To be honest, I mean the entirety of the dialogue Astarion says there, "There you are, I've been waiting, etc...", but yes, that too. The morning after is good though, I really liked that you can pick on him a bit and he takes it really well, I think those are always the best dialogue options to pick with Astarion.
For me, that morning scene is more than serious, and picking on Astarion after watching him greet the dawn, seeing his scars, and listening to him talk about how Cazador cut them out is definitely not my thing, and I won't do it even if there are curious answers there. But, for the sake of a fuller character study, I'll look for someone else's video of that scene, since you say it's interesting. In the Act 3 scene I'd really like to respond with some funny joke to his line about "pets", behind the monitor I salute and say something like, "Captain Garfield is ready for the next mission, sir!" Certainly not such a silly line, something more witty and appropriate, but a good joke instead of some corny swearing in response to Astarion calling Tav a pet - that would liven up the dialog scene wonderfully.
Act 2 and Act 3 scene (I think both of the Act 3 scenes, but unsure to which degree, I know Act 2 scene was almost if not completely them) were written by the same person. The act 2 scene is extremely good, I think I spent the entirety of the next day after playing it still chewing on it.
Yes, I was also impressed for a long time after the Act 2 scene, it was a feeling of inexpressible deep tenderness for Astarion, as if he handed his wounded heart into my hands, and I hold it as carefully as possible, and there is nothing more precious in this world. I want to see another confession scene after Orton, other players have said it's even better, will be curious to compare. Act 3 scene in the graveyard - I don't see any problems with the script, but it leaves a heavy, oppressive emotional impression, a longing. But this is my personal perception, and I don't want to rate scenes for other people's walkthroughs, it's up to the players who choose that route. I don't understand at all why Tav can't open Astarion's consciousness in Act 3, after passing the check in the kneeling scene, when they did it in Act 2. "Open your mind" is a great option for a confession (in Act 2 it's just a pity you can't do it at the same time as the embrace, it would be perfect), but it's in Act 3, after "Astarion thinks you're degrading yourself by staying with him" that it's just the first thing that comes to mind, not in words, but just so he can see, it's what I want to do, it's what needs to be done, but it can't be done! And then I remember that in the second act I did it. And I haven't forgotten how to do it. But now I can only kneel silently, that's it, Astarion must think I like to degrade myself. There's only one, one choice, there's no other option. Act 2 has two great options, so then I load up the save just to hug Astarion, two more not so flashy but quite good options, like asking him to do what he wants to do, or saying that you can be together and you don't have to sleep together to do it, if it were possible to choose these options not as the main line but as additional lines, I'd love to do it. And in the third act, that's it, bad lines, and it's mandatory, straight-up mandatory that I have to sign off on the fact that I enjoy degrading myself. It looks like the author can write well, and only at certain specific moments, for whatever reasons of their own, don't want to do so.
I think with Act 3 there's still a narrative that Tav is being used as a tool for to reinforce the story that's been set up by Rooney for AA's characterisation, and I personally appreciate it. They're selfish options for a reason, but I'm, again, personally quite uninterested in the power couple Sylas/Delilah angle or the devoted angle, so of course I'm content with not having an option that reflects that. But that's just me, and there's no harm (or much of a cost, really, I think) in that extra option.
What kind of history did Rooney create for AA's characterization? Rooney talked about the complexity of Astarion's character and also that all paths should be comfortable to walk through. I don't think he assumed as if everyone who loved his character and helped him ascend necessarily liked to degrade themselves and wanted to sexually objectify Astarion. And if you play without the romance, there's nothing wrong with AA's characterization; those who value Astarion as a friend, and who "don't care about 7000 jerks to keep their brother from burning" don't complain about anything at all, except that (especially after patch 6) they joke about "Well, you, Astarion, are a total... It's a good thing I'm not a woman".
I read about Sylas and Delilah, I completely understand Delilah and give her +100 approval, if there was an opportunity for such a point of view and such a roleplay - it would be an unrivaled story. Except in this case more players would ascend Astarion and the "moral lessons" might completely fail. Love without devotion to me is no longer love, it's something that has no value. And if in reality loneliness is far better than a relationship without devotion, then in a game I would rather have a game without romance than a romance without devotion. Of course, this is my point of view, others may think otherwise, and I believe that in an Ascended Astarion romance, devotion is one of its defining qualities. In the hearts of the players who ascend him "per aspera ad ascend", love him, try to fight for him and will not abandon him no matter what, will do the mods themselves if they have to. In an ideal world, of course, there would have to be two authors, one for your story and one for ours, and the option to choose between those two lines. But honestly, I'm glad no one warned me beforehand that Tav would be a tool, BG3 wouldn't be a full-fledged RPG (RPG is a roleplaying game, roleplay is the main word in the very name of the genre), that instead of an RPG I would be forced into a novella about a "cycle of abuse" and made to love degrading myself, then I would have made round eyes, said "ew!", wouldn't have bought the game and never met Astarion. Astarion is worth all that, right now I just want Larian to fix the really awful scenes (kissing patch 6) and it would be fine to give just one good line to talk in the post-Ascension scene. I'm not asking for any other changes in Astarion's behavior, on the contrary, I'm afraid of any changes in Astarion's behavior, I don't believe in anything good, including regarding the scene under discussion, just so there's no cognitive dissonance from the option I choose and that's it, especially since it really doesn't cost much.
