Thank you for the well-written, illustrated and comprehensive post. This is something that has bugged me since I saw BG3 halflings for the first time and I've been quite vocal about it. I agree with pretty much everything you wrote here, down to preferring to play a female halfling that isn't as terribly "curvy and chesty". I think the Saltmarsh or PHB p. 26 halflings would be the best as a base for a good halfling model. I hope they fix halflings, right now I can't see myself playing as one.
