Shrines for characters with fluid info?

[Eimii]

I wasn't really sure how to title this topic so i hope its not too confusing.

Today i was playing the telltale walking dead game series when a somewhat random thought occurred to me. Say you wanted to make a shrine for someone from a game in which your actions effect how the character is either physically or emotionally. you would think there are so many possibilities. do you think it would be possible? would it be harder then a regular shrine?

with games like dragon age, mass effect and the walking dead it has me wondering. How would i address everything? or would it be similar to how people address an anime or manga version of a character?

not sure if i would/could make them but a shrine for clementine or Jane Shepard has always appealed to me. i guess discussing or coming to a conclusion to this question would help me decide to make one.

[Larissa]

Personally I feel like there are two options you can take: either you cover one specific version (the one you played, for instance), or you cover all of them.

The second option is the harder one, obviously, but I don't necessarily think you have to go into a huge amount of depth. Take Shepard, for example: I don't think there's anything wrong with making a site for Renegade Shep over Paragon Shep. Both are valid interpretations of the character. I'd raise an eyebrow if the sitemaker didn't at least mention and discuss the paragon/renegade system and how these choices affect Shepard's personality, but since it is hard to discuss some of the finer plot details without taking a stand and picking one option, I think it's fine to just go with one or the other.

Clementine from The Walking Dead Game is harder since every single playthrough is different, but there are key events from every playthrough. Sure, some characters might not be alive, and some events may be different, but the basic story is still the same. In her case I would go into more depth about the different choices and how they affect her, but I would personally focus on the choices I made in my playthrough, since TWDG is a really personalized experience for every player.

It's definitely harder than a regular fansite for a character from a defined canon, but not impossible! There aren't a lot of examples out there, but Ivy made a site for Garrus from Mass Effect years ago. As she notes on her index page, she picked one interpretation of Shepard and ran with it, and noted differences when they came up. I have an upcoming fansite for a ME character myself and will probably do the same thing.

I kind of tl;dr'd everywhere, sorry! But kudos for wanting to make sites for these types of characters I love jrpgs, but I really like what western RPGs (particularly Bioware) have been doing with their characters and storytelling of late, and I'd love to see more fansites for their characters.

[Tara]

I think it'd be different than most shrines with fluid canon information, maybe a bit more difficult, but not impossible. I too actually have some Bioware shrines in mind in the future. Making a shine to Fem Shep sounds really interesting! Like Larissa said, you can either focus on one aspect, or cover multiple. Mass Effect is a huge game universe with a lot of important decisions that shape not only Shepard, but all of the people that follow them. You'd have a huge array of content to choose from no matter how you decide to make the shrine.

I think it'd be interesting to see how other people would cover and choose to display information. I don't think there's really a right or wrong way--just so long as you attempt to explain what's going on and what the differences could be briefly. It doesn't have to be really long and a detailed.

Man, now I really want to make a Liara shrine.

[Eimii]

thanks for your feedback Tara and Larissa. This has given me a lot of food for thought. I also just spent forever reading that Garrus shrine. lol.

Perhaps ill test the waters with a squad member first...and then move onto Fem Shep. So many shrine possibilities....so little time. haha.

If anyone else has input id love to hear it. :D

[Chibi]

I personally agree with Larissa - I would either focus on one version, or do all of them. I'd do all of them just for the sake of having a shrine as complete as possible, haha. But I don't think it's impossible, just more challenging, but I guess it will also be more rewarding. :D I guess it is kind of like making a shrine to a character that has a video game, anime and manga version... kind of like the shrine I want to make for Green/Blue/Gary from Pokemon.

[Todd]

I'd probably just end up shrining the version of the character I experienced. Shrines are more than info banks these days, anyway. If a visitor wants to learn dry details you didn't experience yourself, they can check out Wikipedia. I personally read websites to read theories and analysis about characters, see someone else's perception of a character....

That's just me, though.

I think whatever you decide to do, you should clearly mark what you're doing on your index page so visitors know what to expect. If you shrine the entire character, you can be like "While the version of the character I experienced is analyzed, I have touched on all versions of the character, so spoilers are everywhere," or if you just do your version, be like, "This shrine focuses on my own perception of ___, based off of the in-game choices I made, so he/she may act differently when you play the game."

It'd be difficult either way, but it'd be a fun site to see! Good luck to anyone aspiring to shrine a character like this!

[nyxmidnight]

I don't really have much to add to what's already been said, but it's an interesting discussion as I will probably end up making a shrine to Nocturne's Demi-Fiend... one day.

[dubiousdisc]

I'd personally go for the FULL EXPERIENCE and analyze all possible characters in the character because I like non-linear narrations, but yeah, you could also focus on one. I guess it really depends on your approach to the character itself - whether you like best one version or whether it's the complex storytelling around that character that fascinates you. I don't think it's impossible at all - just quite time-consuming.

[Laura]

I'm currently working on my Nyreen site and I'm lucky because her character is fairly scripted; you can't romance her so there's no alternate path to take with her. I would love to do sites for Garrus and Liara in the future and if I were to do so, I'd definitely talk about their friendship vs romance options for both female and male Shepard, and additionally how their relationships with other characters may change based on those choices.

ie: If you do not romance Garrus, he seems to form a relationship with Tali and the two are seen together a few times. Otherwise, there's nothing special going on between them. I'd mention this in a section about Garrus' relationship with Tali as I'd like to be as thorough as possible.

I guess I'd try to stay as neutral as possible in how I approach a subject... thankfully, characters like Garrus, Liara and Tali are all their own unique personalities; I think what happens to them is generally confined to relationship roles, with some special exceptions.

I think the important thing to remind ourselves is that shrines don't have to encompass every single little aspect of a character... I think it'd be wonderful to see a female Shepard shrine that details one particular person's play through, because it's a representation of what THEY experience and what THEY love about the character... and that's fundamentally what makes every shrine unique. <3

...also, I just want to see more Mass Effect sites. >_> lol