Fueling the Muse

ladyavilia:

darthmama:

thighhighdalish:

And finally done!!  All the details I added to make sure that the outfit had the templar-y influence.

Shrinking down the armor was fun, especially for the gauntlets.

And I found a place for the flaming sword of Andraste!  As a cravat pin.

The pants have the design from the base, the buttons have the teeny sunburst, his cravat also has designs from the base, and of course, the armor design.  The sash is taken directly from the design and the belt have the design from hip guards.

:D  Had way too much fun, since there was a particular Dalish who was just as giddy about this.

BEHOLD THE AWESOMENESS OF STEAMPUNK CULLEN!  So awesome Thighhigh!

Wow.

OMG, amazing!! Love that he gets a long flowy coat.

vieralynn:

carboxylgroup:

barbeauxbot:

brennacedria:

vieralynn:

sparkay:

vieralynn:

sparkay:

I’m not sure I understand all of the dislike for Cullen.

*shrugs*   Confessions with this kind of tone always seem to bring out fandom hate for whichever character is the target of the confession. :\

I wish I knew what mod this OP is talking about because the only Cullen companion mod I’ve seen for DA:O is Karma’s Companions and Cullen is mix of shmoopy and level-headed in it. I’m really curious to see something that is “weird and uncomfortable.”

I know apparently he has a crush on a mage Warden and that was supposedly creepy? But my Warden is a Dalish elf, so I haven’t actually interacted with him yet. (Doing Broken Circle now, but an ogre keeps killing me in the Fade). I really liked Cullen in DA2 and didn’t get weird nor uncomfortable vibes from him at all.

Cullen is much more mature in DA2. ;)

My initial play-through in DA:O was with an elven mage. As you have seen, Cullen’s crush in the origin story strike people in one of two ways: awkwardly cute but hopelessly doomed versus creepy and dangerous.

I didn’t view his crush as creepy in the origin story, but I do think the situation that Cullen and the mage warden are living in is very problematic. The Harrowing ritual that mages go through is creepy and Cullen is stuck in a macabre role in the origin story. I guess some fans project the macabre nature of his role onto him, although I never saw it that way until I learned that some fans found him creepy. But, in all fairness to the people who find Cullen’s crush creepy, as a Circle templar, Cullen is in the role of the mage apprentice’s watcher/jailor and adding any (unwanted) sexual subtext to that power-over relationship is creepy (and an abuse of power). But, the key thing to me is that Cullen never does anything the least bit creepy or stalkerish to the apprentice mage. The tower has a bit of a magical highschool feel to it (Hogwarts with locked doors) and awkward Cullen is very happy if the mage just wants to talk with him as a friend. If the two of them were outside of the tower’s templars-vs-mages environment, there would be nothing creepy at all about it. Instead, it would just be a story about an average looking young man who stutters and acts awkwardly when talking to a girl he is crushing on. 

Cullen’s situation during the Broken Circle quest is another matter but I won’t say anything spoilerish because you haven’t completed it. You’ll receive less dialogue options with him because your Warden isn’t a mage so you’ll end up missing a few key bits of his story. When a mage warden meets Cullen in the Broken Circle quest, it is possible to choose dialogue options that uncover the nature of Cullen’s feelings and intent in a variety of different ways. I think this is where the rest of the disagreement about him comes from. I also think it is very easy for players to only hear the emotions in his words without listening to what he is actually saying.

(One of these days I will finish writing a massive essay that analyses every line Cullen says in DA:O and DA2.)

I see how the generic Templar-and-Mage relationship is often unhealthy at best, and can very easily be abusive. Cullen and the f!Mage!Warden never had a chance to reach that point, though, and the player has the option to never even acknowledge it, or to egg it on a bit even without mods (though I much prefer the brief little scene with the mod).

Also, giggling over how close that Warden is to Harrowing!Vrania, since I had her in the long version of that outfit inside the tower (and the short version outside the tower, in the game at least; head canon is completely different).

I can see somebody getting uncomfortable vibes from Cullen’s behavior in Origins. I’ve known more shy and sweet guys than shy and creepy, but the second definitely exists. But I think after meeting guys Alrik and Karras, Cullen suddenly became even MORE appealing to me. He’s trying so hard to be a good guy in a situation that seems to nurture really evil behavior.

I agree with you guys, but it’s seems like the secret writer is just talking about the actual mod they played. if they mean the Karma mod, I can definitely understand - the writing isn’t exactly creepy, but the heads never do expressions so it’s kind of like romancing a cardboard cutout.

Yeah, we got waaaaaay off topic and this gets back to what I was originally wondering about: What mod was the OP playing?! 

I didn’t occur to me that the OP might have been referring to the weird lack of animation in the Karma mod, assuming that’s what they were playing. Unfortunately “too weird and uncomfortable” can mean so many different things.

Yes, without knowing what mod it was, it’s hard to relate to this post. Was it the mod, or was it just a dislike of Cullen? Altho, one must wonder why you would bother recruiting him via a special mod if you don’t like him. If it’s the silence of the companions in Karma’s… then all the new companions would be “weird and uncomfortable.” Personally, I thought his quests in Karma’s were cute, altho the expressionless faces were a general complaint I also had about my Warden after DA2. :shrug: Color me confused.

(Source: dragonageconfessions)

vieralynn:

dreadwulf:

Y’know, actually have this same problem in real life, and Sebastian reminds me of none of those people. I know alllllllllllllllllllll about the ridiculous pressure to live by someone else’s religious standard that’s actually pretty random and messed-up and makes no sense. 

But I think Sebastian’s actually pretty respectful. He’s a portrayal of someone who is devout and who wants to share that belief with his friends, but he doesn’t turn his back on people that don’t believe the way he does and he doesn’t condemn people to hellfire (or the Void in this case) for not converting. There’s only one party member that Sebastian really preaches to and it’s because he showed some interest on his own first. 

I thought Leilana was a lot more aggressively religious than Sebastian, FWIW

Dreadwulf’s comments echo my feelings about Sebastian. His discussions with Fenris (and others) were really interesting to listen to. Also, he never pushed his beliefs on Hawke. Instead, he was merely confident in what he believes for himself. I think these bits of dialogue with Isabela speak to how his confidence in his belief didn’t cross over into pushing his religion on others:

Act 2:

Isabela: All right, let’s just get this over with.

Sebastian: A duel?

Isabela: No, the sermon. The finger-wagging, the guilt-trips, telling me how an unexamined life isn’t worth living.

Sebastian: I wasn’t going to—

Isabela: You weren’t? You weren’t going to tell me to comfort the needy and give freely of myself?

Sebastian: From what I hear, you already give yourself quite freely.

Isabela: Ooh. You got me there.

Act 3:

Isabela: It’s been years, and not once have you tried to get me to repent or turn to the Maker.

Sebastian: Preaching seldom works, Isabela. To change a person’s heart, one has to lead by example.

I agree. I’ve always found Sebastian to be very respectful of others’ religious views. IIRC, he’s also accepting of Merrill’s beliefs in the Creators and that there’s room in the world for multiple perspectives. He talks to Fenris about the Chantry I believe not because he’s proselytizing but because he’s trying to help a friend find comfort. 

(Source: dragonageconfessions)

jakface:

Introducing… Jakface’s DRAGON AGE art & calendar giveaway!

I have a lot of leftover art and calendars from last year. I know some of you didn’t get one of them when they were available, so here is your 20 chances to win one, along with a bunch of other awesome stuff! The pins are from the set I created back here. (Only the DA related ones!)

RULES!

• You must be following me! (It’s for my followers/fans after all!)
• You can only reblog up to 5 times. Likes count as one, but reblogs up your chances!
• No likes/reblogs from giveaway blogs count.
• It’s International so I will ship ANYWHERE!
• Winners must contact me within 1 week or else they forfeit their prize!
• The Giveaway ends at the END OF JUNE and winners will be drawn on July 1st - CANADA DAY!

THE PRIZES!

2 Grand Prize Packages include:

• 1 Dragon Age calendar
• 8 8x10 Hotties of Thedas prints
• 2 5x7 prints
• 5 2x3 prints
• 10 buttons
• An ORIGINAL DRAWING - either Isabela/Merrill or Fenris dancing on the bar!

2 Second Tier Prize Packages include:

• 1 Dragon Age calendar
• 4 8x10 Hotties of Thedas prints
• 1 5x7 prints
• 2 2x3 prints
• 2 buttons

4 Third Tier Prize Packages include:

• 1 Dragon Age calendar
• 2 8x10 prints
• 1 5x7 print
• 1 2x3 print

3 Fourth Tier Prize Packages include:

• 1 Dragon Age calendar
• 1 8x10 print
• 1 5x7 print

2 Fifth Tier Prize Packages include:

• 1 5x7 print
• 1 2x3 print
• 1 button

3 Sixth Tier Prize Packages include:

• 1 5x7 print
• 1 button

2 Seventh Tier Prizes include:

• 1 5x7 print

Also, a Dragon Age Calendar will be given to 2 lucky winners. Which makes 20 prizes in all! Good luck, everyone!

Remember, it ends July 1st, 2012!

Favorite line from that song…

(via lywinis)

Amen to that!

(Source: dragonageconfessions)

vieralynn:

katiebour:

whitethornwolf:

A list of Circles of Magi in Thedas with their first enchanters, and where known, their fraternity.

I’ll also be preparing charts of major circles with senior enchanters, mages, apprentices and tranquil, and a list of apostates by Circle/country.

Note that this chart is as of 9.38 - 9.40 Dragon Age. I note that after the rebellion at the White Spire Adrian was made Senior Enchanter of the Val Royeaux Circle, but by that time the Circle of Magi is defunct so haven’t included her.

********

Ooooh, lovely! <3

Yes, lovely! Reblogging for my own reference. 

Ah, very helpful!!

OMG, this!! My first playthrough, I tried SO many times to kill her and utterly failed ever. single. time. Ugh, painful flashbacks…

(Source: dragonageconfessions)

barackobama:

Jacob spoke first.

“I want to know if my hair is just like yours,” he told Mr. Obama, but so quietly that the president asked him to speak again.

Jacob did, and Mr. Obama replied, “Why don’t you touch it and see for yourself?” He brought his head level with Jacob, who hesitated.

“Touch it, dude!” Mr. Obama said.

As Jacob, who was 5, patted the presidential crown, Mr. Souza snapped.

“So, what do you think?” Mr. Obama asked.