#mattichronicles

I'm Matti and this is where I write and reblog things about my favorite vampire rouge (derogatory). I go by she/her and English in not my native language so bear with me.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to send me an ask anytime. Also, don’t be afraid to send me a message, I won’t bite :)

All of my smooth-brain-posts that are non-fics go under #MattiChronicles .

(I should have made this masterlist prettier but oh well)

PS! This is a safe space, come as you are <3 !!!

I guess this has to do with my reblog about liking chaotic men and classifying Astarion as one??

Astarion is a complicated character and the player has a huge part in him either being chaotic neutral or evil. That being said, verbal persuasion can only do so much. The player can’t persuade him to be good aligned per say, because he isn’t.

What is chaotic neutral?

So according to dnd I found this:

- A chaotic neutral character is an individualist who follows their own heart and generally shirks rules and traditions. Although chaotic neutral characters promote the ideals of freedom, it is their own freedom that comes first; good and evil come second to their need to be free.”

- and “A wandering rogue who lived both by work for hire and petty theft was an example of a chaotic neutral character”

Here is what bdg 3 wiki writes about his character too:

- The player does not have to be "evil" to gain his approval, however — he approves when the player makes choices that support independence and autonomy, and when the player helps certain characters in need.

(Sounds very chaotic neutral to me)

- Here is a link to his entire character that follows his quest, approvals/disapprovals https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Astarion

Tav and Astarion

I’d say that spawn Astarion falls into the neutral alignment pretty clearly after his confession about his feelings for Tav, because he doesn’t have to do it. He gains nothing from Tav or the party when he confesses to being manipulative. But he does, because he cares and feels guilty for doing it. Astarions motives are rooted in fear of being enslaved again and he actively risks his life by confessing his feelings. Which is a very non evil thing to do and he does it because he wants to anyways. Here is the convo he has with Tav:

Astarion - Look, I had a plan. A nice, simple plan - seduce you, sleep with you, manipulate your feelings so you'd never turn on me. It was easy - instinctive. Habits from two hundred years of charming people kicked in. All you had to do was fall for it. And all I had to do was not fall for you...which is where my nice, simple plan fell apart. You - … you’re incredible. You deserve something real. I want us to be something real.

Blood merchant

Throughout the game, Tav and the party challenges Astarions trauma mentality of “if there are good people, why did no one save me? Therefore, I justify to be selfish” by being kind for the sake of being kind. Which he remarks on. Here is one example of Tav allowing him to make his own decision about biting the blood merchant in act 2:

Astarion - I spent two hundred years using my body to lure pretty things back for my Master. What I wanted, how I felt about what I was doing, it never mattered. You could have asked me to do the same - to throw myself at her, what I wanted be damned. But you didn’t. And I’m grateful.

Durge and Astarion

Bonus! If the player plays redemption Durge, Astarion is extremely supportive from day one. Which is also confirmed by Larian :). My favorite scene of this is when durge refuses to kill Isobel and is forced to kill the one they like most. After Astarion ties up durge, they have a conversation that is very sweet and unselfish of him to have considering that durge tries to off him hours ago. Here it is:

Tav – “I’m so worried about you. What if I get possessed again?”

Astarion – “I’m also worried about me, but I seem to somehow be worried about *you* more. You give me something to care for, and that’s worth the peril.”

Conclusion

So, combining all of these examples we see that Astarion is not evil, he acts out fear to be stripped of his autonomy again. The things he approves of are not driven by being good or evil, they are driven by his core charachetistic - to be free to choose what he likes/needs/wants. And the first thing that he chooses is Tav. He wants tav no matter if they are good or bad aligned, because he is not driven by either of those things.

This was a very long post and it could be an entire essay if I had all the time in the world. I hope this gave some insight into how I, and many others, view him. However, if you don’t that is totally fine as well.

You can take control of the netherbrain with Astarion or Minthara now?!?! (If you’re romancing them that is)