this is more of an observation than a headcanon but like. headcanon that bastian actually has anger issues that he hides under his gentlemanly demeanor. these issues most definitely stem from his childhood with quistley and the rest of the silvelles. it used to be worse when he was younger, but he has since learned to internalize it. sometimes, though, he still slips up.
it's also why he's a dragonknight rather than, say, a templar. now this is definitely more of a headcanon, but i think that fire magic comes more naturally to him because it's a somewhat better way of venting than exploding and taking it out on others.
some in-game things where i picked on this "headcanon"/observation
the way he hesitates when speaking over the course of his intro quest Multiple Times, implying he was about to say something much worse.
his ultimate, where it's building up rage and exploding in a much more literal sense. the rest of his skills align with existing ones available to the player, but his ultimate being different from other player dk skills is interesting because. they could have given him his own variation of standard or something. but they specifically chose a Different Ult with this specific wording.
this counts as "bastian holding back before he says something he'll regret," but it's also a little glimpse into the way the other silvelles treated him. this is most likely the reason why he's come to hold himself back.
and of course, there's the iconic "bastian knocks quistley tf out" that i screenshotted in a different post. he seems like he's been wanting to do that for a long, long time.
agreed!
dragonknight magic (and by extension, basitan’s fire magic) is really interesting because it seems to come from passion. Anger is just one form of expressing passion. Anger (and passion in general) is a sign of caring, and anger specifically is your brain telling you something is wrong and needs to be fixed. What the silvelles did “raising” Bastian could have worn him down into a husk of a person, but it’s apparent in his commentary that he’s a person who deeply cares about the world and other people. He’s extremely passionate, and I’d say the issues with the relationship he has with anger alluded to in his dialogue and skill descriptions centers on the fact that he holds it all in, rather than he’s violent or explosive or anything.
The silvelles (and any abuser) don’t want resistance so of course it makes sense they’d hammer it in to bastian that anger = bad, and no one will respect you if you let it show. The explosion ultimate feels like a breakthrough has been made, where he’s allowing the energy to show and be felt.
(plus i really like how it’s similar to the ‘inhale’ skill players get, where you take a deep breath and after a few moments fire explodes around you. feels satisfying and potentially theraputic but i might just be gushing over dragonknights so don’t mind me).