No no no, I saw those tags on that post of Astarion's "Midnight Chimes, eh?" Line.
Let's talk about Astarion in a relationship with Tav that he feels is a ticking time bomb, about to explode and then it's over!
Cuz like...that's HEAVY. That's HARD. That shit HURTS. Tav's perspective on their relationship has to be very different than his, and he probably can't even comprehend that it's real for a long long LONG time. And a LOT of that almost DEFINITELY comes from his own insecurities. ESPECIALLY if you get together during the confession scene BEFORE meeting Araj. The GUILT and WORRY he must feel??? Gut wrenching.
to catch people up this is the post and these are my tags:
#literally i got all the break up dialogue just to see and every time he says midnight chimes with that sad little face#its like.... man he really thought it was too good to be true huh#and it adds a lot of... umm.... context. to certain paths that can be taken in the conversation where you get together#because he really does think he doesnt deserve the PC and hes very vulnerable in that convo & in the early days of the relationship i think#*forcibly drags myself away before i add more tags to this innocent ops post*
and i completely agree with you, i think for quite A While astarion is waiting for that other shoe to drop and for his partner to come to their senses and "realize" (heavy air quotes) that he has nothing to offer them. hence why he says "this facade." not because his feelings are fake (theyre not) but because their whole relationship feels like a sham to him because he cant give them a "real" relationship (i.e. one where he is able to provide, sexually, emotionally, romantically, etc). because as he says, he doesn't know what any of this means or what he wants their relationship to look like. and people can hc any number of romantic overtures or whatever (im not your mom) but the text of the game very much implies (to me) that the relationship is progressing at a snail's pace.
and that dialogue, the immediate acceptance when he's broken up with (and his fixation on protecting them in act 3 in the lead up to the ritual), is why i just cant take anybody who says "nah astarion isnt afraid of losing the PC" seriously. because like. no i think he's very afraid. he just shows it/doesn't talk about it in the way other characters might, and he's completely prepared to lose them at any moment because he can't even fathom why he has them to begin with.
