Should I paste my earlier quote where I said only Shadowheart doesn't fit the fantasy world because she's too girly for a battle cleric? She acts within the paradigm of "men are buyers, women are sellers - men chase, women get chased". That's how relationships work in the contemporary world. You can't transplant that into a fantasy world with female warriors who are equal in everything to male warriors.
The behaviour you call contemporary is anything but. It's routed in inequality and the second part in not being allowed to voice your desires for fear of being chastised. Which is also what is going on in Shadowheart's case. She loves nature, animals and wants close connections but her Sharran "upbringing" and the wound on her hand tell her to abstain from these things. So when you start her romance (which you haven't? I am not sure.) she might give whiplash through her very warm greetings while taking a more reserved stance when you want to talk to her about the relationship. I am not her greatest fan, she is too sweet for me and I am not into nature vs. nurture plots which lean this heavily on the nature side, but I also don't see a problem in how her story is conveyed. There is something off with her and you are supposed to recognise that there is something off with her.
I feel like the main issue here is that you never say what you do like about the characters. Karlach seemed to have been ok (apart from her looks not being to your liking and not wanting to go to Avernus with her), Bae'zel seems to have been ok (apart from being a frogprincess and not liking a decision you made) but you never state what you liked about them apart from how closely they match your ideal of a female character whom you can make to agree to all of your decisions. Is that all you like about or want from a romances?
For me that is a little sad because at least UA!Astarion, Gale and Lae'zel's romances place a heavy emphasis on partnership, equal partnership, which implies mutual trust and understanding of your love interest. Personally I like romance to be an important impetus to move my own character's plot forward, which is why I do love Astarion & Gale's romances. Gale's is (and probably will remain) my fav though because how heavily it is based in friendship, and how you can help him overcome the common wizard problem (all the wizard characters and Lenore- apart from Elminster - have the same issue that they want their lives to mean something, which for them means fame and recognition through their magic) and he can have a meaningful life without the need for some bombastic magical deed - like godhood or exploding. I am very fond of teacher Gale endeavouring to keep his students a bit grounded, it's such a good conclusion to his arc. To keep it short and maybe a bit vague - I am not sure if the thread has moved on from discussing Lae'zel and Shadowheart to discussing everyone.
@HFA
I haven't forgotten about talking to you about Tara. I'll come to it later.
