#That or harrowed mages are traumatized enough already

[belleropheon]

Do people have to go through severe trauma to survive the Joining?

Cousland saw his whole house murdered

Tabris had to save themselves and their cousin from a sadistic noble who would torture and murder them

Brosca was awaiting a brutal death of themself, their homie and their sister before escaping

Aeducan got the worst knife in the back from that little shit that is their own bro and left for dead

Amell/Surana was basically kidnapped as a child and had to watch their mentor basically luring their best friend into a trap

Mahariel not only was orphaned, got tainted and lost their bff but they had to leave their clan behind

I am not even going into the Awakening Crew. Just look at them, trauma all around

[abyssal-ilk]

A thing that people always forget when chastising vivienne for being so apathetic to cole is the fact that she is a circle mage. People whom are forced to learn that you should not trust demons nor spirits or else they’ll put you down AS A RITE OF PASSAGE. Think back to what Mouse says in DAO. “Keep your wits about you, mage; true challenges never end.” She knows that for the rest of her life, demons will tempt her and try to possess her. She has seen mages turn into abominations, knows how they get them- of course she will support templars who have the skills to subdue them. And now to have a spirit scurrying around without supervision what is the last bastion against a Tevinter Sidereal… I too would be worried as hell if i were a circle mage.

EXACTLY!

not only is vivienne a circle mage, but there are also a few other factors that play into it that make cole so untrustworthy to her. vivienne underwent her harrowing when she was young– in fact, she was the youngest mage to have ever gone through a harrowing and survived it. we don't get to learn much about what she went through during her harrowing, but we DO have this banter between her and cole:

harrowings on their own are already traumatic enough, and with the added insistence from the circles that all spirits and demons are dangerous (which we see vivienne repeat above, "all it can do is harm."), it makes complete sense on why vivienne would be so put-off by cole! especially given how kind he is! she thinks that kindness is a ploy, and why wouldn't she if her harrowing was anything like the warden's in DAO?

and then that's not even acknowledging the fact that cole isn't just ANY spirit. he's the ghost of the spire. he's killed mages before and admits to doing so. and even though he was wrong to do so and realizes that what he did was wrong, that does not mean that vivienne automatically has to suddenly be okay with what cole did. of course vivienne takes cole being the ghost of the spire harder than everyone else in the inner circle. she is the only circle mage there. it is entirely plausible that she sees cole as a threat and views herself as being the person most able to recognize that threat because of what she was taught. it's why she struggles so much to empathize with cole on any level.

ive already talked about this briefly on another post, but cole is also fairly antagonistic to vivienne as well. it's easy to look at their dynamic and think that, well, cole is just trying to help vivienne but he... isn't? his version of helping her is prying into her thoughts without permission and continuing to do so even after she has shown clear discomfort with it.

cole drags her worst memories and thoughts out publicly in front of not just vivienne, but the rest of the party and anyone else who may happen to be standing near them. it's DANGEROUS, what he does, because vivienne is a player of the game. her position at court is a precarious one, and to have someone like cole who can just pick into her brain whenever he wants with no repercussions? it's scary! it's scary because vivienne has no defense against it, especially if the player supports cole and downplays the harm he does. and what can vivienne do about it? she's an ally of the inquisitor, and that makes her cole's ally by proxy. telling cole to stop doesn't work, insulting him doesn't work, trying to get the inquisitor to intervine doesn't work– nothing seems to deter cole.

which is why THIS piece of dialogue is so important to me:

despite everything i've said above, vivienne still cannot help but care about cole. no matter how dangerous he is, no matter what she was raised to believe, she still cares about him and worries for him. their dynamic is SO interesting to me and i really wish people dug into it a bit more rather than just dismiss it as vivienne being needlessly cruel to cole. it's so much more than that.

[freedomscall-aaa]

III. Love, Lost

So uh, about that whole ‘ He was my first ‘ thing a male H.awke gets told about… I roughly headcanon A.nders as around two to three years younger than Karl.

Given the nature of the Circle and the numerous amount of mages that call it home, it’s likely very possible to only know someone in passing for years before actually getting to know them as an individual person– especially when there is a gap in age, lesson progress, fields of study, etc. So I want to say that A.nders likely didn’t become fully acquainted with Karl until he was roughly sixteen or seventeen. Granted, a sixteen ~ seventeen year old and an eighteen ~ nineteen year old do still have somewhat of a decent gap maturity wise but it is something that still realistically occurs in the real world with high school aged teenagers so I feel more comfortable about it. By saying that Karl was ‘ an older boy ‘ I really really really want to give B.ioware the benefit of the doubt and believe that that they were both horny teenagers doing what horny teenagers do when they first started to engage in certain things tm and uh, not a young adult already in his twenties taking advantage of a rebellious, blond headed, little shit.

OKAY SO, WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY: Canon states that sometime after A.nders’ Harrowing, Karl was sent to K.irkwall as they needed new talent for what I can only assume to be teaching positions. Considering this, honestly I sorta ALSO headcanon A.nders to have not undergone his harrowing until he was slightly older than the other apprentices due to uh, just being who he is in general. Like he’s obviously talented and has a good control over himself and his abilities, but even if Irving might push for Anders’ Harrowing at a younger age I doubt the Knight Commander would agree.

Ether way my interpretation of A.nders likely didn’t undergo his harrowing until he was at around nineteen years of age. Also I don’t think there’s actually a canon age at which mages are harrowed? It always seemed to come off as more of a ‘ when the First Enchanter, Senior Enchanters and the Knight-Commander think a mage-apprentice is ready ‘ kind of thing? Either way, A.nders was in love enough with Karl to think that he was gonna successfully escape K.inloch Hold, successfully get on a boat, successfully make it to K.irkwall, successfully get to the Gallows, and finally, successfully get Karl out so that they can be young apostates in love and on the run together. No one said young love isn’t stupid. As for Karl being grey when meeting back up with A.nders in the K.irkwall c.hantry, premature greying is definitely a thing. There’s genetic factors, stress factors, etc. I personally started going grey around the time I hit 25 then it only got worse when I was 27 and put in an extremely stressful position of circumstance. Also Karl’s hair is a very dark grey in game isn’t it? So, due to in game limitations I want to headcanon it to more……. salt and pepper ie black with obvious greying. l    ol ANYWAYS, I OBVIOUSLY have NO PLANS WHAT SO EVER to write about or depict underage acts or even to write a minor character hinting at engaging in such actions. On the off chance that A.nders does mention anything spicy please automatically assume it to be something that happened from age eighteen and onwards! Though, honestly, I doubt he would EVER have a reason to even talk about such things in the first place since uh, after the incident in the c.hantry he’s likely too traumatized about what happened to Karl to even muster the will to talk about him in general. Uh, beyond that shit where a male H.awke can flirt with him / A.nders can flirt with H.awke right afterwards which I really don’t consider canon. BECAUSE WOW B.IOWARE????? If you wanna tell A.nders he’s cute please wait until he’s at least had some time to grieve, okay?

[freedomscall-aa]

                                                                                            III. Love, Lost So uh, about that whole ‘ He was my first ‘ thing a male H.awke gets told about... I roughly headcanon A.nders as around two to three years younger than Karl.

Given the nature of the Circle and the numerous amount of mages that call it home, it’s likely very possible to only know someone in passing for years before actually getting to know them as an individual person-- especially when there is a gap in age, lesson progress, fields of study, etc. So I want to say that A.nders likely didn’t become fully acquainted with Karl until he was roughly sixteen or seventeen. Granted, a sixteen ~ seventeen year old and an eighteen ~ nineteen year old do still have somewhat of a decent gap maturity wise but it is something that still realistically occurs in the real world with high school aged teenagers so I feel more comfortable about it. By saying that Karl was ‘ an older boy ‘ I really really really want to give B.ioware the benefit of the doubt and believe that that they were both horny teenagers doing what horny teenagers do when they first started to engage in certain things tm and uh, not a young adult already in his twenties taking advantage of a rebellious, blond headed, little shit.

OKAY SO, WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY: Canon states that sometime after A.nders’ Harrowing, Karl was sent to K.irkwall as they needed new talent for what I can only assume to be teaching positions. Considering this, honestly I sorta ALSO headcanon A.nders to have not undergone his harrowing until he was slightly older than the other apprentices due to uh, just being who he is in general. 

Ether way my interpretation of A.nders likely didn’t undergo his harrowing until he was at most twenty years of age, though I think nineteen might be a better number? I’m not 100% decided on it. Also I don’t think there’s actually a canon age at which mages are harrowed? It always seemed to come off as more of a ‘ when the First Enchanter, Senior Enchanters and the Knight-Commander think a mage-apprentice is ready ‘ kind of thing? Either way, A.nders was in love enough with Karl to think that he was gonna successfully escape K.inloch Hold, successfully get on a boat, successfully make it to K.irkwall, successfully get to the Gallows, and finally, successfully get Karl out so that they can be young apostates in love and on the run together. No one said young love isn’t stupid. As for Karl being grey when meeting back up with A.nders in the K.irkwall c.hantry, premature greying is definitely a thing. There’s genetic factors, stress factors, etc. I personally started going grey around the time I hit 25 then it only got worse when I was 27 and put in an extremely stressful position of circumstance. Also Karl’s hair is a very dark grey in game isn’t it? So, due to in game limitations I want to headcanon it to more....... salt and pepper ie black with obvious greying. l    ol ANYWAYS, I OBVIOUSLY have NO PLANS WHAT SO EVER to write about or depict underage acts or even to write a minor character hinting at engaging in such actions.  On the off chance that A.nders does mention anything spicy please automatically assume it to be something that happened from age eighteen and onwards! Though, honestly, I doubt he would EVER have a reason to even talk about such things in the first place since uh, after the incident in the c.hantry he’s likely too traumatized about what happened to Karl to even muster the will to talk about him in general. Uh, beyond that shit where a male H.awke can flirt with him / A.nders can flirt with H.awke right afterwards which I really don’t consider canon. BECAUSE WOW B.IOWARE????? If you wanna tell A.nders he’s cute please wait until he’s at least had some time to grieve, okay?

[hartlessfiction]

can you rec me some good stuff??

Oh boy! I’m not sure what you’re looking for when you say ‘good stuff’ but I’ll do my best!

Supernatural- Destiel

Anna’s Dad by @mscaptainwinchester​

Raiting: E - Word Count: 35,000When Charlie talked him into joining the prom committee, Dean was not happy about it. He’s not even interested in going to prom, let alone planning it. But a meeting at committee chairman Anna Novak’s house changes all that. When Dean meets her smoking hot dad, a punk gothic god covered in the most alluring tattoos, it alters his entire perspective. Now he’s hanging out with Anna all the time and finding every excuse to flirt with her gorgeous dad.Castiel Novak swore off romantic relationships when his mate died a decade ago. Now he writes novels, throws lavish Halloween parties, and drinks with his fuck-buddy, Meg. When he meets Anna’s stunning friend, Dean, all his determination to keep emotions out of the equation goes flying out the window. Now it’s all he can do to keep his hands to himself in the face of relentless temptation.Will Dean ever get to see how far down Mr. Novak’s tattoos go? Will Castiel get over his hang-ups and let Dean in? Or will they both go their separate ways without ever knowing if their explosive chemistry could be more than just a tryst behind the pool shed? Featuring sexist classmates, a champion robot named Leia, growly alphas, and a prom theme from Hell (er… Hogwarts).

One Thousand and Ninety-four Days Verse by @envydeanwrites​

Rating: E - Word Count 3,313 - Series w/ 3 fic’s still growingIn which Dean and Cas are in prison. Castiel Novak, murderer, cell mate and servicer. He doesn’t do it because he has to, he does it because he loves it. Nobody makes Castiel Novak do anything. Not in this joint.

Queer Eye for the “Straight” Guy by JessJesstheBest

Rating: G - Word Count: 6,945“Hi, and welcome to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: celebrity edition. Where instead of the Fab Five, who are all experts in their fields, you have me, Dean Winchester, a bisexual hockey player who is slightly above average at these things.”

“Today’s victim is Castiel Novak: world renowned etymologist specializing in honey bees. His latest research publication is receiving all kinds of awards so he’s going to have a little celebration tonight. That’s where I’m here to help.”

Good Hands by aileenrose

Rating M - Word Count: 13,238Cas is the owner of a failing—and falling apart—B&B.

Dean might be able to help with that. Dean’s good with his hands.

Unexpected by @bloodandcream​

Rating E - Word Count: 3192Grunting, Castiel squirmed, pulling at the handcuffs until they hurt. Flinched as Dean stroked a hand gently down his thigh, took him into that lying mouth, soft heat and wonderful pressure as he sucked down, down.

Somehow, this was the most unexpected turn of the night yet.

In It For The Long Haul by @ltleflrt​

Rating: E - Word Count: 25,495Long haul trucking can be a lonely business. Sure, Dean can chat up other drivers on the CB, and when Sam’s not in class or drowning in homework he’ll let Dean talk his ear off on the phone. But it’s still hours and hours of staring at the road and scanning the radio dial for local stations because he’s too lazy to upgrade the truck to satellite radio. And then a flirty waiter in a 24 hour truck stop restaurant sits down with him to chat while he eats his dinner, and suddenly his life no longer feels quite so empty.

Photography doesn’t pay much, and insomnia is a bastard. Which is why Castiel accepts his cousin’s offer of employment at the truck stop restaurant. The graveyard shift is perfect for his fucked up sleep schedule, and Gabriel doesn’t mind if he sneaks a free meal now and then. Besides, all the most interesting people come into the restaurant in the middle of the night. Including the gorgeous man with the sad green eyes that makes Castiel want to pull out all the stops to make him smile.

The Dic Pic Verse by @dangerousnotbroken​

Rating: E - Word Count: 67,550 -Multi Fic Verse CompleteIn which Dean Winchester gets an unsolicited dick pic from an unknown sender which is both totally not disappointing in that it’s a really nice dick pic, and incredibly disappointing in that it’s clearly a downloaded picture of his favorite porn star.

There’s absolutely no way it’s actually this porn star sending it to him, right?

Right?

A Flash of Black and Gold by @osirisapollo​

Rating: G - Word Count: 2,094Gabriel is acting very strange when Castiel gets to the Great Hall for breakfast. It’s easy enough to ignore, until Dean Winchester starts acting strange as well.

Wisteria by @unforth-ninawaters​

Rating E - Word Count 3,379Tumblr ficlet written in response to the prompt: So what about witch or mage dean who accidentally enchants his plants in a spell gone twisted. So what about witch or mage dean who accidentally enchants his plants in a spell gone twisted. The kinkier the better.

The Guy by @mscaptainwinchester​

Rating: E - Word Count 2,803Castiel’s boss is convinced that he would be perfect for her son, and is determined to get him to come to the Christmas party so they can meet. Castiel is still hung-up on his first and only one-night-stand. Or more specifically his dick.

The Unspoken Rule by @spnhell​

Rating E - Word Count 14,205Dean’s just a boy the first time he travels, wrenched through time and space only to be found by a strange man, one that never seems to age no matter how many years pass. He grows up with Cas, with their snatched moments in the spiral of time, and what starts as friendship eventually starts to grow into something more.

Revealed by Valinde (Valyria)

Rating: E - Word Count 10,822When a ritual backfires and Dean ends up with wings, they reveal things that he’d much rather keep hidden. Prompt fill.

And Cause After putting this whole list together I’d like to think you’d want to read my fic’s too… so:

Magical Misconceptions by @hartlessfiction

Rating: G - Word Count: 7,991This came about from the following prompt on Discord, which was then playfully dubbed the ‘NotAWitch!Cas’ Verse: “Me, in my cottage, in front of the wood stove, sipping tea. Looking outside, my bees are pollinating my expansive garden. My goats and chickens and cows are happy and safe. I feel content with my choices and my future. I unconditionally and recklessly love myself. The local children believe I am a witch"  The prompt is in first person POV but the fic is not written in the first person, it’s from Cas’s pov. I hope you enjoy this warm and fuzzy holiday season themed fic with so much beautiful art by FoxyMoley.

That’s Why I’m Your Sweetheart by @hartlessfiction

Rating: T - Word Count: 2,839Dean didn’t think his life could get any better. He had the mate of his dreams, a really nice apartment in the heart of the city, and a comfortable position at one of the leading architectural firms. At least that’s what he thought when he stepped off the elevator after a long, late shift at the office. The smell of cookies baking is supposed to make a man feel happy and hungry, but to Dean’s sensitive nose it sparks a warning bell. There’s no other explanation for it, Cas is stress baking.

The Battle by @hartlessfiction

Rating G - Word Count: 770The silence should have been Gabriel’s first sign that something was off. When you have two six-year-old boys in the house, it should never, ever, not even for one moment, be quiet.

Teen Wolf -Sterek 

(only cause i’ve been really into this recently)

Parallels by inatshej

Rating: E - Word Count: 21,299Stiles slowly pulls in a mouthful of curly fries, dumbly focused on the task.’'It’s weirdly homoerotic how you do this,” muses Derek, eyeing him.Stiles chokes and Derek’s lips curl up into an almost smile. It’s so easy to get the reaction he wants from Stiles.“Yeah, it��s disgusting, Stilinski,” says Jackson, looking at the boy with distaste.Derek turns to him, letting his eyebrows rise. “And who asked you, Whittemore?”Jackson glances at him, surprised. “I’ve just agreed with y-”“No one cares,” Derek interrupts him. “Fuck off.”

Love Runs Wild by DevilDoll

Rating: E - Word Count: 9,494“You’ve got a hickey on the back of your neck!” A Neckz 'n Throats story.Or the one where Stiles shows up fro work as a model for Neckz ‘n Throats with a hickey on his neck and Derek doesn’t take it well.

Free Consultation by DevilDoll

Rating E - Word Count: 12,691Stiles Stilinski, professional knotting surrogate. Derek Hale, lonely Alpha.

Hunger by DiscontentedWinter

Rating: M - Word Count: 55,382Beacon Hills.Two lost souls.A homeless boy, a lone wolf, and people who will stop at nothing to destroy them both.

Do Not Go Gentle by MojoFlower

Rating: E - Word Count: 195,867Derek Hale, Beacon Hills Alpha and Dom, wakes up in a dark cell already housing another captive – a mute, traumatized sub with a cruel collar around his neck. His only goal is to get them both free of their brutal circumstances; but even as he tries to get his young companion home, a bond between them grows. Nothing comes easily: danger and harrowing echoes of their ordeal shadow every step they take.

Red Witch by rootbeer

Rating T - Word Count: 34,271The red hair of a banshee. The red eyes of an alpha. The red hoodie of a mage. The red of fire burning.Derek Hale has been a prisoner to the hunters since they burned his family alive. But now someone has come to save him: skinny, defenseless Stiles–147 lbs of skin and fragile bones. Turns out, sarcasm isn’t his only weapon.

The One with the Mail-Order Brides and A/B/O Dynamics by Stoney

Rating: E - Word Count: 16,149Wolves aren’t meant to be alone. Laura tells Derek this repeatedly. Which… is why Derek knows he’s losing his mind, as Laura has been dead for more than six years. Wolves aren’t meant to be alone.And so he sends away for a companion. JUST for a companion, not for a mate. The universe, however, has a different plan in store for him.

Ok Nonny, I hope that tides you over for a while…. 

slinks off back into the bowels of the internet.

[theconfusedartist]

DRAGON AGE

Alright, so I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a while, now that I’ve gotten back into dragon age origins and since I’m about to start doing a shit ton of fanart and fic simply bc I’m getting back in the swing of it, I figure I might as well start actually making a post about them, rather then just making a one-off post and talking about them without out any context lol.

Ok so, in this AU that I’m working on, Duncan realized that, hey, maybe only one recruit for like the end of the world in his order of grey wardens, is not the best idea, and then goes on to recruit all of the characters from the origins.

So, he swings by Orzammar first, getting Brosca and Aeducan. In this au, the name of my Brosca is Tsoyo and the Aeducan is Sariah. I’m gonna post pictures of every one of my warden later, but for now, I’m just gonna say who they are. Tsoyo and Sariah knew each other before, since Seriah hired Tsoyo’s...services in the past. Seriah doesn’t really think much of the casteless, but she does like that they can do some dirty work for her and go basically undetected for it. So, in terms of time, Tsoyo goes to the proving and wins, just like in the original, and Duncan recruits her, but in this, Duncan stuck around a little longer as the Aeducan family still had business with him and he needed to go to the deep roads to make sure that this was a real blight and I mean, hey, what better way to test the new recruit right? 

So, while Duncan is getting Tsoyo ready for what’s to come, Seriah goes to the new provings that takes place as they redid it because they couldn’t fathom that a casteless could ever win and this doubled as them holding it in honor for the Seriah getting her new post as a commander. Seriah didn’t really rise to Bhelen’s bait and didn’t go after him like Bhelen had hoped, even though she realized that there was no way that the mercenaries could’ve gotten the ring unless it was from Trian. It was quite the surprise to see her brother, dead in front of her and her father and Bhelen walking in and being accused of his death. 

She gets sentenced to walk the deep roads and meets up with Duncan and Tsoyo and from there they scout for a bit before going off to the circle. Because I mean, hey, one mage is equivalent to ten soldiers, right? 

So, Duncan gets there, with Tsoyo and Seriah in tow who are really uncomfortable being around each other as they’ve had a less than clean relationship in the past (murder, blackmail, and other stuff). Duncan gets to the tower for recruits and in this au, both ‘Surana’ and Amell are there. I’ll explain why I put the ‘’ around Surana in a minute. 

So, Amell, who’s first name is Daylen, Jowan, and ‘Surana’, who’s first name is Acici, are all there. Jowan is going through with his little plot to escape the circle and Acici has literally just had her harrowing, a few nights ago before Duncan had gotten there. Daylen has his harrowing the night before Duncan arrives to the tower and his goes very...differently. 

I’ll go into this a LOT more in a second reblog, since I want to go into everyone’s backstory in a bit, person by person, with pictures, but since I’m going with the abridged version, I’ll just put it as, Acici had the normal harrowing that we get in the game, give or take, and Daylen thought it was fun to fuck around with things that he shouldn’t. So, Duncan has his eye on the both of them and Acici, being the actual loyal friend goes around bolstering her image and getting the rod of fire, killing spiders and charming the old man to sign the form for her. She had him sign the form, but then figured that if she curried favor with as many senior enchanters as possible, then it would probably be good for her in the long run. 

As for Daylen, well, he’s sitting there like, ‘why do we have to get dragged down with Jowan?’ and goes to Senior Enchanter Irving and tells him about it. Sure, he feels bad about it, but the deal was this: if he goes along with this plan, then he and Acici have to be pardoned and get off scot free for helping with taking down Lily and catching Jowan in the act. Irving agrees and he plays double agent. And well you know how that song and dance goes, Jowan gets away, and the others are left holding the bag. Irving tries to pacify Gregoir, but he hates mages so Duncan conscripts them both into the order. Meanwhile, Tsoyo and Seriah are just really confused with all the magic bullshit going on. And then there were four recruits. 

After that, Duncan and the four recruits go to Highever, to recruit Ser Gilmore because I guess Duncan wanted a basic ass bitch (idk, I’m not gonna lie, I haven’t finished the human noble to this day. I’m still trying to, but I really didn’t see any appeal in Gilmore like that, he seemed like someone good to have as a second, but not someone you’d send to kill an archdemon when there’s only two grey wardens left) and Cousland, or better known as Luna the heartbreaker, isn’t really interested in the wardens or anything. I mean why would she be? Duncan is fine and all, but she gets to rule over a castle by herself, why the hell would she want to leave? But then, it’s not really up to her when mostly everyone gets killed anyways. So, at this point we have five recruits, good job Duncan!

Their next stop is (drumroll please) DENERIM! (wasn’t expecting that were you?)

Duncan was like, shit, lemme go and get Adaia, at least that way I know that I can have someone who knows what the score is and she can help the others and Alistair as someone who’s been around the bend and seen some shit. Only, that’s not what happens, obviously because Adaia was killed by humans a while back, but he is just in time to witness a double wedding and get threatened by a one of the brides (lol). And also see them all get carried off to get raped by the arl’s son and his guards. Luna is cross, but like ‘hey, shouldn’t we do something about this?’. Tsoyo is a bit surprised because she thought that elves were all a bunch of fig eating floofies that just lived in happiness, not squalor and fear of death, so she seconds it. Acici is ready to murder Duncan when he says that they can’t get involved (for that same reason that ‘Surana’ is like that) and hands a sword to Nelaros and Soris. Go get ‘em boys!

And now the estate is running with blood, Nelaros is dead, Shianni is traumatized, one of the bridesmaids is dead, and Tabris, Sauda the bride, has literally learned all the different ways to kill over seventy men with a dagger and how quickly rat posion kills three adult human men. Sauda, not willing to let Soris get hauled off, says that it was all her doing. Which...isn’t really an exaggeration, she tore into those fuckers like she was getting paid to do it, Soris gave back up with his crossbow, but she was very eager to spill blood for the kidnapping of her, the others and Nelaros’ death. Also Vaughn was killed, as was his friends. Horrifically. 

And now we have six recruits!! Way to go Duncan, you always find the lively ones!

This recruit wasn’t planned, as Duncan was planning to cut through the Brecilian forest to save some time, and came across two elves that are just heavily tainted. That’s right, in this au, Tamlen lives. So Mahariel, Yeva, and Tamlen are just sick as fuck, but still alive so Marethari is like, ‘let’s get a fucking move on’ and Duncan conscripts them, when they both try to weasel their way out of it. But what can you do? At least Tamlen isn’t dead (a split second decision, I’m not gonna lie). So, Duncan comes to Ostagar with seven new recruits and most of them just....do not give a damn about the king (lolololol get fuckin’ rekt Calian). They go into the wilds, save a few mabaris (mabari? mabaris?) with some wild flowers, Tsoyo gets a big gay crush on Morrigan, then they come back and do shots with the darkspawn blood in the joining. Daveth and Jory die(wah wah) but everyone else makes it out alive (Tamlen...barely made it. Bitch nearly pulled a Daveth) and then they were sent to the tower. 

The reason for them all being sent to the tower was simple. Cailan realized that a lot of the new recruits just did not give a fuck about the crown or his authority or was in grieving over their lost loved ones, and was like ‘hey, that way there’s no way that the tower ISN’T going to be lit and I don’t have to worry about them on the field’). And then he died. Duncan didn’t die tho, are you fucking kidding me? The leader of the grey wardens? Dying? I don’t fucking think so. He makes it out, but it’s a little after the battle and he makes it far enough into the wilds that Flemeth saves him. The other wardens have already left with Morrigan and they’re on their way to Lothering, but Duncan had to stay with Flemeth for a while due to the severity of his wounds and how long they would take to heal, even with magic. 

Duncan joins up with the other grey wardens around the time that they get captured by Anora’s captors (I have to play to see who would get captured or not, as most of these characters are fucking warriors and some of them in their own personal runs might actually be able to take them down where others can’t) and I haven’t decided what happens at that point. 

That’s all that I have right now, but once I get some character portraits up, I’ll update this a bit more.

[athena1138]

I feel like a lot of people don't take his whole story into account when they say they hate him. They read the few quotes and paragraphs of distasteful actions but they aren't taking into account the whole novel. And holy shit is that novel incredible. (Feel free to disagree with me but my mind won't be changed.)

Just gonna throw my own post in here for the obligatory promo

To summarize it, it's like it was said above. He was brain washed from a young age and experienced significant trauma that progressed his brain washing but he still overcame it and he's incredible for it.

In detail it's like this.

Cullen is only 30 years old in Inquisition. That alone makes him incredible. He was basically raised in the Chantry, was raised to be taught that mages are evil and dangerous and can never be trusted.

Fast forward to DAO. He is NINETEEN in Origins. This is his first assignment ever, and from the looks of it, he hasn't been there long. Really, an infatuation doesn't take much doing at all so it could even be speculated that he's been at Kinloch for as little as a week. (There may be lore I'm not remembering which tells us how long, but my brain is long since dead yall.)

So not only is he still a kid, basically, he's fresh out of school and raring to go at his first job. And depending on your playthrough, this poor fucking kid falls in love with a mage which is bad enough because he isn't supposed to even LIKE mages let alone LIKE LIKE them. So he's struggling with that. And then he's told he's going to preside over their harrowing. His first harrowing. That's terrifying shit. Think about it. Think about your first job, think about the very worst thing they said could happen and within probably less than a month of you working there, it's fucking happening and it's all on your shoulders. Except it's worse, because in this case, if it goes poorly, he has to KILL SOMEONE. SOMEONE WITH WHOM HE HAS BROKEN BREAD, WITH WHOM HE HAS RESIDED SINCE STARTING THERE. But he has to, because that's the life he's "chosen." (No seven year old child can be expected to follow through on their dream job. But he had to.)

And then the Circle is overtaken by abominations. So that worst-case scenario? Infinitely worse. Here he is, a fresh-faced golden-eyed beauty of a boy fresh out of school faced with the absolute worst thing that can happen. He's watching his companions die, his fellow Templars and the mages he'd been charged to protect. And then he gets captured. And he's tortured. For days, he says. And who knows? It could've been longer. Time gets funny when you're in a traumatic situation. Days could've been weeks, or it could've been hours, but it's been days in his mind. The demons bombarded him with visions of those friends, comrades, charges, dead and dying and deformed. If you're a female mage, it's even worse. He fully says that they tried to sway him, to make him weak with visions of Her. Taunted and teased and terrorized with images of her.

And he fucking endured. Because that's what he was trained to do. Because that's all he could do. It was endure the torture or die. Flat out. Period.

And he did. He survived where dozens of his comrades did not. This whelp of a lad, fresh faced and just as naked to the world as the warden in all rights, he survived.

And he was vindicated in a way. Because the Templars told him that mages will always fall, that they are not strong enough to withstand the temptation of demons. And that's exactly what happened. For fuck's sake, the absolute last resort for Templars is to call for the Right of Annulment of their Circle and that was LITERALLY ALMOST WHAT HAPPENED. This whole event told Cullen that the Templars were always right and that he was a fool to have thought of these charges as anything even remotely resembling humans. He will walk away from this event with a tremendous amount of trauma already on his shoulders, more than most people can even BEGIN to comprehend in real life.

So now we're in DA2. The events of DAO take place in Dragon 9:30 right? Well, Hawke lands in Kirkwall also in 9:30. Cullen is already there when they arrive. This means that not only did Cullen endure such an absurd amount of difficulty, but it hasn't even been a year since it happened and he was immediately sent off to the fucking Gallows to serve one of the most overzealous Templars in pretty much the world, in what is considered to be one of the most dangerous-because-of-mages cities in the world.

But she's kind to him, from what we can see. Maybe not motherly, bu she treats him well, encourages his feelings and gives him basically free reign to do as he pleases. And that makes it worse. The first person to show kindness after massive trauma can have the potential to become on par with god, especially if they don't disagree with your altered view.

So now he's in this city which is reviled and feared for its terrible mages. It's been less than a year (likely barely having been months) since The Event. He's got a leader before him who not only agrees with everything he's ever been taught but agrees with him now (basically that the Templars can never have leniency towards mages.)

And he's still nineteen. He's still a teenager. He's a teenager who was raised sheltered from the world.

But he still is able to see at the end of DA2 that not only was Meredith insane, but that the whole Templar Order was not as it should be. Yes he still fears mages in Inquisition. But it's different. It's residue from everything he's ever been through. He admits to having been wrong. He owns up to the things he's said and done. He takes responsibility for them. And though he does still lean towards Templars, it's not without cause. Because for all their flaws and downfalls, the Templars are... known. He knows their failings and their strengths, and it comes from having been raised with them. It's like if you came from a family of cobblers and tried to go to Shoe Carnival. You know the cobblers know what they're doing and do it well and you know the quality you can expect, but Shoe Carnival shoes are made cheaply and can fall apart. (It's a shitty metaphor but you get it. He sides with Templars because he knows what he can expect from them.)

For fuck's sake, he still has nightmares about it. He says openly and plainly that most nights he sleeps horrendously because he can't escape the dreams, and that the lyrium helps.

I haven't even MENTIONED the lyrium yet. You want to indoctrinate children into your organization? Get them hooked on drugs and limit their supplies. You leash them, make them obedient to you. And not only that, you train them on it. Deprive them of it for a while and then give them that refreshing re-dose while talking about the glory of your organization, and the euphoria of having the drug back in your body will be associated with those words.

Like you guys. That's what conversion camps do. There are real world cults that have done this exact fucking thing.

And this man is only 30 fucking years old. He has been through so much, so, so much in his short life. And that's just what we know of. Who knows what happened in his day to day life as a knight in training? But he still made it through. He has the ability to forgo his addiction--and then the ability to spend his remaining days running a fucking rehab center for ex-templars to get them off lyrium, too like how incredible is that--and sit comfortably across the table from a necromancer from Tevinter. (Or even marry a mage.)

Do you know how amazing that is?

Cullen isn't perfect. I'm not saying he should be worshipped or even applauded for what he's done. But I agree. I can never understand why people outright hate him. His journey has been so incredible and heartwrenching and agonizing. He did bad things. A lot of them. But it's not without reason.

Cullen was raised in a cult, drug-leashed, and tortured. And he still came out a somewhat decent member of society. Like holy hell.

I don't understand the massive Cullen hate. I just completed Dragon Age 2 to try to understand it, but he turned against Meredith in the end? He was kind towards my champion even though they were such an evil Mage. Considering the things we went through, I think it's acceptable for him to be slightly rude, which I didn't see. I don't understand the massive Cullen-hate fan club