I want to say that I completely understand you as a player and as a human being, and I think such a change of Shadowheart's character for the sake of introducing polyamory into the game is completely unjustified. The fact that Shadowheart initially behaves like a character who prefers monogamy, is not going to participate in any “love triangles” in Act 1, and then suddenly makes such a sudden “U-turn”, it doesn't look like some “revealing a secret” or “new facet of the character”, it looks like the character was just taken and abruptly changed, without thinking about the logic and sequence of writing, or about the feelings of the players, who play in the game with immersion and are strongly emotionally attached to their LI. Why her specifically and not Lae'zel or Karlach? I think the most obvious reason is that Shadowheart is the most popular female companion for romance in the game, so polyamory was added that way. With Astarion, it's a similar situation, the only difference being that he clearly doesn't want it, and in his case Tav forces him into this affair by taking advantage of his affection. This “bear story” in general does not look good overall, in my opinion.
I think a mod that fixes this situation and makes the story better is a great solution. “It's not the way it was intended” - well, to be honest, the development of the game was pretty chaotic, a lot of things in EA were conceived much better than implemented (or changed) later. Even more so with Shadowheart's character, this behavior of hers with Halsin does look unnatural and forced. I myself play exclusively with mods that fix the flaws in the romance. Although the lack of the ability to play in co-op is certainly a problem, it's hard to advise anything here.
In Halsin's case, even roleplay for a monogamous player is not taken into account, there is no way to even refuse him properly, not only to disapprove, but even to politely explain what he is wrong about trying to invade someone other's couple. The option of saying you have a pair sounds like you're “fine with the offer”, which is completely inconsistent with what the player might be thinking about it. To the only appropriate option for refusal, a simple “No”, Halsin will get upset and say “Why did you ask me about love then?”, even if you had previously specifically ignored the possibility of asking him about his former lovers, just so you wouldn't have to talk to him about something like that. This just further illustrates how deliberate and unrealistic it's done, so I don't think it's real Shadowheart's behavior, it's not in keeping with her character, it's just that the developers decided to implement the polyamory theme in the game this way.
Thank you so much for understanding. Yes, exactly, I felt that way the entire time and her sudden change caught me off guard, to say the least. Whether it's botched or intended, it's just too cruel for my taste, I felt like my character was being led on. Perhaps I will indeed replay it with a mod and not perceive it as a mod per se, but as unofficial patch/fix and content restoration, thankfully I bought the game on PC. But as of now, I will just do a co-op with my friends, hard to refuse them, since I even bought BG3 to one of them as a birthday present.
To circle back to the original intent of this thread and your original question, which I think was how you can enjoy Shadowheart again: From those last pages, what you write sounds like her "lustful thoughts" are a total dealbreaker for you, no matter if you hear them or not. Which is fine. (For a mate of mine Astarion's gaslighting is a total dealbreaker, for example.) So, personally I see a couple of options: Romance someone else. Choose Shadowheart as your Avatar to romance someone else. (As you mentioned earlier on.) Or create a player character (or pick one of the Origins) who is different from you in at least this aspect, that they are not bothered by what Shadowheart might feel but instead put greater importance on her actions. If you feel very emotionally invested in the game through your Avatar, the last solution might also help to put a little emotional distance between you and the events.
Just what comes to my mind, of course, other might have more helpful solutions.
These are genuinely great advices, thank you. I know that BG3 have a lot to offer than just one romance route, and in time I may gather the courage and explore the other options. This indeed will help me to distance myself from her character in that regard and on top of that I might not be irritated so much at yet another 'cuck' meme. But as of now, I am going through a bitter stage of resentment at Larian, I question my decision to buy all of their games. I can't help but think they have breached the player's trust and also gave a reason to gloat over those who chose her as their LI. I don't mind that game have a various traps, like, for example, Guardian is hillariously awesome, but from this I need a time to recover. And perhaps there is still hope, they tweaked something in Gale's reaction, didn't they?
Again, thank you all for your advices, understanding and not being hostile. In the end, if we found ourselves in the same forum, it means we have at least one interest in common.
