So I wanted to put my thoughts here on the topic. From release day until now, fans of ascended Astarion have been accustomed to him being strong, dominant, yet GENTLE with the player whom he calls his “treasure” and “little love.” He says things like, “don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” and “you need not fear anything.” He was on the dark side yes, but like vampires from the classics, he loved his bride.
When becoming a spawn, the player can either ask Astarion “be gentle” to which he gently kisses their hand before making them a spawn, or the player can choose “oh come on, make it hurt” to which he sensually chokes the player in a sensual way before turning them to a spawn. This right here is called player agency, giving the player control over what side of this character they get. And ascended astarion has always had a gentle side you can choose.
Now, whoever has been put in charge of his romance (and it’s clear some staff changes have been made) has a personal vendetta and bias against ascended Astarion and yet none of the other evil characters. Evil shadowheart, evil gale, and evil minthara all have lovely gentle kisses and hugs, yet this person has chosen to destroy the romance with ascended Astarion. How is this bias not clear to everyone involved? Larian has always been about catering to the 1% of players, ascended Astarion should be catered to those who actually love choosing him and his path, not the players who hate him.
The animators have even chosen to make the player look scared and angry during ascended Astarion’s kisses, further taking away the ability to roleplay or choose. An evil style player or a dark urge for example wouldn’t want to react this way! And moreover, when you choose “oh come on, make it hurt” during the romance scene, it’s clearly implied that the player is enthusiastic about this pain, not scared. The scared expressions are completely out of place, who were they trying to please here? Because it’s clearly not the people who enjoy ascended Astarion.
I suggest giving the agency back to the player, if they chose “be gentle” when becoming a spawn, Astarion should keep his gentle kisses from before ascending, or even get a kiss where he kisses the players hand and bites the wrist before going in for a bloody kiss to mirror what he does in the spawn turning scene. If the player chooses “oh come on, make it hurt” then, and only then, should he give the rough kisses that were introduced with patch 6, and the scared expressions should be replaced with enthusiastic and passionate ones.
Please Larian, cater to the fans who are actively enjoying ascended Astarion, not the people who hate his character and wish to see ascended fans suffer. Don’t end it on such a bitter note for us.
