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#unascendableness
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Gale being Gale and doing little things for Astarion and Astarion having no idea how to react lives rent free in my head.
"I took the liberty of going into town this morning and asking the butcher for some blood."
"What?"
"Yes, he gave me quite an odd look when I asked but then he asked if I was a 'magic type.' When I said I was he muttered something i refuse to repeat about necromancy and gave it to me."
"Is this a trick?"
"No...?"
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oh-yeah-i-exist · 9 months
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Aeterna Amantes
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"Lovers, forever."
Redeemed Dark Urge and Unascended Astarion can still be badass when they want to be 😌 why let all the cool gear they looted go to waste??
*SPOILERS WARNING*
This is very much a work in-progress BUT I have NOT been able to get Durge Tav x Astarion out of my mind. I have done multiple playthroughs as the Dark Urge (my Tav's name is Eiji/Evie) because I just find the storyline so compelling and there are many little details in the game for me to explore. Some folks are theorizing that if Durge chooses to defy Bhaal and gets reborn by Withers, they receive a fragment of Withers' divine powers. Plus, Withers said it himself that "Death shall not claim thee whilst I persist" or something along those lines, which could possibly mean Durge is now immortal.
Some other tidbits that support that theory include:
In the Murder Tribunal, if my Tav chooses to become one of Bhaal's Unholy Assassins, she can talk to the ghosts of Bhaal's fallen servants. One of them, Illasera, tells her that Bhaal created her from "a place beyond mortality." So it is quite possible that Durge was already immortal/gifted with extreme longevity to begin with.
In the epilogue, when Durge talks to Astarion, he will eventually end the convo by telling them to go spend time with the other companions because he and Durge have forever together anyways.
I have already constructed several elaborate headcanons about how Durge will spend the rest of eternity with (unascended) Astarion. They both deserve peace after redeeming themselves, and they would make such a cool couple of anti-heroes. Protectors of the Underdark, leaders of an army of vampire spawn. They provide safe passage for the lost and the down-trodden, especially those who seek second chances, and will not hesitate to throw hands with hero-wannabes who think they can make a name for themselves by slaying "the Vampire Lord" or "the Fallen Bhaalspawn."
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astar-eons · 7 months
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the rite (and wrong) of profane ascension
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loliwobbles · 4 months
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Being kind of an aesthetic blog was too restricting, so from now on I'm going to post more stuff, including my WIPs and sketches cause I have many and nobody would ever see them otherwise. Life's too damn short and I don't want my art collecting dust inside my ipad. Also, I could use the validation ngl.
It's weird to say but I think nobody here knows me IRL, which makes this my safe space to post stuff like this.
Anyway, here's a Baldur's Gate 3 WIP with Astarion and my tav, who is just obsessed. Next up: some Critical Role sketches because I'M obsessed.
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Ok I know I'm heavily biased here but like I kinda love that Astarion's romance is one of the few in this type of video game where you basically end up canonically unmarried and childfree in his "good" ending? Just travelling the world??
Like it's honestly the millennial dream lmfaoo cannot believe i chose what would undoubtedly be my favorite option, first try
#also love that he's basically atheist like ok thanks you made the man exactly coded to be my type#and the humor and beautiful curly hair is very much something my IRL partner has too so like... how can i resist#anyways not sure a lot of people relate cause i think a lot of people want that fairytale romance#even tho wyll is right there yall#but i love me an unconventional or nontraditional one!!#i'm TIRED of being married with children as the endgame pls let's not do it#also a lot of people seem into him being a dad and im like... how? why? where in canon did he ever lmfao#more power to ya if you dig it but i just dont see it being in character#like in DAI i loved cullen and my inquisitor getting married and having a dog#and they seem the type to wants kids one day. but Tav & Astarion? lol no#i just think it's neat#is this a hot take? i have no idea but i don't see it mentioned a lot as a new fan tbh#pls do not come at me you can enjoy whatever you like#i haven't seen the ascended stuff so idk if being his 'consort' is like being his bride#but i feel like overall it's not and the vibe isn't all that different in this sense#except that you're hosting evil parties instead of travelling :/#Astarion#bg3 spoilers#baldur's gate 3#baldur's gate 3 spoilers#bg3#also YEA he's nice to Arabella but you can tolerate certain kids without wanting one or being 'good parent' material#case in point: me lmfao#OKAY update i saw the AA stuff and yeah you're kind of implied vamp married and he does mention spawn as children 😫#but he also says in banter he won't make any other spawn??? so what is it dude#anyway that's also clearly the “bad” route and he doesn't seem as happy as unascended#who feels “truly free”#and if you're durge I'm pretty sure its even worse to consider having kids?? lol#but i digress#pk plays bg3
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bitterlycursedstars · 4 months
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Please... My heart
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a-darling-thing · 4 months
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Ways that Astarion is the best boy:
1) The way he so swiftly started to set and reinforce boundaries once the tadpole made him free of Cazador’s control. Honestly so heartening and inspiring. 10/10 best boy behavior. This is #1 for me because it is so important in regard to him and his partner feeling safe in any relationship that might develop.
2) The way he is open to exploring his trauma and how that has effected him (his triggers), and again, looping back around to the boundaries, how he is willing to take action to protect himself.
3) His insistance that he be respected, even though deep down I think he doesn’t always think all that highly of himself, still he demands that other’s respect him, even when you can tell it is hard for him to break the habit of just sucking it up and doing something he doesn’t want to and then dissociating through the whole thing.
4) the way he is open to gentle correction from his partner once trust is established. Oh he’ll still be slightly bratty about it, but he will say thank you, or whatever, when told he should. So good!
5) The way he is willing to end a relationship rather than stay in one that isn’t working for him, or where he isn’t being respected. He has examined his own limits and boundaries, is open about that, and is willing to end a relationship if or when it’s run its course.
6) He’s sassy and funny as hell. And yeah, a lot of that persona is a mask he wears, but it’s still great. I don’t know, maybe it’s a me thing, but I find it sweet and charming as hell how he always has some sassy thing to say about everything. He makes me laugh more than any character in the game.
7) The way he softens and calms with his partner, the safer he feels. He’s so skittish and snappish in Act 1, but that’s calmed a lot by the end of Act 2, unless he is directly triggered.
8) The way he speaks up for himself when you finally encounter Cazador (f*ck that guy) in Act 3. Astarion really does so beautifully there given everything he’s been forced to endure at Cazador’s hands and given the fact that Astarion himself, admits that he used to be a fawner and freezer with Cazador. But this time he speaks up and fights!
9) The way he wants to discuss how he feels after Cazador is finally dead. How he admits it doesn’t feel the way he thought it would, a bit hollow, and that he needs time to process it all.
10) How determined he is to start over and contribute to building a new life with his partner post-Cazador. And given everything you see from him in the rest of the game, I really do believe he intends to put his best effort in.
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You can totally appreciate and love Unascended Astarion’s personal growth journey AND also find evil possessive Ascended Astarion sexy in a toxic, dark way. I keep seeing so many people act like enjoying or reveling in Ascended Astarion’s abusive possessiveness means you have something wrong with you, when it is very, very clearly a case of people enjoying a twisted relationship BECAUSE it is dark and edgy and tragic.
I know it’s in short supply, what with the dramatic erosion of our education system and influx of puritanism obfuscating itself as legitimate media criticism, but I have media literacy, babes. I in fact possess the ability to navigate the exploration of the dark and twisted dynamic of a Ascended!Astarion “romance” and enjoying all the little wonderful writhing worms it spawns, and the full acknowledgment and understanding of what his story arc represents for survivors and the cycle of abuse.
Please give some of us some credit. We’re not impressionable 7 year olds that will unquestioningly apply what we see in fiction to real life. Also, Astarion isn’t real. His story is not real. No one has suffered what he has suffered. His story depicts real abuse, but abuse has not actually happened in tangible reality. The game isn’t a memoir. There are no actual victims. Media literacy is your responsibility to learn and develop. Read a book on it.
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enakane · 5 months
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Hi, I figured you'd have an interesting take on this, as the #1 The Emporer fucker (affectionate) on my dash. I've always seen Ansur's attempted murder of the Emp being less "you're a horrifying monster who I must kill before you turn on us, even if it kills me to do so" and more "the man I knew would never want to live as a mindflayer, the man I knew would be horrified at what he's become, the man I knew would rather die" but he didnt consider that the man he knew was dead the moment he turned into a mindflayer, as it's (I think) canon that mindflayers feel and think differently than other races, so the 'man he knew' had been fundamentally changed in such a way as to become unrecognizable in his thought process, and thus, would no longer agree with his past-self. So while I don't think what Ansur did was right, I don't think he's the out-and-out villian some people paint him as, just someone so blinded by grief and fear and sadness, that he doesnt realize how changed Emp was. And then when you show up, the Emp at your back and an elder brain on the rise, I think Ansur is blinded by rage, and grief, and betrayal. He thinks all his worst fears about Emp have come true, and that you're, at best, a pawn in Emp's game, and at worst, a thrall, so that's why he attacks. Havent played that section in a while, so I might be talking out of my ass, but that's my take based on what I remember. Thoughts? (Sorry this is so long, I am a Verbose Bitch.)
(brb gonna get "#1 Emperor fucker" tattooed somewhere on me, truly an honor)
I totally agree that Ansur's intentions were first and foremost to enact what he thought would be Balduran's wishes! As far as he knew, he was dealing with an illithid puppeteering Balduran's body, and after failing to bring him back to the way he was (if I remember well, Ansur tried for some time to restore Balduran to his former self but failed), killing him was equivalent to putting down a zombie.
Mind flayers indeed canonically think differently from other races, plus (depending on the source), the host's mind either mostly or completely disappears once ceremorphosis is complete. There was a high chance he was dealing with a master manipulator that only pretended to remember who it used to be to be set free. Ansur was hardly evil for wanting to end Balduran's cursed existence/kill the thing pretending to be him, and Emp was hardly evil for choosing to live.
(If I start talking about how the Emperor wanting to live despite everything ties in perfectly with the game's theme of choosing to live in spite of irreversible changes + the I Want to Live song, I may never shut up, HE'S JUST LIKE US FR-)
Ansur remains as a ghost due to his unfinished business, so when he feels Emp near and speaks to you and him... The situation hasn't really changed for Ansur. Either Balduran is still an illithid or there's still an illithid pretending to be Balduran, and like you said, the chances that you're either a thrall or being manipulated are very high, so why wouldn't he try to finish the job and consider you an unfortunate collateral damage? There's no more evidence that Balduran is actually in control than there was the first time. Plus, I'd never considered that Ansur might feel the Elder Brain nearby and assume Emp is responsible; that would indeed make him feel betrayed and more willing to attack.
I definitely understand why people aren't too keen on the idea of trusting the Emperor bc mind flayers have a Reputation(tm), but how people came to hate Ansur is kind of weird imo? He's not a villain at all, his decision to kill Emp was a desperate last resort, a way to free Balduran from his torment and save the many people who were gonna get their brains eaten if he got out. I know some people dislike that he possesses Tav, but I played that scene before reading about it and it never bothered me, I mean... he's a ghost. If I'd played through bg3 without getting possessed at least once I'd be lowkey disappointed.
Thanks for giving me an excuse to ramble about my bg3 fave, I hope I'm coherent lol
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clownwrites · 5 months
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BG3 Fic but about Astarion languidly admiring his Tav get off from being beaten by Abdirak
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masterangst · 1 year
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Don't Worry, I Got You
Summary: Astarion is taken over by an unfamiliar sickness, which leads him to a doctor who wants to see him get better. So they say.
Warnings: Mentions of Astarion's past, blood, hurt/comfort, angst
Word count: 3.3K
Notes: There is my Tav at the end and mentioned. This is also for Whumptobers thermometer/ delerium / "They dont care about you" prompt. And set after the events of the game and Astarion is not ascended.
For someone who hasn't written a lot since till recently. I feel like Astarion is a good character to start with since he's so complex.
The night started off strange..well, stranger than normal. For once, after his meditation, Astarion felt. To him, he's not sure how he would describe it. Woozy? Heated? His skin felt hot, and his head felt off.
Gale made a joke, when he saw the sweat beading down Astarions face, that he looked pale. A hilarious joke. Though Astarion couldn't help but wonder if he did look more pale than normal. Something felt off.
Of course, Astarion assured himself he was completely fine. Perhaps something he ate had lingering effects.
He joked with Shadowheart. A thin veil to hide his worries and curiosity. Lead her to the edge to see if she jumped off. It came to no surprise when she took the bait.
"Sounds like a fever. I didn't know vampires were capable of experiencing that. No matter. Keep your distance if that's the case." Used her spells to help relieve himself, after some painful persuading. When Astarion got back to his bed, the symptoms returned.
His lover, Axel, was out tracking down some beast with Haslin, Jaheira, and Minsc. Some creature that is tied to druids. Hence the company he brought along.
That also meant one less person Astarion could confide in. Even worse, Axel is the only one Astarion can truly be himself with. No hidden meanings or parading.
Sickening when he lets himself think about it. How pathetic has he become to rely so heavily on another. Astarion has never needed anyone. The company he has gained was by choice.
Whatever this is, Astarion can handle it on his own.
After a couple days, his body started to feel worse and worse. The hunger that he learned to control and cage inside him was slipping through the cracks like the very blood it wished to consume. It grew and grew each minute it was ignored. Astarion would look at his companions and only imagined sinking his teeth in them. Could feel the way their body stilled and grew cold as he consumed the last drop of their essence. It felt like he was getting lost in a mirage within a drugged mind.
Astarion needed blood.
He slipped out, once everyone retreated to their beds, and pulled a hood over his head. He normally didn't cover his face, but with the way his face felt he didn't want anyone to see it. The carefully curated illusion was falling apart. His sense of control even on his own body was slipping. What was happening to him? Was he finally going mad?
Astarion shook his head and refocused his attention on a wild boar on the outskirts of the city. It was easy prey. But it wasn't enough.
Astarion walked back to the city, with his nails digging into his palms. The monster wasn't sedated. It needed more. More. More.
The yelp and scream of a young woman perked his elvish ears. Normally he would pass by and ignore it, but this time he let himself be moved by the sound. By the music of the drums in their veins.
A larger man, larger than Haslin, had his hand raised after he had used it to smack a young lady to the ground. She held her lip with tears brimming her frightened eyes as they looked up at her attacker. The man's rage was pungent even from the alleyway, from where Astarion watched.
It happened before Astarion realized. The man was no longer looming over the woman, now instead he was being cradled by Astarion in the shadows. His blood coated Astarions insides. Made the poisonous creature inside Astarion crackle. It drank and drank until there was nothing left.
Astarion bit and bit, searching desperately for more, but there was nothing left but putrid flesh.
The high was exhilarating. After two days of shit, Astarion felt alive again (or as close to it as he could). He no longer felt weak and for a moment he basked in the glory of it. Smiled up at the starless sky and sighed.
Then a sharp pain ripped through him. His insides felt hot and the blood turned rancid. Turned to poison.
A scream bubbled up his throat, but it was cut off by the vomit pouring out of him. Every last drop of what he had just consumed had now painted the man and himself in a revolting shade of red. The smell was overbearing. Astarion needed to crawl away, but the smell was on him. In him. The horrible thing inside him still laughed and mocked and every memory of Cazador flooded back to him.
The tears felt unbearably hot against his cheeks. Was this more torture? Had he not escaped that fate? Whatever was happening to him also kept him from retreating into that safe space in his mind. To forget himself. It had saved him so many times before but that power was gone now. Just like everything else leaving him.
"Are you alright?" A voice broke through the haze. In the fog of tears, Astarion could make out a small shape. A woman.
"Leave me be!" He pulled his cowl taut so she could not see the horror.
"I can help you. Here." Astarion did not dare look. Help me! You can not. The last time he accepted someone's help in an alleyway, he spent 200 years as a slave.
"Someone else may find you, and they won't be as kind." She's right, but why would she be so kind?
When he looks up, peeking over his cowl, he realizes it's the girl. The one the man had attacked from before. She looked a lot different when she wasn't frightened and groveling. Though, she has every reason to be afraid. She should be afraid. Astarion opens his mouth to spit the words out, but the dizziness fogs his brain.
She scoffs and forces him to his feet. His body is too weak to protest. He has no choice but to allow her to lead him away. She could be leading him to his death, but what could he do to stop it?
After a blur, she gently cradles him down onto a bed and starts taking his clothes off. Astarion isn't surprised. He should have seen it coming. A part of him thought maybe all the blood would dissuade someone from being lecherous, but he should have known better. He simply closes his eyes and waits for it to be over.
But it doesn't come.
She just starts to sponge the blood off and then covers him with a blanket. She presses a cool rag on his head and offers water to his lips. Water is not what he needs, but his throat feels raw like it was shredded apart like butcher meat. He accepts the offer, because if nothing else it'll help his throat not be so dry too.
"My name is Cita. Thank you for helping me, before." She said as she stirred the coal in the fireplace. The shadows bounce around the room like dancing devils. Astarion fears one will awaken and reach out to him with slashing claws. It's too hard to look at them for too long, lest his mind starts to become too active for his own good.
Instead he focuses his strength on his words. "I'm," he swallows down the dryness and grimaces, "My name is As-astarion."
She stands and folds her hands shyly in front of her. "Do you need anything else?"
Astarion just needs to rest. To get back to the group and his own bed. He wishes for Axel to hold him and nurse him back to health, but another side of him wishes to never be seen until he is better. He wants everything and nothing at the same time. Is that among this girl's capabilities? If so, then her company is more dangerous than he thought.
Astarion settles with a head shake and closes his eyes. If it were up to him, he'd also roll over and away from her peering eyes, but he doesn't get a choice here. His body is in control, not his mind, and it's too weak to even move a muscle.
He hears her shuffle the distance between them, then flinches when he feels her cold hand on his cheek. "You are burning up. I'll need to find some herbs to help regulate your temperature before you burst into flames."
Astarion swallows against knives. "Why would you do that?"
"Because I'm a doctor." Astarion opens his eyes in disbelief. She chuckles and shakes her head. "I mean. I want to be. I've been studying and practicing. After the attack on the city, there were a lot of folks who needed help and couldn't afford it. I try to help where I can."
How noble, his brain spits. Another hero to save the day. How lucky he was to have been picked up by a novice. Makes him so happy he could cry.
With a huff, Astarion turns his head. He just needs to meditate and gain enough strength to move around again. If she wishes to help him, then he'll accept it. He'll be another test subject for her studies if that's what it'll take for him to be rid of this affliction. It doesn't matter. All that matters is getting back.
….
Mediation doesn't come easy. His mind is too alert like a caged animal. He closes his eyes and wills his body to relax, the sweet embrace of relaxation teases him and then he's awake again.
"Astarion." Astarion could have sworn that it was Gale's voice.
Astarion opens his eyes to see Gale's face hovering over him. A part of him is relieved to see a friendly face, another makes him say. "Your face is quite a horror in the morning, darling." Though the impact feels less satisfying when his voice sounds as raw as his throat feels.
"Even sick, you're still attempting eloquence. I applaud you for never losing sight of who you are, even in moments such as this."
"How," he swallows, "did you find me?" Astarion must keep his eyes closed unless the world starts spinning, but when he does he becomes more painfully aware of the amount of heat and sweat his body is producing.
"The girl, Cita, found us. Brought me here. I didn't believe her at first when she said you were sick, but you are indeed sick. How strange. I didn't believe it was possible for vampires to get fevers. Perhaps that means we are all doomed then." Gale chuckles.
Astarion rolls his eyes. "Take me back."
Gale clicks his tongue and the look on his face makes Astarion's stomach twist; and not because of his sickness.
Gale drops to one knee and the look in his eye seems foreign on the soft wizard. It's steel and even amusement lingering there. Gales fingers move away hair glued to Astarions skin with sweat and then pierces Astarions heart with a cold gaze. "No. No, I don't think I will."
A wave of dizziness washes over him, but he bites down and focuses. "This-this isn't funny Gale."
"I agree. Which is why I mean it. I believe it's fair to say everyone's grown tired of you. Of your quips and groans. Of your evil stench. I know I have." Gale stands up just to drive the stake further into Astarion's chest. "Which is why I'm going to leave you here. I wanted to see your face as I said goodbye. It really is such a sweet look. Don't worry though! I'll be sure to tell Axel you died. He'll be distraught, but he's strong. He'll pull himself back together."
"You," something bubbles up Astarion's throat and spills over the edges. It tastes like rot and iron. Blood. He's spitting up blood.
"Goodbye Astarion." Astarion can't even protest, his chest heaves and he coughs and coughs, but his eyes watch as Gale leaves.
He wants to tear him apart. Tear himself apart. Wants to burn the world and watch it crumble to ash. Astarion thrashes in his new bed in anger and heartache. He swears he can physically feel the remainers of whatever was left of it tearing apart.
After everything he did. Everything he survived and suffered. After all the bullshit and the fighting and trying to set things right, this is how he'll face his end? Sick and weak, tied down by his own body in a foreign bed! He'd weep with rage if he had the energy for it, but his mind finally collapses and forces him into a dreadful sleep.
This time when Astarion comes to, opening his eyes feels like getting drunk on a pirate ship during a storm.
He can barely keep his eyes open long enough to make out anything but the shadows of the fire.
The cold hand on his cheek shocks him, but she seems weirdly distant. The world is distorted like a strange new nebula of reality.
"I'm so sorry you were abandoned. I can't imagine how hard that is." Her face morphs from a young pretty girl to a monstrous hag and then back again. Is it just his eyes playing tricks on him? Nothing looks right to him, so maybe it is. Thoughts don't come easily to him. They whisper and then fade away too quickly for him to be lured.
"Don't worry though. I'll make you better. Drink." Astarion weakly shakes his head, but the girl shoves the cup between his lips and downs the water into his throat. Astarion chokes, but she covers his mouth to force him to keep it all in. He has no choice but to swallow now.
She smiles, but in his distortion, it's unsettling instead of comforting. "Good boy." Her fingers pet his head. "They don't care about you." Maybe they don't. Maybe no one does. How can he blame them?
"I do." She continues. "You are my pretty little thing. You take the medicine so well. It makes you better." Or it makes him worse, he thinks. His mind tells him to run, but he can't. Astarion has been trapped and brought back to a new master. How long will this service last, he wonders. Another 200 years?
"Don't worry though. I will take good care of you. I am a doctor after all." Everything that comes next is a blur. She sponges him down, takes his temperature, changes his blankets, and spoons blood into his mouth like hot soup after giving him "his medicine". Astarion isn't sure how many times it happens. Has no idea if this all occurs in one night or if a year has passed.
At least he has the sweet memories of his mad love. His Axel. Perhaps Gale did Axel a favor in setting him free from Astarion. Perhaps the woman was right when she said they don't care about him. Did Axel ever really care about him?
It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters.
The routine goes on and on and on. She speaks to him like he's her journal and he sits in the shadows in his mind, waiting for it to end. His body has given up on trying to even move. What's the point? Everything seems useless now.
Once he tried to sit up without her permission and she waterboarded him with her "medicine" and strapped him down. The leather bruised his skin and he learned his new master's lesson to not move.
"Time for your medicine." Astarion squeezed his eyes shut and waited for it to be over. Instead, there was a loud crash and then a cut off yelp, and then a new pair of hands were on him.
Calloused fingers pet his head this time and then Astarion was being carried away. His body didn't let him be awake for much longer to see what new horrors await him.
Astarion woke up this time with a sense of clarity he hasn't felt in who knows how long. The roof he gazed up at was different and recognizable. The same beams he has seen countless times.
To his side, Axel is hunched over asleep in a chair by Astarions bed. How did Astarion get here? How did Axel find him?
Astarion groans when he tries to sit up, more than fed up with laying down, Axel springs awake. The half elf's silver eyes swell up with worry. "Astarion. Oh, Astarion. " Axel cups Astarion's cheek. "I was so worried. When they told me you disappeared and they couldn't find you. I tracked you down and found that hag. Did she do anything to you? If so, I'll raise her from her grave and kill her all over again."
Astarion finds himself laughing. He holds his hand over his lovers, clinging desperately to that familiar warmth. "Only drugged me. Kept me sick. You should ask Gale where I was at." Astarion curls his lip up. He'll never forget, or forgive, the way that wizard looked at him.
Axel has a sweet look of confusion on his face. "Gale? Gale's been with me the whole time?"
Astarion scoffs and pushes the heat away. "Clearly, not the whole time."
"I don't understand."
Astarions chest twists when he thinks back on the wizard's words. "He left me there. Found me and handed me over to that witch." He spat out.
Axel shifts and sits beside Astarion. He wraps his arms around Astarion's shoulders and pulls him in for a hug. "I don't know what happened." He said. "But I do know that Gale has been with me the entire time. He hasn't gone anywhere. In fact, Gale is the one who sensed the witch's magic. I wouldn't have been able to find you without him."
Was it all a mirage? An illusion by that hag to break down his walls. It doesn't surprise him. Thinking back on it, Astarion doesn't think Gale is capable of being so cold. That man is kind even when he's angry. A feat Astarion will never understand.
"Well, how kind of him." Astarion said weakly. The anger he felt is hard to let go, even if he knows it's not right.
Axel shifts once more so he can look into Astarion's eyes. "Are you alright, my love? I'm so sorry this all happened."
Astarion still feels weak, and his opinion about himself isn't any better either, but he can't say he isn't relieved. His inn bed has never felt so good. Knowing that there are people who will look for him; save him. Reminds him of how much he's gained.
"I'm fine, my love. Nothing I couldn't handle." Astarion smirks.
Axel smiles softly. "I'm sure that's true. I'm just glad we were able to find you after three days. Three days too late though. Forgive me." Axel cups Astarion's hands between his own and kisses Astarion's knuckles.
"You are exceptionally foolish." Astarion scolds. Then he can't help but smile, "But perhaps I should be thankful for that."
Axel kisses Astarion's wrists. "What can I do for you? Do you need anything? Do you wish to sleep?"
Ah, the freedom to choose. He'll never let anyone take it from him again.
"Will you just lay here with me?" Axel is quick to nod and spoons Astarion's body against his own. Astarion is still too exhausted to freely move around, but being held feels nice. Hearing the steady drum of Axel's heart is soothing. It grounds him, reminds him that this is his reality. Being around friends and being held by a lover who sees him as an equal. He may not be a god, and though a part of him wishes he was so he could have the power to avoid that again. To have the power to protect himself and his friends. But Astarion has enough power as it is. He will do better in the future, that much he promises himself. For now, he's just glad to be free. Everything else can come second.
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wilhelmloverera · 8 months
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Bloodweave idea that came to me the moment I laid down to sleep:
Gale somehow using magic to create a barrier for Astarion so the sun doesn't hurt him, but the catch is that it lasts as long as Gale is alive.
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y-rhywbeth2 · 8 months
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Call me an edgelord, but I just find the idea that "you made a horrific deal with the devil and got everything you wanted, no drawbacks" is really boring and a waste of a perfectly good Faustian bargain. Where's the theme of it all?
It's like defying Bhaal, or becoming a vampire spawn and then dumping your master and running away: where's the fun in these choices without some consequences??
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littlelovelore · 6 months
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what a beautiful sight
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delightfulgingersnaps · 6 months
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Taking a Break
This is just an unfinished side snippet of an ongoing story. Yenna (my Tav, not the in game character, that was wild lol) and Unascended!Astarion have been together for a long while post-game at this point. Their dynamic is established and consensual, and this is him loving her (and Halsin) like crazy. Idk if I'll add to it or anything, but I wanted to share regardless! TW: bondage, D/s, light humiliation, implied nudity, mostly suggestive
18+ only!!!
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bitterlycursedstars · 4 months
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"Our" future
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