Thank you so much that makes me so happy that people are still thinking about this series! I didn't mean to go so long between updates & at this rate it'll be like 3 years before I finish but there's still so much I want to cover.
Getting Durge to delegate was honestly a really hard decision for me dslkfjdsklf. Originally I wanted to have Durge be present during the end of Halsin's quest for more Durge Lore Drops, in fact it was something I had planned for the last fic as part of the buildup to Durge's inevitable breakdown. But it was a bit too much? the scene I had in my head was very climactic, but there was nowhere to fit it in, so I considered putting it afterwards and having Durge continue adventuring as normal. But then I realized, there was no way in hell Astarion would let Durge go out after the shitshow of the previous fic. So I eventually landed on having Durge delegate, which I'm really happy with and feels like a natural progression of their relationship with Wyll.
"also love to see you delve a bit into halsin’s devotion to silvanus. that relationship is often overlooked in fic and even in the game just because it’s not as obviously toxic, but as someone who was burned badly by high-control religion, i’m all for every character breaking their dedication to a god haha." sdflkdsl;fkdsl;f yeah I grew up/live in the Bible Belt so I definitely have Experiences with religion. My family was never super religious, which I'm personally grateful for but I've Seen Things. I definitely think I have a harsher view of fictional gods than the average viewer, my viewpoint is definitely closer to Durge than anyone else, and I try my best not to let that affect the narrative too much. I think Silvanus is one of the better gods and that his intentions are largely good. But yeah, I personally think the FR gods are way too involved in mortal affairs for the amount of power they hold. Like I think Silvanus and Selune have good intentions and are largely benevolent, but that it's impossible for them to interfere with mortals the way they are without completely shaping the course of their lives, which I think is its own tragedy. Like Halsin is happy as a servant of Silvanus, but he was raised in a very isolated community without much exposure to other deities or ways of life, so even though it's his choice to worship Silvanus, how much choice did he have, you know? Like, I think when the gods are actively handing out the power to bring dead people back to life the lines get a little blurred. And then it comes to people like Wyll or Karlach who never did anything wrong but no god ever intervened to help them it's like. what the fuck. Also like. I pointed this out in a previous fic but Zariel was Lathander's angel so like. Come clean up your mess dude. The Forgotten Realms has been this way for decades, so I don't expect them to ever change it, but fantasy settings similar to it are made all the time and it irks me a bit that people write in these gods that just go in and do whatever they want without thinking about it. Like biologists have a duty to interfere with the local wildlife as little as possible when they're trying to study it or preserve it etc, I feel like literal deities should be held to the same standard.
"“i adore gale but he loses all sense when powerful magic is concerned.” bro the number of times i had to talk gale off a ledge on the run where i romanced him. NO babe you cannot ascend to godhood. NO babe we do not need mystra or her blessing. gale’s a sweetie but an ambitious sweetie who does not have the gift of foresight." No unfortunately Foresight is a 9th level spell /j I try not to pull the Wizard Hubris card because I think in general like, wanting to be more powerful or wanting more knowledge aren't inherently evil. Also like *points at the god problem* I can't really blame wizards for wanting to become gods when the actual gods you have to deal with are assholes. But Gale is a prime example of Wizard Hubris. I think part of it is just, the constant feeling of never being "enough." Like he's not enough as just Gale, he needs to be God Gale, he needs to do things that no one's ever done before etc etc. But there's no amount of achievement that will fix chronically low self-esteem, so he keeps reaching higher and higher. And God Gale loses all the things that made Gale himself, so his self-esteem is "fixed" at the cost of his humanity. There's a lot of tragedy in that.
I actually have a whole Thing that I hope to get into when it comes to Act 3, but Mystra herself was once a human (well, the way I understand it's a bit more complicated than that), IIRC Mystra didn't really want to become a god, but she had to because otherwise there would be no goddess of magic. There's a whole series of novels about her & Kelemvor's ascension to godhood. They were romantic partners & then becoming deities changed who they were and they fell out of love. IDK if the BG3 team had that in mind when writing the game, but I think there's a very tragic story in there about a human woman losing herself & trying to recapture the love she once had but can no longer feel, and if Gale becomes a god, she's perpetuating the cycle that stripped her of her personhood. Like disclaimer BG3 Mystra still sucks and she should know better than to groom people that worship her. But I still feel a bit sad thinking about it, it's like, when it comes to the struggles between gods it's always the mortals that lose. Even though Mystra became a god, she still lost.
"every time astarion and durge have a sweet moment, there’s an unhinged thought from durge. " sdfjdkldfjdskl that's love baby. I think it's part of the difference between genuinely wanting to be a better person and wanting to be better for the people around you. Right now, Durge's view on relationships is still extremely warped & unhealthy and the only reason they're agreeing to this """"therapy"""" thing is because they are essentially being forced to go by someone they care about. It will be a while before Durge accepts that they can and decides they want to change.
Comment on death cannot harm me more than you, my beloved life
edelgarfield on Chapter 1 Fri 01 Nov 2024 06:25AM UTC
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