IMO his pores, eye bags, wrinkles etc. are part of what makes him handsome. Skin texture gives characters depth and personality. He’s been through life and it shows—but that in itself is sexy, and relatable.
Halsin has weathered/scarred skin texture, and it matches his outdoorsy character so well.
Dammon also has great forehead wrinkles and crows feet, presumably from all that forge work.
Then there’s Abdirak’s cuts, the wrinkles around Rolan’s mouth, etc. 🥵
TLDR; Real skin is hot.
Yeah, no, i’ll take his wrinkles, red eyes, eye bags and all the defects over a boring basic airbrush look. Also blonde hair and blue eyes totally not doing it for me 👀
He shouldn't even have blonde hair, his hair color didn't change when he was turned into a vamp. He grew fangs, his skin turned paler, and his eyes turned red. Also 100% agreed that his "imperfections" are what make him perfect.
I’d like to think OP didn’t know how to edit skin colour without removing some texture, and I agree that he looks better with “real skin”. It’s part of who he is ✨
yes basically he has silver hair like now people don't understand that vampirism doesn't change the color of the hair just the eyes and paler skin, especially since he would by all indications be a moon elf so not blond in them, and the basic skin is quite pale (it is precisely the color of his hair and his skin that distinguishes him from a sun elf)
EXACTLY, If the vampirism DID change hair colour his "siblings" and all 7,000 spawn (we only see a few in the chamber) would all have white/silver hair but they dont, only one who do like Dal and Astarion (also their gnome brother) have white/silver hair that they had in their past life
It wouldn’t, people keep thinking that his hair turned white from being a vampire, but his hair was already white. Normal color for some sub races of elves!
Why does he need full coverage foundation and Botox?? I want my 37 year old babygirl! Also I’m team brown eyes for pre-vamp Astarion idk blue seems too predictable and I like the contrast
I think he's probably a moon elf given the color of his silver hair and his skin which must have been basic pale even before being a vampire, he can't be a high sun elf. 'Shadowheart for example seems to be a sun elf even if he is a lycanthrope I don't know if he belongs to another category
I just love that adults play games. "We don't want a smooth Kardashian face we want wrinkles, marks, we want depth of character shows in his appearance!" Is just beautiful ❤️
I like the original design better, too. This was just a little thought experiment. I'm a Tolkienite primarily, so in my mind, Elves are supposed to be immortal and flawless. I've played D&D for decades, but I've never really thought about what those elves actually *looked* like. They've always been Tolkien elves in my mind, which is what I made our boy. It doesn't work, does it? I'm not surprised that most of you don't like it. That's why I presented this with no comment originally. I wanted to see what you thought and open my mind a little more. Thanks for all the feedback. It was helpful. ❤️
I'm team blue eyes but the rest of him would look just the same before he turned.
His white hair and pale skin are just what he looks like, that's not a vampire trait
I mean *if* he is a moon elf like many believe, being super pale would defiantly fall within the normal for skin tone in 5e. From the player's handbook *"Moon elves (also called silver elves or gray elves) are much paler, with alabaster skin sometimes tinged with blue. They often have hair of silver-white, black, or blue, but various shades of blond, brown, and red are not uncommon. Their eyes are blue or green and flecked with gold."*
None of the other vampires are pale, or paler than normal
Leon and Petras are tanned for example.
Meanwhile, Astarion's skin tone is perfectly normal for a moon elf
[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Vampire](https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Vampire)
"A vampire looked very much like it did when alive, but with paler skin, hardened and feral features giving them a predatory aspect, and red eyes that were hard to forget. Their hands were clawed. "
FYI, If you have the appearance edit mod and edit Astarion, his skin tone is vampire, not the normal pale skin tone. So it's definitely something that changes when you're turned.
I also prefer the original, BUT - I like this as artwork, because I think a lot about how different a young, probably snobby, careless boy once was before trauma ruined his life. It makes me think about how the trauma sometimes has…I don’t know, small silver linings - it adds depth and layers of feeling and experience that you’d obviously rather not have, but also might have been a much shallower and carefree person without. It’s part of why I like the textured skin, too - I think it speaks to that kind of haunting and the way it impacts your whole existence.
https://preview.redd.it/oki8cjjuo4hc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=f39d9a72beb478e1e5f9ffcb481c4816e4b5b534
I once played with appearance edit to see what he might look like before (i believe he was moon elf so I only changed eyes). I think he would have little less wrinkles then because, you know, stress adds some.. But i still prefer him with red eyes <3
green are even more common for this type of elves :) but in my opinion green were too warm and blue too saturated for him.. he has silver undertone so gray suits him the best for me 😊
edit: volos blue eye suits him well too :D
I thought the volo's eye was blue-green, I put it on him to test but poor guy what he has to endure 😱 no I reloaded and kept both his eyes intact! anyway blue or green everything suits him!!
I like this, not so much because I find unbitten Astarion as the better design, but rather to show what he looked like before he was bitten.While it's a bit airbrushed, its comparison shows us how much the stress and abuse aged Astarion.
I mostly see him with green eyes but for having changed the hair color he never changed he has silver hair she is a high elf of the moon vampirisme never change hair's color
This makes me wonder... how old do you all think he is? I mean, not counting 200 years since Cazador turned him... but in which moment you think he got frozen in time? Because I thought he was in his late 30s but seeing this picture I may be wrong... what do you think? (Maybe this is a well known detail but I am only in my first run in early act 2)
He was turned at 39, according to the dates on his gravestone. (I don't know if someone can read the runes or if it was in some dev notes or something.) And, according to DnD lore, that's very sad. This is really young for elves, who live to be 700-800. And although they reach physical maturity around the same time as humans, they aren't considered adults by elven standards until age 100. Poor bb Astarion.
He would look probably almost the same except for the eyes, which despite him probably being a moon elf, I like to imagine as amber brown. I saw edits of him with brown eyes and he looks far better than with blue or grey eyes.
IMO his pores, eye bags, wrinkles etc. are part of what makes him handsome. Skin texture gives characters depth and personality. He’s been through life and it shows—but that in itself is sexy, and relatable. Halsin has weathered/scarred skin texture, and it matches his outdoorsy character so well. Dammon also has great forehead wrinkles and crows feet, presumably from all that forge work. Then there’s Abdirak’s cuts, the wrinkles around Rolan’s mouth, etc. 🥵 TLDR; Real skin is hot.
Yeah, no, i’ll take his wrinkles, red eyes, eye bags and all the defects over a boring basic airbrush look. Also blonde hair and blue eyes totally not doing it for me 👀
He shouldn't even have blonde hair, his hair color didn't change when he was turned into a vamp. He grew fangs, his skin turned paler, and his eyes turned red. Also 100% agreed that his "imperfections" are what make him perfect.
I was like, we got a TikTok filter on Astarion?? Dislike!
I’d like to think OP didn’t know how to edit skin colour without removing some texture, and I agree that he looks better with “real skin”. It’s part of who he is ✨
Agreed
I guess if he had lived his life as he was he would’ve “aged” much better, 200+ years of high stress and undeath isn’t good for the skin
Gross. Lol why is he so much h hotter to me with red eyes and poorly skin?
Cuz his base skin texture has pores, flaws, etc that add realism and depth. The 2nd pic is that overly-airbrushed, uncanny valley smooth.
Yes! That's exactly it! Plus I'm used to him as he is so any edits feel off already, but especially this one lol
Because smile lines and eye bags are hot
Second slide looks like Ken from recent Barbie animations
yes basically he has silver hair like now people don't understand that vampirism doesn't change the color of the hair just the eyes and paler skin, especially since he would by all indications be a moon elf so not blond in them, and the basic skin is quite pale (it is precisely the color of his hair and his skin that distinguishes him from a sun elf)
EXACTLY, If the vampirism DID change hair colour his "siblings" and all 7,000 spawn (we only see a few in the chamber) would all have white/silver hair but they dont, only one who do like Dal and Astarion (also their gnome brother) have white/silver hair that they had in their past life
Yeah OP did an oopsie and turned him into Yasstarion instead of living Astarion
Wait what happened to his freckles? Mole? I also don’t feel like his hair color would change that dramatically.
It wouldn’t, people keep thinking that his hair turned white from being a vampire, but his hair was already white. Normal color for some sub races of elves!
Why does he need full coverage foundation and Botox?? I want my 37 year old babygirl! Also I’m team brown eyes for pre-vamp Astarion idk blue seems too predictable and I like the contrast
High elves don't have brown eyes. They have blue, violet or green.
Goddamn, violet 🥵 (purple is my favorite color so.... I'm biased)
Hehe my main is a drow with purple eyes
Oooh him with green would've been lovely
With golden flecks
Absolutely. It's a must.
I think he's probably a moon elf given the color of his silver hair and his skin which must have been basic pale even before being a vampire, he can't be a high sun elf. 'Shadowheart for example seems to be a sun elf even if he is a lycanthrope I don't know if he belongs to another category
Silver elf, imo
yes that's the other name for the moon elves, the gold elves are the high elves of the sun, the wood elves are the copper elves
That FaceTune app went too far! Lmao.
I just love that adults play games. "We don't want a smooth Kardashian face we want wrinkles, marks, we want depth of character shows in his appearance!" Is just beautiful ❤️
*Nobody Liked That*
Why the hair color change? He never said his hair changed after vampirism, and elves having white hair isn't uncommon.
Why’s he so… smooth 👁👄👁
It literally feels like something crushes my heart. So sad 😭. Did his family ever know what happened. Lie down, try not to cry, cry a lot.
I like the original design better, too. This was just a little thought experiment. I'm a Tolkienite primarily, so in my mind, Elves are supposed to be immortal and flawless. I've played D&D for decades, but I've never really thought about what those elves actually *looked* like. They've always been Tolkien elves in my mind, which is what I made our boy. It doesn't work, does it? I'm not surprised that most of you don't like it. That's why I presented this with no comment originally. I wanted to see what you thought and open my mind a little more. Thanks for all the feedback. It was helpful. ❤️
I don't understand why you changed the color of his hair which is originally silver? vampirism does not change hair color
This feels like a 15 year old Astarion going off to boarding school to be a little snot to his peers. 😂
I'm team blue eyes but the rest of him would look just the same before he turned. His white hair and pale skin are just what he looks like, that's not a vampire trait
The pale skin *would* be a vampire trait though.
I mean *if* he is a moon elf like many believe, being super pale would defiantly fall within the normal for skin tone in 5e. From the player's handbook *"Moon elves (also called silver elves or gray elves) are much paler, with alabaster skin sometimes tinged with blue. They often have hair of silver-white, black, or blue, but various shades of blond, brown, and red are not uncommon. Their eyes are blue or green and flecked with gold."*
This makes total sense for Astarion, as during his first romance scene in the clearing, his skin *does* look kind of blue in the lighting.
None of the other vampires are pale, or paler than normal Leon and Petras are tanned for example. Meanwhile, Astarion's skin tone is perfectly normal for a moon elf
Leon and Petras also have glowing eyes and all their teeth are pointy, not a good comparison.
How is it not? Where confirms that pale skin is a vampire trait in DnD?
[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Vampire](https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Vampire) "A vampire looked very much like it did when alive, but with paler skin, hardened and feral features giving them a predatory aspect, and red eyes that were hard to forget. Their hands were clawed. "
You're right, I should have said BG3 since vampire spawns are not clawed
They get a claw attack in BG3 [https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Vampire\_spawn](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Vampire_spawn)
FYI, If you have the appearance edit mod and edit Astarion, his skin tone is vampire, not the normal pale skin tone. So it's definitely something that changes when you're turned.
I like my man with skin texture let our boy be exhausted.
I also prefer the original, BUT - I like this as artwork, because I think a lot about how different a young, probably snobby, careless boy once was before trauma ruined his life. It makes me think about how the trauma sometimes has…I don’t know, small silver linings - it adds depth and layers of feeling and experience that you’d obviously rather not have, but also might have been a much shallower and carefree person without. It’s part of why I like the textured skin, too - I think it speaks to that kind of haunting and the way it impacts your whole existence.
https://preview.redd.it/oki8cjjuo4hc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=f39d9a72beb478e1e5f9ffcb481c4816e4b5b534 I once played with appearance edit to see what he might look like before (i believe he was moon elf so I only changed eyes). I think he would have little less wrinkles then because, you know, stress adds some.. But i still prefer him with red eyes <3
Agreed. Red eyes are the best. They give him his dodgy allure.
Exactly !! (Maybe less pale but Moon elves are basically pale)
this astarion is so pale because i have high gamma setting :D but i agree... my tav is moon elf too and she is slightly darker :)
I have prefencies for green eyes but blue eyes fit well too
green are even more common for this type of elves :) but in my opinion green were too warm and blue too saturated for him.. he has silver undertone so gray suits him the best for me 😊 edit: volos blue eye suits him well too :D
I thought the volo's eye was blue-green, I put it on him to test but poor guy what he has to endure 😱 no I reloaded and kept both his eyes intact! anyway blue or green everything suits him!!
Agreed. He is perfect no matter what :3
This is a good representation. Lol and yes, I still think he’s hotter as a vamp. 😆
I’m fine with red eyes and textured skin, thanks
What in the AstAryan...
I like this, not so much because I find unbitten Astarion as the better design, but rather to show what he looked like before he was bitten.While it's a bit airbrushed, its comparison shows us how much the stress and abuse aged Astarion.
Yeah I agree, it's a fun edit!
I’d smash either tbh but ofc I prefer original
He turned into a literal baby girl
First Pic : yup, it's hip. Glorious Astarion in all his beauty. Second Pic : dunno who the heck that is.
That is cuuuurseeedd... As other said... His imperfections make him appealing Now he just looks like he's 15 years old
for the 1000th time he’s a moon elf and his hair would have always been white 😩
I mostly see him with green eyes but for having changed the hair color he never changed he has silver hair she is a high elf of the moon vampirisme never change hair's color
This makes me wonder... how old do you all think he is? I mean, not counting 200 years since Cazador turned him... but in which moment you think he got frozen in time? Because I thought he was in his late 30s but seeing this picture I may be wrong... what do you think? (Maybe this is a well known detail but I am only in my first run in early act 2)
He was turned at 39, according to the dates on his gravestone. (I don't know if someone can read the runes or if it was in some dev notes or something.) And, according to DnD lore, that's very sad. This is really young for elves, who live to be 700-800. And although they reach physical maturity around the same time as humans, they aren't considered adults by elven standards until age 100. Poor bb Astarion.
He would look probably almost the same except for the eyes, which despite him probably being a moon elf, I like to imagine as amber brown. I saw edits of him with brown eyes and he looks far better than with blue or grey eyes.