(...) while everything I have seen of Ascendent Astarion is just majorly anxiety inducing for me.
One might ask, is it something specific that is troubling or his behavior in general?
Originally Posted by Marielle
I realize that after this "Astarion = Spawn" story, I've become more paranoid about the game world, with a "safety first", "enemies everywhere", "strength comes first, otherwise you can't protect yourself and (much more importantly) the person you care about" attitude. That's why I'm now trying to "stuff power" into my companion friends as well. I'll have to rethink that.
The feeling you described is what is troubling me about Ascended Astarion, I find this mindset highly stressful (for him, for anyone who has it). It's this fearful vampire-mindset that sees danger everywhere and needs all the power and control to deal with it, that is also reflected in Velioth's scroll and in much of what Astarion says about Cazador in the begining. In the romance too. Ascended-Astarion makes his LI his spawn, something he has control over. He talks about making the LI a full vampire but - as far as I know - he never goes through with it. I don't think you can be happy with such a mindset or feel free with it - but that is a personal opinion. I don't think Spawn-Astarion needs the player character to protect him either, he is capable enough. And while the dock scene is horrible, he seems to be doing well for himself afterwards even when not in romance, so that shows he doesn't need a protective partner either.
Originally Posted by Marielle
I had that dryad scene in my game, and I honestly didn't like it. (...) He's being discussed, he's being "moralized", and now I see this scene as an example of disrespectful, not tactful, and not cherishing a loved one.
Both he and the Dryad are happy if you pick the answers that fit the image he is trying to show to the world, bloodthirsty and a bit vain. Everyone knows you treat it as a harmless bit of fun in this case, so this also shows that you know him well and that your bond is strong. (And in some cases you can even feel sneaky for having fed false information to Orin.)
