17177 réponses à ce sujet

[congealeddgtllvr]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

Sure, except I'm not sure to what extent yours is true because it depends on subjective judgment. Regardless of which side of this discussion you're on, though, if you take the rivalry path, it's because you don't think she can handle the demon.

No, it may mean you think there is a chance she can't handle it, and the potential rewards do not make the risk worth it.  

This may seem like a small distinction, but to me it's a big deal.  

Modifié par congealeddgtllvr, 28 mars 2011 - 04:24 .

[Emperor Iaius I]

TMA: She thinks it's worth it. By doing the rivalry path, you're saying that she--the person who knows all of Dalish history and has a "unique knowledge of Keeper Lore"--is a complete idiot because somebody who doesn't know jack about Dalish history thinks she's so completely wrong that she has to be stopped.

congealed: Yeah, but who is Hawke to judge the risks and the payout? How much does Hawke know about the eluvian? I'll tell you, since we're all Hawke: nothing.

ishmael posted. . .
Well, you're both saying the same thing, just from different PoVs. I can either say "I don't have faith in Merrill," or you can say "I want to keep Merrill safe." Both mean that you're not confident that Merrill can keep herself safe.

Conversely, you can say "I have faith in Merrill," or you can say "I don't care about Merrill's wellbeing." Both imply an unwillingness to intervene on her behalf.

The distinction is entirely one of motivation. After all, it's a roleplaying game

Ehhh. Maybe an unwillingness to be patronizing on her behalf, sure. The 'ol "we know what's good for you better than you do" routine.

Modifié par Emperor Iaius I, 28 mars 2011 - 04:28 .

[Malevolence65]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...
Regardless of which side of this discussion you're on, though, if you take the rivalry path, it's because you don't think she can handle the demon.

It's sort of like that for me. My Hawke just wanted her to be safe, and thought there was a possibility of her getting hurt/possessed/etc., so he didn't give her the Arulin'Holm.

[congealeddgtllvr]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

congealed: Yeah, but who is Hawke to judge the risks and the payout? How much does Hawke know about the eluvian? I'll tell you, since we're all Hawke: nothing.

I'm her friend, or her rival, I guess.  Our hawkes make lots of decisions that probably should be left to other people, though.  That's basically what the whole game is.  

[Emperor Iaius I]

Hi Viscount, I've spent my first year in your fair city stealing from people, but now I'm sort of a big deal after some successful splunking. Let me give you some advice on how to rule your city, how to be a good father, and heck, how to get the hot women to like you even though you're old and bald.

What? I have no experience in any of this? Shut up, unless you want to say hello to Serah Murder Knife.

Modifié par Emperor Iaius I, 28 mars 2011 - 04:39 .

[Quyk Sylvyr]

Actually, the reason I generally choose a rival path with Merrill is because she doesn't know what she's doing with demons. She disapproves of me destroying EVIL TOMES that showed another mage how to put demons in other people. If you take her into the fade for Feynriel, she is always the one who will betray Hawk with the pride demon. Then she admits she's getting a demon to "help" her fix the mirror. I asked Merrill what would happen if she turned into an abomination and overpowered Hawk during her Act III quest. Her response? "Oh that would never happen. . ." What is my Hawk to think? I actually think Flemeth said it best "No path is darker than when your eyes are shut." She seems willfully blind when it comes to demons.

[Emperor Iaius I]

She disapproves of you destroying books. I'm sure people thoroughout the centuries have called many scholarly works "evil tomes." Taronhe points out that she was trying to learn how to control demons and use them for useful things, rather than becoming an abomination.

It's also worth noting that everybody who can go with you into the Fade can betray you, except for the guy who's already an abomination.

[Malevolence65]

Why is there 10 times as much Anders/Hawke fanfiction as there is Merrill/Hawke fanfiction?

[Maria Caliban]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

Maria: Would the demon have possessed you if you lost?

Yes.

Doesn't a death in the Fade make you Tranquil? Ergo, those mages who fail the Harrowing are automatically Tranquil?

Granted, that doesn't match up with the fact that there are Templars at the Harrowing in case you get possessed, so. . .

If mages who failed the Harrowing were made Tranquil, there would be no need to perform the Rite of Tranquility on those who are too weak to pass.

If the PC kills Fedryal in the Fade, he'd become a Tranquil because the PC has cut off his connection to the Fade. If a demon does the same, he can possess Fedryal's body.

I think this is because the game uses the combat and the death mechanic to represent two different in-setting events. If it were a book, we might get more in depth descriptions of what happens, but as-is, it's whacking or blasting until HP = 0.

Malevolence65 wrote...

Why is there 10 times as much Anders/Hawke fanfiction as there is Merrill/Hawke fanfiction?

The majority of fanfiction writers are heterosexual women. There's always more fic featuring the male LIs than that featuring the female LIs.

Modifié par Maria Caliban, 28 mars 2011 - 04:59 .

[Malevolence65]

Maria Caliban wrote...
The majority of fanfiction writers are heterosexual women. There's always more fic featuring the male LIs than that featuring the female LIs.

Yeah, but 10 times the amount is ridiculous.

[Maria Caliban]

Malevolence65 wrote...

Maria Caliban wrote...
The majority of fanfiction writers are heterosexual women. There's always more fic featuring the male LIs than that featuring the female LIs.

Yeah, but 10 times the amount is ridiculous.

If you're on fanfic.net (99 Anders fic vs 5 Merrill fic), remember that Anders fiction started coming up in Awakenings. A better measurement might be Fenris fics of which there are... none?

My eyes might be broken.

[Emperor Iaius I]

Yeah. I mean, I write fanfiction, but it's never romance anyway. Politics is more interesting.

Maria - but there are other ways to fail aside from losing to the demon in combat, no?

[stormrain]

Really good discussion here guys. My brain enjoys the thoughtful nomnoms. Though there's not much I can add that hasn't already been said.

congealeddgtllvr wrote...

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

Sure, except I'm not sure to what extent yours is true because it depends on subjective judgment. Regardless of which side of this discussion you're on, though, if you take the rivalry path, it's because you don't think she can handle the demon.

No, it may mean you think there is a chance she can't handle it, and the potential rewards do not make the risk worth it.

This. My Hawke supported Merrill wanting to restore her people's history, but not if it meant her life. He also found that the risks of blood magic outweighed the benefits, due to dealing with so many crazy abominations and blood mages running around Kirkwall. That's just my RP perspective.

Malevolence65 wrote...

Why is there 10 times as much Anders/Hawke fanfiction as there is Merrill/Hawke fanfiction?

Quality over quantity? Also what Maria said.

Modifié par Captain Uccisore, 29 mars 2011 - 12:10 .

[Maria Caliban]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

Yeah. I mean, I write fanfiction, but it's never romance anyway. Politics is more interesting.

Maria - but there are other ways to fail aside from losing to the demon in combat, no?

Politics is as interesting as romance and romance is an interesting as politics. While I'm at it, I once read an absolutely fascinating comic on becoming a chief. I don't think subject matter dictates how interesting a story is.

Not sure I understand your question. Yes, you can be tricked by demons. I bet you could even lose at a riddling game or at chess.

Modifié par Maria Caliban, 28 mars 2011 - 05:30 .

[Emperor Iaius I]

Maria - Mm. Wasn't meant to be an objective denunciation. I meant that I find politics more interesting to write--or rather, I find myself more compelled to write when the matter is something political.

I'm asking whether we know for sure that losing to the demon in the Harrowing means possession, or if the templars and the Rite of Tranquility are simply there for other forms of possession.

Speaking of which, all this talk about Merrill and fanfiction has made me decide to scribble a half page just to see if I can even write her PoV or not. Can you people tell me if this is the worst thing in the world or not?

"Varric, do you know where one can find books?"

"Books? Daisy, what would you want with those? If you're trying to get used to life in the big city, you've gotta live it. You won't learn anything from a bunch of dried ink on a page."

Well, he had a bit of a point, Merrill had to admit. She'd read many books in her time as Marethari's First, mostly stories and histories on the various nations of Thedas. She yearned to know about the world around her, and there were no books written by elves. Still, all her reading about alienages and human cities hadn't prepared her for what the reality was like. So many people! The books never mentioned the people. Or the noise. . . Merrill remembered her first night in Kirkwall, and how she could hear people talking outside even in the darkness. It was so loud she had thought they were talking to her, and had started answering them before she realized that it was just some people discussing what food they'd found in the trash.

Trash! What a bizarre concept. Who ate more than they needed, and then tossed the rest aside as if it weren't still perfectly good to eat? If she'd ever had more food than she needed, she would just hand the rest to her clanmates.

"Hello? Kirkwall to Daisy?"

Oh! Varric had been talking this whole time, hadn't he? Her mind had wandered.


If it's awful, don't spare my feelings. Just tell me, so I don't waste time trying to write something I can't. But if it's decent, tell me that too.

[Paraxial]

Maria Caliban wrote...
The majority of fanfiction writers are heterosexual women. There's always more fic featuring the male LIs than that featuring the female LIs.

This is also true of Fanart at the moment.

[Malevolence65]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...
If it's awful, don't spare my feelings. Just tell me, so I don't waste time trying to write something I can't. But if it's decent, tell me that too.

I like it, good job. "For what the reality was like" sounded weird to me, though. Maybe it's just me.

[Emperor Iaius I]

Yeah, it's not at all polished. I just tossed it out to see if I could even get her persona or not.

[LobselVith8]

Losing to the demon seems to mean possession, based on what Alistair tells us about a failed Harrowing he was witness to. And Cullen does reference templars talking about killing mages with glee (and how he would have killed the Mage protagonist if he failed) so it doesn't seem to make mages tranquil if they fail.

Also, I liked the short story, Emperor Iaius. It makes sense Merrill would find Kirkwall so strange since human culture and the Alienage are radically different than the clan she's been raised in all her life.

[Meshakhad2]

I've thought about it, and Merrill is not just my favorite companion in Dragon Age 2.

She's my favorite BioWare companion, period. She beats out Liara, Tali, Mordin, Alistair, Leliana, HK-47, and Mission. Which is no small feat.

[Emperor Iaius I]

Agreed. Ms. Kirby wrote my favorite character in DA and my favorite character in DA2 (and indeed, any rpg). Fantastic work on her part.

[Maria Caliban]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

Speaking of which, all this talk about Merrill and fanfiction has made me decide to scribble a half page just to see if I can even write her PoV or not. Can you people tell me if this is the worst thing in the world or not?

It's not the worst thing in the world.

Judging it purely on whether you have her voice, I'd say it's bit off. (Though better than my own attempts) Her asking Varric a question and her mind wandering while he answers it fits the character though. As is her searching for books.

It's interesting that you describe her as being unused to the noises of the city while she's sleeping. The other day, I wrote about her being unused to the quiet.

Instinct and habit woke Merrill in the cool moist of pre-dawn. She shivered under her blankets. Like the aravel, it was dark in the shack Merrill had moved into but the sounds were all wrong. No soft creaking of wood as the wind blew. No Keeper snoring next to her. No gentle snorts and calls as the halla roused themselves.

The clan had been a single organism, each dawn its pulse quickened as it woke. Now Merrill was cast out and she felt the loss of the others as a maimed hunter might feel a lost limb. A deep, palpable absence.

No, not cast out, Merrill told herself as she kicked off the pile of woolen blankets. It was her decision.

Modifié par Maria Caliban, 28 mars 2011 - 07:26 .

[Emperor Iaius I]

Hah! I like it. It seems we both had the same ideas: the little details about how life was different. You focused on what she missed, I focused on what was new.

Her voice is difficult for me, but it's a fascinating challenge. I'm not sure if I'm up to it yet, or if it might take a few more playthroughs to be fully comfortable with her and all the nuances of Kirkwall. I feel that after a dozen or so playthroughs of Origins, I could probably write it without opening up the game but I'm nowhere near that in DA2 yet.

I just feel obligated to write her well because I'm concerned about how poorly people seem to take her. But if you--or people like you--are writing her, then it's a less pressing need. I still want to do it at some point though.

We'll see. She's fun but deserves a lot of attention. I don't think she can be given justice on a whim, which might be what I'd do if I wasn't fully into it. Maybe I'll wait for the replay I do after the big patch comes out? I'll probably be more inspired at that point.

[DalishRanger]

@Emperor: I think it's a pretty good short, and for the most part, it feels like Merrill to me. I pretty much agree with Maria's assessment.

As for my own fan creations... Oi, these comic pages are taking forever. I only just finished inking the first (out of four pages). And I still need to do the background/some light shading. Eh. Here's how the page looks so far:



Goateed mage is my second Hawke, Kenley. He friendmanced Merrill, though this takes place before Act 2 begins. Sorry there's only a small cameo of Merrill so far. She's featured most in the last two pages.

I might do a quick fan art doodle or painting in the afternoon. I think I need a break from this comic before I go further.

[Emperor Iaius I]

ahahahaha Fenris's angry face. I love it.