973 réponses à ce sujet

[BevH]

I don't really think "serah" is meant as an insult. I think it's probably equal to "sir".

[Corker]

No, in DA2, it's definitely not an insult. It just sounds exactly like a real-life old-timey insult, which is a little confusing.

[BrennaCeDria]

I took both forms of address to be respectful if used properly, or insulting if used sarcastically. I think it's actually very similar to Japanese forms where certain words and suffixes are used when speaking to your "betters" versus your equals.

[BevH]

Anything can be made to sound as an insult depending on the inflection given it. That's why it's difficult to convey emotion in the written word. Well, maybe not difficult as much as conveying the emotion intended by the writer.

[thesnowtigress]

Corker wrote...

thesnowtigress wrote...
That would make an interesting story to flesh out.

Why, yes.  Yes, it would. 

That was great!

[tklivory]

thesnowtigress wrote...

A quick question: Do chevaliers have a title, (for example, Ser Laflamme)?

I cannot remember this from the books or Mark of the Assassin, if this was mentioned there. Or if Aveline ever mentioned it.

While this subject is out there, what is the difference between serah and messere (not sure if I am spelling them right, so sorry if I'm not)?

A bit late to reply, but I found this posted about 'ser and serrah' by David Gaider here:

"Both are gender-neutral forms of address used in the Free Marches.

"Serrah" is common usage, something you'd call an equal (or someone of lesser status). "Messere" is a term of respect."

[BrennaCeDria]

Love Holly Lisle's article. It sounds like so much common sense, but then when is sense common? Actually going through with the exercise she mentions, though... that's a bit uncomfortable. I get that it's supposed to be, and that it will (should) help in the long run with creating characters overall, but some people put those thoughts away for a reason.

[Corker]

thesnowtigress wrote...

Corker wrote...

thesnowtigress wrote...
That would make an interesting story to flesh out.

Why, yes.  Yes, it would. 

That was great!

Thank you! 

[Klidi]

So quiet here... what would you say about a new challenge? Write a little story about character having a secret:
- two characters share a secret but it’s not what everyone thinks it is; or
- there’s a secret and everyone knows about it except one particular character and it happens to affect that character the most; or
- a character thinks he/she has a very private secret, but actually, most of the people close to her know about it.

Or write all three!

(Why do I immediately see Alistair's embarrassed face? xD)

[BrennaCeDria]

Klidi wrote...

So quiet here... what would you say about a new challenge? Write a little story about character having a secret:
- two characters share a secret but it’s not what everyone thinks it is; or
- there’s a secret and everyone knows about it except one particular character and it happens to affect that character the most; or
- a character thinks he/she has a very private secret, but actually, most of the people close to her know about it.

Or write all three!

(Why do I immediately see Alistair's embarrassed face? xD)

Or something with Merrill. *laughs* I'd love to, but I was supposed to finish WD by today originally, and I still have about 10 chapters to go, so I'm more or less chained to that until then. 

[thesnowtigress]

Okay, so maybe people are too busy to write a challenge piece? Me, personally, I'm not busy at the moment (well, I shouldn't be here lol) but I am horrible at prompts. It takes me too long to think of an idea, a good idea anyway. I think way too much before I actually write. I was always horrible at discussion groups in university. "How did that guy think of that bullcrap answer so fast?" lol.

While everyone is responding to Klidi's challenge, how about I ask a question? In the realm of fan fiction, what type of story do you prefer to write, as in do you prefer sticking to the original game plot, fleshing out things that are skinny to begin with, or alternate universe type? Why?

For me, I tried both and found that my imagination got in the way of sticking to the original game plots. It ran away from me constantly. And I love to create original characters so I tend to prefer writing alternate universe type stories. Plus, I get lazy with the original plots because I think, "well, everyone already knows what happens here, I don't need to go into great description", lol.

[Sialater]

I have both. I have two original plots with the PCs and their teams and one "novelization." Well, make that two, but my DA2 story is more of a sequel to the first DA:O story.

[thesnowtigress]

^"novelization" - I knew there was a better way of saying "original game plot".

Let's see, I wrote one "novelization" (though I hardly think 20 whatever thousand words is a novel) of Awakening and one "novelization" of Witch Hunt (which was actually 50 whatever thousand words - strange for it to be longer than my Awakening story, but I had a story within a story thing going on there). The rest are original plots and I haven't yet delved into Dragon Age 2 (well, Hawke pops up in one story and Isabela, too, but they don't have big roles).

I find Dragon Age 2 would be too much organizing to get something going, for me anyway. Too much going on over too long a time. I'm sure people novelizing that game have made multiple "books" for each Act. That's the only way I see it happening. I salute those writing Dragon Age 2 novelizations for it must be really time consuming.

I never covered the Blight, because, well, I'm lazy. My PCs just have memories of those times. Besides, it's been done over and over again by better writers than me - like the BioWare team for one lol. (And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with "novelization" in case that's what people are getting from my rambles. I've read some good ones, I just don't personally go for writing them anymore.) Anyway, I droned on enough now. Time to get back to work.

[Corker]

Write ALL the stories!

I have a series of extended lore shorts, fairy tales, in-world poetry and such, and could easily see turning the Adventures of the Black Fox into a long work. I have my Blight fic fotonovela metahumor dialogue thingie, and an ongoing erotica series that's about love, lust and loss during in-game events in Kirkwall. I have two novella-length AUs set in a Thedas where Arlathan never fell, and an in-progress one that's a mashup with Arthurian Britain. And I have one completed and one in-progress novella that follows a Warden and the Witch Hunt Gang in new adventures after the end of DAO, and is going to take them into an AU ending for DA2.

[maxernst]

thesnowtigress wrote...

While everyone is responding to Klidi's challenge, how about I ask a question? In the realm of fan fiction, what type of story do you prefer to write, as in do you prefer sticking to the original game plot, fleshing out things that are skinny to begin with, or alternate universe type? Why?

 

I like to write mostly stuff that happens before, after or outside the main plot.  I covered the plot of Origins as Aedan retelling the story five years later while other stuff was going on, so my actual blight story is only about 20,000 words.  If I write anything about DA2, it will be Thrask's story, which intersects Hawke's but is largely separate from it.

[Corker]

maxernst wrote...

If I write anything about DA2, it will be Thrask's story, which intersects Hawke's but is largely separate from it.

That would be awesome.

I also sort of wish someone would write a domestic drama about Janssen (the lead miner at the Bone Pit).  Honest to goodness, his off-screen [redacted for spoiler] hit me way, way harder than All That Remains.

[Sialater]

Well, the DA2 thing is more what did Varric gloss over? And how much did Hawke REALLY know about Anders' activities. But, I want to tackle a theme I've been mulling for awhile and fic seems to be where I get my experimenting done so I can solidify it in more involved works. For instance, in my ME2 "novelization," I'm dealing with "How, exactly, do two best friends get out of their own way and fall in love?" For the original plot ME2 thing (A Paragon of Virtue), "how do you regain trust once it's lost?"

The DA2 thing will center around the theme of, "how can you stay in love when the other person doesn't put you first?"

[BrennaCeDria]

thesnowtigress wrote...

While everyone is responding to Klidi's challenge, how about I ask a question? In the realm of fan fiction, what type of story do you prefer to write, as in do you prefer sticking to the original game plot, fleshing out things that are skinny to begin with, or alternate universe type? Why?

For me, I tried both and found that my imagination got in the way of sticking to the original game plots. It ran away from me constantly. And I love to create original characters so I tend to prefer writing alternate universe type stories. Plus, I get lazy with the original plots because I think, "well, everyone already knows what happens here, I don't need to go into great description", lol.

My main fic is a novelization of Origins, and I just use a bullet point list of Elissa's actions at each stage as my outline. Just because you know what happens thanks to the game, you don't always get all the details in-game for how or why, so I expand on those often. In some areas I stick to the original down to dialoge, if the dialoge is that good. In others, I deviate entirely--like neither killing Cauthrien nor going through the Fort Drakon imprisonment scene. Most of the time I split between the two or focus on scenes between what happens actually on-screen in the games.

The next major fic I'm considering is going to be a little more AU, and will be more connected one-shots than a single, cohesive narrative. I've thought of some awesome AU possibilities for Vrania, my OC from the Asunder contest that I'm going to have a lot of fun with, assuming I can keep contradictions from popping up.

[The Sarendoctrinator]

I've never written any fanfiction, but I have planned out a few in my mind, so I guess I'll add my option to the group. My imaginary fanfic basically follows the path of the game (a little bit before, during, in between sequels, and after) with some major differences - all/most of my Shepards are present. There are also some pretty radical changes to certain plot events, which is to be expected with my Sheps turning the Normandy into their own personal crazy train, so it wouldn't be exactly like a re-telling of the game's story. More like a re-imagined version.

[Klidi]

My main story, Failed to Fail, with male Surana, began as a novelization of Origins, from Zev's POV. As I continued, I realized there were many things that are ok in the game, but in the story they don't make much sense. So I added a lot of AU things. The biggest change was the schedule of gathering of the army. And there is also an OC, and several others will be introduced shortly.

Recently I started another story - the one that is concrited (is that even a word?) this week, Ignis Internu, with fem Cousland, that will also roughly follow the game, but even now, with only two tiny chapters complete, it's already completely different than Failed to Fail.

[Merilsell]

Klidi wrote...

She uses extreme examples, yes, but that doesn't make her point less valid. Everyone had some bad experiences, or have things he doesn't want others to know. They may not be as dramatic as what she mentions, but they are there.

For example, I think all of us know what it feels like if someone cheats on you - maybe not a partner, but a friend in school, or family or a colleague - that lied to us or did something that hurt. Maybe it's something that seems trivial NOW, but back then when it happened, it wasn't. And we all know how it feels, the disappointment, feeling of betrayal, etc.

So when writing a character - e.g. Alistair at the Landsmeet when Warden spares Loghain - we cab make Alistair more realistic by transforming the similar experience we had into his own. The more concrete little details we can smuggle into it, the more 'real' Alistair will be. But for that, we need to be aware of those details - and there's when Lisle's advice may be useful.

That's how I understood her advice, and I can confirm it works.

Indeed. Especially the bolded part.

Actually I can't NOT put myself into *my* character's skin, since this is my way of getting the right feel for him/her. I draw a lot of RL-experience into writing emotions and situations and when I'm unable to do so because I haven't been through the same, I imagine how I would feel in this situation and adjust it then for the character. This is not a self-insert, but simply using what you know and make it fitting to the personality of the character. It sounds complicated, but it is actually quite easy.

For example: I write Lenya/Alistair as a new couple now, hence I draw from RL experience how it is to be freshly in love. For the first time ever, no less. So basically, I act these scenes out in my head (sounds crazier as it really is, I swear *lol*) and put myself into my characters shoes, before starting to write it. These are the little things I understand the author of this article means to do and it really helps to flesh a character more out. At least for me *nods*

[Corker]

I don't disagree that it's a good idea to reference your own strong emotions as potential material. (Although there's potential pitfalls there, if you assume your own experiences are universal.)

I do disagree with her method, that says that if you're not laboring under a burden of shame and guilt, of harboring secrets and memories that are painful to admit to yourself, then you have nothing worth writing about.

(And for what it's worth... no, I can't say I've ever felt betrayed. I was, once, but didn't understand it at the time, and when I realized it, I couldn't say that much damage had been done.)

[Merilsell]

Yeah, I understand that. I don't feel the need to do such odd exercises, either. I don't need to strip my soul bare in order to be capable to write a believable character or to flesh him/her out more. For me it is enough when I'm putting myself into the character's head and draw from RL experiences when needed. Which means in a particular situation like betrayal or being in love. For myself her process of doing it is way too complicated and redundant, somehow. *shrugs*

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

I seem to be doing ok just making stuff up and doing a little empathic research on issues I haven't experienced personally...

Looking at the exercise I can only agree with others about having a boring life.

[maxernst]

Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, but I've been known to flagrantly steal for circumstances that I had no personal experience that could really prepare me to write. I wrote a story once involving a teenage boy prostituting himself washing himself in the river afterward, and the idea was stolen from the character of Franny in the Hotel New Hampshire (John Irving) who washes herself obsessively after being raped. A friend who was reading the story first wrote "Would someone really wash himself in an urban waterway?" and then crossed it out and said: "Forget it, this just works."

It wouldn't surprise me if Irving's writing was based on somebody he knew, however (though not, I'm guessing, himself).

Modifié par maxernst, 02 mars 2012 - 04:36 .