#thaniel and oliver

[autistichalsin]

My "Halsin is Silvanus's Chosen and Thaniel is Silvanus's son" theory

So first off, there's definitely precedent for children of gods here, what with Dame Aylin.

Thematically it would make sense. Aylin is tied in with the Shadow Curse plot, the daughter of Selune held hostage in a Sharran temple, while Thaniel, if my theory held true, would be the son of Silvanus, kidnapped by Sharrans and forced into the Shadowfell. Aylin had to be saved by Shadowheart, and Thaniel had to be saved by Halsin. Thaniel and Oliver are even explicitly said to be immortal as nature spirits, much like how Aylin is immortal to anything but Shar's spear. The comparisons would just be too perfect, thematically.

Thaniel was Halsin's first friend, as he mentioned. Of course it's fitting that nature was Halsin's first friend, and that wanting to protect him drove him to become a furious guardian of nature itself. But wouldn't it be even MORE fitting if Thaniel was also the son of nature? If either Silvanus guided them towards each other, or Thaniel told his father about Halsin and his potential, drawing Silvanus's attention to the man he'll one day make his Chosen?

Thaniel even looks like he could be Silvanus's- Silvanus has a deep affinity for deer, to the point that one of his three main humanoid forms he takes has deer antlers. Just like how Thaniel has tiny little deer horns! And where does Thaniel live? The Western Heartlands, which were once called the Hartlands because of the abundance of deer.

As for Halsin being Silvanus's Chosen? I feel like that one is a lot more easy to see than the Thaniel one. Halsin is an extremely powerful Druid with even deeper ties to nature than even most other Druids. He was the only one with the power (and, if we still count the explanation in Early Access as canon, the wisdom, understanding, and empathy with the sufferers of the curse, both the land and its inhabitants) to break the Shadow Curse. Halsin explicitly has Silvanus's favor; "it took my years of study, of seeking the Oak Father's favor, to find a way to part the veil." Halsin has favor with Silvanus over other Druids, and this was what allowed him to save Thaniel.

It would be thematically fitting yet again- Shar cursed nature, and Thaniel itself, and set Shadowheart to kill Aylin (and if Shadowheart does so, she becomes Shar's Chosen); it would make sense if freeing nature was done by Silvanus's Chosen too, and that's before you add in the fights against the Chosen of the Dead Three and the "Tav is Jergal's Chosen" theory. Then you add that: Shadowheart can turn from Shar back to Selune; Silvanus and Selune are allies; and Halsin's Circle within the Druids is Circle of the Moon. It just fits in so many little thematic ways, tying in the moon/darkness with the land and how Shadowheart has the possibility to either work against the nature god's Chosen as the Chosen of the Goddess of darkness and loss, or as a devotee of the goddess of the moon.

Then there's other little things, like how Halsin is so in tune with his wildshape that he's more bear than elf, and also fiercely protective of children; how he's an incredible healer AND fighter when most under him seem to be one or the other, etc.

And lastly: there's hints in the game that Halsin seems himself as something of a father to Thaniel and Oliver. It would make it extra adorable, then, if Halsin, Chosen of Silvanus, was taking care of Silvanus's sons like a father himself!

[hwathwugu]

Echos

[truly-sincerely]

Obsessively reading everything in game by and about Gortash and the dude is

On a philosophical trajectory that ends in immortality thru technology / the machine

Doesn't have an original bone in his body, but he can backwards engineer anything

Halfway to being a decent scientist but doesn't have the education and is deeply impatient

Overconfident in the veracity of his own results and conclusions

Accurately predicted that the brain would metamorphose and become more difficult to control and then did nothing about it

Outsources his propaganda / arts and humanities

Charming, but he got there in a Pavlovian way (learned from trial and error and probably doesn't consciously know how he does it)

Vindictive af (learned / reinforced)

Darwinian (in the worst way)

Sociopathic, obviously, but extremely Rationalist about it

Never asks questions he doesn't know the answer to and probably thinks this makes him sound more authoritative

Completely incompetent as a strategist (but doesn't know it)

Not nearly as narcissistic / full of himself as he pretends to be

Thinks what he wants is praise but it's never enough because it's not actually what he wants (he wants to be wanted)

Bane makes him feel wanted (conditionally)

Durge made him feel wanted (unconditionally)

Understands intellectually that Durge got ambushed, but he feels abandoned

See also: thematic parallels between Gortash and

Silouv Yali (the Adamantine Forge & the construct Grym)

Oliver (in the shadow-cursed lands)

Astarion and Gale, obviously

[changeling-droneco]

Druids in BG3 are so goddamn funny for how they just fucking ruin cutscenes like sorry! im sure this talk with oliver from halsin is VERY touching but all i see is BEAR

[randomfanner]

Thaniel respects Halsin and his relationships a lot

But that doesn’t mean Thaniel won’t take a personal disliking to any of Halsin’s partners if they smell like bad news to him.

He gives plenty of warning and some things that are more just attempts at their life depending on how much he dislikes them.

Luckily for you, only warning he gives you is “Please don’t die.”

Now if Oliver dislikes one of Halsin’s lovers he would skip the warning and go straight for tries at their life. Again you just get a “please don’t die!”

[ride-a-dromedary]

Thinking about Thaniel and Halsin reuniting again when he wakes.

Thinking about how Halsin describes Thaniel as having been ripped away from him (just as he was from Oliver). How he was the only one able to see and interact with him; how Halsin is very insistent that Thaniel made him who he became. How Halsin's "very first friend" being an encapsulation of nature itself affected the entire trajectory of his life. How that implies, to me, that Halsin and Thaniel were connected on a level far stronger and more significant than just being unlikely playmates as children - even moreso than just Halsin deciding to become his protector as he aged, or the implication of the relationship becoming more along the lines of a parent and child - to the point of being so interconnected and intertwined, Thaniel evidently uprooted and followed Halsin from the High Forest to its own unpredicted detriment.

Thaniel's being cursed and trapped quite literally *did* rip the two of them away from one another, just as tearing Thaniel's being in two twisted and created Oliver. Halsin feels a hole in his absence - a loneliness and disconnect that eats away at him. He describes losing contact with Thaniel all that time ago as being "worst of all", which is saying a lot considering what else was happening to and around Halsin at the time. And all Thaniel talked about whilst trapped was Halsin, insisting to find him because he was the only one who an entire force of nature itself believed could help it.

Losing Thaniel sent Halsin into a century long spiral; Halsin who blames himself for "dawdling" in his own pain as it suffered. Who could almost place himself in the catalyst of Ketheric Thorm's tragedy of losing his daughter pushing him to the edge. It's the elevated metaphorical adult fear of losing a child and the indescribable sorrow involved in that, mixed with the loss of an important childhood and formative influence, mixed with losing a friend, a piece of oneself, all in one.

I just imagine Halsin twitching in his skin to head immediately back to camp after convincing Oliver to return. Distractedly following behind, but evidently elsewhere, until he is dismissed or the group returns. And he is first to arrive and first to break off to his tent, pulling aside the cloth, lacking any considerable delicacy of action, to see Thaniel sitting up, blinking slowly at his surroundings. Alive; the smell of lavender heavy and sweet. Not dead and rotting, not twisted and empty. Small. Frail. Not quite whole. But alive.

And Halsin...hesitates on the threshold, hands shaking, everything having come to its head at last and he doesn't know what to do with himself. He holds his breath, fearful of any disturbance spooking the life away that they'd worked so hard to revive, until Thaniel turns its eye slowly towards him. Two deer caught in a crosspath of light. A century past and there are hundreds of things to do, hundreds of things he had planned to say to him if they succeeded, but all Halsin can manage is a strained: "It's me."

And he does not need to say who he is; Thaniel knows. All those rehearsed things fizzle away in its face. Halsin is older now, he reasons, much older; perhaps Thaniel will not recognize the century carved upon his brow just as Oliver had not. In a moment of desperation, he needs it to know him. Needs Thaniel to remember - but, fool that he is to underestimate the power of life before him, of course he remembers. Of course Thaniel would recognize him, just as he had recognized him after the long winter had passed - when he had changed so much, and was no longer a little elfling and never would be again. Just as Thaniel had recognized him every springtime after, the thawing of ice bringing another year with it, even as its face did not change at all. It must; his eyes betrayed the centuries beneath his boots, even as the child rubbed fitfully at them.

"It's me," Halsin murmurs again, falling to his knees - as if he could make himself impossibly smaller - bring him back to the beginning, turn back the years before it all went wrong. And Thaniel just nods its head and touches little hands to his face, and when he echos his name, it feels like that first thaw of spring again.

"I heard you calling," it whispers, gentle like summer breezes. "You cried for me to stop hiding. You were frightened and did not wish to play anymore. But when I came out, it had gotten dark. I could not find you."

"I know."

"I called back," he continues, even and intoned, but his lip wobbles. "You could not hear me.

"I know," Halsin repeats, brokenly.

Thaniel blinks a few more times, seemingly working out how to reteach a face long asleep, though there were no muscles to move. A false start later, a twitch of the nose, and he is...smiling. "But I kept trying - I knew you would find me."

A single stick too heavy and the dam breaks. Eyes filled with tears, he hugs Thaniel to him like he hadn't since they were children chasing each other through the underbrush with glitters of gold tangled in his hair. Since Thaniel had guided his hand to make the flowers in his father's garden grow. Since all they'd had was each other under the endless canopy of trees.

"Forgive me," Halsin whispers, a century of pain and loss and loneliness exiting from him in a single rush, the cold empty spaces inside him filling up with warmth. And at last he wakes, dragged violently into the open air after drowning for too long, blinded but alive and whole once again. Interconnected; not alone anymore. The earth sings beneath him and Oliver's spirit hovers just beyond the outskirts of his vision. Halsin chokes on his laugh. "I was never very good at this game."

[bubblecat1616]

PLEASE somebody write an au fanfic about Halsin being a single dad to Thaniel and Oliver. I think that would be so wholesome.

[wellthebardsdead]

Kar’niss: *sitting beneath a tarp in thaniels realm watching the refugees begin to build a life for themselves in the remnants of moonrise and its surrounding lands*

Refugee woman: *accidentally drops a bucket and watches with mounting horror and disgust as it rolls right to the drider* no-

Kar’niss: *excited for an opportunity to try and be useful and make friends, grabs the bucket with his hands and stands up quickly* He-

Refugee woman: *screams and runs away from him*

Kar’niss: h-here?… *watches her disappear off into the crowd* … *looks back down at the bucket in his hands and notices the handle had snapped causing her to drop it* Ahh! *scurries back to the tarp and begins weaving*

*several hours later*

Kar’niss: *braving the sun and feeling increasingly unwanted and uncomfortable as he moves through the settlement looking for the lady, planning to just leave it at a safe distance before leaving her alone*

???: Ughhh! No I-it’s him again!!!

Kar’niss: *turns seeing the woman cowering behind her husband* wh-what-

Refugee man: *shielding his wife* Back off you filthy beast! Haven’t you frightened enough folk around here?! We’ve been through more than enough without havin to worry about monsters living amongst us!

Kar’niss: *looks at him, then around to see everyone staring at him* I-… *looks back at him then at the woman before slowly lowering down and placing the bucket on the ground with a new, stronger silk handle* I’ll go- I’ll leave you all alo- *blinks as two small hands take his and the bucket* huh? *blinks looking a little beneath himself to see thaniel standing there* th-thaniel?

Thaniel: *smiles up at him and takes his hand* don’t worry, you don’t have to leave. I think you should keep this too! Ollie does as well. You made it so pretty!

Kar’niss: *trills at the high praise and smiles as he takes his hand, gladly leaning as far down as he can just to let thaniel lead him* thank you- I I wanted to help.

Thaniel: *leading him and carrying the bucket* I’m glad, Maybe you could help teach us how to weave fabric for blankets! *hurriedly leads him away to safety as Halsin steps into view before the refugees, Tav beside him with fireball ready*

Halsin: *clears his throat* I’m ashamed of the display you’ve all put forward here today. All are welcome in natures embrace. Especially to those willing to help.

Old woman: He’s a monster! We can’t let him stay here!

Refugee woman: He’s a danger to all of us!

Refugee man: Youre out of your mind if you think we’re staying here with that freak of nature!

Tav: can I?

Halsin: do it.

*meanwhile*

Kar’niss: *smiling as he teaches Oliver and thaniel how to weave with a makeshift loom he’d constructed* you’re doing so goo-

*BOOM!!!*

Kar’niss: *shields them both with his body all the while trembling in fear* wh-what Was th-that??

Thaniel: Halsin and our friend curing the rot.

[lizah-aart]

Sometimes they are one, others they are two so they can play together.

[felrend]

You mean…I’ll have someone to play with?

[autistichalsin]

My case for Halsin x Art Cullagh as a ship

First of all, these are two characters with a LOT in common. Both are intimately tied to the Shadow Curse. Both lost everything because of it: Halsin lost his homeland and Thaniel, while Art lost (temporarily) his sanity and would eventually lose his life to it.

Both care very deeply for Thaniel (and, later, Oliver). Thaniel was Halsin's first friend, who "made (Halsin) who (he) is today", while Thaniel helped Art in the Shadowfell. Thaniel played with both of them. Both of them felt protective- one might say paternal- towards Thaniel. Art tells the player that Thaniel is a sweet soul- too sweet for the Shadowfell- and he can't wait for the player to meet him.

Both are kind, gentle souls with a strong sense of justice and a call to do right in the world- Halsin by fighting against threats like the Shadow Curse and the Absolute, Art by being a Flaming Fist.

The link through Thaniel is strong (and not just in the "Thaniel has two daddies" sense). Thaniel tells Art about Halsin; Art repeatedly says that Thaniel told him that only Halsin can save him, that Thaniel "spoke of little else".

After being comatose for who knows how long, when Art startles awake and calls out for Thaniel, the first person he sees- and the first person to speak to him- is Halsin. Halsin, who instantly kneels to softly, kindly tell him to relax and breathe- a heartwarming way to be introduced to someone (and indeed, the devnotes say, "warm. Good bedside manner.") As soon as Halsin mentions that he too wants to help Thaniel, Art recognizes him, saying in shock (perhaps amazement?) "You're... you're Halsin," before repeating his request that Halsin find Thaniel. Which Halsin instantly agrees to, but repeats that he needs Art's help, and Art gives it.

When the curse is lifted, Halsin tells the player how sad he is to be leaving Thaniel's realm, how he hopes Thaniel and Oliver will stay as a pair because then they can have a friend after he's gone... clearly missing them, but knowing he has a greater mission in stopping the Absolute. What does Art say if you talk to him in the act 2 epilogue? That he feels Thaniel should have someone with him when he wakes, so he's staying. One might even argue that Art staying is the reason Halsin felt so comfortable leaving- sad, yes, but not worried. He knew Thaniel and Oliver were in good hands with Art. He trusted the two halves of his best friend to Art.

Art knows, tragically, that he's going to die soon after. He mentions it to the player, and in the epilouge, he sends this note to the player:

To an old acquaintance, I write to you from the sunny porch of the Last Light Inn. A light breeze blows now and then. People are milling in and out - builders, visitors, the children of all ages in Halsin's care. I can no longer hold a quill, or eat without assistance - a kind friend is transcribing this for me. Thaniel, re-joined with Oliver, has promised to be with me when the end comes, and as our old songs drift on the wind, ever louder, I know I have mere days left. But I do not fear it. If not for your help, this land would still be shrouded in darkness, and I'd still be lost within it. Know that my heart is full and happy, and I am grateful for my last moments. Do visit some day. And if you have time to stop by an old Flaming Fist's grave, I know I'd love to see you. Art Cullagh

Halsin and Art are still in contact. Art lived long enough to get to see Reithwin being reconstructed- by Halsin. Halsin lifted his shadow, Thaniel and Oliver's shadow, and brought Art peace during his last days- including the peace of having his close friends with him as the end comes. And presumably, Halsin himself stays- it's hard to imagine that Halsin, of all people, wouldn't.

They just work really well as a tragic ship, brought together by loss and heartbreak.

Fittingly, that extends into scenarios when one of them dies. If Halsin dies before act 2, or dies when the portal collapses, and the player tells Art this, he is heartbroken- while he frames it primarily in terms of being sad the curse can never be broken now, he must also be sad that Thaniel's friend has been lost, too.

And if Art dies (either because Last Light fell or for some other reason) and the player learns what they need from Art's corpse? Well.... let's just say that Halsin has some VERY strong things to say for someone he barely knows.

Halsin: That is what I needed to know. It should be cause for joy, but... that poor man didn't have to die.

Player: His existence was worse than death. Now he's at peace, and we have what we need.

Halsin: True. But are we still deserving? Only time and nature can tell.

To think that he might not be worthy any longer of breaking the Shadow Curse because a man he barely knows died is.... quite an intense emotion. Almost illogical, and Halsin is an extremely reasonable person. Make of that what you will.

Alternatively:

Player: There was no other way.

Halsin: You can claim it so... but I don't think it will ever be true. Oak Father willing, we will soon lift the curse from this place. But I suspect a shadow will linger here, because of what was done to that man.

Again... these are VERY intense emotions. Understandably so, of course- Art was clearly Thaniel's friend, and he suffered so much only to die. But if Last Light falls, MANY people die besides Art, yet Halsin is focused on him- the only other person he mentions with quite this much grief is Isobel, and even she doesn't get a mention from him here. "A shadow will linger here, because of what was done to that man"? Not "what was done to those people" or even "what was done to Art and the others"? It is.... a very interesting way of phrasing it.

In conclusion: Halsin cares Art A LOT, Art deserves peace and happiness, and Thaniel and Oliver deserve two daddies. Flaming Bear is the ultimate tragic doomed ship and we are sleeping on this ship

[rat-rambles]

You know if you free the spawn and the vamp kids don't go join halsin camp at moon rise and oliver and thaniel arnt the king of the immortal vampire kids what pray tell is the point. -( yes I know the gur are takeing care of them but come on there wanders wander down over to Daddy Halsin)

[shdwtouch]

before I go to bed I just thought I'd say that cursed shade standing alongside ascended astarion, dark justiciar shadowheart, and the other bad variants of the companions with an evil!tav / durge is valid and deserves to be explored 👍

uwu just thinking about her getting to be evil. "shadow-cursed ? ya think I am cursed ? no, I am the curse."

[randomfanner]

Halsin + Thaniel and Oliver Headcanons

There will be non-relationship head canons and relationship head canons, all fluffy or Angst content because this is getting really long. I was going to do smut, and I will do smut eventually, but this post is not the post.

TW: Loss of a child, loss in general, lot a of sadness in that. Also in general there is going to be expected backstory trigger warnings. Like the fact he was kept chained to a bed for 3 year. Also on a lighter note, drug use is talked about, it's pot.

Halsin will adopt everything and everyone if you let him. He considers Oliver and Thaniel his kids, he considers Arabella and Yvenna his kids. He considers most of the tiefling kids his kids to an extent. Nieces and nephews perhaps. He loves Scratch and the Cub and Tara(Gale has complained that Tara sometimes goes to Halsin's lap rather than his). If you leave this man alone in the forest and he finds and injuries baby animal or an animal, he will bring it home and nurse it back to health and it will come to visit or just live with you.

We get very little from Thaniel in terms of screen time, and also Oliver after he comes to camp so I am putting head canons.

Thaniel is a good kid. He is pretty quiet, calm and respectful of adults and people in general. He is good with animals, good with plants. Most of the time at the very least. He is... rather reserved. Halsin and Thaniel became friends not because Thaniel let himself be seen, it was a 5 in human year old Halsin chasing this fey child through the woods. He is shy, and doesn't really talk much to people.

Now, he does actually does seem to like talking to you. Halsin has spoken highly of you, Halsin cares about you deeply and you did very much saved Thaniel's life. You killed the man that tormented him for several decades. He does feel he can talk to you.

Now, with that in mind, Thaniel is a fey child. A well behaved and well meaning fey child but he is a fey child none the less. He does have a mischievous. I promise you he has tried to steal your name, and you fell for it Halsin has to talk Thaniel into giving your name back.

Thaniel and Oliver share an end goal with you and Halsin and that is to parent trap your ass. They like you, the fey don't like losing what they like.

Oliver is a little shit. He can be a very sweet little shit and he does like you and Halsin a lot, but he also can torment you in many ways. Mostly because this child has been alone in the wilderness and doesn't have any socialization. Halsin realizes this and is very good at being patient with the traumatized child.

He pulls pranks all of the time when he was around camp, and he does like to trick travelers when they begin coming through. However he does like you and he does like Halsin. So he can be rather nice, he may even let you have his true name... if you promise you will be his mama and papa.

He wants a family. Please let him have a family.

Loss of a Child, Loss, Acceptance of Loss, A traumatized Child

So, man has considered Thaniel his kid for awhile now, he would never say it because once he called himself Thaniel's 'big brother' and Thaniel reminded him, rather quickly, that Thaniel was in fact older then him This was when they were younger Halsin could not guess Thaniel's reaction if he called him son. So when Thaniel was lost Halsin was crushed beyond measure. He did grieve for years and was still admitting grieving until you came along and helped him find his son again. And make sure he would have a friend after Halsin was gone with the earth again. Halsin knows how to accept death, but he also knows it doesn't stop the grieving and that is OK. He may set time aside to be alone and just... grieve if he feels the need to. He grieves but he also remembers. He tries to make good time matter and last for as long as he can. He does... restrain himself during bad times. But when he has those small moments and any chance he gets, he is rather passionate. Even with the smallest things like a kiss or being able to hold hands.

About Thaniel because this kid has some serious trauma. So does Oliver but we get more screen time and information about Oliver so:

Thaniel is a very respectful and mature kid mostly because he is an immortal 8 year old. He is very traumatized. He gets friends and then his friends get older then him and then they die. And he forever young and in the forest. It can take awhile of course, elves live for hundreds of years but... lives for hundreds of years is different then living forever. And he hates being reminded of it so that is why he refuses to let himself call Halsin dad or acknowledge that. He can acknowledge Halsin is older but not that he is going to lose another father and another friend.

Halsin has tried to help him with this as much as he can. He reminds Thaniel that he will still be there for him in the earth, in the dirt and in the spirit. And Thaniel believes it, but it still hurts.

On a bit of a lighter note, reincarnation is I am sure canon in DND, like, there is a spell for that so I assume it is a process they will happen eventually. Druid just speed it up. so Halsin has probably been Thaniel's dad multiple times... (and with you a few times perhaps, if nature has willed you to come together through lifetimes)

So Oliver is like, the best thing that has ever happened to this child. Having a younger brother who will always be a friend is the best thing for this sad forest child. He has a friend who will not get older than him and die.

Small note with Oliver

So, Haslin likes to whittle and just. One day Oliver asks for figure of Mommy and Daddy and his Dog and Halsin does make them for him, of course, and Oliver just sort of puts it on display and man, Halsin has never felt sorry for killing a shadow once in his life and now here he is, mourning with his son because ya.

I have my own traumatized immortal natural spirit child so I really like Thaniel and Oliver. Can you tell?

We done with the angst mostly, be warned pot still remains and so does general Halsin Trauma.

So anyway, I am not crying, and Halsin is a walking snack machine I swear. We are using all DND spells and he has create food and water at all times and uses it a lot. Ever short rest you all get food, water, and he even has bowls and cups prepared at all times that he whittles himself so you have something to enjoy your snack in. He does also offer food and water to all of the refugees when you get to Baldur's Gate.

His snacks consist of berries, nuts and different seeds, when it is a longer rest he can summon meat and vegetables. You know he helps with this sort of stuff all of the time. He likes to cook and I believe he is probably a pretty good cook.

He knows how to cook with a wide range of ingredient. He can cook a dish anywhere you place him. He knows forests, plains, coasts, caves, and even the under dark. He is also very aware of general signs of what is edible and what is not that, so he can always find safe food.

Food is very much a love language for him as well. He cooks for you all the time and also makes you different kinds of sweets. He can bake, he can cook, and he can probably grill and cook on a camp fire. He is amazing at it. Unless you put him in an actual kitchen. Than the poor man because confused and clueless (Poor bear man doesn't understand how a stove works).

Halsin will take care of you no matter what happens. If you get injured he is nursing the wound and cooing that it will be OK because he is here and he has you. He kissing the wound and cure wounds it and will make and will make sure you are all better. He knows you can do with out it, and if you would prefer he can save or wait on the extra bits and simply take care of the wound, however he is taking care of the wound do not mistake him.

He is so doting when you get sick or are pregnant or on your period or if you get poisoned. Man will get you the bed of the finest furs and feed you the best soup to make you feel better. After of course, you down his awful tasting medicine that does cure you pretty quickly because he is a man who knows a thing or two about medicine. He is a healer. He knows how to make you feel better.

Man likes doing hair. It is an elf thing and we can see he believes it on his character look at his hair, he has so many little braids in his hair and he wants to do yours. Please let him do yours. He will explains why he really wants to do it so, you understands how much this means to him. He also wants you to do his, of course. But he just likes, adding flowers to your hair and little bits of nature. No matter what gender or how long your hair is.

Man is also always giving you small gifts. Something he whittled himself, flowers and snacks, pretty rocks, basically anything and everything. He is a bird trying to woo his mate by bringing them shiny things. And it probably works, let's be honest.

Halsin is REALLY good at whittling. It is a little bit more than just a side hobby and he makes toys for kids with his whittling. He will make bears, people, animals, plants, monster, a kid asks for a toy of it, he will carve it. Thaniel and Oliver do have a whole set of bear figurines that keep them safe at night and scare away any beasts that mean them harm.

However he does also use his whittling skills. He can make tools, bowls, utensils, and things for another day. Halsin does not normally need gold however when he is Baldur's gate he is very good at making it on the fly because he can simply whittle something and people will buy it.

Man learns about charity art shows and finds one that does it for nature and makes a number of things to be sold there and by gods is there a bidding war for it. He normally wouldn't be interested but you know, man wants to help nature.

As stated above he does whittle for you all the time, and he also really like to incorporate imagery that reminds him of you and the things you have done and the relationship you have. Sometimes he will care you elegantly into a cup, other times he will show your family through symbols, other times it is just nature. It is really cute.

Cuddler and PDA all the way man, he loves to hold your hand, give you kisses on the cheek, have a hand on your waist, anything to be close to you. He will stop if you ask of course but do expect big bear eyes from him before he does so. He does not mean to do it but he cannot help it. (In a Astarion x Halsin setting, gets hit with those eyes and just breaks and holds his hand).

He will turn into a bear and let you do all the extremely dangerous things to do to a real bear but we all want to do. Touch the soft and fluffy ears, squish the toe beans, don't deny it, we all do. It is quite sweet and has a wonderful time.

Halsin tends to go into a deeper trance than most elves. Sometimes he needs to be shaken out of his trance rather than spoken out of it. He blames it on the bear.

Also Halsin most certainly smokes pot. He probably experiments with natures creations like mushrooms and other things you can smoke. He knows all about the effects, what it will do and often uses it to meditate... or sometimes have a good time.

He would happily invite you to join him if you would be interesting. I think a high Halsin would be extremely entertaining to watch even if you do not smoke pot with him. All formalities drops and he gets so cuddly. He is already cuddly but he is falling asleep on you cuddly.

OK, so, this is a lot, there will probably be a part two or at the very least a NSFW head canon, probably.

[ride-a-dromedary]

I would have liked to see the reunion between Halsin and Thaniel when he woke up.

[delta-lethonomia]

There's a reddit thread on the BG3 sub where the user u/InklingRain posted a spreadsheet they made with all the companion approvals. Super useful in general both for playing the game and for fic, so I thought I'd post it on tumblr and play around a little!

There's a top row with the average approval by companion, but I didn't find that very useful, so I changed it to the count of approvals (i.e. count of approvals & disapproval total, how often a companion had a reaction to something). We all know Astarion gives a lot of disapprovals here and there, but they're only -1 at a time, so no big deal, right?

No. Minsc has the least at only 45 reactions, Halsin at 95, Minthara at 145, and of the main companions, Gale is pretty average at 198, Lae'zel at 224, and Shadowheart, rather opinionated at 258...

but that's nothing compared to Astarion's 406. That's almost 150 more than the next person!!! That's more than Minthara and Shadowheart combined! Babygirl really woke up one day and decided to get in a snit over everything that happens 😂

(Longer post about count of positive and negative opinions, sum of approvals and disapprovals, and some major outliers below. Picture with values at the very end.)

But that's a bit disingenuous. If we look at the ratio of positive to negative opinions (not taking value into account), Astarion's pretty average at 30% (negative count over sum count, so let's call that negativity). This is similar to Gale (31%), Karlach (30%), and Lae'zel (32%). In theory, getting Astarion's approval or disapproval is just as easy as any of theirs, with a 20% bias towards positive approvals. Later companions are weighted heavily towards the lower end of the spectrum, with Jaheira at 13% negativity and Minsc at 9%. As you only get them very late, it's pretty clear that the game gives you a lot of opportunities to get their approvals and thus open up more of their quests and dialogue.

However. We have an outlier. Wyll Ravenguard, clocking in at an indecent 38% negativity! Which really just goes to show, while Astarion is the most opinionated, Wyll has the most disapprovals, making him the judgiest companion of all 🤣

However, this really wouldn't be a good post if we didn't look at the value of approvals. Karlach, for instance, has the strongest disapproval value of -100 (given if you sleep with her and then call it a mistake). Ouch. This is clearly at outlier and doesn't say much about Karlach's changeability of opinion in general. If we look at the sum of positive and negative opinions, this is a very heavy swing, making up 100 points of her total 191 disapproval points possible to her 281 approvals total. Another outlier is Minsc, who currently possesses a 43% disapproval percentage (a heavy -50 disapproval given if you sacrifice him to Sarevok. Jaheira, by contrast, apparently doesn't give a damn, or her value might simply not be included in the dateset.)

Removing outliers is really a matter of opinion here, so I'll only remove the most extreme swings, such as the above mentioned disapprovals.

The otherwise strongest swings are Astarion (-15 for telling him it was a mistake preventing him from drinking Araj's blood, or saying you only wanted to sleep with him, not deal with his trauma) and Wyll (+20 for siding with Karlach during his confrontation with her, which really shows he didn't really want to kill her and is very grateful you stopped him). Halsin gives +40 for reuniting Oliver with Thaniel, which...lifting the shadow curse is sort of his life's mission, and a bit of a unique case, so while it makes sense, I think it's such a unique event that can't be topped by anything else and will remove it. Jaheira give +20 for extending the Emperor's protection to Minsc, and, for funsies, Minthara's heaviest disapproval is -5 for donating to Lolth at the Stormshore Tabernacle. (lol)

I only chose to remove the aforementioned Karlach, Minsc, and Halsin values, as they're all very large swings and rather character-defining or personal to the individuals mentioned, so I don't think it says much about them in a more general day-to-day sense.

Now, using the sums of our negative and positive values, Gale is our most Negative Nancy, clocking in at 37%, which goes to show that while he's pretty average for the amount of things he cares about, when he disapproves, it's a strong one. Next up is Astarion at 35%, and Wyll at 34%. Lowest are Jaheira and Minsc at 7% and 4% respectively, which makes an intuitive sort of sense: Jaheira is old and just over being upset by the players poor choices, and Minsc is an insanely positive person overall. The next most positive companion is Halsin at 13%, which also matches with his vibe pretty well, followed by Minthara at 17%, Karlach at 24%, Lae'zel at 26%, and Shadowheart at 28%.

Tl;dr: Astarion has many, many opinions, but Wyll is the most judgemental (most disapprovals compared to approvals possible). However, when it comes to the strength of those disapprovals, Gale reigns supreme, followed by Astarion.

If don't break Karlach's heart, help Halsin achieve his life's ambition, or sacrifice Minsc, then they're pretty positive overall. Later companions are heavily weighted to approve of your actions, and Minthara is comparatively judgemental, but overall far more easy to gain approval than disapproval from.

If you take the average of all these values and include the later companions to look at as a personality "baseline" of how judgy and how strong those disapprovals may be, then...the Act 1 companions are all dramatic af, which really should come to no ones' surprise, while Karlach is the most willing to give the benefit of the doubt imo.