chloe

a group of morally grey criminals/thugs/assassins has a Mom Friend in the group 

Incredibly broken character trying to love, knowing they don’t know how to accept or show affection and trying anyway 

Gentle and Good™ character who would Never Hurt a Fly goes into absolute beast mode after their family or someone they care about is hurt or threatened 

Group of characters who hate each other’s guts forced to team up 

Literally any book-within-a-book device is used: excerpts or even mentions of a made-up in-universe book within the book. Bonus points if it’s some kind of Fantasy Textbook being included purely for infodump purposes. 

Independent, self-serving character ends up forced to be a hero and do good. Bonus points if this happens multiple times and independent self-serving character is just resigned to it at this point. 

On that note: universe/world has to rely on a bunch of criminals with 0 moral fibre that were more or less dragged out of a dumpster to save everyone 

any scene wherein the strong and stoic™ is getting patched up post-battle by their love interest for whom they have not yet admitted their feelings, probably shirtless and definitely wincing in a brave manner as bandages are applied 

Smol and Cute character turns out to be full of terrifying darkness 

Character finds terrifying monsters cute and/or endearing. 

Character doesn’t understand sarcasm or figurative language. Literally. Any. Use. Of. This. Trope. 

Character’s somewhat embarrassing or weird backstory comes out only when it is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Example: In the seventh book of a series, the characters must go undercover at a Zyrg’hnrrian ball and the Strong Stoic Axe Warrior Guy, who we have known for all seven books so far, must grudgingly admit that he knows how to dance a Zyrg’hnrrian Waltz. 

on that note: characters must disguise as something and go undercover but their already super shoddy cover starts falling apart, resulting in your entire body cringing at the page. bonus points if their disguises start LITERALLY falling apart 

on THAT note: only reason characters are able to infiltrate something is that the guards are bored and not paying attention 

Characters who are a couple team up in battle and start absolutely kicking ass 

Criminal mastermind getting himself involved in multiple recursive layers of double-crossing that all fall apart at the worst possible time. 

A character who has spent the whole book acting like he doesn’t care suddenly throws himself into harm’s way for another character and comes out of it battered and half dead 

Literally any scene where a badass character comes out of something that should have killed them covered in blood and wounds and with fire in their eyes. 

Any scene where a character puts on a brave face for something that no person should be able to bear or endure, on behalf of someone they love. 

Literally any story where MC goes to school to learn the art of murder/to be an assassin/to be a villain/the ways of evil and darkness in any sense  

S N A R K 

Over the top plots where shit is just hitting the fan and the characters themselves are somewhat aware of how crazy it all is and are just like “this might as well happen” 

A Good, rule-following character forced to collaborate with morally-grey trash can. 

character bonds with an animal that annoys them at first but by the end they are willing to lay down their life for the varmint. Bonus points if they rush back into danger cursing about how annoying and ungrateful their animal companion is while actively risking their life on its behalf. 

Bar fights. hhhhhhhh

Character who has never really received affection and love receives loving physical touch and has no idea how to respond or process what’s going on inside them other than oh god don’t stop 

On that note: hideous, monstrous-looking creature/character is shown gentleness/affection for the first time. 

Any scene where a monologuing villain gets slammed with a comeback that makes him realize all of a sudden what the heroes’ plan is all along and that he’s lost 

villains have great fashion sense 

i think you answered this one already 

ok but in seriousness, writing really good yearning involves getting your characters over a series of hurdles. let’s talk about what those are! let’s talking about how to do it! let’s talk about: 

Yearning™, Babey

so these hurdles:

this is just a person i know who exists 

wait. there is something About Them, isn’t there

Oh Shit They Have A Nice Face/Smile/Laugh

........ i have feelings

But They Couldn’t Like Me

or do they?

haha no they don’t i am a Fool 

(repeat steps 6&7 as needed)

wait a Hot Second, maybe they do

confession

success.jpeg

depending where you drop your characters at the beginning of the story (maybe they already like each other! maybe they’re best friends! maybe they are strangers! maybe (this is my favourite) they despise each other!), you’re going to have to pace out the stages of these hurdles. to REALLY make readers feel it, make each hurdle a profound moment, and give your POV character time to react to it.

other tips:

intentionally break the touch barrier (you know when you have a crush on someone and you sorta just avoid being physically close because you’re sorta freaking out but then there’s a Moment where you brush up against them or they touch your hand while passing you something and you have a whole existential crisis about it? give readers That Moment. don’t cheapen it.)

eye contact. so much of it.

WONDER. good yearning is accompanied by this sense of awe that the other person exists, this soft tender appreciation..... i go crazy go stupid

give them a realistic, obvious obstacle. anyone can yearn, but there’s a thin line between frustrating readers and making them yearn alongside the character. frequently ask the question “why can’t they be together now?”. you need a good reason for why they can’t. this can be rooted in the plot, this can be rooted in character development, a lack of self love, anything. just make sure it 1) fits the tone of your story and 2) makes sense. please. make it make sense. give them a real reason to be apart. 

1. WEARING A SHAWL TO BATTLE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF HAVING GIRLS FIGHT IN STILLETTOS. 

Just so you know, this is what I’m talking about;

-Is it bad-ass? Abso-fucking-lutely. Is it Practical? Not a chance in hell. Especially not if it’s silk. If it’s cotton, you are skating on thin fucking ice. That bitch will NOT stay on. It barely stays on with me just walking down the street to Walmart. Wielding axes and rifles and swords and daggers? I PROMISE you it will not do the job it’s expected to-WHICH IS TO COVER THE HAIR. (Some muslim girls dont wear them-and that’s fine. But those who DO do it to completely cover the hair in public. Is it ~Aesthetic~ to see the flyaway hairs in battle? Sure, but those aren’t usually practical either. )Consider instead; 

sport shawls 

-For one thing, it’s actually DESIGNED to be worn to atheletic activities. Archers tuck hems into the collar of their shirts so they don’t get in the way, and track runners pins (ill get to this bit later) them down into the shirts to prevent flyaway bits and to stop them from getting slapped in the face. It’s breathable, stretchy, presentable without being attention seeking. 

Bawals 

In a pinch, bawals work just as well-as long as you specify that they are COTTON. Unlike the shawl, which are rectangular, bawals are SQUARE, and thus easier to manipulate, fold and pin down. If you wear it right, they carry an equal aesthetic value to shawls, and come in plenty of pretty patterns as well. 

2. I’m not sure about the USA, but the girls I know wear this underneath the headscarf;

Does it kinda look like a beanie? It sort of works like a beanie too. Hair is slippery. It tucks in any extra hair you might miss just by wearing the headscarf, its harder to pull down and on the event the shawl DOES fall down, your hair is still not exposed. It protects the ears-which is important even on a daily basis, because pins, headphones and any other headgear that might pinch them. It comes in plenty of designs, including ones that has open backs to allow long hair and ponytails. 

3.SPEAKING OF PINS; I’M TALKING ABOUT THESE BAD BOYS;

BROOCHES 

though , i suppose most of y’all are most familiar with safety pins, right?

what’s the difference? Well, if your oc/character is an athlete, it’s actually LEAST likely they’ll be wearing SAFETY PINS. They’re cheap and super easy to buy in bulk, true, but they also SUPER easy to wear out even with the smallest amount of strenuous activity. Between the three of ‘em, I’d put the brooches as the best option to wear in battle because 1) it has a large surface area, thus hurts less when pressed on with heavy items, which includes bag straps and weapons, (pins are sharp and can poke you painfully);  and 2) more secure-the latch is covered by the gaudy jewellery above, and theyre usually smaller and tighter. Stays on the stubbornnest, even when headscarf is pulled. very roughly. I’m saying that even the cheapest brooches will allow the shawl to be ripped apart before even letting it go. 

3. They probably ponytail their hair. Because Come On, guys.

The man-free sanctuary will offer up a range of typical beauty services such as hair, waxing, facials and manicures and pedicures, while providing unique services like henna and halal nails and eyebrow shaping.

“We want women to be able to come in and feel completely relaxed,” ~ Quhshi said.