I couldn't agree more.
This new "discourse" on Tav's kiss expressions is purely another excuse to turn AA into some sort of abusive caricature by those who reduce Astarion to some two-dimensional villain post-ascension and push their own abuse RP onto him (and others).
Why would Larian (or any company for that matter) willingly turn their most popular character into someone who abuses the player? That would be terrible marketing and a horrible message to their playerbase.
Additionally, why should AA be the only one with negative kiss reactions from Tav when DJ Shadowheart, Minthara, God Gale, etc. all have normal reactions? Why should AA need to have additional options for how the player appears, purely due to the fact that some people insist that "evil" and "villain" automatically equal "abusive monster"? It's reductive and takes away from the depth, nuance, and uniqueness of the character and the writing behind him.
I'm so sick of this discourse. So sick of people pushing these made-up narratives onto others. It's DnD. Use your imagination and enjoy the game, rather than arguing with other players and yelling at the devs/creators who worked so hard to bring us this amazing game.
And besides, imho the kisses are now more positive yet still neutral enough to RP around. The horrified faces were extremely limiting RP-wise. *shrug*
