#ascended Astarion is actually just Prince Charming is he not

[vampiresfromxenon]

Was rewatching Shrek 2 and I had to pause because I started screaming

THIS IS THE MOST ASCENDED ASTARION MOVE EVER ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

#he would so do this #it’s actually just him #screaming #ascended Astarion is actually just Prince Charming is he not #ahem anway can someone animate this #I would pay in platonic smooches #I hit one of my teeth with my ring #that’s how hard I slammed my hand against my mouth #I was SHOCKED #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #astarion #bg3 astarion #baldur's gate 3 #astarion ancunin #ascended astarion #astarion headcanons #shrek 2

[shadowstarion]

i see a lot of talk about astarion not actually fitting into the roles people in the fandom put on him, and i definitely think that’s right! minthara is the leather-clad bad boy type, wyll is the romantic prince charming, halsin is the tender sex god, gortash is the hate-to-love-him sexy antagonist, so on and so on.

but i think that’s entirely what makes astarion and his characterization, especially early game, so interesting. before he opens up and we really get to know him, astarion CAN be all of those things. he pins you down at knifepoint, woos you with sweet talk, feeds from you then fucks you to show his gratitude, reveals his shady past full of atrocities and torment.

we have to prove to him that we don’t want the bad boy, the prince, the sex god, the villain— we have to show him that we want astarion, wholly and entirely, whatever that may be. of course, after 200 years, those masks aren’t easy to strip away. so what we get is a combination of all of the above; he’s a bit devious toward everyone but us, he calls us darling and so many other sweet, precious things, he’s eventually able to make love to us in a way that’s so beautifully intimate, he still has that bit of danger and brutality that keeps us glad he’s on our side.

astarion is learning who he is just as much as we are, and when he can’t figure it out? it’s up to us to guide him, to choose what traits and behaviors to encourage, to help him form the identity and sense of self he’s been so deprived of. in a spawn ending, that ends up being a sweet, still-healing man experiencing love and basking it for the first time, led by our gentle hand and unconditional love for him.

in an ascended ending…? his ascension and the way he acts afterwards are directly our fault moreso than his. that ending reveals what astarion truly is more than anything else— a reflection of what he thinks we wanted him to be, what we supported, what we loved. if we lead him to believe that we wanted the bad boy, the brat prince, the rough addictive sex, the villain we can never escape, that’s exactly what we’ll get.

#astarion #bg3 #astarion meta #astarion headcanons #ascended astarion #spawn astarion #writing