I 100% agree with everything said here. I do sometimes wonder (mostly jokingly!) if Larian just hates ascended Astarion (wasn't there a writer or someone who straight up said anyone who ascends him only sees him as a sex object or something?). I mean the romance is already kinda... it could be written a bit better (to be more emotionally manipulative, I mean, not to be better as in more wholesome or anything, and I say this as someone who writes dark romance for money so I tend to be critical of this stuff so ignore me if you want I'm not saying it's not fine as is because it is), and it does kinda feel like it's meant to be 'do this only on an evil (non-canon good) run' choice. It's been a while since I ascended him but I do remember finding Tav's dialogue options annoyingly limited in the way you react to Astarion, as if the writers decided that if you make choice x then you had to do it because either y or z. I tend to put it up to dark romance being tricky to write and only joke that Larian hates ascended!Astarion sometimes. But if they're actually censoring the actual culmination of the romance now... well. Maybe I should pull out my tinfoil hat.
I'm also hoping they'll add a better kiss animation for Astarion too. I know he's one of the less buggy characters so maybe they're just not prioritizing him (totally fine, fix the bugs first), but it'll be very weird if everyone else gets romance improvements and Astarion gets censorship. I mean Minthara's sex scene exists so I don't think Larian has a problem with, you know, sex being in their games.
