As a Halsimp (solo romanced him twice now), I'm going to throw in my two cents:

I can't comment on Shadowheart much as I didn't romance her, but it feels like the writer was just trying to have fun with shipping his two characters together, but didn't account the emotional impact that it might have on some players (I'm not trying to bad mouth the writer, this is just what I legitimately believe). I think the easiest way to remedy this is to lock the interaction behind the poly relationship.

Also all this extreme Halsin hate makes me quite sad, honestly. The guy is super sweet and has layers to his personality other than "horny bear man" if you dig deep enough. Between having to deal with the curse and his guilt for a century, his loneliness (he has no family anymore), being forced into being a leader position he didn't want, his backstory with the drow, etc. It's no wonder he falls head over heels for the player when you literally (figuratively) sweep him off his feet and fix all those problems. UGH I just love this big ol' elf, man.
(And there is a datamined friendship route for him if you felt that he comes on too strongly)


ANYWAYS, I hope Larian tweaks his flags around in the future, including an alternate way to trigger Halsin's backstory reveal without having to do an orgy.