Headcanon Meme | Accepting
@seahaloed asked: Cole + Dancing
We know from Awakening and Inquisition that the Fade does have culture and society, with Justice saying many spirits believe in the Maker as humans do and Cole remarking that spirits love Varric’s books, so I feel comfortable saying that dance is an important aspect for many spirits to self-express and even communicate. In a world where emotions carry a tangible presence, expression through movement is likely as common as through language.
With spirits having no strictly defined form, I imagine their dances could range from something similar to traditional forms of dance in Thedas, to interpretative, to formless dancing where you’re a leaf bouncing in the wind. If dancing with a partner I also think there’s a potential for fusion to be involved, where experiences are shared for the space of the dance (which, this being the Fade, could last for an age). As I write this I remember I wrote a little drabble about his experience dancing with an old friend and war veteran in Elvhenan and I think Elvhenan, unsurprisingly, had a similar relationship to dances as spirits do after the Veil.
Now, what does all this mean for Cole?
Cole has forgotten what he was before becoming Cole, with only very vague memories that he alludes to when prompted. By the start of Inquisition he doesn’t know how to dance because the real Cole didn’t know how to dance, at least not beyond the natural impulse humans have.
He likes dancing, likes to watch and listen. It’s interesting seeing practised partners more or less being able to read each other’s minds, almost like he does, watching dynamics play out through the course of a song. If the Winter Palace had more dancing he might have liked it more.
Solas teaches him a little about how to dance at the Winter Palace (I have half a thing written but it’s been lying unfinished for months) as a way to distract him, and he’ll dance with others if asked and if he feels safe with them, but not on the dance floor. When dancing with someone their head opens up and he can hear almost everything, even from the quietest. The synchronised movements help him hear better.
Dancing is something he struggles with outside of the Fade. As he says to Dorian (and my reasoning for thinking he danced some at the Winter Palace): “Dancing is hard. You have to listen with your feet as well as your heart.” It takes a lot of effort and he trips over his feet a lot, but with the right people it can be fun.
I imagine once he returns to the Fade he takes up dancing more often, though not always in the shape we know him in.
