Originally Posted by BlueScaliesxx98
TYou say of patch 6 is bright back you will mourn AA, this is exactly what patch 7 did for us. If you want Tav to be smiling, you only have to choose it. The other expression will not be in your game. But making one OR the other expression canon for everyone is the exact problem we already had with patch 6.

This. The patch 7 expressions were triggering to me and I haven't played AA or the game since. It's not fair that only one side gets to be happy, when I love Astarion and love this game. Giving users a choice would be the perfect solution.
Originally Posted by Ryzaki
That said I'm fine with optional expressions. I would prefer it be locked to you picking dialogue options that say you're afraid of him or what not. (and it's a one time toggle).
Agreed that a one time toggle makes sense.
Originally Posted by BlueScaliesxx98
Were it anything BDSM related, there would’ve been dialogue about it.
Agreed. BDSM involves clear communication and involves many elements not included in the AA path at all. For example, discussion + agreement of the dynamic beforehand, safe words/color signs, check-ins, aftercare, ability to stop at any time (removed for Tav/Durge in the epilogue). As someone who DOES like BDSM, there is no indication to me that the AA path is meant to represent BDSM. If that's what the developers intended then they have major changes they need to make to the entire route. It is extremely inaccurate and spreads misunderstandings about actual BDSM that can potentially get real people into unsafe situations. My best conclusion is that it ISN'T meant to represent BDSM at all, or else Larian did no research into it. Abdirak is a much better representation of BDSM in the game.

Originally Posted by NikkyKitty
In fact, nothing in the script or in the dev notes disproves the Tav Bride theory. And many of the circumstantial details even confirm it. «By lying to her or bending the truth, he can convince her that she must obey his every order or suffer horrible consequences.With time, and through experimentation, the bride might find out the true level of control her creator has over her - that is, none.» In the finale, Tav may just not know that she can leave and that there is no control. After all, we don't even see him magically forcing her to do anything. And the fact that Tav is free to leave with Karlach and Lae'zel, and again he doesn't force her back in any way, is pretty telling. If Larian wanted to show a cycle of abuse, why didn't they use the techniques I mentioned earlier?

Personally, if this theory WAS true and AA is lying to Tav/Durge to convince them that they must obey his every order or suffer horrible consequences...that is abuse to me. That would be so horrible of him to do. I really don't see how that paints AA in a good light.

Originally Posted by Denis999
I'm just saying that the viewpoint that having an abusive context in an AA affair and the fact that he says abusive things under certain circumstances doesn't make scared faces valid by default. Yes, he may say abusive things and not let Tav leave in the epilogue, but that doesn't mean he's going to physically abuse Tav. It was out of the question before patch 5, it's out of the question in the epilogue. Tav is locked in a golden cage, but no one is torturing her. There are nuances. Astarion is a survivor of sexual assault himself, and the entire AA route covers the topic as respectfully as the Spawn route. They have the same reaction to the brothel, to Haarlep and other such events. AA should not be devoid of undertones and nuance.
I don't understand what is being said here. It's just as bad if AA is
emotionally abusing Tav/Durge. I don't want to get into my life, but emotional abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse. And personally, I did not consent to being choked/neck grabbed by AA and I don't want to be. So it's already in a gray, not white, area for some players.

Originally Posted by jinetemoranco
I similarly to you think that plot exists and was intended (apologies if I misunderstood you earlier) but I think there are things complicating it. I don't believe it was /that/ badly written or executed (although it isn't extremely explicit or anything, but I can understand why because of the circumstances around the relationship at the time), but something I felt in regards to the Valentine's tweet was that I was getting a whiplash with how they were combining both sexy advertising for it with animations that seemed to be intended to convey a certain non-sexy message.
Agreed. I really did not like how they advertised the V-Day update with these harsh kisses. I'm chalking it up to a disconnect between the marketing team and the game development team.

This thread is moving way too fast to keep up...