Slaidh's Accent

[Slaidh]

I got a little ribbing today on chat for my character's accent being used on ESP, which happens from time to time and doesn't bother me, but today it was from a GM and it made me wonder if I was doing it wrong. I was told when I asked along time ago, and there's a post somewhere, about how accents can be used on ESP instead of everyone speaking perfect english, that they way they heard themselves could influence how they would come across on ESP. What I want to know is if there's a level I should go to or stop at? I don't want to use my full accent on ESP if it doesn't make sense. I'm not sure how I would tone it down or go halfway but I can think of something if I need to. Some clarification would be nice!

End hyu cen be heppy dot et least hy don't chet und post on de BBS in my eccent, hy bet dot vould get annoyingk real fest!

On another note, some people said it seemed French to them, some said it seemed German. Then someone said it was Slaidhic. That's the right answer! I don't speak any foreign languages, I don't know any real accents well enough to claim this sounds like one. In my mind it sounds vaguely Scandinavian. But it's unique. It's a hodgepodge of whatever I vaguely recall from webcomics, movies, TV shows, people I've met. It's Slaidhic.

And last but not least, the IC explanation. I don't think this is an accent most Giganti would have. It's not because he's canim either, I don't think that would give you an accent except perhaps from something to do with the larger canine teeth. I do say it's the accent and dialect from Slaidh's clan from a particular area of Sirak Drauth. In the real world, you go to different places in the same country and you can come across countless accents. I've done some traveling and witnessed this myself. You'd think two people were from entirely different parts of the world with the different accents they have, but they both grew up in the same country, maybe even same language, just with a local dialect or accent because they lived on different sides of the country.

Oh, one more note. Name pronunciation. It's pronounced like Slay, the DH is silent. Most people probably said it more like Slayd though. I don't mind, say it whichever way you like.

[preiman]

always sounded somewhat russian to me. and I get that with your clan you'd be more than a little different, Maric doesn't act like most giganti either, tending a bit more to the Celtic ideal than the norse one, and i figure that's just because his clan was a bit further off, maybe interacting a bit more with other groups.

[Rias]

From this post:

Q: Why do people use accents or odd speech patterns on ESP? Isn't it communicating purely by thought?
A: You're not broadcasting everything you think - if you were, it'd be nothing but indecipherable noise on the ESP net. When you communicate via ESP, you're forming a specific chain of thoughts and ideas that you wish to communicate with the intent of being understood by others. Therefore, most people form these communications just like they form their spoken sentences, so ESP tends to "sound" the same as when people speak. Regarding accents, people could be basing their communication on how they hear themselves (or how they believe others hear themselves) speak, and so the accent gets translated into thought. Ultimately, we're not going to demand that people use perfect, flawless Common(/English) on ESP - that'd be a little silly. Just take it as a person's personal touch on their thoughts that is translated by the ESP process to be a mental equivalent of their spoken accent. This isn't to say someone couldn't intentionally communicate differently via ESP than their spoken speech, if they wanted. If someone has some speech impediment that they really want to overcome via ESP, it's okay for them to say, speak with a lisp, but to communicate via ESP without it. If their lisp doesn't bother them, it could well be translated to their ESP thoughts. They might even do it intentionally, to help maintain their identity.

So if you wanted to ease up on your accent, you could, but you don't necessarily have to. I don't know, ESP is weird in a lot of ways. Like the quote says, we can't really demand that people all speak perfect English, and it'd be weird (and a pain) to ESP in a completely different way than you speak, and when you ESP you're forming your thoughts in more or less the same way you speak, so ... ESPing with your accent it is, I think. I can't come up with a better way that isn't terrible.

And we all know it's Jagerspeak!

[Jirato]

I love your accent! Don't change it. :-P

[jilliana]

Personally I like it the way it is, but mostly when talking face-to-face. I agree with Rias in that you could ease up on it over ESP. I actually thought the accent came more from the condition of his teeth and such and wouldn't really reflect on his thoughts. I don't know his character background, so that's just my thought. I enjoy it a lot though.

I did have a moment earlier when he said 'pipple' and couldn't figure out what it was for a minute...or three. All in the context!