Violetdawn001 - Exhausted, But Still Hoping

These Eeveeulations are so cute!!!!

I want this to be my car someday!

This is now my head canon and you can't stop me.

My sisters and I call this the princess tram because it takes passengers to Deepnest- Basin- Hive, all the places Hornet would have been raised. We headcanon the king had it constructed specifically for her transportation.

One, it's so fun watching villains fall because they think everyone is as power-hungry and/or shallow as they are.

Two, the all Inkings (the group which JRRT was part of) really were more powerful than all the armies of the world. The superweapons of our world brought so much destruction, but the Inklings brought so much hope and reconstruction into the world.

You know, it's kinda funny how much of high fantasy centers around kings and nobility and courtly intrigue considering that the archetypal high fantasy, Lord of the Rings, had the rather explicit moral of "saving the world is up to this backwater hick and his gardener because no politician, least of all inherited nobility, would have the ability to see past their own ambition and throw away a weapon". Oh sure, Aragorn is a great king and all, but there's a reason he's over there running a distraction ring while the hobbits do the real work. Sauron loses because he gets distracted by kings and armies and great battles (i.e. typical high fantasy stuff) letting Frodo and Sam sneak through his back door and blow it all to hell.

Just saying, maybe old Jirt knew what he was saying when he said that the small folk doing their best and holding to each other was more powerful than a dozen alliances and superweapons and we should respect him for it.

I've been using Tumblr for a while now and I STILL wonder why people rarely comment on posts.

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, frozen in place. “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. They give 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

Coming back to Black and White to realize "Oh hey, not everything IS black and white. Life's complicated!"

And then they immediately throw Ghetsis in your face. The guy whose mask of lies paint him as Pure White but to call Ghetsis' heart Black would be an insult to the color as his heart is darker than that.

Anyways, I like the fact that Game Freak still took the time to show that truly evil people do exist and they hate us, wanting nothing but us underneath their control (or if that fails) or dead. 💀 Because I ran into rl people like Ghetsis' and I am so happy I was prepared to meet them by playing Pokemon Black and White.

Revisiting Black and White as an adult and a Disability Studies student is wild

Wow Ghetsis is a lot more problematic than I remembered

Hallo !

I've started to notice a pattern in the hk community.

When people (not all but most) draw pk ,in bug or gijinka, they tend to hide his pretty wings or not draw them at all.

So I've decided to ask bloggers if they could show or describe the king's wings, just out of curiosity (and for my own amusement)

(Btw if you are not taking requests please forgive me, I did not wish to annoy you with my silly babbles)

Well, the pattern seems to arise from the game itself as we never see the Pale King with his wings. (Unless you believe the theory that the PK's robe ARE his wings) The only time we see the PK with wings would be in Origm's dreams as the White Defender...and the PK is far away as a light silhouette.

If artists were to draw the PK, they would not have good canon references for the PK's wings. They would be forced to rely on the dream sequence (again, a silhouette), the Hallownestian crest/seals, and the Monarch wings when Little Knight uses them. If the artist wants any references or inspiration for drawing the PK with wings, they will need to look at other fanart.

How do I know this? Only had to go through the whole process myself while creating this.

I had an idea to make Lurien a Blue Morpho Butterfly, so it was fun to draw him and the PK together with their wings. If you want to see more Lurien as a butterfly, click on the link.

I must say that I've come a long way since December with this photo. Thank you for giving me the chance to practice my drawing and editing skills!

(No need for forgiveness. I am quite honored that you asked me to do this as I mostly draw Lurien the Watcher, not the Pale King. I think this was the first time I ever drew the PK as a "bug", so it was quite the experience on top of practicing hands and lighting. Thank you!)

Go check out this artist! There are several stimboards for other Hollow Knight characters!

~~~.~🔭~.~~~ || Lurien - Hollow Knight || self request ::)

Lurien is my fav dreamer and one of my fav hollow knight characters (i've been sort of going down a list of my favs haha, neglecting some like tiso because I'm not sure what sort of stims I wanna use), so I really wanted to make a stimboard for him!!! However I don't really like the way this one turned out that much... Not sure what it is, it just kinda doesn't make me as happy as the others? But either way it's always just fun to make something!! Also, I animated the clip in the center myself ::3 (hope its not too bad, i'm aware its quite amateurish- it's practically the first thing I've ever animated?) so that's something I'm proud of!!

Quick Memento: Don't get Lurien mad

Okay, okay, not for the reasons you think.

You see, Lurien is not like Herrah who gets fiery and hot when she gets angry. Oh no. It's the ice cold anger of a quiet man. Once he's truly mad, you're screwed.

Case in point, the two pictures below.

Or I had too much fun drawing Lurien as a Blue Morpho Butterfly and had to do it with Lurien's cloak on. And honestly, I'm too scared right now to ask Lurien who or what truly pissed him off and I'm the author/artist!