No worries, I think you are pretty clear! I think there's quite a lot of roleplay possibities between "a well-intentioned naive person or evil/selfish" one. Evil is not black and white (which makes it so dangerous IMO, but also interesting to play). You might for example play an evil Tav/Durge who is happy to have found a kindered spirit in Astarion, someone who enjoys the murder and chaos and doesn't judge them or want to hold them back. They are not naive or well-intentioned, but neither is their goal to manipulate him. Being like this is a legit way of life for them. This is a game where we can play Drow or Duergar. They come from cultures where taking power and revenge is part of everyday life. Even an evil person can genuinely care for him. So I do not see a contradiction to the Act 2-scene. If anything I wish I could tell him "Ah really? You think I did not see that? I thought we're having a fun little game here. *smirk*" after his confession. Because he's anything but subtle, which is obviously intentional.
I simplified a bit for the sake of putting Tavs into two camps, I agree there's room for ambiguity! But I really hold the thought that a romanced Tav that lets him ascend hasn't really realised, is unaware, or doesn't care about why Astarion really wants to do the ritual and what you're reaffirming for him if you help him. The reasons for why Tav does it can vary, but to me it's very clear it's not a good option for him (which is why I love picking it tbh, tragedy enjoyers rise).
I also think that while the good ending is more satisfying the evil ending is much more interesting, since the good ending can be a bit unsubtle, esp the conversation the morning after, where he makes it very clear that this is the good path (to the point where I think "Okay... I don't think people talk like this". That being said I think most of the convo is sweet, but a bit heavy-handed here and there). With the evil ending there's a lot to pick at and dissect since it's, for the most part, subtler in regards to Astarion's psyche, which is why I don't like the idea of dumbing it down/sanding the edges for a sweeter and simpler "evil couple who are equals romance", I think it contradicts his entire logic now that he's ascended. This is mostly unrelated to what we were talking about so not an argument against you or anything but I was thinking about it and wanted to say it lol sorry
I think there's quite a lot of roleplay possibities between "a well-intentioned naive person or evil/selfish" one. Evil is not black and white (which makes it so dangerous IMO, but also interesting to play). You might for example play an evil Tav/Durge who is happy to have found a kindered spirit in Astarion, someone who enjoys the murder and chaos and doesn't judge them or want to hold them back. They are not naive or well-intentioned, but neither is their goal to manipulate him. Being like this is a legit way of life for them. This is a game where we can play Drow or Duergar. They come from cultures where taking power and revenge is part of everyday life. Even an evil person can genuinely care for him. So I do not see a contradiction to the Act 2-scene. If anything I wish I could tell him "Ah really? You think I did not see that? I thought we're having a fun little game here. *smirk*" after his confession. Because he's anything but subtle, which is obviously intentional.
