this is a independent / selective / canon divergent & heavily headcanon influenced roleplay blog for cullen rutherford of bioware’s dragon age series. the writing on this blog largely ignores cullen’s arc in inquisition.
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@tmplr
this is a independent / selective / canon divergent & heavily headcanon influenced roleplay blog for cullen rutherford of bioware’s dragon age series. the writing on this blog largely ignores cullen’s arc in inquisition.
i lost the log in for this blog
haven’t been around because i’ve been real busy elsewhere but i’m hoping to get more active soon, i’ve missed writing over here!
voice claim thoughts for cullen:
a bag of rocks shaking around
my dog barking
birds chirping
steve valentine with a slightly deeper voice
you know the guy who voiced garrus in mass effect? yeah him
me on helium
literally anyone but mr smellis
YVETTE MONTILYET.
yvette had adjusted rather quickly to the craziness that was skyhold, no doubt to josephine’s surprise. she had traveled for several weeks on carriage before the additional couple of days she needed to travel by sea. and while many people would understandably take that first day after arriving to rest up and adjust to the new time and climate, yvette wasn’t such people. instead she demanded to her sister that she be given a tour of the castle, eager to see everything and meet everyone. unfortunately, the inquisition was far too large for it all to be condensed into one single day, for it was the third day after arriving and she still found herself running into people she had not yet spoken to.
‘ oh, sir cullen! ’ the young woman gasped with recognition in her voice. ‘ we’ve met at the winter palace! ’ in reality, yvette was using the term met extremely loosely. the fact was that josephine did a rather excellent job at keeping her within eye sight, and the commander himself never really acknowledged her presence even she managed to attempt an introduction. ‘ we met at the salad bar! though you must not remember because of the rather large crowd that seemed to surround you. and the fact that you were busy preventing a public murder. ’
light brown eyes narrow, momentarily, flush creeping across his cheeks and nose — salad bar? ( it takes a moment for it to click into place; they’d briefly spoken, hadn’t they? clearly not long enough for him to remember, between the crowd and trying to ensure the empress of orlais didn’t die. but they had met, hadn’t they. )
maker — one of these days, him being busy is going to make him not remember someone far more important... not to say that yvette, well, isn’t important, that is. despite the flush creeping down his neck, cullen nods, sets his mouth in a thin line. “ yes, we did, didn’t we? my apologies for not remembering — it was a... very busy event. ” busy, he thinks, is an understatement, but he’s sure she understands that quite well — she was there, after all.
regardless... cullen clears his throat. “ can i, erm, help you get anywhere? ” he gestures vaguely around, cringing at his still-burning face. that entire evening was a blur; the rest will come back to him later, hopefully... probably not. either way, he doesn’t want her to get lost — best to not let her wander into the wrong place, or something. she’s new to skyhold, good impressions are key, or whatever it was josephine had said. he can’t quite remember.
hey uh
Plus side of shipping with me: i will always be here to scream ideas and headcanons at and i will be screaming more along with you.
Downside of shipping with me: you will eventually come to the conclusion that i am satan.
inventory meme.
➳ BAG
backpack | messenger bag | pockets | satchel | wristlet | purse | duffle bag | briefcase | pouch | drawstring bag | fanny pack
➳ WEAPONS
sword | dagger | axe | mace | warhammer | staff | spear | throwing knives | darts | shortbow | longbow | crossbow | arrows | bolts | enchanted weapon | poison | shield
@bloodyd said: tiptoes, pressing a feathery kiss to his jaw.
andraste help him — face burns red-hot, corner of his lips twitching up. he can still feel her lips pressed light against his skin, even after she’s pulled back; he’s tempted to pull her back in, press his mouth to hers and run his fingers through the brown silk of her hair, linger a little longer. temptations are easy to ignore, but...
if he could memorize her — learn the alphabet that makes her up, every letter and word spun distinct — he would, he will. ( he’ll spend his life learning that language if he can. )
" i’m sure you have places to be, duties to attend to — ” voice low, tinged warm and soft. he reaches, hesitates, cups his hand against her cheek — here, now, warmth and safety, there is no grey warden or ex-templar, no commanders, just two people who have known each other for a long time.
mouth pressed to her forehead — brushing against her hair, light as her lips against his jaw. his mouth sets in a smile. “ — so i’ll try to not keep you too long. ” maybe he can kiss her another moment or two longer, lean down so she doesn’t have to stand on her toes. ( surely the world can afford them two, three more minutes; if anyone’s earned that, it’s her. )
when do you realize you love someone?
when silence is comfort / when you get closer slowly over time, unspoken with no words required to express it. when you call them, just to be talking in intervals and realize that it's not even really an ongoing conversation, just hearing their ambient sounds on the other line is enough. when you invite them over, just to sit down and watch a movie together. you know the heavy impact words can have, and how abrasive they can be. but you also understand that silence can be deafening, and that the phrase "things are better left unspoken" has negative connotations but sometimes, they are better left unsaid, even if it's an "i love you." because you know they know it and are saying it back, too.
so, canon divergency & cullen’s inquisition arc.
cullen did not have a crush on surana / amell ( mildly verse dependent; in verses where he did / does, cullen does not obsess over them like he does in canon ‘cause, uh, yuck, get a life dude why are you hung up on her after ten years. he also doesn’t even consider acting on it, because i’m asssuming it’s against the rules. ) he was solely friendly with them, that’s all.
after the events of the circle of magi quest in origins, cullen requested leave. greagoir sent him to kirkwall almost immediately after the blight. i’m not sure if this counts as ‘canon divergent’ given we don’t know what happened aside from rumor that he killed three mages.
( which, thinking about, i would like to say is half the case. the rumors are exaggerated, but cullen did injure three apprentices because he thought they were possessed. i don’t want to disparage cullen’s original writer there, with how what he went through effected his psyche. )
everything regarding dragon age 2 goes the same as in canon.
the events of inquisition go differently on cullen’s end; like in canon, he is picked as commander and works as an advisor for the inquisitor. this is solely because he’s part of the templar order. cassandra and leliana and josephine are working with what little they have, cullen is willing and has most of the necessary credentials given what happened in kirkwall.
( he’s also a potential line to hawke, given he worked with them at points, and cassandra likely spoke to him after interrogating varric on the champion, which is how they met. )
lyrium withdrawal leads cullen to ( momentarily, depending on verse ) step down from being an advisor. it’s during this period where cullen has a lot of time to reflect on his actions and what he wants to do with his life; between conversations with the mages at haven / skyhold and looking back on kirkwall, cullen realizes he... how do you say... fucked up.
by falling into templar propaganda, by seeing himself as better than mages, by letting other templars get away with heinous crimes and not reporting them.... cullen messed up.
he attempts to make this right by reaching out to mages in kirkwall, trying to help the mage rebellion efforts, and help other ex-templars. a LOT of mages turn down his offers for help; they don’t trust cullen. and they have right not to. and the backlash stings, and cullen almost falls back on his beliefs a lot. what’s the point of bothering to help if they don’t want it?
but he doesn’t. it’s not something he gets to choose. this isn’t ‘help a few mages and you’re a better person now’, this isn’t ‘you do a certain amount of things and suddenly you’ve redeemed yourself’ - cullen has to come to recognize he will probably never make up for his actions.
this is where the inquisition timeline splits; in one verse, cullen steps down as commander and someone with good credentials ( perhaps alistair, a warden, hawke, etc ) steps up in his place. cullen continues working with the inquisition - it’s important - but he does not continue in a leadership position. this takes a huge blow to his pride, but he can not continue to lead.
in the second verse, he steps back but continues his job as there’s no one who can currently replace him. cullen only advises the inquisitor when necessary; otherwise, leliana and josephine have enough to say on the matter.
after the inquisition is disbanded ( if it is ), cullen opens up a place for templars to recover from lyrium addiction and get help. he continues to work with the mages, but recognizes he will never have their full trust.
if the inquisition is not disbanded and cullen remained commander, he helps the inquisition find a better commander ( unless the inquisitor is adamant about him staying on ) and, as above, opens up a place for templars.
so, i know that cullen was trapped in the circle for days (and potentially weeks!), with at least two dead bodies in the shield-thing with him, with demons constantly harassing him (and likely taking on the forum of people he knew; we know they do with a fem surana & amell, so chances are they do regardless)... and yes that’s horrible, and it makes complete sense he’s angry afterwards - he wants the mages to pay for what they did, he’s not thinking clearly, his friends are dead.... and, yeah, all of that makes sense!
but these feelings continue into da2, and he even mentions them in da:i, tells a romanced mage that he worries he wouldn’t have fallen for them, etc. the trauma cullen endured doesn’t mean he has a right to stand by in kirkwall, nor does it mean everything he let happen suddenly... doesn’t exist? he stops viewing mages as human - where previously he might’ve even had feelings for a mage (and is implied to at least be friendly with amell and surana!)
i’m not actually... going anywhere with this, but i do have to say that cullen’s actions in dao make sense if you look at what he went through. that’s not an excuse. but they do make sense.
what hozier song best represents how you love? // sunlight.
love to you is sacrifice. you are acutely aware of the heartache that comes with love, but it is well worth it to you. you gladly welcome the pain if it means having love for even a moment. you have a very “it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all” vibe to your love. but this sacrifice love also equals devotion. there’s something so powerful about loving someone so much that you’re willing to accept the heartache; that your love together overweighs that. you also want to give when you are in love. whether that be material items, sentimental things that you make yourself, or just more love back; you love to show someone love by giving and sharing what you have.
𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 !
From Bioware’s ‘Dragon Age 2′. (One (1) from Inquisition.) As per usual, feel free to change pronouns or whatever you so please. Warnings! Mentions of & implications: food, violence, death.
► 𝐃𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂.
“ When in doubt, run away, and let me handle it. ”
“ Looks like a fight! Be ready! ”
“ May Andraste guide you. ”
“ I’m just here to talk. ”
“ I don’t know if I can pull this off. ”
“ It’s not a choice everyone has. ”
“ I figured there’d at least be free food. ”
“ Thank you for not breaking his legs. ”
“ I’m happy with who I am. ”
“ I do what I can. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like enough. ”
► 𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂.
“ No worries, everything is dandy now. ”
“ Just act like you know where you’re going, that’s usually enough. ”
“ For a slaughtering ground, it’s actually rather pretty. ”
“ Are you about to die? Am I? Why so serious all of a sudden? ”
“ It’s far more entertaining if I don’t. ”
“ Can you save someone so intent on being foolish? ”
“ We could bring him back as the undead, and then kill him again. ”
“ ‘Don’t touch anything’ is usually an invitation to touch everything. ”
“ ‘It cannot be a coincidence’? It sounds exactly like a coincidence! ”
“ Don’t the stories mention my stunning good looks? What about my cunning wit? ”
“ I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation. I just can’t think of it right now. ”
“ Wow. Your problems make mine seem small. ”
“ Helping people and killing people are what I’m best at. ”
“ Good to know you’re barking mad. That makes things easier. ”
“ I’ve been wondering when you’d come back to bite me in the ass. ”
“ I thought you’d be taller. ”
“ At least we’re alive. That’s no small feat. ”
“ Can’t anyone fix their own lives around here? ”
“ I’m just here for the rat-flavored whiskey. ”
“ You should see the look on your face. ”
“ If I held a grudge against everyone who attacked me in a dream, I’d have no friends. ”
“ I hear a ‘but’ coming. ”
“ If this is the afterlife, the Chantry owes me an apology. This looks nothing like the Maker’s bosom. ”
► 𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄.
“ They say your life flashes in front of your eyes before you die. ”
“ I don’t know or care who you are, but you need to step back right now. ”
“ I’ll tear his throat out myself. ”
“ The elves deserve justice. ”
“ Always money in saving fools. ”
“ I think a bloody response is in order. ”
“ You should have known better. ”
“ Don’t go making promises you can’t keep. ”
“ Thinking about what might have been is pointless. ”
“ Solve your own problem. ”
“ You always were a good liar. ”
“ If you’re looking for trouble, you’ve found it. ”
“ Feel better getting that off your chest? ”
“ You know I hate it when you do that. ”
“ If they hurt you I’ll make them regret it. ”
“ It does feel like some unseen force is manipulating my fate. ”
“ Hmm, I didn’t think you cared. ”
“ You think I asked for this? ”
“ I just want to get out of here. Alive, if possible. ”
“ Vermin always flock to dark places. ”
“ Yes, inviting you to a party is an insidious punishment I’ve been planning for months. ”
“ Without risk, there’s no reward. ”
“ Remind me why busting down the door isn’t an option? ”
𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒
bold what definitely applies to your muse. italicize what sometimes applies. repost; don’t reblog!
𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒. tries to do everything at once. doesn’t know when to stop and take care of themselves. bends over backwards for everyone even if someone did them dirty. has entirely too much on their plate.
there’s some universe out there where cullen’s, like, a farmer or whatever his dad was and that’s the only valid universe for cullen.
he’d known, of course, that josephine’s younger sister was here. she’d mentioned it, during a meeting with the inquisitor; something about her youngest sibling joining the inquisition forces at skyhold. he knew, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to interact with her — until he meets her gaze on his way from josephine’s office. ( he’d been there to discuss a few minor things that couldn’t wait until the next war table meeting; nothing too important, but nothing that could wait until the inquisitor returns. )
the resemblance is there, enough that it should be safe to assume she's josephine's sister — given she’s probably on her way to come speak to their ambassador, actually. he doesn’t want to assume as to why she’s there; he’s been drilled enough on avoiding a faux pas with anyone here. “ you must be... lady montilyet? ” he gives her a slight nod, brow furrowed; they could use more candles in here, but at least it's brighter than darktown was. these hallways can be pretty dark. “ it’s — a pleasure to meet you. cullen rutherford, commander of the inquisition’s forces. are you, er, here to see your sister? ”
@blightmantra, starter call / yvette.