I think this lecture is quite interesting and I appreciate getting to hear the writer's thoughts and perspectives in such deep detail. However while I know that this is an Astarion thread and the focus rightfully should be on Astarion, I do fear that taking this writer's words and applying them ONLY as they might relate to Astarion means missing out on a whole heap of context given that presumably these principles and ideas were also applied to every other romance in the game. I feel things like calling her a "so called artist" and generally decrying her ability and philosophy towards her work isn't going to get much when you're only looking at one example of her work, despite it being the example with probably the most glaring flaw. Which isn't to say that it's the only one with a flaw and every other one is perfect. There are plenty of other problems with other romances, just like there's plenty to love with Ascended Astarion's path.
I also find it interesting that during EA, a lot of people, myself included, were upset because we felt that the game was neglecting a fleshed out good path and was going to be catering more to people who wanted things dark and edgy, including their romances, but now the argument has flipped entirely.
That's a fair point, and why I admitted I hadn't watched the whole thing/read the full transcript. It does sound like they have a section specifically dedicated to Astarion, and specifically said they wanted to "punish" the player, which I don't love and which I found really concerning given the talks of how disturbing and unnatural some of the changes to his romance has seemed. I agree with you that we should refrain from personal attacks.
I disagree with their point on what art is meant to do. That doesn't mean they're not an artist. I consider writing to be a perfectly valid form of art, especially being one myself.
