#early on they're a huge miscommunication in every scene; both operating on false premises in the way they approach one another
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
an issue i'm finding myself (or, my elf, eeyyyy) running into is that as their relationship progresses, Astarion and Iona become progressively harder to write together, because I'm kind of finding that the closer they are, the less they express themselves verbally.
like, for the earlier scenes, there is a lot of semi-clever back-and-forth which I enjoy writing, I love silly banter and teasing/flirting/bonding, and since they don't touch much early on, most of the relationship development happens in dialogue. but act 3?????? a lot of the emotional sludge that is between them feels most natural to, idk, leave unsaid, and have them rely on the understanding that they had been kind of hesitantly fostering since early act 2.
i know this is a stupid fucking thing to be gnawing on, especially considering that nobody has ever read a word of this damn fic, it's just.
it's a lot easier to write fun dialogue, than to somehow communicate, clearly and without headhopping or getting overly flowery/sanctimonious about it,
"aight chucklefucks, in this scene, he's climbing wordlessly under the covers with her both by way of an unwarranted apology that wasn't actually his to give (y'know, for the whole 'attacked in the middle of the night, bit to shit by his sibling while he stood by uselessly' deal that happened the previous night and is making him feel rotten and guilty for some reason), and as an acknowledgement that he's rattled, scared, and feeling vulnerable, which is why him actively seeking comfort in her instead of slinking off to lick his wounds alone is a big fuckin' deal."
"on the flipside, her not saying anything or asking why he's standing at the foot of her bed but just opening her arms to receive that silent request, invite him in (like one would a vampire, geddit), and giving him the affection with no preamble or caveat, is simultaneously an acceptance of that apology, a confirmation that despite all that's been going on during the daytime she still purposefully elects to trust him, and a reassurance that she is there, she's alive, unhurt, and her feelings haven't changed because of all this either."
"this cuddle is emotionally significant, it intentionally mirrors the one from which they were spurned by the vampire attack as a way to show that regardless of what happens, this undercurrent of tenderness still exists, but nobody is going to say a goddamn word about it, because not only would putting any of this into words be far, far beyond both of them in terms of emotional intelligence, acknowledging that he views her as a point of security and that her anxiety is eased by easing his would also feel wrong and like whoever mentions it is speaking fluent therapese. plus, breaking the silence with lengthy internal monologues would also fucking ruin the simplicity and the impact of the whole goddamn thing, even though all that actually bloody happens is 1.) she flips the covers back, 2.) he climbs in and nuzzles her chest, and 3.) she pulls the covers over his shoulder."
meanwhile i'm just looking at the maybe two actual paragraphs that i've written like
#squirrel plays bg3#oc: iona raedir#they're just!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#early on they're a huge miscommunication in every scene; both operating on false premises in the way they approach one another#but as they get onto the same page emotionally they apparently just.... shut the fuck up for some reason#the two pretenders learning to read one another to the degree that they no longer need words is important to me#and it gets even worse once Iona gets over her shit and allows him into her head post-personal quest#like they won't do that often ofc but I imagine that joining minds like that#deliberately mutually profoundly and for a solid couple minutes#would give you a downright odd level of insight into a person yknow#in the “I know exactly what it's like to be you just like how you know what it's like to be me and we still love each other” sense#like “no masks no lies nothing in the way; i allowed you into the deepest; ugliest parts of myself where you found me”#“and all you did was reach out to hold my hand”#yknow that sort of deal
5 notes
·
View notes