Originally Posted by Marielle
Gale had offered to “show magic” at the party and the conversation was cut short by the fact that he will come at night. I immediately ran to Astarion after that to “activate” his offer, and replayed the dialog three more times at the end of the party to guarantee it. Then Gale, in Act 2, offered his “magic” again. I immediately suspected him, my thoughts were, “Yeah, you've got ‘magic’ in your pants, found a fool...” Now I know, Gale does show magic, and Tav themselves should take the initiative on their part, but... I suspected each and every one of them. I didn't hug Karlach, even though I still treated her well at the time, just to be on the safe side so there was no hint of romance. I didn't ask Halsin about his former lovers, just in case, but Halsin was sure I had asked him... And somehow in my head I thought that Astarion might get jealous and react badly if God forbid I got into something with these companions, that the relationships were hidden because he was sort of watching, distrusting and checking. Got my own imaginary “‘achievement’” by avoiding anything that just looks like cheating. smile And Astarion doesn't actually react to such endeavors in any way, acting like he doesn't care at all, lol. I think if Astarion was more jealous and reacted not only to the actual cheating, but to the very fact that someone is trying to court Tav, that would be really great! Sometimes I fantasize that Astarion is the first to pull out his weapon and brutally massacre Haarlep, right after saying, “ Take off your clothes” and Tav doesn't even have time to fully join the fight, that he would want to protect her and wash away the insult he wanted to inflict on Astarion's favorite woman with the blood of the scoundrel incubus.

In my game Gale offered a magic lesson during one of the long rests before the party (when I caught him looking at the image of Mystra). So I could totally imagine Astarion standing in the corner, watching and being jealous, especially since it happened after the first bite. shadowheartgiggle Astarion offered to spend the night together shortly afterwards. smile During the party Gale was acting like there was something going on between us (I chose the option to hold hands in the Weave) despite me selecting only neutral and friendly options during that conversation. He talked about his orb being too unstable and that he shouldn't get excited, then said something about having to wait for better times. I had an option to think about him during the party night but it led nowhere when I tested it. Then he kept ignoring Astarion romance until the starry night date and I could only reciprocate his feelings, kiss him or say I didn't love him. There was no way to say you were into Astarion, Gale behaves like he doesn't exist. He only has something to say about him in the morning if you followed him into the illusion. It doesn't matter if you slept with him or not, he acts as if you had sex, which is the same inconsistency during Halsin's proposal.

Oh yes, I always imagined Astarion pulling out his knife too! It was strange that he initially had no reaction to Haarlep, especially given his past. I still think he's too calm, but I doubt anything will be changed in there.

Originally Posted by Marielle
Too bad there is no way to reject Halsin immediately and still talk to Astarion about it to find out. The dialog, with slight modifications, also needed to be made available to those Tavs who do not wish to see anyone but Astarion near them. After all, Astarion's thoughts were the same, he had also worried about Halsin before. But, if you reject all companions at once and without talking, it would look like Astarion doesn't care.

It's bad. I also wish for an option to tell Halsin to shove it after you're done gossiping with Astarion. I would have liked to make fun of Halsin with my LI too.

Originally Posted by Marielle
Wyll also ignores the fact that Tav is with Astarion and tries to ask Tav to dance. Though, this was before the confession scene in Act 2, so was Gale's second offer of “magic”. The night before the “danger of explosion” I stayed with Gale to support and discourage exploding, and he behaved decently, mentioning that he wished someone else was there with him right now in my place. Perhaps Gale's behavior in this scene depends on whether or not you agreed to “watch the magic”.

I could only trigger Wyll's dance if I kissed Gale. Otherwise he seems to think you're loyal to Astarion and doesn't bother. All in all, Gale is the only one who's clueless (or determined) enough to push the romance.

Originally Posted by Marielle
The first act doesn't have enough roleplay in the romance, there is no way to emphasize Tav's connection to Astarion. I think it would have been worth adding lines to reject the other companions, in which Tav says their heart is busy and they are in love with/meeting Astarion, to avoid ambiguity. Because of this inability to show feelings, it creates a false confidence on first playthrough that Astarion wants to hide the relationship and is unwilling to openly announce it. I had a hard time initially finding another explanation for the fact that everyone around me is eager for Tav, only the attentive Shadowheart notices our relationship, and my character has no words for it.

Not counting the newly debugged banters, only the women notice the romance, the men act like nothing's going on until you get on with them and they ask you to choose one of them. It's strange.

Originally Posted by Sini
Feel free to be a little negative towards him, he takes it with humor. He also says things like "I couldn't take or leave your chin" to tease you. As long as you don't act against his interests, his reactions are calmly funny. You might think he finds it sexy that you reject him and don't fall for his manipulation. Then let him drink you dry and you can blame him several times for it and I think he's really sorry that he lost control. :)I prefer this way and it's funny when he's almost at 100 approval and you're still teasing him. I think he'll be happy when you finally agree to his offer at the party. hahaha

He admits himself during the epilogue party, if you're not in the relationship and are rude to him, that he liked the fact you were challenging him, so he definitely doesn't mind if you make him work for your affection a little more and tease him. ^^ In the post-Araj confession he still makes fun of you for being an easy conquest, despite all the obstacles you'd put in front of him.