This character was made to be my kryptonite. Charming, funny character using humor/flirtation to disguise the sadness underneath? check. Disaster Pansexual twink? check. Charismatic voice and accent? check. Morally grey character that unwillingly starts to care for you? check. Vampire? check. And to top it all off he holds a knife to your throat in the first meeting when enemies to lovers is my favorite trope.
_"And to top it all off he holds a knife to your throat in the first meeting when enemies to lovers is my favorite trope."_ So I'm not the only one who found that scene strangely endearing instead of threatening! Because I could clearly see Astarion just wanted answers and as he stated he mistook us for Mindflayer servants. (As did Lae'zel, who on her first appearance tries to murder us with her giant sword but noone whines about _that, do they!) So many people in the player community have their knickers in a twist about "Whaa, Astarion threatened me with a knife! So I had to kill him after he put the knife away!" (bit of hypocrisy there, isnt it) (sigh) My character is a goddamn warlock with magic powers who lives in a world full of war and monsters and evil deities. Why the heck should he be afraid of some guy with a knife? He's seen worse. Also, the game is not going to let a companion kill the main character permanently! Even if we die during Bite Night due to our own idiocy (letting Astarion drink and not stopping him) or failing every persuasion roll imaginable, he can revive us.
It’s actually soul shattering to see you can force him into ‘intimacy’. I feel like an unfortunate number of us can relate to him in that moment. “I didn’t know how to say no.” That hurt so bad.
I'm a sex worker and seeing that scene (I didn't choose it during my playthrough, I saw it on youtube) made me break down and cry with empathy. I work with people that have emotional scars regarding sex and try to give them a good experience. Astarion made me re-think my approach to people that have those kind of emotional scars. I've never been sexually abused, but I do work with people that have been. Beautifully written character.
@@SunniRae-st9sj i'm a minor, so i more than likely shouldn't be here (but hey, that's the unfortunate way of the internet!) - I wish to say that people such as you, who take the time to learn and grow with space in their hearts for others, have my respect. i cried too, as someone who unfortunately has emotional sexual trauma, and it's.. calming? to see another human have that same level of empathy. Asatrion is so well written. 😭 Thank you for taking the time to consider it deeper. Stay safe, i wish you all the best in life!!
Its a sad fact that survivors of SA fall into two paths they either become hyper sexual in an effort to reclaim their body or they layer up so not to be touched or seen as sexual. My aunt wrote a paper on trauma responses as she was a SA therapist
I know a lot of people are like "Oh Astarion is a bad person. He's evil and manipulative" ...If you take that path with him, yes he can be. But I REFUSE to believe Astarion was written to just be evil. Astarion is such a well written character imo. Everything he says and does is a direct result of the terrible things he's faced in his past. And to me, it seems very clear that if Astarion hadn't been through all of that he probably would be a good person. You can't "fix him". He's always going to be himself. But you can help him to heal and get more of his good side to show itself if you take the good path with him. He's only truly evil if you don't give him a chance to be good. Ngl so many of his lines just break my heart. There are a lot of times he's lying or being overly showy, or cocky, or flirty, or mean. But there are some very genuine moments too. And in those moments you can see just how hurt he is, and how he can even be very sweet if he wants to be. I'll admit it, he's charming as heck and I love him 😅 SPOILERS: ALSO! I heard someone make the comment that Astarion wouldn't know the difference between lust and love just cuz of the scene where he breaks up with you cuz you're a mind flayer, but I personally feel like 1:49:55 is proof that isn't true. There are so many moments in which he shows he genuinely loves you. He's just a bit anxious about it because he hasn't been able to ACTUALLY love someone in a very long time. I mean...oh my god can we talk about the scene with the drow. He literally is like "Oooh, it's so exciting to be able to do this now that I'm free to choose it on my own! And if I don't like it, I'll leave immediately" ...Astarion is learning about consent and uuuuuugh! It makes me so angry when people say things like that person did! His entire arc is about him realizing he is now free to love someone the way he wants, and that he actually values consent a lot, and that he DOES want more than just sex even if he does enjoy it a lot, and that sometimes he actually doesn't want sex and just wants romance! It's a good story and he is a good character even if he's neutrally aligned!
"Astarion wouldn't know the difference between lust and love" how can people actually think that after seeing his genuine confession scene where he states that he: doesn't want us to think of him in terms of sex and want to be seen like a person, wants to be something real with us. We're literally in relationship with him without any sex, just love, until the graveyard scene where he's ready to initiate sex again because he's comfortable with the person he loves: He's now able to enjoy it since there's feelings involved. Also for the Illithid thing... Imo, people should learn how to read properly. Yes he's putting some distance between him and Tav but he legit says that he doesn't wanna loose us, care too much for us to walk away, and is willing to find love again by our sides. A totally normal and decent response when your beloved turned into a mind flayer. He's wondering " is the person I loved still there " ( at some other time in the game, he also states that he " wants you to still be you " ) so it's logic that he needs time to process the thing while they're figuring out their new relationship. Anyways, his will to try shows a huge progress and growth to his character.
THIS. so many people are defending ascended astarion by saying "hes evil by default, so why bother? just let him get worse".. and that upsets me. i relate to astarion due to the trauma he faced, and i would have begged on my hands and knees for someone like tav to help me heal and see the brighter way to live without so much darkness. the worst way i can imagine my journey ending is succumbing to everything that's tortured me emotionally by becoming the darkest version of my myself, and forever feeling endless loneliness, anger, and isolation. i will always stand by the complexity of this character and the important of the unascended pathway.
Even if he is at times, who cares lol? He has one the best backstories of the whole cast. Complex characters drive drama. Things would be very boring (and unrealistic) if damaged people were always just sad, passive victims in stories.
I mean he is a vampire spawn so it is expected of them to not trust him, but they eventually learn that yea he really is just a guy, so he becomes another friend to them.
Same! ;-; I started playing because of my sassy vamp boi, but my cpu gets really damn hot and I'm scared to break my pc. I'm about 32hours in and I'm dying to play more and advance my romance with him but I'll have to wait a few weeks before I can get my pc looked at... Now I'm just watching YT vids every day.... *ugly sobbing noises
The scene where he admits that he hasn't seen his face since becoming a vampire... hear me out... we could have had the tadpoles link up. Remember when we met Lae'zel? We saw ourselves through her eyes. So it stands that Astarion could have seen himself through OUR eyes
Tbh there's actually a lot of ways to work around that aspect of the curse that I wish they thought to add. You could use the tadpole like you said, or even use disguise self to take on his form, or have Gale do that duplication spell he once used in camp to admire himself instead of using a mirror. Another thought that came to mind is having your character or some NPC draw a portrait of him. I'm an artist myself so this was my first instinct, but if the player character can't draw him, why not have the option to hire someone to draw him? I can imagine more than any of these other options, having a portrait that he can keep and look at whenever he wants like a mirror would be a very valued gift to him. There's actually a lot of missed opportunity here for ways to show him his appearance that I wish they delved more into.
Astarion contemplating how long he has left in the sun hurt to watch. Like even after everything he endured and sacrificed, he still has to sacrifice something. :( Then the graveside conversation where he just gets down and is staring at his own grave... that just really drove home how much this means to him. Why did they have to make such a lovable character that could break my heart with just a look? Astarion being burned by the sun at the end stabbed at my chest so badly.
was unaware of auntie ethel's existence and im delighted theyve gotten an actual irish woman to play her, you wouldnt believe the amount of awful american impersonations you hear nowadays. even more so, the fact they included her using "petal" to refer to astarion is so sweet, its a common term that older people use for ones younger than them, either that or pet!
the way i almost fell of my chair when he said ''i love you'' as his favorite line. Astarion: how about if i said these little worlds... me: don't you dare say i love you! don't you dare! Astarion: i love you me: dam it!
1:04:17 god i still can't get over the fact that even as early as the first night you'll get hints that astarion dissociates during sex. then you take all the times where he mentions that for hundreds of years it felt like nothing. not to mention the drow foursome where no matter if he's ascended or spawn he'll end up completely out of it. i'm in fucking pain larian
“That’s what you want, right? To lose yourself in me?” When I first romanced him I had no idea, and I didn’t notice any of the disingenuous tone. I was just excited and smitten by him. Watching that again is… disturbing, honestly. The cheesy lines, they’re all so sterile and recited. He’s gone before it’s started, and he fully believes you’re in it for his body alone. It’s a transaction for his safety.
idk if you’ll see this comment but i feel obligated to say thank you - i watched this video on a whim a couple months ago because i thought astarion was pretty and i was curious about him but i wasn’t planning to buy the game (didn’t have any hardware that could run it at the time). after watching this i was so captivated that i ended up buying the game about 2 and a half weeks ago and tonight i got to the end of his romance with my own tav and it was every bit as incredible as i was expecting, maybe even more, so thank you for being the reason i bought the game haha
I'm delighted to hear this! I'd really intended the video to be just a personal reference for fannish projects, but it was such a tremendous amount of work to put together I had to share it in hopes it would be useful to others as well. Hearing it's not only been useful, but a stepping stone for you to get to enjoy this game, is fantastic! I'm so glad you've had a chance to play through yourself & that you've enjoyed the ridiculous, wonderful arc of this character. :) Thank you!
Geez this must have taken a lot of time for you not only to go through his story but you had to keep track of EVERYTHING, multiple saves, getting different situations, My patience could never. Seriously, major kudos to you for making this.
Huh, I didn’t know the characters could break up with you. That’s actually really cool. The scene was heartbreaking, and made me so uncomfortable to force him into it, but a really neat touch by the writers!
The first blood sucking scene is totally different for me now after learning about how Astarion just had a nightmare about Cazador in the Astarion origin and he was so scared he was about to run back to Cazador and beg forgiveness, dreading when he’d learn he could walk in the sun while Cazador could not.
If you sacrifice yourself and become the Illithid, he breaks up with you and just wants to be friends :( Worst part of becoming a soulless tentacle monster.
I'm at the point where Astarion is grieving the loss of his face, as he can't see it anymore and doesn't remember. Now I want to create a character who's a first class artist and could go 'Hey, I'll draw your portrait for you. That way, you will never forget again."
Hey! French guy here - we literally say 'orgasme' for orgasm, same word ! 'Petite Mort (little death)' is more of an old literary/fancy term. I've never heard anyone actually use it irl, funnily enough, I've always only seen english speaking people mention it 😆 This does perfectly fit Astarion, considering his overall speech style, though !
Thank you for your service. I'm saving this for later. Can't wait to get some snacks and watch me fall even more in love with a fictional character in a game I can't even play. It's like the devs made him for me. He's perfect.
Rats, I knew I'd missed some things! You're absolutely right, that one didn't make it in here. Next time! EDIT: This conversation occurs at 9:10 in this video. Already had it included.
As someone who hasn't the means to play this game and also wouldn't like the style of gameplay anyway, this video is a fantastic way to see all of what Astarion has to offer. I absolutely love him.
Thank you for this video. I thinks it cost you tons of edit. Astarion is marvelous character. Well written, complicated and amazing hero. He have extraordinary personality, his mean behavior is well explained by his traumatic past and it's amazing how he slowly change beacuse of the main hero who can show him better options through game. From manipulating, sad, mean, sensitive and ptsd personality to sensitive, mean (a little ; )), open-minded and peace of mind character. He has been through a lot and now he is a better person with sad past but he have hope and happines. And his dialogue, behaviour and way of speak, really well written 😊
Seeing Astarion carve those runes into Cazador’s back! It’s too much. I can only imagine how it must’ve been when their positions were reversed, poor thing.
Oof, that is a lot of scenes. But I think there are still two scenes missing, both related to the "Year of Horror", unless I somehow skipped them? 1. When you talk to Astarion about the Astral Tadpole and he refuses it, you can pressure him to take it, saying he needs all the power he can get against Cazador. There should've been a dialogue option to use the tadpole link to pry into his mind and find his worst memory of what Cazador did to him to use against him to make him afraid. The Narrator will describe "The Year of Horror" when Cazador punished him for disobedience and had him buried alive (well, undead) in a stone sarcophagus, in total silence, starving, for an entire year. A year of silence and darkness. And when Astarion was finally let out, the Narrator said, "he would never disobey again". Cazador had broken his spirit. You can then becruel and use that memory against him and he will accept the Astral Tadpole and transform himself into a half-Illithid. Or you can drop the pressure attempt and apologize. (At least I hope I remember it correctly that you can still back down after forcing himself into his mind.) 2. After you've met Astarion's "brothers and sisters", the other vampire spawn, there can be a dialogue option to ask Astarion why the other spawn claimed he had given up fighting Cazador long ago? It doesn't always appear. Tav had to be present while Astarion talks to the spawn, presumably, and i guess they had to mention it? But if you ask Astarion why he had given up, he will tell you "You don't know what it was like!" He says that once, "in my first decade of slavery", he met a young man who was so sweet and innocent he couldn't bear the thought to bring him to Cazador. So Astarion let the young man go and then tried to flee and hide. But Cazador found him, and then had him punished. Astarion describes the Year of Horror from his perspective: How Cazador had him "sealed away in a dusty tomb, starving", in total silence. [Implying he couldn't scream? Or a silence spell?] Months of Astarion scratching his hands bloody trying to dig his way out through the stone. Then more months of not moving at all, just lying there.
I put the astral tadpole in my camp chest and never touched it again, so I didn't realize that first conversation could occur! Good to know. The second conversation you mention occurs at 2:34:08. :)
I love him so much god help me. 'Oh yeah those gur children I might have kidnapped them from their familys and made them spawns to suffer a terrible fate under a monster vampire lord because he told me so and thus I had no other option pls dont be a bitch about it BUT!!! I. DID. NOT. (!) sweetlure those.' - This is where we draw the line it seems. 😂👍
Larian had to make it crystal-clear that the character whose usual modus operandi is _sexual seduction_ did NOT use that on preteen children but just grabbed them. Otherwise the Astarion-haters would have made up some nonsense lies about "Astarion the sex fiend" and spread those rumours on online forums. As for abducting them: The game hammers home the fact vampire spawns _can't_ resist a direct order by their vampire master. He controls them, mind and body, if he wishes. Astarion said it's worse than slavery, it's like being a puppet. So I can understand when, after 200 years of this crap, when Cazador said bring me those Gur children alive, Astarion obeyed. Hells, the Gur were responsible for him dying in the first place 200 years ago. And the Gur relentlessly hunt and murder anyone they deem a "monster" without remorse... to them, vampire spawn as "unpersons" without rights. So screw those Gur.
@@TF2CrunchyFrog pretty sure haters will find a way to hate any way sadly that's what haters do As for the other part that is what I just wrote down lmao
1:39:23 ...just the way he stares into space for a second, bracing himself before doing something he doesn't want to do... surely like the thousands of times before that. So wonderfully animated.
Omg the part where you pressure him for sex after the drow conversation was so sad. I feel so bad for him in that path. Thank you for making this cuz I was curious what happens in all the options I knew I would never pick. Does anyone here know if the scenes are different if you sleep with him the first time before the celebration? I saw a comment saying the scenes play out differently but I cant find a video of it
I somehow missed the stargazing conversation and the boar but he still bit me? 😭 I guess that’s the important part but geez there’s so much that goes into this
He'll bite you on the second long rest if no other cutscenes are triggered to take priority. For the two scenes you can get with him before he bites you, you need other companions. Gale is usually needed to trigger the "How Would You Like to Die" while Lae'zel if how I got the stargazing scene. The next camp cutscene is usually him trying to bite you because the other scenes depend on you knowing he is a vampire.
Anyone know if the Shadow Lands entrance voice line is in here? I was having issues fidning it. It's when you go there the first time and he says "WHAT IS THE HELLS IS THAT? I'm not sure I wanna go in there." It's one of my favorites.
@@8Paradoxe8 It’s a private one and like the settings correspond to my tav only but I’m gonna release a public version so I’ll try and remember to post the link here when it’s done 😭. It’s VERY in character.
the way I thought auntie ethel and ulma were the same person when I first watched this 😅 so imagine my confusion when astarion and ulma acted hostile towards each other
Bro those discord pings had me buggin last night, i thought they were coming from mine😂 like bro wtf who keeps Joining a voice channel that I'm not even in lmao
my game bugged over the patch #4 update with just the Orin and final fights left, so I couldn't see the romance scene at the end correctly. This was a lifesaver.
You know you have watched and played a lot of video games and the first thing you think when you see people exploding is 'wow, that's... messy' in stead of horror or repulsion. And yes, I'm focusing on that because I'm not all that comfy with just how firmly 'go team, rah rah, go ahead and bite me already' occurs to me. I blame Spike from Buffy - snarky hot blond with emotional trauma and a wicked sense of humor has ever since cranked my gears. Someone help, I don't need to be thinking a bunch of pixels is this hot...
Definitely going to aim for that, "little death" line on the next playthrough for reasons😂 Oh, and real fans of his character can separate fantasy from reality. We are very aware that some of Astarion's early game behavior is indeed toxic but that's if you are ONLY GOING FOR HIS APPROVAL. You can be a good aligned character and romance him. I challenged myself to see if I could be a super helpful and always polite PALADIN(Ancients) and he propositioned her before I even went in the direction of the Goblin camp. I also didn't let him kill the Gur. I interrupted him. It's all about choices. It just gets me that people who choose certain dialogues get upset over him responding rudely. Like, were you paying attention to his character at all? He's not Edward. He's more of a Lestat and he's going to bite back so to speak. Also, you can call him out on the overuse of flattery (as shown during the video). He also propositions you again because he WANTS to bed you. He's doing it solely by choice now because he's developing feelings for the character and the only way he knows to show it is by sleeping with them again. (Which you can turn him down) It doesn't break the romance at all. I just realized I typed longer than I'd planned... Anyways, Niel deserved that award and Astarion is for the Paranormal Dark Romance loving fans. If it's not for you, it's NOT FOR YOU. Some of you must read warning labels and trigger warnings and even though you're thoroughly informed you STILL proceed!! 😂
After some research I have some love hate relationship with this man, I found out the VA was in Detroit become human. The character he plays I despise (ABSOLUTELY no hate to the va). So it’s in my brain as, dbh dude is playing dnd as Astarion. I wanna marry astarion thooo
I'm swooning if we ever get another game I want Astarion to be there too and to make him walk in the sun freely 😭 I got a question, if we choose to say "what you need is a friend not a lover" can we still date him eventually??
No. Choosing that ends your relationship romantically, but you'll have a good normal relationship with him. I'm not sure if you're locked in with him fully at that point, but if you are you cannot enter another relationship after. I wouldn't fret tho, there is LITERALLY NOTHING WRONG in being in safe, close and trusting personal relationship without sex- so you don't have to feel all weird about it. Some people can't understand that layer of complexity. You can absolutely love eachother, and sex being the last thing really on anyone's minds- and that fits well here. No reason to friendzone eachother and lock yourself out of growing together further down his story path.
Does anyone talk about how in the one (the best) ending they bring the, "This is a gift. I won't forget it," full circle when he says it AGAIN but with EVERYTHING Tav and he went through together in the game at that point? Because I'd love to talk about it lol.
Hey there, thank you so so much for making this! I'm in the process of writing a video essay about Baldurs Gate 3, and have been using this video as a reference to make sure I've not missed anything in my discussion of Astarion's questline. Would you consider giving permission for me to use some small clips of your footage, with full credit? No pressure, of course - I just haven't found a single more useful or comprehensive cover of Astarion's quest out there, and I'd love to give you and your Tav the praise you're due
This is so kind of you to ask! Yes, please feel free to clip however you like. Thank you very much for the credit! I'd love to see the finished product when it's completed. :)
i didn’t push astarion into biting the drow but i didn’t get this cut scene during a long rest; can anyone help? Is it because my approval wasn’t high enough? Or I didn’t take a long rest soon enough after the fact? I would appreciate any insight :)
I do plan to do so eventually, but the last third of the game after Cazador is quite long, and it's going to be a while before I have an evil run that gets up that high. When I do, though, I'll post it here.
astarion reminds me a bit of mollymauk tealeaf from critical role campaign 2. the fun accent, the fancy clothes, the air of tragedy... it's all coming together
The hold this man made out of pixels has over me is insane, and I haven't even played the game yet
It won't get any easier after you play. The utter chokehold he has me in is otherworldly.
not just me then?
I bought the game because of this dude. And it's worth it
Same.
He looks like Preminger lol
This character was made to be my kryptonite. Charming, funny character using humor/flirtation to disguise the sadness underneath? check. Disaster Pansexual twink? check. Charismatic voice and accent? check. Morally grey character that unwillingly starts to care for you? check. Vampire? check. And to top it all off he holds a knife to your throat in the first meeting when enemies to lovers is my favorite trope.
_"And to top it all off he holds a knife to your throat in the first meeting when enemies to lovers is my favorite trope."_
So I'm not the only one who found that scene strangely endearing instead of threatening! Because I could clearly see Astarion just wanted answers and as he stated he mistook us for Mindflayer servants. (As did Lae'zel, who on her first appearance tries to murder us with her giant sword but noone whines about _that, do they!) So many people in the player community have their knickers in a twist about "Whaa, Astarion threatened me with a knife! So I had to kill him after he put the knife away!" (bit of hypocrisy there, isnt it)
(sigh) My character is a goddamn warlock with magic powers who lives in a world full of war and monsters and evil deities. Why the heck should he be afraid of some guy with a knife? He's seen worse. Also, the game is not going to let a companion kill the main character permanently! Even if we die during Bite Night due to our own idiocy (letting Astarion drink and not stopping him) or failing every persuasion roll imaginable, he can revive us.
@@TF2CrunchyFrogey! I’m not alone on this one🥳 It’s understandable why he’s too cautious, but he realized and made it up so✨
😂😂😂
Disaster. Pansexual. T W I N K! Yo this comment had me cracking tf up for like 10 minutes straight! You’re amazing. 😂
You took the words right out of my mouth.
It’s actually soul shattering to see you can force him into ‘intimacy’. I feel like an unfortunate number of us can relate to him in that moment. “I didn’t know how to say no.” That hurt so bad.
I'm a sex worker and seeing that scene (I didn't choose it during my playthrough, I saw it on youtube) made me break down and cry with empathy. I work with people that have emotional scars regarding sex and try to give them a good experience. Astarion made me re-think my approach to people that have those kind of emotional scars. I've never been sexually abused, but I do work with people that have been.
Beautifully written character.
Right? It’s just so heartbreaking, he deserved better 🥹
@@SunniRae-st9sj i'm a minor, so i more than likely shouldn't be here (but hey, that's the unfortunate way of the internet!) - I wish to say that people such as you, who take the time to learn and grow with space in their hearts for others, have my respect. i cried too, as someone who unfortunately has emotional sexual trauma, and it's.. calming? to see another human have that same level of empathy.
Asatrion is so well written. 😭 Thank you for taking the time to consider it deeper. Stay safe, i wish you all the best in life!!
Its a sad fact that survivors of SA fall into two paths they either become hyper sexual in an effort to reclaim their body or they layer up so not to be touched or seen as sexual. My aunt wrote a paper on trauma responses as she was a SA therapist
Me: Nah I can't watch any new movies 2hrs 15mins is too long
Me: Oh boy time for my daily rewatch of quarkier's BG3: Astarion Supercut!
Please this is so me 😭
Felt
I know a lot of people are like "Oh Astarion is a bad person. He's evil and manipulative" ...If you take that path with him, yes he can be.
But I REFUSE to believe Astarion was written to just be evil. Astarion is such a well written character imo. Everything he says and does is a direct result of the terrible things he's faced in his past. And to me, it seems very clear that if Astarion hadn't been through all of that he probably would be a good person. You can't "fix him". He's always going to be himself. But you can help him to heal and get more of his good side to show itself if you take the good path with him. He's only truly evil if you don't give him a chance to be good. Ngl so many of his lines just break my heart. There are a lot of times he's lying or being overly showy, or cocky, or flirty, or mean. But there are some very genuine moments too. And in those moments you can see just how hurt he is, and how he can even be very sweet if he wants to be. I'll admit it, he's charming as heck and I love him 😅
SPOILERS:
ALSO! I heard someone make the comment that Astarion wouldn't know the difference between lust and love just cuz of the scene where he breaks up with you cuz you're a mind flayer, but I personally feel like 1:49:55 is proof that isn't true. There are so many moments in which he shows he genuinely loves you. He's just a bit anxious about it because he hasn't been able to ACTUALLY love someone in a very long time. I mean...oh my god can we talk about the scene with the drow. He literally is like "Oooh, it's so exciting to be able to do this now that I'm free to choose it on my own! And if I don't like it, I'll leave immediately" ...Astarion is learning about consent and uuuuuugh! It makes me so angry when people say things like that person did! His entire arc is about him realizing he is now free to love someone the way he wants, and that he actually values consent a lot, and that he DOES want more than just sex even if he does enjoy it a lot, and that sometimes he actually doesn't want sex and just wants romance! It's a good story and he is a good character even if he's neutrally aligned!
"Astarion wouldn't know the difference between lust and love" how can people actually think that after seeing his genuine confession scene where he states that he: doesn't want us to think of him in terms of sex and want to be seen like a person, wants to be something real with us. We're literally in relationship with him without any sex, just love, until the graveyard scene where he's ready to initiate sex again because he's comfortable with the person he loves: He's now able to enjoy it since there's feelings involved.
Also for the Illithid thing... Imo, people should learn how to read properly. Yes he's putting some distance between him and Tav but he legit says that he doesn't wanna loose us, care too much for us to walk away, and is willing to find love again by our sides. A totally normal and decent response when your beloved turned into a mind flayer. He's wondering " is the person I loved still there " ( at some other time in the game, he also states that he " wants you to still be you " ) so it's logic that he needs time to process the thing while they're figuring out their new relationship. Anyways, his will to try shows a huge progress and growth to his character.
and all you know him as a public personn
THIS. so many people are defending ascended astarion by saying "hes evil by default, so why bother? just let him get worse".. and that upsets me. i relate to astarion due to the trauma he faced, and i would have begged on my hands and knees for someone like tav to help me heal and see the brighter way to live without so much darkness. the worst way i can imagine my journey ending is succumbing to everything that's tortured me emotionally by becoming the darkest version of my myself, and forever feeling endless loneliness, anger, and isolation. i will always stand by the complexity of this character and the important of the unascended pathway.
Even if he is at times, who cares lol? He has one the best backstories of the whole cast. Complex characters drive drama. Things would be very boring (and unrealistic) if damaged people were always just sad, passive victims in stories.
TE AMO PERSONA EXTRAÑA QUE ESCRIBIÓ ESTO
I love how all of the companions you have actual start to care about him, and will even get protective of him
I mean he is a vampire spawn so it is expected of them to not trust him, but they eventually learn that yea he really is just a guy, so he becomes another friend to them.
Literally Minthara saying « Astarion under our protection » made my heart melt
I feel if you allow him to be a Vamp lord, it kind of ignores everything until the choice unless you're a dark urge.
FINALLY. Ive been waiting for a video like this because i cant play the game myself and im in love with astarion
Just so you know, they might be releasing this game in a mobile version too. 😃 It’d be a good thing to look into.
Same! ;-; I started playing because of my sassy vamp boi, but my cpu gets really damn hot and I'm scared to break my pc. I'm about 32hours in and I'm dying to play more and advance my romance with him but I'll have to wait a few weeks before I can get my pc looked at... Now I'm just watching YT vids every day.... *ugly sobbing noises
same im actively saving for a ps5 bc of him now
@@morganisuzu3778how would they possibly manage that? 😅
@@morganisuzu3778 Aint no way theyre fitting this ENTIRE GAME onto a MOBILE APP. Literally impossible
The scene where he admits that he hasn't seen his face since becoming a vampire... hear me out... we could have had the tadpoles link up. Remember when we met Lae'zel? We saw ourselves through her eyes. So it stands that Astarion could have seen himself through OUR eyes
Tbh there's actually a lot of ways to work around that aspect of the curse that I wish they thought to add.
You could use the tadpole like you said, or even use disguise self to take on his form, or have Gale do that duplication spell he once used in camp to admire himself instead of using a mirror.
Another thought that came to mind is having your character or some NPC draw a portrait of him. I'm an artist myself so this was my first instinct, but if the player character can't draw him, why not have the option to hire someone to draw him? I can imagine more than any of these other options, having a portrait that he can keep and look at whenever he wants like a mirror would be a very valued gift to him.
There's actually a lot of missed opportunity here for ways to show him his appearance that I wish they delved more into.
The fanfic community has done a beautiful job of writing this into existence
@@RambunctiousMouse Literally a "paint me like one of your french girls" moment that could have been brilliantly done!
@@PureAngel008OKAY DROP THE LINK????
Well organized AND timestamps? Great work, really appreciate this!
Astarion contemplating how long he has left in the sun hurt to watch. Like even after everything he endured and sacrificed, he still has to sacrifice something. :( Then the graveside conversation where he just gets down and is staring at his own grave... that just really drove home how much this means to him. Why did they have to make such a lovable character that could break my heart with just a look? Astarion being burned by the sun at the end stabbed at my chest so badly.
a very normal and sane thing for me to watch in its entirety
-Dad why is my sisters name Rose?
-Because your mother love roses
-Thanks dad
-No problem BG3: Astarion Supercut - Complete Romance and Personal Quest
was unaware of auntie ethel's existence and im delighted theyve gotten an actual irish woman to play her, you wouldnt believe the amount of awful american impersonations you hear nowadays. even more so, the fact they included her using "petal" to refer to astarion is so sweet, its a common term that older people use for ones younger than them, either that or pet!
I had no idea! I thought she just used "petal" because she was a hag
Try a Brit trying to do a Southern accent. I'm still mad at Benedict Cumberbatch over that (jk, but it's awful, and he's not the only one).
She sounds more West Country to me.
the way i almost fell of my chair when he said ''i love you'' as his favorite line.
Astarion: how about if i said these little worlds...
me: don't you dare say i love you! don't you dare!
Astarion: i love you
me: dam it!
1:04:17 god i still can't get over the fact that even as early as the first night you'll get hints that astarion dissociates during sex. then you take all the times where he mentions that for hundreds of years it felt like nothing. not to mention the drow foursome where no matter if he's ascended or spawn he'll end up completely out of it. i'm in fucking pain larian
“That’s what you want, right? To lose yourself in me?”
When I first romanced him I had no idea, and I didn’t notice any of the disingenuous tone. I was just excited and smitten by him. Watching that again is… disturbing, honestly. The cheesy lines, they’re all so sterile and recited. He’s gone before it’s started, and he fully believes you’re in it for his body alone. It’s a transaction for his safety.
As a sex worker that loves her job, Astarion's storyline broke my heart. I do it because I love my job, he did it because he was forced into it.
idk if you’ll see this comment but i feel obligated to say thank you - i watched this video on a whim a couple months ago because i thought astarion was pretty and i was curious about him but i wasn’t planning to buy the game (didn’t have any hardware that could run it at the time). after watching this i was so captivated that i ended up buying the game about 2 and a half weeks ago and tonight i got to the end of his romance with my own tav and it was every bit as incredible as i was expecting, maybe even more, so thank you for being the reason i bought the game haha
I'm delighted to hear this! I'd really intended the video to be just a personal reference for fannish projects, but it was such a tremendous amount of work to put together I had to share it in hopes it would be useful to others as well. Hearing it's not only been useful, but a stepping stone for you to get to enjoy this game, is fantastic! I'm so glad you've had a chance to play through yourself & that you've enjoyed the ridiculous, wonderful arc of this character. :) Thank you!
Geez this must have taken a lot of time for you not only to go through his story but you had to keep track of EVERYTHING, multiple saves, getting different situations, My patience could never. Seriously, major kudos to you for making this.
Huh, I didn’t know the characters could break up with you. That’s actually really cool. The scene was heartbreaking, and made me so uncomfortable to force him into it, but a really neat touch by the writers!
This is the first time I’ve seen that scene and it hurt my heart seeing him being forced again after being able to break free
The first blood sucking scene is totally different for me now after learning about how Astarion just had a nightmare about Cazador in the Astarion origin and he was so scared he was about to run back to Cazador and beg forgiveness, dreading when he’d learn he could walk in the sun while Cazador could not.
Astarion just needs a hug
Just a hissy meow meow.
@@JulesJuno737I never understood the concept of a meow meow until I say this man
If you sacrifice yourself and become the Illithid, he breaks up with you and just wants to be friends :( Worst part of becoming a soulless tentacle monster.
Ngl I keep replaying the “By the hells…Sex, my dear.” Line over and over again
"...I think he likes us."
*little giggle from the uploader*
my exact reaction to that line lol
Thank you for uploading this, this must've taken a ton of work to edit.
I genuinely do not care about anything anyone might say about my baby boy. I'll protect him at all costs.
I'm at the point where Astarion is grieving the loss of his face, as he can't see it anymore and doesn't remember. Now I want to create a character who's a first class artist and could go 'Hey, I'll draw your portrait for you. That way, you will never forget again."
Orgasm in French translates literally to "little death" if I remember correctly lol. When he says that before the first love scene
Hey! French guy here - we literally say 'orgasme' for orgasm, same word ! 'Petite Mort (little death)' is more of an old literary/fancy term. I've never heard anyone actually use it irl, funnily enough, I've always only seen english speaking people mention it 😆 This does perfectly fit Astarion, considering his overall speech style, though !
I'm so glad someone else knew this besides me on here lol
I noticed that as well, as soon as they went to talk to Shadowheart I went "Whoa whoa whoa what are we about to do here??"
I just finished his quest and I'm BAWLING. Such a powerful character.
Thank you for your service. I'm saving this for later. Can't wait to get some snacks and watch me fall even more in love with a fictional character in a game I can't even play.
It's like the devs made him for me. He's perfect.
Love the scenes with Scratch walking by in the background wanting to talk. LOL
Not only you did an amazing edit you also get one of the most perfect" endigs in the game. Clap.
Me, who knows nothing about this game but just love Astarion : "an ox ? an elephant head with wings ? What ??"
I cant imagine the amount ofbwork to do this, editing and testing routes and only 4 one character. This games is masive and amazing. Ty 4 sharing.
before stargazing you can get a scene where he asks how he should kill you if you become a mindflayer!
Rats, I knew I'd missed some things! You're absolutely right, that one didn't make it in here. Next time! EDIT: This conversation occurs at 9:10 in this video. Already had it included.
1:45:15 I AM ABSOLUTELY HEARTBROKEN I AM SOBBING WHY IS THIS EVEN AN OPTION
MY SAD LITTLE MEOW MEOW 💔
As someone who hasn't the means to play this game and also wouldn't like the style of gameplay anyway, this video is a fantastic way to see all of what Astarion has to offer. I absolutely love him.
4 hours? 4 hours of Astarion???
Yes, please
the love I have for this character has no bounds
Thank you for this video. I thinks it cost you tons of edit. Astarion is marvelous character. Well written, complicated and amazing hero. He have extraordinary personality, his mean behavior is well explained by his traumatic past and it's amazing how he slowly change beacuse of the main hero who can show him better options through game. From manipulating, sad, mean, sensitive and ptsd personality to sensitive, mean (a little ; )), open-minded and peace of mind character. He has been through a lot and now he is a better person with sad past but he have hope and happines. And his dialogue, behaviour and way of speak, really well written 😊
Seeing Astarion carve those runes into Cazador’s back! It’s too much. I can only imagine how it must’ve been when their positions were reversed, poor thing.
Oof, that is a lot of scenes. But I think there are still two scenes missing, both related to the "Year of Horror", unless I somehow skipped them?
1. When you talk to Astarion about the Astral Tadpole and he refuses it, you can pressure him to take it, saying he needs all the power he can get against Cazador. There should've been a dialogue option to use the tadpole link to pry into his mind and find his worst memory of what Cazador did to him to use against him to make him afraid. The Narrator will describe "The Year of Horror" when Cazador punished him for disobedience and had him buried alive (well, undead) in a stone sarcophagus, in total silence, starving, for an entire year. A year of silence and darkness. And when Astarion was finally let out, the Narrator said, "he would never disobey again". Cazador had broken his spirit.
You can then becruel and use that memory against him and he will accept the Astral Tadpole and transform himself into a half-Illithid. Or you can drop the pressure attempt and apologize. (At least I hope I remember it correctly that you can still back down after forcing himself into his mind.)
2. After you've met Astarion's "brothers and sisters", the other vampire spawn, there can be a dialogue option to ask Astarion why the other spawn claimed he had given up fighting Cazador long ago? It doesn't always appear. Tav had to be present while Astarion talks to the spawn, presumably, and i guess they had to mention it?
But if you ask Astarion why he had given up, he will tell you "You don't know what it was like!" He says that once, "in my first decade of slavery", he met a young man who was so sweet and innocent he couldn't bear the thought to bring him to Cazador. So Astarion let the young man go and then tried to flee and hide. But Cazador found him, and then had him punished. Astarion describes the Year of Horror from his perspective: How Cazador had him "sealed away in a dusty tomb, starving", in total silence. [Implying he couldn't scream? Or a silence spell?] Months of Astarion scratching his hands bloody trying to dig his way out through the stone. Then more months of not moving at all, just lying there.
I put the astral tadpole in my camp chest and never touched it again, so I didn't realize that first conversation could occur! Good to know. The second conversation you mention occurs at 2:34:08. :)
I know who the true soul mates in bg3 are. They both have horns 😊
That ending scene was straight out of independence day, top gun, AND Mr and Mrs Smith all at once. 🔥 2 scorching hot cinnamon buns right there. 💕
feeling happy after feeding of you. i just had to think about all the times i was hangry, then eat something.. and was happy. same astarion same xD
I know nothing about D&D or these games but I will be watching this whole video
Man old man withhers is soooo into who you're smooshing with! 😂
Ty for the hard work. Love this character. ❤
He calls you out even when you don't romance anyone. He's such a busybody. 😂
You are a godsend thank you so much for this video and your hard work. I have an unhealthy obsession with Astarion and this is perfect 😆😆😆
BLESS YOU FOR THE CHAPTERS
3:12:34
Pain. The pain in his eyes HURTS ME PSYCHICALLY.
God I hate all the ascension choices except the one where you persuade him that he can be better. I honestly wish I hadn’t watched the other choices.
honestly they hurt my feelings
Why? There are merits to letting him choose for himself.
You can also just leave and he makes the right choice on his own
Thank you so much for this video!!
I felt the hesitation during that certain option at 1:45:40 .... the sacrifice
I’m sorry. I know the video JUST STARTED…but you had a chance to roll again… you went…”nah I’m good here on the ground.” 0:53
Me too….
Was I the only one thrown off by the Discord sound alerts in the background? LOL
I love him so much god help me.
'Oh yeah those gur children I might have kidnapped them from their familys and made them spawns to suffer a terrible fate under a monster vampire lord because he told me so and thus I had no other option pls dont be a bitch about it BUT!!! I. DID. NOT. (!) sweetlure those.' - This is where we draw the line it seems. 😂👍
Larian had to make it crystal-clear that the character whose usual modus operandi is _sexual seduction_ did NOT use that on preteen children but just grabbed them. Otherwise the Astarion-haters would have made up some nonsense lies about "Astarion the sex fiend" and spread those rumours on online forums.
As for abducting them: The game hammers home the fact vampire spawns _can't_ resist a direct order by their vampire master. He controls them, mind and body, if he wishes. Astarion said it's worse than slavery, it's like being a puppet. So I can understand when, after 200 years of this crap, when Cazador said bring me those Gur children alive, Astarion obeyed. Hells, the Gur were responsible for him dying in the first place 200 years ago. And the Gur relentlessly hunt and murder anyone they deem a "monster" without remorse... to them, vampire spawn as "unpersons" without rights. So screw those Gur.
@@TF2CrunchyFrog pretty sure haters will find a way to hate any way sadly that's what haters do
As for the other part that is what I just wrote down lmao
Thank you for this! I missed a cutscene in act 2 and it ruined the romance. Glad I still get to see it.
1:39:23 ...just the way he stares into space for a second, bracing himself before doing something he doesn't want to do... surely like the thousands of times before that. So wonderfully animated.
Crazy to think that even with four hours of content, there's still other dialogue and different choices that can be made. What a game
i watch this to put me to sleep, 10 hour rain sounds got nothin on this
Omg the part where you pressure him for sex after the drow conversation was so sad. I feel so bad for him in that path.
Thank you for making this cuz I was curious what happens in all the options I knew I would never pick.
Does anyone here know if the scenes are different if you sleep with him the first time before the celebration? I saw a comment saying the scenes play out differently but I cant find a video of it
Wow, Ive never seen a character so well done. His character development, his model. His charming funny personality my god he's perfect
I somehow missed the stargazing conversation and the boar but he still bit me? 😭 I guess that’s the important part but geez there’s so much that goes into this
He'll bite you on the second long rest if no other cutscenes are triggered to take priority.
For the two scenes you can get with him before he bites you, you need other companions.
Gale is usually needed to trigger the "How Would You Like to Die" while Lae'zel if how I got the stargazing scene.
The next camp cutscene is usually him trying to bite you because the other scenes depend on you knowing he is a vampire.
I wish they added a romance scene where your character sketches Astarion and shows him what he looks like I think that would look nice
OOH THAF SCENE WHERE THEY GIVE ASTARION AWAY TO THAT BEARDED SCREWBALL TICKS ME OFF
THANK YOU SO MUCH
Him still approving of you calling Karlach beautiful is so damn funny.
Anyone know if the Shadow Lands entrance voice line is in here? I was having issues fidning it. It's when you go there the first time and he says "WHAT IS THE HELLS IS THAT? I'm not sure I wanna go in there." It's one of my favorites.
It's not, unfortunately. However, I'm slowly working on a Dark Urge compilation, and I'll make sure to include it there.
this is a GOLDEN video, thank you!!
Exactly what I needed to see! Thank you for posting ❤😊
35:30 ....I'm learning a lot about myself
Doing the lord’s work
My character AI bot shall be perfect
Which one is it ? Asking for a friend 😏
@@8Paradoxe8 It’s a private one and like the settings correspond to my tav only but I’m gonna release a public version so I’ll try and remember to post the link here when it’s done 😭. It’s VERY in character.
I'll be waiting patiently then 😶🌫️
Never played the game but was captivated by this video.
"So..there's this set of pixels.."
I’m sorry I laughed at the two initial rolls being fails.
Go girl give us nothing.
I enjoyed this video to the fullest, watching this gameplay and eating popcorn was truly a divine experience
the way I thought auntie ethel and ulma were the same person when I first watched this 😅 so imagine my confusion when astarion and ulma acted hostile towards each other
I would like to get the game just for Astarion.
Bro those discord pings had me buggin last night, i thought they were coming from mine😂 like bro wtf who keeps Joining a voice channel that I'm not even in lmao
my game bugged over the patch #4 update with just the Orin and final fights left, so I couldn't see the romance scene at the end correctly. This was a lifesaver.
You know you have watched and played a lot of video games and the first thing you think when you see people exploding is 'wow, that's... messy' in stead of horror or repulsion. And yes, I'm focusing on that because I'm not all that comfy with just how firmly 'go team, rah rah, go ahead and bite me already' occurs to me. I blame Spike from Buffy - snarky hot blond with emotional trauma and a wicked sense of humor has ever since cranked my gears. Someone help, I don't need to be thinking a bunch of pixels is this hot...
I've never been more obesessed with a character since Dorian from DAI.
Idk what I've done wrong but im in act 3 in a relationship with Astarion and im missing soooo much of these earlier cut scenes
I had the same issue. You really need to rest more than you think
the pain in his voice after Tav tries to force him into sex is honestly heartbreaking my poor husband
He tried to drink Tav's blood without consent, remember.
Definitely going to aim for that, "little death" line on the next playthrough for reasons😂
Oh, and real fans of his character can separate fantasy from reality. We are very aware that some of Astarion's early game behavior is indeed toxic but that's if you are ONLY GOING FOR HIS APPROVAL. You can be a good aligned character and romance him. I challenged myself to see if I could be a super helpful and always polite PALADIN(Ancients) and he propositioned her before I even went in the direction of the Goblin camp. I also didn't let him kill the Gur. I interrupted him. It's all about choices. It just gets me that people who choose certain dialogues get upset over him responding rudely. Like, were you paying attention to his character at all? He's not Edward. He's more of a Lestat and he's going to bite back so to speak. Also, you can call him out on the overuse of flattery
(as shown during the video). He also propositions you again because he WANTS to bed you. He's doing it solely by choice now because he's developing feelings for the character and the only way he knows to show it is by sleeping with them again. (Which you can turn him down) It doesn't break the romance at all. I just realized I typed longer than I'd planned...
Anyways, Niel deserved that award and Astarion is for the Paranormal Dark Romance loving fans. If it's not for you, it's NOT FOR YOU. Some of you must read warning labels and trigger warnings and even though you're thoroughly informed you STILL proceed!! 😂
16:10 to say i just screeched the loudest screech of mankind would be an understatement😭 i almost DIED laughing
After some research I have some love hate relationship with this man, I found out the VA was in Detroit become human. The character he plays I despise (ABSOLUTELY no hate to the va). So it’s in my brain as, dbh dude is playing dnd as Astarion. I wanna marry astarion thooo
Be great to see this for all the companion characters
Fenris wilding these days huh 😂
I'm swooning if we ever get another game I want Astarion to be there too and to make him walk in the sun freely 😭
I got a question, if we choose to say "what you need is a friend not a lover" can we still date him eventually??
No. Choosing that ends your relationship romantically, but you'll have a good normal relationship with him. I'm not sure if you're locked in with him fully at that point, but if you are you cannot enter another relationship after. I wouldn't fret tho, there is LITERALLY NOTHING WRONG in being in safe, close and trusting personal relationship without sex- so you don't have to feel all weird about it. Some people can't understand that layer of complexity. You can absolutely love eachother, and sex being the last thing really on anyone's minds- and that fits well here. No reason to friendzone eachother and lock yourself out of growing together further down his story path.
FOUR AND A HALF HOURS?!?
Thank you for your hard work
I'm screaming at the noises added during the sex scene LMFAOO
Does anyone talk about how in the one (the best) ending they bring the, "This is a gift. I won't forget it," full circle when he says it AGAIN but with EVERYTHING Tav and he went through together in the game at that point? Because I'd love to talk about it lol.
2:16:12 Not the discord notification sound making me open discord and check
Hey there, thank you so so much for making this!
I'm in the process of writing a video essay about Baldurs Gate 3, and have been using this video as a reference to make sure I've not missed anything in my discussion of Astarion's questline.
Would you consider giving permission for me to use some small clips of your footage, with full credit? No pressure, of course - I just haven't found a single more useful or comprehensive cover of Astarion's quest out there, and I'd love to give you and your Tav the praise you're due
This is so kind of you to ask! Yes, please feel free to clip however you like. Thank you very much for the credit! I'd love to see the finished product when it's completed. :)
i didn’t push astarion into biting the drow but i didn’t get this cut scene during a long rest; can anyone help? Is it because my approval wasn’t high enough? Or I didn’t take a long rest soon enough after the fact? I would appreciate any insight :)
Wow! This is amazing!
Is it possible to do something like this for Gale?
I don't have any plans to do one for Gale right now, but if I do, I'll certainly post it here.
Thank you for doing this.
Are you thinking of doing the scenes for ascendant astarion?
I do plan to do so eventually, but the last third of the game after Cazador is quite long, and it's going to be a while before I have an evil run that gets up that high. When I do, though, I'll post it here.
astarion reminds me a bit of mollymauk tealeaf from critical role campaign 2. the fun accent, the fancy clothes, the air of tragedy... it's all coming together
I have to stop falling in love with fictional chaeacters