Not as a sexual partner, not as a romantic partner, but as a younger brother/mentee sort of figure?

I tend to play RPGs as very good-aligned characters, trying to talk my way out of conflicts, and only killing in self-defence or when I feel like the person really deserves it.

So, seeing how Astarion can potentially grow so much as a person and become everything Cazador didn’t want him to be and break the cycle of violence makes me see him as someone strong and capable, but also in need of guidance and help. He’s unable to make this change on his own without some serious nudging in the right direction, even though he is capable of it if he’s just believed in enough.

Combine that with his immature and childish sense of humour and way of resolving conflicts, and I saw him by the end of my playthrough as a younger sibling that I never had; someone who I can laugh and have fun with, but who I also feel a need to guide and help care for on a deeper level because of their lack of experience when it comes to how to properly do things.

And just to make this clear, I am NOT infantilizing Astarion or saying that he is/that I want him to be dependent on my Tav to function, but just that I see him in a way that I feel very few BG3 players see him, since most of them seem to see him as either a friend or a love interest without the mentor/mentee thing.

Does anyone else feel this way?