/uj literally. I didn't even like him at first and then I fell in love with the way he talked and how smart he was and his THIGHS and then I got shattered. Unironically took me longer to get over than any real life breakup
I never get to share this with anyone 😂 I made this a long time ago and it just sits there, because no one knows who he is. So thank you guys. It sees the light of day after so many years
/uj I feel this in my soul. I liked him from the start, even despite a few hiccups. He'd tell me stories of his journeys in the Fade and his spirit friends in that lovely Welsh voice, and I'd be kicking my feet and twirling my hair. He challenged my views and piqued my curiosity, and he lodged himself in my heart before shattering it. I adore him, rEGGrets and all, and I find him utterly fascinating.
Also, you're right about his thighs, and you should say it.I'm half-convinced that his armor in Trespasser was designed specifically to give me a heart attack.
No like I'm eggsexual now, I swear. Also I heard the writers wrote a lot of his dialogue to the pace of "hallelujah", iambic pentameter or something? I don't know poetry. But it's why he sounds a bit melodic sometimes. I LOVED his stories.
yup his lines have the same rhythm as the lyrics in hallelujah the song, it's really cool it makes you feel like you're listening to a lullaby while he speaks. video game character of all time.
everyone join me in my quest to make the next fanfic to book wave be solavellan, someone has to write the years after inquisition
As much as I would love an entire niche market of Solavellan-inspired books, though, Solas and Lavellan are so intimately tied to Thedas itself that I worry that a book wouldn't hit the same way a fic would. That being said, I would treasure the chance to be wrong.
Meet Solas from the BioWare fantasy RPG series, Dragon Age! If you were ever into Tennant-era Doctor Who or Torchwood, you may recognize his voice actor, Gareth David-Lloyd, as Ianto Jones.
Thank you! All I know is that it won game of the year and Devora Wilde voices a character. I just got back into gaming so I'll need to check it out in the store.
Don't even read the game's summary on steam or watch the trailer, that spoils a big reveal (that happens in the opening sequence of the game, but still - it would have been a really nice reveal if it wasn't spoiled.)
You have to play the game, my love. It's the only way you can get what you need.
(1) DO NOT LOOK UP ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAME. Go in ENTIRELY blind and spoiler free. Don't read game summaries on Steam, don't watch the trailer, don't do anything that might spoil you.
(2) Play Clair Obscur Expedition 33. It is one HELL of a ride.
uj/ if you're ever asked to rec for Astarion, they're asking for a jerk who flirts and snarks as a survival mechanism. He suffered horrific violence and abuse. He is someone who can, has, and will kill for survival but doesn't necessarily want to be that way. He just doesn't know anything else because he's been in survival mode too long. He's already written himself off as an irredeemable monster but that doesn't necessarily mean it's true.
Uj/ I think this is the post that made me realize I am a slut with no standards since I love witty/sarcasm/trickster scrony folks and shadow daddies. ....why choose am I right???
I'm gonna try to explain why I think that is, sorry for the paragraphs:
Honestly, genuinely not trying to make myself sound enlightened or holier than anyone here, I am at the same devil's sacrement reading the same smut as everyone else here, but I have a theory as to why you won't see many characters like Astarion in Romantasy/erotica/romance novels. Astarion is an uncommonly well written male character that is difficult to compare to in most media, so this isn't just an us problem, but we're here so I'll talk about it.
Not to sound misandry-is-real here (absolutely no real life man is suffering socially, systemically or economically because of tropes in romance books), but men in romantasy and erotica novels are primarily sexual and romantic ideals, they're objects. Moreover, men we are meant to find sexy or heroic are very very rarely written as victims of sexual violence, or in need of protection.
While Astarion is on the surface an insatiable flirty trickster, which is kind of a common archetype, his entire character arc, his behaviour, and his possible outcomes, are primarily informed by him being a victim of horrific physical and sexual abuse for centuries. For those who don't know, Astarion is a vampire spawn who is under the control of the true vampire who turned him. This vampire, Cazador, abused Astarion physically, emotionally, and sexually. Astarion and his "siblings" were made to whore themselves in order to lure victims back to Cazador. How good he was at this was almost the entire basis of his value to Cazador, when he wasn't torturing Astarion for fun. Astarion internalised this fucked up perception of his own value, even after he escaped Cazador.
Astarion's not interesting because he's hot or a trickster or mean, he's interesting for his depth as once you break down the hot, mean, flirty trickster facade he puts up. Really there are two Astarions: the one he wants you to perceive, and the one he actually is. He is vulnerable and scared and unable to conceive of his own worth, despite the self-satisfied, entitled bravado he puts forward.
There are a lot of tricksters out there but you don't really see assault survivors in romantasy, especially male ones. There was a taboo for a long time (still is) because it was seen as romanticising or condoning sexual violence to include it at all, even in a backstory. I hate this exclusion passionately because to me, it makes it seem like once something like this happens to you, your story is over, you can never grow or have experiences beyond it. Assault survivors deserve to be heroes too, there's no reason we should censor them out of the stories and treat them as unworthy of being heroes. But I digress.
Astarion is an asshole because he is prioritising his survival and freedom for the first time in his undeath, so of course he's selfish. It's the first time he's been allowed to be, and undeath has fucked him up in so many ways, he feels the world owes him. He's bitter and defensive, he feels hunted, and he only comes onto the player at first in order to manipulate them for protection. He is conditioned to think his body is the only reason anyone would let him stick around, so the initial romance with Astarion is entirely a front; The first time he says "I love you" your only dialogue options are to tell him you know he's lying. It takes the player literally spelling out to him that nobody, including themselves, should make him do anything he doesn't want to do, for him to feel genuine affection and loyalty, willingly given.
Astarion's personality, decisions, mannerisms and general cuntitude are all fronts and bravado informed by the fact he is the bitter survivor of abuse, so flirty tricksters might not feel like they fully fit as a recommendation if their personalities are surface level and they're just like that for the sake of it. You can't really have a character whose entire depth comes from breaking out of being a sex object if his primary purpose and presence in the novel is to be a sex object, I guess. To be frank, and again I am here too so I'm not above this, but the men in these genres might be "written by women for the female gaze" but that doesn't really make them good characters by default. More often than not, that just means they are made to fit into specific boxes and rarely allowed to leave the sphere of what is conventionally attractive to the people buying these books.
I agree with everything you wrote, that is such a perfect write up of the character. I've never seen it put into words like this and I know it wouldn't have managed it.
I realised he could become my favourite character before I ever played the game, when among downed of pictures and memes of sexy Astarion, I saw a video of his reaction if you break up with him in act iii. He is hurt, scared, thinks he did something wrong. But then he picks himself up and tells you he will get better again. That's when I first saw that Astarion was going to be a character with hurt, strength and depth. That dichotomy of pain and determination that it would be alright again - ugh, my guy! He is such a compelling character.
Obviously as I played the game I also came to realise everything you said. His complexity is everything. He is also absolutely attractive and witty and sexy and that doesn't go away once you know the depth behind, but it just becomes part of the whole character.
Now that you know him, you gotta read some AO3 fics about him. Also there's a prequel novel about him coming out in September, so you've time to familiarise yourself with him before he becomes Booktok's newest shadowdaddy. Some books with MMCs similar to him are:
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett
Omg, you just brought up memories of being 14 and OBSESSED with Scarlet Pimpernel. I haven't thought of that book in years! Maybe it's time to reread it...
I recently reread it too and loved it so much I am now on the hunt for physical copies of the Scarlet Pimpernel novels. Both characters are so similar in mannerisms and attitude, that I kept picturing Astarion (elf ears and all) as Percy throughout it. Also helps that Astarion does resemble Anthony Andrews in the 1982 tv movie.
So, weirdly, I read How (not) to Raise the Dead by Ravhel Chadwick and for whatever reason I could hear the MMC's voice as Astarion's. They're both kind of snarky and sarcastic so it tracks.
I have been in that pipeline. It usually starts with crushes on either Armand, Louis DuPoint DuLac, Jareth the Goblin King, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, Legolas (or even all six), Howl (both Ghibli and book Howls), then it moves to Zuko then in the 2010s you get Thranduil, Loki, Jaime and Tyrion Lannister (only tv show Tyrion though), Keith from Voltron, Booktok Faes like Tamlin, Rhysand, Cardan, Wendell, before it all comes together to create Astarion, who is the culmination of traumatised morally grey daddy hiding behind a façade who can be made better or worse depending on the choices you make in the game.
/uj heyitsjaki on IG has made some hilarious animations about BG3. My favorite is the one where Gale misinterprets what Tav wants for dessert, and Astarion is just hanging out in the background sewing and calls Gale breathtakingly stupid.
THAT IS OKAY. Astarion is the bb gurl high elf who is also a vampire slave. He also has an English accent, is quippy, and he has a worm in his brain. He didn’t get RFK Jr’d by it, though.
I paid for a cameo for my sister's birthday from the voice actor. Part of the appeal is the look/lines of the character but without Neil Newbon's voice acting, I don't think he would have gotten anywhere near as popular.
Oh yes. To the point i have made it a quest to see everything he’s done. So far, my favorites are “dreamy Wild West boy band member with a terrible American accent (but goddamn he tried)” and “undercover cop coated bastard with bastard filling.”
Quick question— Would Astarion remind anyone of some of Mallory Dunlin’s monster boyfriends?? Because many are morally grey and baby girl. (I just love Mallory Dunlin so much and love how unique all her characters are)
There are 4 hour long compilations of his romance route (both endings) on youtube, so you wouldn't need to necessarily play the game. But as someone who isn't a gamer at all, I bought a console and the game for this guy and it was so worth it! His character arc is 10/10 and the acting from his VA is chef's kiss.
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u/exhaustedgnome May 12 '26