having my first playthrough of the consular story be with a dark side character (antaeres) has been really interesting and im really enjoying it
ive been surprised how many of the companions antaeres sees eye to eye with to at least some extent.
there's qyzen, who is equally as unafraid of violence. he may not always agree with what she does- not always going after particularly worthy targets, in his eyes- but he doesn't dispute her ruthlessness. and the whole Scorekeeper's Herald thing, antaeres really likes the sound of that (it feeds her ego lol). she respects him , though maybe not quite as an equal (because I'm not sure she sees *anyone* as an equal, truly). but he's a good fighter and clearly trusts her substantially and that is something she wants to maintain.
tharan cedrax...i don't know much about tharan still, because i think he's annoying and I'm pretty sure antaeres does too. in any case, she has had no reason to keep him around when qyzen is right there. i kind of do want to know what dialogue he has in response to some of the decisions she's made but...i like the other companions better so i hardly ever have him around lol. antaeres tolerates him because, annoying as he is, he might prove useful for his technological skills. she'll let him do whatever the hell it is that he's doing with the understanding that his success may benefit her as well.
and ZENITH!! zenith is my favorite so far, and my god they are so alike. both pragmatic, shrewd, seeing people as a series of calculations of risk and threat and leverage. civil with potential allies but very unlikely to ever fully trust. they have some very similar perspectives, and antaeres respects him for it. i'm not sure whether she and zenith will ever actually be "friends", because they both view each other through that lens of pragmatism so hard. and because antaeres knows that this alliance is only one that she can trust for as long as their interests remain aligned. but in the meantime, in her eyes zenith is a good ally, equally ruthless and willing to do what needs to be done.
i haven't gotten around to having nadia as a companion yet, but antaeres is ...interested in her powers. she doesn't like the risk of anyone being in some way more powerful than her, without there being ways to reign it in, which is kind of what has her interested in potentially taking on a mentoring kind of role to her if the opportunity arises. something something "keep your friends close and enemies closer" (though in this case more of a "keep an unpredictable element, which may be a threat or an ally, close until you can gauge which category they fall under") . gives her a chance to learn the limits of her capabilities, and to give herself leverage over her by a position of authority, in case she does turn out to be a threat. obviously Nadia's still so young but this is just how antaeres thinks <3
