#antiqua plays bg3

[antiqua-lugar]

tav being canonically so attractive that people just throw themselves at them is super funny as a galemancer because like so many people in-game (and the game itself at times) call gale either annoying or pathetic straight up to his face but tav is turning down all of faerun for him. everyone desires them carnally and they are busy getting ready to be introduced to gale's cat over dinner.

#nevermind all the cheap shots about gale being vanilla and boring at sex but when you romance him he's like let's have astral sex #faerun most misunderstood relationship #like i still think mizora only wants to have sex with tav to get to wyll but imagine being mizora #but imagine her thinking she got this in the bag because she's a powerful sexy demon and she really doesn't #sorry but the game taking so many cheap shots at gale makes me obsessed with this #and like on paper his ex is still mystra so like #antiqua plays bg3 #gale #gale of waterdeep #bg3

[teeth-draws]

He’s trying to be cool about it but he shouldn’t have opened that and you should probably get out of there…

#shepherds of haven #red antiqua #like everyone else I’ve been playing bg3 and every time I talk to Gale I want to talk to red instead #also Anders but like out of all of them red is the standout favourite #less… explosive……. yanno #I just threw shoujo flowers and a bunch of textures on this I’m rly happy with his hair and skin #I’m not sure on the composition but I guess it’s a learning curve #this was originally part of a bunch of sketches I did of red and I took it and made it it’s own picture #I just love him ok #the writing in the book says something about how these demons can only be banished with a filthy pash so he has his work cut out for him #and he doesn’t want you to see #impulsivity got the best of him again #mc…… uh. I’m so happy to see you but uh. don’t watch this I’m begging you #guess he’s wearing normal people clothes and I don’t have a reason for why except that I think red wears big jumpers when he’s not in #slutty mage gear #fanart #fantasy #if games #shoh

[antiqua-lugar]

Karlach: [Talking about the Blade of Frontiers to Mattis] A lovely chap. Didn't kick arse in the Blood War, but that's neither here or there. Wyll: That's true - but he never got kidnapped by a devil either.

Because I had to read bullshit "Wyll is sooo mean to Astarion" comments again THIS IS LITERALLY HOW WYLL TALKS TO HIS FRIENDS. HE AND KARLACH FUCKING ADORE EACH OTHER AND HE STILL RIBS HER ABOUT ZARIEL.

#wyll accidentally putting his foot in his mouth when try to rib astarion is not proof he is...whatever those people think he is jesus #wyll ravengard #karlach cliffgate #bg3 #antiqua plays bg3

[antiqua-lugar]

the most heartbreaking thing about gale's romance is how he keeps trying to offer tav a "better" version of himself. like sure, you love him, but don't you want a better him? he can woo you, but don't want him to wow you? he is at your side as a great wizard, but don't want him to be at your side with the power of a god? are you sure you want to renounce to all of that? are you sure?

and if tav says yes, he is wanted already as he is, he is already all he needs to be...he just says I hope you are right. I don't wanna lose you

#antiqua plays bg3 #gale #gale of waterdeep #it's gonna take a while to unpack all of that #and all his post romance scene dialogues are about how no one ever loved him as plain simple gale before you

[antiqua-lugar]

Dark Urge: Your blood will clot for me like liquid rubies.

Wyll: You are a champion. If this foe demands blood, then tear off its limbs and let it drink its own!

beautiful images everyone

complete unhingedeness everyone, 10/10 no notes

#what the fuck is that line #what the fuck is that answer #the beauty of durge/wyll cannot be overstated #just the most dramatic shit that could have been told has been told #wyll that was beautiful #wyll ravengard #bg3 durge #durge spoilers #bg3 spoilers #wyllmance #wyll x durge #bg3 dorian #bg3: dorian #antiqua plays bg3 #durgewyll

[antiqua-lugar]

Tumblr refuses to let me reblog a post referencing Wyll saying that as a child his father told him that their dead love ones were always watching over them and Wyll's reaction was to be scared. He thought he was haunted.

The idea of Wyll being genuinely scared of wide-eyed ghosts in response to what probably was his father's attempt to console him over his mother's death is. His loved ones not as a consolation but as a reminder, as an audience - possibly as someone judging him, because ghosts cannot move on until their unfinished business is resolved. Especially because his mother also haunts the narrative, in her own way? She's first defined by her absence, Wyll doesn't talk or think of her much because she died giving birth of him. Except he reveals that he has been thinking of her recently, specifically contrasting her to his father. He's been thinking about how his life could have been different had she been there. Wyll is always very adamant that he doesn't regret anything, he can't, because it means regretting all the good he has done and all the lives he has saved. Is his mother's death one of the things he is not supposed to regret, because had she been alive then none of this would have happened and he would still have been in Baldur's Gate with his family, not a hero but happy and whole...but then dozens of people would have been dead and dozens of devils would still be living? Are his good deeds, like his dead loved ones, haunting him? Especially since he keeps contrasting his father and mother, public vs private, duty vs personal happiness, throught the whole of Act 3, culminating with his romance scene in Act 3, where his mother's memory is directly tied to his proposal. I know some people said the writers just straight up forgot he never met her, but I just assumed he is simply recalling what his father used to say abut her, just like he always repeats his father words, which instead are curiously absent from the whole thing. We are never told why his father never married his mother while Wyll will marry the person he loves no matter who that person is - Bhaalspawn, vampire spawn , Great Liberator of the Githyanki people, former Sharran with a degree in torture and interrogation - and it would have been so easy to bring his fathers' words in his romance, to say anything at all about duty, but no, only his mother's words matter in his romance. I know this probably IS a result of the rewrite, but the complete absence of his father in favour of his mother in his romance arc, which is the ONE arc that is entirely all about Wyll's personal desires? Like The Blade of Frontier is a hero from the legends, Wyll Ravengard is someone who wants to be in a romance. It's perhaps his only indulgence, to have a love story as he wishes. On some level he compares it to his childhood dreams, and he says it's his greatest wish, as if the idea of the person he loves staying at his side forever cannot possibly be something he actually gets to keep. And not only then he does, but his romance scene only triggers after Ansur after he (in his good ending) has just refused his father and the world of politics to remain the Blade The themes in his arc. don't get me started on mizora being a dark mirror version of his mother

#antiqua plays bg3 #bg3 #wyll ravengard #bg3 meta #i am rambling. i have so many thoughts.

[antiqua-lugar]

Wyll: Should this inner fiend seek battle again, I'll give it one. Let it taste the edge of the Blade. The Dark Urge: It's really all right? Wyll: It is. You are my greatest adventure- and what is an adventure without monsters to slay, and toasts to be made after? You don't have to shoulder this burden alone. And next time you're in a killing mood, let me know. I'll point you in the right direction.

#bg3 #antiqua plays bg3 #bg3 durge #bg3 spoilers #durgewyll #wyll ravengard #wyll romance #just so everyone knows that this man is unhinged and also the sweetest #sceleritas wasn't kidding but it's not that just wyll adores durge but also that he believes in them so goddamn much #which imho is an amazing dynamic with a durge like dorian who has to dig his heels in and force himself to be a good person out of principl #bg3 dorian #i cropped him out of screenshots but he is very much there

[antiqua-lugar]

I just barely survived my first Shadow fight and Gale had a huge "!" sign on his head so I assumed Gale being Gale he was gonna tell me anything magic related on how to survive this situation

Instead he just told me some people feel...urges after a recent brush with death. Of a certain nature. And they write books about it. Do I know about it?

I know this man never had the chance to flirt like a normal person so he literally doesn't know how but I can't stop laughing

#on one hand this is 100% in character #on the other hand he is propositioning me for sex by bringing up his smut collection #antiqua plays bg3 #tbh ulterior proof that this man was written to appeal to me specifically #gale of waterdeep #gale romance

[antiqua-lugar]

I think basically everything that can be said about that interview regarding Gale has been said but I did see some people be like “Well, but Gale is annoying and his stans are just woobifying him” and like. 

Like, okay. Gale is annoying. And Lae’zel is mean, Shadowheart is a bitch, Astarion is a cunt, Karlach is happy all the time all the time and Wyll is boringly well adjusted. That’s…the first impression you get of them in Act 1. That’s not even their full arc in Act 1, that’s literally the first few minutes you get with them! And then all of Act 1 is just undoing all of that.

In Gale’s specific case, being annoying isn’t even his main flaw. Like it gets brought up, I think because the writers wanted to make sure we would know this is a flaw he actually has in case you, like me, did not even notice you were supposed to be annoyed by him. But it’s not a serious issue or something it’s even remotely implied he has to work on. They still all end up liking each other and working together and flirting at each other. He’s a nerd that talks a lot and unless you end up in a jealousy convo no one really cares. His blissfully happy ending is to become a professor. His infodumping is so good the narrative lets him do it forever.

Gale being annoying (or being bothersome for eating your artifacts) is the player’s problem. You don’t have to like him, you don’t have to like anyone, but the narrative is not there to make a big deal out of it. Why should it? Everyone is flawed and then they get better. If you ignore Gale for being annoying or stake Astarion for being a vampire or forget to save Mizora condemning Wyll to the hells it’s a you problem, just like it’s a you problem if you push Shadowheart to embrace Shar and then Shadowheart is cold to you. 

Which is why the writers saying “Well, Gale is annoying so the fact that he sacrifices himself helps him redeem himself” is bonkers (just like rewriting Lae’zel lines to be more palatable is bonkers). Like it’s not just a bad take, it’s a “Gale was annoying so I ignored him the whole game so I don't know what his deal is” take. From the writers. Of the game.

And the rest applies to other weird instances of writing during the game. Like yeah, you can treat Gale horribly, you can treat everyone horribly. You can take advantage of Astarion, you can sell out Shadowheart, you can cheat on Wyll with Mizora and then tell him it’s his own fucking fault for not “pulling out”. But the game doesn’t try to imply that it’s funny that Astarion dissociates during sex. But it somehow is when Gale has to be persuaded into group sex, bolts and then the morning after he is like “Can we just never talk of this again”. And like Gale isn’t special in this regard, there is some stuff with Halsin, Wyll (no seriously what was that short) and even Raphael that is frankly appalling, but it really doesn’t help with the “we just never talked to Gale” vibe. Like if you romance Gale there is a line in the brothel where you can say that if you wanted boring sex you would have just had sex... with Gale. 

Gale “I read tons of erotic books and I have so many ideas. Let's do it in the Weave so we can try as many as possible” Dekarios. 

Also, nevermind all the serious implications, “He wasn’t ready for [his sacrifice] before but now he is” it’s like not even what happens. Like it’s not even what he says. I should not be reading an interview with the writers of a game and be like “did they just skip all of the dialogue”. 

(That interview was also very weird about Karlach but also I just feel like that interview was weird in general, like they just were in a rush and couldn’t really talk in depth about anything so it was vague lines for everyone, it's just that those about Gale particularly sucked).

#bg3 #antiqua plays bg3 #like I like my characters flawed and I love Gale's flaws #but this? nevermind the fact that rpg players are notoriously thin skinned if the game does not bow to their whims #I am a da2 stan I remember when anders was annoying for the horrible crime of wanting the minority he was part of to have human rights #just like fenris was annoying for the horrible crime of having been a slave and not getting over it immediately #like gale doesn't even have a julian bashir situation where it's a problem because he is a cocky genius out of medical school #he's genuinely a nice and helpful character who gets along with everyone. the fuck is he reedeming for. #gale #larian critical #anyway I had to get this off my chest

[antiqua-lugar]

In love with Wyll being fueled by anger at injustices. Top ten favourite tropes right there.

#antiqua plays bg3 #no wonder he tells a dark urge that anger is fine and they just need to direct their bloodlust at the right people #wyll ravengard #wyll

[antiqua-lugar]

Gale: I've missed them. I've missed this.

2. We still have each other. That's all I ever need.

Gale: I'm not sure I'll ever get over my good fortune in that respect. You are the happiness I never dreamed I could deserve.

Apparently you only get this line if Tara is busy around camp when you talk to Gale. To really hammer home how Gale really wasn't happy even before the Orb and thought he would never deserve *check notes* ...the happiness of someone loving him as a person.

...anyway if you pick option 4, he admits he would like to write down a book on all that happened! Perhaps with some embellishments! Yay!

#antiqua plays bg3 #bg3 epilogue spoilers #gale #bg3 spoilers #like I know it's mentioned before he wasn't happy but like jesus #brain hamster running frantically on his wheel as I focus on that deserve bit #the game mostly focuses on his ambition thing but I am glad they still try to flesh out that gale wasn't unhappy just because of that #gale himself is like imagine that i wasn't satisfied being an arch mage and Chosen of Mystra and lover of the Goddess of Magic #he wasn't just unsatisfied he was actually unhappy and he apparently thought he deserved that #probably because on paper he should have been happy! but he wasn't! so clearly something was wrong with him for being unhappy! #society truly took a child and fucked him up #his writing is so good when they want it to be I am eating glass #jesus fucking fuck #I know this is all implied in his romance but these lines hit me #bg3 #galemance #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep

[antiqua-lugar]

my sorcerer panicked when the sussur blossoms took away his magic BUT Lae'zel immediate reaction was to go "Don't worry, I'll protect you. As usual" and like BESTIE

#gale and astarion had no special dialogue which is incredibly funny to me #just immagined gale glancing at astarion and astarion going LOL NO #also kind of weird there was no gale reaction #like not even a lil bit of panicking #bg3 spoilers #bg3 #bg3 minor spoilers #antiqua plays bg3 #lae'zel

[antiqua-lugar]

I think it's very interesting that you can start Lae'zel's romance at the tiefling party or you can start even earlier by asking if she's looking differently at you. Because in the first case it's very much about the bloodlust, but in the second one she is... thoughtful. She says what she thought of you and why she was wrong about it and if you ask her why is she still such a grously prick then she just. Explains that too.

In the same way she explains to anyone who asks about her culture and demands you teach her about yours in return.

She's looking for connection.

#antiqua plays bg3

[antiqua-lugar]

no but really, gale offering such a solid relationship with old married vibes is like one of my favourite things about his romance. once you get to act 3 and do his personal quest (which imho is meant to be done pretty early anyway) you are just. settled. everyone is Going Through It and Tav and Gale are just in the background like once we finish all of this we are going to Waterdeep to sleep for a week. should we buy something for your mom. we saved Shadowheart's parents! should we stop by the market I don't think we should feed them random sausages we found in a barrel for their first family dinner. yeah honey I'll come to bed in a bit I gotta feed Astarion today and I think he had a nightmare. babe we gotta save wyll's dad tomorrow can you learn these three scrolls real quick. also you'll never guess what mizora just said. like lae'zel's biggest concern about your relationship is that gale talks in his sleep.

#like yes gale loves you but I think an act of pure domesticity is also what really sells him on proposing to you post game #like he not only can imagine a life with you he has first hand experience with it #antiqua plays bg3 #also this is what made karlach's speech after gortash so gut wrenching to me #also he loves the companion so much just like tav can so adding to that how they take care of the group...

[antiqua-lugar]

absolutely love romancing wyll with a bard. on one hand the idea of them writing wyll's story and sacrifice as they think it should be told

on the other hand those two are playing "yes and" on the regular and eventually the whole party gets way too invested and ends up chiming in and whoever is at camp has to wait till evening to find out where the story is going

#antiqua plays bg3 #wyll romance #bg3 bard #wyll #gale has way too many ideas and astarion is sulking that he DEFINITELY DOES NOT CARE except he really does #karlach just throws in the most random epic things #shadowheart has way too many dark turns #lae'zel is an excellent editor

[antiqua-lugar]

it's like uldred taught wyll that noble values were more important not only of one single life but even more important than loving your son and gortash parents taught him that evil values were more important not only of one single life but even more important than loving your son

#antiqua plays bg3 #i need to stop #i will not #wyll #gortash #like yes uldred has tunnel vision and it shows BUT #mmmh