If you haven't previously MAKED Astarion stand "on the path of redemption". Feel the hand of lawful stupid goodness at your throat (and make the appropriate facial expression). I needed the path of evil in the first place to shield Astarion from this very "good", to give him the opportunity to be himself and do whatever he wants, that's the main enjoyment of "evil" for me - freedom. No redemption, no humility, no hunger, no burning and "be comfortable for them", "stop being an asshole to those around you".
Ah yes, the "good" path where he becomes a defanged, tooth-rotting fluffy human in a vampire skin, dependent on his great protector and completely adjusted to them, palatable to teenagers so they can swoon over him being their babygirl. He loses his temerity, sarcastic sense of humour and sexual kinks and is a broken man in full on copium mode, trying to hide his growing depression. He's someone who burns in the sun while his so-called friends mock him (I know they're finally working on it, but it's only because of so much criticism) and will always have to drink blood and deal with many inconveniences and then watch Tav die. Also, apparently being equals means owning nothing and being happy.
Why does he need redemption anyways?
Astarion: You can't blame a spawn for the sins of his master. Any good monster hunter should know that. Ulma: True.
Maybe they could focus on making his "good" path actually good, rather than destroying the alternative one where he finally feels safe and confident enough to drop his masks and show his real, dark self and is obsessively in love with someone who helped him achieve his ultimate revenge. He doesn't need fixing. He's perfect the way he is. They can shove their childish morality lessons, manipulative tactics and propaganda where the sun don't shine.
Originally Posted by LiryFire
First those awful one-sided answers after the ritual that was on the release.
Literally: 1. I want power. 2. F me. 4. School 1. F you
Kisses with a disgruntled face, the only ones in the game. The game doesn't reveal Astarion's dominance in the romance, falls from the sky, clumsier and with that Tav face, it's just insulting. There's no kiss or hug in the epilogue (but there's no kiss at the spawn either, strange)
This! Writers' impositions are all over the place.
Originally Posted by Sereda2
I do wonder if the issue is that the present writers aren't comfortable writing for characters that don't appeal to straight men, or maybe they don't see giving the player agency to decide how they want to relate to a character as very important. It feels they've decided to make A.Astarion story one of 'the cycle of abuse' continues whether the player likes it or not, and for reasons I cannot fathom, S.Astarion is just neglected. Astarion's voice actor is enthusiastic about his character, the fans are enthusiastic. I can't fathom why the writers don't seem to share that feeling at all.
Somehow they managed fine with Gale, Halsin and Wyll in this patch. It's only Astarion that got messed up.
I won't be amazed if by the time Astarion's VA is done with his BG3 playthrough, his character will be completely ruined. The hatred for him is just too visible. No one else changes their personality and has their sex scenes censored in subsequent patches.
