[quote=Xarico]
Yeah Astarion is unapolagetically chaotic and power-hungry which is understandable.
It's funny because the only thing I get from Astarion is that he wants to be free. He doesn't want power for the sake of it, he wants power to stay free from Cazador. Astarion didn't want to be a vampire, he just wanted to live, but that didn't work out because he was enslaved.
I honestly don't think Astarion is chaotic. He spent 200 years essentially being grounded without having any fun, being used as an object and his personhood completely ignored. The reason why he comes accross as chaotic is because he positively revels in the freedom that the tadpole provides. That's why he wants to keep the tadpole, he thinks it's the guarantor of his freedom.
Now I'm willing to agree that he falls a little bit on the evil side of things, but all things considered, Astarion's story is ripe for a redemption arc. I mean the man just escaped a living hell by going through another hell (literally). I think he really just wants out of all this chaos and oppression and tries to stay on top of all this mess.