Chat Bubbles

Chat Bubbles

Chat bubbles turn dialogue into a messaging-style exchange inside chapter prose. Use the left and right sides to make a conversation easy to follow without creating a separate image or another chapter.

Preview

Alice's question appears on the left and Bob's reply appears on the right:

The first message appears on the left with Alice as its speaker. The reply appears on the right with Bob as its speaker.

Copy the syntax

Put the opening tag, message, and closing tag on separate lines:

{chat Alice}
Did you find the key?
{endchat}

{chat:right Bob}
Yes. Meet me at the gate.
{endchat}

{chat Alice} creates a left-side bubble. Use {chat:left Alice} when you want to state the left side explicitly, or {chat:right Bob} for a right-side bubble. The colon in :left or :right is required.

Choose the speaker and side

The speaker name is optional:

{chat}
Unknown sender: Do not trust the lights.
{endchat}

{chat:right}
Who is this?
{endchat}

Without :right, a bubble appears on the left. Speaker names are authored display text. Keep them short and do not put chapter tags, braces, or angle brackets in the opening tag.

Alternating left and right usually makes a two-person exchange easiest to scan. For a group conversation, keep each character on a consistent side when possible and include the speaker name whenever the side alone would be ambiguous.

Format the message

Ordinary Markdown works inside a bubble. For example:

{chat Mara}
I found **two** clues. Read the [archive note](https://example.com/archive) first.
{endchat}

The reader sees the emphasis and link inside Mara's bubble. A message may contain more than one paragraph, but short messages usually preserve the feeling of a conversation better than a large wall of text.

Chat bubbles use the story's Element Theme. They do not send messages, notify another user, or create a CHYOA conversation.

Game State

A chat bubble is a visual block. Opening the chapter does not make the bubble change Game State or add a saved game step.

Use ordinary supported chapter values in the message when the dialogue needs to reflect the reader or current game. Keep the speaker name itself as plain authored text rather than placing variable syntax in the opening tag.

Limits and combinations

• Put {chat ...} and {endchat} on their own lines.
• Close every bubble with {endchat} before starting the next one.
• Chat bubbles cannot be nested inside other chat bubbles.
• Chat bubbles and email cards cannot contain each other.
• Chat bubbles and fictional terminals cannot contain each other.
• Random Draw blocks cannot cross or contain chat blocks, and chat blocks cannot contain a Random Draw.
• Ordering puzzles cannot be placed inside chat bubbles.

Place incompatible elements before or after the chat exchange instead. Adjacent blocks can still read as one scene.

To show chat tags as literal text in a chapter, put them in backticks or a fenced block.

Before publishing

Save a draft and check that:

1. every opening tag and {endchat} is on its own line;
2. left and right speakers remain consistent throughout the exchange;
3. every speaker name is short, clear, and plain text;
4. Markdown emphasis and links render inside the intended bubble;
5. long messages wrap cleanly without obscuring who is speaking;
6. adjacent prose still reads naturally before and after the exchange;
7. the bubbles remain readable in White, Black, and Sepia appearance and on a narrow screen.