Hey Can We Stop With The Whole "astarion Walking Into The Sunlight After Tav Dies" Thing? Did You Miss

hey can we stop with the whole "astarion walking into the sunlight after tav dies" thing? did you miss the whole "astarion wants to be independent and self-sufficient" thing? the whole point of his storyline is him learning to live as a free man, to not tie his identity or life to that of another. yes astarion would grieve tav after they've passed, and if you want to write/draw that wonderful angst go for it. but for the love of god, please consider that astarion is not only a vampire but an elf. outliving the people he loves was a given from the very beginning. he would not kill himself because tav died.

I've seen a lot of people point out that while Astarion's whole "thing" in act 1 is that he's this sexy sweet talking savant, he only has 10 charisma and actually isn't all that good at it.

He practices cheesy pickup lines within earshot of the person he's going to say them to, and every single time he flirts with tav it's extremely heavy-handed and almost cringeworthy. It's pretty obvious that he's trying to manipulate tav, even if the reason doesn't become clear until his act 2 confession.

But here's the thing: Astarion never actually needed to be all that good at flirting.

He says himself that the vast majority of his "targets" were drunks and brothel-goers. People who never actually saw him as anything other than an object for their pleasure. They were going to go home with him no matter what he said. A few pretty words and his physical beauty would do the rest.

But Tav is the first person to actually view him as a real person, which is why it becomes so glaringly obvious that he's not nearly as charming as he thinks he is. Astarion tells them at the tiefling party that "every part of their body screams temptation" and their response is that he's "sweet" and "silly". They're not buying it for second, because they don't need to be told pretty lies to like him. They like him because of who he really is as a person. They fall in love with him not because he's good in bed or has pretty eyes or a sexy body. They fall in love with him because he's sweet and secretly very kind. Because there is so much pain and sadness and fear in him, and he truly cannot see how amazing he really is. That his goodness never really went away, it just got hidden for a while.

okay but imagine if you will: durge still struggles with chronic migraines even after being cleansed of the urge because of all the, yknow, head trauma and post-game is finally able to take care of themself a little bit so when they get a migraine/headache the big scary bhaalspawn needs to go lie down for a bit and close their eyes. and their romanced partner (could be any of them) makes them some tea or strokes their back or something.

posting this part of the doodle page as standalone also

I need someone to do a video essay-length deep dive into how 75% of the BG3 fandom fell so hard for Astarion's manipulative seductor act that they believe that's his actual personality. This man has to practice his lines and still fumbles them constantly. He flat-out says it's all a front because he believes his sex appeal is the only reason anyone would keep him around, which is tragic. When he drops the act, he becomes this kind of silly man rediscovering what it means to be himself, and what it means to both love and be loved. He says "I'm all pointy ears, love." while turning his head to show off those pointy ears. Let him be silly, let him be awkward! It's so much more authentic then him being a walking innuendo.

He has a mid charisma stat with a bonus for deception and rolled a nat 20 on all y'all.

when do we think astarion realized his "nice simple plan" was starting to fall apart? personally i think it was when tav draws/translates his scars. his face when you tell him you want to help and as he's turning around is just so confused and wary because he's so unused to kindness.