Cullen

Cullen B. Mosquito (a.k.a. Aedes albopictus) (He/Him)

"Remember, I am not responsible for any broken or defective merchandise. I'm a simple tradesman after all."

Cullen is a shady traveling merchant that specializes in unconventional and rare goods found across the country. He is a vagabond that travels around by hitchhiking on human trains.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Physical Appearance

Cullen is a tall, lanky figure with recognized easily by his long proboscis-like nose and a smile of sharp fangs. His skin is pale with black stripes on his limbs and abdomen similar to his Bug kin the Asian Tiger Mosquito. He has shaggy hair he keeps pulled back into a pony tail. While his hair is dark, several strands are a contrasting white.
He has pink eyes, however one was severely damaged, causing a long scar across his eye and a hyphema full of hemolymph which turns it a mustard yellow. The eye is completely blind and fails to open fully.

Appearal

Cullen is most frequently seen wearing a pale yellow button down with maroon suspenders and trousers, very similar to how humans dress (circa 1920s). He's occasionally seen carrying around a large back full of miscellaneous items he intends to sell.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

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Cullen was born in a marshland village somewhere deep in Bituin to a family of mosquitos. He was born and raised as a girl under the name 'Culledena' with several sisters and his mother. As a nymphs he had to spend a majority of his childhood underwater much like real mosquito larvae. He was raised in a rather small pool of water and was sheltered by his mother. Even upon emerging from the lake as a young adult, he was often still restricted on where he was allowed to go and what he was allowed to do. He was often forced to fit the aesthetic of his family, which often involved pretty, gothic style dresses and hair, a feminine look that he was never fond of.
In his early twenties, he cut his hair and began identifying as a man and chose the name Cullen, with plans to leave his home and explore the world. He prepared in secret and left without a word, leaving only a note about his departure to be read long after he was already gone. He hopped onto one of the many trains ran by humans that passed through the marsh and let it take him away.
Eventually he would depart from the train and end up in Bug City. While initially he was enamored by the grand scale of the town, he would soon be overwhelmed by the busy and complicated culture. He'd find himself in over his head, lost and with little to his name, until he was discovered by a wealthy looking jewel wasp that introduced herself as Aressa. Aressa immediately took a liking to Cullen's charm and invited him out, where she'd eventually offer him a job with her employer to help him make a name for himself.
The employer in question was the leader of the local Mothia, a criminal organization that specialized in the sale of illicit goods. The Mothia found value in his charasma and deal making skills, and Cullen worked for them for a few years. It was dirty money, but still money. He would also start to fall in love with the dazzling Aressa, and had been secretly stealing more than his cut of money to save up and run away with her, convinced he could save her from the life of crime she was tied to.
However, Aressa didn't share those feelings, and when Cullen revealed his plan to her, she betrayed him and snitched his deception to the boss. Since no one steals from the Mothia, the boss sent their goons to attack Cullen. He was target in an alley and beaten bloody, and barely escaped with his life.

The incident left him blind in one eye, but also with mental scars. He became increasingly paranoid and lost his ability to trust people. He no longer felt safe in the city so he fled on train, and continued his salesman job in other regions of Bituin

Gender Identity

He has complicated feelings about his gender. He is hyper aware of the biological differences between female and male mosquitoes and his ability to drink blood gives him dysphoria; yet he continues to do it because his miracle elixir is what keeps him afloat financially.

Employment

Cullen is a traveling salesman that sells a variety of items he has collected from the human world to Miinu. However he is particularly known for a miracle elixir he touts as being a cure all for illness. It contains human blood which he drinks from humans and promptly spits back out. in reality the blood does very little for illnesses but due to the general woship/fear of humans in Miinu culture, he can easily fool suckers into buying it.

Mental Trauma

Cullen developed PTSD after his assult in the ally, and developed a paranoia disorder as a result. He has trust issues and refuses to let strangers close to him for too long. He constantly keeps moving due to the fear that if he stays in one place, the Mothia will hunt him down. He often suspects the people closest to him are secretly waiting for a moment to kill him, thus if can act overly defensive around others.
In his worst moments, Cullen will have delusions of the people around him planning to murder him and will respond with violent outbursts.

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This is not aided by the fact that his travels have caused him to contract Brain Spores. He even attempts to self medicate with his own 'miracle elixir'.

Morality & Philosophy

Calling Cullen a 'good person' would not be a accurate descriptor. He is seemingly unphased by the idea scamming people and stealing money. He makes sure to straddle the line of what is legal to keep his hands clean from the law. He is also perfectly willing to maim or kill someone in self defense. However, in secret he is haunted by much of the horrible things he had to do for the Mothia.

Personality Characteristics

Likes & Dislikes

He likes Money money money. But jokes aside, he enjoys traveling and seeing the world, as well as collecting obscure and 'rare' human artifacts. In reality even something as mundane as a marble or an ear ring is valuable to him. He also used to enjoy meeting new people, though it's harder for him to do that these days. He still enjoys listening to the stories of different people he meets.
Small things he likes; Alcohol (Bloody Marys), Tomatoes, Pomegranate, Nectar, Swing music, trains, Shiny things, the color red.
He dislikes being bossed around or told what he can and can't do. He values his independency, and hates accepting help from others as well. He also cant stand traditionally feminine presenting attire.
Small things he dislikes; Leafy greens, mornings, AB- Blood, swamp smell, beuracracy, the color pink.

Virtues & Personality perks

Cullen is a charismatic and deceptive person. He can talk his way out of nearly any situation, and his ability to sell an idea is unmatched. He also has a great deal of knowledge about the regions all around Bituin. Being a well travelled man he can offer advice about how to navigate around the region, for a small fee.

Vices & Personality flaws

Cullen is not a very trustworthy person. He is a greedy liar who would sell his mother for the right price. His paranoia also makes him a quite dangerous man. If you catch him in the wrong mood he may see you as a threat worth eliminating.

Social

Family Ties

Cullen grew up with an affluent mosquito family, whose money came from selling animal blood. His parents was his mother Cici and father Albo, who was eaten by a toad in Cullen's late teens. He was the youngest of three children, proceeded by Aeda and eldest Cicilia.
Cici was someone who was obsessed with the families image and reputation, and wished for her daughters to be perfect mini-me's of her. She often expressed disappointment in Cullen's lack of femininity and crassness and frequently pushed her desire to see Cullen get married and have children, a prospect that disgusted him.
The last time he was in contact with his family was after an argument he had with his mother, after he cut his hair of before Cicilia's wedding. He left the home without a word and hasn't been back for 15 years.

Mannerisms

Cullen has a tendency to smile all the time, even if his actual mood doesn't warrant it. He has a persona he puts on when making sale, and it's only when he's particularly frustrated or tired that the persona drops. He is a bold, attention seeking person. He's loud and boisterous, but also unnerving to the hyperaware.

Speech

He speaks very quickly and confidently, but he has a slight lisp.

Relationships

Cullen

Ally

Towards Symon Cantillo

3

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Symon Cantillo

Ally

Towards Cullen

2

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History

Symon meet's Cullen while looking for directions to Bug City and is stunned to meet another travelling salesman. He is initially admires Cullen's confidence and experience but slowly starts to realize he is an uncouth individual. However they need to board the train with him to get to mutant city.
During their long trip Cullen grows more and more paranoid of Symon, eventually coming to the conclusion that he is an assassin come to kill him, and retaliates by attacking him with a knife and attempting to throw him off the moving train. Symon is saved when Ves knocks Cullen out, where they then find signs that he's been infected with Brain Spores, which caused his irrational behavior.
Despite just being attacked, Symon insists they take Cullen to the city where he can get medical attention, which causes Cullen to freak out when he wakes. Eventually they are able to get him help and when he has a clear head again, thanks Symon for helping him and promises to help him get to the dock to Nawala Island.

Relationship Reasoning

Initially Symon only needed a guide to Bug City, but after learning how sick Cullen was, felt the need to help him despite how terrible of a person he was. For Cullen, it allowed him to trust someone for the first time in ages.

Commonalities & Shared Interests

Both Symon and Cullen have history with being traveling salesmen, which initially allows Symon to trust Cullen. Symon can also empathize with the difficulty and stress that comes with the job.

Cullen

Boyfriend

Towards Lampry

4

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Lampry

Boyfriend

Towards Cullen

4

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History

Before they even realized, Cullen and Lampry met when they were kids. Lampry was wondering the area looking for a new home and paused at the lake that Cullen lived in as a nymph. They had a breif talk about their lives; how Lampry had been traveling the human world for a while, and how Cullen wanted to see more of the world outside the lake. They hit it off and Lampry nicknamed him Cully, which inspired his chosen name after transitioning.
They wouldn't meet again until years later, and they wouldn't recognize each other in their adult forms. Lampry immediately was interested in Cullen and would flirt with him, but he would not return his advances, as he still had his eye on Aressa.
Later on, when Symon Cantillo and friends tried to save Cullen from his Brain Spores, Lampry was the only one in town to offer assistance, due to Cullen's bad reputation.
When Cullen attempts to gain immortality with the Fossil Stone and turns into a monter, Lampry is the one who distracts them while Symon tries to undo the spell. He eventually talks him down, allowing him to turn back to normal. Lampry insists he'll take care of Cullen.
They two catch up on their childhood exploits while Cullen recovers and end up dating by the time they meet up with Symon again.

Nicknames & Petnames

Lampry refers to Cullen as 'Cully' to this day.

Relationship Reasoning

Cullen was the first friend Lampry ever had growing up, and when they finally met again as adults, he was desperate to rekindle that relationship. He never believed all the nasty rumors about Cullen because he knew a different side of the man and believed he was better than that.
Cullen, despite having many connections, never had anyone he could truly rely on, so seeing someone still care about him after everything he'd done was a shocker for him.

Commonalities & Shared Interests

They both are infatuated with the human world and human life, and both had a desire to go out and experience all of it. They both have a love for night life and dream of success and fame.

Bug kin

Asian Tiger Mosquito

Species

Miinu

Year of Birth

1887 CE 35 Years old

Spouses

Siblings

Gender

Male

Eyes

Pink Naturally - Right Eye filled with mustard yellow hemolymph.

Hair

Black with white streaks.

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

White with black stripes on limbs.

Height

4.2cm

Known Languages

Miinuvian

Gallery