Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Feedback on Halsin (Discord influenced)

First of all: This is a summary of the feedback I read about Halsin on Discord lately as well as partially my own feedback. As someone on Discord said, it would be good to carry some of this over to the forums because it will disappear from Discord after a short period of time.

Please note that the purpose of this topic is by no means meant to be offensive against any fan of the game, the character or Larian as well as no offense against any Larian staff member itself. I just want this to be a place to discuss the topics that came from the players.

And now, lets hop in:

From everything you can see for yourself in the game or gather from other players experiences, Halsin has been a beloved character since his introduction in EA and while I am sure that there were some thirst posts about him, the majority of the players seemed to be interested in the lovely, humble and caring personality that Halsin has to offer. With the full release, things got shaken up a bit, mainly because of the way his personality changes throughout the game. Especially if you consider the fans wish to have him as a companion it was a bit of a disappointment that it takes at least 1 and a half act for him to actually join (well, still better than Minsc).
But, let me use this point to thank Larian Studios for listening to the fans wishes for Halsin to become a companion.


Different personalities
Feedback:
As I already said, Halsin shows different kind of personalities. The greater part of his personality feels like a young man, always looking for physical pleasures, constantly having a sexualized undertone in this sentences. At the same time, he is really romantic and sweet, but that leads to the PC feeling more like he uses romantic talk just to get into your pants (again).
You could think that he takes a turn with the romance scene after the Shadowlands, as we seem to have touched his heart ("I have taken many lovers. My heart does not stir lightly. But it does now."). You get the feeling that he wants you to be more than just a lover, but then a short time after, he wants both of us to "seek happiness, wherever it lies.". But then again, he tells us "You are all I want...". I don't know, this feels a bit like Halsin is pushing the PC to seek more physical adventures or maybe even to build a harem that he is part of.

If you want him as a side-option just to spice things up, this is pretty good and well made. I think his lines are not bad and make sense if you have a polygamous approach (I cant really evaluate that as I am not familiar with polygamous ways - please feel free to add to my knowledge or correct me) to Halsin. But if you want him in a monogamous way, you get pushed away constantly, no matter what efforts you take.

I admit that he told the PC that he hopes that what we share with him is not a relationship but "more fluid" and by that, he clearly stated that he doesnt want a relationship, but in that case, we might want to ask Larian, why it is still possible to romance Halsin without even having another relationship, if he was intended just to be a hot side-kick.

Suggestion:
There are several ways to approach this:
If you dont want to change the way Halsin is, you should consider just adding him as a side-kick to an existing relationship with another companion, so he could just spice things up, have some fun and leave.

If you want him to offer a good mono romance to the PC, you should consider adding another romance path with some additional lines. After all the troubles we faced in the Shadowlands and Thaniel, he realizes that we are far more for him than just a usual lover. Its a new experience for him and its takes some time for him to understand his feelings for us. It would be nice to see him evolving and opening up his heart to the PC and seeing him less sexualizing the conversations. Would be nice to push the intimate scene back a bit and him being nervous about it (first time with the person he fell in love with). *
By that, you could allow both groups of players (those who want him for pleasure and those who want a relationship) are satisfied, without the need of changing Halsin a lot.

*) I get that you need to speed up the pace a bit, as Halsin joins kinda late into the game. This leads us to..

Halsin joins the party too late
Feedback:
As I said before, it takes at least 1 and a half acts for him to join the party, although he is already with us at the end of act 1.

Suggestion:
Have him join us right after the party with the Tieflings, so we can play with him earlier, do some fights with him, raising his approval slowly but steady and allow the relationship to grow slowly. He could also temporarily leave the party for the quests at the Last Light Inn and re-joins us later. This would totally make sense and the first intimate scene could still stay like it is, just that we dont get naked at the first opportunity.

Halsins trauma
Feedback:
I dont want to go too much into detail with this one, so let me just summarize. Halsin has experienced SA, something, that feels way too real for players who share a similar history. While it can work to add topics like this (if you handle it well, with all the respect needed and with a closure to it), the way it was handled in the game was really bad. Not only does he kinda glorify his experience, its also the timing of him telling us his story thats totally bad - right after we had the night with the Drows, he told us that he it reminded him of his "youthful misadventures", which turn out to be 3 years of slavery and SA. Calling this misadvantures (plus saying it had positive aspects) is just bad and disrespectful - but I dont think this was Larians intention.
Fortunately, I have never been a victim of such cruels myself, so I would like to add this link to another thread for more explanation:
Thread by Lyricus

Suggestion:
You should either remove this scene and background story or - and this is the better way to handle it - speak to professionals who have deep knowledge about those crimes and especially how victims feel and rework this part of Halsin to better fit that. Handle the situation with respect and empathy.

Missing romance questline
Feedback:
Maybe Halsin feels rushed and reduced to just being a over-sexualized man because he lacks his own romance questline. Of course, he is very much engaged in the mainstory, but from what people say, they would like to see even a small romance quest added, to deeper the bonds between us and Halsin and maybe use that quest(s) to allow us to decide on a monogamous or polygamous way.

Suggestion:
This is up to Larian's creativity (and there is plenty of it) how you want to add that.

Halsins background and behaviour
Feedback:
This is not about the sexual aspect of the char - I already explained earlier whats wrong with that.
People would like to know more about him, he is mostly silent (beside the information given within the mainstory) in later stages of the game (beside the obvious sexual themes). As someone said, he feels like a mod in act 3, standing around, using the same few voice lines until you get to the end, where he offers not really anything - you cant even choose to come with him.
The only things he seem to care about (and that would make up for a good side or romance quest) is the destiny of the poor and orphans in Rivington.
While being at the camp/inn, he is (same as all other companions) silent and just stands there.

Suggestion:
Add more voice lines about his past (from what I read, there are several cut voicelines), as long as they are not just more sexual content but more about his story, his life, his likes and dislikes (especially in act 3. Have him telling us what exactly he dislikes about the city, how he feels, what he wishes to happen and such).
Also, it would be nice to have more interactivity at the camp/inn. Let them move around more, have him interact more with the nature and animals or children (if you have some at the camp) or let him sit at the fire while carving wood. This could also make up for a nice gift he gives us in the end.

The ending is somewhat disappointing
Feedback:
If you have him as a side-kick or just a lover, the ending is pretty solid, you choose to part you ways with the option to visit him for more 'action'.
But if you want him in a monogamous relationship, its exhausting to just being forced another time to not be with him.

Suggestion:
Add a choice for us to go with him. Lets be clear: The perfect ending if you want to follow him is already there: He desperately needs helping hands for the orphans and the poors he wants to take care of, so why cant we be the one to join him? In the end, it should be the players choice to decide whether to follow him or not. He could have a family with us, even with just one or two orphans as children instead of biological children or even both or w/e. I am sure Larian can come up with some good ideas. Halsin said that he regrets never having his own family. Well, there it is.


Of course, I dont know what parts of this thread is even doable for the Devs, but if its about the financial part of it, I am sure that fans are happy to spend a few bucks for DLCs or even donate for changes to happen.

Thanks for your time and sorry for the wall of text.

Adding my input here, so we have some ideas together.

Thank you for adding this suggestion <3

I have come up with an idea for how Halsin's romance could be improved, without compromising his identity and the representation, while still giving players more agency in how the romance plays out.

I think we are exaggerating how much work it would actually take. An entire rewrite and redefining is entirely unnecessary.

I would love them to give him more content, but that is a seperate issue.


This is what I would do if I was his writer.


Act 2

(Restructure this sentence between his current bones, so polygamy is discussed in act 2)

Tav: "You didn't mention lovers."
Halsin: "I am 350 years old. Of course there have been lovers. As varied as nature itself, and without limitations. Finding the balance within such relationships can be challenging, and is not for everyone, but I have found that it brings me joy. But I have found with age that I have become more particular about my lovers, and the complexity of emotion when more than two individuals are involved."
Tav: "You don't believe in monogamy?"
Halsin: "It has its place, but it is not for me--" (The rest of that line continues as per usual, but it has been moved from act 3 to act 2).

Act 3:
Love confession:
This conversation starts as per usual.

Halsin: "If we do this ---" (line plays to the end)
Tav options:
(all the current options would apply)

New option: "I remember you saying so. I am willing to respect your nature, and I will not bind you, but I only want you. I hope you can accept that difference too."
Halsin: He smiles a little, though clearly nervous. "I can, but you should know you are all I want. But I exist in fluid relationships, where connections evolve and grow. It changes with seasons, and each spring we decide which plants to regrow and which to change. It would be against my nature to promise you forever, but I am invested in joining our efforts and making the wilds we share grow and thrive. I only ask that we not put limitations on what we are, but allow for it to evolve, without the social constructs that civilization would force upon us."

Tav:
1. Takes his hand in theirs. "Then yes... You can share in my heart."
2. "I am sorry, Halsin. I need something more defined."

Halsin: Normal replies

Drow twins:
The conversation about the Underdark should trigger before they agree to the orgy.

Halsin: "More than interested if you are, but I would like to discuss something with you first. At camp perhaps?"

At camp he tells the story about the drow.

When they approach the drow again, Tav can then once again confirm with Halsin before engaging in it.

There should be focus on after care.

Whether or not to join the drow, you should get this scene later.

Halsin: "Tell me more of your experiences.."

Tav:
1. "My first experience was when..."
2. "I am not ready to talk about it yet. Can we just lay here?"

You see them stargazing from a distance before it fades to black.

Ending:
It plays out as it normally wants, but at the end there is a new option.

Tav: "Our ideals are alike, my love. I want to help the refugees and orphans too. Would you be comfortable with me helping you build this new settlement?"
Halsin: Smiles broadly. "My heart... I should have known. With your support and wisdom, I know we would all benefit from your presence. Me most of all."


My notes: This way he stays true to his identity, but his preferences are expanding and he is willing to find compromises without compromising himself. By leaving the discussion here, head cannons can fill in the blanks of the rest.

This allows for people to seek more nuanced than now, and would solve a lot of his problems that are romance specific.



(I posted this in a thread, but since it is a concrete suggestion I am posting it here as well, so it is easy to see and find. If this is not allowed then I'll leave it to the Mods digression<3)

More feedback based on Discord. Please note that I rephrased most feedback a bit and took other posts into consideration to summarize them.

Halsins development and story flaws
Feedback:
Halsin doesnt get a lot of development within the story and especially not within his romance. Both parts are mostly just a fetishization of his sexuality rather than deep insights in his thoughts, his past and his values. Also there are some strange questions in what he says, e.g. Halsin doesn't recognize Ketheric when the player clicks on a portrait showing him. Given that Halsin and the Harpers already went to battle against him, this makes no sense.

Suggestion:
Use the huge pool of Halsins experiences as an adult wise archdruid and let him be a mentor to the party. Show more of this good manners from EA, his charisma and his caring instead of just plain sexualized interactions. Also please either fix his comment on Ketheric or give an explanation later on (maybe Ketheric wore a mask all the time).


Halsin has no click voice-overs
Feedback:
So far, it seems that Halsin is the only character who doesn't speak if you order him to do any action via click.

Suggestion:
From what dataminers found, the lines for this are already in the game files, so please add them to have a more living Halsin.


Suggestions for content improvement
Feedback:
It would be nice to have more interaction with the plot, characters and the world. As I already said, Halsin has lots of experience and could easily be a good mentor for the party. His knowledge could be a big advantage to the party.
Halsin is one of the characters that doesn't share much about his past beside past lovers and traumas, which is also due to him not having his own questline.
The interactions we can have with him are mostly driven by thirst and physical pleasure. This leads to him being creepy and weird - which is contrary to the way he was introduced in EA.

Suggestion:
Add a questline for Halsin or at least allow us and him to have more interaction on other topics like the past, the surroundings, maybe even asking for advices (making use of his experiences).
Allow us to help him adapting to the civilization, we are Baldurians, so who could help him more than us?
Remove all the creepy thirst comments from him (read this as: stop the horny bear meme) and give us back more of his EA personality traits. Let him be the defender and protection the Tav might need.

Halsins true feelings
Feedback:
If you push aside the memes and jokes around Halsin, you can reflect on how a relationship with him might look like.
Halsin is very grateful for the company the Tav offers him, he really shows his true feelings in minor yet deep moments like when we share the campfire with him or when the Tav wants to learn more about him or sympathize with him because of the death of his parents. In his regret about not having a family, he shows a true fear we all share: loneliness. It seems to be hidden deep inside him.

Suggestion:
Those feelings offer a good way to start a relationship. If not directly, he shares his thoughts and feelings with the Tav and with time, this could get deeper and he could open himself more. Seeing the Tav as someone to free him from the shadow curse that haunted (not only) him for such a long time, could open his eyes and his heart. He is really passionate and sensual, as shown in his "bed scene" that only lacks another scene in the end that shows us looking into the stars. It would be nice to see this added. All of this could make up for a great romance, if you also remove the unneccessary jokes that cause discomfort.

The lack of a personal quest
Feedback:
Halsin lacks interaction with the plot, characters and the world. In act 3, he doesn't even have a personal quest.

Suggestion:
Add a questline to act 3. This could be something like a conflict between a local druid circle and the authorities from Baldur's Gate over something. The druids react by blocking some parts of the city with huge vines or something. Maybe this druid circle could even include someone who knows Halsin back from the past and could tell us more about him and maybe even commenting on how much he changed (at least with the shadow curse being lifted). It could also be that there is someone else pulling the strings in the background who wants the druids to be driven out of the town. Or w/e you writers could come up with.
This could also be a chance to add more romance lines, just like Astarion had on his personal quest.

Halsin's caring personality
Feedback:
Throughout the game, caring for others, especially for children, seems to be something thats important for Halsin, but yet he isnt giving lot of interaction with them. We get to know Arabella and Yenna, children in need of someone helping and caring for them - something, Halsin is perfectly made for.

Suggestion:
It would be lovely to have more interaction between Halsin, Arabella and/or Yenna. Halsin is someone, who regrets not having his own family and there is Arabella, a girl who lost her parents, is alone with no one to take care of her, she is connected to druid magic and we just send her off into the world? This seems nothing like what we'd expect Halsin to do. Give this man a family, give the Tav the opportunity to go with Halsin and one or both girls, let us be the second parent. This would be the perfect ending - not just for us players, but for an archdruid with feelings deep hidden inside him who is looking to make the world a better place and was never looking for his own heart.


Personal note
I would like to thank everyone who wrote feedback that I could use for the posts, especially Nika, Merrin, Cowoline and Filia.
Also I would like to add a few links to a really detailed analysis that Nika made - a must read:

https://www.tumblr.com/nika-vincent...ther-my-thoughts-also-based?source=share
https://www.tumblr.com/nika-vincent...tions-on-the-development-of?source=share

Thank you so much for making this post and thank you for your kind word. <3

Great posts, JeyFrey! I hope they can add some of these to the game!

Most of it was because he was rushed, he wasn't originally intended to be a companion, currently Halsin's personality seemed to be result of him being added last minute, with no proper direction to give him.

Honestly I heard that the most interesting thing about him was cut for some reason... .

Thank you guys for your time to read all of this.


I am pretty sure thats the case. And I think they went with a more sexual approach to at least fulfill the desires of thirsty people.

I support any and all of the above.

Is this for real? Why was that cut? This would have been a great story beat and would have made his character a thousand times more interesting than the sexfiend mess we got now.

Only explanation I could think of is that they ran out of time and had to cut stuff that would've taken too long to add. Another thought could be that's stuff for the Def Edition.

Can't comment on romance stuff or his questline, as I completely ignore Halsin because I find his whole behaviour unbearable and disgusting. Bear sex, really? But that is not the point I want to make. I find Halsin genuinely useless. By the time he is actually available as a companion, you already have a druid available, and Jaheira is way more interesting to me. And you definitely want to have Jaheira around for parts of act 3, so I'm not going to have a 2nd druid in my party. Apart from that, druids aren't the most useful class, by the time Halsin can do anything for me, I have way better frontline fighters, way better healers and supporters and way better casters. So either bear dude needs a major overhaul, or he should be reduced to a quest giver. And maybe remove the bear thing?

I hope they do this! It is strange to have him at camp but not able to join the party until much later!

Personal note part 1
Today I lack a bit of time to edit the feedback I found so I decided to just copy some feedback from Filia and Nika.


Add more bear scenes
Feedback & Suggestion
Right now, we mostly have either intimate scenes/situations with Halsin as bear or if you free him out of captivity in the goblin camp.

For a druid, I feel like we could have more bear scenes under more normal circumstances, like him offering us to stay close to him if evenings/nights are cold, playing with children or animals in the camp as a bear or other peaceful things.
If we consider that the bear is somewhat of his spirit animal, it feels a bit frustrating that he only uses it (at least while we are playing) as disguise, for intimate stuff or to fight. Especially if he told us stories about how we used to cross the lands as a bear before.

Halsin and Mintharas roles in the party
Feedback & Suggestion
For me, the most anticipated idea was that Halsin and Minthara should be special companions and play an important role depending on the choice of the path of good or evil. Which means they've to be something like mentors and adviser on the player's chosen path. That they'd monitor our actions and comment on our decisions, give advice if we're concerned about something or want to know their opinions about our party members and the situation in the world. And also helped us not to go astray and would guide us on our chosen path. And it'd also be appropriate here to argue with them or challenge them in any situation if you want to have your own way or even betray them. I also believe that they should've their own personal quests so that they manifest themselves with actions and their strengths here.

I know that there is not much content in the game for these two characters at the moment, but I think there is still a chance to improve them and add something that would set them apart from our other companions. We can already ask Minthara's opinion about our companions, and Halsin's about how we cope in general. I think it can be developed further and give these two characters more special interactions for the player.

Minthara is currently showing herself better in terms of development and her complex character, because for Halsin right now everything is focused on fetishizing his sexuality, which is very bad for how players perceive him. And he is very different from what he was in EA. I really wanna hope that our feedbacks will help Larian improve Halsin so that he finally gets rid of the stigma of a sex object and is perceived by us as an adult and wise archdruid with a strong character.

I think even if both of them could be recruited into our party, it would even add a special dynamic. We'd have watched their arguments, as it was between Shadowheart and Lae'zel. They'd argue over advice for the player, test us with it. Maybe even we could finally reconcile them?


Personal note part 2
Let me just emphasize this: By no means did anyone of all of us (who are trying to get some tweaks to Halsin) ask for the poly or open-minded sexual-based relationship to be removed. The feedback aims more at improving him and adding another side to him. Yes, he is 350 years old yes, he is an adult. But does being an adult mean you can never change you way you live or want to live?
Imagine all the tough challenges he went through in BG3, those experiences can change the way Halsin looks at his own place as well as his choices. Also, as I was being told, there are 3 flags for Halsin in the game. One as the only love interest, one as secondary partner and the third after you broke up. So, if the writers intended him to never even consider being in a relationship just with the Tav, why should they even bother adding that flag?
They could've just added some sex scenes with him, no strings attached and it would be fine for (what many of us still consider minority) the thirsty people in need of a horny bear daddy.

Allow me to quote myself here:
From what I read, some people are concerned that you might change Halsin to something he isnt wanted to be for said people if you add a monogamy option to him.

I think there has been a misunderstanding. Nobody - at least all the feedback I read - ever asked for Halsin to be reworked completely. Its quite the opposite, we had good suggestions on how small changes or adding just a few lines could make it work for both groups of players - the ones who want Halsin like they expected him to be (based on EA, meaning a caring, lovely, wise man without a hypersexual side added) as well as the ones who like him being more physical and sexual.

I just want to emphasize this so Larian - should they ever really consider all this feedback - gets the point: We want to see an additional monogamous path being added to Halsin, a path that easily could share lots of voicelines with how he is now and that co-exists with the romance he has to offer now. Right now, we have the option to have a solo romance just with him, but compared to the other companions, it feels very disapponting.
If we want to talk about diversity, we can also go a bit deeper and talk about that Halsins behaviour is quite normal for wood elf, but adding a monogamous side to a wood elf would add even more diversity (lore says, that most of the wood elves are open-minded when it comes to sex, but that still leaves room for a monogamous approach).

Again: Its not about reworking the whole character, its about adding just another option to him. An option, that should be available for EVERY romancable character. None of the characters care about the gender, so why not allow all of them to love the way the Tav wants the relationship to be?

Awesome!

We are throwing a lot of terms around like relationship anarchy and polyamorous, so I am going to give some description and then point out why they don't apply to Halsin:.
Most would like to see healthy Polyamory and relationship anarchy represented. Halsin is unfortunately a bad example of this because (among other things) it is presented at an ultimatum, not a discussion. Which is ironic since he encourages you to discussion with your other romance if you have one.



Polyamory


Healthy polyamory involves engaging in consensual, non-monogamous relationships where all partners openly communicate their desires, boundaries, and needs. Respect for each individual's autonomy and emotional well-being is paramount, as is the establishment of clear relationship contracts or agreements that outline expectations and boundaries. Successful polyamorous relationships often require compromise, empathy, and ongoing communication to ensure the well-being and satisfaction of all involved parties.

Why not Halsin?
What Halsin proposes as Polyamory is something that has no obligation or responsibility to one another. He also directly denies the word relationship, which is not accurate. Polyamory is having more than one romantic relationship and nurturing those relationships with great care and affection.

While Halsin is caring and affectionate, there is never an actual commitment towards investing effort in the relationship. Therefore Halsin simply doesn't live up to the Polyamory representation - quite the opposite.


Relationship Anarchy
Relationship anarchy prioritizes personal autonomy and freedom, emphasizing that relationships should be defined by the individuals involved rather than predefined norms. It thrives on consent, respect, and freedom of connection. While there may not be formal contracts, communication and mutual agreement are essential, allowing for flexible and unique relationship dynamics that honor each person's desires and needs.

Why not Halsin?
There is the misunderstanding that relationship anarchy is the distaste for relationships, but that isn't accurate. Relationship Anarchy is the distaste for society to dictate the shape of the relationship over the personal preferences and values of the people in the relationship.

By Halsin denying it being a relationship, upon Tav asking, and then he ALONE defining what it is between them without input for Tav, is deeply toxic. RA is about respect, communication, compromises, and accepting change in the relationship as necessary for the people involved and not for outside dictation.


Okay, so now we have concluded that Halsin is neither poly or RA, but actually only interested in casual flings without any personal responsibility. But if Halsin where to be defined as RA, is such a thing possible as RA?

Monogamous RA
Monogamous relationship anarchy is an approach where two people in a committed, monogamous relationship apply some principles of relationship anarchy. It emphasizes individual autonomy, consent, and mutual respect within the context of a monogamous partnership. This means allowing flexibility in defining the relationship's rules and roles while maintaining a commitment to one another, fostering a unique and open monogamous connection.

These two subjects are inherently complex and often people misuse the terms, and use them for abusive purposes, which have nothing to do with these life styles.

If we want Halsin to represent Polyamory and RA then he needs to be given the one thing all the other romances have: Player agency, compromise and respect.

Adressing Halsin's hypersexuality

Hypersexuality as a trauma response, sometimes referred to as sexual compulsivity or hypersexual disorder, is a condition where an individual engages in excessive sexual thoughts, behaviors, or activities as a way to cope with or escape from trauma and emotional pain. This response can be a way to temporarily numb or distract from the distressing feelings associated with past traumatic experiences. Trauma can encompass a range of experiences, such as sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, neglect, or other deeply distressing events.

These are all things that Halsin exhibit.

Symptoms of Hypersexuality as a Trauma Response:

Excessive sexual thoughts: Constant preoccupation with sexual fantasies, which can serve as a distraction from painful memories and emotions.
Compulsive sexual behaviors: Engaging in a pattern of excessive and often risky sexual activities, which can include promiscuity, infidelity, pornography addiction, or compulsive masturbation.
Lack of control: Repeatedly failing to control or limit sexual behavior despite a desire to do so.
Neglect of responsibilities: Prioritizing sexual activities over other important life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or self-care.
Negative emotional consequences: Experiencing guilt, shame, or a sense of powerlessness due to the compulsive sexual behaviors.



What Halsin needs:
Seek therapy: Trauma-focused therapy, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), can help individuals process past trauma and learn healthier coping mechanisms.
Support groups: Joining support groups or 12-step programs like Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA) can provide a safe space to share experiences and find support from others facing similar challenges.
Self-awareness: Developing self-awareness about the connection between trauma and hypersexuality is crucial. Understanding the underlying emotional triggers can help individuals make more informed choices.
Mindfulness and relaxation techniques: Practicing mindfulness and stress-reduction techniques can help manage emotional distress in healthier ways.
Healthy coping strategies: Replace hypersexual behaviors with positive coping strategies such as exercise, art, journaling, or engaging in supportive relationships.
Healthy boundaries: Learn to establish and maintain healthy boundaries in relationships to prevent relapse.


The "Halsin is 350 years old" argument

This is not a positive or an affirming part of Halsin's character. The fact that he is still in reactive trauma response mode after more than 200 years is extremely toxic and damaging for his mental health. While hyper sexuality is a normal and understandable response, it is extremely damaging if it is not something that is eventually resolved. Halsin has suppressed and fetisised his trauma so deeply, that he is still acting on the immediate response after centuries - UNLESS he is distracted by an obsession like the Shadow Curse.

I would argue that this is also part of the reason why he feels so desperately lost without a purpose. This also brings me to the depressing conclusion that Halsin only needs sex and Tav while he is struggling to find his new purpose, and the moment it arrives he no longer needs Tav. This means that he can definitely be interpreted as using Tav.


Repercussions if Hypersexuality as a Trauma Response is Not Addressed:

Further trauma: Engaging in risky sexual behaviors may lead to more traumatic experiences, such as sexually transmitted infections or unhealthy relationships.
Interference with daily life: Neglecting responsibilities due to hypersexuality can have serious consequences, including job loss, financial problems, and strained relationships.
Emotional distress: Continued hypersexuality may result in increasing guilt, shame, and anxiety, worsening the psychological impact of past trauma.
Legal and social consequences: Engaging in illegal or unethical sexual activities can lead to legal issues, societal isolation, and damage to one's reputation.
Physical health risks: Risky sexual behaviors can lead to physical health issues, including the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
Addressing hypersexuality as a trauma response is essential for healing and regaining control over one's life. Seeking professional help and support can be a crucial step in this process, as it can help individuals develop healthier coping mechanisms and work through the underlying trauma, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling and balanced life.


Halsin's drow fetish

Turning a trauma into a fetish is a complex psychological phenomenon that may occur for various reasons, and it's essential to approach this topic with sensitivity and understanding. When someone makes a trauma a fetish, they are incorporating elements of their traumatic experiences into their sexual preferences or fantasies.

The reasons can be:

Reclamation of control: For some individuals, fetishizing a traumatic experience can be an attempt to regain a sense of control over the event. By incorporating it into a sexual context, they may feel like they have the power to shape the experience.

Desensitization: In some cases, people may fetishize their trauma as a way to desensitize themselves to the painful emotions or memories associated with the event. It may be a form of coping or self-soothing, allowing them to distance themselves from the pain.

Why this is unhealthy in the long term (Especially after 200+ years)

Reinforcing negative associations: Fetishizing a traumatic experience can reinforce negative emotions and associations with the trauma. Instead of healing, it may perpetuate and intensify the emotional distress.

Inhibiting healing: By incorporating traumatic elements into their sexual preferences, individuals may avoid addressing or working through the underlying trauma. This can hinder the healing process and prevent them from moving forward. (I would say this is VERY evident in how Halsin behaves otherwise)

Boundary issues: Fetishizing trauma can lead to boundary problems in relationships. It may be challenging for partners to navigate these fetishes, which can create tension and misunderstanding in intimate relationships. (This is VERY relevant if we think about the whole Halsin and Shadowheart debacle)

Unhealthy coping mechanism: Using a fetish as a coping mechanism for trauma may prevent individuals from developing healthier and more adaptive strategies to deal with their pain and distress.

Risk of re-traumatization: Engaging in sexual activities related to a traumatic event can risk re-traumatization, as these experiences may trigger intense emotional reactions and flashbacks. (This is the implication I absolutely despise abnout the brothel scene. I feel that in order to get key information about Halsin's character I am FORCED to have my Tav participate in this and become linked to the past trauma.)

Personally, I am disturbed by how well this fits. I would say that it has been consiously implemented, but I just think its stems from multiple oversights by the developers.

You forget that he likes to kill goblin childrens.
At least for me form 10 run at least 8 times he first kill those goblin childrens.

That's an excellent point. And this is where we find out that Halsin's family was murdered by goblins, while he was held as a sexslave by drow.

The guy clearly has plenty of issues that needs attention, and they dealt with none of it in any way whatsoever. Instead they just made him into a sex-joke. Weird choice to be honest when it could have been a great story with lots of depth.

Again, sort of feels like the last parts of him was thrown together in a rush without even attempting to tie together all the loose threads from ACT1-2.

The main problem I have with Halsin is it all of this feedback, while valuable and insightful, feels very much like we are trying to figure out ways to explain and/or justify Halsin's character and behaviour after the fact. I understand that this is what we have to work with, but there some part of him that feels permanently tainted because I dont think this kind of thought and care was put into his character by Larian and his writer. I dont like the idea of being given poor quality content, and trying to find any and every way to try to make it seem like its not. Im not sure how I feel about trying to work around what we were given just because it was handled SO badly. This doesnt seem to be the first time his writer has done this and it diddnt seem to be too popular with his previous characters, but people made it work after the fact becauae it seemed consistent with the character. Which is fine, but I think this incentivised his writer to not listen and keep doing what he does, maybe even more so, and we got Halsin as a result.

I would prefer the non monogamy and drow aspects just be dropped entirely, mainly because they were handled so poorly that I think they are potentially actively harmful, and it doesnt seem to actually add anything of value for the audience as far as representation especially given all the backlash. I think the vast majority of people who wanted Halsin as a romantic partner diddnt have poly even remotely on their minds anyway and it was clearly added as a gimick for a small minory of the audience and for Halsin's writer's amusement. Since all of the bad stuff was contained in act 3 I dont think dropping them would create a whole lot of extra work to fill in those gaps in his character. Especially if there is unused content ready and waiting. Also get rid of the bear in the intimate scene because no one actually wants that.

I would prefer they just expand on what was given in acts 1 and 2, because thats the character everyone wants anyway. We just need more content in acts 1 and 2. There are plenty of that Halsin present in act 3 as well, all of that can be kept in, just need to fill in the gaps. While I love the idea of being able to go with him to help the refugees and orphans, I would also like the option of just going off with him somewhere as a couple.

Also I would like to see him whittling, smoking his pipe, and/or writing in his journal in camp.