I'm mainly a Gale fan. I figure he can be a little awkward at times but it makes sense given he's been isolated for a year and didn't have friends before that. His bragging doesn't bother me because from the bottom of my heart I do not believe him lol. I immediately took it as a front where guy's trying to make himself useful in an irreplaceable way. Makes sense when Gale sees himself as personally worthless at best, an imposition or burden at worst. I don't even think the orb incident was an act of hubris (he wanted to have personal worth to Mystra the way she had personal worth to him--reasonable in a healthy/equal relationship) and I genuinely don't think it's something he needs to be forgiven for. ESPECIALLY when Mystra's a former mortal herself. I don't think what Gale did was morally wrong. Just tragic and naďve.
I'm inclined to give Larian benefit of the doubt in the sense that I think the interview was carelessly, imprecisely expressed and fans have latched onto the worst possible interpretation of it. I still think it would serve well to clarify if that's the case. Selfishly, it's distracting when I want to make my own content celebrating the game and leaves a shitty taste in my mouth on top of that. I'm sure I'm not the only person in that position. The worst interpretation of the interview IS pretty horrendous too, so it's worth putting to rest if it isn't intended imo.
I do think Gale and Wyll (incidentally) aren't being handled with the same gravity and respect for their abuse as other cast members. I hope it's not because they're male victims of female abusers, but it's weird that they're the two whose victimization isn't always afforded weight. They also both are put into positions of being told that if they don't self-destruct the way their abusers want, it's their fault should anyone else get hurt. Not the Absolute, not Mizora, not the Dead Three, not Gortash. Just them. Both Wyll and Gale are taught not to trust themselves or their own abilities independent of their abusers. Both Wyll and Gale were approached and taken advantage of from young ages. And the narrative... tends to reinforce that crap, implying they would be bad people for treating themselves as worthy of protection too. For not submitting to their abusers. Which is manipulative bullshit to the highest degree. That is literally the kind of shit abusers use on kids in real life to keep them from talking. Ex. 'If you tell anyone I'm going to kill your family and it will be all your fault.'
With Gale, I think there may be an added issue where the writers want to tease him for being a bit lame (which is fine, I do it to characters I love all the time and find lameness endearing haha) but all the punchlines are serious issues he's struggling with. Guy was groomed from a young age and has limited sexual experience outside of Mystra? Make fun of him sexually. Suicidal person believes himself to be annoying, unlikable, and only as good as the magic he offers? Lol he should just kill himself, it's ridiculous to think anyone would like him. How embarrassing would THAT be?
Poke fun at how much of a cat dad he is or something. Fans are already on that page and it's cute. Going after the sources of his trauma is like making slut jokes about Astarion for being raped over two centuries.
There are ways to tease that are affectionate, and there's teasing that feels cruel. Gale's one of the main characters in this game and a romance option. Larian succeeded in getting a lot of players to love him, and told a story about abuse and mental health issues that resonates with a lot of people. It's only shooting themselves in the foot to frame him as less worthy of care than other characters.
Last edited by illegible; 03/01/24 12:08 PM.
