Wonderful Cole

is the same solas who allowed himself to be bullied non stop by inquisition companions who had no idea what he was. imagine being revered for millennia and then suddenly sera is blowing raspberries anytime he speaks, varric’s calling him “chuckles” after his feared mantle of the dread wolf, being subjected to inappropriate spirit sex questions and the skyhold joke that he doesnt like tea, which he deliberately plays into purely for the sake of everyone’s amusement. he was completely content to be the butt of the joke.

this compares heavily with mina, who is a much more masculinely coded character. she represents what was at the time known as the "new woman", a progressive, independent, woman who works alongside her husband in his profession and who shows far more agency throughout the novel. it is technically her, in text, who assembles the novel of dracula, by combining all the relevant newspaper clippings, diary entries, ship logs, etc. that make up the entries of the book.

as i mentioned in a post yesterday, this scene here today (may 16/end of chapter 3), leans heavily into queercoding johnathan. when dracula rescues him from the other vampires of the castle, his strength is drawn attention to once more. he is likened to the women who once used this room, dracula claims him and his openly, and there is a discussion on dracula loving him as he once did these vampire women.

Cole: You listen differently.

Lucanis: Hmm. Explain.

Cole: Most people hear the words first. You hear the spaces around them. The things kept hidden.

Lucanis: That sounds exhausting.

Cole: It can be.

Lucanis: And yet, you still do it.

Davrin: That obvious, am I?

Cole: Tired in the bones, deeper than sleep fixes. Wardens carry it differently.

Davrin: We carry a lot of things differently.

Cole: But you still laugh when Assan steals your gloves.

Davrin: Someone has to enjoy himself around here.