for Hunter, Safa, and Vidia: barbarian, rogue, and warlock :)
hi angel :) trying to get the scoop on all your love interests, hm? let's see what we can do....
Barbarian: What makes your muse angry? How do they manage their anger? Has their rage ever led them to destroy something important?
🐺Hunter: i think Intellectually, Hunter has a pretty strong internal sense of Justice that he has been repressing out of Necessity for a while, so if something manages to break that seal, a Lot of rage will escape all at once. on an animalistic level, Hunter HATES feeling trapped/backed into a corner/manipulated. due to Circumstances. so yeah trying to trick or manipulate or strongarm him will enrage him like basically nothing else would. i think it is only a matter of time, for example, before he does something Drastic about the baron holding his heartbond spirit hostage. he's been simmering in that miasma of resentment for a Minute ✨ as for managing it, i think he prefers some kind of physical outlet or distraction, a Task of some kind to give his mind and body something else to focus on or to just use up the built up energy. he is simply never behind on chores like chopping firewood or hauling water/ice. he goes on a lot of hikes/runs through the woods and very cold lake/river swims also.
🥀Safa: Safa has been Dissociating herself from her Rage for a loooong time out of necessity. she has trained for nearly two decades now to have diamond precision and control over how and when she Expresses emotion and has become so good at lying she can canonically lie in her own thoughts, and i think she is often lying to herself about how she actually feels so she Doesn't Have To Think About It. they work best with long term planning and relationship building and giving in to showing real anger is not a luxury they can indulge in often. however, few things hurt her worse than either a) her loved ones/those she considers under her protection being harmed, or b) being betrayed by one of the few people they actually trust. these two things are some of the few circumstances that will get her to act completely rashly and on instinct instead of staying In Control. her mother's betrayal in trying to have her drugged and kidnapped and handed over to enemies to protect herself instead of Safa was the final straw in breaking their relationship and now the last time they saw their mother they shot her in the chest :p. she 1v1-ed (and almost won!!) against both Mordain the Fleshweaver and Crane, Kestrel's handler, because they hurt Kai and Duke and Kestrel. I'm having SO much fun with Feeblemind Safa in their bimbo era rn bc it makes explicit (i hope) that the place Safa's anger comes from is how hard she Loves. her rage protects something so incredibly soft and vulnerable within her that she would normally be unable to expose without layers of weird possessive shame and fear. and i'm absolutely living for it.
🏹Vidia: OH BOY. Vidia is kind of Thee "what if you let your anger subsume and drive all your other motivations" Character. Vidia and her little Rage Engine into which she flings every burning scrap of irritation and frustration and anger and disdain to keep it burning hot enough to stave away the paralyzing icy creep of grief. what i'm saying is, she's a Normal Teenage Girl*. Vidia is Out For Revenge and she WILL destroy her father and everything he's ever built. But here's the problem. Vidia... kind of conceives of herself as the culmination of all her father's Evils and while that gives her a lot of self loathing and internalized anger too, it also makes her feel powerful in a fucked up way so she doesn't have to think of herself as a Victim. her anger at him has led her to make Several rash decisions in the past, but she has Learned From These Mistakes and tries really hard to think through her decisions these days because it makes her more effective in the long run. she's so consumed with this Purpose that it's hard for other people and things to ping on her emotional radar the way Her Father does, but she DOES get incredibly angry whenever someone else is harmed, directly or indirectly, by her father. she is So Close to Getting It (that her father is the inevitable result of a Fucked system of imperial governance and she should engage in Collective Action and join the GRA (Gnomish Republican Army)). the way Vidia Copes with her anger atm is a combination of being a decent liar and Not Showing It and otherwise acting like a wounded animal and going somewhere to Hide whenever possible until she is in control (dissociating) again :)
Rogue: How secretive is your muse? What are they secretive about? What would it take for your muse to spill their secrets?
🐺Hunter: Hunter has kind of had to Become mysterious and secretive but i REALLY do not think it comes naturally to him. he is very afraid of anyone (particularly high elves and goliaths again but also In General) trying to use him to get to his People again, because despite them kicking him out and unnaming him, he still loves them so much and wants them to be safe. he is also afraid of anyone making the whole situation of his heartbound spirit being held captive by the baron Worse and making himself more vulnerable and powerless than he already feels all the time. but he truly hates this level of paranoia. he naturally prefers to be a very open and affectionate person and he was also very much raised that way too, and so it makes him even more uneasy about the whole situation. earning his trust isn't easy tho, because he has been betrayed by too many people claiming to care about him or want to help him. i think if you can manage it tho, by refusing an opportunity to fuck him over or hold power over him, then idk if he could HELP sharing his secrets.
🥀Safa: Safa is THEE Secrets Bitch. she would simply never share a secret unless it is Necessary. her whole life runs on an intricate network of carrot/stick relationships of favors owed and threats of blackmail/extortion. a secret shared is a secret halved (in power). Safa primarily shares secrets extremely Strategically to increase the likelihood of an Outcome she wants. they are her most valuable form of currency and protection. however, in-game we have seen a few instances of Safa sharing secrets not JUST to get something they want (tho that's part of it), but to try to get her party to Understand Her in a way she has extremely NOT let herself think about. bc of all this tho, they are SO bad at being Vulnerable and especially at Reciprocating vulnerability without an Agenda other than Connection with someone. VERY interested to see if/when Safa will finally tell their party about The Incident that led to their mother leaving them in Sharn in the first place. ooooh Safa you want to be Seen and Loved Despite It All so bad....
🏹Vidia: Vidia is a little bit like a Baby Safa in that she also trades in secrets and information but she is nowhere near as practiced and skilled at it yet. she is proving to be a rather quick study tho. vidia likes Knowing Things about people; knowing their strengths and weaknesses and what they want, so she can offer them the best possible deal that they are most likely to agree to, and i mean. it's working pretty well so far. as for her own secrets, she is very afraid of people finding out who her father is and for good reason; she didn't exactly leave his house on good terms and much of her plans rely on him assuming she's dead or at least not a threat. she is also laboring under the false assumption that the more people know about who she Really Is the less likely they are to like or trust her. like Safa, i think she will only share her secrets if she absolutely Has To, strategically speaking, at least for now. i'm honestly not sure how much longer she can stand the level of loneliness she is living with rn tho. my poor little thing.
Warlock: Has your muse ever made a deal to get something they wanted? Is there anything your muse wants enough to broker for it? What would your muse sacrifice to get what they want?
🐺Hunter: Hunter has been Forced to make a lot of deals he really really didn't want to, just to survive a little longer. i think, because of this, he would be Incredibly wary of making any future deals no matter how much he wants something. conversely, however, he also doesn't trust someone doing something to help him unless they are clearly getting something out of it, and would assume you are taking advantage of him somehow in the vast majority of cases. i honestly feel like Hunter has a very hard time relying on anyone who isn't his wolf companion, Blossom, deal or otherwise. he would sacrifice a great deal of himself and his own comfort and safety if he thought it would save his heartbound spirit or right some of the wrongs of the people exploiting the land his people protect, but he is also very cynical about his ability to not just make things worse atm. he wants nothing more than to right his mistake of trusting the wrong person and inadvertently betraying his clan which is what got him into this mess, but again, i don't think he believes that anyone actually could fix it.
🥀Safa: Safa is Miss Precarious Deals themself. she has been navigating delicate negotiations and bargains since she was a tiny adorable precocious 5yo helping to sell tickets to her uncle's traveling vaudeville show. their underground favors network in Sharn is legendary in the right circles (altho never easy to tie directly back to them). Safa will do a LOT to get and keep the things and especially the people she wants. even only knowing Duke and Kestrel for like three weeks and like a few-months-long Situationship with Kai (and deciding they were all Hers, actually), she now has a semi-dormant ilithid worm and an archdemon in her brain along with a freshly-manifested aberrant mark on her chest from deals and bargains she has made to keep them safe.
🏹Vidia: Vidia desperately wants to be Self-Reliant but is in the process of learning that if she wants to accomplish her goals, she Has to Work With People. if someone is doing something for her, i think Vidia vastly prefers a Clear Negotiation with set Terms and Conditions over the vagaries of letting people do favors for her, but she is also quite willing to put other people in the position of being indebted to her. Vidia is usually the one ending up in the position of being Owed for things and that is very much by design on her part. she is finding she's rather good at Being Too Useful and Knowing Almost Too Much. Vidia would give up most things if it meant getting her closer to tearing down her father, but she won't risk anything that would be a liability towards that goal.
