Dorian/Cullen

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Pairing
Pairing: Dorian/Cullen
Alternative name(s): Cullrian
Gender category: Slash
Fandom: Dragon Age
Canonical?: no
Prevalence: popular
Archives: Archive of Our Own [Dorian Pavus/Cullen Rutherford]
Other:
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Dorian/Cullen, also known as Cullrian, is the slash pairing of Dorian Pavus and Cullen Stanton Rutherford from Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Canon

In Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dorian is one of the three possible mage companions to the player-character (Inquisitor), while Cullen fills the role of the Inquisition's Commander and the Inquisitor's military advisor.

The two have several key interactions throughout the game, which hint at a Enemies to Friends dynamic off-screen and which have informed the fandom's interpretation of the ship:

  • Haven: If the player chooses to recruit the Templars, rather than the mages, to the Inquisition, Dorian appears at Haven to warn the Inquisition of Corypheus' approaching army, and quite literally falls through the gate into Cullen's arms. The two exchange argumentative words over whether or not to accept defeat when trapped at Haven, with Cullen advocating that they cause an avalanche to take both the Inquistion and Corypheus' army out as the only decision remaining is "how spitefully we end this". Dorian objects strenuously, and asserts "Dying is typically a last resort, not first! For a Templar, you think like a Blood Mage!"
  • Chess at Skyhold: It is possible to trigger a cutscene which shows Dorian and Cullen engaged in a chess-like game in the Skyhold garden, which is seems to be habitual: evidently they have moved beyond their respective antagonism and formed some kind of friendship. This includes the following banter:
Cullen: Gloat all you like. I have this one.
Dorian: Are you sassing me, Commander? I didn't know you had it in you.
...
Dorian: You need to come to terms with my inevitable victory. You'll feel much better.
Cullen: Really? Because I just won, and I feel fine.
Dorian: Don't get smug. There'll be no living with you.
  • Wicked Grace: At the companions' poker-like card game, Cullen attempts to leave, claiming they have enough people for a game without him - Dorian convinces him not to go, saying "Losing money can be both relaxing and habit-forming. You should try it." When Cullen embarks on an unwise round of strip-poker against Josephine that ends in him being fully nude, Cassandra comments that she doesn't want to watch Cullen's walk of shame back to the barracks, and Dorian interjects, "Well, I do!"

If the Inquisitor romances Cullen, Dorian also comments approvingly: "Have a thing for strapping young Templars, I see."

Fandom

Like many NPC pairings in the Dragon Age fandom, this ship is often less popular than reader-insert or player-character-insert fics, for example where a player's canon Inquisitor is shipped with Cullen.

It is common for the ship to be combined with the pairing Adoribull, either as a secondary/prior pairing or in a polyamorous triangle.

Key Fandom Interests

  • Halward Pavus' A+ Parenting (AO3 tag): Dorian is an exile from his home due to disapproval from both his father (Halward Pavus) and Tevinter society in general when he refused to hide his preference for men (since the Tevinter culture prizes heterosexual marriage in order to breed another generation of magical talent for the family). If romanced, Dorian reveals his ingrained assumption that sexual relationships between men are only permitted to be physical, not romantic. This is a key aspect of many Cullrian fics, with Cullen's experience in the tolerant south of Thedas acting as a foil. See the inescapable risk of intimacy [esstiel] or take all my loves, my love [susiecarter].
  • Cullen's PTSD and Templar history: Cullen is one of very few (possibly the only) character to have appeared in all three games in the Dragon Age series, with perhaps the longest history of any character: in Dragon Age: Origins he was a young, idealistic Templar who was captured and tortured by blood mages and desire demons before being saved by the Hero of Ferelden, while in Dragon Age II he has succumbed to trauma of this experience and been radicalised, supporting the Knight-Commander Meredith's persecution of mages. By Inquisition he appears to have been de-radicalised and chosen to leave the Templar Order in order to atone for his behaviour. Since Dorian is not only a mage, but also one from Tevinter, where mages instead oppress non-mages (soporati, 'sleepers'), this is a primary dynamic in fic and many fanworks focus on it, for example Risk Addiction [orphan_account] or Make Me to Rest in the Warmest Places [littleraeofsunshine]. Popular tropes arising from this include Dorian supporting Cullen through nightmares resulting from his PTSD and more darker examinations of Cullen's PTSD and mage-phobia, including toxic/semi-violent scenarios, such as the series To Beard the Lion [BurnItAllDownDahling].
  • Lyrium Withdrawal: As part of Cullen's abdication of Templar ideals, he chooses to stop taking lyrium, which is heavily addictive. The canon game notes this is extremely dangerous, with likely outcomes including death or madness, but minimises the actual observed symptoms. Fandom often highlights these, including having Dorian offer assistance or remedies for lyrium addiction: although it is unclear whether lyrium is addictive when taken by mages, works often include the fact that if so, a nation like Tevinter where mages are the dominant class would have remedies unknown in Ferelden to help manage withdrawal symptoms. This often leads to Hurt/Comfort scenarios such as that in Compelled by Good Alone [orphan_account].

Common Tropes

  • Insecurities: Both characters have significant reasons to be insecure about potential relationships, which lends well to the Angst with a Happy Ending and Miscommunication tropes. Cullen's awkwardness on being romanced (which suggested a lack of significant romantic, if not sexual experience) and Dorian's own experience of homophobia in the politically-mercenary Tevinter sexual culture are common topics for examination.
  • Enemies to Lovers: The oppositional nature (see: Opposites Attract) of the characters is often central to fanworks, since Dorian and Cullen, both born in Dragon 9:11, have lived diametrically opposed lives. A Ferelden farmer's son-turned Templar and a Tevinter Altus, they are both romantics who have been held back from positive, healthy relationships, and both semi-voluntary, traumatised exiles from their respective societies looking for new futures.
  • Friends with Benefits: Fanworks where they are in a sexual relationship whilst pining for one another romantically are common: the history of their characters make this fertile ground.

Controversies

The pairing has been involved in controversy surrounding Cullen's character in particular: his canon arc, wherein he was first traumatised, then radicalised, and finally de-radicalised in Inquisition, has led to criticism on the part of some fans. Some of these fans feel there was insufficient screen-time or justification for Cullen's redemption arc, suggesting it primarily took place over the gap between Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Inquisition, and that the Cullen portrayal in the latter game is an unrealistic development. For this reason, some fans actively protest ever shipping Cullen with any mage, in particular, arguing that this can only ever be an abusive dynamic. Indeed, many fanfics grapple with this in detail, either by focusing on the process of Cullen's redemption and potentially including additional apologies/challenges, or by including a significant toxic dynamic (see FIC) which the couple may or may not overcome.

This has been exacerbated by a video made by Cullen's voice actor on the 4th of February 2020, in which he complained in-character as Cullen about cancel culture, Black Live Matter, the "intellectual glitterati", and former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah. Unfortunately this seemed to many to support the concerns about the character's history and suggest that the actor, at least, envisaged Cullen espousing such positions.

Fanworks

Fanfiction

The first ever Cullrian fanfic posted on AO3 was Screw Chess by ValkyrieShepard, on 8th December 2014; it was never completed. The first to gain a significant following was Cold Hands, Warm Heart by spicyshimmy and stonelions (completed 18th January 2015) which included several of the threads which have continued to be common in the ship fandom, and which remains the highest-bookmarked fic on AO3 as of August 2023.

Tumblr hosts some tumblrfic, primarily short drabbles, notably for example writtenjewels is still actively writing Cullrian drabbles as of 2023.

Other notable fics:

Fanart

Fanvids

Art Gallery

Archives & Fannish Links

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