#( anyways anyways dao mage tower bit was Not a good time for him )

[endawn]

so, the replacement for vampires in his da verse would be hunger abominations. so, what led to his undeath was him and his men walking into a trap set by what remained of the mythic dawn cultists. who willingly allowed themselves to become possessed by demons in order to have a change to fight the detachment of legion soldiers pax brought with him. keep in mind, one abomination is a massive problem for multiple templars. in this case, the bulk of what they fought were abominations. the mythic dawn no longer had the numbers, so they turned to other means. pax and his men walked to their slaughter.

[moondustocean]

OC/PC Masterpost because there are many of them and I love talking about them c:

First things first: my canon run is always a bit chaotic, I try not to reload and only go for the choices the character I roleplay would make. That's how I get the most fun out of RPGs c: (I had a hard time falling in love with Inky and when I finally found a canon one he chose the opposite of anything I'd have done.)

• Cyberpunk | V - the one who deserved better

only got a bit cyberware installed after the voodoos betrayed him - is a beast anyway | canon ending: the tower | 2079 is like waking up from a bad trip and all the guilt hits him at once | he's a fixer now and tries to make NC his city

• Dragon Age (I need to make a "collage" for my DAO babies and Hawke as well someday. I haven't posted about any of them yet, so no links for now.)

Meena: canon HOF | dwarven commoner | rogue | sacrificed herself because she didn't really understand magic and wasn't sure if she could trust Morrigan's ritual | was a warden with all her heart

Diem: elf | circle mage | used to despise blood magic but ended up taking advantage of it anyway to save his friends | travels the world and looks for a cure at the moment

Kiwa: warden commander | human | rogue | took Anders in after he fled from Kirkwall | gives wine evenings at the warden's keep

Hawke: mage | purple | I went with canon male Hawke bc I played DAI first and instantly fell in love with him. He's in the fade rn ._. I hate my Inky sometimes.

Feodore: the inquisitor | human | mage | made everyone believe he's the herald of andraste because he liked the attention that came with it | was an arrogant idiot until he saw the future | most of his decisions were based on his hunger for wisdom | loves forging

Vi'Alla: elf | mage | got adopted by an old couple when she was one | was on the run from the templars but ended up in a circle for two years until she was sent to the conclave | has a thick accent

Yumaí: dwarf | rogue | if there are potions missing in Skyhold she has them | Sera will probably follow Yumaí around when she joins the wardens because she distrusts them and loves Yumaí so much

Ha'Jae: elf | rogue | lost one of his twelve cousins at the conclave, and wanted to avenge them so badly that he joined the Inquisition, even though he dislikes everyone but the dalish

• Baldur's Gate 3

Sandalion: half-elf | rogue | chaotic good | was an adrenaline junkie and did everything to get a kick | he slowly became somekind of "hero" who still stole from everyone around him | leads the Guild now

Cyanahara: high-elf | bard/babarian | chaotic neutral | is a "if you want something to be done right do it yourself" - person | Sandalion just needs to breathe and Hara is annoyed by him

Osha: tiefling | druid | lawful good | would do about anything to avoid fights | loves to adopt random stuff - pets, strangers, plants | is extremely glad about being a druid

• Mass Effect I'm not going to share much about my Shepard online bc he's my dearest PC.

earthborn | soldier | ace | clean for 15 years now | stone-cold until he "died" in ME2 and slowly learned to feel and function like a normal human being again. "Oh no! by Mariana and the Diamonds" is the best way to descripe my man.

[secretsfromwholecloth]

Hey. Hey, everyone. I don’t have to be back at work until the 31st, so LET’S AGE SOME MOTHERFUCKING DRAGONS WHOOOOOOOOO.

You know, between my unimpressive eyesight and the godawful lighting in all of DA’s character creation screens, I’m not actually sure what color any of my babies’ eyes are.

No goddamn lie, I would commit actual murder for another dozen bun/updo/tied-back/braided hairstyles. This is probably the main philosophical difference between me and the creators of all the hair mods out there.

I’ve already used the single and double buns for other characters, and I envision this one also having fairly long hair that she binds up, so Baroness hair it is, I guess. *sigh*

If you expect me to create a character in DAO without pushing up the cheekbone sliders at least one or two notches, you don’t know me very well. I did restrain myself and only push them up a little bit this time, though.

Anyway! Everyone, meet Isaura Amell. Most of her personality will have to reveal itself to me as I play, as the plans I have are mostly a) fairly nebulous and b) for later in the game.

For the record, I think her eyes are gray. Who the fuck knows if I’m right, though.

Fine, Valour, Isaura will play your game...Oh, what’s that, you’re just handing her a staff? Very nice of you.

You tried, Mouse. Thanks for the lesson.

Jowan gets less whiny when he’s out of this specific situation, right?

Goodness, that’s what Niall looks like outside the Fade.

Now that I get a good listen to him, yeah, I can hear that he shares a VA with Serafen from Deadfire.

Ah, hello, Duncan. Is it good to see you? I think it is.

Jowan, I swear, you get the worst ideas sometimes.

Hello, Cullen. Apparently you’re 19 here, though I’d be hard-pressed to say you look it. You know what, I was a total shithead when I was 19. I get it.

Isaura is going to call Cullen’s bluff and offer to “continue the discussion” in private as much because it makes her feel in control for once as anything. Maybe she understands deep down that someone wanting to fuck you isn’t the same as having power over them, though I don’t think she’s yet had to learn it the hard way, but when you live in a Circle tower, you take your happiness where you can.

Also, there’s no way she’s older than maybe 23, probably closer to 20 or 21, which is still a good age for shitheadery.

She really just wanted to toy with Cullen, and I doubt she was thinking far enough ahead to have a plan for what she’d do if he took her up on her offer. The running away part was an amusing if unexpected bonus.

Keeping Jowan and Lily’s secret, and helping them out (which of course means they owe her and know it), is a similar “being in control” kind of thing.

So the Storage Caves are like a tiny little mini-Deep Roads, huh?

Huh, this is the first time I’ve seen the tower basement outside the context of Witch Hunt.

Whee, time to murder our way through the basement!

Oh, hello there, Eleni Zinovia.

Oops, got caught, time to play dumb.

Isaura certainly had an idea Jowan was dabbling in blood magic, but she didn’t think he was quite foolish enough to go and do that in front of Irving and Greagoir. Really, Jowan. The worst ideas, Jowan.

Hello, Cailan. You’re very enthusiastic for someone about to have such a very, very bad day.

Isaura has had enough of antagonizing the powerful for one week, so she’s going to be polite and deferential to Cailan and laugh at his jokes. We’ve all been there.

A “secret ritual”, huh, Duncan? Isaura just wants to know if she’s going to have to fight any more demons.

Ooh, my first crash! Luckily for me, I saved a couple of seconds before, knowing it’s always a risk when I cross the bridge into Ostagar for some reason. And it didn’t take the whole computer with it and wipe out all my typing.

Hello, Wynne. Fancy seeing you here.

The glitchies already? The Ostagar quartermaster’s clothing textures aren’t loading.

Hello, Alistair. Meet your future girlfriend.

Oh, look, a baby Templar. Well, some kind of former baby Templar. Quite possibly still a baby Templar at heart. Isaura can play with him like she used to do with Cullen, and then get all surprised when she grows to really, genuinely like the guy. (What? He’s sweet. Stop looking at her like that.)

Alistair, dearie, the woman wearing Circle robes and carrying a staff slung across her back “[doesn’t] look like a mage”? You didn’t think that one through, did you?

Hello, Morrigan. *sigh*

Part of Isaura wants to be friends, part of her wonders if there’s really room in her world for another young mage woman who spent her youth shut away from the bulk of humanity and who has a tendency to talk like a book because of it.

But as long as they’re the only two women around, “let’s be friends” will win out. Anyway, she doesn’t know any of this yet.

It’s so weird seeing Flemeth without her hair and makeup done.

“Your woman’s mind”—at this point, I just wonder what she’d ask of male Cousland, who’d have nothing to distinguish him from the other three in terms of gender, species, or magical ability.

Tower of Ishal time!

What, I don’t get a rogue for this part? Dammit. Well, it was worth asking.

I sure do love Flame Blast.

Flaming Weapons doesn’t look too shabby either.

Well, time to clean the place out like we’re not on a deadline.

Ha, the ogre went down like a chump. I love Winter’s Grasp, too.

Well, that’s done. To Lothering!

Oh, hello, doggie. Now, what do I name you? Hm, how about Rashvine?

And after the first of many, many conversations where Alistair and Morrigan snark at each other a whole lot, I’m being forced to pack it in for the night, so more in the morning.

[elusianknight]

hello! i only played dragon age inquisition once but i'd like to know what's the beef with cullen and why people dislike him, or if you could maybe point me to a post that explains it? i'd be grateful, thank you for your time :D

@dalishious​ has written much on this, and much better and more concisely than I (im SORRY THIS IS SO LONG), so definitely check out her literal CULLEN MASTERLIST here.

Long post incoming, my friend!  Here’s my personal explanation, but check out that link too for more examples / concrete evidence lol.

Okay, here’s my honest opinion on the subject.

So the first game, Dragon Age: Origins.  You can pick from six (seven) origins, and two of those are the Mage origin--the only difference between them is that you can play as either a human, or an elf.  All the other origins are dependent on race (dwarf commoner, human noble, city elf, dwarf noble, Dalish elf).

I chose an elven mage on my first playthrough, and you start out in this Circle of Magi--so like, the big tower place w the mages.  Specifically, Kinloch hold, aka the place Cullen was at.

As you play through the origin story of your character, if you’re a girl, it becomes clear that he has some weird crush on your character.  Some people thought this was cute, but that’s overlooking some real, uh, problems with it, to say the least.  He says that he would, literally, kill you if you failed the Harrowing (a test every mage has to take to evolve from being an apprentice to a full Circle mage).  BUT, he says he’d rather not.  So I guess people think it’s sweet that he’d regret killing you, despite doing it willingly...?

Later in the game, you come back to the Circle, and shit’s well and truly fucked.  Demons everywhere, lots of dead mages and templars all around.  But toward the top of the tower, you find Cullen in some weird magic circle thing.  He’s just sitting there, hunched over and mumbling to himself.  Apparently he’s been ~tortured~ as he says in DAI, but all it seems is that he was shown visions.  

And if you’re playing a female mage, those ~visions~ are of your character.

He says they’re “taunting [him] with the one thing he always wanted but could never have, using [his] shame against [him]... [his] ill-advised infatuation with her, a mage of all things.”  Now, I honestly don’t remember if this is just me imagining things or if this actually happened, but I’m rather sure he ALSO will make an additional comment about how she’s an elf, too, as in, just another thing to be ashamed of.  But I think the rest of the dialogue speaks for itself.

The woman who wrote the origin, Sheryl Chee (she wrote Leliana, too, in all games) was confused when people thought he was cute (back in the days of DAO, way before DAI).  She said the only sort of romance Cullen would have with the female mage Warden would be something “quick and violent” and just “to get her out of his system.”

One of the possible ending slides in Origins will mention that Cullen killed three apprentices back at the Circle before he left Kinloch Hold.  This is the ending slide that I got on my first playthrough of the game.

So that clearly colored my opinion of him, but also, when I played DAO i was struggling w my sexuality a bit.  Like, I think I knew I was gay, but I was dealing with homophobia from myself and my family, and I certainly didn’t feel good about it.  The romance with Leliana and my warden honestly brought me to tears at parts because it was so wonderful to see a relationship between two women portrayed as something so sweet and normal (well, as normal as it could be. considering they’re fighting to save the world and all that stuff).  So Cullen’s creepy comments were definitely NOT appreciated.  

And that's aaaaaaaaaall just in Origins.

In Dragon Age II, regardless of what ending you got in DAO, he moves to the city of Kirkwall (where Hawke goes to) and is somehow promoted to the Knight Captain... the second-in-command of Meredith Stannard, the Knight-Commander of Kirkwall.  And if you thought Kinloch Hold treated their mages bad, then hooooo boy, do you have another thing coming!  Because the Circle in Kirkwall is literally called “The Gallows.”  And rest assured, it lives up to its name.

Mages are hunted down and turned Tranquil (made into empty husks devoid of emotion)... illegally.  If a mage passes their Harrowing, Chantry law apparently states that they can’t be made Tranquil, at least without a very good reason--it’s considered a last resort, of sorts, because it leaves the mage alive but unable to use magic (or dream, or have emotions).  But in fact, it’s not a mercy at all.  It’s used as a form of control and widely abused in Kirkwall.  This leaves open room for any number of abuses, because Tranquil are all about ~logic~ and no emotion and what that boils down to is them doing anything, anything, that Templars tell them.  And of course that’s taken advantage of--demonstrated by the fact that a Tranquil mage in Inquisition will tell the Inquisitor that she wouldn’t want to be cured, because she didn’t think she could handle what happened to her while she was Tranquil.  

Anyway, back to Kirkwall.  Meredith keeps up a horrendous system of abuse of mages, such that if you walk near the gates of the gallows you hear people being tortured, like whip lashes and, iirc, screams of pain.  At the end of the game, Hawke can side with mages or templars, and if you side with the templars, Meredith will kill Hawke’s mage sister unless you explicitly stop her.  

And in the end, Cullen sides with Hawke against Meredith, because she’s lost her mind to Red Lyrium... but here’s the thing.

He’s her second in command. He could have prevented some of the abuses in Kirkwall--or if anyone could have questioned her authority, naturally, he could have.  But he didn’t.  Not until the last moment, when he sides with Hawke at the end... as in, sides with the unstoppable force (Hawke and co.) that’s torn through the city anyway.  If he stood with her, he’d have been cut down for sure.  

Finally, Cullen doesn’t even get over the mage warden EVEN in DAI.  If the Warden romanced Leliana, and if he didn’t romance the Inquisitor, he will ask Leliana about the Warden.  The first part makes sense, but the second part kinda confirms that he is literally still thinking about the Warden in such a way.  Which is at least kind of creepy.  It’s been ten whole years.

In the broader scheme of things, a lot of this boils down to the fact that he is a Templar infatuated with a mage.  He held direct power over the mage in question (literally tells the mage warden he’d kill her but feel sad about it???) so there’s not really any way for their relationship to have ever been equal, even if it wasn’t predatory to begin with (her being his charge directly).  

Because, as we know, Cullen can romance a mage in Inquisition.  And it is creepy as hell.  Like, “you’re okay because you’re not like other mages” kind of creepy--calling her an exception, rather than an example, of her people.  There’s other things in DAI--like how he never ACTUALLY apologizes or takes any sort of blame for what he did in Kirkwall--but check out the link because I avoided him as much as I could in DAI lol.