#astarion headcanons

[luna-lamia]

astarion is ambidextrous and you can't change my mind

[voicestold]

What do you think is Robby's best trait AND his worst trait? Same for Leon, same for Astarion? I was going to ask for everyone and I was like no we'll be here for four hours lmao.

Good question, thank you for this anon!

I think Robby's best trait is how compassionate he is. There is not a day he comes to work and isn't SO FULL of compassion for his patients. Honestly, you probably couldn't ask for a better doctor. As far as his worst trait? This man is flawed, he has several lmao, but i think one of his absolute worst traits is how hypocritical he is. He gives advice he would not take himself, he does things he would advise someone against doing, he shuts people out yet tries to get them to open up to him. he is a massive hypocrite, i fear.

Leon's best trait is his tenacity. His drive to do the work to protect the world is insane when you take into account that he never wanted to be working for the government to begin with (he was blackmailed). His worst trait? Uh....he's stubborn and reckless. He doesn't give a fuck about his life and tends to play with danger way too much and he enjoys doing it.

Astarion's best trait, I would say, is his ability to survive. Spending centuries with Cazador, a manipulative man who used him and abused him in horrendous ways, would break anybody but Astarion did not let it break him. He kept surviving, despite it all. Worst trait? I would say his pride. His pride gets in the way of A LOT.

[lilhumanoid]

Last night (well ok it was 4am lol) I wrote this out on my phone while I was falling asleep. For once, I actually stand by my late-night phone rambles the next day, so I'm posting it 🖤

astarion likes falling asleep/starting his trance to the sound of jamie's heartbeat. i guess if he's particularly hungry that night, it would be less comforting and more taunting, but assuming he's fed, the sound of their sweet mortal heartbeat makes him feel safe. they're alive, they're well, he knows that for sure. he isn't alive anymore and his heart will never beat again, but his jamie lives, and that is something. nobody is going to take them away and kill them. he won't wake up alone. i've said that before, i think, but what i haven't said is how much jamie loves falling asleep to the sound of astarion's voice. jamie - who has spent so much time alone, or surrounded by other people but nobody who saw them and valued them - now feels safest with this reminder that they're with someone who loves them. but it's not just that astarion's someone, it's that he's him. they like astarion's voice in particular. they like how he talks and how he words things and what he talks about. i'm picturing these two resting in a bed or a bedroll during their post-adventure travels. jamie's got their head on his shoulder - that's close enough that he as a vampire can hear their heart beating very clearly - and he's just talking quietly about whatever is on his mind. usually it's mostly lighthearted stuff, observations from the day and musings on clothes, that sort of thing, but occasionally as jamie's getting sleepier he may bring up a memory that has come up for him lately (in my experience, cptsd recovery = lots of memories slapping you in the face once you're safe, memories demanding to be processed). i think this nightly ritual of talking to/at them would actually be helpful for him re: decompressing and processing, making sense of experiences new and old. in this position jamie can also feel him talking. people's chests sort of vibrate when they speak, and with jamie's head on his shoulder, jamie can feel that. he has no heartbeat, but jamie couldn't care less. the fact that he's here, he's talking, he trusts them enough to just share his thoughts with them openly - it's all so comforting and intimate. i saw a post recently about how cazador and the other spawn always told astarion he talks too much and everyone hates him for it. even tav can say astarion talks too much, and the companions all lightly or not-lightly tease him for it. it actually must be life-changing and affirming to astarion when jamie listens to him. the fact that jamie doesn't just let him talk, but jamie actively wants to hear him talk and in fact feels safest when he's talking... they care for him and trust him enough to fall asleep against him as he speaks... 🥹 to be fair, once jamie falls all the way asleep, astarion gently-ish removes them from his shoulder and stretches out. no touching during actual sleep hours. also he absolutely takes up maximum space when he rests, and he deserves to. jamie frequently wakes up with like a tenth of the space they started with, wondering how this smallish-or-medium-sized-at-most vampire elf takes up so much damn room in the bed lolll they're so perfect together and this thought will carry me into my own rest now lol okay goodnight

[lilhumanoid]

Jamie/Star Sex Thoughts

I fully embrace the "Astarion's shirt stays on during sex" headcanon. He'll open the shirt in front if he's wearing a style that fits like that, but 99% of the time he feels safer/more empowered covering his back.

That was originally gonna be the whole post, but actually I have more sex thoughts because I've been working on my first sex scenes for them lately:

(cw for talk of genitals and discussion of Astarion's history with forced prostitution + dissociation + trauma - really this was just me getting my thoughts out and it's rly long and nobody needs to read this)

Their physical relationship develops slowly. They don't really have sex until after Cazador's death. Before that, they kiss, hug, and cuddle, with a bit of ~cheeky, not-fully-clothed touch~ at times, but for the most part it's pretty chaste. Astarion's reeling a bit at Jamie's softness and patience. Jamie doesn't think they're doing anything particularly unusual by taking it slow with him and don't see it as an inconvenience.

At the start of their sexual relationship, Jamie takes more of the leading/giving role. I thought long and hard (ha) about it, and I feel like after 200 years of pleasuring others, Astarion deserves to let Jamie take care of him. I don't mean that he's fully a pillow prince; I imagine many of the people he slept with over the years would have taken a... let's say dominant role with him, so he wouldn't want to recreate the feeling of just lying there while someone has their way with him. With Jamie, he'll take an active, but not leading, role. Later on, as healing continues, they'll both get more experimental and flex into different dynamics.

Astarion is more vers than Jamie, though Jamie isn't not vers. Jamie is usually more comfortable in a giving role. Not sure why this is sticking out to me but there's a scene in Orange is the New Black where someone (I can't remember who) wants to go down on Nicky, and Nicky tenses up and says something like, "eh, hold up babe, I'm more of a giver"—that's Jamie.

Astarion doesn't love having his back touched, and Jamie doesn't love having their stomach touched. A little contact is fine, brushing fingers there in the moment is all good, but this is one area where both of their traumas are sticking with them.

Star is also not wild about attention to his neck, at least the side Cazador marked, but over time that changes and he actually starts appreciating gentle kisses there. It's reclaiming, in a way. Similarly but in contrast to Jamie, he finds he actually enjoys attention to his stomach; he didn't think he would, but there's something really nice about gentleness and softness and care there after centuries of starving, feeling nothing but pain in his stomach.

I know a lot of people headcanon Astarion as, um, very well-endowed (insert head pun here idk) but I think he is of a respectable, average size. I know very little about penises personally lmfaooo but I feel like his is. like. fine. It's there. It's doing what it needs to do. good job penis 👍

Jamie doesn't have a penis at all. They are transmasc and/but they're generally comfortable with the anatomy they have. Their chest bothered them, but that's handled now and they don't mind having a vulva. (And of course, Astarion could not care less what genitals Jamie has.)

I've said this before but Jamie isn't, like, great at sex. They're fine! They're not terrible, but they're no sex god. They laugh sometimes, they talk and ask questions, they have to stop and think in between some motions, they are the type to go in for a kiss but miss a little bit, etc. Jamie enjoys themself but they're a little awkward and honestly, Astarion kinda loves that? He doesn't have to perform, they certainly aren't performing—it's all very natural and real. They're both exploring together and learning what they want.

Before Star, Jamie's sex life was mostly one-off hookups with people they sorta knew, which is fine, but it was never about closeness or passion and Jamie craves that now. And before Jamie, Star's sex life was... well, you know. So this is new and wonderful for them both, but comes with challenges for sure.

Jamie talks more and makes more/louder sounds than Astarion. He's not like silent, but he's quieter than them. Part of that is just his nature, and part of it is a learned behavior from his old controlled, sensual courtesan persona. Jamie does sometimes wonder if what they're doing feels good because Star can be a little stoic, but that's just how he is.

Astarion still dissociates sometimes during sex, especially early on and especially when trying something new (I mean, usually it's not new to Astarion because very little is truly new to him, but "new" in that he's doing it by choice and with Jamie). Jamie tries to notice if he's dissociating, but he's good at covering it up. He really wants to be present and enjoy sex, and he often does! But with his history, there are always going to be times when it's too much and he might not have known before it started that he wasn't ready this time. Star learns how to notice when he's zoning out and to actually tell Jamie, who will immediately stop. They'll talk it through: Does he need to take a break? Does he want to try something else? Do we need to just be done rn? Sometimes this "interrogation" irritates Astarion, even though Jamie's coming from a good place and isn't judging. He's not even mad at them, he's frustrated with himself for his trauma response (which is unfair to himself). Sometimes they'll argue because he thinks Jamie checks in a bit too often, asking whether he's present or not. If he wasn't, he wishes they wouldn't have brought it up. And if he was, he's frustrated with himself. But Jamie just doesn't want any interactions with them to cause Astarion any distress!

Their safeword is "salad" lol - it's the least sexy food either of them can think of, it's funny out of context, and the first five safewords Jamie suggested were ridiculous (i.e., clusterfuck, fart) and the first five Astarion suggested were potential innuendos which is not good safeword practice (i.e., sausage, blade). In a modern AU they'd use the traffic light system but in canon it's gotta be salad. That's so funny to me. They do often involve food or blood or food/eating themes in sex, but they would never pick salad, lol.

Speaking of that - they both have some hunger/desire wires that get crossed and some food/blood-related traumas that can make eating a sexual experience. Not in any extreme way but there can be something sexy about feeding your mortal partner some fruit in bed. Or feeding your vampire some of your own blood. Or being fed by your partner. Or all of the above. You get it.

AFTERCARE. They both require very intentional aftercare, every time, especially Astarion. For 200 years, sex was forced, he dissociated through it, and he knew that anyone he slept with would be whisked off to die immediately afterwards. And not just die, but die via being drained dry by his abuser, who in turn rarely let Astarion feed at all. There's so many horrific layers to that and there are natural hormone drops that often happen after sex, so I think Astarion (especially earlier on) would feel quite anxious sometimes when they're done even though he enjoyed it while it was happening. Aftercare = non-sexual touch/cuddling, or sometimes no touching (especially if Astarion's feeling off) but being physically near each other; talking about nothing/random stuff, or more explicitly talking about how they're safe and not going anywhere, depending on the vibe; eventually maybe bathing together or Astarion doing Jamie's hair/something else where he has his hands on them in a nonsexual way—proof very tangibly that they are here and they are safe.

reminder I shouldn't have to make but just in case this breaches containment beyond my mutuals: these are HEADCANONS and you do not have to agree with them! Yours can be whatever you want! Feel free to make him as hung as you like ok the power is YOURS pls leave me alone asdjnskjnds

[loremmaradeur]

I saw this pendant today and remembered how often I keep thinking about Ascended Astarion and his consort couple as this symbol - sun & moon, together as almost being the one celestial body.

As the moon glow is a reflection of sun's rays, vampire-consort also possesses a bit of Ascendant's powers.

Of course that is just one interpretation specifically for Ascended Astarion and his partner as symbols have many meanings in medieval art & astrology and even alchemy.

[michanvalentine]

So… I was updating the main post where I keep all my Astarion thoughts — reflections, ask answers, random questions, and generally everything that has crossed my mind about him so far — when Tumblr started giving me a lot of trouble saving the updates.

After some confusion, I discovered the reason: I had simply exceeded the maximum number of links you can put in a single post.

Apparently I talk about Astarion way too much. Lol.

So now I’m forced to continue my extremely messy list over here. xD

Link part 1: Here

Cazador vs. the Tax Man: the One Predator Even Vampires Can’t Escape.

Sunwalking Regent: Triumph, Power… or Another Kind of Cage?

On Astarion’s Book of Hungers

Writing Ascended Astarion: Is Cruelty Inevitable?

When the Ritual Goes Wrong: Astarion and Cazador’s Shared Ascension

Astarion and Cazador’s Shared Ascension: The Chaos Continues

On Spawn Astarion’s Polite Façade and His Alleged Dependence on the Player

Health & Safety Inspection at Szarr Palace

About Astarion and the figure of the monster.

A Clarification About a Quote of Mine on Astarion

On Critique, Language, and Fandom Dynamics

The Billionaire Metaphor and Astarion’s Two Endings

Astarion’s Hardest Choice

Vampirism as a Biological Curse: How Does a Vampire Body Actually Work?

When Fictional Characters Matter More Than Real People

You can do whatever you want' sounds terrifyng - and it is.

When Is a Bite Just a Bite - Araj and Astarion

This Was Never a Fandom War to Me

How Astarion Would Deal With Annoying Tourists

How Astarion Might React to a Silent Lover

SpawnNovember - Returning to The Sun

SpawnNovember - The Graveyard

Spawnovember - The Lord of the Underdark

Why Letting Go Isn’t Being Controlled

My perspective on the Bloodweave ship

Ascended Astarion and the Ghosts of His Past

Is There an Afterlife for Astarion?

Suffering Doesn’t Give Us the Right to Harm Others

How Long Before Astarion Snaps Listening to Mariah Carey?

The Day Astarion Was Forced to Dress as Santa’s Elf

"Everyone’s favorites..."

On Insults, Interpretation, and Fictional Characters

Whatever HBO Does, Your Astarion Still Exists.

Wyll telling Astarion "OK Boomer"

Karlach Comforts Astarion During a Nightmare

Why Can’t We Throw Vellioth in Cazador’s Face?

The Smile Astarion Gives Gandrel

Astarion as a Caregiver

Astarion’s body language in one of the harshest scenes in the game

[flomens]

I’m charmed by the thought that Astarion had such ears when he was a child ☺️

[luna-lamia]

i need a mod for astarion where he starts off looking malnourished but by act 3 he has a tiny bit of a dad bod because he's been eating well feeding off tav/durge and their enemies

shut up i don't care that it doesn't make sense in the lore, neither does him being fucking shredded