in which cassandra explains romance novels

[hurtcomfort]

Occasionally, Cassandra would read those novels she liked to Cole. Of course, he didn't mind. She liked reading, he liked listening. These things made her happy so he wanted to see what they were and just why and how they made her happy in the first place. And...honestly, they made Cole happy as well. These stories always had nice endings. Dramatic twists and turns, of course, but most of the time people ended up happy. And that, of course, made Cole happy.

However, the fact remains that Cole and his very single-minded way of thinking didn't exactly get some aspects of the romance genre. Most notably, the entire concept of 'will they won't they' as well as the idea of people not telling others things. It's silly. The girl liked the lord of the manor, not the soldier, so why was she even pretending to like the soldier to begin with?

So it's one of those reading sessions, when Cassandra and Cole are sitting in some more secluded part of Skyhold that Cole decides to voice his frustrations. After Cassandra pauses in her reading, Cole decides to ask.

"Why don't they talk to each other?"

Well, he tries to ask, at least.

Comments

[hurtcomfort]

But if most authors gave the heroes a happy ending, then why would they write the parts where they don't talk to each other in the first place? It'd be so much simpler if the author just wrote the happy ending right away!

...but then, Cassandra would probably say something like oh, they're not supposed to be simple, Cole, which was silly and annoying and something he didn't like. More things needed to be simple.

"Books are confusing." There we go, an amazing insight from Cole, who's sulking a little bit because this whole thing's gotten more aggravating than he expected.

[ughs]

"Have you talked to Varric?" Cassandra asks, before thinking otherwise. "Perhaps that's not a good idea. He prefers to have his characters suffer with no reward."

It was something she feared, at least for the series he was currently writing. But still, Cassandra looks Cole over and manages to find it within herself to at least continue to help him. "People are confusing," she offers, before realizing that perhaps that doesn't help him either.

[hurtcomfort]

That was entirely the wrong thing to say. Because as Cassandra mentions that Varris enjoys making his characters suffer, Cole just looks fricken distraught. What?! Why would he do that?! That's...cruel and selfish and doesn't make any sense and again, why would he do that?

"But it's wrong," Cole definitively states. Because it is! It's cruel of Varric to do something like that when he could write them happy. And if he had to write them suffering in the first place, at least he couldn't write so much suffering.

It's also possible that Cole keeps mixing up if characters in books are real or not.

[ughs]

How does one argue with a spirit of compassion that things happening to characters in a book isn't a moral problem to take issue with? Cassandra doesn't know. Instead she awkwardly tries again, hoping to ease some of his distress.

"It is writing. I cannot say I agree with Varric's narrative choices, but he... does write engaging works of fiction. And that is what people wish to read."

Nope, she knows she didn't do it that time, either.

[hurtcomfort]

None of this made sense. Varric's characters suffered and people enjoyed it? Why would they enjoy suffering in the first place? Wouldn't they enjoy it more if they ended up happy?

That look of confusion is still on Cole's face as he frowns about the whole scenario.

"I need to talk to Varric about this." Maybe he could better explain why he does what he does. But...Cassandra is still here. And she's still got the book. And Cole kind of wants to know what happens next. "...but I can talk to Varric after the next chapter."