"I need you in my party. Will you travel with us?" or something along those lines is Astarion's and I generally take Halsin's in the same spirit.

The banter with Shadowheart does only play out if Halsin is in your party, doesn't it? And unless she makes several mount Halsin comments, that one is tied to accepting the poly relationship with him. All of which are things that do not come up, if you just leave him in camp. So a lot of this reads like outrage over things that could happen if you brought a character you don't like along.

And that is not me saying that some of those things weren't badly handled and could be improved, but the outrage over something that you do not even encounter if you do not bring a character you do not like along, is a bit disproportional. As ninja wrote:

Originally Posted by papercut_ninja
But I agree that there really isn't much sense to torture yourself by actively bringing a character that you dislike along, just so you can get upset by him. If I don't like naughty bear I can just put him in the timeout tent and he doesn't bother anyone.