ERE: BEFORE

was it on purpose? i don't know. i just know Its There and im Not insane.

like, okay, listen.

+ the addition of the fact that you, as the wol, never learn estinien's past directly from him, in fact if you don't do the dragoon job quests, the only way you learn about it is via aymeric, who speaks of the matter in a way one would who was told directly by that person

what more is that — yes, i'm aware of ffxiv's tendency of avoiding romances of any sort all together, but they were never afraid to show, for example, thancred's philandering. nor are they scared of making a character's interest in the opposite gender explicit. with that said;

the thing that really sticks out in my reading of aymeric de borel being a closeted gay man is that he is Super popular among the ladies. he could genuinely have any pick of them. BUT that man is 32 and unmarried in a society where carrying on the family name is paramount. especially when he's the last of his line.

is aymeric and estinien's position in romances up in the air specifically to give room for people to play dolls? maybe. but from a strictly canon lens, we know aymeric's friends and acquaintances who have known him for far longer than the wol, and in every instance we know - both from aymeric and estinien - that estinien is aymeric's closest and — his own words — dearest friend.

don't even get me started on aymeric's dragoon-shaped ear cuff (!) that matches estinien's drachen textures

that his relationship with another man is so vital to his character and vice versa really bespeaks a level of closeness no other character can achieve.

"Aye. I heard o'what ye went through," Briefly, at least, from Tataru. "How, uh... how are ye holdin' up w' all that?"

It was an unavoidably awkward question. Still, if she were in his place, she would probably appreciate anyone offering an ear. Maybe.

   Ah... so his tale has been told. Admittedly, Arvin tries to keep most of the details to himself. 'Tis difficult to explain, as well as understand, all things considered. Most of this world as it is is well beyond his ken and being so mystified by what others consider simple is...    Well... 'tis rather embarrassing.

   Nonetheless, Arvin's smile turns sad at the question, and he glances down and off to the side. ❝ It can... Though, admittedly I do not consider the Ishgard of now as the Ishgard I hail. ❞

He didn't know. He doesn't know we're rejoined. He doesn't know about yer presence in m'mind, yer simulacrum, or Eden, or jack SHIT! She could only laugh at the absurdity of it all. "Gods, yer terrible at this. Fuckin'--I gotta applaud you, really, fer thinkin' you'd bait me int' whatever y'wanted that way. It jus' showed me how little y'know, or at least, how unseriously yer takin' yer 'duty.'"

   Something greater still rouses in the depths of his empty, hollowed heart. It stirs on the moon rumbling low, moaning like a dove for its lost heart. It's all just noise. Noise he intends to excise. He must. (That incessant thought, not entirely his own, but never recognized as foreign.)