Timeline...ish stuff and other things
I know I promised to stay in bed today. It got boring.
Soooo, as my castmates have all mentioned at least once, TB canon is extensive and... incomplete. The RAM novels are good sources for backstory extrapolation (and in fact tell us a lot about Asta's past and the type of person she used to be before THE HEALING LIGHT OF ABEL NIGHTROAD, so I draw quite a bit on RAM 1). However, there are still quite a few holes regarding Asta's character and backstory that have yet to be filled. In fact, it's highly likely they may not ever be filled, because while I love Asta like burning, she is not THE MAIN CHARACTER (that will never not be funny to me, sorry) and thus it is not likely that TB canon will give us the lovingly detailed flashback I hope and dream for.
Watch. Now that I've said this, canon's gonna come along and kick me in the face.
Anyway, I've had to make a few guesses based on what I know in order to fill in some of these holes.
Point the First: Age and Influential Events
We know that Count Endre Kourza, Count of Zagrev killed the Countess Len Yearnosh, Asta's childhood tovarish. We also know the following about Endre:
He was a very handsome boy. Even in the dim light, his face seemed to glow like an angel's. He looked ten or eleven years old, but his brassy-colored eyes betrayed a thousand year's worth of evil (RAM I, "From the Empire," p 123).
Now, I'm going to assume that that's a metaphorical "thousand years worth of evil," since that would put Endre at about the same age as the Crusniks, and that's just not possible given that Methuselah's lifespans are said to be about 300 years. So we don't know how old Endre is, just that he looks like a boy of about 11 or 12.
We also know that he killed Len in a standoff in which Endre was potentially holding Asta as a hostage, or generally threatening her life:
"Are you looking for someone?" Endre asked.
Asthe was startled to see an evil shadow perched atop the stone bridge's high arch. To most people, he looked like a cherub. They would have been fooled by his innocent face, but his brass-colored eyes belied pure evil.
"Oh, this is so nostalgic. It was a pretty night like this last time," he said smugly.
Asthe glared at the boy. His mention of the past stung her.
Suddenly, Endre revealed a captive -- a young girl, less than nine or ten years old. She had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Endre removed the terrified girl's Carnival mask and licked the tears off her face.
"What's wrong, Asthe? You're so calm all of a sudden. Weren't you going to kill me a moment ago?" He grinned.
Asthe clenched her jaw. Deja vu.
"Back then, Astharoshe, you were trembling in my arms, and the young Countess Len Yearnosh was in your position now. She was your partner for how long?" he prodded.
"Stop it," Asthe commanded.
"Isn't that what the countess said? She was quite protective of you." The ancient vampire snickered. "And I told the countess to lay down her weapon if she wanted to save your life, and she did."
"Stop!" she repeated.
"I don't think so," he replied.
Endre's claws tore into the girl's cheek. A red trickle ran down her white skin. Astharoshe had bled the same way.
"Then I split her head open, remember?" the count asked. (RAM I, 134)
I am assuming that this event happened before Asta's Awakening for the following reasons:
A. Asta is TALL. There's no way Endre could have held her the way he describes if she was her current height.
B. She would have been too weak to fight him off (granted, she could have just experienced her Awakening, but... see point C)
C. Earlier on, Endre refers to Asta as "a young girl, just weaned on the taste of blood," which suggests it hasn't been THAT long since her Awakening. God, canon, I would marry you if you'd just give me a solid age for her.
So, my assumption is that she was probably around 12 (give or take) when Endre murdered Len. (Which was why I chose to deage Asta to about 10 or 11.) My GUESS is that she is probably about 19 or 20. But I do not know for sure.
Point the Second: Childhood in the Empire
We already know that the Empire's population is pretty goshdarn small. This has brought up speculation of incest (which I think
papillondejade mentions in one of her essays), but it also suggests that there are issues of infertility among Methuselah. No one seems to have any siblings, but they have tovarish (Radu has Ion and Asta has Len). My guess here is that the whole tovarish thing is arranged as sort of a... surrogate sibling relationship, since there aren't many children in the Empire at one time, and no one has any siblings.
It makes sense to me that in a civilization that doesn't have a lot of children running around at any given time, the kidlets are probably treated like small adults. I assume a great deal of time is spent crafting them into future nobles and members of court with schedules including lessons on swordsmanship and private study with some kind of tutor. There probably isn't a lot of time for organized play, but kids will be kids, which is why I assumed Asta would be the type to find her own entertainment. If Len was as protective as Endre implies, then it probably means Asta had a knack for getting into mischief. Again, this is a guess on my part.
(Actually, since Asta says at least twice in canon that Esther reminds her of herself when she was younger, I drew a lot off Esther's character for tiny!asta -- cheerful and respectful, but with a reckless streak.)
Point the Third: Parental Units
Asta's parents are mentioned exactly once in canon. Actually, just one parent: her mother. And we know she died the previous year, because Suleyman shows up at one point (before he's outed as a traitor) and says something to the effect of, "I was very sorry to hear about your mother's passing." Asta, flustered by Suleyman himself, doesn't seem too terribly affected either way (in fact, she gets more wistful/emotional when she's thinking about Len), which implies to me that she probably wasn't terribly close with her mother. I imagine that any negativity towards Terran that Asta felt early on was probably parental influence -- as well as a broader influence:
Asthe had always looked down upon the Outers -- humans who weren't part of the Empire -- but she didn't know a thing about them. Propaganda comprised so much of their education that they weren't much use in the real world. Even if she could speak their language, she couldn't talk about the simplest things. (RAM I, 145)
Point the Fourth: Protecting Innocents
Now, there's a pretty noteworthy difference in character from when we first meet Asta in "From the Empire," when she and Abel team up to apprehend Endre, to when we see her again in Vol 6.
papillondejade and I agree that, since the Endre case, Augusta has probably been using Asta in a more diplomatic capacity, slowly giving her more responsibility. She's matured in three years, and while she still clearly considers Methuselah to be the superior race, she's not really as blatantly anti-Terran. (Also, yes, Abel had a pretty profound influence on her during the Endre case, and I think it's pretty important that she considers a Terran to be her tovarish. However, she does punch Abel innaface when he suggests the Empress is "just a regular human like you or me," which either suggests she doesn't want to be equated with a Terran, or she doesn't want the Empress equated with a Terran.)
Asta does not like to see people victimized -- even Terran. She hated seeing what Endre did to that little girl on the bridge (Asta was unable to save her, and Endre pretty much popped off her head), and that incident led to her decimating the bridge with the Sword of Gae Bolg (and killing a crapload of innocent Terran, which I have talked about in other entries and which she felt horribly guilty about). She verbally abuses Endre later on in "From the Empire," calling him a "barbarian" and a "hillbilly on a power trip" because he kills Terran for fun.
I think this is a big deal for her because she herself was victimized at a time when she was either too weak or too unskilled to protect herself, and while canon never comes out and says it specifically, I think Asta protects people she cares about (and those who can't protect themselves) to honor Len's memory, because she essentially sacrificed her life to save Asta's.
Aaaand now it's back to bed a whole lower-back/heating-pad OTP thang.
Soooo, as my castmates have all mentioned at least once, TB canon is extensive and... incomplete. The RAM novels are good sources for backstory extrapolation (and in fact tell us a lot about Asta's past and the type of person she used to be before THE HEALING LIGHT OF ABEL NIGHTROAD, so I draw quite a bit on RAM 1). However, there are still quite a few holes regarding Asta's character and backstory that have yet to be filled. In fact, it's highly likely they may not ever be filled, because while I love Asta like burning, she is not THE MAIN CHARACTER (that will never not be funny to me, sorry) and thus it is not likely that TB canon will give us the lovingly detailed flashback I hope and dream for.
Watch. Now that I've said this, canon's gonna come along and kick me in the face.
Anyway, I've had to make a few guesses based on what I know in order to fill in some of these holes.
Point the First: Age and Influential Events
We know that Count Endre Kourza, Count of Zagrev killed the Countess Len Yearnosh, Asta's childhood tovarish. We also know the following about Endre:
He was a very handsome boy. Even in the dim light, his face seemed to glow like an angel's. He looked ten or eleven years old, but his brassy-colored eyes betrayed a thousand year's worth of evil (RAM I, "From the Empire," p 123).
Now, I'm going to assume that that's a metaphorical "thousand years worth of evil," since that would put Endre at about the same age as the Crusniks, and that's just not possible given that Methuselah's lifespans are said to be about 300 years. So we don't know how old Endre is, just that he looks like a boy of about 11 or 12.
We also know that he killed Len in a standoff in which Endre was potentially holding Asta as a hostage, or generally threatening her life:
"Are you looking for someone?" Endre asked.
Asthe was startled to see an evil shadow perched atop the stone bridge's high arch. To most people, he looked like a cherub. They would have been fooled by his innocent face, but his brass-colored eyes belied pure evil.
"Oh, this is so nostalgic. It was a pretty night like this last time," he said smugly.
Asthe glared at the boy. His mention of the past stung her.
Suddenly, Endre revealed a captive -- a young girl, less than nine or ten years old. She had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Endre removed the terrified girl's Carnival mask and licked the tears off her face.
"What's wrong, Asthe? You're so calm all of a sudden. Weren't you going to kill me a moment ago?" He grinned.
Asthe clenched her jaw. Deja vu.
"Back then, Astharoshe, you were trembling in my arms, and the young Countess Len Yearnosh was in your position now. She was your partner for how long?" he prodded.
"Stop it," Asthe commanded.
"Isn't that what the countess said? She was quite protective of you." The ancient vampire snickered. "And I told the countess to lay down her weapon if she wanted to save your life, and she did."
"Stop!" she repeated.
"I don't think so," he replied.
Endre's claws tore into the girl's cheek. A red trickle ran down her white skin. Astharoshe had bled the same way.
"Then I split her head open, remember?" the count asked. (RAM I, 134)
I am assuming that this event happened before Asta's Awakening for the following reasons:
A. Asta is TALL. There's no way Endre could have held her the way he describes if she was her current height.
B. She would have been too weak to fight him off (granted, she could have just experienced her Awakening, but... see point C)
C. Earlier on, Endre refers to Asta as "a young girl, just weaned on the taste of blood," which suggests it hasn't been THAT long since her Awakening. God, canon, I would marry you if you'd just give me a solid age for her.
So, my assumption is that she was probably around 12 (give or take) when Endre murdered Len. (Which was why I chose to deage Asta to about 10 or 11.) My GUESS is that she is probably about 19 or 20. But I do not know for sure.
Point the Second: Childhood in the Empire
We already know that the Empire's population is pretty goshdarn small. This has brought up speculation of incest (which I think
papillondejade mentions in one of her essays), but it also suggests that there are issues of infertility among Methuselah. No one seems to have any siblings, but they have tovarish (Radu has Ion and Asta has Len). My guess here is that the whole tovarish thing is arranged as sort of a... surrogate sibling relationship, since there aren't many children in the Empire at one time, and no one has any siblings.
It makes sense to me that in a civilization that doesn't have a lot of children running around at any given time, the kidlets are probably treated like small adults. I assume a great deal of time is spent crafting them into future nobles and members of court with schedules including lessons on swordsmanship and private study with some kind of tutor. There probably isn't a lot of time for organized play, but kids will be kids, which is why I assumed Asta would be the type to find her own entertainment. If Len was as protective as Endre implies, then it probably means Asta had a knack for getting into mischief. Again, this is a guess on my part.
(Actually, since Asta says at least twice in canon that Esther reminds her of herself when she was younger, I drew a lot off Esther's character for tiny!asta -- cheerful and respectful, but with a reckless streak.)
Point the Third: Parental Units
Asta's parents are mentioned exactly once in canon. Actually, just one parent: her mother. And we know she died the previous year, because Suleyman shows up at one point (before he's outed as a traitor) and says something to the effect of, "I was very sorry to hear about your mother's passing." Asta, flustered by Suleyman himself, doesn't seem too terribly affected either way (in fact, she gets more wistful/emotional when she's thinking about Len), which implies to me that she probably wasn't terribly close with her mother. I imagine that any negativity towards Terran that Asta felt early on was probably parental influence -- as well as a broader influence:
Asthe had always looked down upon the Outers -- humans who weren't part of the Empire -- but she didn't know a thing about them. Propaganda comprised so much of their education that they weren't much use in the real world. Even if she could speak their language, she couldn't talk about the simplest things. (RAM I, 145)
Point the Fourth: Protecting Innocents
Now, there's a pretty noteworthy difference in character from when we first meet Asta in "From the Empire," when she and Abel team up to apprehend Endre, to when we see her again in Vol 6.
papillondejade and I agree that, since the Endre case, Augusta has probably been using Asta in a more diplomatic capacity, slowly giving her more responsibility. She's matured in three years, and while she still clearly considers Methuselah to be the superior race, she's not really as blatantly anti-Terran. (Also, yes, Abel had a pretty profound influence on her during the Endre case, and I think it's pretty important that she considers a Terran to be her tovarish. However, she does punch Abel innaface when he suggests the Empress is "just a regular human like you or me," which either suggests she doesn't want to be equated with a Terran, or she doesn't want the Empress equated with a Terran.)
Asta does not like to see people victimized -- even Terran. She hated seeing what Endre did to that little girl on the bridge (Asta was unable to save her, and Endre pretty much popped off her head), and that incident led to her decimating the bridge with the Sword of Gae Bolg (and killing a crapload of innocent Terran, which I have talked about in other entries and which she felt horribly guilty about). She verbally abuses Endre later on in "From the Empire," calling him a "barbarian" and a "hillbilly on a power trip" because he kills Terran for fun.
I think this is a big deal for her because she herself was victimized at a time when she was either too weak or too unskilled to protect herself, and while canon never comes out and says it specifically, I think Asta protects people she cares about (and those who can't protect themselves) to honor Len's memory, because she essentially sacrificed her life to save Asta's.
Aaaand now it's back to bed a whole lower-back/heating-pad OTP thang.