FWIW, my canon IQ is a mage and my interpretation of these scenes is pretty much identical to yours. Obviously individual tastes will vary, and the relationship works pre- or post-Perseverance, but there's nothing in the mage dynamic that precludes that later start. He makes it quite clear that he considers the IQ a boss/companion/friend/LI first and a mage a distant second. The way it played out, I felt that my Inquisitor was more hung up about it than he was. (She only brought it up the once, though.)
I agree, I very much enjoy nine's interpretation of a post-perseverance romance myself. In fact, I'd say that a mage Quizzy's cautious and gentle advancement of the relationship would be much appreciated by Cullen - it fits very well into how I think Cullen would be classified as an ISTJ on the MBTI spectrum. I understand perhaps not everyone prefers to categorize characters this way and of course I can't claim to be an expert at all regarding Myers and Briggs personality tests, but a lot of how Cullen acts in Inquisition appears to mirror what I've read from several sources online about how a healthy ISTJ mindset would. This tumblr has consolidated a number of excerpts from different sources (some more reliable than others) about how the ISTJ prefers to function, and this one about a preference for slow and steady courtship particularly stood out to me (Because yes, I am that sad and looked up dating advice for Cullen just to flesh out my headcanon. Don't judge me please):
Other posts summarize the typing as follows:
So yeah, I think Cullen would definitely favor a slow, careful approach with relationships, and he'd possibly even find it somewhat attractive that you took the time to consider his comfort if you're a mage Inquisitor. He does take a while before opening up to you about his past, and the way he gets so nervous about telling you he's hoping for a future with you...I think it's just so sweet that he ends up having to ask because he finally sees a happy future for himself but is afraid you don't think the same way. The idea of a post-Perseverance romance feels extra appropriate because you're telling him you see yourself entering a stable, safe relationship with him even though you've been so careful starting the relationship. You're putting your faith in him, you believe in him. It's just so cute. ;-;
I agree here. It was pretty shocking to see him be okay with letting someone get assassinated when there were definitely other options to resolve the situation.
Re: self insert characters - I don't necessarily play self inserts, but I don't roleplay too hard on my initial playthroughs either. I just go with what feels natural at first rather than, I've decided to play a BAMF, so I'm going to take all the tough sounding/ more power for me, type choices. Because of that, I feel like my warden is the most "me" character I've played. I know it's not a popular opinion, but I found that not having a voiced PC allowed me to find her voice myself. I could either Interpret the text as exactly what she said, or a variation that made sense to me and have it be the tone that I wanted. While I do really enjoy the protagonists being voiced as well, in that case the character can feel less true to my intention depending on the delivery of the line, or how different the actual line is from the prompt on the dialogue wheel. Both have merit and both are fun though.
I liked the non-voiced dialogue options in Origins myself. I have no problem with playing self-insert characters (and it's actually my preferred type of gameplay) and being able to imagine my own voice speaking in Origins was very fulfilling. I honestly had a lot of trouble deciding which voice to choose for my Inquisitor because, on the one hand, I speak with an American accent - and on the other hand, my voice is more similar to that of the non-American Inquisitor. It was a bit harder for me to immerse myself in the story because nothing my Inquisitor said really felt like me. I mean, it wasn't a huge deal - my headcanon for where my Inquisitor comes from is totally different from the canon anyway - but it meant I had to delete and edit a lot of what my Quizzy says because what is said inevitably ends up feeling wrong. I can appreciate just playing through the story as if I'm reading a choose-your-own-adventure book with pre-defined characters, but in that case I feel like the ability to customize your character's appearance seems a bit ...I don't know, paradoxical? But that's just me. In any case, both voice actresses are very talented and it's still been a pleasure listening to them deliver their lines.
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Between that show and S3 of Downton Abbey (Sybil! WHY??? *sob*) I had to break up with TV for awhile. My poor poor feels.
