#gale is such a great character
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Gale's ambition and the orb's hunger
Rambling about Gale's ambition after seeing the alternative ending dialogue for Gale. Spoilers for the entirety of his story.
This dialogue shows that even though Mystra doesn't rid Gale fo the orb, after defeating the Netherbrain his orb seems to change. It's hunger, gone.
Did Mystra quiet the orb?
If the player asks about it being Mystra's influence, Gale doesn't deny it could be Mystra, but refers that the orb's hunger was fuelled with his own. I have seen some origin spoilers for Gale that Mystra does apparently tell him that the orb is a consequence of his actions - this is why she hasn't "done" anything about it. It's a punishment.
It wouldn't make sense in this timeline that she would rid Gale of his orb because during the game, he didn't obey Mystra at all. While it could be possible that Mystra would do it out of "well you saved the world, I guess that's good enough" reward, she never really presented that as an option. She wanted the crown. Saving the world was seemingly secondary to her.
What we know about the orb previously?
So, just to know if Gale being content would affect the orb, we should consider what it does to him. Thorought the game, we get several references it being compared to hunger directly. "Clawing my insides like a teething displacer kitten"; narrator describing the hunger when he shows the orb to you; his condition is called "Arcane Hunger".
His treatment is literally feeding pure weave to it, and this is also what Mystra does once Elminster places her charm on him. It seems like the Karsite weave is to made to consume weave. He descibes that consuming the magic "never feels right, but it relieves".
We can't talk about the orb without mentioning Karsus. There's also a lot of mentions about Karsus being ambitious, same as with Gale, especially after hitting act 3. We know that Gale was ambitious even before the game - his orb is the consequence of that ambition, when he wanted to prove himself worthy of wielding more power to Mystra.
Was the orb's hunger strenghtened by the tadpole and the Crown?
Gale doesn't seem to know that the orb is Netherese until Mystra tells it is Karsus' creation. Gale seems to know the orb is Netherese origin, but doesn't connect it to Karsus until Mystra tells him. We also know from the hag, if we try her let help us with the tadpole, that the tadpole is imbued with Netherese magic. Gale's offhanded comment about the orb destabilizing because of Netherese sandals seems like a joke to me, but his condition started to decline eventually when he was tadpoled, until Mystra starts to feed it.
I think being near the crown also affected Gale. During his romance scene in act 2, he mentions about feeling the heart of Absolute, and how much heavier his heart becomes. It could be a metaphor just him sensing being closer to death, but what if it is actually a physical sensation he feels being nearer the crown? He can't feel the hunger anymore that the orb would cause, because it is being fed.
If you kill Elminster before he can set the charm on Gale, the end of act 2 is the furthest you can get Gale to come with you until he leaves permanently, because the orb gets so destabilized he feels it's not safe to be around you anymore. This could be the Crown's influence on him overtaking his hunger.
Act 3 - Physical hunger is gone, but the mental hunger lingers
The reason why I keep repeating that the orb is being fed, is that it's important to understand that Gale doesn't feel the orb's hunger physically, but the mental hunger still is there. Ambition. This is why there is quite a swap in Gale's demeanor once he sees the Crown - I believe the orb somehow influences the wizard's ambitions, similarly to Karsus.
At this point, the player has quite the impact on how Gale wil handle his ambition. I will talk only about romance standpoint since it's the one I'm familar with. If you choose him to give up on his ambitions with the crown, you have to convince him that he is enough as he is. This is a completely new situation for him - he always has strived to be better and do more. He doesn't know how to just be. Of course he wants to survive the battle with the Netherbrain, but after that? What ambitions he would have anymore? The orb has nothing to work with anymore - the tadpoles are dead, the brain is dead, the Crown is shattered in the Chiontar.
What about if you encourage his ambitions? His mindset seems to shift quite drastically compared to when we met him. He's feeding into the resentment for believing Mystra took his powers and that she didn't give him more than what he deserved in his mind.
A small side tangent: With Patch 4, Larian added a glow effect to the orb while he says the line about controlling the Karsite weave. I've been thinking about the symbolism for it - is it a power flare up? It is the same effect which Mystra's charm has, does it mean that Mystra stopped feeding Gale's orb?
Whatever it is, at this point Gale has completely changed. During the boat scene he says he doesn't wish to ascend, but now he wants to be a god. If Tav tries to tell him not to do it, he emotionlessly leaves them. Let that sink in. The hopeless romantic, who shared his spirit with his lover, assured how there is no force to come between them and disobeyed his goddess for them, leaves them for more power without hesitation.
And that isn't even the worst part of it. Disclaimer: Datamining is never "a sure way to know what the devs intented" and shouldn't be used as a true point for canon, but let's humor my angsty mood with it. According to the datamined endings that Withers would have told what happened the companions after the game, even if Tav would support sharing Gale's godhood, Gale never returns to Tav to fulfill it because ambition doesn't like to share. That shows how much Gale changes during the game if his ambition takes over. Maybe even claim that the orb's hunger takes over. ** Strikethrough added after patch 5, see my note in the end.
To end this on a more positive note, him overcoming that toxic ambition is huge, and the fact that he would feel content by Tav's side is really romantic considering all what could have happened.
** Added after patch 5 and epilogue stuff: I won't be typing out what happens in the epilogue (I have posted the outcome to Youtube if someone is curious), but needless to say, it's a good point on never trusting datamining as a canon point. But, the epilogue proves that original datamining point obsolete.
#gale of waterdeep#gale dekarios#baldurs gate 3#baldurs gate 3 gale#i needed to get this out of my system#gale is such a great character
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pls dad astarion i beg of you
as much as i really want to i don’t know how much sense it makes, so for now let’s just be unserious
#bg3#baldur's gate 3#astarion#tavstarion#maybe i’ll make some actual art if someone can come up with a VERY good reason why he would agree to it#dorian would be a GREAT dad though#don’t worry as soon as i have a character who gets with gale i’ll dad the fuck out of him#for now they’re the funcles#maybe after a decade of therapy?#i hate that i did this because dorian and the bab are SO cute that i want to continue
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cant shut up about this game for even one second
#bg3#rookposting#astarion#wyll ravengard#karlach#shadowheart#gale dekarios#lae'zel#not as much lae'zel in this one :( sorry miss lae'zel i will make more stupid posts about you when im#done dressing astarion up like a poodle clown and parading him around town#what's a poodle clown you ask? his surname is ancunin#hey rook why do you sometimes leave the notes in and sometimes you dont#great question! it's my quirky little character trait and it points to the deeplore of im extremely inconsistent as a person
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Ohhh, I'm rereading Mystra's entry in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide... and this detail:
This means Gale was punished for trying to restore and preserve what he thought was a lost piece of Mystra's magic. Gale being Mystra's ex-lover put aside. He as her follower, she his goddess, was punished for attempting to do the one foundational rule of her faith.
I'm seething and so sad at the same time.
Edit: I used the word punish loosely, as in, toxic/abusive people will take any small mistake or action and twist it into something they can take advantage of. This post was also largely from the stand point of a toxic deity rather than a toxic partner, but both takes are valid here. Especially with the, “you didn’t stay compliant so now I’m giving you the silent treatment” part of it—from a god and a partner perspective.
#bg3 spoilers#rambles#bg3#bg3 gale#gale bg3#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep#gale baldurs gate 3#baldurs gate gale#baldur's gate 3#baldurs gate 3#baldurs gate#I understand different versions of Mystra exist#but the bg3 version of her makes me seethe#all the time#TAGS PAST HERE ARE UPDATES#this post was most about comments on the religious trauma aspect#character flaws make character great so I know Gale isn’t perfect#but yeah I do read Mystra as a groomer with the comments minsc gave#like I hate her as a person#her character contribution makes the story interesting but I just objectively can’t excuse anything she does#she makes me feel enraged because they literally had to hide weave gifted boys from her#hello??? I’m sorry but you can’t make me like her or excuse her treatment towards gale after that knowledge#sorry I’m getting heated but goodness I have to say it or it’s going to make me implode
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gently places the Gale and Croissant dolls in a little box and VIOLENTLY SHAKES IT
Also here's what Karlach was right about if you forgot.
| First | | Previous | | Next |
[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]
[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]
#heeheehoohoo rubbing my little goblin hands together#what do you get when you put a guy with horrible self worth together with someone who has big imposter syndrome#we see how Gale deals with positive attention in the game#I wanted to give Croissant's pov bc my gosh how intimidating would it be to have this guy with huge main character energy-#-utterly devoted to you#once again I unintentionally made great choices for my own enjoyment by 1) being a wizard and#2) giving Croissant a bg that wasn't particularly of note#ANYWAY SORRY FOR RAMBLING AGAIN THERE WILL BE MORE OF THESE PROBABLY#HAPPY HOLIDAYS LMAO#bg3#baldur's gate 3#croissant adventures#tav#gale#gale x tav#comics#breadweave#gale dekarios
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reading a new interview and seeing larian's lead writer refer to gale as "the guy who annoys everyone" and "constantly eats your most treasured possessions" really explain a lot of things that are in the game tbh
#they also consider the ending where he blows himself up as the 'right' ending#truly a Great Message to send#'you deserve to die after making a mistake and taking someone up on their offer to help you it's just the price you have to pay'#also saying that halsin's quest ended in act ii and now he's just there plus#admitting that you dumbed stuff down and made characters 'nicer' for whiny redditors is... Interesting too#truly Choices were made#ch: gale dekarios#vg: baldur's gate 3#series: baldur's gate#text: personal#bg3 critical#larian critical
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"what's your favorite otome game?"
"baldur's gate 3"
#bg3#baldurs gate 3#i am no better than a man#astarion is such a great character#astarion#gale#laezel#shadowheart#halsin#wyll#karlach#jaheira#minthara
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What's a little world conquering between friends?
Thank you to @coolseabird for commissioning me to draw these two sillies! The vision was glorious and I hope I did it justice :>
Commissions open!
#Really had a great time with this one!#I'm so very much looking forward to getting to know these characters when I can finally play the game#Minthara I WILL romance you someday#be my friend pretty drow lady it's okay if you're a lil' maniacal#commission#commissions open#BG3#Baldur's Gate 3#Gale of Waterdeep#Minthara#D&D#I kinda wanna do a Gale origin playthrough at some point too#he's so dorky I kinda love him#their dynamic seems very fun
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did anyone else feel like they really had to LOVE Astarion? i felt like i had to be attracted to him, and mind you, he is a fantastic character, there is absolutely nothing wrong with liking him or thinking he’s cute. There’s a good reason why his character is most famous and it’s not a bad thing.
i do think he’s attractive and he has a good storyline, he’s funny and cute but other than that, i had no real strong pull to this character. if i met him in real life, i think i would actually pull my hair out 😭
#NO HATE TO ASTARION BABY YOU ARE DOING GREAT I STILL LOVE YOU#i just wanted to get my feelings out there and it seems like so many people feel the same!#i would also recommend definitely tagging along other characters and really really get to know them#so many people overlook wyll and as a poc i can see apart of the reason why#but this is mainly about gale 😭😭😭😭#the astarion to gale pipeline is real this is for those people#gale dekarios#peppi talks#gale of waterdeep#wyll ravengard#bg3
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Your honor they’re down so fucking bad.
#sorry I keep taking screenshots of the same characters doing the same things it will happen again#I just. I just love this scene ok.#the YEARNING#durge vissenta#gale of waterdeep#gale dekarios#otp: at a great precipice#bg3#oc: vissenta
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Happy birthday to the number 1 girl ruler of Oz!!!
#TGSO#the wizard of oz#wizard of oz#the wonderful wizard of oz#wonderful wizard of oz#oz book#oz books#dorothy gale#jack pumpkinhead#princess ozma#ozma#ozma of oz#art#artists on tumblr#oc#original character#my art#the great stories of oz
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𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏, 𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑?
#gale of waterdeep#bg3 gale#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep fanart#baldurs gate 3#baldurs gate fanart#baldurs gate iii#baldurs gate gale#fanart#gale fanart#digital art#artist#i don't play#but my friends do#baldurs gate 3 has great characters and an interesting story so obviously i am hooked
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Literally screaming into a void right now but jesus christ why the hell do so many people hate Gale?? Is this because of Dragon Age??? He's my boy leave him alone
#both he and astarion ask things of you#but you don't see people going “fuck astarion i hate him for making me feed him i'm going to completely ignore his need for blood”#nah its just gale because the debuffs of bloodless don't matter to people as much as magic items#people you have to feed him like 3 minor artifacts#chill the fuck out#if you have genuine character analysis and criticism great I'd love to hear it#but all I've seen right now is#“he gives me anders vibes i hate him”#“he eats my artifacts i hate him”#and “he made a deal with the devil because I forgot to give him artifacts and now he 'hate me for no reason'"#buddy he's going to die in an explosion that kill thousands#maybe millions#what did you expect when you broke your promise to help him??#anyway rant kinda over#baldur's gate 3#baldur's gate three#baldur's gate 3 spoilers#baldur's gate three spoilers#bg3#bg3 spoilers#gale of waterdeep#gale#gale bg3#bg3 gale#I lied there's more#he gets a fucking condition that tells you when you need to feed him now I think#“arcane hunger” ITS REALLY NOT THAT DIFFICULT TO HELP HIM#JESUS CHRIST#stop hating
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so I'm replaying bg3 with the mod that lets you travel with all companions simultaneously, which is incredible for party banter purposes
but interestingly thus far Gale is the only male companion who hasn't attempted to flirt with a female companion
#bg3#its so great though party banter triggers So Often#bc there are SO many different combinations of characters#and its all so interesting! so much insight into the characters!#but yeah gale has this rep as basically an incel bc of the bug with his approval before the big patches came out#but astarion and wyll are the ones who keep hitting on the ladies!#ESPECIALLY wyll. goddamn.#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep
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My friend playing BG3 for the first time. The rest of the camp is trying to long rest.
"What are you doing!?"
"I'm talking to Gale. And hating every second of it!"
#gale of waterdeep#gale dekarios#bg3 gale#baldurs gate gale#baldur's gate 3#baldurs gate 3#bg3#after 700 hours I know Gale's a great character#but ya know#i get it#post
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i may be crucified for this opinion but
one of the many reasons i think dds deserves a remake is just how little impact some of the characters have and it’s really fucking sad. unless they’re party members or antagonistic forces they don’t get nearly as much screen time as they deserve and i think that hurts them as characters???
jinana and lupa especially. i get the setting of the first game is a battle royale that turned into a cannibal battle royale so of course not everyone could live but they kinda didn’t get as much screen time as they deserved. i mean think about it they kinda just exist to introduce their tribe, interact with the embryon for a bit, disappear, reappear once or twice, then next time you see them they’ve succumbed to hunger, you beat the shit out of them, and they end up dying. what little they are given does make you like them don’t get me wrong but a lot of that rides on dialogue which, as someone who loves seeing people experience certain plot stuff of games i enjoy, i kinda noticed that it was a really mixed result. it’s either “oh no anyways” with maybe the player getting a little melancholic when they get brought up again or the player doesn’t care. considering how important their struggles and mini arcs are that’s not good???
the fact that they exist solely to develop argilla and gale is a shame since unless you like the exchanges they have their deaths don’t have that big of an impact. they do get mentions and all that in 2 yet it kinda just. makes me question it more from the standpoint of what could’ve been done with them or the giant emotional aftermath that should’ve happened. this isn’t to say they can’t die or whatever but considering the interesting conflicts dds introduces and how it already struggled to explore it as much as it could’ve, jinana and lupa really did have the potential to help remedy some of those issues.
and then there’s fred aka the smokey of dds. i still don’t know why he exists except to explain why lupa somewhat knows what a child is and to introduce the existence of tiny humans to the gang. i’m sorry i straight up forget he was a character at points.
qds fixed a lot of this yes yet i still think it’s important to point out on a game standpoint, since most people who play dds don’t end up reading qds, and i really don’t think actual important contextual stuff or major aspects of a game’s themes should be exclusive to books. it’s not as bad as something like fnaf or other mascot horrors—that shit was over a decade later—but it is a major writing issue and i don’t think the fact that the original lead writer got sick and had to leave means there wasn’t a writing decline. you can tell there was stuff that was going to be built upon only to be abandoned or underdeveloped.
it’s extra sad because this is straight up one of the best instances of world-building the series has ever had, and the whole cannibalistic character drama mixed with spiritual and buddhist + hindu themes is something so inherently interesting while also being in some ways taboo??? there’s not a lot of games out there at least not made by indie developers that get that risky since it’s not marketable, and something like that is next to nonexistent now in the mainstream market. we fuckin need games like the dds duology that challenge the status quo and goddammit if it got expanded upon and had more development for side characters that would be actually perfect.
#thinking about dds this evening#kinda wanna also express the bad writing decisions wasn’t exclusive to side characters#i’m still mad over what happened with heat he’s genuinely interesting but got demoted to a simp#and just making him a secondary antagonist in 2 was a bad move i’m sorry but that whole thing was wasted potential#gale is the only character that actually got development and stayed consistently great writing wise#that and argilla but she wasn’t really as there as she was in 1#they made cielo white and the comedic relief which. hey at least he’s fun and you can’t hate him it’s impossible#idk i have a ton of issues with dds on a writing standpoint. i love the duology but i also kinda don’t sometimes on a game standpoint#shantien rambles#dds#ddsat#digital devil saga
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