#human!cole

[elfroottales]

[guava-jelly-and-nightmares]

human!cole discovering himself makes me so warm inside like LET THE LITTLE MAN EXPLORE HE DESERVES SO MUCH HAPPINESS YOU CANNOT TELL ME HE WOULD NOT ENJOY THE FREEDOM OF SKIRTS (/J)

[mehyann]

M a y h e m

[rumoursmadness]

Flower Crowns & Forget-Me-Nots

                                                  Colemance

                                             Cole X Fem!Reader

         “You forgot me.” Fingers fumbled as the flowers fluttered to the ground. She watched as rosy lips turned downward. Heart lurching, she reached for his hands. Hands, she noticed, that were much bigger than her own. They were dirty; stained a light blue from the delicate petals that he had been holding.

    She didn’t like it when he frowned. Her heart ached whenever he was upset. A deep, piercing pain that seemed to hollow her insides and left her gasping for air.

         “I would never forget you, Cole.” Words meant to help, reassure. She wouldn’t forget him. He knew this. Repeated it to himself over and over and yet…

    He was afraid. Afraid that one day she would look through him as everyone else often did. Faded, faint. A wraith once more. Left unseen and alone with golden intentions and an aching heart. He didn’t think he would be able to survive something like that. Not now, after everything.

         “But you did. You forgot and I was alone. You didn’t see me. No-one saw me, I-” The tears came then. Hot and helpless; the crystalline droplets slid down his pale cheeks, leaving watery trails in their wake. Fear. He didn’t like the feeling of it. It settled heavily in his chest, cold and cruel. It hurt.

    Slowly, she brought her hand to his cheeks, the pads of her fingers wiping away the tears that had collected there. She breathed in, shaky breaths that caught in her throat. A weight seemed to settle in her stomach. An ache that didn’t seem as if it would be going away any time soon. She didn’t like it when he was in pain.

         “It was just a nightmare. I’m here. We all are. I see you. You’re real, alive.” He looked into her eyes, searching.

    She loved his eyes. The pale blue orbs seemed to hold endless secrets within them; secrets she couldn’t wait to bring to light. They were intense pools of emotion, filled with a deep sadness that shook her to the core. She sucked in a breath. Even now, with a runny nose and a twisted frown upon his lips she thought him beautiful. And such beauty did not deserve to be marred by sadness. Surely, the Maker himself cried when Compassion turned to Despair.

         “I will never ever forget you.” She whispered it, her voice hoarse. She would never forget him. Not ever. “You’re stuck with me.” She gave him a crooked grin before placing a gentle kiss upon his nose.

         “Do you promise?” She reached for the flowers that sat in a messy pile in front of him. She brushed the dirt off of the delicate blue petals before piling them onto her lap. With a few quick twists here and there she slowly turned the flowers into a crown. With a gentle smile she placed it on his head, some of the looser flowers dangled in front of his eyes.

        “I promise.” Gently, he touched the crown of flowers that sat upon his head. They were small and a very pretty shade of blue. Forget-Me-Nots. He smiled and took her hand. Everything would be okay.

[gildedwildwood]

I think one of the reasons the Cole split is so interesting, and divisive, is because on the surface it asks you to pick a path for one person, but really it’s a “who do you save” question.

Person A: Compassion, the lost spirit.

Compassion, a ‘physical’ manifestation of the virtue, came through the veil to help the mage-boy Cole, and found himself in a confusing and cruel world. Not understanding the world around him, he took on the identity of a Cole and lost the understanding of Being a Spirit. (The implication being that his other option was to become a demon). By helping him learn about the world, and unravel himself from this manifested personality- you save The Spirit Of Compassion. Returning him to the person he was before ehe got lost, Protecting him from future corruption/binding, and allowing him to return back to his home in the fade if he wishes. He is once again The Spirit of Compassion, manifestation of the Virtue, which was always his true form under all of the layers of obfuscation required not to become twisted by the material world.

But when he turns to you and says “you can still call me that if you wish” it really does feel like you’ve lost something. And you have!

Person B: Cole, the boy who was a spirit.

When a spirit of compassion came through the Veil, it helped a mage-boy named Cole. Something got a little muddled, and he lost the sense of who was Cole and who was Spirit. But he made a friend or two, learned that murder is only ok if the person is evil, and came to understand that there -was- a difference between him and the original Cole.

Now you have a New Person! Who is not the Mage-Cole, but shares his trauma. He is learning and growing, and becoming ‘more real’ . He has experiences unique to him and relationships unique to him. This, is the companion you bring into the inquisition. Somewhere between boy and spirit. You help/watch him grow: he expresses preferences, makes friends (and enemies) and learns a lot from the people around him. By the time he’s standing with a crossbow in his hands this is Your Friend Cole, facing someone who caused the Trauma that put him on this path. Forcing him to acknowledge that he Is something other than a Spirit of Compassion. It’s a point of no return where he must accept that he is A Real Person, and face some of the consequences of that (people see him, no do overs, bodily needs), and gain the benefits! (Agency, Learn and grow, people remember you, tasty food and silly hats)

But, as Solas is so quick to point out, The Spirit Compassion is gone. Replaced by Your Friend Cole.

So do you help Solas save Compassion and sacrifice Cole, or do you help Varric save Cole and sacrifice Compassion.

Like all good “Choose which companion lives” I personally don’t think either option is wrong.

(Noting here that talking about him is confusing because there is Cole (the mage boy) and Cole (your friend) who are distinct. There’s also Compassion (capital C , it’s a name) and compassion (lower case c, it’s a word).

[primechicagowizard]

@madaean

Cole was a tall, lanky young man entirely too skinny for his own good. As softly as he stepped, there were certain attributes he possessed that did not go unnoticed by those he carefully shuffled past. There was no amount of shadow grand enough to shield him from view, the resident ‘creepy’ apparition few completely trusted.

Once he could make them forget if he really wanted them to. He could not be seen unless he wished it to be so. 

Once was no longer. Now he was more real, more in touch with the world in ways that hadn’t been before. 

Sera often called him names [and sometimes bopped him upside the head]. And Vivian simply turned up her nose, even after the gifts he gave to her.

It did not hurt his feelings as it probably should have. He didn’t pay it any thought [though he was sure, sometimes, to correct assumptions made. He was not a demon] focusing instead on performing those subtle gestures to improve the outlook of the day for the people who shunned him in the next breath.

Locating lost mementos

Feeding the cats [and sometimes the rats]

passing along messages they feared to relay themselves.

Only a few of the acts he engaged at any given moment.

Sometimes his methods were more unconventional than serving as a simple messenger, or delivering what goods he guessed would achieve a favorable ends.

Sometimes what actions he got into were downright baffling.

The concept of humanity was, by itself, far too complex a theory to attach words of a conventional variety. It was composed of far too many beliefs intertwined into one, a dizzying array of personal perspective and state of being. Humanity was more than simply a conscious, intelligent mind. Cole was only beginning his journey toward grasping what he thought he had already understood. He didn’t. There was so much that had been missing before he released the pent up rage in his heart, so much he hadn’t realized he’d been lacking until his essence was threatened to be bound by the enemy.

There was a lady he watched. Stared at more like. Morrigan. The witch of a thousand names, each one a fragmented piece of herself. It was only when they were all combined that she became herself. Though she drifted, quick to replace her truth with yet another mask. 

He was told by Solas that he should not interfere. That he should stay the course and allow those around him to ease their own discomfort in the way of their choosing [however much their choosing made no choice sense]. But that didn’t stop him from staring, from wondering when they were going to start with the fixing?

[what-matters-is-i-helped-blog]

[Open]

Humanity had not come easy and even now after several months Cole sometimes forgot his body was more there now.

Which was why after the battle he stood in place, hand pressed to his chest with blood seeping out between his fingers, pale brows drawn into a look of discomfort and confusion.

He hadn’t bled before.

Soft words or a warm blanket wouldn’t heal this kind of hurt.

“It’s warm”

[ageofdragon]

Gosh I am just so happy I am not the only one who found the cole/maryden romance so uncomfortable and unnecessary I was worried I was like, alone. Kept thinking if they were platonic I would have happy he had found someone to do good with but ugh making it romantic and implied sexual just gives me the heebiejeebies. I love human!Cole so much but this thing alone does make me wanna just go spirit every time to avoid having to see the ~romance, lie you said. Sorry for the rant just happy not alone

No problem really, everyone needs to rant every now and then.

I agree though, I really liked the platonic relationship of Cole travelling with Maryden and bring inspiration to her and joy to others. But the way it was written was just really so uncomfortable and even seemed harmful.

Cole basically says he is only with Maryden because he is human now and the joke about her bodice tacked on, just made Cole feel like a creep. Like I do believe a romantic relationship could be established with Cole, but Bioware did it exactly like I feared they would and made it all about human = must have a romantic attachment/LI + skeevy dialogue from Cole to sexualize him/the relationship.

So yeah, I pretty much have your same opinion: I love human!Cole, but how he and even Maryden (in relationship with him) are treated in Trespasser really dissuades me from making him human in my present/future playthrough(s).