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[LolaLei]

Berelinde: Y'know, I've never looked at Hawke's upbringing in that light before, but now you've mentioned it, it makes sense that he/she would be well practiced in moving on etc. Hm, makes me feel even more sorry for him/her. 
As for Anders, I've always got the impression that, because this was the first time he'd ever been in love, he was a little overwhelmed by these unfamilar feelings, thus making him behave a bit clingy and fast moving after they'd finally had sex... (Hell, we've all behaved dramatically with our "first love", be it reciprocated or not lol) he was just experiencing it later in life lol. I imagine it also caused a few problems with his resolve regarding his one man crusade lol. Let's not forget that Anders has always been fond of the "extreme", even during his Awakening days he'd go to great lengths to escape the tower and lived ferociously during his freedom, which explains his outlook on sex back then too. He's one of those "live for the moment" guys, since all the good he's experienced in life has always been short lived, so he got his kicks where he can find them. By the time DA2 rolled around, he'd grown up a lot (what with Justice etc) so I think he just wanted to experience as much "Hawke-age" as possible before he/she was ripped away from him too. Plus, as far as he know, his life span has been cut significantly shorter due to being a Grey Warden. So I guess you can't blame the guy for being intense lol.

Now that I've read all this back, I think that's why I've always felt that my canon Hawke belonged with Anders, since both of them had experienced a lot of tragedy in their lives and as a result cling on to what little happiness they could get, which they found in each other, no matter how fleeting. 


Aaaaaaand back to Cullen! 

[berelinde]

LOL Work has me running around in circles, and a lot of that has been participation in group projects, which makes it hard to hit the forums.

Somehow, I don't think we would have to wait that long for Cullen to get his act together. I don't think they're going to do that time jump thing again. Dragon Age 2 was all about relationships - in general, not just romantic ones - and imposing a three year gap creates awkward lurches in continuity that are hard to overcome. Like the Fenris one. But if they handled it like the inevitable fights in BG2 where the lover stormed off in a tiff at some point, it would not be an improvement.

The idea is to create some kind of reason why lovers can't be together so that when they finally do hook up, it's more romantic. Varric lampshaded it in DA2 with the "Friendly Concern" quest, especially with sarcastic Hawke's "Varric, in all the time you've known me, have I ever given you the impression that I'm turned off by crazy?" I sometimes think that they choose LIs simply because there's a reason why it wouldn't work.

Fortunately for Cullen's future as a LI (assuming that he's a companion at all), there is a whole choir stall full of obstacles to romance ranging from previous infatuation with the Surana or Amell Warden to longstanding difficulties thinking of people as individuals. That's actually good because it gives them plenty of approaches to take when deciding how a potential romance would play out.

[LolaLei]

Ok, that's given me inspiration for a new question for you all:

When it comes to love interests for your canon protagonists in Dragon Age games, after experimenting with all the romance options (or watching them on YouTube), what makes you favour one particular LI for your canon protagonist over the other available LI's?

Do you base it solely on how attractive he/she is? The way the romance arc itself plays out? The LI's personality? The type of personality your protagonist has? The similarities between both the LI and your protagonist? The situation in which the LI and protagonist find themselves? Because he/she reminds you of your real life partner/someone you know? Etc.

For me personally it's based on several factors. Firstly the type of background my protagonist comes from/or I've head canoned for them, secondly the LI's personality and how I feel my character would interact with said LI, thirdly the situation they find themselves in, and fourthly the similarities they share. Mix that with how I've personally taken to the pairing and that's how I make my decision.

For example, my canon Warden was the female mage Amell (and based on my own personality... ok, who am I trying to kid, she was me LOL). She'd been locked in a tower all her life, craving freedom and adventure. Presumably she hadn't known her parents (since she's a circle mage) and is a sucker for a funny guy (and a sob story). So of course, Alistair was the perfect LI from the start. He too hadn't known his parents personally (dispite knowing OF them), he'd had a bit of a tragic upbringing (because Isolde and Eamon are a pair of dicks), yet he hadn't lost his sense of humor and was a bit of a goof ball, both use humor to deflect and cope with bad situations. My Warden shows Alistair the love and affection that he was starved of before he met her, and Alistair provides the love, emotional protection (cos let's face it, she can look after herself, she killed a bloody Archdemon!) and complete devoted loyalty that she hadn't ever expected, since circle mages generally avoid "emotional ties" due to circumstance. It was just an added bonus that his romance arc was very well written and he just happened to be completely head-over-hells for our Warden (because, who doesn't love that!)

As for my canon Hawke, he was a mage who mostly used humor to cope with bad situations too (it's a family thing, plus Nick Boulton's delivery of witty/sarcastic dialogue totally slays me!) However, he could be both diplomatic and aggressive when called for. We all know his background, so I won't go into that. I decided Anders was his canon LI based on the loss and tragedy they had both experienced. Both cling to each other and try to make the most of their relationship since they know it could be fleeting (something they've come to expect with life in general). Anders keeps Hawke grounded, whilst Hawke tries to keep Anders from retreating into himself or letting Justice take complete control (he secretly likes the danger aspect that dating Anders brings). Admittedly, Anders romance arc felt lacklustre after he moved in, but that was down to the game itself, rather than the motives of the LI himself.

Now, when it comes to DA3, obviously the first LI i'd romance would be Cullen (if he's a companion/LI), but that doesn't mean his romance arc and personality would suit my eventual canon protagonist. Ideally, I'd like him to be, but it all depends on what I feel is right for the character I've created. 

[LolaLei]

berelinde wrote...

The idea is to create some kind of reason why lovers can't be together so that when they finally do hook up, it's more romantic. 

Fortunately for Cullen's future as a LI (assuming that he's a companion at all), there is a whole choir stall full of obstacles to romance ranging from previous infatuation with the Surana or Amell Warden to longstanding difficulties thinking of people as individuals. That's actually good because it gives them plenty of approaches to take when deciding how a potential romance would play out.

Agreed. If they're still gonna run with the whole "we can't be together because..."  thing, then at least Cullen's reasons wouldn't seem stupid or unbelivable. Hell, they've got a vast array of choices to pick from with that man! 

Modifié par LolaLei, 14 novembre 2012 - 04:09 .

[CuriousArtemis]

LolaLei wrote...

Ok, that's given me inspiration for a new question for you all:

When it comes to love interests for your canon protagonists in Dragon Age games, after experimenting with all the romance options (or watching them on YouTube), what makes you favour one particular LI for your canon protagonist over the other available LI's?

Do you base it solely on how attractive he/she is? The way the romance arc itself plays out? The LI's personality? The type of personality your protagonist has? The similarities between both the LI and your protagonist? The situation in which the LI and protagonist find themselves? Because he/she reminds you of your real life partner/someone you know? Etc.

Well for DA:O I didn't have much choice since I didn't want to romance a girl and Alistair was not available to my little elf fella. As much as I love Zevran, though, I never felt really attached to the pairing. It's hard to feel attached to the Warden period since he has no personality, other than what I invent in my head. I wish I had discovered modding sooner because the Alistair x Warden pairing is really lovely, and I know that would have been my canon, but at this point, I find DA:O too boring to get all the way through, so I'm currently stuck in Orzammar right now lol

For DA2... Hawke just fell in love with Fenris. It's always been Hawke and Fenris. I would finish the game, make a new Hawke, but realize he looks pretty much like the last Hawke... and he'd fall for Fenris again. Their romance breaks my heart but then quickly makes my toes curl happily towards the end. I'm a super duper romantic, and their romances just touches me. Fenris needs him (I'll use "he" here since it's my Hawke this particular time) so badly, and Hawke is sooo patient. Even if I play a male Hawke and try to romance Anders now, I have to not recruit Fenris because the pull between them is so strong. Female Hawke is easier to play b/c she feels like a different character completely, and since Fenris belongs with my male Hawke, there's no pull between them at all, so she can go for whoever strikes her fancy.

For DA3, it depends on what type of character I'm able to create + whatever set look and personality the PC will have. So yeah a big part of it depends on what sort of person the PC is, not just knowing who the LIs are. So even if it's revealed that they will be Cullen and Dorian the Magister or something, I won't know till I play.

[LolaLei]

Man, how much would it suck if Cullen was an unromancable companion because he's still in love with Amell/Surana.

I'd kinda be like "D'awww, my Amell is one special woman!" but at the same time I'd be like *RRRRAAAAAGGGEEE* "LOVE MY NEW PROTAGONIST! DAMMIT CULLEN!!!" 

Modifié par LolaLei, 14 novembre 2012 - 04:14 .

[LolaLei]

motomotogirl wrote...

*Snip*

For DA2... Hawke just fell in love with Fenris. It's always been Hawke and Fenris. I would finish the game, make a new Hawke, but realize he looks pretty much like the last Hawke... and he'd fall for Fenris again. 

I have exactly the same problem with Alistair in DA:O. I have to literally play as a male Warden to romance the other LI's, otherwise I'll end up romancing him again lol!

I also have a real problem in DA2 with all my Hawke's looking exactly the same, mainly with female Hawke. It doesn't matter what colour her skin or hair is, what shape eyes or nose I give them, front on they all seem to look almost identical lol. 

[meanieweenie]

LolaLei wrote...

Man, how much would it suck if Cullen was an unromancable companion because he's still in love with Amell/Surana.

I'd kinda be like "D'awww, my Amell is one special woman!" but at the same time I'd be like *RRRRAAAAAGGGEEE* "LOVE MY NEW PROTAGONIST! DAMMIT CULLEN!!!" 

If this happens I want the option to light him on fire with my mind whether I'm a mage or not. lol

[LolaLei]

meanieweenie wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

Man, how much would it suck if Cullen was an unromancable companion because he's still in love with Amell/Surana.

I'd kinda be like "D'awww, my Amell is one special woman!" but at the same time I'd be like *RRRRAAAAAGGGEEE* "LOVE MY NEW PROTAGONIST! DAMMIT CULLEN!!!" 

If this happens I want the option to light him on fire with my mind whether I'm a mage or not. lol

Hehehe *stabby stabby!*

[LolaLei]

Arse. Chris Priestly just said the following in one of the threads:


"St Elmo, and others, just like EVERY OTHER REQUEST FOR INFORMATION, we are not yet talking about Dragon Age Inquisition and likely won't be until sometime in the spring of next year.

I know this won't stop people from asking their questions "what hardware, which characters, what story, etc" will be asked, but we will NOT be answering these type questions until spring of next year."


I wonder if that includes CGI trailers? I'll be 27 by then! Still, I suppose more DA3 info around my birthday is a cool present.

... Stoopid spring. Stoopid birthday making me old.

[CuriousArtemis]

I think the devs should take a vacation from the forums. They are getting kind of testy.

[LolaLei]

motomotogirl wrote...

I think the devs should take a vacation from the forums. They are getting kind of testy.

According to his Twitter, he's taking a vacation until January lol. Maybe he'll come back in a better mood?

... Bwahahaha, yeah right. 

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

When it comes to love interests for your canon protagonists in Dragon Age games, after experimenting with all the romance options (or watching them on YouTube), what makes you favour one particular LI for your canon protagonist over the other available LI's?

Gosh, my answer to this is totally lame. I find I'm not a very good role player, so my PC inevitably ends up being me. So whoever I end up romancing depends on who ends up having an impact on me.

In DA:O, I could only finish two play throughs, since none of my choices really changed. I could only romance Alistair... he just pushed every romantic button for me. I tried Zev for a while on the side once, but ultimately had to try to let him down easy. Even replaying with Cullen from Karma's companions right now, I have a hard time not romancing Alistair since his romance is just written so compellingly. He's someone I probably woulda dated in real life... I found my PC was throwing herself at him from the first moment in Ostagar. (*sigh* "He's SO funny... and SO cute...")

For DA2, I flip flopped all the time, as I'm in love with all male LIs ... Fenris, Anders and Sebastian. Every time I romance one, I find I pine for one of the others during that play through. I don't even know who my canon LI is anymore; I've done Fenris the most, but Seb the most recently. With Fenris, it's not so much what he looks like (his cutscene intensity bowls me over; I cringe at his posture - STAND UP!!!), but his passion and his sadness. I just want to fix him... and let him throw me against the wall a few more times. With Seb, it's probably more what he looks like (I personally find him the most handsome) and his character and integrity. I still feel like I'm at the initial dating stage with him, tho, since we didn't get to see much of what HE thinks about Hawke. Sorta like having a crush on the quarterback.

Of course, I think my real canon is my Seb romance playthrough where I had a crush on Cullen...

For DA3, it'll depend on how the new LIs strike me. I'll be a little sad if Cullen ends up being nothing like I imagined (if he's even in it), but I'll try it no matter what.

[R2s Muse]

meanieweenie wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

Man, how much would it suck if Cullen was an unromancable companion because he's still in love with Amell/Surana.

I'd kinda be like "D'awww, my Amell is one special woman!" but at the same time I'd be like *RRRRAAAAAGGGEEE* "LOVE MY NEW PROTAGONIST! DAMMIT CULLEN!!!" 

If this happens I want the option to light him on fire with my mind whether I'm a mage or not. lol

I second the lighting on fire! LOL

Realistically, I'd be pissed because I can't possibly imagine this being the case. I mean, come on, he had a crush. It might have been more, or become more, but that hasn't been established by the game, for any origin/game canon.  I think I'll get really bitter if they do that as I feel like it would be knuckling under the pressure of all the Amell/Surana 'shippers out there. I hope I don't ****** any one else off by saying that!  But I do fear they would never make him romanceable solely because of the backlash.

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

motomotogirl wrote...

I think the devs should take a vacation from the forums. They are getting kind of testy.

According to his Twitter, he's taking a vacation until January lol. Maybe he'll come back in a better mood?

... Bwahahaha, yeah right. 

LOL Here's hoping!

[berelinde]

For my "canon" romances, see Lola's. They're pretty much the same, and for the same reasons. Alistair restored my cynical Lenira Amell's faith in humanity and resuscitated her sense of humor. He couldn't marry her, but she was too accustomed to having her choices proscribed by an accident of birth to mind being his mistress. They were together when they could be. That was all that mattered to her. In DA2, Iain fell in love with Anders for the same reason Lola's Hawke did. They had both suffered tremendous losses throughout their lives and they both wanted someone to cling to. Iain was really good at keeping things bottled up, though. He spent so much of his life wearing his game face and putting his personal feelings on hold that it was a blessed relief to come home to somebody who loved him no matter what. Plus, it gave him a chance to get snarky, something he rarely did with people he did not trust completely.

Interesting. Lola and I made the same choices for the same reason, but I'm 99.9% certain that the personalities of our Wardens and Hawkes were completely different.

As for DA3, I'm going to have to wait and see. Nine out of every ten characters I run are mages, so their romance choices will depend on who is available and how they feel about mages.

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

When it comes to love interests for your canon protagonists in Dragon Age games, after experimenting with all the romance options (or watching them on YouTube), what makes you favour one particular LI for your canon protagonist over the other available LI's?

Gosh, my answer to this is totally lame. I find I'm not a very good role player, so my PC inevitably ends up being me. So whoever I end up romancing depends on who ends up having an impact on me.

In DA:O, I could only finish two play throughs, since none of my choices really changed. I could only romance Alistair... he just pushed every romantic button for me. I tried Zev for a while on the side once, but ultimately had to try to let him down easy. Even replaying with Cullen from Karma's companions right now, I have a hard time not romancing Alistair since his romance is just written so compellingly. He's someone I probably woulda dated in real life... I found my PC was throwing herself at him from the first moment in Ostagar. (*sigh* "He's SO funny... and SO cute...")

LOL yeah, I can't resist Alistair, especially since I first discovered DA:O when I was still in a relationship with someone who treated me pretty badly. When Alistair appeared on screen giving it all the funny and being incredibly sweet and charming, I was like. THIS pixelated man, right here, has just shown me everything that's wrong with the relationship I was stuck in at the time. So, I guess I also have a personal reason why I gravitate towards him everytime I play DA:O. 

As for Cullen, I'm desperately hoping that his personal and romance arc will do his character justice.

I want him to give me the "Alistair/Kaidan feels" in regards to my new protagonist first meeting him and me being like YES! THIS is who my protagonist belongs with! I wanna feel excited and full of squee everytime my character interacts with him (like I did with Alistair & Kaidan), and I hope he'll finally be able to answer all those niggling questions we've been dying to ask him ever since the poor boy first graced our screens, stuttering like some cute flustered thing lol. Infact, if it's done right, I could see me being even more excited about Cullen than I was with Alistair and Kaidan, simply because we've been waiting to get him as a companion/LI for years lol.

[LolaLei]

berelinde wrote...

For my "canon" romances, see Lola's. They're pretty much the same, and for the same reasons. Alistair restored my cynical Lenira Amell's faith in humanity and resuscitated her sense of humor. He couldn't marry her, but she was too accustomed to having her choices proscribed by an accident of birth to mind being his mistress. They were together when they could be. That was all that mattered to her. In DA2, Iain fell in love with Anders for the same reason Lola's Hawke did. They had both suffered tremendous losses throughout their lives and they both wanted someone to cling to. Iain was really good at keeping things bottled up, though. He spent so much of his life wearing his game face and putting his personal feelings on hold that it was a blessed relief to come home to somebody who loved him no matter what. Plus, it gave him a chance to get snarky, something he rarely did with people he did not trust completely.

Interesting. Lola and I made the same choices for the same reason, but I'm 99.9% certain that the personalities of our Wardens and Hawkes were completely different.

As for DA3, I'm going to have to wait and see. Nine out of every ten characters I run are mages, so their romance choices will depend on who is available and how they feel about mages.

It's odd that so far I've picked the LI's that were heavily tied into the plot too. It wasn't purposely done or anything, it's just worked out that way by coincidence lol.

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

As for Cullen, I'm desperately hoping that his personal and romance arc will do his character justice.

I want him to give me the "Alistair/Kaidan feels" in regards to my new protagonist first meeting him and me being like YES! THIS is who my protagonist belongs with! I wanna feel excited and full of squee everytime my character interacts with him (like I did with Alistair & Kaidan), and I hope he'll finally be able to answer all those niggling questions we've been dying to ask him ever since the poor boy first graced our screens, stuttering like some cute flustered thing lol. Infact, if it's done right, I could see me being even more excited about Cullen than I was with Alistair and Kaidan, simply because we've been waiting to get him as a companion/LI for years lol.

So here's a question... given how much we've speculated and postulated and ranted about Cullen now... do you think he could ever live up to the bar set by the Alistair/Kaidan YOUR CANON romance(s)? Can he even feel new or will his appearance have an inevitable measuring stick floating above his head, comparing him to everything we've imagined?? ("mentioned commitment to duty, Check!  Says he wants to brush my hair, Check!")

(edited to be more appropriate general for everyone!)

Modifié par R2s Muse, 14 novembre 2012 - 06:06 .

[CuriousArtemis]

R2s Muse wrote...

So here's a question... given how much we've speculated and postulated and ranted about Cullen now... do you think he could ever live up to the bar set by the Alistair/Kaidan romance? Can he even feel new or will his appearance have an inevitable measuring stick floating above his head, comparing him to everything we've imagined?? ("mentioned commitment to duty, Check!  Says he wants to brush my hair, Check!") 

Haha if he actually tries to brush my PC's hair I will laugh sooo hard  And then back slowly away... 

Well I'm not sure this question applies to me since I didn't mention Alistair or Kaidan as being super awesome... but I can tweak it so it suits me lol Can the potential Cullen romance measure up to how I feel about Hawke/Fenris... no, I don't think so. Because Fenris is my favorite DA character period. I fell for him in a writerly way, not a romantic way. BUT... Fenris will not be in DA3. DA3 is a whole name game with a whole new PC and... Cullen... who I've daydreamed about ever since I met him in DA2. 

So I think the romance will be different in a good way (if it exists at all), and I will hopefully love it as much as I love the Fenris romance, but just differently (b/c Cullen and Fenris are soooo different).

Modifié par motomotogirl, 14 novembre 2012 - 05:57 .

[CuriousArtemis]

R2s Muse wrote...

Gosh, my answer to this is totally lame. I find I'm not a very good role player, so my PC inevitably ends up being me. So whoever I end up romancing depends on who ends up having an impact on me.

I just want to state the obvious and say that your answer is not lame lol Plus even role-playing as yourself is still role-playing because it is a "different" you in a different environment. Surrounded by hot men in armor....

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

So here's a question... given how much we've speculated and postulated and ranted about Cullen now... do you think he could ever live up to the bar set by the Alistair/Kaidan romance? Can he even feel new or will his appearance have an inevitable measuring stick floating above his head, comparing him to everything we've imagined?? ("mentioned commitment to duty, Check!  Says he wants to brush my hair, Check!")

Honestly, I don't think any other DA companion romance and story arc will ever feel as indepth as Alistair's in terms of screen time, simply because David Gaider said that in hindsight he felt like he put too much of the spotlight on Alistair and less on the protagonist, something that he said he learnt from and wouldn't do again in the future (which is a real shame).

However, I believe that it's still possible for the DA team to make Cullen (or any LI's) story and romance arc feel satisfying through the use of well placed conversations/interactions and the chance to question and investigate the LI's (in this case Cullen), with one fair sized companion quest that doesn't just involve fighting waves of bad guys and monsters, during which the LI/companion will talk with you and tell you what's on his/her mind, how they feel etc. All of this could be done without going beyond the usual allotted space for the companion/LI romance and story arcs.

As for whether Cullen's romance/story arc will live up to our personal expectations here in the Cullen thread? Lol probably not, I mean, we coud pretty much write a set of novels with the theories, concepts and head canons we've all come up with collectively!

Modifié par LolaLei, 14 novembre 2012 - 06:14 .

[R2s Muse]

motomotogirl wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

So here's a question... given how much we've speculated and postulated and ranted about Cullen now... do you think he could ever live up to the bar set by the Alistair/Kaidan romance? Can he even feel new or will his appearance have an inevitable measuring stick floating above his head, comparing him to everything we've imagined?? ("mentioned commitment to duty, Check!  Says he wants to brush my hair, Check!") 

Haha if he actually tries to brush my PC's hair I will laugh sooo hard  And then back slowly away... 

Well I'm not sure this question applies to me since I didn't mention Alistair or Kaidan as being super awesome... but I can tweak it so it suits me lol Can the potential Cullen romance measure up to how I feel about Hawke/Fenris... no, I don't think so. Because Fenris is my favorite DA character period. I fell for him in a writerly way, not a romantic way. BUT... Fenris will not be in DA3. DA3 is a whole name game with a whole new PC and... Cullen... who I've daydreamed about ever since I met him in DA2. 

So I think the romance will be different in a good way (if it exists at all), and I will hopefully love it as much as I love the Fenris romance, but just differently (b/c Cullen and Fenris are soooo different).

Good point. Different is different! Even if it can be as enjoyable.

What I mean is a little different, though, and I think I've not explained myself well. So, for myself, I'm realizing that I've probably "spoiled" myself on a real Cullen romance by overthinking it, as I am wont to do. Like any movie I've followed the development of or book sequel I've been expecting, my first experience is always overshadowed by my analytical brain ("Oh, I wish they had still included that scene from the book!" "Hmm, I STILL don't understand why they cast him... instead I would have picked..."  "Why didn't they just set Prometheus on LV-426 and make it a real prequel??" grr...). As a result I usually need to experience it a second time before I can have that awe and wonder moment of really enjoying the product for what it is. 

So, for myself, I expect I would spend my first time with the Cullen romance metagaming the crap out of it and frowning at things I don't expect. I wish didn't do that sort of thing, but... maybe I'm the only one who does!

...altho, I will also laugh myself silly if he mentions hair, hair brushes, or brushing of any kind!

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

Good point. Different is different! Even if it can be as enjoyable. 

What I mean is a little different, though, and I think I've not explained myself well. So, for myself, I'm realizing that I've probably "spoiled" myself on a real Cullen romance by overthinking it, as I am wont to do. Like any movie I've followed the development of or book sequel I've been expecting, my first experience is always overshadowed by my analytical brain ("Oh, I wish they had still included that scene from the book!" "Hmm, I STILL don't understand why they cast him... instead I would have picked..."  "Why didn't they just set Prometheus on LV-426 and make it a real prequel??" grr...). As a result I usually need to experience it a second time before I can have that awe and wonder moment of really enjoying the product for what it is. 

So, for myself, I expect I would spend my first time with the Cullen romance metagaming the crap out of it and frowning at things I don't expect. I wish didn't do that sort of thing, but... maybe I'm the only one who does!

...altho, I will also laugh myself silly if he mentions hair, hair brushes, or brushing of any kind!

I do the same. In DA2 when I found out that Anders was in the game, I was like "YES! Quick, let's go see him!", so there I was expecting to be greeted by a cheeky smile and some smart arsed flirty comment, and instead the guy freaks out and expects us to try and attack him. My first reaction was "wtf? What's happened to Anders??" But as I began to discover that he had merged with Justice etc, I realised that it made sense for his personality to have changed, but I was still thinking that it would have been better for him to start out much like his old cheeky self, then gradually have his personally change and become gloomier as Justice beings to corrupt inside him etc.

Also, I'd scream the place down if the writers added some sort of Easter egg/joke about the hairbrush thing:

Protagonist: "Cullen, have you seen my hair brush?"

Cullen: "It's on your bedside table"

Protagonist: "Thanks" *Starts to brush hair*

Cullen: "I can do that for you... i-if you like?"

Me: YES! *Fist pump*

[CuriousArtemis]

Oh I see what you mean. I think... no, it will not live up to expectations. I say this because I played DA2 blind, and it blew me away. I heard so much about DA:O, and my fellow slash-loving friends went on and on about Zevran. To the point where, when I played the game, I was underwhelmed. Then I heard sooo much about ME and Kaidan, so when I played ME3... underwhelmed. (Although I love ME3 as a game, period, romance notwithstanding).

I think that's why I try not to speculate too much about Cullen. Sometimes I picture in my head what the game will be like if Cullen is just an NPC, or a non-romanceable companion. I let myself come to terms with that sad possibility lol Setting myslef up for disappointment so that I won't be underwhelmed again. Or even if the romance is just kind of so-so... doesn't make me giddy and feel like I'm going to explode if I don't talk to someone about it (like Fenris romance did). I try to imagine it will be like that so I'm not disappointed.