#I've thought about who would be perfect for a blunt rotation

[pisscrossiant]

Merrill brings it, Sera brings snacks, Leliana brings various bongs/pipes (she has a collection) and Iron Bull is just Iron Bull.

[glowingbadger]

Wanted to take a break from writing to throw something out there for ya'll today. I've had a LOT of people tell me that my dialogue and character writing is strong, and that they struggle with it- so while I am by NO means a professional or expert of any kind, I spent some time really reflecting on how I write a character's "voice" and figured I'd share my thoughts. Idk, hopefully it helps someone out there lol.

I hope you're ready for me to mention Seteth a lot

How I write dialogue and characters V

- Establish/get to know a character's personal dictionary- the words and phrases they're most likely to use based on their experiences. Every word and phrase someone uses was learned or picked up somewhere. To use some examples from FE3H, I tend to see Seteth-Felix-Sylvain as like... the scale of formality lol. Felix is a fascinating case study (I went into detail about him in regards to this topic in this speedpaint video from like a million years ago), his personality makes him blunt and forceful, but his education and high status make him surprisingly eloquent, and these elements combine into his unique voice. As an example I used in my video, there's a reason Felix says "Chivalry begets the worship and glorification of death," and not, "knights look at death like some great goal to chase after." Same sentiment, different phrasing, because his phrasing relates to his personality and upbringing. Meanwhile, Seteth is both old as shit, and in a role of authority, so while he is extremely formal, he also doesn't dance around his message- he has work to do, he needs to communicate his intent clearly and effectively. Sylvain is intensely sociable and likes being liked, so it makes sense that he's developed a casual speaking style because of positive reinforcement from his peers' reactions to him. And as another excellent note- Flayn actually speaks even more formally than Seteth in a lot of cases! Which makes perfect sense, because Seteth has had far more time to acclimate to the modern world than she has! So well done.

- This is maybe just a me thing, so take this for what you will- but I like to have the literal, audible voice in my head when writing a character. If it's hard to imagine the VA saying it, it probably needs to be reworked. This is kind of similar to the super common advice of "read your writing out loud so you'll notice if something sounds weird," which I don't personally do because I live in a tiny city apartment and don't need my college aged neighbors wondering why I'm grumbling "cum for me like a good kitten" in different intonations in the quiet of my home. But it's still valid advice. * sometimes if the character doesn't have a voice actor, I choose the voice of a character I like and that seems like it would fit and just superimpose it mentally to help me with this.

- Quirks and catchphrases can be absolutely lovely- when used with appropriate moderation and a sense of deliberate purpose. IRL, I have a friend who, when we were in college, would quickly rotate his right wrist occasionally as he spoke. Now, nearly a decade later, he doesn't do this anymore, and in fact fidgets a lot less overall. This is because, in college, he was in an extremely challenging biochem program, taking an obscene amount of notes on the daily (leading to him subconsciously flexing his wrist at times to reduce strain), and consuming a legitimately terrifying amount of caffeine per day (making him fidgety). It's a unique quirk, and one I would mention while writing him speaking to someone if he were a character in a story- but there's also a reason and logic behind it that reflects something about the subject. As a fandom example, Axel has his famous "got it memorized" catchphrase in Kingdom Hearts- but I swear I've been driven near madness by overuse of the phrase in fanfic. In-game, there's a logic to when he uses it- when making an important point that needs to be emphasized (ex: telling Sora the name of the leader of the organization, knowing that he only has a small window of time to get this across and make sure it sticks), or making a bold, declarative statement (his big "fuck off, buddy" towards Xemnas at the end of KH3). The phrase doesn't make sense and doesn't align with the character when it's just tossed around because "hey, it's a thing he says sometimes."

- this is kind of just putting a finer point on the above, but please, do not over-do it with the speech quirks, it'll alienate your reader and make the character harder to relate to. Zhongli in Genshin Impact has a formal and methodical way of speaking (same as Seteth and Hubert for my FE folks), but I often see people write him like he's allergic to contractions. A strong character voice is one thing, but Zhongli is actively living in society- if the flow of what he's saying is going to make him harder to communicate with, he'll adjust it. Most people adjust to their environment, even if just in small ways. Dialogue is a balance between expressing the self and reaching the other.

- It can and should be impactful and meaningful when someone breaks the 'rules' of their speech patterns. This is why there's like, a whole subgenre within Seteth smut of: "Seteth says 'fuck' one time." If you've done a good job with all of the other points here, then when you break away from the pattern you've established, it'll work as a signal to the reader, screaming at them "this is important, something new and different is happening!" But if you haven't defined a voice and vocabulary for your character, the audience won't notice or care when that voice changes.

Anyway, this is all I can think of right now, so I hope it helps.

TL;DR: define the types of words and phrases that logically follow from the character's lived experience, and stick to it except for when it means something to break away from it