#'and fearne's husbands dorian and orym'

[annemarieyeretzian]

essek seth telling bell’s hells “hold your breath.” prompting this cute little dorym moment where both dorian and orym immediately comply and look over at each other

[thursdaythoughtsfromtheabyss]

Travis is well aware of his power and only uses it for Bad

[demon-neverland]

So many things happened this episode! I’m in a state of panic and euphoria. I don’t know how to compartmentalize this yet. But once I do I’m going to study every second of it to make sure I fully understand that worlds are colliding once more

[oddthesungod]

oh fuck YEAH, Orym confirmed only into guys, a win for the gays fellas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[agarthanguide]

I asked it in the last round and learned about the classic cars that inspired FCG, so I’ll ask again! (And congrats on the new round of art!)

What’s a personal favorite aspect of yours with the new designs? Be it a detail you love, one that was super satisfying to work on, etc.—however you want to interpret “favorite”. 🙂

Oh there are so many details I’m proud of this time around. Dorian’s sword hilt, Laudna’s Baba Yaga hut, Fearne’s shittily-fitting, poorly tailored jacket. My husband pitched Imogen holding the staff like a riding crop. But I think my favorite bit is the evidence of Orym’s fae pact-

Elements of the design influenced by the fae pact-

- looser, tousled hair ( people have suggested that it’s boy band hair or TikTok hair- honestly, I was going for Undone Hair, but you are entitled to your opinion)

- tattoo shading away from black, towards green

- vines sliding out of his veins (this one is subtle, because I was sure I’d be asked to scale it back if I went nuts). That was inspired by a comment Liam made in 4SD that Orym’s had vines in his bloodstream, now.

- spidery vines- okay so Liam kept saying “more vines” and “give the vines a dark fae energy,” and I didn’t know what that meant. So I went with that dark blue with glowing veins in the leaves. But then, right at the end, Liam sent a picture of some frankly terrifying, choking, dead-looking, spidery vines. And suddenly it all clicked.

Thank you for the kind words! I’m always excited for the opportunity to explain myself lolol

[sassy-cass-16]

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.

[luddlestons]

I was surprised and delighted to see so much interest in the notes on the last post I did about my silly little AU where everything is perfect and Orym gets so many boyfriends

For those curious about the 'plot' of this AU:

Orym and Will have been married for 15 years; they got married at 21 and moved out of Zephrah to Emon for a bit before moving to Jrusar, where everybody's at nowadays

Orym and Will meet Ash when Fearne invites Ash to Jrusar's local kink club (bc this is FULLY self-indulgent). And of COURSE Ashton is into letting this extremely hot little man tie them up while his husband watches. Orym & Will are poly but have never had another romantic partner before, and they spend a couple months just fooling around with Ash before asking to Actually Date.

Dorian is an old friend of Orym's from when they were living in Emon. He got to know Orym while he was in college, but after graduation, he moved back to his family in the Silken Squall. Much like in canon, he didn't wanna stay there, and he ends up moving to Jrusar as well. He stays in Will and Orym's house for a few weeks while he's getting settled, and meets Ashton at that point (and spends a while trying to ignore that he's slightly jealous that Orym and Will got a boyfriend and it's not him.)

Eventually Dorian moved in w/ Fearne and gets a job at a coffeeshop that's owned by Opal & Ted's dad (Dariax also works there, and eventually Fyr'a and Morri do too probably idk). It's close to where Ashton works, so they get to know each other completely outside of the Orym/Will situation that's going on

Dorian starts dating Ash way before the other two, but after some amount of months I did not determine, they do all end up together. This is mostly orchestrated by Will, who has known about Orym's crush on Dorian for years now (and has been teasing him about it forever) and Ashton, who saw that shit a mile away.

Cyrus also shows up to be his dumbass self

Orym's mom visits one (1) time and decides she is adopting Ashton

[ittybittyremy]

With all the talk about the Archheart's plan, here are 2 reminders:

1. Disagreeing with a character's points doesn't automatically make their points stupid.

Ask yourself this: Do you think their points are stupid or do you just disagree with them? (yes, there is a difference)

You can't just say "oh x is being stupid" and leave it at that. At least put the effort into explaining why you think that.

And take a second to consider why that character is thinking/acting like that. It can be due to their experiences, their identity, character alignment (i.e. Dorian being chaotic neutral & Orym being neutral good), or character stats (i.e. Ashton's 6 charisma).

Think about what they know and don't know (i.e. Dorian has only been back for ~5 days, he doesn't have all the information that BH has).

Calling someone's points stupid implies that there was no thought put into them. And I think all of BH put thought into their points

2. Just because a character is biased, doesn't mean their views are any less valid.

Newsflash, there is no such thing as an unbiased perspective. Who you are and what you experience impacts how you perceive things. You can either be directly biased or indirectly biased

A perfect example of being directly biased would be Orym towards the Ruby Vanguard. He is biased because their attack caused the death of his father and husband. Another example would be Dorian towards the gods. He is biased because the Spider Queen killed his brother while the Wildmother and Matron refused to help.

Indirectly biased would be more identity-based. Laudna has not had any direct communication with the Matron (until now) BUT her opinions on the RQ may have ties to her identity and experiences as a hollow one. Another example would be how Ashton's views on Liliana has ties to their experiences with cults

My biggest pet peeve is when they use the fact that the character is biased as a gotcha. When Orym verbally acknowledged that he's biased (c3e92), I saw an uproar of people saying that Orym is "too biased" to have the conversation or that he is not in his right mind. Or worse, that he "shouldn't be in this conversation." I heavily disagree with all of that. If anything, acknowledging that you are biased will make me listen to your points more.

You can't be unbiased. The closest thing you can be is less biased than others. An example of this would be Dorian during swordgate. He was not there to see Orym, Fearne, Laudna, or Chetney die to Ishta. Also, he had only been back for two days and didn't know everything as deeply as the rest of BH did. He was less biased (and more detached from the situation) than the others. However, as I said in this post, there was some bias there. The main ones being (a) him being closer to Orym than Laudna and most importantly (b) his experiences with cursed/evil items.

[lexmakeshit]

To anyone saying that Orym has the more trauma than Laudna I just want to say you’re wrong. Yeah Ludinus’ cult attacked his home and otohan murdered his father and husband then killed him and his friends but I’m sorry Laudna was tricked by Delilah then beaten to death and hung from a tree as a warning and then spent 30 years alone with in the woods with the disembodied spirit of her murderer living in her head. Was Murdered by Otohan as a threat to Imogen then forced to relive her trauma and then woke up in the same place as when she was first killed and now Otohan is the reason her friend is dead. If we are gonna play trauma olympics she is by far the winner

Girly has been constantly going through shit the entire campaign and has been in and out of a downward spiral since the airship fight of course she is starting to lose it. Y’all could get how Liliana was brain washed by years under ludinus but can’t understand how Delilah has so deeply fucked up Laudna sense of reality that her actions are in her mind perfectly logical because all she cares about is Imogen and Delilah who is both a master manipulator and been in her head for 30+ years is using that to gain power.

I also want to point out that laudna is the last member of the group other than Dorian to have given in to a potentially corrupting influence for more power in this fight and to protect the people they love. Imogen gave in partially to predathos and got exhalted, Chet got training from the gorgenyi and gave into his inner wolf and made a deal with nanna morri, fearne and Ashton both absorbed a part of a titan and fearne made a deal with champion of asmodeous, orym made a deal with nanna morri and FCG literally gave into his inner rage and blew himself up to save them. So Laudna has spent the last few weeks watching all her friends make deals and give in for power and now that she is doing the same to protect the person she loves most in the world after watching them barely win and lose someone despite everything they have done to get more powerful she is getting shit for it.

I totally agree that laudna shouldn’t have have done what she did but orym shouldn’t have made a unilateral claim on any of the Otohan stuff so close to FCGs death especially without the group having had a chance to talk or process at all and I can totally understand how Delilah has manipulated laudna to the point that she believes that what she is saying is true.

I wanna say I am by no means hating on Orym I am just really not a fan of the way Laudna is be treated like some evil manipulative abuser when she actually a very traumatised person who is struggling in a manner very similar to someone fighting a addiction while being constantly re-traumatised which is being essentially ignored.

I genuinely love all of the characters in C3 and actually have a lot of thoughts about them particularly as allegories for the spectrum of disability and how poetic and heartbreakingly beautiful and complex they all are as characters and a group. I just have been getting really frustrated at the lack of nuance being used by some folks for a group that is deeply morally grey and some folks seeming lack of ability to assess multiple perspectives in a campaign that is all about multiple perspectives and what makes someone the good or bad guys.

Sorry for the rant I might delete this later and make what might be a more coherent post when I am more calm and it’s not so late at night but I just needed to get my thoughts out.

[saintdollyparton]

Finally finishing up this week's Critical Role episode. Laudna is right in that Orym should have consulted the group first before taking the sword. I understand Orym's reasoning for wanting to have the sword. Dorian is right in that the sword is just a thing, even if it is a grisly reminder/symbol. Chetney's compromise was smart but he was also flat-out wrong for what he said to Laudna. This shouldn't be a contest of "who has lost the most." Everyone in the group has lost a hell of a lot. The majority of them have been cut down or actually killed by that blade before. Orym lost his husband and father to it. But Laudna was killed by it and then sent back to the source of her trauma and had to wait for her friends to come save her because Fearne revived Orym immediately instead of her. Laudna has been a victim of Delilah's abuse and manipulation for decades. She tortured her and took her life. Her experiences mirror addiction and abusive relationships. Delilah and Otohan and Ludinus are the villains here. And I'm really fucking tired of people minimizing Laudna's trauma and loss.

[towards-toramunda]

Orym I’m begging for you to tell someone near you about how you feel instead of just picking up the sending stone and being sad for 25 words a day at a person you aren’t sure will answer the stone! I know you’re comfortable in talking to absent people because of your husband and father, but the rest of the hells are right there! Fearne is your best friend! You and Ashton promised each other you’d help pick each other up when you were down! Like please talk to someone about how you feel for longer than 25 words! And like sure! On a meta level we know that Dorian may be coming back soon, but orym doesn’t know that! What he knows is that the last time he used the stone he didn’t get an answer! And he keeps hiding his emotions from the people around him instead of being open! And I think it’s a good character choice on Liam’s end but it makes me want to grab Orym by the shoulders and shake him!

[pink-lightsabre]

i wont lie. fearne asked dorian what was next for him since cyrus was dead. and i did immediately flash to 7-10 years post canon. dorian storm, leader of the silken squall, and his husband orym of the air ashari, being extremely happy and content together.

[nanierose]

So there's this sentiment going around that Orym's nod to Laudna and the subsequent 'we're at war' comment is him taking his first steps toward vengeance. And on the one hand i understand why it could be read that way, but based on Orym as a character I just don't agree personally.

This is a man who wants to see the best in people, understand them and reach solutions that don't require violence. Early on in the campaign he got hit by an arrow and still tried to talk down the woman behind the crossbow. He stopped to stabilise an enemy that was taken down by his friends. But he also knows when violence and threats are necessary, see attacking Yu when they revealed themselves and threatened Fearne and her mother. Or forcing Dorian to let go of the Crown in EXU by promising he would attack him. He can be flexible when he needs to be, but when he makes a decision he sticks to it. Kind but with a core of steel beneath it.

So here we see a man who when faced with the woman who killed his husband and father didn't try to kill her. Didn't go into a blind rage and attack. He took in the situation around him and decided to go for the weapon on her back instead, because that would protect his friends and weaken her.

And now he has let one of his friends kill someone they trusted who turned out to be their enemy. Even knowing how similar their tragedies were, he knows he can't let Bor'Dor escape so he lets it happen. Because he's a soldier, trained to protect but also trained to use a sword. Trained to know when you need to use your sword and leave everything else behind.

Orym doesn't want vengeance, he wants to stop the pain he feels being inflicted on others. Otherwise he wouldn't have gone and sat on his own afterwards and struggled over how complicated everything is. Yes it will also lead to some closure for him knowing his family's murderers will be gone, it would be for anyone, but I truly believe that it isn't his main goal. Going to war explicitly shows that he sees this as being something beyond just his own grievances. He has been hurt by this group, and because of that he will never side with them and will fight them, but this is something that affects everyone, so he can't continue to use persuasion or stay his hand. It's time to use the sword, and pray it will be enough to stop Ludinus destroy the world.

[screechingfromthevoid]

Orym told derrig he didn't know why he didn't come see him last time he was home. That is a fucking lie. He knows exactly why.

He couldn't bring Dorian to his father and husband's graves.

Which. Is fine I guess. Grief is a bitch and not linear. But I'm going to write a fucking thesis on Orym and his inability to face the truly fucking hard stuff in his life.

Because sure. Being a widower and mourning your husband is super fucking hard. Especially when it came at the same time as the only home you've ever known no longer feeling safe. FINE. That is incredibly hard.

BUT. Orym will barely let himself admit that he has feelings for Dorian let alone navigate what it means to love again.

Orym feels such immense guilt about Will's death that he considers moving on to be the biggest betrayal. That survivors guilt combined with him swearing to put an end to the people that took Will from him truly stops Orym from actually feeling his feelings about even the idea of loving again. He can't process loving again because he feels like it's unfinished business. That he hasn't earned love again.

Which is bullshit you dumb little halfling man.

Then, holding love in your heart for your first love and spouse while finding yourself developing feelings for another is a hard thing to juggle. So he doesn't. Which only leads to feeling worse when he remembers Will.

If Orym really sat down and thought about how Will would feel about him moving on, he would probably come to the conclusion that Will would not want Orym to live his life alone for his sake. I feel like Will is the type to say "it is very sweet that you want to only love me. But you're not proving anything by not loving someone else"

Because Orym might want to be that guy? He always thought he would be? He was a widower. He loved Will with everything he had. He was not going to stray. He wasn't going to betray him like that.

But falling in love is messy. He couldn't help himself falling in love the first time. And he shouldn't punish himself for falling in love the second time. Because he couldn't help it. Suddenly he was just. In love.

And Dorian knows about Will. Dorian knows how much Will meant to Orym. He'd never make Orym get a cover up tattoo or stop seeing Will or tell him to never talk about him. Dorian understands that Orym will always love Will. He just hopes Orym might love him also.

If Orym was better at his feelings, if he was better at facing the hard shit in his life, he would have taken Dorian to see his father and Will. They would have mourned together. Dorian would have said hello like Fearne did. He might have left a stone or praised Orym. And Orym would have been able to see his two worlds together. He would be able to reconcile his past and future and anything in between.

[bread-wizards]

There is something so interesting about Orym having an idea that Laudna killing Bor'dor could bring Delilah back when you look at it in comparison to his character in EXU.

EXU Orym threatened Dorian because of the chance that, if things went sour, Dorian might put on the crown and get involved with this betrayer god. He saw the effects it was having on his friend and thought 'you will throw yourself on the fire to keep us warm and I need to step in to stop that'.

Current Orym sees his friend drawing on dark magics, the powers of a woman who has tormented her for years, who she fears, and when she herself is slipping to such a dark place and ready to kill someone, he nods. 'This is war' he says. 'We may need this' he thinks.

Because the first time he dealt with the Ruby Vaguard, they killed his father and husband. The second time they killed him, Fearne and Laudna. The last time they faced them, they succeeded in their plan to help bring the end of the gods and nearly killed his leader. I imagine he isn't feeling too optimistic about the next confrontation. Hes exhausted and probably scared and so when he hears that this guy is lying to them, that he is with the people who has done this to them, Bor'dor has to die. He is a threat and needs to be dealt with. He is a very different person to who he was at the start of this journey.

Laudna, already in a dark place after everything, now betrayed once again, possibly taps into Delilah knowing the conseqences but goes for it anyways. Who knows if she even could have been stopped. But she acts first and there is no one there to draw a sword and tell her to put the crown down.

[elementalladymallorie]

So Chetney saw several children, made to make him believe he killed them which is probably a fear he had about his transformations?

Dorian is seeing Cyrus.

That probably means Orym would see his husband and father if he got gotten. Maybe something with Keyleth?

Laudna would probably be Delilah related, and maybe Bor'dor? Or like a disappointed Imogen?

Would Imogen have something with her mom? Predathos? Reilorians? Her dad? Something else entirely?

What would Fearne see? Dark Fearne?

How many people would show up in Ashton's?

How many of these are we going to get to see?