#you apply that on a much broader level to the governing of kirkwall and given how fractured it is post-da2

[immobiliter]

Merrill: How do you do it, living in the city without picking a side? Doesn't it matter to you? Varric: Of course it does. That's why I don't take sides. Merrill: That doesn't make any sense. Varric: I've got you and Aveline, Fenris and Anders. Hawke. Isabela. Varric: I've got friends in the Circle and drinking buddies in the templars. All of them matter. Merrill: But you're going to fight. If it comes to that, I mean. Varric: I fought my own brother, Daisy. Nobody said this was going to be a happy story. Cole: How do you make them calm? Varric: Who, Kid? Cole: Everyone. You talk and the fear fades, slipping to sleep. Not always happy, but not angry. Varric: Most people are like cats. They either puff up to look dangerous or they crouch down and hope you don't see them. You show them you're not a victim or threat, and they're in your lap and purring before you know it.

file this under things that i'm absolutely feral about when it comes to varric but i also think it's important to tie varric's empathy and incredible ability to connect to anyone, regardless of how high or low they are in society or their stance on kirkwall or wider southern thedas politics or their own personal beliefs to the fact that he is a writer. an integral part of writing is being able to empathise and put yourselves in the shoes of a character who is completely different to yourself, and I think the fact that varric is so naturally good at this is why he's such a popular writer — especially as a lot of his work ( from what actually exists not just in-universe, primarily hard in hightown since you can read the complete version of that through codex entries ) seems very character focused. flowery description is not varric's forte: as the chapter of hard in hightown he clearly wrote for isabela reads~

The Dragon's Jewels was a big boat. She liked big boats. The pointy bits towered majestically over the water. That roundish wooden part seemed like it could crush armadas beneath its… shit, I don't know, wood. It was the greatest boat in the history of boats.

and while I'm sure some of that results from varric being a city boy who prefers kirkwall over nature and ( as of da2 at least ) had likely never stepped foot on a boat in his life, i think he excels at writing characters and this is also why, therefore, he excels at reading people, reaching across the divide ( be it political opinion or simply differing life experiences ) and forging meaningful connections with others.