#tulla (original character)

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Lost In Time

Fandom: Supergirl and Peter Pan

Characters: Kara Zor El, Tinker Bell, Tulla

Summary: Tinker Bell comes across the ultimate lost thing, an alien spaceship crash landed on Neverland.

Word Count: 2,158

Chapter: 1/?

Tinker Bell dusted food off her grass green dress and went to stare out the window in her treehouse to admire the stars. As much as she loved Peter and the other Lost Boys, they were a rowdy bunch. She liked times like these where things were tranquil. She stared for a couple of minutes until she noticed a weird bright object moving through the sky. She thought it was a shooting star. However, it was too small. As she followed its trajectory across the sky, she noticed that the object started to have smoke coming out of it. She lost sight of it and a couple of minutes later, she heard a boom which rattled the forest. A tower of smoke began to grow not that far from her. 

“I wonder what it could be,” Tinker Bell wondered. 

She shook her head at the notion. It would be foolish. It was from the sky. No telling where it came from or whether it was friend or foe. However, as she stared at the smoke in the distance, curiosity got the better of her. She flew quickly to see what had landed. When she arrived, she was baffled by what she saw. In a huge crater, there was a silver oval contraption. Very shining. It wasn’t very huge though. It looked to be 10 ft long and 4 feet wide. She had never seen anything like it. As she got closer, she saw a small window. She peeped inside and was amazed at what she saw. It was a young girl. She couldn’t be no more than 11 or 12. She looked like she was sleeping peacefully despite the crash. 

“I wonder where you came from” said Tinker Bell in awe as she touched the window. 

When her hand hit the glass, a bright light engulfed the entire object. Tinker Bell quickly flew up a couple of feet out of its reach. Warily, she watched as the light pulsated for a minute until it gradually dissipated. She thought about flying away until she heard a hissing sound coming from the object. She noticed the top part of the object gradually began to open. Out of it came the little girl. Tinker Bell thought that she was adorable. She had curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a white gown that had a gold trim with unusual symbols along the bottom of her dress and sleeves. The little girl looked around looking very confused and lost. 

Tinker Bell gradually approached her and said, “Are you okay?”

The little girl stared at her startled at first, but then turned to curiosity. 

Tinker Bell got up closer and tried again. 

“You look a little lost.”

The little girl gave a sad smile and said, “I think I am. I was supposed to land on Earth, but I feel that I may be in the wrong place.” 

Tinker Bell nodded and said, “You are in Neverland. It is two stars to the right from Earth.”

The little girl looked solemn. She looked around and suddenly began to panic. 

“Is everything ok?” asked Tinker Bell.

“No, my cousin is missing. He was sent in a similar ship as me.” said the little girl panicky. 

The little girl started pacing back and forth frantically. 

“What if he landed on Earth? He is only a baby. How is he going to take care of himself. What if the wrong people find him. What if…”

Tinker Bell stopped her by putting her hand on her lips. 

“Let’s not assume the worst about your cousin. There is a possibility that he landed here. If not, Earth is not that far from away.”

The little girl looked down frowning and said, “I am unfamiliar with the land and its inhabitants. How would I ever go about trying to find him?” 

Tinker Bell smiled and said, “I can be your guide. I am used to finding lost things. This will be a piece of cake.”

The little girl smiled and exclaimed, “Really, you would do that for me?”

“I would be happy too. By the way, what is your name?”

“My name is Kara Zor El.”

“Well, it is nice to meet you Kara. All I need is your cousin’s name, and I can use my magic to try to track him.”

“That is perfect! His name is Kal El.” 

“Alright, let’s see where Kal El may have landed.” 

Tinker Bell held out her hand for a couple of second before a wand appeared. She tend waved the wand in three broad strokes while chanting and a grey trail appeared. Kara stared in awe of such of feat. Tinker Bell stared at the trail and frowned.

Kara noticed Tinker Bell’s expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I may have spoken too soon about this being an easy fix,” sighed Tinker Bell. 

“Why is that?”

“Well, the trail is leading where your cousin will be.”

“You mean he hasn’t arrived at Earth or Neverland yet?”

“No, it is telling us where is location will be in the future.”

“Wait. You mean my cousin is not in the same time period as us?”

“Correct.”

“What year are we in now?” asked Kara nervously. 

“1845.”

“No. No, No! I am supposed to be in 1995. How did I get not only knocked off course, but stuck in the past,” said Kara pacing back and forth. 

“I never said you were stuck in the past or that our quest was hopeless. It is just going to take a lot longer than I thought,” mused Tinker Bell. 

“Will you still help me?” asked Kara with tears threatening to fall down her face. 

Tinker Bell said softly, “Yes, I will still help you. First, we need to find someone that specializes in time magic.”

“Do you know anyone?” asked Kara with her voice wavering.

“I know of several.”

“Where?”

“The fairy guild has a gathering of fairies of all kinds including the time fairies. We should find at least one of them there.”

Kara smiled softly and said, “That’s great. When can we go?”

“Why not now?”

Tinker Bell waved her wand and fairy dust began to fall all over Kara. Once it disappeared, Kara started to float. It took her a moment to gain her bearings, but after a couple of minutes she was soaring through the air. Tinker Bell was impressed. Peter took a half hour to learn how to fly half as good as Kara was right now. 

Tinker Bell floated up next to her and said, “Follow Me.”

The two soared off into the night on the next part of their journey . 

****

It took Tinker Bell and Kara no time at all to arrive at the Fairy Guild. As they went through the door, they came across fairies running around in a frenzy. 

“Wow, this is amazing!” said Kara in awe. 

“Yes, it is,” said Tinker Bell hesitantly. 

As they dodged out the way of the different fairies scurrying about, Kara asked, “All the fairies seem dressed in different colors. Does that mean anything?”

“Fairies dress in the color that corresponds to their magic. Elemental fairies wear brown, psychic fairies wear purple, general practice fairies wear green like me…”

What does general practice mean?”

“It means that I have never studied in one particular field. I learned bits and pieces of different magic.”

“Does that mean you know how to do time magic?”

Tinker Bell frowned while shaking her head. 

“I have studied books on how to do time magic, but as far as actual practice with it… not so much.”

“Why?”

“Time magic requires a lot of focus and training. If you are not careful, you can drastically change the timeline for the worse. It is not to be taken lightly.”

“Ohhh.”

They continued to wonder around the guild until Tinker Bell spotted someone she recognized. 

She led Kara towards the back of the room where there was a fairy in a brown dress hurriedly looking through scrolls. 

“Hello Tulla”

Tulla looked up startled, but then her face changed to a sigh of relief. She instantly grabbed Tinker Bell in a hug. 

“Oh good! You are here!”

Tulla started sobbing into her shoulder. Tinker Bell started rubbing her back baffled.

“Tulla, what’s wrong?”

Tulla looked up at her bewildered while wiping her tears. 

“Wait, you haven’t heard?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything.”

“How have you not heard?”

“I don’t know. Does whatever it is also have to do with why all the other fairies seem to be in a panic?”

Tulla started pacing back and forth. 

“Yes, all the fairies are in a panic!”

Midway through her pacing, she finally noticed Kara and stared at her with a frown on her face. 

“Why did you bring a child into the middle of this chaos?”

“One, I didn’t know we were in chaos mode. Two, my friend Kara here is in need of a time fairy to get her back to her correct time.”

Tulla eyes narrowed at Kara and asked, “You need a time fairy?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting you should ask about them. That is what the chaos is about. They are missing.”

“What!” shrieked Tinker Bell and Kara. 

“None of them have been heard from for over a week now.”

“How did no one realize this until now?” asked Tinker Bell baffled. 

“They were strangely all on missions.”

“Why is that unusual?” asked Kara. 

“Since there is only 3 of them, the guild doesn’t like to send more than one out at once for a mission. Time magic is the hardest to teach and training a new fairy in that field would take years.”

“What is the guild doing to address this?”

“They tried to find who sent them out all on missions. We found the request, but there were no names associated with the order. Tracker fairies were sent out to try to find them, but they found nothing.”

“You don’t think they’re….”

“No, based on the psychic fairies readings, they sense they are still alive, but they are not able to locate them either.”

“That’s good at least. I am a good tracker. Maybe, I can find something the other trackers missed.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

“But, I want to help!”

“Actually, you can. Since there is someone that is going after fairies with time knowledge, the guild has been searching our records to see who could be a next target.”

“But there is no one with the level of experience than the three that are missing.”

“Actually, there is one. You.”

“What!”

“You are the only fairy currently in the guild that has taken all of the practical courses. If knowledge serves me you were able to go back and forth through time.”

“Only for 24 hours either way.”

“Ohh… Well, we are going to need you to learn how to go further.”

“What!”

“The tracker fairies weren’t able to find them, but the trail indicates that time magic was involved in their disappearance so they are somewhere in the past or the future.”

“Hmmm…” said Tinker Bell pacing back and forth. 

Tinker Bell turned to Kara and asked, “Before you crashed here, do you remember anything unusual before then.”

Kara shuddered and said, “At some point I was in the phantom zone…”

“What is that?”

“There are like spirits that can suck your energy. They surrounded me for a while and then it suddenly stopped, and I was here.”

“Interesting….”

“Any theories forming?” asked Tulla.

“Both Kara and the time fairies are lost in time. This can’t be a can’t be a coincidence. I think that if we find out what brought Kara here that it may lead us to where the other time fairies are.”

“I think I know where we can start,” said Kara hesitantly.

“You do?” asked Tinker Bell.

“If my ship isn’t too damaged, I may be able to get a reading on what exactly happened.”

“That settles it, we will head back there!”

“No, you won’t. Not without back up.”

“You really think that is necessary?”

“Someone went through a lot of trouble to get the current time fairies. We can’t lose you in case we need to fix the time line.”

“But…”

“I know you are used to working solo, but you can’t leave without taking at least three other fairies with you. The guild hall fortunately is protected against time changes so I will be here monitoring for reports on any time changes occurring on the outside. All the other fairies are at your disposal.”

Tinker Bell looked around the various fairies that are running about and sighed. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Kara.

Tinker Bell sighed and said, “Investigating is the easy part. Finding teammates that won’t conflict with each other’s personalities is going to be tough.”

Tinker Bell slowly headed back into the crowd to look for willing teammates to accompany her on her quest. 

[mybg3notebook]

Astarion Analysis

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were made up to the game version v4.1.101.4425. As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information.

“Morals are all well and good, but power always wins.” 

“If all I want is shallow praise? Hardly, there is also gold, sex, revenge, quite the list, really. But failing any of those, I will always settle for shallow praise.”

--Astarion 

The majority of sources used for this article are in the game itself (including Astarion-solo playthroughs) and the dev’s notes and datamined information provided by pjenn. Astarion as origin is (almost) not taken into account since it’s not finished and is highly unpolished. 

The itemised list will show some instances of approval or disapproval as seen in the game. To make the reading of this article easier and shorter, you can skip them since they are basically the proof I use to sustain the introductory concept of each block. 

We can infer a lot of Astarion by analysing what he approves and disapproves of. Sometimes, we can even lightly infer some information from his neutral reactions, but let’s be honest: this way of analysing a char is pretty poor since it leaves everything to speculation. Neutral reactions can only be analysed by contrasting the same situation in other contexts, and seeing what other options Astarion approves or disapproves of. With these considerations in mind, we can proceed to describe this character.

Disclaimer: this is a meta with my personal interpretation of the character, sticking as much as possible to the facts and leaving little to “desires” or “projections” of what I want him to be. If I do so, I will state it explicitly in the text for the sake of analysis honesty. I want to be clear about what is canon (facts shown in bg3 EA), from what’s personal interpretation with little proof.

Also, this list is extensive, gathering as much as I could in my many playthroughs, but I’m sure it’s not absolutely complete. Some details may have escaped to me, but honestly, I believe they will be easily fit in these blocks once the pattern has been seen.

Understanding Astarion by enumerating his reactions

Astarion is usually seen as a character whose behaviour is the embodiment of “randomness”, and after several Astarion-solo playthoughts, I began to see the patterns that showed little randomness in my opinion. 

We can say that he likes gratuitous cruelty and murder. He has a special taste for animal cruelty too. He is greedy, but mostly if it leads to murder or to make little people suffer. Sometimes this greedy side comes from the fact that he doesn’t like to “work for free”: most quests should have a reward for him to be neutral to them. Accepting them without asking anything in return tends to earn a disapproval. He is more reticent to humiliate or outsmart NPCs that may be potentially stronger and more powerful than him. 

[[1]] Situations showing his greed:

He supports the robbery of the fishermen that were helping the mind flayer (MF) after the crash. 

Astarion supports stealing the “magical” ring from the tiefling kid (Mattis). This could be seen also as a gesture of outsmarting a person or mere trickster behaviour (see below).

He supports asking for compensation from the deep gnome we saved at the windmill.

He agrees to force Tulla (dying gnome in the myconid camp) to give you her magical boots.

Denying Baelen the scrolls because “they don’t come cheap”.

He approves pickpocketing Mirkon while being lured by the harpies.

[[2]]Situations displaying plain murder or violence:

He supports joining Lae’zel against the tieflings if you persuade them to free her, since this means killing (which is always an entertainment for him) creatures he considers lesser.

He supports killing Gimblebok and his gang near the Jergal ruins if you avoid any attempt of persuasion. This can be shown as a demonstration of power. (see below)

He supports killing Kagha without trying to persuade her or change her ways, not because he thinks Arabella’s death was an aberration (he enjoyed the show, as his approval and later comment confirm it) but simply because he enjoys murder.

He supports attacking the goblin camp. It’s a great spectacle of murder combined with his personal dismiss towards goblinoid races.

He approves of joining Minthara and massacrating the tieflings. It’s another great spectacle of murder, but in this time, of weak people (He detests weak creatures, and despises Tieflings in general).

He approves of killing Lae’Zel in the scene where she attacks Tav during the night, out of fear of turning into MF.

He approves of killing Rugan in the hideout. 

Still related to this level of violence and cruelty, he supports learning more about Shar once Shadowheart explains Shar’s teachings, all about violence and death, fighting against the illusion of safety.

He approves killing Ellyka, the tiefling spying on the Gith patrol, if Tav is a Githyanki (true or disguised as) and chooses “Attack.”

He approves of helping Glut in massacring the whole Myconid colony.

He approves of sacrificing one of the companions to the fish-people who worship Booal.

He approves fighting the fake god Booal because it’s a massacre; where there is bloodshed, there is Astarion’s approval. 

For the same reason he approves killing the Githyanki patrol: pure bloodshed.

[[3]] Situations of gratuitous cruelty: I understand that a lot of people confuse this trait of his personality as a “trolling attitude”. There are different archetypes of tricksters in DnD, and he is not particularly the silly-funny one (e.i. Jester in Critical Role), but the cruel-funny one. His “pranks” don’t cause annoyance or silly troubles, they usually end up in murdering the person he is pranking, or causing them great pain. What he considers “funny” is always related to a lot of blood and suffering. Examples of this:

He disapproves of diffusing the situation between Aradin and Zevlor after the first goblin attack. He is “missing” his show. This situation is also related to enjoying humiliation of others (see below).

After letting Arka kill the goblin and take her revenge, Astarion will approve the comment that refugees are desperate and they will do anything. He is enjoying the show of despair of weak creatures. And he is also expecting for some of them to become survivalist beasts.

He approves of telling Kagha that you enjoyed the show of Arabella’s death as an answer to her question about if she is a monster.

He also approves of telling Arabella's parents that Kagha will release their daughter when the Rite of Thorns is completed (while Arabella, in fact, has been killed by Kagha's snake). This is another example of Evil Trickster, a prank with a really dark taste. This also shows that Astarion likes to give false hopes [One of the most iconic characteristic of Cazador]

He approves of telling the tiefling kids training with Wyll that they are going to die, inspiring that despair he enjoys to see in weak creatures. (see below)

He approves of breaking Alfira’s teacher’s lute, leaving the tiefling heartbroken because that had been the only memento she got from her teacher, and could not finish her tribute song.

Astarion approves of interrupting the goblinoid couple having sex, which he considers disgusting. After killing them, Astarion will support the idea that it was funny. Another example of Evil Trickster where the prank ends up with the death of the pranked one. But we also know Astarion despises goblinoid races.

He approves of killing Crusher after humiliating him.

He supports Tav who volunteers to torture Liam at the goblin camp.

He supports of laughing at Lorin (the elf trapped in Ethel’s house) after pretending to be the monster he sees (psychological torture). This example can be part of the list of humiliation too.

He states that seeing Mayrina’s horrified face after resurrecting her husband was funny. Another example of false hopes [One of the most iconic characteristics of Cazador] On the contrary, if Tav kills the undead afterwards, Astarion will disapprove, since he missed the “fun” of seeing Mayrina tortured. 

He enjoys every state of Abdirak’s torture upon Tav. This can be seen as a fine bloody show he is enjoying, or as a way to put Tav in a humiliating situation (as he approved the dung-smearing or the foot-kissing instances)

Using the leader gnoll Flind to attack her own gnolls earns his approval. Asking her to devour herself increases approval once more. This situation could also be seen as enjoyment of animal cruelty (since gnolls are considered animals by Astarion too) but also as the reflection of Astarion’s inner desire of becoming a Master of bending wills.

 Probably the most innocent prank so far we saw, he approves of doing Baaa at the redcaps in the Bog.

[[4]] As I said previously, he suports any form of animal cruelty:

He approves of kicking and killing the squirrel Timber in the Druid Grove. According to the dev’s notes, he is “shocked and annoyed” because “you stamped a squirrel to death when he could’ve eaten it.” (DEN_General_Squirrel)

He supports prodding to death the bird that Nettie was healing during the dialogue (you need Speak with Animals for this).

He supports freeing the Owlbear cub at the Goblin Camp, and feeding it later, because he wants to bite the owlbear cub eventually (he uses the word “delectable” to describe him, and when the owlbear escapes, Astarions states “You‘ve scared off the little snack.”)

When we find Halsin in his bear form, Astarion will have two instances of approval: the first one when Tav tells the goblin kids that throwing stones with sharp edges would hurt the animal more, and then when Tav themself joins the goblins in throwing rocks at Halsin. 

We can also add the confrontation with Flind, the Gnoll leader, as another example of animal cruelty since he approves a smart yet twisted way of killing her by double-using the tadpole. First to command her to attack the gnolls, and then to devour herself. However, since Gnolls are considered aberrations lore-wise, this point could be left aside in this particular case. 

If we take into consideration that Astarion sees Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnomes as animals, killing them always increases his approval. This happens when we kill, out of the blue, most goblin NPCs, or simply attack the camp. (Datamined content) He will also approve of killing slave gnomes in Duergar Encampment (place you find after the boat). All these moments can be also seen as “animal” cruelty if we take into account Astarion’s perspective.

He approves of killing Priestess Gut in the Goblin Camp. It could also be interpreted as his usual dismissal towards goblins (he sees them as animals), since he never believed that she could help them in the first place. Or this approval can fit perfectly fine the cruel, murderous aspect of Astarion. As I said, many approvals overlap different aspects of Astarion, but all seem to fit his patterns either way. 

I suspect that the reason behind this particular kind of cruelty comes from those two hundred years of torture, in which he had to drink animal blood. Considering he was such an unfair magistrate, directing his rage against the ones who are not the root of the problem seems fitting. 

[[5]] Astarion is filled with racial bias and prejudices. 

He only sees elves and humans as the only creatures capable of thinking. (Scene after the bite)

However, he has strong biases against a particular ethnic group of humans: Gurs. He thinks they are all cut-throat, and probably would approve the rest of stereotypes that Gandrel added in that scene. (Scene of meeting Gandrel)

He mocks halfling and dwarf Tavs, who he thinks are naturally weak, until they prove him wrong. (Stargaze scene for short-sized Tav)

He supports the idea that tieflings have demonic powers just because of their heritage. (Speaking with the Grove halfling seller). During the party, he compares the lives of the tieflings with the lives of the goblins as something of similar value (which we know he considers as animal).

He sees goblins, kobolds, and gnomes as animals. (Scene after the bite)

After killing the goblinoid couple which was having sex, if Tav choose to say that the situation made them scrub their eyes, Astarion would add and extra “dehumanizing” comment against gnomes. “I’ve seen worse. Gnomes can be… ughh.” (Scene of interrupting sex)

[[6]] He finds pleasure in humiliating people or in outsmarting them, especially if they are trying to outsmart Tav. He dislikes weakness and loves to humiliate weak people in particular.

He approves telling Lae’Zel to say “please” when we met her again in the cage, humiliating her. 

He disapproves of diffusing the situation between Aradin and Zevlor after the first goblin attack. We know he is “missing” his show where one of them is being humiliated.

Astarion approves of telling Elegis that she is pathetic for being scared of a few goblins. Once more, humiliation due to weakness. 

He disapproves of telling Arabella's parents that the Druids overreacted when speaking in the Druid Grove’s stairs. He is disapproving for defending a weak and silly creature who was not smart enough to survive on her own. 

Astarion supports stealing the “magical” ring from the tiefling kid. This is another situation of humiliation of a weak person and outsmarting them. This could be considered a prank of a more silly-funny trickster doing an innocent prank.

He approves of telling the tiefling kids that they are going to die.

He feels disappointed when Lae’Zel did not kill Zorru, the tiefling that she forces to kneel and confess where he saw the Gith patrol. He approves the psychological torture of the interrogation.

He enjoys interrupting the goblinoid couple having sex. This is an example of the prank cruel-funny trickster. This “prank” ends up with the goblinoid couple being killed.

Astarion approves of smearing dung in the guard's face at the goblin camp entrance. The show of seeing someone being humiliated is satisfying.

He supports booing and humiliating Volo off the stage in the goblin camp. 

He supports licking the goblin’s foot (It could also be considered a prank).

He supports kissing the goblin’s foot while stealing the ring. This situation puts two things he enjoys in the same place: the humiliation experienced by Tav and how the Crusher was outsmarted in the process. Astarion will approve if Crusher is the one humiliated and forced to kiss Tav’s foot. 

He approves of laughing at Lorin (the elf trapped in Ethel’s house) when the elf is scared of Tav who pretends to be the monster that’s torturing him.

Humiliating “low people'' is an important aspect of Astarion’s personality, since it’s a small petty pleasure he can have now, when during the last two hundred years it had been done to him. Humiliation has to do with power as well, another symbol tight to Astarion’s personality. Through humiliation Astarion can taste a little bit of power, that power he lacked for two hundred years. That power that, if his backstory is not retconned in future versions or in the full release game, he had before turning into a vampire, abusing those groups he considered less.

[[7]] If we think in power, we also have to think in manipulation. And of course, Astarion is a great master of it. Sometimes the events that stand out his taste for manipulation overlap with the ones displayed in the humiliation section.

Since the moment we meet Astarion, we know he keeps working in turning himself into a pleasant and useful companion for Tav. Astarion knows he has bigger chances to succeed and survive staying with this group. A lot of his “neutral” behaviours respond to this goal: he doesn’t want to enrage Tav to the point of being kicked out of the party, it’s not about a hidden gentle side inside he is showing with an apathetic neutrality, it’s, once more, raw preservation and survival. During the first scenes of the game, when we don’t know he is a vampire, Astarion tries to avoid taking a position in the situations we face: he is just feeling the ground all the time: with Sazza and with Arabella’s death is clear. He doesn’t judge hard, he is testing Tav, he is trying to understand their mind, and acting as pleasant as he can according to what he sees. It’s a natural use of manipulation to guarantee his survival in a group of strangers. During the bite scene—when this façade finally ends—he is truly nervous of being killed for his vampiric nature, and tries to convince Tav of keeping him in the group using arguments that go from seduction to practical usefulness. 

The scene of stargaze also shows his usage of seduction as a manipulative tool to guarantee his survival (he weponises seduction and sex). Although he says mostly the same, he reacts very differently in tone depending on Tav’s approach. If Tav is wary, Astarion will act encouraging their ego and enumerating several feats, while getting uncomfortably closer. If Tav is already interested in Astarion, the elf will use softer manners to keep the seduction into a more intimate tone. This is a scene of a predator tasting his future prey as well (Dev’s notes are pretty clear about his manipulation). In this scene, also, Astarion is light-headed because he has not drunk blood in a while, and has “his head foggy” (something we can repeat during his origin as a personal tag). Exact words he will use as a narrative hint during the bite scene. Therefore, this scene has little of “Astarion falling for Tav”, and has everything of vampiric hunger combined with a raw sense of survival and usage of seduction to guaranteed it.

(potential interpretation) He approves when he is persuaded into sharing his dream with Tav. In any other character, we usually would understand this as an approval for caring about the character himself. In that scenario, failing the approval doesn’t cause a penalty (unless the character understands this failure as prying, as it happens with Shadowheart). In Astarion’s case, when you fail this persuasion, you are penalised with a disapproval. We can understand this in the same way we see it with Shadowheart: this is his annoyance for prying into his personal business. But there is another interpretation in this disapproval: he recognised a bad execution of persuasion as a manipulative attempt, and Astarion is in particular very sensitive to manipulations and mind games (see point [12]). 

Most of his “romance” is manipulation as well, keeping in mind the first point of this section: he becomes pleasant for Tav, using whatever shape he needs, so he can survive (this is especially noticeable with a good-aligned Tav). Astarion has weaponised seduction and sex without any hint of subtetly for the player (As the Dev’s notes say: “For Astarion, this is a game of power - one he’s played many times before in the taverns of Baldur’s Gate, trying to lure people back to his master. He’s an old hand at seduction, very self-assured at first, but the player might not go along with the script he expects them to follow.”) We can assure that Astarion will find more satisfaction in having “fun” with a high-approval Tav rather than a low-approval Tav.

If Tav is not evil enough (and therefore has a low approval), Astarion will need to be the one inviting Tav to have sex (to be sure the control is still in his hand, still pushing for “catching” Tav). If a low-approval-Tav invites Astarion, he will decline saying that he “has standards'', implying he needs to be the one controlling the situation (he is basically playing “hard to catch”. Astarion already knows that he “caught” Tav in this scenario since Tav was the first one showing their interest). If Tav is evil-like (and has enough approval), Astarion will not only weaponise sex, he may express some degree of personal desire in having “fun” with Tav. After all, evil characters can like one another. In this case, he would accept Tav’s invitation for more hedonist reasons such as personal pleasure and not mere survival. Still it’s always present the layer of using this situation as a manipulative tool to have control on Tav.

Approves persuading Crusher without a fight, understanding it as an approval earnt for the good manipulation tool used. Of course this scene is combined with the natural approval that Astarion gives when outsmarting creatures he considers lower or animal-like (See point [6]). 

Successfully persuade Lae'Zel to "play along" when meeting the Githyanki patrol, and pull off the deception.

I personally found funny that Astarion, without the intention of the writer, is so good in his manipulations, that he broke the fourth wall and ended up manipulating a good amount of players as well into believing him. 

[[8]] He supports revenge in all its forms and degrees, which is not strange since it’s his main motivation against Cazador.

He approves of letting Arka kill Sazza in the cage as revenge for her brother’s death.

He approves of the attack against Nettie when she poisons Tav.

He approves of telling Edowin's siblings to find the beast that attacked him as a way to avenge the True Soul.

Astarion approves of Arabella’s mother killing Kagha at the party.

He approves of helping the Sovereign to take revenge against the Duergars that killed their young. However, it’s not clear if Astarion approves the revenge itself or the method proposed, which is, according to his own words, “a bit genocidal” and therefore more entertaining for him (we need to remember he enjoys the display of murder and violence in all its forms, [2,3]). 

He approves of helping Glut in massacring the whole Myconid colony, since according to Glut’s words, they saw Glut’s circle being killed by the Duergars and did nothing, so Glut is looking for revenge. 

[[9]] He doesn’t like to get involved in anyone’s problems unless you can obtain a benefit or a reward for it (this is directly connected to his greed aspect [1])

He approves of telling Mayrina’s brothers that they are on their own, and actively disapproves if Tav agrees to help them find Mayrina.

He approves of declining to help Halsin in killing the Goblin leaders.

He disapproves of helping Wyll to save the Tiefling refugees in the Grove.

He disapproves of helping Zevlor.

He disapproves of finding evidence that confirms that Kagha is working with Shadow Druids. He will additionally disapprove again if, after exposing her, Tav asks her to change her ways. From Astarion’s point of view, Tav is basically meddling too much in the Grove’s problems for free, and ruining all the instances where murder could happen. 

He also disapproves if Tav agrees to help the two Zhentarim humans that are attacked by gnolls without asking for compensation.

He approves of not getting involved in the rescue of the Duke when Tav speaks with Florrick

[[10]] Despite having been a slave, he lacks of empathy for those who shared his fate and, instead, he supports slavery:

If we take into consideration what Swen said about his background in one of the first playthough he showed, we know that Astarion, as a magistrate, used criminals as food for local vampires, and in an attempt to outsmart them, he began to sell them into slavery (we can see in this brief background that Astarion has been greedy and cruel before turning into a vampire).

Although he disapproves paying for Oskar, the painter in the Zhentarim Hideout, he does it because of the money. When Tav buys the painter and demands him to stay silent because “slaves should speak when they are spoken to”, Oskar will think this is a joke (which is not the case, since none of those options has, in this patch at least, a (performance) tag). When Tav reinforces the idea that this is not a joke, and Oskar is now a true slave, only then, Astarion will approve. 

When seeing one of the servant Duergars of the Myconite Colony, Astarion will comment on how useful they are, and how Underdark drows should learn about these creatures, since these slaves are more efficient than the standard ones. If Tav brings awareness about the contradiction that those thoughts cause coming from an ex-slave, Astarion will justify his thinking saying that they are husks without mind, claiming that his feelings “may be different, had they been conscious beings. Or maybe not.” He emphasises in this dual possibility. And we can be sure that he certainly would not care slavery on conscious creatures, as we confirm it later with Oskar (A human who is not a Gur, and therefore, a creature that Astarion consider thinking acceptable beings). 

(Datamined content) When reaching the Duergar Encampment, once Nere is rescued, there is approval for killing the slave gnomes when the True Soul orders it. One can interpret that Astarion minds little for these slaves because they are gnomes, and therefore, animals.

[[11]] He looks for power and dominance, to have control over others and also as a way to guarantee his own freedom. 

In the discussion after every dream, Astarion supports the use of the tadpole's power in every opportunity, dismissing their effects. He is thrilling for the ability of bending everyone’s will (curious note, this is one of Cazador’s characteristics most hated by him)

He approves of letting the Koa-Toes bow before them as the Booal's chosen. This scene can be understood as a typical prank of a trickster, but also as a taste for being adored as a master/entity with more power. This scene shows that he and Tav are placed in the “Master” position. This reinforces the idea that Astarion wants to be a Master/Cazador, eventually. (Check post about Astarion and Power 1 and 2)

If Tav claims that the worship to them as True Souls can be useful after letting Edowin’s siblings leave, Astarion will approve. He shows in every instance more delight for having Cazador’s powers, making emphasis in the mind control ability, again.

Astarion approves of keeping the Necromancy of Thay tome. As we see later in his scene, he believes that there is something powerful hidden in it that may help him against Cazador. He wants to muster all the power of any kind he can.

Astarion approves of sparing Auntie Ethel’s life when she surrenders during battle because she will grant them power in exchange. He wants to muster all the power of any kind he can.

[[12]] Astarion is particularly sensitive to mind control. His expressions and the tone of his voice against any type of mind control are filled with feral ire (video here): 

He is angrily affected by the movements of his worm in his own head, 

He screams against Ethel’s control when using the mask, 

The insults at the harpies when he is lured, 

The way he is annoyed by the telepathic spores in the Underdark, 

He disapproves failed attempts of persuasion (understood by his character as failed, obvious attempts of manipulations). 

And, potentially, this is the reason why he disapproves of Priestess Gut cleaning Tav’s mind.

[[13]] Because he likes power, he also likes the demonstration of power whether his own or his allies’, therefore he likes most intimidation options in general

He approves of intimidating Gimblebok and the gang near the ruins. 

He approves of intimidating or provoking both Aradin and Zevlor at the Druid Grove.

At camp, when discussing preferred methods of death, he approves if Tav tells him "If I die, I'll take you with me." (after first picking "Try it and I'll spill your guts") . He also approves if Tav chooses a method of death (decapitation, knife, poison). Both options show resolve, strength, and freedom in deciding one’s fate. Since Astarion died at the hands of strangers, he values the freedom of choosing how to die. He will disapprove picking the option of letting others decide your death.

He approves if you intimidate the mirror into allowing passage.

[[14]] He is a survivalist character, and therefore, a lot of his approvals are related to elements that will guarantee his life, such as looking for his own freedom, the acceptance of his vampire nature, and the encouragement in looking for strong alliances or keeping alive strong individuals that can be useful as allies. 

He approves of being accepted with his vampire nature and allowing him to feed on Tav’s blood. He keeps approving if Tav defends him during the exchange of opinions in the camp. 

He approves if he has permission to feed on enemies. 

He approves of killing Gandrel. This approval is also mere raw survival.

He approves if during sex, Tav allows him to drink their blood. 

He disapproves of promising Nettie to take Wyvern Poison if you feel symptoms of the Tadpole, since it goes against his survival instinct.

When Lae’Zel is killed by the Gith patrol, he will state in banter that it was a waste since Lae’Zel was a powerful/strong specimen, so clearly he is lamenting the loss of a powerful ally. 

Despite appreciating his freedom, he has explicitly stated that he “would choose servitude over oblivion any day”, showing how extremely survivalist he can be.

[[15]] He likes to find a solution to their tadpole problem using unconventional ways, or at least, using options that may lead him to the twisted solution he needs (which is not exactly being cured of the tadpole, but to control it, he certainly needs more exceptional means)

He approves of telling Auntie Ethel about the tadpole in the Druid Grove simply because she “looks lunatic”.

At first, Astarion disapproves of Raphael's invitation to remove the Tadpole, claiming that he would not change one master for another. However, when the situation starts looking dire, he will approve of the idea, because anything “may be better than Cazador” adding later that he “would choose servitude over oblivion any day.” 

A bit contradictory when he was the first one claiming that Raphael used mind games similar to Cazador’s, games they know they have won before starting.

[[16]] He has a “soft spot” for helping people to escape their masters or killing/rejecting people that can be seen as Masters. However it’s requirement that those escapees could be seen by Aastarion as strong and capable creatures. He would mind little for creatures he sees as underlings. (Weak concept, seeing it with squinted eyes)

He approves of helping Karlach to get rid of the Tyr followers, since they are in fact working for Zariel, Karlach’s previous master. With all what Karlach explained about her past, she certainly qualifies as a strong person who is trying to get rid of her master.

He disapproves of Tav who tells Raphael that they would do anything to remove the Tadpole. This is probably resounding in Astarion: his past bad choice when he was at death's door due to the Gur attack and Cazador appeared to “save” him. He knows that going to that extent has poor results.

Astarion approves of Tav if they say that they won’t become Raphael's pawn (conversation in the camp after the encounter with Raphael). It’s true that when the other options narrow, Astarion starts to consider the possibility of changing a vampiric master for an infernal one.

This post was written on April 2021.

→ For more Astarion: Analysis Series Index

[dreamsverseold]

AND NOW for Day 7 /o/  Which I wish I had done a bit better, honestly. :C

She’s spidery witch tailor bab ♥  I think her name’s Tulla.

[lucky13-452]

Siren's Song

by Mary Weber

Storm Siren #3

Young Adult | High Fantasy | Paranormal Romance

“The realization hits: We’re not going to win. It’s why I couldn’t defeat Draewulf in Bron—because this power was never mine anyway. I drop my arms and let the energy die off. And turn around to Face Eogan." After a fierce battle with Draewulf, Nym barely escaped with her life. Now, fleeing the scorched landscape of Tulla, her storm-summoning abilities are returning; only . . . the dark power is still inside her. Broken and bloodied, Nym needs time to recover, but when the full scope of the shapeshifter’s horrific plot is revealed, the strong-willed Elemental must race across the Hidden Lands and warn the other kingdoms before Draewulf’s final attack. From the crystalline palaces of Cashlin to the legendary Valley of Origin, Nym scrambles to gather an army. But even if she can, will she be able to uncover the secret to defeating Draewulf that has eluded her people for generations? With a legion of monsters approaching, and the Hidden Lands standing on the brink of destruction, the stage is set for a battle that will decide the fate of the world. This time, will the Siren’s Song have the power to save it?

Goodreads

The Storm Siren series is amazing! I have finally finished the final book in the trilogy and it was everything I could have hoped for in the final book. Not only is this series about people with awesome powers (this includes Elementals, yay), decadent courtiers, crazy royal politics and an evil shapeshifter bent on world domination but they have some of the most beautiful book covers I have ever seen.

Siren's Song is the third book and final step in the fight between Nym (along with the rest of the people in the Hidden Lands) and Draewulf. Everything has been building up and all roads lead into this final war, one which no one may survive. Draewulf has taken over, waging war on kingdoms throughout the Hidden Lands and it all lands on Nym to stop him but is the elemental enough. With so many people depending on Nym, with Draewulf attacking all sides, can Nym save the people who have been so horrible to her, can she save the land that she loves?

Mary Weber has done a fantastic job with this fantasy series, it's compelling, complex, has great world building and characters that I have become deeply invested in. It was really interesting seeing everything come together and wrap-up everything so perfectly, especially since Weber had me nervous about the fact that there were only sixty pages left in the book and I didn't see how she was going to conclude it in so few pages. Weber was an absolute genius when it comes to this series and I am so glad that she was.

The Storm Siren series is what a young adult high fantasy is supposed to be and Siren's Song was a perfect ending to a series that I have come to love.

Overall 5 stars