good thing I havw a flexible and open mind.
Let's start from the way our brave but not omnipotent MC met Astrid; by rescuing her from the morgue when her nihilistic nature caused her to fall into torpor... but wait... that's the kind of vampires
Arigon likes, but I guess since she didn't turn out to be a genderbending tzimishe, he lost any interest in her, I'm not judging... back on topic at the start Astrid is just a "damsel in distress" with some beef to pick with Sharon. (let's put a pin here so we can talk about it at a later point) Others may not like that type but I'm a sucker for such gal.
From the first meeting she was interested in MC to the point of stalking him, resulting in MC having to thrall Laurie, and our merry bunch of nightwalkers was forced to investigate the situation in scottstown. Meanwhile Astrid acted, and we don't know the extent of arcon Baldie's involvement, with the promise that she could've kept the MC for herself. Maybe she just wanted to irritate Sharon, maybe she wanted to drink the MC dry (although that would imply she knew she could benefit from doing so and MC wouldn't just be a vamp flavored jiuce), perhaps she wanted to entrall him by making him drink her blood, or perhaps, and this is the angle I like the most, Astrid wanted someone to share the unlife with after Sharon's betrayal.
If we compare what Astrid did to Gregor and what Sharon did to Ivy, niether is morally good, but Astrid doesn't pretend to be something she's not ("she's just as ugly as us, but on the inside" said Marric about Sharon) nor denies herself pleasures (Sharon commented when MC's pecker didn't work that he wasn't the one being denied sex).
Astrid was also honest about her actions, both at the investiture and in the car, and she allowed herself to be captured, knowing well that it could spell her final death, yet she took her chances just to get into MC's head and present him an alternative to being Sharon's lap dog. and in the cage we have a variable that could be the start of her path. We also have the broken minded Gregor caling Sharon her disappoinment and telling MC that she (Astrid) would welcome him with open arms.
Now, let's remove the pin from the situation with Astrid and Sharon and how entangled those two are. You're aware Ptolemy pulls his weight in the development of Rebirth, so allow me to remind you of another game he does... Arigon llikes to bring it's rich in lore source material,and I'll just focus on one aspect of that game... In Alexandra, Alex and Izzy are close and the game almost punishes you for not having a trouple relationship with Alex and Izzy, the player is also free to kill one, but that results in MC being killed. From that I deduct there will be hell to pay for giving Astrid to Calisto and that dagger might cost us more than a bloody penny,and that's a price I'm not willing to pay.
Finally, even if we may have sex with Calisto, that's never gonna be more than keeping her busy while Cindy or someone wlse fethches her a drink. So that leaves us a spot on the "five love intests list" that Astrid would gladly take.
Ah
FunFuntomes,
Ayhsel Long Long ago called dibs on Astrid.
I think you will have a difficult to impossible task of plucking her from his grasp!
Astrid is a bit of a caricature of a depraved monster without a moral compass. She is a plot device. She is not, for a fact, a love interest. Not a potential love interest, not a footnoted love interest, nothing but a pretty face on an ugly monster. And she is a juice pack to insert a straw into and drain. Now if you want to fuck her first, by all means do so. Mirri is more of a love interest than Astrid is, and Mirri is forgettable and not an issue after her one late night rape by the MC.
The potential to have Astrid returned after giving her to Calisto depends on if you succumbed to her temptation while in the cage. If so, Mommy will return her to you on the condition you destroy her. This won't be negotiable, as what you did would be considered a crime, and while Calisto can protect herself, and you from the results, it would require more of an intervention than she wants to make.
So IF we get her back, you might get a chance to rape her, but then you must kill her, the question being do you do it by staking her out for the sun? Clawing her? Or draining her soul's blood?
Morality is not so much of an argument in this game. You are a monster. All of the NPCs are monsters, except for the Hunters who seek to kill the monsters. Certainly using domination comes with a price, in terms of your embracing your inner beast, or resisting and clinging to your humanity. Sharon hunts exclusively using her gift of domination, which allows her to feed, but not kill her food creature. She does remove their choice in the matter. So she is a walking hypocrisy. Astrid is more forthright in her rejection of humanity, but she is something that Sharon is not. Untrustworthy. Sharon will not betray you. Astrid would in a heartbeat.
That said, it is not a difficult choice for me to rationalize that not only must Astrid die for what she did to Sharon, and did to Laurie, and would do to you, but she must die so that Mommy's secret and yours stays safe.
Our love interests ARE-
Calisto- which will never be a love affair of equals, but she will grow to cherish you in the only way she can.
Sharon- which will never be a love affair of equals, though her complete loyalty to you will make up a lot of ground.
Laurie- which while it will never be a love affair of equals, has an equality none the less, based on your history together.
Ivy- which will never be a love affair of equals, and will amount to constantly raping her, more or less.
Carmen- which will come the closest to being a love affair of equals that you will get, as she becomes your childe.
Play toys-
Mirri
Astrid if you acted accordingly and she is returned or you never turned her over.
Wishful thinking for Zephir and Malia
Sophie, your potential blood doll
Possibly unrevealed characters
Exclusive love binding contracts by player-
Ayhsel - Astrid for a tortured extended death, but lots of things that we do not want to watch in his snuff related show!
Ayhsel - if he was able to surrender to Cave Girl he would have, but I think even he has to give up on Inanna and Ereshkigal
Avaron1974 - Nos Girly in the Nos underground in the city, and if she gets necromantic powers, the feral nos
Arigon - Zephir
FunFuntomes - Astrid, but sadly both are killed when he refuses to let her die as she is supposed to.....
Never happening to anyone
Inanna, Ereshkigal, Eloise, Zephir-Except for
Arigon
Peace