I'll grant that waifu has a wider meaning than what I expected, although widely varying. It's apparently used casually for a fictional character with some attractive personal traits or hobbies (like being good at cooking), all the way to calling your one true soulmate a "waifu". Looking a bit more into it, it has quite a confusing variety of definitions and used vastly different for/by different people. Same as with the term "husbando" for male fictional characters, apparently.
And I'll admit that I know only a little about Fifty Shades of Grey, but what I do know is that it's based severely in a very controlling dom/sub kink section. So it's smut, but smut that was largely normalized through the successful film, apparently. So I don't know if that would fit in the "waifu" definition you're referring to.
And if most gamers expected these waifus in games by the definition you're applying to it, then BG3 would not be as praised as it is for both its general story-writing as well as its romance-specific things, and Shadowheart would not be one of the most popular romance options shown by statistics. BG3 is a very popular game and Shadowheart is well liked. So it's possible that the writing is not to your tastes and that is unfortunate, but your opinions are not fact in this.
Aside from that, despite not liking certain elements of the writing, you still got to a point where you've put 150 hours of your free time in it. I know I certainly wouldn't sink 150 hours into something that was disappointing me, so there must have been enough positives to keep you playing.
So how do you suggest I can beat the game on Tactician mode without companions? Yes, turning guys into gals is icky as fck, but that's all my options.
Have a bunch of dudes in your squad? What's wrong with the original male Wyll, Astarion and Gale? The romance part isn't to everyone's tastes in a bunch of games anyway, so it's not something you have to interact with. I think there are mods that keep everything platonic and make it so that no one makes advances on you. I don't know why, but you seem to be very adamant on having females in your group, but only females that fit into a very specific mold of what the ideal woman would be like for you, and only if you can see yourself potentially romancing this character. Can Wyll, Astarion and Gale only be your true friend companions when they've been turned into females?
