Gale is a piece of shit. Selfish scum bag. Just cut his hand off
Gale is my least-favorite party member from a personality standpoint, so I asked my wife why she’s always romancing him in every playthrough. She said, “I dunno, why would I be attracted to an autistic-coded nerd who talks like he ate a thesaurus?” and I don’t know how to process that.
What makes him autistic coded?
Former child prodigy with a Special Interest he immediately shares with anybody who takes a passing interest in him, prone to over explaining, so uncomfortable with emotionally charged situations he sends an astral projection to fill in for him… I personally don’t think it’s intended to be read that way, but I can see how some might choose to do so.
Astarion strikes me as someone that wasn’t bullied enough as a child. Gale is at least vaguely intelligent about his pursuit of power.