eirwyn - Tumblr blog

[eirwyn]

Oh my god, I was rewatching the Dorym conversation from ep 95 for the six bajillionth time (as one does) and looked at chat, where some guy, in response to everyone's "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!", was like. "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't think Dorian swings that way," and it has made me completely insane.

Setting aside the fact that Dorym is practically a foregone conclusion at this point (it's not really "will they/won't they" so much as "WHEN will they?"), Dorian Storm did NOT pathetic twink his way into discounted health potions from Shaun Gilmore for some rando to accuse him of heterosexuality. Robbie Daymond did not enact a perfect queer metaphor by having Dorian sadly toss his beloved flamboyant outfit INTO A CLOSET just for some guy to publicly demonstrate the faultiness of his gaydar. Do this dude's platonic bros routinely drop 2500 gold on meaningful antique suits of armor for him and THAT'S why he's confused, or...????

[eirwyn]

the thing about astarion is i understand that you hate him because no one ever shuts up about him and there are other cool characters in the game but also i am going to continue to be this way sorry

[eirwyn]

Having so much of infatuated-with-Caleb Essek in C3 is basically just fanservice at this point and the fan is Liam O'Brien

[eirwyn]

what is like… the most on brand, stereotypical zodiac sign trait is true for you?

[eirwyn]

Caleb showing up to the Malleus Key wearing a purple scarf. Essek swearing in Zemnian and casting an amber dome. Something about the fingerprints you leave on your loved ones. Something about them becoming a part of you. Something about how to love a thing is to be changed by it.

[eirwyn]

"Now I'm here with you"

Dorymspace has kept uncharacteristically calm about this. What's the matter?

[eirwyn]

can’t stop thinking about essek “my partner” thelyss watching the brave, profoundly sad halfling and the charming, “trying to smile because if he doesn’t he’ll scream” air genasi dance around each other in aeor, where once upon a time, a kind, yet deeply depressed wizard and a man learning the values of friendship fell in love and made each other better (and also maybe saved the world)

and i wonder if there’s a part of essek that smiles when he sees dorian and orym’s longing looks, and if he makes a mental note to tell caleb and jester that they were right—aeor really is for lovers

[eirwyn]

Just a quick study before I draw some dorym picture! The new design are *chef kiss*

[eirwyn]

Oh god I promised myself no bell’s hells meta until c3 ends but my brain is turning the “can she be trusted?” line over and over like chicken at the shawarma shop. because there are layers to that.

more under the cut because i let this run away from me:

so first off, there's the obvious: dorian initially seems to start to address the whole group, everyone who's left in the inn room, but turns and just locks eyes with orym when he asks. orym, who of everyone has the most reason to be biased against laudna right now. orym, who just got into a fight with laudna over the sword that killed both of them and orym's husband and father-in-law. that's who dorian thinks to ask, because he trusts orym not to let his judgment be clouded.

dorian first saw orym again after months of being separated, like, three days ago, and despite how much orym has visibly changed in those months, dorian doesn't hesitate to believe that orym will still be objective. he trusts that orym will be the one to look at this situation and tell him the truth.

because dorian has experience with orym telling him the truth. dorian knows firsthand how willing orym is to shuck his personal feelings in favour of what's true. dorian just saw what he could have become, had orym not stepped in to stop him taking the circlet of barbed vision. he owes the fact that he's alive and beholden to no gods to orym's willingness to be rational and objective in a situation involving a powerful magical item. by his own admission, "i wouldn't be here without you."

so of course dorian trusts him right now.

and there's something to the exclusion of the others, with that. dorian doesn't look to fearne and orym, although that would make sense because he's known the two of them the longest. he doesn't look to chetney, who's proven to be able to get a handle on this with the scream needle compromise. he doesn't look to ashton, who's been extremely levelheaded through this whole mess. he looks at orym, exclusively. he is asking orym, exclusively. not the group, although everyone decides to jump in to answer and then imogen comes through the window to complicate the matter. just orym.

dorian is the kind of person with a lot of potential for darkness in him. he hides it well because he's also deeply kind and friendly, but it's always been there. he's just been through something massively traumatic, and that was after the original circlet conflict back in exu prime. he had his alignment forcibly changed from good to neutral. but even after all he's gone though, orym's alignment is still good.

as much as orym doesn't want to be a leader and prefers to be a protector and follower, he does very well in situations where he takes on an amount of responsibility. when he's in some level of control over a situation, he takes to it naturally. he's a very good babysitter to his gaggle of weirdos. the "can she be trusted?" might have been an attempt on dorian's part to give orym a bit more control here. to reassure him that regardless of anyone else's feelings—regardless of how laudna's reaction might have affected him—orym deserves to be trusted, and he can make a decision that dorian will trust.

back in exu and all the way into early c3, dorian and orym slotted into a sort of parental position in their groups. watching over the crownkeepers' clothes when they went skinny dipping in exu. orym repeatedly steering everybody away from bad ideas. matt even described dorian leaving dariax in zephrah in 4sd as "dad just going out to get cigarettes." there's always been that underlying sense of "we are two of a pair" with dorian and orym. not to say that either of them don't see the others as adults, but they do have that rapport of being the babysitters in the gaggle of weirdos.

that kind of bond is just part of their dynamic. but especially in light of what's been happening while they were separated, and then what happened between them earlier that evening, "can she be trusted?" is a reminder of that bond. orym's been lonely, by his own admission, and one of the secrets he divulged at nana morri's was "i really miss dorian." he broke down crying during his last message through the sending stone, and then again on the bench not a few hours before this whole incident went down.

dorian came to comfort him. he flat-out said to orym's face "i'm here now." he reminded orym that he needs to rely on other people, that he can't always be the one saving everybody else. he gave orym the room to not be the strong one, and told him he has that room because dorian's there to support him. they can be two of a pair again.

he knows orym's been feeling like he can't do anything, like he had to resort to what he stopped dorian from doing with the circlet. and so dorian both gives him a choice to make, something to do, and shows him that he still trusts him unconditionally. "can she be trusted?" also means "i trust you" and "i'm here with you" and "this is how we've always been."

we know from liam in 4sd that orym has feelings for dorian that he's not sure are reciprocated. but even regardless of the romantic element here, dorian and orym have always had a partnership. they have always been two of a pair. the sequence of events leading to "can she be trusted?" is a perfect microcosm of he relationship between the two of them. it's just incredible.

[eirwyn]

dorym girlies it is insane how much we're winning

[eirwyn]

"Bren sends his regards" Essek knows about Bren he knows about what Astrid meant to Bren it's been years and they know each other and love each other and Caleb sent him here knowing what he would find and trusting him to do this I am so emotional right now.

[eirwyn]

[eirwyn]

Essek growing his hair out is an attack on me personally

[eirwyn]

well, you know what they say about aeor *glances at orym and dorian*

[eirwyn]

I am simply frothing at the mouth. I have lost my marbles. I have chewed all the wallpaper from the walls and I am eyeing the foundations of the building. I am ill and I shan't recover. My count of brain cells has both dramatically reduced and hugely exploded. I am vibrating through another dimension where emails cannot reach me. I am floating, yes, I am floating a few inches from the ground. I shall have an ambient area of unknown effect for several weeks at least. I am living. I am gnashing my teeth. I am-