Intern: Sir, I’m sorry that this has taken so long, but I finally have all the research you wanted in regards to the traits the fans find sexy about their romance interests in Baldur’s Gate 3…

Gaming magazine executive: Oh, excellent! Not to worry, I assume it will all line up as expected. The Karlach fans love her bursting friendliness and positivity, her strength, her passion for life and her gorgeous smile, yes?

Intern: That’s correct, sir.

Gaming magazine executive: The Halsin fans love that he’s a gentle giant who cares greatly about children, that he likes to whittle adorable ducks as a hobby, and that he’s a consent king who will be a passionate lover for his partner, right?

Intern: All spot-on sir.

Gaming magazine executive: *smirking* This is too easy. Ok, on to Gale! The Gale fans love that he’s got a smoking hot six pack, that he offers wild illusions of astral sex, AND, at the end of the game, that he’s able to redeem himself and become Mystra’s chosen again, OR, become a god and ascend his partner to godhood with him, correct?

Intern: No.

Gaming magazine executive: Now, as for—what?

Intern: That’s not what the Gale fans find sexy, sir.

Gaming magazine executive: …oh. Okay. What do they like, then?

Intern: They, ah…they like that he…info dumps. They like when he starts talking passionately and goes off on a tangent with his finger in the air.

Gaming magazine executive: …no, they don’t. That’s—that’s not sexy.

Intern: They really think it is, sir. Please don’t make me tell you how I know that.

Gaming magazine executive: O-kay…but they like that he has a redemption arc and redeems himself in Mystra’s eyes, right?

Intern: Sir, if I were to repeat the things they want to do to Mystra I would be thrown in jail.

Gaming magazine executive: I—do they even know that he says pish-posh in the game? Twice?

Intern: They love that, sir. They wish he said it more.

Gaming magazine executive: You’re lying.

Intern: I’m really not, sir.

Gaming magazine executive: Alright, fine, but…do they know about his bad knees? They must hate how he complains about his bad knees? NOBODY would find that sexy.

Intern: *a pained expression on his face, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes* Sir, you’re not going to believe this—

———

Ok so clearly not bringing Gale to Cazador’s fight was a mistake. Gonna scoop him up from camp real quick and try again. He’s gonna have 2 jobs:

1. Cast haste on me pre-battle so I can save Astarion in one turn

2. Counterspell

.

i feel like the conversation gets derailed when people hyperfocus on "but it's an interesting plot!” and bg3 the game, when the point—at least the one that was originally made in the complaints on here—was that it was odd that they agreed that him ending it all in Act 3 was The Right Ending, and the implications that has when you consider how they treat gale versus all the other characters, as well as how they use their treatment of their characters to make comments about those social issues in real life. people weren't upset that they were presented with that rp choice or that such an ending even exists for him; they were upset by the comments of the creators and how they would never say such a thing for gale's mirror, aka a certain vampire. you brought up good arguments to that anon and i don't mean to discount either of your statements i really don't, but people were upset by what the creators specifically said which was yeah in many ways that is the right ending. sorry for continuing to discourse and vent in your inbox lol this isn't directed at you i just liked reading your thoughts so far because you said it better than i could have. i just really don't like how "but it's interesting and not every story has to be happy" and "you're just too attached to gale" get thrown out as rebuttals when that's really neither here nor there and doesn't address the actual issue being raised.

hello! thanks for your thoughts. and yeah, the discourse on this topic has gotten pretty…difficult to engage with, in a sense. that’s what prompted my first post on the topic actually—eagle eyed readers of my posts might find another one where i complained about the discourse only to follow up with a long winded treatise lolol. but i did it because i felt the conversation was lacking a specific viewpoint, so be the change you want to see in the world and all that. i’ve actually really appreciated the responses from everyone on the post/follow up! :)

as a proud galemancer i deeply feel the frustration of all of us. on a personal level, this sucks. i love our wizard boy and he deserves better! the complaints and anger make sense to me. the writers treating him so glibly is rough, but before i talk about it i always try to remind myself of what IS there—which is a really interesting story about a gentleman with some complex flaws, motives, and goals. the writers talking about which ending is “right” cannot take that away, and you should feel comfortable disagreeing with the writers!

to my fellow gale enjoyers and galemancers—i would encourage you to maintain a critical lens but also to continue to enjoy and mine out the richness that is there. sure, that’s a rosy and maybe naive view, but don’t allow the frustration to infect your enjoyment of an amazing character. i am not saying to settle for less, but if you can’t think of gale without despairing at his treatment, you should step away from the conversation for a moment to refresh yourself before you get too stuck in the bog. it’s healthy to remind yourself why you’re here—because you think a wizard is really really cool. he’s got one of the most fulfilling and interesting romances in the game, the unique scenes with him are gorgeous, and he’s an incredible character.

i actually have additional criticisms about how they handled other characters in this game. it’s funny, but a common knee-jerk reaction people have when they read criticism of something is that the critic must not like the writing or the game, so they automatically jump in to argue on that point. on the contrary, a lot of criticism comes from a place of genuine support and appreciation for writing, game design, and narrative structure. but you’ll see a lot of backlash from people misinterpreting that idea or taking criticism personally, so that’s why i’m always careful to state my positives and that i truly love this game. it’s as much a reminder to me as it is a declaration to others. i’m not here because i want to hate on larian. i’m here because i want to chat about stuff to the internet machine and maybe people like you and the other anon(s) will say some interesting stuff back to me.

the right kind of discourse is actually healthy for a fandom because it keeps ideas flowing and circulating, and lets us commiserate together. however, i might just be relaxed because people have been really civil to me so far hahaha.

anyway, thanks again for your ask! hope you have a good one.