Surely many of you know this story. I'm not claiming that it has anything to do with the current sadistic content we have in the game today (I have no factual basis for such claims). But everything in this world has its origins and its backstory (at least that's how it works in the real world). So I would like to remember together with you and try to analyze that, the first "moral lesson" that they decided to teach us back then.
Statement: “I feel with the bad ending, it’s very much exactly that one sentence he says to you when you read his mind. >He will always see you as degrading yourself if you continue to be with him… but that’s perhaps what you like.< It’s ultimately reducing your relationship with him back to being a kink/form of gratification. Which is a fine thing to enjoy as a fantasy, but it’s very much admitting that you failed to think of him beyond a sex object, and care about more than that. You’re so attracted to him, you’d also turn
yourself into one."
It is perplexing that this statement (if this statement was said by someone or not) exactly mirrors the answers in the romance scene:
1) I want to be a vampire like you (very selfish)
2) I want your body (very selfish+seeing Astarion as a sex object)
4) I am not your pet (negative answer)
Egoism is forced upon the player here, which they most likely never experienced during their playthrough as a neutral or good Tav. The game, despite supposed choices, forces you and your Tav to be very selfish and try to force the player to see Astarion as a sex object, as Marielle mentioned, the other positiv answer is even weirder for a good Tav. Really, no empathetic person and good Tav feels that way. Therefore, this statement above is very insulting and presumptuous to me.
As an empathetic and RPG enthusiastic person, I cannot agree with this strange, shallow and very crude statement (about role-playing players!). The statement that Astarion would only be seen as a sex object by the players leads me to conclude that the thinking here was not empathetic or from the point of view of many players, but rather from a very egoistic, rather unempathetic point of view.
The question is, why does a good or neutral Tav help Astarion with the ritual? Out of selfishness? Hardly likely! In my playthrough, Astarion begged my Tav to help him. It was heartbreaking. My Tav, an empathetic boy who loves Astarion with all his heart, couldn't help but help his lover who begged him twice to help him. Very emotional scene. There was nothing, nothing at all selfish about it. On the contrary. It was and is unconditional love. And that has nothing to do with selfishness or seeing something as a sex object.
Unconditional love can lead to devotion and even self-sacrifice. When we love someone unconditionally, we want to do everything we can to make that person happy, but of course only to the extent that we can bear it ourselves! Naturally. (And there was no abuse, mistreat or similar before patch 6) Unconditional love is without demands and restrictions. It is a deep love that you give freely (!), regardless of what the other person does for you in return. (And Astarion gives you something in return, he gives you love, wealth, power, pleasure and protection)
So when Tav kneels for Astarion, it shows unconditional love and not just a kink, although unconditional love and having a kink are not mutually exclusive, at least if you are empathetic! Narcissists and egoists, for example, may see it differently because they don't feel true love, only self-love and they may not be capable of feeling complex emotions. But for most people, love, sex and passion are inseparable. The statement “He will always see you as degrading yourself if you continue to be with him… but that’s perhaps what you like.” (in fact the original is: But perhaps you wish to degrade yourself and he knows it"<-- there is no "like", there is "wish" and "he knows it") in no way reduces the relationship with Astarion to a kink. Rather the opposite, this shows unconditional love AND empathy for your partner. Tav wants Astarion to be happy, safe, strong, and loved by Tav. Since Act 1, Astarion has a kink for dominating, humiliating (lower beings) and inflicting pain on other individuals, but also in a consensual manner (e.g. priest of loviatar). Tav supports Astarion in living out his little fetishes. Once again, unconditional love. I see absolutely no egoism here, neither from Tav nor from any regular and empathetic player.
"But it is very much an admission that you saw him as nothing more than a sex object and that you care about more than that"
This is the height of presumption! Reducing people who choose this route does not show much empathy or knowledge of human nature. A scandal, you might say, if it's true that this is a quote from somewhere working for the studio. I submit that rather someone else has failed to recognize what love and complex emotions are and that the majority of women (also asexual ones) in this route love Astarion's character with their hearts and want to enjoy a fantasy roleplay game with its complex and beautiful stories. If a person made this quote , that person than seems to me to be more or less the only one who sees Astarion as a sex object or wants the player to see Astarion as a sex object compared to players who are playing and feeling this route and RPG.
What's remarkable is that exactly this statement: " (...) you failed to think of him beyond a sex object. You're so attracted to him, you'd also turn
yourself into one." now, thanks to the scandalous "Valentine's Day Patch 6 kisses" is being forced on players in a very negative way, very suddenly, illogically and without any connection to the story and the romance (except for the forced “I want your body”). (I am talking about Tav being portrayed in these kisses now as an abused sex object, not Astarion's kink for domination and humiliation).
So as if that highly problematic, self-centered statement was now read and somewhere something was saying: Okay, guys, we're going to make Tav Astarion's sex object! Nobody wanted to see Astarion as a sex object, everyone claims they love astarion, too many players are enjoying this route (/game!). No, noone can and noone should love Astarion or play this route! He should only be viewed and seen as a sex object and Tav should be seen selfish and now Tav will be turned into an unhappy sex slave (evil laugher in the background). I find this whole statement, you quoted, extremely strange and highly problematic, very narcissistic and callous. (<--This is my opinion) The fact that this false and presumptuous statement is now apparently being implemented into reality in the game, the player is portrayed OOC as a sex object/slave - unbelievable, what can you say about that. Almost everyone (all I have talked to!) playing this route and loving this character feels really, really mistreated.
