Lady Jess wrote...
ejoslin wrote...
edit: Deleted my take on the Zevran romance because I shouldn't discuss it in an Alistair fan group 
I will say it IS a far grittier romance than Alistair's, but it is sad and sweet and beautiful in its own way. It's also not for everyone for sure!
I really hate when you do that...you're one of the best at explaining it.
Gah, sorry. I've been ticking off Alistair fans lately and I wanted to avoid doing so
But ok, here goes my take on it:
Zevran's attitude towards sex and love are coming from someone who was trained, from the time he was a small child, that sex is a tool and love is a weakness. He describes his childhood as happy, except for the occasional beatings. He also apparently considers his childhood over at age 7, when he was sold to the Crows. Even before then, you know he was, as a child, at the very least, taught how to give a who*rehouse massage. You learn about 2 other lovers of his from outside circumstances (Isabela and Taliesen, but you only learn Taliesen was a lover under a certain set of circumstances).
Though Zevran is trying desperately not to fall in love, he trusts a warden he's in a romance with so much earlier than he does one whom he's just friends with. Not only can a lover question him about his motives for being there, but he tells the warden about his last mission to a romanced warden at adore, while a friendwarden doesn't hear about it until friendly. There are more feelings going on there than he lets onto.
The earring... It is a morbid story. It also shows how little he actually has. It is probably the only thing of value he's ever had, and as bad as how he got it, it IS something very meaningful to him. What else did he have to give?
The flirting doesn't bother me. Like the flirting when you first recruit him, it is SO over the top I just can't take it as serious. He is very flirtatious, it is his way. But that doesn't mean he's seriously attempting to get the companions into bed. The seduction of the warden is very different.
Anyway, to me, the most surprising part of the relationship is not that he was falling in love before sex became meaningful to him, but that after he falls in love, sex becomes an expression of love. He will not touch the warden without a commitment from him/her. If you try to keep it from being 100% committed, he will break up with the warden
(linkie). This link is the proposal, but with it turned down.
And it IS a proposal. Here is how it's set up. He first declares his feelings. He then asks for a commitment. He then offers the earring. When you tell him it sounds like a proposal, it's because it IS what it sounds like. And it's not that he's just willing to go along with it, the VO notes say, when he says, "Not unless you wish it," his voice is hopeful. And the fact that he will break up with the warden if THEY don't wish it says it all.
I do get why someone wouldn't like the romance. But Zevran, he's very much a product of his upbringing -- writing off his stories as bragging or whatever -- they're not bragging. He is not proud of what he has done, and will admit that under certain circumstances after he gets to know the warden a bit better. Yet... despite everything, he gets past it. It's a beautiful story, yet it is a different kind of love story. But it's just as true.
Ok, enough squee from me. There's a lot more I can say about this, but I won't. At least, not for now.
Modifié par ejoslin, 10 novembre 2010 - 10:45 .
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