#not excusing

so i mentioned in a previous post that i might venture to discuss Astarion's lack of care for the deep gnome slaves at grymforge... the time has come.

I wandered over to the myconoid colony after I defeated Nere (who is still a little bitch, by the way) and spoke to the leader of the mushroom people. I turned around and saw one of the formerly enslaved gnomes with spores surrounding her and fungal flakes boring out of her head. the gnomes with her were talking about how they couldn't believe that would be her end, that she would be a shell of who she was. Astarion's line after this made all the slave apathy click. he says:

"They're just husks. I couldn't care less if they're slaves or building material."

this has provided such a revelation to me. so much so that i immediately opened tumblr dot com to discuss this finding.

Astarion sees these gnomes as husks of themselves. it would seem that the implication here is that slavery took their personhood from them.

in my ramblings about Astarion, i regularly emphasize (try to, at least) that he doesn't care about people who are weak. he sees them as worthless, meaningless, empty. this certainly matches the husk comment. Astarion's lack of empathy is because he doesn't see slaves as equals. he's finally free, finally elevated from his former misery, and finally has a position of equality with those around him. he's a person again. and to empathize with a slave would be to deny his rediscovered personhood.

[this doesn't make it right. Astarion is still an asshole. i'm not attempting to excuse his behavior, just to understand where his psyche is at.]

this ideology about freedom and empathy holding hands with weakness makes sense given his appreciation for tav's recognition of his agency, and his line about "i never stopped thinking like a slave." he doesn't want to help those who are weak because to be weak is to be less than a person.

it could be why he's so sensitive about others knowing his weaknesses. if they know he's not powerful, he'll become a slave again: less than them. unequal. undeserving. ignored and abused.

Okay, this is my kinda thoughts on the whole "my baby sister" thing and why he would say that and how it could've been used in context

A note: I'm not an expert or claiming to be, I've read a few different Chinese novels (mostly danmei but still) that cover family dynamics of sects and how those are handled in different factions. Also note, anything said here could not be related to the plot of Caleb's story at all, it could be that context or not, I cant say for sure, I'd probably need to re-watch the trailer a few more times or actually read/watch Caleb's card when it comes out.

This is from a Chinese novel series glossary under Terminology,

"SWORN BROTHERS/SISTERS/FAMILIES: In China, sworn brother-hood describes a binding social pact made by two or more unrelated individuals of the same gender. It can be entered into for social, political, and/or personal reasons and is not only limited to two participants; it can extend to an entire group. It was most common among men, but was not unheard of among women or between people of different genders.

The participants treat members of each other's families as their own and assist them in the ways an extended family would: providing mutual support and aid, support in political alliances, etc. Sworn siblinghood, where individuals will refer to themselves as brother or sister, is not to be confused with familial relations like blood siblings or adoption."

Also,

In a sect/family, traditional a younger sister OR younger female friend, used alone or as an honorific is "Mei"

Or "Meimei", younger sister or an unrelated younger female friend, a casual term.

Same can be said for "Gege" which is a familiar way to refer to an older brother OR an older male friend, may be used by someone substantially younger or of lower status, has a cutesier feel than "Ge", which is a familiar way to refer to an older brother OR older male friend.

Caleb and MC have always been together, in a sense, have always viewed each other as family.

So, the "baby sister" line might've not been directly said as him viewing MC as his sister. It could've been worded as the English translation to "Mei" the title used for a younger sister OR a younger female friend. They could use Mei in the English translation of the game but I'm sure it could've confused some people, but the "baby sister" clearly threw off the western players, for understandable reasons.

So yeah, that's my opinion and thoughts!

Also again, anything said here could not be related to the plot of Caleb's story at all, it could be that context or not, I cant say for sure, I'd probably need to re-watch the trailer a few more times or actually read/watch Caleb's card when it comes out.