I have in the past written extensively about my opinion that Cullen’s writing is some of the worst attempts at a redemption arc I have ever seen. But never in a million years would I say that means this fictional character and fictional romance in a roleplaying game boils down to nothing but a strict “archetype”. Especially when “archetype” how truthfultales uses it, is just an insert for her views against interracial mixing.

Truthfultales claims that “arguing [Cullen] would “naturally” choose an elf is wishful thinking”, then goes onto say that it is “not prejudice” but simply “worldview” that she believes Cullen is too good for an elven apostate. She believes that Cullen needs a human warrior woman because he does not need “exotic” or “ideological tension” in his life – he needs “grounded femininity” to match his “sacred masculinity”, because that is what is “natural”. (Yes, these are all real terms she uses.) This is nothing but using Dragon Age’s fantasy racism as a means of writing thinly veiled white supremacist and misogynistic rhetoric: saying that white women are naturally fit for white men over racialized women, while at the same time treating femininity as something that women must gift to men.

Just because I personally do not find Cullen appealing, does not mean that I am incapable of understanding that the appeal works for others. Truthfultales however, cannot even claim that. Cullen’s writing in Dragon Age: Inquisition attempts to separate him from his character in the past games, and turn him into a knight in shining armour. So, if we were to subscribe to this disjointed new characterization instead of resisting it as I normally do, that means what Cullen represents is a source of safety for the player. This is a roleplaying game where your character reacts to the world and other characters how you, the player, want them to. That means in order for Cullen to successfully meet his role as a source of safety, he must be intentionally written to adapt in different ways to how the player approaches him. Truthfultales only sees Cullen as her tradwife husband because that is the only way she has clearly ever played the game. That is a fault on her part, not the game and definitely not other players. I have romanced Cullen twice; once with an Andrastian human rogue, and once with a Dalish elven mage. While there was much overlap in both these playthroughs from what I can recall, naturally he still reacted differently to each character. It is not “rewriting” his character to approach the roleplaying part of a roleplaying game differently, as truthfultales insists it is. It is within Cullen’s character to interact differently with different Inquisitors.

Players who like Cullen’s romance have typically expressed their appreciation for his interest in becoming a better person, as well as his sincerity and passion for the Inquisitor. Cullen provides this to the player regardless of if you romance him with a human or elven character. It is not “flattening” to say that Cullen is capable of loving someone who isn’t human. The knight in shining armour is supposed to represent the fantasy that anyone could find their dream match. (Cullen doesn’t have the option to be romanced by a qunari or a dwarf Inquisitor as well, only because his entire romance arc was added in the span of the additional year of development tacked on to the game before release. This was shared by Mike Laidlaw on the old BioWare forums.) Beyond that, there is nothing inherently contradictory to being Andrastian and loving a non-human – look at Leliana for example. There is also nothing about Cullen that makes him incapable of changing for the better.

Truthfultales is not just some ignorant Cullenite. She is intentionally using Dragon Age to spread harmful rhetoric part of her white supremacist tradwife cult. She does the same in other fandoms too, it looks like, then claims it is “slander” to point out the bigotry she is damn well aware is just that: bigotry.