I feel like people really don't understand what happened in Early Access. I was there and can tell you what happened.
Myth: Larian promoted Halsin to a romanceable companion because straight female fans were soooooo horny for him.
Reality: While EA fans made a fair number of "daddy Halsin" memes, most were interested in Halsin because at the time, most of the good companions were still assholes (Gale and SH were much ruder back then, Lae'zel and Astarion were outright evil, and Karlach hadn't been added yet, leaving Wyll alone for "nice companion" rep) and were interested in Halsin because he was a genuinely nice and helpful guy who broke the mold for how elves and Druids usually were. The datamined story where Halsin was responsible for the Shadow Curse also was like catnip to the fans. There was wild speculation about how that story would play out for him.
Thirst was a child-sized piece of the entire pie for reasons people wanted Halsin. But then Larian added him and indulged only the thirst-based comments, not the people actually interested in Halsin and his story, so now people still have a laugh about how it was literally the "fault" of horny women (fucking women, they ruin everything am I right?) that Larian implemented Halsin in the worst way possible. Serious, take a look sometime at the Larian forums back during EA... those same posters now hate Halsin more than anyone else. I'm not one of them, I still like him, but this is not what any of us asked Larian for. I ordered a cheeseburger and got a wedge salad, and not only that, but I'm getting attacked for being the reason the person next to me didn't get fries with their burger too.
Halsin fans don't have it nearly as badly as Wyll fans, but we definitely got fucked over as bad as Karlach did.
.
Abolish Tesla.
As a Blackwallmancer, I never thought I'd see the day where he'd not end up last in a romance poll. The early days of DAI have come a long way.
I finally got the Halsin proposition/sex cutscenes and I have no idea what some of you are talking about. "Oh he comes on too strong" "He's so pushy" like did we watch the same cutscene? He asks, and if you're already partnered, he asks you to go to them and see how they'd feel about it, and says he wouldn't do anything without anyone's permission. He's so kind and lovely about it. If you say no, or your romanced character says no, then nothing happens and he respects it. Playing the game with Halsin in my team just makes me more aware of some of the lies I've seen going around about my boy.
Sometimes my mind keeps going back to that one Bhaal cultist who wanted things to be quiet and I wonder what if she was a far more tragic figure than anyone would ever know. It's no surprise that most are sadistic, most are mentally ill or simply craved power, but what if that one's desire was born from trauma? What if she had once been a child, born in an abusive environment, unable to relax because it'd make whoever she was around angry? What if her days had consisted of fear and pain, a constant theme of screaming and yelling that scraped her nerves raw while she was silently wishing for things to be quiet? What if she had been praying for the gods to answer, only to be met with shattering glass and deafening thumps of pottery and metal hurled at her head?
Day in, day out.
The noise just won't stop.
Why won't it stop?
Why won't they be quiet?
When will it stop hurting?
Until one day, something snaps and before she knows it, she's standing in the middle of the room, hands bloodied, her tormenter(s) dead.
And for the first time, it's quiet. So blissfully quiet.
A lost soul that begged for mercy and peace. And Bhaal was the only God who answered her pleas.
rolling in bed thinking about halsin
his softness and his kindness. how he carries the burden so others don't have to. how he offers help and guidance to those asking. how he places others before himself.
halsin and his view on life itself. how he managed to survive the most brutal blows a life could offer. and not come out all bitter. how instead of guarding his heart, he opens it willingly.
and yet, how he carries the sorrow. the grief. the odd little fragments of survivor's guilt. how he feels the sharp edges of torn threads. the connection that was once there. the people that are now merely ghosts, only alive in his memory. his family, his mentors, all those he could not save.
i'm thinking of that halsin. and him saying
"I never thought I would outlive her."
Female Tav x Halsin
(Just a personal headcanon for one of my Tavs)
The Imp patagium laid on the highest shelf, just a few inches out of her reach if she went on tiptoe. Normally, not a terrible inconvenience if she floated a bit, but with the lambent flames cooking the suspensions and the steam of the sublimates, she was reluctant to risk an accidental brush with her robes. She tried approaching from the side, but the distance just felt longer. She tried placing a knee on the edge of the stone slab used as an alchemical workspace, but the shelf was behind the arrangement of vials and flames and stinging steam.
"Let me, my heart." One long, broad arm reached above her head to pluck the small vial. Looking upwards, she could see the smile on his face.
"I could have gotten that."
"Indeed you could." Wrapping one arm around her waist, Halsin laid a gentle kiss on her head. "But I figured this was easier for you."
Luth could feel herself relaxing into his embrace, swaying with him as they often did during their moments alone.
"Thank you. Really." She turned around, smiling as she reached up to take the patagium from him.
He kept it out of her grasp.
Puzzled, she extended her arm, all the while looking at his broadly grinning face that never changed. He inched it further from her hand. Dawning comprehension revealed the mischievousness in his smile as he leaned a bit further back.
"You're almost there," One step, then two before he had already led her away from the alchemy bench and had sat down on a nearby slab. Every time her fingertips grazed the glass, he'd swap hands with it.
"How-" She let out a huff of laughter. "-how are you so tall?!"
Frustration had her gripping his forearm with both hands, hands that still could not encircle his arm completely, pulling herself further up until she finally snatched the elusive ingredient with a triumphant cry.
"Aha!"
"Very well done, my heart."
His grin had never faded and she had now realized, that he had maneuvered her so that she'd be draped all over him. Only the clothing they wore separated them from fully feeling the length of each other's bodies. From his vantage, he had the satisfaction of watching his beloved's face flush redder and redder, mere inches from his.
"You planned this."
"Mm-hmm." Thick fingers had already slid under her embroidered robes, rubbing circles on bare skin. "Whatever should be done about that now?"
"You-" Luth could not even pretend to be mad, not with growing evidence of his interest beneath where her legs were straddling him. "This is why we're behind on our potion stock."
"By all means, don't let me stop you, my love."
Luth had to laugh. "You are dangerous."
His chuckle joined hers as the vial of patagium fell to the ground.
*Looks at Halsin*
*Imagines sorceress Tav recreating the Weave scene Gale taught her so she can share her thoughts to him*
*Imagines Halsin sharing his imagination of her with over 3 centuries worth of experience*
*Now imagines Tav too stunned to think and the spell breaks*
Do you think romanced companions use the tadpole to sext each other?
Like they’d be in their own tents across camp and suddenly you get a dirty message from your camp sweetheart. Or you’d be walking to wherever you’re going and get a message. And your companions would suddenly be asking if you’re ok because you’re blushing so badly.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Larian doesn't abandon BG3 and continue making new patches and adding new content. Hovewer, I find it very exhausting: I played the game when it came out. I saw how unfinished it was. I played the prologue when they released it. But I still have either the same or similar issues with the game since the day they released it?
Halsin's trauma (and his personality somehow) is still being taken as a joke. He still isn't an origin companion and doesn't really have much lore behind him.
Astarion, as great as his story is written, still has the most interactions with the character you're playing as, the most quests. They poured a lot of resources into him at the cost of forgetting everyone else (especially Halsin and Wyll).
Lastly, what about people that can't bring themselves to replay the entire game for the second, third, fourth, fifth (etc) time? Why do I get to experience the "finished" game at the release and then a year, two years later I learn that there's tons of new content I'm missing on because it became clear that the devs actually didn't finish the game when it came out of Early Access?
Technically, I can replay the game. But I find it way too boring, exhausting, and overwhelming to do all the quests for the second, third time. I can't even push myself thought the main quests, knowing I'm missing on so many missions, and interactions, and leveling up, and romance. So I just... don't?
I just want to experience the game the way it's supposed to be. Like wiyh red Dead Redemption 2—what a masterpiece. Rockstar took their time and created exactly what they wanted people to experience. How is it too much to ask for BG3, too?
Yeah, patch 7 is live. That's great. They couldn't made it into the finished game, though? Upon release? The game should've been in early access for another year or two. And have much more closed beta testers of every kind. They wouldn't get such a huge feedback as they got after "full" releasing the game, but they could've still improved it tremendously.
I don't know, man. I'm sad and exhausted. I want to experience all those new interactions, but I don't have the energy and motivation to do so. It's way too repetitive and, as I already said, overwhelming.
I can't stress enough how much I miss StumbleUpon