Why TF is the player a Bottom in a Gay Astarion Romance?

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I mean come on, a gigantic bear of a man, Grog Strongjaw from Vox Machina Body Type 2 giant barbarian dude, jumping on him and leg straddling him going Full Bottom in the cutscene.

I would get it for Halsin, but Astarion? He's the twinkiest character in this game, clearly the player would expect him to be a bottom when romancing him.

Did they just recycle the female animations without thinking about it?

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Publicado originalmente por Minnzy:

This makes me wonder now if the Laezel scene plays out any differently. Since everything for her is a battle to win it starts with her being like "You sit down and I'll take charge" and you can do a check to take control but I wonder if ANYTHING is actually different if you win or lose that check scene wise.

I just mentioned this to a friend who loves Astarion and she said "I was surprised too he's so dominating given his character but there is a huge fantasy behind having a vampire use and control you which is probably what they went for"

I checked out of morbid curiosity and if Lazel is player her scene plays out exactly the same way.

Only somehow for Lazel it seems more aggressive because Lazel is pouncing on him and wrapping her Gith legs around him.

But for Tav as Grog the Barbarian it... It doesn't match up it really really doesn't match up.

At least Karlach being bigger can't be an issue since she can't touch Astarian for most of the game.

[GrandMajora]

Publicado originalmente por Levianne:

Except Astarion is not a vampire, at least not before ascension, as I take it. He's a vampire spawn, a thrall to Cazador Szar, so he can't really dominate you through vampire powers, only through his personality, which is something YOU let him do, or more specific you must allow him to dominate you, there's no way he'd dominate you on his own.

Even if he's just a lowly spawn, and doesn't have access to the full range of vampire abilities, Astarion SHOULD still be incredibly strong.

5th edition stat block for Vampire Spawn is as follows

16 STR
16 DEX
16 CON
11 INT
10 WIS
12 CHA

He may be a twink in physical appearance, but he's also a supernatural creature. So supporting the weight of a Conan stature man isn't too far fetched.

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Publicado originalmente por GrandMajora:

Publicado originalmente por Levianne:

Except Astarion is not a vampire, at least not before ascension, as I take it. He's a vampire spawn, a thrall to Cazador Szar, so he can't really dominate you through vampire powers, only through his personality, which is something YOU let him do, or more specific you must allow him to dominate you, there's no way he'd dominate you on his own.

Even if he's just a lowly spawn, and doesn't have access to the full range of vampire abilities, Astarion SHOULD still be incredibly strong.

5th edition stat block for Vampire Spawn is as follows

16 STR
16 DEX
16 CON
11 INT
10 WIS
12 CHA

He may be a twink in physical appearance, but he's also a supernatural creature. So supporting the weight of a Conan stature man isn't too far fetched.

Nah he's a weak vampire spawn until you've leveled him up I mean you can see his stats at the start of the game they're not impressive.

[Lethan]

Not sure which scene you are referencing... but I know as a Type 3 Female, you pick that twink up. Type 1's get picked up.

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Ah so the game thinks Grog is either type 1 or 2, when he's a big ol type 3 (I thought Type 2 but I'm guessing 3 accounts for Dwarves and Gnomes).

That's probably what I get for having Gale shrink him to see what he'd look like if he went down a size.

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Still, it would be kind of weird for any male character who wasn't diminutive to jump in Astarians arms.

I mean he's Astarian, he's a twink, you just don't jump on and straddle a twink while he's standing.

[Dax]

Economics. They'd have to animate two sex scenes otherwise. Instead you just get the same as Fem Tav.

[GrandMajora]

Publicado originalmente por 👁:

Nah he's a weak vampire spawn until you've leveled him up I mean you can see his stats at the start of the game they're not impressive.

Which is why I downloaded the Become Vampire mod. Gives you ASI's more appropriate to the monster manual. As well as most of the abilities they're supposed to have.

Seriously, I am both disappointed and angry that Astarion's 'vampirism' is so horribly toned down, it may as well not even be present at all.

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Confirmed that if Gale or Wyll tries to romance Astarian they both have female animations for the first sex scene.

I could see Gale being a bottom but definitely not the type to leap onto somebody. He's got that whole professor daddy thing going, and that rapey aura where he tried to mind control and groom you into a kiss with magic I really don't like Gale.

Wyll just doesn't seem the type to jump on Astarian but I could kind of see him doing it for Halsin or Minsc.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

This just seems like thinly veiled homophobia to me.

It's painfully obvious that only a single cinematic scene was developed for all of the character's sex scenes.

It simply doesn't matter who or what you're playing - the scene will play out the same regardless.

[Tresh]

Publicado originalmente por Pan Darius Cassandra:

This just seems like thinly veiled homophobia to me.

It's painfully obvious that only a single cinematic scene was developed for all of the character's sex scenes.

It simply doesn't matter who or what you're playing - the scene will play out the same regardless.

It always is. OP doesn't even get Astarion's name right, so I doubt he actually wants to romance him.

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Publicado originalmente por GrandMajora:

Publicado originalmente por 👁:

Nah he's a weak vampire spawn until you've leveled him up I mean you can see his stats at the start of the game they're not impressive.

Which is why I downloaded the Become Vampire mod. Gives you ASI's more appropriate to the monster manual. As well as most of the abilities they're supposed to have.

Seriously, I am both disappointed and angry that Astarion's 'vampirism' is so horribly toned down, it may as well not even be present at all.

Right, he almost has zero spawn powers then even as a full vamp he's underwhelming.

I just assumed it was because he was turned by an unusually weak master.

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Publicado originalmente por Tresh:

Publicado originalmente por Pan Darius Cassandra:

This just seems like thinly veiled homophobia to me.

It's painfully obvious that only a single cinematic scene was developed for all of the character's sex scenes.

It simply doesn't matter who or what you're playing - the scene will play out the same regardless.

It always is. OP doesn't even get Astarion's name right, so I doubt he actually wants to romance him.

I think they were saying the 1 size fits all sex scenes seem homophobic.

Which I wouldn't say phobic I'd just say problematic.

But dude if your dumb take away were the intended take away that's pretty silly. I mean, there are plenty of gay guys who aren't going to leap on someone like a school girl with a crush and lay back to be missionary pounded, sure a lot of gay dudes switch but come on, the animations were made for a female character in a straight romance and they just never gave thought to how they'd play for a gay romance.

[GrandMajora]

Publicado originalmente por 👁:

Right, he almost has zero spawn powers then even as a full vamp he's underwhelming.

I just assumed it was because he was turned by an unusually weak master.

Yeah, just a somewhat upgraded bite, and a unique version of Gaseous Form, that's it. He doesn't get any damage resistances, no regeneration, no charms, not even something as basic as a Claw attack.

I wouldn't be so upset, if Astarion wasn't the Origin character I was most excited for during Early Access... only for there to virtually be no pay off.

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It's even worse if you convince him to turn you, because you become the same kind of depowered spawn that he previously was, despite the fact he is now "the most powerful vampire ever" and claims that he is able to share some of his power with you.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Publicado originalmente por 👁:

Publicado originalmente por Tresh:

It always is. OP doesn't even get Astarion's name right, so I doubt he actually wants to romance him.

I think they were saying the 1 size fits all sex scenes seem homophobic.

Which I wouldn't say phobic I'd just say problematic.

But dude if your dumb take away were the intended take away that's pretty stupid. I mean, there are plenty of gay guys who aren't going to leap on someone like a school girl with a crush and lay back to be missionary pounded, sure a lot of gay dudes switch but come on, the animations were made for a female character in a straight romance and they just never gave thought to how they'd play for a gay romance.

The OP makes several erroneous assumptions that imply he knows little to nothing about gay people or sexual proclivities.

For example, what does physical size have to do with whether or not someone enjoys being a bottom? The question itself is an assumption that the larger a person is, the more they want to be a "top" - which itself is a very straight kind of bias to have. Being a "bottom" or a "top" is a matter of preference, just like who you are attracted to, and has nothing to do with things like height or weight. If a large man enjoys being on bottom (or anything else), then so be it.

Next, he assumes that the more submissive "bottom" role is naturally for females, when he says, "Did they just recycle the female animations?" This assumption implies that submission is an inherently feminine trait - again, another tell tale sign the OP is just a cishet homophobe who isn't questioning any of this too deeply. Why is the "bottom" role automatically a "female animation" in the first place?

And finally, the repeated use of the word "twink" is meant to get a rise out of people.

OP is a full blown troll, there's nothing more to it. The question is asked in bad faith, and the simplest possible answer to it, ignoring the trolling aspect, is very straight forward - Larian only had time and resources to do a single cinematic animation for each character's sex scene.

This is not Life Simulator, it's just a crpg. It doesn't dynamically create new sex scenes for you based on input like a generative AI might - it's just a scripted game. But the OP already knew that, so it becomes obvious what the real intent here is.