The Dorian Pavus #BornPerfect Artbook. A fan campaign for LGBT equality. All books sold out, thank you!
FAQ - mobile version var sc_project=11359323; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="329ad2d7";
Pre-orders for the Dragon Age: Terminus Zine and Tarot set, close in two weeks!
If you want the chance to get your hands on our gorgeous book full to the brim with gorgeous illustrations, comics, codexes and prose that you can't find anywhere else!
But also, this gorgeous limited set of tarot cards:
I wanted to know if there will be any similar initiatives to Fortitudo dedicated to Dorian Pavus in the future.
I keep regretting not purchasing Fortitudo…
Hi @annapivafanart
As it's been years since Fortitudo, and both me and Elie kinda moved on to organize big events like that, I don't think there will be another initiative. At least not hosted by us. I'd be happy to participate in something similar as a guest though :)
Sorry to hear that. Best we can offer is a digital copy of Fortitudo if you donate
$15 or more for ACLU or other LGBTQ org and DM me the proof of donation (screenshot) @trashwarden/ @lateforjianghu
Are digital copies of the art book and coloring book still available?
Hi @sulky-valkyrie!
Thank you for your interest. Yes, digital copies of both, Fortitudo and DA Coloring Book, are available for download after showing a proof of donation:
Fortitudo - $15 or more for ACLU or any LGBTQ org of your choosing
Coloring Thedas - $10 or more for Polish org MNW
Best to contact me via DMs @trashwarden/ @lateforjianghu as I can't seem to access the old e-mail.
Former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider talks to us about the importance of Inquisition's Dorian Pavus.
TheGamer DA Week article - David Gaider On The Creation Of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Dorian
Former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider talks to us about the importance of Inquisition’s Dorian Pavus.
Dorian was originally conceived as part of very specific BioWare methodology: instead of writing an entire character before the art team had the chance to inject their own input into it, Gaider and his co-writers would come up with “quick concepts” to pitch the artists. “Phrases like ‘rock star mage’ and ‘grizzled warrior’ with just a paragraph blurb,” Gaider explains. “We could do a lot of these, and the artists could come up with various ideas for them pretty quickly… and it was much easier to see which ones clicked with the artists right away. Sometimes the portraits they produced inspired us in return.”
“The ‘rock star mage’ was one of these. The result looked a bit like Freddie Mercury, which I thought was cool… but we had no idea he’d be gay. We simply knew that he was a Tevinter mage, and that he’d have a kind of rock star attitude. He’d be very flashy compared to mages we’d typically seen elsewhere. It wasn’t until later when the team started discussing who the romances could possibly be the idea was floated that maybe our ‘rock star mage’ could also be gay. I remember the moment, because at that point the reason he’d left his homeland and his family became very clear to me. I knew what his story would be and instantly claimed him as mine. Everything else followed from there.”
Although Dorian wasn’t initially pitched as a gay companion, his sexuality became an essential part of his character as soon as Gaider took the reins. There were other vital aspects of his character too, mind - up until this point, most characters from Tevinter were originally from Minrathous, its capital city. When the art team produced concepts with versions of Dorian that were darker-skinned, Gaider decided he would come from the eastern Imperium. In his eyes, this is what people from cities in the east of Tevinter like Qarinus would look like, although he’s not 100 percent sure if that will continue to be the case from here on out. […]
“The moment we raised the possibility of Dorian being gay, it clicked in my head what his personal story would be,” Gaider tells me. “I knew, as well, that I wanted that to be his story. With a lot of characters, their sexualities are incidental and only affect their romances. They aren’t really mentioned otherwise. Sexuality certainly doesn’t have to be a character’s story, but in this case I felt like I had something to say. I’d never had the opportunity to put a piece of myself in a character I was writing, so it was a very personal experience.”
“We knew that Dorian needed a reason to leave Tevinter. Originally the vague idea was that he was a ‘conscientious objector’ to how magic in Tevinter was rife with corruption and blood magic. I knew I still wanted that, to a degree, but I was also a bit leery about having yet another mage be 100 percent defined by his stance on blood magic. Having this additional angle, where Dorian wasn’t just privately gay but also wasn’t willing to conform to his parents’ expectations simply for the sake of appearances really informed, for me, the kind of idealism he needed to also be the conscientious objector - the Tevinter mage who opposed blood magic on principle, no matter how common a practice it was by every mage around him. It just made sense.” […]
“According to the telemetry, Dorian wasn’t an active companion in very many peoples’ parties,” Gaider says. “He was also the least-romanced of the romanceable NPCs, percentage-wise. I don’t think numbers really matter to those who loved him, however. He struck a chord with a lot of people. I think I received more personal mail from fans about Dorian than any other character I’ve written, including ones for whom Dorian was a vehicle for them to come out to friends and family, or for whom Dorian’s story allowed them to process trauma from gay conversion therapy they’d experienced. So it’s clear those who love him love him a lot. I’m always glad when anything I’ve written manages to touch someone, so I’m tickled that a character who was such a personal project also turned out to be such a success.”
Since it's Pride Month a reminder you can still grab a digital copies of Dragon Age fan projects - Fortitudo a Dorian Pavus Artbook and Coloring Thedas a Digital Coloring Book - in exchange of donations to LGBTQ charities!
To grab your digital copy simply make a donation to the charity and send the screen to: [email protected]
Fortitudo - $15 or more for ACLU
Coloring Thedas - $10 or more for MNW
All the artists involved did such an amazing job on these projects and I'm still in awe of the entries. Dragon Age fandom is full of generous and amazing people!
More details about both projects can be found here: @dorianartbook
I painted Dorian Pavus in 2017 for a limited-edition hardcover art book FORTITUDO. You can now get a print of it from my Inprnt store.
The art books have since sold out but you can still get the PDF of it. Check the details HERE
hey, sorry, to bother you! i've just recently returned to the dragon age fandom after being gone forever, and i don't know who all is active anymore. any recommendations on who to follow, especially if they post dorian content?
Hi Nonnie, that’s okay. Welcome back to the fandom. 😊
Here are some active ones off the top of my head! -
@dragonagecostumes (in-world fashion and costume references/collection)
@wyrdsistersofthedas (lore and theorycrafting)
@unofficialdragonageday (the blog of the official-unofficial fan-created Dragon Age Day)
@weirdefilippis (Tumblr page for the writing team behind the comics Knight Errant, Deception and Blue Wraith)
@womenofthedas (eponymous!)
@chantry-scholar (lore, analysis and in-world art posts)
@dorianartbook (blog for the art book Fortitudo which was an ode to Dorian. they currently have another charity project running called Coloring Thedas)
@ladyresma (I just think Vivid, her OC Resma and headcanons are neat! lore things can also be found here)
I’m sorry to say that I don’t have Dorian-specific recommendations. If people reading have any Dorian content-focused or -heavy blogs to recommend please let them know in the notes!
Week after we launched Coloring Thedas and we already crossed $1000USD in donations. Thank you all so much!
Of course we won’t stop here and I will keep sending out links to the book as long as there is interest. So if you still haven’t gotten your copy and you are itching to color something here is how you can support us.
Love Does Not Exclude Association also noticed out efforts ❤️
Thank you Dragon Age fandom for your continued generosity!
Week after we launched Coloring Thedas and we already crossed $1000USD in donations. Thank you all so much!
Of course we won’t stop here and I will keep sending out links to the book as long as there is interest. So if you still haven’t gotten your copy and you are itching to color something here is how you can support us.
Love Does Not Exclude Association also noticed out efforts ❤️
Thank you Dragon Age fandom for your continued generosity!