that hilarious moment that spotify sends you an email recommending concerts based on your tastes...and it's the literal two concerts you've already bought tickets to for this year as your attempt to expand your social sphere...anyway the internet knows everything about you and the surveillance state is definitely one of the greatest horrors of the modern age. fuck every tech ceo & eat the rich!

when you just finished fkng on top of a grave, but you have feelings you gotta sort out (they're just nekkie, but since I dont know the state of tmblr cens0rship - and I had drawings flagged where people were fully dressed before) you get the white halo of doom - but you can see the full pages on my twitter!! I drew some nice butts so pls check them out :3c)

OK so I want to stress that this is NOT a slight against OP of this post or how they feel about the way the game presents certain options, but I've seen sentiments like this before and I feel like people still aren't quite grasping WHY the game doesn't allow the option to do a "slow burn romance where you can show him you truly care about him beyond sex" if you ascend him. So I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about Astarion's route and objectification, and the very intentional limitations of player choice regarding the ascension path.

Objectification is the act of degrading someone to the status of a mere object. It often involves a sexual component, but not necessarily. It's reducing someone to being a tool or toy, as if they have no feelings/opinions/autonomy of their own. In Astarion's case, his objectification is very much tied to his sexuality, but also his own views on power and control, and how that reflects on both him and his romantic partner.

I think people get too fixated on Welch's quote "it's reducing your relationship with him back to being a kink/form of gratification... it's very much admitting you failed to think of him beyond a sex object" and take this as commentary or judgment on the players choices, when it isn't actually that. It's quite literally the story that is baked into the route and Astarion's character as a whole. There are obviously reasons to ascend him that have nothing to do with how you personally feel about him as a character, ie you want stats, you think it's just more fun, or interesting, or you like the tragedy, etc but in regards to the story itself? It's actually more commentary on how Astarion views himself more than anything else. He is an intentional subversion of the seductive vampire trope. You cannot engage with his story without interacting with this aspect of his character.

Even if you had a dialogue option to try and initiate a romance with him without that first night of sex, Astarion wouldn't take it. If you had a dialogue option to "show him you cared and want to protect him" he would either scoff at it or get angry, as he does if you try and express similar sentiments about protecting him from Cazador. He doesn't want to be coddled. He doesn't trust mindless heroism or altruism. He initiates sex because he uses it as a tool for manipulation and insurance of his own safety. You can either play into that manipulation or don't (and he seems to respect you more if you don't, which says a lot about his self worth). You can't initiate a slow burn romance because Astarion is so distrustful of EVERYONE and has no ability to conceptualize genuine care at this point in the game due to his mistreatment as a vampire spawn. This is an incredibly important aspect to his character and to change the foundation of this is to rewrite his character entirely.

(There is ONE exception to this: Karlach. Karlach is the only character that can initiate more of a slowburn with Astarion and won't sleep with him the first night because she quite literally, physically can't. And Astarion doesn't immediately accept this either. He belittles Karlach, to the point of calling her frigid and basically defective, wondering if he's wasting his time, before she chews him out for being an asshole. Again, he has no idea how to approach a relationship without using sex as a transaction and it shows. He only goes along with it because he quite literally cannot do his normal routine. This is the only reason he won't start a relationship with Karlach using sex.)

So anyways, that choice at the start? The way Astarion's romance initiates on the first night? It intentionally parallels the way ascended!Astarion will offer you an ultimatum: become his spawn or leave him. At the start of the game, Astarion intentionally plays into the sexy vampire trope to get what he wants, is highly paranoid, afraid and distrustful of everyone. At the end of the game in the ascended route... he's intentionally playing into the sexy vampire trope, is highly paranoid, afraid and distrustful of everyone, only this time he has power to back him up. Nothing about his views has been fundamentally challenged if you ascend him; he's completely validated in his beliefs about power and control and entirely in the mindset that he has no value without becoming the ascendant.

It's not about whether you personally find him sexy or not. It's not about having sex at this point. It's not about you or your character. Astarion objectifies himself, fully playing the only hand he knows (as he himself puts it) because that is all he knows how to do. In the ascended path, he has been shown no other option. Your character, good intentions or not, has not given him the tools to see himself as anything else. There is no way too make himself see himself as anything else, except by not ascending him! Either you let this man degrade you as he degrades himself, or don't. That is the option provided, and anything otherwise wouldn't make sense without rewriting his character completely.

Do you value what he actually wants (freedom) or do you value what he says he wants (power, because he views it as the only way to get that freedom)? To me the game makes it obvious (ESPECIALLY with the newly added epilogue) that walking in the sun again or gaining the power of the vampire ascendant aren't the keys to Astarion's happiness. Stuff like that, while nice, doesn't magically grant him peace and it's not a substitute for character growth and self reflection. It honestly just feels like people want the personality and development of spawn Astarion but in the ascended Astarion path, which doesn't make any sense with the way the story unfolds.

Anyways, I just wanted to say that objectification can be more than just seeing someone as a sex object, and doesn't necessarily have to do with sex itself. It can tie into views about power and degradation and a lack of self respect. Furthermore, it's not the game telling you you're a bad person or some sex addled freak if you ascend him, it's asking you to engage with what Astarion's personal story can say about sexuality, cycles of abuse, trauma and recovery - for better or worse.

🌙The world is yours and mine alone.✨️

This absolutely gorgeous artwork was made for me by the talented thanomluk! 💕

i am unwell again about act iii gale and the variations the astral sea/boat scene can have:

node context: genuine, vulnerable - the player just told him they loved him in a way no one else has gale: i conjured this illusion often during my confinement in waterdeep. an escape for the mind where there was none for the body. it was easier to stare at the celestial abyss than recognise the emptiness within myself. easier to pretend my destiny lay among such stars, than work to salvage a life on solid ground. you changed all that.

The Traveller

So Chants of Sennaar is a good game-

The fact that people are actively trying to avoid doing the 4th quest is the funniest thing ever.

Midwestern emo songs are fucking insane cause it'll be this sad mid boy who can't sing for the life of him and then suddenly they say the most profound lyrics that would make shakespeare, edgar allen poe, and fiztgerald all simultaniously go into a coma and you sit there like hell yeah. anyways.

I should probably let my thoughts coalesce on this more before posting, but what the hell.

I’m calling death of the author a little bit on Welch regarding Ascended Astarion. I’m sorry, but embracing his nature as a vampire does not make him inherently sexualised. That’s just so gross and I don’t accept it.

The main vampire trope in fiction does indeed seem to be that vampire=sex. If you’ve been alive in the past, oh, entire history of humanity, you may also have noticed that some people think woman=sex. Just the very act of existing as a woman makes you a sex object in some people’s eyes, and it’s an uphill battle fighting tooth and nail to claw back any agency. And then, the moment a woman does anything sexual, dares to declare openly that she does have a sexuality, she is told “See! We were right! You are an object! You want to be an object!”

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but there is nothing inherent about anyone that makes them a sex object. Not big boobs, not a nice ass, not your chromosomes, not your weight, your skin colour, nothing.

Embracing anything about yourself cannot make you an object because you are not an object.

So saying that ascending Astarion — the ending where he embraces his vampiric nature, which he did not choose and cannot change — is accepting that vampire=sex and forcing him to eternally be a sex object is just so fucking boring and uninteresting and in my humble and very articulate opinion, gives me the ick.

His relationship to sex may be unhealthy. It might not. (I’d argue it is, but that’s me.) Spawn might be a healthier ending for him. It might not. (It’s a debate we will never settle because nothing is so black and white.)

But what I will argue vehemently is that from the moment he’s tadpoled, Astarion ceases to be an object. His story is about reclaiming lost agency. It’s about a messy path to healing or redemption or not (or some other mix of it all). But it is not about becoming a slave again. It’s not about him continuing to live for what he can do for other people.

He gets his autonomy back. What is the fucking point otherwise?

I am sooo sad that they stopped doing clever disguises for cases in later spn. Every day they’re regular civilians or feds. I need the priests and yoga instructors and psych ward patients again!!!!!!! I need them to be in situations!!!!! All of their cases are soooo boring and lame and contained where was the IMMERSION!! Where is the leadup to the monster and the twist and the detail and the creative insanity of it??? where is the PRESENCE!!!! Where are the stakes!!!!! Where are the left field episodes that intentionally feel out of place with the narrative and then directly tie into it later and leave the juiciest implications to be picked apart!!!!!! ? Where is the clashing of the normal world in such a funny way that they can bluntly tell the truth of their lives to be admitted to a ward. Where is the communicating something you don’t entirely remember through a silly game. Where are the lasting effects of what they go through!!! Where is the CINEMA.! If there is one thing I could ask for from the prequel it is this. . I need those beasts to be in actual situations again.

Fictional red flags aren't really red flags, right?

If Khael had helped Astarion ascend would he have stayed with him? Would he have agreed to becoming his first spawn?

he would let astarion make him way worse than just his first spawn >:3c (ascended astarion and consort-turned-guard-dog khael are dear to my heart, I do think about them sometimes. khael is completely and utterly under astarion's command, he retains a little bit of agency just untill the absolute is defeated and then he would give it up completely. he lives for his sire's praise and to make sure no one ever gets close to him. astarion is caring and sweet with him (all fake and manipulative, of course) and likes to parade him around both as a warning and as a power trip. I think they would be very deadly and ruthless together and that that would be eventually their demise - I can see jaheira/the harpers/wyll needing to hunt them down and put an end to their reign of terror and blood)

I usually try to stay in my lane most of the time (mostly bc I am far too old for fandom drama) but what the hell, it's friday, let's put that lit degree to use:

the way people are playing morality politics with fiction is really starting to genuinely irk me and I think some of the responses to ascended astarion are a perfect example of why this type of thinking is actually hugely detrimental to one's ability to meaningfully engage with fiction and also to the future of art.

astarion is one of the most well-written complex characters I've seen in recent years bar none (and I'm clearly not alone given the explosion of his personal fandom lol) and he has a truly compelling, emotionally resonant character arc whether you ascend him or not

If you keep him a spawn, you get a deeply touching, realistic character's journey to healing and personal growth where he learns who he is after the experience of his trauma and depending on the player's choice, explores his relationship to sex, romance and intimacy

If you ascend astarion, you get an equally emotional and well-rounded character arc where he chooses the power that allows him to have the desperate freedom and safety he's wanted, but in the process eschews any hope of real healing or personal development, and again, depending on the player's choices, restarts the cycle of abuse by taking cazador's place.

These options offer vastly different paths for the character and experiences for the player, but while yes, ascended astarion is the evil ending, and yes, ascending astarion is a tragedy, and a fucking incredible one (not only do you have astarion reigniting a circle of abuse but you have the narrative weight of KNOWING he could have actually overcome his trauma...hats off to the bg3 team tbh) but that does not mean ascending astarion MAKES YOU AS THE PLAYER EVIL

Ascend astarion because you love tragic story arcs, ascend him because you want to indulge in a master/slave vampire fantasy, don't ascend him because you want a healing character journey, don't ascend him because you want a sweet romance; all of these choices carry the same moral weight for the player, which is to say, none, because they are an exploration of fiction.

I know I'm saying this to the villain fucker website but it bears repeating; just because someone wants to engage with evil, fucked up characters or content does not mean they support evil acts in their real life, and furthermore, exploring dark, taboo or tragic concepts safely is part of what fiction is for. It enables us to look at those things from a distance, work through difficult feelings and develop greater understanding of what makes our fellow humans tick — and before you get it twisted there's also no moral issue with exploring fucked up media bc you're horny or just, because. You can take it as seriously (or as sexily) as you want.

It's starting to really concern me how many people not only do not get, but are violently opposed to this concept, because equating what someone likes in fiction with their real life moral code and actions is an incredibly dangerous and let's be honest, immature way of thinking that not only stunts your ability to engage with fiction but ironically, hampers your ability to deal with complicated issues and emotions in real life.

I don't know what's driving this trend (though purity culture is certainly playing a role) but it's definitely something that's not just impacting individuals but contributing to the commercialization of art, where we get games and stories and tv shows and books that regurgitate the same safe, mass marketable plotlines and character archetypes over and over and over again so corporations can squeeze out as much profit as possible.

Anyway, remember kids: There's no such thing as thought crime, reaching for morally pure unproblematic media is directly contributing to the death of art, and this is why funding the humanities is important.

if you are genuinely out there claiming that gale "succeeded" in everything he "wanted" by becoming a god and that's why it's a good ending for him, you truly are a testament to the slow and steady death of media literacy congrats lmao