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The Ancuníns, Baldur's Gate, ca. 1535 DR

Many thanks to @wilteddreamsofbaldursgate for both inspiring me and encouraging me throughout the whole process! 💜

I can't wait to print out my make-believe family and put it up on the wall, hehehehe

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this is so so funny. just ignoring someone who's inside your mind and can read your every thought. it knows you can hear it just fine. it knows you're being obtuse on purpose. the pettiness

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How about a Durge with some artistic ability filling up a sketchbook with etchings of faces they only vaguely remember in their mind's eye. Entire pages of a pale woman with milky eyes, long hair and a manic grin splattered in blood, an older elf with tired eyes and sad faraway expression...

Maybe next to portraits of past victims they're overcome by muscle memory and write down notes pertaining to vivisections and cruel experiments half remembered. They hold out a hand, reverting to what must have been habit before their loss of memory, expecting to have their pen taken and replaced by a sharpened scalpel by the clawed green hand of their butler.

When doing a hand study they realise they're drawing a specific pair, strong and scarred and adorned with a gilded gauntlet. It brings up a memory of being held tight and securely as those same hands print themselves across their body in congealing blood and black engine grease — a mess that was getting all over the workshop table, staining the schematics for his tin soldiers. A name sits heavily on the tip of their tongue and a horrible feeling of homesickness overtakes them, quickly followed by unexplained guilt and paranoia.

The need to ask forgiveness nags at the back of their mind for the rest of the day.

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Astarion’s simple plan

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I just think that astarion deserves to be treated softly. I just think that astarion needs to cry in tav’s arms . I just think that he needs to be held and loved and adored. is that so bad

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Thinking about how much I love the spawn Astarion graveyard sex scene (well, 'scene' is a generous term, since it's fade-to-black, but that's part of why I like it). I personally headcanon that it was pretty spontaneous--that Astarion didn't bring Tav there for that purpose, that he had originally intended just to show the one he loves the place where his life first ended to talk about his new life beginning. But, when the mood shifted just right, Astarion took a chance and grasped the feeling.

If it was spontaneous, it would probably have been the first completely uncalculated sex that Astarion can remember having. Sex that was far more about the emotions surrounding it than the sex itself. Yes, it's in the open on a grave, but it's not played off as done for the thrill or anything like that--if the place that held meaning for Astarion had been indoors, he would have done it there. It was about overwriting this place of horror with an act of love and intimacy and enjoyment (and there's an edge of defiance to it that is so Astarion, ugh I love it), a first step in Astarion writing his new life. And, with the fade-to-black, reinforcing that he is done with performance.

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Protective Astarion (the mother hen-ing continues)

Tav: You're the love of my life, my best friend. I would do anything for you. Astarion: I want you to eat three meals a day and have a decent sleeping schedule. Tav: Absolutely fucking not.

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Mini-comic "Bloody Sweet Couple"

Astarion x Tav (bard Rey)

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Disarm

Astarion x Tav (she/her used)

Summary: Tav and Astarion have been secretly seeing each other for a few weeks. One of them is adept at feelings, while the other is better at noticing traps.

A/N: Set around the time of Act 1, before Tav and Astarion become officially paired/committed.

“So Astarion,” Shadowheart chimed from the rear of the group, stepping over a large piece of stone as the party of four combed the seaside cliff for a way into the temple ruins, “do you have anyone back home? A lover perhaps?” 

From the front of the pack, Tav could hear the sly smirk in Shadowheart’s voice. The sound of which made her wince, but the question itself caused a swirling chasm to form in the pit of her stomach. For a few weeks now, her and Astarion had been secretly carrying on a romance that neither were ready to make public. It’s not that she was embarrassed to be with him, but she worried what the others would think; would they not trust her anymore? Would they see her as weaker now? She thought the best of her new friends, but the nagging voice in the back of her mind was ever present, needling away at her subconscious. Astarion on the other hand, was not ready to even admit to himself that this was a romance. She knew it was due to his past trauma, that much she had been able to piece together. If you asked him (which she had a few nights ago), he’d say they were “exploring each other exclusively” and nothing more than that. 

The painful truth of it all though, after the many nights of sneaking into each other’s tents, of stolen glances across campfires and the countless hidden touches during their travels—Tav was beginning to fall for the pale elf. She couldn’t tell him that yet, not when he was barely able to admit that they were together at all. So she kept the feelings leashed, allowing their clandestine romance to stoke the flames of longing being bottled up inside her heart. 

Shadowheart's question, though innocent in nature, threatened to untether that leash. The thought of Astarion having a lover back in Baldur’s Gate was something that had never crossed her mind. He was beautiful in the most ethereal way, it would make sense that he had someone waiting for him. They were probably just as otherworldly. Tav wondered if they had been turned as well. As her thoughts began to spiral, the images of unfamiliar limbs tangled with his caused acid to rise in her throat. The acceleration of her heart almost drowned out Astarion’s answer.

“I’ve had many lovers in my time, darling,” he drawled, the words doing nothing to ease the ache in Tav’s heart, “but none that are worth going back to. Nor are they waiting for the likes of me.” 

Tav inhaled for the first time in what seemed like minutes.

“And who knows,” Astarion added, the familiar playfulness creeping back into his tone, “maybe I’ll find a new one out here in the great wide nowhere.”

Tav dared a glance back to find his crimson eyes trained of her. He shot a wink that threatened to melt her right then and there. Biting back a smile, she took a few more crafty steps around some rubble. As she went to side-step a fallen piece of a column, Astarion yelled.

“NO!” He wrapped an arm around her middle, yanking backwards until she was pressed firmly against his chest. “Don’t. Move.” The rumble of his voice reverberated through her as he slunk around and uncovered a hidden explosive beside the column. 

“This place is trapped. Be on alert,” he knelt down and began to quickly disarm the small bomb. Shadowheart and Gale split off and began to comb over the area for more, while Astarion returned to her side. A slender hand found its way to the small of her back.

“It would’ve been such a shame to have that lovely face destroyed, please try to be more careful next time darling,” he purred before placing a quick, yet incredibly gentle, kiss on her temple before joining the others. 

Tav stood in place for a beat longer, pulling on the restraints of her heart that were beginning to snap.

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I love the story of Astarion and Durge so much. I love that moment in act 3 where he opens up to them with the “I didn’t realise you and I were so alike” and proceeds to pour his heart out to them.

And if you’re romancing him, holy SHIT is he the most supportive, ride or die boyfriend ever. He knows exactly what it’s like to lose control of yourself, or to be under the control of others. He is always there for Durge even while they’re actively tied up, trying to kill him. Durge needs him just as much as he needs them.

“Easy now darling, you’ve got this. And I’ve got you”

And when they’re both free from their masters? God if that isn’t one of the sweetest moments of storytelling.

Astarion is a sweetheart to Durge almost immediately, once he warms up to them a little. He is one of the only members of the group that understands them and what they’re going through. I just love the way their relationship develops. He seems to be the only one in the party that actually asks Durge how they’re feeling about everything too.

Absolutely wonderfully written.

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Nighttime Activities

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oh he’s so baby girl

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this is so sweet i headcanon that every morning Astarion is always brushing my durges hair and pulling it up or doing cute braids lmfao

Astarion who knows how to braid, having learned from Dalyria, while under Cazador’s control.

When he gets comfortable with Tav, it becomes routine to bathe together. Once out and dressed, he carefully combs and braids their hair, the act tedious and soothing to him.

When he and Tav have children, he braids his daughter’s downy, white, curls, and ties the braids off with pretty ribbons.

#astarion #bg3 #astarion x durge

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I keep thinking about the second time Astarion beds you. The night he says. "Here's my little treat with their cheeks all flushed. You will come to my bed tonight, won't you?"

…

You're on your back on his bed roll. His body over yours, hands unbuttoning your shirt. His lips on your neck.

It's similar to the last time. He knows exactly how to touch you, almost like he already knows exactly what you want, without even needing to tell him. Like he's an actor who has done this play a million times before.

You reached for his wrist to stop his hands from roaming you. He pulls back from your neck. "What is it darling? Not having second thoughts, are you?"

You've found that as much as he likes to talk, Astarion keeps a lot of private things to himself. You'd never wanted to pry. The last thing you wanted was to make him feel uncomfortable. But if sex was going to become a regular thing between you two, you needed to know this at least.

"Last time in the forest, you weren't exactly present.” You say, recalling the night at the tiefling party. “I'm just wondering what I could do to make you feel comfortable. Like, do you have a weird kink or something? What is it that you like?” A gentle smile graced his lips when kink was mentioned. But it quickly fades.

He loses his composure and can't seem to make eye contact with you. "I don't know, no one else has ever bothered to ask me that before."