fomagranfalloon

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if YOU'RE having sex at work, and I'M having sex at work, WHO IS REFINING THE MACRODATA?

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk to Gareth David-Lloyd (Solas' voice actor) during a Swedish convention. Here's some of the things he said about his work on Dragon Age (that I remember!)

He's not entirely happy with the writing of The Veilguard. "But that's what happens when there's too many cooks" (paraphrasing) and when all the original people disappear from the project (like the layoffs). He said something about how when passing on the project to other people (writers) there's sure to be some lost information or different interpretations.

He didn't know more about Solas than the player did during Inquisition. He just thought Solas was a mysterious companion that disappeared. He only learned more when he got the script for Trespasser (and his reaction to getting all the info from Trespasser was "this is awesome")

I asked how he prepared for the role of Solas the first time he got the role, compared to when he came back for The Veilguard, and one thing he did for The Veilguard was just to play Inquisition several times (which ofc he "had the time for since it took years for The Veilguard to come out" (paraphrasing)). The third time he played Inquisition he romanced Solas, which was "a fun experience".

He hasn't finished playing The Veilguard because he's playing on his son's ps5 and doesn't always have the opportunity to play. He received a free code for the game, but for pc, and he doesn't have a gaming pc (if I recall correctly).

Solas' performance was first done with motion capture, which David-Lloyd said he would've loved to have done himself. Mainly because he originally had to match his voice acting to that of the mo-cap actor's performance (like dubbing), which of course limited his own performance. But in the end he performed the lines in his own way, which he felt was best for the final product, and was more happy with the result. The animations then had to be altered to fit David-Lloyd's performance instead.

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Moment of solace

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There are a LOT of things I like about Avowed. How they go all-in on lore verbiage and don't feel the need to dumb it down for people new to the series (like me.) How the side-quests feel meaningful. How reactive companion banter makes exploring the maps rewarding even in areas without a mission. (Honestly Avowed is the first open world game I've played in yeeeears that has made exploration fun.) How gleefully they lean into certain fantasy RPG tropes that it makes it feel like coming home, even though it's brand new.

But my number 1 thing I love about Avowed is the thing that got me to buy the game in the first place - running around with my ride or die Garrus Vakarian Kai and getting to hear his thoughts and jokes everywhere we went. The casual bet. His dynamic with Marius. That *vest*. Yes of course I loved the more serious stuff with his backstory and how he reacts to your choice of siding between Lodwyn or Ryngrim. But it's the *silly* and the joy I'm loving the most.

Maybe it's because post-Veilguard, I'm coming out of my 10-year Solas hangover. But I'm enjoying an RPG relationship that is high on fun and maybe not so high on angsty yearning for a change.

Reminds me of a certain Space Boyfriend I once had. Just like the good old days.

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I don't go here and I don't know who these people are but this is nice

oh man i just can’t. liam wiping matt’s tears off his face, matt closing his eyes when hugging him- them pulling eachother closer. jesus man

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the eldest boy loses again

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Learning how Tama died and what it felt like for Kai really recontextualises the scene in the healer's where he's watching over the dead Envoy. He lost his leader and had to watch them slowly die (I do not blame him for walking away) and then, just after he starts following the Envoy and begins opening up again, he sees you shot and you literally die from poison in his arms. In that time gap before your resurrection, the emotions he must have been feeling would have been agonising. The guilt over having lost another leader like that again. Thinking back to the look he gives you when you rise up, it's like being hit by a freight train of emotion.

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Me, every time Kai waxes poetic about the views around the Living Lands: Ah, so you did get to retire to somewhere warm and tropical.

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shout out to everyone who participated in the january-february mass depressive episode

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David Tennant prepares to host One BAFTA More...

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Okay but like Obsidian is chaotic evil for giving us non-romanceable Garrus

In the new RPG Avowed, one of the recruitable companions is a blue guy called Kai, a coastal aumaua. Kai is acted by Brandon Keener, the actor of Garrus Vakarian in the Mass Effect trilogy. there is a Garrus easter egg/reference in the game 😊 [source]

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btw when the Inquisition Theme surges and swells to overtake the combat music during Blood of Arlathan just as the tide of the battle changes bc Solas is helping you, my soul left my body and this cruel earth behind for a moment and i met god. if you even care

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Hey if y'all ever find magic murals depicting my deepest regrets please don't discuss my trauma with your buddies while one of you whittles okay

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Thoughts on the companion banter with Solas during the endgame of DA:TV? I understand them being pissed off at Solas, but the way the writing handled it made these people come across as judgmental as all hell and rubbed me the wrong way, especially those convos with Bellara and Darvin being just weird with the topic they discussed.

Look, I’m going to be somewhat fair here and say that they have no reason to be nice to Solas in this instance but the thing is—

I just don’t care. I don’t care about these people’s opinions one bit or their prejudices. Why should I? They don’t know a damn thing about Solas. What, they think they can see him at some of the absolute WORST moments of his life, and somehow that makes them an authority on his character? Somehow that gives them the right to judge him? Fuck off.

Davrin calls him out for creating the Blight and killing the Titans. Neve calls him out for killing Varric. Lucanis is all like “you. hurt. rook. you. lie. blah. blah.” Harding is basically like “everything is your fault you stupid fucking egg.” Bellara is all “you killed Mythal because Mythal is actually not a spirit of vengeance at all anymore, she’s actually really nice, she asked you to stop and you killed her!” Only Emmrich is somewhat … agreeable towards him? Taash has nothing much to contribute really, expect, once again, judging someone else about how they look (which okay, not even gonna comment on that one).

But I just … I’m not even mad at it, really. Because it makes sense for them to act this way, if we’re being totally honest. I just … don’t care. Because it’s just so … cold.

Because these aren’t the people I wanted to experience Solas’ story with.

I’m sorry—they just aren’t.

Give me Cassandra. The Cassandra that respects him greatly, despite him being an apostate. The Cassandra that would be fucking pissed as HELL when she finally gets a hold of him—because she TRUSTED him, and he betrayed them all.

Give me Varric. The Varric that calls him Chuckles and tells him to lighten up because he’s being all “doom and gloom” like 98% of the time. The Varric that considers him a friend and tells him that choosing to live everyday, even when it feels impossible, is fighting back.

Give me Cole. The Cole that saw Solas. That says he’s “He’s not the kind of wolf” and assures him that “YOU DIDNT DO IT TO BE RIGHT. YOU DID IT TO SAVE THEM.” I mean, did the writers forget this—in their quest to make Solas out to be the bad guy, the prideful asshole who apparently builds statues of worship in honor of himself, undeserving of compassion?

Give me Iron Bull. The Iron Bull that Solas passionately debates the ethics of religion and society and the Qun with, that Solas plays mind chess with, and that, if you save the Chargers, Solas says he doesn’t have to worry about turning into a mindless Tal-Vashoth, because he has him. Because they are friends.

Give me Vivienne. The Vivienne that Solas trades thinly-veiled barbs with and says they are “not so different” in the end. The Vivienne that would be feel vindicated as HELL to know that the Solas is like she always thought him to be. Untrustworthy and a … spirit? Oh, boy, Viv would be on a crusade quicker than you could say “Orlesian frippery.”

Give me Leliana. The Leliana that would understand, maybe better than anyone, the relationship between him and Mythal because it mirrors the one she and Justinia had so closely—that would be compassionate towards him, if softened, and ruthlessly unforgiving, if hardened.

Give me Josephine. The Josephine that has nothing kindness towards him—who is fascinated by his stories, and gets him whatever books he wants, and has special copies of maps MADE specifically for him because the University of Antiva won’t lend them to the Inquisition.

Give me Sera. The Sera that shows us that Solas is actually a giant little nerd—who puts lizards in his bedrolls and as payback he threatens to introduce her to spirits because he just knows how much that will creep her out. The Sera that Solas looks at and sees so keenly all that was lost—what his people had lost, and all because of him. Because in trying to save them, somehow, he stripped them of everything that made them.

Give me Dorian. The Dorian that Solas trades magic tips and theories with, and is mortified by his utterly tragic sense of fashion. The Dorian that feels badly for his people’s treatment of elves, and tells Solas that.

Give me Blackwall. The Blackwell that played Diamondback with Solas and had to walk back to the stables naked because Solas beat his ass, fair (debatable) and square. The Blackwall that understood Solas because they were actually so similar—two men changed by a lifetime of war and fighting other people’s battles. The Blackwall that Solas says “I will remember this, when it is over.” He will remember the people, and the friends he made, because the path he walks may end with some of them dead.

Give me the Inquisitor. “I never thought of you as someone who could do that Solas” contrasted with “You’d murder countless people?” and “you are not what I expected.” The Inquisitor who defied all odds—and made him see the value in the world he once considered full of empty Tranquil, that became his friend, his heart—or either wise, solidified themselves as an enemy not worth saving.

Give me people who know a damn thing about Solas. Solas. The Solas that likes frilly cakes and pissed magic once. Not the Dread Wolf. I don’t fucking care if the Dread Wolf is “part of him” it’s fucking boring in comparison—especially when the Dread Wolf is all we ever get.

Give me the people who have a right to judge him. Give me the people who started this journey with him—here, at the end, to finish it.

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um................... can i help you