I was tagged by: @oursusanellen tysm friend! This was a fun one <3
I am tagging: @carnivaley @defira85 @arlynx @asorceresswrites @fireflyeyes @faeriiefire @deianestormborn @gortashsrighthand @perpetualmaladaptivedaydream @theendofanerror @dynamicducks @riddlerosehearts @elinorbard @missfortunetherogue @arcanearcherayz @the-shadowfell-darkroom
To keep things simple, I went with post-tadpole/post-canon for the most part.
Q: What common/uncommon fear do they have?
A: Common? Your typical "loss of those you love", "being rejected by those you love", "loss of autonomy". She doesn't have a lot of fears but those are the big ones. Uncommon? Having her memories restored. She is terrified that it will make her relapse back into the monster she used to be. And after the events of Anamnesis Red, she will develop a fear of large white rooms with people roaming around them. Niche, but it will come up lol.
Q: What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?
A: A midnight blue silk robe. Dagger on the nightstand. Silk rope. ;)
Q: On a scale of 1-10, how high is their pain tolerance?
A: Oh she's a 10, I was going to say 9 to be "realistic" but honestly, she is a 10 or at least a 9.5. That is not to say that she doesn't feel pain. She does. But she's spent her life learning to endure it, and even enjoy it in many ways. When she was captured by House Barrison Del'Armgo, they literally couldn't torture her into cooperation. They had to bribe her. In Anam Red in Cania, [redacted] knew physical torture wouldn't do much, so she was subjected to memory restoration torture. She uses pain to keep herself focused when she's losing her mind. She's turned on by impact play. She's wanted by Loviatar herself. Girliepop doesn't give a rats ass about pain, or she craves it.
Q: Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?
A: It entirely depends. Her first instinct is actually a form of "fight" but it's "deceive" or "intimidate" first, rather than violence. Violence is the backup. Though she's not stubborn, and while arrogant, she is about self-preservation first. If she encounters a scenario where she knows she can't win without great cost, or even if it's not worth the fight and she stands to gain or retain a lot more by fleeing? Oh yeah, she'll run. She's got no qualms with that.
Q: Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?
A: Technically no. When Tavrin was "created", many of Bhaal's sired spawn did still live, but she never met any of them. She was strategically isolated and hidden so no one would know what she was. The only ones she met were Orin and "Sarevok" when she finally joined the Temple of Bhaal in Baldur's Gate (and there is speculation that "Sarevok" is not the real Sarevok anyway). So even though she had "family" it was a toxic situation and she wasn't close to any of them. She loved her father for a time, until she wanted more independence and he kept stifling her. Sceleritas as well became more annoyance and hinderance than family.
When she marries, she does sort of become a family person. But only in the sense of "my husband and mother-in-law are my only family and I'll destroy anyone who harms them" kind of way. And she does spend quality time with them as a family would. But extended family she's still like "whatever" about.
Q: What animal represents them best?
A: Snakes. Particularly vipers and pythons. Snakes symbolize deception, and she's also the type who lurks where you aren't seeing her and strikes quickly before you can react. Also, she uses ligatures and poisons in her killing frequently. It works on a lot of levels. My favorite snake to use for her imagery is the Black Mamba. Partly because the coloration is very much a match for Tavrin's and they are very deadly, but also because while aggressive, it often only attacks if threatened or cornered. When she's not hunting for intentional murder, that very much fits her tendencies.
Q: What’s a smell they like/dislike?
A: Her signature soap is Jasmine & Bergamot. She also loves the smell of blood, roasting meat, ocean brine, and surface scents like citrus and florals that she didn't experience in the Underdark for the first 60 years of her life. She actually likes most scents and has a very keen sense of smell, which is part of what leads her to become a perfumer later. She likes the smell of anything from lilac and cardamom to oil and smoke. I think the only scents she's really against are those that are cloyingly sweet. Like a too-strong vanilla would make her go "eugh".
Q: Have they broken any bones?
A: Oh yes. Mostly when she was young and surviving on her own in Donigarten, the slums of Menzoberranzan, and other areas of the Underdark. She's an incredible fighter now, unbelievably nimble and agile, but she wasn't born that way. She learned a lot of hard lessons in how to determine if a roof was too slick for traction, what jumps she can't make, what monsters she couldn't take on. She also had to learn anatomy and first aid to fix herself up, since she didn't have anyone else to do it.
Q: How would a stranger likely describe them?
A: Intimidating. Untrustworthy. Dangerous. Beautiful but in a terrifying way. Hard to read. Magnetic in ways they can't put their finger on.
Q: Are they a night owl or a morning bird?
A: Both. Though she's not a true drow and does need sleep unlike true drow or other elves, she needs far less of it. She can generally trance for a few hours for a few nights, then sleep for a night, rinse and repeat. She often chooses to sleep post-canon rather than trancing, but even with sleep she only needs so many hours. So she usually goes to bed late, and wakes up early. Gale generally goes to sleep the same time as her, but she wakes up long before him, when it's still pitch dark.
Q: What’s a flavour they hate and a flavour they love?
A: She loves all meat. Including meat she shouldn't. It takes a while for Gale to get her on board with seasonings, and she certainly has preferences. She prefers savories, bitters, and spices to sweets or heavy, rich flavors. It takes a while to get her eating surface plants, but she grows a taste for them. Ironically, she abhors mushrooms. Mostly because when she was young, it was the only thing she could get ahold of to eat for many years. And the Bhaalspawn in her craved meat and blood. So even post-canon when she ventures into foods other than meats, she hates mushrooms still.
Q: Do they have any hobbies?
A: Pre-canon she didn't have time for "hobbies", Bhaal didn't like that. Most of her "hobbies" were practical skills such as calisthenics, sparring, decoding and creating cyphers, etc. She did find time for sex, but always followed it up with killing after (unless it was Gortash). Post-canon, she takes a while to find new hobbies that are simply that: for leisure. She loves playing cards, especially bluffing games. She also picks up alchemy, both with poisons and perfumes (not potions though). And she also becomes a dancer, mostly partnered, or aerial silks.
Q: Boom! Surprise birthday party! How do they react?
A: Incredibly irritated lol. She doesn't do 'birthday parties' at all, and barely does parties. Surprising her with one is a one-way ticket to having her glare daggers at you all night. Depending on who throws it, the reason, the location, and who is there, she might begrudgingly tolerate it with ill-concealed annoyance...or she might just disappear and abandon it when no one is looking.
Q: Do they have neat or messy handwriting?
A: Messy but surprisingly legible. Her letters are sharp, narrow, and at an angle, rather than flourished or round, but you can clearly make them out. This is partly because in Menzoberranzan she wrote in angular drowic, and you have to be very precise to differentiate those letters compared to common.
Q: What are two emotions they feel the most?
A: Irritation and amusement. She doesn't have much of a temper, but she is easily irked by many things. She's difficult to please. However, she's also patient and has a surprising sense of humor, so sometimes annoyance and amusement go hand in hand with her.
Q: What kind of accent do they have?
A: It changes!! When she's wearing a mask, whether it be deception or unreadable because she's not in a comfortable setting, she tends to have a Contemporary RP accent. If she's in a comfortable setting and feeling very casual (or she's drunk), her accent and inflections become a lot more relaxed and less formal (almost like Karlach!), because it's actually her natural speaking voice. It's closer to a brummy accent. And when she's cursing or speaking drowic, she pulls in her Menzoberranzan accent, which is harsher and almost guttural because of where she grew up in the slums.
