She literally never goes home from Goblet of Fire onwards, spending her summers with the boys instead. In GoF she’s remarkably blase about her teeth, something her dentist parents would have noticed and felt hurt about. 

Like she went from “oooh, we can’t do that, we could get expelled”  (which was already pretty metal, tbh, because she said that was worse than death) to straight up LIGHTING A TEACHER ON FIRE

She went from crying when Ron said something mean about her to punching Draco right in the face

She went from stressing about the Rules to brewing illegal potions in an abandoned, haunted wash room!!!

I’m a horror writer, which means bad dudes are my bread and butter. But they can be tough to write. Especially when you want them to be interesting and relatable characters (which, let’s be honest, they should be). So here’s a few little tips to help you guys write super cool villains that people may or may not want to bed.

1. Give them a realistic motive.

Most of your evil peeps probably don’t think that they’re evil. They probably don’t call their homes “evil lairs” and they most def don’t call their joy “evil laughter”. In fact, they probably think that what they’re doing is justified. And I’ve always thought it was pretty dang cool when I could actually see their point. So make their aspirations realistic. Make them real people, with good and bad in them. Complex characters are supes exciting.

2. Or don’t.

On the other hand, certain stories call for a villain who is evil for fun. This is entertaining, and can be pretty scary in the right context. I mean, think about it: dude has no redemption, no remorse, and most importantly, no tragic backstory. They have no boundaries, and they aren’t afraid to eat some babies. One of my most favorite characters of all time is one of these kinds of villains, and I have loved his character since the eight grade, just because he is tantalizingly evil.

3. Make them a real threat.

Nothing is more boring than a story where you just know your heroes are going to come out on top. If I know what the ending is going to be within the first three chapters, guess what? I’m putting the book down, and I’m not picking it back up. Like, ever. Conflict is interesting and important. And your protagonists need a serious fight for me to care about their story. 

4. Show us a different side of them.

I’m not the biggest Marvel fan (not for any reason, I’m just not). BUT I did see “Infinity Wars” and I gotta say, I liked the way that Thanos was written. He was the big, bad dude. But we also got to see him in a different context at points in the movie. It doesn’t redeem him, it doesn’t make him a good guy, but it doesn’t make him a cookie-cutter villain, either. Let us see the villain cuddle their prized dog. Let us watch her savoring her favorite meal (but not if it’s babies. That’s still bonkers evil, bro.). 

5. Stop making the villains monologue 2K19.

Seriously. By the time hero and villain are having their big fight, I should know why Bad Dude is bad. In “Harry Potter” we knew off the bat that Voldemort was wizard Hitler. He didn’t have to tell us. I mean, yeah, he and Harry talked sometimes, but it wasn’t that obvious Villain Speech that we’ve come to know and love (hate). Through the series, we saw the bad stuff he did. We knew what he wanted. And that made their battles not suck.

not everything has to be perfect

i dont need the perfect cup

of homemade tea

to enjoy poetry

i dont need the perfect mug

of hot soup after a cold winter walk

i dont need the perfect kiss

from you with the perfect song

after the perfect talk

i need to learn

not everything has to be

me:

“… who would have thought that technology would have reached a certain point where I would find my self alone in my office at work shouting aloud at the computer screen ‘WHEN DO I AT LEAST GET A GO?!’”

They are so used to be everyone else’s rock, everyone else’s crying shoulder, everyone else’s human to turn to, that when it comes to their own pain, they simply bottle it up and put it away. They cry alone, they hurt alone, they never tell anyone about their nightmares or how cruel life is really being because if they do, they’re afraid people will not see them as strong anymore. They are afraid of crumbling in front of anyone else because they do not want to seem weak and broken.

The strongest ones of us need support more than anything in the world because of being strong so very long that when they fall apart, it is not just a human falling to pieces and recovering, it is an avalanche, a volcanic eruption, the amount of pain that you could not imagine possible for a human to hold within themselves. The strongest people, the toughest ones, disguise their tears behind smiles and avert their eyes when in pain once too often.

This is why it is so important to ask “Are you okay?” more than once sometimes, especially from someone who is that strong. This is why it is important to allow our hearts to understand what our minds cannot when we see someone’s smile change, or their eyes show something their demeanor cannot.

The strongest ones of us need support the most. Because when the time comes to rely on someone they don’t know how, they don’t know how to reach out for a hand as they are so used to being the rock for everyone else that hurts.

“Why are you American?” I asked, to which I got:

“Sorry, it’s getting better” in a stereotypical posh English accent.

“Why are you English?” I asked, amused.

“What is he normally?” He managed to ask.

“He? You’re not anyone else, you’re you.”

@artofthecatt