Originally Posted by Elly
That wasn't what I meant. It's been possible, and reflected in the dialogue options you can choose, for Tav to be unhappy/uncertain/afraid but stay in the relationship since Patch 1. Patch 6 added to that. The new Patch 7 expressions would add to the narrative of a Tav who is completely happy with everything instead. I don't think either of these should be the only option, which is why I am asking to make the original faces optional instead of completely replacing them.
I don't want to rely on mods for this either, as mods have no influence on what the game itself implies.

I'm afraid I disagree with that a bit. Mods can greatly enhance the story, make it more real to the player. What the game itself implies can have different readings, and with mods everyone can make the story better and more realistic for themselves. In the game itself, the story still feels too much like a novel with set reactions in places, the roleplay is pretty poor, so it's hard to take it so seriously already. Who cares what the game implies if it doesn't feel like something convincing to the player? Some things I really like and find very convincing, for example I like many of Astarion's lines, his gestures, voice, facial expressions, looks. Some scenes - like the dialog scene after the Ascension - are unconvincing because there is no possibility to choose any adequate line for Tav, here you have to headcanon and “convince yourself” already in Astarion's voice, focus on his strong desire to make Tav his bride, without paying attention to Tav's lines. I installed a mod that fixes this, and I'm very pleased with it. Even the night after Ascension itself is handled much more convincingly with the “Re-live your final night” mod, where the animations are done better and Tav's facial expressions are much more appropriate to the situation. But I don't expect much improvement of this scene, the developers have quite a lot to do, so I'll play with this mod anyway. The kneeling scene is a rail, you can only agree and kneel. But you can also not go through the unpleasant check and agree right away, giving this scene its own reading. In the final dialog in the room Tav again makes a disgruntled face, also unconvincing, but maybe in patch 7 they will add the possibility of free camera and this problem will go away with a simple change of perspective. In the epilogue you can't hug or kiss Astarion, while other companions can be hugged, it's extremely oddly perceived. If a mod comes along that fixes this, I will gladly run to install it, and it will make the story of my novel much more compelling. Yes, there are some stories where there's nothing to add or take away, but the possibility of different interpretations, and even more so the possibility of improvements through modding tools, is, in my opinion, also a great option for a great game. If the story itself is unconvincing in some ways for me, there may be some inconsistencies in it for you as well, and mods can make the story convincing for everyone.

Originally Posted by Elly
If the only options available are sleeping with Haarlep or having to fight him to the death, that's coercion, it affects the player character, not an NPC,
and it's very possible for this to be triggering for someone.

Why is fighting him a coercion? This is a natural and normal thing - we see a potential enemy, dialog with him, then fight him, it's a normal quest. Haarlep's role is a possible mini-boss, a warm-up before the main boss of the location. In BG3, as in all RPG games, we often fight enemies and can have a preliminary conversation with them. Is every fight in the game a coercion to fight?

One life, one love - until the world falls down.