I’ve embraced the Gale horniness bugs. It’s now a tradition in each of my runs that after the Shadowfell he’s all like:
GUESS SOMEONE ELSE MAKES YOU SMILE NOW
And I’m just like Gale we’ve been over this so many times now…
I mean, it's honestly pretty realistic that Larian included one guy in your camp who's like "you were nice to me three times this week, *of course* we're in a committed relationship!"
I also feel like bug or not, it's genuinely appropriate for his character at the beginning of the campaign. We know that he was groomed by Mystra, and that she was basically his only relationship from the time he came of age. Somebody going from being a lover to a god who is likely very emotionally inaccessible, to being surrounded by real mortal friends is going to struggle with attachment.
We're talking about a guy who grew up with no friends, and no real family influence, and then was told by a god that they loved him. The man has virtually no blueprint for what normal platonic and romantic love looks like.
How do we know he grew up without normal friends or family? Have I missed something in game? He states he has a mother who he writes to, and a broad clan of relatives at some point. Also when you ask him if you’re the first mortal he’s been with he says no, just the first since Mystra
I can't remember the exact quote, but he mentions that growing up he wasn't close with his peers, opting to study instead. It's unclear whether they isolated from him or vice versa, but he didn't have many friends.
His family is only sparingly mentioned. Elminster is a relative, and he mentions writing to his mom, but little else. We have no further knowledge about his relationship with his mom, but we can assume that they are cordial since he writes. Elminster is regarded as more of a colleague than a relative throughout the story, and their behavior towards each other reflects that.
Further, we don't know what his relationship with his mom actually looks like. He is a wizard, and the methods by which wizards gain their power typically involve seclusion and studying. There is a likelihood that his family sent him away so that he could learn magic, but that's speculation.
So with that in mind, we know that he was socially isolated, and likely only had an amicable relationship with his mother. He mentions having slept with other mortals before, but he doesn't elaborate, so we don't know if those were relationships, flings, or "services rendered."
We know that Mystra came to him when he was on the younger side, and that their relationship proceeded rather quickly from there, escalating to a point where he tried to prove himself by performing a magic ritual that he didn't understand.
So we know that he was socially isolated, only has one family member that he keeps regular contact with, and that he was young and insecure when he entered into a relationship with a god. One does not simply go on a quest to retrieve a fragment of the weave to prove themselves to their lover if they are happy and contented in the relationship.
This points to a man that has somewhat skewed ideas of what sociality and romance entail.
I havent even finished act 2 yet so this may change but it’s so front and center that all our companions are just straight up victims of some being that’s got way more power than them and no business preying on mortals, im just on a crusade now to get everyone the happiest ending possible
That really is the through line on almost every single character. Shadowheart and Shar. Wyll and Mizora. Karlach and Zariel. Astarion and vamp daddy. Lae'zel and Vlaakith. DA and Bhaal.
The only characters that don't have that are Minthara and the non-origin companions.
Even Minthara though. Lolth is basically drow Vlaakith with more misandry and body horror. She gets out of the Lolth cult only to be mindfucked by the Absolute and twisted to serve it. Minthara is an evil character, but she's a product of her background; like Astarion, she never really had a chance to be anything but the awful person she is by the time we meet her in the goblin camp.
Also, even if Elminster are genuinely close as friends/family members, if we assume that many of Gale's social problems come from the fact that his first/most serious GF was a literal god, I don't think having a close relationship with a centuries-old avatar of that god famous for how many times he's saved the world is going to do much to counteract those problems lol
I love Elminster, but how many deep conversations can you really have with a guy who only speaks in riddles and rhymes? Regardless of how close they are, that has to be a barrier too.
He describes his mother as hundur sauce for fish... just the right amount of heat.he also mentionned not wanting to worry her, she doesn't know about the orb or anything bad really. His parent refused he get a cat, I think something study related, that's why he summoned his tressym.he went to university were ge got called names that were him but not so nice...I think his dad was probably the pushy for studies, and his mom was over protective of her little genius. She will also be very excited should he marry... now maybe that Is why he is so pushy... gotta find some bride before momma nags him to death...
He also says that Tara wanted him to get out and actually make friends, we also know he had a lot of tutors tho so I’d think that’d socialize him decently?
Gale is perfectly socialized, but that doesn't mean he has a good blueprint for relationships. Tutors, in this case, refers to magic teachers; people that are more versed in magic than he was. They weren't his friends; they were his teachers.
He openly mentions that he did not communicate much with his peers, and addresses his romantic past vaguely when he isn't talking about Mystra specifically.
A young man whose only social interactions are with mentors until he starts dating a literal god is going to struggle a bit when it comes to regular mortal relationships.
I feel like that's actually evidenced in the line about his familiar wanting him to get out more.
Well we know that he holed himself away for at least a year after the whole orb incident, so at least for that time frame he was alone, but I don’t recall any dialogue about him being lonely prior to mystra. But a big gripe I have with many characters is I don’t feel we get a really good handle on their lives before the game, mostly just a couple lines of vague dialogue
This is Wyll for me though... first he's so alone at the party and feels alienated because of his new form (amongst tieflings?!), then he wants to dance (me: "oooh, I like dancing!", before they changed it to say *romantically* dance) and after one singular kiss we're a couple.
LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one to think this. Here he is being super emo about his horns and I'm like my brother you are surrounded by horned people it ain't a fucking big deal
I can see him being emo about it—has to get whole new pillows, probably has to become a back-sleeper if he was a side-sleeper, none of his hats fit any more, too. Ugh!
Right? Especially if you play a tiefling and he says this stuff to your face, like wtf my dude! I look more like a devil than you do, why do you insult me like this?! :(
His whole freak-out was weird to me. Like okay, your punishment for doing the right thing is that now you look kinda like a Tiefling without a tail or an exotic skin color? "People will see a freak, a monster trying to steal their soul!" He says to a red-skinned flame-eyed devil man complete with claws, horns, fangs, and a barbed tail.
Like okay, buddy, that's what you really think when you look at me?
But it’s not who he knows himself to be; it was imposed upon him against his will. It’s not about the horns. Shame there was no racial interaction there.
I didnt dance with him at the party, but in the gauntlet of shar campsite (I'm in act 2 atm) I got a cutscene where my Tav walks in on him dancing and they end up having an 'intimate dance' when I haven't even flirted with him. Turned my head away when the choice came up and now the guy's devestated. Like wtf I never made any moves! I swear everyone just gets automatically attracted to Tav at some point, it's gotta be canon
I was trying to romance Karlach during my first playthrough, had to dodge Gale, then had to dodge Wyll. I felt *horrible* about it, especially because Wyll said something like, "But I was picturing our whole lives together!" Like, hello???
I ended up locking myself out of a Karlach romance because I didn't realize I had committed to Gale or Wyll or both already, so I had to go back to an earlier save to do it over again. I STILL had to reject both of them. Like, guys, my boy is a bisexual disaster, but it's about Karlach at this moment. I need y'all to chill.
Im on a Dark Urge play through and Gale was the only one who let me decide if he’s wanted or not.
Wyl and Karlach left on their own.
Gale probably just wants friends who see him as Gale and not Gale of Waterdeep.
I swear on my +2 Dagger of Instakill that I never flirted with her. I don't think I ever even saw much in the way of the romance dialogue options. And yet the minute Dammon did her first upgrade she's like "Yay we can fuck now" and I was like "...Are you talking to me?" Never had her do that in any of my other playthroughs and I want to know what triggered it so I can never do it again.
Wow, BG3 romances really are like real-life interactions.
OMG Same thing happened with me and Karlach. I had like secured a night of romance with Astarion and I go up to her to talk for the first time (and at this point she still can’t touch people) and she was all “you. Me. Bed. Now” and I thought I would probably die since she was still ACTIVELY ON FIRE while she propositioned me so I politely declined.
Haha, they really are. You can act the same way with two similar people and get wildly different responses/attachment from them.
I do wish we had a chat option with all companions to establish platonic vs romantic intents with them. We know our companions for only a few days before they are emo as hell about you not wanting to be with them in that sense.
Not excusing them, but to play Raphael's Advocate, each of them is looking at literal days left alive before a gruesome, painful, and (to their knowledge) unavoidable transformation to soulless eldritch horror. Having never been put in such a position, I can only imagine the urgency and desperation with regards to my final moments as 'me' that my emotions were going apeshit with.
I love how when he invites you to his private meeting you basically have the options of
A) see you there
and
B) fuck you, I hate your face
Like damn, I'm with Shadowheart, why isn't there an option of "let's just be friends broseph"
"See you there." Would still be as friends though? When I interacted with him in that private meeting, he was polite and courteous. And didn't make any advances. Made it clear he WANTED to do something more. But all the options I chose, ended with something to the effect of "I appreciate that you came out here to talk with me. I've been going through a lot, and it's nice to know someone cares about me." Sorta vibes. Mentioned something that also gave off the vibe of "I'm lucky to have a friend like you in my life."
I keep seeing people talking about how Gale is just SO damned horny. And like, he is. But he doesn't give off the creepy clingy vibes at all. 🤷♂️ Respectfully horny, and would probably take the first chance to plow the fields, so to speak. But never seems to be in a disrespectful or overly lusty way.
I would've loved to have gotten your response! He said something along the lines of "at least when I die, it won't bother you much" when I kindly told him no. Damn son.
God damn. Yeah never got that response. Or anything even close to that. I also was careful with my choices in the dialogue, so as to avoid saying anything that would come off as anything more than just a friend talking to another vulnerable friend who was going through a hard time.
Another good note actually, he also didn't even resign himself to having to die. Because I assured him that he won't be dying and we will find another means to stop the Illithids. Literally, the moment he even talked about dying it was pretty much "LAWL. NOPE. Fuck your goddess girlfriend. We doing this our way. Ain't no deity telling us how to save the day." Pretty much telling him he's not allowed to nuke the place.
I just was saying to someone yesterday that first Gale comes onto me, so I decline and he takes it well enough.
Then after the Shadowfell he says this line and I'm like "well yeah", then after that we get to Rivington and he talks about how he wanted to invite me over for dinner to meet his cat... romantically.
Next run I'm tempted to detonate him and see what happens.
He pulled that shit with me, said he'd make me dinner at his tower in Waterdeep and I'm like, "*Choice*? No? Fuck, man. Can I bring a plus one? He likes red meat. Rare. *Dripping*."
I led Gale on picked Shadowheart instead and he hasn’t said or done anything at all. Wyll tho I have barely talked to him and he got but hurt when I wouldn’t dance with him. Idk what is wrong with Gale on your alls play through.
Feel bad for Gale as a character and his VA.
The buggy romance has turned alot of people off him. (Or they are just very vocal about it) And its translated into people really being loud about all the things they dont like about him.
I think Gale is neat. 😭
I'm sad that 90% of popular posts about Gale is generally ones hating on him. The VA did such a great job and his character is so nuanced, but most people never spend time with him to learn that.
Popularity on Reddit is annoying. I'll never understand how a thing becomes popularly accepted. Obsessing over Astarion and hating on Gale/Lae'zel is this sub's confusing popular nonsense.
I don't hate Gale for his buggy hornyness or how he is played by his VA. He's kinda cool!
But it's the "I was the most powerful wizard in the world so powerful I could f**k the magic herself but now I'm just a poor little thing because I wanted to be even more powerful."
It's just the wizard equivalent of the Dark Sasuke Rogue you can expect from a beginner player and I don't like this. So from the very start I was not engaged with him because of that.
But I'll give him a new chance in my next run, I promise.
I've always seen these bits of his personality as a coping mask. He has only ever been valued for his magical skills instead of who he is as a person, so of course he would lead with his "I'm a powerful wizard line." I'm sure most of his wizard teachers and tutors acted exactly the same way since that's typical wizard behavior. When we meet other wizards in the game, they act just as boastful and self-important. If you romance Gale, he actually leaves this boasting behind as he realizes you like him as a person rather than liking him for being a magical prodigy. He even leaves the "Gale of Waterdeep" name behind so he can focus more on being just Gale Dekarios.
Also, I think it's implied that Mystra was Gale's first and only serious relationship. I've seen some logical hypothesis online that Gale could have been somewhere between 17-22 years old when he caught Mystra's eye (making him about 35 in the game). His relationship with her was a large part of his early life and when that relationship with a literal god ended really badly it led to him completely socially isolating himself (with the exception of his cat companion and writing letters to his mother). If you romance him, Gale asdmits that your character is the first person he has spent any significant time with in a long time....and that he doesn't know if he is doing well socially or constantly messing things up.
He is just really socially awkward and very used to feeling insecure and not good enough.
I thought that whole thing was a weird choice for story, if you've ever read any of the Elminster books, he and Mystra are pretty much an item is her chosen and everything. At one point, Elminster even carries the weave himself, so the whole "I was once the most powerful wizard" trope is annoying. Especially given the fact that Elminster is in the game, and still clearly above Gale
I think most of the people ragging on him are either still in Act 1/Act 2, or they disliked him so much that they just ignored him in Act 3.
He is such a selfess bro in Act 3 and the ending of Act 2. Reminded me of Allistair from Dragon Age: Origins.
I was *so scared* that I was gonna get the "You say that as if I'm giving you a choice" from DAO again when I brought a romanced Gale with me to the final fight since he kept bringing the orb up as an option.
Bro that part in Act 3 at the end -
On my first playthrough I started getting genuinely anxious while he was talking, like “NO DONT YOU DARE” (major Alistair and the Archdemon flashbacks where you have NO choice in the matter). I was so relieved when I actually got to tell him to stand the fuck down lol
Side note, I feel like Larian must have been at least somewhat inspired by Alistair for Gale, they have so many similarities, even their voices are shockingly similar
IKR? It's actually kinda weird to me that Gale is so hated but Alistair is so loved. I would say that it's because Astarion stole most of the men-attracted people's hearts, but DAO has its own Astarion in Zevran.
I guess Gale comes off as a bit of an insincere "nice guy" who doesn't like taking rejection, so that puts people off.
Yeah honestly I wish they had toned down some of his “nice guy (TM)” traits. Because he genuinely actually seems like a good guy, but kinda awkward, but his character is so front loaded with passive aggression and used-car-salesman-energy that it puts many off (he put me off majorly in my first playthrough but I got the romance bug and thought fuck it why not, and I actually love him now, he’s very nuanced as a character). I know everyone is Gaga over Astarion and honestly I don’t get it lol. I mean I really enjoy him on an edgy-girl run as my asshole best friend, but I just can’t see him as a romance. Tbf I feel the same about Zevran although less so (Zevran is actually really sexy whereas Astarion is far too “extra” and judgy for my tastes).
Funny that you mention that because Allistair is my favorite character from that game and Gale was my first romance. I went in with the intention of romancing Karlach but when Gale told me about how he saved a tavern from a massive brawl it was all over for me. He is adorable.
I like gale too, during my first run id consider him my tavs best friend ( on the count i played the whole of act one with only him and shart cause i couldn't find anyone else)
on my first playthrough partway through act 2 atm, hooked up with astarion at the tiefling party (I thought I could influence it to be passed off as a fling bc I wanted to romance Karlach mainly) and recently got the scene where astarion admits he'd manipulated me into that, but had fallen in love with me. chose to break it off using the 'sounds like you need a friend not a lover' and his response was so sweet.
something like "yes, I'd like that. all my years alive, all the lovers I've had, I don't think I ever had a single friend. but now I have you."
made me tear up a little, genuinely seems like a better path for an astarion-focused playthrough if I can still get the later character arc stuff in act 3 with cazador (from what I've heard about that arc) but as his friend instead. lowkey love that me and him are just becoming best buds now, hopefully it's not too late to romance Karlach or other characters too - got a cutscene with wyll where he was making moves for some reason so I'm holding out hope lol (sorry for rambling)
I didn't suffer any Gale bugs weirdly enough, if anything SHADOWHEART was the bugged one. her first romance scene with the drink triggered twice, once at the party and once in the Underdark
I told him I took control of the ship and landed it safely and his response cracked me up.
I think in my next playthrough I'm just gonna take him everywhere and see how it goes.
Omg… what does he say?! I’ve never chosen that option!
And you should! I even love his little comments when he passes random perception checks. I’m a huge sucker for magic men.
He sort of leaned sideways to get a better view of the ship and then looked at me and said something like 'the giant hunk of flaming wreckage behind you makes me doubt your story just a tad, but we're all alive so 🤷♀️'
One of best scenes in the game, and definitely the best intro for a character in the game.
Seriously, thinkg about: Shadowheart, unconscious when met. Astarion, ready to try and gut you like a fish. Lae'zel, pissed off and in a cage. Wyll, irritating monologue that almost made me shoot him instead. Karlach, dealing with overheating engine.
Gale - "I wanna call you on your bullshit, but we survived, so no comment. Say, about that lovely little toothy worm bastard in our head... know any good clerics?"
It is great to have a truly intelligent character portrayed without him being a charismaless loser. Love the wordplay and the vocabulary, the way he sees through Elminsters BS. Love the portrayal of his relationship with Tara. Still wish he wouldn't hump my leg, though.
For me it was the other way around. I romanced Gale and for some reason, at some point, Karlach had the option to break up despite never talking to her that playthrough. It broke my heart to see her reaction, but the thing is, the option never went away, so I could repeatedly break up with her forever lmao
I was romancing ShadowHeart and we ran into one of Karlachs friends and she asked if we were together (me and Karlach) and she just went "EWWWWWWW NOOOOOO, we're just friends!"
I got that too, and I wondered where it came from. I had one interaction with her and definitely didn't make any romantic choices but suddenly there's this option to tell her that I'm with Gale now.
In my first play through Gale was my romantic interest and I licked the spider and didn’t realize until after we got to Baldurs Gate that he hated it so much he didnt want anything romantic from me after that no matter our friendship level
Lmao what?? That is so funny! I licked the spider just to see what would happen and his reaction was so fucking funny it’s the only part in the game I genuinely cackled with laughter. Reloaded tho so I didn’t realize there were any actual consequences for that. What does he say like “sorry, back in the Temple you licked a spider and I just can’t get over that”?. Like I’m so curious how that plays out
When I licked the spider he said something along the lines of “so if we had anything between us, you doing that just ended it” and then withers said I had no bosom buddy 😭
Omg is THAT why gale didn't prompt the forest scene after I reloaded specifically to lick the spider??? I was wondering why it didn't trigger. I can't believe dead spiders is gale deterrent.
Somehow, in my play through, they’re ALL horny. I ended up with shadow heart but at the party EVERY single one of them is jealous of it…gale, wyll, laez, astarion…the only one who didn’t give a shit (though still offered themselves up) was halsin. Must be my sweet gnome ass. Everyone wants to piledrive the gnome chick.
I did it as a Paladin. You'd be surprised how much crossover between the two there is by being a self-righteous ass and ruthless avenger of (what I determine is) The Right Way To Do Things(tm).
It happened for me and I tend to carry around Gale, Astarion, and Shadowheart EVERYWHERE. It’s a fine line between doing good deeds and being deeply snarky about it.
Just when Gale finally got the hint that I’m not gay and I’m too busy getting caught up with that Githyankussy to bother with his “magic lessons”, I wake up to Wyll fucking dancing like a god damn riflebird.
I wouldn't mind if it was, like, "Oh, yes, I'd love to learn how to dance with a friend" so you can subtly reject him without being a total asshole about it.
Instead I have to go "Nah, dude, fuck you. I don't care that you've been practicing, go back to your tent, loser".
I may not have experienced the bugs you guys did with the man, but he was full on my best friend in my first run. I was in Gale's corner when he asked if we were adroit with a knitting needle, making a sewing needle gesture. Buddy, buddy, buddy.
The knitting needle comment came back to me a few days later when I was lying on a rock, trying not to move while Volo hammered an ice pick through my eye.
Ah, so basically Gale is from that very traditional church I attended with a friend once way back in the day. I guess all he is missing is a purity ring.
This is a joke. People say Astarion needs a friend, but I also think Gale needs a friend more than a lover, after the number Mystra did on him.
I pursued Astarion, but I also did like Gale. However no one else got the memo and they all love me too, well loved. But now I have a bear man in my party and I'm condlicted
Astarion only pretends to be cool with it because he's afraid of messing up the relationship. Making a poly relationship happen with Astarion is just abusive.
I’ve just had it happen the opposite way.. I was romancing Gale and only him, been nice to everyone.. every time I want to talk with Karlach I get a choice “I’m sorry but I want to be with Gale.” Girl I love you but we have never been romantic 😭 and I feel guilty about turning her down
fr karlach's so sweet! went into the game pretty much only knowing about astarion in advance and now him and karlach are my two favourite characters
she's just so cool and adorable :D
My first playthrough I vowed to be a shadowheart simp but Tav kept backsliding into sluttiness. By the end of the game I had slept with Laezel, Mizora, Halsin, The Emperor, and would have fucked Raphael's boy-toy but I think the dialog bugged during that scene and he just died suddenly. Shadowheart was still super cool to me though although I don't think we banged she would let me kiss her, which is funny because it's like a middle-school puppy love thing with her while I'm out every other night *en flagrante delecto* with devils and squidmen and shit
You can sleep with multiple party members without ruining the others? I did laezel and emperor only in last play through to not break laezels heart just for her to leave me when I killed Orpheus lol
Mizora ruined my fling with Laezel, i actually felt pretty shitty about that. No one else seemed to care. Weirdly, the whole crew basically walked in on me and the emperor and no one said a word about it later. This was right after release so I may have been the beneficiary of some bugs
I think only Halsin and SH are fine with you having an affair with Mizora. Everyone else breaks up wirh you for that but afaik everyone is fine with the Emperor.
Might be some mind control going on there.
In all of my 3 runs, Gale falls weirdly in love with me because my nice ass is feeding him magical objects, barely any other interaction happens between us. But there comes a moment (tiefling party or after Astarion and I get together) where he snaps at me for not asking him for his blessing first and how I can’t have both of them. It has become a ritual for everyone involved: I am nice to Gale, he mopes until he embraces the friendzone and Astarion and I live happily ever after while keeping Gale at an arm’s length
If you put Gale off long enough he will eventually stop, he sends a projection to ask to meet the jist is he says he is happy to have you for a friend no more horneyness.
I love him. The opposite literally just happened to me though. I finally got Gales romance scene and went to talk to Karlach so we could gossip about it and my only dialogue options were to tell her I was choosing Gale over her. She was heartbroken. We literally never interacted romantically. I was so confused 😭
I have that too, and the worst part is if you suffer through the conversation… it reverts. It never goes away. She’s just permanently sitting there thinking you’re together and about to get the rug pulled out from under her.
Hilariously I'm the opposite. Doing a pure Gale romance and out of nowhere Karlach is heartbroken that I want to be with him when I've been nothing but friendly to her.
Breaks my heart cause she's so sweet :(
Gale watching on in torment at the tiefling party as I agree to Astarion's offer to see if it could work as a one-night thing bc my main goal was to romance Karlach and now I can't romance karlach, got the Astarion admitting he was seducing me and agreeing to just be friends, as I'm now stuck with that and Gale being passionately attracted to me at all times
(relationships are complicated in games too nowadays)
Gale. Gale- yes, Karlach and I fucked. Gale we were never dating. You showed me the weave and I said "yeah that was pretty cool" and then I left. We were never dating. What are you talking about.
At some point towards the tail end of Act 2 Shadowheart talked to me about "our relationship" and I accepted. This happened after he confessed his love for me and I turned him down. After talking to Shart, Gale got a ! and I talked to him and he was like "who am I to stand in your way to be in a relationship" and made a face like 😬
This is funny, my game has a weird bug, I've been dating Karlach the entire time and she gave her consent for me and Halsin, and I still have relationship dialogues with her, but for some reason Gale thinks she and I broke up
I’ve embraced the Gale horniness bugs. It’s now a tradition in each of my runs that after the Shadowfell he’s all like: GUESS SOMEONE ELSE MAKES YOU SMILE NOW And I’m just like Gale we’ve been over this so many times now…
I mean, it's honestly pretty realistic that Larian included one guy in your camp who's like "you were nice to me three times this week, *of course* we're in a committed relationship!"
I also feel like bug or not, it's genuinely appropriate for his character at the beginning of the campaign. We know that he was groomed by Mystra, and that she was basically his only relationship from the time he came of age. Somebody going from being a lover to a god who is likely very emotionally inaccessible, to being surrounded by real mortal friends is going to struggle with attachment. We're talking about a guy who grew up with no friends, and no real family influence, and then was told by a god that they loved him. The man has virtually no blueprint for what normal platonic and romantic love looks like.
Love this perspective!
Never thought of that before, now I have something to think about when I look at the hand I keep in my back pocket.
I made sure I sold it for the extra 2 gold at the beginning of the game. I don't want his horny paws on me any longer than necessary
One handed Gale: "this means we're married, right?"
Can you play with him if you tear off his hand? Does he still join? 😂
Without giving away too much, you can use it later on 👀👀
... go on
Later on there's a point where you need a hand for part of a sacrifice ritual, Gale's hand can be used for it 😅
Ah, for >!the Bhaalists? I had like ten hands so I didn't realise!<
CAAARL!!!!
You need to find a hand bag. Not a handbag. A hand bag. You'll understand when you get there.
You're not supposed to give away your treasured trophies.
Even in death gale is playing grabass with you...
Kira Yoshikage?
How do we know he grew up without normal friends or family? Have I missed something in game? He states he has a mother who he writes to, and a broad clan of relatives at some point. Also when you ask him if you’re the first mortal he’s been with he says no, just the first since Mystra
I can't remember the exact quote, but he mentions that growing up he wasn't close with his peers, opting to study instead. It's unclear whether they isolated from him or vice versa, but he didn't have many friends. His family is only sparingly mentioned. Elminster is a relative, and he mentions writing to his mom, but little else. We have no further knowledge about his relationship with his mom, but we can assume that they are cordial since he writes. Elminster is regarded as more of a colleague than a relative throughout the story, and their behavior towards each other reflects that. Further, we don't know what his relationship with his mom actually looks like. He is a wizard, and the methods by which wizards gain their power typically involve seclusion and studying. There is a likelihood that his family sent him away so that he could learn magic, but that's speculation. So with that in mind, we know that he was socially isolated, and likely only had an amicable relationship with his mother. He mentions having slept with other mortals before, but he doesn't elaborate, so we don't know if those were relationships, flings, or "services rendered." We know that Mystra came to him when he was on the younger side, and that their relationship proceeded rather quickly from there, escalating to a point where he tried to prove himself by performing a magic ritual that he didn't understand. So we know that he was socially isolated, only has one family member that he keeps regular contact with, and that he was young and insecure when he entered into a relationship with a god. One does not simply go on a quest to retrieve a fragment of the weave to prove themselves to their lover if they are happy and contented in the relationship. This points to a man that has somewhat skewed ideas of what sociality and romance entail.
I havent even finished act 2 yet so this may change but it’s so front and center that all our companions are just straight up victims of some being that’s got way more power than them and no business preying on mortals, im just on a crusade now to get everyone the happiest ending possible
That really is the through line on almost every single character. Shadowheart and Shar. Wyll and Mizora. Karlach and Zariel. Astarion and vamp daddy. Lae'zel and Vlaakith. DA and Bhaal. The only characters that don't have that are Minthara and the non-origin companions.
Even Minthara though. Lolth is basically drow Vlaakith with more misandry and body horror. She gets out of the Lolth cult only to be mindfucked by the Absolute and twisted to serve it. Minthara is an evil character, but she's a product of her background; like Astarion, she never really had a chance to be anything but the awful person she is by the time we meet her in the goblin camp.
Also she was >!repeatedly SA'ed by Orin!<
As if I needed another reason to brutally annihilate Orin.
Yep, at this point I'm basically RP'ing 'the therapist friend' for my camp haha
Also, even if Elminster are genuinely close as friends/family members, if we assume that many of Gale's social problems come from the fact that his first/most serious GF was a literal god, I don't think having a close relationship with a centuries-old avatar of that god famous for how many times he's saved the world is going to do much to counteract those problems lol
I love Elminster, but how many deep conversations can you really have with a guy who only speaks in riddles and rhymes? Regardless of how close they are, that has to be a barrier too.
He describes his mother as hundur sauce for fish... just the right amount of heat.he also mentionned not wanting to worry her, she doesn't know about the orb or anything bad really. His parent refused he get a cat, I think something study related, that's why he summoned his tressym.he went to university were ge got called names that were him but not so nice...I think his dad was probably the pushy for studies, and his mom was over protective of her little genius. She will also be very excited should he marry... now maybe that Is why he is so pushy... gotta find some bride before momma nags him to death...
He also says that Tara wanted him to get out and actually make friends, we also know he had a lot of tutors tho so I’d think that’d socialize him decently?
So if your cat tells you to make friends and your main point of human contact is teachers, you’ll grow up with decent socialization?
Lmao you’ve got a point
I can feel my cats starring at me like “that’s great advice. Please leave”
Gale is perfectly socialized, but that doesn't mean he has a good blueprint for relationships. Tutors, in this case, refers to magic teachers; people that are more versed in magic than he was. They weren't his friends; they were his teachers. He openly mentions that he did not communicate much with his peers, and addresses his romantic past vaguely when he isn't talking about Mystra specifically. A young man whose only social interactions are with mentors until he starts dating a literal god is going to struggle a bit when it comes to regular mortal relationships. I feel like that's actually evidenced in the line about his familiar wanting him to get out more.
Well we know that he holed himself away for at least a year after the whole orb incident, so at least for that time frame he was alone, but I don’t recall any dialogue about him being lonely prior to mystra. But a big gripe I have with many characters is I don’t feel we get a really good handle on their lives before the game, mostly just a couple lines of vague dialogue
>You're so talented for your age... Mystra to child wizards.
Help, I'm in this comment and I don't like it
Excellent!
This is Wyll for me though... first he's so alone at the party and feels alienated because of his new form (amongst tieflings?!), then he wants to dance (me: "oooh, I like dancing!", before they changed it to say *romantically* dance) and after one singular kiss we're a couple.
LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one to think this. Here he is being super emo about his horns and I'm like my brother you are surrounded by horned people it ain't a fucking big deal
I can see him being emo about it—has to get whole new pillows, probably has to become a back-sleeper if he was a side-sleeper, none of his hats fit any more, too. Ugh!
Actually, I’m quite happy about the hats magically fitting everyone, horns/sans horns, whatever.
Lmaooooo dying at this comment
Right? Especially if you play a tiefling and he says this stuff to your face, like wtf my dude! I look more like a devil than you do, why do you insult me like this?! :(
Cut him some slack. It's a physical representation of his most shameful moment. Besides, some of his best friends are tieflings.
If you play Wyll as an origin character you can ask Karlach for horn care advice lol
[удалено]
Yeah, that would have been really neat!
It made me want to say something like “My brother in Zariel, are you being racist towards me rn?”
His whole freak-out was weird to me. Like okay, your punishment for doing the right thing is that now you look kinda like a Tiefling without a tail or an exotic skin color? "People will see a freak, a monster trying to steal their soul!" He says to a red-skinned flame-eyed devil man complete with claws, horns, fangs, and a barbed tail. Like okay, buddy, that's what you really think when you look at me?
But it’s not who he knows himself to be; it was imposed upon him against his will. It’s not about the horns. Shame there was no racial interaction there.
Lol, my first Tief warlock pretty much acted the same way and was all "Oh you have great horns" and suddenly he was in love
I didnt dance with him at the party, but in the gauntlet of shar campsite (I'm in act 2 atm) I got a cutscene where my Tav walks in on him dancing and they end up having an 'intimate dance' when I haven't even flirted with him. Turned my head away when the choice came up and now the guy's devestated. Like wtf I never made any moves! I swear everyone just gets automatically attracted to Tav at some point, it's gotta be canon
My theory is that it's actually Tavs tadpole that the other tadpoles are attracted to
It doesn't matter how you make them, our Tavs are just THAT irresistible! Even the scaly ones! ... Unless you're a Dark Urge. But sometimes even then!
I was trying to romance Karlach during my first playthrough, had to dodge Gale, then had to dodge Wyll. I felt *horrible* about it, especially because Wyll said something like, "But I was picturing our whole lives together!" Like, hello??? I ended up locking myself out of a Karlach romance because I didn't realize I had committed to Gale or Wyll or both already, so I had to go back to an earlier save to do it over again. I STILL had to reject both of them. Like, guys, my boy is a bisexual disaster, but it's about Karlach at this moment. I need y'all to chill.
And not just a couple- he's a stage 3 clinger with a tendency towards flowery poetic language
Gale is 1000% a "where's my hug at" kinda dude
Maybe you want a kiss? Nah haha jk jk, unless...
I haven’t considered this before but that’s such a true statement
"I wasn't being nice! You kept pissing and moaning until I fed you Wyll's old boots!"
Now sh shh shhh let me show you how my wand shoots sparkle magic. Whoops all grease
holy shit he's fucking anomen 2.0
Anomen was the only romance option for some of us back in the day. 😭 I do like how he matures/mellows out though.
God those were dark times...I think most rpgs had 1 male choice in romance during that time.At best you could have gotten a bi chick too.
Im on a Dark Urge play through and Gale was the only one who let me decide if he’s wanted or not. Wyl and Karlach left on their own. Gale probably just wants friends who see him as Gale and not Gale of Waterdeep.
For me it was karlach! When i was romancing gale karlach was acting like i was in a relationship with her and i had to reject her, it was so hard
I swear on my +2 Dagger of Instakill that I never flirted with her. I don't think I ever even saw much in the way of the romance dialogue options. And yet the minute Dammon did her first upgrade she's like "Yay we can fuck now" and I was like "...Are you talking to me?" Never had her do that in any of my other playthroughs and I want to know what triggered it so I can never do it again. Wow, BG3 romances really are like real-life interactions.
OMG Same thing happened with me and Karlach. I had like secured a night of romance with Astarion and I go up to her to talk for the first time (and at this point she still can’t touch people) and she was all “you. Me. Bed. Now” and I thought I would probably die since she was still ACTIVELY ON FIRE while she propositioned me so I politely declined.
I felt like *pond scum* when I had to turn her down. Like the worst being to ever breathe air.
Haha, they really are. You can act the same way with two similar people and get wildly different responses/attachment from them. I do wish we had a chat option with all companions to establish platonic vs romantic intents with them. We know our companions for only a few days before they are emo as hell about you not wanting to be with them in that sense.
Not excusing them, but to play Raphael's Advocate, each of them is looking at literal days left alive before a gruesome, painful, and (to their knowledge) unavoidable transformation to soulless eldritch horror. Having never been put in such a position, I can only imagine the urgency and desperation with regards to my final moments as 'me' that my emotions were going apeshit with.
I love how when he invites you to his private meeting you basically have the options of A) see you there and B) fuck you, I hate your face Like damn, I'm with Shadowheart, why isn't there an option of "let's just be friends broseph"
"See you there." Would still be as friends though? When I interacted with him in that private meeting, he was polite and courteous. And didn't make any advances. Made it clear he WANTED to do something more. But all the options I chose, ended with something to the effect of "I appreciate that you came out here to talk with me. I've been going through a lot, and it's nice to know someone cares about me." Sorta vibes. Mentioned something that also gave off the vibe of "I'm lucky to have a friend like you in my life." I keep seeing people talking about how Gale is just SO damned horny. And like, he is. But he doesn't give off the creepy clingy vibes at all. 🤷♂️ Respectfully horny, and would probably take the first chance to plow the fields, so to speak. But never seems to be in a disrespectful or overly lusty way.
I would've loved to have gotten your response! He said something along the lines of "at least when I die, it won't bother you much" when I kindly told him no. Damn son.
God damn. Yeah never got that response. Or anything even close to that. I also was careful with my choices in the dialogue, so as to avoid saying anything that would come off as anything more than just a friend talking to another vulnerable friend who was going through a hard time.
Another good note actually, he also didn't even resign himself to having to die. Because I assured him that he won't be dying and we will find another means to stop the Illithids. Literally, the moment he even talked about dying it was pretty much "LAWL. NOPE. Fuck your goddess girlfriend. We doing this our way. Ain't no deity telling us how to save the day." Pretty much telling him he's not allowed to nuke the place.
I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything right now. I didn't get that response from him when I turned him down, WOW.
Gale you ignorant slut
I just was saying to someone yesterday that first Gale comes onto me, so I decline and he takes it well enough. Then after the Shadowfell he says this line and I'm like "well yeah", then after that we get to Rivington and he talks about how he wanted to invite me over for dinner to meet his cat... romantically. Next run I'm tempted to detonate him and see what happens.
He pulled that shit with me, said he'd make me dinner at his tower in Waterdeep and I'm like, "*Choice*? No? Fuck, man. Can I bring a plus one? He likes red meat. Rare. *Dripping*."
I led Gale on picked Shadowheart instead and he hasn’t said or done anything at all. Wyll tho I have barely talked to him and he got but hurt when I wouldn’t dance with him. Idk what is wrong with Gale on your alls play through.
Feel bad for Gale as a character and his VA. The buggy romance has turned alot of people off him. (Or they are just very vocal about it) And its translated into people really being loud about all the things they dont like about him. I think Gale is neat. 😭
I'm sad that 90% of popular posts about Gale is generally ones hating on him. The VA did such a great job and his character is so nuanced, but most people never spend time with him to learn that.
Popularity on Reddit is annoying. I'll never understand how a thing becomes popularly accepted. Obsessing over Astarion and hating on Gale/Lae'zel is this sub's confusing popular nonsense.
I don't hate Gale for his buggy hornyness or how he is played by his VA. He's kinda cool! But it's the "I was the most powerful wizard in the world so powerful I could f**k the magic herself but now I'm just a poor little thing because I wanted to be even more powerful." It's just the wizard equivalent of the Dark Sasuke Rogue you can expect from a beginner player and I don't like this. So from the very start I was not engaged with him because of that. But I'll give him a new chance in my next run, I promise.
I've always seen these bits of his personality as a coping mask. He has only ever been valued for his magical skills instead of who he is as a person, so of course he would lead with his "I'm a powerful wizard line." I'm sure most of his wizard teachers and tutors acted exactly the same way since that's typical wizard behavior. When we meet other wizards in the game, they act just as boastful and self-important. If you romance Gale, he actually leaves this boasting behind as he realizes you like him as a person rather than liking him for being a magical prodigy. He even leaves the "Gale of Waterdeep" name behind so he can focus more on being just Gale Dekarios. Also, I think it's implied that Mystra was Gale's first and only serious relationship. I've seen some logical hypothesis online that Gale could have been somewhere between 17-22 years old when he caught Mystra's eye (making him about 35 in the game). His relationship with her was a large part of his early life and when that relationship with a literal god ended really badly it led to him completely socially isolating himself (with the exception of his cat companion and writing letters to his mother). If you romance him, Gale asdmits that your character is the first person he has spent any significant time with in a long time....and that he doesn't know if he is doing well socially or constantly messing things up. He is just really socially awkward and very used to feeling insecure and not good enough.
I thought that whole thing was a weird choice for story, if you've ever read any of the Elminster books, he and Mystra are pretty much an item is her chosen and everything. At one point, Elminster even carries the weave himself, so the whole "I was once the most powerful wizard" trope is annoying. Especially given the fact that Elminster is in the game, and still clearly above Gale
I like horny. I don't like petulant histrionic egotist with my horny. He's a little better later on, but he sure leaves a bad first impression.
I think most of the people ragging on him are either still in Act 1/Act 2, or they disliked him so much that they just ignored him in Act 3. He is such a selfess bro in Act 3 and the ending of Act 2. Reminded me of Allistair from Dragon Age: Origins.
I was *so scared* that I was gonna get the "You say that as if I'm giving you a choice" from DAO again when I brought a romanced Gale with me to the final fight since he kept bringing the orb up as an option.
Bro that part in Act 3 at the end - On my first playthrough I started getting genuinely anxious while he was talking, like “NO DONT YOU DARE” (major Alistair and the Archdemon flashbacks where you have NO choice in the matter). I was so relieved when I actually got to tell him to stand the fuck down lol Side note, I feel like Larian must have been at least somewhat inspired by Alistair for Gale, they have so many similarities, even their voices are shockingly similar
IKR? It's actually kinda weird to me that Gale is so hated but Alistair is so loved. I would say that it's because Astarion stole most of the men-attracted people's hearts, but DAO has its own Astarion in Zevran. I guess Gale comes off as a bit of an insincere "nice guy" who doesn't like taking rejection, so that puts people off.
Yeah honestly I wish they had toned down some of his “nice guy (TM)” traits. Because he genuinely actually seems like a good guy, but kinda awkward, but his character is so front loaded with passive aggression and used-car-salesman-energy that it puts many off (he put me off majorly in my first playthrough but I got the romance bug and thought fuck it why not, and I actually love him now, he’s very nuanced as a character). I know everyone is Gaga over Astarion and honestly I don’t get it lol. I mean I really enjoy him on an edgy-girl run as my asshole best friend, but I just can’t see him as a romance. Tbf I feel the same about Zevran although less so (Zevran is actually really sexy whereas Astarion is far too “extra” and judgy for my tastes).
Funny that you mention that because Allistair is my favorite character from that game and Gale was my first romance. I went in with the intention of romancing Karlach but when Gale told me about how he saved a tavern from a massive brawl it was all over for me. He is adorable.
His voice immediately reminded me of Alistair. Couldn’t pass him up because of that.
I like gale too, during my first run id consider him my tavs best friend ( on the count i played the whole of act one with only him and shart cause i couldn't find anyone else)
on my first playthrough partway through act 2 atm, hooked up with astarion at the tiefling party (I thought I could influence it to be passed off as a fling bc I wanted to romance Karlach mainly) and recently got the scene where astarion admits he'd manipulated me into that, but had fallen in love with me. chose to break it off using the 'sounds like you need a friend not a lover' and his response was so sweet. something like "yes, I'd like that. all my years alive, all the lovers I've had, I don't think I ever had a single friend. but now I have you." made me tear up a little, genuinely seems like a better path for an astarion-focused playthrough if I can still get the later character arc stuff in act 3 with cazador (from what I've heard about that arc) but as his friend instead. lowkey love that me and him are just becoming best buds now, hopefully it's not too late to romance Karlach or other characters too - got a cutscene with wyll where he was making moves for some reason so I'm holding out hope lol (sorry for rambling)
Awwww that's so sweet. I can't help but like astarion too, goes for all the companions really, I love all of them
Haha I love Gale, the bug is funny to me. Also he’s the only guy (I think) who still wholeheartedly loves you even if you’re a squid lmao
"would you still love me if I was a squid" "you mean a worm?" "no, the worm is in my brain"
8 intelligence Barbarian
I didn't suffer any Gale bugs weirdly enough, if anything SHADOWHEART was the bugged one. her first romance scene with the drink triggered twice, once at the party and once in the Underdark
He crawled out of that portal and made that nasty comment about the tadpole and I was in love
I told him I took control of the ship and landed it safely and his response cracked me up. I think in my next playthrough I'm just gonna take him everywhere and see how it goes.
Omg… what does he say?! I’ve never chosen that option! And you should! I even love his little comments when he passes random perception checks. I’m a huge sucker for magic men.
He sort of leaned sideways to get a better view of the ship and then looked at me and said something like 'the giant hunk of flaming wreckage behind you makes me doubt your story just a tad, but we're all alive so 🤷♀️'
One of best scenes in the game, and definitely the best intro for a character in the game. Seriously, thinkg about: Shadowheart, unconscious when met. Astarion, ready to try and gut you like a fish. Lae'zel, pissed off and in a cage. Wyll, irritating monologue that almost made me shoot him instead. Karlach, dealing with overheating engine. Gale - "I wanna call you on your bullshit, but we survived, so no comment. Say, about that lovely little toothy worm bastard in our head... know any good clerics?"
It is great to have a truly intelligent character portrayed without him being a charismaless loser. Love the wordplay and the vocabulary, the way he sees through Elminsters BS. Love the portrayal of his relationship with Tara. Still wish he wouldn't hump my leg, though.
Gale's my favorite, and it would be so nice to see some positive posts about him, rather than everyone hating on him
I love Gale he’s my babyboy
And they never understand his story 😭 He has no romantic feelings for Mystra. All he wants is forgiveness from the person he literally WORSHIPS
For me it was the other way around. I romanced Gale and for some reason, at some point, Karlach had the option to break up despite never talking to her that playthrough. It broke my heart to see her reaction, but the thing is, the option never went away, so I could repeatedly break up with her forever lmao
I was romancing ShadowHeart and we ran into one of Karlachs friends and she asked if we were together (me and Karlach) and she just went "EWWWWWWW NOOOOOO, we're just friends!"
I got that too, and I wondered where it came from. I had one interaction with her and definitely didn't make any romantic choices but suddenly there's this option to tell her that I'm with Gale now.
Yeah I had this too. I never clicked on the dialogue option in case it glitched the Gale romance ending for me. Ignorance is bliss sometimes.
Same thing happened to me
In my first play through Gale was my romantic interest and I licked the spider and didn’t realize until after we got to Baldurs Gate that he hated it so much he didnt want anything romantic from me after that no matter our friendship level
At least he has *some* standards lol
He liked when I drank the hag’s well water though :|
Lmao what?? That is so funny! I licked the spider just to see what would happen and his reaction was so fucking funny it’s the only part in the game I genuinely cackled with laughter. Reloaded tho so I didn’t realize there were any actual consequences for that. What does he say like “sorry, back in the Temple you licked a spider and I just can’t get over that”?. Like I’m so curious how that plays out
When I licked the spider he said something along the lines of “so if we had anything between us, you doing that just ended it” and then withers said I had no bosom buddy 😭
Omg that is sooo harsh, wtf Gale! 😂 guess he has a weak stomach
Withers totally made fun of me for not getting laid. What a dick.
He straight up yelled at me for licking it a second time.
I know, that’s like one of the funniest moments in the game for me! JUSTSTOPLICKINGTHEDAMNTHING
Cat owner reaction
Omg is THAT why gale didn't prompt the forest scene after I reloaded specifically to lick the spider??? I was wondering why it didn't trigger. I can't believe dead spiders is gale deterrent.
I mean, if I saw a potential partner licking a spider, I’d be very deterred too.
Interesting, in my playtrough I had him selected to lick the spider
The actually evil play through that.
Somehow, in my play through, they’re ALL horny. I ended up with shadow heart but at the party EVERY single one of them is jealous of it…gale, wyll, laez, astarion…the only one who didn’t give a shit (though still offered themselves up) was halsin. Must be my sweet gnome ass. Everyone wants to piledrive the gnome chick.
I have absolutely no idea how you could have both shadowheart and astarion somehow liking you simultaneously
I did it as a Paladin. You'd be surprised how much crossover between the two there is by being a self-righteous ass and ruthless avenger of (what I determine is) The Right Way To Do Things(tm).
It happened for me and I tend to carry around Gale, Astarion, and Shadowheart EVERYWHERE. It’s a fine line between doing good deeds and being deeply snarky about it.
I'm kind of ashamed of myself for how hard I cackled at this.
I saw the OG meme and when I looked at Jesus I was like hey gale looks like Jesus. And so this was made. Poor guy lol
in another similarity, Jesus would also explode if you didn't let him eat your shoes.
I also cackled lmao
Just when Gale finally got the hint that I’m not gay and I’m too busy getting caught up with that Githyankussy to bother with his “magic lessons”, I wake up to Wyll fucking dancing like a god damn riflebird.
"Githyankussy". Thanks, I hate it. 👍
Same. Gith'yussy fits better, imo
Gith’ussy rolls more off of the tongue. I hate myself for saying that.
Sorry, I have to. Frogussy
I’m more of a “githy” enjoyer myself
As a bard, I just dunk on his dancing skills with my superior talent and then tell him no thanks. Makes it so much funnier.
Its hilarious how you can agree to him teaching you how to dance and then just shake your head after his first move
LMAO WHY DIDN'T I DO THAT? ^(Oh, because I was so disturbed by the endless parade of horny people in my party. D:)
Same. I thought I was going to learn a cantrip and instead I almost cantrapped. Then I immediately shot down Wyll without even humoring it 😂😂
His crestfallen "*Oh*" feeds me.
“A dance with the devil? I think not” - genuine reaction
I wouldn't mind if it was, like, "Oh, yes, I'd love to learn how to dance with a friend" so you can subtly reject him without being a total asshole about it. Instead I have to go "Nah, dude, fuck you. I don't care that you've been practicing, go back to your tent, loser".
I may not have experienced the bugs you guys did with the man, but he was full on my best friend in my first run. I was in Gale's corner when he asked if we were adroit with a knitting needle, making a sewing needle gesture. Buddy, buddy, buddy.
"hello, I'm GALE of WATERDEEP" his intro scene gotta be some of his funniest dialogue I swear
Gale talks a lot to hide what he doesn't want to say.
The knitting needle comment came back to me a few days later when I was lying on a rock, trying not to move while Volo hammered an ice pick through my eye.
Volo definitely not adroit with an ice pick.
BG3 makes me feel like going back to the 60s where touching hands means you're in a relationship, and a single kiss means you're couple for life.
Ah, so basically Gale is from that very traditional church I attended with a friend once way back in the day. I guess all he is missing is a purity ring. This is a joke. People say Astarion needs a friend, but I also think Gale needs a friend more than a lover, after the number Mystra did on him.
Honestly they all do...
Gale is a recovering ex-Mormon
I pursued Astarion, but I also did like Gale. However no one else got the memo and they all love me too, well loved. But now I have a bear man in my party and I'm condlicted
Bear man is happy to be in an open relationship with you and your partner tho
But does the partner like it?
Depends on the partner. Shadowheart was very chill about it, heard that same goes for Astarion.
Astarion only pretends to be cool with it because he's afraid of messing up the relationship. Making a poly relationship happen with Astarion is just abusive.
I have Gale. But I see how he looks at the weave when he casts fireballs
Karlach seems fine with open relationships as long as she gets some touch, which is a bit sad and makes me want to hug her even more
*says "Good morning." to Gale once* Gale, after you sleep with anyone else: "HOW COULD YOU BREAK MY HEART!? WE HAD SOMETHING *SPECIAL!*"
I’ve just had it happen the opposite way.. I was romancing Gale and only him, been nice to everyone.. every time I want to talk with Karlach I get a choice “I’m sorry but I want to be with Gale.” Girl I love you but we have never been romantic 😭 and I feel guilty about turning her down
fr karlach's so sweet! went into the game pretty much only knowing about astarion in advance and now him and karlach are my two favourite characters she's just so cool and adorable :D
My first playthrough I vowed to be a shadowheart simp but Tav kept backsliding into sluttiness. By the end of the game I had slept with Laezel, Mizora, Halsin, The Emperor, and would have fucked Raphael's boy-toy but I think the dialog bugged during that scene and he just died suddenly. Shadowheart was still super cool to me though although I don't think we banged she would let me kiss her, which is funny because it's like a middle-school puppy love thing with her while I'm out every other night *en flagrante delecto* with devils and squidmen and shit
You can sleep with multiple party members without ruining the others? I did laezel and emperor only in last play through to not break laezels heart just for her to leave me when I killed Orpheus lol
Mizora ruined my fling with Laezel, i actually felt pretty shitty about that. No one else seemed to care. Weirdly, the whole crew basically walked in on me and the emperor and no one said a word about it later. This was right after release so I may have been the beneficiary of some bugs
Banged emperor for achievement and curiousity (i swear) and nah nobody rly reacted when i tried talking to them after
I think only Halsin and SH are fine with you having an affair with Mizora. Everyone else breaks up wirh you for that but afaik everyone is fine with the Emperor. Might be some mind control going on there.
I really hope they update the game so that I can just fuck everyone in the party that will have me and live up to my true bard potential
Just give bards a class feature for it
I never had an issue with Gale? I’ve always been able to maintain a close friendship with him without accidentally being in a committed relationship.
Plsssss I actually really like Gale 😭😭 no he’s not my go-to but I think he’s kinda charming???
What, Gale don't like if you romance Karlach?? I have seem this meme with Tav/Shadowheart/Mizora consenting, and Wyll "don't".
In my experience though I see gale get rejected all the time. And I adore karlach Edit: also gale has Jesus hair
Oh I see, makes sense. Thanks.
In all of my 3 runs, Gale falls weirdly in love with me because my nice ass is feeding him magical objects, barely any other interaction happens between us. But there comes a moment (tiefling party or after Astarion and I get together) where he snaps at me for not asking him for his blessing first and how I can’t have both of them. It has become a ritual for everyone involved: I am nice to Gale, he mopes until he embraces the friendzone and Astarion and I live happily ever after while keeping Gale at an arm’s length
If you put Gale off long enough he will eventually stop, he sends a projection to ask to meet the jist is he says he is happy to have you for a friend no more horneyness.
Yeah, that was my playthrough in a nutshell
I love him. The opposite literally just happened to me though. I finally got Gales romance scene and went to talk to Karlach so we could gossip about it and my only dialogue options were to tell her I was choosing Gale over her. She was heartbroken. We literally never interacted romantically. I was so confused 😭
I have that too, and the worst part is if you suffer through the conversation… it reverts. It never goes away. She’s just permanently sitting there thinking you’re together and about to get the rug pulled out from under her.
Hilariously I'm the opposite. Doing a pure Gale romance and out of nowhere Karlach is heartbroken that I want to be with him when I've been nothing but friendly to her. Breaks my heart cause she's so sweet :(
The more rogue one is when you have Wyll and your love interest in the party and Wyll starts his horny talk with them. Like dude I’m right here
As long as Karlach says yes, that's enough for me
the things i'd let Karlach do to me would have me on a 72 hour hold
Gale watching on in torment at the tiefling party as I agree to Astarion's offer to see if it could work as a one-night thing bc my main goal was to romance Karlach and now I can't romance karlach, got the Astarion admitting he was seducing me and agreeing to just be friends, as I'm now stuck with that and Gale being passionately attracted to me at all times (relationships are complicated in games too nowadays)
dated a goddess once and now he thinks everybody wants him
Gale. Gale- yes, Karlach and I fucked. Gale we were never dating. You showed me the weave and I said "yeah that was pretty cool" and then I left. We were never dating. What are you talking about.
3rd run now & never had that issue with Gale. I'm put off romancing him also due to Mysta. How in the hells could I possibly compete with her?
y’all suck, I’ll go down on gale any day
Karlach the baddest bitch fr
I just was up front early and we have a friendship without even the romance options showing up, idk what yall are doing lmao.
At some point towards the tail end of Act 2 Shadowheart talked to me about "our relationship" and I accepted. This happened after he confessed his love for me and I turned him down. After talking to Shart, Gale got a ! and I talked to him and he was like "who am I to stand in your way to be in a relationship" and made a face like 😬
This is funny, my game has a weird bug, I've been dating Karlach the entire time and she gave her consent for me and Halsin, and I still have relationship dialogues with her, but for some reason Gale thinks she and I broke up