#i'm already obsessed with this character

[kennethbrangh]

Ian McShane in American Star (2024)

[hiding-under-the-willow]

WHERE ARE MY BBC GHOSTS FANS AT 💥💥💥

AU that was absolutely inevitable if you know anything about me

[martiverseart]

Let's pretend they are all on the Nemesis because backgrounds takes too much time ahah

[coolseabird]

Random Musings on Gale and His Relationship With Mystra

I find Gale's relationship with Mystra to be one of the most fascinating parts of his story. It’s a dynamic that can be viewed in many different ways, depending on how you approach it and I think that’s part of what makes it so compelling. While some might see it literally, I’d like to explore it through a more allegorical perspective, though I want to be clear: this is just one way to interpret their relationship, and other viewpoints are just as valuable. This isn't even the only way that I personally interpret them haha. (I just have to be nuanced, it's a compulsion truly.)

In literature and mythology, take Greek mythology, for instance, relationships between gods and mortals can often carry deeper, symbolic meanings. The gods aren’t always just powerful beings they can represent larger forces like nature, fate, or human desires. This approach, called allegorical interpretation, is something I find really enjoyable! It adds layers to a story.

Consider the famous story of Paris’s judgment of the goddesses. The goddess Eris, seeking to sow discord, throws a golden apple inscribed “for the fairest” into a wedding attended by Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. They decide to have the mortal Paris judge who deserves the apple most out of the three of them and is thus the fairest.

Each goddess offers Paris a gift in exchange for the title. Athena offers great tactical ability, Hera promises leadership over vast kingdoms, and Aphrodite tempts him with the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world (who happens to already be married). Paris chooses Aphrodite, gains Helen as a lover and this leads to the Trojan War. Beyond the literal reading, this story can be seen as desire (Aphrodite) overcoming both wisdom (Athena) and marriage (Hera). Paris's fatal flaw is his lust for Helen. The story can also be interpreted as Paris losing due to declining to accept both of the other offers. He fails strategically in the ensuing war and also causes the collapse of his own kingdom.

Mystra, as the living incarnation of the Weave, can be interpreted similarly. She isn’t merely Gale's ex-lover. She is magic itself, the force that gives Gale his entire identity. Their relationship transcends romance; it’s more like that of a man consumed by his craft to an unhealthy degree. Like a mathematician to mathematics, or a physicist to physics, he's in love with something that can't love him back.

His attempt to give Mystra a gift she's never received before, something truly incredible, is due to his belief that transcending all limits to somehow earn Mystra’s (and thus, magic’s and his life's work's) recognition is both possible and necessary. It was 100% done with the best intentions but tragically any all-consuming passion carries the risk of blowing up in your face. (Just look at Alfred Nobel, pun intended) And, due to the aforementioned "blow up", his emotional low and his measurable low in his abilities correspond quite directly

There is a cut dialogue from early access about how much of his power he lost after this:

You see, this fire – there was a time that I could make it come alive. That it would take the shape of a dragon and roar in delight. There was a time I could silence a Beholder with a word, and lift a tower from its foundations with a flourish. There was a time I was all but one with the Weave. But no more – a mere shadow of the wizard I used to be. Why? Because I’ve lost.

A key theme in their relationship (in my opinion) is not just Mystra’s rejection but what her rejection represents: The collapse of Gale’s identity as a powerful magic user. (An identity he's built his life around and sacrificed for ever since he was a child)

Without this, he starts self destructing. He has to make do with consuming scraps of magic rather than the all encompassing sort he used to receive from Mystra's presence.

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While Mystra’s treatment of Gale is undeniably harmful, I think it’s important to recognize that she is not cruel in a personal, calculated way. She is so out of touch with normal people that she’s more akin to a force of nature. As an arbiter of natural laws, she wants to control him/kill him because he represented a destabilizing influence, not out of any targeted animosity. (Which is arguably worse than outright hate depending on your point of view)

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Now for a bit of a change in topic I wanted to go over his different endings:

His "good" ending comes from the realization that magic, or any external force, cannot be the source of true self-worth. The deeper theme here, beyond just getting over an ex-relationship, is that Gale must learn to build relationships with people and and find a healthy balance between his work and personal life, rather than devoting himself wholly to impersonal things at the cost of his well-being. He has to learn that he is "Galenough," as @ekansbot once put it. Ultimately, his growth in this regard is best shown with his choice to embrace his ordinary, human last name "Dekarios", rather than defining himself solely as the archmage "of Waterdeep."

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More evidence about the meaning of names to him, earlier during the conversation with Mystra in the tabernacle, she will either call him "Gale Dekarios" if she's displeased to remind him of his humanity, or"Gale of Waterdeep" when pleased to inflate his ego with a title. This shows how revolutionary it is for him to willingly forego having a title at all in this ending as it had been something he sought in the past.

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Alternatively, and more fun for my tragedy-loving psyche, he can totally succumb to his flaws and lose himself. In this case the orb's desires fully supplant him as a person. He becomes a power hungry god, doomed to perpetuate the same callousness Mystra showed to him. His grand dreams of bettering the world fades, and his only goals shift to slowly gathering more power and followers and eventually challenging the rest of the gods. He entirely gives up on being a "person" he's the god of ambition now, and you can see it in the way he speaks how much he has mentally separated himself from the mortal world. He has fully given up on having a life outside of his obsessions. It’s quite dark. (Though not quite as dark as my absolute favorite, the Absolute ending, where you use thousands of mind controlled innocents to become Kratos.)

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Something that's extra sad for you. If the player character chooses to break up with him after becoming a god he says "so I'm still not enough for you" Aghh it's horrible. His insecurities only get worse as a god.

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Or... he could kill himself. Literally destroying his darker hungers (the orb) for an altruistic purpose, but he also, obviously, destroys himself in the process. Very sad indeed.

Now, here’s something I find fascinating:

If Gale chooses not to use the crown, nor to surrender it to Mystra, but instead lets it remain in the water, the orb stays within him but rather than being a catastrophe it actually becomes harmless and inert.

Why does this happen? Gale speculates that it's because he has found contentment due to the player character's romance with him.

Clip sourced from this video: https://youtu.be/gikRKEIpvQs

This reveals something crucial: the orb, from the very beginning, was tied to his own emotions. It was basically an extension of him all along. He was inadvertently the one driving the orb’s power. It was his own despair and obsession that were indirectly killing him the entire time! It's very tragic but also supremely interesting!

It is this somewhat gut wrenching realization, though, that makes this the best "good" ending. He doesn't have to apologize to Mystra to get a happy ending out of pity. Instead, it is his own emotional catharsis that resolves the problem of the orb internally, rather than it being fixed through external means. It also has a sort of Jungian quality to it that I really like. With the idea of integrating and accepting all parts of oneself (allowing the orb to remain, but becoming settled and integrated), rather than trying to shed them being a theme I think fits his character well. Additionally, he keeps the orb scar, which looks pretty neat. :)

[piierogis]

they are everything to me

[chalkrub]

thank you for a great art fight! here's some of my final attacks. had a blast, already missing it - see you next year!

[outtox1cated]

No thoughts. Just Ivorb

[thecraftyninjacat]

ichi the witch is very very good

[mortalscience]

Penelope: Oh, my God, what if they both die? Luke: Penelope, I.. I don't know. Just… Maybe if we lean on each other.. we'll have the strength to get through this together. Penelope: Yeah. We can do that. I wanna do that. I want to do that because they need us. Luke: They do. Okay? Penelope: Mm-hmm. Me and you. Luke: Me and you.

[amagicalmoonlight]

I bear the curse of being really into pairs of characters but not in a shippy way but to anyone from an outside POV it definitely looks like it's in a shippy way

[ineed-to-sleep]

What if we fell in love and you died LMAOOO what then

[unicornclutter]

stepmother: they made us live under bridges!! >:(

rancilda, halfway under a bridge and coming up with a sick riddle:...wait ...*made*?

[trans-hakuri]

[viniciuskisser]

Oh, she's so cute! 🩷✨

[dead-salmon]

MAJOR ORDEAL CALL 4 SPOILERS!!! This is a ramble about what I know of the spoilers but still, beware

Ok with that out of the way, I'm a little confused why people are so mad about Kadoc's death when in my opinion, if he had to die at all in the story, this honestly was the best execution of it. I haven't read the story itself entirely yet, but going by the spoilers and translated scenes I did get to read, I think it's fitting for him

Kadoc had constant death flags going on, him dying isn't a surprise at all (even if it's a shame that he wasn't more involved in events or the like). However the role he played in his death is in my opinion the best death they could've given him. Kadoc constantly had an urge to prove himself with his inferiority complex. He also felt guilt for what had happened to Chaldea. Same way, he obviously regrets what happened to Anastasia too. The prologue of Ordeal Call 4 starts off with him having an entire nightmare that he refuses to avoid, because to him, those are the sins he has to face. Having him then meet his end through a literal lawsuit, with the judge being God's right-hand? Giving him a chance to get his Anastasia back for even a short time? Giving him the chance to at last be punished for his sins by the highest court there could be from him? Giving him the chance to atone by managing to save Ritsuka from punishment? It's a fulfilling end in my opinion, it's so narratively fitting and truly goes well with all his struggles

And also, if the spoilers (and Kirei) are right, he might not even be permanently dead. So yeah, I get why people feel sad but seeing people call his death unnecessary, stupid, or for shock-value feels a little weird to me? I don't know, I still need to fully read Ordeal Call4 but from all I've currently read and what I've read about it, I really like the story, characters and plot twists. Finally an fgo storychapter that has me interested in the story again

Oh and thank god to whoever wrote it for actually making Ritsuka face the crimes of destroying the Lostbelts. Fans are mad about the MC getting sued "because the worlds weren't going to survive anyway, so we didn't commit 7 genocides!!", but it was factually 7 genocides that even Ritsuka themselves felt massive guilt for. The entire point of the Lostbelts was that even if they were supposed dead-ends, they still deserved to survive just as much as PHH. The fact that we are literally facing a court for these crimes with an Angel as the lawyer, with the conclusion being that the Lostbelts deserved to survive too no questions asked, is great in my opinion. Not OC4's fault that fgo fans can't read and hate thinking critically about Arc 2 lmao

[justanotherboredgal]

the poetic cinema of buck pining and showing all classic signs of being in love in this episode, typical romance-genre signs that even previously unsuspecting audience can notice (spiralling over eddie's absence, not being able to stop thinking about him at work, unable to stop gushing about him to Ravi, unable to sleep at his old place because of all the memories and having to vent about it to Maddie, generally saying his name an insane number of times throughout the day etc, etc) -- to THEN others insinuating he is in love and him defensively denying it... basically a classic tv trope where the audience is absolutely expected to see through his denial thanks to the set-up of the narrative earlier in the episode of him clearly acting in love.