kcwriter-blog

[kcwriter-blog]

Gale is my favorite and Wyll is my second favorite. I’ve been seeing a lot of Gale hate lately. People think he is arrogant, talks to much and is too hung up on his ex. Most of it comes from people that don’t know the lore surrounding Faerun and D&D. Before the Orb Gale was an Archmage which is basically Level 20 and he could cast the highest level and most powerful spells - so yes, he does know more about magic than most wizards even - certainly more than your level 1 wizard. As far as arrogance, talking too much, etc. He is a wizard. Canonically they are all like that. Gale and Elminster are not unusual. Wizards tend to associate mostly with other wizards. I don’t think Gale talks about Mystra to excess. Maybe I choose different dialogue options than everyone else. The only time he really talks about his relationship is in banter with other companions. And even Astarion notes that he is pining for Tav. Most of what Gale is going through is grief for his lost magical skills not his relationship with Mystra.

Wyll is a straight up sweetheart. He is every Disney prince out there. He is funny and cute and romantic. He is also. Wry young - I think k he is supposed to be 24.

I’ve romanced all the men. Gale is my favorite. Astarion is my least favorite. As far as I’m concerned he needs a friend more than a lover.

Honestly, I'm surprised about the amount of hate Gale and Wyll get. I do understand that they may not be everyone's type but most of the hate seems...forced?

I initially played Baldurs Gate 3 without interacting with the fandom and just enjoyed the game, actually really loving each character. Only in my second playthrough I started to engage with the fandom and was genuinely at a loss at how much they are disliked - and not just by cishet (white) men. In fact, most hate I have seen came from women, which I thought would be a lot more into them, esp het gamer girls. Especially since a lot of the hate is for weird reasons like Wyll's voice or the fact Gale needs to eat magical artifacts (which he needs 2 or 3 times at most and you do get a lot of loot you can dispose of through giving it to Gale??)

[kcwriter-blog]

Gale in black and white

[kcwriter-blog]

[kcwriter-blog]

Veilguard did not ‘ruin’ Mythal insofar as it made her seem abusive. She always was, as both the goddess and part of Flemeth. If anything, Veilguard glossed over it.

The Mythal of DAO, DA2, and DAI is not benevolent. She is justice turned vengeance. She seeks a reckoning that will shake the very heavens in vengeance for the injustices she suffered. She uses people, especially the people closest to her, to set that board in her favor.

All of Flemythal’s ‘help’ in the first three games is as transactional as the greatest of spirits we meet. Everything she says is to give fate a little nudge in the ‘right’ direction - her direction. Everything she does demands a price in return - In Origins, it’s to send Morrigan with the Wardens in order to better shape her as Flemeth’s new host and get the old god soul. In DA2, it’s to preserve her immortality. In Inquisition, it’s the Well and thus Morrigan/the Inquisitor’s servitude, Kieran, and the fact that her only aid against Corypheus is binding yet another free-willed creature in the dragon. 

All of the advice she gives each protagonist is double-edged. She sows the seeds of the old god soul in Origins. She plants the idea of ‘here lies the abyss’ in Hawke. She makes the Inquisitor an unknowing pawn in Inquisition. The throughline for all of these is Mythal’s reckoning, her vengeance, and her doom upon all the world.

Nowhere is this more blatantly obvious than with Morrigan. Morrigan’s entire story with Flemeth is one abuse piled on another. Physical, mental, verbal, emotional - you name it, Morrigan received it. Flemeth created an environment so toxic that Morrigan can’t even fully see just how terrible it was. It is cruelty without purpose, save for Flemeth’s own ends.

That ‘a soul is not forced on the unwilling’ is not the measure of benevolence she makes it seem. There are endless ways to break someone’s will, as demonstrated by Flemythal in both Origins and Inquisition: Flemeth fashioned for Morrigan a ‘welcome home present’, ‘designed to sap Morrigan’s will and ease the ancient sorceress’ possession of her daughter.’ Mythal created the Well of Sorrows, a ‘reward’ for her most faithful servants that saps their will, replacing it with a compulsion that lets Mythal control their actions. Those who drank are not noble warriors who swore an oath - they are ‘bound,’ to quote Abelas. 

Mythal’s abusive and manipulative nature is not unique to Veilguard. Veilguard waters her down. The bones of Flemythal’s true character are still present if we read into datv’s overbroad and shallow lines. Even Morrigan’s ‘the regret of a mother’ could follow Flemythal’s characterization if it was presented as insidious and terrible as it truly is. It’s pure emotional manipulation - which the first three games established as Flemythal’s MO. Morrigan wears Mythal’s crown, she bears the staff Mythal does in her judgment fresco, she plays Mythal’s game. The Morrigan who spent a decade hiding and protecting Kieran from Flemeth’s machinations, and who spent a lifetime suffering her abuse. Where is her ‘self’ in Veilguard? Subsumed and corrupted by Mythal. Just like the sentinels, the geased, and to a lesser extent, Solas.

You can’t blame it all on Flemeth’s influence, either. There’s a reason Mythal chose Flemeth, and why they remained symbiotic for all these years. Dalish legends paint Mythal in much the same way as Flemeth, and since their legends grew from Evanuris propaganda, they’re not talking about anything Mythal did since her murder, and they’re certainly not talking about Flemeth -

Morrigan: In most stories, Mythal rights wrongs while exercising motherly kindness: let fly your voice to Mythal, deliverer of justice, protector of sun and earth alike. Other paint her as dark, vengeful: pray to Mythal, and she would smite your enemies, leaving them in agony. Solas: The oldest accounts say Mythal was both of these, and neither. She was the Mother, protective and fierce.

This gross emotional manipulation is simply expanded in Veilguard to include everyone closest to her. It’s how Mythal coaxed Solas from the Fade and manhandled him into doing her bidding. It’s how she directed her servants to worship her in the Trials of the Gods, and how she deals with Rook asking for her help to save the world. There is nothing benevolent in requesting her aid - it is a hardline of justice and arrogance, and every answer Rook gives to appeal to her emotions or that the world deserves her atonement is met with a harsh dismissal.

It’s not so different from the Petitioner’s Path in the Temple of Mythal - using that logic is an easy way to win her favor in Veilguard. Instead of speaking truth, Rook has to bend over backwards to make her feel good about herself to the point that she’ll deign to help save the world - from Solas, who ‘betrayed’ her by refusing to submit, and not the crimes of the Evanuris or the blight.

There is nothing ‘good’ about Mythal’s role in the atonement ending. It is a tragedy, and one Mythal escapes entirely. She superficially admits her culpability, she doesn’t apologize, and she doesn’t love. All she did was ‘release Solas from her service.’ And as always, that ‘kindness’ is transactional - he receives that catharsis if he binds himself to the thing that broke the world, and the very thing that ensures his people, both elves and spirits, are never truly free. She suffers nothing from this ending. Her culpability isn’t punished by words or any other consequence. It’s Solas who’s condemned to suffer the weight of both of their crimes. It would almost have been kinder if she hadn’t made her admission at all, because now he knows and accepts her equal role, and still he alone is punished for it all, forever, in eternal servitude.

At the end of all of these stories and manipulations, it’s not the world that suffers most from Mythal’s abuse. It’s the people closest to her. If ‘everyone is a pawn’ to Solas, what does that make Mythal’s worshippers, her daughters, and whatever Solas was to her? Her love was never free and without terrible price. Mythal took that which Solas and Morrigan value above all else - their freedom. The ‘best of them’ demanded everything from Solas, her daughters, and her people. Their wills, their freedom, and their very selves. All for the promise of a benevolence and unconditional love that she is incapable of giving.

Veilguard did not invent her abuse. It softened it. 

[kcwriter-blog]

[kcwriter-blog]

Gale casts a mean fireball - and looks hot while doing so.

[kcwriter-blog]

Stupid Sexy Gale...

[kcwriter-blog]

I've discussed the quote "to be loved is to be known" through the lens of another favourite ship of mine (shakarian) before, but the quote also works for Solavellan as well.

And in some ways, I believe it works so much more for these two!

All throughout Inquisition, Solas was allowed to be himself, or who he wanted to be outside of the life long duty he was bound to, at the very least. He was a nobody, some random apostate elf who loved the fade and who people sought wisdom from, for no reason other than pure curiosity. Lavellan never asked him questions for malicious reasons, to have his knowledge twisted into a weapon for her cause.

Through Lavellan's curiosity and kindness, he was able to lower his guard around them and the inner circle, which resulted in him falling in love. For better or for worse.

All throughout the romance, Lavellan is soft and gentle with him, always accepting his hesitation and embracing that part of him. Never demanding or pushing. Lavellan let Solas be a person with an agency of his own, not a general or a weapon. And certainly not a God. In doing so, she saw the equally gentle nature inside of him. The part of him that always put people's well-being first, like Cole and the injured in the Hinterlands. Lavellan saw the good spirit inside of him, just as much as he saw hers.

Inquisitor Lavellan fell in love with Solas, not Fen'Harel. While Solas fell in love with Lavellan, not The Herald / Inquisitor

Lavellan, who went from pronouncing "ir abelas" 'incorrectly' during the early days in Haven. Who, in the decade apart, came back with the ability to speak heartfelt sentences to him in Elven, his native language.

Lavellan, who when Solas hunches over in emotional pain -contradicting the very meaning of his name in doing so- she kneels down along side him. She makes herself the lowest person in the room so that he can continue to 'stand tall'.

I believe Solas is fully hidden behind his Fen'Harel mask / title in Veilguard, which is why Solas looks and feels so much more like his Inquisition self at the very end, when Lavellan arrives and that mask shatters before her.

As of Veilguard, Inquisitor Lavellan is the last person alive to truly understand Solas and his real nature, down to his very spirit. Not Fen'Harel, not He Who Hunts Alone, not The Great Wolf, and certainly not the many false stories the Dalish created around him as time muddied up the real story.

She knows Solas and she loves him. And I think that's a big part of what he needed; someone to remind him of who and what he truly is, and why he got so panicked in Crestwood when he realised that's exactly what he got through her.

[kcwriter-blog]

the bg3 community in general does NOT talk enough about how ludicrously OP gale was pre-folly and pre-tadpole.

- archmage. not an arbitrary title - awarded to 18+ level wizards. meaning he could cast spells through 9th level.

- chosen of mystra. akin to demigod-level status. slowed aging, chosen-specific abilities, direct access to the depths of the Weave, plus more.

- lover of mystra AND protégé of Elminster Aumar. privy to the most advanced Weave manipulation and magical tutelage.

imagine a situation where tav/his partner falls in battle and gale loses it. magic explodes out of him in raw waves. his grief/rage calls on the Weave without verbal control. he reduces the battlefield to cinders. blood pours out of his nose as he casts far more than his body can currently handle. his eyes glow. runes appear and disappear across his skin.

and the party remembers that oh shit. this wizard who cooked them stew and rambled about planar theory used to be a living magical weapon. and still has the capacity to be.

perhaps expect more writing soon 😶

[kcwriter-blog]

Can I hear more about your WIP Halamshiral?

It’s a working title 😂 it’s really a look at something downplayed in DAI which is how Lavellan feels about being forced to decide which terrible human should rule Orlais, the fact that party takes place where her people died in the past and the present and just being the Inquisitor in general.

She is furious and unloads on her human advisors before stomping off to her rooms. Solas decides to talk to her and they have an argument about the Dalish.

In my HC they haven’t slept together yet so there is quite a bit of unresolved sexual tension on top of everything else.

[kcwriter-blog]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Thank you @loredrinker. You've encouraged me to work a little harder on this.

Tagging: @thebookworm0001 @rosieofcorona and whoever loves writing or making art!

Another portion of Melancholy By Moonlight since that is what I am working on right now:

“I’ve never killed anyone before,” Gale admitted.

 “I am aware," Tadeous said, dryly.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “How?”

“The vomiting, kind of gave it way,” she answered, a wry smile on her face.

“Ah, yes, that would indeed let the tressym out of the bag, so to speak.”

Gale settled his back against the tree, dark brown eyes reflecting grief and horror.

“I learned combat magic at Blackstaff Academy, of course," he said, his voice hesitant. He was reliving their encounter with the bandits and trying, but failing to distance himself from it.

"I got high marks, best in the class if I'm being honest. My instructor said I could decimate an entire army by myself if I wanted." He sighed and moved his shoulder in a half-hearted shrugging gesture before continuing.

"But, there is a gigantic chasm between a firebolt thrown at a practice dummy and watching a group of bandits being annihilated because said firebolt hit a barrel of explosives. Practice dummies don’t scream in agony for one thing, nor do they smell like roasted pork.”

He waited for her response. She remained silent. What could she say? There would be many more encounters like that one before they found a way to remove the tadpoles or, failing that, sprouted tentacles.

“I’m guessing by your demeanor and lack of a more violent physical response that you have killed before,” he tried again.

“Once or twice. Purely in self-defense.” Maybe more than twice, but he didn't need to know that. She had a reputation to uphold - if he figured out who she actually was, that is.

[kcwriter-blog]

By Moonlight, for the WIP ask game? 👀

My Lavellan, Theneras, and Solas go for a midnight swim in the Hinterlands. Things get a little hot and bothered and Sera discovers them in a compromising position. Let's just say she isn't thrilled, Inky isn't upset and Solas is kind of embarassed

[kcwriter-blog]

By moonlight? 👀👀

Lavellan and Solas sneak off for a midnight swim and are caught by Sera in a compromising position

[kcwriter-blog]

i'd love to hear about Conversations in a Bathhouse and Melancholy by Moonlight!

Thank you for asking! Both are attempts at writing fluffy, flirty one shots

In Conversations in a Bathhouse, a just returned from the Hinterlands Lavellan makes a solitary visit to the Haven bathhouse to soothe aching muscles and sort out her feeling about being the Herald and fantasize about her Fade expert, when Solas unexpectedly shows up also wanting to bathe.

In Melancholy by Moonlight, Tadeous a bard in possession of a harp that allows her to inspire hope in her listeners at the expense of her own feelings of hope and happiness restlessly searches for a distraction from her growing melancholy. She normally uses sex as a quick serotonin booster but doesn’t feel right about hitting on her new companions. Instead she attempts to use Gale’s new telescope while he is asleep. He wakes up, they have conversation that distracts in a different way than she is used to.

[kcwriter-blog]

Wip ask game

Rules: in a new post, post the names of all files in your WIP folder, regardless how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell us about it

tagged by @thebookworm0001 - thank you very much!

Tagging (with no pressure): @ell-vellan @fadedsweater @kcwriter-blog @rosella-writes @guacamolleee @inquisimer @rosieofcorona @herald-divine-hell @theluckywizard and anybody else who is looking for an excuse to share their wips

I don't have a lot of WIPs at the moment but here they are:

Dragon Age

Conversations in a Bathhouse

By Moonlight

Halamshiral

BG3

Melancholy By Moonlight

[kcwriter-blog]

It's giving that angel painting, you know the one.

[kcwriter-blog]

I’m lost for words 🫠