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[(Disgusted noise.)]

[Caddius]

So because we occasionally talk about the voice actors here, I've recently had a chance to see the British Inquisitor VA on the season 5 finale of Downton Abbey. It was really fun to see and hear him -- with quite a few lines! -- since there is no picture on IMDb. One thing that did occur to me is that I don't think that his voice is very distinctive. I'm usually able to recognize someone by hearing them (I focus on a specific sound or syllable and my mind goes from there), but I found out after the fact that it was him. After re-watching it I was able to hear it, but I wouldn't have recognized him on my own. I think being non-distinctive is probably a good thing in this case and may have even been something the Bioware folks intentionally looked for. Not only did you need to have a voice that could fit multiple races, but one that could also be used to RP a variety of Inquisitor types. On the other hand, I felt that Nicholas Boulton as the male Hawke was incredibly distinctive, so who knows.

 

I also discovered another DAI VA in the Downton cast, but he has the unfortunate credit of Additional Voices, so I'll have to pay more attention the next time I do a full run through.

I freaked out when I heard him.

There's also the guy who played King Henselt as Lord Shrimpie in that show.

As for the Dorian's parents discussion, I got the impression that he had one of those formal but close relationships with his father, and that his mother...well, I'm not sure about his mother. Either a vapid noble that does love her son but treats him like a little boy, or a noblewoman that's not so kind.

It's largely Dorian's line about Halward teaching him that blood magic was for the weak-willed and corrupt that convinced me that Halward used to be Dorian's idol. It didn't sound like he was reciting a half-hearted line out of a textbook, it sounded like he turned his father's teachings into the bedrock of his life. But when he tried to live up to his father's example, his father turned to blood magic, shattering his image of his father and his relationship.

Anyways, those are just my thoughts as I'm continuing along with my first full Dorian-mance.

[nightscrawl]

Anyways, those are just my thoughts as I'm continuing along with my first full Dorian-mance.

 
Aw nice, welcome aboard!

[TheRatPack55]

So my Inquisition tapestry seems to be slowly sorting itself out - and it also seems most of my first Inquisitor's choices were the exact opposite of Bioware 'canon', since the default set up is chock full of 'choice locked's'...

 

Anyway, Dorian's 'returned to Tevinter' tile is active, and - silly as that is - I can't help but be a little hurt on behalf of my poor Trevelyan every time I see it... 

I know technically I was the one who encouraged him to do so, but I admit it was a little more like 'I respect you and your right to make your own choices _{but maybe now that you see what a noble and selfless boyfriend I am you'll change your mind about them?}'

 

Oh well, reason to finish a playthrough with one of my other Inquisitors I guess.

[Hothouse Orchid]

I think Halward was more of a hands on parent while the mother probably wasn't as much (ex: Boating with the servants). But I don't think it means that one parent was better than the other or more loving than the other.  They are a wealthy family and I doubt many women would be out boating with their kids in her position. There's no mention of Halward at all on the boat either.  But then again they don't seem to get along at all so i doubt they had many family activities together.

 

I thought the dragging Dorian out by his ear and treating him like he's five was adorable. I don't think it's meant to be taken as his mother disrespecting him but that most parents will always view their children as children no matter their age, and perhaps if she saw him guzzling as much drinks as he's known to, it's something that may be worth a drag out by the ear. lol!

 

I get the impression that Mama Pavus is more of the tough love type, the "you're not too old to get thrown over my knee." type.   While Halward was the softer parent.  Ironically enough, there is no mention of the mother being involved at all in the blood ritual nor in any sort of harassment about him marrying. Not that I remember. That seems to be the issue with the softer parent. 

 

My perception of a loving parent might be slightly biased, I admit, since I'm myself an only child with a "best friend" kind of relationship with my own mother. My father past away when I was still very young so she's all I have. Comparing my own experiences to Dorian's, his relationship with his father just seemed stronger to me (before the whole blood ritual deal). It might just be because he has a more prominent role in the story and therefore it's only natural that we hear more about him rather than his mother. But again, there's not enough information to assume anything at this point. It's always nice to have a headcanon though. 

[Hothouse Orchid]

Spoiler

 

I love this banter, it's hilarious in itself but the way Dorian laughs and clears his throat at the end is so priceless and adorable.

[happy_daiz]

 

Anyways, those are just my thoughts as I'm continuing along with my first full Dorian-mance.

 

I'm new here, too. I'm working on simultaneous female Cadash/Iron Bull and male Adaar/Dorian runs, and just recently started lurking the thread.

 

After IB started talking about "safe words" in his romance arc, I thought running to Dorian might be a safer choice. Dat smexy voice. I can hardly wait to see where this goes.

[Nymeria Stark]

I love these new gifs of Dorian laughing when you enter Celene's room in Winter Palace....

 

Spoiler

....and you find that naked guy tied up to the bed lol

 

 

 

http://miyku.tumblr....st/113005526472

[Fredward]

I love these new gifs of Dorian laughing when you enter Celene's room in Winter Palace....

 

Spoiler

....and you find that naked guy tied up to the bed lol

 

 

 

http://miyku.tumblr....st/113005526472

 

Whaaaat? How did I miss that?

Spoiler

And here I thought she only liked girls.

[KellinC]

 
You make a good point. But perhaps Dorian's mother, Scarlett O'Hara-like, hated being pregnant and hated being a mother. This, in addition to hating her husband and having uncomfortable sex with said husband, would not be conducive to producing more than one child. There could very well have been a "you have your heir, now leave me the f alone," kind of thing.
 
There is also the possibility that the first pregnancy was difficult and it was suggested she not have any more children. Or perhaps they tried and there were miscarriages. It could be any number of things, really. Although I do admit that "an heir and a spare" is helpful most of the time.

 

I've noticed it's not just house Pavus with an only child.  Besides Felix who also appears to be an only child, there are other less noted cases where "heir and a spare" doesn't appear to be the Tevinter norm.  Either they have bad history with sibling rivals or the wives really are good at keeping the husbands at bay.  That said, illegitimates may run in droves.  Something I hope they elaborate on later.  

[Nymeria Stark]

Whaaaat? How did I miss that?

Spoiler

And here I thought she only liked girls.

 

You need 5 halla statues to open that door. The room is the one you can hear a voice at the other side of the door. I also missed it first time because i wasted the halla statues on useless doors.... So in my second PT i saved statues just for that room and it was worth it lol xD

[KellinC]

I love these new gifs of Dorian laughing when you enter Celene's room in Winter Palace....

 

Spoiler

....and you find that naked guy tied up to the bed lol

 

 

 

http://miyku.tumblr....st/113005526472

 

This moment and the "Bi*&*" look he throws at Morrigan are the primary reasons I drag him on this mission every time. hehe 

[Sabreenei]

I've noticed it's not just house Pavus with an only child.  Besides Felix who also appears to be an only child, there are other less noted cases where "heir and a spare" doesn't appear to be the Tevinter norm.  Either they have bad history with sibling rivals or the wives really are good at keeping the husbands at bay.  That said, illegitimates may run in droves.  Something I hope they elaborate on later.  

 

Interesting! Have they ever said if magic makes it harder to have children?  It could be both the father and mother contributing to the lack of children.

 

We know Wynne got pregnant that one time, but that was once. You'd think putting all those mages together in circles and not letting them marry, you'd end up with a lot more "accidents". Maybe using all this magic is the equivalent of a being in a hot tub for hours on end with some added radiation!

 

I don't know if by the "magic runs strong" in Dorian's mother's bloodline means she didn't have magic or not (have heard it hypothesized), but that could be a reason sometimes they throw non-magic people with strong bloodlines into the mix.

[nightscrawl]

My perception of a loving parent might be slightly biased, I admit, since I'm myself an only child with a "best friend" kind of relationship with my own mother. My father past away when I was still very young so she's all I have. Comparing my own experiences to Dorian's, his relationship with his father just seemed stronger to me (before the whole blood ritual deal). It might just be because he has a more prominent role in the story and therefore it's only natural that we hear more about him rather than his mother. But again, there's not enough information to assume anything at this point. It's always nice to have a headcanon though. 

This is how I feel about the relationship also. There is the line "He taught me to hate blood magic," as well as the whole "Once I had a father who would've known that," referring to his joining the Inquisition because it was "the right thing to do," and Halward's response of "Once I had a son who trusted me. A trust I betrayed."

 

Damn that scene is so powerful. Gets me every time.

[Joe25]

With the emphasis on inheritance, I would assume that Dorian's mother wasn't able to have anymore children. I doubt any noble families would only have one child by choice.

Maybe she and Howard loathed each other to the point that after was born Dorian the idea of a spare was out of the question. Dorian's ideas of the future surrounding his arranged marriage could have been born from examples of his parents relationship with each other. Dorian gives the name of the girl he was to wed, but we have little ideas of her personality. For all we know Dorian's idea on arranged marriage come from seeing how his parent handled their marriage.      

[KellinC]

Interesting! Have they ever said if magic makes it harder to have children?  It could be both the father and mother contributing to the lack of children.

 

We know Wynne got pregnant that one time, but that was once. You'd think putting all those mages together in circles and not letting them marry, you'd end up with a lot more "accidents". Maybe using all this magic is the equivalent of a being in a hot tub for hours on end with some added radiation!

 

I don't know if by the "magic runs strong" in Dorian's mother's bloodline means she didn't have magic or not (have heard it hypothesized), but that could be a reason sometimes they throw non-magic people with strong bloodlines into the mix.

 

No, nothing said in the books.  It's up to the player to make up their minds so far.  But I think the comment about politics playing a big part was spot on.  In Thedas there isn't that strong a difference between women and men socially. Women are as likely to be leaders and warriors.  If Tevinter women are as politically and economically active and ambitious as the men, child bearing may be viewed as a hindrance  It's already been demonstrated in studies that the more men and women reach social parity the less children are born per household.

Then there is also that gorilla you are shackled to who comes around chambers to paw at you when the best spin you can put on the situation is that you happen to be standing upwind.  Where is the romance in that?  Go away, I'm reviewing the next quarterly trade estimates and the latest bill to cross the Senate floor.  

[Hothouse Orchid]

This is how I feel about the relationship also. There is the line "He taught me to hate blood magic," as well as the whole "Once I had a father who would've known that," referring to his joining the Inquisition because it was "the right thing to do," and Halward's response of "Once I had a son who trusted me. A trust I betrayed."

 

Damn that scene is so powerful. Gets me every time.

 

Exactly. I never thought of Halward as an "evil man" because in reality, it's never that black and white. The problem is the fact that he relies so heavily on tradition, and when his son failed to meet his standards he went corrupt. In the end he only wanted what he thought was best for the family and its future. I'm not in any way defending what he tried to do, I'm just saying it could happen to the best of us in desperate times.

 

Falling for temptation, Dorian's greatest fear, is exactly what happened to his father. Dorian's greatest fear is to turn into his own father, the very man he once looked up to.

[(Disgusted noise.)]

Maybe she and Howard loathed each other to the point that after was born Dorian the idea of a spare was out of the question. Dorian's ideas of the future surrounding his arranged marriage could have been born from examples of his parents relationship with each other. Dorian gives the name of the girl he was to wed, but we have little ideas of her personality. For all we know Dorian's idea on arranged marriage come from seeing how his parent handled their marriage.      

Eh, that's still a huge risk to take. Dorian could have died in an accident if nothing else. In any society that prioritizes blood lines, only having one heir is just downright folly.

 

But the fact that Felix is also an only child is interesting. Maybe all the "careful breeding" has lowered the fertility rate among the Tevinter aristocracy?

[Joe25]

Eh, that's still a huge risk to take. Dorian could have died in an accident if nothing else. In any society that prioritizes blood lines, only having one heir is just downright folly.

 

But the fact that Felix is also an only child is interesting. Maybe all the "careful breeding" has lowered the fertility rate among the Tevinter aristocracy?

Or maybe the only child thing is to keep the next in line from being killed my their younger brothers/sisters.

[nightscrawl]

Or maybe the only child thing is to keep the next in line from being killed my their younger brothers/sisters.

I've gotten the feeling that they prioritize family over individuality, so I don't think this is the case. The family that preys [intentional spelling] together stays together, and that the mentality is similar to that of Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones.

[Gervaise]

If there is a trend towards only children then it probably is to with selective breeding for so long.   On the whole power is vested in a few Altus families and they would naturally want to mate with other altus, particularly the ones where magic seems strongest.     So you end up with a very narrow gene pool.      In trying the maximum one set of genetic traits, or possibly two, magic and beautiful body, they set up a situation where they have bred in infertility; nothing to do with magic per se but too much emphasis on particular traits.

 

Hawke's family had three children, two as twins, and thereafter they probably limited themselves to those three because of the problems of having too many mouths to feed when you are essentially on the run as an apostate and so can't get a steady occupation.   However, whilst both sides of the family had magic, they were two different strains so you get genetic diversity and thus hybrid vigour.     The lack of children in the Circles is probably down to some form of birth control; didn't someone mention that somewhere?

 

I dare say the reason the lower classes in Tevinter are so hopeful of producing mages is that the nobility do tend to spread it around a bit among them but being illegitimate they never reach the higher ranks.    Of course we don't know that Altus generally have small families; may be it is just coincidence that both Dorian and Felix are only children.

[KellinC]

I've gotten the feeling that they prioritize family over individuality, so I don't think this is the case. The family that preys [intentional spelling] together stays together, and that the mentality is similar to that of Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones.

 

Who knows. It may have been a simple oversight that Felix and the other two single child families I read about came across as such.  But it's still fun to flex the mental muscles building a social justification for a "one and done" situation like Dorian.

[Dr. Doctor]

So my Inquisition tapestry seems to be slowly sorting itself out - and it also seems most of my first Inquisitor's choices were the exact opposite of Bioware 'canon', since the default set up is chock full of 'choice locked's'...
 
Anyway, Dorian's 'returned to Tevinter' tile is active, and - silly as that is - I can't help but be a little hurt on behalf of my poor Trevelyan every time I see it... 
I know technically I was the one who encouraged him to do so, but I admit it was a little more like 'I respect you and your right to make your own choices _{but maybe now that you see what a noble and selfless boyfriend I am you'll change your mind about them?}'
 
Oh well, reason to finish a playthrough with one of my other Inquisitors I guess.

There is always what Varric did to keep Merrill out of harm (bribes to the Carta and various gangs).

Leliana has no idea why anyone would think that the Inquisiton's Tevinter listening post was there just to keep an eye on Dorian. Agents have been known to give their teams whimsical names, who knows why the Tevinter branch refers to themselves as the "Boyfriend Brigade"?

[Joe25]

I still think Dorian's parents hated each other to the point that the thought of sex made them figuratively (and possibly literally) vomit in their mouths.   

[nightscrawl]

I love this person's style. Be sure and check out their DAI tag. Lots of great art there.

 

Spoiler

 

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