75 réponses à ce sujet

[Skyline_Stanza]

Cra5y Pineapple wrote...

I'd say keep it banterful. Sure, even serious works need comedy banter.

I agree with this. Sort of lightens the mood, and grounds it a little, if that made any sense.

[pacer90]

Skyline_Stanza wrote...

Vanguard1219 wrote...

-snip-

This. Just...this. I'm trying to do the same thing, Vanguard. Granted, I'm splitting "screen time" and character development along three paths (my FemShep Cameron, Miranda and Garrus), but I'm trying to nail down specific memories, wants, fears, desires etc for Cam before I really start digging into the meat of the story.

I just want her to come off as talented, but also as a human, with flaws and mistakes. Her POV is going to be her thoughts on her ressurection and her upgrades as she goes through ME2, but I DON'T want her to come off as 'angsty.' Far from it, in fact. While I'd like some reflection on Shepard's part, I don't want her to go overboard with it. Make sense?

Mine is about an young and VERY idealistic engineer coming up with crazy new ships for the Alliance navy. Turians are getting pissed about it and everything sort of goes downhill for him from there, dragging family members and stuff into the fray.

Shepard, Garrus and others kind of shape his life and help him deal with the newfound dangers and responsiblities of being put on a stage like this, hoping he won't shy away from his gifts.

Liara is in a hard spot. She's in a weird situation with Feron that they are clearly drifting apart after forming an ill adivsed romantic relationship. She feels numb to the world outside of her ship, while Andrew is too ready to take it all in. Feron is stuck in his ways as a nose to the grindstone shadow Broker, and stuff gets interesting.

So by the sounds of it everyone here has some great ideas! Looking forward to it all. When you guys are done I want links, and I'll be happy to edit anything you have completed.

[GIJacob88]

Do any of you have links to your writings, so i can read them.

[Skyline_Stanza]

Mine's still in the 'I'm figuring out the kinks and little quirks' stage, but I'd be glad to link you once I start it.

I've still got to get structure down, as well as squad make up for both Miranda and Garrus, as they'll be leading seperate squads apart from Shepard directly after Horizon. It's sort of my theory as to what the heck the squadmates were doing aboard the Normandy 2.0 when Shep was out and about.

Modifié par Skyline_Stanza, 08 novembre 2010 - 07:20 .

[Vanguard1219]

pacer90 wrote...

You should take it an encouragement! The best stories I've read are people who can take the universe backstories and elaborate them with a believable story. One of an earthborn shepard I read who wasn't a willing part of the gang, but rather a victim of one. I won't get into details but it was completely heart wrenching, over the top dark but it fit.

I hope you can do it, and please link when you are done.

Thanks for the pep-talk I'm still writing major chunks of the "intorductory" story for my Shepard, but I'll be sure to fire off a PM with a link when I'm done.

If I forget (and there's about a 50/50 chance of that happening) I have a blog posted that's my "hub" for the arc that I'm working on. It might not hurt to keep an eye on it.

~V

[Dean_the_Young]

Skyline_Stanza wrote...

All those are very interesting Dean! I think that the service-history Shep idea has been explored a bit, either in an RP sense or I think there was one or two fics about such an idea.

Probably, but everyone has their take. Mine would be a pretty conventional one in some regards:

Torfan-Colonist-Renegade, pretty obvious.

Warhero-Earthborne-Paragade, but more middling than inspiring and super-sensible. I enjoy the idea of a not-so-heroic War Hero.

Solesurvivor-Spacer-Paragon is probably the most unique: she's a Cerberus agent, and has been since before Akuze. Some serious issues in her head.

Jenkins reciving the vision would be something I'd LOVE to see.

I felt it worked well on a number of levels, and made some interesting points. For one, Shepard doesn't have the same belief in the Reapers, because he's never exposed to the beacon. He's more than a little skeptical: ponder on that for a minute.

Liara's role would be interesting. Not sure if it's not-quite a three-way-triangle, because she's going into Jenkins head, but Shepard is Shepard, but I've always interpreted part of Liara's initial fascination as a part of the melding. Jenkins would be like puppy love, or something.

Most serious piece would be Virmire, because in my image Shepard has been more or less about to enter a relationship with Ashley and everyone knows it, and yet he leaves her behind to rescue Jenkins and Liara, because between them they hold the key to stopping Saren. Mission first, against Jenkins will, and a biotic/bloody argument on the Normandy afterwards at which point Shepard stops just being an idol for Jenkins as he pounds in (literally) that he left the woman he loved to die because the junk in Jenkins head is too important to lose. 

[Skyline_Stanza]

Dean_the_Young wrote...

Skyline_Stanza wrote...

All those are very interesting Dean! I think that the service-history Shep idea has been explored a bit, either in an RP sense or I think there was one or two fics about such an idea.

Probably, but everyone has their take. Mine would be a pretty conventional one in some regards:

Torfan-Colonist-Renegade, pretty obvious.

Warhero-Earthborne-Paragade, but more middling than inspiring and super-sensible. I enjoy the idea of a not-so-heroic War Hero.

Solesurvivor-Spacer-Paragon is probably the most unique: she's a Cerberus agent, and has been since before Akuze. Some serious issues in her head.

Jenkins reciving the vision would be something I'd LOVE to see.

I felt it worked well on a number of levels, and made some interesting points. For one, Shepard doesn't have the same belief in the Reapers, because he's never exposed to the beacon. He's more than a little skeptical: ponder on that for a minute.

Liara's role would be interesting. Not sure if it's not-quite a three-way-triangle, because she's going into Jenkins head, but Shepard is Shepard, but I've always interpreted part of Liara's initial fascination as a part of the melding. Jenkins would be like puppy love, or something.

Most serious piece would be Virmire, because in my image Shepard has been more or less about to enter a relationship with Ashley and everyone knows it, and yet he leaves her behind to rescue Jenkins and Liara, because between them they hold the key to stopping Saren. Mission first, against Jenkins will, and a biotic/bloody argument on the Normandy afterwards at which point Shepard stops just being an idol for Jenkins as he pounds in (literally) that he left the woman he loved to die because the junk in Jenkins head is too important to lose. 

DAMN. Just...DAMN. Wow. That would be a very interesting piece if worked correctly! Not that I'm saying you couldn't, but for others it might be a bit hard to figure out. You certainly have a good grasp on how you want it to plan out!

[pacer90]

Good stuff to hear from those other ideas, and jacob i'll let you know when I post the first chapters on fanfiction.net. Right now I'm playing through the game once more so I can get a hold of what the speech patterns are like for the squaddies.



Love the Jenkins idea. Imagine if Liara and Shepard got involved. Shepard would see everything Jenkins thinks of him, about the Virmire decision etc.

[firecleaner]

Aurora313 wrote...

How's this for the basic main characters?
A N7 rookie inflitrator, fresh graduate (Private or something along those lines) sent into the traverse serving on a new frigate - The SSV Marathon - with a cocky, arrogant attitude and naive view of right and wrong.
A veretan N7 Vanguard (Staff Commander or a captain serving under a Major) serving as XO on the same vessel with a stoic, calm persona and some 20 years of experience under his belt.

These too cliched or would those be acceptable?

If your going to keep the same characters make the rookie's rank lower N7's seem like today's Special Forces: Green Berets,SAS,Delta Force and others... I would make him like a N5 more like US Army Ranger or US Marine Force Recon that hasn't seen much action. Seems to be more realistic at least to me.

[Dean_the_Young]

pacer90 wrote...

Love the Jenkins idea. Imagine if Liara and Shepard got involved. Shepard would see everything Jenkins thinks of him, about the Virmire decision etc.

It's less of 'if Liara and Shepard get involved', and more of 'Jenkins puppy love Liara who's fascinated by Shepard who's a not-too-subtle Renegade/human first/not-quite xenophobe.' This Renegade Shepard isn't 'aliens must be ground under our heels,' but Asari are a mix of intimidation and disquieting. Without the necessity of linking with Liara, he sure ain't doing it, and he's more interested in WIlliams regardless.

Shepard probably knows what Jenkins thinks about him because Jenkins is an unapologetic Shepard fanboy who doesn't stop justifying Shepard's actions. Hilarity when Jenkins and Conrad meet, of course.

I'd see Jenkins as more or less the kid everyone half-likes, half-suffers with good humor. It's hard to think of anyone who wouldn't like Jenkins, or at least no one would dislike: Wrex would be the hardest one to judge. But Jenkins would be all impressed by C-SEC Garrus who would like it in turn, Williams would be amused by a good-cheer person she can boss around, Kaiden and Jenkins got along, and Liara is too socially awkward to really understand him anyway.

Probably the person who likes him least is Shepard, but Jenkins is indisputably skilled and, because of the beacon, a mission-critical asset. I'd see Jenkins as a catalyst of some character development for the Butcher, though: both in the outburst after Virmire, and possibly a reconciliation after the Normandy lockdown.

[Dean_the_Young]

While we're dumping out concepts and characters that will likely never see the light of day, my idea of a 'good' Batarian. Yes, an oxymoron if there ever was one.


A character to consider carefully in a casual caucus of competitors. Cheerio, chap (or chapete, of course).







---







Name: Captain Jarem Messa







Gender: Male







Age: 26 (or equivalent of Batarians: Young adult, but matured and with some experience.)







Species: Batarian







Appearance:Batarians all look alike to you Citadel-species, but
noticeable characteristics include a light red skin tone, appropriate
Batarian proportions for about 6 feet of height, and a crisp, clean
shaven, military manner and appearance. When it isn't required to appear
otherwise, a tendency towards a simple black military uniform, crisp
and neat regardless the circumstances. Decorated with only a few
recognitions of worth, the sparse but clean-cut uniform filled by a fit
Batarian sends a simple message: this one is plain and does not care
about your fancy awards or epitaphs, and is focused on doing his job
regardless of the obstacle.







Combat uniform, for the rare occasions Jaram changes into one, is a
typical equipment for a Batarian infiltrator: light armor, helmet with
visor designed for the four-eyed Batarian, and pistol and omni tool.
Quite frankly, though,he'll rarely do so: the armor is simply accessory
to the miniaturized kinetic barrier device he carries with him at all
times, making for only modestly improved shields. Pistol and omni-tool
are always with him regardless, making his 'casual' dress uniform just
as often his de facto combat uniform.







For the truly obsessive to details, he has dark brown eyes that
generally blend with his pupils, he is always clean shaven, and he has
no tattoos. Tattoos are foolish, as they are unchangeable identification
marks.







Equipment/Abilities: An officer in Batarian military intelligence,
by training he is an infiltrator, which means no biotics and a tendency
towards omni-tool (which is exceptionally high quality, but he won't
share). Avoiding outright fights whenever possible, preferring to hack
and, well, infiltrate past and around any, when in a fight he is
competent with a pistol, relying on precision and typical Batarian
chemical rounds to effectively end the fight.







While trained in other weapons, rarely uses them: if a military
intelligence officer is in the thick of a fire fight to justify one,
he's doing his job wrong. And Captain Messa does not do his job wrong.
In summary: a competant marksman who's military training puts him a step
above the rest, he is no god of war or master sniper. As he'd be better
off avoiding the battle, there's no reason for him to be one either.







Personality: Either so twisted he's straight, or so straight he's
twisted, Captain Messa is constantly perplexing those who take anything
at face value. He is a nationalist in regards to the Batarian Hegemony, a
paranoid officer in the department of unethical practices, ruthless and
not-quite speciest. He's willing to do anything to further the greater
interests of the Batarian species... which is quite likely why he may be
one of the best 'good' Batarians you may ever meet, because he puts the
Batarian good above all else. Because isolation, paranoia, and losing a
proxy war won't work, has only hurt the Batarian species and their
interests, and what's best for the Batarians is a re-integration into
Galactic Society... and the defense against the Reapers.







Captain Messa is military intelligence. He is intelligent,
analytical, insightful, and more than a bit ruthless. However, he also
has great self-control, and puts the good of the Batarians (establishing
a good reputation to enable a galatic re-integration) above his
personal likes and dislikes. He may hate your gut, but will never curse
you behind your back lest someone over hear and cause repercussions that
harm down the line. He may detest humans on a personal level, but he
will save a child for the photo-op.







He is Batarian in many ways. He will try and dominate an argument of
wills by sheer intelligence and causing confusion by which set of eyes
to look at. He has a revulsion against those covet the wealth of others,
partly reflected in his modest garb and life style.







Background/Origin: A Captain in the Batarian Hegemony's Military
Intelligence, which gives him about the weight of a colonel in other
matters. Rising from a family with a long history of service in the
unspoken services of the Hegemony, he follows in the significant
footsteps of his mother, who was involved in the vanishing of the
Leviathan of Dis (which never existed) and in several other, more
unsavory and unspecified, acts. Miss Messa died on Torfan, but not
before clashing with a younger Lieutenant Anderson on at least one
occasion. Surviving that encounter gave the family almost as much honor
in their secret circles as the Leviathan.







Raised by the state after his mother's death, and his mother's old service in particular, Jarem grew up knowing he would serve the Batarian
Hegemony as he knew best, and has spent much of his life doing so. He
has accumulated a respectable dossier of classified actions, some
against Batarian dissidents and some that would see him strung up by any
Alliance tribunal. However, Jarem is of a new generation, or perhaps
just sees the other perspective better than most others. Like others in
his profession, he is paranoid. But he goes beyond self-centered
blindness. He recognizes that the Batarians are weak. He knows the
galaxy dislikes them, and only ignores them because they are too much
trouble for now. He knows that they would lose any war with the
Alliance, and no one would say a word in protest.







Jarem also watched from afar as the Geth mobilized and Sovereign was
the vanguard of the Reapers, and he knows either force could tear the
Hegemony apart. He, like many Batarians with stolen transcripts and
reports on the true nature of the Reapers, also knows them as a true
foe. He is too paranoid to ignore the truth.







To Jarem, the only logical solution to protect and expand the
Batarian Hegemony is to end the hostility with the Citadel, who does not
want destroy the Batarians for living, and form alliances against the
Geth and Reapers, who do. Doing so requires that the Batarian Hegemony
realize its limitations, form alliances, to adjust its ambitions
accordingly. In order to seek greater prizes, the Hegemony needs to gain more
power, and to gain more strength the Hegemony needs to link to the
Galatic economy and technology pool. Piracy and terrorism haven't
worked: the Skyllian Verge is long since lost, and others will be as
well if the Shadow War with the Alliance continues.







Jarem is part of a faction within the Hegemony that wants to
re-connect with the Galaxy. Naturally, there are many sorts within it:
there are the idealists, the Doves, the human-lovers, the socialites who
miss the Citadel. Jarem's decision, and those like him in the military,
is more cold-blooded practicality. Of course, their faction is also
currently a minority: xenophobia and paranoia still force
short-sightedness on much of the Hegemony military, within which the
most important political battles ride.







Spared most charges of dis-loyalty for such views by nature of his
own and mother's accomplishments, Jarem is well placed to be influential
in the final outcome. Having traded in many favors and pulled many
strings, Jarem has managed to be assigned on a foreign mission.
Officially, Jarem is to covertly investigate Sovereign, the Geth, and
the scope of their risk to the Hegemony. Politically, there is much more
at stake: Jarem is also to find any signs of willingness of the Citadel
Powers, including the Alliance, to forge an alliance against the
Reapers/Geth in return for galatic re-integration and a settlement of
piracy and colonial disputes.







Naturally, many elements in the Batarian Hegemony, even in its own
Military Intelligence, will do anything to stop this. For the greater
good of the Batarian Hegemony, Captain Jarem Messa will oppose them.







Miscellaneous: Less combat focused, more tech-support. He could
hack, AI hack, use his omni tool, but if he's fighting, he isn't doing
what he does best, which is making things happen. He's sooner hack the
Ambassador's extranet account than a Geth Trooper.







On a Renegade-Paragon axis, he would do many Paragon actions, but for very Renegade reasons.

[GIJacob88]

Long read, but that's a pretty cool character.

On a side note here's a little bit my story http://social.biowar...m/user_blog.php

Any constructive criticism would be welcome.

Modifié par GIJacob88, 09 novembre 2010 - 06:52 .

[pacer90]

Dean_the_Young wrote...

pacer90 wrote...

Love the Jenkins idea. Imagine if Liara and Shepard got involved. Shepard would see everything Jenkins thinks of him, about the Virmire decision etc.

It's less of 'if Liara and Shepard get involved', and more of 'Jenkins puppy love Liara who's fascinated by Shepard who's a not-too-subtle Renegade/human first/not-quite xenophobe.' This Renegade Shepard isn't 'aliens must be ground under our heels,' but Asari are a mix of intimidation and disquieting. Without the necessity of linking with Liara, he sure ain't doing it, and he's more interested in WIlliams regardless.

Shepard probably knows what Jenkins thinks about him because Jenkins is an unapologetic Shepard fanboy who doesn't stop justifying Shepard's actions. Hilarity when Jenkins and Conrad meet, of course.

I'd see Jenkins as more or less the kid everyone half-likes, half-suffers with good humor. It's hard to think of anyone who wouldn't like Jenkins, or at least no one would dislike: Wrex would be the hardest one to judge. But Jenkins would be all impressed by C-SEC Garrus who would like it in turn, Williams would be amused by a good-cheer person she can boss around, Kaiden and Jenkins got along, and Liara is too socially awkward to really understand him anyway.

Probably the person who likes him least is Shepard, but Jenkins is indisputably skilled and, because of the beacon, a mission-critical asset. I'd see Jenkins as a catalyst of some character development for the Butcher, though: both in the outburst after Virmire, and possibly a reconciliation after the Normandy lockdown.

Ahh I misunderstood, very compelling regardless. Jacob that link doesn't work, at least not for me.

[Kazzar]

my fanfic will come soon if can find a bit of spare time to get it finished

[Aurora313]

Are we allowing links to this forum - for reviewing/critism - or are we just exchanging advice? I know it's kind of late in the game to ask, but it only occured to me now.

[Snowship]

Terror_K wrote...

Yeah, I personally prefer writing (and reading) stories that are independent of the main story and don't interfere with it. I don't personally see the point in writing about my own Shepard and the other characters because I don't feel that would add that much, and I don't really care about other peoples' Shepards that much to get into a story about them so why would anybody really care about mine.

Beyond that, I'd say pay careful attention to the lore that's been set and try to remain true to it. Make your characters your own, and don't just copy another character you like from something else in there in another form. It's okay to take certain characteristics, but never just do something like "Krogan Jayne from Firefly" or anything like that. Give your characters depth and make sure they're more than just a stereotype. Very important is to make sure they have both strengths and weaknesses; don't just make them supermen who can do anything.

Make sure your story has a point too. Try and put some kind of message,  topic or psychological commentary/topic in there as a basis for example, or make sure that there is a strong common element throughout the story. You don't need to know all the elements and exactly how things are going to go, but before starting you should make sure you have a clear idea of the basic plot of the thing, all the way to the ending, but make sure that it's flexible enough to change if you need to as well. I find it's good to set some major milestones throughout and then it's a matter of getting to them. The overall point I'm making in this last paragraph is that a good story needs purpose and can't just be a bunch of stuff happening with no real direction because it can. Sure, it can be cool to think "I wonder what if would be like if this stuff happened?" but there still needs to be an answer to the simple questions of "why?": Why is this happening? Why are these characters doing what they are? Why, as a reader, should I care? etc.

Here Here!

[pacer90]

Aurora313 wrote...

Are we allowing links to this forum - for reviewing/critism - or are we just exchanging advice? I know it's kind of late in the game to ask, but it only occured to me now.

Best way to give advice is to know what you're actually critiquing. I assume you have a work that you'd like someone experienced to read, I'm sure there are lots of people here who are good at it. (I'm not the best for works of fiction, but I'm good at general writing structure)

[Sialater]

pacer90 wrote...

Aurora313 wrote...

Are we allowing links to this forum - for reviewing/critism - or are we just exchanging advice? I know it's kind of late in the game to ask, but it only occured to me now.

Best way to give advice is to know what you're actually critiquing. I assume you have a work that you'd like someone experienced to read, I'm sure there are lots of people here who are good at it. (I'm not the best for works of fiction, but I'm good at general writing structure)

In my sig, there's actually a link to a thread where you can post your fic.  The OP, Jane, adds your story to the first page.  But that's for advertising purposes. 

This might be a good place to recruit Betas, though.

[pacer90]

Sialater wrote...

pacer90 wrote...

Aurora313 wrote...

Are we allowing links to this forum - for reviewing/critism - or are we just exchanging advice? I know it's kind of late in the game to ask, but it only occured to me now.

Best way to give advice is to know what you're actually critiquing. I assume you have a work that you'd like someone experienced to read, I'm sure there are lots of people here who are good at it. (I'm not the best for works of fiction, but I'm good at general writing structure)

In my sig, there's actually a link to a thread where you can post your fic.  The OP, Jane, adds your story to the first page.  But that's for advertising purposes. 

This might be a good place to recruit Betas, though.

Great thread btw, i live there haha

[Gnostic85]

One tip I can offer for any aspiring fanfic writers is this: Even Shepard has to stop to pee every now and then. Or, to put it more eloquently, not every moment in the story needs to be a pulse-pounding battle. Since I'm not a master of fight choreography, a lot of the time, I find myself writing mundane scenes - pillow talk, a businessman making the rounds of his company - boring crap like that. Actually, I find that sometimes, if you start out with the boring stuff, you can actually build up to more exciting things. I once had a story that started out with a married couple fighting over who was going to pick up the kids after school, and it exploded into a fight over various other things (which is about how at least 75% of all arguments start out - people, especially married couples, can fight incredibly mundane things to fight about.)

Also, shameless plug: For anyone who enjoys writing ME fanfics, please consider joining the community over at the Mass Effect Fanon Wiki (http://massfanon.wikia.com)! We've lost a lot of people in recent months, so we're desperate for new blood to keep the wiki alive.

Modifié par Gnostic85, 01 décembre 2010 - 04:15 .

[Aurora313]

I managed to tweek my main character's personality, backstory and appearance. A brief summary of his characteristics can be found in the following link. Feel free to comment, critic or abuse the brief as much as possible - it's the only way I'll learn.



http://warden-cheval...ierce-188892303

[Sir Ulrich Von Lichenstien]

Nice topic, I've been toying with the idea of starting a fan-fiction where I'll openly admit the basis of it is a melding of 2 things I love, Mass Effect obviously and the TV series NCIS.

I figured that even if the Alliance Navy might not have such an organisation within it, there could be a team that deals with similar situations possibly.

The story is focussed on a former Alliance Marine Infiltrator and his team dealing with the threat of a terrorist group getting their hands on some high-tech weaponry thanks to a rogue Cerberus Operative (story set before Cerberus were considered 'terrorists'). During the investigation after a bad incident the team has a Cerberus Operative assigned to them to help them track down this rogue agent and stop him at all costs before he and the terrorist group can set their plan in motion.

Yeah I know it's highly unoriginal but I just like putting spins on things, like I love watching the Mass Effect CSI vids/storyboards and just wanted to share it with some people.

And before anyone (who has an idea of the storyline am swiping) queries it, no I don't consider Cerberus to be the ME equivalent of that particular organisation and no Miranda isn't going to be the Cerberus Operative and they aren't going to be based on the 'show' equivalent either. Closest any of the characters is going to get to being like the show equivalent is the Leader but that's because I think the one thing Mass Effect is missing is a Leeroy Jethro Gibbs (tried making a Shep to look like him but he didn't turn out as good as I think my 'Jack' did )

Thoughts, critics, flames all welcome

[Skyline_Stanza]

Gnostic85 wrote...

One tip I can offer for any aspiring fanfic writers is this: Even Shepard has to stop to pee every now and then. Or, to put it more eloquently, not every moment in the story needs to be a pulse-pounding battle. Since I'm not a master of fight choreography, a lot of the time, I find myself writing mundane scenes - pillow talk, a businessman making the rounds of his company - boring crap like that. Actually, I find that sometimes, if you start out with the boring stuff, you can actually build up to more exciting things. I once had a story that started out with a married couple fighting over who was going to pick up the kids after school, and it exploded into a fight over various other things (which is about how at least 75% of all arguments start out - people, especially married couples, can fight incredibly mundane things to fight about.)

Also, shameless plug: For anyone who enjoys writing ME fanfics, please consider joining the community over at the Mass Effect Fanon Wiki (http://massfanon.wikia.com)! We've lost a lot of people in recent months, so we're desperate for new blood to keep the wiki alive.

I have to laugh at the choice of the words, but what Gnostic says is very, very true. I tend to take those kinds of scenes to heart. In fact, I'm actually horrible when it comes to fight scenes, I never know when to stop and move on or to elaborate. Ugh.

Overall themes that sort of tie the story together in little ways are a good thing to have as well. I'm so thankful for my beta to help me out with my own fic, which is still in the works. But my short fic that ties into that is up, if anyone wants to take a gander at it!

And what does a fanon wiki entail, exactly? I'm a bit...confused on that.

[catabuca]

Ah yes, mundanity: my story begins with Shepard staring at a blank wall in an elevator

*ahem* Anyway, wanted to say this thread is very helpful, I'm glad it exists.

I'm in the process of starting my first ME fanfic, in fact my first fanfic of anything. In fact, my first piece of fiction writing. Ever. So yeah.

To the poster who said something about 'the fandom doesn't need to see x, y or z' (I can't remember exactly what it was concerning), I'm writing this for myself. I don't know whether I'll ever share it with the community (although I'd like it to be good enough to). It'll be long, and I'm not the sort of person to release things in snippets before they're finished, mostly because I'll likely be moving scenes around as I write, working out what works best where and so on. And so, my first consideration isn't whether what I do with characters or scenes will please the fans, but whether I'll be proud of it. Everything else is secondary (that's not to say it wouldn't be great to hit both those goals, but one takes priority over the other. This is for me).

Further to that, I think there's room in fandom for fics that depart from canon (hence AU, AR, etc.), and as long as they are consistent in terms of narrative I don't see a problem. We're not writing for Bioware, there will be differences in how we all imagine the canon characters for example (Bioware give us a limited amount of information after all, so as to give us all something to relate to). The way I imagine Samara, for instance, may be totally at odds with how another person does, but as long as the story expresses consistency and a plausible reason for the character I don't see a problem with it departing from the basics we've been told in-game.

Part of the wonderfulness (is that even a word?) of fanfic, for me, is that it offers an opportunity to indulge in the fantasies (not necessarily smutty — get your minds out the gutter ) of the fans. This can be by more fully realising the characters as you saw them in your mind's eye; it can be by completing the story to your satisfaction, where you may have felt the game itself fell short; or simply just as a way to have a bit of outrageous, cracky fun. There is a small section of fandom available for each of us, so while it's really useful to give hints and tips on how to focus on building meaningful and realistic characters, of how to avoid common pitfalls, to provide encouragement and so on, I don't think it's useful to say 'don't do it this way'. If you write Garrus as a guy who puts on a dress to kills bunnies and laughs while he does it, well that might just fall completely outside of what the majority of people see as being Garrus-type behaviour. They may not be able to believe it. But if it's executed (the characterisation, not the bunny) in a competent way, and if it makes sense in the context of the story you're telling, I say bloody well go for it. If you enjoy writing it that's all that ultimately matters. If you want to show it to ME fans and others, then go ahead. There will probably be at least one person who raises a grin and likes what you've done.*

So yeah, my post went from "Wow, I'm so glad as a newb to this I have somewhere to go for advice" to "Here's my advice, as someone who is pretending they know what they're talking about".







* I'm reminded of (in fact, I've been unable to forget) a particular fanfic I read a couple of days ago that featured a cross-dressing, psychotic, bubblegum-popping man!Shep and a crew of the Normandy that were clearly on crack (and viagra). I've not had as much fun reading in a long time.

Break the rules.

Modifié par catabuca, 08 décembre 2010 - 07:38 .

[Gnostic85]

Skyline_Stanza wrote...
And what does a fanon wiki entail, exactly? I'm a bit...confused on that.

Ideally, a fanon wiki is a place where things from fanfics are treated as though they really do exist in canon. The "facts" in a fanon wiki article are checked against the canon, so you don't have things that contradict canon, like human veterans of the Rachni Wars, or a vorcha Shadow Broker, or Shepard's best friend, who happens to be a talking pie. Or at least, that is what I've always (perhaps naively) believed fanon wikis were for.