Sami

Moonlit dance by the fire~

YESSS ASTARION REALIZING PEOPLE WANT HIM FOR HIS PERSONALITY AND NOT HIS UTILITY

Astarion's humor (with tav)

i absolutely do think this is something he adores about his dynamic with tav

i see Astarion's humor as something he developed to keep himself afloat, so many of his one-liners slip out without him realizing. he's got a natural wit

so when tav starts laughing at his jokes and noticing them, he notices

initially, it's another way to manipulate you. it's an easy plus for him. you like his humor, so swaying you to his cause will be easier

since he's so used to people using him, i don't think he makes the connection between you liking his humor to you liking *him*

he's grown accustomed to being used. he expects people to consider him a form of entertainment or an instrument of amusement, not a person.

i can imagine that with Cazador, his humor was either exploited or punished. more often punished, i predict, since Astarion most likely developed his sense of humor as a way of claiming some semblance of personhood back from Cazador.

i think Astarion's humor is closely tied to his self-image. and since he expects people to see him as scarce more than a pretty face, i think he imagines his humor to be a similar tool.

just as he values his appearance, he values his humor. they're both assets that he has that he can use as tools.

as your relationship progresses, Astarion relishes in your amusement. not because of manipulation. because it's an indicator that you like some part of him.

his humor is (arguably, to me) one of the more genuine parts of him. he doesn't fake it. so when it charms you, he appreciates that.

he tries to make you laugh. if you do laugh, he feels accomplished. if you don't, he's frustrated, but does take note of how to improve his tactics.

if you start trying to make *him* laugh? he does find it cute, in a way. or annoying. depending on his mood and how close the two of you are.

if he thinks you're funny, your laughter means all the more to him.

speaking of that, i think Astarion's sense of humor borders Shakespearean. wit, insult, detail, and drama. if your humor mirrors this, he treasures having a companion who can keep up with him

he also dies find humor in the misfortune of others. if you steal something from someone, beat someone up, humiliate someone... these will sometimes lead to his giggle

[AN: did you know that Neil Newbon based Astarion's giggle off of Tom Hulce's role of a young Mozart in Amadeus?? fun stuff. Neil is amazing. I can't find the interview i'm thinking of for the life of me, but he said that he wanted Astarion's laugh to mimic a satirical "high class" laugh. this ties in to the ideas about Astarion's humor being part of his image.]

Astarion's ideas of power, influence, and authority absolutely tie in to his humor. finding amusement in suffering places him -- at least, in his mind -- above those who are suffering. it's a separation of roles.

insult is his favorite form of comedy, i think. it goes back to his preference of elevating himself above others. insulting and demeaning other people is a way to do that.

he looooves to gossip. go to his tent, spread a rumor about a campmate, and find a clever way to insult them -- this makes him enjoy your company more. or insult the enemies your fighting. but insulting campmates is more messy, and therefore more fun (to Astarion). just don't believe he'll keep what you said to himself unless you're quite close with each other.

talking shit about people is among his favorite forms of comedy. i'll have to find some voice lines later but... that's what i gather from him.

bonding with Astarion through comedy does often mean putting others down together. but he is rather good at it -- he's hilarious

someone piss you off while you were away from home? he's sat. a friend said something idiotic? the drinks are poured. saw someone in a horrific outfit? he's snuggled in his blankie with a shit eating grin.

if your tav is generally a nice person, he *adores* being the person who brings out your petty side. he likes having something that draws you in.

unfortunately, it takes him a pretty long time to realize that you like his humor because you like *him.* if you told him this, he'd probably give you some attitude about not thinking he's actually funny and be annoyed that you lied about his ability to make you laugh (like when he gets annoyed about some of the comments you make during the mirror conversation... if you say his hair curls around his ears, he says he doesn't need poetry or something)

but it starts to make sense after a while. it's similar to how he likes the way you laugh, or the way you look at him. it's something distinctive. something that makes you the way you are. and he realizes that his humor, something he reclaimed and worked to make his own, is something you see as making him himself. and you love him. gods, is he grateful.

But on that same train of thought: Rolan helping Team Tadpole to kill Lorroakan also probably wouldn't get swept under the rug quite so easily. Like that would absolutely have a court case and an investigation into what happened. Though I do think it would be a short one since Dame Aylin - a literal demigod and daughter of Selûne - probably would have a lot of weight given to her word on what happened. It is also fairly straightforward there: Lorroakan tried to enslave an immortal demigod, became violently lethal when she didn't let him, and Rolan with Team Tadpole defended her.

Now the party Cazador hosts the day of the Black Mass where he slaughters all his guests - that would end up an absolute nightmare. There's layers there. There'd be an investigation into the murder of the guests and then they'd probably keep discovering all sorts of new and horrible things that Cazador had done. Probably would eventually discover what all of the Szarr family had been doing for centuries. And of course in my little modern headcanons I've been thinking that Cazador hid Astarion's death (thus his transformation into a vampire) and forced him to essentially be an in-house lawyer for the Szarr family. So he would fully have to deal with the fall out to that for however many years that ends up taking. Probably end up having to speak on all the horrors done to him in the 200 years he'd been enslaved by Cazador. And I know Astarion would 100% have all sorts of receipts to keep as much of the blame on Cazador as he can. I also have a feeling that if he gets asked 'but why did you go through with x, y, z?' he'd probably say something to the effect of "He spoke, my body moved. I literally could not disobey him." Ultimately I do think Astarion would be found to have done most of what he gets directly accused of but unable to be found guilty due to the influence of controlling magic. Then there's the fallout of being exposed publicly as a vampire, not to mention the fallout with other vampires as he probably reveals how he's moved through society while keeping his undeath a secret up until now, and it's just ripe for interesting musings.

One of the ways he'd been rediscovering himself since acquiring a more sophisticated lifestyle was through curating and perfecting his seven-step skincare routine.

At some point, Lia decided to ask why he couldn't just use spells to clean, moisturize, protect and heal his skin. She argued that this routine was meaningless; why be a wizard if he was just going to use his own fingers to scrub?

But she came to immediately regret saying this, and noted to herself to never, ever ask Rolan a "why" question. For one of his other newly acquired posh hobbies was reading philosophy; specifically philosophy on the meaning of life.

So now I have a new headcanon that Rolan's parents were both humans. When he was born, they were horrified, and neither parent knew who had the dormant heritage.

Two things can happen, here: 1) His parents try to raise him. They shame him about being a tiefling, likely going on about how "uncivilized" and "dirty" and awful tieflings are (and can relate to the headcanon that he tries to hide his ears with his hairstyle). Eventually they tire of trying to live with their "abomination" and abandon him somewhere; a market, a library, or even at home. They may or may not leave a note, but he needs none. He is old enough to understand. 2) His parents immediately abandon him after birth- no note, no explanation. No love.

This has to be something he's absolutely insanely passionate about. Like, more than just a means of keeping him and his siblings safe and getting them a way out of their situation in Elturel. He learned how to alter existing spells on his own. Not only that, but he's made them more effective than the base spell. That's already no small feat on its own, but for him to be able to figure it out without a formal education is absolutely wild.

The man wont leave my mind so here are some thoughts:

Surprisingly good with babies and children. 'Gods, Astarion that is not how you hold a baby. It's not a bomb I- oh just give them here.'

Has a lovely singing voice but a bit embarrassed about it- only sings when no one else is around or drunk.

Talented at piano, and if Tav is a bard (after some convincing) will play with them sometimes.

Very competitive about card and board games, but also a huge stickler for rules. He and Astarion argue a lot.

He's a very good cook but pedantic in the kitchen. No one else is allowed to help him unless it's Gale, and they get into a cooking flow state. If a child open mouth coughs or sneezes into a cake batter, he physically has to leave the room for a while. Takes feedback very seriously.

Cries when he's frustrated.

Never sleeps well. Nightmares, sleep paralysis, can never get comfortable.

Snores (look at that nose)

If dating Tav/companion, will initially be really intimidated by the others because they're the ones who saved the world, not him. But they all adore him. He's especially close with Wyll and Karlach. Karlach calls him 'Roly Poly'

Very judgmental of any romantic prospects for Cal or Lia.

Age is early to mid 30s.

Incredibly expressive tail. Once you're attuned with his moods and feelings, its very clear to read. You always know it he's upset, angry, needs comfort, wants sex etc

Works closely with Dammon to help with Karlach's engine.

Once he opens up and gets to know people, he can be pretty goofy and silly. Like Astarion, as he grows through the main story.

After the shadowlands, he has a very complex relationship with alcohol. Sometimes doesn't know when to stop, and instinctively reaches for it when he's upset/mad/insecure. He gets incredibly anxious when he's had a bit too much that he's said something or done something wrong. Big hangxiety man.

A japanese-american Beth Harmon would be pidgeonholed as another nerdy asian stock character. Baby Driver with a black lead would be accused of perpetuating stereotypes about black youth and crime. Phantom Of The Opera with a female Phantom would be accused of playing into the predatory lesbian stereotype. Romeo & Juliet with a gay couple would be accused of pulling the bury your gays trope – and no, you can’t just rewrite it into having a happy ending, the final tragedy of the tale is the rock onto which the entire central thesis statement of the play stands on. Remove that one element and you change the whole point of the story from a “look at what senseless hatred does to our youth” cautionary tale to a “love conquers all” inspiration piece, and it may not be the story the author wants to tell.

Sometimes, in order for a given story to function (and keep in mind, by function I don’t mean just logistically, but also thematically) it is necessary that your protagonist has specific personality traits that will play out in significant ways in the story. Or that they come from a specific background that will be an important element to the narrative. Or that they go through a particular experience that will consist on crucial plot point. All those narrative tools and building blocks are considered to be completely harmless and neutral when telling stories about straight/white people but, when applied to marginalized characters, it can be difficult to navigate them as, depending on the type of story you might want to tell, you may be steering dangerously close to falling into Unfortunate Implications™. And trying to find alternatives as to avoid falling into potentially iffy subtext is not always easy, as, depending on how central the “problematic” element to your plot, it could alter the very foundation of the story you’re trying to tell beyond recognition. See the point above about Romeo & Juliet.    

Like, I once saw a woman a gringa obviously accuse the movie Knives Out of racism because the one latina character in the otherwise consistently white and wealthy cast is the nurse, when everyone who watched the movie with their eyes and not their ass can see that the entire tension of the plot hinges upon not only the power imbalance between Martha and the Thrombeys, but also on her isolation as the one latina immigrant navigating a world of white rich people. I’ve seen people paint Rosa Diaz as an example of the Hothead Latina stereotype, when Rosa was originally written as a white woman (named Megan) and only turned latina later when Stephanie Beatriz was cast  – and it’s not like they could write out Rosa’s anger issues to avoid bad optics when it is such a defining trait of her character. I’ve seen people say Mulholland Drive is a lesbophobic movie when its story couldn’t even exist in first place if the fatally toxic lesbian relationship that moves the plot was healthy, or if it was straight.                          

That’s not to say we can’t ever question the larger patterns in stories about certain demographics, or not draw lines between artistic liberty and social responsibility, and much less that I know where such lines should be drawn. I made this post precisely to raise a discussion, not to silence people. But one thing I think it’s important to keep in mind in such discussions is that stereotypes, after all, are all about oversimplification. It is more productive, I believe, to evaluate the quality of the representation in any given piece of fiction by looking first into how much its minority characters are a) deep, complex, well-rounded, b) treated with care by the narrative, with plenty of focus and insight into their inner life, and c) a character in their own right that can carry their own storyline and doesn’t just exist to prop up other character’s stories. And only then, yes, look into their particular characterization, but without ever overlooking aspects such as the context and how nuanced such characterization is handled. Much like we’ve moved on from the simplistic mindset that a good female character is necessarily one that punches good otherwise she’s useless, I really do believe that it is time for us to move on from the the idea that there’s a one-size-fits-all model of good representation and start looking into the core of representation issues (meaning: how painfully flat it is, not to mention scarce) rather than the window dressing.

I know I am starting to sound like a broken record here, but it feels that being a latina author writing about latine characters is a losing game, when there’s extra pressure on minority authors to avoid ~problematic~ optics in their work on the basis of the “you should know better” argument. And this “lower common denominator” approach to representation, that bars people from exploring otherwise interesting and meaningful concepts in stories because the most narrow minded people in the audience will get their biases confirmed, in many ways, sounds like a new form of respectability politics. Why, if it was gringos that created and imposed those stereotypes onto my ethnicity, why it should be my responsibility as a latina creator to dispel such stereotypes by curbing my artistic expression? Instead of asking of them to take responsibility for the lenses and biases they bring onto the text? Why is it too much to ask from people to wrap their minds about the ridiculously basic concept that no story they consume about a marginalized person should be taken as a blanket representation of their entire community?

It’s ridiculous. Gringos at some point came up with the idea that latinos are all naturally inclined to crime, so now I, a latina who loves heist movies, can’t write a latino character who’s a cool car thief. Gentiles created antisemitic propaganda claiming that the jews are all blood drinking monsters, so now jewish authors who love vampires can’t write jewish vampires. Straights made up the idea that lesbian relationships tend to be unhealthy, so now sapphics who are into Brontë-ish gothic romance don’t get to read this type of story with lesbian protagonists. I want to scream.      

Astarion:

wyll: oh you mean the heart!

tav: the what

wyll: yeah i chose it because i thought it would be cute and friendly :3

tav:

wyll: no you’re right it’s based on that. just a little joking around between comrades haha.

But the running theme with the (main) companions is that very few of them have genuine autonomy.

Shadowheart had her memories erased repeatedly and was brainwashed into a Sharran cult. Lae’zel was indoctrinated by Vlakith. Astarion was made a vampire spawn against his will and had no choice but to obey Cazador. Karlach’s life was bargained away by Gortash and was Zariel’s warrior for years.

Gale is probably the only exception….until you find out that he was 17 when he met Mystra. Gale messing with the Karsus Weave reads less like hubris and more like desperation when you just think about what grooming does to a person.

Which in its way, relates to how Wyll’s story works. At every turn you’re told it was >his< choice. Wyll takes accountability on that. But when you’re the son of high nobility and it’s your job to keep people safe, how much choice do you really have when your "savior" is giving you the choice between your life and the lives of others?

And just the framing of it really reminds me of the dialogue/dialogue options with Astarion when you ask him about how/when he was made a vampire. A group of gur started attacking him and Cazador just so happened to be there to “save” him.

It seems a little too convenient when you consider that Mizora just so happened to show up just as the storm coast was about to be attacked. Though even without the implication she someone engineered the situation, she definitely saw Wyll as an easy target. This is a boy who wanted to help people and do right by his father. It was almost too easy for her.