Literally

me when i find a new fandom to obsess over vs me when the characters start tormenting my mind

tumblr users aged 25-35 when you bring up bucky barnes:

Having a really long-term hyperfixation that has since faded is terrifying yes but it's also so embarrassing. Hi I used to think about Scrimblo Splungus 25/7. Yeah, for 2 years straight. Nah, I don't think about them anymore except for with a vague sense of melancholy as I recall how they used to make me feel. Anyways this new one, Blimpkins McGee? I'm gonna think about them forever and the cycle will NOT repeat in 2 years. Trust me guys.

Cullen Dialogue Transcripts | DA: Origins | Broken Circle: Part 1

DA: Origins Series: Mage Origin | Broken Circle Part 2 | Broken Circle Part 3

[PC enters room just below Harrowing Chamber to find Cullen stuck within a magical cage on his knee and bowed as if in prayer]

Wynne: “(Gasps) It’s a templar. He’s still alive…I think. We must help him!”

[PC approaches cage, goes to cutscene]

Cullen: “This trick again? I know what you are. It won’t work. I will stay strong…” *Note: He says this no matter the PC, but since Wynne is locked into your party, I suppose the “trick” could be her—in that the demon/mages were using people he recognized during his t*rture. Otherwise, it doesn’t really make sense (imo) for any PC outside of a mage. Unless he was hallucinating and seeing something else before realizing it wasn’t real.

Mage PC Options: A String—

Options 1 & 3 & 4 – (To “The boy is exhausted”) Option 2– Cullen: “Only too well…how far they must have delved into my thoughts…”(To “The boy is exhausted”) Wynne: “The boy is exhausted. And this cage…I’ve never seen anything like it. Rest easy…help is here.” Cullen: “Enough visions. If anything in you is human…k*ll me now and stop this game.”

*No Leliana and/or Non-Mage PC— Cullen: “You broke the others, but I will stay strong, for my sake…for their’s…Filthy blood mages…getting in my head…I will not break…I’d rather d*e.”

*With Leliana— Leliana: “He’s delirious. He’s been t*rtured…and has probably been denied food and water. I can tell. Here, I have a skin of—“ Cullen: “—Don’t touch me! Stay away!”

Female Mage Only— Cullen: “Sifting through my thoughts… Tempting me with the one thing I always wanted, but could never have…”* *If Zevran is present— Zevran: “Someone was quite the little heart-breaker when they were an apprentice. My, my.” Cullen: “Using my shame against me… My ill-advised infatuation with her… A mage, of all things.”

Male Mage— Cullen: “Filthy blood mages…getting in my head…I will not break…I’d rather die.”

Cullen: “I am so tired of these cruel jokes… These tricks… these…(sobs)”

PC Options: B String (Female Mage Options)—

(All) Cullen: “Silence! I’ll not listen to anything you say. Now begone! Still here? But that’s always worked before. I close my eyes, but you are still here when I open them.” *Note: This is how he responds to B String no matter the options/PC

Mage PC Options: C String—

Option 1– Cullen: “What others? What are talking about?” Option 2 (Female Mage Only)– Cullen: “I am beyond caring what you think. The Maker knows my sin, and I pray that he will forgive me.”

A. There is nothing wrong with liking someone. B. Why does it cause you so much pain? C. I’m sorry if I ever led you on. It would never have worked.

Option 2A/2C— Cullen: “It was the foolish fancy of a naive boy. I know better now.” Option 2B— Cullen: “You are a mage and I, a templar. It is my duty to oppose you and all you are.”

All other options— Cullen: “Don’t blame me for being cautious. The voices…the images…so real” (To “But why have you returned…”)

Cullen (Mage PC): “But why have you returned to the tower? How did you survive?”

Cullen (Non-mage PC): “Did Greagoir send you? How…how did you get here?” (Go to E String)

Mage PC Options: D String—

Options 1 & 2– Cullen: “Good…k*ll Uldred. K*ll them all for what they’ve done.” Option 3– Cullen: “Yes. How proud you are of your power. Just like Uldred and look what’s become of him now.” Option 4– Cullen: “As it was mine. And look what they’ve done to it. They deserve to d*e. Uldred most of all.”

Cullen: “They caged us like animals….looked for ways to break us. I’m the only one left…”*

Cullen: “They turned some into…monsters. And…there was nothing I could do.”

*(If Oghren is present) Oghren: “I think you need a tall mug of ale to calm you down, lad. I may need one myself, come to think…” Cullen: “That was inappropriate, dwarf. But what more could be expected from an ignorant, cave-dwelling heathen?” Oghren: “‘Ignorant, cave-dwelling heathen’…? (Chuckles) Have we met before?” Cullen: “What do you know about the mages’ evil, anyway? You didn’t see what they did to the others.”

Mage PC Options: D2 String—

Option 1– Cullen: “What others? What are you talking about?” Options 2 & 3– Cullen: “And to think I once thought we were too hard on you.” Options 4– Cullen: “Don’t think I’m not grateful…but why should I live when my friends lie dead, their bodies and spirits broken? And to think I once thought we were too hard on you.”

Mage PC Options: E String—

Option 1– Cullen: “What others? What are you talking about?” (To “Irving and the other mages”) Option 2– (To “Only mages”) Option 3– Cullen: “Did a mage not start this? Isn’t one of you to blame? “

Cullen: “Only mages have that much power at their fingertips. Only mages are so susceptible to the infernal whisperings of the demons”.*

Cullen (Non-mage PC): “To think I once felt pity for the Circle. Now, I’d like nothing more than to wipe their taint off the face of Thedas.”*

*Wynne: “This is a discussion for another time!” (Move to “Irving and the other mages…”)

Wynne: “Irving and the other mages who fought Uldred. Where are they?” Cullen: “They are in the Harrowing Chamber. The sounds coming out of there…oh, Maker.” Wynne: “We must hurry. They are in grave danger, I am sure of it.” Cullen: “You can’t save them! You don’t know what they’ve become.”

Mage PC Options: F String—

Options 1 & 3 & 4– (To “They’ve been surrounded…”) Option 2– Cullen: “But you haven’t been up there. You haven’t been under their influence.” 

Cullen: “They’ve been surrounded b-by blood mages whose wicked fingers snake into your mind and corrupt your thoughts.”*

*If Alistair is present: “His hatred of mages is so intense…the memory of his friends’ death is still fresh in his mind.”**

Cullen: “You have to end it now before it’s too late!”

**Female Mage Only— Wynne: “He’s suffered pain and anguish like few have had to endure. That and his lust for revenge have confused the issue—“ Cullen: “—Do not presume to judge me, mage! I am thinking clearly—for perhaps the first time in my life.”

Part 2 of Broken Circle Here

(Expressions/Body Language During Conversation)

Addition: He also seems to say these two lines to a female mage—

Cullen: “When you knew me, I was an innocent. I wanted to be a knight, but I never really thought about why we were needed.”

Cullen: “Now, my eyes have been opened. The naivety I once had is gone forever. But I welcome the change as long as it helps me better serve the Chantry.”

I found these in this tumblr post, but could not get them to trigger, so I am not sure what’s required to make Cullen say them. In truth, I’ve never heard these lines in any of my playthroughs of DA:O or any available to watch online. If someone knows how to trigger them, I would greatly appreciate if you could tell me.

xxx

[Sources] Denny Ayard YouTube Enthusiast Gamer YouTube moarinternets YouTube

Note: Had to censor words so tumblr would show it in the main feed.

Broken Circle Part 2 Here

Early morning sparring becomes routine, Pros- Cullen & Ali are able to reach mutual understanding & respect, Cons - Josephine thinks its ridiculous (Leliana thinks it’s hilarious)

Cullen & Ali argue non-stop even while sparring, but by the time their at Skyhold its more about challenging each others views/plans/fighting style to improve each-other rather than mindless disagreement. Plus both of them are out of practice, so sunrise training is just convenient (nothing more.. definitely not becuase it helps them see the other as more human).

Speaking thoughts aloud:

I love Cullen. Everything about him. His strengths and his flaws.

I love his story. Every bit of it. As it is written.

I may have wished for more. For him to be a companion so we could dive deeper into his character and arc. To see things handled a bit differently only because his story had the potential to be truly fantastic.

But even so, for me, it was.

He may not be perfect in Inquisition, he may still have some growing to do (and my opinion of what that growth looks like is not the same as others, which is okay), but in truth, that makes me love it—love him—all the more.

It keeps the theme of his story that has been there from the beginning:

What it means to be human.

To have hopes, dreams, ideals, ambitions. To have preconceived notions and to have them proven wrong. To have your heart and mind at odds. To have doubts, struggles, fears. To have your heroes fail you. To have your friends turn against you. To have your ideals used against you. To be broken. Used. Abandoned. Violated. Manipulated. To have that pain twist and corrupt. To have that pain weaponized. To weaponize it. To lose your way…and yourself. To face your sins. To claw after redemption. To seek atonement. To have faith as your shelter in the storms of life. To want to serve something greater than yourself.

“I have decided to take Seeker Pentaghast's offer. The Circles have fallen. I can give no more to the Templar Order, nor it to me. The Maker has shown me a new path; I must take it.”

Hands bloody, tears streaming down your cheeks, throat raw from prayers and penitence, heart trembling with the fear that you’re too far gone as you dig through the refuse of your own making to find yourself—who you truly are—again.

To persevere.

And against all odds to find life, freedom, purpose, hope and even love in the end.

just something sexy about a man in total despair

I don’t care if it’s Valentine’s Day—if he doesn’t look at me like this, then I don’t want him!

if i'm not DISGUSTINGLY in love with at least one (1) of the characters in any given piece of media it is not for me. if i have no one to crawl and weep for? can't get into it. if there is not one single character that makes me want to bash my head through a wall and then write ten thousand (fictional or academic) words about them then what is the point. respectfully

one of my favorite things about dragon age romances is the varying Flavors™️ of emotional damage they feed you near the end of each game.

for instance, lucanis dellamorte is here to slay your enemies and burn down the world if it even looks at you the wrong way. "i thought i would never see you again," he quietly tells rook, and there is regret in every one of those words. "if i have to kill every blighted creature in thedas to keep you safe, i will. my heart beats for you," he promises.

meanwhile altar-boi cullen rutherford is a DISASTER who literally falls to his knees before a statue of his god. he is seeking SPIRITUAL ABSOLUTION from the divine bc the very idea of putting you into harm's way is unforgivable, and then he breaks his prayer to murmur, "when the time comes, you will be thrown into his path again. andraste preserve me, i must send you to him. whatever happens, you will come back. allow me this. to believe anything else would… i can't."

my god, the buffet. these men are absolutely pathetic. i would DIE for them.

get off dating apps. the love of your life is from a video game!

to any of my fellow selfshippers who are afraid of their abusers knowing what you're up to or how you are in life now that you're away from them;

your f/o will do anything to keep you safe. they'll do anything they can do protect you from them. they'll reassure you that they can't get to you anymore. and even if they were to find out how you are and how your life is going, they'll be sure to make it loud and clear you're so much better off without them and are happy.