I Might Have A Favorite Character, Chat.

the tyranny of messmer’s flame

For all you Messmer writers/artists fighting with his Shakespearean speech: this guide is straightforward and has multiple parts if you click around. Here’s a small chart with terms of address, examples of word order/basic questions, and some verbs.

Here’s a simple explanation of “-eth” and “-est” verb endings.

Ranni and several other characters also speak this way or in a similar fashion. Something to note is that “you” was used by lower-ranking people to address those of a higher rank/status, and “thou/thee” by higher-ranking people to address those of a lower rank/status. Alternatively, nobles used “you” amongst themselves, which adds some flavor to dialogue.

A lot of Shakespearean dialogue is meant to showcase how performative and ridiculous the nobility or upper-classes were during his time (and still is nothing changed lmao). There are tons of Shakespearean dictionaries as well; a lot of words we use today meant something entirely different then, or had different contextual interpretations. It’s meant to sound flowery and has a particular cadence that I recommend listening to as well. Find a good reading on YouTube and really listen to how the words fit against each other. No, you don’t have to write in metered verse (sweats in iambic pentameter) or rhymed prose, but it helps develop dialogue that flows and feels more natural when you can imagine how it sounds as you write.

Here’s a glossary. Have fun with it, don’t let it roll you. Weak foe ahead.

People playing Elden Ring and looking for the "good" demigod to root for are missing the point. Pick your favorite mass murdering war criminal megalomaniac with mommy issues and endlessly simp for them like the rest of us, cowards.

Drew my new profile picture on Procreate. Still can’t figure out digital art, but I’d say I did pretty good. Couldn’t make the colored version of the eyes look good, but this looks alright.

Yea. It’s great. Mhm.

How to Write Strong Dialogue

(from a writer of ten years)

So you’re back in the writing trenches. You’re staring at your computer, or your phone, or your tablet, or your journal, and trying not to lose your mind. Because what comes after the first quotation mark? Nothing feels good.

Don’t worry, friend. I’m your friendly tumblr writing guide and I’m here to help you climb out of the pit of writing despair.

I’ve created a character specifically for this exercise. His name is Amos Alejandro III, but for now we’ll just call him Amos. He’s a thirty-something construction worker with a cat who hates him, and he’s just found out he has to go on a quest across the world to save his mother’s diner.

1.) Consider the Attitude and Characteristics of Your Character

One of the biggest struggles writers face when writing dialogue is keeping characters’ dialogue “in-character”.

You’re probably thinking, “but Sparrow, I’m the creator! None of the dialogue I write can be out of character because they’re my original characters!”

WRONG. (I’m hitting the very loud ‘incorrect’ buzzer in your head right now).

Yes, you created your characters. But you created them with specific characteristics and attitudes. For example, Amos lives alone, doesn’t enjoy talking too much, and isn’t a very scholarly person. So he’s probably not going to say something like “I suggest that we pursue the path of least resistance for this upcoming quest.” He’d most likely say, “I mean, I think the easiest route is pretty self-explanatory.”

Another example is a six-year-old girl saying, “Hi, Mr. Ice Cream Man, do you have chocolate sundaes?” instead of “Hewwo, Ice Cweam Man— Chocowate Sundaes?”

Please don’t put ‘w’s in the middle of your dialogue unless you have a very good and very specific reason. I will cry.

Yes, the girl is young, but she’s not going to talk like that. Most children know how to ask questions correctly, and the ‘w’ sound, while sometimes found in a young child’s speech, does not need to be written out. Children are human.

So, consider the attitude, characteristics, and age of your character when writing dialogue!

2.) Break Up Dialogue Length

If I’m reading a novel and I see an entire page of dialogue without any breaks, I’m sobbing. You’re not a 17th century author with endless punctuation. You’re in the 21st century and people don’t read in the same way they used to.

Break up your dialogue. Use long sentences. Use one word. Use commas, use paragraph breaks. Show a character throwing a chair out a window in between sentences.

For example:

“So, you’re telling me the only way to save my Ma’s diner is to travel across five different continents, find the only remaining secret receipt card, and bring it back before she goes out of business? She didn’t have any other copies? Do I have to leave my cat behind?”

vs.

Amos ran a hand over his face. “So, you’re telling me the only way to save my Ma’s diner is to travel across five different continents, find the only remaining secret recipe card, and bring it back before she goes out of business?”

He couldn’t believe his luck. That was sarcastic, of course. This was ironically horrible.

“She didn’t have any other copies?” He leaned forward over the table and frowned. “Do I have to leave my cat behind?”

The second version is easier to digest, and I got to add some fun description of thought and action into the scene! Readers get a taste of Amos’ character in the second scene, whereas in the first scene they only got what felt like a million words of dialogue.

3.) Don’t Overuse Dialogue Tags.

DON’T OVERUSE DIALOGUE TAGS. DON’T. DON’T DON’T DON’T.

If you don’t know what a dialogue tag is, it’s a word after a sentence of dialogue that attributes that dialogue to a specific character.

For example:

“Orange juice and chicken ramen are good,” he said.

‘Said’ functions as the dialogue tag in this sentence.

Dialogue tags are good. You don’t want to completely avoid them. (I used to pride myself on how I could write stories without any dialogue tags. Don’t do that.) Readers need to know who’s speaking. But overusing them, or overusing weird or unique tags, should be avoided.

Examples:

“I’m gonna have to close my diner,” Amos’ mother said.

“Why?” Amos growled. “It’s been in the family forever.”

“I’ve lost the secret recipe card, and I can’t keep the diner open without it!” she cried.

“The Bacon Burger Extreme recipe card?” Amos questioned.

“Yes!” Amos’ mother screamed.

“Well, that’s not good,” Amos complained.

vs.

“I’m gonna have to close my diner,” Amos’ mother said, taking her son’s hand and leading him over to one of the old, grease-stained tabletops with the ripped-fabric booths.

Amos simply stared at her as they moved. “Why? It’s been in the family forever.”

“I’ve—” she looked away for a moment, then took in a breath. “I’ve lost the secret recipe card. And I can’t keep the diner open without it.”

“The Bacon Burger Extreme recipe card?”

“Yes!” She still wouldn’t meet his eyes, and her shoulders were shaking. “Yes.”

Amos sat down heavily in the booth. “Well, that’s not good.”

The first scene only gives character names and dialogue tags. There are no actions and no descriptions. The second scene, however, gives these things. It gives the reader descriptions of the diner, the characters’ actions, and attitudes. Overusing dialogue tags gets boring fast, so add interest into your writing!

So! When you’re writing, consider the attitude of your character, vary dialogue length, and don’t overuse dialogue tags.

Now climb out of the pit of writing despair. Pick up your pen or computer. And write some good dialogue!

Best,

Sparrow

Just some sketches of my Tarnished warrior and the Erdtree

What a stupid ending ...

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Now that i think about it, it's a little funny how Rogier's and D's (Darian) fan mischaracterisation seems to go to opposite directions

People tend to forget (or...miss the info i don't judge, there is a ton of NPC in there can't keep track of all of them) that Rogier's BFF impression is...well an impression. A facade. The few things we learn about him is that he acts with total detachment, and has been doing so for most of his life. His nice smile is as good as a poker face and a deleted side quests shows that being pitied is among the few things that can get him to show some biterness, when not even a terminal disease can get him to drop his facade). His facade has two edges : friendly enough to prevent agression and make conversations easier but distant enough to keep people at arm lenght. Or at least, that's how i see it (for real the last part is just my own interpretation don't quote me on that)

He slighty open up if you follow his questline but he has some manipulative bones in his body ("i can tell a good lie when i want to"). Not saying that the man is evil or something, just that his easy air is a lie. On the other hand people seems to be under the impression that Darian is basically a golden order version of Varré (the man is an hardcore golden order devotee which makes sense in his lore, and there is no doubts it makes him very biased (but tbh not anymore than most people in this story) but also he is never forceful and manipulative (or even mean) about it. ) He is not a walking sunshine but he stays polite, and even praise you sometimes, but he never try to make you join the golden order So basically people forget about Rogier's darker side and about D's nicer side haha

(for real, if you want an actual cinnamon roll, Roderika (Boc too) are there and for forceful cultist and murderous parties, Varré + the volcano manor are right there!)

Don't mistake this as Rogier hate (he is my fave, but his whole psychological mess is part of the package) or as me saying that D is flawless, but it's interesting idk.

I do remember seeing on the dreaded red app some people seeing the "Messmer mourned the loss of a brother-in-arm" quote and the fact that he didn't execute Andreas and Huw as a sign of being merciful but also like. His treatment of them is the opposite of having mercy. He quite literally entombed them alive and left them to starve to death alone if not for the company of stone statues and sorcerers long gone mad