#if the genders were reversed Gale would be a beloved girlboss who can’t stop girlbossing too close to the sun

[littlepinksapphire]

Many people see Gale’s relationship with Mystra as that of a man and a woman. Gale is a man trying to “cross the boundaries” of the woman he fancies. But that interpretation is misguided and ignores what the relationship truly is, that of a mortal and a god.

I don’t feel like you need to know about dnd lore or Mystra herself to recognize the insane power imbalance that creates. An eons old entity in charge of all magic and a young wizard man are not on equal footing. Gale himself is even kind of aware of this, as he wanted and tried desperately to be enough for Mystra so she might deign to make him an equal.

Criticize his hubris all you want. It’s his fatal flaw and huge part of his character arc. But, Shadowheart is right there being abused by her goddess and everyone can see that. I mean, fuck, all of the origins are being abused by powerful people, but Gale’s not?

It just baffles me that at a time when our culture is harshly examining age gaps and power imbalances in romantic relationships more people aren’t seeing Mystra for the walking red flag that she is.

#gale dekarios #his bug gave people the ick and now they wanna justify it somehow #if the genders were reversed Gale would be a beloved girlboss who can’t stop girlbossing too close to the sun #Mystra would be just some guy #steal his magic and his credit card #you know? I’m just getting big double standard vibes #gale of waterdeep #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers