Okay I have to share this bc it genuinely made my week 🖤
Sooooo in one of his recent interviews Stephen Rooney got asked about The Dark Kiss - The Bride reading of Ascended Astarion, the whole idea that Tav isn't just a spawn, the way it works in Ravenloft.
And here's what he said (trimmed a bit for length, nothing changed):
"The Dark Kiss thing, it was something that was there in conversations we were having… there was another writer that did some writing on those scenes… I can't say 100% if that was on their mind or not, but it's not a direct one-to-one thing."
Soooo yeah. It was in the room! 🎉
It was part of the conversations while they were building the game, and those scenes had more than one writer on them. we did not make this up!
And honestly that last bit: "not a direct one-to-one thing" - is literally what a lot of us have been saying this whole time?? It's an easter egg, not a carbon copy. That's just how easter eggs work. Of course it doesn't line up exactly with the Ravenloft ritual, the number of bites, the amount of blood, all that. It was never meant to be a checklist.
And then one more thing from the same interview that I really want people to actually hear:
He got asked about people who read the ascended relationship as a loving, healthy one. and he said:
"If people feel they are able to have a healthy relationship with Astarion… if he ascends, I am fine with that. That is okay. Everyone can have their own ideas and their own takes on the game, their own interpretation."
Like. Straight from him. Soo if you read Tav as his consort, as his bride and not just some spawn - you're not reaching. It's in the text, it was there in development, and the guy who wrote him literally said our reading is valid.
And thank you to that other writer, you gave us something so special.🥂🖤
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