#long fic interview

[gortashsrighthand]

Art by @lucidpeech

Long Fic Interview

I was tagged by the wonderful @bladesingerlily (Please, check out her fic. She's amazing!)

Pactbound

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Octavia x Ascended Astarion, Octavia x Enver Gortash

Completion status: We're still in the beginning but have met an important milestone with the last chapter.

Plot summary: Octavia is a warlock pacted to Raphael and Raphael only accepts perfection and full control. While on a mission from Raphael to gather more information about Enver Gortash and his machinations in Baldur's Gate, she gets abducted on a nautiloid. With Raphael breathing down her neck, she reaches Baldur's Gate after finding out that Enver Gortash is behind the Absolute. But in Baldur's Gate she also has to face her own past and future choices while Raphael looms over her and isn't afraid to pull her leash.

Vibes: I'm leaning more into dark themes for this fic (please mind the tags). It's an exploration of the implications of being a warlock to someone like Raphael, about how that shapes you and the pitfalls. It's about control and trying to get away from it.

Short snippet from chapter one:

“Raphael, you summoned me.” She knelt before him, as he had taught her years ago. Disobedience was quickly punished, she had learned that much in the decade that she was in his service. A decade where she had felt her life slip away from her, like the world kept on spinning when she stood still. She had hoped that he would grow bored from her like a toy hat he played with. But she knew how false hope was and that she was stuck now. Sometimes she wished he had never intervened and he had let her die.

“Ofcourse my little mouse, I have a new mission for you.” There was always a new mission or a new target to make a deal with. Those were the worst because she knew what they signed up for even if they didn’t know. A life of misery. “And I shall serve you, Raphael.” She felt his finger lifting up her jaw with his claw pushing on her skin. It took everything in her to not recoil to his touch, to the sear of Avernus on her skin. “That’s why I like you Octavia, you’re always so very obedient. Not like the person you will be shadowing, my little mouse. See, I used to own him but he slipped from my grasp.” It couldn’t be, nobody could get free from him. In the back of her mind, a flicker of hope ignited. It was almost as if Raphael could hear her thoughts when he dug his claw in deeper. “Don’t start getting any ideas, I will always own you. You pledged your servitude to me for your whole sorry life and you will do just as was promised,” he said with a voice laced with danger. He pushed her face away, moving around her as she scrambled up from the floor. 

What other media Inspired you:

Diving more into D&D really inspired me for this, how people make up their bond with their patron really made me think about Raphael as a warlock patron. Because if Mizora is out there making little armies of warlocks, you can bet Raphael is doing the same thing.

I have a few books that have inspired me, I currently am reading Frankenstein and I do feel like it has affected my writing as well. Also Preacher's Daughter from Ethel Cain has been on repeat while writing this and House from Charli XCX and John Cale.

How did your understanding of the characters change while writing:

I rewrote chapter one and how I saw Octavia so many times. From making her far more cynical and harsher to the softer version that she is now. I do think there's a beauty in her still having hope that things will be better instead of having just a black and white view of the world. I infused more of myself into Octavia seeing some of myself in her as well, which is why she is so near and dear to me.

I also had a different idea about her dynamic with Gortash. I was going to lean into a different direction but his connection to House of Hope was too enticing to not put into Octavia's toxic men blender. And now it's one of the pillars of the fic.

What’s one thing you put in that was just shamelessly self-indulgent?

Chapter 9. The rage that Octavia feels, the emotions that she goes through.

What’s the structural choice you made on purpose that most shaped the story?

I don't really think that there's a structural choice that shapes it, it's straight forward third person POV. I wanted it to be personal but also distant. Like we can see what she can't see. Things where she is too wrapped into her own view on the situation and we can see is not the case. She makes decisions that don't make sense to us, we can see things coming from a while away.

Which theme emerged accidentally, and which one did you pursue deliberately?

There is something that will be introduced later that emerged by accident, while talking to people about Pactbound. But that one is not even touched on right now so I'll have to be vague about it.

Something I did deliberately is control. Control vs freedom, how hard it is to escape it and what it does to someone. Control as something that is in the relationships that Octavia has with the people in this fic. As a driver, as a manipulation tactic and a way to pull her in.

What was the biggest risk you took with this fic?

I don't think I took a really big risk with this one. Maybe to make Raphael evil to a point where it can't be defended? I really did take the notes in House of Hope and was like "let's run with it". And I know that Ascended Astarion can be a iffy thing.

If you were forced to rewrite the story from scratch, what would you do differently?

Implement dreams that serve as memories earlier, I feel that might show more of Octavia's inner workings? It's something that will start with chapter 10.

Gently tagging (because I'm lost at who already did one so sorry if you did!) @cinder-rellish181 @dynamicducks @fireflyeyes and @aerin67

[cinder-rellish181]

Long Fic Interview

Thank you @gortashsrighthand for the tag! (Her fic Pactbound is such a good read!! 10/10 recommend!!)

Stealing Moonlight

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Rhiannon x Ascended Astarion

Completion Status: The story is currently in it's second act, but we still have a ways to go until act three. (Currently on Chapter 18)

Plot Summary: Three years after saving Baldur's Gate, Rhiannon- a devout cleric of Selûne- has vanished without a trace. Her former companions have been searching desperately for answers, unaware that their former rogue Astarion Ancunín, now an Ascended Vampire, has claimed her for himself. Imprisoned in the Crimson Palace, Rhiannon faces a battle far more insidious than any she found during their adventures: a slow psychological unraveling as Astarion seeks to replace her goddess as the center of her devotion. In the shadows of his opulent cage, faith and desire become dangerously entwined.

Vibes: This is definitely a gothic romance meets psychological thriller type of fic. There's a lot of 'dark fairy tale energy' and 'sexy doom' that I cannot seem to escape from! I have actually fallen in love with the obsessive/possessive mmc and the reluctant fmc, I have a lot of books like this in my Kindle Library, so I have a LOT of references to use haha! Finally, I just really enjoy it when the "bad guy" kind of wins. If you'd like to read it, please mind the tags as some elements may be too much for some!!

Short snippet from chapter one:

"Three years. It had been three long years since she had last seen him. Since the fall of the Elder Brain and the bloody struggle that had forced her to leave. She had stood at his side when he usurped the Rite of Profane Ascension from Cazador. When he begged her- her, of all people- for help in its completion. And she’d done it. Against her faith, against the vows she had sworn, she had yielded to him because at the end of the day he was her closest friend and she couldn’t take the sun from him again. When the deed was done, when crimson light crowned him the master of his own fate, she could not bear to stay. She had left Baldur’s Gate behind- her city, her friends, her companions from the biggest quest of their lives. She even ignored Wither’s invitation to the reunion six months later, unable to face the people who had trusted her, unable to look upon him again. The guilt had hollowed her out. She had defiled her faith with her own hands, and Selûne’s light had grown distant within her. Leaving had felt like her only chance to mend what she had broken. Her only hope of regaining the Moonmaiden’s favor once again. And now here he was- Astarion, the Vampire Ascendant of Baldur’s Gate- standing in her temple like a specter from a life she had tried to bury. Suddenly, the glowing eyes in the shadows shifted- then surged forward. Before she could draw breath to cry out, he was upon her. The force of his movement drove her back until her spine struck the cold stone of Selûne’s statue. The candles she had previously lit toppled with the impact, their flames guttering out as molten wax spilled across the floor. Silver dishes clattered, prayers scrawled on parchment scattering like leaves in a storm. Offerings to her goddess tumbled in disarray, desecrated beneath the vampire’s intrusion. One pale hand clamped firmly around her chin, forcing her azure gaze upward into his crimson. His grip was unyielding, the strength in his fingers more than mortal, more than human. With his other arm he caged her in, palm flat against the stone just beside her head. The closeness, the sheer intensity of him, left her body locked in shock. Her chest rose and fell in short, shallow breaths. The amulet at her throat trembled with the motion. Every instinct screamed at her to move, to fight- but the weight of his presence, the piercing anger in those crimson eyes, rooted her in place. Pinned between her goddess’s altar and the monster her old companion had become. She could only stare, wide-eyed and silent, as his cold, cruel smile cut across his face, partially shrouded by the shadows. “You should have never turned your back on me, little cleric.” " (Stealing Moonlight Chapter 1 by Cinder_Rellish181 on AO3)

What other media inspired you?

I had fallen in love with a fanfiction over the summer, but it got removed and the author ended up deleting their entire profile. I realized then that if I couldn't find the fics I wanted to read, I'd have to write them myself. That loss was honestly the catalyst- I wanted that specific flavor of dark romance, I just added my own psychologically complex and religious themes, and when it vanished, Stealing Moonlight was born! Beauty and The Beast was my favorite story and Disney Princess movie growing up. It was a big inspiration for the main bones of this story! I love a good dark fairy tale retelling. An author that I'm on their book release emailing list was also a big inspiration for this story. I love good dark romances and Nicole Fox with her Russian Bratva duets have always been able to scratch that itch for me!

How did your understanding of the characters change while writing?

I thought I understood Rhiannon when I started- devout cleric, strong faith, clear moral compass. But as I wrote her imprisonment and psychological unraveling, I realized she's far more complicated than that! Her faith isn't just devotion; it's also a shield, a way to avoid confronting harder truths about herself. The more I wrote, the more I discovered she was capable of rationalizing her own surrender, of finding theological loopholes for blasphemy. She'd not just a victim of Astarion's manipulation- she's an active participant in her own corruption, which makes everything so much darker!

Ascended Astarion on the other hand is a tough balance- he still needs to feel like the character from the game while also being fundamentally changed by power. What surprised me was discovering how patient he could be. I initially thought he'd be more overtly cruel, but the methodical psychological warfare, the way he frames everything as a gift or a negotiation- that emerged natural as a I wrote. He's not just breaking the FMC; he's rebuilding her worldview! And that's so much more insidious than simple violence.

What's one thing you put in that was just shamelessly self-indulgent?

When I started writing this fic, I was reading "Forgive Me Father" by Katerina St Clair. So definitely the religious corruption angle. I could have written a dark romance without the blasphemy elements, but twisting prayer into something profane, having Astarion position himself as a deity she should worship? That's purely because it does something for me. I'm living my best heretical life and nobody can stop me!

What's the structural choice you made on purpose that most shaped the story? Staying almost entirely in Rhiannon's POV within the palace walls. After the kidnapping in Chapter 1, the story becomes intensely claustrophobic- we're trapped in her perspective, in these rooms, with only Astarion and the occasional spawn for company. We experience her psychological unraveling in real -time, from inside her own head as she rationalized, negotiates, and slowly surrenders.

That limited perspective shaped everything, I think. We don't get a lot of Astarion's internal justifications at first- he remains somewhat unknowable, which makes him more effective as both a captor and a romantic interest. We don't cut away to see what the companions are doing (except chapter 17). The palace becomes the entire world. Every interaction carries weight because there is nowhere else to go, no one else to talk to, nothing for her to focus on except his voice, his touch, and his version of reality as it slowly starts to replace hers.

The isolation IS the story. Her breaking point isn't dramatic action- it's slow erosion that happens with someone is your only source of touch, conversation, and stimulation. The cage isn't just physical; it's the entire narritave!

Which theme emerged accidentally, and which one did you pursue deliberately?

Honestly? It was the religious corruption that came forth unexpectedly for me. It caught me by surprise. I knew that Rhiannon was a cleric, I knew there'd be conflict between her faith and her imprisonment, but the way it evolved into full blasphemy- Astarion positioning himself as a replacement deity, the desecrated chapel with their initials carved into the altar, turning prayer itself into something profane and dirty- that emerged organically as I wrote their dynamic. Once I realized he wasn't just imprisoning her body but trying to replace Selûne as the center of her worship, it opened up this while psychological layer I hadn't initially planned! The theme became so central that it's hard to imagine the story without it now, but it genuinely was NOT the original concept! The Cazador parallels were intentional from the beginning. I wanted to explore what happens when someone who's suffered horrific captivity gains absolute power- does freedom create healing, or does it create new monsters? Astarion swore no one would ever chain him again, but he's built and entire palace of chains with himself as the master. The kennels scene, the spawn servants, the gilded cage he's created for Rhiannon- all of it mirrors what Cazador did to him. He's not Cazador's victim anymore; he's become his prodigy, just with better aesthetics and different rationalizations. That cycle of abuse, that question of whether he can break free from what was done to him or if he's doomed to recreate it- that was always the story I wanted to tell.

What was the biggest risk you took for this fic?

Making Ascended Astarion a literal kidnapper with no redemption arc. The BG3 fandom is already divided on the ascension route, and I knew writing him as someone who imprisons and psychologically tortures Rhiannon would be polarizing. There's no 'he learns his lesson and becomes good' here- he's genuinely controlling, manipulative, and dangerous. I risked alienating readers who wanted a softer take on Ascended Astarion or who needed him to be redeemable. But I committed to the darkness because anything less would have felt dishonest to the premise,

If you were forced to rewrite the story from scratch, what would you do differently?

I'd definitely tighten the pacing in the early chapters. I spend an entire DAY in three chapters. Some of the negotiation and daily routines feel repetitive now when I look back at them. I'd also weave in the companions more consistently from the start. I think bringing the, in early in act 2 was definitely a choice, and one I wouldn't make if I had to write this fic again. Lastly, I think I'd plant more seeds earlier for later revelations. The chapel, the wards, certain character details- some of these feel like they appear when needed rather than being carefully foreshadowed. But writing is ultimately a learning experience and you don't learn if you never start!

Oh this was so fun to do! I think I am very late to this gravy train, so if I've tagged you and you already did this, I'm sorry!!

@dynamicducks @toomanyfamiliars @akelan and @eraserspiral

[fireflyeyes]

Long Fic Interview

I am very flattered to be tagged in this (ty bby @gortashsrighthand) State of Grace Rating: Explicit Pairing: Gale Dekarios x Original Female Character (Jessica) Completion Status: 8 out of 14 chapters in and a sequel roughly outlined Summary:

When a Dimension Door spell goes catastrophically wrong, Gale Dekarios—Archmage, hero of Baldur's Gate, and former Chosen of Mystra—finds himself unceremoniously dumped onto the living room floor of a Rhode Island artist who not only knows exactly who he is, but has romanced him four times in a video game. This wasn't the life a goddess planned for him, but as Gale struggles with Earth's archaic appliances and Jessica's infuriating charm, he starts to realize he might finally be choosing himself. A tale of portals, domesticity, interdimensional romance, and choosing love over destiny. Featuring: one extremely smug wizard, one impulsive Aries, a very concerned party of adventurers, and proof that sometimes fanfiction becomes reality in the best possible way.

Vibes: Think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" meets "Stardust" and a dash of "Enchanted" on the side.

Short Snippet from Chapter One:

Gale was listening with the intense focus she recognized from the game, the way he'd lock onto information and process it with that sharp intellect. It was distinctly unfair that he was even more compelling in person. "And you," he said carefully, "have experienced my story through this 'game.' Which means you know," He paused, something vulnerable flickering across his face. "You know about the orb. About Mystra. About my...less than stellar decisions." "I know you're a good man who made mistakes and did everything you could to fix them," Jessica said firmly. "I know you saved the world. I know you're brilliant and kind and funny, even if no one appreciates your humor properly. I know—" She cut herself off, because she'd been about to say I know I've been a little bit in love with you for months and that seemed like Too Much Information for the current situation. "You know I'm funny?" He looked absurdly pleased by this. "My humor is vastly underappreciated. Even Tara rolls her eyes at my best material." "Tara has no taste. Your jokes are great." "They are, aren't they?" The smile he gave her was warm and genuine, and Jessica felt her heart do something complicated in her chest. "Though I'm curious what else you know. If I'm a character in your game, you must have, what, observed me? Interacted with some version of me?" Oh no.

What other media inspired you: Honestly just all of those classic late 90's/early 2000's romantic comedies. I grew up watching Pretty Woman, When Harry Met Sally, and Kate and Leopold so I really wanted to pull those cozy vibes into my own fic. Like if you read this and closed your eyes you could see it play out like a movie. How did your understanding of the characters change while writing: Jessica still remains exactly the same. I have infused her with my soul and she continues to be perfectly imperfect and a mess at all times. Gale has challenged me. When I first started writing for him I thought I had a clear idea in my head of post game Gale being cocky, confident, and fully healed from his past. A suave romantic leading man to sweep Jessica off her feet and let her live out the Gale Romance she's played through four times. But healing isn't linear and Gale's less than stellar qualities of self sacrifice and sabotage are coming back out to play. I'm really enjoying mixing the confident Gale with the man who is still not sure he's worthy of good things. He's giving the story some depth by being difficult. What’s one thing you put in that was just shamelessly self-indulgent? To be honest the entire fic is self indulgent. But if I had to pick something that was really just inserted for my own personal enjoyment that didn't need to be in the fic I would say the entirety of chapter eight. It was a late addition to the outline and I never intended to have that as a plot point but it felt fun and so with some gentle encouragement I added it.

What’s the structural choice you made on purpose that most shaped the story? When I started sharing the fic I went back and switched a few chapters to Gale's POV/added his POV to the mix because it felt important to really give Gale a voice in his own story. It has since changed the tone of some pivotal moments for the better.

Which theme emerged accidentally, and which one did you pursue deliberately? There is no accidental theme (I don't think) but choice/being chosen has been a very heavy handed and deliberate theme.

What was the biggest risk you took with this fic? Chapter nine (which is underway) is arguably the biggest risk since it is a massive tone shift. If you were forced to rewrite the story from scratch, what would you do differently? I think I wouldn't do the 2 month time jump pattern I established early. I think writing the full 12+ months would have been fun. I honestly just want to write more Jessica & Gale because they make me stupidly happy. Very gentle tags (I am hella late to this game) to @asorceresswrites, @toomanyfamiliars and anyone else who wants to do it.