#is there even still a bg3 fandom

[lightningarmour]

has anyone made this joke yet

[muchtooold2]

I’ve recently discovered the part of the internet deeply devoted to defending Mystra in BG3 and I get she’s a long standing lore character but it feels like we played a wildly different game.

And I just know in my heart of hearts that if Mystra were male and Gale were female I wouldn’t have to keep reading some variation of “well it’s fine she did nothing to stabilize a ticking time bomb in the chest that would have wiped out an entire city because it needs to feed on the weave despite no real evidence this actually hurts her at all” or “actually it’s Gale’s fault he tried to return what he thought was part of her to her because he was an grown adult who should have known better despite the fact she did not tell him and he did not know it would have hurt her and is horrified to learn this in act 3.” Like, this isn’t me woobifying him. I love Gale and know he can be self-absorbed, his ego is big, and if left unchecked his personality leads him to become the literal God of Ambition. But he’s not like a power hungry schemer. His ambition and desire for knowledge (things Mystra likes!) got the better of him and since he is also insecure he decided to try to do an ambitious thing and prove himself to a goddess. He knows and admits that’s on him! But he (and players) are still allowed to be mad at the fact he’s kicked to the curb to maybe blow up a city to learn a lesson Mystra does not bother explaining until she’s literally forced to because he did not kill himself on her command. And people are allowed to find their relationship wildly inappropriate and toxic and abusive because based on the game you play, it is.

I don’t think it’s bonkers to say that in this situation, Mystra—a literal goddess who met Gale when he was probably somewhere between 17-22 years old—was wrong to have a relationship with him, that it was a toxic and abusive one and that is on her as the entity with more power in every way, that she was petty for letting him languish for a year and being willing to potentially let him kill a whole city while he was trying not to die by eating magic shoes, and that telling him to kill himself is a dick move. And people are like “well according to DnD lore she’s just protecting herself and she was only resurrected after he was a teen” are doubly annoying because bg3 doesn’t give a shit about the canon timeline considering Durge would be like…10 if they cared.

And I know it sucks if you like love Mystra in DnD lore and this doesn’t align with her or whatever but bg3’s themes of “hurt people hurt people” and “power over others is something easily abused if you’re careless” also applies to Mystra. With the sort of exception of Selûne, the game also feels pretty clear on the idea that gods Do Not and Cannot Care About You. The game you play is showing a toxic relationship (and I will say she is not as bad as some people say she is, like she is a goddess operating with some blue-orange morality) and if the genders were flipped we would not be having this discourse.

[generaltulip]

Someone calling dragonborn x human bestiality in a game like BG3 is just… fuckin’ wild and bizarre to me. There’s elves, aliens, devils, tieflings, and illithids all that you’re able to romance/have sex with but lets draw the line at Dragonborns?? They’re not animals, that’s a whole ass person with a job, emotions, and personality. Fuck they even talk like a British dude but you draw the line because they’re a dragon man?

Halsin fucks as a whole ass bear, you can fuck a squid man, and a lady devil but Dragonborns? That’s somehow too weird??? Just say you’re boring and judgemental and be on your way because I’m gonna keep shipping my DB with Gortie with no goddamn guilt or shame in sight.

Also a quick note and a friendly tip: you can dislike Durgetash without trying to villainize people who like the dragonborn x human ship. You can dislike durgetash without trying to villainize people in general. I don’t personally ship it, but I 100% can see the appeal and I’m sure as hell am never gonna shit on it because I’m not an asshole bent on ruining other peoples fun. Not to mention the people who do ship it have been some of the nicest and the most welcoming that I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with.

Some of ya���ll just need to learn to dislike something without putting others down. You’re not in a vacuum, be nice to each other and get along, because trust me, it’s a whole lot more fun when you do.

[flashhwing]

I’m here to say that you may absolutely express negativity about veilguard to me as long as it’s not stupid. hate on it for real reasons, of which there are plenty, most of which I’m ignoring because of the hype but would be glad to discuss in a civilized manner. no forced positivity in this zone this is a safe space. unless your criticism is dumb as fuck then I will point and laugh

[transmercar]

It's actually insane that a modded scene of Wyll's dance with Astarion instead of him has comments like "omg he is so romantic, he would totally do that 😍"

... Sure. How about you actually play Wyll's romance and see if he is still sooo boring instead of replacing everyone with "Asty" and stealing their personalities

[unreadpoppy]

i've seen too many people talking about the bg3 fandom dying within the a year and i do have to ask...have y'all never been in another fandom before???

[gallows-into-oblivion]

the extremely mild annoyance of discovering that i have forgotten to mute one of the veilguard tags by having veilguard fanart reblogged onto my dash

[chocolatecatcupcakecheese]

Tagging this with the fandom critical tag just to be safe but. I appreciate everyone who offered kind words not just to me but to each other yesterday.

We’re a community. It’s good to look up and remember just how many people are quietly doing their own thing alongside me.

I felt a bit guilty for adding notes to what in hindsight was just inflammatory hatred. I wonder if giving them attention didn’t just inspire them to be louder in their unkindness. But after hearing how friends, mutuals, and strangers were upset over the post in question? Worth the BS. OC fic writers get so much shit already. We should stick together, not ridicule and beat each other down.

I emulated their flippant tone as I offered my rebuttal. But genuinely, I do love your Tavs and Durges— because even if I personally don’t enjoy a story someone is telling, I still know how difficult it is to tell it and how brave it is to share it where strangers can see.

I love that you’re creating.

I have a lot of opinions about what makes good writing. More opinions than that person, even. I’m critical of my own work and I’m critical of others’ in turn. But at the end of the day, putting love into the world is more important. And that’s what the connections of social media are meant to foster for fandom. Shared love.

So fuck Enver Gortash ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) And do it how you want. Love from me to you 💞

[seradyn]

I love getting bullied out of a fandom :)

[mercymaker]

sometimes i read some takes on this website and just think 'it's not that deep'

like.. people are SO quick to jump to conclusions about other people, it's wild

[ofwraithsandwords]

The bad thing about large fandoms is that if you come to dislike a ship that’s popular, you essentially can’t escape it no matter how much you try.

[transkingcobra]

When you realize you’ve never actually looked up a favorite pairing for an old game because you just didn’t get into fandom back then

Only to find out it doesn’t exist at all

Cri

[archduke-enver-gortash]

posting on here is like my sisyphean boulder i'm constantly rolling tbh

[bogunicorn]

how are we not all collectively past thinking it's ever acceptable to tell people to kill themselves over video game characters

[gaylittleguys]

it’s actually so fucked up and evil that random white npcs from bg3 that show up twice got more dedicated fans than Wyll

[master-gatherer]

I have reread what I wrote

It's not terrible

I'm still not happy with it 😐

I may still be too close to it

Does anyone want to volunteer to beta 😬 (mutuals only)