Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Shadowheart Romance and the Hidden Fetish - (Spoilers inside)

Personally with how messy the poly stuff is right now, I don't think I'd be a fan of how they'd do it on a larger scale.

Astarion says exactly this when you bring it up to him, so at least in his case that is what the game assumes.

Im convinced this is how Halsin "relationship" all of them see. This way at least it's not out of character for them. Still the point about banter as valid as ever and so is drow-twins encounter.

It's such a ridiculous assumption though. Sure, maybe that's the way the characters would view it but for the vast majority of players a "fling" when you're in a committed relationship is cheating, plain and simple.
I swear the writers and this community are trying to gaslight me into thinking poly relationships are the standard. I don't want that I want my character to have a monogamous relationship with Shadowheart.

Well this way(if Astarion/SH/Karlach treat Halsin no more than a casual sex source for Tav) its atleast not entirely OOC. Its not a poly thing, more of open relationship. It's ok for both sides, except for Halsin fans it's a bit disrespectful, instead of actual relationship its just a fling.

No reason to assume it with Halsin and not assume it with any other companions. Especially since you have to ignore a lot of implications to reach that conclusion (them calling Halsin poly, the dialogues regarding an open relationship with other companions, especially Wyll, indicating she'd not even be open to sharing once).

That exchange I had with angel last night I thought was all hypothetical, just fun headcanon stuff. We've already confirmed SH is monogamous.

We've talked about her being monogamous, but what we haven't touched on is how deeply romantic SH is. Drinking wine and talking near a waterfall; swimming and making love on the beach under the moonlight; and even just the way she speaks to you in act 3 are all incredibly romantic. This is how I believe she was intended.

But then they brought the orgy stuff and Halsin into play, and being a hot half elf, decided to force her into it. They distorted her, reducing her into a sex doll, and now thats all some people see. That really pisses me off, but what pisses me off the most is this sex doll version of her is seeped into the beautiful, romantic version and sullies it. They should have been more careful not to let this stuff seep into her intended romance. Now they need to fix it.

ikr, first when I started the game(Also played EA) I was just goofing around with friends in multiplayer not really thinking about anything, completely randomly got invited by her after saving the grove and...wow. I think I 've never thought I would be so engaged with fictional character, her story is really romantic and beautiful. I unironically think John did amazing job writing her. Just that damn Halsin thing that leaves sour taste...

Yeah exactly, as soon as Halsin got involved they turned her into something else entirely. But on her own she's so romantic and only interested in the player; it's completely epic. It's such a shame that they did that to her, for no other reason than she's part elf and hot.

Personally I think Lae'zel would have made a better fit for it.

What a twist that Lae'zel ended up being the based monogamous pick instead of Shadowheart. Again, I can't understate it enough that this inclusion of poly/open relationship content was a mistake. Should have been every character being mono and that once you're locked into a romance, that's it. Like it's too complicated to write well, evidently shown with how it's been handled so far.

Might be me going off tangent, but a source of me not liking poly/harem stuff is that I don't like the idea of my partner being with someone else at all, therefore I don't want to impose that on them either. With how Shadowheart behaved on the beach and when she confessed her love with how sweet it was, she then proceeds to flirt with someone else the day after. Major whiplash, was what that was for me. Also why is she super ready for an orgy when it took a pretty long time for our character to get close to her? I'm not good at arguing at all, but it's still annoying when you're not taken seriously. Why am I not allowed to be upset at this?

I mean it's a pretty traditional romance story of you courting her throughout act 1 with the 'first date' vibe cliff scene, confessing your love for each other in act 2 and having a sweet love scene that also helps her get over her past trauma in act 3, followed by wanting to spend the rest of your life together and starting a family when the world is savedTM. While making it more interesting in that neither of you know she even has that trauma because of the forced amnesia and thus she's somewhat distant and secretive at the start, and as things unfold you both come to realize her being under Shar's control isn't good for her. Which makes it fit well with Dark Urge because that story is somewhat similar, so then it doesn't feel like she's the only one going through shit and the support isn't a one-way thing.

None of it screams 'girl that's dtf everything that moves' which she turns into in act 3 and only during these optional scenarios, while remaining true to her writing for the rest of the romance story. But we already know all of that. I disagree that poly or open would work for Lae'zel though. Only act 1 Lae'zel and Astarion fit this bill, but they both change in act 2 as well. And if you read between the lines a little, Karlach throughout the game can fit it somewhat.

God reading these posts just made me even more angry about what they did to her. It's just so fucking out of left field and that people can't see it and belittle you for having that opinion is so infuriating.

Don't be, just don't bring Halsin and enjoy what's there while we await whatever content they're cooking up for us.

So has Larian acknowledged this problem? I, luckily, haven't encountered it in my first playthrough, he was at my camp whole time, but seeing this just fills me with unspeakable disdain for this Halsin character, so I just killed him in the goblin camp in my next 2 playthroughs. What even is his essence past act 2? Getting abducted by Orin? Being a sexual degenerate? Why can't I forbid him, and only him, from joining my party? Why am I forced to include him and endure his worthless company if I want to be a good guy, without any opportunity to separate?

Why would I be excited for anything else after this? They already ruined her romance once there's no reason to have any confidence that they're going to fix it or make it any better when/if they add to it in a theoretical definitive edition or DLC.

What problem do they even see in their eyes? This thread is like 5-10 of the same people just going back and forth. As much as I want change why would they change anything based on the opinion out of 5-10 people out of millions?

Well 50% players that bought the game didn't even make it past act 1. Also its not as "easy" to encounter in act 3. Also not many ppl use reddit/forums or willing to give feedback. You have to take this all in consideration. As far as it is right now - I would say there is at least some whiplash.

What whiplash? I'm way more invested in this particular problem and this character than any person should be in a fictional character. I search this stuff every day multiple times a day on Twitter, Discord, Reddit, etc. Yes, there are a few people here and there voicing their distaste for it but the overwhelming majority is in favor of it. They refuse to see the horrid inconsistencies of the situation often citing a throwaway banter line about preferring short-term engagements back in act 1 as proof or her flirty dialogue with characters BEFORE you are even committed to each other. Mind you a lot of characters have flirty dialogue with each other not just her. I just don't see the uproar that I feel it deserves and a big part of that is because if you argue that you want her romance to be more monogamous, that the scene on the beach actually have meaning, you're just an incel or you're trying to control her and other things of that nature.

I would say the most sensitive topics are : Endings>JusticeforKarlach>Minthara>Halsin(adn SH interaction) as it stand right now. Its not that bad, don't give up just yet.

The way they argue is like when someone punches you, you call them out on it and then they say "did not". This is whenever you bring up that this whole debacle feels like a certain fetish that's not popularly accepted by the majority of people (outside the internet anyway), then they tell you it's not when it quite literally is written that way. That and you shouldn't take this seriously when I'm almost certain they would take other things in the game just as seriously too.

I dunno if I should have faith in Larian or not, because these are the same people who said that Karlach got an "ending that she deserves" in one of the patches, because going back to Hell is definitely what she deserves. And support for her not getting shat on by her endings was way more than what we're doing here. I know, I was one of them.