#mystra if I catch you mystra

[leclerqued]

Wait for me. Please.

[sofancydancy]

The grip his stomach has on me is insane--

Hi!! Editing to thank you all so much and to say the finished version is now in the replies/with the link! 💜

[prismalmelonman]

Touching on Gale, Wyll, and Halsin's traumas being a bit undermined in parts of the fandom

So one thing I notice on Twitter is how some people act about the bg3 characters whose abuses were perpetuated by women.

Gale specifically for this reason (but I will touch on others)bbecause I see him dismissed super often as "can't get over his ex".

But Gale's case obviously be has the line of Mystra being like "she was my muse, my teacher, and then my lover" and sure to some that's a red flag in itself (when it comes to adults I don't really give a fuck about teacher/student) but if you view it from not only Gale's own words "ive been connected with the weave for as long as i can remember"

And that doesn't distract from his genuine love of magic of course. And it also doesn't mean that he's actually been in connection with mystra for an amount of time.

However, if you ascend Gale, and he becomes a god, you get a bunch of new little things. Tara reminiscing of course, but you get a letter from Elminster, detailing that Mystra had Elminster scope out Gale when he was eight!

And sure is that pretty cool that he's a prodigy that got the attention of the goddess of magic at that age? Yes. Mystra is, however, known in forgotten Realms lore to seek young young boys who are in tune with magic to make into her chosen. And from context clues, her chosen can be anything from Elminster and Volo, dedicated wizards who try to keep things in check, etc etc. or they're somewhat of playthings to her.

Minsc also has a conversation where me mentions that weave-touched boys in his homeland were hidden away to hone their craft, then suspecting that it was because of Mystra, given Gale's case.

Gale always seems so proud that he got to bed a goddess, and on the surface, hell yeah, that's cool.

Gale continued to have her attention even as he went to Blackstaff Academy, and Mystra eventually did take him on as an apprentice directly to her, later making him her chosen, and sleeping with him.

The reason it bothers me that people dismiss all of Gale's stuff to just "he can't get over his ex" is because that's is like almost textbook grooming? She was in his life from a young age, shaping and moulding him up as he grew up to be her perfect chosen, rewarding him by sleeping with him, and so on. And then of course casting him away when he has his folly with the netherese orb (and to be fair, it very well could have looked like to her that he was trying to seize the power himself and yes the orb does siphon off weave. That is a problem for the mistress of the weave yes).

But she also tells gale to KILL HIMSELF for her forgiveness.

Gale is much more than "unable to be over his ex" this woman was in his life since he was a kid. She's almost all he has ever known. If course it's going to be difficult for him to 1. Say no to her. 2. Get over the fact that he's lost someone that he spent his literal entire life dedicated to. Honestly if asked, I don't even think Gale would acknowledge or really see that what he went through was, in fact, abuse until it was spelled out in front of him. (Which does happen somewhat with the player character pleading to him that killing himself for mystra's forgiveness is actually horrific and that he should in fact be angry for how he was treated)

Similarly, and this one has been discussed a lot, Wyll and Mizora. Wyll was 17 and actively trying to help his people. 17, in a vulnerable state, willing to do anything to help and prove himself. Mizora very clearly took advantage of him, and regards him as a "pet", refers to him being "leashed", and so on. Personally, I do dislike the sexualization of their relationship, because it very much is also grooming (although a different type. Rather than manipulating and shaping his life from the ground up, she takes advantage of a vulnerable and desperate state to manipulate and contract Wyll into doing her bidding. I won't go too deep I to this one because it has been discussed to hell and back. But I did wanna touch on Wyll's situation as well.

Also, Halsin as well, though that has also been discussed in many retrospectives by a very good friend of mine. Halsin's trauma often get dismissed due to his polyamory, open sexual nature, and his own somewhat diminishing/dismissal of it, which honestly I love the representation of, cause for a while I did that with my own trauma. Halsin was a sex slave to a house of Lolth-Sworn drow, a matriarchal society, where the men are generally used as fodder or for breeding, though male Lolth-Sworn drow can be wizards and rise in the ranks if wizardry, but are limited everywhere else. (Minthara mentions that the third male, and every subsequent male child after third are killed for being"useless"). Halsin often referred to them as "hosts" rather than being captors, (though he does touch on that if the Player Character threatens to sell him back into slavery). Again, everything I'd have to say here for Halsin has entirely been discussed top to bottom by a friend, their link is below!!

Anyway, long story short, I dislike it a lot when Gale, Wyll, and Halsin's traumas and abuses get diminished, even if/when the character themself doesn't see or acknowledge the abuse in the same lens that we, the players, do.

[architectpoet]

If I follow the starlight and call your name

Will I see you again on the astral plane?

Why did learnin' the truth make me feel worse?

Tell me, how does a man change the universe?

The Balancer’s Eye - Lord Huron

[deannamb]

Breakup...

Drawing him without his beard has been pure torture…

[sayojin]

this took me like a week to complete and i kept having to stop cause i would get so mad about mystra's existence while drawing her and would end up ranting. fuck mystra.

also if y'all don't follow me on Instagram, please do, i post stuff from my own playthrough and more bg3/bloodweave related stuff.

i also do comms!! if anyone wants me to draw their tav, I'll literally kiss you on the mouth. (obviously im more than willing to drawing other stuff too lmao) just shoot me a dm on insta (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)

[fruity-m0nster]

some Gale angst

[silly-goofy-bg3-things]

Eliminster looking at young Gale: autism be dammed that boy is untraumatized Mystra: not for long Gale: what

[tinywalkingheater]

bloodweave has really grown on me. gale and astarion are just like husbands. they bicker like a married couple but they love eachother. and astarion would KILL that BITCH mystra for everything wrong she did to gale. I hate mystra so much.

[brightestplanets]

thought about gale suddenly and how we're not quite sure when mystra came to him but, he was decently young and she chose him because of his power amd potential with the weave, how he could devote himself to her. she shaped, she groomed him.

the moment she leaves him, abandons him, gale dekarios who has devoted himself to her, is after the orb drains much of his original power. he's no longer an incredibly powerful archmage. if you look at his behavior, his eagerness to please and talk to tav/durge/whatever origin character, he wants to he useful. he wants to be useful so bad because he devoted himself to mystra and when he was no longer powerful, when he was weakened by the orb...she took her "love" for him away.

was gale smart for the orb business? not particularly. was he at fault? sure, basically. But you try begging for someone to love you when all they love is the power they have over you, rethink gale.

[icapturedthecastle]

Fuck Mystra, all my homies hate Mystra

[bootymall]

I just wanna make Gale Dekarios feel loved and cherished. My sweet man deserves unconditional love

[sofancydancy]

𝓜𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓽 𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓜𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪.

& he's done!!

[feedthepheasants]

I have beef with Elminster Aumar!!!!!!!! if I see him in the streets it’s on sight!!!!!!!!!!

[cinnamonfairyfluff]

Gale and Cinna, a few days after channeling the weave together in act 1:

Cinna: Gale?

Gale: I do enjoy our conversations. What do you need?

Cinna: I've been thinking a lot about what you said...

Gale: About?...

Cinna: About Mystra! I was always taught that she is the guardian of the weave we wield, and nothing more. Yet you claim she is all magic, correct?

Gale: Undoubtebly. Mystra is the very embodiment of the weave.

Cinna: Can I ask you something?

Gale: You may.

Cinna: If Mystra is indeed the weave itself, as you say, then why are her followers and chosen almost exclusively wizards and not sorcerers?

Gale: Whatever do you mean?

Cinna: I mean... if Mystra was all magic, then why would she not have the ability to, at least, choose who is born with the weave? Wouldn't she want her worshippers to be sorcerers like me, and have the gift from within? Evidently, she does not have the capability to choose, as seen by the many sorcerers who do not hold faith in her, including me.

Gale: *silent pondering*

Cinna: So I figured you may know the answer. If Mystra is the weave, then why was I, somebody without faith, gifted with the weave, and why did you, a loyal follower of Mystra, have to learn it?

Gale: *more silent pondering*

Cinna: *tilting her head, awaiting an answer or explanation*

Gale: *questioning his faith*

[kaermorhenatnight]

there's a lot of heartbreaking shit about gale and mystra but the moment when he shows tav the weave and when it dissipates he visibly shrinks and lets out this saddest fucking "oh" i have ever heard makes wanna kill mystra with my own bare hands.