9960 réponses à ce sujet

[MrStoob]

Personally, I like to let the dialogue express the character's demeanour as much as I can.  Though when it's just a reaction, my chars probably stand defensively and cross their arms a lot.    I am a great user of 'oh', 'oh...', 'hm', 'hmm', etc. to this end.  But generally, once a conversation/discussion has begun, I use very little narrative or description.  Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing...

 

Edit:

Ah.  Postus Topius.

 

I posted this one the other day on AO3.  Something a little different; re-worked lyrics.  I did 'It isn't easy being green' but changed it to 'blue', as though from Liara's perspective.  If you know the tune, you should be able to work out how it fits.  If not:

 

And my version, which I quite liked:

 

It's not easy being blue
Having to spend each day this particular hue
When I think it could be easier being black or brown or white
Or something much less colourful

Like that.

 

It's not that easy being blue
It seems you stand out like some extraordinary thing
And other races tend to stop and stare 'cause you're
Standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky.

 

But blue's the colour of winter
And blue can be cold and serious-like
And blue can be small like a raindrop
Or lowly like a berry
Or blue can just be.

 

When blue is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why
But why wonder, why wonder?
I'm blue and it'll do fine
It's beautiful!

And I think it's what I want to be!

[Seracen]

 

Maybe. *ponders* although I can't actually recall many excessive nods in any of the anime I watch. I'm actually struggling a little in my writing with the showing, not telling. I'm always keeping it in my mind, but I have a hard time describing an expression of disbelief, or skepticism, without just saying "she crossed her arms and regarded him skeptically" or the like. it's been a real struggle. even with my sister's help so that I have a visual reference from which to work, some expressions are just hard to translate into descriptive words.

 

 

I like: "she crossed her arm, arching an eyebrow, 'oh really?'"  and the like to portray snark or disbelief.

 

As for the other thing, exaggerated "emotes" are very part of anime characterization.  I can't say as it has influenced my writing to any great degree (unless I was specifically writing a story based off an anime).  However, that's only inasmuch as ANYTHING can affect one's writing, given enough exposure.

[Seracen]

Personally, I like to let the dialogue express the character's demeanour as much as I can.  Though when it's just a reaction, my chars probably stand defensively and cross their arms a lot.    I am a great user of 'oh', 'oh...', 'hm', 'hmm', etc. to this end.  But generally, once a conversation/discussion has begun, I use very little narrative or description.  Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing...

 

I do this often as well.  I try to mix it up though, but it can be just a valid tool as anything else in the writer's arsenal.

[YurigirlzCrush]

I tend to like description when I read, so I find myself including it when I write too. not that every line of dialogue needs some narration to go with it or anything. several back and forth lines with no narration is fine, and even preferable at times since sometimes the dialogue needs to be the sole star of a portion of a scene, but I couldn't do an entire conversation that way. maybe it's because I'm a very animated talker and so are all my sisters (we get that from my mom and my aunt), but when there's like seven or eight unbroken back and forth lines of dialogue in something I read, I always find myself thinking... "and what are they doing? staring expressionlessly at each other?"

 

*ponders* I think I just need more practice at describing emotion is all. I really want to be able to paint a good picture with my words, and striking the right balance between description and moving things forward, and between showing and telling is proving tricky.

[Seracen]

Well, there's also something to be said about the chaos and cadence of speech itself.  In a room full of people, sometimes you CAN'T keep track of who is saying what.  As such, if you feel it is slowing down the exposition, there's really no NEED to explain if you don't feel like it.  On the other hand, if you are dealing with distinct manners of speech, those patterns can provide enough info, even in the way they are said, to convey emotion and context (sort of like what Stoob was talking about).  It's really just about styles.

 

Me personally, I don't write my stories in "screenplay script" format, but I've read more than a few authors who made it work for them, and that form is even MORE spartan than what I explained earlier!  Again, it's all about style, and what you FEEL works best for you.  That can even change from scene to scene.  There are plenty of chapters that I "rushed" through and others that I let linger, whether in terms of dialogue or description (all done in the pursuit of pacing).  Dunno if I would say it was the BEST way to approach those scenes, but it made me happy, and I feel it did the job well enough.

[MrStoob]

I do sometimes think my work is a little screenplay-like.  I have some chapts that are essentially walls of dialogue with only the occasional descriptive/narrative/exposition/etc paragraph dotted about.  I did find that when the reverse was true, it turned readers off.  I know some of them didn't read the wall of exposition "this is what's been going on in the 30 years since the fall of Earth", due to some of the 'WTF?' comments when a particular thing happened later.  After that, I toned the exposition stuff down a lot, snippets here and there rather than in your face.  I felt it was required in that circumstance though, as dropping the initial seeds as to why 'refuse' didn't result in the cycle completing or Shepard's death, I thought quite important.

 

But anyway, dialogue is what I like writing most, sometimes at the expense of the plot.  lol.  I like chapters of whimsy, and don't mind going off on a tangent nowhere near the main plot.  One of the good sides of being such a sporadic haphazard writer; can't go off plan if there is no plan. 

[Seracen]

I do sometimes think my work is a little screenplay-like.  I have some chapts that are essentially walls of dialogue with only the occasional descriptive/narrative/exposition/etc paragraph dotted about.  I did find that when the reverse was true, it turned readers off.  I know some of them didn't read the wall of exposition "this is what's been going on in the 30 years since the fall of Earth", due to some of the 'WTF?' comments when a particular thing happened later.  After that, I toned the exposition stuff down a lot, snippets here and there rather than in your face.  I felt it was required in that circumstance though, as dropping the initial seeds as to why 'refuse' didn't result in the cycle completing or Shepard's death, I thought quite important.

 

But anyway, dialogue is what I like writing most, sometimes at the expense of the plot.  lol.  I like chapters of whimsy, and don't mind going off on a tangent nowhere near the main plot.  One of the good sides of being such a sporadic haphazard writer; can't go off plan if there is no plan. 

 

Heh, well, if it's engaging, I see no reason not to write it.  I've written more than a few dialogue heavy chapters, as I've said before.  Heck, when one is divulging the secrets of a mystery, often the main character HAS to be holding dialogue with the rest of the cast.  I fully wrote out the "battle planning session" before the final fight in my story.  If you want to get technical, every Mass Effect game does the same thing, so there's really nothing wrong with it at all!

 

However, I agree with Stoob about being overly conscious of such things.  I am usually afraid of boring or confusing the readers with such walls of text.  In the past, I compensated for such scenes with mindless acts of violence (which, per a previous post, is a big no-no in my eyes...so I invariably tried to tie back somehow into the plot), and it led to useless scenes, needless bloat, and some really messy story-telling.

 

I realized that I was only writing for the sake of having those scenes in, regardless of utility or fun.  It doesn't matter that I shoehorned the scenes to fit, that I was SHOEHORNING at all was the problem.  While I often rush through the writing of scenes I don't particularly care for, at least they are planned, and generally serve a purpose in my story.  It's better for me to poke away at such scenes slowly, as opposed to writing random things for no reason.  One I learned to edit myself properly (including "killing my darlings"), the stories began to flow much better.

 

Moreover, I rarely do spontaneous writing anymore.  I tend to plan out even quick one-shots that just come to mind.  I recall having a lot of fun simply writing a story, and letting the characters dictate the flow.  I've mentioned it before, but I used to ascribe to the ideology of "knowing the world, inside-out, and letting the story write itself."  It was a ton of fun, as I often surprised myself as much as my readers.  Barring short stories, however, it is a very difficult way to write for me now (as I tend to favor large and complicated plots and reveals, and those don't work so well when writing "off the cuff").

[Obsidian Gryphon]

I've been pondering a question. Do space vehicles suffer damage in space? How long would the shell last? I'm not talking about from the effects of battle. Inevitably, there will be collisions with minute particles and all types of radiation but no doubt a space vehicle would last longer than a sea going vessel. But how long?

[Seracen]

I've been pondering a question. Do space vehicles suffer damage in space? How long would the shell last? I'm not talking about from the effects of battle. Inevitably, there will be collisions with minute particles and all types of radiation but no doubt a space vehicle would last longer than a sea going vessel. But how long?

 

I'd think it would depend on the usage and upkeep of the vehicle.  If you recall a conversation with Tali, the quarians are still using ships from back before the exodus from Rannoch (prior to the Morning War with the Geth)!

 

As for the chassis of the ships, again, it depends on wear.  I imagine that the shield generators on a ship protect it against particles and such, while floating in space anyway.  As such, the rusting and wear might occur primarily during planetfall and such, which could be offset with panel repairs and new (FUTURE!!!) paint.

 

Moreover, I would think that the engines wouldn't have quite the same issues that modern cars do...as they are mainly containment fields for the eezo cores.  Therefore, one might conclude a mass effect generator has less parts to upkeep, but that those parts are much more important.  I am sure other folks know more about this, especially the ones responsible for the wiki.

[YurigirlzCrush]

"How is the Normandy holding up, EDI?"

 

"The envelope of mass-free space generated when we travel at FTL speeds limits any microcollisions with ambient dust. However, some ablation does occur at subluminal speeds. The Normandy will require maintenance before the year is out."

 

"If we survive, I will totally spring for it..."

 

may not be word for word, but that was a miniconversation on the bridge with EDI during ME3, more or less... *smiles*

[Obsidian Gryphon]

Good insights, Saracen, YurigirlzCrush.

 

So basically, a space craft can be overhauled after a period of time, brushing up on any surface damage taken and the installation of upgrades. And it should be able to last a few hundred years. New ships are built, say a  military ship like a dreadnaught due to newer weapon and engine design which may not be entirely be suitable on an older ship. Or a bigger merchant freighter because of a bigger engine, cargo capacity or other working features.

 

The FTL envelope works when the ship is in FTL but I've to assume something else kicks in when the ship is stationary.  For all we know, they could have used some kind of special paint on the hull that protects it from minute particles.

 

Am I wrong to think the constant varied physics exerted out in space from planetary bodies, etc also has an effect?

 

This point came up when I was reading a comment on starships and I realised I had put in the decommission of older turian warships in my fanfic and wonder if I had made a boo boo.

[Seracen]

Nice quote Yuri!

 

As for physics and gravitational forces, I imagine the brunt of such things would be felt during planetfall and takeoff, as simply floating through space shouldn't exert any inordinate amount of force (especially considering the ship's barriers would repel potential debris).  Even in the case of FTL, the aforementioned "pocket" should provide a relatively calm eddy within which the ship travels.

 

As for decommissioning, I don't see why it couldn't happen.  Any number of factors could play into such a decision (battle damage, obsolescence, symbolic pride, etc).  Also, let's not forget, the Quarian Flotilla was a unique outlier, using ships to carry an entire species from system to system.  Certainly, one COULD continue to use centuries old ships, as quarians did, but I imagine the practicality of such use was constantly in question.  I imagine, in the case of quarians, it was more that they simply had no choice (considering that they'd have had to buy the new ships, money better spent on supplies and upkeep).

 

In the case of geth, I imagine the lack of any need for atmosphere or containment probably helped keep the ship relatively pristine.  More so the Reapers, though I feel an immortal being would self-regulate even better.  Even so, I imagine the Derelict from ME2 hadn't changed appreciably over the time it had been adrift.  Although, to be fair, a Reaper (alive or dead) broke more than a few rules just by its very existence.

[MrStoob]

 Spaaaace Magiiiiic!!!

 

 

But seriously, I am a great advocate of space magic.  It fills in an unfillable(?) gap.  Without space magic, I'd be screwed lol.

[Seracen]

 Spaaaace Magiiiiic!!!

 

 

But seriously, I am a great advocate of space magic.  It fills in an unfillable(?) gap.  Without space magic, I'd be screwed lol.

 

Yes, but you can also be screwed by the space magic as well.  Oh well, so long as there aren't certain primary colors involved...

 

But let's be cereal...without said moment of space magic, I wouldn't be here right now, and I wouldn't have written my fanfic, so it all worked out in the end.

 

In regards to ...ahem...  OTHER space magic...and getting screwed... 

 

Well, let's just say: BLESS MORDIN for that whole speech about using biotics for "extra curricular activities."  Between that and Tali's "Nerve Stim Pro" app for her omnitool, I about died laughing.

 

First I was like  ...then I was like 

 

Ah Bioware, never change.  I think the thing I took most care to mimic (successfully or not) in my fanfic was the richness of characters, and their interactions...which is arguably my favorite part of any game BW makes (or indeed, any game that cares to devote time to such development).  So many little tidbits that simply CANNOT be forced.

 

That is the hallmark of a craftsman who really cares about their work, and have the time to devote to such craft.  That is why it's such a rare find, and so appreciated by me when found.

[Aerialight]

Hi everyone,

Here is my idea for a mass effect fanfic following the end of mass effect three, based on the 4000+ destroy option. 
 

Story begins on Sabertooth's Waste Rig. After the Reaper War, debris left behind has caused space travel to become dangerous. Waste Ships fly around salvaging materials and vaporizing what is left. Sabertooth is an ex-Alliance military soldier who now runs his own rig, with crew members Lily, Kisara, and Peter. 

 

The story is based around the idea that the Reapers were destroyed by Commander Shepard. As a result, the Citadel and Mass Relays were destroyed. Shepard became an icon, the "lone hero who looked death in the eyes." She is believed to have died that day, and the Alliance has begun to use her as a symbol of propaganda for the Alliance Military. 

 

While most believe that Shepard is dead, she in fact survived the events. Commander Lilith Shepard went into hiding. She has isolated herself to Sabertooth's ship. None of them ever knew what Shepard looked like in the past, they only know her as Lily, a human. She is struggling to cope with the losses she dealt with in the past, and is loosing control of her biotics. 

 

Meanwhile, two threats begin to rise. One threat is a legion of anti-Shepard gangs, fueled by hate for the loss of the Mass Relays and Citadel. Cerberus is also reborn, now tasked with the goal of recreating the mass relay technology, however their experiments soon turn destructive when they begin to use the technology for other means. 


------------------------

Any thoughts on the ideas so far? 

[Seracen]

 

Hi everyone,

Here is my idea for a mass effect fanfic following the end of mass effect three, based on the 4000+ destroy option. 
 

[snip]

 

Meanwhile, two threats begin to rise. One threat is a legion of anti-Shepard gangs, fueled by hate for the loss of the Mass Relays and Citadel. Cerberus is also reborn, now tasked with the goal of recreating the mass relay technology, however their experiments soon turn destructive when they begin to use the technology for other means. 


------------------------

Any thoughts on the ideas so far? 

 

 

Sounds interesting enough!  I like the idea of the new universe, seems almost Dead Space.  You asked for ideas though, so I'll give you a few questions to consider...

 

1) Why Sabretooth's ship?  What made Shepard trust him, of all people?  Why is she losing her biotics?

 

2) Does any of the old crew know she survived, and if so, why are they leaving her alone (and vice versa)?  How was she rescued without anyone noticing?

 

Anyhoo yeah, welcome back to the thread (also, how'd that other story work out for you?)! 

[MrStoob]

With the space magic thing, it must be present in sci-fi/fantasy (although in fantasy, it's just 'magic').  How does FTL work in Mass Effect?  If that could be given a full and proper answer, we'd have FTL in the real world.  So while a plausible explanation should be attempted IMO, there will also be an element of 'insert miracle here' for the bits that cannot be explained.  A degree of 'suspension of disbelief' from the reader is quite useful too. It is fiction after all.

[Seracen]

To be fair, even magic in fantasy can be believable, so long as it is, as you say, "plausible."  It doesn't become jarring until an ass-pull or deus ex machina comes into play.

 

Hell, Star Trek is famous for stuff like that.  IIRC, the scripts for their explanations used to read "science stuff," or whatnot, lol!  Star Wars was interesting, in that it set up the Force as space magic, yet defined enough limits that the viewer never questions.  That is why certain moments can be so bothersome when the preconceptions, and therefore immersion, is broken (ie: midichlorians, or some dude randomly pulling Star Destroyers from the sky in Force Unleashed).

[YurigirlzCrush]

*yawns, adjusts her nekomimi, straightens her maid's costume, and commences sweeping and dusting efforts*

 

the school year so far has proven horribly stressful and time-consuming! I hate being so tired all the time. and my baby sister doesn't help. she apparently had an epic morning game of Star Wars: Battlefronts II, and woke me up to tell me all about her sick space maneuvers... I tried valiantly to ignore her and remain asleep but maintaining slumber proved impossible with her bouncing on my bed... she is incredibly tenacious when she wants something. *shakes head* I hope everyone's having a peachy weekend, and that you're all getting more sleep than I did! *smiles*

[Seracen]

Yeah, my nephews can be a handful as well, I feel your tiredness, lol!  Writing is coming along, despite school and Skyrim.

 

Alas, I have the happy yet unfortunate task of figuring out what video graphics card I want in my new PC rig.  Playing that dilemma of cost vs performance.  I mean, I COULD get a sub $200 video card, but I rather doubt it would be much better than I already have (currently a 1GB DDR5 Nvidia 600 series).

 

Yet I see the price ranges for a true upgrade (2GB DDR5 with mid to high end performance), and balk at the prices.  I refuse to pay for a video card (by itself) as much as I did for the rest of the whole PC!

 

Ah well, I shall write into my fanfic a scene where VI-level supercomputers are a pittance, thanks to the advances procured by cooperation between the geth and quarians...one can dream (sigh)...

[Ignis Mors]

Yeah, my nephews can be a handful as well, I feel your tiredness, lol!  Writing is coming along, despite school and Skyrim.

 

Alas, I have the happy yet unfortunate task of figuring out what video graphics card I want in my new PC rig.  Playing that dilemma of cost vs performance.  I mean, I COULD get a sub $200 video card, but I rather doubt it would be much better than I already have (currently a 1GB DDR5 Nvidia 600 series).

 

Yet I see the price ranges for a true upgrade (2GB DDR5 with mid to high end performance), and balk at the prices.  I refuse to pay for a video card (by itself) as much as I did for the rest of the whole PC!

 

Ah well, I shall write into my fanfic a scene where VI-level supercomputers are a pittance, thanks to the advances procured by cooperation between the geth and quarians...one can dream (sigh)...

How big is your vid card budget? If you're going for around $200-240 the R9 280x is a good deal, if you're going for around 300-350 the gtx 970 would be your best bet. As for sub-200, the R9 270x and the gtx 750 ti are pretty good at around 150. 

[Seracen]

How big is your vid card budget? If you're going for around $200-240 the R9 280x is a good deal, if you're going for around 300-350 the gtx 970 would be your best bet. As for sub-200, the R9 270x and the gtx 750 ti are pretty good at around 150. 

 

Thanks for the feedback!  I am willing to go into the $300's if I feel the performance boost is appreciable enough.  I was THINKING about the GTX 750 ti, but I can get a R9 280x for around $200 (on sale) with a few free games (ATI is running a promo).  As such, I feel the ATI is the better purchase.  However, I keep hearing that ATI cards don't play as nicely with Intel Processors (Xeon in this case), as they do with AMD (my current rig).

 

Thus, I was also looking at the GTX 770, but didn't feel it provided enough of a boost over the AMD for the nearly $80-$100 extra.  It's funny really, b/c I can run Witcher 2 at High-spec on my current rig.  However, I am building this thing to play Skyrim and Mass Effect, with some of the more ridiculous ENB's and texture packs out there...which pretty well laugh at my rig (15-25 FPS)...and in the future, hi-spec Witcher 3.

 

I was also considering Dual-SLI with my existing card, but I read that I'd only be pulling the average of the two cards, and it really isn't worth the power issues for such "paltry" gains in performance.  I'll have to look at your suggestion of the 970, so thanks for that!

 

Seriously though...geth powered omni-tools!  I MUST write a chapter about them...imagine the gaming prowess!!!

 

EDIT: just looked up the GTX 970.  Looks like a great piece, but Skyrim, and a great many other games, simply can't effectively utilize more than 2GB of VRAM, and 4GB of system RAM.  I imagine future games will have no problem doing so (what with 4K video processing on the horizon...putting 1080p to shame).

 

Again, I great card, but I dunno if I can justify having an extra 2GB of video memory I cannot use.  Of course, this runs into the ever-present dilemma of whether I wait for the new cards to come out, thereby dropping the current prices...but I could play that song and dance forever...blargh

 

PS: sorry for the off-topic guys, but I knew a few of you were fellow PC enthusiasts, and wanted some trusted opinions!

[Ignis Mors]

No problem, Seracen. Just happy to help. :-)

[Maliken]

If the budget allows it, the 970 is the best option at the moment, and if your budget doesn't allow it start saving up because it's just that good. $350 gives you the performance of cards that were priced at $600, and all that with incredible power effeciency and overclocking headroom.

[Seracen]

Huh...I must really be underestimating the sheer jump in video processors from generation to generation.  My fave Skyrim Mod Youtuber's rig is running "only" an i5 and a GTX 770.  That's not far off of what I have currently (I have a better processor, but an inferior video card).  I am just shocked at what a difference there seems to be!  Well, Black Friday is around the corner, maybe cyber Monday will bring me some deals.

 

 

Back on topic though...

 

Do you guys feel that there is a "window" for releasing fanfic?  For instance, do you try to drop stories or chapter updates around big announcements to the fandom you are writing for?  I am currently dealing with a dilemma on whether I should rush the teaser for a fanfic I am working on, considering a recent release of new content to the fandom.

 

Personally, I am going to wait until I am happy with the product.  Still, I feel that this is going to "cost" me views and reviews in the long run, as by the time I post, it won't be as current.  Case in point, the ME fanfic I released soon after the ME3 ending got tons more views, as opposed to the subsequent work (despite more time and effort devoted to the latter) that I released after the fervor (relatively) cooled.

 

Still, I wouldn't have changed the process for anything, as I wouldn't have been happy with the finished product, had I rushed it, or neglected proper editing (a byproduct of week-by-week posting, for me anyway).  So while it is unfortunate that I may not get as much coverage, I feel the end product is better, and that makes me happier!  Just curious as to other peoples' philosophies.