In your recent post with your absolutely lovely pics of Gale and Tav kissing in front of Mystra’s statue, you talked briefly about how it’s poetic that Tav’s hand (and then Gale’s) will cover Mystra’s earring.
I…must shamefully admit that I have never even considered that or realized that that was happening in that kiss 😅 I hope that my Galemancer license will not be revoked as a result LOL
Since you were astute enough to notice that detail, what I wanted to ask was: do you think Gale does this gesture purposefully, to reinforce to Tav that they are first in his heart and more important to him than Mystra?
Or do you think he does it unknowingly, which means that Mystra and her earring/symbol is now of so little importance to him that he doesn’t even think about it?
Or perhaps there’s a third option I’m not thinking of?
I’d love to hear your thoughts if you feel up to answering, but no pressure at all! Thank you!
AHHH HELLO, HELLO! 💜💜💜
I am so honoured that you, the well-renowned authority on all things Gale meta and lore, are asking me a question! 😭😱
Your ask made me very giddy and woke me up properly early this morning before work, so thank you! It truly made my morning!
Thank you so much for enjoying my “Tav’s Chosen” picture set and your overall generous and very, very kind words! 💖🫶
✨Your generosity is quite wonderful ✨
Now on to your very intriguing and very wonderful question that I am delighted to answer throughly, you are asking me after all about Gale and Tav, which is my favourite thing to talk about :D
But first of all, I also only actively noticed the (potential) significance of Tav covering Gale’s earring when I posted the photos. No matter how often I have seen this kiss before.
I have been there in the Stormshore Tabernacle three times now and done this kiss… well… more often than three times :D The moment right before the kiss is may or may not my current lockscreen so I’d say nobody’s Galemance license gets revoked today because mine would be taken too (😭). As if our wizard would ever let us go over such a minor thing 💜
Anyhoo, is Gale aware of what he and Tav are doing with the earring?
I don’t think so.
When Tav looks at him like he is a piece of art, when they look at him and everyone else can see how much they love him, when they only wish to show him how loved he is, only want to show him that he is safe with them and that they adore no one else like they adore him – no they aren’t considering the earring, they aren’t considering Mystra when they reach for him, when they want (and will) cradle his face in their hands.
And Gale smiles at them wordlessly, eyes sparkling, full of reverent contentment, expecting their touch.
There are no words needed, everything that Tav wants to tell him rests in the warmth of their hand against his cheek, skin to skin, it is laced in the way their thumb plays with the soft loose hairs just above his beard.
I love you. Just you. I have never loved anyone like I love you. I care for you. I will protect you, come what may. If getting abducted by a dangerous cult and loosing all of my abilities was necessary to have met you, well, then I would do it a thousand times over just for a chance to find you over and over again and to get to love you over and over again. To hold you over and over again. I want to hold you for the rest of my life! I am grateful beyond any words that I have found you. That I get to love you!
And he understands. He hears the unspoken words. They are his just as much.
And Gale pulls Tav’s hand immediately closer to him, wanting them all around him, the warmth of their hand against his cheek, their thumb playing gently with his hair above his beard. Their shared human well, you know what I mean touch. His hand on top of theirs, skin to skin. Warm, alive and real.
Together. Connected. Gentle.
And Mystra doesn’t matter. The earring doesn’t matter. It’s just jewellery – at least for this moment.
For me it is more than them doing it subconsciously. The reassurance that Mystra is his past and Tav is his present and his future lays in the touch of hands itself. It is the connection between two mortals, made from flesh and bone and a beating heart and living soul, who chose each other. Who love each other.
tl;dnr The earring doesn’t matter because Tav and Gale made a decision for each other and are mortal human together!
Dear @dekariosclan I hope you enjoyed my take on your question. And I took the liberty to be a little self-indulgent and included pictures from Tav and Gale that I took recently and may or may not use as a lockscreen, them bathed in gentle sunlight is my favourite thing!
Initially, in EA, I loved Gale. He was exactly the kind of character I get a kick out of. Pompous, self-important magic-user who can’t help but condescend to others? Check. Longish hair and rough, short beard? Check. Tends to die horribly in and out of combat? Check.
I also loved the potential for an egotistical run. In EA Gale definitely came across as manipulative. I loved that. I wanted to try to gain his trust or see if he would backstab us no matter what. And I actually thought him disclosing his affair with Mystra on the morning after was perfect. Granted, PC should have had more reactions than “Die” or “I’m with you no matter what.”
So why do I hate him now?! In full launch he’s become one of my least favorites.
I’m sure part of it is because he’s not nearly as morally ambiguous when you meet him. Instead he seems like the opposite of Astarion’s initial behavior- over-eager to please and endear himself to you. Which isn’t awful considering his needs and background.
i suppose what irritates me is how… skimpy his storyline feels. All through the game I felt like we were building toward an event or conflict that never comes. I’ve played toward two different paths for him. And I know from EA that his desire to be a divine being is intended, but in full launch I don’t think the writing lays enough groundwork for that. And when it does come, I’m not sure what is the motivation. Spite toward a former lover? Resentment from being tasked with a suicide mission? Ego? It’s not entirely clear WHY he suddenly jumps to pursuing divinity.
In full launch I got the impression that his misgivings with Mystra was not trusting her interest in him beyond his magic. Unless I missed a scene, I never quite got the impression that he wanted her to elevate him even more. Or that he felt like he was in competition with other lovers and wanted to be acknowledged as Number One. Which would have been a great storyline and goal! We could have explored whether Gale’s desire to be Number One was ego driven or out of love and jealousy. Instead he seems unconcerned with being one of many lovers.
Additionally, I feel frustrated that we don’t have more world events or NPCs for this storyline. Elminster feels too removed as a nigh divine being for me to care about. A magic academy could have helped solidify Mystra’s influence in the world and how wizards generally feel about her. We could have seen people react to Gale’s lack of magic and given us more understanding about the Orb and his breakup altered him.
Also, it’s hard to take Gale seriously about being bereft of magic when he’s doing large scale illusions or casually throwing Mirror Images around, Had we seen him struggle in cutscenes I’d have felt his loss more.
All this to say… It’s hard to love Gale as much as Lae’zel, Astarion, or Shadowheart when his story and powers feel so inconsistent and doesn’t give us better insight to the world he was once a part of. Even Karlach, whose plot is thin but has amazing reactions and integration into the setting, feels more realized. Gale feels like the beginnings of an idea that never really got integrated into the overall game.
Have the white queen move all the way across to capture the black pawn.
Always under the protection of her faithful bishop.
Some Lanceboard Gale x Tav impressions
Queen and Bishop
“First have the white queen move all the way across to capture the black pawn. This leaves black king in check forcing him to retreat a square left. Your queen then takes the other pawn. One square up and one square left. Always under the protection of her faithful bishop.”
This is my favourite version of the lanceboard puzzle in the Wyrmway – it makes me feel all warm and giddy because this is Gale and Tav, especially as a strength–based non/ partial caster class like paladin. And we should talk about it more!
Tav is the Queen, moving over the figurative board that is their life and trusts, no, knows without having to look, that Gale, their faithful Bishop, is there, protecting them from behind.
Their loyal wizard, their devoted lover, is keeping their (other) enemies in literal check with his powerful and high damage magic.
Tagging @optimisticgrey because she asked for the pictures I’ve mentioned in my latest “What is Worf’s Hair doing now in BG3?” post. :D
Before Chat Blanc episode, I would have said that Gabriel can be redeemed because of the love of his son. After.?….I want to see the moth bitch burn…. And are willing to light that fire myself.
If we are looking at season 1 and season 2 Gabriel. He was a jerk, but he did seem to care about Adrien. Like in Gorizilla where even when he felt sure of his plan, he couldn’t risk his son.
And after Style queen he was ready to quit after nearly losing his son again.
Of course after getting a chance to akumatize a miraculous that went away. But in these two seasons the argument could be made that he is simply misguided.
Season 3 has Gabriel a lot more cold to his son, even ignoring Chat Blanc. Gabriel was much more callous in dealing with his son. In Star train he hardly reacted to his son trapped in space. He simply said “hope ladybug could fix that”
But if we include both ml specials it’s clear he does care about Adrien somewhat, in the NY special he made sure to have Adrien taken back to Paris before he decided to go nuclear on it.
And in Shanghai, as soon as he saw where his akuma was going he tried to stop him because his son was in Shanghai.
Though outside of that, Gabriel does try to talk with son about him being Hawkmoth in “Felix” though he does back out immediately.
In season 4 is when there only one stand out parenting moment that Gabriel showed one for his son, and it was during Glaciator 2. Where he almost akumatized him but stopped after realizing who it was, even going so far as to try and comfort him. Though that didn’t work out.
But then kuro neko happens and he’s back to not caring.
One could make the argument that Gabriel did care to send adrien on that tour to keep him safe.
But even with most of the positives, it doesn’t change how cold and cruel he is when it can benefit him. Using his son as a Siri for a product in order to make rings to help empower his akuma. Tried to bait his son to transform into chat noir by letting him fall off a building. Making several akuma that he KNEW would target him. Also ephemeral where he forced his son to help him steal from his GF and yeet her across the field.
But the topper on why Gabriel shouldn’t be redeemed is simply season 5 episode 1
He showed he was more interested in winning then saving his wife. He could have done his task THEN went after them
