I personally don't know anything about Helia since the game just released to PS5 and this is my first time playing/seeing BG3, but there are definitely a lot of folk who enjoy Halsin a lot even outside of the romance aspect so I'm happy he's there. I'm just disappointed with his writing.
I truly believe there is so much potential in him to not be redundant, creepy or weird but due to the path the writers took he's really getting what I feel is undeserved hate. It's like thinking up an amazing idea for an invention but using all the cheapest parts and taking short cuts to create it. Then bam in the end you have a hallow shell of what could have been something really flipping good.
Yes, I mean when you make rape culture a part of his personality there will be some (well deserved) pushback. Harvey Weinstein may be a really good producer with a great personality to people who knew him as a friend , but that doesn't really matter when you take the other things into account.
Edit: I am of course aware that it's probably not intentional, but as long as they leave it as it is, that's the story we are presented with.
A character that engages in victim-blaming when rejected by implying that it's Tav's fault for leading them on. That persists trying to have sex with Tav after they have clearly communicated that they do not consent to it, and assumes that people want to have sex with them despite what they say and communicate. I am sorry for making this an uncomfortable discussion about the serious issue of rape-culture, but it is not acceptable in any shape way or form to me!
You have to call them out on this. You can't make excuses because he has so many other sweet moments and pretend that everything is perfect as long as you get your happy romance ending. Re-writing the scenarios where he doesn't respect consent and becomes an outright toxic presence must be the first priority!
