Originally Posted by Backinstyle
But where does she ever state or even imply that she's in "open monogamy" with Tav? Why would Halsins lack of interest in open relationship only affect her and Astarion (Karlach doesn't actually join in on this I believe)? Do they ever mention Halsin' openness as an excuse for them being into poly? Why does Halsins relationship preference have anything to do with SH or Astarion? Neither of them care in solo Halsin romance and I've never heard of Origin SH or Astarion being into him either. Why is she suddenly into him when she never expresses this throughout the whole rest of the game? Why him? Why is she not okay with Karlach or anyone else?
Never, because she isn't. She's full mono in the current state and 5 minutes of optional inconsistent dialogue don't change the 2 hours of writing that envelop it.

Originally Posted by KillerRabbit
Oh sure. I agree that lots of people are disappointed with Halsin. But I was talking about SH
As Backinstyle mentioned, if they fix Halsin they'll largely fix Shadowheart's problem. And people don't like Halsin. The problem only exists because of Halsin's late addition as romance partner. Everything about her writing is mono, because it was written prior to Halsin's addition. They added him late, felt the weird need to turn him into this abomination he is right now and added a few optional dialogues (except his creepy flirting/self insert, which needs removal) to some existing companions to fit Halsin's agenda, not their own. Which is why those inconsistent moments have no consequences otherwise for those companions' overall romance, while Halsin's horribly written romance.. well, has consequences for Halsin's overall romance.

Originally Posted by KillerRabbit
Very well. Here's one of the three I mentioned. You find the others on youtube.

SH makes it clear that she would have been okay if Tav asked first. Asking first = setting boundaries on the relationship = ethical non monogamy.
The fact you can't even force her to break up with you, or even get upset with you, by being the biggest prick in the world shows how badly written and out of character the Mizora scene truly is. And that's ignoring the contradictory statements that are a part of that conversation.

But either way, you're using an optional inconsistency that adds no consequential character development to explain away another optional inconsistency that adds no consequential character development. So long as these choices have no impact on her overall story, are they truly part of it? The answer is no. Because things like this should be reflected in her overall character, but they aren't.

Here's an example: in Smash Bros, you can have Link fight Mario. Does that mean that canonically in either of their story, Link has fought Mario? No. It's not canon, and them having fought in Smash Bros does not change their characters whatsoever. This is the same thing. It's optional - for the lack of a better word - fanfic quality porn content (not Smash Bros, mind), and nothing more.

The other companions are basically just an out of character cameo appearance in Halsin's shit romance.

Last edited by Michieltjuhh; 17/10/23 10:22 PM.