#but gale has that way of they connect on a magical and academic way

[impossible-rat-babies]

sitting here poking at durge w a stick to make a choice on who they like

[ohwolfling]

Gale, Mystra, and Abuse as Mentorship

(author’s note: this is part of what I hope to be an eventual video essay on godhood/coercion/consent in BG3 - you can see my other work and help fuel this efforts via my ko-fi :) if you're so inclined - and I will of course highly consider suggested deep dives from supporters, as you help me stay alive. I still have not actually finished this game so please go easy on me in regard to spoilers and note that some of what I’m discussing is from lore & knowledge I have as a little DnD gremlin for a decade before Baldur’s Gate 3, thank u, ily)

It’s really something to go through Act I and II of Baldur’s Gate 3 and hear Gale speak about being Mysta’s chosen. The way that Gale speaks of it, of his relationship with the Weave, the way the Weave feels to YOU if you have that moment of magic with Gale… 

You feel that Mystra’s Chosen, however perilous, however imbalanced, is a term of endearment.

And then you see Gale meet with Mystra… and the context of everything Gale has shared with you shifts.

Religious trauma holds obvious weight with most characters in BG3, in subtle and unsubtle ways, but what resonates with me beyond even the queer experience with every flavor of Christianity and Evangelicalism is the way “mentors” use it to mask their own abuse. And yes, some of those mentors are gods. 

Mystra is cold and formal with Gale in a way that reminds me of the abuse typical in art spaces specifically. A mentor who crosses lines of intimacy at their convenience, but is cold to you if they’re in any way displeased. The focus always comes down to YOUR GIFT and how YOU FAILED YOUR GIFT.  This is an easier parallel for me to make because ultimately Gale reads as much as an artist as he does an academic. He’s not just interested in magical academia, he loves the ROMANCE of it. Even the way he speaks of his connection to the Weave smacks of inspiration and artistry, not rigid study and observation, “[...] could not only control the Weave, but compose it, like a musician or a poet.”

I suppose there is validity in interpreting Mystra as a reliable source, maybe she is just like this all the time and Gale was clouded by his service to her, maybe she means everything she says to and offers Gale. But that is not my interpretation (and I think that even in that interpretation there is no redeeming Mystra because she is still wholly uncaring of the serious power imbalance and just… TIME and EXPERIENCE imbalance between herself and a mortal man). 

She tells Gale that what he lacked was patience… What exactly was patience meant to get Gale? Enough magical prowess that he would no longer want to be intimate with her or please her in a human way? Enough knowledge that he would stop requiring a sense of partnership from his god, who first connected to him as a child, who returned from her presumed death (assuming a rough DnD timeline here this is the best case scenario) to take either the initial special interest in him or an increased special interest in him, to teach him with special instruction, to feed off of his own skill or potential, to take him as a lover? Gale did not wish to prove himself to the public at large. Gale wanted to be enough for her. Gale wanted to give to Mystra as Mystra (per her claims and his interpretation) gave to him so that she would take Gale further into her world and be a real partner to him. There is not a level of patience that makes a man seeking an equal partnership with a GOD able to like… be chill about what that must require of him if a lifetime of devotion and proven skill doesn’t? 

This is not to paint Gale as a man without mistakes. Of course he is flawed. Of course his choices are reckless and dumb. But he doesn’t intend to raise himself ABOVE Mystra until the Crown presents itself as an option and Gale sees that he could both save the world- particularly this new found family he cares about in a context outside of the pursuit of Weave academia, I imagine very new for him- and in his mind finally feel a sense of agency outside of his abuser, even if he still can’t really identify her as that*. Gale’s craving for validation and power is not- in my reading of this as a survivor of various DV/CA situations, salt and personal perspective to taste- inherently selfish. It exists BECAUSE of Mystra. Even some of Gale’s stories about chaotic childhood stories, depending on what he means by being connected to it at a young age, could still be from that influence. To modernize this, theater kids dramatically backstabbing theater kids via tattle-tells or sabotage is very often about the atmosphere and choices the drama teacher has on offer. They’re kids adapting to the space that was given to them. 

“But such is Mystra’s Will” - Elminster the Enabler

Elminster provides such a specific frame for this dynamic, too. He is the kinder, more reasonable, more accessible mentor theoretically… but it’s like the “nice” parent in a narcissistic household as far as I’m concerned. Any kindness, leniency, or leveling with Gale is ultimately not about showing Gale kindness or teaching Gale. It is about enabling and supporting Mystra. “Just blow yourself up, you know how she gets.” “Well, you did remind her of Karsus and that hurt her feelings.” That kinda thing. 

If your Tav pushes back the second time Elminster crashes your camp, he says something along the lines of, “yes, her actions seem cold and tyrannical but that’s because you’re a mortal. She’s a god, you can’t judge her actions.” If you made the narrative choices to get that response from Elminster, you and your Tav know that that is, for lack of a more graceful term, complete horse shit. Even the way Elminster approaches Gale and delivers the news is in service of Mystra’s coldness. Elminster appears as more of an equal to Gale, but he twists the knife in ways that Mystra can’t be bothered to. I do not interpret ambushing Gale, demanding comfort and catering, and then delivering the news that Mystra wants Gale to die with half-truths, guilt trips, and tsk-tsks as general wizard eccentricity. That is dickhead behavior. Elminster is not pained to deliver this news. He is honored to be the one chosen to do it. 

Gale’s motivation in pursuing the crown and wielding it himself, as he expresses in the Act III boat scene- and again, I can’t believe people read Gale as blindly ambition or egotistical- is that gods shouldn’t have the power that they do, shouldn’t be able to make us live for them and die for them. He speaks of gods using Ao as a shield or an excuse and in DnD lore I believe Ao is truly the only god that would outrank Mystra. 

If Gale’s orb is truly a fragment created from Karsus’ attempt at godhood, I think we have to question Mystra’s relationship to Karsus. Early on both Gale himself and the game paint parallels between Gale and Karsus. Perhaps being chosen and the power imbalance and grief that entails is implied. For me, the narrative weight is better if it is. She speaks of allowing the orb to feed on the Weave as some sort of temporary measure, some gift to Gale, some great thing she is giving up… but if it is born of the Weave, ultimately, it is enabled by Mystra. 

I don’t mean to imply that Mystra is walking around as a figure of deliberate cruelty. I’m sure in Mystra’s mind she thinks she is fair, measured, and even doting of her “chosens”. But that is not unlike any abuser- particularly in religious contexts, particularly in mentorship contexts- who grooms and crosses lines because they see “potential” in their victims. For Mystra, the potential of her Chosen does not offer them protection. It simply justifies (to her) that she can harness, wield, consume, and control them. Why else would they be so magically inclined, so skilled, so bright, if not for her to do with them as she will? In her mind, as both a goddess and arguably the Weave itself, Mystra may not even think of what she does as harming those below her for her own gain. She may see it as reasonable and necessary sacrifices to preserve magic. I won’t try to summarize 3e to present DnD here, but Mystra has died and been reborn several times, in questionable ways. She is a fractured entity, whatever you consider her, and could very well have indoctrinated HERSELF into the religion of herself, essentially. Mystra is arguably her own cult and cult leader (though almost always aided by Elminster).

Karsus and Coercion

Mystra knows anything and everything that touches the Weave. Gale tells you point blank that Mystra would know he accessed the Karsus text, that just freeing it and reading it would be like shooting up a beacon. How does this interpretation stand if Mystra saw no signs of what she was doing to Gale, did not see him researching her prior death and fracturing? Could the same be true for Karsus?

The Karsus fragments devour the Weave, but why? Do they intend to harm her? Are they desperate for her? Does it feel like agency? Is there an additional parallel between Karsus and Gale here - meaning, as Karsus sought to make himself god-like, to stand above Mystra, perhaps in some way Gale thought bringing Mystra lost fragments of her former self would at the very least mean that Mystra needed him, controlled him, fed off of him in whatever way less? 

By Mystra’s own admission (I have not found this in game, I’m going from some Candlekeep lore and deity guides in 2e to now), those who use the Weave are to love the Weave, to do magic for the love of magic, to constantly explore and create new magic, anything to preserve and empower magic. So assuming that somehow Mystra legitimately has no idea when a Karsus or a Gale is setting out on a precarious path of potential godhood or at least hubris and hamartia, how then is Gale’s pursuit of the lost fragments of Mystra herself a violation? How even is Karsus' invention of his relics doing so? Mystra has the ability to cut the Weave off entirely for people, just as she had the ability the entire time to give the orb within Gale access to the Weave directly. This has me theorizing that perhaps, just as she condemned Gale to die when him EXACTLY FOLLOWING THE PHILOSOPHY SHE HANDED DOWN upset her for whatever reason, perhaps Mystra is why Karsus was pursuing higher magics in the first place, seeking to make up for some access he may have been denied after being suddenly cut off from her? Mystra does not set boundaries or make things clear. To be her Chosen does not seem to be a process of understanding and consent. It is thrust upon mortal men, in Gale’s case a mortal man she pursues a deeper emotional and sexual connection to, and then they are meant to “be patient” and anticipate what is or isn’t acceptable to her. 

And ultimately, I want to end with this, in regards to some middling discourse I keep seeing around Mystra that I think is well-intentioned but disastrous if we apply it to the reality of imbalance power dynamics, abuse, and trauma with any sense of realism** -

Grooming is not just sexual - Mystra being the provider of the magic Gale is naturally inclined to is enough of a power imbalance from the jump. The man repeatedly responsible for enabling new forms of Mystra being a close mentor to Gale and possibly responsible for his education is in itself a gateway of grooming. Institutions and systems use grooming as a tool as well. 

There is not an age at which you become immune to abuse or at which abuse is less abusive. Grooming and harming a teenager is neurologically different from doing so to an adult, but both are still incredibly common, and again, see number one. 

Abuses within any system- be it a church, an outright cult, an educational system, a dojo, a theatre, a volunteer organization- are significantly harder to escape because the isolation and indoctrination are built in. Group-think, the affects of trauma on the brain, etc, legitimately stunt a person’s cognitive development in relationship to the subject. A god waiting until a wizard is of age to fuck him when said wizard has been attuned to and charmed by the magic that is a part of herself since childhood would certainly fall under this category. 

There is not a way that Gale- or any real world person harmed on a scale of toxic relationship to outright abuse- can respond to abuse that legitimizes the introduction of abuse and coercion in the first place.

*note - depending on your Tav’s relationship to Gale, I DO THINK this is something Gale is beginning to identify… His comment when in a romantic partnership with Tav are that essentially everything he thought Mystra was is fading away because she condemned him to die when giving up the crown to her was always on the table, done after a year plus of shutting him out for his “folly,” and he speaks of "tenderness" and "feeling" from Tav, the subtext there being he knows now he never received that from Mystra but I want to leave room in this conversation for folks who didn’t romance Gale or didn’t romance him in service of the Gale the Man is Enough narrative to explore this topic

**Pretend is pretend and a valid way to explore so many things but as a survivor of various kinds of abuse who lives with C-PTSD every day, I think it’s important we apply some level of weight and realism to portrayals of these dynamics, even when the metaphor is literal magic, because 1- how we speak about abusers and the abused in fiction historically reflects our real world feelings on them, often to the point of LEGISLATION and 2- trauma should not be a sandbox for the unscathed to play in more than it should be a space for exploration, catharsis, and perhaps even healing for the many of us who have survived or are trying to survive those dynamics. If you don’t agree with that, that is technically legal but my interpretations will annoy you until the end of time always. 

[asidian]

Ooh I love this game, and I love your ideas! AU where Wyll’s father died and he had to become Duke before he was exiled (maybe he still made the pact to help him be a strong Duke, maybe not) and meets companion members through different connections he has to make/society events?

FIVE FUN FACTS about this AU:

The pact still happened because he had to protect the city somehow. Now Baldurans just sort of accept that their Grand Duke has a false eye and a sketchy advisor lady. Everyone knows that the duke himself is a good man, but this advisor always gives him questionable advice, and he just can't seem to tell her no.

Gale shows up as an esteemed guest, to lecture at the university, as part of some sort of academic exchange program with Waterdeep. Wyll shows him around town and gets lectured within an inch of his life on the obscure magical potion-making properties of the common sweet potato.

Karlach accompanies Mizora from time to time, on loan from Zariel, in a sort of hired hand/bodyguard role. She plainly adores these assignments and spends the whole time enjoying as much of not-being-in-the-hells as she's able before getting sent back again. Wyll starts coming up with reasons to request her presence: oh, we could use an extra sword at such-and-such event, since you're so intent on it going x way, Mizora, maybe you could bring Karlach for the evening? Karlach catches on and absolutely adores him for it. At some point the pair of them have a couple of shitty ales together, hanging out in the kitchens after an event.

Shadowheart, freshly memory wiped, arrives with a contingent of Sharrans to discuss property rights and city planning considerations for the new temple plans. They want a sizeable swath of the upper city, the better to make their mark in high society and establish a foundation for Shar's spreading influence. Mizora, of course, agrees entirely.

Astarion shows up as Cazador's plus one at a high-class gala, posing as nobility from Athkatla. He's meant to be talking his way into the duke's good graces -- and his bed -- in order to gain favors for Cazador, but Wyll lets him down gently and tells him that, although he's quite lovely, Wyll has his heart set on finding true love. Astarion has a rough night after having to tell Cazador he wasn't able to do as he was told, and rough nights after each of the subsequent galas where Cazador wants him to try again. Cue a slowburn where Wyll is gradually falling for him and Astarion is genuinely charmed, but hells below, would this man just fuck him already, he'd like to keep his SKIN on after one of these godsforsaken parties.

[ode-of-odr]

Little things Ras does with the companions of BG3:

When Karlach gets her second upgrade he will always find little ways of touching her, since she's missed it so much. Pat on the shoulder, nudging so on. And he actively tries to be happy around her.

When people hit on Astarion he mad dogs them until they leave. Yes, Astarion can say no himself. Handle himself. But since no gods came to his aid, no soul. He will at least do this until Astarion finds it easier to say no.

Will just ask Gale some random academic question regarding magic and let him ramble off. He doesn't understand how Gale thinks he needs more; to be more. He knows so much as it is. Also asks him about his great cooking recipes! Ras loves cooking too.

Respects Shadowheart's secrecy, but also drops little crumbs of himself and always shows great appreciation when she does the same. Always reminds her it's okay to feel lost and start over.

Shares battle tactics with Lae'zel while finding ways to show her fun and other aspects of life on the Material can be fun, by linking it back to how it would make her a better fighter.

Goes to Minthara for wisdom, even if he doesn't actually need to. Drow women are as strong-willed as any. More so. He doesn't know what it's like to lose a connection to a powerful being, that is wanted. But she doesn't need it. Her convictions are strong enough. Maybe another god will see this and come to her. Maybe.

He rests with Halsin when he just wants to be soft. Talk about cute animals and how he loves boring things. He doesn't have to be angry, or scary and he feels like he can be depressed for his own issues and not seem like he's overshadowing someone.

Has Wyll tell him stories of his exploits to remind him, horns are just horns. And not every hero needs to be some human with a perfect record. Real heroes, as cheesy as it is are based on their actions and hearts.

[timecma]

Also, who’s each of your characters favourite TLOS character?

Hah—I love how most of my characters are just in the land of stories, so it’s more like “who is their favorite person?”

Cyrus’s is obviously Xanthous. There’s literally nothing to say there he’s absolutely enamored by him. His gay little heart beats for him.

Negative’s favorite character would definitely be Ezmia. The purple, the flair, the confidence—she’s got it all. He’d think she was magnificent and magnificently misunderstood. Also he’d be like “yikes, well mirror dust does that to you…” 😬

Aurelia’s favorite character would probably be Brystal. Strong, confident leader who isn’t without her flaws. There’s a level of respect the Fairy Godmother has and she got it by literally going from one of the most hated people in the world to one of the most respected. However, Brystal also suffers from depression and she can get overwhelmed sometimes and it makes her feel human and relatable.

Indicum’s favorite character would be Sir Lampton hands down. He’s been a knight for as long as he can remember, and Sir Lampton isn’t just stone-cold and responsible. He’s got a soft side and he also helps those he can. Indicum would view him as the ultimate role-model who does his best when times get tough.

Juniper’s favorite character would be Alex probably. And Gale’s would be Conner respectively. Those two are like a duo just like Alex and Conner are like a duo. Juniper tries to be level-headed and responsible but she’s not without her flaws. Gale is funny and sincere but he’s also not without his flaws. They’d relate too well because they’re also like a brother/sister duo without actually being brother and sister. They’re just really close.

Rapid fire for the Creators without much explanation.

Vinny would love Mother Goose. She’s a hoot and he loves a good laugh and is also kind of chaotic himself.

Death would like Mistress Mara. She’s his daughter—he can’t help it.

Grim likes Madame Weatherberry because of her guidance aspect and how she’s always willing to help others even in death. That’s some resilience.

Life would love Froggy because he’s an intelligent man who always has a hunger for more knowledge and to learn. He appreciates scholars and academics, especially ones who are walking, talking amphibians.

Time would like Alex. While she’s nothing like him, he would enjoy her realistic approach to most things. He would also appreciate that she gives up using magic and just uses her hands to fix things if she has to—like how she did in A Grimm Warning. He also would feel bad for her getting mirror dust blown in her face. All of this stuff he’d never say out loud tho. He admires her dedication to stuff too.

Space likes Elrik because he’s gay and he thinks Elrik is fun so it’s a good connection to him because he’s also gay and fun.

Nova would like Death. He’s biased to his son. (This is a joke). Nova would like Charlotte because of how great of a mother she is. He enjoys how she still tries to keep her kids feeling like they deserve normal things—like celebrating their birthday and whatnot. He’s also very parental when he gets over himself, so deep in his heart he would love Charlotte and her way of trying to keep her family happy and united. Also she puts up with a surprising amount of stuff—which he admires.

This is all I’m gonna to for now haaaaahhhhhh that was a lot of work.

[invinciblerodent]

for mr arvid trygg: 21. If you’re romancing anyone, who fell first and who fell harder?

for mr petyr wildbrook: 58. What decision would your party have to make in order for Tav to consider splitting off from the group? and for ms iona raedir: 67. How good is your Tav at giving advice? How good are they at following it themselves?

Oooh, I love these! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

21. If you’re romancing anyone, who fell first and who fell harder?

I like to think it was fairly simultaneous, and Gale was just the first to actually acknowledge it out loud. Like, the connection between them formed very quickly and easily (which is to say, I decided who I'd romance the moment I pulled that man from that rock)- beyond them just both being hungry for a "human" connection, their sense of morality aligns very closely, and where Gale is an academic, Arvid is something of a philosopher, so they probably conversed the most with each other out of all the companions, and had some very enjoyable back-and-forths (that were basically incomprehensible to anyone else lol). It was only natural that experiencing that kind of fast friendship and the other's kindness quickly turned their affections from friendly to romantic, but with their insecurities (Arvid feeling mostly physically inadequate, and Gale... well, we know Gale's deal lol), it kind of got stuck there with the mutual pining for a long time.

It wasn't until Gale said "I'm in love with you" that Arvid kind of let it sink in for him that this, this is what it's like to be loved back, and saying it back was both spoken with utter wonderment, and as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say.

Tbh, it's probably a little hard to tell who fell harder. I mean, Never have two people been less normal about one another. Gale blurs the lines between love and worship pretty hard (understandable, he never knew much else, and with Mystra that line was nonexistent to begin with), and Arvid literally worships so hard that he got magic powers from it. This guy clearly just does not know how to like things (or people) a normal amount.

Anyway, they are very cute and I love them very much. ❤️

53. What decision would your party have to make in order for Tav to consider splitting off from the group?

Oh, that depends on where we are in the story lol. I think for most of act 1, he's always one foot out of the camp. Constantly. Like the wind blows in the wrong direction once, and he's out, tadpole be damned. I kind of doubt that he even believes that he's about to turn into an illithid until he meets the Dream Guardian.

He starts out very much a Just Some Guy type of character, and his moral compass is initially a bit like that of a roulette wheel, chiefly governed by heading towards the path of least resistance.

Act 2 is definitely his turning point, and by act 3, he's been successfully infected with morals. Like reaching Rivington, he's pretty much engaged the "ride or die" protocols, and there's no moving him from that point forward. (I blame Halsin for that one. And Wyll. I think he'll be an excellent foil to Petyr's bitch ways, and they'll end up being good friends by the end.)

67. How good is your Tav at giving advice? How good are they at following it themselves?

I like to think that she's pretty good at giving advice (she is a woman in her sixties after all, little as that means among elves- though she did live among humans most of her life), but she has this way of centering the conversation around the other party, and not really telling them anything about herself in return. Like she can sound very wise, and offer plenty of advice, but most of the time, she's just blowing hot air and not really telling them if she's going off lived experience, or pulling things straight from her ass.

I especially liked when, in Jaheira's home, Iona just categorically refused to engage with admonishing her because she just. She just knows that Jaheira can smell her bullshit from a mile away, lol.

Thank you for asking!! ❤️

[dragonagitator]

That is a whole mood for real.

Also, the most obvious entry point for a MCIF is the opening cinematic of the nautiloid jumping between realms (in Forgotten Realms lore, Earth is canonically just another Realm like Torril or Avernus), so unless we're able to a) steal another nautiloid, b) figure out which steering tentacles to connect to jump back to Earth, and c) land it safely before being shot out of the sky by the Air Force, our MCIFs are presumably stuck in Faerun.

But hey, if you wanna try to hijack a nautiloid during the final battle, be my guest. And if you bring your love interest and/or other NPCs back to Earth with you, you can write a hilarious "BG3 Characters on Earth" sequel to your "Modern Character in Faerun" fic.

Would be deliciously angsty if it turns out that removing Gale from Faerun cuts him off from the Weave so he not only has to deal with the culture shock of life on Earth but also has to adapt to not having ANY magic after being in tune with it for as long as he can remember. It would be even worse for him than when he lost power from the orb because at least then he could still cast cantrips and 1st-level spells and could continue to use scrolls and other magical items. Not something he'd chose voluntarily, but if traveling to a non-magical realm like Earth was the only way to escape a vengeful Mystra and protect his new spouse? Maybe then.

Gale could probably respec into being a software engineer relatively quickly. Although becoming a university professor of Folklore Studies or similar subject might be a better overall fit, humanities faculty positions are extremely competitive and he'd be starting from scratch at age ~40 with zero Earth-recognized academic credentials so that's a bit of a reach.

Or maybe he ends up making a living writing fantasy novels or even new D&D sourcebooks. DMs and players alike love running Harry Potteresque PCs-as-wizarding-students campaigns using the new Blackstaff Academy module because the level of detail provided makes it feel like the module author actually lived it, heh heh heh.

BG3 fanfic idea:

Modern Character in Faerun fic in which the author self-insert suffers from whatever chronic illnesses and disabilities the author suffers from IRL and Shadowheart inadvertently cures them all the first time she casts Lesser Restoration for something.

It turns out that you weren't that far off all those times you'd joked back on Earth that "God nerfed me by giving me [condition] because he knew I'd be too OP without it."

And all that extra effort you used to have to expend every day just to minimally function? That was like a lifelong intensive weightlifting program for your willpower because you were constantly forcing yourself to do things despite all the pain, fatigue, brain fog, nausea, etc. Once you're freed of the shackles of your chronic illnesses and disabilities, you're able to utilize that power in ways chronically healthy and lifelong abled people could never dream of.

Title idea: "Traded My Spoons For Knives"

Lore caveats: Lesser Restoration canonically cures the conditions diseased, poisoned, paralysis, and blinded. If you're missing body parts and want them back then you'll need to wait for the 7th-level divine magic spell Regenerate, which can't be learned in game because character progression is capped at level 12 but should be achievable fairly quickly in a post-game story because clerics and druids get access to 7th-level spells as soon as they hit level 13. If that causes you to inadvertently regenerate body parts that you didn't want back, the 9th-level spell True Polymorph can permanently (with your consent) change your healthy/whole baseline to something else. You'll need a level 18+ wizard to cast it, which Gale was before the orb since he was an archmage, and it's certainly plausible that removing the orb would allow him to bounce back to his old character level without needing to grind XP to get there.

(Inspired by memories of taking Adderall for the first time. That was a REVELATION, y'all. You mean I wasn't just stupid and lazy this whole time? This is what I can do when my brain actually works right? If my physical disabilities and chronic illnesses could also be cured/treated as instantaneously, I'd be unstoppable.)

(Also, how is it that as soon as I start writing my first attempt at fanfic, I start generating ideas for new fanfics faster than I can even write the ideas down much less ever actually write any of the stories?)

[yamayuandadu]

Hecate: falsehoods and myths

While my blog generally focuses on China and Japan, occasionally other topics related to religion and mythology warrant a post too. Due to Halloween being right around the corner, I decided to finally cover something I've been meaning to for a long while – the large number of misinterpreted, misreported or outright made up information about my favorite minor figure from Greek mythology, Hecate. While only rarely present in myths, she's a mainstay of not only popculture, but also of what I think warrants being called “pop-spirituality”. Under the cut I will examine a number of claims commonly seen online, and provide both the necessary debunks as well as some interesting genuine information.

Falsehood #1: Hecate's three bodies represent the neopagan virgin, mother, crone trinity This claim, as  baffling as it is, made its way even to a number of academic publications – what prompted me to write this post was in fact stumbling upon it in a paper about a completely unrelated topic. In truth, there wasn't even such a thing as an universal “virgin-mother-crone” trinity in Greek mythology – the whole idea is a product of dubious 20th century scholarship, mostly that of Robert Graves, a man whose notable deeds include writing a number of seemingly entertaining historical novels, cheating on his wife with his “muses” (some of them teenaged), and introducing the world to a wide array of myths and interpretations he came up with himself, but presented as genuine (he want as far as lament that more credible authors refuse to spread his ideas further). The most prominent of them, outlined in his book White Goddess, was his belief in the existence of some form of universal goddess figure with three aspects, which he himself named rather inconsistently, and which he claimed corresponded to the phases on the moon. What is true is that Hecate was associated with the moon from the Hellenic period onward, with neoplatonic writers in particular highlighting this affinity. This appears to be derived from Hecate's role as a “light-bringing” deity, frequently depicted with torches in art. Her arguably most prominent appearance in a myth presents her as Persephone's guide on the way back to her mother, lighting the way through the underworld. A shift from a general light-bringing role to just an association with the moon likely occurred due to conflation occuring between Hecate and Artemis – however in earlier times she was also frequently associated with Apollo, who even held the title of “Hecaton” in some sanctuaries. It has also been suggested that originally the connection was based on Apollo being depicted as a “builder” deity, while Hecate's principal role was that of a guardian of homes, gates and roads, which made their purposes overlap. Due to the aforementioned moon connection, combined with the fact she was commonly depicted with three bodies in art, Hecate became a postergirl for Graves' theory. Of course, this association has no foundation in reality – Hecate is not described as triplicate in Hesiod's Theogony, the oldest source mentioning this goddess.

The oldest known depictions, both sculptures and pottery decorations, likewise depict her with only one body. Some later sources seemingly discussed the three bodied version as merely an art motif. Pausanias's travelogue presents the three bodied Hecate statues as an invention of the sculptor Alcamenes, and contrasts them with a single-bodied depiction: Within the enclosure [in Aegina] is a temple; its wooden image is the work of Myron, and it has one face and one body. It was Alkamenes, in my opinion, who first made three images of Hekate attached to one another, a figure called by the Athenians Epipurgidia [on the tower] It should be noted that yet other sources consider them to have religious importance as guardians of crossroads, though these claims are obviously not contradictory.  Additionally, a few pieces of art, such as the Pergamon altar, depict Hecate with three bodies despite presenting myths in which she only possessed one.

Hecate was consistently portrayed as a young woman (some pieces of art, like the one above, depicted her in an Artemis-like manner, in a knee length garment) and with some small exceptions, usually relying on conflation with various nymphs, ancient Greeks seemingly considered her a virgin goddess. There are no widely agreed upon ideas regarding any other figures being regarded as Hecate's children, and even after becoming only a distantly remembered boogeyman she was not depicted as an elderly woman. Falsehood #2:  a “pan-european” set of “witchcraft traditions” was derived from Hecate Most claims online related to witchcraft try to add a degree of complexity to what was senseless violence caused by moral panics, not dissimilar from the 1980s satanic panic. There was no “pan-european” component to them (beyond all instances of large scale witch hunts being motivated by religious fervor, of course), and in particular the worship of Hecate was neither extant at the time associated with witch hunts and the development of the modern western image of a witch, nor was it ever “pan-european”. If anything, an argument can be made that outside Greece and Anatolia, Hecate was more of a popular import in the east than in the west. Some Roman sources present the existence of Hecate household altars in Greece as a puzzling curiosity, which further strengthens this impression. The late version of her cult, presenting her as a witchcraft goddess spread to Egypt and Mesopotamia, while an older, more positive image of Hecate seemingly survived in far off Bactria. as evidenced for example by Agathocles’ coins with Zeus holding Hecate, seen below.

Neither version ever spread to western or northern Europe, though, and pretty clearly it did not survive in any form into the middle ages and beyond. Wikipedia mentions a truly outlandish modern association between Hecate and germanic wild hunt folklore, which strikes me as completely random. An actual well documented example of Hecate syncretism with a figure from outside Greek mythology involved the Mesopotamian underworld goddess Ereshkigal, however.

What's rather curious is that the very concept of Hecate as a witchcraft and underworld goddess might have been a relatively late development, and as such not an accurate representation her original character – and even in antiquity it wasn't an universally embraced association. Earliest Greek accounts of Hecate cast her in a positive, benevolent role. In the Theogony she's a titan siding with the Olympians and then aiding them during gigantomachia as well; in certain versions of the Persephone myth, for example in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, she's an ally of Demeter offering her counsel and finally escorting Persephone back to her mother. Many of her epithets also point at a benign character.

The deity whose role was most likely the closest to Hecate's own before the negative associations made her little more than a boogeyman was Cybele. Iconography and surviving accounts of rituals to both of these figures bear many similarities, which is considered one of the strongest arguments in favor of Hecate being an Anatolian goddess adapted into the Greek pantheon due to contact between Greek colonist in Asia Minor with local inhabitants such as Carians. It's also worth noting that in Greece both Hecate and Cybele were generally worshiped at household shrines rather than official, large temples. Sometimes Hecate and Cybele were also depicted together, though it's generally agreed they were never conflated. It is still uncertain to what degree Hecate was associated with the underworld before becoming a goddess of witchcraft – some authors assume that she was already in part cthtonic as a Carian deity, while others assume she only started to fulfill this role due to the later witchcraft associations, or due to conflation with the goddess Enodia popular in Thessaly, who was depicted as a crossroad deity like Hecate and was associated with ghosts. Falsehood #3:Hecate was always depicted with animal heads While not entirely made up, this claim is rooted in the Argonautica Orphica, a text only written in the 5th or 6th century, and likely inspired by neoplatonic, gnostic and magical sources. A probable origin of animal-headed Hecate are Egyptian magical papyri, likely influenced by Greek perception of Egyptian religion, and to a large degree disconnected from worship of Hecate in, say, Caria or Phrygia. Earlier sources and art depict Hecate with a single, human, head on each body, as discussed above. The animal-headed image only developed when Hecate started to be perceived exclusively as a goddess of witchcraft and similar arts. However, even though that was always the perception of this deity in Roman sources and in most Greek ones from 5th century BC onward, a number of cult sites in Anatolia, for example the temple in Lagina, continued to venerate her under the regular guise, and one of the most prominent indications of a lasting devotion to her comes from Greco-Bactrian coinage depicting entirely human, single-headed and single-bodied Hecate with Zeus.

While Hecate was not depicted with animal heads before the dawn of Hellenic Egyptian magical papyri, from the very beginning she was associated with a number of animals, most importantly dogs, but also martens and polecats. Occasionally her animal companions were assumed to be humans cursed with such forms. While some versions of associated myths claimed Hecate cursed specific individuals (such as Gale or Hekuba) to live as animals, in others she instead took pity on victims of another deity's curse – for example, Antoninus Liberalis notes that it was believed that the polecat was a woman named Galinthias who was transformed into the animal by the Moirae and “Hekate felt sorry for this transformation of her appearance and appointed her a sacred servant of herself.” Occasionally Hecate was also depicted with lions, like Cybele and a variety of other Anatolian, Levantine and Mesopotamian goddesses. Falsehood #4: Statue of Liberty represents Hecate While the three falsehoods discussed earlier intersect and overlap, this one, as far as I can tell, developed separately, though it also was influenced by the idea of Hecate as a malevolent witchcraft goddess to a degree. Debunking it is much easier and doesn’t require any complex research – the Statue of Liberty was simply based on the personification of liberty depicted on the Great Seal of France:

While Statue of Liberty's crown does resemble that worn by one of the three bodies of a famous statue of Hecate, currently displayed in the Vatican Museum, this style of crown was associated more with solar deities, especially the late Roman god Sol Invictus, and I have been unable to find any other depictions of Hecate wearing it.

Bibliography:

Fragments from a Catabasis Ritual in a Greek Magical Papyrus by Hans D. Betz            

Hecate Cult ın Anatolia by Coşkun Daşbacak

Hecate: Her Role and Character  in Greek Literature From Before Fifth Century B.C. by Carol M. Mooney; some arguments on the contrary can be found in Hecate:  Greek or “Anatolian”? by William Berg

Theoi Hecate and Hecate cult pages - great source of quotations

COININDIA gallery of Agathocles’ coins

[ethilite]

[Masterpost]

Locations of Winderful

Below are some key locations, though they don’t encompass all that is Winderful. Besides a few towns and cities that will be central to the plot of The Tall Oak Tree, there are plenty of mountain ranges, beaches, forests, and pocket dimensions one could want to explore.

Lantern City

Lantern City is the Capital of the Nox Kingdom. Though the kingdom itself has been renamed in recent years, not much else has changed. The city is named after the many lanterns that line the cobblestone streets, and are used as a main source of lighting in the evening. The Castle Nox sits upon a mountainside, overlooking the valley that Lantern City rests in. It is a landlocked area, though there is a large lake beside it, and a river running through part of the city. Trees and many other kinds of flora find their homes between the houses and streets, and vertical gardens are a norm on buildings with multiple storeys. At the centre of the city is a large park that the river runs through, where the citizens gather for festivals and other events.

(more below the cut~)

Blackwood

Blackwood, home to Blackwood Academy, one of the highest rated institutions in Winderful, is a small, close-knit community. Located on a coastal island to the West, about half of the local population is made up of students and employees of the academy. There is plenty of greenery, so much so that trees can cover entire pathways with their canopies three out of four seasons. The most prestigious families from Lantern City send their children to the Academy to gain a greater understanding of magical and other academic studies, though students who arrive through other means such as scholarships are also present. The local economy is flourishing, namely because all these rich kids enjoy the local cafes, bakeries, meat shops and other specialty stores.

Nighting Gale

Nighting Gale is home of the cyre, and encompasses the world tree. It is to the north east of Lantern City, hidden within a sprawling forest of giant trees. Most of their homes are built into the trees, and hanging bridges connect them. There are lifts in place for those who are unable to fly or otherwise climb up the trees. On the outskirts are small clearings for farmland, though cyre magic allows them to manipulate nature within reason to help with their harvests. “Living bridges” made from manipulated tree roots, equipt with glowing mushrooms for night travel, help travellers and pilgrims of the World Tree find their way to Nighting Gale.

The World Tree

The World Tree is what gives magic to the world. It was created by the Astrals and Daemons, and it’s roots dig deep into the world, and spread far and wide. The circumference of the tree takes at least a full twenty-four hour day to walk around, and as such it is the tallest tree in Ethilite, though there are whispers about past trees that used to rival it.

The Spiral City

The Spiral City belongs to the viduous, and is aptly named for the towering spiral castle home to the viduous royalty. Located relatively far east from the other settlements, the city is hidden behind waterfalls and rocky canyons, though if one were to climb the mountains surrounding it, they would find themselves privy to a breathtaking sight. Houses are made from stone, and the soil is rich. There are plenty of caves with gems to explore nearby, as well as hidden grottos.

Stratus Road

Stratus Road is a large area of grassland, inbetween Lantern City, Nighting Gale and The Spiral City. It is home to low clouds, sky whales, sky mantas, and the occasional dragon. The most important thing about Stratus Road, however, is the trail in the sky that leads up to the floating city of Celesti and it’s islands. It is the home of the morelli, who treat magic and science as one and the same. The architecture is grand and ancient, grown over by moss and ivy throughout the years. The magic surrounding Celesti allows other races to experience it as the morelli do - without having to worry about the high winds or lower oxygen levels. In the middle of the floating city is Nyx’s Palace, an open-air building where the Astral herself lives.

Satin Beach

Satin Beach is an ocean beachside community home to humans and swmona. Beach houses, cabins, and open-air buildings are the norm, with the odd treehouse located in the forests nearby. The community prospers off of hunting, fishing, and trade, as it is a customary stop for those who travel from Blackwood island to the mainland. Vacationing elite from Lantern City generally spend their time here, though secluded from the general public. One of the islands close to the shore is privately owned by the royal family of Lantern City, and if one were to get out far enough, they would be able to see the rarely used beach house that hides between a nest of rocks.

[hermanwatts]

Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 15 August, 2020

Whether in a Celtic Otherworld or the ashes of a future Earth, magic worlds swarming with elementals or the cold vastness of space, this week’s new releases are filled with valiant deeds and desperate acts.

Duty, Honor, Planet – Rick Partlow

We thought we were alone…

We’re going to wish we were.

Jason McKay and Shannon Stark, two young Republic Space Fleet Intelligence officers, are given the leadership of a new special ops unit. The mission? Guard the spoiled daughter of an important senator on a tour of the colonies.

Neither of them thought the mission would be anything more than babysitting…until the aliens invaded the colony.

Implacable, relentless, merciless, the armored creatures slaughter everyone who gets in their way. The team is forced to go on the run with the people they’re supposed to protect.

But survival will be the least of their challenges. Because it’s not as simple as an alien invasion, and the truth may be even stranger than they can imagine.

Jason and Shannon are forced to weigh the lives of the people they lead–and the ones they love–against their duty, honor, and planet.

A Fire Reborn (The Elemental Warrior #3) – D. K. Holmberg

The threat Tolan has long feared has been defeated, but a new danger emerged, one that poses a threat to both shapers and the elementals.

For the first time since mastering his connection to the elements, Tolan fears an elemental. He’s long advocated the elementals were misunderstood, and tried convincing others within Terndahl to free them from the bond, but the appearance of Light has proven his mistake.

Chasing the threat leads Tolan to take a dangerous journey, one that challenges all that he’s learned of spirit and brings him back to the lands beyond the waste where he discovers a secret hidden from the rest of the world for centuries.

What he uncovers is more deadly than anything he’s ever known, and one his unique connection to the elements might not be enough to stop. It will take more than a master of spirit to survive; it will take a true element warrior.

Fulcrum of Light (Catalyst #2) – C. J. Aaron

Freedom has come at a price.

Stranded on the coast of an uncharted land, Ryl will be tested as the world outside the Palisades proves darker than within.

With little to no direction save the cryptic information from a mysterious stranger, Ryl must rely on his new-found skills and place his trust in his new companion. Together they forge onward into the barren wastes of the Outlands. As the sickness approaches, their time and hope fades.

Surrounded by uncertainty, will they discover there is more to fear than just the unknown?

Ryl survived The Stocks. Will he survive the Outlands? His search for the secrets of the power that flows through his veins continues.

Will he find the answers before his time runs out?

Gale Force (Four Horsemen: The Guild Wars #7) – Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey

In the aftermath of Peepo’s war against humanity, the Mercenary Guild is still in chaos. On Earth, the moratorium on mercenary contracts is disrupting Jim Cartwright’s efforts to stand up the new Terran Federation. Making matters worse, Jim has received intelligence that someone is squatting on asteroids in our Solar System…and Sansar Enkh is pretty sure they don’t have Earth’s best interests in mind. Fearing the aliens have plans for another invasion—or worse—Jim takes his ship, Bucephalus, and sets off to investigate.

While the mercenary guild is in recess, Nigel Shirazi has an opportunity to make some credits, and when he leaves to pursue an illicit contract, Alexis Cromwell decides to follow up on some information she’s received on the mysterious Weapons Conglomerate. Nigel wouldn’t approve of her running off, especially eight months pregnant, but Alexis has never been one to listen to instructions—or orders for that matter. She gathers a squadron of Hussars and heads off on her quest.

Events in the galaxy are happening at a frantic pace as the guilds battle each other in the shadows…and sometimes in the open. The Four Horsemen are once again at the center of it all, and as the guilds squabble, the Dusman aren’t sitting on the sidelines. They have their own plans, and humanity is only part of them.

The Guild Wars aren’t over; they’ve only just begun.

The Great Die Slow – Harry Piper

A lost knight stumbles upon an ancient horror… A desperate lord makes a deal with an unholy, hungry power… A young girl driven half-mad by grief pursues an impossible quarry…

Set in a Dark Age Celtic landscape shrouded in myth and legend, these dark, often tragic, tales tell stories of ordinary men and women confronted by evil both human and inhuman.

Whether priest, knight, farmgirl or sellsword, they will all be forced to take up arms and fight against forces that will test their strength and their sanity to the limit, in stories that will chill you, excite you and perhaps even break your heart…

Stories included: The Man In Chains Manawyddan the Heartless and the Unquiet Mere The Penitent Cadell’s Fate The Burden Sir Gareth and the Thing That Hid The Great Die Slow

Into the Stars (Rise of the Republic #1) – James Rosone

The stars are within mankind’s reach…

…But what awaits in the void may end humanity…

Mars and the Moon have been colonized, piracy runs rampant in the asteroid belts, and a thriving society grows in the depths of space. Humanity prepares to embark upon its greatest journey—the colonization of Alpha Centauri.

Then everything changes…

A deep space reconnaissance probe discovers a new Earth-like planet twelve light-years from Earth’s sun. The probe also finds something unusual, something…unnerving. A new mission is created, a space fleet is formed, and humanity embarks on unraveling the greatest mystery of all—the origins of life itself.

Can the factions of Earth remain united, or will old rivalries and animosities destroy the fragile peace in the face of this terrifying existential threat?

Will exploration prove to be a fatal mistake?

Legacy of Vale (The Circuit Saga #2) – Rhett C. Bruno

War threatens to destroy the Circuit once more…

After arriving on Ceres Prime, ADIM, is hesitant to help the Ceresians. Their hatred for his creator will never wane, and he starts to understand the danger all of Cassius’ many rivals pose. How can he keep him safe?

When Sage Volus finds herself a captive of Cassius Vale, she begins to struggle with her role in the coming war, and what exactly it means to be an executor. The removal of her cybernetic implant reveals emotions she thought she’d buried too deep to be found. She must make a decision on who she truly wants to serve.

After breaking free of the solar-ark Amerigo and certain death, Talon Rayne finds himself in unusual company. His quests to hold his daughter again will bring him to places he never thought he’d go―into the very arms of his people’s most hated foe.

As the battle grows ever closer, threatening the all-out war that could annihilate millions, these four must determine what part they intend to play, who they will align themselves with, and what it means to be human in a solar system where that means less and less.

Shadows of Ivory (The Godforged Chronicles #1) – Bryce O’Connor and T. L. Greylock

I burned cities and drowned mountains. I pulled stars from the night sky and scorched the world with their flames. I am the Fisher King, and the grave does not bind me.

An academic with a taste for adventure, Eska de Caraval has means and influence, wit and charm… and a knack for acquiring artifacts that may not be hers to claim.

But when Eska comes into possession of a strange disc of rune-carved bronze, she finds herself abruptly hunted by all manner of adversaries: an assassin in the shadows, a monster in the deep, a bitter rival burning with vengeance.

From sword and fang and flame Eska must defend herself, struggling all the while to unravel the mysteries of a dangerous artifact. An artifact so powerful, a dead tyrant will rise again to wield it.

We Are Earthlings (Soldiers of Earthrise #6) – Daniel Arenson

The final battle is here.

The fate of humanity will be sealed.

We’ve been fighting this war for so long. On one side—an empire spanning the stars. On the other side—a single rogue planet.

We’ve shed so much blood. We’ve buried so many sons.

Yet we are all Earthlings. We hate with the same fire. We love with the same flame. We die in the same darkness. We sing the same great song of humanity.

For years, Jon and Maria fought on opposite sides. For years, the war has kept them apart. Now Jon and Maria must meet again. Now they can bring peace . . .

Or everything we’ve fought for will burn.

Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 15 August, 2020 published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[ohwolfling]

the Gale of Waterdeep blow job meta

this is the most unhinged I've been on this website since like 2012 but here goes...

This is a piece pulling what we can from the game- Gale’s statements, characterizations, etc- and applying it to the narrative & symbolic function of sex in literature. It won’t be too academic ultimately, as I personally am still in Act II, and will not be citing any sources other than my trauma-earned armchair psychology and years of field experience as a bit of a heaux. 

This really strikes at the duality of Gale, something I think that ultimately makes people crazy for Gale. Gale is a giver AND Gale is desperate for control. Players who find Gale annoying or think he’s pure bravado miss this entirely. They take him at face value.

And to complicate things, Gale’s entire story is about connection. Trapped by unstable magic, desperately (but casually, no big deal, oh don’t fuss over me) reaching out. That’s Gale’s start but it’s also just… Gale’s story.

Okay, it’s horny henceforth…

Gale is a giver. That is, he's someone who wants to give, give entirely. His full self. It's what tangles Gale as possibly the most monogamous character, the most openly devoted character, the sincerest, but also a character easily distracted from the limitations of his own vows. Giving himself entirely isn't something he can do in the way that he wants with a one on one, mortal, committed partnership. 

Because Gale wants it to hurt. Gale wants it to destroy him. 

The Weave is many things for and to Gale, but for our purposes we have to talk about it as a balm to loneliness. At the Tiefling party, Gale possibly speaks about Tara being proud of him, and regrets he hasn’t given her much of that lately. He’s speaking of his tressym as an equal, almost as a parent. For him, saving the Tieflings feels like “having repaid the favor,” as if he needs to do penance for letting his tressym encourage him, aid him. She was all he had because he set up wards to prevent any colleague or friend from checking on him. Magic is the only companion allowed to see Gale if he’s not at 100%, if he’s not ready to be Wizard of Waterdeep™. Of course, Tara’s origins are relevant here. It’s easy to see Gale as someone with a streak of ambition but I think it all comes down to that first wound/heal with magic… Validation, company, companionship, magic gave that to him- rewarded him- with Tara at a very young age.

“Magic is my life. I’ve been in touch with the Weave for as long as I can remember.”

The Weave functions too as a neutral space for Gale to initially connect with Tav in the small, at least romance leaning Act I scene that happens after you engage him creating his little illusory Mystra. Gale showing Tav the Weave is a safer way for Gale to show himself. It’s an intrinsic part of who he is but it’s also a shield, a wall, a safety net. Teaching or showing Tav the Weave’s wonders gives him the control he seeks AND the opportunity to impress. “You feel something warm, like a kind word and a kind touch at the same time.” We have no way of knowing if this is what the Weave feels like to Gale, and so to us through him, or if what we’re feeling there is Gale’s influence over the Weave. Are we nestled in the cup Mystra’s hand or what Gale wants it to be? Wishes it would do for him? Is the sense of a kiss hovering about Tav and Gale or is that element of Mystra’s using of Gale so tangled in this magic that he can’t shake it free?

Mystra plucks him up. First teacher, then muse, then lover. Then the root of his demise. With Mystra he is both chosen and servant. I’d argue a worship kink is at play, or at the very least it is the lens in which Gale’s sense of sensuality has been most amplified.

At a point these feelings of conflict- never alone but lonely, wizard prodigy but just one of many men or boys plucked by Mystra, Wizard of Waterdeep but the Whatever of Mystra- are as crucial to his idea of the Weave, to magic, as the spells themselves. Gale has comparatively high charisma… his magic is a performance, as much to himself and of himself, as to anyone or for anyone/anything else.

Gale's boundary pushing is about proving himself through admiration, through praise. He craves it, good boy, Gale. Very the Wizard of Waterdeep of you.

His first assumption in New Love is that he has to offer Tav something more than himself. “I could do more than woo you - I could wow you.” Gale doesn’t understand how those are ultimately one and the same. Sex hasn’t been about connection, solidification, or strictly pleasure for him. It has been about proving himself, about being worthy, about service (which is another great somehow parallel & foil he has with Astarion but that’s for another time).

The specific intimacy of a blow job reverses the conflicted feelings and roles that Gale is accustomed to. In pornography and even popular culture, blow jobs are- erroneously in my opinion- depicted as something dominant and masterful for the receiver. Even something to be wielded as punishment or degrading, even in consensual BDSM practices.

In reality, a blow job is the ultimate submission. It makes Gale a man, it centers his manhood figuratively and literally. He loses a sense of control. Yes, even service gives one a sense of control. But the giver's power is not just in how their mouth wraps around ye classic quivering member. It's in intent. Pace. Pressure. Eye contact, the use of hands, fingers, even toys… The humanity of oral sex. And the humanity of the thing is not something Gale knows. 

Even if Mystra has played the giver it was for her game/goals and her pleasure. It was an adjustment to or pull of his strings. Gale tells Tav he has been with other mortals but I doubt as Gale the Man™. While creating a full night sky and seeking to do it the way the gods do (which we know means the way Mystra taught him or the way Mystra refers) is a genuine and catered moment for Tav, his other lovers no doubt got lazier, less genuine showmanship or else the wit and bravado and courtesy he thinks people expect of him. Early in Act I in his tale of the pub fight he manages to stop, the peace he makes comes at his cost- just monetary in that equation, but the point is, even in his performance of a Big Deal™, sexual or otherwise, Gale seeks to give to maintain the status quo. Gale’s sexuality, just like his magic, is genuine, sincere, and very present part of himself but it’s also unrecognizable to him if he has to stop thinking of it as a tool for five seconds.

Gale himself being a giver is something I really think he takes great pleasure in. His references to it out of the heat of the moment are something he is speaking about fondly and assuredly. He probably enjoys going down on someone as much as he enjoys magic. Like magic, he knows he’s good. Specifically with his tongue (I SCREAM). But remember, he is groomed by a goddess. A literal goddess. He is not just servicing, giving, he is WORSHIPING. Body worship is inherently submission and it’s specifically service oriented submission. Gale knows and has self esteem issues and hang ups around being submissive and if that submission secretly means he’s not good enough- likely why he tries to one up people, places, and things even as he begs to be back in that position of submission- but Gale genuinely likes being of service sexually. 

Gale, by virtue of being a great pretender, has never really given himself over to the real mortal experience of sex. Which brings us to the big moment of trust… 

The ultimate act of trust for Gale is letting someone in… he fully expects to be met with hatred and derision for his attempt with the orb. How could anything genuine be anything else? How could Gale's Folly, mortal, human, desperate, far reaching, reckless, be worth anything but hate? 

The reason Mystra can make Gale so easily believe that seeking these lost pieces of herself for her- even if unasked for, even if unwanted, even if upsetting to her, even if a misinterpretation of where their relationship stood at the time- was so unforgivable is because Gale thinks what the orb is doing to him reveals his ultimate sin, his glaring weakness… it makes him WANT. it makes him NEED. In Gale’s mind there’s nothing worse a man could do.

Blow jobs extend this into the element of control and real, physical intimacy. He's in your hands. He can't pace or bait his own pleasure. Pleasure is a thing happening to him. What is more human than the whimpers and moans in ecstacy when it feels so good you don't care if you cum or die? What does it mean for Gale to be made really and finally tangible and mortal in someone’s eyes? It’s the thing his most intimate connections have always liked least about him (and I imagine outright punished him for).

He can't earn credit or bonus points or paint himself the god. He will cum before you. You will give that gift to him. That's often the whole point. For Gale, anything like that with Mystra after being initially groomed by her into her hall of lovers would've been a debt. He might want you too much, too obviously, too greedily, if he’s in YOUR hands. Even his proposed “as the gods do” creates so many doubles of himself that you couldn’t have time to think, much less ever find yourself wanting. Gale genuinely connects to Tav, genuinely expresses love for them, but still does so by anticipating needs, assuming he isn’t enough, giving Tav no time to want or need, thereby leaving no room for adjustment, correction, or disappointment. 

Gale speaks about pushing the boundaries of magic. In having sex with Mystra he is taken into the vision of her world. But she won't go with him, won't take him further in, won't actually teach him or show him or grant him anything. The great beyond for Gale is not really magic or forgiveness or whatever… It's intimacy. 

Gale doesn't think he can just ask for intimacy. Doesn't think he can just find it organically. He must suffer for it, make a grand gesture, make up for the ways his mortality have dirtied Mystra by making her more herself, the way she was in Gale's mind before he tainted her with his want. Even in the realm of intimacy, he assumes he will have to be on his best behavior and earn it. It doesn’t occur to Gale until deep into Act II, post the romance scene and further validation from Tav, that having those restrictions on intimacy and care as a standard in a relationship is damaging, unfair, or cruel. 

“Now more than ever, it’s important to recall what makes us human.”

There is no right or wrong way to romance any of the romance options in Baldur’s Gate 3, of course. But narratively, Gale’s story begs for further examination and agency for Gale the Man, versus the Wizard of Waterdeep.Gale is at his best when he is open, vulnerable, and reaching out. He is as tactile seeking as he is ever-calculating about who he is to who, what he does or does not owe, what will maximize on paper his value and contributions. Left to his own devices, Gale will literally explode or transcend to avoid any offense or harm the baseness of his humanity might cause. Sex is a magic and spirituality that offers us briefly to transcend ourselves but while being wholly of our bodies, that makes we silly mortals keenly aware of our physical, limited humanity even as an orgasm can hit so hard you lightly trip balls and don’t know how to use your hands.

No one has ever needed a blow job more than Gale Dekarios. If he wants to explode, I MEAN 

[laura-j-c]

Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome

Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Power Source (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 2 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Tapped (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 13 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Connected (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 17 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome (2017) consists of three, minute long animations. Featuring what I describe as fantastical succulent interruptions my drawings interrupt the dull mundane of my domestic suburbia interior. This project is an expansion of my previous project from last semester. By inventing Succulent Morphology these works playfully explore Gen Y’s apparent need to escape everyday reality through an obsession of preternatural worlds.

Following on from my previous project, I continue to explore succulent imagery on photographs of my domestic environment that examines my active obsession for escaping into fantastical literature.

These works are designed using Photoshop to digitally manipulate multiple hand-drawn images over black and white photos of my interior. The layers are animated using Adobe Premiere so the succulents slowly grow out and overtake the space in the photo. After they have grown the succulents will then shrivel up and decay so the image returns to the original black and white interior. The animation then loops back to the start and repeats. An important point from my previous project was I was lacking a critical edge to my work, I aim to address that by having the succulents shrivel up and decay, and have it as a metaphor for moments when dark places can consume one’s life. The animated drawings achieve this by having the succulents’ bright colours on a dull black and white background but then erode to rotten colours and vanish completely.

Why succulents. They are a unique species of plant that look so strange but normal at the same time. As a subject, I use them as a small doorway into the fantastical through the mundanity of suburbia world. They are very resilient and hard to kill, they can grow just about anywhere. It’s like my fantasy obsessiveness, no matter how much people tell me fairies, trolls and werewolves aren’t real it won’t kill my love or search for the fantastical. So, for this project I have invented succulent morphology, the study of the succulents’ exteriors. In choosing a botanical form to be the shape of my fantastical interruptions because plants have a rich foundation for fantasy in which they have magical properties. This is seen in many fairy tales such as The Three Snake-Leaves by Brothers Grimm in which the leaves can return the dead to life (Race Point Publishing, 2013). In Norse mythology Yggdrasill is a magnificent tree that connects all nine realms together (Branston, 1978). Even the seeds contain the source for magic, in the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone he tricks his kidnapped bride into eating pomegranate seeds so even when she leaves the Underworld she will always return to him for a short span of the year (Larsen, 2016). This relates to my animations because plants from these mythologies don’t look unnatural, they are familiar and ordinary but have magic rooted in them. This is also achieved through the animation. Watching the succulents grow and decay has a mesmerising and almost magical feel about them that makes them have an otherworldly atmosphere.

My work deals with my need for the fantastical and escaping from the dull and ordinary, of which I do through literature. In constantly seeking out the preternatural, innocent, spiritual and harmonious way in everyday life. This project is a like a metaphor for my desire of fantasy. Over many years fantasy has taken root in my mind, growing and filling out all the space. There are moments in my life where events and circumstances have stifled that growth and withered it down to nothing but it always flourishes back to life, after lying dormant it sprouts and evolves, swelling into something just as big and beautiful as before.

As a Millennial, we are infamous for being very tech. savvy, rejection of traditional rites of passage into adulthood, and dependence on the internet. Author Sally Bibb accurately describes the aspects of Generation Y in her book Generation Y for Rookies (2014) which illustrates the qualities, personality traits, work ethics and circumstances that have shaped how Millennials have become the way they are; including disregard for hierarchy or authority, rejection of competitive conflict solving, perforation to collaboration, exposure to internet and technology, difficultly job finding (because of unwillingness to work the hours or finding a skill-appropriate position), creative and initiative, and more politically disengaged (Bibb, 2014). I agree with many of these claims but feel some are more subjective than others.

Bibb also mentions in her book the experiences that influenced my generation acts of global terrorism, marriages that result in higher rates of divorce and difficulty in saving money for houses and cars (Bibb, 2014). These events have left many Millennials with a longing to stay a child and never grow up or to escape from reality all together, the Peter Pan Generation. I respond to this through art. I have always wanted to escape back into my childhood, back into the fantasy and as far away from reality as possible.

My work, Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome, is not unlike George Gessert’s practice as it is the study of botanical exteriors (morphology), the appearance of a plant, Snowy Donkey (2004) is an iris he crossbred and grew until it bloomed. If Gessert did not like the appearance of the flower, he would recycle it and start a new hybrid breed. Because I am exploring morphology, the study of the plant’s exterior – the appearance, I am doing what Gessert is doing which is focusing on how the plant looks. We are both also exploring an invented morphology, he created his own by cross breeding his plants and I’ve created my own through my succulents.

The idea for this project was inspired by Tomm Moore, a filmmaker and animator, after watching many his films, particularly Song of the Sea (2014). The beautiful artistic style and animation form encouraged me to pursue the idea of animating the succulents from my previous work. Initially I had planned to have a very flush, digital finish to my animation style, like some of the styles Moore uses. However, after my previous critic it was suggested that this approach wasn’t appropriate for my subject. The time it would have taken to animate in that style would’ve taken far too long and wouldn’t be done in time. Since I had decided to use hand drawn images I had to look at artists who utilised a similar method such as William Kentridge.

My initial plan for presenting was just to project the animations using projectors onto a wall. After looking Diana Thater practice I realised this approach was as dull and boring as my domestic environment. I was intrigued how she used screens and projections in ways I hadn’t even considered, angling them and projecting them onto the wall and ceiling, clustering screens together in an arrangement. After looking at her work I had wanted to wall mount a series of monitors in a cluster formation, like the growth and clustering of succulents, and have the animations play on loop. But after being introduce to these black plinths which were so good I decided to arrange them on the plinths instead, still following the clustered idea.

This project is a continuation of my exploration into escaping reality through fantasy. I have achieved this in my work by creating three, minute animations featuring fantastical interrupting succulents in my domestic suburbia interior. I have aimed to fix the issues identified in my previous project and expand it.

REFERENCE LIST

Bibb, Sally. 2014. Generation Y for Rookies. LID Publishing. ISBN:9780462099804

Race Point Publishing. 2013. “The Three Snake-Leaves” in The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Page, 60-62. New York, USA.

Branston, Brian. 1978. “Yggdrasill, the World Ash” in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Page, 31-36. New South Wales, Australia.

Larsen, Kristine. 2016. “The Lessons of Nature in Mythology” in Mythlore. Vol. 34, no. 2, 2016, p. 191+. Expanded Academic ASAP, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=griffith&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453915650&it=r&asid=4b72e4eea1cfef3007bbe6af0aa15518.

Gessert, George. Snowy Donkey. (2004). Iris seeds, soil, fertiliser, flower pot, water. Dimensions variable.

[laura-j-c]

PROJECT PROPOSAL

This project is a continuation of my previous project that investigated my obsession for fantastical literature through escapism and the suburban landscape. The suburban landscape is still a foundational feature in this project because it is my environment, my dull, boring, mundane environment from which I try to escape. Mythology is also prominent content in my work, to me myths and legends are origins of the fantastical. My work is also metaphorical because I’m using fantasy as a metaphor to escape and the botanical objects I plan to use are physical metaphors for fantasy in my project.

I am developing three 30 second animations featuring fantastical succulent interruptions that interrupt the dull mundane of my domestic suburbia interior. This project will be an expansion of my previous project from last semester. For that project, I printed a series of black and white photos and then painted succulents interrupting the normal interior with gauche.

To continue my exploration concepts related to escapism via and the notion of escaping one’s reality and through an obsessive need for fantastical literature. I will concoct an experimental work featuring many elements of my previous works, these are black and white photos of my interior and the interrupting succulents which are fleshy, waxy, hardy, alien but still familiar. This is different from my previous work because instead of showing small snapshots of what I see I’m going to show how fantasy has filled my mind and heart and it’s still growing and overtaking everything. An important from my previous project was I was lacking a critical edge to my work, I aim to address that by having the succulents shrivel up and decay, and have it as a metaphor for moments in my life where I have been in dark places and didn’t think I’d ever claw out of there.

I will hand draw the growth stages of the succulents, then use photoshop to digitally draw multiple layers of images over black and white photos of my interior. The layers will then be animated using adobe premiere so the succulents slowly grow out and overtake the space in the photo. After they have grown the succulents will then shrivel up and decay so the image returns to the original black and white interior. The animation will then loop back to the start and repeat. I have also considered printing off the photos of my interior or stages of the animation as photographs with a white border and painting over them, as I did with my previous project, but I have not decided yet.

The reason I chose succulents is because they are a unique species of plant that look so strange but normal at the same time. To me, they are a small doorway into the fantastical through the mundane world. I’m also fond of them because they are very resilient and hard to kill, they can grow just about anywhere. It’s like my fantasy obsessiveness, no matter how much people tell me fairies, trolls and werewolves aren’t real it won’t kill my love or search for the fantastical. So, for this project I have invented succulent morphology, the study of the succulents’ exteriors.

In choosing a botanical form to be the shape of my fantastical interruptions because plants have a rich foundation for fantasy in which they have magical properties. This is seen in many fairy tales such as The Three Snake-Leaves by Brothers Grimm in which the leaves can return the dead to life (Race Point Publishing, 2013). In Norse mythology Yggdrasill is a magnificent tree that connects all nine realms together (Branston, 1978). Even the seeds contain the source for magic, in the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone he tricks his kidnapped bride into eating pomegranate seeds so even when she leaves the Underworld she will always return to him for a short span of the year (Larsen, 2016).

My work deals with my need for the fantastical and escaping from the dull and ordinary, of which I do through literature, film and pop culture such as Death Note, City of Bones, The Hunt, Dinotopia, Nora and so on. In constantly seeking out the preternatural, innocent, spiritual and harmonious way in everyday life. This project is a like a metaphor for my desire of fantasy. Over many years fantasy has taken root in my mind, growing and filling out all the space. There are moments in my life where events and circumstances have stifled that growth and withered it down to nothing but it always flourishes back to life, after lying dormant it sprouts and evolves, swelling into something just as big and beautiful as before.

As a Millennial, we are infamous for being very tech. savvy, rejection of traditional rites of passage into adulthood, and dependence on the internet. Author Sally Bibb accurately describes the aspects of Generation Y in her book Generation Y for Rookies (2014) which illustrates the qualities, personality traits, work ethics and circumstances that have shaped how Millennials have become the way they are; including disregard for hierarchy or authority, rejection of competitive conflict solving, perforation to collaboration, exposure to internet and technology, difficultly job finding (because of unwillingness to work the hours or finding a skill-appropriate position), creative and initiative, and more politically disengaged (Bibb, 2014). I agree with many of these claims but feel some are more subjective than others.

For example, I feel the disregard that is described by Bibbs, towards those in greater authority, it is seen and I know of many individuals in my generation that do lack in that respect. Bibb also mentions in her book the experiences that influenced my generation acts of global terrorism, marriages that result in higher rates of divorce and difficulty in saving money for houses and cars (Bibb, 2014). These events have left many Millennials with a longing to stay a child and never grow up or to escape from reality all together, the Peter Pan Generation.

My work is not unlike George Gessert’s practice as it is the study of botanical exteriors (morphology), the appearance of a plant, Snowy Donkey (2004) is an iris he crossbred and grew until it bloomed. If Gessert did not like the appearance of the flower, he would recycle it and start a new hybrid breed. However, our practices fall into distinctly different categories, he is bio artist specialising in plant hybridization and my practice falls into the interdisciplinary drawing. Vidya Gastaldon’s artwork Mini Christ in God Mother (2007) also has some similarities with my work. She has created her own fantasy world of abstract hippie and psychedelic aesthetics. Another artist who identifies with my work is Jake Fried, Night Vision (2015). He makes animations by continuously drawing over his drawings, scanning in-between each one, and turning them into minute long animations. Although his work is not explicitly fantasy, there are strong images that suggest fantasy and sci-fi. An artist I share many similarities with is Chris Ware. A common thread between his work and mine is the suburban landscape. In some of his comics’ conversations his characters really suffer from the dullness and repetitive routines of everyday life and longing for something new and exciting.

Until last week, I hadn’t given much consideration as to how I wanted to install my animations. I had planned to just project them onto the wall. But being introduced to Diana Thater’s practice has caused me to scrap that plan and consider different ways of installing my work.

  REFERENCE LIST

Bibb, Sally. 2014. Generation Y for Rookies. LID Publishing. ISBN:9780462099804

Race Point Publishing. 2013. “The Three Snake-Leaves” in The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Page, 60-62. New York, USA.

Branston, Brian. 1978. “Yggdrasill, the World Ash” in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Page, 31-36. New South Wales, Australia.

Larsen, Kristine. 2016. “The Lessons of Nature in Mythology” in Mythlore. Vol. 34, no. 2, 2016, p. 191+. Expanded Academic ASAP, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=griffith&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453915650&it=r&asid=4b72e4eea1cfef3007bbe6af0aa15518.

Gessert, George. Snowy Donkey. (2004). Iris seeds, soil, fertiliser, flower pot, water. Dimensions variable.

Gastaldon, Vidya. Mini Christ in God Mother. (2007). Watercolour, gouache, acrylic, coloured pencil and graphite on paper. 31 × 36 cm.

Fried, Jake. Night Vision. (2015). Ink and white-out. Duration: 1 minute.