yknow i didn't necessarily start my wyll origin run with the intent of romancing astarion in mind but the more i play the more i find their similarities amusing when it comes to like, the surface level personality they present to strangers in act 1.
wyll is a compulsive flirt. you see it in dialogue with shadowheart and lae'zel - he just tosses out a couple lines that clearly aren't supposed to go anywhere (asking lae'zel if she believes in love at first sight, blatantly reusing the same flirtation attempts with shadowheart) and i see this as part of his Blade of Frontiers persona. obviously a traveling vigilante would have no time for romance or relationships, but he's socially aware enough to have learned that people respond well to a certain level of rogueish charm. especially if his reputation precedes him. he can safely and positively engage in surface level flirtations with the people he interacts with because the person doing the flirting isn't real - at least not to him. he often says the Blade is his best self, but to him its an ideal he strives to achieve, not the person he really is. and i imagine that includes the ability to give discouraged people positive attention in a nonthreatening way. its safe. its superficial. he doesn't have to follow through.
this is overshadowed somewhat by astarion's tendency to flirt with anything that has a pulse, but the perspective they both have on it is pretty similar. theyre both coming from a place of not actually being interested in the recipient of their attention - whether that be through astarion's ulterior motives or wyll's lack of capacity for a relationship - but they both still put on this front because it's habitual. it's worked for them and it's gotten them through the varying degrees of social contracts they find themselves in. so they wind up trading lines easily because they've studied from the same script.
anyway what im getting at is bumping these two personalities against each other can definitely result in wyll and astarion committing to the bit so hard they accidentally wind up in a relationship. like, you're safe, you know the rules, you're speaking in a language i'm familiar with but we both understand that neither of us expect anything back on an emotional level. wait when did we start confiding our deepest secrets with one another. what do you mean you trust me.
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Small Porter scene/character study because I find him very interesting. Depicts Porter coming home to Treasure after the Summit. I’m also blorbo-fying Porter here. Just a lil bit.
Porter, in an attempt to destress from the night's events, found himself at Treasure's doorstep. He wasn't sure why this was his first instinct. They technically shouldn't even have known about him. However, there was just-
The door opened, and Treasure was standing in front of him. "Are you going to keep standing there? Someone's gonna call the police thinking you're a serial killer or something."
"Maybe they'd be right," Porter said, ignoring how ironic it was to say, "You're the one that decided to stick around a Vampire."
"Get in here," Treasure said, suppressing a giggle while they reached out for him.
Porter let himself be dragged inside, the smallest of smiles stretching at his lips. Once the door closed behind him his lips were on Treasure's, causing the smallest of gasps to hitch in their chest. Their arms snaked around his neck, pulling him closer.
A sigh slipped past their lips when he pulled away, a grin on their face. "How was that family thing?"
"As boring as I expected," Porter drawled. "I missed you."
"Missed me?" Traesure repeated, sounding smug.
"Or something like that," Porter teased. Treasure pushed themselves up to meet his lips again. Porter let himself sink into the feeling of it. revelled the warmth against him, how soft their lips felt, how willingly they let themselves be moulded by him.
Treasure's hands slid over his shoulders, down his chest to the buttons on his shirt, slowly unbuttoning it.
The king didn't get a chance to react to the stab before his head skidded across the floor. There was a rush of air before he was picking a fight with Vincent. All eyes were on them. Or at least enough.
'That's right,' Porter would think, 'keep looking.'
Vincent, looking distraught, almost in tears. He shouldn't have had to hear this. William should have told him something more than what he knew. William was his friend, but this seemed cruel.
"He sees me as a friend, and you as a child. His child."
Porter was taking Treasure's hands away before they could get too far. "As much as I love being able to take you," he said, "I can't tonight. It wouldn't be fair to you if I tried."
"That's okay," Treasure said genuinely, smiling at him. "Do you want to watch my show with me? I'd still love to have your company."
"Of course I would, Treasure."
It wasn't long before Treasure was curled up against him, the two of them watching whatever they had on. Porter wasn't paying attention. Not after what he's done. Treasure was oblivious to his distracted state.
He'd do anything for William. He would stand by him until the end of time. It is what Porter owed him, after everything that William did for him. After picking him off of the streets and taking him in like a feral cat. But this murder was having more of an effect on him than he thought. He wasn't sorry. He doesn't think he'd ever be sorry, but the point remained the same. Seeing Vincent react the way he did made him squirm.
'Vincent just didn't understand,' he'd tell himself. 'He hasn't been alive long enough to.'
He wasn't sure how much he believed himself.
Treasure shifted beside him, drawing his focus back to them.
"I don't know if I'll make you happy," Porter had warned them when they started whatever this was. "I'll try. For you, I will try."
"That's all I need," They had replied, that smile he loved so much showing itself again.
He doesn't understand why they did it. They were this... this force. It pulled him in, locking him in place, and he just couldn't get enough of them. This hasn't happened to him before. This amount of devotion that he felt. Was it natural? To feel this way about someone so soon? Were his feelings fake? Surely they weren't. He did use Treasure's existence to fuck with Vincent a bit, but that didn't mean they were ever part of the ruse he had going for himself. He wouldn't let them be that close. Not yet. They were still so new to the whole magic concept as it was, it was dangerous for them.
Porter held them closer, resting his head atop theirs. He can figure this out later. Right now, his job was to protect them. To take care of them.
And, by the gods, was he prepared to worship them.
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i just think a "friended/romanced + saved + trust aj" violet does such a good job rounding out the plot and characters of S4 and i dont say that lightly
she walls people off out of fear just like S3 clem did and learned to grow out of through the compassion of others. feeling like she could have done more to save minnie being what initially makes her step up to lead, but her accepting her love for clem (and clem choosing to save her) is what leads to her Truly accepting the school and everyone inside it as her Home and gives her something to fight for ("i tried my damnedest not to care about either of you. and i still couldnt tell you why." "i know where youre coming from. after losing so many people, sometimes its easier to keep everyone at arms length." "and then you wonder why you fight so hard to stay alive. i dont wonder anymore."). this being the reasoning behind violets detachment from the school, as well as a negative home life impacting her idea of what a home even was. but together they turn ericson from a prison into the home theyve BOTH been looking for, renaming it together, and envisioning it for the future together. the two of them understand each other deeply, from what theyve lost to how its affected them and the poor ways theyve decided to react to it. but through their support of the other, they BOTH get to evolve into more relaxed and confident versions of themselves, who know Exactly what theyre fighting for
her troubled relationship with brody and getting to learn more about what happened with the twins/violets reaction to it and how she ultimately blames herself/brodys guilt about her part in it and how she misses violet. getting the chance to mend that relationship before its too late. the 3 of them becoming closer because of it. and getting to develop clems friendship with brody leads to a more impactful moment later in the basement
her relationship with tenn reflecting clems relationship with aj, in the way they both made the decision to look after their respective boys after their primary guardians died (ajs parents, tenns sisters). both of them can understand the responsibilities they have taken upon themselves, and how hard it can be to do right. the 4 of them become a tight knit group quickly. especially in EP2 as vi supports clem while tenn supports aj through the marlon fiasco
her confused relationship with minerva introducing interesting conflict both within her relationship with clem (who has her own personal conflict with minerva, which vi still ties into through her relationship with both minnie and tenn) and the over arching plot, which has themes of learning when to let someone go because they are no longer who they once were (clem and lilly "we were family once", mitch about ms martin "you get all caught up in who people used to be, and you cant deal with whats in front of you", violet about minnie "the real minnie? shes been gone this whole time and i have to stop mourning her")
having a saved violet on the boat expanding the conversation with minerva about her motivations with the delta. violet apologizing for never looking for her, minnie saying she knows she would have but that its too late now, so sure this is just the way things have to be. getting to hear minnie say "you can be rewarded, just like i am", giving us insight into her character. and clem getting the last word before she rams the door down, her and violet fighting minnie Together. and violet saves clems life, making the Choice to shoot minerva, which in and of itself is a huge moment for violets character in regards to her relationship with both minnie And clem
and aj shooting tenn on the bridge brings things full circle, by putting violet in the same position louis was in EP2, where aj has killed the most important person to her, in an effort to save her life, and now she must reckon with those feelings the same way louis had to about marlon. not so easy now is it violet? ("so youre mad, but sad" "can i be that for a while?" "yeah, its ok")
just... ough... violets whole character just fits into Everything so well, but in a way that elevates the characters and plots around her, while also developing her into her own
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The more I play, the more I think people that who super dislike Astarion have never experienced a trauma before.
Like ofc you're allowed to dislike a character for any reason, but it also makes so much sense why he is how he is when you unlock his positive approval rating covos. He's a snarky stab happy fuckboy yes, but his quest for power isn't unjustified. Astarion is scared, he's terrified he'll be brought back to Cazador and tortured 5 ways to sunday, if not outright killed. The tadpole is what's keeping him safe, and he isn't going to give it up without a fight. So he thinks the only way to ensure his safety and freedom is to go full scorched earth, take as much power by any means possible no matter who it hurts. He's a spurr of the moment decion maker, of course he's not going to think it through. When your ticket to freedom after 200 years of torture is right there, you don't stop to think about the cost of it, to yourself or others.
Astarion doesn't want power so he can rule over the sword coast, he wants power to make sure no one ever can ever hurt him again. You hear something simular in folks who have experienced trauma (plz understand that I'm generalizing here, trauma is processed differently by different people no one brain is the same). Anger, grief, fear, confusion, terror all are things that can go through your mind after a traumatic event occurs. Your brain is trying to find a way to make things hurt less, so if there's a chance for revenge, or the ability to take back power, you bet your ass its gonna sound delicious to your emotionally flooded brain. This is what I think is at the core of Astarions story. That this confident, cunning, flirtatious vampire is mostly an act, it's what he's practiced and what's protected him thus far. He likely learned that showing any sort of vulnerability is a weakness that will be used against him. His grab for power is selfish yes, but not in the way it seems at the surface. But absolutely power will corrupt absolutely, which is why I say his desire is justified, but not exactly supported depending on what type of run you're doing.
Idk man I just immediately looked at this man and went "aweeh.... it's traumatized". That boi ain't got any coping skills whatsoever and I'm a sucker for characters who's confidence is just a ploy to keep you from seeing just how fucked up they actually are. Anyways each character in this damn game is written so freaking well I could write a billion essays about it everyone say thank you Larian
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god okay so I was thinking about Glenn Close last night (as I an wont to do) and the enormity of what he lost when he lost his trial just hit me. like he lost his son, and his entire history with his dead wife. and Glenn seems to me like the kind of guy who probably left all of Morgan’s stuff exactly where it was. her clothes still hanging in their closet, her perfumes and makeup scattered on the dresser, her mugs in the cupboard (which also leads into why he leaves Nick alone so often, he can’t stand to get rid of her things but he can’t be around them either so he just leaves), and now all of that is just gone. none of it ever existed. if he had lived and gone back to earth, he would have just gone back to an apartment that Morgan and Nick had never lived in and I don’t think he could handle that.
and oh god that’s what I absolutely adore about people drawing him with Morgan’s wedding ring around his neck, because if it was on him when he was convicted and went to prison that that means it’s still there—it’s the ONLY thing that he would have to prove that his life existed, that he had a wife and a son and that they were happy. because everything else was completely erased. Morgan is not his Morgan anymore, and Nick is not his Nick. And even post-demon, he never will be Glenn’s Nick again.
the woman Glenn loves is gone forever (AGAIN) even though now she’s still alive (and oh god what a kick in the teeth—she would have lived if she wasn’t with him, the difference between her living and dying was loving Glenn) but now no one grieves her except Glenn
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