I would like to see the persimmon tree.

Based on my experience, Larian isn't very good at storytelling. They try to cram in as much as possible, constantly rework various moments, and in the end, it turns out to be something very strange, as if stitched together from disparate pieces. They also tend to overdo it with the characters' "specialness," which is especially noticeable with Gale in Baldur's Gate 3. It's enough to compare most of the companions from the old Baldur's Gate games with the new cast.

In my opinion, the second Original Sin was quite decent. Not without flaws, but overall good. The first one was a bit rough. And I haven't played the rest of their Divinity games.
And everything could have turned out well with the third Baldur's Gate, if they hadn't overdone some things. However, I agree that some moments feel derivative. The backstory of Astarion is largely similar to Sebille from Original Sin: both are elves, have lived for a very long time, both were captured by a "Master," both were constantly humiliated, both committed terrible acts under magical control, both have the main goal of defeating the Master, and even in the final battle with their personal bosses, both are taken under control, only in Sebille's case, you can sing a song that she gives you, while with Astarion, you either have to finish the fight quickly or start it without talking to the jerk.

Besides Will, there's also Halsin, although he's also very much an acquired taste. But I agree that Will turned out to be quite bland.

I had already forgotten about the zoophile's dream. Well, in my opinion, he's not very interesting either, especially since he becomes romantically available quite late, and you basically have to send your first love away. And if you want to have an affair, Mizora is a better option (although I preferred not to cheat). However, I had a very interesting experience with the romances. I started playing, deliberately ignoring a lot of videos on YouTube, and didn't know that you could romance multiple characters at the same time, and I didn't think much about LGBTQ+ romances. From the very beginning, I was only interested in Astarion, but then Shadowheart invited me to drink wine in the camp. So I went, just as a friend. I mentally praised Larian for such realism, because in real life, I've also gone out for drinks with friends many times. But when Shadowheart started hinting at a kiss and got a little offended by my ignoring her advances, I suddenly felt very awkward. And in the end, she started acting like my girlfriend. But Astarion, for whom I had done everything in the first act (let him drink blood, killed the vampire hunter), woke up and started inviting me behind the bushes only after that. As a result, for the rest of the first act and part of the second, I thought I was having a romance with both of them at the same time