SoulTofu

In general

How you express Astarion's emotions through his ears.

How you do Gale's gray hairs. SWIRLY.

Picture 1

The fact we can't see Gale's expression, which makes him feel like an ominous inscrutable figure, which is what he is to Astarion at this point in the story.

That fact juxtaposed over the fact that he's kneeling, like you would at an altar, and that the position of his hands is somewhat anxious, picking at his sleeve.

How much and how often Gale kneels in the story is low-key important. I deliberately associate the verb with him. Astarion tends to crouch or sit or stoop. Gale almost always kneels.

The amount of fear you manage to express in Astarion's expression even though we can only see half his face.

In general the fact that everyone's expressions are partially concealed is such a neat parallel to how little they understand each other in this scene.

How the cobbles are gently implied and then fade, letting us know where we are but not drawing attention away from the figures.

Picture 2

Going to fucking stab someone with the fire poker.

Expression that expresses dread, alarm, but also: GOING TO FUCKING STAB SOMEONE WITH THE FIRE POKER.

The fire poker itself. That's a sharp and deadly looking thing.

Picture 3

How the Dimension Door Gale is drawing escapes the confines of the background! It breaks the rules of composition just as the magic spell it represents breaks the rules of physics! What a NEAT way of expressing magic!

The fact that Gale is standing in front of Astarion, as if to physically block him from harm, which is something he's doing in this scene and also constantly in the story and is also not what a wizard should be doing in combat. But also it's not what a rogue should be doing. These guys suffer greatly from lack of a frontline tank.

THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS.

Picture 4

Darling.

Poor purple wizard.

Yes, you are, but so are we all.

And the systemic violence and exploitation inherent to the world you just stepped into is much more to blame than you are personally.