Hi, I saw what you wrote on the dorian mod, I just wanted to ask if you have any proof that a male Inquisitor x Cullen romance was cut due to time restraints? The interview with David Gaider only states that they had reasons - not which one. They certainly had the idea and tested it but canon is that he is straight - might likely be the case that it did not fit the character. I don't use the dorian mod but I think if it is your playthrough you can do what you want. Doesn't change canon.
Actually it was stated by one of the Dragon Age animation developers in a tweet about how they ran out of time creating and animating the scenes of Cullen’s male romances, but the tweet has since be redacted and deleted since Gaider came out and said that Cullen is not “canonically” bisexual. There are a thousand things I could say about Gaider and why he stated that (and why the statement was redacted), despite the original, explained reason actually being timing reasons. None of which I care to go into detail about, since it’s 1) shit, 2) requires a long winded explanation of how Gaider tolerates and interacts with the fandom, 3) doesn’t change anything
Also there is actually a ton of audio for Cullen, down to jealousy talks with both Cassandra and Dorian about Male Inquisitor/Cullen specifically. These files made it into the final game files and means they went really far into development with it, which makes it completely plausible that it was cut only due to time budgeting issues.
So yes, it was another case of where something didn’t make it into the game because of timing and the writers just decided to go with it as a character thing for ease.
Not that it even matters, he is canonically straight you are right and didn’t need to mention it. Especially to me, I have said time and again I don’t care for any romance mods, so preaching to the choir isn’t really needed. For the most part I don’t even care how people play or mod their game, but there is something very wrong with modding Dorian (and even Sera).
It is a disrespectful, immoral, and bigoted personal decision. No one can stop anyone else from making those decisions, but that doesn’t make it better. Because the subject at hand? Dorian? He is the first gay romance introduced in Dragon Age. His story involves him being gay, his story is that of a gay man’s (it’s not all he is, but it is a huge part of him). By using the mod you are literally doing the very thing he feared to him and degrading his character into nothing. It is disrespectful to Gaider, his gay writer and those who identify with him as a character of the gay community. You are brushing off and disregarding a very real situation that people in real life go through, then many of these modders believe they have the right to be offended when someone is upset by it.
It is like modding Cullen’s struggle with both lyrium and his duty out of the game, you lose quite a lot if not everything that makes Cullen’s character in DA:I. Except it’s not just addiction and recovery you are erasing from the game, but a person’s identification and who he is. You might be fine with that, but I am not and I do not have to tolerant a bigoted mod.
Especially when we talk about the straight mod. Because there was absolutely no reason for it. The bi!Dorian mod had already existed, so that is not even remotely a good reasoning for it. Second, if you have to cut a canon romance to instigate a “headcanoned” romance and it happens to be Dorian who literally fears becoming that person…well I think that speaks for itself. And I’ve heard plenty of arguments trying to support it too, one specifically being “well I don’t feel comfortable playing X to romance them.” Well then…do not romance them. It happens, it is bound to happen. Because if you have to ruin a character for a romance, well then you neither care enough about that character to deserve that and you have a disgustingly strong sense of entitlement that I question what kind of person you are.
So just as kind of a side note/psa for anyone, I will never say modding a character’s sexuality is a good thing to do. I won’t tell you how to play your game. But I will also never be indifferent or neutral to Dorian mods, because you are doing something that is wrong and I do not have to roll over and accept it as okay to save your feelings. In this case, your feelings are the least of my concerns and if that makes me a bad person then so be it. Because I will never be as bad as someone who dares to use and/or support the Bi!Dorian and Straight!Dorian mods. I’m all for an accepting fandom, but I think that goes out the door when the fandom can’t even accept a character as is; particularly one whose “headcanons” include erasing his entire personal plot/struggle.