Good day, all!! Thanks to @oona-radiant-hopeful and everyone else associated with the SpawNovember event!
Anyone interested may read the foundation that is my first fanfiction entitled "Good Things Come." (click for link)
The chapter I am about to share is from Chapter 2 of the work entitled "What Comes After." This is the SEQUEL to "Good Things Come" within my fanfiction series and I think that I may be able to get away with showing this and NOT giving too much of my characters away.....
I wanted to give everyone a taste of my Spawn Astarion for the "Lord of the Underdark" prompt. Although I do bring in some hints at a flavor of AA here as he rules as Lord of the Underdark, in majority of scenes I keep to our favorite SOFT ASTARION SPAWN. In my sequel fanfiction, despite ruling with Tav over the Underdark, I have managed to allow our beloved Astarion continuing exploits in adventuring and hero activities, both, as well as sun worship, within my fanfiction series that takes place postBG3 game!
If you like this, then, please have a read from the beginning in GTC as the setup for this! (Apologies! I'm WORDY everywhere!)
Without further ado, I give you my Spawn Astarion as LORD OF THE UNDERDARK, from his Council seat in the Arcane Tower, where our heroes have established their vampire spawn city they named "sel Ponovleno-Oloth" :
Exerpt From What Comes After; Chapter 2: sel Ponovleno-Oloth.....
CW: Intimidation, Hints at prior abuse
“Your actions are beginning to make me think that you actually enjoy The Pit, Kelbryn,” Astarion announced to the young elf from his seat at the head of the mahogany table within the large hall on the main floor of the Arcane tower. The arcane braziers blazed brightly and filled the black room with cool lighting. As was procedure in the city of sel Ponovleno-Oloth, all of the doors and windows to the tower were closed for the Council hearings throughout their morning spent in the great hall, the magical, steel barricades in use.
The last prisoner on their schedule remained within. He stood at the opposite end of the long table from the seated seven Council members. His black, shoulder length hair was unkempt and his shirt ripped of its sleeves. The rest of his barely-worn green tunic hung from its vampire spawn owner, crumpled and stained from the few recent nights he spent imprisoned. The spawn had slept on an uncomfortable slab of stone for a bed in the jail that existed deep in the mines, and so dirt smudged the knees and hips of his tan breeches and clung all over his bare feet where he stood on the black marble of the hall. He waited with his wrists shackled, the thick, iron cuffs of which had been dipped in silver. The vampire spawn shifted his arms and hands frequently, the tinkling of the metal echoing in the large space, and he winced visibly from the silver that made contact with his wrists.
Tav stood beside him in her full, shining Adamantine armor, a ready Paladin with her shield at her back and sword on her side, present as an added voice and arm of justice when needed. She was like this for most prisoners and often took part in their hearings. The jail warden Felara watched from behind her, and the lead sentinel Malakai stood posted at the prisoner's opposite side.
“That assumption is incorrect,” the young elf replied.
Astarion quirked a brow. “Is that so? Then, by all means, explain to us what the truth of the matter is in your case,” Astarion said and he stood and motioned to the others seated along the long sides of the table also engaged in the hearing. He paced between the table and the bright elevator at the center of the hall, the blue light from the cylindrical shaft almost making his silver curls and pale skin appear to glow as he spoke again, “Because I feel like we've done everything we can to make you comfortable here. Much more so than you ever were in the dungeons, isn't that right?”
“Yes, my Lord,” Kelbryn said and lowered his chin and his eyes looked to the floor.
“Then tell us, please, because we need to understand your actions.” Astarion folded his arms across his chest, careful not to crimp the black silk blouse, and leaned a hip against the tall segment of black bricks that made up a section of armrest in the bench that encircled the elevator. “Citizens of sel Ponovleno-Oloth get items based on request. After many years since having established this city, they are never denied their needs, and those that contribute within our city are rarely denied their wants. As you well know, we barter and broker deals and money only with visitors or outside merchants. There is no need for money between ourselves. Have any requests been submitted by him with the aides of your office, Yousen?” Astarion kept his eyes on Kelbryn and crossed a long leg of his sleek, black pants and fine shoe across his other leg.
“No, he has not,” Yousen declared from his seat at the table.
“And any requests for topside access to explore or for excursions must be approved by Medical or our Gur representative.” Still, he kept his eyes locked onto Kelbryn. “Dalyria? Gandrel?”
“No,” Dalyria replied.
“None from him, saer,” Gandrel responded with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair and frowned at the prisoner.
“Interesting,” Astarion stated nonchalantly from his relaxed position. “And yet, with each of these opportunities available to you, you chose to steal valuables from your multiple neighbors, run from the guards, and force Leon to sign an order to the sentries for your search and arrest. You were caught during a brawl when you next resisted after they discovered you topside,” Astarion looked over his shoulder at Leon who was also seated at the table near his back where he stood. “Is that correct?”
“Yes, my Lord,” Leon grunted as he, too, looked upon the shackled prisoner.
Astarion returned and smiled disarmingly at Kelbryn. “And this is not your first time in front of me with similar accusations, is it, Kelbryn?”
Kelbryn glanced up from under his eyelids at Astarion, but pressed his lips together in a thin line. Tav nudged the wayward, undead elf.
“No, saer,” he uttered after a moment.
“No.” Astarion echoed. “How many times has he been arrested, Malakai? Include this one.”
The tiefling lead sentry replied, “Six, my Lord.”
Astarion quirked an eyebrow at the prisoner. “I see, so a habitual offender, then?”
“It would appear that way,” Malakai replied.
“And exactly how many times has he been put in The Pit?” Astarion asked the studious drow warden that stood behind Tav.
“Only the once, my Lord,” Felara answered from behind Kelbryn. Astarion motioned for her to continue, so she did. “His first sentence to The Pit was fulfilled without incident at one month. Afterwards, he completed the mandatory rehabilitation over the course of his six months with us in the general prison.”
“How long since his release from the prison?”
“Less than a month, saer,” she replied.
“Then you must have liked it there and desire to go back,” he stated matter-of-factly to Kelbryn.
Kelbryn’s face shot up from the floor to look at Astarion. “No, saer, I didn't like it there. I don't want to go back. Please.” His words begged their leader, but his voice was steadier than it should have been if he were truly afraid, Astarion noted.
“But here we are again,” Astarion uncrossed his arms and raised his hands, palms up, and gestured to the room, “in this hall, after you have broken our laws, once again. Were you meeting someone topside?”
The prisoner shook his head rapidly. “No, my Lord.”
Finally, an emotion, Astarion thought, and he lifted from the bench and turned an ear towards Kelbryn. “We have yet to hear your reasons... I'm waiting.”
“I- I don’t know,” the young elf stammered, and his chest heaved.
Astarion turned to face Kelbryn then. He heard the quiet sighs of disappointment at his back from members of their Council.
“How old were you when you were turned, Kelbryn?” he asked.
“Twenty-two, saer,” he told him. “And I was in Cazador’s dungeon for three years.”
Astarion saw the same sadness he felt pass across Tav’s face as she looked over at him. Her eyes met Astarion’s and in them he saw something else. Pity.
“How would you describe Cazador’s dungeon, where you spent those three years?” Gandrel interjected.
Astarion watched the fog as it passed over Kelbryn’s copper eyes before he witnessed him lower his gaze back to the dark floor. Astarion turned and smirked at his friend and decided he would play this game, too. Gandrel inclined his head at Astarion, urging the course along.
“Cold. Dirty. Dark. Evil,” the boy said shakily. “And we were so sick and starved. Sometimes tortured. It was like a Hell we couldn’t wake up from.” Kelbryn looked up then and his eyes were red-rimmed and tearing. “And then you and Tav came and set us all free and brought us here. You made our lives better!” he cried.
“And yet you are taking these gifts they have given us for granted,” Aurelia spoke up from the table. “This new, long life and new opportunities.”
“There are true criminals locked in the ‘eternal’ depths of the stone quarry penitentiary - The Pit,” announced the dark-haired, female vampire spawn from her seat beside Leon. As an elected official to the Council whose position it was to represent the population made up of counties created from Cazador's dungeons, Sylfalra knew firsthand of Kelbryn’s experience. “They chose imprisonment over death. Over their community.” Her human, almond-shaped eyes, absent of any epicanthal folds and filled with large, red irises, squinted at Kelbryn as she analyzed him. “And I don’t think you’re one of them. Not really.”
“You’re pissing it away, young man,” Gandrel told him. “You’re headed the right way for a sentence of an eternity in the deepest, darkest section of The Pit. Or your eternal sleep, if that’s what you want.”
"And while you spent your short time there,” warden Felara added from behind him, “you never even glimpsed the permanent residence sector of The Eternal Pit that saers Gandrel and Sylfalra reference.”
“Kelbryn, everyone at this table, in this room even, has spent the last twelve years creating a better society for us vampire spawn,” Astarion said and walked back to his chair at the head of the table, but he remained standing. “And you’ve managed to live amongst the Gur and other living beings we shelter who chose to make this place their home.” He feigned concern, “Oh, but you haven’t tried to bite any of them in that time, have you?”
“No, my Lord,” Kelbryn straightened and raised his chin, prideful.
“I didn’t think so,” he said, still standing beside his chair. He placed his hands on the table and surveyed the faces of the six others seated at it. “Which leaves the question of what to do with our young man, here. Ideas?”
“I propose that he spend a week in The Eternal Pit, and another three weeks in The Pit,” Leon suggested, and a whimper sounded from the prisoner.
“I second the motion,” Dalyria called, “provided there is a longer-term probation which includes after release, with regular counselling for his obvious kleptomania.”
“What?!” Kelbryn yelled, and Tav gripped him firmly by the arm as he started forward. Malakai stepped closer to him. Both of their armor ticked with their movements.
“All in favor?” Gandrel asked.
Every hand at the table raised in agreement.
“The motion is carried,” Tav announced as she pulled the prisoner closer to her to pass him to the lead sentry. “The sentencing is made. Malakai, return the prisoner to the jail cell to await transfer.”
“NO! I can’t go down there again!” Kelbryn cried, the tears falling down his face as his sentencing came to a close.
“You are on very thin ice, Kelbryn,” Astarion narrowed his eyes and trained his stern features onto him. Tav held Kelbryn steady while Astarion addressed him. “You were but a child when-”
“I AM NOT A CHILD!” Kelbryn screeched at the Council.
In a flash and with preternatural speed, in less time than it took for Kelbryn to inhale his next breath, an Astarion-shaped blur leapt onto the table and charged forward across the room and stepped down to the floor again off the other side of the conference table. He abruptly halted and appeared in focus with his nose a finger’s width from Kelbryn’s, perilous danger surging from his crimson eyes as he glared at him.
Kelbryn’s entire body flinched at the action. If not for Tav holding him forward he was sure to have shrunk back from the threatening presence that so swiftly and unexpectedly entered his space and filled his area of sight.
“I am both your elder and your Lord. You are a child until I say you are not,” Astarion declared ominously. “And if, once you are released from this short and unusual punishment we have decided for you as a last attempt to rehabilitate you and integrate you into our society, you stand before this Council again, I will not be so lenient next time.” Astarion’s near-feral eyes looked the young man up and down as he stood before him. His silver, perfectly coiffed curls maintained their structure, holding every strand of hair perfectly in place, as always, despite his recent flight across the room. “I endured Cazador’s - special - torments for two-hundred years. I took his last breath from him,” he seethed. “I will not hesitate to tear your thumb from your non-dominant hand as part of your penalty, branding you as a thief, prior to throwing you into the Eternal Pit with the other wolves that slink away their unending years in that isolation. You can ask them when you visit how I did it to those who are down there now. Do. Not. Test. Me.”
“N-no, my Lord. I apologize,” Kelbryn panted, his back rigid with fear and supported against Tav’s front.
“Good,” Astarion said pleasantly then, and he stood upright, regaining his regal countenance. “While you are serving your sentence, I want you to remember what I just said.”
“Yes, my Lord, saer,” Kelbryn exhaled, tipping his head in a bow towards his elder.
“And Kelbryn,” Astarion prodded.
“Y-yes, saer?” Kelbryn straightened and watched him, mindful of his next move.
“You may not know why it is that you have these urges to do these things and steal and rebel against authority, but I want you to remember something else for me, will you?”
“Of course, saer.”
“As an elf, you are still quite young and will be stuck in this phase for a great deal of your long life due to your age at your turning. Even though you don’t know why you crave these activities, I want you to remember what I’ve said to you here, now. I want you to remember and know, with every fiber of your being, why you shouldn’t do these things anymore, and vividly recall what fate I’ve told you awaits you if you continue.”
“I shall r-remember,” Kelbryn said solemnly and nodded.
Astarion gestured to Malakai to take the dismissed prisoner.
IF YOU LIKE THIS, THEN PLEASE READ FROM THE BEGINNING!
Thanks to @saucy-scribbler and @astarions-world for the tags!!
Do you prefer writing…
On your computer or your phone?
BOTH! I make a lot of little notes on my notes app on my phone. (BESIDE MY grocery lists!)
I also use google docs on my phone if I can’t get to my computer so I will keep writing between tasks I'm doing IRL. I actually wrote more than half of a few chapters of “Good Things Come” on my phone offline while on an airplane just because it was less of a hassle that way.
Tbh, I write a lot faster on my computer because of the keys, and something about seeing it on a whole page, but, in school, I would print stories or projects out to edit in a second format. I cannot stress enough how simply changing to review it in a different format helps you catch things you would miss because of tired eyes!
<5k or 5-10k or >10k words per chapter
I start out aiming for 2.5K words per chapter and then can go higher than 5K if I decide to stay in that moment longer. It all depends, really.
One shots or multichapter?
OMG….. multichapter!!! I can’t stop with just one! EVER!
Chronologically or jump back and forth?
I like to have an occasional flashback, or a jump that is necessary to keep the flow, but majority needs to be chronologically formatted.
Planning things out or winging it?
I am very much a “pantser” when it comes to writing. (Am I old enough that no one knows what that means? Aka “by the seat of your pants” or just basically start and run with it.) I tend to start out with a general idea and just start typing to see where it leads me. I may have a very VERY rough outline of what I want for plot and conflict, etcetera. Then, later, once I get into the character’s headspace, I may end up tossing it completely out the window and land somewhere totally unexpected! It takes some time editing afterwards to defy any clichés I might have stumbled into and to give the scene/emotion or more depth/dimension.
Drabbles or plot or character study
I love a good character study, but I tend to want plot in anything I’m watching/reading, too. I have a limit for random video edits like compilations on YouTube, etc. So I don’t care much for writing drabbles.
However, in undergraduate school I once wrote a short story centered on an old man inside of a seemingly comfortable room caring for his dying wife and all she could see before she finally passed was the room and things from outside her window, including him working about outside in their garden. After she dies, he packs up her cat and some of the important belongings from the room and just leaves, and we see that the home is in shambles except for that SINGLE room, all patched up to stay up for her last days, and the area was a mess except what she could view from her window. My creative writing professor got mad at me and gave me a low grade and told me, “You need to write something happening to your characters.” That frustrated me…. Like the premise, the concept, and the questions it raised weren't enough for her?!!
Dialogue or action
ACTION and internal thoughts. I have great difficulty writing how people speak to one another. I am not a social person either. Still, my critical thinking brain sticks to perfect grammar and I ALWAYS have to go back and put in common language, slang, and even sighs and curse words! I forget that we don’t speak the way words are actually written. Never mind that I speak 2 languages! LMAO!
Romance or comedy
BOTH!!! They used to say that the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right? Well, I often feel that the quickest way to a woman’s heart is through a well-placed joke that makes her cackle-to-the-point-of-wheezing!
Mystery or horror
Often times I feel that a good mystery spurns on the story and keeps readers attached. I love an element of mystery. I can do without horror. But something horrific happening can be helpful in the right circumstances, too!
Alternate universe or close to canon
Everything has to relate to the canon or not a lot of people can relate to it in turn. But we have fun with fantasy when we can! <cough> <cough>
Writing new content or editing your work
I edit Edit EDIT! I even catch myself editing and correcting other people's notes at work or something I've read. I must have some OCD tendencies.... I get frustrated that I can't turn it off!! I read a published book and find an error and I just want to SCOLD their editor - FOR SHAME!!
That being said, I find something that I love and I always think “ohmygosh! I wish I could write like that! Why can’t I do that?! <cries>”
That means I never feel like I’m done with my own work. (It’s a friggin’ miracle that I wrote my fanfic as fast as I did. I just HAD to get that thing out of me or I thought my brain would burst!)
Finishing a WIP or starting a new one
I HAVE to finish something if I start it. It may take forever and I may put something in there in the meantime to distract me, but I ALWAYS go back to finish the WIP.
Extra Questions
How long on average do you usually spend writing one chapter?
I’m only just getting back to writing and doing it in what very tiny bits of free time I have…. So I can spend several days writing one chapter including editing it or reworking it to meet my standards.
How long do you spend editing?
Anything from days to a week on a chapter. I keep doing it until I feel like it's done. Doesn't everyone?
Favorite thing to write?
I like bringing all sorts of emotions to the table and flipping the reader on their ear sometimes if I can. 😉 Again, I don’t think I’m all that great at it, though, and have room for improvement. But if I don’t feel it, I don’t write it.
Hardest thing to write?
Smut or sexual scenes. I would rather focus on the emotion between the characters and how they relate to one another more so than their most intimate moments. Sometimes, you just want them to go for it, though, right?! That, and I’m not only sure someone else could write it better, I’m also sure I’m just not as “adventurous” as others might be. That’s not to say I wouldn’t read it, though….
Fic/story you are most proud of and why?
My favorite story I ever wrote was literally about my grandparent’s old house and how events were remembered there and the experiences my family had there before we had to say goodbye to it. And, sure, my entire family is pretty crazy and has fallen apart, but for my childhood it was full of the warm and cuddly, fuzzy stuff, right down to the tinsel that got left in the carpet after Christmas, lol. So let's just ignore the traumatic bits we hide from ourselves, yes?
But I am most proud of my piece that brought me back to writing as I developed my fanfic “Good Things Come.” I was needing an escape from stressors in my life and video games weren’t enough … and then there was this pale elf… But, seriously, I needed a project to distract myself, and I - as awful and pitiful as it sounds, yes - forgot how much I enjoyed writing before it took a backseat to my medical career. I’m glad to have come back to it after a long decade! Thanks to everyone who has so graciously humored me here!
(I'm sorry if I missed anyone I tag that's already done this one!) No pressure tags: @irondeficienttav, @amoremagnificentbastard, @a-tangled-mermaid, @anacdoce, @roguishcat, @nyx-knox
Prompt: What music or songs do you associate with your OC and their love partner?
Thank you for the tag @astarions-world!
Oh, goodness, someone FINALLY actually got me to do this! LOL! ..... You’re going to cause me give you my playlist that ran while I was writing my fanfic, aren’t you?! NGL, I think I finally feel like I can...
Yeah… here are the songs (with links) from the playlist that I listened to SO MUCH and still sometimes do play it on repeat and kept me thinking and still does about Astarion and his relationship with my Tav for my fanfic Good Things Come (on AO3).
So, I started with a mindset of Astarion on his own w/ Cazador using this song:
NUMB by Linkin Park
And then added my Tav to his story in-game... and OFF WE GO! Numbers 2 and 3 really got into my head, and my heart, and paved the way for my fanfic because they felt so perfectly suited for Astarion as he fought against everything he has known for 200 years and finds a hero in Tav. I believe it could be used for either Tav or (Resist) Durge if the player is supportive of him and pursuing a romance:
2. COME UNDONE by My Darkest Days
3. CHANGE MY LIFE by Ashes Remain
4. WICKED GAME by Herman Lie cover (orig by Chris Isaak) (admittedly I found this one after writing much of my fanfic but loved it so much it was added here, where it felt like it should have been all along.)
And when he finally accepts his feelings for Tav in-game and they rely on one another as a couple, cementing their devotion to one another after Cazador and the Netherbrain, and then my fanfic really starts up:
5. RIGHT HERE by Ashes Remain
6. A SHOT IN THE DARK by Within Temptation
7. THE RECKONING by Within Temptation
8. EVERYTHING GOOD by Ashes Remain
9. WITHOUT YOU by Ashes Remain
10. I WON’T RUN AWAY by Ashes Remain
11. NOT COMING UP FOR AIR by Nabiha
12. HOLY WATER by Now, Now (I thank @again-please for exposing me to this artist!)
13. GONNA LOVE YOU by Parmalee
✨Thanks for tagging me to play this game to reveal this somewhat personally emotional playlist! And thank you to anyone who has read my fanfiction! It was a monumental step for me to have posted my work online. I am, as ever and always, desperate for comments AND criticisms on my writing from anyone that decides to read it!! Please, if you found something you liked or disliked or thought I could improve upon, don't hesitate to leave a comment or message me! I created this Tumblr page specifically with that reason in mind. And if someone enjoyed my funky little story, even the slightest, I am beyond ecstatic! Truly!✨
Join Astarion and my Tav in a post-game fanfiction as they learn new things about their lives in the Underdark, a new vampire manuscript, and each other! Tav isn't who he thought!
https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poetsiren/works
GOOD THINGS COME by Poetsiren
After defeating the Absolute with Tav, Astarion is glad to have his beloved remain beside him. He didn’t expect it to be easy, living in the Underdark with his siblings and the other vampire spawn. Still, a new manuscript detailing vampire spawn has been discovered, and no one could expect to know what knowledge it reveals - about Cazador, about the other spawn.
Tav is a human Paladin, with an Oath of Devotion that has guided her and her companions through the events of Baldur’s Gate 3, saving as many beings as possible and protecting the weak and defenseless, as is her tenet. But she also has a secret that she has yet to tell anyone… That it’s time to tell Astarion …
But there is so much more to it than either of them know.
All things considered, even she doesn’t know how things will end for the two of them.
Link to my Tumblr post about the playlist I listened to while writing is available here:
Well, please forgive me, but I have been going through some things here and am seriously delayed and overwhelmed at the moment by things in my life.
I would like to reply to and combine the WIP and Last Line tags here..... Thanks for the tags @anacdoce, @astarions-world, and @a-tangled-mermaid!
I should be working on my little fiction novel, but I can't find the energy at the moment.... so I decided to switch over to something a little more fun instead.... and I landed directly on this!!
I think I WILL be writing another long fanfiction that will be sequel to my first, after all! Enjoy this little tidbit from what looks to be shaping into a Chapter 1!
To read from the beginning of my FTav/Astarion story, go to AO3 link here:
Good Things Come ~ by Poetsiren 🪷
I would like to Tag others for WIP -or- Last Line, but can't even remember who has completed these recently! HA! So no pressure:
My mornings are for coffee and reflection. I have an extra thick and long (and expensive) yoga mat for those moments. That yogamat has been with me since 2015. it travelled with me to many places and has shared all my secrets. It felt my tears, heard my complaints, fed my dreams, and now I sit here, looking at my own designed The Recycled Pirate notebook, gift card and enamel coffee mug, and I realize... I'M LIVING MY DREAM! It doesn't always look or feel like it, but if I put my worries aside. Let my insecurities be. And embrace the person I have become, since I set out to buy this high quality yogamat to create a more high quality life... Then yes, I have to see that I'm living it, everything that I wanted to be! "Good things come to those who believe" What a freaking life! Have a blessed weekend. • #whyigram #blessedlife #goodthings #goodthingscome #believe #liveyourdream #liveyourpurpose #createyourfuture #youcandoit #intentionalliving #reallifestory #reallifemessage #socialmediastorytelling #instagramstories (at Curaçao) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVYG2mzrfir/?utm_medium=tumblr
