8061 réponses à ce sujet

[wildannie]

Congrats Sarah! like ICevol, I'm totally behind with the thread... will have to catch up tomorrow.



I like the new prompt, hopefully I'll get time to do something for it this week

[Sresla]

Sarah1281 wrote...

Prize: If you want me to write something non-smutty, then I will.

So wait, the prize is smut by default? Non-smut by request only?

Modifié par Sresla, 29 novembre 2010 - 11:36 .

[Sarah1281]

Sresla wrote...

Sarah1281 wrote...

Prize: If you want me to write something non-smutty, then I will.

So wait, the prize is smut by default? Non-smut by request only?

Wouldn't that be something? 

Tragically, I get embarrassed even reading smut, much less writing it.

[HighMoon]

Sresla wrote...

I see what you did there.

[Aroihkin]

Have a slash microfill:

By the Stone (Zevran/Tannusen)
NSFW
The Warden and company spend a vast amount of time running errands and killing dark spawn in the deep roads. Desire and need do not always wait for better opportunity. Stress must be relieved and any free time found is to be used very very well.

And some het art:

Commission: Zevran and Ayla
Commission for Kismet of her Warden with Dom!Zevran.
Potential NSFW warning for light bondage, but with nothing naughty showing.

Modifié par Aroihkin, 30 novembre 2010 - 12:36 .

[Corker]

Sarah1281 wrote...



Prompt: "I ran off to join the famous Dalish when one of their clans drew near Antiva City. Naturally the reality did not live up at all to the fantasies." 

Dalish Dreams
59 minutes - in under the wire!

"I ran off to join the famous Dalish when one of their clans drew near Antiva City. Naturally, the reality did not live up at all to the fantasies." 

The words fell easily from his lips; perhaps they were part of a tale told more than once in the past.  Then they kept falling until they hit the ground and lay there between them, heavy and awkward.  Vashti Mahariel crossed her arms and looked down where she imagined them to be.  "Sorry to disappoint."

"Oh, not you, dear Warden.  You live up to any possibly fantasy I might..."  He had the good sense to go no farther with that line of thought when she lifted her gaze to glare at him.  "Ah.  Or perhaps not."

She didn't turn to go.  She looked down again, scuffed the ground with one foot, turning imagined words over in her mind as if to find grubs under them.  "Why did you go back to Antiva City?"

"As I said, the reality..."

She glared at him again, but with annoyance this time.  "Explain that, please."

"Well, since you have asked so nicely, my Warden...  For one thing, I did not think there would be so many rules.  The Crows had rules - so many rules! - and they were so very wearying.  One hears of the free Dalish and thinks, 'Ah, there I will be free from people telling me where to go and what to do and how it should be done.'  But no!  There are even more rules!  Prayers and rituals and chores and duties, it did not end."

Vashti chuckled at that.  "Did you really think we danced all day among the trees, eating grass like halla?  We don't work, we don't eat."

"I am familiar with that concept, yes," Zevran said, a trifle peevishly.  "I merely thought each would do what he found agreeable, not what the Keeper said that he would do."

"That would be nice, I suppose," Vashti agreed.  "In some magical clan where there were exactly enough hunters and craftsmasters, halla keepers and storytellers, mothers and Keepers.  It all has to get done, just as all the Creators must be honored."  She indicated the vallaslin on her forehead.  "Falon'Din, bridging the here and the Beyond.  Why?  Somebody has to wear it."  She shrugged. 

"I admitted it was a fantasy," he said, crossing his own arms now that the Warden was having a bit of fun at his expense.  "Did you wish to hear the rest, or do you want to continue to poke fun at my childish naivety?"

"Mm," Vashti paused to consider, then shook her head.  "No, please continue."  More seriously, she added, "It is a great sadness to know that one of our brethren came to us, but departed.  I would know why.  Perhaps in the future..."

Zevran waved a hand dismissively.  "Were I older, perhaps I would have stayed.  I expected a warmer welcome and took offense when I did not recieve one."

Vashti thought of Pol, the alienage elf her clan had just taken in.  He was to have been hanged as a thief, whether justly or not she did not know.  He was a stranger and an outsider, possibly a criminal, and while they had taken him in, he was indeed held a little at arm's reach until his measure could be taken.  "Not every elf who comes to the Dalish is truly seeking a free life," she said carefully.  "We have had our share of spies and bandits insinuate themselves into our clans.  Surely, as a Crow..."

Zevran grimaced.  "I know, I know.  It was a youthful folly.  They were my mother's people, after all, and..."

And on moonlit nights, cradling a pair of butter-soft doehide gloves against his chest, he had imagined what it would be like to have a mother, a soft creature made of love and gentle caresses, who would call him in from playing with the halla by the stream to feed him a stew rich with venison and root vegetables, who would ease the tangles from his fine pale hair and perhaps teach him to carve wood, not flesh, with small sharp knives.

They were both examining the ground as if it might contain a map to the lost Sacred Ashes of Andraste.  "My mother's, as well," Vashti said at length.  "I also... lost her when I was young." And as dear as Ashalle was to her, it had not stopped fancies that always started with, If my mother were here...

"Are you quite well answered, Warden?" Zevran asked quietly, in a tone that subtly suggested she had damn well better be.

"I am.  Ma serranas, Zevran."  Impulsively, she added, "Abelas."

"Hm?"  He looked up, playful good humor masking his face once again.  "That is a Dalish apology, is it not?  Is the great Grey Warden apologizing to me?  Whatever for?"

The word was for apology and sympathy both, and she suspected he knew as much.  But if he wished to play the game, Vashti was inclined to let him, at least right now.  "For... for us not... helping you more.  You were a child, we should have made allowances."

"It is in the past," he shrugged.  "And this second experience is much superior to the first, I must say.  Quite a lot more loot, for one thing."

"As you like, Zevran."  And there they left it for the night.

[Sialater]

Damn. I actually have an idea for this prompt but I don't know if I have time.

[Corker]

Since she's very busy with her new job, let me also point out maradeux's series An Assassin's Childhood, which includes a six-part "Dalish Intermezzo" exploring Zevran's time with the Dalish. *hat tip*

[Sarah1281]

Non-entry, obviously, but since I wrote it, I figured I might as well share it.

[ejoslin]

Gah, SO quiet here. I do love the stories so far.



I have been reading more fanfic (ahahaha), and this is NOT a criticism (so please, no one take it as such -- it's definitely not against any author, and the few I'm referring to do not post here anyway).



Anyway, disclaimer out of the way, I've been noticing the things I see changed the most are the "after sex" talk and the confession of his feelings. I've also had people message me both on DANexus and here about the gates dialog, when you tell him you love him -- mainly if Zevran is upset about being told that the warden loves him (if you leave him) or if he doesn't love the warden in return (if you take him with you).



Anyway, on the after-sex talk, what i've seen changed is it's either made nicer, more romantic, OR crueler, as a defense against his actual feelings. But I find his after-sex talk, while not sweet or romantic, not cruel either. I see it as very matter-of-fact, that he realizes that this can cause things to be awkward and so he wants there to be no misunderstandings. He also assures the warden that he's not out to kill him/her any more if the conversation goes that way. But he is not wanting to fall in love, and while he has feelings, he certainly doesn't get them. I think the talk is out of place if he and the warden wait until after they're in love, but before he falls in love, it's a very honest, respectful, but definitely not-sweet conversation.



with his confession of feelings, i don't see a need for him to say the words, "I love you." No matter what, he asks for a commitment of the future, and his warmth and his simple, "That is enough for me," says, to me, so much.



Regarding the gates talk... If you leave him, he's not upset that you told him you love him, he's upset because he's not going with you. He's worried, he's scared that he is never going to see the person he loves again. If you take him, it's just as the VO notes say -- even though he loves the warden, he cannot say the words himself.



Anyway, just thought I'd toss those out there. It's been a few days since i've squeed!

[Giggles_Manically]

I did feel so bad leaving Zev at the gates, just as a test.



What do the VO notes say if he saying goodbye to a friend?

[ejoslin]

Giggles_Manically wrote...

I did feel so bad leaving Zev at the gates, just as a test.

What do the VO notes say if he saying goodbye to a friend?

If you leave him?  Pretty much the same thing, basically as the dialogs are the same aside from the 'for the chance to be by your side" is replaced by, 'for a good friend such as yourself, i'd willing storm the gates of the dark city."  He's disappointed he's not going with but moreso, he's worried about them.  Oh, and of course a friend can't tell him that they love him.

Hmmm, looking at this, there is a way for someone he's in love with not to get the 'dark city" comment if leaving him, but in a way, it's sadder...

Warden (in in love): Not this time, Zevran.
Zevran: Will I... see you again? Or is this truly good-bye? (trying to hide the fact that his heart is breaking)

Here's the script note to the dark city comment for a lover:

Zevran: In truth, for the chance to be by your side I would storm the Dark City itself. Never doubt it. (an oath of love)

I think with the kisses put in, it changes the scene completely.  It's a shame they weren't added in the vanilla game (it's more of a shame that the wrong dialog was triggering if taking him with, but that's a different topic).

Modifié par ejoslin, 01 décembre 2010 - 07:00 .

[Sialater]

ejoslin wrote...

Giggles_Manically wrote...

I did feel so bad leaving Zev at the gates, just as a test.

What do the VO notes say if he saying goodbye to a friend?

If you leave him?  Pretty much the same thing, basically as the dialogs are the same aside from the 'for the chance to be by your side" is replaced by, 'for a good friend such as yourself, i'd willing storm the gates of the dark city."  He's disappointed he's not going with but moreso, he's worried about them.  Oh, and of course a friend can't tell him that they love him.

Hmmm, looking at this, there is a way for someone he's in love with not to get the 'dark city" comment if leaving him, but in a way, it's sadder...

Warden (in in love): Not this time, Zevran.
Zevran: Will I... see you again? Or is this truly good-bye? (trying to hide the fact that his heart is breaking)

Here's the script note to the dark city comment for a lover:

Zevran: In truth, for the chance to be by your side I would storm the Dark City itself. Never doubt it. (an oath of love)

I think with the kisses put in, it changes the scene completely.  It's a shame they weren't added in the vanilla game (it's more of a shame that the wrong dialog was triggering if taking him with, but that's a different topic).

Wow, I really did have a bug.  And I know this because i can't recreate it. 

[ejoslin]

Sialater wrote...

ejoslin wrote...

Giggles_Manically wrote...

I did feel so bad leaving Zev at the gates, just as a test.

What do the VO notes say if he saying goodbye to a friend?

If you leave him?  Pretty much the same thing, basically as the dialogs are the same aside from the 'for the chance to be by your side" is replaced by, 'for a good friend such as yourself, i'd willing storm the gates of the dark city."  He's disappointed he's not going with but moreso, he's worried about them.  Oh, and of course a friend can't tell him that they love him.

Hmmm, looking at this, there is a way for someone he's in love with not to get the 'dark city" comment if leaving him, but in a way, it's sadder...

Warden (in in love): Not this time, Zevran.
Zevran: Will I... see you again? Or is this truly good-bye? (trying to hide the fact that his heart is breaking)

Here's the script note to the dark city comment for a lover:

Zevran: In truth, for the chance to be by your side I would storm the Dark City itself. Never doubt it. (an oath of love)

I think with the kisses put in, it changes the scene completely.  It's a shame they weren't added in the vanilla game (it's more of a shame that the wrong dialog was triggering if taking him with, but that's a different topic).

Wow, I really did have a bug.  And I know this because i can't recreate it. 

Why? What happened?  *grin*  As you know, his entire conversation at the gates is bugged.  It's more bugged if you take him with you, but it's bugged if you leave him behind as well.  And it's bugged if he's at "friendly" or at a high "adore" (really, it is -- it's the way the particular flag works).

Poor Zevran 

[Giggles_Manically]

 A maybe not so nice mention of Zevran:
http://uk.gamespot.c...e/video/6283746

[ejoslin]

Giggles_Manically wrote...

 A maybe not so nice mention of Zevran:
http://uk.gamespot.c...e/video/6283746

Ahahahaha, not too bad.  I have no clue how people missed the romance starters being starters, but apparently a lot of people did.  I think a lot of them were the same people who didn't realize the massage offer was a proposition...

What happened with Zevran is people wanted the approval with him, and his approval jumped so much if you started the romance with him that people didn't like NOT taking the romance starter lines.

[Corker]

Hi kaygil!

For the longest time, I thought *everyone* in DAO except Morrigan had dark eyes, because I had my graphics setting turned down low. I was floored when I upgraded my system, changed my settings, and learned that Leliana had blue eyes! Zevran's were golden! Alistair's were hazel! Who knew? (I had *thought* it was weird that every single slider setting gave my PCs dark eyes!)

Even in the several very nice quality screenshots on this page of this thread, just a few pages back, I might argue that his eyes look more yellow in some, and more hazel in others. It may depend on the machine running the game, the graphics settings (both in the game and on the system), and the in-game lighting and angle.

I tend to use 'amber' myself, if I need to say their color, and sometimes 'golden.' But I use 'golden' for Morrigan, too (or 'pale gold'), so Zev usually gets 'amber.'

[ejoslin]

his eyes are the color "lbr" or light brown. mods and graphics cards/settings can change the way this appears in the game.

Edit: His eyes do appear yellowish to me.  I'm going to check to see if Morrigan's are the same color (as her eyes are definitely yellow) or different.

second edit: And morrigan's eyes are unique.  Not surprising at all.  I stick with Zevran having light brown eyes.

Modifié par ejoslin, 02 décembre 2010 - 12:20 .

[Sresla]

That interview was horrible (I actually felt I needed to underline, bold AND italicize to emphasize how poor I thought it was). Really? We didn't want a "Zevran situation" where you always end up flirting with him when you're trying to get rid of him?

Since when did saying the word "No" become so difficult?

I never thought Zevran's comments were at all ambiguous - he questions you several times regarding your intent and gives you plenty of opportunities to back out of getting involved with him. And if the developers don't think adding (angry) or (flirtatious) in parenthesis isn't dumbing down the game, I'm not sure what universe it is they're living in.

You know, I was going to buy Dragon Age II. I can't think of a single thing I've seen promoting the game that I was excited about. Not a single thing - but, based on the story in Dragon Age: Origins and with the hope that my Warden would perhaps be showing up again in part three, I was going to take a chance. Keep in mind, this is coupled with the negative reviews I'd give the expansion (Awakening) and most of the DLC (Witch Hunt was probably the worst of all of them, touted as being the best one. Sad). So despite sinking some $150-ish dollars into Dragon Age: Origins and really only enjoying the original game, I was still willing to give Bioware a shot at taking another $60 from me.

Not now. Sorry, but if you're going to give Zevran's dialogue as an example of a mistake that you're trying to correct in Dragon Age 2, you don't deserve my money.

Edit: Yes, rage.

Modifié par Sresla, 02 décembre 2010 - 12:38 .

[ejoslin]

Sresla, I think what happened with Zevran (and i actually remember having this conversation with someone who complained about being 'ninja'ed" by Zevran) that people didn't pay attention to the conversation and just loaded and reloaded for maximum approval. I mean, seriously, people didn't understand he was propositioning them when offering the massage -- which to me is beyond stupid.

I didn't take the interview personally (it did not anger me), but it did highlight one thing for me -- they're catering to the stupid and want everything to be beyond obvious.

With Zevran, he always confirmed that the romance was starting. Of course, if you flirted with him and then backed off when he confirmed, that would normally mean an approval hit for the conversation. I think you just had bros skipping through the dialog and then thinking 'oh, cool" when they got +12 for a conversation.

What really bothers is, though, is WHY Leliana with her ninja romance bug (and yes, this IS a bug -- her post-Marjolaine conversation is poorly laid out and missing flags -- it was a **** to fix) did not get nearly the venom that Zevran's approval based responses did.

BUT! to get to my original point, some people are just dumb, really stupid, or skipping dialog going for maximum approval, and so if they HAVE to have a dialog wheel, it probably is better to have it spelled out clearly that you're flirting.

Edit; And please rage.  I didn't even think about how offensive that interview could be. Especially considering how Leliana's ninja romancing was completely brushed off and never fixed.  

Second edit: Alistair was actually worse for me as far as "ninja romancing" went, especially since Alistair doesn't always confirm the romance is starting.  Being ninja romanced never bothered me, though; I got to see all sorts of breakups I normally wouldn't have.  though it is interesting that they used Zevran instead of Alistair for an example.  And yes, I know why.  And completely get where you're coming from.

Modifié par ejoslin, 02 décembre 2010 - 01:47 .

[Sarah1281]

Maybe the less Leliana rage has to do with the sex? People somehow misunderstood the 'massage' but if you don't know that Leliana is propositioning you, she gets annoyed and spells it out for you first and that's at the very end of the romance.

[Giggles_Manically]

Yeah that interview made me facepalm.



Pretty much: Didn't like having to think? YOU dont have to anymore!

RPG elements and Depth who needs that when Hawke can SUPER GAIDAN PUNCH people!



Urrrr.....



I hate how DA2 is shaping up to be.

[ejoslin]

sarah, how does anyone misunderstand this:

Zevran: If you mean to ask whether or not there might be more than a massage involved, allow me simply to say that you won't be disappointed with any of the techniques I've picked up over the years.

OR

Zevran: A willing victim it is. And if I might ask, if the opportunity to proceed past the massage should present itself...?




Edit: I vote for either stupid or skipping over dialog (ok, I have to admit I edited FAR more than this line)

Second edit: Of course, if you make it clear you are NOT interested, you get a nice approval loss with a breakup.  which probably caused a reload :/

Modifié par ejoslin, 02 décembre 2010 - 01:59 .

[Zjarcal]

ejoslin wrote...

sarah, how does anyone misunderstand this:

Zevran: And if the opportunity should arise for it to go beyond a massage?

They probably thought the next step was a foot rub.