leliaana:

agronadb:

leliaana: pentilyets: Cullen I’ve-changed-my-views-on-mages Rutherford still wants you to go to the Templars because he’s seen what mages can do. And this is the guy people are patting bioware on the back for character development I mean, NoodleHair McPastyFace was literally in Kirkwall for seven years where he watched (and possibly helped) templars perpetuate the worst kind of abuses against mages but he’s still going on about “what mages can do”. What about what templars can do, Cullen. What about the blood of innocents on your fucking hands. Isn’t this the same guy, though, who mutters to Leliana at the beginning “I was a templar. I know what they’re capable of.” in a tone that implies there’s more than just a mention of ‘abilities’ to that? Isn’t this the same guy who, while feeling betrayed by the order, was outright TORTURED by mages (physically and mentally), had his friends slaughtered right in front of him as he more or less wasted away in a cage? The same man who declares to the Inquisitor during a personal moment that he doesn’t want ANYTHING to with his old life that he used to be quite proud of? Yes, I would’ve liked to see more acknowledgement on Cullen’s part about what templars can do. Hell, what HE possibly did (his tone quite heavily implies he’s REALLY not proud of it, whatever it was). But you got a scenario where he has to advise a stranger to choose between an organization he is no longer certain of, feels betrayed by, but still KNOWS people (probably even some GOOD people) in or an organization of people with the very same powers as those who completely shattered him in the past? There’s a saying of “better to go with the devil you know”, or something similar. Or you can go with the counters to the “not all [insert group here] that pop up here on tumblr all the time. Because Cullen HAS been on the wrong end of a group of people and it colors his viewpoint. I praise Cullen’s development because he went from “All mages are the enemy. Mages aren’t LIKE you and me” to “No, I was wrong. Not all mages are like Uldred and his folk.” And that can be a VERY big leap, especially for someone who suffered severe trauma. And Cullen DID. If it wasn’t obvious, Cullen is rather clearly suffering from the effects of PTSD, among MANY other problems, and states quite clearly that he has NEVER been comfortable enough to talk about what happened in the Tower to ANYONE until he joined the Inquisition. Does he still have room to grow? Hell yes. And yes, as I stated before, I would’ve liked MORE acknowledgement on Cullen’s part about the abuses of the templars. But him still pushing for a templar alliance over mages? That just makes SENSE considering everything.

cullen was not tortured by mages, he was tortured by demons who murdered mages and templars alike. demons who a group of desperate mages turned to, in a desperate attempt to gain freedom from an abusive system cullen was complicit in.

cullen declaring he doesn’t want anything to do with his old life is him distancing himself from the abuse he wholeheartedly endorsed and helped perpetuate in kirkwall. distancing himself from his past actions does not absolve him of anything if he does not actively work to atone for them.

mages are not a monolithic organization of people with fixed goals like the templars; your comparison is completely off point. cullen’s blanket generalization of mages shows that he hasn’t really come far from his DA2 stance “not people like you and me” at all, regardless of what the narrative would have you believe.

a deeply privileged man who’s very near the top of thedas’ social hierarchy does not deserve to be praised for literal basic decency. “uldred and his folk” were not mustache-twirling villains who decided to summon demons for funsies. they were victims of the circle system trying to gain freedom.

trauma is not an excuse for bigotry. trauma is not an excuse for actively perpetuating abuse and contributing to systemic oppression of minorities. why is cullen’s trauma and development constantly prioritized over that of his victims? those who were killed, beaten, made tranquil, raped, because cullen turned a blind eye/actively encouraged anti-mage stances? where’s their chance to grow and move on?

if cullen had truly grown past his “Mages Are Not Human” stance, he would’ve seen the mages as victims of a fundamentally flawed and oppressive system. a system that he helped uphold for nearly a decade. if he was serious about atoning for everything he did and did not stop in kirkwall, yes, he absolutely should have advocated helping the mages

look, it’s cool if cullen means a lot to you personally! but the entire fandom is a cullen positive space and if you want validation of your views you can go literally anywhere else instead of adding commentary to one of the handful of cullen critical posts made by people who literally feel unsafe because of this character