eretria

*chokes with laughter*
No he most certainly is not Hagrid, he would look strange with that amount of facial hair.
If I wanted to read full speech-pattern writing I would go and read Trainspotting again. At least there it is written by someone who knows the Scot's accent, and whilst hard to read it does actually contribute to the story in some way.
We know what the accent sounds like, there is no need to catalogue it for future generations.

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Go ahead and laugh. But, seriously? Reading full Scottish speech-patterns done by someone who obviously has never been to Scotland before and just does it because he/she thinks it sounds authentic is enough to make me drop the fic like a hot stone. One of my bullet-proof turn-offs.
Besides, does anyone write out Shep's speech-patterns? Rodney's (oh, god, don't even get me started on ZedPM. Don't. Seriously. There is a whole other rant coming that way you seriously don't want to hear and which, damn it, I don't have the time for now, anyway.)? Radek's?

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I laugh now, but run away myself if I hit upon this phenomena.
I've seen some people try to write out Radek's accent, or at least in the three seconds I spent reading said fic before fleeing, and it was terrifying. Some people miss the idea that writing out the sentence rhythm is not the same as replicating dialect patterns. Especially in a medium such as fanfic which is coming from a tv show with an aural component. We can hear how he sounds without the need to visualise it.
I won't get you started on ZedPM because I don't want to go there either. After all I don't speak American English and speak have had long arguments with more than a few people over the whole Z pronounciation matter. Blood may have been spilt, linguistics terminology may have been used as a bludgeon and yes. Bad enough when I come across a fic that calls Shep's accent 'Southern'.

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*peeks in*

Bad enough when I come across a fic that calls Shep's accent 'Southern'.
It's not? I've read it so many times I've accepted it as a fact. Or do you mean that the statement's too general, that there are many accents? *is curious*

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sobelle.livejournal.com

Shep's accent (or rather, Flanigan's accent) sounds more like a western (US) drawl to me... more like you might have heard in the old westerns.

And there are a variety of accents in the South (not unlike the US... my accent is markedly different from my friends from other areas in the South.

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And there are a variety of accents in the South
Well, it is a huge stretch of land. ;) Thanks for the info!

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lillyjk.livejournal.com

*butts in*

yeah, I don't think I would classify it as Southern. He definitely has a drawl, a way of drawing words out, but I think that's more HIS way of talking - you know, like some people talk really fast - than any accent. Although, I guess it does remind me a little of a Texas accent - not Southern

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This whole discussion is pretty damn interesting - has it ever been determined what kind of a special area-speech-pattern Sheppard has? Do we have enough background knowledge on him to know where he was born, where he was raised? If we have, then I've been living under a big, wide, heavy rock.
Oh, hey. Wait. I have. Only, it wasn't a rock, but a whole pile of law-codes.

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Hmm. We could look up where Flanigan was born and raised. *off to google*

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Do share, hm?

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Right. He was born in LA, California, moved to Reno, Nevada when he was six (He grew up on a ranch! How much do I love that image?), attended a boarding school in Ojai, California at age 14 and later, the University of Colorado. Apparently,

sobelle is right--more western than southern.

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Ranch and boarding school. No wonder the man moves the way he does and is just damn smart. And I bet he has manners, too. And, of course, he speaks French, too.
But I am not interested in unavailable actors. No. That's just basic instincts talking, my Id. I can overcome that. Eventually. Some day.
(Give me Hewlett, damn it. I don't even like skinny men. Why does Flanigan have to be smart?!)

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Oh, of course. You have to bring up the Sorbonne thing again, don't you?
Your id. Yeah, right. Freudian excuses are so yesterday. ;)

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Yes, well as long as it isn't Basic Instinct talking then you should be fine.

People should not be smart, polite and move in evil fashions. They should be silent and stupid. Yes! Mere cardboard cut outs of their own Id.

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lillyjk.livejournal.com

yeah - I don't think we have enough knowledge about Sheppard's character although there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the way Flanigan speaks when he's out of character. What we do know if that Sheppard's dad is a colonel...so I think it's fair to assume that they probably moved around a lot when he was growing up. so maybe that whisper-drawl thing he does with his voice is a combo of whole bunch of different things. whatever it is it's way freaking HOT!

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Reminds me of one of the audio commentaries where they make fun of it. What doooo youuu mean? Did you listen to it?

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I think

sobelle has it closest that I can get, what with my non native knowledge of US accents. I can't vouch that Sheppard as a character hasn't lived in the south, but JF certainly does not have the characteristics that mark a kinda more southern accent. He drawls, but the words don't have that 'lean' on each other you get from the southern parts and the vowel production isn't quite right. Then again sometimes he doesn't drawl - not sure if this is the character, the actor or the accent.

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somedaybitch.livejournal.com

if it makes you feel any better, it's done in writing contest scripts as well, and being a reader of said scripts, triggers an automatic, bzzzzzzzz. you lose at life response. not to mention some pretty harsh commentary.

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The sad thing is that I believe that without proof. I mean - Diana Gabaldon. Seriously.

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somedaybitch.livejournal.com

*snerk*

i sympathize, yo. i do. most of the ones i read aren't even bad enough to provide mockage, and thus, entertainment value. although, i did read one that i can't ever forget because it was about...wait for it...zombie horses. /pinkyswear

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quiller77.livejournal.com

Do fanfic types really write out ZedPM instead of ZPM? How odd.

And Shepherd's accent? Definitely west of midwest but not west coast. :-) It's that nasal thing he has going.

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You wouldn't believe the things you see in fanfic. It's a scary, scary place sometimes.

And, heh. I know I should have asked you - you have an excellent ear for accents.

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quiller77.livejournal.com

Flattery will get you everywhere. ;-)
I must confess to writing idiom sometimes. The trick is to only insert the occassional phrase or word. (e.g., Carson looked down at the child curled in a ball, thumb in his mouth. "Is there anything so innocent as a wee bairn asleep?") The reader's imagination fills in the accent.

Even in published fiction, thick dialect written as it sounds is hard to read. In the hands of an amateur it can be downright painful. ;-)

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dragonsinger.livejournal.com

Dude, I'm Southern. I couldn't write Scot-speak if I tried. So I stick to regular dialogue and let the reader's imagination supply the accent.:)

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