SamaraDraven wrote...
HAHAHA! I always pick rogue or warrior Hawke. Except for the time I decided I NEEDED the all endings achievement and started a mage Hawke. I liked having Carver around. The second mage PT I did, I made it my life's mission to get Carver to be friends with my Hawke. He got close. :/ There were a few things I just couldn't make the Carver-approved choice on. As for Bethany, I never take her anywhere when I play as a rogue or warrior so I haven't gotten any of her jealousy bits. Frankly, I don't see any chemistry between her and Cullen. I can see Alistair and her getting along like that - he likes sweet girls. But Cullen? I think he likes sweet but he also likes a certain amount of badassery; someone who inspires him. Bethany is always too naggy, in my opinion. Like her mother. She's sweeter than her mother and will give anything for those she cares about but she's too passive for my tastes. Always waiting for others to protect her, despite what she says to the contrary. She doesn't DO enough. Carver at least wants to DO for himself even if he's a bit of an ass. But I'm okay with that. So, no... I don't see the Cullen/Bethany thing. He'd probably feel too much like the protector, the big brother - so to speak - because she is such a wallflower. In fact, what Beth and Cullen have in common is that they look to others for inspiration. Sure Cullen stands up for what he believes - so does Bethany - but only once someone else has inspired them to do it. This is why I think they don't click in my mind.
Wow! You are the first person to word-for-word say what I think about Bethany (and the general implausability of Bethany/Cullen).
I didn't care for Bethany as a character until I stumbled across a good essay that explains her from a psychological and self-development persepective. At that point I learned to
appreciate who she is and how the writers must have conceived her but, when role playing Hawke, all of Bethany's complaints during Act 1 and her using "what mother wants" as an excuse for what she wants just gets under my skin. I understand that Bethany lacks confidence but, in the role of Hawke, I just end up resenting her for the things she says and her childish inaction.
After all, she's lived her whole life on the run as an apostate and now she is suddenly too good to live in Lowtown? And she wants Hawke to make everything better for her-- er... for Mother?
I realize that for many fans Bethany pushes their "protective" buttons. I didn't even find her sweet at all. Just annoying. And I tried to like her but... not during Act 1.
While fandom will ship any pairing, I find Cullen/Bethany one of the most unlikely (even OOC) ships,
especially if Bethany ends up in the Circle. I actually think Warden!Bethany is the only way that Cullen might have a relationship with her.
In canon, Cullen consistantly looks up to other stronger people -- Greagoir, the Warden, Meredith, and Hawke. He looks to them as role models, as examples of good/desired traits, and as people who can help him do what he isn't yet certain of or capable of doing. I suspect that Cullen feels that he is
very ordinary and he looks up at people who seem larger than life. I sometimes suspect that Cullen thinks he can improve his status if he is looked at favorably by higher status people.
Back in Ferelden's Circle, even the Surana/Amell apprentice mage is larger than life in her own way: she had the fastest, cleanest harrowing ever and she appeared to be one of the circle's top apprentices. If she had always ignored Cullen, all she would have had to do is say "Thank you, Cullen" once after he's picked up something she's dropped and that poor boy would have been smitten. After all, he was very ordinary, very average, not the best looking in the tower, and very awkward and shy and all of the sudden the very best apprentice is speaking to him and knows his name.
By the time Cullen gets to Kirkwall, I do not see him ever getting involved with a circle mage. He experienced far too much shame and embarrassment and, at least during Act 1 and 2, he is very serious about following the dictates Orders and doing
exactly what a Circle Templar is expected to do. He's will protect the mages, and touching them or looking at them is wrong. He knows this kind of thinking only gave him trouble and pain before, and he doesn't look like he is willing to repeat that "mistake." And, Bethany is a bit of a wallflower rather than a magnetic person that Cullen would look up to. Either way, I don't see Bethany's "protect me" charms having any special effect on Cullen and when Bethany
fails to get any special response from Cullen, she'll move on to someone else because she is purposefully looking for people to respond and fix things for her.
So, pure pyschology is why I find circle!Bethany/Cullen very OOC for both of them.
I do see it in character for Cullen to have a quiet affair with a mage who is outside of the circle system, has very strong control over their powers, and has some sort of protection from society which allows them to live as an apostate. So, that could mean carrying on an affair with Warden-Commander Surana or Amell, with fem mage Hawke, or possibly even Warden Bethany during Act 3 when she finally starts becoming more confident (still a stretch for me, but I can see it). All of these mages would be "safe" in his mind because they aren't his wards (a big no-no for him while strictly following the Chantry's rules), they aren't people he would be expected to arrest because their apostate status is being protected by society, and they are strong charismatic people (well, except for Warden Bethany).
I'll make lots of videos once I get PC versions of the game and install mods so I can get the footage I need.
Until then, I'll daydream the music video I have in my head on repeat!
BTW I love that AIC song as well
Retour en haut
I don't get it but I do. "Payphone" by Maroon 5 - or is it just Adam's song? - also appeals to me. I like "Firework" by Katy Perry. but can't stand her newest tune. I don't even know what it's called, I just know I change the channel as soon as it comes on. When it comes to Pop, I don't have any kind of artist love. It's just here and there I might like a song they do. 
