It's Valentine's Day And I've Got That Astatrion Brain Rot ... (I Don't Ever Draw Spicy Things But With

It's Valentine's Day and I've got that Astatrion brain rot ... (I don't ever draw spicy things but with the new kiss update..............)

It's as if the gods made him just to ruin us.

:'DDD goshhh how I saw the issue, yet the writer seems to think all I'm doing is viewing him as a "sex object" -.- I just see how he's been through so much stuff and is desperate for power, so he should take it for himself.

Not every Tav/DU is going to treat him "right" and I had no idea he would turn my character into a vampire so I was thinking long term how he could amass the most power to prevent him having to suck up to the whims of others to protect himself.

What stuck out to me the most was him getting his sense of smell and taste back since I lost that years ago due to Covid. So now everything tastes like rotten garage and sewer water, which is demoralizing to say the least xDDD so his comment about the wine at the party tasting like vinegar really hit me and was a main reason for why I ascended him as well.

There are SO many different ways to interpret Ascended Astarion and his relationship with Tav/Durge which is why I find myself so fascinated by that path. One angle I haven't seen talked about too much that I think is so compelling is a resist Durge who happily becomes his consort.

With the caveat that I haven't finished the Durge story in game (but have been spoiled for most of it), I think about a Durge who defeated their father, who is allegedly 'cured' of their urges from doing so, but probably still carries with them the trauma and terror of being controlled like that again. There's an argument that that would make a resist Durge less likely to let A!A turn them, but on the other side of it, what if it's a huge comfort to them?

They're handing control to someone they love and deeply trust as opposed to having the reins be held by some unknown force, or worse, by themselves, who they don't entirely trust, either.

Whether they should trust Astarion could have a hundred different answers depending on someone's HCs for the relationship, but lets roll with the angle that the love between them is genuine.

And Astarion knows that forgoing this control and handing it to him is a relief for Durge; they never have to worry about potentially succumbing to some rogue urge again, if they could theoretically be compelled or otherwise stopped from carrying it out. And I know the general consensus is an embraced Durge could eat A!A for breakfast, so I'm seeing this specifically for a resist Durge angle.

So Astarion hams it up in large part for Durge, because that display of dominance, even when it's somewhat theatrical, is part of that comfort. Reminds Durge they're in good hands, someone's looking out for them, they're not alone, in the sort of ways they need to be reminded of all of that. They never have to be afraid again; he did promise that, after all.

Since I have three or four asks from anons who don't seem to understand this, I'm going to put this here:

Evil ending: the morally wrong/wicked ending. If you are trying to say "morally bad", it's evil. The story doesn't end. It continues on with morally wrong choices. This tends to rely on the hero making a conscious choice to become evil or becoming incredibly selfish where the choice puts others in harm's way.

Bad ending: Death or failure. In most cases, the bad ending storyline ends abruptly but can also include a fate worse than death. Think of "Choose Your Own Ending/Adventure" books and how you can end your story with one wrong move. If the story doesn't end and the bad choice doesn't kill them, the character is usually haunted by their failure for the rest of their lives and cannot change what they've done or that they were corrupted into something that resembles an evil being.

Good ending: Morally right or successful. You determine its meaning by pairing it with one of the above.

If you have to go "Oh, no, by bad ending they mean evil," then it's clear that there is a difference and there needs to be a different word there to clarify your stance.

And the fun part is Evil and Good can have both Good and Bad endings of their own:

Evil Good: Villian succeeds.

Evil Bad: Villain fails/dies.

Good Good: Hero succeeds.

Good Bad: Hero fail/die.

These are just bases that you can do whatever you want with. You can withhold or add more details to determine what kind of Good and Evil you're going for, either Black and White with few details or complex with more details, blurring the lines. Oh, and don't forget the neutral base that calls it as they see it.

Good/Evil aren't permanent statuses. They can change. Good/Bad is more permanent to give warnings or teach hard lessons. You have to cope with whatever they bring.

wish upon a fall leaf