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[The Oracle]

Just popping in to say that Dorian's voice actor is lovely. Wow. Can you imagine meeting someone while out and about who has a voice like that? You'd just hand him a phonebook and a couple of twenties and grab yourself a comfy chair.

[(Disgusted noise.)]

I can't stand slash pairings; straight, gay, whichever. I really don't see a point in it if it's not based on something in the actual original work. The main fanfic pairing I've read in the past was from the CLAMP manga Tokyo Babylon, and it's (sort of) sequel X: Seishirou and Subaru. But there was actual basis for that pairing in the work. But like... Kirk/Spock, Harry/Draco, Cullen/Alistair... Obviously the people who do such fanworks are just trying to get their (and other's) rocks off, but eh... totally not for me, but I accept that other people like it.
 
To bring it back to Dragon Age, I'm sure there are some Fenris/Isabela fics out there, and I'm also sure a ton of Iron Bull/Dorian fics, but at least these are based on actual in-game pairings.

 

Heh, to quote Dorian: interesting turn of phrase. As an aside, I really do wonder how many gay men read, or just try out, fanfic written by straight women and just laugh. Even though I write my fics for my own personal enjoyment -- for my own reading, but the writing process as well as continual tweaking is its own entertainment -- and will (most likely) never post them anywhere, I do wonder about the realism, which does matter to me. As far as I know, all of the Seishirou/Subaru fics (my introduction to the genre) were written by women. The one I started that I knew for certain was written by a guy was barely started and never finished.

 

Unfortunately, I really have no desire to read pairings I'm not interested in. Or like if someone were to post a Bull/Dorian fic, or even a Dorian/Inquisitor fic, and say that there is a great (and realistic) sex scene in it, I wouldn't want to read it because I have a brain block when it comes to Dorian and other guys. But oddly, I didn't feel that way with the Cullen/fem Inquisitor fics I've read... I dunno, I guess I'm just much more attached to Dorian in general.

 

And also... there might be certain more emphasis here or there -- I haven't heard him speak enough out of game to know -- but Ramon Tikaram pretty much sounds exactly like Dorian in real life.

If you haven't seen and heard Ramon speaking in real life, here ya go... I'm always weirded out at first when I see some of my fav VAs for the first time.

 

Yeah... welcome to the club.

 

 

 

[edit]

Sorry for some of the digression above. But, like others here I tend to regard this as a 'safe' thread to post such things.

 

Just jumping in on your thought about men reading fanfiction about men written by women, I've read my fair share (mostly the dirty ones unless they're just really, really well written) and it usually doesn't bother me except when it's obvious that the female author has very limited knowledge of male anatomy (like everyone have a ten or eleven inch penis or not knowing the arragement of the backdoor area like where a prostate is and so on) or when one of the male characters is written completely out of character and feminized to the point of being an obvious female stand-in. And the second is unfortunately a big issue with a lot of fanfic Dorian appears in. I tend to avoid anything that's labeled bottom Dorian because he's usually completely emasculated by female writers.

[Fredward]

Just popping in to say that Dorian's voice actor is lovely. Wow. Can you imagine meeting someone while out and about who has a voice like that? You'd just hand him a phonebook and a couple of twenties and grab yourself a comfy chair.

 

He and Viv are grossly underutilized as VAs. They could narrate the rest of my life and I'd be perfectly content. Bitchy repartee would be a bonus.
 

[Gervaise]

I think on balance that Dorian wants to stay with the Inquisition because of the fact that he always stays if you are friends, he stays if he is in a relationship with Bull, but for some reason he says he is leaving if you are in a relationship with him.    So I've always assumed this is because of the nature of the feelings he has for Inquisitor, which are so strong that he has to have a reason in his own mind why it can't go on indefinitely, so if it did come to an end he'd have a means of preventing himself from going to pieces.  So he can rationalise it that he always intended returning to Tevinter.   That gives him a definite purpose in life beyond the Inquisition.    Just as coming south to stop Alexius and Corypheus helped him break out of his aimless wandering around Tevinter, drowning his sorrows from time to time, after the emotional turmoil that his father had left him in.   I hope I'm making sense here.  

 

Of course, if something big happened up north, like a Qunari invasion, then I have no doubt that Dorian would immediately want to return home and I know I wouldn't want to stand in his way if he did.   Of course I'd want to help but if something cropped up down south at the same time, then may be we'd have no option but to be apart until the crisis was over. 

[nightscrawl]

Just popping in to say that Dorian's voice actor is lovely. Wow. Can you imagine meeting someone while out and about who has a voice like that? You'd just hand him a phonebook and a couple of twenties and grab yourself a comfy chair.

Fenris was the first time I had encountered Gideon Emery. You'd better believe that when he opened his mouth and uttered that first syllable that I just sat there with my mouth hanging open.

For Ramon Tikaram specifically, while he is a great VA, and I do really enjoy his voice, a lot of it with him is also the acting and the way he pulls off Dorian. He has such a wide vocal range and can project such emotion, that it's hard to not be totally smitten.
 

He and Viv are grossly underutilized as VAs. They could narrate the rest of my life and I'd be perfectly content. Bitchy repartee would be a bonus.

Lol... I was totally floored when I learned that she was Luther's wife, Zoe, in Luther. (This is a cop drama and can be pretty violent, so I don't recommend it if you aren't into that kinda thing, but it is a great show.)
 
 

Just jumping in on your thought about men reading fanfiction about men written by women, I've read my fair share (mostly the dirty ones unless they're just really, really well written) and it usually doesn't bother me except when it's obvious that the female author has very limited knowledge of male anatomy (like everyone have a ten or eleven inch penis or not knowing the arragement of the backdoor area like where a prostate is and so on) or when one of the male characters is written completely out of character and feminized to the point of being an obvious female stand-in. And the second is unfortunately a big issue with a lot of fanfic Dorian appears in. I tend to avoid anything that's labeled bottom Dorian because he's usually completely emasculated by female writers.

I've noticed the anatomy issue in a lot of fanart as well, to the point where seeing a correct one is kind of a (pleasant, hot) surprise. I don't quite get the overwhelming amount of fan content by women though... I find it difficult to believe that we're just more likely to be all "fangirly" and create stuff like this, whereas as the fanboys keep it to themselves. Perhaps it happens to be a coincidence based on the content I've absorbed over the years that has me mostly exposed to the female creators.

 

I find the feminizing of Dorian to be a bit odd actually, particularly if you have female players writing their Inquisitor. To me it seems like the natural default would be for the writer to self-insert with their Inquisitor and have Dorian top. And... people label the fanfic that way?? o_O

[Melbella]

Fenris was the first time I had encountered Gideon Emery. You'd better believe that when he opened his mouth and uttered that first syllable that I just sat there with my mouth hanging open.

Haha...me too. He pretty much had me at "Hello." He's still my fave in DA2. As for Dorian, the very first thing that popped into my head the first time I heard him speak in DAI was, "Hey, he sounds like that Waterdeep magic-shop keeper in Hordes of the Underdark." Mind you, I have no idea if they are the same voice actor or not. That's just the first person I thought of.

[GGGenesis]

Just jumping in on your thought about men reading fanfiction about men written by women, I've read my fair share (mostly the dirty ones unless they're just really, really well written) and it usually doesn't bother me except when it's obvious that the female author has very limited knowledge of male anatomy (like everyone have a ten or eleven inch penis or not knowing the arragement of the backdoor area like where a prostate is and so on) or when one of the male characters is written completely out of character and feminized to the point of being an obvious female stand-in. And the second is unfortunately a big issue with a lot of fanfic Dorian appears in. I tend to avoid anything that's labeled bottom Dorian because he's usually completely emasculated by female writers.

OMG THIS! I once had a massive argument with a cis straight woman about how she emasculated bottoms in her fics and she raised an army to send me death threats. LOL, sorry I'm actually gay? Very few female fanfic writers care about being accurate with men having sex, it's completely fetishised and that's driven me off fanfiction. It's dirty in sometimes a very demeaning manner - fics where they refer to their bottom as their woman, fics where the bottom becomes a domesticated trophy wife, fics where the bottom has to depend on the top completely. I swear, one more fic featuring doggy style and I'm out. To be fair though, even some men don't know where the prostate is...but we don't talk about such men.

 

So far I've only been reading Dorian/Inquisitor fics, particularly Lavellan. There's a trend for Dorian becoming a woeful prince in need of rescuing in many Trevelyan fics, but the Lavellans do get sweet and there aren't any trunk sized appendages, not enough Adaar or Cadash to really comment on. Dorian/Bull fics make me cringe. Prepare your anus Dorian, it's about to get mutilated! 

[tklivory]

OMG THIS! I once had a massive argument with a cis straight woman about how she emasculated bottoms in her fics and she raised an army to send me death threats. LOL, sorry I'm actually gay? Very few female fanfic writers care about being accurate with men having sex, it's completely fetishised and that's driven me off fanfiction. It's dirty in sometimes a very demeaning manner - fics where they refer to their bottom as their woman, fics where the bottom becomes a domesticated trophy wife, fics where the bottom has to depend on the top completely. I swear, one more fic featuring doggy style and I'm out. To be fair though, even some men don't know where the prostate is...but we don't talk about such men.
 
So far I've only been reading Dorian/Inquisitor fics, particularly Lavellan. There's a trend for Dorian becoming a woeful prince in need of rescuing in many Trevelyan fics, but the Lavellans do get sweet and there aren't any trunk sized appendages, not enough Adaar or Cadash to really comment on. Dorian/Bull fics make me cringe. Prepare your anus Dorian, it's about to get mutilated!

Wow, I wrote a big long huge novel-sized thing but decided no one would want to read it, but here's a short, short version:

Perhaps unfortunately (since I am a fanfiction writer), I find it very, very difficult to read fanfiction. GGGenesis and (Disgusted Noise)., you hit on a lot of reasons why it's hard to read so much of the fanfiction written about Dorian specifically and gay men in general, but what it comes down to me is that those writers concentrate so much on the character's assumed sexuality that they forget about the character's actual personality.

All I know is that, when I write smut/sex (yes even orgies hush) the emotion has to be there, in the minds of the characters, or I just can't do it. I write two main pairings with Dorian, one more controversial than the other (still a man tho), but when I do get around to publishing my Trevelyan/Dorian fic, I can promise you it won't be Martin 'rescuing' Dorian. (WTF, Dorian doesn't need rescuing where the hell did that come from he is not a special snowflake gdi) I try to make conflict come from within in my stories, and try not to impose external events but let the dynamics of the world shape the conflict. And as for sex, writing it for me is not about the titillation (though I've been assured by readers that titillation is definitely in effect for them), but about the fulfillment between the two (or more *cough*) individuals involved. What happens before and after the sex is just as important if not more so than the sex itself (which is why I have a hard time writing smut one-shots, tbh).

It's the fact that the Inquisitor wanted the after that was so very vital to Dorian, not the Inquisitor wanting the moment. I think the most painful moment for Dorian for me to watch in the whole game is after the sex scene if you tell him 'kthxbai'.

If your story isn't interesting without the sex, then you need to reconsider. If your sex is written in such a way that it doesn't need the story to work, or if you could substitute any two hot men (or Qunari or whatever) into the scene and see no difference, or can rename one man Top and the other Bottom and see no difference, then you need to reconsider. And my worst writing is always when I don't hold true to those rules.

(and obviously I fail at short again. Oh well.)

[nightscrawl]

OMG THIS! I once had a massive argument with a cis straight woman about how she emasculated bottoms in her fics and she raised an army to send me death threats. LOL, sorry I'm actually gay? Very few female fanfic writers care about being accurate with men having sex, it's completely fetishised and that's driven me off fanfiction. It's dirty in sometimes a very demeaning manner - fics where they refer to their bottom as their woman, fics where the bottom becomes a domesticated trophy wife, fics where the bottom has to depend on the top completely. I swear, one more fic featuring doggy style and I'm out. To be fair though, even some men don't know where the prostate is...but we don't talk about such men.

OK, well if that's what you and (Disgusted noise.) are comparing to, I can feel more confident in my own writing, so thanks for that. Although I do have a tendency to write them (particularly my guy, but he is mine after all...) to be a bit emotional, I consider that to pale in comparison to what you describe. Some of that is really terrible.

 

So far I've only been reading Dorian/Inquisitor fics, particularly Lavellan. There's a trend for Dorian becoming a woeful prince in need of rescuing in many Trevelyan fics, but the Lavellans do get sweet and there aren't any trunk sized appendages, not enough Adaar or Cadash to really comment on. Dorian/Bull fics make me cringe. Prepare your anus Dorian, it's about to get mutilated!

Geez, does no one write any emotional support fics? For example, my guy has some issues with the immense responsibility that his position entails, and the whole Adamant thing really fs with his mind. One of my own favorite fics is where Dorian is being supportive in dealing with some of that, because that's what partners DO. Sure, sex is fun; and writing it (can be) fun, but it's not all there is.

Most of mine that have sex use it to support the relationship and are secondary to other things in it; I rarely write smut for it's own sake and keep that stuff in my own head until I have some supporting idea it can be attached to.

 

If your story isn't interesting without the sex, then you need to reconsider. If your sex is written in such a way that it doesn't need the story to work, or if you could substitute any two hot men (or Qunari or whatever) into the scene and see no difference, then you need to reconsider. And my worst writing is always when I don't hold true to those rules.

Hah you posted this while I was writing my reply here. Great post as always. I do want to add that, while I do prefer the emotion aspects, and see them as primary, with sex as a secondary, there is a place for smut. BUT with the caveat that the smut, no matter who the pairing is, is still done in a manner that is in accordance with the character's personality.

Frankly, I found some of the examples that GGGenesis gave to be disgusting and I don't know how you could claim to care about a character, any character, and particularly Dorian (who needs a hug and caring), and write them in such a manner. I don't know... perhaps I'm caring too much about a fake person. I know Dorian isn't real, obviously, and doesn't need me to defend him on the internet, but women writing him as basically a sex object is just terrible. And no, I don't really care that men do, and have done, the same thing for ages. Two wrongs don't make a right.

And um... why is your one pairing controversial? (You can PM me with this if you don't want to clutter the thread.)

 

 

 

To bring it back to Dorian... I asked MelissaGT on tumblr to take some pics of him in the same vein as her recent Cullen ones (yes, I know, "sex object," but they did put it in the game for us to oogle), so I'll hopefully have those to share soon... If Tiki doesn't post them before me .

[The Oracle]

Ah, Dorian fanfic writing. I've only done one fic with Dorian in it and best probably not to mention it here cause it'll most likely lead to some annoyed people (it was however, written as an entirely non-canon piece of nonsense "sex pollen" orgy). But even in that totally unbelievable mess, getting the characters voice and mannerisms is what makes it enjoyable, if not redeemable. 

 

I tend to go onto youtube and listen to the wonderful banter compellation with the characters interacting together. It gives great insight into how they speak, how they react to confrontation or heartbreaking truths (thank you Cole) or their response to friendship. Dorian's always stands out, just with the wide range of issues and feelings invoked (and his utterly brilliant voice actor). As for the more technical aspects...well, writing can help you allude without needing to go into specifics. Sometimes when things get too technical and descriptive, it can completely turn you off of a sex scene (both hetero and gay sex scenes). 

[(Disgusted noise.)]

OMG THIS! I once had a massive argument with a cis straight woman about how she emasculated bottoms in her fics and she raised an army to send me death threats. LOL, sorry I'm actually gay? Very few female fanfic writers care about being accurate with men having sex, it's completely fetishised and that's driven me off fanfiction. It's dirty in sometimes a very demeaning manner - fics where they refer to their bottom as their woman, fics where the bottom becomes a domesticated trophy wife, fics where the bottom has to depend on the top completely. I swear, one more fic featuring doggy style and I'm out. To be fair though, even some men don't know where the prostate is...but we don't talk about such men.

 

So far I've only been reading Dorian/Inquisitor fics, particularly Lavellan. There's a trend for Dorian becoming a woeful prince in need of rescuing in many Trevelyan fics, but the Lavellans do get sweet and there aren't any trunk sized appendages, not enough Adaar or Cadash to really comment on. Dorian/Bull fics make me cringe. Prepare your anus Dorian, it's about to get mutilated! 

 

Dorian/Lavellan is sort of a personal squick of mine (not that there's anything wrong with other people liking it), but I've never really noticed Dorian/Trevelyan fics being an issue. But I personally like the idea of Dorian getting his Prince Charming, since non-mage Trevelyan is basically the non-Tevinter version of the kind of guys he grew up with and never thought he had a chance with since they were peers, but I only like that if Dorian doesn't became a male damsel to Trevelyan's Charming.

 

And Bull/Dorian fics are effing disgusting. I don't like how that relationship was handeled in the game, but that was nothing compared to the awful stuff Adoribull fanfic authors put Dorian through. And the fact that they do that with the one canon gay character in DA is down right homophobic, in my opinion.

 

OK, well if that's what you and (Disgusted noise.) are comparing to, I can feel more confident in my own writing, so thanks for that. Although I do have a tendency to write them (particularly my guy, but he is mine after all...) to be a bit emotional, I consider that to pale in comparison to what you describe. Some of that is really terrible.
 

 

Oh, I don't have a problem with people's Inquisitor being more... stereotypical, I guess you could say. Someone's Inquisitor is their character and they can write him however they like. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when people write fanfic about canon gay men and write them completely out of character in order to warp them into a shallow stereotype.

[nightscrawl]

But I personally like the idea of Dorian getting his Prince Charming, since non-mage Trevelyan is basically the non-Tevinter version of the kind of guys he grew up with and never thought he had a chance with since they were peers, but I only like that if Dorian doesn't became a male damsel to Trevelyan's Charming.

I love this line of thought! One of the reasons I prefer non-mage Trevelyan is because of the peer issue (I don't think that a mage Trev who has been in a Circle for 10+ years can be considered one); you expanded on it nicely.
 

Oh, I don't have a problem with people's Inquisitor being more... stereotypical, I guess you could say. Someone's Inquisitor is their character and they can write him however they like. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when people write fanfic about canon gay men and write them completely out of character in order to warp them into a shallow stereotype.

The only person to read my fics described my Inquisitor as "touchy-feely." I'll add that the majority of Dorian angst that I write takes place in his own head and he doesn't actually behave in an emotional way, which I really try to do to be in keeping with the game. The one overtly emotional scene I wrote is him alone. That said, we only have a handful of scenes with Dorian and the Inquisitor, and of those only one -- two if you count the final balcony scene -- is in private, so I think it's difficult to know for certain how he would behave in those moments. I don't think he would be a sap, but he does have his moments, even in the game.

 

As for the more technical aspects...well, writing can help you allude without needing to go into specifics. Sometimes when things get too technical and descriptive, it can completely turn you off of a sex scene (both hetero and gay sex scenes).

It's a balance, I think. I think there should be enough elements to make it seem realistic, but not so many that it turns crude. It also depends on the words you use to describe said realism. The word choice makes all the difference. Then again, many people get off on the use of crude terms, so I guess it depends on what you like.
 
Alluding back to the emotional aspect, a "fade to black" ending to a fic can be quite fun as well. They're a couple, they have, or are going to have, sex, but that wasn't the point of this particular fic. Stuff like that.
 

I tend to go onto youtube and listen to the wonderful banter compellation with the characters interacting together. It gives great insight into how they speak...

I wrote a Cole (doing his Cole thing) dialog in one fic and that was a struggle. It took several iterations before I was finally happy. It actually helped to go to the DAwiki and read a lot of his dialog to notice the patterns.

[Gervaise]

From what you say about Fanfics related to Dorian generally, I'm glad I don't read them.   Dorian's sexuality is only one part of what he is and I feel DG did a great job in ensuring that didn't become his only defining feature.   That said, I do find it a shame that you don't get to explore Dorian's character in such depth if you are his friend.   I realise that a romance partner is likely to be able to see Dorian in a way that a friend wouldn't but even so, the way the conversation just dries up on the friendship path after the confrontation with Mother Giselle is a bit disappointing.    The only way to stretch it out is to flirt with him having not done so previously or, as a girl, tell him you don't want to stop flirting.    The first time I played through I had my girl give him a gentle scolding for leading her on and then say she was happy if they could carry on being friends, but not saying anything about continuing the flirting.    Thereafter every time I clicked on Dorian it was just "Hello", "Goodbye".     I've mentioned previously that I feel the option to spend some time together that only appears if you are in a romance but actually entails doing things you could equally do as friends should have been available to either a romance or a friend, just not to anyone who was not on good terms with Dorian.  

 

When I mentioned above about Dorian stopping my romance with Solas, I didn't mean as in him actually interfering as he wouldn't actually know what was going on considering most of our encounters are either in the Fade or in my quarters and in any case he probably wouldn't think it his place to do so.    However, what would have been good, and which I had to imagine for myself, would be Dorian comforting my girl over her failed romance, the final confrontation of which he would have witnessed considering he has a ring side seat up in the gallery and our exchange took place in the real world.      In fact what actually happened was that Solas broke off our relationship, she went upstairs to see her best friend Dorian and he starts talking about returning to Tevinter.    Talk about bad timing.    I think it had to be the worst day of her life by a long way.    Luckily he changed his mind on that one, particularly when Solas went off and still hadn't given her an adequate explanation for his actions.   That is where my imagination kicked in concerning Dorian being a shoulder to cry on and helping her get through the emotional turmoil.

[tklivory]

*sneaks in with some smexy NSFW piccies taken by @MelissaGT of Dorian.*

Color:

Spoiler

B&W:

Spoiler

[source]

*sneaks back out*

[nightscrawl]

However, what would have been good, and which I had to imagine for myself, would be Dorian comforting my girl over her failed romance, the final confrontation of which he would have witnessed considering he has a ring side seat up in the gallery and our exchange took place in the real world.

OH, that would have been nice, I agree.

 

[edit]

I think the game is lacking in more moments like that in general. While you do get to express reluctance or refusal as the Herald of Andraste, or anxiety over being Inquisitor or some other things, I do wish there was a bit more chance for that type of RP, especially with your LI, who might be the only person you might confide in. This is certainly the case with my Inquisitor.

 

In fact what actually happened was that Solas broke off our relationship, she went upstairs to see her best friend Dorian and he starts talking about returning to Tevinter. Talk about bad timing.

Geez... I guess I should count myself lucky that I've never truly had devastating RP experiences like that in games.

Even my very first play of DAO, my fem dwarf warrior didn't romance anyone, refused the dark ritual, and had an un-hardened King Alistair who ended up sacrificing himself. I reloaded and did the fight over again to see if any other dialog choice would have made a difference, but no. However, I was never really messed up by some of the choices as I know other people were. My successive plays were more satisfactory with meta knowledge.

[Gervaise]

Solas and Dorian cover the two extremes of emotional experience for me in DAI, particularly at the end.   With Solas it was a case of sheer disbelief, gut punching depression followed by a numbness as I went through the motions at the celebration party and then my girl ended up in her quarters staring off into the horizon alone.  By contrast with Dorian there was sheer elation when Cory finally bit the dust and we were both still alive, that look that passes between Dorian and the Inquisitor that had me welling up with tears of happiness, the real sense of celebration at the party, culminating in Dorian telling me he was going to stay and rounded off with that lovely exchange in my quarters and balcony scene.    Even if Dorian couldn't make my girl feel better in game, he certainly did the trick for me.

[nightscrawl]

Sigh... David Gaider's post drew me into that damn thread on the IGN article and boy was that a mistake. I had to delete half of a post before publishing it because I knew it would be too inflammatory (and thus not productive).

 

Lesson learned... for now, I guess.

[Big I]

I've got a story question about Dorian and whether or not he stays in the Inquisition.

 

In my game I didn't romance him, just became good friends with him. At the party after beating Corypheus he says he's not planning on going back to Tevinter after I asked him about it. He had reconciled with his father in Redcliffe so I was a bit surprised at that. However, post game dialogue and his entry in the Keep say that he does go back to Tevinter. This seems like somewhere along the line Dorian's outcomes have bugged.

 

My question is, if Dorian:

 

-did not romance the Inquisitior

-is in a relationship with the Iron Bull (who remained in the Qun)

-is friends with the Inquisitor

-reconciled with his father

 

is he supposed to stay in the Inquisition, or is he supposed to return to Tevinter? I don't really have a preference for either outcome, but I'd like to make sure the Keep is accurate in what is supposed to happen.

[nightscrawl]

Since we've talked about it in the thread, here is a shot of Dorian's makeup for you folks. You wouldn't believe the spamming of Print Screen I had to do to catch him blink. Anyone else want to pet his eyebrows? I have a thing for eyebrows...

 

[nightscrawl]

I've got a story question about Dorian and whether or not he stays in the Inquisition.
 
In my game I didn't romance him, just became good friends with him. At the party after beating Corypheus he says he's not planning on going back to Tevinter after I asked him about it. He had reconciled with his father in Redcliffe so I was a bit surprised at that. However, post game dialogue and his entry in the Keep say that he does go back to Tevinter. This seems like somewhere along the line Dorian's outcomes have bugged.
 
My question is, if Dorian:
 
-did not romance the Inquisitior
-is in a relationship with the Iron Bull (who remained in the Qun)
-is friends with the Inquisitor
-reconciled with his father
 
is he supposed to stay in the Inquisition, or is he supposed to return to Tevinter? I don't really have a preference for either outcome, but I'd like to make sure the Keep is accurate in what is supposed to happen.

It's a known bug relating to the party conversation. If you talk to him at the party the decision shows him as returning to Tevinter, regardless of what is supposed to happen. If you do NOT talk to him at the party you do get a correct "stay" dialog, so I am assuming that the correct one plays regardless of whether he stays or goes.

Unfortunately this also affects the tile unlock for DA Keep, which is annoying. If you want to unlock both Keep tiles for him, do a hard save at the party, talk to him, and allow that save to upload. Then go back, don't talk to him, and allow that save to upload.

Pick whichever option you prefer to see.

I tend to watch both and then, unfortunately, ignore the poor dear so it registers correctly in the post-game. If you are in a romance with him he automatically approaches you as you enter your quarters, so no worries about that if you end up doing the romance.

 

Feel free to bump the bug thread and say that you also experienced the issue.

[Unable2Connect]

It's a known bug relating to the party conversation. If you talk to him at the party the decision shows him as returning to Tevinter, regardless of what is supposed to happen. If you do NOT talk to him at the party you do get a correct "stay" dialog, so I am assuming that the correct one plays regardless of whether he stays or goes.
 

 

I have a playthrough where I spoke to him at the party, but ignored him post-game and it correctly says that he stayed in the Keep. It seems to be once you speak to him afterwards that's what messes the Keep tile up.

[nightscrawl]

^ Interesting.

 

I only mentioned the Keep because Big I did, but I personally am more concerned with Dorian's actual post-game conversation. I dislike the fact that the dialog is bugged immensely, particularly since we're eight patches in and it's not fixed. Being familiar with the many lingering bugs in DAO and DA2, I am not hopeful.

[Unable2Connect]

It'll be annoying if they add any post-game DLC where we can talk further to the companions in Skyhold. You'd probably have to then trigger that bugged dialogue before getting anything new. And then if the staying/leaving dialogue is referenced at all in the DLC it'll be glitched, urgh.

 

But I'm not holding out any hope we'll get any additional interactions like that for it to matter too much anyway.

[Gervaise]

With any luck the DLC will be like JoH and so you may have opportunities to talk with certain companions out in the field but there is no additional dialogue at Skyhold.   That way you can ignore the glitched post epilogue dialogue.   However, regardless of what companions said they would do, apart from Solas everyone was still around for JoH, so I imagine the same will be true of the next DLC.     If they do put in extra dialogue back at Skyhold then they will have to address the glitches, so hopefully it will be a win/win situation either way.   

 

If that survey is genuine and that next DLC involves both Solas and the Qunari, then that would have definite implications for various romances and loyalties within the organisation, which I assume would have to be addressed in a way that involved dialogue.  

 

So far as entries in the Keep are concerned, I think there is a problem with transfer of data that is not confined to Dorian.   There were quests that I know I did that did not show up but I knew should have been there.    In the end I gave up trying to upload successfully and instead just used the spoiler button to show everything that should be present and then made adjustments to reflect how I played the game.

 

Regarding the post epilogue dialogue, is there actually a version that does acknowledge his decision to stay?    I know there are several variants in what he says to a friend or romance but to date I have never come across one where it is not implied his stay is only temporary.      As a result I had come to think that perhaps we are not meant to take his comments seriously.   

[Unable2Connect]

Regarding the post epilogue dialogue, is there actually a version that does acknowledge his decision to stay?    I know there are several variants in what he says to a friend or romance but to date I have never come across one where it is not implied his stay is only temporary.      As a result I had come to think that perhaps we are not meant to take his comments seriously.   

 

There's one where he makes a comment about something and I literally cannot remember what it is he says here nor can I find the video I saw it in.

 

But the Inquisitor says something like "Is that the only reason you're staying?" in reply to it and Dorian says "Not the only reason."

 

I'm not sure if it's romance-specfic only (it kinda sounds that way?) I think it was one of Danaduchy's videos I saw it but I'm having trouble finding which one. Hopefully someone knows which one it is or can at least fill in the first part.