some thoughts about astarion because i'm tired of the internet reducing him to one thing
when bg3 came out in early access, astarion was always seen as the extremely flirty, confident guy who enjoyed sex (or so we thought) and spoke about it like it was his favourite thing. he was also kinda marketed as the “sexy vampire”, so you can understand why many people saw him that way based on the little amount of content we had. even while playing act 1 and act 2, many players still might think of him like that because he does have a very charismatic personality and he asks to sleep with you very early on, so it just automatically makes you think he’s genuinely happy doing that and being totally serious.
BUT!!!!!!! we end up finding out later on that’s NOT the case and it was all part of a plan to seduce us in order for him to gain protection. he opens up about his past and his trauma and how he was forced to use his body to lure people back to cazador. he struggles with intimacy and relationships in general because of this. that’s why i really hope that people stop reducing him to “hot sexy vampire that loves flirting and having sex with everyone” when that is not who he is, he’s literally traumatised because of sex due to being forced into it and he’s slowly trying to heal. he’s also so much more than just “the hot vampire”, ya know? if you actually put in the effort to get to know him, you will see who he truly is underneath and he has many loveable traits to appreciate.
you may not see the “soft” side of him very often because he hides it, but it’s there!! one thing i noticed that really stood out to me was that when i gave food to an orphan in act 3 and he approved. back when you first met him, he probably would’ve done the opposite or had no reaction at all. i also saw a clip of someone trying to romance karlach and astarion and he literally told tav to choose karlach over him because he can see that karlach loves her. he said normally an arrangement would work for him but after everything karlach has been through, he doesn’t want to get in the way or see her hurt. letting tav go is also hard for him as well but he still thought about someone else. he could’ve whined or been possessive or jealous but he didn’t do that at all. where are all those people who reduce astarion to “the guy that flirts and sleeps with everyone” now? seriously. that’s not what he does, and when he was forced into it by cazador, he was trying to survive, he didn’t do it for his own pleasure. it’s not a “hot” personality trait of his, it’s literally trauma. and because he did it so much, he got used to it, and that resulted in him disassociating and feeling empty.
apparently if you ask him to join you and sleep with the drows at the brothel (something i will never make him do in my playthroughs), he only says yes because he struggles to say no. but he disassociates. and if you’re in a high approval relationship with him and he loves you, he will feel safe enough to express his feelings and say he’s not comfortable. this happens before you fight cazador. i’m not sure if he gives the same response after, but either way, if he joins in, he will always disassociate and it’s not something he wants to do despite what he may say.
that being said, it’s obviously still okay to appreciate his beauty and attractiveness, because he is very beautiful. he appreciates it and even likes being called beautiful. calling him “hot” and “sexy” isn’t a bad thing either, we know he can be and i'm sure he knows it too! it’s just annoying when people act like that’s ALL he is and they don’t even mention anything else about his character. the love scenes are beautifully done too (i personally prefer the second one after you’ve stopped him from doing the ritual, because that’s the one where he decided he truly wanted it and felt safe and comfortable because he genuinely loves you), and i actually would’ve been fine if they didn’t have any scenes like that at all because it’s totally understandable and valid if he didn’t feel comfortable, but i just hope that people don’t take things too far and over-sexualise him just because of how he appeared to be in the first half of the game and the way he’s often marketed on social media. and yes i know he’s fictional and nothing on the internet is going to hurt his feelings!!!! it’s more about the fact that he canonically has sexual trauma and many people still say really disturbing stuff even AFTER they find out about that, and it just makes me uncomfortable to think that people are okay with treating someone like a sexual object especially when they've said they're traumatised and it makes them uncomfortable. idk if this makes sense 😭
but yeah he doesn't want to flirt and sleep with everyone as i've seen people claim. and if in an alternate universe he did, and he did it on his OWN terms, and the other people he had relationships with enjoyed it too, then good for them! absolutely nothing wrong with that if there's consent, respect and honesty. however, that's not the case with what happened with astarion, because 1. he was forced into using his body WHEN HE DID NOT WANT TO and 2. he misled people and lured them to a miserable fate. it's so horrible and devastating for everyone involved. sex was never something fun for him, and it certainly isn't a "personality trait" of his. it was a survival tactic. he was forced to. he didn’t want to.
obviously when he becomes more comfortable, then it's totally understandable to get excited when he flirts and shows physical affection. he can be so charming, funny, sweet and romantic and i love that. it’s so beautiful to see him heal, genuinely find comfort in someone for the first time and experience intimacy that he feels ready and comfortable for. he deserves to love and be loved on his own terms instead of being forced. but again, he is so much more than the guy we were introduced to at the beginning. the internet just sees one thing and sticks with it but i really hope people start to actually appreciate him for who he is and the complexity of his character.
aaaaand i just had to leave this here <3
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Yandereish!JenoxGNDrugAddict!Reader
CW:mentions of drug use, abuse, and trauma (it’s not that bad)
If I continue this, Jeno gonna become crazy also reader is very lovesick over Jeno
Enjoy ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
~
Jeno sighed as he saw you, closing his eyes for a bit before opening it once again, taking in the sight before him.
You were laying in a tub, your eyes hooded, breathing slowly. Jeno's eyes moved to the needle and spoon on the edge of the tub.
He sighed once more before getting on his knees and checking you, making sure you were okay.
His warm hand gentle touched your cheek, his thumb rubbing the skin, You leaned into his touch, finally taking notice of the man.
"J-Jeno?"
The man nodded, not saying a word.
A loving smile grew on your lips and Jeno gulped, his body stiffening and growing warm.
He always hated seeing you in this state. It always made him angry but knowing your past, his anger never really stayed for long.
You always had it hard.
Your parents were drug addicts, your mother even doing crack while she was pregnant with you.
They were also abusive So when you were 5 you were taken into foster care where you suffered even more abuse.
You never really did stood a chance at life.
Jeno licked his lips before moving his hand away and carefully picked you up from your bathtub like he would always do.
He carried you to your bedroom and laid you down on your bed.
He then left, decided to try to find something in your fridge for you to eat.
When Jeno first met you, you were already doing heroin.
It didn't deter the feelings he had for you, in fact it made him overly protective of you.
You were so vulnerable when you were high so whenever you did get high and he was around, he practically become your personal bodyguard, not trusting anyone near you, rightfully paranoid that you may get taken advantaged of.
Jeno open the fridge and saw that you didn't have much food again so decided to just order you some pizza, making a mental note to take you grocery shopping.
His friends never understood why he had feelings for you.
Hell, even Jeno himself didn't understand it at first. But soon he did and suddenly he started becoming clingy towards you which turned you off from him understandably.
He couldn't help himself honestly. He really did like you. He cared a lot about you and once genuinely cares for someone, he gets very clingy and needy.
Because of this, Jeno knew how to get you to warm up to him.
He toned down his neediness and began helping you little by little.
Needed some clothes? He'd take you shopping.
Needed some food? He'd get groceries delivered to your place.
Needed your phone to be turned back on? Not only will he turn it back on but he'll even put you on his plan.
All of this and more made you warm up to him and it even made you dependent on him a tad bit and because of that he soon would hear you talk about stories from your past.
First it was just good memories, a lot of it hilarious but at some point you became comfortab enough to tell him about your traumas, your hurt, your wounds and once Jeno realized this he knew that he had you.
Then he started taking you out on "platonic" dates, trying his best to whoo you.
He began buying you gifts and the look of surprise and love that you would give him always made him flushed, his body stiffening and his body becoming warm.
But you still weren't his... yet anyway. And though he quickly realized that he was in fact in love with you, because of you not being his, he still screwed around here and there.
What he didn't anticipate was for you to walk in on him.
The pain he saw in your eyes as it began to water, your face contorting into sadness as his name softly left your lips... he has never felt so much heartache to see you that way.
To see you hurt because of him.
Knowing everything about you from the stories you would tell him about your life, to threatening your few close friends to give him more info about you, and to seeing what you were going through now... he knew he fucked up but he wouldn't again.
Jeno knew he was meant for you.
He was meant to love you, to protect you, to provide for you, to be your world because on that fateful night, he realized that you were his world. That he would do anything and everything for you and that was the reason why he was here in your apartment right now. He came here to apologize and to finally man up and confess to you but he didn't expect to see you like this.
You had given Jeno a key to your place a while ago, telling him that he was welcomed to come over to your place anytime since you considered him your protector, albeit he texts you before he comes over.
Jeno went back into your room, sitting down on your bed, watching you as your high was finally beginning to come down.
He kicked off his shoes, crawling on the bed and laid down next to you, pulling you into his arms, entrapping you in a hug.
Closing his eyes, small tears began sliding onto the pillow that his head rested on.
"I'm sorry for hurting you." he whispered. "I promise to never hurt you again. I love you."
You sighed gently, your hands coming up to cradle his head.
"1 love you too..." you heisted slightly before your next words. "Do.. do you mean that? That you won't hurt me?"
Jeno nodded.
"Yes. I love you. I need you."
A small smile came on your lips before you placed you them softly on Jeno's plushed lips, giving him a kiss.
"Please don't ever leave me." you said in a shaky whisper.
Jeno tightened his arms round you, wanting you to be as close to him as humanly possible.
"I won't.”
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