9960 réponses à ce sujet

[lillitheris]

MidnightRaith wrote...

Slowly but surely getting through chapter 2. I think I'll finally have enough time to sit down and get it done now that I'm off for a few days after my tongue surgery.... This one went much better and I'm not as grouchy, so I don't think my irritation will trickle into my writing.

Yay for healing tongues! <3

[lillitheris]

Hadeedak wrote...

It's honestly Shepard who scares me most. Renegade or paragon, the game gives parameters and lines. That, and getting started. When I'm doing an article or a short story, the outlines are a bit different from fanfiction, and I have to confess, my familiarity with the community is almost nonexistent.

If you have the inclination, you could ‘practice’ writing Shepard. Take a good/iconic scene or two from the series and write it out. This way you can observe Shep in her natural habitat

Also, feel free to link to a piece you write/have written, someone here will surely be able to comment on your characterization.

(I have to stress, also, that I personally think Shepard is an essentially undefined character. Even if you do a retelling of the game, there’s a myriad of paths you can take, a mix of motivations and choices taken. The other characters are typically harder to get right, so if you feel comfortable with them, it’s mostly downhill from there.)

[lillitheris]

GenericEnemy wrote...

Just going to drop in here, I've got a question.

Anyone have any idea how turian names work? I'm trying to find some good ones. They seem Roman, so should I just look up Latin names?

You can do that. I think I’ve already mentioned my dislike of directly basing anything on individual Earth cultures — we have so many of them, why would they have one? — but you could also expand it a little for variety: don’t only pick romanesque names, pick names from different cultures at that time. So you could have some more classic Greek names, some Germanic, Gallic…

[MrStoob]

Did Latin in school, personal fave name from the texts we read:
Caecilius

But they don't necessarily follow that '-ius' convention with names such as
Virgil
Cicero
Ovid

If stuck, have a search on Latin/Roman poets, they have some great names.

Catullus was a saucy poet.  In one we did at school, he is describing having dinner with a young lady, and the last lines translate as:

"And now I feel a second hunger poke,
Through my tunic, and my cloak."

Modifié par MrStoob, 07 juin 2012 - 11:41 .

[dpMeggers]

lillitheris wrote...

GenericEnemy wrote...

Just going to drop in here, I've got a question.

Anyone have any idea how turian names work? I'm trying to find some good ones. They seem Roman, so should I just look up Latin names?

You can do that. I think I’ve already mentioned my dislike of directly basing anything on individual Earth cultures — we have so many of them, why would they have one? — but you could also expand it a little for variety: don’t only pick romanesque names, pick names from different cultures at that time. So you could have some more classic Greek names, some Germanic, Gallic…

I'm going to agree with this for two reasons:
1) The turian mechanic from Noveria was named Lilihierax, which seems more Celtic/Gaulic than Latin (see: Ambiorix and Vercingetorix, both Gallic Chieftains from the time of Julius Ceasar)
2) Turians still wear facial markings from their home colonies. Colonies which had once engaged in civil war, indicating that they were sufficiently different that they felt the need to isolate themselves.While they are now unified, it would make sense for them to maintain colonial names as well as facial markings.(source)

[MrStoob]

dpMeggers wrote...

lillitheris wrote...

GenericEnemy wrote...

Just going to drop in here, I've got a question.

Anyone have any idea how turian names work? I'm trying to find some good ones. They seem Roman, so should I just look up Latin names?

You can do that. I think I’ve already mentioned my dislike of directly basing anything on individual Earth cultures — we have so many of them, why would they have one? — but you could also expand it a little for variety: don’t only pick romanesque names, pick names from different cultures at that time. So you could have some more classic Greek names, some Germanic, Gallic…

I'm going to agree with this for two reasons:
1) The turian mechanic from Noveria was named Lilihierax, which seems more Celtic/Gaulic than Latin (see: Ambiorix and Vercingetorix, both Gallic Chieftains from the time of Julius Ceasar)
2) Turians still wear facial markings from their home colonies. Colonies which had once engaged in civil war, indicating that they were sufficiently different that they felt the need to isolate themselves.While they are now unified, it would make sense for them to maintain colonial names as well as facial markings.(source)

Yay, a chance to use 'Asterix' as source material?  :happy:

[lillitheris]

^ For our American friends. I’ve only really seen Asterix on this side of the ocean. Dunno about Asia/Oceania either.

[MrStoob]

 Well, I was being a bit 'tongue-in-cheek', not sure Dominatrix or Getafix would really work for ME stories.


But  Asterix.

[survivor_686]

Ursakar wrote...

survivor_686 wrote...

Just trying to wrap my head around the organization of the System's Alliance military ranks and command structure. Noticed that some ranks are new and some are from real world militaries. Wonder if anyone could help with these questions:

1. Who is the commanding officer of a company?
2. Who is the commanding officer of a platoon?
3. Are companies named or numbered?
4. Are platoon named or numbered?

Any help would be appreciated

Things may vary depending on the country

1. The CO of the company is Captain/Major
2. The CO of the platoon is a 2nd Leitenant/1st Lieutenant
3. Companies usually have letters like A, B, C or Z. If you use the NATO phonetic alphabet then it's Alpha, Bravo, Charlie or Zulu company respectively.
4. Platoons are usually numbered and tied to their companies. E.g. Charlie company 2nd platoon.

Thank you

[survivor_686]

dpMeggers wrote...

survivor_686 wrote...

Just trying to wrap my head around the organization of the System's Alliance military ranks and command structure. Noticed that some ranks are new and some are from real world militaries. Wonder if anyone could help with these questions:

1. Who is the commanding officer of a company?
2. Who is the commanding officer of a platoon?
3. Are companies named or numbered?
4. Are platoon named or numbered?

Any help would be appreciated

Edit: Should specify that this is information from in-universe.

Regarding questions one and two:
Provided he survived Virmire, Kaidan Alenko is promoted to Major before ME3 and he leads 1st Special Operations Biotic Company {source), so I would guess that a Major leads a company.

Regarding questions three and four:
From what I can pull from the Mass Effect Wiki here, division, brigade and regiment are numbered. And from the article on war assets here we have a unit (of unspecified size) of engineers referred to as Team Zeta. From the wording I would guess that the team is somewhere between a squad and a platoon in size, but that's just speculation on my part. So far as I recall, there is no evidence of named companies or platoons in the games or novels. But no-one really talks about ground troops because you spent so much time on board a ship.

Hope it helps.

Thank you, much appreciated

[Sialater]

dpMeggers wrote...

lillitheris wrote...

GenericEnemy wrote...

Just going to drop in here, I've got a question.

Anyone have any idea how turian names work? I'm trying to find some good ones. They seem Roman, so should I just look up Latin names?

You can do that. I think I’ve already mentioned my dislike of directly basing anything on individual Earth cultures — we have so many of them, why would they have one? — but you could also expand it a little for variety: don’t only pick romanesque names, pick names from different cultures at that time. So you could have some more classic Greek names, some Germanic, Gallic…

I'm going to agree with this for two reasons:
1) The turian mechanic from Noveria was named Lilihierax, which seems more Celtic/Gaulic than Latin (see: Ambiorix and Vercingetorix, both Gallic Chieftains from the time of Julius Ceasar)
2) Turians still wear facial markings from their home colonies. Colonies which had once engaged in civil war, indicating that they were sufficiently different that they felt the need to isolate themselves.While they are now unified, it would make sense for them to maintain colonial names as well as facial markings.(source)

Thought those were Romanicized Gallic names.  Not that it matters for our purposes.  Giving a turian the clan name of Vercingetorix would be awesome.

Modifié par Sialater, 07 juin 2012 - 02:05 .

[Sialater]

As far as starting to write fanfiction, well.... I started with a nightmare about Alistair's trip to see the Wardens in Weisshaupt at the end of DA:O. (Oddly, he looked like my husband in this dream and not himself.) And I'd learned the hard way, that denying my muse any outlet whatsoever, tended to dry up that muse.

So, The Rescue was born. I dreamt a what-if question and had to answer it in fic. The same with my ME Fic, A Paragon of Virtue. Loved was just one Shepard's need to tell the story of why she bothered to deal with Cerberus and why she moved on from Kaidan to Garrus. My DA2 fic is my Hawke's need to tell her side of the story because Varric left out a few important parts.

So... first, figure out what story you want to tell. Then get the characterization down. After all, you know these people. You've spent hundreds of hours with them. But, if you don't have something you want them to do, well... a character study is all well and good, but less interesting than a new adventure.

[IliyaMoroumetz]

lillitheris wrote...

^ For our American friends. I’ve only really seen Asterix on this side of the ocean. Dunno about Asia/Oceania either.

Hey now, not all of us ugly americans are ignorant of the exploits of Asterix and Obelix.  

[Sialater]

IliyaMoroumetz wrote...

lillitheris wrote...

^ For our American friends. I’ve only really seen Asterix on this side of the ocean. Dunno about Asia/Oceania either.

Hey now, not all of us ugly americans are ignorant of the exploits of Asterix and Obelix.  

True.  I had to read them in French class.

[IliyaMoroumetz]

A few of their movies were on the Disney Channel back in the 80s. I didn't get the whole story, but found them entertaining.

[PMC65]

Sialater wrote...

IliyaMoroumetz wrote...

lillitheris wrote...

^ For our American friends. I’ve only really seen Asterix on this side of the ocean. Dunno about Asia/Oceania either.

Hey now, not all of us ugly americans are ignorant of the exploits of Asterix and Obelix.  

True.  I had to read them in French class.

And I was introduced to them through French Cinema (Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre) and fell in love with the characters ... or maybe it was the cast of the film. 

As to paragon/renegade ... I don't even think about those when I write. Those are just game mechanics to me that if used in fan fics put Shepards in either round or square holes. Let Shepard make decisions based off the moment, based on what they would do and not ... is my Shepard blue or red? But that is just a pet peeve of mine.
 
I tend to avoid stories with paragon, renegade, renegoon, parapoo, whatever in the summary. I know, shame on me.

[IliyaMoroumetz]

PMC65 wrote...

And I was introduced to them through French Cinema (Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre) and fell in love with the characters ... or maybe it was the cast of the film. 

As to paragon/renegade ... I don't even think about those when I write. Those are just game mechanics to me that if used in fan fics put Shepards in either round or square holes. Let Shepard make decisions based off the moment, based on what they would do and not ... is my Shepard blue or red? But that is just a pet peeve of mine.
 
I tend to avoid stories with paragon, renegade, renegoon, parapoo, whatever in the summary. I know, shame on me.

I think PMC has it right.

People get too mired in the whole Paragon/Renegade dynamic to realize that people do what they do, regardless of whether they're either one.

Sure, PMC's E.W. and my Nora do different things, but not because they're Paragon/Renegade, but because they had different experiences that shape whom they are.

Even if Eli and Nora were to do the same thing, they'd do it because of their own personal reasons.

[lillitheris]

IliyaMoroumetz wrote...

lillitheris wrote...

^ For our American friends. I’ve only really seen Asterix on this side of the ocean. Dunno about Asia/Oceania either.

Hey now, not all of us ugly americans are ignorant of the exploits of Asterix and Obelix.

I only saw them over here Although I had read some Lucky Lukes.

[lillitheris]

lillitheris wrote...

Unf, I have a line that is just…so on the nose it’s almost groan-territory. I swear, I didn’t actually plan the whole convergence of events just to use the line, it just happened. It works beautifully, but I’m concerned that it might seem too deliberate and thereby cheapen the actual events themselves.

With fluffywalrus kindly checking over the dialogue, I left it intact and (finally) got out chapter 18, yay!

[MrStoob]

On the renegade/paragon thing.

I'd call my fictional shep a paragon, because that's who she is. She will try to do the right thing at all times, while not shooting people in the face just because it suits on that situation. Might sound a bit 'mary-sue' but being bad ass as a means to an end seems wrong to me. To the point of calculated and psychotic.

"I don't mind shooting this guy in the face if it will get me what I want." Very wrong IMHO.

[Icyflare]

MrStoob wrote...

On the renegade/paragon thing.

I'd call my fictional shep a paragon, because that's who she is. She will try to do the right thing at all times, while not shooting people in the face just because it suits on that situation. Might sound a bit 'mary-sue' but being bad ass as a means to an end seems wrong to me. To the point of calculated and psychotic.

"I don't mind shooting this guy in the face if it will get me what I want." Very wrong IMHO.

I'm sure this has been brought up already, but I dislike how ME3 doled out renegade options. Renegade really should be about defying laws and authority that you don't feel are just to the situation rather than being unpredicatably cruel. Hell, I'm scared to pick the renegade options half the time in case Shepard does something pointlessly evil.

I wouldn't even worry about the renegade/paragon thing when you're writing your character. It'd just disrupt the flow of organically developing his/her personality.

[lillitheris]

^ Throughout the series, ‘Renegade’ stands for either expeditious, ass—, or outright mean/evil. If you know which options to pick, it seems that you can maybe get about 65% renegade options and still come out as a non-douche (or worse).

So, yeah, it’s kind of pointless to try to use the game’s axis.

Eevy doesn’t fit cleanly there (just like most)…she’s a little hard to approach but loyal to her crew, and outright fierce about and much more open with her friends; she respects the chain of command, but still has a very low tolerance for BS; she typically tries to do ‘the right thing’ both in the short and the long term; she’s pretty altruistic on the large scale, but not necessarily nice to individuals.

[Aimi]

dpMeggers wrote...

1) The turian mechanic from Noveria was named Lilihierax, which seems more Celtic/Gaulic than Latin (see: Ambiorix and Vercingetorix, both Gallic Chieftains from the time of Julius Ceasar)

Hierax is actually a classical Greek name. There's a Spartan admiral who had it, and there was Antiochos Hierax of Seleukid fame, and a few Alexandreian philosophers. Means "hawk", which is fairly appropriate for metal-encased bird-dinosaurs.

The -rix suffix for some Gallic references - it's not totally clear if "Ambiorix" or "Vercingetorix" were titles or personal names, but I tend to think that they were titles, not that I'm an expert - has different linguistic provenance. Most Gallic personal names don't sound much anything like turian ones, especially if one doesn't use Romanized versions; the Gaulish languages were Celtic ones, after all.

It seems that turian naming tends to be either explicitly Roman or Greek, or just Roman- or Greek-sounding. General Corinthus, for instance, is rather blatantly named after the Roman word for what was once a major port city in southern Greece. "Vakarian" could either be Armenian-sounding (makes me think of "Mamikonian", an old Armenian noble family) or could sound like a common English abbreviation of Roman names (e.g. Domitianus becomes "Domitian", Maximianus becomes "Maximian", Diocletianus becomes "Diocletian").

Since I have both no imagination and a reasonably good knowledge of classical history, I tend to lift fictional names wholesale out of semi-obscure history. For instance: "Livia" is a fairly well-known female name from Roman history as, among others, the third wife of the first Emperor. "Alypia", daughter of Emperor Anthemius (r. 467-472) and wife of the power-broker Ricimerus, is considerably less well-known.

But really, so long as you've got a well-placed xs and perhaps a name ending in -us, you'll probably be fine.

[gearseffect]

comes back in finding myself lost amidst the current flow and direction of the conversation. So I shall sit back and watch for now

[MrStoob]

I agree that mention of paragon and renegade would be best not included in the fiction text itself, as it's too much of a game mechanic. But as a moral driver, I don't see an issue with including it your leader along with other background elements such as sole-survivor or colonist.

A good example, I think, is in Mordin's loyalty mission. The krogan is banging on in his long winded speech. He tells Shepard to just leave. No violence at this point. So shooting the gas pipes before diplomacy has played out would be wrong. Of course, we know eventually it ends in violence, but we don't know that before it happens. That they MIGHT attack is not good enough a reason for me anyway. So in this case, Shep will not attack first by shooting the gas pipe.

Now, if anyone has read my young Shep story, you might think: but that's not how Verity acts. Well, this is her development, she's still young. She starts her young adult life angry and uncontrolled, but through hard work and support, she begins to see that violence and unchecked morality is not the way to go.

The ability to turn on and off your morality/empathy like a switch is one of the signs of a psychopath.

So, in my rambling style... my fic Shep IS (or is becoming) a paragon (...of virtue).

Edit: apart from when she shot Shalia... well no-one's perfect ha!  Hindsight's a wonderful thing eh?

Modifié par MrStoob, 08 juin 2012 - 09:32 .