Mystra - Tumblr Posts
my favourite part of baldurs gate so far is the stardew valley grandpa showing up to eat cheese in your camp and tell gale that his ex gf wants him to kill himself
my chaotic neutral tav after learning one (1) thing about vlaakith, shar, mizora, zariel, cazador, mystra, etc:
every day i have to see people legitimately thinking gale is the “problem” in his background. and that a goddess of magic who literally does this shit to multiple people needs their protection from A VERY MUCH HUMAN wizard. your words are truly as empty as your head.
bg3 freaks will be like: HAHAH SO FUNNY MYSTRA GROOMED GALE. TEEHEEHEE LETS ALL MAKE JOKES ABOUT A GODDESS WHO LOVES PITTING HER CHOSEN AGAINST EACH OTHER USING AND DISCARDING A YOUNG MAN HAHA ITS TOTES ALL GALE’S FAULT HE JUST COULDN’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER UWUW LOLOLOL
baldur’s gate but i’m an idiot p.2
OH BOY
Finally got the wizard man’s romance to work (so cute <3)
TL;DWR - Gale’s revelation is about the Netherese orb, in his mind that is the most pressing issue and retelling his story about him & Mystra is just laying the groundwork, ergo he doesn’t really realize how hurtful it is for the player until he’s thought about it after the fact
And I’ve seen the romance before of course but having played through it myself I’m realizing how the fandom has really focused in on the “heyyyy kinda sorta slept with Mystra, y’know the goddess?” part of the morning after revelation (which is totally fair it’s kind of a gut punch tbh and I’m glad that his apology does seem genuine when he realizes it was a rude move) when Gale himself is focused on the whole Netherese orb. In fact, going through it again I don’t think the revelation is about Mystra (for him) it’s about the orb; which is not how it’s framed if you ask the fandom in general. For Gale, it really seems like the story about him and Mystra is more-so laying the groundwork for what he thinks is the real big bad, we need to talk ™ issue: the Netherese time-bomb in his chest.
And when you look at that interaction from that perspective, the way Gale is looking at it, the scene makes a lot more sense. In the interaction, I chose the dialogue option along the lines of “MAN it sucks that you’re telling me about a previous lover in the next morning” and Gale responds with “Well if it makes you feel any better the affair didn’t last long.”
Again, if you’re seeing this revelation as being ABOUT Mystra and Gale then that line seems like a really OOC & rude response from Gale. But if you bear in mind for him that retelling is just to set the stage then the line make a lot more sense. I think that he genuinely is so focused on the orb and how much of a danger he is to the player (especially after sharing a night of delights with them) that he doesn’t clock that right now the Mystra thing is the most hurtful thing for the player to hear. He says in the apology that he needed to tell the PC and thought it would be worse if they were told later rather than sooner. And if you are still of the mind that “well he didn’t have to talk about Mystra” then consider 1. it’s Gale, he’s a storyteller, he’s definitely going to tell the whooooole story 2. he tells the whole story in the non-romance version of the conversation too, for him the Mystra aspect of his story is the groundwork. There’s even in-game reasoning for why his brain would work that way, the man’s INT is 16 and his WIS is 11.
in conclusion, wizard man is a good storyteller but is still a man, still very fallible. Fallible enough to get so caught up in telling his story, caught up in trying to be as honest as possible that he doesn’t realize until after the fact that his words could have been incredibly hurtful.
First Meeting
literally every romanceable male companion in bg3 has some kind of sexual trauma . like
we got Astarion & Cazador, we got Halsin & the Drow, we got Wyll & Mizora, we got Gale & Mystra
just straight up all of their backstories include abuse/sexual abuse in one way or another
Ok. But what if Mystra was so divine… so exquisite… so luxurious, she was actually worth all that.
Gale is four when he conjures the rabbits. He doesn't know much, but he knows he's in trouble. Otherwise, why would his mum be stuck in the doorway, staring at him with tears in her eyes? When Gale, too, cries, she rushes forward to scoop him up, resting him on her hip and cradling the back of his hand with a hand. He wails, snot and tears wetting the sleeve of her shoulder where he presses his face. When she says he's done nothing wrong he doesn't quite believe her—not until she presses her forehead to his and says "Oh, praise Mystra! My own son, gifted with the Art. Oh, praise Mystra indeed!"
Mystra. It is the first time Gale hears her name.
-
Gale is seven years old and he just wants to go home. Has for a while, now, but after service his mum caught the arm of Cleric Trumur and is now chatting away with him—likely about whichever of Gale's magical feats impressed her this week. Gale turns his attention back to the altar. In three years he’s become well-acquainted with this statue of Mystra. She stares down at him, a slight quirk in her smile, impatient, as if waiting for him to finish his prayer.
Gods, his knees are starting to hurt.
He bows his head until a girl clears her throat behind him. When he turns, she looks to be around his age with round eyes and long, dark hair that runs smoothly down her back. Her dress is pale lavender with the most exquisite embroidery work he’s ever seen—it must have cost her family a small fortune. Gale mutters an apology and scoots over to make room for her on the bench. She doesn't kneel, though, just drapes herself casually over the seat to look intently at him and tells him he's here a lot. Weird. He's never noticed her here before.
He shrugs. Says what his mom does—that prayer to Mystra keeps him in her good graces, and keep his magic flowing as liberally as it has been. "You're a wizard," she says, like she already knows.
Not just any wizard. Gale of Waterdeep. He tells her so.
She doesn't laugh at him like the others do. When he asks her for her name, she only smiles and tells him she's sure she'll see him again.
-
Gale is twelve when he receives his invitation to apprentice at Blackstaff Academy. The youngest ever. His mum helps him pack and makes him promise he'll Send her every day—she doesn't seem to care when Gale tells her he should conserve his magic for the training he'll be doing.
The Lord and Lady Mage of Waterdeep greet him in their office with their guest: a woman with long black hair and a purple dress that seems to shimmer with a hum of magic, silver-bright and illusory.
Gale falls to his knees so quickly he's sure he's bruised them.
"Mystra," he starts, "Lady of Might and Mistress of Magic—"
"That's hardly necessary," Mystra says, and even her voice crackles with magic. "Rise, Gale, and look upon me."
He does. Watches the planes of her face morph and shift under Gale's gaze until her features settle into bright, piercing eyes and soft pink lips. She's the most beautiful woman he's ever seen.
"Wuh," Gale manages, and the three others laugh.
It's right into business, then—reviewing his goals and expectations, outlining the building, and the whole time Mystra looks upon him proudly, like she knows him. Like she's been watching him.
Even as Gale's face burns with embarrassment, his chest warms with pride.
-
Gale is sixteen and he's going to become Mystra's Chosen any day now.
At least if everyone at the Academy is to be trusted. They're all talking about it, so it must be true. He'd even heard Lady Silverhand whispering about it—or, rather, his Clairvoyance spell had. It's the waiting that's the hard part.
He turns a corner in the library one evening to find Mystra betwixt the shelves, the brightness of her silhouette casting blue light on the spines of the books.
He kneels until she commands his rise.
It's been a few months since Gale's seen her. Too long, he thinks, his eyes following the long, pale line of her leg up to her thigh where the slit of her dress sits open to bare her hip. He looks away, then, because Mystra has proven keen on reading his thoughts before—and that is just the sort of thought he prefers to keep between him and the mage hand he casts beneath his bedsheets at night.
"Gale of Waterdeep," she says, and smiles her wise immortal smile. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about."
X
"God, his knees are starting to hurt."
based on @troutsoup's writing! love the exploration of gale's childhood... an extra level of horror that mystra visited him in the form of a child
I’m so fascinated by the writers’ choice to make Gale so obviously not-over-Mystra (still calling her “my beloved”, conjuring her image to stare at) and then pretty much immediately infatuated with the player character to the point of telling them he’s forgotten his goddess.
When Gale falls in love, he falls hard.
Gale's Revelation (cut scene from Early Access)
source
Gale: (upon propositioning the player and being rejected in favor of another) I.. I see. He's a lucky man. Loyalty is such a... Such a very rare commodity.
Gale: Apologies, I really did think you and I... But no. Perhaps it's for the better. In fact I'll let you be the judge of that. After all, I still have a story to tell.
Gale: It is a story full of answers long overdue. It is the story of a man who fell in love with a goddess.
Player: Very well, I'll play along. Regale me, Gale.
Gale: Thank you.
Gale: Once upon a time, not quite that long ago, there lived a wizard in a tower. The wizard was what one might call a prodigy, who from an only age could not only control the Weave, but compose it, much like a musician or poet. Such was his skill that it earned him the attention of the mother of magic herself. The Lady of Mysteries. Mystra.
Player: What did Mystra's attention feel like?
Gale: Love.
Gale: Perhaps it was not quite love, but, you see, the wizard was but a very young man. It was most certainly love to him. Mystra showed him the secrets beneath the veils. The gossamer veils first, draped across the Weave. The delicate veils next, draped across her body. 'Chosen One' she whispered, as she slipped them off completely.
Player: The veils draped across the Weave?
Gale: Indeed. What most wizards perceive is but the ripple of the Weave's surface. Untold wonders lie beyond. I enjoyed them for a while. As we enjoyed each other.
A Gale that still wears his earring by the end of his adventure. Touches it sometimes, when he’s thinking too hard. Runs his thumb along the grooves and pushes hard on one of the points until the pain grounds him. He remembers how it had felt to get it—to grin at himself in the mirror afterward, tilting his jaw to watch the silver catch orange-golden sunlight through the bedroom window. He remembers how it felt to race down the stairs to show his mum, and how she’d kissed his forehead and told him he looked dashing.
So it’s a part of him, now, as much as anything.
A Gale that keeps the statuette of Mystra on his desk when he comes home. It’s because he doesn’t want to look at it, to deal with it. Long were the nights he spent studying with a cramped hand and a tense jaw, and easy was the relief of looking upon her and remembering for whom he was doing it.
Those nights are a part of him, too. So the statuette stays.
A Gale whose eyes still linger on her altar when he passes on his walk about the city. She is more beautiful than any statue makes her out to be, limited as they are by the static of stone. They cannot smile at him as she did when making him her Chosen.
He cannot bring himself to watch the boys who bruise their knees kneeling for her.
Mystra showed him the secrets beneath the veils. The gossamer veils first, draped across the Weave. The delicate veils next, draped across her body. 'Chosen One' she whispered, as she slipped them off completely.
poor gale :'(
- the dialogue is from ea gale's explanation about his folly
- i kinda like that she ended up looking like a mother-of-pearl inlay lacquerware!
- oh this was a subconscious choice, but Gale is sitting in seiza which is a posture for showing respect especially to elders. it's also known to be a painful position to sit in for extended periods of time, which is why it was sometimes used as a method of (morally dubious) punishment. however, experienced people can maintain this posture for much longer. food for thought :-)
- (idk how credible this is but i think this position also leaves the person sitting pretty vulnerable to attacks compared to a cross legged sit? in that sense it would be an even greater show of deference)
I think it's really cool that Gale is so insistent on taking you into the weave to make love for the first time. It's so romantic and personal and probably has nothing to do with putting himself directly in Mystra's line of sight because of his pathetic desperation for her attention
— Mystra would consider...forgiveness?
— She would consider what she considers to be forgiveness.
Thalia reads Gale's letter explaining his experience growing up learning magic.
This is in response to @letters-from-dekarios 's response to my anon ask. I absolutely adore the way Gale is written in all of the responses and also really enjoyed the fics currently there so please do read them if you come across this little post of mine.
Also hello I kinda just made this tumblr account so I can look at Gale content all the time but I also really like doodling Gale with my tav so I guess this will be a place for me to dump my Gale doodles when I can hello welcome
Thalia finally stopped avoiding Gale after reading the letter
brainstorming a modern bg3