Selena gomez fakes forum

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something about this song is so good. the instrumental is almost euphoric and reminds be of never be like you by flume. does anyone have any suggestions? it’s so good

Justin and selena broke up in spring 2018, selena has been in several other relationships since justin, justin has clearly moved on and is literally married. Why do people think that selena would be hurt by justin & hailey having a baby? They broke up so long ago?? If i was upset that my ex from SIX YEARS AGO was having a baby my friends would seriously tell me to shut the fck up & that i need help. & if selena is actually hurt over it she should go to therapy. Im sick of seeing "my heart hurts for selena" comments, WHY?? If i were selena i would find that insulting 🤣 i also dont know why selena hasnt commented that shes happy for them or anything, it just seems like she wants people to feel bad for her or make herself seem like a victim. But idk im not a celebrity with a pr team or whatever so maybe theres a reason. Mostly i just think that selena fans for real need to touch grass

Edit: upon further searching, the concerned university is not Spanish, but Peruvian. My bad for European-centric thinking.
Hello, everybody! I'm here with my story about an ongoing series of ransom emails I've been receiving. I'm not scared as they are obviously fake, I'm more between entertained and curious.
Let's start from the beginning. I received an email having the low-effort password I use for non-important sites as a subject. The body is a copypasta in German, only having my password, my email address, the amount to pay and the address where to send the money as the customized parts, written in bold. The text, for whoever is curious enough to analyze this absurd story in depth, is the "Hallo, mein perverser Freund" one.
To summarize the content, this self-declared Big Brother or the All-Seeing Eye ("Big Brother oder das alles sehende Auge nennen") claims to have installed an unspecified trojan on an unspecified device of mine, and with that they recorded me pleasuring myself to highly controversial videos using the webcam. They ask for €1200 in Bitcoins with a 48h deadline to stop them from sending those videos to all my email contacts as well as uploading them online.
What's ludicrous about that, aside from how generic the claim is in order to be a little credible for any victim, is they claims they gained access to all my devices by hacking one. In my case, that's even more comedic as my laptop has a killswitch for the webcam (meaning it always had a black piece of plastic obscuring it, since I never use it), while my phone is an Asus Zenfone 6, which has no front camera (the rear camera flips over when you need one). They have been really unlucky with me. Also, How can they film what I've supposedly been watching while engaging in self eroticism with my front camera?
Other criticalities are: I have no contact in my email account, nor in any application I use it with. That's not how people use emails in 2024, unless it is a business account. Plus, they claim the password they displayed as the mail's subject is my email account password. No, it is not. It is just the zero-effort password I used on some websites that have been breached (eg Linux Mint Forums and the defunct Linux Forums among the others) back in 2018-2020 (they sure took their sweet time to decrypt an all-lowercase 10 letter password).
Also, they say they sent the mail form a temporary account. They did not. They used a regular hotmail account, which has been pwned too (the poor sap, which has the misfortune of having a physical address linked to his email address on a google-able website, used the same password for his email and a website that suffered a data breach). They say, judging from my conversations, people think I'm a decent person. I have no human conversations in my email. Just notices of new replies on forums etc.
To get to the title of my post, let's skip to 3 days later (oops, more than 48h). I received another email. This time in English. This time, apparently from my own address (I suppose it is to show they really have access to my email account), even if it doesn't show in my "Sent" folder (if they want to convince me they have access to my account, they shouldn't delete it from there, I think). They say they approved "a new payment schedule" for some random practice number never mentioned before. This time, they talk about Pegasus. I'm honored to know they used a spyware that costs millions of dollars for each license, and that the DEA refused to use because of its high price, on me. Luckily for me, either they are a different party, or they lowered their price. This time, they ask for $850 dollars. I suppose they don't know much about leverage.
Anyway, I opened the email's header. They were lazy enough to modify the "from" field, but not the "return-path" one. What puzzled me? This field appears to be an administrative address belonging to a private-owned Peruvian online university. I have to admit I don't know much about informatics, and I can't tell if that grants the fact that was the true sender behind the fake self-sent email. But the hypothesis alone has me in stitches. Please help me uncover this mystery.
Thank you for your attention!

Thank you all for this forum. It is my only outlet i have with my spouse of 20 years.
Its been 4 full on years for me. Chemtrails, Ivermectin, 5G in the vaccine, civil war coming, prepping, concentration camps, democrats killing children, government taking our money, storing water, canned food prepping, doctors are murderers, info wars, telegram, Bill Gates taking over our food, you name it, spouse believes it. Now its hot and heavy to a cult leader fake doctor promoting big pharma are murderers and selling the cure for cancer and anything else that ails you. Spouse has spent now 10's of thousands of dollars in prepping products and cult classes to fake doctor over the years. We should be investing for retirement. There seems no way out, spouse will not believe reason and when debunked there is always a reason or excuse. I've had all I can take and im out. Only thing keeping me around is that spouse is mentally ill and of course leaving a sick person is just not right. What sane person can believe this right ? If this conspiracy theory is just more important than our marriage then I am out. And of course there is absolutely no way spouse will see a doctor, that will just not happen. I appreciate any input from you all, thank you so much !

En demandant à rejoindre la communauté, vous vous engagez à respecter les règles du groupe, à lire et à valider avant d’entrer :

1. Respect et entraide

Tout propos émis doit l’être dans le plus grand respect de l’autre en ayant à l’esprit de préserver la fragilité émotionnelle de tout un chacun. L’entraide est la règle.
2 Régulation et animation du groupe
Administrateurs et modérateurs dialoguent et maintiennent la paix dans la communauté. Les animateurs rendent le groupe plus vivant et plus déterminé. Certains animateurs apportent un conseil précieux, leurs compétences et leur engagement est digne du respect de la communauté.
3 Une parole libre et respectueuse
Sur les différents espaces de discussion, la parole est libre, mais nous interdisons les propos racistes, sexistes, les incitations à la haine ou à la violence. Pas de drague lourde ni de harcèlement sexuel ou moral. Pas de mots grossiers, d’insultes, de moqueries, d’injures ou d’insinuations.
4 Des débats utiles entre membres transparents
Pas de règlement de compte sur le forum. Il est proscrit d’identifier un membre pour lui dire quelque chose de désagréable et d’utiliser une identité masquée en double d’une identité publique. Aucune remarque à propos de l’orthographe ou la façon d’écrire des membres. Toute expression est respectable.
5 Vente, recrutement, contenus émotionnellement sensibles ou dégradants
Publicité commerciale, recrutement, vente, diffusion d’images ou de films pornographiques ou d’horreur dans les discussions sont interdits.
6 Des contributions argumentées
Tout lien vers un site, un groupe ou une page externe doit être commenté par l’auteur pour justifier une ouverture de débat sur le sujet évoqué par le lien. On vérifiera avant de poster que le sujet proposé ne relève pas de la rumeur. Les liens vers les “pièges à clics” sont proscrits.
7 Débat politique ou religieux
Tout prosélytisme politique ou religieux est interdit : chacun a ses opinions, on ne peut risquer d’offenser les autres par ce type de sujet. Les messages de voeux associés à une fête traditionnelle peuvent être émis dans un post ouvert pour la circonstance. Ils s’adressent à l’ensemble du groupe.
8 Dénigrement et diffusion de fake news sur les méthodes utilisées
Il est interdit de dénigrer la méthode utilisée par d’autres pour arrêter son addiction. Chacun trouve son chemin.
9 Mesures prises en cas de violation des règles
Le non respect d’une ou plusieurs de ces règles entraine un “gel” immédiat et temporaire du compte du membre par la modération ou les administrateurs. A l’issue de cette procédure, le membre est réintégré ou exclu

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When did I allow this to happen? How is it ten at night already? I just played a couple of rounds and it’s already dark outside!

“You should know already that your perception of time is FUBAR. Not to mention these hobbies of ours really don’t help grasping what’s going on.”

It didn’t use to be like this.

“Oh yeah? Can you remember how long you’ve been using the computer?”

Of course I can. It’s been in my life since I was like six or something, when Dad brought home that used computer with all the Dobrand games! But I didn’t pay much attention to it back then…

“That’s not how I remember it. We used to spend entire afternoons playing with the Encyclopedia, and trying out those games we barely understood. Maybe going into the Cartoon Central website too, even if we couldn’t read very well. Face it, we’ve always been addicted to distractions…”

Ok, maybe a little, but–

“And even before we started to use the internet more seriously, we’ve never been very into sleeping at all. Remember how we used to check the channels back then? Zapping and looking for stuff on the TV? Back then everything was so scary and novel at these hours… Now it feels just like a routine. We’ve always been night owls.”

Frowning and feeling the voice creeping on me more than usual, I finally close the game and my computer, standing up and turning on the lights to look at my room. The floor is still filthy, the plates are still scattered about… opening my closet, I not only see what remains of my clean clothes and the old montgomery hanging, but also the old bamboo blade I used to train with.

“Yeah. Remember that? How everyone looks for a local sport to practice and you chose fucking kendo? Not sure if that was just the weaboo in you, or you are just that pretentious.”

I pick up the long stick and take a look at it from the sides. Four bamboo sticks, held together tightly by leather straps and string. It’s elegant in its simplicity, firm enough to hurt a little when hit by it, but not strong enough to really harm, mostly thanks to the white leather covering its tip. The handle has the dark stains of sweat coming from the months of use.

“Before you left it incomplete, like everything in your life.”

Sigh.

I put the blade back in the closet and then turn around, grabbing the many plates and cups that were piling up in the room and walking the dark way over to the kitchen to clean them up.

“Cleaning plates in the middle of the night. That’s the kind of stuff Venus did back when she was here, just to call your attention.”

Ignoring this annoying voice is getting harder… I am tempted to pick up the S.O.S. pill, but if I do that I can say goodbye to my agency for the entire night and maybe even a few hours after waking up. Urgh.

“Guess you’re stuck with me, huh?”

Biting my lower lip, I try to focus on the task at hand, cleaning each plate as carefully as I can and trying to ignore the feeling of grease building up on my hands. Saints above, it is so disgusting! I can’t stand it, really. But if I keep letting the plates stack up, I’ll never do it.

“Look at you trying to be responsible. So silly. You’ll just let them stack up again soon enough.”

“What matters is that you are trying your best.”

Ah, there She is. Still talking from the corner of the room… Her kindness has always felt fabricated to me. Fake.

“It’s hard to accept mercy from yourself.”

You are not me.

The glugging of the drain interrupts me before I can start arguing again. With a heavy sigh, I let the water run away to clean my hands for a moment, and then, now that everything is clean and in place, I close it and walk back to my cave and take a seat back beside the window, opening the blinds just to see the darkness of a misty winter night in Saüle.

“Maybe it’s time to sleep after all.”

“You’ll just start rolling around, kicking and stirring all night.”

“You’ll eventually fall asleep!”

“Or maybe you won't. Let’s just keep playing until the Sun rises.”

I’ll do you both one better and just go back to the living room to check Dejima.

“Oh right! It has been a few hours, hasn’t it?”

“If you are so eager to be disappointed…”

Taking the computer back to the dining table and reconnecting it to the Tripolar Edge Router is easy enough, and yet I still feel the anticipation killing me. My hands tremble a bit as I type the address again, and even more when I have to wait the eternity until it loads.

My post… it got answers! Four answers to be exact! It’s not much but, considering how few users are online at a given time here, it’s good!

“omg it’s so cute when people actually come and use the ‘Introductions’ spot. I mean it, it’s great. It’s also cool to see new faces here, welcome! My dms are open if you want to ask anything.” — GalaxyTaco

“Hey there! We are all glad to have you here! If you have any doubts or questions, throw them my way and I’ll see to answer them whenever I can!” — Ventotto

“Fresh meat, bring out the paddles! Just kidding, welcome in, kid. Hope to see ya in the chatbox one day.” — jeepcreep

“Welcome. Complete your profile data.". — ογδόντα

Three of these are mods, so that was to be expected… but this ‘GalaxyTaco’ guy. He seems like a nice fella. Maybe trying to gun for mod too, or maybe just a legitimately friendly person! Whatever the case, the Helenian mod had made a fantastic point. I did have to complete the profile stuff.

“Does it have to be now? It’s late…”

Yes, it does. I click back to my profile and, well, it asks stuff like ‘Email’, ‘Country’, ‘Languages Spoken’ and ‘Gender’, all easy to answer.

Email: [simple.times@gamail.com]()
Country: Wohl.
Languages Spoken: Wohlian, Dobrand.
Gender: I’d rather not say.

“What sort of stupid answer was that?! Are you really this delusional!?”

Please. Just… let me have this…

“Don’t come crying when they learn you’re a man and you get all embarrassed.“

“Are they a man? Have you not stopped for a second to think that maybe they would be more comfortable as a–”

Shut up.

Both of you. You are looking way too deep into this. I’ll leave it as it is and that’s final.

With a huff, I go to the next section of the profile… ‘Referred to by:’

Oh no.

“Well, time to skip that one.”

There was no way I could just say ‘Ah, I found it in a book’ without getting strange looks. Not to mention the book itself told me not to talk about it for anything.

Next.

‘Mystical Specialization’.

“Saints damn it.”

I could just copy the specialization from some other profile, but then what if they decided to ask me about it? Well, that wouldn’t be a problem if I decided not to get in the chatbox at all… but I won’t advance in my investigation at all if I don’t talk to people, right?

I decide to just leave it open, for now.

Finally, I just gotta put a ‘Comment’ in the end of my profile… hmmm…

Comment: ‘Please don’t kill me.’

“A little on the nose?”

It’s all in good humor. I hope.

With that done, I don’t waste time on making a signature for myself (yet) and go straight to check on the Chatbox.

Four people: ‘GalaxyTaco’, ‘Ventotto’, ‘souseiseki’ and… uh… ‘Canned Tea’.

I take a deep breath… and log in.

Tav has connected to the Chatbox.
souseiseki: byeeee canny!! <3
GalaxyTaco: bye dude
Canned Tea has disconnected from the Chatbox.
souseiseki: … who tf are u o.o

Fuck. That was fast. Immediately singled out and everything, oh no. I panic, unable to really write any answers, when suddenly:

GalaxyTaco: sou that’s tav! the new peep? you saw the introductions post right??
souseiseki: oh right o.o i don’t care for those
GalaxyTaco: how’s it going dude? man, if youre wohlian it must be fucking late!
Tav: Hi, hi n.nUu
Tav: Yeah, it’s a bit late but I can’t sleep u.u
GalaxyTaco: hah, been there…
Canned Tea has connected to the Chatbox.

The guy came back again? What gives??

Canned Tea: sorry tav, didn’t see you come in.
Canned Tea: don’t want you to think Im avoiding ya.

The fear WAS in my brain, to be honest. I can’t help but smile a bit when the guy returns to clarify.

Tav: Oh it’s all good! n.n thank you though uwu
souseiseki: don’t cuddle this f**got Canny o.o

I wince. Oof. That’s… wow.

Canned Tea: sou.
Canned Tea: i’ve told you not to shittalk like that, girl.
souseiseki: sorry, slipped off my mind
Canned Tea: anyways, now im going to sleep.
Canned Tea: welcome in Tav. i’ll be seeing ya later.
Tav: For sure! n.n bye Canned Tea!
Canned Tea: just call me canny, girl.
Canned Tea: see ya.
Canned Tea has disconnected from the Chatbox.

I feel my face burning for a moment there. Am I blushing!? Fuck.

“Welp, you’re proving souseiseki right, at least.”

Shut the fuck up.

@ Ventotto: Hmm. I’ve told him not to assume gender like that.
GalaxyTaco: Holy shit 28 ur alive!!! O.o
GalaxyTaco: Now THAT is surprising.
@ Ventotto: I was about to leave but, like Canny, I wanted to say welcome again to Tav.
Ventotto: I hope you find your spot here soon. If you have anything you’d want translated and analyzed, go to the Translation subforum. Ok?
Tav: For sure! Thank you uwu
@ Ventotto: See you all later.
@ Ventotto has disconnected from the Chatbox.
souseiseki: i’m not staying here with you losers o.o
souseiseki: bye.
souseiseki has disconnected from the Chatbox

“Well bitch I didn’t want to talk with you either!” I practically snarl in real life, taking a deep breath and rubbing my temples. “Urgh. Not even an hour in and I’m already fed up with someone…”

GalaxyTaco: bah pay her no mind dude.
GalaxyTaco: she’s just Like That™
Tav: I’ll try…
Tav: Thank you for the welcome post, by the way uwu
Tav: I was worried no one would answer… u.u
GalaxyTaco: not gonna lie dure, that was a big possibility!
GalaxyTaco: people here ain’t the most social, honestly.
GalaxyTaco: speaking of, that reminds me!
GalaxyTaco: how DID you find the forum? if someone gave you the link but didn’t show you the ropes, that’s kind of an asshole move to pull!

Damn it all. That question again! This guy seemed nice so he probably didn’t mean anything by it but, it was a little frustrating to have to give explanations like that. Then again, this was supposed to be a secret of sorts, so I shouldn’t be that surprised I guess? But well, surprised or not, I need an answer to give. Come on, brain, make up something! An excuse! Anything!

“How the Hells do you want us to make up something if we know nothing of mages and such!? Are you stupid!?”

“We do know something. This ‘Elysium’ place seems to be important, maybe mentioning it would be enough to throw GalaxyTaco off your scent!”

“He’s not an idiot. Using jargon without really understanding it is a great way to look like an outsider.”

“Remind me again why we can’t just tell him the truth…?”

“The woman from the book, Humiko, told us not to talk about it if we can avoid it.”

“Well then, can we avoid it now…?”

…

GalaxyTaco: ah shit dude, sorry to cut this short but I gotta go get lunch
GalaxyTaco: talk to you later!
GalaxyTaco has disconnected from the Chatbox.

I deflate for a moment there, closing my eyes. Lucky break, I guess! Or at least, I think it is … until I get a notification from the forum: a direct message! Clicking the icon, I can see it’s from GalaxyTaco.

Sorry for the intense question but, it’s kind of important.
If you don’t fill your profile soon, 82’s totally gonna ban you.
You weren’t referred here by anyone you can mention, huh?
Let’s talk more privately.
[tacomadeofgalaxies@messages.com]()
Don’t disconnect from the TER when talking, that way no sleeper government can check on us.
I’ll be up after lunch.
Trust me, it’s important.—- GalaxyTaco

Oh shit. I was read like a book.

A part of me is relieved the guy is worried about me… but then, the suspicions arise. What if this guy is working with the mods? Or worse, with the cloaks! I haven’t even encountered these people and yet their presence around me fills me with dread and anxiety, mostly because I have no idea what to expect from them!

But another part of me is simply desperate for having someone to talk to about this, and he did say that while I keep the TER (which I assume is the Tripolar Edge Router) on, no orgs can check on me. So maybe…

“You’re gonna regret that.”

Maybe. But we will see about that when we get there.

So a lot of things happened behind the scenes in the last couple of months. No one expected this community to become this big and for that reason a lot of the old ID distributors like myself decided to stop trading here and focus on keeping the good ID's secret on the other platform because, as anyone with an IQ above 80 can see that the ID's that are currently traded on this forum are unhearable / unplayable / innovative / fake and annoying.

1. You are literally hyping ID's that are not to be hyped (because they are not good)
2. Half of you don't know music theory
3. 90% of you never opened a DAW to produce music
4. 80% of you are not communicating in understandable English
5. 20% of you are scammers with double accounts
6. Some of you are trading with fake ID's (changing the names of the ID's with famous DJ's/producers)
7. 80% of you don't know how trading works. Trading works when you value some ID the same or more than the other trader. It's really sad that you trade &friends / Arthur Miro / Choujaa / Kimotion ID's for AJNA (BE) / Marasi / Liva K / Samm (BE) / MAZ (BR) / Moojo / Rampa and others because you don't understand music.

There is a legal ungoing case from some of the prominent names that I've mentioned above that clearly are annoyed and feel threatened by the fact that a big group of people trade their music without their consent.
For these reasons, we really hope that some of our special ID's like 'Say What' and others stay secret until they are released and are shared in a small DJ / producer circle because you clearly don't deserve them.
P.S. To know how serious we are, I'll leave a spek screenshot in the comments.
All the best, The Soulseek Community

Female vocalist solo. I would guess song is within last 3 years.
Only words I caught were "ice cold in my veins" or "ice cold and my diamonds/veins"
Kinda sounds like a Selena Gomez type artist. Pop with slower melodic melody.
Edit : me humming the only part of the chorus I know
https://voca.ro/11pGTc1Eibww

I recently won a bid for this Kobe auto. I was super excited as it was my first one but Ive heard over the years that there are a lot of fake kobe autos being sold. I got into the hobby around 2-3 years ago so im still very knew to all this and this purchase would be the most I spent on a raw card. The bid ended at 590 which seems to be incredibly low for a kobe auto. It is from 2013 panini elite. I see a lot of the base cards being sold but i cant find this card anywhere else. It is not numbered as, from what ive seen, most of the panini elite autos seem to be and I checked the checklist to which I couldn't find anything. Ive also noticed that all elite auto have this black and gold 24 on the back which this one does not. Sorry for the rant and long explanation. This is my first time posting on any forum. Ive yet to go to a card shop or a show but id like to get more into it as i currently exclusive buy/sell online.
TLDR; I won this bid and I feel this is a fake Kobe auto. Can anyone help me identify it?
https://preview.redd.it/rk0jk5c1wb0d1.png?width=918&format=png&auto=webp&s=4986e1e0ba177bb6c0b9b2524aff8de4fd3d37a8
https://preview.redd.it/rju890q2wb0d1.png?width=718&format=png&auto=webp&s=6acf434ebcc1051de5d7137fb6146864c89f72ac

Hi everyone!
I wanted to take some time and sit and write this before I got too busy and get carried away as we hit 5k members like two week ago. I thought so many times in the car about making this post to celebrate our amazing community we have here. Its hard to celebrate the large number of PA in numbers but in numbers we are one of the, if not the largest broken people who gathered together as family to help each other on the internet. That is a huge deal and huge responsibilty we have to each other.
We are an amazing dedicated community. We are some of the toughest and the most resilient people out there. I know this. I read and feel it everyday. I cry with you and I do my damnest to protect you and help you.
Everyday I read and see the comments from wonderful members who raises each other's spirits and truly like family share the grief of each parent who find the peace in sharing their hardship and pain as their own. I love seeing our memebers reach out and write the truest of words that make the difference in each of our lives. Thank you. It truly does make a difference and I know it first hand.
Just the other day one of my old posts on therpist not making hard choices on PA were answered with a real answer from a real doctotherapist. I still get to learn something new about my own PA journey everyday. The growth of our forum means more comments. I just want everyone to keep in mind that some of us are going through this ordeal as new comers and can be sensitive to criticism. Criticism however warranted is fine. Its a free country it will always will be an open forum. Thank you for reporting bad posts Thank you for taking the time to read our letters and words of grief. Thank you for responding and being part of the messy difficult journey that is PA. Thank you for making this community the most important community I am a part of. I promise to always keep us proud and never forget each and ever one of your posts. Before I go on and on.
Always , always look forward to happier days. No regrets. Give it your all. I hope you find peace in all your attenpts to reach out, every chance to speak or see your child. Every inch and minute you fight to be with them. If you need us , we will be here for you.
My son is now 14 and with me everyday since he was 9 and left at a hospital due to his ADHD.
He was coached and alienated since he was 5
My daughter is now 13 and I see her 4 days a month since she was alienated and coached since she was 4 years old.
Her scowls have turned to hmmmm and within the last year things have gotten better. I am faking it to make it with my alienator. I always keep my guard up. but last weekend , I got to watch the alienators dog while my daughter was over. What the hell thats a negative really, but I took it as a win. Lets all find the little wins togther.

Hello, halifax. I have been coming to this subreddit for quite a while now and it's been startling to watch the nature of posts regarding immigrants and international students drastically change over the last few years. I remember people seemed to share mostly positive views towards immigrants, which later changed to concern regarding the pressure immigration was putting on the housing market, and now there's open derision regarding immigrants, particularly, Indians. Anything that people seem to dislike about Indian immigrants or temporary residents, such as those who live in cramped, overcrowded apartments, is ascribed to their culture.
My experience in Halifax as an international student has been nothing but positive so far. There have been several instances where I have been moved by the decency and unassuming kindness of strangers who I've met here. Even though there are things that worry me such as the problems with healthcare and housing, they don't matter as much when I realize just how much I love being part of this community. It has thus been with dismay that I have seen the opinion of people turn against Indians on this forum, and it's also what my Canadian friends have told me about how their friends and family think.
This is why I decided to make this post. Not to point fingers at people for not being nice or making them feel sad for me; I guess, I just want to give my perspective on things and have people decide for themselves. I apologize if the post ends up being too long, I don't know exactly what I'll be writing.
India along with China has nearly a third of the human race living in it. India alone has nearly forty times more people than Canada. However, unlike China with its Han majority, India isn't largely homogeneous, it holds several nations within it. The country is comprised of myriad ethnic, linguistic, and religious communities that usually have little in common with each other. There is no such thing as Indian culture, food, dress, language, or race; these terms are just used by businesses and Indians in Canada to make it easier for them to be identified by others. The things most Indians value are the same as those valued by all people - integrity, honesty, generosity, humility, and fairness. I talk to most Indians I meet in Halifax in English since we don't have a language in common.
I know times are hard for people with the housing crisis, struggling healthcare, inflation and low wages. People in Halifax have experienced rapid changes in a short time, they've suddenly found themselves surrounded by a lot of people who look different, speak a different language, and have different lifestyles. I can understand why a person who grew up in Halifax would think that this is no longer the city they grew up in, with people they no longer recognize, and end up feeling like an outsider in their hometown. This feeling of wanting things to go back to how they used to be does not make people bigots, just humans. Indians of course stick out the most since they form the biggest chunks of immigrants. Colonization by England during the 18th and 19th centuries means that a lot of schools use English as a medium of instruction. Languages spoken in Northern India (also Pakistan/Afghanistan) belong to the Indo-Aryan family which use sentence structures and grammar similar to that of European languages, making it easier for people from these regions to pick up the language even if they didn't speak any to begin with. The annual emigration from India to Canada is about 200000 people, which is nearly 0.01% of the population, the equivalent figure for Canada would be 5000 per year. There is no flood of Indians leaving the country en masse to get into Canada, though I of course understand why it would feel that way from a Canadian's perspective.
A lot of Canadians feel that there is a lot of fraud involved in Indian applications for Canadian study or work permits, but they are also the most scrutinized. My application had 125 pages, I just checked, because I had to provide proof for everything. It's difficult to get away with using fake educational credentials, though people do borrow money to show they have more funds to sustain themselves in Canada than they have. People might wonder how bad actors can then get into Canada on study permits, that's because the requirements for getting a diploma are somewhat low.
It is also true that most people go to the diploma mills in Ontario not for an education, but to earn as much as they can working for as long as possible. Students who are serious about getting a decent education tend to go to universities. I know people chafe at the fact that international students come here for the implicit purpose of getting a PR or citizenship. Still, temporary residents do not even understand that this is considered 'wrong' since that is how these schools and the Canadian government market themselves in the developing world. If getting a PR wasn't an option, you wouldn't see any students from South America, the Caribbeans, Africa, Iran or South Asia.
I have a similar reason for coming here. I felt out of place in India, as if the country was going in a different direction and I was in another. I wanted to see more of the world and experience a different way of life. While I feel like I belong in Canada, and identify more with the culture here, it's darkly amusing to realize that now it's the country that feels that I don't belong.
A lot of people also seem to allege that the Liberal government is importing these people to build its voter base. South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Afghan, Nepali, Bangladeshi) societies are ultra-conservative, and most people have views on immigration that are far to the right of the Canadian Conservatives. Canadian citizens from India, China and Lebanon that I've met all support a stronger curbing of immigration numbers (even from their home countries) and are supporters of Pierre Poilievre. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is something I leave to you to decide. The actual reason for mass immigration seems to be economic and mundane rather than ideologically driven and nefarious. Immigration-driven population growth in 2022 and 2023 helped the Canadian economy stave off a recession by sustaining consumption levels. The Canadian government probably gambled that a housing crisis and inflation were lesser evils for the country compared to a full-blown recession.
There are students and Indian immigrants who are abusing the trust and kindness of the communities they reside in by abusing food banks, cheating in tests or plagiarizing, being unprofessional at work or lacking civic sense in public. But I wonder if Canadians wouldn't have such problems, maybe of a different kind, if as large a group of immigrants arrived from a different country. I have personally not met any Indian student who shared their room with another person let alone several. If I had to guess, it is probably the folks from the Ontario diploma mills who are coming here to work minimum wage jobs in the hopes of a PR (I haven't interacted with any though, it's just a guess). Indians in Canada suffer from inflation and housing the same as anywhere else. It's just that they prefer choosing to stay together in cramped apartments since which they feel is better than the terror of becoming homeless in a foreign land.
There are also things Indians do for white Canadians that they wouldn't do for other Indians. For example, they are more likely to tip if the server or cab driver is white than if they're Indian. Indians also tend to be more courteous to white Canadians than to other Indians. It's from the fear of being judged or having their culture/country be judged by others. I have not cooked any Indian food ever since I came to Halifax after reading that the odour tends to stick to your clothes because of how enclosed Canadian houses are.
It's perfectly reasonable for citizens to demand curbs on immigration, for immigration from each country to be capped, and for requirements for international students to be increased. However, to despise people just because it's been realized that they weren't really needed after all seems a bit excessive. Indians want the same things that Canadians or people anywhere do, the happiness of the people they love. Even if Indians aren't all good, they aren't one big collective, indistinguishable from each other, and bereft of any goodness.

Off the bat, my guess is no. I've run forums and orders before (not kemetic ones), and there's a reason I don't run them anymore.
Obviously this sub is rather slow, but at least content is generally good. I doubt I'm alone, though, in saying more communication with other kemetics would be nice (but in a manageable way, not the chaos of discord).
At the same time, this becomes counterproductive when the forum gets popular enough to attract the new agers, emanation/monist revisionists, people playing 15th century card games, literal physicalists who are shocked polytheism is literally still believed, I'm sure you get the point.
I'd love to hear ideas for some sort of middle ground. I have several kemetic friends off Reddit who talk about a forum (but wisely avoid this site), and they have the will and knowhow to make it happen, so if you have any thoughts perhaps it could be a reality. Some of my own needing feedback:

1. Diverse group of moderators, no bad blood but not everyone can be BFFs or unfair in some way.
   
2. Some sort of standard for content, such as citations for historical claims, or descriptions of images instead of just blindly posting them for social credit.
   
3. No vote system, no fake internet points of any kind. If ANYTHING then only positive stuff, if you can't say anything nice...
   
4. Few but strict rules (e.g. no support/promotion of fascist ideology is always a good one).
   

Welcome to the raspberry_pi Helpdesk and Frequently Asked Questions!

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25. Q: I'm trying to do something with Bluetooth and it's not working, how do I fix it? A: It's well established that Bluetooth and Linux don't get along, this problem is not unique to the Raspberry Pi.

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This is party 2 of a discussion regarding how poly could have been handled a little better in BG3. I recommend you read through the first part here: https://new.reddit.com/BaldursGate3/comments/1crb2s7/how_the_polyamory_could_have_been_handled/ so you can get context and I sound like less of a rambling weirdo.
​
Astarion:
Out of all the discussions, people were the most confused by this choice. Not only does making him poly at the last minute feel contrary to a lot of statements he himself makes throughout his romance arc, but it also runs counter to what other characters say about him and his backstory as a whole. He is one of the most insecure characters in the game, he was trained for two hundred years to lie in order to avoid punishment, and he has far more trauma and healing to do than the other characters. Astarion is the most likely to lie about the Halsin relationship in order to avoid appearing weak or demanding. Out of the poly players who expressed disappointment, Astarion was the one that bothered them the most, since many felt he wasn’t fully consenting.
Most of my reasons for why he’s not a good poly option (from a development standpoint) have already been stated in earlier sections, so most of this will be spent diving into the “Is he fine with poly or not?” debate, which had me intrigued. (This will be the longest section and won’t be as connected to the overall topic, so if you want to skip to the Halsin part, feel free.)
I’ll start with the main arguments I see defending him being poly.
Argument 1: He says he’s fine with Halsin and the twins, so we should take him at his word.
While this can definitely be argued, and it’s not good to treat an adult man like a baby, his constant lying as a defense mechanism and current issues with sex/relationships do need to be taken into account (if not by the players then at least by the developers). There were plenty of people (some of them victims of SA) who talked about their own experience of tolerating poly because they were scared of their partner leaving or finding them too demanding/narrow minded. This led to their self-esteem and views on relationships growing worse rather than better. For someone like Astarion, who outright admits he has never had a healthy relationship and doesn’t want to lose this one, it’s understandable that people view his response as a coping mechanism rather than his own genuine feelings. There were also two different mental health professionals who reminded players that although a few victims of abuse do enter poly relationships, statistically most do not and it is far more common for them to agree to poly relationships out of pressure (which often make the person’s mental issues even worse in the long run).
Argument 2: He claims to be fine with open relationships during Act 1.
This is countered by the fact that everything he says about himself in Act 1 is a lie (unless he’s specifically talking about Cazador). He lies about wanting to sleep with you, he lies about his identity until he bites you, he claims to only care about sex (then later admits it makes him feel disgust and loathing), and he brags about his former conquests (which you later find out he regrets and feels guilt over). His statements that he’s fine with open relationships are made when choosing between him and another Origin character in Act 1 or 2, but this is also said at a time when his act is still up and he isn’t in love with the player. If you choose between him and another Origin character AFTER he confesses and let’s his guard down, he insists that he is NOT fine with sharing. “You’ve decided to replace me?” If the player says they care about both him and the other person, he’ll say, “Don’t give me that. I can see what this is.” Then he promptly breaks up with them. This second reaction is not only said using his genuine voice (whereas before he was still using his fake one), but a few poly people mentioned that this isn’t a normal reaction from someone who is fine with poly.
This isn’t to shame people who want to think Astarion is fine with it, or to judge players who went through with the poly relationship. Instead, this is once again asking the developers why they chose this option, rather than someone who wouldn’t spark so much debate or remind abuse victims of their past without giving them a dialogue option to address it. (This is a similar issue with Astarion’s brothel scene. They should have either removed it by having him say he’s not comfortable again, or at the very least, let players talk to him about it after.)
I think it’s pretty clear that after reading the discussions and evidence both sides provided, I myself lean heavily to one side. However, the main defense I personally have for the opposite side is that the writers were sometimes vague about Astarion’s true preferences and wishes. I especially felt this during the origin playthrough, where his narrator would constantly flip between him liking hedonism and despising it. It gave the impression that two opposing authors were wrestling while writing him, unable to decide where he truly stood on things. It felt similar to how the devs tried to write a respectful story of overcoming abuse and the fear of being sexualized, only to turn around and repeatedly sexualize the character in both the game and promotional material. I really wish the writers and developers had picked a lane and stuck with it.
Now I’ll get into the evidence for the counter theory: That he’s not actually open to sharing, but says he’s fine with it to avoid appearing weak or losing his partner. I personally prefer this theory because it makes the writing seem more intentional, adds more nuance to an already complex character, and feels more realistic. However, even if this is what the writer or actor were trying to convey, it’s still a far worse alternative to simply keeping him out of the poly options in the first place.

1. His hedonistic playboy persona is stated to be a façade. Anything he says in act one about being poly and wanting open relationships is stated when he is both wearing his mask and before he trusts the player. Every statement about relationships here has to be taken with a grain of salt because his mask is centered around attracting victims for Cazador. Since he hated bringing “sweet innocents” to his master, it makes sense that he would initially try to attract the opposite (“criminals and brothel goers”) by sleeping around and making a show of wanting casual relationships.
   
2. Once he gets comfortable in the relationship, he makes it clear he is looking for someone who will make him feel safe and value him for his personality over his body (“I don’t want you to think of me in terms of sex. I don’t think I want anyone to.” “How do you want me to see you?” “As a person. Is that so much to ask?”). If the player chooses to sexualize him, he will go through with it, then regret it later and break up. He makes it very clear in Act two that he’s not actually looking for casual hookups because they make him feel “ashamed and alone”. So it is odd that he’s fine with Halsin (who seems to care more about the sex and the body than the emotional bonding) and the brothel (which is solely about sex). One can argue that he’s fine with the poly relationship because he’s not taking part, but Halsin DOES wish for him to take part ‘eventually’.
   
3. Jumping off of that, Astarion’s dialogue makes it clear he wants a partner who cares about more than just sex, but if you tell him you want to date Halsin solely for the sex (and because Astarion’s not doing it with you), he will say that’s fine and he doesn’t mind the player seeking sex from others. This seems to counter his previous statements and arc. It’s especially strange that even if you reinforce his greatest insecurity (that his refusal to have sex has made his partner immediately seek out other people), he will still claim to be fine with it.
   
4. In terms of dialogue, the actor for Astarion seems to be very intentional when using the fake theatrical masking voice vs. the more genuine softspoken voice he uses when he’s comfortable and being honest. The fake voice is blatantly obvious throughout the Act 1 romance, in Act 2 if you force him to obey the blood merchant (his voice goes from genuinely scared to flirtatious and over the top within seconds), and in Cazador’s mansion where he’ll speak genuinely to you, then be over the top when addressing Cazador’s servants. He’ll often use jokes and loud laughter to conceal his true feelings and insecurities. Meanwhile his laughter in the confession scene, graveyard scene, and Spawn epilogue is quiet and subdued because he’s being genuine. It feels like a strange coincidence that when addressing both the Halsin situation and the brothel situation, his voice becomes very loud and high pitched again, he immediately starts making jokes, and his laughter is over the top. This hints at him not wanting to go along with either situation, but he’s putting himself through it because this is what his partner wants and since he’s tolerated sexual stuff he hated before, he can do it again. Plus, after killing Cazador, he wants to ensure no one views him as weak. He has to prove to himself and his lover (at least in his mind) that refusing to take the Ascendant powers was good and he’s strong enough to not need it. I can understand players not picking up on the voice changes (because not everyone is going to replay the game or even care) but those who did notice it believe it’s done intentionally (either by the actor or the writer or both). If it’s not intentional, then it’s a strange decision to make from a developer’s standpoint.
   
5. Throughout the threads I read, most poly people made it clear that poly relationships require complete trust, clear communication, and general confidence. Astarion himself admits to lacking all of those traits to some degree. If you don’t romance him, he will literally not trust any of the characters right up to the epilogue (he’ll hold a knife behind his back while talking to the Dark Urge). Even though he does seem to genuinely trust his lover by Act 2, he will still lie to them several times. He lies about being fine with the drow twins (he states he’ll leave if he hates if but never does despite disassociating), feigns confidence when the player says they’ll become a mind flayer (he says he only cares about them becoming ugly but expresses his true fears only after the fight, that he’s worried they are no longer the person he fell in love with by losing their soul), he manipulates his lover when confronting Cazador despite being conflicted about it himself and wanting reassurance, and (on a more minor note) he continuously claims he’s doesn’t care about Yenna or the Gur children despite getting upset when they’re in danger. This is a character who, even after he kills his tormentor, struggles to be honest with his partner. That isn’t a good combination when addressing poly. (Again, it could be worked through in real life, but is better avoided in video games where there isn’t time to address it).
   
6. There are also plenty of situations where he agrees to do things he outright hates. In Act 1, we know he is (at least somewhat) disgusted by having sex with the player or Laezel, but he’ll do it. In Act 2, he tries to be genuine about not wanting to touch the player until he no longer feels disgust, but if the player pressures him, he will cave and obey. He does break up with the player afterwards, but it is only after he has gone through with the act. In Act 3, he will state three times that he doesn’t want to take the tadpole, but if the player pressures him by bringing up his darkest fear, he will give in. Worse, he will give in and STILL stay with the player romantically despite them clearly manipulating him to do something they know he fears. He does thankfully break up if you fail the checks, but if you succeed, he goes through with it. If he’s willing to cave to something as huge as altering his entire body, it makes sense that he would cave to something he views as more minor (like tolerating unwanted sexual acts in a brothel or sharing his partner).
   
7. I didn’t know this until I saw others mention it but there are points where he will flirt with NPCs if he is single (the girl in the sewers), but he uses neutral dialogue if he is dating the player. This reinforces the theory that he doesn’t actually plan to sleep around or be with others as he claims (though there are some dialogues that I think slipped through the cracks where he still flirts with others despite being in a committed relationship).
   
8. If Halsin propositions you after Cazador has been killed, Astarion no longer asks if you’re doing this because he hasn’t been fulfilling your sexual needs. However, he does give another response that feels out of place: “I’ve realized it doesn’t matter if anything (in our relationship) changes.” Parallel this with what he said at the graveyard, that “no matter what happens, I don’t want to lose this (relationship).” It’s very odd to have him say he doesn’t want to lose the relationship, but then the next day he is totally okay with losing it. Granted, it is nice to know that even if the characters break up, he’ll be fine, but it does feel contradictory for his character, especially with how devastated he acts if they DO end the relationship. If the Halsin statement is just an act and he’s overcompensating, however, then it feels more intentional on the writer’s part.
   
9. I’ve seen lots of people say that Ascended Astarion also shouldn’t be fine with poly, and I agree, though it’s for different reasons than Spawn Astarion. Unlike SA, I think Ascended would absolutely do the brothel scene because 1. He’s actively suppressing his trauma and playing a new character and 2. He feels in control in the brothel and is the focus. However, with Halsin, he doesn’t have any control. For someone obsessed with possessing his lover and ensuring they can never leave him, letting them sleep with Halsin doesn’t fit his writing. He isn’t participating. He doesn’t know what they’re doing behind his back. For all he knows, Halsin and the player might be discussing how to kill Astarion or escape him. In some deleted party banter, Halsin literally tells Ascended Astarion he doesn’t approve of the abusive spawn/master relationship they’ve formed. With that knowledge, not only should Halsin not be willing to join a poly relationship that he thinks is unhealthy, but he has a motivation to help the player get away from AA (and AA would know this). I could see Spawn Astarion hesitantly agreeing to the Halsin thing despite not wanting to share, but AA just wouldn’t. It feels contrary to both his and Halsin’s writing.
   
10. This is the second most convincing piece of evidence for me: The Drow twins. If you ask Astarion to join a ‘group activity’, he’ll use his fake voice and flighty laugh and agree to go through it, saying he’ll run away if he doesn’t like it and comparing the act to burning in the sun (a little concerning that he’s already comparing the two). Then during the act, he will immediately ask the player what they want “us” to do. Not only is he lumping himself in with the prostitutes, but he is also doing something that an Origin playthrough reveals is a trigger for him (he tells the drow twins that being ‘told what to do’ reminds him of his time as a slave). If the player tries to check up on him, he ignores them and says he wishes he was drunk. Then he disassociates and never brings it up again. This has been viewed two ways: either he doesn’t want to have casual sex anymore and wants to be in a one-on-one relationship, or he does want to do stuff like this but just needs to heal more before he can. I lean toward the first assumption because he is acting flighty and fake BEFORE the sexual act even begins. If he really wanted to do it but changed his mind after, it makes more sense for him to sound genuine at first, then fake halfway through.
    

But the main thing that sticks out to me is his reaction to you asking for only ONE drow twin. If you do, he will accuse you of having a thing for prostitutes and call it embarrassing, then glare at you for the rest of the conversation. This is especially sad because not only have the player’s actions made him feel like a prostitute again, but now he seems to be wondering if you started dating him BECAUSE he was a prostitute, not for who he really is.
Compare this to the Halsin situation and the drow ‘group activity’. For Halsin, he says he was expecting this for months. He’s had several months to plan his reaction and decide what he’s willing to tolerate. Hence, he has a very rehearsed reaction. With the twins, he had less time to anticipate this but probably also worried about it (especially if the player asked about them earlier and he said no. Now he expects the player to try again and has planned accordingly). Again, this response feels rehearsed and fake. The only response where he uses his real voice is when you ask for one of the twins alone. This is something he likely wouldn’t plan for, so we get to see his gut reaction for the first time: he doesn’t want you to do it.
Now some people argue that he’s fine with Halsin and not the other Origin characters because Halsin is just a fling and won’t try to take his spot. If that’s the case, he should be fine with the twins too. If anything, they are even less of a threat. Yet he doesn’t want you to do it and responds accordingly. If he truly was poly, he would respond like Karlach did and tell you to have fun, or like Shadowheart telling you to give him a heads up first. But we don’t see that.
One other thing about the twins that I felt I could point out: if you or the twins ask to do a group activity before Cazador is killed, Astarion says he’s not comfortable with this yet. The “yet” part has been pointed out to show that he’s fine with it after Cazador has been killed (even though he still disassociates later). However, another explanation of the “yet” part is that he’s trying to soften the blow because he’s scared of using a blunt NO. We see this with Araj, the blood merchant. Even though he is absolutely disgusted with her treatment of him and how she’s “defiling” him with her fantasies, his rejections of her are very soft and nervous. Even when reinforced by his friend/lover, he says “It’s still a no, I’m afraid” with a smile. Turning down sexual encounters is tough for him, even when he has people backing him up, so I can see him using words like “yet” or “I’m afraid” to soften the blow. I know several people in real life who do this, despite later admitting there was no “yet”.
There’s another part of this dialogue with the early twins that I want to point out (really overanalyzing here but if we want to believe the writers do things intentionally/with a lot of forethought, I think it’s okay to read into the words they use). When Astarion says he’s not comfortable with the twins, the player’s response is “I wouldn’t ask such a thing of you”. This will raise his approval and make him respond positively. The promise you give him is not “I’ll ask them later, after we’ve killed Cazador” or “I would have liked to but okay” (that one doesn’t trigger his positive response). He only approves of you saying you won’t ask him to do things like this (stated in a tense that implies you will NEVER ask him to do such a thing, regardless of Cazador’s stabbed or unstabbed state). This could have been the writer hinting that if you bring him back after, you’re going back on your promise and thus have to see the disassociating scene. That…or the writer wasn’t thinking too hard and we are simply thinking too much.

1. With all that out of the way, we’ll get to the final point that solidifies this theory for me personally. It’s the statements of Shadowheart and Minthara if you ask to do a three-way relationship with one of them and Astarion. Shadowheart’s response is: “I think you’re overestimating his willingness to share. He may seem like a carefree hedonist, but there’s something fragile beneath the façade.” Minthara says something nearly identical, that sharing would wound his pride and he is far too fragile to handle it. You could even add Astarion’s line from the other end, where if you ask Astarion to share with you and Karlach, he will say they shouldn’t because Karlach loves the player and relationships are fragile (implying that he either thinks open relationships don’t work if there’s love involved, or perhaps he himself can only do open relationships if he doesn’t love the other person).

The main argument I’ve seen disproving these statements by Shadowheart and Minthara is that they’re just plain wrong about him. If so, it’s a strange writing choice to not only have both of them be wrong about the exact same thing, but they’re both high wisdom characters who are proven to understand Astarion in a lot of ways other characters don’t. (All three of them have been enslaved and manipulated, Minthara comprehends the depths of his relationship with Cazador within minutes of being in the camp, and Shadowheart is one of the closest to Astarion in terms of friendship and liking him.)
If Astarion actually is fine with poly, then it means both Shadowheart and Minthara are wrong. That means the writers either made a mistake or made a very weird writing choice.
However, if Astarion is actually pretending to be fine with sharing as they say, not only is the writing consistent but these dialogues become very clever foreshadowing. I want to give the writers the benefit of the doubt and believe they did a good job with Astarion, so I prefer to lean into the theory that he’s pretending because it makes more sense for him overall.
That was quite a long tangent and somewhat unnecessary, but he’s a character whose mannerisms and statements are meant to be heavily analyzed, so it’s fun to go more in depth. Let’s move on.

1. ISSUES WITH HOW HALSIN WAS PRESENTED

We’re finally at the last point, and in a way the direct cause of this entire thread: Halsin. Now, I have no issue with Halsin being poly (again, he’s listed as one of my four ideal options for it) but I do have several issues with how he was written and presented. The Shadowheart part I will skip over because I already got into it, but there are many other problems to address and most of them could have been fixed very easily.

1. He is not presented as poly until Act 3. I was reading through a thread full of people who loved him and several of them were early access players who had requested he become a romance option. However, the reason they requested him was very important. In EA, all three of the male options seemed immature (Wyll), condescending (Gale), or straight up evil (Astarion). Meanwhile Halsin was, in their words, a mature man who seems like the type to settle down with them in a cottage and help raise their kids. This is the impression he gives and what drew many people to him. As a result, many of these players were extremely disappointed to reach Act 3 once the game was out and discover that not only was he the complete opposite of their initial impression, but he won’t even stay with the player after the game ends (in most cases). Honestly, if I was a developer and saw that they liked him for those earlier reasons, I wouldn’t make him strictly poly because that wasn’t what the players wanted. They wanted him because he was muscular and a good, stable man. It was a very odd choice to turn around and give the players the opposite of what they asked for. But if the devs were truly determined to go the poly route, they should have at least gone back to Act 1 and 2 and slipped in some hints that he was poly. I saw some newer players who recently played the game for the first time and wanted to romance him for the aforementioned reasons (stable, mature, kind, huge). They ignored all other romances until Act 3, then got hit with the “I’m only poly” discussion. Had they known he wasn’t monogamous, they wouldn’t have blown off all the other options.
   
2. But let’s ignore that. We’re focusing on the world where he IS completely poly (though some were arguing that it should at least be an option to ask if he’ll try being monogamous with the player.) The way he is presented still has a lot of issues according to poly players. For one, the way he tries to butt in on the relationship is done in a really sketchy manner (especially considering what some of the Origin characters have gone through/are currently going through). It would have been far better to do what they did with Minsc and give the PLAYER the option to hit on Halsin, rather than the other way around. Have them offer poly to him, and then he can discuss it from there. Having the proposition come from Halsin himself puts him in a negative light, and it’s pretty clear the writers didn’t actually want to portray him as a bad person so they messed up here.
   
3. The flagging for Halsin’s dialogues is awful and despite seeing people report it for eight months, that hasn’t changed. Even if you pick the most neutral option, he will still hit on you by saying “I think you feel the same way”. Not a good idea. “I HOPE you feel the same way” would have been infinitely better. Women often have to deal with people assuming their friendly, professional conversation is something more when it isn’t. It’s not a great idea to bring that into fantasy games too. It hit too close to home for some.
   
4. Even if you use the most neutral option at the Act 1 party (“Go have fun and mingle”), your main dialogue option the next day is “Sorry for coming on so strong last night”. It’s a strange thing to say. Again, I’m not sure how developers missed this and why it was never patched out. I saw people reporting it since the release.
   
5. He will also ask for a relationship at neutral approval. In most of my playthroughs, I stopped talking to him beyond the Thaniel quest and avoided asking about his personal life. He still led his proposition with “I think you feel the same way”. How does he know when we only spoke to him three times? They should have at least required you to go through all his extra dialogues before triggering this.
   
6. When Halsin says he loves you, you have two options: reject him straight away, or ask about his opinions a little more. Oddly enough, if you ask a bit more and THEN reject him, he’ll have a proper response. “That’s fine. I understand. I won’t ask again.” However, if you reject him as soon as he starts talking to you, his response is very off putting. He’ll protest and say, “but you asked me about my former lovers” or, if you didn’t even do that, he’ll claim “you looked after me with the care of a lover, not a host.” These pushy assumptions turned a lot of people off. This is entirely on the writer, in my opinion. He should have realized how weird these sounded.
   
7. Halsin is the only person you can’t dismiss from your camp at any point through dialogue. All of the origins have to be pursued and recruited intentionally. Halsin is the only exception. This makes some sense because you need him to cure the Shadowlands, but for Act 3, he literally has nothing to do. They should have given players an option after the Ketheric fight to dismiss him and tell him to take care of the Shadowlands. It makes a lot more sense narratively and would help avoid a lot of the more awkward parts later.
   
8. Halsin’s initial dialogue about monogamy vs. polyamory is mostly fine, with him comparing it to gardens and wolves vs. bears. But (and don’t quote me on this because I can’t recall the specifics), if you ask your partner to do poly and they say no, Halsin will be a little more judgmental about your partner, saying he was hoping they would be more “open minded”. Statistically, the majority of BG3’s players are going to be monogamous, so it’s strange to see nearly every character (monogamous or poly) criticize monogamy in some way. It is called selfish, narrow minded, and old fashioned by at least 3 characters to my knowledge (Halsin, Act 1 Astarion, and even Gale (who is monogamous himself)). If the developers truly wanted to be inclusive, criticizing one’s lifestyle and having no characters openly defend it in the game (even those who practice it) is a disappointing choice. In this case, it might be an unintentional mistake (maybe they feared that by defending monogamy, they were somehow demonizing polygamy or polyamory), but it would have been better to just leave the criticisms out of it entirely if that was the case.
   

And that’s it. I think that’s all the points from myself and others that I wanted to compile. I don’t think any of this will be changed in BG3 but I hope all of these points and opinions will at least improve any future games. It’s great that BG3 was able to make nuanced characters with their own opinions and preferences—I much prefer it to “everyone is poly and no one gets mad if you cheat” games where characters feel more like statues than living beings—but I do wish they thought the poly options through more carefully (trying to make poly people comfortable while leaving room for monogamous players to enjoy the romances too).
The only feasible fix the developers could make at this point to avoid all the issues mentioned is keeping Halsin poly but removing his connections to other Origin romances (or at least Karlach and Astarion). At this point, that’s the only thing that could realistically be done. I also wish they made characters break up with you if you cheat on them in the brothel, since that’s what many people including myself would do.
Again, these opinions are my own (and those that aren’t come from a variety of comments across Youtube, Reddit, and Larian’s forums). I enjoyed getting to see so many different viewpoints and appreciated how civil (most of) the people on both sides were. It’s an interesting topic and here’s hoping game studios handle it better in the future.
If anyone reads this far and wants links to the threads, forums, and youtube comment sections, let me know.