紙一重

Earth was doing just fine with a mostly nitrogen/carbon dioxide atmosphere and everyone was happy to go on living in anaerobic bliss and then cyanobacteria suddenly hit the scene, altered the atmosphere composition so that there was a ton of oxygen gas and killed practically everything (97% or more of all species on earth).

Allow me to play devil’s advocate!

Fenris in DA2:

Has a background that is totally unrelated to anything else that is going on in Kirkwall, making him a poor foil for Anders’ rebellion against the Chantry system.

Fenris in DA:I:

Has a natural entry-point into the story as a hunter of slavers and magister assholes.

Also provides a very good foil to Dorian, insofar as Dorian’s pride in Tevinter culture is couched in his own unexamined privilege. 

Could easily be given a personal quest that ties in to Calpurnia’s backstory, further bringing him into the main story.  For extra heartache there could also be a red lyrium tattoo scare.

Fits in with the Inquisition’s crew of experienced warriors who want to eradicate injustice. We see a lot of determination and sadness and loss in the Inquisition personal quests, but not so much anger.  Maybe some anger would be good for them.

Sera in DA:I:

Is out of place amongst the older and more experienced party members.

Has a personal storyline that only ties in to the greater plot to the extent that it reminds the player that commoners exist.

An aged-up Sera in DA2: 

Fears magic because she witnessed blood magic firsthand in the Denerim alienage, and provides some context for why regular people are so afraid of mages in the first place.

Vocally believes in the Chant of Light, putting a more human face on the doctrine that Anders speaks out against.

Has an epic rivalry with Merrill, because let’s be real, in what universe is Sera okay with some Dalish blood mage feeling free to drag a dangerous mirror into the center of the alienage because her elfy elf research is more important than the safety of those around her.

Fenris and Vivienne finding surprising common ground in their shared beliefs on the Circle and on magic. Fenris slowly coming to befriend a mage. Vivienne teaching Fenris to read.

Sera leaving tips that in turn leave cloth and food and herbs on Anders’ doorstep - he’s wrong about everything, about mages and the Maker and that demon in his head, but he’s always helping people and never asks for anything in return and that has to count for something.

Fenris and Krem going at each other in the courtyard with their ridiculously oversized weapons, chugging Aggregio Pavali straight out of the bottle (hopefully not sticking the bottle up their nose *cough*), talking in Tevene - Dorian is not invited.

Sera always talking with someone new every time you visit her, putting real faces on the people of Kirkwall, laborers and servants and refugees who can’t afford to leave, who just want the chaos to end.

Red lyrium Fenris during In Hushed Whispers.

[Image Description: Tag reading “donatello/michelangelo”]

So you know what, fuckheads!? If I want to maintain the one tiny scrap of innocence I have left, I will. The official policy of AO3TagoftheDay is now that turtles, teenage, mutant, ninja, or otherwise, do not fuck. It never happens. They don’t fuck. They don’t fuck each other. They don’t fuck humans. They don’t fuck in real life and they don’t fuck in fiction. This tag is about two gay Renaissance painters holding each other close and kissing chastely under the Sistine chapel ceiling.

Inquisitor: holy fuck there is something important nearby. I can feel it

Cassandra: a legendary sword?

Solas: an ancient tome?

On the one hand, it’s a nice convenient narrative device that doesn’t necessarily need to be explored, but if you do take a moment to think about where it came from or what it might look like, you find that there’s really only 2 possible origins.

In settings where humans speak common and only Common, while every other race has its own language and also speaks Common, the implication is rather clear: at some point in the setting’s history, humans did the imperialism thing, and while their empire has crumbled, the only reason everyone speaks Human is that way back when, they had to, and since everyone speaks it, the humans rebranded their language as Common and painted themselves as the default race in a not-so-subtle parallel of real-world whiteness.

In settings where Human and Common are separate languages, though (and I haven’t seen nearly as many of these as I’d like), Common would have developed communally between at least three or four races who needed to communicate all together. With only two races trying to communicate, no one would need to learn more than one new language, but if, say, a marketplace became a trading hub for humans, dwarves, orcs, and elves, then either any given trader would need to learn three new languages to be sure that they could talk to every potential customer, OR a pidgin could spring up around that marketplace that eventually spreads as the traders travel the world.

Drop your concept of Common meaning “english, but in middle earth” for a moment and imagine a language where everyone uses human words for produce, farming, and carpentry; dwarven words for gemstones, masonry, and construction; elven words for textiles, magic, and music; and orcish words for smithing weaponry/armor, and livestock. Imagine that it’s all tied together with a mishmash of grammatical structures where some words conjugate and others don’t, some adjectives go before the noun and some go after, and plurals and tenses vary wildly based on what you’re talking about.

Minnesota State Fair Pickle Judge (1947) via HCLIB