Meet the Actor – Merrigan
Introduce yourself as much as you are willing. You know, name, age, location, belly button type, whether you snore in your sleep.
Ohi there. I’m Merrigan, I voice Alassea and Rosalind in Interesting NPC’s. I am 24 years old, I live in frozen Finland. My belly button is an innie, and I do not snore in my sleep.
Tell everyone a little about yourself, what acting experience you have, and what your goals are if any.
To be honest, the only acting experience I have is taking a few drama classes in elementary school, but I find voice acting extremely fun, especially when voicing a character like Alassea who is so dramatically different from myself.
Music is more of my thing, and even then I’m still very much a beginner. I’d like to one day polish up my playing and singing skills enough to release a CD, but that day is still far away.
How did you find out about the mod project?
I was whining to a friend about how dull and lifeless NPC’s in Skyrim were. It was like the Dragonborn was the only actual person in the world, and everyone around her was a robot. (Eerie thought, I know!) So my friend helpfully mentioned this mod, and so I was hooked.
Would you rather be a marginally good chess player or a world tic-tac-toe champion?
I’d like to be a marginally good chess-player, honestly. It’s such a classy game. I’d wear a bustle skirt and top hat and drink tea while playing chess – marginally well.
Finish the following sentence. If it weren’t for that flying dolphin, I __________ .
I would’ve gotten away with stealing all these baby pandas.
What is your spirit animal?
The betta fish. Or the rat.
Talk about the music you’ve contributed to the mod, and what your main influences are.
I’ve written a few original songs for Alassea to play, as well as re-arrangements of songs like “Tears of the Hist.” (Love that one, by the way. Huge kudos to the talented composer.) I do mainly old, acoustic music, inspired by Celtic, medieval and folk tunes. I started singing (very badly) at age 18, and I got my very first instrument, the Celtic pixie-harp, at age 21, and that’s when I started playing as well.
Over the next few years my instrument-collection has grown to include several recorders, two hand-drums, a Kantele, a glockenspiel, an ocarina and several small percussion instruments, like shakers and mouthharps.
The Celtic harp remains my main instrument. As I said earlier, I’ve only been doing this a few years, and I’m entirely self-taught, so the music is still a little clumsy and has a lot of flaws. But I’m learning!
My biggest influence is definitely the American singer/songwriter “Erutan,” who’s also a very good friend of mine. She is the one who encouraged and supported me when I first started, and taught me the basics of mixing and vocal layering. She’s the best, you should totally look her up. Her music is heavenly.
What do you think of your characters, Alassea and Rosalind?
Alassea is a quirky, happy and bouncy mage-bard, who hides the pain of past loss beneath a smile. I find her both very endearing and slightly annoying, but I imagine I’d probably get along with her quite well in real life. She’s very social and seems to have a lot of friends, while I am very introverted and a bit of a recluse. Perhaps she could drag me out of my shell, who knows?
Rosalind is a bit more like me. She has a passion for one certain thing, and takes no bullshit from anyone. However, she’s also quite rude to her poor friend Jorrvid! I bet the two are sleeping together behind the scenes.
You’ve been sentenced to live on a deserted island for the next 12 months, as part of your plea agreement for selling bootleg Doritos. In any case, the judge says you have the choice of bringing one of the following:
1) A handgun with a full clip
2) A lighter plus a bottle of fluid
3) A solar-powered, handheld movie player that plays any movie you want provided Samuel L. Jackson is in it.
4) An instructional rain dance book. What do you take?
I pick number four. Obviously, duh!
If you play Skyrim or fantasy RPGs, what sort of character do you typically role play? What are your favorite games?
I always, always end up playing the sneaky dagger-stab-in-the-dark-thiefy type. Currently I am trying to play a warrior, but end up forgetting my chosen class and end up sneaking around in my silly heavy armour and huge shield.
My favourite games tend to change over time, but my current absolute favourite is Dragon Age: Origins. Other favourite PC games include Bioshock Infinite and Dishonored. I am also a fan of Final Fantasy X and Shadow of the Colossus for the Playstation 2.
Would you rather have a bazooka for an arm or a crocodile for a foot?
I’d totally have a bazooka for an arm.
Have you played the mod? If so, do you have a favorite character? If not, why are you such a horrible person?
Of course I have, what kind of person do you think I am? How else could I recruit the person I’m voicing and play through the game constantly hearing my own voice? It’s perfect for me and my narcissistic personality disorder.
No, but seriously, it’s great. I really enjoyed speaking with Eldawyn, and also Erevan. (His voice is like honey!) But I play Skyrim so seldom these days, that I probably haven’t even met half of the available NPC’s. I’ll have to get back to you on this one.
Use the phrase “unicorn burger” in a sentence.
Unicorn burgers taste fantastic with rainbow cat puke mayonnaise.
If you play Skyrim and could use one dragon shout in real life, what would it be and why?
I’ll have to pick the Whirlwind Sprint. I’d never be late for the bus again.
What kind of recording equipment and setup do you use? What are some of the difficulties you’ve encountered while recording?
I’ve made my clothes closet into a “studio” by tearing out the shelves and padding the walls with foam to get the best quality in my music-recordings. My microphone is a RODE NT1-A studio mic, and it’s my baby. Always so reliable.
I also use a Lexicon Lambda external soundcard. In the beginning of my recordings, I was too far from the mic, which resulted in an awkward echo in the recording, despite my padded walls. This was solved by staying very close to the mic, though.
You have to sing one karaoke song (and score at least 70 out of 100) to save your life. What do you choose and why?
I think I’d pick “Scarborough Fair,” because it’s a pretty classic, and it has a very simple melody. No wailing. Bigger chance of scoring enough to keep living, y’know.
What sort of roles would you like to do in the future?
I really am not very picky. I’m happy to do any roles that Kris may have for me, but currently I am very much enjoying Alassea. (Recruit her, damnit! She makes jokes!)
Why do people pinch themselves when they might be dreaming? What is there to gain by waking up?
Imagine if you’re dreaming about a huge pile of ice cream that is yours, and only yours – and then you wake up just when you’re about to take a bite. The disappointment will be smaller if you pinch yourself and wake before you get too hopeful!
Plug any other work you’re doing. Where else can people hear your talents?
You can find my awkward music on my Youtube page, as well as my Facebook page.
Send me a nice comment! (Or a horrible one. I never get hate comments. You should probably give me a hate comment.)
