153429 réponses à ce sujet

[Garnet]

 

I think I went into that desire demon thread and said we need male desire demons that drink hella water like Quiet i.e. roll around on the ground in the rain

I'm catching up with the thread. but......

They exist! 

Spoiler

 

[midnight tea]

OMG, nice catch! I'm out of likes.

 

Some ideas:

1. Herd immunity would help a bit. Originally, there was a whole group of very susceptible elves. Now he's one susceptible elf among a group of immune humans and elves.

2. He would adjust to the less severe air-born viruses within 6 months or so. I know that from experience, I was sick non-stop for about 6 months when I first moved to the US, then I was fine again.

3. If he's been working with agents and his body was somewhere accessible while he slept, he could make them get in contact with his body while in uthenera over a decade or so, to inoculate himself gradually with all pathogens while maintaining contact with the Fade so that he can heal effectively from them.

4. Maybe he just took Felassan's antibodies from his blood into his own when he killed him 

 

Nice to hear a way more qualified person's perspective I have a few questions though:

Even if everyone around him was immune, wouldn't those that have antibodies still carry diseases, even if they dealt with the infection in a way that is unnoticeable for them, but still dangerous to those susceptible to a disease?

Then there are quick mutations of viruses and bacteria themselves - although it's hard to say how much evolution of diseases looks similar to ours, given that it's heavily implied that origin of life in Thedas was magical, and either all or most creatures began as spirits first... There's a question how many diseases are of, um, mundane/physical origin and how many are of magical - although I do suppose that anything of magical origin is something Solas could deal with... save the blight and blight magic. We do see him infected (and dying) with Red-Lyrium-spread Blight in Redcliffe after all, though the whole shattering of the Veil might have weakened him immensely, even compared to his already weakened state after he woke up.

 

Anyway, we only have one reaction Solas has that refers directly to him being concerned with a disease that is not blight-borne - in Fallow Mire he comments that the plague that struck the land must have been terrible indeed that now only dead try to reclaim the land; then he suggests that they should all wash their clothes once they're out of the area; or just burn them all. Question is how much worried he was about spreading the disease himself and how much catching something nasty.

 

I'd say that it's an enigma at this point - but perhaps he uses the remaining 'blueish' magic to just keep himself alive and healthy, prior to acquiring more from Mythal?

 

 

Question: Is there evidence of a loss of immortality for Solas and the ancient elf murder cult punch drinkers, or is that a theory being tossed around as an assumed consequence of the Veil?

 

IMO it's hard to say at this point. I mean, he definitely survived in uthenera for millenia, instead of withering away (like some other ancient elves we read about in elvhen lore), even if creation of the Veil put him in a near-death state.

 

I'd put my bet that while Solas is weakened, he still has enough of conscious connection to the Fade and knows some ancient tricks that keep him immortal. Then there's Abelas, who thinks he may only find some sort of peace in uthenera "if fate is kind", suggesting that he can't die, even if he could (which puts to question whether Morrigan actually killed him? Maybe she's Mythal'y enough to be able to do this anyway, and it's not just a matter of a knife between ribs...).

 

Yet... Solas himself has traces of age on his face (which might yet be the result of the Veil creation and him being weakened, but still...) and he tells to Lavellan "we were immortal. It was not humans that caused us to begin aging." (but then he tells to non-elf Quizzies that it was not humans that has caused them to begin aging)...

[Cee]

 

 

I'm catching up with the thread. but......

They exist! 

Spoiler

 

 

 

There's also one that swaps in the dog and I died laughing.

[S.W.]

Question: Is there evidence of a loss of immortality for Solas and the ancient elf murder cult punch drinkers, or is that a theory being tossed around as an assumed consequence of the Veil?

 

I would assume that Solas and the ancient elf murder cult punch drinkers (wonderful name ) have managed to stay alive in uthenera after the veil was in place for millennia probably means that they'd survive waking too. They still had a physical body in the physical world, after all, which would otherwise decay, even if their consciousness was still in the fade.

 

Also, worth noting, not everyone managed to survive in uthenera - one needed to learn how to draw sustenance from the fade, I think - until that point, servants would usually attend to you. For example, see the burial chamber in the brecilian forest elven ruins in DA:O, where the elf had not managed to survive the process.

 

What made elves immortal was their connection to the fade. I would suppose if one were able to manage to remain alive despite the veil whilst sleeping, one could probably still draw from the fade and retain immortality whilst waking.

 

Although this does make me think - how the hell would in uthenera or dreaming or the fade work in a world without the veil? would people even sleep? would people even need to? Perhaps sleep, in a world with the veil, is a necessary function for any creature who isn't tranquil because multiple aspects of their consciousness, including emotions, are reflected in and drawn from the fade.

[drosophila]

Nice to hear a way more qualified person's perspective I have a few questions though:

Even if everyone around him was immune, wouldn't those that have antibodies still carry diseases, even if they dealt with the infection in a way that is unnoticeable for them, but still dangerous to those susceptible to a disease?

 

I'm actually not An immunologists, epidemiologist, or an MD would know these things best. I do genetics, so I'm much more qualified to tell you about what his children with Lavellan would be like, especially if both of them were flies.

 

But from what I know:

 

When you catch a disease there's indeed a period of time during which you can actively be spreading it, even if you don't have symptoms. But immunity means the antibodies will help your immune cells detect and destroy the first few bacteria or viruses as soon as they hit you. So they never have the chance to invade you and multiply to the point where they can spread to other people. 

 

This means that if there are a handful of contagious people every year, but they are surrounded by immune people, and among that immune crowd there is one Solas, the chance of the germs getting to Solas is very small. The contagious people are much much more likely to run into immune people. I have a graph:

Spoiler

Then there are quick mutations of viruses and bacteria themselves - although it's hard to say how much evolution of diseases looks similar to ours, given that it's heavily implied that origin of life in Thedas was magical, and either all or most creatures began as spirits first... There's a question how many diseases are of, um, mundane/physical origin and how many are of magical - although I do suppose that anything of magical origin is something Solas could deal with... save the blight and blight magic. We do see him infected (and dying) with Red-Lyrium-spread Blight in Redcliffe after all, though the whole shattering of the Veil might have weakened him immensely, even compared to his already weakened state after he woke up.

 

If a virus or bacterium mutates in a way that overcomes immune defenses, it would be threatening to everyone, not just Solas. That seems to actually be happening in Thedas, since they have plague outbreaks like in the fallow mire. 

 

Magical viruses... That's just beyond awesome. I posted once before that the Blight seems to behave like a virus to me, soo it would be cool if it's some sort of spirit-virus hybrid. 

 

 

Anyway, we only have one reaction Solas has that refers directly to him being concerned with a disease that is not blight-borne - in Fallow Mire he comments that the plague that struck the land must have been terrible indeed that now only dead try to reclaim the land; then he suggests that they should all wash their clothes once they're out of the area; or just burn them all. Question is how much worried he was about spreading the disease himself and how much catching something nasty.

 

I'd say that it's an enigma at this point - but perhaps he uses the remaining 'blueish' magic to just keep himself alive and healthy, prior to acquiring more from Mythal?

 

 

It is an enigma, but I wouldn't be surprised if he knows healing spells that can destroy bacteria or viruses in his body. They don't even have to require that much power, really. The germs are so tiny. 

[Cee]

I'm actually not An immunologists, epidemiologist, or an MD would know these things best. I do genetics, so I'm much more qualified to tell you about what his children with Lavellan would be like, especially if both of them were flies.

 

 

No nightmare fuel, please.

 

 

[Cee]

 Yet... Solas himself has traces of age on his face (which might yet be the result of the Veil creation and him being weakened, but still...) and he tells to Lavellan "we were immortal. It was not humans that caused us to begin aging." (but then he tells to non-elf Quizzies that it was not humans that has caused them to begin aging)...

 

We still don't have an exact age for Solas. I wonder if they were immortal but merely aged at a very, very, verrrrrry slow rate or if these signs of aging on Solas himself were just what happened during his time in uthenera since the Veil was now present.

 

I think about them aging at an incredibly slow rate as maybe a bit more 'realistic' (as realistic as we get talking about immortal fantasy races) because I guess it's a bit sad to think Solas went from 'young' to ~40 but never saw himself change. Or any other elf in uthenera, for that matter. Or maybe they can 'see' their forms change in the Fade so it's not a shock.

[drosophila]

 

No nightmare fuel, please.

 

 

 

LOL, recently I was doing this lifespan assay. You just take 200 flies that all came out of their pupae at the same time and take care of them until they die. You have to record how many flies die every other day. 

 

After about two months almost all the flies were dead, because that's about how long they live. 

 

But there were two surviving flies that just lived on, each fly alone in its big vial of fly food, the last surviving remnants of their cohort.

 

I named them Solas and Abelas

[Lilaih]

Catching up with this thread.

Still trucking on WoT2 but it is interesting to note this might be relevant? 

Spoiler

 

Kardol is speaking about the Heidrun Turning in this letter. I thought this sounded familiar and it was. In the Descent we visit the Ruins of Heidrun Thaig which are above a Titan.

[midnight tea]

We still don't have an exact age for Solas. I wonder if they were immortal but merely aged at a very, very, verrrrrry slow rate or if these signs of aging on Solas himself were just what happened during his time in uthenera since the Veil was now present.

 

I think about them aging at an incredibly slow rate as maybe a bit more 'realistic' (as realistic as we get talking about immortal fantasy races) because I guess it's a bit sad to think Solas went from 'young' to ~40 but never saw himself change. Or any other elf in uthenera, for that matter. Or maybe they can 'see' their forms change in the Fade so it's not a shock.

 

The way he looks may as well reflect how he feels. He is an ancient elf after all, back from times where their forms were more... hmm.. fluid and probably reflected their mental state more than our own physiques reflect in real life.

 

I mean, there's no question that Solas himself must just feel goddamn tired of it all - he  even tells that he's tired of fighting to Quizzies on disapproval path.

 

Still, he appears to actually be very old indeed - not sure if old enough to have witnessed the terrible war that allowed Evanuris to rise to prominence (he certainly mentions it in a way that suggests that he might have indeed witnessed it; perhaps it was the same war that he mentioned a few times to Blackwall)... but back in the Deep Road sections of Trespasser we find all those ancient statues of Mythal being accompanied by Fen'Harel, and we do know that Mythal has struck Titans and likely built a lyrium mine a full aeon before the place was buried and abandoned.

[MayriyaNoori]

I like the Dirthamen pic! Nice work.

 

I made a post of things I've noticed that are similar in the murals on Frank's lore thread, here:

 

 

Orbs powered by vallaslin? Or that have control over them? Like the qamek thing I was talking about.

Mmm....don't know if this has been pointed out before but...

 

 

....the elves with Vallaslin are inside a bubble with the blue wavy stuff on the outside. The elves who already have it removed are in a bubble with the blue on the inside of the bubble.

 

My thought is that the vallaslin must have bound a spirit into the physical world and cut them off from the Fade. Not in a way that makes you Tranquil, you just can't return if you want. Bound in the way that Cole feared would be done to him.

 

What makes me curious then is what the original vallaslin were done with....because it was probably literal "blood writing" then, since blood magic hinder a connection to the Fade.

 

So, who's blood?

[drosophila]

We still don't have an exact age for Solas. I wonder if they were immortal but merely aged at a very, very, verrrrrry slow rate or if these signs of aging on Solas himself were just what happened during his time in uthenera since the Veil was now present.

I think about them aging at an incredibly slow rate as maybe a bit more 'realistic' (as realistic as we get talking about immortal fantasy races) because I guess it's a bit sad to think Solas went from 'young' to ~40 but never saw himself change. Or any other elf in uthenera, for that matter. Or maybe they can 'see' their forms change in the Fade so it's not a shock.

This is just a wild idea with no support. But we all kind of assume that just because he looks slightly aged, he will keep aging.

Maybe all immortal elves eventually settle down looking like 40-somethings and that's how they look for eternity if they live undisturbed. Their bodies just regenerate themselves at just the right rate, so that they always look slightly aged, but never age further.

[Catfishers]

Aaargh... I missed the 'Old Gods are Evanuris' discussion. Everyone always has the best conversations while I'm sleeping.

 

Regardless, I feel the need to add that, if that theory is true and you line up the Old Gods against the Evanuris, well... it would appear that everyone's favourite all-powerful twins are still trapped in their flesh-prisons somewhere in Thedas.

[OxidantsHappen]

Nice to hear a way more qualified person's perspective I have a few questions though:

Even if everyone around him was immune, wouldn't those that have antibodies still carry diseases, even if they dealt with the infection in a way that is unnoticeable for them, but still dangerous to those susceptible to a disease?

Then there are quick mutations of viruses and bacteria themselves - although it's hard to say how much evolution of diseases looks similar to ours, given that it's heavily implied that origin of life in Thedas was magical, and either all or most creatures began as spirits first... There's a question how many diseases are of, um, mundane/physical origin and how many are of magical - although I do suppose that anything of magical origin is something Solas could deal with... save the blight and blight magic. We do see him infected (and dying) with Red-Lyrium-spread Blight in Redcliffe after all, though the whole shattering of the Veil might have weakened him immensely, even compared to his already weakened state after he woke up.

 

Anyway, we only have one reaction Solas has that refers directly to him being concerned with a disease that is not blight-borne - in Fallow Mire he comments that the plague that struck the land must have been terrible indeed that now only dead try to reclaim the land; then he suggests that they should all wash their clothes once they're out of the area; or just burn them all. Question is how much worried he was about spreading the disease himself and how much catching something nasty.

 

I'd say that it's an enigma at this point - but perhaps he uses the remaining 'blueish' magic to just keep himself alive and healthy, prior to acquiring more from Mythal?

 

 

 

IMO it's hard to say at this point. I mean, he definitely survived in uthenera for millenia, instead of withering away (like some other ancient elves we read about in elvhen lore), even if creation of the Veil put him in a near-death state.

 

I'd put my bet that while Solas is weakened, he still has enough of conscious connection to the Fade and knows some ancient tricks that keep him immortal. Then there's Abelas, who thinks he may only find some sort of peace in uthenera "if fate is kind", suggesting that he can't die, even if he could (which puts to question whether Morrigan actually killed him? Maybe she's Mythal'y enough to be able to do this anyway, and it's not just a matter of a knife between ribs...).

 

Yet... Solas himself has traces of age on his face (which might yet be the result of the Veil creation and him being weakened, but still...) and he tells to Lavellan "we were immortal. It was not humans that caused us to begin aging." (but then he tells to non-elf Quizzies that it was not humans that has caused them to begin aging)...

 

I am totally impressed that someone even thought of this, that's a really good catch.

 

I guess we're assuming that their immune system functions similar to our own, but it is very possible that it doesn't.  It's possible that the ancient elves had a very advanced non-adaptive immune system rather than an adaptive immune system like ours.  Our innate immune system is totally outdated & is equivalent to the pink flip phone I had when I was twelve whereas the adaptive immune system is like the iphone 10.  However, I suppose it could be possible that their innate immune system continued to develop rather than developing an adaptive immune system, but I honestly don't know how plausible that would be. But if that were the case, then it should have passed down to the unspecial elves of current Thedas, which isn't the case. (or it could just simply be "magic", which is the most likely scenario, but then there's nothing to theorize about & that's no fun)

 

BUT.  I would think that it could be possible that maybe having access to the fade/uthenera somehow altered their cellular membranes.  Like if being in contact with the fade changed the binding specificity of the binding sites located on the cell surface of their cells in such a way that prevented bacteria/any foreign agent from adhering to their cell membranes.  A common mechanic for bacterial infection is when the bacteria binds to the surface of the cell to act as a "base of infiltration".  Bacteria also can release toxins & detrimental enzymes that can damage tissues &/or inhibit certain defense mechanisms.  Both of these mechanisms require that the bacteria/toxins be able to bind to the cell surface to initiate a cellular response.  If contact with the fade altered that beautiful protein mosaic on the surface of a cell in such a way that made the active sites completely incompatible with the bacterial substrates it could maybe (read: I am making a wild ass-assumption) result in the bacterial agents being completely useless.  

 

TLDR; maybe Solas' immunity is like an analogy of the Solas romance.  His cell membranes used to be one with the fade & as a result they push everything away as soon as it gets close but it's not the bacteriums fault, they're just not fadey enough to interact with the binding proteins.

 

EDIT: I just realized I quoted the wrong post.  I meant to quote your other post but I got click happy.

[figment_]

Catching up with this thread.


Kardol is speaking about the Heidrun Turning in this letter. I thought this sounded familiar and it was. In the Descent we visit the Ruins of Heidrun Thaig which are above a Titan.

I had a random thought...If the blight wasn't naturally occurring...what if Ghilan'nain or one of the Forgotten Ones genetically engineered it to use against the Titans. What if Ghilly created darkspawn and/or broodmothers to use against their enemies?

I ran across a disturbing description of the last damaged pages of "Grim Anatomy" in WOT2 pp. 275-276, I think...could these be her designs? I can write up an excerpt in the morning if anyone wants to check it out...

[Eivuwan]

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, I really love the Solas story and his character. I think he deserves two games worth of character development. On the other hand, I like the lack of suspense in the endings of all the previous ME and DA games. I liked how there was some closure at the end of each game so that you can forget about it until the next game comes. I just don't like the part in which I will have to wait 3-4 years to know what happens. It's worse than waiting for the next game of thrones book to come out or the next harry potter book because it feels so much more personal.

[midnight tea]

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, I really love the Solas story and his character. I think he deserves two games worth of character development. On the other hand, I like the lack of suspense in the endings of all the previous ME and DA games. I liked how there was some closure at the end of each game so that you can forget about it until the next game comes. I just don't like the part in which I will have to wait 3-4 years to know what happens. It's worse than waiting for the next game of thrones book to come out or the next harry potter book because it feels so much more personal.

 

Well... all this 'keeping me on the edge' definitely guarantees that I'd be more interested to pick another game/book when the time comes - even if waiting is horribly frustrating, especially at the beginning, when my brain is still full of story and all the FEELS associated with it.

[drosophila]

I am totally impressed that someone even thought of this, it's a really interesting question to think about.

 

I guess we're assuming that their immune system functions similar to our own, but it is very possible that it doesn't.  It's possible that the ancient elves had a very advanced non-adaptive immune system rather than an adaptive immune system like ours.  Our innate immune system is totally outdated & is equivalent to the pink flip phone I had when I was twelve whereas the adaptive immune system is like the iphone 10.  However, I suppose it could be possible that their innate immune system continued to develop rather than developing an adaptive immune system, but I honestly don't know how plausible that would be. But if that were the case, then it should have passed down to the unspecial elves of current Thedas, which isn't the case. (or it could just simply be "magic", which is the most likely scenario, but then there's nothing to theorize about & that's no fun)

 

Elves having more powerful innate immunity sounds great to me! 

 

 

BUT.  I would think that it could be possible that maybe having access to the fade/uthenera somehow altered their cellular membranes.  Like if being in contact with the fade changed the binding specificity of the binding sites located on the cell surface of their cells in such a way that prevented bacteria/any foreign agent from adhering to their cell membranes.  A common mechanic for bacterial infection is when the bacteria binds to the surface of the cell to act as a "base of infiltration".  Bacteria also can release toxins & detrimental enzymes that can damage tissues &/or inhibit certain defense mechanisms.  Both of these mechanisms require that the bacteria/toxins be able to bind to the cell surface to initiate a cellular response.  If contact with the fade altered that beautiful protein mosaic on the surface of a cell in such a way that made the active sites completely incompatible with the bacterial substrates it could maybe (read: I am making a wild ass-assumption) result in the bacterial agents being completely useless.  

 

Not so sure about this. The cell surface receptors used by bacteria, viruses, and bacterial toxins are co-opted from their house-keeping functions. If you change binding site properties, you will be affecting all substrates. They'll fall apart! Not to mention that the binding site specificity is essentially an interplay of the simpler intermolecular forces, so if connection to the fade can change those, wouldn't their physical bodies look completely different? 

[Eivuwan]

Well... all this 'keeping me on the edge' definitely guarantees that I'd be more interested to pick another game/book when the time comes - even if waiting is horrible frustrating, especially at the beginning, when my brain is still full of story and all the FEELS associated with it.

 

My problem is that I keep picking angsty romance stuff so that doesn't help lol.

[Cee]

One of my friends just had a baby half an hour ago. My closest friend is getting married in 10 hours. And I'm not asleep yet, still fiddling with my nails, indecisive on my dress, and worst of all....I keep getting fic ideas and want to write.

 

Why now?

 

And I'm enjoying all of this discussion. We really do manage to pick apart everything.

[midnight tea]

Found on solas-an tumblr...

 

\

 

 

...

 

 

...What the actual hell is going on here???

 

(was Solas a circus performer at one point? Or is he just showing off!?)

[Missy_MI]

Hi folks!

 

I haven't visited this thread in forever, but I just finished Trespasser and wanted to chime in! I know this is marked spoiler-safe, but I'll add tags anyway just in case. Also, it'll mostly hide the rambling so you guys can continue your current discussion without too much interruption.

 

Spoiler

Solas is going to destroy the world, but he finally called my Inquisitor vhenan again so it's cool!  But seriously, I thought the romance was handled well. And holy crap, he's slightly more powerful now, isn't he? Yikes.

 

It was so awesome playing Trespasser as an elf! The whole library section was amazing, I could have wandered around there all day. It's also nice that Sera asks the Inquisitor how they feel about the elven pantheon not being real gods and manages not to be a jerk about it this time.

 

I know we've never had a Dragon Age game yet that keeps the same protagonist or companions, but I *really* hope the next game bucks the trend and becomes a true sequel. For one thing, the Inquisitor will eventually die from the Mark, so that's a whole lot of tension right there. Secondly, going up against a former companion as the main antagonist is fantastic! Folks who didn't care for Solas at all during Inquisition will be getting revenge against a traitor and those of us who were close to him will see it as trying to save a friend from doing something terrible. Good stuff!

[OxidantsHappen]

Elves having more powerful innate immunity sounds great to me! 

 

 

 

Not so sure about this. The cell surface receptors used by bacteria, viruses, and bacterial toxins are co-opted from their house-keeping functions. If you change binding site properties, you will be affecting all substrates. They'll fall apart! Not to mention that the binding site specificity is essentially an interplay of the simpler intermolecular forces, so if connection to the fade can change those, wouldn't their physical bodies look completely different? 

 

Good point! Now I have no idea how contact with the fade would affect the binding site specificity, other than i was just making assumptions that it would change their pre-existing substrates & specificity equally & not interfere with their intercellular interactions. (I don't even know how plausible that is, seeing as I have never actually read much about altering specificity on a large scale)

 

 As for their bodies looking completely different- ... have you seen those thighs? I'd call that pretty different. (I'm joking)  Anyways, I was using ionic examples in my head when I was thinking about it (when altering their intercellular interactions didn't really occur to me) & changing the specificity of a binding site via changing its ionic charge(s)/structure of the binding site but not necessarily changing the role/function/structure of the cell itself.  Like triangle binding sites turn into square binding sites & triangle substrates turn into square substrates (because according to the industry-wide consensus of text book authors, that is apparently what all binding sites look like).  But I haven't put much thought into the specifics apart from it peaking my creativity 

[drosophila]

One of my friends just had a baby half an hour ago. My closest friend is getting married in 10 hours. And I'm not asleep yet, still fiddling with my nails, indecisive on my dress, and worst of all....I keep getting fic ideas and want to write.

 

Why now?

 

And I'm enjoying all of this discussion. We really do manage to pick apart everything.

 

Out of likes but       Babies!

 

Enjoy that wedding, I remember you posting about your friend being a total sweetheart and his fiance helping you troll him  

 

But most importantly... Give us moar of your delicious writing!

[Eivuwan]

Hi folks!

 

I haven't visited this thread in forever, but I just finished Trespasser and wanted to chime in! I know this is marked spoiler-safe, but I'll add tags anyway just in case. Also, it'll mostly hide the rambling so you guys can continue your current discussion without too much interruption.

 

Spoiler

Solas is going to destroy the world, but he finally called my Inquisitor vhenan again so it's cool!  But seriously, I thought the romance was handled well. And holy crap, he's slightly more powerful now, isn't he? Yikes.

 

It was so awesome playing Trespasser as an elf! The whole library section was amazing, I could have wandered around there all day. It's also nice that Sera asks the Inquisitor how they feel about the elven pantheon not being real gods and manages not to be a jerk about it this time.

 

I know we've never had a Dragon Age game yet that keeps the same protagonist or companions, but I *really* hope the next game bucks the trend and becomes a true sequel. For one thing, the Inquisitor will eventually die from the Mark, so that's a whole lot of tension right there. Secondly, going up against a former companion as the main antagonist is fantastic! Folks who didn't care for Solas at all during Inquisition will be getting revenge against a traitor and those of us who were close to him will see it as trying to save a friend from doing something terrible. Good stuff!

 

Wanna vote on my poll to help convince bioware to keep quizzy as the protagonist? haha