So one thing I notice on Twitter is how some people act about the bg3 characters whose abuses were perpetuated by women.
Gale specifically for this reason (but I will touch on others)bbecause I see him dismissed super often as "can't get over his ex".
But Gale's case obviously be has the line of Mystra being like "she was my muse, my teacher, and then my lover" and sure to some that's a red flag in itself (when it comes to adults I don't really give a fuck about teacher/student) but if you view it from not only Gale's own words "ive been connected with the weave for as long as i can remember"
And that doesn't distract from his genuine love of magic of course. And it also doesn't mean that he's actually been in connection with mystra for an amount of time.
However, if you ascend Gale, and he becomes a god, you get a bunch of new little things. Tara reminiscing of course, but you get a letter from Elminster, detailing that Mystra had Elminster scope out Gale when he was eight!
And sure is that pretty cool that he's a prodigy that got the attention of the goddess of magic at that age? Yes. Mystra is, however, known in forgotten Realms lore to seek young young boys who are in tune with magic to make into her chosen. And from context clues, her chosen can be anything from Elminster and Volo, dedicated wizards who try to keep things in check, etc etc. or they're somewhat of playthings to her.
Minsc also has a conversation where me mentions that weave-touched boys in his homeland were hidden away to hone their craft, then suspecting that it was because of Mystra, given Gale's case.
Gale always seems so proud that he got to bed a goddess, and on the surface, hell yeah, that's cool.
Gale continued to have her attention even as he went to Blackstaff Academy, and Mystra eventually did take him on as an apprentice directly to her, later making him her chosen, and sleeping with him.
The reason it bothers me that people dismiss all of Gale's stuff to just "he can't get over his ex" is because that's is like almost textbook grooming? She was in his life from a young age, shaping and moulding him up as he grew up to be her perfect chosen, rewarding him by sleeping with him, and so on. And then of course casting him away when he has his folly with the netherese orb (and to be fair, it very well could have looked like to her that he was trying to seize the power himself and yes the orb does siphon off weave. That is a problem for the mistress of the weave yes).
But she also tells gale to KILL HIMSELF for her forgiveness.
Gale is much more than "unable to be over his ex" this woman was in his life since he was a kid. She's almost all he has ever known. If course it's going to be difficult for him to 1. Say no to her. 2. Get over the fact that he's lost someone that he spent his literal entire life dedicated to. Honestly if asked, I don't even think Gale would acknowledge or really see that what he went through was, in fact, abuse until it was spelled out in front of him. (Which does happen somewhat with the player character pleading to him that killing himself for mystra's forgiveness is actually horrific and that he should in fact be angry for how he was treated)
Similarly, and this one has been discussed a lot, Wyll and Mizora. Wyll was 17 and actively trying to help his people. 17, in a vulnerable state, willing to do anything to help and prove himself. Mizora very clearly took advantage of him, and regards him as a "pet", refers to him being "leashed", and so on. Personally, I do dislike the sexualization of their relationship, because it very much is also grooming (although a different type. Rather than manipulating and shaping his life from the ground up, she takes advantage of a vulnerable and desperate state to manipulate and contract Wyll into doing her bidding. I won't go too deep I to this one because it has been discussed to hell and back. But I did wanna touch on Wyll's situation as well.
Also, Halsin as well, though that has also been discussed in many retrospectives by a very good friend of mine. Halsin's trauma often get dismissed due to his polyamory, open sexual nature, and his own somewhat diminishing/dismissal of it, which honestly I love the representation of, cause for a while I did that with my own trauma. Halsin was a sex slave to a house of Lolth-Sworn drow, a matriarchal society, where the men are generally used as fodder or for breeding, though male Lolth-Sworn drow can be wizards and rise in the ranks if wizardry, but are limited everywhere else. (Minthara mentions that the third male, and every subsequent male child after third are killed for being"useless"). Halsin often referred to them as "hosts" rather than being captors, (though he does touch on that if the Player Character threatens to sell him back into slavery). Again, everything I'd have to say here for Halsin has entirely been discussed top to bottom by a friend, their link is below!!
Anyway, long story short, I dislike it a lot when Gale, Wyll, and Halsin's traumas and abuses get diminished, even if/when the character themself doesn't see or acknowledge the abuse in the same lens that we, the players, do.
As a Blackwallmancer, I never thought I'd see the day where he'd not end up last in a romance poll. The early days of DAI have come a long way.
I finally got the Halsin proposition/sex cutscenes and I have no idea what some of you are talking about. "Oh he comes on too strong" "He's so pushy" like did we watch the same cutscene? He asks, and if you're already partnered, he asks you to go to them and see how they'd feel about it, and says he wouldn't do anything without anyone's permission. He's so kind and lovely about it. If you say no, or your romanced character says no, then nothing happens and he respects it. Playing the game with Halsin in my team just makes me more aware of some of the lies I've seen going around about my boy.
Rejection Sensitivity
Neurodiverse Journeys
-Give him content in ME3. Not this token effort that we all saw was just a way of saying, "Of course we didn't forget all your teammates!" Players should have had the option to pick who they wanted on their team for a certain number of teammate slots.
-His script should never have been butchered to make assumptions on behalf of the player. That's what that infamous Femshep greeting came off as: Bioware thinking we'd be so hot to trot for a character we never even got the chance to get to know. His line about how the Normandy is Shepard's love REALLY rubbed people the wrong way.
-Seriously, more effort should have been put into Jacob's story. He should have been part of the main story, trying to take down the Illusive Man after seeing all that madness. Jacob's original writing that had him proactive and seeking to do some actual good would have meant that he'd have been as tenacious in setting things right by bringing karma onto the Illusive Man for misleading him.
how i‘d rewrite jacob to make him a more likable squadmate:
• femshep‘s interactions with jacob would sound normal. none of them would sound flirtatious unless shepard is actually pursuing a romance with jacob.
• if you dump jacob for garrus, cut out the line where he calls garrus a cuttlebone. jacob is supposed the be the nice, good guy, the one who gives cerberus a good image, not some racist prick who uses first contact slur. this move was especially bad since garrus is a trusted squadmate! really, bioware? an easy way to make a character hated is to make home insult a character that is that popular among players.
• don‘t make him say „miranda deserves a better man“ in regards to his past relationship to miranda, and then have him be able to romance shepard. that makes it seem as if he is still head over heels for miranda but settling for shepard, who he thinks doesn‘t deserve a better man.. unlike miranda. cut out that line.
• leave out the ‚heavy risk but the priize‘ line. it‘s so dumb. it objectifies shepard and it‘s just cringy.
• he‘s supposed to be the nice guy yet miranda is more polite than he is. jacob should not be saying he is not in the mood to talk; he should be more open towards shepard
• let us find out more about his past life. he was a privatee with the corsairs, what was that like? also where did he grow up, which colony? why did he join the alliance? how long has he been with cerberus and how did he come to join them exactly? how did he find out about the organization?
• for his romance, make it a serious romance, not some hook up. give jacob and shepard a movie night date on the normandy in the starboard port and have them watch blasto and have us learn jacob has seen all the blasto movies. or have jacob play videogames with shepard. giving him a little of a nerdy side would have make him much cooler.
• to make him more sympathetic, write jacob as being the one who helped jack get the coordinates of teltin facility. after the confrontation between jack and miranda, jacob felt so awful that he decided to help jack sort through the files so she could get the coordinates of that place and nuke it. this would actually prove he is that kind hearted nice man he was supposed to be
• have him apologize to thane at some point, saying he was wrong about him. this would‘ve been a pretty great opportunity to give jacob some small character development
• don‘t have him cheat on femshep, most importantly.
HEY. HEY. why is the ghoul!!!!. sewing on lucy’s fucking finger!!!! while claiming that HE busted the organ dealers!!!! presumably!!!!! to take heat!!!! off of HER!!!!!!!!! IS ANYBODY ELSE. SEEING THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A distinct lack of Halsin on my dash lately 🐻😔
drop this sunflower🌻into the inboxes of the blogs that make you happy! lets spread a little sunshine ☀️
You're too kind!
Carrying across a threshold or getting ready to chuck? Place your bets here, people!
Yo, correct me if I am wrong please, but didn't Hitler rise to power because he promised to fix the German economy and people really liked that so they looked past everything else he was doing??? Like exactly what's happening in America right now???
So many people said they voted for Trump, put a truly evil person in power, because he said he'd fix the economy, and a little voice in my head is going, "Isn't that what happened with fucking Hitler??"
But I've seen no one point that out so maybe I'm miss remembering???????
I can see the story now: Orc warrior who was so angry he dragged himself several miles to kill the foes who thought him dead. Right to the end they lacked the wisdom to fear him, for none knew the skill and sheer determination he had in how precisely he could throw his axes while propped up on one exhausted arm.
Paraplegic orc warrior who uses a wheelchair crafted from the bones of his fallen foes.
Disability rights but they're fucking awesome.