10369 réponses à ce sujet

[Sialater]

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...

Guys, out of all the DA:O and A characters you've tried to channel and write, who has been the hardest and why? Likewise, who has been your favourite or the one that came most easily?

Zevran was really difficult at first.  Especially to make him a three dimensional character.  (Which I'm not yet certain I've done.)  But reading about him and walking around in his head for the last few months has really helped.

[Raonar]

Hmm, well, I haven't had too much trouble with this so far, mostly because I've been dealing with the Origins wardens in my fic for now and the Canon party members haven't really shown up as of yet. I think I'll have the most problems with Alistair really, mostly because he and the protagonist won't get along very well, at least for a while.

On a different note, do any o you have any idea how Dalish eves deal with their dead? Do they entomb them, burn them, lave them to the wolves?

Modifié par Raonar, 22 août 2010 - 05:27 .

[Sandtigress]

Raonar wrote...

On a different note, do any o you have any idea how Dalish eves deal with their dead? Do they entomb them, burn them, lave them to the wolves?

They bury them and plant saplings over their graves and tell stories and sing songs about and for the fallen.  The dead are buried with two staves - oak to guide them and cedar to chase away the ravens Fear and Deceit now that Dirthamen (Keeper of secrets) is gone.  The one song we're given is In Uthenera, the one that Leliana sings, though technically that one's left behind from the days that elves didn't die and went to uthenera (the long sleep) instead.

[SurelyForth]

The Dalish bury their dead and plant a tree over the body- new life coming from death and all that.

'd by Sandtigress. And I was going to gloat, too!

Modifié par SurelyForth, 22 août 2010 - 05:41 .

[Raonar]

Sandtigress wrote...

Raonar wrote...

On a different note, do any o you have any idea how Dalish eves deal with their dead? Do they entomb them, burn them, lave them to the wolves?

They bury them and plant saplings over their graves and tell stories and sing songs about and for the fallen.  The dead are buried with two staves - oak to guide them and cedar to chase away the ravens Fear and Deceit now that Dirthamen (Keeper of secrets) is gone.  The one song we're given is In Uthenera, the one that Leliana sings, though technically that one's left behind from the days that elves didn't die and went to uthenera (the long sleep) instead.

Perfect! I'll just add this to my ever growing document of known facts about Dragon Age. My thanks Sandtigress.

Now I know what Theron Mahariel won't be doing to Cailan's lifeless body.

EDIT
Of course, thanks to SurelyForth as well

Modifié par Raonar, 22 août 2010 - 05:48 .

[LupusYondergirl]

I really like writing Oghren. I'd say my favorite characters to write are Oghren, Anders, Alistair, and, as of now, Morrigan.

I have a harder time with Leliana and sometimes Zevran vexes me. He has unusual speech patterns, which makes sense as his native language would be Antivan, but they're subtle. Capturing them can be tricky.

[KSuri]

I'll admit that I feel almost like I'm getting in over my head here after reading the last 20+ pages but here goes....



Hi! My name is (right over there) and I'm addicted to DA:O. It started as a simple diversion and quickly grew into a mild obsession. Hours lost at the keyboard, t-shirts with my faithful hound, fan groups, evenings glutting on fanfiction has finally led me on the slippery slopes of attempting to write a fan fiction of my own.



It was recommended by Artemys over on FF.net for me to come and take a read. Her critiques were awesome so I figured I'd take another piece of her advice.



Now that I've blathered on enough I'm just going to go over there------> and see if I can actually start this thread from post 1.

[Maria13]

LupusYondergirl wrote...

I really like writing Oghren. I'd say my favorite characters to write are Oghren, Anders, Alistair, and, as of now, Morrigan.
I have a harder time with Leliana and sometimes Zevran vexes me. He has unusual speech patterns, which makes sense as his native language would be Antivan, but they're subtle. Capturing them can be tricky.

I think of Zev as speaking Spanish and then translate back into English, it gets the speech pattern down pretty pat...

[LupusYondergirl]

Maria13 wrote...

LupusYondergirl wrote...

I really like writing Oghren. I'd say my favorite characters to write are Oghren, Anders, Alistair, and, as of now, Morrigan.
I have a harder time with Leliana and sometimes Zevran vexes me. He has unusual speech patterns, which makes sense as his native language would be Antivan, but they're subtle. Capturing them can be tricky.

I think of Zev as speaking Spanish and then translate back into English, it gets the speech pattern down pretty pat...

I know that's what it would be, but unfortunately I don't speak any spanish so I don't know how the word order would be for it.  (being an idiot, I took Latin in high school and Irish gaelic in college.  Useful!)

[Sialater]

If you know Latin, Spanish (or any Romance language) speech patterns aren't much different.

[Maria13]

Sialater wrote...

If you know Latin, Spanish (or any Romance language) speech patterns aren't much different.

French would be somewhat distinct but I agree for Spanish, Latin, Italian, Catalan and [perhaps] Rumanian.

[Sarah1281]

What are you supposed to do if you don't speak any of those languages?

[TanithAeyrs]

JHByrne wrote...


[*]



[*]how is this useful to you?  It is the Shale character trying to pump Morrigan for information, and Morrigan fending it off, eg, I'm not interested in you, or your questions.  Morr considers people 'tools'.  Shale is useless to her, so why bother trading tales with it?



[*]Seems to me that a better representation would be the Morr/Shale interplay re:  Shale's claim to know people b/c it spent 30+ years watching them.  Morr's response was that being in the muddy square of some forgotten little village doesn't qualify one as an expert.  Shale is put in it's place, and admits it.



[*]I personally never downloaded the Shale DLC (Stone Prisoner).  The character archetype bored me.  It even bored the designers... the most interesting thing they could come up with for a 'post victory' story was a joke, about sending Shale on a pigeon killing spree.  It's deliberate absurdity.



[*]Without an ability to die, without an ability to age, feel hunger, feel anything more than frustration at being crapped on by pigeons, the character of Shale is stunted.  Shale can't even remember being a human, so basically, it's just a talking rock.  Without an ability to interact on more than a squishing basis, the character of Shale can never develop.  So... personally, I would avoid the character altogether. 

[*]I am only intermittantly on BSN so I haven't kept up with all of your posts on this thread but you have certainly made some interesting points and brought up some worthy discussion topics, however you manner often comes across as abrasive and insulting to those of us who are enjoying dabbling in FF.  My goals in writing FF include improving my writing ability so constructive criticism is always welcome.  I will take your interest in my reply to the Morrigan/Shale conversation as an effort at provoking thought and not as an insult into my efforts to write Shale.  There are many writers her on Community Creations who are much more skilled than I am.  However, if you wish to contribute constructive criticism to a work of FF you are welcome to read mine.  There certainly are many areas in which it could be improved and the first two chapters are truly dreadful.  Also, having tried many things in my life, not all of which I have suceeded at,  I am unlikely to cry at even the most acidic comments.


[*]The passage is a reflection of how much Shale has lost in becoming a golem.  Since you haven't ever downloaded "The Stone Prisoner" I don't expect that you have gotten past the surface of Shale's personality.  If you spend time getting to know Shale, she evolves as a character and comes to realize that she is missing a lot of what life is about as an immortal golem.  One possible epilogue for her is that she travels to Tevinter with Wynne to try to become a dwarf again.


[*]Some of your other posts relating to DA:O characters also reflect a lack of acceptance for the character's personal growth.  Superficially many of the things you have said are true, but just like in real life, these characters are more than just the "trope" they were formed around.  In dealing with characterization one of the most important things is to force your characters to a crisis where they can learn something about themselves and have personal growth.  The gameplay of DA:O allows for a number of such moments; FF writing allows us even greater latitude. 


[*]Some of your questions about where the evolution of the Darkspawn are going are thought provoking, particularly after meeting the Architect in Gaider's book "The Calling" and playing through Awakening.  I have a sequel planned to "A Grey Warden's Honor" that will examine some of these ideas and also look at the role of the "Old Gods".  In the old forums, prior to the release of DA:O the developers specifically said that they would not give concrete answers on the existence of gods in Thedas.  They also said that the true origin of the darkspawn was left deliberately vague.  I think this gives FF writers quite a bit of latitude in their interpretations of the new sentient darkspawn. 


[*]On another point, the devs have said that the GW are not contagious.  Scientifically this could be explained by having the GW be a dead end host for the taint.  To steal a real world example; horses are a dead end host for West Nile Virus, they catch the virus and can be killed by it but the viral levels in a horse's blood stream are never high enough for a feeding mosquito to ingest enough viral particles to transmit it to another host.  Birds, on the other hand, carry an extremely high viral lode and a feeding mosquito ingests tens of thousands of viral particles when it feeds off of an infected bird.  Think of Grey Wardens as the horses and darkspawn as the birds.


[*]I will also agree with the individual on the previous page who suggested that we move this discussion to its own thread, either here or on one of the spoilers threads.  It has the potential to be quite lively and generate a lot of debate but your blatant dismissal of FF earlier in this thread, while true to the thread title, is not what this thread has been about since the first post.  Maria's first post was a lament to the difficulty in writing FF and the struggle a FF writer has with their muse to write what is in their head.

Modifié par TanithAeyrs, 22 août 2010 - 08:52 .

[Maria13]

Sarah1281 wrote...

What are you supposed to do if you don't speak any of those languages?

I am not saying this is the only way, just the method I use... 

[Raonar]

Okay, so I updated my fanfiction on FF.net... but the chapter doesn't show up....

WTF?

Maybe it's because I immediately deleted it and added it again, but really? Sigh.

Also, I thought Antiva was more like an Italian-speaking country myself, since it was initially going to be called Calabria or something.

Right?

EDIT

Somehow managed to bypass the issue by using the link in my e-mail.

sigh

Modifié par Raonar, 22 août 2010 - 09:43 .

[Sarah1281]

FF.net's been doing that lately. It'll show up soon enough.

[Raonar]

Finally fixed! Anyway, I'm going to bed now. You all have fun and may your muses be as active as mine is...



Wait, actually, mine has been hyperactive, only about chapters that are still a bit far off.



Ah well.

[FutileSine]

Ladies and gents....total noob question, but I can not for the life of me figure out what the acronym "AU" before something means - Raonar, I think you classified your story as "AU fanfiction"...what is that?



KSuri - This is Artemys from FFnet - Glad you to see you decided to make it over here! There is so much great information tucked within these 180 pages of utter fanfiction goodness.

[Raonar]

AU= Alternate universe.

Basically something where things happen dramaticaly differently, although some may say mine is not exactly AU because things are, more or less, identical to how they are shown in the game when my tale begins.

I tagged it as AU because all origins wardens live in my story, which is a pretty big twist. Oh, and Trian survives too. I guessed these two reasons were enough for making it part of the AU type.

EDIT

*Smacks forehead for not noticing the new author*

My apologies Ksuri! Allow me to officially welcome you to this forum, which I, myself, have only joined in late June, so I am hardly a veteran.

*Hands party cake*

Okay guys, now bring the wine over. And if Wynne made off with it again, I'm sending Oghren after her, and I know THAT will be a good subject for a one-shot.

Modifié par Raonar, 22 août 2010 - 09:57 .

[Miri1984]

FutileSine wrote...

Ladies and gents....total noob question, but I can not for the life of me figure out what the acronym "AU" before something means - Raonar, I think you classified your story as "AU fanfiction"...what is that?

KSuri - This is Artemys from FFnet - Glad you to see you decided to make it over here! There is so much great information tucked within these 180 pages of utter fanfiction goodness.

Welcome KSuri!

FutileSine - AU means Alternative Universe - it's when a Fanfic does something that cannot happen in the original games - eg: having more than one Origin survive to become a warden and fight the blight, having Alistair as the only grey warden to survive, making the battle at Ostagar a victory instead of a defeat etc... 

[Sarah1281]

Sometimes whether or not something should be considered AU is a bit tricky, like if it's a story with a CE Warden and solo Alistair on the throne and Lady Cousland, having been on the run for a year, eventually has a political marriage with Alistair. We can be reasonably certain that this doesn't happen in game and yet it could conceivably happen as there really isn't any PROOF that she's dead (unless you believe that Dog is the same in all origins and his previous master really did die in the Korcari Wilds).

[Miri1984]

Someone said something about seeing Brosca's body if you don't play that origin... where does that happen? I've never noticed it before. Is it meant to be the body in the dungeons of the Carta? Is the guy you set free Leske?

[Sarah1281]

Miri1984 wrote...

Someone said something about seeing Brosca's body if you don't play that origin... where does that happen? I've never noticed it before. Is it meant to be the body in the dungeons of the Carta? Is the guy you set free Leske?

Yes, you free Leske. He says his friend didn't make it because they just stopped eating one day, all for a stupid bet (he probably means the bet that forced the DC to enter the Proving as Everd was out of it). The dead dwarf is in the same cell you are in in the DC origin while Leske is in the cell he was placed in. As no one is in either cell in DC games, it stands to reason that that's you.

[LupusYondergirl]

Yes, the guy you free is Leske, and he talks about how his friend just "stopped eating" one day.



AU is tricky. Some is obvious. A fic where Jory and/or Daveth survive would be an obvious AU. Or one where Flemeth joins your group. But some stuff isn't as clear. Like, is my Amell/Anders fic AU because there aren't any romances in Awakening? I'd think no since it can follow the rest of the game without any deviations and that doesn't fundamentally change the world. But I'm sure a case could be made that it is.

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

Sandtigress wrote...

Firky and SoLD, the toolset is awesome for dialogue purposes, and really pretty easy to use for dialogue examination after the intiail "Um...what do I do with this?"
It's an absolutely invaluable tool to me as I'm writing stuff where I need to draw from in-game dialogue, and I also used it to help me figure out Fergus' voice for something. Saves me umpteen hours of gameplay for research purposes, that's for sure! If you guys want a quick run through of how, feel free to PM me or something.

Thanks, Sandtigress! Now if I can just get around to downloading the darn thing...

Edit: Re: Leske: I'm not at home so I can't check offhand, but I got the impression that Leske and Brosca weren't going to stay in that cell for long (Jarvia or Beraht were going to do something to them pretty quick, hence their escape), so it felt odd to think that the corpse was Brosca's. Unless they did escape, were captured again by the guard, and for some reason not executed...

Modifié par Shadow of Light Dragon, 22 août 2010 - 10:31 .