My favorite crack theory for bg3 is that Durge really did just plan all of the plot as the worlds longest escape plan to get away from Bhaal
Orin stabbing Durge in the head and she’s like heh all according to plan before blacking out from blood loss
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My favorite crack theory for bg3 is that Durge really did just plan all of the plot as the worlds longest escape plan to get away from Bhaal
Orin stabbing Durge in the head and she’s like heh all according to plan before blacking out from blood loss
So many saying:
"Oh! Why do all the other romances in the epilogue get kisses while Astarion gets just hugs! Where is our kiss?!?!"
I think you're missing the point...
For non-ascended Astarion, nothing is more fitting or more perfect than that hug. Why?
This is a man that had been abused for over 200 years. A man who was forced to use his body to lure people against his will. A man who tells you that he has used his body sexually and otherwise that just the act of sexual intimacy has been tainted for him.
In Act 2, as he tells you all this, allowing an extremely vulnerable side of himself to be shown to you. Asking for reassurance that he was more than a cheap tool. What does Tav/Durge do?
They hug him. Hold him tightly. And the Vampire has no clue what to do because he, in 200 years, has never been touched like that unless it had sexual implications. For the first time, he is being touched for pure, vulnerable intimacy and love. And in that moment, he accepts the safety of your arms, and holds you. Craving not a touch of lust, but love.
So yes, a hug is far better than a kiss in my regard. At the end of the day, no matter what, he wants to feel that safe feeling of your arms. No expectations, just pure love.
Quick hot take: people not only forget that Astarion is actually an undead vampire, but also the fact he is an elf. Not human. Elf. Not your regular human neighbour. High elf. Without human psychology and world-view - he is an elf. He doesn't sleep like a human - elves meditate. He has long pointy ears for a reason, damn it, and you can clearly see in community how little people pay any mind to it. And large portion of fandom discourse could be avoided if ppl just saw him as an elf.
Astarion Ancunin is pissing me off but it says more about me than him
(warning: talks about depression, abuse, homophobia, self-harm and suicide)
When Baldur's Gate 3 launched, the Internet was suddenly flooded by people yearning for Astarion. He became a Joe Jonas, Harry Styles or Troy Bolton overnight. So when I played BG3 for the very first time, I was curious. What's up with that guy? Lo and behold - from the very first meeting, I was ready to knock his teeth out. However, I'm an introspective person, and so I did some self-reflection on why that is. It turns out, Astarion reminds me of something (someone) I haven't gotten over yet:
just 7.5 hours into my solo evil run and most of the companions are fucking DEAD
Wyll dies trying to protect the grove. In this playthrough Minthara dealt the final blow. i lost my shit
Knocked out Shadowheart to steal the prism, came back later and she was dead dead. Speak with dead says the artifact attacked her somehow
Lae'zel's corpse is with the Githyanki that were with Voss near the mountain pass. Didn't use speak with dead on her but I suspect she told them she'd been infected and they killed her
Halsin's dead body is outside the grove post-raid–implying he escaped the goblins somehow and went back to try to save them, only to die watching his home being destroyed
(if i'm being honest my durge 100% would've cut off Gale's hand, but i, the player, simply couldn't bear to leave my sweet wizard husband in the portal, so i pulled him out and left lol. no sign of him yet either way, but he's a lvl 1 wizard alone in the woods...)
And you know what this means? Sticking together and trusting each other literally saves their lives. oh my lord this game
Baldur’s Gate 3 Honor Mode Broke me.
I was doing so good. Flying by so easily. (Very easy with a Sorcerer to talk my way out of stuff)
The first thing to go “wrong” was one of Aradin’s friends died at the Grove gate, but I don’t care about that.
I saved Arabella, Mirkon, stopped the Shadow Druids.
Got both Scratch and Baby Owlbear
I easily defeated Auntie Ethel and got her boon while saving Marina.
The Goblin bosses were defeated swiftly (95% sure I spared Minthara)
Fake Paladins of Tyr dealt with.
I saved the Iron hand gnomes in Grymforge, beat Grym easily (turns out OH Monk topple makes it impossible to lose.)
The Spectator and Bulette fell and so did the Githyanki creche with Lae’zel on the path to defy Vlaakith.
The only other thing to go wrong was my character died to the stupid magic allergy cats so I lost Lovitar’s Love.
Enter Act 2. Where everything goes to shit.
First I find I accidentally sold an internal iron or something, (can Dammon use it to build the Heldusk armor by mistake?) no matter there’s a couple in Act 2 for Karlach’s second upgrade.
Except she’ll never get it,
Because ISOBEL FUCKING DIES!
OH Monk Gale was my only character who had a chance to attack, dealing massive damage to Marcus, stunning him and pushing him back, but then three Winged Horrors bee line it and instantly knock out Isobel. Even with a Warding Flare from Light Domain Shadowheart.
FUCKING EVERYONE IS DEAD!
Dammon is dead with no second upgrade for Karach.
Barcus is dead.
Art is dead so I’m unsure if I can save Thaniel.
Florrick is dead.
Rolan. Dead.
Even the fucking cat is dead.
Alfira! Fucking Alfira is dead despite my careful calculations to spare her from my Durge. You know how hard that is to do in Honor Mode? You have to know the trigger for her to show up in camp, (crossing the creek next to the owlbear cave) go back to the grove, enter the base mode and hope that 4 character can non lethal knock her out (switching between them so she doesn’t get so pissed at a single one to get them arrested)
But now it doesn’t matter because she is dead before I can get the amazing rewards from saving Lakrisa.
I’m so upset now. I don’t even know if I can finish this.
Jaheira managed to survive and joined my camp. (Honestly if I do continue I have half a mind to respec her into an oath of vengeance paladin cause that seems very fitting after what happened.)
I’m going to finally go on a long ass rant that’s been building up for a while now:
Can I just say, I don’t like the way people will over-sexualize Astarion.
Like yes okay- he’s feminine, flamboyant, and plays into a lot of gay stereotypes, and in media those types of characters are typically portrayed to be hyper sexual.
And yes, you do have sex in his first romance cutscene. However, he later tells you that he did that for manipulation purposes and that he doesn’t really want to be sexual anymore.
He talks about how a large part of his trauma was how he was forced to use his body to attract victims back to Cazador. For like 200 years he wasn’t given a choice of when to be sexual or not, and that in turn has made him realize that sex isn’t really something he wants, especially when he is trying to connect with and get to know someone he views as a possible partner.
After killing Cazador is when he finally feels ready to be intimate again, on his terms with someone he is sure he loves and wants to be with. Even then, if you want to visit the drow twins at the brothel he’ll join you but then doesn’t really enjoy the experience and just dissociates through it.
That all being said, Astarion reads as a demisexual character to me. Some say Asexual, but eh I don’t really see that. Gale and Halsin fit way better into the hypersexual category than Astarion does imo.
Anyway, this is all fiction and believe and interpret the characters however you want I guess.