Yet another reason I adore Cassandra's romance:
Cassandra is among the strongest, toughest, and resilient women in Thedas. She's steadfast in her faith, unapologetically herself, and she isn't afraid to be both assertive and aggressive to do what needs to be done. She knows who she is, naysayers and opposition be damned. Cassandra bows to no one but the Maker Himself.
Yet we get those little hints of self-doubt when it comes to her personal life. She's a terrible writer (which, let's be honest, that part probably is true). She believes she doesn't have finesse or grace. She loves romance---including smutty romance---and is embarrassed when she's caught reading her romance novel.
Yet the prospect of falling in love again? The prospect that someone truly cares about and wants her? It scares her, at least at first.
Initially, she runs away from the prospect of a romance for herself. At first, she can't quite grasp that a man might see her that way again: that while she loves romance, she isn't the sort of woman who is pursued in one.
Especially when she wants what she describes as the ideal: a man who sweeps her off her feet, brings her flowers, and reads her poetry by candlelight.
Honestly, one of my favorite displays of Cassandra's strength is that even though she's flustered and overwhelmed by the prospect (to the point she flees the conversation), she turns right back around and gets direct with the man pursuing her.
She tells him exactly what she wants out of a relationship.
She clearly expresses her doubts.
She clearly expresses her fears about them being together.
They don't immediately get over this hurdle. He has to prove himself to her and that his intentions are true. He has to communicate---through both telling and showing---exactly what he wants and that it aligns with her needs.
Once he does, she's all in. That self-assured confidence that she wields in so many other aspects of her life takes over.
If I'm being honest, I really appreciate how her romance unfolds as a female player. It's refreshing to see a [genuinely] capable, confident woman be a little less certain about the prospect of letting herself be vulnerable. She still knows exactly what she wants and communicates it plainly, but she hardly "girlbosses" her way through any of it.
In fact, sometimes, it's the opposite. She fumbles and panics a bit, and she both pokes a bit of fun at herself once they eventually are together and finally takes a leap of faith and trust and lets down her walls entirely.
I won't lie in that I've very much built my male Trevelyan's romance style around Cassandra. I wanted the ideal for her, too. August is sweet, unswervingly loyal, selfless, a little playful and sarcastic (he delights in earning a smile from her), yet strong and wise. He's completely unafraid to be a romantic in his own right.
He respects her fully and is completely unafraid of/unintimidated by her.
It feels earned when Cassandra opens her heart to the possibility of loving again. I absolutely adore her mention of her first (and only other) love, Regalyan. There's a wistfulness in her memories of her younger, more carefree love in her youth and an added heaviness in his loss.
Yet the mention also seems to fuel her certainty even more in her relationship with the Inquisitor. She promises him---and also herself---that she won't let him fall. She won't let Corypheus take him from her.
All of it creates such a steadfast, authentic, emotional progression that so quintessentially Cassandra.
Cassandra's romance is a story of faith: faith in the Maker, faith the Inquisition, faith in forces of good (including the Inquisitor), and faith in herself.
It's a wonderful story and one I wish was more appreciated.
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