Well, everyone has their own taste. In my opinion and taste, laughing and smug versions both don't work well at this point, because grabbing the throat is an intense and (for the audience) thrilling moment, I don't like to see Tav smiling at this very moment (until the kiss starts), I'd prefer a more neutral and concerned facial expression with a little fear (without sadness), not knowing what will happen, more like in the romance scene, when Tav is kneeling and Astarion is saying "own your body", or after Astarion pushed Tav down and Tav is looking up to him or when Astarion is grabbing him at the throat after "let it hurt". Also here, Tav is not smiling at Astarion, it wouldn't make sense, because grabbing the throat is - honestly - nothing where someone would smile (in my opinion), it's a power play, there can be passion, arousal, expectation, danger, Tav being on the mercy of their partner in that play. So it doesn't make sense for me, if Tav would smile at the throat grabbing moment. But screaming or looking terrified like in the original version is definitely too much, over the top, it should be less than that. At least, they are knowing each other and this scream or looking terrified looks odd for replay.
I do agree with you. For me the throat grab was never a problem (although I still have the opinion that it could be modified a little bit to be less triggering). I think the facial expressions you mention from the turning scene would absolutely be better. But between the two (laughing or smug), I do not want Tav to be too agressive in the kneeling scene, because of the points you made. But it would be another matter if we could have Tav dominating Astarion a little bit in another kiss. I would have loved to see that personally, but I know I'm probably not in the majority of that.
Edit: Thinking about it there is something that is called a nervous smile. So I think it is not completely unbelievable to have Tav smile during the grab.
Originally Posted by Zayir
That some facial expressions can be difficult (when Astarions is grabbing the throat) to choose I could understand, but whatever their intention was with - well - sadness and contempt/fake smiles, also in the other kisses. Maybe sadness, contempt and disgust are feelings of someone else, but surely not of the characters or the players.
That is very true. Playing with the mods made me forget honestly.
