A!A can grow. Him and Tav’s love and relationship will only evolve, and a soft A!A just wants his consort to be happy. needs his consort to be happy.

You can even run off with Karlach and Astarion is just like “yeah i’ve just been preparing things for when you come back to me” like some kinda nesting bird (once you return to him, you won’t ever leave again. but he spoils you so much you don’t ever want to)

like imagine him decorating the palace with things he thinks Tav will like, or will impress Tav. Having the freshest intelligent blood waiting for them upon their return from the hells.

ugh this is romantic TO ME

[poetsiren]

He can't help but fall for Tav! 💕

ASTARION is acting different.

he's quieter around camp now. less of those sharp-tongued quips that usually flow so easily. he catches himself staring at her when she's not looking, then quickly glances away like he's been caught doing something wrong.

his feeding has become reverent instead of ravenous. he hesitates now, asks if she’s sure, presses a soft kiss to the pulse before he bites.

he seeks her approval in ways that have nothing to do with seduction. when he makes decisions, his eyes find hers first. her good opinion has become as essential as blood.

and now during fights, he’s reckless with his own safety now, throwing himself between her and harm without thinking. “i can handle myself, you know,” she’d say, crossing her arms.

“i know darling…” he trails off, staring at his hands. he doesn't understand why he did it either. the thought of that blade finding her skin had sent him into a panic he couldn't name.

she doesn't know why, of course. he barely knows himself. but he has a hunch, and it terrifies him.

he doesn't know when it started—somewhere between her asking "did you rest well?" and the way she bandages his wounds tenderly—but now when she looks at him, really looks at him, his dead heart does this stupid fluttering thing.

when she brushes against him, her warmth doesn't just touch his skin. it goes deeper. settles in places he'd forgotten existed, places that ache with want that has nothing to do with feeding or fucking or getting what he needs to survive.

maybe it's because she cares. actually cares, not the fake concern people use when they want something. she shows it in the small things: "you seem tired today." "i saved you some of the good wine." "the stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?"

to someone who hasn't experienced genuine affection in two hundred years, these little moments feel like everything.

the nights when her tent flap opens for him now, everything is different. he moves differently. less performance, less of that practiced charm he's perfected over decades. he's gentler with her, almost hesitant. his hands linger on her face before he kisses her, and she looks at him like he's something precious instead of dangerous.

he takes his time now. when he peels away her clothes, he does it slow, reverent. each kiss tastes like honey and guilt because he knows—fuck, he knows—that he started this as a lie.

the pleasure is overwhelming now. more intense than anything he's felt in centuries because it's real. when she arches beneath him, when she whispers his name like a prayer, it threatens to break him completely. he's louder now, lets himself feel everything instead of just doing what was necessary to play the part.

but with every touch, every breath, the guilt eats at him. this isn't the calculated seduction he'd planned. this isn't using her for protection. this is something else entirely, something that feels too much like love and too much like betrayal.

she trusts him. opens herself to him completely, and he built this on a lie.

after, when they're tangled together, he holds her tighter than he should. she fits against him perfectly, her head on his chest where his heart should be beating if he were still alive. if he were still worthy of this.

"what's wrong?" she asks, voice soft. her fingers trace patterns on his skin, and there's concern in her voice. she’s noticing.

"nothing," he lies. his fingers find her hair, thread through it like the motion might calm the storm in his chest.

"you're different tonight. quieter."

different. if she only knew. if she only knew the man she's falling for was built on deception. that every tender moment between them started as manipulation.

"i'm just thinking," he says.

she doesn't push, she never does. just settles deeper against him, breathing slowing as sleep pulls her under.

he stays awake long after she's asleep, studying her face in the candlelight. the way her lashes cast shadows on her cheeks. her lips, slightly parted. the complete vulnerability written in every line of her body.

she trusts him enough to sleep in his arms, and the weight of it is crushing. how naïve. she doesn't know he'd originally planned to use her. doesn't know every sweet word in those early days had been calculated, how it was all for his benefit.

but somewhere along the way, the performance became real.

two centuries of survival instincts stand off with something newer, invasive almost. something that makes his chest ache. something that whispers maybe he could be worthy of the love he sees in her eyes.

the realization hits him like dawn breaking as he lay with her, now noticing he stayed all night. feeling the rhythm of her breathing as she slept in his arms, how warm she was against his cool skin. how she trusts him.

he loves her.

the thought should terrify him. instead, it settles into his bones like coming home. he loves her. not just her body, not just what she can do for him, but her. her kindness. her strength that never comes at the cost of gentleness. her trust that she gives freely, even to broken things like him.

he loves her, and he's completely fucked.

[invinciblerodent]

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

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

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

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

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

[lilhumanoid]

Chapter Two of 'Red Foods' is live 🩸

[ao3 link]

“Star,” Jamie says flatly. “Your stomach literally just growled. Let’s hit up the co-op after this.” “It did not—!” It did. This wretched reanimated body of mine likes to simulate living in the worst possible ways, at the worst possible times. I sigh. “I’m quite alright. I’ll go tomorrow. It’s not exactly a place for mortal children.” They raise an eyebrow at me, and Ella looks up from her snack with wide little eyes. Her ears tilt and her voice pitches up. “Did you… forget your red food?” ...Therein lies my problem. Ella knows I’m a vampire, knows I drink blood, but her grasp on what that really means is limited. If she were to visit the co-op and fully understand that I am a monster, she would be afraid of me, and I don’t think I could bear it. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66324568

[aro-tarot]

I’ll probably get the next chapter of the new fanfic I started up tomorrow, and also, I painted a picture of my Tav, Nulihn, for it.

[redcloaklynx]

[hi! this is a ficlet inspired by a conversation in the comments of this post. the horror of reading astarion slowly believing cazador about the black mass really grabbed me.

no tadpoles au. here goes]

"What's stopping the master from just killing us all?"

Astarion knows that comment is why he has been summoned. He saw how it had struck Cazador, when he blurted it out, while they were all reeling from his announcement of the Black Mass, while Cazador was letting them discuss what it meant to them. Petras and Violet were overjoyed, of course. Some days it feels like they hardly mind being under the master's thumb, so long as there is someone lower on the totem pole to torment. Dalyria goes where Petras does. Leon clearly meant to ask what the ritual meant for Victoria, once the other spawns leave. Yousen he didn't bother glancing at, and Aurelia was smiling, but Aurelia might have smiled even if the master plainly promised death.

The invisible leash drags his feet up the stairs, to one of the well-furnished reading rooms, where Cazador had, admittedly, never done anything awful to him. He still doesn't know why his remark is what upset Cazador, but if the master wanted to make reparations for all those years of torment, well. He could certainly try, in the short time he has left.

Astarion doesn't know what the ritual will do to him, but he does know Cazador hasn't thought past himself once in the years of slavery. He tries, so very occasionally, when some other vampire braggart reminds him that spawn are meant to express utter devotion towards their master. He takes Astarion aside, and he treats Astarion like something close to an equal for just long enough for Astarion to believe his sire has woken up and found out there is more that Astarion is good for, more than being an empty-headed whore and a pincushion.

But then Astarion displeases him, or Cazador exhausts his patience, and the farce ends. It always feels like his body and screams and unwilling servitude hold too much interest for his sire to care enough of the mind inside. If the ritual benefits him in any way, it would be incidental.

"Master," Astarion greets, at the door. He slouches against the frame and does not bow. Let Cazador tolerate this, if he wants Astarion's favour so badly.

"Come here, Astarion."

Astarion goes to the window. It is a clear night sky, and the Upper City sprawls below them. It is too dark to see much more than the black boxes of houses, and the silhouette of the taller spires that blot out the stars. He shivers a little from the outside chill, and Cazador wraps an arm around his shoulder and conjures a little floating flame that warms his back.

"Don't you see what we could have?" Cazador asks, gesturing at the window. "I would elevate us before them all."

"You would elevate yourself," Astarion corrects, cynical. "I can't see you sharing anything. You love to lord over us too much."

"I would have an entire city to lord over, once I ascend. What the rest of you are up to would no longer be my concern. Is that not what you have always wanted? To live eternal, and free of me?"

Does he want that more than he wants to see Cazador dead? It was possible he did. He thinks on it.

"Whether you free us or kill us, I won't know until the ritual happens. Either way, my body is yours to do as you wish. Isn't that what you always taught me? Why do you need me to believe you?"

The others could try to flee, maybe. He is usually the one to shut down their plans. He knows, even if it is only for the much shorter duration until the ritual happens, that he could not go back in that tomb. He knows he is helpless.

"I want you to believe me, Astarion, so that you will celebrate alongside me on the day."

It wasn't impossible, but surely, surely not even Cazador is so vain that this was his only concern?

"Then forget it," Astarion says, even if it confines him to be wrapped in chains in the kennels until the day of the ritual. "You hurt me too much for me to want to see you anywhere but under my feet, with a stake through your heart."

"How crass," Cazador says, without much reproach. "You do not think that I could care about you? That when I hurt you, it is to prepare you for something better? Something more than what you were made to be? Perhaps I need to confide in you, Astarion. That poem I had carved on you and your siblings' back is what links you to the ritual. It is what promises you to have a fraction of my ascended power."

It explains things, though Astarion wishes it didn't. Cazador had carved it nearly two centuries ago. Cazador's actions, unbeknown to him, have been preparations since. He did know what he was doing, when Astarion did not. Could something that hurt so much really be beneficial? Of course it could-- they were vampires, and as much as he suffers in his unlife, it did give him something he always wanted. It did give him eternal, unblemished beauty.

"Am I meant to extrapolate that to all of the other torture, too?" he asks, but his voice is no longer so biting. There is a part of him that has begun to believe. "Were the flayings and the rats what you needed for the ritual?"

"The flayings kept your skin youthful," Cazador says. "The whippings kept you in line, because I needed you. If I did not care for you, I could have kept you in the tomb, that first time you showed you were willing to risk my ire and your own life by wandering away. I would have rewarded you with more than rats if you had ever impressed me."

Astarion swallows, the rage and fear at the mention of punishment battling within him. The rage of the sheer injustice; the terror, the realization that Cazador could always have treated him worse.

"Here," Cazador says.

There was a goblet of blood set on a bookshelf, one that smelled so good Astarion had long given up on knowing what the taste would be. Cazador hands the entire cup to him, now, still close to full.

It's easy to call his sire heartless. It's easy to remember all of the indignity that has been inflicted on him, for years upon years, and to want him dead, so very badly. It is harder to claim Cazador did not care for him at all, when his sire's arm is draped around him, and he is kept warm, and he nurses a cup that tastes so utterly divine that his whole body shudders when he swallows in large, starved gulps, and the glorious liquid flows inside him.

"I am sorry," Cazador says, and Astarion almost drops the cup he is holding, his tongue working to lick along the metal. "I have not treated you well. I should explain to you why, if you wish to know. It does have to do extensively with my own family."

"Okay," Astarion says, shakily, as he is led to sit on a couch besides Cazador. "I'll listen."

And when Cazador begins, Astarion finds he is no longer so convinced of his disbelief.

"I truly do see you as my family, you know."

I would give so much to have just one normal, everyday conversation I could reference between Cazador and the spawn.

(More Caz thoughts under the cut 😮‍💨 scapegoat & golden child implications)

I feel like there has to have been some interaction beside "yes master/no master" etc because clearly he took the time to tell the other spawn about the Black Mass, and they believed him. Act 1 Astarion mentions how Cazador "gives hope til the last moment" which implies there were moments where he had hope until he'd been burned one too many times. Plus, all of Caz's lines about the type of person Astarion is, his terrible jokes and how it's punishment enough having known him for 200 years... it's a brutal zinger that has to come from personal experience. It wouldn't be funny if you didn't feel the weight of how long those two have known one another.

Considering Caz' obsession with Astarion and how Astarion seems to get the worst torture of his siblings, I see him more and more as the scapegoat in a toxic family. I wonder if there were moments of levity, where Cazador did invite discussion or talk from his spawn, giving the impression that there was some loosening of restrictions, or just enough where making a joke in hopes of amusing him would seem like a good idea - only to backfire horribly, with Astarion held to an impossible standard he couldn't predict while his siblings get away with worse transgressions. They all think the worst of him.

Petras genuinely believes Cazador will set him free, that all the torture he endured was somehow worth it and will lead to his freedom. Petras is also an idiot, but even idiots learn unthinking resentment and hate if beaten long enough. We know Petras at least gets to eat dogs sometimes, which... aren't allowed in Baldur's Gate.... (does Caz smuggle them in?? Does Dufay need to source some dogs for the spawn Christmas presents, while Astarion gets rats every year? Does Caz just tell him "oh go get yourself something nice next time you're out and about?" Do they go to Wyrm's Crossing together sometimes as a fun bonding activity, like when your father hits you one day but takes you out to ice cream the next????)

Astarion just seems so much more jaded and angry than the other spawn. A lot of that does come down to being the one who got away, who had it the worst and now feels bad about not being the lightning rod that unintentionally protects the others, who can now see just how fucked up everything was now that he's had space to think - while the other spawn are still in the thick of it, and probably aren't investing any thought at all into if Cazador is being truthful or not. There's no point. Whatever happens, happens.

I just have this nagging feeling that there has to be some positivity sometimes. If it was all awful, all the time, there comes a point where you stop working for it. There needs to be a moment of affection, the idea that things could be better all the time if you just did this one little thing better - going back to the ice cream example (lol), I wonder if Caz takes different spawn to do different things. Maybe Yousen's really good at Chess. Maybe he and Petras go bowling

Ok ridiculous example (Cazador clearly does not leave the house - but maybe he does, as Astarion feels the need to ask Dalyria where he is in Act 3? So maybe he does leave sometimes....) but the scapegoat/golden child dichotomy means there must be some positivity, some perks for the golden children. Petras gets better snacks, Leon works hard for the fancy room and gets to keep his daughter alive - maybe that's all there is, but I need to know how they all interact. Cazador has human servants, he's got Chamberlain Dufay and deals with the werewolves and clearly everyone's terrified of him and expects the worst - the rumors are nasty enough that Gale has heard of him - but he keeps a journal about the tortures he inflicts on his spawn. That feels, to me, like keeping score, doing enough to keep them terrified and busy but not so much that they give up all will to live in pure dedication of murdering him. Hence, like an abusive parent you still somehow love (and hey, it could be a lot worse, look at your brother after all as an example on what not to be) - there must be some positivity to hold on to.

Just enough that everyone besides Astarion believes him when he says he will set them free, enough that you need to pass a persuasion check, but also little enough that there's no real loyalty.

So yeah, maybe Cazador and Petras go on trips to Wyrm's Crossing together so he can get a dog to snack on. Idk man 🤷‍♀️ It's a lot more likely that Caz just says something awful about Astarion and lets them all rag on him for his amusement for a few moments here and there, and that moment of levity is enough to inspire some feelings of normalcy, but tbh I have zero clue what Cazador does all day and I'm obsessed with terrible slice-of-life scenarios.

[swordmaid]

post canon hag romance are travelling adventurers but I also like the idea that astarion keeps correspondence with his siblings and he’s very updated on what’s happening to the underdark vampires. astarion and shri’iia are on their own little quest to find a cure for the vampirism — or at the very least, find something that can either help to sate the hunger or help him walk under the sun (but a cure would be best). they do their heroic deeds and collect the favours, and when it’s time to cash in they’re always asking looking for something that can help alleviate some of the vampirism symptoms. and if they find something, and it works for astarion, they go off and send it to the underdark coven. I also like the idea of astarion visiting them too from time to time, except shri’iia doesn’t risk going down in the underdark anymore or else she might face lolth’s punishment, so she will send him instructions and advice on navigating through the underdark, what to look out for and what to avoid, then she’ll wait patiently for him to return up the surface again.

in his part knowing how homesick she sometimes get, he’ll bring her something from the underdark (like food or fungi or whatever funky thing he finds) and gifts it to her the moment he returns. I like the idea that he tends to look out for any underdark/drow items in the surface too, bc shri’iia is still very attached to her home even though she’s forced to leave it behind, and he buys her any items he finds (and bonus points if it’s jewellery of some kind) bc she knows she’ll appreciate it. I also like the idea that she teaches him how to speak in drowic too hehe, and a majority of the names she’ll call him are the very few drowic endearment terms with the main one being alurlssrin. anyway I like the idea of shri’iia still keeping in touch with her culture even though she’s divorced from it now, since one of the biggest change she experienced when she was dropped off in the surface was the fact that no one spoke her language until minthara came along, and she’s not fluent in common tongue either.